The Presence of the Deity, and the Care such an August Cause ought to take about any Action, obliges the Poet to represent this Action as great, important, and manag'd by [1]Kings and Princes. It obliges him likewise to think and speak in an elevated way above the Vulgar, and in a Style that may in some sort keep up the Character of the Divine Persons he introduces. [2]To this end serves the Poetical and Figurative Expression, and the Majesty of the Heroick Verse.
But all this, being divine and surprizing, may quite ruine all Probability: Therefore the Poet should take special care as to that Point, since his chief aim is to instruct, and without Probability any Action is less likely to perswade.
To all this the Poets are oblig'd by the substance of the Things they propose to themselves as the subject Matter of their Poems and Instructions. The manner of teaching them usefully and methodically, has likewise oblig'd them to add several other Rules.
The Epopéa's business is with the Morals and Habitudes more than the Passions. These rise on a sudden, and their Heat is soon over; but the Habitudes are more calm, and come on, and go off more leisurely. Therefore the Epick Action cannot be contain'd in one single day, as the Dramatick can: It must have a longer and more just space allow'd it, than that of Tragedy, which is only allow'd for the Passions.
This Distinction makes the Tragedy and the Epopéa differ very much. The violence of Tragedy requires a great deal more lively and brisk Representation than that of a Recital: besides it is all Action, and the Poet says never a Word, as he does in the Epopéa, where there are no Actors.
But if in this the Epopéa is inferiour to the Drama, yet 'tis superiour to both Philosophy and History: because 'tis a great deal more active than bare Philosophy, and the Recitals of History: And thô it does not present Actors to the Eyes of the Spectators, yet it ought at least more frequently than Historians, to break off the Thread of its Discourse by the Speeches of its Personages. This Aristotle orders, when he says, that the Narration of the Epick ought to be Dramatick, that is to say, very active.
It has likewise its Passions, which give it no small Advantage over Philosophy and History: But in this it is inferiour to Tragedy. For thô it has a mixture of all the Passions, yet Joy and Admiration are the most essential to it. These indeed contribute most towards the making us wise Men: Admiration and Curiosity are the Cause of Sciences; and nothing engages us so forcibly as Pleasure. So that these two Passions must never be wanting to any invented Piece, if we would be inform'd in what we are indispensibly oblig'd to know.
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