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natural love of the grand, fublime, and marvellous, which are the effential characteristics of a good poet. The poet, not fatisfied with exploring all nature for fubjects, wantons in the fields of fancy, and creates beings of his own. He raifes floating islands, dreary deferts, and inchanted castles, which he peoples, by the magic of his imagination, with fatyrs, nymphs, fairies and gnomes; and from imaginary things excites real pleasure, and furnishes the mind with folid inftruction. He not only, like Midas, turns every thing he touches into gold, (but what has never yet been fabled) he foars beyond the regions of Æther, and brings gold out of nothing. From these bold and enthufiaftic flights, poets are faid to be divinely inspired, fince thefe qualifications are not to be obtained by art, but derive their fource from nature, and are the gifts of heaven alone.

But this divine fcience, originally intended for the worship of God, was in procefs of time debased; and when men forfook the Lord of Life, apply'd to inferior purposes. It was call'd in to the praise of legiflators and great men. This ufe was made of it not only by the eastern nations, but by the Greeks, Romans, and by the ancient bards in Britain, who, as hiftory tells us, made fongs in praise of their heroes, which they adapted to mufic, and fung to their harps. Of late indeed Poetry has been moft thamefully proftituted; but that is no argument against its excellency. Has not its fifter Eloquence fhared the fame fate, and been employ'd to unjust purposes, and to obtain the moft wicked ends? This therefore it has in common with other fciences, and in confequence of the general depravity of mankind.

But the excellency of Poetry, and the attractive charms of the Muses, may be estimated by the number of votaries they have obtained; fince there are few men, how cold and phlegmatic foever, but have at fome time or other paid their court to the ladies

of Parnaffus. And this general affection for the art will render any apology needless that might be made for the publication of this volume; in which we have not fatisfied ourselves with writing dull receipts how poems may be made, but have, (together with fuch rules as are neceffary for the conftruction of English verse and of the various fpecies of Poetry) prefented the reader with variety of examples from our best and most celebrated English poets.

What is faid on verfification is indeed but little, yet it is what was thought abundantly fufficient. In fhort, no more could be introduced that would be useful; and to incumber a young student in any science with useless rules, is increafing his difficulty, retarding his progrefs, and like loading a man with arms which may hinder his march, but can afford him no defence or affiftance on the road.

The rules obferved by the ancient poets were adapted to the ancient tongues, but will not fuit our language, fince the quantity, or that space of time, whether long or short, in which any fyllable is pronounced, is generally determined by the accents. And the harmony of Milton's numbers will be found not to depend on the rules of quantity, but on other principles. He has not confined himself to the Iambic, which is the measure adjudged to our English heroics, but compounded his verfes with other feet, and fo diverfified his measures, by judiciously varying the Cafural Paufe, that he has given, them a variety of harmony not to be met with in other poets, and avoided a conftant tedious uniformity, that would have been ever lifeless, dull, and disagreeable.

I fhall conclude thefe reflections in the words of an author of great taste and judgment S. Verfification, fays he, is in Poetry what colouring is in painting,

* POPE's Essay on Criticism.

Lord LANSDOWN,

a beautiful ornament. But if the proportions are juft, the posture true, the figure bold, and the refemblance according to nature, tho' the colours happen to be rough, or carelessly laid on, yet the picture hall lofe nothing of its efteem. Such are many of the inestimable pieces of Raphael: whereas the finest and niceft colour that art can invent, is but labour in vain when the rest is in disorder; like paint bestow'd on an ill face, whereby the deformity is render'd but fo much the more confpicuous and remarkable. It would not be unfeasonable to make fome obfervations upon this fubject, by way of advice to many of our prefent writers, who feem to lay the whole stress of their endeavours upon the Harmony of words: Like Eunuchs they facrifice their manhood for a voice, and reduce our Poetry to be like Echo, nothing but Sound.

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*

THE

THE

ART of POETRY.

****************

I.

CHAP.

Containing a Definition of POETRY, and the Qualifications of a true POET.

P

OETRY is the art of compofing poems, or pieces in verse,

in order to please and to inflruct. But a kill in making verfes, or writing in numbers, is one of the leaft qualifications of a good poet; for a perfon of an indifferent genius may be taught to compofe verfes that will flow fmoothly, and found well to the ear, which yet may be of no value for want of ftrong fenfe, propriety, and elevation of thought, or purity of diction. A true poet is diftinguifhed by a fruitfulness of invention, a lively imagination tempered by a folid judgment, a nobleness of sentiments and ideas, and a bold, lofty, and figurative manner of expreffion. He thoroughly underftands the nature of his fubject; and, let his poem be never fo fhort, he forms a defign or plan, by which every verfe is directed to a certain end, and each has a juft dependence on the other; for it is this produces the beauty of order and harmony, and gives fatisfaction to a rational mind. The duke of Buckingham, in his Efay on Poetry, very juftly observes :

Numbers, and rhymes, and that harmonious found
Which never does the ear with harshness wound,
Are neceffary, yet but vulgar, arts:
For all in vain these fuperficial parts
Contribute to the ftructure of the whole,
Without a genius too, for that's the foul;
A fpirit, which infpires the work throughout,
As that of nature moves the world about;

A heat which glows in every word that's writ;:
'Tis fomething of divine, and more than wit;
Itself unfeen, yet all things by it shown,

Defcribing all men, but describ'd by none.

A poetical genius is the gift of nature, and cannot be acquired; nor can the want of it be fupplied by art or induftry but where fuch a genius is found, it may be affifted by proper rules and directions; and fuch we fhall endeavour to lay down.

С НА Р. II.

Of the Structure of English VERSE; and of RHYME:

IN

N order to make verses, you must understand that fyllables are diftinguished into long and short, and this length or fhortnefs is called their quantity. Of two, three, and fometimes more fyllables, the antients formed their poetical feet, giving each of them a different name. Thus a foot confifting of two long fyllables, was called a spondee; of a thort one follow'd by a long one, an iambic; of a long one followed by two fhort ones, a dactyle, &c. and of these feet they compofed various kinds of verses.

But there is very little variety of feet in the English poetry, the iambic being, as it were, the fole regent of our verfe, especially of our heroics, which confift of five short and five lorg fyllables intermixed alternately, though this order is fometimes beautifully varied by our best poets, as an excellent writer obferves :

Two fyllables our English feet compose,
But quantities diftinguish them from profe.
By long and short, in various ftations plac'd,
Our English verfe harmonioufly is grac'd:
With short and long heroic feet we raise,
But these to vary is the poet's praife ;.
For the fame founds perpetually difguft:
Dryden to this variety was just.

After all, the quantity of the fyllables in ours, and other modern languages, is not well fixed; nor need we be very

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