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Page 7
Whoever thinks a faultless Piece to see,
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be.
And _Horace_, while he is teaching us the Beauties in the Art of Poetry,
gives no less than nine _Monosyllables_ in the compass of a Verse and a
half;
_Sed nunc non_ erat _his_ locus: & fortasse cupressum
_Scis_ simulare. _Quid hoc si_, &c.
Now if these are Beauties, as I doubt not but the _politer Criticks_
will allow, I cannot see why our Language may not now and then be
tolerated in using _Monosyllables_, when it is done discreetly, and
sparingly; and as I do not commend any of our Moderns who contract
Words into _Monosyllables_ to botch up their Verses, much less such as
do it out of Affectation; yet certainly the use of _Monosyllables_ may
be made to produce a charming and harmonious Effect, where they fall
under a Judgment that can rightly dispose and order them. And indeed,
if a Variety and Copiousness of Feet, and a Latitude of shifting and
transposing Words either in Prose or Poetical Compositions, be of any
use, towards the rendering such Compactions sweet, or nervous, or
harmonious, according to the Exigencies of the several sorts of Stile,
one wou'd think _Monosyllables_ to be best accommodated to all these
Purposes, and according to the Skill of those who know how to manage
them, to answer all the Ends, either of masculine Force, or female
Tenderness; for being single you have a Liberty of placing them where,
and as you please; whereas in Words of many Syllables you are more
confined, and must take them as you find them, or be put upon the
cruel necessity of mangling and tearing them asunder. Mr. _Dryden_,
it is true, wou'd make us believe he had a great Aversion to
_Monosyllables_. Yet he cannot help making use of them sometimes in
entire Verses, nor conceal his having a sort of Pride, even where he
tells us he was forc'd to do it. For to have done otherwise would have
been a Force on Nature, which would have been unworthy of so great a
Genius, whose Care it was to study Nature, and to imitate and copy it
to the Life; and it is not improbable, that there might be somewhat of
a latent Delicacy and Niceness in this Matter, which he chose rather
to dissemble, than to expose, to the indiscreet Management of meaner
Writers. For in the first Line of his great Work the _�neis_, every
Word is a _Monosyllable_; and tho' he makes a seeming kind of Apology,
yet he cannot forbear owning a secret Pleasure in what he had done.
"My first Line in the _�neis_, says he, is not harsh.
"Arms and the Man I sing, who forc'd by Fate.
"But a much better Instance may be given from the last Line of
_Manilius_, made _English_ by our learned and judicious Mr. _Creech_;
"Nor could the World have born so fierce a Flame.
"Where the many liquid Consonants are placed so artfully, that they give
a pleasing Sound to the Words, tho' they are all of one Syllable."
It is plain from these last Words, that the Subject-matter,
_Monosyllables_, is not so much to be complain'd of; what is chiefly to
be requir'd, is of the Poet, that he be a good Workman, in forming them
aright, and that he _place them artfully_: and, however Mr. _Dryden_
may desire to disguise himself, yet, as he some where says, Nature will
prevail. For see with how much Passion he has exprest himself towards
these two Verses, in which the Poet has not been sparing of
_Monosyllables_: "I am sure, says he, there are few who make Verses,
have observ'd the Sweetness of these two Lines in _Coopers Hill;
"Tho deep, yet clear; tho gentle, yet not dull;
Strong without Rage, without o'erflowing full.
"And there are yet fewer that can find the reason of that Sweetness,
I have given it to some of my Friends in Conversation, and they have
allow'd the Criticism to be just."
You see, Sir, this great Master had his Reserves, and this was one of
the _Arcana_, to which every Novice was not admitted to aspire; this
was an Entertainment only for his best Friends, such as he thought
worthy of his Conversation; and I do not wonder at it, for he was
acquainted not only with the _Greek_ and_ Latin Poets_, but with the
best of his own Countrey, as well of ancient as of latter times, and
knew their Beauties and Defects: and tho' he did not think himself
obliged to be lavish, in dispersing the Fruits of so much Pains and
Labour at random, yet was he not wanting in his Generosity to such as
deserved his Friendship, and in whom he discern'd a Spirit capable of
improving the Hints of so great a Master. To give greater Probability
to what I have said concerning _Monosyllables_, I will give some
Instances, as well from such Poets as have gone before him, as those
which have succeeded him. It will not be taken amiss by those who
value the Judgment of Sir _Philip Sydney_, and that of Mr. _Dryden_,
if I begin with Father _Chaucer_.
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