THE LIFE OF OUR Blessed Lord & Saviour JESUS CHRIST .

AN HEROIC POEM : DEDICATED TO Her Most Sacred MAJESTY .

In Ten Books .

ATTEMPTED BY SAMUEL WESLEY , Rector of South-Ormsby in the County of Lincoln .

Each Book illustrated by necessary Notes , explaining all the more difficult Matters in the whole History : Also a Prefatory Discourse concerning Heroic Poetry .

With Sixty Copper-Plates .

LONDON ▪ Printed for Charles Harper , at the Flower-de-Luce , over against S. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet , and 〈…〉 in Aldersgatestreet . 1693.

THIS POEM Is most humbly Dedicated

A Iust Heroic-Poem is so vast an Undertaking , requires so much both of Art and Genius for its Management , and carries such Difficulty in the Model of the whole , and Disposition of the several Parts , that it 's no Wonder , if not above One or Two of the Ancients , and hardly any of the Moderns have succeeded in their Attempts of this Nature . Rapine and other Masters of Epic , represent it as an Enterprize so hardy , that it can scarce enter into the Mind of a wise Man , without affrighting him , as being the most perfect Piece of Work that Art can produce . That Author has many excellent Reflexions and Rules concerning it in his Discourse , Sur la Poetique ; but Bossu is the first I 've seen who has writ a just and perfect Tract thereon , wherein he has in a clear and Scholastic Method amass'd together most that 's to be found in Antiquity on that Subject , tho chiefly keeping to the Observations of Aristotle , which he drew from Homer , and who seems the first that reduced Poetry to an Art . That Father defines Epic , An Artificial Discourse , in order to form the Manners by Instructions , disguis'd under the Allegories of some one important Action , recited in Verse , in a manner probable diverting and admirable , which he thus himself abridges , 'T is a Fable agreeably imitated on some important Action , recited in Verse in a manner that 's probable and admirable : In which Definition are contain'd , as he afterwards explains it , the general Nature of Epic , and that double , Fable and Poem : The Matter , some one important Action probably feign'd and imitated : Its Form , Recitation or Narration : And lastly , its End , Instruction , which is aimed at in general by the Moral of the Fable ; and besides in the particular Manners of the Persons who make the most considerable Figure in the Work .

To begin with Fable , which he makes included in the general Nature or Essence of Epic. This he says is the most essential Part of it ; That some Fables and Allegories scatter'd up and down in a Poem don't suffice to constitute Epic , if they are only the Ornaments , and not the very Foundation of it . And again , That 't is the very Fund and principal Action that ought to be Feign'd and Allegorical : For which reason he expresly excludes hence all simple Histories , as by Name , Lucan's Pharsalia , Silius Italicus's Puni● War , and all true Actions of particular Persons , without Fable : And still more home ; that 't is not a Relation of the Actions of any Hero , to form the Manners by his Example , but on the contrary , a Discourse invented to form the Manners by the Relation of some one feign'd Action , design'd to please , under the borrow'd Name of some illustrious Person , of whom Choice is made after we have fram'd the Plan of the Action which we design to attribute to him .

Nor indeed is Bossu singular in his Judgment on this Matter , there being few or none who have ever writ on the same Subject , but are of the same mind : For thus Boile●u in his Art of Poetry , Dans la vaste recit d' une longue action Se soutient par la Fable & vit de Fiction . Which his Translator I think better ; In the Narration of some great Design , Invention , Art , and Fable , all must joyn .

Rapine too gives his Vote on the same side , Rien n'est , says he , plus essentiel , au Poem Epique , que la Fiction ; and quotes Petronius to that purpose , Per ambages , Deorumque ministeria praecipitandus est Liber Spiritus . Nor is 't only the Moderns who are of this Opinion ; for the Iliads are call'd in Horace , Fabula quâ Paridis , &c. And lastly , even Aristotle himself tells us , That Fable is the principal thing in an Heroic Poem ; and , as it were , the very Soul of it . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And upon this occasion commends Homer for lying with the best Grace of any Man in the World : Authorities almost too big to admit any Examination of their Reason , or Opposition to their Sentiments . However , I see no cause why Poetry should not be brought to the Test , as well as Divinity , or any more than the other , be believed on its own bare ipse diuit .

Let us therefore examin the Plan which they lay for a Work of this Nature , and then we may be better able to guess at those Grounds and Reasons on which they proceed .

In forming an Heroic-Poem , the first thing they tell us we ought to do , is to pitch on some Moral Truth , which we desire to enforce on our Reader , as the Foundation of the whole Work . Thus Virgil , as Bossu observes , designing to render the Roman People pleased and easie under the new Government of Augustus , laid down this Maxim , as the Foundation of his Divine Aeneis : That great and notable Changes of State are not accomplished but by the Order and Will of God : That those who oppose themselves against them are impious , and frequently punished as they deserve ; and that Heaven is not wanting to take that Hero always under its particular Protection , whom it chuses for the Execution of such grand Designs . This for the Moral Truth ; we must then , he says , go on to lay the general Plan of the Fiction , which , together with that Verity , makes the Fable and Soul of the Poem : And this he thinks Virgil did in this manner , The Gods save a great Prince from the Ruins of his Country , and chuse him for the Preservation of Religion , and re-establishing a more glorious Empire than his former . The Hero is made a King , and arriving at his new Country , finds both God and Men dispos'd to receive him : But a neighbouring Prince , whose Eyes Ambition and Iealousie have closed against Iustice and the Will of Heaven , opposes his Establishment , being assisted by another King despoil'd of his Estate for his Cruelty and Wickedness . Their Opposition , and the War on which this pious Prince is forc'd , render his Establishment more just by the Right of Conquest , and more glorious by his Victory and the Death of his Enemies . These are his own Words , as any may see who are at the pains to consult him ; nor can I help it , if either Virgil or Bossu happen to be Prophets .

When the Poet has proceeded thus far , and as Bossu calls it , dress'd his Project , he 's next to search in History or receiv'd Fable , for some Hero , whose Name he may borrow for his Work , and to whom he may suit his Persons . These are Bossu's Notions , and , indeed , very agreeable to Aristotle , who says , that Persons and Actions in this sort of Poetry must be feign'd , allegorical , and universal .

This is the Platform they lay ; and let 's now see if we can discover the Reasons whereon they found these Rules , being so unanimous for Fable rather than true History , as the Matter of an Heroic-Poem ; and , if I mistake not , these are some of the principal .

And these , if I mistake not , were the main Reasons on which the fore-mention'd Rules were grounded . Let 's now enquire into the Strength and Validity of them : To begin with Homer , he wrote in that manner , because most of the antient Eastern Learning , the Original of all others , was Mythology . But this being now antiquated , I cannot think we are oblig'd superstitiously to follow his Example , any more than to make Horses speak , as he does that of Achilles . 2. If a Poet lights on any single Hero , whose true Actions and History are as important as any that Fable ever did or can produce , I see no reason why he may not as well make use of him and his Example to form the Manners and enforce any Moral Truth , as seek for one in Fable for that purpose : Nay , he can scarce fail of persuading more strongly , because he has Truth it self ; the other but the Image of Truth , especially if his History be , in the third place , of it self diverting and admirable . If it has from its own Fund , and already made to his hand those Deorum Ministeria , which cost the Poet so much in the forming 'em out of his own Brain . Nor can we suppose Fiction it self pleases ; no , 't is the agreeable and the admirable , in the Dress of Truth ; and such a Plan as this would effectually answer both the Ends of Poetry in general , delectari & monere , nay come up fuller to the End of Epic , which is agreeable Instruction ; and thence it follows strongly , that a Poem wrote in such a manner , must , notwithstanding the fore-going Rules , be a true and proper Heroic-Poem , especially if adorn'd with Poetical Colours and Circumstances through the whole Body thereof .

Now that all this is not gratis dictum , I think I can prove , even from most of those very Authors Ive already produc'd , as of the contrary Opinion ; and that I can make it appear , Bossu goes too far in fixing Fable as the Essential Fund and Soul of the principal Action in an Epic Poem . To begin with Rapine , who has this Passage , Sur la Poetique , Reflex . 5. La Poesie Heroique , &c. Heroique Poesie , according to Aristotle , is a Picture or Imitation of an Heroic Action ; and the Qualities of the Action are , That it ought to be ( among others ) true , or at least , such as might pass for true : Thus he . And hence it follows , according to him and Aristotle , that the principal Action in Heroic , not only ought to pass for Truth , but may be really true : For Horace , he does indeed call the Iliads a Fable ; but then he does not oblige his Poet superstitiously to follow Homer in every thing , owning that he sometimes doats as well as other Men : Further , this may , and I think does , refer rather to the Dress and Turn of the Action , than to the Bottom and Ground of his History , which there 's at least as much , if not more reason to believe true than false : And in the same Sense may we take Petronius and Boileau ; nay , if we don't take 'em thus , I can't tell whether there were ever such a thing as a true Heroic-Poem in the World ; not so much as the Fairy-Queen , Gondibert , or Orlando Furioso ; all which have Fable enough in 'em of any reason ; but their principal Actions might be still true , as we are sure was that of the best Heroic that ever was written ; ( I need not say I mean Virgil ) since few or no Authors ever deny'd that there was such a Man as Aeneas , or even that he came into Italy , built Cities there , and erected a Kingdom , which Tully mentions , as a generally receiv'd Tradition in those Parts , and which it seems he thought not frivolous , but true and solid ; otherwise he 'd scarce have given it a place in his Argument for his Client . Of this Opinion too seems Horace himself , in his Art of Poetry , namely , That there 's no necessity of the principal Action's being feign'd ; for his Direction is , Aut famam sequere , aut sibi convenientia finge ; Either follow Tradition or Fame , or else feign what 's agreeable thereunto . He makes not feigning essential to Heroic-Action , but gives leave to follow Fame , who is not so great a Lyar , but that she is sometimes in the right . Nay , what if we should after all have Bossu himself of our side , which I 'm mistaken if he be not ; for these are his Expressions , Lib. 1. Cap. 7. Le Fiction , &c. The Fiction may be so disguis'd under the Verity of the History , that those who are ignorant of the Art of the Poet , may believe it not a Fiction ; and to make the Disguisement well , he ought to search into History for the Names of some Persons , to whom such an Action has probably or truly happen'd , &c. Hence 't is evident , that according to Bossus own Notion , the main Action may be true ; which appears even from Aristotle himself , as quoted by him , 97. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. An Author is not less a Poet , because the Incidents he recites have truly happen'd ; if so be that which happen'd had the appearance of Truth , and all that Art demands , and be really such as it ought to have been feign'd . And this Bossu himself illustrates admirably well by an ingenious Simile ; A Statuary , says he , first forms his Design , Posture , Altitudes which he intends for his Image ; but if he then lights on any precious Material , Agate , or such like , where the Figure , the Colours , and Veins will not be accommodated to all he design'd , he regulates his design and Imagination according to his Matter ; nor ought we to believe , at the same time that these singular lucky Hits condemn the Iustness of his Art . From all which I must leave it to the Reader , whether I ha'nt sufficiently prov'd what I 've undertaken ; that Fiction is not necessary to the principal Action of our Heroic-Poem ; on which I 've been something more large , not so much on my own account ; for 't is indifferent to me by what Name any Man calls my Poem , so it answers the great End of Epic , which is Instruction ; but because I 've heard some Persons have been so conceited as to criticise on our immortal Cowley for this very reason , and deny his Davideis the Honour of being an Heroic-Poem , because the Subject thereof is a true History .

And here I should drop the Discourse of Fable , were there not another sort of Persons still to deal with , perhaps more importunate that the former : The first will not like a Piece unless 't is all Fable , or at least the Foundation of it : These latter run into the contrary extreme , and seem unwilling or afraid to admit any thing of Fable in a Christian Poem ; and as Balzak in his Critics on Heinsius his Baptista , are frighted , as at some Magical Charm , if they find but one Word there which was made use of by the old Heathens ; which , says he , ( unluckily as things have since happen'd ) is as preposterous as to see Turks wear Hats , and Frenchmen Turbants ; the Flower-de lis in the Musselmens Colours , or the Half-Moon on the Standard of France . He 's , however , it must be granted , justly angry with Tasso , as Mr. Dryden since , for setting his Angels and Devils to stave and tail at one another ; Alecto and Pluto on one side , and Gabriel and Raphael o' t'other ; as well as with Sannazarius , for mingling Proteus and David , and calling the Muses and Nymphs to the Labour of the Blessed Virgin . Tho the truth is , the Italian Poets seem more excusable , at least to a Papist , in this Case , than any other Nation , who parted with as little of their Idolatry as they could possible , after they had kept it as long as they were able , making the Change very easie , and turning their Pantheon into an all Saints ; much like the good Fathers in the Spanish Conquest in America , who suffer the Natives to keep their Old Idols , so they 'll but pay for 'em , and get 'em christen'd ; by this means making many a good Saint out of a very indifferent Devil . So far , I say , Balzack is undoubtedly in the right , that Christianity and Heathenism ought not to be confounded , nor the Pagan Gods mention'd , but as such , in Christian Poems . Of which Boileau also says , They should not be Fill'd with the Fictions of Idolatry ; tho he tells us just before , In vain have our mistaken Authors try'd Those antient Ornaments to lay aside . As tho he were afraid least all Poets shou'd be forc'd to turn Christians , and yet in the next Lines he thinks it full as bad ; To fright the Reader in each Line with Hell , And talk of Satan , Ashtaroth and Bel. As tho he 'd have no Christian to be a Poet. And much at the same rate is Monsieur Balzak very angry with Buchanan , for the same reason , ; nor will he by any means let us substitute Belzebub , Asmodeus , and Leviathan , in the room of Alecto , Tisiphone , and Megaera , which is , in his Opinion , perfect Pedantism and Affectation ; and is extreamly affraid , least any of those Barbarous Hebrew Words should disfigure the purity of the Latin Tongue ; When surely he cou'd not but know , that this pure Latin Tongue it self , for which he 's so much concerned is nothing but the gradual Corruption or Barbarizing of the Greek ; as that of the Phaenician and Hebrew before , and the Italian , and his own French too , from the Latin afterwards , by the adulterous mixture of 't is hard to say how many Languages : So that between 'em , they 'd make it impossible for a Christian Poet to write a good Heroic Poem , or even a Tragedy , on any , but profane Subjects ; by taking away all the Machines , and therein whatever is admirable . No , says Balzak , instead of those hard Words and proper Names , Appellatives may be chosen , Words common to all People : As for example , Ill luck instead of the Fates , and the Fowl-Fiend for Lucifer ; and whether this wou'd not sound extreamly Heroical , I leave any Man to judg : It being besides certain , that 't is singulars and particulars which give an Air of probability , and the main Life and Beauty to a Poem , especially of this Nature ; without which it must of necessity sink and languish . However so much of Truth , I must confess , there is in what he says , that I verily believe Magor-missabib , or Mahershalalhashbaz , wou'd scarce yoke decently in one of our Pentameters , but be near as unquiet and troublesom there , as a Mount Orgueil itself . Nor can partiality so far blind my Judgment as not to be my self almost frighted at second hearing of such a thundering Verse , as Belsamen Ashtaroth Bäaltii Ba'al : Which seems as flat Conjuration , as ⸫ Zinguebar , Oran , &c. tho 't is now too late to mend it . But then there are other Words of a more soft and treatable Cadence , even in the same Hebrew Language , especially when mollified by a Latin or Greek Form , or Termination ; and such as these one may make use of and let others alone : tho neither is our bolder rougher Tongue so much affrighted at them , as the French and Latin .

But Boileau pushes the Objection further , and wou'd make it bear against the Things as well as Words , persuading himself , Our God and Prophets that he sent , Can't act like those the Poets did invent . Tho he too is short in History , how excellent soever in Poetry . For first , the Heathen Poets did not invent the Names of their Gods and Heroes , but had 'em from Eastern Tradition , and the Phaenician and Iewish Language , tho deflected and disguis'd after the Greek and other Forms , as Iosephus tells us , which the learned Bochart has proved invincibly ; and I have made some Essay towards it , in my Sixth Book . Nay further , it seems plain to me , that most , even of their best Fancies and Images , as well as Names , were borrow'd from the Antient Hebrew Poetry and Divinity , as were there room for 't , I cou'd I think , render more than probable , in all the most celebrated Strokes of Homer , most of the Heathen Poetical Fables , and even in Hesiod's blind Theogonia . Their Gods or Devils , which you please , were not near as antient as the Hebrews . The word Satan is as antient as Iob ; nor can they shew us a Pluto within a long while of him . Ashtaroth , and Astarte , are old enough to be Grandmothers to their Isis , or Venus , and Bell , of the same standing with Idolatry . Lawful it must certainly be , to use these very Heathen Gods in Christian , since they were us'd in sacred Hebrew Poetry , in due place , and in a due manner ; Bel boweth down , Nebo stoopeth , says Isaiah . And what a noble Discription has the same Prophet of the Fall of Lucifer ? Nor can I see why it may not be as convenient and agreeable , as 't is lawful to transplant 'em from Hebrew Poetry to our own , if we use 'em as they did . And then for Angels , Prophets , and Oracles , it wou'd be strange if they shou'd not strike the mind as agreeably when real and true , as the Daemons , or Oracles , or Prophets of the Heathens , form'd , as has been said , partly from mistaken fragments , or Traditions of sacred Story , partly indeed from the Juggles of the Heathen Priests , and crafty Ambitious Daemons . On the whole , we have all the advantages they had , and yet more than they , for Heroic Poetry in these matters . As for that Question of Boileau's , What pleasure can it be to hear , the howlings of repining Lucifer : I think 't is easier to answer than to find out what shew of Reason he had for asking it , or why Lucifer mayn't howl as pleasantly , as either Cerberus , or Enceladus . And let any one read but his Speech , in Milton's Paradice , almost equall'd in Mr. Dryden's State of Innocence , and I 'm mistaken if he 's not of the same mind ; or if he be not , and it gives him no pleasure , I dare affirm 't is for want of a true tast of what 's really admirable .

But Boileau comes to a stronger Objection , both against the Names and use of these Daemons , by way of Machine , I mean , in Christian Poetry ; The Mysteries we Christians must believe Disdain such shifting Pageants to receive . Thus has his Translator turn'd him ; and taking it in that Sence , the meaning must be , that it disgraces Christianity , to mix its Mysteries with stories of Daemons , Angels , &c. But sure it can never be any disgrace , to represent it really as it is , with the frequent Intervention of those invisible and powerful Agents , both good and evil , in the Affairs of Mankind , which our Saviour has both asserted and demonstrated in his Gospel , both by Theory and Practise : Whence we learn , that there are really vast numbers of these Spirits ; some tempting , or tormenting , others guarding and protecting Mortals : Nay , a subordination too among them , and that they are always vigilant , some for our Destruction , others for our Preservation , and that , as it seems , of every individual Man ; and if this be true in general , I 'm sure 't is probable in particular : Nor can it be any disgrace to Christianity , to apply general Probabilities to particular Cases , or to mention these Daemons in Poetry any more than in Divinity .

But indeed the Translator has here mended Boileau's Thought , or at least made it more plausible and defensible , tho he has miss'd his Sence ; for these are his Lines : De la foi d' une Christien les Mysteres terribles D' Ornemens egayés ne sont point susceptibles . The plain English of which , I think is , That the terrible Mysteries of the Christian Faith , are not at all susceptible of these gayer Ornaments . I 'll not be too Critical here , tho methinks it s but an odd sort of Gayety that 's to be found in Tales of Hell ; agreeable , I own , the most dreadful thing may be , if well manag'd in Poetry , but he can hardly ever make 'em gay without a very strong Catachresis . But tho we let that pass , so must not what follows , wherein he further explains his Notion . L' Evangile , &c. The Gospel offers nothing to our Thoughts But Penitence and Punishments for Faults . To which it may be first said , that supposing this true , and the Gospel did present nothing else , yet why mayn't Angels be us'd in it , to warn Sinners to that Repentance which we know they so much rejoyce in ; or Devils , to punish and torment the Guilty and Impious ; as in the Case of Sceva's Son , and others . But yet further , as to the assertion it self , I know not what their Gospel offers , nor I believe are they better acquainted with what ours does ; but we are sure 't is far enough from being such a dismal melancholy thing as they represent it , since Immortality and Life are brought to light therein . We know that it gives us the noblest Examples , the most divine Law , the strongest , yet justest Passions , the most glorious Combats , and Friendships , and Sufferings , such as neither History or Fable cou'd ever yet equal . It shews us a God really Descending , disrob'd indeed of all his more dazling and insupportable Glories , as our divine Herbert ; but yet clothed with what has more of true Divinity , with Humility and Charity , and Patience , and Meekness and Innocence . Here 's War , here 's Love indeed ; such as never was besides , or will be more . He lov'd our Dust and Clay , and even for us , single encounter'd all the Powers of Darkness , and yet more , his Almighty Father's anger . But I 'll go no farther , least the Reader should think I forget where I am . I must return to Boileau , whose strongest Objection is yet behind ; Et de vos Fictions , &c. And mingling Falshood with those Mysteries Wou'd make our sacred Truths appear like Lies . But I hope the Critic knew , that there is a fair difference between a mere Fiction , or Falshood , and an instructive Parable or Fable , on one side , or a few more lively Poetical Colours on the other . To mingle Falshoods , or dull Legendary Fictions , without either Life or Soul in 'em , with our Saviour's Blessed Gospel , nay make 'em , in some Sence , superiour to it . This wou'd indeed incline an Italian to be of the same Faith with his Countryman , that 't was all Fabula Christi , in the worst Sence of the Word : But certainly expressing the Truth in Parables , and mingling these with the Mysteries of the Gospel , can't be thought to give it an Air of Fiction : nor dare any affirm it does so , without Blasphemy , since our Saviour has so often done it . Nor only these but deeper Allegories are thought to be made use of in the Christian Religion ; for Example , the Throne and Temple of God in the Revelations , and the Description of the New Ierusalem , with all its Gates and Foundations of Saphires and Emeralds , and that lovely Scheme of Trees and Rivers , worthy a Paradice : All this , I say , will scarcely be granted literal , and consequently must be all an Allegory ; alluding partly to the Old Iewish Church and Temple , partly to Ezekiel's Visionary Representation and Prophetical Paradice . Nor can it , I think , be justly reckoned more criminal , where we have any great instructive Example , which has been real matter of Fact , to expatiate thereon ; adding suitable and proper Circumstances and Colours to the whole , especially when the History it self is but succinctly Related , and the Heads of things only left us . And this some great Men have thought was the Method of the Holy Pen-man himself , whoever he were , in that lovely antient Poem of Iob ; which that 't was at the bottom a real History , few but Atheists deny ; and yet 't is thought some Circumstances might be amplified in the account we have left us , particularly the long Speeches between that Great Man and his Friends ; tho the main hinges of the Relation , his Person , Character , and Losses , the malice of the Devil , the behaviour of his Wife and Friends , nay even the Substance of their Discourses , as well as of that between God and him , and the wonderful Turn of his Affairs soon after : All this might , and did , truly happen . Or , if any amplification shou'd be here deny'd , does not the Divine however every day , Paraphrase and Expatiate upon the Words of his Text , inverting their Method as he sees occasion , and yet is still thought unblamable . All the difference is , that he delivers what 's probable , as only probable ; whereas the Nature of Poetry requires , that such probable Amplifications as these , be wrought into the main Action , in such a manner , as if they had really happen'd ; and without this , a man might Ryme long enough , but n'er cou'd make a Poem , any more than this would have been one , had I begun with , Abraham begat Isaac , and so tagg'd on to the end of all the fourteen Generations , much as Nonnus has done with St. Iohn , and yet often miss'd his Sence too , as Heinsius judges .

But enough of Fable , and of those who would either reduce all Heroic Poetry unto it , or absolutely banish it thence .

Next the Fable of Epics , the Poem is to be considered ; which , after Bossu , is the other part of its general Nature , and shews the manner of handling it , comprehending Thoughts , Expressions and Verses ; of which there need not much be said , since the most obvious to every Reader . The Thoughts must be clear , and just , and noble , and the Diction or Expression suited to them . The chief Difficulty , as Rapin observes , is to keep up the Sublime , which Virgil has done admirably , even in the meanest Subjects ; and which Aristotle thinks may be best done by the judicious use of Metaphors . There ought to meet , according to him , Proportion in the Design , Iustness in the Thoughts , and Exactness in the Expression , to constitute an accomplish'd Heroic Poem ; and the great Art of Thought and Expression lies in this , that they be natural and proper without Meanness , and sublime without a vitious Swelling and Affectation .

The Matter is next in an Heroic Poem , which must be some one important Action ; it must be important , Res gestae Regumque Ducumque , with Horace . It only speaks of Kings and Princes , says Rapin , by which he must mean that it chiefly and principally turns upon them : for both Virgil and Homer have occasion for Traitors , and Cryers , and Beggars , nay even Swinherds ( in the Odysses ) and yet still more , of whole Armies , which can't be all compos'd of Kings and Princes . However , the more there is of these lower Walks in the Plan of a Design , the less Heroic it must appear , even in the Hands of the greatest Genius in Nature . Such a Genius , I think , was Homer's , and yet the Truth of this Assertion will be plain to any who compares his Odysses with his Iliads ; where he 'll find , if 't is not for want of Judgment , in the latter a very different Air from the former , in many places much more dead and languishing , and this which I have given , seems one probable Reason on 't ; not excluding that of Longinus , that Homer was then grown old , and besides too much of the Work was spent in Narration ; to which may be added , that he here design'd a wise and prudent rather than a brave and fighting Hero ; having wrought off most of the Edg and Fury of his Youthful Spirit and Fury in Achilles , as in Ulysses he express'd more of Age and Iudgment .

This Action must be one and uniform : the Painture of one Heroic Action , says Rapin from Aristotle . It must be , as Bossu from Horace , simplex duntaxat & unum , that is , the principal Action on which the whole Work moves ought to be one , otherwise the whole will be confus'd ; tho there may be many Episodic Actions without making what Aristotle calls an Episodic Poem , which is , where the Actions are not necessarily or not probably link'd to each other , and of such an irregular multiplication of Actions and Incidents . Bossu instances very pleasantly in Statius's Achileid ; but he tells us there 's also a regular and just Multiplication , without which 't were impossible to find matter for so large a Poem , when as before it 's so ordered that the Unity of the whole is not broken , and consequently divers Incidents it has bound together are not to be accounted different Actions and Fables , but only different Parts not finish'd , or entire of one Action or Fable entire or finished : and , agreeable to this Doctrine , Rapin blames Lucan's Episodes as too far-fetch'd , over-scholastic , and consisting purely of speculative Disputes on natural Causes whenever they came in his way , not being link'd with the main Action , nor flowing naturally from it , nor tending to its Perfection .

And in this Action , the Poet ought , as Rapin tells us , to invert the natural Order of things , not to begin with his Hero in the Cradle , and write his Annals instead of an Epic Poem , as Statius in his Achilleid , the Reason of which seems plain , because this would look more like History than Poetry . It 's more agreeable , more natural , in some Sence , to be here unnatural ; to bring in , by way of Recitation or Narration , what was first in order of time , at some distance from that time when it really happened , which makes the whole look unlike a dull formal Story , and gives more scope for handsome Turns and the Art of the Writer . Another Reason why a whole Life is not ordinarily a proper Subject for Epics , is , because many trivial Accidents must be therein recited ; but if a Life can be found in which is nothing but what 's diverting and wonderful , tending besides to the perfecting the main Action , and the Order of time revers'd in the whole , the Case would be so much altered , that I think their Rules would not hold .

For the Form of Epic , which comes next in view , 't is agreed on all hands to be Recitation or Narration . Bossu says , the Persons are not at all to be introduced before the Eyes of the Spectators , acting by themselves without the Poet ; not that he 'd hereby exclude the Poet from introducing the persons telling their own Story , or some one of them that of the principal Hero : for great part of Epic is thus far Dramatic . And thus Virgil manages his second and third Books by way of Recitation , and that by his Hero himself , making him give Dido a long account of the Wars of Troy , and his own Actions , tho thereby he falls into the Impropriety of commending himself , with a — sum pius Aeneas . Vida takes the same way of Recitation , wherein he employs two or three of his six Books ; and Milton follows them both , tho less naturally than either ; for he introduces our Saviour , in his Paradise regain'd , repeating a great part of his own Life in Soliloquy , which way of Discourse includes , in a Wise Man especially , so much of Calmness and deep Reflection , that it seems improper for the great and noble Turn required in such a Work , unless in describing a Passion , where it may be more lively . All that they mean by not introducing the Parties , is not doing it as in a Tragedy : they are not to be brought in abruptly to tell their own Tale from the beginning , without the appearing Help of the Poet , as Actors in a true and proper Drama . And this Narration , says Rapin , should be simple and natural ; but the greatest difficulty is , not to let its simplicity appear , lest it thence grow disagreeable , and the chiefest Art in this , consists in its Transitions , and all the delicate surprising Turns , which lead the Reader from one thing to another without his thinking whither he 's going , or perceiving any Breach or so much as a passage between 'em ; after all , the more Action there is in Epic , still the more Life there will be . A Poet may , I find , easily fall into Poorness of Thought by aiming too much at the Probability and neglecting the Admirable ; whereby he loses that agreeableness which is a mixture of both . He ought then to take more care than some have done , not to keep himself too long behind the Scenes , and trust the Narration with another , which , without a great deal of Art and Pains , will take off much of the Life of the Work , as Longinus has already formerly observed .

And here come in the Qualities of Narration , mentioned in our Definition , that it ought to be done in a manner probable , agreeable , and admirable ; 't is rendered probable by its Simplicity and Singularity , and admirable by the Grandeur of the Subject , the Figures and Machines , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , much more lawful here than in the Drama's ; and lastly agreeable , as has been said , by a mixture of b●th .

The last thing in our Definition , is , the End of Epic , indeed the first and principal which ought to be intended , and that 's Instruction , not only , as Rapin thinks , of great Men , but of all . as in Virgil's Scheme , which we have already described ; and this either by the principal Moral aim'd at in the whole , or the Manners of particular Persons . Of Fable and Moral , I 've already discours'd , and whether be the more lively and probable way to instruct , by that or History . But here it may be worth the while to enquire , whether the principal Hero in Epic ought to be virtuous ? Bossu thinks not , the manners being formed as well by seeing Errors as Beauties in the chief Actors ; but yet methinks it seems too much to form a Hero that 's a perfect Almanzor , with not one spark of Vertue , and only remarkable for his extraordinary Strength and little Brains ; such was certainly Homer's Achilles , of whom I think the Father was in the right when he observes , the Poet makes him not do one brave or virtuous Action , all the while he lies before the Town : whereas Virgil's Hero , is , to tell truth , an indifferent good Heathen , and , bating one or two slips , comes up pretty well to his own good word . The same however may be said for Homer , which our present Dramatists plead for their Excuse ; that he copied his Hero from those who were esteemed such in the barbarous Age in which he liv'd , Impiger , iracundus , inexorabilis , acer , Iura neget sibi nata , &c. Made up of Lewdness , Love , and Fighting : who , had he liv'd in our days , would have made an excellent Town-Bully , I wish there were not too much reason to say a modish Gentleman . But tho old Homer took this way , Virgil , who writes with much more Iudgment and Exactness , and follows him in many things , here thought fit to leave him ; making his Hero , as I 've said , not only brave and prudent , but for the most part virtuous . Which would much better form the manners of his Reader , than if they were set to spell out Instruction from contraries , as Homer has done . Whence it follows , the more virtuous a Hero is , the better ; since he more effectually answers the true end of Epics . After all , Rapin says , the chief Excellency of an Heroic Poem consists in the just proportion of the Parts ; that perfect Union , just Agreement , and admirable Relation , which the Parts of this great Work bear one towards another ; and blames Tasso for mingling all the Sweetness and Delicacy of Eclogues and Lyricks , with the Force of an Heroic Poem . But I should think him mistaken here , and that this is not the meaning of Aristotles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . For if we allow not such a pleasing Variety , how shall we excuse even Virgil himself , who has his Dido , as well as Tasso his Armida and Erminia ? nay , how shall we manage Love ? which is usually one great Episode of Heroic , if not with something of Delicacy . I grant Love ought to have a different Air in different sorts of Poems ; but still if it be natural it must have something of Softness ; and for his Enchanted Forest , which this severe Critic also blames , I believe there 's few who read that part of his Work , who would willingly have it omitted , for the sake of a fancied Regularity , any more than they would part with Mr. Dryden's Improvement on 't in his King Arthur . However , if it be a fault , 't is strange so many who have been Masters of the greatest Genius should unanimously fall into it ; as Ovid in his Palace of Circe , Ariosto in that of Alcina , and Spencer in his Acasia's Bower of Bliss , and several others , who have taken the same Method . I should therefore rather think that this beautiful and marvellous Analogy which Aristotle requires as the best thing in Epic , relates rather to the Harmony and Agreement of the Parts with the Whole ; so that there appears no Fracture or Contradiction , the different Parts , tho much unlike , yet altogether making one beautiful Figure and uniform Variety .