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Article DISSERTATIONS ON THE POLITE ARTS. ← Page 2 of 6 →
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Dissertations On The Polite Arts.
liiotion , and never such as are contrary to wisdom and virtue . Detestation of wickedness , which is attended by shame , fear , and repentance : compassion for the unhappy , which has almost as extended an utility as humanity itself : admiration of great examples , which leave in the heart a spur , to virtue : these are the passions of which . Poetry ought to treat ; . Poetry was never designed to stir up ill inbad heartsbut to furnish the most exquisite delight to virtuous souls .
, Virtue placed in certain points of view will always be an affecting , object . At the bottom of the most corrupted hearts there is always a voice that speaks for virtue , and which good men hearken to with the more p leasure , as by it they discover a proof of their own perfection . The-tragic and comic Poetry ofthe antierits were examples of the "
terrible vengeance of the gods , or of the just correction of men . They made the spectators understand by these means , that , to avoir ! both the one and-the other , it was necessary not only to seem , good , but absolutely to be so . .. ' The works of Homer and Virgil axe not vain romances , where the mind is led away at the will of an empty imagination . On the con ~
trary , they ought to be looked upon as great bodies of doctrine , asthose books of a nation which contain the History of the State , the Spirit of the Government , the fundamental Principles of Morality , the Dogmas of Relig ion , the Duties of Society ; and all this clothed ina grandeur and sublimity of expression that could , only be conceived , by geniuses little less than divine .
The Iliad and Miie ' id areas much the pictures of the Greek and Roman nations , as the Miser of Mo ! litre is that of Avarice . And as . the : fable of this comedy is only the canvas prepared to receive a number of true strokes taken from society ; so also the anger of Achilles , and the establishment of JEneas in Italy , - ought to be-considered only as the cloth of a great and magnificent piece of Painting , on which they have had the art to paint mannerscustomslawscounsels & c .
, , , , disguised sometimes in allegories , sometimes in predictions , and sometimes openly exposed : changing however some of the circumstances ,, as the time , the place , the actor , to render the thing more lively , and to give the reader the pleasure of studying , and consequently of believing that his instruction is owing to his own care and reflection . Anacreon , who was deeply studied in the art of pleasing , and who
seems never to have had any other aim , was not . ignorant how important i ' t is to mix the useful with the agreeable . Other Poets fling roses oil their precepts to conceal their harshness . He , by a refinement of delicacy , scattered instructions in the midst of roses , Heknew , that the most deli g htful images , when they teacfi us nothing , have a certain insiidity-which - like beauty without senseleaves
p , , , disgust behind it : that there must be something substantial , to give them that force , that energy that penetrates ; and , in short , that if wisdom has occasion to be enlivened by a little folly ; folly , in . its turn , ought to be invigorated by a little wisdom . Read Cupid stung by a Bee , Mars wounded by the Arrow of Love , Cupid enchained ' bythe Muses , and we shall easily perceive that the Poet has net mate
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Dissertations On The Polite Arts.
liiotion , and never such as are contrary to wisdom and virtue . Detestation of wickedness , which is attended by shame , fear , and repentance : compassion for the unhappy , which has almost as extended an utility as humanity itself : admiration of great examples , which leave in the heart a spur , to virtue : these are the passions of which . Poetry ought to treat ; . Poetry was never designed to stir up ill inbad heartsbut to furnish the most exquisite delight to virtuous souls .
, Virtue placed in certain points of view will always be an affecting , object . At the bottom of the most corrupted hearts there is always a voice that speaks for virtue , and which good men hearken to with the more p leasure , as by it they discover a proof of their own perfection . The-tragic and comic Poetry ofthe antierits were examples of the "
terrible vengeance of the gods , or of the just correction of men . They made the spectators understand by these means , that , to avoir ! both the one and-the other , it was necessary not only to seem , good , but absolutely to be so . .. ' The works of Homer and Virgil axe not vain romances , where the mind is led away at the will of an empty imagination . On the con ~
trary , they ought to be looked upon as great bodies of doctrine , asthose books of a nation which contain the History of the State , the Spirit of the Government , the fundamental Principles of Morality , the Dogmas of Relig ion , the Duties of Society ; and all this clothed ina grandeur and sublimity of expression that could , only be conceived , by geniuses little less than divine .
The Iliad and Miie ' id areas much the pictures of the Greek and Roman nations , as the Miser of Mo ! litre is that of Avarice . And as . the : fable of this comedy is only the canvas prepared to receive a number of true strokes taken from society ; so also the anger of Achilles , and the establishment of JEneas in Italy , - ought to be-considered only as the cloth of a great and magnificent piece of Painting , on which they have had the art to paint mannerscustomslawscounsels & c .
, , , , disguised sometimes in allegories , sometimes in predictions , and sometimes openly exposed : changing however some of the circumstances ,, as the time , the place , the actor , to render the thing more lively , and to give the reader the pleasure of studying , and consequently of believing that his instruction is owing to his own care and reflection . Anacreon , who was deeply studied in the art of pleasing , and who
seems never to have had any other aim , was not . ignorant how important i ' t is to mix the useful with the agreeable . Other Poets fling roses oil their precepts to conceal their harshness . He , by a refinement of delicacy , scattered instructions in the midst of roses , Heknew , that the most deli g htful images , when they teacfi us nothing , have a certain insiidity-which - like beauty without senseleaves
p , , , disgust behind it : that there must be something substantial , to give them that force , that energy that penetrates ; and , in short , that if wisdom has occasion to be enlivened by a little folly ; folly , in . its turn , ought to be invigorated by a little wisdom . Read Cupid stung by a Bee , Mars wounded by the Arrow of Love , Cupid enchained ' bythe Muses , and we shall easily perceive that the Poet has net mate