An Essay on the Lyric Poetry of the Ancients Part 2

Such, my Lord, was the character of the first Lyric Poets, and such were the subjects upon which they exercised invention. We have seen, in the course of this short detail, that these Authors attempted to civilize a barbarous people, whose imagination it was necessary to seize by every possible expedient; and upon whom chastised composition would have probably lost its effect, as its beauties are not perceptible to the rude and illiterate. That they employed this method princ.i.p.ally to instruct their countrymen is more probable, when we remember that the rudiments of learning were brought from aegypt, a country in which Fable and Allegory remarkably predominated[30]. By conversing with this people, it is natural to suppose that men of impetuous imaginations would imbibe their manner, and would adopt that species of composition as the most proper, which was at the same time agreeable to their own inclination, and authorised as expedient by the example of others.

From the whole, my Lord, we may conclude with probability, that the Greek Hymn was originally a loose allegorical Poem, in which Imagination was permitted to take its full career, and sentiment was rendered at once obscure and agreeable, by being screened behind a veil of the richest poetic imagery.

[Footnote 30: This allegorical learning was so much in use among the aegyptians, that the Disciples of a Philosopher were bound by an oath. ?? ?p????f??? ta?ta e?e??? ?a? t??? apa?de?t??? ?a?

a??t??? ? etaded??a?. Vid. Seld. de Diis Syr.]

The loose fragments of these early writers which have come down to our times, render this truth as conspicuous as the nature of the subject will permit. A Theogony, or an account of the procession of fabulous Deities, was a theme on which Imagination might display her inventive power in its fullest extent. Accordingly Hesiod introduces his work with recounting the genealogy of the Muses, to whom he a.s.signs "an apartment and attendants, near the summit of snowy Olympus[31]." These Ladies, he tells us, "came to pay him a visit, and complimented him with a scepter and a branch of laurel, when he was feeding his flock on the mountain of Helicon[32]." Some tale of this kind it was usual with the Poets to invent, that the vulgar in those ages of fiction and ignorance might consider their persons as sacred, and that the _offspring of their imaginations_ might be regarded as _the children of Truth_.

[Footnote 31: ---- ?s?? a??d?

?e?eta?, e? st??ess?? a??dea ???? e???sa??

??t??? ap' a???tat?? ????f?? ??fe?t?? ???p??.

???a sf?? ??pa??? te ?????, ?a? d?ata ?a?a.

Theog. a lin. 61.]

[Footnote 32: ?? efasa? ????a? ?e?a??? ???? a?t?epe?a??

?a? ?? s?ept??? ed??, daf??? e???e?e?? ????

??e?as?a? ???t??? epe?e?sa? de ?? a?d?? &c.

Theogon. l. 30.]

From the same licentious use of Allegory and Metaphor sprung the Fables of the wars of the Giants, of the birth and education of Jupiter, of the dethroning of Saturn, and of the provinces a.s.signed by the Supreme to the Inferior Deities; all of which are subjects said to have been particularly treated by Orpheus[33]. The love of Fable became indeed so remarkably prevalent in the earliest ages, that it is now impossible in many instances to distinguish real from apparent truth in the History of these times, and to discriminate the persons who were useful members of society, from those who exist only in the works of a Poet, whose aim was professedly to excite Admiration. Thus every event of importance was disfigured by the colouring of poetic narration, and by ascribing to one man the separate actions which perhaps were performed by several persons of one name[34], we are now wholly unable to disentangle truth from a perplexed and complicated detail of real and fict.i.tious incidents.

[Footnote 33: Orph. Hym. in Apollon. Rhod.]

[Footnote 34: Of this, History furnisheth many examples. When one man made an eminent figure in any profession, the actions of other persons who had the same name were ascribed to him; and it was perhaps partly for this reason that we find different cities contending for the honour of giving birth to men of Genius, or eminence. Callimachus in his Hymn to Jupiter makes an artful use of this circ.u.mstance.

?? d??? a?a ????? epe? ?e??? afe??st??.

?e? se e? ?' da???s?? e? ???es? fas? ?e?es?a?

?e? se d' e? ???ad??? p?te??? ?ate? e?e?sa?t?

???te? ae? ?e?sta?? ?a? ?a? taf??, ? a?a se??

???te? ete?t??a?t?? s? d' ?? ?a?e?? ess? ?a? a?e?.

Callim. p. 4.]

It appears likewise from these shreds of antiquity, that the subjects of the Hymn were not sufficiently limited, as we sometimes find one of them addressed to several Deities, whose different functions recurring constantly to the mind must have occasioned unavoidable obscurity[35].

The Poet by this means was led into numberless digressions, in which the remote points of connection will be imperceptible to the reader, who cannot place himself in some situation similar to that of the Writer, and attend particularly to the character and manners of the period at which he wrote.

[Footnote 35: Thus Theocritus.

??e?e? ??da?. ?e ?a? a?????? ???? ???, ?ast??a ?a? f?e??? ????de??ea p?? e?e???e?

??e?e? ?a? ???, ?a? t? ???t??.]

Your Lordship, without the testimony of experience, would hardly believe that a species of composition which derived its origin from, and owed its peculiarities to the circ.u.mstances we have mentioned, could have been considered in an happier aera as a pattern worthy the imitation of cultivated genius, and the perusal of a polished and civilized people.

One is indeed ready to conclude, at the first view, that a mode of writing which was a.s.sumed for a particular purpose, and was adopted to the manners of an illiterate age, might at least have undergone considerable alterations in succeeding periods, and might have received improvements proportioned to those which are made in other branches of the same art. But the fact is, that while the other branches of poetry have been gradually modelled by the rules of criticism, the Ode hath only been changed in a few external circ.u.mstances, and the enthusiasm, obscurity and exuberance, which characterised it when first introduced, continue to be ranked among its capital and discriminating excellencies.

To account for this phenomenon, my Lord, I need only remind your Lordship of a truth which reflexion has, no doubt, frequently suggested;--that the rules of criticism are originally drawen, not from the speculative idea of perfection in an art, but from the work of that Artist to whom either merit or accident hath appropriated the most established character. From this position it obviously follows, that such an art must arrive at once to its highest perfection, as the attempts of succeeding performers are estimated not by their own intrinsic _value_ or demerit, but by their conformity to a standard which is previously set before them. It hath happened fortunately for the republic of letters, that the two higher species of poetry are exempted from the bad consequences which might have followed an exact observation of this rule. An early and perfect standard was settled to regulate the Epopee, and the Drama was susceptible of _gradual improvement_, as Luxury augmented the subjects, and decorated the machinery of the theatre. We have already seen that Lyric Poetry was not introduced with the advantages of the former, and reflection must convince us, that it is not calculated to gain the slow and imperceptible accessions of the latter. We may observe however in the general, that as the opinions of the bulk of mankind in speculative matters are commonly the result of accident rather than the consequences of reflection, so it becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible, in some instances to point out a defect in an _established model_ without incurring the censure of the mult.i.tude. Such, my Lord, is the nature of man, and so trifling and capricious are the circ.u.mstances upon which his sentiments depend.

Accustomed as your Lordship has been to survey the improved manners of an enlightned age, you will contemplate with pleasure an happier aera in the progression of Science, when the Ode from being confined wholly to fict.i.tious Theology, was transposed to the circle of Elegance and the Graces. Such is its appearance in the writings ot Anacreon, of Horace, and in the two fragments of Sappho.

Anacreon was nearly contemporary with that Onomacritus, whom we have mentioned as the Author of those poems which are ascribed to Orpheus.

He flourished between the 60th and the 70th Olympiad. His pieces are the offspring of genius and indolence. His subjects are perfectly suited to his character. The devices which he would have to be carved upon a silver cup are extremely ingenious.

?a???? ????? ???.

??st?? aate ??p???

?e?a???? ???t??sa?.

?a? ???ta? ap?p????

?a? ?a??ta? ?e??sa?, &c.[36]

---- The race of Jove, Bacchus whose happy smiles approve; The Cyprian Queen, whose gentle hand Is quick to tye the nuptial band; The sporting Loves unarm'd appear, The Graces loose and laughing near.

[Footnote 36: Anac. Carm. p. 35.]

Sweetness and natural elegance characterise the writings of this Poet, as much as carelessness and ease distinguished his manners. In some of his pieces there is exuberance and even wildness of imagination, as in that particularly which is addressed to a young girl, where he wishes alternately to be transformed into a mirror, a coat, a stream, a bracelet, and a pair of shoes, for the different purposes which he recites[37]. This is meer sport and wantonness, and the Poet would probably have excused himself for it, by alledging that he took no greater liberties in his own sphere than his predecessors of the same profession had done in another. His indolence and love of ease is often painted with great simplicity and elegance[38], and his writings abound with those beautiful and unexpected turns which are characteristic of every species of the Ode[39].

[Footnote 37: Anac. p. 87.]

[Footnote 38: This appears remarkably in that piece, where he gives so ingenuous a character of himself.

?? ?? e?e? G????

??? Sa?de?? ??a?t??

?? s?e??? e?e? ??. p. 28.]

[Footnote 39: The reader will find a striking example of this beauty, in the Ode addressed to a swallow, where he runs a comparison betwixt the liberty of that bird and his own bondage.

S? e? f??? ?e??d??, &c. p. 60.]

Though we must allow Anacreon to have been an original Genius, yet it is probable, as I formerly observed, that he took Lyric Poetry as he found it; and without attempting to correct imperfections, of which he might have been sensible, made on the contrary the same use of this which a man of address will do of the foibles of his neighbour, by employing them to promote his own particular purposes. We may conclude indeed from the character of this Poet, that he was not fitted to strike out new lights in the field of Science, or to make considerable deviations from the practice of his Predecessors. He was, no doubt, of opinion likewise, that his manner was authorised in some measure by the example of the Mitylenian Poetess, whose pieces are celebrated for softness and delicacy[40], and who possessed above all others the art of selecting the happiest circ.u.mstances which she placed likewise in the most striking points of view[41]. Longinus produceth, as a proof of this, her fine Ode inscribed to a favourite attendant, in which the progression of that tumultuous emotion, which deprived her of her senses, is described with peculiar elegance and sensibility[42].

[Footnote 40: Thus Horace represents her

_aeoliis fidibus quaerentem Sappho puellis de popularibus_. Lib. II. Od. 13.]

[Footnote 41: Te?? ? Sapf? ta s?a????ta ta?? e??t??a?? a??a??

pa??ata e? t?? pa?ep?e???, ?a? e? t?? a???e?a?, a?t?? ??ast?te ?aa?e?, &c. De Lub. c. 10.]

[Footnote 42: Longinus speaks with transport of this beautiful fragment of antiquity. ?? ?a?a?e?? ?? ?p' a?t? t?? ????? t? s?a ta? a??a? t?? ???ssa? ta? ??e?? t?? ???a?, pa??' ?? a???t??a d?????e??? ep???te?. ?a? ?a?' ?pe?a?t??se?? ?a ???eta?, ?a?eta?, a????ste?, f???e?--??a ? e? t? pe?? a?t?? pa??? fa??eta?, pa???

de S?????S. De. Lub. c. 10.]

We are at a loss to judge of the character of Alcaeus, the countryman and rival of Sappho, because scarce any fragment of his writings has reached the present times. He is celebrated by the Ancients as a spirited Author, whose poems abounded with examples of the sublime and vehement.

Thus Horace says, when comparing him to Sappho, that he sung so forcibly of wars, disasters, and shipwrecks, that the Ghosts stood still to hear him in silent astonishment[43]. The same Poet informs us, that he likewise sung of Bacchus, Venus, the Muses, and Cupid[44]. From these sketches of his character we may conclude that his pieces were distinguished by those marks of rapid and uncontrolled imagination, which we have found to characterise the works of the first Lyric Poets.

[Footnote 43: _Te sonantem plenius aureo Alcaee plectro, dura navis, Dura fugae mala, dura belli.

Utrumque sacro digna silentio Mirantur Utmbrae dicere._ ----Hor. ub. sup.]

[Footnote 44: _Liberum & Musas, Veneremque & illi Semper haerentem puerum canebat, Et Lyc.u.m nigris oculis nigroque Crine decorum._ Carm. Lib. I. Od. 32.]

Your Lordship needs not be told, that the Roman Poet who had the advantage of improving upon so many originals, takes in a greater variety of subjects than any of his predecessors, and runs into more diffuse and diversified measure. I have said, my Lord, that his subjects are more diversified, because in the character of a Lyric Poet we must consider him as a professed imitator both of Anacreon and of Pindar. In the former point of view he falls under our immediate cognisance; in the latter we shall take a view of him afterwards, when we come to examine the works of that great Original, whose example he follows.

The Reader will observe, that in the shorter Odes of Horace there is commonly one leading thought, which is finely enlivened with the graces of description. A constant Unity of sentiment is therefore preserved in each of them, and the abrupt starts and sallies of pa.s.sion are so artfully interwoven with the princ.i.p.al subject, that upon a review of the whole piece, we find it to be a perfect imitation of Nature. This Poet (whose judgment appears to have been equal to his imagination) is particularly careful to observe propriety in his most irregular excursions, and the vivacity of his pa.s.sion is justified by the circ.u.mstances in which he is supposed to be placed. The diction of these poems is likewise adapted with great accuracy to the sentiment, as it is generally concise, forcible, and expressive. Brevity of language ought indeed particularly to characterise this species of the Ode, in which the Poet writes from immediate feeling, and is intensely animated by his subject. Delicacy is likewise indispensibly requisite, because the reader is apt to be disgusted with the least appearance of constraint or harshness in a poem, whose princ.i.p.al excellence lies in the happy and elegant turn of a pointed reflection. In short, little sallies and picturesque epithets have a fine effect in pieces of this kind, as by the former the pa.s.sions are forcibly inflamed, and by the latter their effects are feelingly exposed.