[240] Eclog. X. 17.
[241] Eclog. II. 60.
[242] Mr. _Fontenelle_, and Mr. _Pope_, in their Discourses on Pastoral
Poetry, are of _Scaliger_'s Opinion. But I might observe, in Favour of
Dr. _Trapp_'s, that the most ancient _Greek_ Poets, whose Names are
preserv'd, are not supposed to have been Pastoral Writers. The _Greeks_
seem to have been persuaded that their Hymns were the first Productions
in Verse: See _Spanheim_'s Notes on _Callim._ p. 2, 3, _&c._
[243] See Bull. Primitiv. & Apostol. Tradit. p. 20, 21.
[244] Eclog. IV. 34.
[245] ℣ 44.
[246] ℣ 35.
[247] Virg. Eclog. IV. 50.
[248] VII. 1.
[249] VIII. 37.
[250] Eclog. II. 28.
[251] Eclog. VII. 65.
[252] ℣ 59.
[253] Met. L. I. ℣ 415.
[254] Lib. I. Ep. X. 21.
[255] Lib. II. Sat. VI. ℣ 56.
[256] Eclog. X. 9.
[257] A small Mistake, which, I suppose, _Joannes Antonius Viperanus_
led our Author into, tho' _Vossius_ expresly guards against it. _Inter
Latinos unum habemus Virgilium----quem liceat imitari_, says _Anton.
Viperanus_; from whence _Vossius_ imagines he never saw those two
Bucolic Writers, (which is more than his Words necessarily imply) and
takes Care to let us know, we have four Eclogues of _Nemesianus_,
and seven of _Calpurnius_. Mr. _Fontenelle_ gives no disadvantageous
Character of both of them, and, in some Particulars, prefers
_Calpurnius_ to _Virgil_ himself. _Fabricius_ mentions seven or eight
Editions of these two Poets, and they may be seen in the _Corpus
Poetarum Latinorum_, publish'd in our Author's Time.
LECTURE XV.
_Of_ DIDACTIC _or_ PRECEPTIVE POETRY.
Human Nature, at the same Time it is desirous of Knowledge, is cautious
of confessing its Want of it. The Precepts, therefore, design'd for
its Information, must not be obtruded with Moroseness, but insinuated
with Mildness; and even its Vanity soothed, to remove its Ignorance.
Instructions are the better receiv'd, and sink the deeper upon the Mind,
in proportion to the Address with which they are convey'd. There's Sort
of Obsequiousness due from the Teacher to the Scholar, and even in this
Sense that Maxim of _Juvenal_ holds true:
_Maxima debetur puero reverentia._
Hence it is, that Precepts deliver'd in Verse, are imbib'd with so much
Pleasure; and are held in so great Esteem, that they constitute one
distinct Species of Poetry. Many Rules we have already given, concerning
the other Branches of it, and are now come to teach even the Art of
Teaching. Upon this Subject I am under little Temptation of rifling the
Stores of the Learned: I don't know one that has treated of it, except
the ingenious Author of the _Essay on Virgil's Georgics_, prefix'd to
Mr. _Dryden_'s Translation of them. And he, indeed, has so exhausted
the Subject, that it is as hard to come after him, as it is after the
great _Dryden_, or his greater Original.
From what has been said, it appears, that Poetry is in its Nature
adapted to deliver Precepts of any Kind, which are sure to be learnt
with more Ease, and retain'd the more faithfully by the Help of it.
Laws, and religious Maxims, were anciently promulged in Verse; and
Priests and Poets were the same: And even to this Day it is a prudent
Custom to have religious Lessons drawn up in Verse for the Sake of
Youth: In this Respect it may more truly be said
----_pueris dant crustula blandi
Doctores, elementa velint ut discere prima._
Thus Teachers bribe their Boys with Figs and Cake,
To mind their Books.
_Creech._
For by Poetry the very _Elements_ that are taught are soften'd into
Allurements. The common Grammar, we see, is Verse; and tho' the Language
of it, indeed, is Prose, whatever the Measure be, yet it is a sufficient
Proof, that, in the Opinion of the past and present Age, Precepts and
Poetry are no ways inconsistent: And it were to be wish'd, that not only
Rules of Rhetoric and Logic, but of Philosophy, and all other Sciences,
were drawn up in a more entertaining Manner. Not that _technical Words_,
or _Terms of Art_, as they are call'd, should be excluded; for it is
impossible any Science should be without them: But they might be so
dress'd up, as to invite, not deter the Pains of the Learner. But these
are Observations less material to our Purpose, and I only make them by
the Way. I now proceed to observe, that there are four Kinds of Didactic
Poems, _viz._ those that relate to moral Duties; or philosophical
Speculations; or the Business or Pleasures of Life; or, lastly, to
Poetry itself.
Of the _moral_ Poems we shall say but little. We have elsewhere
observ'd, that these have scarce any Thing of Poetry in them but their
Measure, and therefore hardly deserve to be class'd under the Head
of it: Such are _Pythagoras_'s _Golden Verses_; the _Sentences_ of
_Theognis_; the Ποιημα Νουθετικον of _Phocylides_. We have
nothing of this Kind of the _Latin_ Writers, or of our own[260], worth
mentioning; and, in short, they have nothing in common with a Poem,
except this, that a Life led according to the strictest Rules of Virtue,
resembles the best, and the noblest.
But, on the other Hand, nothing shines more in Verse, than Disquisitions
of natural History. We then see the strictest Reasoning join'd to the
politest Expression. Poetry and Philosophy are happily united: The
latter affords abundant Matter for Description; it opens a large Field
for Fancy, and strikes out new Ideas, which the other expresses with
suitable Dignity. What Subject can be a more poetical one than
----_Errantem Lunam, Solisque labores,
Unde hominum genus, & pecudes, unde imber, & ignes,
Unde tremor terris, qua vi maria alta tumescant
Obicibus ruptis, rursusque in seipsa residant;
Arcturum, pluviasque Hyadas, geminosque Triones:
Quid tantum Oceano properent se tingere soles
Hyberni, vel quæ tardis mora noctibus obstet?_
The wand'ring Moon, the Labours of the Sun;
Whence Men, and Beasts, whence Rain, and Lightnings come;
The Constellations of the northern Cars,
_Arcturus_, and the show'ry _Hyades_:
Why Suns, in Winter, haste so swift to tinge
Themselves in Ocean; and what Cause retards
The sluggish Nights.
What can be more suitable to the Dignity of a Poem, than to celebrate
the Works of the great Creator? What more agreeable to the Variety of
one, than to describe the Journies of the heavenly Orbs, the Rise of
Thunder, and other Meteors, the Motion of the Earth, and the Tides
of the Sea; the attractive Force of the Magnet, the impulsive Motion
of Light, and the slower Progression of Sound; and innumerable other
Wonders, in the unbounded Storehouse of Nature. I shall say nothing,
at present, of _Aratus_ among the _Greeks_, or of _Manilius_ among
the _Latin_ Writers; _Lucretius_, alone, shall suffice, instead of
all the rest. He, indeed, is so far from celebrating the Creator,
that he supposes there is none; but, allowing him his Hypothesis, his
Poem is truly philosophical. He had deserv'd much greater Praise,
had he corrected his Notions in Philosophy, and his Style in Poetry;
for in this Particular, also, he is often deficient. The Asperity of
his Versification must be imputed rather to the Times he liv'd in,
(_viz._ the Age between _Ennius_ and _Virgil_) than to the Subject he
treated of; which, whatever the common Opinion be, not only admits of
the Harmony of Numbers, but requires it. The following Directions of
_Virgil_ about burning the Turf, part of which we cited before, upon
another Occasion, don't lose any Thing of their Philosophy by their
Smoothness:
[262] _Sive inde occultas vires, & pabula terræ
Pinguia concipiunt, sive illis omne per ignem
Excoquitur vitium, atque exudat inutilis humor;
Seu plures calor ille vias, & cæca relaxat
Spiramenta, novas veniat qua succus in herbas:
Seu durat magis, & venas astringit hiantes,
Ne tenues pluviæ, rapidive potentia solis
Acrior, aut Boreæ penetrabile frigus adurat._
Whether from thence they secret Strength receive,
And richer Nutriment: Or by the Fire
All latent Mischief, and redundant Juice,
Oozing sweats off: Or whether the same Heat
Opens the hidden Pores, that new Supplies
Of Moisture may refresh the recent Blades.
Or hardens more, and with astringent Force
Closes the gaping Veins; lest driv'ling Show'rs
Shou'd soak too deep, or the Sun's parching Rays,
Or _Boreas_' piercing Cold shou'd dry the Glebe.
And even _Lucretius_ himself is sometimes more flowing and sonorous, not
only when he addresses himself to _Venus_, as in the following beautiful
Passage:
_Te, Dea, te fugiunt venti, te nubila cœli,
Adventumque tuum; tibi suaves dædala tellus
Summittit flores; tibi rident æquora ponti,
Pacatumque nitet, diffuso lumine, cœlum._
At thy Approach, great Goddess, strait remove
Whate'er are rough, and Enemies to Love;
The Clouds disperse, the Winds do swiftly waft,
And reverently in Murmurs breathe their last.
The Earth with various Art (for thy warm Pow'rs
That dull Mars feels) puts forth her gawdy Flow'rs.
To pleasure thee, ev'n lazy Lux'ry toils,
The roughest Sea puts on smooth Looks, and Smiles:
The well-pleas'd Heav'n assumes a brighter Ray
At thy Approach, and makes a double Day.
_Creech._
But sometimes, likewise, when he unfolds the Principles of Matter, the
Causes of Things, and the Phænomena of Nature. It is certain, _Virgil_
is much indebted to him, tho' he has much improv'd his Manner.
Another Imperfection in _Lucretius_ is, that he never makes any
Excursions into poetical Fiction. Some Digressions he has, but they
are rather philosophical, than poetical; and therefore don't diversify
the Subject, nor afford the Reader sufficient Refreshment. He has
some, indeed, philosophical; but then they are impious, such as reason
against Providence, the Foundations of Religion, and the Immortality
of the Soul. One, however, I must except, that upon the Plague of
_Athens_; which contains, indeed, a poetical Description, but nothing
of poetical Fable. It must be own'd, this Poet reasons too much in the
Manner of the Schools, the Philosopher appears too open, he wants the
Gentility to conceal his Beard, and temper his Severity. Poetry and
Philosophy, indeed, were both to be join'd together, but the one ought
to be as the Handmaid to the other; which _Virgil_ would not have fail'd
to have taken care of, had he been engag'd on such a Subject. Not so
_Lucretius_, who appears more a Philosopher than a Poet, and yet of
Poets not the meanest: _Virgil_, in his _Georgics_, appears more a Poet
than a Husbandman, and yet of Husbandmen the greatest.
I can't see why, in a Work of this Kind, Nature may not be so explain'd,
as to admit sometimes of poetical Fiction; in the same Manner that
_Virgil_ describes the _Cyclops_ forging the Thunderbolts?
[264] _Tres imbris torti radios, tres nubis aquosæ
Addiderant, rutili tres ignis, & alitis Austri:
Fulgores nunc terrificos, sonitumque, metumque,
Addiderant operi, flammisque sequacibus iras._
Three Forks of darted Hail, of wat'ry Cloud
Three more they added; three of glaring Fire,
As many of the winged southern Wind;
Then dreadful Flashes, and the roaring Noise,
And Rage, and Terror, and avenging Flames.
Here the Formation of the Thunder is poetically feign'd; the Matter and
the Adjuncts explain'd physically; Philosophy is made the Basis, and
Poetry the Superstructure.
I know of no modern Poem of this Sort worth mentioning, except
_Buchanan's Sphere_, which is a Work by no means contemptible. But
as Natural Philosophy has, by the Help of Experiments, been lately
brought to much greater Perfection than ever; this Kind of Poetry, no
doubt, would have made proportionable Advances, if the same Age that
shew'd a _Boyle_, a _Halley_, and a _Newton_, had produc'd a _Virgil_;
or if we had not been so much worse Poets than the Ancients, as we
are better Philosophers. We have, indeed, some poetical Essays on
the[265]_Circulation of the Blood_, the _Air-pump_, the _Microscope_,
and the _Telescope_, and the like: But these are short _Descriptions_,
no ways reducible to the Species of Poetry before us. 'Tis true, they
may in some Sense be reduc'd under the Title of _Didactic_, tho' not of
_Preceptive_ Poetry; they _teach_ by _Description_, not by _Precept_.
But the next Kind I mention'd, relating to the _Business_ or _Pleasures_
of Life, do both. Under this Head _Virgil_'s _Georgics_ stand foremost,
containing the most useful Rules for Husbandry in all its Branches,
Agriculture, the Method of raising Trees, or Cattle, or tending of
Bees. The Pleasure that naturally results from reading them, is chiefly
owing to the Pleasure and Advantage which attends a Country Life. Here
_Virgil_ has _imitated Hesiod_, as he has _Theocritus_ in his Eclogues,
and _Homer_ in the _Æneis_; I should rather have said, has _exceeded_
each in their peculiar Way of Writing, unless, perhaps, we ought to
except _Theocritus_: But _Hesiod_ he his left so far behind him, that
he scarce deserves to be mention'd in the Comparison. The good old Man
of _Ascræa_ is at best but a downright Yeoman, whereas _Virgil_ appears
with the Learning of a Scholar, and the Elegance of a Gentleman. From
his _Georgics_, then, all the Maxims that relate to this Subject must be
illustrated.
The first Rule I would lay down, is, That we ought to select with
Judgment such Circumstances as are capable of shining in Verse; not that
we are to omit the gravest Precepts, but to express them by their most
poetical Adjuncts:
_Jam vinctæ vites, jam falcem arbusta reponunt;
Jam canit extremos effœtus vinitor antes:
Sollicitanda tamen tellus, pulvisque movendus;
Et jam maturis metuendus Jupiter uvis._
And now the Vines are ty'd, nor longer ask
The Pruning Hook; the weary Dresser now
With Songs salutes his outmost Ranks complete:
Yet must we still sollicit the dull Mold;
And the ripe Grapes have still to fear from _Jove_.
I need not explain myself any farther. To produce all the Instances
of this Kind, would be to transcribe the _Georgics_. 'Tis with the
same View the great Author of them is so copious upon the different
Properties of Trees and Cattle; the Combat of Bulls; the Conduct and
Politics of Bees, and the like.
To vary the Form of Instruction, and to add Life to his Precepts, he
sometimes instils them as Matters of Fact, and conveys them under the
Appearance of a Narration:
_Quid dicam, jacto qui semine cominus arva
Insequitur, cumulosque ruit male pinguis arenæ?_
What shou'd I say of him; who, having sown
His Grain, with ceaseless Industry proceeds,
And spreads abroad the Heaps of barren Sand?
[268]
_Quid, qui, ne gravidis procumbat culmus aristis,
Luxuriem segetum tenera depascit in herba?_
Or what of him; who, lest the Stalks, o'ercharg'd
By the plump Ears, shou'd sink beneath their Weight,
Crops their Luxuriance in the tender Blade?
And in another Place:
_Et quidam seros hyberni ad luminis ignes
Invigilat, ferroque faces inspicat acuto;
Aut dulcis musti Vulcano decoquit humorem,
Et foliis undam trepidi despumat aheni._
One watches late by Light of Winter Fires;
And with the sharpen'd Steel for Torches splits
The spiky Wood.----
Or of sweet Must boils down the luscious Juice;
And skims with Leaves the trembling Cauldron's Flood.
Sometimes he foretels the ill Consequences of a contrary Practice:
_Quod nisi & assiduis terram insectabere rastris,
Et sonitu terrebis aves, & ruris opaci
Falce premes umbras, votisque vocaveris imbrem;
Heu! magnum alterius frustra spectabis acervum,
Concussaque famem in silvis solabere quercu._
Unless then with assiduous Rakes thou work
The Ground, and chase the Birds with scaring Noise;
And with the crooked Pruner lop the Shades
Of spreading Trees, and pray to Heav'n for Show'rs,
Another's Store, in vain, alas! admir'd,
Thou shalt behold, and from a shaken Oak
Thy hungry Appetite in Woods relieve.
Or he describes the ill Effects he has observ'd to attend it:
_Semina vidi equidem multos medicare serentes,
Et nitro prius, & nigra perfundere amurca,_ &c.
_Vidi lecta diu, & multo spectata labore,
Degenerare tamen._
Many I've known to medicate their Seed,
In Nitre steep'd, and the black Lees of Oil;
And tho' o'er mod'rate Fire
Moist, and precipitated, and with Pain
Long try'd, and chosen, oft they have been prov'd Degen'rate.
By this agreeable Variety the Reader's Attention is wonderfully
awaken'd, tho' he sees not the Reason of it; and the Poet's Art is the
more to be admir'd, because it escapes Observation.
But the greatest Ornaments of this sort of Poems, are the frequent
_Excursions_ into some more noble Subject, which seem'd naturally to
arise out of that the Poet is treating of. Sometimes, for Instance, he
runs back into _History_ and _Antiquity_, or, perhaps, the very Origine
of Things:
_Ante Jovem nulli subigebant arva coloni,_ &c.
E're _Jove_ was King, no Hinds subdu'd the Glebe.
And again:
_Prima Ceres ferro mortales vertere terram
Instituit,_ &c.
'Twas _Ceres_ first taught Mortals with the Share
To cut the Ground.
Sometimes he makes Reflections on the Condition of Human Life:
_Optima quæque dies miseris mortalibus ævi
Prima fugit, subeunt morbi, tristisque senectus,_ &c.
The best of Life, which wretched Mortals share,
First flies away: Diseases, sick Old Age,
And Pain, and Death's Inclemency, succeed.
At another Time he heightens his Subject with _Astronomy_, and _Natural
Philosophy_; an Instance of which I have already cited, from the
_Georgics_: But I cannot help adding one more, not only as it makes very
remarkably for our present Purpose, but is, moreover, an abundant Proof
of what I before advanc'd, that Natural Philosophy might be express'd
in the sweetest Numbers, and consequently is capable of much smoother
Versification than that of _Lucretius_. The Poet, then, having mention'd
the Noise of Crows as a Sign of fair Weather, proceeds thus:
_Haud equidem credo, quia sit divinitus illis
Ingenium, & rerum fato prudentia major:
Verum ubi tempestas, & cœli mobilis humor
Mutavere vias, & Jupiter humidus Austris
Densat erant quæ rara modo, & quæ densa, relaxat;
Vertuntur species animorum; & pectora motus
Nunc alios; alios, dum nubila ventus agebat,
Concipiunt: Hinc ille avium concentus in agris,
Et lætæ pecudes, & ovantes gutture corvi._
Not that I think an Ingeny divine
To them is giv'n, or Prescience of Events
In Fate superior: But when changeful Winds
Alter the various Temper of the Sky;
And the moist Ether what before was dense
Relaxes, and condenses what was rare:
The shifting Phantasms of their Minds are turn'd;
And now within their Breasts new Passions move,
Diff'rent from those they felt, when driving Blasts
Dispers'd the Clouds: Hence that Concent of Birds
Chirping in Chorus; hence the Joy of Beasts,
And Flocks of Crows exulting in the Fields.
Often he digresses into _Fable_ and _Fiction_, as in that beautiful
Episode of _Orpheus_ and _Eurydice_: And still more often into _poetical
Descriptions_, as those of the perpetual Spring in _Italy_, and the
bleak Winter in _Scythia_; of the Happiness of a Country Life; of the
various Prognostications of the Weather; of the Prodigies that foretold
the Death of _Cæsar_; and, to name no more, of the Murrain among the
Cattle. Of which, I wonder the foremention'd Author of the _Essay
on Virgil's Georgics_ should say, that _Virgil_ seems in it to have
summon'd up all his Might to equal the Description of the Plague in
_Lucretius_, since the one is as much beyond the other in the Ingenuity
of the Composition, as it is inferior to it, in the Dignity of the
Subject; and the Plague in _Lucretius_ is exceeded by that of _Virgil_,
as much as Beasts are by Men. Upon the whole, this is deservedly
esteem'd the most finish'd Piece of all _Virgil_'s Works; I need not
add, that it is the compleatest in its Kind, of any we now have, or the
World ever saw.
The Moderns have produc'd nothing in this Kind, except _Rapin_'s Books
of Gardening, and the celebrated Poem on Cyder by an ingenious Author,
that not long since resided among us; who, if he had enjoy'd the
Advantage of _Virgil_'s Language, would have been second to _Virgil_ in
a much nearer Degree. As long as the fluctuating State of our Tongue
will permit, this _English Georgic_ shall infallibly flourish,
----_& honos erit huic quoque Pomo._
And to this Apple Honours shall be paid.
Among the _Pleasures_ of a Country Life, we may reckon _Hunting_,
_Fishing_, _Hawking_, and the like; which are excellent Subjects for
Didactic Verse, and are very fruitful of poetic Matter. We have only
some Essays of this Sort, and those by modern Hands, except only
_Gratius_'s _Cynægeticon_, which owes all its Value to Fortune, rather
than any true Merit of its own; _viz._ that it has the Advantage of
being writ in the _Augustan_ Age, and being recommended by _Ovid_, a
Contemporary, in the following Verse,
_Aptaque venanti Gratius arma dabit._
And _Gratius_ to the Hunter Arms supplies.
_Oppian_'s _Halieutica_ and _Cynegetica_ are scarce to be reckon'd among
the Writings of the Ancients, but to be plac'd rather in the Middle
Age[276].
The Rules for writing upon these Subjects are the same with what I have
mention'd under the _Georgics_; I have no Occasion, therefore, to add
new ones here. The same may be said for that Species of Poetry, that
consists in teaching the _Art of Poetry_; the Manner of Writing is the
same, as far as the Difference of the Matter will admit.
The Pieces that have been writ in this Way, are known to all; and Poetry
seems never to have employ'd her Time better, than upon herself. The
Ancients have left us only one Specimen of this Kind, but such as may
compensate for all the rest, _Horace_'s Epistle to the _Piso's_; a Work
that ought to be got by Heart by all true Lovers of Poetry, in which
'tis hard to say, whether we should admire the Wit or Judgment most,
both in the Choice of the Precepts, and the Manner of delivering them.
Among the Moderns, the celebrated _French_ Poet[277], and several of our
Countrymen[278], have succeeded, each in his native Tongue, very happily.
These are the several Kinds of Didactic Poetry, with which the Writers
of the past or present Age have furnish'd us. In this Number I might
reckon Ovid _of the Art of Love_; but I pass it by, on account of its
Levity, not to say its Indecency. Much less excusable are _Claudius
Quilletus_, and _Hieronymus Fracastorius_, among the Moderns; who, it
were to be wish'd, had chosen Subjects less obnoxious to Censure.
I would, however, observe, that any Thing in the World may be the
Subject of this Kind of Poem: The Business or Recreations of the City,
or the Country; even the Conduct of common Life, and civil Converse: But
none more suitable than Arts and Sciences. And among those, which of
them so proper to receive Instructions from the Hand of Poetry, as its
two Sister Arts, Painting and Music? In the former, particularly, there
is Room for the most entertaining Precepts concerning the Disposal of
Colours; the Arrangement of Lights and Shades; the secret Attractives of
Beauty; the various Ideas which make up that one; the distinguishing
between the Attitudes proper to either Sex, and every Passion; the
representing Prospects, of Buildings, Battles, or the Country; and,
lastly, concerning the Nature of Imitation, and the Power of Painting.
What a boundless Field of Invention is here? what Room for Description,
Comparison, and poetical Fable? How easy the Transition, at any Time,
from the Draught to the Original, from the Shadow to the Substance?
And, from hence, what noble Excursions may be made into History, into
Panegyric upon the greatest Beauties or Hero's of the past or present
Age? The Task, I confess, is difficult; but, according to that noted,
but true Saying,[279]So are all Things that are great. Let the Man,
therefore, that is equal to such an Undertaking, be fir'd with a noble
Ambition to attempt a Work untouch'd before; and let the _Georgics_,
which have been our great Example, furnish him with this noble Incentive:
----_Tentanda via est, qua me quoque possim
Tollere humo, victorque virum volitare per ora._
A Way by me, too, must be try'd, to raise
Myself from Earth, and fill the Mouths of Men.