By Simon Ford, D.D.
Young people are fond of fiction, 42. The danger hence arising,
42, 43. We would not interdict to them the reading of poetry, 44.
But give them wholesome advice touching the matter, 45. Poets deal
much in fiction: it belongs to the very essence of poetry, 46. This
contributes greatly to the entertainment of the reader, 46. Evident
absurdities must be rejected, 47. Do not receive as literal truth
what the poets say of the gods or of the departed, 48. Poetry is
an imitative art: the exactness of the imitation, even of a foul
action, gives pleasure, 50. If odious and abominable conduct is
to be represented in poetry, the expression must correspond, 51.
But the poets, especially Homer, signify their disapproval of such
conduct, 52, 53. They often introduce evil examples to promote
moral improvement, 55. The contradictions among poets lessen the
credit of what they say, and thus diminish the possible danger, 55.
The poets often furnish antidotes to the poison they deal out, 57,
58. We may also quote the philosophers against the poets, 59. In
using the names of the gods, the poets often mean only the powers
of nature, or fortune, or some second cause, 61, 62. They often use
words tropically, and then are not to be taken in the literal sense,
64, 65. Poetry requires variety, hence it never represents the same
persons, not even the gods, as uniformly virtuous or prosperous, 66,
67. Therefore the young man must not approve or admire every thing
which is said of the heroes of poetry, 68. Instance, Achilles and
Agamemnon, 69. Several passages in Homer criticised, 69-72. Criticism
on Sophocles, 72. More criticisms and explanations of the Iliad,
74-84, 89, 90. Young men may be taught good morals, and how they
differ from bad, by the poets, _ib._ Boys may learn something
useful even from passages wicked and absurd, 83. We may show young
persons how passages in the poets, of good tendency, are confirmed by
the language of philosophers, 91. Plato and the poets sometimes speak
alike, 92. Thus may poetry and philosophy be reconciled, 93, 94.