Or else to mark those indirect imitations, in which the image bears a very strong resemblance to that used by another poet, as in the Elegy; "Ev'n from the tomb the voice of Nature cries;" from the Anthologia; "Crede mihi vires aliquas Natura sepulchris Adhibuit, tumulos vindicat umbra suos." Or, thirdly, to trace an allusion, either in subject or style, made to ancient customs or expressions; to open the sources from which the poet ornamented the productions of his fancy; to shew the materials which he connected for new combinations and fresh imagery; and to elucidate the allusions which he remotely made to the idioms, phrases, and images of foreign writers. The very first lines of the poem on the Spring, for instance, abound with allusions to the expressions of the ancient poets: "Lo! where the rosy-bosom'd Hours, Fair Venus' train, appear, Disclose the long-expecting flowers, * I may remark in what a fine manner Gray has made the general picture of a child smiling, and stretching out its hands, in this instance appropriate, by the epithet "dauntless," and how admirable it characterizes the infant genius of Shakspeare. And wake the purple year! The Attic warbler pours her throat," &c. The propriety and beauty of the expressions in these lines depend upon the reference which we make to the ancient authors who have used them. To the mere English writer, some must appear inapplicable, as "purple year;" and others unintelligible, as "Attic warbler." The whole of the stanza has, indeed, quite the air of a Grecian hymn or ode: and might have been sung with propriety by an ancient poet, who was beholding an Athenian landscape brightening in the spring. Considered as a mere piece of English scenery, I think some of the images not peculiarly appropriate. Should we not select different parts of the day, and different scenery, for the songs of the cuckoo and the nightingale, instead of bringing them together, and making them "responsive?" The first delights us when it is heard from some distant trees, suddenly breaking through the stillness of the summer noon: the latter, when pouring from a neighbouring thicket its fine and full tones of melody at the close of the evening, in the spring.* But not to dwell on this trivial objection; perhaps * How completely has Goldsmith in the Deserted Village,' where he mentions the song of the Nightingale, broken the unity of the image, and destroyed the proper emotion that would have arisen from it, by a number of discordant, and opposite circumstances, that belonged to another part of the scenery, and an earlier period of the day: "The noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool, The playful children just let loose from school, The watch-dog's voice that bay'd the whisp'ring wind, And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind. These all in sweet confusion sought the shade, And fill'd each pause, the Nightingale had made." These lines, I should think, were written when the poet lived, "-Ad veteres Arcus, madidamque Capenam " ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. clxvii the allusions to the ancient mythology with which the poem opens, might have been kept in view throughout; instead of being almost entirely confined to the commencement; and, on the whole, I have always thought there was a little defect in the change of scenery and expression which takes place in this ode at the close of the first stanza. The charm, indeed, which is produced by the occasional insertion of a classical image, or an allusion to the mythology of the ancients; the associations which it brings with it, and the interesting picture which it creates in the mind, is too evident to require any proof. When, for instance, in the Hymn to Adversity, we meet with that fine invocation: "Oh! gently on thy suppliant's head, Dread goddess, lay thy chast'ning hand! Not in thy Gorgon terrors clad, Not circled with the vengeful band”. what single epithet, what attribute could the poet have given to Terror, which could have produced an effect equal to that of this image? Do we not immediately behold the figure of the goddess; "Horrentem colubris, vultuque tremendam, and do we not reflect upon a period, when this image was not considered merely as part of an elegant fable, or as an ingenious personification; but when it brought with it the impression of its real presence, which was felt ; and of its supernatural power, which was revered? When an allusion, and not an imitation, is intended to be pointed out, it is not always of consequence from what author, or what particular passage, the resemblance is drawn; and therefore it cannot be objected, that the one allusion which I have marked, is needless; because many others equally obvious could be brought from various quarters. An imitation perhaps must be confined to one or two passages; but an allusion may be illustrated by many. It surely forms also a pleasing branch of criticism, to trace coincidences of thought between writers of genius; to see what particular taste has added to general expression; and to observe, how a graceful idiom, or a noble image, has been altered or enlarged by each succeeding poet; what new and unexpected lights have been cast by the fancy of one author, on the suggestions of another; and how a thought, by gradual expansion, or sudden addition, is at length perfected. We may thus perceive from what slender associations, from what faint images and occasional turns of expression, a train of thought may shoot across the mind of the poet, and opening and enlarging itself, and gaining accessions of strength from all which the genius and learning of the mind can supply, at length appear with a lustre and beauty that never belonged to it in its early state, and under its original possessor. In this manner we may form a correct notion how fine the fruit of native genius will be, when it is assisted by the wisdom of others: and when the poet, while indulging in a patient and liberal enquiry into the opinions of the enlightened, still preserves a consciousness of his own independence of thought, and of his native and original strength." Poetry (says Milton) is the art of expert judgment, and the final work of a head filled by long reading and observing, with elegant maxims and copious invention." It will hardly be necessary, after what I have said, to take notice of the opinions of those, who think the fame of the poet lessened as the imitations, coincidences, or allusions are pointed out, and that his original genius will be depreciated by exhibiting the quantity of his acquired materials. It may be asked, however, if the reputation of Shakspeare or Milton has been at all diminished by what has been selected to illustrate them, by the industry of their commentators. I remember when an opinion of this nature was once urged against Milton; and when it was asserted that the chief part of the materials which he used in his Paradise Lost, belonged to other poets; the late Professor Porson, who was present, strenuously repelled the justice of the accusation; and, repeating the noble exordium of the third book, a passage which is at once pathetic and sublime in the highest degree, he asked to whom Milton was indebted for this fine example of the most perfect poetry. As far as my opinion is concerned, I must say that the original genius of Gray appears to me to be of the very highest order: and that the combination of his images, and the application of them to his subject, is at once the result of the profoundest thought, the finest taste, and the most creative imagination. A person, however, who still entertains sentiments of this kind, will do well, before he decides too positively on the want of originality in this, or that writer, to read what Sir Joshua Reynolds has so sensibly written on this subject with regard to painting; and especially where he treats of the imitations of Raphael. I shall here content myself with transcribing one short passage from one of his Discourses." It is indisputably evident (he says) that a great part of every man's life must be employed in collecting materials for the exercise of genius. Invention, strictly speaking, is little more than a new combination of those images which have been previously gathered and deposited in the memory. Nothing can come of nothing. He who has laid up no materials, can produce no combinations. The more extensive therefore your acquaintance with the works of those who have excelled, the more extensive will be your powers of invention; and, what may appear still more a paradox, the more original will be your conception." * See Sir J. Reynolds's Discourses, vol. i. p. 28, ed. Malone. If any apology should be necessary for quoting so often the discourses of a painter, to illustrate the sister-art of poetry, I should shelter myself under the remark of Mr. Harris; that the Stagirite often illustrates his poetic ideas from painting. See Philological Inquiries, p. 208. VOL. I. y |