Full Idea
Thomas Carlyle spent a long life trying to make reason romantic to his fellow Englishmen: to no avail!
Gist of Idea
Carlyle spent his life vainly trying to make reason appear romantic
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (Dawn (Daybreak) [1881], 298)
Book Reference
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Dawn (Daybreak) (v 5)', ed/tr. Smith, Brittain [Stanford 2011], p.188
A Reaction
An interesting gloss on the shift from the Enlightenment to the Romantic era. Presumably the idea of the 'genius' and the 'hero' are the means whereby Carlyle hoped to achive this.