,rhetoric and ,poetry in the            
,renaissance    ,a ,study of ,rhetorical
 ,terms in ,english ,renaissance        
,literary ,criticism    ,by    ,donald  
,lemen ,clark1 ,ph4,d4  ,assistant      
,professor of ,english in ,columbia     
,university    #aibb          ,to my    
,father and ,mother          ,preface   
,in this essay ,i undertake to trace the
 influence of classical rhetoric on  the
 criticisms of poetry published in      
,england between #aeec and #afda4 ,this 
influence is most readily recognized in 
the use by ,english renaissance  writers
 on literary criticism of the           
terminology of classical rhetoric4  ,but
 the rhetorical terminology in most     
cases carried with it rhetorical        
thinking1 traces of whose influence     
persist in criticism of poetry to the   
present day4    ,the essay is divided   
into two parts4 ,part ,first treats of  
the influence of  rhetoric on the       
general theory of poetry within the     
period1 and ,part  ,second of its       

influence on the renaissance formulation
 of the purpose of  poetry4 ,this       
division is called for not by the logic 
of the material1 but  by history and    
convenience4 ,a third phase of the      
influence of rhetorical  terminology ,i 
have already touched on in an article on
 ,the ,requirements  of a ,poet#a1 where
 ,i have shown that historically the    
renaissance ideal  of the nature and    
education of a poet is in part derived  
from classical  rhetoric4    ,no writer 
today1 who would treat of the criticism 
of the renaissance1 can  escape his deep
 indebtedness to ,dr4 ,joel ,elias      
,spingarn1 whose ,literary  ,criticism  
in the ,renaissance has so carefully    
traced the debt of ,english  criticism  
to the ,italians4 ,in going over the    
ground surveyed by him and by  many     
other scholars ,i have been able to add 
but slight gleanings of my  own4 ,in    
this field it is my privilege only to   
review and to supplement  what has      
already been discovered4 ,but whereas   

others have called attention  to the    
classical and ,italian sources for      
,english critical ideas1 ,i am  able to 
show that in addition to these sources1 
the ,english critics were  profoundly   
influenced by ,english mediaeval        
traditions4 ,that these  mediaeval      
traditions derived ultimately from      
post-classical rhetoric and  that they  
were for the most part later discarded  
as less enlightened and  less sound than
 the critical ideas of the ,italian     
,aristotelians does not  lessen their   
importance in the history of ,english   
literary criticism4    ,in so far as the
 text of quoted classical writers is    
readily accessible in  modern editions1 
,i offer my readers only an ,english    
translation4 ,for  quotations difficult 
of access ,i add the ,latin in a        
footnote4 ,in the case  of those        
,english critics whose writings are     
incorporated in the  ,elizabethan       
,critical ,essays edited by ,mr4        
,gregory ,smith1 or in the  ,critical   

,essays of the ,seventeenth ,century1   
edited by ,dr4 ,j4,e4 ,spingarn1  ,i    
have made my citations to those         
collections in the belief that such a   
practice would add to the convenience of
 the reader4    ,the greatest pleasure  
that ,i derive from this writing is that
 of  acknowledging my obligations to my 
friends and colleagues at ,columbia     
,university who have so generously      
assisted me4 ,professor ,g4,p4 ,krapp   
aided  me by his valuable suggestions   
before and after writing and generously 
allowed me to use several summaries     
which he had made of early ,english     
rhetorical treatises4 ,professor ,j4,b4 
,fletcher helped me by his friendly  and
 penetrating criticism of the           
manuscript4 ,i am further indebted to   
,professor ,la ,rue ,van ,hook1 ,dr4    
,mark ,van ,doren1 ,dr4 ,s4,l4 ,wolff1  
,mr4 ,raymond  ,m4 ,weaver1 and ,dr4    
,h4,e4 ,mantz for various assistance1   
and to the ,harvard  and ,columbia      
,university ,libraries for their        

courtesy4 ,my greatest debt is  to      
,professor ,charles ,sears ,baldwin1    
whose constant inspiration1  enlightened
 scholarship1 and friendly encouragement
 made this book  possible4              
,contents        ,part ,first3  ,the    
,general ,theory of ,rhetoric and of    
,poetry      ,i4 ,introductory    #a4   
,the ,distinction between ,rhetoric and 
,poetic    ,,ii4 ,classical ,poetic     
#a4 ,aristotle    #b4 ,longinus    #c4  
,plutarch    #d4 ,horace    ,,iii4      
,classical ,rhetoric    #a4 ,definitions
    #b4 ,subject ,matter    #c4 ,content
 of ,classical ,rhetoric    #d4         
,rhetoric as ,part of ,poetic    #e4    
,poetic as ,part of ,rhetoric    ,,iv4  
,classical ,blending of ,rhetoric and   
,poetic    #a4 ,the ,contact of         
,rhetoric and ,poetic in ,style    #b4  
,the ,florid ,style in ,rhetoric and    
,poetic    #c4 ,the ,false ,rhetoric of 
the ,declamation ,schools    #d4 ,the   
,contamination of ,poetic by ,false     
,rhetoric    ,v4 ,the ,middle ,ages     

#a4 ,the ,decay of ,classical           
,rhetorical ,tradition    #b4 ,rhetoric 
as ,aureate ,language    ,,vi4 ,logic   
and ,rhetoric in the ,english           
,renaissance    #a4 ,the ,content of    
,classical ,rhetoric ,carried over into 
,logic    #b4 ,the ,persistence of the  
,mediaeval ,tradition of ,rhetoric      
#c4 ,the ,recovery of ,classical        
,rhetoric    #d4 ,channels of           
,rhetorical ,theory    ,,vii4           
,renaissance ,poetic    #a4 ,the        
,reestablishment of the ,classical      
,tradition    #b4 ,rhetorical ,elements 
,,viii4 ,theories of ,poetry in the     
,english ,renaissance    #a4 ,the       
,rhetorical ,period of ,english         
,criticism    #b4 ,the ,influence of    
,horace    #c4 ,the ,influence of       
,aristotle    #d4 ,manuals for ,poets   
#e4 ,rhetorical ,elements in ,later     
,english ,classicism        ,part       
,second3 ,the ,purpose of ,poetry       
,i4 ,the ,classical ,conception of the  
,purpose of ,poetry    #a4 ,general     

#b4 ,moral ,improvement through ,precept
 and ,example    #c4 ,moral ,improvement
 through ,allegory    #d4 ,the          
,influence of ,rhetoric    ,,ii4        
,medieval ,ideas of the ,purpose of     
,poetry    #a4 ,allegorical             
,interpretations in the ,middle ,ages   
#b4 ,allegory in ,mediaeval ,england    
,,iii4 ,rhetorical ,elements in ,italian
 ,renaissance ,conceptions of the       
,purpose       of ,poetry    #a4 ,the   
,scholastic ,grouping of ,poetic1       
,rhetoric and ,logic    #b4 ,the        
,influence of the ,classical ,rhetorics 
,,iv4 ,english ,renaissance ,ideas of   
the ,purpose of ,poetry    #a4 ,allegory
 and ,example in ,rhetoric    #b4       
,allegory and the ,rhetorical ,example  
in ,poetic    #c4 ,the ,displacement of 
,allegory by ,example      ,index of    
,names            ,part ,one    ,the    
,general ,theory of ,rhetoric and of    
,poetry          ,chapter ,i            
,introductory        ,by definition the 
renaissance was primarily a literary and

 scholarly  movement derived from the   
literature of classical antiquity4 ,thus
 the  historical1 philosophical1        
pedagogical1 and dramatic literatures of
 the  renaissance cannot be accurately  
understood except in the light of the   
,greek and ,roman authors whose writings
 inspired them4 ,to this general rule   
the literary criticism of the           
renaissance is no exception4 ,the       
interpretation of the critical terms    
used by the literary critics of the     
,english renaissance must depend largely
 on the classical tradition4 ,this      
tradition1 as the labors of many        
scholars1 especially ,spingarn1 have    
shown1 reached ,england both directly   
through the publication of classical    
writings and to an even greater degree  
indirectly through the commentaries  and
 original treatises of ,italian         
scholars4    ,the indebtedness to the   
,italian critics is well known and has  
been widely  discussed4 ,although the   
present study does not hope to add to   

what is  known of the influence exerted 
on the literary criticism of the        
,english  renaissance by the ,italians1 
it does propose to show the ,english    
critics  to have been more indebted than
 has been supposed to the mediaeval     
development of classical theory4 ,for   
this relationship to be clear it will   
be necessary to review classical        
literary criticism and to trace its     
development in post-classical times and 
in the middle ages as well as in  the   
,italian renaissance4 ,only by such an  
approach will it be possible to  show in
 what form classical theory was         
transmitted to the ,english             
renaissance4    ,as the restoration of  
the ,stuarts to the throne of ,england  
inaugurated a  new period in ,english   
criticism1 during which ,english        
critical theories  were largely         
influenced by ,french criticism1 this   
study will stop short of  this1         
restricting itself to the years between 
the publication of ,thomas  ,wilson's   

,arte of ,rhetorique in #aeec and that  
of ,ben ,jonson's ,timber in  #afda4    
,throughout this period the ,english    
medival tradition of classical  theory  
was highly important1 losing ground but 
gradually as the influence  first of the
 rhetoric newly recovered from the      
classics and then of  ,italian criticism
 produced an increasingly stronger      
effect on ,english  criticism4 ,i hope  
to show that the ,english critics who   
formulated theories  of poetry in the   
renaissance derived much of their       
critical terminology1  not directly from
 the rediscovered classical theories of 
poetry1 but  through various channels   
from classical theories and practice of 
rhetoric4  ,the tendency to use the     
terminology of rhetoric in discussing   
poetical  theory did not originate in   
the ,english renaissance1 but is largely
 an  inheritance from classical         
criticism as interpreted by the middle  
ages4  ,both in ,england and on the     
continent this medival tradition        

persisted far  into the renaissance4    
,renaissance ,english writers on the    
theory of poetry  use to an extent      
hitherto unexplored the terminology of  
rhetoric4 ,this  rhetorical terminology 
was derived from three sources3 directly
 to some  extent from the classical     
rhetorics themselves2 indirectly through
 the  influence of classical rhetoric   
upon the terminology of the ,italian    
critics of poetry2 and indirectly1 to a 
considerable extent1 through the        
medival modifications of classical and  
post-classical rhetoric4        #a4 ,the
 ,distinction between ,rhetoric and     
,poetic      ,aristotle wrote two       
treatises on literary criticism3 the    
,rhetoric and  the ,poetics4 ,the fact  
that he gave separate treatment to his  
critical  consideration of oratory and  
of poetry is presumptive evidence that  
in his  mind oratory and poetry were two
 things1 having much in common perhaps1 
but distinguished by fundamental        
differences4 ,with less philosophical   

basis these fundamental differences were
 maintained by nearly all the  classical
 literary critics4 ,it is important1    
therefore1 to review briefly  what the  
classical writers meant by rhetoric and 
by poetic1 and to trace  the            
modifications which these terms         
underwent in post-classical times1 in   
the middle ages1 and in the renaissance1
 in order better to show that in  the   
literary criticism of the ,english      
renaissance the theory of poetry        
contained many elements which           
historically derive from classical and  
mediaeval rhetoric4    ,literature--the 
spoken and the written word--was divided
 by the classical  critics into         
philosophy1 history1 oratory1 and       
poetry4 ,thus ,aristotle1 in  addition  
to treating the theory of poetry and the
 theory of oratory in  separate books1  
asserts that even though the works of   
philosophy and of  history were composed
 in verse1 they would still be something
 different  from poetry4#b ,lucian      

severely criticises the historians whose
 writings  are like those of the        
poets4#c ,quintilian advises students of
 rhetoric  against imitating the style  
of the historians because it is too much
 like  that of the poets4#d ,clearly    
these critical writers are insisting on 
some  fundamental difference between the
 forms of communication in language--a  
difference which they thought their     
contemporaries were in some danger of   
ignoring4    ,if the number of critical 
writings devoted to these different     
forms of  communication is taken as a   
criterion1 rhetoric ranks first1 poetry 
second1 and history third4 ,this        
preponderance of rhetoric may be one    
reason for the tendency of the critics  
who wrote on the theory of poetry  to   
use much of the terminology of rhetoric1
 and for the ease with which a  modern  
student can formulate the classical     
theory of rhetoric1 as compared  with   
the difficulty he has in formulating the
 theory of poetry4    ,to the ,greeks   

and ,romans rhetoric meant the theory of
 oratory4 ,as a  pedagogical mechanism  
it endeavored to teach students to      
persuade an  audience4 ,the content of  
rhetoric included all that the ancients 
had  learned to be of value in          
persuasive public speech4 ,it taught how
 to work  up a case by drawing valid    
inferences from sound evidence1 how to  
organize  this material in the most     
persuasive order1 how to compose in     
clear and  harmonious sentences4 ,thus  
to the ,greeks and ,romans rhetoric was 
defined  by its function of discovering 
means to persuasion and was taught in   
the  schools as something that every    
free-born man could and should learn4   
,in both these respects the ancients    
felt that poetic1 the theory of  poetry1
 was different from rhetoric4 ,as the   
critical theorists believed  that the   
poets were inspired1 they endeavored    
less to teach men to be  poets than to  
point out the excellences which the     
poets had attained4  ,although these    

critics generally1 with the exceptions  
of ,aristotle and  ,eratosthenes1       
believed the greatest value of poetry to
 be in the teaching  of morality1 no one
 of them endeavored to define poetry1 as
 they did  rhetoric1 by its purpose4 ,to
 ,aristotle1 and centuries later to     
,plutarch1  the distinguishing mark of  
poetry was imitation4 ,not until the    
renaissance did critics define poetry as
 an art of imitation endeavoring  to    
inculcate morality4 ,consequently in a  
historical study of rhetoric and  of the
 theory of poetry separate treatment of 
their nature and of their  purpose is   
not only convenient1 but historical4    
,the present discussion1  therefore1    
considers various critics' ideas of the 
nature of poetry in  ,part ,i1 and then 
separately in ,part ,,ii their ideas of 
its purpose4 ,the  object of this       
division is not to make an abstract     
distinction between  nature and purpose4
 ,such a distinction cannot1 of course1 
be made4 ,it is  to approach the subject

 first from one point of view and then  
from the  other because it was in fact  
thus approached successively1 and       
because  also the intention of the      
successive writers can thus be better   
understood4    ,the same essential      
difference between classical rhetoric   
and poetic  appears in the content of   
classical poetic4 ,whereas classical    
rhetoric  deals with speeches which     
might be delivered to convict or acquit 
a  defendant in the law court1 or to    
secure a certain action by the          
deliberative assembly1 or to adorn an   
occasion1 classical poetic deals  with  
lyric1 epic1 and drama4 ,it is a        
commonplace that classical literary     
critics paid little attention to the    
lyric4 ,it is less frequently realized  
that they devoted almost as little space
 to discussion of metrics4 ,by far  the 
greater bulk of classical treatises on  
poetic is devoted to  characterization  
and to the technic of plot construction1
 involving as it  does narrative and    

dramatic unity and movement as distinct 
from logical  unity and movement4    ,it
 is important that the modern reader    
bear these facts in mind2 for in  the   
nineteenth century text-books of        
rhetoric came to include description  of
 a kind little considered by classical  
rhetoricians1 and narrative of an  aim  
and scope which they excluded4 ,thus the
 modern treatise on rhetoric  deals not 
only with what the ,greeks would        
recognize as rhetoric1 but also  with   
what they would classify as poetic4     
,furthermore1 narrative and  dramatic   
technic1 which the classical critics    
considered the most  important elements 
in poetic1 are now no longer called     
poetic4 ,what the  ancients discussed in
 treatises on poetic1 is now discussed  
in treatises  on the technique of the   
short-story1 the technique of the drama1
 the  technique of the novel1 on the one
 hand1 and in treatises on              
versification1 prosody1 and lyric poetry
 on the other4 ,as these modern         

developments were unheard of during the 
periods under consideration in  this    
study1 and as the renaissance used the  
words rhetoric and poetic much  more in 
their classical senses than we do today1
 it must be understood  that throughout 
this study rhetoric will be used as     
meaning classical  rhetoric1 and poetic 
as meaning classical poetic4    ,many   
modern critics have found the classical 
distinction between rhetoric  and poetic
 very suggestive4 ,in classical times   
imaginative and creative  literature was
 almost universally composed in meter1  
with the result that  the metrical form 
was usually thought to be distinctive of
 poetry4 ,the  fact that in modern times
 drama as well as epic and romantic     
fiction is  usually composed in prose   
has made some critics dissatisfied with 
what to  them seems to be an            
unsatisfactory criterion4 ,on the one   
hand ,wackernagel1  who believes that   
the function of poetry is to convey     
ideas in concrete  and sensuous images  

and the function of prose to inform the 
intellect1  asserts that prose drama and
 didactic poetry are inartistic4#e ,he  
thus  advocates that present practise be
 abandoned in favor of the custom of the
  ,greeks4 ,on the other hand ,newman1  
while granting that a metrical garb has 
in all languages been appropriated to   
poetry1 still urges that the essence  of
 poetry is fiction4#f ,likewise under   
the influence of ,aristotle1 ,croce     
differentiates between the kinds of     
literature not because one is written   
in prose and the other in verse1 but    
because one is the expression of what   
he calls intuitive knowledge obtained   
through the imagination1 and the  other 
of conceptual knowledge obtained through
 the intellect4#g ,similar  to the      
distinction expressed by ,croce in the  
words imaginative and  intellectual1 is 
that expressed by ,eastman in the words 
poetical and  practical4#h ,and         
according to ,renard1 ,balzac           
distinguishes two classes of  writers3  

the writers of ideas and the writers of 
images4#i    ,in view of these modern   
efforts to make a more scientific       
differentiation  between kinds of       
literature than is possible on the basis
 of the  traditional distinction between
 prose and poetry1 the present          
historical  study of the distinction    
made by ,aristotle and other ,greek     
writers between  rhetoric and poetic may
 be suggestive4          ,chapter ,,ii  
,classical ,poetic        #a4 ,aristotle
      ,a survey of what ,aristotle      
includes in his ,poetics1 what he       
excludes1  and what he ignores1 will be 
a helpful initial step in an            
investigation of  what he meant by      
poetic4 ,five kinds of poetry are       
mentioned by name in the  ,poetics3     
epic1 dramatic1 dithyrambic1 nomic1 and 
satiric2 and lyric is  included by      
implication as a form of epic1 where the
 poet narrates in his  own person4#aj   
,the choruses1 also1 are lyric4         
,otherwise ,aristotle does not discuss  

lyric  poetry4 ,of the other five kinds1
 nomic1 dithyrambic1 and satiric poetry 
are mentioned only as illustrative of   
something ,aristotle wishes to say      
about epic or drama4 ,aristotle's       
,poetics discusses only epic and1       
especially1 drama4 ,thus of the         
twenty-six books into which the ,poetics
  is conventionally divided1 five are   
devoted to the general theory of        
poetry1 three to diction1 two to epic1  
and sixteen to drama4 ,although         
,aristotle includes dithyrambic1 nomic1 
satiric1 and lyric poetry in his        
discussion1 he practically ignores them4
    ,on the other hand he specifically  
excludes from poetry such scientific    
works as those of ,empedocles and       
historical writings as those of         
,herodotus4#aa ,the rhetorical element  
in the speeches of the characters of    
drama or epic1 ,aristotle calls ,thought
 774 ,although  ,aristotle includes     
,thought as an element in drama1 he does
 not discuss it  in the ,poetics1 but   

refers his reader to the ,rhetoric4     
,metrics1 which  occupies so large a    
place in modern treatises on the theory 
of poetry1  ,aristotle likewise mentions
 several times1 but does not discuss4 ,a
  metrical structure he accepts as the  
usual practice in poetical  composition1
 but he rejects verse as the            
distinguishing mark of poetic4  ,thus he
 refuses to classify as poetry the      
scientific writings which  ,empedocles  
had composed in meter as well as the    
histories of ,herodotus1  even if he had
 written them in verse4 ,on the other   
hand1 the mimes of  ,sophron and        
,xenarchus1 although composed in prose1 
he considers within the  scope of       
poetic4#ab    ,if to ,aristotle1 then1  
verse is not the characteristic quality 
of poetic1  the next step in an         
investigation must be to discover the   
criterion by  which he classifies some  
literature as poetry and other as not   
poetry4 ,the  characteristic quality1   
according to ,aristotle1 which is       

possessed by the  ,socratic dialogs1 by 
the ,homeric epics1 and by the dramas of
 ,aeschylus1  ,sophocles1 and           
,euripides1 and which classifies them   
together as poetic1 is  not verse but   
mimesis1 imitation4#ac ,exactly what    
,aristotle meant by  imitation has      
furnished subsequent critics with an    
excuse for writing many  volumes4 ,the  
usual meaning of the word to the ,greek1
 as to the modern1  seems to be little  
more than an aping or mimicking4        
,aristotle himself uses  imitate in this
 sense when he speaks of the delight    
children take in  imitation4#ad ,but in 
establishing imitation as the criterion 
of poetic1  ,aristotle seems to have    
injected something of a private1 or at  
least a  special scientific meaning into
 the word4 ,as the characteristic       
quality of  poetic1 imitation to        
,aristotle evidently did not mean a     
literal copy4  ,plato had attacked      
poetry as unreal1 a thrice-removed      
imitation of the  only true reality4 ,to

 defend poetic against the strictures of
 his master  ,aristotle reads more into 
the word than that4    ,in discovering  
what ,aristotle had in mind when he     
speaks of imitation1 the  student must  
read from one treatise to another1 for  
few writers of any  period are so       
addicted to the habit of                
cross-reference4 ,in the  ,psychology   
,aristotle states that all stimuli      
received by the senses at  the moment of
 perception are impressed upon the mind 
as in wax4 ,the images  held by the     
image-forming faculty are thus the after
 effect of sensation4  ,these images    
remain and may be recalled by the       
image-forming faculty4 ,from  this      
store-house of images1 or after effects 
of sensation1 the reasoning  faculty    
derives the materials for thought as    
well as those for artistic              
expression4#ae ,imagination evidently   
has much to do with ,aristotle's        
conception of the nature of poetic4     
,imitation1 then1 to him1 meant a       

conscious selection and plastic mastery 
of the sense impressions stored as      
images by the image-forming faculty of  
the author1 whose writings are          
addressed to the imagination of the     
reader or auditor4 ,furthermore1        
,butcher's interpretation of imitation  
of nature seems both sound and          
suggestive4 ,according to him the       
imitation of nature is the imitation of 
nature's ways4 ,in this sense the act of
 the poet may well be called  creation4 
,as imitative arts ,aristotle mentions  
poetry1 dancing1 music1 and painting4   
,they differ1 he says1 in their medium1 
objects1 and manner4 ,poetry1  dancing1 
and music he classifies together because
 they use the similar  media of rhythm1 
language1 or harmony either singly or   
combined4 ,music1  for instance1 uses   
both rhythm and harmony1 dancing uses   
rhythm alone1 and  poetry uses language 
alone4 ,aristotle by this does not1 as  
might seem1  exclude rhythm and harmony 
from poetry4 ,indeed1 he states         

explicitly that  most forms of poetry do
 use all of the media mentioned3 rhythm1
 tune1 and  meter4 ,he is only insisting
 that imitation in unmetrical language  
is still  poetry2 that meter is not the 
characteristic element of poetic4#af ,it
 is  important to recognize that in     
classifying poetry with music and       
dancing1  ,aristotle is insisting that  
the common element in these arts is     
movement4  ,movement is characteristic  
of poetry1 as color and form are        
characteristic  of painting and         
sculpture4 ,thus in discussing the plot 
of tragedy1 which  he holds to be the   
highest and most characteristic form of 
poetry1  ,aristotle urges the necessity 
of unity and magnitude1 both of which he
  defines in terms not of space         
relations1 but of movement4 ,for        
instance1 to  possess unity a plot must 
have a beginning1 a middle and an end4  
,a beginning is that which does not     
itself follow anything by causal        
necessity1 but after which something    

naturally is or comes to be4 ,an    end1
 on the contrary1 is that which itself  
naturally follows some other    thing1  
either by necessity1 or as a rule1 but  
has nothing following it4    ,a middle  
is that which follows something as some 
other thing follows    it4#ag           
,furthermore1 the magnitude which this  
dramatic movement should possess is     
also discussed not in terms of bulk1 but
 of length4      ,as1 therefore1 in the 
case of animate bodies and organisms1 a 
certain    magnitude is necessary1 and a
 magnitude which may be easily embraced 
in    one view2 so in the plot1 a       
certain length is necessary1 and a      
length    which can easily be embraced  
by the memory4#ah    ,it is noteworthy  
that to ,aristotle the characteristic   
movement of poetic  depends on the      
dramatic unity and progression of a     
dramatic action1 a  plot4 ,in the       
,rhetoric he shows that the arrangement 
of the movement of a  speech is governed
 by entirely different considerations4  

,the unity of  rhetoric is not dramatic1
 but logical4 ,the order of the parts of
 a speech  is determined not by a plot1 
but by the needs of presentation to an  
audience4 ,for instance1 a statement of 
the case is given first1 and then  the  
proof is marshalled4    ,the objects of 
poetic imitation1 ,aristotle says1 are  
character1 emotion1  and deed1 i4e41 men
 in action1#ai inanimate nature and the 
life of dumb  animals being subordinate 
to these4 ,the manner of imitating1 if  
poetic1  ,aristotle says is either      
narrative or dramatic4 ,under the       
narrative manner  he includes lyric1    
where the speaker expresses himself in  
the first  person1 and epic1 where the  
speaker tells his story in the third    
person4  ,in the dramatic manner he says
 that the characters are made to live   
and  move before us4#bj    ,answering   
,plato's charge that poetic is not real1
 ,aristotle erects the  distinction     
between the real and the actual1        
claiming a reality for poetic  which is 

not the actuality of science or of      
practical affairs4 ,it is thus  that he 
distinguishes the poet from the         
historian3 although the historian  also 
uses images1 he is restricted to        
relating what has happened--that is1  to
 fact2 while the poet relates what      
should happen--what is possible         
according to the law of probability or  
necessity4 ,instead of rehearsing       
facts1 the dramatist or the epic poet   
creates truth4 ,we expect him to be     
true to life1 and that is what is       
implied in ,aristotle's imitation of    
nature4#ba ,this truth to life controls1
 according to ,aristotle1 both  the     
characterization and the action4 ,in the
 first place      ,poetry tends to      
express the universal--how a person of a
 certain type    will on occasion speak 
or act according to the law of          
probability or    necessity4#bb         
,aristotle goes so far as to say that   
probability1 not actuality1 controls    
the structure of a narrative or dramatic

 plot in that1 what follows  should be  
the necessary or probable result of the 
preceding action1#bc  even to the extent
 that the poet should prefer probable   
impossibilities to  improbable          
possibilities1 for by a logical fallacy 
even an irrational  premise in an action
 may seem probable provided that the    
conclusion is  logical and made to seem 
real4#bd ,for instance1 the irrational  
elements  in the ,odyssey are presented 
to the imagination with such vividness  
and  coherence that the impossible      
becomes plausible2 the fiction looks    
like  truth4#be ,such a result occurs   
only when the characters and action are 
made real4 ,we believe that which we    
see1 even though we know in our hearts  
that it is not so4    ,how important    
,aristotle feels it to be that the      
spectator or reader should  see before  
him the characters and situations of an 
epic or drama is  evinced by his        
suggestion to the poet on the process of
 composing4 ,the  author1 he says1      

should visualize the situations he is   
presenting1 working  out the appropriate
 gestures1 for he who feels emotion is  
best at  transmitting it to an          
audience4#bf ,it is only when the poet  
thus  completely realizes his characters
 and situations that the audience can be
  induced to feel sympathetically the   
pity and fear which produces the        
katharsis1 so important a result of     
successful tragedy4 ,if human beings    
did not possess that tendency to feel   
within themselves the emotions of  the  
people on the stage1 they would be      
unable to experience vicariously  the   
fear animating the tragic hero4 ,thus   
tragedy1 which is the type of all       
poetic1 depends vitally1 according to   
,aristotle1 on imaginative  realization4
        #b4 ,longinus      ,aristotle's 
theory of poetry1 which influenced so   
profoundly the criticism  of the        
renaissance1 was not followed by other  
classical treatises of the  same scope4 
,in fact1 very little ,greek or ,roman  

literary criticism is  concerned with   
poetical theory as compared with the    
keen interest of many  critics in       
oratory4 ,perhaps the most significant  
and valuable critical  treatise after   
,aristotle is that golden pamphlet ,on  
the ,sublime  erroneously ascribed to   
,longinus1 which1 anonymous and         
mutilated as it is1  still holds our    
attention by its sincerity1 insight1 and
 enthusiastic love  for great poetry4   
,however important its contribution to  
classical theory of poetry1 the         
treatise is not specifically on poetic4 
,in fact1 it sets out as if to  treat   
rhetoric1 and actually treats both2 for 
it is mainly a treatise on  style1 which
 as ,aristotle says in the ,poetics#bg  
is in essence the same  both in prose   
and verse4 ,nevertheless it does        
distinguish between rhetoric  and poetic
 and does contribute to the theory of   
poetry4#bh    ,sublimitas1 misleadingly 
translated sublimity1 the author defines
  as elevation and greatness of style4  

,it springs from the faculty of         
grasping great conceptions and from     
passion1 both gifts of nature4 ,it is   
assisted by art through the appropriate 
use of figures1 noble diction1 and      
dignified and spirited composition of   
the words into sentences4 ,it is the    
insistence on passion1 emotion1 which   
makes the treatise ,on the ,sublime     
stand out above other classical         
treatises on writing4 ,both poets and   
orators attain the sublime1 says the    
author1 but passion is more             
characteristic of the poets4#bi         
,passion moves the poet to intensity1   
which is attained by selection of  those
 sensory images which are significant4  
,thus the treatise praises the  ode by  
,sappho which it quotes1 because the    
poet has taken the emotions  incident to
 the frenzy of love from the attendant  
symptoms1 from  actuality1 and first    
selected and then closely combined those
 which were  conspicuous and intense4#cj
 ,this intensity which is characteristic

 of the  poet he contrasts with the     
amplification of the orators1 which     
strengthens  the fabric of an argument  
by insistence and is especially         
appropriate in  perorations and         
digressions1 and in all passages written
 for the style and  for display1 in     
writings of historical and scientific   
nature4 ,yet  ,demosthenes when moved by
 passion attains the sublimity of       
intensity and  strikes like             
lightning4#ca ,both in oratory and in   
poetry sublimity is  attained by        
image-making1 as when moved by          
enthusiasm and passion1 you  seem to see
 the things of which you speak1 and     
place them under the eyes  of your      
hearers4#cb ,it would be difficult to   
phrase better the  conditions of        
imaginative realization4 ,but the author
 felt truly that  this realization was  
different in poetry from what it was in 
rhetoric4 ,in  commenting on a quotation
 from the ,orestes1 of ,euripides1 he   
says3      ,there the poet saw the      

,furies with his own eyes1 and what his 
imagination presented he almost         
compelled his hearers to behold4    ,and
 after an imaginative passage from the  
lost ,phaethon1 of the same  author1 he 
says3      ,would you not say that the  
soul of the writer treads the car with  
the    driver1 and shares the peril1 and
 wears wings as the horses do8    ,from 
this the rhetorical imagination differs 
in that it is at its best  when it has  
fact for its object4#cc ,longinus would 
seem to say that the  realization of    
poetic is untrammeled by fact1 while the
 imagination of the  orator is bound by 
the actual2 it is always practical4     
,because the imaginative realization of 
poetry is characterized by passion1     
intensity1 and immediacy1 the author of 
the treatise feels with ,aristotle  that
 the dramatic is the most               
characteristically poetic4 ,on this     
basis he  judges the ,odyssey to be less
 great than the ,iliad4 ,it is narrative
  instead of dramatic2 fable prevails   

over action2 passion has degenerated    
into character-drawing4 ,this grouping  
of drama1 action1 and passion as the    
qualities of great poetry is            
significant4 ,bald narrative can never  
realize  character or situation as can  
the dramatic form1 either in narrative  
or  for the stage1 when the whole action
 takes place before the mind's eye      
instead of being told4    ,the treatise 
makes this point exceedingly clear by   
two quotations which  bear repeating4   
,the author of the ,arimaspeia thinks   
these lines terrible3      ,here too1 is
 mighty marvel for our thought3    ',mid
 seas men dwell1 on water1 far from     
land3    ,wretches they are1 for sorry  
toil is theirs2    ,eyes on the stars1  
heart on the deep they fix2    ,oft to  
the gods1 ,i ween1 their hands are      
raised2    ,their inward parts in evil  
case upheaved4    ,anyone1 ,i think1    
will see that there is more embroidery  
than terror in it  all4 ,now for ,homer3
      ,as when a wave by the wild wind's

 blore    ,down from the clouds upon a  
ship doth light1    ,and the whole hulk 
with scattering foam is white1    ,and  
through the sails all tattered and      
forlorn    ,roars the fell blast3 the   
seamen with affright    ,shake1 and from
 death a hand-breadth they are borne4#cd
    ,the first quoted passage is indeed 
not only embroidery1 but mere talk      
about shipwrecks1 and the terrors of the
 deep4 ,homer realizes the  situation by
 sensory images2 he makes the reader see
 the white foam1 and  hear the wind howl
 through the torn sails1 yes1 and shake 
with the  frightened sailors4        #c4
 ,plutarch      ,but judgments like     
those of the appreciative and discerning
 author of the  treatise ,on the        
,sublime are rare4 ,plutarch in his     
essay ,on the ,reading  of ,poets1 is   
much more representative of late ,greek 
criticism4 ,this essay  is not a        
treatise on the theory of poetry1 but a 
thoughtful discussion of  the place of  
poetry in the education of young men4   

,consequently the  greater part of the  
essay is devoted to the moral purpose of
 poetry1 and  as such will be treated in
 the second section of this study4 ,two 
points1  however1 are of importance to  
treat here3 his theory of poetical      
imitation1 and his comparison of poetry 
with painting4    ,the imitation of     
,plutarch was far narrower than that of 
,aristotle4 ,to  ,plutarch1 imitation   
meant a naturalistic copy of things as  
they are4  ,while poetry is based on    
imitations 444 it does not resign the   
likeness  of the truth1 since the charm 
of imitation is probability4#ce ,as a   
result of his naturalism1 ,plutarch     
admitted as appropriate poetical        
material immorality and obscenity as    
well as virtue1 because these things    
are in life4 ,if the copy is good1 the  
poem is artistic and praiseworthy1  just
 as a painting of a venomous spider1 if 
a faithful representation of  its       
loathsome subject1 is praised for its   
art4    ,perhaps it was ,plutarch's     

naturalistic theory of imitation in     
poetry which  led him to compare poetry 
with painting4 ,this he does in what he 
says was  a common phrase that poetry is
 vocal painting1 and painting1 silent   
poetry4#cf ,the false analogy1 ut       
pictura poesis1 establishing1 as it     
does1 a sanction in criticism for the   
static in drama1 flourished until       
,lessing exposed it in his ,laocoon4    
,aristotle at the beginning had made    
clear that the essential element in     
drama is movement1 a movement which     
could have a beginning1 a middle1 and an
 end4        #d4 ,horace      ,the      
remains of ,roman literary criticism are
 not so philosophical as are  the       
,greek4 ,the treatise of ,horace is not 
in ,aristotle's sense a poetic2  it is  
an ars poetica4 ,ars1 to the ,roman1    
meant a body of rules which a           
practitioner would find useful as a     
guide in composing4 ,as a practitioner  
himself1 ,horace is more interested in  
the craft of poetry than in its         

philosophy or theory4 ,he writes as a   
poet to young men who desire to  become 
poets4 ,the essence of poetry he ignores
 or takes for granted4 ,he  says1 in    
effect1 ,here are some practical        
suggestions which ,i have found  of     
assistance4    ,in structure1 also1 the 
ars poetica is not a critical analysis1 
but a  text-book4 ,the first            
ninety-eight lines cover the fundamental
  considerations which the poet must    
have in mind before he starts to        
compose4 ,he should choose a subject he 
can handle2 he should plan it so  that  
it be unified and coherent1 and have    
each element in the right place2  he    
should choose words in good use1 and    
write in an appropriate meter4    ,the  
subject of the second section is the    
,roman theatre4 ,from line #ii to  line 
#bhh1 ,horace devotes his attention to  
the rules governing the writing  of     
tragedy4 ,this is significant1 again1 of
 the classical opinion that the  most   
important poetical form is drama4       

,whatever differences there are  between
 the views of ,aristotle1 ,longinus1 and
 ,horace1 they all agree in  that4 ,in  
his treatment of characters and plot1   
however1 ,horace places his  emphasis on
 character1 while ,aristotle had        
emphasized plot4 ,of plot ,horace  says 
little1 only suggesting that the poet   
should not begin ab ovo but  plunge at  
once into the midst of the action4      
,concerning character he says  much4    
,the language should be appropriate to  
the emotions supposed to be  animating  
the character who is speaking4 ,no      
person in the play should be  made to do
 or say anything out of character4 ,by  
the laws of decorum1 for  instance1 old 
men should be querulous and young boys  
given to sudden  anger4 ,the chorus1    
also1 must be an actor and carry along  
the action of  the play instead of      
interrupting the play to sing4 ,horace  
further warns  his pupils to restrict   
the number of acts to the conventional  
five1 and  the number of characters to  

the conventional three4 ,as an episode  
presented on the stage is more vivid    
than if it were narrated as having      
taken place off stage1 horrors and      
murders should be kept off lest they    
offend4    ,the third section of the    
book is mainly concerned with revision4 
,this is  good pedagogy1 for advice as  
to how to improve sentences or verses is
  appropriate only after the sentences  
have been planned and written4  ,besides
 urging the young poet to revise and    
correct his manuscript  carefully1 to   
put it aside nine years1 and to seek the
 criticism of a  sincere friend1 ,horace
 considers the value of the finished    
product4 ,a poem  will please more      
people if it combines the pleasant with 
the profitable4  ,if a poem is not      
really good1 it is bad4 ,if the young   
poet finds that his  work is not of high
 excellence1 he would do better not to  
publish it4 ,a  poem is like a picture1 
,horace says1 in that some poems appear 
to better  advantage close up1 and      

others at a distance4 ,it is noteworthy 
that in his  ut pictura poesis ,horace  
is not pressing the analogy between the 
arts  as did subsequent critics who     
quoted his phrase incompletely4    ,of  
the four classical discussions of the   
theory of poetry which are here         
treated1 that of ,horace was best known 
throughout the middle ages and the      
early renaissance4 ,just what the       
influence of the ,ars poetica was and   
why it was so great a favorite will be  
discussed in subsequent chapters4       
,chapter ,,iii    ,classical ,rhetoric  
#a4 ,definitions      ,the importance of
 rhetoric in ancient education and      
public life is  reflected in the wealth 
of rhetorical treatises composed by     
classical  orators and teachers of      
oratory4 ,an understanding of classical 
rhetoric  can be gained only by a study 
of its purpose1 subject-matter1 and     
content4  ,the ,rhetoric of ,aristotle  
has sometimes been called the first     
rhetoric4  ,in two senses this is not   

true4 ,aristotle's contribution to      
rhetorical  theory is not a text-book1  
but a philosophical treatise1 a part of 
his  whole philosophical system4 ,in the
 second place1 even in his day there    
were many text-books of rhetoric with   
which ,aristotle finds fault for  their 
incomplete and unphilosophical          
treatment4 ,if the ,rhetoric ad         
,alexandrum1 at one time falsely        
attributed to ,aristotle and            
incorporated  in early editions of his  
works1 is typical of the earliest ,greek
  text-books1 the failure of the others 
to survive is fortunate4 ,aristotle's   
rhetorical theories superseded those of 
the early text-books1 and through  the  
influence of his ,rhetoric and the      
teaching of his pupil ,theophrastus  set
 their seal on subsequent rhetorical    
theory4 ,in practice as distinct  from  
theory1 ,isocrates probably had an      
influence more direct and intense1  but 
briefer4      ,definitions    ,rhetoric1
 says ,aristotle1 may be defined as a   

faculty of discovering  all the possible
 means of persuasion in any subject4#cg 
,he compares rhetoric with medicine2 for
 the purpose of medicine1 he  believes1 
is not to restore a person to perfect   
health but only to bring  him to as high
 a point of health as possible4#ch      
,neither medicine nor  rhetoric can     
promise achievement1 for in either case 
there is always  something incalculable4
    ,although ,aristotle1 with          
philosophical caution1 was careful to   
state that  the function of rhetoric is 
not to persuade but to discover the     
available  means of persuasion1#ci his  
successors were more direct1 if less    
accurate4 ,hermagoras affirms that the  
purpose of rhetoric is  persuasion1#dj  
and ,dionysius of ,halicarnassus defines
 rhetoric as the  artistic mastery of   
persuasive speech in communal           
affairs4#da ,but the  anonymous author  
of the ,latin rhetorical treatise       
addressed to ,c4  ,herennius1 long      
believed to be the work of ,cicero1     

qualifies this by  defining the purpose 
of rhetoric as so to speak as to gain   
the assent of  the audience as far as   
possible4#db ,and the sum of ,cicero's  
opinion is  that the office of the      
orator is to speak in a way adapted to  
win the  assent of his audience4#dc ,in 
his definition of rhetoric ,quintilian  
makes  a departure from the habits of   
his predecessors by defining rhetoric as
  the ars bene dicendi1 or good public  
speech4#dd ,here the bene implies  not  
only effectiveness1 but moral worth2 for
 in ,quintilian's conception  the orator
 is a good man skilled in public speech1
 and there are times  when1 as in the   
case of ,socrates1 who refused to defend
 himself1 to  persuade would be         
dishonorable4#de ,quintilian's precepts1
 however1 are  more in line with        
,aristotle than his definition4 ,he     
busies himself  throughout twelve books 
in teaching his students how to use all 
possible  means to persuasion4 ,the     
consensus of classical opinion1 then1   

agrees that  the purpose of rhetoric is 
persuasive public speaking4        #b4  
,subject ,matter      ,if then the      
purpose of classical rhetoric was to    
come as near persuasion  as it could1   
what was its subject matter8 ,aristotle1
 following ,plato1#df  says in his      
definition any subject1 for any subject 
can be made  persuasive4 ,but this was  
too philosophical for his contemporaries
 and  successors1 who saw in their own  
environment that in practice rhetoric   
was  almost entirely concerned with     
persuading a jury that certain things   
were  or were not so1 or persuading a   
deliberative assembly that this or that 
should or should not be done4           
,consequently ,hermagoras defines the   
subject  matter of rhetoric as public   
questions1 ,dionysius of ,halicarnassus1
 as  communal affairs1 and the ,ad      
,herennium as whatever in customs or    
laws  is to the public benefit4#dg ,the 
same influence caused ,cicero in his    
youthful ,de inventione to classify     

rhetoric as part of political           
science1#dh and in the ,de oratore to   
make ,antonius restrict rhetoric to     
public and communal affairs1#di although
 in another section he returns to       
,aristotle's any subject as the material
 of rhetoric#ej as does  ,quintilian    
later4#ea    ,although ,aristotle did   
state in his definition that any subject
 was the  material of rhetoric1 in his  
classification of the varieties of      
speeches  he practically restricts      
rhetoric as did ,hermagoras1 ,dionysius1
 and the  ,ad ,herennium2 for here he   
finds but three kinds of oratory3 the   
deliberative1 the forensic1 and the     
occasional1 4 ,forensic  oratory he     
defines as that of the law court2       
deliberative1 of the senate  or public  
assembly2 and occasional1 of eulogy and 
congratulation4 ,perhaps  the most      
illustrative modern examples of the     
third would be ,fourth-of-,july         
addresses1 funeral sermons1 and         
appreciative articles or lectures4      

,aristotle  suggests that exaggeration  
is most appropriate to the style of     
occasional  oratory2 for as the facts   
are taken for granted1 it remains only  
to invest  them with grandeur and       
dignity4#eb    ,occasional oratory seems
 to have given no little concern to the 
classical  rhetoricians4 ,since it      
existed to adorn an occasion1 it had to 
be  considered2 but unlike the oratory  
of the forum or of the council chamber  
it was not primarily practical4         
,quintilian comments on this2 for it    
seems  to aim almost exclusively at     
gratifying its hearers1#ec in this      
respect  resembling poetry1 which to    
,quintilian1 seems to have no visible   
aim but  pleasure4#ed ,occasional       
speeches relied much more on style than 
did those  of the law court and senate1 
thus meriting ,aristotle's adjective    
literary1 that is written to be read    
instead of spoken to be heard4#ee       
,cicero1 like ,quintilian1 considers    
these less practical1 as remote from    

the conflict of the forum1 written to be
 read1 to be looked at1 as it  were1    
like a picture1 for the sake of giving  
pleasure4 ,consequently he  declines to 
classify this form of oratory           
separately1 reducing  ,aristotle's three
 kinds of oratory to two4 ,it is        
valuable1 to his mind1 as  the wet-nurse
 of the young orator1 who enlarges his  
vocabulary and learns  composition from 
its practice4#ef ,aristotle includes it 
in rhetoric2 for  in its field of       
eulogy1 panegyric1 felicitation1 and    
congratulation1 it  too uses the        
available means of persuasion to prove  
some person or thing  praiseworthy or   
the reverse4#eg        #c4 ,content of  
,classical ,rhetoric      ,classical    
rhetoricians commonly divided their     
subject into five parts4  ,this analysis
 of rhetoric into inventio1 dispositio1 
elocutio1 memoria1  and pronuntiatio is 
to all intents and purposes universal in
 classical  rhetoric and must be        
understood to give one a valid idea of  

its  content4#eh ,inventio1 so often    
lazily mistranslated as invention1 is   
the art of exploring the material to    
discover all the arguments which may  be
 brought to bear in support of a        
proposition and in refutation of the    
opposing arguments4 ,it includes the    
study of arguments and fallacies2 and   
is that part of rhetoric which is       
closest neighbor to logic4 ,the kinds of
  argument treated in the classical     
rhetoric were two3 the enthymeme1 or    
rhetorical syllogism2 and the rhetorical
 induction or example4 ,in the  practice
 of rhetoric inventio was thus the      
solidest and most important  element4   
,it included all of what to-day we might
 call working up the  case4 ,dispositio 
is the art of arranging the material    
gathered for  presentation to an        
audience4 ,aristotle insists that the   
essential parts of  a speech are but    
two3 the statement and the proof4 ,at   
most it may have  four3 the ex ordium1  
or introduction2 the narratio1 or       

statement of  facts2 the confirmatio1 or
 proof proper1 both direct and          
refutative2 and  the peroratio1 or      
conclusion4#ei ,this is the             
characteristic movement of  rhetoric1   
which1 as is readily seen1 is quite     
different from the plot  movement of    
poetic4#fj ,the parts are capable of    
further analysis4  ,consequently most   
writers of the classical period         
subdivide the proof  proper into        
probatio1 or affirmative proof1 and     
refutatio1 or  refutation4#fa ,and the  
,ad ,herennium adds a divisio1 which    
defines the  issues1 between the        
statement of facts and the proof4#fb    
,cassiodorus  divides the speech into   
six parts#fc and so does ,martianus     
,capella4#fd  ,thomas ,wilson 7#aeec7   
offers seven4#fe    ,the third part of  
rhetoric is elocutio1 or style1 the     
choice and  arrangement of words in a   
sentence4 ,quintilian's treatment of    
style is  typical4 ,words should be     
chosen which are in good use1 clear1    

elegant1 and  appropriate4 ,the         
sentences should be grammatically       
correct1 artistically  arranged1 and    
adorned with such figures as antithesis1
 irony1 and  metaphor4#ff ,correctness  
is usually presupposed by the           
rhetoricians4 ,to  the sound of         
sentences all classical treatises give  
an attention that  seems amazing if we  
forget that in ,greece and ,rome all    
literature was  spoken or read aloud4   
,the sentence or period was considered  
more  rhythmically than logically1 and  
subdivided in speech into rhythmical    
parts called commas and cola4 ,the end  
of the sentence was to be marked not  by
 a printer's sign1 but by the falling   
cadence of the rhythm itself4           
,furthermore1 great care should be taken
 to avoid hiatus between words1 as  when
 the first word ends and the word       
following begins with a vowel4 ,but  the
 glory of style to the classical        
rhetorician lay in its use of figures4  
,here rhetoric vindicated its           

practicality by a preoccupation with the
  impractical2 and here1 as in analysis1
 rhetoric bore the seeds of its own     
decay4 ,although ,aristotle devoted     
relatively little space to the          
rhetorical figures1 later treatises     
emphasized them more and more until in  
post-classical and in mediaeval rhetoric
 little else is discussed4 ,the  figures
 of course had to be classified4 ,first 
there were the figurae  verborum1 or    
figures of language1 which sought       
agreeable sounds alone or  in           
combination1 such as antitheses1 rhymes1
 and assonances4 ,then the  figurae     
sententiarum1 or figures of thought1    
such as rhetorical  questions1 hints1   
and exclamations4#fg ,quintilian        
classifies as tropes  words or phrases  
converted from their proper             
signification to another4  ,among these 
are metaphor1 irony1 and allegory4 ,in  
our day we consider as  figures of      
speech only the classical tropes1 and   
indeed ,aristotle pays  little attention

 to the others4 ,he says that in prose  
one should use only  literal names of   
things1 and metaphors1 or               
tropes#fh--which therefore are  not     
literal names but substituted names4    
,for instance in this metaphor1  which  
,aristotle quotes from ,homer1 ,the     
arrow flew1#fi flew is not the  literal 
word to express the idea4 ,only birds   
fly1 reminds the practical  person4 ,max
 ,eastman has pertinently called        
attention to the fact that it  is only  
to rhetoric1 which is a practical       
activity1 that these figures are        
indirect expressions1 or substituted    
names4 ,apostrophe is not a turning     
away in poetic1 because in poetic there 
is no argument to turn away from4       
,rather in poetic it is a turning toward
 the essential images of  realization1  
as metaphor in poetic is direct1 not    
indirect1 because in  poetic a word that
 suggests the salient parts or qualities
 of things will  always stand out over  
the general names of things4#gj    ,the 

last two parts of rhetoric1 memoria and 
pronuntiatio1 are really  not permanent 
parts of rhetoric1 but only of the      
rhetoric of spoken  address4 ,memoria1  
the art of memory1 did not mean to the  
,greeks and  ,romans the art of learning
 by heart a written speech1 but rather  
the art  of keeping ready for use a fund
 of argumentative material1 together    
with  the features of the case which the
 speaker might be pleading4 ,the        
discussion of it in the treatises is    
usually an exposition of the mnemonic   
system of visual association1 the       
discovery of which is ascribed to       
,simonides4 ,cicero deliberately leaves 
a discussion of memoria out of his      
,orator1 because as he says1 it is      
common to many arts2#ga and the ,dutch  
scholar ,vossius in the renaissance     
denied that it was a part of            
rhetoric4#gb ,pronuntiatio1 or delivery1
 has also been found hardly an  integral
 part of rhetoric4 ,it is concerned with
 the use both of the voice  and of      

gesture4 ,quintilian1 for instance1     
records the effectiveness of  clinging  
to the judge's knees1 or of bringing    
into the court room the  weeping child  
of the accused4#gc ,aristotle discusses 
only the use of the  voice4#gd    ,thus 
classical rhetoric was almost           
exclusively restricted to the  practical
 oratory of persuasion4 ,in the         
republics of ,greece and ,rome a        
mastery of rhetoric gave its possessor  
political power2 for by persuasive      
public speech a public man could gain a 
following by defending his clients  in  
the law courts1 and influence the       
destinies of the state by his           
deliberations in the legislative        
assembly4 ,as long as these republican  
institutions prevailed1 the theory and  
practice of rhetoric continued to  be   
sound and practical4        #d4         
,rhetoric as ,part of ,poetic           
,implicit in ,aristotle and throughout  
classical literary criticism there is  a
 clear-cut distinction between poetic   

and rhetoric4 ,aside from the  metrical 
form of poetic1 accepted by all but     
,aristotle as a distinguishing          
characteristic1 and the non-metrical    
form of rhetoric1 the essentially       
practical nature of rhetoric marked it  
off to the ,greeks and ,romans as       
something quite different from poetic   
and infinitely more important in        
education and public life4 ,but however 
clear-cut this distinction may be  in   
principle1 in practical application     
there is rarely to be found such  ideal 
isolation4    ,aristotle1 for instance1 
carries rhetoric bodily over into poetic
 by  including ,thought1 1 as the third 
in importance of the constituent        
elements of tragedy4#ge ,this ,thought  
is the intellectual element in  conduct1
 and in drama is embodied not in action1
 but in speech4#gf  ,aristotle says1    
,it is the faculty of saying what is    
possible and pertinent in given         
circumstances4 ,in the case of oratory1 
this is the function of the    political

 art and of the art of rhetoric4        
,concerning thought1 we may    assume   
what is said in the ,rhetoric1 to which 
inquiry the subject more    properly    
belongs4 ,under thought is included     
every effect which has to be    produced
 by speech1 the subdivisions            
being--proof and refutation2 the        
excitation of the feelings1 such as     
pity1 fear1 anger and the like2 the     
suggestion of importance or its         
opposite4#gg    ,this is a transfer of  
the content of rhetoric to poetic1 but  
poetic  remains an art of imitation4    
,imaginative realization of the life of 
man  would be incomplete if the         
characters in a narrative or in a drama 
did not  use the same rhetorical art as 
do the characters of actual life4 ,the  
poets  justly carry over rhetoric when  
the scene demands it1 and have often    
proved themselves excellent             
rhetoricians4 ,quintilian praises the   
peroration of ,priam's speech begging   
,achilles for the body of ,hector1#gh   

and ,cicero gives a rhetorical analysis 
of the speech of the old man in the     
,andria of ,terence1 where the          
arrangement is especially appropriate to
  the character of the speaker4#gi      
,norden1 therefore1 seems to go too far 
in giving this as an example of         
contamination of poetic by rhetoric4#hj 
,dante remains an excellent poet when he
 puts into the mouth of ,virgil that    
persuasive speech to ,cato in the first 
canto of the ,purgatorio4 ,antony's     
speech in ,julius ,caesar is the best   
known modern example of the  legitimate 
place of rhetoric in poetic4        #e4 
,poetic as ,part of ,rhetoric      ,just
 as rhetoric is justly carried over into
 poetic when in the  realization of a   
character or situation a speech must be 
made or conduct  rationalized1 so poetic
 is constantly utilized by the orator4  
,public  speech would be less persuasive
 if the characteristic imaginative      
qualities of poetic were excluded4 ,the 
ideas and propositions of rhetoric      

would most ineffectually reach an       
audience if they were not made vivid4   
,that rhetoric is not thus made         
synonymous with poetic is due to the    
fact  that in rhetoric the images exist 
to illuminate the concept1 while in     
poetic they are woven into the movement 
of the plot4 ,oratory1 like poetry1  is 
emotional1 as ,longinus asserts4#ha     
,cicero phrases the aim of the  orator  
as docere1 delectare1 et movere1 to     
prove1 to delight1 to move              
emotionally4#hb ,the vividness and      
emotion1 as well as the charm1 of       
poetic are indispensable in attaining   
the ultimate aim of rhetoric--          
persuasion4 ,the orator must be himself 
moved1 according to ,quintilian1#hc     
just as the poet1 according to          
,aristotle4#hd ,that essential quality1 
indeed1 of poetic1 the realization of   
character and situation which  presents 
vividly a situation or event to the     
mind's eye of the reader or  hearer so  
that he seems to participate in the     

action and vicariously live  through it1
 was incorporated into rhetoric as 1 a  
figure of speech4  ,there petrified in  
an alien substance1 this characteristic 
quality of  poetic was transmitted to   
another age which knew of it through no 
other  source4#he ,thus a successful    
orator narrated with descriptive        
vividness  the circumstances1 for       
instance1 of a cruel murder1 and even   
dramatized1  speaking now in the person 
of one actor1 now of another1 the       
situation  which he was endeavoring to  
realize for his audience4 ,he was thus  
enabled  better to carry his audience   
with him to his ultimate goal of        
persuasion4    ,but though rhetoric     
might for the moment thus borrow poetic1
 and though  poetic might borrow        
rhetoric1 the two remained distinct in  
the large1 each  conceived as having its
 own movement1 its composition1 distinct
 from that  of the other4               
,chapter ,,iv    ,classical ,blending of
 ,rhetoric and ,poetic        #a4 ,the  

,contact of ,rhetoric and ,poetic in    
,style      ,the coincidence of rhetoric
 and poetic is in style4 ,they differ   
typically  in movement or composition2  
they have a common ground in diction4   
,and in  this common ground each        
influenced the other from the beginning 
of  recorded criticism4 ,aristotle says1
 for example1 that the ornate style of  
the sophists1 such as ,gorgias1 has its 
origin in the poets1#hf while the       
modern student1 ,norden1 asserts that   
the poets learned from the  sophists4#hg
 ,the evidence at least points to a very
 marked similarity  between the styles  
of the sophists and of the poets in the 
fourth century  ,b4,c4 ,this is well    
illustrated by the literary controversy 
between  ,isocrates and ,alcidamas1 both
 sophists and both students of the      
famous  ,gorgias4 ,alcidamas reproaches 
,isocrates because his discourses1 so   
elaborately worked out with polished    
diction1 are more akin to poetry than   
to prose4 ,isocrates cheerfully admits  

the accusation1 and prides himself  on  
the fact1 affirming that his listeners  
take as much pleasure in his  discourses
 as in poems4#hh    ,that there are     
characteristic differences in style     
between rhetoric and  poetic ,aristotle 
justly shows when he asserts that while 
metaphor is  common to both1 it is more 
essential to poetic4 ,consequently in   
the  ,rhetoric he refers to the ,poetics
 for a fuller discussion of             
metaphor4#hi ,at the same time he says  
that metaphor deserves great  attention 
in prose because prose lacks other      
poetical adornment4  ,furthermore1      
epithets and compound words are         
appropriate to verse but not  to prose4 
,and though both verse and oratorical   
prose should be rhythmical1  a set      
rhythm1 a meter1 is appropriate only to 
verse4#ij    ,a distinction between the 
style of poetic and of rhetoric similar 
to that  of ,aristotle is maintained by 
,cicero1 but the distinction was losing 
its  sharpness4 ,in the ,orator he      

considers the orator and the poet as    
similar  in style1 but not identical4   
,formerly rhythm and meter were the     
distinguishing marks of the poet1 but   
the orators in his days1 he says1  made 
increasing use of rhythm4 ,meter is a   
vice in an orator and should be         
shunned4 ,the poet has greater license  
in compounding and inventing words4     
,both prose and verse1 he adds1 may be  
characterized by brilliant imagery  and 
headlong sweep4#ia ,the only essential  
difference between ,cicero's  treatment 
of style and that of ,aristotle is that 
whereas ,aristotle had  shown imagery to
 be an integral part of poetic1 ,cicero 
felt it both in  poetic and in rhetoric 
to be superadded as a decoration4       
,whether or not  this difference was    
caused by lack of discrimination on the 
part of  ,cicero1 his position was at   
least in line with a tendency which in  
later  criticism received increasing    
development4 ,both the poet and the     
orator1  he says1 use the same methods  

of ornament1#ib and the orator uses     
almost  the language of poetry4#ic ,and 
again1 in a phrase which was taken up   
and  repeated for fifteen hundred years1
 the poets are nearest kin to the       
orators4#id        #b4 ,the ,florid     
,style in ,rhetoric and in ,poetic      
,but the public interest in style was   
increasingly comparable to that in      
athletic agility4 ,as ,socrates         
applauded the dancing girl who leaped   
through the dagger-studded hoop1#ie the 
popular audience of imperial ,rome  was 
delighted at a clever turn of speech1 a 
surprising rhythm1 or a  startling      
comparison4 ,literary study of style in 
occasional oratory must  have been      
extensive and extravagant at a very     
early date1 to judge by the  rebukes of 
such practical speakers as ,alcidamas4  
,moreover1 such stylistic  artifice as  
was practiced and taught by ,gorgias1   
,isocrates1 and other  sophists crept   
into tragedy1 says ,norden1 beginning   
with ,agathon4#if ,the  result was that 

with the poets style became as it had   
become with the  sophists1 an end in    
itself4 ,the epideictic orators became  
less orators and  more poets1 and the   
poets cultivated less the characteristic
 vividness and  movement of poetic than 
those turns of style which began in     
oratory4    ,thus it was very natural   
that the discussions of artistic prose  
in the  treatises of the later          
rhetoricians should be copiously        
illustrated by  quotations from the     
poets1 and that the poets should1 in    
turn1 be  influenced in the direction of
 further sophistical niceties by the    
rhetorical treatises on style1 such as  
those of ,demetrius and ,dionysius of   
,halicarnassus1 who devoted whole       
treatises to style alone4 ,the obsession
  of style is well exemplified by a     
comparison of ,dionysius and ,longinus  
in  their discussion of ,sappho's       
literary art4 ,longinus praises her     
passion1  and her masterful selection of
 images which realize it for the reader1

  while ,dionysius1 no less             
enthusiastic1 points out that in the ode
 which he  quotes there is not a single 
case of hiatus4 ,dionysius is here much 
the  more characteristic of his age1 as 
he is in his belief that there is very  
little difference indeed between prose  
and verse4 ,longinus1 while showing  the
 relations of rhetoric and poetic1 keeps
 the two apart2 ,dionysius draws  them  
together4 ,to ,dionysius the best prose 
is that which resembles verse  although 
not entirely in meter1 and the best     
poetry that which resembles  beautiful  
prose4 ,by this he means that the poet  
should use enjambment  freely and should
 vary the length and form of his        
clauses1 so that the  sense should not  
uniformly conclude with the metrical    
line4#ig ,in this  regard he would      
approve of ,shakespeare's later blank   
verse much more than  of his earlier    
because it is freer and more like       
conversation4 ,thus1 to  ,dionysius1 the
 diction of prose and the diction of    

poetry approach each  other as a limit4 
#c4 ,the ,false ,rhetoric of the        
,declamation ,school      ,later        
antiquity carried the mingling further  
in the same direction4 ,as  time went   
on1 the over-refinement and literary    
sophistication of the  florid school of 
oratory became more and more powerful4  
,the puritan  reaction of the ,roman    
,atticists in the direction of the      
simplicity of  ,lysias defeated itself  
in over emphasis and ended in           
establishing coldness  and aridity as   
literary ideals4 ,such a jejune style   
could never hold a  ,roman audience1 and
 ,cicero in theory and in practice took 
as model not  only ,demosthenes1 but    
also ,isocrates4 ,as ,roman liberty was 
lost under the  ,caesars1 style very    
naturally assumed greater and greater   
importance4  ,bornecque has shown that  
the strife of the forum and the genuine 
debates  of the senate no longer kept   
tough the sinews of public speech1 and  
the  orators sank back in lassitude on  

the remaining harmless but unreal       
occasional oratory and on the fictitious
 declamations of the schools4#ih  ,in   
these declamation schools under the     
,empire the boys debated such  imaginary
 questions as this3 ,a reward is offered
 to one who shall kill a  tyrant4 ,a4   
enters the palace and kills the tyrant's
 son1 whereupon the  father commits     
suicide4 ,is ,a4 entitled to the reward8
 ,in the repertory of  ,lucian occurs a 
show piece on each side of this         
proposition4 ,for two  hundred years    
there had been no pirates in the        
,mediterranean2 yet in the  declamation 
schools pirates abounded1 and questions 
turned upon points of  law which never  
existed or could exist in actual        
society4 ,the favorite  cases concerned 
the tyranny of fathers1 the debauchery  
of sons1 the  adultery of wives1 and the
 rape of daughters4 ,in the procedure of
 the  declamation schools the boys arose
 and delivered their speeches with      
frequent applause from the other        

students and from their parents4 ,the   
master would criticise the speeches and1
 when the students had finished1  would 
himself deliver a speech which was      
supposed to outshine those of his       
pupils and give promise of what he could
 teach them4#ii    ,the utter unreality 
and hollowness of such rhetoric could   
show itself no  better than in contrast 
with the practical oratory of the law   
courts4  ,albucius1 a famous professor  
of the schools1 once pleaded a case in  
court4  ,intending to amplify his       
peroration by a figure he said1 ,swear1 
but ,i  will prescribe the oath4 ,swear 
by the ashes of your father1 which lie  
unburied4 ,swear by the memory of your  
father6 ,the attorney for the other     
side1 a practical man1 rose--,my client 
is going to swear1 he said4 ,but  ,i    
made no proposal1 shouted ,albucius1 ,i 
only employed a figure4 ,the  court     
sustained his opponent1 whose client    
swore1 and ,albucius retired in  shame  
to the more comfortable shades of the   

declamation schools1 where  figures were
 appreciated4#ajj ,but in spite of the  
ridiculous performance  of the          
professors of the schools when they did 
come out into the sunlight1  in spite of
 the protests of ,tacitus who complained
 justly that debased  popular taste     
demanded poetical adornment of the      
orator1#aja style  continued to be loved
 for its own sake1 extravagant figures  
of speech were  applauded1 and verbal   
cleverness and point were strained for4 
,as ,bornecque  has shown1 the fact that
 the rhetoric of the declamation schools
 was so  unreal1 so preoccupied with    
imaginary cases1 and so given over to   
attainment of stylistic brilliancy1 in  
no small measure explains the loss  in  
late ,latin literature of the sense of  
structure4 ,it is not  surprising1 says 
,bornecque1 that during the first three 
centuries of the  ,christian era the    
sense of composition seems to have      
disappeared from  ,latin literature4#ajb
 ,thus ,quintilian lamented that in his 

day the well  constructed periods of    
,cicero appealed less to the perverted  
popular taste  than the brilliant but   
disjointed epigrams of ,seneca4         
#d4 ,the ,contamination of ,poetic by   
,false ,rhetoric      ,as style gained  
this preponderence in rhetoric1 it      
continued to increase  its hold on      
poetic4 ,while the rhetoricians were    
exemplifying from the  poets their      
schemes and tropes1 their well joined   
words1 smooth1 soft as  a maiden's      
face1#ajc the poets on their part were  
assiduously practicing  all the         
rhetorical devices of style4 ,thus the  
literature of the silver-age  is        
rhetorical4 ,the custom of public       
readings by the author encouraged       
clever writing and a declamatory        
manner1#ajd even had the poets not      
received their education in the only    
popular institutions of higher          
instruction--the declamation schools4   
,the fustian which passed for poetry    
and equally well for history is well    

illustrated by the contempt of the      
hard-headed ,lucian for those historians
 who were unable to distinguish  history
 from poetry4 ,what6 he exclaims1       
bedizen history like her  sister8 ,as   
well take some mighty athlete with      
muscles of steel1 rig him up  with      
purple drapery and meretricious         
ornament1 rouge and powder his  cheeks2 
faugh1 what an object one would make of 
him with such  defilements6#aje ,but    
meretricious ornament was popular1 and  
poets1  historians1 and orators alike   
scrambled to see who could most adorn   
his  speech4 ,quintilian's pleas for the
 purer taste of a former age fell on    
deaf ears1 and despite his warnings     
orators imitated the style of the       
poets1 and the poets imitated the style 
of the orators4#ajf ,gorgias may  or may
 not have learned his style from the    
ancient poets of ,greece1 but  the poets
 of the silver age learned from the     
tribe of ,gorgias4    ,not only did     
poetry and oratory suffer from the same 

bad taste in  straining for brilliance  
of style1 but in practice1 as ,bornecque
 has  shown1 both poetry and oratory    
suffered for lack of structure4 ,the    
poets  paid so much attention to style  
that they neglected plot construction   
and  the vivid realization of character 
and situation4 ,the orators paid so much
  attention to style that they lost the 
art of composing sentences1 and of      
arranging sound arguments in such a way 
as to persuade an audience4 ,in  effect 
there was a tendency for the late ,latin
 writers to ignore those  elements of   
structure and movement wherein poetry   
and oratory most differ1  and stress    
unduly the elements of style wherein    
they have the most in  common4 ,indeed1 
so completely did any fundamental       
distinction between  poetic and rhetoric
 become blurred that in the second      
century ,annaeus  ,florus was able to   
offer as a debatable question1 ,is      
,virgil an orator or  a poet8#ajg       
,chapter ,v    ,the ,middle ,ages       

#a4 ,the ,decay of ,classical           
,rhetorical ,tradition      ,the seven  
liberal arts of mediaeval education     
carried the blending almost  to the     
absorption of poetic by rhetoric1 and   
the debasement of rhetoric  itself to a 
consideration of style alone4    ,as for
 poetic1 it had no distinct place except
 in the analyses of the  grammaticus1   
who from classical times had prepared   
boys for the schools of  rhetoric partly
 by analyzing with them the style of    
admirable passages4  ,these passages    
were commonly taken from the poets1     
whose art was thus  considered mainly as
 an art of words and applied to the art 
of the orator4  ,consequently1 as a     
result of this tradition1 poetic in the 
middle ages was  commonly grouped with  
grammar or with rhetoric1 although      
,isidore includes  it in his section on 
theology4#ajh    ,the rhetorical        
treatises of the middle ages exhibit two
 phases4 ,on the one  hand the earlier  
post-classical treatises composed by    

,martianus ,capella1  ,cassiodorus1 and 
,isidore1 all inhabitants of the        
,mediterranean basin1 are  fairly close 
to the classical tradition of           
,quintilian4 ,their weakness  consists  
not in that they restricted rhetoric to 
style1 but in that their  whole         
treatment of rhetorical theory was      
compact1 arid1 and schematic4 ,the      
second phase of mediaeval rhetoric is   
characteristic of a geographical        
position more remote from the center of 
classical culture4 ,thus it is in  the  
rhetorical treatises of ,england and    
,germany in the middle ages that        
rhetoric was to the greatest extent     
restricted to a consideration of  style4
 ,illustrative of this tendency is the  
fact that the only surviving  rhetorical
 work by the ,venerable ,bede is a      
treatise on the rhetorical  figures4    
,but although the conventional study of 
rhetoric in such condensed  treatment as
 that of the sections in ,martianus1    
,isidore1 or ,cassiodorus1  was         

definitely intrenched in the educational
 system of the seven liberal  arts1 it  
had no vitality4 ,in the first place    
these treatises gave only the  dry husks
 of rhetoric1 the conventional analyses1
 the stock definitions4  ,in the second 
place rhetoric was little applied4 ,the 
political life of  western ,europe      
centered in the camp1 not in the forum4 
,the classical  tradition of trial by a 
large jury1 as the ,areopagus or the    
,centumviri1  had given place to trial  
before the regal or manorial court4     
,thus rhetoric  dried up and lost       
whatever reality it had possessed in    
imperial ,rome4    ,but if the middle   
ages had no opportunity to apply        
rhetoric in its  function of persuasion 
in communal affairs1 they did have real 
need of an  art of writing letters and  
of preparing lay or ecclesiastical      
documents1  such as contracts1 wills1   
and records1 and of preaching sermons4  
,thus in  the teaching of the schools1  
as well as in practice1 the oration gave

  place to the epistle and dictamen4    
,dictare was to write letters or        
prepare documents4 ,and the rhetorical  
treatise or ars rhetorica often  yielded
 to the ars prosandi1 or the ars        
dictandi4#aji    ,a characteristic      
treatise of this sort is the ,poetria of
 the ,englishman  ,john of ,garland 7c4 
#abgj74 ,in his introductory chapter    
,john explains that  he has divided the 
subject into seven parts3      ,first is
 explained the theory of invention2 then
 the manner of selecting    material2   
third1 the arrangement and the manner of
 ornamentation2 next1    the parts of a 
dictamen2 fifth1 the faults in all kinds
 of composition    7dictandi72 sixth is 
arranged a treatise concerning          
rhetorical ornament    as necessary in  
meter as in prose1 namely1 the figures  
of speech and the    abbreviation and   
amplification of the material2 seventh  
and last are    subjoined examples of   
courtly correspondence and scholastic   
dictamen1    pleasantly composed in     

verse and rhythms1 and in diverse       
meters4#aaj    ,under the head of       
invention ,john gives definitions1      
several examples of  good letters1 a    
long list of proverbs under appropriate 
captions so that  the letter writer can 
quickly find the one to fit his context1
 and an  elegiac1 bucolic1 ethic love   
poem in fifty leonine verses1           
accompanied  by an inevitable           
allegorical interpretation4#aaa ,then he
 comes to  selection4 ,tully1 he admits1
 puts arrangement after invention1 but1 
he  pleads1 in writing letters and      
documents poetically the art of         
selection  after that of invention is   
useful4#aab ,for he thinks of selection 
only  as the selection of words4 ,a     
writer1 he says1 should select his words
 and  images according to the persons   
addressed4 ,the court should be         
addressed  in the grand style2 the city1
 in the middle style2 and the country1  
in the  mean style4#aac ,one should     
arrange in three columns in a note-book 

the  words and comparisons appropriate  
to each style so that the material will 
be handy when he wishes to write a      
letter4 ,these principles ,john         
illustrates with leonine verses and     
ecclesiastical epistles4 ,under         
arrangement he says that all material   
must be so arranged as to have a        
beginning1 a middle1 and an end4 ,then  
there are nine ways to begin a poem  and
 nine ways to begin a dictamen or       
epistle4 ,next he states that there  are
 six parts to an oration3 exordium1     
narracio1 peticio1 confirmacio1         
confutacio1 conclusio4#aad ,as an       
example of this division of the oration 
into parts he quotes a long poem which  
persuades its reader to take up the     
cross4 ,still under the general head of 
arrangement ,john explains the ten  ways
 of amplifying material4 ,the tenth1    
interpretacio1 he illustrates by        
telling a joke1 and then amplifying it  
into a little comedy4 ,comedy1 he  says1
 is a jocose poem beginning in sadness  

and ending in joy3 a tragedy  is a poem 
composed in the grand style beginning in
 joy and ending in  grief4#aae ,next    
follow the six metrical faults1 the     
faults of  salutations in letters1 a    
classification of the different kinds of
 poems1  and further talk on different  
styles in writing4 ,his sixth chapter1  
on  ornament in meter and prose1        
presents what he has up to this left    
unsaid  about style4 ,it includes a list
 of fifty-seven figures of speech       
7colores  verborum7 and eighteen figures
 of thought 7colores sententiarum74     
,this  is logically followed by the ten 
attributes of man4 ,the seventh and     
final  chapter gives a long narrative   
poem of the horrific variety as an      
example  of tragedy and several letters 
as examples of dictamen4    ,such a     
digest shows better than any            
generalization a complete confusion of  
poetic and rhetoric4 ,poems were to be  
written according to the formulae of    
orations2 allegory throve4 ,infinite    

pains were to be expended on the        
worthless niceties of conceited metrical
 structure and rhetorical figures4      
,garland has neither real poetic nor    
real rhetoric4        #b4 ,rhetoric as  
,aureate ,language      ,as to the late 
middle ages rhetoric had come to mean to
 all intents  nothing more than style1  
it is frequently personified in         
picturesque  mediaeval allegory1 never  
as being engaged in any useful          
occupation1 but  as adding beauty1      
color1 or charm to life4 ,in the        
,anticlaudianus of  ,alanus de ,insulis1
 ,rhetoric is represented as painting   
and gilding the  pole of the ,chariot of
 ,prudence4#aaf ,in the rhymed          
compendium of  universal knowledge which
 its author1 ,thomasin von ,zirclaria1  
justly calls  ,der ,wlsche ,gast1 for   
learning was indeed a foreign guest in  
thirteenth  century ,germany1 rhetoric  
appears in a similar rle4 ,rhetoric1    
says  ,thomasin1 clothes our speech with
 beautiful colors1#aag and he gives as  

his authority1 ,tulljus1 ,quintiljan1   
,sidnjus1 although ,apollinaris         
,sidonius seems to be the only one of   
the trio he had ever read4#aah ,this    
theory lived to a vigorous old age4     
,palmieri1 in his ,della ,vita ,civile  
7#adce71 defines rhetoric as the theory 
of speaking ornamentally4#aai  ,and     
,lydgate traces all the beauty of       
rhetoric to ,calliope1 that with thyn   
hony swete sugrest tongis of            
rethoricyens4#abj    ,the most complete 
example1 however1 of the mediaeval      
restriction of  rhetoric to style1 and  
of the absorption of poetic by rhetoric 
is afforded  by ,lydgate in his ,court  
of ,sapyence4 ,the passages which refer 
to  rhetoric are given in full because  
they can otherwise be consulted only  in
 the ,caxton edition of #adha or in the 
black letter copy printed by  ,wynkyn de
 ,worde in #aeaj4aba    ,introductory   
verses4      ,o ,clyo lady moost        
facundyous    ,o ravysshynge delyte of  
eloquence    ,o gylted goddes gaye and  

gloryous    ,enspyred with the percynge 
influence    ,of delycate hevenly       
complacence    ,within my mouth let     
dystyll of thy shoures    ,and forge my 
tonge to gladde myn auditoures4         
,myn ignoraunce whome clouded hath      
eclyppes    ,with thy pure bemes        
illumynyne all aboute    ,thy blessyd   
brethe let refleyre in my lyppes    ,and
 with the dewe of heven thou them       
degoute    ,so that my mouth may blowe  
an encense oute    ,the redolent dulcour
 aromatyke    ,of thy deputed lusty     
rhetoryke4      ,the section of         
rhetoric4      ,dame ,rethoryke moder of
 eloquence    ,moost elegaunt moost pure
 and gloryous    ,with lust delyte1     
blysse1 honour and reverence    ,within 
her parlour fresshe and precyous    ,was
 set a quene1 whose speche delycyous    
,her audytours gan to all ,joye converte
    ,eche worde of her myght ravysshe   
every herte4      ,and many clerke had  
lust her for to here    ,her speche to  
them was parfyte sustenance    ,eche    

worde of her depured was so clere       
,and illumyned with so parfyte          
pleasaunce    ,that heven it was to here
 her beauperlaunce    ,her termes gay as
 facunde soverayne    ,catephaton in no 
poynt myght dystane4      ,she taught   
them the crafte of endytynge    ,whiche 
vyces ben that sholde avoyded be        
,whiche ben the coulours gay of that    
connynge    ,theyr dyfference and eke   
theyr properte    ,eche thynge endyte   
how it sholde poynted be    ,dystynctyon
 she gan clare and dyscusse    ,whiche  
is ,coma ,colym perydus4      ,who so   
thynketh my wrytynge dull and blont     
,and wolde conceyve the colours         
purperate    ,of ,rethoryke1 go he to   
tria sunt    ,and to ,galfryde the poete
 laureate    ,to ,janneus a clerke of   
grete estate    ,within the fyrst parte 
of his gramer boke    ,of this mater    
there groundely may he loke4      ,in   
,tullius also moost eloquent    ,the    
chosen spouse unto this lady free       
,his gylted craft and gloyre in content 

,gay thynges ,i made eke1 yf than lust  
to see    ,go loke the ,code also the   
dygestes thre    ,the bookes of lawe and
 of physyke good    ,of ornate speche   
there spryngeth up the flood4      ,in  
prose and metre of all kynde ywys       
,this lady blyssed had lust for to playe
    ,with her was blesens ,richarde     
pophys    ,farrose pystyls clere lusty  
fresshe and gay    ,with maters vere    
poetes in good array    ,ovyde1 ,omer1  
,vyrgyll1 ,lucan1 ,orace    ,alane1     
,bernarde1 ,prudentius and ,stace4      
,throughout this passage rhetoric is    
never mentioned in any other context    
than one of pleasure to the ear of the  
auditor4 ,of the three aims of  rhetoric
 which ,cicero had phrased as docere1   
delectare1 et movere1 only  the         
delectare remains in the rhetoric of    
,lydgate4 ,from his initial  invocation 
to ,clio1 in which he prays that his    
style be illuminated with  the aromatic 
sweetness of her rhetoric1 to the       
passage in which he refers  to his own  

writings for examples of ornate speech  
,lydgate never refers to  the logic or  
the structure of persuasive public      
speech4 ,rhetoric1 in  ,lydgate1 is not 
used in its classical sense1 but as     
being synonymous with  ornate           
language--style4 ,here and here only    
does ,lydgate discuss any part  of      
rhetoric in its classical implications4 
,when1 in his poem1 he discusses  the   
craft of writing as including coulours  
gay1 he refers to the figures  of       
classical rhetoric--,cicero's colores   
verborum4 ,and when he refers  to the   
coma1 colum1 perydus1 he is harking back
 to the classical  divisions of the     
rhythmical members of a sentence3 the   
comma1 colon1 et  periodus4 ,in the     
classical treatises on rhetoric this    
division of  elocutio or style into two 
parts3 7#a7 figures of speech and       
language1  and 7#b7 rhythmical movement 
of the sentence1 is universal4          
,lydgate's  rhetoric is thus a          
development of only one element of      

classical  rhetoric--style4    ,but     
,lydgate's rhetoric was not only        
restricted to style2 it was expanded  to
 include the style of the poets as well 
as that of the prose writers1 as  the   
last stanza shows4 ,if ,lydgate thought 
poetry to include anything more  than   
this style1 he does not say so4         
,lydgate does not present an isolated   
case of this meaning of rhetoric4       
,throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries in ,england the term  rhetoric
 and its related words regularly        
connoted skill in diction4 ,a  rhetor   
was one who was a master of style4#abb  
,henryson1 for instance1  calls rhetoric
 sweet1 and ,dunbar1 ornate4#abc        
,chaucer admired ,petrarch  for his     
rethorike sweete which illumined the    
poetry of ,italy1#abd and  was himself  
in turn loved by ,lydgate as the nobler 
rethor poete of  brytagne1#abe who is   
called floure of rethoryk in ,englisshe 
tong1 by  ,john ,walton4#abf ,according 
to ,james ,i both ,gower and ,chaucer   

sat on the  steps of rhetoric1#abg while
 ,lyndesay includes ,lydgate in the     
number and  asserts that all three rang 
the bell of rhetoric4#abh ,bokenham     
calls  ,gower1 ,chaucer1 and ,lydgate   
the first rethoryens2#abi and as late as
  #aeij1 ,chaucer and ,lydgate are      
called ,the first that ever elumined our
  language with flowers of rethorick    
eloquence4#acj ,the entire period was   
thus in substantial agreement that      
rhetoric was honeyed speech exhibited   
at its best in the works of the poets4  
,the best example of this view of       
rhetoric is furnished by ,stephen ,hawes
 in  his delectable educational allegory
 of the seven liberal arts which he     
calls ,the ,pastime of ,pleasure        
7#aejf74 ,he begins1 of course1 with an 
apology for      ,thys lytle boke1      
opprest wyth rudenes    ,without        
rethorycke or coloure crafty2           
,nothinge ,i am experte in poetry    ,as
 the monke of ,bury1 floure of          
eloquence4#aca    ,and in another place1

 again addressing ,lydgate1 he exclaims3
      ,o mayster ,lydgate1 the most     
dulcet sprynge    ,of famous rethoryke1 
wyth balade ryall4#acb    ,the poem     
records the experiences of ,grande      
,amour1 who1 accompanied by two         
greyhounds1 seeks knowledge4 ,after     
visiting ,grammar and ,logic in their   
rooms1 he goes upstairs to see ,dame    
,rhetoric4 ,rhetoric sits in a chamber  
gaily glorified and strewn with flowers4
 ,she is very large1 finely gowned  and 
garlanded with laurel4 ,about her are   
mirrors and the fragrant fumes of       
incense4 ,grande ,amour asks her to     
paint his tongue with the royal flowers 
of delicate odors1 that he may gladden  
his auditors and moralize his  literal  
senses4 ,she pretends to understand him1
 but when he asks her what  rhetoric is1
      ,rethoryke1 she sayde1 was founde 
by reason    ,man for to governe wel and
 prudently2    ,his wordes to ordre his 
speche to purify4#acc    ,it has five   
parts1--and so on4 ,the introduction1   

however1 to the  beflowered dwelling    
place of the fair lady and the request  
of ,grande ,amour  to have his tongue   
perfumed are much more characteristic of
 the temper of  the age than are the    
professed reasons for the origin of     
rhetoric4  ,rhetoric in their hearts    
they felt to be gay paint and sweet     
smells4    ,hawes's five parts have the 
same names as the five parts of         
classical  rhetoric4#acd ,the first part
 of rhetoric1 he says1 is ,invencyon1   
the  classical inventio4 ,it is derived 
from the ,v inward wittes1  discernment1
 fantasy1 imagination1 judgment1 and    
memory4 ,anyone1 however1  who is       
familiar with the inventio of classical 
rhetoric1 concerned as it  is with      
exploring subject matter1 will be at a  
loss to see the connection  with ,hawes4
 ,in fact the whole chapter1 and the one
 following1 are devoted  not to         
rhetoric1 but to the theory of poetical 
composition1 and  explanation of the    
allegorical conception of the end of    

poetry1 and a  defense of the poets     
against detractors4 ,the classical term 
inventio is  thus lifted over bodily1   
with both change and extension in       
meaning1 from  rhetoric to poetic4      
,in the chapter on ,disposicion1 instead
 of discussing the arrangement of a     
speech1 ,hawes devotes most of his space
 to praise of the rhetoricians  because 
they turned the guidance of the drifting
 barge1 the world1 over to  competent   
pilots1 the kings4 ,here1 perhaps1      
,hawes is using the word  rhetorician   
more closely than usual in its classical
 sense4 ,he may even  have known that   
the fact of kingship had robbed rhetoric
 of its purpose4  ,at any rate1 his     
,disposicion is like the classical      
dispositio only in  name1 and again it  
is transferred from rhetoric to poetic4 
,pronunciation 7pronuntiatio71 or       
delivery1 of course applies to either   
poets or orators4 ,but whereas classical
 writers applied it to the orator's  use
 of voice and gesture1 ,hawes applies it

 only to the poet's reading  aloud4 ,he 
recommends that when a poet reads his   
verses1 he should make his  voice       
dolorous in bewailing a woeful tragedy1 
and his countenance glad in  joyful     
matter4 ,it is important1 however1 that 
the reading poet be not  boisterous or  
unmannered4 ,let him be moderate1       
gentle1 and seemly4 ,the  final section1
 that on memory1 comes closer to its    
classical sense than  does any other4   
,here the mnemonic system of places1    
supposedly invented  by ,simonides1 is  
explained obscurely4 ,even more obscure 
is its  applicability to ,hawes's       
subject4    ,it is noteworthy that the  
chapter on ,elocution 7elocutio71  or   
style1 far outweighs all the others in  
scope and bulk4  ,of the #ajh seven-line
 stanzas which ,hawes devotes to        
rhetoric1 #bj praise the poets2 #g      
define rhetoric2 #ac explain  inventio2 
#ab1 dispositio2 #dj1 elocutio2 #h1     
pronuntiatio2  and #h1 memoria4         
,elocusyon1 says ,hawes1 exorneth the   

mater4      ,the golden rethoryke is    
good refeccion    ,and to the reader    
ryght consolation4#ace    ,rhetoric and 
style1 to ,hawes and his contemporaries1
 mean the same thing4  ,both have to do1
 in ,hawes's own language1 with choosing
 aromatic words1  dulcet speech1        
sweetness1 delight2 they are redolent of
 incense2 they  gleam like carbuncles in
 the darkness2 they are painted in hard 
gold4 ,but  beyond these picturesque    
generalizations there is little trace in
 ,hawes of  any discussion of style such
 as one would find in a classical       
treatise4 ,a  few figures of speech are 
mentioned1 but not dwelt upon4 ,hawes   
consistently confines himself to poetry4
 ,tully1 the only orator mentioned1     
shares a line with ,virgil4 ,the main   
concern is with the devices used by  the
 poets to cloak truth under the veil of 
allegory4 ,rhetoric is an  adjunct of   
the poet4           my mayster ,lydgate 
veryfyde    ,the depured rethoryke in   
,englysh language2    ,to make our      

tongue so clerely puryfyed    ,that the 
vyle termes should nothing arage    ,as 
like a pye to chatter in a cage1    ,but
 for to speke with rethoryke            
formally4#acf    ,in a word1 the whole  
traditional division of rhetoric is     
transferred to  poetry1 and at the same 
time both rhetoric and poetic are       
limited to the  single part which they  
have in common--diction4 ,the style     
cultivated by  this focus is ornamental 
and elaborate4 ,if ,lydgate or ,hawes   
had believed  that rhetoric included    
more than aureate language1 surely the  
scope of  their treatises would have    
afforded them opportunity to correct    
this  impression4 ,each of them is      
endeavoring to present a compendium of  
universal knowledge according to the    
conventional analysis of the seven      
liberal arts4 ,illustrative details     
might be omitted1 but not important     
sections of the subject matter4    ,the 
meanings of words change1 and with such 
changes we have no quarrel4 ,it  is     

important1 however1 that we should know 
what the ,english middle ages  meant by 
rhetoric if we are to appreciate how    
powerful was the tradition  of the      
middle ages and in what direction it    
influenced the literary  criticism of   
the ,english renaissance4 ,to resume1   
the middle ages thought  of poetry as   
being composed of two elements3 a       
profitable subject matter  7doctrina71  
and style 7eloquentia74 ,the profitable 
subject matter was  theoretically       
supplied by the allegory4 ,this will be 
discussed in the  second part of this   
study1 as historically being a phase of 
critical  discussions of the purpose of 
poetry4 ,the ,english middle ages1 as   
has been  shown1 considered style       
synonymous with rhetoric4               
,chapter ,,vi    ,logic and ,rhetoric in
 the ,english ,renaissance        #a4   
,the ,content of ,classical ,rhetoric   
,carried ,over into ,logic      ,but    
among serious people the painted and    
perfumed ,dame ,rethoryke of  ,lydgate  

and ,hawes was in disrepute4 ,she had   
turned over her business in  life to the
 kings and devoted too much attention to
 ornament4 ,such a  serious person was  
,rudolph ,agricola1 who1 in his treatise
 on logic1  accepted the mediaeval      
tradition that rhetoric was concerned   
only with  smoothness and ornament of   
speech and all that went toward         
captivating the  ears1 and straightway  
picked up all the serious purpose and   
thoughtful  content of classical        
rhetoric which mediaeval rhetoric had   
abandoned1 to  hand them over to logic4 
,consequently1 in a work which he       
significantly  entitles ,de inventione  
dialectica1 he defines logic as the art 
of  speaking in a probable manner       
concerning any topic which can be       
treated in  a speech4#acg ,according to 
,agricola's scheme1 rhetoric retains    
elocutio1 style2 and logic carries over 
inventio1 as his title  shows1 and      
dispositio4 ,his whole-hearted disgust  
with the stylistic  extremes of rhetoric

 he shows by denying to oratory any aim 
of pleasing  and moving4 ,of ,cicero's  
threefold purpose1 to teach1 to please1 
and to  move1 he retains only teaching  
as pertinent to effective public speech4
  ,docere1 to teach1 he uses in the     
classical sense which includes proof as 
well as instruction4 ,thus he says it   
has two parts3 exposition and           
argument4#ach ,the parts of a speech he 
reduces to the minimum proposed by      
,aristotle3 the statement and the proof4
 ,thus although ,agricola admits that   
rhetoric is most beautiful1 he will have
 none of her4    ,following this lead1  
,thomas ,wilson1 the ,english           
rhetorician and statesman1  defines     
logic and rhetoric as follows3          
,logic is occupied about all matters1   
and doeth plainlie and nakedly set      
forth with apt wordes the sum of things1
 by way of argumentation4    ,rhetorike 
useth gaie painted sentences1 and       
setteth forthe those matters    with    
freshe colours and goodly ornaments1 and

 that at large4#aci    ,according to    
,agricola and ,wilson logic has         
supplanted rhetoric in finding  all     
possible means of persuasion in any     
subject4 ,following ,peter  ,ramus1#adj 
,wilson finds that logic has two parts3 
judicium1 ,framyng of  thinges aptlie   
together1 and knittyng words for the    
purpose accordynglie1  and inventio1    
,findyng out matter1 and searchyng      
stuffe agreable to the  cause4#ada      
,hermagoras and others had in antiquity 
considered judicium1  or judgment1 as a 
part of rhetoric1#adb although          
,quintilian thought it  less a part of  
rhetoric than necessary to all          
parts4#adc ,inventio1 of  course1 has   
always been the most important part of  
rhetoric4 ,this same  carrying over of  
the content of classical rhetoric into  
logic is further  illustrated by        
,abraham ,fraunce1 who divides his      
,lawiers ,logic 7#aehh7  into two parts3
 invention and disposition4        #b4  
,the ,persistence of the ,mediaeval     

,tradition of ,rhetoric      ,but while 
the survival of the mediaeval notion    
that rhetoric was concerned  mainly with
 style thus gave over in the ,english   
,renaissance inventio and  dispositio to
 logic1 there naturally remained nothing
 of classical  rhetoric but elocutio and
 pronuntiatio4 ,a brief survey of the   
,english  rhetorics of the late         
sixteenth and early seventeenth         
centuries will show  that this was the  
case4 ,richard ,sherry devotes an entire
 book to style in  his ,treatise of     
,schemes and ,tropes 7#aeej74add ,he    
begins by defining  eloquucion1 the     
third part of ,rhetoric1 as the dressing
 up of thought4  ,rhetoric to him had   
not in theory become style1 but style is
 the only part  which he finds          
interesting enough to treat4 ,his       
schemes and tropes are of  course the   
rhetorical figures2 but let him explain 
them in his own artless  way4 ,a scheme 
is the fashion of a word1 sayyng or     
sentence1 otherwyse  wrytten or spoken  

then after the vulgar and comon usage4  
,a trope is a  movynge and changynge of 
a worde or sentence1 from thyr owne     
significacion  into another which may   
agree with it by a similitude4 ,henry   
,peacham's  ,garden of ,eloquence1      
,conteyning the ,figures of ,grammer and
 ,rhetoric  7#aegg7 likewise deals only 
with the rhetorical figures4    ,in the 
anonymous1 ,the ,artes of ,logike and   
,rhetorike 7#aehd71ade  rhetoric is     
denned as an arte of speaking finelie4  
,it hath two parts1  garnishing of      
speach1 called ,eloqution1 and          
garnishing of the manner of  utterance1 
called ,pronunciation4#adf ,thus by     
definition rhetoric  includes only style
 and delivery4 ,under garnishing of     
speech the author  treats only the      
rhetorical figures4 ,this restriction of
 style to figures  is characteristic4   
,the rhythm of prose upon which         
classical treatises on  style lavished  
such enthusiastic pains is practically  
ignored in those  ,english treatises4   

,the comma1 colon1 and periodus which to
 classical  authors signified rhythmical
 units in the sentence movement had     
already  come to mean to most people    
only marks of punctuation4#adg          
,garnishing of  utterance ,fenner does  
not discuss at all4    ,in ,the         
,arcadian ,rhetorike 7#aehh71 ,abraham  
,fraunce treats both4  ,rhetorike1 he   
says1 is an ,art of ,speaking4 ,it hath 
two parts1 ,eloqution  and              
,pronuntiation4 ,eloqution is the first 
part of ,rhetorike1 concerning  the     
ordering and trimming of speech4 ,it    
hath two parts1 ,congruity and          
,braverie4 ,congruity 7as pertaining    
more to grammar7 he does not discuss4   
,braverie of speach consisteth of tropes
 or turnings1 and in figures or         
fashionings4#adh ,the remainder of the  
first book deals with meter and  verse  
forms1 baldly of prose rhythm1          
epizeuxis1 conceited verses1 and        
various rhetorical figures4 ,the second 
book deals with the voice and  gestures4

 ,this rhetoric of ,fraunce's1 then1    
complements his ,lawiers  ,logike of the
 same year1 the latter dealing with the 
finding out and  arrangement of         
arguments in a speech1 and the former   
with style and  delivery4 ,rhetoric is  
thus concerned only with stylistic      
artifice in verse  as well as in prose4 
,the same tradition is upheld by        
,charles ,butler1 who in his ,latin     
school  rhetoric 7#afjj7 defines        
rhetoric as the art of ornate speech and
 divides  it into elocutio1 a discussion
 of the tropes and figures1 and         
pronuntiatio1 the use of voice and      
gesture4#adi ,and ,john ,barton is      
worse4 ,in his ,art of ,rhetorick       
7#afcd7 he says3      ,rhetorick is the 
skill of using daintie words1 and comely
 deliverie1    whereby to work upon     
men's affections4 ,it hath two parts1   
adornation and    action4 ,adornation   
consisteth in the sweetness of the      
phrase1 and is    seen in tropes and    
figures4    ,he continues3      ,there  

are foure kinds of tropes1 substitution1
 comprehension1    comparation1         
simulation4 ,the affection of a trope is
 the quality whereby    it requires a   
second resolution4 ,these affections are
 five3 abuse1    duplication1           
continuation1 superlocution1            
sublocution4 ,a figure is an            
affecting kind of speech without        
consideration had of any borrowed       
sense4 ,a figure is two-fold3 relative  
and independent1    and he names over in
 his jargon the six figures which are of
 each  kind4#aej ,if this be rhetoric1  
perhaps there was justification for     
,john  ,smith's ,the ,mysterie of       
,rhetorique ,unvailed 7#afeg71 which    
continued the  fallacious tradition by  
dividing rhetoric into elocution and    
pronunciation4    ,this perversion of   
rhetoric which considered it as         
concerned only with  style1 or aureate  
language1 was not restricted to the     
school books4 ,the  popular use of      
rhetoric as synonymous with fine honeyed

 speech1#aea is  seen in a passage from 
,old ,fortunatus1 where it carries the  
modern  connotation of a meretricious   
substitute for genuine feeling1 as where
  ,agripyne says1      ,methinks a      
soldier is the most faithful lover of   
all men else2 for his    affection      
stands not upon compliment4 ,his wooing 
is plain home spun    stuff2 there's no 
outlandish thread in it1 no             
rhetoric4#aeb        #c4 ,the ,recovery 
of ,classical ,rhetoric      ,a half    
century before ,smith unveiled the      
mysteries of rhetoric1 ,bacon had  in   
his ,advancement of ,learning 7#afje7   
pointed out the fallacies of the        
renaissance obsession with style4 ,he   
briefly traces the causes of the        
renaissance study of language and adds3 
,this grew speedily to an excesse2 for  
men began to hunt more after    wordes  
than matter1 and more after the         
choisenesse of the ,phrase and the      
round and cleane composition of the     
sentence1 and the sweet falling of      

the clauses1 and the varying and        
illustration of their workes with       
tropes and figures1 then after the      
weight of matter1 worth of subject1     
soundness of argument1 life of          
invention1 or depth of judgement4#aec   
,sooner or later the school books had to
 reform4 ,the ,latin school rhetoric  of
 ,thomas ,vicars 7#afba71 after one has 
perused the treatise of his             
predecessors and contemporaries1 is so  
conservative as to appear  startling4   
,it has all the air of a novelty4 ,yet  
all he does is to return  to the        
classical tradition by defining rhetoric
 as the art of correct or  effective    
speech having five parts3 inventio1     
dispositio1 elocutio1  memoria1 and     
pronuntiatio#aed4 ,and ,thomas ,farnaby1
 whose ,index  ,rhetoricus appeared in  
six editions between #afcc and #afed1   
gives a fairly  proportioned treatment  
of inventio1 dispositio1 elocutio1 and  
actio4 ,memoria he omits1 following     
here1 as elsewhere1 the sound           

leadership of ,vossius4        #d4      
,channels of ,classical ,theory         
,this perversion of rhetorical theory in
 the middle ages and early  renaissance 
had resulted not from mere              
wrong-headedness on the part of the     
rhetoricians1 but from the limited      
knowledge of classical tradition during 
the middle ages4 ,especially was this   
true in those parts of western  ,europe1
 such as ,england1 which were remote    
from the ,mediterranean  countries which
 better preserved the heritage of       
,greece and ,rome4  ,moreover1 the most 
important classical treatises on the    
theory of  poetry--by ,aristotle and    
,longinus--were almost unknown          
throughout the  middle ages1 and the    
rhetorical writings of ,cicero and      
,quintilian were  known only in         
fragments4    ,servatus ,lupus          
7#hje-hfb71 ,abbot of ,ferrieres and a  
learned man1 was  unusual in his        
scholarship2 for he knew not only the   
rhetoric ,ad  ,herennium which was      

believed to be ,cicero's but also the   
,de oratore and  fragments of           
,quintilian4#aee ,the current rhetorical
 treatises of the  middle ages were     
,cicero's ,de inventione1 and the ,ad   
,herennium4 ,the ,de  oratore was used  
but slightly1 and the ,brutus and the   
,orator not at  all4#aef ,what little   
classical rhetoric there is in ,stephen 
,hawes was  derived from the ,ad        
,herennium4    ,the survival and        
popularity of the ,ad ,herennium during 
this period is  one of the most         
interesting phenomena of rhetorical     
history4 ,of the  classical treatises on
 rhetoric which survive to-day it       
undoubtedly  arouses the least interest 
and can contribute the least to modern  
education or criticism4 ,yet it is the  
most characteristic ,latin rhetoric  we 
possess4 ,it is a text-book of rhetoric 
which was used in the ,roman  schools4  
,in fact1 ,cicero's ,de inventione is so
 much like it that some  suspect that   
,cicero's notes which he took in school 

got into circulation  and forced the    
publication of his professor's lectures4
 ,aristotle's  philosophy of rhetoric1  
,cicero's charming dialog on his        
profession1  ,quintilian's treatise on  
the teaching of rhetoric--none of these 
is a  text-book4 ,the rhetoric ,ad      
,herennium is4 ,it is clear and orderly 
in its  organization4 ,it defines all   
the technical terms which it uses1 and  
illustrates its principles4 ,as one     
might expect1 it delights in            
over-analysis1 in categories and        
sub-categories1 the four kinds of       
causes1  the three virtues of the       
narratio4 ,in the hands of a skilled    
teacher of  composition1 however1 and   
with much class-room practice1 it       
undoubtedly  would get rhetoric taught  
more effectively than would more        
philosophical  or literary treatises4   
,thus in ,guarino's school at ,ferrara  
7#adbi-adfj7 the  ,ad ,herennium was    
regarded as the quintessence of pure    
,ciceronian  doctrine of oratory1 and   

was made the starting point and standing
  authority in teaching rhetoric4 ,in   
more advanced classes it was            
supplemented by the ,de oratore1        
,orator1 and what was known of          
,quintilian4#aeg ,the ,ciceronianus of  
,erasmus testifies that by the next     
century the scholarship of the          
renaissance had discovered that the ,ad 
,herennium was not from the pen of      
,cicero1 and that the ,de inventione    
was considered apologetically by its    
famous author1 who wrote his ,de        
oratore to supersede the more youthful  
treatise4#aeh ,but six years after  the 
publication of the ,ciceronianus of     
,erasmus1 the edition of ,cicero's      
,opera published in ,basel in #aecd     
still incorporates the ,ad ,herennium1  
and ,thomas ,wilson in ,england owes    
most of his first book and part of the  
second of his ,arte of ,rhetorique to   
its anonymous author1 whom he  believed 
to be ,cicero4 ,for instance in his     
section on ,devision as a part  of a    

speech1 ,wilson says1 ,tullie would not 
have a devision to be made1  of1 or     
above three partes at the moste1 nor    
lesse then three neither1 if  neede so  
required4#aei    ,tullie says no such   
thing4 ,indeed1 ,cicero never considers 
divisio as  one of the parts of a       
speech4 ,but the ,ad ,herennium does    
make divisio a  part of a speech1#afj   
and does require not over three         
parts4#afa ,as late  as #afab1 ,thomas  
,heywood quotes the authority of ,tully1
 in his booke ,ad  ,caium               
,herennium4#afb    ,the relative        
importance of ,cicero's rhetorical works
 to the middle ages is  well illustrated
 by a count of the manuscripts          
preserved4 ,in the libraries  of ,europe
 today there exist seventy-nine         
manuscripts of the ,de  inventione1     
eighty-three of the ,ad ,herennium1     
forty of the ,de  oratore1 fourteen of  
the ,brutus1 and twenty of the          
,orator4#afc ,thus  in the ,university  
of ,bologna the study of rhetoric was   

based on the ,de  inventione and the ,ad
 ,herennium4#afd ,the ,de inventione is 
the source  for ,alcuin's rhetorical    
writings1 and was the only ,ciceronian  
rhetoric  known to ,abelard or ,dante4  
,brunette ,latini translated seventeen  
chapters  of it into ,italian4#afe      
,although mutilated codices of the ,de  
oratore  and the ,orator were known to  
,servatus ,lupus and ,john of           
,salisbury1  complete manuscripts of    
these most important works were not     
known previous  to #adbb4aff ,the ,ad   
,herennium and the ,de inventione were  
first  printed by ,jenson at ,venice in 
#adgj4 ,the first book printed at       
,angers  7#adgf7 was the ,ad ,herennium 
under the usual mediaeval title of the  
,rhetorica nova4 ,the first edition of  
the ,de oratore was printed in the      
monastery of ,subaco about #adff4 ,the  
,brutus first appeared in ,rome 7#adfi7 
in the same year which witnessed the    
first edition of the ,orator4#afg       
,before its first printing the ,orator  

was used as a reference book for        
advanced students by ,guarino in his    
school at ,ferrara4    ,castiglione's   
indebtedness to the ,de oratore is well 
known1 but few  notice that his first   
paragraphs are a close paraphrase of    
,cicero's  dedicatory paragraphs of the 
,orator4    ,but in ,england the first  
reference to the ,orator appears in     
,ascham's  ,scholemaster 7#aegj7 one    
hundred years after its first           
printing4#afh  ,thus the ,ciceronian    
rhetoric of the middle ages was derived 
from the  pseudo-,ciceronian ,ad        
,herennium and from the youthful ,de    
inventione1  not from the best          
rhetorical treatises of ,cicero as we   
know them4  ,moreover the mediaeval     
tradition persisted in ,england for over
 a hundred  years after it had been     
displaced in ,italy4    ,the ,rhetoric  
of ,aristotle was known to the middle   
ages only through a  ,latin translation 
by ,hermanus ,allemanus 7c4 #abef7 of   
,alfarabi's  commentary4 ,the ,greek    

text was first published in the ,aldine 
,rhetores  ,graeci 7#aejh71 and was for 
the first time incorporated in the works
 of  ,aristotle published in ,basel1    
#aeca4 ,as early as #adgh1 however1 the 
,latin  version by ,george of ,trebizond
 had been published in ,venice4#afi     
,this was  frequently reissued in the   
,opera of ,aristotle together with the  
,rhetorica ad ,alexandrum1 long believed
 to be the work of ,aristotle1 in  the  
,latin translation by ,filelfo1 and the 
,poetics in ,pazzi's  translation4 ,as  
the true ,rhetoric of ,aristotle1 known 
to the renaissance  as the ,ars         
rhetoricorum ad ,theodecten1 was so     
frequently published with  the spurious 
,rhetorica1 references to ,aristotle's  
,rhetoric in the  sixteenth century are 
likely to be confusing4 ,thus it is     
difficult to tell  whether the ,rhetoric
 required to be read by ,oxford students
 in the  fifteenth century#agj is the   
one or the other4 ,the surprising thing 
is1  however1 with all the editions and 

translations of ,aristotle which were   
available1 that the ,rhetoric of        
,aristotle had so slight an influence on
  ,english rhetorical theory4    ,the   
,de institutione oratoria of ,quintilian
 was too long to be preserved  intact4  
,from the fourth to the seventh         
centuries1 however1 it was well  known  
and highly valued by ,hilary of         
,poitiers1 ,st4 ,jerome1 and ,rufinus1  
and closely followed and abridged in    
their rhetorical works by  ,cassiodorus1
 ,julius ,victor1 and ,isidore of       
,seville4 ,from the eighth  century     
until ,poggio discovered the complete   
manuscript at ,st4 ,gall in  #adaf1 the 
world knew only mutilated fragments of  
the text4 ,on the basis  of an          
incomplete manuscript ,etienne de ,rouen
 prepared in the twelfth  century an    
abridgment of ,quintilian1 and soon     
after an anonymous  enthusiast made a   
selection of the ,flores                
,quintilianei4#aga ,thus1 while  the    
rhetorical works of ,aristotle were     

practically unknown1 and the            
,ciceronian tradition rested on the ,de 
inventione and the ,ad ,herennium1  the 
rhetorical ideas of ,quintilian1 as     
preserved in abridgments and in the     
treatises of ,cassiodorus and ,isidore1 
passed current throughout the middle    
ages4 ,when the first edition was       
published by ,campano in #adgj1 the     
world  of scholars welcomed a familiar  
friend4    ,other classical critical    
treatises filtered into ,england even   
more slowly4  ,the ,de compositione     
verborum of ,dionysius of ,halicarnassus
 received its  first printing at the    
hands of ,aldus in #aejh and was edited 
again by  ,estienne in #aedf1 and by    
,sturm in #aeej4 ,yet had ,ascham not   
been a friend  of ,sturm's1 it might not
 have been heard of in ,england as early
 as #aegj1  when the ,scholemaster was  
published4 ,ascham says it is worthy of 
study1  but shows no great familiarity  
with the text4#agb    ,the ,de          
sublimitate of pseudo-,longinus has a   

similar history in ,england4  ,published
 by ,robortelli in ,basel in #aeed1 it  
was reissued three times1  once with a  
,latin translation1 before ,langhorne   
edited it 7#afcf7 at  ,oxford4 ,no      
,elizabethan writer alludes to it or    
seems to have been aware of  its        
existence until ,thomas ,farnaby cites  
it as an authority for his ,index       
,rhetoricus 7#afcc74 ,the advance of    
classical scholarship in ,england is    
indeed no better illustrated than by a  
comparison of ,farnaby's cited  sources 
with those of ,thomas ,wilson 7#aeec74  
,wilson knew and used ,cicero1          
,quintilian1 ,plutarch1 ,basil the      
,great1 and ,erasmus4 ,farnaby cites an 
imposing list of sources4      ,greek3  
,aristotle1 ,hermogenes1 ,sopatrus1     
,dionysius of ,halicarnassus1           
,demetrius ,phal1#agc ,menander1        
,aristides1 ,apsinus1 ,longinus ,de     
sublimitate1 ,theonus1 ,apthonius4      
,latin3 ,cicero1 ,quintilian1 ,martianus
    ,capella1 ,curio ,fortunatus1 ,mario

 ,victorino1 ,victore1 ,emporio1        
,augustino1    ,ruffinus1 ,trapezuntius1
 ,p4 ,ramus1 ,l4 ,vives1 ,soarez1 ,j4   
,c4 ,scaliger1    ,sturm1 ,strebaeus1   
,kechermann1 ,alstedius1 ,n4 ,caussinus1
 ,j4 ,g4 ,voss1 ,a4    ,valladero4      
,whether ,farnaby had read the works of 
these gentlemen through from cover  to  
cover is another matter4 ,he at least   
knew their names1 and had read in       
,vossius1 whose footnotes would refer   
him to all these sources as well as  to 
others1 both classical and mediaeval4   
,with this evidence before us it is easy
 to understand why the traditions  of   
the ,english middle ages persisted so   
long in the literary criticism of  the  
,english renaissance4 ,the theories of  
rhetoric and of poetry in  mediaeval    
,england had in the first place1 because
 of remoteness and the  lack of easy    
transportation1 become farther and      
farther removed from such  classical    
tradition as was preserved in the       
,mediterranean countries4 ,in  the      

second place1 the recovery of classical 
criticism in the ,italian  renaissance  
antedated by a hundred years the        
domestication of classical  theory in   
,england4 ,not until the seventeenth    
century1 as has been shown1  did        
rhetoric in ,england come again to mean 
what it had in classical  antiquity4    
,subsequent chapters will show that     
classical theories of  poetry1 as       
published and interpreted by the        
,italian critics1 made almost  as slow  
head against ,english mediaeval         
tradition4          ,chapter ,,vii      
,renaissance ,poetic        #a4 ,the    
,reestablishment of the ,classical      
,tradition      ,in concluding his      
authoritative study1 ,a ,history of     
,literary ,criticism in  the            
,renaissance1 ,spingarn asserts that    
before the sixteenth century1  ,poetic  
theory had been nourished upon the      
rhetorical and oratorical  treatises of 
,cicero1 the moral treatises of         
,plutarch 7especially those  upon the   

reading of poets and the education of   
youth71 the ,institutions  ,oratoriae of
 ,quintilian1 and the ,de ,legendis     
,gentilium ,libris of ,basil  the       
,great4#agd ,with the turn of the       
century1 he goes on to say1 a great     
change was brought about by the         
publication of the classical critical   
writings1 especially the ,poetics of    
,aristotle4 ,then the mediaeval         
criteria of doctrina and eloquentia were
 superseded by many new ones4    ,the   
development of ,aristotelian poetic in  
the ,italian renaissance is a  separate 
inquiry1 which has been made            
extensively1 and need not be gone  into 
here4 ,the results which bear upon the  
present inquiry may be  summarized as   
follows3    ,the recovery of            
,aristotle's ,poetics brought about a   
complete change in  poetical theory1 and
 stimulated in ,italy a great body of   
critical writing  and discussion1 the   
results of which did not reach ,england 
until almost a  hundred years later4    

,the ,poetics had been known to the     
middle ages only through a ,latin       
abridgment by ,hermannus ,allemanus4    
,this was derived from a ,hebrew        
translation from the ,arabic of         
,averroes1 who1 in turn1 knew only a    
,syriac  translation of the ,greek4#age 
,although the ,poetics was not included 
in  the ,aldine ,aristotle 7#adie-h71   
the ,latin abstract by ,hermannus was   
printed with ,alfarabi's commentary on  
the ,rhetoric for the first time at     
,venice 7#adha74 ,valla published a     
,latin translation in #adih4 ,the ,greek
 text  was first published in the       
,aldine ,rhetores ,graeci 7#aejh7agf    
badly  edited by ,ducas4 ,a ,latin      
translation made by ,pazzi in #aecf     
appears in the  ,basel edition of       
,aristotle's ,opera 7#aech7 with        
,filelfo's version of the  ,rhetorica ad
 ,alexandrum1 falsely attributed to     
,aristotle1 and ,george of  ,trebizond's
 7,trapezuntius7 translation of the     
,rhetoric4 ,robortelli  edited it in    

#aedh4 ,segni translated it in #aedi4   
,it was edited again by  ,maggi in      
#aeej1 by ,vettori in #aefj1 by         
,castelvetro in #aegj1 and by           
,piccolomini in #aege4 ,it had inspired 
the ,de ,poeta 7#aeei7 of ,minturno and 
the ,poetics 7#aefa7 of ,scaliger4 ,but 
in ,england its critical theories  were 
ignored before ,ascham1 who cites them  
in the ,scholemaster 7#aegj71  and never
 elucidated before ,sidney's ,defense of
 ,poesie 7c4 #aehc1 pub4  #aeie74       
,but with all the changes which were    
worked in the literary criticism of  the
 renaissance by the recovery of         
,aristotle's ,poetics1 renaissance      
theories of poetry were nevertheless    
tinged with rhetoric4 ,vossler has      
summarized renaissance theories of the  
nature of poetry as passing through     
three stages3 of theology1 of oratory1  
and finally of rhetoric and             
philology4#agg ,while the influence of  
,aristotle is most clearly seen in  the 
new emphasis on plot construction and   

characterization1 the importance  the   
renaissance attached to style is in no  
small measure a survival of the         
mediaeval tradition of classical        
rhetoric4 ,moreover1 as ,spingarn has   
pointed out1 there was a tendency in the
 renaissance for the classical  theories
 of poetry to be accepted as rules which
 must be followed by those  who would   
compose poetry4 ,if a poet followed     
these rules and modeled his  poem on    
great poems of classical antiquity1 some
 critics suggested1 he  could not go far
 wrong4 ,thus one should follow the     
precepts of ,aristotle  for theory1 and 
imitate ,virgil for epic and ,seneca for
 tragedy4 ,the  rhetorical character of 
these poetical models is significant4   
,both are  stylists1 of a distinct      
literary flavor4 ,both recommended      
themselves to  the renaissance because  
they too were imitators of earlier      
literary  models4    ,although with good
 taste as well as classical erudition   
,ascham preferred  ,sophocles and       

,euripides to the oratorical and        
sententious ,seneca1 his view  was not  
shared by the renaissance4 ,scaliger1   
preoccupied as he was with  style1 found
 his ideal of tragedy not in the plays  
of the great ,greeks1  but in the closet
 dramas of the declamatory ,spaniard4   
,seneca appealed to  the renaissance not
 only on account of his verbal dexterity
 and point1 but  also on account of his 
moral maxims or sententiae4 ,in ,england
 the two  greatest literary critics1    
,sidney and ,jonson1 followed ,scaliger 
in this  high regard for ,seneca4       
,sidney found only one tragedy in       
,england1  ,gorbuduc1 modeled as it     
should be on his dramas4 ,its speeches  
are  stately1 its phrases high sounding1
 and its moral lesson delightfully      
taught4#agh ,and ,jonson conceived the  
essentials of tragedy to be those       
elements found in ,seneca3 ,truth of    
argument1 dignity of person1 gravity    
and height of elocution1 fullness and   
frequency of sentence4    ,the middle   

ages conceived of poetry as being       
compounded of profitable  subject-matter
 and beautiful style4 ,the ,english     
renaissance never entirely  evacuated   
this position4 ,consequently the        
,aristotelian doctrine that the  essence
 of poetry is imitation was either      
entertained simultaneously1 as  in      
,sidney1 or interpreted to mean the same
 thing1 as in ,jonson4 ,the  commoner   
renaissance idea of imitation is not    
that of ,aristotle1 but that  of        
,plutarch1 whose speaking picture so    
often appears in the critical           
treatises4    ,robertelli thought poetic
 might be either in prose or in verse if
 it were  an imitation2 ,lucian1        
,apuleius1 and ,heliodorus were to him  
poets4#agi  ,scaliger1 on the other     
hand1 insisted that a poet makes verses4
 ,lucan is a  poet2 ,livy a             
historian4#ahj ,castelvetro probably    
came nearest to  ,aristotle in asserting
 that ,lucian and ,boccaccio are poets  
though in  prose1 although verse is a   

more fitting garment for poetry than is 
prose4#aha ,vossius anticipates         
,prickard's explanation of ,aristotle by
  defining poetry as the art of         
imitating actions in metrical language4 
,to  him verse alone does not make      
poetry4 ,herodotus in verse would remain
 a  historian2 but no prose work can be 
poetry4#ahb ,these are only a few       
examples typical of the general tendency
 which ,spingarn has so thoroughly      
studied4        #b4 ,rhetorical         
,elements      ,this tendency to follow 
,aristotle in allowing that the vehicle 
of verse  was not characteristic of     
poetry tended to preclude any vital     
distinction  between rhetoric and       
poetic4 ,the renaissance had inherited  
from the middle  ages the belief that   
poetry was composed of two parts3 a     
profitable  subject matter 7doctrina7   
and style 7eloquentia74 ,if the         
definition  goes no further1 then the   
only difference between the poet and the
 orator  lies in the ,ciceronian dictum 

that the poet was more restricted in his
 use  of meter4 ,consequently1 when     
,aristotle's theory that poems could be 
written in either prose or verse was    
accepted1 there remained no stylistic   
difference at all4 ,in fact1 there is   
very little4 ,but throughout the  middle
 ages this common focus on style had led
 to undue consideration of  style as    
ornament4 ,in the renaissance this same 
tendency appears in  ,guevara1 for      
instance1 and in ,lyly4 ,the ,euphuistic
 style1 as ,morris ,croll  has pointed  
out1 is more largely than was formerly  
supposed to be the  case1 derived from  
mediaeval rhetoric4#ahc    ,in the      
theoretical treatises on poetry produced
 on the continent there is  frequent use
 of rhetorical terms4 ,it was to be     
expected that scholars  whose education 
had been largely rhetorical should carry
 over the  vocabulary of rhetoric into  
what was on the rediscovery of the      
,poetics  practically a new science4    
,the rhetorical influence is readily    

recognized  in ,vida's preoccupation    
with the mechanics of poetry and in     
,scaliger's  over-analysis and extensive
 treatment of the rhetorical figures1   
the high1  low1 and mean styles1 the    
three elements 7material1 form1 and     
execution7  of poetry4 ,lombardus makes 
poetry include oratory4#ahd ,maggi#ahe  
and  ,tifernas#ahf echo ,cicero that the
 poet and the orator are the nearest    
neighbors1 differing only in that the   
poet is slightly more restricted by     
meter4 ,j4 ,pontanus insists that       
epideictic prose and poetry have the    
same  material1#ahg that poets should   
learn from the precepts of rhetoric to  
discriminate in their choice of         
words4#ahh    ,as an interpretation of  
classical doctrine this is not          
illegitimate2 but  ,pontanus runs into  
confusion by applying to the narrative  
of epic the  narratio of classical      
rhetoric1 which meant the lawyer's      
statement of  facts4 ,confusing the     
narratio of oratory with narrative1     

,pontanus says3      ,there are three   
virtues of a narration1 brevity1        
probability and    perspicuity4 ,the    
epic poet should diligently strive to   
attain the second    and third1 and may 
learn how to do it from the masters of  
rhetoric4#ahi    ,thus a poet should    
seek in an epic the same qualities which
 an orator is  supposed by classical    
rhetorics to strive for in the statement
 of facts of  his speech4#aij           
,furthermore1 says ,pontanus1 one can   
write very good  poetry by paraphrasing 
orations in verse4#aia ,no wonder ,luis 
,vives  complained in his ,de ,causis   
,corruptarum ,artium1      ,the moderns 
confound the arts by reason of their    
resemblance1 and of two    that are very
 much opposed to each other make a      
single art4 ,they call    rhetoric      
grammar1 and grammar rhetoric1 because  
both treat of language4    ,the poet    
they call orator1 and the orator poet1  
because both put    eloquence and       
harmony into their discourses4#aib      

,from this brief summary1 derived for   
the most part from the exhaustive       
studies of ,vossler and ,spingarn1 one  
may recognize some of the rhetorical    
elements in the theories of poetry      
current in the ,italian renaissance4    
,the  ,aristotelian studies of the      
,italian scholars very largely          
accomplished the  overthrow of the      
mediaeval theories of poetry and the    
re-establishment of  the sounder        
critical theories of classical          
antiquity4 ,their service to  subsequent
 criticism has been so great and their  
critical thinking on the  whole so sound
 that it may seem ungracious to call    
attention to a few  cases where they    
were unable to shake themselves entirely
 free from the  mediaeval tradition of  
classical rhetoric4          ,chapter   
,,viii    ,theories of ,poetry in the   
,english ,renaissance        #a4 ,the   
,rhetorical ,period of ,english         
,criticism      ,spingarn has carefully 
traced the introduction of the theories 

of poetry  formulated by the ,italian   
critics into ,england at the end of the 
sixteenth  century4 ,it is the purpose  
of this study not to go over the ground 
which  ,spingarn has so admirably       
covered1 but to point out in ,english   
renaissance  theories of poetry those   
elements which derive from the mediaeval
  tradition and from the classical      
rhetorics1 and to trace the gradual     
displacements of these elements by the  
sounder classical tradition which       
reached ,england from ,italy4    ,the   
first stage of ,english ,criticism1 say 
,spingarn1 was entirely given  up to    
rhetorical study4#aic ,in his period he 
includes ,cox and ,wilson1  the         
rhetoricians1 and ,ascham1 the scholar4 
,of the second period1 which he         
characterizes as one of classification  
and metrical studies1 he says1 ,a  long 
period of rhetorical and metrical study 
had helped to formulate a  rhetorical   
and technical conception of the poet's  
function4#aid ,these  two periods have  

so much in common that they may readily 
be considered  together4    ,throughout 
this period in ,england there was no    
abstract theorizing on the  art of      
poetry4 ,the rhetorics of ,cox 7#aebd7  
and ,wilson 7#aeec7 were  rhetorics and 
made no pretence of treating poetry4    
,this is significant of  a direct       
contact with classical rhetoric4        
,because ,cox founded his treatise  on  
the sound scholarship of ,melanchthon1  
and ,wilson wrote with the text of  his 
,cicero and his ,quintilian open before 
him1 neither was so completely  under   
the mediaeval influence as were most of 
the subsequent writers on  rhetoric in  
,england4    ,another scholar in        
classical rhetoric was ,roger ,ascham1  
whose  ,scholemaster 7#aegj7 contains   
the first reference in ,england to      
,aristotle's ,poetics4 ,but except as a 
teacher of language and of  literature  
,ascham does not treat of poetry4       
,following ,quintilian1 he  classifies  
literature into genres of poetry1       

history1 philosophy1 and  oratory1 each 
with its appropriate subdivisions4 ,both
 ,ascham and  ,quintilian are interested
 in literature as professors who must   
organize a  field for presentation to   
students2 and as is frequently the case1
 the  result is apt to become arid1     
schematic1 and lifeless4 ,in his        
criticism of  individual poems1 also1   
,ascham praises the authors less for    
creative power  than for adherence to   
certain formal tests4 ,watson's ,absolon
 and  ,buchanan's ,iephthe he considers 
the best tragedies of his age because   
only they can abide the trew touch of   
,aristotle's precepts and  ,euripides's 
example4 ,they were good because they   
were according to rule1  and in         
imitation of good models4#aie ,watson he
 especially praises for his  refusal to 
publish ,absolon because in several     
places an anapest was  substituted for  
an iambus4 ,thus far we have the        
influence of classical  rhetoric urging 
as an ideal for poetry formal           

correctness4    ,the rhetoric of        
,gascoigne1 however1 was not derived    
from the classical  treatises1 but from 
the middle ages4 ,his ,certayne ,notes  
of ,instruction  7#aege7 marks the      
beginning of the period of metrical     
studies4 ,now in the  ,english middle   
ages1 prosody had consistently been     
treated as a part of  grammar1 following
 the classical tradition2 but in ,france
 prosody had  regularly been discussed  
in treatises bearing the name of        
rhetoric4 ,as  ,spingarn has shown1 this
 tradition of the ,french middle ages   
persisted in  the works of ,du ,bellay  
and ,ronsard1 whose works in turn       
inspired  ,gascoigne4#aif    ,following 
,ronsard1 ,gascoigne devotes a great    
deal of attention to what1  borrowing   
the terminology of rhetoric1 he calls   
invention4 ,but whereas  ,ronsard had   
meant by invention high1 grand1 and     
beautiful conceptions1  ,gascoigne means
 some good and fine devise1 shewing the 
quicke capacitie  of a writer4 ,that    

,gascoigne takes invention to mean a    
search for fancies  is illustrated by   
his own example4    ,if ,i should       
undertake to wryte in prayse of a       
gentlewoman1 ,i would neither  praise   
her christal eye1 nor her cherrie lippe1
 etc4 ,for these things are  trita et   
obvia4 ,but ,i would either find some   
supernaturall cause whereby  my penne   
might walke in the superlative degree1  
or els ,i would undertake  to answer for
 any imperfection that shee hath1 and   
thereupon rayse the  prayse of hir      
commendacion4#aig    ,by far the greater
 part of ,gascoigne's treatise is       
devoted to metrics and  to style4 ,one  
can use1 he says1 the same figures or   
tropes in verse as are  used in prose4  
,it is noteworthy that in this treatise 
on making verses  ,gascoigne restricts  
himself to externals of form and style4 
,when he does  discuss the              
subject-matter of poetry1 instead of    
emphasizing the  seriousness of content1
 he talks about his mistress' cristal   

eye4    ,what has been said about       
,gascoigne applies almost equally well  
to the  ,schort ,treatise 7#aehd7 of    
,james ,,vi which was modeled on it4    
,like  ,gascoigne's ,notes1 it is       
rhetorical and concerned with only the  
externals of poetry4 ,the treatise is   
almost entirely a metrical study1       
although the author does call attention 
to three special ornaments of  verse1   
which are comparisons1 epithets1 and    
proverbs4 ,the other figures of         
rhetoric which are so appropriate to    
poetry ,james says may be studied in    
,du ,bellay4 ,in both these writers1    
poetry is treated in the categories of  
the middle ages4 ,poetry to them is     
composed of subject-matter and style4   
,the characteristic structure and       
movement of poetry is not considered at 
all4        #b4 ,the ,influence of      
,horace      ,thus far there had been no
 fundamental criticism of poetic in     
,england1 no  attempt to arrive at the  
basis of critical theory4 ,horace had   

been known  long before1 but not until  
,drant's translation of the ,ars        
,poetica into  ,english in #aefg is its 
influence seen to be definite and       
extensive in  ,england4 ,one of the     
earliest published evidences of this    
influence is  ,george ,whetstone's      
,dedication to ,promos and ,cassandra   
7#aegh74 ,the  passage is short1 but    
contains two very important points in   
the creed of  classicism4 ,whetstone    
inveighs against the ,english dramatist 
who in three  howers ronnes throwe the  
worlde1 marryes1 gets children1 makes   
,children  men1 men to conquer          
kingdomes1 murder ,monsters1 and        
bringeth ,gods from  ,heaven1 and       
fetcheth ,divels from ,hel4#aih ,this is
 the earliest record in  ,england of an 
insistence on unity of time and place4  
,then he urges the  claims of decorum in
 comedy4 ,the poet should not make      
clowns the  companions of kings1 nor put
 wise counsels into the mouth of fools4 
,for1  to worke a comedie kindly1 grave 

olde men should instruct1 yonge men     
should showe the imperfections of youth1
 ,strumpets should be lascivious1       
,boyes unhappy1 and ,clownes should     
speake disorderlye4#aii    ,it is       
interesting that this conception of the 
characters in a drama should  ultimately
 trace back through many perversions to 
,aristotle's rhetorical  theory4 ,there 
are three kinds of proof1 says          
,aristotle in the ,rhetoric3  the       
character of the speaker1 the production
 of a certain disposition in  the       
audience1 and the argument of the speech
 itself4 ,the last kind of  proof is    
derived from logic2 the first two1 from 
psychology4#bjj  ,consequently1         
,aristotle devotes almost a third of his
 ,rhetoric1 the  second book1 to an     
elaborate exposition of the passions 77 
of men1 so  that the orator may know how
 to excite or allay them according as   
the  necessities of his case demand1 and
 a full explanation of the character 77 
of men1 that the speaker may know how to

 impress upon his audience his own      
trustworthiness1 and adapt his arguments
 to the character of the  particular    
audience which he is addressing4        
,varieties of character in an  audience 
depend upon its passions1 its virtues   
and vices1 its age or  youth1 and its   
position in life4#bja ,aristotle's      
generalizations on the  character of    
young people and old1 of the wealthy1   
noble and powerful1  display penetrating
 acumen4 ,that flesh and blood character
 realizations in  drama or story could  
be attained by this method ,aristotle   
never intended4  ,he is talking of      
public address4 ,but the study of       
characterization as part  of the        
education of an orator became fixed in  
the curriculum of rhetoric  schools4    
,the boys were supposed to study certain
 types of persons and then  write       
character sketches to show their        
sharpness of observation4               
,theophrastus1 ,aristotle's favorite    
student and successor as head of the    

school in ,athens1 wrote his ,characters
 to show how it was done1 and did  it   
with such ability as to elevate the     
school exercise to a literary  form4    
,these characters were epitomized in the
 ,latin rhetorics and the  school       
exercises continued4 ,the rhetoric ,ad  
,herennium calls them  notatio1#bjb     
,cicero1 descriptio1#bjc and            
,quintilian1 mores4#bjd    ,quintilian  
furthermore makes interesting comments  
on the use of the  character sketches by
 the poets4 ,character 7,greek3 7 in    
oratory1 he  says1 is similar to comedy1
 as the passions 77 are to tragedy4#bje 
,professor ,butcher calls attention to  
the early influence of the character    
sketches on the middle comedy4 ,here the
 humours1 to anticipate ,ben  ,jonson1  
give names not only to the characters of
 the play1 but to the  plays            
themselves4#bjf ,as adopted by the      
drama1 the orator's view that  people of
 a certain age and rank are likely to   
behave in certain fashions  was         

perverted to the dramatical law of      
decorum1 that people of certain  age or 
rank must on the stage act up to this   
generalization of what was              
characteristic4 ,this law of decorum was
 formulated by ,horace in his ,ars      
,poetica1#bjg whence it was derived by  
the renaissance4 ,thomas ,wilson1  in   
his ,arte of ,rhetorique1 gives a       
,theophrastian character sketch as an   
illustration of the figure descriptio4  
,as in speaking against a covetous man1 
thus4 ,there is no such pinch    peney  
on live as this good fellowe is4 ,he    
will not lose the paring of    his      
nailes4 ,his haire is never rounded for 
sparing of money1 one paire    of shone 
serveth him a twelve month1 he is shod  
with nailes like a    ,horse4 ,he hath  
bene knowne by his coate this thirtie   
,winter4 ,he spent    once a groate at  
good ale1 being forced through companie1
 and taken    short at his words1       
whereupon he hath taken such conceipt   
since that    time1 that it hath almost 

cost him his life4#bjh    ,in #aeib     
,casaubon edited ,theophrastus in       
,latin4 ,thereafter the character       
sketch became a literary form1 as in    
,hall1 ,overbury1 and ,earle1 instead of
  remaining merely a rhetorical         
exercise4#bji ,in the theory of the     
drama  the rhetorical method of         
characterization1 fixed as the law of   
decorum1  flourished throughout the     
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries4 ,in
 ,england  from ,whetstone on it was    
made much of4 ,thus a rhetorical        
tradition of  classical pedagogy1       
derived ultimately from ,aristotle1 and 
a poetical  tradition of later classical
 drama1 derived from ,horace1 coincide  
in the  ,english renaissance4    ,in    
,the ,epistle ,dedicatory to the        
,shepheards ,calender 7#aegi71 for      
instance1 ,e4,k4 praises ,spenser for   
his dewe observing of decorum everye    
where1 in personages1 in seasons1 in    
matter1 in speach4#baj ,the  archaisms  
are defended in the first place1 indeed1

 because they are  appropriate to rustic
 speakers1 but in the second because    
,cicero says that  ancient words make   
the style seem grave and reverend4      
,further praise ,e4,k4  grants the      
author because he avoids loose sentence 
structure and affects  the oratorical   
period4 ,now1 for the knitting of       
sentences1 whych they  call the ioynts  
and members thereof1 and for all the    
compasse of the  speach1 it is round    
without roughness4#baa ,the ioynts and  
members are  the cola and commas of the 
oratorical prose rhythm4 ,stanyhurst in 
the  ,dedication to his translation of  
,virgil 7#aehb71 like ,e4 ,k41 is       
concerned  with style rather than       
matter1 and of course primarily with the
 revival  of classical meters1 a subject
 already so thoroughly investigated that
 it  need not be gone into here4#bab    
,stanyhurst's praise of ,virgil is      
largely  concerned with formal and      
rhetorical excellences4      ,our       
,virgil dooth laboure1 in telling as yt 

were a ,cantorburye tale1    too ferret 
owt the secretes of ,nature1 with       
woordes so fitlye coucht1    wyth verses
 so smoothlye slyckte1 with sentences so
 featlye ordered1    with orations so   
neatlie burnisht1 with similitudes so   
aptly applyed1    with eeche decorum so 
duely observed1 as in truth hee hath in 
right    purchased too hym self thee    
name of a surpassing poet1 thee fame of 
an    od oratoure1 and thee admiration  
of a profound philosopher4#bac    ,thus 
in accord with the mediseval tradition  
he analyzes poetry into  profitable     
subject matter and style4        #c4    
,the ,influence of ,aristotle      ,in  
#aegi the ,puritan attack on poetry and 
the stage began with ,gosson's  ,school 
of ,abuse4#bad and was answered by      
,lodge's ,defence of ,poetry in  the    
same year4 ,the attack and defense both 
rested on moral1 not aesthetic1         
sanctions and will be discussed in a    
later section4 ,it is only in ,sidney's 
,defense 7c4 #aehc7 and that of his     

follower ,harington that theories of    
the nature of poetry are included4 ,and 
with ,sidney the ,aristotelianism of    
the ,italian renaissance makes its first
 appearance in ,english  criticism4#bae 
,poesie1 writes ,sidney1 therefore is an
 arte of imitation1 for so  ,aristotle  
termeth it in his word ,mimesis1 that is
 to say1 a  representing1               
counterfeiting1 or figuring forth3 to   
speake metaphorically1  a speaking      
picture4#baf ,thus not only ,aristotle's
 imitation enters  ,english criticism1  
but ,plutarch's speaking picture as     
well1 with all the  power of its false  
analogy4 ,that ,sidney himself was not1 
however1 carried  away by the analogy is
 apparent from other passages4          
,aristotle1  classifying poetic with    
music and dancing as a time art with its
 essence  in movement1 had insisted that
 a poem must have a beginning1 a middle1
 and  an end--qualities which do not    
exist in space4 ,so in the most quoted  
passage from ,sidney's ,defense1 it is a

 tale forsooth1 which draws old  men    
from the chimney corner1 and children   
from play1#bag and the  narration which 
furnishes the groundplot of poesie4#bah 
,thus he  introduces into ,english      
criticism1 as an important element of   
poetry1 the  essentially sound idea that
 the characteristic structure of poetry 
lies in  its narrative and dramatic     
movement4 ,poetry cannot lie because it 
never  pretends to fact4 ,he establishes
 this assertion on ,aristotle's         
universal  not the particular as the    
basis of poetic4 ,sidney had followed   
,scaliger  in classifying poets into    
three kinds3 the theological1 the       
philosophical1  and the right poets4    
,the third class1 the real poets1 he    
says1 borrow  nothing of what is1 hath  
been1 or shall be3 but range1 onely     
rayned with  learned discretion1 into   
the divine consideration of what may be1
 and  should be4#bai    ,in considering 
the vehicle of poetic ,sidney parts     
company with ,scaliger  and agrees with 

,castelvetro that verse is but an       
ornament and not the  characteristic    
mark of poetry4 ,the ,cyropaedia of     
,xenophon1 and the  ,theagines and      
,cariclea of ,heliodorus are poems1     
although written in  prose1 because they
 feign notable images of virtues and    
vices1 although  indeed the ,senate of  
,poets hath chosen verse as their       
fittest  rayment4#bbj ,proceeding       
thence1 he defends verse as being a far 
greater  aid to memory than prose1      
borrowing his terminology of rooms1     
places1  and seates1 from the mnemonic  
system of ,simonides usually            
incorporated  in the section on memory  
in the classical rhetorics4#bba         
,furthermore1  ,sidney is the first in  
,england to insist on the vividness of  
realization  which comes from the poet's
 being himself moved4 ,discussing lyric 
poetry1  ,sidney says3      ,but truely 
many of such writings as come under the 
banner of    unresistable love1 if ,i   
were a ,mistres1 would never perswade   

mee they    were in love2 so coldely    
they apply fiery speeches1 as men that  
had    rather red ,lovers writings1 and 
so caught up certaine swelling          
phrases1444 then that in truth they     
feele those passions1 which easily      
7as ,i think7 may be bewrayed by that   
same forcibleness or ,energia 7as    the
 ,greeks call it71 of the writer4#bbb   
,sidney's ,energia came to him from the 
rhetorics of ,aristotle and  ,quintilian
 via the ,poetice of ,scaliger4#bbc     
,energia1 the vivifying  quality of     
poetry1 had at the earliest age been    
adopted by rhetoric to  lend power to   
persuasion4 ,carefully preserved among  
the figures of  rhetoric1 it had        
survived the middle ages1 and appears in
 ,wilson's ,arte  of ,rhetoric as an    
evident declaration of a thing1 as      
though we saw it  even now done4        
,sidney makes energia an essential      
quality of poetic2 but even with him  it
 seems to have a rhetorical cast4 ,it is
 especially to be used1 says  ,sidney1  

by a lover to persuade his mistress1    
urging her to yield while yet  her      
beauty endures4 ,this genre of versified
 oration to one's mistress  was         
unusually popular in ,elizabethan       
,england4 ,it may even be one reason    
for ,bacon's classification of lyric    
poetry as part of rhetoric4#bbd         
,although energia does belong to both   
poetic and rhetoric1 as                 
pseudo-,longinus implies1#bbe there     
seems to be here a definitely           
rhetorical conception of poetic style4  
,sidney1 however1 keeps the  classical  
distinction between rhetoric and poetic1
 although he was  conscious of their    
contact in diction4 ,both1 he says with 
,aristotle1  have an affinity in this   
wordish consideration4#bbf ,while many  
renaissance critics interpreted this    
affinity as permitting rhetorical       
elaboration in poetry as well as in     
prose1 ,sidney with innate good taste   
pleaded for more restraint4 ,the diction
 of the writers of lyrics is even       

worse1 he says1 than their content4     
,so is that honny-flowing ,matron       
,eloquence apparalled1 or rather        
disguised1 in a ,curtizan-like painted  
affectation3 one time with so    farre  
fette words1 they seem monsters1 but    
must seem strangers to any    poore     
,english man1 another tyme with coursing
 of a ,letter as if they    were bound  
to follow the method of a ,dictionary2  
another tyme1 with    figures and       
flowers extreamelie winter-starved4#bbg 
,prose writers1 he adds1 are as badly   
infected as versers1 even scholars  and 
preachers4 ,that he himself was infected
 appears in the examples of             
interminable tropes and schemes quoted  
by ,fraunce in his ,arcadian  ,rhetoric 
7#aehh7 from ,sidney's own ,arcadia4    
,but the concession of his  own style to
 the habit of his age did not involve   
any fundamental  confusion of rhetoric  
with poetic4    ,thus ,sidney's ,defense
 of ,poesie1 by domesticating in        
,england the  ,aristotelian theories of 

the ,italian critics1 went far in       
displacing  mediaeval tradition by      
sounder classical criticism4 ,to object 
that  ,sidney's criticism contains      
elements which derive from the middle   
ages and  from the classical rhetorics  
would be captious4 ,it is asking too    
much to  expect that a man can shake off
 at once the traditional habits of      
thought  which are part of the air he   
breathes4 ,the important thing is that  
,sidney  instituted a tendency toward   
classicism which during the next fifty  
years  established itself in criticism4 
,that this classicism tended in some    
cases  toward over-emphasis does not    
alter the fact that ,english criticism  
profited greatly by the return to       
classical poetical theory4 ,it is       
interesting1 however1 that ,sidney's    
influence did not at once dislodge the  
mediaeval tradition4 ,although the      
manuals of ,webbe and ,puttenham do show
  classical influence1 their theories of
 poetry still show a notable  residuum  

of theory characteristically mediaeval4 
#d4 ,manuals for ,poets      ,before    
,william ,webbe wrote his ,discourse of 
,english ,poetry 7#aehf7 there  had been
 no attempt in ,england to compose a    
systematic and comprehensive  study of  
the art4 ,the rhetorical studies of     
,ascham and ,wilson merely  glanced at  
poetry as something related to rhetoric4
 ,gascoigne and ,james  attempted no    
more than manuals of prosody4 ,lodge and
 ,harington were  primarily interested  
in justifying poetry on moral grounds   
against the  ,puritan attack2 and       
,sidney1 though he goes beyond this1    
still keeps it as  a main object4 ,in   
his ,discourse ,webbe modestly asserts  
that his purpose  in writing is         
primarily to stir up some one better    
than he to write on  ,english poetry so 
that proper criteria of judgment may be 
established to  discern between good    
writers and bad1 and that the poets may 
thereby be  aided in the right practice 
and orderly course of true poetry4 ,if  

as much  attention were devoted in      
,england to poetry as to oratory1 he    
thinks1  poetry would be in as good     
state as her sister ,rhetoricall        
,eloquution1  as they were by byrth     
,twyns1 by kinde the same1 by original  
of one  descent4#bbh ,as an example of  
the high degree of excellence attained  
by  eloquence1 he cites ,lyly's         
,euphues4      ,whose workes surely in  
respecte of his singuler eloquence and  
brave    composition of apt words and   
sentences1 let the learned examine and  
make    tryall thereof through all the  
partes of ,rethoricke1 in fitte phrases1
    in pithy sentences1 in gallant      
tropes1 in flowing speech1 in plaine    
sence4#bbi    ,thus rhetoric is         
considered merely as style2 and the     
implication seems to  be that the poets 
who would improve their style might well
 imitate ,lyly4  ,webbe evidently means 
what he says in identifying poetry and  
rhetoric in  style4 ,he adds3      ,thus
 it appeareth both ,eloquence and       

,poetrie to have had their beginning    
and original from these exercises1      
beeing framed in such sweete measure    
of sentences and pleasant harmonie      
called  which is an apt    composition  
of wordes or clauses1 drawing as it were
 by force the hearers    eares even     
whether soever it lysteth1 that ,plato  
affirmeth    therein to be contained 1  
an inchantment1 as it were to           
persuade4#bcj    ,the confusion thus is 
carried pretty far by ,webbe1 who makes 
poetry and  rhetoric the same in style1 
both aiming at persuasion4 ,not only    
have  poetic and rhetoric for him a     
common ground in diction1 but the ideal 
of  diction is the same for both4 ,the  
diction of poetry is the same as the    
diction of oratory4 ,the only difference
 to him is that poetry is in verse  and 
oratory in prose4      ,poetry1         
therefore1 is where any worke is        
learnedly compiled in    measurable     
speech1 and framed in wordes conteyning 
number or proportion    of just         

syllables1 delighting the readers or    
hearers as well by the apt    and decent
 framing of wordes in equal resemblance 
of quantity--commonly    called verse1  
as by the skylfull handling of the      
matter4#bca    ,webbe organizes his     
treatise in good rhetorical fashion4    
,first come  seventeen pages of history1
 mentioning with perfunctory comment the
 best  known poets of classical         
antiquity and of ,england4 ,the         
remainder of the  ,discourse is devoted 
to the theory of poetry1 which he       
divides into  matter and form4 ,matter1 
which receives nineteen pages1 is the   
medival  doctrina1 for the whole gist of
 this section is that moral lessons are 
derivable from the poets4 ,by form he   
means verse1 making no mention of the   
figures of speech4 ,english rimes       
receive half of this space1 and         
classical  meters the remainder4        
,webbe's fund of critical opinion is not
 opulent4 ,his  treatise is based on    
traditional ,english opinion of the     

middle ages1 with  an increment of      
,horace1 of whom he thinks so highly as 
to append to his  treatise an ,english  
translation of the ,cannons or generall 
cautions of  poetry1 which ,georgius    
,fabricius ,chemnicensis 7#aefj7 had    
digested from  the ,ars ,poetica1 and   
the ,epistles4    ,perhaps the author of
 ,the ,arte of ,english ,poesie 7#aehi71
  generally supposed to be ,puttenham1  
had in mind to be the                   
some-one-better-than-,webbe1 whom that  
worthy tutor hoped to stir up to  write 
a treatise for the benefit of poetry in 
,england4 ,at any rate1  ,puttenham is  
primarily concerned with teaching his   
contemporaries how to  write verses4    
,like classical authors of text-books1  
he calls his treatise  an ,arte4        
,furthermore1 as a courtier himself     
writing for courtiers1  ,puttenham does 
not lay down rules for the drama or the 
epic1 but devotes  most of his attention
 to occasional verse3 lyrics1 elegies1  
epigrams1 and  satires4 ,his structure  

is significant4 ,the first book1 #eh    
pages in the  ,arber reprint1 deals with
 definition1 purpose and subject matter 
of  poetry4 ,the poet1 he says1 is a    
maker who creates new forms out of his  
inner consciousness1 and at the same    
time an imitator4 ,thus he reconciles   
,aristotle and ,horace4#bcb ,moreover1  
,puttenham calls attention to the       
importance of the imagination in the    
composition of poetry as well as in     
war1 engineering and politics4#bcd ,that
 the art of poetry is eminently         
teachable1 ,puttenham is entirely       
convinced1 for he defines it as a skill 
appertaining to utterance1 or as a      
certain order of rules prescribed by    
reason and gathered by experience4#bcc  
,it is verse1 according to  ,puttenham1 
not imitation1 which is the             
characteristic mark of poetry4 ,this    
makes poetry a nobler form1 for verse is
 a manner of utterance more  eloquent   
and rethorical then the ordinarie prose1
 because it is decked and  set out with 

all manner of fresh colours and figures1
 which maketh that it  sooner invegleth 
the judgment of man4 ,it is because     
poetry is thus so  beautiful1 he says1  
that the ,poets were also from the      
beginning the best  persuaders1 and     
their eloquence the first ,rethoricke of
 the world4#bce  ,rhetoric to ,puttenham
 is beauty of speech3 and because poetry
 is more  beautiful than prose1 as being
 in this sense more rhetorical1 it is   
better  able to persuade4 ,the remainder
 of the book explains the nature and    
history of the various poetical forms1  
as lyric1 epic1 tragedy1 pastoral1  and 
so on4 ,the second book1 ,of            
,proportion1 #gj pages1 is a treatise on
  metrics4 ,the first half1 like the    
section in ,webbe1 is devoted to        
,english  versing1 dealing with stanza  
forms1 meters1 rime1 and conceited      
figures  such as anagrams and verses in 
the form of eggs4 ,the second half is   
devoted to classical meters4 ,in his    
third book1 ,of ,ornament1 #afe pages1  

,puttenham gives an exhaustive and      
exhausting treatment of the figures of  
speech4 ,of the #aba figures which      
,puttenham defines and illustrates1     
,professor ,van ,hook has traced #ajg to
 ,quintilian's rhetoric#bcf4 ,professor 
,schelling refuses to treat this third  
book in his ,poetic and ,verse          
,criticism in the ,reign of ,elizabeth1 
because1 he says1 it does not fall      
within the scope of his purpose1 being  
made up of matters rhetorical1 as       
applicable to prose as to verse#bcg4    
,that ,puttenham did include it1        
however1 is most significant evidence   
that both the author and his reading    
public considered these adornments an   
essential part of poetry4 ,as the       
ladies of the court1 be they ever so    
beautiful1 should be ashamed to be  seen
 without their courtly habiliments of   
silks1 and tissues1 and costly          
embroideries1 even so poetry cannot be  
seen if any limb be left naked and  bare
 and not clad in gay clothes and colors1

 says ,puttenham4      ,this ornament is
 given to it by figures and figurative  
speaches1 which    be the flowers1 as it
 were1 and colours that a ,poet setteth 
upon his    language of arte1 as the    
embroderer doth his stone and perle or  
passements of gold upon the stuffe of a 
,princely garment#bch4    ,the figures  
,puttenham divides according to his own 
scheme4 ,first come the  figures        
auricular peculiar to the poets1 then   
the figures sensable  common to the     
poets and the rhetoricians1 and finally 
the figures  sententious appropriate to 
the orators alone4 ,after he has        
explained the  first two varieties1     
however1 and enters on the third1       
,puttenham says3      ,now if our       
presupposall be true1 that the ,poet is 
of all other the most    auncient       
,orator1 as he that by good and pleasant
 perswasions first    reduced the wilde 
and beastly people into publicke        
societies and    civilitie of life1     
insinuating unto them1 under fictions   

with sweete and    coloured speeches1   
many wholesome lessons and doctrines1   
then no doubt    there is nothing so    
fitte for him1 as to be furnished with  
all the    figures that be ,rhetoricall1
 and such as do most beautifie language 
with eloquence and sententiousness4 ,so 
as if we should intreate our    maker to
 play also the ,orator1 and whether it  
be to pleade1 or to    praise1 or to    
advise1 that in all three cases he may  
utter and also    perswade both         
copiously and vehemently#bci4           
,puttenham was writing in the same age  
and with the same tradition which       
defined ,rhetoric as the art of ornament
 in speech4 ,the only difference        
between oratory and poetry lay in that  
the latter was composed in verse4       
#e4 ,rhetorical ,elements in ,later     
,english ,classicism      ,from         
,puttenham to ,bacon no serious         
contributions were made to the general  
theory of poetry4 ,critical attention   
was absorbed by controversies of        

,campion and ,daniel over native and    
classical versification1 and the        
flyting of ,harvey and ,nash4 ,harvey   
was a classical scholar and rhetorician 
who knew that poetry and oratory were   
different things1 and believed verse  to
 be the mark of the first and prose of  
the latter#bdj4 ,he preferred the       
periodic style of ,isocrates and ,ascham
 to the tricksy pages of  ,euphues#bda4 
,chapman1 likewise1 considered verse the
 mark of poetry1 and  prose of          
rhetoric#bdb4    ,in the ,advancement of
 ,learning 7#afje7 ,bacon clears up some
 of the  misconceptions of the ,english 
renaissance by judicious borrowing from 
the  ,italian4 ,he says3      ,poesie is
 a part of ,learning in measure of words
 for the most part    restrained1 but in
 all other points extremely licensed1   
and doth truly    referre to the        
,imagination1 which1 beeing not tyed to 
the ,lawes of    ,matter1 may at        
pleasure joyne that which ,nature hath  
severed1  sever    that which ,nature   

hath joyned1 and so make all unlawful   
,matches     divorses of things3 ,it is 
taken in two senses in respect of       
,wordes or    ,matter4 ,in the first    
sense it is but a ,character of stile1  
and    belongeth to ,arts of speeche4   
,in the later1 it is1 as hath beene     
saide1    one of the principall         
,portions of learning1 and is nothing   
else but    ,fained ,history1 which may 
be stiled as well in ,prose as in       
,verse4#bdc    ,bacon's focus of        
attention on the substance of poetry is 
in keeping with  his attack on mere     
sophistication of style in rhetoric4    
,poetry as style  does not interest him4
 ,like ,castelvetro and ,sidney1 he     
considers the  vehicle of verse not     
essential to poetry1 which1 as a product
 of the  imagination1 he considers to be
 occupied with fiction4 ,to ,bacon1     
perhaps1  the imagination seems to be   
too much the organ of make-believe1     
imaging  things which never were on land
 or under the sea4 ,nevertheless his    

claim  for the imagination is fortunate 
in ruling out those theories of art     
which  set up slavish fidelity to fact1 
under the name of imitation1 as the     
essence of poetry4 ,bacon was not       
concerned with formulating a complete   
theory of poetry1 but his pithy obiter  
dicta were influential in further       
establishing the sounder criticism of   
the ,italian classicists4    ,as        
,spingarn points out1 ,ben ,jonson was  
first led to classicism in poetical     
theory by the example of ,sidney4#bdd   
,but during the intervening years  the  
scholars of ,holland had supplanted     
those of ,italy2 and whereas ,sidney    
derived his ,aristotelianism from       
,scaliger and ,minturno1 ,jonson derived
 his  even more from ,pontanus1         
,heinsius1 and ,lipsius and from the    
,latin  rhetoricians1 ,cicero and       
,quintilian4      ,a ,poet 7says        
,jonson7 is a ,maker1 or a fainer3 ,his 
,art1 an ,art of    imitation or        
faining1 expressing the life of man in  

fit measure1    numbers1 and harmony4444
 ,hence hee is called a ,poet1 not he   
which    writeth in measure only1 but   
that fayneth and formeth a fable1 and   
writes things like the truth4 ,for the  
,fable and ,fiction is1 as it were1     
the form and ,soule of any ,poeticall   
worke or ,poeme4#bde    ,so convinced   
was ,jonson that the essence of poetry  
does not lie in verse  but in fiction   
that ,drummond reports1 he thought not  
,bartas a ,poet1 but a  ,verser1 because
 he wrote not fiction4#bdf ,jonson was  
misled by the false  analogy of poetry  
and painting4      ,poetry and ,picture 
are ,arts of a like nature1 and both are
 busie    about imitation4 ,it was      
excellently said of ,plutarch1 ,poetry  
was a    speaking ,picture1 and ,picture
 a mute ,poesie4 ,for they both invent1 
fame1 and devise many things4#bdg       
,this structural and static conception  
of poetry is well exemplified by his    
comparisons4 ,whereas ,aristotle        
classified poetry with music and dance1 

,jonson compares the epic or dramatic   
plot to a house4 ,the epic is like a    
palace and so requires more space than a
 drama4 ,the influence of ,jonson  was  
beneficial1 however1 in that he did     
emphasize in poetry the element of      
structure which the middle ages had     
largely neglected4#bdh ,in his ideals   
of style ,jonson is rhetorical4 ,in the 
twelve sections of ,timber which he     
devotes to rhetoric he incorporates a   
sound treatise on prose style1  urging  
restraint and perspicuity as especial   
virtues4 ,in his nine sections  on      
poetry he says nothing about style1     
except to quote ,oicero to the  effect  
that the ,poet is the nearest ,borderer 
upon the ,orator1 and  expresseth all   
his vertues1 though he be tyed more to  
numbers4 ,it would  seem that the       
section on style in oratory was meant to
 serve for poetry as  well4 ,jonson's   
own methods of comparison1 as related to
 ,drummond1 would  bear this out3 ,that 
he wrote all his 7verses7 first in      

prose4#bdi ,from  the same authority one
 may learn that ,he recommended to my   
reading  ,quintilian1 who1 he said1     
would tell me the faults of my ,verses  
as if he  lived with me1 and ,that      
,quintilian's #f1 #g1 #h1 bookes were   
not only to be  read1 but altogether    
digested1#bej ,though ,jonson makes no  
more  distinction than ,petrarch1       
between ,horace1 ,cicero1 or ,quintilian
 as  authorities on poetical style1#bea 
his rhetorical cast does not imply the  
style advocated by ,webbe and           
,puttenham4 ,this was the exuberant     
style of  mediaeval rhetoric1 whereas by
 temperament and scholarly training     
,jonson  threw his influence in favor of
 the classical rhetorical style of the  
best  period4    ,the influence of      
,bacon in favor of the sound rhetoric of
 ,cicero and  ,quintilian1 seconded by  
that of ,jonson1 finally did away with  
the  mediaeval ideal of rhetoric as     
being one with aureate language and     
embroidered style4 ,the stylistic       

exuberance of the ,elizabethans gave    
place  to a more restrained and polished
 phrase in the reign of ,charles4       
,bolton1  for instance1 in his          
,hypercritica 7c4 #afah7 warns the      
historians against  the style of the    
,arcadia4 ,solidity and ,fluency1 he    
says1 better  becomes the historian1    
then ,singularity of ,oratorical or     
,poetical  ,notions4#beb ,henry         
,reynolds1 in his ,mythomystes 7c4      
#afcc71 although he  goes wool-gathering
 with mystical interpretations of       
poetry1 yet evinces  the same reaction  
against the ornate style in terming the 
flowers of  rhetoric and versification  
as mere accidents of poetry4#bec ,in his
  ,anacrisis 7#afcd7 the ,earl of       
,stirling likewise urges that language  
is  but the ,apparel of ,poesy4#bed ,the
 but marks the difference between the   
ideals of two ages4 ,fiction remains for
 him the essence of poetry1 for  fiction
 in prose is poetry4 ,but he will not go
 the whole way with ,jonson  and deny   

the name of poet to one whose material  
is not fictitious4#bee                  
,unfortunately1 for ,english criticism1 
,milton wrote very little on the  theory
 of poetry4 ,his casual remarks1        
however1 show such enlightened          
scholarship and keen insight that what  
little he did write makes up in         
importance what it lacks in bulk4 ,in   
the ,treatise ,of ,education 7#afdd7 he 
refers to the sublime art of poetry     
which in ,aristotle's poetics1 in       
,horace1 and the ,italian commentaries  
of ,castelvetro1 ,tasso1 ,mazzoni1  and 
others1 teaches what the laws are of a  
true ,epic poem1 what of a  ,dramatic1  
what of a ,lyric1 what decorum is1 which
 is the grand master  peece to          
observe4#bef ,his rhetoric1 also1 he    
knew at first hand from the  best       
classical sources4 ,he gives as his     
authorities ,plato1 ,aristotle1         
,phalereus1#beg ,cicero1 ,hermogenes1   
,longinus4#beh ,this is the first time  
that an ,english critic mentions the    

treatise ,on the ,sublime in  connection
 with poetry4 ,it can thus hardly be a  
coincidence that ,milton1  while citing 
the only surviving literary critic of   
classical antiquity who  gave proper    
emphasis to the importance of passion in
 poetry1#bei should  himself be the     
first ,english critical writer to urge  
for passion the same  importance4 ,this 
he does in his famous differentiation of
 rhetoric and  poetic4 ,in the          
educational scheme1 he says1 after      
mathematics should be  studied logic and
 rhetoric ,to which ,poetry would be    
made subsequent or  indeed rather       
precedent1 as being lesse suttle and    
fine1 but more simple1  sensuous1 and   
passionate4#bfj ,milton has sometimes   
been thought to be  here defining       
poetry1 but he is only distinguishing it
 from rhetoric4 ,a  definition of poetry
 he never attempted4 ,meter he deemed   
essential to  poetry1#bfa but rime he   
disliked4 ,thus1 as far as he goes1     
,milton  represents the best in ,english

 renaissance criticism4 ,he knew at     
first  hand the best classical treatises
 on poetic and on rhetoric2 and he      
recognized the distinctions which the   
ancients had made between them4    ,with
 the ,english literary criticism in the 
second half of the ,seventeenth         
,century1 when the influence of ,french 
classicism was in the ascendant1  this  
study is not concerned4 ,in the period  
which has just been surveyed  three     
points are noteworthy3 the character of 
the ,english critics1 the  slowness with
 which the classical theories penetrated
 ,english thought1 and  the             
modifications which they underwent in   
the process4 ,gregory ,smith calls      
attention to the influence of ,sidney   
and ,daniel in establishing the claim   
of ,english criticism as an instrument  
of power outside the craft of           
rhetoricians and scholars4#bfb ,of the  
,english critical writers ,ascham  is   
the foremost of the scholarly type2     
,harvey is the only other example4      

,thomas ,wilson1 although he wrote a    
rhetoric1 wrote a better one in many    
ways because he was not a professional  
rhetorician1 but a man of affairs4      
,gascoigne1 ,lodge1 ,spenser1 were poets
 who incidentally wrote on the  technic 
of their art or in defence of its value4
 ,sidney1 the poet1  courtier1 and      
soldier1 wrote not from the musty       
alcoves of libraries4  ,webbe1 it is    
true1 was a pedant1 but certainly not a 
scholar4 ,puttenham  was a bad poet1 a  
well-read man1 and a courtier4 ,jonson's
 scholarship was  thorough1 but         
sweetened and ventilated by his         
activities as poet and  dramatist4      
,bacon was a scholar1 but even more a   
philosopher and a  statesman4 ,milton1  
our most scholarly poet1 during most of 
his life could  not keep his mind and   
pen from church and national politics4  
,indeed1  during the entire ,english    
renaissance there was no professional   
critic4  ,literary criticism was not a  
field to be tilled1 but a wood to be    

explored  by busy men who could find    
time for the exploit4    ,this amateur  
character of ,english critics accounts  
in a measure for the  slowness with     
which classical and ,italian renaissance
 critical theories  filtered into       
,england2 for a statesman or a soldier  
is less likely to be  up-to-date on     
theories of poetry than is a            
professional critic whose  business it  
is to know what is written on his       
specialty4 ,another powerful  influence 
in the same direction was the           
characteristic ,english  conservatism   
which preferred the traditional paths of
 thought to ,italian  innovations4      
,this same common-sense conservatism    
accounts also for the modifications of  
,italian renaissance critical theories  
before they were incorporated into  the 
fund of ,english criticism4 ,classical  
meters1 slavish imitation of the        
ancients1 close adherence to the rules  
of unity and decorum never made  much   
headway in the ,english renaissance4    

,such contaminations of poetic by       
rhetoric as are clearest seem to arise  
not from the new ,italian influence1    
but from the mediaeval tradition4    ,to
 sum up1 classical critics had          
recognized two categories of literature3
  a fine art1 poetic2 and a practical   
art1 rhetoric4 ,poetic they thought     
characterized by narrative or dramatic  
structure or movement1 and by  vividness
 of realization1 and by passion4        
,rhetoric was characterized by a        
logical structure determined by the     
necessity of persuading an audience4    
,although most classical critics        
accepted prose as characteristic of     
rhetoric1 and verse of poetry1          
,aristotle pointed out that the         
distinction  was far more fundamental4  
,as these two kinds of literature had a 
common  ground in diction1 there was a  
tendency from very early times for them 
to  merge4 ,in the artistic degeneracy  
of late ,latin literature both rhetoric 
and poetic paid less attention to       

structure and other elements which      
distinguished them1 and more attention  
to style1 which they had in common4     
,moreover1 under the influence of       
sophistical rhetoric1 preoccupied with  
style1 poetic and rhetoric practiced the
 same rhetorical artifices4 ,as a       
result ,virgil might be either an orator
 or a poet4 ,this was the rhetoric      
which the middle ages inherited4 ,to    
them rhetoric was synonymous with       
stylistic beauty4 ,poetry was a compound
 of doctrina and eloquentia1 in  other  
words of theology and style1 in verse4  
,in ,england this mediaeval  tradition  
persisted into the seventeenth century1 
as the school rhetorics  and the        
treatises on poetry show4 ,the ,english 
renaissance poetic never  freed itself  
from this influence of mediaeval        
rhetoric until the middle of  the       
seventeenth century4 ,with the recovery 
of classical literature and  literary   
criticism1 the new theories were        
interpreted in the light of the  old    

ideas4    ,on its creative side the     
renaissance sought to produce in the    
vernacular a  literature comparable to  
that of ,greece or ,rome4 ,thus literary
 criticism  was prescriptive1 and the   
typical treatises were text-books4      
,rhetoric1  which had long been taught1 
very naturally furnished the methods1   
the  teachers1 and in many cases the    
subject matter for this instruction in  
poetry4 ,as has been shown in the       
preceding section of this study1 the    
renaissance theory of poetry was        
rhetorical in its obsession with style1 
especially the figures of speech1 in its
 abiding faith in the efficacy of       
rules2 and in its belief that the poet1 
no less than the orator1 is  occupied   
with persuasion4 ,this latter rhetorical
 view that the poet's  office is to     
persuade will be studied more fully in  
the following section  on ,the ,purpose 
of ,poetry4 ,the traditional view is    
that by persuading the  reader to adhere
 to the good and shun the evil the poet 

achieves the  proper end of             
poetry--moral improvement4              
,part ,two    ,the ,purpose of ,poetry  
,chapter ,i    ,the ,classical          
,conception of the ,purpose of ,poetry  
#a4 ,general      ,to say that poetry   
has a moral effect on the reader is not 
the same as to  say that moral          
improvement is the purpose of poetry4   
,the following section  of this         
historical study will be devoted to     
tracing the substitution of  the second 
assertion for the first4    ,as has been
 shown1#bfc the classical critics were  
in substantial  agreement with          
,aristotle in defining rhetoric as the  
faculty of  discovering all possible    
means to persuasion4 ,although the      
consensus of  classical opinion agreed  
that poetry does have a moral effect on 
the  reader1 it never defined poetry as 
an art of discovering all means to      
moral improvement4 ,as will be shown1   
such a definition of poetry was not     
formulated previous to the renaissance4 

,then by combining ,aristotle's         
definition of tragedy from the          
,poetics#bfd with his definition of     
rhetoric1 ,lombardus defined poetic as  
a faculty of finding out whatsoever is  
accommodated to the imitation of        
actions1 passions1 customs1 in          
rhythmical language1 for the purpose of 
correcting the vices of men and causing 
them to live good and happy             
lives4#bfe    ,the same definition1     
derived as ,spingarn has shown from the 
same sources1  was formulated by        
,varchi4#bff      ,poetic is a faculty  
which shows in what modes one may       
imitate certain    actions1 passions1   
and customs1 with rhythm1 words1 and    
harmony1    together or separately1 for 
the purpose of removing the vices of men
 and    inciting them to virtue1 in     
order that they may attain their true   
happiness and beatitude4#bfg    ,i      
propose1 after reviewing the classical  
conception of poetry as an  educational 
agent1 to trace briefly the rise of     

allegorical interpretation  of poetry in
 post-classical times and in the middle 
ages2 to exemplify the  tendency of     
renaissance criticism to borrow the     
terminology of classical  rhetoric when 
it asserted that the purpose of poetry  
is moral improvement2  and finally1 to  
study in the literary criticism of the  
,english renaissance  those moral       
theories of poetry which derive from the
 middle ages1 from the  classical       
rhetorics1 and from the criticism of the
 ,italian renaissance4        #b4 ,moral
 ,improvement through ,precept and      
,example      ,the ancients believed    
that great poetry produces moral        
improvement in the  reader4 ,before the 
judgment seat of ,dionysos1 as is       
recorded in ,the  ,frogs of             
,aristophanes1 ,aeschylus and ,euripides
 engage in an interesting  and          
instructive dispute4 ,come1 says        
,aeschylus1 tell me what are the  points
 for which we praise a noble poet4      
,euripides replies1 ,for his  ready wit 

and his wise counsels and because he    
trains the townsfolk to be  better      
citizens and worthier men4#bfh          
,aeschylus then goes on to show  that he
 has merited well of his countrymen     
because he has preached the  military   
virtues and his dramas have been full of
 ,ares4 ,euripides he  accuses of       
softening the moral fibre of the        
,athenians by introducing on  the stage 
immoral plots and love-sick women4 ,such
 drama ,aeschylus asserts  to be immoral
 in its effect4 ,for boys a school      
teacher is provided2 but  we1 the poets1
 are teachers of men4#bfi    ,this      
represents the well-nigh universal      
,greek opinion4 ,poetry inspires1       
teaches1 makes better men4 ,a further   
example of this idea is furnished by    
,timocles4 ,our spirit1 says one of the 
characters in the drama1  forgetting its
 own sorrows in sympathizing with the   
misfortunes of  others1 receives at the 
theatre instruction and pleasure at one 
time4#bgj    ,the real opinions of      

,plato are here difficult to discover4  
,in the  ,protagoras1 however1 he puts  
into the mouth of that famous sophist an
  exposition of the conventional ,greek 
opinion4      ,when a boy has learned   
his letters and is beginning to         
understand what    is written1 as before
 he understood only what was spoken1    
they put into    his hands the works of 
great poets1 which he reads sitting on a
 bench at    school2 in these are       
contained many admonitions1 and many    
tales1 and    praises1 and encomia of   
ancient famous men1 which he is required
 to    learn by heart1 in order that he 
may imitate them and desire to become   
like them4#bga    ,it is in the         
,republic1 of course1 that ,plato       
enunciates his capital  objections to   
poetry4 ,the first objection is that    
poetry as an imitative  art is three    
removes from truth4 ,the divine powers1 
for instance1 create  the idea of a     
table--the only true table4 ,a carpenter
 makes a particular  table which is not 

the real1 but only an appearance4 ,a    
graphic artist  making a picture of this
 appearance is only an imitator of      
appearances4  ,and the tragic poet is an
 imitator and therefore thrice removed  
from the  king and from the truth4#bgb  
,the second objection which ,plato      
raises  against poetry is that poetry is
 addressed to the passional element in  
man4 ,the man of noble spirit and       
philosophy will not lament his          
misfortunes1 especially in public1 while
 the lower orders of intellect are      
likely to express all their feelings    
with greater freedom1 and thus  furnish 
the poet with easier subjects for       
imitation4 ,consequently poetry  has the
 power of harming the good1 for a good  
man will be in raptures at  the         
excellences of the poet who stirs his   
feelings most by representing a  hero in
 an emotional condition4 ,as a result1  
when he himself suffers  sorrow or is   
moved by his own passions1 it becomes   
more difficult for him  to repress his  

feelings4#bgc ,plato thus examines the  
popular contention  that the study of   
poetry educates the moral character of a
 man1 and still  maintaining that it    
should be a moral force for good1       
demonstrates to his  own satisfaction   
that it fails to have the supposed      
beneficial effect  because it is three  
removes from truth1 and because it      
encourages  unrestrained emotionalism in
 conduct4 ,plato's moral standard of    
poetry is  even better illustrated1     
perhaps1 by the kind of poetry which he 
does not  ban from his ideal            
commonwealth4 ,we must remain firm in   
our conviction1  he says1 that hymns to 
the gods and praises of famous men are  
the only  poetry which ought to be      
admitted into our state4 ,as his utmost 
concession to poetry1 he will admit her 
if her defenders can prove not  only    
that she is pleasant1 but also useful to
 states and to human  life4#bgd         
,according to a later view1 to be sure1 
,plato has been thought  to justify     

pleasure of a most refined and exalted  
variety as an end of  art4 ,the view    
which identifies the pleasant and the   
just and the good and  the noble has an 
excellent moral and religious           
tendency4#bge ,in view1  however1 of    
other pronouncements1 such an endeavor  
to father upon him the  hedonistic      
theory of the purpose of art seems      
strained and ineffective4    ,it was to 
justify poetry against the attacks of   
,plato that ,aristotle  advanced a      
hedonistic view of poetry and propounded
 his theory of  katharsis4 ,nowhere in  
the ,poetics does ,aristotle explicitly 
state that  the function of poetry is to
 give pleasure4 ,indirect evidence1     
however1 is  plentiful4 ,for instance1  
,aristotle justifies poetry as an       
imitative art  because children learn by
 imitation and the pleasure in imitation
 is  universal4#bgf ,furthermore1 plot  
in tragedy is more important than       
character2 for in painting1 a confused  
mass of colors gives less pleasure  than

 a chalk drawing of a portrait4#bgg     
,beauty in any art depends in a  measure
 on magnitude2 therefore a play must not
 be too short4#bgh ,most of  the tragic 
poets of ,greece derived their plots    
from a limited number of  well known    
stories4 ,but ,aristotle justifies      
,agathon for departing from  this custom
 and making both his plot and characters
 fictitious1 for the  plays of ,agathon 
give none the less pleasure4#bgi ,but   
not all pleasure1  he says1 is          
appropriate to tragedy4 ,in comedy we   
are pleased to see  enemies walk off the
 stage as friends1 but in tragedy the   
pleasure which  the poet should afford  
is that which comes from pity and fear  
through  imitation4#bhj ,marvels1 too1  
and wonders in poetry he justifies      
because  the wonderful is pleasing2 as  
may be inferred from the fact that      
everyone  tells a story with additions  
of his own1 knowing that his hearers    
like it4  ,it is ,homer who has chiefly 
taught other poets the art of telling   

lies  skilfully4#bha ,and at the very   
end of the ,poetics1 where he is        
endeavoring to prove that tragedy is a  
higher art than epic1 he does so by     
showing that drama has all the epic     
elements1 and in addition music and     
spectacle1 which produce the most vivid 
of pleasures4 ,moreover the drama  is   
more compact2 for the concentrated      
effect is more pleasurable than one     
which is diluted4#bhb ,thus1 in the     
,poetics1 ,aristotle takes a  non-moral 
attitude toward literature1 although in 
the ,politics#bhc he  grants that poetry
 and music are eminently serviceable in 
conveying moral  instruction to young   
people4 ,his mature attitude is well    
illustrated in  contrast with that of   
,aristophanes4 ,aristophanes criticises 
,euripides  severely as a perverter of  
,athenian morality4 ,aristotle mentions 
,euripides  about twenty times in the   
,poetics1 and frequently criticises him 
adversely1 not1 however1 for his evil   
moral influence1 but because he uses    

his choruses badly1 and is faulty in    
character-drawing4    ,in answer to     
,plato's second objection to poetry1    
that it encourages  unrestrained        
emotionalism1 ,aristotle propounded his 
theory of katharsis4  ,tragedy1 he says1
 is an imitation of an action 444       
through pity and  fear effecting the    
proper purgation of these emotions4#bhd 
,that  ,aristotle had in mind an analogy
 with medicine is better understood from
 a  passage in the ,politics which      
describes the beneficial effect of music
  on patients suffering from religious  
ecstasy4 ,the stimulating music         
furnishes the patient with an outlet for
 the expression of his religious        
fervor4 ,afterwards1 says ,aristotle1   
the patients fall back into their       
normal state1 as if they had undergone a
 medical or purgative  treatment4#bhe   
,thus the theory of katharsis seems to  
have the same basis  as the modern      
psychological theory which encourages   
the expression of  emotions in their    

milder form lest1 if inhibited1 they    
gather added power  and finally burst   
disastrously through all restraints4    
,consequently1  although hedonist       
theorists have been anxious to establish
 katharsis on a  purely aesthetic       
foundation1 it seems that the theory has
 inescapable  moral implications4 ,to be
 sure1 ,aristotle in the same section of
 the  ,politics says that the emotional 
result of katharsis is harmless joy1    
and in the ,poetics he says that pity   
and fear produce the appropriate        
pleasure of tragedy4 ,nevertheless      
,aristotle is answering ,plato's        
objections to unrestrained emotionalism1
 and by his theory of katharsis         
endeavors to show not only that the     
emotional excitation of tragedy is      
harmless to the spectator1 but that it  
is actually good for him4    ,but if the
 spectator is to derive these emotional 
excitations from  tragedy1 his aesthetic
 experience cannot be passive4          
,aristotle recommends  as the ideal     

tragic hero a man not preeminently good 
nor unusually  depraved1 but a man      
between these extremes2 for pity is     
aroused by  unmerited misfortune1 fear  
by the misfortune of a man like         
ourselves4#bhf ,evidently1 then1 through
 his imagination the spectator  must in 
a lively fashion participate in the     
action of the drama4 ,not only  is he   
present at the action1 even when he     
reads the drama1 but he  identifies     
himself with the hero and vicariously   
experiences his emotions4    ,but       
neither the hedonism of ,aristotle1 nor 
his defense of poetry on moral  grounds 
through his theory of katharsis1 is     
usual in ,greek criticism4  ,isocrates  
and ,xenophon adhere to the usual       
opinion4 ,isocrates believes  that      
,homer was prized by the earlier ,greeks
 because his poems instilled a  hatred  
of the barbarians1 and kindled in the   
hearts of the readers a  desire to      
emulate the heroes who fought against   
,troy4#bhg ,one might think  that the   

hatred of the barbarians was not the    
highest degree of morality1  but perhaps
 for the political integrity of ,greece 
it was4 ,that ,homer  especially was    
supposed to have a moral influence is   
illustrated also by  ,xenophon4         
,niceratus1 in the ,symposium1 is       
telling the diners of what  knowledge he
 is most proud4 ,my father1 he says1 in 
his pains to make me  a good man1       
compelled me to learn the whole of      
,homer's poems4#bhh    ,strabo in a     
famous passage records an exceptional   
hedonism in ,greek  thought and goes on 
to expound the conventional belief4     
,eratosthenes says that the poet directs
 his whole attention to the    amusement
 of the mind1 and not at all to its     
instruction4 ,in opposition    to this  
idea1 the ancients define poesy as a    
primitive philosophy1    guiding our    
life from infancy1 and pleasantly       
regulating our morals1 our    tastes1   
and our actions4 ,the ,stoics of our day
 affirm that the only wise    man is the

 poet4 ,on this account the earliest    
lessons which the citizens    of ,greece
 convey to their children are from the  
poets2 certainly not for    the purpose 
of amusing their minds1 but for their   
instruction4#bhi    ,this same moral and
 educational view of poetry so permeates
 ,plutarch's  essay ,on the ,study of   
,poetry that it is difficult to quote   
from him  without reproducing the whole 
treatise4 ,the young man who is being   
taught  poetry1 ,plutarch believes1     
should be made to indulge in pleasure   
merely  as a relish1 and to seek for the
 useful and the wholesome1#bij in his   
reading4 ,some believe that1 because    
some of the pleasures of poetry are     
pernicious1 young men should not be     
allowed to read4 ,this1 ,plutarch       
believes1 would be every whit as foolish
 as to cut down the vineyards  because  
some people are addicted to drunkenness4
 ,young men should be  taught to use    
poetry intelligently4 ,poetry is not to 
be scrupulously  avoided by those who   

intend to be philosophers1 but they are 
to make  poetry a fitting school for    
philosophers1 by forming the habit of   
seeking  and gaining the profitable in  
the pleasant4#bia ,the profit of poetry 
he  believes to come from two sources3  
maxims and examples4 ,he praises very   
highly such sententiae as ,virtue keeps 
its luster untarnished1 and  know       
thyself4#bib ,indeed1 the moral value of
 such precepts weighed so  heavily with 
,plutarch that he advocated emending the
 poets to bring them  in more strict    
accord with the ethics of the ,stoic    
philosophy4 ,for  instance3      ,thus1 
why not change such a passage as this1  
,that man is to be envied    who so aims
 as to hit his wish1 to read1 who so    
aims as to hit his    advantage8 for to 
get and have things wrongly desired     
merits pity1 not    envy4#bic    ,but   
greater than the moral value of maxims  
in the poets is that of  example4       
,philosophers employ examples from      
history for our correction  and         

instruction1 and the poets differ from  
them only by inventing and  presenting  
fictitious narratives4#bid ,for         
instance1 according to  ,plutarch1      
,homer introduces the story of ,hera's  
vain endeavor to gain her  ends from    
,zeus by means of wine and the girdle of
 ,aphrodite to show that  such conduct  
is not only immoral1 but useless4 ,again
 we may conclude that  frequenting women
 in the day time is a shame and a       
reproach because the  only man who does 
such a thing in the ,iliad is that      
lascivious and  adulterous fellow       
,paris4#bie ,it is interesting that this
 essay of  ,plutarch's1 which gives     
probably the most complete classical    
exposition of  the moral use of poetry1 
should have been well known in the      
renaissance  and translated into        
,english by ,philemon ,holland in #afjc4
    ,the ,romans had very much the same 
feeling about the moral value in poetry 
as had the ,greeks4 ,the only           
fundamental difference lay in that the  

,roman  was less philosophical and more 
practical4 ,this practical element in   
,roman  criticism is well illustrated by
 ,horace1 whose statements have         
sometimes  been made to support opinions
 which ,horace did not hold4 ,let it be 
noted1  for one thing1 that ,horace is  
talking not about the purpose of poetry1
 but  about the purpose of the poet4    
,poets desire either to profit or to    
delight1 or to tell things which are    
at once pleasant and profitable4    ,his
 reason for favoring the third view is  
important4      ,old men reject poems   
which are void of instruction2 the      
knights neglect    austere poems3 he who
 mixes the useful with the sweet wins   
the approval    of all by delighting and
 at the same time admonishing the       
reader4 ,this    book makes money for   
the book-sellers1 and passes over the   
sea1 and    prolongs the reputation of  
the well-known author4#bif    ,but aside
 from the desirability of mingling      
pleasure with profit in his  poetry in  

order to gain the greatest popularity1  
the poet does have an  educational value
 in the training of youths by presenting
 in an attractive  manner examples of   
noble conduct which the young people may
 desire to  emulate4      ,his lessons  
form the child's young lips1 and wean   
,the boyish ear from words and tales    
unclean2    ,as years roll on1 he moulds
 the ripening mind1    ,and makes it    
just and generous1 sweet and kind2      
,he tells of worthy precedents1 displays
    ,the example of the past to after   
days1    ,consoles affliction1 and      
disease allays4#big    ,moreover the    
consensus of conventional opinion in the
 ,roman world was that  the study of the
 poets did succeed in moulding the moral
 character of the  youth4 ,apuleius1    
writing of a certain virtuous young man1
 the hero of one  of the episodes of the
 ,metamorphoses1 makes the following    
incidental  remark3 ,the master of the  
house had a young son well instructed in
 good  literature1 and consequently     

remarkable for his piety and            
modesty4#bih    ,although ,lucretius may
 not have been assured of the moral     
value1 he was  so convinced of the      
seductive powers of poetry that he      
deliberately  utilized them to make     
palatable the forbidding thoughts of his
 essay ,on  the ,nature of ,things4 ,the
 long passage is worth quoting entire   
because  his comparison is borrowed so  
frequently by renaissance critics to    
illustrate the poetic doctrine of       
pleasurable profit4 ,lucretius says3    
,but as physicians1 when they attempt to
 give bitter wormwood to    children1   
first tinge the rim round the cup with  
the sweet and yellow    liquid of honey1
 that the age of childhood1 as yet      
unsuspicious1 may    find its lips      
deluded1 and may in the meantime drink  
the bitter juice of    the wormwood1 and
 though deceived1 may not be injured1   
but rather1 being    recruited by such a
 process1 may acquire strength2 so now  
,i1 since this    argument seems        

generally too severe and forbidding to  
those by whom it    has not been        
handled1 and since the multitude shrink 
back from it1 was    desirous to set    
forth my chain of reasoning to thee1 ,o 
,memmius1 in    sweetly-speaking        
,pierian verse1 and1 as it were1 tinge  
it with the honey    of the ,muses4#bii 
,from this survey of classical opinion  
we may conclude that the public  looked 
for two things in poetry3 pleasure and  
profit4 ,eratosthenes took an  extreme  
view in seeking pleasure alone4 ,both   
,aristotle and ,horace  emphasized the  
pleasure to be derived from poetry1     
although neither denied  that poetry is 
beneficial4 ,horace takes almost a      
cynical view in  suggesting that1 as    
some readers seek pleasure in poetry and
 others  improvement1 a poet will be    
more popular and make more money for the
  book-sellers if he mingles both       
elements4 ,the extreme view of the moral
  value of poetry was taken by the      
educators of youth4 ,this view is well  

exemplified in the quotations from      
,aristophanes1 ,xenophon1 ,strabo1 and  
especially ,plutarch4 ,but even         
,plutarch1 who goes so far as to suggest
  emending the poets to make their      
effect more moral1 does not suggest that
  the purpose of poetry is to afford    
moral instruction4 ,he distinguishes2   
some poetry is distinctly immoral and   
should be enjoyed only for its art4     
,other poetry is moral in its effect1   
and consequently should be utilized     
extensively by the school-master in     
educating young men4 ,for such purposes 
no poetry was thought to be better than 
,homer1 whose epics furnish so many     
examples of heroic conduct4        #c4  
,moral ,improvement through ,allegory   
,when the ,roman arms conquered a new   
city1 the story runs1 the commander of  
the forces took over in the name of the 
,emperor the gods2 but before the  gates
 of ,jerusalem this ceremony proved     
ineffective4 ,the fathers of the        
,christian church1 ,tatian1 ,hermas1    

,theophilus1 and ,tertullian1 believing 
that all the truth was contained in     
,christianity1 utterly condemned the    
philosophy and religion of the ,greeks  
and consequently the poetry which1      
according to ,greek popular belief1 was 
the inspired vehicle for its            
presentation4 ,furthermore1 the gods of 
the ,greeks were immoral and  furnished 
their worshippers with bad examples of  
conduct4 ,long before  ,tertullian the  
moral philosophers of antiquity had     
already attacked the  poetry of ,greece 
and ,rome on the ground of immorality4  
,plato in his day  called the war       
between philosophy and poetry age-long4 
,the ancient  ,greeks had considered    
,homer and ,hesiod as the inspired      
recorders of the  facts of religion4    
,they had looked to the poets for moral 
dogma and  example4 ,of necessity the   
philosophers condemned the poets for the
  immorality of their thievish1 lying1  
and adulterous pantheon4    ,when the   
,christian fathers were confronted with 

the ,syriac gospel of the  youth of     
,jesus1 they called a council to declare
 it apochryphal4 ,lest  some devout     
reader should take literally the love   
poetry of the ,canticles1  the fathers  
allegorized it as the love of ,christ   
for his ,church4  ,unfortunately for    
,greek religion the philosophers did not
 determine which  episodes in the       
histories of the gods were valid as     
doctrine and which  were fictitious4    
,they did1 however1 anticipate the      
fathers in their  allegorical           
interpretations4 ,socrates in the       
,phaedrus laughs at  allegory2#cjj and  
,plutarch believes that the poets       
intended to teach a  moral idea by      
example instead of expressing a hidden  
meaning by allegory4  ,for him allegory 
involved distortion and perversion4 ,for
 some men  distort these stories and    
pervert them into allegories or what the
 men  of old times called hidden        
meanings 4#cja ,but allegory none the   
less flourished4 ,theognis of ,rhegium1 

,anaxagoras1 and ,stesimbrotus of       
,thasos1 were assiduous and startling in
 their interpretations4#cjb ,the  ,greek
 allegorical interpretations were of two
 kinds3 one an explanation  of the      
secrets of nature1 the other the        
teaching of morality4#cjc  ,although the
 practice was very old1 the word        
allegory is not recorded  before        
,cicero1 who says3      ,when the       
imagery of the metaphor is sustained for
 a long time1 the    nature of the style
 assuredly becomes changed4             
,consequently the ,greeks    call this  
sort of thing allegory4444 ,but he is   
nearer the truth who    calls all of    
these metaphors4#cjd    ,from ,cicero   
on1 allegory has a long history as a    
rhetorical figure--a  trope4#cje ,st4   
,augustine recommends that students of  
the scriptures study  the rhetorical    
figures so that they may be able to     
interpret the tropes in  the ,bible1    
such as allegory4#cjf    ,the result    
will always be the same whenever the    

poets are considered  theologians and   
moral teachers4 ,they will be condemned 
or allegorized4  ,fortunate are the     
poets when they are not believed4 ,how  
much better1  exclaims ,st4 ,augustine1 
are these fables of the poets than the  
false  religious notions of the         
,manichees4 ,but ,medea flying1 although
 ,i chanted  sometimes1 yet ,i          
maintained not the truth of2 and though 
,i heard it sung1  ,i believed it not3  
but these phantasies ,i thoroughly      
believed4#cjg ,for  it is only when one 
believes devoutly that ,zeus procured   
access to ,danae  in a shower of gold1  
that his action gives a divine sanction 
to such  traffic in beauty on the agora 
or in the forum4#cjh ,it is only when   
the  poets make no pretense of          
recounting facts that they can escape   
the  clutches of the philosophers4 ,it  
was to save the poets from such attacks 
that ,aristotle asserts that poetry     
deals with the universal1 not with the  
particular4#cji ,or1 as ,spingarn       

explains his meaning1 ,poetry has little
  regard for the actuality of specific  
event1 but aims at the reality of an    
eternal probability4#caj        #d4 ,the
 ,influence of ,rhetoric      ,thus the 
general consensus of classical opinion  
agreed that poetry has  inescapable     
moral effects on those who listen or    
read4 ,the moralists1  especially the   
,stoics1 when confronted with           
traditional poetry whose  literal       
significance was immoral1 leaned toward 
allegorical  interpretations which      
brought out a kernel of truth4 ,the     
greater number1  however1 of ,greeks and
 ,romans in the classical period        
believed that poetry  exerted the most  
potent influence for good when it       
enunciated crisp moral  maxims and      
afforded examples of heroic conduct     
which young people could be  induced to 
follow4    ,in all these respects the   
classical view of poetic has much in    
common with  classical rhetoric4        
,allegory has been shown to have had a  

long history as  an extended metaphor--a
 rhetorical figure4 ,maxims are         
considered fully by  ,aristotle as aids 
to persuasion in rhetoric4#caa ,the     
exemplum is  obviously a stock means of 
rhetoric4    ,examples1 says ,aristotle1
 are of two kinds1 one consisting in the
  allegation of historical facts1 and   
the other in the invention of facts  for
 oneself4 ,invention comprises          
illustration on the one hand and 444    
fables on the other4 ,then he tells how 
,aesop defended a demagogue by the      
fable of the fox caught in the cleft of 
a rock4 ,the fox was infested with      
dog-ticks which sucked his blood4 ,a    
benevolent hedge-hog offered to remove  
the ticks1 but the fox declined the kind
 offer on the ground that his  ticks    
were already full of blood and had      
ceased to annoy him much1 whereas  if   
they were removed1 a new colony of ticks
 would establish themselves and  thus   
entirely drain him of blood4 ,yes1 and  
in your case1 men of ,samos1  said      

,aesop1 my client will not do much      
further mischief--he has already  made  
his fortune--but1 if you put him to     
death1 there will come others who  are  
poor and who will consume all the       
revenues of the state by their          
embezzlements4#cab ,fables1 continues   
the shrewd master of those who  know1   
have this advantage that1 while         
historical parallels are hard to  find1 
it is comparatively easy to find fables4
 ,quintilian1 like  ,aristotle1 believes
 in the persuasive efficacy of examples4
 ,but ,quintilian  has less faith in the
 probative value of fictitious examples 
than he has  in those drawn from        
authentic history4 ,he thinks that      
fables are most  effective with a rustic
 and ingenuous audience1 which          
captivated by their  pleasure in the    
story1 give assent to that which pleases
 them4#cac ,thus  ,menenius ,agrippa    
reconciled the people to the senators by
 telling them the  fable of the revolt  
of the members against the belly4 ,and  

,thomas ,wilson1  in his ,arte of       
,rhetorique1 repeats the story1 in his  
section on  examples1 and ascribes to   
,themistocles the fox story which       
,aristotle tells  of ,aesop4#cad    ,but
 ,aristotle1 ,quintilian1 and ,wilson   
are talking about rhetoric4 ,very       
justly they believe that if one wants to
 persuade an audience to a course  of   
action1 he must interest his audience   
sufficiently to hold their  attention4  
,as ,wilson sagely remarks1 ,for except 
men finde delite1 they  will not long   
abide3 delite them and winne them4#cae  
,cicero expressed in  memorable phrase  
the relationship between proof and      
pleasure as  instruments to persuasion  
and added a third element4 ,he          
classified the  aims of an orator as to 
teach1 to please1 to move 7docere1      
delectare1  movere74 ,the teaching is   
the appeal to the intellect of the      
hearer by  means of proof4 ,the pleasure
 is afforded by a euphonious style1 and 
by  fables and stories4 ,the audience is

 moved to action by the appeal to their 
feelings4#caf    ,not until the         
renaissance did writers on the theory of
 poetry carry over  ,cicero's threefold 
aim of the orator and make it apply to  
the poet4#cag  ,but already in          
post-classical times rhetoric had1 as   
,seneca the father  clearly shows1      
vitiated the ,latin poetry of the       
,silver ,age4 ,under the  ,empire the   
declamation schools in ,rome had a      
profound influence on  literature4#cah  
,it could not be otherwise in a society 
where the school  of rhetoric was the   
only temple of higher education1 for    
which the  grammaticus1 or elementary   
professor of literature1 was constrained
 to  prepare his students4 ,rhetoric was
 the organon of ,roman education1 and   
declamation was the aim of rhetoric4 ,it
 was such an educational system  which  
prepared ,ovid and ,lucan for their     
careers as poets and men of  letters4   
,seneca the father records the brilliant
 declamations of ,ovid as a  schoolboy1 

quoting at some length his plea for a   
wife who threw herself  over a cliff on 
hearing of the death of her husband1 and
 calling attention  to several passages 
in ,ovid's poems where the poet has     
borrowed the clever  sayings of his     
professors in the school of             
rhetoric4#cai ,ovid makes his           
characters prove that they are moved by 
passion instead of being  passionate in 
word and deed4 ,he vitiates his emotions
 with his wit4 ,this  is characteristic 
of almost all the poets who attended the
 declamation  schools4 ,they talk about 
situations and characters instead of    
realizing  them4 ,they write as if they 
were speaking to an audience4 ,one can  
almost  see the gestures1 the wait for  
applause after the enunciation of a     
noble  platitude4 ,not only             
historically1 but also in the worst     
modern sense this  is rhetoric4 ,it is  
not unreasonable to conclude that such a
 preoccupation  with rhetoric1 such a   
sustained search for all possible means 

of  persuasion1 should have strengthened
 rather than weakened the utilitarian   
theory of poetry4 ,the school-master    
endeavored to mould the characters of   
his students by examples from heroic    
poetry2 the teacher of rhetoric1 in     
turn1 taught them that to persuade an   
audience they must prove1 please1  and  
move1 and that ficticious examples were 
about as persuasive as  historical      
parallels and much easier to find4 ,when
 the student left school  he continued  
to seek means of persuasion in          
canvassing votes1 pleading in  the      
courts1 or deliberating in the senate4  
,if he became a poet1 he did not  forget
 the lessons of his youth2 or if he     
became a teacher of literature  or a    
professor of rhetoric1 he perpetuated   
the tradition4          ,chapter ,,ii   
,mediaeval ,ideas of the ,purpose of    
,poetry        ,with the breaking up of 
the ,empire the stream of classical     
culture was  restricted to a narrow     
channel--the ,church4 ,opposed as it was

 to pagan  morals and theology1 the     
church could honestly retain classical  
literature  only if it were allegorized4
 ,this explains the allegorical nature  
of  mediaeval poetry and of poetical    
theory4    ,from the beginning the      
learning of the ,church was of pagan    
origin4 ,st4  ,augustine was a professor
 of rhetoric and the author of a        
treatise on  aesthetics before he wrote 
the ,city of ,god1 and his ,confessions4
 ,in  fact1 he never quite got over     
being a professor of rhetoric4 ,clement 
of  ,alexandria was a product of the    
same rhetoric schools and an excellent  
teacher of his subject before he        
recognized the divine origin of         
,christianity4 ,st4 ,basil was a college
 friend of ,gregory ,nazianzen and of   
,julian1 later emperor and apostate1    
when the three studied rhetoric at      
,athens4 ,indeed1 the most cunningly    
cruel decree which ,julian later        
promulgated against the ,christians     
forbade them the use of the ancient     

pagan literature of ,greece and ,rome4  
,this decree ,basil bitterly resented4  
,i forgo all the rest1 he says1 riches1 
birth1 honor1 authority1 and all  the   
goods here below of which the charm     
vanishes like a dream2 but ,i cling  to 
oratory nor do ,i regret the toil1 nor  
the journeys by land and sea1  which ,i 
have undertaken to master it4#cbj       
,but within the ,church the lovers of   
,greek literature did not have it all   
their own way4 ,tatian1 ,hermas1        
,theophilus1 and ,tertullian savagely   
attacked profane poetry1 and in         
defending it ,basil1 ,athenagoras1      
,clement1  and ,origen were forced not  
unwillingly to rely more and more on the
  traditional moralistic theory of      
poetry which was so familiar to them4   
,st4  ,chrysostom records that in the   
fourth century ,homer was still taught  
as a  guide to morals4#cba        #a4   
,allegorical ,interpretations in the    
,middle ,ages      ,allegorical         
interpretation was the main weapon of   

the apologists for  poetry4 ,the basis1 
indeed1 of the ,gnostic heresies of the 
second and third  centuries was an      
allegorical interpretation of the ,greek
 poets and  philosophers and of the     
,scriptures4 ,this soon degenerated into
 an  extravagant system of speculative  
mysticism4 ,clement of ,alexandria and  
,origen rejected the extravagances1 but 
sought to retain the mysticism of  the  
,gnostics4 ,they reconciled ,greek      
literature and the ,scriptures by       
allegorizing both1 much as today ,darwin
 and ,genesis are reconciled by         
allegorizing ,genesis4#cbb ,thus in the 
declining years of the ,roman ,empire   
the rhetoricians had become             
ecclesiastics1 and the ,church had      
adopted  pagan literature with          
allegorical interpretation4    ,this    
tradition dominated the middle ages2    
,lady ,theology reigned over the        
kingdom of the seven liberal arts1 and  
to make ,homer and ,virgil  theological 
it was necessary that they be           

interpreted allegorically4 ,as  ,vossler
 has shown1 theology and philosophy     
furnished1 during the middle  ages1 the 
subject matter of poetry2 they were the 
utile of ,horace4 ,the  dulce became for
 them too exclusively the pleasing      
garment of style and  story4#cbc        
,throughout the middle ages1 however1   
many continued to look askance at       
poetry1 and were skeptical as to its    
value4 ,to ,boethius1 weeping in        
prison1 came ,philosophy to console him4
 ,she found him surrounded by the       
friends of his youth1 the ,muses1 who   
now were inspiring him to write  dreary 
verses of complaint4 ,but these poetical
 ,muses ,philosophy sent  packing4 ,who 
has allowed1 said she1 these common     
strumpets of the  theatre to come near  
this sick man8 ,not only do they fail to
 assuage his  sorrows1 but they feed and
 nourish them with sweet venom4 ,they   
are not  fruitful nor profitable4 ,they 
destroy the fruits of reason1 for they  
hold  the hearts of men4#cbd ,here      

,philosophy is voicing the objections of
  ,plato4 ,the arts are attacked because
 they are not successfully  utilitarian1
 and because they appeal to the emotions
 instead of to the  reason4 ,in a later 
book ,boethius gives a clearer key to   
the objection4 ,he  postulates four     
mental faculties3 sensation possessed by
 oysters1  imagination possessed by     
higher animals1 reason possessed by man1
  intelligence possessed by ,god4       
,consequently man should aspire towards 
,god  instead of indulging his faculties
 of sensation and imagination1 which he 
shares with the lower animals4#cbe      
,but such objections as those of        
,boethius were usually explained away by
  allegory4 ,when ,isidore of ,seville  
7#fcc or #fcf71 for instance1 was       
compiling his book of universal         
knowledge1 the ,etymologiae1 he         
incorporated his section on the poets in
 the chapter entitled ,concerning  the  
,church and the ,sects4 ,so between a   
section devoted to the  ,philosophers of

 the ,gentiles and a section entitled   
,concerning ,sibyls  he wrote concerning
 the poets as follows3      ,sometimes1 
however1 the poets were called          
theologians1 because they used    to    
compose songs concerning the gods4 ,in  
doing this1 however1 it is the    office
 of the poets to render what has        
actually been done in a different       
guise with a certain beauty of covert   
figures4#cbf    ,the poet1 to ,isidore1 
was the inspired bard who sings of the  
gods and the  eternal verities1 not     
directly1 but under the veil of a       
beautiful  allegory4 ,among these       
allegorical or indirect means of        
expression used by  the poet to veil    
truth are fables4      ,the poets invent
 fables sometimes to give pleasure2     
sometimes they are    interpreted to    
explain the nature of things1 sometimes 
to throw light on    the manners of     
men4#cbg    ,his illustrations of a     
fable show that he is talking about     
allegory4 ,for  instance1 the fable of  

the centaur was invented to show1 by the
 union of  man and horse1 the swiftness 
of human life4    ,it is very natural1  
then1 that ,dante should as the supreme 
poet of the  middle ages furnish the    
supreme example of allegory4 ,in the    
,convivio 7c4  #acjf71 ,dante gives a   
very full and complete exposition of the
 proper  method of interpreting a text4 
,any writing1 he says1 should be        
expounded  in four senses4 ,the first is
 the literal4 ,the second is called the 
allegorical1 and is the one that hides  
itself under the mantle of these  tales1
 and is a truth hidden under beauteous  
fiction4#cbh ,the reason  this way of   
hiding was devised by wise men he       
promises to explain in the  fourteenth  
treatise1 which he never wrote4 ,the    
third sense1 he goes on to  say1 is the 
moral1 as from the fact that ,christ    
took with him but three  disciples when 
he ascended the mountain for the        
transfiguration we may  understand that 
in secret things we should have but few 

companions4 ,the  fourth sense is the   
analogical4 ,here the text may be       
literally true1 but  contain a spiritual
 significance beyond4 ,that to ,dante1  
however1 all but  the literal sense     
naturally coalesced as the allegorical  
is quite clear  from the close of the   
chapter and from the letter to ,can     
,grande1 in which  he discusses the     
interpretations of his ,commedia4       
,although these mystic  senses are      
called by various names1 they may all in
 general be called  allegorical4#cbi    
,that the beauteous fiction1 the bella  
menzogna1 of  allegory is rhetorical in 
origin is clear from a passage in the   
,vita  ,nuova4 ,dante is defending his  
personification of ,love as one walking1
  speaking and laughing on the          
assumption that as a poet he is licensed
 to  use figures or rhetorical          
colorings4 ,these colorings1 however1   
must have a  true but hidden            
significance4 ,the rhetorical figures   
are a garment to  clothe the nakedness  

of truth4#ccj        #b4 ,allegory in   
,mediaeval ,england      ,england as    
well as ,italy furnished a congenial    
soil for allegory in the  thirteenth    
century4 ,in his ,poetria1 ,john of     
,garland#cca explains  allegorically an 
elegiac1 bucolic1 ethic1 love poem which
 he quotes4  ,under the guise of the    
nymph1 he says1 is figured forth the    
flesh2  under that of the corrupt youth1
 the world or the devil2 under that of  
the  friend1 reason4#ccb ,in another    
illustrative poem1 this time introduced 
to show the proper use of the six parts 
of an oration1 ,john inserts  between   
the confirmacio1 and the confutacio1 an 
expositio  mistica in which the ,trojan 
,war is allegorized in this fashion3    
,the  fury of ,eacides is the ire of    
,satan1 etc4#ccc    ,as late as #aejf   
,stephen ,hawes's ,pastime of ,pleasure 
is as mediaeval as  the ,romance of the 
,rose4#ccd ,in this allegory of the     
education and love  adventures of       
,grandamour the young man sits at the   

feet of ,dame ,rethoryke  to be         
instructed at great length in her art4  
,to none other of the seven  liberal    
arts1 in fact1 does ,hawes devote so    
much space4 ,in the chapter on          
inventio1 however1 the lady seems to    
have forgotten all about her            
traditional past1 for instead of        
discussing the method of finding all    
possible arguments in favor of a case1  
she discusses the poets1 their  purpose1
 and their fame4    ,the purpose of     
poetry is to her what it had been       
throughout the entire  period of the    
middle ages4 ,the poet presents truth   
under the guise of  allegory4      ,to  
make of nought reason sentencious       
,clokynge a trouthe wyth colour         
tenebrous4    ,for often under a fayre  
fayned fable    ,a trouthe appereth     
gretely profitable4#cce    ,this1 says  
,dame ,rethoryke1 has the sanction of   
antiquity2 for the old  poets1 who are  
famous for their wisdom and the         
imaginative power of their  invention1  

pronounced truth under cloudy figures4  
,this fortified the poets  against      
sloth4      ,the special treasure    ,of
 new invencion1 of ydleness the foo6    
,then she addresses herself directly to 
the poets to laud their virtues4        
,your hole desyre was set    ,fables to 
fayne to eschewe ydleness1444    ,to    
dysnull vyce and the vycious to blame4  
,furthermore she praises them for       
recording the honorable deeds of great  
conquerors and for furnishing the modern
 poets with such illustrious  models of 
the poetic art4 ,this praise of the     
poets is complementary to a             
condemnation of the foolish public1     
whose limited intelligence prevents     
them from seeing the cloaked truth of   
the poets4 ,thus the dull1 rude  people1
 when they are unable to understand the 
moral implications of the  poet's       
allegory1 call the poets liars1         
deceivers1 and flatterers4 ,this1  she  
insists1 is the fault not of the poets1 
but of the people4 ,if the  people would

 take the trouble to understand these   
clouded truths1 they  would praise and  
appreciate the moral poets4    ,the     
conclusion is not difficult4 ,the       
mediaeval poets are on the defensive1   
as their brothers had been through all  
the past4 ,to justify art1 the  middle  
ages had to show its usefulness not only
 to morals1 but to  theology4 ,thus     
,dame ,rethoryke in her talk on         
inventio1 is conducting a  defense of   
poetry on the following grounds3 it     
teaches profound truth  under the guise 
of allegory2 it blames the vicious and  
overcomes vice2 it  is the enemy of     
sloth2 it records the honorable deeds of
 great men4    ,the chapter on style    
only continues the song4 ,it is the art1
 says ,hawes1  to cloak the meaning     
under misty figures of many colors1 as  
the old poets  did1 who took similitudes
 from beasts and birds4      ,and under 
colour of this beste1 pryvely    ,the   
morall sense they cloake full           
subtyly4#ccf    ,the poets write1 he    

continues1 under a misty cloud of covert
 likeness4 ,for  instance1 the poets    
feign that ,king ,atlas bore the heavens
 on his  shoulders1 meaning only that he
 was unusually versed in high astronomy4
  ,likewise the story of the centaurs   
only exemplifies the skill of ,mylyzyus 
in breaking the wildness of the royal   
steeds4 ,pluto1 ,cerberus1 and the      
hydra receive like explanations4 ,the   
poets feign these fables1 of course1  to
 lead the readers out of mischief4 ,a   
poet to be great must drink of the      
redolent well of poetry whence flow the 
four rivers of ,understanding1          
,close-concluding1 ,novelty1 and        
,carbuncles4 ,these rivers are          
translatable  into3 understanding of    
good and evil1 moral purpose1 novelty1  
rhetorical  adornment of figures and so 
forth4    ,the poets praised--,gower1   
,chaucer1 and ,lydgate--deserve their   
fame1 he  says1 for their morality4     
,they cleanse our vices4 ,they kindle   
our hearts  with love of virtue4        

,lydgate's ,falls of ,princes is an     
especially great  poem1      ,a good    
ensample for us to dispyse    ,this     
worlde1 so ful of mutabilyte4#ccg       
,other cunning poets are1 however1 not  
so praiseworthy4 ,instead of feigning   
pleasant and covert fables1 they spend  
their time in vanity1 making  ballades  
of fervent love and such like tales and 
trifles4 ,this1 he  insists1 is an      
unfruitful manner in which to spend     
one's efforts4    ,this unanimous       
judgment of the middle ages that the    
purpose of poetry is  to teach spiritual
 truth and inculcate morality under the 
cloak of  allegory was perpetuated far  
into the renaissance1 especially in     
,england1  where1 as has been shown1 the
 recovery of classical culture made slow
  progress4#cch          ,chapter ,,iii 
,rhetorical ,elements in ,italian       
,renaissance ,conceptions of the        
,purpose of  ,poetry      ,in his study 
of the function of poetry in the        
literary criticism of the  ,italian     

renaissance1 ,spingarn has shown#cci    
that the characteristic  opinions       
reflect the ideas of ,horace in his     
famous line1      ,aut prodesse volunt  
aut delectare poetae4    ,the purpose of
 poetry1 they thought1 was to please1 to
 instruct1 or to  combine pleasure and  
instruction4 ,he goes further to show   
that with the  notable exceptions of    
,bernardo ,tasso and ,castelvetro1 who  
claimed no  further function for poetry 
than delight and delight alone1 the     
general  conception was ethical4 ,even  
when delight was admitted as an end1 it 
was  simply because of its usefulness in
 effecting the ethical aim4#cdj ,this   
chapter1 resuming briefly the results of
 ,spingarn's investigations where  they 
help the reader to understand better the
 situation in ,english  criticism1 will 
bring into sharper relief than has      
heretofore been done  two influences    
which affected the renaissance view not 
a  little--scholastic philosophy and the
 classical rhetorics4    ,to ,st4       

,thomas ,aquinas1 logic was the art of  
arts1 because in action we are  directed
 by reason4 ,thus all arts proceed from 
it1 and rhetoric is a part  of it4#cda  
,the ,thomistic philosophy which        
included rhetoric and poetic  in logic1 
whereas ,aristotle had classified the   
three arts as cordinate  within the same
 category1 seems1 says ,spingarn1 to    
have been accepted by  the scholastic   
philosophers of the middle ages4#cdb    
,the appearance of  this scholastic     
grouping in the renaissance criticism is
 parallel with a  gradual abandonment of
 the popular mediaeval preoccupation    
with allegory1  in favor of the         
classical view which considered example 
as the best  vehicle for moral          
improvement4    ,in the age of the      
,medicis1 when refined courts of ,italy 
were so greatly  delighted at the       
recovery of the least edifying literary 
monuments of  classical antiquity1      
allegorical interpretation had probably 
so often  become but a cloak for        

licentiousness in poetry that it was    
becoming  discredited4 ,at any rate1    
,loyola rejected allegorical            
interpretation of  classical literature 
for the ,jesuit colleges4 ,he based     
moral education on  example1 and        
expurgated any element which he thought 
might have a  pernicious effect on young
 people4 ,for instance1 except in the   
most  advanced class1 the ,dido episode 
was deleted from the neid4#cdc          
,savonarola rejected allegory and       
considered logic1 rhetoric1 and poetic  
as  parts of philosophy4 ,logic proceeds
 by induction and syllogism1 rhetoric   
by the enthymeme1 and poetic by the     
example4 ,therefore the office of the   
poet is to teach by examples1 to induce 
men to virtuous living by fitting       
representations4 ,because our minds     
delight greatly in song and harmony1    
the early poets used meter and rhythm   
better to incline the soul of man to    
virtue and morality4 ,it is impossible1 
however1 for a person ignorant of  logic

 to be a true poet4 ,a mere concern with
 rhythm and the composition of          
sentences profits nothing1 for what is  
the use of painting and decorating  a   
ship if it is going to be swamped in the
 storm and never come to port8  ,the    
poets who endeavor to place their poems 
on a par with the ,scriptures  overlook 
the fact that only the sacred writings  
can have an allegorical1  parabolical or
 spiritual meaning4 ,since ,dante had   
made all these claims1  the inference is
 that ,savonarola declined to accept    
poetry as part of  theology1 and        
rejected both ,dante and the popular    
mediaeval tradition4  ,poets1 he goes on
 to say1 use metaphors because of the   
weakness of their  material4 ,if you    
took away the verbal ornament1 you would
 not read the  poets1 because there     
would be nothing left4 ,the theologian  
uses metaphor  only as an adornment to  
his solid matter4 ,the poet who sings of
 love1  praises idols1 and narrates lies
 has a very bad effect on young men4 ,he

  incites to lust and immorality4 ,but  
poets who describe in verses moral      
actions and the deeds of brave men      
should not on that account be           
condemned4#cdd        #a4 ,the          
,scholastic ,grouping of ,poetic1       
,rhetoric and ,logic      ,the          
scholastic grouping of logic1 rhetoric1 
and poetic which ,savonarola  derived   
from ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas#cde persisted
 for four centuries1  rejuvenated by    
contact with the richer classical       
scholarship of the  renaissance4 ,b4    
,lombardus1 for instance1 in his preface
 to ,maggi's edition  of ,aristotle's   
,poetics 7#aeej71 differentiates logic1 
rhetoric1 and  poetic by the same       
criteria4 ,logic1 he says1 proves by    
syllogism1 and in  this is different    
from both rhetoric and poetic1 which use
 enthymeme and  example as more         
appropriate to a popular audience1 while
 poetic uses  example almost entirely   
and scarcely ever enthymeme4#cdf        
,spingarn calls attention to a similar  

distinction in the ,lezione 7#aeec7  of 
,benedetto ,varchi4 ,varchi says3       
,just as the logician uses for his means
 the noblest of all instruments1    that
 is1 demonstration or the demonstrative 
syllogism2 so the    dialectician1 the  
topical syllogism2 and the sophist1 the 
sophistical1    that is1 the apparent   
and deceitful2 the rhetorician1 the     
enthymeme1 and    the poet1 the example1
 which is the least worthy of all4 ,so  
the subject    of poetry is the feigned 
fable and the fabulous1 and its means or
    instrument is the example4#cdg      
,this has its ultimate source in the    
,rhetoric of ,aristotle1 who made the   
following distinction between logic and 
rhetoric3 ,logic aims at  demonstration 
by the syllogism and by induction2      
rhetoric aims at  persuasion by the     
enthymeme and the example4 ,the         
enthymeme is a  rhetorical syllogism1   
usually with the conclusion or either   
premise  unexpressed4 ,moreover the     
premises of an enthymeme are likely to  

rest on  opinion rather than on axioms4 
,the example is a rhetorical induction1 
usually from fewer cases than are       
necessary to scientific induction4#cdh  
,the same scholastic grouping of logic1 
rhetoric1 and poetic appears in the     
treatise ,on the ,nature of the ,art of 
,poetry 7#afdg7 of the ,dutch scholar   
,vossius1 who writes3      ,as rhetoric 
is called by ,aristotle the counterpart 
of dialect and that    especially       
because it teaches the manner by which  
enthymemes may be    utilized in        
communal matters1 without a doubt poetic
 is also to be    thought a part of     
logic1 because it discloses the use of  
examples in    fictitious matters4444   
,but rhetoric and poetic seek not only  
to prove    something1 but also to      
delight2 they seek not only             
understanding1 but    action as well4   
,wherefore poetic has this in common    
with rhetoric2 that    both are the     
servants of the state4#cdi    ,vossius  
thus1 like ,scaliger1 makes poetic and  

rhetoric one in their end to  promote   
desirable action4    ,how persistent is 
this rhetorical view of poetry is well  
illustrated by  the ,ars ,rhetorica of  
the ,jesuit ,martin ,du ,cygne1 first   
published in  #afff1 and still used as a
 text-book in ,georgetown ,university4  
,he is  discussing the three kinds of   
argument3 syllogism1 enthymeme1 and     
example1  or induction4      ,induction 
is delightful and is appropriate to an  
ignorant audience    because of its     
similitudes and examples4 ,this argument
 is frequently    used by rhetoricians  
and poets1 especially ,ovid2 because it 
explains    attractively and            
clearly4#cej    ,thus the grouping of   
poetic with rhetoric and logic naturally
 tended to  make it partake more and    
more of the nature of the other two4    
,all of them  were taken to be occupied 
with proving something in an effort to  
make  other people good4 ,they differed 
only because they used different kinds  
of  proof4        #b4 ,the ,influence of

 the ,classical ,rhetorics      ,a more 
explicit influence on the renaissance   
belief that the function of  poetry is  
to improve social morality is readily   
seen in the definitions of  poetry which
 have already been quoted from          
,lombardus and ,varchi1 who  formulated 
their definitions of poetry by combining
 ,aristotle's definition  of tragedy    
with his definition of rhetoric4#cea    
,another explicit  borrowing from       
classical rhetoric was of ,cicero's     
three-fold aim of the  orator3 to teach1
 to delight1 to persuade 7docere1       
delectare1  permovere74#ceb ,several    
important ,italian critics carried this 
terminology over into their theories of 
poetry along with the purpose  which has
 always animated rhetoric--persuasion4  
,making ,horace a point of departure1   
,daniello1 in #aecf1 says that the      
function of the poet is to teach and    
delight1 but more than that--to         
persuade4 ,he must move his readers to  
share the emotions of his  characters1  

to shun vice1 and embrace virtue4#cec   
,this extreme rhetorical  parallel was  
further insisted on by ,minturno        
7#aeei71 who defined the duty  of a poet
 as so to speak in verse as to teach1 to
 delight1 and to  move4#ced ,and as     
,aristotle had affirmed in his ,rhetoric
 that the  character of the speaker was 
one of the three essential elements in  
persuasion1#cee ,minturno is constrained
 to make the moral character of  the    
poet an indispensable quality of his    
poetry4 ,thus he borrows ,cato's        
definition of the orator as a good man  
skilled in public speech 7vir  bonus    
dicendi peritus7 from ,quintilian1#cef  
and defines the poet as a  good man     
skilled in speech and imitation 7poeta  
vir bonus dicendi et  imitandi          
peritus74#ceg    ,like ,minturno1       
,scaliger insisted that poetry must     
teach1 move1 and  delight4#ceh ,it is   
thus the result in action which         
,minturno and ,scaliger  emphasize4 ,the
 poet must work on the feelings of his  

reader so that he  shall embrace and    
imitate the good1 and spurn the evil4   
,philosophy1  oratory1 and poetry have  
thus one end--and only                  
one--persuasion4#cei  ,without the      
movere1 the incentive to action1 of     
course poetry could not  serve its      
purpose of moral improvement on which   
the renaissance so sternly  insisted4 ,a
 reader might enjoy a story1 play1 or   
poem which presented  impeccable        
examples of virtue rewarded and vice    
punished1 or which  abounded in noble   
platitudes gilded with wit1 and still   
smile and be a  villain4 ,it was thus   
inevitable that an acceptance of the    
moral purpose of  poetry should sooner  
or later drive any logical minded critic
 of poetry  completely into the camp of 
rhetoric4 ,there the poet would find a  
complete panoply of arms forged for the 
arousing of the feelings in an          
audience1 and for stirring the springs  
of action4 ,he could make his  readers  
hate sin by the same means ,demosthenes 

made his hearers hate  ,philip1 and love
 any virtue by appropriating the methods
 of ,cicero ,pro  ,archia4 ,according to
 this belief1 the difference between    
poetic and  rhetoric was minimized4 ,in 
theory a poem or a speech might         
indifferently  be composed either in    
prose or in verse4 ,both endeavored to  
teach1 to  please1 and to move4 ,both   
looked toward persuasion as an object4  
,the  speech used the enthymeme and the 
example as proofs1 while the poem used  
the example to a greater1 and the       
enthymeme to a lesser degree4 ,both in  
theory and in practice the example was  
regarded as being a pleasanter  argument
 than the precept1 as well as being more
 effective4 ,this was the  age of       
,ciceronianism4 ,the school-masters of  
,europe had recently  rediscovered      
imitation as the royal road to learning1
 and in their system  of language       
teaching emphasized imitation of        
classical authors more than  following  
the precepts of the grammarians or of   

the rhetoricians4 ,the  epigram of      
,seneca1 longum iter per praecepta1     
breve per exempla1 was the  popular     
catchword of the age4 ,the example was  
popular4    ,thus by the end of the     
sixteenth century1 the ,italian critics 
had  formulated a logical and           
self-consistent theory of the purpose of
 poetry4  ,inheritors of the allegorical
 theory of the middle ages1 which they  
in  part discarded1 and discoverers of  
classical rhetoric which they carried   
over bodily into their theories of      
poetry1 they passed on to ,france1      
,germany1 and ,england their rhetorical 
theories4 ,the purpose of poetry1 as    
well as of rhetoric1 was to them        
persuasion--to teach1 to please1 to     
move4  ,the instrument of poetry was the
 rhetorical example4          ,chapter  
,,iv    ,english ,renaissance ,ideas of 
the ,purpose of ,poetry        ,in      
,england the ,italian interpretations of
 the literary criticism of ,greece  and 
,rome made slow headway against the     

established traditions of the  middle   
ages4 ,in particular the vogue of       
allegory did not yield to the idea  of  
the moral example transferred from      
rhetoric to poetic4        #a4 ,allegory
 and ,example in ,rhetoric      ,when   
,thomas ,wilson published the first     
edition of his ,arte of ,rhetorique  in 
#aeec1 the corpus of ,greek criticism in
 the ,aldine ,rhetores ,graeci had  been
 in print forty-five years1 and the     
commentaries of ,dolce1 ,daniello1      
,robortelli1 and ,maggi were available4 
,but ,wilson wrote a very good  rhetoric
 with no books before him but           
,quintilian1 ,cicero and the rhetoric   
,ad ,herennium1 which he thought to be  
,cicero's1 ,erasmus1 ,plutarch ,de      
audiendis poetis1 and ,st4 ,basil4 ,his 
treatment of poetry is quite  naturally1
 then1 that of a rhetorician who had    
been reared in the  mediaeval tradition 
of allegory4    ,allegory in the sense  
of ,quintilian as a trope1 an extended  
metaphor1  ,wilson mentions only once4  

,his instance will bear quotation3      
,it is evil putting strong ,wine into   
weake vesselles1 that is to say1 it     
is evil trusting some women with        
weightie matters4 ,the ,english         
,proverbes    gathered by ,john         
,heywood1 helpe well in this behalfe1   
the which commonly    are nothing els   
but ,allegories1 and darke devised      
sentences4#cfj    ,allegory in its more 
general mediaeval sense of the kernel of
 moral truth  within the brilliant husk 
of the poet's fables he discusses at    
greater  length elsewhere with full     
exemplification4      ,for by them we   
may talke at large and win men by       
persuasion1 if we    declare beforehand 
that these tales were not fained of such
 wisemen    without cause4    ,this     
obvious rhetorical discussion of the use
 of poetical illustrations by  orators  
leads him to express his conviction of  
the moral value of poetry4  ,that poetry
 did have this improving effect he is   
quite sure4      ,for undoubtedly there 

is no one tale among all the ,poetes1   
but under the    same is comprehended   
something that parteineth1 either to the
 amendment    of maners1 to the         
knowledge of the trueth to the setting  
forth of    ,nature's work1 or els the  
understanding of some notable thing     
done4444    ,as ,plutarch saieth3 and   
likewise ,basilius ,magnus3#cfa ,in the 
,iliades    are described strength1 and 
valiantnesse of the bodie3 ,in the      
,odissea    is set forth a lively       
paterne of the minde4 ,the ,poetes were 
wisemen1 and    wished in hart the      
redresse of things1 the which when for  
feare1 they    durst not openly rebuke1 
they did in colours painte them out1 and
 tolde    men by shadowes what they     
should doe in good sooth1 or els because
 the    wicked were unworthy to heare   
the trueth1 they spake so that none     
might    understand but those unto whom 
they please to utter their meaning4#cfb 
,wilson seems to mean not only that     
poetry has a moral effect1 but that the 

moral value is the main intention4 ,he  
then proceeds to elucidate the story  of
 ,danae as signifying that women have   
been and will be overcome by money4     
,the story of ,io's seduction by the    
bull shows that beauty may overcome the 
best of women4 ,from ,icarus we should  
learn that every man should not  meddle 
with things above his compass1 and from 
,midas1 to avoid  covetousness4 ,as a   
,protestant he explains ,st4            
,christopher and ,st4 ,george  in like  
manner allegorically4    ,but ,wilson is
 a rhetorician1 not a theorist of       
poetry2 he is not concerned  with the   
moral example as the purpose of poetry4 
,in his section on example  as a        
rhetorical argument he shows how stories
 and fables may enliven and  enforce a  
point4 ,he illustrates by ,pliny's story
 of the grateful dragon1  and by        
,appian's story of the grateful lion1   
how a speaker may enlarge on  the duty  
of gratitude among men4 ,but though he  
does not postulate  pleasurable         

instruction as the aim of poetry1 he    
clearly implies it in his  comment on   
the use of stories in argument4    ,nor 
does ,roger ,ascham in his              
,scholemaster1 written between          
#aefc-aefh and  published posthumously  
in #aegj1 concern himself with the      
purpose of  poetry4 ,his interest in    
poetry seems to be confined to prosody4 
,as a  school-master himself he is      
interested in guiding grammar-school    
boys in  their mastery of ,latin prose4 
,i purpose to teach a yong scholer1 to  
go1  not to dance3 to speake1 not to    
sing4#cfc ,that he is not blind to the  
fact that poetry does influence the     
character of a reader1 whether that be  
its purpose or not in the mind of ,god1 
he shows by his comment on ,plautus4    
,the language1 ,ascham says1 is good and
 worthy of imitation2 but the master    
must choose only such passages as       
contain honest matter4#cfd ,and the same
  fear of the possible evil moral       
influence of fiction is evinced in his  

famous condemnation of the ,morte       
,darthur the whole pleasure of which    
booke standeth in two speciall poyntes1 
in open mans slaughter1 and bold        
bawdrye1#cfe and in his attacks on      
,english translations of ,italian poems 
and stories4 ,in this his position is   
substantially that of ,savonarola1      
,loyola and ,vives4#cff ,nowhere does   
,ascham advance the claims of allegory  
as cloaking moral truth under the guise 
of fiction4 ,he is too good a           
classicist and ,ciceronian4 ,what he    
fears from poetry is evil example4 ,if  
he believed that the purpose of poetry  
was to teach truth by example           
pleasantly1 at least he does not say so4
 ,ascham represents the advance  guard  
in ,england against allegory4 ,but since
 he was not writing on the  theory of   
poetry primarily1 he did not endeavor to
 establish that the  function of poetry 
is to teach by example4        #b4      
,allegory and the ,rhetorical ,example  
in ,poetic      ,thus far we have had to

 draw inferences from the asides of     
rhetorician and  school-master4 ,but in 
#aege1 five years after the publication 
of ,ascham's  treatise1 ,george         
,gascoigne1 a poet1 published his       
,certayne ,notes of  ,instruction       
,concerning the ,making of ,verse or    
,ryme4#cfg ,the title is not            
misleading4 ,gascoigne is concerned with
 the style of poetry1 not with its      
philosophy4 ,his only reference to      
either example or allegory is in a      
passage where he recommends methods of  
avoiding triteness in the praise of  his
 mistress4      ,if ,i should disclose  
my pretence in love1 ,i would eyther    
make a strange    discourse of some     
intollerable passion1 or finde occasion 
to pleade by    the example of some     
historie1 or discover my disquiet in    
shadowes per    ,allegoriam4#cfh        
,slight as this is1 it hints at the     
rhetoric of ,ovid and the declamation   
schools4 ,the poet is to pleade by      
example4 ,he is making a speech to his  

mistress trying to prove to her his     
undying passion that she may grant him  
the ultimate favor4 ,the genre is the   
same that includes the ,epistles of     
,ovid and the ,love ,letters of         
,aristenetus4 ,it is the genre of       
versified  speech-making4 ,wilson       
recommended the ,proverbs of ,heywood as
 furnishing  allegories useful in the   
amplification of a point in a speech4   
,in his  ,euphues ,lyly did use such    
allegories in what his contemporaries   
generally considered a poem4 ,lyly drew 
examples1 anecdotes1 and fables  which  
he used as ,gascoigne suggested1 not    
only from ,heywood1 but from the        
,similia and ,adagia1 of ,erasmus1 and  
from the ,emblems of  ,alciati4#cfi     
,so far the moral example is counseled  
or practised only as a recognized       
device of rhetoric4 ,it is not          
transferred to poetic until ,george     
,whetstone's ,dedication to his ,promos 
and ,cassandra4 ,for ,whetstone  asserts
 that in his comedy he has intermingled 

all actions in such sorte  as the grave 
matter may instruct1 and the pleasant   
delight 444 and the  conclusion showes  
the confusion of ,vice and the cherising
 of ,vertue4#cgj  ,that the philosophy  
of this moral improvement resides in the
 extreme  application of poetic justice 
he shows as follows3 ,for by the reward 
of  the good the good are encouraged in 
wel doinge3 and with the scowrge of  the
 lewde the lewde are feared from evill  
attempts4 ,whetstone's  ,dedication was 
published in #aegh1 one year before     
,gosson launched his  attack against    
poetry and poets in his ,school of      
,abuse1 which was  answered by ,lodge   
and ,sidney in their ,apologies4 ,in    
this controversy1 in  which ,whetstone  
later took sides with the anti-stage    
party in his  ,touchstone for ,time     
7#aehd71 the age-long conflict between  
the poets and  the philosophers was     
renewed with vigor and acrimony4 ,but   
both the  attackers and the defenders   
argued from the same premise1 that the  

purpose  of poetry was to afford        
pleasant moral instruction4 ,gosson and 
the  ,puritans objected that current    
poetry and plays failed to afford this  
moral instruction and should            
consequently be condemned4 ,lodge1      
,sidney and  the other defenders of     
poetry retorted that poetry had a noble 
function--the teaching of morality1 and 
that an occasional poem which did  not  
serve this purpose did not invalidate   
the claims of poetry as a whole4        
,gosson writes3      ,the right use of  
auncient poetrie was to have the notable
 exploytes of    worthy captaines1 the  
holesome councels of good fathers and   
vertuous    lives of predecessors set   
down in numbers1 and sung to the        
instrument at    solemne feastes1 that  
the sound of the one might draw the     
hearers from    kissing the cup too     
often1 and the sense of the other put   
them in minde    of things past1 and    
chaulke out the way to do the like4#cga 
,the benefit1 according to ,gosson1     

which poetry should produce is that of  
good moral example4 ,moral doctrine1 he 
believes accessible in the  churches1   
and against the poets he urges that the 
evil social environment  of the theatre 
offsets the benefit to be derived even  
from good plays4  ,what profits the     
moral lesson of such a play if after    
witnessing the  performance a man walk  
away with a woman whose acquaintance he 
has just  made in the theatre4#cgb ,he  
may drink wine1 he may play cards1 he   
may  even enter a brothel4    ,in his   
,defence of ,poetry 7#aegi71 ,lodge     
retreats to the caverns of the  middle  
ages to equip himself with arms4 ,under 
the influence of ,campano1  who died in 
#adgg1 he advances allegory as the      
explanation which makes the  apparently 
light and trifling poets moral teachers 
of the utmost  seriousness4 ,addressing 
,gosson he exclaims3      ,did you never
 reade that under the persons of beastes
 many abuses were    dissiphered8 ,have 
you not reason to waye that whatsoever  

ether ,virgil    did write of his gnatt 
or ,ovid of his fley was all covertly to
 declare    abuse8444 ,you remember not 
that under the person of ,aeneas in     
,virgil the    practice of a dilligent  
captaine is described2 you know not that
 the    creation is signified in the    
,image of ,prometheus2 the fall of pryde
 in    the person of ,narcissus4#cgc    
,and he quotes ,lactantius as comparing 
poetry with the ,scriptures4 ,if  either
 are taken literally1 they will seem    
false4 ,we should judge by the  poet's  
hidden meaning4#cgd ,the purpose of the 
poets1 to ,lodge1 was ,in  the way of   
pleasure to draw men to wisdome4 ,when  
he defends comedy1 ,lodge  drifts away  
from allegory4 ,terence and ,plautus he 
praises for furnishing  examples of     
virtue and vice upon the boards1 thus to
 amend the manners of  his auditors4 ,he
 believed that poetry did amend manners1
 and correct  abuses--if properly used4 
,but he is very quick to admit the very 
abuses  which ,gosson attacked4      ,i 

abhore those poets that savor of        
ribaldry3 ,i will admit the expullcion  
of such enormities1 poetry is dispraised
 not for the folly that is in    it1 but
 for the abuse whiche manye ill ,wryters
 couller by it4#cge ,i    must confess  
with ,aristotle that men are greatly    
delighted with    imitation1 and that it
 were good to bring those things on     
stage that    were altogether tending to
 vertue2 all this ,i admit and hartely  
wysh1    but you say unlesse the thinge 
be taken away the vice will continue4   
,nay    ,i say if the style were changed
 the practise would profit4#cgf    ,thus
 he defends poetry bcause it teaches    
morality by example and by  allegory4   
,with that higher intelligence and      
learning which have already been        
contrasted with the unthinking          
acceptance of his times#cgg ,sir ,philip
  ,sidney wrote his ,apologie for       
,poetrie4 ,in this dignified and        
vigorous  pamphlet1 written about #aehc1
 and published in #aeie1 ,sidney        

presents the  best and most consistent  
argument for the moral purpose of poetry
 that  appeared in ,england4 ,that the  
main line of his argument and his best  
material is drawn from ,minturno and    
,scaliger1 as ,spingarn has             
demonstrated1#cgh in no way invalidates 
his claim to distinction4 ,the  purpose 
of poetry is to ,sidney1 in the first   
place1 to teach and  delight1#cgi that  
fayning notable images of vertues1      
vices1 or what els1  with that          
delightfull teaching which must be the  
right describing note to  know a poet   
by4#chj ,but as the end of all earthly  
learning is virtuous  action1 in        
,sidney's mind1 he agrees with ,minturno
 and ,scaliger in  borrowing from       
rhetoric ,cicero's three-fold aim of the
 orator3 to teach1  to delight1 to move4
 ,sidney says that the poets imitate    
both to delight  and teach1 and delight 
to move men to take the goodnes in hande
 444  and teach1 to make them know that 
goodnes whereunto they are  mooved4#cha 

,it is incredible that he did not know  
this terminology as  rhetoric4 ,poetry1 
he believes1 fails if it does not       
persuade its reader to  abandon evil and
 adopt good4      ,and that mooving is  
of a higher degree than teaching1 it may
 by this    appeare1 that it is well    
nigh the cause of teaching4 ,for who    
will be    taught1 if he bee not mooved 
with desire to be taught8 and what so   
much    good doth that teaching bring   
forth 7,i speak still of morall         
doctrine7    as that it mooveth one to  
do that which it dooth teach8#chb       
,the effectiveness of poetry1 then1 in  
accomplishing this moral end lies in    
its pleasantness4 ,the poet1 says       
,sidney1 in that most famous passage    
which  is too frequently quoted         
incompletely1      commeth to you with  
words sent in delightful proportion1    
either    accompanied with1 or prepared 
for1 the well inchaunting skill of      
,musicke2 and with a tale forsooth he   
commeth unto you1 with a tale which     

holdeth children from play1 and old men 
from the chimney corner4 ,and           
pretending no more1 doth intende the    
winning of the mind from    wickedness  
to vertue3 even as the childe is often  
brought to take most    wholsom things  
by hiding them in such other as have a  
pleasant    tast4#chc    ,according to  
,sidney1 then1 it is the very purpose of
 poetry to win men to  virtue by        
pleasant instruction4 ,the argument of  
poetry in accomplishing  this end is    
primarily the example4 ,sidney compares 
very elaborately  philosophy1 history1  
and poetry in an endeavor to show that  
poetry is the  most effective instrument
 for forwarding virtue4 ,in the first   
place poetry  is better adapted than    
philosophy to win men to virtue because 
it  persuades both by precepts and by   
examples1 while philosophy persuades by 
precepts alone4 ,his sanction for this  
high opinion of the persuasive power  of
 example is the rhetorical commonplace  
of the renaissance that the way  is long

 by precept and short by example4#chd   
,to enforce this point he  tells the    
story of how ,menenius ,agrippa won over
 the people of ,rome to  support the    
,senate by telling them the story of the
 revolt of the members  against the     
belly4 ,quintilian#che and ,wilson#chf  
had already told this  story to prove   
the effectiveness of the example as a   
rhetorical argument1  a device of the   
public speaker4    ,the main advantage  
which poetry possesses over history1    
,sidney goes on1 is  that while the     
historian must stick to his facts1 which
 too frequently are  unedifying1 the    
poet can and does create a world better 
than nature1 and  presents to his reader
 ideal figures of human conduct such as 
,pylades1  ,cyrus1 and neas4#chg ,this  
is ,sidney's application of ,aristotle's
  assertion that history is particular  
and poetic universal2 history records   
things as they are and poetic as they   
are1 worse than they are1 or better4    
,lest his readers might fear that the   

arguments of the poet might lose some   
of their persuasive force from their    
being fictitious1 ,sidney hastens to    
add3 ,for that a fayned example hath as 
much force to teach as a true  example  
7for as for to moove1 it is cleere1 sith
 the fayned may be tuned  to the highest
 key of passion72#chh and here he is    
drawing from  ,aristotle's              
,rhetoric4#chi ,through admiration of   
the noble persons of  poetry1 the reader
 is won to a desire for emulation4 ,who 
readeth neas  carrying olde ,anchises on
 his back1 that wisheth not it were his 
fortune  to perfourme so excellent an   
acte8#cij    ,although ,sidney believes 
the principal moral value of poetry to  
reside in  its power to teach and move  
by the use of examples1 he devotes at   
least  half a page to the beneficent    
effect of parables and allegories4 ,the 
parables which he uses1 however1 are all
 ,christian1 and the allegories are  all
 the ,fables of sop4 ,from the          
allegorical interpretation of poetry    

current in the middle ages and to a     
scarcely less degree among his ,english 
contemporaries ,sidney remains          
conspicuously aloof4    ,in answering   
the specific charges against poetry1    
that it is a waste of  time1 the mother 
of lies1 the nurse of abuse1 and        
rejected by ,plato1  ,sidney asserts    
that a thing which moves men to virtue  
so effectively as  poetry cannot be a   
waste of time2 that since poetry        
pretends not to  literal truth1 it      
cannot lie1#cia that poetry does not    
abuse man's wit1  but man's wit abuses  
poetry1 for shall the abuse of a thing  
make the  right use odious8#cic and that
 ,plato objected not to poetry but to   
its  abuse4    ,sir ,john ,harington#cib
 who published his ,brief ,apologie of  
,poetrie in  #aeia1 four years before   
the publication of ,sidney's ,apologie1 
based much  of his treatise on ,sidney4 
,unfortunately1 he did not digest fully 
the  arguments of the manuscript in his 
hand1 and instead of a first-hand       

knowledge of ,minturno and ,scaliger had
 only the commonplaces of ,plutarch4    
,in spite even of ,plutarch1 allegory1  
not moral example1 is his main line  of 
defence4 ,his fundamental basis is the  
stock ,horatian omne tulit  punctum qui 
miscuit utile dulci1 or as ,harington   
paraphrases1 for in  verse is both      
goodness and sweetness1 ,rubarb and     
,sugarcandie1 the pleasant  and the     
profitable4#cid ,the objection that     
poets lie ,harington meets as  ,sidney  
does1 ,but poets never affirming any for
 true1 but presenting them  to us as    
fables and imitations1 cannot lye though
 they would4#cie ,at  this point        
,harington parts company with his master
 and goes back to the  middle ages4     
,the ancient ,poets have indeed wrapped 
as it were in their writings    divers  
and sundry meanings1 which they call the
 senses or mysteries    thereof4 ,first 
of all for the litteral sence 7as it    
were the utmost    barke or ryne7 they  
set downe in manner of an historie the  

acts and    notable exploits of some    
persons worthie memorie3 then in the    
same    fiction1 as a second rine and   
somewhat more fine1 as it were nearer to
    the pith and marrow1 they place the 
,morall sence profitable for the        
active life of man1 approving vertuous  
actions and condemning the    contrarie4
 ,many times also under the selfesame   
words they comprehend    some true      
understanding of naturall ,philosophie1 
or sometimes of    politike government1 
and now and then of divinitie3 and these
 same    sences that comprehend so      
excellent knowledge we call the         
,allegorie4#cif    ,nothing could be    
more specifically mediaeval4 ,he then   
proceeds to explain  the historical1    
moral1 and three allegorical senses of  
the story of  ,perseus and the          
,gorgon--the highest allegory being     
theological4 ,further1  to defend the   
allegorical senses of poetry1 which     
conceals a pith of  profit under a      
pleasant rind1 ,harington explains fully

 how ,demosthenes1  ,bishop ,fisher1 and
 the ,prophet ,nathan enforced their    
arguments by  allegorical stories4 ,to  
,harington1 then1 poetry is useful as an
  introduction to ,philosophy4          
,paraphrasing ,plutarch ,on the ,reading
 of  ,poets1 he says3      ,so young men
 do like best that ,philosophy that is  
not ,philosophie1 or    that is not     
delivered as ,philosophie1 and such are 
the pleasant writings    of learned     
,poets1 that are the popular            
,philosophers and the popular           
divines4#cig    ,a ,discourse of        
,english ,poetrie 7#aehf7 by the        
laborious but uninspired  tutor1        
,william ,webbe1#cih is not a defense2  
but interspersed among his  remarks     
advocating the reformed versifying1 and 
his arid catalog of poets1  ancient and 
modern1 is a good deal about the moral  
purpose and value of  poetry4 ,a        
thoroughgoing ,horatian1 he cannot      
forbear to quote at length and  comment 
upon the miscere utile dulci1 of his    

master4 ,poetry1 in ,webbe's            
conception1 therefore1 is especially    
effective in its sweete allurements  to 
vertues and commodious caveates from    
vices4#cii ,in appraising the  methods  
of producing the moral effect1 ,webbe   
fails to share with his  contemporaries 
their high opinion of moral example and 
their depreciation  of precept4 ,poetry1
 he says1 contains great and profitable 
fruits for the  instruction of manners  
and precepts of good life#djj4 ,and he  
finds much  profit even in the most     
dissolute works of ,ovid and ,martial   
because they  abound in moral precepts4 
,he does not1 however1 entirely discount
 the  moral effect of example4 ,ovid and
 ,martial should be kept from young     
people  who have not yet gained         
sufficient judgment to distinguish      
between the  beneficial and the harmful1
 and ,lucian should not be read at all4 
,but he  seems to fear the moral effect 
of bad example more than he applauds the
  effect of good4 ,thus his main        

reliance is upon allegory4 ,the         
,metamorphoses of ,ovid1 for instance1  
though it consisted of fayned ,fables   
for the most part1 and poeticall        
inventions1 yet being moralized         
according to his meaning1 and the trueth
    of every tale beeing discovered1 it 
is a worke of exceeding wysedome and    
sounde judgment and the rest of his     
writings are mixed with much good       
counsayle and profitable lessons1 if    
they be wisely and narrowly    read4#dja
    ,perhaps because he was not pledged 
to defend poetry against the attacks of 
the ,puritans1 ,webbe thus allows       
himself to admit the very summe or      
cheefest essence of poetry dyd alwayes  
for the most part consist in  delighting
 the readers or hearers with pleasure4  
,aside from his  emphasizing allegory1  
which ,plutarch had rejected1 ,webbe is 
thus closer to  the doctrines of        
,plutarch than he is to the ,italians4  
,poetry has1 he  believes1 a moral      
effect1 but he does not establish this  

moral effect as  its motivating         
purpose#djb4 ,and again1 after          
descanting on the  exhortations to      
virtue1 dehortations from vices1 and    
praises of laudable  things which       
characterized the early poets1 he       
defines the comical sort of  poetry as  
containing all such ,epigrammes1        
,elegies1 and delectable  ditties1 which
 ,poets have devised respecting onely   
the delight  thereof4#djc    ,like      
,webbe1 the author of ,the ,arte of     
,english ,poesie 7#aehi7 ascribed to    
,puttenham1#djd believes much in the    
pleasure of poetry4 ,he does not1       
however1 advance pleasure as the purpose
 any more than he does profit4  ,instead
 of endeavoring to discover what the end
 or purpose of poetry may  be1          
,puttenham explains why certain forms of
 poetry were devised1 or what  may be   
the intention of certain poets in       
certain poems4 ,the passage is  worth   
quoting at length4 ,the use of poetry1  
says ,puttenham1      is the laud1      

honour1  glory of the immortall gods 7,i
 speake now in    phrase of the         
,gentiles72 secondly1 the worthy gests  
of noble ,princes1    the memoriall and 
registry of all great fortunes1 the     
praise of vertue     reproofe of vice1  
the instruction of morall doctrines1 the
 revealing of    sciences naturall      
other profitable ,arts1 the redresse of 
boistrous     sturdie courages by       
perswasion1 the consolation and repose  
of temperate    myndes3 finally1 the    
common solace of mankind in all his     
travails and    cares of this           
transitorie life2 and in this last sort1
 being used for    recreation onely1 may
 allowably beare matter not alwayes of  
the gravest    or of any great          
commoditie or profit1 but rather in some
 sort vaine1    dissolute1 or wanton1 so
 it be not very scandalous  of evill    
example4#dje    ,the poems of this last 
sort which ,puttenham had in mind were  
anagrams1  emblems1 and such trifling   
verse especially1 which1 as he says1    

have been  objected to by some grave and
 theological heads as to none           
edification  nor instruction1 either of 
morall vertue or otherwise behooffull   
for the  commonwealth4 ,these trifles   
have bene in all ages permitted as the  
convenient solaces and recreations of   
man's wit4#djf ,but ,puttenham does  not
 advocate that these poems whose only   
aim is recreation should be  released   
from the restraints of accepted         
morality4 ,they may be vain1  dissolute 
or wanton1 but not very scandalous4     
,they should not offer evil  examples1  
nor should their matter be unhonest4    
,not all poetry1 according to           
,puttenham1 is given over to refreshing 
the  mind by the ear's delight4         
,although the poet is appointed as a    
pleader of  lovely causes in the ear of 
princely dames1 young ladies1           
gentlewomen1 and  courtiers1#djg none   
the less much poetry has a didactic     
purpose4 ,satire  was first invented to 
administer direct rebuke of evil1 comedy

 to amend  the manners of common men by 
discipline and example1 tragedy to show 
the  mutability of fortune and the just 
punishment of ,god in revenge of a      
vicious and evil life1 pastoral to      
inform moral discipline1 for the        
amendment of man's behavior1 or to      
insinuate or glance at greater matters  
under the veil of rustic persons and    
rude speeches4#djh ,here ,puttenham     
pays his respects to all accepted       
methods of poetical instruction3 in     
satire1 to precepts2 in comedy and      
tragedy1 to example2 in pastoral1 to    
allegory4 ,yet it is in historical      
poetry1 which may indifferently be      
wholly true1 wholly false1 or a mixture1
 the moral effect of example is  most   
potent4 ,speaking of examples in poetry1
 he says1 ,right so no kinde  of        
argument in all the ,oratorie craft doth
 better perswade and more  universally  
satisfie then example4#dji ,it is on    
this account that  historical poetry is1
 next the divine1 the most honorable and

 worthy4 ,for  the historians have      
always been not so eager that what they 
wrote should  be true to fact as that it
 should be used either for example or   
for  pleasure4      ,considering that   
many times it is seene a fained matter  
or altogether    fabulous1 besides that 
it maketh more mirth than any other1    
works no    less good conclusions for   
example then the most true and          
veritable1 but    often more1 because   
the ,poet hath the handling of them to  
fashion at his    pleasure4#daj    ,this
 conception of history as moral example 
is common enough4 ,to ,bud all  history 
was a moral example#daa and ,puttenham's
 inclusion of didactic  fiction is in   
line with much renaissance thought1     
which regarded the two  as almost       
interchangeable4#dab    ,puttenham1 like
 ,webbe1 was more in accord with ,horace
 in admitting both  the pleasant and    
profitable effects of poetry than he was
 with ,minturno1  ,scaliger1 and        
,sidney4 ,he grants that some poetry    

exists only for pleasure1  but he puts  
his emphasis on poetry as a power of    
persuasion#dac  accomplishing the moral 
improvement of society4 ,as late as the 
,hypercritica 7#afah7 of ,bolton1       
history is defined as nothing else but a
  kind of philosophy using examples4    
,bolton enforces his view by quotation  
from ,bede1 ,william of ,malmesbury1 and
 ,sir ,thomas ,north4#dad        #c4    
,the ,displacement of ,allegory by      
,example      ,a most interesting view  
of the purpose of poetry was evolved in 
the brain  of ,francis ,bacon--that     
baffling complexity of mediaeval        
tradition and  penetrating original     
thought4 ,to him the use of feigned     
history1 as he  defines poetry1 hath    
beene to give some shadowe of           
satisfaction to the  minde of man in    
those points wherein the ,nature of     
things doth deny  it4#dae ,that is1     
poetry represents the world as greater1 
more just1 and  more pleasant than it   
really is4 ,so as it appeareth that     

,poesie  serveth and conferreth to      
,magnanimitie1 ,moralitie1 and to       
delectation4  ,here ,bacon seems to     
imply that the essential pleasure of    
poetry is in  affording vicarious       
experience through imaginative          
realization4 ,poetry  does this by      
submitting the shewes of things to the  
desires of the  minde4 ,it truly makes a
 world nearer to our heart's desire4    
,but while  ,bacon derives the moral    
benefit of poetry from examples of      
conduct and  outcomes of events more    
nearly just than those of actual life1  
when he  analyses poetry into its kinds1
 he makes a place for allegory4 ,in this
  division he provides for narrative1   
drama1 and allegory4 ,but with          
penetration he sees what few renaissance
 critics had noted before--that         
allegory is of two varieties4 ,the first
 variety is essentially the same as  a  
rhetorical example2 it is an extended   
metaphor used as an argument to  enforce
 a point and thus persuade an audience4 

,the fables of ,aesop are  such         
allegories or examples2 and they are    
useful because they make their  point   
more interestingly than other arguments 
and more clearly4 ,the other  sort of   
allegory1 says ,bacon1 instead of       
illuminating the idea1 obscures  it4    
,that is1 when the ,secrets and         
,misteries of ,religion1 ,pollicy1 or   
,philosophy1 are involved in ,fables or 
,parables4 ,he then gives political     
allegorical interpretations of the myths
 of ,briareus and of the ,centaur  and  
suddenly adds3 ,nevertheless in many the
 like incounters1 ,i doe rather  think  
that the fable was first and the        
exposition devised than that the        
,morall was first and thereupon the     
fable framed4#daf ,bacon's final        
conclusion seems to be that1 although   
allegorical poetry does exist1  allegory
 is not essential to poetry and that the
 wholesale allegorizing of  the middle  
ages was far off the mark4 ,in his      
suspicion that in most cases  the fable 

was first and the interpretation after1 
,bacon was in complete  agreement with  
,rabelais in the prologue of            
,gargantua4#dag ,at any rate  ,bacon    
seems to have given the coup de grace to
 allegory in ,england4    ,under the    
influence of ,pico della ,mirandola it  
was resurrected from its  tomb by ,henry
 ,reynolds2 but it was a much less moral
 allegory and a more  mystical4 ,in his 
,mythomystes 7licensed #afcb7 ,reynolds 
admits1 that the  ancients mingled moral
 instruction in their poetry1 but       
reprehends this as  an abuse4 ,prose is 
the proper vehicle of moral doctrine and
 should have  been employed by ,spenser4
 ,the true function of poetry1 then1 is 
to give  secret knowledge of the        
mysteries of nature to the initiated4   
,thus the  story of the rape of         
,proserpine signifies1 when             
allegorically interpreted2  the         
putrefaction and succeeding generation  
of the ,seedes we commit to  ,pluto1 or 
the earth4#dah ,this is the most        

plausible example of mystical           
interpretation to be found in the whole 
treatise4    ,to the allegorist1 the    
fable or plot in epic or dramatic poetry
 was only a  rind to cover attractively 
the kernel of truth4 ,it was a means to 
an end1  not an end in itself4 ,as the  
influence of ,aristotle's ,poetics      
spreading  through ,italy1 ,germany1    
,france1 and ,england1 gave the plot or 
fable more  importance1 allegory lost   
its hold on the minds of the critics4   
,when ,ben  ,jonson writes in his       
,timber ,for the ,fable and ,fiction is1
 as it were1  the forme and ,soule of   
any ,poeticall worke or ,poeme#dai the  
change had  come4 ,jonson1 like ,sidney1
 was steeped in classical criticism as  
interpreted and spread abroad by the    
sixteenth-century critics of the        
continent4 ,but while ,sidney made a    
place for allegory in his scheme of     
poetry1 ,jonson does not so much as     
mention it4 ,his idea of the teaching   
power of poetry1 for to him poetry and  

painting both behold pleasure and       
profit as their common object1#dbj is   
rhetorical--depending on precept  and   
example--and attaining its true aim when
 it moves men to action4 ,poesy  is a   
dulcet and gentle ,philosophy1 which    
leades on and guides us by the  hand to 
,action with a ravishing delight and    
incredible ,sweetnes4#dba  ,jonson      
evidently knew that he was merging      
oratory and poetry in their  common     
purpose of securing persuasion2 for he  
says3      ,the ,poet is the neerest    
,borderer upon the ,orator1 and         
expresseth all    his vertues1 though he
 be tyed more to numbers1 is his equal  
in ornament1    and above him in his    
strengths3 ,because in moving the minds 
of men1 and    stirring of affections1  
in which ,oratory shewes1 and especially
 approves    her eminence1 hee chiefly  
excells4#dbb    ,in his dedication to   
,volpone he says this power of          
persuasion which the  poet possesses to 
so eminent a degree is to be applied to 

the moral  well-being of men1 to inform 
men in the best reason of living4#dbc   
,himself a writer for the theatre1      
,jonson is naturally more concerned with
  comedy and tragedy than he is with any
 narrative forms of poetry4 ,and to  him
 the office of the comic poet is to     
imitate justice and instruct to         
life--or stirre up gentle               
affections4#dbd ,in ,timber he iterates 
the  same praise of poetry as being no  
less effective than philosophy in       
instructing men to good life1 and       
informing their manners1 but as even    
more effective in that it persuades men 
to good where philosophy threatens  and 
compels4 ,in order to accomplish this   
beneficial effect on public  morals1 the
 poet must have an exact knowledge of   
all virtues and vices  with ability to  
render the one loved and the other      
hated4#dbe ,as a  natural result of this
 conception1 so similar to ,cicero's    
demand that the  orator must know all   
things and in line with ,aristotle's    

,rhetoric1  ,jonson concludes that the  
poet1 like ,quintilian's orator1 must   
himself be  a good man2 for how else    
will he be able to informe yong-men to  
all  good disciplines1 inflame          
growne-men to all great vertues1 keepe  
old  men in their best and supreme      
state4#dbf    ,aside from ,sidney and   
,jonson no ,english critic1 however1    
thought through  to the logical         
conclusion that in moral purpose        
rhetoric and poetic are  identical4 ,the
 others continued to echo ,horace1 or   
lean toward allegory1  or see profit in 
poetry from its moral example4 ,for     
instance in his  preface to his second  
instalment of ,homer entitled ,achilles'
 ,shield  7#aeih7 ,chapman dwells at    
length on the moral value and wisdom    
contained in  the ,iliad1#dbg and       
enunciates the same idea in his         
,prefaces of  #afaj-af4dbh ,peacham1 in 
his ,compleat ,gentleman 7#afbb71       
repeats the  usual commonplaces to the  
effect that poetry is a dulcet          

philosophy1 for  the most part lifted   
from ,puttenham4#dbi ,in his ,argenis   
7#afba7 ,barclay  reminds his reader of 
the children who for so many centuries  
had shunned  the cup of physic until the
 bitter taste had been removed by sweet 
syrop4  ,thus also1 says he1 is it with 
the moral value of poetry disguised with
  sweet music4 ,virtues and vices ,i    
will frame1 and the rewards of them     
shall suite to both2 for it is on the   
moral example of poetic justice  that   
,barclay depends4 ,the models of virtue 
will be followed4#dcj    ,the ,earl of  
,stirling1 in ,anacrisis 7#afcd87       
acknowledges the works of the  poets to 
be the chief springs of learning1 both  
for ,profit and ,pleasure1  showing     
,things as they should be1 where        
,histories represent them as they  are4 
,consequently he has a high opinion of  
the ,cyropaedia of ,xenophon1  the      
,arcadia of ,sir ,philip ,sidney1 and   
other such poems1 as affording  many    
exquisite ,types of ,perfection for both

 the ,sexes4#dca ,these types  the      
reader is expected to imitate in his own
 conduct1 guided by the moral  precepts 
with which the poet must not neglect to 
decorate his work4           99       99
       99       99       99    ,within  
the period of this study two views were 
taken of the moral element  in poetry4  
,with the exception of ,sidney and      
,jonson1 who knew the theories  of the  
,italian renaissance1 the ,english      
critics believed with ,horace that      
poetry was at once pleasant and         
profitable1 and agreed with ,plutarch   
that  poetry1 if rightly used1 would be 
of benefit in the education of youth4   
,but there was little tendency to follow
 this to the conclusion of  asserting   
that because poetry has a moral effect  
on the reader1 it is the  purpose of    
poetry as an art to exert this moral    
effect for the good of  society4 ,most  
of these critics believed that the moral
 effect which poetry  did exert came    
through allegory4 ,in this respect1 as  

has been shown1 they  were carrying on  
the traditions of the middle ages4      
,the opposing view derived ultimately   
from the classical rhetorics1 and       
entered ,england through the criticism  
of the ,italian  scholars--particularly 
,minturno and ,scaliger4 ,starting from 
the saying of  ,horace that poets aim to
 please or profit1 or please and profit 
together1  these critics borrowed from  
rhetoric ,cicero's three-fold aim of the
  orator3 to teach1 to please1 to move1 
and applied these three aims to the     
poet4 ,accordingly1 to them the poet has
 the same aim as the                    
orator--persuasion4 ,he pleases not for 
the sake of giving pleasure1 but  for   
the sake of winning his readers so that 
he may better attain his real  object of
 teaching morality and moving men to    
action in its practice4 ,the  emphasis  
on the example as the means of attaining
 this end was further  derived from     
scholastic philosophy which1 as has been
 shown1 classed  logic1 rhetoric1 and   

poetic together as instruments for      
attaining truth  and improving the      
morality of the state4 ,furthermore1    
according to this  scholastic view1 the 
three arts differed only as they        
utilized different  means to attain this
 end4 ,logic used the demonstrative     
syllogism and the  scientific induction1
 rhetoric used the enthymeme or         
rhetorical syllogism  and the example or
 popular induction1 poetic used the     
example alone4  ,according to the       
renaissance developments of this last   
view1 allegory was  emphasized less and 
less as the example was felt to be more 
appropriate4  ,thus ,sidney and ,jonson1
 the outstanding classicists in ,english
 renaissance  criticism1 exhibit to the 
highest degree the influence of the most
  rhetorical of ,italian renaissance    
critics4 ,they alone in ,england assert 
that the purpose of poetry is to move   
men to virtuous action4           99    
99       99       99       99    ,thus a
 study of rhetorical terminology in     

,english renaissance theories of  poetry
 throws into sharp relief the fact that 
all criticism of the fine  art of       
literature in ,england in the #afth     
century and the first half of the  #agth
 century was profoundly influenced by   
rhetoric4 ,this influence was  two-fold4
 ,on the one hand the less scholarly    
critics perpetuated the  popular        
traditions of rhetoric which they       
inherited from the middle ages4  ,these 
traditions of allegory and the ornate   
style were1 as has been shown1  in turn 
derived from post-classical rhetoric4   
,on the other hand the more  scholarly  
critics applied to poetry the canons of 
classical rhetoric which  they derived  
in part from the classics themselves and
 in part from the  critics of the       
,italian renaissance4    ,in one sense  
this has been a study of critical       
perversions4 ,although many  of the     
critics of the ,english renaissance are 
remarkable for their wisdom  and        
discerning judgments1 their writings are

 far less valuable than those  of       
,longinus and ,aristotle4 ,but          
,aristotle and ,longinus did not allow  
their  theories of poetry to be         
contaminated by rhetoric4 ,the best     
modern critics  have studied and        
understood the classical treatises on   
poetic and have  consequently avoided   
the confusion between rhetoric and      
poetic into which  many renaissance     
critics fell4 ,others have not been so  
fortunate4 ,for  these the object-lesson
 of renaissance failure should serve as 
a warning4          ,index              
,abelard  ,aeschylus  ,aesop  ,agathon  
,agricola1 ,rudolph  ,alanus de ,insulis
  ,alciati  ,alcidamas  ,albucius       
,aldus  ,alfarabi  ,alstedius           
,anaxagoras  ,annaeus ,florus  ,appian  
,apsinus  ,apthonius  ,apuleius         
,aristenetus  ,aristophanes  ,aristotle 
,aristides  ,ascham  ,athenagoras       
,augustine  ,averroes    ,bacon1        
,francis  ,barclay1 ,john  ,barton1     
,john  ,basil the ,great  ,bede         

,bokenham  ,boccaccio  ,bolton1 ,edmund 
,bornecque1 ,henri  ,boethius  ,brunetto
 ,latini  ,butcher1 ,s4,h4  ,buchanan1  
,george  ,bud  ,butler1 ,charles    ,can
 ,grande  ,campano1 ,g4  ,campion1      
,thomas  ,casaubon  ,cassiodorus        
,castelvetro  ,castiglione  ,cato       
,caussinus1 ,n4  ,chapman1 ,g4  ,chaucer
  ,chemnicensis1 ,georgius  ,cicero     
,clement of ,alexandria  ,cox1 ,leonard 
,croce1 ,b4  ,croll1 ,morris  ,curio    
,fortunatus    ,daniel1 ,samuel         
,daniello  ,dante  ,darwin1 ,charles    
,demetrius  ,demosthenes  de ,worde1    
,wynkyn  ,dio ,chrysostom  ,dionysius of
 ,halicarnassus  ,dolce  ,drant1 ,thomas
  ,drummond of ,hawthornden  ,du,bellay 
,ducas  ,du,cygne1 ,m4  ,dunbar1        
,william    ,earle1 ,john  ,eastman1    
,max  ,empedocles  ,emporio  ,erasmus   
,eratosthenes  ,estienne1 ,henri        
,etienne de ,rouen  ,euripides          
,farnaby1 ,thomas  ,fenner1 ,dudley     
,filelfo  ,fraunce1 ,abraham            
,gascoigne  ,george of ,trebizond       

7,trapezuntius7  ,gorgias  ,gosson1     
,stephen  ,gower  ,gregory ,nazianzen   
,guarino  ,guevara    ,hall1 ,joseph    
,harington1 ,john  ,harvey1 ,gabriel    
,hawes1 ,stephen  ,heinsius1 ,d4        
,henryson  ,heliodorus  ,herodotus      
,hermagoras  ,hermannus ,allemanus      
,hermogenes  ,hilary of ,poitiers       
,holland1 ,p4  ,homer  ,horace  ,hermas 
,hesiod  ,heywood1 ,john    ,isidore of 
,seville  ,isocrates    ,james ,i       
,james ,,vi  ,jerome  ,john of ,garland 
,john of ,salisbury  ,jonson1 ,ben      
,julian    ,kechermann    ,lactantius   
,langhorne  ,lipisius  ,livy  ,lodge    
,lombardus1 ,b4  ,longinus  ,loyola     
,lucan  ,lucian  ,lucretius  ,lydgate1  
,john  ,lyly1 ,john  ,lyndesay1 ,david4 
,lysias    ,maggi  ,martial  ,martianus 
,capella  ,mazzoni  ,melanchthon        
,menander  ,menenius ,agrippa  ,milton  
,minturno    ,nash1 ,t4  ,newman1 ,j4,h4
  ,norden1 ,eduard  ,north1 ,sir ,thomas
    ,origen  ,overbury1 ,thomas  ,ovid  
,palmieri  ,pazzi  ,peacham1 ,henry     

,petrarch  ,piccolomini  ,pico della    
,mirandola  ,plato  ,plautus  ,pliny    
,plutarch  ,poggio  ,pontanus1 ,jacob   
,prickard1 ,a4 ,o4  ,puttenham          
,quintilian    ,rabelais  ,ramus1 ,peter
  ,reynolds1 ,henry  ,robortelli        
,ronsard  ,rufinus    ,sappho           
,savonarola  ,scaliger1 ,j4,c4          
,schelling1 ,felix  ,segni  ,seneca     
,servatus ,lupus  ,shakespeare  ,sherry1
 ,richard  ,sidney  ,sidonius1          
,apollinaris  ,simonides  ,smith1 ,john 
,soarez  ,socrates  ,sopatrus           
,sophocles  ,sophron  ,spenser          
,spingarn1 ,j4,e4  ,stanyhurst          
,stesimbrotus of ,thasos  ,strabo       
,strebaeus  ,sturm1 ,john    ,tacitus   
,tasso1 ,b4  ,tatian  ,terence          
,tertullian  ,theognis of ,rhegium      
,theon  ,theophilus  ,theophrastus      
,themistocles  ,thomas ,aquinas         
,thomasin von ,zirclaria  ,tifernas     
,timocles    ,valla  ,valladero1 ,a4    
,van ,hook1 ,l4  ,varchi  ,vettore      
,vicars1 ,thomas  ,victor1 ,julius      

,victorino1 ,mario  ,vida  ,virgil      
,vives1 ,l4  ,vossius 7,j4,g4 ,voss7    
,vossler1 ,karl    ,wackernagel1 ,jacob 
,walton1 ,john  ,watson1 ,thomas        
,webbe1 ,william  ,whetstone1 ,george   
,william of ,malmesbury  ,wilson1       
,thomas    ,xenarchus  ,xenophon        
,footnotes3        #a ,modern           
,philology1 ,vol4 ,,xvi1 ,no4 #h1 ,dec41
 #aiah4    #b ,poetics1 ,i1 #h4    #c   
,quomodo historia conscribenda sit1 #h4 
#d ,de institutione oratoria1 ,x1 ii1   
#ba4    #e ,poetik1 ,rhetorik1 und      
,stilistik 7,halle1 #ahhf71 pp4 #ad1    
#bfa4    #f ,poetry1 with ,reference to 
,aristotle's ,poetics1 ,ed4 ,a4,s4 ,cook
  7,boston1 #ahia71 pp4 #aj-aa4    #g   
,estetica 7,milano1 #aijb71 ,i1 ,,ii1   
and appendix4    #h ,enjoyment of       
,poetry 7,new ,york1 #aiaf71 p4 #ff4    
#i ,georges ,renard1 ,la method         
scientifique de l'histoire littraire4   
7,paris1 #aijj71 p4 #che4    #aj ,,iii1 
#a4    #aa ,i1 #h2 and ,,ix1 #b4    #ab 
,prickard thinks ,aristotle misread in  

this passage4 ,according to  ,prickard1 
,aristotle means that poetry must be in 
meter1 but that not all  meter is       
poetry4 ,aristotle's ,poetics1 p4 #fj4  
,most critics do not share  ,prickard's 
opinion4    #ac ,ibid41 ,i1 #f4    #ad  
,ibid41 ,,iv1 #b4    #ae ,psychology1   
ed4 ,e4 ,wallace1 ,,iii1 #c1 cf4 also   
introd41 p4 #gg1 ff4    #af ,poetics1   
,i4    #ag ,,vii1 #c4    #ah ,,vii1 #e4 
#ai ,s4,h4 ,butcher1 ,aristotle's       
,theory of ,poetry and ,fine ,art1 p4   
#abc4  ,poetics1 ,,ii1 #a4    #bj ,,iii1
 #a4    #ba ,ibid41 ,,ix4    #bb ,ibid41
 ,,ix1 #c-d2 of4 ,,xv1 #f4    #bc       
,ibid41 ,x1 #c4    #bd ,ibid41 ,,xxiv1  
#i-aj4    #be ,butcher1 op4 cit4 p4     
#cib4    #bf ,poetics1 ,,xvii4    #bg   
,,vi1 #ah4    #bh ,longinus1 ,on the    
,sublime1 trans1 by ,a4 ,o4 ,prickard   
7,oxford1 #aijf7 ,i  and ,,xxxiii4 ,the 
treatise has been variously ascribed to 
the first and  fourth centuries4 ,a     
valuable edition of the text accompanied
 by  translation and critical apparatus1

 was published by ,w4 ,rhys ,roberts1   
,cambridge ,university ,press4    #bi   
,ibid41 ,,viii4    #cj ,ibid41 ,x4      
#ca ,ibid41 ,,xii4    #cb ,ibid41 ,,xv4 
,this is almost exactly ,aristotle's    
phrase in the  ,rhetoric4    #cc ,ibid4 
#cd ,ibid1 ,x4    #ce ,de audiendis     
poetis1 ,,vii1 ,,viii4    #cf ,,iii4    
#cg ,rhetoric 7,j4 ,e4 ,c4 ,welldon's   
trans41 ,london1 #ahhf71 ,i1 ii4    #ch 
,rhetoric1 ,i1 i4    #ci ,ibid41 ,i1 i4 
#dj ,wilkin's ed4 of ,cic4 ,de oratore1 
introd4 p4 #ef4    #da ,cope1           
,introduction to the ,rhetoric of       
,aristotle 7,london1 #ahfg71 p4  #adi4  
#db ,ad ,herennium1 ,i1 #b4 ,published  
in the ,opera ,rhetorica of ,cicero1    
edited by ,w4 ,friedrich for ,teubner   
7,leipzig1 #ahic71 ,vol4 #a4    #dc ,de 
oratore1 ,i1 #ach4    #dd ,de           
institutione oratoria1 ,,ii1 xv1 #ch4   
#de ,ibid41 ,,xi1 i1 #i-aa4 ,the vir    
bonus dicendi peritus is from ,cato4    
#df ,gorgias1 ,st4 #dec4    #dg ,loci   
cit4    #dh ,i1 v4    #di ,i1 #bac4     

#ej ,op4 cit41 ,i1 #fd4    #ea ,de inst4
 orat41 ,,ii1 xxi1 #d4    #eb ,rhet41   
,i1 ix4    #ec ,de inst4 orat41 ,,iii1  
iv1 #f4    #ed ,ibid41 ,x1 i1 #bh4      
#ee 1 ,rhet4 ,,iii1 xii4    #ef ,orator1
 #cg-ch4    #eg ,rhet41 ,i1 ix4    #eh  
,ad ,herennium1 ,i1 #b2 ,cicero1 ,de    
inventione1 ,i1 vii4 ,de oratore1  ,i1  
#adb2 ,quintilian1 ,de inst4 orat41     
,,iii1 iii1 i4    #ei ,aristotle1       
,rhetoric1 ,,iii1 xiii-xix2 ,cicero1    
,partit4 orat41 #ae4    #fj ,see above1 
pp4 #ac-ad4    #fa ,cicero1 ,de oratore1
 ,i4 #adc2 ,quint41 ,de inst4 orat41    
,,iii1 ix4    #fb ,i1 #d4 ,cicero1 also1
 ,de invent41 ,i1 xiv4    #fc ,opera    
omnia 7#afbb71 p4 #ajbh4    #fd ,de     
nuptiis1 #edd-efj4    #fe ,the ,arte of 
,rhet41 p4 #g4    #ff ,de inst4 orat41  
,,viii1 i1 ,i    #fg ,de inst4 orat41   
,,viii1 vi1 ,i ff4    #fh ,rhetoric1    
,,iii1 ii4    #fi ,ibid41 ,,iii1 xi4    
#gj ,enjoyment of ,poetry1 pp4 #gf-gh4  
,the best classical treatments of  style
 are to be found in ,arist4 ,rhet41     

,,iii2 ,cic41 ,orat42 ,quint41 ,de      
inst4 orat41 ,,viii1 x2 ,dionysius of   
,halicarnassus1 ,de comp4 verb42 and    
,demetrius1 ,de elocutione4    #ga ,sec4
 #ed4    #gb ,commentarioum             
,rhetoricorum libri ,,iv1 ,i1 i1 #c1 in 
his ,opera1 ,,iii4  7,amsterdam1 #afig74
    #gc ,,vi1 #a4    #gd ,rhet41 ,,iii1 
#a4    #ge ,the six elements are ,plot1 
,character1 ,thought1 ,diction1         
,spectacle1  and ,song4 ,poetics1 ,,vi1 
#g and #af4    #gf ,butcher1 op4 cit41  
pp4 #cci-cdc4    #gg ,poetics1 ,,vi1    
#af1 and ,,xix1 #a-b4    #gh ,de inst4  
orat41 ,x1 i1 #df-ea4    #gi ,de        
inventione1 ,i1 xxiii1 #cc4    #hj ,die 
antike kunstprosa 7,leipzig1 #ahih71 p4 
#hhd1 note #c4    #ha ,see above1 p4    
#ag4    #hb ,de optimo genere oratorum1 
,i1 #c2 ,orator1 #fi2 ,de oratore1 ,,ii1
  #bh4    #hc ,de inst4 orat41 ,,vi1 ii1
 #be-cf4    #hd ,poetics1 ,,xvii1 #b4   
#he ,arist4 ,rhet41 ,,iii4 xi2          
,dionysius of ,halicarnassus1 ,de       
,lysia1 #g2  ,quintilian1 ,,viii1 iii1  

#fb4    #hf ,rhetoric1 ,,iii1 i4    #hg 
,op4 cit41 pp4 #hhc-hhd4    #hh ,la ,rue
 ,van ,hook1 ,alcidamas versus          
,isocrates1 ,classical ,weekly1  ,,xii  
7,jan4 #bj1 #aiai71 p4 #ij4 ,professor  
,van ,hook here presents the only       
,english translation of ,alcidamas1 ,on 
the ,sophists4 ,isocrates made his      
reply in his speech ,on the ,antidosis4 
#hi ,rhetoric1 ,,iii1 ii4    #ij ,ibid41
 ,,iii1 viii4    #ia ,orator1 #ff-fh4   
#ib ,de oratore1 ,i1 #gj4    #ic ,verba 
prope poetarum1 ibid41 ,i1 #abh4    #id 
,id primum in poetis cerni licet1 quibus
 est proxima cognatio cum  oratoribus4  
,de orat41 ,,iii1 #bg4 cf4 also ,i1 #gj4
    #ie ,xenophon1 ,banquet1 ,,ii1      
#aa-ad4    #if ,die antike kunstprosa1  
pp4 #ge-gi4    #ig ,de compositione     
verborum1 ,,xxv-,,xxvi4    #ih ,snque le
 rheteur1 ,controverses et suasoires1   
ed4 ,henri ,bornecque  7,paris74        
,introduction pp4 #bj ff4    #ii ,ibid4 
#ajj ,op4 cit4 vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #e4    #aja
 ,dialogus1 #bj4    #ajb ,op4 cit41     

,introd4 p4 #bc4    #ajc ,dionysius of  
,halicarnassus1 ,de comp4 verb41        
,,xxiii4    #ajd ,hardie1 ,lectures1    
,,vii1 p4 #bha4    #aje ,quomodo        
historia conscribenda sit1 ,sec4 #h4    
,trans1 of ,lucian by  ,h4,w4 ,fowler   
and ,f4,g4 ,fowler 7,oxford1 #d vols41  
#aije74    #ajf ,id quoque vitandum1 in 
quo magna pars errat1 ne in oratione    
poetas  et historicos1 in illis operibus
 oratores aut declamatores imitandos    
putemus4 ,de inst4 orat1 ,x1 ii1 #ba4   
#ajg ,virgilius orator an poeta8 quoted 
by ,karl ,vossler1 ,poetische  ,theorien
 in der italienischen ,frhrenaissance4  
7,berlin1 #aijj7 p4 #db1 note  #b4      
#ajh ,etymologiae1 ,,ii4    #aji ,p4    
,abelson1 ,the ,seven ,liberal ,arts    
7,new ,york1 #aijf71 p4 #fj1 ff4    #aaj
 ,poetria magistri ,johannis anglici de 
arte prosayca metrica et  rithmica1 ed4 
by ,g4 ,mari1 ,romanische ,forschungen  
7#aijb71 ,,xiii1 p4 #hhc  ff4    #aaa   
,ibid41 p4 #hid4    #aab ,ibid41 p4     
#hig4    #aac ,cf4 ,g4 ,l4 ,hendrickson1

 ,the ,origin and ,meaning of the       
,ancient  ,characters of ,style1 ,am4   
,jour4 of ,phil4 7#aije71 xxvi1 p4 #bdi4
    #aad ,cf4 the auctor ad ,her41 ,i1  
#d1 who gives them as exordium1         
narratio1 divisio1 confirmatio1         
confutatio1 conclusio4    #aae ,ibid41  
p4 #iah4    #aaf ,,iii1 #c4    #aag     
,rhetoric1 kleit unser rede mit varwe   
schne4 ,ed4 by ,h4 ,rckert1  ,bibl4 der 
,deutsch4 ,lit41 ,vol4 #cj1 #a4 #hibd4  
#aah ,caius ,sollius ,apollinaris       
,sidonius 7#dcj-dhh7 can be consulted in
 a  modern ed4 by ,paulus ,mohr         
7,leipzig1 #ahie74    #aai ,doctrina    
dell' ornato parlare4 ,woodward1 ,educ4 
in the ,ren4 p4 #ge4    #abj ,chron4    
,troy 7#adab-bj71 ,prol4 #eg4    #aba ,i
 am indebted to my friend ,dr4 ,mark    
,van ,doren for the transcript  which ,i
 am here publishing4    #abb ,mor4 ,fab4
 ,prol4 #c4 7c4 #aehj74    #abc ,poems1 
,,lxv1 #aj 7#aejj-bj74    #abd ,clerk's 
,prolog4 #cb4    #abe ,life of our ,lady
 7#adji-adaa71 7,caxton7 lvii b4    #abf

 ,trans1 of ,boethius 7#adaj71 quoted by
 ,skeat1 ,chaucer1 ,,ii1 xvii4    #abg  
,kingis ,q4 7#adbc71 ,,cxcvii4    #abh  
,test4 ,papyngo 7#aecj71 ,,ii4    #abi  
,seyntys 7#addg71 ,roxb4 #da4    #acj   
,serp4 ,devision1 c4 iii b4    #aca     
,reprinted from the ed4 of #aeee for the
 ,percy ,society 7,london1 #ahde71  p4  
#b4    #acb ,ibid41 p4 #ee4    #acc     
,ibid41 p4 #bh4    #acd ,see p4 #bg4    
#ace ,ibid41 p4 #cg4    #acf ,ibid41 p4 
#df4    #acg ,proximum grammatice docet1
 quae emendate  aperte loquendi vim     
tradit3 ,proximum rhetorice1 quae       
ornatum orationis cultum que  omnes     
capiendarum aurium illecebras invenit4  
,quod reliquum igitur est videbitur     
sibi dialectice vendicare1 probabliter  
dicere de qualibet re1 quae  deducitur  
in orationem4 ,de inventione dialectica 
7,paris1 #aece71 ,,ii1 #b4  cf4 also    
,,ii1 #c4    ,cf4 ,gram loquitur2 ,dia  
vera docet2 ,rhet verba colorat4        
,nicolaus de  ,orbellis 7d4 #adee71     
quoted by ,sandys1 p4 #fdd4    #ach     

,ibid41 ,i1 #a4    #aci ,rule of ,reason
 7#aeea71 p4 #e4 ,fraunce1 ,lawiers     
,logike1 takes the  same view4    #adj  
,dialecticae libri duo1 ,a4 ,talaei     
praelectionibus illustrati  7,paris1    
#aefj71 ,i1 #b4    #ada ,rule of        
,reason1 p4 #c4    #adb ,wilkins introd4
 to ,cic4 ,de orat41 p4 #eg4    #adc ,de
 inst4 orat41 ,,vi41 v1 #a-b4    #add   
,printed in ,london by ,john ,day1      
without a date4 ,the dedication is      
dated ,dec4 #ac1 #aeej4 ,the title page 
says it was written fyrst in  ,latin--by
 ,erasmus4    #ade ,ascribed to ,dudley 
,tenner by ,foster ,watson1 ,the        
,english ,grammar  ,schools 7,cambridge1
 #aijh71 p4 #hi4    #adf ,chapter ,,ix4 
#adg ,thomas ,heywood1 ,apology for     
,actors 7,london1 #afab71 in ,pub4      
,shak4  ,soc41 ,vol4 ,,iii1 p4 #bi4     
#adh ,book ,i1 ch4 #a4    #adi          
,rhetorica est ars ornate dicendi4      
,rhetoricae libri duo quorum  prior de  
tropis  figuris1 posterior de voce      
gestu praecepit3 in usum  scholarum     

postremo recogniti4 7,london1 #afbi7    
#aej ,the ,art of ,rhetorick concisely  
and completely handled1 exemplified  out
 of ,holy ,writ1 etc4 7,london1 #afcd7  
#aea ,dekker and ,middleton1 ,the       
,roaring ,girl1 ,,iii1 #c4    #aeb      
,dekker1 ,,iii1 #a4    #aec ,spingarn1  
,critical ,essays of the ,seventeenth   
,century1 ,i1 #b4    #aed  ,manductio ad
 ,artem ,rhetoricam ante paucos annos   
in privatum scholarium usum concinnata  
7,london1 #afba74 ,rhetorica est ars    
recte dicendi1 etc4    #aee ,norden1 op4
 cit41 pp4 #fii-gjc4    #aef ,a4,c4     
,clark1 ,ciceronianism1 in ,eng4 ,lit4  
and the ,classics1 ed4  ,gordon         
7,oxford1 #aiab71 p4 #abh4    #aeg      
,woodward1 ,educ4 in the ,ren41 p4 #de4 
#aeh ,erasmus1 ,dialogus1 cui titulus   
ciceronianus1 sive1 de optimo  dicendi  
genere1 in ,opera omnia 7,lugduni       
,batavorum1 #agjc71 ,i4 ,it was         
composed in #aebh4    #aei ,arte of     
,rhet41 p4 #aji4    #afj ,i1 #d4 ,wilson
 follows the analysis on p4 #g4    #afa 

,i1 x1 #ag4    #afb ,an ,apology for    
,actors1 p4 #bi4    #afc ,this count is 
based on the ,cicero ,,mss4 listed by   
,p4 ,deschamps1  ,essai bibliographique 
sur ,m4 ,t4 ,ciceron 7,paris4 #ahfc74   
,appendix4    #afd ,h4 ,rashdall1       
,universities of ,europe in the ,middle 
,ages 7,oxford1  #ahie71 ,i1 #bdi4      
#afe ,j4 ,e4 ,sandys1 ,history of       
,classical ,scholarship1 p4 #eij4       
#aff ,sandys1 p4 #fbd seq4    #afg      
,deschamps1 op4 cit41 pp4 #ei-fc4       
#afh ,arber reprint1 p4 #abd4    #afi   
,m4 ,schwab1 ,bibliographie d',aristote 
7,paris1 #ahif74    #agj ,rashdall1     
,,ii1 #deg4    #aga ,fierville1 ,c4 ,m4 
,f4 ,quintiliani de institutione        
oratorio1 liber  primus 7,paris1 #ahij74
 ,introduction1 xiv-xxxii4 ,m4          
,fierville prints for  the first time   
the complete texts of these abridgments 
in an appendix4    #agb ,arber1 p4 #ie4 
#agc ,the pseudo-,demetrius1 author of  
the ,de elecutione4    #agd ,p4 #caf4   
#age ,sandys1 ,history of ,classical    

,scholarship1 pp4 #eda-b4    #agf ,m4   
,schwab1 op4 cit4    #agg ,poetische    
,theorien in der italienischen          
,frhrenaissance 7,berlin1  #aijj71 p4   
#hh4    #agh ,defense1 in ,smith1 ,i1   
#aif-aig4    #agi ,vossius1 ,de artis   
poeticae natura1 ,,ii1 #c-d4    #ahj    
,poetics1 ,i1 #b4    #aha ,poetica1 #bc1
 #aij4    #ahb ,de artis poeticae       
natura1 ,,ii1 #d4    #ahc ,euphues1     
edited by ,m4 ,w4 ,croll and ,h4        
,clemens 7,new ,york71 ,introd4  iv4    
#ahd ,preface to ,maggi's ,aristotle    
7#aeej71 p4 #b4    #ahe ,prolog4 ibid41 
p4 #ae4    #ahf ,spingarn1 p4 #cab4     
#ahg ,jacob ,pontanus1 ,s4 ,j41         
,poeticarum institutionum libri tres    
7,ingolstadi1 #aeid71 p4 #cf4    #ahh   
,ibid1 p4 #ha4    #ahi ,tres autem sunt 
virtutes narrationis1 brevitas1         
perspicuitas1  probabilitas4 ,secundam  
tertiam diligentissime consectabitur    
,epicus1  earumque rationem a           
,rhetoricae magistris percepiet1 p4 #gb4
 ,these three  virtues of a narratio are

 based on the analysis of the ,rhetorica
 ad  ,alexandrum4    #aij ,arist41      
,rhet41 ,,iii4 #af4    #aia ,op4 cit11  
p4 #bf4    #aib ,spingarn1 p4 #cac4     
#aic ,lit4 ,crit41 p4 #bee4    #aid     
,ibid41 p4 #bfb4    #aie ,arber1 pp4    
#ach-ada4    #aif ,spingarn1 pp4 #agd1  
#bef4    #aig ,smith1 ,i1 #dh4    #aih  
,smith1 ,i1 #ei4    #aii ,ibid41 p4 #fj4
    #bjj ,i1 #b4    #bja ,,ii1 #ab4     
#bjb ,,iv1 #fc4    #bjc ,topics1 #hc4   
#bjd ,,vi1 ii1 #h seq4 ,quintilian also 
uses the ,greek terms4    #bje ,x1 i1   
#df-aca4    #bjf ,op4 cit41 pp4         
#bge-cih4    #bjg ,,ii1 #aed seq4       
#bjh ,p4 #ahg4    #bji ,g4,s4 ,gordon1  
,theophrastus in ,eng4 ,lit4 and the    
,classics1 p4  #di-hf4    #baj ,smith1  
,i1 #abh    #baa ,ibid41 #acj-aca4      
#bab ,cf4 ,spingarn1 pp4 #bih-cjd1 for a
 good account of reformed versifying  in
 ,england4    #bac ,smith1 ,i1 #acg4    
#bad ,john ,northbrooke anticipated     
,gosson by two years in his attack on   
the stage1 but did not include poets in 

his title4    #bae ,spingam1 pp4        
#bef-beh4    #baf ,smith1 ,i1 #aeh4     
#bag ,ibid41 ,i1 #agb4    #bah ,ibid41  
,i1 #ahe4    #bai ,ibid41 ,i1 #aeh-aei4 
#bbj ,ibid41 ,i1 #afj4    #bba ,i1 #ahc4
    #bbb ,i1 #bja4    #bbc ,arist4      
,rhet41 ,,iii1 #b2 ,quint4 ,,viii1 iii4 
#fb2 ,scaliger1 iii1 #be4 ,cf4  ante p4 
#cc4    #bbd ,de aug4 ,,ii1 #ac4    #bbe
 ,see pp4 #ah1 #ai4    #bbf ,i1 #bjc4   
#bbg ,i1 #bjb4    #bbh ,smith1 ,i1      
#bbg-bbh4    #bbi ,i1 #bef4    #bcj ,i1 
#bca4    #bca ,i1 #bdg-bdh4    #bcb ,i1 
i4    #bcc ,i1 ii4    #bcd ,i1 viii4    
#bce ,i1 iv4    #bcf ,la ,rue ,van      
,hook1 ,greek ,rhetorical ,terminology  
in ,puttenham's ,the  ,arte of ,english 
,poesie4 ,trans4 of the ,am4 ,phil4     
,ass4 7#aiad7 ,,xlv1 #aaa4  ,puttenham  
was also familiar with the ad ,herennium
 and with ,cicero4    #bcg              
7,philadelphia1 #ahia71 p4 #ei4    #bch 
,,iii1 i4    #bci ,,iii1 xix1 p4 #bjf   
,arber reprint2 of4 also p4 #bcj1 on the
 figure  ,merismus or the ,distributor1 

and the remainder of the chapter4       
#bdj ,smith1 ,,ii1 #bdi1 #bhb4    #bda  
,ibid1 ,,ii1 #bgd4    #bdb ,preface to  
,homer1 in ,spingarn1 ,critical ,essays 
of the ,seventeenth  ,century1 ,i1 #ha4 
#bdc ,spingarn1 ,i1 #e4    #bdd         
,literary ,criticism in the ,seventeenth
 ,century1 ,introduction1 ,i1  xiii4    
#bde ,timber1 ,sec4 #abh4 ,cf4 ,pastime 
of ,pleasure1 ,,viii1 #bi4    #bdf      
,spingarn1 ,i1 #baa4    #bdg ,timber1   
,sec4 #aji4    #bdh ,timber1 ,sees4     
#acb-acc4    #bdi ,spingarn1 ,i1 #bad4  
#bej ,ibid41 p4 #baj1 #bac4    #bea     
,vossler1 op4 cit41 p4 #dh4    #beb     
,spingarn1 ,i1 #ajg4    #bec ,ibid41 ,i1
 #adb4    #bed ,ibid41 ,i1 #ahb4    #bee
 ,ibid41 ,i1 #ahh1 #ahe4    #bef        
,spingarn1 ,i1 #bjf4    #beg            
,pseudo-,demetrius1 ,de elocutione4     
#beh ,the ,de sublimitate4    #bei ,de  
sublimitate1 ,,viii4    #bfj ,spingarn1 
,i1 #bjf4    #bfa ,reason of ,church    
,government 7#afda71 in ,spingarn1 ,i1  
#aid4    #bfb ,introd4 to ,eliz4 ,crit4 

,essays1 ,i1 lxx4    #bfc ,pp4 #bc-be4  
#bfd ,,vi1 #b4    #bfe ,poetica est     
facultas videndi quodcunque accommodatum
 est ad  imitationem cuiusque actionis1 
affectionis1 moris1 suavi sermone1 ad   
vitam  corrigendam  ad bene beateque    
vivendum comparata4 ,praefatio to       
,maggi's ed4 of the ,poetics 7#aeej71 p4
 #i4    #bff ,spingarn1 p4 #ce4    #bfg 
,la poetica  una facolt1 la quale       
insegna in quai modi si debba  imitare  
qualunque azione1 affetto e costume1 con
 numero1 sermone ed  armonia2           
mescolatamente a di per s1 per remuovere
 gli uomini dai vizi e  accendergli alle
 virt1 affine che conseguano la         
perfezione e beatitudine  loro4 ,lezione
 della poetica 7#aeij7 in ,opere        
7,trieste1 #ahei71 ,,ii1 #fhg4    #bfh  
,verses #ajjh-ajaj4    #bfi ,verse      
#ajee4    #bgj ,the ,women at the ,feast
 of ,bacchus1 quoted by ,emile ,egger1  
,l',histoire de la ,critique chez les   
,grecs 7,paris1 #ahhf71 p4 #gd4    #bga 
,protagoras1 #cbe-cbf1 ,jowett's        

translation4    #bgb ,republic1         
#eif-eih4    #bgc ,ibid41 #fje-fjf4     
#bgd ,ibid41 #fjg    #bge ,laws1 #ffc4  
#bgf ,poetics1 ,,iv1 #b4    #bgg ,ibid41
 ,,vi1 #ae4    #bgh ,ibid41 ,,vii4      
#bgi ,ibid41 ,,ix1 #g4    #bhj ,ibid41  
,,xiii4 ,cf4 also ,,xxvi4    #bha       
,ibid41 ,,xxiv4    #bhb ,ibid41 ,,xxvi4 
#bhc ,politics1 ,v1 v4    #bhd ,poetics1
 ,,vi4 7,butcher74 ,cf4 ,butcher's      
,aristotle's ,theory of ,fine  ,art1    
,chapter ,,vi1 for a full discussion of 
katharsis4    #bhe ,politics1 ,v1 vii4  
#bhf ,poetics1 ,,xiii4    #bhg          
,panegyric1  #aei4    #bhh ,symposium1  
,,iii1 #e4    #bhi ,geography1 ,i1 ii1  
#c4 ,trans1 by ,h4 ,c4 ,hamilton 7,bohn 
ed1 ,london1  #ahed71 #a1 #bd-be4       
#bij ,de audiendis poetis1 trans1 by    
,f4,m4 ,padelford under the title       
,essays on the ,study and ,use of       
,poetry 7,new ,york1 #aijb71 ,i4 ,cf4   
also  ,julian1 ,epistle #db4    #bia    
,ibid4    #bib ,ibid4 ,,xiv4 ,cf4       
,harrington in ,smith's ,eliz4 ,crit4   

,essays1 ,,ii1  #aig-aih4    #bic ,ibid4
 ,,xii4 ,cf4 ,chemnicensis1 ,canons1    
,,lii1 in ,smith1 ,i1 #dba4    #bid     
,ibid41 ,,iv4 ,cf4 ,aristotle1          
,rhetoric1 ,,ii1 xx4    #bie ,ibid41    
,,iii4    #bif      ,aut prodesse       
volunt1 aut delectare poetae    ,aut    
simul et jucunda et idonea dicere vitae 
99       99       99       99       99  
,centuriae seniorum agitant expertia    
frugis2    ,celsi praetereunt austera   
poemata ,rhamnes3    ,omne tulit punctum
 qui miscuit utile dulci1    ,lectorem  
delectando1 periterque monendo4    ,hic 
meret aera liber ,sosiis2 hic et mare   
transit1    ,et longum noto scriptori   
prorogat aevum4      ,ad ,pisonem1      
#ccc-ccd1 #cdb-cdf4    #big ,epistles1  
,,ii1 i1 #aa4 #abf ff4 ,conington's     
trans4    #bih ,metamorphoses1 ,x1 #b4  
#bii ,de rerum natura1 ,i1 #icf-iej4    
#cjj ,phaedrus4 ,see also ,republic1    
,,ii4    #cja ,how to ,study ,poetry1   
,,iv4    #cjb ,cf4 ,cicero1 ,de nat4    
deor4 i1 #ae-ch ff41 and ,hatch1        

,hibbert  ,lectures1 #ahhh1 ,ch4 ,,iii4 
#cjc ,a4 ,schlemm1 ,de fontibus         
,plutarchi commentationum ,de aud4 poet4
  7,gttingen1 #ahic71 pp4 #cb-cf4       
#cjd ,iam cum confluxerunt plures       
continuae tralationes1 alia plane fit   
oratio2 itaque genus hoc ,graeci        
appellant  nomine recte genere  melius  
ille qui ista omnia tralationes vocat4  
,orator1 #id4 ,cf4 ,ad4  ,att4 ii1 #bj1 
#c4    #cje ,quintilian1 ,,viii1 vi1    
#dd4 ,isidore1 ,etym4 ,i1 xxxvii1 #bb4  
#cjf ,de doctrina christiana 7#cig71    
,,iii1 #bi1 #dj4    #cjg ,confessions   
7,watts's trans471 ,,iii4 vi41 ,lionardo
 ,bruni1 ,de  studiis et literis        
7#adje71 uses the same argument to      
defend poetry4    #cjh ,terence1 ,eun4  
#ehe-ehi1 shows a young man justifying  
his vices on  this ground4    #cji      
,poetics1 ,,ix4    #caj ,literary       
,criticism1 p4 #ah4    #caa ,rhet4 ,,ii1
 xxi4    #cab ,rhetoric1 ,,ii1 xx4      
7,weldon's translation74    #cac ,de    
inst4 orat4 ,v1 xi1 #f1 #ai4    #cad    

,edited from the edition of #aefj by    
,g4,h4 ,mair 7,oxford1 #aiji71 p4 #aih4 
#cae ,ibid41 p4 #c4    #caf ,docere     
debitum est1 delectare honorarium1      
permovere necessarium4  ,de optimo      
genere oratorum1 ,i1 #c4 ,he gives the  
same threefold aims as ut  probet1 ut   
delectet1 ut flectet1 in the ,orator1   
#fi2 and in the ,de  oratore1 ,,ii1     
#aba4    #cag ,vide pp4 #acf-acg4       
#cah ,cf4 ante1 ,i1 iv4    #cai         
,controv4 ,,ii1 #b 7#aj74 ,bornecque    
ed41 ,i1 #ade-adh4    #cbj ,quoted by   
,padelford1 p4 #cf4    #cba ,orat4 xi1  
p4 #cjh4    #cbb ,padelford1 op4 cit4   
pp4 #ci-dc4    #cbc ,karl ,vossler1     
,poetische ,theorien in der             
italienischen  ,frhrenaissance 7,berlin1
 #aijj71 pp4 #e1 #ah1 #de4    #cbd      
,boethius1 ,de consolatione             
philosophiae1 ,book ,i1 prose #a4       
,boethius  lived #dhj-ebd4 ,cf4 ,skeat1 
,chaucer1 ,,ii1 introd4 xiv ff4 for     
references to  the surprising number of 
translations in most ,european languages

  throughout the ,middle ,ages4 ,the    
most famous are1 perhaps1 those of      
lfred1  ,notker1 and ,chaucer4    #cbe  
,ibid1 ,book ,v1 prose v4    #cbf       
,quidam autem poetae ,theologici dicti  
sunt1 quoniam de diis carmina           
faciebant4 ,officium autem poetae in eo 
est ut ea1 quae vere gesta sunt1 in     
alias species obliquis figurationibus   
cum decore aliquo conversa  transducant4
 ,etym4 ,,viii1 vii1 #i-aj4    #cbg     
,fabulas poetae quasdam delectandi causa
 finxerunt1 quasdam ad  naturam rerum1  
nonnullas ad mores hominum interpretati 
sunt4 ,etym4 ,i1  xl1 #c4    #cbh ,una  
verita ascosa sotto bella menzogna4     
,,ii1 #a4    #cbi ,epistle1 ,x1 #aa1    
#afj-a4 ,quoted by ,wicksteed1 ,temple  
,classics1 pp4  #ff-fg4    #ccj ,vesta  
di figura o di colore rettorico4 ,la    
,vita ,nuova1 ,,xxv4    #cca ,see above1
 pp4 #de-dg4    #ccb ,per nimpham       
fingitur caro1 per iuvenem coruptorem   
mundus vel  dyabolus1 per proprium      
amicum ratio4 ,poetria magistri         

,johannis anglici  de arte prosayca     
metrica et rithmica4 ,ed4 by ,g4 ,mari1 
,romanische  ,forschungen 7#aijb7       
,,xiii1 #hid4    #ccc ,est furor        
,eacides ire sathanas1 ,ibid1 p4 #iac4  
#ccd ,see above1 pp4 #ea-ee4    #cce    
,pastime of ,pleasure1 p4 #bi4    #ccf  
,ibid41 p4 #ch4    #ccg ,ibid41 p4 #ed2 
see further above1 p4 #ed4    #cch ,cf4 
ante1 pp4 #ig-ii4    #cci ,lit4 ,crit41 
p4 #dg-ei4    #cdj ,ibid41 p4 #eh4      
#cda ,i anal4 #a;a4    #cdb ,lit4       
,crit41 p4 #be4    #cdc ,andr           
,schimberg1 ,l'education morale dans les
 collges de la  compagnie de ,jsus en   
,france 7,paris1 #aiac74 p4 #ach4       
#cdd ,opus de divisione1 ordine1 ac     
utilitate omnium scientiarum1 in        
poeticen apologeticum4 ,autore fratre   
,hieronymo ,savonarola 7,venetiis1      
#aedb71 ,,iv1 pp4 #cf-ee4 ,savonarola   
died in #adih4    #cde ,cartier1        
,l',esthetique de ,savonarola1 in       
,didron's ,annales  ,archoelogiques     
7#ahdg74 vii1 #bee ff4    #cdf          

,rhetorica1 ,poeticaque contra3 quod non
 adeo vere ac proprie ,logicae          
appellantur1 neque1 syllogismo fere1 sed
 exemplo atque enthymemate1  rationibus 
quasi popularibus utuntur4444 ,poetic1  
furthermore1 differs  from rhetoric1    
neque usurpat enthymema fere1 sed       
exemplum4 ,vincentius  ,madius et       
,bartholomaeus ,lombardus4 ,in          
,aristotelis ,librum de poetica         
communes explanationes 7,venetiis1      
#aeej71 pp4 #h-i4    #cdg ,onde come il 
loico usa per suo mezzo il pi nobile    
strumento1 ci   la dimostrazione o vero 
il sillogismo dimonstrativo2 cosi usa il
  dialettico il sillogismo topico2 il   
sofista il sofistico1 ci  apparente  ed 
ingannevole3 il retore l'entimema1 e il 
poeta l'esempio1 il quale  il  meno     
degno di tutti gli altri4  adunque il   
subbietto della poetica il  favellare   
finto e favoloso1 ed il suo mezzo o     
strumento l'esempio4 ,delia  ,poetica in
 ,generale1 ,lezione ,una  ,i1 #b4      
,opere 7,trieste1 #ahej71 ,,ii1 #fhd4   

,in his paraphrase of this passage and  
in his comments1 ,spingarn 7,lit4       
,crit4 pp4 #be-bf7 misunderstands both  
his author and his rhetoric when he     
says1 ,the subject of poetry is fiction1
 or invention1 arrived at by means  of  
that form of the syllogism known as the 
example4 ,here the enthymeme or         
example1 which ,aristotle has made the  
instrument of rhetoric1 becomes the     
instrument of poetry4    #cdh ,rhet4 ,i1
 ii4    #cdi ,nimirum arbitrantur1      
quemadmodum ,rhetorice ab ,aristotele   
ipso  appellatur particula ,dialecticae2
 idque propterea1 quod doceat rationem1 
qua enthymema applicetur ad materiam    
civilem3 ita  ,poeticen esse ,logices   
partem1 quia aperit exempli usum in     
materia ficta 444 at ,rhetorice1        
,poetice1 non solum docere student1 sed 
etiam delectare2 nec cognitionem  tantum
 spectant1 sed  actionem4 ,quamquam vero
 hoc commune habet cum  ,rhetorica1 quod
 utraque sit famula ,politicae4 ,gerardi
 ,joannis ,vossii1 ,de  artis poeticae1 

natura1 ac constitutions liber1 cap     
,,vii1 in ,opera  7,amsterdam1 #afig71  
,,iii4    #cej ,inductio delectat1 et   
est vulgo apta1 propter similitudines et
  exempla4 ,hanc argumentationem        
frequentant ,rhetores et ,poetae1       
praesertim  ,ovidius2 quia venuste ac   
perspicue explicat argumenta4 ,i1 ii4   
#cea ,vide1 pp4 #ajc-ajd4    #ceb ,vide1
 pp4 #aai-abj4    #cec ,poetica         
7,vinegia1 #aecf71 p4 #be4 ,spingarn1 p4
 #dh4    #ced ,sic dicere versibus1 ut  
doccat1 ut delectet1 ut moveat4 ,de     
poeta1 p4 #ajb4    #cee ,rhetoric1 ,i1  
ii4    #cef ,,xii1 i1 #a4    #ceg ,de   
poeta1 p4 #gi4 ,vossius echoes the same 
idea from the same  rhetorical source4  
#ceh ,sed  docendi1  movendi1           
delectandi4 ,poetice 7#aefa71 ,,iii1    
xcvii4    #cei ,ibid41 ,i1 i4    #cfj   
,arte of ,rhet4 p4 #agf4    #cfa ,these 
two names were frequently connected in  
the renaissance4    #cfb ,ibid1 p4 #aie4
    #cfc ,arber ,reprint 7,london1      
#ahgj71 p4 #aea4    #cfd ,ibid41 pp4    

#adb-adc4    #cfe ,ibid41 p4 #hj4       
#cff ,vide1 p4 #acb4    #cfg ,vide1 pp4 
#gg-gh4    #cfh ,smith1 ,eliz4 ,crit4   
,essays1 ,i1 #dh4    #cfi ,croll1       
,introd4 to ed4 of ,euphues 7,new ,york1
 #aiaf71 p4 vii4    #cgj ,smith1 ,i1    
#fj4    #cga ,school of ,abuse 7,pub4 of
 the ,shak4 ,soc41 #ahda71 ,vol1 #b1 p4 
#ae4    #cgb ,ibid41 pp4 #bj1 #be1 #bi4 
#cgc ,smith1 ,i1 #fe4    #cgd ,smith1   
,i1 #gc4    #cge ,smith1 ,i1 #gf4       
#cgf ,smith1 ,i1 #hc4    #cgg ,vide1 pp4
 #hf-hg4    #cgh ,lit4 ,crit4 in the    
,ren4 #b;d ed41 pp4 #bfi-bgd4    #cgi   
,smith1 ,i1 #aeh-afj4    #chj ,ibid41   
#afj4    #cha ,ibid41 ,i1 #aei4    #chb 
,ibid41 ,i1 #aga4    #chc ,ibid41 p4    
#agb4    #chd ,cf4 above1 p4 #ach4      
#che ,de inst4 orat41 ,v1 xi1 #ai4      
#chf ,arte of ,rhet41 p4 #aih4    #chg  
,ibid41 ,i1 #aeg4    #chh ,smith1 ,i1   
#afi4    #chi ,rhetoric1 ,,ii1 xx4      
#cij ,smith1 ,i1 #agc4    #cia ,cf4 ,st4
 ,augustine1 ,confessions1 ,,iii1 vi4   
#cib ,smith1 ,i1 #ahg4 ,cf4 ,arist4     

,rhet4 ,i1 i1 and ,quint4 ,de inst4     
orat4  ,,ii1 xvi1 who defend rhetoric on
 the same ground4 ,sidney's with a sword
  thou maist kill thy ,father1 and with 
a sword thou maist defende thy ,prince  
and ,country is in ,quintilian4    #cic 
,see also p4 #ch4    #cid ,smith1 ,,ii1 
#bjh4    #cie ,smith1 ,,ii1 #bja4       
#cif ,ibid4    #cig ,de audiendis       
poetis1 ,,xiv4 ,plutarch believed that  
poetry gained  this end by enunciating  
moral and philosophical sententiae1 not 
by  allegory1 which ,plutarch made sport
 of4    #cih ,see pp4 #hg-hi4    #cii   
,smith1 ,i1 #bej-beb4    #djj ,smith1   
,i1 #bcb4    #dja ,smith1 ,i1 #bch-bci4 
#djb ,smith1 ,i1 #bce-bcf4    #djc      
,smith1 ,i1 #bdh-bdi4    #djd ,vide1 pp4
 #hi-ib4    #dje ,smith1 ,,ii1 #be4     
#djf ,smith1 ,,ii1 #aae-aaf4    #djg    
,smith1 ,,ii1 #afj4    #djh ,smith1     
,,ii1 #cb-dj4    #dji ,smith1 ,,ii1     
#da-db4    #daj ,ibid4    #daa          
,woodward1 ,educ4 in the ,ren4 p4 #ace4 
#dab ,krapp1 ,rise of ,eng4 ,lit4 ,prose

 7,new ,york1 #aiae71 pp4 #djh-dji4     
#dac ,vide1 pp4 #ia-ib4    #dad         
,spingarn1 ,crit4 ,essays of the #agth  
,century1 ,i1 #ih1 #ii4    #dae         
,springarn1 ,i1 #f4    #daf ,spingarn1  
,i1 #f-h4    #dag ,the author's prolog  
to the first book4    #dah ,spingarn1   
,i1 #agj4    #dai ,spingarn1 ,i1 #ej2   
for ,jonson see also pp4 #ic-if4    #dbj
 ,spingarn1 ,i1 #bi4    #dba ,ibid41    
#ea-eb4    #dbb ,ibid41 p4 #ee4 ,cf4    
,cicero1 ante p4 #cg4    #dbc ,ded4 to  
,volpone1 ,spingarn1 ,i4 #ae4    #dbd   
,ibid4    #dbe ,spingarn1 ,i1 #bh-bi4   
#dbf ,ded to ,volpone1 ,spingarn1 ,i1   
#ab4    #dbg ,smith1 ,,ii1 #cjf4    #dbh
 ,spingarn1 ,i1 #fg4    #dbi ,spingarn1 
,i1 #aag-abj4    #dcj ,a4,h4 ,tieje1    
,theory of ,characterization in ,prose  
,fiction ,prior to  #agdj 7,minneapolis1
 #aiaf71 p4 #ad4    #dca ,spingarn1 ,i1 
#ahf-ahg4