,,transcriber',s ,,notes3 ,minor spelling inconsistencies have been silently corrected4 ,apart from a few corrections listed at the end of the book1 original spelling was retained4 ,footnotes were sequentially numbered and placed at the end of each chapter4 p4 #cjj3 in the words carpenter1 majesty and merchaundise letters e macron and u with breve are encoded as plain e and u respectively4 p4 #cjc3 in the words mournfully1 mournfuly1 royalty letters u with breve1 u1 a macron are encoded as plain u and a respectively4 p4 #cjd3 in the words ,trumpington1 love-sik and dangerus letters i macron and i1 u with breve are encoded as plain i and u respectively4 p4 #cba-cbb3 superscripts are preceded by the sign and enclosed in braces if more than one letter is in superscript4 p4 #ced3 in the word ,pusan letters u macron and s with cedilla are encoded as plain u and s respectively4 ,ligature oe is encoded as oe4 ,mark up3 italics bold 99font change99 99,columbia ,university99 ,,studies ,,in ,,literature 99,columbia ,university99 ,,studies ,,in ,,literature ,a ,,history ,,of ,,literary ,,criticism ,,in ,,the ,,renaissance3 ,with ,special ,reference to the ,influence of ,italy in the ,formation and ,development of ,modern ,classicism4 ,by ,,joel ,,elias ,,spingarn4 ,in ,press3 ,,romances ,,of ,,roguery3 ,an ,episode in the ,development of the ,modern ,novel1 ,part ,i4 ,the ,picaresque ,novel in ,spain4 ,by ,,frank ,,wadleigh ,,chandler4 ,,spanish ,,literature ,,in ,,england ,,under ,,the ,,tudors4 ,by ,,john ,,garrett ,,underhill4 99 99 99 99 99 999999,other numbers of this series will be issued from time to time1 containing the results of literary research1 or criticism by the students or officers of ,columbia ,university1 or others associated with them in study1 under the authorization of the ,department of ,literature1 ,,george ,,edward ,,woodberry and ,,brander ,,matthews1 ,professors4 ,a ,,history ,,of ,,literary ,,criticism ,,in ,,the ,,renaissance ,,with ,,special ,,reference ,,to ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,italy ,,in ,,the ,,formation ,,and ,,development ,,of ,,modern ,,classicism ,,by ,,joel ,,elias ,,spingarn ,illustration 99,new ,york99 ,,published ,,for ,,the ,,columbia ,,university ,,press ,,by ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company ,,london3 ,,macmillan ,,co41 ,,ltd4 #ahii ,all rights reserved ,,copyright1 #ahii1 ,,by ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company4 99,norwood ,press99 ,j4 ,s4 ,cushing ,co4--,berwick ,smith ,norwood ,mass4 ,u4,s4,a4 ,,preface ,,this essay undertakes to treat the history of literary criticism in the ,renaissance4 ,the three sections into which the essay is divided are devoted1 respectively1 to ,italian criticism from ,dante to ,tasso1 to ,french criticism from ,du ,bellay to ,boileau1 and to ,english criticism from ,ascham to ,milton2 but the critical activity of the sixteenth century has been the main theme1 and the earlier or later literature has received treatment only in so far as it serves to explain the causes or consequences of the critical development of this central period4 ,it was at this epoch that modern criticism began1 and that the ancient ideals of art seemed once more to sway the minds of men2 so that the history of sixteenth-century criticism must of necessity include a study of the beginnings of critical activity in modern ,europe and of the gradual introduction of the ,aristotelian canons into modern literature4 ,this study has been made subservient1 more particularly1 to two specific purposes4 ,while the critical activity of the period is important and even interesting in itself1 it has been here studied primarily for the purpose of tracing the origin and causes of the classic spirit in modern letters and of discovering the sources of the rules and theories embodied in the neo-classic literature of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries4 ,how did the classic spirit arise8 ,whence did it come1 and how did it develop8 ,what was the origin of the principles and precepts of neo-classicism8 ,these are some of the questions ,i have attempted to answer in this essay2 and1 in answering them1 ,i have tried to remember that this is a history1 not of critical literature1 but of literary criticism4 ,for this reason ,i have given to individual books and authors less prominence than some of them perhaps deserved1 and have confined myself almost exclusively to the origin of principles1 theories1 and rules1 and to the general temper of classicism4 ,for a similar reason ,i have been obliged to say little or nothing of the methods and results of applied1 or concrete1 criticism4 ,this1 then1 has been the main design of the essay2 but furthermore1 as is indicated in the title1 ,i have attempted to point out the part played by ,italy in the growth of this neo-classic spirit and in the formulation of these neo-classic principles4 ,the influence of the ,italian ,renaissance in the development of modern science1 philosophy1 art1 and creative literature has been for a long time the subject of much study4 ,it has been my more modest task to trace the indebtedness of the modern world to ,italy in the domain of literary criticism2 and ,i trust that ,i have shown the ,renaissance influence to be as great in this as in the other realms of study4 ,the birth of modern criticism was due to the critical activity of ,italian humanism2 and it is in sixteenth-century ,italy that we shall find1 more or less matured1 the general spirit and even the specific principles of ,french classicism4 ,the second half of the design1 then1 is the history of the ,italian influence in literary criticism2 and with ,milton1 the last of the humanists in ,england1 the essay naturally closes4 ,but we shall find1 ,i think1 that the influence of the ,italian ,renaissance in the domain of literary criticism was not even then all decayed1 and that ,lessing and ,shelley1 to mention no others1 were the legitimate inheritors of the ,italian tradition4 ,this essay was submitted to the ,faculty of ,philosophy1 ,columbia ,university1 in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of ,doctor of ,philosophy4 ,the bibliography at the end of the essay indicates sufficiently my obligations to preceding writers4 ,it has been prepared chiefly for the purpose of facilitating reference to works cited in the text and in the foot-notes1 and should be consulted for the full titles of books therein mentioned2 it makes no pretence of being a complete bibliography of the subject4 ,it will be seen that the history of ,italian criticism in the sixteenth century has received scarcely any attention from modern scholars4 ,in regard to ,aristotle's ,poetics1 ,i have used the text1 and in general followed the interpretation1 given in ,professor ,s4 ,h4 ,butcher's ,aristotle's ,theory of ,poetry and ,fine ,art1 a noble monument of scholarship vivified by literary feeling4 ,i desire also to express my obligations to ,professor ,butcher for an abstract of ,zabarella1 to ,mr4 ,p4 ,o4 ,skinner of ,harvard for an analysis of ,capriano1 to my friend1 ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,chandler1 for summaries of several early ,english rhetorical treatises1 and to ,professor ,cavalier ,speranza for a few corrections2 also to my friends1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,g4 ,underhill1 ,mr4 ,lewis ,einstein1 and ,mr4 ,h4 ,a4 ,uterhart1 and to my brother1 ,mr4 ,a4 ,b4 ,spingarn1 for incidental assistance of some importance4 ,but1 above all1 ,i desire to acknowledge my indebtedness to ,professor ,george ,e4 ,woodberry4 ,this book is the fruit of his instruction2 and in writing it1 also1 ,i have had recourse to him for assistance and criticism4 ,without the aid so kindly accorded by him1 the book could hardly have been written1 and certainly would never have assumed its present form4 ,but my obligations to him are not limited to the subject or contents of the present essay4 ,through a period of five years the inspiration derived from his instruction and encouragement has been so great as to preclude the possibility of its expression in a preface4 ,quare habe tibi quidquid hoc libelli4 ,,new ,,york1 ,march1 #ahii4 ,,contents ,,part ,,first ,,literary ,,criticism ,,in ,,italy ,,page ,i4 ,,the ,,fundamental ,,problem ,,of ,,renaissance ,,criticism #c i4 ,mediaeval ,conceptions of ,poetry4 ii4 ,the ,moral ,justification of ,poetry4 iii4 ,the ,final ,justification of ,poetry4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,general ,,theory ,,of ,,poetry ,,in ,,the ,,italian ,,renaissance #bd i4 ,poetry as a ,form of ,scholastic ,philosophy4 ii4 ,poetry as an ,imitation of ,life4 iii4 ,the ,function of ,poetry4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,the ,,drama #fj i4 ,the ,subject of ,tragedy4 ii4 ,the ,function of ,tragedy4 iii4 ,the ,characters of ,tragedy4 iv4 ,the ,dramatic ,unities4 v4 ,comedy4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,epic ,,poetry #ajg i4 ,the ,theory of the ,epic ,poem4 ii4 ,epic and ,romance4 ,v4 ,,the ,,growth ,,of ,,the ,,classic ,,spirit ,,in ,,italian ,,criticism #abe i4 ,humanism4 ii4 ,aristotelianism4 iii4 ,rationalism4 ,,vi4 ,,romantic ,,elements ,,in ,,italian ,,criticism #aee i4 ,the ,ancient ,romantic ,element4 ii4 ,mediaeval ,elements4 iii4 ,modern ,elements4 ,,part ,,second ,,literary ,,criticism ,,in ,,france ,i4 ,,the ,,character ,,and ,,development ,,of ,,french ,,criticism ,,in ,,the ,,sixteenth ,,century #aga i4 ,character4 ii4 ,development4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,poetry ,,in ,,the ,,french ,,renaissance #aij i4 ,the ,poetic ,art4 ii4 ,the ,drama4 iii4 ,heroic ,poetry4 ,,iii4 ,,classic ,,and ,,romantic ,,elements ,,in ,,french ,,criticism ,,during ,,the ,,sixteenth ,,century #bad i4 ,classical ,elements4 ii4 ,romantic ,elements4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,formation ,,of ,,the ,,classic ,,ideal ,,in ,,the ,,seventeenth ,,century #bcb i4 ,the ,romantic ,revolt4 ii4 ,the ,reaction against the ,pleiade4 iii4 ,the ,second ,influx of ,italian ,ideas4 iv4 ,the ,influence of ,rationalistic ,philosophy4 ,,part ,,third ,,literary ,,criticism ,,in ,,england ,i4 ,,the ,,evolution ,,of ,,english ,,criticism ,,from ,,ascham ,,to ,,milton #bec ,,ii4 ,,the ,,general ,,theory ,,of ,,poetry ,,in ,,the ,,elizabethan ,,age #bfa ,,iii4 ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,dramatic ,,and ,,heroic ,,poetry #bhb i4 ,tragedy4 ii4 ,comedy4 iii4 ,the ,dramatic ,unities4 iv4 ,epic ,poetry4 ,,iv4 ,,classical ,,elements ,,in ,,elizabethan ,,criticism #bif i4 ,introductory3 ,romantic ,elements4 ii4 ,classical ,metres4 iii4 ,other ,evidences of ,classicism4 ,,appendices #cab ,a4 ,chronological ,table of the ,chief ,critical ,works of the ,sixteenth ,century4 ,b4 ,salviati's ,account of the ,commentators on ,aristotle's ,poetics4 ,,bibliography #cag ,,index #cbe ,,part ,,first ,,literary ,,criticism ,,in ,,italy ,,literary ,,criticism ,,in ,,italy ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,fundamental ,,problem ,,of ,,renaissance ,,criticism ,,the first problem of ,renaissance criticism was the justification of imaginative literature4 ,the existence and continuity of the aesthetic consciousness1 and perhaps1 in a less degree1 of the critical faculty1 throughout the ,middle ,ages1 can hardly be denied2 yet distrust of literature was keenest among the very class of men in whom the critical faculty might be presupposed1 and it was as the handmaid of philosophy1 and most of all as the vassal of theology1 that poetry was chiefly valued4 ,in other words1 the criteria by which imaginative literature was judged during the ,middle ,ages were not literary criteria4 ,poetry was disregarded or contemned1 or was valued if at all for virtues that least belong to it4 ,the ,renaissance was thus confronted with the necessity of justifying its appreciation of the vast body of literature which the ,revival of ,learning had recovered for the modern world2 and the function of ,renaissance criticism was to reestablish the aesthetic foundations of literature1 to reaffirm the eternal lesson of ,hellenic culture1 and to restore once and for all the element of beauty to its rightful place in human life and in the world of art4 ,i4 ,mediaeval ,conceptions of ,poetry ,the mediaeval distrust of literature was the result of several cooperating causes4 ,popular literature had fallen into decay1 and in its contemporary form was beneath serious consideration4 ,classical literature was unfortunately pagan1 and was moreover but imperfectly known4 ,the mediaeval ,church from its earliest stages had regarded pagan culture with suspicion1 and had come to look upon the development of popular literature as antagonistic to its own supremacy4 ,but beyond this1 the distrust of literature went deeper1 and was grounded upon certain theoretical and fundamental objections to all the works of the imagination4 ,these theoretical objections were in nowise new to the ,middle ,ages4 ,they had been stated in antiquity with much more directness and philosophical efficacy than was possible in the mediaeval period4 ,plato had tried imaginative literature by the criteria of reality and morality1 both of which are unaesthetic criteria1 although fundamentally applicable to poetry4 ,in respect to reality1 he had shown that poetry is three removes from the truth1 being but the imitation1 by the artist1 of the imitation1 in life1 of an idea in the mind of ,god4 ,in respect to morality1 he had discovered in ,homer1 the greatest of poets1 deviations from truth1 blasphemy against the gods1 and obscenity of various sorts4 ,furthermore1 he had found that creative literature excites the emotions more than does actual life1 and stirs up ignoble passions which were better restrained4 ,these ideas ran throughout the ,middle ,ages1 and indeed persisted even beyond the ,renaissance4 ,poetry was judged by these same criteria1 but it was natural that mediaeval writers should substitute more practical reasons for the metaphysical arguments of ,plato4 ,according to the criterion of reality1 it was urged that poetry in its very essence is untrue1 that at bottom it is fiction1 and therefore false4 ,thus ,tertullian said that the ,author of truth hates all the false2 ,he regards as adultery all that is unreal4444 ,he never will approve pretended loves1 and wraths1 and groans1 and tears2#a and he affirmed that in place of these pagan works there was in the ,bible and the ,fathers1 a vast body of ,christian literature and that this is not fabulous1 but true1 not tricks of art1 but plain realities4#b ,according to the criterion of morality1 it was urged that as few works of the imagination were entirely free from obscenity and blasphemy1 such blemishes are inseparable from the poetic art2 and accordingly1 ,isidore of ,seville says that a ,christian is forbidden to read the figments of the poets1 quia per oblectamenta inanium fabularum mentem excitant ad incentiva libidinum4#c ,the third1 or psychological objection1 made by ,plato1 was similarly emphasized4 ,thus ,tertullian pointed out that while ,god has enjoined us to deal calmly and gently and quietly with the ,holy ,spirit1 literature1 and especially dramatic literature1 leads to spiritual agitation4#d ,this point seemed to the mediaeval mind fundamental1 for in real beauty1 as ,thomas ,aquinas insisted1 desire is quieted4#e ,furthermore1 it was shown that the only body of literary work worthy of serious study dealt with pagan divinities and with religious practices which were in direct antagonism to ,christianity4 ,other objections1 also1 were incidentally alluded to by mediaeval writers4 ,for example1 it was said1 the supreme question in all matters of life is the question of conduct1 and it was not apparent in what manner poetry conduces to action4 ,poetry has no practical use2 it rather enervates men than urges them to the call of duty2 and above all1 there are more profitable occupations in which the righteous man may be engaged4 ,these objections to literature are not characteristically mediaeval4 ,they have sprung up in every period of the world's history1 and especially recur in all ages in which ascetic or theological conceptions of life are dominant4 ,they were stock questions of the ,greek schools1 and there are extant treatises by ,maximus of ,tyre and others on the problem whether or not ,plato was justified in expelling ,homer from his ideal commonwealth4 ,the same objections prevailed beyond the ,renaissance2 and they were urged in ,italy by ,savonarola1 in ,germany by ,cornelius ,agrippa1 in ,england by ,gosson and ,prynne1 and in ,france by ,bossuet and other ecclesiastics4 ,,ii4 ,the ,moral ,justification of ,poetry ,the allegorical method of interpreting literature was the result of the mediaeval attempt to answer the objections just stated4 ,this method owed its origin to the mode of interpreting the popular mythology first employed by the ,sophists and more thoroughly by the later ,stoics4 ,such heroes as ,hercules and ,theseus1 instead of being mere brute conquerors of monsters and giants1 were regarded by the ,stoic philosophers as symbols of the early sages who had combated the vices and passions of mankind1 and they became in the course of time types of pagan saints4 ,the same mode of interpretation was later applied to the stories of the ,old ,testament by ,philo ,judaeus1 and was first introduced into ,occidental ,europe by ,hilary of ,poitiers and ,ambrose1 ,bishop of ,milan4#f ,abraham1 ,adam1 ,eve1 ,jacob1 became types of various virtues1 and the biblical stories were considered as symbolical of the various moral struggles in the soul of man4 ,the first instance of the systematic application of the method to the pagan myths occurs in the ,mythologicon of ,fulgentius1 who probably flourished in the first half of the sixth century2 and in his ,virgiliana ,continentia1 the ,a,eneid is treated as an image of life1 and the travels of ,a,eneas as the symbol of the progress of the human soul1 from nature1 through wisdom1 to final happiness4 ,from this period1 the allegorical method became the recognized mode of interpreting literature1 whether sacred or profane4 ,petrarch1 in his letter1 ,de quibusdam fictionibus ,virgilij1#g treats the ,a,eneid after the manner of ,fulgentius2 and even at the very end of the ,renaissance ,tasso interpreted his own romantic epics in the same way4 ,after the acceptance of the method1 its application was further complicated4 ,gregory the ,great ascribes three meanings to the ,bible1--the literal1 the typical or allegorical1 and the moral4 ,still later1 a fourth meaning was added2 and ,dante distinctly claims all four1 the literal1 the allegorical1 the moral or philosophical1 and the anagogical or mystical1 for his ,divine ,comedy4#h ,this method1 while perhaps justifying poetry from the standpoint of ethics and divinity1 gives it no place as an independent art2 thus considered1 poetry becomes merely a popularized form of theology4 ,both ,petrarch and ,boccaccio regarded allegory as the warp and woof of poetry2 but they modified the mediaeval point of view by arguing conversely that theology itself is a form of poetry1--the poetry of ,god4 ,both of them insist that the ,bible is essentially poetical1 and that ,christ himself spoke largely in poetical images4 ,this point was so emphasized by ,renaissance critics that ,berni1 in his ,dialogo contra i ,poeti 7#aecg71 condemns the poets for speaking of ,god as ,jupiter and of the saints as ,mercury1 ,hercules1 ,bacchus1 and for even having the audacity to call the prophets and the writers of the ,scriptures poets and makers of verses4#i ,the fourteenth and fifteenth books of ,boccaccio's treatise1 ,de ,genealogia ,deorum1 have been called the first defence of poesy in honor of his own art by a poet of the modern world2 but ,boccaccio's justification of imaginative literature is still primarily based on the usual mediaeval grounds4 ,the reality of poetry is dependent on its allegorical foundations2 its moral teachings are to be sought in the hidden meanings discoverable beneath the literal expression2 pagan poetry is defended for ,christianity on the ground that the references to ,greek and ,roman gods and rituals are to be regarded only as symbolical truths4 ,the poet's function1 for ,boccaccio1 as for ,dante and ,petrarch1 was to hide and obscure the actual truth behind a veil of beautiful fictions--veritatem rerum pulchris velaminibus adornare4#aj ,the humanistic point of view1 in regard to poetry1 was of a more practical and far-reaching nature than that of the ,middle ,ages4 ,the allegorical interpretation did indeed continue throughout the ,renaissance1 and ,mantuan1 for example1 can only define a poem as a literary form which is bound by the stricter laws of metre1 and which has its fundamental truths hidden under the literal expressions of the fable4 ,for still later writers1 this mode of regarding literature seemed to present the only loophole of escape from the moral objections to poetry4 ,but in employing the old method1 the humanists carried it far beyond its original application4 ,thus1 ,lionardo ,bruni1 in his ,de ,studiis et ,literis 7c4 #adje71 after dwelling on the allegorical interpretation of the pagan myths1 argues that when one reads the story of ,a,eneas and ,dido1 he pays his tribute of admiration to the genius of the poet1 but the matter itself is known to be fiction1 and so leaves no moral impression4#aa ,by this ,bruni means that fiction as such1 when known to be fiction1 can leave no moral impression1 and secondly1 that poetry is to be judged by the success of the artist1 and not by the efficacy of the moralist4 ,similarly1 ,battista ,guarino1 in his ,de ,ordine ,docendi et ,studendi 7#adei71 says that we are not disturbed by the impieties1 cruelties1 horrors1 which we find in poetry2 we judge these things simply by their congruity with the characters and incidents described4 ,in other words1 we criticise the artist1 not the moralist4#ab ,this is a distinct attempt at the aesthetic appreciation of literature1 but while such ideas are not uncommon about this time1 they express isolated sentiments1 rather than a doctrine strictly coordinated with an aesthetic theory of poetry4 ,the more strict defence of poetry was attempted for the most part on the grounds set forth by ,horace in his ,ars ,poetica4 ,at no period from the ,augustan ,age to the ,renaissance does the ,ars ,poetica seem to have been entirely lost4 ,it is mentioned or quoted1 for example1 by ,isidore of ,seville#ac in the sixth century1 by ,john of ,salisbury#ad in the twelfth century1 and by ,dante#ae in the fourteenth4 ,horace insists on the mingled instructiveness and pleasurableness of poetry2 and beyond this1 he points out the value of poetry as a civilizing factor in history1 regarding the early poets as sages and prophets1 and the inventors of arts and sciences3-- ,orpheus1 inspired by more than human power1 ,did not1 as poets feigned1 tame savage beasts1 ,but men as lawless and as wild as they1 ,and first dissuaded them from rage and blood4 ,thus when ,amphion built the ,theban wall1 ,they feigned the stones obeyed his magic lute2 ,poets1 the first instructors of mankind1 ,brought all things to their proper native use2 ,some they appropriated to the gods1 ,and some to public1 some to private ends3 ,promiscuous love by marriage was restrained1 ,cities were built1 and useful laws were made2 ,so ancient is the pedigree of verse1 ,and so divine the poet's function4#af ,this conception of the early poet's function was an old one4 ,it is to be found in ,aristophanes2#ag it runs through ,renaissance criticism2 and even in this very century1 ,shelley#ah speaks of poets as the authors of language1 and of music1 of the dance1 and architecture1 and statuary1 and painting1 as the institutors of laws1 and the founders of civil society1 and the inventors of the arts of life4 ,to-day the idealist takes refuge in the same faith3 ,the tree of knowledge is of equal date with the tree of life2 nor were even the tamer of horses1 the worker in metals1 or the sower1 elder than those twin guardians of the soul1--the poet and the priest4 ,conscience and imagination were the pioneers who made earth habitable for the human spirit4#ai ,it was this ethical and civilizing function of poetry which was first in the minds of the humanists4 ,action being the test of all studies1#bj poetry must stand or fall in proportion as it conduces to righteous action4 ,thus1 ,lionardo ,bruni#ba speaks of poetry as so valuable an aid to knowledge1 and so ennobling a source of pleasure2 and ,a,eneas ,sylvius ,piccolomini1 in his treatise ,de ,liberorum ,educatione 7#adej71 declares that the crucial question is not1 ,is poetry to be contemned8 but1 ,how are the poets to be used8 and he solves his own question by asserting that we are to welcome all that poets can render in praise of integrity and in condemnation of vice1 and that all else is to be left unheeded4#bb ,beyond this1 the humanists urged in favor of poetry the fact of its antiquity and divine origin1 and the further fact that it had been praised by great men of all professions1 and its creators patronized by kings and emperors from time immemorial4 ,there were then at the end of the ,middle ,ages1 and the beginning of the ,renaissance1 two opposing tendencies in regard to the poetic art1 one representing the humanistic reverence for ancient culture1 and for poetry as one of the phases of that culture1 and the other representing not only the mediaeval tradition1 but a purism allied to that of early ,christianity1 and akin to the ascetic conceptions of life found in almost every period4 ,these two tendencies are expressed specifically in their noblest forms by the great humanist ,poliziano1 and the great moral reformer ,savonarola4 ,in the ,sylvae1 written toward the close of the fifteenth century1 ,poliziano dwells on the divine origin of poetry1 as ,boccaccio had done in his ,vita di ,dante2 and then1 after the manner of ,horace1 he describes its ennobling influence on man1 and its general influence on the progress of civilization4#bc ,he then proceeds to survey the progress of poetry from the most ancient times1 and in so doing may be said to have written the first modern history of literature4 ,the second section of the ,sylvae discusses the bucolic poets2 the third contains that glorification of ,virgil which began during the ,middle ,ages1 and1 continued by ,vida and others1 became in ,scaliger literary deification2 and the last section is devoted to ,homer1 who is considered as the great teacher of wisdom1 and the wisest of the ancients4 ,nowhere does ,poliziano exhibit any appreciation of the aesthetic value of poetry1 but his enthusiasm for the great poets1 and indeed for all forms of ancient culture1 is unmistakable1 and combined with his immense erudition marks him as a representative poet of humanism4#bd ,on the other hand1 the puristic conception of art is elaborated at great length by ,savonarola in an apology for poetry contained in his tractate1 ,de ,divisione ac ,utilitate ,omnium ,scientarum1#be written about #adib4 ,after classifying the sciences in true scholastic fashion1 and arranging them according to their relative importance and their respective utility for ,christianity1 he attacks all learning as superfluous and dangerous1 unless restricted to a chosen few4 ,poetry1 according to the scholastic arrangement1 is grouped with logic and grammar2 and this mediaeval classification fixes ,savonarola's conception of the theory of poetic art4 ,he expressly says that he attacks the abuse of poetry and not poetry itself1 but there can be no doubt that1 at bottom1 he was intolerant of creative literature4 ,like ,plato1 like moral reformers of all ages1 he feared the free play of the imaginative faculty2 and in connecting poetry with logic he was tending toward the elimination of the imagination in art4 ,the basis of his aesthetic system1 such as it is1 rests wholly on that of ,thomas ,aquinas2#bf but he is in closer accord with ,aristotle when he points out that versification1 a merely conventional accompaniment of poetry1 is not to be confounded with the essence of poetry itself4 ,this distinction is urged to defend the ,scriptures1 which he regards as the highest and holiest form of poetry4 ,for him poetry is coordinate with philosophy and with thought2 but in his intolerance of poetry in its lower forms1 he would follow ,plato in banishing poets from an ideal state4 ,the imitation of the ancient poets especially falls under his suspicion1 and in an age given up to their worship he denies both their supremacy and their utility4 ,in fine1 as a reformer1 he represents for us the religious reaction against the paganization of culture by the humanists4 ,but the forces against him were too strong4 ,even the ,christianization of culture effected during the next century by the ,council of ,trent was hardly more than temporary4 ,humanism1 which represents the revival of ancient pagan culture1 and rationalism1 which represents the growth of the modern spirit in science and art1 were currents too powerful to be impeded by any reformer1 however great1 and1 when combined in classicism1 were to reign supreme in literature for centuries to come4 ,but ,savonarola and ,poliziano serve to indicate that modern literary criticism had not yet begun4 ,for until some rational answer to the objections urged against poetry in antiquity and in the ,middle ,ages was forthcoming1 literary criticism in any true sense was fundamentally impossible2 and that answer came only with the recovery of ,aristotle's ,poetics4 ,,iii4 ,the ,final ,justification of ,poetry ,the influence of ,aristotle's ,poetics in classical antiquity1 so far as it is possible to judge1 was very slight2 there is no apparent reference to the ,poetics in ,horace1 ,cicero1 or ,quintilian1#bg and it was entirely lost sight of during the ,middle ,ages4 ,its modern transmission was due almost exclusively to ,orientals4#bh ,the first ,oriental version of ,aristotle's treatise appears to have been that made by ,abu-,baschar1 a ,nestorian ,christian1 from the ,syriac into ,arabic1 about the year #ice4 ,two centuries later1 the ,moslem philosopher ,averroes made an abridged version of the ,poetics1 which was translated into ,latin in the thirteenth century1 by a certain ,german1 named ,hermann1 and again1 by ,mantinus of ,tortosa in ,spain1 in the fourteenth century4 ,hermann's version seems to have circulated considerably in the ,middle ,ages1 but it had no traceable influence on critical literature whatsoever4 ,it is mentioned and censured by ,roger ,bacon1 but the ,poetics in any form was probably unknown to ,dante1 to ,boccaccio1 and beyond a single obscure reference1 to ,petrarch4 ,there is no question that for a long time before the beginning of the sixteenth century the ,poetics had been entirely neglected4 ,not only do the critical ideas of this period show no indication of ,aristotelian influence1 but during the sixteenth century itself there seems to have been a well-defined impression that the ,poetics had been recovered only after centuries of oblivion4 ,thus1 ,bernardo ,segni1 who translated the ,poetics into ,italian in #aedi1 speaks of it as abandoned and neglected for a long time2#bi and ,bernardo ,tasso1 some ten years later1 refers to it as buried for so long a time in the obscure shadows of ignorance4#cj ,it was then as a new work of ,aristotle that the ,latin translation by ,giorgio ,valla1 published at ,venice in #adih1 must have appeared to ,valla's contemporaries4 ,though hardly successful as a work of scholarship1 this translation1 and the ,greek text of the ,poetics published in the ,aldine ,rhetores ,graeci in #aejh1 had considerable influence on dramatic literature1 but scarcely any immediate influence on literary criticism4 ,somewhat later1 in #aecf1 ,alessandro de' ,pazzi published a revised ,latin version1 accompanied by the original2 and from this time1 the influence of the ,aristotelian canons becomes manifest in critical literature4 ,in #aedh1 ,robortelli produced the first critical edition of the ,poetics1 with a ,latin translation and a learned commentary1 and in the very next year the first ,italian translation was given to the world by ,bernardo ,segni4 ,from that day to this the editions and translations of the ,poetics have increased beyond number1 and there is hardly a single passage in ,aristotle's treatise which has not been discussed by innumerable commentators and critics4 ,it was in ,aristotle's ,poetics that the ,renaissance was to find1 if not a complete1 at least a rational justification of poetry1 and an answer to every one of the ,platonic and mediaeval objections to imaginative literature4 ,as to the assertion that poetry diverges from actual reality1 ,aristotle#ca contended that there is to be found in poetry a higher reality than that of mere commonplace fact1 that poetry deals not with particulars1 but with universals1 and that it aims at describing not what has been1 but what might have been or ought to be4 ,in other words1 poetry has little regard for the actuality of the specific event1 but aims at the reality of an eternal probability4 ,it matters not whether ,achilles or ,a,eneas did this thing1 or that thing1 which ,homer or ,virgil ascribes to either1 but if ,achilles or ,a,eneas was such a man as the poet describes1 he must necessarily act as ,homer or ,virgil has made him do4 ,it is needless to say that ,aristotle is here simply distinguishing between ideal truth and actual fact1 and in asserting that it is the function of poetry to imitate only ideal truth he laid the foundations1 not only of an answer to mediaeval objections1 but also of modern aesthetic criticism4 ,beyond this1 poetry is justified on the grounds of morality1 for while not having a distinctly moral aim1 it is essentially moral1 because it is this ideal representation of life1 and an idealized version of human life must necessarily present it in its moral aspects4 ,aristotle distinctly combats the traditional ,greek conception of the didactic function of poetry2 but it is evident that he insists fundamentally that literature must be moral1 for he sternly rebukes ,euripides several times on grounds that are moral1 rather than purely aesthetic4 ,in answer to the objection that poetry1 instead of calming1 stirs and excites our meanest passions1 that it waters and cherishes those emotions which ought to wither with drought1 and constitutes them our rulers1 when they ought to be our subjects1#cb ,aristotle taught those in the ,renaissance who were able to understand him1 that poetry1 and especially dramatic poetry1 does not indeed starve the emotions1 but excites them only to allay and to regulate them1 and in this aesthetic process purifies and ennobles them4#cc ,in pointing out these things he has justified the utility of poetry1 regarding it as more serious and philosophic than history1 because it universalizes mere fact1 and imitates life in its noblest aspects4 ,these arguments were incorporated into ,renaissance criticism2 they were emphasized1 as we shall see1 over and over again1 and they formed the basis of the justification of poetry in modern critical literature4 ,at the same time1 this purely aesthetic conception of art did not prevail by itself in the sixteenth century1 even in those for whom ,aristotle meant most1 and who best understood his meaning2 the ,horatian elements1 also1 as found in the early humanists1 were elaborated and discussed4 ,in the ,poetica of ,daniello 7#aecf71 these ,horatian elements form the basis for a defence of poetry#cd that has many marked resemblances to various passages in ,sir ,philip ,sidney's ,defence of ,poesy4 ,after referring to the antiquity and nobility of poetry1 and affirming that no other art is nobler or more ancient1 ,daniello shows that all things known to man1 all the secrets of ,god and nature1 are described by the poets in musical numbers and with exquisite ornament4 ,he furthermore asserts1 in the manner of ,horace1 that the poets were the inventors of the arts of life2 and in answer to the objection that it was the philosophers who in reality did these things1 he shows that while instruction is more proper to the philosopher than to the poet1 poets teach too1 in many more ways1 and far more pleasantly1 than any philosopher can4 ,they hide their useful teachings under various fictions and fabulous veils1 as the physician covers bitter medicine with a sweet coating4 ,the style of the philosopher is dry and obscure1 without any force or beauty by itself2 and the delightful instruction of poetry is far more effective than the abstract and harsh teachings of philosophy4 ,poetry1 indeed1 was the only form of philosophy that primitive men had1 and ,plato1 while regarding himself as an enemy of poets1 was really a great poet himself1 for he expresses all his ideas in a wondrously harmonious rhythm1 and with great splendor of words and images4 ,this defence of ,daniello's is interesting1 as anticipating the general form of such apologies throughout the sixteenth century4 ,similarly1 ,minturno in his ,de ,poeta 7#aeei71 elaborates the ,horatian suggestions for a defence of poetry4 ,he begins by pointing out the broad inclusiveness of poetry1 which may be said to comprehend in itself every form of human learning1 and by showing that no form of learning can be found before the first poets1 and that no nation1 however barbarous1 has ever been averse to poetry4 ,the ,hebrews praised ,god in verse2 the ,greeks1 ,italians1 ,germans1 and ,british have all honored poetry2 the ,persians have had their ,magi and the ,gauls their bards4 ,verse1 while not essential to poetry1 gives the latter much of its delightful effectiveness1 and if the gods ever speak1 they certainly speak in verse2 indeed1 in primitive times it was in verse that all sciences1 history1 and philosophy were written4#ce ,to answer the traditional objections against imaginative literature which had survived beyond the ,middle ,ages seemed to the ,renaissance a simpler task1 however1 than to answer the more philosophical objections urged in the ,platonic dialogues4 ,the authority of ,plato during the ,renaissance made it impossible to slight the arguments stated by him in the ,republic1 and elsewhere4 ,the writers of this period were particularly anxious to refute1 or at least to explain away1 the reasons for which ,plato had banished poets from his ideal commonwealth4 ,some critics1 like ,bernardo ,tasso#cf and ,daniello1#cg asserted that ,plato had not argued against poetry itself1 but only against the abuse of poetry4 ,thus1 according to ,tasso1 only impure and effeminate poets were to be excluded from the ideal state1 and according to ,daniello1 only the more immoral tragic poets1 and especially the authors of obscene and lampooning comedies4 ,other ,renaissance writers1 like ,minturno#ch and ,fracastoro1#ci answered the ,platonic objections on more philosophical grounds4 ,thus ,fracastoro answers ,plato's charge that1 since poetry is three removes from ideal truth1 poets are fundamentally ignorant of the realities they attempt to imitate1 by pointing out that the poet is indeed ignorant of what he is speaking of1 in so far as he is a versifier and skilled in language1 just as the philosopher or historian is ignorant of natural or historical facts in so far as he1 too1 is merely skilled in language1 but knows these facts in so far as he is learned1 and has thought out the problems of nature and history4 ,the poet1 as well as the philosopher and the historian1 must possess knowledge1 if he is to teach anything2 he1 too1 must learn the things he is going to write about1 and must solve the problems of life and thought2 he1 too1 must have a philosophical and an historical training4 ,plato's objection1 indeed1 applies to the philosopher1 to the orator1 to the historian1 quite as much as to the poet4 ,as to ,plato's second charge1 that imagination naturally tends toward the worst things1 and accordingly that poets write obscenely and blasphemously1 ,fracastoro points out that this is not the fault of the art1 but of those who abuse it2 there are1 indeed1 immoral and enervating poets1 and they ought to be excluded1 not only from ,plato's1 but from every commonwealth4 ,thus various ,aristotelian and ,horatian elements were combined to form a definite body of ,renaissance criticism4 ,,foot-,,notes3 #a ,de ,spectac4 xxiii4 #b ,ibid4 xxii4 #c ,differentiae1 iii4 #ac1 #a4 #d ,de ,spectac4 xv4 ,cf4 ,cyprian1 ,epist4 ad ,donat4 viii4 #e ,cf4 ,bosanquet1 ,hist4 of ,a,esthetic1 p4 #adh4 #f ,cf4 ,st4 ,augustine1 ,confess4 v4 #ad1 vi4 #d2 ,clemens ,alex4 ,stromata1 v4 #h4 #g ,opera1 p4 #hfg4 #h ,cf4 ,dante1 ,epist4 xi4 #g2 ,convito1 ii4 #a1 #a4 #i ,berni1 p4 #bbf sq4 #aj ,petrarch1 ,opera1 p4 #abje2 cf4 ,boccaccio1 ,gen4 degli ,dei1 p4 #bej1 v4 #aa ,woodward1 ,vittorino da ,feltre1 p4 #acb4 #ab ,ibid4 p4 #age4 #ac ,etymologiae1 viii4 #g1 #e4 #ad ,policraticus1 i4 #h4 #ae ,moore1 ,dante and his ,early ,biographers1 ,london1 #ahij1 pp4 #agc1 #agd4 #af ,ars ,poet4 #cia 7,roscommon74 #ag ,frogs1 #ajcj sq4 #ah ,defence of ,poetry1 ed4 ,cook1 p4 #e4 #ai ,woodberry1 ,a ,new ,defence of ,poetry1 in ,heart of ,man1 ,new ,york1 #ahii1 p4 #gf4 #bj ,woodward1 p4 #ahb sq4 #ba ,ibid4 p4 #aca4 #bb ,ibid4 p4 #aej4 #bc ,pope1 ,selecta ,poemata1 ii4 #ajh2 cf4 ,ars ,poet4 #cih4 #bd ,cf4 ,gaspary1 ii4 #bbj4 #be ,villari1 p4 #eja sq41 and ,perrens1 ii4 #cbh sq4 #bf ,cf4 ,cartier1 ,l',esthetique de ,savonarole1 in ,didron's ,annales ,archeologiques1 #ahdg1 vii4 #bee sq4 #bg ,egger1 #bji sq4 #bh ,ibid4 #eee sq4 #bi ,segni1 p4 #afj4 #cj ,b4 ,tasso1 ,lettere1 ii4 #ebe4 ,so also1 ,robortelli1 #aedh1 ,jacuit liber hic neglectus1 ad nostra fere haec usque tempora4 #ca ,poet4 ix4 #cb ,plato1 ,rep4 x4 #ffj4 #cc ,poet4 vi4 #b2 ,pol4 viii4 #g4 #cd ,daniello1 p4 #aj sq4 #ce ,de ,poeta1 p4 #ac sq4 #cf ,lettere1 ii4 #ebf4 #cg ,poetica1 p4 #ad sq4 #ch ,de ,poeta1 p4 #cj sq4 #ci ,opera1 i4 #cfa sq4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,general ,,theory ,,of ,,poetry ,,in ,,the ,,italian ,,renaissance ,,in the first book of his ,geography ,strabo defines poetry as a kind of elementary philosophy1 which introduces us early to life1 and gives us pleasurable instruction in reference to character1 emotion1 action4 ,this passage sounds the keynote of the ,renaissance theory of poetry4 ,poetry is therein stated to be a form of philosophy1 and1 moreover1 a philosophy whose subject is life1 and its object is said to be pleasurable instruction4 ,i4 ,poetry as a ,form of ,scholastic ,philosophy ,in the first place1 poetry is a form of philosophy4 ,savonarola had classed poetry with logic and grammar1 and had asserted that a knowledge of logic is essential to the composing of poetry4 ,the division of the sciences and the relative importance of each were a source of infinite scholastic discussion during the ,middle ,ages4 ,aristotle had first placed dialectic or logic1 rhetoric1 and poetics in the same category of efficient philosophy4 ,but ,averroes was probably the first to confuse the function of poetics with that of logic1 and to make the former a subdivision1 or form1 of the latter2 and this classification appears to have been accepted by the scholastic philosophers of the ,middle ,ages4 ,this conception of the position of poetry in the body of human knowledge may be found1 however1 throughout the ,renaissance4 ,thus1 ,robortelli1 in his commentary on ,aristotle's ,poetics 7#aedh71 gives the usual scholastic distinctions between the various forms of the written or spoken word 7oratio73 the demonstrative1 which deals with the true2 the dialectic1 which deals with the probable2 the rhetorical1 with the persuasive2 and the poetic1 with the false or fabulous4#dj ,by the term false or fabulous is meant merely that the subject of poetry is not actual fact1 but that it deals with things as they ought to be1 rather than as they are4 ,varchi1 in his public lectures on poetry 7#aeec71 divides philosophy into two forms1 real and rational4 ,real philosophy deals with things1 and includes metaphysics1 ethics1 physics1 geometry1 and the like2 while rational philosophy1 which includes logic1 dialectic1 rhetoric1 history1 poetry1 and grammar1 deals not with things1 but with words1 and is not philosophy proper1 but the instrument of philosophy4 ,poetry is therefore1 strictly speaking1 neither an art nor a science1 but an instrument or faculty2 and it is only an art in the sense that it has been reduced to rules and precepts4 ,it is1 in fact1 a form of logic1 and no man1 according to ,varchi1 can be a poet unless he is a logician2 the better logician he is1 the better poet he will be4 ,logic and poetry differ1 however1 in their matter and their instruments2 for the subject of logic is truth1 arrived at by means of the demonstrative syllogism1 while the subject of poetry is fiction or invention1 arrived at by means of that form of the syllogism known as the example4 ,here the enthymeme1 or example1 which ,aristotle has made the instrument of rhetoric1 becomes the instrument of poetry4 ,this classification survived in the ,aristotelian schools at ,padua and elsewhere as late as ,zabarella and ,campanella4 ,zabarella1 a professor of logic and later of philosophy at ,padua from #aefd to #aehi1 explains at length ,averroes's theory that poetics is a form of logic1 in a treatise on the nature of logic1 published in #aegh4da ,he concludes that the two faculties1 logic and poetics1 are not instruments of philosophy in general1 but only of a part of it1 for they refer rather to action than to knowledge2 that is1 they come under ,aristotle's category of efficient philosophy4 ,they are not the instruments of useful art or of moral philosophy1 the end of which is to make one's self good2 but of civil philosophy1 the end of which is to make others good4 ,if it be objected that they are ,greek3 ton enantion1 that is1 of both good and evil1 it may be answered that their proper end is good4 ,thus1 in the ,symposium1 the true poet is praised2 while in the ,republic the poets who aim at pleasure and who corrupt their audiences are censured2 and ,aristotle in his definition of tragedy says that the end of tragedy is to purge the passions and to correct the morals of men 7affectiones animi purgare et mores corrigere74 ,even later than ,zabarella1 we find in the ,poetica of ,campanella a division of the sciences very similar to that of ,savonarola and ,varchi4 ,theology is there placed at the head of all knowledge1 in accordance with the mediaeval tradition1 while poetics1 with dialectic1 grammar1 and rhetoric1 is placed among the logical sciences4 ,considering poetica as a form of philosophy1 another commentator on ,aristotle1 ,maggi 7#aeej71 takes great pains to distinguish its various manifestations4 ,poetica is the art of composing poetry1 poesis1 the poetry composed according to this art1 poeta1 the composer of poetry1 and poema1 a single specimen of poetry4#db ,this distinction is an elaboration of two passages in ,plutarch and ,aphthonius4 ,,ii4 ,poetry as an ,imitation of ,life ,in the second place1 according to the passage from ,strabo cited at the beginning of this chapter1 poetry introduces us early to life1 or1 in other words1 its subject is human action1 and it is what ,aristotle calls it1 an imitation of human life4 ,this raises two distinct problems4 ,first1 what is the meaning of imitation8 and what in life is the subject-matter of this imitation8 ,the conception of imitation held by the critics of the ,renaissance was that expressed by ,aristotle in the ninth chapter of the ,poetics4 ,the passage is as follows3-- ,it is evident from what has been said that it is not the function of the poet to relate what has happened1 but what may happen1--what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity4 ,the poet and the historian differ not by writing in verse or in prose4 ,the work of ,herodotus might be put into verse1 and it would still be a species of history1 with metre no less than without it4 ,the true difference is that one relates what has happened1 the other what may happen4 ,poetry1 therefore1 is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history2 for poetry tends to express the universal1 history the particular4 ,the universal tells us how a person of given character will on occasion speak or act1 according to the law of probability or necessity2 and it is this universality at which poetry aims in giving expressive names to the characters4 ,in this passage ,aristotle has briefly formulated a conception of ideal imitation which may be regarded as universally valid1 and which1 repeated over and over again1 became the basis of ,renaissance criticism4 ,in the ,poetica of ,daniello 7#aecf71 occurs the first allusion in modern literary criticism to the ,aristotelian notion of ideal imitation4 ,according to ,daniello1 the poet1 unlike the historian1 can mingle fictions with facts1 because he is not obliged1 as is the historian1 to describe things as they actually are or have been1 but rather as they ought to be2 and it is in this that the poet most differs from the historian1 and not in the writing of verses2 for even if ,livy's works were versified1 they would still be histories as before4#dc ,this is of course almost a paraphrase of the passage in ,aristotle2 but that ,daniello did not completely understand the ideal element in ,aristotle's conception is shown by the further distinction which he draws between the historian and the poet4 ,for he adds that the poet and the historian have much in common2 in both there are descriptions of places1 peoples1 laws2 both contain the representation of vices and virtues2 in both1 amplification1 variety1 and digressions are proper2 and both teach1 delight1 and profit at the same time4 ,they differ1 however1 in that the historian1 in telling his story1 recounts it exactly as it happened1 and adds nothing2 whereas the poet is permitted to add whatever he desires1 so long as the fictitious events have all the appearance of truth4 ,somewhat later1 ,robortelli treats the question of aesthetic imitation from another point of view4 ,the poet deals with things as they ought to be1 but he can either appropriate actual fact1 or he can invent his material4 ,if he does the former1 he narrates the truth not as it really happened1 but as it might or ought to happen2 while if he invents his material1 he must do so in accordance with the law of possibility1 or necessity1 or probability and verisimilitude4#dd ,thus ,xenophon1 in describing ,cyrus1 does not depict him as he actually was1 but as the best and noblest king can be and ought to be2 and ,cicero1 in describing the orator1 follows the same method4 ,from this it is evident that the poet can invent things transcending the order of nature2 but if he does so1 he should describe what might or ought to have been4 ,here ,robortelli answers a possible objection to ,aristotle's statement that poets deal only with what is possible and verisimilar4 ,is it possible and verisimilar that the gods should eat ambrosia and drink nectar1 as ,homer describes1 and that such a being as ,cerberus should have several heads1 as we find in ,virgil1 not to mention various improbable things that occur in many other poets8 ,the answer to such an objection is that poets can invent in two ways4 ,they can invent either things according to nature or things transcending nature4 ,in the former case1 these things must be in keeping with the laws of probability and necessity2 but in the latter case1 the things are treated according to a process described by ,aristotle himself1 and called paralogism1 which means1 not necessarily false reasoning1 but the natural1 if quite inconclusive1 logical inference that the things we know not of are subject to the same laws as the things we know4 ,the poets accept the existence of the gods from the common notion of men1 and then treat all that relates to these deities in accordance with this system of paralogism4 ,in tragedy and comedy men are described as acting in accordance with the ordinary occurrences of nature2 but in epic poetry this is not entirely the case1 and the marvellous is therefore admitted4 ,accordingly1 this marvellous element has the widest scope in epic poetry2 while in comedy1 which treats of things nearest to our own time1 it ought not to be admitted at all4 ,but there is another problem suggested by the passage from the ,poetics which has been cited4 ,aristotle says that imitation1 and not metre1 is the test of poetry2 that even if a history were versified1 it would still remain history4 ,the question then arises whether a writer who imitates in prose1 that is1 without verse1 would be worthy of the title of poet4 ,robortelli answers this question by pointing out that metre does not constitute the nature1 force1 or essence of poetry1 which depends entirely on the fact of imitation2 but at the same time1 while one who imitates without verse is a poet1 in the best and truest poetry imitation and metre are combined4#de ,in ,fracastoro's ,naugerius1 sive de ,poetica ,dialogus 7#aeee71 there is the completest explanation of the ideal element in the ,aristotelian conception of imitation4 ,the poet1 according to ,aristotle1 differs from other writers in that the latter consider merely the particular1 while the poet aims at the universal4 ,he is1 in other words1 attempting to describe the simple and essential truth of things1 not by depicting the nude thing as it is1 but the idea of things clothed in all their beauties4#df ,here ,fracastoro attempts to explain the ,aristotelian conception of the type with the aid of the ,platonic notion of beauty4 ,there were1 in fact1 in the ,renaissance1 three conceptions of beauty in general vogue4 ,first1 the purely objective conception that poetry is fixed or formal1 that it consists in approximating to a certain mechanical or geometrical form1 such as roundness1 squareness1 or straightness2 secondly1 the ,platonic conception1 ethical rather than aesthetic1 connecting the beautiful with the good1 and regarding both as the manifestation of divine power2 and1 thirdly1 a more purely aesthetic conception of beauty1 connecting it either with grace or conformity1 or in a higher sense with whatever is proper or fitting to an object4 ,this last idea1 which at times approaches the modern conception that beauty consists in the realization of the objective character of any particular thing and in the fulfilment of the law of its own being1 seems to have been derived from the ,idea of the ,greek rhetorician ,hermogenes1 whose influence during the sixteenth century was considerable1 even as early as the time of ,filelfo4 ,it was the celebrated rhetorician ,giulio ,cammillo1 however1 who appears to have popularized ,hermogenes in the sixteenth century1 by translating the ,idea into ,italian1 and by expounding it in a discourse published posthumously in #aedd4 ,as will be seen1 ,fracastoro's conception of beauty approximates both to the ,platonic and to the more purely aesthetic doctrines which we have mentioned2 and he expounds and elaborates this aesthetic notion in the following manner4 ,each art has its own rules of proper expression4 ,the historian or the philosopher does not aim at all the beauties or elegancies of expression1 but only such as are proper to history or philosophy4 ,but to the poet no grace1 no embellishment1 no ornament1 is ever alien2 he does not consider the particular beauty of any one field1--that is1 the singular1 or particular1 of ,aristotle1--but all that pertains to the simple idea of beauty and of beautiful speech4 ,yet this universalized beauty is no extraneous thing2 it cannot be added to objects in which it has no place1 as a golden coat on a rustic2 all the essential beauty of each species is to be the especial regard of the poet4 ,for in imitating persons and things1 he neglects no beauty or elegance which he can attribute to them2 he strives only after the most beautiful and most excellent1 and in this way affects the minds of men in the direction of excellence and beauty4 ,this suggests a problem which is at the very root of ,aristotle's conception of ideal imitation2 and it is ,fracastoro's high merit that he was one of the first writers of the ,renaissance to explain away the objection1 and to formulate in the most perfect manner what ,aristotle really meant4 ,for1 even granting that the poet teaches more than others1 may it not be urged that it is not what pertains to the thing itself1 but the beauties which he adds to them1--that it is ornament1 extraneous to the thing itself 7extra rem71 and not the thing itself1--which seems to be the chief regard of the poet8 ,but after all1 what is extra rem8 ,are beautiful columns1 domes1 peristyles extra rem1 because a thatched roof will protect us from rain and frost2 or is noble raiment extra rem1 because a rustic garment would suffice8 ,the poet1 so far from adding anything extraneous to the things he imitates1 depicts them in their very essence2 and it is because he alone finds the true beauty in things1 because he attributes to them their true nobility and perfection1 that he is more useful than any other writer4 ,the poet does not1 as some think1 deal with the false and the unreal4#dg ,he assumes nothing openly alien to truth1 though he may permit himself to treat of old and obscure legends which cannot be verified1 or of things which are regarded as true on account of their appearance1 their allegorical signification 7such as the ancient myths and fables71 or their common acceptance by men4 ,so we may conclude that not every one who uses verse is a poet1 but only he who is moved by the true beauty of things--by their simple and essential beauties1 not merely apparent ones4 ,this is ,fracastoro's conclusion1 and it contains that mingling of ,platonism and ,aristotelianism which may be found somewhat later in ,tasso and ,sir ,philip ,sidney4 ,it is the chief merit of ,fracastoro's dialogue1 that even while emphasizing this ,platonic element1 he clearly distinguishes and defines the ideal element in aesthetic imitation4 ,about the same time1 in the public lectures of ,varchi 7#aeec71 there was an attempt to formulate a more explicit definition of poetry on the basis of ,aristotle's definition#dh of tragedy4 ,poetry1 according to ,varchi1 is an imitation of certain actions1 passions1 habits of mind1 with song1 diction1 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#di ,in the first place1 poetry is an imitation4 ,every poet imitates1 and any one who does not imitate cannot be called a poet4 ,accordingly1 ,varchi follows ,maggi in distinguishing three classes of poets1--the poets par excellence1 who imitate in verse2 the poets who imitate without using verse1 such as ,lucian1 ,boccaccio in the ,decameron1 and ,sannazaro in the ,arcadia2 and the poets1 commonly but less properly so called1 who use verse1 but who do not imitate4 ,verse1 while not an essential attribute of poetry1 is generally required2 for men's innate love of harmony1 according to ,aristotle1 was one of the causes that gave rise to poetic composition4 ,certain forms of poetry however1 such as tragedy1 cannot be written without verse2 for embellished language1 that is1 verse1 is included in the very definition of tragedy as given by ,aristotle4 ,the question whether poetry could be written in prose was a source of much discussion in the ,renaissance2 but the consensus of opinion was overwhelmingly against the prose drama4 ,comedy in prose was the usual ,italian practice of this period1 and various scholars#ej even sanction the practice on theoretical grounds4 ,but the controversy was not brought to a head until the publication of ,agostino ,michele's ,discorso in cui si dimostra come si possono scrivere le ,commedie e le ,tragedie in ,prosa in #aeib2 and eight years later1 in #afjj1 ,paolo ,beni published his ,latin dissertation1 ,disputatio in qua ostenditur praestare ,comoediam atque ,tragoediam metrorum vinculis solvere4#ea ,the language of ,beni's treatise was strong--its very title speaks of liberating the drama from the shackles of verse2 and for a heresy of this sort1 couched as it was in language that might even have been revolutionary enough for the ,french romanticists of #ahcj1 the sixteenth century was not yet fully prepared4 ,faustino ,summo1 answering ,beni in the same year1 asserts that not only is it improper for tragedy and comedy to be written in prose1 but that no form of poetry whatever can properly be composed without the accompaniment of verse4#eb ,the result of the whole controversy was to fix the metrical form of the drama throughout the period of classicism4 ,but it need not be said that the same conclusion was not accepted by all for every form of poetry4 ,the remark of ,cervantes in ,don ,quixote1 that epics can be written in prose as well as in verse1 is well known2 and ,julius ,caesar ,scaliger#ec speaks of ,heliodorus's romance as a model epic4 ,scaliger1 however1 regards verse as a fundamental part of poetry4 ,for him1 poetry and history have the forms of narration and ornament in common1 but differ in that poetry adds fictions to the things that are true1 or imitates actual things with fictitious ones1--majore sane apparatu1 that is1 among other things1 with verse4 ,as a result of this notion1 ,scaliger asserts that if the history of ,herodotus were versified1 it would no longer be history1 but historical poetry4 ,under no circumstances1 theoretically1 will he permit the separation of poetry from mere versification4 ,he accordingly dismisses with contempt the usual argument of the period that ,lucan was an historian rather than a poet4 ,take an actual history1 says ,scaliger2 how does ,lucan differ1 for example1 from ,livy8 ,he differs in using verse4 ,well1 then he is a poet4 ,poetry1 then1 is imitation in verse2#ed but in imitating what ought to be rather than what is1 the poet creates another nature and other fortunes1 as if he were another ,god4#ee ,it will be seen from these discussions that the ,renaissance always conceived of aesthetic imitation in this ideal sense4 ,there are scarcely any traces of realism1 in anything like its modern sense1 in the literary criticism of this period4 ,torquato ,tasso does indeed say that art becomes most perfect as it approaches most closely to nature2#ef and ,scaliger declares that the dramatic poet must beyond all things aim at reproducing the actual conditions of life4#eg ,but it is the appearance of reality1 and not the mere actuality itself1 that the critics are speaking of here4 ,with the vast body of mediaeval literature before them1 in which impossibilities follow upon impossibilities1 and the sense of reality is continually obscured1 the critical writers of the ,renaissance were forced to lay particular stress on the element of probability1 the element of close approach to the seeming realities of life2 but the imitation of life is for them1 nevertheless1 an imitation of things as they ought to be--in other words1 the imitation is ideal4 ,muzio says that nature is adorned by art3-- ,suol far l' opere sue roze1 e tra le mani ,lasciarle a l' arte1 che le adorni e limi2#eh and he distinctly affirms that the poet cannot remain content with exact portraiture1 with the mere actuality of life3-- ,lascia 'l vero a l' historia1 e ne' tuoi versi ,sotto i nomi privati a l' universo ,mostra che fare e che non far si debbia4 ,in keeping with this idealized conception of art1 ,muzio asserts that everything obscene or immoral must be excluded from poetry2 and this puristic notion of art is everywhere emphasized in ,renaissance criticism4 ,it was the verisimile1 as has been said1 that the writers of this period especially insisted upon4 ,poetry must have the appearance of truth1 that is1 it must be probable2 for unless the reader believes what he reads1 his spirit cannot be moved by the poem4#ei ,this anticipates ,boileau's famous line3-- ,l'esprit n'est point emu de ce qu'il ne croit pas4#fj ,but beyond and above the verisimile1 the poet must pay special regard to the ethical element 7il lodevole e l' onesto74 ,a poet of the sixteenth century1 ,palingenius1 says that there are three qualities required of every poem3-- ,atqui scire opus est1 triplex genus esse bonorum1 ,utile1 delectans1 majusque ambobus honestum4#fa ,poetry1 then1 is an ideal representation of life2 but should it be still further limited1 and made an imitation of only human life8 ,in other words1 are the actions of men the only possible themes of poetry1 or may it deal1 as in the ,georgics and the ,de ,rerum ,natura1 with the various facts of external nature and of science1 which are only indirectly connected with human life8 ,may poetry treat of the life of the world as well as of the life of men2 and if only of the latter1 is it to be restricted to the actions of men1 or may it also depict their passions1 emotions1 and character8 ,in short1 how far may external nature on the one hand1 and the internal working of the human soul on the other hand1 be regarded as the subject-matter of poetry8 ,aristotle says that poetry deals with the actions of men1 but he uses the word actions in a larger sense than many of the ,renaissance critics appear to have believed4 ,his real meaning is thus explained by a modern writer3-- ,everything that expresses the mental life1 that reveals a rational personality1 will fall within this larger sense of action4444 ,the phrase is virtually an equivalent for ,greek3 ethe 7character71 ,greek3 pathe 7emotion71 ,greek3 praxeis 7action74444 ,the common original from which all the arts draw is human life1--its mental processes1 its spiritual movements1 its outward acts issuing from deeper sources2 in a word1 all that constitutes the inward and essential activity of the soul4 ,on this principle landscape and animals are not ranked among the objects of aesthetic imitation4 ,the whole universe is not conceived of as the raw material of art4 ,aristotle's theory is in agreement with the practice of the ,greek poets and artists of the classical period1 who introduce the external world only so far as it forms a background of action1 and enters as an emotional element into man's life and heightens the human interest4#fb ,aristotle distinctly says that even if a treatise on medicine or natural philosophy be brought out in verse1 the name of poet is by custom given to the author2 and yet ,homer and ,empedocles have nothing in common except the material2 the former1 therefore1 is properly styled poet1 the latter1 physicist rather than poet4#fc ,the ,aristotelian doctrine was variously conceived during the ,renaissance4 ,fracastoro1 for example1 asserts that the imitation of human life alone is not of itself a test of poetry1 for such a test would exclude ,empedocles and ,lucretius2 it would make ,virgil a poet in the ,a,eneid1 and not a poet in the ,georgics4 ,all matters are proper material for the poet1 as ,horace says1 if they are treated poetically2 and although the imitation of men and women may seem to be of higher importance for us who are men and women1 the imitation of human life is no more the poet's end than the imitation of anything else4#fd ,this portion of ,fracastoro's argument may be called apologetic1 for the imitation of human actions as a test of poetry would exclude most of his own poems1#fe such as his famous ,de ,morbo ,gallico 7#aebi71 written before the influence of ,aristotle was felt in anything but the mere external forms of creative literature4 ,for ,fracastoro1 all things poetically treated become poetry1 and ,aristotle himself#ff says that everything becomes pleasant when correctly imitated4 ,so that not the mere composition of verse1 but the ,platonic rapture1 the delight in the true and essential beauty of things1 is for ,fracastoro the test of poetic power4 ,varchi1 on the other hand1 is more in accord with ,aristotle1 in conceiving of action1 the subject-matter of poetry1 as including the passions and habits of mind as well as the merely external actions of mankind4 ,by passions ,varchi means those mental perturbations which impel us to an action at any particular time 7,greek3 pathe72 while by manners1 or habits of mind1 he means those mental qualities which distinguish one man or one class of men from another 7,greek3 ethe74 ,the exclusion of the emotional or introspective side of human life would leave all lyric and1 in fact1 all subjective verse out of the realms of poetry2 and it was therefore essential1 in an age in which ,petrarch was worshipped1 that the subjective side of poetry should receive its justification4#fg ,there is also in ,varchi a most interesting comparison between the arts of poetry and painting4#fh ,the basis of his distinction is ,horace's ut pictura poesis1 doubtless founded on the parallel of ,simonides preserved for us by ,plutarch2 and this distinction1 which regarded painting as silent poetry1 and poetry as painting in language1 may be considered almost the keynote of ,renaissance criticism1 continuing even up to the time of ,lessing4 ,in ,capriano's ,della ,vera ,poetica 7#aeee7 poetry is given a preeminent place among all the arts1 because it does not merely deal with actions or with the objects of any single sense4 ,for ,capriano1 poetry is an ideal representation of life1 and as such vere nutrice e amatrice del nostro bene4#fi ,all sensuous or comprehensible objects are capable of being imitated by various arts4 ,the nobler of the imitative arts are concerned with the objects of the nobler senses1 while the ignobler arts are concerned with the objects of the senses of taste1 touch1 and smell4 ,poetry is the finest of all the arts1 because it comprehends in itself all the faculties and powers of the other arts1 and can in fact imitate anything1 as1 for example1 the form of a lion1 its color1 its ferocity1 its roar1 and the like4 ,it is also the highest form of art because it makes use of the most efficacious means of imitation1 namely1 words1 and especially since these receive the additional beauty and power of rhythm4 ,accordingly1 ,capriano divides poets into two classes3 natural poets1 who describe the things of nature1 and moral poets 7such as epic and tragic poets71 who aim at presenting moral lessons and indicating the uses of life2 and of these two classes the moral poets are to be rated above the natural poets4 ,but if all things are the objects of poetic imitation1 the poet must know everything2 he must have studied nature as well as life2 and1 accordingly1 ,lionardi1 in his dialogues on poetic imitation 7#aeed71 says that to be a good poet1 one must be a good historian1 a good orator1 and a good natural and moral philosopher as well2#gj and ,bernardo ,tasso asserts that a thorough acquaintance with the art of poetry is only to be gained from the study of ,aristotle's ,poetics1 combined with a knowledge of philosophy and the various arts and sciences1 and vast experience of the world4#ga ,the ,renaissance1 with its humanistic tendencies1 never quite succeeded in discriminating between erudition and genius4 ,scaliger says that nothing which proceeds from solid learning can ever be out of place in poetry1 and ,fracastoro 7#aeee7 and ,tomitano 7#aede7 both affirm that the good poet and the good orator must essentially be learned scholars and philosophers4 ,scaliger therefore distinguishes three classes of poets1--first1 the theological poets1 such as ,orpheus and ,amphion2 secondly1 the philosophical poets1 of two sorts1 natural poets1 such as ,empedocles and ,lucretius1 and moral poets1 who again are either political1 as ,solon and ,tyrtaeus1 economic1 as ,hesiod1 or common1 as ,phocyllides2 and1 thirdly1 the ordinary poets who imitate human life4#gb ,the last are divided according to the usual ,renaissance classification into dramatic1 narrative1 and common or mixed4 ,scaliger's classification is employed by ,sir ,philip ,sidney2#gc and a very similar subdivision is given by ,minturno4#gd ,the treatment of ,castelvetro1 in his commentary on the ,poetics 7#aegj71 is at times much more in accord with the true ,aristotelian conception than most of the other ,renaissance writers4 ,while following ,aristotle in asserting that verse is not of the essence of poetry1 he shows that ,aristotle himself by no means intended to class as poetry works that imitated in prose1 for this was not the custom of ,hellenic art4 ,prose is not suited to imitative or imaginative subjects1 for we expect themes treated in prose to be actual facts4#ge ,verse does not distinguish poetry1 says ,castelvetro1 but clothes and adorns it2 and it is as improper for poetry to be written in prose1 or history in verse1 as it is for women to use the garments of men1 and for men to wear the garments of women4#gf ,the test of poetry therefore is not the metre but the material4 ,this approximates to ,aristotle's own view2 since while imitation is what distinguishes the poetic art1 ,aristotle1 by limiting it to the imitation of human life1 was1 after all1 making the matter the test of poetry4 ,castelvetro1 however1 arrives at this conclusion on different grounds4 ,science he regards as not suitable material for poetry1 and accordingly such writers as ,lucretius and ,fracastoro are not poets4 ,they are good artists1 perhaps1 or good philosophers1 but not poets2 for the poet does not attempt to discover the truth of nature1 but to imitate the deeds of men1 and to bring delight to his audience by means of this imitation4 ,moreover1 poetry1 as will be seen later1 is intended to give delight to the populace1 the untrained multitude1 to whom the sciences and the arts are dead letters2#gg if we concede these to be fit themes for poetry1 then poetry is either not meant to delight1 or not meant for the ordinary people1 but is intended for instruction and for those only who are versed in sciences and arts4 ,moreover1 comparing poetry with history1 ,castelvetro finds that they resemble each other in many points1 but are not identical4 ,poetry follows1 as it were1 in the footsteps of history1 but differs from it in that history deals with what has happened1 poetry with what is probable2 and things that have happened1 though probable1 are never considered in poetry as probable1 but always as things that have happened4 ,history1 accordingly1 does not regard verisimilitude or necessity1 but only truth2 poetry must take care to establish the probability of its subject in verisimilitude and necessity1 since it cannot regard truth4 ,castelvetro in common with most of the critics of the ,renaissance seems to misconceive the full meaning of ideal truth2 for to the ,renaissance--nay1 even to ,shakespeare1 if we are to consider as his own various phrases which he has put into the mouths of his dramatic characters--truth was regarded as coincident with fact2 and nothing that was not actual fact1 however subordinated to the laws of probability and necessity1 was ever called truth4 ,it is in keeping with this conception of the relations between history and poetry1 that ,castelvetro should differ not only from ,aristotle1 but from most of the critics of his own time1 in asserting that the order of the poetic narrative may be the same as that of historical narrative4 ,in telling a story1 he says1 we need not trouble ourselves whether it has beginning1 middle1 and end1 but only whether it is fitted to its true purpose1 that is1 to delight its auditors by the narration of certain circumstances which could possibly happen but have not actually happened4#gh ,here the only vital distinction between history and poetry is that the incidents recounted in history have once happened1 while those recounted in poetry have never actually happened1 or the matter will not be regarded as poetry4 ,aristotle's fundamental requirement of the unity of the fable is regarded as unessential1 and is simply observed in order to show the poet's ingenuity4 ,this notion of poetic ingenuity is constant throughout ,castelvetro's commentary4 ,thus he explains ,aristotle's statement that poetry is more philosophic than history--more philosophic1 according to ,castelvetro1 in the sense of requiring more thought1 more speculation in its composition--by showing that it is a more difficult and more ingenious labor to invent things that could possibly happen1 than merely to repeat things that have actually happened4#gi ,,iii4 ,the ,function of ,poetry ,according to ,strabo1 it will be remembered1 the object or function of poetry is pleasurable instruction in reference to character1 emotion1 action4 ,this occasions the inquiry as to what is the function of the poetic art1 and1 furthermore1 what are its relations to morality4 ,the starting-point of all discussions on this subject in the ,renaissance was the famous verse of ,horace3-- ,aut prodesse volunt aut delectare poetae4#hj ,this line suggests that the function of poetry may be to please1 or to instruct1 or both to please and instruct2 and every one of the writers of the ,renaissance takes one or other of these three positions4 ,aristotle1 as we know1 regarded poetry as an imitation of human life1 for the purpose of giving a certain refined pleasure to the reader or hearer4 ,the end of the fine arts is to give pleasure 7,greek3 pros hedonen71 or rational enjoyment 7,greek3 pros diagogen74#ha ,it has already been said that poetry1 in so far as it is an imitation of human life1 and attempts to be true to human life in its ideal aspects1 must fundamentally be moral2 but to give moral or scientific instruction is in no way the end or function of poetry4 ,it will be seen that the ,renaissance was in closer accord with ,horace than with ,aristotle1 in requiring for the most part the utile as well as the dulce in poetry4 ,for ,daniello1 one of the earliest critical writers of the century1 the function of the poet is to teach and delight4 ,as the aim of the orator is to persuade1 and the aim of the physician to cure1 so the aim of the poet is equally to teach and delight2 and unless he teaches and delights he cannot be called a poet1 even as one who does not persuade cannot be called an orator1 or one who does not cure1 a physician4#hb ,but beyond profitableness and beauty1 the poet must carry with him a certain persuasion1 which is one of the highest functions of poetry1 and which consists in moving and affecting the reader or hearer with the very passions depicted2 but the poet must be moved first1 before he can move others4#hc ,here ,daniello is renewing ,horace's ,si vis me flere1 dolendum est ,primum ipsi tibi1-- a sentiment echoed by poets as different as ,vauquelin1 ,boileau1 and ,lamartine4 ,fracastoro1 however1 attempts a deeper analysis of the proper function of the poetic art4 ,what is the aim of the poet8 ,not merely to give delight1 for the fields1 the stars1 men and women1 the objects of poetic imitation themselves do that2 and poetry1 if it did no more1 could not be said to have any reason for existing4 ,nor is it merely to teach and delight1 as ,horace says2 for the descriptions of countries1 peoples1 and armies1 the scientific digressions and the historical events1 which constitute the instructive side of poetry1 are derived from cosmographers1 scientists1 and historians1 who teach and delight as much as poets do4 ,what1 then1 is the function of the poet8 ,it is1 as has already been pointed out1 to describe the essential beauty of things1 to aim at the universal and ideal1 and to perform this function with every possible accompaniment of beautiful speech1 thus affecting the minds of men in the direction of excellence and beauty4 ,portions of ,fracastoro's argument have been alluded to before1 and it will suffice here to state his own summing up of the aim of the poet1 which is this1 ,delectare et prodesse imitando in unoquoque maxima et pulcherrima per genus dicendi simpliciter pulchrum ex convenientibus4#hd ,this is a mingling of the ,horatian and ,platonic conceptions of poetic art4 ,by other critics a more practical function was given to poetry4 ,giraldi ,cintio asserts that it is the poet's aim to condemn vice and to praise virtue1 and ,maggi says that poets aim almost exclusively at benefiting the mind4 ,poets who1 on the contrary1 treat of obscene matters for the corruption of youth1 may be compared with infamous physicians who give their patients deadly poison in the guise of wholesome medicine4 ,horace and ,aristotle1 according to ,maggi1 are at one on this point1 for in the definition of tragedy ,aristotle ascribes to it a distinctly useful purpose1 and whatever delight is obtainable is to be regarded as a result of this moral function2 for ,maggi and the ,renaissance critics in general would follow the ,elizabethan poet who speaks of delight1 the fruit of virtue dearly loved4 ,muzio1 in his versified ,arte ,poetica 7#aeee71 regards the end of poetry as pleasure and profit1 and the pleasurable aim of poetry as attained by variety1 for the greatest poems contain every phase of life and art4 ,it has been seen that ,varchi classed poetry with rational philosophy4 ,the end of all arts and sciences is to make human life perfect and happy2 but they differ in their modes of producing this result4 ,philosophy attains its end by teaching2 rhetoric1 by persuasion2 history1 by narration2 poetry1 by imitation or representation4 ,the aim of the poet1 therefore1 is to make the human soul perfect and happy1 and it is his office to imitate1 that is1 to invent and represent1 things which render men virtuous1 and consequently happy4 ,poetry attains this end more perfectly than any of the other arts or sciences1 because it does so1 not by means of precept1 but by means of example4 ,there are various ways of making men virtuous1--by teaching them what vice is and what virtue is1 which is the province of ethics2 by actually chastising vices and rewarding virtues1 which is the province of law2 or by example1 that is1 by the representation of virtuous men receiving suitable rewards for their virtue1 and of vicious men receiving suitable punishments1 which is the province of poetry4 ,this last method is the most efficacious1 because it is accompanied by delight4 ,for men either can not or will not take the trouble to study sciences and virtues--nay1 do not even like to be told what they should or should not do2 but in hearing or reading poetic examples1 not only is there no trouble1 but there is the greatest delight1 and no one can help being moved by the representation of characters who are rewarded or punished according to an ideal justice4 ,for ,varchi1 then1 as for ,sir ,philip ,sidney later1 the high importance of poetry is to be found in the fact that it teaches morality better than any other art1 and the reason is that its instrument is not precept but example1 which is the most delightful and hence the most efficacious of all means4 ,the function of poetry is1 therefore1 a moral one1 and it consists in removing the vices of men and inciting them to virtue4 ,this twofold moral object of poetry--the removal of vices1 which is passive1 and the incitement to virtue1 which is active--is admirably attained1 for example1 by ,dante in his ,divina ,commedia2 for in the ,inferno evil men are so fearfully punished that we resolve to flee from every form of vice1 and in the ,paradiso virtuous men are so gloriously rewarded that we resolve to imitate every one of their perfections4 ,this is the expression of the extreme view of poetic justice2 and while it is in keeping with the common sentiment of the ,renaissance1 it is of course entirely un-,aristotelian4 ,scaliger's point of view is in accord with the common ,renaissance tradition4 ,poetry is imitation1 but imitation is not the end of poetry4 ,imitation for its own sake--that is1 art for art's sake--receives no encouragement from ,scaliger4 ,the purpose of poetry is to teach delightfully 7docere cum delectatione72 and1 therefore1 not imitation1 as ,aristotle says1 but delightful instruction1 is the test of poetry4#he ,minturno 7#aeei7 adds a third element to that of instruction and of delight4#hf ,the function of poetry is not only to teach and delight1 but also to move1 that is1 beyond instruction and delight the poet must impel certain passions in the reader or hearer1 and incite the mind to admiration of what is described4#hg ,an ideal hero may be represented in a poem1 but the poem is futile unless it excites the reader to admiration of the hero depicted4 ,accordingly1 it is the peculiar office of the poet to move admiration for great men2 for the orator1 the philosopher1 and the historian need not necessarily do so1 but no one who does not incite this admiration can really be called a poet4 ,this new element of admiration is the logical consequence of the ,renaissance position that philosophy teaches by precept1 but poetry by example1 and that in this consists its superior ethical efficacy4 ,in ,seneca's phrase1 longum iter per praecepta1 breve per exempla4 ,if poetry1 therefore1 attains its end by means of example1 it follows that to arrive at this end the poet must incite in the reader an admiration of the example1 or the ethical aim of poetry will not be accomplished4 ,poetry is more than a mere passive expression of truth in the most pleasurable manner2 it becomes like oratory an active exhortation to virtue1 by attempting to create in the reader's mind a strong desire to be like the heroes he is reading about4 ,the poet does not tell what vices are to be avoided and what virtues are to be imitated1 but sets before the reader or hearer the most perfect types of the various virtues and vices4 ,it is1 in ,sidney's phrase 7a phrase apparently borrowed from ,minturno71 that feigning notable images of virtues1 vices1 or what else1 with that delightful instruction1 which must be the right describing note to know a poet by4 ,dryden1 a century later1 seems to be insisting upon this same principle of admiration when he says that it is the work of the poet to affect the soul1 and excite the passions1 and above all to move admiration1 which is the delight of serious plays4#hh ,but ,minturno goes even further than this4 ,if the poet is fundamentally a teacher of virtue1 it follows that he must be a virtuous man himself2 and in pointing this out1 ,minturno has given the first complete expression in modern times of the consecrated conception of the poet's office4 ,as no form of knowledge and no moral excellence is foreign to the poet1 so at bottom he is the truly wise and good man4 ,the poet may1 in fact1 be defined as a good man skilled in language and imitation2 not only ought he to be a good man1 but no one will be a good poet unless he is so4#hi ,this conception of the moral nature of the poet may be traced henceforth throughout modern times4 ,it is to be found in ,ronsard#ij and other ,french and ,italian writers2 it is especially noticeable in ,english literature1 and is insisted on by ,ben ,jonson1#ia ,milton1#ib ,shaftesbury1#ic ,coleridge1#id and ,shelley4#ie ,in this idea ,plato's praise of the philosopher1 as well as ,cicero's and ,quintilian's praise of the orator1 was by the ,renaissance transferred to the poet2#if but the conception itself goes back to a passage in ,strabo's ,geography1 a work well known to sixteenth-century scholars4 ,this passage is as follows3-- ,can we possibly imagine that the genius1 power1 and excellence of a real poet consist in aught else than the just imitation of life in formed discourse and numbers8 ,but how should he be that just imitator of life1 whilst he himself knows not its measures1 nor how to guide himself by judgment and understanding8 ,for we have not surely the same notion of the poet's excellence as of the ordinary craftsman's1 the subject of whose art is senseless stone or timber1 without life1 dignity1 or beauty2 whilst the poet's art turning principally on men and manners1 he has his virtues and excellence as poet naturally annexed to human excellence1 and to the worth and dignity of man1 insomuch that it is impossible he should be a great and worthy poet who is not first a worthy and good man4#ig ,another writer of the sixteenth century1 ,bernardo ,tasso1 tells us that in his poem of the ,amadigi he has aimed at delight rather than profitable instruction4#ih ,i have spent most of my efforts1 he says1 in attempting to please1 as it seems to me that this is more necessary1 and also more difficult to attain2 for we find by experience that many poets may instruct and benefit us very much1 but certainly give us very little delight4 ,this agrees with what one of the sanest of ,english critics1 ,john ,dryden 7#affh71 has said of verse1 ,i am satisfied if it caused delight1 for delight is the chief if not the only end of poesie2 instruction can be admitted but in the second place1 for poesie only instructs as it delights4#ii ,it is this same end which ,castelvetro 7#aegj7 ascribes to poetic art4 ,for ,castelvetro1 as in a lesser degree for ,robortelli also1 the end of poetry is delight1 and delight alone4#ajj ,this1 he asserts1 is the position of ,aristotle1 and if utility is to be conceded to poetry at all1 it is merely as an accident1 as in the tragic purgation of terror and compassion4#aja ,but he goes further than ,aristotle would have been willing to go2 for poetry1 according to ,castelvetro1 is intended not merely to please1 but to please the populace1 in fact everybody1 even the vulgar mob4#ajb ,on this he insists throughout his commentary2 indeed1 as will be seen later1 it is on this conception that his theory of the drama is primarily based4 ,but it may be confidently asserted that ,aristotle would have willingly echoed the conclusion of ,shakespeare1 as expressed in ,hamlet1 that the censure of one of the judicious must o'erweigh a whole theatre of others4 ,at the same time1 ,castelvetro's conception is in keeping with a certain modern feeling in regard to the meaning of poetic art4 ,thus a recent writer regards literature as aiming at the pleasure of the greatest possible number of the nation rather than instruction and practical effects1 and as applying to general rather than specialized knowledge4#ajc ,there is1 then1 in ,castelvetro's argument this modicum of truth1 that poetry appeals to no specialized knowledge1 but that its function is1 as ,coleridge says1 to give a definite and immediate pleasure4 ,torquato ,tasso1 as might be expected1 regards poetry in a more highly ideal sense4 ,his conception of the function of poets and of the poetic art may be explained as follows3 ,the universe is beautiful in itself1 because beauty is a ray from the ,divine splendor2 and hence art should seek to approach as closely as possible to nature1 and to catch and express this natural beauty of the world4#ajd ,real beauty1 however1 is not so called because of any usefulness it may possess1 but is primarily beautiful in itself2 for the beautiful is what pleases every one1 just as the good is what every one desires4#aje ,beauty is therefore the flower of the good 7quasi un fiore del buono72 it is the circumference of the circle of which the good is the centre1 and accordingly1 poetry1 as an expression of this beauty1 imitates the outward show of life in its general aspects4 ,poetry is therefore an imitation of human actions1 made for the guidance of life2 and its end is delight1 ordinato al giovamento4#ajf ,it must essentially delight1 either because delight is its aim1 or because delight is the necessary means of effecting the ethical end of art4#ajg ,thus1 for example1 heroic poetry consists of imitation and allegory1 the function of the former being to cause delight1 and that of the latter to give instruction and guidance in life4 ,but since difficult or obscure conceits rarely delight1 and since the poet does not appeal to the learned only1 but to the people1 just as the orator does1 the poet's idea must be1 if not popular in the ordinary sense of the word1 at least intelligible to the people4 ,now the people will not study difficult problems2 but poetry1 by appealing to them on the side of pleasure1 teaches them whether they will or no2 and this constitutes the true effectiveness of poetry1 for it is the most delightful1 and hence the most valuable1 of teachers4#ajh ,such1 then1 are the various conceptions of the function of poetry1 as held by the critics of the ,renaissance4 ,on the whole1 it may be said that at bottom the conception was an ethical one1 for1 with the exception of such a revolutionary spirit as ,castelvetro1 by most theorists it was as an effective guide to life that poetry was chiefly valued4 ,even when delight was admitted as an end1 it was simply because of its usefulness in effecting the ethical aim4 ,in concluding this chapter1 it may be well to say a few words1 and only a few1 upon the classification of poetic forms4 ,there were during the ,renaissance numerous attempts at distinguishing these forms1 but on the whole all of them are fundamentally equivalent to that of ,minturno1 who recognizes three genres1--the lyric or melic1 the dramatic or scenic1 and the epic or narrative4 ,this classification is essentially that of the ,greeks1 and it has lasted down to this very day4 ,with lyric poetry this essay is scarcely concerned1 for during the ,renaissance there was no systematic lyric theory4 ,those who discussed it at all gave most of their attention to its formal structure1 its style1 and especially the conceit it contained4 ,the model of all lyrical poetry was ,petrarch1 and it was in accordance with the lyrical poet's agreement or disagreement with the ,petrarchan method that he was regarded as a success or a failure4 ,muzio's critical poem 7#aeea7 deals almost entirely with lyrical verse1 and there are discussions on this subject in the works of ,trissino1 ,equicola1 ,ruscelli1 ,scaliger1 and ,minturno4 ,but the real question at issue in all these discussions is merely that of external form1 and it is with the question of principles1 in so far as they regard literary criticism1 that this essay is primarily concerned4 ,the theory of dramatic and epic poetry1 being fundamental1 will therefore receive almost exclusive attention4 ,,foot-,,notes3 #dj ,robortelli1 p4 #a sq4 #da ,this analysis of ,zabarella1 ,opera ,logica1 ,de ,natura ,logicae1 ii4 #ac-bc1 ,i owe to the kindness of ,professor ,butcher of ,edinburgh4 ,zabarella probably derived his knowledge of ,aristotle's ,poetics from ,robortelli1 under whom he studied ,greek4 ,cf4 ,bayle1 ,dict4 s4 v4 ,zabarella4 #db ,maggi1 p4 #bh sq4 ,cf4 ,b4 ,tasso1 ,lettere1 ii4 #ead2 ,scaliger1 ,poet4 i4 #b2 ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 p4 #g2 ,salviati1 ,cod4 ,magliabech4 ii4 ii4 #aa1 fol4 #chd v42 ,b4 ,jonson1 ,timber1 p4 #gd4 #dc ,daniello1 p4 #da sq4 #dd ,robortelli1 p4 #hf sq4 #de ,robortelli1 p4 #ij sq4 #df ,fracastoro1 i4 #cdj4 #dg ,fracastoro1 i4 #ceg sq4 #dh ,poet4 vi4 #b4 #di ,varchi1 p4 #egh4 #ej ,e4g4 ,piccolomini1 p4 #bg sq4 #ea ,tiraboschi1 vii4 #acca4 #eb ,summo1 pp4 #fa-fi4 #ec ,poet4 iii4 #ie4 #ed ,poet4 i4 #a4 #ee ,another critic of the time1 ,vettori1 #aefj1 pp4 #ad1 #ic1 attacks poetic prose on the ground that in ,aristotle's definition of the various poetic forms1 verse is always spoken of as an essential part4 ,it is interesting to note that the phrase poetic prose is used1 perhaps for the first time1 in ,minturno1 ,arte ,poetica1 #aefd1 p4 #c1 etc4 #ef ,opere1 x4 #bed4 ,cf4 ,minturno1 ,arte ,poetica1 p4 #cc4 #eg ,poet4 iii4 #if4 #eh ,muzio1 p4 #fi4 #ei ,giraldi ,cintio1 i4 #fa4 #fj ,art ,poet4 iii4 #ej4 ,cf4 ,horace1 ,ars ,poet4 #ahh4 #fa ,zodiac4 ,vitae1 i4 #adc4 #fb ,butcher1 pp4 #aag1 #aah4 #fc ,poet4 i4 #h4 #fd ,fracastoro1 i4 #cce sq4 #fe ,cf4 ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 p4 #bg sq4 #ff ,rhet4 i4 #aa4 #fg ,cf4 ,a4 ,segni1 #aeha1 cap4 i4 #fh ,varchi1 p4 #bbg sq4 #fi ,capriano1 cap4 ii4 #gj ,lionardi1 p4 #dc sq4 #ga ,lettere1 ii4 #ebe4 #gb ,scaliger1 ,poet4 i4 #b4 #gc ,defense1 pp4 #aj1 #aa4 #gd ,de ,poeta1 p4 #ec sq4 #ge ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 p4 #bc sq4 #gf ,ibid4 p4 #aij4 #gg ,cf4 ,t4 ,tasso1 xi4 #ea4 #gh ,poetica1 p4 #aeh4 #gi ,poetica1 p4 #aia4 #hj ,ars ,poet4 #ccc4 #ha ,butcher1 p4 #ahe4 #hb ,daniello1 p4 #be4 #hc ,ibid4 p4 #dj4 #hd ,fracastoro1 i4 #cfc4 #he ,scaliger1 ,poet4 vi4 ii4 #b4 #hf ,de ,poeta1 p4 #ajb4 ,cf4 ,scaliger1 ,poet4 iii4 #if4 #hg ,de ,poeta1 p4 #aa4 #hh ,essay of ,dramatic ,poesy1 p4 #ajd4 #hi ,de ,poeta1 p4 #gi4 #ij ,oeuvres1 vii4 #cah4 #ia ,works1 i4 #ccc4 #ib ,prose ,works1 iii4 #aah4 #ic ,characteristicks1 #agaa1 i4 #bjg4 #id ,h4 ,c4 ,robinson1 ,diary1 ,may #bi1 #ahab1 ,coleridge talked of the impossibility of being a good poet without being a good man4 #ie ,defence of ,poetry1 p4 #db4 #if ,minturno plainly says as much1 ,de ,poeta1 p4 #aje4 #ig ,geog4 i4 ii4 #e1 as cited by ,shaftesbury4 #ih ,lettere1 ii4 #aie4 #ii ,essay of ,dramatic ,poesy1 p4 #ajd4 #ajj ,cf4 ,piccolomini1 p4 #cfi4 #aja ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 p4 #eje4 ,cf4 ,twining1 ii4 #ddi1 #dej4 #ajb ,poetica1 p4 #bi4 #ajc ,posnett1 cited by ,cook1 p4 #bdg4 #ajd ,opere1 viii4 #bf sq4 #aje ,ibid4 ix4 #abc4 #ajf ,ibid4 xii4 #ac4 #ajg ,ibid4 xi4 #ej4 #ajh ,ibid4 xii4 #bab4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,the ,,drama ,,aristotle',s definition of tragedy is the basis of the ,renaissance theory of tragedy4 ,that definition is as follows3 ,tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious1 complete1 and of a certain magnitude2 in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament1 the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play2 in the form of action1 not of narration2 through pity and fear effecting the proper katharsis or purgation of these emotions4#aji ,to expand this definition1 tragedy1 in common with all other forms of poetry1 is the imitation of an action2 but the action of tragedy is distinguished from that of comedy in being grave and serious4 ,the action is complete1 in so far as it possesses perfect unity2 and in length it must be of the proper magnitude4 ,by embellished language1 ,aristotle means language into which rhythm1 harmony1 and song enter2 and by the remark that the several kinds are to be found in separate parts of the play1 he means that some parts of tragedy are rendered through the medium of verse alone1 while others receive the aid of song4 ,moreover1 tragedy is distinguished from epic poetry by being in the form of action instead of that of narration4 ,the last portion of ,aristotle's definition describes the peculiar function of tragic performance4 ,i4 ,the ,subject of ,tragedy ,tragedy is the imitation of a serious action1 that is1 an action both grave and great1 or1 as the sixteenth century translated the word1 illustrious4 ,now1 what constitutes a serious action1 and what actions are not suited to the dignified character of tragedy8 ,daniello 7#aecf7 distinguishes tragedy from comedy in that the comic poets deal with the most familiar and domestic1 not to say base and vile operations2 the tragic poets1 with the deaths of high kings and the ruins of great empires4#aaj ,whichever of these matters the poet selects should be treated without admixture of any other form2 if he resolves to treat of grave matters1 mere loveliness should be excluded2 if of themes of loveliness1 he should exclude all grave themes4 ,here1 at the very beginning of dramatic discussion1 the strict separation of themes or genres is advocated in as formal a manner as ever during the period of classicism2 and this was never deviated from1 at least in theory1 by any of the writers of the sixteenth century4 ,moreover1 according to ,daniello1 the dignified character of tragedy demands that all unseemly1 cruel1 impossible1 or ignoble incidents should be excluded from the stage2 while even comedy should not attempt to represent any lascivious act4#aaa ,this was merely a deduction from ,senecan tragedy and the general practice of the classics4 ,there is1 in ,daniello's theory of tragedy1 no single ,aristotelian element1 and it was not until about a decade later that ,aristotle's theory of tragedy played any considerable part in the literary criticism of the sixteenth century4 ,in #aedc1 however1 the ,poetics had already become a part of university study1 for ,giraldi ,cintio1 in his ,discorso sulle ,comedie e sulle ,tragedie1 written in that year1 says that it was a regular academic exercise to compare some ,greek tragedy1 such as the ,oedipus of ,sophocles1 with a tragedy of ,seneca on the same subject1 using the ,poetics of ,aristotle as a dramatic text-book4#aab ,giraldi distinguishes tragedy from comedy on somewhat the same grounds as ,daniello4 ,tragedy and comedy1 he says1 agree in that they are both imitations of an action1 but they differ in that the former imitates the illustrious and royal1 the latter the popular and civil4 ,hence ,aristotle says that comedy imitates the worse sort of actions1 not that they are vicious and criminal1 but that1 as regards nobility1 they are worse when compared with royal actions4 ,giraldi's position is made clear by his further statement that the actions of tragedy are called illustrious1 not because they are virtuous or vicious1 but merely because they are the actions of people of the highest rank4#aac ,this conception of the serious action of tragedy1 which makes its dignity the result of the rank of those who are its actors1 and thus regards rank as the real distinguishing mark between comedy and tragedy1 was not only common throughout the ,renaissance1 but even throughout the whole period of classicism1 and had an extraordinary effect on the modern drama1 especially in ,france4 ,thus ,dacier 7#afib7 says that it is not necessary that the action be illustrious and important in itself3 ,on the contrary1 it may be very ordinary or common2 but it must be so by the quality of the persons who act4444 ,the greatness of these eminent men renders the action great1 and their reputation makes it credible and possible4#aad ,again1 ,robortelli 7#aedh7 maintains that tragedy deals only with the greater sort of men 7praestantiores71 because the fall of men of such rank into misery and disgrace produces greater commiseration 7which is1 as will be seen1 one of the functions of tragedy7 than the fall of men of merely ordinary rank4 ,another commentator on the ,poetics1 ,maggi 7#aeej71 gives a slightly different explanation of ,aristotle's meaning4 ,maggi asserts that ,aristotle1#aae in saying that comedy deals with the worse and tragedy with the better sort of men1 means to distinguish between those whose rank is lower or higher than that of ordinary men2 comedy dealing with slaves1 tradesmen1 maidservants1 buffoons1 and other low people1 tragedy with kings and heroes4#aaf ,this explanation is defended on grounds similar to those given by ,robortelli1 that is1 the change from felicity to infelicity is greater and more noticeable in the greatest men4#aag ,this conception of the rank of the characters as the distinguishing mark between tragedy and comedy is1 it need not be said1 entirely un-,aristotelian4 ,aristotle does undoubtedly hold1 says ,professor ,butcher1 that actors in tragedy ought to be illustrious by birth and position4 ,the narrow and trivial life of obscure persons cannot give scope for a great and significant action1 one of tragic consequence4 ,but nowhere does he make outward rank the distinguishing feature of tragic as opposed to comic representation4 ,moral nobility is what he demands2 and this--on the ,french stage1 or at least with ,french critics--is transformed into an inflated dignity1 a courtly etiquette and decorum1 which seemed proper to high rank4 ,the instance is one of many in which literary critics have wholly confounded the teaching of ,aristotle4#aah ,this distinction1 then1 though common up to the end of the eighteenth century1 is not to be found in ,aristotle2 but the fact is1 that a similar distinction can be traced1 throughout the ,middle ,ages1 throughout classical antiquity1 back almost to the time of ,aristotle himself4 ,the grammarian1 ,diomedes1 has preserved the definition of tragedy formulated by ,theophrastus1 ,aristotle's successor as head of the ,peripatetic school4 ,according to this definition1 tragedy is a change in the fortune of a hero4#aai ,a ,greek definition of comedy preserved by ,diomedes1 and ascribed to ,theophrastus also1#abj speaks of comedy as dealing with private and civil fortunes1 without the element of danger4 ,this seems to have been the accepted ,roman notion of comedy4 ,in the treatise of ,euanthius-,donatus1 comedy is said to deal with the common fortunes of men1 to begin turbulently1 but to end tranquilly and happily2 tragedy1 on the other hand1 has only mighty personages1 and ends terribly2 its subject is often historical1 while that of comedy is always invented by the poet4#aba ,the third book of ,diomedes's ,ars ,grammatica1 based on ,suetonius's tractate ,de ,poetis 7written in the second century ,a4,d471 distinguishes tragedy from comedy in that only heroes1 great leaders1 and kings are introduced in tragedy1 while in comedy the characters are humble and private persons2 in the former1 lamentations1 exiles1 bloodshed predominate1 in the latter1 love affairs and seductions4#abb ,isidore of ,seville1 in the seventh century1 says very much the same thing3 ,comic poets treat of the acts of private men1 while tragic poets treat of public matters and the histories of kings2 tragic themes are based on sorrowful affairs1 comic themes on joyful ones4#abc ,in another place he speaks of tragedy as dealing with the ancient deeds and misdeeds of infamous kings1 and of comedy as dealing with the actions of private men1 and with the defilement of maidens and the love affairs of strumpets4#abd ,in the ,catholicon of ,johannes ,januensis de ,balbis 7#abhf7 tragedy and comedy are distinguished on similar grounds3 tragedy deals only with kings and princes1 comedy with private citizens2 the style of the former is elevated1 that of the latter humble2 comedy begins sorrowfully and ends joyfully1 tragedy begins joyfully and ends miserably and terribly4#abe ,for ,dante1 any poem written in an elevated and sublime style1 beginning happily and ending in misery and terror1 is a tragedy2 his own great vision1 written as it is in the vernacular1 and beginning in hell and ending gloriously in paradise1 he calls a comedy4#abf ,it appears1 therefore1 that during the post-classic period and throughout the ,middle ,ages1 comedy and tragedy were distinguished on any or all of the following grounds3-- i4 ,the characters in tragedy are kings1 princes1 or great leaders2 those in comedy1 humble persons and private citizens4 ii4 ,tragedy deals with great and terrible actions2 comedy with familiar and domestic actions4 iii4 ,tragedy begins happily and ends terribly2 comedy begins rather turbulently and ends joyfully4 iv4 ,the style and diction of tragedy are elevated and sublime2 while those of comedy are humble and colloquial4 v4 ,the subjects of tragedy are generally historical2 those of comedy are always invented by the poet4 vi4 ,comedy deals largely with love and seduction2 tragedy with exile and bloodshed4 ,this1 then1 was the tradition that shaped the un-,aristotelian conception of the distinctions between comedy and tragedy1 which persisted throughout and even beyond the ,renaissance4 ,giraldi ,cintio has followed most of these traditional distinctions1 but he is in closer accord with ,aristotle#abg when he asserts that the tragic as well as the comic plot may be purely imaginary and invented by the poet4#abh ,he explains the traditional conception that the tragic fable should be historical1 on the ground that as tragedy deals with the deeds of kings and illustrious men1 it would not be probable that remarkable actions of such great personages should be left unrecorded in history1 whereas the private events treated in comedy could hardly be known to all4 ,giraldi1 however1 asserts that it does not matter whether the tragic poet invents his story or not1 so long as it follows the law of probability4 ,the poet should choose an action that is probable and dignified1 that does not need the intervention of a god in the unravelling of the plot1 that does not occupy much more than the space of a day1 and that can be represented on the stage in three or four hours4#abi ,in respect to the denouement of tragedy1 it may be happy or unhappy1 but in either case it must arouse pity and terror2 and as for the classic notion that no deaths should be represented on the stage1 ,giraldi declares that those which are not excessively painful may be represented1 for they are represented not for the sake of commiseration but of justice4 ,the argument here centres about ,aristotle's phrase ,greek3 en to phanero thanatoi1#acj but the common practice of classicism was based on ,horace's express prohibition3-- ,ne pueros coram populo ,medea trucidet4#aca ,giraldi gives it as a universal rule of the drama that nothing should be represented on the stage which could not with propriety be done in one's own house4#acb ,scaliger's treatment of the dramatic forms is particularly interesting because of its great influence on the neo-classical drama4 ,he defines tragedy as an imitation of an illustrious event1 ending unhappily1 written in a grave and weighty style1 and in verse4#acc ,here he has discarded1 or at least disregarded1 the ,aristotelian definition of tragedy1 in favor of the traditional conception which had come down through the ,middle ,ages4 ,real tragedy1 according to ,scaliger1 is entirely serious2 and although there are a few happy endings in ancient tragedy1 the unhappy ending is most proper to the spirit of tragedy itself4 ,mortes aut exilia--these are the fit accompaniments of the tragic catastrophe4#acd ,the action begins tranquilly1 but ends horribly2 the characters are kings and princes1 from cities1 castles1 and camps2 the language is grave1 polished1 and entirely opposed to colloquial speech2 the aspect of things is troubled1 with terrors1 menaces1 exiles1 and deaths on every hand4 ,taking as his model ,seneca1 whom he rates above all the ,greeks in majesty1#ace he gives as the typical themes of tragedy the mandates of kings1 slaughters1 despairs1 executions1 exiles1 loss of parents1 parricides1 incests1 conflagrations1 battles1 loss of sight1 tears1 shrieks1 lamentations1 burials1 epitaphs1 and funeral songs4#acf ,tragedy is further distinguished from comedy on the ground that the latter derives its argument and its chief characters from history1 inventing merely the minor characters2 while comedy invents its arguments and all its characters1 and gives them names of their own4 ,scaliger distinguishes men1 for the purposes of dramatic poetry1 according to character and rank2#acg but it would seem that he regarded rank alone as the distinguishing mark between tragedy and comedy4 ,thus tragedy is made to differ from comedy in three things3 in the rank of the characters1 in the quality of the actions1 and in their different endings2 and as a result of these differences1 in style also4 ,the definition of tragedy given by ,minturno1 in his treatise ,de ,poeta 7#aeei71 is merely a paraphrase of ,aristotle's4 ,he conceives of tragedy as describing casus heroum cuius sibi quisque fortunae fuerit faber1 and it thus acts as a warning to men against pride of rank1 insolence1 avarice1 lust1 and similar passions4#ach ,it is grave and illustrious because its characters are illustrious2 and no variety of persons or events should be introduced that are not in keeping with the calamitous ending4 ,the language throughout must be grave and severe2 and ,minturno has expressed his censure in such matters by the phrase1 poema amatorio mollique sermone effoeminat1#aci a censure which would doubtless apply to a large portion of classic ,french tragedy4 ,in ,castelvetro 7#aegj7 we find a far more complete theory of the drama than had been attempted by any of his predecessors4 ,his work is by no means a model of what a commentary on ,aristotle's ,poetics should be4 ,in the next century1 ,dacier1 whose subservience to ,aristotle was even greater than that of any of the ,italians1 accuses ,castelvetro of lacking every quality necessary to a good interpreter of ,aristotle4 ,he knew nothing1 says ,dacier1 of the theatre1 or of character1 or of the passions2 he understood neither the reasons nor the method of ,aristotle2 and he sought rather to contradict ,aristotle than to explain him4#adj ,the fact is that ,castelvetro1 despite considerable veneration for ,aristotle's authority1 often shows remarkable independence of thought2 and so far from resting content1 in his commentary1 with the mere explanation of the details of the ,poetics1 he has attempted to deduce from it a more or less complete theory of poetic art4 ,accordingly1 though diverging from many of the details1 and still more from the spirit of the ,poetics1 he has1 as it were1 built up a dramatic system of his own1 founded upon certain modifications and misconceptions of the ,aristotelian canons4 ,the fundamental idea of this system is quite modern2 and it is especially interesting because it indicates that by this time the drama had become more than a mere academic exercise1 and was actually regarded as intended primarily for representation on the stage4 ,castelvetro examines the physical conditions of stage representation1 and on this bases the requirements of dramatic literature4 ,the fact that the drama is intended for the stage1 that it is to be acted1 is at the bottom of his theory of tragedy1 and it was to this notion1 as will be seen later1 that we are to attribute the origin of the unities of time and place4 ,but ,castelvetro's method brings with it its own reductio ad absurdum4 ,for after all1 stage representation1 while essential to the production of dramatic literature1 can never circumscribe the poetic power or establish its conditions4 ,the conditions of stage representation change1 and must change1 with the varying conditions of dramatic literature and the inventive faculty of poets1 for truly great art makes1 or at least fixes1 its own conditions4 ,besides1 it is with what is permanent and universal that the artist--the dramatic artist as well as the rest--is concerned2 and it is the poetic1 and not the dramaturgic1 element that is permanent and universal4 ,the power of tragedy1 we may be sure1 says ,aristotle1 is felt even apart from representation and actors2#ada and again3 ,the plot of a tragedy ought to be so constructed that even without the aid of the eye any one who is told the incidents will thrill with horror and pity at the turn of events4#adb ,but what1 according to ,castelvetro1 are the conditions of stage representation8 ,the theatre is a public place1 in which a play is presented before a motley crowd1--la moltitudine rozza1--upon a circumscribed platform or stage1 within a limited space of time4 ,to this idea the whole of ,castelvetro's dramatic system is conformed4 ,in the first place1 since the audience may be great in number1 the theatre must be large1 and yet the audience must be able to hear the play2 accordingly1 verse is added1 not merely as a delightful accompaniment1 but also in order that the actors may raise their voices without inconvenience and without loss of dignity4#adc ,in the second place1 the audience is not a select gathering of choice spirits1 but a motley crowd of people1 drawn to the theatre for the purpose of pleasure or recreation2 accordingly1 abstruse themes1 and in fact all technical discussions1 must be eschewed by the playwright1 who is thus limited1 as we should say to-day1 to the elemental passions and interests of man4#add ,in the third place1 the actors are required to move about on a raised and narrow platform2 and this is the reason why deaths or deeds of violence1 and many other things which cannot be acted on such a platform with convenience and dignity1 should not be represented in the drama4#ade ,furthermore1 as will be seen later1 it is on this conception of the circumscribed platform and the physical necessities of the audience and the actors1 that ,castelvetro bases his theory of the unities of time and place4 ,in distinguishing the different genres1 ,castelvetro openly differs with ,aristotle4 ,in the ,poetics1 ,aristotle distinguishes men according as they are better than we are1 or worse1 or the same as we are2 and from this difference the various species of poetry1 tragic1 comic1 and epic1 are derived4 ,castelvetro thinks this mode of distinction not only untrue1 but even inconsistent with what ,aristotle says later of tragedy4 ,goodness and badness are to be taken account of1 according to ,castelvetro1 not to distinguish one form of poetry from another1 but merely in the special case of tragedy1 in so far as a moderate virtue1 as ,aristotle says1 is best able to produce terror and pity4 ,poetry1 as indeed ,aristotle himself acknowledges1 is not an imitation of character1 or of goodness and badness1 but of men acting2 and the different kinds of poetry are distinguished1 not by the goodness and badness1 or the character1 of the persons selected for imitation1 but by their rank or condition alone4 ,the great and all-pervading difference between royal and private persons is what distinguishes tragedy and epic poetry on the one hand from comedy and similar forms of poetry on the other4 ,it is rank1 then1 and not intellect1 character1 action1--for these vary in men according to their condition1--that differentiates one poetic form from another2 and the distinguishing mark of rank on the stage1 and in literature generally1 is the bearing of the characters1 royal persons acting with propriety1 and meaner persons with impropriety4#adf ,castelvetro has here escaped one pitfall1 only to fall into another2 for while goodness and badness cannot1 from any aesthetic standpoint1 be made to distinguish the characters of tragedy from those of comedy1--leaving out of consideration here the question whether this was or was not the actual opinion of ,aristotle1--it is no less improper to make mere outward rank or condition the distinguishing feature4 ,whether it be regarded as an interpretation of ,aristotle or as a poetic theory by itself1 ,castelvetro's contention is1 in either case1 equally untenable4 ,,ii4 ,the ,function of ,tragedy ,no passage in ,aristotle's ,poetics has been subjected to more discussion1 and certainly no passage has been more misunderstood1 than that in which1 at the close of his definition of tragedy1 he states its peculiar function to be that of effecting through pity and fear the proper purgation 7,greek3 katharsis7 of these emotions4 ,the more probable of the explanations of this passage are1 as ,twining says1#adg reducible to two4 ,the first of these gives to ,aristotle's katharsis an ethical meaning1 attributing the effect of the tragedy to its moral lesson and example4 ,this interpretation was a literary tradition of centuries1 and may be found in such diverse writers as ,corneille and ,lessing1 ,racine and ,dryden1 ,dacier and ,rapin4 ,according to the second interpretation1 the purgation of the emotions produced by tragedy is an emotional relief gained by the excitement of these emotions4 ,plato had insisted that the drama excites passions1 such as pity and fear1 which debase men's spirits2 ,aristotle in this passage answers that by the very exaltation of these emotions they are given a pleasurable outlet1 and beyond this there is effected a purification of the emotions so relieved4 ,that is1 the emotions are clarified and purified by being passed through the medium of art1 and by being1 as ,professor ,butcher points out1 ennobled by objects worthy of an ideal emotion4#adh ,this explanation gives no direct moral purpose or influence to the katharsis1 for tragedy acts on the feelings and not on the will4 ,while the ethical conception1 of course1 predominates in ,italian criticism1 as it does throughout ,europe up to the very end of the eighteenth century1 a number of ,renaissance critics1 among them ,minturno and ,speroni1 even if they failed to elaborate the further aesthetic meaning of ,aristotle's definition1 at least perceived that ,aristotle ascribed to tragedy an emotional and not an ethical purpose4 ,it is unnecessary to give a detailed statement of the opinions of the various ,italian critics on this point2 but it is essential that the interpretations of the more important writers should be alluded to1 since otherwise the ,renaissance conception of the function of the drama could not be understood4 ,giraldi ,cintio points out that the aim of comedy and of tragedy is identical1 viz4 to conduce to virtue2 but they reach this result in different ways2 for comedy attains its end by means of pleasure and comic jests1 while tragedy1 whether it ends happily or unhappily1 purges the mind of vice through the medium of misery and terror1 and thus attains its moral end4#adi ,elsewhere1#aej he affirms that the tragic poet condemns vicious actions1 and by combining them with the terrible and the miserable makes us fear and hate them4 ,in other words1 men who are bad are placed in such pitiable and terrible positions that we fear to imitate their vices2 and it is not a purgation of pity and fear1 as ,aristotle says1 but an eradication of all vice and vicious desire that is effected by the tragic katharsis4 ,trissino1 in the fifth section of his ,poetica 7#aefc71 cites ,aristotle's definition of tragedy2 but makes no attempt to elucidate the doctrine of katharsis4 ,his conception of the function of the drama is much the same as ,giraldi's4 ,it is the office of the tragic poet1 through the medium of imitation1 to praise and admire the good1 while that of the comic poet is to mock and vituperate the bad2 for tragedy1 as ,aristotle says1 deals with the better sort of actions1 and comedy with the worse4#aea ,robortelli 7#aedh71 however1 ascribes a more aesthetic function to tragedy4 ,by the representation of sad and atrocious deeds1 tragedy produces terror and commiseration in the spectator's mind4 ,the exercise of terror and commiseration purges the mind of these very passions2 for the spectator1 seeing things performed which are very similar to the actual facts of life1 becomes accustomed to sorrow and pity1 and these emotions are gradually diminished4#aeb ,moreover1 by seeing the sufferings of others1 men sorrow less at their own1 recognizing such things as common to human nature4 ,robortelli's conception of the function of tragedy is1 therefore1 not an ethical one2 the effect of tragedy is understood primarily as diminishing pity and fear in our minds by accustoming us to the sight of deeds that produce these emotions4 ,a similar interpretation of the katharsis is given by ,vettori 7#aefj7 and ,castelvetro 7#aegj74aec ,the latter compares the process of purgation with the emotions which are excited by a pestilence4 ,at first the infected populace is crazed by excitement1 but gradually becomes accustomed to the sight of the disease1 and the emotions of the people are thus tempered and allayed4 ,a somewhat different conception of katharsis is that of ,maggi4 ,according to him1 we are to understand by purgation the liberation through pity and fear of passions similar to these1 but not pity and fear themselves2 for ,maggi cannot understand how tragedy1 which induces pity and fear in the hearer1 should at the same time remove these perturbations4#aed ,moreover1 pity and fear are useful emotions1 while such passions as avarice1 lust1 anger1 are certainly not4 ,in another place1 ,maggi1 relying on citations from ,plato1 ,aristotle1 and ,alexander of ,aphrodisias1 explains the pleasure we receive from tragedy1 by pointing out that we feel sorrow by reason of the human heart within us1 which is carried out of itself by the sight of misery2 while we feel pleasure because it is human and natural to feel pity4 ,pleasure and pain are thus fundamentally the same4#aee ,varchi#aef is at one with ,maggi in interpreting the katharsis as a purgation1 not of pity and fear themselves1 but of emotions similar to them4 ,for ,scaliger 7#aefa7 the aim of tragedy1 like that of all poetry1 is a purely ethical one4 ,it is not enough to move the spectators to admiration and dismay1 as some critics say ,a,eschylus does2 it is also the poet's function to teach1 to move1 and to delight4 ,the poet teaches character through actions1 in order that we should embrace and imitate the good1 and abstain from the bad4 ,the joy of evil men is turned in tragedy to bitterness1 and the sorrow of good men to joy4#aeg ,scaliger is here following the extreme view of poetic justice which we have found expressed in so many of the ,renaissance writers4 ,in the last century1 ,dr4 ,johnson1 in censuring ,shakespeare for the tragic fate meted out to ,cordelia and other blameless characters1 showed himself an inheritor of this ,renaissance tradition1 just as we shall see that ,lessing was in other matters4 ,for ,scaliger the moral aim of the drama is attained both indirectly1 by the representation of wickedness ultimately punished and virtue ultimately rewarded1 and more directly by the enunciation of moral precepts throughout the play4 ,with the ,senecan model before him1 such precepts 7sententiae7 became the very props of tragedy1--sunt enim quasi columnae aut pilae quaedam universae fabricae illius1--and so they remained in modern classical tragedy4 ,minturno points out that these sententiae are to be used most in tragedy and least in epic poetry4#aeh ,minturno also follows ,scaliger in conceiving that the purpose of tragedy is to teach1 to delight1 and to move4 ,it teaches by setting before us an example of the life and manners of superior men1 who by reason of human error have fallen into extreme unhappiness4 ,it delights us by the beauty of its verse1 its diction1 its song1 and the like4 ,lastly1 it moves us to wonder1 by terrifying us and exciting our pity1 thus purging our minds of such matters4 ,this process of purgation is likened by ,minturno to the method of a physician3 ,as a physician eradicates1 by means of poisonous medicine1 the perfervid poison of disease which affects the body1 so tragedy purges the mind of its impetuous perturbations by the force of these emotions beautifully expressed in verse4#aei ,according to this interpretation of the katharsis1 tragedy is a mode of homoeopathic treatment1 effecting the cure of one emotion by means of a similar one2 and we find ,milton1 in the preface to ,samson ,agonistes1 explaining the katharsis in much the same manner3-- ,tragedy1 as it was anciently composed1 hath been ever held the gravest1 moralest1 and most profitable of all other poems2 therefore said by ,aristotle to be of power1 by raising pity and fear1 or terror1 to purge the mind of those and such like passions2 that is1 to temper and reduce them to just measure with a kind of delight1 stirred up by reading or seeing those passions well imitated4 ,nor is nature wanting in her own effects to make good his assertion2 for so in physic1 things of melancholic hue and quality are used against melancholy1 sour against sour1 salt to remove salt humours4 ,this passage has been regarded by ,twining1 ,bernays1 and other modern scholars as a remarkable indication of ,milton's scholarship and critical insight2#afj but after all1 it need hardly be said1 he was merely following the interpretation of the ,italian commentators on the ,poetics4 ,their writings he had studied and knew thoroughly1 had imbibed all the critical ideas of the ,italian ,renaissance1 and in the very preface from which we have just quoted1 filled as it is with ideas that may be traced back to ,italian sources1 he acknowledges following the ancients and ,italians1 as of great authority and fame4 ,like ,milton1 ,minturno conceived of tragedy as having an ethical aim2 but both ,milton and ,minturno clearly perceived that by katharsis ,aristotle had reference not to a moral1 but to an emotional1 effect4 ,one of the most interesting discussions on the meaning of the katharsis is to be found in a letter of ,sperone ,speroni#afa written in #aefe4 ,his explanation of the passage itself is quite an impossible one1 if only on philological grounds2 but his argument is very interesting and very modern4 ,he points out that pity and fear may be conceived of as keeping the spirit of men in bondage1 and hence it is proper that we should be purged of these emotions4 ,but he insists that ,aristotle cannot refer to the complete eradication of pity and fear--a conception which is ,stoic rather than ,peripatetic1 for ,aristotle does not require us to free ourselves from emotions1 but to regulate them1 since in themselves they are not bad4 ,,iii4 ,the ,characters of ,tragedy ,aristotle's conception of the ideal tragic hero is based on the assumption that the function of tragedy is to produce the katharsis1 or purgation1 of pity and fear1--pity being felt for a person who1 if not wholly innocent1 meets with suffering beyond his deserts2 fear being awakened when the sufferer is a man of like nature with ourselves4#afb ,from this it follows that if tragedy represents the fall of an entirely good man from prosperity to adversity1 neither pity nor fear is produced1 and the result merely shocks and repels us4 ,if an entirely bad man is represented as undergoing a change from distress to prosperity1 not only do we feel no pity and no fear1 but even the sense of justice is left unsatisfied4 ,if1 on the contrary1 such a man entirely bad falls from prosperity into adversity and distress1 the moral sense is indeed satisfied1 but without the tragic emotions of pity and fear4 ,the ideal hero is therefore morally between the two extremes1 neither eminently good nor entirely bad1 though leaning to the side of goodness2 and the misfortune which falls upon him is the result of some great flaw of character or fatal error of conduct4#afc ,this conception of the tragic hero was the subject of considerable discussion in the ,renaissance2 in fact1 the first instance in ,italian criticism of the application of ,aristotelian ideas to the theory of tragedy is perhaps to be found in the reference of ,daniello 7#aecf7 to the tragic hero's fate4 ,daniello1 however1 understood ,aristotle's meaning very incompletely1 for he points out that tragedy1 in order to imitate most perfectly the miserable and the terrible1 should not introduce just and virtuous men fallen into vice and injustice through the adversity of fortune1 for this is more wicked than it is miserable and terrible1 nor should evil men1 on the contrary1 be introduced as changed by prosperity into good and just men4#afd ,here ,daniello conceives of tragedy as representing the change of a man from vice to virtue1 or from virtue to vice1 through the medium of prosperity or misfortune4 ,this is a curious misconception of ,aristotle's meaning4 ,aristotle refers1 not to the ethical effect of tragedy1 but to the effect of the emotions of pity and terror upon the mind of the spectator1 although of course he does not wish the catastrophe to shock the moral sense or the sense of justice4 ,giraldi ,cintio1 some years after ,daniello1 follows ,aristotle more closely in the conception of the tragic hero2 and he affirms1 moreover1 that tragedy may end happily or unhappily so long as it inspires pity and terror4 ,now1 ,aristotle has expressly stated his disapprobation of the happy ending of tragedy1 for in speaking of tragedies with a double thread and a double catastrophe1 that is1 tragedies in which the good are ultimately rewarded and the bad punished1 he shows that such a conclusion is decidedly against the general tragic effect4#afe ,scaliger's conception of the moral function of the tragic poet as rewarding virtue and punishing vice is therefore inconsistent with the ,aristotelian conception2 for1 as ,scaliger insists that every tragedy should end unhappily1 it follows that only the good must survive and only the bad suffer4 ,another critic of this time1 ,capriano 7#aeee71 points out that the fatal ending of tragedy is due to the inability of certain illustrious men to conduct themselves with prudence2 and this is more in keeping with ,aristotle's true meaning4#aff ,it has been seen that ,aristotle regarded a perfectly good man as not fitted to be the ideal hero of tragedy4 ,minturno1 however1 asserts that tragedy is grave and illustrious because its characters are illustrious1 and that therefore he can see no reason1 despite ,aristotle1 why the lives of perfect men or ,christian saints should not be represented on the stage1 and why even the life of ,christ would not be a fit subject for tragedy4#afg ,this is1 indeed1 ,corneille's opinion1 and in the examen of his ,polyeucte he cites ,minturno in justification of his own case4 ,as regards the other characters of tragedy1 ,minturno states a curious distinction between characters fit for tragedy and those fit for comedy4#afh ,in the first place1 he points out that no young girls1 with the exception of female slaves1 should appear in comedy1 for the reason that the women of the people do not appear in public until marriage1 and would be sullied by the company of the low characters of comedy1 whereas the maidens of tragedy are princesses1 accustomed to meet and converse with noblemen from girlhood4 ,secondly1 married women are always represented in comedy as faithful1 in tragedy as unfaithful to their husbands1 for the reason that comedy concludes with friendship and tranquillity1 and unfaithful relations could never end happily1 while the love depicted in tragedy serves to bring about the tragic ruin of great houses4 ,thirdly1 in comedy old men are often represented as in love1 but never in tragedy1 for an amorous old man is conducive to laughter1 which comedy aims at producing1 but which would be wholly out of keeping with the gravity required in tragedy4 ,these distinctions are of course deduced from the practice of the ,latin drama--the tragedies of ,seneca on the one hand1 and the comedies of ,plautus and ,terence on the other4 ,in a certain passage of ,aristotle's ,poetics there is a formulation of the requirements of character-drawing in the drama4#afi ,in this passage ,aristotle says that the characters must be good2 that they must be drawn with propriety1 that is1 in keeping with the type to which they belong2 that they must be true to life1 something quite distinct either from goodness or propriety2 and that the characters must be self-consistent4 ,this passage gave rise to a curious conception of character in the ,renaissance and throughout the period of classicism4 ,according to this1 the conception of decorum1 it was insisted that every old man should have such and such characteristics1 every young man certain others1 and so on for the soldier1 the merchant1 the ,florentine or ,parisian1 and the like4 ,this fixed and formal mode of regarding character was connected with the distinction of rank as the fundamental difference between the characters of tragedy and comedy1 and it was really founded on a passage in ,horace's ,ars ,poetica1-- ,a,etatis cujusque notandi sunt tibi mores1#agj and on the rhetorical descriptions of the various characteristics of men in the second book of ,aristotle's ,rhetoric4 ,the explanation of the ,renaissance conception of decorum may start from either of two points of view4 ,in the first place1 it is to be noted that ,horace1 and after him the critics of the ,renaissance1 set about to transpose to the domain of poetry the tentative distinctions of character formulated by ,aristotle1 in the ,rhetoric1 simply for the purposes of rhetorical exposition4 ,these distinctions1 it must be repeated1 were rhetorical and not aesthetic1 and they are therefore not alluded to by ,aristotle in the ,poetics4 ,the result of the attempt to transpose them to the domain of poetry led to a hardening and crystallization of character in the classic drama4 ,but the aesthetic misconception implied by such an attempt is only too obvious4 ,in such a system poetry is held accountable1 not to the ideal truth of human life1 but to certain arbitrary1 or at best merely empirical1 formulae of rhetorical theory4 ,the ,renaissance was in this merely doing for character what was being done for all the other elements of art4 ,every such element1 when once discriminated and definitely formulated1 became fixed as a necessary and inviolable substitute for the reality which had thus been analyzed4 ,but we may look at the principle of decorum from another point of view4 ,a much deeper question--the question of social distinctions--is here involved4 ,the observance of decorum necessitated the maintenance of the social distinctions which formed the basis of ,renaissance life and of ,renaissance literature4 ,it was this same tendency which caused the tragedy of classicism to exclude all but characters of the highest rank4 ,speaking of narrative poetry1 ,muzio 7#aeea71 while allowing kings to mingle with the masses1 considers it absolutely improper for one of the people1 even for a moment1 to assume the sceptre4#aga ,accordingly1 men as distinguished by the accidents of rank1 profession1 country1 and not as distinguished by that only which art should take cognizance of1 character1 became the subjects of the literature of classicism2 and in so far as this is true1 that literature loses something of the profundity and the universality of the highest art4 ,this element of decorum is to be found in all the critics of the ,renaissance from the time of ,vida#agb and ,daniello4#agc ,so essential became the observance of decorum that ,muzio and ,capriano both considered it the most serious charge to be made against ,homer1 that he was not always observant of it4 ,capriano1 comparing ,virgil with ,homer1 asserts that the ,latin poet surpasses the ,greek in eloquence1 in dignity1 in grandeur of style1 but beyond everything in decorum4#agd ,the seeming vulgarity of some of ,homer's similes1 and even of the actions of some of his characters1 appeared to the ,renaissance a most serious blemish2 and it was this that led ,scaliger to rate ,homer not only below ,virgil1 but even below ,musaeus4 ,in ,minturno and ,scaliger we find every detail of character minutely analyzed4 ,the poet is told how young men and old men should act1 should talk1 and should dress2 and no deviations from these fixed formulae were allowed under any circumstances4 ,as a result of this1 even when the poet liberated himself from these conceptions1 and aimed at depicting character in its true sense1 we find character1 but never the development of character1 portrayed in the neo-classic drama4 ,the character was fixed from the beginning of the play to the end2 and it is here that we may find the origin of ,ben ,jonson's conception of humours4 ,in one of ,salviati's lectures1 ,del ,trattato della ,poetica1#age ,salviati defines a humour as a peculiar quality of nature according to which every one is inclined to some special thing more than to any other4 ,this would apply very distinctly to the sense in which the ,elizabethans used the word4 ,thus ,jonson himself1 in the ,induction of ,every ,man out of his ,humour1 after expounding the medical notion of a humour1 says3-- ,it may1 by metaphor1 apply itself ,unto the general disposition3 ,as when some one peculiar quality ,doth so possess a man1 that it doth draw ,all his effects1 his spirits1 and his powers1 ,in their confluctions1 all to run one way1 ,this may be truly said to be a humour4 ,the origin of the term humour1 in ,jonson's sense1 has never been carefully studied4 ,jonson's editors speak of it as peculiar to the ,english language1 and as first used in this sense about ,jonson's period4 ,it is not our purpose to go further into this question2 but ,salviati's definition is close enough to ,jonson's to indicate that the origin of this term1 as of all other critical terms and critical ideas throughout sixteenth-century ,europe1 must be looked for in the aesthetic literature of ,italy4#agf ,,iv4 ,the ,dramatic ,unities ,in his definition of tragedy ,aristotle says that the play must be complete or perfect1 that is1 it must have unity4 ,by unity of plot he does not mean merely the unity given by a single hero1 for1 as he says1 infinitely various are the incidents in one man's life which cannot be reduced to unity2 and so1 too1 there are many actions of one man out of which we cannot make one action4 ,hence the error1 as it appears1 of all poets who have composed a ,heracleid1 a ,theseid1 or other poems of the kind4 ,they imagine that as ,heracles was one man1 the story of ,heracles ought also to be a unity4#agg ,this is ,aristotle's statement of the unity of action4 ,but what is the origin of the two other unities1--the unities of time and place8 ,there is in the ,poetics but a single reference to the time-limit of the tragic action and none whatsoever to the so-called unity of place4 ,aristotle says that the action of tragedy and that of epic poetry differ in length1 for tragedy endeavors1 so far as possible1 to confine itself to a single revolution of the sun1 or but slightly to exceed this limit2 whereas the epic action has no limits of time4#agh ,this passage is the incidental statement of an historical fact2 it is merely a tentative deduction from the usual practice of ,greek tragedy1 and ,aristotle never conceived of it as an inviolable law of the drama4 ,of the three unities which play so prominent a part in modern classical drama1 the unity of action was the main1 and1 in fact1 the only unity which ,aristotle knew or insisted on4 ,but from his incidental reference to the general time-limits of ,greek tragedy1 the ,renaissance formulated the unity of time1 and deduced from it also the unity of place1 to which there is absolutely no reference either in ,aristotle or in any other ancient writer whatever4 ,it is to the ,italians of the ,renaissance1 and not to the ,french critics of the seventeenth century1 that the world owes the formulation of the three unities4 ,the attention of scholars was first called to this fact about twenty years ago1 by the brochure of a ,swiss scholar1 ,h4 ,breitinger1 on the unities of ,aristotle before ,corneille's ,cid2 but the gradual development and formulation of the three unities have never been systematically worked out4 ,we shall endeavor here to trace their history during the sixteenth century1 and to explain the processes by which they developed4 ,the first reference in modern literature to the doctrine of the unity of time is to be found in ,giraldi ,cintio's ,discorso sulle ,comedie e sulle ,tragedie4 ,he says that comedy and tragedy agree1 among other things1 in the limitation of the action to one day or but little more2#agi and he has thus for the first time converted ,aristotle's statement of an historical fact into a dramatic law4 ,moreover1 he has changed ,aristotle's phrase1 that tragedy limits itself to a single revolution of the sun1 into the more definite expression of a single day4 ,he points out that ,euripides1 in the ,heraclidae1 on account of the long distance between the places in the action1 had been unable to limit the action to one day4 ,now1 as ,aristotle must have known many of the best ,greek dramas which are now lost1 it was probably in keeping with the practice of such dramas that their actions were not strictly confined within the limits of one day4 ,aristotle1 therefore1 intentionally allowed the drama a slightly longer space of time than a single day4 ,the unity of time1 accordingly1 becomes a part of the theory of the drama between #aedj and #aede1 but it was not until almost exactly a century later that it became an invariable rule of the dramatic literature of ,france and of the world4 ,in ,robortelli 7#aedh7 we find ,aristotle's phrase1 a single revolution of the sun1 restricted to the artificial day of twelve hours2 for as tragedy can contain only one single and continuous action1 and as people are accustomed to sleep in the night1 it follows that the tragic action cannot be continued beyond one artificial day4 ,this holds good of comedy as well as tragedy1 for the length of the fable in each is the same4#ahj ,segni 7#aedi7 differs from ,robortelli1 however1 in regarding a single revolution of the sun as referring not to the artificial day of twelve hours1 but to the natural day of twenty-four hours1 because various matters treated in tragedy1 and even in comedy1 are such as are more likely to happen in the night 7adulteries1 murders1 and the like72 and if it be said that night is naturally the time for repose1 ,segni answers that unjust people act contrary to the laws of nature4#aha ,it was about this time1 then1 that there commenced the historic controversy as to what ,aristotle meant by limiting tragedy to one day2 and three-quarters of a century later1 in #afbc1 ,beni could cite thirteen different opinions of scholars on this question4 ,trissino1 in his ,poetica 7#aefc71 paraphrases as follows the passage in ,aristotle which refers to the unity of time3 ,they also differ in length1 for tragedy terminates in one day1 that is1 one period of the sun1 or but little more1 while there is no time determined for epic poetry1 as indeed was the custom with tragedy and comedy at their beginning1 and is even to-day among ignorant poets4#ahb ,here for the first time1 as a ,french critic remarks1 the observance of the unity of time is made a distinction between the learned and the ignorant poet4#ahc ,it is evident that ,trissino conceives of the unity of time as an artistic principle which has helped to save dramatic poetry from the formlessness and chaotic condition of the mediaeval drama4 ,so that the unity of time became not only a dramatic law1 but one the observation of which distinguished the dramatic artist from the mere ignorant compiler of popular plays4 ,there is in none of the writers we have mentioned so far any reference to the unity of place1 for the simple reason that there is no allusion to such a requirement for the drama in ,aristotle's ,poetics4 ,maggi's discussion of the unity of time1 in his commentary on the ,poetics 7#aeej71 is of particular interest as preparing the way for the third unity4 ,maggi attempts to explain logically the reason for the unity of time4#ahd ,why should tragedy be limited as to time1 and not epic poetry8 ,according to him1 this difference is to be explained by the fact that the drama is represented on the stage before our eyes1 and if we should see the actions of a whole month performed in about the time it takes to perform the play1 that is1 two or three hours1 the performance would be absolutely incredible4 ,for example1 says ,maggi1 if in a tragedy we should send a messenger to ,egypt1 and he would return in an hour1 would not the spectator regard this as ridiculous8 ,in the epic1 on the contrary1 we do not see the actions performed1 and so do not feel the need of limiting them to any particular time4 ,now1 it is to be noted here that this limitation of time is based on the idea of representation4 ,the duration of the action of the drama itself must fairly coincide with the duration of its representation on the stage4 ,this is the principle which led to the acceptance of the unity of place1 and upon which it is based4 ,limit the time of the action to the time of representation1 and it follows that the place of the action must be limited to the place of representation4 ,such a limitation is of course a piece of realism wholly out of keeping with the true dramatic illusion2 but it was almost exclusively in the drama that classicism tended toward a minuter realism than could be justified by the ,aristotelian canons4 ,in ,maggi the beginnings of the unity of place are evident1 inasmuch as he finds that the requirements of the representation do not permit a messenger or any character in the drama to be sent very far from the place where the action is being performed4 ,the closer action and representation coincide1 the clearer becomes the necessity of a limitation in place as well as in time2 and it was on this principle that ,scaliger and ,castelvetro1 somewhat later1 formulated the three unities4 ,there is1 indeed1 in ,scaliger 7#aefa7 no direct statement of the unity of time2 but the reference to it is nevertheless unmistakable4 ,first of all1 ,scaliger requires that the events be so arranged and disposed that they approach nearest to actual truth 7ut quam proxime accedant ad veritatem74#ahe ,this is equivalent to saying that the duration of the action1 its place1 its mode of procedure1 must correspond more or less exactly with the representation itself4 ,the dramatic poet must aim1 beyond all things1 at reproducing the actual conditions of life4 ,the verisimile1 the vraisemblable1 in the etymological sense of these words1 must be the final criterion of dramatic composition4 ,it is not sufficient that the spectator should be satisfied with the action as typical of similar actions in life4 ,an absolutely perfect illusion must prevail2 the spectator must be moved by the actions of the play exactly as if they were those of real life4 ,this notion of the verisimile1 and of its effect of perfect illusion on the spectator's mind1 prevailed throughout the period of classicism1 and was vigorously defended by no less a critic than ,voltaire himself4 ,accordingly1 as ,maggi first pointed out1 if the playwright1 in the few hours it takes to represent the whole play1 requires one of his characters to perform an action that cannot be done in less than a month1 this impression of actual truth and perfect illusion will not be left on the spectator's mind4 ,therefore1 says ,scaliger1 those battles and assaults which take place about ,thebes in the space of two hours do not please me2 no sensible poet should make any one move from ,delphi to ,thebes1 or from ,thebes to ,athens1 in a moment's time4 ,agamemnon is buried by ,a,eschylus after being killed1 and ,lichas is hurled into the sea by ,hercules2 but this cannot be represented without violence to truth4 ,accordingly1 the poet should choose the briefest possible argument1 and should enliven it by means of episodes and details4444 ,since the whole play is represented on the stage in six or eight hours1 it is not in accordance with the exact appearance of truth 7haud verisimile est7 that within that brief space of time a tempest should arise and a shipwreck occur1 out of sight of land4 ,the observance of the unity of time could not be demanded in clearer or more forcible terms than this4 ,but it is a mistake to construe this passage into a statement of the unity of place4#ahf ,when ,scaliger says that the poet should not move any one of the characters from ,delphi to ,thebes1 or from ,thebes to ,athens1 in a moment's time1 he is referring to the exigencies1 not of place1 but of time4 ,in this1 as in many other things1 he is merely following ,maggi1 who1 as we have seen1 says that it is ridiculous for a dramatist to have a messenger go to ,egypt with a message and return in an hour4 ,the characters1 according to ,scaliger1 should not move from ,delphi to ,thebes in a moment1 not because the action need necessarily occur in one single place1 but because the characters cannot with any appearance of truth go a great distance in a short space of time4 ,this is an approach to the unity of place1 and had ,scaliger followed his contention to its logical conclusion1 he must certainly have formulated the three unities4 ,but by requiring the action to be disposed with the greatest possible approach to the actual truth1 or1 in other words1 by insisting that the action must coincide with the representation1 ,scaliger helped more than any of his predecessors to the final recognition of the unity of place4 ,in ,minturno#ahg and in ,vettori#ahh we find a tendency to restrict the duration of the epic as well as the tragic action4 ,it has been seen that ,aristotle distinctly says that while the action of tragedy generally endeavors to confine itself within a period of about one day1 that of epic poetry has no determined time4 ,minturno1 however1 alludes to the unity of time in the following words3 ,whoever examines well the works of the most esteemed ancient writers1 will find that the action represented on the stage is terminated in one day1 or does not pass beyond the space of two days2 while the epic has a longer period of time1 except that its action cannot exceed one year in duration4#ahi ,this limitation ,minturno deduces from the practice of ,homer and ,virgil4#aij ,the action of the ,iliad begins in the tenth year of the ,trojan war1 and lasts one year2 the action of the ,a,eneid begins in the seventh year after the departure of ,a,eneas from ,troy1 and also lasts one year4 ,castelvetro1 however1 was the first theorist to formulate the unity of place1 and thus to give the three unities their final form4 ,we have seen that ,castelvetro's theory of the drama was based entirely upon the notion of stage representation4 ,all the essentials of dramatic literature are thus fixed by the exigencies of the stage4 ,the stage is a circumscribed space1 and the play must be performed upon it within a period of time limited by the physical necessities of the spectators4 ,it is from these two facts that ,castelvetro deduces the unities of time and place4 ,while asserting that ,aristotle held it as cosa fermissima e verissima that the tragic action cannot exceed the length of an artificial day of twelve hours1 he does not think that ,aristotle himself understood the real reason of this limitation4#aia ,in the seventh chapter of the ,poetics ,aristotle says that the length of the plot is limited by the possibility of its being carried in the memory of the spectator conveniently at one time4 ,but this1 it is urged1 would restrict the epic as well as the tragic fable to one day4 ,the difference between epic and dramatic poetry in this respect is to be found in the essential difference between the conditions of narrative and scenic poetry4#aib ,narrative poetry can in a short time narrate things that happen in many days or months or even years2 but scenic poetry1 which spends as many hours in representing things as it actually takes to do them in life1 does quite otherwise4 ,in epic poetry words can present to our intellect things distant in space and time2 but in dramatic poetry the whole action occurs before our eyes1 and is accordingly limited to what we can actually see with our own senses1 that is1 to that brief duration of time and to that small amount of space in which the actors are occupied in acting1 and not any other time or place4 ,but as the restricted place is the stage1 so the restricted time is that in which the spectators can at their ease remain sitting through a continuous performance2 and this time1 on account of the physical necessities of the spectators1 such as eating1 drinking1 and sleeping1 cannot well go beyond the duration of one revolution of the sun4 ,so that not only is the unity of time an essential dramatic requirement1 but it is in fact impossible for the dramatist to do otherwise even should he desire to do so--a conclusion which is of course the reductio ad absurdum of the whole argument4 ,in another place ,castelvetro more briefly formulates the law of the unities in the definitive form in which it was to remain throughout the period of classicism3 ,la mutatione tragica non puo tirar con esso seco se non una giornata e un luogo4#aic ,the unities of time and place are for ,castelvetro so very important that the unity of action1 which is for ,aristotle the only essential of the drama1 is entirely subordinated to them4 ,in fact1 ,castelvetro specifically says that the unity of action is not essential to the drama1 but is merely made expedient by the requirements of time and place4 ,in comedy and tragedy1 he says1 there is usually one action1 not because the fable is unfitted to contain more than one action1 but because the restricted space in which the action is represented1 and the limited time1 twelve hours at the very most1 do not permit of a multitude of actions4#aid ,in a similar manner ,castelvetro applies the law of the unities to epic poetry4 ,although the epic action can be accomplished in many places and at diverse times1 yet as it is more commendable and pleasurable to have a single action1 so it is better for the action to confine itself to a short time and to but few places4 ,in other words1 the more the epic attempts to restrict itself to the unities of place and time1 the better1 according to ,castelvetro1 it will be4#aie ,moreover1 ,castelvetro was not merely the first one to formulate the unities in their definitive form1 but he was also the first to insist upon them as inviolable laws of the drama2 and he refers to them over and over again in the pages of his commentary on the ,poetics4#aif ,this then is the origin of the unities4 ,our discussion must have made it clear how little they deserve the traditional title of ,aristotelian unities1 or as a recent critic with equal inaccuracy calls them1 the ,scaligerian unities 7unites scaligeriennes74#aig ,nor were they1 as we have seen1 first formulated in ,france1 though this was the opinion of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries4 ,thus ,dryden says that the unity of place1 however it might be practised by the ancients1 was never one of their rules3 we neither find it in ,aristotle1 ,horace1 or any who have written of it1 till in our age the ,french poets first made it a precept of the stage4#aih ,it may be said1 therefore1 that just as the unity of action is par excellence the ,aristotelian unity1 so the unities of time and place are beyond a doubt the ,italian unities4 ,they enter the critical literature of ,europe from the time of ,castelvetro1 and may almost be said to be the last contributions of ,italy to literary criticism4 ,two years after their formulation by ,castelvetro they were introduced into ,france1 and a dozen years after this formulation1 into ,england4 ,it was not until #afcf1 however1 that they became fixed in modern dramatic literature1 as a result of the ,cid controversy4 ,this is approximately a hundred years after the first mention of the unity of time in ,italian criticism4 ,v4 ,comedy ,the treatment of comedy in the literary criticism of this period is entirely confined to a discussion and elaboration of the little that ,aristotle says on the subject of comedy in the ,poetics4 ,aristotle1 it will be remembered1 had distinguished tragedy from comedy in that the former deals with the nobler1 the latter with the baser1 sort of actions4 ,comedy is an imitation of characters of a lower type than those of tragedy1--characters of a lower type indeed1 but not in the full sense of the word bad4 ,the ludicrous is merely a subdivision of the ugly4 ,it may be defined as a defect or ugliness which is not painful or destructive4 ,thus1 for example1 the comic mask is ugly and distorted1 but does not cause pain4#aii ,from these few hints the ,italian theorists constructed a body of comic doctrine4 ,there is1 however1 in the critical literature of this period no attempt to explain the theory of the indigenous ,italian comedy1 the commedia dell' arte4 ,the classical comedies of ,plautus and ,terence were the models1 and ,aristotle's ,poetics the guide1 of all the discussions on comedy during the ,renaissance4 ,the distinction between the characters of comedy and tragedy has already been explained in sufficient detail4 ,all that remains to be done in treating of comedy is to indicate as briefly as possible such definitions of it as were formulated by the ,renaissance1 and the special function which the ,renaissance understood comedy to possess4 ,according to ,trissino 7#aefc71 the comic poet deals only with base things1 and for the single purpose of chastising them4 ,as tragedy attains its moral end through the medium of pity and fear1 comedy does so by means of the chastisement and vituperation of things that are base and evil4#bjj ,the comic poet1 however1 is not to deal with all sorts of vices1 but only such as give rise to ridicule1 that is1 the jocose actions of humble and unknown persons4 ,laughter proceeds from a certain delight or pleasure arising from the sight of objects of ugliness4 ,we do not laugh at a beautiful woman1 a gorgeous jewel1 or beautiful music2 but a distortion or deformity1 such as a silly speech1 an ugly face1 or a clumsy movement1 makes us laugh4 ,we do not laugh at the benefits of others2 the finder of a purse1 for example1 arouses not laughter but envy4 ,but we do laugh at some one who has fallen into the mud1 because1 as ,lucretius says1 it is sweet to find in others some evil not to be found in ourselves4 ,yet great evils1 so far from causing us to laugh1 arouse pity and fear1 because we are apprehensive lest such things should happen to us4 ,hence we may conclude that a slight evil which is neither sad nor destructive1 and which we perceive in others but do not believe to be in ourselves1 is the primary cause of the ludicrous4#bja ,in ,maggi's treatise1 ,de ,ridiculis1 appended to his commentary on the ,poetics1 the ,aristotelian conception of the ridiculous is accepted1 with the addition of the element of admiratio4 ,maggi insists on the idea of suddenness or novelty2 for we do not laugh at painless ugliness if it be very familiar or long continued4#bjb ,according to ,robortelli 7#aedh71 comedy1 like all other forms of poetry1 imitates the manners and actions of men1 and aims at producing laughter and light-heartedness4 ,but what produces laughter8 ,the evil and obscene merely disgust good men2 the sad and miserable cause pity and fear4 ,the basis of laughter is therefore to be found in what is only slightly mean or ugly 7subturpiculum74 ,the object of comedy1 according to the consensus of ,renaissance opinion1 is therefore to produce laughter for the purpose of rendering the minor vices ridiculous4 ,muzio 7#aeea7 indeed complains1 as both ,sidney and ,ben ,jonson do later1 that the comic writers of his day were more intent on producing laughter than on depicting character or manners3-- ,intenta al riso ,piu ch' a i costumi4 ,but ,minturno points out that comedy is not to be contemned because it excites laughter2 for by comic hilarity the spectators are kept from becoming buffoons themselves1 and by the ridiculous light in which amours are placed1 are made to avoid such things in future4 ,comedy is the best corrective of men's morals2 it is indeed what ,cicero calls it1 imitatio vitae1 speculum consuetudinis1 imago veritatis4 ,this phrase1 ascribed by ,donatus to ,cicero1 runs through all the dramatic discussions of the ,renaissance1#bjc and finds its echo in a famous passage in ,hamlet4 ,cervantes cites the phrase in ,don ,quixote2#bjd and ,il ,lasca1 in the prologue to ,l',arzigoglio1 berates the comic writers of his day after this fashion3 ,they take no account of the absurdities1 the contradictions1 the inequalities1 and the discrepancies of their pieces2 for they do not seem to know that comedy should be truth's image1 the ensample of manners1 and the mirror of life4 ,this is exactly what ,shakespeare is contending for when he makes ,hamlet caution the players not to o'erstep the modesty of nature2 for anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing1 whose end1 both at the first and now1 was and is1 to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature2 to show virtue her own feature1 scorn her own image1 and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure4#bje ,the high importance which ,scaliger 7#aefa7 gives to comedy1 and in fact to satiric and didactic poetry in general1 is one of many indications of the incipient formation of neo-classical ideals during the ,renaissance4 ,he regards as absurd the statement which he conceives ,horace to have made1 that comedy is not really poetry2 on the contrary1 it is the true form of poetry1 and the first and highest of all1 for its matter is entirely invented by the poet4#bjf ,he defines comedy as a dramatic poem filled with intrigue 7negotiosum71 written in popular style1 and ending happily4#bjg ,the characters in comedy are chiefly old men1 slaves1 courtesans1 all in humble station or from small villages4 ,the action begins rather turbulently1 but ends happily1 and the style is neither high nor low4 ,the typical themes of comedy are sports1 banquets1 nuptials1 drunken carousals1 the crafty wiles of slaves1 and the deception of old men4#bjh ,the theory of comedy in sixteenth-century ,italy was entirely classical1 and the practice of the time agrees with its theory4 ,there are indeed to be heard occasional notes of dissatisfaction and revolt1 especially in the prologues of popular plays4 ,il ,lasca1 in the prologue to the ,strega1 defiantly protests against the inviolable authority of ,aristotle and ,horace1 and in the prologue to his ,gelosia reserves the right to copy the manner of his own time1 and not those of ,plautus and ,terence4 ,cecchi1 ,aretino1 ,gelli1 and other comic writers give expression to similar sentiments4#bji ,but on the whole these protests availed nothing4 ,the authors of comedy1 and more especially the literary critics1 were guided by classical practice and classical theory4 ,dramatic forms like the improvised commedia dell' arte had marked influence on the practice of ,european comedy in general1 especially in ,france1 but left no traces of their influence on the literary criticism of the ,italian ,renaissance4 ,,foot-,,notes3 #aji ,poet4 vi4 #b4 #aaj ,daniello1 p4 #cd4 #aaa ,cf4 ,horace1 ,ars ,poet4 #ahb sq4 #aab ,giraldi ,cintio1 ii4 #f4 #aac ,ibid4 ii4 #cj4 #aad ,cited by ,butcher1 p4 #bbj4 #aae ,poet4 iv4 #g4 #aaf ,maggi1 p4 #fd4 #aag ,maggi1 p4 #aed4 #aah ,butcher1 p4 #bbj sq4 #aai ,butcher1 p4 #bai1 n4 #a4--,mueller1 ii4 #cid1 attempts to harmonize the definition of ,theophrastus with that of ,aristotle4 #abj ,egger1 ,hist4 de la ,critique1 p4 #cdd1 n4 #b4 #aba ,cloetta1 i4 #bi4 ,cf4 ,antiphanes1 cited by ,egger1 p4 #gb4 #abb ,cloetta1 p4 #cj4 #abc ,etymol4 viii4 #g1 #f4 #abd ,etymol4 xviii4 #de and #df4 #abe ,cloetta1 p4 #bh1 and p4 #ca sq4 #abf ,epist4 xi4 #aj4 ,cf4 ,gelli's ,lectures on the ,divine ,comedy1 ed4 ,negroni1 #ahhg1 i4 #cg sq4 #abg ,poet4 ix4 #e-i4 #abh ,giraldi ,cintio1 ii4 #ad4 #abi ,giraldi ,cintio1 ii4 #bj4 #acj ,poet4 xi4 #f4 #aca ,ars ,poet4 #ahb-ahh4 #acb ,giraldi ,cintio1 ii4 #aai4 #acc ,scaliger1 ,poet4 i4 #f4 #acd ,scaliger1 i4 #aa2 iii4 #if4 #ace ,ibid4 vi4 #f4 #acf ,ibid4 iii4 #if4 #acg ,ibid4 i4 #ac4 #ach ,de ,poeta1 p4 #dc sq4 #aci ,ibid4 p4 #agc4 ,cf4 ,milton's phrase1 vain and amatorious poem4 #adj ,dacier1 #afib1 p4 xvii4 #ada ,poet4 vi4 #ai4 #adb ,poet4 xiv4 #a4 #adc ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 p4 #cj4 #add ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 pp4 #bb1 #bc4 #ade ,ibid4 p4 #eg4 #adf ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 pp4 #ce1 #cf4 #adg ,twining1 ii4 #c4 #adh ,butcher1 ch4 vi4 #adi ,giraldi ,cintio1 ii4 #ab4 #aej ,ibid4 i4 #ff sq4 #aea ,trissino1 ii4 #ic sq4 #aeb ,robortelli1 p4 #eb sq4 #aec ,vettori1 p4 #ef sq41 and ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 p4 #aag sq4 #aed ,maggi1 p4 #ig sq4 #aee ,cf4 ,shelley1 ,defence of ,poetry1 p4 #ce1 ,tragedy delights by affording a shadow of that pleasure which exists in pain1 etc4 #aef ,lezzioni1 p4 #ffj4 #aeg ,scaliger1 ,poet4 vii4 i4 #c2 iii4 #if4 #aeh ,arte ,poetica1 p4 #bhg4 #aei ,arte ,poetica1 p4 #gg4 #afj ,butcher1 pp4 #bbi1 #bcj4 #afa ,opere1 v4 #agh4 #afb ,butcher1 p4 #bhj sq4 #afc ,poet4 xiii4 #b1 #c4 #afd ,daniello1 p4 #ch4 #afe ,poet4 xiii4 #g4 #aff ,della ,vera ,poetica1 cap4 iii4 #afg ,de ,poeta1 p4 #ahb sq4 #afh ,arte ,poetica1 p4 #aah sq42 also in ,scaliger and ,giraldi ,cintio4 #afi ,poet4 xv4 #a-e4 #agj ,ars ,poet4 #aed sq4 #aga ,muzio1 p4 #hj4 #agb ,pope1 i4 #afe4 #agc ,poetica1 p4 #cf sq4 #agd ,capriano1 op4 cit41 cap4 v4 #age ,cod4 ,magliabechiano1 vii4 #g1 #gae4 #agf ,another expression of ,jonson's1 small ,latin and less ,greek1 may perhaps be traced to ,minturno's poco del ,latino e pochissimo del ,greco1 ,arte ,poetica1 p4 #aeh4 #agg ,poet4 viii4 #a-d4 #agh ,poet4 v4 #d4 #agi ,giraldi ,cintio1 ii4 #aj sq4 #ahj ,robortelli1 pp4 #ej1 #bge1 and appendix1 p4 #de4 ,cf4 ,luisino's ,commentary on ,horace's ,ars ,poetica1 #aeed1 p4 #dj4 #aha ,b4 ,segni1 p4 #agj v4 #ahb ,trissino1 ii4 #ie4 #ahc ,brunetiere1 i4 #fi4 #ahd ,maggi1 p4 #id4 #ahe ,scaliger1 iii4 #if4 ,so ,robortelli1 p4 #ec1 speaks of tragedy as representing things quae multum accedunt ad veritatem ipsam4 #ahf ,e4g4 ,lintilhac1 ,de ,scal4 ,poet4 p4 #cb4 #ahg ,de ,poeta1 pp4 #ahe1 #bha4 #ahh ,vettori1 p4 #bej4 #ahi ,arte ,poet4 pp4 #ga1 #aag4 #aij ,ibid4 p4 #ab4 #aia ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 pp4 #aeg1 #agj4 #aib ,ibid4 pp4 #eg1 #aji4 #aic ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 p4 #ecd4 ,cf4 ,boileau1 ,art ,poet4 iii4 #de4 #aid ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 p4 #agi4 #aie ,ibid4 pp4 #ecd1 #ece4 #aif ,other allusions to the unities1 besides those already mentioned1 will be found in ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 pp4 #afc-afe1 #afh-aga1 #aia1 #cig1 #eja1 #ebg1 #eca-ecf1 #fib1 #fig1 etc4 #aig ,lintilhac1 in the ,nouvelle ,revue1 lxiv4 #eda4 #aih ,essay of ,dramatic ,poesy1 p4 #ca4 #aii ,poet4 v4 #a4 ,cf4 ,rhet4 iii4 #ah4 #bjj ,trissino1 ii4 #abj4 ,cf4 ,butcher1 p4 #bjc sq4 #bja ,trissino1 ii4 #abg-acj4 ,trissino seems to follow ,cicero1 ,de ,orat4 ii4 #eh sq4 ,it is to these ,italian discussions of the ludicrous that the theory of laughter formulated by ,hobbes1 and after him by ,addison1 owes its origin4 ,for ,renaissance discussions of wit and humor before the introduction of ,aristotle's ,poetics1 cf4 the third and fourth books of ,pontano's ,de ,sermone1 and the second book of ,castiglione's ,cortigiano4 #bjb ,maggi1 p4 #cjg4 ,cf4 ,hobbes1 ,human ,nature1 #afej1 ix4 #ac4 #bjc ,cf4 ,b4 ,tasso1 ii4 #eae2 ,robortelli1 p4 #b2 etc4 #bjd ,don ,quix4 iv4 #ba4 #bje ,hamlet1 iii4 #b4 #bjf ,scaliger1 ,poet4 i4 #b4 ,castiglione1 in the second book of the ,cortigiano1 says that the comic writer1 more than any other1 expresses the true image of human life4 #bjg ,poet4 i4 #e4 #bjh ,poet4 iii4 #if4 #bji ,symonds1 ,ren4 in ,italy1 v4 #abd sq41 #ecc sq4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,epic ,,poetry ,,epic poetry was held in the highest esteem during the ,renaissance and indeed throughout the period of classicism4 ,it was regarded by ,vida as the highest form of poetry1#baj and a century later1 despite the success of tragedy in ,france1 ,rapin still held the same opinion4#baa ,the reverence for the epic throughout the ,renaissance may be ascribed in part to the mediaeval veneration of ,virgil as a poet1 and his popular apotheosis as prophet and magician1 and also in part to the decay into which dramatic literature had fallen during the ,middle ,ages in the hands of the wandering players1 the histriones and the vagantes4 ,aristotle#bab indeed had regarded tragedy as the highest form of poetry2 and as a result1 the traditional reverence for ,virgil and ,homer1 and the ,renaissance subservience to ,aristotle1 were distinctly at variance4 ,trissino 7#aefa7 paraphrases ,aristotle's argument in favor of tragedy1 but points out1 notwithstanding this1 that the whole world is unanimous in considering ,virgil and ,homer greater than any tragic poet before or after them4#bac ,placed in this quandary1 he concludes by leaving the reader to judge for himself whether epic or tragedy be the nobler form4 ,i4 ,the ,theory of the ,epic ,poem ,vida's ,ars ,poetica1 written before #aebj1 although no edition prior to that of #aebg is extant1 is the earliest example in modern times of that class of critical poems to which belong ,horace's ,ars ,poetica1 ,boileau's ,art ,poetique1 and ,pope's ,essay on ,criticism4 ,vida's poem is entirely based on that of ,horace2 but he substitutes epic for ,horace's dramatic studies1 and employs the ,a,eneid as the model of an epic poem4 ,the incompleteness of the treatment accorded to epic poetry in ,aristotle's ,poetics led the ,renaissance to deduce the laws of heroic poetry and of poetic artifice in general from the practice of ,virgil2 and it is to this point of view that the critical works on the ,a,eneid by ,regolo 7#aefc71 ,maranta 7#aefd71 and ,toscanella 7#aeff7 owe their origin4 ,the obvious and even accidental qualities of ,virgil's poem are enunciated by ,vida as fundamental laws of epic poetry4 ,the precepts thus given are purely rhetorical and pedagogic in character1 and deal almost exclusively with questions of poetic invention1 disposition1 polish1 and style4 ,beyond this ,vida does not attempt to go4 ,there is in his poem no definition of the epic1 no theory of its function1 no analysis of the essentials of narrative structure4 ,in fact1 no theory of poetry in any real sense is to be found in ,vida's treatise4 ,daniello7#aecf7 deals only very cursorily with epic poetry1 but his definition of it strikes the keynote of the ,renaissance conception4 ,heroic poetry is for him an imitation of the illustrious deeds of emperors and other men magnanimous and valorous in arms1#bad--;a conception that goes back to ,horace's ,res gestae regumque ducumque et tristia bella4#bae ,trissino 7#aefc7 first introduced the ,aristotelian theory of the epic into modern literary criticism2 and the sixth section of his ,poetica is given up almost exclusively to the treatment of heroic poetry4 ,the epic agrees with tragedy in dealing with illustrious men and illustrious actions4 ,like tragedy it must have a single action1 but it differs from tragedy in not having the time of the action limited or determined4 ,while unity of action is essential to the epic1 and is indeed what distinguishes it from narrative poems that are not really epics1 the ,renaissance conceived of vastness of design and largeness of detail as necessary to the grandiose character of the epic poem4#baf ,thus ,muzio says3-- ,il poema sovrano e una pittura ,de l' universo1 e pero in se comprende ,ogni stilo1 ogni forma1 ogni ritratto4 ,trissino regards versi sciolti as the proper metre for an heroic poem1 since the stanzaic form impedes the continuity of the narrative4 ,in this point he finds fault with ,boccaccio1 ,boiardo1 and ,ariosto1 whose romantic poems1 moreover1 he does not regard as epics1 because they do not obey ,aristotle's inviolable law of the single action4 ,he also finds fault with the romantic poets for describing the improbable1 since ,aristotle expressly prefers an impossible probability to an improbable possibility4 ,minturno's definition of epic poetry is merely a modification or paraphrase of ,aristotle's definition of tragedy4 ,epic poetry is an imitation of a grave and noble deed1 perfect1 complete1 and of proper magnitude1 with embellished language1 but without music or dancing2 at times simply narrating and at other times introducing persons in words and actions2 in order that1 through pity and fear of the things imitated1 such passions may be purged from the mind with both pleasure and profit4#bag ,here ,minturno1 like ,giraldi ,cintio1 ascribes to epic poetry the same purgation of pity and fear effected by tragedy4 ,epic poetry he rates above tragedy1 since the epic poet1 more than any other1 arouses that admiration of great heroes which it is the peculiar function of the poet to excite1 and therefore attains the end of poetry more completely than any other poet4 ,this1 however1 is true only in the highest form of narrative poetry2 for ,minturno distinguishes three classes of narrative poets1 the lowest1 or bucolici1 the mediocre1 or epici1 who have nothing beyond verse1 and the highest1 or heroici1 who imitate the life of a single hero in noble verse4#bah ,minturno insists fundamentally on the unity of the epic action2 and directly against ,aristotle's statement1 as we have seen1 he restricts the duration of the action to one year4 ,the license and prolixity of the romanzi led the defenders of the classical epic to this extreme of rigid circumspection4 ,according to ,scaliger1 the epic1 which is the norm by which all other poems may be judged and the chief of all poems1 describes heroum genus1 vita1 gesta4#bai ,this is the ,horatian conception of the epic1 and there is in ,scaliger little or no trace of the ,aristotelian doctrine4 ,he also follows ,horace closely in forbidding the narrative poet to begin his poem from the very beginning of his story 7ab ovo71 and in various other details4 ,castelvetro 7#aegj7 differs from ,aristotle in regard to the unity of the epic fable1 on the ground that poetry is merely imaginative history1 and can therefore do anything that history can do4 ,poetry follows the footsteps of history1 differing merely in that history narrates what has happened1 while poetry narrates what has never happened but yet may possibly happen2 and therefore1 since history recounts the whole life of a single hero1 without regard to its unity1 there is no reason why poetry should not do likewise4 ,the epic may in fact deal with many actions of one person1 one action of a whole race1 or many actions of many people2 it need not necessarily deal with one action of one person1 as ,aristotle enjoins1 but if it does so it is simply to show the ingenuity and excellence of the poet4#bbj ,,ii4 ,epic and ,romance ,this discussion of epic unity leads to one of the most important critical questions of the sixteenth century1--the question of the unity of romance4 ,ariosto's ,orlando ,furioso and ,boiardo's ,orlando ,innamorato were written before the ,aristotelian canons had become a part of the critical literature of ,italy4 ,when it became clear that these poems diverged from the fundamental requirements of the epic as expounded in the ,poetics1 ,trissino set out to compose an heroic poem which would be in perfect accord with the precepts of ,aristotle4 ,his ,italia ,liberata1 which was completed by #aedh1 was the result of twenty years of study1 and it is the first modern epic in the strict ,aristotelian sense4 ,with ,aristotle as his guide1 and ,homer as his model1 he had studiously and mechanically constructed an epic of a single action2 and in the dedication of his poem to the ,emperor ,charles ,v4 he charges all poems which violate this primary law of the single action with being merely bastard forms4 ,the romanzi1 and among them the ,orlando ,furioso1 in seemingly disregarding this fundamental requirement1 came under ,trissino's censure2 and this started a controversy which was not to end until the commencement of the next century1 and in a certain sense may be said to remain undecided even to this day4 ,the first to take up the cudgels in defence of the writers of the romanzi was ,giraldi ,cintio1 who in his youth had known ,ariosto personally1 and who wrote his ,discorso intorno al comporre dei ,romanzi1 in ,april1 #aedi4 ,the grounds of his defence are twofold4 ,in the first place1 ,giraldi maintains that the romance is a poetic form of which ,aristotle did not know1 and to which his rules therefore do not apply2 and in the second place1 ,tuscan literature1 differing as it does from the literature of ,greece in language1 in spirit1 and in religious feeling1 need not and indeed ought not to follow the rules of ,greek literature1 but rather the laws of its own development and its own traditions4 ,with ,ariosto and ,boiardo as models1 ,giraldi sets out to formulate the laws of the romanzi4 ,the romanzi aim at imitating illustrious actions in verse1 with the purpose of teaching good morals and honest living1 since this ought to be the aim of every poet1 as ,giraldi conceives ,aristotle himself to have said4#bba ,all heroic poetry is an imitation of illustrious actions1 but ,giraldi1 like ,castelvetro twenty years later1 recognizes several distinct forms of heroic poetry1 according as to whether it imitates one action of one man1 many actions of many men1 or many actions of one man4 ,the first of these is the epic poem1 the rules of which are given in ,aristotle's ,poetics4 ,the second is the romantic poem1 after the manner of ,boiardo and ,ariosto4 ,the third is the biographical poem1 after the manner of the ,theseid and similar works dealing with the whole life of a single hero4 ,these forms are therefore to be regarded as three distinct and legitimate species of heroic poetry1 the first of them being an epic poem in the strict ,aristotelian sense1 and the two others coming under the general head of romanzi4 ,of the two forms of romanzi1 the biographical deals preferably with an historical subject1 whereas the noblest writers of the more purely romantic form1 dealing with many actions of many men1 have invented their subject-matter4 ,horace says that an heroic poem should not commence at the very beginning of the hero's life2 but it is difficult to understand1 says ,giraldi1 why the whole life of a distinguished man1 which gives us so great and refined a pleasure in the works of ,plutarch and other biographers1 should not please us all the more when described in beautiful verse by a good poet4#bbb ,accordingly1 the poet who is composing an epic in the strict sense should1 in handling the events of his narrative1 plunge immediately in medias res4 ,the poet dealing with many actions of many men should begin with the most important event1 and the one upon which all the others may be said to hinge2 whereas the poet describing the life of a single hero should begin at the very beginning1 if the hero spent a really heroic youth1 as ,hercules for example did4 ,the poem dealing with the life of a hero is thus a separate genre1 and one for which ,aristotle does not attempt to lay down any laws4 ,giraldi even goes so far as to say that ,aristotle#bbc censured those who write the life of ,theseus or ,hercules in a single poem1 not because they dealt with many actions of one man1 but because they treated such a poem in exactly the same manner as those who dealt with a single action of a single hero1--an assertion which is of course utterly absurd4 ,giraldi then proceeds to deal in detail with the disposition and composition of the romanzi1 which he rates above the classical epics in the efficacy of ethical teaching4 ,it is the office of the poet to praise virtuous actions and to condemn vicious actions2 and in this the writers of the romanzi are far superior to the writers of the ancient heroic poems4#bbd ,giraldi's discourse on the romanzi gave rise to a curious dispute with his own pupil1 ,giambattista ,pigna1 who published a similar work1 entitled ,i ,romanzi1 in the same year 7#aeed74 ,pigna asserted that he had suggested to ,giraldi the main argument of the discourse1 and that ,giraldi had adopted it as his own4 ,without entering into the details of this controversy1 it would seem that the priority of ,giraldi cannot fairly be contested4#bbe ,at all events1 there is a very great resemblance between the works of ,giraldi and ,pigna4 ,pigna's treatise1 however1 is more detailed than ,giraldi's4 ,in the first book1 ,pigna deals with the general subject of the romanzi2 in the second he gives a life of ,ariosto1 and discusses the ,furioso1 point by point2 in the third he demonstrates the good taste and critical acumen of ,ariosto by comparing the first version of the ,furioso with the completed and perfected copy4#bbf ,both ,pigna and ,giraldi consider the romanzi to constitute a new genre1 unknown to the ancients1 and therefore not subject to ,aristotle's rules4 ,giraldi's sympathies were in favor of the biographical form of the romanzi1 and his poem1 the ,ercole 7#aeeg71 recounts the whole life of a single hero4 ,pigna1 who keeps closer to the tradition of ,ariosto1 regards the biographical form as not proper to poetry1 because too much like history4 ,these arguments1 presented by ,giraldi and ,pigna1 were answered by ,speroni1 ,minturno1 and others4 ,speroni pointed out that while it is not necessary for the romantic poets to follow the rules prescribed by the ancients1 they cannot disobey the fundamental laws of poetry4 ,the romanzi1 says ,speroni1 are epics1 which are poems1 or they are histories in verse1 and not poems4#bbg ,that is1 how does a poem differ from a well-written historical narrative1 if the former be without organic unity8#bbh ,as to the whole discussion1 it may be said here1 without attempting to pass judgment on ,ariosto1 or any other writer of romanzi1 that unity of some sort every true poem must necessarily have2 and1 flawless as the ,orlando ,furioso is in its details1 the unity of the poem certainly has not the obviousness of perfect1 and especially classical1 art4 ,a work of art without organic unity may be compared with an unsymmetrical circle2 and1 while the ,furioso is not to be judged by any arbitrary or mechanical rules of unity1 yet if it has not that internal unity which transcends all mere external form1 it may be considered1 as a work of art1 hardly less than a failure2 and the farther it is removed from perfect unity1 the more imperfect is the art4 ,poetry adapts itself to its times1 but cannot depart from its own fundamental laws4#bbi ,minturno's answer to the defenders of the romanzi is more detailed and explicit than ,speroni's1 and it is of considerable importance because of its influence on ,torquato ,tasso's conception of epic poetry4 ,minturno does not deny--and in this his point of view is identical with ,tasso's--that it is possible to employ the matter of the romanzi in the composition of a perfect poem4 ,the actions they describe are great and illustrious1 their knights and ladies are noble and illustrious1 too1 and they contain in a most excellent manner that element of the marvellous which is so important an element in the epic action4 ,it is the structure of the romanzi with which ,minturno finds fault4 ,they lack the first essential of every form of poetry1--unity4 ,in fact1 they are little more than versified history or legend2 and1 while expressing admiration for the genius of ,ariosto1 ,minturno cannot but regret that he so far yielded to the popular taste of his time as to employ the method of the romanzi4 ,he approves of the suggestion of ,bembo1 who had tried to persuade ,ariosto to write an epic instead of a romantic poem1#bcj just as later1 and for similar reasons1 ,gabriel ,harvey attempted to dissuade ,spenser from continuing the ,faerie ,queene4 ,minturno denies that the ,tuscan tongue is not well adapted to the composition of heroic poetry2 on the contrary1 there is no form of poetry to which it is not admirably fitted4 ,he denies that the romantic poem can be distinguished from the epic on the ground that the actions of knights-errant require a different and broader form of narrative than do those of the classical heroes4 ,the celestial and infernal gods and demi-gods of the ancients correspond with the angels1 saints1 anchorites1 and the one ,god of ,christianity2 the ancient sibyls1 oracles1 enchantresses1 and divine messengers correspond with the modern necromancers1 fates1 magicians1 and celestial angels4 ,to the claim of the romantic poets that their poems approximate closer to that magnitude which ,aristotle enjoins as necessary for all poetry1 ,minturno answers that magnitude is of no avail without proportion2 there is no beauty in the giant whose limbs and frame are distorted4 ,finally1 the romanzi are said to be a new form of poetry unknown to ,aristotle and ,horace1 and hence not amenable to their laws4 ,but time1 says ,minturno1 cannot change the truth2 in every age a poem must have unity1 proportion1 magnitude4 ,everything in nature is governed by some specific law which directs its operation2 and as it is in nature so it is in art1 for art tries to imitate nature1 and the nearer it approaches nature in her essential laws1 the better it does its work4 ,in other words1 as has already been pointed out1 poetry adapts itself to its times1 but cannot depart from its own laws4 ,bernardo ,tasso1 the father of ,torquato1 had originally been one of the defenders of the classical epic2 but he seems to have been converted to the opposite view by ,giraldi ,cintio1 and in his poem of the ,amadigi he follows romantic models4 ,his son ,torquato1 in his ,discorsi dell' ,arte ,poetica1 originally written one or two years after the appearance of ,minturno's ,arte ,poetica1 although not published until #aehg1 was the first to attempt a reconciliation of the epic and romantic forms2 and he may be said to have effected a solution of the problem by the formulation of the theory of a narrative poem which would have the romantic subject-matter1 with its delightful variety1 and the epic form1 with its essential unity4 ,the question at issue1 as we have seen1 is that of unity2 that is1 does the heroic poem need unity8 ,tasso denies that there is any difference between the epic poem and the romantic poem as poems4 ,the reason why the latter is more pleasing1 is to be found in the fact of the greater delightfulness of the themes treated4#bca ,variety in itself is not pleasing1 for a variety of disagreeable things would not please at all4 ,hence the perfect and at the same time most pleasing form of heroic poem would deal with the chivalrous themes of the romanzi1 but would possess that unity of structure which1 according to the precepts of ,aristotle and the practice of ,homer and ,virgil1 is essential to every epic4 ,there are two sorts of unity possible in art as in nature1--the simple unity of a chemical element1 and the complex unity of an organism like an animal or plant1--and of these the latter is the sort of unity that the heroic poet should aim at4#bcb ,capriano 7#aeee7 had referred to this same distinction1 when he pointed out that poetry ought not to be the imitation of a single act1 such as a single act of weeping in the elegy1 or a single act of pastoral life in the eclogue1 for such a sporadic imitation is to be compared to a picture of a single hand without the rest of the body2 on the contrary1 poetry ought to be the representation of a number of attendant or dependent acts1 leading from a given beginning to a suitable end4#bcc ,having settled the general fact that the attractive themes of the romanzi should be employed in a perfect heroic poem1 we may inquire what particular themes are most fitted to the epic1 and what must be the essential qualities of the epic material4#bcd ,in the first place1 the subject of the heroic poem must be historical1 for it is not probable that illustrious actions such as are dealt with in the epic should be unknown to history4 ,the authority of history gains for the poet that semblance of truth necessary to deceive the reader and make him believe that what the poet writes is true4 ,secondly1 the heroic poem1 according to ,tasso1 must deal with the history1 not of a false religion1 but of the true one1 ,christianity4 ,the religion of the pagans is absolutely unfit for epic material2 for if the pagan deities are not introduced1 the poem will lack the element of the marvellous1 and if they are introduced it will lack the element of probability4 ,both the marvellous and the verisimile must exist together in a perfect epic1 and difficult as the task may seem1 they must be reconciled4 ,another reason why paganism is unfit for the epic is to be found in the fact that the perfect knight must have piety as well as other virtues4 ,in the third place1 the poem must not deal with themes connected with the articles of ,christian faith1 for such themes would be unalterable1 and would allow no scope to the free play of the poet's inventive fancy4 ,fourthly1 the material must be neither too ancient nor too modern1 for the latter is too well known to admit of fanciful changes with probability1 and the former not only lacks interest but requires the introduction of strange and alien manners and customs4 ,the times of ,charlemagne and ,arthur are accordingly best fitted for heroic treatment4 ,finally1 the events themselves must possess nobility and grandeur4 ,hence an epic should be a story derived from some event in the history of ,christian peoples1 intrinsically noble and illustrious1 but not of so sacred a character as to be fixed and immutable1 and neither contemporary nor very remote4 ,by the selection of such material the poem gains the authority of history1 the truth of religion1 the license of fiction1 the proper atmosphere in point of time1 and the grandeur of the events themselves4#bce ,aristotle says that both epic and tragedy deal with illustrious actions4 ,tasso points out that if the actions of tragedy and of epic poetry were both illustrious in the same way1 they would both produce the same results2 but tragic actions move horror and compassion1 while epic actions as a rule do not and need not arouse these emotions4 ,the tragic action consists in the unexpected change of fortune1 and in the grandeur of the events carrying with them horror and pity2 but the epic action is founded upon undertakings of lofty martial virtue1 upon deeds of courtesy1 piety1 generosity1 none of which is proper to tragedy4 ,hence the characters in epic poetry and in tragedy1 though both of the same regal and supreme rank1 differ in that the tragic hero is neither perfectly good nor entirely bad1 as ,aristotle says1 while the epic hero must have the very height of virtue1 such as ,a,eneas1 the type of piety1 ,amadis1 the type of loyalty1 ,achilles1 of martial virtue1 and ,ulysses1 of prudence4 ,having formulated these theories of heroic poetry in his youth1 ,tasso set out to carry them into practice1 and his famous ,gerusalemme ,liberata was the result4 ,this poem1 almost immediately after its publication1 started a violent controversy1 which raged for many years1 and which may be regarded as the legitimate outcome of the earlier dispute in connection with the romanzi4#bcf ,the ,gerusalemme was in fact the centre of critical activity during the latter part of the century4 ,shortly after its publication1 ,camillo ,pellegrino published a dialogue1 entitled ,il ,caraffa 7#aehc71 in which the ,gerusalemme is compared with the ,orlando ,furioso1 much to the advantage of the former4 ,pellegrino finds fault with ,ariosto on account of the lack of unity of his poem1 the immoral manners imitated1 and various imperfections of style and language2 and in all of these things1 unity1 morality1 and style1 he finds ,tasso's poem perfect4 ,this was naturally the signal for a heated and long-continued controversy4 ,the ,accademia della ,crusca had been founded at ,florence1 in #aehb1 and it seems that the members of the new society felt hurt at some sarcastic remarks regarding ,florence in one of ,tasso's dialogues4 ,accordingly1 the head of the academy1 ,lionardo ,salviati1 in a dialogue entitled ,l' ,infarinato1 wrote an ardent defence of ,ariosto2 and an acrid and undignified dispute between ,tasso and ,salviati was begun4#bcg ,tasso answered the ,accademia della ,crusca in his ,apologia2 and at the beginning of the next century1 ,paolo ,beni1 the commentator on ,aristotle's ,poetics1 published his ,comparazione di ,omero1 ,virgilio1 e ,torquato1 in which ,tasso is rated above ,homer1 ,virgil1 and ,ariosto1 not only in dignity1 in beauty of style1 and in unity of fable1 but in every other quality that may be said to constitute perfection in poetry4 ,before dismissing this whole matter1 it should be pointed out that the defenders of ,aristotle had absolutely abandoned the position of ,giraldi and ,pigna1 that the romanzi constitute a genre by themselves1 and are therefore not subject to ,aristotle's law of unity4 ,the question as ,giraldi had stated it was this3 ,does every poem need to have unity8 ,the question as discussed in the ,tasso controversy had changed to this form3 ,what is unity8 ,it was taken for granted by both sides in the controversy that every poem must have organic unity2 and the authority of ,aristotle1 in epic as in dramatic poetry1 was henceforth supreme4 ,it was to the authority of ,aristotle that ,tasso's opponents appealed2 and ,salviati1 merely for the purpose of undermining ,tasso's pretensions1 wrote an extended commentary on the ,poetics1 which still lies in ,ms4 at ,florence1 and which has been made use of in the present essay4#bch ,,foot-,,notes3 #baj ,pope1 i4 #acc4 #baa ,rapin1 #afgd1 ii4 #b4 #bab ,poet4 xxvi4 #bac ,trissino1 ii4 #aah sq4 #bad ,daniello1 p4 #cd4 #bae ,ars ,poet4 #gc4 #baf ,trissino1 ii4 #aab sq4 #bag ,arte ,poetica1 p4 #i4 #bah ,de ,poeta1 pp4 #aje1 #ajf4 #bai ,poet4 iii4 #ie4 #bbj ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 p4 #agh sq4 #bba ,giraldi ,cintio1 i4 #aa1 #fd4 #bbb ,giraldi ,cintio1 i4 #bd4 #bbc ,poet4 viii4 #b4 #bbd ,giraldi1 i4 #ff sq4 #bbe ,cf4 ,tiraboschi1 vii4 #idg sq41 and ,giraldi1 ii4 #aec sq4 ,pigna's own words are cited in ,giraldi1 i4 p4 xxiii4 #bbf ,canello1 p4 #cjf sq4 #bbg ,speroni1 v4 #eba4 #bbh ,cf4 ,minturno1 ,de ,poeta1 p4 #aea4 #bbi ,minturno1 ,arte ,poetica1 p4 #ca4 ,for various opinions on the unity of the ,orlando ,furioso1 cf4 ,canello1 p4 #ajf1 and ,foffano1 p4 #ei sq4 #bcj ,arte ,poetica1 p4 #ca4 #bca ,t4 ,tasso1 xii4 #bai sq4 #bcb ,t4 ,tasso1 xii4 #bcd4 #bcc ,della ,vera ,poetica1 cap4 iii4 #bcd ,t4 ,tasso1 xii4 #aii sq4 #bce ,t4 ,tasso1 xii4 #bjh4 #bcf ,accounts of this famous controversy will be found in ,tiraboschi1 ,canello1 ,serassi1 etc42 but the latest and most complete is that given in the twentieth chapter of ,solerti's monumental ,vita di ,torquato ,tasso1 ,torino1 #ahie4 #bcg ,nearly all the important documents of the ,tasso controversy are reprinted in ,rosini's edition of ,tasso1 ,opere1 vols4 xviii4-xxiii4 #bch ,the question of unity was also raised in another controversy of the second half of the sixteenth century4 ,a passage in ,varchi's ,ercolano 7#aegj71 rating ,dante above ,homer1 started a controversy on the ,divine ,comedy4 ,the most important outcome of this dispute was ,mazzoni's ,difesa di ,dante 7#aegc71 in which a whole new theory of poetry is expounded in order to defend the great ,tuscan poet4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,growth ,,of ,,the ,,classic ,,spirit ,,in ,,italian ,,criticism ,,the growth of classicism in ,renaissance criticism was due to three causes1--humanism1 or the imitation of the classics1 ,aristotelianism1 or the influence of ,aristotle's ,poetics1 and rationalism1 or the authority of the reason1 the result of the growth of the modern spirit in the arts and sciences4 ,these three causes are at the bottom of ,italian classicism1 as well as of ,french classicism during the seventeenth century4 ,i4 ,humanism ,the progress of humanism may be distinguished by an arbitrary but more or less practical division into four periods4 ,the first period was characterized by the discovery and accumulation of classical literature1 and the second period was given up to the arrangement and translation of the works thus discovered4 ,the third period is marked by the formation of academies1 in which the classics were studied and humanized1 and which as a result produced a special cult of learning4 ,the fourth and last period is marked by the decline of pure erudition1 and the beginning of aesthetic and stylistic scholarship4#bci ,the practical result of the revival of learning and the progress of humanism was thus the study and imitation of the classics4 ,to this imitation of classical literature all that humanism gave to the modern world may be ultimately traced4 ,the problem before us1 then1 is this3 ,what was the result of this imitation of the classics1 in so far as it regards the literary criticism of the ,renaissance8 ,in the first place1 the imitation of the classics resulted in the study and cult of external form4 ,elegance1 polish1 clearness of design1 became objects of study for themselves2 and as a result we have the formation of aesthetic taste1 and the growth of a classic purism1 to which many of the literary tendencies of the ,renaissance may be traced4#bdj ,under ,leo ,x4 and throughout the first half of the sixteenth century1 the intricacies of style and versification were carefully studied4 ,vida was the first to lay down laws of imitative harmony2#bda ,bembo1 and after him ,dolce and others1 studied the poetic effect of different sounds1 and the onomatopoeic value of the various vowels and consonants2#bdb ,claudio ,tolomei attempted to introduce classical metres into the vernacular2#bdc ,trissino published subtle and systematic researches in ,tuscan language and versification4#bdd ,later1 the rhetorical treatises of ,cavalcanti 7#aefe71 ,lionardi 7#aeed71 and ,partenio 7#aefj71 and the more practical manuals of ,fanucci 7#aecc71 ,equicola 7#aeda71 and ,ruscelli 7#aeei71 all testify to the tremendous impulse which the imitation of the classics had given to the study of form both in classical and vernacular literatures4 ,in ,vida's ,ars ,poetica there are abundant evidences of the rhetorical and especially the puristic tendencies of modern classicism4 ,the mechanical conception of poetic expression1 in which imagination1 sensibility1 and passion are subjected to the elaborate and intricate precepts of art1 is everywhere found in ,vida's poem4 ,like ,horace1 ,vida insists on long preparation for the composition of poetry1 and warns the poet against the indulgence of his first impulses4 ,he suggests as a preparation for the composition of poetry1 that the poet should prepare a list of phrases and images for use whenever occasion may demand4#bde ,he impresses upon the poet the necessity of euphemistic expressions in introducing the subject of his poem2 for example1 the name of ,ulysses should not be mentioned1 but he should be referred to as one who has seen many men and many cities1 who has suffered shipwreck on the return from ,troy1 and the like4#bdf ,in such mechanical precepts as these1 the rhetoric of seventeenth-century classicism is anticipated4 ,its restraint1 its purity1 its mechanical side1 are everywhere visible in ,vida4 ,a little later1 in ,daniello1 we find similar puristic tendencies4 ,he requires the severe separation of genres1 decorum and propriety of characterization1 and the exclusion of everything disagreeable from the stage4 ,in ,partenio's ,della ,imitatione ,poetica 7#aefj71 the poet is expressly forbidden the employment of the ordinary words in daily use1#bdg and elegance of form is especially demanded4 ,partenio regards form as of superior importance to subject or idea2 for those who hear or read poetry care more for beauty of diction than for character or even thought4#bdh ,it is on merely rhetorical grounds that ,partenio distinguishes excellent from mediocre poetry4 ,the good poet1 unlike the bad one1 is able to give splendor and dignity to the most trivial idea by means of adornments of diction and disposition4 ,this conception seems to have particularly appealed to the ,renaissance2 and ,tasso gives expression to a similar notion when he calls it the poet's noblest function to make of old concepts new ones1 to make of vulgar concepts noble ones1 and to make common concepts his own4#bdi ,in a higher and more ideal sense1 poetry1 according to ,shelley1 makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar4#bej ,it is in keeping with this rhetorical ideal of classicism that ,scaliger makes electio et sui fastidium the highest virtues of the poet4#bea ,all that is merely popular 7plebeium7 in thought and expression is to be minutely avoided2 for only that which proceeds from solid erudition is proper to art4 ,the basis of artistic creation is imitation and judgment2 for every artist is at bottom somewhat of an echo4#beb ,grace1 decorum1 elegance1 splendor are the chief excellences of poetry and the life of all excellence lies in measure1 that is1 moderation and proportion4 ,it is in the spirit of this classical purism that ,scaliger minutely distinguishes the various rhetorical and grammatical figures1 and carefully estimates their proper place and function in poetry4 ,his analysis and systematization of the figures were immediately accepted by the scholars and grammarians of his time1 and have played a large part in ,french education ever since4 ,another consequence of ,scaliger's dogmatic teaching1 the ,latinization of culture1 can only be referred to here in passing4#bec ,a second result of the imitation of the classics was the paganization of ,renaissance culture4 ,classic art is at bottom pagan1 and the ,renaissance sacrificed everything in order to appear classical4#bed ,not only did ,christian literature seem contemptible when compared with classic literature1 but the mere treatment of ,christian themes offered numerous difficulties in itself4 ,thus ,muzio declares that the ancient fables are the best poetic materials1 since they permit the introduction of the deities into poetry1 and a poem1 being something divine1 should not dispense with the association of divinity4#bee ,to bring the ,god of ,israel into poetry1 to represent him1 as it were1 in the flesh1 discoursing and arguing with men1 was sacrilege2 and to give the events of poetic narrative divine authoritativeness1 the pagan deities became necessities of ,renaissance poetry4 ,savonarola1 in the fifteenth century1 and the ,council of ,trent1 in the sixteenth1 reacted against the paganization of literature1 but in vain4 ,despite the ,council of ,trent1 despite ,tasso and ,du ,bartas1 the pagan gods held sway over ,parnassus until the very end of the classical period2 and in the seventeenth century1 as will be seen1 ,boileau expressly discourages the treatment of ,christian themes1 and insists that the ancient pagan fables alone must form the basis of neo-classical art4 ,a third result of the imitation of the classics was the development of applied1 or concrete1 criticism4 ,if the foundations of literature1 if the formation of style1 can result only from a close and judicious imitation of classical literature1 this problem confronts us3 ,which classical authors are we to imitate8 ,an answer to this question involves the application of concrete criticism4 ,a reason must be given for one's preferences2 in other words1 they must be justified on principle4 ,the literary controversies of the humanists1 the disputes on the subject of imitation1 of ,ciceronianism1 and what not1 all tended in this direction4 ,the judgment of authors was dependent more or less on individual impressions4 ,but the longer these controversies continued1 the nearer was the approach to a literary criticism1 justified by appeals to general principles1 which became more and more fixed and determined2 so that the growth of principles1 or criteria of judgment in matters of literature1 is in reality coterminous with the history of the growth of classicism4#bef ,but one of the most important consequences of the imitation of the classics was that this imitation became a dogma of criticism1 and radically changed the relations of art and nature in so far as they touch letters and literary criticism4 ,the imitation of the classics became1 in a word1 the basis of literary creation4 ,vida1 for example1 affirms that the poet must imitate classical literature1 for only by such imitation is perfection attainable in modern poetry4 ,in fact1 this notion is carried to such an extreme that the highest originality becomes for ,vida merely the ingenious translation of passages from the classic poets3-- ,haud minor est adeo virtus1 si te audit ,apollo1 ,inventa ,argivum in patriam convertere vocem1 ,quam si tute aliquid intactum inveneris ante4#beg ,muzio1 echoing ,horace1 urges the poet to study the classics by day and by night2 and ,scaliger1 as has been seen1 makes all literary creation depend ultimately on judicious imitation3 ,nemo est qui non aliquid de ,echo4 ,as a result1 imitation gradually acquired a specialized and almost esoteric meaning1 and became in this sense the starting-point of all the educational theories of the later humanists4 ,the doctrine of imitation set forth by ,john ,sturm1 the ,strasburg humanist1 was particularly influential4#beh ,according to ,sturm1 imitation is not the servile copying of words and phrases2 it is a vehement and artistic application of mind1 which judiciously uses and transfigures all that it imitates4 ,sturm's theory of imitation is not entirely original1 but comes through ,agricola and ,melanchthon from ,quintilian4#bei ,quintilian had said that the greater part of art consists in imitation2 but for the humanists imitation became the chief and almost the only element of literary creation1 since the literature of their own time seemed so vastly inferior to that of the ancients4 ,the imitation of the classics having thus become essential to literary creation1 what was to be its relation to the imitation of nature8 ,the ancient poets seemed to insist that every writer is at bottom an imitator of nature1 and that he who does not imitate nature diverges from the purpose and principle of art4 ,a lesson coming from a source so authoritative as this could not be left unheeded by the writers of the ,renaissance1 and the evolution of classicism may be distinguished by the changing point of view of the critics in regard to the relations between nature and art4 ,this evolution may be traced in the neo-classical period through three distinct stages1 and these three stages may be indicated by the doctrines respectively of ,vida1 ,scaliger1 and ,boileau4 ,vida says that it is the first essential of literary art to imitate the classics4 ,this1 however1 does not prevent him from warning the poet that it is his first duty to observe and copy nature3-- ,praeterea haud lateat te1 nil conarier artem1 ,naturam nisi ut assimulet1 propiusque sequatur4 ,for ,vida1 however1 as for the later classicists1 nature is synonymous with civilized men1 perhaps even further restricted to the men of the city and the court2 and the study of nature was hardly more for him than close observation of the differences of human character1 more especially of the external differences which result from diversity of age1 rank1 sex1 race1 profession1 and which may be designated by the term decorum4#bfj ,the imitation of nature even in this restricted sense ,vida requires on the authority of the ancients4 ,the modern poet should imitate nature because the great classical poets have always acknowledged her sway3-- ,hanc unam vates sibi proposuere magistram4 ,nature has no particular interest for ,vida in itself4 ,he accepts the classics as we accept the ,scriptures2 and nature is to be imitated and followed because the ancients seem to require it4 ,in ,scaliger this principle is carried one stage farther4 ,the poet creates another nature and other fortunes as if he were another ,god4#bfa ,virgil especially has created another nature of such beauty and perfection that the poet need not concern himself with the realities of life1 but can go to the second nature created by ,virgil for the subject-matter of his imitation4 ,all the things which you have to imitate1 you have according to another nature1 that is1 ,virgil4#bfb ,in ,virgil1 as in nature1 there are the most minute details of the foundation and government of cities1 the management of armies1 the building and handling of ships1 and in fact all the secrets of the arts and sciences4 ,what more can the poet desire1 and indeed what more can he find in life1 and find there with the same certainty and accuracy8 ,virgil has created a nature far more perfect than that of reality1 and one compared with which the actual world and life itself seem but pale and without beauty4 ,what ,scaliger stands for1 then1 is the substitution of the world of art instead of life as the object of poetic imitation4 ,this point of view finds expression in many of the theorists of his time4 ,partenio1 for example1 asserts that art is a firmer and safer guide than nature2 with nature we can err1 but scarcely with art1 for art eradicates from nature all that is bad1 while nature mingles weeds with flowers1 and does not distinguish vices from virtues4#bfc ,boileau carries the neo-classical ideal of nature and art to its ultimate perfection4 ,according to him1 nothing is beautiful that is not true1 and nothing is true that is not in nature4 ,truth1 for classicism1 is the final test of everything1 including beauty2 and hence to be beautiful poetry must be founded on nature4 ,nature should therefore be the poet's sole study1 although for ,boileau1 as for ,vida1 nature is one with the court and the city4 ,now1 in what way can we discover exactly how to imitate nature1 and perceive whether or not we have imitated it correctly8 ,boileau finds the guide to the correct imitation of nature1 and the very test of its correctness1 in the imitation of the classics4 ,the ancients are great1 not because they are old1 but because they are true1 because they knew how to see and to imitate nature2 and to imitate antiquity is therefore to use the best means the human spirit has ever found for expressing nature in its perfection4#bfd ,the advance of ,boileau's theory on that of ,vida and ,scaliger is therefore that he founded the rules and literary practice of classical literature on reason and nature1 and showed that there is nothing arbitrary in the authority of the ancients4 ,for ,vida1 nature is to be followed on the authority of the classics2 for ,boileau1 the classics are to be followed on the authority of nature and reason4 ,scaliger had shown that such a poet as ,virgil had created another nature more perfect than that of reality1 and that therefore we should imitate this more beautiful nature of the poet4 ,boileau1 on the contrary1 showed that the ancients were simply imitating nature itself in the closest and keenest manner1 and that by imitating the classics the poet was not imitating a second and different nature1 but was being shown in the surest way how to imitate the real and only nature4 ,this final reconciliation of the imitation of nature and the imitation of the classics was ,boileau's highest contribution to the literary criticism of the neo-classical period4 ,,ii4 ,aristotelianism ,the influence of ,aristotle's ,poetics is first visible in the dramatic literature of the early sixteenth century4 ,trissino's ,sofonisba 7#aeae71 usually accounted the first regular modern tragedy1 ,rucellai's ,rosmunda 7#aeaf71 and innumerable other tragedies of this period1 were in reality little more than mere attempts at putting the ,aristotelian theory of tragedy into practice4 ,the ,aristotelian influence is evident in many of the prefaces of these plays1 and in a few contemporary works of scholarship1 such as the ,antiquae ,lectiones 7#aeaf7 of ,caelius ,rhodiginus1 whom ,scaliger called omnium doctissimus praeceptor noster4 ,at the same time1 the ,poetics did not immediately play an important part in the critical literature of ,italy4 ,from the time of ,petrarch1 ,aristotle1 identified in the minds of the humanists with the mediaeval scholasticism so obnoxious to them1 had lost somewhat of his supremacy2 and the strong ,platonic tendencies of the ,renaissance had further contributed to lower the prestige of ,aristotelianism among the humanists4 ,at no time of the ,renaissance1 however1 did ,aristotle lack ardent defenders1 and ,filelfo1 for example1 wrote in #adci1 ,to defend ,aristotle and the truth seems to me one and the same thing4#bfe ,in the domain of philosophy the influence of ,aristotle was temporarily sustained by the liberal ,peripateticism of ,pomponazzi2 and numerous others1 among them ,scaliger himself1 continued the traditions of a modernized ,aristotelianism4 ,from this time1 however1 ,aristotle's position as the supreme philosopher was challenged more and more2 and he was regarded by the advanced thinkers of the ,renaissance as the representative of the mediaeval obscurantism that opposed the progress of modern scientific investigation4 ,but whatever of ,aristotle's authority was lost in the domain of philosophy was more than regained in the domain of literature4 ,the beginning of the ,aristotelian influence on modern literary theory may be said to date from the year #aecf1 in which year ,trincaveli published a ,greek text of the ,poetics1 ,pazzi his edition and ,latin version1 and ,daniello his own ,poetica4 ,pazzi's son1 in dedicating his father's posthumous work1 said that in the ,poetics the precepts of poetic art are treated by ,aristotle as divinely as he has treated every other form of knowledge4 ,in the very year that this was said1 ,ramus gained his ,master's degree at the ,university of ,paris by defending victoriously the thesis that ,aristotle's doctrines without exception are all false4#bff ,the year #aecf may therefore be regarded as a turning-point in the history of ,aristotle's influence4 ,it marks the beginning of his supremacy in literature1 and the decline of his dictatorial authority in philosophy4 ,between the year #aecf and the middle of the century the lessons of ,aristotle's ,poetics were being gradually learned by the ,italian critics and poets4 ,by #aeej the whole of the ,poetics had been incorporated in the critical literature of ,italy1 and ,fracastoro could say that ,aristotle has received no less fame from the survival of his ,poetics than from his philosophical remains4#bfg ,according to ,bartolommeo ,ricci1 in a letter to ,prince ,alfonso1 son of ,hercules ,,ii41 ,duke of ,ferrara1 ,maggi was the first person to interpret ,aristotle's ,poetics in public4#bfh ,these lectures were delivered some time before ,april1 #aedi4 ,as early as #aedj1 ,bartolommeo ,lombardi1 the collaborator of ,maggi in his commentary on the ,poetics1 had intended to deliver public lectures on the ,poetics before a ,paduan academy1 but died before accomplishing his purpose4#bfi ,numerous public readings on the subject of ,aristotle and ,horace followed those of ,maggi1--among them those by ,varchi1 ,giraldi ,cintio1 ,luisino1 and ,trifone ,gabrielli2 and the number of public readings on topics connected with literary criticism1 and on the poetry of ,dante and ,petrarch1 increased greatly from this time4 ,the number of commentaries on the ,poetics itself1 published during the sixteenth century1 is really remarkable4 ,the value of these commentaries in general is not so much that they add anything to the literary criticism of the ,renaissance1 but that their explanations of ,aristotle's meaning were accepted by contemporary critics1 and became in a way the source of all the literary arguments of the sixteenth century4 ,nor was their influence restricted merely to this particular period4 ,they were1 one might almost say1 living things to the critics and poets of the classical period in ,france4 ,racine1 ,corneille1 and other distinguished writers possessed copies of these commentaries1 studied them carefully1 cited them in their prefaces and critical writings1 and even annotated their own copies of the commentaries with marginal notes1 of which some may be seen in the modern editions of their works4 ,in the preface to ,rapin's ,reflexions sur l',art ,poetique 7#afgd7 there is a history of literary criticism1 which is almost entirely devoted to these ,italian commentators2 and writers like ,chapelain and ,balzac eagerly argued and discussed their relative merits4 ,several of these ,italian commentators have been alluded to already4#bgj ,the first critical edition of the ,poetics was that of ,robortelli 7#aedh71 and this was followed by those of ,maggi 7#aeej7 and ,vettori 7#aefj71 both written in ,latin1 and both exhibiting great learning and acumen4 ,the first translation of the ,poetics into the vernacular was that by ,segni 7#aedi71 and this was followed by the ,italian commentaries of ,castelvetro 7#aegj7 and ,piccolomini 7#aege74 ,tasso1 after comparing the works of these two commentators1 concluded that while ,castelvetro had greater erudition and invention1 ,piccolomini had greater maturity of judgment1 more learning1 perhaps1 with less erudition1 and certainly learning more ,aristotelian and more suited to the interpretation of the ,poetics4#bga ,the two last sections of ,trissino's ,poetica1 published in #aefc1 are little more than a paraphrase and transposition of ,aristotle's treatise4 ,but the curious excesses into which admiration of ,aristotle led the ,italian scholars may be gathered from a work published at ,milan in #aegf1 an edition of the ,poetics expounded in verse1 ,baldini's ,ars ,poetica ,aristotelis versibus exposita4 ,the ,poetics was also adapted for use as a practical manual for poets and playwrights in such works as ,riccoboni's brief ,compendium ,artis ,poeticae ,aristotelis ad usum conficiendorum poematum 7#aeia74 ,the last of the great ,italian commentaries on the ,poetics to have a general ,european influence was perhaps ,beni's1 published in #afac2 but this carries us beyond the confines of the century4 ,besides the published editions1 translations1 and commentaries1 many others were written which may still be found in ,ms4 in the libraries of ,italy4 ,reference has already been made to ,salviati's 7#aehf74 ,there are also two anonymous commentaries dating from this period in ,ms4 at ,florence1--one in the ,magliabechiana and the other in the ,riccardiana4 ,the last work which may be mentioned here is ,buonamici's ,discorsi ,poetici in difesa d' ,aristotele1 in which ,aristotle is ardently defended against the attacks of his detractors4 ,it was in ,italy during this period that the literary dictatorship of ,aristotle first developed1 and it was ,scaliger to whom the modern world owes the formulation of the supreme authority of ,aristotle as a critical theorist4 ,fracastoro had likened the importance of ,aristotle's ,poetics to that of his philosophical treatises4 ,trissino had followed ,aristotle verbally and almost literally4 ,varchi had spoken of years of ,aristotelian study as an essential prerequisite for every one who entered the field of literary criticism4 ,partenio1 a year before the publication of ,scaliger's ,poetics1 had asserted that everything relating to tragedy and epic poetry had been settled by ,aristotle and ,horace4 ,but ,scaliger went farther still4 ,he was the first to regard ,aristotle as the perpetual lawgiver of poetry4 ,he was the first to assume that the duty of the poet is first to find out what ,aristotle says1 and then to obey these precepts without question4 ,he distinctly calls ,aristotle the perpetual dictator of all the arts3 ,aristoteles imperator noster1 omnium bonarum artium dictator perpetuus4#bgb ,this is perhaps the first occasion in modern literature in which ,aristotle is definitely regarded as a literary dictator1 and the dictatorship of ,aristotle in literature may1 therefore1 be dated from the year #aefa4 ,but ,scaliger did more than this4 ,he was the first apparently to attempt to reconcile ,aristotle's ,poetics1 not only with the precepts of ,horace and the definitions of the ,latin grammarians1 but with the whole practice of ,latin tragedy1 comedy1 and epic poetry4 ,it was in the light of this reconciliation1 or concord of ,aristotelianism with the ,latin spirit1 that ,aristotle became for ,scaliger a literary dictator4 ,it was not ,aristotle that primarily interested him1 but an ideal created by himself1 and founded on such parts of the doctrine of ,aristotle as received confirmation from the theory or practice of ,roman literature2 and this new ideal1 harmonizing with the ,latin spirit of the ,renaissance1 became in the course of time one of the foundations of classicism4 ,the influence of ,aristotelianism was further augmented by the ,council of ,trent1 which gave to ,aristotle's doctrine the same degree of authority as ,catholic dogma4 ,all these circumstances tended to favor the importance of ,aristotle in ,italy during the sixteenth century1 and as a result the literary dictatorship of ,aristotle was by the ,italians foisted on ,europe for two centuries to come4 ,from #aefj to #aghj ,aristotle was regarded as the supreme authority in letters throughout ,europe4 ,at no time1 even in ,england1 during and after that period1 was there a break in the ,aristotelian tradition1 and the influence of the ,poetics may be found in ,sidney and ,ben ,jonson1 in ,milton and ,dryden1 as well as in ,shelley and ,coleridge4 ,lessing1 even in breaking away from the classical practice of the ,french stage1 defended his innovations on the authority of ,aristotle1 and said of the ,poetics1 ,i do not hesitate to acknowledge1 even if ,i should therefore be held up to scorn in these enlightened times1 that ,i consider the work as infallible as the ,elements of ,euclid4#bgc ,in #agef1 a dozen years before ,lessing1 one of the precursors of the romantic movement in ,england1 ,joseph ,warton1 had also said of the ,poetics1 ,to attempt to understand poetry without having diligently digested this treatise would be as absurd and impossible as to pretend to a skill in geometry without having studied ,euclid4#bgd ,one of the first results of the dictatorship of ,aristotle was to give modern literature a body of inviolable rules for the drama and the epic2 that is1 the dramatic and heroic poets were restricted to a certain fixed form1 and to certain fixed characters4 ,classical poetry was of course the ideal of the ,renaissance1 and ,aristotle had analyzed the methods which these works had employed4 ,the inference seems to have been that by following these rules a literature of equal importance could be created4 ,these formulae were at the bottom of classical literature1 and rules which had created such literatures as those of ,greece and ,rome could hardly be disregarded4 ,as a result1 these rules came to be considered more and more as essentials1 and finally1 almost as the very tests of literature2 and it was in consequence of their acceptance as poetic laws that the modern classical drama and epic arose4 ,the first modern tragedies and the first modern epics were hardly more than such attempts at putting the ,aristotelian rules into practice4 ,the cult of form during the ,renaissance had produced a reaction against the formlessness and invertebrate character of mediaeval literature4 ,the literature of the ,middle ,ages was infinitely inferior to that of the ancients2 mediaeval literature lacked form and structure1 classical literature had a regular and definite form4 ,form then came to be regarded as the essential difference between the perfect literatures of ,greece and ,rome1 and the imperfect and vulgar literature of the ,middle ,ages2 and the deduction from this was that1 to be classical1 the poet must observe the form and structure of the classics4 ,minturno indeed says that the precepts given of old by the ancient masters1 and now repeated by me here1 are to be regarded merely as common usage1 and not as inviolable laws which must serve under all circumstances4#bge ,but this was not the general conception of the ,renaissance4 ,muzio1 for example1 specifically says3-- ,queste legge ch' io scrivo e questi esempi ,sian1 lettore1 al tuo dir perpetua norma2 and in another place he speaks of a precept he has given1 as vera1 ferma1 e inevitabil legge4#bgf ,scaliger goes still further than this2 for1 according to him1 even the classics themselves are to be judged by these standards and rules4 ,it seems to me1 says ,scaliger1 that we ought not to refer everything back to ,homer1 just as though he were the norm1 but ,homer himself should be referred to the norm4#bgg ,in the modern classical period somewhat later1 these rules were found to be based on reason3-- ,these rules of old1 discovered not devised1 ,are nature still1 but nature methodized4#bgh ,but during the ,renaissance they were accepted ex cathedra from classical literature4 ,the formulation of a fixed body of critical rules was not the only result of the ,aristotelian influence4 ,one of the most important of these results1 as has appeared1 was the rational justification of imaginative literature4 ,with the introduction of ,aristotle's ,poetics into modern ,europe the ,renaissance was first able to formulate a systematic theory of poetry2 and it is therefore to the rediscovery of the ,poetics that we may be said to owe the foundation of modern criticism4 ,it was on the side of ,aristotelianism that ,italian criticism had its influence on ,european letters2 and that this influence was deep and widespread1 our study of the critical literatures of ,france and ,england will in part show4 ,the critics with whom we have been dealing are not merely dead provincial names2 they influenced1 for two whole centuries1 not only ,france and ,england1 but ,spain1 ,portugal1 and ,germany as well4 ,literary criticism1 in any real sense1 did not begin in ,spain until the very end of the sixteenth century1 and the critical works that then appeared were wholly based on those of the ,italians4 ,rengifo's ,arte ,poetica ,espanola 7#aeib71 in so far as it deals with the theory of poetry1 is based on ,aristotle1 ,scaliger1 and various ,italian authorities1 according to the author's own acknowledgment4 ,pinciano's ,philosophia ,antigua ,poetica 7#aeif7 is based on the same authorities4 ,similarly1 ,cascales1 in his ,tablas ,poeticas 7#afaf71 gives as his authorities ,minturno1 ,giraldi ,cintio1 ,maggi1 ,riccoboni1 ,castelvetro1 ,robortelli1 and his own countryman ,pinciano4 ,the sources of these and all other works written at this period are ,italian2 and the following passage from the ,egemplar ,poetico1 written about #afjf by the ,spanish poet ,juan de la ,cueva1 is a good illustration1 not only of the general influence of the ,italians on ,spanish criticism1 but of the high reverence in which the individual ,italian critics were held by ,spanish men of letters3-- ,de los primeros tiene ,horacio el puesto1 ,en numeros y estilo soberano1 ,qual en su ,arte al mundo es manifesto4 ,escaligero i4e4 ,scaliger hace el paso llano ,con general ensenamiento y guia1 ,lo mismo el docto ,cintio i4e4 ,giraldi ,cintio y ,biperano4#bgi ,maranta#bhj es egemplar de la ,poesia1 ,vida el norte1 ,pontano#bha el ornamento1 ,la luz ,minturno qual el sol del dia4444 ,acuden todos a colmar sus vasos ,al oceano sacro de ,stagira i4e4 ,aristotle1 ,donde se afirman los dudosos pasos1 ,se eterniza la trompa y tierna lira4#bhb ,the influence of the ,italians was equally great in ,germany4 ,from ,fabricius to ,opitz1 the critical ideas of ,germany were almost all borrowed1 directly or indirectly1 from ,italian sources4 ,fabricius in his ,de ,re ,poetica 7#aehd7 acknowledges his indebtedness to ,minturno1 ,partenio1 ,pontanus1 and others1 but above all to ,scaliger2 and most of the critical ideas by which ,opitz renovated modern ,german literature go back to ,italian sources1 through ,scaliger1 ,ronsard1 and ,daniel ,heinsius4 ,no better illustration of the influence of the ,italian critics upon ,european letters could be afforded than that given by ,opitz's ,buch von der deutschen ,poeterei4#bhc ,the influence of ,italian criticism on the critical literature of ,france and ,england will be more or less treated in the remaining portions of this essay4 ,it may be noted here1 however1 that in the critical writings of ,lessing there is represented the climax of the ,italian tradition in ,european letters1 especially on the side of ,aristotelianism4 ,shelley represents a similar culmination of the ,italian tradition in ,england4 ,his indebtedness to ,sidney and ,milton1 who represent the ,italian influence in the ,elizabethan age1 and especially to ,tasso1 whom he continually cites1 is very marked4 ,the debt of modern literature to ,italian criticism is therefore not slight4 ,in the half century between ,vida and ,castelvetro1 ,italian criticism formulated three things3 a theory of poetry1 a rigid form for the epic1 and a rigid form for the drama4 ,these rigid forms for drama and epic governed the creative imagination of ,europe for two centuries1 and then passed away4 ,but while modern aesthetics for over a century has studied the processes of art1 the theory of poetry1 as enunciated by the ,italians of the sixteenth century1 has not diminished in value1 but has continued to pervade the finer minds of men from that time to this4 ,,iii4 ,rationalism ,the rationalistic temper may be observed in critical literature almost at the very beginning of the sixteenth century4 ,this spirit of rationalism is observable throughout the ,renaissance2 and its general causes may be looked for in the liberation of the human reason by the ,renaissance1 in the growth of the sciences and arts1 and in the reaction against mediaeval sacerdotalism and dogma4 ,the causes of its development in literary criticism may be found not only in these but in several other influences of the period4 ,the paganization of culture1 the growth of rationalistic philosophies1 with their all-pervading influence on arts and letters1 and moreover the influence of ,horace's ,ars ,poetica1 with its ideal of good sense1 all tended to make the element of reason predominate in literature and in literary criticism4 ,in ,vida the three elements which are at the bottom of classicism1 the imitation of the classics1 the imitation of nature1 and the authority of reason1 may all be found4 ,reason is for him the final test of all things3-- ,semper nutu rationis eant res4#bhd ,the function of the reason in art is1 first1 to serve as a standard in the choice and carrying out of the design1 a bulwark against the operation of mere chance1#bhe and secondly1 to moderate the expression of the poet's own personality and passion1 a bulwark against the morbid subjectivity which is the horror of the classical temperament4#bhf ,it has been said of ,scaliger that he was the first modern to establish in a body of doctrine the principal consequences of the sovereignty of the reason in literature4#bhg ,that was hardly his aim1 and certainly not his attainment4 ,but he was1 at all events1 one of the first modern critics to affirm that there is a standard of perfection for each specific form of literature1 to show that this standard may be arrived at a priori through the reason1 and to attempt a formulation of such standard for each literary form4 ,est in omni rerum genere unum primum ac rectum ad cuius tum norman1 tum rationem caetera dirigenda sunt4#bhh ,this1 the fundamental assumption of ,scaliger's ,poetics1 is also one of the basic ideas of classicism4 ,not only is there a standard1 a norm1 in every species of literature1 but this norm can be definitely formulated and defined by means of the reason2 and it is the duty of the critic to formulate this norm1 and the duty of the poet to study and follow it without deviating from the norm in any way4 ,even ,homer1 as we have seen1 is to be judged according to this standard arrived at through the reason4 ,such a method cuts off all possibility of novelty of form or expression1 and holds every poet1 ancient or modern1 great or small1 accountable to one and the same standard of perfection4 ,the growth and influence of rationalism in ,italian criticism may be best observed by the gradual effect which its development had on the element of ,aristotelianism4 ,in other words1 rationalism changed the point of view according to which the ,aristotelian canons were regarded in the ,italian ,renaissance4 ,the earlier ,italian critics accepted their rules and precepts on the authority of ,aristotle alone4 ,thus ,trissino1 at the beginning of the fifth section of his ,poetica1 finished in #aedi1 although begun about twenty years before1 says1 ,i shall not depart from the rules and precepts of the ancients1 and especially ,aristotle4#bhi ,somewhat later1 in #aeec1 ,varchi says1 ,reason and ,aristotle are my two guides4#bij ,here the element of the reason first asserts itself1 but there is no intimation that the ,aristotelian canons are in themselves reasonable4 ,the critic has two guides1 the individual reason and the ,aristotelian rules1 and each of these two guides is to serve wherever the other is found wanting4 ,this same point of view is found a decade later in ,tasso1 who says that the defenders of the unity of the epic poem have made a shield of the authority of ,aristotle1 nor do they lack the arms afforded by the reason2#bia and similarly1 in #aehc1 ,sir ,philip ,sidney says that the unity of time is demanded both by ,aristotle's precept and common reason4#bib ,here both ,tasso and ,sidney1 while contending that the particular law under discussion is in itself reasonable1 speak of ,aristotle's ,poetics and the reason as separate and distinct authorities1 and fail to show that ,aristotle himself based all his precepts upon the reason4 ,in ,denores1 a few years later1 the development is carried one stage farther in the direction of the ultimate classical attitude1 as when he speaks of reason and ,aristotle's ,poetics1 which is indeed founded on naught save reason4#bic ,this is as far as ,italian criticism ever went4 ,it was the function of neo-classicism in ,france1 as will be seen1 to show that such a phrase as reason and ,aristotle is a contradiction in itself1 that the ,aristotelian canons and the reason are ultimately reducible to the same thing1 and that not only what is in ,aristotle will be found reasonable1 but all that reason dictates for literary observance will be found in ,aristotle4 ,rationalism produced several very important results in literature and literary criticism during the sixteenth century4 ,in the first place1 it tended to give the reason a higher place in literature than imagination or sensibility4 ,poetry1 it will be remembered1 was often classified by ,renaissance critics as one of the logical sciences2 and nothing could be in greater accord with the neo-classical ideal than the assertion of ,varchi and others that the better logician the poet is1 the better he will be as a poet4 ,sainte-,beuve gives ,scaliger the credit of having first formulated this theory of literature which subordinates the creative imagination and poetic sensibility to the reason2#bid but the credit or discredit of originating it does not belong exclusively to ,scaliger4 ,this tendency toward the apotheosis of the reason was diffused throughout the sixteenth century1 and does not characterize any individual author4 ,the ,italian critics of this period were the first to formulate the classical ideal that the standard of perfection may be conceived of by the reason1 and that perfection is to be attained only by the realization of this standard4 ,the rationalistic spirit also tended to set the seal of disapprobation on extravagances of any sort4 ,subjectivity and individualism came to be regarded more and more1 at least in theory1 as out of keeping with classical perfection4 ,clearness1 reasonableness1 sociableness1 were the highest requirements of art2 and any excessive expression of the poet's individuality was entirely disapproved of4 ,man1 not only as a reasonable being1 but also as a social being1 was regarded as the basis of literature4 ,boileau's lines3-- ,que les vers ne soient pas votre eternel emploi2 ,cultivez vos amis1 soyez homme de foi2 ,c'est peu d'etre agreable et charmant dans un livre1 ,il faut savoir encore et converser et vivre1#bie were anticipated in ,berni's ,dialogo contra i ,poeti1 written in #aebf1 though not published until #aecg4 ,this charming invective is directed against the fashionable literature of the time1 and especially against all professional poets4 ,writing from the standpoint of a polished and rationalistic society1 ,berni lays great stress on the fact that poetry is not to be taken too seriously1 that it is a pastime1 a recreation for cultured people1 a mere bagatelle2 and he professes to despise those who spend all their time in writing verses4 ,the vanity1 the uselessness1 the extravagances1 and the ribaldry of the professional poets receive his hearty contempt2 only those who write verses for pastime merit approbation4 ,are you so stupid1 he cries1 as to think that ,i call any one who writes verses a poet1 and that ,i regard such men as ,vida1 ,pontano1 ,bembo1 ,sannazaro1 as mere poets8 ,i do not call any one a poet1 and condemn him as such1 unless he does nothing but write verses1 and wretched ones at that1 and is good for nothing else4 ,but the men ,i have mentioned are not poets by profession4#bif ,here the sentiments expressed are those of a refined and social age1--the age of ,louis ,,xiv4 no less than that of ,leo ,x4 ,the irreligious character of neo-classic art may also be regarded as one of the consequences of this rationalistic temper4 ,the combined effect of humanism1 essentially pagan1 and rationalism1 essentially sceptical1 was not favorable to the growth of religious feeling in literature4 ,classicism1 the result of these two tendencies1 became more and more rationalistic1 more and more pagan2 and in consequence1 religious poetry in any real sense ceased to flourish wherever the more stringent forms of classicism prevailed4 ,in ,boileau these tendencies result in a certain distinct antagonism to the very forms of ,christianity in literature3-- ,c'est donc bien vainement que nos auteurs decus1 ,bannissant de leurs vers ces ornemens recus1 ,pensent faire agir ,dieu1 ses saints et ses prophetes1 ,comme ces dieux eclos du cerveau des poetes2 ,mettent a chaque pas le lecteur en enfer2 ,n'offrent rien qu',astaroth1 ,belzebuth1 ,lucifer4 ,de la foi d'un chretien les mysteres terribles ,d'ornemens egayes ne sont point susceptibles2 ,l',evangile a l'esprit n'offre de tous cotes ,que penitence a faire et tourmens merites2 ,et de vos fictions le melange coupable ,meme a ses verites donne l'air de la fable4#big ,,foot-,,notes3 #bci ,symonds1 ii4 #afa1 based on ,voigt4 #bdj ,cf4 ,woodward1 p4 #baj sq4 #bda ,hallam1 ,lit4 of ,europe1 i4 #h4 #a4 ,cf4 ,pope1 i4 #ahb3 ,omnia sed numeris vocum concordibus aptant1 etc4 #bdb ,bembo1 ,le ,prose1 #aebe2 ,dolce1 ,osservationi1 #aeej1 lib4 iv42 etc4 #bdc ,versi e ,regole de la ,nuova ,poesia ,toscana1 #aeci4 #bdd ,trissino1 ,poetica1 lib4 i4-iv41 #aebi2 ,tomitano1 ,della ,lingua ,toscana1 #aede2 etc4 #bde ,pope1 i4 #acd4 ,cf4 ,de ,sanctis1 ii4 #aec sq4 #bdf ,pope1 i4 #aeb4 #bdg ,partenio1 p4 #hj4 #bdh ,ibid4 p4 #ie4 #bdi ,opere1 xi4 #ea4 #bej ,defence1 p4 #ac4 #bea ,poet4 v4 #c4 #beb ,poet4 v4 #a2 vi4 #d4 #bec ,cf4 ,brunetiere1 p4 #ec4 #bed ,symonds1 ii4 #cie sq4 #bee ,muzio1 p4 #id4 #bef ,cf4 ,dennis1 ,select ,works1 #agah1 ii4 #dag sq4 #beg ,pope1 i4 #afg4 #beh ,laas1 ,die ,paedagogik des ,johannes ,sturm1 ,berlin1 #ahgb1 p4 #fe sq4 #bei ,inst4 ,orat4 x4 #b4 #bfj ,pope1 i4 #afe4 #bfa ,poet4 i4 #a4 #bfb ,poet4 iii4 #d4 #bfc ,partenio1 p4 #ci sq4 #bfd ,cf4 ,brunetiere1 p4 #ajb sq41 and ,lanson1 ,hist4 de la ,litt4 fr41 p4 #did sq4 #bfe ,lettres grecques1 ed4 ,legrand1 #ahib1 p4 #ca4 #bff ,quaecunque ab ,aristotele dicta sint falsa et commentitia esse2 ,bayle1 ,dict4 s4 v4 ,ramus1 note ,c4 #bfg ,fracastoro1 i4 #cba4 #bfh ,tiraboschi1 vii4 #adfe4 #bfi ,maggi1 dedication4 #bgj ,in an appendix to this essay will be found an excerpt from ,salviati's unpublished commentary on the ,poetics1 giving his judgment of the commentators who had preceded him4 #bga ,tasso1 xv4 #bj4 #bgb ,poet4 vii4 ii4 #a4 #bgc ,hamburg4 ,dramat4 #aja-ajd4 #bgd ,essay on ,pope1 #c;d ed41 i4 #aga4 #bge ,arte ,poetica1 p4 #aeh4 #bgf ,muzio1 pp4 #ha v41 #gf v4 #bgg ,poet4 i4 #e4 #bgh ,pope1 ,essay on ,criticism1 #hh4 #bgi ,viperano1 author of ,de ,poetica libri tres1 ,antwerp1 #aegi4 #bhj ,maranta1 author of ,lucullanae ,quaestiones1 ,basle1 #aefd4 #bha ,three writers of the ,renaissance bore this name3 ,g4 ,pontano1 the famous ,italian humanist and ,latin poet1 who died in #aejc2 ,p4 ,pontano1 of ,bruges1 the author of an ,ars ,versificatoria1 published in #aebj2 and ,j4 ,pontanus1 a ,bohemian ,jesuit1 author of ,institutiones ,poeticae1 first published at ,ingolstadt in #aeid1 and several times reprinted4 #bhb ,sedano1 ,parnaso ,espanol1 ,madrid1 #aggd1 viii4 #dj1 #da4 #bhc ,cf4 ,berghoeffer1 ,opitz' ,buch von der ,poeterei1 #ahhh1 and ,beckherrn1 ,opitz1 ,ronsard1 und ,heinsius1 #ahhh4 ,the first reference to ,aristotle's ,poetics1 north of the ,alps1 is to be found in ,luther's ,address to the ,christian ,nobles of the ,german ,nation1 #aebj4 ,schosser's ,disputationes de ,tragoedia1 published in #aeei1 two years before ,scaliger's work appeared1 is entirely based on ,aristotle's ,poetics4 #bhd ,pope1 i4 #aee4 #bhe ,loc4 cit41 beginning1 ,nec te fors inopina regat4 #bhf ,pope1 i4 #afd1 beginning1 ,ne tamen ah nimium4 #bhg ,lintilhac1 in ,nouvelle ,revue1 lxiv4 #edc4 #bhh ,scaliger1 ,poet4 iii4 #aa4 #bhi ,trissino1 ii4 #ib4 #bij ,varchi1 p4 #fjj4 #bia ,tasso1 xii4 #bag4 #bib ,defense of ,poesy1 p4 #dh4 #bic ,discorso1 #aehg1 p4 #ci v4 #bid ,causeries du ,lundi1 iii4 #dd4 #bie ,art ,poet4 iv4 #aba4 #bif ,berni1 p4 #bdi4 #big ,art ,poet4 iii4 #aic4 ,cf4 ,dryden1 ,discourse on ,satire1 in ,works1 xiii4 #bc sq4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,romantic ,,elements ,,in ,,italian ,,criticism ,,in the ,italian critical literature of the sixteenth century there are to be found the germs of romantic as well as classical criticism4 ,the development of romanticism in ,renaissance criticism is due to various tendencies1 of ancient1 of mediaeval1 and of modern origin4 ,the ancient element is ,platonism2 the mediaeval elements are ,christianity1 and the influence of the literary forms and the literary subject-matter of the ,middle ,ages2 and the modern elements are the growth of national life and national literatures1 and the opposition of modern philosophy to ,aristotelianism4 ,i4 ,the ,ancient ,romantic ,element ,as the element of reason is the predominant feature of neo-classicism1 so the element of imagination is the predominant feature of romanticism2 and according as the reason or the imagination predominates in ,renaissance literature1 there results neo-classicism or romanticism1 while the most perfect art finds a reconciliation of both elements in the imaginative reason4 ,according to the faculty of reason1 when made the basis of literature1 the poet is1 as it were1 held down to earth1 and art becomes the mere reasoned expression of the truth of life4 ,by the faculty of imagination1 the poet is made to create a new world of his own1--a world in which his genius is free to mould whatever its imagination takes hold of4 ,this romantic doctrine of the freedom of genius1 of inspiration and the power of imagination1 in so far as it forms a part of ,renaissance criticism1 owes its origin to ,platonism4 ,the influence of the ,platonic doctrines among the humanists has already been alluded to4 ,plato was regarded by them as their leader in the struggle against mediaevalism1 scholasticism1 and ,aristotelianism4 ,the ,aristotelian dialectic of the ,middle ,ages appealed exclusively to the reason2 ,platonism gave opportunities for the imagination to soar to vague and sublime heights1 and harmonize with the divine mysteries of the universe4 ,as regards poetry and imaginative literature in general1 the critics of the ,renaissance appealed from the ,plato of the ,republic and the ,laws to the ,plato of the ,ion1 the ,phaedrus1 and the ,symposium4 ,beauty being the subject-matter of art1 ,plato's praise of beauty was transferred by the ,renaissance to poetry1 and his praise of the philosopher was transferred to the poet4 ,the ,aristotelian doctrine defines beauty according to its relations to the external world2 that is1 poetry is an imitation of nature1 expressed in general terms4 ,the ,platonic doctrine1 on the contrary1 is concerned with poetry1 or beauty1 in so far as it concerns the poet's own nature2 that is1 the poet is divinely inspired and is a creator like ,god4 ,fracastoro1 as has been seen1 makes the ,platonic rapture1 the delight in the true and essential beauty of things1 the true tests of poetic power4 ,in introducing this ,platonic ideal of poetic beauty into modern literary criticism1 he defines and distinguishes poetry according to a subjective criterion2 and it is according to whether the objective or the subjective conception of art is insisted upon1 that we have the classic spirit or the romantic spirit4 ,the extreme romanticists1 like the ,schlegels and their contemporaries in ,germany1 entirely eliminate the relation of poetry to the external world1 and in this extreme form romanticism becomes identified with the exaggerated subjective idealism of ,fichte and ,schelling4 ,the extreme classicists entirely eliminate the poet's personality2 that is1 poetry is merely reasoned expression1 a perfected expression of what all men can see in nature1 for the poet has no more insight into life--no more imagination--than any ordinary1 judicious person4 ,the effects of this ,platonic element upon ,renaissance criticism were various4 ,in the first place1 it was through the ,platonic influence that the relation of beauty to poetry was first made prominent4#bih ,according to ,scaliger1 ,tasso1 ,sidney1 another world of beauty is created by the poet1--a world that possesses beauty in its perfection as this world never can4 ,the reason alone leaves no place for beauty2 and accordingly1 for the neo-classicists1 art was ultimately restricted to moral and psychological observation4 ,moreover1 ,platonism raised the question of the freedom of genius and of the imagination4 ,of all men1 only the poet1 as ,sidney and others pointed out1 is bound down and restricted by no laws4 ,but if poetry is a matter of inspiration1 how can it be called an art8 ,if genius alone suffices1 what need is there of study and artifice8 ,for the extreme romanticists of this period1 genius alone was accounted sufficient to produce the greatest works of poetry2 for the extreme classicists1 studious and labored art unaided by genius fulfilled all the functions of poetic creation2 but most of the critics of the sixteenth century seem to have agreed with ,horace that genius1 or an inborn aptitude1 is necessary to begin with1 but that it needs art and study to regulate and perfect it4 ,genius cannot suffice without restraint and cultivation4 ,scaliger1 curiously1 reconciles both classic and romantic elements4 ,the poet1 according to ,scaliger1 is inspired1 is in fact a creator like ,god2 but poetry is an imitation 7that is1 re-creation7 of nature1 according to certain fixed rules obtained from the observation of the anterior expression of nature in great art4 ,it is these rules that make poetry an art2 and these rules form a distinct neo-classic element imposed on the ,aristotelian doctrine4 ,,ii4 ,mediaeval ,elements ,the ,middle ,ages contributed to the poetic ideal of the ,renaissance two elements3 romantic themes and the ,christian spirit4 ,the forms and subjects of mediaeval literature are distinctly romantic4 ,dante's ,divine ,comedy is an allegorical vision2 it is almost unique in form1 and has no classical prototype4#bii ,the tendency of ,petrarchism was also in the direction of romanticism4 ,its conceits and its subjectivity led to an unclassical extravagance of thought and expression2 and the ,petrarchistic influence made lyric poetry1 and accordingly the criticism of lyric poetry1 more romantic than any other form of literature or literary criticism during the period of classicism4 ,it was for this reason that there was little lyricism in the classical period1 not only in ,france1 but wherever the classic temper predominated4 ,the themes of the romanzi are also mediaeval and romantic2 but while they are mediaeval contributions to literature1#cjj they became contributions to literary criticism only after the growth of national life and the development of the feeling of nationality1 both distinctly modern4 ,some reference has already been made to the paganization of culture by the humanists4 ,but with the growth of that revival of ,christian sentiment which led to the ,reformation1 there were numerous attempts to reconcile ,christianity with pagan culture4#cja ,such men as ,ficino and ,pico della ,mirandola attempted to harmonize ,christianity and ,platonic philosophy2 and under the great patron of letters1 ,pope ,leo ,x41 there were various attempts to harmonize ,christianity with the classic spirit in literature4 ,in such poems as ,vida's ,christiad and ,sannazaro's ,de ,partu ,virginis1 ,christianity is covered with the drapery of paganism or classicism4 ,the first reaction against this paganization of culture was1 as has been seen1 effected by ,savonarola4 ,this reaction was reenforced1 in the next century1 by the influence and authority of the ,council of ,trent2 and after the middle of the sixteenth century the ,christian ideal plays a prominent part in literary criticism4 ,the spirit of both ,giraldi ,cintio and ,minturno is distinctly ,christian4 ,for ,giraldi the romanzi are ,christian1 and hence superior to the classical epics4 ,he allows the introduction of pagan deities only into epics dealing with the ancient classical subjects2 but ,tasso goes further1 and says that no modern heroic poet should have anything to do with them4 ,according to ,tasso1 the heroes of an heroic poem must be ,christian knights1 and the poem itself must deal with a true1 not a false1 religion4 ,the subject is not to be connected with any article of ,christian faith or dogma1 because that was fixed by the ,council of ,trent2 but paganism in any form is altogether unfit for a modern epic4 ,tasso even goes so far as to assert that piety shall be numbered among the virtues of the knightly heroes of epic poetry4 ,at the same time also1 ,lorenzo ,gambara wrote his work1 ,de ,perfecta ,poeseos ,ratione1 to prove that it is essential for every poet to exclude from his poems1 not only everything that is wicked or obscene1 but also everything that is fabulous or that deals with pagan divinities4#cjb ,it was to this religious reaction that we owe the ,christian poetry of ,tasso1 ,du ,bartas1 and ,spenser4 ,but humanism was strong1 and rationalism was rife2 and the religious revival was hardly more than temporary4 ,neo-classicism throughout ,europe was essentially pagan4 ,,iii4 ,modern ,elements ,the literature of the ,middle ,ages constitutes1 as it were1 one vast body of ,european literature2 only with the ,renaissance did distinctly national literatures spring into existence4 ,nationalism as well as individualism was subsequent to the ,renaissance2 and it was at this period that the growth of a national literature1 of national life1--in a word1 patriotism in its widest sense1--was first effected4 ,the linguistic discussions and controversies of the sixteenth century prepared the way for a higher appreciation of national languages and literatures4 ,these controversies on the comparative merits of the classical and vernacular tongues had begun in the time of ,dante1 and were continued in the sixteenth century by ,bembo1 ,castiglione1 ,varchi1 ,muzio1 ,tolomei1 and many others2 and in #aefd ,salviati summed up the ,italian side of the question in an oration in which he asserted that the ,tuscan1 or1 as he called it1 the ,florentine language and the ,florentine literature are vastly superior to any other language or literature1 whether ancient or modern4 ,however extravagant this claim may appear1 the mere fact that ,salviati made such a claim at all is enough to give him a place worthy of serious consideration in the history of ,italian literature4 ,the other side of the controversy finds its extremest expression in a treatise of ,celio ,calcagnini addressed to ,giraldi ,cintio1 in which the hope is expressed that the ,italian language1 and all the literature composed in that language1 would be absolutely abandoned by the world4#cjc ,in ,giraldi ,cintio we find the first traces of purely national criticism4 ,his purpose1 in writing the discourse on the romanzi1 was primarily to defend ,ariosto1 whom he had known personally in his youth4 ,the point of view from which he starts is that the romanzi constitute a new form of poetry of which ,aristotle did not know1 and to which1 therefore1 ,aristotle's rules do not apply4 ,giraldi regarded the romantic poems of ,ariosto and ,boiardo both as national and as ,christian works2 and ,italian literature is thus for the first time critically distinguished from classical literature in regard to language1 religion1 and nationality4 ,in ,giraldi's discourse there is no apparent desire either to underrate or to disregard the ,poetics of ,aristotle2 the fact was simply that ,aristotle had not known the poems which deal with many actions of many men1 and hence it would be absurd to demand that such poems should conform to his rules4 ,the romanzi deal with phases of poetry1 and phases of life1 which ,aristotle could not be expected to understand4 ,a similar feeling of the distinct nationality of ,italian literature is to be found in many of the prefaces of the ,italian comedies of this period4 ,il ,lasca1 in the preface of the ,strega 7c4 #aeee71 says that ,aristotle and ,horace knew their own times1 but ours are not the same at all4 ,we have other manners1 another religion1 and another mode of life2 and it is therefore necessary to make comedies after a different fashion4 ,as early as #aecd1 ,aretino1 in the prologue of his ,cortegiana1 warned his audience not to be astonished if the comic style is not observed in the manner required1 for we live after a different fashion in modern ,rome than they did in ancient ,athens4 ,similarly1 ,gelli1 in the dedication of the ,sporta 7#aedc71 justifies the use of language not to be found in the great sources of ,italian speech1 on the ground that language1 together with all other natural things1 continually varies and changes4#cjd ,although there is in ,giraldi ,cintio no fundamental opposition to ,aristotle1 it is in his discourse on the romanzi that there may be found the first attempt to wrest a province of art from ,aristotle's supreme authority4 ,neither ,salviati1 who had rated the ,italian language above all others1 nor ,calcagnini1 who had regarded it as the meanest of all1 had understood the discussion of the importance of the ,tuscan tongue to be concerned with the question of ,aristotle's literary supremacy4 ,it was simply a national question--a question as to the national limits of ,aristotle's authority1 just as was the case in the several controversies connected with ,tasso1 ,dante1 and ,guarini's ,pastor ,fido4#cje ,castelvetro1 in his commentary on the ,poetics1 differs from ,aristotle on many occasions1 and does not hesitate even to refute him4 ,yet his reverence for ,aristotle is great2 his sense of ,aristotle's supreme authority is strong2 and on one occasion1 where ,horace1 ,quintilian1 and ,cicero seem to differ from ,aristotle1 ,castelvetro does not hesitate to assert that they could not have seen the passage of the ,poetics in question1 and that1 in fact1 they did not thoroughly understand the true constitution of a poet4#cjf ,the opposition to ,aristotelianism among the humanists has already been alluded to4 ,this opposition increased more and more with the development of modern philosophy4 ,in #aecf ,ramus had attacked ,aristotle's authority at ,paris4 ,a few years later1 in #aedc1 ,ortensio ,landi1 who had been at the ,court of ,france for some time1 published his ,paradossi1 in which it is contended that the works which pass under the name of ,aristotle are not really ,aristotle's at all1 and that ,aristotle himself was not only an ignoramus1 but also the most villanous man of his age4 ,we have1 of our own accord1 he says1 placed our necks under the yoke1 putting that vile beast of an ,aristotle on a throne1 and depending on his conclusions as if he were an oracle4#cjg ,it is the philosophical authority of ,aristotle that ,landi is attacking4 ,his attitude is not that of a humanist1 for ,cicero and ,boccaccio do not receive more respectful treatment at his hands than ,aristotle does4 ,landi1 despite his mere eccentricities1 represents the growth of modern free thought and the antagonism of modern philosophy to ,aristotelianism4 ,the literary opposition and the philosophical opposition to ,aristotelianism may be said to meet in ,francesco ,patrizzi1 and1 in a less degree1 in ,giordano ,bruno4 ,patrizzi's bitter ,antiperipateticism is to be seen in his ,nova de ,universis ,philosophia 7#aeia71 in which the doctrines of ,aristotle are shown to be false1 inconsistent1 and even opposed to the doctrines of the ,catholic ,church4 ,his literary antagonism to ,aristotle is shown in his remarkable work1 ,della ,poetica1 published at ,ferrara in #aehf4 ,this work is divided into two parts1--the first historical1 ,la ,deca ,istoriale1 and the second controversial1 ,la ,deca ,disputata4 ,in the historical section he attempts to derive the norm of the different poetic forms1 not from one or two great works as ,aristotle had done1 but from the whole history of literature4 ,it is thus the first work in modern times to attempt the philosophical study of literary history1 and to trace out the evolution of literary forms4 ,the second or controversial section is directed against the ,poetics of ,aristotle1 and in part also against the critical doctrines of ,torquato ,tasso4 ,in this portion of his work ,patrizzi sets out to demonstrate--per istoria1 e per ragioni1 e per autorita de' grandi antichi--that the accepted critical opinions of his time were without foundation2 and the ,poetics of ,aristotle himself he exhibits as obscure1 inconsistent1 and entirely unworthy of credence4 ,similar antagonism to the critical doctrines of ,aristotle is to be found in passages scattered here and there throughout the works of ,giordano ,bruno4 ,in the first dialogue of the ,eroici ,furori1 published at ,london in #aehe1 while ,bruno was visiting ,england1 he expresses his contempt for the mere pedants who judge poets by the rules of ,aristotle's ,poetics4 ,his contention is that there are as many sorts of poets as there are human sentiments and ideas1 and that poets1 so far from being subservient to rules1 are themselves really the authors of all critical dogma4 ,those who attack the great poets whose works do not accord with the rules of ,aristotle are called by ,bruno stupid pedants and beasts4 ,the gist of his argument may be gathered from the following passage3-- ,,tans4 ,thou dost well conclude that poetry is not born in rules1 or only slightly and accidentally so2 the rules are derived from the poetry1 and there are as many kinds and sorts of true rules as there are kinds and sorts of true poets4 ,,cic4 ,how then are the true poets to be known8 ,,tans4 ,by the singing of their verses2 in that singing they give delight1 or they edify1 or they edify and delight together4 ,,cic4 ,to whom then are the rules of ,aristotle useful8 ,,tans4 ,to him who1 unlike ,homer1 ,hesiod1 ,orpheus1 and others1 could not sing without the rules of ,aristotle1 and who1 having no ,muse of his own1 would coquette with that of ,homer4#cjh ,a similar antagonism to ,aristotle and a similar literary individualism are to be found in a much later work by ,benedetto ,fioretti1 who under the pseudonym of ,udeno ,nisieli published the five volumes of his ,proginnasmi ,poetici between #afbj and #afci4cji ,just before the close of the sixteenth century1 however1 the ,poetics had obtained an ardent defender against such attacks in the person of ,francesco ,buonamici1 in his ,discorsi ,poetici2 and three years later1 in #afjj1 ,faustino ,summo published a similar defence of ,aristotle4 ,the attacks on ,aristotle's literary dictatorship were of little avail2 it was hardly necessary even to defend him4 ,for two centuries to come he was to reign supreme on the continent of ,europe2 and in ,italy this supremacy was hardly disturbed until the days of ,goldoni and ,metastasio4 ,,foot-,,notes3 #bih ,de ,sanctis1 ii4 #aic sq4 #bii ,cf4 ,bosanquet1 ,hist4 of ,a,esthetic1 p4 #aeb sq4 #cjj ,cf4 ,foffano1 p4 #aea sq4 #cja ,symonds1 ii4 #dgj4 #cjb ,baillet1 iii4 #gj4 #cjc ,tiraboschi1 vii4 #aeei4 #cjd ,several similar extracts from ,italian comic prologues may be found in ,symonds1 v4 #ecc sq4 #cje ,foffano1 p4 #aed sq4 #cjf ,poetica1 p4 #cb4 #cjg ,paradossi1 ,venetia1 #aede1 ii4 #bi4 #cjh ,opere1 ii4 #cae 7,williams's translation74 #cji ,cf4 the diverse opinions of ,tiraboschi1 viii4 #eaf1 and ,hallam1 ,lit4 of ,europe1 pt4 iii4 ch4 #g4 ,,part ,,second ,,literary ,,criticism ,,in ,,france ,,literary ,,criticism ,,in ,,france ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,character ,,and ,,development ,,of ,,french ,,criticism ,,in ,,the ,,sixteenth ,,century ,,literary criticism in ,france1 while beginning somewhat later than in ,italy1 preceded the birth of criticism in ,england and in ,spain by a number of years4 ,critical activity in nearly all the countries of western ,europe seems to have been ushered in by the translation of ,horace's ,ars ,poetica into the vernacular tongues4 ,critical activity in ,italy began with ,dolce's ,italian version of the ,ars ,poetica in #aece2 in ,france1 with the ,french version of ,pelletier in #aede2 in ,england1 with the ,english version of ,drant in #aefg2 and in ,spain1 with the ,spanish versions of ,espinel and ,zapata in #aeia and #aeib1 respectively4 ,two centuries of literary discussion had prepared the way for criticism in ,italy2 and lacking this period of preparation1 ,french criticism during the sixteenth century was necessarily of a much more practical character than that of ,italy during the same age4 ,the critical works of ,france1 and of ,england also1 were on the whole designed for those whose immediate intention it was to write verse themselves4 ,the disinterested and philosophic treatment of aesthetic problems1 wholly aside from all practical considerations1 characterized much of the critical activity of the ,italian ,renaissance1 but did not become general in ,france until the next century4 ,for this reason1 in the ,french and ,english sections of this essay1 it will be necessary to deal with various rhetorical and metrical questions which in the ,italian section could be largely disregarded4 ,in these matters1 as in the more general questions of criticism1 it will be seen that sixteenth-century ,italy furnished the source of all the accepted critical doctrines of western ,europe4 ,the comparative number of critical works in ,italy and in ,france is also noteworthy4 ,while those of the ,italian ,renaissance may be counted by the score1 the literature of ,france during the sixteenth century1 exclusive of a few purely rhetorical treatises1 hardly offers more than a single dozen4 ,it is evident1 therefore1 that the treatment of ,french criticism must be more limited in extent than that of ,italian criticism1 and somewhat different in character4 ,the literature of the sixteenth century in ,france is divided into two almost equal parts by ,du ,bellay's ,defense et ,illustration de la ,langue francaise1 published in #aedi4 ,in no other country of ,europe is the transition from the ,middle ,ages to the ,renaissance so clearly marked as it is in ,france by this single book4 ,with the invasion of ,italy by the army of ,charles ,,viii4 in #adid1 the influence of ,italian art1 of ,italian learning1 of ,italian poetry1 had received its first impetus in ,france4 ,but over half a century was to elapse before the effects of this influence upon the creative literature of ,france was universally and powerfully felt4 ,during this period the activity of ,budaeus1 ,erasmus1 ,dolet1 and numerous other ,french and foreign humanists strengthened the cause and widened the influence of the ,new ,learning4 ,but it is only with the birth of the ,pleiade that modern ,french literature may be said to have begun4 ,in #aedi ,du ,bellay's ,defense1 the manifesto of the new school1 appeared4 ,ronsard's ,odes were published in the next year2 and in #aeeb ,jodelle inaugurated ,french tragedy with his ,cleopatre1 and first1 as ,ronsard said1 ,francoisement chanta la grecque tragedie4 ,the ,defense therefore marks a distinct epoch in the critical as well as the creative literature of ,france4 ,the critical works that preceded it1 if they may be called critical in any real sense1 did not attempt to do more than formulate the conventional notions of rhetorical and metrical structure common to the ,french poets of the later ,middle ,ages4 ,the ,pleiade itself1 as will be more clearly understood later1 was also chiefly concerned with linguistic and rhetorical reforms2 and as late as #aehj ,montaigne could say that there were more poets in ,france than judges and interpreters of poetry4#caj ,the creative reforms of the ,pleiade lay largely in the direction of the formation of a poetic language1 the introduction of new genres1 the creation of new rhythms1 and the imitation of classical literature4 ,but with the imitation of classical literature there came the renewal of the ancient subjects of inspiration2 and from this there proceeded a high and dignified conception of the poet's office4 ,indeed1 many of the more general critical ideas of the ,pleiade spring from the desire to justify the function of poetry1 and to magnify its importance4 ,the new school and its epigones dominate the second half of the sixteenth century2 and as the first half of the century was practically unproductive of critical literature1 a history of ,french ,renaissance criticism is hardly more than an account of the poetic theories of the ,pleiade4 ,the series of rhetorical and metrical treatises that precede ,du ,bellay's ,defense begins with ,l',art de dictier et de fere chancons1 balades1 virelais et rondeaulx1 written by the poet ,eustache ,deschamps in #acib1 over half a century after the similar work of ,antonio da ,tempo in ,italy4#caa ,toward the close of the fifteenth century a work of the same nature1 the ,fleur de ,rhetorique1 by an author who refers to himself as ,l',infortune1 seems to have had some influence on later treatises4 ,three works of this sort fall within the first half of the sixteenth century3 the ,grand et vrai ,art de pleine ,rhetorique of ,pierre ,fabri1 published at ,rouen in #aeba2 the ,rhetorique metrifiee of ,gracien du ,pont1 published at ,paris in #aeci2 and the ,art ,poetique of ,thomas ,sibilet1 published at ,paris in #aedh4 ,the second part of ,fabri's ,rhetorique deals with questions of versification--of rhyme1 rhythm1 and the complex metrical form of such poets as ,cretin1 ,meschinot1 and ,molinet1 in whom ,pasquier found prou de rime et equivoque1 mais peu de raison4 ,as the ,rhetorique of ,fabri is little more than an amplification of the similar work of ,l',infortune1 so the work of ,gracien du ,pont is little more than a reproduction of ,fabri's4 ,gracien du ,pont is still chiefly intent on rime equivoquee1 rime entrelacee1 rime retrograde1 rime concatenee1 and the various other mediaeval complexities of versification4 ,sibilet's ,art ,poetique is more interesting than any of its predecessors4 ,it was published a year before the ,defense of ,du ,bellay1 and discusses many of the new genres which the latter advocates4 ,sibilet treats of the sonnet1 which had recently been borrowed from the ,italians by ,mellin de ,saint-,gelais1 the ode1 which had just been employed by ,pelletier1 and the epigram1 as practised by ,marot4 ,the eclogue is described as ,greek by invention1 ,latin by usurpation1 and ,french by imitation4 ,but one of the most interesting passages in ,sibilet's book is that in which the ,french morality is compared with the classical drama4 ,this passage exhibits perhaps the earliest trace of the influence of ,italian ideas on ,french criticism2 it will be discussed later in connection with the dramatic theories of this period4 ,it is about the middle of the sixteenth century1 then1 that the influence of ,italian criticism is first visible4 ,the literature of ,italy was read with avidity in ,france4 ,many educated young ,frenchmen travelled in ,italy1 and several ,italian men of letters visited ,france4 ,girolamo ,muzio travelled in ,france in #aebd1 and again in #aecj with ,giulio ,camillo4#cab ,aretino mentions the fact that a ,vincenzo ,maggi was at the ,court of ,france in #aedh1 but it has been doubted whether this was the author of the commentary on the ,poetics4#cac ,in #aedi1 after the completion of the two last parts of his ,poetica1 dedicated to the ,bishop of ,arras1 ,trissino made a tour about ,france4#cad ,nor must we forget the number of ,italian scholars called to ,paris by ,francis ,i4#cae ,the literary relations between the two countries do not concern us here2 but it is no insignificant fact that the great literary reforms of the ,pleiade should take place between #aedh and #aeej1 the very time when critical activity first received its great impetus in ,italy4 ,this ,italian influence is just becoming apparent in ,sibilet1 for whom the poets between ,jean le ,maire de ,belges and ,clement ,marot are the chief models1 but who is not wholly averse to the moderate innovations derived by ,france from classical antiquity and the ,italian ,renaissance4 ,m4 ,brunetiere1 in a very suggestive chapter of his ,history of ,french ,criticism1 regards the ,defense of ,du ,bellay1 the ,poetics of ,scaliger1 and the ,art ,poetique of ,vauquelin de la ,fresnaye as the most important critical works in ,france during the sixteenth century4#caf ,it may indeed be said that ,du ,bellay's ,defense 7#aedi7 is not in any true sense a work of literary criticism at all2 that ,scaliger's ,poetics 7#aefa7 is the work1 not of a ,french critic1 but of an ,italian humanist2 and that ,vauquelin's ,art ,poetique 7not published until #afje71 so far as any influence it may have had is concerned1 does not belong to the sixteenth century1 and can hardly be called important4 ,at the same time these three works are interesting documents in the literary history of ,france1 and represent three distinct stages in the development of ,french criticism in the sixteenth century4 ,du ,bellay's work marks the beginning of the introduction of classical ideals into ,french literature2 ,scaliger's work1 while written by an ,italian and in ,latin1 was composed and published in ,france1 and marks the introduction of the ,aristotelian canons into ,french criticism2 and ,vauquelin's work indicates the sum of critical ideas which ,france had gathered and accepted in the sixteenth century4 ,with ,du ,bellay's ,defense et ,illustration de la ,langue francaise 7#aedi7 modern literature and modern criticism in ,france may be said to begin4 ,the ,defense is a monument of the influence of ,italian upon ,french literary and linguistic criticism4 ,the purpose of the book1 as its title implies1 is to defend the ,french language1 and to indicate the means by which it can approach more closely to dignity and perfection4 ,the fundamental contention of ,du ,bellay is1 first1 that the ,french language is capable of attaining perfection2 and1 secondly1 that it can only hope to do so by imitating ,greek and ,latin4 ,this thesis is propounded and proved in the first book of the ,defense2 and the second book is devoted to answering the question3 ,by what specific means is this perfection1 based on the imitation of the perfection of ,greek and ,latin1 to be attained by the ,french tongue8 ,du ,bellay contends that as the diversity of language among the different nations is ascribable entirely to the caprice of men1 the perfection of any tongue is due exclusively to the diligence and artifice of those who use it4 ,it is the duty1 therefore1 of every one to set about consciously to improve his native speech4 ,the ,latin tongue was not always as perfect as it was in the days of ,virgil and ,cicero2 and if these writers had regarded language as incapable of being polished and enriched1 or if they had imagined that their language could only be perfected by the imitation of their own national predecessors1 ,latin would never have arrived at a higher state of perfection than that of ,ennius and ,crassus4 ,but as ,virgil and ,cicero perfected ,latin by imitating ,greek1 so the ,french tongue can only be made beautiful by imitating ,greek1 ,latin1 and ,italian1 all of which have attained a certain share of perfection4#cag ,at the same time1 two things must be guarded against4 ,the ,french tongue cannot be improved by merely translating the classic and ,italian tongues4 ,translation has its value in popularizing ideas2 but by mere translation no language or literature can hope to attain perfection4 ,nor is a mere bald imitation sufficient2 but1 in ,du ,bellay's oft-cited phrase1 the beauties of these foreign tongues must be converted into blood and nourishment4#cah ,the classics have blood1 nerves1 and bones1 while the older ,french writers have merely skin and color4#cai ,the modern ,french writer should therefore dismiss with contempt the older poets of ,france1 and set about to imitate the ,greeks1 ,latins1 and ,italians4 ,he should leave off composing rondeaux1 ballades1 virelays1 and such epiceries1 which corrupt the taste of the ,french language1 and serve only to show its ignorance and poverty2 and in their stead he should employ the epigram1 which mingles1 in ,horace's words1 the profitable with the pleasant1 the tearful elegy1 in imitation of ,ovid and ,tibullus1 the ode1 one of the sublimest forms of poetry1 the eclogue1 in imitation of ,theocritus1 ,virgil1 and ,sannazaro1 and the beautiful sonnet1 an ,italian invention no less learned than pleasing4#cbj ,instead of the morality and the farce1 the poet should write tragedies and comedies2 he should attempt another ,iliad or ,a,eneid for the glory and honor of ,france4 ,this is the gist of ,du ,bellay's argument in so far as it deals in general terms with the ,french language and literature4 ,the six or seven concluding chapters treat of more minute and detailed questions of language and versification4 ,du ,bellay advises the adoption of classical words as a means of enriching the ,french tongue1 and speaks with favor of the use of rhymeless verse in imitation of the classics4 ,the ,defense ends with an appeal to the reader not to fear to go and despoil ,greece and ,rome of their treasures for the benefit of ,french poetry4#cba ,from this analysis it will be seen that the ,defense is really a philological polemic1 belonging to the same class as the long series of ,italian discussions on the vulgar tongue which begins with ,dante1 and which includes the works of ,bembo1 ,castiglione1 ,varchi1 and others4 ,it is1 as a ,french critic has said1 a combined pamphlet1 defence1 and ars poetica2#cbb but it is only an ars poetica in so far as it advises the ,french poet to employ certain poetic forms1 and treats of rhythm and rhyme in a concluding chapter or two4 ,but curiously enough1 the source and inspiration of ,du ,bellay's work have never been pointed out4 ,the actual model of the ,defense was without doubt ,dante's ,de ,vulgari ,eloquio1 which1 in the ,italian version of ,trissino1 had been given to the world for the first time in #aebi1 exactly twenty years before the ,defense4 ,the two works1 allowing for the difference in time and circumstance1 resemble each other closely in spirit and purpose as well as in contents and design4 ,du ,bellay's work1 like ,dante's1 is divided into two books1 each of which is again divided into about the same number of chapters4 ,the first book of both works deals with language in general1 and the relations of the vulgar tongue to the ancient and modern languages2 the second book of both works deals with the particular practices of the vulgar tongue concerning which each author is arguing4 ,both works begin with a somewhat similar theory of the origin of language2 both works close with a discussion of the versification of the vernacular4 ,the purpose of both books is the justification of the vulgar tongue1 and the consideration of the means by which it can attain perfection2 the title of ,de ,vulgari ,eloquio might be applied with equal force to either treatise4 ,the ,defense1 by this justification of the ,french language on rational if not entirely cogent and consistent grounds1 prepared the way for critical activity in ,france2 and it is no insignificant fact that the first critical work of modern ,france should have been based on the first critical work of modern ,italy4 ,thirty years later1 ,henri ,estienne1 in his ,precellence du ,langage francois1 could assert that ,french is the best language of ancient or modern times1 just as ,salviati in #aefd had claimed that preeminent position for ,italian4#cbc ,it is not to be expected that so radical a break with the national traditions of ,france as was implied by ,du ,bellay's innovations would be left unheeded by the enemies of the ,pleiade4 ,the answer came soon1 in an anonymous pamphlet1 entitled ,le ,quintil ,horatian sur la ,defense et ,illustration de la ,langue francoise4 ,until a very few years ago1 this treatise was ascribed to a disciple of ,marot1 ,charles ,fontaine4 ,but in #ahhc an autograph letter of ,fontaine's was discovered1 in which he strenuously denies the authorship of the ,quintil ,horatian2 and more recent researches have shown pretty conclusively that the real author was a friend of ,fontaine's1 ,barthelemy ,aneau1 head of the ,college of ,lyons4#cbd ,the ,quintil ,horatian was first published in #aeej1 the year after the appearance of the ,defense4#cbe ,the author informs us that he had translated the whole of ,horace's ,ars ,poetica into ,french verse over twenty years ago1 before ,pelletier or any one else1 that is1 between #aebe and #aecj4cbf ,this translation was never published1 but fragments of it are cited in the ,quintil ,horatian4 ,the pamphlet itself takes up the arguments of ,du ,bellay step by step1 and refutes them4 ,the author finds fault with the constructions1 the metaphors1 and the neologisms of ,du ,bellay4 ,aneau's temperament was dogmatic and pedagogic2 his judgment was not always good2 and modern ,french critics cannot forgive him for attacking ,du ,bellay's use of such a word as patrie4 ,but it is not entirely just to speak of the ,quintil ,horatian1 in the words of a modern literary historian1 as full of futile and valueless criticisms4 ,the author's minute linguistic objections are often hypercritical1 but his work represents a natural reaction against the ,pleiade4 ,his chief censure of the ,defense was directed against the introduction of classical and ,italian words into the ,french language4 ,est-ce la defense et illustration1 he exclaims1 ou plus tost offense et denigration8 ,he charges the ,pleiade with having contemned the classics of ,french poetry2 the new school advocated the disuse of the complicated metrical forms merely because they were too difficult4 ,the sonnet1 the ode1 and the elegy he dismisses as useless innovations4 ,the object of poetry1 according to ,horace1 is to gladden and please1 while the elegy merely saddens and brings tears to the eyes4 ,poetry1 he says1 is like painting2 and as painting is intended to fill us with delight1 and not to sadden us1 so the mournful elegy is one of the meanest forms of poetry4 ,aneau is unable to appreciate the high and sublime conception of the poet's office which the ,pleiade first introduced into ,french literature2 for him the poet is a mere versifier who amuses his audience4 ,he represents the general reaction of the national spirit against the classical innovations of the ,pleiade2 and the ,quintil ,horatian may therefore be called the last representative work of the older school of poetry4 ,it was at about this period that ,aristotle's ,poetics first influenced ,french criticism4 ,in one of the concluding chapters of the ,defense ,du ,bellay remarks that the virtues and vices of a poem have been diligently treated by the ancients1 such as ,aristotle and ,horace1 and after them by ,hieronymus ,vida4#cbg ,horace is mentioned and cited in numerous other places1 and the influence of the general rhetorical portions of the ,ars ,poetica is very marked throughout the ,defense2 there are also many traces of the influence of ,vida4 ,but there is no evidence whatsoever of any knowledge of ,aristotle's ,poetics4 ,of its name and importance ,du ,bellay had probably read in the writings of the ,italians1 but of its contents he knew little or nothing4 ,there is indeed no well-established allusion to the ,poetics in ,france before this time4 ,none of the ,french humanists seems to have known it4 ,its title is cited by ,erasmus in a letter dated ,february #bg1 #aeca1 and it was published by him without any commentary at ,basle in the same year1 though ,simon ,grynaeus appears to have been the real editor of this work4 ,an edition of the ,poetics was also published at ,paris in #aeda1 but does not seem to have had any appreciable influence on the critical activity of ,france4 ,several years after the publication of the ,defense1 in the satirical poem1 ,le ,poete ,courtisan1 written shortly after his return from ,italy in #aeee1 ,du ,bellay shows a somewhat more definite knowledge of the contents of the ,poetics3-- ,je ne veux point ici du maistre d',alexandre i4e4 ,aristotle1 ,touchant l'art poetic1 les preceptes t'apprendre ,tu n'apprendras de moy comment jouer il faut ,les miseres des rois dessus un eschaffaut3 ,je ne t'enseigne l'art de l'humble comoedie ,ni du ,meonien la muse plus hardie3 ,bref je ne monstre ici d'un vers horacien ,les vices et vertus du poeme ancien3 ,je ne depeins aussi le poete du ,vide4#cbh ,in #aeee ,guillaume ,morel1 the disciple of ,turnebus1 published an edition of ,aristotle's ,poetics at ,paris4 ,it is interesting to note1 however1 that the reference in the ,defense is the first allusion to the ,poetics to be found in the critical literature of ,france2 by #aedi the ,italian ,renaissance1 and ,italian criticism1 had come into ,france for good4 ,in #aefj1 the year before the publication of ,scaliger's ,poetics1 ,aristotle's treatise had acquired such prominence that in a volume of selections from ,aristotle's works1 published at ,paris in that year1 ,aristotelis ,sententiae1 the selections from the ,poetics are placed at the head of the volume4#cbi ,in #aegb ,jean de la ,taille refers his readers to what the great ,aristotle in his ,poetics1 and after him ,horace though not with the same subtlety1 have said more amply and better than ,i4#ccj ,the influence of ,scaliger's ,poetics on the ,french dramatic criticism of this period has generally been overestimated4 ,scaliger's influence in ,france was not inconsiderable during the sixteenth century1 but it was not until the very end of the century that he held the dictatorial position afterward accorded to him4 ,no edition of his ,poetics was ever published at ,paris4 ,the first edition appeared at ,lyons1 and subsequent editions appeared at ,heidelberg and ,leyden4 ,it was in ,germany1 in ,spain1 and in ,england that his influence was first felt2 and it was largely through the ,dutch scholars1 ,heinsius and ,vossius1 that his influence was carried into ,france in the next century4 ,it is a mistake to say that he had any primary influence on the formulation and acceptance of the unities of time and place in ,french literature2 there is in his ,poetics1 as has been seen1 no such definite and formal statement of the unities as may be found in ,castelvetro1 in ,jean de la ,taille1 in ,sir ,philip ,sidney1 or in ,chapelain4 ,at the same time1 while ,scaliger's ,poetics did not assume during the sixteenth century the dictatorial supremacy it attained during the seventeenth1 and while the particular views enunciated in its pages had no direct influence on the current of sixteenth-century ideas1 it certainly had an indirect influence on the general tendency of the critical activity of the ,french ,renaissance4 ,this indirect influence manifests itself in the gradual ,latinization of culture during the second half of the sixteenth century1 and1 as will be seen later1 in the emphasis on the ,aristotelian canons in ,french dramatic criticism4 ,scaliger was a personal friend of several members of the ,pleiade1 and there is every reason to believe that he wielded considerable1 even if merely indirect1 influence on the development of that great literary movement4 ,the last expression of the poetic theories of the ,pleiade is to be found in the didactic poem of ,vauquelin de la ,fresnaye1 ,l',art ,poetique francois1 ou l'on peut remarquer la perfection et le defaut des anciennes et des modernes poesies4 ,this poem1 though not published until #afje1 was begun in #aegd at the command of ,henry ,,iii41 and1 augmented by successive additions1 was not yet complete by #aeij4 ,vauquelin makes the following explicit acknowledgment of his indebtedness to the critical writers that preceded him3-- ,pour ce ensuivant les pas du fils de ,nicomache i4e4 ,aristotle1 ,du harpeur de ,calabre i4e4 ,horace1 et tout ce que remache ,vide et ,minturne apres1 j'ay cet oeuvre apreste4#cca ,aristotle1 ,horace1 ,vida1 and ,minturno are thus his acknowledged models and sources4 ,nearly the whole of ,horace's ,ars ,poetica he has translated and embodied in his poem2 and he has borrowed from ,vida a considerable number of images and metaphors4#ccb ,his indebtedness to ,aristotle and to ,minturno brings up several intricate questions4 ,it has been said that ,vauquelin simply mentioned ,minturno in order to put himself under the protection of a respectable ,italian authority4#ccc ,on the contrary1 exclusive of ,horace1 ,ronsard1 and ,du ,bellay1 the whole of whose critical discussions he has almost incorporated into his poem1 ,minturno is his chief authority1 his model1 and his guide4 ,in fact1 it was probably from ,minturno that he derived his entire knowledge of the ,aristotelian canons2 it is not ,aristotle1 but ,minturno's conception of ,aristotle1 that ,vauquelin has adhered to4 ,many points in his poem are explained by this fact2 here only one can be mentioned4 ,vauquelin's account1 in the second canto of his ,art ,poetique1 of the origin of the drama from the songs at the altar of ,bacchus at the time of the vintage1 is undoubtedly derived from ,minturno4#ccd ,it may have been observed that during the ,renaissance there were two distinct conceptions of the origin of poetry4 ,one1 which might be called ethical1 was derived from ,horace1 according to whom the poet was originally a lawgiver1 or divine prophet2 and this conception persists in modern literature from ,poliziano to ,shelley4 ,the other1 or scientific conception1 was especially applied to the drama1 and was based on ,aristotle's remarks on the origin of tragedy2 this attempt to discover some scientific explanation for poetic phenomena may be found in the more rationalistic of ,renaissance critics1 such as ,scaliger and ,viperano4 ,vauquelin de la ,fresnaye1 the disciple of ,ronsard and the last exponent of the critical doctrines of the ,pleiade1 thus represents the incorporation of the body of ,italian ideas into ,french criticism4 ,with ,vauquelin de la ,fresnaye and ,de ,laudun ,daigaliers 7#aeih7 the history of ,french criticism during the sixteenth century is at an end4 ,the critical activity of this period1 as has already been remarked1 is of a far more practical character than that of ,italy4 ,literary criticism in ,france was created by the exigencies of a great literary movement2 and throughout the century it never lost its connection with this movement1 or failed to serve it in some practical way4 ,the poetic criticism was carried on by poets1 whose desire it was to further a cause1 to defend their own works1 or to justify their own views4 ,the dramatic criticism was for the most part carried on by dramatists1 sometimes even in the prefaces of their plays4 ,in the sixteenth century1 as ever since1 the interrelation of the creative and the critical faculties in ,france was marked and definite4 ,but there was1 one might almost say1 little critical theorizing in the ,french ,renaissance4 ,excepting1 of course1 ,scaliger1 there was even nothing of the deification of ,aristotle found in ,italian criticism4 ,to take notice of a minute but significant detail1 there was no attempt to explain ,aristotle's doctrine of katharsis1 the source of infinite controversy in ,italy4 ,there was no detailed and consistent discussion of the theory of the epic poem4 ,all these things may be found in seventeenth-century ,france2 but their home was sixteenth-century ,italy4 ,,foot-,,notes3 #caj ,essais1 i4 #cf4 #caa ,on these early works1 see ,langlois1 ,de ,artibus ,rhetoricae ,rhythmicae1 ,parisiis1 #ahij4 #cab ,tiraboschi1 vii4 #cej4 #cac ,ibid4 vii4 #adfe4 #cad ,morsolin1 ,trissino1 p4 #ceh4 #cae ,egger1 ,hellenisme1 ch4 vii4 #caf ,brunetiere1 i4 #dc4 #cag ,cf4 ,horace1 ,ars ,poet4 #ec sq4 #cah ,defense1 i4 #g4 #cai ,ibid4 ii4 #b4 #cbj ,ibid4 ii4 #d4 #cba ,cf4 ,vida1 in ,pope1 i4 #afg4 #cbb ,lanson1 op4 cit41 p4 #bgd4 #cbc ,cf4 ,t4 ,tasso1 xxiii4 #ig4 #cbd ,h4 ,chamard1 ,le ,date et l',auteur du ,quintil ,horatian1 in the ,revue d',histoire litteraire de la ,france1 #ahih1 v4 #ei sq4 #cbe ,ibid4 v4 #ed sq4 #cbf ,ibid4 v4 #fb2 #fc1 n4 #a4 #cbg ,defense1 ii4 #i4 #cbh ,du ,bellay1 p4 #abj4 #cbi ,parisiis1 apud ,hieronymum de ,marnaf1 #aefj4 #ccj ,robert1 appendix iii4 #cca ,art ,poet4 i4 #fc4 #ccb ,pellissier1 pp4 #eg-fc4 #ccc ,lemercier1 ,etude sur ,vauquelin1 #ahhg1 p4 #aag1 and ,pellissier1 p4 #eg4 #ccd ,minturno1 ,arte ,poetica1 p4 #gc2 ,de ,poeta1 p4 #beb4 ,cf4 ,vauquelin1 ,pellissier's introduction1 p4 xliv4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,poetry ,,in ,,the ,,french ,,renaissance ,,it is in keeping with the practical character of the literary criticism of this period that the members of the ,pleiade did not concern themselves with the general theory of poetry4 ,until the very end of the century there is not to be found any systematic poetic theory in ,france4 ,it is in dramatic criticism that this period has most to offer1 and the dramatic criticism is peculiarly interesting because it foreshadows in many ways the doctrines upon which were based the dramas of ,racine and ,corneille4 ,i4 ,the ,poetic ,art ,in ,du ,bellay's ,defense there is no attempt to formulate a consistent body of critical doctrine2 but the book exhibits1 in a more or less crude form1 all the tendencies for which the ,pleiade stands in ,french literature4 ,the fundamental idea of the ,defense is that ,french poetry can only hope to reach perfection by imitating the classics4 ,the imitation of the classics implies1 in the first place1 erudition on the part of the poet2 and1 moreover1 it requires intellectual labor and study4 ,the poet is born1 it is true2 but this only refers to the ardor and joyfulness of spirit which naturally excite him1 but which1 without learning and erudition1 are absolutely useless4 ,he who wishes poetic immortality1 says ,du ,bellay1 must spend his time in the solitude of his own chamber2 instead of eating1 drinking1 and sleeping1 he must endure hunger1 thirst1 and long vigils4#cce ,elsewhere he speaks of silence and solitude as amy des ,muses4 ,from all this there arises a natural contempt for the ignorant people1 who know nothing of ancient learning3 ,especially do ,i wish to admonish him who aspires to a more than vulgar glory1 to separate himself from such inept admirers1 to flee from the ignorant people1--the people who are the enemies of all rare and antique learning1--and to content himself with few readers1 following the example of him who did not demand for an audience any one beside ,plato himself4#ccf ,in the ,art ,poetique of ,jacques ,pelletier du ,mans1 published at ,lyons in #aeee1 the point of view is that of the ,pleiade1 but more mellow and moderate than that of its most advanced and radical members4 ,the treatise begins with an account of the antiquity and excellence of poetry2 and poets are spoken of as originally the maitres et reformateurs de la vie4 ,poetry is then compared with oratory and with painting1 after the usual ,renaissance fashion2 and ,pelletier agrees with ,horace in regarding the combined power of art and nature as necessary to the fashioning of a poet4 ,his conception of the latter's office is not unlike that of ,tasso and ,shelley1 ,it is the office of the poet to give novelty to old things1 authority to the new1 beauty to the rude1 light to the obscure1 faith to the doubtful1 and to all things their true nature1 and to their true nature all things4 ,concerning the questions of language1 versification1 and the feeling for natural scenery1 he agrees fundamentally with the chief writers of the ,pleiade4 ,the greatest of these1 ,ronsard1 has given expression to his views on the poetic art in his ,abrege de l',art ,poetique francois 7#aefe71 and later in the two prefaces of his epic of the ,franciade4 ,the chief interest of the ,abrege in the present discussion is that it expounds and emphasizes the high notion of the poet's office introduced into ,french poetry by the ,pleiade4 ,before the advent of the new school1 mere skill in the complicated forms of verse was regarded as the test of poetry4 ,the poet was simply a rimeur2 and the term poete1 with all that it implies1 first came into use with the ,pleiade4 ,the distinction between the versifier and the poet1 as pointed out by ,aristotle and insisted upon by the ,italians1 became with the ,pleiade almost vital4 ,binet1 the disciple and biographer of ,ronsard1 says of his master that he was the mortal enemy of versifiers1 whose conceptions are all debased1 and who think they have wrought a masterpiece when they have transposed something from prose into verse4#ccg ,ronsard's own account of the dignity and high function of poetry must needs be cited at length3-- ,above all things you will hold the ,muses in reverence1 yea1 in singular veneration1 and you will never let them serve in matters that are dishonest1 or mere jests1 or injudicious libels2 but you will hold them dear and sacred1 as the daughters of ,jupiter1 that is1 ,god1 who by ,his holy grace has through them first made known to ignorant people the excellencies of ,his majesty4 ,for poetry in early times was only an allegorical theology1 in order to make stupid men1 by pleasant and wondrously colored fables1 know the secrets they could not comprehend1 were the truth too openly made known to them4444 ,now1 since the ,muses do not care to lodge in a soul unless it is good1 holy1 and virtuous1 you should try to be of a good disposition1 not wicked1 scowling1 and cross1 but animated by a gentle spirit2 and you should not let anything enter your mind that is not superhuman and divine4 ,you should have1 in the first place1 conceptions that are high1 grand1 beautiful1 and not trailing upon the ground2 for the principal part of poetry consists of invention1 which comes as much from a beautiful nature as from the reading of good and ancient authors4 ,if you undertake any great work1 you will show yourself devout and fearing ,god1 commencing it either with ,his name or by any other which represents some effects of ,his majesty1 after the manner of the ,greek poets 444 for the ,muses1 ,apollo1 ,mercury1 ,pallas1 and other similar deities1 merely represent the powers of ,god1 to which the first men gave several names for the diverse effects of ,his incomprehensible majesty4#cch ,in this eloquent passage the conception of the poet as an essentially moral being1--a doctrine first enunciated by ,strabo1 and repeated by ,minturno and others1--and ,boccaccio's notion of poetry as originally an allegorical theology1 are both introduced into ,french criticism4 ,elsewhere ,ronsard repeats the mediaeval concept that poets d'un voile divers ,par fables ont cache le vray sens de leurs vers4#cci ,it will be seen also that for ,ronsard1 poetry is essentially a matter of inspiration2 and in the poem just quoted1 the ,discours a ,jacques ,grevin1 he follows the ,platonic conception of divine inspiration or madness4 ,a few years later ,montaigne said of poetry that it is an easier matter to frame it than to know it2 being base and humble1 it may be judged by the precepts and art of it1 but the good and lofty1 the supreme and divine1 are beyond rules and above reason4 ,it hath no community with our judgment1 but ransacketh and ravisheth the same4#cdj ,in his various critical works ,ronsard shows considerable indebtedness to the ,italian theorists1 especially to ,minturno4 ,he does not attempt any formal definition of poetry1 but its function is described as follows3 ,as the end of the orator is to persuade1 so that of the poet is to imitate1 invent1 and represent the things that are1 that can be1 or that the ancients regarded as true4#cda ,the concluding clause of this passage is intended to justify the modern use of the ancient mythology2 but the whole passage seems primarily to follow ,scaliger#cdb and ,minturno4#cdc ,it is to be observed that verse is not mentioned in this definition as an essential requirement of poetry4 ,it was indeed a favorite contention of his1 and one for which he was indebted to the ,italians1 that all who write in verse are not poets4 ,lucan and ,silius ,italicus have robed history with the raiment of verse2 but according to ,ronsard they would have done better in many ways to have written in prose4 ,the poet1 unlike the historian1 deals with the verisimilar and the probable2 and while he cannot be responsible for falsehoods which are in opposition to the truth of things1 any more than the historian can1 he is not interested to know whether or not the details of his poems are actual historical facts4 ,verisimilitude1 and not fact1 is therefore the test of poetry4 ,in ,vauquelin de la ,fresnaye may be found most of the ,aristotelian distinctions in regard to imitation1 harmony1 rhythm1 and poetic theory in general2 but these distinctions he derived1 as has already been said1 not directly from ,aristotle1 but in all probability from ,minturno4 ,poetry is defined as an art of imitation3-- ,c'est un art d'imiter1 un art de contrefaire ,que toute poesie1 ainsi que de pourtraire4#cdd ,verse is described as a heaven-sent instrument1 the language of the gods2 and its value in poetry consists in clarifying and making the design compact4#cde ,but it is not an essential of poetry2 ,aristotle permits us to poetize in prose2 and the romances of ,heliodorus and ,montemayor are examples of this poetic prose4#cdf ,the object of poetry is that it shall cause delight1 and unless it succeeds in this it is entirely futile3-- ,c'est le but1 c'est la fin des vers que resjouir3 ,les ,muses autrement ne les veulent ouir4 ,as it is the function of the orator to persuade and the physician to cure1 and as they fail in their offices unless they effect these ends1 so the poet fails unless he succeeds in pleasing4#cdg ,this comparison is a favorite one with the ,italian critics4 ,a similar passage has already been cited from ,daniello2 and the same notion is thus expressed by ,lodovico ,dolce3 ,the aim of the physician is to cure diseases by means of medicine2 the orator's to persuade by force of his arguments2 and if neither attains this end1 he is not called physician or orator4 ,so if the poet does not delight1 he is not a poet1 for poetry delights all1 even the ignorant4#cdh ,but delight1 according to ,vauquelin1 is merely the means of directing us to higher things2 poetry is a delightful means of leading us to virtue3-- ,c'est pourquoy des beaus vers la joyeuse alegresse ,nous conduit aux vertus d'une plaisante addresse4#cdi ,vauquelin1 like ,scaliger1 ,tasso1 ,sidney1 compares the poet with ,god1 the great ,workman1 who made everything out of nothing4#cej ,the poet is a divinely inspired person1 who1 sans art1 sans scavoir1 creates works of divine beauty4 ,vauquelin's contemporary1 ,du ,bartas1 has in his ,uranie expressed this idea in the following manner3-- ,each art is learned by art2 but ,poesie ,is a mere heavenly gift1 and none can taste ,the dews we drop from ,pindus plenteously1 ,if sacred fire have not his heart embraced4 ,hence is't that many great ,philosophers1 ,deep-learned clerks1 in prose most eloquent1 ,labor in vain to make a graceful verse1 ,which many a novice frames most excellent4#cea ,while this is the accepted ,renaissance doctrine of inspiration1 ,vauquelin1 in common with all other followers of the ,pleiade1 was fully alive to the necessity of artifice and study in poetry2 and he agrees with ,horace in regarding both art and nature as equally necessary to the making of a good poet4 ,it is usage that makes art1 but art perfects and regulates usage3-- ,et ce bel ,art nous sert d'escalier pour monter ,a ,dieu4#ceb ,,ii4 ,the ,drama ,dramatic criticism in ,france begins as a reaction against the drama of the ,middle ,ages4 ,the mediaeval drama was formless and inorganic1 without art or dignity4 ,the classical drama1 on the other hand1 possessed both form and dignity2 and the new school1 perceiving this contrast1 looked to the ,aristotelian canons1 as restated by the ,italians1 to furnish the dignity and art which the tragedy of ,greece and ,rome possessed1 and which their own moralities and farces fundamentally lacked4 ,in the first reference to dramatic literature in ,french criticism1 the mediaeval and classical dramas are compared after this fashion2 but as ,sibilet 7#aedh71 in whose work this passage appears1 wrote a year or so before the advent of the ,pleiade1 the comparison is not so unfavorable to the morality and the farce as it became in later critics4 ,the ,french morality1 says ,sibilet1 represents1 in certain distinct traits1 ,greek and ,latin tragedy1 especially in that it treats of grave and momentous deeds 7faits graves et principaus72 and if the ,french had always made the ending of the morality sad and dolorous1 the morality would be a tragedy4 ,but in this1 as in all things1 we have followed our natural taste or inclination1 which is to take from foreign things not all we see1 but only what we think will be useful to us and of national advantage2 for in the morality we treat1 as the ,greeks and ,romans do in their tragedies1 the narration of deeds that are illustrious1 magnanimous1 and virtuous1 or true1 or at least verisimilar2 but we do otherwise in what is useful to the information of our manners and life1 without subjecting ourselves to any sorrow or pleasure of the issue4#cec ,it would seem that ,sibilet regards the morality as lacking nothing but the unhappy ending of classical tragedy4 ,at the same time this passage exhibits perhaps the first trace of ,aristotelianism in ,french critical literature2 for ,sibilet specifies several characteristic features of ,greek and ,latin tragedy1 which he could have found only in ,aristotle or in the ,italians4 ,in the first place1 tragedy deals only with actions that are grave1 illustrious1 and for the most part magnanimous or virtuous4 ,in the second place1 the actions of tragedy are either really true1 that is1 historical1 or if not true1 have all the appearance of truth1 that is1 they are verisimilar4 ,thirdly1 the end of tragedy is always sad and dolorous4 ,fourthly1 tragedy performs a useful function1 which is connected in some way with the reformation of manners and life2 and1 lastly1 the effect of tragedy is connected with the sorrow or pleasure brought about by the catastrophe4 ,these distinctions anticipate many of those found later in ,scaliger and in the ,french critics4 ,in ,du ,bellay 7#aedi7 we find no traces of dramatic theory beyond the injunction1 already noted1 that the ,french should substitute classical tragedy and comedy for the old morality and farce4 ,a few years later1 however1 in ,pelletier 7#aeee71 there appears an almost complete system of dramatic criticism4 ,he urges the ,french to attempt the composition of tragedy and comedy4 ,this species of poetry1 he says1 will bring honor to the ,french language1 if it is attempted1--a remark which illustrates the innate predisposition of the ,french for dramatic poetry4#ced ,he then proceeds to distinguish tragedy from comedy much in the same manner as ,scaliger does six years later4 ,it is to be remembered that ,pelletier's ,art ,poetique was published at ,lyons in #aeee1 while ,scaliger's ,poetics was published at the same place in #aefa4 ,pelletier may have known ,scaliger personally2 but it is more probable that ,pelletier derived his information from the same classical and traditional sources as did ,scaliger4 ,at all events1 ,pelletier distinguishes tragedy from comedy in regard to style1 subject1 characters1 and ending in exact ,scaligerian fashion4 ,comedy has nothing in common with tragedy except the fact that neither can have more or less than five acts4 ,the style and diction of comedy are popular and colloquial1 while those of tragedy are most dignified and sublime4 ,the comic characters are men of low condition1 while those of tragedy are kings1 princes1 and great lords4 ,the conclusion of comedy is always joyous1 that of tragedy is always sorrowful and heart-rending4 ,the themes of tragedy are deaths1 exiles1 and unhappy changes of fortune2 those of comedy are the loves and passions of young men and young women1 the indulgence of mothers1 the wiles of slaves1 and the diligence of nurses4#cee ,by this time1 then1 ,aristotle's theory of tragedy1 as restated by the ,italians1 had become part of ,french criticism4 ,the actual practice of the ,french drama had been modified by the introduction of these rules2 and they had played so important a part that ,grevin1 in his ,bref ,discours pour l',intelligence de ce ,theatre1 prefixed to his ,mort de ,cesar 7#aefb71 could say that ,french tragedy had already attained perfection1 even when regarded from the standpoint of the ,aristotelian canons4 ,our tragedies1 says ,grevin1 have been so well polished that there is nothing left now to be desired1--,i speak of those which are composed according to the rules of ,aristotle and ,horace4 ,grevin's ,discours was published the year after ,scaliger's ,poetics1 but shows no indication of ,scaligerian influence4 ,his definition of tragedy is based on a most vague and incomplete recollection of ,aristotle1 ,tragedy1 as ,aristotle says in his ,poetics1 is an imitation or representation of some action that is illustrious and great in itself1 such as the death of ,caesar4 ,he shows his independence or his ignorance of ,scaliger by insisting on the inferiority of ,seneca1 whom ,scaliger had rated above all the ,greeks2 and he shows his independence of the ancients by substituting a crowd of ,caesar's soldiers for the singers of the older chorus1 on the ground that there ought not to be singing in the representation of tragedy any more than there is in actual life itself1 for tragedy is a representation of truth or of what has the appearance of truth4 ,there are in ,grevin's ,discours several indications that the national feeling had not been entirely destroyed by the imitation of the classics2 but a discussion of this must be left for a later chapter4 ,in ,jean de la ,taille's ,art de ,tragedie1 prefixed to his ,sauel le ,furieux 7#aegb71 a drama in which a biblical theme is fashioned after the manner of classical tragedy1 there is to be found the most explicit and distinct antagonism to the old1 irregular moralities1 which are not modelled according to the true art and the pattern of the ancients4 ,they are but ameres epiceries--words that recall ,du ,bellay4 ,but curiously enough1 ,jean de la ,taille differs entirely from ,grevin1 and asserts positively that ,france had as yet no real tragedies1 except possibly a few translated from the classics4 ,waging war1 as he is1 against the crude formlessness of the national drama1 perfect construction assumes for him a very high importance4 ,the principal point in tragedy1 he says1 is to know how to dispose and fashion it well1 so that the plot is well intertwined1 mingled1 interrupted1 and resumed1 444 and that there is nothing useless1 without purpose1 or out of place4 ,for ,jean de la ,taille1 as for most ,renaissance writers1 tragedy is the least popular and the most elegant and elevated form of poetry1 exclusive of the epic4 ,it deals with the pitiful ruin of great lords1 with the inconstancy of fortune1 with banishment1 war1 pestilence1 famine1 captivity1 and the execrable cruelty of tyrants4#cef ,the end of tragedy is in fact to move and to sting the feelings and the emotions of men4 ,the characters of tragedy--and this is the ,aristotelian conception--should be neither extremely bad1 such men as by their crimes merit punishment1 nor perfectly good and holy1 like ,socrates1 who was wrongfully put to death4 ,invented or allegorical characters1 such as ,death1 ,avarice1 or ,truth1 are not to be employed4 ,at the same time1 ,jean de la ,taille1 like ,grevin1 is not averse to the use of scriptural subjects in tragedy1 although he cautions the poet against long-winded theological discussions4 ,the ,senecan drama was his model in treating of tragedy1 as it was indeed that of the ,renaissance in general2 and tragedy approached more and more closely to the oratorical and sententious manner of the ,latin poet4 ,ronsard1 for example1 asserts that tragedy and comedy are entirely didascaliques et enseignantes1 and should be enriched by numerous excellent and rare sentences 7sententiae71 for in a few words the drama must teach much1 being the mirror of human life4#ceg ,similarly1 ,du ,bellay advises poets to embellish their poetry with grave sentences1 and ,pelletier praises ,seneca principally because he is sentencieux4 ,vauquelin1 in his ,art ,poetique1 gives a metrical paraphrase of ,aristotle's definition of tragedy3-- ,mais le sujet tragic est un fait imite ,de chose juste et grave1 en ses vers limite2 ,auquel on y doit voir de l'affreux1 du terrible1 ,un fait non attendu1 qui tienne de l'horrible1 ,du pitoyable aussi1 le coeur attendrissant ,d'un tigre furieux1 d'un lion rugissant4#ceh ,the subject of tragedy should be old1 and should be connected with the fall of great tyrants and princes2#cei and in regard to the number of acts1 the number of interlocutors on the stage1 the deus ex machina1 and the chorus1#cfj ,vauquelin merely paraphrases ,horace4 ,comedy is defined as the imitation of an action which by common usage is accounted wicked1 but which is not so wicked that there is no remedy for it2 thus1 for example1 a man who has seduced a young girl may recompense her by taking her in marriage4#cfa ,hence while the actions of tragedy are virtuous1 magnificent1 and grand1 royal1 and sumptuous1 the incidents of comedy are actually and ethically of a lower grade4#cfb ,for tragi-comedy ,vauquelin has nothing but contempt4 ,it is1 in fact1 a bastard form1 since the tragedy with a happy ending serves a similar but more dignified purpose4 ,vauquelin1 like ,boileau and most other ,french critics after him1 follows ,aristotle at length in the description of dramatic recognitions and reversals of fortune4#cfc ,most of the other ,aristotelian distinctions are also to be found in his work4 ,in the ,art ,poetique francois of ,pierre de ,laudun1 ,sieur d',aigaliers1 published in #aeih1 these distinctions reappear in a more or less mutilated form4 ,in the fifth and last book of this treatise1 ,de ,laudun follows the ,italian scholars1 especially ,scaliger and ,viperano4 ,he does not differ essentially from ,scaliger in the definition of tragedy1 in the division into acts and the place of the chorus1 in the discussion of the characters and subjects of tragedy1 and in the distinction between tragedy and comedy4#cfd ,his conception of tragedy is in keeping with the usual ,senecan ideal2 it should be adorned by frequent sentences1 allegories1 similitudes1 and other ornaments of poetry4 ,the more cruel and sanguinary the tragic action is1 the more excellent it will be2 but at the same time1 much that makes the action cruel is to be enacted only behind the stage4 ,like ,pelletier1 he objects to the introduction of all allegorical and invented characters1 or even gods and goddesses1 on the ground that these are not actual beings1 and hence are out of keeping with the theme of tragedy1 which must be real and historical4 ,de ,laudun has also something to say concerning the introduction of ghosts in the tragic action2 and his discussion is peculiarly interesting when we remember that it was almost at this very time1 in ,england1 that the ghost played so important a part in the ,shakespearian drama4 ,if the ghosts appear before the action begins1 says ,de ,laudun1 they are permissible2 but if they appear during the course of the action1 and speak to the actors themselves1 they are entirely faulty and reprehensible4 ,de ,laudun borrowed from ,scaliger the scheme of the ideal tragedy3 ,the first act contains the complaints2 the second1 the suspicions2 the third1 the counsels2 the fourth1 the menaces and preparations2 the fifth1 the fulfilment and effusion of blood4#cfe ,but despite his subservience to ,scaliger1 he is not afraid to express his independence of the ancients4 ,we are not1 he says1 entirely bound to their laws1 especially in the number of actors on the stage1 which according to classic usage never exceeded three2 for nowadays1 notwithstanding the counsels of ,aristotle and ,horace1 an audience has not the patience to be satisfied with only two or three persons at one time4 ,the history of the dramatic unities in ,france during the sixteenth century demands some attention4 ,that they had considerable effect on the actual practice of dramatic composition from the very advent of the ,pleiade is quite obvious2 for in the first scene of the first ,french tragedy1 the ,cleopatre of ,jodelle 7#aeeb71 there is an allusion to the unity of time1 which ,corneille was afterward to call the regle des regles3-- ,avant que ce soleil1 qui vient ores de naitre1 ,ayant trace son jour chez sa tante se plonge1 ,cleopatre mourra6 ,in #aeec ,mellin de ,saint-,gelais translated ,trissino's ,sofonisba into ,french1 and the influence of the ,italian drama became fixed in ,france4 ,but the first distinct formulation of the unities is to be found in ,jean de la ,taille's ,art de ,tragedie 7#aegb74 ,his statement of the unity is explicit1 ,il faut toujours representer l'histoire ou le jeu en un meme jour1 en un meme temps1 et en un meme lieu4#cff ,jean de la ,taille was indebted for this to ,castelvetro1 who two years before had stated them thus1 ,la mutatione tragica non puo tirar con esso seco se non una giornata e un luogo4#cfg ,the unity of time was adopted by ,ronsard about this same time in the following words3-- ,tragedy and comedy are circumscribed and limited to a short space of time1 that is1 to one whole day4 ,the most excellent masters of this craft commence their works from one midnight to another1 and not from sunrise to sunset1 in order to have greater compass and length of time4 ,on the other hand1 the heroic poem1 which is entirely of a martial character 7tout guerrier71 comprehends only the actions of one whole year4#cfh ,this passage is without doubt borrowed from ,minturno 7#aefd73-- ,whoever regards well the works of the most admired ancient authors will find that the materials of scenic poetry terminate in one day1 or do not pass beyond the space of two days2 just as the action of the epic poem1 however great and however long it may be1 does not occupy more than one year4#cfi ,minturno1 it will be remembered1 was the first to limit the action of the heroic poem to one year4 ,in another passage he deduces the rule from the practice of ,virgil and ,homer2#cgj but ,ronsard seems to think that ,virgil himself has not obeyed this law4 ,we have already alluded to the influence of ,minturno on the ,pleiade4 ,vauquelin de la ,fresnaye1 who explicitly acknowledges his indebtedness to ,minturno1 also follows him in limiting the action of the drama to one day and that of the epic to one year3-- ,or comme eux l'heroic suivant le droit sentier1 ,doit son oeuvre comprendre au cours d'un an entier2 ,le tragic1 le comic1 dedans une journee ,comprend ce que fait l'autre au cours de son annee3 ,le theatre jamais ne doit estre rempli ,d'un argument plus long que d'un jour accompli4#cga ,the two last lines of this passage bear considerable resemblance to ,boileau's famous statement of the unities three-quarters of a century later4#cgb ,toward the end of the sixteenth century1 then1 the unity of time1 and in a less degree the unity of place1 had become almost inviolable laws of the drama4 ,but at this very period strong notes of revolt against the tyranny of the unities begin to be heard4 ,up to this time the classical ,italian drama had been the pattern for ,french playwrights2 but the irregular ,spanish drama was now commencing to exert considerable influence in ,france1 and with this ,spanish influence came the ,spanish opposition to the unities4 ,in #aehb ,jean de ,beaubreuil1 in the preface of his tragedy of ,regulus1 had spoken with contempt of the rule of twenty-four hours as trop superstitieux4 ,but ,de ,laudun was probably the first ,european critic to argue formally against it4 ,the concluding chapter of his ,art ,poetique 7#aeih7 gives five different reasons why the unity of time should not be observed in the drama4 ,the chapter is entitled1 ,concerning those who say that the action of tragedy must conclude in a single day2 and ,de ,laudun begins by asserting that this opinion had never been sustained by any good author4 ,this is fairly conclusive evidence that ,de ,laudun had never directly consulted ,aristotle's ,poetics1 but was indebted for his knowledge of ,aristotle to the ,italians1 and especially to ,scaliger4 ,the five arguments which he formulates against the unity of time are as follows3-- ,in the first place1 this law1 if it is observed by any of the ancients1 need not force us to restrict our tragedies in any way1 since we are not bound by their manner of writing or by the measure of feet and syllables with which they compose their verses4 ,in the second place1 if we were forced to observe this rigorous law1 we should fall into one of the greatest of absurdities1 by being obliged to introduce impossible and incredible things in order to enhance the beauty of our tragedies1 or else they would lack all grace2 for besides being deprived of matter1 we could not embellish our poems with long discourses and various interesting events4 ,in the third place1 the action of the ,troades1 an excellent tragedy by ,seneca1 could not have occurred in one day1 nor could even some of the plays of ,euripides or ,sophocles4 ,in the fourth place1 according to the definition already given on the authority of ,aristotle1 tragedy is the recital of the lives of heroes1 the fortune and grandeur of kings1 princes1 and others2 and all this could not be accomplished in one day4 ,besides1 a tragedy must contain five acts1 of which the first is joyous1 and the succeeding ones exhibit a gradual change1 as ,i have already indicated above2 and this change a single day would not suffice to bring about4 ,in the fifth and last place1 the tragedies in which this rule is observed are not any better than the tragedies in which it is not observed2 and the tragic poets1 ,greek and ,latin1 or even ,french1 do not and need not and cannot observe it1 since very often in a tragedy the whole life of a prince1 king1 emperor1 noble1 or other person is represented2--besides a thousand other reasons which ,i could advance if time permitted1 but which must be left for a second edition4#cgc ,the history of the unity of time during the next century does not strictly concern us here2 but it may be well to point out that it was through the offices of ,chapelain1 seconded by the authority of ,cardinal ,richelieu1 that it became fixed in the dramatic theory of ,france4 ,in a long letter1 dating from ,november1 #afcj1 and recently published for the first time1 ,chapelain sets out to answer all the objections made against the rule of twenty-four hours4 ,it is sustained1 he says1 by the practice of the ancients and the universal consensus of the ,italians2 but his own proof is based on reason alone4 ,it is the old argument of vraisemblance1 as found in ,maggi1 ,scaliger1 and especially ,castelvetro1 whom ,chapelain seems in part to follow4 ,by #afce he had formulated the whole theory of the three unities and converted ,cardinal ,richelieu to his views4 ,in the previous year ,mairet's ,sophonisbe1 the first regular ,french tragedy1 had been produced4 ,in #afcf the famous ,cid controversy had begun4 ,by #afdj the battle was gained1 and the unities became a part of the classic theory of the drama throughout ,europe4 ,a few years later their practical application was most thoroughly indicated by the ,abbe d',aubignac1 in his ,pratique du ,theatre2 and they were definitely formulated for all time by ,boileau in the celebrated couplet3-- ,qu'en un lieu1 qu'en un jour1 un seul fait accompli ,tienne jusqu'a la fin le theatre rempli4#cgd ,,iii4 ,heroic ,poetry ,it was the supreme ambition of the ,pleiade to produce a great ,french epic4 ,in the very first manifesto of the new school1 ,du ,bellay urges every ,french poet to attempt another ,iliad or ,a,eneid for the honor and glory of ,france4 ,for ,pelletier 7#aeee7 the heroic poem is the one that really gives the true title of poet2 it may be compared to the ocean1 and all other forms to rivers4#cge ,he seems to be following ,giraldi ,cintio's discourse on the romanzi1 published the year before his own work1 when he says that the ,french poet should write a ,heracleid1 the deeds of ,hercules furnishing the mightiest and most heroic material he can think of4#cgf ,at the same time ,virgil is for him the model of an epic poet2 and his parallel between ,homer and ,virgil bears striking resemblance to the similar parallel in ,capriano's ,della ,vera ,poetica1 published in the very same year as his own treatise4#cgg ,like ,capriano1 ,pelletier censures the superfluous exuberance1 the loquaciousness1 the occasional indecorum1 and the inferiority in eloquence and dignity of ,homer when compared with the ,latin poet4 ,it was ,ronsard's personal ambition to be the ,french ,virgil1 as in lyric poetry he had been proclaimed the ,french ,pindar4 ,for twenty years he labored on the ,franciade1 but never finished it4 ,in the two prefaces which he wrote for it1 the first in #aegb1 and the second 7published posthumously7 about #aehd1 he attempts to give expression to his ideal of the heroic poet4 ,in neither of them does he succeed in formulating any very definite or consistent body of epic theory4 ,they are chiefly interesting in that they indicate the general tendencies of the ,pleiade1 and show ,ronsard's own rhetorical principles1 and his feeling for nature and natural beauty4 ,the passage has already been cited in which he speaks of the heroic poem as entirely of a martial character1 and limits its action to the space of one year4 ,it has also been seen that for him1 as for the ,italians1 verisimilitude1 and not fact1 is the test of poetry4 ,at the same time1 the epic poet is to avoid anachronisms and misstatements of fact4 ,such faults do not disturb the reader so much when the story is remote in point of time2 and the poet should therefore always use an argument1 the events of which are at least three or four hundred years old4 ,the basis of the work should rest upon some old story of past times and of long-established renown1 which has gained the credit of men4#cgh ,this notion of the antiquity of the epic fable had been accepted long ago by the ,italians4 ,it is stated1 for example1 in ,tasso's ,discorsi dell' ,arte ,poetica1 written about #aefd1 though not published until #aehg1 fifteen years after ,tasso had visited ,ronsard in ,paris4 ,vauquelin de la ,fresnaye has the ,pleiade veneration for heroic poetry2 but he cannot be said to exhibit any more definite conception of its form and function4 ,for him the epic is a vast and magnificent narration1 a world in itself1 wherein men1 things1 and thoughts are wondrously mirrored3-- ,c'est un tableau du monde1 un miroir qui raporte ,les gestes des mortels en differente sorte4444 ,car toute poesie il contient en soymeme1 ,soit tragique ou comique1 ou soit autre poeme4#cgi ,with this we may compare what ,muzio had said in #aeea3-- ,il poema sovrano e una pittura ,de l' universo1 e pero in se comprende ,ogni stilo1 ogni forma1 ogni ritratto4 ,but despite this very vague conception of the epic in the ,french ,renaissance1 there was1 as has been said1 a high veneration for it as a form1 and for its masters1 ,homer and especially ,virgil4 ,this accounts for the large number of attempts at epic composition in ,france during the next century4 ,but beyond the earlier and indefinite notion of heroic poetry the ,french did not get for a long time to come4 ,even for ,boileau the epic poem was merely the vaste recit d'une longue action4#chj ,,foot-,,notes3 #cce ,defense1 ii4 #c4 #ccf ,ibid4 ii4 #aa4 #ccg ,ronsard1 vii4 #caj1 #cbe4 #cch ,ronsard1 vii4 #cg sq4 #cci ,ronsard1 vi4 #caa sq4 #cdj ,essais1 i4 #cf1 ,florio's translation4 #cda ,ronsard1 vii4 #cbb4 ,cf4 ,aristotle1 ,poet4 ix4 #a-d2 xxv4 #f1 #g4 #cdb ,poet4 iii4 #bd4 #cdc ,de ,poeta1 pp4 #dd1 #dg4 #cdd ,art ,poet4 i4 #ahg4 #cde ,ibid4 i4 #hg sq4 #cdf ,art ,poet4 ii4 #bfa4 #cdg ,ibid4 i4 #fig sq4 #cdh ,osservationi1 ,vinegia1 #aefj1 p4 #aij4 #cdi ,art ,poet4 i4 #gdd4 #cej ,art ,poet4 i4 #ai4 ,cf4 ,tasso1 cited by ,shelley1 ,defence1 p4 #db1 ,no one merits the name of creator except ,god and the poet4 #cea ,sylvester's ,du ,bartas1 #afda1 p4 #bdb4 #ceb ,art ,poet4 i4 #adi4 #cec ,sibilet1 ,art ,poet4 ii4 #h4 #ced ,pelletier1 ,art ,poet4 ii4 #g4 #cee ,ibid4 #cef ,robert1 app4 iii4 #ceg ,ronsard1 iii4 #ah sq4 #ceh ,art ,poet4 iii4 #aec4 #cei ,ibid4 ii4 #aaac1 #dda4 #cfj ,art ,poet4 ii4 #dei4 #cfa ,ibid4 iii4 #adc4 #cfb ,ibid4 iii4 #aha4 #cfc ,ibid4 iii4 #ahi sq4 #cfd ,robert1 app4 iv4 #cfe ,art ,poet4 v4 #f4 #cff ,robert1 app4 iii4 #cfg ,poetica1 p4 #ecd4 #cfh ,ronsard1 iii4 #ai4 #cfi ,arte ,poetica1 p4 #ga4 #cgj ,ibid4 p4 #ab2 ,de ,poeta1 p4 #adi4 #cga ,art ,poet4 ii4 #bec4 #cgb ,boileau1 ,art ,poet4 iii4 #de4 #cgc ,arnaud1 app4 iii4 #cgd ,art ,poet4 iii4 #de4 #cge ,art ,poet4 ii4 #h4 #cgf ,ibid4 i4 #c4 #cgg ,ibid4 i4 #e4 ,cf4 ,capriano1 cap4 v4 #cgh ,ronsard1 iii4 #bc1 #bi4 #cgi ,vauquelin1 ,art ,poet4 i4 #dga1 #ejc4 #chj ,boileau1 ,art ,poet4 iii4 #afa4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,classic ,,and ,,romantic ,,elements ,,in ,,french ,,criticism ,,during ,,the ,,sixteenth ,,century ,,the principle for which the ,pleiade stood was1 like that of humanism1 the imitation of the classics2 and the ,pleiade was the first to introduce this as a literary principle into ,france4 ,this means1 as regards ,french literature1 in the first place1 the substitution of the classical instead of its own national tradition2 and1 secondly1 the substitution of the imitation of the classics for the imitation of nature itself4 ,in making these vital substitutions1 ,du ,bellay and his school have been accused of creating once and for all the gulf that separates ,french poetry from the national life4#cha ,this accusation is perhaps unfair to the ,pleiade1 which insisted on the poet's going directly to nature1 which emphasized most strongly the sentiment for natural scenery and beauty1 and which first declared the importance of the artisan and the peasant as subjects for poetry4 ,but there can be but little doubt that the separation of poetry from the national life was the logical outcome of the doctrines of the ,pleiade4 ,in disregarding the older ,french poets and the evolution of indigenous poetry1 in formulating an ideal of the poet as an unsociable and ascetic character1 it separated itself from the natural tendencies of ,french life and letters1 and helped to effect the final separation between poetry and the national development4 ,i4 ,classical ,elements ,it was to ,du ,bellay 7#aedi7 that ,france owes the introduction of classical ideas into ,french literature4 ,he was the first to regard the imitation of the classics as a literary principle1 and to advise the poet1 after the manner of ,vida1 to purloin all the treasures of ,greek and ,latin literature for the benefit of ,french poetry4 ,moreover1 he first formulated the aristocratic conception of the poet held by the ,pleiade4 ,the poet was advised to flee from the ignorant people1 to bury himself in the solitude of his own chamber1 to dream and to ponder1 and to content himself with few readers4 ,beyond everything1 says ,du ,bellay1 the poet should have one or more learned friends to whom he can show all his verses2 he should converse not only with learned men1 but with all sorts of workmen1 mechanics1 artists1 and others1 in order to learn the technical terms of their arts1 for use in beautiful descriptions4#chb ,this was a favorite theory of the ,pleiade1 which like some of our own contemporary writers regarded the technical arts as important subjects of inspiration4 ,but the essential point at the bottom of all these discussions is a high contempt for the opinion of the vulgar in matters of art4 ,the ,quintil ,horatian 7#aeej7 represents1 as has already been seen1 a natural reaction against the foreign and classical innovations of the ,pleiade4 ,du ,bellay's advice1 ,prens garde que ce poeme soit eslogne du vulgaire1--advice insisted upon by many of the rhetoricians of the ,italian ,renaissance1--receives considerable censure2 on the contrary1 says the author of the ,quintil1 the poet must be understood and appreciated by all1 unlearned as well as learned1 just as ,marot was4 ,the ,quintil was1 in fact1 the first work to insist on definiteness and clearness in poetry1 as these were afterward insisted on by ,malherbe and ,boileau4 ,like ,malherbe1 and his disciple ,deimier1 the author of the ,academie de l',art ,poetique 7#afaj71 in which the influence of the ,quintil is fully acknowledged1 the author of the ,quintil objects to all forms of poetic license1 to all useless metaphors that obscure the sense1 to all ,latinisms and foreign terms and locutions4#chc ,du ,bellay had dwelt on the importance of a knowledge of the classical and ,italian tongues1 and had strongly advised the ,french poet to naturalize as many ,latin1 ,greek1 and even ,spanish and ,italian terms as he could4 ,the ,quintil is particularly bitter against all such foreign innovations4 ,the poet need not know foreign tongues at all2 without this knowledge he can be as good a poet as any of the graecaniseurs1 latiniseurs1 et italianiseurs en francoys4 ,this protest availed little1 and ,du ,bellay's advice in regard to the use of ,italian terms was so well followed that several years later1 in #aegh1 ,henri ,estienne vigorously protested against the practice in his ,dialogues du ,nouveau ,langage francois italianise4 ,as ,ronsard and ,du ,bellay represent the foreign elements that went to make up classicism in ,france1 so the author of the ,quintil ,horatian may be said to represent in his humble way certain enduring elements of the esprit gaulois4 ,he represents the national traditions1 and he prepares the way for the two great bourgeois poets of ,france1--,boileau1 with his ,tout doit tendre au bon sens1 and ,moliere1 with his bluff cry1 ,je suis pour le bon sens4 ,according to ,pelletier 7#aeee71 ,french poetry is too much like colloquial speech2 in order to equal classical literature1 the poets of ,france must be more daring and less popular4#chd ,pelletier's point of view is here that of the ,pleiade1 which aimed at a distinct poetic language1 diverse from ordinary prose speech4 ,but he is thoroughly ,french1 and in complete accord with the author of the ,quintil ,horatian1 in his insistence on perfect clearness in poetry4 ,clearness1 he says1 is the first and worthiest virtue of a poem4#che ,obscurity is the chief fault of poetry1 for there is no difference between not speaking at all and not being understood4#chf ,for these reasons he is against all unnecessary and bombastic ornament2 the true use of metaphors and comparisons of all sorts is to explain and represent things as they really are4 ,similarly1 ,ronsard1 while recognizing the value of comparisons1 rightfully used1 as the very nerves and tendons of poetry1 declares that if instead of perfecting and clarifying1 they obscure or confuse the idea1 they are ridiculous4#chg ,obscurity was the chief danger1 and indeed the chief fault1 of the ,pleiade2 and it is no small merit that both ,ronsard and ,pelletier perceived this fact4 ,the ,pleiade exhibits the classic temper in its insistence on study and art as essential to poetry2 but it was not in keeping with the doctrines of later ,french classicists in so far as it regarded the poetic labors as of an unsociable and even ascetic character4 ,in this1 as has been seen1 ,ronsard is a true exponent of the doctrines of the new school4 ,but on the whole the classic spirit was strong in him4 ,he declares that the poet's ideas should be high and noble1 but not fantastic4 ,they should be well ordered and disposed2 and while they seem to transcend those of the vulgar1 they should always appear to be easily conceived and understood by any one4#chh ,here ,du ,bellay's aristocratic conception of poetry is modified so as to become a very typical statement of the principle underlying ,french classicism4 ,again1 ,ronsard points out1 as ,vida and other ,italian critics had done before1 that the great classical poets seldom speak of things by their bare and naked names4 ,virgil does not1 for example1 say1 ,it was night1 or ,it was day1 but he uses some such circumlocution as this3-- ,postera ,phoebea lustrabat lampade terras4 ,the unfortunate results of the excessive use of such circumlocutions are well exemplified in the later classicists of ,france4 ,ronsard perhaps foresaw this danger1 and wisely says that circumlocution1 if not used judiciously1 makes the style inflated and bombastic4 ,in the first preface to the ,franciade1 he expresses a decided preference for the naive facility of ,homer over the artful diligence of ,virgil4#chi ,in the second preface1 however1 written a dozen years later1 and published posthumously as revised by his disciple ,binet1 there is interesting evidence1 in the preeminence given to ,virgil1 of the rapidity with which the ,latinization of culture was being effected at this period4 ,our ,french authors1 says ,ronsard1 know ,virgil far better than they know ,homer or any other ,greek writer4 ,and again1 ,virgil is the most excellent and the most rounded1 the most compact and the most perfect of all poets4#cij ,of the naive facility of ,homer we hear absolutely nothing4 ,we are now beginning to enter the era of rules4 ,ronsard did not undervalue the rules and secrets of poetry2 and ,vauquelin de la ,fresnaye calls his own critical poem cet ,art de ,regles recherchees4#cia ,in regard to the imitation of the classics1 ,vauquelin agrees heart and soul with the ,pleiade that the ancients nous ont desja trace ,un sentier qui de nous ne doit estre laisse4#cib ,nothing1 indeed1 could be more classical than his comparison of poetry to a garden symmetrically laid out and trimmed4#cic ,moreover1 like the classicists of the next century1 he affirms1 as does ,ronsard also1 that art must fundamentally imitate and resemble nature4#cid ,the imitation of the classics had also a decided effect on the technique of ,french verse and on the linguistic principles of the ,pleiade4 ,enjambement 7the carrying over into another line of words required to complete the sense7 and hiatus 7the clash of vowels in a line7 were both employed in ,latin and ,greek verse1 and were therefore permitted in ,french poetry by the new school4 ,ronsard1 however1 anticipated the reforms of ,malherbe and the practice of ,french classic verse1 in forbidding both hiatus and enjambement1 though in a later work of his this opinion is reversed4 ,he was also probably the first to insist on the regular alternation of masculine and feminine rhymes in verse4 ,this had never been strictly adhered to in practice1 or required by stringent rule1 before ,ronsard1 but has become the invariable usage of ,french poetry ever since4 ,ronsard regards this device as a means of making verse keep tune more harmoniously with the music of instruments4 ,it was one of the favorite theories of the ,pleiade that poetry is intended1 not to be read1 but to be recited or sung1 and that the words and the notes should be coupled lovingly together4 ,poetry without an accompaniment of vocal or instrumental music exhibits but a small part of its harmony or perfection2 and while composing verses1 the poet should always pronounce them aloud1 or rather sing them1 in order to test their melody4#cie ,this conception of music married to immortal verse doubtless came from ,italy1 and is connected with the rise of operatic music4 ,de ,laudun 7#aeih7 differs from the members of the ,pleiade in forbidding the use of words newly coined or taken from the dialects of ,france1 and in objecting to the use of enjambement and hiatus4 ,it is evident1 therefore1 that while the influence of the ,pleiade is visible throughout ,de ,laudun's treatise1 his disagreement with ,ronsard and ,du ,bellay on a considerable number of essential points shows that by the end of the century the supremacy of the ,pleiade had begun to wane4 ,the new school also attempted to introduce classical metres into ,french poetry4 ,the similar attempt at using the ancient versification in ,italy has already been incidentally referred to4#cif ,according to ,vasari1 ,leon ,battista ,alberti1 in his epistle1 ,questa per estrema miserabile pistola mando1 was the first to attempt to reduce the vernacular versification to the measure of the ,latins4#cig ,in ,october1 #adda1 the ,scena dell' ,amicizia of ,leonardo ,dati was composed and recited before the ,accademia ,coronaria at ,florence4#cih ,the first two parts of this piece are written in hexameters1 the third in ,sapphics1 the fourth in sonnet form and rhymed4 ,the prologues of ,ariosto's comedies1 the ,negromante and the ,cassaria1 are also in classical metres4 ,but the remarkable collection of ,claudio ,tolomei1 ,versi e ,regole de la ,nuova ,poesia ,toscana1 published at ,rome in #aeci1 marked an epoch in sixteenth-century letters4 ,in this work the employment of classical metres in the vulgar tongue is defended1 and rules for their use given2 then follows a collection of ,italian verse written after this fashion by a large number of scholars and poets1 among them ,annibal ,caro and ,tolomei himself4 ,this group of scholars had formed itself into an esoteric circle1 the ,accademia della ,nuova ,poesia2 and from the tone of the verses addressed to ,tolomei by the members of this circle1 it would seem that he regarded himself1 and was regarded by them1 as the founder and expositor of this poetic innovation4#cii ,luigi ,alamanni1 whose life was chiefly spent at the ,court of ,france1 published in #aeef a comedy1 ,la ,flora1 written in classical metres2 and two years later ,francesco ,patrizzi published an heroic poem1 the ,eridano1 written in hexameters1 with a defence of the form of versification employed4#djj ,this learned innovation spread throughout western ,europe4#dja ,in ,france1 toward the close of the fifteenth century1 according to ,agrippa d',aubigne1 a certain ,mousset had translated the ,iliad and the ,odyssey into ,french hexameters2 but nothing else is known either of ,mousset or of his translations4 ,as early as #aejj one ,michel de ,bouteauville1 the author of an ,art de metrifier francois1 wrote a poem in classical distichs on the ,english war4 ,sibilet 7#aedh7 accepted the use of classical metres1 though with some distrust1 for to him rhyme seemed as essential to ,french poetry as long and short syllables to ,greek and ,latin4 ,in #aefb ,ramus1 in his ,grammar1 recommended the ancient versification1 and expressed his regret that it had not been accepted with favor by the public4 ,in the same year ,jacques de la ,taille wrote his treatise1 ,la ,maniere de faire des ,vers en francois comme en grec et en latin1 but it was not published until #aegc1 eleven years after his death4 ,his main object in writing the book was to show that it is not as difficult to employ quantity in ,french verse as some people think1 nor even any more difficult than in ,greek and ,latin4#djb ,in answer to the objection that the vulgar tongues are by their nature incapable of quantity1 he argues1 after the manner of ,du ,bellay1 that such things do not proceed from the nature of a language1 but from the labor and diligence of those who employ it4 ,he is tired of vulgar rhymes1 and is anxious to find a more ingenious and more difficult path to ,parnassus4 ,he then proceeds to treat of quantity and measure in ,french1 of feet and verse1 and of figures and poetic license4#djc ,the name most inseparably connected with the introduction of classical metres into ,france in the sixteenth century is that of ,jean ,antoine de ,baif4 ,this young member of the ,pleiade1 after publishing several unsuccessful volumes of verse1 visited ,italy1 and was present at the ,council of ,trent in #aefc4 ,in ,italy he doubtless learnt of the metrical innovations then being employed2 and upon his return1 without any apparent knowledge of ,jacques de la ,taille's as yet unpublished treatise1 he set about to make a systematic reform in ,french versification4 ,his purpose was to bring about a more perfect unison between poetry and music2 and in order to accomplish this1 he adopted classical metres1 based as they were on a musical prosody1 and accepted the phonetic reforms of ,ramus4 ,he also established1 no doubt in imitation of the ,accademia della ,nuova ,poesia1 the ,academie de ,poesie et de ,musique1 authorized by letters patent from ,charles ,,ix4 in ,november1 #aegj4djd ,the purpose of this academy was to encourage and establish the metrical and musical innovations advocated by ,baif and his friends4 ,on the death of ,charles ,,ix4 the society's existence was menaced2 but it was restored1 with a broader purpose and function1 as the ,academie du ,palais1 by ,guy du ,faur de ,pibrac in #aegf1 under the protection of ,henry ,,iii41 and it continued to nourish until dispersed by the turmoils of the ,league about #aehe4 ,but ,baif's innovations were not entirely without fruit4 ,a similar movement1 and a not dissimilar society1 will be found somewhat later in ,elizabethan ,england4 ,,ii4 ,romantic ,elements ,some of the romantic elements in the critical theory of the ,pleiade have already been indicated4 ,the new movement started1 in ,du ,bellay's ,defense1 with a high conception of the poet's office4 ,it emphasized the necessity1 on the part of the poet1 of profound and solitary study1 of a refined and ascetic life1 and of entire separation from vulgar people and pleasures4 ,du ,bellay himself is romantic in that he decides against the traditions de regles1#dje deeming the good judgment of the poet sufficient in matters of taste2 but the reason of this was that there were no rules which he would have been willing to accept4 ,it took more than a century for the ,french mind to arrive at the conclusion that reason and rules1 in matters of art1 proceed from one and the same cause4 ,the feeling for nature and for natural beauty is very marked in all the members of the ,pleiade4 ,pelletier speaks of war1 love1 agriculture1 and pastoral life as the chief themes of poetry4#djf ,he warns the poet to observe nature and life itself1 and not depend on books alone2 and he dwells on the value of descriptions of landscapes1 tempests1 and sunrises1 and similar natural scenes4#djg ,the feeling for nature is even more intense in ,ronsard2 and like ,pelletier1 he urges the poet to describe in verse the rivers1 forests1 mountains1 winds1 the sea1 gods and goddesses1 sunrise1 night1 and noon4#djh ,in another place the poet is advised to embellish his work with accounts of trees1 flowers1 and herbs1 especially those dignified by some medicinal or magical virtues1 and with descriptions of rivers1 towns1 forests1 mountains1 caverns1 rocks1 harbors1 and forts4 ,here the appreciation of natural beauty as introduced into modern ,europe by the ,italian ,renaissance--the feeling for nature in its wider aspects1 the broad landscape1 the distant prospect--first becomes visible in ,france4 ,in the painting or rather imitation of nature1 says ,ronsard1 consists the very soul of heroic poetry4 ,ronsard also gives warning that ordinary speech is not to be banished from poetry1 or too much evaded1 for by doing so the poet is dealing a death-blow to naive and natural poetry4#dji ,this sympathy for the simple and popular forms of poetry as models for the poetic artist is characteristic of the ,pleiade4 ,there is a very interesting passage in ,montaigne1 in which the popular ballads of the peasantry are praised in a manner that recalls the famous words of ,sir ,philip ,sidney concerning the old song of ,percy and ,douglas1#daj and which seems to anticipate the interest in popular poetry in ,england two centuries later3-- ,popular and purely natural and indigenous poetry has a certain native simplicity and grace by which it may be favorably compared with the principal beauty of perfect poetry composed according to the rules of art2 as may be seen in the villanelles of ,gascony1 and in songs coming from nations that have no knowledge of any science1 not even of writing4 ,but mediocre poetry1 which is neither perfect nor popular1 is held in disdain by every one1 and receives neither honor nor reward4#daa ,the ,pleiade1 as has already been intimated1 accepted without reserve the ,platonic doctrine of inspiration4 ,by #aefj a considerable number of the ,platonic dialogues had already been translated into ,french4 ,dolet had translated two of the spurious dialogues2 ,duval1 the ,lysis in #aedg2 and ,le ,roy1 the ,phaedo in #aeec and the ,symposium in #aeei4 ,the thesis of ,ramus in #aecf had started an anti-,aristotelian tendency in ,france1 and the literature of the ,french ,renaissance became impregnated with ,platonism4#dab ,it received the royal favor of ,marguerite de ,navarre1 and its influence became fixed in #aeea1 by the appointment of ,ramus to a professorship in the ,college de ,france4 ,ronsard1 ,vauquelin1 ,du ,bartas1 all give expression to the ,platonic theory of poetic inspiration4 ,the poet must feel what he writes1 as ,horace says1 or his reader will never be moved by his verses2 and for the ,pleiade1 the excitement of high emotions in the reader or hearer was the test or touchstone of poetry4#dac ,the national and ,christian points of view never found expression in ,france during the sixteenth century in so marked a manner as in ,italy4 ,there are1 indeed1 traces of both a national and a ,christian criticism1 but they are hardly more than sporadic4 ,thus1 it has been seen that ,sibilet1 as early as #aedh1 had clearly perceived the distinguishing characteristic of the ,french genius4 ,he had noted that the ,french have only taken from foreign literature what they have deemed useful and of national advantage2 and only the other day a distinguished ,french critic asserted in like manner that the high importance of ,french literature consists in the fact that it has taken from the other literatures of ,europe the things of universal interest and disregarded the accidental picturesque details4 ,distinct traces of a national point of view may be found in the dramatic criticism of this period4 ,thus ,grevin1 in his ,bref ,discours 7#aefb71 attempts to justify the substitution of a crowd of ,caesar's soldiers for the singers of the ancient chorus1 in one of his tragedies1 on the following grounds3-- ,if it be alleged that this practice was observed throughout antiquity by the ,greeks and ,latins1 ,i reply that it is permitted to us to attempt some innovation of our own1 especially when there is occasion for it1 or when the grace of the poem is not diminished thereby4 ,i know well that it will be answered that the ancients employed the chorus of singers to divert the audience1 made gloomy perhaps by the cruelties represented in the play4 ,to this ,i reply that diverse nations require diverse manners of doing things1 and that among the ,french there are other means of doing this without interrupting the continuity of a story4#dad ,the ,christian point of view1 on the other hand1 is found in ,vauquelin de la ,fresnaye1 who differs from ,ronsard and ,du ,bellay in his preference for scriptural themes in poetry4 ,the ,pleiade was essentially pagan1 ,vauquelin essentially ,christian4 ,the employment of the pagan divinities in modern poetry seemed to him often odious1 for the times had changed1 and the ,muses were governed by different laws4 ,the poet should attempt ,christian themes2 and indeed the ,greeks themselves1 had they been ,christians1 would have sung the life and death of ,christ4 ,in this passage ,vauquelin is evidently following ,minturno1 as the latter was afterward followed by ,corneille3-- ,si les ,grecs1 comme vous1 ,chrestiens eussent escrit1 ,ils eussent les hauts faits chante de ,iesus ,christ4444 ,he6 quel plaisir seroit-ce a cette heure de voir ,nos poetes ,chrestiens1 les facons recevoir ,du tragique ancien8 ,et voir a nos misteres ,les ,payens asservis sous les loix salutaires ,de nos ,saints et ,martyrs8 et du vieux testament ,voir une tragedie extraite proprement8#dae ,vauquelin's opinion here is out of keeping with the general theory of the ,pleiade1 especially in that his suggestions imply a return to the mediaeval mystery and morality plays4 ,the ,uranie of ,du ,bartas is another and more fervid expression of this same ideal of ,christian poetry4 ,in the ,semaines1 ,du ,bartas himself composed the typical biblical poem2 and tragedies on ,christian or scriptural subjects were composed during the ,french ,renaissance from the time of ,buchanan and ,beza to that of ,garnier and ,montchrestien4 ,but ,vauquelin's ideal was not that of the later classicism2 and ,boileau1 as has been seen1 distinctly rejects ,christian themes from modern poetry4 ,although the linguistic and prosodic theories of the ,pleiade partly anticipate both the theory and the practice of later classicism1 the members of the school exhibit numerous deviations from what was afterward accepted as inviolable law in ,french poetry4 ,the most important of these deviations concerns the use of words from the various ,french dialects1 from foreign tongues1 and from the technical and mechanical arts4 ,a partial expression of this theory of poetic language has already been seen in ,du ,bellay's ,defense et ,illustration1 in which the poet is urged to use the more elegant technical dialectic terms4 ,ronsard gives very much the same advice4 ,the best words in all the ,french dialects are to be employed by the poet2 for it is doubtless to the number of the dialects of ,greece that we may ascribe the supreme beauty of its language and literature4 ,the poet is not to affect too much the language of the court1 since it is often very bad1 being the language of ladies and of young gentlemen who make a profession of fighting well rather than of speaking well4#daf ,unlike ,malherbe and his school1 ,ronsard allows a certain amount of poetic license1 but only rarely and judiciously4 ,it is to poetic license1 he says1 that we owe nearly all the beautiful figures with which poets1 in their divine rapture1 enfranchising the laws of grammar1 have enriched their works4 ,this is that birthright1 said ,dryden1 a century later1 in the preface of his ,state of ,innocence and the ,fall of ,man1 which is derived to us from our great forefathers1 even from ,homer down to ,ben2 and they who would deny it to us have1 in plain terms1 the fox's quarrel to the grapes--they cannot reach it4 ,vauquelin de la ,fresnaye follows ,ronsard and ,du ,bellay in urging the use of new and dialect words1 the employment of terms and comparisons from the mechanic arts1 and the various other doctrines by which the ,pleiade is distinguished from the school of ,malherbe4 ,how these useless linguistic innovations were checked and banished from the ,french language forever will be briefly alluded to in the next chapter4 ,,foot-,,notes3 #cha ,brunetiere1 i4 #de4 #chb ,defense1 ii4 #aa4 #chc ,cf4 ,rucktaeschel1 p4 #aj sq4 #chd ,art ,poet4 i4 #c4 #che ,ibid4 i4 #i4 #chf ,ibid4 i4 #aj4 #chg ,ronsard1 iii4 #bf sq4 #chh ,ibid4 vii4 #cbc4 #chi ,ronsard1 iii4 #i sq4 #cij ,ibid4 iii4 #bc1 #bf4 #cia ,art ,poet4 iii4 #aaea4 #cib ,ibid4 i4 #fa4 #cic ,art ,poet4 i4 #bb sq4 #cid ,ibid4 i4 #hac4 ,cf4 ,ronsard1 ii4 #ab4 #cie ,ronsard1 vii4 #cbj1 #ccb4 #cif ,the early ,italian poetry written in classical metres has been collected by ,carducci1 ,la ,poesia ,barbara nei ,secoli ,,xv e ,,xvi1 ,bologna1 #ahha4 #cig ,carducci1 p4 #b4 #cih ,ibid4 p4 #f sq4 #cii ,carducci1 pp4 #ee1 #hg1 etc4 #djj ,ibid4 pp4 #cbg1 #ddc4 ,cf4 ,du ,bellay1 ,defense1 ii4 #g4 #dja ,for the history of classical metres in ,france1 cf4 ,egger1 ,hellenisme en ,france1 p4 #bij sq41 and ,darmesteter and ,hatzfeld1 ,seizieme ,siecle en ,france1 p4 #aac sq4 #djb ,estienne ,pasquier1 in his ,recherches de la ,france1 vii4 #aa1 attempts to prove that the ,french language is capable of employing quantity in its verse1 but does not decide whether quantity or rhymed verse is to be preferred4 #djc ,cf4 ,rucktaeschel1 p4 #bd sq41 and ,carducci1 p4 #dac sq4 #djd ,this academy has been made the subject of an excellent monograph by ,e4 ,fremy1 ,l',academie des ,derniers ,valois1 ,paris1 n4 d4 ,the statutes of the academy will be found on page #ci of this work1 and the letters-patent granted to it by ,charles ,,ix4 on page #dh4 #dje ,defense1 ii4 #aa4 #djf ,art ,poet4 i4 #c4 #djg ,art ,poet4 ii4 #aj2 i4 #i4 #djh ,ronsard1 vii4 #cba1 #cbd4 #dji ,ibid4 iii4 #ag sq4 #daj ,sidney1 ,defence1 p4 #bi4 #daa ,essais1 i4 #ed4 #dab ,cf4 the ,revue d',hist4 litt4 de la ,france1 #ahif1 iii4 #a sq4 #dac ,ronsard1 iii4 #bh2 ,du ,bellay1 ,defense1 ii4 #aa4 #dad ,arnaud1 app4 ii4 #dae ,vauquelin1 ,art ,poet4 iii4 #hde2 cf4 iii4 #cc2 i4 #ija4 #daf ,ronsard1 vii4 #cbb4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,formation ,,of ,,the ,,classic ,,ideal ,,in ,,the ,,seventeenth ,,century ,i4 ,the ,romantic ,revolt ,,it is a well-known fact that between #afjj and #afcj there was a break in the national evolution of ,french literature4 ,this was especially so in the drama1 and in ,france the drama is the connecting link between century and century4 ,the dramatic works of the sixteenth century had been fashioned after the regular models borrowed by the ,italians from ,seneca4 ,the change that came was a change from ,italian classical to ,spanish romantic models4 ,the note of revolt was beginning to be heard in ,grevin1 ,de ,laudun1 and others4 ,the seventeenth century opened with the production of ,hardy's irregular drama1 ,les ,amours de ,theagene et ,cariclee 7#afja71 and the influence of the ,spanish romantic drama and the ,italian pastoral1 dominant for over a quarter of a century1 was inaugurated in ,france4 ,the logic of this innovation was best expounded in ,spain1 and it was there that arguments in favor of the romantic and irregular drama were first formulated4 ,the two most interesting defences of the ,spanish national drama are doubtless the ,egemplar ,poetico of ,juan de la ,cueva 7#afjf7 and ,lope de ,vega's ,arte ,nuevo de ,hacer ,comedias 7#afji74 ,their inspiration is at bottom the same4 ,their authors were both classicists at heart1 or rather classicists in theory1 yet with differences4 ,juan de la ,cueva's conception of poetry is entirely based on the precepts of the ,italians1 except in what regards the national drama1 for here he is a partisan and a patriot4 ,he insists that the difference of time and circumstance frees the ,spanish playwright from all necessity of imitating the ancients or obeying their rules4 ,this change in the drama1 he says1 was effected by wise men1 who applied to new conditions the new things they found most suitable and expedient2 for we must consider the various opinions1 the times1 and the manners1 which make it necessary for us to change and vary our operations4#dag ,his theory of the drama was entirely opposed to his conception of the other forms of poetry4 ,according to this standpoint1 as a recent writer has put it1 the theatre was to imitate nature1 and to please2 poetry was to imitate the ,italians1 and satisfy the orthodox but minute critic4#dah ,lope de ,vega1 writing three years later1 does not deny the universal applicability of the ,aristotelian canons1 and even acknowledges that they are the only true rules4 ,but the people demand romantic plays1 and the people1 rather than the poet's literary conscience1 must be satisfied by the playwright4 ,i myself1 he says1 write comedies according to the art invented by those whose sole object it is to obtain the applause of the crowd4 ,after all1 since it is the public who pays for these stupidities1 why should we not serve what it wants8#dai ,perhaps the most interesting of all the expositions of the theory of the ,spanish national drama is a defence of ,lope de ,vega's plays by one ,alfonso ,sanchez1 published in #afah in ,france1 or possibly in ,spain with a false ,french imprint4 ,the apology of ,sanchez is comprehended in six distinct propositions4 ,first1 the arts have their foundation in nature4 ,secondly1 a wise and learned man may alter many things in the existing arts4 ,thirdly1 nature does not obey laws1 but gives them4 ,fourthly1 ,lope de ,vega has done well in creating a new art4 ,fifthly1 in his writings everything is adjusted to art1 and that a real and living art4 ,lastly1 ,lope de ,vega has surpassed all the ancient poets4#dbj ,the following passage may be extracted from this treatise1 if only to show how little there was of novelty in the tenets of the ,french romanticists two centuries later3-- ,is it said that we have no infallible art by which to adjust our precepts8 ,but who can doubt it8 ,we have art1 we have precepts and rules which bind us1 and the principal precept is to imitate nature1 for the works of poets express the nature1 the manners1 and the genius of the age in which they write4444 ,lope de ,vega writes in conformity with art1 because he follows nature4 ,if1 on the contrary1 the ,spanish drama adjusted itself to the rules and laws of the ancients1 it would proceed against the requirements of nature1 and against the foundations of poetry4444 ,the great ,lope has done things over and above the laws of the ancients1 but never against these laws4 ,another ,spanish writer defines art as an attentive observation of examples graded by experience1 and reduced to method and the majesty of laws4#dba ,it was this naturalistic conception of the poetic art1 and especially of the drama1 that obtained in ,france during the first thirty years of the seventeenth century4 ,the ,french playwrights imitated the ,spanish drama in practice1 and from the ,spanish theorists seemed to have derived the critical justification of their plays4 ,hardy himself1 like ,lope de ,vega1 argues that everything which is approved by usage and the public taste is legitimate and more than legitimate4 ,another writer of this time1 ,francois ,ogier1 in the preface of the second edition of ,jean de ,schelandre's remarkable drama of ,tyr et ,sidon 7#afbh71 argues for intellectual independence of the ancients much in the same way as ,giraldi ,cintio1 ,pigna1 and the other partisans of the romanzi had done three-quarters of a century before4 ,the taste of every nation1 he says1 is quite different from any other4 ,the ,greeks wrote for the ,greeks1 and in the judgment of the best men of their time they succeeded4 ,but we should imitate them very much better by giving heed to the tastes of our own country1 and the genius of our own language1 than by forcing ourselves to follow step by step both their intention and their expression4 ,this would seem to be at bottom ,goethe's famous statement that we can best imitate the ,greeks by trying to be as great men as they were4 ,it is interesting to note1 in all of these early critics1 traces of that historical criticism which is usually regarded as the discovery of our own century4 ,but after all1 the ,french like the ,spanish playwrights were merely beginning to practise what the ,italian dramatists in their prefaces1 and some of the ,italian critics in their treatises1 had been preaching for nearly a century4 ,the ,abbe d',aubignac speaks of ,hardy as arresting the progress of the ,french theatre2 and whatever practical improvements the ,french theatre owes to him1 there can be little doubt that for a certain number of years the evolution of the classical drama was partly arrested by his efforts and the efforts of his school4 ,but during this very period the foundations of the great literature that was to come were being built on classical lines2 and the continuance of the classical tradition after #afcj was due to three distinct causes1 each of which will be discussed by itself as briefly as possible4 ,these three causes were the reaction against the ,pleiade1 the second influx of the critical ideas of the ,italian ,renaissance1 and the influence of the rationalistic philosophy of the period4 ,,ii4 ,the ,reaction against the ,pleiade ,the reaction against the ,pleiade was effected1 or at least begun1 by ,malherbe4 ,malherbe's power or message as a poet is of no concern here2 in his role of grammarian and critic he accomplished certain important and widespread reforms in ,french poetry4 ,these reforms were connected chiefly1 if not entirely1 with the external or formal side of poetry4 ,his work was that of a grammarian1 of a prosodist--in a word1 that of a purist4 ,he did not1 indeed1 during his lifetime1 publish any critical work1 or formulate any critical system4 ,but the reforms he executed were on this account no less influential or enduring4 ,his critical attitude is to be looked for in the memoirs of his life written by his disciple ,racan1 and in his own ,commentaire sur ,desportes1 which was not published in its entirety until very recently4#dbb ,this commentary consists of a series of manuscript notes written by ,malherbe about the year #afjf in the margins of a copy of ,desportes4 ,these notes are of a most fragmentary kind2 they seldom go beyond a word or two of disapproval1 such as faible1 mal concu1 superflu1 sans jugement1 sottise1 or mal imagine2 and yet1 together with a few detached utterances recorded in his letters and in the memoirs by ,racan1 they indicate quite clearly the critical attitude of ,malherbe and the reforms he was bent on bringing about4 ,these reforms were1 in the first place1 largely linguistic4 ,the ,pleiade had attempted to widen the sphere of poetic expression in ,french literature by the introduction of words from the classics1 from the ,italian and even the ,spanish1 from the provincial dialects1 from the old romances1 and from the terminology of the mechanic arts4 ,all these archaisms1 neologisms1 ,latinisms1 compound words1 and dialectic and technical expressions1 ,malherbe set about to eradicate from the ,french language4 ,his object was to purify ,french1 and1 as it were1 to centralize it4 ,the test he set up was actual usage1 and even this was narrowed down to the usage of the court4 ,ronsard had censured the exclusive use of courtly speech in poetry1 on the ground that the courtier cares more about fighting well than about speaking or writing well4 ,but ,malherbe's ideal was the ideal of ,french classicism--the ideal of ,boileau1 ,racine1 and ,bossuet4 ,french was to be no longer a hodgepodge or a patois1 but the pure and perfect speech of the king and his court4 ,malherbe1 while thus reacting against the ,pleiade1 made no pretensions of returning to the linguistic usages of ,marot2 his test was present usage1 his model the living language4#dbc ,at the same time his reforms in language1 as in other things1 represent a reaction against foreign innovations and a return to the pure ,french idiom4 ,they were in the interest of the national traditions2 and it is this national element which is his share in the body of neo-classical theory and practice4 ,his reforms were all in the direction of that verbal and mechanical perfection1 the love of which is innate in the ,french nature1 and which forms the indigenous or racial element in ,french classicism4 ,he eliminated from ,french verse hiatus1 enjambement1 inversions1 false and imperfect rhymes1 and licenses or cacophonies of all kinds4 ,he gave it1 as has been said1 mechanical perfection1-- ,et reduisit la ,muse aux regles du devoir4 ,for such a man--tyran des mots et des syllabes1 as ,balzac called him--the higher qualities of poetry could have little or no meaning4 ,his ideals were propriety1 clearness1 regularity1 and force4 ,these1 as ,chapelain perceived at the time1 are oratorical rather than purely poetic qualities2 yet for these1 all the true qualities that go to make up a great poet were to be sacrificed4 ,of imagination and poetic sensibility he takes no account whatsoever4 ,after the verbal perfection of the verse1 the logical unity of the poem was his chief interest4 ,logic and reason are without doubt important things1 but they cannot exist in poetry to the exclusion of imagination4 ,by eliminating inspiration1 as it were1 ,malherbe excluded the possibility of lyrical production in ,france throughout the period of classicism4 ,he hated poetic fictions1 since for him1 as for ,boileau1 only actual reality is beautiful4 ,if he permitted the employment of mythological figures1 it was because they are reasonable and universally intelligible symbols4 ,the ,french mind is essentially rational and logical1 and ,malherbe reintroduced this native rationality into ,french poetry4 ,he set up common sense as a poetic ideal1 and made poetry intelligible to the average mind4 ,the ,pleiade had written for a learned literary coterie2 ,malherbe wrote for learned and unlearned alike4 ,for the ,pleiade1 poetry had been a divine office1 a matter of prophetic inspiration2 for ,malherbe1 it was a trade1 a craft1 to be learnt like any other4 ,du ,bellay had said that it is a well-accepted fact1 according to the most learned men1 that natural talents without learning can accomplish more in poetry than learning without natural talents4 ,malherbe1 it has been neatly said1 would have upheld the contrary doctrine that learning without natural talents can accomplish more than natural talents without learning4#dbd ,after all1 eloquence was ,malherbe's ideal2 and as the ,french are by nature an eloquent rather than a poetic people1 he deserves the honor of having first shown them how to regain their true inheritance4 ,in a word1 he accomplished for classical poetry in ,france all that the national instinct1 the esprit gaulois1 could accomplish by itself4 ,consistent structural laws for the larger poetic forms he could not give2 these ,france owes to ,italy4 ,nor could he appreciate the high notion of abstract perfection1 or the classical conception of an absolute standard of taste--that of several expressions or several ways of doing something1 one way and only one is the right one2 this ,france owes to rationalistic philosophy4 ,malherbe seems almost to be echoing ,montaigne when he says in a letter to ,balzac3-- ,do you not know that the diversity of opinions is as natural as the difference of men's faces1 and that to wish that what pleases or displeases us should please or displease everybody is to pass the limits where it seems that ,god in ,his omnipotence has commanded us to stop8#dbe ,with this individualistic expression of the questions of opinion and taste1 we have but to compare the following passage from ,la ,bruyere to indicate how far ,malherbe is still from the classic ideal3-- ,there is a point of perfection in art1 as of excellence or maturity in nature4 ,he who is sensible of it and loves it has perfect taste2 he who is not sensible of it and loves this or that else on either side of it has a faulty taste4 ,there is then a good and a bad taste1 and men dispute of tastes not without reason4#dbf ,,iii4 ,the ,second ,influx of ,italian ,ideas ,the second influx of ,italian critical ideas into ,france came through two channels4 ,in the first place1 the direct literary relations between ,italy and ,france during this period were very marked4 ,the influence of ,marino1 who lived for a long time at ,paris and published a number of his works there1 was not inconsiderable1 especially upon the ,french concettists and precieux4 ,two ,italian ladies founded and presided over the famous ,hotel de ,rambouillet1--,julie ,savelli1 ,marquise de ,pisani1 and ,catherine de ,vivonne1 ,marquise de ,rambouillet4 ,it was partly to the influence of the ,accademia della ,crusca that the foundation of the ,french ,academy was due4 ,chapelain and ,menage were both members of the ,italian society1 and submitted to it their different opinions on a verse of ,petrarch4 ,like the ,accademia della ,crusca1 the ,french ,academy purposed the preparation of a great dictionary2 and each began its existence by attacking a great work of literature1 the ,gerusalemme ,liberata in the case of the ,italian society1 ,corneille's ,cid in the case of the ,french4 ,the regency of ,marie de ,medici1 the supremacy of ,mazarin1 and other political events1 all conspired to bring ,italy and ,france into the closest social and literary relationship4 ,but the two individuals who first brought into ,french literature and naturalized the primal critical concepts of ,italy were ,chapelain and ,balzac4 ,chapelain's private correspondence indicates how thorough was his acquaintance with the critical literature of ,italy4 ,i have a particular affection for the ,italian language1 he wrote in #afci to ,balzac4#dbg ,of the ,cid1 he says that in ,italy it would be considered barbarous1 and there is not an academy which would not banish it beyond the confines of its jurisdiction4#dbh ,speaking of the greatness of ,ronsard1 he says that his own opinion was in accord with that of two great savants beyond the ,alps1 ,speroni and ,castelvetro2#dbi and he had considerable correspondence with ,balzac on the subject of the controversy between ,caro and ,castelvetro in the previous century4 ,in a word1 he knew and studied the critics and scholars of ,italy1 and was interested in discussing them4 ,balzac's interest1 on the other hand1 was rather toward ,spanish literature2 but he was the agent of the ,cardinal de la ,valette at ,rome1 and it was on his return to ,france that he published the first collection of his letters4 ,the influence of both ,chapelain and ,balzac on ,french classicism was considerable4 ,during the sixteenth century1 literary criticism had been entirely in the hands of learned men4 ,chapelain and ,balzac vulgarized the critical ideas of the ,italian ,renaissance1 and made them popular1 human1 but inviolable4 ,balzac introduced into ,france the fine critical sense of the ,italians2 ,chapelain introduced their formal rules1 and imposed the three unities on ,french tragedy4 ,together they effected a humanizing of the classical ideal1 even while subjecting it to rules4 ,it was to the same ,italian influences that ,france owed the large number of artificial epics that appeared during this period4 ,about ten epics were published in the fifteen years between #afej and #affe4dcj ,the ,italians of the sixteenth century had formulated a fixed theory of the artificial epic2 and the nations of western ,europe rivalled one another in attempting to make practical use of this theory4 ,it is to this that the large number of ,spanish epics in the sixteenth century and of ,french epics in the seventeenth may be ascribed4 ,among the latter we may mention ,scudery's ,alaric1 ,lemoyne's ,saint ,louis1 ,saint-,amant's ,moyse ,sauve1 and ,chapelain's own epic1 ,la ,pucelle1 awaited by the public for many years1 and published only to be damned forever by ,boileau4 ,the prefaces of all these epics indicate clearly enough their indebtedness to the ,italians4 ,they were indeed scarcely more than attempts to put the rules and precepts of the ,italian ,renaissance into practice4 ,i then consulted the masters of this art1 says ,scudery1 in the preface of ,alaric1 that is to say1 ,aristotle and ,horace1 and after them ,macrobius1 ,scaliger1 ,tasso1 ,castelvetro1 ,piccolomini1 ,vida1 ,vossius1 ,robortelli1 ,riccoboni1 ,paolo ,beni1 ,mambrun1 and several others2 and passing from theory to practice ,i reread very carefully the ,iliad and the ,odyssey1 the ,a,eneid1 the ,pharsalia1 the ,thebaid1 the ,orlando ,furioso1 and the ,gerusalemme ,liberata1 and many other epic poems in diverse languages4 ,similarly1 ,saint-,amant1 in the preface of his ,moyse ,sauve1 says that he had rigorously observed the unities of action and place1 which are the principal requirements of the epic2 and besides1 by an entirely new method1 ,i have restricted my subject not only within twenty-four hours1 the limit of the dramatic poem1 but almost within half of that time4 ,this is more than even ,aristotle1 ,horace1 ,scaliger1 ,castelvetro1 ,piccolomini1 and all the other moderns have ever required4 ,it is obvious that for these epic-makers the rules and precepts of the ,italians were the final tests of heroic poetry4 ,similarly1 the ,abbe d',aubignac1 at the beginning of his ,pratique du ,theatre1 advises the dramatic poet to study1 among other writers1 ,aristotle1 ,horace1 ,castelvetro1 ,vida1 ,heinsius1 ,vossius1 and ,scaliger1 of whom not a word should be lost4 ,from the ,italians also came the theory of poetry in general as held throughout the period of classicism1 and expounded by the ,abbe d',aubignac1 ,la ,mesnardiere1 ,corneille1 ,boileau1 and numerous others2 and it is hardly necessary to repeat that ,rapin1 tracing the history of criticism at the beginning of his ,reflexions sur la ,poetique1 deals with scarcely any critics but the ,italians4 ,besides the direct influence of the ,italian critics1 another influence contributed its share to the sum of critical ideas which ,french classicism owes to the ,italian ,renaissance4 ,this was the tradition of ,scaliger1 carried on by the ,dutch scholars ,heinsius and ,vossius4 ,daniel ,heinsius was the pupil of ,joseph ,scaliger1 the illustrious son of the author of the ,poetics2 and through ,heinsius the dramatic theories of the elder ,scaliger influenced classical tragedy in ,france4 ,the treatise of ,heinsius1 ,de ,tragoediae ,constitutione1 published at ,leyden in #afaa1 was called by ,chapelain the quintessence of ,aristotle's ,poetics2 and ,chapelain called ,heinsius himself a prophet or sibyl in matters of criticism4#dca ,annoted by ,racine1 cited as an infallible authority by ,corneille1 ,heinsius's work exercised a marked influence on ,french tragedy by fixing upon it the laws of ,scaliger2 and later the works of ,vossius cooperated with those of ,heinsius in widening the sphere of the ,italian influence4 ,it is evident1 therefore1 that while ,french literature had already during the sixteenth century taken from the ,italian ,renaissance its respect for antiquity and its admiration for classical mythology1 the seventeenth century owed to ,italy its definitive conception of the theory of poetry1 and especially certain rigid structural laws for tragedy and epic4 ,it may be said without exaggeration that there is not an essential idea or precept in the works of ,corneille and ,d',aubignac on dramatic poetry1 or of ,le ,bossu and ,mambrun on epic poetry1 that cannot be found in the critical writings of the ,italian ,renaissance4 ,,iv4 ,the ,influence of ,rationalistic ,philosophy ,the influence of rationalistic philosophy on the general attitude of classicism manifested itself in what may be called the gradual rationalization of all that the ,renaissance gave to ,france4 ,the process thus effected is most definitely exhibited in the evolution of the rules which ,france owed to ,italy4 ,it has already been shown how the rules and precepts of the ,italians had originally been based on authority alone1 but had gradually obtained a general significance of their own1 regardless of their ancient authority4 ,somewhat later1 in ,england1 the ,aristotelian canons were defended by ,ben ,jonson on the ground that ,aristotle understood the causes of things1 and that what others had done by chance or custom1 ,aristotle did by reason alone4#dcb ,by this time1 then1 the reasonableness of the ,aristotelian canons was distinctly felt1 although they were still regarded as having authoritativeness in themselves2 and it was first in the ,french classicists of the seventeenth century that reason and the ancient rules were regarded as one and inseparable4 ,rationalism1 indeed1 is to be found at the very outset of the critical activity of the ,renaissance2 and ,vida's words1 already cited1 ,semper nutu rationis eant res1 represent in part the attitude of the ,renaissance mind toward literature4 ,but the reason of the earlier theorists was merely empirical and individualistic2 it did not differ essentially from ,horace's ideal of good sense4 ,in fact1 rationalism and humanism1 while existing together throughout the ,renaissance1 were never to any extent harmonized2 and extreme rationalism generally took the form of an avowed antagonism to ,aristotle4 ,the complete rationalization of the laws of literature is first evident toward the middle of the seventeenth century4 ,the rules of the theatre1 says the ,abbe d',aubignac1 at the beginning of his ,pratique du ,theatre1 are founded1 not on authority1 but on reason1 and if they are called the rules of the ancients1 it is simply because the ancients have admirably practised them4 ,similarly1 ,corneille1 in his discourse ,des ,trois ,unites1 says that the unity of time would be arbitrary and tyrannical if it were merely required by ,aristotle's ,poetics1 but that its real prop is the natural reason2 and ,boileau sums up the final attitude of classicism in these words3-- ,aimez donc la raison2 que toujours vos ecrits ,empruntent d'elle seule et leur lustre et leur prix4#dcc ,here the rationalizing process is complete1 and the actual requirements of authority become identical with the dictates of the reason4 ,the rules expounded by ,boileau1 while for the most part the same as those enunciated by the ,italians1 are no longer mere rules4 ,they are laws dictated by abstract and universal reason1 and hence inevitable and infallible2 they are not tyrannical or arbitrary1 but imposed upon us by the very nature of the human mind4 ,this is not merely1 as we have said1 the good nature and the good sense1 in a word1 the sweet reasonableness1 of such a critic as ,horace4#dcd ,there is more than this in the classicists of the seventeenth century4 ,good sense becomes universalized1 becomes1 in fact1 as has been said1 not merely an empirical notion of good sense1 but the abstract and universal reason itself4 ,from this follows the absolute standard of taste at the bottom of classicism1 as exemplified in the passage already cited from ,la ,bruyere1 and in such a line as this from ,boileau3-- ,la raison pour marcher n'a souvent qu'une voie4#dce ,this rationalization of the ,renaissance rules of poetry was effected by contemporary philosophy2 if not by the works and doctrines of ,descartes himself1 at least by the general tendency of the human mind at this period1 of which these works and doctrines are the most perfect expressions4 ,boileau's ,art ,poetique has been aptly called the ,discours de la ,methode of ,french poetry4 ,so that while the contribution of ,malherbe and his school to classicism lay in the insistence on clearness1 propriety1 and verbal and metrical perfection1 and the contribution of the ,italian ,renaissance lay in the infusion of respect for classical antiquity and the imposition of a certain body of fixed rules1 the contribution of contemporary philosophy lay in the rationalization or universalization of these rules1 and in the imposition of an abstract and absolute standard of taste4 ,but ,cartesianism brought with it certain important limitations and deficiencies4 ,boileau himself is reported to have said that the philosophy of ,descartes has cut the throat of poetry2#dcf and there can be no doubt that this is the exaggerated expression of a certain inevitable truth4 ,the excessive insistence on the reason brought with it a corresponding undervaluation of the imagination4 ,the rational and rigidly scientific basis of ,cartesianism was forced on classicism2 and reality became its supreme object and its final test3-- ,rien n'est beau que le vrai4 ,reference has already been made to various disadvantages imposed on classicism by the very nature of its origin and growth2 but the most vital of all these disadvantages was the influence of the ,cartesian philosophy or philosophic temper4 ,with the scientific basis thus imposed on literature1 its only safeguard against extinction was the vast influence of a certain body of fixed rules1 which literature dared not deviate from1 and which it attempted to justify on the wider grounds of philosophy4 ,these rules1 then1 the contribution of ,italy1 saved poetry in ,france from extinction during the classical period2 and of this a remarkable confirmation is to be found in the fact that not until the rationalism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was superseded in ,france1 did ,french literature rid itself of this body of ,renaissance rules4 ,cartesianism1 or at least the rationalistic spirit1 humanized these rules1 and imposed them on the rest of ,europe4 ,but though quintessentialized1 they remained artificial1 and circumscribed the workings of the ,french imagination for over a century4 ,,foot-,,notes3 #dag ,sedano1 ,parnaso ,espanol1 viii4 #fa4 #dah ,hannay1 ,later ,renaissance1 #ahih1 p4 #ci4 #dai ,menendez y ,pelayo1 iii4 #dcd4 #dbj ,ibid4 iii4 #ddg sq4 #dba ,menendez y ,pelayo1 iii4 #dfd4 #dbb ,the ,commentaire is printed entire in ,lalanne's edition of ,malherbe1 ,paris1 #ahfb1 vol4 iv4 ,the critical doctrine of ,malherbe has been formulated by ,brunot1 ,doctrine de ,malherbe1 pp4 #aje-bcf4 #dbc ,cf4 ,horace1 ,ars ,poet4 #ga1 #gb4 #dbd ,brunot1 p4 #adi4 #dbe ,oeuvres1 ,lalanne's edition1 iv4 #ia4 #dbf ,caracteres1 ,des ,ouvrages de l',esprit4 #dbg ,lettres1 i4 #dac4 ,the references are to the edition by ,tamizey de ,larroque1 ,paris1 #ahhj-ahhc4 #dbh ,ibid4 i4 #aef4 #dbi ,ibid4 i4 #fca sq4 #dcj ,these epics have been treated at length by ,duchesne1 ,histoire des ,poemes ,epiques francais du ,,xvii ,siecle1 ,paris1 #ahgj4 #dca ,lettres1 i4 #bfi1 #dbd4 ,on the theories of ,heinsius1 see ,zerbst1 ,ein ,vorlaeufer ,lessings in der ,aristotelesinterpretation1 ,jena1 #ahhg4 #dcb ,discoveries1 p4 #hj4 #dcc ,art ,poet4 i4 #cg4 #dcd ,cf4 ,brunetiere1 ,etudes ,critiques1 iv4 #acf2 and ,krantz1 p4 #ic sq4 #dce ,art ,poet4 i4 #dh4 #dcf ,reported by ,j4 ,b4 ,rousseau1 in a letter to ,brossette1 ,july #ba1 #agae4 ,,part ,,third ,,literary ,,criticism ,,in ,,england ,,literary ,,criticism ,,in ,,england ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,evolution ,,of ,,english ,,criticism ,,from ,,ascham ,,to ,,milton ,,literary criticism in ,england during the ,elizabethan age was neither so influential nor so rich and varied as the contemporary criticism of ,italy and ,france4 ,this fact might perhaps be thought insufficient to affect the interest or patriotism of ,english-speaking people1 yet the most charming critical monument of this period1 ,sidney's ,defence of ,poesy1 has been slightingly referred to by the latest historian of ,english poetry4 ,such interest and importance as ,elizabethan criticism possesses must therefore be of an historical nature1 and lies in two distinct directions4 ,in the first place1 the study of the literature of this period will show1 not only that there was a more or less complete body of critical doctrine during the ,renaissance1 but also that ,englishmen shared in this creation1 or inheritance1 of the ,renaissance as truly as did their continental neighbors2 and on the other hand this study may be said to possess an interest in itself1 in so far as it will make the growth of classicism in ,england intelligible1 and will indicate that the formation of the classic ideal had begun before the introduction of the ,french influence4 ,in neither case1 however1 can early ,english criticism be considered wholly apart from the general body of ,renaissance doctrine2 and its study loses in importance and perspicuity according as it is kept distinct from the consideration of the critical literature of ,france1 and especially of ,italy4 ,english criticism1 during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries1 passed through five more or less distinct stages of development4 ,the first stage1 characterized by the purely rhetorical study of literature1 may be said to begin with ,leonard ,coxe's ,arte or ,crafte of ,rhetoryke1 a hand-book for young students1 compiled about #aebd1 chiefly from one of the rhetorical treatises of ,melanchthon4#dcg ,this was followed by ,wilson's ,arte of ,rhetorike 7#aeec71 which is more extensive and certainly more original than ,coxe's manual1 and which has been called by ,warton the first book or system of criticism in our language4 ,but the most important figure of this period is ,roger ,ascham4 ,the educational system expounded in his ,scholemaster1 written between #aefc and #aefh1 he owed largely to his friend1 ,john ,sturm1 the ,strasburg humanist1 and to his teacher1 ,sir ,john ,cheke1 who had been ,greek lecturer at the ,university of ,padua2 but for the critical portions of this work he seems directly indebted to the rhetorical treatises of the ,italians4#dch ,yet his obligations to the ,italian humanists did not prevent the expression of his stern and unyielding antagonism to the romantic ,italian spirit as it influenced the imaginative literature of his time4 ,in studying early ,english literature it must always be kept in mind that the ,italian ,renaissance influenced the ,elizabethan age in two different directions4 ,the ,italianization of ,english poetry had been effected1 or at least begun1 by the publication of ,tottel's ,miscellany in #aeeg2 on this1 the creative side of ,english literature1 the ,italian influence was distinctly romantic4 ,the influence of the ,italian humanists1 on the other hand1 was directly opposed to this romantic spirit2 even in their own country they had antagonized all that was not classical in tendency4 ,ascham1 therefore1 as a result of his humanistic training1 became not only the first ,english man of letters1 but also the first ,english classicist4 ,the first stage of ,english criticism1 then1 was entirely given up to rhetorical study4 ,it was at this time that ,english writers first attained the appreciation of form and style as distinguishing features of literature2 and it was to this appreciation that the formation of an ,english prose style was due4 ,this period may therefore be compared with the later stages of ,italian humanism in the fifteenth century2 and the later humanists were the masters and models of these early ,english rhetoricians4 ,gabriel ,harvey1 as a ,ciceronian of the school of ,bembo1 was perhaps their last representative4 ,the second stage of ,english criticism--a period of classification and especially of metrical studies--commences with ,gascoigne's ,notes of ,instruction concerning the making of ,verse1#dci published in #aege1 and modelled apparently on ,ronsard's ,abrege de l',art ,poetique francois 7#aefe74 ,besides this brief pamphlet1 the first work on ,english versification1 this stage also includes ,puttenham's ,arte of ,english ,poesie1 the first systematic classification of poetic forms and subjects1 and of rhetorical figures2 ,bullokar's ,bref ,grammar1 the first systematic treatise on ,english grammar2 and ,harvey's ,letters and ,webbe's ,discourse of ,english ,poetrie1 the first systematic attempts to introduce classical metres into ,english poetry4 ,this period was characterized by the study and classification of the practical questions of language and versification2 and in this labor it was cooperating with the very tendencies which ,ascham had been attempting to counteract4 ,the study of the verse-forms introduced into ,england from ,italy helped materially to perfect the external side of ,english poetry2 and a similar result was obtained by the crude attempts at quantitative verse suggested by the school of ,tolomei4 ,the ,italian prosodists were thus1 directly or indirectly1 the masters of the ,english students of this era4 ,the representative work of the third stage--the period of philosophical and apologetic criticism--is ,sir ,philip ,sidney's ,defence of ,poesy1 published posthumously in #aeie1 though probably written about #aehc4 ,harington's ,apologie of ,poetrie1 ,daniel's ,defence of ,ryme1 and a few others1 are also contemporary treatises4 ,these works1 as their titles indicate1 are all defences or apologies1 and were called forth by the attacks of the ,puritans on poetry1 especially dramatic poetry1 and the attacks of the classicists on ,english versification and rhyme4 ,required by the exigencies of the moment to defend poetry in general1 these authors did not attempt to do so on local or temporary grounds1 but set out to examine the fundamental grounds of criticism1 and to formulate the basic principles of poetry4 ,in this attempt they consciously or unconsciously sought aid from the critics of ,italy1 and thus commenced in ,england the influence of the ,italian theory of poetry4 ,how great was their indebtedness to the ,italians the course of the present study will make somewhat clear2 but it is certainly remarkable that this indebtedness has never been pointed out before4 ,speaking of ,sidney's ,defence of ,poesy1 one of the most distinguished ,english authorities on the ,renaissance says3 ,much as the ,italians had recently written upon the theory of poetry1 ,i do not remember any treatise which can be said to have supplied the material or suggested the method of this apology4#ddj ,on the contrary1 the doctrines discussed by ,sidney had been receiving very similar treatment from the ,italians for over half a century2 and it can be said without exaggeration that there is not an essential principle in the ,defence of ,poesy which cannot be traced back to some ,italian treatise on the poetic art4 ,the age of which ,sidney is the chief representative is therefore the first period of the influence of ,italian critics4 ,the fourth stage of ,english criticism1 of which ,ben ,jonson is1 as it were1 the presiding genius1 occupies the first half of the seventeenth century4 ,the period that preceded it was in general romantic in its tendencies2 that of ,jonson leaned toward a strict though never servile classicism4 ,sidney's contemporaries had studied the general theory of poetry1 not for the purpose of enunciating rules or dogmas of criticism1 but chiefly in order to defend the poetic art1 and to understand its fundamental principles4 ,the spirit of the age was the spirit1 let us say1 of ,fracastoro2 that of ,jonson was1 in a moderate form1 the spirit of ,scaliger or ,castelvetro4 ,with ,jonson the study of the art of poetry became an inseparable guide to creation2 and it is this element of self-conscious art1 guided by the rules of criticism1 which distinguishes him from his predecessors4 ,the age which he represents is therefore the second period of the influence of ,italian criticism2 and the same influence also is to be seen in such critical poems as ,suckling's ,session of the ,poets1 and the ,great ,assises holden in ,parnassus1 ascribed to ,wither1 both of which may be traced back to the class of critical poetry of which ,boccalini's ,ragguagli di ,parnaso is the type4#dda ,the fifth period1 which covers the second half of the seventeenth century1 is characterized by the introduction of ,french influence1 and begins with ,davenant's letter to ,hobbes1 and ,hobbes's answer1 both prefixed to the epic of ,gondibert 7#afea74 ,these letters1 written while ,davenant and ,hobbes were at ,paris1 display many of the characteristic features of the new influence1--the rationalistic spirit1 the stringent classicism1 the restriction of art to the imitation of nature1 with the further limitation of nature to the life of the city and the court1 and the confinement of the imagination to what is called wit4 ,this specialized sense of the word wit is characteristic of the new age1 of which ,dryden1 in part the disciple of ,davenant1 is the leading figure4 ,the ,elizabethans used the term in the general sense of the understanding1--wit1 the mental faculty1 as opposed to will1 the faculty of volition4 ,with the neo-classicists it was used sometimes to represent1 in a limited sense1 the imagination1#ddb more often1 however1 to designate what we should call fancy1#ddc or even mere propriety of poetic expression2#ddd but whatever its particular use1 it was always regarded as of the essence of poetic art4 ,with the fifth stage of ,english criticism this essay is not concerned4 ,the history of literary criticism in ,england will be traced no farther than #afej1 when the influence of ,france was substituted for that of ,italy4 ,this section deals especially with the two great periods of ,italian influence1--that of ,sidney and that of ,ben ,jonson4 ,these two men are the central figures1 and their names1 like those of ,dryden1 ,pope1 and ,samuel ,johnson1 represent distinct and important epochs in the history of literary criticism4 ,,foot-,,notes3 #dcg ,cf4 ,mod4 ,lang4 ,notes1 #ahih1 xiii4 #bic4 #dch ,cf4 ,ascham1 ,works1 ii4 #agd-aia4 #dci ,the ,reulis and ,cautelis of ,scottis ,poesie by ,james ,,vi4 of ,scotland is wholly based on ,gascoigne's treatise4 #ddj ,j4 ,a4 ,symonds1 ,sir ,philip ,sidney1 p4 #aeg4 ,cf4 also1 ,sidney1 ,defence1 ,cook's introduction1 p4 xxvii4 #dda ,cf4 ,foffano1 p4 #agc sq4 ,in ,spain1 ,lope de ,vega's ,laurel de ,apolo and ,cervantes' ,viage del ,parnaso belong to the same class of poems4 #ddb ,cf4 ,dryden1 ded4 epist4 to the ,annus ,mirabilis4 #ddc ,addison1 ,spectator1 no4 #fb4 #ddd ,dryden1 preface to the ,state of ,innocence4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,general ,,theory ,,of ,,poetry ,,in ,,the ,,elizabethan ,,age ,,those who have some acquaintance1 however superficial1 with the literary criticism of the ,italian ,renaissance will find an account of the ,elizabethan theory of poetry a twice-told tale4 ,in ,england1 as in ,france1 criticism during this period was of a more practical character than in ,italy2 but even for the technical questions discussed by the ,elizabethans1 some prototype1 or at least some equivalent1 may be found among the ,italians4 ,the first four stages of ,english criticism have therefore little novelty or original value2 and their study is chiefly important as evidence of the gradual application of the ideas of the ,renaissance to ,english literature4 ,the writers of the first stage1 as might be expected1 concerned themselves but little with the theory of poetry1 beyond repeating here and there the commonplaces they found in the ,italian rhetoricians4 ,yet it is interesting to note that as early as #aeec1 ,wilson1 in the third book of his ,rhetoric1 gives expression to the allegorical conception of poetry which in ,italy had held sway from the time of ,petrarch and ,boccaccio1 and which1 more than anything else1 colored critical theory in ,elizabethan ,england4 ,the ancient poets1 according to ,wilson1 did not spend their time inventing meaningless fables1 but used the story merely as a framework for contents of ethical1 philosophic1 scientific1 or historical import2 the trials of ,ulysses1 for example1 were intended to furnish a lively picture of man's misery in this life4 ,the poets are1 in fact1 wise men1 spiritual legislators1 reformers1 who have at heart the redressing of wrongs2 and in accomplishing this end1--either because they fear to rebuke these wrongs openly1 or because they doubt the expediency or efficacy of such frankness with ignorant people1--they hide their true meaning under the veil of pleasant fables4 ,this theory of poetic art1 one of the commonplaces of the age1 may be described as the great legacy of the ,middle ,ages to ,renaissance criticism4 ,the writers of the second stage were1 in many cases1 too busy with questions of versification and other practical matters to find time for abstract theorizing on the art of poetry4 ,a long period of rhetorical and metrical study had helped to formulate a rhetorical and technical conception of the poet's function1 aptly exemplified in the sonnet describing the perfect poet prefixed to ,king ,james's brief treatise on ,scotch poetry4#dde ,the marks of a perfect poet are there given as skilfulness in the rhetorical figures1 quick wit1 as shown in the use of apt and pithy words1 and a good memory2--a merely external view of the poet's gifts1 which takes no account of such essentials as imagination1 sensibility1 and knowledge of nature and human life4 ,webbe's ,discourse of ,english ,poetrie 7#aehf7 gives expression to a conception of the object of poetry which is the logical consequence of the allegorical theory1 and which was therefore almost universally accepted by ,renaissance writers4 ,the poet teaches by means of the allegorical truth hidden under the pleasing fables he invents2 but his first object must be to make these fables really pleasing1 or the reader is deterred at the outset from any acquaintance with the poet's works4 ,poetry is therefore a delightful form of instruction2 it pleases and profits together2 but first of all it must delight1 for the very sum and chiefest essence of poetry did always for the most part consist in delighting the readers or hearers4#ddf ,the poet has the highest welfare of man at heart2 and by his sweet allurements to virtue and effective caveats against vice1 he gains his end1 not roughly or tyrannically1 but1 as it were1 with a loving authority4#ddg ,from the very beginnings of human society poetry has been the means of civilizing men1 of drawing them from barbarity to civility and virtue4 ,if it be objected that this art--or rather1 from the divine origin of its inspiration1 this more than art--has ever been made the excuse for the enticing expression of obscenity and blasphemy1 ,webbe has three answers4 ,in the first place1 poetry is to be moralized1 that is1 to be read allegorically4 ,the ,metamorphoses of ,ovid1 for example1 will become1 when so understood1 a fount of ethical teaching2 and ,harington1 a few years later1 actually explains in detail the allegorical significance of the fourth book of that poem4#ddh ,this was a well-established tradition1 and indeed a favorite occupation1 of the ,middle ,ages2 and the ,ovide ,moralise1 a long poem by ,chretien ,le ,gouais1 written about the beginning of the fourteenth century1 and the equally long ,ovidian commentary of ,pierre ,bercuire1 are typical examples of this practice4#ddi ,in the second place1 the picture of vices to be found in poetry is intended1 not to entice the reader to imitate them1 but rather to deter sensible men from doing likewise by showing the misfortune that inevitably results from evil4 ,moreover1 obscenity is in no way essentially connected with poetic art2 it is to the abuse of poetry1 and not to poetry itself1 that we must lay all blame for this fault4 ,a still higher conception of the poet's function is to be found in ,puttenham's ,arte of ,english ,poesie 7#aehi74 ,the author of this treatise informs us that he had lived at the courts of ,france1 ,italy1 and ,spain1 and knew the languages of these and other lands2 and the results of his travels and studies are sufficiently shown in his general theory of poetry4 ,his conception of the poet is directly based on that of ,scaliger4 ,poetry1 in its highest form1 is an art of making1 or creation2 and in this sense the poet is a creator like ,god1 and forms a world out of nothing4 ,in another sense1 poetry is an art of imitation1 in that it presents a true and lively picture of everything set before it4 ,in either case1 it can attain perfection only by a divine instinct1 or by a great excellence of nature1 or by vast observation and experience of the world1 or indeed by all these together2 but whatever the source of its inspiration1 it is ever worthy of study and praise1 and its creators deserve preeminence and dignity above all other artificers1 scientific or mechanical4#dej ,the poets were the first priests1 prophets1 and legislators of the world1 the first philosophers1 scientists1 orators1 historians1 and musicians4 ,they have been held in the highest esteem by the greatest men from the very first2 and the nobility1 antiquity1 and universality of their art prove its preeminence and worth4 ,with such a history and such a nature1 it is sacrilege to debase poetry1 or to employ it upon any unworthy subject or for ignoble purpose4 ,its chief themes should therefore be such as these3 the honor and glory of the gods1 the worthy deeds of noble princes and great warriors1 the praise of virtue and the reproof of vice1 instruction in moral doctrine or scientific knowledge1 and finally1 the common solace of mankind in all the travails and cares of this transitory life1 or even for mere recreation alone4#dea ,this is the sum of poetic theorizing during the second stage of ,english criticism4 ,yet it was at this very time that the third1 or apologetic1 period was prepared for by the attacks which the ,puritans directed against poetry1 and especially the drama4 ,of these attacks1 ,gosson's1 as the most celebrated1 may be taken as the type4 ,underlying the rant and exaggerated vituperation of his ,schoole of ,abuse 7#aegi71 there is a basis of right principles1 and some evidence at least of a spirit not wholly vulgar4 ,he was a moral reformer1 an idealist1 who looked back with regret toward the old discipline of ,england1 and contrasted it with the spirit of his own day1 when ,englishmen seemed to have robbed ,greece of gluttony1 ,italy of wantonness1 ,spain of pride1 ,france of deceit1 and ,dutchland of quaffing4#deb ,the typical evidences of this moral degradation and effeminacy he found in poetry and the drama2 and it is to this motive that his bitter assault on both must be ascribed4 ,he specifically insists that his intention was not to banish poetry1 or to condemn music1 or to forbid harmless recreation to mankind1 but merely to chastise the abuse of all these4#dec ,he praises plays which possess real moral purpose and effect1 and points out the true use and the worthy subjects of poetry much in the same manner as ,puttenham does a few years later4#ded ,but he affirms1 as ,plato had done hundreds of years before1 and as a distinguished ,french critic has done only the other day1 that art contains within itself the germ of its own disintegration2 and he shows that in the ,english poetry of his own time this disintegration had already taken place4 ,the delights and ornaments of verse1 intended really to make moral doctrine more pleasing and less abstruse and thorny1 had become1 with his contemporaries1 mere alluring disguises for obscenity and blasphemy4 ,in the first of the replies to ,gosson1 ,lodge's ,defence of ,poetry1 ,musick1 and ,stage ,plays1 written before either of the treatises of ,webbe and ,puttenham1 are found the old principles of allegorical and moral interpretation1--principles which to us may seem well worn1 but which to the ,english criticism of that time were novel enough4 ,lodge points out the efficacy of poetry as a civilizing factor in primitive times1 and as a moral agency ever since4 ,if the poets have on occasion erred1 so have the philosophers1 even ,plato himself1 and grievously4#dee ,poetry is a heavenly gift1 and is to be contemned only when abused and debased4 ,lodge did not perceive that his point of view was substantially the same as his opponent's2 and indeed1 throughout the ,elizabethan age1 there was this similarity in the point of view of those who attacked and those who defended poetry4 ,both sides admitted that not poetry1 but its abuse1 is to be disparaged2 and they differed chiefly in that one side insisted almost entirely on the ideal perfection of the poetic art1 while the other laid stress on the debased state into which it had fallen4 ,a dual point of view was attempted in a work1 licensed in ,january1 #afjj1 which pretended to be a commendation of true poetry1 and a discommendation of all bawdy1 ribald1 and paganized poets4#def ,this ,puritan movement against the paganization of poetry corresponds to the similar movement started by the ,council of ,trent in ,catholic countries4 ,the theory of poetry during the second stage of ,english criticism was in the main ,horatian1 with such additions and modifications as the early ,renaissance had derived from the ,middle ,ages4 ,the ,aristotelian canons had not yet become a part of ,english criticism4 ,webbe alludes to ,aristotle's dictum that ,empedocles1 having naught but metre in common with ,homer1 was in reality a natural philosopher rather than a poet2#deg but all such allusions to ,aristotle's ,poetics were merely incidental and sporadic4 ,the introduction of ,aristotelianism into ,england was the direct result of the influence of the ,italian critics2 and the agent in bringing this new influence into ,english letters was ,sir ,philip ,sidney4 ,his ,defence of ,poesy is a veritable epitome of the literary criticism of the ,italian ,renaissance2 and so thoroughly is it imbued with this spirit1 that no other work1 ,italian1 ,french1 or ,english1 can be said to give so complete and so noble a conception of the temper and the principles of ,renaissance criticism4 ,for the general theory of poetry1 its sources were the critical treatises of ,minturno#deh and ,scaliger4#dei ,yet without any decided novelty of ideas1 or even of expression1 it can lay claim to distinct originality in its unity of feeling1 its ideal and noble temper1 and its adaptation to circumstance4 ,its eloquence and dignity will hardly appear in a mere analysis1 which pretends to give only the more important and fundamental of its principles2 but such a summary--and this is quite as important--will at least indicate the extent of its indebtedness to ,italian criticism4 ,in all that relates to the antiquity1 universality1 and preeminence of poetry1 ,sidney apparently follows ,minturno4 ,poetry1 as the first light-giver to ignorance1 flourished before any other art or science4 ,the first philosophers and historians were poets2 and such supreme works as the ,psalms of ,david and the ,dialogues of ,plato are in reality poetical4 ,among the ,greeks and the ,romans1 the poet was regarded as a sage or prophet2 and no nation1 however primitive or barbarous1 has been without poets1 or has failed to receive delight and instruction from poetry4#dfj ,but before proceeding to defend an art so ancient and universal1 it is necessary to define it2 and the definition which ,sidney gives agrees substantially with what might be designated ,renaissance ,aristotelianism4 ,poetry1 says ,sidney1#dfa is an art of imitation1 for so ,aristotle termeth it in his word ,greek3 mimesis1 that is to say1 a representing1 counterfeiting1 or figuring forth2 to speak metaphorically1 a speaking picture1#dfb with this end1--to teach and delight4#dfc ,poetry is1 accordingly1 an art of imitation1 and not merely the art of versifying2 for although most poets have seen fit to apparel their poetic inventions in verse1 verse is but the raiment and ornament of poetry1 and not one of its causes or essentials4#dfd ,one may be a poet without versing1 says ,sidney1 and a versifier without poetry4#dfe ,speech and reason are the distinguishing features between man and brute2 and whatever helps to perfect and polish speech deserves high commendation4 ,besides its mnemonic value1 verse is the most fitting raiment of poetry because it is most dignified and compact1 not colloquial and slipshod4 ,but with all its merits1 it is not an essential of poetry1 of which the true test is this1--feigning notable images of vices and virtues1 and teaching delightfully4 ,in regard to the object1 or function1 of poetry1 ,sidney is at one with ,scaliger4 ,the aim of poetry is accomplished by teaching most delightfully a notable morality2 or1 in a word1 by delightful instruction4#dff ,not instruction alone1 or delight alone1 as ,horace had said1 but instruction made delightful2 and it is this dual function which serves not only as the end but as the very test of poetry4 ,the object of all arts and sciences is to lift human life to the highest altitudes of perfection2 and in this respect they are all servants of the sovereign1 or architectonic1 science1 whose end is well-doing and not well-knowing only4#dfg ,virtuous action is therefore the end of all learning2#dfh and ,sidney sets out to prove that the poet1 more than any one else1 conduces to this end4 ,this is the beginning of the apologetic side of ,sidney's argument4 ,the ancient controversy--ancient even in ,plato's days--between poetry and philosophy is once more reopened2 and the question is the one so often debated by the ,italians1--shall the palm be given to the poet1 to the philosopher1 or to the historian8 ,the gist of ,sidney's argument is that while the philosopher teaches by precept alone1 and the historian by example alone1 the poet conduces most to virtue because he employs both precept and example4 ,the philosopher teaches virtue by showing what virtue is and what vice is1 by setting down1 in thorny argument1 and without clarity or beauty of style1 the bare rule4#dfi ,the historian teaches virtue by showing the experience of past ages2 but1 being tied down to what actually happened1 that is1 to the particular truth of things and not to general reason1 the example he depicts draws no necessary consequence4 ,the poet alone accomplishes this dual task4 ,what the philosopher says should be done is by the poet pictured most perfectly in some one by whom it has been done1 thus coupling the general notion with the particular instance4 ,the philosopher1 moreover1 teaches the learned only2 the poet teaches all1 and is1 in ,plutarch's phrase1 the right popular philosopher1#dgj for he seems only to promise delight1 and moves men to virtue unawares4 ,but even if the philosopher excel the poet in teaching1 he cannot move his readers as the poet can1 and this is of higher importance than teaching2 for what is the use of teaching virtue if the pupil is not moved to act and accomplish what he is taught8#dga ,on the other hand1 the historian deals with particular instances1 with vices and virtues so commingled that the reader can find no pattern to imitate4 ,the poet makes history reasonable2 he gives perfect examples of vices and virtues for human imitation2 he makes virtue succeed and vice fail1 as history can but seldom do4 ,poetry1 therefore1 conduces to virtue1 the end of all learning1 better than any other art or science1 and so deserves the palm as the highest and the noblest form of human wisdom4#dgb ,the basis of ,sidney's distinction between the poet and the historian is the famous passage in which ,aristotle explains why poetry is more philosophic and of more serious value than history4#dgc ,the poet deals1 not with the particular1 but with the universal1--with what might or should be1 not with what is or has been4 ,but ,sidney1 in the assertion of this principle1 follows ,minturno#dgd and ,scaliger1#dge and goes farther than ,aristotle would probably have gone4 ,all arts have the works of nature as their principal object1 and follow nature as actors follow the lines of their play4 ,only the poet is not tied to such subjects1 but creates another nature better than ever nature itself brought forth4 ,for1 going hand in hand with nature1 and being enclosed not within her limits1 but only by the zodiac of his own imagination1 he creates a golden world for nature's brazen2 and in this sense he may be compared as a creator with ,god4#dgf ,where shall you find in life such a friend as ,pylades1 such a hero as ,orlando1 such an excellent man as ,a,eneas8 ,sidney then proceeds to answer the various objections that have been made against poetry4 ,these objections1 partly following ,gosson and ,cornelius ,agrippa1#dgg and partly his own inclinations1 he reduces to four4#dgh ,in the first place1 it is objected that a man might spend his time more profitably than by reading the figments of poets4 ,but since teaching virtue is the real aim of all learning1 and since poetry has been shown to accomplish this better than all other arts or sciences1 this objection is easily answered4 ,in the second place1 poetry has been called the mother of lies2 but ,sidney shows that it is less likely to misstate facts than other sciences1 for the poet does not publish his figments as facts1 and1 since he affirms nothing1 cannot ever be said to lie4#dgi ,thirdly1 poetry has been called the nurse of abuse1 that is to say1 poetry misuses and debases the mind of man by turning it to wantonness and by making it unmartial and effeminate4 ,but ,sidney argues that it is man's wit that abuses poetry1 and not poetry that abuses man's wit2 and as to making men effeminate1 this charge applies to all other sciences more than to poetry1 which in its description of battles and praise of valiant men notably stirs courage and enthusiasm4 ,lastly1 it is pointed out by the enemies of poetry that ,plato1 one of the greatest of philosophers1 banished poets from his ideal commonwealth4 ,but ,plato's ,dialogues are in reality themselves a form of poetry2 and it argues ingratitude in the most poetical of philosophers1 that he should defile the fountain which was his source4#dhj ,yet though ,sidney perceives how fundamental are ,plato's objections to poetry1 he is inclined to believe that it was rather against the abuse of poetry by the contemporary ,greek poets that ,plato was chiefly cavilling2 for poets are praised in the ,ion1 and the greatest men of every age have been patrons and lovers of poetry4 ,in the dozen years or so which elapsed between the composition and the publication of the ,defence of ,poesy1 during which time it seems to have circulated in manuscript1 a number of critical works appeared1 and the indebtedness of several of them to ,sidney's book is considerable4 ,this is especially so of the ,apologie of ,poetrie which ,sir ,john ,harington prefixed to his translation of the ,orlando ,furioso in #aeia4 ,this brief treatise includes an apology for poetry in general1 for the ,orlando ,furioso in particular1 and also for his own translation4 ,the first section1 which alone concerns us here1 is almost entirely based on the ,defence of ,poesy4 ,the distinguishing features of poetry are imitation1 or fiction1 and verse4#dha ,harington disclaims all intention of discussing whether writers of fiction and dialogue in prose1 such as ,plato and ,xenophon1 are poets or not1 or whether ,lucan1 though writing in verse1 is to be regarded as an historiographer rather than as a poet2#dhb so that his argument is confined to the element of imitation1 or fiction4 ,he treats poetry rather as a propaedeutic to theology and moral philosophy than as one of the fine arts4 ,all human learning may be regarded by the orthodox ,christian as vain and superfluous2 but poetry is one of the most effective aids to the higher learning of ,god's divinity1 and poets themselves are really popular philosophers and popular divines4 ,harington then takes up1 one by one1 the four specific charges of ,cornelius ,agrippa1 that poetry is a nurse of lies1 a pleaser of fools1 a breeder of dangerous errors1 and an enticer to wantonness2 and answers them after the manner of ,sidney4 ,he differs from ,sidney1 however1 in laying particular stress on the allegorical interpretation of imaginative literature4 ,this element is minimized in the ,defence of ,poesy2 but ,harington accepts1 and discusses in detail1 the mediaeval conception of the three meanings of poetry1 the literal1 the moral1 and the allegorical4#dhc ,the death-knell of this mode of interpreting literature was sounded by ,bacon1 who1 while not asserting that all the fables of poets are but meaningless fictions1 declared without hesitation that the fable had been more often written first and the exposition devised afterward1 than the moral first conceived and the fable merely framed to give expression to it4#dhd ,this passage occurs in the second book of the ,advancement of ,learning 7#afje71 where ,bacon has briefly stated his theory of poetry4 ,his point of view does not differ essentially from that of ,sidney1 though the expression is more compact and logical4 ,the human understanding1 according to ,bacon1 includes the three faculties of memory1 imagination1 and reason1 and each of these faculties finds typical expression in one of the three great branches of learning1 memory in history1 reason in philosophy1 and imagination in poetry4#dhe ,the imagination1 not being tied to the laws of matter1 may join what nature has severed and sever what nature has joined2 and poetry1 therefore1 while restrained in the measure of words1 is in all things else extremely licensed4 ,it may be defined as feigned history1 and in so far as its form is concerned1 may be either in prose or in verse4 ,its source is to be found in the dissatisfaction of the human mind with the actual world2 and its purpose is to satisfy man's natural longing for more perfect greatness1 goodness1 and variety than can be found in the nature of things4 ,poetry therefore invents actions and incidents greater and more heroic than those of nature1 and hence conduces to magnanimity2 it invents actions more agreeable to the merits of virtue and vice1 more just in retribution1 more in accordance with revealed providence1 and hence conduces to morality2 it invents actions more varied and unexpected1 and hence conduces to delectation4 ,and therefore it was ever thought to have some participation of divineness1 because it doth raise the mind1 by submitting the shows of things to the desires of the mind2 whereas reason doth buckle and bow the mind unto the nature of things4#dhf ,for the expression of affections1 passions1 corruptions1 and customs1 the world is more indebted to poets than to the works of philosophers1 and for wit and eloquence no less than to orators and their orations4 ,it is for these reasons that in rude times1 when all other learning was excluded1 poetry alone found access and admiration4 ,this is pure idealism of a romantic type2 but in his remarks on allegory ,bacon was foreshadowing the development of classicism1 for from the time of ,ben ,jonson the allegorical mode of interpreting poetry ceased to have any effect on literary criticism4 ,the reason for this is obvious4 ,the allegorical critics regarded the plot1 or fable1--to use a simile so often found in ,renaissance criticism--as a mere sweet and pleasant covering for the wholesome but bitter pill of moral doctrine4 ,the neo-classicists1 limiting the sense and application of ,aristotle's definition of poetry as an imitation of life1 regarded the fable as the medium of this imitation1 and the more perfect according as it became more truly and more minutely an image of human life4 ,in criticism1 therefore1 the growth of classicism is more or less coextensive with the growth of the conception of the fable1 or plot1 as an end in itself4 ,this vaguely defines the change which comes over the spirit of criticism about the beginning of the seventeenth century1 and which is exemplified in the writings of ,ben ,jonson4 ,his definition of poetry does not differ substantially from that of ,sidney1 but seems more directly ,aristotelian3-- ,a poet1 poeta1 is 444 a maker1 or feigner2 his art1 an art of imitation or feigning2 expressing the life of men in fit measure1 numbers1 and harmony2 according to ,aristotle from the word ,greek3 poiein1 which signifies to make or feign4 ,hence he is called a poet1 not he which writeth in measure only1 but that feigneth and formeth a fable1 and writes things like the truth2 for the fable and fiction is1 as it were1 the form and soul of any poetical work or poem4#dhg ,poetry and painting agree in that both are arts of imitation1 both accommodate all they invent to the use and service of nature1 and both have as their common object profit and pleasure2 but poetry is a higher form of art than painting1 since it appeals to the understanding1 while painting appeals primarily to the senses4#dhh ,jonson's conception of his art is thus essentially noble2 of all arts it ranks highest in dignity and ethical importance4 ,it contains all that is best in philosophy1 divinity1 and the science of politics1 and leads and persuades men to virtue with a ravishing delight1 while the others but threaten and compel4#dhi ,it therefore offers to mankind a certain rule and pattern of living well and happily in human society4 ,this conception of poetry ,jonson finds in ,aristotle2#dij but it is to the ,italians of the ,renaissance1 and not to the ,stagyrite1 that these doctrines really belong4 ,jonson ascribes to the poet himself a dignity no less than that of his craft4 ,mere excellence in style or versification does not make a poet1 but rather the exact knowledge of vices and virtues1 with ability to make the latter loved and the former hated2#dia and this is so far true1 that to be a good poet it is necessary1 first of all1 to be a really good man4#dib ,a similar doctrine has already been found in many critical writers of the sixteenth century2 but perhaps the noblest expression of this conception of the poet's consecrated character and office occurs in the original quarto edition of ,jonson's ,every ,man in his ,humour1 in which the reverend name of poet is thus exalted3-- ,i can refell opinion1 and approve ,the state of poesy1 such as it is1 ,blessed1 eternal1 and most true divine3 ,indeed1 if you will look on poesy1 ,as she appears in many1 poor and lame1 ,patched up in remnants and old worn-out rags1 ,half-starved for want of her peculiar food1 ,sacred invention2 then ,i must confirm ,both your conceit and censure of her merit3 ,but view her in her glorious ornaments1 ,attired in the majesty of art1 ,set high in spirit with the precious taste ,of sweet philosophy2 and1 which is most1 ,crowned with the rich traditions of a soul1 ,that hates to have her dignity prophaned ,with any relish of an earthly thought1 ,oh then how proud a presence doth she bear6 ,then is she like herself1 fit to be seen ,of none but grave and consecrated eyes4#dic ,milton also gives expression to this consecrated conception of the poet4 ,poetry is a gift granted by ,god only to a few in every nation2#did but he who would partake of the gift of eloquence must first of all be virtuous4#die ,it is impossible for any one to write well of laudable things without being himself a true poem1 without having in himself the experience and practice of all that is praiseworthy4#dif ,poets are the champions of liberty and the strenuous enemies of despotism2#dig and they have power to imbreed and cherish in a people the seeds of virtue and public civility1 to set the affections in right tune1 and to allay the perturbations of the mind4#dih ,poetry1 which at its best is simple1 sensuous1 and passionate1 describes everything that passes through the brain of man1--all that is holy and sublime in religion1 all that in virtue is amiable and grave4 ,thus by means of delight and the force of example1 those who would otherwise flee from virtue are taught to love her4 ,,foot-,,notes3 #dde ,haslewood1 ii4 #ajc4 #ddf ,haslewood1 ii4 #bh4 #ddg ,ibid4 ii4 #db4 #ddh ,haslewood1 ii4 #abh4 #ddi ,hist4 ,litt4 de la ,france1 xxix4 #ejb-ebe4 #dej ,puttenham1 p4 #ai sq4 #dea ,ibid4 p4 #ci4 #deb ,gosson1 p4 #cd4 #dec ,ibid4 p4 #fe4 #ded ,ibid4 pp4 #be1 #dj4 #dee ,lodge1 ,defence 7,shakespeare ,soc4 ,publ471 p4 #f4 #def ,arber1 ,transcript of the ,stat4 ,reg41 iii4 #aed4 #deg ,haslewood1 ii4 #bh4 #deh ,sidney's acquaintance with ,minturno is proved beyond doubt1 even were such proof necessary1 by the list of poets 7,defence1 pp4 #b1 #c7 which he has copied from ,minturno's ,de ,poeta1 pp4 #ad1 #ae4 #dei ,scaliger's ,poetics is specifically mentioned and cited by ,sidney four or five times2 but these citations are far from exhausting his indebtedness to ,scaliger4 #dfj ,defence1 p4 #b sq42 cf4 ,minturno1 ,de ,poeta1 pp4 #i1 #ac4 #dfa ,defence1 p4 #i4 #dfb ,this ancient phrase had become1 as has been seen1 a commonplace during the ,renaissance4 ,cf41 e4g41 ,dolce1 ,osservationi1 #aefj1 p4 #ahi2 ,vauquelin1 ,art ,poet4 i4 #bbf2 ,camoens1 ,lusiad4 vii4 #gf4 #dfc ,sidney's classification of poets1 ,defence1 p4 #i1 is borrowed from ,scaliger1 ,poet4 i4 #c4 #dfd ,defence1 p4 #aa4 ,cf4 ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 pp4 #bc1 #aij4 #dfe ,defence1 p4 #cc4 ,cf4 ,ronsard1 ,oeuvres1 iii4 #ai1 vii4 #caj2 and ,shelley1 ,defence of ,poetry1 p4 #i3 ,the distinction between poets and prose writers is a vulgar error4 #dff ,defence1 pp4 #dg1 #ea4 ,cf4 ,scaliger1 ,poet4 i4 #a1 and vii4 i4 #b3 ,poetae finem esse1 docere cum delectatione4 #dfg ,aristotle1 ,ethics1 i4 #a2 ,cicero1 ,de ,offic4 i4 #g4 #dfh ,this was the usual attitude of the humanists2 cf4 ,woodward1 p4 #ahb sq4 #dfi ,cf4 ,daniello1 p4 #ai2 ,minturno1 ,de ,poeta1 p4 #ci4 #dgj ,defence1 p4 #ah4 #dga ,ibid4 p4 #bb4 ,cf4 ,minturno1 ,de ,poeta1 p4 #ajf2 ,varchi1 ,lezzioni1 p4 #egf4 #dgb ,that is1 the highest form of human wisdom1 for ,sidney1 as a ,christian philosopher1 naturally leaves revealed religion out of the discussion4 #dgc ,poet4 ix4 #a-d4 #dgd ,de ,poeta1 p4 #hg sq4 #dge ,poet4 i4 #a4 #dgf ,defence1 pp4 #g1 #h4 #dgg ,de ,van4 et ,incert4 ,scient4 cap4 v4 #dgh ,defence1 p4 #cd sq4 #dgi ,cf4 ,boccaccio1 ,gen4 degli ,dei1 p4 #beg sq42 and ,haslewood1 ii4 #abg4 #dhj ,defence1 pp4 #c1 #da2 cf4 ,daniello1 p4 #bb4 #dha ,haslewood1 ii4 #abi4 #dhb ,ibid4 ii4 #abc4 #dhc ,haslewood1 ii4 #abg4 #dhd ,bacon1 ,works1 vi4 #bjd-bjf4 #dhe ,cf4 ,anglia1 #ahii1 xxi4 #bgc4 #dhf ,works1 vi4 #bjc4 #dhg ,discoveries1 p4 #gc4 ,jonson's distinction between poet 7poeta71 poem 7poema71 and poesy 7poesis71 was derived from ,scaliger or ,maggi4 #dhh ,discoveries1 p4 #di4 #dhi ,ibid4 p4 #cd4 #dij ,ibid4 p4 #gd4 #dia ,ibid4 p4 #cd4 #dib ,works1 i4 #ccc4 #dic ,works1 i4 #ei1 n4 #did ,milton1 ,prose ,works1 ii4 #dgi4 #die ,ibid4 iii4 #ajj4 #dif ,ibid4 iii4 #aah4 #dig ,prose ,works1 i4 #bda4 #dih ,ibid4 ii4 #dgi4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,dramatic ,,and ,,heroic ,,poetry ,,dramatic criticism in ,england began with ,sir ,philip ,sidney4 ,casual references to the drama can be found in critical writings anterior to the ,defence of ,poesy2 but to ,sidney belongs the credit of having first formulated1 in a more or less systematic manner1 the general principles of dramatic art4 ,these principles1 it need hardly be said1 are those which1 for half a century or more1 had been undergoing discussion and modification in ,italy and ,france1 and of which the ultimate source was the ,poetics of ,aristotle4 ,dramatic criticism in ,england was thus1 from its very birth1 both ,aristotelian and classical1 and it remained so for two centuries4 ,the beginnings of the ,elizabethan drama were almost contemporary with the composition of the ,defence of ,poesy1 and the decay of the drama with ,jonson's ,discoveries4 ,yet throughout this period the romantic drama never received literary exposition4 ,the great ,spanish drama had its critical champions and defenders1 the ,elizabethan drama had none4 ,it was1 perhaps1 found to be a simpler task to echo the doctrines of others1 than to formulate the principles of a novel dramatic form4 ,but the true explanation has already been suggested4 ,the sources of the dramatic criticism were the writings of the ,italian critics1 and these were entirely classical4 ,in creative literature1 however1 the ,italian ,renaissance influenced the ,elizabethans almost entirely on the romantic side4 ,this1 perhaps1 suffices to explain the lack of fundamental coordination between dramatic theory and dramatic practice during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries4 ,ascham1 writing twenty years before ,sidney1 indicated ,aristotle's precepts and ,euripides' example as the criteria of dramatic art2#dii and in spirit these remained the final tests throughout the ,elizabethan age4 ,i4 ,tragedy ,in ,webbe's ,discourse of ,english ,poetrie we find those general distinctions between tragedy and comedy which had been common throughout the ,middle ,ages from the days of the post-classic grammarians4 ,tragedies express sorrowful and lamentable histories1 dealing with gods and goddesses1 kings and queens1 and men of high estate1 and representing miserable calamities1 which become worse and worse until they end in the most woful plight that can be devised4 ,comedies1 on the other hand1 begin doubtfully1 become troubled for a while1 but always1 by some lucky chance1 end with the joy and appeasement of all concerned4#ejj ,this distinction is said to be derived from imitation of the ,iliad and the ,odyssey2 and in this1 as well in his fanciful account of the origins of the drama1 ,webbe seems to have had a vague recollection of ,aristotle4 ,puttenham's account of dramatic development is scarcely more ,aristotelian2#eja yet in its general conclusions it agrees with those in the ,poetics4 ,his conception of tragedy and comedy is similar to ,webbe's4 ,comedy expresses the common behavior and manner of life of private persons1 and such as are of the meaner sort of men4#ejb ,tragedy deals with the doleful falls of unfortunate and afflicted princes1 for the purpose of reminding men of the mutability of fortune1 and of ,god's just punishment of a vicious life4#ejc ,the ,senecan drama and the ,aristotelian precepts were the sources of ,sidney's theory of tragedy4 ,the oratorical and sententious tragedies of ,seneca had influenced dramatic theory and practice throughout ,europe from the very outset of the ,renaissance4 ,ascham1 indeed1 preferred ,sophocles and ,euripides to ,seneca1 and cited ,pigna1 the rival of ,giraldi ,cintio1 in confirmation of his opinion2#ejd but this1 while an indication of ,ascham's own good taste1 is an exceptional verdict1 and in direct opposition to the usual opinion of contemporary critics4 ,sidney1 in his account of the ,english drama1 could find but one tragedy modelled as it should be on the ,senecan drama4#eje ,the tragedy of ,gorboduc1 however1 has one defect that provokes ,sidney's censure1--it does not observe the unities of time and place4 ,in all other respects1 it is an ideal model for ,english playwrights to imitate4 ,its stately speeches and well-sounding phrases approach almost to the height of ,seneca's style2 and in teaching most delightfully a notable morality1 it attains the very end of poetry4 ,the ideal tragedy--and in this ,sidney closely follows the ,italians--is an imitation of a noble action1 in the representation of which it stirs admiration and commiseration1#ejf and teaches the uncertainty of the world and the weak foundations upon which golden roofs are built4 ,it makes kings fear to be tyrants1 and tyrants manifest their tyrannical humors4 ,sidney's censure of the contemporary drama is that it outrages the grave and weighty character of tragedy1 its elevated style1 and the dignity of the personages represented1 by mingling kings and clowns1 and introducing the most inappropriate buffoonery4 ,there are1 indeed1 one or two examples of tragi-comedy in ancient literature1 such as ,plautus's ,amphitryon2#ejg but never do the ancients1 like the ,english1 match hornpipes and funerals4#ejh ,the ,english dramas are neither true comedies nor true tragedies1 and disregard both the rules of poetry and honest civility4 ,tragedy is not tied to the laws of history1 and may arrange and modify events as it pleases2 but it is certainly bound by the rules of poetry4 ,it is evident1 therefore1 that the ,defence of ,poesy1 as a ,french writer has observed1 gives us an almost complete theory of neo-classic tragedy1 a hundred years before the ,art ,poetique of ,boileau3 the severe separation of poetic forms1 the sustained dignity of language1 the unities1 the tirade1 the recit1 nothing is lacking4#eji ,ben ,jonson pays more attention to the theory of comedy than to that of tragedy2 but his conception of the latter does not differ from ,sidney's4 ,the parts1 or divisions1 of comedy and tragedy are the same1 and both have on the whole a common end1 to teach and delight2 so that comic as well as tragic poets were called by the ,greeks ,greek3 didaskaloi4#eaj ,the external conditions of the drama require that it should have the equal division into acts and scenes1 the true number of actors1 the chorus1 and the unities4#eaa ,but ,jonson does not insist on the strict observance of these formal requirements1 for the history of the drama shows that each successive poet of importance has gradually and materially altered the dramatic structure1 and there is no reason why the modern poet may not do likewise4 ,moreover1 while these requirements may have been regularly observed in the ancient state and splendor of dramatic poetry1 it is impossible to retain them now and preserve any measure of popular delight4 ,the outward forms of the ancients1 therefore1 may in part be disregarded2 but there are certain essentials which must be observed by the tragic poet in whatsoever age he may flourish4 ,these are1 ,truth of argument1 dignity of persons1 gravity and height of elocution1 fulness and frequency of sentence4#eab ,in other words1 ,jonson's model is the oratorical and sententious tragedy of ,seneca1 with its historical plots and its persons of high estate4 ,in the address1 ,of that ,sort of ,dramatic ,poem which is called ,tragedy1 prefixed to ,samson ,agonistes1 ,milton has minutely adhered to the ,italian theory of tragedy4 ,after referring to the ancient dignity and moral effect of tragedy1#eac ,milton acknowledges that1 in the modelling of his poem1 he has followed the ancients and the ,italians as of greatest authority in such matters4 ,he has avoided the introduction of trivial and vulgar persons and the intermingling of comic and tragic elements2 he has used the chorus1 and has observed the laws of verisimilitude and decorum4 ,his explanation of the peculiar effect of tragedy--the purgation of pity and fear--has already been referred to in the first section of this essay4#ead ,,ii4 ,comedy ,the ,elizabethan theory of comedy was based on the body of rules and observations which the ,italian critics1 aided by a few hints from ,aristotle1 had deduced from the practice of ,plautus and ,terence4 ,it will1 therefore1 be unnecessary to dwell at any great length on the doctrines of ,sidney and ,ben ,jonson1 who are the main comic theorists of this period4 ,sidney defines comedy as an imitation of the common errors of our life1 which are represented in the most ridiculous and scornful manner1 so that the spectator is anxious to avoid such errors himself4 ,comedy1 therefore1 shows the filthiness of evil1 but only in our private and domestical matters4#eae ,it should aim at being wholly delightful1 just as tragedy should be maintained by a well-raised admiration4 ,delight is thus the first requirement of comedy2 but the ,english comic writers err in thinking that delight cannot be obtained without laughter1 whereas laughter is neither an essential cause nor an essential effect of delight4 ,sidney then distinguishes delight from laughter almost exactly after the manner of ,trissino4#eaf ,the great fault of ,english comedy is that it stirs laughter concerning things that are sinful1 i4e4 execrable rather than merely ridiculous--forbidden plainly1 according to ,sidney1 by ,aristotle himself--and concerning things that are miserable1 and rather to be pitied than scorned4 ,comedy should not only produce delightful laughter1 but mixed with it that delightful teaching which is the end of all poetry4 ,ben ,jonson1 like ,sidney1 makes human follies or errors the themes of comedy1 which should be an image of the times1 ,and sport with human follies1 not with crimes1 ,except we make them such1 by loving still ,our popular errors1 when we know they're ill2 ,i mean such errors as you'll all confess ,by laughing at them1 they deserve no less4#eag ,in depicting these human follies1 it is the office of the comic poet to imitate justice1 to improve the moral life and purify language1 and to stir up gentle affections4#eah ,the moving of mere laughter is not always the end of comedy2 in fact1 ,jonson interprets ,aristotle as asserting that the moving of laughter is a fault in comedy1 a kind of turpitude that depraves a part of man's nature4#eai ,this conclusion is based on an interpretation of ,aristotle which has persisted almost to the present day4 ,in the ,poetics1 ,greek3 to geloion1 the ludicrous1 is said to be the subject of comedy2#ebj and many critics have thought that ,aristotle intended by this to distinguish between the risible and the ridiculous1 between mere laughter and laughter mixed with contempt or disapprobation4#eba ,the nature and the source of one of the most important elements in ,jonson's theory of comedy1 his doctrine of humours1 have been briefly discussed in the first section of this essay4 ,it will suffice here to define a humour as an absorbing singularity of character1#ebb and to note that it grew out of the conception of decorum which played so important a part in poetic theory during the ,italian ,renaissance4 ,,iii4 ,the ,dramatic ,unities ,before leaving the theory of the drama1 there is one further point to be discussed1--the doctrine of the unities4 ,it has been seen that the unities of time and place were1 in ,italy1 first formulated together by ,castelvetro in #aegj1 and in ,france by ,jean de la ,taille in #aegb4 ,the first mention of the unities in ,england is to be found1 a dozen years later1 in the ,defence of ,poesy1 and it cannot be doubted that ,sidney derived them directly from ,castelvetro4 ,sidney1 in discussing the tragedy of ,gorboduc1 finds it faulty in time and place1 the two necessary companions of all corporal actions2 for where the stage should always represent but one place1 and the uttermost time presupposed in it should be1 both by ,aristotle's precept and common reason1 but one day1 there i4e4 in ,gorboduc is both many days and many places inartificially imagined4#ebc ,he also objects to the confusions of the ,english stage1 where on one side ,africa and on the other ,asia may be represented1 and where in an hour a youth may grow from boyhood to old age4#ebd ,how absurd this is1 common sense1 art1 and ancient examples ought to teach the ,english playwright2 and at this day1 says ,sidney1 the ordinary players in ,italy will not err in it4 ,if indeed it be objected that one or two of the comedies of ,plautus and ,terence do not observe the unity of time1 let us not follow them when they err but when they are right2 it is no excuse for us to do wrong because ,plautus on one occasion has done likewise4 ,the law of the unities does not receive such rigid application in ,england as is given by ,sidney until the introduction of the ,french influence nearly three quarters of a century later4 ,ben ,jonson is considerably less stringent in this respect than ,sidney4 ,he lays particular stress on the unity of action1 and in the ,discoveries explains at length the ,aristotelian conception of the unity and magnitude of the fable4 ,the fable is called the imitation of one entire and perfect action1 whose parts are so joined and knit together1 as nothing in the structure can be changed1 or taken away1 without impairing or troubling the whole1 of which there is a proportionable magnitude in the members4#ebe ,simplicity1 then1 should be one of the chief characteristics of the action1 and nothing receives so much of ,jonson's censure as monstrous and forced action4#ebf ,as to the unity of time1 ,jonson says that the action should be allowed to grow until necessity demands a conclusion2 the argument1 however1 should not exceed the compass of one day1 but should be large enough to allow place for digressions and episodes1 which are to the fable what furniture is to a house4#ebg ,jonson does not formally require the observance of the unity of place1 and even acknowledges having disregarded it in his own plays2 but he does not favor much change of scene on the stage4 ,in the prologue of ,volpone1 he boasts that he has followed all the laws of refined comedy1 ,as best critics have designed2 ,the laws of time1 place1 persons he observeth1 ,from no needful rule he swerveth4 ,milton observes the unity of time in the ,samson ,agonistes3 ,the circumscription of time1 wherein the whole drama begins and ends is1 according to ancient rule and best example1 within the space of twenty-four hours4 ,with the introduction of the ,french influence1 the unities became fixed requirements of the ,english drama1 and remained so for over a century4 ,sir ,robert ,howard1 in the preface of his tragedy1 ,the ,duke of ,lerma1 impugned their force and authority2 but ,dryden1 in answering him1 pointed out that to attack the unities is really to contend against ,aristotle1 ,horace1 ,ben ,jonson1 and ,corneille4#ebh ,farquhar1 however1 in his ,discourse upon ,comedy 7#agjb71 argued with force and wit against the unities of time and place1 and scoffed at all the legislators of ,parnassus1 ancient and modern1--,aristotle1 ,horace1 ,scaliger1 ,vossius1 ,heinsius1 ,d',aubignac1 and ,rapin4 ,,iv4 ,epic ,poetry ,the ,elizabethan theory of heroic poetry may be dismissed briefly4 ,webbe refers to the epic as that princely part of poetry1 wherein are displayed the noble acts and valiant exploits of puissant captains1 expert soldiers1 wise men1 with the famous reports of ancient times2#ebi and ,puttenham defines heroic poems as long histories of the noble gests of kings and great princes1 intermeddling the dealings of gods1 demi-gods1 and heroes1 and weighty consequences of peace and war4#ecj ,the importance of this form of poetry1 according to ,puttenham1 is largely historical1 in that it sets forth an example of the valor and virtue of our forefathers4#eca ,sidney is scarcely more explicit4#ecb ,he asserts that heroic poetry is the best and noblest of all forms2 he shows that such characters as ,achilles1 ,a,eneas1 and ,rinaldo are shining examples for all men's imitation2 but of the nature or structure of the epic he says nothing4 ,the second part of ,harington's ,apologie of ,poetrie is given up to a defence of the ,orlando ,furioso1 and here the ,aristotelian theory of the epic appears for the first time in ,english criticism4 ,harington1 taking the ,a,eneid as the approved model of all heroic poetry1 first shows that ,ariosto has followed closely in ,virgil's footsteps1 but is to be preferred even to ,virgil in that the latter pays reverence to false deities1 while ,ariosto has the advantage of the ,christian spirit4 ,but since some critics1 reducing all heroical poems unto the method of ,homer and certain precepts of ,aristotle1 insist that ,ariosto is wanting in art1 ,harington sets out to prove that the ,orlando ,furioso may not only be defended by the example of ,homer1 but that it has even followed very strictly the rules and precepts of ,aristotle4#ecc ,in the first place1 ,aristotle says that the epic should be based on some historical action1 only a short part of which1 in point of time1 should be treated by the poet2 so ,ariosto takes the story of ,charlemagne1 and does not exceed a year or so in the compass of the argument4#ecd ,secondly1 ,aristotle holds that nothing that is utterly incredible should be invented by the poet2 and nothing in the ,orlando exceeds the possibility of belief4 ,thirdly1 epics1 as well as tragedies1 should be full of ,greek3 peripeteia1 which ,harington interprets to mean an agnition of some unlooked for fortune either good or bad1 and a sudden change thereof2 and of this1 as well as of apt similitudes and passions well expressed1 the ,orlando is really full4 ,in conclusion1 it may be observed that epic poetry did not receive adequate critical treatment in ,england until after the introduction of the ,french influence4 ,the rules and theories of the ,italian ,renaissance1 restated in the writings of ,le ,bossu1 ,mambrun1 ,rapin1 and ,vossius1 were thus brought into ,english criticism1 and found perhaps their best expression in ,addison's essays on ,paradise ,lost4 ,such epics as ,davenant's ,gondibert1 ,chamberlayne's ,pharonnida1 ,dryden's ,annus ,mirabilis1 and ,blackmore's ,prince ,arthur1 like the ,french epics of the same period1 doubtless owed their inspiration to the desire to put into practice the classical rules of heroic poetry4#ece ,,foot-,,notes3 #dii ,scholemaster1 p4 #aci4 #ejj ,haslewood1 ii4 #dj4 #eja ,puttenham1 p4 #dg sq4 #ejb ,ibid4 p4 #da4 #ejc ,ibid4 p4 #di4 #ejd ,ascham1 ,works1 ii4 #ahi4 #eje ,defence1 p4 #dg sq4 #ejf ,defence1 p4 #bh4 ,this is the ,elizabethan equivalent for ,aristotle's katharsis of pity and terror4 #ejg ,cf4 ,scaliger1 ,poet4 i4 #g4 #ejh ,defence1 p4 #ej4 #eji ,breitinger1 p4 #cg4 #eaj ,discoveries1 p4 #ha4 #eaa ,works1 i4 #fi4 #eab ,works1 i4 #bgb4 #eac ,cf4 ,bacon1 ,de ,augm4 ,scient4 iii4 #ac2 and ,ascham1 ,scholemaster1 p4 #acj4 #ead ,he seems also to allude to the theory of katharsis in the ,reason of ,church ,government2 ,prose ,works1 ii4 #dgi4 #eae ,defence1 p4 #bh4 #eaf ,ibid4 p4 #ej sq4 ,cf4 ,trissino1 ,opere1 ii4 #abg sq42 and ,cicero1 ,de ,orat4 ii4 #eh sq4 #eag ,works1 i4 #b4 #eah ,ibid4 i4 #cce4 #eai ,discoveries1 p4 #hb4 #ebj ,poet4 v4 #a4 #eba ,cf4 ,twining1 i4 #cbj sq41 and ,kames1 ,elements of ,criticism1 vol4 i4 chap4 #g4 #ebb ,cf4 ,jonson1 ,works1 i4 #fg and #ca4 #ebc ,defence1 p4 #dh2 cf4 ,castelvetro1 ,poetica1 pp4 #afh1 #ecd4 #ebd ,cf4 ,whetstone1 ,promos and ,cassandra 7#aegh71 cited in ,ward1 ,dram4 ,lit4 i4 #aah2 also1 ,jonson1 ,works1 i4 #b1 #gj2 ,cervantes1 ,don ,quix4 i4 #dh2 ,boileau1 ,art ,poet4 iii4 #ci4 ,in the theory of the drama1 ,sidney's point of view coincides very closely with that of ,cervantes4 #ebe ,discoveries1 p4 #hc4 #ebf ,works1 i4 #ccg4 #ebg ,discoveries1 p4 #he4 #ebh ,essay of ,dram4 ,poesy1 p4 #aah4 #ebi ,haslewood1 ii4 #de4 #ecj ,puttenham1 p4 #dj4 #eca ,ibid4 p4 #ed4 #ecb ,defence1 p4 #cj4 #ecc ,haslewood1 ii4 #adj sq4 #ecd ,cf4 ,minturno1 ,arte ,poetica1 p4 #ga2 and ,ronsard1 ,oeuvres1 iii4 #ai4 #ece ,cf4 ,dryden1 ,discourse on ,satire1 in ,works1 xiii4 #cg4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,classical ,,elements ,,in ,,elizabethan ,,criticism ,i4 ,introductory3 ,romantic ,elements ,,it were no less than supererogation to adduce evidences of the romantic spirit of the age of ,shakespeare4 ,no period in ,english literature is more distinctly romantic2 and although in ,england criticism is less affected by creative literature1 and has had less effect upon it1 than in ,france1 it is only natural to suppose that ,elizabethan criticism should be as distinctly romantic as the works of imagination of which it is presumably an exposition4 ,as early as ,wilson's ,rhetoric we find evidences of that independence of spirit in questions of art which seems typical of the ,elizabethan age2 and none of the writers of this period exhibits anything like the predisposition of the ,french mind to submit instinctively to any rule1 or set of rules1 which bears the stamp of authority4 ,from the outset the element of nationality colors ,english criticism1 and this is especially noticeable in the linguistic discussions of the age4 ,at the very time when ,sidney was writing the ,defence of ,poesy1 ,spenser's old teacher1 ,mulcaster1 wrote3 ,i love ,rome1 but ,london better2 ,i favor ,italy1 but ,england more2 ,i honor the ,latin1 but ,i worship the ,english4#ecf ,it is this spirit which pervades what may be called the chief expression of the romantic temper in ,elizabethan criticism1--,daniel's ,defence of ,rhyme 7#afjc71 written in answer to ,campion's attack on rhyme in the ,observations in the ,art of ,english ,poesy4 ,the central argument of ,daniel's defence is that the use of rhyme is sanctioned both by custom and by nature--custom that is before all law1 nature that is above all art4#ecg ,he rebels against that conception which would limit ,within a little plot of ,grecian ground ,the sole of mortal things that can avail2 and he shows that each age has its own perfections and its own usages4 ,this attempt at historical criticism leads him into a defence of the ,middle ,ages2 and he does not hesitate to assert that even classical verse had its imperfections and deficiencies4 ,in the minutiae of metrical criticism1 also1 he is in opposition to the neo-classic tendencies of the next age2 and his favorable opinion of enjambement and his unfavorable comments on the heroic couplet#ech drew from ,ben ,jonson an answer1 never published1 in which the latter attempted to prove that the couplet is the best form of ,english verse1 and that all other forms are forced and detestable4#eci ,,ii4 ,classical ,metres ,daniel's ,defence of ,rhyme may be said to have dealt a death-blow to a movement which for over half a century had been a subject of controversy among ,english men of letters4 ,in reading the critical works of this period1 it is impossible not to notice the remarkable amount of attention paid by the ,elizabethans to the question of classical metres in the vernacular4 ,the first organized attempt to introduce the classical versification into a modern language was1 as ,daniel himself points out1#edj that of ,claudio ,tolomei in #aeci4 ,the movement then passed into ,france2 and classical metres were adopted by ,baif in practice1 and defended by ,jacques de la ,taille in theory4 ,in ,england the first recorded attempt at the use of quantity in the vernacular was that of ,thomas ,watson1 from whose unpublished translation of the ,odyssey in the metre of the original ,ascham has cited a single distich3-- ,all travellers do gladly report great prayse of ,ulysses1 ,for that he knew many mens maners1 and saw many cities4#eda ,this was probably written between #aedj and #aeej2 toward the close of the preceding century1 we are told1 a certain ,mousset had already translated the ,iliad and the ,odyssey into ,french hexameters4 ,ascham was the first critical champion of the use of quantity in ,english verse4#edb ,rhyme1 he says1 was introduced by the ,goths and ,huns at a time when poetry and learning had ceased to exist in ,europe2 and ,englishmen must choose either to imitate these barbarians or to follow the perfect ,grecians4 ,he acknowledges that the monosyllabic character of the ,english language renders the use of the dactyl very difficult1 for the hexameter doth rather trot and hobble than run smoothly in our ,english tongue2 but he argues that ,english will receive the carmen iambicum as naturally as ,greek or ,latin4 ,he praises ,surrey's blank verse rendering of the fourth book of the ,a,eneid1 but regrets that1 in disregarding quantity1 it falls short of the perfect and true versifying4 ,an attempt to put ,ascham's theories into practice was made by ,thomas ,blenerhasset in #aegg2 but the verse of his ,complaynt of ,cadwallader1 though purporting to be a new kind of poetry1 is merely an unrhymed ,alexandrine4#edc ,in #aehj1 however1 five letters which had passed between ,spenser and ,gabriel ,harvey appeared in print as ,three proper1 and wittie1 familiar ,letters and ,two other very commendable ,letters2 and from this correspondence we learn that an organized movement to introduce classical metres into ,english had been started4 ,it would seem that for several years ,harvey had been advocating the use of quantitative verse to several of his friends2 but the organized movement to which reference has just been made seems to have been started independently by ,thomas ,drant1 who died in #aegh4 ,drant had devised a set of rules and precepts for ,english classical verse2 and these rules1 with certain additions and modifications1 were adopted by a coterie of scholars and courtiers1 among them being ,sidney1 ,dyer1 ,greville1 and ,spenser1 who thereupon formed a society1 the ,areopagus1#edd independent of ,harvey1 but corresponding with him regularly4 ,this society appears to have been modelled on ,baif's ,academie de ,poesie et de ,musique1 which had been founded in #aegj for a similar purpose1 and which ,sidney doubtless became acquainted with when at ,paris in #aegb4 ,from the correspondence published in #aehj1 it becomes evident that ,harvey's and ,drant's systems of versification were almost antipodal4 ,according to ,drant's system1 the quantity of ,english words was to be regulated entirely by the laws of ,latin prosody1--by position1 diphthong1 and the like4 ,thus1 for example1 the penult of the word carpenter was regarded as long by ,drant because followed by two consonants4 ,harvey1 who was unacquainted with ,drant's rules before apprised of them by ,spenser in the published letters1 follows a more normal and logical system4 ,to him1 accent alone is the best of quantity1 and the law of position cannot make the penult of carpenter or majesty long4 ,the ,latin is no rule for us1 says ,harvey2#ede and often where position and diphthong fall together1 as in the penult of merchaundise1 we must pronounce the syllable short4 ,in all such matters1 the use1 custom1 propriety1 or majesty of our speech must be accounted the only infallible and sovereign rule of rules4 ,it was not1 then1 ,harvey's purpose to ,latinize our tongue4 ,his intention was apparently twofold1--to abolish rhyme1 and to introduce new metres into ,english poetry4 ,only a few years before1 ,gascoigne had lamented that ,english verse had only one form of metre1 the iambic4#edf ,harvey1 in observing merely the ,english accent1 can scarcely be said to have introduced quantity into our verse1 but was simply adapting new metres1 such as dactyls1 trochees1 and spondees1 to the requirements of ,english poetry4 ,drant's and ,harvey's rules therefore constitute two opposing systems4 ,according to the former1 ,english verse is to be regulated by ,latin prosody regardless of accent2 according to the latter1 by accent regardless of ,latin prosody4 ,by neither system can quantity be successfully attempted in ,english2 and a distinguished classical scholar of our own day has indicated what is perhaps the only method by which this can be accomplished4#edg ,this method may be described as the harmonious observance of both accent and position2 all accented syllables being generally accounted long1 and no syllable which violates the ,latin law of position being used when a short syllable is required by the scansion4 ,these three systems1 with more or less variation1 have been employed throughout ,english literature4 ,drant's system is followed in the quantitative verse of ,sidney and ,spenser2 ,harvey's method is that employed by ,longfellow in ,evangeline2 and ,tennyson's beautiful classical experiments are practical illustrations of the method of ,professor ,robinson ,ellis4 ,in #aehb1 ,richard ,stanyhurst published at ,leyden a translation of the first four books of the ,a,eneid into ,english hexameters4 ,from ,ascham he seems to have derived his inspiration1 and from ,harvey his metrical system4 ,like ,harvey he refuses to be bound by the laws of ,latin prosody1#edh and follows the ,english accent as much as possible4 ,but in one respect his translation is unique4 ,harvey1 in his correspondence with ,spenser1 had suggested that the use of quantitative verse in ,english necessitated the adoption of a certain uniformity in spelling2 and the curious orthography of ,stanyhurst was apparently intended as a serious attempt at phonetic reform4 ,spelling reform had been agitated in ,france for some time2 and in ,baif's ,etrennes de ,poesie francoise 7#aegd71 we find ,french quantitative verse written according to the phonetic system of ,ramus4 ,webbe's ,discourse of ,english ,poetrie is really a plea in favor of quantitative verse4 ,his system is based primarily on ,latin prosody1 but reconciled with ,english usage4 ,the ,latin rules are to be followed when the ,english and ,latin words agree2 but no word is to be used that notoriously impugns the laws of ,latin prosody1 and the spelling of ,english words should1 when possible1 be altered to conform to the ancient rules4 ,the difficulty of observing the law of position in the middle of ,english words may be obviated by change in spelling1 as in the word mournfully1 which should be spelled mournfuly2 but where this is impossible1 the law of position is to be observed1 despite the ,english accent1 as in royalty4 ,unlike ,ascham1 ,webbe regards the hexameter as the easiest of all classical metres to use in ,english4#edi ,puttenham is not averse to the use of classical metres1 but as a conservative he considers all sudden innovations dangerous4#eej ,the system he adopts is not unlike ,harvey's4 ,sidney's original enthusiasm for quantitative verse soon abated2 and in the ,defence of ,poesy he points out that although the ancient versification is better suited to musical accompaniment than the modern1 both systems cause delight1 and are therefore equally effective and valuable2 and ,english is more fitted than any other language to use both4#eea ,campion1 like ,ascham1 regards ,english polysyllables as too heavy to be used as dactyls2 so that only trochaic and iambic verse can be suitably employed in ,english poetry4#eeb ,he suggests eight new forms of verse4 ,the ,english accent is to be diligently observed1 and is to yield to nothing save the law of position2 hence the second syllable of ,trumpington is to be accounted long4#eec ,in observing the law of position1 however1 the sound1 and not the spelling1 is to be the test of quantity2 thus1 love-sick is pronounced love-sik1 dangerous is pronounced dangerus1 and the like4#eed ,,iii4 ,other ,evidences of ,classicism ,with ,campion's ,observations 7#afjb7 the history of classical metres in ,england may be said to close1 until the resuscitation of quantitative verse in the present century4 ,daniel's ,defence of ,rhyme effectually put an end to this innovation2 but the strong hold which the movement seems to have had during the ,elizabethan age is interesting evidence of the classical tendencies of the period4 ,ben ,jonson has usually been regarded as the forerunner of neo-classicism in ,england2 but long before his influence was felt1 classical tendencies may be observed in ,english criticism4 ,thus ,ascham's conservatism and aversion to singularity in matters of art are distinctly classical4 ,he that can neither like ,aristotle in logic and philosophy1 nor ,tully in rhetoric and eloquence1 says ,ascham1 will from these steps likely enough presume by like pride to mount higher to the misliking of graver matters2 that is1 either in religion to have a dissentious head1 or in the commonwealth to have a factious heart4#eee ,his insistence that it is no slavery to be bound by the laws of art1 and the stress he lays on perfection of style1 are no less classical4#eef ,similar tendencies may be observed in the writers that follow ,ascham4 ,harvey's strictures on the ,faerie ,queene were inspired by two influences4 ,as a humanist1 he looked back with contempt on mediaeval literature in general1 its superstitions1 its fairy lore1 and the like4 ,as a classicist in art1 he preferred the regular1 or classic1 form of the epic to the romantic1 or irregular form2 and his strictures may be compared in this respect with those of ,bembo on the ,orlando or those of ,salviati on the ,gerusalemme4 ,so ,harington attempts to make the ,orlando chime with the laws of ,aristotle1 and ,sidney attempts to force these laws on the ,english drama4 ,so also ,sidney declares that genius1 without art1 imitation1 and exercise1 is as nothing1 and censures his contemporaries for neglecting artificial rules and imitative patterns4#eeg ,so ,webbe attempts to find a fixed standard or criterion by which to judge good and bad poets1 and translates ,fabricius's summary of the rules of ,horace as a guide for ,english poetry4#eeh ,english criticism1 therefore1 may be said to exhibit classical tendencies from its very beginning4 ,but it is none the less true that before ,ben ,jonson there was no systematic attempt to force1 as it were1 the classic ideal on ,english literature4 ,in ,spain1 as has been seen1 ,juan de la ,cueva declared that poetry should be classical and imitative1 while the drama should be romantic and original4 ,sidney1 on the contrary1 sought to make the drama classical1 while allowing freedom of imagination and originality of form to the non-dramatic poet4 ,ben ,jonson was the first complete and consistent ,english classicist2 and his classicism differs from that of the succeeding age rather in degree than in kind4 ,bacon's assertion that poetry is restrained in the measure of words1 but in all other points extremely licensed1#eei is characteristic of the ,elizabethan point of view4 ,the early critics allowed extreme license in the choice and treatment of material1 while insisting on strict regularity of expression4 ,thus ,sidney may advocate the use of classical metres1 but this does not prevent him from celebrating the freedom of genius and the soaring heights of the imagination4 ,there is nothing of these things in ,ben ,jonson4 ,he1 too1 celebrates the nobility and power of poetry1 and the dignity of the poet's office2 but nowhere does he speak of the freedom of the imagination or the force of genius4 ,literature for him was not an expression of personality1 not a creation of the imagination1 but an image of life1 a picture of the world4 ,in other words1 he effected what may be called an objectification of the literary ideal4 ,in the second place1 this image of life can be created only by conscious effort on the part of the artist4 ,for the creation of great poetry1 genius1 exercise1 imitation1 and study are all necessary1 but to these art must be added to make them perfect1 for only art can lead to perfection4#efj ,it is this insistence on art as a distinct element1 almost as an end in itself1 that distinguishes ,jonson from his predecessors2 and nowhere is his ideal of art expressed as pithily as in the address to the reader prefixed to the ,alchemist 7#afab73-- ,in ,poetry1 especially in ,plays1 444 the concupiscence of dances and of antics so reigneth1 as to run away from nature1 and be afraid of her1 is the only point of art that tickles the spectators4 ,but how out of purpose1 and place1 do ,i name art8 ,when the professors are grown so obstinate contemners of it1 and presumers on their own naturals1 as they are deriders of all diligence that way1 and1 by simple mocking at the terms1 when they understand not the things1 think to get off wittily with their ignorance4 ,nay1 they are esteemed the more learned1 and sufficient for this1 by the many1 through their excellent vice of judgment4 ,for they commend writers as they do fencers or wrestlers2 who1 if they come in robustiously1 and put for it with a great deal of violence1 are received for the braver fellows2 when many times their own rudeness is the cause of their disgrace1 and a little touch of their adversary gives all that boisterous force the foil4 ,i deny not but that these men1 who always seek to do more than enough1 may some time happen on some thing that is good and great2 but very seldom2 and when it comes it doth not recompense the rest of their ill4444 ,but ,i give thee warning1 that there is a great difference between those that1 to gain the opinion of copy i4e4 copiousness1 utter all they can1 however unfitly2 and those that use election and a mean#efa i4e4 selection and moderation4 ,for it is only the disease of the unskilful to think rude things greater than polished2 or scattered more numerous than composed4#efb ,literature1 then1 aims at presenting an image of life through the medium of art2 and the guide to art1 according to ,jonson1 is to be found in the rules of criticism4 ,thus1 for example1 success in comedy is to be attained ,by observation of those comic laws ,which ,i1 your master1 first did teach the age2#efc and elsewhere1 it will be remembered1 ,jonson boasts that he had swerved from no needful law4 ,but though art can find a never-failing guide and monitor in the rules of criticism1 he does not believe in mere servile adherence to the practice or theory of classical literature4 ,the ancients are to be regarded as guides1 not commanders4#efd ,in short1 the ,english mind was not yet prepared to accept the neo-classic ideal in all its consequences2 and absolute subservience to ancient authority came only with the introduction of the ,french influence4 ,this is1 perhaps1 best indicated by the history of ,aristotle's influence in ,english criticism from ,ascham to ,milton4 ,the first reference to the ,poetics in ,england is to be found in ,ascham's ,scholemaster4#efe ,there we are told that ,ascham1 ,cheke1 and ,watson had many pleasant talks together at ,cambridge1 comparing the poetic precepts of ,aristotle and ,horace with the examples of ,euripides1 ,sophocles1 and ,seneca4 ,in ,sidney's ,defence of ,poesy1 ,aristotle is cited several times2 and in the drama1 his authority is regarded by ,sidney as almost on a par with that of the common reason4#eff ,harington was not satisfied until he had proved that the ,orlando agrees substantially with ,aristotle's requirements4 ,jonson wrote a commentary on ,horace's ,ars ,poetica1 with elucidations from ,aristotle1 in which ,all the old ,venusine i4e4 ,horace1 in poetry1 ,and lighted by the ,stagyrite i4e4 ,aristotle1 could spy1 ,was there made ,english2#efg but the manuscript was unfortunately destroyed by fire in #afbc4 ,yet ,jonson was aware how ridiculous it is to make any author a dictator4#efh ,his admiration for ,aristotle was great2 but he acknowledges that the ,aristotelian rules are useless without natural talent1 and that a poet's liberty cannot be bound within the narrow limits prescribed by grammarians and philosophers4#efi ,at the same time1 he points out that ,aristotle was the first critic1 and the first of all men to teach the poet how to write4 ,the ,aristotelian authority is not to be contemned1 since ,aristotle did not invent his rules1 but1 taking the best things from nature and the poets1 converted them into a complete and consistent code of art4 ,milton1 also1 had a sincere admiration for that sublime art which is taught in ,aristotle's ,poetics1 in ,horace1 and the ,italian commentaries of ,castelvetro1 ,tasso1 ,mazzoni1 and others4#egj ,but despite all this1 the ,english independence of spirit never failed2 and before the ,french influence we can find no such thing in ,english criticism as the literary dictatorship of ,aristotle4#ega ,to conclude1 then1 it would seem that by the middle of the sixteenth century there had grown up in ,italy an almost complete body of poetic rules and theories4 ,this critical system passed into ,france1 ,england1 ,spain1 ,germany1 ,portugal1 and ,holland2 so that by the beginning of the seventeenth century there was a common body of ,renaissance doctrine throughout western ,europe4 ,each country1 however1 gave this system a national cast of its own2 but the form which it received in ,france ultimately triumphed1 and modern classicism therefore represents the supremacy of the ,french phase1 or version1 of ,renaissance ,aristotelianism4 ,a number of modern writers1 among them ,lessing and ,shelley1 have returned more or less to the original ,italian form4 ,this is represented1 in ,elizabethan criticism1 by ,sidney2 ,ben ,jonson represents a transitional phase1 and ,dryden and ,pope the final form of ,french classicism4 ,,foot-,,notes3 #ecf ,morley1 ,english ,writers1 ix4 #ahg4 #ecg ,haslewood1 ii4 #aig4 #ech ,ibid4 ii4 #bag4 #eci ,jonson1 ,works1 iii4 #dgj4 ,cf4 ,gascoigne's comments on enjambement1 in ,haslewood1 ii4 #aa4 #edj ,haslewood1 ii4 #bje4 #eda ,scholemaster1 p4 #gc4 #edb ,ibid4 p4 #ade sq4 #edc ,cf4 ,haslewood1 ii4 p4 xxii4 ,the treatises of ,gascoigne 7#aege7 and ,king ,james ,,vi4 7#aehd7 contain no reference to quantitative verse4 #edd ,cf4 ,pulci1 ,morgante ,maggiore1 xxv4 #aag4 #ede ,haslewood1 ii4 #bhj4 #edf ,haslewood1 ii4 #e4 #edg ,r4 ,ellis1 ,poems and ,fragments of ,catullus translated in the original metres1 ,london1 #ahga1 p4 xiv4 sq4 #edh ,stanyhurst1 p4 #aa sq4 #edi ,haslewood1 ii4 #fi4 #eej ,puttenham1 p4 #abf sq4 #eea ,defence1 p4 #ee4 #eeb ,haslewood1 ii4 #afg4 #eec ,haslewood1 ii4 #ahf4 #eed ,cf4 ,ellis1 op4 cit41 p4 xvi4 #eee ,scholemaster1 p4 #ic4 #eef ,ibid4 pp4 #aah1 #aba4 #eeg ,defence1 p4 #df4 #eeh ,haslewood1 ii4 #ai1 #he sq4 #eei ,works1 vi4 #bjb4 #efj ,discoveries1 p4 #gh4 #efa ,cf4 ,scaliger1 ,poet4 v4 #c1 where the highest virtue of a poet is said to be electio et sui fastidium2 and vi4 #d1 where it is said that the life of all excellence lies in measure4 #efb ,works1 ii4 #c2 cf4 ,discoveries1 pp4 #bb-bg4 #efc ,works1 iii4 #big4 #efd ,discoveries1 p4 #g4 #efe ,scholemaster1 p4 #aci4 #eff ,defence1 p4 #dh4 #efg ,works1 iii4 #cba2 cf4 i4 #cce1 iii4 #dhg4 #efh ,discoveries1 p4 #ff4 #efi ,ibid4 p4 #gh sq4 #egj ,works1 iii4 #dgc4 #ega ,the chapter on poetry in ,peacham's ,compleat ,gentleman 7#afbb7 is interesting chiefly because of its indebtedness to ,scaliger1 who is called by ,peacham 7p4 #ia7 the prince of all learning and the judge of judgments1 the divine ,julius ,caesar ,scaliger4 ,this constitutes him a literary arbiter if not dictator4 ,in the ,great ,assises holden in ,parnassus 7#afde71 ,scaliger is proclaimed one of the lords of ,parnassus1 in company with ,bacon1 ,sidney1 ,erasmus1 ,budaeus1 ,heinsius1 ,vossius1 ,casaubon1 ,mascardo1 ,pico della ,mirandola1 ,selden1 ,grotius1 and others4 ,,appendices ,,appendix ,a ,,chronological ,,table ,,of ,,the ,,chief ,,critical ,,works ,,of ,,the ,,sixteenth ,,century ,,date ,,italy ,,date ,,france ,,date ,,england ---------------------------------------- -------------------------- #aebg ,vida3 ,de ,arte c4 #aebd ,cox3 ,poetica4 ,rhetoric4 #aebi ,trissino3 ,poetica1 pts4 i4-iv4 #aece ,dolce3 trans4 of ,horace's ,ars ,poetica4 #aecf ,pazzi3 transl4 of ,aristotle's ,poetics4 #aecf ,daniello3 ,poetica4 #aeci ,tolomei3 #aede ,pelletier3 ,versi e ,regole trans4 of della ,nuova ,horace's ,ars ,poesia4 ,poetica4 #aedh ,robortelli3 #aedh ,sibilet3 ,art ed4 of ,poetique4 ,aristotle's ,poetics4 #aedi ,segni3 transl4 #aedi ,du ,bellay3 of ,aristotle's ,defense et ,poetics4 ,illustration4 #aeej ,maggi3 ed4 of #aeec ,wilson3 ,aristotle's ,rhetoric4 ,poetics4 #aeea ,muzio3 ,arte ,poetica4 #aeed ,giraldi #aeed ,pelletier3 ,cintio3 ,art ,discorsi4 ,poetique4 #aeei ,minturno3 ,de #aeee ,morel3 ed4 of ,poeta4 ,aristotle's ,poetics4 #aefj ,vettori3 ed4 #aefg ,drant3 of ,aristotle's #aefj ,pasquier3 transl4 of ,poetics4 ,recherches4 ,horace's ,ars ,poetica4 #aefa ,scaliger3 #aefa ,scaliger3 #aegj ,ascham3 ,poetics4 ,poetics4 ,scholemaster4 #aefc ,trissino3 #aege ,gascoigne3 ,poetica1 ,notes of pts4 v41 vi4 ,instruction4 #aefd ,minturno3 ,arte ,poetica4 #aegi ,gosson3 ,school #aegj ,castelvetro3 #aefe ,ronsard3 of ,abuse4 ed4 of ,abrege ,aristotle's de l',art #aegi ,lodge3 ,poetics4 ,poetique4 ,reply to ,gosson4 #aege ,piccolomini3 #aegb ,jean de la #aehj ,harvey and ed4 of ,taille3 ,spenser3 ,aristotle's preface of ,letters4 ,poetics4 ,saul4 c4 #aehc ,sidney3 #aegi ,viperano3 #aegb ,ronsard3 ,defence ,de ,arte preface of of ,poesy ,poetica4 ,franciade4 7publ4 #aeie74 #aehf ,patrizzi3 #aehe ,james ,,vi43 ,della ,reulis and ,poetica4 ,cautelis4 #aehg ,t4 ,tasso3 #aegc ,jacques de la ,discorsi ,taille3 #aehf ,webbe3 dell' treatise ,discourse ,arte ,poetica4 on ,french of ,english classical ,poetrie4 #aehh ,denores3 metres4 ,poetica4 #aeig ,buonamici3 #aeih ,de ,laudun3 #aehi ,puttenham3 ,discorsi ,art ,arte of ,poetici4 ,poetique ,english francois4 ,poesie4 #aeih ,ingegneri3 ,poesia -- ,vauquelin3 ,rappresentativa4 ,art #aeia ,harington3 ,poetique4 ,apologie #afjj ,summo3 ,discorsi of ,poetici4 ,poetrie4 ,,appendix ,b ,,salviati',s ,,account ,,of ,,the ,,commentators ,,on ,,aristotle',s ,,poetics4 ,,the following is ,lionardo ,salviati's account of the commentators on ,aristotle's ,poetics up to #aehf4 ,the passage is cited from an unpublished ,ms4 at ,florence 7,cod4 ,magliabech4 ii4 ii4 ,,ii471 beginning at fol4 #cga4 ,the title of the ,ms4 is ,parafrasi e ,commento della ,poetica d',aristotile2 and at fol4 #cgj it is dated ,january #bh1 #aehf4 ,,delli ,,interpreti ,,di ,,questo ,,libro ,,della ,,poetica ,sidenote3 ,averroes4 ,averroe primo di tutti quelli interpreti della ,poetica che a nostri tempi sono pervenuti1 fece intorno a esso una breve ,parafrasi1 nella quale come che pure alcune buone considerationi si ritrovino1 tutta via per la diversita e lontananza de costumi1 che tra greco havea1 e tra gli arabi poca notizia havendone1 pochissima ne pote dare altrui4 ,sidenote3 ,valla4 ,appresso hebbe voglia ,giorgio ,valla di tradur questo libro in latino1 ma o che la copia del testo greco lo ingannasse1 o che verso di se fusse l'opera malagevole per ogni guisa massimamente in quei tempi1 egli di quella impresa picciola lode si guadagno4 ,sidenote3 ,pazzi4 ,il che considerando poi ,alessandro de ,pazzi1 huomo delle lingue intendente1 et ingegnoso molto1 alla medesima cura si diede1 et ci lascio la latina traduzzione1 che in tutti i latini comenti fuorch'in quello del ,vettorio si leggie4 ,e per cio che dotto huomo era1 et hebbe copia di ottimi testi scritti a penna1 diede non poca luce a questa opera1 e piu anche fatto havrebbe se da la morte stato non fusse sopravenuto4 ,sidenote3 ,robortelli4 ,ma ,francesco ,rubertello a tempi nostri1 nelli studj delle lingue esercitatissimo1 conoscendo che di maggior aviso li faceva mestieri1 non solamente purgo il testo di molte macchie che accecato il tenevano1 ma il primo fu ancora1 che con distese dichiarationi1 et con innumerabili esempli di poeti greci e latini1 fece opera di illustrarlo4 ,sidenote3 ,segni4 ,vulgarizzollo appresso ,bernardo ,segni in questo nostro ,idioma1 et con alcune sue brevi annotationi lo diede in luce4 ,e nella tradutione per alcune proprie voci et ai greci vocaboli ottimamente corrisposero1 non se n' usci anche egli senza commendazione4 ,ma con molto maggior grido et applauso1 il comento del ,sidenote3 ,maggi4 ,maggio1 chiarissimo filosopho1 fu dal mondo ricevuto2 percioche havendo egli con somma gloria nella continua lettura della ,philosophia i suoi anni trapassati1 con l' ordine principalmente giovo a questo libro1 e col mostrarne la continuatione et in non pochi luoghi soccorse il ,rubertello4 ,e se si fusse alquanto meno ardente contro di lui dimonstrato1 ne cosi vago stato fusse di contrapporseli1 sarebbe alcuna volta per avventura uscito fuor piu libero il parer suo1 e piu saldo4 ,sidenote3 ,vettori4 ,a lato a quel del ,maggio fu la latina traduzione et comento di ,pier ,vettori pubblicato1 il quale essendo oltre ad ogni altro1 delle antiche scritture diligentissimo osservatore1 e nella cognitione delle lingue havendosi si come io stimo a tempi nostri1 il primo luogo guadagnato1 hauta commodita1 et in gran numero di preziosi et antichi esemplarj scritti a mano1 in ogni parte1 ma nella correzzione del testo spetialmente e nella traduzione1 ha fatto si che poco piu avanti pare che di lume a questo libro possa desiderarsi4 ,sidenote3 ,castelvetro4 ,pur non di manco a questi anni di nuovo1 da un dotto huomo in questa lingua volgarizzato et esposto1 et piu a lungo che alcun altro che cio habbia fin qui adoprato ancor mai4 ,questo sara da me per tutto ovunque mi convenga nominarlo1 il comento vulgare appellato1 e per piu brevita con quelle due prime lettere ,c4 ,v4 in questa guisa lo notero4 ,nel qual comento hanno senza alcun fallo di sottilissimi avvedimenti1 ma potrebb' essere1 si come io credo1 piu sincero4 ,percio che io stimo1 che dove egli dal vero si diparte1 il faccia per emulazione per lo piu per dimostrarsi di sottil sentimento e per non dire come li altri4 ,e la costui tradutione1 fuorche in alcune parti dove egli secondo che io avviso volontariamente erra1 tra le toscane la migliore4 ,e sono le sue parole et in essa e nell' espositione molto pure1 et in puro volgare fiorentino1 quanto comporta la materia l'una e l'altra e dettata4 ,ultimamente la traduzzione1 e con essa l'annotazione di ,sidenote3 ,piccolomini4 ,mgr4 ,alessandro ,piccolomini sono uscite in stampa1 il quale havendosi con molte altre sue opere d' astrologia e di filosofia e di rettorica parte composte1 parte volgarizzate1 non picciol nome e molta riputazione acquistata1 creder si puo altrettanto doverli della presente faticha avvenire4 ,dietro a si chiari interpreti non per emulatione1 la quale tra me e si fatti huomini ,sidenote3 ,salviati4 non potrebbe haver luogo1 ma per vaghezza che io pure havrei di dover ancor io1 se io potessi a questa impresa1 alcun aiuto arrecare dopo lo studio di dieci anni che io ci ho spesi1 scendo1 quantunque timido1 in questo campo1 piu con accesa volonta1 che con speranza1 o vigore desideroso che avanti che venirmi gloria per false opinioni1 sieno i miei difetti discretamente da savio giudice gastigati4 ,,bibliography ,,this bibliography includes a list of the principal books and editions used in the preparation of the essay1 and should be consulted for the full titles of works cited in the text and in the foot-notes4 ,i4 ,,sources ,ascham1 ,r4 ,the ,scholemaster1 edited by ,e4 ,arber4 ,london1 #ahgj4 ---- ,the ,whole ,works1 edited by ,rev4 ,dr4 ,giles4 #c vols4 in #d parts4 ,london1 #ahfd4 ,aubignac1 ,abbe d'4 ,la ,pratique du ,theatre4 #b vols4 ,amsterdam1 #agae4 ,bacon1 ,f4 ,works1 edited by ,j4 ,spedding1 ,r4 ,l4 ,ellis1 and ,d4 ,d4 ,heath4 #ae vols4 ,boston1 #ahfc4 ,batteux1 ,c4 ,les ,quatres ,poetiques d',aristote1 d',horace1 de ,vida1 de ,despreaux4 ,paris1 #agga4 ,berni1 ,f4 ,rime1 ,poesie ,latine1 e ,lettere1 per cura di ,p4 ,virgili4 ,firenze1 #ahhe4 ,boccaccio1 ,g4 ,geneologia degli ,dei1 trad4 per ,g4 ,betussi4 ,vinegia1 #aedg4 ---- ,vita di ,dante1 per cura di ,f4 ,macri-,leone4 ,firenze1 #ahhh4 ,bruno1 ,g4 ,opere1 raccolte da ,a4 ,wagner4 #b vols4 ,lipsia1 #ahcj4 ,butcher1 ,s4 ,h4 ,aristotle's ,theory of ,poetry and ,fine ,art1 with a ,critical ,text and a ,translation of the ,poetics4 ,london1 #ahie4 ,carducci1 ,g4 ,la ,poesia ,barbara nei ,secoli ,,xv e ,,xvi4 ,bologna1 #ahha4 ,caro1 ,a4 ,apologia degli ,academici di ,bianchi di ,roma contra ,m4 ,lodovico ,castelvetro4 ,parma1 #aeeh4 ,castelvetro1 ,l4 ,poetica d' ,aristotele vulgarizzata et sposta4 ,basilea1 #aegf4 ---- ,opere ,varie ,critiche1 colla vita dell' autore scritta da ,l4 ,a4 ,muratori4 ,milano1 #agbg4 ,cook1 ,a4 ,s4 ,the ,art of ,poetry3 ,the ,poetical ,treatises of ,horace1 ,vida1 and ,boileau1 with the translations by ,howes1 ,pitt1 and ,soame4 ,boston1 #ahib4 ,dacier1 ,a4 ,la ,poetique traduite en ,francois1 avec des ,remarques4 ,paris1 #afib4 ,daniello1 ,b4 ,la ,poetica4 ,vinegia1 #aecf4 ,dante ,alighieri4 ,tutte le ,opere1 per cura di ,e4 ,moore4 ,oxford1 #ahid4 ,denores1 ,j4 ,discorso intorno a que' ,principii che la ,comedia1 la ,tragedia1 et il ,poema ,heroico ricevono dalla ,philosophia4 ,padova1 #aehg4 ---- ,in ,epistolam ,q4 ,horatij ,flacci de ,arte ,poetica1 ex quotidianis ,tryphonis ,gabrielij ,sermonibus ,interpretatio4 ,venetiis1 #aeec4 ---- ,poetica1 nel qual si tratta secondo l' opinion d' ,arist4 della ,tragedia1 del ,poema ,heroico1 della ,comedia4 ,padova1 #aehh4 ,donatus1 ,a4 ,ars ,poetica4 ,bononiae1 #afei4 ,dryden1 ,j4 ,an ,essay of ,dramatic ,poesy1 edited by ,t4 ,arnold4 ,oxford1 #ahhi4 ,du ,bellay1 ,j4 ,oeuvres ,choisies1 publiees par ,l4 ,becq de ,fouquieres4 ,paris1 #ahgf4 ,fracastoro1 ,g4 ,opera4 #b vols4 ,genevae1 #afba4 ,giraldi ,cintio1 ,g4 ,b4 ,scritti ,estetici3 ,de' ,romanzi1 delle ,comedie1 e delle ,tragedie1 ecc4 7,daelli's ,biblioteca ,rara1 lii41 liii47 #b vols4 ,milano1 #ahfd4 ,gosson1 ,s4 ,the ,schoole of ,abuse1 edited by ,e4 ,arber4 ,london1 #ahfh4 ,haslewood1 ,j4 ,ancient ,critical ,essays upon ,english ,poets and ,poesy4 #b vols4 ,london1 #ahaa-ahae4 ,ingegneri1 ,a4 ,della ,poesia ,rappresentativa4 ,firenze1 #agcd4 ,jonson1 ,b4 ,timber1 or ,discoveries made upon ,men and ,matter1 edited by ,f4 ,e4 ,schelling4 ,boston1 #ahib4 ---- ,works1 with ,notes and ,memoir by ,w4 ,gifford1 edited by ,f4 ,cunningham4 #c vols4 ,london1 n4 d4 ,klette1 ,t4 ,beitraege zur ,geschichte und ,litteratur der ,italienischen ,gelehrtenrenaissance4 #c parts4 ,greifswald1 #ahhh-ahij4 ,le ,bossu1 ,r4 ,treatise of the ,epic ,poem1 made ,english by ,w4 ,j4 ,second edition4 #b vols4 ,london1 #agai4 ,lionardi1 ,a4 ,dialogi della ,inventione ,poetica4 ,venetia1 #aeed4 ,luisino1 ,f4 ,in ,librum ,q4 ,horatii ,flacci de ,arte ,poetica ,commentarius4 ,venetiis1 #aeed4 ,maggi1 ,v41 and ,lombardi1 ,b4 ,in ,aristotelis ,librum de ,poetica ,explanationes4 ,venetijs1 #aefj4 ,milton1 ,j4 ,prose ,works1 edited by ,j4 ,a4 ,st4 ,john4 7,bohn's ,library47 #e vols4 ,london1 #ahdh4 ,minturno1 ,a4 ,s4 ,l' ,arte ,poetica4 ,venetia1 #aefd4 ---- ,de ,poeta ,libri ,sex4 ,venetiis1 #aeei4 ,muzio1 ,g4 ,rime ,diverse3 ,tre ,libri di ,arte ,poetica1 ,tre ,libri di ,lettere in rime sciolti1 ecc4 ,vinegia1 #aeea4 ,partenio1 ,b4 ,della ,imitatione ,poetica4 ,vinegia1 #aefj4 ,patrizzi1 ,f4 ,della ,poetica3 ,la ,deca ,istoriale1 ,la ,deca ,disputata4 ,ferrara1 #aehf4 ,petrarca1 ,f4 ,opera quae extant ,omnia4 ,basileae1 #aeed4 ,piccolomini1 ,a4 ,annotationi nel ,libro della ,poetica d' ,aristotele4 ,vinegia1 #aege4 ,pope1 ,a4 ,selecta ,poemata ,italorum1 qui ,latine ,scripserunt4 #b vols4 ,londini1 #agdj4 ,puttenham1 ,g4 ,the ,arte of ,english ,poesie1 edited by ,e4 ,arber4 ,london1 #ahfi4 ,rapin1 ,r4 ,reflections on ,aristotle's ,treatise of ,poesie 7transl474 ,london1 #afgd4 ,robortelli1 ,f4 ,in ,librum ,aristotelis de ,arte ,poetica ,explicationes4 ,florentiae1 #aedh4 ,ronsard1 ,p4 de4 ,oeuvres ,completes1 publiees par ,p4 ,blanchemain4 #h vols4 ,paris1 #aheg-ahfg4 ,salviati1 ,l4 ,parafrasi e ,commento della ,poetica di ,aristotile1 #cgj folios1 ,cod4 ,magliabechiano1 ii4 ii4 ,,ii4 ,ms4 ---- ,trattato della ,poetica1 ,lettura ,terza1 #bb folios1 ,cod4 ,magliabechiano1 vii4 #g1 #gae4 ,ms4 ,scaliger1 ,j4 ,c4 ,poetices ,libri ,septem4 ,editio ,quinta4 ,in ,bibliopolio ,commeliano1 #afag4 ,segni1 ,a4 ,ragionamento sopra le ,cose pertinenti alla ,poetica4 ,fiorenza1 #aeha4 ,segni1 ,b4 ,rettorica et ,poetica d' ,aristotele tradotte in lingua vulgare ,fiorentina4 ,vinegia1 #aeea4 ,sidney1 ,sir ,p4 ,the ,defense of ,poesy1 otherwise known as ,an ,apology for ,poetry1 edited by ,a4 ,s4 ,cook4 ,boston1 #ahij4 ,speroni1 ,sperone4 ,opere4 #e vols4 ,venezia1 #agdj4 ,stanyhurst1 ,r4 ,translation of the ,first ,four ,books of the ,a,eneid of ,p4 ,virgilius ,maro1 edited by ,e4 ,arber4 ,london1 #ahhj4 ,summo1 ,f4 ,discorsi ,poetici4 ,padova1 #afjj4 ,tasso1 ,b4 ,delle ,lettere3 aggiuntovi il ,ragionamento della ,poesia4 #b vols4 ,padova1 #agcc4 ,tasso1 ,t4 ,opere1 colle ,controversie sulla ,gerusalemme1 per cura di ,g4 ,rosini4 #cc vols4 ,pisa1 #ahba-ahcb4 ,trissino1 ,g4 ,g4 ,tutte le ,opere4 #b vols4 ,verona1 #agbi4 ,twining1 ,t4 ,aristotle's ,treatise on ,poetry1 translated with ,notes and two ,dissertations on ,poetical and ,musical ,imitation4 ,second edition4 #b vols4 ,london1 #ahab4 ,varchi1 ,b4 ,lezzioni1 lette nell' ,accademia ,fiorentina4 ,fiorenza1 #aeij4 ,vauquelin de la ,fresnaye1 ,j4 ,l',art ,poetique1 publie par ,g4 ,pellissier4 ,paris1 #ahhe4 ,vettori1 ,p4 ,commentarii in primum ,librum ,aristotelis de ,arte ,poetarum4 ,florentiae1 #aefj4 ,webbe1 ,w4 ,a ,discourse of ,english ,poetrie1 edited by ,e4 ,arber4 ,london1 #ahga4 ,woodward1 ,w4 ,h4 ,vittorino da ,feltre and other ,humanist ,educators3 ,essays and ,versions4 ,cambridge1 #ahig4 ,,ii4 ,,secondary ,,works ,arnaud1 ,c4 ,etudes sur la ,vie et les ,oeuvres de l',abbe d',aubignac1 et sur les ,theories ,dramatiques au ,,xviie ,siecle4 ,paris1 #ahhg4 ,aronstein1 ,p4 ,ben ,jonson's ,theorie des ,lustspiels1 in ,anglia 7#ahie71 vol4 xvii4 ,baillet1 ,a4 ,jugemens des ,savans sur les ,principaux ,ouvrages des ,auteurs1 revus par ,m4 de la ,monnoye4 #h vols4 ,amsterdam1 #agbe4 ,borinski1 ,k4 ,die ,poetik der ,renaissance1 und die ,anfaenge der litterarischen ,kritik in ,deutschland4 ,berlin1 #ahhf4 ,bourgoin1 ,a4 ,les ,maitres de la ,critique au ,,xviieme ,siecle4 ,paris1 #ahhi4 ,breitinger1 ,h4 ,les ,unites d',aristote avant le ,cid de ,corneille4 ,deuxieme edition4 ,geneve et ,bale1 #ahie4 ,brunetiere1 ,f4 ,l',evolution des ,genres dans l',histoire de la ,litterature4 ,deuxieme edition4 ,vol4 i4 ,paris1 #ahib4 ,brunot1 ,f4 ,la ,doctrine de ,malherbe d'apres son ,commentaire sur ,desportes4 ,paris1 #ahia4 ,canello1 ,u4 ,storia della ,letteratura ,italiana nel ,secolo ,,xvi4 ,milano1 #ahhj4 ,cecchi1 ,p4 ,l4 ,t4 ,tasso1 il ,pensiero e le ,belle ,lettere ,italiane nel ,secolo ,,xvi4 ,firenze1 #ahgg4 ,cloetta1 ,w4 ,beitraege zur ,litteraturgeschichte des ,mittelalters und der ,renaissance4 #b vols4 ,halle1 #ahij-ahib4 ,comparetti1 ,d4 ,vergil in the ,middle ,ages1 translated by ,e4 ,f4 ,m4 ,benecke4 ,london1 #ahie4 ,crescimbeni1 ,g4 ,m4 de4 ,istoria della ,volgar ,poesia4 ,roma1 #afih4 ,de ,sanctis1 ,f4 ,storia della ,letteratura ,italiana4 ,sesta edizione4 #b vols4 ,napoli1 #ahic4 ,di ,niscia1 ,g4 ,la ,gerusalemme ,conquistata e l' ,arte ,poetica di ,tasso1 in ,il ,propugnatore 7#ahhi71 ,n4,s4 vol4 ii4 parts #a1 #b4 ,ebert1 ,a4 ,allgemeine ,geschichte der ,literatur des ,mittelalters im ,abendlande4 #c vols4 ,leipzig1 #ahgd-ahhg4 ,egger1 ,e4 ,essai sur l',histoire de la ,critique chez les ,grecs4 ,deuxieme edition4 ,paris1 #ahhf4 ---- ,l',hellenisme en ,france4 #b vols4 ,paris1 #ahfi4 ,faguet1 ,e4 ,la ,tragedie francaise au ,,xvie ,siecle4 ,paris1 #ahid4 ,foffano1 ,f4 ,ricerche ,letterarie4 ,livorno1 #ahig4 ,gaspary1 ,a4 ,geschichte der ,italienischen ,literatur4 #b vols4 ,strassburg1 #ahhe-ahhh4 ,hamelius1 ,p4 ,die ,kritik in der ,englischen ,literatur des #ag4 und #ah4 ,jahrhunderts4 ,leipzig1 #ahig4 ,jacquinet1 ,p4 ,francisci ,baconi de ,re ,litteraria ,judicia4 ,parisiis1 #ahfc4 ,koerting1 ,g4 ,geschichte der ,litteratur ,italiens im ,zeitalter der ,renaissance4 #c vols4 ,leipzig1 #ahgh-ahhd4 ,krantz1 ,e4 ,l',esthetique de ,descartes1 etudiee dans les ,rapports de la ,doctrine cartesienne avec la ,litterature classique francaise au ,,xviie ,siecle4 ,paris1 #ahhb4 ,langlois1 ,e4 ,de ,artibus ,rhetoricae ,rhythmicae4 ,parisiis1 #ahij4 ,lintilhac1 ,e4 ,de ,j4-,c4 ,scaligeri ,poetice4 ,paris1 #ahhg4 ---- ,un ,coup d',etat dans la ,republique des ,lettres1 in the ,nouvelle ,revue 7#ahij71 vol4 lxiv4 ,menendez y ,pelayo1 ,m4 ,historia de las ,ideas ,esteticas en ,espana4 ,segunda edicion4 #i vols4 ,madrid1 #ahij-ahif4 ,mueller1 ,e4 ,geschichte der ,theorie der ,kunst bei den ,alten4 #b vols4 ,breslau1 #ahcd-ahcg4 ,natali1 ,g4 ,torquato ,tasso1 ,filosofo del ,bello1 dell' ,arte1 e dell' ,amore4 ,roma1 #ahie4 ,pellissier1 ,g4 ,de ,sexti ,decimi ,saeculi in ,francia ,artibus ,poeticis4 ,paris1 #ahhb4 ,perrens1 ,f4 ,t4 ,jerome ,savonarole4 #b vols4 ,paris1 #ahec4 ,quadrio1 ,f4 ,s4 ,della ,storia e della ,ragione d' ogni ,poesia4 #e vols4 ,milano1 #agci-ageb4 ,quossek1 ,c4 ,sidney's ,defense of ,poesy und die ,poetik des ,aristoteles4 ,krefeld1 #ahhd4 ,robert1 ,p4 ,la ,poetique de ,racine4 ,paris1 #ahij4 ,rosenbauer1 ,a4 ,die ,poetischen ,theorien der ,plejade nach ,ronsard und ,dubellay4 ,erlangen1 #ahie4 ,rucktaeschel1 ,t4 ,einige ,arts ,poetiques aus der ,zeit ,ronsard's und ,malherbe's4 ,leipzig1 #ahhi4 ,schelling1 ,f4 ,e4 ,poetic and ,verse ,criticism of the ,reign of ,elizabeth4 ,philadelphia1 ,university of ,pennsylvania ,press1 #ahia4 ,solerti1 ,a4 ,vita di ,torquato ,tasso4 #c vols4 ,torino1 #ahie4 ,symonds1 ,j4 ,a4 ,renaissance in ,italy4 #g vols4 ,new ,york1 #ahhh4 ,teichmueller1 ,g4 ,aristotelische ,forschungen4 #b vols4 ,halle1 #ahfi4 ,tiraboschi1 ,g4 ,storia della ,letteratura ,italiana4 #i vols4 ,firenze1 #ahje-ahac4 ,villari1 ,p4 ,life and ,times of ,girolamo ,savonarola1 translated by ,l4 ,villari4 ,new ,york1 #ahif4 ,,index ,abu-,baschar1 #af4 ,academie de ,poesie et de ,musique1 #bbd1 #cjj4 ,accademia della ,crusca1 #abc4 ,accademia della ,nuova ,poesia1 #bbb1 #bbd4 ,addison1 #bie4 ,a,eschylus1 #if4 ,agricola1 #acb4 ,agrippa1 ,cornelius1 #g1 #bgc1 #bge4 ,alamanni1 ,luigi1 #bbb4 ,alberti1 ,leon ,battista1 #bba4 ,alexander of ,aphrodisias1 #gh4 ,ambrose of ,milan1 #g4 ,aneau1 ,barthelemy1 #ahb sq4 ,aphthonius1 #bg4 ,aquinas1 ,thomas1 #f1 #ae4 ,areopagus1 #cjj4 ,aretino1 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,being a ,thirteenth ,century ,french ,version of ,,egidio ,,colonna',s treatise1 ,de ,regimine ,principium4 ,from the ,kerr ,,ms4 ,,edited ,,by ,,samuel ,,paul ,,molenaer1 ,a4,m41 ,instructor in the ,university of ,pennsylvania2 ,sometime ,fellow of ,columbia ,university4 #hvo4 ,cloth4 #c4jj1 net4 99 99 99 99 99 ,this treatise1 ,on the ,education of ,princes1 was prepared in ,latin about the year #abhe1 by the preceptor of the boy prince ,philip the ,fair 7afterward ,philip ,,iv4 of ,france71 and on the accession of the youthful king was by him ordered translated into ,french for the benefit of the general public4 ,numerous editions in the original ,latin were published in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries1 but the ,french version has never before appeared in print4 ,the work covers a wide range of topics1 educational and social1 discussed in the spirit of enlightened mediaeval scholarship4 ,it is believed that1 in its present accessible form1 it will be found to constitute an interesting chapter in the history of educational ideas4 ,,boston ,,transcript4 ,to professional scholars and to those interested in the study of political science in the ,middle ,ages it will have unusual interest4 ,,san ,,francisco ,,argonaut4 ,the work will appeal not only to the limited number of professional scholars for whom the edition is primarily intended1 but beyond that to the wider circle of those interested in the study of the ,middle ,ages and in the evolution of pedagogy and of political economy4 ,,annals ,,of ,,the ,,american ,,academy4 ,the edition of ,colonna's ',de ,regimine ,principium1' of which ,dr4 ,molenaer has given us an excellent thirteenth-century ,french version1 will interest students of widely differing tastes4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company1 #ff ,,fifth ,,avenue1 ,,new ,,york4 ,,publications ,,of ,,the ,,columbia ,,university ,,press4 ,,classical ,,studies ,,in ,,honour ,,of ,,henry ,,drisler4 ,a volume of ,essays on ,classical ,subjects contributed by a number of ,dr4 ,drisler's former pupils1 in commemoration of the fiftieth year of his official connection with ,columbia ,college4 #hvo4 ,cloth4 #d4jj1 net4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,titles ,,of ,,the ,,contributions ,,are ,,as ,,follows3 ,on the ,meaning of ',nauta' and ',viator' in ,horace1 ,sat4 i4 #e4 #aa-bc4 ,anaximander on the ,prolongation of ,infancy in ,man4 ,a ,note on the ,history of the ,theory of ,evolution4 ,of ,two ,passages in ,euripides' ,medea4 ,the ,preliminary ,military ,service of the ,equestrian ,cursus ,honorum4 ,references to ,zoroaster in ,syriac and ,arabic ,literature4 ,literary ,frauds among the ,greeks4 ,henotheism in the ,rig-,veda4 ,on ,plato and the ,attic ,comedy4 ,herodotus vii4 #fa1 or the ,arms of the ,ancient ,persian ,illustrated from ,iranian ,sources4 ,archaism in ,aulus ,gellius4 ,on ,certain ,parallelisms between the ,ancient and the ,modern ,drama4 ,ovid's ,use of ,colour and ,colour-,terms4 ,a ,bronze of ,polyclitan ,affinities in the ,metropolitan ,museum4 ,geryon in ,cyprus4 ,hercules1 ,hydra1 and ,crab4 ,onomatopoetic ,words in ,latin4 ,notes on the ,vedic ,deity ,pusan4 ,the ,so-,called ,medusa ,ludovisi4 ,aristotle and the ,arabs4 ,iphigenia in ,greek and ,french ,tragedy4 ,gargettus3 an ,attic ,deme4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the circumstances of the issue of this handsome volume give it an emotional interest which makes it a volume separate and distinct among the collected records of the investigations of scholars4 ,the studies themselves1 for the most part1 appeal in the first instance to specialists1 but many of them have a much wider interest4 ,the book is a credit to ,american scholarship1 as well as a fit tribute to the honored name of ,professor ,drisler4--,the ,outlook4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company1 #ff ,,fifth ,,avenue1 ,,new ,,york4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,corrections3 ,footnote #cj3 ad nostras was changed to ad nostra 7,jacuit liber hic neglectus1 ad nostra74 ,page #bf3 ,greek3 ton euantion was changed to ,greek3 ton enantion4 ,page #bah3 ,postero was changed to ,postera 7,postera ,phoebea lustrabat lampade terras74 ,page #bbi3 sulutaires was changed to salutaires 7sous les loix salutaires74 ,,remarks3 ,part ,i1 ,chapter ,,iv3 ,trissino 7#aefa73 ,appendix ,a does not list ,trissino in #aefa4 ,part ,,ii1 ,chapter ,i3 ,the two subsections listed in the ,table of ,contents do not appear in the text4