I think seriously, on the whole, that the more serious is the discussion the more grotesque should be the terms.

" Hardly less grotesque to our Western taste is the favorite boast (No. 211 et passim) that the moon is making vain efforts to shine as brightly as the beloved's face.

Grotesque, probably, is the truer word, for everywhere I noticed, and for the first time, this slight alteration of the natural due either to the exaggeration of some detail, or to its suppression, generally, I think, to the latter.

In all the writings of Hood that are not absolutely serious the grotesque is a present and pervading element.