lence, and the diffipation, that accompany abundance. And perhaps the fortune most truly defirable, and the fituation most precifely proper for a young poet, are marked out in that celebrated faying of Charles the ninth of France; " Equi et poetæ ALENDI funt, non SAGINANDI."-Poets and horfes are to be fed and not fattened. THE ESSAY ON CRITICISM, which occafioned the introduction of these reflections, was first, I am well informed, written in profe, according to the precept of Vida, and the practice of Racine. Quinetiam, prius effigiem formare, SOLUTIS, When Racine had fixed on a subject for a play, he wrote down in plain profe, not only the fubject of each of the five acts, but of every scene and every fpeech; fo that he * Poetic. lib. i. ver. 75: could could take a view of the whole at once, and fee whether every part cohered, and cooperated to produce the intended event: when his matter was thus regularly difpofed, he was used to say," My Tragedy is finished.” I Now propofe to make some observations on, and illustrations of, fuch paffages and precepts in this ESSAY, as, on account of their utility, novelty, or elegance, deferve particular attention; and perhaps I may take the freedom to hint at a few imperfections, in this SENSIBLE performance. I fhall cite the paffages in the natural order, in which they fuceffively occur. 1. In poets as true genius is but rare*. IT is indeed fo extremely rare, that no country in the fucceffion of many ages has produced above three or four persons that deserve the title. The "man of rhymes" may be eafily found; but the genuine poet, of a lively plaftic imagination, the true * Ver. 11. MAKER MAKER or CREATOR, is fo uncommon a prodigy, that one is almoft tempted to fubfcribe to the opinion of Sir William Temple, where he says, "That of all the numbers of mankind, that live within the compass of a thousand years, for one man that is born capable of making a great poet, there may be a thousand born capable of making as great generals, or minifters of state, as the most renowned in ftory*." There are indeed more causes required to concur to the formation of the former, than of the latter; which neceffarily render it's production more difficult, 2. True taste as feldom is the critic's fhare f. LA BRUYERE fays very fenfibly, I will allow the good writers are fcarce enough; but then, I ask, where are the people that know how to read? 3. Let fuch teach others who themselves excel, * Miscell. Effay iv. part 2. + ver. 12. ‡ ver. 15. It is fomewhere remarked by Dryden, I think, that none but a poet is qualified to judge of a poet. The maxim is however contradicted by experience. Ariftotle is faid indeed to have written one ode; but neither Boffu nor Hurd, are poets. The penetrating author of the Reflexions on Poetry, Painting, and Mufic, will for ever be read with delight, and with profit, by all ingenious artists; nevertheless, says Voltaire, he did not underftand mufic, could never make verses, and was not poffeffed of a fingle picture; but he had read, feen, heard, and reflected a great deal*. And Lord Shaftesbury speaks with fome indignation on this fubject; "If a mufician performs his part well in the hardest fymphonies, he must neceffarily know the notes, and understand the rules of harmony and mufic. But must a man, therefore, who has an ear, and has ftudied the rules of mufic, of neceffity, have a voice or hand? Can no one poffibly judge a fiddle, but who is himself a fiddle? Can no one judge a pic *Louis 14. P: 354. ture, ture, but who is himself a layer of colours*?" Quintilian and Pliny, who fpeak of the works of the ancient painters and ftatuaries, with fo much tafte and fentiment, handled not themselves either the pencil or the chiffel, nor Longinus and Dionyfius the harp. But altho' fuch as have actually performed nothing in the art itself, may not on that account, be totally disqualified to judge with accuracy of any piece of workmanship, yet perhaps a judgment will come with more authority and force from an artist himself. Hence the connoiffeurs highly prize the treatife of Rubens, concerning the imitation of antique ftatues, the Art of painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and the Lives of the painters by Vafari. As for the fame reafons, Rameau's differtation on the thorough bass, and the introduction to a good taste in music by the excellent, but neglected Geminiani, demand a particular regard. The prefaces of Dryden would be equally valuable, if he did not fo frequently contradict himself, and * Characteristics. V. 3. p. 190. Edit. 12mo. advance |