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O many are the Qualifications, as well natural as acquir'd,

that are effentially requifite to the making of a good Poet,

that 'tis in vain for any Man to aim at a great Reputa-

tion on account of his Poetical Performances, by barely follow-
ing the Rules of others, and reducing their Speculations into Prac-
tice. It may not be impoffible indeed for Men, even of indifferent
Parts, by making Examples to the Rules hereafter given, to com-
pofe Verfes fmooth and well-founding to the Ear; yet if fuch
Verfes want frong Senfe, Propriety, and Elevation of Thought,
or Purity of Diction, they will be at beft but what Horace calls
them, Verfus inopes rerum, nugæque canoræ; and the Wri-
ters of them not Poets, but verfifying Scriblers. I pretend not
therefore by the following Sheets to teach a Man to be a Poet in
Spite of Fate and Nature, but only to be of help to the few who
are born to be fo, and ruhom audit vocatus Apollo.

To this End I give in the first place Rules for making English
Verfe: And thefe Rules I have, according to the best of my
Judgment, endeavour'd to extract from the Practice, and to
frame after the Examples of the Poets that are most celebrated
for a fluent and numerous Turn of Verfe.

Another Part of this Treatife is, A Dictionary of Rhymes:
To which having prefix'd a large Preface fhewing the Method
and Usefulness of it, I fhall trouble the Reader in this Place no

farther than to acquaint him, that if it be as useful and accept-

able to the Publick, as the compofing of it was tedious and pain-

ful to me, I shall never repent me of the Labour.

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was, that I made a judicious Choice and proper Difpofition of the Paffages I extracted. A Mixture of fo many different Subjects, and fuch a Variety of Thoughts upon them, may poffibly not fatisfy the Reader fo well, as a Compofition perfect in its Kind on one entire Subject; but certainly it will divert and amuse him better; for here is no Thread of Story, nor Connexion of one Part with another, to keep his Mind intent, and constrain him to any Length of Reading. I detain him therefore only to acquaint him, why it is made a Part of this Book, and how ferviceable it may be to the main Defign of it.

Having drawn up Rules for making Verfes, and a Dictionary of Rhymes, which are the mechanick Tools of a Poet; I came in the next place to confider, what other human Aid could be of fer'd him, a Genius and Judgment not being mine to give. Now I imagin'd that a Man might have both these, and yet fometimes, for the fake of a Syllable or two, more or less, to give a Verfe its true Measure, be at a fland for Epithets and Synonyma's, with which I have feen Books of this Nature in feveral Languages plentifully furnished.

Now, tho' I have differ'd from them in Method, yet I am of pinion this Collection may ferve to the fame End, with equal Profit and greater Pleafure to the Reader. For, what are Epithets, but Adjectives that denote and express the Qualities of the Subftantives to which they are join'd? as Purple, Rofy, Smiling, Dewy, Morning: Dim, Gloomy, Silent, Night. What Synonyma's, but Words of a like Signification? as Fear, Dread, Terrour, Confternation, Affright, Difmay, &c. Are they not then naturally to be fought for in the Defcriptions of Perfons and Things? And can we not better judge by a Piece of Painting, how beautifully Colours may be difpos'd; than by feeing the fame feveral Colours Scatter'd without Defign on a Table? When you are at a loss therefore for proper Epithets or Synonyma's, look into this Alphabetical Collection for any Word under which the Subject of your Thought may most probably be rang'd, and you will find what have been employ'd by our beft Writers, and in what manner.

It would have been as eafy a Task for me, as it has been to others before me, to have threaded tedious Bead-rolls of Synony ma's and Epithets together, and put them by themselves: But when they ftand alone they appear bald, infipid, uncouth, and offenfive both to the Eye and Ear. In that Difpofition they may

indeed help the Memory, but cannot direct the Judgment in the
Choice.

But befides, to confefs a Secret, I am very unwilling it should
be laid to my Charge, that I have furnish'd Tools and given a
Temptation of Verfifying, to fuch as in fpite of Art and Nature
undertake to be Poets; and who miftake their Fondness to Rhyme,
or Neceffity of Writing, for a true Genius of Poetry, and lawful
Call from Apollo. Such Debafers of Rhyme and Dablers in
Poetry would do well to confider, that a Man would jufily de-
ferve a higher Efteem in the World, by being a good Mafon or
Shoe-maker, or by excelling in any other Art that his Talent in-
clines him to, and that is useful to Mankind, than by being an
indifferent or fecond-Rate Poet. Such have no Claim to that
Divine Appellation:

Neque enim concludere Verfum

Dixeris effe fatis: Neque, fi quis fcribat, uti nos,
Sermoni propriora, putes hunc effe Poetam.
Ingenium cui fit, cui Mens divinior, atque Os

Magna fonaturum, des Nominis hujus Honorem. Horat.

I refolved therefore to place thefe, the principal Materials, under

the awful Guard of the immortal Shakespear, Milton, Dry-

den, &e.

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here be objected, that I have from the Tranflators of the Greek and Roman Poets, taken fome Defcriptions merely fabulous: For the well-invented Fables of the Antients were defign'd only to inculcate the Truth with more Delight, and to make it shine with greater Splendour.

Rien n'eft beau que le Vrai. Le Vrai feul eft Aimable;
Il doit regner par tout ; & meme dans la Fable.
De toute Fiction l'adroite Fauffeté

Ne tend qu'à faire aux yeux briller la Verité.

Boileau.

I have upon every Subject given both pro and con whenever I met with them, or that I judg'd them worth giving: And if both are not always found, let none imagine that I wilfully fupprefs'd either; or that what is here uncontradicted must be unanswerable.

If any take offence at the Loofenefs of fome of the Thoughts, as particularly upon Love, where I have given the different Sentiments which Mankind, according to their feveral Temperaments, ever had, and ever will have of it; fuch may observe, that I have ftriatly avoided all manner of Obfcenity throughout the whole Collection: And tho' here and there a Thought may perhaps have a Caft of Wantonness, yet the cleanly Metaphors palliate the Broadness of the Meaning, and the Chafteness of the Words qualifies the Lafciviousness of the Images they represent. And let them farther know, that I have not always chofen what 1 moft approv'd, but what carries with it the beft Strokes for Imitation: For, upon the whole Matter, it was not my Bufines to judge any farther, than of the Vigour and Force of Thought, of the Purity of Language, of the Aptnefs and Propriety of Expreffion; and above all, of the Beauty of Colouring, in which the Poet's Art chiefly confifts. Nor, in fhort, would I take upon me to determine what Things should have been faid; but have fhewn only what are faid, and in what manner.

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