I have no Occasion to detain the Reader with a Preface in Praise
of Poetry: What I thought proper to say on that Head, he will find
comprised in the following _Introductory Oration_. I shall only just in
a few Words lay before him the Purport of the following Sheets.
Being elected into the Professorship by that venerable Body the
Convocation at _Oxford_, I thought it incumbent on me to discharge my
Duty in it according to the best of my Abilities. The better to do
so, I endeavour in the following Lectures to keep such a Medium in
examining the Sentiments of the several Writers on Poetry that tho' I
pay much Deference to their Authority, yet I don't slavishly adhere to
their Decrees. For Books are to be consider'd as Helps to Learning, not
Fetters to it; and it is just, in these sort of Studies especially,
that every Man, after he has weigh'd the Opinion of others should be at
Liberty to follow his own.
This Method I take to be the most entertaining and the most useful both
to the Writer and the Reader. No one, I am persuaded, will suspect I
pursued it for the sake of Ease; since it is much harder to _digest_
than to _transcribe_. And, indeed, what can be a more arduous Task,
than to unfold the Nature of Poetry in general, and its different
Species; to explain the various Elegances of Style, and its no less
various Defects; to explore the secret Turns of the Mind; to weigh the
minutest _Momenta_ of Wit; to separate in things of so great Delicacy,
Truth from Falshood; to shew by what Springs they delight or ravish
their Readers or Hearers?
I thought proper just to say so much of the Difficulty of the present
Work, not out of a Desire of gaining Praise, but Pardon; that if I have
fallen into any Errors, I may meet with some Favour from the Learned.
For to their Judgment I submit myself, and the Fortunes of this Book;
always ready to receive more full Instruction, and to retract, not to
defend the Mistakes of it.
But arduous and difficult as these Enquiries are, yet not therefore
unpleasant; For it is not to be thought that all Discourses which
deliver Rules and Precepts are dry and unentertaining; some are no less
full of Delight than Advantage. Of which sort is the Subject before us,
elegant in its Nature, and agreeable to the Taste of the most Polite;
who are never better pleased than when they scrutinise into the Laws
of just Writing and true Thought, and have the choicest Examples of
each laid before them. The Mind is charmed with tracing out its own
Operations; and while on so refined a Subject we read Authors of the
same Sentiments with ourselves, we observe with secret Complacence,
similar Ideas arise in our Minds; or if we dissent from a good Writer,
we are ready to join in his Praise tho' not in his Opinion: For such
an one, tho' he misses the Truth, yet deviates with Ingenuity, and is
elegant even in his Mistakes.
The Difficulties then we are speaking of, are such that they don't
deter the Admirers of Polite Literature, but invite them: Such as are
not attended with Uncouthness of Thought or Asperity of Style; but are
like the Labours of Lovers, who, to gain the Good-will of the Fair, go
through the most arduous Tasks and solicite Dangers.
If the Reader will observe in the following Sheets some Errors slipt,
some Defects either in Thought or Expression, he will at worst have
no Reason to complain that I have too importunately loaded him. He
will rather wonder perhaps, on the other Hand, how I durst pretend to
treat of such Variety of Matter in so few Pages: An Accusation, to
which I know not how to give a satisfactory Answer, and which I own I
have often been ready to draw up against myself. I can only declare
that this has been owing either to Chance, or to the Nature of my
Subject, or to my own Inabilities, not to Indolence, for I have omitted
nothing which after the most mature Deliberation I thought proper to
be taken Notice of. In other respects I own I studied _Brevity_ as
much as possible, rejecting many things that offer'd, which I judged
unentertaining, superfluous, and such as would give the Reader rather
Pain than Pleasure; many likewise, which tho' proper Observations in
themselves, yet had been abundantly taken Notice of by others; whose
Writings I had no Inclination to make so free with, as to purloin.
And this, I hope, will not be imputed to me as an Imperfection: For
_Brevity as such_ (to use the Language of the Schoolmen) and considered
in its own Nature, is by no means a Fault; but rather an Excellence, if
we keep clear of those Faults that often adhere to it. If we do Justice
to our Subject and are at the same time perspicuous, we cannot be too
concise; especially in those Works where we propose to _delight_ the
Reader, as well as _profit_ him.
How far this has been effected in the following Sheets, must be left
entirely to his Judgment. I am sure my Endeavour has been not to be
wanting to both these Ends, and I might with more _Ease_ to myself
have wrote a _larger Book_. To treat of Elegance in an inelegant
Manner is a mere Absurdity; and Conciseness is generally an Attendant
of Elegance. Nothing I am sure can afford more Pleasure to the
Understanding than an accurate Enquiry into the Subjects here treated
of: Nothing greater Difficulty to a Writer, who is to act the Critic
and Philosopher, rather than the Historian. Even Metaphysics do not
more try the Mind than Poetry, when we search into the latent Sources
of its Beauties and Allurements. But the Pleasure in the one is much
greater than in the other: This has its _Thorns_; but such as grow on
the _Rose_, tender and yielding, that heighten at once its _Sweetness_
and its _Beauty_.
One Thing I would desire the Reader to observe; that under each Head of
Poetry, I have either wholly omitted every thing that is Historical, or
but lightly touch'd upon it: Not became I think by any Means that Part
of Learning contemptible; but partly because I find it more suitable
to my Nature (such as it is) to search into Things than Facts; and
partly because others, whose Erudition I very much reverence, and to
whom I always refer my Reader, have already in this Respect, deserv'd
well of the Learned. However, in one or two of my Dissertations I could
not come at the _Nature_ of the Subject I treated of without enquiring
into the _History_ of it: as in those upon the _Origin of Poetry in
general_, upon _Epigram_, and _Satire_. But even in them to enter
into a long Detail of Circumstances fetch'd from the Writings of the
Ancients, wou'd be doing Nothing but what had been done before; which
is the Thing I have throughout endeavour'd to avoid. My Aim has been
not to be tedious; and for fear I should be so now, I shall add no
more; but leave my Book to stand or fall by the Opinion of the Learned.