[258] Sat. XIV. ℣ 47.
[259] Hor. L. I. ℣ 25.
[260] Mr. _Pope_ has since struck out a new Scheme of Ethic Poems, in
which he has deserv'd as much of the Moral World, as Sir _Isaac Newton_
did of the Natural.
[261] Virg. Æn. L. I. 746. & Georg. II. 479, &c.
[262] Georg. I. 86.
[263] Lib. I. ℣ 6.
[264] Æn. VIII. 429.
[265] Mus. Angl. Vol. I. & II.
[266] Geor. II. 416.
[267] Geor. I. 104.
[268] ℣ 111.
[269] ℣ 291.
[270] ℣ 155.
[271] ℣ 193.
[272] ℣ 125.
[273] ℣ 147.
[274] Geor. III. 66.
[275] Geor. I. 415.
[276] _Nemesianus_'s _Cynegeticon_, I suppose, is omitted, as being
still of a later Age, tho' he had the good Fortune, as _Vossius_
observes, to be read in the Schools in the Time of _Charles the Great_;
and may still bear to be read in better Times than when Emperors could
not write their own Name.
[277] _Boileau_.
[278] Earl of _Roscommon_, and Mr. _Pope_.
[279] Difficilia quæ Pulchra.
[280] Geor. III. 8.
LECTURE XVI.
_Of_ LYRIC POETRY.
Spoke in the THEATRE,
before the _Philological Act_,
_July 10, 1713_.
The Subject I now engage in, however mean it may appear in my Hands, is
not only noble in itself; but, at this Time, peculiarly seasonable: At
this Time, I say, when Odes and Music are the Instruments of our present
Festivity, and Peace restor'd to _Europe_, under the Conduct of the
greatest and best of Queens, the happy Occasion of it. And no Kind of
Poetry is so proper to express either our Joy, or the Heroes Triumphs,
as the Lyric:
_Quem virum, aut heroa, lyra, vel acri
Tibia sumes celebrare, Clio?_
What Man, what Hero wilt thou claim,
What Godhead, Muse? For whom inspire
Thy warbling Pipe or Lyre?
_Oldsworth._
Since, then, it is incumbent upon me to bear a Part in this Solemnity,
let me prevail with my usual Audience, and those additional Guests
that make up this chearful Assembly, to restrain their Impatience for
the Verses and Orations, that are to follow, only while I lay before
them the Original and Antiquity of Lyric Poetry, the distinguishing
Properties of it, the Variety of its Matter, and the Difference between
modern Writers in this Way, and the ancient.
That this is the most ancient Kind of Poem, is pretty evident. _Jubal_,
in sacred Writ, is said to be the first Inventor of musical Instruments;
and little Doubt is to be made, but vocal Music was added to them. And
we are farther told, by a _Jewish_ Author, of venerable Antiquity[282],
tho' his Works are not admitted into the Canon, that the same _which
found out musical Tunes, recited Verses in Writing_. We have before
observ'd, that Poetry took its Rise from those Festival Hymns which
were sung at the Conclusion of Harvest, in Gratitude to the Deity.
Odes, therefore, and Poetry, date their Original from the same Æra:
And, in Truth, if we consider the internal Motions of the Soul, it
will seem very probable that Poetry, which is so peculiarly adapted
to express the several Emotions of Joy, or Praise, or Gratitude, owes
its Rise to Nature herself, and was therefore join'd with Music. We
have no Instance of Poetry older than the celebrated Song, or rather
Ode, of _Moses_[283]. The Antiquity of the other Hymns mention'd in
sacred History, and, particularly, the Collection of them in the Book
of _Psalms_, is so well known, that I shall dwell no longer upon this
Particular.
As to the Nature of the Lyric Poem, it is, of all Kinds of Poetry, the
most poetical; and is as distinct, both in Style, and Thought, from
the rest, as Poetry in general is from Prose. I have before observ'd,
the Peculiarity of its Diction; the Thought, only, now comes under
Consideration. Now this is the boldest of all other Kinds, full of
Rapture, and elevated from common Language the most that is possible;
so that what _Horace_ says at the Beginning of one of his Odes, may not
improperly be applied to all the rest:
_Odi profanum vulgus, & arceo._