Virtuous and wife he was, but not severe ; In the parts that follow are contain'd fome leffons for the conduct of life, from which we shall infert a few inaxims. Vers'd in the woes and vanities of life, With respect to indolence and luxury we have this lef fon, which concludes with a definition of virtue and fenfe, and their good effects. Let nature reft: be bufy for yourself, 'Tis fometimes angry, and its frown confounds; The gawdy glofs of fortune only ftrikes But from this difgreffion (or episode) the poet naturally returns to his fubject. Thus, in his graver vein, the friendly fage Sometimes declaim'd. Of right and wrong he taught Truths as refin'd as ever Athens heard ; And (fnge to tell!) he practis'd what he preach'd. 'The lawless powers. But other cares are mine : Know then, whatever chearful and ferene And make our happiest state no tedious thing. He then speaks of the good and bad effects of love, and with regard to confummation, he fays; Is health your care, or luxury your aim, 'fo deeds above your ftrength, impute it not The poet then proceeds to other paffions, and the decription he has given us of anger and its dreadful effects, is very beautiful and very juft. But there's a paffion, whofe tempeftuous sway With fault'ring fpeech, and eyes that wildly stare; Defperate, and arm'd with more than human ftrength. Slowly defcends, and ling'ring, to the fhades ; Such fates attend the rash alarm of fear, And sudden grief, and rage, and sudden joy. But there are conftitutions to which these boisterous fits, thefe violent fallies of paffion, may be fometimes ferviceable. For where the mind a torpid winter leads, Thofe however whofe blood is apt to boil, and who are eafily moved to wrath he wou'd have, Keep lent for ever; and forfwear the bowl. And then offers fomething to the confideration of those whose turbulent tempers move them to feek revenge. While choler works, good friend, you may be wrong; Diftruft yourself, and fleep before you fight. "Tis not too late to-morrow to be brave; If honour bids, to-morrow kill or die. The poet then feeks a remedy for these evils, fets the contrary paffions in oppofition, so that they may counter act each other; and at last recommends mufick as the most effectual. He then concludes the whole with an encomium on the power of poetry and of mufic united, which is enrich'd with allufions to ancient fables and historical facts; materials that we have often recommended as proper ornaments for these fort of poems. But he the mufe's laurel juftly fhares, A poet he, and touch'd with heaven's own fire ; Now tender, plaintive, fweet almost to pain, We have dwelt long enough, perhaps too long, on this fubject; but as thefe poems are of fuch ufe, that what is taught in this agreeable manner will remain for ever fix'd on the memory, it seem'd the more necessary to be very particular and explicit in the rules, and to give variety of examples. We have only to add to what has been already faid, that the great art in the conduct of thefe poems is fo to adorn and enliven the precepts that they may agreeably ftrike the imagination; and to deliver them in fuch an indirect manner, that, the form of inftruction being concealed, the reader may grow wifer without perceiving he is taught, and that while the most useful lessons are inculcated, the whole may appear only as an amusement. For this reafon it is neceffary often to digrefs from the fubject, and to introduce episodes of fuch a nature that at the end they may lead you naturally to your fubject again, and then feem of a piece with it. Many inftances of these kinds of digreffions may be seen in the authors we have mention'd, but especially in Virgil, who, after he has been wandering, and to all appearance forgot his husbandmen and their concerns, is by fome happy rural incident, arifing naturally out of his fubject, brought back to his bufinefs again, and connects and makes every thing he has met with conducive to his main defign. In thefe digreffions and episodes it is also of the utmost confequence to introduce the pathetic, and agitate the affections; for it is ever to be obferved, in works of this nature, that a digreffion properly introduced, and fo as to awaken the paffions, and ftrike the heart, is of more importance than a multitude of ornamental descriptions, and will be read again and again with pleafure; while, to other paffages that are merely inftructive, the mind can hardly attend a fecond time, tho' ever fo well decorated. The understanding feels no pleasure in being inftructed often in the same thing; but the heart is ever open to an affecting tale, and receives a pleasure every time it is repeated. With regard to the style or drefs of thefe poems, it fhould be fo rich as to hide the nakedness of the fubject, and the barrennefs of the precepts fhould be loft in the luftre of the language. It ought (fays Mr. Warton *) to abound in the most bold and forcible metaphors, the moft glowing and picturefque epithets; it ought to be elevated and enliven'd by pomp of numbers and majesty of words, and by every figure that can lift a language above the vulgar and current expreffions,' One may add, that in no kind of poetry (not even in the fublime ode) is beauty of expreffion fo much to be regarded as in this. For the epic writer fhould be very cautious of in *See his Differtation on Didactic Poetry. |