Part II, Sections I - IX Summary and Analysis

Section I: Astonishment is the highest form of sublimity in nature, in which we regard an object with horror and can only concentrate on that single object.

Section II: Fear is the apprehension of pain and/or death, and as such it is a powerful passion. It is the ruling principle of the sublime.

Section III: Obscurity is an important component of terror and of the sublime. Once a thing is fully known, apprehension of it vanishes; fear depends upon the "unknowability" of an object.

Section IV: Physical representation of an object (the drawing of a castle) provides a clear picture of that object, and as such can only excite the passions as much as or less than the actual castle. On the contrary, a verbal description of the castle involves...