have had most Reputation; and because that Buchanan, who otherwife had Wit, Fancy, and a pure Stile, perceiv'd not this Grace, or neglected it, he hath loft much of his Price; perhaps nothing was wanting to make him an accomplish'd Poet, but this Perfection which most certainly is not chimerical; and whoever fhall reflect a little on the Power of the Dorian, Lydian, and Phrygian Airs, whereof Ariftotle fpeaks in his Problems, and Athenæus in his Banquets; he may acknowledge what Vertue there is in Number and Harmony: It is a Beauty unknown to the French Tongue, where all the Syllables are counted in the Verses, and where there is no Diversity of Cadence.

XXXVIII.

There yet remain Beauties and Ornaments, whereof each Tongue is capable, and these the Poet muft understand, and must not confound, when he writes in another Tongue, than thofe he proposes for Models, which Vir gil hath well obfery'd in imitating Homer; for he did not give himself over to follow him fervilely in the exact Turn of his Verfification: He knew withal that thofe big Words which make a Beauty at the End of the Greek Verses, would have been no Elegancy in the Latin; becaufe, in effect, this fucceeds not with Lucretius. Virgil found that the Character of the Latin Tongue requir'd Numbers too fevere, as Martial obferves, to allow of that licentious Cadence, which was familiar with the Greek. Horace, who propos'd the Odes of Pindar for the Model of thofe he wrote in Latin, quitted immediately the Numbers and the Turn of that Author's Verfe, of which he found the Latin

Tongue

Tongue uncapable, as the French Poetry is not accommodated to the Numbers of the Spanish and Italian, because every Language is confined within certain Bounds, which makes the Beauty of their Character. 'Tis a great Art to know thefe Beauties, and well to distinguish them each from other; but befides the Numbers that are particular to each Tongue, there is also a certain Turn of the Period which makes the Cadence and the Harmony, of which none ought to be ignorant. How many are there of the modern Poets, who have endeavour'd to imitate Virgil, without being able to attain this admirable Turn, which renders him so majeftick? Sannazarius, Fracaftorius, Sadoletus, Sainte Marthe come fomewhat nigh it, the others never fo much as understood it. This Caft of the Period which is proper to each kind of Verse, is neceffary for expreffing their Character; it must be grave, and the Numbers thick in heros ick, in tragick Verfe, and in Odes; it must be foft and eafie in the little Verfe and delicate Subjects.

XXXIX.

Besides all the Rules taken from Ariftotle, there remains one mention'd by Horace, to which all the other Rules must be fubject, as to the most effential, which is the Decorum, without which the other Rules of Poetry are false; it being the most folid Foundation of that Probability fo effential to this Art. Because it is only by the Decorum that this Probability gains its Effects; all becomes probable, where the Decorum is strictly preferv'd'in all its Circumftances. One ordinarily tranfgreffes this Rule, either by confounding the Serious with the

Pleas

Pleafant, as Pulci has done in his Poem of Morgante; or by giving Manners difproportionate to the Condition of the Perfons, as Guarini has done to his Shepherds, which are too polite, in like Manner as thofe of Ronfard are too grofs; or becaufe no Regard is had to make the wonderful Adventures probable, whereof Ariofta is guilty in his Orlando; or that a due Preparation is not made for the great Events by a natural Conduct, in which Bernardo Taffo tranfgreffed in his Poem of Amadis, and his Floridante; or by Want of Care to fuftain the Characters of Perfons, as Theophile in his Tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe; or by following rather a capricious Genius than Nature, as Lope de Vega, who gives his Wit too much Swing, and is ever foifting in his own Fancies on all Occafions; or by Want of Modefty, as Dante, who invokes his own Wit for his Deity; and as Boccace, who is perpetually Speaking of himself; or by saying every Thing indifferently without Shame, as Cavalier Marino in his Adonis. Finally, whatever is against the Rules of Time, of Manners, of Thoughts, of Expreffions, is contrary to the Decorum, which is the most univerfal of all the Rules.

X L.

And to clofe, in a laft Reflection, all the others that can be made, the Poet must underftand that the great Secret of the Art is to work his Matter well, and to execute happily what he had defign'd with all the Attention his Subject requires; that he know always, that in great Works he may be negligent in certain Places, which regularly ought to be neglected; that all may not be finish'd alike, and what is finished

finish'd may appear fo the more, among the ftudied Negligences. These Strokes lefs perfect than the reft, and these Inequalities of Expreffion which Art requires, are as neceffary to Poefie, as the Shades to a Painter, which ferve to give Luftre to the other Parts of his Work. 'Tis the Fault of the mean Wits to exprefs Things more high than they ought to be expreffed. So the Poet must take heed that he run not with the young Writers into the florid Stile, by his exceffive Ornaments and far-fetch'd Beauties; that he retrench boldly what is too luxuriant; for all becomes falfe in Poetry that glitters too much. The Poet is in no wife natural, who would be always fpeaking fine Things He will not be fo prodigal of his Wit, when he has Wit form'd as it ought to be; for all he speaks is worth nothing, if he will be fpeaking too finely. The Courfe he must take to come at good Senfe, is to have yet a greater Care in his Expreffion of Things, than in his Words, because it is in the Things he must fearch the principal Graces of his Difcourfe. The Difcourfe must be diverfify'd by the Variety of Expreffions, because the fame Images tire the Mind of the Reader: and there must not only be frequent Figures in the Words, but also different Turns in the Thoughts. The narrow and limited Wits are always finding themselves, and by the Barrenness of their Genius, become like that Player of the Lute in Horace, who could only ftrike on one String. For the rest, it is good to be mindful, that none muft meddle with making of Verfes, who does not make them excellently, and does not diftinguish himself from others. For fince none is oblig❜d to make them, to what End fhould he crack his Brain, and bazard his Reputation, unless he acquit

himself well? He may know likewife that Poetry will be no Honour to Men of little Senfe; and that the Appetite of Verfe-making is a dangerous Malady when it feizes on an indifferent Wit; that he is liable to all Extravagancies imaginable, who is taken therewith and wants a Genius: That he fhould be endu'd with Submiffion, and be docible, that he fall not into this Misfortune. For after the manner Men live at prefent, he may find every where fome or other who out of Charity, or ill Humour, are always ready to give him Advice: That the greatest Fault of a Poet is to be indocible; and that nothing has made fo many bad Poets, as Flattery, which will be continually buzzing in his Ears, and daubing him on that Occafion fo foon as he begins to tamper with writing Verfe; efpecially it is to be confider'd, that he fhould apply himself betimes to this Mystery, to attain any Perfection, that he may form his Imagination to that delicate Air, which is not to be had but from the firft Idea's of our Youth. Julius and Jofeph Scaliger could not fucceed herein; for having begun this Study too late, neither of them could overcome the Stifnefs of their Genius, which had before bent their Wit another way: And though the Son was more polite than his Father, yet had he nothing of Elegancy, or graceful in his Poetry, no more than the other learned Men of his Time; and that he who afpires to the Glory of this Profeffion, may reckon that he hath much more to lofe, than to gain, by writing Verfe, in an Age fo Squeamish as this of ours. We are no longer in that Age, when Men got Reputation by their fool-hardy Writing: Then it was no difficult Matter to impofe, feeing what glitter'd was more refpected than what was Solid: and

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