An Essay on the Lyric Poetry of the Ancients Part 6

_Fortunam Priami cantabo, & n.o.bile bellum._

yet are of a very different strain from those which introduce the Odyssey,

??d?a ?? e?epe ???sa p???t??p??, ?? a?a p???a ??a???? &c.

I cannot help thinking that the whole of this introduction is remarkably simple and unornamented, though a very judicious and ingenious Critic seems to be of a contrary opinion.]

The n.o.blest instances of this personification are to be found in the Sacred Writings. Nothing can exceed the majesty, with which the descent of the Almighty is described by the Prophet Habakkuk. "Before Him (he tells us) went the Pestilence, &c." then suddenly addressing the Deity in the second person, he says "the Mountains _saw Thee_, and they _trembled_, the Overflowing of the waters _pa.s.sed by_, the _Deep uttered his voice_, and _lift up his hands_ on high[84]." In another place, the Deluge is n.o.bly animated, in order to display the Omnipotence of G.o.d.

"The waters (says the Psalmist) stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they _fled_, at the voice of thy thunder they _hasted away_."

[Footnote 84: Hab. ch. iii. v. 3.]

From this simple and impartial view of the Lyric Poetry of the Ancients, considered as one branch of a cultivated Art, your Lordship will perhaps be inclined to conclude, that in the Arts, as in the characters of men, those which are susceptible of the highest excellence, are likewise frequently marked with the most striking defects. This mixture of beauty and deformity, of grandeur and meanness, which enters so often into the action as well as the speculation of mankind, ought to be considered as the characteristic of the human mind, which in the chimerical pursuit of perfection is hurried by its own impetuosity from one extreme to another. Your Lordship has, no doubt, frequently observed, that there is upon the whole a greater uniformity in the characters of men than superficial enquiry would lead us to conceive. A temptation operating forcibly on the ruling pa.s.sion will produce in a temper naturally gentle and equal, an irregularity as remarkable, and sometimes carried to a greater length, than the most powerful stimulus is able to excite in a man of warm pa.s.sions, and florid imagination. This is a fact, of which experience will suggest examples to every person who is conversant with mankind.

We ought not therefore to wonder, when we observe in the writings of a Great Genius beauties and blemishes blended promiscuously, and when we find the Poet's imagination distinguished only by those marks of inaccuracy which appear in the actions of others, and which are ultimately to be derived from the complicated ingredients of the human mind.

I have been led into this train of reflection, as it will enable us to account for the inequalities which are to be met with in the writings of Pindar, exposed as they have been to the admiration, and to the censure of posterity. Whatever propriety the preceding rules may have with regard to Lyric Poetry, it is certain that this Poet is not the standard from whose work they are deduced. We have already seen that He himself disclaims all conformity to the shackles of method, and that he insists upon the privilege of giving a loose rein to the excursions of imagination. The consequences of this proceeding are eminently conspicuous in every part of his writings. His composition is coloured with that rich imagery which Fancy throws upon the coldest sentiments, his digressions are often too frequent and but remotely connected with the princ.i.p.al subject, his personifications are bold and exuberant, and he has made as free an use of theological fable as any Poet among the Ancients.

The learned and ingenious Translator of Pindar has suggested several striking pleas in his favour, both with respect to the _connection of his thoughts_ and the _regularity of his measure_[85]. To resume on the present occasion any part of what he hath advanced, would be equally useless and improper. As to the first, I shall only add to this Gentleman's observations, that all the writings of Pindar which have reached the present times are of the panegyrical kind, in which _remote circ.u.mstances_ and _distant allusions_ are often referred to with great propriety; that sometimes several Odes are inscribed to _the same person_; and that all of them are wrote on subjects too _exactly similar_ to afford room for _continued variety of description_, without allowing him frequently to digress. It is obvious that in these circ.u.mstances the Poet must have been forcibly prompted to indulge the natural exuberance of his genius, that he might gain materials to fill up his subject, and that he might pay a compliment to his Patron by some digression on the merit of his Ancestors, as well as by an encomium on his personal qualities[86]. If these considerations do not fully apologize for the excursions of this Great Genius, they render them at least more excusible in him, than the same liberties without an equal inducement can possibly be in any of his imitators.

[Footnote 85: Mr. West. See the Preface and Notes of his Translation.]

[Footnote 86: It is generally to be supposed, that a Poet in a panegyrical address to his Patron will select with solicitude every circ.u.mstance in his character and actions which excite approbation, in order to render his encomium as perfect and compleat as possible. When therefore he is unexpectedly engaged to retouch a subject which he had formerly discussed, we ought to expect, either that he will fix upon _new points of panegyric_, which is always a matter of the greatest difficulty; or we must indulge him in the liberty of calling in _advent.i.tious a.s.sistance_, when he is deprived of other materials. This appears on many occasions to have been the case of Pindar. No less than four of his Odes are inscribed to Hiero King of Syracuse, all on account of his victories in the Games of Greece. Two Odes immediately following the first to Hiero are addressed to Theron King of Agrigentum; Psaumis of Camarina is celebrated in the 4th and 5th Olympic; and the 9th and 10th are filled with the praises of Agesidamus the Locrian. Every reader must make _great allowances_ for a Poet, who was so often obliged to retouch and to _diversify_ subjects of one kind.]

After all however we must acknowledge, that Pindar has rendered his pieces obscure on many occasions by giving too much scope to a wild imagination; and perhaps the true reason for which he took this liberty was that he _imitated the example of his Predecessors_. He had seen the first Lyric Poets indulging the boldest sallies of Fancy, and applying to particular purposes the Mythology of their country; and as their writings had been held in admiration by succeeding ages, instead of being exposed to the researches of criticism, he was encouraged to proceed in the same course, by the expectation of obtaining a similar reward. From a pa.s.sage formerly quoted, it would appear that Pindar thought himself peculiarly exempted from conforming to rules of any kind whatever[87], and we can suppose this opinion to have proceeded originally from no other foundation than his knowledge of the practice of former authors.

[Footnote 87: Vide supra, p. 57.]

I am sufficiently aware, my Lord, that some readers may object to the preceding theory, that it is probable, if Pindar had been of opinion that Lyric Poetry in his time stood in need of material emendations, the same fertility of invention which enabled him to reach the heighth of excellence in this art, without however altering its original principles; that this would have led him likewise to invent new rules, and to supply the deficiencies of his Predecessors. I will venture to affirm, that this is the only species of invention, in which we have seldom reason to expect that an Original Genius will attempt to excel.

It hath often been observed, that the earliest productions of a Great Genius are generally the most remarkable for wildness and inequality.

A sublime imagination is always reaching at something great and astonishing. Sometimes it seizeth the object of its pursuit, and at others, like a person dizzy with the heighth of his station, it staggers and falls headlong. When the mind of such a person ripens, and his judgment arrives at its full maturity, we have reason to expect that the strain of his compet.i.tion will be more confident and masterly; but his imagination, cramped by the rules which have been formerly laid down, will be still desirous of _breaking_ the _old fetters_, rather than felicitous of _inventing new ones_. Though therefore it must be acknowledged that the same Faculty which is able to invent characters, and to _colour_ sentiment may likewise discover the rules and principles of an Art, yet we have no ground to hope that it will often be employed to effectuate a purpose which an Author may consider as in some measure prejudicial.

To compensate for the blemishes formerly mentioned, the writings of Pindar abound with the most instructive moral sentiments, as well as with the most exquisite beauties of descriptive poetry. The Poet often throws in a reflection of this kind in the most natural manner, as it seems to arise spontaneously from the subject. Thus he prepares the mind to hear of the catastrophe of Tlepolemus by an exclamation perfectly apposite, and appropriated to the occasion.

?f? d' a?d??- p?? f?es?? ap?a??a?

??a????t?? ??ea?ta?

t??t? d' a??a??? e??e??

?t? ???, ?a? e? te?e?- ta fe?tat?? a?d?e t??e??. Pin. Olym. VII.

But wrapt in error is the human mind, And human bliss is ever insecure; Know we what fortune yet remains behind?

Know we how long the present shall endure? WEST.

This method of introducing moral observations adds peculiar dignity and importance to Lyric Poetry, and is likewise happily suited to the Ode, whose diversified composition naturally admits of it.

I shall only observe further with regard to Pindar, that his character is eminently distinguished by that n.o.ble superiority to vulgar opinions, which is the inseparable concomitant of true genius. He appears to have had his Zoilus as well as Homer, and to have been equally fallible of the extent and sublimity of his own talents. Thus he compares his enemies to a parcel of crows and magpies pursuing an eagle.

The learned Abbe Fraquier in a short dissertation on the character of Pindar affirms, that one will discover too obvious an imitation of this Poet in those pieces of Horace which are sublime and diversified[88]. He mentions, as examples of this, his celebrated Odes to Virgil[89] and to Galatea[90], intended to dissuade them from going to sea; and that in which he so artfully represents to the Roman people the danger and impropriety of removing the seat of the Empire to Troy[91]. Upon comparing these with the Odes of Pindar, he says that we shall find more strength, more energy, and more sublimity in the works of the Greek, than in those of the Roman Poet[92]. In the three Odes formerly mentioned, he observes that the digressions never lead us far from the princ.i.p.al subject, and the Poet's imagination appears to be too much confined to one place. On the contrary, Pindar never curbs the exuberance of his Genius. He celebrates promiscuously in the same Ode, G.o.ds, Heroes, and persons who have made a shining figure in their age and country, by imitating ill.u.s.trious examples[93].

[Footnote 88: Ce son des tableaux d'un Eleve habile, ou l'on reconnoit la maniere du Maitre, bien qu' on n'y retrouve pas a beaucoup pres tout son genie. Mem. de Liter. Tom. III. p. 49.]

[Footnote 89: Car. Lib. I. Od. 3.]

[Footnote 90: Id. Lib. III. Od. 27.]

[Footnote 91: Carm. Lib. III. Ode 3.]

[Footnote 92: Il est aise d'en marquer la difference sans parler de celle du stile qui dans Pindare a toujours plus de force, plus d'energie, & plus de n.o.blesse que dans Horace, &c. Mem. de Lit.

ubi supra.]

[Footnote 93: Id. ibid.]

From the observations made on the manner of Horace in a preceding part of this Essay, it is sufficiently obvious, that his Genius in Lyric Poetry was princ.i.p.ally fitted to excel in the composition of the shorter Ode; and that his imagination was not so equal as that of Pindar to the higher and more perfect species. Of the three Pieces, however, which this Author hath mentioned as imitations of the Greek Poet, we can only admit one to have been compleatly attempted in the manner of this Great Master. It is that which regards the design of removing the imperial seat to Troy. The other two Odes are highly beautiful in their kind; but the subjects are not treated at so much length, nor with that variety of high poetic colouring which characteriseth so eminently the writings of the latter. The Ode to the Roman people is indeed composed in an higher strain, and is full of that enthusiasm which the subject might naturally be supposed to excite in the mind of a Poet, who was animated by the love of his country. Through the whole of this n.o.ble performance, the address of the Author, and the emphatical energy with which the sentiments are conveyed, deserve to be equally the objects of admiration. The Poem opens with a just and poetical description of the security of Virtue; from which the Poet takes occasion to introduce an artful compliment to Augustus, whom he ranks with Bacchus and Romulus; on the ascent of which last to heaven, Juno expresseth her aversion to the repeopling of Troy. She breaks abruptly into the subject, in a manner expressive of eager solicitude.

---- _Ilion, Ilion, Fatalis incestusque Judex Et Mulier peregrina vert.i.t In pulverem[94]._

Troy,--perjured Troy has felt The dire effects of her proud tyrant's guilt;-- An Umpire partial and unjust, And a lewd woman's impious l.u.s.t, Lay heavy on her head, and sunk her to the dust. ADDISON.

[Footnote 94: Car. Lib. III. Od. 3.]

She then proceeds in the most artful manner to insinuate, that as the destruction of this city was occasioned by her ingrat.i.tude to the G.o.ds, as well as by the particular injury done to her and Minerva, if Troy should be thrice rebuilt by the hand of Apollo, the Greeks would thrice be permitted to overturn it; and

---- _ter Uxor Capta, virum puerosque ploret[95]._

Thrice should her captive dames to Greece return, And their dead sons, and slaughter'd Husbands mourn. ADDISON.

[Footnote 95: Id. ibid.]

The prosperity which she promiseth to the Roman arms is therefore granted, only upon condition that they never think of rebuilding this detested city.

From the preceding short account of this celebrated Ode, it will appear that the transitions are extremely artful, the sentiments n.o.ble, and that the whole conduct is happy and judicious. These, if I mistake not, are the distinguishing excellencies of the larger Odes of Horace, in which the Poet's _didactic_ genius is remarkably conspicuous. Perhaps however, your Lordship, like the French Critic, is at a loss to find in all this, the energy, the vehemence, the exuberance of Pindar. Horace himself was perfectly sensible of the superior excellence of the Greek Poet, and never rises to truer sublimity than when he is drawing his character. The following image is great, and appropriated to the subject.

_Monte decurrens velut amnis, imbres Quem super notas aluere ripas Fervet, immensusque _ruit_ profundo Pindarus ore[96]._

Pindar like some fierce torrent swoln with show'rs, Or sudden Cataracts of melting Snow, Which from the Alps its headlong Deluge pours, And foams, and thunders o'er the Vales below, With desultory fury borne along, Rolls his impetuous, vast, unfathomable song. WEST.

[Footnote 96: Car. Lib. IV. Od. 2.]

I know not, my Lord, how it happens, that we generally find ourselves more highly pleased with excess and inequality in poetic composition, than with the serene, the placid, and the regular progression of a corrected imagination. Is it because the mind is satiated with uniformity of any kind, and that remarkable blemishes, like a few barren fields interspersed in a landschape give additional l.u.s.tre to the more cultivated scenery? Or does it proceed from a propensity in human nature to be pleased, when we observe a great Genius sometimes _sinking as far below the common level_, as at others, he is capable of _rising above it_? I confess, that I am inclined to deduce this feeling more frequently from the _former_ than from the _latter_ of these causes; though I am afraid that the warmest _benevolence_ will hardly prevail upon your Lordship not to attribute it in some instances to _a mixture of both_.

Whatever may be in this, it is certain that the Odes of Horace, in which he has professedly imitated Pindar, are much more correct and faultless than these of his Master. It would, perhaps, be saying too much, to affirm with some Critics, that the judgment of the Roman Poet was superior to that of his Rival; but it is obvious, that the operation of this Faculty is more remarkable in his writings, because his imagination was more ductile and pliable. --Upon the whole, therefore, we shall not do injustice to these two great men, if we a.s.sign to their works the same degree of comparative excellence, which the Italians ascribe to the pieces of Dominichino and Guido. The former was a _great_ but an _unequal Genius_; while the more corrected performances of the latter were _animated by the Graces_, and _touched by the pencil of Elegance_[97].

[Footnote 97: The Reader will observe, that nothing has been said in this Essay on the regularity of the measure of Pindar's Odes.

This subject is treated so fully in the preface of Mr. West's Translation, that we need only here to refer the curious to his remarks. The Ancient Odes are always to be considered as songs which were set to musick, and whose recital was generally accompanied with dancing. If we may be permitted to form an idea of this music, from the nature and composition of the Ode, it must have been a matter of great difficulty to excel in it, as it is certain that poems which abound with sentiments are more proper to be set to music, than those which are ornamented with imagery.

These sister-arts usually keep pace with each other, either in their improvement or decay. Ne ci dobbiamo (says an ingenious Foreigner, speaking of the modern Italian music) maravigliare, ce corrotta la Poesia, s'e anche corrotta la musica; perche come nella ragior poetica accennammo, tutte le arti imitative hanno una idea commune, dalla cui alterazione si alterano tutte, e particolarmenti la musica dall alterazion del la poesia si cangia come dal corpo l'ombra. Onde corrotta la poesia da e soverchi ornamenti e dalla copia delle figure, ha communicato anche il suo morbo alla musica, ormai tanto sfigurata, che ha perduta quasi la natural est pressione. Gavina della Traged. p. 70.]

I am afraid, that your Lordship is now thinking it high time to bring the whole of this detail to a period.----Upon reviewing the observations made on the Lyric Poetry of the Ancients through the preceding part of this Essay, you will find that the subject has been considered under the three following heads. In the first part I have attempted to lay before your Lordship, the state of Lyric Poetry in the earliest ages, as it appears from what we can collect either of the character of the writings of Amphion, Linus, Orpheus, Museus, and Hesiod. In the course of this enquiry I have had occasion to a.s.sign the causes, whose concurrence rendered this branch of the poetic Art less perfect at its first introduction than any of the other species. --Upon advancing a little further, a richer and more diversified prospect opened to the imagination. In _the first dawn_ of this more enlightened period, we meet with the names of Alcaeus and Sappho, who, without altering _the original character_ of the Ode, made a considerable change on the _subjects_ to which it was appropriated; and in _the full meridian_ of Science, we find this second form of Lyric Poetry brought to its highest perfection in the writings of Horace. --Some remarks on the nature of those beauties which are peculiarly characteristic of the _higher species_ of the Ode, and on the part which Imagination particularly claims in its composition, led me to mention, a few rules, the exact observation of which will, perhaps, contribute to render this species of poetry more correct and regular, without retrenching any part of its _discriminating_ beauties, and without straitning too much the Genius of the Poet. With this view I have endeavoured to characterize impartially the pindaric manner, by pointing out _its excellencies_, by enumerating _its defects_, and by enquiring from what particular causes the latter are to be deduced.

I consider it, my Lord, as a circ.u.mstance particularly agreeable on the present occasion, that the Persons who are most capable to observe the _defects_ of an Author, are likewise commonly the readiest to _excuse them_. Little minds, like the fly on the Edifice, will find many inequalities in _particular members_ of a work, which an enlarged understanding either overlooks as insignificant, or contemplates as _the mark of human imperfection_. I am, however, far from intending to insinuate, that feelings of this nature will prevail on your Lordship to consider real blemishes merely as the effects of an inadvertency, which is excusable in proportion to the intricacy of a subject. I have been induced to throw together the preceding remarks, with an intention to rescue Lyric Poetry from the contempt in which it has been unjustly held by Authors of unquestioned penetration, to prove that it is naturally susceptible of the _highest poetic beauty_; and that under proper regulations, it may be made subservient to purposes as beneficial as any other branch of the Art. These facts will indeed be sufficiently obvious to persons unacquainted with the Ancients, by perusing the works of eminent _Poets_ of the present age, whose names it would be superfluous to mention. I dismiss this attempt, and the pieces which accompany it, to the judgment of the public, with that timidity and diffidence which the review of so many great names, and the sense of Inexperience are fitted to inspire. Whatever may be the fate of either, I shall remember, with pleasure, that they have afforded me an opportunity of testifying that high and respectful esteem, with which I have the Honour to be,