But this Rage of _Chremes_, which _Horace_ mentions, is not, perhaps,
so much an Instance of a Comic Sublime, as of a borrowed Tragic Fury.
In relation to Pastoral, if _Virgil_'s fourth Eclogue be objected, I
answer, that the Poet himself confesses he leaves his proper Subject for
a more lofty one, and begins his Poem with a sort of an Apology for it:
_Sicelides Musæ, paulo majora canamus;
Non omnes arbusta juvant, humilesque myricæ.
Sicilian_ Muses, raise a loftier Strain;
Not all in Groves and lowly Shrubs delight.
Not that I suppose Pastoral totally to reject the Sublime, as I shall
have Occasion to shew more fully hereafter.
For the present, I suppose, it will suffice to produce one or two
Instances, out of innumerable, of the Style we are upon. In the second
_Æneid_, _Venus_, shewing her Son what Gods were united for the
Destruction of _Troy_, gives us this Specimen of it:
_Non tibi Tyndaridis facies invisa Lacænæ,
Culpatusve Paris; Divûm inclementia, Divûm,
Has evertit opes, sternitque à culmine Trojam._
'Tis not _Tyndarian Helen_'s hated Form,
Nor much blam'd _Paris_; Heav'n, inclement Heav'n
O'erturns this Realm, and levels tow'ring _Troy_.
And a little after:
_Hic ubi disjectas moles, avulsaque saxis
Saxa vides, mistoque undantem pulvere fumum;
Neptunus muros, magnoque emota tridenti
Fundamenta quatit, totamque à sedibus urbem
Eruit; hic Juno Scæas sævissima portas
Prima tenet, sociumque furens à navibus agmen
Ferro accincta vocat.
Jam summas arces Tritonia (respice) Pallas
Insedit, nimbo effulgens, & Gorgone sæva.
Ipse Pater Danais animos, viresque secundas
Sufficit, ipse Deos in Dardana suscitat arma_.
Here, where you see that Rubbish, Heaps confus'd,
Stones wrench'd from Stones, and thick redounding Smoke
Blended with Clouds of Dust; great _Neptune_ shakes
The Walls, and with his massy Trident heaves
The City from its deep Foundations. There
Relentless _Juno_, girt with Steel, has seiz'd
The _Scæan_ Gates; and raging from their Ships
Calls her confed'rate Forces.
Next (that Way bend thy Eyes) the lofty Tow'rs
_Tritonian Pallas_ has possess'd; there sits,
With her dire _Gorgon_. In a beamy Cloud,
Effulgent _Jove_ himself the _Grecian_ Troops
With Courage, and new Strength supplies; himself
Excites the Gods against the _Dardan_ Arms.
Again, a few Lines after:
_Dixerat; & spissis noctis se condidit umbris.
Apparent diræ facies, inimicaque Trojæ
Numina magna Deum._
She said; and in th'involving Shades retir'd:
The direful Shapes appear, and Foes to _Troy_,
Forms of the awful Gods.
And in the last Book, the Poet thus introduces _Æneas_ going to engage
with _Turnus_:
_At pater Æneas, audito nomine Turni,
Deserit & muros, & summas deserit arces;
Præcipitatque moras omnes, opera omnia rumpit,
Lætitia exultans, horrendumque intonat armis._
But Prince _Æneas_, hearing _Turnus'_ Name,
Forsakes the Walls, forsakes the lofty Tow'rs,
Breaks all Delay, all other Toil; with Joy
Exults; and thunders terrible in Arms.
Instances of this Style fill every Page, almost, of the _Æneis_; and in
the Odes of _Horace_ are very frequent; _v. g._
_Justum & tenacem propositi virum,
Non civium ardor prava jubentium,
Non vultus instantis Tyranni,
Mente quatit solida; neque Auster
Dux inquieti turbidus Adriæ,
Nec fulminantis magna Jovis manus:
Si fractus illabatur orbis,
Impavidum ferient ruinæ._
The Man whose Principles are true,
In Heart resolv'd to act aright,
Nor impious Faction's madding Crew,
Nor frowning Tyrant can affright;
Unshaken, like a Tow'r he stands, and braves
The Impotence of great or little Slaves.
The Elements may war around,
Fierce Winds may rave, huge Billows roll,
_Jove_'s Lightning flash, his Thunder sound,
And shock the World----but not his Soul:
He Nature's Wreck can view, without Surprize,
Amidst the shining Ruin of the Skies.
_T. Hare._
_Claudian_, tho' his Style is frequently too swelling, and borders
upon the Bombast, yet often hits upon the true Sublime: Thus in the
celebrated Description of the Victory which the Emperor _Theodosius_
gained, by the Advantage of the Winds:
_Te propter, gelidis Aquilo de monte procellis
Obruit adversas acies, revolutaque tela
Vertit in autores, & turbine reppulit hastas.
O! nimium dilecte Deo; cui fundit ab antris
Æolus armatas hyemes, cui militat æther,
Et conjurati veniunt ad classica venti._
For thee the friendly North in social Show'rs,
Wide o'er the hostile Troops his Fury pours.
To their launch'd Jav'lins points a backward Road,
And Storms retort the missive Deaths they vow'd.
Great _Jove_ for thee, thou Heav'n's peculiar Care!
Sends forth his wing'd Militia of the Air.
Confed'rate Seasons round thy Standards join,
And mustring Winds attend thy Trumpet's Sign.
Between the Sublime of _Virgil_ and _Claudian_ there's a manifest
Difference; the Ideas of the latter are not so just, nor the Diction so
pure: He can only be said to be less faulty, when he writes best.
'Tis a remarkable Property of this Style, to be bold and figurative;
to abound, especially, with Metaphors and Hyperboles; the Use of
which requires great Care and Judgment. It is distinguish'd, on the
one Hand, from the turgid, rumbling Bombast, which is much affected
by those who are possess'd with a false Spirit of Poetry, and no true
Judgment to direct it; and consists either of empty sounding Words, or
unnatural Sentences, or absurd Metaphors, or rash Hyperbole's. There are
innumerable Examples of it in _Claudian_; _v. g._
_Sol, qui flammigeris mundum complexus habenis,
Volvis inexhausto redeuntia secula motu,
Sparge diem meliore coma; crinemque repexi
Blandius elato surgant temone jugales,
Efflantes roseum frænis spumantibus ignem._
Light of the Spheres, that with unwearied Ray
On flaming Harness roll'st the golden Day,
Undrain'd and sprightly seest fresh Seasons born,
With softer Tresses shed this fatal Morn.
Let thy hot Coursers spring with sleeker Manes,
And rosy Fires breath o'er the foaming Reins.
In another Place:
----_compage soluta
Fulgidus umbrosa miscebitur axis Averno._
Dissolv'd the Fabrick of the World,
The Sun's bright Axis in _Avernus_ hurl'd.
And again:
----_Clypeus nos protegat idem,
Unaque pro gemino desudet cardine virtus._
One Shield shall us protect,
And for its double Charge one Safeguard sweat.
So _Statius_, in the very Beginning of his _Sylvæ_:
_Quæ super imposito moles geminata Colosso
Stat Latium complexa forum_, &c.
This Mass, on which the great Colossus rides,
The Forum with a wide Embrace bestrides.
To omit others, thus _Casimire_:
----_Currite candidis
Horæ quadrigis._
With snowy Steeds, ye nimble Hours, fly.
In another Place:
_Anni nubibus insident,
Incertis equitant lustra Favoniis,
Cæco secula turbine._
Years ride on Clouds,
About uncertain Zephyrs Lustrums play,
And on black Whirlwinds Ages die away.
There are many other Instances of this kind in the same Poet; who seems
to have been peculiarly delighted with this hard and unnatural Way of
Writing.
The _Sublime_, on the other Hand, is distinguished from the _Humble_;
which has its Elegance as it is used in its proper Place. It is proper,
when we would describe, in a familiar and easy Manner, the common
Concerns of Life; and agrees more especially with Comedy, the lower kind
of Satire, and Epistles; and, as Occasion serves, may be admitted in all
Sorts of Poems. Instances of it are very numerous:
_Qui, fit, Mæcenas, ut nemo, quam sibi sortem
Seu ratio dederit, seu fors objecerit, illa
Contentus vivat, laudet diversa sequentes?_
Whence comes, my Lord, this gen'ral Discontent?
Why do all loath the State that Chance hath sent,
Or their own Choice procur'd? But fondly bless
Their Neighbours Lots, and praise what they possess.
_Creech._
_Prima dicte mihi, summa dicende Camæna,
Spectatum satis, & donatum jam rude quæris,
Mæcenas, iterum antiquo me includere ludo.
Non eadem est ætas, non mens_, &c.
My Lord, _Mæcenas_, whom I gladly chuse,
The first, and the last Subject of my Muse;
Tho' I have fought enough, and well before,
And now dismist, have Leave to fight no more;
You strive to bring me on the Stage again:
My Age is not alike, unlike my Brain.
_Creech._
It is needless to add any more: _Terence_'s Comedies, and _Horace_'s
Satires and Epistles, consist entirely almost of this Style, and are
abundant Proof of its Elegance.
The Style of Pastorals is likewise of the humble Kind, but still
distinct from what I have now been instancing in. The one, as I said,
is suited to Comedy, Satire, and Epistles; the other to Bucolics: The
former represents common Life, and more especially as it appears within
the City; the latter draws all its Images from the Country; that looser
and freer, this sweeter and more elaborate. But of these Things more
hereafter, when we come to treat of this delightful Species of Poetry
separately. At present let it be observ'd, that there is a middle Kind
of Style between the Sublime and the Humble, suitable to every Branch of
Poetry. This of _Ovid_ is a Specimen of it:
_Arma gravi numero, violentaque tela parabam
Edere, materia conveniente modis.
Par erat inferior versus; risisse Cupido
Dicitur, atque unum surripuisse pedem.
Quis tibi, sæve Puer, dedit hoc in carmina juris?
Pieridum vates, non tua turba, sumus._
Whilst I to sing in lofty Verse prepare,
The bloody Triumphs of destructive War,
The Urchin _Cupid_ mock'd my rash Design,
And stole one Foot from each alternate Line.
But who, my Boy, gave thou this great Command?
We are the Muses, not the Lovers Band.
Innumerable are the Instances of this middle Style among the Poets,
especially in _Virgil_'s _Georgics_, which are chiefly writ in that Way.
For it is to be particularly observ'd, that, because the Matter of a
Poem is low, it by no means follows the Thoughts and Diction must be so
too, and that there's no necessary Connexion between a common Subject
and a vulgar Style. To prescribe Rules for Sowing, Harvest, and other
Matters of Husbandry, is a slight Subject, but not therefore to be
treated with the Unpoliteness of a Clown. Tho' the Poem be preceptive
in its Nature, it may be elegant in its Manner; it may be employ'd upon
Things of small Moment, yet they may be cloath'd with Ornament, and
heighten'd by Description. But Comedy, and the looser kind of Satire, as
they regard only the Manners of Men in common Life, are chiefly adapted
to the low Style.
It then becomes faulty, when any Thing of a sublime Nature, at least
above the common Level, is introduced with some low creeping Expression.
Thus _Ovid_, where he speaks of the Council of the Gods:
----_tenuere silentia cuncti._
The great Immortals held their Tongues.