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Page 17
But, however this may have been, there is, apparently, a divine
Spirit, glowing forcibly in the Hebrew Poetry, a kind of terrible
Simplicity; a magnificent Plainness! which is commonly lost, in
Paraphrase, by our mistaken Endeavours after heightening the
Sentiments, by a figurative Expression; This is very ill Judg'd:
The little Ornaments of Rhetorick might serve, fortunately
enough, to swell out the Leanness of some modern Compositions;
but to shadow over the Lustre of a divine Hebrew Thought, by an
Affectation of enliv'ning it, is to paint upon a Diamond, and
call it an Ornament.
It is a surprizing Reflection, that these noble Hebrew Poets
shou'd have written with such admirable Vigour three Thousand
Years ago; and that, instead of improving, we should affect to
despise them; as if, to write smoothly, and without the Spirit of
Imagery, were the true Art of Poetry, because the only Art we
practise. It puts me in Mind of the famous Roman Lady, who
suppos'd, that Men had, naturally, stinking Breaths, because she
had been us'd to it, in her Husband.
The most obvious Defect in our Poetry, and I think the greatest
it is liable to, is, that we study Form, and neglect Matter. We
are often very flowing, and under a full Sail of Words, while we
leave our Sense fast aground, as too weighty to float on
Frothiness; We run on, upon false Scents, like a Spaniel, that
starts away at Random after a Stone, which is kept back in the
Hand, though It seem'd to fly before him. To speak with Freedom
on this Subject, is a Task of more Danger than Honour; for few
Minds have real Greatness enough to consider a Detection of their
Errors, as a Warning to their Conduct, and an Advantage to their
Fame; But no discerning Judgment will consider it as ill Nature,
in one Writer, to mark the Faults of another. A general Practice
of that Kind wou'd be the highest Service to poetry. No Disease
can be cur'd, till its Nature is examin'd; and the first likely
Step towards correcting our Errors, is resolving to learn
impartially, that we have Errors to be corrected.
I will, therefore, with much Freedom, but no manner of Malice,
remark an Instance or two, from no mean Writers, to prove, that
our Poetry has been degenerating apace into mere Sound, or
Harmony; nor ought This to be consider'd as an invidious Attempt,
since whatever Pains we take, about polishing our Numbers, where
we raise not our Meaning, are as impertinently bestowed, as the
Labour wou'd be, of setting a broken Leg after the Soul has left
the Body. The Gunners have a Custom, when a Ball is too little
for the Bore of their Canon, to wrap Towe about it, till it
fills the Mouth of the Piece; after which, it is discharg'd, with
a Thunder, proportionable to the Size of the Gun; But its
Execution at the Mark, will immediately discover, that the Noise
of the Discharge was a great deal too big for the Diameter of the
Bullet. It is just the same thing with an unsinewy Imagination,
sent abroad in sounding Numbers; The Loftiness of the Expression
will astonish shallow Readers into a temporary Admiration, and
support it, for a while; but the Bounce, however loud, goes no
farther than the Ear; The Heart remains unreach'd by the Languor
of the Sentiment.
Poetry, the most elevated Exertion of human Wit, is no more than
a weak and contemptible Amusement, wanting Energy of Thought, or
Propriety of Expression. Yet we may run into Error, by an
injudicious Affectation of attaining Perfection, as Men, who are
gazing upward, when they shou'd be looking to their Footsteps,
stumble frequently against Posts, while they have the Sun in
Contemplation.
In attempting, for Example, to modernize so lofty an Ode as the
104th Psalm, the Choice of Metaphors shou'd, methinks, have been
considered, as one of the most remarkable Difficulties. There
seems to have been a Necessity, that they shou'd be noble, as
well as natural; and yet, if too much rais'd, they wou'd endanger
an Extinction of the Charms, which they were design'd to
illustrate. That powerful Imagination of 'the Sea, climbing over
the Mountains Tops, and rushing back, upon the Plains, at the
Voice of God's Thunder,' ought certainly to have been express'd
with as much Plainness as possible: And, to demonstrate how ill
the contrary Measure has succeeded, one need only observe how it
looks in Mr. Trapp's Metaphorical Refinement.
"The Ebbing Deluge did its Troops recal,
Drew off its Forces, and disclos'd the Ball,
They, at th' Eternal's Signal march'd away."
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