from Divine Infpiration. And, according to Oldkam, in his Imitation of Horace's Art of Poetry:sou? Ndovi modt

Hence Poets have been held a facred Name

And in another Place: soxta to onli beeld at uw trovo od

Verfe was the Language of the Gods of oldy, orod
In which their facred Oracles were told.

But of late, I think, it has been most commonly quite another fort of Language.

tow at didy The great Heights and Excellency: both of Poetry and Mufick, in the k in the Opinion of of fome of our beft Authors, fell with the Roman Learning and Empire, and have never fince recover'd the Admiration and Applaufes that before attended them: This is moft certainly true in general; but as we have had fome Muficians of great Eminence fince that time, fo have we likewife produc'd fome few Poets which have preferv'd the Dignity of Poely, and amongst thefe Spenfer and Milton are the chief and defervedly efteem'd A cod sideq

This Divine Art of Poetry has lately fo much fuffer'd in its Reputation, by the Performances of fome who have thought themfelves infpir'd, and whofe Readers too have many of them thought the Tame, tha the belt Judges come ftrongly prejudic'd against any thing of this kind, as generally expecting nothing but Froth and Emptinels An1 as the Poets, and their Productions, now are vaftly more numerous than they were in former Ages, it is not to b admir'd that they are lefs regarded; for Poems, like beautiful Women, are undoubtedly moft valu'd, where there is the greatest Scarcity,

C

Tho one thing may be allow'd with a great deal of Juftice, as an Excuse for some of our mö

deri

dern Performances in Poetry, (viz.) the Misfor tunes of many of our Authors for want of the Encouragement of fome Noble Mecanas; a detestable Fate generally attends this Divine Gift; and there is nothing that repuires fo much Serenity and Chearfulness of Spirit as Poetry. The Mind muft not be overcaft with the Clouds of Melancholy and Sorrow; it must be fill'd with bright and delightful Ideas, when it undertakes to communicate Delight to others. And the Dejection of Spirit of Quid is eafily feen thro' the Stile of his De Triftibus, which he wrote in his Banifhment; there being very little remains of that Genius,

Quem nec fovis Ira, nec Ignes, &c.

One

-Art and Nature mutually affift each other in the Compofition of a Poet; tho' Art, I take it, lefs contributes to his Perfection than Nature, may be an Orator, fays Rapin, without the natural Gift of Eloquence, becaufe Art may fupply that Defect but no Man can be a Poet without a Genius; the want of which no Art or Iuduftry is capable to repair. And this Genius is that Celestial Fine, intended by the Fable, which enlarges and heightens the Soul, and makes it exprefs Things in the most lofty Stile, and with the greatest Elevation.

This Expreffion or Language in Poetry ought to have five Qualities; to be apt, clear, natural, fplendid, and numerous: It must be apt, fo as to have nothing that is impure or barbarous; it muft be clear, that it may be intelligible, it is to be natural, according to the Rules of Decorum and good Senfe, for all train'd and extraordinary Expreffions are infupportable to true Poefy; it muft be lofty and fplendid, for the common and ordina ty Terms are not proper for a Poet. And the

796

Lan

Language is to be numerous to uphold that Great hefs and Majefty, which ought to reign throughout in Poefy!...

Thefe are the Qualities neceffary in Poetical Lan guage, and which make Poetry truly harmonious; and when these are obferv'd, a Poetick Licence is, in other refpects, very allowable. It is, as Dryden obferves, that Birthright which is deriv'd to Poets from their Great Forefathers, even from Homer down to Ben. The boldeft Strokes of Poetry, when they are manag'd artfully, are those which moft delight the Reader: There is fomething in the Genius of Poetry, too Libertine to be confin'd to many Rules; and whoever goes about to fub! ject it to fuch Conftraints, oftentimes lofes both its Spirit and Grace.

But however the Poet's Fancy and Wit fhould be kept within due Bounds; and there is not a greater Hinderance to the Epick or Heroick Poem, than a Wit too vaft for fuch will make nothing exact in thefe kind of Works, whofe chief Perfection is the Juftnefs. The greater the Wit is, and the more Strength and Vigour that the Imagination has to form Ideas in Poetry, the more Difcretion and Judgment is requifite to moderate that Heat, and govern its natural Fury: Like luxuriant Plants, it requires a great deal of Pruning. And in Poetry it is equally happy to forbear fpeaking all one thinks, and to leave fomething for others to employ their Thoughts upon; as in Profpects thofe are beft and moft pleafing, which leave us room to guess more than the Eye can discover. 97,

For an Author to leave a thing when it is well, to ftop regularly where he ought to ftop, fhews an accomplish'd Genius; but very few befides Homer and Virgil have been Mafters of this Difcretion For want of this Judgment, in our anorous Poems,

Obscenity has oftentimes prevail'd Tho' it is not in this Senfe that Poetry is always faid to be a kind of Painting; it is not the Picture of the Poet, but of Things and Perfons imagin'd by him. He may be in his own Practice and Difpofition a Philofopher, fays Cowley, and yet fpeak fometimes with the Softiefs of an amorous Sappho on, afboctor redno k

This, I think, is generally allow'd; and as a Painter draws Faces by their Features, fo the Poet reprefents the Minds of Men by their Manners, the moft Sovereign Rule for treating of which, is to copy them after Nature; to exhibit every Perfon In his proper Character! And the Paffions give no lefs Grace to: Poetry, than the Manners; for they are,dasdit were, the Soul and Life of it, when the Poet has found the Art to make them move by their natural Springs but both thefe are extremely difficult to be defcribid. I sul nid twent has . Of all forts of Poetry, the Epick Poem is the moft noble; it is the greatest Work that human Wit is capable of, and proper only for the fub himet Subjects: It requires a vaft Capacity, all the Elevation of the moft exalted Genius, a great Fancyp: Heat of Imagination, and Sobriety of Rea fon: A Judgment folid, and Difcernment exqui fite The Images must be ftrong and lively, and the Frame/or Fabrick ought to have fomething both fublime and juft, amazing and agreeabled There must be a great Agitation of Mind to vent, a great Calm to judge and correct; and to work up this Metal into an excellent Figure, there fhould be employ'd the Fire, the Hammer, the Chiffel, and the Fildan sva orandtu A as yo

Next to the Epicko Poem, is the Pindarick, Ode, which bught likewife to have much Nobleuefs of Thought, Elevation,and Tranfport: And it requires, to fuflaimall the Majefty of its Character, an exalted

Wit, a daring Fancy, and an Expreffion noble and fparkling, yet pure and correct. It allows, (in the English Language,) more Latitude than any other Poem; but the Ear muft prefide and direct the Judgment to the Choice of Numbers; Without the Nicety of this, the Harmony of Pindarick Verfe can never be compleat; the Cadency of one Line ought to be a Rule for that of the next; and the Sound of the former muft flide gently into that which follows, without leaping from one Extreme into another. This Poem has been introduc'd into our Language by the happy Genius of Mr. Comley, and is fit for great and noble Subjects, fuch as are boundlefs as its own Numbers.

Satire is very different from either of the Poems aforemention'd, the chief Defign of it being to find fault: And this is the eafieft kind of Wit. A little Wit, and a great deal of Ill-Nature, will qualify a Man for a Satirift; but the greatest Inftance of Wit and Judgment is to Commend well. The Sharpness of Satire oftentimes proceeds not fo much from Wit as from Choler; and human Frailty muft be nicely unfolded, to diftinguish a Satirift from a Scold. Rapin remarks, that the principal end of Satire, is to inftruct the People by difcrediting Vice, and making it ridiculous; and the fporting of Wit has frequently a greater Effect than the ftrongeft Reafoning and moft fententious Difcourfest But it is very often like a Sword in the Hands of a Madman, who runs a-tilt at all manner of Perfons: And that fort of Satire which we call Lampoon, wherein the weaker Sex is the moft ordinary Theme, is a very dangerous and unlawful Weapon. Amongst the Antients, Horace, exercis'd his Cenfure in Jeft and Merriment, and Juvenale wrote his Satire in a more ferious Strain.