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+Project Gutenberg's The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The Pisos, by Horace
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+Title: The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The Pisos
+       Q. Horatii Flacci Epistola Ad Pisones, De Arte Poetica.
+
+Author: Horace
+
+Translator: George Colman
+
+Posting Date: October 6, 2014 [EBook #9175]
+Release Date: Octoer, 2005
+First Posted: September 11, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF POETRY AN EPISTLE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Q. HORATII FLACCI Epistola ad PISONES,
+
+DE ARTE POETICA.
+
+
+
+THE ART OF POETRY AN EPISTLE TO THE PISOS.
+
+
+TRANSLATED FROM HORACE
+
+WITH NOTES BY GEORGE COLMAN.
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note:  Several ineligible words were found in several
+languages throughout the text, these are marked with an asterisk.]
+
+
+London: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand
+
+MDCCLXXXIII TO
+
+The Rev. JOSEPH WARTQN, D.D. MASTER of WINCHESTER SCHOOL; AND TO The
+Rev. THOMAS WARTON, B.D. FELLOW of TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD.
+
+MY DEAR FRIENDS!
+
+In a conversation, some months ago, I happened to mention to you the
+idea I had long entertained of that celebrated Epistle of Horace,
+commonly distinguished by the title of THE ART OF POETRY. I will not say
+that you acceded to my opinion; but I flattered myself that I at least
+interested your curiosity, and engaged your attention: our discourse,
+however, revived an intention I had once formed, of communicating my
+thoughts on the subject to the Publick; an intention I had only dropt
+for want of leisure and inclination to attempt a translation of the
+Epistle, which I thought necessary to accompany the original, and my
+remarks on it. In the original, Horace assumes the air and stile of an
+affectionate teacher, admonishing and instructing his young friends and
+pupils: but the following translation, together with the observations
+annexed, I address to You as my Masters, from whom I look for sound
+information, a well-grounded confirmation of my hypothesis, or a
+solution of my doubts, and a correction of my errors.
+
+It is almost needless to observe, that the Epistle in question has very
+particularly exercised the critical sagacity of the literary world;
+yet it is remarkable that, amidst the great variety of comments and
+decisions on the work, it has been almost universally considered, except
+by one acute and learned writer of this country, as a loose, vague,
+and desultory composition; a mass of shining materials; like pearls
+unstrung, valuable indeed, but not displayed to advantage.
+
+Some have contended, with Scaliger at their head, that this pretended
+_Art of Poetry_ is totally void of art; and that the very work, in which
+the beauty and excellence of _Order_ (ordinis virtus et Venus!)
+is strongly recommended, is in itself unconnected, confused, and
+immethodical. The advocates for the writer have in great measure
+confessed the charge, but pleaded in excuse and vindication, the
+familiarity of an epistle, and even the genius of Poetry, in which the
+formal divisions of a prosaick treatise on the art would have been
+insupportable. They have also denied that Horace ever intended such a
+treatise, or that he ever gave to this Epistle the title of _the Art of
+Poetry_; on which title the attacks of Scaliger, and his followers, are
+chiefly grounded. The title, however, is confessedly as old as the age
+of Quintilian; and that the work itself has a perpetual reference to
+_Poets and Poetry,_ is as evident, as that it is, from beginning to end,
+in its manner, stile, address, and form, perfectly _Epistolary._
+
+The learned and ingenious Critick distinguished above, an early ornament
+to letters, and now a worthy dignitary of the church, leaving vain
+comments, and idle disputes on the title of the work, sagaciously
+directed his researches to scrutinize the work itself; properly
+endeavouring to trace and investigate from the composition the end and
+design of the writer, and remembering the axiom of the Poet, to whom his
+friend had been appointed the commentator.
+
+  _In every work regard THE AUTHOR'S END!
+  For none can compass more than they intend. _ Pope.
+
+With this view of illustrating and explaining Horace's Art of Poetry,
+this shrewd and able writer, about thirty years ago, republished the
+original Epistle, giving the text chiefly after Dr. Bentley, subjoining
+an English Commentary and Notes, and prefixing an Introduction, from
+which I beg leave to transcribe most part of the three first paragraphs,
+
+"It is agreed on all hands, that the antients are our masters in the
+_art_ of composition. Such of their writings, therefore, as deliver
+instructions for the exercise of this _art_, must be of the highest
+value. And, if any of them hath acquired a credit, in this respect,
+superior to the rest, it is, perhaps, the _following work:_ which the
+learned have long since considered as a kind of _summary_ of the rules
+of good writing; to be gotten by heart by every young student; and to
+whose decisive authority the greatest masters in taste and composition
+must finally submit.
+
+"But the more unquestioned the credit of this poem is, the more it will
+concern the publick, that it be justly and accurately understood. The
+writer of these sheets then believed it might be of use, if he took some
+pains to clear the sense, connect the method, and ascertain the scope
+and purpose, of this admired epistle. Others, he knew indeed, and some
+of the first fame for critical learning, had been before him in this
+attempt. Yet he did not find himself prevented by their labours; in
+which, besides innumerable lesser faults, he, more especially, observed
+two inveterate errors, of such a fort, as must needs perplex the genius,
+and distress the learning, of _any_ commentator. The _one_ of these
+respects the SUBJECT; the other, the METHOD of the _Art of Poetry_. It
+will be necessary to say something upon each.
+
+"1. That the _Art of Poetry_, at large, is not the _proper_ subject of
+this piece, is so apparent, that it hath not escaped the dullest and
+least attentive of its Criticks. For, however all the different _kinds_
+of poetry might appear to enter into it, yet every one saw, that _some_
+at least were very slightly considered: whence the frequent attempts, the
+_artes et institutiones poetica_, of writers both at home and abroad, to
+supply its deficiencies. But, though this truth was seen and confessed,
+it unluckily happened, that the sagacity of his numerous commentators
+went no further. They still considered this famous Epistle as a
+_collection_, though not a _system_, of criticisms on poetry in general;
+with this concession however, that the stage had evidently the largest
+share in it [Footnote: Satyra hac est in fui faeculi poetas, praecipui
+yero in Romanum Drama, Baxter.]. Under the influence of this prejudice,
+several writers of name took upon them to comment and explain it: and
+with the success, which was to be expected from so fatal a mistake on
+setting out, as the not seeing, 'that the proper and sole purpose of the
+Author, was, not to abridge the Greek Criticks, whom he probably never
+thought of; nor to amuse himself with composing a short critical
+system, for the general use of poets, which every line of it absolutely
+confutes; but, simply to criticize the Roman drama.' For to this end,
+not the tenor of the work only, but as will appear, every single precept
+in it, ultimately refers. The mischiefs of this original error have been
+long felt. It hath occasioned a constant perplexity in defining the
+_general_ method, and in fixing the import of _particular_ rules. Nay
+its effects have reached still further. For conceiving, as they did,
+that the whole had been composed out of the Greek Criticks, the labour
+and ingenuity of its interpreters have been misemployed in picking out
+authorities, which were not wanted, and in producing, or, more properly,
+by their studied refinements in _creating,_ conformities, which
+were never designed. Whence it hath come to pass that, instead of
+investigating the order of the Poet's own reflexions, and scrutinizing
+the peculiar state of the Roman Stage (the methods, which common sense
+and common criticism would prescribe) the world hath been nauseated
+with, insipid lectures on _Aristotle_ and _Phalereus;_ whose solid sense
+hath been so attenuated and subtilized by the delicate operation of
+French criticism, as hath even gone some way towards bringing the _art_
+itself into disrepute.
+
+"2. But the wrong explications of this poem have arisen, not from the
+misconception of the subject only, but from an inattention to the method
+of it. The _latter_ was, in part the genuine consequence of the
+_former._ For, not suspecting an unity of design in the subject it's
+interpreters never looked for, or could never find, a consistency of
+disposition in the method. And this was indeed the very block upon which
+HEINSIUS, and, before him,. JULIUS SCALIGER, himself fumbled. These
+illustrious Criticks, with all the force of genius, which is required to
+disembarrass an involved subject, and all the aids of learning, that can
+lend a ray to enlighten a dark one, have, notwithstanding, found
+themselves utterly unable to unfold the order of this Epistle; insomuch,
+that SCALIGER [Footnote: Praef. i x LIB. POET. ct 1. vi. p. 338] hath
+boldly pronounced, the conduct of it to be _vicious;_ and HEINSIUS had
+no other way to evade the charge, than by recurring to the forced and
+uncritical expedient of a licentious transposition The truth is, they
+were both in one common error, that the Poet's purpose had been to write
+a criticism of the Art of Poetry at large, and not, as is here shewn of
+the Roman Drama in particular."
+
+The remainder of this Introduction, as well as the Commentary and Notes,
+afford ample proofs of the erudition and ingenuity of the Critick: yet
+I much doubt, whether he has been able to convince the learned world
+of the truth of his main proposition, "than it was the proper and sole
+purpose of the Author, simply to _criticise_ the Roman drama." His
+Commentary is, it must be owned, extremely seducing yet the attentive
+reader of Horace will perhaps often fancy, that he perceives a violence
+and constraint offered to the composition, in order to accommodate it to
+the system of the Commentator; who, to such a reader, may perhaps seem
+to mark transitions, and point out connections, as well as to maintain
+a _method_ in the Commentary, which cannot clearly be deduced from the
+text, to which it refers.
+
+This very-ingenious _Commentary_ opens as follows:
+
+"The subject of this piece being, as I suppose, _one,_ viz. _the state
+of the Roman Drama,_ and common sense requiring, even in the freest
+forms of composition, some kind of _method._ the intelligent reader will
+not be surprised to find the poet prosecuting his subject in a regular,
+well-ordered _plan;_ which, for the more exact description of it, I
+distinguish into three parts:
+
+"I. The first of them [from 1. 1 to 89] is preparatory to the main
+subject of the Epistle, containing some general rules and reflexions on
+poetry, but principally with an eye to the following parts: by which
+means it serves as an useful introduction to the poet's design, and
+opens with that air of ease and elegance, essential to the epistolary
+form.
+
+"II. The main body of the Epistle [from 1. 89. to 295] is laid out in
+regulating the_ Roman_ Stage; but chiefly in giving rules for Tragedy;
+not only as that was the sublimer species of the _Drama,_ but, as it
+should seem, less cultivated and understood.
+
+"III. The last part [from 1. 295 to the end] exhorts to correctness in
+writing; yet still with an eye, principally, to the _dramatic species;_
+and is taken up partly in removing the causes, that prevented it; and
+partly in directing to the use of such means, as might serve to promote
+it. Such is the general plan of the Epistle."
+
+In this general summary, with which the Critick introduces his
+particular Commentary, a very material circumstance is acknowledged,
+which perhaps tends to render the system on which it proceeds extremely
+doubtful, if not wholly untenable. The original Epistle consists of four
+hundred and seventy-six lines; and it appears, from the above numerical
+analysis, that not half of those lines, only two hundred and six verses,
+[from v. 89 to 295] are employed on the subject of _the Roman Stage_.
+The first of the three parts above delineated [from v. i to 89]
+certainly _contains general rules and reflections on poetry,_ but
+surely with no particular reference to the Drama. As to the second
+part, the Critick, I think, might fairly have extended the Poet's
+consideration of the Drama to the 365th line, seventy lines further than
+he has carried it; but the last hundred and eleven lines of the Epistle
+so little allude to the Drama, that the only passage in which a mention
+of the Stage has been supposed to be implied, _[ludusque repertus,
+&c.]_ is, by the learned and ingenious Critick himself, particularly
+distinguished with a very different interpretation. Nor can this portion
+of the Epistle be considered, by the impartial and intelligent reader,
+as a mere exhortation "to correctness in writing; taken up partly in
+removing the causes that prevented it; and partly in directing to the
+use of such means, as might serve to promote it." Correctness is
+indeed here, as in many other parts of Horace's Satires and Epistles,
+occasionally inculcated; but surely the main scope of this animated
+conclusion is to deter those, who are not blest with genius, from
+attempting the walks of Poetry. I much approve what this writer has
+urged on the _unity of subject, and beauty of epistolary method_
+observed in this Work; but cannot agree that "the main subject and
+intention was _the regulation of the Roman Stage_." How far I may differ
+concerning particular passages, will appear from the notes at the end
+of this translation. In controversial criticism difference of opinion
+cannot but be expressed, (_veniam petimusque damusque vicissim_,) but
+I hope I shall not be thought to have delivered my sentiments with
+petulance, or be accused of want of respect for a character, that I most
+sincerely reverence and admire.
+
+I now proceed to set down in writing, the substance of what I suggested
+to you in conversation, concerning my own conceptions of the end and
+design of Horace in this Epistle. In this explanation I shall call upon
+Horace as my chief witness, and the Epistle itself, as my principal
+voucher. Should their testimonies prove adverse, my system must be
+abandoned, like many that have preceded it, as vain and chimerical: and
+if it should even, by their support, be acknowledged and received, it
+will, I think, like the egg of Columbus, appear so plain, easy, and
+obvious, that it will seem almost wonderful, that the Epistle has never
+been considered in the same light, till now. I do not wish to dazzle
+with the lustre of a new hypothesis, which requires, I think, neither
+the strong opticks, nor powerful glasses, of a critical Herschel, to
+ascertain the truth of it; but is a system, that lies level to common
+apprehension, and a luminary, discoverable by the naked eye.
+
+My notion is simply this. I conceive that one of the sons of Piso,
+undoubtedly the elder, had either written, or meditated, a poetical
+work, most probably a Tragedy; and that he had, with the knowledge of
+the family, communicated his piece, or intention, to Horace: but Horace,
+either disapproving of the work, or doubting of the poetical faculties
+of the Elder Piso, or both, wished to dissuade him from all thoughts
+of publication. With this view he formed the design of writing this
+Epistle, addressing it, with a courtliness and delicacy perfectly
+agreeable to his acknowledged character, indifferently to the whole
+family, the father and his two sons. _Epistola ad Pisones, de Arte
+Poetica_.
+
+He begins with general reflections, generally addressed to his _three_
+friends. _Credite_, Pisones!--pater, & juvenes _patre digni!_--In these
+preliminary rules, equally necessary to be observed by Poets of every
+denomination, he dwells on the necessity of unity of design, the danger
+of being dazzled by the splendor of partial beauties, the choice of
+subjects, the beauty of order, the elegance and propriety of diction,
+and the use of a thorough knowledge of the nature of the several
+different species of Poetry: summing up this introductory portion of his
+Epistle, in a manner perfectly agreeable to the conclusion of it.
+
+  Descriptas servare vices, operumque colores,
+  Cur ego si nequeo ignoroque, poeta salutor?
+  Cur nescire, pudens pravè, quam discere malo?
+
+From this general view of poetry, on the canvas of Aristotle, but
+entirely after his own manner, the writer proceeds to give the rules and
+history of the Drama; adverting principally to Tragedy, with all its
+constituents and appendages of diction, fable, character, incidents,
+chorus, measure, musick, and decoration. In this part of the work,
+according to the interpretation of the best criticks, and indeed (I
+think) according to the manifest tenor of the Epistle, he addresses
+himself entirely to _the two young gentlemen_, pointing out to them the
+difficulty, as well as excellence, of the Dramatick Art; insisting
+on the avowed superiority of the Graecian Writers, and ascribing the
+comparative failure of the Romans to negligence and avarice. The Poet,
+having exhausted this part of his subject, suddenly drops a _second_, or
+dismisses at once no less than _two_ of the _three_ Persons, to whom he
+originally addressed his Epistle, and turning short _on the ELDER PISO_,
+most earnestly conjures him to ponder on the danger of precipitate
+publication, and the ridicule to which the author of wretched poetry
+exposes himself. From the commencement of this partial address, o major
+juvenum, _&c._ [v. 366] to the end of the Poem, _almost a fourth part of
+the whole_, the second person plural, _Pisones!--Vos!--Vos, O Pompilius
+Sanguis! _&c. is discarded, and the second person singular, _Tu, Te,
+Tibi,_ &c. invariably takes its place. The arguments too are equally
+relative and personal; not only shewing the necessity of study, combined
+with natural genius, to constitute a Poet; but dwelling on the peculiar
+danger and delusion of flattery, to a writer of rank and fortune; as
+well as the inestimable value of an honest friend, to rescue him from
+derision and contempt. The Poet, however, in reverence to the Muse,
+qualifies his exaggerated description of an infatuated scribbler, with a
+most noble encomium of the uses of Good Poetry, vindicating the dignity
+of the Art, and proudly asserting, that the most exalted characters
+would not be disgraced by the cultivation of it.
+
+  _Ne forte pudori
+  Sit _tibi _Musa, lyrae solers, & cantor Apollo_.
+
+It is worthy observation, that in the satyrical picture of a frantick
+bard, with which Horace concludes his Epistle, he not only runs counter
+to what might be expected as a Corollary of an Essay on _the Art of
+Poetry_, but contradicts his own usual practice and sentiments. In his
+Epistle to Augustus, instead of stigmatizing the love of verse as an
+abominable phrenzy, he calls it (_levis haec insania) a slight madness_,
+and descants on its good effects--_quantas virtutes habeat, sic collige!_
+
+In another Epistle, speaking of himself, and his addiction to poetry, he
+says,
+
+  _----ubi quid datur oti,
+  Illudo chartis; hoc est, mediocribus illis
+  Ex vitiis unum, _&c.
+
+All which, and several other passages in his works, almost demonstrate
+that it was not, without a particular purpose in view, that he dwelt so
+forcibly on the description of a man resolved
+
+  _----in spite
+  Of nature and his stars to write._
+
+To conclude, if I have not contemplated my system, till I am become
+blind to its imperfections, this view of the Epistle not only preserves
+to it all that _unity of subject, and elegance of method, _so much
+insisted on by the excellent Critick, to whom I have so often referred;
+but by adding to his judicious general abstract the familiarities of
+personal address, so strongly marked by the writer, not a line appears
+idle or misplaced: while the order and disposition of the Epistle to the
+Pisos appears as evident and unembarrassed, as that of the Epistle to
+Augustus; in which last, the actual state of the Roman Drama seems to
+have been more manifestly the object of Horace's attention, than in the
+Work now under consideration.
+
+Before I leave you to the further examination of the original of Horace,
+and submit to you the translation, with the notes that accompany it, I
+cannot help observing, that the system, which I have here laid down, is
+not so entirely new, as it may perhaps at first appear to the reader,
+or as I myself originally supposed it. No Critick indeed has, to my
+knowledge, directly considered _the whole Epistle_ in the same light
+that I have now taken it; but yet _particular passages_ seem so strongly
+to enforce such an interpretation, that the Editors, Translators, and
+Commentators, have been occasionally driven to explanations of a similar
+tendency; of which the notes annexed will exhibit several striking
+instances.
+
+Of the following version I shall only say, that I have not, knowingly,
+adopted a single expression, tending to warp the judgement of the
+learned or unlearned reader, in favour of my own hypothesis. I attempted
+this translation, chiefly because I could find no other equally close
+and literal. Even the Version of Roscommon, tho' in blank verse, is, in
+some parts a paraphrase, and in others, but an abstract. I have myself,
+indeed, endeavoured to support my right to that force and freedom of
+translation which Horace himself recommends; yet I have faithfully
+exhibited in our language several passages, which his professed
+translators have abandoned, as impossible to be given in English.
+
+All that I think necessary to be further said on the Epistle will appear
+in the notes.
+
+  I am, my dear friends,
+
+  With the truest respect and regard,
+
+  Your most sincere admirer,
+
+  And very affectionate, humble servant,
+
+  GEORGE COLMAN.
+
+  LONDON,
+  March 8, 1783.
+
+
+  Q. HORATII FLACCI
+
+
+  EPISTOLA AD PISONES.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam
+  Jungere si velit, et varias inducere plumas
+  Undique collatis membris, ut turpiter atrum
+  Definat in piscem mulier formosa supernè;
+  Spectatum admissi risum teneatis, amici?
+  Credite, Pisones, ifti tabulae fore librum
+  Persimilem, cujus, velut aegri somnia, vanae
+  HORACE'S EPISTLE TO THE PISOS.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  What if a Painter, in his art to shine,
+  A human head and horse's neck should join;
+  From various creatures put the limbs together,
+  Cover'd with plumes, from ev'ry bird a feather;
+  And in a filthy tail the figure drop,
+  A fish at bottom, a fair maid at top:
+  Viewing a picture of this strange condition,
+  Would you not laugh at such an exhibition?
+  Trust me, my Pisos, wild as this may seem,
+  The volume such, where, like a sick-man's dream,
+  Fingentur species: ut nec pes, nec caput uni
+  Reddatur formae. Pictoribus atque Poëtis
+  Quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas:
+  Scimus, et hanc veniam petimusque damusque *viciffim:
+  Sed non ut placidis coëant immitia, non ut
+  Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Incoeptis gravibus plerumque et magna professis
+  Purpureus latè qui splendeat unus et alter
+  Assuitur pannus; cùm lucus et ara Dianae,
+  Et properantis aquae per amoenos ambitus agros,
+  Aut flumen Rhenum, aut pluvius describitur arcus.
+  Sed nunc non erat his locus: et fortasse cupressum
+  Scis simulare: quid hoc, si fractis enatat exspes
+  Extravagant conceits throughout prevail,
+  Gross and fantastick, neither head nor tail.
+  "Poets and Painters ever were allow'd
+  Some daring flight above the vulgar croud."
+  True: we indulge them in that daring flight,
+  And challenge in our turn, an equal right:
+  But not the soft and savage to combine,
+  Serpents to doves, to tigers lambkins join.
+
+  Oft works of promise large, and high attempt,
+  Are piec'd and guarded, to escape contempt,
+  With here and there a remnant highly drest,
+  That glitters thro' the gloom of all the rest.
+  Then Dian's grove and altar are the theme,
+  Then thro' rich meadows flows the silver stream;
+  The River Rhine, perhaps, adorns the lines,
+  Or the gay Rainbow in description shines.
+
+  These we allow have each their several grace;
+  But each and several now are out of place.
+
+  A cypress you can draw; what then? you're hir'd,
+  And from your art a sea-piece is requir'd;
+  Navibus, aere dato qui pingitur amphora coepit
+  Institui: currente rotâ cur urceus exit?
+  Denique sit quidvis simplex duntaxat et unum.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Maxima pars vatum, (pater, et juvenes patre digni)
+  Decipimur specie recti. Brevis esse laboro,
+  Obscurus sio: sectantem laevia, nervi
+  Desiciunt animíque: prosessus grandia turget:
+  Serpit humi tutus nimiùm timidùsque procellae.
+  Qui variare cupit rem prodigaliter unam,
+  Delphinum silvis appingit, fluctibus aprum.
+  In vitium dycit culpae fuga, si caret arte.
+
+  A shipwreck'd mariner, despairing, faint,
+  (The price paid down) you are ordain'd to paint.
+  Why dwindle to a cruet from a tun?
+  Simple be all you execute, and one!
+
+  Lov'd fire! lov'd sons, well worthy such a fire!
+  Most bards are dupes to beauties they admire.
+  Proud to be brief, for brevity must please,
+  I grow obscure; the follower of ease
+  Wants nerve and soul; the lover of sublime
+  Swells to bombast; while he who dreads that crime,
+  Too fearful of the whirlwind rising round,
+  A wretched reptile, creeps along the ground.
+  The bard, ambitious fancies who displays,
+  And tortures one poor thought a thousand ways,
+  Heaps prodigies on prodigies; in woods
+  Pictures the dolphin, and the boar in floods!
+  Thus ev'n the fear of faults to faults betrays,
+  Unless a master-hand conduct the lays.
+  Aemilium circa ludum faber imus et ungues
+  Exprimet, et molles imitabitur aere capillos,
+  Infelix operis summâ, quia ponere totum
+  Nesciet: hunc ego me, si quid componere curem,
+  Non magis esse velim, quàm pravo vivere naso,
+  Spectandum nigris oculis, nigroque capillo.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Sumite materiam vostris, qui scribitis, aequam
+  Viribus: et versate diu, quid ferre recusent
+  Quid valeant humeri. Cui lecta potenter erit res,
+  Nec facundia deferet hunc, nec lucidus ordo.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Ordinis haec virtus erit et venus, aut ego fallor,
+  Ut jam nunc dicat, jam nunc debentia dici
+  Pleraque differat, et praesens in tempus omittat.
+  An under workman, of th' Aemilian class,
+  Shall mould the nails, and trace the hair in brass,
+  Bungling at last; because his narrow soul
+  Wants room to comprehend _a perfect whole_.
+  To be this man, would I a work compose,
+  No more I'd wish, than for a horrid nose,
+  With hair as black as jet, and eyes as black as sloes.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Select, all ye who write, a subject fit,
+  A subject, not too mighty for your wit!
+  And ere you lay your shoulders to the wheel,
+  Weigh well their strength, and all their weakness feel!
+  He, who his subject happily can chuse,
+  Wins to his favour the benignant Muse;
+  The aid of eloquence he ne'er shall lack,
+  And order shall dispose and clear his track.
+
+  Order, I trust, may boast, nor boast in vain,
+  These Virtues and these Graces in her train.
+  What on the instant should be said, to say;
+  Things, best reserv'd at present, to delay;
+  Hoc amet, hoc spernat, promissi carminis auctor.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  In verbis etiam tenuis cautusque ferendis,
+  Dixeris egregié, notum si callida verbum
+  Reddiderit junctura novum: si forté necesse est
+  Indiciis monstrare recentibus abdita rerum;
+  Fingere cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis
+  Continget: dabiturque licentia sumpta pudenter.
+  Et nova factaque nuper habebunt verba fidem, si
+  Graeco fonte cadant, parcé detorta. Quid autem?
+  Caecilio, Plautoque dabit Romanus, ademptum
+  Virgilio, Varioque? ego cur acquirere pauca
+  Guiding the bard, thro' his continu'd verse,
+  What to reject, and when; and what rehearse.
+
+  On the old stock of words our fathers knew,
+  Frugal and cautious of engrafting new,
+  Happy your art, if by a cunning phrase
+  To a new meaning a known word you raise:
+  If 'tis your lot to tell, at some chance time,
+  "Things unattempted yet in prose or rhime,"
+  Where you are driv'n perforce to many a word
+  Which the strait-lac'd Cethegi never heard,
+  Take, but with coyness take, the licence wanted,
+  And such a licence shall be freely granted:
+  New, or but recent, words shall have their course,
+  If drawn discreetly from the Graecian source.
+  Shall Rome, Caecilius, Plautus, fix _your_ claim,
+  And not to Virgil, Varius, grant the same?
+  Or if myself should some new words attain,
+  Shall I be grudg'd the little wealth I gain?
+  Si possum, invideor; cùm lingua Catonis et Ennî
+  Sermonem patrium ditaverit, et nova rerum
+  Nomina protulerit? Licuit, semperque licebit
+  Signatum praesente notâ procudere nomen.
+  Ut silvae foliis pronos mutantur in annos;
+  Prima cadunt: ita verborum vetus interit aetas,
+  Et juvenum ritu florent modò nata vigentque.
+  Debemur morti nos, nostraque; sive receptus
+  Terrâ Neptunus, classes Aquilonibus arcet,
+  Regis opus; sterilisve diu palus, aptaque remis,
+  Vicinas urbes alit, et grave sentit aratrum:
+  Seu cursum mutavit iniquum frugibus amnis,
+  Doctus iter melius: mortalia facta peribunt,
+  Tho' Cato, Ennius, in the days of yore,
+  Enrich'd our tongue with many thousands more,
+  And gave to objects names unknown before?
+  No! it ne'er was, ne'er shall be, deem'd a crime,
+  To stamp on words the coinage of the time.
+  As woods endure a constant change of leaves,
+  Our language too a change of words receives:
+  Year after year drop off the ancient race,
+  While young ones bud and flourish in their place.
+  Nor we, nor all we do, can death withstand;
+  _Whether the Sea_, imprison'd in the land,
+  A work imperial! takes a harbour's form,
+  Where navies ride secure, and mock the storm;
+  _Whether the Marsh_, within whose horrid shore
+  Barrenness dwelt, and boatmen plied the oar,
+  Now furrow'd by the plough, a laughing plain,
+  Feeds all the cities round with fertile grain;
+  _Or if the River_, by a prudent force,
+  The corn once flooding, learns a better course.
+  Nedum sermonum stet honos, et gratia vivax.
+  Multa renascentur, quae jam cecidêre; cadentque
+  Quae nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus,
+  Quem penés arbitrium est, et jus, et norma loquendi.
+
+  Res gestae regumque ducumque et tristia bella,
+  Quo scribi possent numero, monstravit Homerus.
+
+  Versibus impariter junctis querimonia primúm,
+  Pòst etiam inclusa est voti sententia compos.
+  Quis tamen exiguos elegos emiserit auctor,
+  Grammatici certant, et adhuc sub judice lis est.
+
+  Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo.
+  Hunc socci cepêre pedem, grandesque cothurni,
+  Alternis aptum sermonibus, et populares
+  Vincentem strepitus, et natum rebus agendis.
+  The works of mortal man shall all decay;
+  And words are grac'd and honour'd but a day:
+  Many shall rise again, that now are dead;
+  Many shall fall, that now hold high the head:
+  Custom alone their rank and date can teach,
+  Custom, the sov'reign, law, and rule of speech.
+
+  For deeds of kings and chiefs, and battles fought,
+  What numbers are most fitting, Homer taught:
+
+  Couplets unequal were at first confin'd
+  To speak in broken verse the mourner's mind.
+  Prosperity at length, and free content,
+  In the same numbers gave their raptures vent;
+  But who first fram'd the Elegy's small song,
+  Grammarians squabble, and will squabble long.
+
+  Archilochus, 'gainst vice, a noble rage
+  Arm'd with his own Iambicks to engage:
+  With these the humble Sock, and Buskin proud
+  Shap'd dialogue; and still'd the noisy croud;
+  Musa dedit fidibus divos, puerosque deorum,
+  Et pugilem victorem, et equum certamine primum,
+  Et juvenum curas, et libera vina referre.
+
+  Descriptas servare vices, operumque colores,
+  Cur ego, si nequeo ignoroque, poëta salutor?
+  Cur nescire, pudens pravè, quàm discere malo?
+
+  Versibus exponi tragicis res comica non vult;
+  Indignatur item privatis ac prope socco
+  Dignis carminibus narrari coena Thyestae.
+  Singula quaeque locum teneant sortita decenter.
+  Embrac'd the measure, prov'd its ease and force,
+  And found it apt for business or discourse.
+
+  Gods, and the sons of Gods, in Odes to sing,
+  The Muse attunes her Lyre, and strikes the string;
+  Victorious Boxers, Racers, mark the line,
+  The cares of youthful love, and joys of wine.
+
+  The various outline of each work to fill,
+  If nature gives no power, and art no skill;
+  If, marking nicer shades, I miss my aim,
+  Why am I greeted with a Poet's name?
+  Or if, thro' ignorance, I can't discern,
+  Why, from false modesty, forbear to learn!
+
+  A comick incident loaths tragick strains:
+  Thy feast, Thyestes, lowly verse disdains;
+  Familiar diction scorns, as base and mean,
+  Touching too nearly on the comick scene.
+  Each stile allotted to its proper place,
+  Let each appear with its peculiar grace!
+  Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit;
+  Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore;
+  Et tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri.
+  Telephus aut Peleus, cum pauper et exul uterque,
+  Projicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba,
+  Si curat cor spectantis tetigisse querelâ.
+
+  Non satis est pulchra esse poëmata; dulcia sunto,
+  Et quocunque volent, animum auditoris agunto.
+  Ut ridentibus arrident, ita flentibus adflent
+  Humani vultus; si vis me flere, dolendum est
+  Primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me infortunia laedent.
+  Telephe, vel Peleu, male si mandata loqueris,
+  Aut dormitabo, aut ridebo: tristia moestum
+  Vultum verba decent; iratum, plena minarum;
+  Yet Comedy at times exalts her strain,
+  And angry Chremes storms in swelling vein:
+  The tragick hero, plung'd in deep distress,
+  Sinks with his fate, and makes his language less.
+  Peleus and Telephus, poor, banish'd! each
+  Drop their big six-foot words, and sounding speech;
+  Or else, what bosom in their grief takes part,
+  Which cracks the ear, but cannot touch the heart?
+
+  'Tis not enough that Plays are polish'd, chaste,
+  Or trickt in all the harlotry of taste,
+  They must have _passion_ too; beyond controul
+  Transporting where they please the hearer's soul.
+  With those that smile, our face in smiles appears;
+  With those that weep, our cheeks are bath'd in tears:
+  To make _me_ grieve, be first _your_ anguish shown,
+  And I shall feel your sorrows like my own.
+  Peleus, and Telephus! unless your stile
+  Suit with your circumstance, I'll sleep, or smile.
+  Features of sorrow mournful words require;
+  Anger in menace speaks, and words of fire:
+  Ludentem, lasciva; severum, seria dictu.
+  Format enim Natura prius nos intus ad omnem
+  Fortunarum habitum; juvat, aut impellit ad iram,
+  Aut ad humum moerore gravi deducit, et angit:
+  Post effert animi motus interprete linguâ.
+  Si dicentis erunt fortunis absona dicta,
+  Romani tollent equitesque patresque chachinnum.
+
+
+  Intererit multum, Divusne loquatur, an heros;
+  Maturusne senex, an adhuc florente juventâ
+  Fervidus; an matrona potens, an sedula nutrix;
+  Mercatorne vagus, cultorne virentis agelli;
+  Colchus, an Assyrius; Thebis nutritus, an Argis.
+  The playful prattle in a frolick vein,
+  And the severe affect a serious strain:
+  For Nature first, to every varying wind
+  Of changeful fortune, shapes the pliant mind;
+  Sooths it with pleasure, or to rage provokes,
+  Or brings it to the ground by sorrow's heavy strokes;
+  Then of the joys that charm'd, or woes that wrung,
+  Forces expression from the faithful tongue:
+  But if the actor's words belie his state,
+  And speak a language foreign to his fate,
+  Romans shall crack their sides, and all the town
+  Join, horse and foot, to laugh th' impostor down.
+
+  Much boots the speaker's character to mark:
+  God, heroe; grave old man, or hot young spark;
+  Matron, or busy nurse; who's us'd to roam
+  Trading abroad, or ploughs his field at home:
+  If Colchian, or Assyrian, fill the scene,
+  Theban, or Argian, note the shades between!
+  Aut famam sequere, aut sibi convenientia finge,
+  Scriptor. Honoratum si forte reponis Achillem,
+  Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer,
+  Jura neget sibi nata, nihil non arroget armis.
+  Sit Medea ferox invictaque, flebilis Ino,
+  Perfidus Ixion, Io vaga, tristis Orestes.
+
+  Si quid inexpertum scenae committis, et audes
+  Personam formare novam; servetur ad imum
+  Qualis ab incepto processerit, et sibi constet.
+
+  Difficile est propriè communia dicere: tuque
+  Rectius Iliacum carmen deducis in actus,
+  Quàm si proferres ignota indictaque primus.
+  Publica materies privati juris erit, si
+  Non circa vilem patulumque moraberis orbem;
+  Follow the Voice of Fame; or if you feign,
+  The fabled plan consistently sustain!
+  If great Achilles you bring back to view,
+  Shew him of active spirit, wrathful too;
+  Eager, impetuous, brave, and high of soul,
+  Always for arms, and brooking no controul:
+  Fierce let Medea seem, in horrors clad;
+  Perfidious be Ixion, Ino sad;
+  Io a wand'rer, and Orestes mad!
+
+  Should you, advent'ring novelty, engage
+  Some bold Original to walk the Stage,
+  Preserve it well; continu'd as begun;
+  True to itself in ev'ry scene, and one!
+
+  Yet hard the task to touch on untried facts:
+  Safer the Iliad to reduce to acts,
+  Than be the first new regions to explore,
+  And dwell on themes unknown, untold before.
+
+  Quit but the vulgar, broad, and beaten round,
+  The publick field becomes your private ground:
+  Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere, fidus
+  Interpres; nec desilies imitator in arctum,
+  Unde pedem proferre pudor vetet aut operis lex.
+
+  Nec sic incipies, ut scriptor cyclicus olim:
+  fortunam priami cantabo, et nobile bellum.
+  Quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor hiatu?
+  Parturiunt montes: nascetur ridiculus mus.
+  Quanto rectius hic, qui nil molitur inepte!
+  dic mihi, musa, virum, captae post moenia trojae,
+  qui mores hominum multorum vidit et urbes.
+  Non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucem
+  Cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat,
+  Antiphaten, Scyllamque, et cum Cylope Charibdin.
+  Nor word for word too faithfully translate;
+  Nor leap at once into a narrow strait,
+  A copyist so close, that rule and line
+  Curb your free march, and all your steps confine!
+
+  Be not your opening fierce, in accents bold,
+  Like the rude ballad-monger's chaunt of old;
+  "The fall of Priam, the great Trojan King!
+  Of the right noble Trojan War, I sing!"
+  Where ends this Boaster, who, with voice of thunder,
+  Wakes Expectation, all agape with wonder?
+  The mountains labour! hush'd are all the spheres!
+  And, oh ridiculous! a mouse appears.
+  How much more modestly begins HIS song,
+  Who labours, or imagines, nothing wrong!
+  "Say, Muse, the Man, who, after Troy's disgrace,
+  In various cities mark'd the human race!"
+  Not flame to smoke he turns, but smoke to light,
+  Kindling from thence a stream of glories bright:
+  Antiphates, the Cyclops, raise the theme;
+  Scylla, Charibdis, fill the pleasing dream.
+  Nec reditum Diomedis ab interitu Meleagri,
+  Nec gemino bellum Trojanum orditur ab ovo:
+  Semper ad eventum festinat; et in medias res,
+  Non secus ac notas, auditorem rapit: et quae
+  Desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit:
+  Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet,
+  Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.
+
+  Tu, quid ego et populus mecum desideret, audi;
+  Si fautoris eges aulea manentis, et usque
+  Sessuri, donec cantor, Vos plaudite, dicat:
+  Aetatis cujusque notandi sunt tibi mores,
+  Mobilibusque decor naturis dandus et annis.
+  Reddere qui voces jam scit puer, et pede certo
+  Signat humum; gestit paribus colludere, et iram
+  Colligit ac ponit temerè, et mutatur in horas.
+  He goes not back to Meleager's death,
+  With Diomed's return to run you out of breath;
+  Nor from the Double Egg, the tale to mar,
+  Traces the story of the Trojan War:
+  Still hurrying to th' event, at once he brings
+  His hearer to the heart and soul of things;
+  And what won't bear the light, in shadow flings.
+  So well he feigns, so well contrives to blend
+  Fiction and Truth, that all his labours tend
+  True to one point, persu'd from end to end.
+
+  Hear now, what I expect, and all the town,
+  If you would wish applause your play to crown,
+  And patient sitters, 'till the cloth goes down!
+
+  _Man's several ages _with attention view,
+  His flying years, and changing nature too.
+
+  _The Boy _who now his words can freely sound,
+  And with a steadier footstep prints the ground,
+  Places in playfellows his chief delight,
+  Quarrels, shakes hands, and cares not wrong or right:
+  Sway'd by each fav'rite bauble's short-liv'd pow'r,
+  In smiles, in tears, all humours ev'ry hour.
+  Imberbus juvenis, tandem custode remoto,
+  Gaudet equis canibusque et aprici gramine campi;
+  Cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus asper,
+  Utilium tardus provisor, prodigus aeris,
+  Sublimis, cupidusque, et amata relinquere pernix.
+
+  Conversis studiis, aetas animusque virilis
+  Quaerit opes et amicitias, infervit honori;
+  Conmisisse cavet quòd mox mutare laboret.
+
+  Multa senem circumveniunt incommoda; vel quod
+  Quaerit, et inventis miser abstinet, ac timet uti;
+  Vel quòd res omnes timidè gelidèque ministrat,
+  Dilator, spe lentus, iners, pavidusque futuri;
+  _The beardless Youth_, at length from tutor free,
+  Loves horses, hounds, the field, and liberty:
+  Pliant as wax, to vice his easy soul,
+  Marble to wholesome counsel and controul;
+  Improvident of good, of wealth profuse;
+  High; fond, yet fickle; generous, yet loose.
+
+  To graver studies, new pursuits inclin'd,
+  _Manhood_, with growing years, brings change of mind:
+  Seeks riches, friends; with thirst of honour glows;
+  And all the meanness of ambition knows;
+  Prudent, and wary, on each deed intent,
+  Fearful to act, and afterwards repent.
+
+  Evil in various shapes _Old Age _surrounds;
+  Riches his aim, in riches he abounds;
+  Yet what he fear'd to gain, he dreads to lose;
+  And what he sought as useful, dares not use.
+  Timid and cold in all he undertakes,
+  His hand from doubt, as well as weakness, shakes;
+  Hope makes him tedious, fond of dull delay;
+  Dup'd by to-morrow, tho' he dies to-day;
+  Difficilis, querulus, laudator temporis acti
+  Se puero, censor, castigatorque minorum.
+
+  Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum,
+  Multa recedentes adimunt: ne forte seniles
+  Mandentur juveni partes, pueroque viriles.
+  Semper in adjunctis aevoque morabimur aptis.
+
+  Aut agitur res In scenis, aut acta refertur:
+  Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem,
+  Quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus, et quae
+  Ipse sibi tradit spectator: non tamen intus
+  Digna geri promes in scenam: multaque tolles
+  Ex oculis, quae mox narret facundia praesens:
+  Ill-humour'd, querulous; yet loud in praise
+  Of all the mighty deeds of former days;
+  When _he_ was young, good heavens, what glorious times!
+  Unlike the present age, that teems with crimes!
+
+  Thus years advancing many comforts bring,
+  And, flying, bear off many on their wing:
+  Confound not youth with age, nor age with youth,
+  But mark their several characters with truth!
+
+  Events are on the stage in act display'd,
+  Or by narration, if unseen, convey'd.
+  Cold is the tale distilling thro' the ear,
+  Filling the soul with less dismay and fear,
+  Than where spectators view, like standers-by,
+  The deed submitted to the faithful eye.
+  Yet force not on the stage, to wound the sight,
+  Asks that should pass within, and shun the light!
+  Many there are the eye should ne'er behold,
+  But touching Eloquence in time unfold:
+  Ne pueros coram populo Medea trucidet;
+  Aut humana palam coquat exta nefarius Atreus;
+  Aut in avem Procne vertatur, Cadmus in anguem.
+  Quodcunque ostendis mihi sic, incredulus odi.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Neve minor, neu sit quinto productior actu
+  Fabula, quae posci vult, et spectata reponi
+  Nec Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus
+  Inciderit: nec quarta loqui persona laboret.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Actoris partes Chorus, officiumque virile
+  Defendat: neu quid medios intercinat actus,
+  Quod non proposito conducat et haereat apte.
+  Ille bonis faveatque, et concilietur amicis,
+  Et regat iratos, et amet peccare timentes:
+  Who on Medea's parricide can look?
+  View horrid Atreus human garbage cook?
+  If a bird's feathers I see Progne take,
+  If I see Cadmus slide into a snake,
+  My faith revolts; and I condemn outright
+  The fool that shews me such a silly sight.
+
+  Let not your play have fewer _acts_ than _five_,
+  Nor _more_, if you would wish it run and thrive!
+
+  _Draw down no God_, unworthily betray'd,
+  Unless some great occasion ask his aid!
+
+  Let no _fourth person_, labouring for a speech,
+  Make in the dialogue a needless breach!
+
+  An actor's part the Chorus should sustain,
+  Gentle in all its office, and humane;
+  Chaunting no Odes between the acts, that seem
+  Unapt, or foreign to the general theme.
+  Let it to Virtue prove a guide and friend,
+  Curb tyrants, and the humble good defend!
+  Ille dapes laudet mensae brevis, ille salubrem
+  Justitiam, legesque, et apertis otia portis:
+  Ille tegat commisia, Deosque precetur et oret,
+  Ut redeat miseris, abeat fortuna superbis.
+
+  Tibia non, ut nunc, orichalco vincta, tubaeque
+  aemula; sed tenuis, simplexque foramine pauco,
+  Aspirare et adesse choris erat utilis, atque
+  Nondum spissa nimis complere sedilia flatu:
+  Quo fanè populus numerabilis, utpote parvus
+  Et frugi castusque verecundusque coibat.
+  Postquam coepit agros extendere victor, et urbem
+  Laxior amplecti murus, vinoque diurno
+  Placari Genius sestis impune diebus,
+
+  Loud let it praise the joys that Temperance waits;
+  Of Justice sing, the real health of States;
+  The Laws; and Peace, secure with open gates!
+  Faithful and secret, let it heav'n invoke
+  To turn from the unhappy fortune's stroke,
+  And all its vengeance on the proud provoke!
+
+  _The Pipe_ of old, as yet with brass unbound,
+  Nor rivalling, as now, the Trumpet's sound,
+  But slender, simple, and its stops but few,
+  Breath'd to the Chorus; and was useful too:
+  For feats extended, and extending still,
+  Requir'd not pow'rful blasts their space to fill;
+  When the thin audience, pious, frugal, chaste,
+  With modest mirth indulg'd their sober taste.
+  But soon as the proud Victor spurns all bounds,
+  And growing Rome a wider wall surrounds;
+  When noontide cups, and the diurnal bowl,
+  Licence on holidays a flow of soul;
+  Accessit numerisque modisque licentia major.
+  Indoctus quid enim saperet liberque laborum,
+  Rusticus urbano confusus, turpis honesto?
+  Sic priscae motumque et luxuriem addidit arti
+  Tibicen, traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem:
+  Sic etiam fidibus voces crevere feveris,
+  Et tulit eloquium insolitum facundia praeceps;
+  Utiliumque sagax rerum, et divina futuri,
+  Sortilegis non discrepuit sententia Delphis.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Carmine qui tragico vilem certavit ob hircum,
+  Mox etiam agrestes Satyros nudavit, et asper
+  Incolumi gravitate jocum tentavit: eò quod
+  A richer stream of melody is known,
+  Numbers more copious, and a fuller tone.
+
+  ----For what, alas! could the unpractis'd ear
+  Of rusticks, revelling o'er country cheer,
+  A motley groupe! high, low; and froth, and scum;
+  Distinguish but shrill squeak, and dronish hum?----
+  The Piper, grown luxuriant in his art,
+  With dance and flowing vest embellishes his part!
+  Now too, its pow'rs increas'd, _the Lyre severe_
+  With richer numbers smites the list'ning ear:
+  Sudden bursts forth a flood of rapid song,
+  Rolling a tide of eloquence along:
+  Useful, prophetic, wise, the strain divine
+  Breathes all the spirit of the Delphick shrine.
+
+  He who the prize, a filthy goat, to gain,
+  At first contended in the tragick strain,
+  Soon too--tho' rude, the graver mood unbroke,--
+  Stript the rough satyrs, and essay'd a joke:
+  Illecebris erat et gratâ novitate morandus
+  Spectator functusque sacris, et potus, et exlex.
+  Verum ita risores, ita commendare dicaces
+  Conveniet Satyros, ita vertere seria ludo;
+  Ne quicunque Deus, quicunque adhibebi tur heros [sic]
+  Regali conspectus in auro nuper et ostro,
+  Migret in obscuras humili sermone tabernas
+  Aut, dum vitat humum, nubes et inania captet [sic]
+  Effutire leves indigna tragoedia versus,
+  Ut festis matrona moveri jussa diebus,
+  Intererit Satyris paulum pudibunda protervis.
+  Non ego inornata et dominantia nomina solum
+  Verbaque, Pisones, Satyrorum scriptor amabo
+  Nec sic enitar tragico differre colori,
+  For holiday-spectators, flush'd, and wild,
+  With new conceits, and mummeries, were beguil'd.
+  Yet should the Satyrs so chastise their mirth,
+  Temp'ring the jest that gives their sallies birth;
+  Changing from grave to gay, so keep the mean,
+  That God or Heroe of the lofty scene,
+  In royal gold and purple seen but late,
+  May ne'er in cots obscure debase his state,
+  Lost in low language; nor in too much care
+  To shun the ground, grasp clouds, and empty air.
+  With an indignant pride, and coy disdain,
+  Stern Tragedy rejects too light a vein:
+  Like a grave Matron, destin'd to advance
+  On solemn festivals to join the dance,
+  Mixt with the shaggy tribe of Satyrs rude,
+  She'll hold a sober mien, and act the prude.
+  Let me not, Pisos, in the Sylvan scene,
+  Use abject terms alone, and phrases mean;
+  Nor of high Tragick colouring afraid,
+  Neglect too much the difference of shade!
+  Ut nihil intersit Davusne loquatur et audax
+  Pythias emuncto lucrata Simone talentum,
+  An custos famulusque Dei Silenus alumni.
+
+  Ex noto fictum carmen sequar: ut sibi quivis
+  Speret idem; sudet multum, frustraque laboret
+  Ausus idem: tantum series juncturaque pollet:
+  Tantum de medio sumtis accedit honoris.
+
+  Silvis deducti caveant, me judice, Fauni,
+  Ne velut innati triviis, ac pene forenses,
+  Aut nimium teneris juvenentur versibus umquam,
+  Aut immunda crepent ignominiosaque dicta.
+  Offenduntur enim, quibus est equus, et pater, et res;
+  Nec, si quid fricti ciceris probat et nucis emtor,
+  Aequis accipiunt animis, donantve coronâ.
+  Davus may jest, pert Pythias may beguile
+  Simo of cash, in a familiar style;
+  The same low strain Silenus would disgrace,
+  Servant and guardian of the Godlike race.
+
+  Let me on subjects known my verse so frame,
+  So follow it, that each may hope the same;
+  Daring the same, and toiling to prevail,
+  May vainly toil, and only dare to fail!
+  Such virtues order and connection bring,
+  From common arguments such honours spring.
+
+  The woodland Fauns their origin should heed,
+  Take no town stamp, nor seem the city breed:
+  Nor let them, aping young gallants, repeat
+  Verses that run upon too tender feet;
+  Nor fall into a low, indecent stile,
+  Breaking dull jests to make the vulgar smile!
+  For higher ranks such ribaldry despise,
+  Condemn the Poet, and withhold the prize.
+  Syllaba longa brevi subjecta, vocatur Iambus,
+  Pes citus: unde etiam Trimetris accrescere jussit
+  Nomen Iambeis, cum senos redderet ictus
+  Primus ad extremum similis sibi; non ita pridem,
+  Tardior ut paulo graviorque veniret ad aures,
+  Spondeos stabiles in jura paterna recepit
+  Commodus et patiens: non ut de sede secundâ
+  Cederet, aut quartâ socialiter. Hic et in Accî
+  Nobilibus Trimetris apparet rarus, et Ennî.
+  In scenam missus cum magno pondere versus,
+  Aut operae celeris nimium curaque carentis,
+  Aut ignoratae premit artis crimine turpi.
+
+  Non quivis videt immodulata poëmata judex:
+  Et data Romanis venia est indigna poetis.
+  To a short Syllable a long subjoin'd
+  Forms an Iambick foot; so light a kind,
+  That when six pure Iambicks roll'd along,
+  So nimbly mov'd, so trippingly the song,
+  The feet to half their number lost their claim,
+  And _Trimeter Iambicks_ was their name.
+  Hence, that the measure might more grave appear,
+  And with a slower march approach the ear,
+  From the fourth foot, and second, not displac'd,
+  The steady spondee kindly it embrac'd;
+  Then in firm union socially unites,
+  Admitting the ally to equal rights.
+  Accius, and Ennius lines, thus duly wrought,
+  In their bold Trimeters but rarely sought:
+  Yet scenes o'erloaded with a verse of lead,
+  A mass of heavy numbers on their head,
+  Speak careless haste, neglect in ev'ry part.
+  Or shameful ignorance of the Poet's art.
+
+  "Not ev'ry Critick spies a faulty strain,
+  And pardon Roman Poets should disdain."
+  Idcircòne vager, scribamque licenter? ut omnes
+  Visuros peccata putem mea; tutus et intra
+  Spem veniae cautus? vitavi denique culpam,
+  Non laudem merui.
+
+  Vos exemplaria Graeca
+  Nocturnâ versate manu, versate diurnâ.
+  At vestri proavi Plautinos et numeros, et
+  Laudavere sales; nimium patienter utrumque
+  (Ne dicam stultè) mirati: si modo ego et vos
+  Scimus inurbanum lepido seponere dicto,
+  Legitimumque sonum digitis callemus et aure.
+  Ignotum tragicae genus invenisse Camenae
+  Dicitur, et plaustris vexisse poëmata Thespis
+  Quae canerent agerentque, peruncti faecibus ora.
+  Shall I then all regard, all labour slight,
+  Break loose at once, and all at random write?
+  Or shall I fear that all my faults descry,
+  Viewing my errors with an Eagle eye,
+  And thence correctness make my only aim,
+  Pleas'd to be safe, and sure of 'scaping blame?
+  Thus I from faults indeed may guard my lays;
+  But neither they, nor I, can merit praise.
+
+  Pisos! be Graecian models your delight!
+  Night and day read them, read them day and night!
+  "Well! but our fathers Plautus lov'd to praise,
+  Admir'd his humour, and approv'd his lays."
+  Yes; they saw both with a too partial eye,
+  Fond e'en to folly sure, if you and I
+  Know ribaldry from humour, chaste and terse,
+  Or can but scan, and have an ear for verse.
+
+  A kind of Tragick Ode unknown before,
+  Thespis, 'tis said, invented first; and bore
+  Cart-loads of verse about, and with him went
+  A troop begrim'd, to sing and represent,
+  Post hunc personae pallaeque repertor honestae
+  Aeschylus et modicis instravit pulpita tignis,
+  Et docuit magnumque loqui, nitique cothurno.
+  Successit Vetus his Comoedia, non sine multâ
+  Laude: sed in vitium libertas excidit, et vim
+  Dignam lege regi: lex est accepta; Chorusque
+  Turpiter obticuit, sublato jure nocendi.
+
+  Nil intentatum nostri liquere poëtae:
+  Nec nimium meruere decus, vestigia Graeca
+  Ausi deserere, et celebrare domestica facta,
+  Vel qui Praetextas, vel qui docuere Togatas:
+  Nec virtute foret clarisve potentius armis,
+  Quam linguâ, Latium; si non offenderet unum--
+  Next, Aeschylus, a Mask to shroud the face,
+  A Robe devis'd, to give the person grace;
+  On humble rafters rais'd a Stage, and taught
+  The buskin'd actor, with _his_ spirit fraught,
+  To breathe with dignity the lofty thought.
+  To these th' old comedy of ancient days
+  Succeeded, and obtained no little praise;
+  'Till Liberty, grown rank and run to seed,
+  Call'd for the hand of Law to pluck the weed:
+  The Statute past; the sland'rous Chorus, drown'd
+  In shameful silence, lost the pow'r to wound.
+
+  Nothing have Roman Poets left untried,
+  Nor added little to their Country's pride;
+  Daring their Graecian Masters to forsake,
+  And for their themes Domestick Glories take;
+  Whether _the Gown_ prescrib'd a stile more mean,
+  Or the _Inwoven Purple_ rais'd the scene:
+  Nor would the splendour of the Latian name
+  From arms, than Letters, boast a brighter fame,
+  Quemque poëtarum limae labor et mora. Vos ô
+  Pompilius sanguis, carmen reprehendite, quod non
+  Multa dies et multa litura coërcuit, atque
+  Praesectum decies non castigavit ad unguem.
+
+  Ingenium miserâ quia fortunatius arte
+  Credit, et excludit sanos Helicone poëtas
+  Democritus; bona pars non ungues ponere curat,
+  Non barbam, secreta petit loca, balnea vitat;
+  Nanciscetur enim pretium nomenque poëtae,
+  Si tribus Anticyris caput insanabile numquam
+  Tonsori Licino commiserit. O ego laevus,
+  Qui purgor bilem sub verni temporis horam!
+  Non alius faceret meliora poëmata: verum
+  Had they not, scorning the laborious file,
+  Grudg'd time, to mellow and refine their stile.
+  But you, bright hopes of the Pompilian Blood,
+  Never the verse approve and hold as good,
+  'Till many a day, and many a blot has wrought
+  The polish'd work, and chasten'd ev'ry thought,
+  By tenfold labour to perfection brought!
+
+  Because Democritus thinks wretched Art
+  Too mean with Genius to sustain a part,
+  To Helicon allowing no pretence,
+  'Till the mad bard has lost all common sense;
+  Many there are, their nails who will not pare,
+  Or trim their beards, or bathe, or take the air:
+  For _he_, no doubt, must be a bard renown'd,
+  _That_ head with deathless laurel must be crown'd,
+  Tho' past the pow'r of Hellebore insane,
+  Which no vile Cutberd's razor'd hands profane.
+  Ah luckless I, each spring that purge the bile!
+  Or who'd write better? but 'tis scarce worth while:
+  Nil tanti est: ergo fungar vice cotis, acutum
+  Reddere quae ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi.
+  Munus et officium, nil scribens ipse, docebo;
+  Unde parentur opes; quid alat formetque poëtam;
+  Quid deceat, quid non; quò virtus, quò ferat error,
+
+  Scribendi rectè, sapere est et principium et fons.
+  Rem tibi Socraticae poterunt ostendere chartae;
+  Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur.
+  Qui didicit patriae quid debeat, et quid amicis;
+  Quo fit amore parens, quo frater amandus et hospes;
+  Quod fit conscripti, quod judicis officium; quae
+  Partes in bellum missi ducis; ille profectò
+  Reddere personae scit convenientia cuique.
+  So as mere hone, my services I pledge;
+  Edgeless itself, it gives the steel an edge:
+  No writer I, to writers thus impart
+  The nature and the duty of their art:
+  Whence springs the fund; what forms the bard, to know;
+  What nourishes his pow'rs, and makes them grow;
+  What's fit or unfit; whither genius tends;
+  And where fond ignorance and dulness ends.
+
+  In Wisdom, Moral Wisdom, to excell,
+  Is the chief cause and spring of writing well.
+  Draw elements from the Socratick source,
+  And, full of matter, words will rise of course.
+  He who hath learnt a patriot's glorious flame;
+  What friendship asks; what filial duties claim;
+  The ties of blood; and secret links that bind
+  The heart to strangers, and to all mankind;
+  The Senator's, the Judge's peaceful care,
+  And sterner duties of the Chief in war!
+  These who hath studied well, will all engage
+  In functions suited to their rank and age.
+  Respicere exemplar vitae morumque jubebo
+  Doctum imitatorem, et veras hinc ducere voces.
+  Interdum speciosa locis, morataque rectè
+  Fabula, nullius veneris, sine pondere et arte,
+  Valdius oblectat populum, meliusque moratur,
+  Quam versus inopes rerum, nugaeque canorae.
+
+  Graiis ingenium, Graiis dedit ore rotundo
+  Musa loqui, praeter laudem, nullius avaris.
+  Romani pueri longis rationibus assem
+  Discunt in partes centum diducere. Dicat
+  Filius Albini, si de quincunce remota est
+  Uncia, quid superet? poteras dixisse, triens. Eu!
+  Rem poteris servare tuam. Redit uncia: quid fit?
+  On Nature's pattern too I'll bid him look,
+  And copy manners from her living book.
+  Sometimes 'twill chance, a poor and barren tale,
+  Where neither excellence nor art prevail,
+  With now and then a passage of some merit,
+  And Characters sustain'd, and drawn with spirit,
+  Pleases the people more, and more obtains,
+  Than tuneful nothings, mere poetick strains.
+
+  _The Sons of Greece_ the fav'ring Muse inspir'd,
+  Inflam'd their souls, and with true genius fir'd:
+  Taught by the Muse, they sung the loftiest lays,
+  And knew no avarice but that of praise.
+  _The Lads of Rome_, to study fractions bound,
+  Into an hundred parts can split a pound.
+  "Say, Albin's Hopeful! from five twelfths an ounce,
+  And what remains?"--"a Third."--"Well said, young Pounce!
+  You're a made man!--but add an ounce,--what then?"
+  "A Half." "Indeed! surprising! good again!"
+
+  Semis.  An haec animos aerugo et cura peculi
+  Cum semel imbuerit speramus carmina singi
+  Posse linenda cedro, et levi servanda cupresso?
+
+  Aut prodesse volunt, aut delectare poetae;
+  Aut simul et jucunda et idonea dicere vitae.
+  Quicquid praecipies, esto brevis: ut eito dicta
+  Percipiant animi dociles, tencantque fideles.
+  Omni supervacuum pleno de pectore manat.
+  Ficta voluptatis causa sint proxima veris:
+  Ne, quodcumque volet, poscat fibi fabula credi;
+  Neu pransea Lamiae vivum puerum extrahat alvo.
+  Centuriae seniorum agitant expertia frugis:
+  Celsi praetereunt austera poemata Rhamnes.
+  Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci,
+  Lectorem delectando, pariterque monendo
+
+  From minds debas'd with such a sordid lust,
+  Canker'd and eaten up with this vile rust,
+  Can we a verse, that gives the Genius scope,
+  Worthy the Cedar, and the Cypress, hope?
+
+  Instruction to convey and give delight,
+  Or both at once to compass, Poets write:
+  Short be your precepts, and th' impression strong,
+  That minds may catch them quick, and hold them long!
+  The bosom full, and satisfied the taste,
+  All that runs over will but run to waste.
+  Fictions, to please, like truths must meet the eye,
+  Nor must the Fable tax our faith too high.
+  Shall Lamia in our fight her sons devour,
+  And give them back alive the self-same hour?
+  The Old, if _Moral's_ wanting, damn the Play;
+  And _Sentiment_ disgusts the Young and Gay.
+  He who instruction and delight can blend,
+  Please with his fancy, with his moral mend,
+  Hic meret aera liber Sofiis, hic et mare transit,
+  Et longum noto scriptori prorogat aevum.
+
+  Sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignovisse velimus.
+  Nam neque chorda sonum reddit, quem vult manus et mens;
+
+  Poscentique gravem persaepe remittit acutum:
+  Nec semper feriet, quodcumque minabitur, arcus.
+  Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis
+  Offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit,
+  Aut humana parum cavit natura quid ergo est?
+  Ut scriptor si peccat idem librarius usque,
+  Quamvis est monitus, veniâ caret; ut citharoedus
+  Ridetur, chordâ qui semper oberrat eâdem;
+  Hits the nice point, and every vote obtains:
+  His work a fortune to the Sosii gains;
+  Flies over seas, and on the wings of Fame
+  Carries from age to age the writer's deathless name.
+
+  Yet these are faults that we may pardon too:
+  For ah! the string won't always answer true;
+  But, spite of hand and mind, the treach'rous harp
+  Will sound a flat, when we intend a sharp:
+  The bow, not always constant and the same,
+  Will sometimes carry wide, and lose its aim.
+  But in the verse where many beauties shine,
+  I blame not here and there a feeble line;
+  Nor take offence at ev'ry idle trip,
+  Where haste prevails, or nature makes a slip.
+  What's the result then? Why thus stands the case.
+  As _the Transcriber_, in the self-same place
+  Who still mistakes, tho' warn'd of his neglect,
+  No pardon for his blunders can expect;
+  Or as _the Minstrel_ his disgrace must bring,
+  Who harps for ever on the same false string;
+  Sic mihi qui multum cessat, fit Choerilus ille,
+  Quem bis terve bonum, cum risu miror; et idem
+  Indignor, quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus.
+  Verum operi longo fas est obrepere somnum.
+
+  Ut pictura, poësis: erit quae, si propius stes,
+  Te capiat magis; et quaedam, si longius abstes:
+  Haec amat obscurum; volet haec sub luce videri,
+  Judicis argutum quae non formidat acumen:
+  Haec placuit semel; haec decies repetita placebit.
+
+  O major juvenum, quamvis et voce paternâ
+  Fingeris ad rectum, et per te sapis; hoc tibi dictum
+  Tolle memor: certis medium et tolerabile rebus
+  _The Poet_ thus, from faults scarce ever free,
+  Becomes a very Chaerilus to me;
+  Who twice or thrice, by some adventure rare,
+  Stumbling on beauties, makes me smile and stare;
+  _Me_, who am griev'd and vex'd to the extreme,
+  If Homer seem to nod, or chance to dream:
+  Tho' in a work of length o'erlabour'd sleep
+  At intervals may, not unpardon'd, creep.
+
+  Poems and Pictures are adjudg'd alike;
+  Some charm us near, and some at distance strike:
+  _This_ loves the shade; _this_ challenges the light,
+  Daring the keenest Critick's Eagle sight;
+  _This_ once has pleas'd; _this_ ever will delight.
+
+  O thou, my Piso's elder hope and pride!
+  tho' well a father's voice thy steps can guide;
+  tho' inbred sense what's wise and right can tell,
+  remember this from me, and weigh it well!
+  In certain things, things neither high nor proud,
+  _Middling_ and _passable_ may be allow'd.
+  Rectè concedi: consultus juris, et actor
+  Causarum mediocris, abest virtute diserti
+  Messallae, nec scit quantum Cascellius Aulus;
+  Sed tamen in pretio est: mediocribus esse poëtis
+  Non homines, non Dî, non concessere columnae.
+  Ut gratas inter mensas symphonia discors,
+  Et crassum unguentum, et Sardo cum melle papaver
+  Offendunt, poterat duci quia coena sine istis;
+  Sic animis natum inventumque poëma juvandis,
+  Si paulum summo decessit, vergit ad imum.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Ludere qui nescit, campestribus abstinet armis;
+  Indoctusque pilae, discive, trochive, quiescit;
+  Ne spissae risum tollant impune coronae:
+  Qui nescit versus, tamen audet fingere. Quid nî?
+  A _moderate_ proficient in the laws,
+  A _moderate_ defender of a cause,
+  Boasts not Messala's pleadings, nor is deem'd
+  Aulus in Jurisprudence; yet esteem'd:
+  But _middling Poet's, or degrees in Wit,_
+  Nor men, nor Gods, nor niblick-polls admit.
+  At festivals, as musick out of tune,
+  Ointment, or honey rank, disgust us soon,
+  Because they're not essential to the guest,
+  And might be spar'd, Unless the very best;
+  Thus Poetry, so exquisite of kind,
+  Of Pleasure born, to charm the soul design'd,
+  If it fall short but little of the first,
+  Is counted last, and rank'd among the worst.
+  The Man, unapt for sports of fields and plains,
+  From implements of exercise abstains;
+  For ball, or quoit, or hoop, without the skill,
+  Dreading the croud's derision, he sits still:
+  In Poetry he boasts as little art,
+  And yet in Poetry he dares take part:
+  Liber et ingenuus; praesertim census equestrem
+  Summam nummorum, vitioque remotus ab omni.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Tu nihil invitâ dices faciesve Minervâ:
+  Id tibi judicium est, ea mens: si quid tamen olim
+  Scripseris, in Metii descendat judicis aures,
+  Et patris, et nostras; nonumque prematur in annum.
+  Membranis intus positis, delere licebit
+  Quod non edideris: nescit vox missa reverti.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Silvestres homines sacer interpresque Deorum
+  Caedibus et victu foedo deterruit Orpheus;
+  Dictus ob hoc lenire tigres rabidosque leones.
+  Dictus et Amphion, Thebanae conditor arcis,
+  Saxa movere sono testudinis, et prece blandâ.
+  And why not? he's a Gentleman, with clear
+  Good forty thousand sesterces a year;
+  A freeman too; and all the world allows,
+  "As honest as the skin between his brows!"
+  Nothing, in spite of Genius, YOU'LL commence;
+  Such is your judgment, such your solid sense!
+  But if you mould hereafter write, the verse
+  To _Metius_, to your _Sire_ to _me_, rehearse.
+  Let it sink deep in their judicious ears!
+  Weigh the work well; _and keep it back nine years_!
+  Papers unpublish'd you may blot or burn:
+  A word, once utter'd, never can return.
+
+  The barb'rous natives of the shaggy wood
+  From horrible repasts, and ads of blood,
+  Orpheus, a priest, and heav'nly teacher, brought,
+  And all the charities of nature taught:
+  Whence he was said fierce tigers to allay,
+  And sing the Savage Lion from his prey,
+  Within the hollow of AMPHION'S shell
+  Such pow'rs of found were lodg'd, so sweet a spell!
+  Ducere quo vellet suit haec sapientia quondam,
+  publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis;
+  concubitù prohibere vago; dare jura maritis;
+  Oppida moliri; leges incidere ligno.
+  Sic honor et nomen divinis vatibus atque
+  Carminibus venit post hos insignis Homerus
+  Tyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bella
+  Versibus exacuit dictae per carmina sortes,
+  Et vitae monstrata via est; et gratia regum
+
+  That stones were said to move, and at his call,
+  Charm'd to his purpose, form'd the Theban Wall.
+  The love of Moral Wisdom to infuse
+  _These_ were the Labours of THE ANCIENT MUSE.
+  "To mark the limits, where the barriers stood
+  'Twixt Private Int'rest, and the Publick Good;
+  To raise a pale, and firmly to maintain
+  The bound, that fever'd Sacred from Profane;
+  To shew the ills Promiscuous Love should dread,
+  And teach the laws of the Connubial Bed;
+  Mankind dispers'd, to Social Towns to draw;
+  And on the Sacred Tablet grave the Law."
+  Thus fame and honour crown'd the Poet's line;
+  His work immortal, and himself divine!
+  Next lofty Homer, and Tyrtaeus strung
+  Their Epick Harps, and Songs of Glory sung;
+  Sounding a charge, and calling to the war
+  The Souls that bravely feel, and nobly dare,
+  In _Verse_ the Oracles their sense make known,
+  In Verse the road and rule of life is shewn;
+  Pieriis tentata modis, ludusque repertus,
+  Et longorum operum finis j ne forte pudori
+  Sit tibi Musa lyne folers, et cantor Apollo,
+
+  Natura sieret laudabile carmen, an arte,
+  Quaesitum ess. Ego nec studium sine divite vena,
+  Nec rude quid possit video ingenium: alterius sic
+  Altera poscit opem res, et conjurat amice.
+  Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam,
+  Multa tulit fecitque puer; sudavit et alsit;
+  Abstinuit venere et vino, qui Pythia cantat
+  _Verse_ to the Poet royal favour brings,
+  And leads the Muses to the throne of Kings;
+  _Verse_ too, the varied Scene and sports prepares,
+  Brings rest to toil, and balm to all our cares.
+  deem then with rev'rence of the glorious fire,
+  breath'd by the muse, the mistress of the lyre!
+  blush not to own her pow'r, her glorious flame;
+  nor think Apollo, lord of song, thy shame!
+
+  Whether good verse of Nature is the fruit,
+  Or form'd by Art, has long been in dispute.
+  But what can Labour in a barren foil,
+  Or what rude Genius profit without toil?
+  The wants of one the other must supply
+  Each finds in each a friend and firm ally.
+  Much has the Youth, who pressing in the race
+  Pants for the promis'd goal and foremost place,
+  Suffer'd and done; borne heat, and cold's extremes,
+  And Wine and Women scorn'd, as empty dreams,
+
+  Tibicen, didicit prius, extimuitque magistrum.
+  Nunc satis est dixisse, Ego mira poëmata pango:
+  Occupet extremum scabies: mihi turpe relinqui est,
+  Et quod non didici, sane nescire sateri.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Ut praeco, ad merces turbam qui cogit emendas;
+  Assentatores jubet ad lucrum ire poëta
+  Dives agris, dives positis in foenore nummis.
+  Si vero est, unctum qui rectè ponere possit,
+  Et spondere levi pro paupere, et eripere artis
+  Litibus implicitum; mirabor, si sciet inter--
+  Noscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum.
+  The Piper, who the Pythian Measure plays,
+  In fear of a hard matter learnt the lays:
+  But if to desp'rate verse I would apply,
+  What needs instruction? 'tis enough to cry;
+  "I can write Poems, to strike wonder blind!
+  Plague take the hindmost! Why leave _me_ behind?
+  Or why extort a truth, so mean and low,
+  That what I have not learnt, I cannot know?"
+
+  As the sly Hawker, who a sale prepares,
+  Collects a croud of bidders for his Wares,
+  The Poet, warm in land, and rich in cash,
+  Assembles flatterers, brib'd to praise his trash.
+  But if he keeps a table, drinks good wine,
+  And gives his hearers handsomely to dine;
+  If he'll stand bail, and 'tangled debtors draw
+  Forth from the dirty cobwebs of the law;
+  Much shall I praise his luck, his sense commend,
+  If he discern the flatterer from the friend.
+  Tu seu donaris seu quid donare voles cui;
+  Nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum
+  Laetitiae; clamabit enim, Pulchrè, bene, rectè!
+  Pallescet; super his etiam stillabit amicis
+  Ex oculis rorem; saliet; tundet pede terram.
+  Ut qui conducti plorant in funere, dicunt
+  Et faciunt prope plura dolentibus ex animo: sic
+  Derisor vero plus laudatore movetur.
+  Reges dicuntur multis urgere culullis,
+  Et torquere mero quem perspexisse laborant
+  An sit amicitia dignus: si carmina condes,
+  Nunquam te fallant animi sub vulpe latentes.
+  Quintilio si quid recitares: Corrige sodes
+  Hoc, aiebat, et hoc: melius te posse negares
+  Is there a man to whom you've given aught?
+  Or mean to give? let no such man be brought
+  To hear your verses! for at every line,
+  Bursting with joy, he'll cry, "Good! rare! divine!"
+  The blood will leave his cheek; his eyes will fill
+  With tears, and soon the friendly dew distill:
+  He'll leap with extacy, with rapture bound;
+  Clap with both hands; with both feet beat the ground.
+  As mummers, at a funeral hir'd to weep,
+  More coil of woe than real mourners keep,
+  More mov'd appears the laugher in his sleeve,
+  Than those who truly praise, or smile, or grieve.
+  Kings have been said to ply repeated bowls,
+  Urge deep carousals, to unlock the souls
+  Of those, whose loyalty they wish'd to prove,
+  And know, if false, or worthy of their love:
+  You then, to writing verse if you're inclin'd,
+  Beware the Spaniel with the Fox's mind!
+
+  Quintilius, when he heard you ought recite,
+  Cried, "prithee, alter _this_! and make _that _right!"
+  Bis terque expertum frustra? delere jubebat,
+  Et male ter natos incudi reddere versus.
+  Si defendere delictum, quam vortere, malles;
+  Nullum ultra verbum, aut operam insumebat inanem,
+  Quin sine rivali teque et tua folus amares.
+
+  Vir bonus et prudens versus reprehendet inertes;
+  Culpabit duros; incomptis allinet atrum
+  Transverso calamo signum; ambitiosa recidet
+  Ornamenta; parum claris lucem dare coget;
+  Arguet ambiguè dictum; mutanda notabit;
+  Fiet Aristarchus; non dicet, Cur ego amicum
+  Offendam in nugis? Hae migae feria ducent
+  But if your pow'r to mend it you denied,
+  Swearing that twice and thrice in vain you tried;
+  "Then blot it out! (he cried) it must be terse:
+  Back to the anvil with your ill-turn'd verse!"
+  Still if you chose the error to defend,
+  Rather than own, or take the pains to mend,
+  He said no more; no more vain trouble took;
+  But left you to admire yourself and book.
+
+  The Man, in whom Good Sense and Honour join,
+  Will blame the harsh, reprove the idle line;
+  The rude, all grace neglected or forgot,
+  Eras'd at once, will vanish at his blot;
+  Ambitious ornaments he'll lop away;
+  On things obscure he'll make you let in day,
+  Loose and ambiguous terms he'll not admit,
+  And take due note of ev'ry change that's fit,
+  A very ARISTARCHUS he'll commence;
+  Not coolly say--"Why give my friend offence?
+  These are but trifles!"--No; these trifles lead
+  To serious mischiefs, if he don't succeed;
+  In mala derisum semel, exceptumque sinistre,
+  Ut mala quem scabies aut morbus regius urget,
+  Aut fanaticus error, et iracunda Diana;
+  Vesanum tetigisse timent fugiuntque poetam,
+  Qui sapiunt: agitant pueri, incautique sequuntur.
+  Hic, dum sublimis versus ructatur, et errat,
+  Si veluti menilis intentus decidit auceps
+  In puteum, soveamve; licet, Succurrite, longum
+  Clamet, in cives: non sit qui tollere curet.
+  Si curet quis opem serre, et demittere sunem;
+  Qui scis, an prudens huc se projecerit, atque
+  Servari nolet? dicam: Siculique poetae
+  Narrabo interitum.
+
+  While the poor friend in dark disgrace sits down,
+  The butt and laughing-stock of all the town,
+  As one, eat up by Leprosy and Itch,
+  Moonstruck, Posses'd, or hag-rid by a Witch,
+  A Frantick Bard puts men of sense to flight;
+  His slaver they detest, and dread his bite:
+  All shun his touch; except the giddy boys,
+  Close at his heels, who hunt him down with noise,
+  While with his head erect he threats the skies,
+  Spouts verse, and walks without the help of eyes;
+  Lost as a blackbird-catcher, should he pitch
+  Into some open well, or gaping ditch;
+  Tho' he call lustily "help, neighbours, help!"
+  No soul regards him, or attends his yelp.
+  Should one, too kind, to give him succour hope,
+  Wish to relieve him, and let down a rope;
+  Forbear! (I'll cry for aught that you can tell)
+  By sheer design he jump'd into the well.
+  He wishes not you should preserve him, Friend!
+  Know you the old Sicilian Poet's end?
+  Deus immortalis haberi.
+
+  Dum cupit Empedocles, ardeatem frigidus aetnam
+  Infiluit. sit fas, liceatque perire poetis.
+  Invitum qui fervat, idem facit occidenti.
+  Nec semel hoc fecit; nec si retractus erit jam,
+  Fiet homo, et ponet famosae mortis amorem.
+  Nec fatis apparet, cur versus factitet; utrum
+  Minxerit in patrios cineres, an triste bidental
+  Moverit incestus: certe furit, ac velut ursus
+  Objectos caveae valuit è srangere clathros,
+
+  *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Empedocles, ambitious to be thought
+  A God, his name with Godlike honours fought,
+  Holding a worldly life of no account,
+  Lead'p coldly into aetna's burning mount.---
+  Let Poets then with leave resign their breath,
+  Licens'd and priveleg'd to rush on death!
+  Who gives a man his life against his will,
+  Murders the man, as much as those who kill.
+  'Tis not once only he hath done this deed;
+  Nay, drag him forth! your kindness wo'n't succeed:
+  Nor will he take again a mortal's shame,
+  And lose the glory of a death of fame.
+  Nor is't apparent, _why_ with verse he's wild:
+  Whether his father's ashes he defil'd;
+  Whether, the victim of incestuous love,
+  The Blasted Monument he striv'd to move:
+  Whate'er the cause, he raves; and like a Bear,
+  Burst from his cage, and loose in open air,
+  Indoctum doctumque fugat recitator acerbus.
+  Quem vero arripuit, tenet, occiditque legendo,
+  Non miffura cutem, nisi plena cruroris, hirudo.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Learn'd and unlearn'd the Madman puts to flight,
+  They quick to fly, he bitter to recite!
+  What hapless soul he seizes, he holds fast;
+  Rants, and repeats, and reads him dead at last:
+  Hangs on him, ne'er to quit, with ceaseless speech.
+  Till gorg'd and full of blood, a very Leech!
+
+
+
+
+
+Notes on the EPISTLE to the PISOS Notes
+
+I have referred the Notes to this place, that the reader might be left
+to his genuine feelings, and the natural impression on reading the
+Epistle, whether adverse or favourable to the idea I ventured to
+premise, concerning its Subject and Design. In the address to my learned
+and worthy friends I said little more than was necessary so open my
+plan, and to offer an excuse for my undertaking. The Notes descend to
+particulars, tending to illustrate and confirm my hypothesis; and adding
+occasional explanations of the original, chiefly intended for the use
+of the English Reader. I have endeavoured, according to the best of my
+ability, to follow the advice of Roscommon in the lines, which I have
+ventured to prefix to these Notes. How far I may be entitled to the
+_poetical blessing_ promised by the Poet, the Publick must determine:
+but were I, avoiding arrogance, to renounce all claim to it, such an
+appearance of _Modesty_ would includes charge of _Impertinence_ for
+having hazarded this publication._Take pains the_ genuine meaning _to
+explore!_
+
+  There sweat, there strain, tug the laborious oar:
+  _Search ev'ry comment_, that your care can find;
+  Some here, some there, may hit the Poet's mind:
+  Yet be not blindly guided by the _Throng_;
+  The Multitude is always in the _Wrong_.
+  When things appear _unnatural_ or _hard_,
+  _Consult your_ author, _with_ himself compar'd!
+  Who knows what Blessing Phoebus may bestow,
+  And future Ages to your labour owe?
+  Such _Secrets_ are not easily found out,
+  But once _discoverd_, leave no room for doubt.
+  truth stamps _conviction_ in your ravish'd breast,
+  And _Peace_ and _Joy_ attend _the_ glorious guest.
+
+
+
+Essay on Translated Verse ART of POETRY, an EPISTLE, &c.
+
+Q. HORATII FLACCI EPISTOLA AD PISONES.
+
+The work of Horace, now under consideration, has been so long known, and
+so generally received, by the name of The Art of Poetry, that I have, on
+account of that notoriety, submitted this translation to the Publick,
+under that title, rather than what I hold to be the true one, viz.
+Horace's Epistle to The Pisos. The Author of the English Commentary has
+adopted the same title, though directly repugnant to his own system;
+and, I suppose, for the very same reason.
+
+The title, in general a matter of indifference, is, in the present
+instance, of much consequence. On the title Julius Scaliger founded his
+invidious, and injudicious, attack. De arte quares quid sentiam. Quid?
+eqvidem quod de arte, sine arte traditâ. To the Title all the editors,
+and commentators, have particularly adverted; commonly preferring the
+Epistolary Denomination, but, in contradiction to that preference,
+almost universally inscribing the Epistle, the Art of Poetry. The
+conduct, however, of Jason De Nores, a native of Cyprus, a learned and
+ingenious writer of the 16th century, is very remarkable. In the year
+1553 he published at Venice this work of Horace, accompanied with a
+commentary and notes, written in elegant Latin, inscribing it, after
+Quintilian, Q. Horatii Flacci Liber De Arte Poetica. [Foot note: I think
+it right to mention that I have never seen the 1st edition, published
+at Venice. With a copy of the second edition, printed in Paris, I was
+favoured by Dr. Warton of Winchester.] The very-next year, however,
+he printed at Paris a second edition, enriching his notes with many
+observations on Dante and Petrarch, and changing the title, after mature
+consideration, to _Q. Horatii Flacii_ EPISTOLA AD PISONES, _de Arte
+Poeticâ._ His motives for this change he assigns in the following terms.
+
+_Quare adductum me primum sciant ad inscriptionem operis immutandam non
+levioribus de causis,& quod formam epistolae, non autem libri, in quo
+praecepta tradantur, vel ex ipso principio prae se ferat, & quod in
+vetustis exemplaribus Epistolarum libros subsequatur, & quad etiam summi
+et praestantissimi homines ita sentiant, & quod minimè nobis obstet
+Quintiliani testimonium, ut nonnullis videtur. Nam si librum appellat
+Quintilianus, non est cur non possit inter epistolas enumerari, cum et
+illae ab Horatio in libros digestae fuerint. Quod vero DE ARTE POETICA
+idem Quintilianus adjangat, nihil commaveor, cum et in epistolis
+praecepta de aliquâ re tradi possint, ab eodemque in omnibus penè, et
+in iis ad Scaevam & Lollium praecipuè jam factum videatur, in quibus
+breviter eos instituit, qua ratione apud majores facile versarentur._
+
+Desprez, the Dauphin Editor, retains both titles, but says, inclining to
+the Epistolary, _Attamen artem poeticam vix appellem cum Quintiliano et
+aliis: malim vero epistolam nuncupare cum nonnullis eruditis._ Monsieur
+Dacier inscribes it, properly enough, agreable to the idea of Porphyry,
+Q. Horatii Flacci DE ARTE POETICA LIBER; feu, EPISTOLA AD PISONES,
+patrem, et filios._
+
+Julius Scaliger certainly stands convicted of critical malice by his
+poor cavil at _the supposed title_; and has betrayed his ignorance of
+the ease and beauty of Epistolary method, as well as the most gross
+misapprehension, by his ridiculous analysis of the work, resolving it
+into thirty-six parts. He seems, however, to have not ill conceived the
+genius of the poem, in saying that _it relished satire_. This he has
+urged in many parts of his Poeticks, particularly in the Dedicatory
+Epistle to his son, not omitting, however, his constant charge of _Art
+without Art_. Horatius artem cum inscripsit, adeo sine ulla docet arte,
+ut satyrae propius totum opus illud esse videatur. This comes almost
+home to the opinion of the Author of the elegant commentaries on the two
+Epistles of Horace to the Pisos and to Augustus, as expressed in the
+Dedication to the latter: With the recital of that opinion I shall
+conclude this long note. "The genius of Rome was bold and elevated: but
+Criticism of any kind, was little cultivated, never professed as an
+_art_, by this people. The specimens we have of their ability in this
+way (of which the most elegant, beyond all dispute, are the two epistles
+to _Augustus_ and the _Pisos_) _are slight occasional attempts_, made in
+the negligence of common sense, _and adapted to the peculiar exigencies
+of their own taste and learning_; and not by any means the regular
+productions of _art_, professedly bending itself to this work, and
+ambitious to give the last finishing to the critical system."
+
+[_Translated from Horace._] In that very entertaining and instructive
+publication, entitled _An Essay on the Learning and Genius of Pope_,
+the Critick recommends, as the properest poetical measure to render in
+English the Satires and Epistles of Horace, that kind of familiar blank
+verse, used in a version of Terence, attempted some years since by the
+Author of this translation. I am proud of the compliment; yet I have
+varied from the mode prescribed: not because Roscommon has already given
+such a version; or because I think the satyrical hexameters of Horace
+less familiar than the irregular lambicks of Terence. English Blank
+Verse, like the lambick of Greece and Rome, is peculiarly adapted to
+theatrical action and dialogue, as well as to the Epick, and the more
+elevated Didactick Poetry: but after the models left by Dryden and Pope,
+and in the face of the living example of Johnson, who shall venture to
+reject rhime in the province of Satire and Epistle?
+
+
+
+9.--TRUST ME, MY PISOS!] _Credite Pisones!_
+
+Monsieur Dacier, at a very early period, feels the influence of _the
+personal address_, that governs this Epistle. Remarking on this passage,
+he observes that Horace, anxious to inspire _the Pisos _with a just
+taste, says earnestly _Trust me, my Pisos! Credite Pisones! _an
+expression that betrays fear and distrust, lest _the young Men _should
+fall into the dangerous error of bad poets, and injudicious criticks,
+who not only thought the want of unity of subject a pardonable effect
+of Genius, but even the mark of a rich and luxuriant imagination.
+And although this Epistle, continues Monsieur Dacier, is addressed
+indifferently to Piso the father, and his Sons, as appears by v. 24 of
+the original, yet it is _to the sons in particular _that these precepts
+are directed; a consideration which reconciles the difference mentioned
+by Porphyry. _Scribit ad Pisones, viros nobiles disertosque, patrem et
+filios; vel, ut alii volunt,_ ad pisones fratres.
+
+Desprez, the Dauphin Editor, observes also, in the same strain, Porro
+_scribit Horatius ad patrem et ad filios Pisones, _praesertim vero ad
+hos.
+
+The family of the _Pisos_, to whom Horace addresses this Epistle, were
+called Calpurnii, being descended from Calpus, son of Numa Pompilius,
+whence, he afterwards stiles them _of the Pompilian Blood. Pompilius
+Sanguis! _
+
+10.--THE VOLUME SUCH] Librum _persimilem. Liber_, observes Dacier, is a
+term applied to all literary productions, of whatever description. This
+remark is undoubtedly just, confirms the sentiments of Jason de Nores,
+and takes off the force of all the arguments founded on Quintilian's
+having stiled his Epistle LIBER de _arte poetica_.
+
+Vossius, speaking of the censure of Scaliger, "_de arte, sine arte_,"
+subsoins sed fallitur, cum [Greek: epigraphaen] putat esse ab Horatio;
+qui inscipserat EPISTOLAM AD PISONES. Argumentum vero, ut in Epistolarum
+raeteris, ita in bâc etiam, ab aliis postea appositum fuit.
+
+
+
+l9.----OFT WORKS OF PROMISE LARGE, AND HIGH ATTEMPT.] Incaeptis gra-
+nibus plerumque, &c. Buckingham's _Essay on Poetry_, Roscommon's _Essay
+on Translated Verse_, as well as the Satires, and _Art Poetique_ of
+Boileau, and Pope's _Essay on Criticism_, abound with imitations of
+Horace. This passage of our Author seems to have given birth to the
+following lines of Buckingham.
+
+  'Tis not a slash of fancy, which sometimes,
+  Dazzling our minds, sets off the slighted rhimes;
+  Bright as a blaze, but in a moment done;
+  True Wit is everlasting, like the Sun;
+  Which though sometimes behind a cloud retir'd,
+  Breaks out again, and is the more admir'd.
+
+The following lines of Pope may perhaps appear to bear a nearer
+resemblance this passage of Horace.
+
+  Some to _Conceit_ alone their taste confine,
+  And glitt'ring thoughts struck out at ev'ry line;
+  Pleas'd with a work where nothing's just or fit;
+  One glaring chaos, and wild heap of wit.
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+49.---Of th' Aemilian class ] _Aemilium circa ludum_--literally, near
+the Aemilian School; alluding to the Academy of Gladiators of Aemilius
+Lentulus, in whose neighbourhood lived many Artists and Shopkeepers.
+
+This passage also is imitated by Buckingham.
+
+  Number and Rhime, and that harmonious found,
+  Which never _does_ the ear with _harshness_ wound,
+  Are _necessary_, yet but _vulgar_ arts;
+  For all in vain these superficial parts
+  Contribute to the structure of the whole
+  Without a _Genius_ too; for that's the _Soul_:
+  A _Spirit_ which inspires the work throughout
+  As that of _Nature_ moves the world about.
+
+  _Essay on Poetry._
+
+
+Pope has given a beautiful illustration of this thought,
+
+  Survey THE WHOLE, nor seek slight faults to find
+  Where nature moves, and rapture warms the mind;
+  In wit, as Nature, what affects our hearts,
+  Is not th' exactness of peculiar parts;
+  'Tis not a lip, or eye, we beauty call,
+  But the joint force and full result of all.
+  Thus when we view some well-proportion'd dome,
+  (The world's just wonder, and ev'n thine, O Rome!)
+  No single parts unequally surprise,
+  All comes united to th' admiring eyes;
+  No monstrous height, or breadth, or length appear;
+  THE WHOLE at once is bold and regular.
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+56.--SELECT, ALL YE WHO WRITE, A SUBJECT FIT] _Sumite materiam, &c._
+
+This passage is well imitated by Roscommon in his Essay on Translated
+Verse.
+
+  The first great work, (a task perform'd by few)
+  Is, that _yourself_ may to _yourself_ be true:
+  No mask, no tricks, no favour, no reserve!
+  _Dissect_ your mind, examine ev'ry _nerve_.
+  Whoever vainly on his strength depends,
+  _Begins_ like Virgil, but like Maevius _ends_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Each poet with a different talent writes,
+  One _praises_, one _instructs_, another _bites_.
+  Horace did ne'er aspire to Epick Bays,
+  Nor lofty Maro stoop to Lyrick Lays.
+  Examine how your _humour_ is inclin'd,
+  And which the ruling passion of your mind:
+  Then, seek a Poet who your way does bend,
+  And chuse an Author as you chuse a friend.
+  United by this sympathetick bond,
+  You grow familiar, intimate, and fond;
+  Your thoughts, your words your stiles, your Souls agree,
+  No longer his _interpreter_, but _He_.
+
+_Stooping_ to Lyrick Lays, though not inapplicable to some of the
+lighter odes of Horace, is not descriptive of the general character of
+the Lyrick Muse. _Musa dedit Fidibus Divas &c._
+
+
+Pope takes up the same thought in his Essay on Criticism.
+
+  Be sure yourself and your own reach to know,
+  How far your genius, taste, and learning go;
+  Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet,
+  And mark that point where sense and dulness meet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Like Kings we lose the conquests gain'd before,
+  By vain ambition still to make them more:
+  Each might his servile province well command,
+  Would all but stoop to what they understand.
+
+
+
+
+71.--_A cunning phrase_.] _Callida junctura_.
+
+_Jason de Nores_ and many other interpreters agree that Horace here
+recommends, after Aristotle, the artful elevation of style by the use
+of common words in an uncommon sense, producing at once an air of
+familiarity and magnificence. Some however confine the expression,
+_callida junctura_, to signify _compound words_. The Author of the
+English Commentary adopts the first construction; but considers the
+precept in both senses, and illustrates each by many beautiful examples
+from the plays of Shakespeare. These examples he has accompanied with
+much elegant and judicious observation, as the reader of taste will be
+convinced by the following short extracts.
+
+"The writers of that time had so _latinized_ the English language, that
+the pure _English Idiom_, which Shakespeare generally follows, has all
+the air of _novelty_, which other writers are used to affect by foreign
+phraseology.--In short, the articles here enumerated are but so many
+ways of departing from the usual and simpler forms of speech, without
+neglecting too much the grace of ease and perspicuity; in which
+well-tempered licence one of the greatest charms of all poetry, but
+especially of Shakespeare's poetry, consists. Not that he was always and
+every where so happy. His expression sometimes, and by the very means,
+here exemplified, becomes _hard_, _obscure_, and _unnatural_. This is
+the extreme on the other side. But in general, we may say, that He hath
+either followed the direction of Horace very ably, or hath hit upon his
+rule very happily."
+
+
+
+
+76.--THE STRAIT-LAC'D CETHEGI.] CINCTUTIS _Cethegis_. Jason de Nores
+differs, and I think very justly, from those who interpret _Cinctutis_
+to signify _loose_, _bare_, or _naked_--EXERTOS & NUDOS. The plain sense
+of the radical word _cingo_ is directly opposite. The word _cinctutis_
+is here assumed to express a severity of manners by an allusion to an
+antique gravity of dress; and the Poet, adds _de Nores_, very happily
+forms a new word himself, as a vindication and example of the licence
+he recommends. Cicero numbers M. Corn. Cethegus among the old Roman
+Orators; and Horace himself again refers to the Cethegi in his Epistle
+to Florus, and on the subject of the use of words.
+
+  _Obscurata diu papula bonus eruet, atque_
+  Proseret in lucem speciosa vocabula rer*um;
+  ***need a Latin speaker to check this out***
+  _Quae priscis memorata_ CATONIBUS _atque_ CETHEGIS,
+  Nunc situs informis premit & deserta vetustas;
+  Adsciscet nova quae genitor produxerit usus.
+
+  Mark where a bold expressive phrase appears,
+  Bright thro' the rubbish of some hundred years;
+  Command _old words_ that long have slept, to wake,
+  Words, that wife Bacon, or brave Raleigh spake;
+  Or bid _the new_ be English, ages hence,
+  For Use will father what's begot by Sense.
+
+  POPE.
+
+
+This brilliant passage of Pope is quoted in this place by the author of
+that English Commentary, who has also subjoined many excellent remarks on
+_the revival of old words_, worthy the particular attention of those
+who cultivate prose as well as poetry, and shewing at large, that "the
+riches of a language are actually increased by retaining its old words:
+and besides, they have often _a greater real weight and dignity_, than
+those of a more _fashionable_ cast, which succeed to them. This needs
+no proof to such as are versed in the earlier writings of any
+language."--"_The growing prevalency of a very different humour_, first
+catched, as it should seem, from our commerce with the French Models,
+_and countenanced by the too scrupulous delicacy of some good writers
+amongst ourselves, bad gone far towards unnerving the noblest modern
+language, and effeminating the public taste_."--"The rejection of _old
+words_, as _barbarous_, and of many modern ones, as unpolite," had so
+exhausted the _strength_ and _stores_ of our language, that it was high
+time for some master-hand to interpose, and send us for supplies to _our
+old poets_; which there is the highest authority for saying, no one ever
+despised, but for a reason, not very consistent with his credit to avow:
+_rudem esse omnino in nostris poetis, aut inertissimae nequitiae est,
+aut fastidii delicatissimi.-- Cic. de fin._ 1. i. c. 2.
+
+[As woods endure, &c.] _Ut silvae foliis_, &c. Mr. Duncombe, in his
+translation of our Author, concurs with Monsieur Dacier in observing
+that "Horace seems here to have had in view that fine similitude of
+Homer in the sixth book of the Iliad, comparing the generations of men
+to the annual succession of leaves.
+
+  [Greek:
+  Oipaeer phyllon genehn, toiaede ch ahndron.
+  phylla ta mehn t anemohs chamahdis cheei, ahllah de thula
+  Taeletheasa phyei, earos depigigyel(*)ai orae
+  Oz andron genen. aemen phnei, aeh dahpolaegei.]
+
+  "Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
+  Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
+  Another race the following spring supplies,
+  They fall successive, and successive rise:
+  So generations in their turns decay;
+  So flourish these, when those are past away."
+
+The translator of Homer has himself compared words to leaves, but in
+another view, in his Essay on Criticism.
+
+  Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,
+  Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.
+
+In another part of the Essay he persues the same train of thought with
+Horace, and rises, I think, above his Master.
+
+  Short is the date, alas, of modern rhymes,
+  And 'tis but just to let them live betimes.
+  No longer now that golden age appears,
+  When Patriarch-wits surviv'd a thousand years;
+  Now length of Fame (our second life) is lost,
+  And bare threescore is all ev'n that can boast;
+  Our sons their father's failing language see,
+  And such as Chaucer is, shall Dryden be.
+  So when the faithful pencil has design'd
+  Some bright idea of the Master's mind,
+  Where a new world leaps out at his command,
+  And ready Nature waits upon his hand;
+  When the ripe colours soften and unite,
+  And sweetly melt into just shade and light;
+  When mellowing years their full perfection give,
+  And each bold figure just begins to live;
+  The treach'rous colours the fair art betray,
+  And all the bright creation fades away!
+
+  _Essay an Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+95.--WHETHER THE SEA, &c.] _Sive receptus, &c._
+
+This may be understood of any harbour; but it is generally interpreted
+to refer to the _Portus Julius_, a haven formed by letting in the sea
+upon the _Lucrine Lake_, and forming a junction between that and the
+Lake _Avernus_; a work, commenced by Julius Caesar, and compleated by
+Augustus, or Agrippa under his auspices. _Regis opus!_ Both these
+lakes (says Martin) were in Campania: the former was destroyed by an
+earthquake; but the latter is the present _Lago d'Averno_. Strabo, the
+Geographer, who, as well as our Poet, was living at the time, ascribes
+this work to Agrippa, and tells us that the Lucrine bay was separated
+from the Tyrrhene sea by a mound, said to have been first made by
+Hercules, and restored by Agrippa. Philargyrius says that a storm arose
+at the time of the execution of this great work, to which Virgil seems
+to refer in his mention of this Port, in the course of his Panegyrick on
+Italy in the second Georgick.
+
+  An memorem portus Lucrinoque addita claustra,
+  Atque indignatem magnis strideribus aequor,
+  Julia qua ponto longe sonat unda refuso,
+  Tyrrbenusque fretis immittitur aeflut AVERNIS?
+
+  Or shall I praise thy Ports, or mention make
+  Of the vast mound, that binds the Lucrine Lake?
+  Or the disdainful sea, that, shut from thence,
+  Roars round the structure, and invades the fence;
+  There, where secure the Julian waters glide,
+  Or where Avernus' jaws admit the Tyrrhene tide?
+DRYDEN.
+
+
+
+
+98.--WHETHER THE MARSH, &c. Sterilisve Palus.]
+
+THE PONTINE MARSH, first drained by the Consul Cornelius Cethegus; then,
+by Augustus; and many, many years after by Theodorick.
+
+
+
+
+102.--OR IF THE RIVER, &c.] _Sen cursum, &c._ The course of the _Tyber,_
+changed by Augustus, to prevent inundations.
+
+
+
+
+110.--FOR DEEDS OF KINGS, &c.] Res gestae regumque, &c.
+
+The ingenious author of the English Commentary, to whom I have so
+often referred, and to whom I must continue to refer, has discovered
+particular taste, judgement, and address, in his explication of this
+part of the Epistle. runs thus.
+
+"From reflections on poetry, at large, he proceeds now to particulars:
+the most obvious of which being the different forms and measures of
+poetick composition, he considers, in this view, [from v. 75 to 86] the
+four great species of poetry, to which all others may be reduced, the
+Epick, Elegiack, Dramatick, and Lyrick. But the distinction of the
+measure, to be observed in the several species is so obvious, that there
+can scarcely be any mistake about them. The difficulty is to know [from
+v. 86 to 89] how far each may partake of the spirit of the other,
+without destroying that natural and necessary difference, which ought
+to subsist betwixt them all. To explain this, which is a point of great
+nicety, he considers [from v. 89 to 99] the case of Dramatick Poetry;
+the two species of which are as distinct from each other, as any two
+can be, and yet there are times, when the features of the one will be
+allowed to resemble those of the other.--But the Poet had a further view
+in choosing this instance. For he gets by this means into the main of
+his subject, which was Dramatick Poetry, and, by the most delicate
+transition imaginable, proceeds [from 89 to 323] to deliver a series
+of rules, interspersed with historical accounts, _and enlivened by
+digressions_, for the regulation of the Roman stage."
+
+It is needless to insist, that my hypothesis will not allow me to concur
+entirely in the latter part of this extract; at least in that latitude,
+to which; the system of the writer carries it: yet I perfectly agree
+with Mr. Duncombe, that the learned Critick, in his observations on this
+Epistle, "has shewn, in general, the connection and dependence of one
+part with another, in a clearer light than any other Commentator." His
+shrewd and delicate commentary is, indeed, a most elegant contrast to
+the barbarous analysis of Scaliger, drawn up without the least idea of
+poetical transition, and with the uncouth air of a mere dry logician, or
+dull grammarian. I think, however, the _Order_ and _Method_, observed
+in this Epistle, is stricter than has yet been observed, and that the
+series of rules is delivered with great regularity; NOT _enlivened
+by digressions_, but passing from one topick to another, by the most
+natural and easy transitions. The Author's discrimination of the
+different stiles of the several species of poetry, leads him, as has
+been already shewn, to consider the diction of the Drama, and its
+accommodation to the _circumstances_ and _character_ of the Speaker. A
+recapitulation of these _circumstances_ carries him to treat of the due
+management of _characters already known_, as well as of sustaining those
+that are entirely _original_; to the first of which the Poet gives
+the preference, recommending _known_ characters, as well as _known_
+subjects: And on the mention of this joint preference, the Author leaves
+further consideration of _the_ diction, and slides into discourse upon
+the fable, which he continues down to the 152d verse.
+
+  Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet,
+  Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.
+
+Having dispatched the fable, the Poet proceeds, and with some Solemnity
+of Order, to the consideration of the characters; not in regard to
+suitable _diction_, for of that he has already spoken, but in respect to
+_the manners_; and, in this branch of his subject, he has as judiciously
+borrowed from _the Rhetoricks_ of Aristotle, as in the rest of his
+Epistle from the _Poeticks_. He then directs, in its due place, the
+proper conduct of particular incidents _of the fable_; after which he
+treats of _the_ chorus; from whence he naturally falls into the history
+of theatrical musick; which is, as naturally, succeeded by an account of
+the Origin of _the Drama_, itself, which the Poet commences, like master
+Aristotle, even from the Dithyrambick Song, and carries it down to the
+establishment of the New Greek Comedy; from whence he passes easily
+and gracefully, to _the_ Roman stage, acknowledging the merits of the
+Writers, but pointing out their defects, and assigning the causes.
+He then subjoins a few general observations, and concludes his long
+discourse on _the_ drama, having extended it to 275 lines. This
+discourse, together with the result of all his reflections on Poets and
+Poetry, he then applies in the most earnest and _personal_ manner to the
+elder Piso; and with a long and most pathetick _peroration_, if I may
+adopt an oratorical term, concludes the Epistle.
+
+
+
+
+116.--THE ELEGY'S SMALL SONG.] EXIGUOS _Elegos_.
+
+Commentators differ concerning the import of this expression--exiguos
+_Elegos_, the _Elegy's_ small _song_. De Nores, Schrevelius, and
+Desprez, think it refers to the humility of the elegiack stile and
+subjects, compared with epick or lyrick sublimity. Monsieur Dacier
+rather thinks that Horace refers here, as in the words _Versibus
+impariter junctis,_ "Couplets unequal," to the use of pentameter, or
+short verse, consisting of five feet, and joined to the hexameter, or
+long verse, of six. This inequality of the couplet Monsieur Dacier
+justly prefers to the two long Alexandrines of his own country, which
+sets almost all the French poetry, Epick, Dramatick, Elegiack, or
+Satyrick, to the tune of Derry Down. In our language, the measures are
+more various, and more happily conceived. Our Elegy adopts not only
+_unequal couplets_, but _alternate rhymes_, which give a plaintive tone
+to the heroick measure, and are most happily used in Gray's beautiful
+_Elegy in a Country Church yard.
+
+
+
+
+135.--THY FEAST, THYESTES!] Caena Thyestae.
+
+The story of Thyestes being of the most tragick nature, a banquet on his
+own children! is commonly interpreted by the Criticks, as mentioned by
+Horace, in allusion to Tragedy in general. The Author of the English
+Commentary, however, is of a different opinion, supposing, from a
+passage of Cicero, that the Poet means to glance at the _Thyestes of
+Ennius,_ and to pay an oblique compliment to Varius, who had written a
+tragedy on the same subject.
+
+The same learned Critick also takes it for granted, that the Tragedy of
+Telephus, and probably of _Peleus_, after-mentioned, point at tragedies
+of Euripedes, on these subjects, translated into Latin, and accomodated
+to the Roman Stage, without success, by _Ennius, Accius, or Naevius_.
+
+One of this Critick's notes on this part of the Epistle, treating on the
+use of _pure poetry_ in the Drama, abounds with curious disquisition and
+refined criticism.
+
+
+
+
+150.--_They must have_ passion _too_.] dulcia _sunto_. The Poet,
+with great address, includes the sentiments under the consideration of
+diction.
+
+  --_Effert animi motus_ interprete lingua.
+  _Forces expression from the_ faithful tongue.
+
+Buckingham has treated the subject of Dialogue very happily in his Essay
+on Poetry, glancing, but not servilely, at this part of Horace.
+
+  _Figures of Speech_, which Poets think so fine,
+  Art's needless varnish to make Nature shine,
+  Are all but _Paint_ upon a beauteous face,
+  And in _Descriptions_ only claim a place.
+  But to make _Rage declaim_, and _Grief discourse_,
+  From lovers in despair _fine_ things to _force_,
+  Must needs succeed; for who can chuse but pity
+  A _dying_ hero miserably _witty_?
+
+
+
+
+201.----BE NOT YOUR OPENING FIERCE!] _Nec sic incipies_, Most of the
+Criticks observe, that all these documents, deduced from _the Epick_,
+are intended, like the reduction of the Iliad into acts, as directions
+and admonition to the _Dramatick_ writer. _Nam si in_ EPOPaeIA, _que
+gravitate omnia poematum generae praecellit, ait principium lene esse
+debere; quanto magis in_ tragoedia _et_ comoedia, _idem videri debet_?
+says de Nores. _Praeceptum de intio grandiori evitaado, quod tam_ epicus
+_quam_ tragicus _cavere debet_; says the Dauphin Editor. _Il faut se
+souvenir qu' Horace appliqae à la Tragedie les regies du Poeme Epique.
+Car si ces debuts eclatans sont ridicules dans la Poeme Epique, ils
+le sont encore plus dans la Tragedie_: says Dacier. The Author of the
+English Commentary makes the like observation, and uses it to enforce
+his system of the Epistle's being intended as a Criticism on the Roman
+drama. [ xviii] 202---Like _the rude_ ballad-monger's _chant of old_]
+_ut scriptor_ cyclicus olim.] _Scriptor_ cyclicus signisies an itinerant
+Rhymer travelling, like Shakespeare's Mad Tom, to wakes, and fairs, and
+market-towns. 'Tis not precisely known who was the Cyclick Poet here
+meant. Some have ascribed the character to Maevius, and Roscommon has
+adopted that idea.
+
+  Whoever vainly on his _strength_ depends,
+  Begins like Virgil, but like Maevius ends:
+  That Wretch, in spite of his forgotten rhimes,
+  Condemn'd to live to all succeeding times,
+  With _pompous nonsense_, and a _bellowing sound_,
+  Sung _lofty Ilium_, _tumbling_ to the _ground_,
+  And, if my Muse can thro' past ages fee,
+  That _noisy, nauseous_, gaping fool was _he_;
+  Exploded, when, with universal scorn,
+  The _Mountains labour'd_, and a _Mouse_ was born.
+
+_Essay on Translated Verse_.
+
+
+The pompous exordium of Statius is well known, and the fragments of
+Ennius present us a most tremendous commencement of his Annals.
+
+  horrida romoleum certamina pango duellum!
+  this is indeed to split our ears asunder
+  With guns, drums, trumpets, blunderbuss, and thunder!
+
+
+
+
+211.--Say, Muse, the Man, &c.] Homer's opening of the Odyssey. his rule
+is perhaps no where so chastely observed as in _the Paradise Lost_.
+Homer's [Greek: Maenin aeide thea]! or, his [Greek: Andra moi
+ennepe,Mgsa]! or, Virgil's _Arma, Urumque cano_! are all boisterous and
+vehement, in comparison with the calmness and modesty of Milton's meek
+approach,
+
+Of Man's first disobedience, &c.
+
+
+
+
+2l5.--_Antiphates, the Cyclops, &c_].- _Antiphatem, Scyllamque, & cum
+Cyclope Charybdim_. Stories, that occur in the Odyssey. 218-19--Diomed's
+return--the Double Egg.]
+
+The return of Diomede is not mentioned by Homer, but is said to be the
+subject of a tedious Poem by Antimachus; and to Stasimus is ascribed a
+Poem, called the Little Iliad, beginning with the nativity of Helen.
+
+
+
+
+227.--Hear now!] _Tu, quid ego, &c._
+
+This invocation, says Dacier justly, is not addressed to either of the
+Pisos, but to the Dramatick Writer generally.
+
+
+
+
+229.---The Cloth goes down.] _Aulaea manentis._ This is translated
+according to modern manners; for with the Antients, the Cloth was raised
+at the Conclusion of the Play. Thus in Virgil's Georgicks;
+
+  Vel scena ut versis disceedat frontibus, atque
+  Purpurea intexti tollant aulaea Britanni.
+
+  Where the proud theatres disclose the scene;
+  Which interwoven Britons seem to _raise;_
+  And shew the triumph which their _shame_ displays.
+
+  Dryden
+
+
+
+
+230.--Man's several ages, &c.] _aetatis cujusque, &c._ Jason Demores
+takes notice of the particular stress, that Horace lays on the due
+discrimination of the several Ages, by the solemnity with which he
+introduces the mention of them: The same Critick subjoins a note also,
+which I shall transcribe, as it serves to illustrate a popular passage
+in the _As you Like It_ of Shakespeare.
+
+  All the world's a stage,
+  And all the men and women merely players;
+  They have their _exits_ and their entrances,
+  And one man in his time plays many parts:
+  His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
+  Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms:
+  And then, the whining school-boy with his satchel,
+  And shining morning-face, creeping like snail
+  Unwillingly to school. And then, the lover;
+  Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
+  Made to his mistress' eye-brow. Then, a soldier;
+  Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
+  Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel;
+  Seeking the bubble reputation
+  Even in the cannon's mouth. And then, the justice
+  In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd
+  With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
+  Full of wise saws and modern instances,
+  And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
+  Into the lean and flipper'd pantaloon,
+  With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side;
+  His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide
+  For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
+  Turning again toward childish treble, pipes,
+  And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
+  That ends this strange eventful history,
+  Is second childishness, and mere oblivion,
+  Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
+
+_Animadverti_ a plerisque _hominis aetatem_ in septem divisam esse
+partes, infantiam, pueritiam, adolescentiam, juventutem, virilitatem,
+senectutem, & _ut ab illis dicitur_, decrepitatem. _In hâc verò parte
+nihil de_ infantiae _moribus Horatius, cum nihil ea aetas praeter
+vagitum habeat proprium, ideòque infantis persona minimè in scenâ induci
+possit, quòd ipsas rerum voces reddere neque dum sciat, neque
+valeat. Nihil de moribus item hujus aetatis, quam, si latinè licet_,
+decrepitatem _vocabimus_, quae aetas quodammodo infantiae respondet:
+_de_ juventute _autem_ & adolescentia _simul pertractat, quòd et
+studiis, et naturâ, & voluntate, parum, aut nihil inter se differant.
+Aristoteles etiam in libris ad Theodectem omisit_ & pueritiam, &
+_meritò; cum minime apud pueros, vel de pueris sit orator habiturus
+orationem. Ille enim ad hoc ex aetate personarum differentiam adhibet,
+ut instituat oratorem, quomodo moratâ uti debeat oratione, id est, eorum
+moribus, apud quos, & de quibus loquitur, accommodatâ._
+
+It appears from hence, that it was _common_ for the writers of that
+time, as well as Shakespeare's Jaques, to divide the life of Man into
+seven ages, viz. _Infancy, Childhood, Puberty, Youth, Manhood, Old Age_,
+and _Decrepitude_; "which last, (says Denores) in some sort answers to
+Infancy," or, as Shakespeare expresses it, IS second childishness.
+
+"Before Shakespeare's time," says Warburton, "_seven acts_ was no unusual
+division of a play, so that there is a greater beauty than appears at
+first sight in this image." Mr. Steevens, however, informs us that the
+plays of that early period were not divided into acts at all. It is most
+probable therefore that Shakespeare only copied the moral philosophy
+(the _Socraticae chartae_) of his own day, adapting it, like Aristotle
+and Horace, to his own purpose; and, I think, with more felicity, than
+either of his illustrious predecessors, by contriving to introduce, and
+discriminate, _every one of_ the seven ages. This he has effected
+by assigning station and character to some of the stages, which to
+Aristotle and Horace appeared too similar to be distinguished from
+each other. Thus puberty, youth, manhood, and old age, become under
+Shakespeare's hand, _the_ lover, _the_ soldier, _the_ justice, and the
+lean and flipper'd pantaloon; while the _natural qualities_ of the
+infant, the boy, and the dotard, afford sufficient materials for
+poetical description.
+
+
+
+
+262.--_Thus_ years advancing _many comforts bring,
+     and_ flying _bear off many on their wing_.]
+
+  _Multa ferunt_ anni venientes _commoda secum,
+  multa_ recedentes _adimunt_.
+
+Aristotle considers the powers of the body in a state of advancement
+till the 35th year, and the faculties of the mind progressively
+improving till the 49th; from which periods they severally decline. On
+which circumstance, applied to this passage of Horace, Jason de Nores
+elegantly remarks, _Vita enim nostra videtur ad_ virilitatem _usque,
+quâ_ in statu _posita est_, quendam quasi pontem _aetatis_ ascendere,
+_ab eâque inde_ descendere. Whether Addison ever met with the commentary
+of De Nores, it is perhaps impossible to discover. But this idea of
+_the_ ascent _and_ declivity _of the_ bridge _of_ human life, strongly
+reminds us of the delightful _vision of_ mirza.
+
+
+
+
+288.--_An actor's part_ the Chorus _should sustain_.] _Actoris partes_
+Chorus, &c.
+
+"See also _Aristotle_ [Greek*: oes. ooiaet. k. iae.] The judgment of two
+such critics, and the practice of wise antiquity, concurring to
+establish this precept concerning the Chorus, it should thenceforth, one
+would think, have become a fundamental rule and maxim of the stage. And
+so indeed it appeared to some few writers. The most admired of the
+French tragic poets ventured to introduce it into two of his latter
+plays, and with such success that, as one observes, _It should, in all
+reason, have disabused his countrymen on this head: l'essai heureux de
+M. Racine, qui les [choeurs] a fait revivre dans_ athalie _et dans
+_esther_, devroit, il semble, nous avoir detrompez sur cet article._ [P.
+Brumoi, vol. i. p. 105.] And, before him, our _Milton_, who, with his
+other great talents, possessed a supreme knowledge of antiquity, was so
+struck with its use and beauty, as to attempt to bring it into our
+language. His _Sampson Agonistes_ was, as might be expected, a master-
+piece. But even his credit hath not been sufficient to restore the
+Chorus. Hear a late Professor of the art declaring, _De _Choro _nihil
+disserui, quia non est essentialis dramati, atque à neotericis penitus_,
+et, me judice, merito repudiatur. [Prael. Poet. vol. ii. p. 188.] Whence
+it hath come to pass that the chorus hath been thus neglected is not now
+the enquiry. But that this critic, and all such, are greatly out in
+their judgments, when they presume to censure it in the ancients, must
+appear (if we look no further) from the double use, insisted on by the
+poet, For, 1. A _chorus _interposing, and bearing a part in the progress
+of the action, gives the representation that _probability_, [Footnote:
+_Quel avantage ne peut il [le poete] pas tirer d'une troupe d'acteurs,
+qui remplissent sa scene, qui rendant plus sense la continuité de
+l'action qui la sont paroitre VRAISEMBLABLE puisqu'il n'est pas naturel
+qu'elle sa passe sans point. On ne sent que trop le vuide de notre
+Théatre sans choeurs. &c. _[Les Théatre des Grècs. i. p. 105 ] and
+striking resemblance of real life, which every man of sense perceives,
+and _feels_ the want of upon our stage; a want, which nothing but such
+an expedient as the chorus can possibly relieve. And, 2. The importance
+of its other office [l. 196] to the _utility _of the representation, is
+so great, that, in a moral view, nothing can compensate for this
+deficiency. For it is necessary to the truth and decorum of characters,
+that the _manners_, bad as well as good, be drawn in strong, vivid
+colours; and to that end that immoral sentiments, forcibly expressed and
+speciously maintained, be sometimes _imputed _to the speakers. Hence the
+sound philosophy of the chorus will be constantly wanting, to rectify
+the wrong conclusions of the audience, and prevent the ill impressions
+that might otherwise be made upon it. Nor let any one say, that the
+audience is well able to do this for itself: Euripides did not find even
+an Athenian theatre so quick-sighted. The story is well known, [Sen. Ep.
+115.] that when this painter of the _manners _was obliged, by the rules
+of his art, and the character to be sustained, to put a run of bold
+sentiments in the mouth of one of his persons, the people instantly took
+fire, charging the poet with the _imputed _villainy, as though it had
+been his _own_. Now if such an audience could so easily misinterpret an
+attention to the truth of character into the real doctrine of the poet,
+and this too, when a Chorus was at hand to correct and disabuse their
+judgments, what must be the case, when the _whole _is left to the
+sagacity and penetration of the people? The wiser sort, it is true, have
+little need of this information. Yet the reflexions of sober sense on
+the course and occurrences of the representation, clothed in the noblest
+dress of poetry, and enforced by the joint powers of harmony and action
+(which is the true character of the Chorus) might make it, even to such,
+a no unpleasant or unprofitable entertainment. But these two are a small
+part of the uses of the chorus; which in every light is seen so
+important to the truth, decorum, and dignity of the tragic scene, that
+the modern stage, which hath not thought proper to adopt it, is even,
+with the advantage of, sometimes, the justest moral painting and
+sublimest imagery, but a very faint shadow of the old; as must needs
+appear to those who have looked into the ancient models, or, diverting
+themselves of modern prejudices, are disposed to consult the dictates of
+plain sense. For the use of such, I once designed to have drawn into one
+view the several important benefits arising to the drama from the
+observance of this rule, but have the pleasure to find myself prevented
+by a sensible dissertation of a good French writer, which the reader
+will find in the VIII tom. of the History of the Academy of Inscriptions
+end Belles Lettres.--Or, it may be sufficient to refer the English
+reader to the late tragedies of Elfrida and Caractacus; which do honour
+to modern poetry, and are a better apology, than any I could make, for
+the ancient Chorus.----Notes on the Art of Poetry.
+
+Though it is not my intention to agitate, in this place, the long
+disputed question concerning the expediency, or inexpediency, of the
+Chorus, yet I cannot dismiss the above note without some farther
+observation. In the first place then I cannot think that _the judgment
+of two such Criticks_ as Aristotle and Horace, can be decisively quoted,
+_as concurring with the practice of wise antiquity,_ to establish the
+chorus. Neither of these _two Criticks_ have taken up the question,
+each of them giving directions for the proper conduct of _the Chorus,_
+considered as an established and received part of Tragedy, and indeed
+originally, as they both tell us, _the whole_ of it. Aristotle, in his
+Poeticks, has not said much on the subject and from the little he has
+said, more arguments might perhaps be drawn, in favour of the omission,
+than for the introduction of _the Chorus._ It is true that he says, in
+his 4th chapter, that "Tragedy, after many changes, paused, _having
+gained its natural form:"_ [Greek transliteration: 'pollha': moiazolas
+metazalousa ae tragodia epausto, hepei hesche taen heauiaes phusin]. This
+might, at first sight, seem to include his approbation of the Chorus, as
+well as of all the other parts of Tragedy then in use: but he himself
+expressly tells us in the very same chapter, that he had no such
+meaning, saying, that "to enquire whether Tragedy be perfect in its
+parts, either considered in itself, or with relation to the theatre, was
+foreign to his present purpose." [Greek: To men oun epischopein,
+eiapa echei aedae hae tragodia tois ikanos, ae ou, auto te kath auto
+krinomenon, kai pros ta theatra, allos logos.]
+
+In the passage from which Horace has, in the verses now before us,
+described the office, and laid down the duties of the CHORUS, the
+passage referred to by the learned Critick, the words of Aristotle are
+not particularly favourable to the institution, or much calculated to
+recommend the use of it. For Aristotle there informs us, "that Sophocles
+alone of all the Grecian writers, made _the_ CHORUS conducive to the
+progress of the fable: not only even Euripides being culpable in this
+instance; but other writers, after the example of Agathon, introducing
+Odes as little to the purpose, as if they had borrowed whole scenes from
+another play."
+
+[Greek: Kai ton chorus de ena dei upolazein tan upochriton. Kai morion
+einai tch olch, chai sunagonis*e  mae osper par Euripidae, all osper
+para Sophochlei. Tois de loipois ta didomena mallon ta muthch, ae allaes
+Tragadias esi di o emzolima adchoi, protch arxanto Agrathonos tch
+toichtch Kai tch diaphsrei, ae aemzot ma adein, ae raesin ex allch eis
+allo armotteen, ae eteitodion oleos [per. poiaet. ch. iii.]]
+
+On the whole therefore, whatever may be the merits, or advantages of
+_the_ CHORUS, I cannot think that the judgment of Aristotle or Horace
+can be adduced as recommendation of it. As to _the probability given
+to the representation, by CHORUS interposing and bearing a part in the
+action;_ the Publick, who have lately in a troop of singers assembled on
+the stage, as a Chorus, during the whole of presentations of Elfrida
+and Caractacus, are competent to decide for themselves, how far such an
+expedient, gives a more _striking resemblance of human life,_ than the
+common usage of our Drama. As to its importance in a _moral_ view, to
+correct the evil impression of vicious sentiments, _imputed_ to the
+speakers; the story told, to enforce its use for this purpose, conveys
+a proof of its efficacy. To give due force to sentiments, as well as to
+direct their proper tendency, depends on the skill and address of the
+Poet, independent of _the_ Chorus,
+
+Monsieur Dacier, as well as the author of the above note, censures the
+modern stage for having rejected the Chorus, and having lost thereby
+_at least half its probability, and its_ greatest ornament; so that
+our Tragedy is _but a very faint shadow of the_ old. Learned Criticks,
+however, do not, perhaps, consider, that if it be expedient to revive
+_the_ Chorus, all the other parts of the antient Tragedy must be revived
+along with it. Aristotle mentions Musick as one of the six parts of
+Tragedy, and Horace no sooner introduces _the_ CHORUS, but he proceeds
+to _the _pipe _and _lyre. If a Chorus be really necessary, our Dramas,
+like those of the antients, should be rendered wholly _musical_; the
+_Dancers _also will then claim their place, and the pretentions of
+Vestris and Noverre may be admitted as _classical_. Such a spectacle,
+if not more _natural_ than the modern, would at least be consistent; but
+to introduce a groupe of _spectatorial actors_, speaking in one part
+of the Drama, and singing in another, is as strange and incoherent a
+medley, and full as _unclassical_, as the dialogue and airs of _The
+Beggar's Opera!_
+
+
+
+
+290.--_Chaunting no Odes between the acts, that seem_
+      unapt, _or _foreign _to the _general theme.]
+
+     _Nec quid medios, &c._
+
+On this passage the author of the English Commentary thus remarks. "How
+necessary this advice might be to the writers of the Augustan age cannot
+certainly appear; but, if the practice of Seneca may give room for
+suspicion, it should seem to have been much wanted; in whom I scarcely
+believe _there is_ one single instance, _of the _Chorus being employed
+in a manner, consonant to its true end and character."
+
+The learned Critick seems here to believe, and the plays under the name
+of Seneca in some measure warrant the conclusion, that _the _Chorus
+of the Roman Stage was not calculated to answer the ends of its
+institution. Aristotle has told us just the same thing, with an
+exception in favour of Sophocles, of the Grecian Drama. And are such
+surmises, or such information, likely to strengthen our prejudices on
+behalf of _the _CHORUS, or to inflame our desires for its revival?
+
+
+
+
+292.----LET IT TO VIRTUE PROVE A GUIDE AND FRIEND.]
+
+     _Ille bonis saveatque, &c._
+
+"_The Chorus_," says the poet, "_is to take the side of the good and
+virtuous_, i. e. is always to sustain a moral character. But this will
+need some explanation and restriction. To conceive aright of its office,
+we must suppose the _Chorus _to be a number of persons, by some probable
+cause assembled together, as witnesses and spectators of the great
+action of the drama. Such persons, as they cannot be wholly uninterested
+in what passes before them, will very naturally bear some share in
+the representation. This will principally consist in declaring their
+sentiments, and indulging their reflexions freely on the several events
+and mistresses as they shall arise. Thus we see the _moral_, attributed
+to the Chorus, will be no other than the dictates of plain sense; such
+as must be obvious to every thinking observer of the action, who is
+under the influence of no peculiar partialities from _affection_ or
+_interest_. Though even these may be supposed in cases, where the
+character, towards which they _draw_, is represented as virtuous."
+
+"A Chorus, thus constituted, must always, it is evident, take the part of
+virtue; because this is the natural and almost necessary determination
+of mankind, in all ages and nations, when acting freely and
+unconstrained." _Notes on the Art of Poetry._
+
+
+
+
+297.--FAITHFUL AND SECRET.]--_Ille tegat commissa._
+
+On this _nice part_ of the duty of _the_ CHORUS the author of the
+English Commentary thus remarks.
+
+"This important advice is not always easy to be followed. Much indeed
+will depend on the choice of the subject, and the artful constitution
+of the fable. _Yet, with all his care, the ablest writer will sometimes
+find himself embarrassed by the_ Chorus. i would here be understood to
+speak chiefly of the moderns. For the antients, though it has not been
+attended to, had some peculiar advantages over us in this respect,
+resulting from the principles and practices of those times. For, as it
+hath been observed of the ancient epic Muse, that she borrowed much of
+her state and dignity from the false _theology_ of the pagan world,
+so, I think, it may be justly said of the ancient tragic, that she has
+derived great advantages of probability from its mistaken _moral_. If
+there be truth in this reflection, it will help to justify some of the
+ancient choirs, that have been most objected to by the moderns."
+
+After two examples from Euripides; in one of which the trusty CHORUS
+conceals the premeditated _suicide_ of Phaedra; and in the other abets
+Medea's intended _murder of her children_, both which are most ably
+vindicated by the Critick; the note concludes in these words.
+
+"In sum, though these acts of severe avenging justice might not be
+according to the express letter of the laws, or the more refined
+conclusions of the PORCH or ACADEMY; yet there is no doubt, that they
+were, in the general account, esteemed fit and reasonable. And, it is to
+be observed, in order to pass a right judgment on the ancient Chorus,
+that, though in virtue of their office, they were obliged universally
+to sustain a moral character; yet this moral was rather political and
+popular, than strictly legal or philosophic. Which is also founded on
+good reason. The scope and end of the ancient theatre being to serve
+the interests of virtue and society, on the principles and sentiments,
+already spread and admitted amongst the people, and not to correct old
+errors, and instruct them in philosophic truth."
+
+One of the censurers of Euripides, whose opinion is controverted in
+the above note, is Monsieur Dacier; who condemns _the_ CHORUS in this
+instance, as not only violating their _moral_ office, but _transgressing
+the laws_ of Nature _and of_ God, _by a fidelity_; so vicious _and_
+criminal, _that these women_, [_the_ Chorus!] _ought to fly away in
+the Car of Medea, to escape the punishment due to them_. The Annotator
+above, agrees with the Greek Scholiast, that _the Corinthian women (the_
+Chorus) _being free_, properly desert the interests of Creon, and keep
+Medea's secrets, _for the sake of justice_, according to their custom.
+Dacier, however, urges an instance of their _infidelity_ in the ION of
+Euripides, where they betray the secret of Xuthus to Creusa, which the
+French Critick defends on account of their attachment to their mistress;
+and adds, that the rule of Horace, like other rules, is proved by the
+exception. "Besides (continues the Critick in the true spirit of French
+gallantry) should we so heavily accuse the Poet for not having made _an
+assembly of women_ keep a secret?" _D'ailleurs, peut on faire un si
+grand crime à un poete, de n'avoir pas fait en sorte qu'une troupe
+de femmes garde un secret?_ He then concludes his note with blaming
+Euripides for the perfidy of Iphigenia at Tauris, who abandons these
+faithful guardians of her secret, by flying alone with Orestes, and
+leaving them to the fury of Thoas, to which they must have been exposed,
+but for the intervention of Minerva.
+
+On the whole, it appears that the _moral importance_ of _the_ CHORUS
+must be considered _with some limitations_: or, at least, that _the_
+CHORUS is as liable to be misused and misapplied, as any part of modern
+Tragedy.
+
+
+
+
+300.--_The_ pipe _of old_.]--_Tibi, non ut nunc, &c._
+
+"This, says the author of the English Commentary, is one of those many
+passages in the epistle, about which the critics have said a great deal,
+without explaining any thing. In support of what I mean to offer, as the
+true interpretation, I observe,
+
+"That the poet's intention certainly was not to censure the _false_
+refinements of their stage-music; but, in a short digressive history
+(such as the didactic form will sometimes require) to describe the rise
+and progress of the _true_. This I collect, I. From _the expression
+itself_; which cannot, without violence, be understood in any other way.
+For, as to the words _licentia_ and _praeceps_, which have occasioned
+much of the difficulty, the _first_ means a _freer use_, not a
+_licentiousness_, properly so called; and the _other_ only expresses a
+vehemence and rapidity of language, naturally productive of a quicker
+elocution, such as must of course attend the more numerous harmony of
+the lyre:--not, as M. Dacier translates it, _une eloquence temeraire et
+outrée_, an extravagant straining and affectation of style. 2. From _the
+reason of the thing_; which makes it incredible, that the music of the
+theatre should then be most complete, when the times were barbarous, and
+entertainments of this kind little encouraged or understood. 3. From
+_the character of that music itself_; for the rudeness of which, Horace,
+in effect, apologizes in defending it only on the score of the imperfect
+state of the stage, and the simplicity of its judges."
+
+The above interpretation of this part of the Epistle is, in my opinion,
+extremely just, and exactly corresponds with the explication of De
+Nores, who censures Madius for an error similar to that of Dacier. _Non
+rectè sentire videtur Madius, dum putat potius_ in Romanorum luxuriam_
+invectum horatium, quam_ de melodiae incremento _tractasse_.
+
+The musick, having always been a necessary appendage to _the_ Chorus,
+I cannot (as has already been hinted in the note on I. 100 of this
+version) confider the Poet's notice of the Pipe and Lyre, as a
+_digression_, notwithstanding it includes a short history of the rude
+simplicity of the Musick in the earlier ages of Rome, and of its
+subsequent improvements. _The_ Chorus too, being originally _the whole_,
+as well as afterwards a legitimate _part_ of Tragedy, the Poet naturally
+traces the Drama from its origin to its most perfect state in Greece;
+and afterwards compares its progress and improvements with the Theatre
+of his own country. Such is, I think, the natural and easy _method_
+pursued by Horace; though it differs in some measure from the _order_
+and _connection_ pointed out by the author of the English Commentary.
+
+
+
+
+314.--For what, alas! could the unpractis'd ear
+      Of rusticks revelling o'er country cheer,
+      A motley groupe; high, low; and froth, and scum,
+      Distinguish but shrill squeak, and dronish hum?
+      --_Indoctus quid enim saperet, liberque laborum,
+      Rusticus urbano confusus, turpis honesto?_
+
+These lines, rather breaking in upon the continuity of the history of
+theatrical musick, _create_ some obscurity, which has given birth, to
+various interpretations. The author of the English Commentary, who
+always endeavours to dive to the very bottom of his subject, understands
+this couplet of Horace as a _sneer_ on those grave philosophers, who
+considered these _refinements_ of the musick as _corruptions_. He
+interprets the passage at large, and explains the above two lines in
+these words. "Nor let it be objected than this _freer harmony_ was
+itself an abuse, a corruption of the severe and _moral_ musick
+of antient times. Alas! we were not as yet so _wise_, to see the
+inconveniences of this improvement. And how should we, considering the
+nature and end of these theatrical entertainments, and the sort of men
+of which our theatres were made up?"
+
+This interpretation is ingenious; but Jason De Nores gives, I think,
+a more easy and unforced explanation of this difficult passage, by
+supposing it to refer (by way of _parenthesis_) to what had just been
+said of the original rude simplicity of the Roman theatrical musick,
+which, says the Poet, was at least as polished and refined as the taste
+of the audience. This De Nores urges in two several notes, both which I
+shall submit to the reader, leaving it to him to determine how far I am
+to be justified in having adapted my version to his interpretation.
+
+The first of these notes contains at large his reproof of Madius for
+having, like Dacier, supposed the Poet to censure the improvements that
+he manifestly meant to commend.
+
+_Quare non recté videtur sentire Madius, dum putat potius in Romanorum
+luxuriam invectum Horatium, quàm de melodiae incremento tractasse,
+cùm_ seipsum interpretans, _quid fibi voluerit per haec, luce clarius,
+ostendat,_
+
+  Tibia non ut nunc orichalco vincta, tubaeque AEmula. Et,
+  Sic priscae motumque, & luxuriam addidit arti
+  Tibicen, traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem:
+  Sic etiam fidibus voces crevere feveris,
+  Et tulit eloquium infolitum fecundia praeceps.
+
+_Ad quid enim tam longâ digressione extra, rem propositam in Romanos
+inveberetur, cùm de iis nihil alîud dicat, quàm eos genio ac
+valuptatibus indulgere: cum potius_ veteres Romanos insimulare
+videatur ionorantiae, quod ignoraverint soni et musices venustatem et
+jucunditatem, illa priori scilicet incondita et rudi admodum contenti,
+_dum ait_; Indoctus quid enim saperet, liberque laborum, Rusticus urbano
+confusus, turpis honesto?
+
+The other note is expressly applied by way of comment on this passage
+itself.
+
+[Indoctus quidenim saperet?] Reddit rationem quasiper digressionem,
+occurrens tacitae objectioni quare antea apud Romanos musica melodia
+parva aut nulla pene fuerat: quia, inquit, indocti ignarique rerum
+omnium veteres illi nondum poterant judicare de melodia, utpote apud eos
+re novâ, atque inufitatâ, neque illius jucunditatem degustare, quibus
+verbis imperitiam eorum, rusticatatemque demonstrat.
+
+Upon the whole De Nores appears to me to have given the true sense of
+the passage. I am no friend to licentious transpositions, or arbitrary
+variations, of an author's text; yet I confess, I was strongly tempted,
+in order to elucidate his perplexed passage, to have carried these two
+lines of Horace four lines back, and to have inserted them immediately
+after the 207th verse.
+
+  _Et frugi, castus, verecundusque coibat._
+
+The English reader, who wishes to try the experiment, is desired to read
+the four lines, that compose my version, immediately after the 307th
+line,
+
+  _With modest mirth indulg'd their sober taste._
+
+
+
+
+3l8.--The Piper, _grown luxuriant in his art._]
+
+
+
+
+320.--_Now too, its powers increas'd_, The Lyre severe.]
+
+  Sic priscae--arti
+  tibicen, &c.
+  sic fidibus, &c.
+
+"This is the application of what hath been said, in general, concerning
+the refinement of theatrical music to the case of _tragedy_. Some
+commentators say, and to _comedy._ But in this they mistake, as will
+appear presently. M. _Dacier_ hath I know not what conceit about a
+comparison betwixt the _Roman_ and _Greek_ stage. His reason is, _that
+the lyre was used in the Greek chorus, as appears, he says, from
+Sophocles himself playing upon this instrument himself in one of his
+tragedies._ And was it not used too in the Roman chorus, as appears from
+Nero's playing upon it in several tragedies? But the learned critic
+did not apprehend this matter. Indeed from the caution, with which his
+guides, the dealers in antiquities, always touch this point, it should
+seem, that they too had no very clear conceptions of it. The case I take
+to have been this: The _tibia_, as being most proper to accompany the
+declamation of the acts, _cantanti fuccinere_, was constantly employed,
+as well in the Roman tragedy as comedy. This appears from many
+authorities. I mention only two from Cicero. _Quam multa_ [Acad. 1. ii.
+7.] _quae nos fugiunt in cantu, exaudiunt in eo genere exercitati: Qui,
+primo inflatu Tibicinis, Antiopam esse aiunt aut Andromacham, cum nos
+ne suspicemur quidem_. The other is still more express. In his piece
+entitled _Orator_, speaking of the negligence of the Roman writers, in
+respect of _numbers_, he observes, _that there were even many passages
+in their tragedies, which, unless the_ TIBIA _played to them, could not
+be distinguished from mere prose: quae, nisi cum Tibicen accesserit,
+orationi sint solutae simillima._ One of these passages is expressly
+quoted from _Thyestes_, a tragedy of _Ennius_; and, as appears from
+the measure, taken out of one of the acts. It is clear then, that the
+_tibia_ was certainly used in the _declamation_ of tragedy. But now the
+song of the tragic chorus, being of the nature of the ode, of course
+required _fides_, the lyre, the peculiar and appropriated instrument
+of the lyric muse. And this is clearly collected, if not from express
+testimonies; yet from some occasional hints dropt by the antients. For,
+1. the lyre, we are told, [Cic. De Leg. ii. 9. & 15.] and is agreed
+on all hands, was an instrument of the Romon theatre; but it was not
+employed in comedy, This we certainly know from the short accounts of
+the music prefixed to Terence's plays. 2. Further, the _tibicen_, as
+we saw, accompanied the declamation of the acts in tragedy. It remains
+then, that the proper place of the lyre was, where one should naturally
+look for it, in the songs of the chorus; but we need not go further than
+this very passage for a proof. It is unquestionable, that the poet is
+here speaking of the chorus only; the following lines not admitting
+any other possible interpretation. By _fidibus_ then is necessarily
+understood the instrument peculiarly used in it. Not that it need be
+said that the _tibia_ was never used in the chorus. The contrary seems
+expressed in a passage of Seneca, [Ep. ixxxiv.] and in Julius Pollux
+[1. iv. 15. § 107.] It is sufficient, if the _lyre_ was used solely, or
+principally, in it at this time. In this view, the whole digression is
+more pertinent, and connects better. The poet had before been speaking
+of tragedy. All his directions, from 1. 100, respect this species of the
+drama only. The application of what he had said concerning music, is
+then most naturally made, I. to the _tibia_, the music of the acts; and,
+2. to _fides_, that of the choir: thus confining himself, as the tenor
+of this part required, to tragedy only. Hence is seen the mistake, not
+only of M. Dacier, whose comment is in every view insupportable; but, as
+was hinted, of Heinsius, Lambin, and others, who, with more probability,
+explained this of the Roman comedy and tragedy. For, though _tibia_
+might be allowed to stand for comedy, as opposed to _tragoedia_, [as in
+fact, we find it in 1. ii. Ep. I. 98,] that being the only instrument
+employed in it; yet, in speaking expressly of the music of the stage,
+_fides_ could not determinately enough, and in contradistinction to
+_tibia_, denote that of tragedy, it being an instrument used solely,
+or principally, in the chorus; of which, the context shews, he alone
+speaks. It is further to be observed, that, in the application here
+made, besides the music, the poet takes in the other improvements of the
+tragic chorus, these happening, as from the nature of the thing they
+would do, at the same tine. _Notes on the Art of Poetry._
+
+
+
+
+3l9.--with dance and flowing vest embellishes his part.]
+
+  _Traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem._
+
+"This expresses not only the improvement arising from the ornament of
+proper dresses, but from the grace of motion: not only the _actor_,
+whose peculiar office it was, but the _minstrel_ himself, as appears
+from hence, conforming his gesture in some sort to the music.
+
+"Of the use and propriety of these gestures, or dances, it will not be
+easy for us, who see no such things attempted on the modern stage, to
+form any very clear or exact notions. What we cannot doubt of is,
+1. That the several theatrical dances of the antients were strictly
+conformable to the genius of the different species of composition, to
+which they were applied. 2. That, therefore, the tragic dance, which
+more especially accompanied the Chorus, must have been expressive of
+the highest gravity and decorum, tending to inspire ideas of what is
+_becoming, graceful, and majestic;_ in which view we cannot but perceive
+the important assistance it must needs lend to virtue, and how greatly
+it must contribute to set all her graces and attractions in the fairest
+light. 3. This idea of the ancient tragic dance, is not solely formed
+upon our knowledge of the conformity before-mentioned; but is further
+collected from the name usually given to it, which was [Greek
+transliteration: Emmeleia] This word cannot well be translated into our
+language; but expresses all that grace and concinnity of motion, which
+the dignity of the choral song required. 4. Lastly, it must give us a
+very high notion of the moral effect of this dance, when we find the
+severe Plato admitting it into his commonwealth. _Notes on the Art of
+Poetry._"
+
+  326--he who the prize, a filthy goat, to gain,
+  at first contended in the tragick strain.
+  _Carmine qui tragico, vilem certavit ob bircum._
+
+If I am not greatly deceived, all the Editors, and Commentators on this
+Epistle, have failed to observe, that the _historical_ part of it,
+relative to the Graecian Drama, commences at this verse; all of them
+supposing it to begin, 55 lines further in the Epistle, on the mention
+of Thespis; whom Horace as early, as correctly, describes to be the
+first _improver_, not _inventor_ of Tragedy, _whose_ original he marks
+_here._ Much confusion has, I think, arisen from this oversight, as I
+shall endeavour to explain in the following notes; only observing this
+place, that the Poet, having spoken particularly of all the parts of
+Tragedy, now enters with the strictest _order_, and greatest propriety,
+into its general history, which, by his strictures on the chorus, he
+most elegantly, as well as forcibly, connects with his subject, taking
+occasion to speak _incidentally_ of other branches of the Drama,
+particularly the satyre, and the Old Comedy
+
+
+
+
+323--_Soon too--tho' rude, the graver mood unbroke,_
+     Stript the rought satyrs, _and essay'd a joke.
+     Mox etiam_ agrestes saytros, &c.
+
+"It is not the intention of these notes to retail the accounts of
+others. I must therefore refer the reader, for whatever concerns the
+history of the satiric, as I have hitherto done of the tragic and comic
+drama, to the numerous dissertators on the ancient stage; and, above
+all, so the case before us, to the learned Casaubon; from whom all that
+hath been said to any purpose, by modern writers, hath been taken. Only
+it will be proper to observe one or two particulars, which have been
+greatly misunderstood, and without which if will be impossible, in any
+tolerable manner, to explain what follows.
+
+"I. The design of the poet, in these lines, is not to fix the origin of
+the satyric piece, in ascribing the invention of it to Thespis. This
+hath been concluded, without the least warrant from his own words, which
+barely tell us, 'that the representation of tragedy was in elder Greece
+followed by the _satires;_' and indeed the nature of the thing, as well
+as the testimony of all antiquity, shews it to be impossible. For the
+_satire_ here spoken of is, in all respects, a regular drama, and
+therefore could not be of earlier date than the times of Aeschylus,
+when the constitution of the drama was first formed. It is true indeed,
+there was a kind of entertainment of much greater antiquity, which by
+the antients is sometimes called _satyric,_ out of which (as Aristotle
+assures us) tragedy itself arose, [Greek: *illegible] But then
+this was nothing but a chorus of satyrs [Athenaeus, 1. xiv.] celebrating
+the festivals of _Bacchus,_ with rude songs and uncouth dances; and had
+little resemblance to that which was afterwards called _satiric;_ which,
+except that it retained the chorus of satyrs, and turned upon some
+subject relative to Bacchus, was of a quite different structure, and, in
+every respect, as regular a composition as tragedy itself."
+
+"II. There is no doubt but the poem, here distinguished by the name of
+satyri, was in actual use on the Roman stage. This appeals from the turn
+of the poet's whole criticism upon it. Particularly, his address to the
+Pisos, 1. 235 and his observation of the offence which a loose dialogue
+in this drama would give to a _Roman_ auditory, 1. 248, make it evident
+that he had, in fact, the practice of his own stage in view."
+
+"III. For the absolute merit of these satires, the reader will judge
+of it himself by comparing the Cyclops, the only piece of this kind
+remaining to us from antiquity, with the rules here delivered by Horace.
+Only it may be observed, in addition to what the reader will find
+elsewhere [_n._ 1. 223.] apologized in its favour, that the double,
+character of the satires admirably fitted it, as well for a sensible
+entertainment to the wise, as for the sport and diversion of the vulgar.
+For, while the grotesque appearance and jesting vein of these fantastic
+personages amused the one, the other saw much further; and considered
+them, at the same time, as replete with science, and informed by a
+spirit of the most abstruse wisdom. Hence important lessons of civil
+prudence, interesting allusions to public affairs, or a high, refined
+moral, might, with the highest probability, be insinuated, under the
+slight cover of a rustic simplicity. And from this instructive cast,
+which from its nature must be very obscure, if not impenetrable, to us
+at this day, was, I doubt not, derived the principal pleasure which the
+antients found in this species of the drama. If the modern reader would
+conceive any thing of the nature and degree of this pleasure, he may
+in part guess at it, from reflecting on the entertainment he himself
+receives from the characters of the clowns in Shakespeare; _who_, as the
+poet himself hath characterized them, _use their folly, like a stalking
+horse, and, under the presentation of that, shoot their wit._" [_As you
+like it._]--_Notes on the Art of Poetry._ [Footnote: This, and all the
+extracts, which are quoted, _Notes on the Art of Poetry_, are taken from
+the author of the English Commentary. ]
+
+This learned note, I think, sets out with a misapprehension of the
+meaning of Horace, by involving his _instructions_ on the Satyrick
+drama, with his account of its _Origin_. Nor does he, in the most
+distant manner, insinuate, tho' Dacier has asserted the same thing, that
+_the_ satyrs owed their first introduction to _Thespis_; but relates,
+that the very Poets, who contended in _the Goat-Song_, to which tragedy
+owes its name, finding it too solemn and severe an entertainment for
+their rude holiday audience, interspersed the grave strains of tragedy
+with comick and _satyrical_ Interludes, producing thereby a kind of
+medley, something congenial to what has appeared on our own stage, under
+the name of Tragi-comedy. Nor, if I am able to read and comprehend the
+context, so the words of Horace tell us, "that the representation of
+Tragedy was, in 'elder Greece,' _followed_ by _the_ satyrs." The Satyrs
+composed a part of the Tragedy in its infancy, as well as in the days
+of Horace, if his own words may be quoted as authority. On any other
+construction, his directions, concerning* the conduct of the _God_ or
+_Hero_ of the piece, are scarcely reconcilable to common sense; and it
+is almost impossible to mark their being incorporated with the Tragedy,
+in more expressive terms or images, than by his solicitude to prevent
+their broad mirth from contaminating its dignity or purity._Essutire
+leves indigna_ tragaedia _versus ut sestis matrona moveri jussa diebus,_
+intererit satyris _paulum pudibunda_ protervis.
+
+_The_ cyclops of Euripides, the only Satyrick drama extant, written at
+a much later period, than that of which Horace speaks in this place,
+cannot, I think, convey to us a very exact idea of _the Tragick
+Pastorals_, whose _origin_ he here describes. _The_ cyclops, scarce
+exceeding 700 lines, might be played, according to the idea of some
+criticks, after another performance: but that cannot, without the
+greatest violence to the text, be supposed of the Satyrick piece here
+mentioned by Horace. The idea of _farces_, or _after-pieces_, tho' an
+inferior branch of the Drama, is, in fact, among the refinements of
+an improved age. The writers of an early period throw their dramatick
+materials, serious and ludicrous, into one mass; which the critical
+chymistry of succeeding times separates and refines. The modern stage,
+like the antient, owed its birth to the ceremonies of Religion. From
+_Mysteries_ and _Moralities_, it proceeded to more regular Dramas,
+diversifying their serious scenes, like _the_ Satyrick poets, with
+ludicrous representations. This desire of _variety_ was one cause of the
+agrestes satyros. _Hos autem loco chori introductor intelligit, non, us
+quidam volunt, in ipsa tragoedia, cum praesertim dicat factum, ut grata
+novitate detinerentur spectatores: quod inter unum & alterum actum sit,
+chori loco. in tragoedia enim ipsa, cum flebilis, severa, ac gravis sit,
+non requiritur bujusmodi locorum, ludorumque levitas, quae tamen inter
+medios actus tolerari potest, & boc est quod ait, incolumi gravitate.
+Ea enim quae funt, quaeve dicuntur inter medios actus, extra tragordiam
+esse intelligentur, neque imminuunt tragoedioe gravi*tem._--DE NORES.
+
+The distinction made by _De Nores_ of _the satyrs_ not making a part of
+the tragedy, but barely appearing between the acts, can only signify,
+that the Tragick and Comick Scenes were kept apart from each other. This
+is plain from his laying that they held the place of the Chorus; not
+sustaining their continued part in the tragick dialogue, but filling
+their chief office of singing between the acts. The antient Tragedy was
+one continued representation, divided into acts by the Chant of _the
+CHORUS_; and, otherwise, according to modern ideas, forming _but one
+act_, without any interruption of the performance.
+
+
+These antient Satyrick songs, with which the antient Tragedians
+endeavoured to enliven the Dithyrambicks, gave rise to two different
+species of poetry. Their rude jests and petulant raillery engendered
+_the Satire_; and their sylvan character produced _the Pastoral_.
+
+
+
+328.--THO' RUDE, THE GRAVER MOOD UNBROKE--
+  Stript the rough Satyrs, and ESSAYED A JOKE
+
+  --Agrestes Satyros nudavis, & asper,
+  INCOLUMI GRAVITATE, jocum tentavit.
+
+"It hath been shewn, that the poet could not intend, in these lines, to
+_fix the origin of the satiric drama_. But, though this be certain, and
+the dispute concerning that point be thereby determined, yet it is to
+be noted, that he purposely describes the satire in its ruder and less
+polished form; glancing even at some barbarities, which deform the
+Bacchic chorus; which was properly the satiric piece, before Aeschylus
+had, by his regular constitution of the drama, introduced it under a very
+different form on the stage. The reason of this conduit is given in
+_n._ on l. 203. Hence the propriety of the word _nudavit_, which
+Lambin rightly interprets, _nudos introduxit satyres,_ the poet hereby
+expressing the monstrous indecorum of this entertainment in its first
+unimproved state. Alluding also to this ancient character of the
+_satire,_ he calls him _asper,_ i.e. rude and petulant; and even adds,
+that his jests were intemperate, and _without the least mixture of
+gravity._ For thus, upon the authority of a very ingenious and learned
+critic, I explain _incolumi gravitate,_ i. e. rejecting every thing
+serious, bidding _farewell,_ as we may say, _to all gravity._ Thus [L.
+in. O. 5.].
+
+  _Incolumi Jove et urbe Româ:_
+
+i.e. bidding farewell to Jupiter [Capitolinus] and Rome; agreeably to
+what is said just before,
+
+  _Anciliorum et neminis et togae
+  OBLITUS, aeternaeque Vestae._
+
+or, as salvus is used more remarkably in Martial [I. v. 10.]
+
+  _Ennius est lectus salvo tibi, Roma, Marone:
+  Et sua riserunt secula Maeonidem._
+
+"_Farewell, all gravity, is as remote from the original sense of the
+words _fare well,_ as _incolumi gravitate_ from that of _incolumis, or
+salvo Morona_ from that of _salvas._"
+
+  Notes on the Art of Poetry.
+
+The beginning of this note does not, I think, perfectly accord with what
+has been urged by the same Critick in the note immediately preceding; He
+there observed, that the "satyr here spoken of, is, _in all respects,_
+a regular Drama, and therefore _could not be of earlier date,_ than the
+times of Aeschylus.
+
+Here, however, he allows, though in subdued phrase, that, "though this
+be certain, and the dispute concerning that point thereby determined,_
+yet it is to be noted, _that he purposely describes the satyr_ in its
+ruder and less polished form; _glancing even at some barbarities, which
+deform_ the bacchic chorus; which was properly the Satyrick piece,
+_before_ Aeschylus had, by his regular constitution of the Drama,
+introduced it, _under a very different form,_ on the stage." In
+a subsequent note, the same learned Critick also says, that "the
+connecting particle, _verum, [verum ita risores, &c.]_ expresses the
+opposition intended between the _original satyr_ and that which the Poet
+approves." In both these passages the ingenious Commentator seems, from
+the mere influence of the context, to approach to the interpretation
+that I have hazarded of this passage, avowedly one of the most obscure
+parts of the Epistle. The explanation of the words incolumi gravitate,
+in the latter part of the above note, though favourable to the system of
+the English Commentary, is not only contrary to the construction of all
+other interpreters, and, I believe, unwarranted by any acceptation of
+the word _incolumis,_ but, in my opinion, less elegant and forcible
+than the common interpretation.
+
+The line of the Ode referred to,
+
+  INCOLUMI _Jove, et urbe Româ?_
+
+was never received in the sense, which the learned Critick assigns to
+it.
+
+  The Dauphin Editor interprets it,
+  STANTE _urbe, & Capitolino Jove Romanos protegente._
+  Schrevelius, to the same effect, explains it,
+  SALVO _Capitolio, quae Jovis erat sedes._
+
+These interpretations, as they are certainly the most obvious, seem also
+to be most consonant to the plain sense of the Poet.
+
+
+
+
+330.--_For holiday spectators, flush'd and wild,
+      With new conceits and mummeries were beguil'd.
+      Quippe erat_ ILLECEBRIS, _&c._
+
+Monsieur Dacier, though he allows that "all that is here said by Horace
+proves _incontestibly_, that the Satyrick Piece had possession of the
+Roman stage;" _tout ce qu' Horace dit icy prouve_ incontestablement
+_qu'il y avoit des Satyres_; yet thinks that Horace lavished all these
+instructions on them, chiefly for the sake of the atellane fables. The
+author of the English Commentary is of the same opinion, and labours
+the point very assiduously. I cannot, however, discover, in any part
+of Horace's discourse on _the_ satyrs, one expression glancing towards
+_the_ atellanes, though their oscan peculiarities might easily have been
+marked, so as not to be mistaken.
+
+
+
+
+335.--_That_ GOD _or_ HERO _of the lofty scene,
+      May not, &c.
+      Ne quicumque_ DEUS, _&c._
+
+The Commentators have given various explanations of this precept. _De
+Nores_ interprets it to signify _that the same actor, who represented a
+God or Hero in the_ Tragick _part of the Drama, must not be employed
+to represent a Faun or Sylvan in the_ Satyrick. _Dacier has a strange
+conceit concerning the joint performance of a _Tragedy_ and _Atellane_
+at one time, the same God or Hero being represented as the principal
+subject and character of both; on which occasion, (says he) the Poet
+recommends to the author not to debase the God, or Hero of _the_
+Tragedy, by sinking his language and manners too low in _the_ atellane;
+whose stile, as well as measure, should be peculiar to itself, equally
+distant from Tragedy and Farce.
+
+The author of the English Commentary tells us, that "Gods and Heroes
+were introduced as well into the _Satyrick_ as _Tragick_ Drama, and
+often the very same Gods and Heroes, which had born a part in THE
+PRECEDING TRAGEDY; a practice, which Horace, I suppose, intended, by
+this hint, to recommend as most regular."
+
+The two short notes of Schrevelius, in my opinion, more clearly explain
+the sense of Horace, and are in these words.
+
+_Poema serium, jocis_ Satyricis _ita_ commiscere--_ne seilicet is, qui
+paulo ante_ DEI _instar aut_ herois _in scenam fuit introductus, postea
+lacernosus prodeat._
+
+On the whole, supposing _the_ Satyrick _Piece_ to be _Tragi-Comick_, as
+Dacier himself seems half inclined to believe, the precept of Horace
+only recommends to the author so to support his principal personage,
+that his behaviour in the Satyrick scenes shall not debase the character
+he has sustained in the TRAGICK. No specimen remaining of the Roman
+Satyrick Piece, I may be permitted to illustrate the rule of Horace by a
+brilliant example from the _seroi-comick_ Histories of the Sovereign
+of our Drama. The example to which I point, is the character of _the_
+Prince _of_ Wales, in the two Parts of _Henry the Fourth_, Such a
+natural and beautiful decorum is maintained in the display of that
+character, that the _Prince_ is as discoverable in the loose scenes with
+Falstaff and his associates, as in the Presence Chamber, or the closet.
+after _the natural_, though mixt dramas, of Shakespear, and Beaumont and
+Fletcher, had prevailed on our stage, it is surprising that our
+progress to _pure_ Tragedy and Comedy, should have been interrupted, or
+disturbed, by _the regular monster of_ Tragi-comedy, nursed by Southerne
+and Dryden.
+
+
+
+
+346.--LET ME NOT, PISOS, IN THE SYLVIAN SCENE, USE ABJECT TERMS ALONE,
+AND PHRASES MEAN]
+
+  _Non ego_ INORNATA & DOMINANTIA, &c.
+
+The author of the English Commentary proposes a conjectural emendation
+of Horace's text--honodrata instead of inornata--and accompanied with a
+new and elevated sense assigned to the word dominantia. This last word
+is interpreted in the same manner by _de Nores_. Most other Commentators
+explain it to signify _common words_, observing its analogy to the Greek
+term [Greek: kuria]. The same expression prevails in our own tongue--_a_
+reigning _word_, _a reigning _fashion_, &c. the general cast of _the_
+satyr, seems to render a caution against a lofty stile not very
+necessary; yet it must be acknowledged that such a caution is given by
+the Poet, exclusive of the above proposed variation.
+
+  _Ne quicumque_ DEUS------
+  _Migret in obscuras_ HUMILI SERMONE _tabernas_,
+  _Aut dum vitat humum_, NUBES & INANIA CAPTET.
+
+
+
+
+350.--_Davus may jest, &c.]--Davusne loquatur, &c._
+
+It should seem from hence, that the common characters of Comedy, as well
+as the Gods and Heroes of Tragedy, had place in _the_ Satyrick Drama,
+cultivated in the days of Horace. Of the manner in which the antient
+writers sustained the part of Silenus, we may judge from _the_ CYCLOPS
+of Euripides, and _the_ Pastorals of Virgil.
+
+Vossius attempts to shew from some lines of this part of the Epistle,
+[_Ne quicumque Deus, &c._] that _the_ satyrs were _subjoined_ to the
+Tragick scenes, not _incorporated_ with them: and yet at the same moment
+he tells us, and with apparent approbation, that Diomedes quotes
+our Poet to prove that they were blended with each other: _simul ut
+spectator_, inter res tragicas, seriasque, satyrorum quoque jocis, &
+lusibus, _delectaretur_.
+
+I cannot more satisfactorily conclude all that I have to urge, on the
+subject of the Satyrick Drama, as here described by Horace, than by one
+more short extract from the notes of the ingenious author of the English
+Commentary, to the substance of which extract I give the most full
+assent. "The Greek Drama, we know, had its origin from the loose,
+licentious raillery of the rout of Bacchus, indulging to themselves the
+freest follies of taunt and invective, as would best suit to lawless
+natures, inspirited by festal mirth, and made extravagant by wine. Hence
+arose, and with a character answering to this original, the _Satiric
+Drama_; the spirit of which was afterwards, in good measure, revived
+and continued in the Old Comedy, and itself preferred, though with
+considerable alteration in the form, through all the several periods of
+the Greek stage; even when Tragedy, which arose out of it, was brought
+to its last perfection."
+
+
+
+
+368.--_To a short syllable, a long subjoin'd, Forms an _IAMBICK FOOT.]
+  _Syllaba longa, brevi subjetta, vocatur Iambus._
+
+Horace having, after the example of his master Aristotle, slightly
+mentioned the first rise of Tragedy in the form of _a_ Choral Song,
+subjoining an account of _the_ Satyrick Chorus, that was _soon_ (mox
+_etiam_) combined with it, proceeds to speak particularly of the Iambick
+verse, which he has before mentioned generally, as the measure best
+accommodated to the Drama. In this instance, however, the Poet has
+trespassed against _the order and method_ observed by his philosophical
+guide; and by that trespass broken the thread of his history of the
+Drama, which has added to the difficulty and obscurity of this part of
+his Epistle. Aristotle does not speak of _the_ Measure, till he
+has brought Tragedy, through all its progressive stages, from the
+Dithyrambicks, down to its establishment by Aeschylus and Sophocles. If
+the reader would judge of the _poetical beauty_, as well as _logical
+precision_, of such an arrangement, let him transfer this section of the
+Epistle [beginning, in the original at v. 251. and ending at 274.]
+to the end of the 284th line; by which transposition, or I am much
+mistaken, he will not only disembarrass this historical part of it,
+relative to the Grascian stage, but will pass by a much easier, and more
+elegant, transition, to the Poet's application of the narrative to the
+Roman Drama,
+
+The English reader, inclined to make the experiment, must take the lines
+of the translation from v. 268. to v. 403, both inclusive, and insert
+them after v. 418.
+
+  _In shameful silence loft the pow'r to wound._
+
+It is further to be observed that this detail on _the_ IAMBICK is not,
+with strict propriety, annext to a critical history of _the_ SATYR,
+in which, as Aristotle insinuates insinuates, was used _the_ Capering
+_Tetrameter_, and, as the Grammarians observe, _Trisyllabicks_.
+
+
+
+
+394.--PISOS! BE GRAECIAN MODELS, &c.]
+
+  Pope has imitated and illustrated this passage.
+
+  Be Homer's works your study and delight,
+  Read them by day, and meditate by night;
+  Thence form your judgment, thence your maxims bring,
+  And trace the Muses upwards to their spring.
+  Still with itself compar'd, his text peruse!
+  And let your comment be the Mantuan Muse!
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+404.--A KIND OF TRAGICK ODE, UNKNOWN BEFORE,
+  THESPIS, 'TIS SAID, INVENTED FIRST.
+  IGNOTUM _Tragicae_ GENUS INVENISSE _Camaenae_
+  _Dicitur, &c._
+
+It is surprising that Dacier, who, in a controversial note, in
+refutation of Heinsius, has so properly remarked Horace's adherence to
+Aristotle, should not have observed that his history of the Drama opens
+and proceeds nearly in the same order. Aristotle indeed does not name
+Thespis, but we cannot but include his improvements among the changes,
+to which the Critick refers, before Tragedy acquired a permanent form
+under _AEschylus_. Thespis seems not only to have embodied _the_ CHORUS,
+but to have provided a theatrical apparatus for an itinerant exhibition;
+to have furnished disguises for his performers, and to have broken the
+continuity of _the_ CHORUS by an _Interlocutor_; to whom AEschylus
+adding another personage, thereby first created Dramatick Dialogue;
+while at the same time by a _further diminution of the_ CHORUS, by
+improving the dresses of the actors, and drawing them from their
+travelling waggon to a fixt stage, he created _a regular theatre_.
+
+It appears then that neither Horace, nor Aristotle, ascribe _the origin_
+of Tragedy to Thespis. the Poet first mentions the rude beginning of
+Tragedy, (_carmen tragicum_) _the_ Goat-song; he then speaks of _the
+Satyrick Chorus_, soon after interwoven with it; and then proceeds
+to the _improvements_ of these Bacchic Festivities, by Thespis, and
+AEschylus; though their perfection and final establishment is ascribed
+by Aristotle to Sophocles. Dacier very properly renders this passage,
+_On dit que Thespis fut le premier jui inventa une especi de tragedie
+auparavant inconnue aux Grecs._ Thespis is said to be the first inventor
+of a species of Tragedy, before unknown to the Greeks.
+
+Boileau seems to have considered this part of the Epistle in the same
+light, that I have endeavoured to place it.
+
+  La Tragedie informe & grossiere au naissant
+  n'etoit qu'un simple Choeur, ou chacun en danfant,
+  et du Dieu des Raisins entonnant les louanges,
+  s'essorçoit d'attirer de fertiles vendanges.
+  la le vin et la joie eveillant les esprits,
+  _du plus habile chantre un Bouc étoit le prix._
+  Thespis sut le premier, qui barbouillé de lie,
+  promena par les bourgs cette heureuse folie;
+  et d'acteurs mal ornés chargeant un tombereau,
+  amusa les passans d'un spectacle nouveau.
+  aeschyle dans le Choeur jetta les personages;
+  d'un masque plus honnéte habilla les visages:
+  sur les ais d'un Theatre en public exhaussé,
+  fit paroitre l'acteur d'un brodequin chaussé.
+
+  L'art poetique, _chant troisieme._
+
+
+
+
+417.--_the sland'rous Chorus drown'd In shameful silence, lost the pow'r
+to wound._
+
+Chorusque turpiter obticuit, _sublato jure nocendi._
+
+"Evidently because, though the _jus nocendi_ was taken away, yet that
+was no good reason why the Chorus should entirely cease. M. Dacier
+mistakes the matter. _Le choeur se tût ignominuesement, parce-que la
+hi reprimasa licence, et que ce sut, à proprement parler, la hi qui le
+bannit; ce qu' Horace regarde comme une espece de siétrissure. Properly
+speaking,_ the law only abolished the abuse of the chorus. The ignominy
+lay in dropping the entire use of it, on account of this restraint.
+Horace was of opinion, that the chorus ought to have been retained,
+though the state had abridged it of the licence, it so much delighted
+in, of an illimited, and intemperate satire, _Sublatus chorus fuit,_
+says Scaliger, _cujus illae videntur esse praecipuae partet, ut
+potissimum ques liberet, laedertnt."
+
+Notes on the Art of Poetry._ If Dacier be mistaken in this instance, his
+mistake is common to all the commentators; not one of whom, the learned
+and ingenious author of the above he excepted, has been able to extract
+from these words any marks of Horace's predilection in favour of a
+Chorus, or censure of "its culpable omission" in Comedy. De Nores
+expresses the general sense of the Criticks on this passage.
+
+[Turpiter.] _Quia lex, declaratâ Veteris Conaetdiae scriptorum
+improbitate, a maledicendi licentiâ deterruit.--Sicuti enim antea
+summâ cum laude Vetus Comediae, accepta est, ita postea summa est cum
+turpitudine vetantibus etiam legibus repudiata, quia probis hominibus,
+quia sapientibus, quia inte*s maledixerit. Quare Comaediae postea
+conscriptae ad hujusce Veteris differentiam sublato choro, novae
+appellatae sunt._
+
+What Horace himself says on a similar occasion, of the suppression of
+the Fescennine verses, in the Epistle to Augustus, is perhaps the best
+comment on this passage.
+
+  --quin etiam lex
+  Paenaque lata, malo quae nollet carmine quenquam--
+  describi: vertere modum formindine fustis
+  ad bene dicendum delectandumque redacti.
+
+
+
+
+421.---Daring their Graecian masters to forsake,
+  And for their themes domestick glories take.
+
+  Nec minimum meruere decus, vestigia Graeca
+  Ausi deserere, & celebrare domestica facta.
+
+The author of the English Commentary has a note on this passage, replete
+with fine taste, and sound criticism.
+
+"This judgment of the poet, recommending domestic subjects, as fittest
+for the stage, may be inforced from many obvious reasons. As, 1. that
+it renders the drama infinitely more _affecting:_ and this on many
+accounts, 1. As a subject, taken from our own annals, must of course
+carry with it an air of greater probability, at least to the generality
+of the people, than one borrowed from those of any other nation. 2.
+As we all find a personal interest in the subject. 3. As it of course
+affords the best and easiest opportunities of catching our minds, by
+frequent references to our manners, prejudices, and customs. And of how
+great importance this is, may be learned from hence, that, even in that
+exhibition of foreign characters, dramatic writers have found themselves
+obliged to sacrifice sacrifice truth and probability to the humour of
+the people, and to dress up their personages, contrary to their own
+better judgment, in some degree according to the mode and manners of
+their respective countries [Footnote: "L'etude égale des poëtes de
+différens tems à plaire à leurs spectateurs, a encore inssué dans la
+maniere de peindre les caracteres. Ceux qui paroissent sur la scene
+Angloise, Espagnols, Françoise, sont plus Anglois, Espagnols, ou
+François que Grecs ou Romains, en un mot que ce qu'ils doivent être. II
+ne faut qu'en peu de discernement pour s'appercevoir que nos Césars et
+nos Achilles, en gardant même un partie de leur charactere primitif,
+prennent droit de naturalité dans le païs où ils sont transplantez,
+semblables à ces portraits, qui sortent de la main d'un peintre Flamand,
+Italien, ou François, et qui portent l'empreinte du pais. On veut plaire
+à sa nation, et rien ne plait tant que le resemblance de manieres et de
+enie." P. Brumoy, vol. i. p. 200.] And, 4. as the writer himself, from an
+intimate acquaintance with the character and genius of his own nation,
+will be more likely to draw the manners with life and spirit.
+
+"II. Next, which should ever be one great point in view, it renders the
+drama more generally useful in its moral destination. For, it being
+conversant about domestic acts, the great instruction of the fable more
+sensibly affects us; and the characters exhibited, from the part we
+take in their good or ill qualities, will more probably influence our
+conduct.
+
+"III. Lastly, this judgment will deserve the greater regard, as the
+conduct recommended was, in fact, the practice of our great models, the
+Greek writers; in whose plays, it is observable, there is scarcely a
+single scene, which lies out of the confines of Greece.
+
+"But, notwithstanding these reasons, the practice hath, in all times,
+been but little followed. The Romans, after some few attempts in this
+way (from whence the poet took the occasion of delivering it as a
+dramatic precept), soon relapsed into their old use; as appears from
+Seneca's, and the titles of other plays, written in, or after the
+Augustan age. Succeeding times continued the same attachment to Grecian,
+with the addition of an equal fondness for Roman, subjects. The reason
+in both instances hath been ever the same: that strong and early
+prejudice, approaching somewhat to adoration, in favour of the
+illustrious names of those two great states. The account of this matter
+is very easy; for their writings, as they furnish the business of our
+younger, and the amusement of our riper, years; and more especially make
+the study of all those, who devote themselves to poetry and the stage,
+insensibly infix in us an excessive veneration for all affairs in which
+they were concerned; insomuch, that no other subjects or events seem
+considerable enough, or rise, in any proportion, to our ideas of the
+dignity of the tragic scene, but such as time and long admiration have
+consecrated in the annals of their story. Our Shakespeare was, I think,
+the first that broke through this bondage of classical superstition. And
+he owed this felicity, as he did some others, to his want of what is
+called the advantage of a learned education. Thus uninfluenced by the
+weight of early prepossession, he struck at once into the road of nature
+and common sense: and without designing, without knowing it, hath
+left us in his historical plays, with all their anomalies, an exacter
+resemblance of the Athenian stage, than is any where to be found in its
+most processed admirers and copyists.
+
+"I will only add, that, for the more successful execution of this rule
+of celebrating domestic acts, much will depend on the aera, from
+whence the subject is taken. Times too remote have almost the same
+inconveniences, and none of the advantages, which attend the ages
+of Greece and Rome. And for those of later date, they are too much
+familiarized to us, and have not as yet acquired that venerable cast and
+air, which tragedy demands, and age only can give. There is no fixing
+this point with precision. In the general, that aera is the fittest for
+the poet's purpose, which, though fresh enough in pure minds to warm and
+interest us in the event of the action, is yet at so great a distance
+from the present times, as to have lost all those mean and disparaging
+circumstances, which unavoidably adhere to recent deeds, and, in some
+measure, sink the noblest modern transactions to the level of ordinary
+life."
+
+  _Notes on the Art of Poetry._
+
+The author of the essay on the writings and genius of Pope elegantly
+forces a like opinion, and observes that Milton left a list of
+thirty-three subjects for Tragedy, all taken from the English Annals.
+
+
+
+
+423.--_Whether the gown prescrib'd a stile more mean,
+  or the inwoven purple rais'd the scene.
+
+  Vel qui praetextas, vel qui docuere togatas._
+
+The gown (_Toga_) being the common Roman habit, signisies _Comedy;_
+and the inwoven purple _(praetexta)_ being appropriated to the higher
+orders, refers to Tragedy. _Togatae_ was also used as a general term to
+denote all plays, which the habits, manners, and arguments were Roman;
+those, of which the customs and subjects were Graecian, like the Comedies
+of Terence, were called _Palliatae_.
+
+
+
+
+429.--But you, bright heirs of the Pompilian Blood,
+  Never the verse approve, &c.
+
+  Vos, O Pompilius Sanguis, &c.
+
+The English commentary exhibits a very just and correct analysis of this
+portion of the Epistle, but neither here, nor in any other part of it,
+observes the earnestness with which the poet, on every new topick,
+addresses his discourse _the Pisos;_ a practice, that has not passed
+unnoticed by other commentators.
+
+[On this passage De Nores writes thus. _Vos O Pompilius Sanguis!] Per
+apostrophen_ sermonem convertit ad pisones, eos admonens, ut sibi
+caveant _ab bujusmodi romanorum poetarum errore videtur autem_ eos ad
+attentionem excitare _dum ait, Vos O! et quae sequntur._
+
+
+
+
+434.--_Because_ DEMOCRITUS, _&c.] Excludit sanos Helicone poetas
+Democritus._
+
+_De Nores_ has a comment on this passage; but the ambiguity of the Latin
+relative renders it uncertain, how far the Critick applies particularly
+to _the Pisos_, except by the _Apostrophe_ taken notice of in the last
+note. His words are these. _Nisi horum_ democriticorum _opinionem
+horatius hoc in loco refutasset, frustra de poetica facultate_ in hac
+AD PISONES EPISTOLA _praecepta literis tradidisset, cùm arte ipsâ
+repudiatâ_, ab his _tantummodo insaniae & furori daretur locus._
+
+
+
+
+443.--_Which no vile_ _CUTBERD'S razor'd hands profane. Tonfori_ LYCINO.]
+
+_Lycinus_ was not only, as appears from Horace, an eminent Barber; but
+said, by some, to have been created a Senator by Augustus, on account of
+his enmity to Pompey.
+
+
+
+
+466.--ON NATURE'S PATTERN TOO I'LL BID HIM LOOK, AND COPY MANNERS FROM
+HER LIVING BOOK.]
+
+_Respicere examplar vitae, morumque jubebo_ doctum imitatorem, _& veras
+hinc ducere voces._
+
+This precept seeming, at first sight, liable to be interpreted as
+recommending _personal imitations_, De Nores, Dacier, and the Author of
+the English Commentary, all concur to inculcate the principles of Plato,
+Aristotle, and Cicero, shewing that the truth of representation (_verae
+voces_) must be derived from an imitation of _general nature_, not from
+copying _individuals_. Mankind, however, being a mere collection
+of _individuals_, it is impossible for the Poet, not to found his
+observations on particular objects; and his chief skill seems to consist
+in the happy address, with which he is able to _generalize_ his ideas,
+and to sink the likeness of the individual in the resemblance of
+universal nature. A great Poet, and a great Painter, have each
+illustrated this doctrine most happily; and with their observations I
+shall conclude this note.
+
+  Chacun peint avec art dans ce nouveau miroir,
+  S'y vit avec plaisir, ou crut ne s'y point voir.
+  L'Avare des premiers rit du tableau fidele
+  D'un Avare, souvent tracé sur son modéle;
+  Et mille fois un Fat, finement exprimé,
+  Méconnut le portrait, sur lui-méme formé.
+
+  BOILEAU, _L'Art Poet_. ch. iii.
+
+"Nothing in the art requires more attention and judgment, or more of
+that power of discrimination, which may not improperly be called Genius,
+than the steering between general ideas and individuality; for tho' the
+body of the whole must certainly be composed by the first, in order to
+communicate a character of grandeur to the whole, yet a dash of the
+latter is sometimes necessary to give an interest. An individual model,
+copied with scrupulous exactness, makes a mean stile like the Dutch; and
+the neglect of an actual model, and the method of proceeding solely from
+idea, has a tendency to make the Painter degenerate into a mannerist.
+
+"It is necessary to keep the mind in repair, to replace and refreshen
+those impressions of nature, which are continually wearing away.
+
+"A circumstance mentioned in the life of Guido, is well worth the
+attention of Artists: He was asked from whence he borrowed his idea of
+beauty, which is acknowledged superior to that of every other Painter;
+he said he would shew all the models he used, and ordered a common
+Porter to sit before him, from whom he drew a beautiful countenance;
+this was intended by Guido as an exaggeration of his conduct; but his
+intention was to shew that he thought it necessary to have _some model_
+of nature before you, however you deviate from it, and correct it from
+the idea which you have formed in your mind of _perfect beauty_.
+
+"In Painting it is far better to have a _model_ even to _depart_ from,
+than to have nothing fixed and certain to determine the idea: There is
+something then to proceed on, something to be corrected; so that even
+supposing that no part is taken, the model has still been not without
+use.
+
+"Such habits of intercourse with nature, will at least create that
+_variety_ which will prevent any one's prognosticating what manner
+of work is to be produced, on knowing the subject, which is the most
+disagreeable character an Artist can have."
+
+_Sir Joshua Reynolds's Notes on Fresnoy._
+
+
+
+
+480.--ALBIN'S HOPEFUL.] _Filius ALBINI_
+
+Albinus was said to be a rich Usurer. All that is necessary to explain
+this passage to the English reader, is to observe, that _the Roman Pound
+consisted of Twelve Ounces._
+
+
+
+
+487.--_Worthy the _Cedar _and the_ Cypress.]
+
+The antients, for the better preservation of their manuscripts, rubbed
+them with the juice of _Cedar,_ and kept them in cases of _Cypress._
+
+
+
+
+496.--Shall Lamia in our sight her sons devour,
+  and give them back alive the self-same hour?]
+
+  _Neu pranse Lamiae vivum puerum extrabat alvo._
+
+Alluding most probably to some Drama of the time, exhibiting so
+monstrous and horrible an incident.
+
+
+
+
+503.--The Sosii] Roman booksellers.
+
+
+
+
+523.--Chaerilus.]
+A wretched poet, who celebrated the actions, and was distinguished by
+the patronage, of Alexander.
+
+
+
+
+527.--If Homer seem to nod, or chance to dream.]
+
+It may not be disagreeable to the reader to see what two poets of our
+own country have said on this subject.
+
+  --foul descriptions are offensive still,
+  either for being _like,_ or being _ill._
+  For who, without a qualm, hath ever look'd
+  on holy garbage, tho' by Homer cook'd?
+  Whose railing heroes, and whose wounded Gods,
+  make some suspect he snores, as well as nods.
+  But I offend--Virgil begins to frown,
+  And Horace looks with indignation down:
+  My blushing Muse with conscious fear retires,
+  and whom they like, implicitly admires.
+
+  --Roscommon's _Essay on Translated Verse._
+  A prudent chief not always must display
+  Her pow'rs in equal ranks, and fair array:
+  But with th' occasion and the place comply,
+  Conceal his force, nay seem sometimes to fly.
+  Those oft are stratagems, which errors seem,
+  Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream.
+  POPE'S _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+530.--POEMS AND PICTURES ARE ADJUDC'D ALIKE.]
+
+  _Ut pictura poesis._
+
+Here ends, in my opinion, the _didactick_ part of this Epistle; and it
+is remarkable that it concludes, as it begun, with a reference to the
+Analogy between Poetry and Painting. The arts are indeed congenial, and
+the same general principles govern both. Artists might collect many
+useful hints from this Epistle. The Lectures of the President of the
+Royal Academy are not rarely accommodated to the study of Painters; but
+Poets may refine their taste, and derive the most valuable instruction,
+from the perusal of those judicious and elegant discourses.
+
+
+
+
+535.--O THOU, MY PISO'S ELDER HOPE AND PRIDE!]
+
+  O MAJOR JUVENUM!
+
+We are now arrived at that portion of the Epistle, which I must confess
+I am surprised, that any Commentator ever past, without observing the
+peculiar language and conduct of the Poet. There is a kind of awful
+affection in his manner, wonderfully calculated to move our feelings and
+excite our attention. The Didactick and the Epistolary stile were never
+more happily blended. The Poet assumes the air of a father advising his
+son, rather than of a teacher instructing his pupils. Many Criticks have
+thrown out a cursory observation or two, as it were extorted from them
+by the pointed expressions of the Poet: but none of them, that I have
+consulted, have attempted to assign any reason, why Horace, having
+closed his particular precepts, addresses all the remainder of his
+Epistle, on the nature and expediency of Poetical pursuits, to _the
+Elder Piso only. I have endeavoured to give the most natural reason for
+this conduct; a reason which, if I am not deceived, readers the whole of
+the Epistle interesting, as well as clear and consistent; a reason which
+I am the more inclined to think substantial, as it confirms in great
+measure the system of the Author of the English Commentary, only shewing
+_the reflections on the drama in _this Epistle, as well as in the
+Epistle to Augustus, to be _incidental_, rather than the _principal
+subject_, _and main design_, of the Poet,
+
+_Jason De Nores_, in this instance, as in most others, has paid more
+attention to his Author, than the rest of the Commentators. His note is
+as follows.
+
+[O major juvenum!] _Per apostrophen _ad majorem natu __ex pisonibus
+convertis orationem, reddit rationem quare summum, ac perfectissimum
+poema esse debeat utitur autem proaemio quasi quodam ad _benevolentiam
+& attentionem _comparandum sumit autem _benevolentiam _à patris & filii
+laudibus:_ attentionem_, dum ait, "hoc tibi dictum tolle memor!" quasi
+dicat, per asseverationem,_firmum _omninò et _verum.
+
+
+
+
+543.--_Boasts not _MESSALA'S PLEADINGS,_ nor is deem'd _AULUS IN
+JURISPRUDENCE._]
+
+The Poet, with great delicacy, throws in a compliment to these
+distinguished characters of his time, for their several eminence in
+their profession. Messala is more than once mentioned as the friend and
+patron of Horace.
+
+
+
+
+562.--_Forty thousand sesterces a year_.]
+
+The pecuniary qualification for the Equestrian Order. _Census equestrem
+summam nummorum. _
+
+
+
+
+565.--_Nothing_, IN SPITE OF GENIUS, YOU'LL _commence_]
+
+_Tu nihil, invitâ dices faciesve Minervâ._
+
+Horace, says Dacier, here addresses the Elder Piso, as a man of mature
+years and understanding; _and be begins with panegyrick, rather than
+advice, in order to soften the precepts he is about to lay down to him._
+
+The explication of De Nores is much to the same effect, as well as that
+of many other Commentators.
+
+
+
+
+567.--But grant you should hereafter write. Si quid tamen olim
+scripseris.]
+
+"This," says Dacier, "was some time afterwards actually the case, if we
+may believe the old Scholiast, who writes that _this _PISO _composed
+Tragedies._"
+
+
+
+
+568.--Metius.] A great Critick; and said to be appointed by Augustus as a
+Judge, to appreciate the merit of literary performances. His name and
+office are, on other occasions, mentioned and recognized by Horace.
+
+
+
+
+570.--Weigh the work well, AND KEEP IT BACK NINE YEARS!
+nonumque prematur in annum!]
+
+This precept, which, like many others in the Epistle, is rather
+retailed, than invented, by Horace, has been thought by some Criticks
+rather extravagant; but it acquires in this place, as addressed to the
+elder Piso, a concealed archness, very agreeable to the Poet's stile and
+manner. Pope has applied the precept with much humour, but with more
+open raillery than need the writer's purpose in this Epistle.
+
+  I drop at last, but in unwilling ears,
+  This wholesome counsel----KEEP YOUR PIECE NINE YEARS!
+
+Vida, in his Poeticks, after the strongest censure of carelessness
+and precipitation, concludes with a caution against too excessive an
+attention to correctness, too frequent revisals, and too long delay of
+publication. The passage is as elegant as judicious.
+
+  Verùm esto hic etiam modus: huic imponere curae
+  Nescivere aliqui finem, medicasque secandis
+  Morbis abstinulsse manus, & parcere tandem
+  Immites, donec macie confectus et aeger
+  Aruit exhausto velut omni sanguine foetus,
+  Nativumque decus posuit, dum plurima ubique
+  Deformat sectos artus inhonesta cicatrix.
+  Tuque ideo vitae usque memor brevioris, ubi annos
+  Post aliquot (neque enim numerum, neque temporar pono
+  certa tibi) addideris decoris satis, atque nitoris,
+  Rumpe moras, opus ingentem dimitte per orbem,
+  Perque manus, perque ora virûm permitte vagari.
+
+  POETIC. lib 3.
+
+
+
+
+592.--AND ON THE SACRED TABLET GRAVE THE LAW. LEGES INCIDERE LIGNO.]
+
+Laws were originally written in verse, and graved on wood. The Roman
+laws were engraved on copper. DACIER.
+
+
+
+
+595.--TYRTAEUS.] An ancient Poet, who is said to have been given to the
+Spartans as a General by the Oracle, and to have animated the Troops by
+his Verses to such a degree, as to be the means of their triumph over
+the Messenians, after two defeats: to which Roscommon alludes in his
+_Essay on translated Verse_.
+
+  When by impulse from Heav'n, Tyrtaeus sung,
+  In drooping soldiers a new courage sprung;
+  Reviving Sparta now the fight maintain'd,
+  And what two Gen'rals lost, a Poet gain'd.
+
+Some fragments of his works are still extant. They are written in the
+Elegiac measure; yet the sense is not, as in other Poets, always bound
+in by the Couplet; but often breaks out into the succeeding verse: a
+practice, that certainly gives variety and animation to the measure;
+and which has been successfully imitated in the _rhime_ of our own
+language by Dryden, and other good writers.
+
+
+
+
+604.--_Deem then with rev'rence, &c]
+
+  _Ne forte pudori
+  Sit tibi_ MUSA, _Lyrae solers, & Cantor Apollo._
+
+The author of the English Commentary agrees, that this noble encomium on
+Poetry is addressed to _the Pisos_. All other Commentators apply it, as
+surely the text warrants, to _the_ ELDER PISO. In a long controversial
+note on this passage, the learned Critick abovementioned also explains
+the text thus. "In fact, this whole passage [from _et vitae_, &c.
+to _cantor Apollo_] obliquely glances at the two sorts of poetry,
+peculiarly cultivated by himself, and is an indirect apology for his own
+choice of them. For 1. _vitae monstrata via est_, is the character of
+his _Sermones_. And 2. all the rest of his _Odes_"--"I must add, the
+very terms of the Apology so expressly define and characterize Lyrick
+Poetry, that it is something strange, it should have escaped vulgar
+notice." There is much ingenuity in this interpretation, and it is
+supported, with much learning and ability; yet I cannot think that Horace
+meant to conclude this fine encomium, on the dignity and excellence of
+the Art or Poetry, by a partial reference to the two particular species
+of it, that had been the objects of his own attention. The Muse, and
+Apollo, were the avowed patrons and inspirers of Poetry in general,
+whether Epick, Dramatick, Civil, Moral, or Religious; all of which are
+enumerated by Horace in the course of his panegyrick, and referred to
+in the conclusion of it, that Piso might not for a moment think himself
+degraded by his attention to Poetry.
+
+In hoc epilago reddit breviter rationem, quare utilitates à poetis
+mortalium vitae allatas resenfuerit: ne scilicet Pisones, ex nobilissimd
+Calpurniorum familiâ ortos, Musarum & Artis Poeticae quam profitebantur,
+aliquando paniteret.
+
+DE NORES.
+
+
+Haec, inquit, eo recensui, ut quam olim res arduas poetica tractaverit,
+cognoscas, & ne Musas coutemnas, atque in Poetarum referri numerum,
+erubescas.
+
+NANNIUS.
+
+
+Ne forte, pudori. Haec dixi, O Piso, ne te pudeat Poetam esse.
+
+SCHREVELIUS.
+
+
+
+
+608.---WHETHER GOOD VERSE or NATURE is THE FRUIT,
+  OR RAIS'D BY ART, HAS LONG BEEN IN DISPUTE.]
+
+In writing precepts for poetry to _young persons_, this question could
+not be forgotten. Horace therefore, to prevent the Pisos from falling
+into a fatal error, by too much confidence in their Genius, asserts
+most decidedly, that Nature and Art must both conspire to form a Poet.
+DACIER.
+
+The Duke of Buckingham has taken up this subject very happily.
+
+  _Number and Rhyme,_ and that harmonious found,
+  Which never _does_ the ear with harshness wound,
+  Are necessary, yet but vulgar arts;
+  For all in vain these superficial parts
+  Contribute to the structure of the whole,
+  Without a GENIUS too; for that's the Soul!
+  A spirit, which inspires the work throughout,
+  As that of Nature moves the world about.
+
+  As all is dullness, where the Fancy's bad,
+  So without Judgement, Fancy is but mad:
+  And Judgement has a boundless influence,
+  Not only in the choice of words, or sense,
+  But on the world, on manners, and on men;
+  Fancy is but the feather of the pen:
+  Reason is that substantial useful part,
+  Which gains the head, while t'other wins the heart.
+
+  Essay on Poetry.
+
+
+
+
+626.---As the fly hawker, &t. Various Commentator concur in marking the
+personal application of this passage.
+
+Faithful friends are necessary, to apprise a Poet of his errors: but
+such friends are rare, and difficult to be distinguished by rich and
+powerful Poets, like the Pisos. DACIER.
+
+Pisonem admonet, ut minime hoc genus divitum poetarum imitetur,
+neminemque vel jam pranfum, aut donatum, ad fuorum carminum emendationem
+admittat neque enim poterit ille non vehementer laudare, etiamsi
+vituperanda videantur. DE NORES.
+
+In what sense Roscommon, the Translator of this Epistle, understood this
+passage, the following lines from another of his works will testify.
+
+  I pity from my foul unhappy men,
+  Compell'd by want to prostitute their pen:
+  Who must, like lawyers, either starve or plead,
+  And follow, right or wrong, where guineas lead:
+  But you, POMPILIAN, wealthy, pamper'd Heirs,
+  Who to your country owe your swords and cares,
+  Let no vain hope your easy mind seduce!
+  For rich ill poets are without excuse.
+  "Tis very dang'rous, tamp'ring with a Muse;
+  The profit's small, and you have much to lose:
+  For tho' true wit adorns your birth, or place,
+  Degenerate lines degrade th' attainted race."
+
+  Essay on Translated Verse.
+
+
+
+630.--_But if he keeps a table, &c.--Si vero est unctum, &c._
+
+"Here (says _Dacier_) the Poet pays, _en passant_, a very natural and
+delicate compliment to _the Pisos_." The drift of the Poet is evident,
+but I cannot discover the compliment.
+
+
+
+
+636.--_Is there a man, to whom you've given ought,
+  Or mean to give?_
+
+  TU, _seu donaris, &c._
+
+Here the Poet advises the Elder Piso never to read his verses to a man,
+to whom he has made a promise, or a present: a venal friend cannot be a
+good Critick; he will not speak his mind freely to his patron; but, like
+a corrupt judge, betray truth and justice for the sake of interest.
+DACIER.
+
+
+
+
+643.--_Kings have been said to ply repeated bowls, &c._
+
+  _Reges dicuntur, &c._
+
+_Regum exemplo_ Pisones admonet; _ut neminem admittant ad suorum
+carminum emendationem, nisi prius optimè cognitum, atque perspectum._ DE
+NORES.
+
+
+
+
+654.--QUINTILIUS.] The Poet _Quintilius Varus_, the relation and
+intimate friend of Virgil and Horace; of whom the latter lamented his
+death in a pathetick and beautiful Ode, still extant in his works.
+Quintilius appears to have been some time dead, at the time of our
+Poet's writing this Epistle. DACIER.
+
+[QUINTILIUS.] _Descriptis adulatorum moribus & consuetudine, assert
+optimi & sapientissimi judicis exemplum: Quintilii soilicet, qui
+tantae erat authoritatis apud Romanos, ut_ ei Virgilii opera Augustus
+tradiderit emendanda.
+
+
+
+
+664.--THE MAN, IN WHOM GOOD SENSE AND HONOUR JOIN.]
+
+It particularly suited Horace's purpose to paint the severe and rigid
+judge of composition. Pope's plan admitted softer colours in his draught
+of a true Critick.
+
+  But where's the man, who counsel can bestow,
+  Still pleas'd to teach, and yet not proud to know?
+  Unbiass'd, or by favour, or by spite;
+  Not dully prepossess'd, nor blindly right;
+  Tho' learn'd, well-bred; and tho' well-bred, sincere;
+  Modestly bold, and humanly severe:
+  Who to a friend his faults can freely show,
+  And gladly praise the merit of a foe?
+  Blest with a taste exact, yet unconfin'd;
+  A knowledge both of books and human kind;
+  Gen'rous converse; a soul exempt from pride;
+  And love to praise, with reason on his side?
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+684.--WHILE WITH HIS HEAD ERECT HE THREATS THE SKIES.]
+
+"Horace, (says _Dacier_) diverts himself with describing the folly of
+a Poet, whom his flatterers have driven mad." _To whom_ the caution
+against flatterers was addressed, has before been observed by _Dacier_.
+This description therefore, growing immediately out of that caution,
+must be considered as addressed _to_ the Elder Piso.
+
+
+
+
+699.--_Leap'd_ COLDLY _into AEtna's burning mount._
+
+  _Ardentem_ FRIGIDUS _aetnam insiluit._
+
+This is but a cold conceit, not much in the usual manner of Horace.
+
+
+
+
+710.--
+
+  _Whether, the victim of incestuous love,_
+  THE SACRED MONUMENT _he striv'd to move._
+
+  _An_ TRISTE BIDENTAL _moverit incestus_.
+
+The BIDENTAL was a place that had been struck with lightning, and
+afterwards expiated by the erection of an altar and the sacrifice of
+sheep; _hostiis_ BIDENTIBUS; from which it took its name. The removal
+or disturbance of this sacred monument was deemed sacrilege; and the
+attempt, a supposed judgement from heaven, as a punishment for some
+heavy crime.
+
+
+
+
+7l8.--
+
+  HANGS ON HIM, NE'ER TO QUIT, WITH CEASELESS SPEECH.
+  TILL GORG'D, AND FULL OF BLOOD, A VERY LEECH.
+
+The English Commentary introduces the explication of the last hundred
+and eleven lines of this Epistle, the lines which, I think, determine
+the scope and intention of the whole, in the following manner.
+
+"Having made all the reasonable allowances which a writer could expect,
+he (Horace) goes on to enforce _the general instruction of this part,
+viz._ A diligence in writing, by shewing [from l. 366 to 379] that a
+_mediocrity_, however tolerable, or even commendable, it might be in
+other arts, would never be allowed in this."--"This reflection leads him
+with great advantage [from l. 379 to 391] to _the general conclusion in
+view, viz._ that as none but excellent poetry will be allowed, it should
+be a warning to writers, how they engage in it without abilities; or
+publish without severe and frequent correction."
+
+If the learned Critick here means that "_the general instruction of this
+part, viz._ a diligence in writing, is chiefly inculcated, for the sake
+of _the general conclusion in view_, a warning to writers, how they
+engage in poetry without abilities, or publish without severe and
+frequent correction;" if, I say, a dissuasive from unadvised attempts,
+and precipitate publication, is conceived to be the main purpose and
+design of the Poet, we perfectly agree concerning this last, and
+important portion of the Epistle: with this addition, however, on my
+part, that such a dissuasive is not merely _general_, but _immediately_
+and _personally_ directed and applied to _the_ Elder Piso, and that
+too in the strongest terms that words can afford, and with a kind of
+affectionate earnestness, particularly expressive of the Poet's desire
+to awaken and arrest his young friend's attention.
+
+I have endeavoured, after the example of the learned and ingenious
+author of the English Commentary, though on somewhat different
+principles, to prove "an unity of design in this Epistle," as well as
+to illustrate "the pertinent connection of its several parts." Many
+perhaps, like myself, will hesitate to embrace the system of that acute
+Critick; and as many, or more, may reject my hypothesis. But I am
+thoroughly persuaded that no person, who has considered this work
+of Horace with due attention, and carefully examined the drift and
+intention of the writer, but will at least be convinced of the folly
+or blindness, or haste and carelessness of those Criticks, however
+distinguished, who have pronounced it to be a crude, unconnected,
+immethodical, and inartificial composition. No modern, I believe, ever
+more intently studied, or more clearly understood the works of Horace,
+than BOILEAU. His Art of Poetry is deservedly admired. But I am
+surprised that it has never been observed that the Plan of that work is
+formed on the model of this Epistle, though some of the parts are more
+in detail, and others varied, according to the age and country of the
+writer. The first Canto, like the first Section of _the Epistle to the
+Pisos_, is taken up in general precepts. The second enlarges on the
+Lyrick, and Elegiack, and smaller species of Poetry, but cursorily
+mentioned, or referred to, by Horace; but introduced by him into that
+part of the Epistle, that runs exactly parallel with the second Canto of
+Boileau's Art of Poetry. The third Canto treats, entirely on the ground
+of Horace, of Epick and Dramatick Poetry; though the French writer has,
+with great address, accommodated to his purpose what Horace has said but
+collaterally, and as it were incidentally, of the Epick. The last Canto
+is formed on the final section, the last hundred and eleven lines, of
+_the Epistle to the Pisos:_ the author however, judiciously omitting in
+a professed Art of Poetry, the description of the Frantick Bard, and
+concluding his work, like the Epistle to Augustus, with a compliment to
+the Sovereign.
+
+This imitation I have not pointed out, in order to depreciate the
+excellent work of Boileau; but to shew that, in the judgement of so
+great a writer, the method of Horace was not so ill conceived, as
+Scaliger pretends, even for the outline of an Art of Poetry: Boileau
+himself, at the very conclusion of his last Canto, seems to avow and
+glory in the charge of having founded his work on that of HORACE.
+
+  Pour moi, qui jusq'ici nourri dans la Satire,
+  N'ofe encor manier la Trompette & la Lyre,
+  Vous me verrez pourtant, dans ce champ glorieux,
+  Vous animez du moins de la voix & des yeux;
+  _Vous offrir ces leçons, que ma Muse au Parnasse,
+  Rapporta, jeune encor_, DU COMMERCE D'HORACE.
+  BOILEAU.
+
+After endeavouring to vouch so strong a testimony, in favour of Horace's
+_unity_ and _order_, from France, it is but candid to acknowledge that
+two of the most popular Poets, of our own country, were of a contrary
+opinion. Dryden, in his dedication of his translation of the aeneid to
+Lord Mulgrave, author of the Essay on Poetry, writes thus. "In this
+address to your Lordship, I design not a treatise of Heroick Poetry, but
+write _in a loose Epistolary way_, somewhat tending to that subject,
+_after the example of Horace_, in his first Epistle of the 2d Book to
+Augustus Caesar, _and of that_ to the Pisos; which we call his Art of
+Poetry. in both of which _he observes_ no method _that I can trace_,
+whatever Scaliger the Father, or Heinsius may have seen, _or rather_
+think they had seen_. I have taken up, laid down, and resumed as often
+as I pleased the same subject: and this loose proceeding I shall use
+through all this Prefatory Dedication. _Yet all this while I have been
+sailing with some side-wind or other toward the point I proposed in the
+beginning_." The latter part of the comparison, if the comparison is
+meant to hold throughout, as well as the words, "_somewhat tending to
+that subject,_" seem to qualify the rest; as if Dryden only meant
+to distinguish the _loose_ EPISTOLARY _way_ from the formality of a
+_Treatise_. However this may be, had he seen the _Chart_, framed by the
+author of the English Commentary, or that now delineated, perhaps he
+might have allowed, that Horace not only made towards his point with
+some side-wind or other, but proceeded by an easy navigation and
+tolerably plain sailing.
+
+Many passages of this Dedication, as well as other pieces of Dryden's
+prose, have been versified by Pope. His opinion also, on the Epistle
+to the Pisos, is said to have agreed with that of Dryden; though the
+Introduction to his Imitation of the Epistle to Augustus forbids us to
+suppose he entertained the like sentiments of that work with his great
+predecessor. His general idea of Horace stands recorded in a most
+admirable didactick poem; in the course of which he seems to have kept a
+steady eye on this work of our author.
+
+  Horace still charms with graceful negligence,
+  And WITHOUT METHOD talks us into sense;
+  Will, like a friend, familiarly convey
+  The truest notions in the easiest way:
+  He, who supreme in judgment, as in wit,
+  Might boldly censure, as he boldly writ,
+  Yet judg'd with coolness, tho' he sung with fire;
+  His precepts teach but what his works inspire.
+  Our Criticks take a contrary extreme,
+  They judge with fury, but they write with flegm:
+  NOR SUFFERS HORACE MORE IN WRONG TRANSLATIONS
+  By Wits, THAN CRITICKS IN AS WRONG QUOTATIONS.
+
+  Essay on Criticism.
+
+
+                *     *     *     *     *
+
+
+I have now compleated my observations on this popular Work of Horace, of
+which I at first attempted the version and illustration, as a matter of
+amusement but which, I confess, I have felt, in the progress, to be an
+arduous undertaking, and a laborious task. Such parts of the Epistle, as
+corresponded with the general ideas of Modern Poetry, and the Modern
+Drama, I flattered myself with the hopes of rendering tolerable to the
+English Reader; but when I arrived at those passages, wholly relative to
+the Antient Stage, I began to feel my friends dropping off, and leaving
+me a very thin audience. My part too grew less agreeable, as it grew
+more difficult. I was almost confounded in the Serio-Comick scenes of
+the Satyrick Piece: In the musical department I was ready, with Le
+Fevre, to execrate the Flute, and all the Commentators on it; and when I
+found myself reduced to scan the merits and of Spondees and Trimeters, I
+almost fancied myself under the dominion of some _plagosus Orbilius,_
+and translating the _prosodia_ of the Latin Grammar. Borrowers and
+Imitators cull the sweets, and suck the classick flowers, rejecting at
+pleasure all that appears sour, bitter, or unpalatable. Each of them
+travels at his ease in the high turnpike-road of poetry, quoting the
+authority of Horace himself to keep clear of difficulties;
+
+  --et que
+  Desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit.
+
+A translator must stick close to his Author, follow him up hill and down
+dale, over hedge and ditch, tearing his way after his leader thro' the
+thorns and brambles of literature, sometimes lost, and often benighted.
+
+  A master I have, and I am his man,
+  Galloping dreary dun!
+
+The reader, I fear, will fancy I rejoice too much at having broke loose
+from my bondage, and that I grow wanton with the idea of having regained
+my liberty. I shall therefore engage an advocate to recommend me to his
+candour and indulgence; and as I introduced these notes with some lines
+from a noble Poet of our own country, I shall conclude them with an
+extract from a French Critick: Or, if I may speak the language of my
+trade, as I opened these annotations with a Prologue from Roscommon, I
+shall drop the curtain with an Epilogue from Dacier. Another curtain
+now demands my attention. I am called from the Contemplation of Antient
+Genius, to sacrifice, with due respect, to Modern Taste: I am summoned
+from a review of the magnificent spectacles of Greece and Rome, to the
+rehearsal of a Farce at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket.
+
+                   *     *     *     *     *
+
+Voila tout ce que j'ai cru necessaire pour l'intelligence de la Poetique
+d'Horace! si Jule Scaliger l'avoit bien entendue, il lui auroit rendu
+plus de justice, & en auroit parlé plus modestment. Mais il ne s'eflort
+pat donnê la temps de le bien comprendre. Ce Livre estoit trop petit
+pour estre gouté d'un homme comme lui, qui faisoit grand cas des gros
+volumes, & qui d'ailleurs aimoit bien mieux donner des regles que d'en
+recevoir. Sa Poetique est assurément un ouvrage d'une erudition infinie;
+on y trouve par tout des choses fort rechercheés, & elle est toute
+pleine de faillies qui marquent beaucoup d'esprit: mais j'oferai dire
+qu'il n'y a point de justessee dans la pluspart de fes jugemens, & que
+sa critique n'est pas heureuse. Il devoit un peu plus etudier ces grands
+maîtres, pour se corriger de ce defaut, qui rendra toujours le plus
+grand savoir inutile, ou au moins rude &c sec. Comme un homme delicat
+etanchera mille fois mieux sa soif, & boira avec plus de goût & de
+plaisir dans un ruisseau dont les eaux seront clairs & pures, que dans
+un fleuve plein de bourbe & de limon: tout de même, un esprit fin qui ne
+cherche que la justesse & une certaine fleur de critique, trouvera bien
+mieux son compte dans ce petite traité d'Horace, qu'il ne le trouverait
+dans vingt volumes aussi enormes que la Poetique de Scaliger. On peut
+dire veritablement que celuy qui boit dans cette source pure, plate se
+_proluit auro;_ & tant pis pour celuy qui ne fait pas le connoistre.
+Pour moi j'en ai un tres grand cas. Je ne fay si j'auray esté assez
+heureux pour la bien éclaircir, & pour en dissiper si bien toutes
+les difficultés, qu'il n'y en reste aucune. Les plus grandes de ces
+difficultés, viennent des passages qu'Horace a imité des Grecs, ou des
+allusions qu'il y a faites. Je puis dire au moins que je n'en ay laisse
+passer aucune sans l'attaqaer; & je pourrais me vanter,
+
+  --nec tela nec ullas
+  V'itamsse vices Danaum.
+
+En general je puis dire que malgré la soule des Commentateurs & des
+Traducteurs, Horace estoit tres-malentendu, & que ses plus beaux
+endroits estoient défigurés par les mauvais sens qu'on leur avoit donnés
+jusques icy, & il ne faut paus s'en étonner. La pluspart des gens ne
+reconnoissent pas tant l'autorité de la raison que celle du grand
+nombre, pour laquelle ils ont un profond respect. Pour moy qui fay qu'en
+matiere de critique on ne doit pas comptez les voix, mais les peser;
+j'avoiie que j'ay secoué ce joug, _& que sans m'assijetir au sentiment
+de personne, j'ay tâché de suivre Horace, & de déméler ce qu'il a dit
+d'avec ce qu'on luy a fait dire._ J'ay mesme toûjours remarqué (& j'en
+pourrais donner des exemples bien sensibles) que quand des esprits
+accoûtumés aux cordes, comme dit Montagne, & qui n'osent tenter de
+franches allures, entreprennent de traduire & de commenter ces excellens
+Ouvrages, _où il y a plus de finesse & plus de mystere qu'il n'en
+paroist,_ tout leur travail ne fait que les gâter, & que la seule vertu
+qu'ayent leurs copies, c'est de nous dégoûter presque des originaux.
+Comme j'ay pris la liberté de juger du travail de ceux qui m'ont
+précedé, & que je n'ay pas fait difficulté de les condamner
+tres-souvent, je declare que je ne trouveray nullement mauvais qu'on
+juge du mien, & qu'on releve mes fautes: il est difficile qu'il n'y en
+ait, & mesme beaucoup; si quelqu'un veut donc se donner la peine de
+me reprendre, & de me faire voir que j'ay mal pris le sens, je me
+corrigeray avec plaisir: car je ne cherche que la verite, qui n'a jamais
+blesse personne: au lieu qu'on se trouve tou-jours mal de persister dans
+son ignorance et dans son erreur.
+
+Dacier
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The
+Pisos, by Horace
+
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+Project Gutenberg's The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The Pisos, by Horace
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+Title: The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The Pisos
+       Q. Horatii Flacci Epistola Ad Pisones, De Arte Poetica.
+
+Author: Horace
+
+Translator: George Colman
+
+Posting Date: October 6, 2014 [EBook #9175]
+Release Date: Octoer, 2005
+First Posted: September 11, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF POETRY AN EPISTLE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Q. HORATII FLACCI Epistola ad PISONES,
+
+DE ARTE POETICA.
+
+
+
+THE ART OF POETRY AN EPISTLE TO THE PISOS.
+
+
+TRANSLATED FROM HORACE
+
+WITH NOTES BY GEORGE COLMAN.
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note:  Several ineligible words were found in several
+languages throughout the text, these are marked with an asterisk.]
+
+
+London: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand
+
+MDCCLXXXIII TO
+
+The Rev. JOSEPH WARTQN, D.D. MASTER of WINCHESTER SCHOOL; AND TO The
+Rev. THOMAS WARTON, B.D. FELLOW of TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD.
+
+MY DEAR FRIENDS!
+
+In a conversation, some months ago, I happened to mention to you the
+idea I had long entertained of that celebrated Epistle of Horace,
+commonly distinguished by the title of THE ART OF POETRY. I will not say
+that you acceded to my opinion; but I flattered myself that I at least
+interested your curiosity, and engaged your attention: our discourse,
+however, revived an intention I had once formed, of communicating my
+thoughts on the subject to the Publick; an intention I had only dropt
+for want of leisure and inclination to attempt a translation of the
+Epistle, which I thought necessary to accompany the original, and my
+remarks on it. In the original, Horace assumes the air and stile of an
+affectionate teacher, admonishing and instructing his young friends and
+pupils: but the following translation, together with the observations
+annexed, I address to You as my Masters, from whom I look for sound
+information, a well-grounded confirmation of my hypothesis, or a
+solution of my doubts, and a correction of my errors.
+
+It is almost needless to observe, that the Epistle in question has very
+particularly exercised the critical sagacity of the literary world;
+yet it is remarkable that, amidst the great variety of comments and
+decisions on the work, it has been almost universally considered, except
+by one acute and learned writer of this country, as a loose, vague,
+and desultory composition; a mass of shining materials; like pearls
+unstrung, valuable indeed, but not displayed to advantage.
+
+Some have contended, with Scaliger at their head, that this pretended
+_Art of Poetry_ is totally void of art; and that the very work, in which
+the beauty and excellence of _Order_ (ordinis virtus et Venus!)
+is strongly recommended, is in itself unconnected, confused, and
+immethodical. The advocates for the writer have in great measure
+confessed the charge, but pleaded in excuse and vindication, the
+familiarity of an epistle, and even the genius of Poetry, in which the
+formal divisions of a prosaick treatise on the art would have been
+insupportable. They have also denied that Horace ever intended such a
+treatise, or that he ever gave to this Epistle the title of _the Art of
+Poetry_; on which title the attacks of Scaliger, and his followers, are
+chiefly grounded. The title, however, is confessedly as old as the age
+of Quintilian; and that the work itself has a perpetual reference to
+_Poets and Poetry,_ is as evident, as that it is, from beginning to end,
+in its manner, stile, address, and form, perfectly _Epistolary._
+
+The learned and ingenious Critick distinguished above, an early ornament
+to letters, and now a worthy dignitary of the church, leaving vain
+comments, and idle disputes on the title of the work, sagaciously
+directed his researches to scrutinize the work itself; properly
+endeavouring to trace and investigate from the composition the end and
+design of the writer, and remembering the axiom of the Poet, to whom his
+friend had been appointed the commentator.
+
+  _In every work regard THE AUTHOR'S END!
+  For none can compass more than they intend. _ Pope.
+
+With this view of illustrating and explaining Horace's Art of Poetry,
+this shrewd and able writer, about thirty years ago, republished the
+original Epistle, giving the text chiefly after Dr. Bentley, subjoining
+an English Commentary and Notes, and prefixing an Introduction, from
+which I beg leave to transcribe most part of the three first paragraphs,
+
+"It is agreed on all hands, that the antients are our masters in the
+_art_ of composition. Such of their writings, therefore, as deliver
+instructions for the exercise of this _art_, must be of the highest
+value. And, if any of them hath acquired a credit, in this respect,
+superior to the rest, it is, perhaps, the _following work:_ which the
+learned have long since considered as a kind of _summary_ of the rules
+of good writing; to be gotten by heart by every young student; and to
+whose decisive authority the greatest masters in taste and composition
+must finally submit.
+
+"But the more unquestioned the credit of this poem is, the more it will
+concern the publick, that it be justly and accurately understood. The
+writer of these sheets then believed it might be of use, if he took some
+pains to clear the sense, connect the method, and ascertain the scope
+and purpose, of this admired epistle. Others, he knew indeed, and some
+of the first fame for critical learning, had been before him in this
+attempt. Yet he did not find himself prevented by their labours; in
+which, besides innumerable lesser faults, he, more especially, observed
+two inveterate errors, of such a fort, as must needs perplex the genius,
+and distress the learning, of _any_ commentator. The _one_ of these
+respects the SUBJECT; the other, the METHOD of the _Art of Poetry_. It
+will be necessary to say something upon each.
+
+"1. That the _Art of Poetry_, at large, is not the _proper_ subject of
+this piece, is so apparent, that it hath not escaped the dullest and
+least attentive of its Criticks. For, however all the different _kinds_
+of poetry might appear to enter into it, yet every one saw, that _some_
+at least were very slightly considered: whence the frequent attempts, the
+_artes et institutiones poetica_, of writers both at home and abroad, to
+supply its deficiencies. But, though this truth was seen and confessed,
+it unluckily happened, that the sagacity of his numerous commentators
+went no further. They still considered this famous Epistle as a
+_collection_, though not a _system_, of criticisms on poetry in general;
+with this concession however, that the stage had evidently the largest
+share in it [Footnote: Satyra hac est in fui faeculi poetas, praecipui
+yero in Romanum Drama, Baxter.]. Under the influence of this prejudice,
+several writers of name took upon them to comment and explain it: and
+with the success, which was to be expected from so fatal a mistake on
+setting out, as the not seeing, 'that the proper and sole purpose of the
+Author, was, not to abridge the Greek Criticks, whom he probably never
+thought of; nor to amuse himself with composing a short critical
+system, for the general use of poets, which every line of it absolutely
+confutes; but, simply to criticize the Roman drama.' For to this end,
+not the tenor of the work only, but as will appear, every single precept
+in it, ultimately refers. The mischiefs of this original error have been
+long felt. It hath occasioned a constant perplexity in defining the
+_general_ method, and in fixing the import of _particular_ rules. Nay
+its effects have reached still further. For conceiving, as they did,
+that the whole had been composed out of the Greek Criticks, the labour
+and ingenuity of its interpreters have been misemployed in picking out
+authorities, which were not wanted, and in producing, or, more properly,
+by their studied refinements in _creating,_ conformities, which
+were never designed. Whence it hath come to pass that, instead of
+investigating the order of the Poet's own reflexions, and scrutinizing
+the peculiar state of the Roman Stage (the methods, which common sense
+and common criticism would prescribe) the world hath been nauseated
+with, insipid lectures on _Aristotle_ and _Phalereus;_ whose solid sense
+hath been so attenuated and subtilized by the delicate operation of
+French criticism, as hath even gone some way towards bringing the _art_
+itself into disrepute.
+
+"2. But the wrong explications of this poem have arisen, not from the
+misconception of the subject only, but from an inattention to the method
+of it. The _latter_ was, in part the genuine consequence of the
+_former._ For, not suspecting an unity of design in the subject it's
+interpreters never looked for, or could never find, a consistency of
+disposition in the method. And this was indeed the very block upon which
+HEINSIUS, and, before him,. JULIUS SCALIGER, himself fumbled. These
+illustrious Criticks, with all the force of genius, which is required to
+disembarrass an involved subject, and all the aids of learning, that can
+lend a ray to enlighten a dark one, have, notwithstanding, found
+themselves utterly unable to unfold the order of this Epistle; insomuch,
+that SCALIGER [Footnote: Praef. i x LIB. POET. ct 1. vi. p. 338] hath
+boldly pronounced, the conduct of it to be _vicious;_ and HEINSIUS had
+no other way to evade the charge, than by recurring to the forced and
+uncritical expedient of a licentious transposition The truth is, they
+were both in one common error, that the Poet's purpose had been to write
+a criticism of the Art of Poetry at large, and not, as is here shewn of
+the Roman Drama in particular."
+
+The remainder of this Introduction, as well as the Commentary and Notes,
+afford ample proofs of the erudition and ingenuity of the Critick: yet
+I much doubt, whether he has been able to convince the learned world
+of the truth of his main proposition, "than it was the proper and sole
+purpose of the Author, simply to _criticise_ the Roman drama." His
+Commentary is, it must be owned, extremely seducing yet the attentive
+reader of Horace will perhaps often fancy, that he perceives a violence
+and constraint offered to the composition, in order to accommodate it to
+the system of the Commentator; who, to such a reader, may perhaps seem
+to mark transitions, and point out connections, as well as to maintain
+a _method_ in the Commentary, which cannot clearly be deduced from the
+text, to which it refers.
+
+This very-ingenious _Commentary_ opens as follows:
+
+"The subject of this piece being, as I suppose, _one,_ viz. _the state
+of the Roman Drama,_ and common sense requiring, even in the freest
+forms of composition, some kind of _method._ the intelligent reader will
+not be surprised to find the poet prosecuting his subject in a regular,
+well-ordered _plan;_ which, for the more exact description of it, I
+distinguish into three parts:
+
+"I. The first of them [from 1. 1 to 89] is preparatory to the main
+subject of the Epistle, containing some general rules and reflexions on
+poetry, but principally with an eye to the following parts: by which
+means it serves as an useful introduction to the poet's design, and
+opens with that air of ease and elegance, essential to the epistolary
+form.
+
+"II. The main body of the Epistle [from 1. 89. to 295] is laid out in
+regulating the_ Roman_ Stage; but chiefly in giving rules for Tragedy;
+not only as that was the sublimer species of the _Drama,_ but, as it
+should seem, less cultivated and understood.
+
+"III. The last part [from 1. 295 to the end] exhorts to correctness in
+writing; yet still with an eye, principally, to the _dramatic species;_
+and is taken up partly in removing the causes, that prevented it; and
+partly in directing to the use of such means, as might serve to promote
+it. Such is the general plan of the Epistle."
+
+In this general summary, with which the Critick introduces his
+particular Commentary, a very material circumstance is acknowledged,
+which perhaps tends to render the system on which it proceeds extremely
+doubtful, if not wholly untenable. The original Epistle consists of four
+hundred and seventy-six lines; and it appears, from the above numerical
+analysis, that not half of those lines, only two hundred and six verses,
+[from v. 89 to 295] are employed on the subject of _the Roman Stage_.
+The first of the three parts above delineated [from v. i to 89]
+certainly _contains general rules and reflections on poetry,_ but
+surely with no particular reference to the Drama. As to the second
+part, the Critick, I think, might fairly have extended the Poet's
+consideration of the Drama to the 365th line, seventy lines further than
+he has carried it; but the last hundred and eleven lines of the Epistle
+so little allude to the Drama, that the only passage in which a mention
+of the Stage has been supposed to be implied, _[ludusque repertus,
+&c.]_ is, by the learned and ingenious Critick himself, particularly
+distinguished with a very different interpretation. Nor can this portion
+of the Epistle be considered, by the impartial and intelligent reader,
+as a mere exhortation "to correctness in writing; taken up partly in
+removing the causes that prevented it; and partly in directing to the
+use of such means, as might serve to promote it." Correctness is
+indeed here, as in many other parts of Horace's Satires and Epistles,
+occasionally inculcated; but surely the main scope of this animated
+conclusion is to deter those, who are not blest with genius, from
+attempting the walks of Poetry. I much approve what this writer has
+urged on the _unity of subject, and beauty of epistolary method_
+observed in this Work; but cannot agree that "the main subject and
+intention was _the regulation of the Roman Stage_." How far I may differ
+concerning particular passages, will appear from the notes at the end
+of this translation. In controversial criticism difference of opinion
+cannot but be expressed, (_veniam petimusque damusque vicissim_,) but
+I hope I shall not be thought to have delivered my sentiments with
+petulance, or be accused of want of respect for a character, that I most
+sincerely reverence and admire.
+
+I now proceed to set down in writing, the substance of what I suggested
+to you in conversation, concerning my own conceptions of the end and
+design of Horace in this Epistle. In this explanation I shall call upon
+Horace as my chief witness, and the Epistle itself, as my principal
+voucher. Should their testimonies prove adverse, my system must be
+abandoned, like many that have preceded it, as vain and chimerical: and
+if it should even, by their support, be acknowledged and received, it
+will, I think, like the egg of Columbus, appear so plain, easy, and
+obvious, that it will seem almost wonderful, that the Epistle has never
+been considered in the same light, till now. I do not wish to dazzle
+with the lustre of a new hypothesis, which requires, I think, neither
+the strong opticks, nor powerful glasses, of a critical Herschel, to
+ascertain the truth of it; but is a system, that lies level to common
+apprehension, and a luminary, discoverable by the naked eye.
+
+My notion is simply this. I conceive that one of the sons of Piso,
+undoubtedly the elder, had either written, or meditated, a poetical
+work, most probably a Tragedy; and that he had, with the knowledge of
+the family, communicated his piece, or intention, to Horace: but Horace,
+either disapproving of the work, or doubting of the poetical faculties
+of the Elder Piso, or both, wished to dissuade him from all thoughts
+of publication. With this view he formed the design of writing this
+Epistle, addressing it, with a courtliness and delicacy perfectly
+agreeable to his acknowledged character, indifferently to the whole
+family, the father and his two sons. _Epistola ad Pisones, de Arte
+Poetica_.
+
+He begins with general reflections, generally addressed to his _three_
+friends. _Credite_, Pisones!--pater, & juvenes _patre digni!_--In these
+preliminary rules, equally necessary to be observed by Poets of every
+denomination, he dwells on the necessity of unity of design, the danger
+of being dazzled by the splendor of partial beauties, the choice of
+subjects, the beauty of order, the elegance and propriety of diction,
+and the use of a thorough knowledge of the nature of the several
+different species of Poetry: summing up this introductory portion of his
+Epistle, in a manner perfectly agreeable to the conclusion of it.
+
+  Descriptas servare vices, operumque colores,
+  Cur ego si nequeo ignoroque, poeta salutor?
+  Cur nescire, pudens prave, quam discere malo?
+
+From this general view of poetry, on the canvas of Aristotle, but
+entirely after his own manner, the writer proceeds to give the rules and
+history of the Drama; adverting principally to Tragedy, with all its
+constituents and appendages of diction, fable, character, incidents,
+chorus, measure, musick, and decoration. In this part of the work,
+according to the interpretation of the best criticks, and indeed (I
+think) according to the manifest tenor of the Epistle, he addresses
+himself entirely to _the two young gentlemen_, pointing out to them the
+difficulty, as well as excellence, of the Dramatick Art; insisting
+on the avowed superiority of the Graecian Writers, and ascribing the
+comparative failure of the Romans to negligence and avarice. The Poet,
+having exhausted this part of his subject, suddenly drops a _second_, or
+dismisses at once no less than _two_ of the _three_ Persons, to whom he
+originally addressed his Epistle, and turning short _on the ELDER PISO_,
+most earnestly conjures him to ponder on the danger of precipitate
+publication, and the ridicule to which the author of wretched poetry
+exposes himself. From the commencement of this partial address, o major
+juvenum, _&c._ [v. 366] to the end of the Poem, _almost a fourth part of
+the whole_, the second person plural, _Pisones!--Vos!--Vos, O Pompilius
+Sanguis! _&c. is discarded, and the second person singular, _Tu, Te,
+Tibi,_ &c. invariably takes its place. The arguments too are equally
+relative and personal; not only shewing the necessity of study, combined
+with natural genius, to constitute a Poet; but dwelling on the peculiar
+danger and delusion of flattery, to a writer of rank and fortune; as
+well as the inestimable value of an honest friend, to rescue him from
+derision and contempt. The Poet, however, in reverence to the Muse,
+qualifies his exaggerated description of an infatuated scribbler, with a
+most noble encomium of the uses of Good Poetry, vindicating the dignity
+of the Art, and proudly asserting, that the most exalted characters
+would not be disgraced by the cultivation of it.
+
+  _Ne forte pudori
+  Sit _tibi _Musa, lyrae solers, & cantor Apollo_.
+
+It is worthy observation, that in the satyrical picture of a frantick
+bard, with which Horace concludes his Epistle, he not only runs counter
+to what might be expected as a Corollary of an Essay on _the Art of
+Poetry_, but contradicts his own usual practice and sentiments. In his
+Epistle to Augustus, instead of stigmatizing the love of verse as an
+abominable phrenzy, he calls it (_levis haec insania) a slight madness_,
+and descants on its good effects--_quantas virtutes habeat, sic collige!_
+
+In another Epistle, speaking of himself, and his addiction to poetry, he
+says,
+
+  _----ubi quid datur oti,
+  Illudo chartis; hoc est, mediocribus illis
+  Ex vitiis unum, _&c.
+
+All which, and several other passages in his works, almost demonstrate
+that it was not, without a particular purpose in view, that he dwelt so
+forcibly on the description of a man resolved
+
+  _----in spite
+  Of nature and his stars to write._
+
+To conclude, if I have not contemplated my system, till I am become
+blind to its imperfections, this view of the Epistle not only preserves
+to it all that _unity of subject, and elegance of method, _so much
+insisted on by the excellent Critick, to whom I have so often referred;
+but by adding to his judicious general abstract the familiarities of
+personal address, so strongly marked by the writer, not a line appears
+idle or misplaced: while the order and disposition of the Epistle to the
+Pisos appears as evident and unembarrassed, as that of the Epistle to
+Augustus; in which last, the actual state of the Roman Drama seems to
+have been more manifestly the object of Horace's attention, than in the
+Work now under consideration.
+
+Before I leave you to the further examination of the original of Horace,
+and submit to you the translation, with the notes that accompany it, I
+cannot help observing, that the system, which I have here laid down, is
+not so entirely new, as it may perhaps at first appear to the reader,
+or as I myself originally supposed it. No Critick indeed has, to my
+knowledge, directly considered _the whole Epistle_ in the same light
+that I have now taken it; but yet _particular passages_ seem so strongly
+to enforce such an interpretation, that the Editors, Translators, and
+Commentators, have been occasionally driven to explanations of a similar
+tendency; of which the notes annexed will exhibit several striking
+instances.
+
+Of the following version I shall only say, that I have not, knowingly,
+adopted a single expression, tending to warp the judgement of the
+learned or unlearned reader, in favour of my own hypothesis. I attempted
+this translation, chiefly because I could find no other equally close
+and literal. Even the Version of Roscommon, tho' in blank verse, is, in
+some parts a paraphrase, and in others, but an abstract. I have myself,
+indeed, endeavoured to support my right to that force and freedom of
+translation which Horace himself recommends; yet I have faithfully
+exhibited in our language several passages, which his professed
+translators have abandoned, as impossible to be given in English.
+
+All that I think necessary to be further said on the Epistle will appear
+in the notes.
+
+  I am, my dear friends,
+
+  With the truest respect and regard,
+
+  Your most sincere admirer,
+
+  And very affectionate, humble servant,
+
+  GEORGE COLMAN.
+
+  LONDON,
+  March 8, 1783.
+
+
+  Q. HORATII FLACCI
+
+
+  EPISTOLA AD PISONES.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam
+  Jungere si velit, et varias inducere plumas
+  Undique collatis membris, ut turpiter atrum
+  Definat in piscem mulier formosa superne;
+  Spectatum admissi risum teneatis, amici?
+  Credite, Pisones, ifti tabulae fore librum
+  Persimilem, cujus, velut aegri somnia, vanae
+  HORACE'S EPISTLE TO THE PISOS.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  What if a Painter, in his art to shine,
+  A human head and horse's neck should join;
+  From various creatures put the limbs together,
+  Cover'd with plumes, from ev'ry bird a feather;
+  And in a filthy tail the figure drop,
+  A fish at bottom, a fair maid at top:
+  Viewing a picture of this strange condition,
+  Would you not laugh at such an exhibition?
+  Trust me, my Pisos, wild as this may seem,
+  The volume such, where, like a sick-man's dream,
+  Fingentur species: ut nec pes, nec caput uni
+  Reddatur formae. Pictoribus atque Poetis
+  Quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas:
+  Scimus, et hanc veniam petimusque damusque *viciffim:
+  Sed non ut placidis coeant immitia, non ut
+  Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Incoeptis gravibus plerumque et magna professis
+  Purpureus late qui splendeat unus et alter
+  Assuitur pannus; cum lucus et ara Dianae,
+  Et properantis aquae per amoenos ambitus agros,
+  Aut flumen Rhenum, aut pluvius describitur arcus.
+  Sed nunc non erat his locus: et fortasse cupressum
+  Scis simulare: quid hoc, si fractis enatat exspes
+  Extravagant conceits throughout prevail,
+  Gross and fantastick, neither head nor tail.
+  "Poets and Painters ever were allow'd
+  Some daring flight above the vulgar croud."
+  True: we indulge them in that daring flight,
+  And challenge in our turn, an equal right:
+  But not the soft and savage to combine,
+  Serpents to doves, to tigers lambkins join.
+
+  Oft works of promise large, and high attempt,
+  Are piec'd and guarded, to escape contempt,
+  With here and there a remnant highly drest,
+  That glitters thro' the gloom of all the rest.
+  Then Dian's grove and altar are the theme,
+  Then thro' rich meadows flows the silver stream;
+  The River Rhine, perhaps, adorns the lines,
+  Or the gay Rainbow in description shines.
+
+  These we allow have each their several grace;
+  But each and several now are out of place.
+
+  A cypress you can draw; what then? you're hir'd,
+  And from your art a sea-piece is requir'd;
+  Navibus, aere dato qui pingitur amphora coepit
+  Institui: currente rota cur urceus exit?
+  Denique sit quidvis simplex duntaxat et unum.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Maxima pars vatum, (pater, et juvenes patre digni)
+  Decipimur specie recti. Brevis esse laboro,
+  Obscurus sio: sectantem laevia, nervi
+  Desiciunt animique: prosessus grandia turget:
+  Serpit humi tutus nimium timidusque procellae.
+  Qui variare cupit rem prodigaliter unam,
+  Delphinum silvis appingit, fluctibus aprum.
+  In vitium dycit culpae fuga, si caret arte.
+
+  A shipwreck'd mariner, despairing, faint,
+  (The price paid down) you are ordain'd to paint.
+  Why dwindle to a cruet from a tun?
+  Simple be all you execute, and one!
+
+  Lov'd fire! lov'd sons, well worthy such a fire!
+  Most bards are dupes to beauties they admire.
+  Proud to be brief, for brevity must please,
+  I grow obscure; the follower of ease
+  Wants nerve and soul; the lover of sublime
+  Swells to bombast; while he who dreads that crime,
+  Too fearful of the whirlwind rising round,
+  A wretched reptile, creeps along the ground.
+  The bard, ambitious fancies who displays,
+  And tortures one poor thought a thousand ways,
+  Heaps prodigies on prodigies; in woods
+  Pictures the dolphin, and the boar in floods!
+  Thus ev'n the fear of faults to faults betrays,
+  Unless a master-hand conduct the lays.
+  Aemilium circa ludum faber imus et ungues
+  Exprimet, et molles imitabitur aere capillos,
+  Infelix operis summa, quia ponere totum
+  Nesciet: hunc ego me, si quid componere curem,
+  Non magis esse velim, quam pravo vivere naso,
+  Spectandum nigris oculis, nigroque capillo.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Sumite materiam vostris, qui scribitis, aequam
+  Viribus: et versate diu, quid ferre recusent
+  Quid valeant humeri. Cui lecta potenter erit res,
+  Nec facundia deferet hunc, nec lucidus ordo.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Ordinis haec virtus erit et venus, aut ego fallor,
+  Ut jam nunc dicat, jam nunc debentia dici
+  Pleraque differat, et praesens in tempus omittat.
+  An under workman, of th' Aemilian class,
+  Shall mould the nails, and trace the hair in brass,
+  Bungling at last; because his narrow soul
+  Wants room to comprehend _a perfect whole_.
+  To be this man, would I a work compose,
+  No more I'd wish, than for a horrid nose,
+  With hair as black as jet, and eyes as black as sloes.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Select, all ye who write, a subject fit,
+  A subject, not too mighty for your wit!
+  And ere you lay your shoulders to the wheel,
+  Weigh well their strength, and all their weakness feel!
+  He, who his subject happily can chuse,
+  Wins to his favour the benignant Muse;
+  The aid of eloquence he ne'er shall lack,
+  And order shall dispose and clear his track.
+
+  Order, I trust, may boast, nor boast in vain,
+  These Virtues and these Graces in her train.
+  What on the instant should be said, to say;
+  Things, best reserv'd at present, to delay;
+  Hoc amet, hoc spernat, promissi carminis auctor.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  In verbis etiam tenuis cautusque ferendis,
+  Dixeris egregie, notum si callida verbum
+  Reddiderit junctura novum: si forte necesse est
+  Indiciis monstrare recentibus abdita rerum;
+  Fingere cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis
+  Continget: dabiturque licentia sumpta pudenter.
+  Et nova factaque nuper habebunt verba fidem, si
+  Graeco fonte cadant, parce detorta. Quid autem?
+  Caecilio, Plautoque dabit Romanus, ademptum
+  Virgilio, Varioque? ego cur acquirere pauca
+  Guiding the bard, thro' his continu'd verse,
+  What to reject, and when; and what rehearse.
+
+  On the old stock of words our fathers knew,
+  Frugal and cautious of engrafting new,
+  Happy your art, if by a cunning phrase
+  To a new meaning a known word you raise:
+  If 'tis your lot to tell, at some chance time,
+  "Things unattempted yet in prose or rhime,"
+  Where you are driv'n perforce to many a word
+  Which the strait-lac'd Cethegi never heard,
+  Take, but with coyness take, the licence wanted,
+  And such a licence shall be freely granted:
+  New, or but recent, words shall have their course,
+  If drawn discreetly from the Graecian source.
+  Shall Rome, Caecilius, Plautus, fix _your_ claim,
+  And not to Virgil, Varius, grant the same?
+  Or if myself should some new words attain,
+  Shall I be grudg'd the little wealth I gain?
+  Si possum, invideor; cum lingua Catonis et Enni
+  Sermonem patrium ditaverit, et nova rerum
+  Nomina protulerit? Licuit, semperque licebit
+  Signatum praesente nota procudere nomen.
+  Ut silvae foliis pronos mutantur in annos;
+  Prima cadunt: ita verborum vetus interit aetas,
+  Et juvenum ritu florent modo nata vigentque.
+  Debemur morti nos, nostraque; sive receptus
+  Terra Neptunus, classes Aquilonibus arcet,
+  Regis opus; sterilisve diu palus, aptaque remis,
+  Vicinas urbes alit, et grave sentit aratrum:
+  Seu cursum mutavit iniquum frugibus amnis,
+  Doctus iter melius: mortalia facta peribunt,
+  Tho' Cato, Ennius, in the days of yore,
+  Enrich'd our tongue with many thousands more,
+  And gave to objects names unknown before?
+  No! it ne'er was, ne'er shall be, deem'd a crime,
+  To stamp on words the coinage of the time.
+  As woods endure a constant change of leaves,
+  Our language too a change of words receives:
+  Year after year drop off the ancient race,
+  While young ones bud and flourish in their place.
+  Nor we, nor all we do, can death withstand;
+  _Whether the Sea_, imprison'd in the land,
+  A work imperial! takes a harbour's form,
+  Where navies ride secure, and mock the storm;
+  _Whether the Marsh_, within whose horrid shore
+  Barrenness dwelt, and boatmen plied the oar,
+  Now furrow'd by the plough, a laughing plain,
+  Feeds all the cities round with fertile grain;
+  _Or if the River_, by a prudent force,
+  The corn once flooding, learns a better course.
+  Nedum sermonum stet honos, et gratia vivax.
+  Multa renascentur, quae jam cecidere; cadentque
+  Quae nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus,
+  Quem penes arbitrium est, et jus, et norma loquendi.
+
+  Res gestae regumque ducumque et tristia bella,
+  Quo scribi possent numero, monstravit Homerus.
+
+  Versibus impariter junctis querimonia primum,
+  Post etiam inclusa est voti sententia compos.
+  Quis tamen exiguos elegos emiserit auctor,
+  Grammatici certant, et adhuc sub judice lis est.
+
+  Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo.
+  Hunc socci cepere pedem, grandesque cothurni,
+  Alternis aptum sermonibus, et populares
+  Vincentem strepitus, et natum rebus agendis.
+  The works of mortal man shall all decay;
+  And words are grac'd and honour'd but a day:
+  Many shall rise again, that now are dead;
+  Many shall fall, that now hold high the head:
+  Custom alone their rank and date can teach,
+  Custom, the sov'reign, law, and rule of speech.
+
+  For deeds of kings and chiefs, and battles fought,
+  What numbers are most fitting, Homer taught:
+
+  Couplets unequal were at first confin'd
+  To speak in broken verse the mourner's mind.
+  Prosperity at length, and free content,
+  In the same numbers gave their raptures vent;
+  But who first fram'd the Elegy's small song,
+  Grammarians squabble, and will squabble long.
+
+  Archilochus, 'gainst vice, a noble rage
+  Arm'd with his own Iambicks to engage:
+  With these the humble Sock, and Buskin proud
+  Shap'd dialogue; and still'd the noisy croud;
+  Musa dedit fidibus divos, puerosque deorum,
+  Et pugilem victorem, et equum certamine primum,
+  Et juvenum curas, et libera vina referre.
+
+  Descriptas servare vices, operumque colores,
+  Cur ego, si nequeo ignoroque, poeta salutor?
+  Cur nescire, pudens prave, quam discere malo?
+
+  Versibus exponi tragicis res comica non vult;
+  Indignatur item privatis ac prope socco
+  Dignis carminibus narrari coena Thyestae.
+  Singula quaeque locum teneant sortita decenter.
+  Embrac'd the measure, prov'd its ease and force,
+  And found it apt for business or discourse.
+
+  Gods, and the sons of Gods, in Odes to sing,
+  The Muse attunes her Lyre, and strikes the string;
+  Victorious Boxers, Racers, mark the line,
+  The cares of youthful love, and joys of wine.
+
+  The various outline of each work to fill,
+  If nature gives no power, and art no skill;
+  If, marking nicer shades, I miss my aim,
+  Why am I greeted with a Poet's name?
+  Or if, thro' ignorance, I can't discern,
+  Why, from false modesty, forbear to learn!
+
+  A comick incident loaths tragick strains:
+  Thy feast, Thyestes, lowly verse disdains;
+  Familiar diction scorns, as base and mean,
+  Touching too nearly on the comick scene.
+  Each stile allotted to its proper place,
+  Let each appear with its peculiar grace!
+  Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit;
+  Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore;
+  Et tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri.
+  Telephus aut Peleus, cum pauper et exul uterque,
+  Projicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba,
+  Si curat cor spectantis tetigisse querela.
+
+  Non satis est pulchra esse poemata; dulcia sunto,
+  Et quocunque volent, animum auditoris agunto.
+  Ut ridentibus arrident, ita flentibus adflent
+  Humani vultus; si vis me flere, dolendum est
+  Primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me infortunia laedent.
+  Telephe, vel Peleu, male si mandata loqueris,
+  Aut dormitabo, aut ridebo: tristia moestum
+  Vultum verba decent; iratum, plena minarum;
+  Yet Comedy at times exalts her strain,
+  And angry Chremes storms in swelling vein:
+  The tragick hero, plung'd in deep distress,
+  Sinks with his fate, and makes his language less.
+  Peleus and Telephus, poor, banish'd! each
+  Drop their big six-foot words, and sounding speech;
+  Or else, what bosom in their grief takes part,
+  Which cracks the ear, but cannot touch the heart?
+
+  'Tis not enough that Plays are polish'd, chaste,
+  Or trickt in all the harlotry of taste,
+  They must have _passion_ too; beyond controul
+  Transporting where they please the hearer's soul.
+  With those that smile, our face in smiles appears;
+  With those that weep, our cheeks are bath'd in tears:
+  To make _me_ grieve, be first _your_ anguish shown,
+  And I shall feel your sorrows like my own.
+  Peleus, and Telephus! unless your stile
+  Suit with your circumstance, I'll sleep, or smile.
+  Features of sorrow mournful words require;
+  Anger in menace speaks, and words of fire:
+  Ludentem, lasciva; severum, seria dictu.
+  Format enim Natura prius nos intus ad omnem
+  Fortunarum habitum; juvat, aut impellit ad iram,
+  Aut ad humum moerore gravi deducit, et angit:
+  Post effert animi motus interprete lingua.
+  Si dicentis erunt fortunis absona dicta,
+  Romani tollent equitesque patresque chachinnum.
+
+
+  Intererit multum, Divusne loquatur, an heros;
+  Maturusne senex, an adhuc florente juventa
+  Fervidus; an matrona potens, an sedula nutrix;
+  Mercatorne vagus, cultorne virentis agelli;
+  Colchus, an Assyrius; Thebis nutritus, an Argis.
+  The playful prattle in a frolick vein,
+  And the severe affect a serious strain:
+  For Nature first, to every varying wind
+  Of changeful fortune, shapes the pliant mind;
+  Sooths it with pleasure, or to rage provokes,
+  Or brings it to the ground by sorrow's heavy strokes;
+  Then of the joys that charm'd, or woes that wrung,
+  Forces expression from the faithful tongue:
+  But if the actor's words belie his state,
+  And speak a language foreign to his fate,
+  Romans shall crack their sides, and all the town
+  Join, horse and foot, to laugh th' impostor down.
+
+  Much boots the speaker's character to mark:
+  God, heroe; grave old man, or hot young spark;
+  Matron, or busy nurse; who's us'd to roam
+  Trading abroad, or ploughs his field at home:
+  If Colchian, or Assyrian, fill the scene,
+  Theban, or Argian, note the shades between!
+  Aut famam sequere, aut sibi convenientia finge,
+  Scriptor. Honoratum si forte reponis Achillem,
+  Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer,
+  Jura neget sibi nata, nihil non arroget armis.
+  Sit Medea ferox invictaque, flebilis Ino,
+  Perfidus Ixion, Io vaga, tristis Orestes.
+
+  Si quid inexpertum scenae committis, et audes
+  Personam formare novam; servetur ad imum
+  Qualis ab incepto processerit, et sibi constet.
+
+  Difficile est proprie communia dicere: tuque
+  Rectius Iliacum carmen deducis in actus,
+  Quam si proferres ignota indictaque primus.
+  Publica materies privati juris erit, si
+  Non circa vilem patulumque moraberis orbem;
+  Follow the Voice of Fame; or if you feign,
+  The fabled plan consistently sustain!
+  If great Achilles you bring back to view,
+  Shew him of active spirit, wrathful too;
+  Eager, impetuous, brave, and high of soul,
+  Always for arms, and brooking no controul:
+  Fierce let Medea seem, in horrors clad;
+  Perfidious be Ixion, Ino sad;
+  Io a wand'rer, and Orestes mad!
+
+  Should you, advent'ring novelty, engage
+  Some bold Original to walk the Stage,
+  Preserve it well; continu'd as begun;
+  True to itself in ev'ry scene, and one!
+
+  Yet hard the task to touch on untried facts:
+  Safer the Iliad to reduce to acts,
+  Than be the first new regions to explore,
+  And dwell on themes unknown, untold before.
+
+  Quit but the vulgar, broad, and beaten round,
+  The publick field becomes your private ground:
+  Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere, fidus
+  Interpres; nec desilies imitator in arctum,
+  Unde pedem proferre pudor vetet aut operis lex.
+
+  Nec sic incipies, ut scriptor cyclicus olim:
+  fortunam priami cantabo, et nobile bellum.
+  Quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor hiatu?
+  Parturiunt montes: nascetur ridiculus mus.
+  Quanto rectius hic, qui nil molitur inepte!
+  dic mihi, musa, virum, captae post moenia trojae,
+  qui mores hominum multorum vidit et urbes.
+  Non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucem
+  Cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat,
+  Antiphaten, Scyllamque, et cum Cylope Charibdin.
+  Nor word for word too faithfully translate;
+  Nor leap at once into a narrow strait,
+  A copyist so close, that rule and line
+  Curb your free march, and all your steps confine!
+
+  Be not your opening fierce, in accents bold,
+  Like the rude ballad-monger's chaunt of old;
+  "The fall of Priam, the great Trojan King!
+  Of the right noble Trojan War, I sing!"
+  Where ends this Boaster, who, with voice of thunder,
+  Wakes Expectation, all agape with wonder?
+  The mountains labour! hush'd are all the spheres!
+  And, oh ridiculous! a mouse appears.
+  How much more modestly begins HIS song,
+  Who labours, or imagines, nothing wrong!
+  "Say, Muse, the Man, who, after Troy's disgrace,
+  In various cities mark'd the human race!"
+  Not flame to smoke he turns, but smoke to light,
+  Kindling from thence a stream of glories bright:
+  Antiphates, the Cyclops, raise the theme;
+  Scylla, Charibdis, fill the pleasing dream.
+  Nec reditum Diomedis ab interitu Meleagri,
+  Nec gemino bellum Trojanum orditur ab ovo:
+  Semper ad eventum festinat; et in medias res,
+  Non secus ac notas, auditorem rapit: et quae
+  Desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit:
+  Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet,
+  Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.
+
+  Tu, quid ego et populus mecum desideret, audi;
+  Si fautoris eges aulea manentis, et usque
+  Sessuri, donec cantor, Vos plaudite, dicat:
+  Aetatis cujusque notandi sunt tibi mores,
+  Mobilibusque decor naturis dandus et annis.
+  Reddere qui voces jam scit puer, et pede certo
+  Signat humum; gestit paribus colludere, et iram
+  Colligit ac ponit temere, et mutatur in horas.
+  He goes not back to Meleager's death,
+  With Diomed's return to run you out of breath;
+  Nor from the Double Egg, the tale to mar,
+  Traces the story of the Trojan War:
+  Still hurrying to th' event, at once he brings
+  His hearer to the heart and soul of things;
+  And what won't bear the light, in shadow flings.
+  So well he feigns, so well contrives to blend
+  Fiction and Truth, that all his labours tend
+  True to one point, persu'd from end to end.
+
+  Hear now, what I expect, and all the town,
+  If you would wish applause your play to crown,
+  And patient sitters, 'till the cloth goes down!
+
+  _Man's several ages _with attention view,
+  His flying years, and changing nature too.
+
+  _The Boy _who now his words can freely sound,
+  And with a steadier footstep prints the ground,
+  Places in playfellows his chief delight,
+  Quarrels, shakes hands, and cares not wrong or right:
+  Sway'd by each fav'rite bauble's short-liv'd pow'r,
+  In smiles, in tears, all humours ev'ry hour.
+  Imberbus juvenis, tandem custode remoto,
+  Gaudet equis canibusque et aprici gramine campi;
+  Cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus asper,
+  Utilium tardus provisor, prodigus aeris,
+  Sublimis, cupidusque, et amata relinquere pernix.
+
+  Conversis studiis, aetas animusque virilis
+  Quaerit opes et amicitias, infervit honori;
+  Conmisisse cavet quod mox mutare laboret.
+
+  Multa senem circumveniunt incommoda; vel quod
+  Quaerit, et inventis miser abstinet, ac timet uti;
+  Vel quod res omnes timide gelideque ministrat,
+  Dilator, spe lentus, iners, pavidusque futuri;
+  _The beardless Youth_, at length from tutor free,
+  Loves horses, hounds, the field, and liberty:
+  Pliant as wax, to vice his easy soul,
+  Marble to wholesome counsel and controul;
+  Improvident of good, of wealth profuse;
+  High; fond, yet fickle; generous, yet loose.
+
+  To graver studies, new pursuits inclin'd,
+  _Manhood_, with growing years, brings change of mind:
+  Seeks riches, friends; with thirst of honour glows;
+  And all the meanness of ambition knows;
+  Prudent, and wary, on each deed intent,
+  Fearful to act, and afterwards repent.
+
+  Evil in various shapes _Old Age _surrounds;
+  Riches his aim, in riches he abounds;
+  Yet what he fear'd to gain, he dreads to lose;
+  And what he sought as useful, dares not use.
+  Timid and cold in all he undertakes,
+  His hand from doubt, as well as weakness, shakes;
+  Hope makes him tedious, fond of dull delay;
+  Dup'd by to-morrow, tho' he dies to-day;
+  Difficilis, querulus, laudator temporis acti
+  Se puero, censor, castigatorque minorum.
+
+  Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum,
+  Multa recedentes adimunt: ne forte seniles
+  Mandentur juveni partes, pueroque viriles.
+  Semper in adjunctis aevoque morabimur aptis.
+
+  Aut agitur res In scenis, aut acta refertur:
+  Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem,
+  Quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus, et quae
+  Ipse sibi tradit spectator: non tamen intus
+  Digna geri promes in scenam: multaque tolles
+  Ex oculis, quae mox narret facundia praesens:
+  Ill-humour'd, querulous; yet loud in praise
+  Of all the mighty deeds of former days;
+  When _he_ was young, good heavens, what glorious times!
+  Unlike the present age, that teems with crimes!
+
+  Thus years advancing many comforts bring,
+  And, flying, bear off many on their wing:
+  Confound not youth with age, nor age with youth,
+  But mark their several characters with truth!
+
+  Events are on the stage in act display'd,
+  Or by narration, if unseen, convey'd.
+  Cold is the tale distilling thro' the ear,
+  Filling the soul with less dismay and fear,
+  Than where spectators view, like standers-by,
+  The deed submitted to the faithful eye.
+  Yet force not on the stage, to wound the sight,
+  Asks that should pass within, and shun the light!
+  Many there are the eye should ne'er behold,
+  But touching Eloquence in time unfold:
+  Ne pueros coram populo Medea trucidet;
+  Aut humana palam coquat exta nefarius Atreus;
+  Aut in avem Procne vertatur, Cadmus in anguem.
+  Quodcunque ostendis mihi sic, incredulus odi.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Neve minor, neu sit quinto productior actu
+  Fabula, quae posci vult, et spectata reponi
+  Nec Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus
+  Inciderit: nec quarta loqui persona laboret.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Actoris partes Chorus, officiumque virile
+  Defendat: neu quid medios intercinat actus,
+  Quod non proposito conducat et haereat apte.
+  Ille bonis faveatque, et concilietur amicis,
+  Et regat iratos, et amet peccare timentes:
+  Who on Medea's parricide can look?
+  View horrid Atreus human garbage cook?
+  If a bird's feathers I see Progne take,
+  If I see Cadmus slide into a snake,
+  My faith revolts; and I condemn outright
+  The fool that shews me such a silly sight.
+
+  Let not your play have fewer _acts_ than _five_,
+  Nor _more_, if you would wish it run and thrive!
+
+  _Draw down no God_, unworthily betray'd,
+  Unless some great occasion ask his aid!
+
+  Let no _fourth person_, labouring for a speech,
+  Make in the dialogue a needless breach!
+
+  An actor's part the Chorus should sustain,
+  Gentle in all its office, and humane;
+  Chaunting no Odes between the acts, that seem
+  Unapt, or foreign to the general theme.
+  Let it to Virtue prove a guide and friend,
+  Curb tyrants, and the humble good defend!
+  Ille dapes laudet mensae brevis, ille salubrem
+  Justitiam, legesque, et apertis otia portis:
+  Ille tegat commisia, Deosque precetur et oret,
+  Ut redeat miseris, abeat fortuna superbis.
+
+  Tibia non, ut nunc, orichalco vincta, tubaeque
+  aemula; sed tenuis, simplexque foramine pauco,
+  Aspirare et adesse choris erat utilis, atque
+  Nondum spissa nimis complere sedilia flatu:
+  Quo fane populus numerabilis, utpote parvus
+  Et frugi castusque verecundusque coibat.
+  Postquam coepit agros extendere victor, et urbem
+  Laxior amplecti murus, vinoque diurno
+  Placari Genius sestis impune diebus,
+
+  Loud let it praise the joys that Temperance waits;
+  Of Justice sing, the real health of States;
+  The Laws; and Peace, secure with open gates!
+  Faithful and secret, let it heav'n invoke
+  To turn from the unhappy fortune's stroke,
+  And all its vengeance on the proud provoke!
+
+  _The Pipe_ of old, as yet with brass unbound,
+  Nor rivalling, as now, the Trumpet's sound,
+  But slender, simple, and its stops but few,
+  Breath'd to the Chorus; and was useful too:
+  For feats extended, and extending still,
+  Requir'd not pow'rful blasts their space to fill;
+  When the thin audience, pious, frugal, chaste,
+  With modest mirth indulg'd their sober taste.
+  But soon as the proud Victor spurns all bounds,
+  And growing Rome a wider wall surrounds;
+  When noontide cups, and the diurnal bowl,
+  Licence on holidays a flow of soul;
+  Accessit numerisque modisque licentia major.
+  Indoctus quid enim saperet liberque laborum,
+  Rusticus urbano confusus, turpis honesto?
+  Sic priscae motumque et luxuriem addidit arti
+  Tibicen, traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem:
+  Sic etiam fidibus voces crevere feveris,
+  Et tulit eloquium insolitum facundia praeceps;
+  Utiliumque sagax rerum, et divina futuri,
+  Sortilegis non discrepuit sententia Delphis.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Carmine qui tragico vilem certavit ob hircum,
+  Mox etiam agrestes Satyros nudavit, et asper
+  Incolumi gravitate jocum tentavit: eo quod
+  A richer stream of melody is known,
+  Numbers more copious, and a fuller tone.
+
+  ----For what, alas! could the unpractis'd ear
+  Of rusticks, revelling o'er country cheer,
+  A motley groupe! high, low; and froth, and scum;
+  Distinguish but shrill squeak, and dronish hum?----
+  The Piper, grown luxuriant in his art,
+  With dance and flowing vest embellishes his part!
+  Now too, its pow'rs increas'd, _the Lyre severe_
+  With richer numbers smites the list'ning ear:
+  Sudden bursts forth a flood of rapid song,
+  Rolling a tide of eloquence along:
+  Useful, prophetic, wise, the strain divine
+  Breathes all the spirit of the Delphick shrine.
+
+  He who the prize, a filthy goat, to gain,
+  At first contended in the tragick strain,
+  Soon too--tho' rude, the graver mood unbroke,--
+  Stript the rough satyrs, and essay'd a joke:
+  Illecebris erat et grata novitate morandus
+  Spectator functusque sacris, et potus, et exlex.
+  Verum ita risores, ita commendare dicaces
+  Conveniet Satyros, ita vertere seria ludo;
+  Ne quicunque Deus, quicunque adhibebi tur heros [sic]
+  Regali conspectus in auro nuper et ostro,
+  Migret in obscuras humili sermone tabernas
+  Aut, dum vitat humum, nubes et inania captet [sic]
+  Effutire leves indigna tragoedia versus,
+  Ut festis matrona moveri jussa diebus,
+  Intererit Satyris paulum pudibunda protervis.
+  Non ego inornata et dominantia nomina solum
+  Verbaque, Pisones, Satyrorum scriptor amabo
+  Nec sic enitar tragico differre colori,
+  For holiday-spectators, flush'd, and wild,
+  With new conceits, and mummeries, were beguil'd.
+  Yet should the Satyrs so chastise their mirth,
+  Temp'ring the jest that gives their sallies birth;
+  Changing from grave to gay, so keep the mean,
+  That God or Heroe of the lofty scene,
+  In royal gold and purple seen but late,
+  May ne'er in cots obscure debase his state,
+  Lost in low language; nor in too much care
+  To shun the ground, grasp clouds, and empty air.
+  With an indignant pride, and coy disdain,
+  Stern Tragedy rejects too light a vein:
+  Like a grave Matron, destin'd to advance
+  On solemn festivals to join the dance,
+  Mixt with the shaggy tribe of Satyrs rude,
+  She'll hold a sober mien, and act the prude.
+  Let me not, Pisos, in the Sylvan scene,
+  Use abject terms alone, and phrases mean;
+  Nor of high Tragick colouring afraid,
+  Neglect too much the difference of shade!
+  Ut nihil intersit Davusne loquatur et audax
+  Pythias emuncto lucrata Simone talentum,
+  An custos famulusque Dei Silenus alumni.
+
+  Ex noto fictum carmen sequar: ut sibi quivis
+  Speret idem; sudet multum, frustraque laboret
+  Ausus idem: tantum series juncturaque pollet:
+  Tantum de medio sumtis accedit honoris.
+
+  Silvis deducti caveant, me judice, Fauni,
+  Ne velut innati triviis, ac pene forenses,
+  Aut nimium teneris juvenentur versibus umquam,
+  Aut immunda crepent ignominiosaque dicta.
+  Offenduntur enim, quibus est equus, et pater, et res;
+  Nec, si quid fricti ciceris probat et nucis emtor,
+  Aequis accipiunt animis, donantve corona.
+  Davus may jest, pert Pythias may beguile
+  Simo of cash, in a familiar style;
+  The same low strain Silenus would disgrace,
+  Servant and guardian of the Godlike race.
+
+  Let me on subjects known my verse so frame,
+  So follow it, that each may hope the same;
+  Daring the same, and toiling to prevail,
+  May vainly toil, and only dare to fail!
+  Such virtues order and connection bring,
+  From common arguments such honours spring.
+
+  The woodland Fauns their origin should heed,
+  Take no town stamp, nor seem the city breed:
+  Nor let them, aping young gallants, repeat
+  Verses that run upon too tender feet;
+  Nor fall into a low, indecent stile,
+  Breaking dull jests to make the vulgar smile!
+  For higher ranks such ribaldry despise,
+  Condemn the Poet, and withhold the prize.
+  Syllaba longa brevi subjecta, vocatur Iambus,
+  Pes citus: unde etiam Trimetris accrescere jussit
+  Nomen Iambeis, cum senos redderet ictus
+  Primus ad extremum similis sibi; non ita pridem,
+  Tardior ut paulo graviorque veniret ad aures,
+  Spondeos stabiles in jura paterna recepit
+  Commodus et patiens: non ut de sede secunda
+  Cederet, aut quarta socialiter. Hic et in Acci
+  Nobilibus Trimetris apparet rarus, et Enni.
+  In scenam missus cum magno pondere versus,
+  Aut operae celeris nimium curaque carentis,
+  Aut ignoratae premit artis crimine turpi.
+
+  Non quivis videt immodulata poemata judex:
+  Et data Romanis venia est indigna poetis.
+  To a short Syllable a long subjoin'd
+  Forms an Iambick foot; so light a kind,
+  That when six pure Iambicks roll'd along,
+  So nimbly mov'd, so trippingly the song,
+  The feet to half their number lost their claim,
+  And _Trimeter Iambicks_ was their name.
+  Hence, that the measure might more grave appear,
+  And with a slower march approach the ear,
+  From the fourth foot, and second, not displac'd,
+  The steady spondee kindly it embrac'd;
+  Then in firm union socially unites,
+  Admitting the ally to equal rights.
+  Accius, and Ennius lines, thus duly wrought,
+  In their bold Trimeters but rarely sought:
+  Yet scenes o'erloaded with a verse of lead,
+  A mass of heavy numbers on their head,
+  Speak careless haste, neglect in ev'ry part.
+  Or shameful ignorance of the Poet's art.
+
+  "Not ev'ry Critick spies a faulty strain,
+  And pardon Roman Poets should disdain."
+  Idcircone vager, scribamque licenter? ut omnes
+  Visuros peccata putem mea; tutus et intra
+  Spem veniae cautus? vitavi denique culpam,
+  Non laudem merui.
+
+  Vos exemplaria Graeca
+  Nocturna versate manu, versate diurna.
+  At vestri proavi Plautinos et numeros, et
+  Laudavere sales; nimium patienter utrumque
+  (Ne dicam stulte) mirati: si modo ego et vos
+  Scimus inurbanum lepido seponere dicto,
+  Legitimumque sonum digitis callemus et aure.
+  Ignotum tragicae genus invenisse Camenae
+  Dicitur, et plaustris vexisse poemata Thespis
+  Quae canerent agerentque, peruncti faecibus ora.
+  Shall I then all regard, all labour slight,
+  Break loose at once, and all at random write?
+  Or shall I fear that all my faults descry,
+  Viewing my errors with an Eagle eye,
+  And thence correctness make my only aim,
+  Pleas'd to be safe, and sure of 'scaping blame?
+  Thus I from faults indeed may guard my lays;
+  But neither they, nor I, can merit praise.
+
+  Pisos! be Graecian models your delight!
+  Night and day read them, read them day and night!
+  "Well! but our fathers Plautus lov'd to praise,
+  Admir'd his humour, and approv'd his lays."
+  Yes; they saw both with a too partial eye,
+  Fond e'en to folly sure, if you and I
+  Know ribaldry from humour, chaste and terse,
+  Or can but scan, and have an ear for verse.
+
+  A kind of Tragick Ode unknown before,
+  Thespis, 'tis said, invented first; and bore
+  Cart-loads of verse about, and with him went
+  A troop begrim'd, to sing and represent,
+  Post hunc personae pallaeque repertor honestae
+  Aeschylus et modicis instravit pulpita tignis,
+  Et docuit magnumque loqui, nitique cothurno.
+  Successit Vetus his Comoedia, non sine multa
+  Laude: sed in vitium libertas excidit, et vim
+  Dignam lege regi: lex est accepta; Chorusque
+  Turpiter obticuit, sublato jure nocendi.
+
+  Nil intentatum nostri liquere poetae:
+  Nec nimium meruere decus, vestigia Graeca
+  Ausi deserere, et celebrare domestica facta,
+  Vel qui Praetextas, vel qui docuere Togatas:
+  Nec virtute foret clarisve potentius armis,
+  Quam lingua, Latium; si non offenderet unum--
+  Next, Aeschylus, a Mask to shroud the face,
+  A Robe devis'd, to give the person grace;
+  On humble rafters rais'd a Stage, and taught
+  The buskin'd actor, with _his_ spirit fraught,
+  To breathe with dignity the lofty thought.
+  To these th' old comedy of ancient days
+  Succeeded, and obtained no little praise;
+  'Till Liberty, grown rank and run to seed,
+  Call'd for the hand of Law to pluck the weed:
+  The Statute past; the sland'rous Chorus, drown'd
+  In shameful silence, lost the pow'r to wound.
+
+  Nothing have Roman Poets left untried,
+  Nor added little to their Country's pride;
+  Daring their Graecian Masters to forsake,
+  And for their themes Domestick Glories take;
+  Whether _the Gown_ prescrib'd a stile more mean,
+  Or the _Inwoven Purple_ rais'd the scene:
+  Nor would the splendour of the Latian name
+  From arms, than Letters, boast a brighter fame,
+  Quemque poetarum limae labor et mora. Vos o
+  Pompilius sanguis, carmen reprehendite, quod non
+  Multa dies et multa litura coercuit, atque
+  Praesectum decies non castigavit ad unguem.
+
+  Ingenium misera quia fortunatius arte
+  Credit, et excludit sanos Helicone poetas
+  Democritus; bona pars non ungues ponere curat,
+  Non barbam, secreta petit loca, balnea vitat;
+  Nanciscetur enim pretium nomenque poetae,
+  Si tribus Anticyris caput insanabile numquam
+  Tonsori Licino commiserit. O ego laevus,
+  Qui purgor bilem sub verni temporis horam!
+  Non alius faceret meliora poemata: verum
+  Had they not, scorning the laborious file,
+  Grudg'd time, to mellow and refine their stile.
+  But you, bright hopes of the Pompilian Blood,
+  Never the verse approve and hold as good,
+  'Till many a day, and many a blot has wrought
+  The polish'd work, and chasten'd ev'ry thought,
+  By tenfold labour to perfection brought!
+
+  Because Democritus thinks wretched Art
+  Too mean with Genius to sustain a part,
+  To Helicon allowing no pretence,
+  'Till the mad bard has lost all common sense;
+  Many there are, their nails who will not pare,
+  Or trim their beards, or bathe, or take the air:
+  For _he_, no doubt, must be a bard renown'd,
+  _That_ head with deathless laurel must be crown'd,
+  Tho' past the pow'r of Hellebore insane,
+  Which no vile Cutberd's razor'd hands profane.
+  Ah luckless I, each spring that purge the bile!
+  Or who'd write better? but 'tis scarce worth while:
+  Nil tanti est: ergo fungar vice cotis, acutum
+  Reddere quae ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi.
+  Munus et officium, nil scribens ipse, docebo;
+  Unde parentur opes; quid alat formetque poetam;
+  Quid deceat, quid non; quo virtus, quo ferat error,
+
+  Scribendi recte, sapere est et principium et fons.
+  Rem tibi Socraticae poterunt ostendere chartae;
+  Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur.
+  Qui didicit patriae quid debeat, et quid amicis;
+  Quo fit amore parens, quo frater amandus et hospes;
+  Quod fit conscripti, quod judicis officium; quae
+  Partes in bellum missi ducis; ille profecto
+  Reddere personae scit convenientia cuique.
+  So as mere hone, my services I pledge;
+  Edgeless itself, it gives the steel an edge:
+  No writer I, to writers thus impart
+  The nature and the duty of their art:
+  Whence springs the fund; what forms the bard, to know;
+  What nourishes his pow'rs, and makes them grow;
+  What's fit or unfit; whither genius tends;
+  And where fond ignorance and dulness ends.
+
+  In Wisdom, Moral Wisdom, to excell,
+  Is the chief cause and spring of writing well.
+  Draw elements from the Socratick source,
+  And, full of matter, words will rise of course.
+  He who hath learnt a patriot's glorious flame;
+  What friendship asks; what filial duties claim;
+  The ties of blood; and secret links that bind
+  The heart to strangers, and to all mankind;
+  The Senator's, the Judge's peaceful care,
+  And sterner duties of the Chief in war!
+  These who hath studied well, will all engage
+  In functions suited to their rank and age.
+  Respicere exemplar vitae morumque jubebo
+  Doctum imitatorem, et veras hinc ducere voces.
+  Interdum speciosa locis, morataque recte
+  Fabula, nullius veneris, sine pondere et arte,
+  Valdius oblectat populum, meliusque moratur,
+  Quam versus inopes rerum, nugaeque canorae.
+
+  Graiis ingenium, Graiis dedit ore rotundo
+  Musa loqui, praeter laudem, nullius avaris.
+  Romani pueri longis rationibus assem
+  Discunt in partes centum diducere. Dicat
+  Filius Albini, si de quincunce remota est
+  Uncia, quid superet? poteras dixisse, triens. Eu!
+  Rem poteris servare tuam. Redit uncia: quid fit?
+  On Nature's pattern too I'll bid him look,
+  And copy manners from her living book.
+  Sometimes 'twill chance, a poor and barren tale,
+  Where neither excellence nor art prevail,
+  With now and then a passage of some merit,
+  And Characters sustain'd, and drawn with spirit,
+  Pleases the people more, and more obtains,
+  Than tuneful nothings, mere poetick strains.
+
+  _The Sons of Greece_ the fav'ring Muse inspir'd,
+  Inflam'd their souls, and with true genius fir'd:
+  Taught by the Muse, they sung the loftiest lays,
+  And knew no avarice but that of praise.
+  _The Lads of Rome_, to study fractions bound,
+  Into an hundred parts can split a pound.
+  "Say, Albin's Hopeful! from five twelfths an ounce,
+  And what remains?"--"a Third."--"Well said, young Pounce!
+  You're a made man!--but add an ounce,--what then?"
+  "A Half." "Indeed! surprising! good again!"
+
+  Semis.  An haec animos aerugo et cura peculi
+  Cum semel imbuerit speramus carmina singi
+  Posse linenda cedro, et levi servanda cupresso?
+
+  Aut prodesse volunt, aut delectare poetae;
+  Aut simul et jucunda et idonea dicere vitae.
+  Quicquid praecipies, esto brevis: ut eito dicta
+  Percipiant animi dociles, tencantque fideles.
+  Omni supervacuum pleno de pectore manat.
+  Ficta voluptatis causa sint proxima veris:
+  Ne, quodcumque volet, poscat fibi fabula credi;
+  Neu pransea Lamiae vivum puerum extrahat alvo.
+  Centuriae seniorum agitant expertia frugis:
+  Celsi praetereunt austera poemata Rhamnes.
+  Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci,
+  Lectorem delectando, pariterque monendo
+
+  From minds debas'd with such a sordid lust,
+  Canker'd and eaten up with this vile rust,
+  Can we a verse, that gives the Genius scope,
+  Worthy the Cedar, and the Cypress, hope?
+
+  Instruction to convey and give delight,
+  Or both at once to compass, Poets write:
+  Short be your precepts, and th' impression strong,
+  That minds may catch them quick, and hold them long!
+  The bosom full, and satisfied the taste,
+  All that runs over will but run to waste.
+  Fictions, to please, like truths must meet the eye,
+  Nor must the Fable tax our faith too high.
+  Shall Lamia in our fight her sons devour,
+  And give them back alive the self-same hour?
+  The Old, if _Moral's_ wanting, damn the Play;
+  And _Sentiment_ disgusts the Young and Gay.
+  He who instruction and delight can blend,
+  Please with his fancy, with his moral mend,
+  Hic meret aera liber Sofiis, hic et mare transit,
+  Et longum noto scriptori prorogat aevum.
+
+  Sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignovisse velimus.
+  Nam neque chorda sonum reddit, quem vult manus et mens;
+
+  Poscentique gravem persaepe remittit acutum:
+  Nec semper feriet, quodcumque minabitur, arcus.
+  Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis
+  Offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit,
+  Aut humana parum cavit natura quid ergo est?
+  Ut scriptor si peccat idem librarius usque,
+  Quamvis est monitus, venia caret; ut citharoedus
+  Ridetur, chorda qui semper oberrat eadem;
+  Hits the nice point, and every vote obtains:
+  His work a fortune to the Sosii gains;
+  Flies over seas, and on the wings of Fame
+  Carries from age to age the writer's deathless name.
+
+  Yet these are faults that we may pardon too:
+  For ah! the string won't always answer true;
+  But, spite of hand and mind, the treach'rous harp
+  Will sound a flat, when we intend a sharp:
+  The bow, not always constant and the same,
+  Will sometimes carry wide, and lose its aim.
+  But in the verse where many beauties shine,
+  I blame not here and there a feeble line;
+  Nor take offence at ev'ry idle trip,
+  Where haste prevails, or nature makes a slip.
+  What's the result then? Why thus stands the case.
+  As _the Transcriber_, in the self-same place
+  Who still mistakes, tho' warn'd of his neglect,
+  No pardon for his blunders can expect;
+  Or as _the Minstrel_ his disgrace must bring,
+  Who harps for ever on the same false string;
+  Sic mihi qui multum cessat, fit Choerilus ille,
+  Quem bis terve bonum, cum risu miror; et idem
+  Indignor, quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus.
+  Verum operi longo fas est obrepere somnum.
+
+  Ut pictura, poesis: erit quae, si propius stes,
+  Te capiat magis; et quaedam, si longius abstes:
+  Haec amat obscurum; volet haec sub luce videri,
+  Judicis argutum quae non formidat acumen:
+  Haec placuit semel; haec decies repetita placebit.
+
+  O major juvenum, quamvis et voce paterna
+  Fingeris ad rectum, et per te sapis; hoc tibi dictum
+  Tolle memor: certis medium et tolerabile rebus
+  _The Poet_ thus, from faults scarce ever free,
+  Becomes a very Chaerilus to me;
+  Who twice or thrice, by some adventure rare,
+  Stumbling on beauties, makes me smile and stare;
+  _Me_, who am griev'd and vex'd to the extreme,
+  If Homer seem to nod, or chance to dream:
+  Tho' in a work of length o'erlabour'd sleep
+  At intervals may, not unpardon'd, creep.
+
+  Poems and Pictures are adjudg'd alike;
+  Some charm us near, and some at distance strike:
+  _This_ loves the shade; _this_ challenges the light,
+  Daring the keenest Critick's Eagle sight;
+  _This_ once has pleas'd; _this_ ever will delight.
+
+  O thou, my Piso's elder hope and pride!
+  tho' well a father's voice thy steps can guide;
+  tho' inbred sense what's wise and right can tell,
+  remember this from me, and weigh it well!
+  In certain things, things neither high nor proud,
+  _Middling_ and _passable_ may be allow'd.
+  Recte concedi: consultus juris, et actor
+  Causarum mediocris, abest virtute diserti
+  Messallae, nec scit quantum Cascellius Aulus;
+  Sed tamen in pretio est: mediocribus esse poetis
+  Non homines, non Di, non concessere columnae.
+  Ut gratas inter mensas symphonia discors,
+  Et crassum unguentum, et Sardo cum melle papaver
+  Offendunt, poterat duci quia coena sine istis;
+  Sic animis natum inventumque poema juvandis,
+  Si paulum summo decessit, vergit ad imum.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Ludere qui nescit, campestribus abstinet armis;
+  Indoctusque pilae, discive, trochive, quiescit;
+  Ne spissae risum tollant impune coronae:
+  Qui nescit versus, tamen audet fingere. Quid ni?
+  A _moderate_ proficient in the laws,
+  A _moderate_ defender of a cause,
+  Boasts not Messala's pleadings, nor is deem'd
+  Aulus in Jurisprudence; yet esteem'd:
+  But _middling Poet's, or degrees in Wit,_
+  Nor men, nor Gods, nor niblick-polls admit.
+  At festivals, as musick out of tune,
+  Ointment, or honey rank, disgust us soon,
+  Because they're not essential to the guest,
+  And might be spar'd, Unless the very best;
+  Thus Poetry, so exquisite of kind,
+  Of Pleasure born, to charm the soul design'd,
+  If it fall short but little of the first,
+  Is counted last, and rank'd among the worst.
+  The Man, unapt for sports of fields and plains,
+  From implements of exercise abstains;
+  For ball, or quoit, or hoop, without the skill,
+  Dreading the croud's derision, he sits still:
+  In Poetry he boasts as little art,
+  And yet in Poetry he dares take part:
+  Liber et ingenuus; praesertim census equestrem
+  Summam nummorum, vitioque remotus ab omni.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Tu nihil invita dices faciesve Minerva:
+  Id tibi judicium est, ea mens: si quid tamen olim
+  Scripseris, in Metii descendat judicis aures,
+  Et patris, et nostras; nonumque prematur in annum.
+  Membranis intus positis, delere licebit
+  Quod non edideris: nescit vox missa reverti.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Silvestres homines sacer interpresque Deorum
+  Caedibus et victu foedo deterruit Orpheus;
+  Dictus ob hoc lenire tigres rabidosque leones.
+  Dictus et Amphion, Thebanae conditor arcis,
+  Saxa movere sono testudinis, et prece blanda.
+  And why not? he's a Gentleman, with clear
+  Good forty thousand sesterces a year;
+  A freeman too; and all the world allows,
+  "As honest as the skin between his brows!"
+  Nothing, in spite of Genius, YOU'LL commence;
+  Such is your judgment, such your solid sense!
+  But if you mould hereafter write, the verse
+  To _Metius_, to your _Sire_ to _me_, rehearse.
+  Let it sink deep in their judicious ears!
+  Weigh the work well; _and keep it back nine years_!
+  Papers unpublish'd you may blot or burn:
+  A word, once utter'd, never can return.
+
+  The barb'rous natives of the shaggy wood
+  From horrible repasts, and ads of blood,
+  Orpheus, a priest, and heav'nly teacher, brought,
+  And all the charities of nature taught:
+  Whence he was said fierce tigers to allay,
+  And sing the Savage Lion from his prey,
+  Within the hollow of AMPHION'S shell
+  Such pow'rs of found were lodg'd, so sweet a spell!
+  Ducere quo vellet suit haec sapientia quondam,
+  publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis;
+  concubitu prohibere vago; dare jura maritis;
+  Oppida moliri; leges incidere ligno.
+  Sic honor et nomen divinis vatibus atque
+  Carminibus venit post hos insignis Homerus
+  Tyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bella
+  Versibus exacuit dictae per carmina sortes,
+  Et vitae monstrata via est; et gratia regum
+
+  That stones were said to move, and at his call,
+  Charm'd to his purpose, form'd the Theban Wall.
+  The love of Moral Wisdom to infuse
+  _These_ were the Labours of THE ANCIENT MUSE.
+  "To mark the limits, where the barriers stood
+  'Twixt Private Int'rest, and the Publick Good;
+  To raise a pale, and firmly to maintain
+  The bound, that fever'd Sacred from Profane;
+  To shew the ills Promiscuous Love should dread,
+  And teach the laws of the Connubial Bed;
+  Mankind dispers'd, to Social Towns to draw;
+  And on the Sacred Tablet grave the Law."
+  Thus fame and honour crown'd the Poet's line;
+  His work immortal, and himself divine!
+  Next lofty Homer, and Tyrtaeus strung
+  Their Epick Harps, and Songs of Glory sung;
+  Sounding a charge, and calling to the war
+  The Souls that bravely feel, and nobly dare,
+  In _Verse_ the Oracles their sense make known,
+  In Verse the road and rule of life is shewn;
+  Pieriis tentata modis, ludusque repertus,
+  Et longorum operum finis j ne forte pudori
+  Sit tibi Musa lyne folers, et cantor Apollo,
+
+  Natura sieret laudabile carmen, an arte,
+  Quaesitum ess. Ego nec studium sine divite vena,
+  Nec rude quid possit video ingenium: alterius sic
+  Altera poscit opem res, et conjurat amice.
+  Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam,
+  Multa tulit fecitque puer; sudavit et alsit;
+  Abstinuit venere et vino, qui Pythia cantat
+  _Verse_ to the Poet royal favour brings,
+  And leads the Muses to the throne of Kings;
+  _Verse_ too, the varied Scene and sports prepares,
+  Brings rest to toil, and balm to all our cares.
+  deem then with rev'rence of the glorious fire,
+  breath'd by the muse, the mistress of the lyre!
+  blush not to own her pow'r, her glorious flame;
+  nor think Apollo, lord of song, thy shame!
+
+  Whether good verse of Nature is the fruit,
+  Or form'd by Art, has long been in dispute.
+  But what can Labour in a barren foil,
+  Or what rude Genius profit without toil?
+  The wants of one the other must supply
+  Each finds in each a friend and firm ally.
+  Much has the Youth, who pressing in the race
+  Pants for the promis'd goal and foremost place,
+  Suffer'd and done; borne heat, and cold's extremes,
+  And Wine and Women scorn'd, as empty dreams,
+
+  Tibicen, didicit prius, extimuitque magistrum.
+  Nunc satis est dixisse, Ego mira poemata pango:
+  Occupet extremum scabies: mihi turpe relinqui est,
+  Et quod non didici, sane nescire sateri.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Ut praeco, ad merces turbam qui cogit emendas;
+  Assentatores jubet ad lucrum ire poeta
+  Dives agris, dives positis in foenore nummis.
+  Si vero est, unctum qui recte ponere possit,
+  Et spondere levi pro paupere, et eripere artis
+  Litibus implicitum; mirabor, si sciet inter--
+  Noscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum.
+  The Piper, who the Pythian Measure plays,
+  In fear of a hard matter learnt the lays:
+  But if to desp'rate verse I would apply,
+  What needs instruction? 'tis enough to cry;
+  "I can write Poems, to strike wonder blind!
+  Plague take the hindmost! Why leave _me_ behind?
+  Or why extort a truth, so mean and low,
+  That what I have not learnt, I cannot know?"
+
+  As the sly Hawker, who a sale prepares,
+  Collects a croud of bidders for his Wares,
+  The Poet, warm in land, and rich in cash,
+  Assembles flatterers, brib'd to praise his trash.
+  But if he keeps a table, drinks good wine,
+  And gives his hearers handsomely to dine;
+  If he'll stand bail, and 'tangled debtors draw
+  Forth from the dirty cobwebs of the law;
+  Much shall I praise his luck, his sense commend,
+  If he discern the flatterer from the friend.
+  Tu seu donaris seu quid donare voles cui;
+  Nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum
+  Laetitiae; clamabit enim, Pulchre, bene, recte!
+  Pallescet; super his etiam stillabit amicis
+  Ex oculis rorem; saliet; tundet pede terram.
+  Ut qui conducti plorant in funere, dicunt
+  Et faciunt prope plura dolentibus ex animo: sic
+  Derisor vero plus laudatore movetur.
+  Reges dicuntur multis urgere culullis,
+  Et torquere mero quem perspexisse laborant
+  An sit amicitia dignus: si carmina condes,
+  Nunquam te fallant animi sub vulpe latentes.
+  Quintilio si quid recitares: Corrige sodes
+  Hoc, aiebat, et hoc: melius te posse negares
+  Is there a man to whom you've given aught?
+  Or mean to give? let no such man be brought
+  To hear your verses! for at every line,
+  Bursting with joy, he'll cry, "Good! rare! divine!"
+  The blood will leave his cheek; his eyes will fill
+  With tears, and soon the friendly dew distill:
+  He'll leap with extacy, with rapture bound;
+  Clap with both hands; with both feet beat the ground.
+  As mummers, at a funeral hir'd to weep,
+  More coil of woe than real mourners keep,
+  More mov'd appears the laugher in his sleeve,
+  Than those who truly praise, or smile, or grieve.
+  Kings have been said to ply repeated bowls,
+  Urge deep carousals, to unlock the souls
+  Of those, whose loyalty they wish'd to prove,
+  And know, if false, or worthy of their love:
+  You then, to writing verse if you're inclin'd,
+  Beware the Spaniel with the Fox's mind!
+
+  Quintilius, when he heard you ought recite,
+  Cried, "prithee, alter _this_! and make _that _right!"
+  Bis terque expertum frustra? delere jubebat,
+  Et male ter natos incudi reddere versus.
+  Si defendere delictum, quam vortere, malles;
+  Nullum ultra verbum, aut operam insumebat inanem,
+  Quin sine rivali teque et tua folus amares.
+
+  Vir bonus et prudens versus reprehendet inertes;
+  Culpabit duros; incomptis allinet atrum
+  Transverso calamo signum; ambitiosa recidet
+  Ornamenta; parum claris lucem dare coget;
+  Arguet ambigue dictum; mutanda notabit;
+  Fiet Aristarchus; non dicet, Cur ego amicum
+  Offendam in nugis? Hae migae feria ducent
+  But if your pow'r to mend it you denied,
+  Swearing that twice and thrice in vain you tried;
+  "Then blot it out! (he cried) it must be terse:
+  Back to the anvil with your ill-turn'd verse!"
+  Still if you chose the error to defend,
+  Rather than own, or take the pains to mend,
+  He said no more; no more vain trouble took;
+  But left you to admire yourself and book.
+
+  The Man, in whom Good Sense and Honour join,
+  Will blame the harsh, reprove the idle line;
+  The rude, all grace neglected or forgot,
+  Eras'd at once, will vanish at his blot;
+  Ambitious ornaments he'll lop away;
+  On things obscure he'll make you let in day,
+  Loose and ambiguous terms he'll not admit,
+  And take due note of ev'ry change that's fit,
+  A very ARISTARCHUS he'll commence;
+  Not coolly say--"Why give my friend offence?
+  These are but trifles!"--No; these trifles lead
+  To serious mischiefs, if he don't succeed;
+  In mala derisum semel, exceptumque sinistre,
+  Ut mala quem scabies aut morbus regius urget,
+  Aut fanaticus error, et iracunda Diana;
+  Vesanum tetigisse timent fugiuntque poetam,
+  Qui sapiunt: agitant pueri, incautique sequuntur.
+  Hic, dum sublimis versus ructatur, et errat,
+  Si veluti menilis intentus decidit auceps
+  In puteum, soveamve; licet, Succurrite, longum
+  Clamet, in cives: non sit qui tollere curet.
+  Si curet quis opem serre, et demittere sunem;
+  Qui scis, an prudens huc se projecerit, atque
+  Servari nolet? dicam: Siculique poetae
+  Narrabo interitum.
+
+  While the poor friend in dark disgrace sits down,
+  The butt and laughing-stock of all the town,
+  As one, eat up by Leprosy and Itch,
+  Moonstruck, Posses'd, or hag-rid by a Witch,
+  A Frantick Bard puts men of sense to flight;
+  His slaver they detest, and dread his bite:
+  All shun his touch; except the giddy boys,
+  Close at his heels, who hunt him down with noise,
+  While with his head erect he threats the skies,
+  Spouts verse, and walks without the help of eyes;
+  Lost as a blackbird-catcher, should he pitch
+  Into some open well, or gaping ditch;
+  Tho' he call lustily "help, neighbours, help!"
+  No soul regards him, or attends his yelp.
+  Should one, too kind, to give him succour hope,
+  Wish to relieve him, and let down a rope;
+  Forbear! (I'll cry for aught that you can tell)
+  By sheer design he jump'd into the well.
+  He wishes not you should preserve him, Friend!
+  Know you the old Sicilian Poet's end?
+  Deus immortalis haberi.
+
+  Dum cupit Empedocles, ardeatem frigidus aetnam
+  Infiluit. sit fas, liceatque perire poetis.
+  Invitum qui fervat, idem facit occidenti.
+  Nec semel hoc fecit; nec si retractus erit jam,
+  Fiet homo, et ponet famosae mortis amorem.
+  Nec fatis apparet, cur versus factitet; utrum
+  Minxerit in patrios cineres, an triste bidental
+  Moverit incestus: certe furit, ac velut ursus
+  Objectos caveae valuit e srangere clathros,
+
+  *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Empedocles, ambitious to be thought
+  A God, his name with Godlike honours fought,
+  Holding a worldly life of no account,
+  Lead'p coldly into aetna's burning mount.---
+  Let Poets then with leave resign their breath,
+  Licens'd and priveleg'd to rush on death!
+  Who gives a man his life against his will,
+  Murders the man, as much as those who kill.
+  'Tis not once only he hath done this deed;
+  Nay, drag him forth! your kindness wo'n't succeed:
+  Nor will he take again a mortal's shame,
+  And lose the glory of a death of fame.
+  Nor is't apparent, _why_ with verse he's wild:
+  Whether his father's ashes he defil'd;
+  Whether, the victim of incestuous love,
+  The Blasted Monument he striv'd to move:
+  Whate'er the cause, he raves; and like a Bear,
+  Burst from his cage, and loose in open air,
+  Indoctum doctumque fugat recitator acerbus.
+  Quem vero arripuit, tenet, occiditque legendo,
+  Non miffura cutem, nisi plena cruroris, hirudo.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Learn'd and unlearn'd the Madman puts to flight,
+  They quick to fly, he bitter to recite!
+  What hapless soul he seizes, he holds fast;
+  Rants, and repeats, and reads him dead at last:
+  Hangs on him, ne'er to quit, with ceaseless speech.
+  Till gorg'd and full of blood, a very Leech!
+
+
+
+
+
+Notes on the EPISTLE to the PISOS Notes
+
+I have referred the Notes to this place, that the reader might be left
+to his genuine feelings, and the natural impression on reading the
+Epistle, whether adverse or favourable to the idea I ventured to
+premise, concerning its Subject and Design. In the address to my learned
+and worthy friends I said little more than was necessary so open my
+plan, and to offer an excuse for my undertaking. The Notes descend to
+particulars, tending to illustrate and confirm my hypothesis; and adding
+occasional explanations of the original, chiefly intended for the use
+of the English Reader. I have endeavoured, according to the best of my
+ability, to follow the advice of Roscommon in the lines, which I have
+ventured to prefix to these Notes. How far I may be entitled to the
+_poetical blessing_ promised by the Poet, the Publick must determine:
+but were I, avoiding arrogance, to renounce all claim to it, such an
+appearance of _Modesty_ would includes charge of _Impertinence_ for
+having hazarded this publication._Take pains the_ genuine meaning _to
+explore!_
+
+  There sweat, there strain, tug the laborious oar:
+  _Search ev'ry comment_, that your care can find;
+  Some here, some there, may hit the Poet's mind:
+  Yet be not blindly guided by the _Throng_;
+  The Multitude is always in the _Wrong_.
+  When things appear _unnatural_ or _hard_,
+  _Consult your_ author, _with_ himself compar'd!
+  Who knows what Blessing Phoebus may bestow,
+  And future Ages to your labour owe?
+  Such _Secrets_ are not easily found out,
+  But once _discoverd_, leave no room for doubt.
+  truth stamps _conviction_ in your ravish'd breast,
+  And _Peace_ and _Joy_ attend _the_ glorious guest.
+
+
+
+Essay on Translated Verse ART of POETRY, an EPISTLE, &c.
+
+Q. HORATII FLACCI EPISTOLA AD PISONES.
+
+The work of Horace, now under consideration, has been so long known, and
+so generally received, by the name of The Art of Poetry, that I have, on
+account of that notoriety, submitted this translation to the Publick,
+under that title, rather than what I hold to be the true one, viz.
+Horace's Epistle to The Pisos. The Author of the English Commentary has
+adopted the same title, though directly repugnant to his own system;
+and, I suppose, for the very same reason.
+
+The title, in general a matter of indifference, is, in the present
+instance, of much consequence. On the title Julius Scaliger founded his
+invidious, and injudicious, attack. De arte quares quid sentiam. Quid?
+eqvidem quod de arte, sine arte tradita. To the Title all the editors,
+and commentators, have particularly adverted; commonly preferring the
+Epistolary Denomination, but, in contradiction to that preference,
+almost universally inscribing the Epistle, the Art of Poetry. The
+conduct, however, of Jason De Nores, a native of Cyprus, a learned and
+ingenious writer of the 16th century, is very remarkable. In the year
+1553 he published at Venice this work of Horace, accompanied with a
+commentary and notes, written in elegant Latin, inscribing it, after
+Quintilian, Q. Horatii Flacci Liber De Arte Poetica. [Foot note: I think
+it right to mention that I have never seen the 1st edition, published
+at Venice. With a copy of the second edition, printed in Paris, I was
+favoured by Dr. Warton of Winchester.] The very-next year, however,
+he printed at Paris a second edition, enriching his notes with many
+observations on Dante and Petrarch, and changing the title, after mature
+consideration, to _Q. Horatii Flacii_ EPISTOLA AD PISONES, _de Arte
+Poetica._ His motives for this change he assigns in the following terms.
+
+_Quare adductum me primum sciant ad inscriptionem operis immutandam non
+levioribus de causis,& quod formam epistolae, non autem libri, in quo
+praecepta tradantur, vel ex ipso principio prae se ferat, & quod in
+vetustis exemplaribus Epistolarum libros subsequatur, & quad etiam summi
+et praestantissimi homines ita sentiant, & quod minime nobis obstet
+Quintiliani testimonium, ut nonnullis videtur. Nam si librum appellat
+Quintilianus, non est cur non possit inter epistolas enumerari, cum et
+illae ab Horatio in libros digestae fuerint. Quod vero DE ARTE POETICA
+idem Quintilianus adjangat, nihil commaveor, cum et in epistolis
+praecepta de aliqua re tradi possint, ab eodemque in omnibus pene, et
+in iis ad Scaevam & Lollium praecipue jam factum videatur, in quibus
+breviter eos instituit, qua ratione apud majores facile versarentur._
+
+Desprez, the Dauphin Editor, retains both titles, but says, inclining to
+the Epistolary, _Attamen artem poeticam vix appellem cum Quintiliano et
+aliis: malim vero epistolam nuncupare cum nonnullis eruditis._ Monsieur
+Dacier inscribes it, properly enough, agreable to the idea of Porphyry,
+Q. Horatii Flacci DE ARTE POETICA LIBER; feu, EPISTOLA AD PISONES,
+patrem, et filios._
+
+Julius Scaliger certainly stands convicted of critical malice by his
+poor cavil at _the supposed title_; and has betrayed his ignorance of
+the ease and beauty of Epistolary method, as well as the most gross
+misapprehension, by his ridiculous analysis of the work, resolving it
+into thirty-six parts. He seems, however, to have not ill conceived the
+genius of the poem, in saying that _it relished satire_. This he has
+urged in many parts of his Poeticks, particularly in the Dedicatory
+Epistle to his son, not omitting, however, his constant charge of _Art
+without Art_. Horatius artem cum inscripsit, adeo sine ulla docet arte,
+ut satyrae propius totum opus illud esse videatur. This comes almost
+home to the opinion of the Author of the elegant commentaries on the two
+Epistles of Horace to the Pisos and to Augustus, as expressed in the
+Dedication to the latter: With the recital of that opinion I shall
+conclude this long note. "The genius of Rome was bold and elevated: but
+Criticism of any kind, was little cultivated, never professed as an
+_art_, by this people. The specimens we have of their ability in this
+way (of which the most elegant, beyond all dispute, are the two epistles
+to _Augustus_ and the _Pisos_) _are slight occasional attempts_, made in
+the negligence of common sense, _and adapted to the peculiar exigencies
+of their own taste and learning_; and not by any means the regular
+productions of _art_, professedly bending itself to this work, and
+ambitious to give the last finishing to the critical system."
+
+[_Translated from Horace._] In that very entertaining and instructive
+publication, entitled _An Essay on the Learning and Genius of Pope_,
+the Critick recommends, as the properest poetical measure to render in
+English the Satires and Epistles of Horace, that kind of familiar blank
+verse, used in a version of Terence, attempted some years since by the
+Author of this translation. I am proud of the compliment; yet I have
+varied from the mode prescribed: not because Roscommon has already given
+such a version; or because I think the satyrical hexameters of Horace
+less familiar than the irregular lambicks of Terence. English Blank
+Verse, like the lambick of Greece and Rome, is peculiarly adapted to
+theatrical action and dialogue, as well as to the Epick, and the more
+elevated Didactick Poetry: but after the models left by Dryden and Pope,
+and in the face of the living example of Johnson, who shall venture to
+reject rhime in the province of Satire and Epistle?
+
+
+
+9.--TRUST ME, MY PISOS!] _Credite Pisones!_
+
+Monsieur Dacier, at a very early period, feels the influence of _the
+personal address_, that governs this Epistle. Remarking on this passage,
+he observes that Horace, anxious to inspire _the Pisos _with a just
+taste, says earnestly _Trust me, my Pisos! Credite Pisones! _an
+expression that betrays fear and distrust, lest _the young Men _should
+fall into the dangerous error of bad poets, and injudicious criticks,
+who not only thought the want of unity of subject a pardonable effect
+of Genius, but even the mark of a rich and luxuriant imagination.
+And although this Epistle, continues Monsieur Dacier, is addressed
+indifferently to Piso the father, and his Sons, as appears by v. 24 of
+the original, yet it is _to the sons in particular _that these precepts
+are directed; a consideration which reconciles the difference mentioned
+by Porphyry. _Scribit ad Pisones, viros nobiles disertosque, patrem et
+filios; vel, ut alii volunt,_ ad pisones fratres.
+
+Desprez, the Dauphin Editor, observes also, in the same strain, Porro
+_scribit Horatius ad patrem et ad filios Pisones, _praesertim vero ad
+hos.
+
+The family of the _Pisos_, to whom Horace addresses this Epistle, were
+called Calpurnii, being descended from Calpus, son of Numa Pompilius,
+whence, he afterwards stiles them _of the Pompilian Blood. Pompilius
+Sanguis! _
+
+10.--THE VOLUME SUCH] Librum _persimilem. Liber_, observes Dacier, is a
+term applied to all literary productions, of whatever description. This
+remark is undoubtedly just, confirms the sentiments of Jason de Nores,
+and takes off the force of all the arguments founded on Quintilian's
+having stiled his Epistle LIBER de _arte poetica_.
+
+Vossius, speaking of the censure of Scaliger, "_de arte, sine arte_,"
+subsoins sed fallitur, cum [Greek: epigraphaen] putat esse ab Horatio;
+qui inscipserat EPISTOLAM AD PISONES. Argumentum vero, ut in Epistolarum
+raeteris, ita in bac etiam, ab aliis postea appositum fuit.
+
+
+
+l9.----OFT WORKS OF PROMISE LARGE, AND HIGH ATTEMPT.] Incaeptis gra-
+nibus plerumque, &c. Buckingham's _Essay on Poetry_, Roscommon's _Essay
+on Translated Verse_, as well as the Satires, and _Art Poetique_ of
+Boileau, and Pope's _Essay on Criticism_, abound with imitations of
+Horace. This passage of our Author seems to have given birth to the
+following lines of Buckingham.
+
+  'Tis not a slash of fancy, which sometimes,
+  Dazzling our minds, sets off the slighted rhimes;
+  Bright as a blaze, but in a moment done;
+  True Wit is everlasting, like the Sun;
+  Which though sometimes behind a cloud retir'd,
+  Breaks out again, and is the more admir'd.
+
+The following lines of Pope may perhaps appear to bear a nearer
+resemblance this passage of Horace.
+
+  Some to _Conceit_ alone their taste confine,
+  And glitt'ring thoughts struck out at ev'ry line;
+  Pleas'd with a work where nothing's just or fit;
+  One glaring chaos, and wild heap of wit.
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+49.---Of th' Aemilian class ] _Aemilium circa ludum_--literally, near
+the Aemilian School; alluding to the Academy of Gladiators of Aemilius
+Lentulus, in whose neighbourhood lived many Artists and Shopkeepers.
+
+This passage also is imitated by Buckingham.
+
+  Number and Rhime, and that harmonious found,
+  Which never _does_ the ear with _harshness_ wound,
+  Are _necessary_, yet but _vulgar_ arts;
+  For all in vain these superficial parts
+  Contribute to the structure of the whole
+  Without a _Genius_ too; for that's the _Soul_:
+  A _Spirit_ which inspires the work throughout
+  As that of _Nature_ moves the world about.
+
+  _Essay on Poetry._
+
+
+Pope has given a beautiful illustration of this thought,
+
+  Survey THE WHOLE, nor seek slight faults to find
+  Where nature moves, and rapture warms the mind;
+  In wit, as Nature, what affects our hearts,
+  Is not th' exactness of peculiar parts;
+  'Tis not a lip, or eye, we beauty call,
+  But the joint force and full result of all.
+  Thus when we view some well-proportion'd dome,
+  (The world's just wonder, and ev'n thine, O Rome!)
+  No single parts unequally surprise,
+  All comes united to th' admiring eyes;
+  No monstrous height, or breadth, or length appear;
+  THE WHOLE at once is bold and regular.
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+56.--SELECT, ALL YE WHO WRITE, A SUBJECT FIT] _Sumite materiam, &c._
+
+This passage is well imitated by Roscommon in his Essay on Translated
+Verse.
+
+  The first great work, (a task perform'd by few)
+  Is, that _yourself_ may to _yourself_ be true:
+  No mask, no tricks, no favour, no reserve!
+  _Dissect_ your mind, examine ev'ry _nerve_.
+  Whoever vainly on his strength depends,
+  _Begins_ like Virgil, but like Maevius _ends_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Each poet with a different talent writes,
+  One _praises_, one _instructs_, another _bites_.
+  Horace did ne'er aspire to Epick Bays,
+  Nor lofty Maro stoop to Lyrick Lays.
+  Examine how your _humour_ is inclin'd,
+  And which the ruling passion of your mind:
+  Then, seek a Poet who your way does bend,
+  And chuse an Author as you chuse a friend.
+  United by this sympathetick bond,
+  You grow familiar, intimate, and fond;
+  Your thoughts, your words your stiles, your Souls agree,
+  No longer his _interpreter_, but _He_.
+
+_Stooping_ to Lyrick Lays, though not inapplicable to some of the
+lighter odes of Horace, is not descriptive of the general character of
+the Lyrick Muse. _Musa dedit Fidibus Divas &c._
+
+
+Pope takes up the same thought in his Essay on Criticism.
+
+  Be sure yourself and your own reach to know,
+  How far your genius, taste, and learning go;
+  Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet,
+  And mark that point where sense and dulness meet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Like Kings we lose the conquests gain'd before,
+  By vain ambition still to make them more:
+  Each might his servile province well command,
+  Would all but stoop to what they understand.
+
+
+
+
+71.--_A cunning phrase_.] _Callida junctura_.
+
+_Jason de Nores_ and many other interpreters agree that Horace here
+recommends, after Aristotle, the artful elevation of style by the use
+of common words in an uncommon sense, producing at once an air of
+familiarity and magnificence. Some however confine the expression,
+_callida junctura_, to signify _compound words_. The Author of the
+English Commentary adopts the first construction; but considers the
+precept in both senses, and illustrates each by many beautiful examples
+from the plays of Shakespeare. These examples he has accompanied with
+much elegant and judicious observation, as the reader of taste will be
+convinced by the following short extracts.
+
+"The writers of that time had so _latinized_ the English language, that
+the pure _English Idiom_, which Shakespeare generally follows, has all
+the air of _novelty_, which other writers are used to affect by foreign
+phraseology.--In short, the articles here enumerated are but so many
+ways of departing from the usual and simpler forms of speech, without
+neglecting too much the grace of ease and perspicuity; in which
+well-tempered licence one of the greatest charms of all poetry, but
+especially of Shakespeare's poetry, consists. Not that he was always and
+every where so happy. His expression sometimes, and by the very means,
+here exemplified, becomes _hard_, _obscure_, and _unnatural_. This is
+the extreme on the other side. But in general, we may say, that He hath
+either followed the direction of Horace very ably, or hath hit upon his
+rule very happily."
+
+
+
+
+76.--THE STRAIT-LAC'D CETHEGI.] CINCTUTIS _Cethegis_. Jason de Nores
+differs, and I think very justly, from those who interpret _Cinctutis_
+to signify _loose_, _bare_, or _naked_--EXERTOS & NUDOS. The plain sense
+of the radical word _cingo_ is directly opposite. The word _cinctutis_
+is here assumed to express a severity of manners by an allusion to an
+antique gravity of dress; and the Poet, adds _de Nores_, very happily
+forms a new word himself, as a vindication and example of the licence
+he recommends. Cicero numbers M. Corn. Cethegus among the old Roman
+Orators; and Horace himself again refers to the Cethegi in his Epistle
+to Florus, and on the subject of the use of words.
+
+  _Obscurata diu papula bonus eruet, atque_
+  Proseret in lucem speciosa vocabula rer*um;
+  ***need a Latin speaker to check this out***
+  _Quae priscis memorata_ CATONIBUS _atque_ CETHEGIS,
+  Nunc situs informis premit & deserta vetustas;
+  Adsciscet nova quae genitor produxerit usus.
+
+  Mark where a bold expressive phrase appears,
+  Bright thro' the rubbish of some hundred years;
+  Command _old words_ that long have slept, to wake,
+  Words, that wife Bacon, or brave Raleigh spake;
+  Or bid _the new_ be English, ages hence,
+  For Use will father what's begot by Sense.
+
+  POPE.
+
+
+This brilliant passage of Pope is quoted in this place by the author of
+that English Commentary, who has also subjoined many excellent remarks on
+_the revival of old words_, worthy the particular attention of those
+who cultivate prose as well as poetry, and shewing at large, that "the
+riches of a language are actually increased by retaining its old words:
+and besides, they have often _a greater real weight and dignity_, than
+those of a more _fashionable_ cast, which succeed to them. This needs
+no proof to such as are versed in the earlier writings of any
+language."--"_The growing prevalency of a very different humour_, first
+catched, as it should seem, from our commerce with the French Models,
+_and countenanced by the too scrupulous delicacy of some good writers
+amongst ourselves, bad gone far towards unnerving the noblest modern
+language, and effeminating the public taste_."--"The rejection of _old
+words_, as _barbarous_, and of many modern ones, as unpolite," had so
+exhausted the _strength_ and _stores_ of our language, that it was high
+time for some master-hand to interpose, and send us for supplies to _our
+old poets_; which there is the highest authority for saying, no one ever
+despised, but for a reason, not very consistent with his credit to avow:
+_rudem esse omnino in nostris poetis, aut inertissimae nequitiae est,
+aut fastidii delicatissimi.-- Cic. de fin._ 1. i. c. 2.
+
+[As woods endure, &c.] _Ut silvae foliis_, &c. Mr. Duncombe, in his
+translation of our Author, concurs with Monsieur Dacier in observing
+that "Horace seems here to have had in view that fine similitude of
+Homer in the sixth book of the Iliad, comparing the generations of men
+to the annual succession of leaves.
+
+  [Greek:
+  Oipaeer phyllon genehn, toiaede ch ahndron.
+  phylla ta mehn t anemohs chamahdis cheei, ahllah de thula
+  Taeletheasa phyei, earos depigigyel(*)ai orae
+  Oz andron genen. aemen phnei, aeh dahpolaegei.]
+
+  "Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
+  Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
+  Another race the following spring supplies,
+  They fall successive, and successive rise:
+  So generations in their turns decay;
+  So flourish these, when those are past away."
+
+The translator of Homer has himself compared words to leaves, but in
+another view, in his Essay on Criticism.
+
+  Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,
+  Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.
+
+In another part of the Essay he persues the same train of thought with
+Horace, and rises, I think, above his Master.
+
+  Short is the date, alas, of modern rhymes,
+  And 'tis but just to let them live betimes.
+  No longer now that golden age appears,
+  When Patriarch-wits surviv'd a thousand years;
+  Now length of Fame (our second life) is lost,
+  And bare threescore is all ev'n that can boast;
+  Our sons their father's failing language see,
+  And such as Chaucer is, shall Dryden be.
+  So when the faithful pencil has design'd
+  Some bright idea of the Master's mind,
+  Where a new world leaps out at his command,
+  And ready Nature waits upon his hand;
+  When the ripe colours soften and unite,
+  And sweetly melt into just shade and light;
+  When mellowing years their full perfection give,
+  And each bold figure just begins to live;
+  The treach'rous colours the fair art betray,
+  And all the bright creation fades away!
+
+  _Essay an Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+95.--WHETHER THE SEA, &c.] _Sive receptus, &c._
+
+This may be understood of any harbour; but it is generally interpreted
+to refer to the _Portus Julius_, a haven formed by letting in the sea
+upon the _Lucrine Lake_, and forming a junction between that and the
+Lake _Avernus_; a work, commenced by Julius Caesar, and compleated by
+Augustus, or Agrippa under his auspices. _Regis opus!_ Both these
+lakes (says Martin) were in Campania: the former was destroyed by an
+earthquake; but the latter is the present _Lago d'Averno_. Strabo, the
+Geographer, who, as well as our Poet, was living at the time, ascribes
+this work to Agrippa, and tells us that the Lucrine bay was separated
+from the Tyrrhene sea by a mound, said to have been first made by
+Hercules, and restored by Agrippa. Philargyrius says that a storm arose
+at the time of the execution of this great work, to which Virgil seems
+to refer in his mention of this Port, in the course of his Panegyrick on
+Italy in the second Georgick.
+
+  An memorem portus Lucrinoque addita claustra,
+  Atque indignatem magnis strideribus aequor,
+  Julia qua ponto longe sonat unda refuso,
+  Tyrrbenusque fretis immittitur aeflut AVERNIS?
+
+  Or shall I praise thy Ports, or mention make
+  Of the vast mound, that binds the Lucrine Lake?
+  Or the disdainful sea, that, shut from thence,
+  Roars round the structure, and invades the fence;
+  There, where secure the Julian waters glide,
+  Or where Avernus' jaws admit the Tyrrhene tide?
+DRYDEN.
+
+
+
+
+98.--WHETHER THE MARSH, &c. Sterilisve Palus.]
+
+THE PONTINE MARSH, first drained by the Consul Cornelius Cethegus; then,
+by Augustus; and many, many years after by Theodorick.
+
+
+
+
+102.--OR IF THE RIVER, &c.] _Sen cursum, &c._ The course of the _Tyber,_
+changed by Augustus, to prevent inundations.
+
+
+
+
+110.--FOR DEEDS OF KINGS, &c.] Res gestae regumque, &c.
+
+The ingenious author of the English Commentary, to whom I have so
+often referred, and to whom I must continue to refer, has discovered
+particular taste, judgement, and address, in his explication of this
+part of the Epistle. runs thus.
+
+"From reflections on poetry, at large, he proceeds now to particulars:
+the most obvious of which being the different forms and measures of
+poetick composition, he considers, in this view, [from v. 75 to 86] the
+four great species of poetry, to which all others may be reduced, the
+Epick, Elegiack, Dramatick, and Lyrick. But the distinction of the
+measure, to be observed in the several species is so obvious, that there
+can scarcely be any mistake about them. The difficulty is to know [from
+v. 86 to 89] how far each may partake of the spirit of the other,
+without destroying that natural and necessary difference, which ought
+to subsist betwixt them all. To explain this, which is a point of great
+nicety, he considers [from v. 89 to 99] the case of Dramatick Poetry;
+the two species of which are as distinct from each other, as any two
+can be, and yet there are times, when the features of the one will be
+allowed to resemble those of the other.--But the Poet had a further view
+in choosing this instance. For he gets by this means into the main of
+his subject, which was Dramatick Poetry, and, by the most delicate
+transition imaginable, proceeds [from 89 to 323] to deliver a series
+of rules, interspersed with historical accounts, _and enlivened by
+digressions_, for the regulation of the Roman stage."
+
+It is needless to insist, that my hypothesis will not allow me to concur
+entirely in the latter part of this extract; at least in that latitude,
+to which; the system of the writer carries it: yet I perfectly agree
+with Mr. Duncombe, that the learned Critick, in his observations on this
+Epistle, "has shewn, in general, the connection and dependence of one
+part with another, in a clearer light than any other Commentator." His
+shrewd and delicate commentary is, indeed, a most elegant contrast to
+the barbarous analysis of Scaliger, drawn up without the least idea of
+poetical transition, and with the uncouth air of a mere dry logician, or
+dull grammarian. I think, however, the _Order_ and _Method_, observed
+in this Epistle, is stricter than has yet been observed, and that the
+series of rules is delivered with great regularity; NOT _enlivened
+by digressions_, but passing from one topick to another, by the most
+natural and easy transitions. The Author's discrimination of the
+different stiles of the several species of poetry, leads him, as has
+been already shewn, to consider the diction of the Drama, and its
+accommodation to the _circumstances_ and _character_ of the Speaker. A
+recapitulation of these _circumstances_ carries him to treat of the due
+management of _characters already known_, as well as of sustaining those
+that are entirely _original_; to the first of which the Poet gives
+the preference, recommending _known_ characters, as well as _known_
+subjects: And on the mention of this joint preference, the Author leaves
+further consideration of _the_ diction, and slides into discourse upon
+the fable, which he continues down to the 152d verse.
+
+  Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet,
+  Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.
+
+Having dispatched the fable, the Poet proceeds, and with some Solemnity
+of Order, to the consideration of the characters; not in regard to
+suitable _diction_, for of that he has already spoken, but in respect to
+_the manners_; and, in this branch of his subject, he has as judiciously
+borrowed from _the Rhetoricks_ of Aristotle, as in the rest of his
+Epistle from the _Poeticks_. He then directs, in its due place, the
+proper conduct of particular incidents _of the fable_; after which he
+treats of _the_ chorus; from whence he naturally falls into the history
+of theatrical musick; which is, as naturally, succeeded by an account of
+the Origin of _the Drama_, itself, which the Poet commences, like master
+Aristotle, even from the Dithyrambick Song, and carries it down to the
+establishment of the New Greek Comedy; from whence he passes easily
+and gracefully, to _the_ Roman stage, acknowledging the merits of the
+Writers, but pointing out their defects, and assigning the causes.
+He then subjoins a few general observations, and concludes his long
+discourse on _the_ drama, having extended it to 275 lines. This
+discourse, together with the result of all his reflections on Poets and
+Poetry, he then applies in the most earnest and _personal_ manner to the
+elder Piso; and with a long and most pathetick _peroration_, if I may
+adopt an oratorical term, concludes the Epistle.
+
+
+
+
+116.--THE ELEGY'S SMALL SONG.] EXIGUOS _Elegos_.
+
+Commentators differ concerning the import of this expression--exiguos
+_Elegos_, the _Elegy's_ small _song_. De Nores, Schrevelius, and
+Desprez, think it refers to the humility of the elegiack stile and
+subjects, compared with epick or lyrick sublimity. Monsieur Dacier
+rather thinks that Horace refers here, as in the words _Versibus
+impariter junctis,_ "Couplets unequal," to the use of pentameter, or
+short verse, consisting of five feet, and joined to the hexameter, or
+long verse, of six. This inequality of the couplet Monsieur Dacier
+justly prefers to the two long Alexandrines of his own country, which
+sets almost all the French poetry, Epick, Dramatick, Elegiack, or
+Satyrick, to the tune of Derry Down. In our language, the measures are
+more various, and more happily conceived. Our Elegy adopts not only
+_unequal couplets_, but _alternate rhymes_, which give a plaintive tone
+to the heroick measure, and are most happily used in Gray's beautiful
+_Elegy in a Country Church yard.
+
+
+
+
+135.--THY FEAST, THYESTES!] Caena Thyestae.
+
+The story of Thyestes being of the most tragick nature, a banquet on his
+own children! is commonly interpreted by the Criticks, as mentioned by
+Horace, in allusion to Tragedy in general. The Author of the English
+Commentary, however, is of a different opinion, supposing, from a
+passage of Cicero, that the Poet means to glance at the _Thyestes of
+Ennius,_ and to pay an oblique compliment to Varius, who had written a
+tragedy on the same subject.
+
+The same learned Critick also takes it for granted, that the Tragedy of
+Telephus, and probably of _Peleus_, after-mentioned, point at tragedies
+of Euripedes, on these subjects, translated into Latin, and accomodated
+to the Roman Stage, without success, by _Ennius, Accius, or Naevius_.
+
+One of this Critick's notes on this part of the Epistle, treating on the
+use of _pure poetry_ in the Drama, abounds with curious disquisition and
+refined criticism.
+
+
+
+
+150.--_They must have_ passion _too_.] dulcia _sunto_. The Poet,
+with great address, includes the sentiments under the consideration of
+diction.
+
+  --_Effert animi motus_ interprete lingua.
+  _Forces expression from the_ faithful tongue.
+
+Buckingham has treated the subject of Dialogue very happily in his Essay
+on Poetry, glancing, but not servilely, at this part of Horace.
+
+  _Figures of Speech_, which Poets think so fine,
+  Art's needless varnish to make Nature shine,
+  Are all but _Paint_ upon a beauteous face,
+  And in _Descriptions_ only claim a place.
+  But to make _Rage declaim_, and _Grief discourse_,
+  From lovers in despair _fine_ things to _force_,
+  Must needs succeed; for who can chuse but pity
+  A _dying_ hero miserably _witty_?
+
+
+
+
+201.----BE NOT YOUR OPENING FIERCE!] _Nec sic incipies_, Most of the
+Criticks observe, that all these documents, deduced from _the Epick_,
+are intended, like the reduction of the Iliad into acts, as directions
+and admonition to the _Dramatick_ writer. _Nam si in_ EPOPaeIA, _que
+gravitate omnia poematum generae praecellit, ait principium lene esse
+debere; quanto magis in_ tragoedia _et_ comoedia, _idem videri debet_?
+says de Nores. _Praeceptum de intio grandiori evitaado, quod tam_ epicus
+_quam_ tragicus _cavere debet_; says the Dauphin Editor. _Il faut se
+souvenir qu' Horace appliqae a la Tragedie les regies du Poeme Epique.
+Car si ces debuts eclatans sont ridicules dans la Poeme Epique, ils
+le sont encore plus dans la Tragedie_: says Dacier. The Author of the
+English Commentary makes the like observation, and uses it to enforce
+his system of the Epistle's being intended as a Criticism on the Roman
+drama. [ xviii] 202---Like _the rude_ ballad-monger's _chant of old_]
+_ut scriptor_ cyclicus olim.] _Scriptor_ cyclicus signisies an itinerant
+Rhymer travelling, like Shakespeare's Mad Tom, to wakes, and fairs, and
+market-towns. 'Tis not precisely known who was the Cyclick Poet here
+meant. Some have ascribed the character to Maevius, and Roscommon has
+adopted that idea.
+
+  Whoever vainly on his _strength_ depends,
+  Begins like Virgil, but like Maevius ends:
+  That Wretch, in spite of his forgotten rhimes,
+  Condemn'd to live to all succeeding times,
+  With _pompous nonsense_, and a _bellowing sound_,
+  Sung _lofty Ilium_, _tumbling_ to the _ground_,
+  And, if my Muse can thro' past ages fee,
+  That _noisy, nauseous_, gaping fool was _he_;
+  Exploded, when, with universal scorn,
+  The _Mountains labour'd_, and a _Mouse_ was born.
+
+_Essay on Translated Verse_.
+
+
+The pompous exordium of Statius is well known, and the fragments of
+Ennius present us a most tremendous commencement of his Annals.
+
+  horrida romoleum certamina pango duellum!
+  this is indeed to split our ears asunder
+  With guns, drums, trumpets, blunderbuss, and thunder!
+
+
+
+
+211.--Say, Muse, the Man, &c.] Homer's opening of the Odyssey. his rule
+is perhaps no where so chastely observed as in _the Paradise Lost_.
+Homer's [Greek: Maenin aeide thea]! or, his [Greek: Andra moi
+ennepe,Mgsa]! or, Virgil's _Arma, Urumque cano_! are all boisterous and
+vehement, in comparison with the calmness and modesty of Milton's meek
+approach,
+
+Of Man's first disobedience, &c.
+
+
+
+
+2l5.--_Antiphates, the Cyclops, &c_].- _Antiphatem, Scyllamque, & cum
+Cyclope Charybdim_. Stories, that occur in the Odyssey. 218-19--Diomed's
+return--the Double Egg.]
+
+The return of Diomede is not mentioned by Homer, but is said to be the
+subject of a tedious Poem by Antimachus; and to Stasimus is ascribed a
+Poem, called the Little Iliad, beginning with the nativity of Helen.
+
+
+
+
+227.--Hear now!] _Tu, quid ego, &c._
+
+This invocation, says Dacier justly, is not addressed to either of the
+Pisos, but to the Dramatick Writer generally.
+
+
+
+
+229.---The Cloth goes down.] _Aulaea manentis._ This is translated
+according to modern manners; for with the Antients, the Cloth was raised
+at the Conclusion of the Play. Thus in Virgil's Georgicks;
+
+  Vel scena ut versis disceedat frontibus, atque
+  Purpurea intexti tollant aulaea Britanni.
+
+  Where the proud theatres disclose the scene;
+  Which interwoven Britons seem to _raise;_
+  And shew the triumph which their _shame_ displays.
+
+  Dryden
+
+
+
+
+230.--Man's several ages, &c.] _aetatis cujusque, &c._ Jason Demores
+takes notice of the particular stress, that Horace lays on the due
+discrimination of the several Ages, by the solemnity with which he
+introduces the mention of them: The same Critick subjoins a note also,
+which I shall transcribe, as it serves to illustrate a popular passage
+in the _As you Like It_ of Shakespeare.
+
+  All the world's a stage,
+  And all the men and women merely players;
+  They have their _exits_ and their entrances,
+  And one man in his time plays many parts:
+  His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
+  Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms:
+  And then, the whining school-boy with his satchel,
+  And shining morning-face, creeping like snail
+  Unwillingly to school. And then, the lover;
+  Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
+  Made to his mistress' eye-brow. Then, a soldier;
+  Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
+  Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel;
+  Seeking the bubble reputation
+  Even in the cannon's mouth. And then, the justice
+  In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd
+  With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
+  Full of wise saws and modern instances,
+  And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
+  Into the lean and flipper'd pantaloon,
+  With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side;
+  His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide
+  For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
+  Turning again toward childish treble, pipes,
+  And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
+  That ends this strange eventful history,
+  Is second childishness, and mere oblivion,
+  Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
+
+_Animadverti_ a plerisque _hominis aetatem_ in septem divisam esse
+partes, infantiam, pueritiam, adolescentiam, juventutem, virilitatem,
+senectutem, & _ut ab illis dicitur_, decrepitatem. _In hac vero parte
+nihil de_ infantiae _moribus Horatius, cum nihil ea aetas praeter
+vagitum habeat proprium, ideoque infantis persona minime in scena induci
+possit, quod ipsas rerum voces reddere neque dum sciat, neque
+valeat. Nihil de moribus item hujus aetatis, quam, si latine licet_,
+decrepitatem _vocabimus_, quae aetas quodammodo infantiae respondet:
+_de_ juventute _autem_ & adolescentia _simul pertractat, quod et
+studiis, et natura, & voluntate, parum, aut nihil inter se differant.
+Aristoteles etiam in libris ad Theodectem omisit_ & pueritiam, &
+_merito; cum minime apud pueros, vel de pueris sit orator habiturus
+orationem. Ille enim ad hoc ex aetate personarum differentiam adhibet,
+ut instituat oratorem, quomodo morata uti debeat oratione, id est, eorum
+moribus, apud quos, & de quibus loquitur, accommodata._
+
+It appears from hence, that it was _common_ for the writers of that
+time, as well as Shakespeare's Jaques, to divide the life of Man into
+seven ages, viz. _Infancy, Childhood, Puberty, Youth, Manhood, Old Age_,
+and _Decrepitude_; "which last, (says Denores) in some sort answers to
+Infancy," or, as Shakespeare expresses it, IS second childishness.
+
+"Before Shakespeare's time," says Warburton, "_seven acts_ was no unusual
+division of a play, so that there is a greater beauty than appears at
+first sight in this image." Mr. Steevens, however, informs us that the
+plays of that early period were not divided into acts at all. It is most
+probable therefore that Shakespeare only copied the moral philosophy
+(the _Socraticae chartae_) of his own day, adapting it, like Aristotle
+and Horace, to his own purpose; and, I think, with more felicity, than
+either of his illustrious predecessors, by contriving to introduce, and
+discriminate, _every one of_ the seven ages. This he has effected
+by assigning station and character to some of the stages, which to
+Aristotle and Horace appeared too similar to be distinguished from
+each other. Thus puberty, youth, manhood, and old age, become under
+Shakespeare's hand, _the_ lover, _the_ soldier, _the_ justice, and the
+lean and flipper'd pantaloon; while the _natural qualities_ of the
+infant, the boy, and the dotard, afford sufficient materials for
+poetical description.
+
+
+
+
+262.--_Thus_ years advancing _many comforts bring,
+     and_ flying _bear off many on their wing_.]
+
+  _Multa ferunt_ anni venientes _commoda secum,
+  multa_ recedentes _adimunt_.
+
+Aristotle considers the powers of the body in a state of advancement
+till the 35th year, and the faculties of the mind progressively
+improving till the 49th; from which periods they severally decline. On
+which circumstance, applied to this passage of Horace, Jason de Nores
+elegantly remarks, _Vita enim nostra videtur ad_ virilitatem _usque,
+qua_ in statu _posita est_, quendam quasi pontem _aetatis_ ascendere,
+_ab eaque inde_ descendere. Whether Addison ever met with the commentary
+of De Nores, it is perhaps impossible to discover. But this idea of
+_the_ ascent _and_ declivity _of the_ bridge _of_ human life, strongly
+reminds us of the delightful _vision of_ mirza.
+
+
+
+
+288.--_An actor's part_ the Chorus _should sustain_.] _Actoris partes_
+Chorus, &c.
+
+"See also _Aristotle_ [Greek*: oes. ooiaet. k. iae.] The judgment of two
+such critics, and the practice of wise antiquity, concurring to
+establish this precept concerning the Chorus, it should thenceforth, one
+would think, have become a fundamental rule and maxim of the stage. And
+so indeed it appeared to some few writers. The most admired of the
+French tragic poets ventured to introduce it into two of his latter
+plays, and with such success that, as one observes, _It should, in all
+reason, have disabused his countrymen on this head: l'essai heureux de
+M. Racine, qui les [choeurs] a fait revivre dans_ athalie _et dans
+_esther_, devroit, il semble, nous avoir detrompez sur cet article._ [P.
+Brumoi, vol. i. p. 105.] And, before him, our _Milton_, who, with his
+other great talents, possessed a supreme knowledge of antiquity, was so
+struck with its use and beauty, as to attempt to bring it into our
+language. His _Sampson Agonistes_ was, as might be expected, a master-
+piece. But even his credit hath not been sufficient to restore the
+Chorus. Hear a late Professor of the art declaring, _De _Choro _nihil
+disserui, quia non est essentialis dramati, atque a neotericis penitus_,
+et, me judice, merito repudiatur. [Prael. Poet. vol. ii. p. 188.] Whence
+it hath come to pass that the chorus hath been thus neglected is not now
+the enquiry. But that this critic, and all such, are greatly out in
+their judgments, when they presume to censure it in the ancients, must
+appear (if we look no further) from the double use, insisted on by the
+poet, For, 1. A _chorus _interposing, and bearing a part in the progress
+of the action, gives the representation that _probability_, [Footnote:
+_Quel avantage ne peut il [le poete] pas tirer d'une troupe d'acteurs,
+qui remplissent sa scene, qui rendant plus sense la continuite de
+l'action qui la sont paroitre VRAISEMBLABLE puisqu'il n'est pas naturel
+qu'elle sa passe sans point. On ne sent que trop le vuide de notre
+Theatre sans choeurs. &c. _[Les Theatre des Grecs. i. p. 105 ] and
+striking resemblance of real life, which every man of sense perceives,
+and _feels_ the want of upon our stage; a want, which nothing but such
+an expedient as the chorus can possibly relieve. And, 2. The importance
+of its other office [l. 196] to the _utility _of the representation, is
+so great, that, in a moral view, nothing can compensate for this
+deficiency. For it is necessary to the truth and decorum of characters,
+that the _manners_, bad as well as good, be drawn in strong, vivid
+colours; and to that end that immoral sentiments, forcibly expressed and
+speciously maintained, be sometimes _imputed _to the speakers. Hence the
+sound philosophy of the chorus will be constantly wanting, to rectify
+the wrong conclusions of the audience, and prevent the ill impressions
+that might otherwise be made upon it. Nor let any one say, that the
+audience is well able to do this for itself: Euripides did not find even
+an Athenian theatre so quick-sighted. The story is well known, [Sen. Ep.
+115.] that when this painter of the _manners _was obliged, by the rules
+of his art, and the character to be sustained, to put a run of bold
+sentiments in the mouth of one of his persons, the people instantly took
+fire, charging the poet with the _imputed _villainy, as though it had
+been his _own_. Now if such an audience could so easily misinterpret an
+attention to the truth of character into the real doctrine of the poet,
+and this too, when a Chorus was at hand to correct and disabuse their
+judgments, what must be the case, when the _whole _is left to the
+sagacity and penetration of the people? The wiser sort, it is true, have
+little need of this information. Yet the reflexions of sober sense on
+the course and occurrences of the representation, clothed in the noblest
+dress of poetry, and enforced by the joint powers of harmony and action
+(which is the true character of the Chorus) might make it, even to such,
+a no unpleasant or unprofitable entertainment. But these two are a small
+part of the uses of the chorus; which in every light is seen so
+important to the truth, decorum, and dignity of the tragic scene, that
+the modern stage, which hath not thought proper to adopt it, is even,
+with the advantage of, sometimes, the justest moral painting and
+sublimest imagery, but a very faint shadow of the old; as must needs
+appear to those who have looked into the ancient models, or, diverting
+themselves of modern prejudices, are disposed to consult the dictates of
+plain sense. For the use of such, I once designed to have drawn into one
+view the several important benefits arising to the drama from the
+observance of this rule, but have the pleasure to find myself prevented
+by a sensible dissertation of a good French writer, which the reader
+will find in the VIII tom. of the History of the Academy of Inscriptions
+end Belles Lettres.--Or, it may be sufficient to refer the English
+reader to the late tragedies of Elfrida and Caractacus; which do honour
+to modern poetry, and are a better apology, than any I could make, for
+the ancient Chorus.----Notes on the Art of Poetry.
+
+Though it is not my intention to agitate, in this place, the long
+disputed question concerning the expediency, or inexpediency, of the
+Chorus, yet I cannot dismiss the above note without some farther
+observation. In the first place then I cannot think that _the judgment
+of two such Criticks_ as Aristotle and Horace, can be decisively quoted,
+_as concurring with the practice of wise antiquity,_ to establish the
+chorus. Neither of these _two Criticks_ have taken up the question,
+each of them giving directions for the proper conduct of _the Chorus,_
+considered as an established and received part of Tragedy, and indeed
+originally, as they both tell us, _the whole_ of it. Aristotle, in his
+Poeticks, has not said much on the subject and from the little he has
+said, more arguments might perhaps be drawn, in favour of the omission,
+than for the introduction of _the Chorus._ It is true that he says, in
+his 4th chapter, that "Tragedy, after many changes, paused, _having
+gained its natural form:"_ [Greek transliteration: 'pollha': moiazolas
+metazalousa ae tragodia epausto, hepei hesche taen heauiaes phusin]. This
+might, at first sight, seem to include his approbation of the Chorus, as
+well as of all the other parts of Tragedy then in use: but he himself
+expressly tells us in the very same chapter, that he had no such
+meaning, saying, that "to enquire whether Tragedy be perfect in its
+parts, either considered in itself, or with relation to the theatre, was
+foreign to his present purpose." [Greek: To men oun epischopein,
+eiapa echei aedae hae tragodia tois ikanos, ae ou, auto te kath auto
+krinomenon, kai pros ta theatra, allos logos.]
+
+In the passage from which Horace has, in the verses now before us,
+described the office, and laid down the duties of the CHORUS, the
+passage referred to by the learned Critick, the words of Aristotle are
+not particularly favourable to the institution, or much calculated to
+recommend the use of it. For Aristotle there informs us, "that Sophocles
+alone of all the Grecian writers, made _the_ CHORUS conducive to the
+progress of the fable: not only even Euripides being culpable in this
+instance; but other writers, after the example of Agathon, introducing
+Odes as little to the purpose, as if they had borrowed whole scenes from
+another play."
+
+[Greek: Kai ton chorus de ena dei upolazein tan upochriton. Kai morion
+einai tch olch, chai sunagonis*e  mae osper par Euripidae, all osper
+para Sophochlei. Tois de loipois ta didomena mallon ta muthch, ae allaes
+Tragadias esi di o emzolima adchoi, protch arxanto Agrathonos tch
+toichtch Kai tch diaphsrei, ae aemzot ma adein, ae raesin ex allch eis
+allo armotteen, ae eteitodion oleos [per. poiaet. ch. iii.]]
+
+On the whole therefore, whatever may be the merits, or advantages of
+_the_ CHORUS, I cannot think that the judgment of Aristotle or Horace
+can be adduced as recommendation of it. As to _the probability given
+to the representation, by CHORUS interposing and bearing a part in the
+action;_ the Publick, who have lately in a troop of singers assembled on
+the stage, as a Chorus, during the whole of presentations of Elfrida
+and Caractacus, are competent to decide for themselves, how far such an
+expedient, gives a more _striking resemblance of human life,_ than the
+common usage of our Drama. As to its importance in a _moral_ view, to
+correct the evil impression of vicious sentiments, _imputed_ to the
+speakers; the story told, to enforce its use for this purpose, conveys
+a proof of its efficacy. To give due force to sentiments, as well as to
+direct their proper tendency, depends on the skill and address of the
+Poet, independent of _the_ Chorus,
+
+Monsieur Dacier, as well as the author of the above note, censures the
+modern stage for having rejected the Chorus, and having lost thereby
+_at least half its probability, and its_ greatest ornament; so that
+our Tragedy is _but a very faint shadow of the_ old. Learned Criticks,
+however, do not, perhaps, consider, that if it be expedient to revive
+_the_ Chorus, all the other parts of the antient Tragedy must be revived
+along with it. Aristotle mentions Musick as one of the six parts of
+Tragedy, and Horace no sooner introduces _the_ CHORUS, but he proceeds
+to _the _pipe _and _lyre. If a Chorus be really necessary, our Dramas,
+like those of the antients, should be rendered wholly _musical_; the
+_Dancers _also will then claim their place, and the pretentions of
+Vestris and Noverre may be admitted as _classical_. Such a spectacle,
+if not more _natural_ than the modern, would at least be consistent; but
+to introduce a groupe of _spectatorial actors_, speaking in one part
+of the Drama, and singing in another, is as strange and incoherent a
+medley, and full as _unclassical_, as the dialogue and airs of _The
+Beggar's Opera!_
+
+
+
+
+290.--_Chaunting no Odes between the acts, that seem_
+      unapt, _or _foreign _to the _general theme.]
+
+     _Nec quid medios, &c._
+
+On this passage the author of the English Commentary thus remarks. "How
+necessary this advice might be to the writers of the Augustan age cannot
+certainly appear; but, if the practice of Seneca may give room for
+suspicion, it should seem to have been much wanted; in whom I scarcely
+believe _there is_ one single instance, _of the _Chorus being employed
+in a manner, consonant to its true end and character."
+
+The learned Critick seems here to believe, and the plays under the name
+of Seneca in some measure warrant the conclusion, that _the _Chorus
+of the Roman Stage was not calculated to answer the ends of its
+institution. Aristotle has told us just the same thing, with an
+exception in favour of Sophocles, of the Grecian Drama. And are such
+surmises, or such information, likely to strengthen our prejudices on
+behalf of _the _CHORUS, or to inflame our desires for its revival?
+
+
+
+
+292.----LET IT TO VIRTUE PROVE A GUIDE AND FRIEND.]
+
+     _Ille bonis saveatque, &c._
+
+"_The Chorus_," says the poet, "_is to take the side of the good and
+virtuous_, i. e. is always to sustain a moral character. But this will
+need some explanation and restriction. To conceive aright of its office,
+we must suppose the _Chorus _to be a number of persons, by some probable
+cause assembled together, as witnesses and spectators of the great
+action of the drama. Such persons, as they cannot be wholly uninterested
+in what passes before them, will very naturally bear some share in
+the representation. This will principally consist in declaring their
+sentiments, and indulging their reflexions freely on the several events
+and mistresses as they shall arise. Thus we see the _moral_, attributed
+to the Chorus, will be no other than the dictates of plain sense; such
+as must be obvious to every thinking observer of the action, who is
+under the influence of no peculiar partialities from _affection_ or
+_interest_. Though even these may be supposed in cases, where the
+character, towards which they _draw_, is represented as virtuous."
+
+"A Chorus, thus constituted, must always, it is evident, take the part of
+virtue; because this is the natural and almost necessary determination
+of mankind, in all ages and nations, when acting freely and
+unconstrained." _Notes on the Art of Poetry._
+
+
+
+
+297.--FAITHFUL AND SECRET.]--_Ille tegat commissa._
+
+On this _nice part_ of the duty of _the_ CHORUS the author of the
+English Commentary thus remarks.
+
+"This important advice is not always easy to be followed. Much indeed
+will depend on the choice of the subject, and the artful constitution
+of the fable. _Yet, with all his care, the ablest writer will sometimes
+find himself embarrassed by the_ Chorus. i would here be understood to
+speak chiefly of the moderns. For the antients, though it has not been
+attended to, had some peculiar advantages over us in this respect,
+resulting from the principles and practices of those times. For, as it
+hath been observed of the ancient epic Muse, that she borrowed much of
+her state and dignity from the false _theology_ of the pagan world,
+so, I think, it may be justly said of the ancient tragic, that she has
+derived great advantages of probability from its mistaken _moral_. If
+there be truth in this reflection, it will help to justify some of the
+ancient choirs, that have been most objected to by the moderns."
+
+After two examples from Euripides; in one of which the trusty CHORUS
+conceals the premeditated _suicide_ of Phaedra; and in the other abets
+Medea's intended _murder of her children_, both which are most ably
+vindicated by the Critick; the note concludes in these words.
+
+"In sum, though these acts of severe avenging justice might not be
+according to the express letter of the laws, or the more refined
+conclusions of the PORCH or ACADEMY; yet there is no doubt, that they
+were, in the general account, esteemed fit and reasonable. And, it is to
+be observed, in order to pass a right judgment on the ancient Chorus,
+that, though in virtue of their office, they were obliged universally
+to sustain a moral character; yet this moral was rather political and
+popular, than strictly legal or philosophic. Which is also founded on
+good reason. The scope and end of the ancient theatre being to serve
+the interests of virtue and society, on the principles and sentiments,
+already spread and admitted amongst the people, and not to correct old
+errors, and instruct them in philosophic truth."
+
+One of the censurers of Euripides, whose opinion is controverted in
+the above note, is Monsieur Dacier; who condemns _the_ CHORUS in this
+instance, as not only violating their _moral_ office, but _transgressing
+the laws_ of Nature _and of_ God, _by a fidelity_; so vicious _and_
+criminal, _that these women_, [_the_ Chorus!] _ought to fly away in
+the Car of Medea, to escape the punishment due to them_. The Annotator
+above, agrees with the Greek Scholiast, that _the Corinthian women (the_
+Chorus) _being free_, properly desert the interests of Creon, and keep
+Medea's secrets, _for the sake of justice_, according to their custom.
+Dacier, however, urges an instance of their _infidelity_ in the ION of
+Euripides, where they betray the secret of Xuthus to Creusa, which the
+French Critick defends on account of their attachment to their mistress;
+and adds, that the rule of Horace, like other rules, is proved by the
+exception. "Besides (continues the Critick in the true spirit of French
+gallantry) should we so heavily accuse the Poet for not having made _an
+assembly of women_ keep a secret?" _D'ailleurs, peut on faire un si
+grand crime a un poete, de n'avoir pas fait en sorte qu'une troupe
+de femmes garde un secret?_ He then concludes his note with blaming
+Euripides for the perfidy of Iphigenia at Tauris, who abandons these
+faithful guardians of her secret, by flying alone with Orestes, and
+leaving them to the fury of Thoas, to which they must have been exposed,
+but for the intervention of Minerva.
+
+On the whole, it appears that the _moral importance_ of _the_ CHORUS
+must be considered _with some limitations_: or, at least, that _the_
+CHORUS is as liable to be misused and misapplied, as any part of modern
+Tragedy.
+
+
+
+
+300.--_The_ pipe _of old_.]--_Tibi, non ut nunc, &c._
+
+"This, says the author of the English Commentary, is one of those many
+passages in the epistle, about which the critics have said a great deal,
+without explaining any thing. In support of what I mean to offer, as the
+true interpretation, I observe,
+
+"That the poet's intention certainly was not to censure the _false_
+refinements of their stage-music; but, in a short digressive history
+(such as the didactic form will sometimes require) to describe the rise
+and progress of the _true_. This I collect, I. From _the expression
+itself_; which cannot, without violence, be understood in any other way.
+For, as to the words _licentia_ and _praeceps_, which have occasioned
+much of the difficulty, the _first_ means a _freer use_, not a
+_licentiousness_, properly so called; and the _other_ only expresses a
+vehemence and rapidity of language, naturally productive of a quicker
+elocution, such as must of course attend the more numerous harmony of
+the lyre:--not, as M. Dacier translates it, _une eloquence temeraire et
+outree_, an extravagant straining and affectation of style. 2. From _the
+reason of the thing_; which makes it incredible, that the music of the
+theatre should then be most complete, when the times were barbarous, and
+entertainments of this kind little encouraged or understood. 3. From
+_the character of that music itself_; for the rudeness of which, Horace,
+in effect, apologizes in defending it only on the score of the imperfect
+state of the stage, and the simplicity of its judges."
+
+The above interpretation of this part of the Epistle is, in my opinion,
+extremely just, and exactly corresponds with the explication of De
+Nores, who censures Madius for an error similar to that of Dacier. _Non
+recte sentire videtur Madius, dum putat potius_ in Romanorum luxuriam_
+invectum horatium, quam_ de melodiae incremento _tractasse_.
+
+The musick, having always been a necessary appendage to _the_ Chorus,
+I cannot (as has already been hinted in the note on I. 100 of this
+version) confider the Poet's notice of the Pipe and Lyre, as a
+_digression_, notwithstanding it includes a short history of the rude
+simplicity of the Musick in the earlier ages of Rome, and of its
+subsequent improvements. _The_ Chorus too, being originally _the whole_,
+as well as afterwards a legitimate _part_ of Tragedy, the Poet naturally
+traces the Drama from its origin to its most perfect state in Greece;
+and afterwards compares its progress and improvements with the Theatre
+of his own country. Such is, I think, the natural and easy _method_
+pursued by Horace; though it differs in some measure from the _order_
+and _connection_ pointed out by the author of the English Commentary.
+
+
+
+
+314.--For what, alas! could the unpractis'd ear
+      Of rusticks revelling o'er country cheer,
+      A motley groupe; high, low; and froth, and scum,
+      Distinguish but shrill squeak, and dronish hum?
+      --_Indoctus quid enim saperet, liberque laborum,
+      Rusticus urbano confusus, turpis honesto?_
+
+These lines, rather breaking in upon the continuity of the history of
+theatrical musick, _create_ some obscurity, which has given birth, to
+various interpretations. The author of the English Commentary, who
+always endeavours to dive to the very bottom of his subject, understands
+this couplet of Horace as a _sneer_ on those grave philosophers, who
+considered these _refinements_ of the musick as _corruptions_. He
+interprets the passage at large, and explains the above two lines in
+these words. "Nor let it be objected than this _freer harmony_ was
+itself an abuse, a corruption of the severe and _moral_ musick
+of antient times. Alas! we were not as yet so _wise_, to see the
+inconveniences of this improvement. And how should we, considering the
+nature and end of these theatrical entertainments, and the sort of men
+of which our theatres were made up?"
+
+This interpretation is ingenious; but Jason De Nores gives, I think,
+a more easy and unforced explanation of this difficult passage, by
+supposing it to refer (by way of _parenthesis_) to what had just been
+said of the original rude simplicity of the Roman theatrical musick,
+which, says the Poet, was at least as polished and refined as the taste
+of the audience. This De Nores urges in two several notes, both which I
+shall submit to the reader, leaving it to him to determine how far I am
+to be justified in having adapted my version to his interpretation.
+
+The first of these notes contains at large his reproof of Madius for
+having, like Dacier, supposed the Poet to censure the improvements that
+he manifestly meant to commend.
+
+_Quare non recte videtur sentire Madius, dum putat potius in Romanorum
+luxuriam invectum Horatium, quam de melodiae incremento tractasse,
+cum_ seipsum interpretans, _quid fibi voluerit per haec, luce clarius,
+ostendat,_
+
+  Tibia non ut nunc orichalco vincta, tubaeque AEmula. Et,
+  Sic priscae motumque, & luxuriam addidit arti
+  Tibicen, traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem:
+  Sic etiam fidibus voces crevere feveris,
+  Et tulit eloquium infolitum fecundia praeceps.
+
+_Ad quid enim tam longa digressione extra, rem propositam in Romanos
+inveberetur, cum de iis nihil aliud dicat, quam eos genio ac
+valuptatibus indulgere: cum potius_ veteres Romanos insimulare
+videatur ionorantiae, quod ignoraverint soni et musices venustatem et
+jucunditatem, illa priori scilicet incondita et rudi admodum contenti,
+_dum ait_; Indoctus quid enim saperet, liberque laborum, Rusticus urbano
+confusus, turpis honesto?
+
+The other note is expressly applied by way of comment on this passage
+itself.
+
+[Indoctus quidenim saperet?] Reddit rationem quasiper digressionem,
+occurrens tacitae objectioni quare antea apud Romanos musica melodia
+parva aut nulla pene fuerat: quia, inquit, indocti ignarique rerum
+omnium veteres illi nondum poterant judicare de melodia, utpote apud eos
+re nova, atque inufitata, neque illius jucunditatem degustare, quibus
+verbis imperitiam eorum, rusticatatemque demonstrat.
+
+Upon the whole De Nores appears to me to have given the true sense of
+the passage. I am no friend to licentious transpositions, or arbitrary
+variations, of an author's text; yet I confess, I was strongly tempted,
+in order to elucidate his perplexed passage, to have carried these two
+lines of Horace four lines back, and to have inserted them immediately
+after the 207th verse.
+
+  _Et frugi, castus, verecundusque coibat._
+
+The English reader, who wishes to try the experiment, is desired to read
+the four lines, that compose my version, immediately after the 307th
+line,
+
+  _With modest mirth indulg'd their sober taste._
+
+
+
+
+3l8.--The Piper, _grown luxuriant in his art._]
+
+
+
+
+320.--_Now too, its powers increas'd_, The Lyre severe.]
+
+  Sic priscae--arti
+  tibicen, &c.
+  sic fidibus, &c.
+
+"This is the application of what hath been said, in general, concerning
+the refinement of theatrical music to the case of _tragedy_. Some
+commentators say, and to _comedy._ But in this they mistake, as will
+appear presently. M. _Dacier_ hath I know not what conceit about a
+comparison betwixt the _Roman_ and _Greek_ stage. His reason is, _that
+the lyre was used in the Greek chorus, as appears, he says, from
+Sophocles himself playing upon this instrument himself in one of his
+tragedies._ And was it not used too in the Roman chorus, as appears from
+Nero's playing upon it in several tragedies? But the learned critic
+did not apprehend this matter. Indeed from the caution, with which his
+guides, the dealers in antiquities, always touch this point, it should
+seem, that they too had no very clear conceptions of it. The case I take
+to have been this: The _tibia_, as being most proper to accompany the
+declamation of the acts, _cantanti fuccinere_, was constantly employed,
+as well in the Roman tragedy as comedy. This appears from many
+authorities. I mention only two from Cicero. _Quam multa_ [Acad. 1. ii.
+7.] _quae nos fugiunt in cantu, exaudiunt in eo genere exercitati: Qui,
+primo inflatu Tibicinis, Antiopam esse aiunt aut Andromacham, cum nos
+ne suspicemur quidem_. The other is still more express. In his piece
+entitled _Orator_, speaking of the negligence of the Roman writers, in
+respect of _numbers_, he observes, _that there were even many passages
+in their tragedies, which, unless the_ TIBIA _played to them, could not
+be distinguished from mere prose: quae, nisi cum Tibicen accesserit,
+orationi sint solutae simillima._ One of these passages is expressly
+quoted from _Thyestes_, a tragedy of _Ennius_; and, as appears from
+the measure, taken out of one of the acts. It is clear then, that the
+_tibia_ was certainly used in the _declamation_ of tragedy. But now the
+song of the tragic chorus, being of the nature of the ode, of course
+required _fides_, the lyre, the peculiar and appropriated instrument
+of the lyric muse. And this is clearly collected, if not from express
+testimonies; yet from some occasional hints dropt by the antients. For,
+1. the lyre, we are told, [Cic. De Leg. ii. 9. & 15.] and is agreed
+on all hands, was an instrument of the Romon theatre; but it was not
+employed in comedy, This we certainly know from the short accounts of
+the music prefixed to Terence's plays. 2. Further, the _tibicen_, as
+we saw, accompanied the declamation of the acts in tragedy. It remains
+then, that the proper place of the lyre was, where one should naturally
+look for it, in the songs of the chorus; but we need not go further than
+this very passage for a proof. It is unquestionable, that the poet is
+here speaking of the chorus only; the following lines not admitting
+any other possible interpretation. By _fidibus_ then is necessarily
+understood the instrument peculiarly used in it. Not that it need be
+said that the _tibia_ was never used in the chorus. The contrary seems
+expressed in a passage of Seneca, [Ep. ixxxiv.] and in Julius Pollux
+[1. iv. 15. Sec. 107.] It is sufficient, if the _lyre_ was used solely, or
+principally, in it at this time. In this view, the whole digression is
+more pertinent, and connects better. The poet had before been speaking
+of tragedy. All his directions, from 1. 100, respect this species of the
+drama only. The application of what he had said concerning music, is
+then most naturally made, I. to the _tibia_, the music of the acts; and,
+2. to _fides_, that of the choir: thus confining himself, as the tenor
+of this part required, to tragedy only. Hence is seen the mistake, not
+only of M. Dacier, whose comment is in every view insupportable; but, as
+was hinted, of Heinsius, Lambin, and others, who, with more probability,
+explained this of the Roman comedy and tragedy. For, though _tibia_
+might be allowed to stand for comedy, as opposed to _tragoedia_, [as in
+fact, we find it in 1. ii. Ep. I. 98,] that being the only instrument
+employed in it; yet, in speaking expressly of the music of the stage,
+_fides_ could not determinately enough, and in contradistinction to
+_tibia_, denote that of tragedy, it being an instrument used solely,
+or principally, in the chorus; of which, the context shews, he alone
+speaks. It is further to be observed, that, in the application here
+made, besides the music, the poet takes in the other improvements of the
+tragic chorus, these happening, as from the nature of the thing they
+would do, at the same tine. _Notes on the Art of Poetry._
+
+
+
+
+3l9.--with dance and flowing vest embellishes his part.]
+
+  _Traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem._
+
+"This expresses not only the improvement arising from the ornament of
+proper dresses, but from the grace of motion: not only the _actor_,
+whose peculiar office it was, but the _minstrel_ himself, as appears
+from hence, conforming his gesture in some sort to the music.
+
+"Of the use and propriety of these gestures, or dances, it will not be
+easy for us, who see no such things attempted on the modern stage, to
+form any very clear or exact notions. What we cannot doubt of is,
+1. That the several theatrical dances of the antients were strictly
+conformable to the genius of the different species of composition, to
+which they were applied. 2. That, therefore, the tragic dance, which
+more especially accompanied the Chorus, must have been expressive of
+the highest gravity and decorum, tending to inspire ideas of what is
+_becoming, graceful, and majestic;_ in which view we cannot but perceive
+the important assistance it must needs lend to virtue, and how greatly
+it must contribute to set all her graces and attractions in the fairest
+light. 3. This idea of the ancient tragic dance, is not solely formed
+upon our knowledge of the conformity before-mentioned; but is further
+collected from the name usually given to it, which was [Greek
+transliteration: Emmeleia] This word cannot well be translated into our
+language; but expresses all that grace and concinnity of motion, which
+the dignity of the choral song required. 4. Lastly, it must give us a
+very high notion of the moral effect of this dance, when we find the
+severe Plato admitting it into his commonwealth. _Notes on the Art of
+Poetry._"
+
+  326--he who the prize, a filthy goat, to gain,
+  at first contended in the tragick strain.
+  _Carmine qui tragico, vilem certavit ob bircum._
+
+If I am not greatly deceived, all the Editors, and Commentators on this
+Epistle, have failed to observe, that the _historical_ part of it,
+relative to the Graecian Drama, commences at this verse; all of them
+supposing it to begin, 55 lines further in the Epistle, on the mention
+of Thespis; whom Horace as early, as correctly, describes to be the
+first _improver_, not _inventor_ of Tragedy, _whose_ original he marks
+_here._ Much confusion has, I think, arisen from this oversight, as I
+shall endeavour to explain in the following notes; only observing this
+place, that the Poet, having spoken particularly of all the parts of
+Tragedy, now enters with the strictest _order_, and greatest propriety,
+into its general history, which, by his strictures on the chorus, he
+most elegantly, as well as forcibly, connects with his subject, taking
+occasion to speak _incidentally_ of other branches of the Drama,
+particularly the satyre, and the Old Comedy
+
+
+
+
+323--_Soon too--tho' rude, the graver mood unbroke,_
+     Stript the rought satyrs, _and essay'd a joke.
+     Mox etiam_ agrestes saytros, &c.
+
+"It is not the intention of these notes to retail the accounts of
+others. I must therefore refer the reader, for whatever concerns the
+history of the satiric, as I have hitherto done of the tragic and comic
+drama, to the numerous dissertators on the ancient stage; and, above
+all, so the case before us, to the learned Casaubon; from whom all that
+hath been said to any purpose, by modern writers, hath been taken. Only
+it will be proper to observe one or two particulars, which have been
+greatly misunderstood, and without which if will be impossible, in any
+tolerable manner, to explain what follows.
+
+"I. The design of the poet, in these lines, is not to fix the origin of
+the satyric piece, in ascribing the invention of it to Thespis. This
+hath been concluded, without the least warrant from his own words, which
+barely tell us, 'that the representation of tragedy was in elder Greece
+followed by the _satires;_' and indeed the nature of the thing, as well
+as the testimony of all antiquity, shews it to be impossible. For the
+_satire_ here spoken of is, in all respects, a regular drama, and
+therefore could not be of earlier date than the times of Aeschylus,
+when the constitution of the drama was first formed. It is true indeed,
+there was a kind of entertainment of much greater antiquity, which by
+the antients is sometimes called _satyric,_ out of which (as Aristotle
+assures us) tragedy itself arose, [Greek: *illegible] But then
+this was nothing but a chorus of satyrs [Athenaeus, 1. xiv.] celebrating
+the festivals of _Bacchus,_ with rude songs and uncouth dances; and had
+little resemblance to that which was afterwards called _satiric;_ which,
+except that it retained the chorus of satyrs, and turned upon some
+subject relative to Bacchus, was of a quite different structure, and, in
+every respect, as regular a composition as tragedy itself."
+
+"II. There is no doubt but the poem, here distinguished by the name of
+satyri, was in actual use on the Roman stage. This appeals from the turn
+of the poet's whole criticism upon it. Particularly, his address to the
+Pisos, 1. 235 and his observation of the offence which a loose dialogue
+in this drama would give to a _Roman_ auditory, 1. 248, make it evident
+that he had, in fact, the practice of his own stage in view."
+
+"III. For the absolute merit of these satires, the reader will judge
+of it himself by comparing the Cyclops, the only piece of this kind
+remaining to us from antiquity, with the rules here delivered by Horace.
+Only it may be observed, in addition to what the reader will find
+elsewhere [_n._ 1. 223.] apologized in its favour, that the double,
+character of the satires admirably fitted it, as well for a sensible
+entertainment to the wise, as for the sport and diversion of the vulgar.
+For, while the grotesque appearance and jesting vein of these fantastic
+personages amused the one, the other saw much further; and considered
+them, at the same time, as replete with science, and informed by a
+spirit of the most abstruse wisdom. Hence important lessons of civil
+prudence, interesting allusions to public affairs, or a high, refined
+moral, might, with the highest probability, be insinuated, under the
+slight cover of a rustic simplicity. And from this instructive cast,
+which from its nature must be very obscure, if not impenetrable, to us
+at this day, was, I doubt not, derived the principal pleasure which the
+antients found in this species of the drama. If the modern reader would
+conceive any thing of the nature and degree of this pleasure, he may
+in part guess at it, from reflecting on the entertainment he himself
+receives from the characters of the clowns in Shakespeare; _who_, as the
+poet himself hath characterized them, _use their folly, like a stalking
+horse, and, under the presentation of that, shoot their wit._" [_As you
+like it._]--_Notes on the Art of Poetry._ [Footnote: This, and all the
+extracts, which are quoted, _Notes on the Art of Poetry_, are taken from
+the author of the English Commentary. ]
+
+This learned note, I think, sets out with a misapprehension of the
+meaning of Horace, by involving his _instructions_ on the Satyrick
+drama, with his account of its _Origin_. Nor does he, in the most
+distant manner, insinuate, tho' Dacier has asserted the same thing, that
+_the_ satyrs owed their first introduction to _Thespis_; but relates,
+that the very Poets, who contended in _the Goat-Song_, to which tragedy
+owes its name, finding it too solemn and severe an entertainment for
+their rude holiday audience, interspersed the grave strains of tragedy
+with comick and _satyrical_ Interludes, producing thereby a kind of
+medley, something congenial to what has appeared on our own stage, under
+the name of Tragi-comedy. Nor, if I am able to read and comprehend the
+context, so the words of Horace tell us, "that the representation of
+Tragedy was, in 'elder Greece,' _followed_ by _the_ satyrs." The Satyrs
+composed a part of the Tragedy in its infancy, as well as in the days
+of Horace, if his own words may be quoted as authority. On any other
+construction, his directions, concerning* the conduct of the _God_ or
+_Hero_ of the piece, are scarcely reconcilable to common sense; and it
+is almost impossible to mark their being incorporated with the Tragedy,
+in more expressive terms or images, than by his solicitude to prevent
+their broad mirth from contaminating its dignity or purity._Essutire
+leves indigna_ tragaedia _versus ut sestis matrona moveri jussa diebus,_
+intererit satyris _paulum pudibunda_ protervis.
+
+_The_ cyclops of Euripides, the only Satyrick drama extant, written at
+a much later period, than that of which Horace speaks in this place,
+cannot, I think, convey to us a very exact idea of _the Tragick
+Pastorals_, whose _origin_ he here describes. _The_ cyclops, scarce
+exceeding 700 lines, might be played, according to the idea of some
+criticks, after another performance: but that cannot, without the
+greatest violence to the text, be supposed of the Satyrick piece here
+mentioned by Horace. The idea of _farces_, or _after-pieces_, tho' an
+inferior branch of the Drama, is, in fact, among the refinements of
+an improved age. The writers of an early period throw their dramatick
+materials, serious and ludicrous, into one mass; which the critical
+chymistry of succeeding times separates and refines. The modern stage,
+like the antient, owed its birth to the ceremonies of Religion. From
+_Mysteries_ and _Moralities_, it proceeded to more regular Dramas,
+diversifying their serious scenes, like _the_ Satyrick poets, with
+ludicrous representations. This desire of _variety_ was one cause of the
+agrestes satyros. _Hos autem loco chori introductor intelligit, non, us
+quidam volunt, in ipsa tragoedia, cum praesertim dicat factum, ut grata
+novitate detinerentur spectatores: quod inter unum & alterum actum sit,
+chori loco. in tragoedia enim ipsa, cum flebilis, severa, ac gravis sit,
+non requiritur bujusmodi locorum, ludorumque levitas, quae tamen inter
+medios actus tolerari potest, & boc est quod ait, incolumi gravitate.
+Ea enim quae funt, quaeve dicuntur inter medios actus, extra tragordiam
+esse intelligentur, neque imminuunt tragoedioe gravi*tem._--DE NORES.
+
+The distinction made by _De Nores_ of _the satyrs_ not making a part of
+the tragedy, but barely appearing between the acts, can only signify,
+that the Tragick and Comick Scenes were kept apart from each other. This
+is plain from his laying that they held the place of the Chorus; not
+sustaining their continued part in the tragick dialogue, but filling
+their chief office of singing between the acts. The antient Tragedy was
+one continued representation, divided into acts by the Chant of _the
+CHORUS_; and, otherwise, according to modern ideas, forming _but one
+act_, without any interruption of the performance.
+
+
+These antient Satyrick songs, with which the antient Tragedians
+endeavoured to enliven the Dithyrambicks, gave rise to two different
+species of poetry. Their rude jests and petulant raillery engendered
+_the Satire_; and their sylvan character produced _the Pastoral_.
+
+
+
+328.--THO' RUDE, THE GRAVER MOOD UNBROKE--
+  Stript the rough Satyrs, and ESSAYED A JOKE
+
+  --Agrestes Satyros nudavis, & asper,
+  INCOLUMI GRAVITATE, jocum tentavit.
+
+"It hath been shewn, that the poet could not intend, in these lines, to
+_fix the origin of the satiric drama_. But, though this be certain, and
+the dispute concerning that point be thereby determined, yet it is to
+be noted, that he purposely describes the satire in its ruder and less
+polished form; glancing even at some barbarities, which deform the
+Bacchic chorus; which was properly the satiric piece, before Aeschylus
+had, by his regular constitution of the drama, introduced it under a very
+different form on the stage. The reason of this conduit is given in
+_n._ on l. 203. Hence the propriety of the word _nudavit_, which
+Lambin rightly interprets, _nudos introduxit satyres,_ the poet hereby
+expressing the monstrous indecorum of this entertainment in its first
+unimproved state. Alluding also to this ancient character of the
+_satire,_ he calls him _asper,_ i.e. rude and petulant; and even adds,
+that his jests were intemperate, and _without the least mixture of
+gravity._ For thus, upon the authority of a very ingenious and learned
+critic, I explain _incolumi gravitate,_ i. e. rejecting every thing
+serious, bidding _farewell,_ as we may say, _to all gravity._ Thus [L.
+in. O. 5.].
+
+  _Incolumi Jove et urbe Roma:_
+
+i.e. bidding farewell to Jupiter [Capitolinus] and Rome; agreeably to
+what is said just before,
+
+  _Anciliorum et neminis et togae
+  OBLITUS, aeternaeque Vestae._
+
+or, as salvus is used more remarkably in Martial [I. v. 10.]
+
+  _Ennius est lectus salvo tibi, Roma, Marone:
+  Et sua riserunt secula Maeonidem._
+
+"_Farewell, all gravity, is as remote from the original sense of the
+words _fare well,_ as _incolumi gravitate_ from that of _incolumis, or
+salvo Morona_ from that of _salvas._"
+
+  Notes on the Art of Poetry.
+
+The beginning of this note does not, I think, perfectly accord with what
+has been urged by the same Critick in the note immediately preceding; He
+there observed, that the "satyr here spoken of, is, _in all respects,_
+a regular Drama, and therefore _could not be of earlier date,_ than the
+times of Aeschylus.
+
+Here, however, he allows, though in subdued phrase, that, "though this
+be certain, and the dispute concerning that point thereby determined,_
+yet it is to be noted, _that he purposely describes the satyr_ in its
+ruder and less polished form; _glancing even at some barbarities, which
+deform_ the bacchic chorus; which was properly the Satyrick piece,
+_before_ Aeschylus had, by his regular constitution of the Drama,
+introduced it, _under a very different form,_ on the stage." In
+a subsequent note, the same learned Critick also says, that "the
+connecting particle, _verum, [verum ita risores, &c.]_ expresses the
+opposition intended between the _original satyr_ and that which the Poet
+approves." In both these passages the ingenious Commentator seems, from
+the mere influence of the context, to approach to the interpretation
+that I have hazarded of this passage, avowedly one of the most obscure
+parts of the Epistle. The explanation of the words incolumi gravitate,
+in the latter part of the above note, though favourable to the system of
+the English Commentary, is not only contrary to the construction of all
+other interpreters, and, I believe, unwarranted by any acceptation of
+the word _incolumis,_ but, in my opinion, less elegant and forcible
+than the common interpretation.
+
+The line of the Ode referred to,
+
+  INCOLUMI _Jove, et urbe Roma?_
+
+was never received in the sense, which the learned Critick assigns to
+it.
+
+  The Dauphin Editor interprets it,
+  STANTE _urbe, & Capitolino Jove Romanos protegente._
+  Schrevelius, to the same effect, explains it,
+  SALVO _Capitolio, quae Jovis erat sedes._
+
+These interpretations, as they are certainly the most obvious, seem also
+to be most consonant to the plain sense of the Poet.
+
+
+
+
+330.--_For holiday spectators, flush'd and wild,
+      With new conceits and mummeries were beguil'd.
+      Quippe erat_ ILLECEBRIS, _&c._
+
+Monsieur Dacier, though he allows that "all that is here said by Horace
+proves _incontestibly_, that the Satyrick Piece had possession of the
+Roman stage;" _tout ce qu' Horace dit icy prouve_ incontestablement
+_qu'il y avoit des Satyres_; yet thinks that Horace lavished all these
+instructions on them, chiefly for the sake of the atellane fables. The
+author of the English Commentary is of the same opinion, and labours
+the point very assiduously. I cannot, however, discover, in any part
+of Horace's discourse on _the_ satyrs, one expression glancing towards
+_the_ atellanes, though their oscan peculiarities might easily have been
+marked, so as not to be mistaken.
+
+
+
+
+335.--_That_ GOD _or_ HERO _of the lofty scene,
+      May not, &c.
+      Ne quicumque_ DEUS, _&c._
+
+The Commentators have given various explanations of this precept. _De
+Nores_ interprets it to signify _that the same actor, who represented a
+God or Hero in the_ Tragick _part of the Drama, must not be employed
+to represent a Faun or Sylvan in the_ Satyrick. _Dacier has a strange
+conceit concerning the joint performance of a _Tragedy_ and _Atellane_
+at one time, the same God or Hero being represented as the principal
+subject and character of both; on which occasion, (says he) the Poet
+recommends to the author not to debase the God, or Hero of _the_
+Tragedy, by sinking his language and manners too low in _the_ atellane;
+whose stile, as well as measure, should be peculiar to itself, equally
+distant from Tragedy and Farce.
+
+The author of the English Commentary tells us, that "Gods and Heroes
+were introduced as well into the _Satyrick_ as _Tragick_ Drama, and
+often the very same Gods and Heroes, which had born a part in THE
+PRECEDING TRAGEDY; a practice, which Horace, I suppose, intended, by
+this hint, to recommend as most regular."
+
+The two short notes of Schrevelius, in my opinion, more clearly explain
+the sense of Horace, and are in these words.
+
+_Poema serium, jocis_ Satyricis _ita_ commiscere--_ne seilicet is, qui
+paulo ante_ DEI _instar aut_ herois _in scenam fuit introductus, postea
+lacernosus prodeat._
+
+On the whole, supposing _the_ Satyrick _Piece_ to be _Tragi-Comick_, as
+Dacier himself seems half inclined to believe, the precept of Horace
+only recommends to the author so to support his principal personage,
+that his behaviour in the Satyrick scenes shall not debase the character
+he has sustained in the TRAGICK. No specimen remaining of the Roman
+Satyrick Piece, I may be permitted to illustrate the rule of Horace by a
+brilliant example from the _seroi-comick_ Histories of the Sovereign
+of our Drama. The example to which I point, is the character of _the_
+Prince _of_ Wales, in the two Parts of _Henry the Fourth_, Such a
+natural and beautiful decorum is maintained in the display of that
+character, that the _Prince_ is as discoverable in the loose scenes with
+Falstaff and his associates, as in the Presence Chamber, or the closet.
+after _the natural_, though mixt dramas, of Shakespear, and Beaumont and
+Fletcher, had prevailed on our stage, it is surprising that our
+progress to _pure_ Tragedy and Comedy, should have been interrupted, or
+disturbed, by _the regular monster of_ Tragi-comedy, nursed by Southerne
+and Dryden.
+
+
+
+
+346.--LET ME NOT, PISOS, IN THE SYLVIAN SCENE, USE ABJECT TERMS ALONE,
+AND PHRASES MEAN]
+
+  _Non ego_ INORNATA & DOMINANTIA, &c.
+
+The author of the English Commentary proposes a conjectural emendation
+of Horace's text--honodrata instead of inornata--and accompanied with a
+new and elevated sense assigned to the word dominantia. This last word
+is interpreted in the same manner by _de Nores_. Most other Commentators
+explain it to signify _common words_, observing its analogy to the Greek
+term [Greek: kuria]. The same expression prevails in our own tongue--_a_
+reigning _word_, _a reigning _fashion_, &c. the general cast of _the_
+satyr, seems to render a caution against a lofty stile not very
+necessary; yet it must be acknowledged that such a caution is given by
+the Poet, exclusive of the above proposed variation.
+
+  _Ne quicumque_ DEUS------
+  _Migret in obscuras_ HUMILI SERMONE _tabernas_,
+  _Aut dum vitat humum_, NUBES & INANIA CAPTET.
+
+
+
+
+350.--_Davus may jest, &c.]--Davusne loquatur, &c._
+
+It should seem from hence, that the common characters of Comedy, as well
+as the Gods and Heroes of Tragedy, had place in _the_ Satyrick Drama,
+cultivated in the days of Horace. Of the manner in which the antient
+writers sustained the part of Silenus, we may judge from _the_ CYCLOPS
+of Euripides, and _the_ Pastorals of Virgil.
+
+Vossius attempts to shew from some lines of this part of the Epistle,
+[_Ne quicumque Deus, &c._] that _the_ satyrs were _subjoined_ to the
+Tragick scenes, not _incorporated_ with them: and yet at the same moment
+he tells us, and with apparent approbation, that Diomedes quotes
+our Poet to prove that they were blended with each other: _simul ut
+spectator_, inter res tragicas, seriasque, satyrorum quoque jocis, &
+lusibus, _delectaretur_.
+
+I cannot more satisfactorily conclude all that I have to urge, on the
+subject of the Satyrick Drama, as here described by Horace, than by one
+more short extract from the notes of the ingenious author of the English
+Commentary, to the substance of which extract I give the most full
+assent. "The Greek Drama, we know, had its origin from the loose,
+licentious raillery of the rout of Bacchus, indulging to themselves the
+freest follies of taunt and invective, as would best suit to lawless
+natures, inspirited by festal mirth, and made extravagant by wine. Hence
+arose, and with a character answering to this original, the _Satiric
+Drama_; the spirit of which was afterwards, in good measure, revived
+and continued in the Old Comedy, and itself preferred, though with
+considerable alteration in the form, through all the several periods of
+the Greek stage; even when Tragedy, which arose out of it, was brought
+to its last perfection."
+
+
+
+
+368.--_To a short syllable, a long subjoin'd, Forms an _IAMBICK FOOT.]
+  _Syllaba longa, brevi subjetta, vocatur Iambus._
+
+Horace having, after the example of his master Aristotle, slightly
+mentioned the first rise of Tragedy in the form of _a_ Choral Song,
+subjoining an account of _the_ Satyrick Chorus, that was _soon_ (mox
+_etiam_) combined with it, proceeds to speak particularly of the Iambick
+verse, which he has before mentioned generally, as the measure best
+accommodated to the Drama. In this instance, however, the Poet has
+trespassed against _the order and method_ observed by his philosophical
+guide; and by that trespass broken the thread of his history of the
+Drama, which has added to the difficulty and obscurity of this part of
+his Epistle. Aristotle does not speak of _the_ Measure, till he
+has brought Tragedy, through all its progressive stages, from the
+Dithyrambicks, down to its establishment by Aeschylus and Sophocles. If
+the reader would judge of the _poetical beauty_, as well as _logical
+precision_, of such an arrangement, let him transfer this section of the
+Epistle [beginning, in the original at v. 251. and ending at 274.]
+to the end of the 284th line; by which transposition, or I am much
+mistaken, he will not only disembarrass this historical part of it,
+relative to the Grascian stage, but will pass by a much easier, and more
+elegant, transition, to the Poet's application of the narrative to the
+Roman Drama,
+
+The English reader, inclined to make the experiment, must take the lines
+of the translation from v. 268. to v. 403, both inclusive, and insert
+them after v. 418.
+
+  _In shameful silence loft the pow'r to wound._
+
+It is further to be observed that this detail on _the_ IAMBICK is not,
+with strict propriety, annext to a critical history of _the_ SATYR,
+in which, as Aristotle insinuates insinuates, was used _the_ Capering
+_Tetrameter_, and, as the Grammarians observe, _Trisyllabicks_.
+
+
+
+
+394.--PISOS! BE GRAECIAN MODELS, &c.]
+
+  Pope has imitated and illustrated this passage.
+
+  Be Homer's works your study and delight,
+  Read them by day, and meditate by night;
+  Thence form your judgment, thence your maxims bring,
+  And trace the Muses upwards to their spring.
+  Still with itself compar'd, his text peruse!
+  And let your comment be the Mantuan Muse!
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+404.--A KIND OF TRAGICK ODE, UNKNOWN BEFORE,
+  THESPIS, 'TIS SAID, INVENTED FIRST.
+  IGNOTUM _Tragicae_ GENUS INVENISSE _Camaenae_
+  _Dicitur, &c._
+
+It is surprising that Dacier, who, in a controversial note, in
+refutation of Heinsius, has so properly remarked Horace's adherence to
+Aristotle, should not have observed that his history of the Drama opens
+and proceeds nearly in the same order. Aristotle indeed does not name
+Thespis, but we cannot but include his improvements among the changes,
+to which the Critick refers, before Tragedy acquired a permanent form
+under _AEschylus_. Thespis seems not only to have embodied _the_ CHORUS,
+but to have provided a theatrical apparatus for an itinerant exhibition;
+to have furnished disguises for his performers, and to have broken the
+continuity of _the_ CHORUS by an _Interlocutor_; to whom AEschylus
+adding another personage, thereby first created Dramatick Dialogue;
+while at the same time by a _further diminution of the_ CHORUS, by
+improving the dresses of the actors, and drawing them from their
+travelling waggon to a fixt stage, he created _a regular theatre_.
+
+It appears then that neither Horace, nor Aristotle, ascribe _the origin_
+of Tragedy to Thespis. the Poet first mentions the rude beginning of
+Tragedy, (_carmen tragicum_) _the_ Goat-song; he then speaks of _the
+Satyrick Chorus_, soon after interwoven with it; and then proceeds
+to the _improvements_ of these Bacchic Festivities, by Thespis, and
+AEschylus; though their perfection and final establishment is ascribed
+by Aristotle to Sophocles. Dacier very properly renders this passage,
+_On dit que Thespis fut le premier jui inventa une especi de tragedie
+auparavant inconnue aux Grecs._ Thespis is said to be the first inventor
+of a species of Tragedy, before unknown to the Greeks.
+
+Boileau seems to have considered this part of the Epistle in the same
+light, that I have endeavoured to place it.
+
+  La Tragedie informe & grossiere au naissant
+  n'etoit qu'un simple Choeur, ou chacun en danfant,
+  et du Dieu des Raisins entonnant les louanges,
+  s'essorcoit d'attirer de fertiles vendanges.
+  la le vin et la joie eveillant les esprits,
+  _du plus habile chantre un Bouc etoit le prix._
+  Thespis sut le premier, qui barbouille de lie,
+  promena par les bourgs cette heureuse folie;
+  et d'acteurs mal ornes chargeant un tombereau,
+  amusa les passans d'un spectacle nouveau.
+  aeschyle dans le Choeur jetta les personages;
+  d'un masque plus honnete habilla les visages:
+  sur les ais d'un Theatre en public exhausse,
+  fit paroitre l'acteur d'un brodequin chausse.
+
+  L'art poetique, _chant troisieme._
+
+
+
+
+417.--_the sland'rous Chorus drown'd In shameful silence, lost the pow'r
+to wound._
+
+Chorusque turpiter obticuit, _sublato jure nocendi._
+
+"Evidently because, though the _jus nocendi_ was taken away, yet that
+was no good reason why the Chorus should entirely cease. M. Dacier
+mistakes the matter. _Le choeur se tut ignominuesement, parce-que la
+hi reprimasa licence, et que ce sut, a proprement parler, la hi qui le
+bannit; ce qu' Horace regarde comme une espece de sietrissure. Properly
+speaking,_ the law only abolished the abuse of the chorus. The ignominy
+lay in dropping the entire use of it, on account of this restraint.
+Horace was of opinion, that the chorus ought to have been retained,
+though the state had abridged it of the licence, it so much delighted
+in, of an illimited, and intemperate satire, _Sublatus chorus fuit,_
+says Scaliger, _cujus illae videntur esse praecipuae partet, ut
+potissimum ques liberet, laedertnt."
+
+Notes on the Art of Poetry._ If Dacier be mistaken in this instance, his
+mistake is common to all the commentators; not one of whom, the learned
+and ingenious author of the above he excepted, has been able to extract
+from these words any marks of Horace's predilection in favour of a
+Chorus, or censure of "its culpable omission" in Comedy. De Nores
+expresses the general sense of the Criticks on this passage.
+
+[Turpiter.] _Quia lex, declarata Veteris Conaetdiae scriptorum
+improbitate, a maledicendi licentia deterruit.--Sicuti enim antea
+summa cum laude Vetus Comediae, accepta est, ita postea summa est cum
+turpitudine vetantibus etiam legibus repudiata, quia probis hominibus,
+quia sapientibus, quia inte*s maledixerit. Quare Comaediae postea
+conscriptae ad hujusce Veteris differentiam sublato choro, novae
+appellatae sunt._
+
+What Horace himself says on a similar occasion, of the suppression of
+the Fescennine verses, in the Epistle to Augustus, is perhaps the best
+comment on this passage.
+
+  --quin etiam lex
+  Paenaque lata, malo quae nollet carmine quenquam--
+  describi: vertere modum formindine fustis
+  ad bene dicendum delectandumque redacti.
+
+
+
+
+421.---Daring their Graecian masters to forsake,
+  And for their themes domestick glories take.
+
+  Nec minimum meruere decus, vestigia Graeca
+  Ausi deserere, & celebrare domestica facta.
+
+The author of the English Commentary has a note on this passage, replete
+with fine taste, and sound criticism.
+
+"This judgment of the poet, recommending domestic subjects, as fittest
+for the stage, may be inforced from many obvious reasons. As, 1. that
+it renders the drama infinitely more _affecting:_ and this on many
+accounts, 1. As a subject, taken from our own annals, must of course
+carry with it an air of greater probability, at least to the generality
+of the people, than one borrowed from those of any other nation. 2.
+As we all find a personal interest in the subject. 3. As it of course
+affords the best and easiest opportunities of catching our minds, by
+frequent references to our manners, prejudices, and customs. And of how
+great importance this is, may be learned from hence, that, even in that
+exhibition of foreign characters, dramatic writers have found themselves
+obliged to sacrifice sacrifice truth and probability to the humour of
+the people, and to dress up their personages, contrary to their own
+better judgment, in some degree according to the mode and manners of
+their respective countries [Footnote: "L'etude egale des poetes de
+differens tems a plaire a leurs spectateurs, a encore inssue dans la
+maniere de peindre les caracteres. Ceux qui paroissent sur la scene
+Angloise, Espagnols, Francoise, sont plus Anglois, Espagnols, ou
+Francois que Grecs ou Romains, en un mot que ce qu'ils doivent etre. II
+ne faut qu'en peu de discernement pour s'appercevoir que nos Cesars et
+nos Achilles, en gardant meme un partie de leur charactere primitif,
+prennent droit de naturalite dans le pais ou ils sont transplantez,
+semblables a ces portraits, qui sortent de la main d'un peintre Flamand,
+Italien, ou Francois, et qui portent l'empreinte du pais. On veut plaire
+a sa nation, et rien ne plait tant que le resemblance de manieres et de
+enie." P. Brumoy, vol. i. p. 200.] And, 4. as the writer himself, from an
+intimate acquaintance with the character and genius of his own nation,
+will be more likely to draw the manners with life and spirit.
+
+"II. Next, which should ever be one great point in view, it renders the
+drama more generally useful in its moral destination. For, it being
+conversant about domestic acts, the great instruction of the fable more
+sensibly affects us; and the characters exhibited, from the part we
+take in their good or ill qualities, will more probably influence our
+conduct.
+
+"III. Lastly, this judgment will deserve the greater regard, as the
+conduct recommended was, in fact, the practice of our great models, the
+Greek writers; in whose plays, it is observable, there is scarcely a
+single scene, which lies out of the confines of Greece.
+
+"But, notwithstanding these reasons, the practice hath, in all times,
+been but little followed. The Romans, after some few attempts in this
+way (from whence the poet took the occasion of delivering it as a
+dramatic precept), soon relapsed into their old use; as appears from
+Seneca's, and the titles of other plays, written in, or after the
+Augustan age. Succeeding times continued the same attachment to Grecian,
+with the addition of an equal fondness for Roman, subjects. The reason
+in both instances hath been ever the same: that strong and early
+prejudice, approaching somewhat to adoration, in favour of the
+illustrious names of those two great states. The account of this matter
+is very easy; for their writings, as they furnish the business of our
+younger, and the amusement of our riper, years; and more especially make
+the study of all those, who devote themselves to poetry and the stage,
+insensibly infix in us an excessive veneration for all affairs in which
+they were concerned; insomuch, that no other subjects or events seem
+considerable enough, or rise, in any proportion, to our ideas of the
+dignity of the tragic scene, but such as time and long admiration have
+consecrated in the annals of their story. Our Shakespeare was, I think,
+the first that broke through this bondage of classical superstition. And
+he owed this felicity, as he did some others, to his want of what is
+called the advantage of a learned education. Thus uninfluenced by the
+weight of early prepossession, he struck at once into the road of nature
+and common sense: and without designing, without knowing it, hath
+left us in his historical plays, with all their anomalies, an exacter
+resemblance of the Athenian stage, than is any where to be found in its
+most processed admirers and copyists.
+
+"I will only add, that, for the more successful execution of this rule
+of celebrating domestic acts, much will depend on the aera, from
+whence the subject is taken. Times too remote have almost the same
+inconveniences, and none of the advantages, which attend the ages
+of Greece and Rome. And for those of later date, they are too much
+familiarized to us, and have not as yet acquired that venerable cast and
+air, which tragedy demands, and age only can give. There is no fixing
+this point with precision. In the general, that aera is the fittest for
+the poet's purpose, which, though fresh enough in pure minds to warm and
+interest us in the event of the action, is yet at so great a distance
+from the present times, as to have lost all those mean and disparaging
+circumstances, which unavoidably adhere to recent deeds, and, in some
+measure, sink the noblest modern transactions to the level of ordinary
+life."
+
+  _Notes on the Art of Poetry._
+
+The author of the essay on the writings and genius of Pope elegantly
+forces a like opinion, and observes that Milton left a list of
+thirty-three subjects for Tragedy, all taken from the English Annals.
+
+
+
+
+423.--_Whether the gown prescrib'd a stile more mean,
+  or the inwoven purple rais'd the scene.
+
+  Vel qui praetextas, vel qui docuere togatas._
+
+The gown (_Toga_) being the common Roman habit, signisies _Comedy;_
+and the inwoven purple _(praetexta)_ being appropriated to the higher
+orders, refers to Tragedy. _Togatae_ was also used as a general term to
+denote all plays, which the habits, manners, and arguments were Roman;
+those, of which the customs and subjects were Graecian, like the Comedies
+of Terence, were called _Palliatae_.
+
+
+
+
+429.--But you, bright heirs of the Pompilian Blood,
+  Never the verse approve, &c.
+
+  Vos, O Pompilius Sanguis, &c.
+
+The English commentary exhibits a very just and correct analysis of this
+portion of the Epistle, but neither here, nor in any other part of it,
+observes the earnestness with which the poet, on every new topick,
+addresses his discourse _the Pisos;_ a practice, that has not passed
+unnoticed by other commentators.
+
+[On this passage De Nores writes thus. _Vos O Pompilius Sanguis!] Per
+apostrophen_ sermonem convertit ad pisones, eos admonens, ut sibi
+caveant _ab bujusmodi romanorum poetarum errore videtur autem_ eos ad
+attentionem excitare _dum ait, Vos O! et quae sequntur._
+
+
+
+
+434.--_Because_ DEMOCRITUS, _&c.] Excludit sanos Helicone poetas
+Democritus._
+
+_De Nores_ has a comment on this passage; but the ambiguity of the Latin
+relative renders it uncertain, how far the Critick applies particularly
+to _the Pisos_, except by the _Apostrophe_ taken notice of in the last
+note. His words are these. _Nisi horum_ democriticorum _opinionem
+horatius hoc in loco refutasset, frustra de poetica facultate_ in hac
+AD PISONES EPISTOLA _praecepta literis tradidisset, cum arte ipsa
+repudiata_, ab his _tantummodo insaniae & furori daretur locus._
+
+
+
+
+443.--_Which no vile_ _CUTBERD'S razor'd hands profane. Tonfori_ LYCINO.]
+
+_Lycinus_ was not only, as appears from Horace, an eminent Barber; but
+said, by some, to have been created a Senator by Augustus, on account of
+his enmity to Pompey.
+
+
+
+
+466.--ON NATURE'S PATTERN TOO I'LL BID HIM LOOK, AND COPY MANNERS FROM
+HER LIVING BOOK.]
+
+_Respicere examplar vitae, morumque jubebo_ doctum imitatorem, _& veras
+hinc ducere voces._
+
+This precept seeming, at first sight, liable to be interpreted as
+recommending _personal imitations_, De Nores, Dacier, and the Author of
+the English Commentary, all concur to inculcate the principles of Plato,
+Aristotle, and Cicero, shewing that the truth of representation (_verae
+voces_) must be derived from an imitation of _general nature_, not from
+copying _individuals_. Mankind, however, being a mere collection
+of _individuals_, it is impossible for the Poet, not to found his
+observations on particular objects; and his chief skill seems to consist
+in the happy address, with which he is able to _generalize_ his ideas,
+and to sink the likeness of the individual in the resemblance of
+universal nature. A great Poet, and a great Painter, have each
+illustrated this doctrine most happily; and with their observations I
+shall conclude this note.
+
+  Chacun peint avec art dans ce nouveau miroir,
+  S'y vit avec plaisir, ou crut ne s'y point voir.
+  L'Avare des premiers rit du tableau fidele
+  D'un Avare, souvent trace sur son modele;
+  Et mille fois un Fat, finement exprime,
+  Meconnut le portrait, sur lui-meme forme.
+
+  BOILEAU, _L'Art Poet_. ch. iii.
+
+"Nothing in the art requires more attention and judgment, or more of
+that power of discrimination, which may not improperly be called Genius,
+than the steering between general ideas and individuality; for tho' the
+body of the whole must certainly be composed by the first, in order to
+communicate a character of grandeur to the whole, yet a dash of the
+latter is sometimes necessary to give an interest. An individual model,
+copied with scrupulous exactness, makes a mean stile like the Dutch; and
+the neglect of an actual model, and the method of proceeding solely from
+idea, has a tendency to make the Painter degenerate into a mannerist.
+
+"It is necessary to keep the mind in repair, to replace and refreshen
+those impressions of nature, which are continually wearing away.
+
+"A circumstance mentioned in the life of Guido, is well worth the
+attention of Artists: He was asked from whence he borrowed his idea of
+beauty, which is acknowledged superior to that of every other Painter;
+he said he would shew all the models he used, and ordered a common
+Porter to sit before him, from whom he drew a beautiful countenance;
+this was intended by Guido as an exaggeration of his conduct; but his
+intention was to shew that he thought it necessary to have _some model_
+of nature before you, however you deviate from it, and correct it from
+the idea which you have formed in your mind of _perfect beauty_.
+
+"In Painting it is far better to have a _model_ even to _depart_ from,
+than to have nothing fixed and certain to determine the idea: There is
+something then to proceed on, something to be corrected; so that even
+supposing that no part is taken, the model has still been not without
+use.
+
+"Such habits of intercourse with nature, will at least create that
+_variety_ which will prevent any one's prognosticating what manner
+of work is to be produced, on knowing the subject, which is the most
+disagreeable character an Artist can have."
+
+_Sir Joshua Reynolds's Notes on Fresnoy._
+
+
+
+
+480.--ALBIN'S HOPEFUL.] _Filius ALBINI_
+
+Albinus was said to be a rich Usurer. All that is necessary to explain
+this passage to the English reader, is to observe, that _the Roman Pound
+consisted of Twelve Ounces._
+
+
+
+
+487.--_Worthy the _Cedar _and the_ Cypress.]
+
+The antients, for the better preservation of their manuscripts, rubbed
+them with the juice of _Cedar,_ and kept them in cases of _Cypress._
+
+
+
+
+496.--Shall Lamia in our sight her sons devour,
+  and give them back alive the self-same hour?]
+
+  _Neu pranse Lamiae vivum puerum extrabat alvo._
+
+Alluding most probably to some Drama of the time, exhibiting so
+monstrous and horrible an incident.
+
+
+
+
+503.--The Sosii] Roman booksellers.
+
+
+
+
+523.--Chaerilus.]
+A wretched poet, who celebrated the actions, and was distinguished by
+the patronage, of Alexander.
+
+
+
+
+527.--If Homer seem to nod, or chance to dream.]
+
+It may not be disagreeable to the reader to see what two poets of our
+own country have said on this subject.
+
+  --foul descriptions are offensive still,
+  either for being _like,_ or being _ill._
+  For who, without a qualm, hath ever look'd
+  on holy garbage, tho' by Homer cook'd?
+  Whose railing heroes, and whose wounded Gods,
+  make some suspect he snores, as well as nods.
+  But I offend--Virgil begins to frown,
+  And Horace looks with indignation down:
+  My blushing Muse with conscious fear retires,
+  and whom they like, implicitly admires.
+
+  --Roscommon's _Essay on Translated Verse._
+  A prudent chief not always must display
+  Her pow'rs in equal ranks, and fair array:
+  But with th' occasion and the place comply,
+  Conceal his force, nay seem sometimes to fly.
+  Those oft are stratagems, which errors seem,
+  Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream.
+  POPE'S _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+530.--POEMS AND PICTURES ARE ADJUDC'D ALIKE.]
+
+  _Ut pictura poesis._
+
+Here ends, in my opinion, the _didactick_ part of this Epistle; and it
+is remarkable that it concludes, as it begun, with a reference to the
+Analogy between Poetry and Painting. The arts are indeed congenial, and
+the same general principles govern both. Artists might collect many
+useful hints from this Epistle. The Lectures of the President of the
+Royal Academy are not rarely accommodated to the study of Painters; but
+Poets may refine their taste, and derive the most valuable instruction,
+from the perusal of those judicious and elegant discourses.
+
+
+
+
+535.--O THOU, MY PISO'S ELDER HOPE AND PRIDE!]
+
+  O MAJOR JUVENUM!
+
+We are now arrived at that portion of the Epistle, which I must confess
+I am surprised, that any Commentator ever past, without observing the
+peculiar language and conduct of the Poet. There is a kind of awful
+affection in his manner, wonderfully calculated to move our feelings and
+excite our attention. The Didactick and the Epistolary stile were never
+more happily blended. The Poet assumes the air of a father advising his
+son, rather than of a teacher instructing his pupils. Many Criticks have
+thrown out a cursory observation or two, as it were extorted from them
+by the pointed expressions of the Poet: but none of them, that I have
+consulted, have attempted to assign any reason, why Horace, having
+closed his particular precepts, addresses all the remainder of his
+Epistle, on the nature and expediency of Poetical pursuits, to _the
+Elder Piso only. I have endeavoured to give the most natural reason for
+this conduct; a reason which, if I am not deceived, readers the whole of
+the Epistle interesting, as well as clear and consistent; a reason which
+I am the more inclined to think substantial, as it confirms in great
+measure the system of the Author of the English Commentary, only shewing
+_the reflections on the drama in _this Epistle, as well as in the
+Epistle to Augustus, to be _incidental_, rather than the _principal
+subject_, _and main design_, of the Poet,
+
+_Jason De Nores_, in this instance, as in most others, has paid more
+attention to his Author, than the rest of the Commentators. His note is
+as follows.
+
+[O major juvenum!] _Per apostrophen _ad majorem natu __ex pisonibus
+convertis orationem, reddit rationem quare summum, ac perfectissimum
+poema esse debeat utitur autem proaemio quasi quodam ad _benevolentiam
+& attentionem _comparandum sumit autem _benevolentiam _a patris & filii
+laudibus:_ attentionem_, dum ait, "hoc tibi dictum tolle memor!" quasi
+dicat, per asseverationem,_firmum _omnino et _verum.
+
+
+
+
+543.--_Boasts not _MESSALA'S PLEADINGS,_ nor is deem'd _AULUS IN
+JURISPRUDENCE._]
+
+The Poet, with great delicacy, throws in a compliment to these
+distinguished characters of his time, for their several eminence in
+their profession. Messala is more than once mentioned as the friend and
+patron of Horace.
+
+
+
+
+562.--_Forty thousand sesterces a year_.]
+
+The pecuniary qualification for the Equestrian Order. _Census equestrem
+summam nummorum. _
+
+
+
+
+565.--_Nothing_, IN SPITE OF GENIUS, YOU'LL _commence_]
+
+_Tu nihil, invita dices faciesve Minerva._
+
+Horace, says Dacier, here addresses the Elder Piso, as a man of mature
+years and understanding; _and be begins with panegyrick, rather than
+advice, in order to soften the precepts he is about to lay down to him._
+
+The explication of De Nores is much to the same effect, as well as that
+of many other Commentators.
+
+
+
+
+567.--But grant you should hereafter write. Si quid tamen olim
+scripseris.]
+
+"This," says Dacier, "was some time afterwards actually the case, if we
+may believe the old Scholiast, who writes that _this _PISO _composed
+Tragedies._"
+
+
+
+
+568.--Metius.] A great Critick; and said to be appointed by Augustus as a
+Judge, to appreciate the merit of literary performances. His name and
+office are, on other occasions, mentioned and recognized by Horace.
+
+
+
+
+570.--Weigh the work well, AND KEEP IT BACK NINE YEARS!
+nonumque prematur in annum!]
+
+This precept, which, like many others in the Epistle, is rather
+retailed, than invented, by Horace, has been thought by some Criticks
+rather extravagant; but it acquires in this place, as addressed to the
+elder Piso, a concealed archness, very agreeable to the Poet's stile and
+manner. Pope has applied the precept with much humour, but with more
+open raillery than need the writer's purpose in this Epistle.
+
+  I drop at last, but in unwilling ears,
+  This wholesome counsel----KEEP YOUR PIECE NINE YEARS!
+
+Vida, in his Poeticks, after the strongest censure of carelessness
+and precipitation, concludes with a caution against too excessive an
+attention to correctness, too frequent revisals, and too long delay of
+publication. The passage is as elegant as judicious.
+
+  Verum esto hic etiam modus: huic imponere curae
+  Nescivere aliqui finem, medicasque secandis
+  Morbis abstinulsse manus, & parcere tandem
+  Immites, donec macie confectus et aeger
+  Aruit exhausto velut omni sanguine foetus,
+  Nativumque decus posuit, dum plurima ubique
+  Deformat sectos artus inhonesta cicatrix.
+  Tuque ideo vitae usque memor brevioris, ubi annos
+  Post aliquot (neque enim numerum, neque temporar pono
+  certa tibi) addideris decoris satis, atque nitoris,
+  Rumpe moras, opus ingentem dimitte per orbem,
+  Perque manus, perque ora virum permitte vagari.
+
+  POETIC. lib 3.
+
+
+
+
+592.--AND ON THE SACRED TABLET GRAVE THE LAW. LEGES INCIDERE LIGNO.]
+
+Laws were originally written in verse, and graved on wood. The Roman
+laws were engraved on copper. DACIER.
+
+
+
+
+595.--TYRTAEUS.] An ancient Poet, who is said to have been given to the
+Spartans as a General by the Oracle, and to have animated the Troops by
+his Verses to such a degree, as to be the means of their triumph over
+the Messenians, after two defeats: to which Roscommon alludes in his
+_Essay on translated Verse_.
+
+  When by impulse from Heav'n, Tyrtaeus sung,
+  In drooping soldiers a new courage sprung;
+  Reviving Sparta now the fight maintain'd,
+  And what two Gen'rals lost, a Poet gain'd.
+
+Some fragments of his works are still extant. They are written in the
+Elegiac measure; yet the sense is not, as in other Poets, always bound
+in by the Couplet; but often breaks out into the succeeding verse: a
+practice, that certainly gives variety and animation to the measure;
+and which has been successfully imitated in the _rhime_ of our own
+language by Dryden, and other good writers.
+
+
+
+
+604.--_Deem then with rev'rence, &c]
+
+  _Ne forte pudori
+  Sit tibi_ MUSA, _Lyrae solers, & Cantor Apollo._
+
+The author of the English Commentary agrees, that this noble encomium on
+Poetry is addressed to _the Pisos_. All other Commentators apply it, as
+surely the text warrants, to _the_ ELDER PISO. In a long controversial
+note on this passage, the learned Critick abovementioned also explains
+the text thus. "In fact, this whole passage [from _et vitae_, &c.
+to _cantor Apollo_] obliquely glances at the two sorts of poetry,
+peculiarly cultivated by himself, and is an indirect apology for his own
+choice of them. For 1. _vitae monstrata via est_, is the character of
+his _Sermones_. And 2. all the rest of his _Odes_"--"I must add, the
+very terms of the Apology so expressly define and characterize Lyrick
+Poetry, that it is something strange, it should have escaped vulgar
+notice." There is much ingenuity in this interpretation, and it is
+supported, with much learning and ability; yet I cannot think that Horace
+meant to conclude this fine encomium, on the dignity and excellence of
+the Art or Poetry, by a partial reference to the two particular species
+of it, that had been the objects of his own attention. The Muse, and
+Apollo, were the avowed patrons and inspirers of Poetry in general,
+whether Epick, Dramatick, Civil, Moral, or Religious; all of which are
+enumerated by Horace in the course of his panegyrick, and referred to
+in the conclusion of it, that Piso might not for a moment think himself
+degraded by his attention to Poetry.
+
+In hoc epilago reddit breviter rationem, quare utilitates a poetis
+mortalium vitae allatas resenfuerit: ne scilicet Pisones, ex nobilissimd
+Calpurniorum familia ortos, Musarum & Artis Poeticae quam profitebantur,
+aliquando paniteret.
+
+DE NORES.
+
+
+Haec, inquit, eo recensui, ut quam olim res arduas poetica tractaverit,
+cognoscas, & ne Musas coutemnas, atque in Poetarum referri numerum,
+erubescas.
+
+NANNIUS.
+
+
+Ne forte, pudori. Haec dixi, O Piso, ne te pudeat Poetam esse.
+
+SCHREVELIUS.
+
+
+
+
+608.---WHETHER GOOD VERSE or NATURE is THE FRUIT,
+  OR RAIS'D BY ART, HAS LONG BEEN IN DISPUTE.]
+
+In writing precepts for poetry to _young persons_, this question could
+not be forgotten. Horace therefore, to prevent the Pisos from falling
+into a fatal error, by too much confidence in their Genius, asserts
+most decidedly, that Nature and Art must both conspire to form a Poet.
+DACIER.
+
+The Duke of Buckingham has taken up this subject very happily.
+
+  _Number and Rhyme,_ and that harmonious found,
+  Which never _does_ the ear with harshness wound,
+  Are necessary, yet but vulgar arts;
+  For all in vain these superficial parts
+  Contribute to the structure of the whole,
+  Without a GENIUS too; for that's the Soul!
+  A spirit, which inspires the work throughout,
+  As that of Nature moves the world about.
+
+  As all is dullness, where the Fancy's bad,
+  So without Judgement, Fancy is but mad:
+  And Judgement has a boundless influence,
+  Not only in the choice of words, or sense,
+  But on the world, on manners, and on men;
+  Fancy is but the feather of the pen:
+  Reason is that substantial useful part,
+  Which gains the head, while t'other wins the heart.
+
+  Essay on Poetry.
+
+
+
+
+626.---As the fly hawker, &t. Various Commentator concur in marking the
+personal application of this passage.
+
+Faithful friends are necessary, to apprise a Poet of his errors: but
+such friends are rare, and difficult to be distinguished by rich and
+powerful Poets, like the Pisos. DACIER.
+
+Pisonem admonet, ut minime hoc genus divitum poetarum imitetur,
+neminemque vel jam pranfum, aut donatum, ad fuorum carminum emendationem
+admittat neque enim poterit ille non vehementer laudare, etiamsi
+vituperanda videantur. DE NORES.
+
+In what sense Roscommon, the Translator of this Epistle, understood this
+passage, the following lines from another of his works will testify.
+
+  I pity from my foul unhappy men,
+  Compell'd by want to prostitute their pen:
+  Who must, like lawyers, either starve or plead,
+  And follow, right or wrong, where guineas lead:
+  But you, POMPILIAN, wealthy, pamper'd Heirs,
+  Who to your country owe your swords and cares,
+  Let no vain hope your easy mind seduce!
+  For rich ill poets are without excuse.
+  "Tis very dang'rous, tamp'ring with a Muse;
+  The profit's small, and you have much to lose:
+  For tho' true wit adorns your birth, or place,
+  Degenerate lines degrade th' attainted race."
+
+  Essay on Translated Verse.
+
+
+
+630.--_But if he keeps a table, &c.--Si vero est unctum, &c._
+
+"Here (says _Dacier_) the Poet pays, _en passant_, a very natural and
+delicate compliment to _the Pisos_." The drift of the Poet is evident,
+but I cannot discover the compliment.
+
+
+
+
+636.--_Is there a man, to whom you've given ought,
+  Or mean to give?_
+
+  TU, _seu donaris, &c._
+
+Here the Poet advises the Elder Piso never to read his verses to a man,
+to whom he has made a promise, or a present: a venal friend cannot be a
+good Critick; he will not speak his mind freely to his patron; but, like
+a corrupt judge, betray truth and justice for the sake of interest.
+DACIER.
+
+
+
+
+643.--_Kings have been said to ply repeated bowls, &c._
+
+  _Reges dicuntur, &c._
+
+_Regum exemplo_ Pisones admonet; _ut neminem admittant ad suorum
+carminum emendationem, nisi prius optime cognitum, atque perspectum._ DE
+NORES.
+
+
+
+
+654.--QUINTILIUS.] The Poet _Quintilius Varus_, the relation and
+intimate friend of Virgil and Horace; of whom the latter lamented his
+death in a pathetick and beautiful Ode, still extant in his works.
+Quintilius appears to have been some time dead, at the time of our
+Poet's writing this Epistle. DACIER.
+
+[QUINTILIUS.] _Descriptis adulatorum moribus & consuetudine, assert
+optimi & sapientissimi judicis exemplum: Quintilii soilicet, qui
+tantae erat authoritatis apud Romanos, ut_ ei Virgilii opera Augustus
+tradiderit emendanda.
+
+
+
+
+664.--THE MAN, IN WHOM GOOD SENSE AND HONOUR JOIN.]
+
+It particularly suited Horace's purpose to paint the severe and rigid
+judge of composition. Pope's plan admitted softer colours in his draught
+of a true Critick.
+
+  But where's the man, who counsel can bestow,
+  Still pleas'd to teach, and yet not proud to know?
+  Unbiass'd, or by favour, or by spite;
+  Not dully prepossess'd, nor blindly right;
+  Tho' learn'd, well-bred; and tho' well-bred, sincere;
+  Modestly bold, and humanly severe:
+  Who to a friend his faults can freely show,
+  And gladly praise the merit of a foe?
+  Blest with a taste exact, yet unconfin'd;
+  A knowledge both of books and human kind;
+  Gen'rous converse; a soul exempt from pride;
+  And love to praise, with reason on his side?
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+684.--WHILE WITH HIS HEAD ERECT HE THREATS THE SKIES.]
+
+"Horace, (says _Dacier_) diverts himself with describing the folly of
+a Poet, whom his flatterers have driven mad." _To whom_ the caution
+against flatterers was addressed, has before been observed by _Dacier_.
+This description therefore, growing immediately out of that caution,
+must be considered as addressed _to_ the Elder Piso.
+
+
+
+
+699.--_Leap'd_ COLDLY _into AEtna's burning mount._
+
+  _Ardentem_ FRIGIDUS _aetnam insiluit._
+
+This is but a cold conceit, not much in the usual manner of Horace.
+
+
+
+
+710.--
+
+  _Whether, the victim of incestuous love,_
+  THE SACRED MONUMENT _he striv'd to move._
+
+  _An_ TRISTE BIDENTAL _moverit incestus_.
+
+The BIDENTAL was a place that had been struck with lightning, and
+afterwards expiated by the erection of an altar and the sacrifice of
+sheep; _hostiis_ BIDENTIBUS; from which it took its name. The removal
+or disturbance of this sacred monument was deemed sacrilege; and the
+attempt, a supposed judgement from heaven, as a punishment for some
+heavy crime.
+
+
+
+
+7l8.--
+
+  HANGS ON HIM, NE'ER TO QUIT, WITH CEASELESS SPEECH.
+  TILL GORG'D, AND FULL OF BLOOD, A VERY LEECH.
+
+The English Commentary introduces the explication of the last hundred
+and eleven lines of this Epistle, the lines which, I think, determine
+the scope and intention of the whole, in the following manner.
+
+"Having made all the reasonable allowances which a writer could expect,
+he (Horace) goes on to enforce _the general instruction of this part,
+viz._ A diligence in writing, by shewing [from l. 366 to 379] that a
+_mediocrity_, however tolerable, or even commendable, it might be in
+other arts, would never be allowed in this."--"This reflection leads him
+with great advantage [from l. 379 to 391] to _the general conclusion in
+view, viz._ that as none but excellent poetry will be allowed, it should
+be a warning to writers, how they engage in it without abilities; or
+publish without severe and frequent correction."
+
+If the learned Critick here means that "_the general instruction of this
+part, viz._ a diligence in writing, is chiefly inculcated, for the sake
+of _the general conclusion in view_, a warning to writers, how they
+engage in poetry without abilities, or publish without severe and
+frequent correction;" if, I say, a dissuasive from unadvised attempts,
+and precipitate publication, is conceived to be the main purpose and
+design of the Poet, we perfectly agree concerning this last, and
+important portion of the Epistle: with this addition, however, on my
+part, that such a dissuasive is not merely _general_, but _immediately_
+and _personally_ directed and applied to _the_ Elder Piso, and that
+too in the strongest terms that words can afford, and with a kind of
+affectionate earnestness, particularly expressive of the Poet's desire
+to awaken and arrest his young friend's attention.
+
+I have endeavoured, after the example of the learned and ingenious
+author of the English Commentary, though on somewhat different
+principles, to prove "an unity of design in this Epistle," as well as
+to illustrate "the pertinent connection of its several parts." Many
+perhaps, like myself, will hesitate to embrace the system of that acute
+Critick; and as many, or more, may reject my hypothesis. But I am
+thoroughly persuaded that no person, who has considered this work
+of Horace with due attention, and carefully examined the drift and
+intention of the writer, but will at least be convinced of the folly
+or blindness, or haste and carelessness of those Criticks, however
+distinguished, who have pronounced it to be a crude, unconnected,
+immethodical, and inartificial composition. No modern, I believe, ever
+more intently studied, or more clearly understood the works of Horace,
+than BOILEAU. His Art of Poetry is deservedly admired. But I am
+surprised that it has never been observed that the Plan of that work is
+formed on the model of this Epistle, though some of the parts are more
+in detail, and others varied, according to the age and country of the
+writer. The first Canto, like the first Section of _the Epistle to the
+Pisos_, is taken up in general precepts. The second enlarges on the
+Lyrick, and Elegiack, and smaller species of Poetry, but cursorily
+mentioned, or referred to, by Horace; but introduced by him into that
+part of the Epistle, that runs exactly parallel with the second Canto of
+Boileau's Art of Poetry. The third Canto treats, entirely on the ground
+of Horace, of Epick and Dramatick Poetry; though the French writer has,
+with great address, accommodated to his purpose what Horace has said but
+collaterally, and as it were incidentally, of the Epick. The last Canto
+is formed on the final section, the last hundred and eleven lines, of
+_the Epistle to the Pisos:_ the author however, judiciously omitting in
+a professed Art of Poetry, the description of the Frantick Bard, and
+concluding his work, like the Epistle to Augustus, with a compliment to
+the Sovereign.
+
+This imitation I have not pointed out, in order to depreciate the
+excellent work of Boileau; but to shew that, in the judgement of so
+great a writer, the method of Horace was not so ill conceived, as
+Scaliger pretends, even for the outline of an Art of Poetry: Boileau
+himself, at the very conclusion of his last Canto, seems to avow and
+glory in the charge of having founded his work on that of HORACE.
+
+  Pour moi, qui jusq'ici nourri dans la Satire,
+  N'ofe encor manier la Trompette & la Lyre,
+  Vous me verrez pourtant, dans ce champ glorieux,
+  Vous animez du moins de la voix & des yeux;
+  _Vous offrir ces lecons, que ma Muse au Parnasse,
+  Rapporta, jeune encor_, DU COMMERCE D'HORACE.
+  BOILEAU.
+
+After endeavouring to vouch so strong a testimony, in favour of Horace's
+_unity_ and _order_, from France, it is but candid to acknowledge that
+two of the most popular Poets, of our own country, were of a contrary
+opinion. Dryden, in his dedication of his translation of the aeneid to
+Lord Mulgrave, author of the Essay on Poetry, writes thus. "In this
+address to your Lordship, I design not a treatise of Heroick Poetry, but
+write _in a loose Epistolary way_, somewhat tending to that subject,
+_after the example of Horace_, in his first Epistle of the 2d Book to
+Augustus Caesar, _and of that_ to the Pisos; which we call his Art of
+Poetry. in both of which _he observes_ no method _that I can trace_,
+whatever Scaliger the Father, or Heinsius may have seen, _or rather_
+think they had seen_. I have taken up, laid down, and resumed as often
+as I pleased the same subject: and this loose proceeding I shall use
+through all this Prefatory Dedication. _Yet all this while I have been
+sailing with some side-wind or other toward the point I proposed in the
+beginning_." The latter part of the comparison, if the comparison is
+meant to hold throughout, as well as the words, "_somewhat tending to
+that subject,_" seem to qualify the rest; as if Dryden only meant
+to distinguish the _loose_ EPISTOLARY _way_ from the formality of a
+_Treatise_. However this may be, had he seen the _Chart_, framed by the
+author of the English Commentary, or that now delineated, perhaps he
+might have allowed, that Horace not only made towards his point with
+some side-wind or other, but proceeded by an easy navigation and
+tolerably plain sailing.
+
+Many passages of this Dedication, as well as other pieces of Dryden's
+prose, have been versified by Pope. His opinion also, on the Epistle
+to the Pisos, is said to have agreed with that of Dryden; though the
+Introduction to his Imitation of the Epistle to Augustus forbids us to
+suppose he entertained the like sentiments of that work with his great
+predecessor. His general idea of Horace stands recorded in a most
+admirable didactick poem; in the course of which he seems to have kept a
+steady eye on this work of our author.
+
+  Horace still charms with graceful negligence,
+  And WITHOUT METHOD talks us into sense;
+  Will, like a friend, familiarly convey
+  The truest notions in the easiest way:
+  He, who supreme in judgment, as in wit,
+  Might boldly censure, as he boldly writ,
+  Yet judg'd with coolness, tho' he sung with fire;
+  His precepts teach but what his works inspire.
+  Our Criticks take a contrary extreme,
+  They judge with fury, but they write with flegm:
+  NOR SUFFERS HORACE MORE IN WRONG TRANSLATIONS
+  By Wits, THAN CRITICKS IN AS WRONG QUOTATIONS.
+
+  Essay on Criticism.
+
+
+                *     *     *     *     *
+
+
+I have now compleated my observations on this popular Work of Horace, of
+which I at first attempted the version and illustration, as a matter of
+amusement but which, I confess, I have felt, in the progress, to be an
+arduous undertaking, and a laborious task. Such parts of the Epistle, as
+corresponded with the general ideas of Modern Poetry, and the Modern
+Drama, I flattered myself with the hopes of rendering tolerable to the
+English Reader; but when I arrived at those passages, wholly relative to
+the Antient Stage, I began to feel my friends dropping off, and leaving
+me a very thin audience. My part too grew less agreeable, as it grew
+more difficult. I was almost confounded in the Serio-Comick scenes of
+the Satyrick Piece: In the musical department I was ready, with Le
+Fevre, to execrate the Flute, and all the Commentators on it; and when I
+found myself reduced to scan the merits and of Spondees and Trimeters, I
+almost fancied myself under the dominion of some _plagosus Orbilius,_
+and translating the _prosodia_ of the Latin Grammar. Borrowers and
+Imitators cull the sweets, and suck the classick flowers, rejecting at
+pleasure all that appears sour, bitter, or unpalatable. Each of them
+travels at his ease in the high turnpike-road of poetry, quoting the
+authority of Horace himself to keep clear of difficulties;
+
+  --et que
+  Desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit.
+
+A translator must stick close to his Author, follow him up hill and down
+dale, over hedge and ditch, tearing his way after his leader thro' the
+thorns and brambles of literature, sometimes lost, and often benighted.
+
+  A master I have, and I am his man,
+  Galloping dreary dun!
+
+The reader, I fear, will fancy I rejoice too much at having broke loose
+from my bondage, and that I grow wanton with the idea of having regained
+my liberty. I shall therefore engage an advocate to recommend me to his
+candour and indulgence; and as I introduced these notes with some lines
+from a noble Poet of our own country, I shall conclude them with an
+extract from a French Critick: Or, if I may speak the language of my
+trade, as I opened these annotations with a Prologue from Roscommon, I
+shall drop the curtain with an Epilogue from Dacier. Another curtain
+now demands my attention. I am called from the Contemplation of Antient
+Genius, to sacrifice, with due respect, to Modern Taste: I am summoned
+from a review of the magnificent spectacles of Greece and Rome, to the
+rehearsal of a Farce at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket.
+
+                   *     *     *     *     *
+
+Voila tout ce que j'ai cru necessaire pour l'intelligence de la Poetique
+d'Horace! si Jule Scaliger l'avoit bien entendue, il lui auroit rendu
+plus de justice, & en auroit parle plus modestment. Mais il ne s'eflort
+pat donne la temps de le bien comprendre. Ce Livre estoit trop petit
+pour estre goute d'un homme comme lui, qui faisoit grand cas des gros
+volumes, & qui d'ailleurs aimoit bien mieux donner des regles que d'en
+recevoir. Sa Poetique est assurement un ouvrage d'une erudition infinie;
+on y trouve par tout des choses fort recherchees, & elle est toute
+pleine de faillies qui marquent beaucoup d'esprit: mais j'oferai dire
+qu'il n'y a point de justessee dans la pluspart de fes jugemens, & que
+sa critique n'est pas heureuse. Il devoit un peu plus etudier ces grands
+maitres, pour se corriger de ce defaut, qui rendra toujours le plus
+grand savoir inutile, ou au moins rude &c sec. Comme un homme delicat
+etanchera mille fois mieux sa soif, & boira avec plus de gout & de
+plaisir dans un ruisseau dont les eaux seront clairs & pures, que dans
+un fleuve plein de bourbe & de limon: tout de meme, un esprit fin qui ne
+cherche que la justesse & une certaine fleur de critique, trouvera bien
+mieux son compte dans ce petite traite d'Horace, qu'il ne le trouverait
+dans vingt volumes aussi enormes que la Poetique de Scaliger. On peut
+dire veritablement que celuy qui boit dans cette source pure, plate se
+_proluit auro;_ & tant pis pour celuy qui ne fait pas le connoistre.
+Pour moi j'en ai un tres grand cas. Je ne fay si j'auray este assez
+heureux pour la bien eclaircir, & pour en dissiper si bien toutes
+les difficultes, qu'il n'y en reste aucune. Les plus grandes de ces
+difficultes, viennent des passages qu'Horace a imite des Grecs, ou des
+allusions qu'il y a faites. Je puis dire au moins que je n'en ay laisse
+passer aucune sans l'attaqaer; & je pourrais me vanter,
+
+  --nec tela nec ullas
+  V'itamsse vices Danaum.
+
+En general je puis dire que malgre la soule des Commentateurs & des
+Traducteurs, Horace estoit tres-malentendu, & que ses plus beaux
+endroits estoient defigures par les mauvais sens qu'on leur avoit donnes
+jusques icy, & il ne faut paus s'en etonner. La pluspart des gens ne
+reconnoissent pas tant l'autorite de la raison que celle du grand
+nombre, pour laquelle ils ont un profond respect. Pour moy qui fay qu'en
+matiere de critique on ne doit pas comptez les voix, mais les peser;
+j'avoiie que j'ay secoue ce joug, _& que sans m'assijetir au sentiment
+de personne, j'ay tache de suivre Horace, & de demeler ce qu'il a dit
+d'avec ce qu'on luy a fait dire._ J'ay mesme toujours remarque (& j'en
+pourrais donner des exemples bien sensibles) que quand des esprits
+accoutumes aux cordes, comme dit Montagne, & qui n'osent tenter de
+franches allures, entreprennent de traduire & de commenter ces excellens
+Ouvrages, _ou il y a plus de finesse & plus de mystere qu'il n'en
+paroist,_ tout leur travail ne fait que les gater, & que la seule vertu
+qu'ayent leurs copies, c'est de nous degouter presque des originaux.
+Comme j'ay pris la liberte de juger du travail de ceux qui m'ont
+precede, & que je n'ay pas fait difficulte de les condamner
+tres-souvent, je declare que je ne trouveray nullement mauvais qu'on
+juge du mien, & qu'on releve mes fautes: il est difficile qu'il n'y en
+ait, & mesme beaucoup; si quelqu'un veut donc se donner la peine de
+me reprendre, & de me faire voir que j'ay mal pris le sens, je me
+corrigeray avec plaisir: car je ne cherche que la verite, qui n'a jamais
+blesse personne: au lieu qu'on se trouve tou-jours mal de persister dans
+son ignorance et dans son erreur.
+
+Dacier
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The
+Pisos, by Horace
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+Project Gutenberg's The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The Pisos, by Horace
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
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+Title: The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The Pisos
+       Q. Horatii Flacci Epistola Ad Pisones, De Arte Poetica.
+
+Author: Horace
+
+Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9175]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on September 11, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: Latin, French and English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF POETRY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+Q. HORATII FLACCI Epistola ad PISONES,
+
+DE ARTE POETICA.
+
+
+
+THE ART OF POETRY AN EPISTLE TO THE PISOS.
+
+
+TRANSLATED FROM HORACE
+
+WITH NOTES BY GEORGE COLMAN.
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note:  Several ineligible words were found in several
+languages throughout the text, these are marked with an asterisk.]
+
+
+London: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand
+
+MDCCLXXXIII TO
+
+The Rev. JOSEPH WARTQN, D.D. MASTER of WINCHESTER SCHOOL; AND TO The
+Rev. THOMAS WARTON, B.D. FELLOW of TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD.
+
+MY DEAR FRIENDS!
+
+In a conversation, some months ago, I happened to mention to you the
+idea I had long entertained of that celebrated Epistle of Horace,
+commonly distinguished by the title of THE ART OF POETRY. I will not say
+that you acceded to my opinion; but I flattered myself that I at least
+interested your curiosity, and engaged your attention: our discourse,
+however, revived an intention I had once formed, of communicating my
+thoughts on the subject to the Publick; an intention I had only dropt
+for want of leisure and inclination to attempt a translation of the
+Epistle, which I thought necessary to accompany the original, and my
+remarks on it. In the original, Horace assumes the air and stile of an
+affectionate teacher, admonishing and instructing his young friends and
+pupils: but the following translation, together with the observations
+annexed, I address to You as my Masters, from whom I look for sound
+information, a well-grounded confirmation of my hypothesis, or a
+solution of my doubts, and a correction of my errors.
+
+It is almost needless to observe, that the Epistle in question has very
+particularly exercised the critical sagacity of the literary world;
+yet it is remarkable that, amidst the great variety of comments and
+decisions on the work, it has been almost universally considered, except
+by one acute and learned writer of this country, as a loose, vague,
+and desultory composition; a mass of shining materials; like pearls
+unstrung, valuable indeed, but not displayed to advantage.
+
+Some have contended, with Scaliger at their head, that this pretended
+_Art of Poetry_ is totally void of art; and that the very work, in which
+the beauty and excellence of _Order_ (ordinis virtus et Venus!)
+is strongly recommended, is in itself unconnected, confused, and
+immethodical. The advocates for the writer have in great measure
+confessed the charge, but pleaded in excuse and vindication, the
+familiarity of an epistle, and even the genius of Poetry, in which the
+formal divisions of a prosaick treatise on the art would have been
+insupportable. They have also denied that Horace ever intended such a
+treatise, or that he ever gave to this Epistle the title of _the Art of
+Poetry_; on which title the attacks of Scaliger, and his followers, are
+chiefly grounded. The title, however, is confessedly as old as the age
+of Quintilian; and that the work itself has a perpetual reference to
+_Poets and Poetry,_ is as evident, as that it is, from beginning to end,
+in its manner, stile, address, and form, perfectly _Epistolary._
+
+The learned and ingenious Critick distinguished above, an early ornament
+to letters, and now a worthy dignitary of the church, leaving vain
+comments, and idle disputes on the title of the work, sagaciously
+directed his researches to scrutinize the work itself; properly
+endeavouring to trace and investigate from the composition the end and
+design of the writer, and remembering the axiom of the Poet, to whom his
+friend had been appointed the commentator.
+
+  _In every work regard THE AUTHOR'S END!
+  For none can compass more than they intend. _ Pope.
+
+With this view of illustrating and explaining Horace's Art of Poetry,
+this shrewd and able writer, about thirty years ago, republished the
+original Epistle, giving the text chiefly after Dr. Bentley, subjoining
+an English Commentary and Notes, and prefixing an Introduction, from
+which I beg leave to transcribe most part of the three first paragraphs,
+
+"It is agreed on all hands, that the antients are our masters in the
+_art_ of composition. Such of their writings, therefore, as deliver
+instructions for the exercise of this _art_, must be of the highest
+value. And, if any of them hath acquired a credit, in this respect,
+superior to the rest, it is, perhaps, the _following work:_ which the
+learned have long since considered as a kind of _summary_ of the rules
+of good writing; to be gotten by heart by every young student; and to
+whose decisive authority the greatest masters in taste and composition
+must finally submit.
+
+"But the more unquestioned the credit of this poem is, the more it will
+concern the publick, that it be justly and accurately understood. The
+writer of these sheets then believed it might be of use, if he took some
+pains to clear the sense, connect the method, and ascertain the scope
+and purpose, of this admired epistle. Others, he knew indeed, and some
+of the first fame for critical learning, had been before him in this
+attempt. Yet he did not find himself prevented by their labours; in
+which, besides innumerable lesser faults, he, more especially, observed
+two inveterate errors, of such a fort, as must needs perplex the genius,
+and distress the learning, of _any_ commentator. The _one_ of these
+respects the SUBJECT; the other, the METHOD of the _Art of Poetry_. It
+will be necessary to say something upon each.
+
+"1. That the _Art of Poetry_, at large, is not the _proper_ subject of
+this piece, is so apparent, that it hath not escaped the dullest and
+least attentive of its Criticks. For, however all the different _kinds_
+of poetry might appear to enter into it, yet every one saw, that _some_
+at least were very slightly considered: whence the frequent attempts, the
+_artes et institutiones poetica_, of writers both at home and abroad, to
+supply its deficiencies. But, though this truth was seen and confessed,
+it unluckily happened, that the sagacity of his numerous commentators
+went no further. They still considered this famous Epistle as a
+_collection_, though not a _system_, of criticisms on poetry in general;
+with this concession however, that the stage had evidently the largest
+share in it [Footnote: Satyra hac est in fui faeculi poetas, praecipui
+yero in Romanum Drama, Baxter.]. Under the influence of this prejudice,
+several writers of name took upon them to comment and explain it: and
+with the success, which was to be expected from so fatal a mistake on
+setting out, as the not seeing, 'that the proper and sole purpose of the
+Author, was, not to abridge the Greek Criticks, whom he probably never
+thought of; nor to amuse himself with composing a short critical
+system, for the general use of poets, which every line of it absolutely
+confutes; but, simply to criticize the Roman drama.' For to this end,
+not the tenor of the work only, but as will appear, every single precept
+in it, ultimately refers. The mischiefs of this original error have been
+long felt. It hath occasioned a constant perplexity in defining the
+_general_ method, and in fixing the import of _particular_ rules. Nay
+its effects have reached still further. For conceiving, as they did,
+that the whole had been composed out of the Greek Criticks, the labour
+and ingenuity of its interpreters have been misemployed in picking out
+authorities, which were not wanted, and in producing, or, more properly,
+by their studied refinements in _creating,_ conformities, which
+were never designed. Whence it hath come to pass that, instead of
+investigating the order of the Poet's own reflexions, and scrutinizing
+the peculiar state of the Roman Stage (the methods, which common sense
+and common criticism would prescribe) the world hath been nauseated
+with, insipid lectures on _Aristotle_ and _Phalereus;_ whose solid sense
+hath been so attenuated and subtilized by the delicate operation of
+French criticism, as hath even gone some way towards bringing the _art_
+itself into disrepute.
+
+"2. But the wrong explications of this poem have arisen, not from the
+misconception of the subject only, but from an inattention to the method
+of it. The _latter_ was, in part the genuine consequence of the
+_former._ For, not suspecting an unity of design in the subject it's
+interpreters never looked for, or could never find, a consistency of
+disposition in the method. And this was indeed the very block upon which
+HEINSIUS, and, before him,. JULIUS SCALIGER, himself fumbled. These
+illustrious Criticks, with all the force of genius, which is required to
+disembarrass an involved subject, and all the aids of learning, that can
+lend a ray to enlighten a dark one, have, notwithstanding, found
+themselves utterly unable to unfold the order of this Epistle; insomuch,
+that SCALIGER [Footnote: Praef. i x LIB. POET. ct 1. vi. p. 338] hath
+boldly pronounced, the conduct of it to be _vicious;_ and HEINSIUS had
+no other way to evade the charge, than by recurring to the forced and
+uncritical expedient of a licentious transposition The truth is, they
+were both in one common error, that the Poet's purpose had been to write
+a criticism of the Art of Poetry at large, and not, as is here shewn of
+the Roman Drama in particular."
+
+The remainder of this Introduction, as well as the Commentary and Notes,
+afford ample proofs of the erudition and ingenuity of the Critick: yet
+I much doubt, whether he has been able to convince the learned world
+of the truth of his main proposition, "than it was the proper and sole
+purpose of the Author, simply to _criticise_ the Roman drama." His
+Commentary is, it must be owned, extremely seducing yet the attentive
+reader of Horace will perhaps often fancy, that he perceives a violence
+and constraint offered to the composition, in order to accommodate it to
+the system of the Commentator; who, to such a reader, may perhaps seem
+to mark transitions, and point out connections, as well as to maintain
+a _method_ in the Commentary, which cannot clearly be deduced from the
+text, to which it refers.
+
+This very-ingenious _Commentary_ opens as follows:
+
+"The subject of this piece being, as I suppose, _one,_ viz. _the state
+of the Roman Drama,_ and common sense requiring, even in the freest
+forms of composition, some kind of _method._ the intelligent reader will
+not be surprised to find the poet prosecuting his subject in a regular,
+well-ordered _plan;_ which, for the more exact description of it, I
+distinguish into three parts:
+
+"I. The first of them [from 1. 1 to 89] is preparatory to the main
+subject of the Epistle, containing some general rules and reflexions on
+poetry, but principally with an eye to the following parts: by which
+means it serves as an useful introduction to the poet's design, and
+opens with that air of ease and elegance, essential to the epistolary
+form.
+
+"II. The main body of the Epistle [from 1. 89. to 295] is laid out in
+regulating the_ Roman_ Stage; but chiefly in giving rules for Tragedy;
+not only as that was the sublimer species of the _Drama,_ but, as it
+should seem, less cultivated and understood.
+
+"III. The last part [from 1. 295 to the end] exhorts to correctness in
+writing; yet still with an eye, principally, to the _dramatic species;_
+and is taken up partly in removing the causes, that prevented it; and
+partly in directing to the use of such means, as might serve to promote
+it. Such is the general plan of the Epistle."
+
+In this general summary, with which the Critick introduces his
+particular Commentary, a very material circumstance is acknowledged,
+which perhaps tends to render the system on which it proceeds extremely
+doubtful, if not wholly untenable. The original Epistle consists of four
+hundred and seventy-six lines; and it appears, from the above numerical
+analysis, that not half of those lines, only two hundred and six verses,
+[from v. 89 to 295] are employed on the subject of _the Roman Stage_.
+The first of the three parts above delineated [from v. i to 89]
+certainly _contains general rules and reflections on poetry,_ but
+surely with no particular reference to the Drama. As to the second
+part, the Critick, I think, might fairly have extended the Poet's
+consideration of the Drama to the 365th line, seventy lines further than
+he has carried it; but the last hundred and eleven lines of the Epistle
+so little allude to the Drama, that the only passage in which a mention
+of the Stage has been supposed to be implied, _[ludusque repertus,
+&c.]_ is, by the learned and ingenious Critick himself, particularly
+distinguished with a very different interpretation. Nor can this portion
+of the Epistle be considered, by the impartial and intelligent reader,
+as a mere exhortation "to correctness in writing; taken up partly in
+removing the causes that prevented it; and partly in directing to the
+use of such means, as might serve to promote it." Correctness is
+indeed here, as in many other parts of Horace's Satires and Epistles,
+occasionally inculcated; but surely the main scope of this animated
+conclusion is to deter those, who are not blest with genius, from
+attempting the walks of Poetry. I much approve what this writer has
+urged on the _unity of subject, and beauty of epistolary method_
+observed in this Work; but cannot agree that "the main subject and
+intention was _the regulation of the Roman Stage_." How far I may differ
+concerning particular passages, will appear from the notes at the end
+of this translation. In controversial criticism difference of opinion
+cannot but be expressed, (_veniam petimusque damusque vicissim_,) but
+I hope I shall not be thought to have delivered my sentiments with
+petulance, or be accused of want of respect for a character, that I most
+sincerely reverence and admire.
+
+I now proceed to set down in writing, the substance of what I suggested
+to you in conversation, concerning my own conceptions of the end and
+design of Horace in this Epistle. In this explanation I shall call upon
+Horace as my chief witness, and the Epistle itself, as my principal
+voucher. Should their testimonies prove adverse, my system must be
+abandoned, like many that have preceded it, as vain and chimerical: and
+if it should even, by their support, be acknowledged and received, it
+will, I think, like the egg of Columbus, appear so plain, easy, and
+obvious, that it will seem almost wonderful, that the Epistle has never
+been considered in the same light, till now. I do not wish to dazzle
+with the lustre of a new hypothesis, which requires, I think, neither
+the strong opticks, nor powerful glasses, of a critical Herschel, to
+ascertain the truth of it; but is a system, that lies level to common
+apprehension, and a luminary, discoverable by the naked eye.
+
+My notion is simply this. I conceive that one of the sons of Piso,
+undoubtedly the elder, had either written, or meditated, a poetical
+work, most probably a Tragedy; and that he had, with the knowledge of
+the family, communicated his piece, or intention, to Horace: but Horace,
+either disapproving of the work, or doubting of the poetical faculties
+of the Elder Piso, or both, wished to dissuade him from all thoughts
+of publication. With this view he formed the design of writing this
+Epistle, addressing it, with a courtliness and delicacy perfectly
+agreeable to his acknowledged character, indifferently to the whole
+family, the father and his two sons. _Epistola ad Pisones, de Arte
+Poetica_.
+
+He begins with general reflections, generally addressed to his _three_
+friends. _Credite_, Pisones!--pater, & juvenes _patre digni!_--In these
+preliminary rules, equally necessary to be observed by Poets of every
+denomination, he dwells on the necessity of unity of design, the danger
+of being dazzled by the splendor of partial beauties, the choice of
+subjects, the beauty of order, the elegance and propriety of diction,
+and the use of a thorough knowledge of the nature of the several
+different species of Poetry: summing up this introductory portion of his
+Epistle, in a manner perfectly agreeable to the conclusion of it.
+
+  Descriptas servare vices, operumque colores,
+  Cur ego si nequeo ignoroque, poeta salutor?
+  Cur nescire, pudens prave, quam discere malo?
+
+From this general view of poetry, on the canvas of Aristotle, but
+entirely after his own manner, the writer proceeds to give the rules and
+history of the Drama; adverting principally to Tragedy, with all its
+constituents and appendages of diction, fable, character, incidents,
+chorus, measure, musick, and decoration. In this part of the work,
+according to the interpretation of the best criticks, and indeed (I
+think) according to the manifest tenor of the Epistle, he addresses
+himself entirely to _the two young gentlemen_, pointing out to them the
+difficulty, as well as excellence, of the Dramatick Art; insisting
+on the avowed superiority of the Graecian Writers, and ascribing the
+comparative failure of the Romans to negligence and avarice. The Poet,
+having exhausted this part of his subject, suddenly drops a _second_, or
+dismisses at once no less than _two_ of the _three_ Persons, to whom he
+originally addressed his Epistle, and turning short _on the ELDER PISO_,
+most earnestly conjures him to ponder on the danger of precipitate
+publication, and the ridicule to which the author of wretched poetry
+exposes himself. From the commencement of this partial address, o major
+juvenum, _&c._ [v. 366] to the end of the Poem, _almost a fourth part of
+the whole_, the second person plural, _Pisones!--Vos!--Vos, O Pompilius
+Sanguis! _&c. is discarded, and the second person singular, _Tu, Te,
+Tibi,_ &c. invariably takes its place. The arguments too are equally
+relative and personal; not only shewing the necessity of study, combined
+with natural genius, to constitute a Poet; but dwelling on the peculiar
+danger and delusion of flattery, to a writer of rank and fortune; as
+well as the inestimable value of an honest friend, to rescue him from
+derision and contempt. The Poet, however, in reverence to the Muse,
+qualifies his exaggerated description of an infatuated scribbler, with a
+most noble encomium of the uses of Good Poetry, vindicating the dignity
+of the Art, and proudly asserting, that the most exalted characters
+would not be disgraced by the cultivation of it.
+
+  _Ne forte pudori
+  Sit _tibi _Musa, lyrae solers, & cantor Apollo_.
+
+It is worthy observation, that in the satyrical picture of a frantick
+bard, with which Horace concludes his Epistle, he not only runs counter
+to what might be expected as a Corollary of an Essay on _the Art of
+Poetry_, but contradicts his own usual practice and sentiments. In his
+Epistle to Augustus, instead of stigmatizing the love of verse as an
+abominable phrenzy, he calls it (_levis haec insania) a slight madness_,
+and descants on its good effects--_quantas virtutes habeat, sic collige!_
+
+In another Epistle, speaking of himself, and his addiction to poetry, he
+says,
+
+  _----ubi quid datur oti,
+  Illudo chartis; hoc est, mediocribus illis
+  Ex vitiis unum, _&c.
+
+All which, and several other passages in his works, almost demonstrate
+that it was not, without a particular purpose in view, that he dwelt so
+forcibly on the description of a man resolved
+
+  _----in spite
+  Of nature and his stars to write._
+
+To conclude, if I have not contemplated my system, till I am become
+blind to its imperfections, this view of the Epistle not only preserves
+to it all that _unity of subject, and elegance of method, _so much
+insisted on by the excellent Critick, to whom I have so often referred;
+but by adding to his judicious general abstract the familiarities of
+personal address, so strongly marked by the writer, not a line appears
+idle or misplaced: while the order and disposition of the Epistle to the
+Pisos appears as evident and unembarrassed, as that of the Epistle to
+Augustus; in which last, the actual state of the Roman Drama seems to
+have been more manifestly the object of Horace's attention, than in the
+Work now under consideration.
+
+Before I leave you to the further examination of the original of Horace,
+and submit to you the translation, with the notes that accompany it, I
+cannot help observing, that the system, which I have here laid down, is
+not so entirely new, as it may perhaps at first appear to the reader,
+or as I myself originally supposed it. No Critick indeed has, to my
+knowledge, directly considered _the whole Epistle_ in the same light
+that I have now taken it; but yet _particular passages_ seem so strongly
+to enforce such an interpretation, that the Editors, Translators, and
+Commentators, have been occasionally driven to explanations of a similar
+tendency; of which the notes annexed will exhibit several striking
+instances.
+
+Of the following version I shall only say, that I have not, knowingly,
+adopted a single expression, tending to warp the judgement of the
+learned or unlearned reader, in favour of my own hypothesis. I attempted
+this translation, chiefly because I could find no other equally close
+and literal. Even the Version of Roscommon, tho' in blank verse, is, in
+some parts a paraphrase, and in others, but an abstract. I have myself,
+indeed, endeavoured to support my right to that force and freedom of
+translation which Horace himself recommends; yet I have faithfully
+exhibited in our language several passages, which his professed
+translators have abandoned, as impossible to be given in English.
+
+All that I think necessary to be further said on the Epistle will appear
+in the notes.
+
+  I am, my dear friends,
+
+  With the truest respect and regard,
+
+  Your most sincere admirer,
+
+  And very affectionate, humble servant,
+
+  GEORGE COLMAN.
+
+  LONDON,
+  March 8, 1783.
+
+
+  Q. HORATII FLACCI
+
+
+  EPISTOLA AD PISONES.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam
+  Jungere si velit, et varias inducere plumas
+  Undique collatis membris, ut turpiter atrum
+  Definat in piscem mulier formosa superne;
+  Spectatum admissi risum teneatis, amici?
+  Credite, Pisones, ifti tabulae fore librum
+  Persimilem, cujus, velut aegri somnia, vanae
+  HORACE'S EPISTLE TO THE PISOS.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  What if a Painter, in his art to shine,
+  A human head and horse's neck should join;
+  From various creatures put the limbs together,
+  Cover'd with plumes, from ev'ry bird a feather;
+  And in a filthy tail the figure drop,
+  A fish at bottom, a fair maid at top:
+  Viewing a picture of this strange condition,
+  Would you not laugh at such an exhibition?
+  Trust me, my Pisos, wild as this may seem,
+  The volume such, where, like a sick-man's dream,
+  Fingentur species: ut nec pes, nec caput uni
+  Reddatur formae. Pictoribus atque Poetis
+  Quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas:
+  Scimus, et hanc veniam petimusque damusque *viciffim:
+  Sed non ut placidis coeant immitia, non ut
+  Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Incoeptis gravibus plerumque et magna professis
+  Purpureus late qui splendeat unus et alter
+  Assuitur pannus; cum lucus et ara Dianae,
+  Et properantis aquae per amoenos ambitus agros,
+  Aut flumen Rhenum, aut pluvius describitur arcus.
+  Sed nunc non erat his locus: et fortasse cupressum
+  Scis simulare: quid hoc, si fractis enatat exspes
+  Extravagant conceits throughout prevail,
+  Gross and fantastick, neither head nor tail.
+  "Poets and Painters ever were allow'd
+  Some daring flight above the vulgar croud."
+  True: we indulge them in that daring flight,
+  And challenge in our turn, an equal right:
+  But not the soft and savage to combine,
+  Serpents to doves, to tigers lambkins join.
+
+  Oft works of promise large, and high attempt,
+  Are piec'd and guarded, to escape contempt,
+  With here and there a remnant highly drest,
+  That glitters thro' the gloom of all the rest.
+  Then Dian's grove and altar are the theme,
+  Then thro' rich meadows flows the silver stream;
+  The River Rhine, perhaps, adorns the lines,
+  Or the gay Rainbow in description shines.
+
+  These we allow have each their several grace;
+  But each and several now are out of place.
+
+  A cypress you can draw; what then? you're hir'd,
+  And from your art a sea-piece is requir'd;
+  Navibus, aere dato qui pingitur amphora coepit
+  Institui: currente rota cur urceus exit?
+  Denique sit quidvis simplex duntaxat et unum.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Maxima pars vatum, (pater, et juvenes patre digni)
+  Decipimur specie recti. Brevis esse laboro,
+  Obscurus sio: sectantem laevia, nervi
+  Desiciunt animique: prosessus grandia turget:
+  Serpit humi tutus nimium timidusque procellae.
+  Qui variare cupit rem prodigaliter unam,
+  Delphinum silvis appingit, fluctibus aprum.
+  In vitium dycit culpae fuga, si caret arte.
+
+  A shipwreck'd mariner, despairing, faint,
+  (The price paid down) you are ordain'd to paint.
+  Why dwindle to a cruet from a tun?
+  Simple be all you execute, and one!
+
+  Lov'd fire! lov'd sons, well worthy such a fire!
+  Most bards are dupes to beauties they admire.
+  Proud to be brief, for brevity must please,
+  I grow obscure; the follower of ease
+  Wants nerve and soul; the lover of sublime
+  Swells to bombast; while he who dreads that crime,
+  Too fearful of the whirlwind rising round,
+  A wretched reptile, creeps along the ground.
+  The bard, ambitious fancies who displays,
+  And tortures one poor thought a thousand ways,
+  Heaps prodigies on prodigies; in woods
+  Pictures the dolphin, and the boar in floods!
+  Thus ev'n the fear of faults to faults betrays,
+  Unless a master-hand conduct the lays.
+  Aemilium circa ludum faber imus et ungues
+  Exprimet, et molles imitabitur aere capillos,
+  Infelix operis summa, quia ponere totum
+  Nesciet: hunc ego me, si quid componere curem,
+  Non magis esse velim, quam pravo vivere naso,
+  Spectandum nigris oculis, nigroque capillo.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Sumite materiam vostris, qui scribitis, aequam
+  Viribus: et versate diu, quid ferre recusent
+  Quid valeant humeri. Cui lecta potenter erit res,
+  Nec facundia deferet hunc, nec lucidus ordo.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Ordinis haec virtus erit et venus, aut ego fallor,
+  Ut jam nunc dicat, jam nunc debentia dici
+  Pleraque differat, et praesens in tempus omittat.
+  An under workman, of th' Aemilian class,
+  Shall mould the nails, and trace the hair in brass,
+  Bungling at last; because his narrow soul
+  Wants room to comprehend _a perfect whole_.
+  To be this man, would I a work compose,
+  No more I'd wish, than for a horrid nose,
+  With hair as black as jet, and eyes as black as sloes.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Select, all ye who write, a subject fit,
+  A subject, not too mighty for your wit!
+  And ere you lay your shoulders to the wheel,
+  Weigh well their strength, and all their weakness feel!
+  He, who his subject happily can chuse,
+  Wins to his favour the benignant Muse;
+  The aid of eloquence he ne'er shall lack,
+  And order shall dispose and clear his track.
+
+  Order, I trust, may boast, nor boast in vain,
+  These Virtues and these Graces in her train.
+  What on the instant should be said, to say;
+  Things, best reserv'd at present, to delay;
+  Hoc amet, hoc spernat, promissi carminis auctor.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  In verbis etiam tenuis cautusque ferendis,
+  Dixeris egregie, notum si callida verbum
+  Reddiderit junctura novum: si forte necesse est
+  Indiciis monstrare recentibus abdita rerum;
+  Fingere cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis
+  Continget: dabiturque licentia sumpta pudenter.
+  Et nova factaque nuper habebunt verba fidem, si
+  Graeco fonte cadant, parce detorta. Quid autem?
+  Caecilio, Plautoque dabit Romanus, ademptum
+  Virgilio, Varioque? ego cur acquirere pauca
+  Guiding the bard, thro' his continu'd verse,
+  What to reject, and when; and what rehearse.
+
+  On the old stock of words our fathers knew,
+  Frugal and cautious of engrafting new,
+  Happy your art, if by a cunning phrase
+  To a new meaning a known word you raise:
+  If 'tis your lot to tell, at some chance time,
+  "Things unattempted yet in prose or rhime,"
+  Where you are driv'n perforce to many a word
+  Which the strait-lac'd Cethegi never heard,
+  Take, but with coyness take, the licence wanted,
+  And such a licence shall be freely granted:
+  New, or but recent, words shall have their course,
+  If drawn discreetly from the Graecian source.
+  Shall Rome, Caecilius, Plautus, fix _your_ claim,
+  And not to Virgil, Varius, grant the same?
+  Or if myself should some new words attain,
+  Shall I be grudg'd the little wealth I gain?
+  Si possum, invideor; cum lingua Catonis et Enni
+  Sermonem patrium ditaverit, et nova rerum
+  Nomina protulerit? Licuit, semperque licebit
+  Signatum praesente nota procudere nomen.
+  Ut silvae foliis pronos mutantur in annos;
+  Prima cadunt: ita verborum vetus interit aetas,
+  Et juvenum ritu florent modo nata vigentque.
+  Debemur morti nos, nostraque; sive receptus
+  Terra Neptunus, classes Aquilonibus arcet,
+  Regis opus; sterilisve diu palus, aptaque remis,
+  Vicinas urbes alit, et grave sentit aratrum:
+  Seu cursum mutavit iniquum frugibus amnis,
+  Doctus iter melius: mortalia facta peribunt,
+  Tho' Cato, Ennius, in the days of yore,
+  Enrich'd our tongue with many thousands more,
+  And gave to objects names unknown before?
+  No! it ne'er was, ne'er shall be, deem'd a crime,
+  To stamp on words the coinage of the time.
+  As woods endure a constant change of leaves,
+  Our language too a change of words receives:
+  Year after year drop off the ancient race,
+  While young ones bud and flourish in their place.
+  Nor we, nor all we do, can death withstand;
+  _Whether the Sea_, imprison'd in the land,
+  A work imperial! takes a harbour's form,
+  Where navies ride secure, and mock the storm;
+  _Whether the Marsh_, within whose horrid shore
+  Barrenness dwelt, and boatmen plied the oar,
+  Now furrow'd by the plough, a laughing plain,
+  Feeds all the cities round with fertile grain;
+  _Or if the River_, by a prudent force,
+  The corn once flooding, learns a better course.
+  Nedum sermonum stet honos, et gratia vivax.
+  Multa renascentur, quae jam cecidere; cadentque
+  Quae nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus,
+  Quem penes arbitrium est, et jus, et norma loquendi.
+
+  Res gestae regumque ducumque et tristia bella,
+  Quo scribi possent numero, monstravit Homerus.
+
+  Versibus impariter junctis querimonia primum,
+  Post etiam inclusa est voti sententia compos.
+  Quis tamen exiguos elegos emiserit auctor,
+  Grammatici certant, et adhuc sub judice lis est.
+
+  Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo.
+  Hunc socci cepere pedem, grandesque cothurni,
+  Alternis aptum sermonibus, et populares
+  Vincentem strepitus, et natum rebus agendis.
+  The works of mortal man shall all decay;
+  And words are grac'd and honour'd but a day:
+  Many shall rise again, that now are dead;
+  Many shall fall, that now hold high the head:
+  Custom alone their rank and date can teach,
+  Custom, the sov'reign, law, and rule of speech.
+
+  For deeds of kings and chiefs, and battles fought,
+  What numbers are most fitting, Homer taught:
+
+  Couplets unequal were at first confin'd
+  To speak in broken verse the mourner's mind.
+  Prosperity at length, and free content,
+  In the same numbers gave their raptures vent;
+  But who first fram'd the Elegy's small song,
+  Grammarians squabble, and will squabble long.
+
+  Archilochus, 'gainst vice, a noble rage
+  Arm'd with his own Iambicks to engage:
+  With these the humble Sock, and Buskin proud
+  Shap'd dialogue; and still'd the noisy croud;
+  Musa dedit fidibus divos, puerosque deorum,
+  Et pugilem victorem, et equum certamine primum,
+  Et juvenum curas, et libera vina referre.
+
+  Descriptas servare vices, operumque colores,
+  Cur ego, si nequeo ignoroque, poeta salutor?
+  Cur nescire, pudens prave, quam discere malo?
+
+  Versibus exponi tragicis res comica non vult;
+  Indignatur item privatis ac prope socco
+  Dignis carminibus narrari coena Thyestae.
+  Singula quaeque locum teneant sortita decenter.
+  Embrac'd the measure, prov'd its ease and force,
+  And found it apt for business or discourse.
+
+  Gods, and the sons of Gods, in Odes to sing,
+  The Muse attunes her Lyre, and strikes the string;
+  Victorious Boxers, Racers, mark the line,
+  The cares of youthful love, and joys of wine.
+
+  The various outline of each work to fill,
+  If nature gives no power, and art no skill;
+  If, marking nicer shades, I miss my aim,
+  Why am I greeted with a Poet's name?
+  Or if, thro' ignorance, I can't discern,
+  Why, from false modesty, forbear to learn!
+
+  A comick incident loaths tragick strains:
+  Thy feast, Thyestes, lowly verse disdains;
+  Familiar diction scorns, as base and mean,
+  Touching too nearly on the comick scene.
+  Each stile allotted to its proper place,
+  Let each appear with its peculiar grace!
+  Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit;
+  Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore;
+  Et tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri.
+  Telephus aut Peleus, cum pauper et exul uterque,
+  Projicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba,
+  Si curat cor spectantis tetigisse querela.
+
+  Non satis est pulchra esse poemata; dulcia sunto,
+  Et quocunque volent, animum auditoris agunto.
+  Ut ridentibus arrident, ita flentibus adflent
+  Humani vultus; si vis me flere, dolendum est
+  Primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me infortunia laedent.
+  Telephe, vel Peleu, male si mandata loqueris,
+  Aut dormitabo, aut ridebo: tristia moestum
+  Vultum verba decent; iratum, plena minarum;
+  Yet Comedy at times exalts her strain,
+  And angry Chremes storms in swelling vein:
+  The tragick hero, plung'd in deep distress,
+  Sinks with his fate, and makes his language less.
+  Peleus and Telephus, poor, banish'd! each
+  Drop their big six-foot words, and sounding speech;
+  Or else, what bosom in their grief takes part,
+  Which cracks the ear, but cannot touch the heart?
+
+  'Tis not enough that Plays are polish'd, chaste,
+  Or trickt in all the harlotry of taste,
+  They must have _passion_ too; beyond controul
+  Transporting where they please the hearer's soul.
+  With those that smile, our face in smiles appears;
+  With those that weep, our cheeks are bath'd in tears:
+  To make _me_ grieve, be first _your_ anguish shown,
+  And I shall feel your sorrows like my own.
+  Peleus, and Telephus! unless your stile
+  Suit with your circumstance, I'll sleep, or smile.
+  Features of sorrow mournful words require;
+  Anger in menace speaks, and words of fire:
+  Ludentem, lasciva; severum, seria dictu.
+  Format enim Natura prius nos intus ad omnem
+  Fortunarum habitum; juvat, aut impellit ad iram,
+  Aut ad humum moerore gravi deducit, et angit:
+  Post effert animi motus interprete lingua.
+  Si dicentis erunt fortunis absona dicta,
+  Romani tollent equitesque patresque chachinnum.
+
+
+  Intererit multum, Divusne loquatur, an heros;
+  Maturusne senex, an adhuc florente juventa
+  Fervidus; an matrona potens, an sedula nutrix;
+  Mercatorne vagus, cultorne virentis agelli;
+  Colchus, an Assyrius; Thebis nutritus, an Argis.
+  The playful prattle in a frolick vein,
+  And the severe affect a serious strain:
+  For Nature first, to every varying wind
+  Of changeful fortune, shapes the pliant mind;
+  Sooths it with pleasure, or to rage provokes,
+  Or brings it to the ground by sorrow's heavy strokes;
+  Then of the joys that charm'd, or woes that wrung,
+  Forces expression from the faithful tongue:
+  But if the actor's words belie his state,
+  And speak a language foreign to his fate,
+  Romans shall crack their sides, and all the town
+  Join, horse and foot, to laugh th' impostor down.
+
+  Much boots the speaker's character to mark:
+  God, heroe; grave old man, or hot young spark;
+  Matron, or busy nurse; who's us'd to roam
+  Trading abroad, or ploughs his field at home:
+  If Colchian, or Assyrian, fill the scene,
+  Theban, or Argian, note the shades between!
+  Aut famam sequere, aut sibi convenientia finge,
+  Scriptor. Honoratum si forte reponis Achillem,
+  Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer,
+  Jura neget sibi nata, nihil non arroget armis.
+  Sit Medea ferox invictaque, flebilis Ino,
+  Perfidus Ixion, Io vaga, tristis Orestes.
+
+  Si quid inexpertum scenae committis, et audes
+  Personam formare novam; servetur ad imum
+  Qualis ab incepto processerit, et sibi constet.
+
+  Difficile est proprie communia dicere: tuque
+  Rectius Iliacum carmen deducis in actus,
+  Quam si proferres ignota indictaque primus.
+  Publica materies privati juris erit, si
+  Non circa vilem patulumque moraberis orbem;
+  Follow the Voice of Fame; or if you feign,
+  The fabled plan consistently sustain!
+  If great Achilles you bring back to view,
+  Shew him of active spirit, wrathful too;
+  Eager, impetuous, brave, and high of soul,
+  Always for arms, and brooking no controul:
+  Fierce let Medea seem, in horrors clad;
+  Perfidious be Ixion, Ino sad;
+  Io a wand'rer, and Orestes mad!
+
+  Should you, advent'ring novelty, engage
+  Some bold Original to walk the Stage,
+  Preserve it well; continu'd as begun;
+  True to itself in ev'ry scene, and one!
+
+  Yet hard the task to touch on untried facts:
+  Safer the Iliad to reduce to acts,
+  Than be the first new regions to explore,
+  And dwell on themes unknown, untold before.
+
+  Quit but the vulgar, broad, and beaten round,
+  The publick field becomes your private ground:
+  Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere, fidus
+  Interpres; nec desilies imitator in arctum,
+  Unde pedem proferre pudor vetet aut operis lex.
+
+  Nec sic incipies, ut scriptor cyclicus olim:
+  fortunam priami cantabo, et nobile bellum.
+  Quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor hiatu?
+  Parturiunt montes: nascetur ridiculus mus.
+  Quanto rectius hic, qui nil molitur inepte!
+  dic mihi, musa, virum, captae post moenia trojae,
+  qui mores hominum multorum vidit et urbes.
+  Non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucem
+  Cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat,
+  Antiphaten, Scyllamque, et cum Cylope Charibdin.
+  Nor word for word too faithfully translate;
+  Nor leap at once into a narrow strait,
+  A copyist so close, that rule and line
+  Curb your free march, and all your steps confine!
+
+  Be not your opening fierce, in accents bold,
+  Like the rude ballad-monger's chaunt of old;
+  "The fall of Priam, the great Trojan King!
+  Of the right noble Trojan War, I sing!"
+  Where ends this Boaster, who, with voice of thunder,
+  Wakes Expectation, all agape with wonder?
+  The mountains labour! hush'd are all the spheres!
+  And, oh ridiculous! a mouse appears.
+  How much more modestly begins HIS song,
+  Who labours, or imagines, nothing wrong!
+  "Say, Muse, the Man, who, after Troy's disgrace,
+  In various cities mark'd the human race!"
+  Not flame to smoke he turns, but smoke to light,
+  Kindling from thence a stream of glories bright:
+  Antiphates, the Cyclops, raise the theme;
+  Scylla, Charibdis, fill the pleasing dream.
+  Nec reditum Diomedis ab interitu Meleagri,
+  Nec gemino bellum Trojanum orditur ab ovo:
+  Semper ad eventum festinat; et in medias res,
+  Non secus ac notas, auditorem rapit: et quae
+  Desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit:
+  Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet,
+  Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.
+
+  Tu, quid ego et populus mecum desideret, audi;
+  Si fautoris eges aulea manentis, et usque
+  Sessuri, donec cantor, Vos plaudite, dicat:
+  Aetatis cujusque notandi sunt tibi mores,
+  Mobilibusque decor naturis dandus et annis.
+  Reddere qui voces jam scit puer, et pede certo
+  Signat humum; gestit paribus colludere, et iram
+  Colligit ac ponit temere, et mutatur in horas.
+  He goes not back to Meleager's death,
+  With Diomed's return to run you out of breath;
+  Nor from the Double Egg, the tale to mar,
+  Traces the story of the Trojan War:
+  Still hurrying to th' event, at once he brings
+  His hearer to the heart and soul of things;
+  And what won't bear the light, in shadow flings.
+  So well he feigns, so well contrives to blend
+  Fiction and Truth, that all his labours tend
+  True to one point, persu'd from end to end.
+
+  Hear now, what I expect, and all the town,
+  If you would wish applause your play to crown,
+  And patient sitters, 'till the cloth goes down!
+
+  _Man's several ages _with attention view,
+  His flying years, and changing nature too.
+
+  _The Boy _who now his words can freely sound,
+  And with a steadier footstep prints the ground,
+  Places in playfellows his chief delight,
+  Quarrels, shakes hands, and cares not wrong or right:
+  Sway'd by each fav'rite bauble's short-liv'd pow'r,
+  In smiles, in tears, all humours ev'ry hour.
+  Imberbus juvenis, tandem custode remoto,
+  Gaudet equis canibusque et aprici gramine campi;
+  Cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus asper,
+  Utilium tardus provisor, prodigus aeris,
+  Sublimis, cupidusque, et amata relinquere pernix.
+
+  Conversis studiis, aetas animusque virilis
+  Quaerit opes et amicitias, infervit honori;
+  Conmisisse cavet quod mox mutare laboret.
+
+  Multa senem circumveniunt incommoda; vel quod
+  Quaerit, et inventis miser abstinet, ac timet uti;
+  Vel quod res omnes timide gelideque ministrat,
+  Dilator, spe lentus, iners, pavidusque futuri;
+  _The beardless Youth_, at length from tutor free,
+  Loves horses, hounds, the field, and liberty:
+  Pliant as wax, to vice his easy soul,
+  Marble to wholesome counsel and controul;
+  Improvident of good, of wealth profuse;
+  High; fond, yet fickle; generous, yet loose.
+
+  To graver studies, new pursuits inclin'd,
+  _Manhood_, with growing years, brings change of mind:
+  Seeks riches, friends; with thirst of honour glows;
+  And all the meanness of ambition knows;
+  Prudent, and wary, on each deed intent,
+  Fearful to act, and afterwards repent.
+
+  Evil in various shapes _Old Age _surrounds;
+  Riches his aim, in riches he abounds;
+  Yet what he fear'd to gain, he dreads to lose;
+  And what he sought as useful, dares not use.
+  Timid and cold in all he undertakes,
+  His hand from doubt, as well as weakness, shakes;
+  Hope makes him tedious, fond of dull delay;
+  Dup'd by to-morrow, tho' he dies to-day;
+  Difficilis, querulus, laudator temporis acti
+  Se puero, censor, castigatorque minorum.
+
+  Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum,
+  Multa recedentes adimunt: ne forte seniles
+  Mandentur juveni partes, pueroque viriles.
+  Semper in adjunctis aevoque morabimur aptis.
+
+  Aut agitur res In scenis, aut acta refertur:
+  Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem,
+  Quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus, et quae
+  Ipse sibi tradit spectator: non tamen intus
+  Digna geri promes in scenam: multaque tolles
+  Ex oculis, quae mox narret facundia praesens:
+  Ill-humour'd, querulous; yet loud in praise
+  Of all the mighty deeds of former days;
+  When _he_ was young, good heavens, what glorious times!
+  Unlike the present age, that teems with crimes!
+
+  Thus years advancing many comforts bring,
+  And, flying, bear off many on their wing:
+  Confound not youth with age, nor age with youth,
+  But mark their several characters with truth!
+
+  Events are on the stage in act display'd,
+  Or by narration, if unseen, convey'd.
+  Cold is the tale distilling thro' the ear,
+  Filling the soul with less dismay and fear,
+  Than where spectators view, like standers-by,
+  The deed submitted to the faithful eye.
+  Yet force not on the stage, to wound the sight,
+  Asks that should pass within, and shun the light!
+  Many there are the eye should ne'er behold,
+  But touching Eloquence in time unfold:
+  Ne pueros coram populo Medea trucidet;
+  Aut humana palam coquat exta nefarius Atreus;
+  Aut in avem Procne vertatur, Cadmus in anguem.
+  Quodcunque ostendis mihi sic, incredulus odi.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Neve minor, neu sit quinto productior actu
+  Fabula, quae posci vult, et spectata reponi
+  Nec Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus
+  Inciderit: nec quarta loqui persona laboret.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Actoris partes Chorus, officiumque virile
+  Defendat: neu quid medios intercinat actus,
+  Quod non proposito conducat et haereat apte.
+  Ille bonis faveatque, et concilietur amicis,
+  Et regat iratos, et amet peccare timentes:
+  Who on Medea's parricide can look?
+  View horrid Atreus human garbage cook?
+  If a bird's feathers I see Progne take,
+  If I see Cadmus slide into a snake,
+  My faith revolts; and I condemn outright
+  The fool that shews me such a silly sight.
+
+  Let not your play have fewer _acts_ than _five_,
+  Nor _more_, if you would wish it run and thrive!
+
+  _Draw down no God_, unworthily betray'd,
+  Unless some great occasion ask his aid!
+
+  Let no _fourth person_, labouring for a speech,
+  Make in the dialogue a needless breach!
+
+  An actor's part the Chorus should sustain,
+  Gentle in all its office, and humane;
+  Chaunting no Odes between the acts, that seem
+  Unapt, or foreign to the general theme.
+  Let it to Virtue prove a guide and friend,
+  Curb tyrants, and the humble good defend!
+  Ille dapes laudet mensae brevis, ille salubrem
+  Justitiam, legesque, et apertis otia portis:
+  Ille tegat commisia, Deosque precetur et oret,
+  Ut redeat miseris, abeat fortuna superbis.
+
+  Tibia non, ut nunc, orichalco vincta, tubaeque
+  aemula; sed tenuis, simplexque foramine pauco,
+  Aspirare et adesse choris erat utilis, atque
+  Nondum spissa nimis complere sedilia flatu:
+  Quo fane populus numerabilis, utpote parvus
+  Et frugi castusque verecundusque coibat.
+  Postquam coepit agros extendere victor, et urbem
+  Laxior amplecti murus, vinoque diurno
+  Placari Genius sestis impune diebus,
+
+  Loud let it praise the joys that Temperance waits;
+  Of Justice sing, the real health of States;
+  The Laws; and Peace, secure with open gates!
+  Faithful and secret, let it heav'n invoke
+  To turn from the unhappy fortune's stroke,
+  And all its vengeance on the proud provoke!
+
+  _The Pipe_ of old, as yet with brass unbound,
+  Nor rivalling, as now, the Trumpet's sound,
+  But slender, simple, and its stops but few,
+  Breath'd to the Chorus; and was useful too:
+  For feats extended, and extending still,
+  Requir'd not pow'rful blasts their space to fill;
+  When the thin audience, pious, frugal, chaste,
+  With modest mirth indulg'd their sober taste.
+  But soon as the proud Victor spurns all bounds,
+  And growing Rome a wider wall surrounds;
+  When noontide cups, and the diurnal bowl,
+  Licence on holidays a flow of soul;
+  Accessit numerisque modisque licentia major.
+  Indoctus quid enim saperet liberque laborum,
+  Rusticus urbano confusus, turpis honesto?
+  Sic priscae motumque et luxuriem addidit arti
+  Tibicen, traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem:
+  Sic etiam fidibus voces crevere feveris,
+  Et tulit eloquium insolitum facundia praeceps;
+  Utiliumque sagax rerum, et divina futuri,
+  Sortilegis non discrepuit sententia Delphis.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Carmine qui tragico vilem certavit ob hircum,
+  Mox etiam agrestes Satyros nudavit, et asper
+  Incolumi gravitate jocum tentavit: eo quod
+  A richer stream of melody is known,
+  Numbers more copious, and a fuller tone.
+
+  ----For what, alas! could the unpractis'd ear
+  Of rusticks, revelling o'er country cheer,
+  A motley groupe! high, low; and froth, and scum;
+  Distinguish but shrill squeak, and dronish hum?----
+  The Piper, grown luxuriant in his art,
+  With dance and flowing vest embellishes his part!
+  Now too, its pow'rs increas'd, _the Lyre severe_
+  With richer numbers smites the list'ning ear:
+  Sudden bursts forth a flood of rapid song,
+  Rolling a tide of eloquence along:
+  Useful, prophetic, wise, the strain divine
+  Breathes all the spirit of the Delphick shrine.
+
+  He who the prize, a filthy goat, to gain,
+  At first contended in the tragick strain,
+  Soon too--tho' rude, the graver mood unbroke,--
+  Stript the rough satyrs, and essay'd a joke:
+  Illecebris erat et grata novitate morandus
+  Spectator functusque sacris, et potus, et exlex.
+  Verum ita risores, ita commendare dicaces
+  Conveniet Satyros, ita vertere seria ludo;
+  Ne quicunque Deus, quicunque adhibebi tur heros [sic]
+  Regali conspectus in auro nuper et ostro,
+  Migret in obscuras humili sermone tabernas
+  Aut, dum vitat humum, nubes et inania captet [sic]
+  Effutire leves indigna tragoedia versus,
+  Ut festis matrona moveri jussa diebus,
+  Intererit Satyris paulum pudibunda protervis.
+  Non ego inornata et dominantia nomina solum
+  Verbaque, Pisones, Satyrorum scriptor amabo
+  Nec sic enitar tragico differre colori,
+  For holiday-spectators, flush'd, and wild,
+  With new conceits, and mummeries, were beguil'd.
+  Yet should the Satyrs so chastise their mirth,
+  Temp'ring the jest that gives their sallies birth;
+  Changing from grave to gay, so keep the mean,
+  That God or Heroe of the lofty scene,
+  In royal gold and purple seen but late,
+  May ne'er in cots obscure debase his state,
+  Lost in low language; nor in too much care
+  To shun the ground, grasp clouds, and empty air.
+  With an indignant pride, and coy disdain,
+  Stern Tragedy rejects too light a vein:
+  Like a grave Matron, destin'd to advance
+  On solemn festivals to join the dance,
+  Mixt with the shaggy tribe of Satyrs rude,
+  She'll hold a sober mien, and act the prude.
+  Let me not, Pisos, in the Sylvan scene,
+  Use abject terms alone, and phrases mean;
+  Nor of high Tragick colouring afraid,
+  Neglect too much the difference of shade!
+  Ut nihil intersit Davusne loquatur et audax
+  Pythias emuncto lucrata Simone talentum,
+  An custos famulusque Dei Silenus alumni.
+
+  Ex noto fictum carmen sequar: ut sibi quivis
+  Speret idem; sudet multum, frustraque laboret
+  Ausus idem: tantum series juncturaque pollet:
+  Tantum de medio sumtis accedit honoris.
+
+  Silvis deducti caveant, me judice, Fauni,
+  Ne velut innati triviis, ac pene forenses,
+  Aut nimium teneris juvenentur versibus umquam,
+  Aut immunda crepent ignominiosaque dicta.
+  Offenduntur enim, quibus est equus, et pater, et res;
+  Nec, si quid fricti ciceris probat et nucis emtor,
+  Aequis accipiunt animis, donantve corona.
+  Davus may jest, pert Pythias may beguile
+  Simo of cash, in a familiar style;
+  The same low strain Silenus would disgrace,
+  Servant and guardian of the Godlike race.
+
+  Let me on subjects known my verse so frame,
+  So follow it, that each may hope the same;
+  Daring the same, and toiling to prevail,
+  May vainly toil, and only dare to fail!
+  Such virtues order and connection bring,
+  From common arguments such honours spring.
+
+  The woodland Fauns their origin should heed,
+  Take no town stamp, nor seem the city breed:
+  Nor let them, aping young gallants, repeat
+  Verses that run upon too tender feet;
+  Nor fall into a low, indecent stile,
+  Breaking dull jests to make the vulgar smile!
+  For higher ranks such ribaldry despise,
+  Condemn the Poet, and withhold the prize.
+  Syllaba longa brevi subjecta, vocatur Iambus,
+  Pes citus: unde etiam Trimetris accrescere jussit
+  Nomen Iambeis, cum senos redderet ictus
+  Primus ad extremum similis sibi; non ita pridem,
+  Tardior ut paulo graviorque veniret ad aures,
+  Spondeos stabiles in jura paterna recepit
+  Commodus et patiens: non ut de sede secunda
+  Cederet, aut quarta socialiter. Hic et in Acci
+  Nobilibus Trimetris apparet rarus, et Enni.
+  In scenam missus cum magno pondere versus,
+  Aut operae celeris nimium curaque carentis,
+  Aut ignoratae premit artis crimine turpi.
+
+  Non quivis videt immodulata poemata judex:
+  Et data Romanis venia est indigna poetis.
+  To a short Syllable a long subjoin'd
+  Forms an Iambick foot; so light a kind,
+  That when six pure Iambicks roll'd along,
+  So nimbly mov'd, so trippingly the song,
+  The feet to half their number lost their claim,
+  And _Trimeter Iambicks_ was their name.
+  Hence, that the measure might more grave appear,
+  And with a slower march approach the ear,
+  From the fourth foot, and second, not displac'd,
+  The steady spondee kindly it embrac'd;
+  Then in firm union socially unites,
+  Admitting the ally to equal rights.
+  Accius, and Ennius lines, thus duly wrought,
+  In their bold Trimeters but rarely sought:
+  Yet scenes o'erloaded with a verse of lead,
+  A mass of heavy numbers on their head,
+  Speak careless haste, neglect in ev'ry part.
+  Or shameful ignorance of the Poet's art.
+
+  "Not ev'ry Critick spies a faulty strain,
+  And pardon Roman Poets should disdain."
+  Idcircone vager, scribamque licenter? ut omnes
+  Visuros peccata putem mea; tutus et intra
+  Spem veniae cautus? vitavi denique culpam,
+  Non laudem merui.
+
+  Vos exemplaria Graeca
+  Nocturna versate manu, versate diurna.
+  At vestri proavi Plautinos et numeros, et
+  Laudavere sales; nimium patienter utrumque
+  (Ne dicam stulte) mirati: si modo ego et vos
+  Scimus inurbanum lepido seponere dicto,
+  Legitimumque sonum digitis callemus et aure.
+  Ignotum tragicae genus invenisse Camenae
+  Dicitur, et plaustris vexisse poemata Thespis
+  Quae canerent agerentque, peruncti faecibus ora.
+  Shall I then all regard, all labour slight,
+  Break loose at once, and all at random write?
+  Or shall I fear that all my faults descry,
+  Viewing my errors with an Eagle eye,
+  And thence correctness make my only aim,
+  Pleas'd to be safe, and sure of 'scaping blame?
+  Thus I from faults indeed may guard my lays;
+  But neither they, nor I, can merit praise.
+
+  Pisos! be Graecian models your delight!
+  Night and day read them, read them day and night!
+  "Well! but our fathers Plautus lov'd to praise,
+  Admir'd his humour, and approv'd his lays."
+  Yes; they saw both with a too partial eye,
+  Fond e'en to folly sure, if you and I
+  Know ribaldry from humour, chaste and terse,
+  Or can but scan, and have an ear for verse.
+
+  A kind of Tragick Ode unknown before,
+  Thespis, 'tis said, invented first; and bore
+  Cart-loads of verse about, and with him went
+  A troop begrim'd, to sing and represent,
+  Post hunc personae pallaeque repertor honestae
+  Aeschylus et modicis instravit pulpita tignis,
+  Et docuit magnumque loqui, nitique cothurno.
+  Successit Vetus his Comoedia, non sine multa
+  Laude: sed in vitium libertas excidit, et vim
+  Dignam lege regi: lex est accepta; Chorusque
+  Turpiter obticuit, sublato jure nocendi.
+
+  Nil intentatum nostri liquere poetae:
+  Nec nimium meruere decus, vestigia Graeca
+  Ausi deserere, et celebrare domestica facta,
+  Vel qui Praetextas, vel qui docuere Togatas:
+  Nec virtute foret clarisve potentius armis,
+  Quam lingua, Latium; si non offenderet unum--
+  Next, Aeschylus, a Mask to shroud the face,
+  A Robe devis'd, to give the person grace;
+  On humble rafters rais'd a Stage, and taught
+  The buskin'd actor, with _his_ spirit fraught,
+  To breathe with dignity the lofty thought.
+  To these th' old comedy of ancient days
+  Succeeded, and obtained no little praise;
+  'Till Liberty, grown rank and run to seed,
+  Call'd for the hand of Law to pluck the weed:
+  The Statute past; the sland'rous Chorus, drown'd
+  In shameful silence, lost the pow'r to wound.
+
+  Nothing have Roman Poets left untried,
+  Nor added little to their Country's pride;
+  Daring their Graecian Masters to forsake,
+  And for their themes Domestick Glories take;
+  Whether _the Gown_ prescrib'd a stile more mean,
+  Or the _Inwoven Purple_ rais'd the scene:
+  Nor would the splendour of the Latian name
+  From arms, than Letters, boast a brighter fame,
+  Quemque poetarum limae labor et mora. Vos o
+  Pompilius sanguis, carmen reprehendite, quod non
+  Multa dies et multa litura coercuit, atque
+  Praesectum decies non castigavit ad unguem.
+
+  Ingenium misera quia fortunatius arte
+  Credit, et excludit sanos Helicone poetas
+  Democritus; bona pars non ungues ponere curat,
+  Non barbam, secreta petit loca, balnea vitat;
+  Nanciscetur enim pretium nomenque poetae,
+  Si tribus Anticyris caput insanabile numquam
+  Tonsori Licino commiserit. O ego laevus,
+  Qui purgor bilem sub verni temporis horam!
+  Non alius faceret meliora poemata: verum
+  Had they not, scorning the laborious file,
+  Grudg'd time, to mellow and refine their stile.
+  But you, bright hopes of the Pompilian Blood,
+  Never the verse approve and hold as good,
+  'Till many a day, and many a blot has wrought
+  The polish'd work, and chasten'd ev'ry thought,
+  By tenfold labour to perfection brought!
+
+  Because Democritus thinks wretched Art
+  Too mean with Genius to sustain a part,
+  To Helicon allowing no pretence,
+  'Till the mad bard has lost all common sense;
+  Many there are, their nails who will not pare,
+  Or trim their beards, or bathe, or take the air:
+  For _he_, no doubt, must be a bard renown'd,
+  _That_ head with deathless laurel must be crown'd,
+  Tho' past the pow'r of Hellebore insane,
+  Which no vile Cutberd's razor'd hands profane.
+  Ah luckless I, each spring that purge the bile!
+  Or who'd write better? but 'tis scarce worth while:
+  Nil tanti est: ergo fungar vice cotis, acutum
+  Reddere quae ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi.
+  Munus et officium, nil scribens ipse, docebo;
+  Unde parentur opes; quid alat formetque poetam;
+  Quid deceat, quid non; quo virtus, quo ferat error,
+
+  Scribendi recte, sapere est et principium et fons.
+  Rem tibi Socraticae poterunt ostendere chartae;
+  Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur.
+  Qui didicit patriae quid debeat, et quid amicis;
+  Quo fit amore parens, quo frater amandus et hospes;
+  Quod fit conscripti, quod judicis officium; quae
+  Partes in bellum missi ducis; ille profecto
+  Reddere personae scit convenientia cuique.
+  So as mere hone, my services I pledge;
+  Edgeless itself, it gives the steel an edge:
+  No writer I, to writers thus impart
+  The nature and the duty of their art:
+  Whence springs the fund; what forms the bard, to know;
+  What nourishes his pow'rs, and makes them grow;
+  What's fit or unfit; whither genius tends;
+  And where fond ignorance and dulness ends.
+
+  In Wisdom, Moral Wisdom, to excell,
+  Is the chief cause and spring of writing well.
+  Draw elements from the Socratick source,
+  And, full of matter, words will rise of course.
+  He who hath learnt a patriot's glorious flame;
+  What friendship asks; what filial duties claim;
+  The ties of blood; and secret links that bind
+  The heart to strangers, and to all mankind;
+  The Senator's, the Judge's peaceful care,
+  And sterner duties of the Chief in war!
+  These who hath studied well, will all engage
+  In functions suited to their rank and age.
+  Respicere exemplar vitae morumque jubebo
+  Doctum imitatorem, et veras hinc ducere voces.
+  Interdum speciosa locis, morataque recte
+  Fabula, nullius veneris, sine pondere et arte,
+  Valdius oblectat populum, meliusque moratur,
+  Quam versus inopes rerum, nugaeque canorae.
+
+  Graiis ingenium, Graiis dedit ore rotundo
+  Musa loqui, praeter laudem, nullius avaris.
+  Romani pueri longis rationibus assem
+  Discunt in partes centum diducere. Dicat
+  Filius Albini, si de quincunce remota est
+  Uncia, quid superet? poteras dixisse, triens. Eu!
+  Rem poteris servare tuam. Redit uncia: quid fit?
+  On Nature's pattern too I'll bid him look,
+  And copy manners from her living book.
+  Sometimes 'twill chance, a poor and barren tale,
+  Where neither excellence nor art prevail,
+  With now and then a passage of some merit,
+  And Characters sustain'd, and drawn with spirit,
+  Pleases the people more, and more obtains,
+  Than tuneful nothings, mere poetick strains.
+
+  _The Sons of Greece_ the fav'ring Muse inspir'd,
+  Inflam'd their souls, and with true genius fir'd:
+  Taught by the Muse, they sung the loftiest lays,
+  And knew no avarice but that of praise.
+  _The Lads of Rome_, to study fractions bound,
+  Into an hundred parts can split a pound.
+  "Say, Albin's Hopeful! from five twelfths an ounce,
+  And what remains?"--"a Third."--"Well said, young Pounce!
+  You're a made man!--but add an ounce,--what then?"
+  "A Half." "Indeed! surprising! good again!"
+
+  Semis.  An haec animos aerugo et cura peculi
+  Cum semel imbuerit speramus carmina singi
+  Posse linenda cedro, et levi servanda cupresso?
+
+  Aut prodesse volunt, aut delectare poetae;
+  Aut simul et jucunda et idonea dicere vitae.
+  Quicquid praecipies, esto brevis: ut eito dicta
+  Percipiant animi dociles, tencantque fideles.
+  Omni supervacuum pleno de pectore manat.
+  Ficta voluptatis causa sint proxima veris:
+  Ne, quodcumque volet, poscat fibi fabula credi;
+  Neu pransea Lamiae vivum puerum extrahat alvo.
+  Centuriae seniorum agitant expertia frugis:
+  Celsi praetereunt austera poemata Rhamnes.
+  Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci,
+  Lectorem delectando, pariterque monendo
+
+  From minds debas'd with such a sordid lust,
+  Canker'd and eaten up with this vile rust,
+  Can we a verse, that gives the Genius scope,
+  Worthy the Cedar, and the Cypress, hope?
+
+  Instruction to convey and give delight,
+  Or both at once to compass, Poets write:
+  Short be your precepts, and th' impression strong,
+  That minds may catch them quick, and hold them long!
+  The bosom full, and satisfied the taste,
+  All that runs over will but run to waste.
+  Fictions, to please, like truths must meet the eye,
+  Nor must the Fable tax our faith too high.
+  Shall Lamia in our fight her sons devour,
+  And give them back alive the self-same hour?
+  The Old, if _Moral's_ wanting, damn the Play;
+  And _Sentiment_ disgusts the Young and Gay.
+  He who instruction and delight can blend,
+  Please with his fancy, with his moral mend,
+  Hic meret aera liber Sofiis, hic et mare transit,
+  Et longum noto scriptori prorogat aevum.
+
+  Sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignovisse velimus.
+  Nam neque chorda sonum reddit, quem vult manus et mens;
+
+  Poscentique gravem persaepe remittit acutum:
+  Nec semper feriet, quodcumque minabitur, arcus.
+  Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis
+  Offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit,
+  Aut humana parum cavit natura quid ergo est?
+  Ut scriptor si peccat idem librarius usque,
+  Quamvis est monitus, venia caret; ut citharoedus
+  Ridetur, chorda qui semper oberrat eadem;
+  Hits the nice point, and every vote obtains:
+  His work a fortune to the Sosii gains;
+  Flies over seas, and on the wings of Fame
+  Carries from age to age the writer's deathless name.
+
+  Yet these are faults that we may pardon too:
+  For ah! the string won't always answer true;
+  But, spite of hand and mind, the treach'rous harp
+  Will sound a flat, when we intend a sharp:
+  The bow, not always constant and the same,
+  Will sometimes carry wide, and lose its aim.
+  But in the verse where many beauties shine,
+  I blame not here and there a feeble line;
+  Nor take offence at ev'ry idle trip,
+  Where haste prevails, or nature makes a slip.
+  What's the result then? Why thus stands the case.
+  As _the Transcriber_, in the self-same place
+  Who still mistakes, tho' warn'd of his neglect,
+  No pardon for his blunders can expect;
+  Or as _the Minstrel_ his disgrace must bring,
+  Who harps for ever on the same false string;
+  Sic mihi qui multum cessat, fit Choerilus ille,
+  Quem bis terve bonum, cum risu miror; et idem
+  Indignor, quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus.
+  Verum operi longo fas est obrepere somnum.
+
+  Ut pictura, poesis: erit quae, si propius stes,
+  Te capiat magis; et quaedam, si longius abstes:
+  Haec amat obscurum; volet haec sub luce videri,
+  Judicis argutum quae non formidat acumen:
+  Haec placuit semel; haec decies repetita placebit.
+
+  O major juvenum, quamvis et voce paterna
+  Fingeris ad rectum, et per te sapis; hoc tibi dictum
+  Tolle memor: certis medium et tolerabile rebus
+  _The Poet_ thus, from faults scarce ever free,
+  Becomes a very Chaerilus to me;
+  Who twice or thrice, by some adventure rare,
+  Stumbling on beauties, makes me smile and stare;
+  _Me_, who am griev'd and vex'd to the extreme,
+  If Homer seem to nod, or chance to dream:
+  Tho' in a work of length o'erlabour'd sleep
+  At intervals may, not unpardon'd, creep.
+
+  Poems and Pictures are adjudg'd alike;
+  Some charm us near, and some at distance strike:
+  _This_ loves the shade; _this_ challenges the light,
+  Daring the keenest Critick's Eagle sight;
+  _This_ once has pleas'd; _this_ ever will delight.
+
+  O thou, my Piso's elder hope and pride!
+  tho' well a father's voice thy steps can guide;
+  tho' inbred sense what's wise and right can tell,
+  remember this from me, and weigh it well!
+  In certain things, things neither high nor proud,
+  _Middling_ and _passable_ may be allow'd.
+  Recte concedi: consultus juris, et actor
+  Causarum mediocris, abest virtute diserti
+  Messallae, nec scit quantum Cascellius Aulus;
+  Sed tamen in pretio est: mediocribus esse poetis
+  Non homines, non Di, non concessere columnae.
+  Ut gratas inter mensas symphonia discors,
+  Et crassum unguentum, et Sardo cum melle papaver
+  Offendunt, poterat duci quia coena sine istis;
+  Sic animis natum inventumque poema juvandis,
+  Si paulum summo decessit, vergit ad imum.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Ludere qui nescit, campestribus abstinet armis;
+  Indoctusque pilae, discive, trochive, quiescit;
+  Ne spissae risum tollant impune coronae:
+  Qui nescit versus, tamen audet fingere. Quid ni?
+  A _moderate_ proficient in the laws,
+  A _moderate_ defender of a cause,
+  Boasts not Messala's pleadings, nor is deem'd
+  Aulus in Jurisprudence; yet esteem'd:
+  But _middling Poet's, or degrees in Wit,_
+  Nor men, nor Gods, nor niblick-polls admit.
+  At festivals, as musick out of tune,
+  Ointment, or honey rank, disgust us soon,
+  Because they're not essential to the guest,
+  And might be spar'd, Unless the very best;
+  Thus Poetry, so exquisite of kind,
+  Of Pleasure born, to charm the soul design'd,
+  If it fall short but little of the first,
+  Is counted last, and rank'd among the worst.
+  The Man, unapt for sports of fields and plains,
+  From implements of exercise abstains;
+  For ball, or quoit, or hoop, without the skill,
+  Dreading the croud's derision, he sits still:
+  In Poetry he boasts as little art,
+  And yet in Poetry he dares take part:
+  Liber et ingenuus; praesertim census equestrem
+  Summam nummorum, vitioque remotus ab omni.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Tu nihil invita dices faciesve Minerva:
+  Id tibi judicium est, ea mens: si quid tamen olim
+  Scripseris, in Metii descendat judicis aures,
+  Et patris, et nostras; nonumque prematur in annum.
+  Membranis intus positis, delere licebit
+  Quod non edideris: nescit vox missa reverti.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Silvestres homines sacer interpresque Deorum
+  Caedibus et victu foedo deterruit Orpheus;
+  Dictus ob hoc lenire tigres rabidosque leones.
+  Dictus et Amphion, Thebanae conditor arcis,
+  Saxa movere sono testudinis, et prece blanda.
+  And why not? he's a Gentleman, with clear
+  Good forty thousand sesterces a year;
+  A freeman too; and all the world allows,
+  "As honest as the skin between his brows!"
+  Nothing, in spite of Genius, YOU'LL commence;
+  Such is your judgment, such your solid sense!
+  But if you mould hereafter write, the verse
+  To _Metius_, to your _Sire_ to _me_, rehearse.
+  Let it sink deep in their judicious ears!
+  Weigh the work well; _and keep it back nine years_!
+  Papers unpublish'd you may blot or burn:
+  A word, once utter'd, never can return.
+
+  The barb'rous natives of the shaggy wood
+  From horrible repasts, and ads of blood,
+  Orpheus, a priest, and heav'nly teacher, brought,
+  And all the charities of nature taught:
+  Whence he was said fierce tigers to allay,
+  And sing the Savage Lion from his prey,
+  Within the hollow of AMPHION'S shell
+  Such pow'rs of found were lodg'd, so sweet a spell!
+  Ducere quo vellet suit haec sapientia quondam,
+  publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis;
+  concubitu prohibere vago; dare jura maritis;
+  Oppida moliri; leges incidere ligno.
+  Sic honor et nomen divinis vatibus atque
+  Carminibus venit post hos insignis Homerus
+  Tyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bella
+  Versibus exacuit dictae per carmina sortes,
+  Et vitae monstrata via est; et gratia regum
+
+  That stones were said to move, and at his call,
+  Charm'd to his purpose, form'd the Theban Wall.
+  The love of Moral Wisdom to infuse
+  _These_ were the Labours of THE ANCIENT MUSE.
+  "To mark the limits, where the barriers stood
+  'Twixt Private Int'rest, and the Publick Good;
+  To raise a pale, and firmly to maintain
+  The bound, that fever'd Sacred from Profane;
+  To shew the ills Promiscuous Love should dread,
+  And teach the laws of the Connubial Bed;
+  Mankind dispers'd, to Social Towns to draw;
+  And on the Sacred Tablet grave the Law."
+  Thus fame and honour crown'd the Poet's line;
+  His work immortal, and himself divine!
+  Next lofty Homer, and Tyrtaeus strung
+  Their Epick Harps, and Songs of Glory sung;
+  Sounding a charge, and calling to the war
+  The Souls that bravely feel, and nobly dare,
+  In _Verse_ the Oracles their sense make known,
+  In Verse the road and rule of life is shewn;
+  Pieriis tentata modis, ludusque repertus,
+  Et longorum operum finis j ne forte pudori
+  Sit tibi Musa lyne folers, et cantor Apollo,
+
+  Natura sieret laudabile carmen, an arte,
+  Quaesitum ess. Ego nec studium sine divite vena,
+  Nec rude quid possit video ingenium: alterius sic
+  Altera poscit opem res, et conjurat amice.
+  Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam,
+  Multa tulit fecitque puer; sudavit et alsit;
+  Abstinuit venere et vino, qui Pythia cantat
+  _Verse_ to the Poet royal favour brings,
+  And leads the Muses to the throne of Kings;
+  _Verse_ too, the varied Scene and sports prepares,
+  Brings rest to toil, and balm to all our cares.
+  deem then with rev'rence of the glorious fire,
+  breath'd by the muse, the mistress of the lyre!
+  blush not to own her pow'r, her glorious flame;
+  nor think Apollo, lord of song, thy shame!
+
+  Whether good verse of Nature is the fruit,
+  Or form'd by Art, has long been in dispute.
+  But what can Labour in a barren foil,
+  Or what rude Genius profit without toil?
+  The wants of one the other must supply
+  Each finds in each a friend and firm ally.
+  Much has the Youth, who pressing in the race
+  Pants for the promis'd goal and foremost place,
+  Suffer'd and done; borne heat, and cold's extremes,
+  And Wine and Women scorn'd, as empty dreams,
+
+  Tibicen, didicit prius, extimuitque magistrum.
+  Nunc satis est dixisse, Ego mira poemata pango:
+  Occupet extremum scabies: mihi turpe relinqui est,
+  Et quod non didici, sane nescire sateri.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Ut praeco, ad merces turbam qui cogit emendas;
+  Assentatores jubet ad lucrum ire poeta
+  Dives agris, dives positis in foenore nummis.
+  Si vero est, unctum qui recte ponere possit,
+  Et spondere levi pro paupere, et eripere artis
+  Litibus implicitum; mirabor, si sciet inter--
+  Noscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum.
+  The Piper, who the Pythian Measure plays,
+  In fear of a hard matter learnt the lays:
+  But if to desp'rate verse I would apply,
+  What needs instruction? 'tis enough to cry;
+  "I can write Poems, to strike wonder blind!
+  Plague take the hindmost! Why leave _me_ behind?
+  Or why extort a truth, so mean and low,
+  That what I have not learnt, I cannot know?"
+
+  As the sly Hawker, who a sale prepares,
+  Collects a croud of bidders for his Wares,
+  The Poet, warm in land, and rich in cash,
+  Assembles flatterers, brib'd to praise his trash.
+  But if he keeps a table, drinks good wine,
+  And gives his hearers handsomely to dine;
+  If he'll stand bail, and 'tangled debtors draw
+  Forth from the dirty cobwebs of the law;
+  Much shall I praise his luck, his sense commend,
+  If he discern the flatterer from the friend.
+  Tu seu donaris seu quid donare voles cui;
+  Nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum
+  Laetitiae; clamabit enim, Pulchre, bene, recte!
+  Pallescet; super his etiam stillabit amicis
+  Ex oculis rorem; saliet; tundet pede terram.
+  Ut qui conducti plorant in funere, dicunt
+  Et faciunt prope plura dolentibus ex animo: sic
+  Derisor vero plus laudatore movetur.
+  Reges dicuntur multis urgere culullis,
+  Et torquere mero quem perspexisse laborant
+  An sit amicitia dignus: si carmina condes,
+  Nunquam te fallant animi sub vulpe latentes.
+  Quintilio si quid recitares: Corrige sodes
+  Hoc, aiebat, et hoc: melius te posse negares
+  Is there a man to whom you've given aught?
+  Or mean to give? let no such man be brought
+  To hear your verses! for at every line,
+  Bursting with joy, he'll cry, "Good! rare! divine!"
+  The blood will leave his cheek; his eyes will fill
+  With tears, and soon the friendly dew distill:
+  He'll leap with extacy, with rapture bound;
+  Clap with both hands; with both feet beat the ground.
+  As mummers, at a funeral hir'd to weep,
+  More coil of woe than real mourners keep,
+  More mov'd appears the laugher in his sleeve,
+  Than those who truly praise, or smile, or grieve.
+  Kings have been said to ply repeated bowls,
+  Urge deep carousals, to unlock the souls
+  Of those, whose loyalty they wish'd to prove,
+  And know, if false, or worthy of their love:
+  You then, to writing verse if you're inclin'd,
+  Beware the Spaniel with the Fox's mind!
+
+  Quintilius, when he heard you ought recite,
+  Cried, "prithee, alter _this_! and make _that _right!"
+  Bis terque expertum frustra? delere jubebat,
+  Et male ter natos incudi reddere versus.
+  Si defendere delictum, quam vortere, malles;
+  Nullum ultra verbum, aut operam insumebat inanem,
+  Quin sine rivali teque et tua folus amares.
+
+  Vir bonus et prudens versus reprehendet inertes;
+  Culpabit duros; incomptis allinet atrum
+  Transverso calamo signum; ambitiosa recidet
+  Ornamenta; parum claris lucem dare coget;
+  Arguet ambigue dictum; mutanda notabit;
+  Fiet Aristarchus; non dicet, Cur ego amicum
+  Offendam in nugis? Hae migae feria ducent
+  But if your pow'r to mend it you denied,
+  Swearing that twice and thrice in vain you tried;
+  "Then blot it out! (he cried) it must be terse:
+  Back to the anvil with your ill-turn'd verse!"
+  Still if you chose the error to defend,
+  Rather than own, or take the pains to mend,
+  He said no more; no more vain trouble took;
+  But left you to admire yourself and book.
+
+  The Man, in whom Good Sense and Honour join,
+  Will blame the harsh, reprove the idle line;
+  The rude, all grace neglected or forgot,
+  Eras'd at once, will vanish at his blot;
+  Ambitious ornaments he'll lop away;
+  On things obscure he'll make you let in day,
+  Loose and ambiguous terms he'll not admit,
+  And take due note of ev'ry change that's fit,
+  A very ARISTARCHUS he'll commence;
+  Not coolly say--"Why give my friend offence?
+  These are but trifles!"--No; these trifles lead
+  To serious mischiefs, if he don't succeed;
+  In mala derisum semel, exceptumque sinistre,
+  Ut mala quem scabies aut morbus regius urget,
+  Aut fanaticus error, et iracunda Diana;
+  Vesanum tetigisse timent fugiuntque poetam,
+  Qui sapiunt: agitant pueri, incautique sequuntur.
+  Hic, dum sublimis versus ructatur, et errat,
+  Si veluti menilis intentus decidit auceps
+  In puteum, soveamve; licet, Succurrite, longum
+  Clamet, in cives: non sit qui tollere curet.
+  Si curet quis opem serre, et demittere sunem;
+  Qui scis, an prudens huc se projecerit, atque
+  Servari nolet? dicam: Siculique poetae
+  Narrabo interitum.
+
+  While the poor friend in dark disgrace sits down,
+  The butt and laughing-stock of all the town,
+  As one, eat up by Leprosy and Itch,
+  Moonstruck, Posses'd, or hag-rid by a Witch,
+  A Frantick Bard puts men of sense to flight;
+  His slaver they detest, and dread his bite:
+  All shun his touch; except the giddy boys,
+  Close at his heels, who hunt him down with noise,
+  While with his head erect he threats the skies,
+  Spouts verse, and walks without the help of eyes;
+  Lost as a blackbird-catcher, should he pitch
+  Into some open well, or gaping ditch;
+  Tho' he call lustily "help, neighbours, help!"
+  No soul regards him, or attends his yelp.
+  Should one, too kind, to give him succour hope,
+  Wish to relieve him, and let down a rope;
+  Forbear! (I'll cry for aught that you can tell)
+  By sheer design he jump'd into the well.
+  He wishes not you should preserve him, Friend!
+  Know you the old Sicilian Poet's end?
+  Deus immortalis haberi.
+
+  Dum cupit Empedocles, ardeatem frigidus aetnam
+  Infiluit. sit fas, liceatque perire poetis.
+  Invitum qui fervat, idem facit occidenti.
+  Nec semel hoc fecit; nec si retractus erit jam,
+  Fiet homo, et ponet famosae mortis amorem.
+  Nec fatis apparet, cur versus factitet; utrum
+  Minxerit in patrios cineres, an triste bidental
+  Moverit incestus: certe furit, ac velut ursus
+  Objectos caveae valuit e srangere clathros,
+
+  *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Empedocles, ambitious to be thought
+  A God, his name with Godlike honours fought,
+  Holding a worldly life of no account,
+  Lead'p coldly into aetna's burning mount.---
+  Let Poets then with leave resign their breath,
+  Licens'd and priveleg'd to rush on death!
+  Who gives a man his life against his will,
+  Murders the man, as much as those who kill.
+  'Tis not once only he hath done this deed;
+  Nay, drag him forth! your kindness wo'n't succeed:
+  Nor will he take again a mortal's shame,
+  And lose the glory of a death of fame.
+  Nor is't apparent, _why_ with verse he's wild:
+  Whether his father's ashes he defil'd;
+  Whether, the victim of incestuous love,
+  The Blasted Monument he striv'd to move:
+  Whate'er the cause, he raves; and like a Bear,
+  Burst from his cage, and loose in open air,
+  Indoctum doctumque fugat recitator acerbus.
+  Quem vero arripuit, tenet, occiditque legendo,
+  Non miffura cutem, nisi plena cruroris, hirudo.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Learn'd and unlearn'd the Madman puts to flight,
+  They quick to fly, he bitter to recite!
+  What hapless soul he seizes, he holds fast;
+  Rants, and repeats, and reads him dead at last:
+  Hangs on him, ne'er to quit, with ceaseless speech.
+  Till gorg'd and full of blood, a very Leech!
+
+
+
+
+
+Notes on the EPISTLE to the PISOS Notes
+
+I have referred the Notes to this place, that the reader might be left
+to his genuine feelings, and the natural impression on reading the
+Epistle, whether adverse or favourable to the idea I ventured to
+premise, concerning its Subject and Design. In the address to my learned
+and worthy friends I said little more than was necessary so open my
+plan, and to offer an excuse for my undertaking. The Notes descend to
+particulars, tending to illustrate and confirm my hypothesis; and adding
+occasional explanations of the original, chiefly intended for the use
+of the English Reader. I have endeavoured, according to the best of my
+ability, to follow the advice of Roscommon in the lines, which I have
+ventured to prefix to these Notes. How far I may be entitled to the
+_poetical blessing_ promised by the Poet, the Publick must determine:
+but were I, avoiding arrogance, to renounce all claim to it, such an
+appearance of _Modesty_ would includes charge of _Impertinence_ for
+having hazarded this publication._Take pains the_ genuine meaning _to
+explore!_
+
+  There sweat, there strain, tug the laborious oar:
+  _Search ev'ry comment_, that your care can find;
+  Some here, some there, may hit the Poet's mind:
+  Yet be not blindly guided by the _Throng_;
+  The Multitude is always in the _Wrong_.
+  When things appear _unnatural_ or _hard_,
+  _Consult your_ author, _with_ himself compar'd!
+  Who knows what Blessing Phoebus may bestow,
+  And future Ages to your labour owe?
+  Such _Secrets_ are not easily found out,
+  But once _discoverd_, leave no room for doubt.
+  truth stamps _conviction_ in your ravish'd breast,
+  And _Peace_ and _Joy_ attend _the_ glorious guest.
+
+
+
+Essay on Translated Verse ART of POETRY, an EPISTLE, &c.
+
+Q. HORATII FLACCI EPISTOLA AD PISONES.
+
+The work of Horace, now under consideration, has been so long known, and
+so generally received, by the name of The Art of Poetry, that I have, on
+account of that notoriety, submitted this translation to the Publick,
+under that title, rather than what I hold to be the true one, viz.
+Horace's Epistle to The Pisos. The Author of the English Commentary has
+adopted the same title, though directly repugnant to his own system;
+and, I suppose, for the very same reason.
+
+The title, in general a matter of indifference, is, in the present
+instance, of much consequence. On the title Julius Scaliger founded his
+invidious, and injudicious, attack. De arte quares quid sentiam. Quid?
+eqvidem quod de arte, sine arte tradita. To the Title all the editors,
+and commentators, have particularly adverted; commonly preferring the
+Epistolary Denomination, but, in contradiction to that preference,
+almost universally inscribing the Epistle, the Art of Poetry. The
+conduct, however, of Jason De Nores, a native of Cyprus, a learned and
+ingenious writer of the 16th century, is very remarkable. In the year
+1553 he published at Venice this work of Horace, accompanied with a
+commentary and notes, written in elegant Latin, inscribing it, after
+Quintilian, Q. Horatii Flacci Liber De Arte Poetica. [Foot note: I think
+it right to mention that I have never seen the 1st edition, published
+at Venice. With a copy of the second edition, printed in Paris, I was
+favoured by Dr. Warton of Winchester.] The very-next year, however,
+he printed at Paris a second edition, enriching his notes with many
+observations on Dante and Petrarch, and changing the title, after mature
+consideration, to _Q. Horatii Flacii_ EPISTOLA AD PISONES, _de Arte
+Poetica._ His motives for this change he assigns in the following terms.
+
+_Quare adductum me primum sciant ad inscriptionem operis immutandam non
+levioribus de causis,& quod formam epistolae, non autem libri, in quo
+praecepta tradantur, vel ex ipso principio prae se ferat, & quod in
+vetustis exemplaribus Epistolarum libros subsequatur, & quad etiam summi
+et praestantissimi homines ita sentiant, & quod minime nobis obstet
+Quintiliani testimonium, ut nonnullis videtur. Nam si librum appellat
+Quintilianus, non est cur non possit inter epistolas enumerari, cum et
+illae ab Horatio in libros digestae fuerint. Quod vero DE ARTE POETICA
+idem Quintilianus adjangat, nihil commaveor, cum et in epistolis
+praecepta de aliqua re tradi possint, ab eodemque in omnibus pene, et
+in iis ad Scaevam & Lollium praecipue jam factum videatur, in quibus
+breviter eos instituit, qua ratione apud majores facile versarentur._
+
+Desprez, the Dauphin Editor, retains both titles, but says, inclining to
+the Epistolary, _Attamen artem poeticam vix appellem cum Quintiliano et
+aliis: malim vero epistolam nuncupare cum nonnullis eruditis._ Monsieur
+Dacier inscribes it, properly enough, agreable to the idea of Porphyry,
+Q. Horatii Flacci DE ARTE POETICA LIBER; feu, EPISTOLA AD PISONES,
+patrem, et filios._
+
+Julius Scaliger certainly stands convicted of critical malice by his
+poor cavil at _the supposed title_; and has betrayed his ignorance of
+the ease and beauty of Epistolary method, as well as the most gross
+misapprehension, by his ridiculous analysis of the work, resolving it
+into thirty-six parts. He seems, however, to have not ill conceived the
+genius of the poem, in saying that _it relished satire_. This he has
+urged in many parts of his Poeticks, particularly in the Dedicatory
+Epistle to his son, not omitting, however, his constant charge of _Art
+without Art_. Horatius artem cum inscripsit, adeo sine ulla docet arte,
+ut satyrae propius totum opus illud esse videatur. This comes almost
+home to the opinion of the Author of the elegant commentaries on the two
+Epistles of Horace to the Pisos and to Augustus, as expressed in the
+Dedication to the latter: With the recital of that opinion I shall
+conclude this long note. "The genius of Rome was bold and elevated: but
+Criticism of any kind, was little cultivated, never professed as an
+_art_, by this people. The specimens we have of their ability in this
+way (of which the most elegant, beyond all dispute, are the two epistles
+to _Augustus_ and the _Pisos_) _are slight occasional attempts_, made in
+the negligence of common sense, _and adapted to the peculiar exigencies
+of their own taste and learning_; and not by any means the regular
+productions of _art_, professedly bending itself to this work, and
+ambitious to give the last finishing to the critical system."
+
+[_Translated from Horace._] In that very entertaining and instructive
+publication, entitled _An Essay on the Learning and Genius of Pope_,
+the Critick recommends, as the properest poetical measure to render in
+English the Satires and Epistles of Horace, that kind of familiar blank
+verse, used in a version of Terence, attempted some years since by the
+Author of this translation. I am proud of the compliment; yet I have
+varied from the mode prescribed: not because Roscommon has already given
+such a version; or because I think the satyrical hexameters of Horace
+less familiar than the irregular lambicks of Terence. English Blank
+Verse, like the lambick of Greece and Rome, is peculiarly adapted to
+theatrical action and dialogue, as well as to the Epick, and the more
+elevated Didactick Poetry: but after the models left by Dryden and Pope,
+and in the face of the living example of Johnson, who shall venture to
+reject rhime in the province of Satire and Epistle?
+
+
+
+9.--TRUST ME, MY PISOS!] _Credite Pisones!_
+
+Monsieur Dacier, at a very early period, feels the influence of _the
+personal address_, that governs this Epistle. Remarking on this passage,
+he observes that Horace, anxious to inspire _the Pisos _with a just
+taste, says earnestly _Trust me, my Pisos! Credite Pisones! _an
+expression that betrays fear and distrust, lest _the young Men _should
+fall into the dangerous error of bad poets, and injudicious criticks,
+who not only thought the want of unity of subject a pardonable effect
+of Genius, but even the mark of a rich and luxuriant imagination.
+And although this Epistle, continues Monsieur Dacier, is addressed
+indifferently to Piso the father, and his Sons, as appears by v. 24 of
+the original, yet it is _to the sons in particular _that these precepts
+are directed; a consideration which reconciles the difference mentioned
+by Porphyry. _Scribit ad Pisones, viros nobiles disertosque, patrem et
+filios; vel, ut alii volunt,_ ad pisones fratres.
+
+Desprez, the Dauphin Editor, observes also, in the same strain, Porro
+_scribit Horatius ad patrem et ad filios Pisones, _praesertim vero ad
+hos.
+
+The family of the _Pisos_, to whom Horace addresses this Epistle, were
+called Calpurnii, being descended from Calpus, son of Numa Pompilius,
+whence, he afterwards stiles them _of the Pompilian Blood. Pompilius
+Sanguis! _
+
+10.--THE VOLUME SUCH] Librum _persimilem. Liber_, observes Dacier, is a
+term applied to all literary productions, of whatever description. This
+remark is undoubtedly just, confirms the sentiments of Jason de Nores,
+and takes off the force of all the arguments founded on Quintilian's
+having stiled his Epistle LIBER de _arte poetica_.
+
+Vossius, speaking of the censure of Scaliger, "_de arte, sine arte_,"
+subsoins sed fallitur, cum [Greek: epigraphaen] putat esse ab Horatio;
+qui inscipserat EPISTOLAM AD PISONES. Argumentum vero, ut in Epistolarum
+raeteris, ita in bac etiam, ab aliis postea appositum fuit.
+
+
+
+l9.----OFT WORKS OF PROMISE LARGE, AND HIGH ATTEMPT.] Incaeptis gra-
+nibus plerumque, &c. Buckingham's _Essay on Poetry_, Roscommon's _Essay
+on Translated Verse_, as well as the Satires, and _Art Poetique_ of
+Boileau, and Pope's _Essay on Criticism_, abound with imitations of
+Horace. This passage of our Author seems to have given birth to the
+following lines of Buckingham.
+
+  'Tis not a slash of fancy, which sometimes,
+  Dazzling our minds, sets off the slighted rhimes;
+  Bright as a blaze, but in a moment done;
+  True Wit is everlasting, like the Sun;
+  Which though sometimes behind a cloud retir'd,
+  Breaks out again, and is the more admir'd.
+
+The following lines of Pope may perhaps appear to bear a nearer
+resemblance this passage of Horace.
+
+  Some to _Conceit_ alone their taste confine,
+  And glitt'ring thoughts struck out at ev'ry line;
+  Pleas'd with a work where nothing's just or fit;
+  One glaring chaos, and wild heap of wit.
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+49.---Of th' Aemilian class ] _Aemilium circa ludum_--literally, near
+the Aemilian School; alluding to the Academy of Gladiators of Aemilius
+Lentulus, in whose neighbourhood lived many Artists and Shopkeepers.
+
+This passage also is imitated by Buckingham.
+
+  Number and Rhime, and that harmonious found,
+  Which never _does_ the ear with _harshness_ wound,
+  Are _necessary_, yet but _vulgar_ arts;
+  For all in vain these superficial parts
+  Contribute to the structure of the whole
+  Without a _Genius_ too; for that's the _Soul_:
+  A _Spirit_ which inspires the work throughout
+  As that of _Nature_ moves the world about.
+
+  _Essay on Poetry._
+
+
+Pope has given a beautiful illustration of this thought,
+
+  Survey THE WHOLE, nor seek slight faults to find
+  Where nature moves, and rapture warms the mind;
+  In wit, as Nature, what affects our hearts,
+  Is not th' exactness of peculiar parts;
+  'Tis not a lip, or eye, we beauty call,
+  But the joint force and full result of all.
+  Thus when we view some well-proportion'd dome,
+  (The world's just wonder, and ev'n thine, O Rome!)
+  No single parts unequally surprise,
+  All comes united to th' admiring eyes;
+  No monstrous height, or breadth, or length appear;
+  THE WHOLE at once is bold and regular.
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+56.--SELECT, ALL YE WHO WRITE, A SUBJECT FIT] _Sumite materiam, &c._
+
+This passage is well imitated by Roscommon in his Essay on Translated
+Verse.
+
+  The first great work, (a task perform'd by few)
+  Is, that _yourself_ may to _yourself_ be true:
+  No mask, no tricks, no favour, no reserve!
+  _Dissect_ your mind, examine ev'ry _nerve_.
+  Whoever vainly on his strength depends,
+  _Begins_ like Virgil, but like Maevius _ends_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Each poet with a different talent writes,
+  One _praises_, one _instructs_, another _bites_.
+  Horace did ne'er aspire to Epick Bays,
+  Nor lofty Maro stoop to Lyrick Lays.
+  Examine how your _humour_ is inclin'd,
+  And which the ruling passion of your mind:
+  Then, seek a Poet who your way does bend,
+  And chuse an Author as you chuse a friend.
+  United by this sympathetick bond,
+  You grow familiar, intimate, and fond;
+  Your thoughts, your words your stiles, your Souls agree,
+  No longer his _interpreter_, but _He_.
+
+_Stooping_ to Lyrick Lays, though not inapplicable to some of the
+lighter odes of Horace, is not descriptive of the general character of
+the Lyrick Muse. _Musa dedit Fidibus Divas &c._
+
+
+Pope takes up the same thought in his Essay on Criticism.
+
+  Be sure yourself and your own reach to know,
+  How far your genius, taste, and learning go;
+  Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet,
+  And mark that point where sense and dulness meet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Like Kings we lose the conquests gain'd before,
+  By vain ambition still to make them more:
+  Each might his servile province well command,
+  Would all but stoop to what they understand.
+
+
+
+
+71.--_A cunning phrase_.] _Callida junctura_.
+
+_Jason de Nores_ and many other interpreters agree that Horace here
+recommends, after Aristotle, the artful elevation of style by the use
+of common words in an uncommon sense, producing at once an air of
+familiarity and magnificence. Some however confine the expression,
+_callida junctura_, to signify _compound words_. The Author of the
+English Commentary adopts the first construction; but considers the
+precept in both senses, and illustrates each by many beautiful examples
+from the plays of Shakespeare. These examples he has accompanied with
+much elegant and judicious observation, as the reader of taste will be
+convinced by the following short extracts.
+
+"The writers of that time had so _latinized_ the English language, that
+the pure _English Idiom_, which Shakespeare generally follows, has all
+the air of _novelty_, which other writers are used to affect by foreign
+phraseology.--In short, the articles here enumerated are but so many
+ways of departing from the usual and simpler forms of speech, without
+neglecting too much the grace of ease and perspicuity; in which
+well-tempered licence one of the greatest charms of all poetry, but
+especially of Shakespeare's poetry, consists. Not that he was always and
+every where so happy. His expression sometimes, and by the very means,
+here exemplified, becomes _hard_, _obscure_, and _unnatural_. This is
+the extreme on the other side. But in general, we may say, that He hath
+either followed the direction of Horace very ably, or hath hit upon his
+rule very happily."
+
+
+
+
+76.--THE STRAIT-LAC'D CETHEGI.] CINCTUTIS _Cethegis_. Jason de Nores
+differs, and I think very justly, from those who interpret _Cinctutis_
+to signify _loose_, _bare_, or _naked_--EXERTOS & NUDOS. The plain sense
+of the radical word _cingo_ is directly opposite. The word _cinctutis_
+is here assumed to express a severity of manners by an allusion to an
+antique gravity of dress; and the Poet, adds _de Nores_, very happily
+forms a new word himself, as a vindication and example of the licence
+he recommends. Cicero numbers M. Corn. Cethegus among the old Roman
+Orators; and Horace himself again refers to the Cethegi in his Epistle
+to Florus, and on the subject of the use of words.
+
+  _Obscurata diu papula bonus eruet, atque_
+  Proseret in lucem speciosa vocabula rer*um;
+  ***need a Latin speaker to check this out***
+  _Quae priscis memorata_ CATONIBUS _atque_ CETHEGIS,
+  Nunc situs informis premit & deserta vetustas;
+  Adsciscet nova quae genitor produxerit usus.
+
+  Mark where a bold expressive phrase appears,
+  Bright thro' the rubbish of some hundred years;
+  Command _old words_ that long have slept, to wake,
+  Words, that wife Bacon, or brave Raleigh spake;
+  Or bid _the new_ be English, ages hence,
+  For Use will father what's begot by Sense.
+
+  POPE.
+
+
+This brilliant passage of Pope is quoted in this place by the author of
+that English Commentary, who has also subjoined many excellent remarks on
+_the revival of old words_, worthy the particular attention of those
+who cultivate prose as well as poetry, and shewing at large, that "the
+riches of a language are actually increased by retaining its old words:
+and besides, they have often _a greater real weight and dignity_, than
+those of a more _fashionable_ cast, which succeed to them. This needs
+no proof to such as are versed in the earlier writings of any
+language."--"_The growing prevalency of a very different humour_, first
+catched, as it should seem, from our commerce with the French Models,
+_and countenanced by the too scrupulous delicacy of some good writers
+amongst ourselves, bad gone far towards unnerving the noblest modern
+language, and effeminating the public taste_."--"The rejection of _old
+words_, as _barbarous_, and of many modern ones, as unpolite," had so
+exhausted the _strength_ and _stores_ of our language, that it was high
+time for some master-hand to interpose, and send us for supplies to _our
+old poets_; which there is the highest authority for saying, no one ever
+despised, but for a reason, not very consistent with his credit to avow:
+_rudem esse omnino in nostris poetis, aut inertissimae nequitiae est,
+aut fastidii delicatissimi.-- Cic. de fin._ 1. i. c. 2.
+
+[As woods endure, &c.] _Ut silvae foliis_, &c. Mr. Duncombe, in his
+translation of our Author, concurs with Monsieur Dacier in observing
+that "Horace seems here to have had in view that fine similitude of
+Homer in the sixth book of the Iliad, comparing the generations of men
+to the annual succession of leaves.
+
+  [Greek:
+  Oipaeer phyllon genehn, toiaede ch ahndron.
+  phylla ta mehn t anemohs chamahdis cheei, ahllah de thula
+  Taeletheasa phyei, earos depigigyel(*)ai orae
+  Oz andron genen. aemen phnei, aeh dahpolaegei.]
+
+  "Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
+  Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
+  Another race the following spring supplies,
+  They fall successive, and successive rise:
+  So generations in their turns decay;
+  So flourish these, when those are past away."
+
+The translator of Homer has himself compared words to leaves, but in
+another view, in his Essay on Criticism.
+
+  Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,
+  Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.
+
+In another part of the Essay he persues the same train of thought with
+Horace, and rises, I think, above his Master.
+
+  Short is the date, alas, of modern rhymes,
+  And 'tis but just to let them live betimes.
+  No longer now that golden age appears,
+  When Patriarch-wits surviv'd a thousand years;
+  Now length of Fame (our second life) is lost,
+  And bare threescore is all ev'n that can boast;
+  Our sons their father's failing language see,
+  And such as Chaucer is, shall Dryden be.
+  So when the faithful pencil has design'd
+  Some bright idea of the Master's mind,
+  Where a new world leaps out at his command,
+  And ready Nature waits upon his hand;
+  When the ripe colours soften and unite,
+  And sweetly melt into just shade and light;
+  When mellowing years their full perfection give,
+  And each bold figure just begins to live;
+  The treach'rous colours the fair art betray,
+  And all the bright creation fades away!
+
+  _Essay an Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+95.--WHETHER THE SEA, &c.] _Sive receptus, &c._
+
+This may be understood of any harbour; but it is generally interpreted
+to refer to the _Portus Julius_, a haven formed by letting in the sea
+upon the _Lucrine Lake_, and forming a junction between that and the
+Lake _Avernus_; a work, commenced by Julius Caesar, and compleated by
+Augustus, or Agrippa under his auspices. _Regis opus!_ Both these
+lakes (says Martin) were in Campania: the former was destroyed by an
+earthquake; but the latter is the present _Lago d'Averno_. Strabo, the
+Geographer, who, as well as our Poet, was living at the time, ascribes
+this work to Agrippa, and tells us that the Lucrine bay was separated
+from the Tyrrhene sea by a mound, said to have been first made by
+Hercules, and restored by Agrippa. Philargyrius says that a storm arose
+at the time of the execution of this great work, to which Virgil seems
+to refer in his mention of this Port, in the course of his Panegyrick on
+Italy in the second Georgick.
+
+  An memorem portus Lucrinoque addita claustra,
+  Atque indignatem magnis strideribus aequor,
+  Julia qua ponto longe sonat unda refuso,
+  Tyrrbenusque fretis immittitur aeflut AVERNIS?
+
+  Or shall I praise thy Ports, or mention make
+  Of the vast mound, that binds the Lucrine Lake?
+  Or the disdainful sea, that, shut from thence,
+  Roars round the structure, and invades the fence;
+  There, where secure the Julian waters glide,
+  Or where Avernus' jaws admit the Tyrrhene tide?
+DRYDEN.
+
+
+
+
+98.--WHETHER THE MARSH, &c. Sterilisve Palus.]
+
+THE PONTINE MARSH, first drained by the Consul Cornelius Cethegus; then,
+by Augustus; and many, many years after by Theodorick.
+
+
+
+
+102.--OR IF THE RIVER, &c.] _Sen cursum, &c._ The course of the _Tyber,_
+changed by Augustus, to prevent inundations.
+
+
+
+
+110.--FOR DEEDS OF KINGS, &c.] Res gestae regumque, &c.
+
+The ingenious author of the English Commentary, to whom I have so
+often referred, and to whom I must continue to refer, has discovered
+particular taste, judgement, and address, in his explication of this
+part of the Epistle. runs thus.
+
+"From reflections on poetry, at large, he proceeds now to particulars:
+the most obvious of which being the different forms and measures of
+poetick composition, he considers, in this view, [from v. 75 to 86] the
+four great species of poetry, to which all others may be reduced, the
+Epick, Elegiack, Dramatick, and Lyrick. But the distinction of the
+measure, to be observed in the several species is so obvious, that there
+can scarcely be any mistake about them. The difficulty is to know [from
+v. 86 to 89] how far each may partake of the spirit of the other,
+without destroying that natural and necessary difference, which ought
+to subsist betwixt them all. To explain this, which is a point of great
+nicety, he considers [from v. 89 to 99] the case of Dramatick Poetry;
+the two species of which are as distinct from each other, as any two
+can be, and yet there are times, when the features of the one will be
+allowed to resemble those of the other.--But the Poet had a further view
+in choosing this instance. For he gets by this means into the main of
+his subject, which was Dramatick Poetry, and, by the most delicate
+transition imaginable, proceeds [from 89 to 323] to deliver a series
+of rules, interspersed with historical accounts, _and enlivened by
+digressions_, for the regulation of the Roman stage."
+
+It is needless to insist, that my hypothesis will not allow me to concur
+entirely in the latter part of this extract; at least in that latitude,
+to which; the system of the writer carries it: yet I perfectly agree
+with Mr. Duncombe, that the learned Critick, in his observations on this
+Epistle, "has shewn, in general, the connection and dependence of one
+part with another, in a clearer light than any other Commentator." His
+shrewd and delicate commentary is, indeed, a most elegant contrast to
+the barbarous analysis of Scaliger, drawn up without the least idea of
+poetical transition, and with the uncouth air of a mere dry logician, or
+dull grammarian. I think, however, the _Order_ and _Method_, observed
+in this Epistle, is stricter than has yet been observed, and that the
+series of rules is delivered with great regularity; NOT _enlivened
+by digressions_, but passing from one topick to another, by the most
+natural and easy transitions. The Author's discrimination of the
+different stiles of the several species of poetry, leads him, as has
+been already shewn, to consider the diction of the Drama, and its
+accommodation to the _circumstances_ and _character_ of the Speaker. A
+recapitulation of these _circumstances_ carries him to treat of the due
+management of _characters already known_, as well as of sustaining those
+that are entirely _original_; to the first of which the Poet gives
+the preference, recommending _known_ characters, as well as _known_
+subjects: And on the mention of this joint preference, the Author leaves
+further consideration of _the_ diction, and slides into discourse upon
+the fable, which he continues down to the 152d verse.
+
+  Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet,
+  Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.
+
+Having dispatched the fable, the Poet proceeds, and with some Solemnity
+of Order, to the consideration of the characters; not in regard to
+suitable _diction_, for of that he has already spoken, but in respect to
+_the manners_; and, in this branch of his subject, he has as judiciously
+borrowed from _the Rhetoricks_ of Aristotle, as in the rest of his
+Epistle from the _Poeticks_. He then directs, in its due place, the
+proper conduct of particular incidents _of the fable_; after which he
+treats of _the_ chorus; from whence he naturally falls into the history
+of theatrical musick; which is, as naturally, succeeded by an account of
+the Origin of _the Drama_, itself, which the Poet commences, like master
+Aristotle, even from the Dithyrambick Song, and carries it down to the
+establishment of the New Greek Comedy; from whence he passes easily
+and gracefully, to _the_ Roman stage, acknowledging the merits of the
+Writers, but pointing out their defects, and assigning the causes.
+He then subjoins a few general observations, and concludes his long
+discourse on _the_ drama, having extended it to 275 lines. This
+discourse, together with the result of all his reflections on Poets and
+Poetry, he then applies in the most earnest and _personal_ manner to the
+elder Piso; and with a long and most pathetick _peroration_, if I may
+adopt an oratorical term, concludes the Epistle.
+
+
+
+
+116.--THE ELEGY'S SMALL SONG.] EXIGUOS _Elegos_.
+
+Commentators differ concerning the import of this expression--exiguos
+_Elegos_, the _Elegy's_ small _song_. De Nores, Schrevelius, and
+Desprez, think it refers to the humility of the elegiack stile and
+subjects, compared with epick or lyrick sublimity. Monsieur Dacier
+rather thinks that Horace refers here, as in the words _Versibus
+impariter junctis,_ "Couplets unequal," to the use of pentameter, or
+short verse, consisting of five feet, and joined to the hexameter, or
+long verse, of six. This inequality of the couplet Monsieur Dacier
+justly prefers to the two long Alexandrines of his own country, which
+sets almost all the French poetry, Epick, Dramatick, Elegiack, or
+Satyrick, to the tune of Derry Down. In our language, the measures are
+more various, and more happily conceived. Our Elegy adopts not only
+_unequal couplets_, but _alternate rhymes_, which give a plaintive tone
+to the heroick measure, and are most happily used in Gray's beautiful
+_Elegy in a Country Church yard.
+
+
+
+
+135.--THY FEAST, THYESTES!] Caena Thyestae.
+
+The story of Thyestes being of the most tragick nature, a banquet on his
+own children! is commonly interpreted by the Criticks, as mentioned by
+Horace, in allusion to Tragedy in general. The Author of the English
+Commentary, however, is of a different opinion, supposing, from a
+passage of Cicero, that the Poet means to glance at the _Thyestes of
+Ennius,_ and to pay an oblique compliment to Varius, who had written a
+tragedy on the same subject.
+
+The same learned Critick also takes it for granted, that the Tragedy of
+Telephus, and probably of _Peleus_, after-mentioned, point at tragedies
+of Euripedes, on these subjects, translated into Latin, and accomodated
+to the Roman Stage, without success, by _Ennius, Accius, or Naevius_.
+
+One of this Critick's notes on this part of the Epistle, treating on the
+use of _pure poetry_ in the Drama, abounds with curious disquisition and
+refined criticism.
+
+
+
+
+150.--_They must have_ passion _too_.] dulcia _sunto_. The Poet,
+with great address, includes the sentiments under the consideration of
+diction.
+
+  --_Effert animi motus_ interprete lingua.
+  _Forces expression from the_ faithful tongue.
+
+Buckingham has treated the subject of Dialogue very happily in his Essay
+on Poetry, glancing, but not servilely, at this part of Horace.
+
+  _Figures of Speech_, which Poets think so fine,
+  Art's needless varnish to make Nature shine,
+  Are all but _Paint_ upon a beauteous face,
+  And in _Descriptions_ only claim a place.
+  But to make _Rage declaim_, and _Grief discourse_,
+  From lovers in despair _fine_ things to _force_,
+  Must needs succeed; for who can chuse but pity
+  A _dying_ hero miserably _witty_?
+
+
+
+
+201.----BE NOT YOUR OPENING FIERCE!] _Nec sic incipies_, Most of the
+Criticks observe, that all these documents, deduced from _the Epick_,
+are intended, like the reduction of the Iliad into acts, as directions
+and admonition to the _Dramatick_ writer. _Nam si in_ EPOPaeIA, _que
+gravitate omnia poematum generae praecellit, ait principium lene esse
+debere; quanto magis in_ tragoedia _et_ comoedia, _idem videri debet_?
+says de Nores. _Praeceptum de intio grandiori evitaado, quod tam_ epicus
+_quam_ tragicus _cavere debet_; says the Dauphin Editor. _Il faut se
+souvenir qu' Horace appliqae a la Tragedie les regies du Poeme Epique.
+Car si ces debuts eclatans sont ridicules dans la Poeme Epique, ils
+le sont encore plus dans la Tragedie_: says Dacier. The Author of the
+English Commentary makes the like observation, and uses it to enforce
+his system of the Epistle's being intended as a Criticism on the Roman
+drama. [ xviii] 202---Like _the rude_ ballad-monger's _chant of old_]
+_ut scriptor_ cyclicus olim.] _Scriptor_ cyclicus signisies an itinerant
+Rhymer travelling, like Shakespeare's Mad Tom, to wakes, and fairs, and
+market-towns. 'Tis not precisely known who was the Cyclick Poet here
+meant. Some have ascribed the character to Maevius, and Roscommon has
+adopted that idea.
+
+  Whoever vainly on his _strength_ depends,
+  Begins like Virgil, but like Maevius ends:
+  That Wretch, in spite of his forgotten rhimes,
+  Condemn'd to live to all succeeding times,
+  With _pompous nonsense_, and a _bellowing sound_,
+  Sung _lofty Ilium_, _tumbling_ to the _ground_,
+  And, if my Muse can thro' past ages fee,
+  That _noisy, nauseous_, gaping fool was _he_;
+  Exploded, when, with universal scorn,
+  The _Mountains labour'd_, and a _Mouse_ was born.
+
+_Essay on Translated Verse_.
+
+
+The pompous exordium of Statius is well known, and the fragments of
+Ennius present us a most tremendous commencement of his Annals.
+
+  horrida romoleum certamina pango duellum!
+  this is indeed to split our ears asunder
+  With guns, drums, trumpets, blunderbuss, and thunder!
+
+
+
+
+211.--Say, Muse, the Man, &c.] Homer's opening of the Odyssey. his rule
+is perhaps no where so chastely observed as in _the Paradise Lost_.
+Homer's [Greek: Maenin aeide thea]! or, his [Greek: Andra moi
+ennepe,Mgsa]! or, Virgil's _Arma, Urumque cano_! are all boisterous and
+vehement, in comparison with the calmness and modesty of Milton's meek
+approach,
+
+Of Man's first disobedience, &c.
+
+
+
+
+2l5.--_Antiphates, the Cyclops, &c_].- _Antiphatem, Scyllamque, & cum
+Cyclope Charybdim_. Stories, that occur in the Odyssey. 218-19--Diomed's
+return--the Double Egg.]
+
+The return of Diomede is not mentioned by Homer, but is said to be the
+subject of a tedious Poem by Antimachus; and to Stasimus is ascribed a
+Poem, called the Little Iliad, beginning with the nativity of Helen.
+
+
+
+
+227.--Hear now!] _Tu, quid ego, &c._
+
+This invocation, says Dacier justly, is not addressed to either of the
+Pisos, but to the Dramatick Writer generally.
+
+
+
+
+229.---The Cloth goes down.] _Aulaea manentis._ This is translated
+according to modern manners; for with the Antients, the Cloth was raised
+at the Conclusion of the Play. Thus in Virgil's Georgicks;
+
+  Vel scena ut versis disceedat frontibus, atque
+  Purpurea intexti tollant aulaea Britanni.
+
+  Where the proud theatres disclose the scene;
+  Which interwoven Britons seem to _raise;_
+  And shew the triumph which their _shame_ displays.
+
+  Dryden
+
+
+
+
+230.--Man's several ages, &c.] _aetatis cujusque, &c._ Jason Demores
+takes notice of the particular stress, that Horace lays on the due
+discrimination of the several Ages, by the solemnity with which he
+introduces the mention of them: The same Critick subjoins a note also,
+which I shall transcribe, as it serves to illustrate a popular passage
+in the _As you Like It_ of Shakespeare.
+
+  All the world's a stage,
+  And all the men and women merely players;
+  They have their _exits_ and their entrances,
+  And one man in his time plays many parts:
+  His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
+  Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms:
+  And then, the whining school-boy with his satchel,
+  And shining morning-face, creeping like snail
+  Unwillingly to school. And then, the lover;
+  Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
+  Made to his mistress' eye-brow. Then, a soldier;
+  Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
+  Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel;
+  Seeking the bubble reputation
+  Even in the cannon's mouth. And then, the justice
+  In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd
+  With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
+  Full of wise saws and modern instances,
+  And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
+  Into the lean and flipper'd pantaloon,
+  With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side;
+  His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide
+  For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
+  Turning again toward childish treble, pipes,
+  And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
+  That ends this strange eventful history,
+  Is second childishness, and mere oblivion,
+  Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
+
+_Animadverti_ a plerisque _hominis aetatem_ in septem divisam esse
+partes, infantiam, pueritiam, adolescentiam, juventutem, virilitatem,
+senectutem, & _ut ab illis dicitur_, decrepitatem. _In hac vero parte
+nihil de_ infantiae _moribus Horatius, cum nihil ea aetas praeter
+vagitum habeat proprium, ideoque infantis persona minime in scena induci
+possit, quod ipsas rerum voces reddere neque dum sciat, neque
+valeat. Nihil de moribus item hujus aetatis, quam, si latine licet_,
+decrepitatem _vocabimus_, quae aetas quodammodo infantiae respondet:
+_de_ juventute _autem_ & adolescentia _simul pertractat, quod et
+studiis, et natura, & voluntate, parum, aut nihil inter se differant.
+Aristoteles etiam in libris ad Theodectem omisit_ & pueritiam, &
+_merito; cum minime apud pueros, vel de pueris sit orator habiturus
+orationem. Ille enim ad hoc ex aetate personarum differentiam adhibet,
+ut instituat oratorem, quomodo morata uti debeat oratione, id est, eorum
+moribus, apud quos, & de quibus loquitur, accommodata._
+
+It appears from hence, that it was _common_ for the writers of that
+time, as well as Shakespeare's Jaques, to divide the life of Man into
+seven ages, viz. _Infancy, Childhood, Puberty, Youth, Manhood, Old Age_,
+and _Decrepitude_; "which last, (says Denores) in some sort answers to
+Infancy," or, as Shakespeare expresses it, IS second childishness.
+
+"Before Shakespeare's time," says Warburton, "_seven acts_ was no unusual
+division of a play, so that there is a greater beauty than appears at
+first sight in this image." Mr. Steevens, however, informs us that the
+plays of that early period were not divided into acts at all. It is most
+probable therefore that Shakespeare only copied the moral philosophy
+(the _Socraticae chartae_) of his own day, adapting it, like Aristotle
+and Horace, to his own purpose; and, I think, with more felicity, than
+either of his illustrious predecessors, by contriving to introduce, and
+discriminate, _every one of_ the seven ages. This he has effected
+by assigning station and character to some of the stages, which to
+Aristotle and Horace appeared too similar to be distinguished from
+each other. Thus puberty, youth, manhood, and old age, become under
+Shakespeare's hand, _the_ lover, _the_ soldier, _the_ justice, and the
+lean and flipper'd pantaloon; while the _natural qualities_ of the
+infant, the boy, and the dotard, afford sufficient materials for
+poetical description.
+
+
+
+
+262.--_Thus_ years advancing _many comforts bring,
+     and_ flying _bear off many on their wing_.]
+
+  _Multa ferunt_ anni venientes _commoda secum,
+  multa_ recedentes _adimunt_.
+
+Aristotle considers the powers of the body in a state of advancement
+till the 35th year, and the faculties of the mind progressively
+improving till the 49th; from which periods they severally decline. On
+which circumstance, applied to this passage of Horace, Jason de Nores
+elegantly remarks, _Vita enim nostra videtur ad_ virilitatem _usque,
+qua_ in statu _posita est_, quendam quasi pontem _aetatis_ ascendere,
+_ab eaque inde_ descendere. Whether Addison ever met with the commentary
+of De Nores, it is perhaps impossible to discover. But this idea of
+_the_ ascent _and_ declivity _of the_ bridge _of_ human life, strongly
+reminds us of the delightful _vision of_ mirza.
+
+
+
+
+288.--_An actor's part_ the Chorus _should sustain_.] _Actoris partes_
+Chorus, &c.
+
+"See also _Aristotle_ [Greek*: oes. ooiaet. k. iae.] The judgment of two
+such critics, and the practice of wise antiquity, concurring to
+establish this precept concerning the Chorus, it should thenceforth, one
+would think, have become a fundamental rule and maxim of the stage. And
+so indeed it appeared to some few writers. The most admired of the
+French tragic poets ventured to introduce it into two of his latter
+plays, and with such success that, as one observes, _It should, in all
+reason, have disabused his countrymen on this head: l'essai heureux de
+M. Racine, qui les [choeurs] a fait revivre dans_ athalie _et dans
+_esther_, devroit, il semble, nous avoir detrompez sur cet article._ [P.
+Brumoi, vol. i. p. 105.] And, before him, our _Milton_, who, with his
+other great talents, possessed a supreme knowledge of antiquity, was so
+struck with its use and beauty, as to attempt to bring it into our
+language. His _Sampson Agonistes_ was, as might be expected, a master-
+piece. But even his credit hath not been sufficient to restore the
+Chorus. Hear a late Professor of the art declaring, _De _Choro _nihil
+disserui, quia non est essentialis dramati, atque a neotericis penitus_,
+et, me judice, merito repudiatur. [Prael. Poet. vol. ii. p. 188.] Whence
+it hath come to pass that the chorus hath been thus neglected is not now
+the enquiry. But that this critic, and all such, are greatly out in
+their judgments, when they presume to censure it in the ancients, must
+appear (if we look no further) from the double use, insisted on by the
+poet, For, 1. A _chorus _interposing, and bearing a part in the progress
+of the action, gives the representation that _probability_, [Footnote:
+_Quel avantage ne peut il [le poete] pas tirer d'une troupe d'acteurs,
+qui remplissent sa scene, qui rendant plus sense la continuite de
+l'action qui la sont paroitre VRAISEMBLABLE puisqu'il n'est pas naturel
+qu'elle sa passe sans point. On ne sent que trop le vuide de notre
+Theatre sans choeurs. &c. _[Les Theatre des Grecs. i. p. 105 ] and
+striking resemblance of real life, which every man of sense perceives,
+and _feels_ the want of upon our stage; a want, which nothing but such
+an expedient as the chorus can possibly relieve. And, 2. The importance
+of its other office [l. 196] to the _utility _of the representation, is
+so great, that, in a moral view, nothing can compensate for this
+deficiency. For it is necessary to the truth and decorum of characters,
+that the _manners_, bad as well as good, be drawn in strong, vivid
+colours; and to that end that immoral sentiments, forcibly expressed and
+speciously maintained, be sometimes _imputed _to the speakers. Hence the
+sound philosophy of the chorus will be constantly wanting, to rectify
+the wrong conclusions of the audience, and prevent the ill impressions
+that might otherwise be made upon it. Nor let any one say, that the
+audience is well able to do this for itself: Euripides did not find even
+an Athenian theatre so quick-sighted. The story is well known, [Sen. Ep.
+115.] that when this painter of the _manners _was obliged, by the rules
+of his art, and the character to be sustained, to put a run of bold
+sentiments in the mouth of one of his persons, the people instantly took
+fire, charging the poet with the _imputed _villainy, as though it had
+been his _own_. Now if such an audience could so easily misinterpret an
+attention to the truth of character into the real doctrine of the poet,
+and this too, when a Chorus was at hand to correct and disabuse their
+judgments, what must be the case, when the _whole _is left to the
+sagacity and penetration of the people? The wiser sort, it is true, have
+little need of this information. Yet the reflexions of sober sense on
+the course and occurrences of the representation, clothed in the noblest
+dress of poetry, and enforced by the joint powers of harmony and action
+(which is the true character of the Chorus) might make it, even to such,
+a no unpleasant or unprofitable entertainment. But these two are a small
+part of the uses of the chorus; which in every light is seen so
+important to the truth, decorum, and dignity of the tragic scene, that
+the modern stage, which hath not thought proper to adopt it, is even,
+with the advantage of, sometimes, the justest moral painting and
+sublimest imagery, but a very faint shadow of the old; as must needs
+appear to those who have looked into the ancient models, or, diverting
+themselves of modern prejudices, are disposed to consult the dictates of
+plain sense. For the use of such, I once designed to have drawn into one
+view the several important benefits arising to the drama from the
+observance of this rule, but have the pleasure to find myself prevented
+by a sensible dissertation of a good French writer, which the reader
+will find in the VIII tom. of the History of the Academy of Inscriptions
+end Belles Lettres.--Or, it may be sufficient to refer the English
+reader to the late tragedies of Elfrida and Caractacus; which do honour
+to modern poetry, and are a better apology, than any I could make, for
+the ancient Chorus.----Notes on the Art of Poetry.
+
+Though it is not my intention to agitate, in this place, the long
+disputed question concerning the expediency, or inexpediency, of the
+Chorus, yet I cannot dismiss the above note without some farther
+observation. In the first place then I cannot think that _the judgment
+of two such Criticks_ as Aristotle and Horace, can be decisively quoted,
+_as concurring with the practice of wise antiquity,_ to establish the
+chorus. Neither of these _two Criticks_ have taken up the question,
+each of them giving directions for the proper conduct of _the Chorus,_
+considered as an established and received part of Tragedy, and indeed
+originally, as they both tell us, _the whole_ of it. Aristotle, in his
+Poeticks, has not said much on the subject and from the little he has
+said, more arguments might perhaps be drawn, in favour of the omission,
+than for the introduction of _the Chorus._ It is true that he says, in
+his 4th chapter, that "Tragedy, after many changes, paused, _having
+gained its natural form:"_ [Greek transliteration: 'pollha': moiazolas
+metazalousa ae tragodia epausto, hepei hesche taen heauiaes phusin]. This
+might, at first sight, seem to include his approbation of the Chorus, as
+well as of all the other parts of Tragedy then in use: but he himself
+expressly tells us in the very same chapter, that he had no such
+meaning, saying, that "to enquire whether Tragedy be perfect in its
+parts, either considered in itself, or with relation to the theatre, was
+foreign to his present purpose." [Greek: To men oun epischopein,
+eiapa echei aedae hae tragodia tois ikanos, ae ou, auto te kath auto
+krinomenon, kai pros ta theatra, allos logos.]
+
+In the passage from which Horace has, in the verses now before us,
+described the office, and laid down the duties of the CHORUS, the
+passage referred to by the learned Critick, the words of Aristotle are
+not particularly favourable to the institution, or much calculated to
+recommend the use of it. For Aristotle there informs us, "that Sophocles
+alone of all the Grecian writers, made _the_ CHORUS conducive to the
+progress of the fable: not only even Euripides being culpable in this
+instance; but other writers, after the example of Agathon, introducing
+Odes as little to the purpose, as if they had borrowed whole scenes from
+another play."
+
+[Greek: Kai ton chorus de ena dei upolazein tan upochriton. Kai morion
+einai tch olch, chai sunagonis*e  mae osper par Euripidae, all osper
+para Sophochlei. Tois de loipois ta didomena mallon ta muthch, ae allaes
+Tragadias esi di o emzolima adchoi, protch arxanto Agrathonos tch
+toichtch Kai tch diaphsrei, ae aemzot ma adein, ae raesin ex allch eis
+allo armotteen, ae eteitodion oleos [per. poiaet. ch. iii.]]
+
+On the whole therefore, whatever may be the merits, or advantages of
+_the_ CHORUS, I cannot think that the judgment of Aristotle or Horace
+can be adduced as recommendation of it. As to _the probability given
+to the representation, by CHORUS interposing and bearing a part in the
+action;_ the Publick, who have lately in a troop of singers assembled on
+the stage, as a Chorus, during the whole of presentations of Elfrida
+and Caractacus, are competent to decide for themselves, how far such an
+expedient, gives a more _striking resemblance of human life,_ than the
+common usage of our Drama. As to its importance in a _moral_ view, to
+correct the evil impression of vicious sentiments, _imputed_ to the
+speakers; the story told, to enforce its use for this purpose, conveys
+a proof of its efficacy. To give due force to sentiments, as well as to
+direct their proper tendency, depends on the skill and address of the
+Poet, independent of _the_ Chorus,
+
+Monsieur Dacier, as well as the author of the above note, censures the
+modern stage for having rejected the Chorus, and having lost thereby
+_at least half its probability, and its_ greatest ornament; so that
+our Tragedy is _but a very faint shadow of the_ old. Learned Criticks,
+however, do not, perhaps, consider, that if it be expedient to revive
+_the_ Chorus, all the other parts of the antient Tragedy must be revived
+along with it. Aristotle mentions Musick as one of the six parts of
+Tragedy, and Horace no sooner introduces _the_ CHORUS, but he proceeds
+to _the _pipe _and _lyre. If a Chorus be really necessary, our Dramas,
+like those of the antients, should be rendered wholly _musical_; the
+_Dancers _also will then claim their place, and the pretentions of
+Vestris and Noverre may be admitted as _classical_. Such a spectacle,
+if not more _natural_ than the modern, would at least be consistent; but
+to introduce a groupe of _spectatorial actors_, speaking in one part
+of the Drama, and singing in another, is as strange and incoherent a
+medley, and full as _unclassical_, as the dialogue and airs of _The
+Beggar's Opera!_
+
+
+
+
+290.--_Chaunting no Odes between the acts, that seem_
+      unapt, _or _foreign _to the _general theme.]
+
+     _Nec quid medios, &c._
+
+On this passage the author of the English Commentary thus remarks. "How
+necessary this advice might be to the writers of the Augustan age cannot
+certainly appear; but, if the practice of Seneca may give room for
+suspicion, it should seem to have been much wanted; in whom I scarcely
+believe _there is_ one single instance, _of the _Chorus being employed
+in a manner, consonant to its true end and character."
+
+The learned Critick seems here to believe, and the plays under the name
+of Seneca in some measure warrant the conclusion, that _the _Chorus
+of the Roman Stage was not calculated to answer the ends of its
+institution. Aristotle has told us just the same thing, with an
+exception in favour of Sophocles, of the Grecian Drama. And are such
+surmises, or such information, likely to strengthen our prejudices on
+behalf of _the _CHORUS, or to inflame our desires for its revival?
+
+
+
+
+292.----LET IT TO VIRTUE PROVE A GUIDE AND FRIEND.]
+
+     _Ille bonis saveatque, &c._
+
+"_The Chorus_," says the poet, "_is to take the side of the good and
+virtuous_, i. e. is always to sustain a moral character. But this will
+need some explanation and restriction. To conceive aright of its office,
+we must suppose the _Chorus _to be a number of persons, by some probable
+cause assembled together, as witnesses and spectators of the great
+action of the drama. Such persons, as they cannot be wholly uninterested
+in what passes before them, will very naturally bear some share in
+the representation. This will principally consist in declaring their
+sentiments, and indulging their reflexions freely on the several events
+and mistresses as they shall arise. Thus we see the _moral_, attributed
+to the Chorus, will be no other than the dictates of plain sense; such
+as must be obvious to every thinking observer of the action, who is
+under the influence of no peculiar partialities from _affection_ or
+_interest_. Though even these may be supposed in cases, where the
+character, towards which they _draw_, is represented as virtuous."
+
+"A Chorus, thus constituted, must always, it is evident, take the part of
+virtue; because this is the natural and almost necessary determination
+of mankind, in all ages and nations, when acting freely and
+unconstrained." _Notes on the Art of Poetry._
+
+
+
+
+297.--FAITHFUL AND SECRET.]--_Ille tegat commissa._
+
+On this _nice part_ of the duty of _the_ CHORUS the author of the
+English Commentary thus remarks.
+
+"This important advice is not always easy to be followed. Much indeed
+will depend on the choice of the subject, and the artful constitution
+of the fable. _Yet, with all his care, the ablest writer will sometimes
+find himself embarrassed by the_ Chorus. i would here be understood to
+speak chiefly of the moderns. For the antients, though it has not been
+attended to, had some peculiar advantages over us in this respect,
+resulting from the principles and practices of those times. For, as it
+hath been observed of the ancient epic Muse, that she borrowed much of
+her state and dignity from the false _theology_ of the pagan world,
+so, I think, it may be justly said of the ancient tragic, that she has
+derived great advantages of probability from its mistaken _moral_. If
+there be truth in this reflection, it will help to justify some of the
+ancient choirs, that have been most objected to by the moderns."
+
+After two examples from Euripides; in one of which the trusty CHORUS
+conceals the premeditated _suicide_ of Phaedra; and in the other abets
+Medea's intended _murder of her children_, both which are most ably
+vindicated by the Critick; the note concludes in these words.
+
+"In sum, though these acts of severe avenging justice might not be
+according to the express letter of the laws, or the more refined
+conclusions of the PORCH or ACADEMY; yet there is no doubt, that they
+were, in the general account, esteemed fit and reasonable. And, it is to
+be observed, in order to pass a right judgment on the ancient Chorus,
+that, though in virtue of their office, they were obliged universally
+to sustain a moral character; yet this moral was rather political and
+popular, than strictly legal or philosophic. Which is also founded on
+good reason. The scope and end of the ancient theatre being to serve
+the interests of virtue and society, on the principles and sentiments,
+already spread and admitted amongst the people, and not to correct old
+errors, and instruct them in philosophic truth."
+
+One of the censurers of Euripides, whose opinion is controverted in
+the above note, is Monsieur Dacier; who condemns _the_ CHORUS in this
+instance, as not only violating their _moral_ office, but _transgressing
+the laws_ of Nature _and of_ God, _by a fidelity_; so vicious _and_
+criminal, _that these women_, [_the_ Chorus!] _ought to fly away in
+the Car of Medea, to escape the punishment due to them_. The Annotator
+above, agrees with the Greek Scholiast, that _the Corinthian women (the_
+Chorus) _being free_, properly desert the interests of Creon, and keep
+Medea's secrets, _for the sake of justice_, according to their custom.
+Dacier, however, urges an instance of their _infidelity_ in the ION of
+Euripides, where they betray the secret of Xuthus to Creusa, which the
+French Critick defends on account of their attachment to their mistress;
+and adds, that the rule of Horace, like other rules, is proved by the
+exception. "Besides (continues the Critick in the true spirit of French
+gallantry) should we so heavily accuse the Poet for not having made _an
+assembly of women_ keep a secret?" _D'ailleurs, peut on faire un si
+grand crime a un poete, de n'avoir pas fait en sorte qu'une troupe
+de femmes garde un secret?_ He then concludes his note with blaming
+Euripides for the perfidy of Iphigenia at Tauris, who abandons these
+faithful guardians of her secret, by flying alone with Orestes, and
+leaving them to the fury of Thoas, to which they must have been exposed,
+but for the intervention of Minerva.
+
+On the whole, it appears that the _moral importance_ of _the_ CHORUS
+must be considered _with some limitations_: or, at least, that _the_
+CHORUS is as liable to be misused and misapplied, as any part of modern
+Tragedy.
+
+
+
+
+300.--_The_ pipe _of old_.]--_Tibi, non ut nunc, &c._
+
+"This, says the author of the English Commentary, is one of those many
+passages in the epistle, about which the critics have said a great deal,
+without explaining any thing. In support of what I mean to offer, as the
+true interpretation, I observe,
+
+"That the poet's intention certainly was not to censure the _false_
+refinements of their stage-music; but, in a short digressive history
+(such as the didactic form will sometimes require) to describe the rise
+and progress of the _true_. This I collect, I. From _the expression
+itself_; which cannot, without violence, be understood in any other way.
+For, as to the words _licentia_ and _praeceps_, which have occasioned
+much of the difficulty, the _first_ means a _freer use_, not a
+_licentiousness_, properly so called; and the _other_ only expresses a
+vehemence and rapidity of language, naturally productive of a quicker
+elocution, such as must of course attend the more numerous harmony of
+the lyre:--not, as M. Dacier translates it, _une eloquence temeraire et
+outree_, an extravagant straining and affectation of style. 2. From _the
+reason of the thing_; which makes it incredible, that the music of the
+theatre should then be most complete, when the times were barbarous, and
+entertainments of this kind little encouraged or understood. 3. From
+_the character of that music itself_; for the rudeness of which, Horace,
+in effect, apologizes in defending it only on the score of the imperfect
+state of the stage, and the simplicity of its judges."
+
+The above interpretation of this part of the Epistle is, in my opinion,
+extremely just, and exactly corresponds with the explication of De
+Nores, who censures Madius for an error similar to that of Dacier. _Non
+recte sentire videtur Madius, dum putat potius_ in Romanorum luxuriam_
+invectum horatium, quam_ de melodiae incremento _tractasse_.
+
+The musick, having always been a necessary appendage to _the_ Chorus,
+I cannot (as has already been hinted in the note on I. 100 of this
+version) confider the Poet's notice of the Pipe and Lyre, as a
+_digression_, notwithstanding it includes a short history of the rude
+simplicity of the Musick in the earlier ages of Rome, and of its
+subsequent improvements. _The_ Chorus too, being originally _the whole_,
+as well as afterwards a legitimate _part_ of Tragedy, the Poet naturally
+traces the Drama from its origin to its most perfect state in Greece;
+and afterwards compares its progress and improvements with the Theatre
+of his own country. Such is, I think, the natural and easy _method_
+pursued by Horace; though it differs in some measure from the _order_
+and _connection_ pointed out by the author of the English Commentary.
+
+
+
+
+314.--For what, alas! could the unpractis'd ear
+      Of rusticks revelling o'er country cheer,
+      A motley groupe; high, low; and froth, and scum,
+      Distinguish but shrill squeak, and dronish hum?
+      --_Indoctus quid enim saperet, liberque laborum,
+      Rusticus urbano confusus, turpis honesto?_
+
+These lines, rather breaking in upon the continuity of the history of
+theatrical musick, _create_ some obscurity, which has given birth, to
+various interpretations. The author of the English Commentary, who
+always endeavours to dive to the very bottom of his subject, understands
+this couplet of Horace as a _sneer_ on those grave philosophers, who
+considered these _refinements_ of the musick as _corruptions_. He
+interprets the passage at large, and explains the above two lines in
+these words. "Nor let it be objected than this _freer harmony_ was
+itself an abuse, a corruption of the severe and _moral_ musick
+of antient times. Alas! we were not as yet so _wise_, to see the
+inconveniences of this improvement. And how should we, considering the
+nature and end of these theatrical entertainments, and the sort of men
+of which our theatres were made up?"
+
+This interpretation is ingenious; but Jason De Nores gives, I think,
+a more easy and unforced explanation of this difficult passage, by
+supposing it to refer (by way of _parenthesis_) to what had just been
+said of the original rude simplicity of the Roman theatrical musick,
+which, says the Poet, was at least as polished and refined as the taste
+of the audience. This De Nores urges in two several notes, both which I
+shall submit to the reader, leaving it to him to determine how far I am
+to be justified in having adapted my version to his interpretation.
+
+The first of these notes contains at large his reproof of Madius for
+having, like Dacier, supposed the Poet to censure the improvements that
+he manifestly meant to commend.
+
+_Quare non recte videtur sentire Madius, dum putat potius in Romanorum
+luxuriam invectum Horatium, quam de melodiae incremento tractasse,
+cum_ seipsum interpretans, _quid fibi voluerit per haec, luce clarius,
+ostendat,_
+
+  Tibia non ut nunc orichalco vincta, tubaeque AEmula. Et,
+  Sic priscae motumque, & luxuriam addidit arti
+  Tibicen, traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem:
+  Sic etiam fidibus voces crevere feveris,
+  Et tulit eloquium infolitum fecundia praeceps.
+
+_Ad quid enim tam longa digressione extra, rem propositam in Romanos
+inveberetur, cum de iis nihil aliud dicat, quam eos genio ac
+valuptatibus indulgere: cum potius_ veteres Romanos insimulare
+videatur ionorantiae, quod ignoraverint soni et musices venustatem et
+jucunditatem, illa priori scilicet incondita et rudi admodum contenti,
+_dum ait_; Indoctus quid enim saperet, liberque laborum, Rusticus urbano
+confusus, turpis honesto?
+
+The other note is expressly applied by way of comment on this passage
+itself.
+
+[Indoctus quidenim saperet?] Reddit rationem quasiper digressionem,
+occurrens tacitae objectioni quare antea apud Romanos musica melodia
+parva aut nulla pene fuerat: quia, inquit, indocti ignarique rerum
+omnium veteres illi nondum poterant judicare de melodia, utpote apud eos
+re nova, atque inufitata, neque illius jucunditatem degustare, quibus
+verbis imperitiam eorum, rusticatatemque demonstrat.
+
+Upon the whole De Nores appears to me to have given the true sense of
+the passage. I am no friend to licentious transpositions, or arbitrary
+variations, of an author's text; yet I confess, I was strongly tempted,
+in order to elucidate his perplexed passage, to have carried these two
+lines of Horace four lines back, and to have inserted them immediately
+after the 207th verse.
+
+  _Et frugi, castus, verecundusque coibat._
+
+The English reader, who wishes to try the experiment, is desired to read
+the four lines, that compose my version, immediately after the 307th
+line,
+
+  _With modest mirth indulg'd their sober taste._
+
+
+
+
+3l8.--The Piper, _grown luxuriant in his art._]
+
+
+
+
+320.--_Now too, its powers increas'd_, The Lyre severe.]
+
+  Sic priscae--arti
+  tibicen, &c.
+  sic fidibus, &c.
+
+"This is the application of what hath been said, in general, concerning
+the refinement of theatrical music to the case of _tragedy_. Some
+commentators say, and to _comedy._ But in this they mistake, as will
+appear presently. M. _Dacier_ hath I know not what conceit about a
+comparison betwixt the _Roman_ and _Greek_ stage. His reason is, _that
+the lyre was used in the Greek chorus, as appears, he says, from
+Sophocles himself playing upon this instrument himself in one of his
+tragedies._ And was it not used too in the Roman chorus, as appears from
+Nero's playing upon it in several tragedies? But the learned critic
+did not apprehend this matter. Indeed from the caution, with which his
+guides, the dealers in antiquities, always touch this point, it should
+seem, that they too had no very clear conceptions of it. The case I take
+to have been this: The _tibia_, as being most proper to accompany the
+declamation of the acts, _cantanti fuccinere_, was constantly employed,
+as well in the Roman tragedy as comedy. This appears from many
+authorities. I mention only two from Cicero. _Quam multa_ [Acad. 1. ii.
+7.] _quae nos fugiunt in cantu, exaudiunt in eo genere exercitati: Qui,
+primo inflatu Tibicinis, Antiopam esse aiunt aut Andromacham, cum nos
+ne suspicemur quidem_. The other is still more express. In his piece
+entitled _Orator_, speaking of the negligence of the Roman writers, in
+respect of _numbers_, he observes, _that there were even many passages
+in their tragedies, which, unless the_ TIBIA _played to them, could not
+be distinguished from mere prose: quae, nisi cum Tibicen accesserit,
+orationi sint solutae simillima._ One of these passages is expressly
+quoted from _Thyestes_, a tragedy of _Ennius_; and, as appears from
+the measure, taken out of one of the acts. It is clear then, that the
+_tibia_ was certainly used in the _declamation_ of tragedy. But now the
+song of the tragic chorus, being of the nature of the ode, of course
+required _fides_, the lyre, the peculiar and appropriated instrument
+of the lyric muse. And this is clearly collected, if not from express
+testimonies; yet from some occasional hints dropt by the antients. For,
+1. the lyre, we are told, [Cic. De Leg. ii. 9. & 15.] and is agreed
+on all hands, was an instrument of the Romon theatre; but it was not
+employed in comedy, This we certainly know from the short accounts of
+the music prefixed to Terence's plays. 2. Further, the _tibicen_, as
+we saw, accompanied the declamation of the acts in tragedy. It remains
+then, that the proper place of the lyre was, where one should naturally
+look for it, in the songs of the chorus; but we need not go further than
+this very passage for a proof. It is unquestionable, that the poet is
+here speaking of the chorus only; the following lines not admitting
+any other possible interpretation. By _fidibus_ then is necessarily
+understood the instrument peculiarly used in it. Not that it need be
+said that the _tibia_ was never used in the chorus. The contrary seems
+expressed in a passage of Seneca, [Ep. ixxxiv.] and in Julius Pollux
+[1. iv. 15. Sec. 107.] It is sufficient, if the _lyre_ was used solely, or
+principally, in it at this time. In this view, the whole digression is
+more pertinent, and connects better. The poet had before been speaking
+of tragedy. All his directions, from 1. 100, respect this species of the
+drama only. The application of what he had said concerning music, is
+then most naturally made, I. to the _tibia_, the music of the acts; and,
+2. to _fides_, that of the choir: thus confining himself, as the tenor
+of this part required, to tragedy only. Hence is seen the mistake, not
+only of M. Dacier, whose comment is in every view insupportable; but, as
+was hinted, of Heinsius, Lambin, and others, who, with more probability,
+explained this of the Roman comedy and tragedy. For, though _tibia_
+might be allowed to stand for comedy, as opposed to _tragoedia_, [as in
+fact, we find it in 1. ii. Ep. I. 98,] that being the only instrument
+employed in it; yet, in speaking expressly of the music of the stage,
+_fides_ could not determinately enough, and in contradistinction to
+_tibia_, denote that of tragedy, it being an instrument used solely,
+or principally, in the chorus; of which, the context shews, he alone
+speaks. It is further to be observed, that, in the application here
+made, besides the music, the poet takes in the other improvements of the
+tragic chorus, these happening, as from the nature of the thing they
+would do, at the same tine. _Notes on the Art of Poetry._
+
+
+
+
+3l9.--with dance and flowing vest embellishes his part.]
+
+  _Traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem._
+
+"This expresses not only the improvement arising from the ornament of
+proper dresses, but from the grace of motion: not only the _actor_,
+whose peculiar office it was, but the _minstrel_ himself, as appears
+from hence, conforming his gesture in some sort to the music.
+
+"Of the use and propriety of these gestures, or dances, it will not be
+easy for us, who see no such things attempted on the modern stage, to
+form any very clear or exact notions. What we cannot doubt of is,
+1. That the several theatrical dances of the antients were strictly
+conformable to the genius of the different species of composition, to
+which they were applied. 2. That, therefore, the tragic dance, which
+more especially accompanied the Chorus, must have been expressive of
+the highest gravity and decorum, tending to inspire ideas of what is
+_becoming, graceful, and majestic;_ in which view we cannot but perceive
+the important assistance it must needs lend to virtue, and how greatly
+it must contribute to set all her graces and attractions in the fairest
+light. 3. This idea of the ancient tragic dance, is not solely formed
+upon our knowledge of the conformity before-mentioned; but is further
+collected from the name usually given to it, which was [Greek
+transliteration: Emmeleia] This word cannot well be translated into our
+language; but expresses all that grace and concinnity of motion, which
+the dignity of the choral song required. 4. Lastly, it must give us a
+very high notion of the moral effect of this dance, when we find the
+severe Plato admitting it into his commonwealth. _Notes on the Art of
+Poetry._"
+
+  326--he who the prize, a filthy goat, to gain,
+  at first contended in the tragick strain.
+  _Carmine qui tragico, vilem certavit ob bircum._
+
+If I am not greatly deceived, all the Editors, and Commentators on this
+Epistle, have failed to observe, that the _historical_ part of it,
+relative to the Graecian Drama, commences at this verse; all of them
+supposing it to begin, 55 lines further in the Epistle, on the mention
+of Thespis; whom Horace as early, as correctly, describes to be the
+first _improver_, not _inventor_ of Tragedy, _whose_ original he marks
+_here._ Much confusion has, I think, arisen from this oversight, as I
+shall endeavour to explain in the following notes; only observing this
+place, that the Poet, having spoken particularly of all the parts of
+Tragedy, now enters with the strictest _order_, and greatest propriety,
+into its general history, which, by his strictures on the chorus, he
+most elegantly, as well as forcibly, connects with his subject, taking
+occasion to speak _incidentally_ of other branches of the Drama,
+particularly the satyre, and the Old Comedy
+
+
+
+
+323--_Soon too--tho' rude, the graver mood unbroke,_
+     Stript the rought satyrs, _and essay'd a joke.
+     Mox etiam_ agrestes saytros, &c.
+
+"It is not the intention of these notes to retail the accounts of
+others. I must therefore refer the reader, for whatever concerns the
+history of the satiric, as I have hitherto done of the tragic and comic
+drama, to the numerous dissertators on the ancient stage; and, above
+all, so the case before us, to the learned Casaubon; from whom all that
+hath been said to any purpose, by modern writers, hath been taken. Only
+it will be proper to observe one or two particulars, which have been
+greatly misunderstood, and without which if will be impossible, in any
+tolerable manner, to explain what follows.
+
+"I. The design of the poet, in these lines, is not to fix the origin of
+the satyric piece, in ascribing the invention of it to Thespis. This
+hath been concluded, without the least warrant from his own words, which
+barely tell us, 'that the representation of tragedy was in elder Greece
+followed by the _satires;_' and indeed the nature of the thing, as well
+as the testimony of all antiquity, shews it to be impossible. For the
+_satire_ here spoken of is, in all respects, a regular drama, and
+therefore could not be of earlier date than the times of Aeschylus,
+when the constitution of the drama was first formed. It is true indeed,
+there was a kind of entertainment of much greater antiquity, which by
+the antients is sometimes called _satyric,_ out of which (as Aristotle
+assures us) tragedy itself arose, [Greek: *illegible] But then
+this was nothing but a chorus of satyrs [Athenaeus, 1. xiv.] celebrating
+the festivals of _Bacchus,_ with rude songs and uncouth dances; and had
+little resemblance to that which was afterwards called _satiric;_ which,
+except that it retained the chorus of satyrs, and turned upon some
+subject relative to Bacchus, was of a quite different structure, and, in
+every respect, as regular a composition as tragedy itself."
+
+"II. There is no doubt but the poem, here distinguished by the name of
+satyri, was in actual use on the Roman stage. This appeals from the turn
+of the poet's whole criticism upon it. Particularly, his address to the
+Pisos, 1. 235 and his observation of the offence which a loose dialogue
+in this drama would give to a _Roman_ auditory, 1. 248, make it evident
+that he had, in fact, the practice of his own stage in view."
+
+"III. For the absolute merit of these satires, the reader will judge
+of it himself by comparing the Cyclops, the only piece of this kind
+remaining to us from antiquity, with the rules here delivered by Horace.
+Only it may be observed, in addition to what the reader will find
+elsewhere [_n._ 1. 223.] apologized in its favour, that the double,
+character of the satires admirably fitted it, as well for a sensible
+entertainment to the wise, as for the sport and diversion of the vulgar.
+For, while the grotesque appearance and jesting vein of these fantastic
+personages amused the one, the other saw much further; and considered
+them, at the same time, as replete with science, and informed by a
+spirit of the most abstruse wisdom. Hence important lessons of civil
+prudence, interesting allusions to public affairs, or a high, refined
+moral, might, with the highest probability, be insinuated, under the
+slight cover of a rustic simplicity. And from this instructive cast,
+which from its nature must be very obscure, if not impenetrable, to us
+at this day, was, I doubt not, derived the principal pleasure which the
+antients found in this species of the drama. If the modern reader would
+conceive any thing of the nature and degree of this pleasure, he may
+in part guess at it, from reflecting on the entertainment he himself
+receives from the characters of the clowns in Shakespeare; _who_, as the
+poet himself hath characterized them, _use their folly, like a stalking
+horse, and, under the presentation of that, shoot their wit._" [_As you
+like it._]--_Notes on the Art of Poetry._ [Footnote: This, and all the
+extracts, which are quoted, _Notes on the Art of Poetry_, are taken from
+the author of the English Commentary. ]
+
+This learned note, I think, sets out with a misapprehension of the
+meaning of Horace, by involving his _instructions_ on the Satyrick
+drama, with his account of its _Origin_. Nor does he, in the most
+distant manner, insinuate, tho' Dacier has asserted the same thing, that
+_the_ satyrs owed their first introduction to _Thespis_; but relates,
+that the very Poets, who contended in _the Goat-Song_, to which tragedy
+owes its name, finding it too solemn and severe an entertainment for
+their rude holiday audience, interspersed the grave strains of tragedy
+with comick and _satyrical_ Interludes, producing thereby a kind of
+medley, something congenial to what has appeared on our own stage, under
+the name of Tragi-comedy. Nor, if I am able to read and comprehend the
+context, so the words of Horace tell us, "that the representation of
+Tragedy was, in 'elder Greece,' _followed_ by _the_ satyrs." The Satyrs
+composed a part of the Tragedy in its infancy, as well as in the days
+of Horace, if his own words may be quoted as authority. On any other
+construction, his directions, concerning* the conduct of the _God_ or
+_Hero_ of the piece, are scarcely reconcilable to common sense; and it
+is almost impossible to mark their being incorporated with the Tragedy,
+in more expressive terms or images, than by his solicitude to prevent
+their broad mirth from contaminating its dignity or purity._Essutire
+leves indigna_ tragaedia _versus ut sestis matrona moveri jussa diebus,_
+intererit satyris _paulum pudibunda_ protervis.
+
+_The_ cyclops of Euripides, the only Satyrick drama extant, written at
+a much later period, than that of which Horace speaks in this place,
+cannot, I think, convey to us a very exact idea of _the Tragick
+Pastorals_, whose _origin_ he here describes. _The_ cyclops, scarce
+exceeding 700 lines, might be played, according to the idea of some
+criticks, after another performance: but that cannot, without the
+greatest violence to the text, be supposed of the Satyrick piece here
+mentioned by Horace. The idea of _farces_, or _after-pieces_, tho' an
+inferior branch of the Drama, is, in fact, among the refinements of
+an improved age. The writers of an early period throw their dramatick
+materials, serious and ludicrous, into one mass; which the critical
+chymistry of succeeding times separates and refines. The modern stage,
+like the antient, owed its birth to the ceremonies of Religion. From
+_Mysteries_ and _Moralities_, it proceeded to more regular Dramas,
+diversifying their serious scenes, like _the_ Satyrick poets, with
+ludicrous representations. This desire of _variety_ was one cause of the
+agrestes satyros. _Hos autem loco chori introductor intelligit, non, us
+quidam volunt, in ipsa tragoedia, cum praesertim dicat factum, ut grata
+novitate detinerentur spectatores: quod inter unum & alterum actum sit,
+chori loco. in tragoedia enim ipsa, cum flebilis, severa, ac gravis sit,
+non requiritur bujusmodi locorum, ludorumque levitas, quae tamen inter
+medios actus tolerari potest, & boc est quod ait, incolumi gravitate.
+Ea enim quae funt, quaeve dicuntur inter medios actus, extra tragordiam
+esse intelligentur, neque imminuunt tragoedioe gravi*tem._--DE NORES.
+
+The distinction made by _De Nores_ of _the satyrs_ not making a part of
+the tragedy, but barely appearing between the acts, can only signify,
+that the Tragick and Comick Scenes were kept apart from each other. This
+is plain from his laying that they held the place of the Chorus; not
+sustaining their continued part in the tragick dialogue, but filling
+their chief office of singing between the acts. The antient Tragedy was
+one continued representation, divided into acts by the Chant of _the
+CHORUS_; and, otherwise, according to modern ideas, forming _but one
+act_, without any interruption of the performance.
+
+
+These antient Satyrick songs, with which the antient Tragedians
+endeavoured to enliven the Dithyrambicks, gave rise to two different
+species of poetry. Their rude jests and petulant raillery engendered
+_the Satire_; and their sylvan character produced _the Pastoral_.
+
+
+
+328.--THO' RUDE, THE GRAVER MOOD UNBROKE--
+  Stript the rough Satyrs, and ESSAYED A JOKE
+
+  --Agrestes Satyros nudavis, & asper,
+  INCOLUMI GRAVITATE, jocum tentavit.
+
+"It hath been shewn, that the poet could not intend, in these lines, to
+_fix the origin of the satiric drama_. But, though this be certain, and
+the dispute concerning that point be thereby determined, yet it is to
+be noted, that he purposely describes the satire in its ruder and less
+polished form; glancing even at some barbarities, which deform the
+Bacchic chorus; which was properly the satiric piece, before Aeschylus
+had, by his regular constitution of the drama, introduced it under a very
+different form on the stage. The reason of this conduit is given in
+_n._ on l. 203. Hence the propriety of the word _nudavit_, which
+Lambin rightly interprets, _nudos introduxit satyres,_ the poet hereby
+expressing the monstrous indecorum of this entertainment in its first
+unimproved state. Alluding also to this ancient character of the
+_satire,_ he calls him _asper,_ i.e. rude and petulant; and even adds,
+that his jests were intemperate, and _without the least mixture of
+gravity._ For thus, upon the authority of a very ingenious and learned
+critic, I explain _incolumi gravitate,_ i. e. rejecting every thing
+serious, bidding _farewell,_ as we may say, _to all gravity._ Thus [L.
+in. O. 5.].
+
+  _Incolumi Jove et urbe Roma:_
+
+i.e. bidding farewell to Jupiter [Capitolinus] and Rome; agreeably to
+what is said just before,
+
+  _Anciliorum et neminis et togae
+  OBLITUS, aeternaeque Vestae._
+
+or, as salvus is used more remarkably in Martial [I. v. 10.]
+
+  _Ennius est lectus salvo tibi, Roma, Marone:
+  Et sua riserunt secula Maeonidem._
+
+"_Farewell, all gravity, is as remote from the original sense of the
+words _fare well,_ as _incolumi gravitate_ from that of _incolumis, or
+salvo Morona_ from that of _salvas._"
+
+  Notes on the Art of Poetry.
+
+The beginning of this note does not, I think, perfectly accord with what
+has been urged by the same Critick in the note immediately preceding; He
+there observed, that the "satyr here spoken of, is, _in all respects,_
+a regular Drama, and therefore _could not be of earlier date,_ than the
+times of Aeschylus.
+
+Here, however, he allows, though in subdued phrase, that, "though this
+be certain, and the dispute concerning that point thereby determined,_
+yet it is to be noted, _that he purposely describes the satyr_ in its
+ruder and less polished form; _glancing even at some barbarities, which
+deform_ the bacchic chorus; which was properly the Satyrick piece,
+_before_ Aeschylus had, by his regular constitution of the Drama,
+introduced it, _under a very different form,_ on the stage." In
+a subsequent note, the same learned Critick also says, that "the
+connecting particle, _verum, [verum ita risores, &c.]_ expresses the
+opposition intended between the _original satyr_ and that which the Poet
+approves." In both these passages the ingenious Commentator seems, from
+the mere influence of the context, to approach to the interpretation
+that I have hazarded of this passage, avowedly one of the most obscure
+parts of the Epistle. The explanation of the words incolumi gravitate,
+in the latter part of the above note, though favourable to the system of
+the English Commentary, is not only contrary to the construction of all
+other interpreters, and, I believe, unwarranted by any acceptation of
+the word _incolumis,_ but, in my opinion, less elegant and forcible
+than the common interpretation.
+
+The line of the Ode referred to,
+
+  INCOLUMI _Jove, et urbe Roma?_
+
+was never received in the sense, which the learned Critick assigns to
+it.
+
+  The Dauphin Editor interprets it,
+  STANTE _urbe, & Capitolino Jove Romanos protegente._
+  Schrevelius, to the same effect, explains it,
+  SALVO _Capitolio, quae Jovis erat sedes._
+
+These interpretations, as they are certainly the most obvious, seem also
+to be most consonant to the plain sense of the Poet.
+
+
+
+
+330.--_For holiday spectators, flush'd and wild,
+      With new conceits and mummeries were beguil'd.
+      Quippe erat_ ILLECEBRIS, _&c._
+
+Monsieur Dacier, though he allows that "all that is here said by Horace
+proves _incontestibly_, that the Satyrick Piece had possession of the
+Roman stage;" _tout ce qu' Horace dit icy prouve_ incontestablement
+_qu'il y avoit des Satyres_; yet thinks that Horace lavished all these
+instructions on them, chiefly for the sake of the atellane fables. The
+author of the English Commentary is of the same opinion, and labours
+the point very assiduously. I cannot, however, discover, in any part
+of Horace's discourse on _the_ satyrs, one expression glancing towards
+_the_ atellanes, though their oscan peculiarities might easily have been
+marked, so as not to be mistaken.
+
+
+
+
+335.--_That_ GOD _or_ HERO _of the lofty scene,
+      May not, &c.
+      Ne quicumque_ DEUS, _&c._
+
+The Commentators have given various explanations of this precept. _De
+Nores_ interprets it to signify _that the same actor, who represented a
+God or Hero in the_ Tragick _part of the Drama, must not be employed
+to represent a Faun or Sylvan in the_ Satyrick. _Dacier has a strange
+conceit concerning the joint performance of a _Tragedy_ and _Atellane_
+at one time, the same God or Hero being represented as the principal
+subject and character of both; on which occasion, (says he) the Poet
+recommends to the author not to debase the God, or Hero of _the_
+Tragedy, by sinking his language and manners too low in _the_ atellane;
+whose stile, as well as measure, should be peculiar to itself, equally
+distant from Tragedy and Farce.
+
+The author of the English Commentary tells us, that "Gods and Heroes
+were introduced as well into the _Satyrick_ as _Tragick_ Drama, and
+often the very same Gods and Heroes, which had born a part in THE
+PRECEDING TRAGEDY; a practice, which Horace, I suppose, intended, by
+this hint, to recommend as most regular."
+
+The two short notes of Schrevelius, in my opinion, more clearly explain
+the sense of Horace, and are in these words.
+
+_Poema serium, jocis_ Satyricis _ita_ commiscere--_ne seilicet is, qui
+paulo ante_ DEI _instar aut_ herois _in scenam fuit introductus, postea
+lacernosus prodeat._
+
+On the whole, supposing _the_ Satyrick _Piece_ to be _Tragi-Comick_, as
+Dacier himself seems half inclined to believe, the precept of Horace
+only recommends to the author so to support his principal personage,
+that his behaviour in the Satyrick scenes shall not debase the character
+he has sustained in the TRAGICK. No specimen remaining of the Roman
+Satyrick Piece, I may be permitted to illustrate the rule of Horace by a
+brilliant example from the _seroi-comick_ Histories of the Sovereign
+of our Drama. The example to which I point, is the character of _the_
+Prince _of_ Wales, in the two Parts of _Henry the Fourth_, Such a
+natural and beautiful decorum is maintained in the display of that
+character, that the _Prince_ is as discoverable in the loose scenes with
+Falstaff and his associates, as in the Presence Chamber, or the closet.
+after _the natural_, though mixt dramas, of Shakespear, and Beaumont and
+Fletcher, had prevailed on our stage, it is surprising that our
+progress to _pure_ Tragedy and Comedy, should have been interrupted, or
+disturbed, by _the regular monster of_ Tragi-comedy, nursed by Southerne
+and Dryden.
+
+
+
+
+346.--LET ME NOT, PISOS, IN THE SYLVIAN SCENE, USE ABJECT TERMS ALONE,
+AND PHRASES MEAN]
+
+  _Non ego_ INORNATA & DOMINANTIA, &c.
+
+The author of the English Commentary proposes a conjectural emendation
+of Horace's text--honodrata instead of inornata--and accompanied with a
+new and elevated sense assigned to the word dominantia. This last word
+is interpreted in the same manner by _de Nores_. Most other Commentators
+explain it to signify _common words_, observing its analogy to the Greek
+term [Greek: kuria]. The same expression prevails in our own tongue--_a_
+reigning _word_, _a reigning _fashion_, &c. the general cast of _the_
+satyr, seems to render a caution against a lofty stile not very
+necessary; yet it must be acknowledged that such a caution is given by
+the Poet, exclusive of the above proposed variation.
+
+  _Ne quicumque_ DEUS------
+  _Migret in obscuras_ HUMILI SERMONE _tabernas_,
+  _Aut dum vitat humum_, NUBES & INANIA CAPTET.
+
+
+
+
+350.--_Davus may jest, &c.]--Davusne loquatur, &c._
+
+It should seem from hence, that the common characters of Comedy, as well
+as the Gods and Heroes of Tragedy, had place in _the_ Satyrick Drama,
+cultivated in the days of Horace. Of the manner in which the antient
+writers sustained the part of Silenus, we may judge from _the_ CYCLOPS
+of Euripides, and _the_ Pastorals of Virgil.
+
+Vossius attempts to shew from some lines of this part of the Epistle,
+[_Ne quicumque Deus, &c._] that _the_ satyrs were _subjoined_ to the
+Tragick scenes, not _incorporated_ with them: and yet at the same moment
+he tells us, and with apparent approbation, that Diomedes quotes
+our Poet to prove that they were blended with each other: _simul ut
+spectator_, inter res tragicas, seriasque, satyrorum quoque jocis, &
+lusibus, _delectaretur_.
+
+I cannot more satisfactorily conclude all that I have to urge, on the
+subject of the Satyrick Drama, as here described by Horace, than by one
+more short extract from the notes of the ingenious author of the English
+Commentary, to the substance of which extract I give the most full
+assent. "The Greek Drama, we know, had its origin from the loose,
+licentious raillery of the rout of Bacchus, indulging to themselves the
+freest follies of taunt and invective, as would best suit to lawless
+natures, inspirited by festal mirth, and made extravagant by wine. Hence
+arose, and with a character answering to this original, the _Satiric
+Drama_; the spirit of which was afterwards, in good measure, revived
+and continued in the Old Comedy, and itself preferred, though with
+considerable alteration in the form, through all the several periods of
+the Greek stage; even when Tragedy, which arose out of it, was brought
+to its last perfection."
+
+
+
+
+368.--_To a short syllable, a long subjoin'd, Forms an _IAMBICK FOOT.]
+  _Syllaba longa, brevi subjetta, vocatur Iambus._
+
+Horace having, after the example of his master Aristotle, slightly
+mentioned the first rise of Tragedy in the form of _a_ Choral Song,
+subjoining an account of _the_ Satyrick Chorus, that was _soon_ (mox
+_etiam_) combined with it, proceeds to speak particularly of the Iambick
+verse, which he has before mentioned generally, as the measure best
+accommodated to the Drama. In this instance, however, the Poet has
+trespassed against _the order and method_ observed by his philosophical
+guide; and by that trespass broken the thread of his history of the
+Drama, which has added to the difficulty and obscurity of this part of
+his Epistle. Aristotle does not speak of _the_ Measure, till he
+has brought Tragedy, through all its progressive stages, from the
+Dithyrambicks, down to its establishment by Aeschylus and Sophocles. If
+the reader would judge of the _poetical beauty_, as well as _logical
+precision_, of such an arrangement, let him transfer this section of the
+Epistle [beginning, in the original at v. 251. and ending at 274.]
+to the end of the 284th line; by which transposition, or I am much
+mistaken, he will not only disembarrass this historical part of it,
+relative to the Grascian stage, but will pass by a much easier, and more
+elegant, transition, to the Poet's application of the narrative to the
+Roman Drama,
+
+The English reader, inclined to make the experiment, must take the lines
+of the translation from v. 268. to v. 403, both inclusive, and insert
+them after v. 418.
+
+  _In shameful silence loft the pow'r to wound._
+
+It is further to be observed that this detail on _the_ IAMBICK is not,
+with strict propriety, annext to a critical history of _the_ SATYR,
+in which, as Aristotle insinuates insinuates, was used _the_ Capering
+_Tetrameter_, and, as the Grammarians observe, _Trisyllabicks_.
+
+
+
+
+394.--PISOS! BE GRAECIAN MODELS, &c.]
+
+  Pope has imitated and illustrated this passage.
+
+  Be Homer's works your study and delight,
+  Read them by day, and meditate by night;
+  Thence form your judgment, thence your maxims bring,
+  And trace the Muses upwards to their spring.
+  Still with itself compar'd, his text peruse!
+  And let your comment be the Mantuan Muse!
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+404.--A KIND OF TRAGICK ODE, UNKNOWN BEFORE,
+  THESPIS, 'TIS SAID, INVENTED FIRST.
+  IGNOTUM _Tragicae_ GENUS INVENISSE _Camaenae_
+  _Dicitur, &c._
+
+It is surprising that Dacier, who, in a controversial note, in
+refutation of Heinsius, has so properly remarked Horace's adherence to
+Aristotle, should not have observed that his history of the Drama opens
+and proceeds nearly in the same order. Aristotle indeed does not name
+Thespis, but we cannot but include his improvements among the changes,
+to which the Critick refers, before Tragedy acquired a permanent form
+under _AEschylus_. Thespis seems not only to have embodied _the_ CHORUS,
+but to have provided a theatrical apparatus for an itinerant exhibition;
+to have furnished disguises for his performers, and to have broken the
+continuity of _the_ CHORUS by an _Interlocutor_; to whom AEschylus
+adding another personage, thereby first created Dramatick Dialogue;
+while at the same time by a _further diminution of the_ CHORUS, by
+improving the dresses of the actors, and drawing them from their
+travelling waggon to a fixt stage, he created _a regular theatre_.
+
+It appears then that neither Horace, nor Aristotle, ascribe _the origin_
+of Tragedy to Thespis. the Poet first mentions the rude beginning of
+Tragedy, (_carmen tragicum_) _the_ Goat-song; he then speaks of _the
+Satyrick Chorus_, soon after interwoven with it; and then proceeds
+to the _improvements_ of these Bacchic Festivities, by Thespis, and
+AEschylus; though their perfection and final establishment is ascribed
+by Aristotle to Sophocles. Dacier very properly renders this passage,
+_On dit que Thespis fut le premier jui inventa une especi de tragedie
+auparavant inconnue aux Grecs._ Thespis is said to be the first inventor
+of a species of Tragedy, before unknown to the Greeks.
+
+Boileau seems to have considered this part of the Epistle in the same
+light, that I have endeavoured to place it.
+
+  La Tragedie informe & grossiere au naissant
+  n'etoit qu'un simple Choeur, ou chacun en danfant,
+  et du Dieu des Raisins entonnant les louanges,
+  s'essorcoit d'attirer de fertiles vendanges.
+  la le vin et la joie eveillant les esprits,
+  _du plus habile chantre un Bouc etoit le prix._
+  Thespis sut le premier, qui barbouille de lie,
+  promena par les bourgs cette heureuse folie;
+  et d'acteurs mal ornes chargeant un tombereau,
+  amusa les passans d'un spectacle nouveau.
+  aeschyle dans le Choeur jetta les personages;
+  d'un masque plus honnete habilla les visages:
+  sur les ais d'un Theatre en public exhausse,
+  fit paroitre l'acteur d'un brodequin chausse.
+
+  L'art poetique, _chant troisieme._
+
+
+
+
+417.--_the sland'rous Chorus drown'd In shameful silence, lost the pow'r
+to wound._
+
+Chorusque turpiter obticuit, _sublato jure nocendi._
+
+"Evidently because, though the _jus nocendi_ was taken away, yet that
+was no good reason why the Chorus should entirely cease. M. Dacier
+mistakes the matter. _Le choeur se tut ignominuesement, parce-que la
+hi reprimasa licence, et que ce sut, a proprement parler, la hi qui le
+bannit; ce qu' Horace regarde comme une espece de sietrissure. Properly
+speaking,_ the law only abolished the abuse of the chorus. The ignominy
+lay in dropping the entire use of it, on account of this restraint.
+Horace was of opinion, that the chorus ought to have been retained,
+though the state had abridged it of the licence, it so much delighted
+in, of an illimited, and intemperate satire, _Sublatus chorus fuit,_
+says Scaliger, _cujus illae videntur esse praecipuae partet, ut
+potissimum ques liberet, laedertnt."
+
+Notes on the Art of Poetry._ If Dacier be mistaken in this instance, his
+mistake is common to all the commentators; not one of whom, the learned
+and ingenious author of the above he excepted, has been able to extract
+from these words any marks of Horace's predilection in favour of a
+Chorus, or censure of "its culpable omission" in Comedy. De Nores
+expresses the general sense of the Criticks on this passage.
+
+[Turpiter.] _Quia lex, declarata Veteris Conaetdiae scriptorum
+improbitate, a maledicendi licentia deterruit.--Sicuti enim antea
+summa cum laude Vetus Comediae, accepta est, ita postea summa est cum
+turpitudine vetantibus etiam legibus repudiata, quia probis hominibus,
+quia sapientibus, quia inte*s maledixerit. Quare Comaediae postea
+conscriptae ad hujusce Veteris differentiam sublato choro, novae
+appellatae sunt._
+
+What Horace himself says on a similar occasion, of the suppression of
+the Fescennine verses, in the Epistle to Augustus, is perhaps the best
+comment on this passage.
+
+  --quin etiam lex
+  Paenaque lata, malo quae nollet carmine quenquam--
+  describi: vertere modum formindine fustis
+  ad bene dicendum delectandumque redacti.
+
+
+
+
+421.---Daring their Graecian masters to forsake,
+  And for their themes domestick glories take.
+
+  Nec minimum meruere decus, vestigia Graeca
+  Ausi deserere, & celebrare domestica facta.
+
+The author of the English Commentary has a note on this passage, replete
+with fine taste, and sound criticism.
+
+"This judgment of the poet, recommending domestic subjects, as fittest
+for the stage, may be inforced from many obvious reasons. As, 1. that
+it renders the drama infinitely more _affecting:_ and this on many
+accounts, 1. As a subject, taken from our own annals, must of course
+carry with it an air of greater probability, at least to the generality
+of the people, than one borrowed from those of any other nation. 2.
+As we all find a personal interest in the subject. 3. As it of course
+affords the best and easiest opportunities of catching our minds, by
+frequent references to our manners, prejudices, and customs. And of how
+great importance this is, may be learned from hence, that, even in that
+exhibition of foreign characters, dramatic writers have found themselves
+obliged to sacrifice sacrifice truth and probability to the humour of
+the people, and to dress up their personages, contrary to their own
+better judgment, in some degree according to the mode and manners of
+their respective countries [Footnote: "L'etude egale des poetes de
+differens tems a plaire a leurs spectateurs, a encore inssue dans la
+maniere de peindre les caracteres. Ceux qui paroissent sur la scene
+Angloise, Espagnols, Francoise, sont plus Anglois, Espagnols, ou
+Francois que Grecs ou Romains, en un mot que ce qu'ils doivent etre. II
+ne faut qu'en peu de discernement pour s'appercevoir que nos Cesars et
+nos Achilles, en gardant meme un partie de leur charactere primitif,
+prennent droit de naturalite dans le pais ou ils sont transplantez,
+semblables a ces portraits, qui sortent de la main d'un peintre Flamand,
+Italien, ou Francois, et qui portent l'empreinte du pais. On veut plaire
+a sa nation, et rien ne plait tant que le resemblance de manieres et de
+enie." P. Brumoy, vol. i. p. 200.] And, 4. as the writer himself, from an
+intimate acquaintance with the character and genius of his own nation,
+will be more likely to draw the manners with life and spirit.
+
+"II. Next, which should ever be one great point in view, it renders the
+drama more generally useful in its moral destination. For, it being
+conversant about domestic acts, the great instruction of the fable more
+sensibly affects us; and the characters exhibited, from the part we
+take in their good or ill qualities, will more probably influence our
+conduct.
+
+"III. Lastly, this judgment will deserve the greater regard, as the
+conduct recommended was, in fact, the practice of our great models, the
+Greek writers; in whose plays, it is observable, there is scarcely a
+single scene, which lies out of the confines of Greece.
+
+"But, notwithstanding these reasons, the practice hath, in all times,
+been but little followed. The Romans, after some few attempts in this
+way (from whence the poet took the occasion of delivering it as a
+dramatic precept), soon relapsed into their old use; as appears from
+Seneca's, and the titles of other plays, written in, or after the
+Augustan age. Succeeding times continued the same attachment to Grecian,
+with the addition of an equal fondness for Roman, subjects. The reason
+in both instances hath been ever the same: that strong and early
+prejudice, approaching somewhat to adoration, in favour of the
+illustrious names of those two great states. The account of this matter
+is very easy; for their writings, as they furnish the business of our
+younger, and the amusement of our riper, years; and more especially make
+the study of all those, who devote themselves to poetry and the stage,
+insensibly infix in us an excessive veneration for all affairs in which
+they were concerned; insomuch, that no other subjects or events seem
+considerable enough, or rise, in any proportion, to our ideas of the
+dignity of the tragic scene, but such as time and long admiration have
+consecrated in the annals of their story. Our Shakespeare was, I think,
+the first that broke through this bondage of classical superstition. And
+he owed this felicity, as he did some others, to his want of what is
+called the advantage of a learned education. Thus uninfluenced by the
+weight of early prepossession, he struck at once into the road of nature
+and common sense: and without designing, without knowing it, hath
+left us in his historical plays, with all their anomalies, an exacter
+resemblance of the Athenian stage, than is any where to be found in its
+most processed admirers and copyists.
+
+"I will only add, that, for the more successful execution of this rule
+of celebrating domestic acts, much will depend on the aera, from
+whence the subject is taken. Times too remote have almost the same
+inconveniences, and none of the advantages, which attend the ages
+of Greece and Rome. And for those of later date, they are too much
+familiarized to us, and have not as yet acquired that venerable cast and
+air, which tragedy demands, and age only can give. There is no fixing
+this point with precision. In the general, that aera is the fittest for
+the poet's purpose, which, though fresh enough in pure minds to warm and
+interest us in the event of the action, is yet at so great a distance
+from the present times, as to have lost all those mean and disparaging
+circumstances, which unavoidably adhere to recent deeds, and, in some
+measure, sink the noblest modern transactions to the level of ordinary
+life."
+
+  _Notes on the Art of Poetry._
+
+The author of the essay on the writings and genius of Pope elegantly
+forces a like opinion, and observes that Milton left a list of
+thirty-three subjects for Tragedy, all taken from the English Annals.
+
+
+
+
+423.--_Whether the gown prescrib'd a stile more mean,
+  or the inwoven purple rais'd the scene.
+
+  Vel qui praetextas, vel qui docuere togatas._
+
+The gown (_Toga_) being the common Roman habit, signisies _Comedy;_
+and the inwoven purple _(praetexta)_ being appropriated to the higher
+orders, refers to Tragedy. _Togatae_ was also used as a general term to
+denote all plays, which the habits, manners, and arguments were Roman;
+those, of which the customs and subjects were Graecian, like the Comedies
+of Terence, were called _Palliatae_.
+
+
+
+
+429.--But you, bright heirs of the Pompilian Blood,
+  Never the verse approve, &c.
+
+  Vos, O Pompilius Sanguis, &c.
+
+The English commentary exhibits a very just and correct analysis of this
+portion of the Epistle, but neither here, nor in any other part of it,
+observes the earnestness with which the poet, on every new topick,
+addresses his discourse _the Pisos;_ a practice, that has not passed
+unnoticed by other commentators.
+
+[On this passage De Nores writes thus. _Vos O Pompilius Sanguis!] Per
+apostrophen_ sermonem convertit ad pisones, eos admonens, ut sibi
+caveant _ab bujusmodi romanorum poetarum errore videtur autem_ eos ad
+attentionem excitare _dum ait, Vos O! et quae sequntur._
+
+
+
+
+434.--_Because_ DEMOCRITUS, _&c.] Excludit sanos Helicone poetas
+Democritus._
+
+_De Nores_ has a comment on this passage; but the ambiguity of the Latin
+relative renders it uncertain, how far the Critick applies particularly
+to _the Pisos_, except by the _Apostrophe_ taken notice of in the last
+note. His words are these. _Nisi horum_ democriticorum _opinionem
+horatius hoc in loco refutasset, frustra de poetica facultate_ in hac
+AD PISONES EPISTOLA _praecepta literis tradidisset, cum arte ipsa
+repudiata_, ab his _tantummodo insaniae & furori daretur locus._
+
+
+
+
+443.--_Which no vile_ _CUTBERD'S razor'd hands profane. Tonfori_ LYCINO.]
+
+_Lycinus_ was not only, as appears from Horace, an eminent Barber; but
+said, by some, to have been created a Senator by Augustus, on account of
+his enmity to Pompey.
+
+
+
+
+466.--ON NATURE'S PATTERN TOO I'LL BID HIM LOOK, AND COPY MANNERS FROM
+HER LIVING BOOK.]
+
+_Respicere examplar vitae, morumque jubebo_ doctum imitatorem, _& veras
+hinc ducere voces._
+
+This precept seeming, at first sight, liable to be interpreted as
+recommending _personal imitations_, De Nores, Dacier, and the Author of
+the English Commentary, all concur to inculcate the principles of Plato,
+Aristotle, and Cicero, shewing that the truth of representation (_verae
+voces_) must be derived from an imitation of _general nature_, not from
+copying _individuals_. Mankind, however, being a mere collection
+of _individuals_, it is impossible for the Poet, not to found his
+observations on particular objects; and his chief skill seems to consist
+in the happy address, with which he is able to _generalize_ his ideas,
+and to sink the likeness of the individual in the resemblance of
+universal nature. A great Poet, and a great Painter, have each
+illustrated this doctrine most happily; and with their observations I
+shall conclude this note.
+
+  Chacun peint avec art dans ce nouveau miroir,
+  S'y vit avec plaisir, ou crut ne s'y point voir.
+  L'Avare des premiers rit du tableau fidele
+  D'un Avare, souvent trace sur son modele;
+  Et mille fois un Fat, finement exprime,
+  Meconnut le portrait, sur lui-meme forme.
+
+  BOILEAU, _L'Art Poet_. ch. iii.
+
+"Nothing in the art requires more attention and judgment, or more of
+that power of discrimination, which may not improperly be called Genius,
+than the steering between general ideas and individuality; for tho' the
+body of the whole must certainly be composed by the first, in order to
+communicate a character of grandeur to the whole, yet a dash of the
+latter is sometimes necessary to give an interest. An individual model,
+copied with scrupulous exactness, makes a mean stile like the Dutch; and
+the neglect of an actual model, and the method of proceeding solely from
+idea, has a tendency to make the Painter degenerate into a mannerist.
+
+"It is necessary to keep the mind in repair, to replace and refreshen
+those impressions of nature, which are continually wearing away.
+
+"A circumstance mentioned in the life of Guido, is well worth the
+attention of Artists: He was asked from whence he borrowed his idea of
+beauty, which is acknowledged superior to that of every other Painter;
+he said he would shew all the models he used, and ordered a common
+Porter to sit before him, from whom he drew a beautiful countenance;
+this was intended by Guido as an exaggeration of his conduct; but his
+intention was to shew that he thought it necessary to have _some model_
+of nature before you, however you deviate from it, and correct it from
+the idea which you have formed in your mind of _perfect beauty_.
+
+"In Painting it is far better to have a _model_ even to _depart_ from,
+than to have nothing fixed and certain to determine the idea: There is
+something then to proceed on, something to be corrected; so that even
+supposing that no part is taken, the model has still been not without
+use.
+
+"Such habits of intercourse with nature, will at least create that
+_variety_ which will prevent any one's prognosticating what manner
+of work is to be produced, on knowing the subject, which is the most
+disagreeable character an Artist can have."
+
+_Sir Joshua Reynolds's Notes on Fresnoy._
+
+
+
+
+480.--ALBIN'S HOPEFUL.] _Filius ALBINI_
+
+Albinus was said to be a rich Usurer. All that is necessary to explain
+this passage to the English reader, is to observe, that _the Roman Pound
+consisted of Twelve Ounces._
+
+
+
+
+487.--_Worthy the _Cedar _and the_ Cypress.]
+
+The antients, for the better preservation of their manuscripts, rubbed
+them with the juice of _Cedar,_ and kept them in cases of _Cypress._
+
+
+
+
+496.--Shall Lamia in our sight her sons devour,
+  and give them back alive the self-same hour?]
+
+  _Neu pranse Lamiae vivum puerum extrabat alvo._
+
+Alluding most probably to some Drama of the time, exhibiting so
+monstrous and horrible an incident.
+
+
+
+
+503.--The Sosii] Roman booksellers.
+
+
+
+
+523.--Chaerilus.]
+A wretched poet, who celebrated the actions, and was distinguished by
+the patronage, of Alexander.
+
+
+
+
+527.--If Homer seem to nod, or chance to dream.]
+
+It may not be disagreeable to the reader to see what two poets of our
+own country have said on this subject.
+
+  --foul descriptions are offensive still,
+  either for being _like,_ or being _ill._
+  For who, without a qualm, hath ever look'd
+  on holy garbage, tho' by Homer cook'd?
+  Whose railing heroes, and whose wounded Gods,
+  make some suspect he snores, as well as nods.
+  But I offend--Virgil begins to frown,
+  And Horace looks with indignation down:
+  My blushing Muse with conscious fear retires,
+  and whom they like, implicitly admires.
+
+  --Roscommon's _Essay on Translated Verse._
+  A prudent chief not always must display
+  Her pow'rs in equal ranks, and fair array:
+  But with th' occasion and the place comply,
+  Conceal his force, nay seem sometimes to fly.
+  Those oft are stratagems, which errors seem,
+  Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream.
+  POPE'S _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+530.--POEMS AND PICTURES ARE ADJUDC'D ALIKE.]
+
+  _Ut pictura poesis._
+
+Here ends, in my opinion, the _didactick_ part of this Epistle; and it
+is remarkable that it concludes, as it begun, with a reference to the
+Analogy between Poetry and Painting. The arts are indeed congenial, and
+the same general principles govern both. Artists might collect many
+useful hints from this Epistle. The Lectures of the President of the
+Royal Academy are not rarely accommodated to the study of Painters; but
+Poets may refine their taste, and derive the most valuable instruction,
+from the perusal of those judicious and elegant discourses.
+
+
+
+
+535.--O THOU, MY PISO'S ELDER HOPE AND PRIDE!]
+
+  O MAJOR JUVENUM!
+
+We are now arrived at that portion of the Epistle, which I must confess
+I am surprised, that any Commentator ever past, without observing the
+peculiar language and conduct of the Poet. There is a kind of awful
+affection in his manner, wonderfully calculated to move our feelings and
+excite our attention. The Didactick and the Epistolary stile were never
+more happily blended. The Poet assumes the air of a father advising his
+son, rather than of a teacher instructing his pupils. Many Criticks have
+thrown out a cursory observation or two, as it were extorted from them
+by the pointed expressions of the Poet: but none of them, that I have
+consulted, have attempted to assign any reason, why Horace, having
+closed his particular precepts, addresses all the remainder of his
+Epistle, on the nature and expediency of Poetical pursuits, to _the
+Elder Piso only. I have endeavoured to give the most natural reason for
+this conduct; a reason which, if I am not deceived, readers the whole of
+the Epistle interesting, as well as clear and consistent; a reason which
+I am the more inclined to think substantial, as it confirms in great
+measure the system of the Author of the English Commentary, only shewing
+_the reflections on the drama in _this Epistle, as well as in the
+Epistle to Augustus, to be _incidental_, rather than the _principal
+subject_, _and main design_, of the Poet,
+
+_Jason De Nores_, in this instance, as in most others, has paid more
+attention to his Author, than the rest of the Commentators. His note is
+as follows.
+
+[O major juvenum!] _Per apostrophen _ad majorem natu __ex pisonibus
+convertis orationem, reddit rationem quare summum, ac perfectissimum
+poema esse debeat utitur autem proaemio quasi quodam ad _benevolentiam
+& attentionem _comparandum sumit autem _benevolentiam _a patris & filii
+laudibus:_ attentionem_, dum ait, "hoc tibi dictum tolle memor!" quasi
+dicat, per asseverationem,_firmum _omnino et _verum.
+
+
+
+
+543.--_Boasts not _MESSALA'S PLEADINGS,_ nor is deem'd _AULUS IN
+JURISPRUDENCE._]
+
+The Poet, with great delicacy, throws in a compliment to these
+distinguished characters of his time, for their several eminence in
+their profession. Messala is more than once mentioned as the friend and
+patron of Horace.
+
+
+
+
+562.--_Forty thousand sesterces a year_.]
+
+The pecuniary qualification for the Equestrian Order. _Census equestrem
+summam nummorum. _
+
+
+
+
+565.--_Nothing_, IN SPITE OF GENIUS, YOU'LL _commence_]
+
+_Tu nihil, invita dices faciesve Minerva._
+
+Horace, says Dacier, here addresses the Elder Piso, as a man of mature
+years and understanding; _and be begins with panegyrick, rather than
+advice, in order to soften the precepts he is about to lay down to him._
+
+The explication of De Nores is much to the same effect, as well as that
+of many other Commentators.
+
+
+
+
+567.--But grant you should hereafter write. Si quid tamen olim
+scripseris.]
+
+"This," says Dacier, "was some time afterwards actually the case, if we
+may believe the old Scholiast, who writes that _this _PISO _composed
+Tragedies._"
+
+
+
+
+568.--Metius.] A great Critick; and said to be appointed by Augustus as a
+Judge, to appreciate the merit of literary performances. His name and
+office are, on other occasions, mentioned and recognized by Horace.
+
+
+
+
+570.--Weigh the work well, AND KEEP IT BACK NINE YEARS!
+nonumque prematur in annum!]
+
+This precept, which, like many others in the Epistle, is rather
+retailed, than invented, by Horace, has been thought by some Criticks
+rather extravagant; but it acquires in this place, as addressed to the
+elder Piso, a concealed archness, very agreeable to the Poet's stile and
+manner. Pope has applied the precept with much humour, but with more
+open raillery than need the writer's purpose in this Epistle.
+
+  I drop at last, but in unwilling ears,
+  This wholesome counsel----KEEP YOUR PIECE NINE YEARS!
+
+Vida, in his Poeticks, after the strongest censure of carelessness
+and precipitation, concludes with a caution against too excessive an
+attention to correctness, too frequent revisals, and too long delay of
+publication. The passage is as elegant as judicious.
+
+  Verum esto hic etiam modus: huic imponere curae
+  Nescivere aliqui finem, medicasque secandis
+  Morbis abstinulsse manus, & parcere tandem
+  Immites, donec macie confectus et aeger
+  Aruit exhausto velut omni sanguine foetus,
+  Nativumque decus posuit, dum plurima ubique
+  Deformat sectos artus inhonesta cicatrix.
+  Tuque ideo vitae usque memor brevioris, ubi annos
+  Post aliquot (neque enim numerum, neque temporar pono
+  certa tibi) addideris decoris satis, atque nitoris,
+  Rumpe moras, opus ingentem dimitte per orbem,
+  Perque manus, perque ora virum permitte vagari.
+
+  POETIC. lib 3.
+
+
+
+
+592.--AND ON THE SACRED TABLET GRAVE THE LAW. LEGES INCIDERE LIGNO.]
+
+Laws were originally written in verse, and graved on wood. The Roman
+laws were engraved on copper. DACIER.
+
+
+
+
+595.--TYRTAEUS.] An ancient Poet, who is said to have been given to the
+Spartans as a General by the Oracle, and to have animated the Troops by
+his Verses to such a degree, as to be the means of their triumph over
+the Messenians, after two defeats: to which Roscommon alludes in his
+_Essay on translated Verse_.
+
+  When by impulse from Heav'n, Tyrtaeus sung,
+  In drooping soldiers a new courage sprung;
+  Reviving Sparta now the fight maintain'd,
+  And what two Gen'rals lost, a Poet gain'd.
+
+Some fragments of his works are still extant. They are written in the
+Elegiac measure; yet the sense is not, as in other Poets, always bound
+in by the Couplet; but often breaks out into the succeeding verse: a
+practice, that certainly gives variety and animation to the measure;
+and which has been successfully imitated in the _rhime_ of our own
+language by Dryden, and other good writers.
+
+
+
+
+604.--_Deem then with rev'rence, &c]
+
+  _Ne forte pudori
+  Sit tibi_ MUSA, _Lyrae solers, & Cantor Apollo._
+
+The author of the English Commentary agrees, that this noble encomium on
+Poetry is addressed to _the Pisos_. All other Commentators apply it, as
+surely the text warrants, to _the_ ELDER PISO. In a long controversial
+note on this passage, the learned Critick abovementioned also explains
+the text thus. "In fact, this whole passage [from _et vitae_, &c.
+to _cantor Apollo_] obliquely glances at the two sorts of poetry,
+peculiarly cultivated by himself, and is an indirect apology for his own
+choice of them. For 1. _vitae monstrata via est_, is the character of
+his _Sermones_. And 2. all the rest of his _Odes_"--"I must add, the
+very terms of the Apology so expressly define and characterize Lyrick
+Poetry, that it is something strange, it should have escaped vulgar
+notice." There is much ingenuity in this interpretation, and it is
+supported, with much learning and ability; yet I cannot think that Horace
+meant to conclude this fine encomium, on the dignity and excellence of
+the Art or Poetry, by a partial reference to the two particular species
+of it, that had been the objects of his own attention. The Muse, and
+Apollo, were the avowed patrons and inspirers of Poetry in general,
+whether Epick, Dramatick, Civil, Moral, or Religious; all of which are
+enumerated by Horace in the course of his panegyrick, and referred to
+in the conclusion of it, that Piso might not for a moment think himself
+degraded by his attention to Poetry.
+
+In hoc epilago reddit breviter rationem, quare utilitates a poetis
+mortalium vitae allatas resenfuerit: ne scilicet Pisones, ex nobilissimd
+Calpurniorum familia ortos, Musarum & Artis Poeticae quam profitebantur,
+aliquando paniteret.
+
+DE NORES.
+
+
+Haec, inquit, eo recensui, ut quam olim res arduas poetica tractaverit,
+cognoscas, & ne Musas coutemnas, atque in Poetarum referri numerum,
+erubescas.
+
+NANNIUS.
+
+
+Ne forte, pudori. Haec dixi, O Piso, ne te pudeat Poetam esse.
+
+SCHREVELIUS.
+
+
+
+
+608.---WHETHER GOOD VERSE or NATURE is THE FRUIT,
+  OR RAIS'D BY ART, HAS LONG BEEN IN DISPUTE.]
+
+In writing precepts for poetry to _young persons_, this question could
+not be forgotten. Horace therefore, to prevent the Pisos from falling
+into a fatal error, by too much confidence in their Genius, asserts
+most decidedly, that Nature and Art must both conspire to form a Poet.
+DACIER.
+
+The Duke of Buckingham has taken up this subject very happily.
+
+  _Number and Rhyme,_ and that harmonious found,
+  Which never _does_ the ear with harshness wound,
+  Are necessary, yet but vulgar arts;
+  For all in vain these superficial parts
+  Contribute to the structure of the whole,
+  Without a GENIUS too; for that's the Soul!
+  A spirit, which inspires the work throughout,
+  As that of Nature moves the world about.
+
+  As all is dullness, where the Fancy's bad,
+  So without Judgement, Fancy is but mad:
+  And Judgement has a boundless influence,
+  Not only in the choice of words, or sense,
+  But on the world, on manners, and on men;
+  Fancy is but the feather of the pen:
+  Reason is that substantial useful part,
+  Which gains the head, while t'other wins the heart.
+
+  Essay on Poetry.
+
+
+
+
+626.---As the fly hawker, &t. Various Commentator concur in marking the
+personal application of this passage.
+
+Faithful friends are necessary, to apprise a Poet of his errors: but
+such friends are rare, and difficult to be distinguished by rich and
+powerful Poets, like the Pisos. DACIER.
+
+Pisonem admonet, ut minime hoc genus divitum poetarum imitetur,
+neminemque vel jam pranfum, aut donatum, ad fuorum carminum emendationem
+admittat neque enim poterit ille non vehementer laudare, etiamsi
+vituperanda videantur. DE NORES.
+
+In what sense Roscommon, the Translator of this Epistle, understood this
+passage, the following lines from another of his works will testify.
+
+  I pity from my foul unhappy men,
+  Compell'd by want to prostitute their pen:
+  Who must, like lawyers, either starve or plead,
+  And follow, right or wrong, where guineas lead:
+  But you, POMPILIAN, wealthy, pamper'd Heirs,
+  Who to your country owe your swords and cares,
+  Let no vain hope your easy mind seduce!
+  For rich ill poets are without excuse.
+  "Tis very dang'rous, tamp'ring with a Muse;
+  The profit's small, and you have much to lose:
+  For tho' true wit adorns your birth, or place,
+  Degenerate lines degrade th' attainted race."
+
+  Essay on Translated Verse.
+
+
+
+630.--_But if he keeps a table, &c.--Si vero est unctum, &c._
+
+"Here (says _Dacier_) the Poet pays, _en passant_, a very natural and
+delicate compliment to _the Pisos_." The drift of the Poet is evident,
+but I cannot discover the compliment.
+
+
+
+
+636.--_Is there a man, to whom you've given ought,
+  Or mean to give?_
+
+  TU, _seu donaris, &c._
+
+Here the Poet advises the Elder Piso never to read his verses to a man,
+to whom he has made a promise, or a present: a venal friend cannot be a
+good Critick; he will not speak his mind freely to his patron; but, like
+a corrupt judge, betray truth and justice for the sake of interest.
+DACIER.
+
+
+
+
+643.--_Kings have been said to ply repeated bowls, &c._
+
+  _Reges dicuntur, &c._
+
+_Regum exemplo_ Pisones admonet; _ut neminem admittant ad suorum
+carminum emendationem, nisi prius optime cognitum, atque perspectum._ DE
+NORES.
+
+
+
+
+654.--QUINTILIUS.] The Poet _Quintilius Varus_, the relation and
+intimate friend of Virgil and Horace; of whom the latter lamented his
+death in a pathetick and beautiful Ode, still extant in his works.
+Quintilius appears to have been some time dead, at the time of our
+Poet's writing this Epistle. DACIER.
+
+[QUINTILIUS.] _Descriptis adulatorum moribus & consuetudine, assert
+optimi & sapientissimi judicis exemplum: Quintilii soilicet, qui
+tantae erat authoritatis apud Romanos, ut_ ei Virgilii opera Augustus
+tradiderit emendanda.
+
+
+
+
+664.--THE MAN, IN WHOM GOOD SENSE AND HONOUR JOIN.]
+
+It particularly suited Horace's purpose to paint the severe and rigid
+judge of composition. Pope's plan admitted softer colours in his draught
+of a true Critick.
+
+  But where's the man, who counsel can bestow,
+  Still pleas'd to teach, and yet not proud to know?
+  Unbiass'd, or by favour, or by spite;
+  Not dully prepossess'd, nor blindly right;
+  Tho' learn'd, well-bred; and tho' well-bred, sincere;
+  Modestly bold, and humanly severe:
+  Who to a friend his faults can freely show,
+  And gladly praise the merit of a foe?
+  Blest with a taste exact, yet unconfin'd;
+  A knowledge both of books and human kind;
+  Gen'rous converse; a soul exempt from pride;
+  And love to praise, with reason on his side?
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+684.--WHILE WITH HIS HEAD ERECT HE THREATS THE SKIES.]
+
+"Horace, (says _Dacier_) diverts himself with describing the folly of
+a Poet, whom his flatterers have driven mad." _To whom_ the caution
+against flatterers was addressed, has before been observed by _Dacier_.
+This description therefore, growing immediately out of that caution,
+must be considered as addressed _to_ the Elder Piso.
+
+
+
+
+699.--_Leap'd_ COLDLY _into AEtna's burning mount._
+
+  _Ardentem_ FRIGIDUS _aetnam insiluit._
+
+This is but a cold conceit, not much in the usual manner of Horace.
+
+
+
+
+710.--
+
+  _Whether, the victim of incestuous love,_
+  THE SACRED MONUMENT _he striv'd to move._
+
+  _An_ TRISTE BIDENTAL _moverit incestus_.
+
+The BIDENTAL was a place that had been struck with lightning, and
+afterwards expiated by the erection of an altar and the sacrifice of
+sheep; _hostiis_ BIDENTIBUS; from which it took its name. The removal
+or disturbance of this sacred monument was deemed sacrilege; and the
+attempt, a supposed judgement from heaven, as a punishment for some
+heavy crime.
+
+
+
+
+7l8.--
+
+  HANGS ON HIM, NE'ER TO QUIT, WITH CEASELESS SPEECH.
+  TILL GORG'D, AND FULL OF BLOOD, A VERY LEECH.
+
+The English Commentary introduces the explication of the last hundred
+and eleven lines of this Epistle, the lines which, I think, determine
+the scope and intention of the whole, in the following manner.
+
+"Having made all the reasonable allowances which a writer could expect,
+he (Horace) goes on to enforce _the general instruction of this part,
+viz._ A diligence in writing, by shewing [from l. 366 to 379] that a
+_mediocrity_, however tolerable, or even commendable, it might be in
+other arts, would never be allowed in this."--"This reflection leads him
+with great advantage [from l. 379 to 391] to _the general conclusion in
+view, viz._ that as none but excellent poetry will be allowed, it should
+be a warning to writers, how they engage in it without abilities; or
+publish without severe and frequent correction."
+
+If the learned Critick here means that "_the general instruction of this
+part, viz._ a diligence in writing, is chiefly inculcated, for the sake
+of _the general conclusion in view_, a warning to writers, how they
+engage in poetry without abilities, or publish without severe and
+frequent correction;" if, I say, a dissuasive from unadvised attempts,
+and precipitate publication, is conceived to be the main purpose and
+design of the Poet, we perfectly agree concerning this last, and
+important portion of the Epistle: with this addition, however, on my
+part, that such a dissuasive is not merely _general_, but _immediately_
+and _personally_ directed and applied to _the_ Elder Piso, and that
+too in the strongest terms that words can afford, and with a kind of
+affectionate earnestness, particularly expressive of the Poet's desire
+to awaken and arrest his young friend's attention.
+
+I have endeavoured, after the example of the learned and ingenious
+author of the English Commentary, though on somewhat different
+principles, to prove "an unity of design in this Epistle," as well as
+to illustrate "the pertinent connection of its several parts." Many
+perhaps, like myself, will hesitate to embrace the system of that acute
+Critick; and as many, or more, may reject my hypothesis. But I am
+thoroughly persuaded that no person, who has considered this work
+of Horace with due attention, and carefully examined the drift and
+intention of the writer, but will at least be convinced of the folly
+or blindness, or haste and carelessness of those Criticks, however
+distinguished, who have pronounced it to be a crude, unconnected,
+immethodical, and inartificial composition. No modern, I believe, ever
+more intently studied, or more clearly understood the works of Horace,
+than BOILEAU. His Art of Poetry is deservedly admired. But I am
+surprised that it has never been observed that the Plan of that work is
+formed on the model of this Epistle, though some of the parts are more
+in detail, and others varied, according to the age and country of the
+writer. The first Canto, like the first Section of _the Epistle to the
+Pisos_, is taken up in general precepts. The second enlarges on the
+Lyrick, and Elegiack, and smaller species of Poetry, but cursorily
+mentioned, or referred to, by Horace; but introduced by him into that
+part of the Epistle, that runs exactly parallel with the second Canto of
+Boileau's Art of Poetry. The third Canto treats, entirely on the ground
+of Horace, of Epick and Dramatick Poetry; though the French writer has,
+with great address, accommodated to his purpose what Horace has said but
+collaterally, and as it were incidentally, of the Epick. The last Canto
+is formed on the final section, the last hundred and eleven lines, of
+_the Epistle to the Pisos:_ the author however, judiciously omitting in
+a professed Art of Poetry, the description of the Frantick Bard, and
+concluding his work, like the Epistle to Augustus, with a compliment to
+the Sovereign.
+
+This imitation I have not pointed out, in order to depreciate the
+excellent work of Boileau; but to shew that, in the judgement of so
+great a writer, the method of Horace was not so ill conceived, as
+Scaliger pretends, even for the outline of an Art of Poetry: Boileau
+himself, at the very conclusion of his last Canto, seems to avow and
+glory in the charge of having founded his work on that of HORACE.
+
+  Pour moi, qui jusq'ici nourri dans la Satire,
+  N'ofe encor manier la Trompette & la Lyre,
+  Vous me verrez pourtant, dans ce champ glorieux,
+  Vous animez du moins de la voix & des yeux;
+  _Vous offrir ces lecons, que ma Muse au Parnasse,
+  Rapporta, jeune encor_, DU COMMERCE D'HORACE.
+  BOILEAU.
+
+After endeavouring to vouch so strong a testimony, in favour of Horace's
+_unity_ and _order_, from France, it is but candid to acknowledge that
+two of the most popular Poets, of our own country, were of a contrary
+opinion. Dryden, in his dedication of his translation of the aeneid to
+Lord Mulgrave, author of the Essay on Poetry, writes thus. "In this
+address to your Lordship, I design not a treatise of Heroick Poetry, but
+write _in a loose Epistolary way_, somewhat tending to that subject,
+_after the example of Horace_, in his first Epistle of the 2d Book to
+Augustus Caesar, _and of that_ to the Pisos; which we call his Art of
+Poetry. in both of which _he observes_ no method _that I can trace_,
+whatever Scaliger the Father, or Heinsius may have seen, _or rather_
+think they had seen_. I have taken up, laid down, and resumed as often
+as I pleased the same subject: and this loose proceeding I shall use
+through all this Prefatory Dedication. _Yet all this while I have been
+sailing with some side-wind or other toward the point I proposed in the
+beginning_." The latter part of the comparison, if the comparison is
+meant to hold throughout, as well as the words, "_somewhat tending to
+that subject,_" seem to qualify the rest; as if Dryden only meant
+to distinguish the _loose_ EPISTOLARY _way_ from the formality of a
+_Treatise_. However this may be, had he seen the _Chart_, framed by the
+author of the English Commentary, or that now delineated, perhaps he
+might have allowed, that Horace not only made towards his point with
+some side-wind or other, but proceeded by an easy navigation and
+tolerably plain sailing.
+
+Many passages of this Dedication, as well as other pieces of Dryden's
+prose, have been versified by Pope. His opinion also, on the Epistle
+to the Pisos, is said to have agreed with that of Dryden; though the
+Introduction to his Imitation of the Epistle to Augustus forbids us to
+suppose he entertained the like sentiments of that work with his great
+predecessor. His general idea of Horace stands recorded in a most
+admirable didactick poem; in the course of which he seems to have kept a
+steady eye on this work of our author.
+
+  Horace still charms with graceful negligence,
+  And WITHOUT METHOD talks us into sense;
+  Will, like a friend, familiarly convey
+  The truest notions in the easiest way:
+  He, who supreme in judgment, as in wit,
+  Might boldly censure, as he boldly writ,
+  Yet judg'd with coolness, tho' he sung with fire;
+  His precepts teach but what his works inspire.
+  Our Criticks take a contrary extreme,
+  They judge with fury, but they write with flegm:
+  NOR SUFFERS HORACE MORE IN WRONG TRANSLATIONS
+  By Wits, THAN CRITICKS IN AS WRONG QUOTATIONS.
+
+  Essay on Criticism.
+
+
+                *     *     *     *     *
+
+
+I have now compleated my observations on this popular Work of Horace, of
+which I at first attempted the version and illustration, as a matter of
+amusement but which, I confess, I have felt, in the progress, to be an
+arduous undertaking, and a laborious task. Such parts of the Epistle, as
+corresponded with the general ideas of Modern Poetry, and the Modern
+Drama, I flattered myself with the hopes of rendering tolerable to the
+English Reader; but when I arrived at those passages, wholly relative to
+the Antient Stage, I began to feel my friends dropping off, and leaving
+me a very thin audience. My part too grew less agreeable, as it grew
+more difficult. I was almost confounded in the Serio-Comick scenes of
+the Satyrick Piece: In the musical department I was ready, with Le
+Fevre, to execrate the Flute, and all the Commentators on it; and when I
+found myself reduced to scan the merits and of Spondees and Trimeters, I
+almost fancied myself under the dominion of some _plagosus Orbilius,_
+and translating the _prosodia_ of the Latin Grammar. Borrowers and
+Imitators cull the sweets, and suck the classick flowers, rejecting at
+pleasure all that appears sour, bitter, or unpalatable. Each of them
+travels at his ease in the high turnpike-road of poetry, quoting the
+authority of Horace himself to keep clear of difficulties;
+
+  --et que
+  Desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit.
+
+A translator must stick close to his Author, follow him up hill and down
+dale, over hedge and ditch, tearing his way after his leader thro' the
+thorns and brambles of literature, sometimes lost, and often benighted.
+
+  A master I have, and I am his man,
+  Galloping dreary dun!
+
+The reader, I fear, will fancy I rejoice too much at having broke loose
+from my bondage, and that I grow wanton with the idea of having regained
+my liberty. I shall therefore engage an advocate to recommend me to his
+candour and indulgence; and as I introduced these notes with some lines
+from a noble Poet of our own country, I shall conclude them with an
+extract from a French Critick: Or, if I may speak the language of my
+trade, as I opened these annotations with a Prologue from Roscommon, I
+shall drop the curtain with an Epilogue from Dacier. Another curtain
+now demands my attention. I am called from the Contemplation of Antient
+Genius, to sacrifice, with due respect, to Modern Taste: I am summoned
+from a review of the magnificent spectacles of Greece and Rome, to the
+rehearsal of a Farce at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket.
+
+                   *     *     *     *     *
+
+Voila tout ce que j'ai cru necessaire pour l'intelligence de la Poetique
+d'Horace! si Jule Scaliger l'avoit bien entendue, il lui auroit rendu
+plus de justice, & en auroit parle plus modestment. Mais il ne s'eflort
+pat donne la temps de le bien comprendre. Ce Livre estoit trop petit
+pour estre goute d'un homme comme lui, qui faisoit grand cas des gros
+volumes, & qui d'ailleurs aimoit bien mieux donner des regles que d'en
+recevoir. Sa Poetique est assurement un ouvrage d'une erudition infinie;
+on y trouve par tout des choses fort recherchees, & elle est toute
+pleine de faillies qui marquent beaucoup d'esprit: mais j'oferai dire
+qu'il n'y a point de justessee dans la pluspart de fes jugemens, & que
+sa critique n'est pas heureuse. Il devoit un peu plus etudier ces grands
+maitres, pour se corriger de ce defaut, qui rendra toujours le plus
+grand savoir inutile, ou au moins rude &c sec. Comme un homme delicat
+etanchera mille fois mieux sa soif, & boira avec plus de gout & de
+plaisir dans un ruisseau dont les eaux seront clairs & pures, que dans
+un fleuve plein de bourbe & de limon: tout de meme, un esprit fin qui ne
+cherche que la justesse & une certaine fleur de critique, trouvera bien
+mieux son compte dans ce petite traite d'Horace, qu'il ne le trouverait
+dans vingt volumes aussi enormes que la Poetique de Scaliger. On peut
+dire veritablement que celuy qui boit dans cette source pure, plate se
+_proluit auro;_ & tant pis pour celuy qui ne fait pas le connoistre.
+Pour moi j'en ai un tres grand cas. Je ne fay si j'auray este assez
+heureux pour la bien eclaircir, & pour en dissiper si bien toutes
+les difficultes, qu'il n'y en reste aucune. Les plus grandes de ces
+difficultes, viennent des passages qu'Horace a imite des Grecs, ou des
+allusions qu'il y a faites. Je puis dire au moins que je n'en ay laisse
+passer aucune sans l'attaqaer; & je pourrais me vanter,
+
+  --nec tela nec ullas
+  V'itamsse vices Danaum.
+
+En general je puis dire que malgre la soule des Commentateurs & des
+Traducteurs, Horace estoit tres-malentendu, & que ses plus beaux
+endroits estoient defigures par les mauvais sens qu'on leur avoit donnes
+jusques icy, & il ne faut paus s'en etonner. La pluspart des gens ne
+reconnoissent pas tant l'autorite de la raison que celle du grand
+nombre, pour laquelle ils ont un profond respect. Pour moy qui fay qu'en
+matiere de critique on ne doit pas comptez les voix, mais les peser;
+j'avoiie que j'ay secoue ce joug, _& que sans m'assijetir au sentiment
+de personne, j'ay tache de suivre Horace, & de demeler ce qu'il a dit
+d'avec ce qu'on luy a fait dire._ J'ay mesme toujours remarque (& j'en
+pourrais donner des exemples bien sensibles) que quand des esprits
+accoutumes aux cordes, comme dit Montagne, & qui n'osent tenter de
+franches allures, entreprennent de traduire & de commenter ces excellens
+Ouvrages, _ou il y a plus de finesse & plus de mystere qu'il n'en
+paroist,_ tout leur travail ne fait que les gater, & que la seule vertu
+qu'ayent leurs copies, c'est de nous degouter presque des originaux.
+Comme j'ay pris la liberte de juger du travail de ceux qui m'ont
+precede, & que je n'ay pas fait difficulte de les condamner
+tres-souvent, je declare que je ne trouveray nullement mauvais qu'on
+juge du mien, & qu'on releve mes fautes: il est difficile qu'il n'y en
+ait, & mesme beaucoup; si quelqu'un veut donc se donner la peine de
+me reprendre, & de me faire voir que j'ay mal pris le sens, je me
+corrigeray avec plaisir: car je ne cherche que la verite, qui n'a jamais
+blesse personne: au lieu qu'on se trouve tou-jours mal de persister dans
+son ignorance et dans son erreur.
+
+Dacier
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The
+Pisos, by Horace
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+Project Gutenberg's The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The Pisos, by Horace
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+Title: The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The Pisos
+       Q. Horatii Flacci Epistola Ad Pisones, De Arte Poetica.
+
+Author: Horace
+
+Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9175]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on September 11, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: Latin, French and English
+
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+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF POETRY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+Q. HORATII FLACCI Epistola ad PISONES,
+
+DE ARTE POETICA.
+
+
+
+THE ART OF POETRY AN EPISTLE TO THE PISOS.
+
+
+TRANSLATED FROM HORACE
+
+WITH NOTES BY GEORGE COLMAN.
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note:  Several ineligible words were found in several
+languages throughout the text, these are marked with an asterisk.]
+
+
+London: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand
+
+MDCCLXXXIII TO
+
+The Rev. JOSEPH WARTQN, D.D. MASTER of WINCHESTER SCHOOL; AND TO The
+Rev. THOMAS WARTON, B.D. FELLOW of TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD.
+
+MY DEAR FRIENDS!
+
+In a conversation, some months ago, I happened to mention to you the
+idea I had long entertained of that celebrated Epistle of Horace,
+commonly distinguished by the title of THE ART OF POETRY. I will not say
+that you acceded to my opinion; but I flattered myself that I at least
+interested your curiosity, and engaged your attention: our discourse,
+however, revived an intention I had once formed, of communicating my
+thoughts on the subject to the Publick; an intention I had only dropt
+for want of leisure and inclination to attempt a translation of the
+Epistle, which I thought necessary to accompany the original, and my
+remarks on it. In the original, Horace assumes the air and stile of an
+affectionate teacher, admonishing and instructing his young friends and
+pupils: but the following translation, together with the observations
+annexed, I address to You as my Masters, from whom I look for sound
+information, a well-grounded confirmation of my hypothesis, or a
+solution of my doubts, and a correction of my errors.
+
+It is almost needless to observe, that the Epistle in question has very
+particularly exercised the critical sagacity of the literary world;
+yet it is remarkable that, amidst the great variety of comments and
+decisions on the work, it has been almost universally considered, except
+by one acute and learned writer of this country, as a loose, vague,
+and desultory composition; a mass of shining materials; like pearls
+unstrung, valuable indeed, but not displayed to advantage.
+
+Some have contended, with Scaliger at their head, that this pretended
+_Art of Poetry_ is totally void of art; and that the very work, in which
+the beauty and excellence of _Order_ (ordinis virtus et Venus!)
+is strongly recommended, is in itself unconnected, confused, and
+immethodical. The advocates for the writer have in great measure
+confessed the charge, but pleaded in excuse and vindication, the
+familiarity of an epistle, and even the genius of Poetry, in which the
+formal divisions of a prosaick treatise on the art would have been
+insupportable. They have also denied that Horace ever intended such a
+treatise, or that he ever gave to this Epistle the title of _the Art of
+Poetry_; on which title the attacks of Scaliger, and his followers, are
+chiefly grounded. The title, however, is confessedly as old as the age
+of Quintilian; and that the work itself has a perpetual reference to
+_Poets and Poetry,_ is as evident, as that it is, from beginning to end,
+in its manner, stile, address, and form, perfectly _Epistolary._
+
+The learned and ingenious Critick distinguished above, an early ornament
+to letters, and now a worthy dignitary of the church, leaving vain
+comments, and idle disputes on the title of the work, sagaciously
+directed his researches to scrutinize the work itself; properly
+endeavouring to trace and investigate from the composition the end and
+design of the writer, and remembering the axiom of the Poet, to whom his
+friend had been appointed the commentator.
+
+  _In every work regard THE AUTHOR'S END!
+  For none can compass more than they intend. _ Pope.
+
+With this view of illustrating and explaining Horace's Art of Poetry,
+this shrewd and able writer, about thirty years ago, republished the
+original Epistle, giving the text chiefly after Dr. Bentley, subjoining
+an English Commentary and Notes, and prefixing an Introduction, from
+which I beg leave to transcribe most part of the three first paragraphs,
+
+"It is agreed on all hands, that the antients are our masters in the
+_art_ of composition. Such of their writings, therefore, as deliver
+instructions for the exercise of this _art_, must be of the highest
+value. And, if any of them hath acquired a credit, in this respect,
+superior to the rest, it is, perhaps, the _following work:_ which the
+learned have long since considered as a kind of _summary_ of the rules
+of good writing; to be gotten by heart by every young student; and to
+whose decisive authority the greatest masters in taste and composition
+must finally submit.
+
+"But the more unquestioned the credit of this poem is, the more it will
+concern the publick, that it be justly and accurately understood. The
+writer of these sheets then believed it might be of use, if he took some
+pains to clear the sense, connect the method, and ascertain the scope
+and purpose, of this admired epistle. Others, he knew indeed, and some
+of the first fame for critical learning, had been before him in this
+attempt. Yet he did not find himself prevented by their labours; in
+which, besides innumerable lesser faults, he, more especially, observed
+two inveterate errors, of such a fort, as must needs perplex the genius,
+and distress the learning, of _any_ commentator. The _one_ of these
+respects the SUBJECT; the other, the METHOD of the _Art of Poetry_. It
+will be necessary to say something upon each.
+
+"1. That the _Art of Poetry_, at large, is not the _proper_ subject of
+this piece, is so apparent, that it hath not escaped the dullest and
+least attentive of its Criticks. For, however all the different _kinds_
+of poetry might appear to enter into it, yet every one saw, that _some_
+at least were very slightly considered: whence the frequent attempts, the
+_artes et institutiones poetica_, of writers both at home and abroad, to
+supply its deficiencies. But, though this truth was seen and confessed,
+it unluckily happened, that the sagacity of his numerous commentators
+went no further. They still considered this famous Epistle as a
+_collection_, though not a _system_, of criticisms on poetry in general;
+with this concession however, that the stage had evidently the largest
+share in it [Footnote: Satyra hac est in fui faeculi poetas, praecipui
+yero in Romanum Drama, Baxter.]. Under the influence of this prejudice,
+several writers of name took upon them to comment and explain it: and
+with the success, which was to be expected from so fatal a mistake on
+setting out, as the not seeing, 'that the proper and sole purpose of the
+Author, was, not to abridge the Greek Criticks, whom he probably never
+thought of; nor to amuse himself with composing a short critical
+system, for the general use of poets, which every line of it absolutely
+confutes; but, simply to criticize the Roman drama.' For to this end,
+not the tenor of the work only, but as will appear, every single precept
+in it, ultimately refers. The mischiefs of this original error have been
+long felt. It hath occasioned a constant perplexity in defining the
+_general_ method, and in fixing the import of _particular_ rules. Nay
+its effects have reached still further. For conceiving, as they did,
+that the whole had been composed out of the Greek Criticks, the labour
+and ingenuity of its interpreters have been misemployed in picking out
+authorities, which were not wanted, and in producing, or, more properly,
+by their studied refinements in _creating,_ conformities, which
+were never designed. Whence it hath come to pass that, instead of
+investigating the order of the Poet's own reflexions, and scrutinizing
+the peculiar state of the Roman Stage (the methods, which common sense
+and common criticism would prescribe) the world hath been nauseated
+with, insipid lectures on _Aristotle_ and _Phalereus;_ whose solid sense
+hath been so attenuated and subtilized by the delicate operation of
+French criticism, as hath even gone some way towards bringing the _art_
+itself into disrepute.
+
+"2. But the wrong explications of this poem have arisen, not from the
+misconception of the subject only, but from an inattention to the method
+of it. The _latter_ was, in part the genuine consequence of the
+_former._ For, not suspecting an unity of design in the subject it's
+interpreters never looked for, or could never find, a consistency of
+disposition in the method. And this was indeed the very block upon which
+HEINSIUS, and, before him,. JULIUS SCALIGER, himself fumbled. These
+illustrious Criticks, with all the force of genius, which is required to
+disembarrass an involved subject, and all the aids of learning, that can
+lend a ray to enlighten a dark one, have, notwithstanding, found
+themselves utterly unable to unfold the order of this Epistle; insomuch,
+that SCALIGER [Footnote: Praef. i x LIB. POET. ct 1. vi. p. 338] hath
+boldly pronounced, the conduct of it to be _vicious;_ and HEINSIUS had
+no other way to evade the charge, than by recurring to the forced and
+uncritical expedient of a licentious transposition The truth is, they
+were both in one common error, that the Poet's purpose had been to write
+a criticism of the Art of Poetry at large, and not, as is here shewn of
+the Roman Drama in particular."
+
+The remainder of this Introduction, as well as the Commentary and Notes,
+afford ample proofs of the erudition and ingenuity of the Critick: yet
+I much doubt, whether he has been able to convince the learned world
+of the truth of his main proposition, "than it was the proper and sole
+purpose of the Author, simply to _criticise_ the Roman drama." His
+Commentary is, it must be owned, extremely seducing yet the attentive
+reader of Horace will perhaps often fancy, that he perceives a violence
+and constraint offered to the composition, in order to accommodate it to
+the system of the Commentator; who, to such a reader, may perhaps seem
+to mark transitions, and point out connections, as well as to maintain
+a _method_ in the Commentary, which cannot clearly be deduced from the
+text, to which it refers.
+
+This very-ingenious _Commentary_ opens as follows:
+
+"The subject of this piece being, as I suppose, _one,_ viz. _the state
+of the Roman Drama,_ and common sense requiring, even in the freest
+forms of composition, some kind of _method._ the intelligent reader will
+not be surprised to find the poet prosecuting his subject in a regular,
+well-ordered _plan;_ which, for the more exact description of it, I
+distinguish into three parts:
+
+"I. The first of them [from 1. 1 to 89] is preparatory to the main
+subject of the Epistle, containing some general rules and reflexions on
+poetry, but principally with an eye to the following parts: by which
+means it serves as an useful introduction to the poet's design, and
+opens with that air of ease and elegance, essential to the epistolary
+form.
+
+"II. The main body of the Epistle [from 1. 89. to 295] is laid out in
+regulating the_ Roman_ Stage; but chiefly in giving rules for Tragedy;
+not only as that was the sublimer species of the _Drama,_ but, as it
+should seem, less cultivated and understood.
+
+"III. The last part [from 1. 295 to the end] exhorts to correctness in
+writing; yet still with an eye, principally, to the _dramatic species;_
+and is taken up partly in removing the causes, that prevented it; and
+partly in directing to the use of such means, as might serve to promote
+it. Such is the general plan of the Epistle."
+
+In this general summary, with which the Critick introduces his
+particular Commentary, a very material circumstance is acknowledged,
+which perhaps tends to render the system on which it proceeds extremely
+doubtful, if not wholly untenable. The original Epistle consists of four
+hundred and seventy-six lines; and it appears, from the above numerical
+analysis, that not half of those lines, only two hundred and six verses,
+[from v. 89 to 295] are employed on the subject of _the Roman Stage_.
+The first of the three parts above delineated [from v. i to 89]
+certainly _contains general rules and reflections on poetry,_ but
+surely with no particular reference to the Drama. As to the second
+part, the Critick, I think, might fairly have extended the Poet's
+consideration of the Drama to the 365th line, seventy lines further than
+he has carried it; but the last hundred and eleven lines of the Epistle
+so little allude to the Drama, that the only passage in which a mention
+of the Stage has been supposed to be implied, _[ludusque repertus,
+&c.]_ is, by the learned and ingenious Critick himself, particularly
+distinguished with a very different interpretation. Nor can this portion
+of the Epistle be considered, by the impartial and intelligent reader,
+as a mere exhortation "to correctness in writing; taken up partly in
+removing the causes that prevented it; and partly in directing to the
+use of such means, as might serve to promote it." Correctness is
+indeed here, as in many other parts of Horace's Satires and Epistles,
+occasionally inculcated; but surely the main scope of this animated
+conclusion is to deter those, who are not blest with genius, from
+attempting the walks of Poetry. I much approve what this writer has
+urged on the _unity of subject, and beauty of epistolary method_
+observed in this Work; but cannot agree that "the main subject and
+intention was _the regulation of the Roman Stage_." How far I may differ
+concerning particular passages, will appear from the notes at the end
+of this translation. In controversial criticism difference of opinion
+cannot but be expressed, (_veniam petimusque damusque vicissim_,) but
+I hope I shall not be thought to have delivered my sentiments with
+petulance, or be accused of want of respect for a character, that I most
+sincerely reverence and admire.
+
+I now proceed to set down in writing, the substance of what I suggested
+to you in conversation, concerning my own conceptions of the end and
+design of Horace in this Epistle. In this explanation I shall call upon
+Horace as my chief witness, and the Epistle itself, as my principal
+voucher. Should their testimonies prove adverse, my system must be
+abandoned, like many that have preceded it, as vain and chimerical: and
+if it should even, by their support, be acknowledged and received, it
+will, I think, like the egg of Columbus, appear so plain, easy, and
+obvious, that it will seem almost wonderful, that the Epistle has never
+been considered in the same light, till now. I do not wish to dazzle
+with the lustre of a new hypothesis, which requires, I think, neither
+the strong opticks, nor powerful glasses, of a critical Herschel, to
+ascertain the truth of it; but is a system, that lies level to common
+apprehension, and a luminary, discoverable by the naked eye.
+
+My notion is simply this. I conceive that one of the sons of Piso,
+undoubtedly the elder, had either written, or meditated, a poetical
+work, most probably a Tragedy; and that he had, with the knowledge of
+the family, communicated his piece, or intention, to Horace: but Horace,
+either disapproving of the work, or doubting of the poetical faculties
+of the Elder Piso, or both, wished to dissuade him from all thoughts
+of publication. With this view he formed the design of writing this
+Epistle, addressing it, with a courtliness and delicacy perfectly
+agreeable to his acknowledged character, indifferently to the whole
+family, the father and his two sons. _Epistola ad Pisones, de Arte
+Poetica_.
+
+He begins with general reflections, generally addressed to his _three_
+friends. _Credite_, Pisones!--pater, & juvenes _patre digni!_--In these
+preliminary rules, equally necessary to be observed by Poets of every
+denomination, he dwells on the necessity of unity of design, the danger
+of being dazzled by the splendor of partial beauties, the choice of
+subjects, the beauty of order, the elegance and propriety of diction,
+and the use of a thorough knowledge of the nature of the several
+different species of Poetry: summing up this introductory portion of his
+Epistle, in a manner perfectly agreeable to the conclusion of it.
+
+  Descriptas servare vices, operumque colores,
+  Cur ego si nequeo ignoroque, poeta salutor?
+  Cur nescire, pudens pravè, quam discere malo?
+
+From this general view of poetry, on the canvas of Aristotle, but
+entirely after his own manner, the writer proceeds to give the rules and
+history of the Drama; adverting principally to Tragedy, with all its
+constituents and appendages of diction, fable, character, incidents,
+chorus, measure, musick, and decoration. In this part of the work,
+according to the interpretation of the best criticks, and indeed (I
+think) according to the manifest tenor of the Epistle, he addresses
+himself entirely to _the two young gentlemen_, pointing out to them the
+difficulty, as well as excellence, of the Dramatick Art; insisting
+on the avowed superiority of the Graecian Writers, and ascribing the
+comparative failure of the Romans to negligence and avarice. The Poet,
+having exhausted this part of his subject, suddenly drops a _second_, or
+dismisses at once no less than _two_ of the _three_ Persons, to whom he
+originally addressed his Epistle, and turning short _on the ELDER PISO_,
+most earnestly conjures him to ponder on the danger of precipitate
+publication, and the ridicule to which the author of wretched poetry
+exposes himself. From the commencement of this partial address, o major
+juvenum, _&c._ [v. 366] to the end of the Poem, _almost a fourth part of
+the whole_, the second person plural, _Pisones!--Vos!--Vos, O Pompilius
+Sanguis! _&c. is discarded, and the second person singular, _Tu, Te,
+Tibi,_ &c. invariably takes its place. The arguments too are equally
+relative and personal; not only shewing the necessity of study, combined
+with natural genius, to constitute a Poet; but dwelling on the peculiar
+danger and delusion of flattery, to a writer of rank and fortune; as
+well as the inestimable value of an honest friend, to rescue him from
+derision and contempt. The Poet, however, in reverence to the Muse,
+qualifies his exaggerated description of an infatuated scribbler, with a
+most noble encomium of the uses of Good Poetry, vindicating the dignity
+of the Art, and proudly asserting, that the most exalted characters
+would not be disgraced by the cultivation of it.
+
+  _Ne forte pudori
+  Sit _tibi _Musa, lyrae solers, & cantor Apollo_.
+
+It is worthy observation, that in the satyrical picture of a frantick
+bard, with which Horace concludes his Epistle, he not only runs counter
+to what might be expected as a Corollary of an Essay on _the Art of
+Poetry_, but contradicts his own usual practice and sentiments. In his
+Epistle to Augustus, instead of stigmatizing the love of verse as an
+abominable phrenzy, he calls it (_levis haec insania) a slight madness_,
+and descants on its good effects--_quantas virtutes habeat, sic collige!_
+
+In another Epistle, speaking of himself, and his addiction to poetry, he
+says,
+
+  _----ubi quid datur oti,
+  Illudo chartis; hoc est, mediocribus illis
+  Ex vitiis unum, _&c.
+
+All which, and several other passages in his works, almost demonstrate
+that it was not, without a particular purpose in view, that he dwelt so
+forcibly on the description of a man resolved
+
+  _----in spite
+  Of nature and his stars to write._
+
+To conclude, if I have not contemplated my system, till I am become
+blind to its imperfections, this view of the Epistle not only preserves
+to it all that _unity of subject, and elegance of method, _so much
+insisted on by the excellent Critick, to whom I have so often referred;
+but by adding to his judicious general abstract the familiarities of
+personal address, so strongly marked by the writer, not a line appears
+idle or misplaced: while the order and disposition of the Epistle to the
+Pisos appears as evident and unembarrassed, as that of the Epistle to
+Augustus; in which last, the actual state of the Roman Drama seems to
+have been more manifestly the object of Horace's attention, than in the
+Work now under consideration.
+
+Before I leave you to the further examination of the original of Horace,
+and submit to you the translation, with the notes that accompany it, I
+cannot help observing, that the system, which I have here laid down, is
+not so entirely new, as it may perhaps at first appear to the reader,
+or as I myself originally supposed it. No Critick indeed has, to my
+knowledge, directly considered _the whole Epistle_ in the same light
+that I have now taken it; but yet _particular passages_ seem so strongly
+to enforce such an interpretation, that the Editors, Translators, and
+Commentators, have been occasionally driven to explanations of a similar
+tendency; of which the notes annexed will exhibit several striking
+instances.
+
+Of the following version I shall only say, that I have not, knowingly,
+adopted a single expression, tending to warp the judgement of the
+learned or unlearned reader, in favour of my own hypothesis. I attempted
+this translation, chiefly because I could find no other equally close
+and literal. Even the Version of Roscommon, tho' in blank verse, is, in
+some parts a paraphrase, and in others, but an abstract. I have myself,
+indeed, endeavoured to support my right to that force and freedom of
+translation which Horace himself recommends; yet I have faithfully
+exhibited in our language several passages, which his professed
+translators have abandoned, as impossible to be given in English.
+
+All that I think necessary to be further said on the Epistle will appear
+in the notes.
+
+  I am, my dear friends,
+
+  With the truest respect and regard,
+
+  Your most sincere admirer,
+
+  And very affectionate, humble servant,
+
+  GEORGE COLMAN.
+
+  LONDON,
+  March 8, 1783.
+
+
+  Q. HORATII FLACCI
+
+
+  EPISTOLA AD PISONES.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam
+  Jungere si velit, et varias inducere plumas
+  Undique collatis membris, ut turpiter atrum
+  Definat in piscem mulier formosa supernè;
+  Spectatum admissi risum teneatis, amici?
+  Credite, Pisones, ifti tabulae fore librum
+  Persimilem, cujus, velut aegri somnia, vanae
+  HORACE'S EPISTLE TO THE PISOS.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  What if a Painter, in his art to shine,
+  A human head and horse's neck should join;
+  From various creatures put the limbs together,
+  Cover'd with plumes, from ev'ry bird a feather;
+  And in a filthy tail the figure drop,
+  A fish at bottom, a fair maid at top:
+  Viewing a picture of this strange condition,
+  Would you not laugh at such an exhibition?
+  Trust me, my Pisos, wild as this may seem,
+  The volume such, where, like a sick-man's dream,
+  Fingentur species: ut nec pes, nec caput uni
+  Reddatur formae. Pictoribus atque Poëtis
+  Quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas:
+  Scimus, et hanc veniam petimusque damusque *viciffim:
+  Sed non ut placidis coëant immitia, non ut
+  Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Incoeptis gravibus plerumque et magna professis
+  Purpureus latè qui splendeat unus et alter
+  Assuitur pannus; cùm lucus et ara Dianae,
+  Et properantis aquae per amoenos ambitus agros,
+  Aut flumen Rhenum, aut pluvius describitur arcus.
+  Sed nunc non erat his locus: et fortasse cupressum
+  Scis simulare: quid hoc, si fractis enatat exspes
+  Extravagant conceits throughout prevail,
+  Gross and fantastick, neither head nor tail.
+  "Poets and Painters ever were allow'd
+  Some daring flight above the vulgar croud."
+  True: we indulge them in that daring flight,
+  And challenge in our turn, an equal right:
+  But not the soft and savage to combine,
+  Serpents to doves, to tigers lambkins join.
+
+  Oft works of promise large, and high attempt,
+  Are piec'd and guarded, to escape contempt,
+  With here and there a remnant highly drest,
+  That glitters thro' the gloom of all the rest.
+  Then Dian's grove and altar are the theme,
+  Then thro' rich meadows flows the silver stream;
+  The River Rhine, perhaps, adorns the lines,
+  Or the gay Rainbow in description shines.
+
+  These we allow have each their several grace;
+  But each and several now are out of place.
+
+  A cypress you can draw; what then? you're hir'd,
+  And from your art a sea-piece is requir'd;
+  Navibus, aere dato qui pingitur amphora coepit
+  Institui: currente rotâ cur urceus exit?
+  Denique sit quidvis simplex duntaxat et unum.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Maxima pars vatum, (pater, et juvenes patre digni)
+  Decipimur specie recti. Brevis esse laboro,
+  Obscurus sio: sectantem laevia, nervi
+  Desiciunt animíque: prosessus grandia turget:
+  Serpit humi tutus nimiùm timidùsque procellae.
+  Qui variare cupit rem prodigaliter unam,
+  Delphinum silvis appingit, fluctibus aprum.
+  In vitium dycit culpae fuga, si caret arte.
+
+  A shipwreck'd mariner, despairing, faint,
+  (The price paid down) you are ordain'd to paint.
+  Why dwindle to a cruet from a tun?
+  Simple be all you execute, and one!
+
+  Lov'd fire! lov'd sons, well worthy such a fire!
+  Most bards are dupes to beauties they admire.
+  Proud to be brief, for brevity must please,
+  I grow obscure; the follower of ease
+  Wants nerve and soul; the lover of sublime
+  Swells to bombast; while he who dreads that crime,
+  Too fearful of the whirlwind rising round,
+  A wretched reptile, creeps along the ground.
+  The bard, ambitious fancies who displays,
+  And tortures one poor thought a thousand ways,
+  Heaps prodigies on prodigies; in woods
+  Pictures the dolphin, and the boar in floods!
+  Thus ev'n the fear of faults to faults betrays,
+  Unless a master-hand conduct the lays.
+  Aemilium circa ludum faber imus et ungues
+  Exprimet, et molles imitabitur aere capillos,
+  Infelix operis summâ, quia ponere totum
+  Nesciet: hunc ego me, si quid componere curem,
+  Non magis esse velim, quàm pravo vivere naso,
+  Spectandum nigris oculis, nigroque capillo.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Sumite materiam vostris, qui scribitis, aequam
+  Viribus: et versate diu, quid ferre recusent
+  Quid valeant humeri. Cui lecta potenter erit res,
+  Nec facundia deferet hunc, nec lucidus ordo.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Ordinis haec virtus erit et venus, aut ego fallor,
+  Ut jam nunc dicat, jam nunc debentia dici
+  Pleraque differat, et praesens in tempus omittat.
+  An under workman, of th' Aemilian class,
+  Shall mould the nails, and trace the hair in brass,
+  Bungling at last; because his narrow soul
+  Wants room to comprehend _a perfect whole_.
+  To be this man, would I a work compose,
+  No more I'd wish, than for a horrid nose,
+  With hair as black as jet, and eyes as black as sloes.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Select, all ye who write, a subject fit,
+  A subject, not too mighty for your wit!
+  And ere you lay your shoulders to the wheel,
+  Weigh well their strength, and all their weakness feel!
+  He, who his subject happily can chuse,
+  Wins to his favour the benignant Muse;
+  The aid of eloquence he ne'er shall lack,
+  And order shall dispose and clear his track.
+
+  Order, I trust, may boast, nor boast in vain,
+  These Virtues and these Graces in her train.
+  What on the instant should be said, to say;
+  Things, best reserv'd at present, to delay;
+  Hoc amet, hoc spernat, promissi carminis auctor.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  In verbis etiam tenuis cautusque ferendis,
+  Dixeris egregié, notum si callida verbum
+  Reddiderit junctura novum: si forté necesse est
+  Indiciis monstrare recentibus abdita rerum;
+  Fingere cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis
+  Continget: dabiturque licentia sumpta pudenter.
+  Et nova factaque nuper habebunt verba fidem, si
+  Graeco fonte cadant, parcé detorta. Quid autem?
+  Caecilio, Plautoque dabit Romanus, ademptum
+  Virgilio, Varioque? ego cur acquirere pauca
+  Guiding the bard, thro' his continu'd verse,
+  What to reject, and when; and what rehearse.
+
+  On the old stock of words our fathers knew,
+  Frugal and cautious of engrafting new,
+  Happy your art, if by a cunning phrase
+  To a new meaning a known word you raise:
+  If 'tis your lot to tell, at some chance time,
+  "Things unattempted yet in prose or rhime,"
+  Where you are driv'n perforce to many a word
+  Which the strait-lac'd Cethegi never heard,
+  Take, but with coyness take, the licence wanted,
+  And such a licence shall be freely granted:
+  New, or but recent, words shall have their course,
+  If drawn discreetly from the Graecian source.
+  Shall Rome, Caecilius, Plautus, fix _your_ claim,
+  And not to Virgil, Varius, grant the same?
+  Or if myself should some new words attain,
+  Shall I be grudg'd the little wealth I gain?
+  Si possum, invideor; cùm lingua Catonis et Ennî
+  Sermonem patrium ditaverit, et nova rerum
+  Nomina protulerit? Licuit, semperque licebit
+  Signatum praesente notâ procudere nomen.
+  Ut silvae foliis pronos mutantur in annos;
+  Prima cadunt: ita verborum vetus interit aetas,
+  Et juvenum ritu florent modò nata vigentque.
+  Debemur morti nos, nostraque; sive receptus
+  Terrâ Neptunus, classes Aquilonibus arcet,
+  Regis opus; sterilisve diu palus, aptaque remis,
+  Vicinas urbes alit, et grave sentit aratrum:
+  Seu cursum mutavit iniquum frugibus amnis,
+  Doctus iter melius: mortalia facta peribunt,
+  Tho' Cato, Ennius, in the days of yore,
+  Enrich'd our tongue with many thousands more,
+  And gave to objects names unknown before?
+  No! it ne'er was, ne'er shall be, deem'd a crime,
+  To stamp on words the coinage of the time.
+  As woods endure a constant change of leaves,
+  Our language too a change of words receives:
+  Year after year drop off the ancient race,
+  While young ones bud and flourish in their place.
+  Nor we, nor all we do, can death withstand;
+  _Whether the Sea_, imprison'd in the land,
+  A work imperial! takes a harbour's form,
+  Where navies ride secure, and mock the storm;
+  _Whether the Marsh_, within whose horrid shore
+  Barrenness dwelt, and boatmen plied the oar,
+  Now furrow'd by the plough, a laughing plain,
+  Feeds all the cities round with fertile grain;
+  _Or if the River_, by a prudent force,
+  The corn once flooding, learns a better course.
+  Nedum sermonum stet honos, et gratia vivax.
+  Multa renascentur, quae jam cecidêre; cadentque
+  Quae nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus,
+  Quem penés arbitrium est, et jus, et norma loquendi.
+
+  Res gestae regumque ducumque et tristia bella,
+  Quo scribi possent numero, monstravit Homerus.
+
+  Versibus impariter junctis querimonia primúm,
+  Pòst etiam inclusa est voti sententia compos.
+  Quis tamen exiguos elegos emiserit auctor,
+  Grammatici certant, et adhuc sub judice lis est.
+
+  Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo.
+  Hunc socci cepêre pedem, grandesque cothurni,
+  Alternis aptum sermonibus, et populares
+  Vincentem strepitus, et natum rebus agendis.
+  The works of mortal man shall all decay;
+  And words are grac'd and honour'd but a day:
+  Many shall rise again, that now are dead;
+  Many shall fall, that now hold high the head:
+  Custom alone their rank and date can teach,
+  Custom, the sov'reign, law, and rule of speech.
+
+  For deeds of kings and chiefs, and battles fought,
+  What numbers are most fitting, Homer taught:
+
+  Couplets unequal were at first confin'd
+  To speak in broken verse the mourner's mind.
+  Prosperity at length, and free content,
+  In the same numbers gave their raptures vent;
+  But who first fram'd the Elegy's small song,
+  Grammarians squabble, and will squabble long.
+
+  Archilochus, 'gainst vice, a noble rage
+  Arm'd with his own Iambicks to engage:
+  With these the humble Sock, and Buskin proud
+  Shap'd dialogue; and still'd the noisy croud;
+  Musa dedit fidibus divos, puerosque deorum,
+  Et pugilem victorem, et equum certamine primum,
+  Et juvenum curas, et libera vina referre.
+
+  Descriptas servare vices, operumque colores,
+  Cur ego, si nequeo ignoroque, poëta salutor?
+  Cur nescire, pudens pravè, quàm discere malo?
+
+  Versibus exponi tragicis res comica non vult;
+  Indignatur item privatis ac prope socco
+  Dignis carminibus narrari coena Thyestae.
+  Singula quaeque locum teneant sortita decenter.
+  Embrac'd the measure, prov'd its ease and force,
+  And found it apt for business or discourse.
+
+  Gods, and the sons of Gods, in Odes to sing,
+  The Muse attunes her Lyre, and strikes the string;
+  Victorious Boxers, Racers, mark the line,
+  The cares of youthful love, and joys of wine.
+
+  The various outline of each work to fill,
+  If nature gives no power, and art no skill;
+  If, marking nicer shades, I miss my aim,
+  Why am I greeted with a Poet's name?
+  Or if, thro' ignorance, I can't discern,
+  Why, from false modesty, forbear to learn!
+
+  A comick incident loaths tragick strains:
+  Thy feast, Thyestes, lowly verse disdains;
+  Familiar diction scorns, as base and mean,
+  Touching too nearly on the comick scene.
+  Each stile allotted to its proper place,
+  Let each appear with its peculiar grace!
+  Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit;
+  Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore;
+  Et tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri.
+  Telephus aut Peleus, cum pauper et exul uterque,
+  Projicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba,
+  Si curat cor spectantis tetigisse querelâ.
+
+  Non satis est pulchra esse poëmata; dulcia sunto,
+  Et quocunque volent, animum auditoris agunto.
+  Ut ridentibus arrident, ita flentibus adflent
+  Humani vultus; si vis me flere, dolendum est
+  Primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me infortunia laedent.
+  Telephe, vel Peleu, male si mandata loqueris,
+  Aut dormitabo, aut ridebo: tristia moestum
+  Vultum verba decent; iratum, plena minarum;
+  Yet Comedy at times exalts her strain,
+  And angry Chremes storms in swelling vein:
+  The tragick hero, plung'd in deep distress,
+  Sinks with his fate, and makes his language less.
+  Peleus and Telephus, poor, banish'd! each
+  Drop their big six-foot words, and sounding speech;
+  Or else, what bosom in their grief takes part,
+  Which cracks the ear, but cannot touch the heart?
+
+  'Tis not enough that Plays are polish'd, chaste,
+  Or trickt in all the harlotry of taste,
+  They must have _passion_ too; beyond controul
+  Transporting where they please the hearer's soul.
+  With those that smile, our face in smiles appears;
+  With those that weep, our cheeks are bath'd in tears:
+  To make _me_ grieve, be first _your_ anguish shown,
+  And I shall feel your sorrows like my own.
+  Peleus, and Telephus! unless your stile
+  Suit with your circumstance, I'll sleep, or smile.
+  Features of sorrow mournful words require;
+  Anger in menace speaks, and words of fire:
+  Ludentem, lasciva; severum, seria dictu.
+  Format enim Natura prius nos intus ad omnem
+  Fortunarum habitum; juvat, aut impellit ad iram,
+  Aut ad humum moerore gravi deducit, et angit:
+  Post effert animi motus interprete linguâ.
+  Si dicentis erunt fortunis absona dicta,
+  Romani tollent equitesque patresque chachinnum.
+
+
+  Intererit multum, Divusne loquatur, an heros;
+  Maturusne senex, an adhuc florente juventâ
+  Fervidus; an matrona potens, an sedula nutrix;
+  Mercatorne vagus, cultorne virentis agelli;
+  Colchus, an Assyrius; Thebis nutritus, an Argis.
+  The playful prattle in a frolick vein,
+  And the severe affect a serious strain:
+  For Nature first, to every varying wind
+  Of changeful fortune, shapes the pliant mind;
+  Sooths it with pleasure, or to rage provokes,
+  Or brings it to the ground by sorrow's heavy strokes;
+  Then of the joys that charm'd, or woes that wrung,
+  Forces expression from the faithful tongue:
+  But if the actor's words belie his state,
+  And speak a language foreign to his fate,
+  Romans shall crack their sides, and all the town
+  Join, horse and foot, to laugh th' impostor down.
+
+  Much boots the speaker's character to mark:
+  God, heroe; grave old man, or hot young spark;
+  Matron, or busy nurse; who's us'd to roam
+  Trading abroad, or ploughs his field at home:
+  If Colchian, or Assyrian, fill the scene,
+  Theban, or Argian, note the shades between!
+  Aut famam sequere, aut sibi convenientia finge,
+  Scriptor. Honoratum si forte reponis Achillem,
+  Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer,
+  Jura neget sibi nata, nihil non arroget armis.
+  Sit Medea ferox invictaque, flebilis Ino,
+  Perfidus Ixion, Io vaga, tristis Orestes.
+
+  Si quid inexpertum scenae committis, et audes
+  Personam formare novam; servetur ad imum
+  Qualis ab incepto processerit, et sibi constet.
+
+  Difficile est propriè communia dicere: tuque
+  Rectius Iliacum carmen deducis in actus,
+  Quàm si proferres ignota indictaque primus.
+  Publica materies privati juris erit, si
+  Non circa vilem patulumque moraberis orbem;
+  Follow the Voice of Fame; or if you feign,
+  The fabled plan consistently sustain!
+  If great Achilles you bring back to view,
+  Shew him of active spirit, wrathful too;
+  Eager, impetuous, brave, and high of soul,
+  Always for arms, and brooking no controul:
+  Fierce let Medea seem, in horrors clad;
+  Perfidious be Ixion, Ino sad;
+  Io a wand'rer, and Orestes mad!
+
+  Should you, advent'ring novelty, engage
+  Some bold Original to walk the Stage,
+  Preserve it well; continu'd as begun;
+  True to itself in ev'ry scene, and one!
+
+  Yet hard the task to touch on untried facts:
+  Safer the Iliad to reduce to acts,
+  Than be the first new regions to explore,
+  And dwell on themes unknown, untold before.
+
+  Quit but the vulgar, broad, and beaten round,
+  The publick field becomes your private ground:
+  Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere, fidus
+  Interpres; nec desilies imitator in arctum,
+  Unde pedem proferre pudor vetet aut operis lex.
+
+  Nec sic incipies, ut scriptor cyclicus olim:
+  fortunam priami cantabo, et nobile bellum.
+  Quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor hiatu?
+  Parturiunt montes: nascetur ridiculus mus.
+  Quanto rectius hic, qui nil molitur inepte!
+  dic mihi, musa, virum, captae post moenia trojae,
+  qui mores hominum multorum vidit et urbes.
+  Non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucem
+  Cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat,
+  Antiphaten, Scyllamque, et cum Cylope Charibdin.
+  Nor word for word too faithfully translate;
+  Nor leap at once into a narrow strait,
+  A copyist so close, that rule and line
+  Curb your free march, and all your steps confine!
+
+  Be not your opening fierce, in accents bold,
+  Like the rude ballad-monger's chaunt of old;
+  "The fall of Priam, the great Trojan King!
+  Of the right noble Trojan War, I sing!"
+  Where ends this Boaster, who, with voice of thunder,
+  Wakes Expectation, all agape with wonder?
+  The mountains labour! hush'd are all the spheres!
+  And, oh ridiculous! a mouse appears.
+  How much more modestly begins HIS song,
+  Who labours, or imagines, nothing wrong!
+  "Say, Muse, the Man, who, after Troy's disgrace,
+  In various cities mark'd the human race!"
+  Not flame to smoke he turns, but smoke to light,
+  Kindling from thence a stream of glories bright:
+  Antiphates, the Cyclops, raise the theme;
+  Scylla, Charibdis, fill the pleasing dream.
+  Nec reditum Diomedis ab interitu Meleagri,
+  Nec gemino bellum Trojanum orditur ab ovo:
+  Semper ad eventum festinat; et in medias res,
+  Non secus ac notas, auditorem rapit: et quae
+  Desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit:
+  Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet,
+  Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.
+
+  Tu, quid ego et populus mecum desideret, audi;
+  Si fautoris eges aulea manentis, et usque
+  Sessuri, donec cantor, Vos plaudite, dicat:
+  Aetatis cujusque notandi sunt tibi mores,
+  Mobilibusque decor naturis dandus et annis.
+  Reddere qui voces jam scit puer, et pede certo
+  Signat humum; gestit paribus colludere, et iram
+  Colligit ac ponit temerè, et mutatur in horas.
+  He goes not back to Meleager's death,
+  With Diomed's return to run you out of breath;
+  Nor from the Double Egg, the tale to mar,
+  Traces the story of the Trojan War:
+  Still hurrying to th' event, at once he brings
+  His hearer to the heart and soul of things;
+  And what won't bear the light, in shadow flings.
+  So well he feigns, so well contrives to blend
+  Fiction and Truth, that all his labours tend
+  True to one point, persu'd from end to end.
+
+  Hear now, what I expect, and all the town,
+  If you would wish applause your play to crown,
+  And patient sitters, 'till the cloth goes down!
+
+  _Man's several ages _with attention view,
+  His flying years, and changing nature too.
+
+  _The Boy _who now his words can freely sound,
+  And with a steadier footstep prints the ground,
+  Places in playfellows his chief delight,
+  Quarrels, shakes hands, and cares not wrong or right:
+  Sway'd by each fav'rite bauble's short-liv'd pow'r,
+  In smiles, in tears, all humours ev'ry hour.
+  Imberbus juvenis, tandem custode remoto,
+  Gaudet equis canibusque et aprici gramine campi;
+  Cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus asper,
+  Utilium tardus provisor, prodigus aeris,
+  Sublimis, cupidusque, et amata relinquere pernix.
+
+  Conversis studiis, aetas animusque virilis
+  Quaerit opes et amicitias, infervit honori;
+  Conmisisse cavet quòd mox mutare laboret.
+
+  Multa senem circumveniunt incommoda; vel quod
+  Quaerit, et inventis miser abstinet, ac timet uti;
+  Vel quòd res omnes timidè gelidèque ministrat,
+  Dilator, spe lentus, iners, pavidusque futuri;
+  _The beardless Youth_, at length from tutor free,
+  Loves horses, hounds, the field, and liberty:
+  Pliant as wax, to vice his easy soul,
+  Marble to wholesome counsel and controul;
+  Improvident of good, of wealth profuse;
+  High; fond, yet fickle; generous, yet loose.
+
+  To graver studies, new pursuits inclin'd,
+  _Manhood_, with growing years, brings change of mind:
+  Seeks riches, friends; with thirst of honour glows;
+  And all the meanness of ambition knows;
+  Prudent, and wary, on each deed intent,
+  Fearful to act, and afterwards repent.
+
+  Evil in various shapes _Old Age _surrounds;
+  Riches his aim, in riches he abounds;
+  Yet what he fear'd to gain, he dreads to lose;
+  And what he sought as useful, dares not use.
+  Timid and cold in all he undertakes,
+  His hand from doubt, as well as weakness, shakes;
+  Hope makes him tedious, fond of dull delay;
+  Dup'd by to-morrow, tho' he dies to-day;
+  Difficilis, querulus, laudator temporis acti
+  Se puero, censor, castigatorque minorum.
+
+  Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum,
+  Multa recedentes adimunt: ne forte seniles
+  Mandentur juveni partes, pueroque viriles.
+  Semper in adjunctis aevoque morabimur aptis.
+
+  Aut agitur res In scenis, aut acta refertur:
+  Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem,
+  Quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus, et quae
+  Ipse sibi tradit spectator: non tamen intus
+  Digna geri promes in scenam: multaque tolles
+  Ex oculis, quae mox narret facundia praesens:
+  Ill-humour'd, querulous; yet loud in praise
+  Of all the mighty deeds of former days;
+  When _he_ was young, good heavens, what glorious times!
+  Unlike the present age, that teems with crimes!
+
+  Thus years advancing many comforts bring,
+  And, flying, bear off many on their wing:
+  Confound not youth with age, nor age with youth,
+  But mark their several characters with truth!
+
+  Events are on the stage in act display'd,
+  Or by narration, if unseen, convey'd.
+  Cold is the tale distilling thro' the ear,
+  Filling the soul with less dismay and fear,
+  Than where spectators view, like standers-by,
+  The deed submitted to the faithful eye.
+  Yet force not on the stage, to wound the sight,
+  Asks that should pass within, and shun the light!
+  Many there are the eye should ne'er behold,
+  But touching Eloquence in time unfold:
+  Ne pueros coram populo Medea trucidet;
+  Aut humana palam coquat exta nefarius Atreus;
+  Aut in avem Procne vertatur, Cadmus in anguem.
+  Quodcunque ostendis mihi sic, incredulus odi.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Neve minor, neu sit quinto productior actu
+  Fabula, quae posci vult, et spectata reponi
+  Nec Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus
+  Inciderit: nec quarta loqui persona laboret.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Actoris partes Chorus, officiumque virile
+  Defendat: neu quid medios intercinat actus,
+  Quod non proposito conducat et haereat apte.
+  Ille bonis faveatque, et concilietur amicis,
+  Et regat iratos, et amet peccare timentes:
+  Who on Medea's parricide can look?
+  View horrid Atreus human garbage cook?
+  If a bird's feathers I see Progne take,
+  If I see Cadmus slide into a snake,
+  My faith revolts; and I condemn outright
+  The fool that shews me such a silly sight.
+
+  Let not your play have fewer _acts_ than _five_,
+  Nor _more_, if you would wish it run and thrive!
+
+  _Draw down no God_, unworthily betray'd,
+  Unless some great occasion ask his aid!
+
+  Let no _fourth person_, labouring for a speech,
+  Make in the dialogue a needless breach!
+
+  An actor's part the Chorus should sustain,
+  Gentle in all its office, and humane;
+  Chaunting no Odes between the acts, that seem
+  Unapt, or foreign to the general theme.
+  Let it to Virtue prove a guide and friend,
+  Curb tyrants, and the humble good defend!
+  Ille dapes laudet mensae brevis, ille salubrem
+  Justitiam, legesque, et apertis otia portis:
+  Ille tegat commisia, Deosque precetur et oret,
+  Ut redeat miseris, abeat fortuna superbis.
+
+  Tibia non, ut nunc, orichalco vincta, tubaeque
+  aemula; sed tenuis, simplexque foramine pauco,
+  Aspirare et adesse choris erat utilis, atque
+  Nondum spissa nimis complere sedilia flatu:
+  Quo fanè populus numerabilis, utpote parvus
+  Et frugi castusque verecundusque coibat.
+  Postquam coepit agros extendere victor, et urbem
+  Laxior amplecti murus, vinoque diurno
+  Placari Genius sestis impune diebus,
+
+  Loud let it praise the joys that Temperance waits;
+  Of Justice sing, the real health of States;
+  The Laws; and Peace, secure with open gates!
+  Faithful and secret, let it heav'n invoke
+  To turn from the unhappy fortune's stroke,
+  And all its vengeance on the proud provoke!
+
+  _The Pipe_ of old, as yet with brass unbound,
+  Nor rivalling, as now, the Trumpet's sound,
+  But slender, simple, and its stops but few,
+  Breath'd to the Chorus; and was useful too:
+  For feats extended, and extending still,
+  Requir'd not pow'rful blasts their space to fill;
+  When the thin audience, pious, frugal, chaste,
+  With modest mirth indulg'd their sober taste.
+  But soon as the proud Victor spurns all bounds,
+  And growing Rome a wider wall surrounds;
+  When noontide cups, and the diurnal bowl,
+  Licence on holidays a flow of soul;
+  Accessit numerisque modisque licentia major.
+  Indoctus quid enim saperet liberque laborum,
+  Rusticus urbano confusus, turpis honesto?
+  Sic priscae motumque et luxuriem addidit arti
+  Tibicen, traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem:
+  Sic etiam fidibus voces crevere feveris,
+  Et tulit eloquium insolitum facundia praeceps;
+  Utiliumque sagax rerum, et divina futuri,
+  Sortilegis non discrepuit sententia Delphis.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Carmine qui tragico vilem certavit ob hircum,
+  Mox etiam agrestes Satyros nudavit, et asper
+  Incolumi gravitate jocum tentavit: eò quod
+  A richer stream of melody is known,
+  Numbers more copious, and a fuller tone.
+
+  ----For what, alas! could the unpractis'd ear
+  Of rusticks, revelling o'er country cheer,
+  A motley groupe! high, low; and froth, and scum;
+  Distinguish but shrill squeak, and dronish hum?----
+  The Piper, grown luxuriant in his art,
+  With dance and flowing vest embellishes his part!
+  Now too, its pow'rs increas'd, _the Lyre severe_
+  With richer numbers smites the list'ning ear:
+  Sudden bursts forth a flood of rapid song,
+  Rolling a tide of eloquence along:
+  Useful, prophetic, wise, the strain divine
+  Breathes all the spirit of the Delphick shrine.
+
+  He who the prize, a filthy goat, to gain,
+  At first contended in the tragick strain,
+  Soon too--tho' rude, the graver mood unbroke,--
+  Stript the rough satyrs, and essay'd a joke:
+  Illecebris erat et gratâ novitate morandus
+  Spectator functusque sacris, et potus, et exlex.
+  Verum ita risores, ita commendare dicaces
+  Conveniet Satyros, ita vertere seria ludo;
+  Ne quicunque Deus, quicunque adhibebi tur heros [sic]
+  Regali conspectus in auro nuper et ostro,
+  Migret in obscuras humili sermone tabernas
+  Aut, dum vitat humum, nubes et inania captet [sic]
+  Effutire leves indigna tragoedia versus,
+  Ut festis matrona moveri jussa diebus,
+  Intererit Satyris paulum pudibunda protervis.
+  Non ego inornata et dominantia nomina solum
+  Verbaque, Pisones, Satyrorum scriptor amabo
+  Nec sic enitar tragico differre colori,
+  For holiday-spectators, flush'd, and wild,
+  With new conceits, and mummeries, were beguil'd.
+  Yet should the Satyrs so chastise their mirth,
+  Temp'ring the jest that gives their sallies birth;
+  Changing from grave to gay, so keep the mean,
+  That God or Heroe of the lofty scene,
+  In royal gold and purple seen but late,
+  May ne'er in cots obscure debase his state,
+  Lost in low language; nor in too much care
+  To shun the ground, grasp clouds, and empty air.
+  With an indignant pride, and coy disdain,
+  Stern Tragedy rejects too light a vein:
+  Like a grave Matron, destin'd to advance
+  On solemn festivals to join the dance,
+  Mixt with the shaggy tribe of Satyrs rude,
+  She'll hold a sober mien, and act the prude.
+  Let me not, Pisos, in the Sylvan scene,
+  Use abject terms alone, and phrases mean;
+  Nor of high Tragick colouring afraid,
+  Neglect too much the difference of shade!
+  Ut nihil intersit Davusne loquatur et audax
+  Pythias emuncto lucrata Simone talentum,
+  An custos famulusque Dei Silenus alumni.
+
+  Ex noto fictum carmen sequar: ut sibi quivis
+  Speret idem; sudet multum, frustraque laboret
+  Ausus idem: tantum series juncturaque pollet:
+  Tantum de medio sumtis accedit honoris.
+
+  Silvis deducti caveant, me judice, Fauni,
+  Ne velut innati triviis, ac pene forenses,
+  Aut nimium teneris juvenentur versibus umquam,
+  Aut immunda crepent ignominiosaque dicta.
+  Offenduntur enim, quibus est equus, et pater, et res;
+  Nec, si quid fricti ciceris probat et nucis emtor,
+  Aequis accipiunt animis, donantve coronâ.
+  Davus may jest, pert Pythias may beguile
+  Simo of cash, in a familiar style;
+  The same low strain Silenus would disgrace,
+  Servant and guardian of the Godlike race.
+
+  Let me on subjects known my verse so frame,
+  So follow it, that each may hope the same;
+  Daring the same, and toiling to prevail,
+  May vainly toil, and only dare to fail!
+  Such virtues order and connection bring,
+  From common arguments such honours spring.
+
+  The woodland Fauns their origin should heed,
+  Take no town stamp, nor seem the city breed:
+  Nor let them, aping young gallants, repeat
+  Verses that run upon too tender feet;
+  Nor fall into a low, indecent stile,
+  Breaking dull jests to make the vulgar smile!
+  For higher ranks such ribaldry despise,
+  Condemn the Poet, and withhold the prize.
+  Syllaba longa brevi subjecta, vocatur Iambus,
+  Pes citus: unde etiam Trimetris accrescere jussit
+  Nomen Iambeis, cum senos redderet ictus
+  Primus ad extremum similis sibi; non ita pridem,
+  Tardior ut paulo graviorque veniret ad aures,
+  Spondeos stabiles in jura paterna recepit
+  Commodus et patiens: non ut de sede secundâ
+  Cederet, aut quartâ socialiter. Hic et in Accî
+  Nobilibus Trimetris apparet rarus, et Ennî.
+  In scenam missus cum magno pondere versus,
+  Aut operae celeris nimium curaque carentis,
+  Aut ignoratae premit artis crimine turpi.
+
+  Non quivis videt immodulata poëmata judex:
+  Et data Romanis venia est indigna poetis.
+  To a short Syllable a long subjoin'd
+  Forms an Iambick foot; so light a kind,
+  That when six pure Iambicks roll'd along,
+  So nimbly mov'd, so trippingly the song,
+  The feet to half their number lost their claim,
+  And _Trimeter Iambicks_ was their name.
+  Hence, that the measure might more grave appear,
+  And with a slower march approach the ear,
+  From the fourth foot, and second, not displac'd,
+  The steady spondee kindly it embrac'd;
+  Then in firm union socially unites,
+  Admitting the ally to equal rights.
+  Accius, and Ennius lines, thus duly wrought,
+  In their bold Trimeters but rarely sought:
+  Yet scenes o'erloaded with a verse of lead,
+  A mass of heavy numbers on their head,
+  Speak careless haste, neglect in ev'ry part.
+  Or shameful ignorance of the Poet's art.
+
+  "Not ev'ry Critick spies a faulty strain,
+  And pardon Roman Poets should disdain."
+  Idcircòne vager, scribamque licenter? ut omnes
+  Visuros peccata putem mea; tutus et intra
+  Spem veniae cautus? vitavi denique culpam,
+  Non laudem merui.
+
+  Vos exemplaria Graeca
+  Nocturnâ versate manu, versate diurnâ.
+  At vestri proavi Plautinos et numeros, et
+  Laudavere sales; nimium patienter utrumque
+  (Ne dicam stultè) mirati: si modo ego et vos
+  Scimus inurbanum lepido seponere dicto,
+  Legitimumque sonum digitis callemus et aure.
+  Ignotum tragicae genus invenisse Camenae
+  Dicitur, et plaustris vexisse poëmata Thespis
+  Quae canerent agerentque, peruncti faecibus ora.
+  Shall I then all regard, all labour slight,
+  Break loose at once, and all at random write?
+  Or shall I fear that all my faults descry,
+  Viewing my errors with an Eagle eye,
+  And thence correctness make my only aim,
+  Pleas'd to be safe, and sure of 'scaping blame?
+  Thus I from faults indeed may guard my lays;
+  But neither they, nor I, can merit praise.
+
+  Pisos! be Graecian models your delight!
+  Night and day read them, read them day and night!
+  "Well! but our fathers Plautus lov'd to praise,
+  Admir'd his humour, and approv'd his lays."
+  Yes; they saw both with a too partial eye,
+  Fond e'en to folly sure, if you and I
+  Know ribaldry from humour, chaste and terse,
+  Or can but scan, and have an ear for verse.
+
+  A kind of Tragick Ode unknown before,
+  Thespis, 'tis said, invented first; and bore
+  Cart-loads of verse about, and with him went
+  A troop begrim'd, to sing and represent,
+  Post hunc personae pallaeque repertor honestae
+  Aeschylus et modicis instravit pulpita tignis,
+  Et docuit magnumque loqui, nitique cothurno.
+  Successit Vetus his Comoedia, non sine multâ
+  Laude: sed in vitium libertas excidit, et vim
+  Dignam lege regi: lex est accepta; Chorusque
+  Turpiter obticuit, sublato jure nocendi.
+
+  Nil intentatum nostri liquere poëtae:
+  Nec nimium meruere decus, vestigia Graeca
+  Ausi deserere, et celebrare domestica facta,
+  Vel qui Praetextas, vel qui docuere Togatas:
+  Nec virtute foret clarisve potentius armis,
+  Quam linguâ, Latium; si non offenderet unum--
+  Next, Aeschylus, a Mask to shroud the face,
+  A Robe devis'd, to give the person grace;
+  On humble rafters rais'd a Stage, and taught
+  The buskin'd actor, with _his_ spirit fraught,
+  To breathe with dignity the lofty thought.
+  To these th' old comedy of ancient days
+  Succeeded, and obtained no little praise;
+  'Till Liberty, grown rank and run to seed,
+  Call'd for the hand of Law to pluck the weed:
+  The Statute past; the sland'rous Chorus, drown'd
+  In shameful silence, lost the pow'r to wound.
+
+  Nothing have Roman Poets left untried,
+  Nor added little to their Country's pride;
+  Daring their Graecian Masters to forsake,
+  And for their themes Domestick Glories take;
+  Whether _the Gown_ prescrib'd a stile more mean,
+  Or the _Inwoven Purple_ rais'd the scene:
+  Nor would the splendour of the Latian name
+  From arms, than Letters, boast a brighter fame,
+  Quemque poëtarum limae labor et mora. Vos ô
+  Pompilius sanguis, carmen reprehendite, quod non
+  Multa dies et multa litura coërcuit, atque
+  Praesectum decies non castigavit ad unguem.
+
+  Ingenium miserâ quia fortunatius arte
+  Credit, et excludit sanos Helicone poëtas
+  Democritus; bona pars non ungues ponere curat,
+  Non barbam, secreta petit loca, balnea vitat;
+  Nanciscetur enim pretium nomenque poëtae,
+  Si tribus Anticyris caput insanabile numquam
+  Tonsori Licino commiserit. O ego laevus,
+  Qui purgor bilem sub verni temporis horam!
+  Non alius faceret meliora poëmata: verum
+  Had they not, scorning the laborious file,
+  Grudg'd time, to mellow and refine their stile.
+  But you, bright hopes of the Pompilian Blood,
+  Never the verse approve and hold as good,
+  'Till many a day, and many a blot has wrought
+  The polish'd work, and chasten'd ev'ry thought,
+  By tenfold labour to perfection brought!
+
+  Because Democritus thinks wretched Art
+  Too mean with Genius to sustain a part,
+  To Helicon allowing no pretence,
+  'Till the mad bard has lost all common sense;
+  Many there are, their nails who will not pare,
+  Or trim their beards, or bathe, or take the air:
+  For _he_, no doubt, must be a bard renown'd,
+  _That_ head with deathless laurel must be crown'd,
+  Tho' past the pow'r of Hellebore insane,
+  Which no vile Cutberd's razor'd hands profane.
+  Ah luckless I, each spring that purge the bile!
+  Or who'd write better? but 'tis scarce worth while:
+  Nil tanti est: ergo fungar vice cotis, acutum
+  Reddere quae ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi.
+  Munus et officium, nil scribens ipse, docebo;
+  Unde parentur opes; quid alat formetque poëtam;
+  Quid deceat, quid non; quò virtus, quò ferat error,
+
+  Scribendi rectè, sapere est et principium et fons.
+  Rem tibi Socraticae poterunt ostendere chartae;
+  Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur.
+  Qui didicit patriae quid debeat, et quid amicis;
+  Quo fit amore parens, quo frater amandus et hospes;
+  Quod fit conscripti, quod judicis officium; quae
+  Partes in bellum missi ducis; ille profectò
+  Reddere personae scit convenientia cuique.
+  So as mere hone, my services I pledge;
+  Edgeless itself, it gives the steel an edge:
+  No writer I, to writers thus impart
+  The nature and the duty of their art:
+  Whence springs the fund; what forms the bard, to know;
+  What nourishes his pow'rs, and makes them grow;
+  What's fit or unfit; whither genius tends;
+  And where fond ignorance and dulness ends.
+
+  In Wisdom, Moral Wisdom, to excell,
+  Is the chief cause and spring of writing well.
+  Draw elements from the Socratick source,
+  And, full of matter, words will rise of course.
+  He who hath learnt a patriot's glorious flame;
+  What friendship asks; what filial duties claim;
+  The ties of blood; and secret links that bind
+  The heart to strangers, and to all mankind;
+  The Senator's, the Judge's peaceful care,
+  And sterner duties of the Chief in war!
+  These who hath studied well, will all engage
+  In functions suited to their rank and age.
+  Respicere exemplar vitae morumque jubebo
+  Doctum imitatorem, et veras hinc ducere voces.
+  Interdum speciosa locis, morataque rectè
+  Fabula, nullius veneris, sine pondere et arte,
+  Valdius oblectat populum, meliusque moratur,
+  Quam versus inopes rerum, nugaeque canorae.
+
+  Graiis ingenium, Graiis dedit ore rotundo
+  Musa loqui, praeter laudem, nullius avaris.
+  Romani pueri longis rationibus assem
+  Discunt in partes centum diducere. Dicat
+  Filius Albini, si de quincunce remota est
+  Uncia, quid superet? poteras dixisse, triens. Eu!
+  Rem poteris servare tuam. Redit uncia: quid fit?
+  On Nature's pattern too I'll bid him look,
+  And copy manners from her living book.
+  Sometimes 'twill chance, a poor and barren tale,
+  Where neither excellence nor art prevail,
+  With now and then a passage of some merit,
+  And Characters sustain'd, and drawn with spirit,
+  Pleases the people more, and more obtains,
+  Than tuneful nothings, mere poetick strains.
+
+  _The Sons of Greece_ the fav'ring Muse inspir'd,
+  Inflam'd their souls, and with true genius fir'd:
+  Taught by the Muse, they sung the loftiest lays,
+  And knew no avarice but that of praise.
+  _The Lads of Rome_, to study fractions bound,
+  Into an hundred parts can split a pound.
+  "Say, Albin's Hopeful! from five twelfths an ounce,
+  And what remains?"--"a Third."--"Well said, young Pounce!
+  You're a made man!--but add an ounce,--what then?"
+  "A Half." "Indeed! surprising! good again!"
+
+  Semis.  An haec animos aerugo et cura peculi
+  Cum semel imbuerit speramus carmina singi
+  Posse linenda cedro, et levi servanda cupresso?
+
+  Aut prodesse volunt, aut delectare poetae;
+  Aut simul et jucunda et idonea dicere vitae.
+  Quicquid praecipies, esto brevis: ut eito dicta
+  Percipiant animi dociles, tencantque fideles.
+  Omni supervacuum pleno de pectore manat.
+  Ficta voluptatis causa sint proxima veris:
+  Ne, quodcumque volet, poscat fibi fabula credi;
+  Neu pransea Lamiae vivum puerum extrahat alvo.
+  Centuriae seniorum agitant expertia frugis:
+  Celsi praetereunt austera poemata Rhamnes.
+  Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci,
+  Lectorem delectando, pariterque monendo
+
+  From minds debas'd with such a sordid lust,
+  Canker'd and eaten up with this vile rust,
+  Can we a verse, that gives the Genius scope,
+  Worthy the Cedar, and the Cypress, hope?
+
+  Instruction to convey and give delight,
+  Or both at once to compass, Poets write:
+  Short be your precepts, and th' impression strong,
+  That minds may catch them quick, and hold them long!
+  The bosom full, and satisfied the taste,
+  All that runs over will but run to waste.
+  Fictions, to please, like truths must meet the eye,
+  Nor must the Fable tax our faith too high.
+  Shall Lamia in our fight her sons devour,
+  And give them back alive the self-same hour?
+  The Old, if _Moral's_ wanting, damn the Play;
+  And _Sentiment_ disgusts the Young and Gay.
+  He who instruction and delight can blend,
+  Please with his fancy, with his moral mend,
+  Hic meret aera liber Sofiis, hic et mare transit,
+  Et longum noto scriptori prorogat aevum.
+
+  Sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignovisse velimus.
+  Nam neque chorda sonum reddit, quem vult manus et mens;
+
+  Poscentique gravem persaepe remittit acutum:
+  Nec semper feriet, quodcumque minabitur, arcus.
+  Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis
+  Offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit,
+  Aut humana parum cavit natura quid ergo est?
+  Ut scriptor si peccat idem librarius usque,
+  Quamvis est monitus, veniâ caret; ut citharoedus
+  Ridetur, chordâ qui semper oberrat eâdem;
+  Hits the nice point, and every vote obtains:
+  His work a fortune to the Sosii gains;
+  Flies over seas, and on the wings of Fame
+  Carries from age to age the writer's deathless name.
+
+  Yet these are faults that we may pardon too:
+  For ah! the string won't always answer true;
+  But, spite of hand and mind, the treach'rous harp
+  Will sound a flat, when we intend a sharp:
+  The bow, not always constant and the same,
+  Will sometimes carry wide, and lose its aim.
+  But in the verse where many beauties shine,
+  I blame not here and there a feeble line;
+  Nor take offence at ev'ry idle trip,
+  Where haste prevails, or nature makes a slip.
+  What's the result then? Why thus stands the case.
+  As _the Transcriber_, in the self-same place
+  Who still mistakes, tho' warn'd of his neglect,
+  No pardon for his blunders can expect;
+  Or as _the Minstrel_ his disgrace must bring,
+  Who harps for ever on the same false string;
+  Sic mihi qui multum cessat, fit Choerilus ille,
+  Quem bis terve bonum, cum risu miror; et idem
+  Indignor, quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus.
+  Verum operi longo fas est obrepere somnum.
+
+  Ut pictura, poësis: erit quae, si propius stes,
+  Te capiat magis; et quaedam, si longius abstes:
+  Haec amat obscurum; volet haec sub luce videri,
+  Judicis argutum quae non formidat acumen:
+  Haec placuit semel; haec decies repetita placebit.
+
+  O major juvenum, quamvis et voce paternâ
+  Fingeris ad rectum, et per te sapis; hoc tibi dictum
+  Tolle memor: certis medium et tolerabile rebus
+  _The Poet_ thus, from faults scarce ever free,
+  Becomes a very Chaerilus to me;
+  Who twice or thrice, by some adventure rare,
+  Stumbling on beauties, makes me smile and stare;
+  _Me_, who am griev'd and vex'd to the extreme,
+  If Homer seem to nod, or chance to dream:
+  Tho' in a work of length o'erlabour'd sleep
+  At intervals may, not unpardon'd, creep.
+
+  Poems and Pictures are adjudg'd alike;
+  Some charm us near, and some at distance strike:
+  _This_ loves the shade; _this_ challenges the light,
+  Daring the keenest Critick's Eagle sight;
+  _This_ once has pleas'd; _this_ ever will delight.
+
+  O thou, my Piso's elder hope and pride!
+  tho' well a father's voice thy steps can guide;
+  tho' inbred sense what's wise and right can tell,
+  remember this from me, and weigh it well!
+  In certain things, things neither high nor proud,
+  _Middling_ and _passable_ may be allow'd.
+  Rectè concedi: consultus juris, et actor
+  Causarum mediocris, abest virtute diserti
+  Messallae, nec scit quantum Cascellius Aulus;
+  Sed tamen in pretio est: mediocribus esse poëtis
+  Non homines, non Dî, non concessere columnae.
+  Ut gratas inter mensas symphonia discors,
+  Et crassum unguentum, et Sardo cum melle papaver
+  Offendunt, poterat duci quia coena sine istis;
+  Sic animis natum inventumque poëma juvandis,
+  Si paulum summo decessit, vergit ad imum.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Ludere qui nescit, campestribus abstinet armis;
+  Indoctusque pilae, discive, trochive, quiescit;
+  Ne spissae risum tollant impune coronae:
+  Qui nescit versus, tamen audet fingere. Quid nî?
+  A _moderate_ proficient in the laws,
+  A _moderate_ defender of a cause,
+  Boasts not Messala's pleadings, nor is deem'd
+  Aulus in Jurisprudence; yet esteem'd:
+  But _middling Poet's, or degrees in Wit,_
+  Nor men, nor Gods, nor niblick-polls admit.
+  At festivals, as musick out of tune,
+  Ointment, or honey rank, disgust us soon,
+  Because they're not essential to the guest,
+  And might be spar'd, Unless the very best;
+  Thus Poetry, so exquisite of kind,
+  Of Pleasure born, to charm the soul design'd,
+  If it fall short but little of the first,
+  Is counted last, and rank'd among the worst.
+  The Man, unapt for sports of fields and plains,
+  From implements of exercise abstains;
+  For ball, or quoit, or hoop, without the skill,
+  Dreading the croud's derision, he sits still:
+  In Poetry he boasts as little art,
+  And yet in Poetry he dares take part:
+  Liber et ingenuus; praesertim census equestrem
+  Summam nummorum, vitioque remotus ab omni.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Tu nihil invitâ dices faciesve Minervâ:
+  Id tibi judicium est, ea mens: si quid tamen olim
+  Scripseris, in Metii descendat judicis aures,
+  Et patris, et nostras; nonumque prematur in annum.
+  Membranis intus positis, delere licebit
+  Quod non edideris: nescit vox missa reverti.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Silvestres homines sacer interpresque Deorum
+  Caedibus et victu foedo deterruit Orpheus;
+  Dictus ob hoc lenire tigres rabidosque leones.
+  Dictus et Amphion, Thebanae conditor arcis,
+  Saxa movere sono testudinis, et prece blandâ.
+  And why not? he's a Gentleman, with clear
+  Good forty thousand sesterces a year;
+  A freeman too; and all the world allows,
+  "As honest as the skin between his brows!"
+  Nothing, in spite of Genius, YOU'LL commence;
+  Such is your judgment, such your solid sense!
+  But if you mould hereafter write, the verse
+  To _Metius_, to your _Sire_ to _me_, rehearse.
+  Let it sink deep in their judicious ears!
+  Weigh the work well; _and keep it back nine years_!
+  Papers unpublish'd you may blot or burn:
+  A word, once utter'd, never can return.
+
+  The barb'rous natives of the shaggy wood
+  From horrible repasts, and ads of blood,
+  Orpheus, a priest, and heav'nly teacher, brought,
+  And all the charities of nature taught:
+  Whence he was said fierce tigers to allay,
+  And sing the Savage Lion from his prey,
+  Within the hollow of AMPHION'S shell
+  Such pow'rs of found were lodg'd, so sweet a spell!
+  Ducere quo vellet suit haec sapientia quondam,
+  publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis;
+  concubitù prohibere vago; dare jura maritis;
+  Oppida moliri; leges incidere ligno.
+  Sic honor et nomen divinis vatibus atque
+  Carminibus venit post hos insignis Homerus
+  Tyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bella
+  Versibus exacuit dictae per carmina sortes,
+  Et vitae monstrata via est; et gratia regum
+
+  That stones were said to move, and at his call,
+  Charm'd to his purpose, form'd the Theban Wall.
+  The love of Moral Wisdom to infuse
+  _These_ were the Labours of THE ANCIENT MUSE.
+  "To mark the limits, where the barriers stood
+  'Twixt Private Int'rest, and the Publick Good;
+  To raise a pale, and firmly to maintain
+  The bound, that fever'd Sacred from Profane;
+  To shew the ills Promiscuous Love should dread,
+  And teach the laws of the Connubial Bed;
+  Mankind dispers'd, to Social Towns to draw;
+  And on the Sacred Tablet grave the Law."
+  Thus fame and honour crown'd the Poet's line;
+  His work immortal, and himself divine!
+  Next lofty Homer, and Tyrtaeus strung
+  Their Epick Harps, and Songs of Glory sung;
+  Sounding a charge, and calling to the war
+  The Souls that bravely feel, and nobly dare,
+  In _Verse_ the Oracles their sense make known,
+  In Verse the road and rule of life is shewn;
+  Pieriis tentata modis, ludusque repertus,
+  Et longorum operum finis j ne forte pudori
+  Sit tibi Musa lyne folers, et cantor Apollo,
+
+  Natura sieret laudabile carmen, an arte,
+  Quaesitum ess. Ego nec studium sine divite vena,
+  Nec rude quid possit video ingenium: alterius sic
+  Altera poscit opem res, et conjurat amice.
+  Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam,
+  Multa tulit fecitque puer; sudavit et alsit;
+  Abstinuit venere et vino, qui Pythia cantat
+  _Verse_ to the Poet royal favour brings,
+  And leads the Muses to the throne of Kings;
+  _Verse_ too, the varied Scene and sports prepares,
+  Brings rest to toil, and balm to all our cares.
+  deem then with rev'rence of the glorious fire,
+  breath'd by the muse, the mistress of the lyre!
+  blush not to own her pow'r, her glorious flame;
+  nor think Apollo, lord of song, thy shame!
+
+  Whether good verse of Nature is the fruit,
+  Or form'd by Art, has long been in dispute.
+  But what can Labour in a barren foil,
+  Or what rude Genius profit without toil?
+  The wants of one the other must supply
+  Each finds in each a friend and firm ally.
+  Much has the Youth, who pressing in the race
+  Pants for the promis'd goal and foremost place,
+  Suffer'd and done; borne heat, and cold's extremes,
+  And Wine and Women scorn'd, as empty dreams,
+
+  Tibicen, didicit prius, extimuitque magistrum.
+  Nunc satis est dixisse, Ego mira poëmata pango:
+  Occupet extremum scabies: mihi turpe relinqui est,
+  Et quod non didici, sane nescire sateri.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Ut praeco, ad merces turbam qui cogit emendas;
+  Assentatores jubet ad lucrum ire poëta
+  Dives agris, dives positis in foenore nummis.
+  Si vero est, unctum qui rectè ponere possit,
+  Et spondere levi pro paupere, et eripere artis
+  Litibus implicitum; mirabor, si sciet inter--
+  Noscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum.
+  The Piper, who the Pythian Measure plays,
+  In fear of a hard matter learnt the lays:
+  But if to desp'rate verse I would apply,
+  What needs instruction? 'tis enough to cry;
+  "I can write Poems, to strike wonder blind!
+  Plague take the hindmost! Why leave _me_ behind?
+  Or why extort a truth, so mean and low,
+  That what I have not learnt, I cannot know?"
+
+  As the sly Hawker, who a sale prepares,
+  Collects a croud of bidders for his Wares,
+  The Poet, warm in land, and rich in cash,
+  Assembles flatterers, brib'd to praise his trash.
+  But if he keeps a table, drinks good wine,
+  And gives his hearers handsomely to dine;
+  If he'll stand bail, and 'tangled debtors draw
+  Forth from the dirty cobwebs of the law;
+  Much shall I praise his luck, his sense commend,
+  If he discern the flatterer from the friend.
+  Tu seu donaris seu quid donare voles cui;
+  Nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum
+  Laetitiae; clamabit enim, Pulchrè, bene, rectè!
+  Pallescet; super his etiam stillabit amicis
+  Ex oculis rorem; saliet; tundet pede terram.
+  Ut qui conducti plorant in funere, dicunt
+  Et faciunt prope plura dolentibus ex animo: sic
+  Derisor vero plus laudatore movetur.
+  Reges dicuntur multis urgere culullis,
+  Et torquere mero quem perspexisse laborant
+  An sit amicitia dignus: si carmina condes,
+  Nunquam te fallant animi sub vulpe latentes.
+  Quintilio si quid recitares: Corrige sodes
+  Hoc, aiebat, et hoc: melius te posse negares
+  Is there a man to whom you've given aught?
+  Or mean to give? let no such man be brought
+  To hear your verses! for at every line,
+  Bursting with joy, he'll cry, "Good! rare! divine!"
+  The blood will leave his cheek; his eyes will fill
+  With tears, and soon the friendly dew distill:
+  He'll leap with extacy, with rapture bound;
+  Clap with both hands; with both feet beat the ground.
+  As mummers, at a funeral hir'd to weep,
+  More coil of woe than real mourners keep,
+  More mov'd appears the laugher in his sleeve,
+  Than those who truly praise, or smile, or grieve.
+  Kings have been said to ply repeated bowls,
+  Urge deep carousals, to unlock the souls
+  Of those, whose loyalty they wish'd to prove,
+  And know, if false, or worthy of their love:
+  You then, to writing verse if you're inclin'd,
+  Beware the Spaniel with the Fox's mind!
+
+  Quintilius, when he heard you ought recite,
+  Cried, "prithee, alter _this_! and make _that _right!"
+  Bis terque expertum frustra? delere jubebat,
+  Et male ter natos incudi reddere versus.
+  Si defendere delictum, quam vortere, malles;
+  Nullum ultra verbum, aut operam insumebat inanem,
+  Quin sine rivali teque et tua folus amares.
+
+  Vir bonus et prudens versus reprehendet inertes;
+  Culpabit duros; incomptis allinet atrum
+  Transverso calamo signum; ambitiosa recidet
+  Ornamenta; parum claris lucem dare coget;
+  Arguet ambiguè dictum; mutanda notabit;
+  Fiet Aristarchus; non dicet, Cur ego amicum
+  Offendam in nugis? Hae migae feria ducent
+  But if your pow'r to mend it you denied,
+  Swearing that twice and thrice in vain you tried;
+  "Then blot it out! (he cried) it must be terse:
+  Back to the anvil with your ill-turn'd verse!"
+  Still if you chose the error to defend,
+  Rather than own, or take the pains to mend,
+  He said no more; no more vain trouble took;
+  But left you to admire yourself and book.
+
+  The Man, in whom Good Sense and Honour join,
+  Will blame the harsh, reprove the idle line;
+  The rude, all grace neglected or forgot,
+  Eras'd at once, will vanish at his blot;
+  Ambitious ornaments he'll lop away;
+  On things obscure he'll make you let in day,
+  Loose and ambiguous terms he'll not admit,
+  And take due note of ev'ry change that's fit,
+  A very ARISTARCHUS he'll commence;
+  Not coolly say--"Why give my friend offence?
+  These are but trifles!"--No; these trifles lead
+  To serious mischiefs, if he don't succeed;
+  In mala derisum semel, exceptumque sinistre,
+  Ut mala quem scabies aut morbus regius urget,
+  Aut fanaticus error, et iracunda Diana;
+  Vesanum tetigisse timent fugiuntque poetam,
+  Qui sapiunt: agitant pueri, incautique sequuntur.
+  Hic, dum sublimis versus ructatur, et errat,
+  Si veluti menilis intentus decidit auceps
+  In puteum, soveamve; licet, Succurrite, longum
+  Clamet, in cives: non sit qui tollere curet.
+  Si curet quis opem serre, et demittere sunem;
+  Qui scis, an prudens huc se projecerit, atque
+  Servari nolet? dicam: Siculique poetae
+  Narrabo interitum.
+
+  While the poor friend in dark disgrace sits down,
+  The butt and laughing-stock of all the town,
+  As one, eat up by Leprosy and Itch,
+  Moonstruck, Posses'd, or hag-rid by a Witch,
+  A Frantick Bard puts men of sense to flight;
+  His slaver they detest, and dread his bite:
+  All shun his touch; except the giddy boys,
+  Close at his heels, who hunt him down with noise,
+  While with his head erect he threats the skies,
+  Spouts verse, and walks without the help of eyes;
+  Lost as a blackbird-catcher, should he pitch
+  Into some open well, or gaping ditch;
+  Tho' he call lustily "help, neighbours, help!"
+  No soul regards him, or attends his yelp.
+  Should one, too kind, to give him succour hope,
+  Wish to relieve him, and let down a rope;
+  Forbear! (I'll cry for aught that you can tell)
+  By sheer design he jump'd into the well.
+  He wishes not you should preserve him, Friend!
+  Know you the old Sicilian Poet's end?
+  Deus immortalis haberi.
+
+  Dum cupit Empedocles, ardeatem frigidus aetnam
+  Infiluit. sit fas, liceatque perire poetis.
+  Invitum qui fervat, idem facit occidenti.
+  Nec semel hoc fecit; nec si retractus erit jam,
+  Fiet homo, et ponet famosae mortis amorem.
+  Nec fatis apparet, cur versus factitet; utrum
+  Minxerit in patrios cineres, an triste bidental
+  Moverit incestus: certe furit, ac velut ursus
+  Objectos caveae valuit è srangere clathros,
+
+  *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Empedocles, ambitious to be thought
+  A God, his name with Godlike honours fought,
+  Holding a worldly life of no account,
+  Lead'p coldly into aetna's burning mount.---
+  Let Poets then with leave resign their breath,
+  Licens'd and priveleg'd to rush on death!
+  Who gives a man his life against his will,
+  Murders the man, as much as those who kill.
+  'Tis not once only he hath done this deed;
+  Nay, drag him forth! your kindness wo'n't succeed:
+  Nor will he take again a mortal's shame,
+  And lose the glory of a death of fame.
+  Nor is't apparent, _why_ with verse he's wild:
+  Whether his father's ashes he defil'd;
+  Whether, the victim of incestuous love,
+  The Blasted Monument he striv'd to move:
+  Whate'er the cause, he raves; and like a Bear,
+  Burst from his cage, and loose in open air,
+  Indoctum doctumque fugat recitator acerbus.
+  Quem vero arripuit, tenet, occiditque legendo,
+  Non miffura cutem, nisi plena cruroris, hirudo.
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Learn'd and unlearn'd the Madman puts to flight,
+  They quick to fly, he bitter to recite!
+  What hapless soul he seizes, he holds fast;
+  Rants, and repeats, and reads him dead at last:
+  Hangs on him, ne'er to quit, with ceaseless speech.
+  Till gorg'd and full of blood, a very Leech!
+
+
+
+
+
+Notes on the EPISTLE to the PISOS Notes
+
+I have referred the Notes to this place, that the reader might be left
+to his genuine feelings, and the natural impression on reading the
+Epistle, whether adverse or favourable to the idea I ventured to
+premise, concerning its Subject and Design. In the address to my learned
+and worthy friends I said little more than was necessary so open my
+plan, and to offer an excuse for my undertaking. The Notes descend to
+particulars, tending to illustrate and confirm my hypothesis; and adding
+occasional explanations of the original, chiefly intended for the use
+of the English Reader. I have endeavoured, according to the best of my
+ability, to follow the advice of Roscommon in the lines, which I have
+ventured to prefix to these Notes. How far I may be entitled to the
+_poetical blessing_ promised by the Poet, the Publick must determine:
+but were I, avoiding arrogance, to renounce all claim to it, such an
+appearance of _Modesty_ would includes charge of _Impertinence_ for
+having hazarded this publication._Take pains the_ genuine meaning _to
+explore!_
+
+  There sweat, there strain, tug the laborious oar:
+  _Search ev'ry comment_, that your care can find;
+  Some here, some there, may hit the Poet's mind:
+  Yet be not blindly guided by the _Throng_;
+  The Multitude is always in the _Wrong_.
+  When things appear _unnatural_ or _hard_,
+  _Consult your_ author, _with_ himself compar'd!
+  Who knows what Blessing Phoebus may bestow,
+  And future Ages to your labour owe?
+  Such _Secrets_ are not easily found out,
+  But once _discoverd_, leave no room for doubt.
+  truth stamps _conviction_ in your ravish'd breast,
+  And _Peace_ and _Joy_ attend _the_ glorious guest.
+
+
+
+Essay on Translated Verse ART of POETRY, an EPISTLE, &c.
+
+Q. HORATII FLACCI EPISTOLA AD PISONES.
+
+The work of Horace, now under consideration, has been so long known, and
+so generally received, by the name of The Art of Poetry, that I have, on
+account of that notoriety, submitted this translation to the Publick,
+under that title, rather than what I hold to be the true one, viz.
+Horace's Epistle to The Pisos. The Author of the English Commentary has
+adopted the same title, though directly repugnant to his own system;
+and, I suppose, for the very same reason.
+
+The title, in general a matter of indifference, is, in the present
+instance, of much consequence. On the title Julius Scaliger founded his
+invidious, and injudicious, attack. De arte quares quid sentiam. Quid?
+eqvidem quod de arte, sine arte traditâ. To the Title all the editors,
+and commentators, have particularly adverted; commonly preferring the
+Epistolary Denomination, but, in contradiction to that preference,
+almost universally inscribing the Epistle, the Art of Poetry. The
+conduct, however, of Jason De Nores, a native of Cyprus, a learned and
+ingenious writer of the 16th century, is very remarkable. In the year
+1553 he published at Venice this work of Horace, accompanied with a
+commentary and notes, written in elegant Latin, inscribing it, after
+Quintilian, Q. Horatii Flacci Liber De Arte Poetica. [Foot note: I think
+it right to mention that I have never seen the 1st edition, published
+at Venice. With a copy of the second edition, printed in Paris, I was
+favoured by Dr. Warton of Winchester.] The very-next year, however,
+he printed at Paris a second edition, enriching his notes with many
+observations on Dante and Petrarch, and changing the title, after mature
+consideration, to _Q. Horatii Flacii_ EPISTOLA AD PISONES, _de Arte
+Poeticâ._ His motives for this change he assigns in the following terms.
+
+_Quare adductum me primum sciant ad inscriptionem operis immutandam non
+levioribus de causis,& quod formam epistolae, non autem libri, in quo
+praecepta tradantur, vel ex ipso principio prae se ferat, & quod in
+vetustis exemplaribus Epistolarum libros subsequatur, & quad etiam summi
+et praestantissimi homines ita sentiant, & quod minimè nobis obstet
+Quintiliani testimonium, ut nonnullis videtur. Nam si librum appellat
+Quintilianus, non est cur non possit inter epistolas enumerari, cum et
+illae ab Horatio in libros digestae fuerint. Quod vero DE ARTE POETICA
+idem Quintilianus adjangat, nihil commaveor, cum et in epistolis
+praecepta de aliquâ re tradi possint, ab eodemque in omnibus penè, et
+in iis ad Scaevam & Lollium praecipuè jam factum videatur, in quibus
+breviter eos instituit, qua ratione apud majores facile versarentur._
+
+Desprez, the Dauphin Editor, retains both titles, but says, inclining to
+the Epistolary, _Attamen artem poeticam vix appellem cum Quintiliano et
+aliis: malim vero epistolam nuncupare cum nonnullis eruditis._ Monsieur
+Dacier inscribes it, properly enough, agreable to the idea of Porphyry,
+Q. Horatii Flacci DE ARTE POETICA LIBER; feu, EPISTOLA AD PISONES,
+patrem, et filios._
+
+Julius Scaliger certainly stands convicted of critical malice by his
+poor cavil at _the supposed title_; and has betrayed his ignorance of
+the ease and beauty of Epistolary method, as well as the most gross
+misapprehension, by his ridiculous analysis of the work, resolving it
+into thirty-six parts. He seems, however, to have not ill conceived the
+genius of the poem, in saying that _it relished satire_. This he has
+urged in many parts of his Poeticks, particularly in the Dedicatory
+Epistle to his son, not omitting, however, his constant charge of _Art
+without Art_. Horatius artem cum inscripsit, adeo sine ulla docet arte,
+ut satyrae propius totum opus illud esse videatur. This comes almost
+home to the opinion of the Author of the elegant commentaries on the two
+Epistles of Horace to the Pisos and to Augustus, as expressed in the
+Dedication to the latter: With the recital of that opinion I shall
+conclude this long note. "The genius of Rome was bold and elevated: but
+Criticism of any kind, was little cultivated, never professed as an
+_art_, by this people. The specimens we have of their ability in this
+way (of which the most elegant, beyond all dispute, are the two epistles
+to _Augustus_ and the _Pisos_) _are slight occasional attempts_, made in
+the negligence of common sense, _and adapted to the peculiar exigencies
+of their own taste and learning_; and not by any means the regular
+productions of _art_, professedly bending itself to this work, and
+ambitious to give the last finishing to the critical system."
+
+[_Translated from Horace._] In that very entertaining and instructive
+publication, entitled _An Essay on the Learning and Genius of Pope_,
+the Critick recommends, as the properest poetical measure to render in
+English the Satires and Epistles of Horace, that kind of familiar blank
+verse, used in a version of Terence, attempted some years since by the
+Author of this translation. I am proud of the compliment; yet I have
+varied from the mode prescribed: not because Roscommon has already given
+such a version; or because I think the satyrical hexameters of Horace
+less familiar than the irregular lambicks of Terence. English Blank
+Verse, like the lambick of Greece and Rome, is peculiarly adapted to
+theatrical action and dialogue, as well as to the Epick, and the more
+elevated Didactick Poetry: but after the models left by Dryden and Pope,
+and in the face of the living example of Johnson, who shall venture to
+reject rhime in the province of Satire and Epistle?
+
+
+
+9.--TRUST ME, MY PISOS!] _Credite Pisones!_
+
+Monsieur Dacier, at a very early period, feels the influence of _the
+personal address_, that governs this Epistle. Remarking on this passage,
+he observes that Horace, anxious to inspire _the Pisos _with a just
+taste, says earnestly _Trust me, my Pisos! Credite Pisones! _an
+expression that betrays fear and distrust, lest _the young Men _should
+fall into the dangerous error of bad poets, and injudicious criticks,
+who not only thought the want of unity of subject a pardonable effect
+of Genius, but even the mark of a rich and luxuriant imagination.
+And although this Epistle, continues Monsieur Dacier, is addressed
+indifferently to Piso the father, and his Sons, as appears by v. 24 of
+the original, yet it is _to the sons in particular _that these precepts
+are directed; a consideration which reconciles the difference mentioned
+by Porphyry. _Scribit ad Pisones, viros nobiles disertosque, patrem et
+filios; vel, ut alii volunt,_ ad pisones fratres.
+
+Desprez, the Dauphin Editor, observes also, in the same strain, Porro
+_scribit Horatius ad patrem et ad filios Pisones, _praesertim vero ad
+hos.
+
+The family of the _Pisos_, to whom Horace addresses this Epistle, were
+called Calpurnii, being descended from Calpus, son of Numa Pompilius,
+whence, he afterwards stiles them _of the Pompilian Blood. Pompilius
+Sanguis! _
+
+10.--THE VOLUME SUCH] Librum _persimilem. Liber_, observes Dacier, is a
+term applied to all literary productions, of whatever description. This
+remark is undoubtedly just, confirms the sentiments of Jason de Nores,
+and takes off the force of all the arguments founded on Quintilian's
+having stiled his Epistle LIBER de _arte poetica_.
+
+Vossius, speaking of the censure of Scaliger, "_de arte, sine arte_,"
+subsoins sed fallitur, cum [Greek: epigraphaen] putat esse ab Horatio;
+qui inscipserat EPISTOLAM AD PISONES. Argumentum vero, ut in Epistolarum
+raeteris, ita in bâc etiam, ab aliis postea appositum fuit.
+
+
+
+l9.----OFT WORKS OF PROMISE LARGE, AND HIGH ATTEMPT.] Incaeptis gra-
+nibus plerumque, &c. Buckingham's _Essay on Poetry_, Roscommon's _Essay
+on Translated Verse_, as well as the Satires, and _Art Poetique_ of
+Boileau, and Pope's _Essay on Criticism_, abound with imitations of
+Horace. This passage of our Author seems to have given birth to the
+following lines of Buckingham.
+
+  'Tis not a slash of fancy, which sometimes,
+  Dazzling our minds, sets off the slighted rhimes;
+  Bright as a blaze, but in a moment done;
+  True Wit is everlasting, like the Sun;
+  Which though sometimes behind a cloud retir'd,
+  Breaks out again, and is the more admir'd.
+
+The following lines of Pope may perhaps appear to bear a nearer
+resemblance this passage of Horace.
+
+  Some to _Conceit_ alone their taste confine,
+  And glitt'ring thoughts struck out at ev'ry line;
+  Pleas'd with a work where nothing's just or fit;
+  One glaring chaos, and wild heap of wit.
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+49.---Of th' Aemilian class ] _Aemilium circa ludum_--literally, near
+the Aemilian School; alluding to the Academy of Gladiators of Aemilius
+Lentulus, in whose neighbourhood lived many Artists and Shopkeepers.
+
+This passage also is imitated by Buckingham.
+
+  Number and Rhime, and that harmonious found,
+  Which never _does_ the ear with _harshness_ wound,
+  Are _necessary_, yet but _vulgar_ arts;
+  For all in vain these superficial parts
+  Contribute to the structure of the whole
+  Without a _Genius_ too; for that's the _Soul_:
+  A _Spirit_ which inspires the work throughout
+  As that of _Nature_ moves the world about.
+
+  _Essay on Poetry._
+
+
+Pope has given a beautiful illustration of this thought,
+
+  Survey THE WHOLE, nor seek slight faults to find
+  Where nature moves, and rapture warms the mind;
+  In wit, as Nature, what affects our hearts,
+  Is not th' exactness of peculiar parts;
+  'Tis not a lip, or eye, we beauty call,
+  But the joint force and full result of all.
+  Thus when we view some well-proportion'd dome,
+  (The world's just wonder, and ev'n thine, O Rome!)
+  No single parts unequally surprise,
+  All comes united to th' admiring eyes;
+  No monstrous height, or breadth, or length appear;
+  THE WHOLE at once is bold and regular.
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+56.--SELECT, ALL YE WHO WRITE, A SUBJECT FIT] _Sumite materiam, &c._
+
+This passage is well imitated by Roscommon in his Essay on Translated
+Verse.
+
+  The first great work, (a task perform'd by few)
+  Is, that _yourself_ may to _yourself_ be true:
+  No mask, no tricks, no favour, no reserve!
+  _Dissect_ your mind, examine ev'ry _nerve_.
+  Whoever vainly on his strength depends,
+  _Begins_ like Virgil, but like Maevius _ends_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Each poet with a different talent writes,
+  One _praises_, one _instructs_, another _bites_.
+  Horace did ne'er aspire to Epick Bays,
+  Nor lofty Maro stoop to Lyrick Lays.
+  Examine how your _humour_ is inclin'd,
+  And which the ruling passion of your mind:
+  Then, seek a Poet who your way does bend,
+  And chuse an Author as you chuse a friend.
+  United by this sympathetick bond,
+  You grow familiar, intimate, and fond;
+  Your thoughts, your words your stiles, your Souls agree,
+  No longer his _interpreter_, but _He_.
+
+_Stooping_ to Lyrick Lays, though not inapplicable to some of the
+lighter odes of Horace, is not descriptive of the general character of
+the Lyrick Muse. _Musa dedit Fidibus Divas &c._
+
+
+Pope takes up the same thought in his Essay on Criticism.
+
+  Be sure yourself and your own reach to know,
+  How far your genius, taste, and learning go;
+  Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet,
+  And mark that point where sense and dulness meet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Like Kings we lose the conquests gain'd before,
+  By vain ambition still to make them more:
+  Each might his servile province well command,
+  Would all but stoop to what they understand.
+
+
+
+
+71.--_A cunning phrase_.] _Callida junctura_.
+
+_Jason de Nores_ and many other interpreters agree that Horace here
+recommends, after Aristotle, the artful elevation of style by the use
+of common words in an uncommon sense, producing at once an air of
+familiarity and magnificence. Some however confine the expression,
+_callida junctura_, to signify _compound words_. The Author of the
+English Commentary adopts the first construction; but considers the
+precept in both senses, and illustrates each by many beautiful examples
+from the plays of Shakespeare. These examples he has accompanied with
+much elegant and judicious observation, as the reader of taste will be
+convinced by the following short extracts.
+
+"The writers of that time had so _latinized_ the English language, that
+the pure _English Idiom_, which Shakespeare generally follows, has all
+the air of _novelty_, which other writers are used to affect by foreign
+phraseology.--In short, the articles here enumerated are but so many
+ways of departing from the usual and simpler forms of speech, without
+neglecting too much the grace of ease and perspicuity; in which
+well-tempered licence one of the greatest charms of all poetry, but
+especially of Shakespeare's poetry, consists. Not that he was always and
+every where so happy. His expression sometimes, and by the very means,
+here exemplified, becomes _hard_, _obscure_, and _unnatural_. This is
+the extreme on the other side. But in general, we may say, that He hath
+either followed the direction of Horace very ably, or hath hit upon his
+rule very happily."
+
+
+
+
+76.--THE STRAIT-LAC'D CETHEGI.] CINCTUTIS _Cethegis_. Jason de Nores
+differs, and I think very justly, from those who interpret _Cinctutis_
+to signify _loose_, _bare_, or _naked_--EXERTOS & NUDOS. The plain sense
+of the radical word _cingo_ is directly opposite. The word _cinctutis_
+is here assumed to express a severity of manners by an allusion to an
+antique gravity of dress; and the Poet, adds _de Nores_, very happily
+forms a new word himself, as a vindication and example of the licence
+he recommends. Cicero numbers M. Corn. Cethegus among the old Roman
+Orators; and Horace himself again refers to the Cethegi in his Epistle
+to Florus, and on the subject of the use of words.
+
+  _Obscurata diu papula bonus eruet, atque_
+  Proseret in lucem speciosa vocabula rer*um;
+  ***need a Latin speaker to check this out***
+  _Quae priscis memorata_ CATONIBUS _atque_ CETHEGIS,
+  Nunc situs informis premit & deserta vetustas;
+  Adsciscet nova quae genitor produxerit usus.
+
+  Mark where a bold expressive phrase appears,
+  Bright thro' the rubbish of some hundred years;
+  Command _old words_ that long have slept, to wake,
+  Words, that wife Bacon, or brave Raleigh spake;
+  Or bid _the new_ be English, ages hence,
+  For Use will father what's begot by Sense.
+
+  POPE.
+
+
+This brilliant passage of Pope is quoted in this place by the author of
+that English Commentary, who has also subjoined many excellent remarks on
+_the revival of old words_, worthy the particular attention of those
+who cultivate prose as well as poetry, and shewing at large, that "the
+riches of a language are actually increased by retaining its old words:
+and besides, they have often _a greater real weight and dignity_, than
+those of a more _fashionable_ cast, which succeed to them. This needs
+no proof to such as are versed in the earlier writings of any
+language."--"_The growing prevalency of a very different humour_, first
+catched, as it should seem, from our commerce with the French Models,
+_and countenanced by the too scrupulous delicacy of some good writers
+amongst ourselves, bad gone far towards unnerving the noblest modern
+language, and effeminating the public taste_."--"The rejection of _old
+words_, as _barbarous_, and of many modern ones, as unpolite," had so
+exhausted the _strength_ and _stores_ of our language, that it was high
+time for some master-hand to interpose, and send us for supplies to _our
+old poets_; which there is the highest authority for saying, no one ever
+despised, but for a reason, not very consistent with his credit to avow:
+_rudem esse omnino in nostris poetis, aut inertissimae nequitiae est,
+aut fastidii delicatissimi.-- Cic. de fin._ 1. i. c. 2.
+
+[As woods endure, &c.] _Ut silvae foliis_, &c. Mr. Duncombe, in his
+translation of our Author, concurs with Monsieur Dacier in observing
+that "Horace seems here to have had in view that fine similitude of
+Homer in the sixth book of the Iliad, comparing the generations of men
+to the annual succession of leaves.
+
+  [Greek:
+  Oipaeer phyllon genehn, toiaede ch ahndron.
+  phylla ta mehn t anemohs chamahdis cheei, ahllah de thula
+  Taeletheasa phyei, earos depigigyel(*)ai orae
+  Oz andron genen. aemen phnei, aeh dahpolaegei.]
+
+  "Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
+  Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
+  Another race the following spring supplies,
+  They fall successive, and successive rise:
+  So generations in their turns decay;
+  So flourish these, when those are past away."
+
+The translator of Homer has himself compared words to leaves, but in
+another view, in his Essay on Criticism.
+
+  Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,
+  Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.
+
+In another part of the Essay he persues the same train of thought with
+Horace, and rises, I think, above his Master.
+
+  Short is the date, alas, of modern rhymes,
+  And 'tis but just to let them live betimes.
+  No longer now that golden age appears,
+  When Patriarch-wits surviv'd a thousand years;
+  Now length of Fame (our second life) is lost,
+  And bare threescore is all ev'n that can boast;
+  Our sons their father's failing language see,
+  And such as Chaucer is, shall Dryden be.
+  So when the faithful pencil has design'd
+  Some bright idea of the Master's mind,
+  Where a new world leaps out at his command,
+  And ready Nature waits upon his hand;
+  When the ripe colours soften and unite,
+  And sweetly melt into just shade and light;
+  When mellowing years their full perfection give,
+  And each bold figure just begins to live;
+  The treach'rous colours the fair art betray,
+  And all the bright creation fades away!
+
+  _Essay an Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+95.--WHETHER THE SEA, &c.] _Sive receptus, &c._
+
+This may be understood of any harbour; but it is generally interpreted
+to refer to the _Portus Julius_, a haven formed by letting in the sea
+upon the _Lucrine Lake_, and forming a junction between that and the
+Lake _Avernus_; a work, commenced by Julius Caesar, and compleated by
+Augustus, or Agrippa under his auspices. _Regis opus!_ Both these
+lakes (says Martin) were in Campania: the former was destroyed by an
+earthquake; but the latter is the present _Lago d'Averno_. Strabo, the
+Geographer, who, as well as our Poet, was living at the time, ascribes
+this work to Agrippa, and tells us that the Lucrine bay was separated
+from the Tyrrhene sea by a mound, said to have been first made by
+Hercules, and restored by Agrippa. Philargyrius says that a storm arose
+at the time of the execution of this great work, to which Virgil seems
+to refer in his mention of this Port, in the course of his Panegyrick on
+Italy in the second Georgick.
+
+  An memorem portus Lucrinoque addita claustra,
+  Atque indignatem magnis strideribus aequor,
+  Julia qua ponto longe sonat unda refuso,
+  Tyrrbenusque fretis immittitur aeflut AVERNIS?
+
+  Or shall I praise thy Ports, or mention make
+  Of the vast mound, that binds the Lucrine Lake?
+  Or the disdainful sea, that, shut from thence,
+  Roars round the structure, and invades the fence;
+  There, where secure the Julian waters glide,
+  Or where Avernus' jaws admit the Tyrrhene tide?
+DRYDEN.
+
+
+
+
+98.--WHETHER THE MARSH, &c. Sterilisve Palus.]
+
+THE PONTINE MARSH, first drained by the Consul Cornelius Cethegus; then,
+by Augustus; and many, many years after by Theodorick.
+
+
+
+
+102.--OR IF THE RIVER, &c.] _Sen cursum, &c._ The course of the _Tyber,_
+changed by Augustus, to prevent inundations.
+
+
+
+
+110.--FOR DEEDS OF KINGS, &c.] Res gestae regumque, &c.
+
+The ingenious author of the English Commentary, to whom I have so
+often referred, and to whom I must continue to refer, has discovered
+particular taste, judgement, and address, in his explication of this
+part of the Epistle. runs thus.
+
+"From reflections on poetry, at large, he proceeds now to particulars:
+the most obvious of which being the different forms and measures of
+poetick composition, he considers, in this view, [from v. 75 to 86] the
+four great species of poetry, to which all others may be reduced, the
+Epick, Elegiack, Dramatick, and Lyrick. But the distinction of the
+measure, to be observed in the several species is so obvious, that there
+can scarcely be any mistake about them. The difficulty is to know [from
+v. 86 to 89] how far each may partake of the spirit of the other,
+without destroying that natural and necessary difference, which ought
+to subsist betwixt them all. To explain this, which is a point of great
+nicety, he considers [from v. 89 to 99] the case of Dramatick Poetry;
+the two species of which are as distinct from each other, as any two
+can be, and yet there are times, when the features of the one will be
+allowed to resemble those of the other.--But the Poet had a further view
+in choosing this instance. For he gets by this means into the main of
+his subject, which was Dramatick Poetry, and, by the most delicate
+transition imaginable, proceeds [from 89 to 323] to deliver a series
+of rules, interspersed with historical accounts, _and enlivened by
+digressions_, for the regulation of the Roman stage."
+
+It is needless to insist, that my hypothesis will not allow me to concur
+entirely in the latter part of this extract; at least in that latitude,
+to which; the system of the writer carries it: yet I perfectly agree
+with Mr. Duncombe, that the learned Critick, in his observations on this
+Epistle, "has shewn, in general, the connection and dependence of one
+part with another, in a clearer light than any other Commentator." His
+shrewd and delicate commentary is, indeed, a most elegant contrast to
+the barbarous analysis of Scaliger, drawn up without the least idea of
+poetical transition, and with the uncouth air of a mere dry logician, or
+dull grammarian. I think, however, the _Order_ and _Method_, observed
+in this Epistle, is stricter than has yet been observed, and that the
+series of rules is delivered with great regularity; NOT _enlivened
+by digressions_, but passing from one topick to another, by the most
+natural and easy transitions. The Author's discrimination of the
+different stiles of the several species of poetry, leads him, as has
+been already shewn, to consider the diction of the Drama, and its
+accommodation to the _circumstances_ and _character_ of the Speaker. A
+recapitulation of these _circumstances_ carries him to treat of the due
+management of _characters already known_, as well as of sustaining those
+that are entirely _original_; to the first of which the Poet gives
+the preference, recommending _known_ characters, as well as _known_
+subjects: And on the mention of this joint preference, the Author leaves
+further consideration of _the_ diction, and slides into discourse upon
+the fable, which he continues down to the 152d verse.
+
+  Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet,
+  Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.
+
+Having dispatched the fable, the Poet proceeds, and with some Solemnity
+of Order, to the consideration of the characters; not in regard to
+suitable _diction_, for of that he has already spoken, but in respect to
+_the manners_; and, in this branch of his subject, he has as judiciously
+borrowed from _the Rhetoricks_ of Aristotle, as in the rest of his
+Epistle from the _Poeticks_. He then directs, in its due place, the
+proper conduct of particular incidents _of the fable_; after which he
+treats of _the_ chorus; from whence he naturally falls into the history
+of theatrical musick; which is, as naturally, succeeded by an account of
+the Origin of _the Drama_, itself, which the Poet commences, like master
+Aristotle, even from the Dithyrambick Song, and carries it down to the
+establishment of the New Greek Comedy; from whence he passes easily
+and gracefully, to _the_ Roman stage, acknowledging the merits of the
+Writers, but pointing out their defects, and assigning the causes.
+He then subjoins a few general observations, and concludes his long
+discourse on _the_ drama, having extended it to 275 lines. This
+discourse, together with the result of all his reflections on Poets and
+Poetry, he then applies in the most earnest and _personal_ manner to the
+elder Piso; and with a long and most pathetick _peroration_, if I may
+adopt an oratorical term, concludes the Epistle.
+
+
+
+
+116.--THE ELEGY'S SMALL SONG.] EXIGUOS _Elegos_.
+
+Commentators differ concerning the import of this expression--exiguos
+_Elegos_, the _Elegy's_ small _song_. De Nores, Schrevelius, and
+Desprez, think it refers to the humility of the elegiack stile and
+subjects, compared with epick or lyrick sublimity. Monsieur Dacier
+rather thinks that Horace refers here, as in the words _Versibus
+impariter junctis,_ "Couplets unequal," to the use of pentameter, or
+short verse, consisting of five feet, and joined to the hexameter, or
+long verse, of six. This inequality of the couplet Monsieur Dacier
+justly prefers to the two long Alexandrines of his own country, which
+sets almost all the French poetry, Epick, Dramatick, Elegiack, or
+Satyrick, to the tune of Derry Down. In our language, the measures are
+more various, and more happily conceived. Our Elegy adopts not only
+_unequal couplets_, but _alternate rhymes_, which give a plaintive tone
+to the heroick measure, and are most happily used in Gray's beautiful
+_Elegy in a Country Church yard.
+
+
+
+
+135.--THY FEAST, THYESTES!] Caena Thyestae.
+
+The story of Thyestes being of the most tragick nature, a banquet on his
+own children! is commonly interpreted by the Criticks, as mentioned by
+Horace, in allusion to Tragedy in general. The Author of the English
+Commentary, however, is of a different opinion, supposing, from a
+passage of Cicero, that the Poet means to glance at the _Thyestes of
+Ennius,_ and to pay an oblique compliment to Varius, who had written a
+tragedy on the same subject.
+
+The same learned Critick also takes it for granted, that the Tragedy of
+Telephus, and probably of _Peleus_, after-mentioned, point at tragedies
+of Euripedes, on these subjects, translated into Latin, and accomodated
+to the Roman Stage, without success, by _Ennius, Accius, or Naevius_.
+
+One of this Critick's notes on this part of the Epistle, treating on the
+use of _pure poetry_ in the Drama, abounds with curious disquisition and
+refined criticism.
+
+
+
+
+150.--_They must have_ passion _too_.] dulcia _sunto_. The Poet,
+with great address, includes the sentiments under the consideration of
+diction.
+
+  --_Effert animi motus_ interprete lingua.
+  _Forces expression from the_ faithful tongue.
+
+Buckingham has treated the subject of Dialogue very happily in his Essay
+on Poetry, glancing, but not servilely, at this part of Horace.
+
+  _Figures of Speech_, which Poets think so fine,
+  Art's needless varnish to make Nature shine,
+  Are all but _Paint_ upon a beauteous face,
+  And in _Descriptions_ only claim a place.
+  But to make _Rage declaim_, and _Grief discourse_,
+  From lovers in despair _fine_ things to _force_,
+  Must needs succeed; for who can chuse but pity
+  A _dying_ hero miserably _witty_?
+
+
+
+
+201.----BE NOT YOUR OPENING FIERCE!] _Nec sic incipies_, Most of the
+Criticks observe, that all these documents, deduced from _the Epick_,
+are intended, like the reduction of the Iliad into acts, as directions
+and admonition to the _Dramatick_ writer. _Nam si in_ EPOPaeIA, _que
+gravitate omnia poematum generae praecellit, ait principium lene esse
+debere; quanto magis in_ tragoedia _et_ comoedia, _idem videri debet_?
+says de Nores. _Praeceptum de intio grandiori evitaado, quod tam_ epicus
+_quam_ tragicus _cavere debet_; says the Dauphin Editor. _Il faut se
+souvenir qu' Horace appliqae à la Tragedie les regies du Poeme Epique.
+Car si ces debuts eclatans sont ridicules dans la Poeme Epique, ils
+le sont encore plus dans la Tragedie_: says Dacier. The Author of the
+English Commentary makes the like observation, and uses it to enforce
+his system of the Epistle's being intended as a Criticism on the Roman
+drama. [ xviii] 202---Like _the rude_ ballad-monger's _chant of old_]
+_ut scriptor_ cyclicus olim.] _Scriptor_ cyclicus signisies an itinerant
+Rhymer travelling, like Shakespeare's Mad Tom, to wakes, and fairs, and
+market-towns. 'Tis not precisely known who was the Cyclick Poet here
+meant. Some have ascribed the character to Maevius, and Roscommon has
+adopted that idea.
+
+  Whoever vainly on his _strength_ depends,
+  Begins like Virgil, but like Maevius ends:
+  That Wretch, in spite of his forgotten rhimes,
+  Condemn'd to live to all succeeding times,
+  With _pompous nonsense_, and a _bellowing sound_,
+  Sung _lofty Ilium_, _tumbling_ to the _ground_,
+  And, if my Muse can thro' past ages fee,
+  That _noisy, nauseous_, gaping fool was _he_;
+  Exploded, when, with universal scorn,
+  The _Mountains labour'd_, and a _Mouse_ was born.
+
+_Essay on Translated Verse_.
+
+
+The pompous exordium of Statius is well known, and the fragments of
+Ennius present us a most tremendous commencement of his Annals.
+
+  horrida romoleum certamina pango duellum!
+  this is indeed to split our ears asunder
+  With guns, drums, trumpets, blunderbuss, and thunder!
+
+
+
+
+211.--Say, Muse, the Man, &c.] Homer's opening of the Odyssey. his rule
+is perhaps no where so chastely observed as in _the Paradise Lost_.
+Homer's [Greek: Maenin aeide thea]! or, his [Greek: Andra moi
+ennepe,Mgsa]! or, Virgil's _Arma, Urumque cano_! are all boisterous and
+vehement, in comparison with the calmness and modesty of Milton's meek
+approach,
+
+Of Man's first disobedience, &c.
+
+
+
+
+2l5.--_Antiphates, the Cyclops, &c_].- _Antiphatem, Scyllamque, & cum
+Cyclope Charybdim_. Stories, that occur in the Odyssey. 218-19--Diomed's
+return--the Double Egg.]
+
+The return of Diomede is not mentioned by Homer, but is said to be the
+subject of a tedious Poem by Antimachus; and to Stasimus is ascribed a
+Poem, called the Little Iliad, beginning with the nativity of Helen.
+
+
+
+
+227.--Hear now!] _Tu, quid ego, &c._
+
+This invocation, says Dacier justly, is not addressed to either of the
+Pisos, but to the Dramatick Writer generally.
+
+
+
+
+229.---The Cloth goes down.] _Aulaea manentis._ This is translated
+according to modern manners; for with the Antients, the Cloth was raised
+at the Conclusion of the Play. Thus in Virgil's Georgicks;
+
+  Vel scena ut versis disceedat frontibus, atque
+  Purpurea intexti tollant aulaea Britanni.
+
+  Where the proud theatres disclose the scene;
+  Which interwoven Britons seem to _raise;_
+  And shew the triumph which their _shame_ displays.
+
+  Dryden
+
+
+
+
+230.--Man's several ages, &c.] _aetatis cujusque, &c._ Jason Demores
+takes notice of the particular stress, that Horace lays on the due
+discrimination of the several Ages, by the solemnity with which he
+introduces the mention of them: The same Critick subjoins a note also,
+which I shall transcribe, as it serves to illustrate a popular passage
+in the _As you Like It_ of Shakespeare.
+
+  All the world's a stage,
+  And all the men and women merely players;
+  They have their _exits_ and their entrances,
+  And one man in his time plays many parts:
+  His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
+  Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms:
+  And then, the whining school-boy with his satchel,
+  And shining morning-face, creeping like snail
+  Unwillingly to school. And then, the lover;
+  Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
+  Made to his mistress' eye-brow. Then, a soldier;
+  Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
+  Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel;
+  Seeking the bubble reputation
+  Even in the cannon's mouth. And then, the justice
+  In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd
+  With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
+  Full of wise saws and modern instances,
+  And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
+  Into the lean and flipper'd pantaloon,
+  With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side;
+  His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide
+  For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
+  Turning again toward childish treble, pipes,
+  And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
+  That ends this strange eventful history,
+  Is second childishness, and mere oblivion,
+  Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
+
+_Animadverti_ a plerisque _hominis aetatem_ in septem divisam esse
+partes, infantiam, pueritiam, adolescentiam, juventutem, virilitatem,
+senectutem, & _ut ab illis dicitur_, decrepitatem. _In hâc verò parte
+nihil de_ infantiae _moribus Horatius, cum nihil ea aetas praeter
+vagitum habeat proprium, ideòque infantis persona minimè in scenâ induci
+possit, quòd ipsas rerum voces reddere neque dum sciat, neque
+valeat. Nihil de moribus item hujus aetatis, quam, si latinè licet_,
+decrepitatem _vocabimus_, quae aetas quodammodo infantiae respondet:
+_de_ juventute _autem_ & adolescentia _simul pertractat, quòd et
+studiis, et naturâ, & voluntate, parum, aut nihil inter se differant.
+Aristoteles etiam in libris ad Theodectem omisit_ & pueritiam, &
+_meritò; cum minime apud pueros, vel de pueris sit orator habiturus
+orationem. Ille enim ad hoc ex aetate personarum differentiam adhibet,
+ut instituat oratorem, quomodo moratâ uti debeat oratione, id est, eorum
+moribus, apud quos, & de quibus loquitur, accommodatâ._
+
+It appears from hence, that it was _common_ for the writers of that
+time, as well as Shakespeare's Jaques, to divide the life of Man into
+seven ages, viz. _Infancy, Childhood, Puberty, Youth, Manhood, Old Age_,
+and _Decrepitude_; "which last, (says Denores) in some sort answers to
+Infancy," or, as Shakespeare expresses it, IS second childishness.
+
+"Before Shakespeare's time," says Warburton, "_seven acts_ was no unusual
+division of a play, so that there is a greater beauty than appears at
+first sight in this image." Mr. Steevens, however, informs us that the
+plays of that early period were not divided into acts at all. It is most
+probable therefore that Shakespeare only copied the moral philosophy
+(the _Socraticae chartae_) of his own day, adapting it, like Aristotle
+and Horace, to his own purpose; and, I think, with more felicity, than
+either of his illustrious predecessors, by contriving to introduce, and
+discriminate, _every one of_ the seven ages. This he has effected
+by assigning station and character to some of the stages, which to
+Aristotle and Horace appeared too similar to be distinguished from
+each other. Thus puberty, youth, manhood, and old age, become under
+Shakespeare's hand, _the_ lover, _the_ soldier, _the_ justice, and the
+lean and flipper'd pantaloon; while the _natural qualities_ of the
+infant, the boy, and the dotard, afford sufficient materials for
+poetical description.
+
+
+
+
+262.--_Thus_ years advancing _many comforts bring,
+     and_ flying _bear off many on their wing_.]
+
+  _Multa ferunt_ anni venientes _commoda secum,
+  multa_ recedentes _adimunt_.
+
+Aristotle considers the powers of the body in a state of advancement
+till the 35th year, and the faculties of the mind progressively
+improving till the 49th; from which periods they severally decline. On
+which circumstance, applied to this passage of Horace, Jason de Nores
+elegantly remarks, _Vita enim nostra videtur ad_ virilitatem _usque,
+quâ_ in statu _posita est_, quendam quasi pontem _aetatis_ ascendere,
+_ab eâque inde_ descendere. Whether Addison ever met with the commentary
+of De Nores, it is perhaps impossible to discover. But this idea of
+_the_ ascent _and_ declivity _of the_ bridge _of_ human life, strongly
+reminds us of the delightful _vision of_ mirza.
+
+
+
+
+288.--_An actor's part_ the Chorus _should sustain_.] _Actoris partes_
+Chorus, &c.
+
+"See also _Aristotle_ [Greek*: oes. ooiaet. k. iae.] The judgment of two
+such critics, and the practice of wise antiquity, concurring to
+establish this precept concerning the Chorus, it should thenceforth, one
+would think, have become a fundamental rule and maxim of the stage. And
+so indeed it appeared to some few writers. The most admired of the
+French tragic poets ventured to introduce it into two of his latter
+plays, and with such success that, as one observes, _It should, in all
+reason, have disabused his countrymen on this head: l'essai heureux de
+M. Racine, qui les [choeurs] a fait revivre dans_ athalie _et dans
+_esther_, devroit, il semble, nous avoir detrompez sur cet article._ [P.
+Brumoi, vol. i. p. 105.] And, before him, our _Milton_, who, with his
+other great talents, possessed a supreme knowledge of antiquity, was so
+struck with its use and beauty, as to attempt to bring it into our
+language. His _Sampson Agonistes_ was, as might be expected, a master-
+piece. But even his credit hath not been sufficient to restore the
+Chorus. Hear a late Professor of the art declaring, _De _Choro _nihil
+disserui, quia non est essentialis dramati, atque à neotericis penitus_,
+et, me judice, merito repudiatur. [Prael. Poet. vol. ii. p. 188.] Whence
+it hath come to pass that the chorus hath been thus neglected is not now
+the enquiry. But that this critic, and all such, are greatly out in
+their judgments, when they presume to censure it in the ancients, must
+appear (if we look no further) from the double use, insisted on by the
+poet, For, 1. A _chorus _interposing, and bearing a part in the progress
+of the action, gives the representation that _probability_, [Footnote:
+_Quel avantage ne peut il [le poete] pas tirer d'une troupe d'acteurs,
+qui remplissent sa scene, qui rendant plus sense la continuité de
+l'action qui la sont paroitre VRAISEMBLABLE puisqu'il n'est pas naturel
+qu'elle sa passe sans point. On ne sent que trop le vuide de notre
+Théatre sans choeurs. &c. _[Les Théatre des Grècs. i. p. 105 ] and
+striking resemblance of real life, which every man of sense perceives,
+and _feels_ the want of upon our stage; a want, which nothing but such
+an expedient as the chorus can possibly relieve. And, 2. The importance
+of its other office [l. 196] to the _utility _of the representation, is
+so great, that, in a moral view, nothing can compensate for this
+deficiency. For it is necessary to the truth and decorum of characters,
+that the _manners_, bad as well as good, be drawn in strong, vivid
+colours; and to that end that immoral sentiments, forcibly expressed and
+speciously maintained, be sometimes _imputed _to the speakers. Hence the
+sound philosophy of the chorus will be constantly wanting, to rectify
+the wrong conclusions of the audience, and prevent the ill impressions
+that might otherwise be made upon it. Nor let any one say, that the
+audience is well able to do this for itself: Euripides did not find even
+an Athenian theatre so quick-sighted. The story is well known, [Sen. Ep.
+115.] that when this painter of the _manners _was obliged, by the rules
+of his art, and the character to be sustained, to put a run of bold
+sentiments in the mouth of one of his persons, the people instantly took
+fire, charging the poet with the _imputed _villainy, as though it had
+been his _own_. Now if such an audience could so easily misinterpret an
+attention to the truth of character into the real doctrine of the poet,
+and this too, when a Chorus was at hand to correct and disabuse their
+judgments, what must be the case, when the _whole _is left to the
+sagacity and penetration of the people? The wiser sort, it is true, have
+little need of this information. Yet the reflexions of sober sense on
+the course and occurrences of the representation, clothed in the noblest
+dress of poetry, and enforced by the joint powers of harmony and action
+(which is the true character of the Chorus) might make it, even to such,
+a no unpleasant or unprofitable entertainment. But these two are a small
+part of the uses of the chorus; which in every light is seen so
+important to the truth, decorum, and dignity of the tragic scene, that
+the modern stage, which hath not thought proper to adopt it, is even,
+with the advantage of, sometimes, the justest moral painting and
+sublimest imagery, but a very faint shadow of the old; as must needs
+appear to those who have looked into the ancient models, or, diverting
+themselves of modern prejudices, are disposed to consult the dictates of
+plain sense. For the use of such, I once designed to have drawn into one
+view the several important benefits arising to the drama from the
+observance of this rule, but have the pleasure to find myself prevented
+by a sensible dissertation of a good French writer, which the reader
+will find in the VIII tom. of the History of the Academy of Inscriptions
+end Belles Lettres.--Or, it may be sufficient to refer the English
+reader to the late tragedies of Elfrida and Caractacus; which do honour
+to modern poetry, and are a better apology, than any I could make, for
+the ancient Chorus.----Notes on the Art of Poetry.
+
+Though it is not my intention to agitate, in this place, the long
+disputed question concerning the expediency, or inexpediency, of the
+Chorus, yet I cannot dismiss the above note without some farther
+observation. In the first place then I cannot think that _the judgment
+of two such Criticks_ as Aristotle and Horace, can be decisively quoted,
+_as concurring with the practice of wise antiquity,_ to establish the
+chorus. Neither of these _two Criticks_ have taken up the question,
+each of them giving directions for the proper conduct of _the Chorus,_
+considered as an established and received part of Tragedy, and indeed
+originally, as they both tell us, _the whole_ of it. Aristotle, in his
+Poeticks, has not said much on the subject and from the little he has
+said, more arguments might perhaps be drawn, in favour of the omission,
+than for the introduction of _the Chorus._ It is true that he says, in
+his 4th chapter, that "Tragedy, after many changes, paused, _having
+gained its natural form:"_ [Greek transliteration: 'pollha': moiazolas
+metazalousa ae tragodia epausto, hepei hesche taen heauiaes phusin]. This
+might, at first sight, seem to include his approbation of the Chorus, as
+well as of all the other parts of Tragedy then in use: but he himself
+expressly tells us in the very same chapter, that he had no such
+meaning, saying, that "to enquire whether Tragedy be perfect in its
+parts, either considered in itself, or with relation to the theatre, was
+foreign to his present purpose." [Greek: To men oun epischopein,
+eiapa echei aedae hae tragodia tois ikanos, ae ou, auto te kath auto
+krinomenon, kai pros ta theatra, allos logos.]
+
+In the passage from which Horace has, in the verses now before us,
+described the office, and laid down the duties of the CHORUS, the
+passage referred to by the learned Critick, the words of Aristotle are
+not particularly favourable to the institution, or much calculated to
+recommend the use of it. For Aristotle there informs us, "that Sophocles
+alone of all the Grecian writers, made _the_ CHORUS conducive to the
+progress of the fable: not only even Euripides being culpable in this
+instance; but other writers, after the example of Agathon, introducing
+Odes as little to the purpose, as if they had borrowed whole scenes from
+another play."
+
+[Greek: Kai ton chorus de ena dei upolazein tan upochriton. Kai morion
+einai tch olch, chai sunagonis*e  mae osper par Euripidae, all osper
+para Sophochlei. Tois de loipois ta didomena mallon ta muthch, ae allaes
+Tragadias esi di o emzolima adchoi, protch arxanto Agrathonos tch
+toichtch Kai tch diaphsrei, ae aemzot ma adein, ae raesin ex allch eis
+allo armotteen, ae eteitodion oleos [per. poiaet. ch. iii.]]
+
+On the whole therefore, whatever may be the merits, or advantages of
+_the_ CHORUS, I cannot think that the judgment of Aristotle or Horace
+can be adduced as recommendation of it. As to _the probability given
+to the representation, by CHORUS interposing and bearing a part in the
+action;_ the Publick, who have lately in a troop of singers assembled on
+the stage, as a Chorus, during the whole of presentations of Elfrida
+and Caractacus, are competent to decide for themselves, how far such an
+expedient, gives a more _striking resemblance of human life,_ than the
+common usage of our Drama. As to its importance in a _moral_ view, to
+correct the evil impression of vicious sentiments, _imputed_ to the
+speakers; the story told, to enforce its use for this purpose, conveys
+a proof of its efficacy. To give due force to sentiments, as well as to
+direct their proper tendency, depends on the skill and address of the
+Poet, independent of _the_ Chorus,
+
+Monsieur Dacier, as well as the author of the above note, censures the
+modern stage for having rejected the Chorus, and having lost thereby
+_at least half its probability, and its_ greatest ornament; so that
+our Tragedy is _but a very faint shadow of the_ old. Learned Criticks,
+however, do not, perhaps, consider, that if it be expedient to revive
+_the_ Chorus, all the other parts of the antient Tragedy must be revived
+along with it. Aristotle mentions Musick as one of the six parts of
+Tragedy, and Horace no sooner introduces _the_ CHORUS, but he proceeds
+to _the _pipe _and _lyre. If a Chorus be really necessary, our Dramas,
+like those of the antients, should be rendered wholly _musical_; the
+_Dancers _also will then claim their place, and the pretentions of
+Vestris and Noverre may be admitted as _classical_. Such a spectacle,
+if not more _natural_ than the modern, would at least be consistent; but
+to introduce a groupe of _spectatorial actors_, speaking in one part
+of the Drama, and singing in another, is as strange and incoherent a
+medley, and full as _unclassical_, as the dialogue and airs of _The
+Beggar's Opera!_
+
+
+
+
+290.--_Chaunting no Odes between the acts, that seem_
+      unapt, _or _foreign _to the _general theme.]
+
+     _Nec quid medios, &c._
+
+On this passage the author of the English Commentary thus remarks. "How
+necessary this advice might be to the writers of the Augustan age cannot
+certainly appear; but, if the practice of Seneca may give room for
+suspicion, it should seem to have been much wanted; in whom I scarcely
+believe _there is_ one single instance, _of the _Chorus being employed
+in a manner, consonant to its true end and character."
+
+The learned Critick seems here to believe, and the plays under the name
+of Seneca in some measure warrant the conclusion, that _the _Chorus
+of the Roman Stage was not calculated to answer the ends of its
+institution. Aristotle has told us just the same thing, with an
+exception in favour of Sophocles, of the Grecian Drama. And are such
+surmises, or such information, likely to strengthen our prejudices on
+behalf of _the _CHORUS, or to inflame our desires for its revival?
+
+
+
+
+292.----LET IT TO VIRTUE PROVE A GUIDE AND FRIEND.]
+
+     _Ille bonis saveatque, &c._
+
+"_The Chorus_," says the poet, "_is to take the side of the good and
+virtuous_, i. e. is always to sustain a moral character. But this will
+need some explanation and restriction. To conceive aright of its office,
+we must suppose the _Chorus _to be a number of persons, by some probable
+cause assembled together, as witnesses and spectators of the great
+action of the drama. Such persons, as they cannot be wholly uninterested
+in what passes before them, will very naturally bear some share in
+the representation. This will principally consist in declaring their
+sentiments, and indulging their reflexions freely on the several events
+and mistresses as they shall arise. Thus we see the _moral_, attributed
+to the Chorus, will be no other than the dictates of plain sense; such
+as must be obvious to every thinking observer of the action, who is
+under the influence of no peculiar partialities from _affection_ or
+_interest_. Though even these may be supposed in cases, where the
+character, towards which they _draw_, is represented as virtuous."
+
+"A Chorus, thus constituted, must always, it is evident, take the part of
+virtue; because this is the natural and almost necessary determination
+of mankind, in all ages and nations, when acting freely and
+unconstrained." _Notes on the Art of Poetry._
+
+
+
+
+297.--FAITHFUL AND SECRET.]--_Ille tegat commissa._
+
+On this _nice part_ of the duty of _the_ CHORUS the author of the
+English Commentary thus remarks.
+
+"This important advice is not always easy to be followed. Much indeed
+will depend on the choice of the subject, and the artful constitution
+of the fable. _Yet, with all his care, the ablest writer will sometimes
+find himself embarrassed by the_ Chorus. i would here be understood to
+speak chiefly of the moderns. For the antients, though it has not been
+attended to, had some peculiar advantages over us in this respect,
+resulting from the principles and practices of those times. For, as it
+hath been observed of the ancient epic Muse, that she borrowed much of
+her state and dignity from the false _theology_ of the pagan world,
+so, I think, it may be justly said of the ancient tragic, that she has
+derived great advantages of probability from its mistaken _moral_. If
+there be truth in this reflection, it will help to justify some of the
+ancient choirs, that have been most objected to by the moderns."
+
+After two examples from Euripides; in one of which the trusty CHORUS
+conceals the premeditated _suicide_ of Phaedra; and in the other abets
+Medea's intended _murder of her children_, both which are most ably
+vindicated by the Critick; the note concludes in these words.
+
+"In sum, though these acts of severe avenging justice might not be
+according to the express letter of the laws, or the more refined
+conclusions of the PORCH or ACADEMY; yet there is no doubt, that they
+were, in the general account, esteemed fit and reasonable. And, it is to
+be observed, in order to pass a right judgment on the ancient Chorus,
+that, though in virtue of their office, they were obliged universally
+to sustain a moral character; yet this moral was rather political and
+popular, than strictly legal or philosophic. Which is also founded on
+good reason. The scope and end of the ancient theatre being to serve
+the interests of virtue and society, on the principles and sentiments,
+already spread and admitted amongst the people, and not to correct old
+errors, and instruct them in philosophic truth."
+
+One of the censurers of Euripides, whose opinion is controverted in
+the above note, is Monsieur Dacier; who condemns _the_ CHORUS in this
+instance, as not only violating their _moral_ office, but _transgressing
+the laws_ of Nature _and of_ God, _by a fidelity_; so vicious _and_
+criminal, _that these women_, [_the_ Chorus!] _ought to fly away in
+the Car of Medea, to escape the punishment due to them_. The Annotator
+above, agrees with the Greek Scholiast, that _the Corinthian women (the_
+Chorus) _being free_, properly desert the interests of Creon, and keep
+Medea's secrets, _for the sake of justice_, according to their custom.
+Dacier, however, urges an instance of their _infidelity_ in the ION of
+Euripides, where they betray the secret of Xuthus to Creusa, which the
+French Critick defends on account of their attachment to their mistress;
+and adds, that the rule of Horace, like other rules, is proved by the
+exception. "Besides (continues the Critick in the true spirit of French
+gallantry) should we so heavily accuse the Poet for not having made _an
+assembly of women_ keep a secret?" _D'ailleurs, peut on faire un si
+grand crime à un poete, de n'avoir pas fait en sorte qu'une troupe
+de femmes garde un secret?_ He then concludes his note with blaming
+Euripides for the perfidy of Iphigenia at Tauris, who abandons these
+faithful guardians of her secret, by flying alone with Orestes, and
+leaving them to the fury of Thoas, to which they must have been exposed,
+but for the intervention of Minerva.
+
+On the whole, it appears that the _moral importance_ of _the_ CHORUS
+must be considered _with some limitations_: or, at least, that _the_
+CHORUS is as liable to be misused and misapplied, as any part of modern
+Tragedy.
+
+
+
+
+300.--_The_ pipe _of old_.]--_Tibi, non ut nunc, &c._
+
+"This, says the author of the English Commentary, is one of those many
+passages in the epistle, about which the critics have said a great deal,
+without explaining any thing. In support of what I mean to offer, as the
+true interpretation, I observe,
+
+"That the poet's intention certainly was not to censure the _false_
+refinements of their stage-music; but, in a short digressive history
+(such as the didactic form will sometimes require) to describe the rise
+and progress of the _true_. This I collect, I. From _the expression
+itself_; which cannot, without violence, be understood in any other way.
+For, as to the words _licentia_ and _praeceps_, which have occasioned
+much of the difficulty, the _first_ means a _freer use_, not a
+_licentiousness_, properly so called; and the _other_ only expresses a
+vehemence and rapidity of language, naturally productive of a quicker
+elocution, such as must of course attend the more numerous harmony of
+the lyre:--not, as M. Dacier translates it, _une eloquence temeraire et
+outrée_, an extravagant straining and affectation of style. 2. From _the
+reason of the thing_; which makes it incredible, that the music of the
+theatre should then be most complete, when the times were barbarous, and
+entertainments of this kind little encouraged or understood. 3. From
+_the character of that music itself_; for the rudeness of which, Horace,
+in effect, apologizes in defending it only on the score of the imperfect
+state of the stage, and the simplicity of its judges."
+
+The above interpretation of this part of the Epistle is, in my opinion,
+extremely just, and exactly corresponds with the explication of De
+Nores, who censures Madius for an error similar to that of Dacier. _Non
+rectè sentire videtur Madius, dum putat potius_ in Romanorum luxuriam_
+invectum horatium, quam_ de melodiae incremento _tractasse_.
+
+The musick, having always been a necessary appendage to _the_ Chorus,
+I cannot (as has already been hinted in the note on I. 100 of this
+version) confider the Poet's notice of the Pipe and Lyre, as a
+_digression_, notwithstanding it includes a short history of the rude
+simplicity of the Musick in the earlier ages of Rome, and of its
+subsequent improvements. _The_ Chorus too, being originally _the whole_,
+as well as afterwards a legitimate _part_ of Tragedy, the Poet naturally
+traces the Drama from its origin to its most perfect state in Greece;
+and afterwards compares its progress and improvements with the Theatre
+of his own country. Such is, I think, the natural and easy _method_
+pursued by Horace; though it differs in some measure from the _order_
+and _connection_ pointed out by the author of the English Commentary.
+
+
+
+
+314.--For what, alas! could the unpractis'd ear
+      Of rusticks revelling o'er country cheer,
+      A motley groupe; high, low; and froth, and scum,
+      Distinguish but shrill squeak, and dronish hum?
+      --_Indoctus quid enim saperet, liberque laborum,
+      Rusticus urbano confusus, turpis honesto?_
+
+These lines, rather breaking in upon the continuity of the history of
+theatrical musick, _create_ some obscurity, which has given birth, to
+various interpretations. The author of the English Commentary, who
+always endeavours to dive to the very bottom of his subject, understands
+this couplet of Horace as a _sneer_ on those grave philosophers, who
+considered these _refinements_ of the musick as _corruptions_. He
+interprets the passage at large, and explains the above two lines in
+these words. "Nor let it be objected than this _freer harmony_ was
+itself an abuse, a corruption of the severe and _moral_ musick
+of antient times. Alas! we were not as yet so _wise_, to see the
+inconveniences of this improvement. And how should we, considering the
+nature and end of these theatrical entertainments, and the sort of men
+of which our theatres were made up?"
+
+This interpretation is ingenious; but Jason De Nores gives, I think,
+a more easy and unforced explanation of this difficult passage, by
+supposing it to refer (by way of _parenthesis_) to what had just been
+said of the original rude simplicity of the Roman theatrical musick,
+which, says the Poet, was at least as polished and refined as the taste
+of the audience. This De Nores urges in two several notes, both which I
+shall submit to the reader, leaving it to him to determine how far I am
+to be justified in having adapted my version to his interpretation.
+
+The first of these notes contains at large his reproof of Madius for
+having, like Dacier, supposed the Poet to censure the improvements that
+he manifestly meant to commend.
+
+_Quare non recté videtur sentire Madius, dum putat potius in Romanorum
+luxuriam invectum Horatium, quàm de melodiae incremento tractasse,
+cùm_ seipsum interpretans, _quid fibi voluerit per haec, luce clarius,
+ostendat,_
+
+  Tibia non ut nunc orichalco vincta, tubaeque AEmula. Et,
+  Sic priscae motumque, & luxuriam addidit arti
+  Tibicen, traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem:
+  Sic etiam fidibus voces crevere feveris,
+  Et tulit eloquium infolitum fecundia praeceps.
+
+_Ad quid enim tam longâ digressione extra, rem propositam in Romanos
+inveberetur, cùm de iis nihil alîud dicat, quàm eos genio ac
+valuptatibus indulgere: cum potius_ veteres Romanos insimulare
+videatur ionorantiae, quod ignoraverint soni et musices venustatem et
+jucunditatem, illa priori scilicet incondita et rudi admodum contenti,
+_dum ait_; Indoctus quid enim saperet, liberque laborum, Rusticus urbano
+confusus, turpis honesto?
+
+The other note is expressly applied by way of comment on this passage
+itself.
+
+[Indoctus quidenim saperet?] Reddit rationem quasiper digressionem,
+occurrens tacitae objectioni quare antea apud Romanos musica melodia
+parva aut nulla pene fuerat: quia, inquit, indocti ignarique rerum
+omnium veteres illi nondum poterant judicare de melodia, utpote apud eos
+re novâ, atque inufitatâ, neque illius jucunditatem degustare, quibus
+verbis imperitiam eorum, rusticatatemque demonstrat.
+
+Upon the whole De Nores appears to me to have given the true sense of
+the passage. I am no friend to licentious transpositions, or arbitrary
+variations, of an author's text; yet I confess, I was strongly tempted,
+in order to elucidate his perplexed passage, to have carried these two
+lines of Horace four lines back, and to have inserted them immediately
+after the 207th verse.
+
+  _Et frugi, castus, verecundusque coibat._
+
+The English reader, who wishes to try the experiment, is desired to read
+the four lines, that compose my version, immediately after the 307th
+line,
+
+  _With modest mirth indulg'd their sober taste._
+
+
+
+
+3l8.--The Piper, _grown luxuriant in his art._]
+
+
+
+
+320.--_Now too, its powers increas'd_, The Lyre severe.]
+
+  Sic priscae--arti
+  tibicen, &c.
+  sic fidibus, &c.
+
+"This is the application of what hath been said, in general, concerning
+the refinement of theatrical music to the case of _tragedy_. Some
+commentators say, and to _comedy._ But in this they mistake, as will
+appear presently. M. _Dacier_ hath I know not what conceit about a
+comparison betwixt the _Roman_ and _Greek_ stage. His reason is, _that
+the lyre was used in the Greek chorus, as appears, he says, from
+Sophocles himself playing upon this instrument himself in one of his
+tragedies._ And was it not used too in the Roman chorus, as appears from
+Nero's playing upon it in several tragedies? But the learned critic
+did not apprehend this matter. Indeed from the caution, with which his
+guides, the dealers in antiquities, always touch this point, it should
+seem, that they too had no very clear conceptions of it. The case I take
+to have been this: The _tibia_, as being most proper to accompany the
+declamation of the acts, _cantanti fuccinere_, was constantly employed,
+as well in the Roman tragedy as comedy. This appears from many
+authorities. I mention only two from Cicero. _Quam multa_ [Acad. 1. ii.
+7.] _quae nos fugiunt in cantu, exaudiunt in eo genere exercitati: Qui,
+primo inflatu Tibicinis, Antiopam esse aiunt aut Andromacham, cum nos
+ne suspicemur quidem_. The other is still more express. In his piece
+entitled _Orator_, speaking of the negligence of the Roman writers, in
+respect of _numbers_, he observes, _that there were even many passages
+in their tragedies, which, unless the_ TIBIA _played to them, could not
+be distinguished from mere prose: quae, nisi cum Tibicen accesserit,
+orationi sint solutae simillima._ One of these passages is expressly
+quoted from _Thyestes_, a tragedy of _Ennius_; and, as appears from
+the measure, taken out of one of the acts. It is clear then, that the
+_tibia_ was certainly used in the _declamation_ of tragedy. But now the
+song of the tragic chorus, being of the nature of the ode, of course
+required _fides_, the lyre, the peculiar and appropriated instrument
+of the lyric muse. And this is clearly collected, if not from express
+testimonies; yet from some occasional hints dropt by the antients. For,
+1. the lyre, we are told, [Cic. De Leg. ii. 9. & 15.] and is agreed
+on all hands, was an instrument of the Romon theatre; but it was not
+employed in comedy, This we certainly know from the short accounts of
+the music prefixed to Terence's plays. 2. Further, the _tibicen_, as
+we saw, accompanied the declamation of the acts in tragedy. It remains
+then, that the proper place of the lyre was, where one should naturally
+look for it, in the songs of the chorus; but we need not go further than
+this very passage for a proof. It is unquestionable, that the poet is
+here speaking of the chorus only; the following lines not admitting
+any other possible interpretation. By _fidibus_ then is necessarily
+understood the instrument peculiarly used in it. Not that it need be
+said that the _tibia_ was never used in the chorus. The contrary seems
+expressed in a passage of Seneca, [Ep. ixxxiv.] and in Julius Pollux
+[1. iv. 15. § 107.] It is sufficient, if the _lyre_ was used solely, or
+principally, in it at this time. In this view, the whole digression is
+more pertinent, and connects better. The poet had before been speaking
+of tragedy. All his directions, from 1. 100, respect this species of the
+drama only. The application of what he had said concerning music, is
+then most naturally made, I. to the _tibia_, the music of the acts; and,
+2. to _fides_, that of the choir: thus confining himself, as the tenor
+of this part required, to tragedy only. Hence is seen the mistake, not
+only of M. Dacier, whose comment is in every view insupportable; but, as
+was hinted, of Heinsius, Lambin, and others, who, with more probability,
+explained this of the Roman comedy and tragedy. For, though _tibia_
+might be allowed to stand for comedy, as opposed to _tragoedia_, [as in
+fact, we find it in 1. ii. Ep. I. 98,] that being the only instrument
+employed in it; yet, in speaking expressly of the music of the stage,
+_fides_ could not determinately enough, and in contradistinction to
+_tibia_, denote that of tragedy, it being an instrument used solely,
+or principally, in the chorus; of which, the context shews, he alone
+speaks. It is further to be observed, that, in the application here
+made, besides the music, the poet takes in the other improvements of the
+tragic chorus, these happening, as from the nature of the thing they
+would do, at the same tine. _Notes on the Art of Poetry._
+
+
+
+
+3l9.--with dance and flowing vest embellishes his part.]
+
+  _Traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem._
+
+"This expresses not only the improvement arising from the ornament of
+proper dresses, but from the grace of motion: not only the _actor_,
+whose peculiar office it was, but the _minstrel_ himself, as appears
+from hence, conforming his gesture in some sort to the music.
+
+"Of the use and propriety of these gestures, or dances, it will not be
+easy for us, who see no such things attempted on the modern stage, to
+form any very clear or exact notions. What we cannot doubt of is,
+1. That the several theatrical dances of the antients were strictly
+conformable to the genius of the different species of composition, to
+which they were applied. 2. That, therefore, the tragic dance, which
+more especially accompanied the Chorus, must have been expressive of
+the highest gravity and decorum, tending to inspire ideas of what is
+_becoming, graceful, and majestic;_ in which view we cannot but perceive
+the important assistance it must needs lend to virtue, and how greatly
+it must contribute to set all her graces and attractions in the fairest
+light. 3. This idea of the ancient tragic dance, is not solely formed
+upon our knowledge of the conformity before-mentioned; but is further
+collected from the name usually given to it, which was [Greek
+transliteration: Emmeleia] This word cannot well be translated into our
+language; but expresses all that grace and concinnity of motion, which
+the dignity of the choral song required. 4. Lastly, it must give us a
+very high notion of the moral effect of this dance, when we find the
+severe Plato admitting it into his commonwealth. _Notes on the Art of
+Poetry._"
+
+  326--he who the prize, a filthy goat, to gain,
+  at first contended in the tragick strain.
+  _Carmine qui tragico, vilem certavit ob bircum._
+
+If I am not greatly deceived, all the Editors, and Commentators on this
+Epistle, have failed to observe, that the _historical_ part of it,
+relative to the Graecian Drama, commences at this verse; all of them
+supposing it to begin, 55 lines further in the Epistle, on the mention
+of Thespis; whom Horace as early, as correctly, describes to be the
+first _improver_, not _inventor_ of Tragedy, _whose_ original he marks
+_here._ Much confusion has, I think, arisen from this oversight, as I
+shall endeavour to explain in the following notes; only observing this
+place, that the Poet, having spoken particularly of all the parts of
+Tragedy, now enters with the strictest _order_, and greatest propriety,
+into its general history, which, by his strictures on the chorus, he
+most elegantly, as well as forcibly, connects with his subject, taking
+occasion to speak _incidentally_ of other branches of the Drama,
+particularly the satyre, and the Old Comedy
+
+
+
+
+323--_Soon too--tho' rude, the graver mood unbroke,_
+     Stript the rought satyrs, _and essay'd a joke.
+     Mox etiam_ agrestes saytros, &c.
+
+"It is not the intention of these notes to retail the accounts of
+others. I must therefore refer the reader, for whatever concerns the
+history of the satiric, as I have hitherto done of the tragic and comic
+drama, to the numerous dissertators on the ancient stage; and, above
+all, so the case before us, to the learned Casaubon; from whom all that
+hath been said to any purpose, by modern writers, hath been taken. Only
+it will be proper to observe one or two particulars, which have been
+greatly misunderstood, and without which if will be impossible, in any
+tolerable manner, to explain what follows.
+
+"I. The design of the poet, in these lines, is not to fix the origin of
+the satyric piece, in ascribing the invention of it to Thespis. This
+hath been concluded, without the least warrant from his own words, which
+barely tell us, 'that the representation of tragedy was in elder Greece
+followed by the _satires;_' and indeed the nature of the thing, as well
+as the testimony of all antiquity, shews it to be impossible. For the
+_satire_ here spoken of is, in all respects, a regular drama, and
+therefore could not be of earlier date than the times of Aeschylus,
+when the constitution of the drama was first formed. It is true indeed,
+there was a kind of entertainment of much greater antiquity, which by
+the antients is sometimes called _satyric,_ out of which (as Aristotle
+assures us) tragedy itself arose, [Greek: *illegible] But then
+this was nothing but a chorus of satyrs [Athenaeus, 1. xiv.] celebrating
+the festivals of _Bacchus,_ with rude songs and uncouth dances; and had
+little resemblance to that which was afterwards called _satiric;_ which,
+except that it retained the chorus of satyrs, and turned upon some
+subject relative to Bacchus, was of a quite different structure, and, in
+every respect, as regular a composition as tragedy itself."
+
+"II. There is no doubt but the poem, here distinguished by the name of
+satyri, was in actual use on the Roman stage. This appeals from the turn
+of the poet's whole criticism upon it. Particularly, his address to the
+Pisos, 1. 235 and his observation of the offence which a loose dialogue
+in this drama would give to a _Roman_ auditory, 1. 248, make it evident
+that he had, in fact, the practice of his own stage in view."
+
+"III. For the absolute merit of these satires, the reader will judge
+of it himself by comparing the Cyclops, the only piece of this kind
+remaining to us from antiquity, with the rules here delivered by Horace.
+Only it may be observed, in addition to what the reader will find
+elsewhere [_n._ 1. 223.] apologized in its favour, that the double,
+character of the satires admirably fitted it, as well for a sensible
+entertainment to the wise, as for the sport and diversion of the vulgar.
+For, while the grotesque appearance and jesting vein of these fantastic
+personages amused the one, the other saw much further; and considered
+them, at the same time, as replete with science, and informed by a
+spirit of the most abstruse wisdom. Hence important lessons of civil
+prudence, interesting allusions to public affairs, or a high, refined
+moral, might, with the highest probability, be insinuated, under the
+slight cover of a rustic simplicity. And from this instructive cast,
+which from its nature must be very obscure, if not impenetrable, to us
+at this day, was, I doubt not, derived the principal pleasure which the
+antients found in this species of the drama. If the modern reader would
+conceive any thing of the nature and degree of this pleasure, he may
+in part guess at it, from reflecting on the entertainment he himself
+receives from the characters of the clowns in Shakespeare; _who_, as the
+poet himself hath characterized them, _use their folly, like a stalking
+horse, and, under the presentation of that, shoot their wit._" [_As you
+like it._]--_Notes on the Art of Poetry._ [Footnote: This, and all the
+extracts, which are quoted, _Notes on the Art of Poetry_, are taken from
+the author of the English Commentary. ]
+
+This learned note, I think, sets out with a misapprehension of the
+meaning of Horace, by involving his _instructions_ on the Satyrick
+drama, with his account of its _Origin_. Nor does he, in the most
+distant manner, insinuate, tho' Dacier has asserted the same thing, that
+_the_ satyrs owed their first introduction to _Thespis_; but relates,
+that the very Poets, who contended in _the Goat-Song_, to which tragedy
+owes its name, finding it too solemn and severe an entertainment for
+their rude holiday audience, interspersed the grave strains of tragedy
+with comick and _satyrical_ Interludes, producing thereby a kind of
+medley, something congenial to what has appeared on our own stage, under
+the name of Tragi-comedy. Nor, if I am able to read and comprehend the
+context, so the words of Horace tell us, "that the representation of
+Tragedy was, in 'elder Greece,' _followed_ by _the_ satyrs." The Satyrs
+composed a part of the Tragedy in its infancy, as well as in the days
+of Horace, if his own words may be quoted as authority. On any other
+construction, his directions, concerning* the conduct of the _God_ or
+_Hero_ of the piece, are scarcely reconcilable to common sense; and it
+is almost impossible to mark their being incorporated with the Tragedy,
+in more expressive terms or images, than by his solicitude to prevent
+their broad mirth from contaminating its dignity or purity._Essutire
+leves indigna_ tragaedia _versus ut sestis matrona moveri jussa diebus,_
+intererit satyris _paulum pudibunda_ protervis.
+
+_The_ cyclops of Euripides, the only Satyrick drama extant, written at
+a much later period, than that of which Horace speaks in this place,
+cannot, I think, convey to us a very exact idea of _the Tragick
+Pastorals_, whose _origin_ he here describes. _The_ cyclops, scarce
+exceeding 700 lines, might be played, according to the idea of some
+criticks, after another performance: but that cannot, without the
+greatest violence to the text, be supposed of the Satyrick piece here
+mentioned by Horace. The idea of _farces_, or _after-pieces_, tho' an
+inferior branch of the Drama, is, in fact, among the refinements of
+an improved age. The writers of an early period throw their dramatick
+materials, serious and ludicrous, into one mass; which the critical
+chymistry of succeeding times separates and refines. The modern stage,
+like the antient, owed its birth to the ceremonies of Religion. From
+_Mysteries_ and _Moralities_, it proceeded to more regular Dramas,
+diversifying their serious scenes, like _the_ Satyrick poets, with
+ludicrous representations. This desire of _variety_ was one cause of the
+agrestes satyros. _Hos autem loco chori introductor intelligit, non, us
+quidam volunt, in ipsa tragoedia, cum praesertim dicat factum, ut grata
+novitate detinerentur spectatores: quod inter unum & alterum actum sit,
+chori loco. in tragoedia enim ipsa, cum flebilis, severa, ac gravis sit,
+non requiritur bujusmodi locorum, ludorumque levitas, quae tamen inter
+medios actus tolerari potest, & boc est quod ait, incolumi gravitate.
+Ea enim quae funt, quaeve dicuntur inter medios actus, extra tragordiam
+esse intelligentur, neque imminuunt tragoedioe gravi*tem._--DE NORES.
+
+The distinction made by _De Nores_ of _the satyrs_ not making a part of
+the tragedy, but barely appearing between the acts, can only signify,
+that the Tragick and Comick Scenes were kept apart from each other. This
+is plain from his laying that they held the place of the Chorus; not
+sustaining their continued part in the tragick dialogue, but filling
+their chief office of singing between the acts. The antient Tragedy was
+one continued representation, divided into acts by the Chant of _the
+CHORUS_; and, otherwise, according to modern ideas, forming _but one
+act_, without any interruption of the performance.
+
+
+These antient Satyrick songs, with which the antient Tragedians
+endeavoured to enliven the Dithyrambicks, gave rise to two different
+species of poetry. Their rude jests and petulant raillery engendered
+_the Satire_; and their sylvan character produced _the Pastoral_.
+
+
+
+328.--THO' RUDE, THE GRAVER MOOD UNBROKE--
+  Stript the rough Satyrs, and ESSAYED A JOKE
+
+  --Agrestes Satyros nudavis, & asper,
+  INCOLUMI GRAVITATE, jocum tentavit.
+
+"It hath been shewn, that the poet could not intend, in these lines, to
+_fix the origin of the satiric drama_. But, though this be certain, and
+the dispute concerning that point be thereby determined, yet it is to
+be noted, that he purposely describes the satire in its ruder and less
+polished form; glancing even at some barbarities, which deform the
+Bacchic chorus; which was properly the satiric piece, before Aeschylus
+had, by his regular constitution of the drama, introduced it under a very
+different form on the stage. The reason of this conduit is given in
+_n._ on l. 203. Hence the propriety of the word _nudavit_, which
+Lambin rightly interprets, _nudos introduxit satyres,_ the poet hereby
+expressing the monstrous indecorum of this entertainment in its first
+unimproved state. Alluding also to this ancient character of the
+_satire,_ he calls him _asper,_ i.e. rude and petulant; and even adds,
+that his jests were intemperate, and _without the least mixture of
+gravity._ For thus, upon the authority of a very ingenious and learned
+critic, I explain _incolumi gravitate,_ i. e. rejecting every thing
+serious, bidding _farewell,_ as we may say, _to all gravity._ Thus [L.
+in. O. 5.].
+
+  _Incolumi Jove et urbe Româ:_
+
+i.e. bidding farewell to Jupiter [Capitolinus] and Rome; agreeably to
+what is said just before,
+
+  _Anciliorum et neminis et togae
+  OBLITUS, aeternaeque Vestae._
+
+or, as salvus is used more remarkably in Martial [I. v. 10.]
+
+  _Ennius est lectus salvo tibi, Roma, Marone:
+  Et sua riserunt secula Maeonidem._
+
+"_Farewell, all gravity, is as remote from the original sense of the
+words _fare well,_ as _incolumi gravitate_ from that of _incolumis, or
+salvo Morona_ from that of _salvas._"
+
+  Notes on the Art of Poetry.
+
+The beginning of this note does not, I think, perfectly accord with what
+has been urged by the same Critick in the note immediately preceding; He
+there observed, that the "satyr here spoken of, is, _in all respects,_
+a regular Drama, and therefore _could not be of earlier date,_ than the
+times of Aeschylus.
+
+Here, however, he allows, though in subdued phrase, that, "though this
+be certain, and the dispute concerning that point thereby determined,_
+yet it is to be noted, _that he purposely describes the satyr_ in its
+ruder and less polished form; _glancing even at some barbarities, which
+deform_ the bacchic chorus; which was properly the Satyrick piece,
+_before_ Aeschylus had, by his regular constitution of the Drama,
+introduced it, _under a very different form,_ on the stage." In
+a subsequent note, the same learned Critick also says, that "the
+connecting particle, _verum, [verum ita risores, &c.]_ expresses the
+opposition intended between the _original satyr_ and that which the Poet
+approves." In both these passages the ingenious Commentator seems, from
+the mere influence of the context, to approach to the interpretation
+that I have hazarded of this passage, avowedly one of the most obscure
+parts of the Epistle. The explanation of the words incolumi gravitate,
+in the latter part of the above note, though favourable to the system of
+the English Commentary, is not only contrary to the construction of all
+other interpreters, and, I believe, unwarranted by any acceptation of
+the word _incolumis,_ but, in my opinion, less elegant and forcible
+than the common interpretation.
+
+The line of the Ode referred to,
+
+  INCOLUMI _Jove, et urbe Româ?_
+
+was never received in the sense, which the learned Critick assigns to
+it.
+
+  The Dauphin Editor interprets it,
+  STANTE _urbe, & Capitolino Jove Romanos protegente._
+  Schrevelius, to the same effect, explains it,
+  SALVO _Capitolio, quae Jovis erat sedes._
+
+These interpretations, as they are certainly the most obvious, seem also
+to be most consonant to the plain sense of the Poet.
+
+
+
+
+330.--_For holiday spectators, flush'd and wild,
+      With new conceits and mummeries were beguil'd.
+      Quippe erat_ ILLECEBRIS, _&c._
+
+Monsieur Dacier, though he allows that "all that is here said by Horace
+proves _incontestibly_, that the Satyrick Piece had possession of the
+Roman stage;" _tout ce qu' Horace dit icy prouve_ incontestablement
+_qu'il y avoit des Satyres_; yet thinks that Horace lavished all these
+instructions on them, chiefly for the sake of the atellane fables. The
+author of the English Commentary is of the same opinion, and labours
+the point very assiduously. I cannot, however, discover, in any part
+of Horace's discourse on _the_ satyrs, one expression glancing towards
+_the_ atellanes, though their oscan peculiarities might easily have been
+marked, so as not to be mistaken.
+
+
+
+
+335.--_That_ GOD _or_ HERO _of the lofty scene,
+      May not, &c.
+      Ne quicumque_ DEUS, _&c._
+
+The Commentators have given various explanations of this precept. _De
+Nores_ interprets it to signify _that the same actor, who represented a
+God or Hero in the_ Tragick _part of the Drama, must not be employed
+to represent a Faun or Sylvan in the_ Satyrick. _Dacier has a strange
+conceit concerning the joint performance of a _Tragedy_ and _Atellane_
+at one time, the same God or Hero being represented as the principal
+subject and character of both; on which occasion, (says he) the Poet
+recommends to the author not to debase the God, or Hero of _the_
+Tragedy, by sinking his language and manners too low in _the_ atellane;
+whose stile, as well as measure, should be peculiar to itself, equally
+distant from Tragedy and Farce.
+
+The author of the English Commentary tells us, that "Gods and Heroes
+were introduced as well into the _Satyrick_ as _Tragick_ Drama, and
+often the very same Gods and Heroes, which had born a part in THE
+PRECEDING TRAGEDY; a practice, which Horace, I suppose, intended, by
+this hint, to recommend as most regular."
+
+The two short notes of Schrevelius, in my opinion, more clearly explain
+the sense of Horace, and are in these words.
+
+_Poema serium, jocis_ Satyricis _ita_ commiscere--_ne seilicet is, qui
+paulo ante_ DEI _instar aut_ herois _in scenam fuit introductus, postea
+lacernosus prodeat._
+
+On the whole, supposing _the_ Satyrick _Piece_ to be _Tragi-Comick_, as
+Dacier himself seems half inclined to believe, the precept of Horace
+only recommends to the author so to support his principal personage,
+that his behaviour in the Satyrick scenes shall not debase the character
+he has sustained in the TRAGICK. No specimen remaining of the Roman
+Satyrick Piece, I may be permitted to illustrate the rule of Horace by a
+brilliant example from the _seroi-comick_ Histories of the Sovereign
+of our Drama. The example to which I point, is the character of _the_
+Prince _of_ Wales, in the two Parts of _Henry the Fourth_, Such a
+natural and beautiful decorum is maintained in the display of that
+character, that the _Prince_ is as discoverable in the loose scenes with
+Falstaff and his associates, as in the Presence Chamber, or the closet.
+after _the natural_, though mixt dramas, of Shakespear, and Beaumont and
+Fletcher, had prevailed on our stage, it is surprising that our
+progress to _pure_ Tragedy and Comedy, should have been interrupted, or
+disturbed, by _the regular monster of_ Tragi-comedy, nursed by Southerne
+and Dryden.
+
+
+
+
+346.--LET ME NOT, PISOS, IN THE SYLVIAN SCENE, USE ABJECT TERMS ALONE,
+AND PHRASES MEAN]
+
+  _Non ego_ INORNATA & DOMINANTIA, &c.
+
+The author of the English Commentary proposes a conjectural emendation
+of Horace's text--honodrata instead of inornata--and accompanied with a
+new and elevated sense assigned to the word dominantia. This last word
+is interpreted in the same manner by _de Nores_. Most other Commentators
+explain it to signify _common words_, observing its analogy to the Greek
+term [Greek: kuria]. The same expression prevails in our own tongue--_a_
+reigning _word_, _a reigning _fashion_, &c. the general cast of _the_
+satyr, seems to render a caution against a lofty stile not very
+necessary; yet it must be acknowledged that such a caution is given by
+the Poet, exclusive of the above proposed variation.
+
+  _Ne quicumque_ DEUS------
+  _Migret in obscuras_ HUMILI SERMONE _tabernas_,
+  _Aut dum vitat humum_, NUBES & INANIA CAPTET.
+
+
+
+
+350.--_Davus may jest, &c.]--Davusne loquatur, &c._
+
+It should seem from hence, that the common characters of Comedy, as well
+as the Gods and Heroes of Tragedy, had place in _the_ Satyrick Drama,
+cultivated in the days of Horace. Of the manner in which the antient
+writers sustained the part of Silenus, we may judge from _the_ CYCLOPS
+of Euripides, and _the_ Pastorals of Virgil.
+
+Vossius attempts to shew from some lines of this part of the Epistle,
+[_Ne quicumque Deus, &c._] that _the_ satyrs were _subjoined_ to the
+Tragick scenes, not _incorporated_ with them: and yet at the same moment
+he tells us, and with apparent approbation, that Diomedes quotes
+our Poet to prove that they were blended with each other: _simul ut
+spectator_, inter res tragicas, seriasque, satyrorum quoque jocis, &
+lusibus, _delectaretur_.
+
+I cannot more satisfactorily conclude all that I have to urge, on the
+subject of the Satyrick Drama, as here described by Horace, than by one
+more short extract from the notes of the ingenious author of the English
+Commentary, to the substance of which extract I give the most full
+assent. "The Greek Drama, we know, had its origin from the loose,
+licentious raillery of the rout of Bacchus, indulging to themselves the
+freest follies of taunt and invective, as would best suit to lawless
+natures, inspirited by festal mirth, and made extravagant by wine. Hence
+arose, and with a character answering to this original, the _Satiric
+Drama_; the spirit of which was afterwards, in good measure, revived
+and continued in the Old Comedy, and itself preferred, though with
+considerable alteration in the form, through all the several periods of
+the Greek stage; even when Tragedy, which arose out of it, was brought
+to its last perfection."
+
+
+
+
+368.--_To a short syllable, a long subjoin'd, Forms an _IAMBICK FOOT.]
+  _Syllaba longa, brevi subjetta, vocatur Iambus._
+
+Horace having, after the example of his master Aristotle, slightly
+mentioned the first rise of Tragedy in the form of _a_ Choral Song,
+subjoining an account of _the_ Satyrick Chorus, that was _soon_ (mox
+_etiam_) combined with it, proceeds to speak particularly of the Iambick
+verse, which he has before mentioned generally, as the measure best
+accommodated to the Drama. In this instance, however, the Poet has
+trespassed against _the order and method_ observed by his philosophical
+guide; and by that trespass broken the thread of his history of the
+Drama, which has added to the difficulty and obscurity of this part of
+his Epistle. Aristotle does not speak of _the_ Measure, till he
+has brought Tragedy, through all its progressive stages, from the
+Dithyrambicks, down to its establishment by Aeschylus and Sophocles. If
+the reader would judge of the _poetical beauty_, as well as _logical
+precision_, of such an arrangement, let him transfer this section of the
+Epistle [beginning, in the original at v. 251. and ending at 274.]
+to the end of the 284th line; by which transposition, or I am much
+mistaken, he will not only disembarrass this historical part of it,
+relative to the Grascian stage, but will pass by a much easier, and more
+elegant, transition, to the Poet's application of the narrative to the
+Roman Drama,
+
+The English reader, inclined to make the experiment, must take the lines
+of the translation from v. 268. to v. 403, both inclusive, and insert
+them after v. 418.
+
+  _In shameful silence loft the pow'r to wound._
+
+It is further to be observed that this detail on _the_ IAMBICK is not,
+with strict propriety, annext to a critical history of _the_ SATYR,
+in which, as Aristotle insinuates insinuates, was used _the_ Capering
+_Tetrameter_, and, as the Grammarians observe, _Trisyllabicks_.
+
+
+
+
+394.--PISOS! BE GRAECIAN MODELS, &c.]
+
+  Pope has imitated and illustrated this passage.
+
+  Be Homer's works your study and delight,
+  Read them by day, and meditate by night;
+  Thence form your judgment, thence your maxims bring,
+  And trace the Muses upwards to their spring.
+  Still with itself compar'd, his text peruse!
+  And let your comment be the Mantuan Muse!
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+404.--A KIND OF TRAGICK ODE, UNKNOWN BEFORE,
+  THESPIS, 'TIS SAID, INVENTED FIRST.
+  IGNOTUM _Tragicae_ GENUS INVENISSE _Camaenae_
+  _Dicitur, &c._
+
+It is surprising that Dacier, who, in a controversial note, in
+refutation of Heinsius, has so properly remarked Horace's adherence to
+Aristotle, should not have observed that his history of the Drama opens
+and proceeds nearly in the same order. Aristotle indeed does not name
+Thespis, but we cannot but include his improvements among the changes,
+to which the Critick refers, before Tragedy acquired a permanent form
+under _AEschylus_. Thespis seems not only to have embodied _the_ CHORUS,
+but to have provided a theatrical apparatus for an itinerant exhibition;
+to have furnished disguises for his performers, and to have broken the
+continuity of _the_ CHORUS by an _Interlocutor_; to whom AEschylus
+adding another personage, thereby first created Dramatick Dialogue;
+while at the same time by a _further diminution of the_ CHORUS, by
+improving the dresses of the actors, and drawing them from their
+travelling waggon to a fixt stage, he created _a regular theatre_.
+
+It appears then that neither Horace, nor Aristotle, ascribe _the origin_
+of Tragedy to Thespis. the Poet first mentions the rude beginning of
+Tragedy, (_carmen tragicum_) _the_ Goat-song; he then speaks of _the
+Satyrick Chorus_, soon after interwoven with it; and then proceeds
+to the _improvements_ of these Bacchic Festivities, by Thespis, and
+AEschylus; though their perfection and final establishment is ascribed
+by Aristotle to Sophocles. Dacier very properly renders this passage,
+_On dit que Thespis fut le premier jui inventa une especi de tragedie
+auparavant inconnue aux Grecs._ Thespis is said to be the first inventor
+of a species of Tragedy, before unknown to the Greeks.
+
+Boileau seems to have considered this part of the Epistle in the same
+light, that I have endeavoured to place it.
+
+  La Tragedie informe & grossiere au naissant
+  n'etoit qu'un simple Choeur, ou chacun en danfant,
+  et du Dieu des Raisins entonnant les louanges,
+  s'essorçoit d'attirer de fertiles vendanges.
+  la le vin et la joie eveillant les esprits,
+  _du plus habile chantre un Bouc étoit le prix._
+  Thespis sut le premier, qui barbouillé de lie,
+  promena par les bourgs cette heureuse folie;
+  et d'acteurs mal ornés chargeant un tombereau,
+  amusa les passans d'un spectacle nouveau.
+  aeschyle dans le Choeur jetta les personages;
+  d'un masque plus honnéte habilla les visages:
+  sur les ais d'un Theatre en public exhaussé,
+  fit paroitre l'acteur d'un brodequin chaussé.
+
+  L'art poetique, _chant troisieme._
+
+
+
+
+417.--_the sland'rous Chorus drown'd In shameful silence, lost the pow'r
+to wound._
+
+Chorusque turpiter obticuit, _sublato jure nocendi._
+
+"Evidently because, though the _jus nocendi_ was taken away, yet that
+was no good reason why the Chorus should entirely cease. M. Dacier
+mistakes the matter. _Le choeur se tût ignominuesement, parce-que la
+hi reprimasa licence, et que ce sut, à proprement parler, la hi qui le
+bannit; ce qu' Horace regarde comme une espece de siétrissure. Properly
+speaking,_ the law only abolished the abuse of the chorus. The ignominy
+lay in dropping the entire use of it, on account of this restraint.
+Horace was of opinion, that the chorus ought to have been retained,
+though the state had abridged it of the licence, it so much delighted
+in, of an illimited, and intemperate satire, _Sublatus chorus fuit,_
+says Scaliger, _cujus illae videntur esse praecipuae partet, ut
+potissimum ques liberet, laedertnt."
+
+Notes on the Art of Poetry._ If Dacier be mistaken in this instance, his
+mistake is common to all the commentators; not one of whom, the learned
+and ingenious author of the above he excepted, has been able to extract
+from these words any marks of Horace's predilection in favour of a
+Chorus, or censure of "its culpable omission" in Comedy. De Nores
+expresses the general sense of the Criticks on this passage.
+
+[Turpiter.] _Quia lex, declaratâ Veteris Conaetdiae scriptorum
+improbitate, a maledicendi licentiâ deterruit.--Sicuti enim antea
+summâ cum laude Vetus Comediae, accepta est, ita postea summa est cum
+turpitudine vetantibus etiam legibus repudiata, quia probis hominibus,
+quia sapientibus, quia inte*s maledixerit. Quare Comaediae postea
+conscriptae ad hujusce Veteris differentiam sublato choro, novae
+appellatae sunt._
+
+What Horace himself says on a similar occasion, of the suppression of
+the Fescennine verses, in the Epistle to Augustus, is perhaps the best
+comment on this passage.
+
+  --quin etiam lex
+  Paenaque lata, malo quae nollet carmine quenquam--
+  describi: vertere modum formindine fustis
+  ad bene dicendum delectandumque redacti.
+
+
+
+
+421.---Daring their Graecian masters to forsake,
+  And for their themes domestick glories take.
+
+  Nec minimum meruere decus, vestigia Graeca
+  Ausi deserere, & celebrare domestica facta.
+
+The author of the English Commentary has a note on this passage, replete
+with fine taste, and sound criticism.
+
+"This judgment of the poet, recommending domestic subjects, as fittest
+for the stage, may be inforced from many obvious reasons. As, 1. that
+it renders the drama infinitely more _affecting:_ and this on many
+accounts, 1. As a subject, taken from our own annals, must of course
+carry with it an air of greater probability, at least to the generality
+of the people, than one borrowed from those of any other nation. 2.
+As we all find a personal interest in the subject. 3. As it of course
+affords the best and easiest opportunities of catching our minds, by
+frequent references to our manners, prejudices, and customs. And of how
+great importance this is, may be learned from hence, that, even in that
+exhibition of foreign characters, dramatic writers have found themselves
+obliged to sacrifice sacrifice truth and probability to the humour of
+the people, and to dress up their personages, contrary to their own
+better judgment, in some degree according to the mode and manners of
+their respective countries [Footnote: "L'etude égale des poëtes de
+différens tems à plaire à leurs spectateurs, a encore inssué dans la
+maniere de peindre les caracteres. Ceux qui paroissent sur la scene
+Angloise, Espagnols, Françoise, sont plus Anglois, Espagnols, ou
+François que Grecs ou Romains, en un mot que ce qu'ils doivent être. II
+ne faut qu'en peu de discernement pour s'appercevoir que nos Césars et
+nos Achilles, en gardant même un partie de leur charactere primitif,
+prennent droit de naturalité dans le païs où ils sont transplantez,
+semblables à ces portraits, qui sortent de la main d'un peintre Flamand,
+Italien, ou François, et qui portent l'empreinte du pais. On veut plaire
+à sa nation, et rien ne plait tant que le resemblance de manieres et de
+enie." P. Brumoy, vol. i. p. 200.] And, 4. as the writer himself, from an
+intimate acquaintance with the character and genius of his own nation,
+will be more likely to draw the manners with life and spirit.
+
+"II. Next, which should ever be one great point in view, it renders the
+drama more generally useful in its moral destination. For, it being
+conversant about domestic acts, the great instruction of the fable more
+sensibly affects us; and the characters exhibited, from the part we
+take in their good or ill qualities, will more probably influence our
+conduct.
+
+"III. Lastly, this judgment will deserve the greater regard, as the
+conduct recommended was, in fact, the practice of our great models, the
+Greek writers; in whose plays, it is observable, there is scarcely a
+single scene, which lies out of the confines of Greece.
+
+"But, notwithstanding these reasons, the practice hath, in all times,
+been but little followed. The Romans, after some few attempts in this
+way (from whence the poet took the occasion of delivering it as a
+dramatic precept), soon relapsed into their old use; as appears from
+Seneca's, and the titles of other plays, written in, or after the
+Augustan age. Succeeding times continued the same attachment to Grecian,
+with the addition of an equal fondness for Roman, subjects. The reason
+in both instances hath been ever the same: that strong and early
+prejudice, approaching somewhat to adoration, in favour of the
+illustrious names of those two great states. The account of this matter
+is very easy; for their writings, as they furnish the business of our
+younger, and the amusement of our riper, years; and more especially make
+the study of all those, who devote themselves to poetry and the stage,
+insensibly infix in us an excessive veneration for all affairs in which
+they were concerned; insomuch, that no other subjects or events seem
+considerable enough, or rise, in any proportion, to our ideas of the
+dignity of the tragic scene, but such as time and long admiration have
+consecrated in the annals of their story. Our Shakespeare was, I think,
+the first that broke through this bondage of classical superstition. And
+he owed this felicity, as he did some others, to his want of what is
+called the advantage of a learned education. Thus uninfluenced by the
+weight of early prepossession, he struck at once into the road of nature
+and common sense: and without designing, without knowing it, hath
+left us in his historical plays, with all their anomalies, an exacter
+resemblance of the Athenian stage, than is any where to be found in its
+most processed admirers and copyists.
+
+"I will only add, that, for the more successful execution of this rule
+of celebrating domestic acts, much will depend on the aera, from
+whence the subject is taken. Times too remote have almost the same
+inconveniences, and none of the advantages, which attend the ages
+of Greece and Rome. And for those of later date, they are too much
+familiarized to us, and have not as yet acquired that venerable cast and
+air, which tragedy demands, and age only can give. There is no fixing
+this point with precision. In the general, that aera is the fittest for
+the poet's purpose, which, though fresh enough in pure minds to warm and
+interest us in the event of the action, is yet at so great a distance
+from the present times, as to have lost all those mean and disparaging
+circumstances, which unavoidably adhere to recent deeds, and, in some
+measure, sink the noblest modern transactions to the level of ordinary
+life."
+
+  _Notes on the Art of Poetry._
+
+The author of the essay on the writings and genius of Pope elegantly
+forces a like opinion, and observes that Milton left a list of
+thirty-three subjects for Tragedy, all taken from the English Annals.
+
+
+
+
+423.--_Whether the gown prescrib'd a stile more mean,
+  or the inwoven purple rais'd the scene.
+
+  Vel qui praetextas, vel qui docuere togatas._
+
+The gown (_Toga_) being the common Roman habit, signisies _Comedy;_
+and the inwoven purple _(praetexta)_ being appropriated to the higher
+orders, refers to Tragedy. _Togatae_ was also used as a general term to
+denote all plays, which the habits, manners, and arguments were Roman;
+those, of which the customs and subjects were Graecian, like the Comedies
+of Terence, were called _Palliatae_.
+
+
+
+
+429.--But you, bright heirs of the Pompilian Blood,
+  Never the verse approve, &c.
+
+  Vos, O Pompilius Sanguis, &c.
+
+The English commentary exhibits a very just and correct analysis of this
+portion of the Epistle, but neither here, nor in any other part of it,
+observes the earnestness with which the poet, on every new topick,
+addresses his discourse _the Pisos;_ a practice, that has not passed
+unnoticed by other commentators.
+
+[On this passage De Nores writes thus. _Vos O Pompilius Sanguis!] Per
+apostrophen_ sermonem convertit ad pisones, eos admonens, ut sibi
+caveant _ab bujusmodi romanorum poetarum errore videtur autem_ eos ad
+attentionem excitare _dum ait, Vos O! et quae sequntur._
+
+
+
+
+434.--_Because_ DEMOCRITUS, _&c.] Excludit sanos Helicone poetas
+Democritus._
+
+_De Nores_ has a comment on this passage; but the ambiguity of the Latin
+relative renders it uncertain, how far the Critick applies particularly
+to _the Pisos_, except by the _Apostrophe_ taken notice of in the last
+note. His words are these. _Nisi horum_ democriticorum _opinionem
+horatius hoc in loco refutasset, frustra de poetica facultate_ in hac
+AD PISONES EPISTOLA _praecepta literis tradidisset, cùm arte ipsâ
+repudiatâ_, ab his _tantummodo insaniae & furori daretur locus._
+
+
+
+
+443.--_Which no vile_ _CUTBERD'S razor'd hands profane. Tonfori_ LYCINO.]
+
+_Lycinus_ was not only, as appears from Horace, an eminent Barber; but
+said, by some, to have been created a Senator by Augustus, on account of
+his enmity to Pompey.
+
+
+
+
+466.--ON NATURE'S PATTERN TOO I'LL BID HIM LOOK, AND COPY MANNERS FROM
+HER LIVING BOOK.]
+
+_Respicere examplar vitae, morumque jubebo_ doctum imitatorem, _& veras
+hinc ducere voces._
+
+This precept seeming, at first sight, liable to be interpreted as
+recommending _personal imitations_, De Nores, Dacier, and the Author of
+the English Commentary, all concur to inculcate the principles of Plato,
+Aristotle, and Cicero, shewing that the truth of representation (_verae
+voces_) must be derived from an imitation of _general nature_, not from
+copying _individuals_. Mankind, however, being a mere collection
+of _individuals_, it is impossible for the Poet, not to found his
+observations on particular objects; and his chief skill seems to consist
+in the happy address, with which he is able to _generalize_ his ideas,
+and to sink the likeness of the individual in the resemblance of
+universal nature. A great Poet, and a great Painter, have each
+illustrated this doctrine most happily; and with their observations I
+shall conclude this note.
+
+  Chacun peint avec art dans ce nouveau miroir,
+  S'y vit avec plaisir, ou crut ne s'y point voir.
+  L'Avare des premiers rit du tableau fidele
+  D'un Avare, souvent tracé sur son modéle;
+  Et mille fois un Fat, finement exprimé,
+  Méconnut le portrait, sur lui-méme formé.
+
+  BOILEAU, _L'Art Poet_. ch. iii.
+
+"Nothing in the art requires more attention and judgment, or more of
+that power of discrimination, which may not improperly be called Genius,
+than the steering between general ideas and individuality; for tho' the
+body of the whole must certainly be composed by the first, in order to
+communicate a character of grandeur to the whole, yet a dash of the
+latter is sometimes necessary to give an interest. An individual model,
+copied with scrupulous exactness, makes a mean stile like the Dutch; and
+the neglect of an actual model, and the method of proceeding solely from
+idea, has a tendency to make the Painter degenerate into a mannerist.
+
+"It is necessary to keep the mind in repair, to replace and refreshen
+those impressions of nature, which are continually wearing away.
+
+"A circumstance mentioned in the life of Guido, is well worth the
+attention of Artists: He was asked from whence he borrowed his idea of
+beauty, which is acknowledged superior to that of every other Painter;
+he said he would shew all the models he used, and ordered a common
+Porter to sit before him, from whom he drew a beautiful countenance;
+this was intended by Guido as an exaggeration of his conduct; but his
+intention was to shew that he thought it necessary to have _some model_
+of nature before you, however you deviate from it, and correct it from
+the idea which you have formed in your mind of _perfect beauty_.
+
+"In Painting it is far better to have a _model_ even to _depart_ from,
+than to have nothing fixed and certain to determine the idea: There is
+something then to proceed on, something to be corrected; so that even
+supposing that no part is taken, the model has still been not without
+use.
+
+"Such habits of intercourse with nature, will at least create that
+_variety_ which will prevent any one's prognosticating what manner
+of work is to be produced, on knowing the subject, which is the most
+disagreeable character an Artist can have."
+
+_Sir Joshua Reynolds's Notes on Fresnoy._
+
+
+
+
+480.--ALBIN'S HOPEFUL.] _Filius ALBINI_
+
+Albinus was said to be a rich Usurer. All that is necessary to explain
+this passage to the English reader, is to observe, that _the Roman Pound
+consisted of Twelve Ounces._
+
+
+
+
+487.--_Worthy the _Cedar _and the_ Cypress.]
+
+The antients, for the better preservation of their manuscripts, rubbed
+them with the juice of _Cedar,_ and kept them in cases of _Cypress._
+
+
+
+
+496.--Shall Lamia in our sight her sons devour,
+  and give them back alive the self-same hour?]
+
+  _Neu pranse Lamiae vivum puerum extrabat alvo._
+
+Alluding most probably to some Drama of the time, exhibiting so
+monstrous and horrible an incident.
+
+
+
+
+503.--The Sosii] Roman booksellers.
+
+
+
+
+523.--Chaerilus.]
+A wretched poet, who celebrated the actions, and was distinguished by
+the patronage, of Alexander.
+
+
+
+
+527.--If Homer seem to nod, or chance to dream.]
+
+It may not be disagreeable to the reader to see what two poets of our
+own country have said on this subject.
+
+  --foul descriptions are offensive still,
+  either for being _like,_ or being _ill._
+  For who, without a qualm, hath ever look'd
+  on holy garbage, tho' by Homer cook'd?
+  Whose railing heroes, and whose wounded Gods,
+  make some suspect he snores, as well as nods.
+  But I offend--Virgil begins to frown,
+  And Horace looks with indignation down:
+  My blushing Muse with conscious fear retires,
+  and whom they like, implicitly admires.
+
+  --Roscommon's _Essay on Translated Verse._
+  A prudent chief not always must display
+  Her pow'rs in equal ranks, and fair array:
+  But with th' occasion and the place comply,
+  Conceal his force, nay seem sometimes to fly.
+  Those oft are stratagems, which errors seem,
+  Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream.
+  POPE'S _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+530.--POEMS AND PICTURES ARE ADJUDC'D ALIKE.]
+
+  _Ut pictura poesis._
+
+Here ends, in my opinion, the _didactick_ part of this Epistle; and it
+is remarkable that it concludes, as it begun, with a reference to the
+Analogy between Poetry and Painting. The arts are indeed congenial, and
+the same general principles govern both. Artists might collect many
+useful hints from this Epistle. The Lectures of the President of the
+Royal Academy are not rarely accommodated to the study of Painters; but
+Poets may refine their taste, and derive the most valuable instruction,
+from the perusal of those judicious and elegant discourses.
+
+
+
+
+535.--O THOU, MY PISO'S ELDER HOPE AND PRIDE!]
+
+  O MAJOR JUVENUM!
+
+We are now arrived at that portion of the Epistle, which I must confess
+I am surprised, that any Commentator ever past, without observing the
+peculiar language and conduct of the Poet. There is a kind of awful
+affection in his manner, wonderfully calculated to move our feelings and
+excite our attention. The Didactick and the Epistolary stile were never
+more happily blended. The Poet assumes the air of a father advising his
+son, rather than of a teacher instructing his pupils. Many Criticks have
+thrown out a cursory observation or two, as it were extorted from them
+by the pointed expressions of the Poet: but none of them, that I have
+consulted, have attempted to assign any reason, why Horace, having
+closed his particular precepts, addresses all the remainder of his
+Epistle, on the nature and expediency of Poetical pursuits, to _the
+Elder Piso only. I have endeavoured to give the most natural reason for
+this conduct; a reason which, if I am not deceived, readers the whole of
+the Epistle interesting, as well as clear and consistent; a reason which
+I am the more inclined to think substantial, as it confirms in great
+measure the system of the Author of the English Commentary, only shewing
+_the reflections on the drama in _this Epistle, as well as in the
+Epistle to Augustus, to be _incidental_, rather than the _principal
+subject_, _and main design_, of the Poet,
+
+_Jason De Nores_, in this instance, as in most others, has paid more
+attention to his Author, than the rest of the Commentators. His note is
+as follows.
+
+[O major juvenum!] _Per apostrophen _ad majorem natu __ex pisonibus
+convertis orationem, reddit rationem quare summum, ac perfectissimum
+poema esse debeat utitur autem proaemio quasi quodam ad _benevolentiam
+& attentionem _comparandum sumit autem _benevolentiam _à patris & filii
+laudibus:_ attentionem_, dum ait, "hoc tibi dictum tolle memor!" quasi
+dicat, per asseverationem,_firmum _omninò et _verum.
+
+
+
+
+543.--_Boasts not _MESSALA'S PLEADINGS,_ nor is deem'd _AULUS IN
+JURISPRUDENCE._]
+
+The Poet, with great delicacy, throws in a compliment to these
+distinguished characters of his time, for their several eminence in
+their profession. Messala is more than once mentioned as the friend and
+patron of Horace.
+
+
+
+
+562.--_Forty thousand sesterces a year_.]
+
+The pecuniary qualification for the Equestrian Order. _Census equestrem
+summam nummorum. _
+
+
+
+
+565.--_Nothing_, IN SPITE OF GENIUS, YOU'LL _commence_]
+
+_Tu nihil, invitâ dices faciesve Minervâ._
+
+Horace, says Dacier, here addresses the Elder Piso, as a man of mature
+years and understanding; _and be begins with panegyrick, rather than
+advice, in order to soften the precepts he is about to lay down to him._
+
+The explication of De Nores is much to the same effect, as well as that
+of many other Commentators.
+
+
+
+
+567.--But grant you should hereafter write. Si quid tamen olim
+scripseris.]
+
+"This," says Dacier, "was some time afterwards actually the case, if we
+may believe the old Scholiast, who writes that _this _PISO _composed
+Tragedies._"
+
+
+
+
+568.--Metius.] A great Critick; and said to be appointed by Augustus as a
+Judge, to appreciate the merit of literary performances. His name and
+office are, on other occasions, mentioned and recognized by Horace.
+
+
+
+
+570.--Weigh the work well, AND KEEP IT BACK NINE YEARS!
+nonumque prematur in annum!]
+
+This precept, which, like many others in the Epistle, is rather
+retailed, than invented, by Horace, has been thought by some Criticks
+rather extravagant; but it acquires in this place, as addressed to the
+elder Piso, a concealed archness, very agreeable to the Poet's stile and
+manner. Pope has applied the precept with much humour, but with more
+open raillery than need the writer's purpose in this Epistle.
+
+  I drop at last, but in unwilling ears,
+  This wholesome counsel----KEEP YOUR PIECE NINE YEARS!
+
+Vida, in his Poeticks, after the strongest censure of carelessness
+and precipitation, concludes with a caution against too excessive an
+attention to correctness, too frequent revisals, and too long delay of
+publication. The passage is as elegant as judicious.
+
+  Verùm esto hic etiam modus: huic imponere curae
+  Nescivere aliqui finem, medicasque secandis
+  Morbis abstinulsse manus, & parcere tandem
+  Immites, donec macie confectus et aeger
+  Aruit exhausto velut omni sanguine foetus,
+  Nativumque decus posuit, dum plurima ubique
+  Deformat sectos artus inhonesta cicatrix.
+  Tuque ideo vitae usque memor brevioris, ubi annos
+  Post aliquot (neque enim numerum, neque temporar pono
+  certa tibi) addideris decoris satis, atque nitoris,
+  Rumpe moras, opus ingentem dimitte per orbem,
+  Perque manus, perque ora virûm permitte vagari.
+
+  POETIC. lib 3.
+
+
+
+
+592.--AND ON THE SACRED TABLET GRAVE THE LAW. LEGES INCIDERE LIGNO.]
+
+Laws were originally written in verse, and graved on wood. The Roman
+laws were engraved on copper. DACIER.
+
+
+
+
+595.--TYRTAEUS.] An ancient Poet, who is said to have been given to the
+Spartans as a General by the Oracle, and to have animated the Troops by
+his Verses to such a degree, as to be the means of their triumph over
+the Messenians, after two defeats: to which Roscommon alludes in his
+_Essay on translated Verse_.
+
+  When by impulse from Heav'n, Tyrtaeus sung,
+  In drooping soldiers a new courage sprung;
+  Reviving Sparta now the fight maintain'd,
+  And what two Gen'rals lost, a Poet gain'd.
+
+Some fragments of his works are still extant. They are written in the
+Elegiac measure; yet the sense is not, as in other Poets, always bound
+in by the Couplet; but often breaks out into the succeeding verse: a
+practice, that certainly gives variety and animation to the measure;
+and which has been successfully imitated in the _rhime_ of our own
+language by Dryden, and other good writers.
+
+
+
+
+604.--_Deem then with rev'rence, &c]
+
+  _Ne forte pudori
+  Sit tibi_ MUSA, _Lyrae solers, & Cantor Apollo._
+
+The author of the English Commentary agrees, that this noble encomium on
+Poetry is addressed to _the Pisos_. All other Commentators apply it, as
+surely the text warrants, to _the_ ELDER PISO. In a long controversial
+note on this passage, the learned Critick abovementioned also explains
+the text thus. "In fact, this whole passage [from _et vitae_, &c.
+to _cantor Apollo_] obliquely glances at the two sorts of poetry,
+peculiarly cultivated by himself, and is an indirect apology for his own
+choice of them. For 1. _vitae monstrata via est_, is the character of
+his _Sermones_. And 2. all the rest of his _Odes_"--"I must add, the
+very terms of the Apology so expressly define and characterize Lyrick
+Poetry, that it is something strange, it should have escaped vulgar
+notice." There is much ingenuity in this interpretation, and it is
+supported, with much learning and ability; yet I cannot think that Horace
+meant to conclude this fine encomium, on the dignity and excellence of
+the Art or Poetry, by a partial reference to the two particular species
+of it, that had been the objects of his own attention. The Muse, and
+Apollo, were the avowed patrons and inspirers of Poetry in general,
+whether Epick, Dramatick, Civil, Moral, or Religious; all of which are
+enumerated by Horace in the course of his panegyrick, and referred to
+in the conclusion of it, that Piso might not for a moment think himself
+degraded by his attention to Poetry.
+
+In hoc epilago reddit breviter rationem, quare utilitates à poetis
+mortalium vitae allatas resenfuerit: ne scilicet Pisones, ex nobilissimd
+Calpurniorum familiâ ortos, Musarum & Artis Poeticae quam profitebantur,
+aliquando paniteret.
+
+DE NORES.
+
+
+Haec, inquit, eo recensui, ut quam olim res arduas poetica tractaverit,
+cognoscas, & ne Musas coutemnas, atque in Poetarum referri numerum,
+erubescas.
+
+NANNIUS.
+
+
+Ne forte, pudori. Haec dixi, O Piso, ne te pudeat Poetam esse.
+
+SCHREVELIUS.
+
+
+
+
+608.---WHETHER GOOD VERSE or NATURE is THE FRUIT,
+  OR RAIS'D BY ART, HAS LONG BEEN IN DISPUTE.]
+
+In writing precepts for poetry to _young persons_, this question could
+not be forgotten. Horace therefore, to prevent the Pisos from falling
+into a fatal error, by too much confidence in their Genius, asserts
+most decidedly, that Nature and Art must both conspire to form a Poet.
+DACIER.
+
+The Duke of Buckingham has taken up this subject very happily.
+
+  _Number and Rhyme,_ and that harmonious found,
+  Which never _does_ the ear with harshness wound,
+  Are necessary, yet but vulgar arts;
+  For all in vain these superficial parts
+  Contribute to the structure of the whole,
+  Without a GENIUS too; for that's the Soul!
+  A spirit, which inspires the work throughout,
+  As that of Nature moves the world about.
+
+  As all is dullness, where the Fancy's bad,
+  So without Judgement, Fancy is but mad:
+  And Judgement has a boundless influence,
+  Not only in the choice of words, or sense,
+  But on the world, on manners, and on men;
+  Fancy is but the feather of the pen:
+  Reason is that substantial useful part,
+  Which gains the head, while t'other wins the heart.
+
+  Essay on Poetry.
+
+
+
+
+626.---As the fly hawker, &t. Various Commentator concur in marking the
+personal application of this passage.
+
+Faithful friends are necessary, to apprise a Poet of his errors: but
+such friends are rare, and difficult to be distinguished by rich and
+powerful Poets, like the Pisos. DACIER.
+
+Pisonem admonet, ut minime hoc genus divitum poetarum imitetur,
+neminemque vel jam pranfum, aut donatum, ad fuorum carminum emendationem
+admittat neque enim poterit ille non vehementer laudare, etiamsi
+vituperanda videantur. DE NORES.
+
+In what sense Roscommon, the Translator of this Epistle, understood this
+passage, the following lines from another of his works will testify.
+
+  I pity from my foul unhappy men,
+  Compell'd by want to prostitute their pen:
+  Who must, like lawyers, either starve or plead,
+  And follow, right or wrong, where guineas lead:
+  But you, POMPILIAN, wealthy, pamper'd Heirs,
+  Who to your country owe your swords and cares,
+  Let no vain hope your easy mind seduce!
+  For rich ill poets are without excuse.
+  "Tis very dang'rous, tamp'ring with a Muse;
+  The profit's small, and you have much to lose:
+  For tho' true wit adorns your birth, or place,
+  Degenerate lines degrade th' attainted race."
+
+  Essay on Translated Verse.
+
+
+
+630.--_But if he keeps a table, &c.--Si vero est unctum, &c._
+
+"Here (says _Dacier_) the Poet pays, _en passant_, a very natural and
+delicate compliment to _the Pisos_." The drift of the Poet is evident,
+but I cannot discover the compliment.
+
+
+
+
+636.--_Is there a man, to whom you've given ought,
+  Or mean to give?_
+
+  TU, _seu donaris, &c._
+
+Here the Poet advises the Elder Piso never to read his verses to a man,
+to whom he has made a promise, or a present: a venal friend cannot be a
+good Critick; he will not speak his mind freely to his patron; but, like
+a corrupt judge, betray truth and justice for the sake of interest.
+DACIER.
+
+
+
+
+643.--_Kings have been said to ply repeated bowls, &c._
+
+  _Reges dicuntur, &c._
+
+_Regum exemplo_ Pisones admonet; _ut neminem admittant ad suorum
+carminum emendationem, nisi prius optimè cognitum, atque perspectum._ DE
+NORES.
+
+
+
+
+654.--QUINTILIUS.] The Poet _Quintilius Varus_, the relation and
+intimate friend of Virgil and Horace; of whom the latter lamented his
+death in a pathetick and beautiful Ode, still extant in his works.
+Quintilius appears to have been some time dead, at the time of our
+Poet's writing this Epistle. DACIER.
+
+[QUINTILIUS.] _Descriptis adulatorum moribus & consuetudine, assert
+optimi & sapientissimi judicis exemplum: Quintilii soilicet, qui
+tantae erat authoritatis apud Romanos, ut_ ei Virgilii opera Augustus
+tradiderit emendanda.
+
+
+
+
+664.--THE MAN, IN WHOM GOOD SENSE AND HONOUR JOIN.]
+
+It particularly suited Horace's purpose to paint the severe and rigid
+judge of composition. Pope's plan admitted softer colours in his draught
+of a true Critick.
+
+  But where's the man, who counsel can bestow,
+  Still pleas'd to teach, and yet not proud to know?
+  Unbiass'd, or by favour, or by spite;
+  Not dully prepossess'd, nor blindly right;
+  Tho' learn'd, well-bred; and tho' well-bred, sincere;
+  Modestly bold, and humanly severe:
+  Who to a friend his faults can freely show,
+  And gladly praise the merit of a foe?
+  Blest with a taste exact, yet unconfin'd;
+  A knowledge both of books and human kind;
+  Gen'rous converse; a soul exempt from pride;
+  And love to praise, with reason on his side?
+
+  _Essay on Criticism._
+
+
+
+
+684.--WHILE WITH HIS HEAD ERECT HE THREATS THE SKIES.]
+
+"Horace, (says _Dacier_) diverts himself with describing the folly of
+a Poet, whom his flatterers have driven mad." _To whom_ the caution
+against flatterers was addressed, has before been observed by _Dacier_.
+This description therefore, growing immediately out of that caution,
+must be considered as addressed _to_ the Elder Piso.
+
+
+
+
+699.--_Leap'd_ COLDLY _into AEtna's burning mount._
+
+  _Ardentem_ FRIGIDUS _aetnam insiluit._
+
+This is but a cold conceit, not much in the usual manner of Horace.
+
+
+
+
+710.--
+
+  _Whether, the victim of incestuous love,_
+  THE SACRED MONUMENT _he striv'd to move._
+
+  _An_ TRISTE BIDENTAL _moverit incestus_.
+
+The BIDENTAL was a place that had been struck with lightning, and
+afterwards expiated by the erection of an altar and the sacrifice of
+sheep; _hostiis_ BIDENTIBUS; from which it took its name. The removal
+or disturbance of this sacred monument was deemed sacrilege; and the
+attempt, a supposed judgement from heaven, as a punishment for some
+heavy crime.
+
+
+
+
+7l8.--
+
+  HANGS ON HIM, NE'ER TO QUIT, WITH CEASELESS SPEECH.
+  TILL GORG'D, AND FULL OF BLOOD, A VERY LEECH.
+
+The English Commentary introduces the explication of the last hundred
+and eleven lines of this Epistle, the lines which, I think, determine
+the scope and intention of the whole, in the following manner.
+
+"Having made all the reasonable allowances which a writer could expect,
+he (Horace) goes on to enforce _the general instruction of this part,
+viz._ A diligence in writing, by shewing [from l. 366 to 379] that a
+_mediocrity_, however tolerable, or even commendable, it might be in
+other arts, would never be allowed in this."--"This reflection leads him
+with great advantage [from l. 379 to 391] to _the general conclusion in
+view, viz._ that as none but excellent poetry will be allowed, it should
+be a warning to writers, how they engage in it without abilities; or
+publish without severe and frequent correction."
+
+If the learned Critick here means that "_the general instruction of this
+part, viz._ a diligence in writing, is chiefly inculcated, for the sake
+of _the general conclusion in view_, a warning to writers, how they
+engage in poetry without abilities, or publish without severe and
+frequent correction;" if, I say, a dissuasive from unadvised attempts,
+and precipitate publication, is conceived to be the main purpose and
+design of the Poet, we perfectly agree concerning this last, and
+important portion of the Epistle: with this addition, however, on my
+part, that such a dissuasive is not merely _general_, but _immediately_
+and _personally_ directed and applied to _the_ Elder Piso, and that
+too in the strongest terms that words can afford, and with a kind of
+affectionate earnestness, particularly expressive of the Poet's desire
+to awaken and arrest his young friend's attention.
+
+I have endeavoured, after the example of the learned and ingenious
+author of the English Commentary, though on somewhat different
+principles, to prove "an unity of design in this Epistle," as well as
+to illustrate "the pertinent connection of its several parts." Many
+perhaps, like myself, will hesitate to embrace the system of that acute
+Critick; and as many, or more, may reject my hypothesis. But I am
+thoroughly persuaded that no person, who has considered this work
+of Horace with due attention, and carefully examined the drift and
+intention of the writer, but will at least be convinced of the folly
+or blindness, or haste and carelessness of those Criticks, however
+distinguished, who have pronounced it to be a crude, unconnected,
+immethodical, and inartificial composition. No modern, I believe, ever
+more intently studied, or more clearly understood the works of Horace,
+than BOILEAU. His Art of Poetry is deservedly admired. But I am
+surprised that it has never been observed that the Plan of that work is
+formed on the model of this Epistle, though some of the parts are more
+in detail, and others varied, according to the age and country of the
+writer. The first Canto, like the first Section of _the Epistle to the
+Pisos_, is taken up in general precepts. The second enlarges on the
+Lyrick, and Elegiack, and smaller species of Poetry, but cursorily
+mentioned, or referred to, by Horace; but introduced by him into that
+part of the Epistle, that runs exactly parallel with the second Canto of
+Boileau's Art of Poetry. The third Canto treats, entirely on the ground
+of Horace, of Epick and Dramatick Poetry; though the French writer has,
+with great address, accommodated to his purpose what Horace has said but
+collaterally, and as it were incidentally, of the Epick. The last Canto
+is formed on the final section, the last hundred and eleven lines, of
+_the Epistle to the Pisos:_ the author however, judiciously omitting in
+a professed Art of Poetry, the description of the Frantick Bard, and
+concluding his work, like the Epistle to Augustus, with a compliment to
+the Sovereign.
+
+This imitation I have not pointed out, in order to depreciate the
+excellent work of Boileau; but to shew that, in the judgement of so
+great a writer, the method of Horace was not so ill conceived, as
+Scaliger pretends, even for the outline of an Art of Poetry: Boileau
+himself, at the very conclusion of his last Canto, seems to avow and
+glory in the charge of having founded his work on that of HORACE.
+
+  Pour moi, qui jusq'ici nourri dans la Satire,
+  N'ofe encor manier la Trompette & la Lyre,
+  Vous me verrez pourtant, dans ce champ glorieux,
+  Vous animez du moins de la voix & des yeux;
+  _Vous offrir ces leçons, que ma Muse au Parnasse,
+  Rapporta, jeune encor_, DU COMMERCE D'HORACE.
+  BOILEAU.
+
+After endeavouring to vouch so strong a testimony, in favour of Horace's
+_unity_ and _order_, from France, it is but candid to acknowledge that
+two of the most popular Poets, of our own country, were of a contrary
+opinion. Dryden, in his dedication of his translation of the aeneid to
+Lord Mulgrave, author of the Essay on Poetry, writes thus. "In this
+address to your Lordship, I design not a treatise of Heroick Poetry, but
+write _in a loose Epistolary way_, somewhat tending to that subject,
+_after the example of Horace_, in his first Epistle of the 2d Book to
+Augustus Caesar, _and of that_ to the Pisos; which we call his Art of
+Poetry. in both of which _he observes_ no method _that I can trace_,
+whatever Scaliger the Father, or Heinsius may have seen, _or rather_
+think they had seen_. I have taken up, laid down, and resumed as often
+as I pleased the same subject: and this loose proceeding I shall use
+through all this Prefatory Dedication. _Yet all this while I have been
+sailing with some side-wind or other toward the point I proposed in the
+beginning_." The latter part of the comparison, if the comparison is
+meant to hold throughout, as well as the words, "_somewhat tending to
+that subject,_" seem to qualify the rest; as if Dryden only meant
+to distinguish the _loose_ EPISTOLARY _way_ from the formality of a
+_Treatise_. However this may be, had he seen the _Chart_, framed by the
+author of the English Commentary, or that now delineated, perhaps he
+might have allowed, that Horace not only made towards his point with
+some side-wind or other, but proceeded by an easy navigation and
+tolerably plain sailing.
+
+Many passages of this Dedication, as well as other pieces of Dryden's
+prose, have been versified by Pope. His opinion also, on the Epistle
+to the Pisos, is said to have agreed with that of Dryden; though the
+Introduction to his Imitation of the Epistle to Augustus forbids us to
+suppose he entertained the like sentiments of that work with his great
+predecessor. His general idea of Horace stands recorded in a most
+admirable didactick poem; in the course of which he seems to have kept a
+steady eye on this work of our author.
+
+  Horace still charms with graceful negligence,
+  And WITHOUT METHOD talks us into sense;
+  Will, like a friend, familiarly convey
+  The truest notions in the easiest way:
+  He, who supreme in judgment, as in wit,
+  Might boldly censure, as he boldly writ,
+  Yet judg'd with coolness, tho' he sung with fire;
+  His precepts teach but what his works inspire.
+  Our Criticks take a contrary extreme,
+  They judge with fury, but they write with flegm:
+  NOR SUFFERS HORACE MORE IN WRONG TRANSLATIONS
+  By Wits, THAN CRITICKS IN AS WRONG QUOTATIONS.
+
+  Essay on Criticism.
+
+
+                *     *     *     *     *
+
+
+I have now compleated my observations on this popular Work of Horace, of
+which I at first attempted the version and illustration, as a matter of
+amusement but which, I confess, I have felt, in the progress, to be an
+arduous undertaking, and a laborious task. Such parts of the Epistle, as
+corresponded with the general ideas of Modern Poetry, and the Modern
+Drama, I flattered myself with the hopes of rendering tolerable to the
+English Reader; but when I arrived at those passages, wholly relative to
+the Antient Stage, I began to feel my friends dropping off, and leaving
+me a very thin audience. My part too grew less agreeable, as it grew
+more difficult. I was almost confounded in the Serio-Comick scenes of
+the Satyrick Piece: In the musical department I was ready, with Le
+Fevre, to execrate the Flute, and all the Commentators on it; and when I
+found myself reduced to scan the merits and of Spondees and Trimeters, I
+almost fancied myself under the dominion of some _plagosus Orbilius,_
+and translating the _prosodia_ of the Latin Grammar. Borrowers and
+Imitators cull the sweets, and suck the classick flowers, rejecting at
+pleasure all that appears sour, bitter, or unpalatable. Each of them
+travels at his ease in the high turnpike-road of poetry, quoting the
+authority of Horace himself to keep clear of difficulties;
+
+  --et que
+  Desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit.
+
+A translator must stick close to his Author, follow him up hill and down
+dale, over hedge and ditch, tearing his way after his leader thro' the
+thorns and brambles of literature, sometimes lost, and often benighted.
+
+  A master I have, and I am his man,
+  Galloping dreary dun!
+
+The reader, I fear, will fancy I rejoice too much at having broke loose
+from my bondage, and that I grow wanton with the idea of having regained
+my liberty. I shall therefore engage an advocate to recommend me to his
+candour and indulgence; and as I introduced these notes with some lines
+from a noble Poet of our own country, I shall conclude them with an
+extract from a French Critick: Or, if I may speak the language of my
+trade, as I opened these annotations with a Prologue from Roscommon, I
+shall drop the curtain with an Epilogue from Dacier. Another curtain
+now demands my attention. I am called from the Contemplation of Antient
+Genius, to sacrifice, with due respect, to Modern Taste: I am summoned
+from a review of the magnificent spectacles of Greece and Rome, to the
+rehearsal of a Farce at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket.
+
+                   *     *     *     *     *
+
+Voila tout ce que j'ai cru necessaire pour l'intelligence de la Poetique
+d'Horace! si Jule Scaliger l'avoit bien entendue, il lui auroit rendu
+plus de justice, & en auroit parlé plus modestment. Mais il ne s'eflort
+pat donnê la temps de le bien comprendre. Ce Livre estoit trop petit
+pour estre gouté d'un homme comme lui, qui faisoit grand cas des gros
+volumes, & qui d'ailleurs aimoit bien mieux donner des regles que d'en
+recevoir. Sa Poetique est assurément un ouvrage d'une erudition infinie;
+on y trouve par tout des choses fort rechercheés, & elle est toute
+pleine de faillies qui marquent beaucoup d'esprit: mais j'oferai dire
+qu'il n'y a point de justessee dans la pluspart de fes jugemens, & que
+sa critique n'est pas heureuse. Il devoit un peu plus etudier ces grands
+maîtres, pour se corriger de ce defaut, qui rendra toujours le plus
+grand savoir inutile, ou au moins rude &c sec. Comme un homme delicat
+etanchera mille fois mieux sa soif, & boira avec plus de goût & de
+plaisir dans un ruisseau dont les eaux seront clairs & pures, que dans
+un fleuve plein de bourbe & de limon: tout de même, un esprit fin qui ne
+cherche que la justesse & une certaine fleur de critique, trouvera bien
+mieux son compte dans ce petite traité d'Horace, qu'il ne le trouverait
+dans vingt volumes aussi enormes que la Poetique de Scaliger. On peut
+dire veritablement que celuy qui boit dans cette source pure, plate se
+_proluit auro;_ & tant pis pour celuy qui ne fait pas le connoistre.
+Pour moi j'en ai un tres grand cas. Je ne fay si j'auray esté assez
+heureux pour la bien éclaircir, & pour en dissiper si bien toutes
+les difficultés, qu'il n'y en reste aucune. Les plus grandes de ces
+difficultés, viennent des passages qu'Horace a imité des Grecs, ou des
+allusions qu'il y a faites. Je puis dire au moins que je n'en ay laisse
+passer aucune sans l'attaqaer; & je pourrais me vanter,
+
+  --nec tela nec ullas
+  V'itamsse vices Danaum.
+
+En general je puis dire que malgré la soule des Commentateurs & des
+Traducteurs, Horace estoit tres-malentendu, & que ses plus beaux
+endroits estoient défigurés par les mauvais sens qu'on leur avoit donnés
+jusques icy, & il ne faut paus s'en étonner. La pluspart des gens ne
+reconnoissent pas tant l'autorité de la raison que celle du grand
+nombre, pour laquelle ils ont un profond respect. Pour moy qui fay qu'en
+matiere de critique on ne doit pas comptez les voix, mais les peser;
+j'avoiie que j'ay secoué ce joug, _& que sans m'assijetir au sentiment
+de personne, j'ay tâché de suivre Horace, & de déméler ce qu'il a dit
+d'avec ce qu'on luy a fait dire._ J'ay mesme toûjours remarqué (& j'en
+pourrais donner des exemples bien sensibles) que quand des esprits
+accoûtumés aux cordes, comme dit Montagne, & qui n'osent tenter de
+franches allures, entreprennent de traduire & de commenter ces excellens
+Ouvrages, _où il y a plus de finesse & plus de mystere qu'il n'en
+paroist,_ tout leur travail ne fait que les gâter, & que la seule vertu
+qu'ayent leurs copies, c'est de nous dégoûter presque des originaux.
+Comme j'ay pris la liberté de juger du travail de ceux qui m'ont
+précedé, & que je n'ay pas fait difficulté de les condamner
+tres-souvent, je declare que je ne trouveray nullement mauvais qu'on
+juge du mien, & qu'on releve mes fautes: il est difficile qu'il n'y en
+ait, & mesme beaucoup; si quelqu'un veut donc se donner la peine de
+me reprendre, & de me faire voir que j'ay mal pris le sens, je me
+corrigeray avec plaisir: car je ne cherche que la verite, qui n'a jamais
+blesse personne: au lieu qu'on se trouve tou-jours mal de persister dans
+son ignorance et dans son erreur.
+
+Dacier
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Art Of Poetry,
+An Epistle To The Pisos, by Horace
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