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Page 6
VII.
'Tis not such _Lines_ as almost crack the _Stage_,
When _Bajazet_ begins to rage;
Not a tall _Metaphor_ in th' _bombast Way_,
Nor the dry Chips of short-lung'd _Seneca_.
Nor upon all Things to obtrude,
And force some odd _Similitude_.
What is it then, which like the _Pow'r Divine_,
We only can by _Negatives_ define?
VIII.
In a true Piece of _Wit_, all Things must be,
Yet all Things there _agree_;
As in the _Ark_, join 'd without Force or Strife,
All _Creatures_ dwelt; all _Creatures_ that had Life.
Or as the _primitive Forms_ of all,
(If we compare great Things with small)
Which without _Discord_ or _Confusion_ lie,
In the strange _Mirror_ of the _Deity_.
IX.
But _Love_, that moulds _one Man_ up out of _two_,
Makes me forget, and injure you.
I took _You_ for _Myself_, sure when I thought
That You in any thing were to be taught.
Correct my Error with thy Pen,
And if any ask me then,
What thing right _Wit_, and Height of _Genius_ is,
I'll only shew your _Lines_, and say, _'Tis this_.
The _Spirit_ and _Wit_ of this _Ode_ are excellent; and yet it is
evident, through the whole, that Mr. _Cowley_ had no clear Idea of
_Wit_, though at the same time it _shines_ in most of these Lines:
There is little Merit in saying what WIT _is not_, which is the chief
Part of this _Ode_. Towards the End, he indeed attempts to describe what
_it is_, but is quite vague and perplex'd in his Description; and at
last, instead of collecting his scatter'd Rays into a _Focus_, and
exhibiting succinctly the clear Essence and Power of WIT, he drops the
whole with a trite Compliment.
The learned Dr. _Barrow_, in his _Sermon against foolish Talking and
Jesting_, gives the following profuse Description of WIT.
But first it may be demanded, What the Thing we speak of is? Or
what the Facetiousness (or _Wit_ as he calls it before) doth
import? To which Questions I might reply, as _Democritus_ did to
him that asked the Definition of a Man, _'Tis that we all see and
know._ Any one better apprehends what it is by Acquaintance,
than I can inform him by Description. It is indeed a Thing so
versatile and multiform, appearing in so many Shapes, so many
Postures, so many Garbs, so variously apprehended by several
Eyes and Judgments, that it seemeth no less hard to settle a
clear and certain Notion thereof, than to make a Portrait of
_Proteus_, or to define the Figure of the fleeting Air. Sometimes
it lieth in pat Allusion to a known Story, or in seasonable
Application of a trivial Saying, or in forging an apposite Tale:
Sometimes it playeth in Words and Phrases, taking Advantage from
the Ambiguity of their Sense, or the Affinity of their Sound:
Sometimes it is wrapp'd in a Dress of humorous Expression:
Sometimes it lurketh under an odd Similitude: Sometimes it
is lodged in a sly Question, in a smart Answer, in a quirkish
Reason, in a shrewd Intimation, in cunningly diverting, or
cleverly retorting an Objection: Sometimes it is couched in a
bold Scheme of Speech, in a tart Irony, in a lusty Hyperbole,
in a startling Metaphor, in a plausible Reconciling of
Contradictions, or in acute Nonsense; Sometimes a scenical
Representation of Persons or Things, a counterfeit Speech, a
mimical Look or Gesture passeth for it. Sometimes an affected
Simplicity, sometimes a presumptuous Bluntness giveth it Being.
Sometimes it riseth from a lucky Hitting upon what is Strange;
sometimes from a crafty wresting obvious Matter to the Purpose.
Often it' consisteth in one knows not what, and springeth
up one can hardly tell how. Its ways are unaccountable, and
inexplicable, being answerable to the numberless Rovings of
Fancy, and Windings of Language. It is, in short, a Manner
of Speaking out of the simple and plain Way (such as Reason
teacheth, and proveth Things by) which by a pretty, surprizing
Uncouthness in Conceit or Expression, doth affect and amuse the
Fancy, stirring in it some Wonder, and breeding some Delight
thereto. It raiseth Admiration, as signifying a nimble Sagacity
of Apprehension, a special Felicity of Invention, a Vivacity of
Spirit, and Reach of Wit, more than vulgar; it seeming to argue a
rare Quickness of Parts, that one can fetch in remote Conceits
applicable; a notable Skill that he can dextrously accommodate
them to the Purpose before him; together with a lively Briskness
of Humour, not apt to damp those Sportful Flashes of Imagination.
(Whence in _Aristotle_ such Persons are termed "epidexioi",
dexterous Men, and "eutropoi", Men of facile or versatile
Manners, who can easily turn themselves to all Things, or
turn all Things to themselves.) It also procureth Delight,
by gratifying Curiosity with its Rareness, or Semblance of
Difficulty. (As Monsters, not for their Beauty, but their
Rarity; as juggling Tricks, not for their Use, but their
Abstruseness, are beheld with Pleasure;) by diverting the Mind
from its Road of serious Thoughts, by instilling Gaiety, and
Airiness of Spirit; by provoking to such Disposition of Spirit
in Way of Emulation, or Complaisance; and by seasoning Matters
otherwise distasteful or insipid, with an unusual and thence
grateful Tange.
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