tudes, and introduced her with authority and effect into this lower world. Till that halcyon æra came, Human Nature had lain buried in " the works of darkness" and in "the fhadow of death;" when it was invited into "light and life" by the call of a prophetic and evangelic voice-"Awake thou "that fleepest and arife from the dead, "and CHRIST fhall give thee light."

CHA P. XII.

Of the Logic of POETRY.

ROM the Ethical, we are led by the

FR

general plan to the POETICAL province, which is fubject to the IMAGINATION, or Mind employed in producing fome Effect.

After distinguishing the Theoretical division from both the Practical and Poetical, by observing, that the truth of the first originates in its proper subject and terminates in itself, and that that of the other two originates in the mind of the agent moral or poetical, and respects fome farther end; Ariftotle has drawn the line between Morality and Poetry,

b

a Alαvolα ПоIнTIKH. See 23d page of this volume. See p. 227 and 228 of this volume.

according

according to the different ends they have in view - Actions and Arts.

To put this general distinction in a still fuller point of light, we may obferve, that, as the object of Ethics is the Knowledge of the different species of moral good and evil with a view to the right conduct of life; fo the object of POETRY, taken in its greateft latitude of meaning,are the elegant Arts,and their proper end is Pleasure with useful Inftruc

αν

• Τῆ δὲ ἐνδεχομένε ἄλλως ἔχειν, ἔσί τι καὶ ποιητὸν, καὶ πρακτόν. ἕτερον δὲ ἐςὶ ποίησις, καὶ πρᾶξις· ωςε καὶ ἡ μετα λόγου ἕξις πρακτική, ἕτερόν ἐσι τῆς μετὰ λόγε ποιητικῆς ἕξεως. καὶ οὐδὲ περιέχεται ὑπ' ἀλλήλων. οὔτε γὰρ ἡ πρᾶξις, ποίησις· οὔτε ἡ ποίησις, πρᾶξις ἐςιν. ἐπεὶ δ ̓ ἡ οἰκοδομικής τέχνη τίς ἐςι, καὶ ὅπερ ἕξίς τις μετὰ λόγου ποιητικὴ, καὶ οὐδεμία ἔτε τέχνη ἐςὶν, ἥτις ἔ μετὰ λόγου ποιητικὴ ἕξις ἐςιν, ἔτε τοιαύτη, ἢ ἐ τέχνη, ταὐτὸν ἂν εἴη τέχνη καὶ ἕξις μετὰ λόγε ἀληθῆς ποιητική. ἔτι δὲ τέχνη πᾶσα περὶ γένεσιν, καὶ τὸ τεχνάζειν, καὶ θεωρεῖν, ὅπως ἂν γένηταί τι τῶν ἐνδεχο μένων καὶ εἶναι, καὶ μὴ εἶναι· καὶ ὧν ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐν τῷ ποιέντι, ἀλλὰ μὴ ἐν τῷ ποιεμένῳ. ἔτε γὰρ τῶν ἐξ ἀνάγκης ὄντων, ἢ γινομένων, ἡ τέχνη ἐςὶν, ἔτε τῶν κατὰ φύσιν· ἐν αὐτοῖς γὰρ ἔχεσι ταῦτα τὴν ἀρχὴν· ἐπεὶ δὲ ποίησις καὶ πρᾶξις ἕτερον, ἀνάγκη τὴν τέχνην ποιήσεως, ἀλλ ̓ εἰ πράξεως εἶναι. ἡ μὲν ἐν τέχνη, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, ἕξίς τις μετὰ λόγε ἀληθῆς ποιη τική έσιν. Eth. Nicom. lib. vi. cap. 4.

tion Prodeffe Delectando;" the excellence and perfection of which depend on their correspondence to Truth, under the conduct of Reafon.

In both the Theoretical and Practical departments, the mind, in the production of truth, acts and judges within itself: in the Arts it paffes to fome external operation by which it

Hoc enim maxime videtur intereffe inter Philofophum et Poetam, quod cum utriufque idem fit confilium, alia tamen alii id quod velit confequendi fit ratio. Uterque Docentis perfonam fuftinet; quam quidem alter ita optime tueri cenfetur, fi clare doceat, fi fubtiliter, fi enucleate; alter, fi jucunde, ornate, fuaviter, eleganter. Ille ab affectibus ad Rationem unce provocat; hic ita Rationem appellat, ut Affectus etiam in fuas partes ftudeat pertrahere. Ille ad Virtutem et Veritatem proxima et compendiaria femita utitur; hic per itinerum flexiones quafdam et diverticula, fed amoniore via, eodem ducit. Illius denique eft utramque ita exponere et nudare, ut neceffario eas agnofcamus; hujus ita eafdem ornare et vestire, ut amemus ultro et amplectamur. Louth Poet. Præl. 1.

• Ars eft fecunda virtus intellectualis practica, quæ definitur Habitus cum recta ratione effectivus.

Objectum ejus funt omnia illa, ex quibus tanquam materia aliquid poteft effici.

Artificis officium in tribus confiftit: primò, in fpeculando: fecundò, in fabricando: tertiò, in perficiendo, ut opus producat. Langb. Eth. p. 77.

produces

produces an effect, from which the truth refults. The Arts are, therefore, Energies of the mind; but no energy of the human mind can actually create: it can only imitate the works of Nature material and mental, and, by variously joining and combining them together, form new images of things, which in nature have no real existence. This is the proper office of POETIC ART in general, which confifts in Imitations formed by the Imagination, that prolific faculty of the mind, which gives a kind of fecond creation to all the works of nature, generalizes and enlarges their comprehenfion, heightens their beauty, and improves their charms.

• Πόλυ ἐν ταῖς τεχναῖς μιμεμέναις τήν φυσιν, καὶ τὸ παραλειπομένον ὑπ ̓ αὐτῆς ἀναπλήρεσαις. Simplius in Ariftot. Præd.

Etenim nimium anguftis finibus continetur Hiftoria, nimum severas habet operis fui leges. Res geftas tradit, eventorum veftigiis infiftit; quod contigit, non quod contigiffe potuit aut oportuit, narrandum; nec quo documenti opportunitas, vel probabilitatis ratio vocat, fed quo facti neceffitas cogit, eundum. Hiftoria res et perfonas certas et conftitutas tractat, infinitas et univerfales Poefis: altera rerum caufas incertis conjecturis confectatur; altera evidenter certeque demonftrat: altera fortuito elucentem Veritatis imaginem captat; altera fimplicem ejus formam intuetur: illa præfcriptum iter certa via conficit; hæc Jiberis naturæ fpatiis fruitur: illa demum argumento fuo infervit; hæc dominatur. Lowth Poet. Præl. 1.

All