CONTENTS. PART I. GENERAL AND COMPARATIVE VIEW OF POETRY AND ITS PRINCIPAL SPECIES. SECT. INTRODUCTION I. Poetry a species of Imitation II. Different means of Imitation III. Different objects of Imitation V. Origin of Poetry p. 101 ib. 102 -.104 106 107 VI. Its division into serious and ludicrous, 109 VII. Progress of Tragedy VIII. Object and progress of Comedy 111 113 II. Deduction of its constituent parts - ib. III. Comparative importance of those parts, 118 IV. Of the FABLE [to Sect. 15.]—it should be a perfect whole, and of a certain magnitude 122 V. Unity VII. Episodic Fables VIII. Fables, simple, or complicated 127 IX. Parts of the Fable. 1. Revolutions. 2. Discoveries. 3. Disasters 131 X. Parts into which Tragedy is divided - 133 XI. What catastrophe, and what character, best adapted to the purpose of Tra gedy 135 XII. Catastrophe should be single, and that unhappy 136 XIII. Terror and Pity to be excited by the action, not by the decoration, or spectacle 138 XIV. Of disastrous incidents and the proper XVI. Of the different kinds of Discovery, 147 XVII. Practical directions for the Tragic XX. Too great extent of plan to be avoided 157. XXI. Of the Chorus XXII. Of the SENTIMENTS 158 159 XXIII. Of the DICTION, [to the end of this part] 160 XXIV. Analysis SECT. XXIV. Analysis of Diction, or Language, in IV. Epic admits the wonderful more easily, and in a greater degree, than Tragedy - ib. PART I. GENERAL AND COMPARATIVE VIEW OF INTRODUCTION. MY design is to treat of POETRY in general, DESion. and of its several species-to inquire, what is the proper effect of each-what construction of a fable, or plan, is essential to a good Poemof what, and how many, parts, each species consists; with whatever else belongs to the same subject which I shall consider in the order that most naturally presents itself. I. Epic Poetry, Tragedy, Comedy, Dithyrambics, as also, for the most part, the Music of the flute, and of the lyre—all these are, in the most general view of them, IMITATIONS'; differing, however, from each other in three respects, according to the different means, the different objects, or the different manner, of their imitation. The application of this term to Poetry, in general, is considered in Dissertation I.-to Music, in Diss. II.to Dithyrambic Poetry, in NOTE 1. Poetry a IMITATION. species of |