Nor lofe for that malignant dull delight, 240 That fhunning faults, one quiet tenour keep; NOTES. 245 No fays fhould be overlooked, gives the reafon of the precept. For when a great writer's attention is fixed on a general view of Nature, and his imagination become warmed with the contemplation of great ideas, it can hardly be, but that there must be small irregularities in the difpofition both of matter and ftyle, becaufe the avoiding thefe requires a coolness of recollection, which a writer fo qualified and fo bufied is not master of. W. According to a moft juft and judicious obfervation in the first book of Strabo, « Καθαπερ γε εν τοις κολοσσικοις εργοις, ε το καθ' όλα έκατον ακριβες ζητεμέν, αλλα τοις καθ ̓ ὅλα προσεχομεν μᾶλλον ἐν εἰ καλως το όλον ετως κ' αν τέλοις ποιείσθαι δει την κρισιν. As in great coloffal works, we do not feek for exactnefs and accuracy in every part, but rather attend to the general effect, and beauty of the whole; fo ought we to judge of compofitions. And, as Quintilian fays, Ungues polire, & capillum reponere, is an ufelefs and ill-placed care. VER. 239. But in fuch lays] Thefe four lines are fuperior to Horace's, "Serpit humi tutus nimium," &c. VER. 247. Thus when we view] This is juftly and elegantly expreffed; and though it may feem difficult to fpeak of the fame fubject after fuch a defcription, yet Akenfide has ventured, and nobly fucceeded: "Mark, No fingle parts unequally furprize, All comes united to th' admiring eyes; 250 No monstrous height, or breadth, or length appear; The Whole at once is bold and regular. Whoever thinks a faultless piece to fee, Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er fhall be. In NOTES. "Mark, how the dread Pantheon stands, Amid the domes of modern hands! Amid the toys of fimple state, How fimply, how severely great! VER. 248. The world's just wonder, and ev'n thine, O Rome!] The Pantheon, I would fuppofe; perhaps St. Peter's; no matter which; the observation is true of both. There is something very Gothic in the taste and judgment of a learned man, who defpifes this mafter-piece of Art, the Pantheon, for those very qualities which deferve our admiration.- -"Nous efmerveillons comme l'on fait fi grand cas de ce Pantheon, veu que fon edifice n'est de fi grande industrie comme l'on crie: car chaque petit Mafson peut bien concevoir la maniere de fe façon tout en un inftant: car eftant la bafe fi maffive, et les murailles fi efpaiffes, ne nous a semblé difficile d'y adjouster la voute à claire voye." Pierre Belon's Obfervations, &c. The nature of the Gothic ftructures apparently led him into this mistake of the Architectonic art in general; that the excellency of it confifts in raifing the greatest weight on the least affignable support, fo that the edifice fhould have strength without the appearance of it, in order to excite admiration. But to a judicious eye fuch a building would have a contrary effect, the Appearance (as our poet expreffes it) of a monftrous height, or breadth, or length. Indeed did the juft proportions in regular Architecture take off from the grandeur of a building, by all the fingle parts coming united to the eye, as this learned traveller feems to infinuate, it would be a reasonable objection to those rules on which this Mafter-piece of Art was conftructed. But it is not fo. The Poet tells us truly, W. "The Whole at once is bold and regular.” VER. 253. Whoever thinks a faultless piece to fee,] He fhews next [from ver. 252 to 263.] that to fix our cenfure on fingle parts, In ev'ry work regard the writer's End, 255 Since none can compafs more than they intend; As men of breeding, fometimes men of wit, NOTES. 260 265 parts, though they happen to want an exactness confiftent enough with their relation to the reft, is even then very unjust: And for these reasons, 1. Because it implies an expectation of a faultlefs piece, which is a vain fancy. 2. Because no more is to be expected of any work than that it fairly attains its end: But the end may be attained, and yet these trivial faults committed: Therefore, in fpight of fuch faults, the work will merit that praise that is due to every thing which attains its end. 3. Because fometimes a great beauty is not to be procured, nor a notorious blemish to be avoided, but by suffering one of these minute and trivial errors. 4. And lastly, because the general neglect of them is a praise; as it is the indication of a Genius, attentive to greater matters. W. VER. 258. In fpite of trivial] As if one was to condemn the divine Paradife Loft, on account of fome low puns there introduced; or fome paffages in Ariofto, on account of vulgar and familiar images and expreffions, that have crept unaccountably into that enchanting and original Poem. VER. 261. Critic lays,] The word lays is very exceptionable: in an inferior and common Writer it would not be worth while to mark fuch improper expreffions. Once on a time, La Mancha's Knight they fay, NOTES. 270 VER. 267. Once on a time, La Mancha's Knight they fay] By this fhort tale Pope has fhewed us, how much he could have excelled in telling a story of humour. The incident is taken from the Second Part of Don Quixote, first written by Don Alonzo Fernandez de Avellanada, and afterwards tranflated, or rather imitated and new-modelled, by no lefs an Author than the celebrated Le Sage. The Book is not fo contemptible as fome authors infinuate; it was well received in France, and abounds in many ftrokes of humour and character worthy of Cervantes himself. The brevity to which Pope's narration was confined, would not permit him to infert the following humourous dialogue at length." I am fatisfied you'll compafs your defign (faid the fcholar) provided you omit the combat in the lifts. Let him have a care of that, faid Don Quixote, interrupting him, that is the best part of the plot. But, Sir, quoth the Bachelor, if you would have me adhere to Ariftotle's rules, I muft omit the combat. Ariftotle, replied the Knight, I grant was a man of fome parts; but his capacity was not unbounded: and, give me leave to tell you, his authority does not extend over combats in the lift, which are far above his narrow rules. Would you fuffer the chafte queen of Bohemia to perish? For how can you clear her innocence? Believe me, combat is the moft honourable method you can purfue; and besides, it will add fuch grace to your play, that all the rules in the universe must not stand in competition with it. Well, Sir Knight, replied the Bachelor, for your fake, and for the honour of chivalry, I will not leave out the combat ; and that it may appear the more glorious, all the court of Bohemia fhall be present at it, from the Princes of the blood, to the very footmen. But ftill one difficulty remains, which is, that our common theatres are not large enough for it. There must be one erected on purpose, answered the Knight; and in a word, rather than leave out the combat, the play had better be acted in a field or plain.” It may be observed, that there is but one Tale in this effay, nor in Boileau's art, nor Rofcommon's effay, and this is fuperior to the other two. Concluding Concluding all were defperate fots and fools, Our Author, happy in a judge so nice, 275 Produc'd his Play, and begg'd the Knight's advice; "What leave the Combat out?" exclaims the Knight; Yes, or we must renounce the Stagirite. "Not fo, by Heav'n!" (he answers in a rage) 280 Knights, fquires, and steeds, must enter on the stage." So vaft a throng the stage can ne'er contain. "Then build a new, or act it in a plain." Thus Critics of lefs judgment than caprice, Curious not knowing, not exact but nice, 285 NOTES. VER. 276. Unities; what not ?] The two unities of time and place have been fo powerfully and irrefiftibly combated by Dr. Johnfon, (in his Preface to Shakespeare), that I do not think a critic will be found hardy enough to undertake a defence of them? Non quifquam ex agmine tanto Audet adire virum! That these unities have, in fact, never been observed by the three Greek writers of tragedy, is demonftrated, at large, in the fifth chapter of Metaftafio's very judicious work, entitled, Eftratto della Poetica D'Ariftotile, from page 93 to 119, a work full of taste and judgment, and which comes with double weight from fo long and able a practitioner in the dramatic art, many of whofe plays are planned with the greatest skill, and who is, on the whole, one of the fineft and trueft poets Italy has produced. Whoever would thoroughly understand Ariftotle, fhould, in my opinion, very attentively peruse his Estratto. |