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which ingenious abfurdity has thrown together, genuine wit and ufeful knowledge may be fometimes found, buried perhaps in groffnefs of expreffion, but ufeful to thofe who know their value; and fuch as, when they are expanded to perfpicuity, and polished to elegance, may give luftre to works which have more propriety, though lefs copioufnefs of fentiment.

This kind of writing, which was, I believe, borrowed from Marino and his followers, had been recommended by the example of Donne, a man of very extenfive and various knowledge, and by** - Jonfon, whofe manner refembled that of Donne more in the ruggednefs of his lines than in the caft of his fentiments.

When their reputation was high, they had undoubtedly more imitators than time has left behind. Their immediate fucceffors, of whom any remembrance can be faid to remain, were Suckling, Waller, Denham, Cowley, Cleveland, and Milton. Denham and Waller fought another way to fame, by improving the harmony of our numbers. Milton tried the metaphyfic ftile only in his lines upon Hobfon, the Carrier. Cowley adopted it, and excelled his predeceffors, having as much fentiment, and more mufic. Suckling neither improved verification, nor abounded in conceits. The fashionable file remained chiefly with Cowley; Suckling could not reach it, and Milton difdained it.'

He then proceeds to illuftrate his remarks by examples, in the felection of which he is fingularly happy. Of these examples the limits of the prefent Article will not admit of more:. than the following from Dr. Donne. It is a moft curious fpecimen of metaphyfical gallantry:

· As the fweet fweat of rofes in a still,

As that which from chaf'd mufk-cat's pores doth trill,
As the almighty balm of th' early Eaft,

Such are the fweet drops of my mistress' breaft.
And on her neck her skin such luftre sets,

They feem no fweat drops, but pearl coronets:
Rank fweaty froth thy miftrefs' brow defiles.'

In all thefe examples it is apparent,' as the Critic judiciously remarks, that whatever is improper or vicious, is, produced by a voluntary deviation from nature in pursuit of fomething new and ftrange; and that the writers fail to give delight, by their defire of exciting admiration.

To chufe the beft, among many good, is one of the most : hazardous attempts of criticifm.' Dr. Johnfon ventures, however, to recommend Cowley's firft piece, which he tells us ought to be. infcribed To my Mufe, for the want of which the fecond couplet is without reference. The Ode to Wit, he pronounces to be almoft without a rival.; and in the verses upon Crafhaw, which apparently, fays he, excel all that have gone before them, there are beauties which common authors may justly think not only above their attainment, but above their

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ambition.

ambition. It were to be wished that a poet, of whom Cowley could speak in such terms of admiration as are to be met with in the verfes alluded to, had been admitted into the prefent collection, or at least that some fpecimens of his works had been preferved in it.

In fpeaking of the Pindarique Ode of the laft century, Dr. Sprat, the former biographer of Cowley, tells us, that the irregularity of numbers is the very thing which makes that kind of poefy fit for all manner of fubjects. But, continues his present hiftorian, he fhould have remembered that what is fit for every thing can fit nothing well.

The great pleafure of verfe arifes from the known measure of the lines, and uniform ftructure of the flanzas, by which the voice is regulated, and the memory relieved.

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If the Pindaric file be, what Cowley thinks it, the highest and nobleft kind of writing in verfe, it can be adapted only to high and noble fubjects; and it will not be eafy to reconcile the poet with the critic, or to conceive how that can be the highest kind of writing in verfe, which, according to Sprat, is chiefly to be preferred for its near affinity to profe.

This lax and lawless verfification fo much concealed the deficiencies of the barren, and flattered the laziness of the idle, that it immediately overspread our books of poetry; all the boys and girls caught the pleafing fashion, and they that could do nothing elle could write like Pindar. The rights of antiquity were invaded, and diforder tried to break into the Latin: a poem on the Sheldonian Theatre, in which all kinds of verfe are fhaken together, is unhappily inferted in the Mufe Anglicane. Pindarifm prevailed above half a century; but at last died gradually away, and other imitations fupply its place.'

While he was upon this fubject, we could have wished to have had Dr. Johnfon's fentiments on the prefent pedantic affectation of dividing the English Ode into Strophe, Antiftrophè, and Epode. Had the fame reafons for, fuch divifion fubfifted now, as prevailed in the times of Pindar, our ode-writers would certainly have had fome excufe for adopting it. We may be told, indeed, that this practice has the fanction of the highest poetical authority, we mean that of the late Mr. Gray; but in answer to this we may obferve, that as no authority can fanctify abfurdity, neither fhould it prevail with us to adopt what both common sense and reafon are compelled to difapprove.

The neglect and obfcurity of Cowley's principal poem the Davideis, is accounted for both from the choice of his subject, and from the performance of the work.

Sacred History has been always read with fubmiffive reverence, and an imagination over-awed and controlled. We have been accuftomed to acquiefce in the nakedness and fimplicity of the authentic narrative, and to repofe on its veracity with fuch humble confi

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dence,

dence, as furpreffes curiofity. We go with the hiftorian as he goes, and stop with him when he ftops. All amplification is frivolous and vain; all addition to that which is already fufficient for the purposes. of religion, seems not only useless, but in fome degree profane.

**Such events as were produced by the visible interpofition of Divine Power are above the power of human genius to dignify. The miracle of Creation, however it may teem with images, is best defcribed with little diffufion of language: He Spake the word, and they were made.'

It is not to be fuppofed that in a poem labouring with these difadvantages, his critic will find much to admire. His character of the Davideis is contained in few words: In the perufal of the Davideis, as of all Cowley's works, we find wit and learning unprofitably fquandered. Attention has no relief; the affections are never moved; we are fometimes surprised, but never delighted, and find much to admire, but little to approve. Still however it is the work of Cowley, of a mind capacious by nature, and replenished by study.'

It is fomething fingular that neither Dr. Johnfon nor a former Editor of the Select works of this writer take any notice of the following beautiful ode which David is fuppofed to fing under the windows of Michal's chamber, when he firft declares his paffion to her;

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Though fo exalted the,

"And I fo lowly be,

Tell her, fuch different notes make all thy harmony.

"Hark! how the ftrings awake;

And, though the moving hand approach not near,

Themfelves with awful fear,

"A kind of numerous trembling make.

"Now all thy forces try,

"Now all thy charms apply,

"Revenge upon her ear the conquefts of her eye,

"Weak lyre! thy virtue fure

"Is ufelefs here, fince thou art only found
"To cure, but not in wound,

And the to wound, but not to cure.

♦ Too weak too wilt thou prove

"My paffion to remove,

"Phyfic to other ill, thou'rt Nourishment to Love.

* See Monthly Review, vol. xiviii. p. 10, where our fentiments

of Cowley's poetical merit may be feen at large.

"Sleep,

"Sleep, fleep again, my lyre!
"For thou canft never tell my humble tale
"In founds that will prevail;
"Nor gentle thoughts in her inspire:
"All thy vain mirth lay by,

"Bid thy ftrings filent lie,

"Sleep, fleep again, my lyre! and let thy mafter die." The elegance and harmony of this little piece ought, before this, to have intitled it to felection. Indeed there are an hundred and thirty lines immediately preceding it, in which the characters of the two fifters, Merab and Michal, are drawn with great happiness, that merit notice, if it were for nothing but this, that they are totally free from every characteristic fault with which this Writer is charged. But this is not all their merit: they abound with beauties which common writers may justly think not only above their attainment, but above their ambition.

The character of Cowley, in which we perceive no marks of partiality, is thus concluded:

It may be affirmed, without any encomiaftic fervour, that he brought to his poetic labours a mind replete with learning, and that his pages are embellished with all the ornaments which books could fapply; that he was the first who imparted to English numbers the enthufiafm of the greater ode, and the gaiety of the lefs; that he was equally qualified for fpritely fallies, and for lofty flights; that he was among thofe who freed tranflation from fervility, and instead of following his author at a distance, walked by his fide; and that if he left verfification yet improvable, he left likewife from time to time fuch fpecimens of excellence as enabled fucceeding poets to improve it.'

The preface to the works of Waller comes next in fucceffion. The moral and political character of this applauded writer are developed with great skill and acutenefs. Ever attentive to the more important interefts of mankind, and fenfible that biography ought to be a leffon of virtue, Dr. Johnfon never omits to interfperfe, amongst the different parts of his narration, either maxims of prudence or reflexions on the conduct of human life: fomething that may either direct the judgment or meliorate the heart. In the lives of Waller and his cotemporary poets he has proceeded farther; he has made them the vehicles of his political orthodoxy. As we profefs the principles of univerfal toleration, we fhall leave his political opinions to themselves. Were we, indeed, difpofed to controvert them, it might be confidered as an unneceffary trouble. There will never want combatants to attack a man of Dr. Johnson's reputation, when the attack is to be made on a vulnerable part.

As the limits of our Review will not permit us to accompany our Biographer through the whole extent of his criticism.

on this Writer, we fhall confine ourselves chiefly to that part of it which is allotted to his facred poems, which do not please, we are told, like fome of his other works.

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It has been the frequent lamentation of good men, that verse has been too little applied to the purposes of worship, and many attempts have been made to animate devotion by pious poetry; that they have very feldom attained their end is fufficiently known, and it may not be improper to enquire why they have mifcarried.

Let no pious ear be offended if I advance, in opposition to many, authorities, that poetical devotion cannot often pleafe. The doctrines of religion may indeed be defended in a didactic, poem; and he who has the happy power of arguing in verfe, will not lofe it because his fubject is facred. A poet may defcribe the beauty and the grandeur of Nature, the flowers of the Spring, and the harvests of Autumn, the viciffitudes of the Tide, and the revolutions of the Sky, and praise the Maker for his works in lines which no reader fhall lay afide. The fubject of the difputation is not piety, but the motives to piety; that of the defcription is not God, but the works of God.

Contemplative piety, or the intercourfe between God and the, human foul, cannot be poetical. Man admitted to implore the mercy of his Creator, and plead the merits of his Redeemer, is already in a higher ftate than poetry can confer.

The effence of poetry is invention; fuch invention as, by producing fomething unexpected, furprifes and delights. The topics. of devotion are few, and being few are univerfally known; but few. as they are, they can be made no more; they can receive no grace from novelty of fentiment, and very little from novelty of expreffion.

Poetry pleases by exhibiting an idea more grateful to the mind, than things them felves afford. This effect proceeds from the difplay of thofe parts of nature which attract, and the concealment of thofe which repel the imagination: but religion must be fhewn as it is; fuppreffion and addition equally corrupt it; and fuch as it is, it is known already.

From poetry the reader juftly expects, and from good poetry always obtains, the enlargement of his comprehenfion and elevation: of his fancy; but this is rarely to be hoped by Chriftians from me trical devotion. Whatever is great, defirable, or tremendous, is: comprifed in the name of the Supreme Being. Omnipotence cannot be exalted; Infinity cannot be amplified; Perfection cannot be improved.

The employments of pious meditation are Faith, Thanksgiving, Repentance, and Supplication. Faith, invariably uniform, cannot be invested by fancy with decorations. Thanksgiving, the moft joyful of all holy effufions, yet addreffed to a Being without paffions, is confined to a few modes, and is to be felt rather than expreffed. Repentance, trembling in the prefence of the Judge, is not at leisure for cadences and epithets. Supplication of man to man may diffuse, itfelf through many topics of perfuafion; but fupplication to God can only cry for mercy,

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