[247]Aspice convexo nutantem pondere mundum,Terrasque, tractusque maris, &c.See the globous WeightOf Earth, of Heav'n, of Ocean, nod and shake.
[247]Aspice convexo nutantem pondere mundum,Terrasque, tractusque maris, &c.
See the globous WeightOf Earth, of Heav'n, of Ocean, nod and shake.
than the following:
[248]Forte sub arguta consederat ilice Daphnis,Compulerantque greges Corydon & Thyrsis in unum,Thyrsis oves, Corydon distentas lacte capellas.By chance, beneath the Covert of an Oak,That whisper'd with the Breezes,Daphnissate;AndCorydonandThyrsisto one PlaceTogether drew their Flocks;Thyrsis, his Sheep;His milch Goats,Corydon.
[248]Forte sub arguta consederat ilice Daphnis,Compulerantque greges Corydon & Thyrsis in unum,Thyrsis oves, Corydon distentas lacte capellas.
By chance, beneath the Covert of an Oak,That whisper'd with the Breezes,Daphnissate;AndCorydonandThyrsisto one PlaceTogether drew their Flocks;Thyrsis, his Sheep;His milch Goats,Corydon.
But then it ought to be elegantly simple, for the Plowmen should appear in their Holyday Garments. Thus we see Shepherds and Shepherdesses introduced upon the Stage; and tho' they bring Crooks in their Hands, and Straw Hats on their Heads, yet their Dress is nearly rural, and above the Habit of the Vulgar. InVirgilwe have frequent Examples of this polite Rusticity, in those Places, especially, where Love is concern'd. I shall only produce one, out of many, whereDamon, desperately in Love with the fair, but cruelNisa, vents his Passion in these Words:
[249]Sepibus in nostris parvam te roscida mala(Dux ego vester eram) vidi cum matre legentem;Alter ab undecimo tum me jam ceperat annus,Jam fragiles poteram à terra contingere ramos:Ut vidi! ut perii! ut me malus abstulit error!Thee, with thy Mother, in our Meads I saw,Gathering fresh Apples; I myself your Guide;Then thou wert little; I, just then advanc'dTo my twelfth Year, cou'd barely from the GroundTouch with my reaching Hand the tender Boughs:How did I look! how gaze my Soul away!How did I die! in fatal Error lost!
[249]Sepibus in nostris parvam te roscida mala(Dux ego vester eram) vidi cum matre legentem;Alter ab undecimo tum me jam ceperat annus,Jam fragiles poteram à terra contingere ramos:Ut vidi! ut perii! ut me malus abstulit error!
Thee, with thy Mother, in our Meads I saw,Gathering fresh Apples; I myself your Guide;Then thou wert little; I, just then advanc'dTo my twelfth Year, cou'd barely from the GroundTouch with my reaching Hand the tender Boughs:How did I look! how gaze my Soul away!How did I die! in fatal Error lost!
How unartful the Complaint, but yet how lovely?
Tho' the Style of Pastoral is humble, it is not sordidly mean, nor slovenly careless, neither resembling the Diction of Comedy, which is almost Prose; nor of the bantering Satire, which is one Degree farther from it: But is sweet, pleasant, and easy; elegant with Plainness, and but poetically low:
[250]O tantum libeat mecum tibi sordida rura,Atque humiles habitare casas, & figere cervos!O! were but thy Delight with me to dwell,In lowly Cottages, and rural ShadesBy thee despis'd!to drive the Kids a-fieldWith a green Wand, and shoot the flying Deer!
[250]O tantum libeat mecum tibi sordida rura,Atque humiles habitare casas, & figere cervos!
O! were but thy Delight with me to dwell,In lowly Cottages, and rural ShadesBy thee despis'd!to drive the Kids a-fieldWith a green Wand, and shoot the flying Deer!
Antique Phrases, Ænigma's, Proverbs, superstitious Fables, are no unbecoming Ornaments of this Sort of Poetry.
It generally consists of Dialogue, in which some little dramatical Action ought to be represented, a rural Scene described, Interlocutors under different Circumstances, and a certain Plot carried on to a Conclusion. For 'tis not to be imagin'd, as many, now a-days do, that every Dialogue between two Shepherds, full of the bleating of Flocks, is a proper Pastoral. No, 'tis a Thing that requires more Labour, Art, and Judgment, than we are generally aware of: Nor is any Kind of Poem less tolerable, if ill, or even moderately perform'd. Who can bear those Crowds of Pastorals, as they are inscrib'd, that are daily publish'd inLatinandEnglish, upon theDeath of Princes, or Friends? They are all cast in the same Mould; read one, you read all.DaphnisasksThyrsisthe Reason of his Grief, whether he has lost a Goat; orAmaryllis, orNeæra, has been unkind to him. The Answer is, his Sorrow is owing to no such Cause; but thatPan, orPhyllis, or any one else is dead. Say you so, saysDaphnis, I thought all along thatPanhad been immortal, orPhyllis, I am sure, deserv'd to have been so. They then join in celebrating, alternately, the Praises of the deceas'd. Birds, Sheep, Woods, Mountains, Rivers, are full of Complaints. We are told how the croaking Raven foreboded the dismal Event; Oaks were riv'd with Thunder; every Thing, in short, is wondrous lamentable, and in the most emphatical Sense miserable.
The Subjects of Pastoral are as various as the Passions of human Nature, nay, it may, in some measure, partake of every Kind of Poetry, but with this Proviso, that the Scene of it ought always to be in the Country, and the Thoughts never contrary to those that are bred there. Some of these short Strictures of Wit between contending Shepherds, favour something of Epigram: Thus inVirgil;
[251]Fraxinus in silvis pulcherrima, pinus in hortis,Populus in fluviis, abies in montibus altis:Sæpius at si me, Lycida formose, revisas;Fraxinus in silvis cedet tibi, pinus in hortis.In Groves the Beech, in Gardens is the PineMost beautiful; the Poplar near the Streams;On the high Mountain's Tops, the stately Fir.Yet, lovelyLycidas, if oft thou comeTo visit me; thou, beauteous, shalt excelThe Pine in Gardens, and the Beech in Groves.
[251]Fraxinus in silvis pulcherrima, pinus in hortis,Populus in fluviis, abies in montibus altis:Sæpius at si me, Lycida formose, revisas;Fraxinus in silvis cedet tibi, pinus in hortis.
In Groves the Beech, in Gardens is the PineMost beautiful; the Poplar near the Streams;On the high Mountain's Tops, the stately Fir.Yet, lovelyLycidas, if oft thou comeTo visit me; thou, beauteous, shalt excelThe Pine in Gardens, and the Beech in Groves.
The second Eclogue isElegiac, containing a Love Complaint; so is the latter Part of the fifth, bewailing the Death ofDaphnis. The Songs, and Pipe, seem reducible to some Kind ofOde. And I see no Reason, why the third Eclogue may not be deem'd a short ruralComedy, representing the Manners, the Follies, little Tricks, and Quarrels of low Country Life; intermix'd, likewise, with various Strokes ofSatire, many Examples of which we have elsewhere produced.Damon's Complaint; in the former Part of the eighth Eclogue, istragical, and ends thus:
[252]Præceps aerii specula de montis in undasDeferar; extremum hoc munus morientis habeto.From yon aerial RockHeadlong I'll plunge into the foamy Deep.Take this last Gift, which dying I bequeath.
[252]Præceps aerii specula de montis in undasDeferar; extremum hoc munus morientis habeto.
From yon aerial RockHeadlong I'll plunge into the foamy Deep.Take this last Gift, which dying I bequeath.
But the Thoughts and Diction of the fourth Eclogue, I before observ'd, favour much of the Heroic.
The Pleasure that arises from this Kind of Poetry, is owing to those beautiful rural Scenes, which it represents; and to that innate Love, which human Nature, depraved as it is, still retains for its primitive Simplicity. Simplicity and the Country I join together, because in Fact they were both united. We are born with a Love for a Country Life, for Nature always pleases us more than Art, not only as it is prior to it in Point of Time, but as the Works of God are more perfect, and more various, than those of Men. Nay, Art itself is then most pleasing, when it represents Nature. Thus Architecture affects the Mind with less Pleasure and Wonder than Poetry, or its Sister Painting because that is the Effect of Art only, these of Nature likewise. And tho' it may be the Business of one Art to describe another, yet it never is so successfully employ'd, as when Nature sits for the Description.Thus, in Painting, the Prospect of a magnificent Structure is beautiful; but how much more agreeable isthatwhich is diversified with Woods, Flowers, Rivers, Mountains, Cottages, Birds, Flocks, Herds, and Husbandmen? And how much would the Pleasure be still heighten'd, could the Picture convey to us the Fragrancy of Flowers, the Warbling of Birds, the Lowing of Oxen, the Bleating of Sheep, and all those other Gratifications that are the Objects, not of the Sight, but of the Hearing, and other Senses. Since Nature, then, and the Country, are the same, and Cities the Effect of Art and Refinement; it is no Wonder, if the former has the Preference. It pleads Prescription for our Choice; if we date our own Infancy from that of the World, we are all by Birth Inhabitants of the Fields and Woods: Thither, therefore, we naturally tend, and, asOvidsays, less justly, upon another Occasion,
[253]—documenta damus, qua simus origine nati.Give Proofs of our Original.
[253]—documenta damus, qua simus origine nati.
Give Proofs of our Original.
For, I'll be bold to say, that they who prefer a City Life, have a natural Affection for a Country one. It isHorace's Observation:
[254]Nempe inter varias nutritur silva columnas,Laudaturque domus, longos quæ prospicit agros;Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret.That House is most esteem'd, he wisely builds,That hath a Prospect to the open Fields.Strive to expel strong Nature, 'tis in vain,With doubled Force she will return again.Creech.
[254]Nempe inter varias nutritur silva columnas,Laudaturque domus, longos quæ prospicit agros;Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret.
That House is most esteem'd, he wisely builds,That hath a Prospect to the open Fields.Strive to expel strong Nature, 'tis in vain,With doubled Force she will return again.Creech.
And those that make the City Life their Choice, do so, as the Schoolmen speak, onlyby Accident; either to indulge their Vices and Extravagancies; or on account of some Inconveniencies which the Countrysometimeslabours under; as the Want of Company, or the Opportunity of gaining or increasing a Fortune; not out of any Distaste of the Pleasures of the Country. Who can help sympathizing withHorace's Citizen, and wish him Success in so reasonable a Request?
[255]O rus, quando ego te aspiciam? quandoque licebitNunc veterum libris, nunc somno, & inertibus horis,Ducere sollicitæ jucunda oblivia vitæ?Oh! when shall I enjoy my Country Seat?Oh! when remov'd from Noise to quiet Peace,Amidst my learned Books, my Sleep and Ease,While Hours do smoothly flow, and free from StrifeForget the Troubles of a busy Life?Creech.
[255]O rus, quando ego te aspiciam? quandoque licebitNunc veterum libris, nunc somno, & inertibus horis,Ducere sollicitæ jucunda oblivia vitæ?
Oh! when shall I enjoy my Country Seat?Oh! when remov'd from Noise to quiet Peace,Amidst my learned Books, my Sleep and Ease,While Hours do smoothly flow, and free from StrifeForget the Troubles of a busy Life?Creech.
And it is impossible to readVirgil's Description of the Country, in his secondGeorgic, without being in Love with the Subject, as well as the Poet. Upon the whole, since Innocence and the Country are even now so agreeable to human Nature, it is easy to see from what Source the Pleasure of Pastoral Poetry springs.
AsTheocritusis the first that attempted this Way of Writing, so has he excell'd all others that have follow'd him.Virgilcopies, and in some Places literally translates him. He has sometimes, however ventur'd to deviate from his Original, by throwing in a Mixture of the Sublime. IfTheocritus's are truer Pastorals;Virgil's may be said,perhaps, to be the better Poems. I speak this with some Hesitation; for, it must be own'd, theIdylliaare truly beautiful; and the Author of them, I think, ought to be rank'd among the best Poets. The Sweetness of his Versification (owning partly to his own Ingenuity, and partly to his Doric Dialect) is equall'd by none.Take, only as a Specimen, what first offers, the very Beginning of the firstIdyllium:
Θ. Αδυ τι το ψιθυρσμα, και, ἁ πιτυϛ, αιπολε, τηνα,Α ποτι ταιϛ παγαισι, μελισδεται ἁδυ δε και τυΣυρισδεϛ μετα Πανα το δευτερον αθλον αποισηι, κ.λ.Αι. Αδιον, ω ποιμαν, το τεον μελοϛ, η το καταχεϛΤην απο πετραϛ καταλειβεται ὑψοθεν ὑδωρ.Αικα ται Μωσαιταν οιιδα δωρον αγωνται,Αρνα τυ σακιταν λαψηι γεραϛ αι δε κ' αρεσκηιΤηναιϛ αρνα λαβειν, τυ δε ταν οιν ὑστερον αξιϛ.Θ. Ληιϛ ποτι νυμφαν, ληιϛ, αιπολε, τηδε καθιξαϛ, κ.λ.Thyr.Goatherd, that Pine-tree's Boughs by yonder Spring,In pleasing Murmurs mix, and sweetly sing:And thou dost sweetly pipe; dear charming Swain,And well deserv'st the next Reward toPan, &c.Goat.And sweeter Notes thy Pipe, dear Shepherd, fill,Than murm'ring Springs, that roll from yonder HillWhen Muses claim a Sheep, a Lamb's thy Due;When they a Lamb, thou shalt receive a Ewe.Creech.
Θ. Αδυ τι το ψιθυρσμα, και, ἁ πιτυϛ, αιπολε, τηνα,Α ποτι ταιϛ παγαισι, μελισδεται ἁδυ δε και τυΣυρισδεϛ μετα Πανα το δευτερον αθλον αποισηι, κ.λ.
Αι. Αδιον, ω ποιμαν, το τεον μελοϛ, η το καταχεϛΤην απο πετραϛ καταλειβεται ὑψοθεν ὑδωρ.Αικα ται Μωσαιταν οιιδα δωρον αγωνται,Αρνα τυ σακιταν λαψηι γεραϛ αι δε κ' αρεσκηιΤηναιϛ αρνα λαβειν, τυ δε ταν οιν ὑστερον αξιϛ.Θ. Ληιϛ ποτι νυμφαν, ληιϛ, αιπολε, τηδε καθιξαϛ, κ.λ.
Thyr.Goatherd, that Pine-tree's Boughs by yonder Spring,In pleasing Murmurs mix, and sweetly sing:And thou dost sweetly pipe; dear charming Swain,And well deserv'st the next Reward toPan, &c.
Goat.And sweeter Notes thy Pipe, dear Shepherd, fill,Than murm'ring Springs, that roll from yonder HillWhen Muses claim a Sheep, a Lamb's thy Due;When they a Lamb, thou shalt receive a Ewe.Creech.
Thyrsisthen proceeds to lament, in the softest Verse that is possible,Daphnis's unhappy Love, the Beginning of which only I shall recite to you:
Παι ποκ' αρ' ησθ' ὁκαΔαφνιϛ ετακετο παι ποκα, νυμφαι;Η κατα Πηνειω καλα τεμπεα, η κατα Πινδω;Ου γαρ δη ποταμοιο μεγαν ῥοον ειχετ' Αναπω,Ουδ' Αιτναϛ σκοπιαν, ουδ' Ακιδοϛ ἱερον ὑδωρ.Where were you, Nymphs? Where did the Nymphs reside?Where were you then, whenDaphnispin'd and dy'd?OnPindus' Top, orTempe's open Plain,Where careless Nymphs, forgetful of the Swain?For not one Nymph by swiftAsopusstood,NorÆtna's Cliff, norAcis' sacred Flood.Creech.
Παι ποκ' αρ' ησθ' ὁκαΔαφνιϛ ετακετο παι ποκα, νυμφαι;Η κατα Πηνειω καλα τεμπεα, η κατα Πινδω;Ου γαρ δη ποταμοιο μεγαν ῥοον ειχετ' Αναπω,Ουδ' Αιτναϛ σκοπιαν, ουδ' Ακιδοϛ ἱερον ὑδωρ.
Where were you, Nymphs? Where did the Nymphs reside?Where were you then, whenDaphnispin'd and dy'd?OnPindus' Top, orTempe's open Plain,Where careless Nymphs, forgetful of the Swain?For not one Nymph by swiftAsopusstood,NorÆtna's Cliff, norAcis' sacred Flood.Creech.
These harmonious Lines,Virgilimitates, in the following ones, but does not equal.
[256]Quæ nemora, aut qui vos saltus habuere, puellæ, &c.What Groves, ye Nymphs, detain'd you hence? what Lawns?
[256]Quæ nemora, aut qui vos saltus habuere, puellæ, &c.
What Groves, ye Nymphs, detain'd you hence? what Lawns?
WhatBionandMoschushave done in this Kind, among theGreeks, the Learned are no Strangers to. Among the Latins, we have nothing remaining ofCalphurnius SiculusandAurelius Nemesianus, but their Names[257]. The Syrinx, or Shepherd's Pipe; the Form, the Number, and the Manner of disposing theOaten Reeds; the Names of the first Inventors of this Sort of Poetry, and other Things of the likeNature, I pass over, as foreign to my Province. Whoever is studious this Way, may consult the Writers of poetical History. I would only observe, that it seems universally agreed upon, that Pastoral owes its Rise and Increase toSicily.
I cannot but think it a Poem less suitable to modern Times, on account of the Difference in the Circumstances of human Life, from what it was anciently. As the Condition of Shepherds is now mean and contemptible; it seems too forced a Prosopopœia to affix to them any Character of Politeness, or to introduce them as Men of Wealth and Education: These Things are contradictory to Truth, and therefore leave no Room for Fiction. The very Foundation, then, of Pastorals, as they are accommodated to the present Times, seems wholly taken away. But setting aside this, it must be own'd, several of the Moderns have attempted them very successfully, both in their own Tongue, and inLatin. TheItaliansandFrenchgenerally want the Bucolic Genius: Their Shepherds are too genteel; as well bred as Citizens at least, if not as Courtiers, and fall into other Absurdities of the same Kind. Our CountrymanSpencerhas succeeded much better; and one or two of the present Age seem justly to have deserv'd the Prize.
Human Nature, at the same Time it is desirous of Knowledge, is cautious of confessing its Want of it. The Precepts, therefore, design'd for its Information, must not be obtruded with Moroseness, but insinuated with Mildness; and even its Vanity soothed, to remove its Ignorance. Instructions are the better receiv'd, and sink the deeper upon the Mind, in proportion to the Address with which they are convey'd. There's Sort of Obsequiousness due from the Teacher to the Scholar, and even in this Sense that Maxim ofJuvenalholds true:
[258]Maxima debetur puero reverentia.
[258]Maxima debetur puero reverentia.
Hence it is, that Precepts deliver'd in Verse, are imbib'd with so much Pleasure; and are held in so great Esteem, that they constitute one distinct Species of Poetry. Many Rules we have already given, concerning the other Branches of it, and are now come to teach even the Art of Teaching. Upon this Subject I am under little Temptation of rifling the Stores of the Learned: I don't know one that has treated of it, except the ingenious Author of theEssay on Virgil's Georgics, prefix'd to Mr.Dryden'sTranslation of them. And he, indeed, has so exhausted the Subject, that it is as hard to come after him, as it is after the greatDryden, or his greater Original.
From what has been said, it appears, that Poetry is in its Nature adapted to deliver Precepts of any Kind, which are sure to be learnt with more Ease, and retain'd the more faithfully by the Help of it. Laws, and religious Maxims, were anciently promulged in Verse; and Priests and Poets were the same: And even to this Day it is a prudent Custom to have religious Lessons drawn up in Verse for the Sake of Youth: In this Respect it may more truly be said
[259]—pueris dant crustula blandiDoctores, elementa velint ut discere prima.Thus Teachers bribe their Boys with Figs and Cake,To mind their Books.Creech.
[259]—pueris dant crustula blandiDoctores, elementa velint ut discere prima.
Thus Teachers bribe their Boys with Figs and Cake,To mind their Books.Creech.
For by Poetry the veryElementsthat are taught are soften'd into Allurements. The common Grammar, we see, is Verse; and tho' the Language of it, indeed, is Prose, whatever the Measure be, yet it is a sufficient Proof, that, in the Opinion of the past and present Age, Precepts and Poetry are no ways inconsistent: And it were to be wish'd, that not only Rules of Rhetoric and Logic, but of Philosophy, and all other Sciences, were drawn up in a more entertaining Manner. Not thattechnical Words, orTerms of Art, as they are call'd, should be excluded; for it is impossible any Science should be without them: But they might be so dress'd up, as to invite, not deter the Pains of the Learner. But these are Observations less material to our Purpose, and I only make them by the Way. I now proceed to observe, that there are four Kinds of Didactic Poems,viz.those that relate to moral Duties; or philosophical Speculations; or the Business or Pleasures of Life; or, lastly, to Poetry itself.
Of themoralPoems we shall say but little. We have elsewhere observ'd, that these have scarce any Thing of Poetry in them but their Measure, and therefore hardly deserve to be class'd under the Head of it: Such arePythagoras'sGolden Verses; theSentencesofTheognis; the Ποιημα Νουθετικον ofPhocylides. We have nothing of this Kind of theLatinWriters, or of our own[260], worth mentioning; and, in short, they have nothing in common with a Poem, except this, that a Life led according to the strictest Rules of Virtue, resembles the best, and the noblest.
But, on the other Hand, nothing shines more in Verse, than Disquisitions of natural History. We then see the strictest Reasoning join'd to the politest Expression. Poetry and Philosophy are happily united: The latter affords abundant Matter for Description; it opens a large Field for Fancy, and strikes out new Ideas, which the other expresses with suitable Dignity. What Subject can be a more poetical one than
[261]—Errantem Lunam, Solisque labores,Unde hominum genus, & pecudes, unde imber, & ignes,Unde tremor terris, qua vi maria alta tumescantObicibus ruptis, rursusque in seipsa residant;Arcturum, pluviasque Hyadas, geminosque Triones:Quid tantum Oceano properent se tingere solesHyberni, vel quæ tardis mora noctibus obstet?The wand'ring Moon, the Labours of the Sun;Whence Men, and Beasts, whence Rain, and Lightnings come;The Constellations of the northern Cars,Arcturus, and the show'ryHyades:Why Suns, in Winter, haste so swift to tingeThemselves in Ocean; and what Cause retardsThe sluggish Nights.
[261]—Errantem Lunam, Solisque labores,Unde hominum genus, & pecudes, unde imber, & ignes,Unde tremor terris, qua vi maria alta tumescantObicibus ruptis, rursusque in seipsa residant;Arcturum, pluviasque Hyadas, geminosque Triones:Quid tantum Oceano properent se tingere solesHyberni, vel quæ tardis mora noctibus obstet?
The wand'ring Moon, the Labours of the Sun;Whence Men, and Beasts, whence Rain, and Lightnings come;The Constellations of the northern Cars,Arcturus, and the show'ryHyades:Why Suns, in Winter, haste so swift to tingeThemselves in Ocean; and what Cause retardsThe sluggish Nights.
What can be more suitable to the Dignity of a Poem, than to celebrate the Works of the great Creator? What more agreeable to the Variety of one, than to describe the Journies of the heavenly Orbs, the Rise of Thunder, and other Meteors, the Motion of the Earth, and the Tides of the Sea; the attractive Force of the Magnet, the impulsive Motion of Light, and the slower Progression of Sound; and innumerable other Wonders, in the unbounded Storehouse of Nature. I shall say nothing, at present, ofAratusamong theGreeks, or ofManiliusamong theLatinWriters;Lucretius, alone, shall suffice, instead of all the rest. He, indeed, is so far from celebrating the Creator, that he supposes there is none; but, allowing him his Hypothesis, his Poem is truly philosophical. He had deserv'd much greater Praise, had he corrected his Notions in Philosophy, and his Style in Poetry; for in this Particular, also, he is often deficient. The Asperity of his Versification must be imputed rather to the Times he liv'd in, (viz.the Age betweenEnniusandVirgil) than to the Subject he treated of; which, whatever the common Opinion be, not only admits of the Harmony of Numbers, but requires it. The following Directions ofVirgilabout burning the Turf, part of which we cited before, upon another Occasion, don't lose any Thing of their Philosophy by their Smoothness:
[262]Sive inde occultas vires, & pabula terræPinguia concipiunt, sive illis omne per ignemExcoquitur vitium, atque exudat inutilis humor;Seu plures calor ille vias, & cæca relaxatSpiramenta, novas veniat qua succus in herbas:Seu durat magis, & venas astringit hiantes,Ne tenues pluviæ, rapidive potentia solisAcrior, aut Boreæ penetrabile frigus adurat.Whether from thence they secret Strength receive,And richer Nutriment: Or by the FireAll latent Mischief, and redundant Juice,Oozing sweats off: Or whether the same HeatOpens the hidden Pores, that new SuppliesOf Moisture may refresh the recent Blades.Or hardens more, and with astringent ForceCloses the gaping Veins; lest driv'ling Show'rsShou'd soak too deep, or the Sun's parching Rays,OrBoreas' piercing Cold shou'd dry the Glebe.
[262]Sive inde occultas vires, & pabula terræPinguia concipiunt, sive illis omne per ignemExcoquitur vitium, atque exudat inutilis humor;Seu plures calor ille vias, & cæca relaxatSpiramenta, novas veniat qua succus in herbas:Seu durat magis, & venas astringit hiantes,Ne tenues pluviæ, rapidive potentia solisAcrior, aut Boreæ penetrabile frigus adurat.
Whether from thence they secret Strength receive,And richer Nutriment: Or by the FireAll latent Mischief, and redundant Juice,Oozing sweats off: Or whether the same HeatOpens the hidden Pores, that new SuppliesOf Moisture may refresh the recent Blades.Or hardens more, and with astringent ForceCloses the gaping Veins; lest driv'ling Show'rsShou'd soak too deep, or the Sun's parching Rays,OrBoreas' piercing Cold shou'd dry the Glebe.
And evenLucretiushimself is sometimes more flowing and sonorous, not only when he addresses himself toVenus, as in the following beautiful Passage:
[263]Te, Dea, te fugiunt venti, te nubila cœli,Adventumque tuum; tibi suaves dædala tellusSummittit flores; tibi rident æquora ponti,Pacatumque nitet, diffuso lumine, cœlum.At thy Approach, great Goddess, strait removeWhate'er are rough, and Enemies to Love;The Clouds disperse, the Winds do swiftly waft,And reverently in Murmurs breathe their last.The Earth with various Art (for thy warm Pow'rsThat dull Mars feels) puts forth her gawdy Flow'rs.To pleasure thee, ev'n lazy Lux'ry toils,The roughest Sea puts on smooth Looks, and Smiles:The well-pleas'd Heav'n assumes a brighter RayAt thy Approach, and makes a double Day.Creech.
[263]Te, Dea, te fugiunt venti, te nubila cœli,Adventumque tuum; tibi suaves dædala tellusSummittit flores; tibi rident æquora ponti,Pacatumque nitet, diffuso lumine, cœlum.
At thy Approach, great Goddess, strait removeWhate'er are rough, and Enemies to Love;The Clouds disperse, the Winds do swiftly waft,And reverently in Murmurs breathe their last.The Earth with various Art (for thy warm Pow'rsThat dull Mars feels) puts forth her gawdy Flow'rs.To pleasure thee, ev'n lazy Lux'ry toils,The roughest Sea puts on smooth Looks, and Smiles:The well-pleas'd Heav'n assumes a brighter RayAt thy Approach, and makes a double Day.Creech.
But sometimes, likewise, when he unfolds the Principles of Matter, the Causes of Things, and the Phænomena of Nature. It is certain,Virgilis much indebted to him, tho' he has much improv'd his Manner.
Another Imperfection inLucretiusis, that he never makes any Excursions into poetical Fiction. Some Digressions he has, but they are rather philosophical, than poetical; and therefore don't diversify the Subject, nor afford the Reader sufficient Refreshment. He has some, indeed, philosophical; but then they are impious, such as reason against Providence, the Foundations of Religion, and the Immortality of the Soul. One, however, I must except, that upon the Plague ofAthens; which contains, indeed, a poetical Description, but nothing of poetical Fable. It must be own'd, this Poet reasons too much in the Manner of the Schools, the Philosopher appears too open, he wants the Gentility to conceal his Beard, and temper his Severity. Poetry and Philosophy, indeed, were both to be join'd together, but the one ought to be as the Handmaid to the other; whichVirgilwould not have fail'd to have taken care of, had he been engag'd on such a Subject. Not soLucretius, who appears more a Philosopher than a Poet, and yet of Poets not the meanest:Virgil, in hisGeorgics, appears more a Poet than a Husbandman, and yet of Husbandmen the greatest.
I can't see why, in a Work of this Kind, Nature may not be so explain'd, as to admit sometimes of poetical Fiction; in the same Manner thatVirgildescribes theCyclopsforging the Thunderbolts?
[264]Tres imbris torti radios, tres nubis aquosæAddiderant, rutili tres ignis, & alitis Austri:Fulgores nunc terrificos, sonitumque, metumque,Addiderant operi, flammisque sequacibus iras.Three Forks of darted Hail, of wat'ry CloudThree more they added; three of glaring Fire,As many of the winged southern Wind;Then dreadful Flashes, and the roaring Noise,And Rage, and Terror, and avenging Flames.
[264]Tres imbris torti radios, tres nubis aquosæAddiderant, rutili tres ignis, & alitis Austri:Fulgores nunc terrificos, sonitumque, metumque,Addiderant operi, flammisque sequacibus iras.
Three Forks of darted Hail, of wat'ry CloudThree more they added; three of glaring Fire,As many of the winged southern Wind;Then dreadful Flashes, and the roaring Noise,And Rage, and Terror, and avenging Flames.
Here the Formation of the Thunder is poetically feign'd; the Matter and the Adjuncts explain'd physically; Philosophy is made the Basis, and Poetry the Superstructure.
I know of no modern Poem of this Sort worth mentioning, exceptBuchanan's Sphere, which is a Work by no means contemptible. But as Natural Philosophy has, by the Help of Experiments, been lately brought to much greater Perfection than ever; this Kind of Poetry, no doubt, would have made proportionable Advances, if the same Age that shew'd aBoyle, aHalley, and aNewton, had produc'd aVirgil; or if we had not been so much worse Poets than the Ancients, as we are better Philosophers. We have, indeed, some poetical Essays on the[265]Circulation of the Blood, theAir-pump, theMicroscope, and theTelescope, and the like: But these are shortDescriptions, no ways reducible to the Species of Poetry before us. 'Tis true, they may in some Sense be reduc'd under the Title ofDidactic, tho' not ofPreceptivePoetry; theyteachbyDescription, not byPrecept.
But the next Kind I mention'd, relating to theBusinessorPleasuresof Life, do both. Under this HeadVirgil'sGeorgicsstand foremost, containing the most useful Rules for Husbandry in all its Branches,Agriculture, the Method of raising Trees, or Cattle, or tending of Bees. The Pleasure that naturally results from reading them, is chiefly owing to the Pleasure and Advantage which attends a Country Life. HereVirgilhasimitated Hesiod, as he hasTheocritusin his Eclogues, andHomerin theÆneis; I should rather have said, hasexceededeach in their peculiar Way of Writing, unless, perhaps, we ought to exceptTheocritus: ButHesiodhe his left so far behind him, that he scarce deserves to be mention'd in the Comparison. The good old Man ofAscræais at best but a downright Yeoman, whereasVirgilappears with the Learning of a Scholar, and the Elegance of a Gentleman. From hisGeorgics, then, all the Maxims that relate to this Subject must be illustrated.
The first Rule I would lay down, is, That we ought to select with Judgment such Circumstances as are capable of shining in Verse; not that we are to omit the gravest Precepts, but to express them by their most poetical Adjuncts:
[266]Jam vinctæ vites, jam falcem arbusta reponunt;Jam canit extremos effœtus vinitor antes:Sollicitanda tamen tellus, pulvisque movendus;Et jam maturis metuendus Jupiter uvis.And now the Vines are ty'd, nor longer askThe Pruning Hook; the weary Dresser nowWith Songs salutes his outmost Ranks complete:Yet must we still sollicit the dull Mold;And the ripe Grapes have still to fear fromJove.
[266]Jam vinctæ vites, jam falcem arbusta reponunt;Jam canit extremos effœtus vinitor antes:Sollicitanda tamen tellus, pulvisque movendus;Et jam maturis metuendus Jupiter uvis.
And now the Vines are ty'd, nor longer askThe Pruning Hook; the weary Dresser nowWith Songs salutes his outmost Ranks complete:Yet must we still sollicit the dull Mold;And the ripe Grapes have still to fear fromJove.
I need not explain myself any farther. To produce all the Instances of this Kind, would be to transcribe theGeorgics. 'Tis with the same View the great Author of them is so copious upon the different Propertiesof Trees and Cattle; the Combat of Bulls; the Conduct and Politics of Bees, and the like.
To vary the Form of Instruction, and to add Life to his Precepts, he sometimes instils them as Matters of Fact, and conveys them under the Appearance of a Narration:
[267]Quid dicam, jacto qui semine cominus arvaInsequitur, cumulosque ruit male pinguis arenæ?What shou'd I say of him; who, having sownHis Grain, with ceaseless Industry proceeds,And spreads abroad the Heaps of barren Sand?
[267]Quid dicam, jacto qui semine cominus arvaInsequitur, cumulosque ruit male pinguis arenæ?
What shou'd I say of him; who, having sownHis Grain, with ceaseless Industry proceeds,And spreads abroad the Heaps of barren Sand?
[268]Quid, qui, ne gravidis procumbat culmus aristis,Luxuriem segetum tenera depascit in herba?Or what of him; who, lest the Stalks, o'ercharg'dBy the plump Ears, shou'd sink beneath their Weight,Crops their Luxuriance in the tender Blade?
[268]Quid, qui, ne gravidis procumbat culmus aristis,Luxuriem segetum tenera depascit in herba?
Or what of him; who, lest the Stalks, o'ercharg'dBy the plump Ears, shou'd sink beneath their Weight,Crops their Luxuriance in the tender Blade?
And in another Place:
[269]Et quidam seros hyberni ad luminis ignesInvigilat, ferroque faces inspicat acuto;Aut dulcis musti Vulcano decoquit humorem,Et foliis undam trepidi despumat aheni.One watches late by Light of Winter Fires;And with the sharpen'd Steel for Torches splitsThe spiky Wood.——Or of sweet Must boils down the luscious Juice;And skims with Leaves the trembling Cauldron's Flood.
[269]Et quidam seros hyberni ad luminis ignesInvigilat, ferroque faces inspicat acuto;Aut dulcis musti Vulcano decoquit humorem,Et foliis undam trepidi despumat aheni.
One watches late by Light of Winter Fires;And with the sharpen'd Steel for Torches splitsThe spiky Wood.——Or of sweet Must boils down the luscious Juice;And skims with Leaves the trembling Cauldron's Flood.
Sometimes he foretels the ill Consequences of a contrary Practice:
[270]Quod nisi & assiduis terram insectabere rastris,Et sonitu terrebis aves, & ruris opaciFalce premes umbras, votisque vocaveris imbrem;Heu! magnum alterius frustra spectabis acervum,Concussaque famem in silvis solabere quercu.Unless then with assiduous Rakes thou workThe Ground, and chase the Birds with scaring Noise;And with the crooked Pruner lop the ShadesOf spreading Trees, and pray to Heav'n for Show'rs,Another's Store, in vain, alas! admir'd,Thou shalt behold, and from a shaken OakThy hungry Appetite in Woods relieve.
[270]Quod nisi & assiduis terram insectabere rastris,Et sonitu terrebis aves, & ruris opaciFalce premes umbras, votisque vocaveris imbrem;Heu! magnum alterius frustra spectabis acervum,Concussaque famem in silvis solabere quercu.
Unless then with assiduous Rakes thou workThe Ground, and chase the Birds with scaring Noise;And with the crooked Pruner lop the ShadesOf spreading Trees, and pray to Heav'n for Show'rs,Another's Store, in vain, alas! admir'd,Thou shalt behold, and from a shaken OakThy hungry Appetite in Woods relieve.
Or he describes the ill Effects he has observ'd to attend it:
[271]Semina vidi equidem multos medicare serentes,Et nitro prius, & nigra perfundere amurca,&c.Vidi lecta diu, & multo spectata labore,Degenerare tamen.Many I've known to medicate their Seed,In Nitre steep'd, and the black Lees of Oil;And tho' o'er mod'rate FireMoist, and precipitated, and with PainLong try'd, and chosen, oft they have been prov'd Degen'rate.
[271]Semina vidi equidem multos medicare serentes,Et nitro prius, & nigra perfundere amurca,&c.Vidi lecta diu, & multo spectata labore,Degenerare tamen.
Many I've known to medicate their Seed,In Nitre steep'd, and the black Lees of Oil;And tho' o'er mod'rate FireMoist, and precipitated, and with PainLong try'd, and chosen, oft they have been prov'd Degen'rate.
By this agreeable Variety the Reader's Attention is wonderfully awaken'd, tho' he sees not the Reason of it; and the Poet's Art is the more to be admir'd, because it escapes Observation.
But the greatest Ornaments of this sort of Poems, are the frequentExcursionsinto some more noble Subject, which seem'd naturally to arise out of that the Poet is treating of. Sometimes, for Instance, he runs back intoHistoryandAntiquity, or, perhaps, the very Origine of Things:
[272]Ante Jovem nulli subigebant arva coloni,&c.E'reJovewas King, no Hinds subdu'd the Glebe.
[272]Ante Jovem nulli subigebant arva coloni,&c.
E'reJovewas King, no Hinds subdu'd the Glebe.
And again:
[273]Prima Ceres ferro mortales vertere terramInstituit,&c.'TwasCeresfirst taught Mortals with the ShareTo cut the Ground.
[273]Prima Ceres ferro mortales vertere terramInstituit,&c.
'TwasCeresfirst taught Mortals with the ShareTo cut the Ground.
Sometimes he makes Reflections on the Condition of Human Life:
[274]Optima quæque dies miseris mortalibus æviPrima fugit, subeunt morbi, tristisque senectus,&c.The best of Life, which wretched Mortals share,First flies away: Diseases, sick Old Age,And Pain, and Death's Inclemency, succeed.
[274]Optima quæque dies miseris mortalibus æviPrima fugit, subeunt morbi, tristisque senectus,&c.
The best of Life, which wretched Mortals share,First flies away: Diseases, sick Old Age,And Pain, and Death's Inclemency, succeed.
At another Time he heightens his Subject withAstronomy, andNatural Philosophy; an Instance of which I have already cited, from theGeorgics: But I cannot help adding one more, not only as it makes very remarkably for our present Purpose, but is, moreover, an abundant Proof of what I before advanc'd, that Natural Philosophy might be express'd in the sweetest Numbers, and consequently is capable of much smoother Versification than that ofLucretius. The Poet, then, having mention'd the Noise of Crows as a Sign of fair Weather, proceeds thus:
[275]Haud equidem credo, quia sit divinitus illisIngenium, & rerum fato prudentia major:Verum ubi tempestas, & cœli mobilis humorMutavere vias, & Jupiter humidus AustrisDensat erant quæ rara modo, & quæ densa, relaxat;Vertuntur species animorum; & pectora motusNunc alios; alios, dum nubila ventus agebat,Concipiunt: Hinc ille avium concentus in agris,Et lætæ pecudes, & ovantes gutture corvi.Not that I think an Ingeny divineTo them is giv'n, or Prescience of EventsIn Fate superior: But when changeful WindsAlter the various Temper of the Sky;And the moist Ether what before was denseRelaxes, and condenses what was rare:The shifting Phantasms of their Minds are turn'd;And now within their Breasts new Passions move,Diff'rent from those they felt, when driving BlastsDispers'd the Clouds: Hence that Concent of BirdsChirping in Chorus; hence the Joy of Beasts,And Flocks of Crows exulting in the Fields.
[275]Haud equidem credo, quia sit divinitus illisIngenium, & rerum fato prudentia major:Verum ubi tempestas, & cœli mobilis humorMutavere vias, & Jupiter humidus AustrisDensat erant quæ rara modo, & quæ densa, relaxat;Vertuntur species animorum; & pectora motusNunc alios; alios, dum nubila ventus agebat,Concipiunt: Hinc ille avium concentus in agris,Et lætæ pecudes, & ovantes gutture corvi.
Not that I think an Ingeny divineTo them is giv'n, or Prescience of EventsIn Fate superior: But when changeful WindsAlter the various Temper of the Sky;And the moist Ether what before was denseRelaxes, and condenses what was rare:The shifting Phantasms of their Minds are turn'd;And now within their Breasts new Passions move,Diff'rent from those they felt, when driving BlastsDispers'd the Clouds: Hence that Concent of BirdsChirping in Chorus; hence the Joy of Beasts,And Flocks of Crows exulting in the Fields.
Often he digresses intoFableandFiction, as in that beautiful Episode ofOrpheusandEurydice: And still more often intopoetical Descriptions, as those of the perpetual Spring inItaly, and the bleak Winter inScythia; of the Happiness of a Country Life; of the various Prognostications of the Weather; of the Prodigies that foretold the Death ofCæsar; and, to name no more, of the Murrain among the Cattle. Of which, I wonder the foremention'd Author of theEssay on Virgil's Georgicsshould say, thatVirgilseems in it to have summon'd up all his Might to equal the Description of the Plague inLucretius, since the one is as much beyond the other in the Ingenuity of the Composition, as it is inferior to it, in the Dignity of the Subject; and the Plague inLucretiusis exceeded by that ofVirgil, as much as Beasts are by Men. Upon the whole, this is deservedly esteem'd the most finish'd Piece of allVirgil's Works; I need not add, that it is the compleatest in its Kind, of any we now have, or the World ever saw.
The Moderns have produc'd nothing in this Kind, exceptRapin's Books of Gardening, and thecelebrated Poem on Cyder by an ingenious Author, that not long since resided among us; who, if he had enjoy'd the Advantage ofVirgil's Language, would have been second toVirgilin a much nearer Degree. As long as the fluctuating State of our Tongue will permit, thisEnglish Georgicshall infallibly flourish,