If they continued to sing like their great predecessor of romantic themes, they were drawn as by a kind of magnetic attraction into the Homeric style and manner of treatment, and became mere echoes of the Homeric voice: in a word, Homer had so completely exhausted the epic genre, that after him further efforts were doomed to be merelyconventional. Only the rare and exceptional genius of Vergil and Milton could use the Homeric medium without loss of individuality: and this quality none of the later epic poets seem to have possessed.

"What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators, Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?" So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply "They are merelyconventional signs!

While the Italian author represents his gentlemen and ladies as selfishly fleeing from the misery of a frightful plague in Florence to a charming villa and a holiday of unreflecting pleasure, the gaiety of Chaucer's pilgrims rests on a basis of serious purpose, howeverconventional it may be.

You despise my mother--I know you do--because she'sconventional and bothers over puddings; but, oh goodness!"--she rose to her feet--"conventional, Cecil, you're that, for you may understand beautiful things, but you don't know how to use them; and you wrap yourself up in art and books and music, and would try to wrap up me.

Like all men who have grown up in society, Prince Andrew liked meeting someone there not of theconventional society stamp.

Ellmother burst out--and then, when it was too late, remembered theconventional restraints appropriate to the occasion.

Or again he might have chanced on a model of all the virtues, or the repository of all knowledge, or anything equally harmless,conventional, and middle class.

Before considering modern theories, let us look first at consciousness from the standpoint ofconventional psychology, since this embodies views which naturally occur when we begin to reflect upon the subject.

Who, taking his stand on the floor before them as chief executioner, would be attended by aconventional volunteer boy as executioner's assistant.

To the Western world, life, save for theconventional hour or so set aside on the seventh day, is a thing profane.

The officer's profanity soundedconventional. It relieved the tightened senses of the new men.

I didn't come to Europe to lead a merelyconventional life; I could do that at Bangor.