OF THE USES AND DESIGN OF POETRY.
The purpose of poetry is to instruct while it gives pleasure; instruction
being the end, and pleasure the means-Illustrated by examples from the
different species of poetry-The Didactic-The Epic-Tragedy-Lyric-
the lighter kinds of poetry, which are calculated as well for the amuse-
ment of our leisure, as for the ornament and improvement of literature.
Sacred poetry; whence a transition to the immediate object of these
Lectures.
THOUGH our present meeting be, on some ac-
counts, rather earlier than I could have wished; yet I
cheerfully embrace the opportunity which it affords me
of assuring you, gentlemen, that to this undertaking
(whether considered as a duty imposed, or as a favour
conferred upon me) I bring, if no other accomplishment,
at least industry and inclination. I could, indeed, more
patiently bear to be accused of wanting genius, fluency,
or elegance, than of wanting diligence in the exercise of
that office, to which your authority has called me, or
gratitude in the acceptance of that favour, which (what-
ever it be in itself) is undoubtedly great, since conferred
1 The Prælector of poetry at Oxford is obliged by the statute to read his
inaugural lecture the first Tuesday in the term subsequent to his election;
and it appears by the university register, that Mr. Lowth was elected to the
professorship on the 21st of May, 1741, in the vacation between Easter and
Act term. As this vacation is only thirteen days, commencing the Thurs-
on me by you. For to judge rightly of obligations of
this kind, regard must be had not only to the favour it
self, but to the persons who confer it, and to the person
on whom it is conferred. When, therefore, I reflect,
that the station, to which I am invited, has been adorned
by men of the first rank in genius and learning; when
I regard you, whose favour can add dignity to the most
respectable characters; when, in fine, I consider myself,
who could never have expected or hoped from my own
merits for any public testimony of your approbation; I
receive this appointment as an honour, for which the ut-
most exertions of labour and assiduity will be but a ve-
ry inadequate return. This part of my duty, however,
though feebly and imperfectly, I would wish you to be-
lieve I most willingly perform: for to an ingenuous mind
nothing can be more agreeable than the expression, or
even the sense of gratitude; and the remembrance of
the obligation will rather stimulate than depress. Other
considerations have, I must confess, rendered me not a
little solicitous: I am appointed to superintend a partic-
ular department of science, which you have constantly
distinguished by your presence and attention; and a
subject is to be discussed, which not only you have
day before Whitsunday, and ending the Wednesday after Trinity Sunday,
the longest interval that could possibly happen between his election and his
first lecture is somewhat less than three weeks: It might probably be much
shorter. Even in his youth bishop Lowth was distinguished by the cautious
accuracy of his judgement; he therefore very properly introduces a plan,
upon which he was to work for ten years (the usual term of the professor-
ship) with much modesty and reserve; and when he speaks of meeting his
constituents rather early (paulo maturius) he must be understood as re-
gretting the little time, which by the statute was allowed him to prepare
his introductory address. This fact will serve also to explain some passa-
ges towards the conclusion of the lecture.
For the substance of this note I am indebted to a very intelligent friend
at Oxford, and am happy in this opportunity of returning my best acknowl-
edgements.
judged worthy of your cultivation, and the public coun-
tenance of the university, but which has hitherto receiv
ed in this place all the embellishments of grace and ele-
gance, of which it is naturally susceptible. Should it
therefore fall into neglect or disrepute hereafter, I fear,
that I shall be compelled to acknowledge the fault to
have been mine, and not that of the institution itself.
Whatever degree of success indeed may attend my
endeavours, let it not for a moment be suspected, that
the design is not altogether deserving of approbation.
For can there be any thing of more real importance to
literature itself, can any thing be more consistent with
the ends for which this University was founded, than
that the art, of whose assistance every other art and pro-
fession has so greatly availed itself, should be assigned
a place among the rest? That art, so venerable for its
antiquity, so delightful in itself; that art, which is in a
manner congenial to humanity, and which sets off na-
ture by the most agreeable representation of her beau-
ties: which among the ignorant and the learned, the idle
and the studious, has ever obtained favour, admiration
and regard. Nothing surely can be more worthy of a
liberal and accomplished mind, than to perceive what is
perfect, and what is defective in an art, the beauties of
which frequently lie beneath the surface; to understand
what is graceful, what is becoming, in what its excellen-
cies consist, and in a word to discover and relish those
delicate touches of grace and elegance, that lie beyond
the reach of vulgar apprehension. From these subtile
researches after beauty and taste, there is also the fairest
reason to apprehend that the judgement itself will re-
ceive some accessions of strength and acuteness, which
it may successfully employ upon other objects, and up-
on other occasions. Such at least appear to have been
the sentiments of that excellent person, to whose mu-
nificence poetry has been long indebted for her admis-
sion into the circle of those sciences which are cultivat-
ed in this university. For possessing a mind not only
instructed in the most useful branches of knowledge,
but adorned with the most elegant arts; and having im-
bibed the first principles of education in a seminary,
where the most important and sacred subjects, recom-
mended by all the elegance of polite literature, have been
heretofore, and still continue to be, studied with vigour
and effect; he saw and experienced, how much an at-
tention to these elegancies would contribute to the in-
vestigation or illustration of the severer branches of eru-
dition, and how strict the alliance between philosophy
and the muses.
The design, therefore, of the author of this institution,
as well as the usual practice on occasions like the pres-
ent, reminds me, gentlemen, of the propriety (though
a matter already familiar to most of you) of premising a
few such observations, as appear least exceptionable con-
cerning the end and utility of the poetic art.
Poetry is commonly understood to have two objects
in view, namely, advantage and pleasure, or rather an
union of both. I wish those who have furnished us
with this definition, had rather proposed utility as its
ultimate object, and pleasure as the means by which
2 The poetic lecture was instituted by HENRY BIRKHEAD, LL. D. former-
ly Fellow of All Souls. Author's Note.
3 There are however poems which only delight, but which are not there-
fore to be condemned. Some, which though they contain no moral pre-
cepts, no commendation of virtue, no sentiment curious or abstruse, yet
dress and adorn common ideas in such splendour of diction and harmony of
numbers, as to afford exquisite pleasure; they bring, as it were before our
eyes, the woods and streams, and all the elegant and enchanting objects of
The excellence of such poems is founded upon the same principle
that end may be effectually accomplished. The philosopher and the poet indeed seem principally to differ in the means, by which they pursue the same end. Each sustains the character of a preceptor, which the one is thought best to support, if he teach with accuracy, with subtlety, and with perspicuity; the other, with splendour, harmony, and elegance. The one makes his appeal to reason only, independent of the passions; the other addresses the reason in such a manner, as even to engage the passions on his side. The one proceeds to virtue and truth by the nearest and most compendious ways; the other leads to the same point through certain deflexions and deviations, by a winding, but pleasanter path. It is the part of the former so to describe and explain these objects, that we must necessarily become acquainted with them; it is the part of the latter so to dress and adorn them, that of our own accord we must love and embrace them.
I therefore lay it down as a fundamental maxim, that poetry is useful, chiefly because it is agreeable; and should I, as we are apt to do, attribute too much to my favourite occupation, I trust philosophy will forgive me, when I add, that the writings of the poet are more useful than those of the philosopher, inasmuch as they are more agreeable. To illustrate this position by well known examples: Can it be supposed that the more learned Romans, when they became devoted to the doctrine of Epicurus, did not more highly esteem, and more frequently apply to the admirable poem of Lucre
with that of a beautiful picture, which is more valued for contributing to pleasure only, than many other things are for their actual utility. What follows I greatly approve: only I would not wish it to be denied, that there are some poems which have no design but that of giving pleasure, and that this is even a laudable end; nor indeed does our author altogether suppose this impossible. M.
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