PASTORALS, WITH A DISCOURSE on PASTORAL. Written in the Year 1704. Rura mibi & rigui placeant in vallibus amnes, VIRG. A DISCOURSE ON PASTORAL POETRY. T HERE are not, I believe, a greater number of any fort of verses than of those which are called Pastorals; nor a smaller, than of those which are truly fo. It therefore seems neceffary to give some account of this kind of Poem, and it is my defign to comprize in this short paper the substance of thofe numerous differtations the Criticks have made on the subject, without omitting any of their rules in my own favour. You will also find some points reconciled, about which they seem to differ, and a few remarks which I think have escaped their observation. The original of Poetry is afcribed to that Age which fucceeded the creation of the world: And as the keeping of flocks feems to have been the first employment of mankind, the most antient fort of poetry was probably pastoral. 'Tis natural to imagine, that the leisure of thofe ancient shepherds requiring fome diverfion, none was fo proper to that folitary life as finging; and that in their B 2 fongs fongs they took occafion to celebrate their own felicity. From hence a Poem was invented, and afterwards improv'd to a perfect image of that happy time; which by giving us an esteem for the virtues of a former age, might recommend them to the present. And fince the life of fhepherds was attended with more tranquillity than any other rural employment, the Poets chose to introduce their Perfons, from whom it receiv'd the name of Paftoral. A Pastoral is an imitation of the action of a shepherd; the form of this imitation is dramatic, or narrative, or mix'd of both; the fable fimple, the manners not too polite nor too ruftic: The thoughts are plain, yet admit a little quickness and paffion, but that short and flowing: The expreffion humble, yet as pure as the language will afford; neat, but not florid; easy, and yet lively. In short, the fable, manners, thoughts and expreffions, are full of the greatest fimplicity in nature. The complete character of this poem confifts in fimplicity, brevity, and delicacy; the two firft of which render an eclogue natural, and the last delightful. If we would copy Nature, it may be useful to take this confideration along with us, that Paftoral is an image of what they call the golden age. So that we are not to describe our fhepherds as fhepherds at this day really are, but as they may be conceiv'd then to have been; when the beft of men follow'd the employment. To carry this refemblance yet farther, that air of piety to the Gods fhould fhine thro' the Poem, which fo vifibly appears in all the works of antiquity: And it ought to preferve fome relish of the old way of writing; writing; the connections fhould be loose, the narrations and defcriptions fhort, and the periods concife. Yet it is not fufficient that the fentences only be brief, the whole Eclogue fhould be fo too. For we cannot fuppofe Poetry to have been the business of the ancient fhepherds, but their recreation at vacant hours. But with a respect to the prefent age, nothing more conduces to make these compofures natural, than when fome Knowledge in rural affairs is difcover'd. This may be made to appear rather done by chance than on defign, and fometimes is beft thewn by inference; left by too much study to feem natural, we deftroy the delight. For what is inviting in this fort of poetry proceeds not fo much from the idea of a country life itself, as from that of its Tranquillity. We must therefore use fome illufion to render a Paftoral delightful; and this confifts in expofing the beft fide only of a shepherd's life, and in concealing its miferies. Nor is it enough to introduce fhepherds difcourfing together, but a regard must be had to the fubject; that it contain fome particular beauty in itself, and that it be different in every Eclogue. Befides, in each of them a defign'd fcene or profpect is to be prefented to our view, which fhould likewife have its variety. This variety is obtain'd in a great degree by frequent comparisons, drawn from the most agreeable objects of the country; by interrogations to things inanimate; by beautiful digreffions, but those short; fometimes by infifting a little on circumftances; and laftly, by elegant turns on the words, which render the numbers ex |