1 CHAP. IX. Of Imitation, and the Manner of imitating. THA HAT the true Authors of the Profund are to imitate diligently the examples in their own way, is not to be questioned, and that divers have by this means attained to a depth whereunto their own weight could never have carried them, is evident by fundry inftances. Who fees not that De Foe was the poetical fon of Withers, Tate of Ogilby, E. Ward of John Taylor, and E-n of Blackmore? Therefore, when we fit down to write, let us bring fome great Author to our mind, and ask ourfelves this question: How would Sir Richard have faid this? Do I exprefs myself as fimply as Amb. Philips? Or flow my numbers with the quiet thoughtleffness of Mr. Welted? But it may seem somewhat strange to affert, that our Proficient fhould alfo read the works of thofe famous Poets who have excelled in the Sublime: Yet is not this a paradox? As Virgil is faid to have read Ennius, out of his dunghill to draw gold, fo may our Author read Shakespeare, Milton, and Dryden, for the contrary end, to bury their gold in his own dunghill. A true Genius, when he finds any thing lofty or fhining in them, will have the skill to bring it down, take off the glofs, or quite difcharge the colour, by fome ingenious circumftance or Periphrase, fome addition or diminution, or by fome of thofe Figures, the ufe of which we shall shew in our next Chapter. The book of Job is acknowledged to be infinitely fublime, and yet has not the father of the Bathos reduced it in every page? Is there a paffage in all Virgil more painted up and laboured than the defcription of Ætna in the third Æneid? Horrificis juxta tonat Etna ruinis, (I beg pardon of the gentle English Reader, and fuch of our Writers as understand not Latin.) Lo! how this is taken down by our British Poet, by the fingle happy thought of throwing the mountain into a fit of the colick "Ætna, and all the burning mountains, find "Their kindled ftores with inbred ftorms of wind "Blown up to rage; and, roaring out, complain "As torn with inward gripes, and tort'ring pain: Lab'ring, they caft their dreadful vomit round, "And with their melted bowels spread the ground." Horace, in fearch of the Sublime, ftruck his head against the Stars; but Empedocles, to fathom the Profund, threw himfelf into Etna. And who but would imagine our excellent Modern had also been there, from this description? Imitation is of two forts; the first is when we force to our own purposes the thoughts of others; the fecond confifts in copying the Imperfections or Blemishes of celebrated Authors. I have feen a Play profeffedly writ in the style of Shakefpear; wherein the refemblance lay in one fingle line; *Pr. Arthur, p. 75. + Sublimi feriam fidera vertice "And fo good morrow t'ye, good Mafter Lieutenant." And fundry Poems in imitation of Milton, where, with the utmost exactnefs, and not fo much as one exception, nevertheless was conftantly nathless, embroidered was broidered, hermits were eremits, difdained was dained, fhady umbrageous, enterprize emprife, pagan paynim, pinions pennons, fweet dulcet, orchards orchats, bridge-work pontifical; nay, her was hir, and there was thir, through the whole Poem. And in very deed, there is no other way by which the true modern Poet could read, to any purpose, the works of fuch men as Milton and Shakespear. It may be expected, that, like other Criticks, I fhould next speak of the Paffions: But as the main end and principal effect of the Bathos is to produce Tranquillity of Mind (and fure it is a better defign to promote fleep than madness), we have little to say on this fubject. Nor will the short bounds of this difcourfe allow us to treat at large of the Emollients and the Opiates of Poesy, of the Cool, and the manner of producing it, or of the methods used by our Authors in managing the Paffions. I fhall but transiently remark, that nothing contributes fo much to the Cool, as the ufe of Wit in expreffing paffion: The true genius rarely fails of points, conceits, and proper fimilies on fuch occafions: This we may term the Pathetic epigrammatical, in which even puns are made use of with good fuccefs. Hereby our best Authors have avoided throwing themselves or their Readers into any indecent tranfports. But as it is fometimes needful to excite the passions of our antagonist in the polemick way, the true ftudents in the law have constantly taken their methods from low life, where they obferved, that to move Anger, use is made of fcolding and railing; to move Love, af bawdry; to beget Favour and Friendship, of grofs flattery; and to produce Fear, of calumniating an adverfary with crimes obnoxious to the State. As for Shame, it is a filly paffion, of which as our Authors are incapable themselves, fo they would not produce it in others. CHAP. X. Of Tropes and Figures: And firft of the variegating, confounding, and reverfing Figures. Βυτ UT we proceed to the Figures. We cannot too earneftly recommend to our Authors the ftudy of the Abufe of Speech. They ought to lay it down as a principle, to fay nothing in the ufual way, but (if poffible) in the direct contrary. Therefore the Figures must be fo turned, as to manifeft that intricate and wonderful Caft of Head which diftinguishes all Writers of this kind; or (as I may fay) to refer exactly the Mold in which they were formed, in all its inequalities, cavities, obliquities, odd crannies, and distortions. It would be endless, nay impoffible, to enumerate all fuch Figures; but we fhall content ourselves to range the principal, which moft powerfully contribute to the Bathos, under three Claffes. I. The Variegating, Confounding, or Reverfing Tropes and Figures. II. The Magnifying, and III. The Diminishing. We cannot avoid giving to thefe the Greek or Roman Names; but in tendernefs to our countrymen and fellow-writers, many of whom, however exquifite, are wholly ignorant of thofe languages, we have also explained them in our mother-tongue. I. Of the first fort, nothing fo much conduces to the Bathos, as the CATACH RESIS, A Master of this will fay, Mow the Beard, Shave the Grafs, From whence refults the fame kind of pleasure to the mind as to the eye, when we behold Harlequin trimming himself with a hatchet, hewing down a tree with a razor, making his tea in a cauldron, and brewing his ale in a tea-pot, to the incredible fatisfaction of the British spectator. Another fource of the Bathos is, The METONY MY, the inverfion of Caufes for Effects, of Inventors for Inventions, &c. "Lac'd in her * Cofins new appear'd the bride, "A + Bubble-boy and ‡ Tompion at her fide, "And with an air divine her § Colmar ply'd: "Then oh! fhe cries, what flaves I round me fee? "Here a bright Redcoat, there a smart || Toupee." The SYNECH DOCHE, which confifts, in the use of a part for the whole. You may call a young woman fometimes Pretty-face and * Stays. + Tweezer-cafe. Watch. § Fan. A fort of Perriwig: All words in ufe in this prefent Year 1727. |