Poems and Pictures are adjudg'd alike;Some charm us near, and some at distance strike:Thisloves the shade;thischallenges the light,Daring the keenest Critick's Eagle sight;Thisonce has pleas'd;thisever will delight.
O thou, my Piso's elder hope and pride!tho' well a father's voice thy steps can guide;tho' inbred sense what's wise and right can tell,remember this from me, and weigh it well!In certain things, things neither high nor proud,Middlingandpassablemay be allow'd.Rectè concedi: consultus juris, et actorCausarum mediocris, abest virtute disertiMessallae, nec scit quantum Cascellius Aulus;Sed tamen in pretio est: mediocribus esse poëtisNon homines, non Dî, non concessere columnae.Ut gratas inter mensas symphonia discors,Et crassum unguentum, et Sardo cum melle papaverOffendunt, poterat duci quia coena sine istis;Sic animis natum inventumque poëma juvandis,Si paulum summo decessit, vergit ad imum.
* * * * *
Ludere qui nescit, campestribus abstinet armis;Indoctusque pilae, discive, trochive, quiescit;Ne spissae risum tollant impune coronae:Qui nescit versus, tamen audet fingere. Quid nî?Amoderateproficient in the laws,Amoderatedefender of a cause,Boasts not Messala's pleadings, nor is deem'dAulus in Jurisprudence; yet esteem'd:Butmiddling Poet's, or degrees in Wit,Nor men, nor Gods, nor niblick-polls admit.At festivals, as musick out of tune,Ointment, or honey rank, disgust us soon,Because they're not essential to the guest,And might be spar'd, Unless the very best;Thus Poetry, so exquisite of kind,Of Pleasure born, to charm the soul design'd,If it fall short but little of the first,Is counted last, and rank'd among the worst.The Man, unapt for sports of fields and plains,From implements of exercise abstains;For ball, or quoit, or hoop, without the skill,Dreading the croud's derision, he sits still:In Poetry he boasts as little art,And yet in Poetry he dares take part:Liber et ingenuus; praesertim census equestremSummam nummorum, vitioque remotus ab omni.
* * * * *
Tu nihil invitâ dices faciesve Minervâ:Id tibi judicium est, ea mens: si quid tamen olimScripseris, in Metii descendat judicis aures,Et patris, et nostras; nonumque prematur in annum.Membranis intus positis, delere licebitQuod non edideris: nescit vox missa reverti.
* * * * *
Silvestres homines sacer interpresque DeorumCaedibus et victu foedo deterruit Orpheus;Dictus ob hoc lenire tigres rabidosque leones.Dictus et Amphion, Thebanae conditor arcis,Saxa movere sono testudinis, et prece blandâ.And why not? he's a Gentleman, with clearGood forty thousand sesterces a year;A freeman too; and all the world allows,"As honest as the skin between his brows!"Nothing, in spite of Genius, YOU'LL commence;Such is your judgment, such your solid sense!But if you mould hereafter write, the verseToMetius, to yourSiretome, rehearse.Let it sink deep in their judicious ears!Weigh the work well;and keep it back nine years!Papers unpublish'd you may blot or burn:A word, once utter'd, never can return.
The barb'rous natives of the shaggy woodFrom horrible repasts, and ads of blood,Orpheus, a priest, and heav'nly teacher, brought,And all the charities of nature taught:Whence he was said fierce tigers to allay,And sing the Savage Lion from his prey,Within the hollow of AMPHION'S shellSuch pow'rs of found were lodg'd, so sweet a spell!Ducere quo vellet suit haec sapientia quondam,publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis;concubitù prohibere vago; dare jura maritis;Oppida moliri; leges incidere ligno.Sic honor et nomen divinis vatibus atqueCarminibus venit post hos insignis HomerusTyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bellaVersibus exacuit dictae per carmina sortes,Et vitae monstrata via est; et gratia regum
That stones were said to move, and at his call,Charm'd to his purpose, form'd the Theban Wall.The love of Moral Wisdom to infuseThesewere the Labours of THE ANCIENT MUSE."To mark the limits, where the barriers stood'Twixt Private Int'rest, and the Publick Good;To raise a pale, and firmly to maintainThe bound, that fever'd Sacred from Profane;To shew the ills Promiscuous Love should dread,And teach the laws of the Connubial Bed;Mankind dispers'd, to Social Towns to draw;And on the Sacred Tablet grave the Law."Thus fame and honour crown'd the Poet's line;His work immortal, and himself divine!Next lofty Homer, and Tyrtaeus strungTheir Epick Harps, and Songs of Glory sung;Sounding a charge, and calling to the warThe Souls that bravely feel, and nobly dare,InVersethe Oracles their sense make known,In Verse the road and rule of life is shewn;Pieriis tentata modis, ludusque repertus,Et longorum operum finis j ne forte pudoriSit tibi Musa lyne folers, et cantor Apollo,
Natura sieret laudabile carmen, an arte, Quaesitum ess. Ego nec studium sine divite vena, Nec rude quid possit video ingenium: alterius sic Altera poscit opem res, et conjurat amice. Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam, Multa tulit fecitque puer; sudavit et alsit; Abstinuit venere et vino, qui Pythia cantatVerseto the Poet royal favour brings, And leads the Muses to the throne of Kings;Versetoo, the varied Scene and sports prepares, Brings rest to toil, and balm to all our cares. deem then with rev'rence of the glorious fire, breath'd by the muse, the mistress of the lyre! blush not to own her pow'r, her glorious flame; nor think Apollo, lord of song, thy shame!
Whether good verse of Nature is the fruit,Or form'd by Art, has long been in dispute.But what can Labour in a barren foil,Or what rude Genius profit without toil?The wants of one the other must supplyEach finds in each a friend and firm ally.Much has the Youth, who pressing in the racePants for the promis'd goal and foremost place,Suffer'd and done; borne heat, and cold's extremes,And Wine and Women scorn'd, as empty dreams,
Tibicen, didicit prius, extimuitque magistrum.Nunc satis est dixisse, Ego mira poëmata pango:Occupet extremum scabies: mihi turpe relinqui est,Et quod non didici, sane nescire sateri.
* * * * *
Ut praeco, ad merces turbam qui cogit emendas;Assentatores jubet ad lucrum ire poëtaDives agris, dives positis in foenore nummis.Si vero est, unctum qui rectè ponere possit,Et spondere levi pro paupere, et eripere artisLitibus implicitum; mirabor, si sciet inter—Noscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum.The Piper, who the Pythian Measure plays,In fear of a hard matter learnt the lays:But if to desp'rate verse I would apply,What needs instruction? 'tis enough to cry;"I can write Poems, to strike wonder blind!Plague take the hindmost! Why leavemebehind?Or why extort a truth, so mean and low,That what I have not learnt, I cannot know?"
As the sly Hawker, who a sale prepares,Collects a croud of bidders for his Wares,The Poet, warm in land, and rich in cash,Assembles flatterers, brib'd to praise his trash.But if he keeps a table, drinks good wine,And gives his hearers handsomely to dine;If he'll stand bail, and 'tangled debtors drawForth from the dirty cobwebs of the law;Much shall I praise his luck, his sense commend,If he discern the flatterer from the friend.Tu seu donaris seu quid donare voles cui;Nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenumLaetitiae; clamabit enim, Pulchrè, bene, rectè!Pallescet; super his etiam stillabit amicisEx oculis rorem; saliet; tundet pede terram.Ut qui conducti plorant in funere, dicuntEt faciunt prope plura dolentibus ex animo: sicDerisor vero plus laudatore movetur.Reges dicuntur multis urgere culullis,Et torquere mero quem perspexisse laborantAn sit amicitia dignus: si carmina condes,Nunquam te fallant animi sub vulpe latentes.Quintilio si quid recitares: Corrige sodesHoc, aiebat, et hoc: melius te posse negaresIs there a man to whom you've given aught?Or mean to give? let no such man be broughtTo hear your verses! for at every line,Bursting with joy, he'll cry, "Good! rare! divine!"The blood will leave his cheek; his eyes will fillWith tears, and soon the friendly dew distill:He'll leap with extacy, with rapture bound;Clap with both hands; with both feet beat the ground.As mummers, at a funeral hir'd to weep,More coil of woe than real mourners keep,More mov'd appears the laugher in his sleeve,Than those who truly praise, or smile, or grieve.Kings have been said to ply repeated bowls,Urge deep carousals, to unlock the soulsOf those, whose loyalty they wish'd to prove,And know, if false, or worthy of their love:You then, to writing verse if you're inclin'd,Beware the Spaniel with the Fox's mind!
Quintilius, when he heard you ought recite,Cried, "prithee, alterthis! and make _that _right!"Bis terque expertum frustra? delere jubebat,Et male ter natos incudi reddere versus.Si defendere delictum, quam vortere, malles;Nullum ultra verbum, aut operam insumebat inanem,Quin sine rivali teque et tua folus amares.
Vir bonus et prudens versus reprehendet inertes;Culpabit duros; incomptis allinet atrumTransverso calamo signum; ambitiosa recidetOrnamenta; parum claris lucem dare coget;Arguet ambiguè dictum; mutanda notabit;Fiet Aristarchus; non dicet, Cur ego amicumOffendam in nugis? Hae migae feria ducentBut if your pow'r to mend it you denied,Swearing that twice and thrice in vain you tried;"Then blot it out! (he cried) it must be terse:Back to the anvil with your ill-turn'd verse!"Still if you chose the error to defend,Rather than own, or take the pains to mend,He said no more; no more vain trouble took;But left you to admire yourself and book.
The Man, in whom Good Sense and Honour join,Will blame the harsh, reprove the idle line;The rude, all grace neglected or forgot,Eras'd at once, will vanish at his blot;Ambitious ornaments he'll lop away;On things obscure he'll make you let in day,Loose and ambiguous terms he'll not admit,And take due note of ev'ry change that's fit,A very ARISTARCHUS he'll commence;Not coolly say—"Why give my friend offence?These are but trifles!"—No; these trifles leadTo serious mischiefs, if he don't succeed;In mala derisum semel, exceptumque sinistre,Ut mala quem scabies aut morbus regius urget,Aut fanaticus error, et iracunda Diana;Vesanum tetigisse timent fugiuntque poetam,Qui sapiunt: agitant pueri, incautique sequuntur.Hic, dum sublimis versus ructatur, et errat,Si veluti menilis intentus decidit aucepsIn puteum, soveamve; licet, Succurrite, longumClamet, in cives: non sit qui tollere curet.Si curet quis opem serre, et demittere sunem;Qui scis, an prudens huc se projecerit, atqueServari nolet? dicam: Siculique poetaeNarrabo interitum.
While the poor friend in dark disgrace sits down,The butt and laughing-stock of all the town,As one, eat up by Leprosy and Itch,Moonstruck, Posses'd, or hag-rid by a Witch,A Frantick Bard puts men of sense to flight;His slaver they detest, and dread his bite:All shun his touch; except the giddy boys,Close at his heels, who hunt him down with noise,While with his head erect he threats the skies,Spouts verse, and walks without the help of eyes;Lost as a blackbird-catcher, should he pitchInto some open well, or gaping ditch;Tho' he call lustily "help, neighbours, help!"No soul regards him, or attends his yelp.Should one, too kind, to give him succour hope,Wish to relieve him, and let down a rope;Forbear! (I'll cry for aught that you can tell)By sheer design he jump'd into the well.He wishes not you should preserve him, Friend!Know you the old Sicilian Poet's end?Deus immortalis haberi.
Dum cupit Empedocles, ardeatem frigidus aetnamInfiluit. sit fas, liceatque perire poetis.Invitum qui fervat, idem facit occidenti.Nec semel hoc fecit; nec si retractus erit jam,Fiet homo, et ponet famosae mortis amorem.Nec fatis apparet, cur versus factitet; utrumMinxerit in patrios cineres, an triste bidentalMoverit incestus: certe furit, ac velut ursusObjectos caveae valuit è srangere clathros,
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Empedocles, ambitious to be thoughtA God, his name with Godlike honours fought,Holding a worldly life of no account,Lead'p coldly into aetna's burning mount.—-Let Poets then with leave resign their breath,Licens'd and priveleg'd to rush on death!Who gives a man his life against his will,Murders the man, as much as those who kill.'Tis not once only he hath done this deed;Nay, drag him forth! your kindness wo'n't succeed:Nor will he take again a mortal's shame,And lose the glory of a death of fame.Nor is't apparent,whywith verse he's wild:Whether his father's ashes he defil'd;Whether, the victim of incestuous love,The Blasted Monument he striv'd to move:Whate'er the cause, he raves; and like a Bear,Burst from his cage, and loose in open air,Indoctum doctumque fugat recitator acerbus.Quem vero arripuit, tenet, occiditque legendo,Non miffura cutem, nisi plena cruroris, hirudo.
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Learn'd and unlearn'd the Madman puts to flight,They quick to fly, he bitter to recite!What hapless soul he seizes, he holds fast;Rants, and repeats, and reads him dead at last:Hangs on him, ne'er to quit, with ceaseless speech.Till gorg'd and full of blood, a very Leech!
Notes on the EPISTLE to the PISOS Notes
I have referred the Notes to this place, that the reader might be left to his genuine feelings, and the natural impression on reading the Epistle, whether adverse or favourable to the idea I ventured to premise, concerning its Subject and Design. In the address to my learned and worthy friends I said little more than was necessary so open my plan, and to offer an excuse for my undertaking. The Notes descend to particulars, tending to illustrate and confirm my hypothesis; and adding occasional explanations of the original, chiefly intended for the use of the English Reader. I have endeavoured, according to the best of my ability, to follow the advice of Roscommon in the lines, which I have ventured to prefix to these Notes. How far I may be entitled to thepoetical blessingpromised by the Poet, the Publick must determine: but were I, avoiding arrogance, to renounce all claim to it, such an appearance ofModestywould includes charge ofImpertinencefor having hazarded this publication.Take pains thegenuine meaningto explore!
There sweat, there strain, tug the laborious oar:Search ev'ry comment, that your care can find;Some here, some there, may hit the Poet's mind:Yet be not blindly guided by theThrong;The Multitude is always in theWrong.When things appearunnaturalorhard,Consult yourauthor,withhimself compar'd!Who knows what Blessing Phoebus may bestow,And future Ages to your labour owe?SuchSecretsare not easily found out,But oncediscoverd, leave no room for doubt.truth stampsconvictionin your ravish'd breast,AndPeaceandJoyattendtheglorious guest.
Essay on Translated Verse ART of POETRY, an EPISTLE, &c.
The work of Horace, now under consideration, has been so long known, and so generally received, by the name of The Art of Poetry, that I have, on account of that notoriety, submitted this translation to the Publick, under that title, rather than what I hold to be the true one, viz. Horace's Epistle to The Pisos. The Author of the English Commentary has adopted the same title, though directly repugnant to his own system; and, I suppose, for the very same reason.
The title, in general a matter of indifference, is, in the present instance, of much consequence. On the title Julius Scaliger founded his invidious, and injudicious, attack. De arte quares quid sentiam. Quid? eqvidem quod de arte, sine arte traditâ. To the Title all the editors, and commentators, have particularly adverted; commonly preferring the Epistolary Denomination, but, in contradiction to that preference, almost universally inscribing the Epistle, the Art of Poetry. The conduct, however, of Jason De Nores, a native of Cyprus, a learned and ingenious writer of the 16th century, is very remarkable. In the year 1553 he published at Venice this work of Horace, accompanied with a commentary and notes, written in elegant Latin, inscribing it, after Quintilian, Q. Horatii Flacci Liber De Arte Poetica. [Foot note: I think it right to mention that I have never seen the 1st edition, published at Venice. With a copy of the second edition, printed in Paris, I was favoured by Dr. Warton of Winchester.] The very-next year, however, he printed at Paris a second edition, enriching his notes with many observations on Dante and Petrarch, and changing the title, after mature consideration, toQ. Horatii FlaciiEPISTOLA AD PISONES,de Arte Poeticâ.His motives for this change he assigns in the following terms.
Quare adductum me primum sciant ad inscriptionem operis immutandam non levioribus de causis,& quod formam epistolae, non autem libri, in quo praecepta tradantur, vel ex ipso principio prae se ferat, & quod in vetustis exemplaribus Epistolarum libros subsequatur, & quad etiam summi et praestantissimi homines ita sentiant, & quod minimè nobis obstet Quintiliani testimonium, ut nonnullis videtur. Nam si librum appellat Quintilianus, non est cur non possit inter epistolas enumerari, cum et illae ab Horatio in libros digestae fuerint. Quod vero DE ARTE POETICA idem Quintilianus adjangat, nihil commaveor, cum et in epistolis praecepta de aliquâ re tradi possint, ab eodemque in omnibus penè, et in iis ad Scaevam & Lollium praecipuè jam factum videatur, in quibus breviter eos instituit, qua ratione apud majores facile versarentur.
Desprez, the Dauphin Editor, retains both titles, but says, inclining to the Epistolary,Attamen artem poeticam vix appellem cum Quintiliano et aliis: malim vero epistolam nuncupare cum nonnullis eruditis.Monsieur Dacier inscribes it, properly enough, agreable to the idea of Porphyry, Q. Horatii Flacci DE ARTE POETICA LIBER; feu, EPISTOLA AD PISONES, patrem, et filios._
Julius Scaliger certainly stands convicted of critical malice by his poor cavil atthe supposed title; and has betrayed his ignorance of the ease and beauty of Epistolary method, as well as the most gross misapprehension, by his ridiculous analysis of the work, resolving it into thirty-six parts. He seems, however, to have not ill conceived the genius of the poem, in saying thatit relished satire. This he has urged in many parts of his Poeticks, particularly in the Dedicatory Epistle to his son, not omitting, however, his constant charge ofArt without Art. Horatius artem cum inscripsit, adeo sine ulla docet arte, ut satyrae propius totum opus illud esse videatur. This comes almost home to the opinion of the Author of the elegant commentaries on the two Epistles of Horace to the Pisos and to Augustus, as expressed in the Dedication to the latter: With the recital of that opinion I shall conclude this long note. "The genius of Rome was bold and elevated: but Criticism of any kind, was little cultivated, never professed as anart, by this people. The specimens we have of their ability in this way (of which the most elegant, beyond all dispute, are the two epistles toAugustusand thePisos)are slight occasional attempts, made in the negligence of common sense,and adapted to the peculiar exigencies of their own taste and learning; and not by any means the regular productions ofart, professedly bending itself to this work, and ambitious to give the last finishing to the critical system."
[Translated from Horace.] In that very entertaining and instructive publication, entitledAn Essay on the Learning and Genius of Pope, the Critick recommends, as the properest poetical measure to render in English the Satires and Epistles of Horace, that kind of familiar blank verse, used in a version of Terence, attempted some years since by the Author of this translation. I am proud of the compliment; yet I have varied from the mode prescribed: not because Roscommon has already given such a version; or because I think the satyrical hexameters of Horace less familiar than the irregular lambicks of Terence. English Blank Verse, like the lambick of Greece and Rome, is peculiarly adapted to theatrical action and dialogue, as well as to the Epick, and the more elevated Didactick Poetry: but after the models left by Dryden and Pope, and in the face of the living example of Johnson, who shall venture to reject rhime in the province of Satire and Epistle?
9.—TRUST ME, MY PISOS!]Credite Pisones!
Monsieur Dacier, at a very early period, feels the influence ofthe personal address, that governs this Epistle. Remarking on this passage, he observes that Horace, anxious to inspire _the Pisos _with a just taste, says earnestly _Trust me, my Pisos! Credite Pisones! _an expression that betrays fear and distrust, lest _the young Men _should fall into the dangerous error of bad poets, and injudicious criticks, who not only thought the want of unity of subject a pardonable effect of Genius, but even the mark of a rich and luxuriant imagination. And although this Epistle, continues Monsieur Dacier, is addressed indifferently to Piso the father, and his Sons, as appears by v. 24 of the original, yet it is _to the sons in particular _that these precepts are directed; a consideration which reconciles the difference mentioned by Porphyry.Scribit ad Pisones, viros nobiles disertosque, patrem et filios; vel, ut alii volunt,ad pisones fratres.
Desprez, the Dauphin Editor, observes also, in the same strain, Porro _scribit Horatius ad patrem et ad filios Pisones, _praesertim vero ad hos.
The family of thePisos, to whom Horace addresses this Epistle, were called Calpurnii, being descended from Calpus, son of Numa Pompilius, whence, he afterwards stiles themof the Pompilian Blood. Pompilius Sanguis!
10.—THE VOLUME SUCH] Librumpersimilem. Liber, observes Dacier, is a term applied to all literary productions, of whatever description. This remark is undoubtedly just, confirms the sentiments of Jason de Nores, and takes off the force of all the arguments founded on Quintilian's having stiled his Epistle LIBER dearte poetica.
Vossius, speaking of the censure of Scaliger, "de arte, sine arte," subsoins sed fallitur, cum [Greek: epigraphaen] putat esse ab Horatio; qui inscipserat EPISTOLAM AD PISONES. Argumentum vero, ut in Epistolarum raeteris, ita in bâc etiam, ab aliis postea appositum fuit.
l9.——OFT WORKS OF PROMISE LARGE, AND HIGH ATTEMPT.] Incaeptis gra- nibus plerumque, &c. Buckingham'sEssay on Poetry, Roscommon'sEssay on Translated Verse, as well as the Satires, andArt Poetiqueof Boileau, and Pope'sEssay on Criticism, abound with imitations of Horace. This passage of our Author seems to have given birth to the following lines of Buckingham.
'Tis not a slash of fancy, which sometimes,Dazzling our minds, sets off the slighted rhimes;Bright as a blaze, but in a moment done;True Wit is everlasting, like the Sun;Which though sometimes behind a cloud retir'd,Breaks out again, and is the more admir'd.
The following lines of Pope may perhaps appear to bear a nearer resemblance this passage of Horace.
Some toConceitalone their taste confine,And glitt'ring thoughts struck out at ev'ry line;Pleas'd with a work where nothing's just or fit;One glaring chaos, and wild heap of wit.
Essay on Criticism.
49.—-Of th' Aemilian class ]Aemilium circa ludum—literally, near the Aemilian School; alluding to the Academy of Gladiators of Aemilius Lentulus, in whose neighbourhood lived many Artists and Shopkeepers.
This passage also is imitated by Buckingham.
Number and Rhime, and that harmonious found,Which neverdoesthe ear withharshnesswound,Arenecessary, yet butvulgararts;For all in vain these superficial partsContribute to the structure of the wholeWithout aGeniustoo; for that's theSoul:ASpiritwhich inspires the work throughoutAs that ofNaturemoves the world about.
Essay on Poetry.
Pope has given a beautiful illustration of this thought,
Survey THE WHOLE, nor seek slight faults to findWhere nature moves, and rapture warms the mind;In wit, as Nature, what affects our hearts,Is not th' exactness of peculiar parts;'Tis not a lip, or eye, we beauty call,But the joint force and full result of all.Thus when we view some well-proportion'd dome,(The world's just wonder, and ev'n thine, O Rome!)No single parts unequally surprise,All comes united to th' admiring eyes;No monstrous height, or breadth, or length appear;THE WHOLE at once is bold and regular.
Essay on Criticism.
56.—SELECT, ALL YE WHO WRITE, A SUBJECT FIT]Sumite materiam, &c.
This passage is well imitated by Roscommon in his Essay on TranslatedVerse.
The first great work, (a task perform'd by few) Is, thatyourselfmay toyourselfbe true: No mask, no tricks, no favour, no reserve!Dissectyour mind, examine ev'rynerve. Whoever vainly on his strength depends,Beginslike Virgil, but like Maeviusends.
* * * * *
Each poet with a different talent writes,Onepraises, oneinstructs, anotherbites.Horace did ne'er aspire to Epick Bays,Nor lofty Maro stoop to Lyrick Lays.Examine how yourhumouris inclin'd,And which the ruling passion of your mind:Then, seek a Poet who your way does bend,And chuse an Author as you chuse a friend.United by this sympathetick bond,You grow familiar, intimate, and fond;Your thoughts, your words your stiles, your Souls agree,No longer hisinterpreter, butHe.
Stoopingto Lyrick Lays, though not inapplicable to some of the lighter odes of Horace, is not descriptive of the general character of the Lyrick Muse.Musa dedit Fidibus Divas &c.
Pope takes up the same thought in his Essay on Criticism.
Be sure yourself and your own reach to know,How far your genius, taste, and learning go;Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet,And mark that point where sense and dulness meet.
* * * * *
Like Kings we lose the conquests gain'd before,By vain ambition still to make them more:Each might his servile province well command,Would all but stoop to what they understand.
71.—A cunning phrase.]Callida junctura.
Jason de Noresand many other interpreters agree that Horace here recommends, after Aristotle, the artful elevation of style by the use of common words in an uncommon sense, producing at once an air of familiarity and magnificence. Some however confine the expression,callida junctura, to signifycompound words. The Author of the English Commentary adopts the first construction; but considers the precept in both senses, and illustrates each by many beautiful examples from the plays of Shakespeare. These examples he has accompanied with much elegant and judicious observation, as the reader of taste will be convinced by the following short extracts.
"The writers of that time had solatinizedthe English language, that the pureEnglish Idiom, which Shakespeare generally follows, has all the air ofnovelty, which other writers are used to affect by foreign phraseology.—In short, the articles here enumerated are but so many ways of departing from the usual and simpler forms of speech, without neglecting too much the grace of ease and perspicuity; in which well-tempered licence one of the greatest charms of all poetry, but especially of Shakespeare's poetry, consists. Not that he was always and every where so happy. His expression sometimes, and by the very means, here exemplified, becomeshard,obscure, andunnatural. This is the extreme on the other side. But in general, we may say, that He hath either followed the direction of Horace very ably, or hath hit upon his rule very happily."
76.—THE STRAIT-LAC'D CETHEGI.] CINCTUTISCethegis. Jason de Nores differs, and I think very justly, from those who interpretCinctutisto signifyloose,bare, ornaked—EXERTOS & NUDOS. The plain sense of the radical wordcingois directly opposite. The wordcinctutisis here assumed to express a severity of manners by an allusion to an antique gravity of dress; and the Poet, addsde Nores, very happily forms a new word himself, as a vindication and example of the licence he recommends. Cicero numbers M. Corn. Cethegus among the old Roman Orators; and Horace himself again refers to the Cethegi in his Epistle to Florus, and on the subject of the use of words.
Obscurata diu papula bonus eruet, atqueProseret in lucem speciosa vocabula rer*um;***need a Latin speaker to check this out***Quae priscis memorataCATONIBUSatqueCETHEGIS,Nunc situs informis premit & deserta vetustas;Adsciscet nova quae genitor produxerit usus.
Mark where a bold expressive phrase appears,Bright thro' the rubbish of some hundred years;Commandold wordsthat long have slept, to wake,Words, that wife Bacon, or brave Raleigh spake;Or bidthe newbe English, ages hence,For Use will father what's begot by Sense.
This brilliant passage of Pope is quoted in this place by the author of that English Commentary, who has also subjoined many excellent remarks onthe revival of old words, worthy the particular attention of those who cultivate prose as well as poetry, and shewing at large, that "the riches of a language are actually increased by retaining its old words: and besides, they have oftena greater real weight and dignity, than those of a morefashionablecast, which succeed to them. This needs no proof to such as are versed in the earlier writings of any language."—"The growing prevalency of a very different humour, first catched, as it should seem, from our commerce with the French Models,and countenanced by the too scrupulous delicacy of some good writers amongst ourselves, bad gone far towards unnerving the noblest modern language, and effeminating the public taste."—"The rejection ofold words, asbarbarous, and of many modern ones, as unpolite," had so exhausted thestrengthandstoresof our language, that it was high time for some master-hand to interpose, and send us for supplies toour old poets; which there is the highest authority for saying, no one ever despised, but for a reason, not very consistent with his credit to avow:rudem esse omnino in nostris poetis, aut inertissimae nequitiae est, aut fastidii delicatissimi.— Cic. de fin.1. i. c. 2.
[As woods endure, &c.]Ut silvae foliis, &c. Mr. Duncombe, in his translation of our Author, concurs with Monsieur Dacier in observing that "Horace seems here to have had in view that fine similitude of Homer in the sixth book of the Iliad, comparing the generations of men to the annual succession of leaves.
[Greek:Oipaeer phyllon genehn, toiaede ch ahndron.phylla ta mehn t anemohs chamahdis cheei, ahllah de thulaTaeletheasa phyei, earos depigigyel(*)ai oraeOz andron genen. aemen phnei, aeh dahpolaegei.]
"Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;Another race the following spring supplies,They fall successive, and successive rise:So generations in their turns decay;So flourish these, when those are past away."
The translator of Homer has himself compared words to leaves, but in another view, in his Essay on Criticism.
Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.
In another part of the Essay he persues the same train of thought withHorace, and rises, I think, above his Master.
Short is the date, alas, of modern rhymes,And 'tis but just to let them live betimes.No longer now that golden age appears,When Patriarch-wits surviv'd a thousand years;Now length of Fame (our second life) is lost,And bare threescore is all ev'n that can boast;Our sons their father's failing language see,And such as Chaucer is, shall Dryden be.So when the faithful pencil has design'dSome bright idea of the Master's mind,Where a new world leaps out at his command,And ready Nature waits upon his hand;When the ripe colours soften and unite,And sweetly melt into just shade and light;When mellowing years their full perfection give,And each bold figure just begins to live;The treach'rous colours the fair art betray,And all the bright creation fades away!
Essay an Criticism.
95.—WHETHER THE SEA, &c.]Sive receptus, &c.
This may be understood of any harbour; but it is generally interpreted to refer to thePortus Julius, a haven formed by letting in the sea upon theLucrine Lake, and forming a junction between that and the LakeAvernus; a work, commenced by Julius Caesar, and compleated by Augustus, or Agrippa under his auspices.Regis opus!Both these lakes (says Martin) were in Campania: the former was destroyed by an earthquake; but the latter is the presentLago d'Averno. Strabo, the Geographer, who, as well as our Poet, was living at the time, ascribes this work to Agrippa, and tells us that the Lucrine bay was separated from the Tyrrhene sea by a mound, said to have been first made by Hercules, and restored by Agrippa. Philargyrius says that a storm arose at the time of the execution of this great work, to which Virgil seems to refer in his mention of this Port, in the course of his Panegyrick on Italy in the second Georgick.
An memorem portus Lucrinoque addita claustra,Atque indignatem magnis strideribus aequor,Julia qua ponto longe sonat unda refuso,Tyrrbenusque fretis immittitur aeflut AVERNIS?
Or shall I praise thy Ports, or mention makeOf the vast mound, that binds the Lucrine Lake?Or the disdainful sea, that, shut from thence,Roars round the structure, and invades the fence;There, where secure the Julian waters glide,Or where Avernus' jaws admit the Tyrrhene tide?DRYDEN.
98.—WHETHER THE MARSH, &c. Sterilisve Palus.]
THE PONTINE MARSH, first drained by the Consul Cornelius Cethegus; then, by Augustus; and many, many years after by Theodorick.
102.—OR IF THE RIVER, &c.]Sen cursum, &c.The course of theTyber,changed by Augustus, to prevent inundations.
110.—FOR DEEDS OF KINGS, &c.] Res gestae regumque, &c.
The ingenious author of the English Commentary, to whom I have so often referred, and to whom I must continue to refer, has discovered particular taste, judgement, and address, in his explication of this part of the Epistle. runs thus.
"From reflections on poetry, at large, he proceeds now to particulars: the most obvious of which being the different forms and measures of poetick composition, he considers, in this view, [from v. 75 to 86] the four great species of poetry, to which all others may be reduced, the Epick, Elegiack, Dramatick, and Lyrick. But the distinction of the measure, to be observed in the several species is so obvious, that there can scarcely be any mistake about them. The difficulty is to know [from v. 86 to 89] how far each may partake of the spirit of the other, without destroying that natural and necessary difference, which ought to subsist betwixt them all. To explain this, which is a point of great nicety, he considers [from v. 89 to 99] the case of Dramatick Poetry; the two species of which are as distinct from each other, as any two can be, and yet there are times, when the features of the one will be allowed to resemble those of the other.—But the Poet had a further view in choosing this instance. For he gets by this means into the main of his subject, which was Dramatick Poetry, and, by the most delicate transition imaginable, proceeds [from 89 to 323] to deliver a series of rules, interspersed with historical accounts,and enlivened by digressions, for the regulation of the Roman stage."
It is needless to insist, that my hypothesis will not allow me to concur entirely in the latter part of this extract; at least in that latitude, to which; the system of the writer carries it: yet I perfectly agree with Mr. Duncombe, that the learned Critick, in his observations on this Epistle, "has shewn, in general, the connection and dependence of one part with another, in a clearer light than any other Commentator." His shrewd and delicate commentary is, indeed, a most elegant contrast to the barbarous analysis of Scaliger, drawn up without the least idea of poetical transition, and with the uncouth air of a mere dry logician, or dull grammarian. I think, however, theOrderandMethod, observed in this Epistle, is stricter than has yet been observed, and that the series of rules is delivered with great regularity; NOTenlivened by digressions, but passing from one topick to another, by the most natural and easy transitions. The Author's discrimination of the different stiles of the several species of poetry, leads him, as has been already shewn, to consider the diction of the Drama, and its accommodation to thecircumstancesandcharacterof the Speaker. A recapitulation of thesecircumstancescarries him to treat of the due management ofcharacters already known, as well as of sustaining those that are entirelyoriginal; to the first of which the Poet gives the preference, recommendingknowncharacters, as well asknownsubjects: And on the mention of this joint preference, the Author leaves further consideration ofthediction, and slides into discourse upon the fable, which he continues down to the 152d verse.
Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet,Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.
Having dispatched the fable, the Poet proceeds, and with some Solemnity of Order, to the consideration of the characters; not in regard to suitablediction, for of that he has already spoken, but in respect tothe manners; and, in this branch of his subject, he has as judiciously borrowed fromthe Rhetoricksof Aristotle, as in the rest of his Epistle from thePoeticks. He then directs, in its due place, the proper conduct of particular incidentsof the fable; after which he treats ofthechorus; from whence he naturally falls into the history of theatrical musick; which is, as naturally, succeeded by an account of the Origin ofthe Drama, itself, which the Poet commences, like master Aristotle, even from the Dithyrambick Song, and carries it down to the establishment of the New Greek Comedy; from whence he passes easily and gracefully, totheRoman stage, acknowledging the merits of the Writers, but pointing out their defects, and assigning the causes. He then subjoins a few general observations, and concludes his long discourse onthedrama, having extended it to 275 lines. This discourse, together with the result of all his reflections on Poets and Poetry, he then applies in the most earnest andpersonalmanner to the elder Piso; and with a long and most pathetickperoration, if I may adopt an oratorical term, concludes the Epistle.
116.—THE ELEGY'S SMALL SONG.] EXIGUOSElegos.
Commentators differ concerning the import of this expression—exiguosElegos, theElegy'ssmallsong. De Nores, Schrevelius, and Desprez, think it refers to the humility of the elegiack stile and subjects, compared with epick or lyrick sublimity. Monsieur Dacier rather thinks that Horace refers here, as in the wordsVersibus impariter junctis,"Couplets unequal," to the use of pentameter, or short verse, consisting of five feet, and joined to the hexameter, or long verse, of six. This inequality of the couplet Monsieur Dacier justly prefers to the two long Alexandrines of his own country, which sets almost all the French poetry, Epick, Dramatick, Elegiack, or Satyrick, to the tune of Derry Down. In our language, the measures are more various, and more happily conceived. Our Elegy adopts not onlyunequal couplets, butalternate rhymes, which give a plaintive tone to the heroick measure, and are most happily used in Gray's beautiful _Elegy in a Country Church yard.
135.—THY FEAST, THYESTES!] Caena Thyestae.
The story of Thyestes being of the most tragick nature, a banquet on his own children! is commonly interpreted by the Criticks, as mentioned by Horace, in allusion to Tragedy in general. The Author of the English Commentary, however, is of a different opinion, supposing, from a passage of Cicero, that the Poet means to glance at theThyestes of Ennius,and to pay an oblique compliment to Varius, who had written a tragedy on the same subject.
The same learned Critick also takes it for granted, that the Tragedy of Telephus, and probably ofPeleus, after-mentioned, point at tragedies of Euripedes, on these subjects, translated into Latin, and accomodated to the Roman Stage, without success, byEnnius, Accius, or Naevius.
One of this Critick's notes on this part of the Epistle, treating on the use ofpure poetryin the Drama, abounds with curious disquisition and refined criticism.
150.—They must havepassiontoo.] dulciasunto. The Poet, with great address, includes the sentiments under the consideration of diction.
—Effert animi motusinterprete lingua.Forces expression from thefaithful tongue.
Buckingham has treated the subject of Dialogue very happily in his Essay on Poetry, glancing, but not servilely, at this part of Horace.
Figures of Speech, which Poets think so fine,Art's needless varnish to make Nature shine,Are all butPaintupon a beauteous face,And inDescriptionsonly claim a place.But to makeRage declaim, andGrief discourse,From lovers in despairfinethings toforce,Must needs succeed; for who can chuse but pityAdyinghero miserablywitty?
201.——BE NOT YOUR OPENING FIERCE!]Nec sic incipies, Most of the Criticks observe, that all these documents, deduced fromthe Epick, are intended, like the reduction of the Iliad into acts, as directions and admonition to theDramatickwriter.Nam si inEPOPaeIA,que gravitate omnia poematum generae praecellit, ait principium lene esse debere; quanto magis intragoediaetcomoedia,idem videri debet? says de Nores.Praeceptum de intio grandiori evitaado, quod tamepicusquamtragicuscavere debet; says the Dauphin Editor.Il faut se souvenir qu' Horace appliqae à la Tragedie les regies du Poeme Epique. Car si ces debuts eclatans sont ridicules dans la Poeme Epique, ils le sont encore plus dans la Tragedie: says Dacier. The Author of the English Commentary makes the like observation, and uses it to enforce his system of the Epistle's being intended as a Criticism on the Roman drama. [ xviii] 202—-Likethe rudeballad-monger'schant of old]ut scriptorcyclicus olim.]Scriptorcyclicus signisies an itinerant Rhymer travelling, like Shakespeare's Mad Tom, to wakes, and fairs, and market-towns. 'Tis not precisely known who was the Cyclick Poet here meant. Some have ascribed the character to Maevius, and Roscommon has adopted that idea.
Whoever vainly on hisstrengthdepends,Begins like Virgil, but like Maevius ends:That Wretch, in spite of his forgotten rhimes,Condemn'd to live to all succeeding times,Withpompous nonsense, and abellowing sound,Sunglofty Ilium,tumblingto theground,And, if my Muse can thro' past ages fee,Thatnoisy, nauseous, gaping fool washe;Exploded, when, with universal scorn,TheMountains labour'd, and aMousewas born.
Essay on Translated Verse.
The pompous exordium of Statius is well known, and the fragments ofEnnius present us a most tremendous commencement of his Annals.
horrida romoleum certamina pango duellum! this is indeed to split our ears asunder With guns, drums, trumpets, blunderbuss, and thunder!
211.—Say, Muse, the Man, &c.] Homer's opening of the Odyssey. his rule is perhaps no where so chastely observed as inthe Paradise Lost. Homer's [Greek: Maenin aeide thea]! or, his [Greek: Andra moi ennepe,Mgsa]! or, Virgil'sArma, Urumque cano! are all boisterous and vehement, in comparison with the calmness and modesty of Milton's meek approach,
Of Man's first disobedience, &c.
2l5.—Antiphates, the Cyclops, &c].-Antiphatem, Scyllamque, & cum Cyclope Charybdim. Stories, that occur in the Odyssey. 218-19—Diomed's return—the Double Egg.]
The return of Diomede is not mentioned by Homer, but is said to be the subject of a tedious Poem by Antimachus; and to Stasimus is ascribed a Poem, called the Little Iliad, beginning with the nativity of Helen.
227.—Hear now!]Tu, quid ego, &c.
This invocation, says Dacier justly, is not addressed to either of thePisos, but to the Dramatick Writer generally.
229.—-The Cloth goes down.]Aulaea manentis.This is translated according to modern manners; for with the Antients, the Cloth was raised at the Conclusion of the Play. Thus in Virgil's Georgicks;
Vel scena ut versis disceedat frontibus, atquePurpurea intexti tollant aulaea Britanni.
Where the proud theatres disclose the scene;Which interwoven Britons seem toraise;And shew the triumph which theirshamedisplays.
Dryden
230.—Man's several ages, &c.]aetatis cujusque, &c.Jason Demores takes notice of the particular stress, that Horace lays on the due discrimination of the several Ages, by the solemnity with which he introduces the mention of them: The same Critick subjoins a note also, which I shall transcribe, as it serves to illustrate a popular passage in theAs you Like Itof Shakespeare.
All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players;They have theirexitsand their entrances,And one man in his time plays many parts:His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms:And then, the whining school-boy with his satchel,And shining morning-face, creeping like snailUnwillingly to school. And then, the lover;Sighing like furnace, with a woeful balladMade to his mistress' eye-brow. Then, a soldier;Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel;Seeking the bubble reputationEven in the cannon's mouth. And then, the justiceIn fair round belly, with good capon lin'dWith eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,Full of wise saws and modern instances,And so he plays his part. The sixth age shiftsInto the lean and flipper'd pantaloon,With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side;His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wideFor his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,Turning again toward childish treble, pipes,And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,That ends this strange eventful history,Is second childishness, and mere oblivion,Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
Animadvertia plerisquehominis aetatemin septem divisam esse partes, infantiam, pueritiam, adolescentiam, juventutem, virilitatem, senectutem, &ut ab illis dicitur, decrepitatem.In hâc verò parte nihil deinfantiaemoribus Horatius, cum nihil ea aetas praeter vagitum habeat proprium, ideòque infantis persona minimè in scenâ induci possit, quòd ipsas rerum voces reddere neque dum sciat, neque valeat. Nihil de moribus item hujus aetatis, quam, si latinè licet, decrepitatemvocabimus, quae aetas quodammodo infantiae respondet:dejuventuteautem& adolescentiasimul pertractat, quòd et studiis, et naturâ, & voluntate, parum, aut nihil inter se differant. Aristoteles etiam in libris ad Theodectem omisit& pueritiam, &meritò; cum minime apud pueros, vel de pueris sit orator habiturus orationem. Ille enim ad hoc ex aetate personarum differentiam adhibet, ut instituat oratorem, quomodo moratâ uti debeat oratione, id est, eorum moribus, apud quos, & de quibus loquitur, accommodatâ.
It appears from hence, that it wascommonfor the writers of that time, as well as Shakespeare's Jaques, to divide the life of Man into seven ages, viz.Infancy, Childhood, Puberty, Youth, Manhood, Old Age, andDecrepitude; "which last, (says Denores) in some sort answers to Infancy," or, as Shakespeare expresses it, IS second childishness.
"Before Shakespeare's time," says Warburton, "seven actswas no unusual division of a play, so that there is a greater beauty than appears at first sight in this image." Mr. Steevens, however, informs us that the plays of that early period were not divided into acts at all. It is most probable therefore that Shakespeare only copied the moral philosophy (theSocraticae chartae) of his own day, adapting it, like Aristotle and Horace, to his own purpose; and, I think, with more felicity, than either of his illustrious predecessors, by contriving to introduce, and discriminate,every one ofthe seven ages. This he has effected by assigning station and character to some of the stages, which to Aristotle and Horace appeared too similar to be distinguished from each other. Thus puberty, youth, manhood, and old age, become under Shakespeare's hand,thelover,thesoldier,thejustice, and the lean and flipper'd pantaloon; while thenatural qualitiesof the infant, the boy, and the dotard, afford sufficient materials for poetical description.
262.—Thusyears advancingmany comforts bring, andflyingbear off many on their wing.]
Multa feruntanni venientescommoda secum, multarecedentesadimunt.
Aristotle considers the powers of the body in a state of advancement till the 35th year, and the faculties of the mind progressively improving till the 49th; from which periods they severally decline. On which circumstance, applied to this passage of Horace, Jason de Nores elegantly remarks,Vita enim nostra videtur advirilitatemusque, quâin statuposita est, quendam quasi pontemaetatisascendere,ab eâque indedescendere. Whether Addison ever met with the commentary of De Nores, it is perhaps impossible to discover. But this idea oftheascentanddeclivityof thebridgeofhuman life, strongly reminds us of the delightfulvision ofmirza.
288.—An actor's partthe Chorusshould sustain.]Actoris partesChorus, &c.
"See alsoAristotle[Greek*: oes. ooiaet. k. iae.] The judgment of two such critics, and the practice of wise antiquity, concurring to establish this precept concerning the Chorus, it should thenceforth, one would think, have become a fundamental rule and maxim of the stage. And so indeed it appeared to some few writers. The most admired of the French tragic poets ventured to introduce it into two of his latter plays, and with such success that, as one observes,It should, in all reason, have disabused his countrymen on this head: l'essai heureux de M. Racine, qui les [choeurs] a fait revivre dansathalie _et dansesther, devroit, il semble, nous avoir detrompez sur cet article._ [P. Brumoi, vol. i. p. 105.] And, before him, ourMilton, who, with his other great talents, possessed a supreme knowledge of antiquity, was so struck with its use and beauty, as to attempt to bring it into our language. HisSampson Agonisteswas, as might be expected, a master- piece. But even his credit hath not been sufficient to restore the Chorus. Hear a late Professor of the art declaring, _De _Choronihil disserui, quia non est essentialis dramati, atque à neotericis penitus, et, me judice, merito repudiatur. [Prael. Poet. vol. ii. p. 188.] Whence it hath come to pass that the chorus hath been thus neglected is not now the enquiry. But that this critic, and all such, are greatly out in their judgments, when they presume to censure it in the ancients, must appear (if we look no further) from the double use, insisted on by the poet, For, 1. A _chorus _interposing, and bearing a part in the progress of the action, gives the representation thatprobability, [Footnote:Quel avantage ne peut il [le poete] pas tirer d'une troupe d'acteurs, qui remplissent sa scene, qui rendant plus sense la continuité de l'action qui la sont paroitre VRAISEMBLABLE puisqu'il n'est pas naturel qu'elle sa passe sans point. On ne sent que trop le vuide de notre Théatre sans choeurs. &c.[Les Théatre des Grècs. i. p. 105 ] and striking resemblance of real life, which every man of sense perceives, andfeelsthe want of upon our stage; a want, which nothing but such an expedient as the chorus can possibly relieve. And, 2. The importance of its other office [l. 196] to the _utility _of the representation, is so great, that, in a moral view, nothing can compensate for this deficiency. For it is necessary to the truth and decorum of characters, that themanners, bad as well as good, be drawn in strong, vivid colours; and to that end that immoral sentiments, forcibly expressed and speciously maintained, be sometimes _imputed _to the speakers. Hence the sound philosophy of the chorus will be constantly wanting, to rectify the wrong conclusions of the audience, and prevent the ill impressions that might otherwise be made upon it. Nor let any one say, that the audience is well able to do this for itself: Euripides did not find even an Athenian theatre so quick-sighted. The story is well known, [Sen. Ep. 115.] that when this painter of the _manners _was obliged, by the rules of his art, and the character to be sustained, to put a run of bold sentiments in the mouth of one of his persons, the people instantly took fire, charging the poet with the _imputed _villainy, as though it had been hisown. Now if such an audience could so easily misinterpret an attention to the truth of character into the real doctrine of the poet, and this too, when a Chorus was at hand to correct and disabuse their judgments, what must be the case, when the _whole _is left to the sagacity and penetration of the people? The wiser sort, it is true, have little need of this information. Yet the reflexions of sober sense on the course and occurrences of the representation, clothed in the noblest dress of poetry, and enforced by the joint powers of harmony and action (which is the true character of the Chorus) might make it, even to such, a no unpleasant or unprofitable entertainment. But these two are a small part of the uses of the chorus; which in every light is seen so important to the truth, decorum, and dignity of the tragic scene, that the modern stage, which hath not thought proper to adopt it, is even, with the advantage of, sometimes, the justest moral painting and sublimest imagery, but a very faint shadow of the old; as must needs appear to those who have looked into the ancient models, or, diverting themselves of modern prejudices, are disposed to consult the dictates of plain sense. For the use of such, I once designed to have drawn into one view the several important benefits arising to the drama from the observance of this rule, but have the pleasure to find myself prevented by a sensible dissertation of a good French writer, which the reader will find in the VIII tom. of the History of the Academy of Inscriptions end Belles Lettres.—Or, it may be sufficient to refer the English reader to the late tragedies of Elfrida and Caractacus; which do honour to modern poetry, and are a better apology, than any I could make, for the ancient Chorus.——Notes on the Art of Poetry.
Though it is not my intention to agitate, in this place, the long disputed question concerning the expediency, or inexpediency, of the Chorus, yet I cannot dismiss the above note without some farther observation. In the first place then I cannot think thatthe judgment of two such Criticksas Aristotle and Horace, can be decisively quoted,as concurring with the practice of wise antiquity,to establish the chorus. Neither of thesetwo Critickshave taken up the question, each of them giving directions for the proper conduct ofthe Chorus,considered as an established and received part of Tragedy, and indeed originally, as they both tell us,the wholeof it. Aristotle, in his Poeticks, has not said much on the subject and from the little he has said, more arguments might perhaps be drawn, in favour of the omission, than for the introduction ofthe Chorus.It is true that he says, in his 4th chapter, that "Tragedy, after many changes, paused,having gained its natural form:"[Greek transliteration: 'pollha': moiazolas metazalousa ae tragodia epausto, hepei hesche taen heauiaes phusin]. This might, at first sight, seem to include his approbation of the Chorus, as well as of all the other parts of Tragedy then in use: but he himself expressly tells us in the very same chapter, that he had no such meaning, saying, that "to enquire whether Tragedy be perfect in its parts, either considered in itself, or with relation to the theatre, was foreign to his present purpose." [Greek: To men oun epischopein, eiapa echei aedae hae tragodia tois ikanos, ae ou, auto te kath auto krinomenon, kai pros ta theatra, allos logos.]
In the passage from which Horace has, in the verses now before us, described the office, and laid down the duties of the CHORUS, the passage referred to by the learned Critick, the words of Aristotle are not particularly favourable to the institution, or much calculated to recommend the use of it. For Aristotle there informs us, "that Sophocles alone of all the Grecian writers, madetheCHORUS conducive to the progress of the fable: not only even Euripides being culpable in this instance; but other writers, after the example of Agathon, introducing Odes as little to the purpose, as if they had borrowed whole scenes from another play."
[Greek: Kai ton chorus de ena dei upolazein tan upochriton. Kai morion einai tch olch, chai sunagonis*e mae osper par Euripidae, all osper para Sophochlei. Tois de loipois ta didomena mallon ta muthch, ae allaes Tragadias esi di o emzolima adchoi, protch arxanto Agrathonos tch toichtch Kai tch diaphsrei, ae aemzot ma adein, ae raesin ex allch eis allo armotteen, ae eteitodion oleos [per. poiaet. ch. iii.]]
On the whole therefore, whatever may be the merits, or advantages oftheCHORUS, I cannot think that the judgment of Aristotle or Horace can be adduced as recommendation of it. As tothe probability given to the representation, by CHORUS interposing and bearing a part in the action;the Publick, who have lately in a troop of singers assembled on the stage, as a Chorus, during the whole of presentations of Elfrida and Caractacus, are competent to decide for themselves, how far such an expedient, gives a morestriking resemblance of human life,than the common usage of our Drama. As to its importance in amoralview, to correct the evil impression of vicious sentiments,imputedto the speakers; the story told, to enforce its use for this purpose, conveys a proof of its efficacy. To give due force to sentiments, as well as to direct their proper tendency, depends on the skill and address of the Poet, independent oftheChorus,
Monsieur Dacier, as well as the author of the above note, censures the modern stage for having rejected the Chorus, and having lost therebyat least half its probability, and itsgreatest ornament; so that our Tragedy isbut a very faint shadow of theold. Learned Criticks, however, do not, perhaps, consider, that if it be expedient to revivetheChorus, all the other parts of the antient Tragedy must be revived along with it. Aristotle mentions Musick as one of the six parts of Tragedy, and Horace no sooner introducestheCHORUS, but he proceeds to _the _pipe _and _lyre. If a Chorus be really necessary, our Dramas, like those of the antients, should be rendered whollymusical; the _Dancers _also will then claim their place, and the pretentions of Vestris and Noverre may be admitted asclassical. Such a spectacle, if not morenaturalthan the modern, would at least be consistent; but to introduce a groupe ofspectatorial actors, speaking in one part of the Drama, and singing in another, is as strange and incoherent a medley, and full asunclassical, as the dialogue and airs ofThe Beggar's Opera!
290.—Chaunting no Odes between the acts, that seemunapt, _or _foreign _to the _general theme.]
Nec quid medios, &c.
On this passage the author of the English Commentary thus remarks. "How necessary this advice might be to the writers of the Augustan age cannot certainly appear; but, if the practice of Seneca may give room for suspicion, it should seem to have been much wanted; in whom I scarcely believethere isone single instance, _of the _Chorus being employed in a manner, consonant to its true end and character."
The learned Critick seems here to believe, and the plays under the name of Seneca in some measure warrant the conclusion, that _the _Chorus of the Roman Stage was not calculated to answer the ends of its institution. Aristotle has told us just the same thing, with an exception in favour of Sophocles, of the Grecian Drama. And are such surmises, or such information, likely to strengthen our prejudices on behalf of _the _CHORUS, or to inflame our desires for its revival?