----_& ademptus Hector
Tradidit fessis leviora tolli
Pergama Graiis._
_Qua pinus ingens, albaque populus,
Umbram hospitalem consociare amant
Ramis, & obliquo laborat
Lympha fugax trepidare rivo._
There where the Poplar and the stately Pine
Meet in a Shade, and closely twine,
To form the Bow'r with thick entangled Bows,
And where the limpid Stream in curling Murmurs
flows. _Oldsworth._
_Quis multa gracilis te puer in rosa
Perfusus liquidis urget odoribus,
Grato, Pyrrha, sub antro?
Cui flavam religas comam,
Simplex munditiis?_
Beneath the rosy Bow'r,
_Chloë_, what am'rous Boy
Sweet as the dewy Flow'r
Now tastes your Lips,
(Delusive Joy!)
Now leaning on your Breast,
Urges to be supremely blest?
For whom do you prepare
(Neat Negligence of Dress!)
The Tresses of your golden Hair? _&c._
[29]
_Vivet extento Proculeius ævo,
Notus in fratres animi paterni;
Illum aget, penna metuente solvi,
Fama superstes._
When Fame of _Proculeius_ sings,
She mounts on everlasting Wings;
His free and gen'rous Actions prove
A Father's in a Brother's Love. _Oldsworth._
[30]
_Brachia, & vultum, teretesque suras,
Integer laudo; fuge suspicari,
Cujus octavum trepidavit ætas
Claudere lustrum._
Her Face, her Neck, her Breast, her Arms,
I praise, not taken with her Charms;
Suspicious Thoughts remove;
Let almost forty feeble Years
Secure thy Mind from jealous Fears,
And tell that _Horace_ is too old for Love.
_Oldsworth_.
I shall omit any more Examples; tho' what I have hitherto laid before
you, I dare say, have brought their own Reward with them, as they are
true Specimens of poetic Elegance, and abundantly illustrate what I had
to say upon this Head. To alledge all that relate to it, would be only
to transcribe the greatest Part of the best Poets. And as the Beauty
of the poetic Style chiefly consists in its own Peculiarities, those
that would thoroughly understand it, must endeavour, with Diligence and
Application, to make it familiar to them.
Nor is the Style of Poetry distinct from Oratory in _Greek_ and _Latin_
only; the same Difference runs thro' all Tongues, both modern and
ancient, _English_ as well as foreign. To this is owing that Difficulty,
which the Learners of a new Language complain of much more in reading
the Poets, than the Prose Writers. The Reason why the former use such a
Variety of Style so remote from that of the latter, seems to be owing to
this; that as Poetry requires a peculiar Way of Thinking, it affects,
likewise, a peculiar Manner of Writing and Speaking, that so it may be
set off at as great a Distance from Prose as possible. Besides, as it is
confined within the strict Rules of Measure, it is but just to allow it
a greater Liberty of Diction, and so compensate, in some Degree, that
Inconvenience with this Advantage.
The Expressions I have hitherto produced are purely poetical, which,
beautiful as they are in Verse, if once resolved into Prose, become
flat and insipid; you would acknowledge them, indeed, to be poetical
Materials, but rudely scattered, and disjointed; and, as _Horace_
describes it,
----_Invenias disjecti membra Poetæ[31]_.
Dissected Fragments of a Poet's Limbs.
Other Phrases there are, which tho' not merely poetical, yet are
much more suitable to Verse than Prose: They may well enough be used
sparingly, and with Caution, by an Orator, or an Historian; but if
they occur frequently, they are Blemishes in his Composition, and mere
Affectation. Of this Stamp are, _Campus pinguis sanguine_; the Field now
sated with Blood: _Vela vento turgida_; the turgid Sails: _Duces sordidi
pulvere honesto_, or _non indecora_; with honourable Dust besmeared; and
the like.
But tho' the Expressions above, that are purely poetical, or that are
chiefly so, conduce much to the Beauty of a Poem, yet good Verse may be
made of those only that are common to all Kinds of Writing. For Proof of
this one Example shall suffice, from the Odes of _Horace_:
_Sæpius ventis agitatur ingens_[32]
_Pinus, & celsæ graviore casu
Decidunt turres, feriuntque summos
Fulmina montes._
Storms often vex the stately Oak,
High Mountains feel the Thunder's Stroke;
And lofty Tow'rs, when Winds prevail,
Are ruin'd with the greater Fall.
_Creech._
In these Verses, tho' truly beautiful, there is not so much as one
Phrase, not one Word, but what might with Propriety be used in Prose.
It is observable, however, that even these, and the like Expressions,
when transposed, and taken out of Metre, lose all their Elegance: For
tho' every Word, considered in itself, is agreeable to either Style, yet
there is somewhat so distinguishing in the poetical, as throws a Beauty
upon Words, which, out of Metre, would appear insipid, or absurd; and
yet, tho' we are sensible of the Thing, it is impossible to assign a
Reason for it.
Another Peculiarity there is in the Style of Poetry, that a Thing is
often express'd, not by Name, but by some concomitamt Circumstance, or
Adjunct belonging to it; by which Means the Mind is led on to an entire
Conception of it, by pleasing Intervals, as it were, and a successive
Gradation of Thought. Thus _Virgil_,
_Depresso incipiat jam tum mihi taurus aratro
Ingemere, & sulco attritus splendescere vomer._
Ev'n then my Steers and Plough,
In the deep Furrows shall begin to groan.
_Trapp._
Again,
----_prunis lapidosa rubescere corna._
And on the Plumbs the stony Cornel grew.
And in the same Book,
_Impositos duris crepitare incudibus enses._
Nor the Spatt'ring of the Steel,
On Anvils form'd, and hammer'd into Swords.
These, perhaps, and the like, might be reduced to the Head of
Descriptions; but they are very short and imperfect ones, and, if I may
so speak, are from their very Imperfection the more perfect. The Mind
of Man does not love to have every Thing too minutely laid before it;
it pleases itself in having Room for Exercise, and to walk alone, as it
were, without leading.
There are many other Things, which Poets chuse to express
paraphrastically, and in short Descriptions, rather than in simple
Terms. Every Body is acquainted with the usual little Images they
give us (the larger ones I have at present nothing to do with) of the
Morning, Night, Noon, and Evening; as
_Oceanum interea surgens Aurora reliquit._
Mean while Aurora rising from the Sea.
[37]
_Vertitur interea cœlum, & ruit Oceano nox._
Mean while the Hemisphere rolls round, and Night
Swift rushes from the Sea.
[38]
_Nunc etiam pecudes umbras & frigora captant,
Nunc virides etiam occultant spineta lacertas._
Our Cattle now the cooling Shades enjoy,
Now the green Lizards lurk in prickly Brakes.
_Et jam summa procul villarum culmina fumant,
Majoresque cadunt altis de montibus umbræ._
And now the Village Tops at Distance smoke.
And lofty Shades from lofty Mountains fall.
So of Winter, Summer, Spring, and Autumn; as,
_Vere novo, gelidus canis cum montibus humor
Liquitur, & Zephyro putris se gleba resolvit._
With Spring's first Op'ning, when dissolving Snows
From hoary Mountains run, and _Zephyr_ slacks
The crumbling Glebe.
[41]
----_Jam venit Æstas
Torrida, jam læto turgent in palmite gemmæ._
Now scorching Summer comes,
And in the fruitful Tendrils swells the Gems.
Numberless other Descriptions there are of this Sort, which we admire in
Poetry, and yet in Prose we should laugh at.
'Tis usual, likewise, in Poetry, (which is another Peculiarity) to
denote Men, Places, Rivers, Mountains, by various Names taken from any
of their Adjuncts. This is so well known, that I have no need, out of
the Multitude of Examples, to produce any. 'Tis no less common to put
Particulars for Generals; thus _Virgil_:
----_Vestro si munere tellus
Chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit arista,
Poculaque inventis Acheloïa miscuit uvis._
If the Earth
By your Indulgence chang'd _Chaonian_ Mast
For Corn, and from the new discoulour'd Grape
With _Acheloïan_ Bev'rage mingled Wine.
And in another Place,
----_Quot Ionii veniant ad littora fluctus,_
How many Waves roll to th'_Ionian_ Shore.
So _Horace_,
----_Tristitiam & metus
Tradam protervis in mare Creticum
Portare ventis._----
To _Cretan_ Seas I give my Cares,
The Sport of wanton Winds.
Again,
----_Nec mare Caspium
Vexant inæquales procellæ._
Nor ruffling Storms still toss the _Caspian_ Floods.
And a little after,
----_Aut Aquilonibus
Querceta Gargani laborant._
Nor the bleak North torments th'_Appulian_ Woods.
_Creech._
Not a little elegant is this Manner of Writing, since, by an agreeable
Variety of Particulars, it continually represents to the Mind somewhat
new, and sets before it fresh Entertainment; whereas Generals, being
always the same, grow cold and lifeless, by their too frequent
Repetition.
Tho' Oratory may seem to be more adapted to express our Conceptions, as
being not confined by the Fetters of Metre; yet Poetry, it is certain,
makes a stronger Impression upon the Mind, and conveys a livelier Image
to the Imagination, and that at once with such Elegance and Brevity,
as the Force of Prose can never come up to. In Proof of this, I might
produce Multitudes of Examples; but none more full than that of _Horace_,
[47]----_enitescis
Pulchrior multo, juvenumque prodis
Publica cura._
And still shine out more bright and fair,
The publick Grief, and publick Care.
_Oldsworth_.
A Passage, this, entirely poetical, and not only beautiful in itself,
but more proper to convey an Idea of the Thing intended, than all that
the Power of Oratory can furnish.
To the Style of Poetry _Descriptions_ likewise are almost peculiar.
'Tis true, they occur frequently in Prose; but then they are used
either with Impropriety, or with Caution; or the Writings themselves
are of a Kind that borders near upon Poetry, and therefore borrows
Descriptions from it. Historians, indeed, describe Things, Places, and
Persons; but not so much for the Sake of Ornament, as Necessity; that
the Series of their Narration may appear clear and perspicuous to their
Readers. Orators likewise attempt Descriptions, when they have Occasion
for them to work upon the Passions. But neither the one nor the other
affect them as a Decoration to their Writings, which Poets generally
do very successfully, making use of these sort of Colourings, either
of general Things or Particulars, in Miniature or at full Length, as
Occasion serves, not only with a Design to move the Passions, but to
please the Fancy. Great Judgment is required in the due Exercise of
this Art, and a puerile Wit never betrays itself more apparently, than
by forcing in Descriptions, out of mere Ostentation, that have no
Connection with the Subject, and are consequently a Burden to it. But
nothing is more beautiful, when a proper Choice is made of them; nothing
more agreeable to the Nature of Poetry; few Things more peculiar to it.
A Prose Writer does not only on Purpose use fewer Descriptions than
the Poet, but in Reality is less capable of them. The very Essence of
Poetry consists chiefly in Imitation; and such a Power it has in placing
Things before the Eye of the Reader, as Prose entirely wants; and can
be conceived only, not expressed[48]. An Historian might record the
Omens and Prodigies that attended the Death of _Julius Cæsar_; but it
is impossible he should come up to that admirable Description of them
_Virgil_ has left us. He might recount, for instance, the surprizing
Eruption of Mount _Ætna_; but could never find out Words to represent it
in so lively Colours as these,
----_Quoties Cyclopum effervere in agros
Vidimus undantem, ruptis fornacibus, Ætnam,
Flammarumque globos, liquefactaque volvere saxa?_
How oft have we beheld
Loud thund'ring _Ætna_ from Vulcano's burst,
Deluge with liquid Fire Cyclopean Fields,
And toss huge Balls of Flame, and molten Stones?
Were an Historian to relate the Circumstance, in the Fourth Book of
_Virgil_'s _Æneis_, he would tell us at once, that _Dido_ had struggled
long with a secret Passion for _Æneas_; but no Expressions out of
Verse, could fix in the Mind so strong a Sense of that inward Disease
with which she labour'd, as those wonderful Lines at the Beginning of
the Narrative:
_At Regina, gravi jamdudum saucia cura,
Vulnus alit venis, & cæco carpitur igni._
But with consuming Care the restless Queen,
Already bleeding, nourishes a Wound.
And what follows, all the Efforts of Prose can never equal: That,
particularly, which the Poet subjoins, after he had described her
sacrificing to the Gods, and consulting the Oracle:
_Heu! vatum ignaræ mentes! quid vota furentem,
Quid delubra juvant? est mollis flamma medullas
Interea, & tacitum vivit sub pectore vulnus._
Wretched the Ignorance
Of Augurs! what, alas! do Vows or Shrines
Avail, to heal her Frenzy? A soft Flame
Feeds on her Vitals, and a living Wound
Silent, uneven, bleeds inward in her Breast.
The whole Description is wonderful, and sufficiently testifies the Power
of Poetry, beyond that of Prose. I beg Leave, however, to add one or two
Instances more. The Poet describing the Queen just dying for Love, adds,
_Nunc eadem, labente die, convivia quærit;
Iliacosque iterum demens audire labores
Exposcit, pendetque iterum narrantis ab ore._
At Ev'ning she renews
Her Banquets; fondly begs again to hear
The Trojan Wars; again, while he relates,
She listens fix'd, and hangs upon the Sound.
And a few Lines after:
_Sola domo mœret vacua, stratisque relictis
Incubat; illum absens absentem auditque videtque;
Aut gremio Ascanium, genitoris imagine capta,
Detinet, infandum si fallere possit amorem._
Lonely she pines within the empty Court,
Lies on the Couch which just before she left;
Him absent, absent still, she hears and sees.
Sometimes his Father's Image all her Soul
Possessing, young _Ascanius_ on her Lap
She long detains; if possible, to cheat,
With that Amusement, her unbounded Love.
Among the other fatal Predictions of the unhappy Queen's Death, an
Historian might mention the foreboding Noise of the Scrietch-Owl; but
would fall infinitely short of the inexpressible Elegance with which it
is described in the two following Lines:
_Solaque culminibus ferali carmine bubo
Sæpe queri, & longas in fletum ducere voces._
And on her Palace-Top
The lonely Owl, with oft repeated Scream,
Complains, and spins into a dismal Length
Her baleful Shrieks.
I have produced, perhaps, already, too many Examples; but I cannot
forbear adding one more, which exceeds Admiration itself: It is the
Description of _Tityos_, in the Sixth _Æneid_, suffering Punishment in
the Shades below.
_Necnon & Tityon, terræ omniparentis alumnum,
Cernere erat: per tota novem cui jugera corpus
Porrigitur; rostroque immanis vultur obunco
Immortale jecur tundens, fœcundaque pœnis
Viscera, rimaturque epulis, habitatque sub alto
Pectore; nec fibris requies datur ulla renatis._
There _Tityus_, Son of the all-bearing Earth,
One might behold: Whose Body's monstrous Bulk
Lies stretch'd o'er nine whole Acres; and a huge
Portentous Vulture, with her hooky Beak
Pouncing his everlasting Liver, thrives
Upon his Entrails, fruitful of their Pains;
Rummages for her Meals, inhabits deep
Beneath his Breast; nor do the Fibres find
The least Relief from Torment still renew'd.
From the whole, I suppose it abundantly plain, that there is an Energy
in the poetic Style, as it is much more adapted to copying Nature, than
Oratory is, with all its Rhetoric.
[Sidenote: _Fifth Lecture._]
'Tis farther to be observed, that figurative Expressions are far more
frequent in Poetry, than Prose, as they are far more suitable to it;
because it consists much more in the Embellishments of Style, in the
Liveliness of Description, and impressing the Images of Things upon the
Imagination. For tho' it rejects all false Colouring, and too great
Affectation of Pomp, yet from the very Nature of it we may judge it
takes in more real Ornaments than Prose. As to _Tropes_ or _Figures_, as
they are usually called, many of them are never used in Oratory, some
but seldom, and very sparingly; others, again, agree naturally with it,
particularly, the _Irony_, _Metonymy_, _Synechdoche_, and _Metaphor_.
Tho' the last of these, for the Reason before alledg'd, is more the
Property of Poetry. Some of the Figures are so familiar, and natural,
that they are every Day used in common Speech, even by the Vulgar, of
which Sort we may reckon those above, and some others. Metaphors never
fail of being beautiful, when applied with mature Judgment, and a lively
Wit; that is, when they are drawn from Nature, connect Ideas that have a
due Relation to each other, and are not too much wrested to a foreign
Sense. But nothing is more insipid, more ridiculous, or absurd, when
these Rules are transgress'd in the Choice of them; which is the Case,
very often, of our modern Writers, to their eternal Disgrace.
Nothing can shew more the Elegance of Metaphors, and their Agreement
with Nature, than those that are taken from Men and living Creatures,
and applied to Trees and Plants. For as these have a sort of Life
ascrib'd to them (call'd the vegetative) and are really endued with it;
the Transition is easy to Creatures of a higher Rank, that are endued
with it in a more proper Sense. Hence we hear so often, not only among
the Poets, but in Prose, and even in common Conversation, of Trees and
Plants being _alive_ or _dead_, _healthy_ or _sickly_. Nay, often human
Passions and Affections are attributed to them: Plants, in particular
(to omit other Instances) are often said to _love_ or _hate_ this Soil
or that. So _Virgil_, speaking of them,
_Sponte sua quæ se tollunt in luminis auras,
Infœcunda quidem, sed læta, & fortia, surgunt._
Those which unbidden spring to upper Air,
Steril, indeed, but strong and healthy rise.
And afterwards,
_Exuerint silvestrem animum, cultuque frequenti,
In quascunque voces artes, haud tarda sequentur._
Will in Time unlearn
Their salvage Temper, and not slow obey
With frequent Culture, what your Art commands.
Again, in the same Book,
_Inque novos soles audent se gramina tuto
Credere, nec metuit surgentes pampinus Austros._
To new Suns the Herbs
Dare trust themselves; nor aught the tender Vine
From rising _Auster_ fears.
There are many other Metaphors of different Kinds, which tho' they may
seem, as indeed they are, a little of the boldest, yet are agreeable to
Nature, and true Elegance. As that of _Virgil_,
_Insequitur nimbus peditum_;
A Storm of Foot succeeds.
And in another Place,
----_It toto turbida cælo
Tempestas telorum, & ferreus ingruit imber._
An Iron Tempest, and a Storm of Darts
Hovers aloft, and blackens all the Sky.
These lofty Metaphors, however, are to be used with great Judgment, for
fear they should seem too far fetch'd, and the Style more swelling than
weighty.
As I am now upon the Subject of Figures, I can't help making a Remark
or two on those Books of Rhetorick that are usually read in Schools.
They contain, indeed, many Things of Use, and worthy of Observation: But
surely there's no Necessity that an Art designed for the Refinement of
the Minds of Youth, should be treated of in so rough a Method, so full
of dry, logical Definitions, as must be hard for Boys to understand,
and much harder to remember. Nor is there any Need of all those
Sub-divisions of Figures, one under another, which, when Boys have once
made themselves Masters of, before they have Judgment enough to use
them, they think their Business is to adorn their little Performances
with these sort of Flowers, as they call them, and fling them in, at
any Rate, without any Regard to Propriety: Their Style, by being thus
overcharged, as it were, instead of appearing with fresh Vigour,
abounds only with disagreeable Excrescencies. A Knowledge of these
Things will be much better arrived at by Experience, than Precept: And
every one that is conversant with the best Authors, that reads them with
Understanding, and true Relish, cannot but be acquainted with all the
Figures of Speech, and the Art of using them, tho' he never heard so
much as their Names, or their Definitions.
It is common with all Sorts of Writers to express the same Thing by
different Modes of Speech, and such Variety is often reckoned a Proof
of their Elegance. Now Poets have in this Particular a greater Liberty
allow'd them, than any other Writers, for the Reason I have often
mention'd, because their Works consist more in Ornament and Decoration.
But the Exercise of this Liberty ought to be conducted with great
Judgment and Caution; lest, by an ill Use of it, the Style grow too
luxuriant. The just Medium, and the vicious Extreme, cannot be better
learnt than by making a Comparison between _Virgil_ and _Ovid_. Both
of them, you'll see, express the same Thought different Ways; the one
never fails of Beauty, the other falsly aims at it. _Ovid_ tells you
the very same Thing, in many Words, and sometimes with very little
Difference between them: _Virgil_ illustrates one Thing in _general_,
by distinguishing its several Species or Adjuncts, and his Description
of each is perfectly new. A few Examples, out of many, will make this
plain. Says _Ovid_,
_Omnia pontus erat, deerant quoque littora ponto._