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in both Ihe famc cnds are propofcd , "i=. innrullion and
amufement; and in both Ihe fJme mcans are employcd,
vi:. imitation of human a{lions. Thcy diffcr in Ihe
manner only of imiwing: erie poctry dcals in narmion ;
,ragedy reprefents its fa{ls as paOing in our (¡ghl: in Ih~
former, the po" inlroJuees himfelf as an hillorian; in
Ihe larter, he prefents his a{lors, ano nCI'er himfelf.
This di/Tmnee, regarding form only, m1y be thougllt
flight: bUl the eff<!th it oce.fions, are by no means fo;
for what we fee, makes a fironger imprelnon than what
we leam from others. A narrative poem is a nory told
by another : ' fa{ls and ineiJ~nl9 pafling upon the Ihge,
come under our own obfervalion; and are befide mueh
enli. ened by a{lion ano gellure, expreflive of many feo·
timenn beyood the reaeh of language.
A dramatie eompofition has anolher property, inde·
pendent alrogether of a{lion; whieh is, that it makes a
deeper impre(Jion than narration; in Ibe former, perfons
cxprefs their own f~ntiments; in Ihe latter, feminlenls
Bre related al fecond hand . fur thal reafon, Arillode,
lhe father of erilies, lays il down as a rule, Thal in an
epie poem the allthor ought 10 tak~ el'ery opportunity to
introduce his aélors. and tO confine the n.rruil'. pan
",ithin the narrowefi hnunds. Homer underfiood pero
fe{lly tbe advanlage of this methou; and his poems are
both of them in a great meafare dramalic. Lll~an runs
10 the oppofile extreme; ano is guihy of a Clill greatcr
faul! , in lIuffing his Pharfali.1 with cold anu languid re·
fl~{liolJs, lhe merit of whieh he atrumes to himfelf, and
deigns not to fllare Wilh 'his perfonages.
Arifiode, from the nature of the f..ble, divides Iragedy
into fimple and eomplex: but it is of grcater moment,
wilh refpeél 10 dramatie as well as epic powy, to fOllnd
adininélion upon lhe oi/Terent ends attained by fueh eom'
pofilions. A poem, whelher dramatic or epie, that has
~Nhing in "iew but to move the pallions, and tO exhibit
piélures of virtue and vice, may be diflinguifhed by Ihe
oame of /,odrric : but where a (fory is pnrpofely con·
trived to illll(frate fome moral truth, by fllowing lhat
diforderly paflions nalu rally !tad 10 external misfonunes,
fueh eompofition may be d~nominated 1I/DI·ol. Refides
making a deeper impreflioo than can be done by any mo·
r~1 Jifcourfe, it ,./Tords eonviélion equal to Ihat of lhe
mofi aeeunte ,reafoning. To be {atisoed of this, IVe
need but reflet!, thal the natural r.onneélioo whieh vice
halh wilh mifay, and vinu. with happiorfs, may be il·
luflraled by flaling a (dél as well as by urging an argu ·
mento Let us atrume, (or example, lhe foJlowing mo·
nllroths: Thal difcord among Ihe .ehds renders ioef·
feélu,1all eommon me?fu,es; and that the eonfequences
of a flighdy.fuundeo qumel, foflered by prirle and arro·
g1nee, are nOl leCs fatól than Ihofe of the gro(J',:fl injury :
thefe trl1ths may be in ulcmd, by the quarrel betweeo
Agamcmnon ano Aehilles al the firge of Troy. In lhis
l iew, probable cilcumflanecs mull be iovented, fueh as
furnifh an opportlloity for the tUI bulent paflions tO exert
themftlves In aélion: al the fame time, no accidental nor
unaeeountable eveDt ought to be admined j for the ne·
etffuy Or prnbable cunncélion between vice and mifery,
is not Icarned from any cvents but whdt are naturally oc·
eafioned by the eharaélers and paffiolls of tbe pl'tfons re'
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prcfented, a{ling in fueh and fueh eircumnanees. A real
cvent of which IVe fee nut the eaufe, may be a letron 10
us ; becaufe what hath happened may again happen: but
this eannot be inferred from a flory that is known to be
a fiéllon.
Many are the good elfeéls of fileh eompofitionc. A
pathc lie compofition, IVhelher epie or dramatic, teods to
a habit of I'irtuc, by exeiting us 10 do what is right,
and reflmining from what is wrong. !ts frequent pie.
tures of WIleS produce, befide, two efFeéls ex–
tremcly f"lutary: they improve our fympalhy, and at
the f:une time forti(y us in bcaring our own misfortuoe!.
A moral eompofi tion mu(~ obvioufly produce the fame
good ctTe{ls, becaufe by being moral il doth not ceafe to
he pathetie: it rnjoys hefioe an excellenee p~culiar to it·
felf; for it nut only i~lproves thc hean, as above men–
lioned, but inflruéls the hcad by lhe moral it eontains.
For our part, we, eannot imagine any entertaioment more
fuiled 10 a rational being, Ihan a work thus happily il–
luff(aling fome moral lruth; wbere a number of p<rfons
of darel<nt chara8m are engaged in ao important aélion,
funte retarding, others promoting, Ihe great emllrophe;
and where there is dignilY of lIyle as well as of maller.
A IVork of this kind has oor fyOlpalhy at eommaod, and
can plU in motion Ihe whole train of the foeial ./Teélions
our curiolily is by turns exeited and gratified; and our
delight is eonfUnlOtated al Ihe clofe, upon finding, (rom.
the charaélers and filuations exhibited al the eOOlmence–
ment, that e.ery ineident oown tO Ihe final catafirophe is
Mtural, and that the IVhole in {llOn make a regu–
lar ch. in of caufes and elrcéls.
Confidering that an epie and a dramalie poem are the
fame in fubllanee, and have the fame aim or cnd, ooe
would readily imagine, that {ubjcéls proper for Ihe one
mufl be equally proper for the olher. But eonfidering
their di/Terenee as tO form, there will be found leafon too
eorreél lhal eonjeélure, at leafl in fome degree. Maoy
fubjeéls may indeed be treated with equal advantage in
eilher form; but the fubjeéls ar flill more numerous for
which lhey are not equ.Jly ; and there are f~b.
jcéls proper for the ooe and not at alJ for the olher. To.
give fn",e flight notion of Ihe ditTerenee, as there is no
room here for enlarging upon every article, \Ve obferve,
that dialogue is the befi qualioed for exprelling fetimenu,
'\lnd narrati"e fur oifplaying fa{ls. Hcroifm, magnani·
mity, undaunted eourage, and the whole tribe of lhe
elevaled vifllles, fi~ure befl in aélion: tender paflions,
and the whole tribe of fym pathetic alreélioos, figure befl
in fentiment : what we feel is the mofi remarkable in the
latter; whal IVe perform is the mofi remorkable iD the
former. !t clearly follows, Ih~t t~nder paflions are more
peeuliarly the provinee o( tragedy, grand and heroie ae.
'tions of cpie poetry.
The fubje{l ben fined for lragedy is a flory whm a
man has himfelf been Ihe ~aufe of !li, misf,'rtune.• But
this man mlln neilher be deeplo/ guilty, nor altogether in·
nocenl: the misforlune mufi be oeeafioncd by a f. ult in·
cident 10 human nature, and thcrefore venial. Mlsfor·
tunes of this kind eaJl forth the foeial affeélioos, ..nd.
wumly interen the fpe{lalor. AD accidental misfor·
lUDe, if not extremely fingular, doth DOt gready mov(!
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