6 6 tleman who stood by, as I fuppofe, envying the Cap⚫tain's good Fortune, asked him what Reafon he had to believe the Lady admired him? Why, fays he, my Lodgings are oppofite to hers, and she is continually at her Window either at Work, Reading, taking Snuff, or putting herself in fome toying Pofture on Purpose to draw my Eyes that Way. The Confeffion of this vain Soldier made me reflect on fome of my own Ac⚫tions; for you must know, Sir, I am often at a Window which fronts the Apartments of feveral Gentlemen, who I doubt not have the fame Opinion of me. I must own I love to look at them all, one for being ⚫ well dreffed, a fecond for his fine Eye, and one particu⚫lar one, because he is the leaft Man I ever faw; but there is fomething fo eafy and pleasant in the Manner of my little Man, that I obferve he is a Favourite of all his Acquaintance. I could go on to tell you of many others, that I believe think I have encouraged them ⚫ from my Window : But pray let me have your Opini⚫on of the Ufe of the Window in a beautiful Lady; and how often she may look out at the fame Man, without ⚫ being fuppofed to have a Mind to jump out to him. Yours, Aurelia Careless. Tavice. Mr. SPECTATOR, I Have for fome time made Love to a Lady, who received it with all the kind Returns I ought to expect: But without any Provocation, that I know of, The has of late fhunned me with the utmost Abhorrence, infomuch that she went out of Church, laft Sunday, in the midst of Divine Service, upon my coming into the fame Pew. Pray, Sir, what must I do in this Bufiness ? Your Servant Let her alone Ten Days. Mr. SPECTATOR, EUPHUES. York, Jan. 20. 1711-12. E have in this Town a fort of People who pretend to Wit and write Lampoons: I have lately been the Subject of one of them. The Scribbler had 'W' H 4 • not not Genius enough in Verfe to turn my Age, as in• deed I am an old Maid, into Raillery, for affecting a youthier Turn than is confiftent with my Time of Day; and therefore he makes the Title to his Madrigal, The Character of Mrs. Judith Lovebane, born in the Year 1680. What I defire of you is, That you difallow that a Coxcomb who pretends to write Verfe, fhould put the moft malicious Thing he çan fay in Profe. This I humbly conceive will dif able our Country Wits, who indeed take a great deal ⚫ of Pains to fay any thing in Rhyme, tho' they fay it very ill. I am, SIR, Your bumble Servant, Mr. SPECTATOR, E are feveral of us, Gentlemen and Ladies, who W board in the fame Houfe, and after Dinner one of our Company (an agreeable Man enough otherwise) ⚫ftands up and reads your Paper to us all. We are the ⚫ civillest People in the World to one another, and there⚫fore I am forced to this Way of defiring our Reader, ⚫ when he is doing this Office, not to ftand afore the Fire. This will be a general Good to our Family this ⚫ cold Weather. He will, I know, take it to be our ⚫ common Requeft when he comes to thefe Words, Pray, • Sir, fit down; which I defire you to infert, and you will particularly oblige Your daily Reader, Charity Froft. SIR, I Am a great Lover of Dancing, but cannot perform fo well as fome others; however, by my Out-ofthe-way Capers, and fome original Grimaces, I don't. ⚫ fail to divert the Company, particularly the Ladies, who laugh immoderately all the Time. Some, who pretend to be my Friends, tell me they do it in Derifion, and would advise me to leave it off, withal that I make my • felf ridiculous. I don't know what to do in this Affair, • but but am refolved not to give over upon any Account, 'till I have the Opinion of the SPECTATOR. Your bumble Servant, John Trott. I F Mr. Trott is not aukward out of Time, he has a Right to Dance let who will Laugh: But if he has no Ear he will interrupt oth ; and I am of Opinion he fhould fit ftill. Given under my Hand this Fifth of February, 1711-12. T The SPECTATOR. No. 297. Saturday, February 9. velut fi Egregio infperfos reprendas corpore nævos.. A Hor. FTER what I have faid in my last Saturday's Pa per, I fhall enter on the Subject of this without further Preface, and remark the feveral Defects which appear in the Fable, theCharacters, the Sentiments, and the Language of Milton's Paradise Loft; not doubting but the Reader will pardon me, if I alledge at the fame Time whatever may be faid for the Extenuation of fuch Defects. The firft Imperfection which I fhall obferve in the Fable is that the Event of it is unhappy. THE Fable of every Poem is, according to Ariftotle's Divifion, either Simple or Implex. It is called Simple when there is no change of Fortune in it; Implex, when the Fortune of the chief Actor changes from Bad to Good, or from Good to Bad. The Implex Fable is thought the most perfect, I fuppofe, because it is more proper to ftir up the Paffions of the Reader, and to furprize him with a greater Variety of Accidents. THE Implex Fable is therefore of two kinds : In the firft the chief Actor makes his Way through a long Series of Dangers and Difficulties, till he arrives at Honour and Profperity, H 5 Profperity, as we see in the Story of Ulyffes. In the second, the chief Actor in the Poem falls from some eminent Pitch of Honour and Profperity, into Mifery and Difgrace. Thus we fee Adam and Eve finking from a State of Innocence and Happiness, into the most abject Condition of Sin and Sorrow. THE moft taking Tragedies among the Ancients were built on this laft Sort of Implex Fable, particularly the Tragedy of OEdipus, which proceeds upon a Story, if we may believe Ariftotle, the most proper for Tragedy that could be invented by the Wit of Man. I have taken fome Pains in a former Paper to fhew, that this Kind of Implex Fable, wherein the Event is unhappy, is more apt to affect an Audience than that of the firft Kind; notwithstanding many excellent Pieces amongst the Ancients, as well as most of those which have been written of late Years in our own Country, are raised upon contrary Plans. I mut however own, that I think this Kind of Fable, which is the most perfect in Tragedy, is not fo proper for an Heroick Poem. MILION feems to have been fenfible of this Imperfection in his Fable, and has therefore endeavoured to cure it by feveral Expedients; particularly by the Mortification which the great Adverfary of Mankind meets with upon his Return to the Affembly of Infernal Spirits,. as it is described in a beautiful Paffage of the Tenth Book; and likewife by the Vifion, wherein Adam at the clofe of the Poem fees his Offspring triumphing over his great Enemy, and himself reftored to a happier Para-dife than that from which he fell. THERE is another Objection against Milton's Fable, which is indeed almost the same with the former, tho' placed in a different Light, namely, That the Heroe in the Paradife Loft is unsuccessful, and by no means a Match for his Enemies. This gave Occafion to Mr. Dryden's Reflection, that the Devil was in reality Milton's Hero. I think I have obviated this Objection in my first Paper. The Paradife Loft is an Epic or a Narrative Poem, he that looks for an Hero in it, fearches for that which Milton never intended; but if he will needs fix the Name of an Hero upon any Perfon in it, 'tis certainly the Meffiah who is the Hero, both in the principal Action; and in the chief Epifades. Paganism Paganism could not furnish out a real Action for a Fable greater than that of the Iliad or Æneid, and therefore an Heathen could not form a higher Nation of a Poem than one of that kind, which they call an Heroic. Whether Milton's is not of a fublimer Nature I will not prefume to determine: It is fufficient that I fhew there is in the Paradife Loft all the Greatnefs of Plan, Regularity of Defign,and masterly Beauties which we discover in Homer and Virgil. I must in the next Place obferve, that Milton has interwoven in the Texture of his Fable fome Particulars which do not feem to have Probability enough for an Epic Poem, particularly in the Actions which he afcribes to Sin and Death, and the Picture which he draws of the Limbo of Vanity, with other Paffages in the fecond Book. Such Allegories rather favour of the Spirit of Spenfer and Ariofto, than of Homer and Virgil. In the Structure of his Poem he has likewife admitted of too many Digreffions. It is finely obferved by Ariftotle, that the Author of an Heroick Poem fhould feldom fpeak himself, but throw as much of his Work as he can into the Mouths of those who are his Principal Actors. Ariftotle has given no Reason for this Precept; but I prefume it is because the Mind of the Reader is more awed and elevated when he hears Æneas or Achilles fpeak, than when Virgil or Homer talk in their own Perfons. Befides that affuming the Character of an eminent Man is apt to fire the Imagination, and raise the Ideas of the Author. Tully tells us, mentioning his Dialogue of Old Age, in which Cato is the chief Speaker, that upon a Review of it he was agreeably impofed upon, and fancied that it was Cato, and not he himself, who uttered his Thoughts on that Subject. IF the Reader would be at the Pains to fee how the Story of the Iliad and the Eneid is delivered by thofe Perfons who act in it, he will be furprized to find how little in either of these Poems proceeds from the Authors. Milton has, in the general Difpofition of his Fable, very finely obferved this great Rule; infomuch that there is fcarce a third Part of it which comes from the Poet; the reft is fpoken either by Adam and Eve, or by fome Good or Evil Spirit who is engaged either in their Destruction or Defence. FROM |
