2. That which is sublime; as, the sublimities of nature.
Usage: {Sublimity}, {Grandeur}. The mental state indicated by
these two words is the same, namely, a mingled emotion
of astonishment and awe. In speaking of the quality
which produces this emotion, we call it grandeur when
it springs from what is vast in space, power, etc.; we
call it sublimity when it springs from what is
elevated far above the ordinary incidents of humanity.
An immense plain is grand. The heavens are not only
grand, but sublime (as the predominating emotion),
from their immense height. Exalted intellect, and
especially exalted virtue under severe trials, give us
the sense of moral sublimity, as in the case of our
Savior in his prayer for his murderers. We do not
speak of Satan, when standing by the fiery gulf, with
his ``unconquerable will and study of revenge,'' as a
sublime object; but there is a melancholy grandeur
thrown around him, as of an ``archangel ruined.''