Ch. 1: The Design of the following Treatise,
is, the Reestablishment of Poetry.
Ch. 2: That Poetry is to be Established,
by laying down Rules.
Ch. 3: What Poetry is, and that it attains its end by
exciting of Passion
Editionsbericht
Literatur: Dennis
[1] THE design of the ensuing Treatise, whether we consider the Importance or the Extent of it, is perhaps the Greatest in this kind of Writing, that has been conceived by the Moderns; for 'tis no less than an Attempt to restore and reestablish the noblest Art in [2] every Branch of it; an Art that by the Barbarity of the Times is fall'n and sunk in them all, and has been driv'n and banish'd from every Country excepting England alone, and is even here so miserably fall'n for the most part by the extravagance of its Professors, and by the unskilfulness of its Admirers, that we have reason to apprehend it to be departing from hence too.
That Poetry is the noblest of all Arts, and by consequence the most instructive
and most beneficial to Mankind, may be prov'd by the concording Testimony of
the greatest Men, who have lived in every Age; the greatest Philosophers, the
greatest Heroes, and the greatest Statesmen, who have as it were unanimously
cherish'd, esteem'd, admir'd it, and never has it been disesteem'd or neglected
by any but some pretenders to Wisdom, and by some contemptible Politicasters,
Persons who have got into the management of Affairs only by the weakness of
those who have employ'd them, and who have utterly wanted
Ca[3]pacity to know what a glorious use may be made of it, for the benefit of civil
Society: But in the sequel of this Discourse, by discovering the Nature of Poetry
in general, (which seems to me to have been hitherto but little understood) I shall
clearly shew its Excellence, and the Importance of this Undertaking. And by laying
down either the general Rules of it, or by tracing out that sublime Art, which to
make use of Milton's Expression, teaches what the Laws are of a true Epick Poem,
what of a Dramatick, what of a Lyrick, what Decorum is, what is the grand
Master-piece to observe. I shall not only lay a good Foundation for the judging
of the Performance of the several Poets, whose Works I have undertaken to
examine, but shall as Milton says in his Treatise of Education to Mr. Hartlip,
soon make the World perceive what despicable Creatures our common Rhymers and
Play-Wrights are, and shew them what Religious, what Glorious and Magnificent
Use may be made of
Po[4]etry, both in Divine and in Human things.
THAT an Art so Divine in its Institution, is sunk and profaned, and miserably debased, is a thing that is confest by all. But since Poetry is fallen from the Excellence which it once attained to, it must be fallen either by the want of Parts, or want of Industry, or by the Errors of its Professors. But that it cannot be for want of Parts, we have shewn clearly in the Advancement of modern Poetry; nor can it be supposed to be for want of Industry, since so many of its Professors have no other Dependance? It remains then that it must have fall'n by their Errors, and for want of being guided right. Since there[5]fore 'tis for want of knowing by what Rules they ought to proceed, that Poetry is fall'n so low, it follows then that it is the laying down of those Rules alone, that can re-establish it. In short, Poetry is either an Art, or Whimsie and Fanaticism. If it is an Art, it follows that it must propose an end to it self, and afterwards lay down proper Means for the attaining that end: For this is undeniable, that there are proper Means for the attaining of every end, and those proper Means in Poetry, we call the Rules. Again, if the end of Poetry be to instruct and reform the World, that is, to bring Mankind from Irregularity, Extravagance and Confusion, to Rule and Order, how this should be done by a thing that is in it self irregular and extravagant, is difficult to be conceived. Besides, the work of every reasonable Creature must derive its Beauty from Regularity, for Reason is Rule and Order, and nothing can be irregular either in our Conceptions or our Actions, any further than it swerves from Rule, that is, from [6] Reason. As Man is the more perfect, the more he resembles his Creator: The Works of Man must needs be more perfect, the more they resemble his Makers. Now the Works of God tho' infinitely various, are extreamly regular.
The Universe is regular in all its Parts, and it is to that exact Regularity that it owes its admirable Beauty. The Microcosm owes the Beauty and Health both of its Body and Soul to Order, and the Deformity and Distempers of both, to nothing but the want of Order. Man was created like the rest of the Creatures, regular, and as long as he remained so he continued happy; but as soon as he fell from his Primitive State, by transgressing Order, Weakness and Misery was the immediate Consequence of that Universal Disorder that immediately followed in his Conceptions, in his Passions and Actions.
The great design of Arts is to restore the decays that happen'd to Humane Nature
by the Fall, by restoring Order: The design of
[7] Logick is to bring back Order, and Rule, and Method to our Conceptions,
the want of which causes most of our Ignorance, and all our Errors. The design
of moral Phylosophy is to cure the disorder that is found in our Passions, from
which proceeds all our Unhappiness, and all our Vice; as from the due order that
is seen in them, comes all our Vertue and all our Pleasure. But how should these
Arts reestablish Order, unless they themselves were Regular? Those Arts that make
the Senses instrumental to the Pleasure of the Mind, as Painting and Musick, do
it by a great deal of Rule and Order, since therefore Poetry comprehends the
force of all these Arts of Logick, of Ethicks, of Eloquence, of Painting, of
Musick; can any thing be more ridiculous than to imagine, that Poetry it self
should be without Rule and Order?
[8] WE have said above, that as Poetry is an Art, it must have a certain end, and that there must be means that are proper for the attaining that end, which means are otherwise call'd the Rules: But that we may make this appear the more plainly, let us declare what Poetry is. Poetry then is an Art, by which a Poet excites Passion (and for that very cause entertains Sense) in order to satisfie and improve, to delight and reform the Mind, and so to make Mankind happier and better; from which it appears that Poetry has two Ends, a subordinate and a final one, the subordinate one is Pleasure, and the final one is Instruction.
[9] First, The subordinate end of Poetry is to please, for that Pleasure is the business and design of Poetry is evident, because Poetry unless it pleases, nay and pleases to a height, is the most contemptible thing in the World; other things may be born with if they are indifferent, but Poetry unless it is transporting is abominable: nay it has only the Name of Poetry, so inseparable is Pleasure from the very nature of the Thing.
But Secondly, The final End of Poetry is to reform the Manners; as Poetry is an Art, Instruction must be its final End; but either that Instruction must consist in reforming the Manners, or it cannot instruct at all, and consequently be an Art; for Poetry pretends to no other Instruction as its final End: But since the final End of Poetry is to reform the Manners, nothing can be according to the true Art of it which is against Religion, or which runs counter to Moral Vertue, or to the true Politicks, and to the Liberty of Mankind; and every [10] thing which is against the last, tends to the Corruption and Destruction of Mankind: And consequently every thing against the last, must be utterly inconsistent with the true Art of Poetry.
Now the proper Means for Poetry, to attain both its subordinate and final End, is by exciting Passion. First, The subordinate End of Poetry, which is to please, is attained by exciting Passion, because every one who is pleased is moved, and either desires, or rejoices, or admires, or hopes, or the like. As we are moved by Pleasure which is Happiness, to do every thing we do, we may find upon a little Reflection, That every Man is incited by some Passion or other, either to Action, or to Contemplation; and Passion is the result either of Action or of Contemplation, as long as either of them please, and the more either of them pleases, the more they are attended with Passion. The satisfaction that we receive from Geometry it self comes from the joy of having found out [11] Truth, and the desire of finding more. And the satiety that seises us upon too long a Lecture, proceeds from nothing but from the weariness of our Spirits, and consequently from the cessation or the decay of those two pleasing Passions. But
Secondly, Poetry attains its final end, which is the reforming the Minds of Men, by exciting of Passion. And here I dare be bold to affirm, that all Instruction whatever, depends upon Passion. The Moral Philosophers themselves, even the dryest of them, can never instruct and reform, unless they move; for either they make Vice odious and Vertue lovely, or they deter you from one by the Apprehension of Misery, or they incite you to the other, by the Happiness they make you expect from it; or they work upon your Shame, or upon your Pride, or upon your Indignation. And therefore Poetry instructs and reforms more powerfully than Philosophy can do, because it moves more powerfully: And therefore it instructs [12] more easily too. For whereas all Men have Passions, and great Passions of one sort or another, and whereas those Passions will be employed, and whatever way they move, they that way draw the Man, it follows that Philosophy can instruct but hardly, because it moves but gently; for the violent Passions not finding their Account in those faint emotions, begin to rebel and fly to their old Objects, whereas Poetry at the same time that it instructs us powerfully, must reform us easily; because it makes the very Violence of the Passions contribute to our Reformation: For the generality of Mankind are apparently swayed by their Passions, nay, and perhaps the very best and wisest of them. The greatest Philosophers and the greatest Princes are influenced by their Favourites, and so are the wisest Magistrates. And 'tis for this reason that not only the Devil, who must be suppos'd to understand human nature, corrupts Mankind by their Passions; (for Temptation is nothing but the inclining Men to such and such Actions, by the rais[13]ing such and such Passions in them) but God himself, who made the Soul, and best understands its nature, converts it by its Passions: For whereas Philosophy pretends to correct human Passions by human Reason, that is, things that are strong and ungovernable, by something that is feeble and weak, Poetry by the force of the Passion, instructs and reforms the Reason; which is the Design of the true Religion, as we have shewn in another place. So that we have here already laid down one great Rule, necessary for the succeeding in Poetry: For since it can attain neither its subordinate nor its final End, without exciting of Passion, it follows, that where there is nothing which directly tends to the moving of that, there can be no Poetry; and that consequently, a Poet ought to contrive every thing in order to the moving of Passion, that not only the Fable, the Incidents and Characters, but the very Sentiments and the Expressions, ought all to be designed for that: For since Poetry pleases and instructs us more, even than [14] Philosophy it self, only because it moves us more, it follows, that the more Poetry moves, the more it pleases and instructs; and it is for this reason that Tragedy, to those who have a Tast of it, is both more pleasing and more instructing, than Comedy. And this naturally brings us to the dividing Poetry into the greater and the less.
1. The greater Poetry is an Art by which a Poet justly and reasonably excites great Passion, that he may please and instruct, and comprehends Epick, Tragick, and the greater Lyrick Poetry.
2. The less Poetry is an Art by which a Poet excites less Passion for the forementioned Ends; and includes in it, Comedy and Satyr, and the little Ode, and Elegiack, and Pastoral Poems. But first we shall treat of the former.
Erstdruck und Druckvorlage
The Grounds of Criticism in Poetry,
CONTAIN'D in some New Discoveries never
made before, requisite for the Writing and Judging of Poems surely.
BEING A Preliminary to a larger Work design'd to be publish'd in Folio,
and Entituled, A Criticism upon our most Celebrated English Poets Deceas'd.
By Mr. Dennis.
London: Printed for Geo. Strahan, and Bernard Lintott. 1704, S. 1-14.
Die Textwiedergabe erfolgt nach dem ersten Druck
(Editionsrichtlinien).
PURL: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.31970033860393
URL: https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-grounds-of-criticism_dennis-john_1704
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Edition
Lyriktheorie » R. Brandmeyer