Lecture XII Of Epigram, and Other Lighter Species of Poetry
Designing to treat of the several Species of Poetry, I thought proper to begin with the lowest, and so gradually proceed to others of a higher Kind, till at last I come to the Epic or Heroic Poem.
Epigram shall be the chief Subject of this Discourse. But as there are other small Poems, which will scarce deserve a distinct one, I shall here make such Observations upon them as may be necessary.
The Account we have of Epigram, both of the Name and Thing, is this: It was usual, it seems, among the Ancients, to cut short Inscriptions under the Statues of their Gods, which they call’d επιγραφαι, and επιγραμματα. These Inscriptions serv’d as Lemmata, or Subjects for little poetical Conceits, which were afterwards themselves term’d Epigrams. That upon the Statue of Venus made by Praxiteles, is well known.
Γυμνην οιδε Παριϛ με, και Αγκισηϛ, και Αδονιϛ.
Τουϛ τρρειϛ οιδα μονουϛ, Πραξιτελεϛ δε ποθεν?
And what, said she, does this bold Painter mean?
When was I bathing thus, and naked seen?
Prior.
In Course of Time, other Poems of like Nature, whatever their Subject was, went by the Name of Epigrams, on account of their Affinity with those to which that Title was first appropriated.
Epigrams are divided into various Heads; the greater, the less, the equal215, the simple, the compound, the digressive, &c. But so minute a Distinction is needless, since they may be made upon any Subject. Some are satirical, as that of Martial,
216 Quem recitas meus est, O Fidentine, Libellus;
Sed male cum recitas, incipit esse tuus.
’Tis true, in Print I own my humble Muse;
But when the Laureat shall my Lines traduce,
Tartuffe in England justly I disown;
The Food was mine, the Excrement’s his own.
and in another Place:
217 Quid Te, Tucca, juvat vetulo miscere Falerno
In Vaticanis condita musta cadis?
Quid tantum fecere boni tibi pessima vina?
Aut quid fecerunt optima vina mali?
De nobis facile est; scelus est jugulare Falernum,
Et dare Campano toxica sæva mero.
Convivæ meruere tui fortasse perire;
Amphora non meruit tam pretiosa mori.
What mean’st thou, Tucca, with Tocay to join
The vapid Refuse of dull Rhenish Wine?
Do you the cordial Juice such Treach’ry owe,
Prepost’rous Charity the Cut-throat show?
To spoil Tocay, however fare your Guest,
Is Murder, without Benefit of Priest.
Poison allow the Merit of your Friend;
But the poor Cask deserv’d a better End.
This, I should think, is the best kind of Epigram; for if the Nature of it in general consists in being acute, whatever is satirical, must always be so. Not but that there are other proper Subjects of it. Some panegyrical, directly contrary to the former; many of which we have in Martial upon the Emperor Domitian, and in others. That of Virgil is famous.
Nocte pluit tota, redeunt spectacula mane;
Divisum imperium cum Jove Cæsar habet.
The Show’rs brought on the Night, the Shews the Day:
Thus Jove and Cæsar bear an equal Sway.
And the Inscription by a Modern design’d for the Palace of the late King of France:
Non orbis gentem, non urbem gens habet ullam,
Urbsve domum, dominum nec domus ulla, parem.
The world no Realm, no Realm a City sees,
No City House, no House a Lord like this.
In which, tho’ there is not that witty Turn which is usually reckon’d essential to Epigram; yet the Climax is so finely work’d up, that it well deserves the great Praises that have been given it. There are other Epigrams of the Love Kind; as the following one in the Anthology of Italian Poets:
Me lætis Leonilla oculis, me Lydia torvis
Aspicit; hæc noctem nuntiat, illa diem.
Has Cytherea meo stellas præfecit amori;
Hæc meus est Vesper, Lucifer illa meus.
One with a sleepy, one a smirking Ray,
Fusca the Night foretels, Lucy the Day.
Venus ordain’d, that each by Turns shou’d move,
The Morning, and the Ev’ning Star of Love.
Here, indeed, we have the true Form and Shape of an Epigram, it has all the Appearance of Wit and Elegance; but I fear it offends against right Reason and Nature. Some there are, upon various Circumstances or Events, which are scarce reducible to any Class. As this of Martial, upon the City Ravenna, where there is a great Scarcity of Water:
218 Callidus imposuit nuper mihi caupo Ravennæ;
Cum peterem mixtum, vendidit ille merum.
By a Ravenna Vintner once betray’d,
So much for Wine and Water mixt I paid.
But when I thought the purchas’d Liquor mine,
The Rascal fob’d me off with only Wine.
Addison.
And upon the Boy whose Throat was cut with an Icicle.
219 Quid non sæva sibi voluit Fortuna licere?
Aut ubi mors non est, si jugulatis, aquæ?
What various Deaths are we decreed to feel,
If Waters poignard like the stubborn Steel?220
And this Greek Epigram:
Χρυσον ανηρ ἑυρων ελιπε βροχον, αυταρ ὁ χρυσον.
Ον λιπεν ουχ ἑυρων, ἡψευ ον ἑυρε βροχον.
The Noose just tying, Cotta found a Purse,}
The Rope serv’d Strephon, who, by Fate’s Reverse,}
Had lost the Gold,—to one a Blessing, one a Curse.}
Here, again, the true Spirit of Epigram seems wanting; we have no Point of Wit, but only a plain Narration of Fact. But still, the Words are so elegantly opposed to each other, and in so short a Compass, that we shall scarce meet with any Thing which exceeds it. While I am speaking of the different Subjects of Epigram, I would observe, that Religion is sometimes one. And as nothing is so suitable to Poetry as the Marvellous, nothing can afford more Matter for it than the Christian Religion, which so much abounds with Miracles. I shall shew, perhaps, hereafter, how well adapted it is for Poems of the highest Kind, when I come to speak of sacred Poetry; but how proper a Subject it is for Epigram, is self-evident. For tho’ these sort of Verses are often ludicrous, and trifling; yet they sometimes breathe a Spirit of Sublimity, every way becoming them. There are many of Martial of this Kind. That, for Instance, to the Emperor Domitian, upon his erecting to himself a triumphal Arch, and a Temple to Fortune:
221 Hic, ubi Fortunæ Reducis fulgentia late
Templa nitent, felix area nuper erat.
Hic stetit, Arctoi formosus pulvere belli,
Purpureum fundens Cæsar ab ore jubar.
Hic lauro redimita comas, & candida cultu,
Roma salutavit voce, manuque, ducem.
Grande loci meritum testantur & altera dona;
Stat sacer, edomitis gentibus, arcus ovans.
Hic gemini currus numerant elephanta frequentem;
Sufficit immensis aureas ipse jugis.
Hæc est digna tuis, Germanice, porta triumphis;
Hos aditus urbem Martis habere decet.
Here late a happy Plain, where shines the Dome
Sacred to Fortune safe conducting home.
Here stopt great Cæsar, in his ruddy Car,
With Dust resplendent of the northern War;
While Rome with White bedeck’d, and Laurels crown’d,
With eager Voice and Hand her Genius own’d.
Here stands (for such the Merit of the Place)
An Arch Triumphant o’er the Dacian Race.
Two Chariots, drawn by Elephants, proclaim
His double Conquest, and their double Shame.
In Gold both Teams he reins with equal Hand,
Alone sufficient for the wide Command.
Portals like this, great Cæsar, well become
The Mistress of the World, and Lord of Rome.
And in another Place, upon Pompey and his Sons:
222 Pompeios juvenes Asia atque Europa, sed ipsum
Terra tegit Libyes, si tamen ulla tegit:
Quid mirum, toto si spargitur orbe? jacere
Uno nun potuit tanta ruina loco.
Asia and Europe Pompey’s Sons contain,
Himself, if buried, lies in Afric’s Plain.
Nor wonder, if throughout the Globe are hurl’d
The mighty Ruins which once shook the World.
If it be ask’d in what the Nature of Epigram in general consists; I reply, Acuteness and Facetiousness are its chief Characteristicks. It ought not to be mix’d, but uniform; to tend only to one Point, which is always to be express’d with Strength and Poignancy in the last Verse. This is above all to be regarded: If the last Verse be flat and languid, or faulty in any Respect, it spoils the whole, how beautiful soever the several Parts are.
This, I say, is, in general, the Nature of Epigrams; to which, however, there are, perhaps, some few Exceptions, that are not so remarkable for their Acuteness and Facetiousness, as for their Softness and Delicacy, or some other Elegance. I have given Instances of one or two already; whether they are to be look’d upon as Epigrams, or to be class’d under some other Species of Poetry, I am little sollicitous. It is certain, there are some short beautiful Poems which cannot come within this Denomination; several in Martial, particularly, and many which you, Gentlemen, compose for your Lent Exercises upon philosophical Subjects; which, as they have already gain’d you great Reputation, so would they farther extend it, if a judicious Collection of them were publish’d223. The greatest Part of these are true Epigrams, witty and facetious. Some are Descriptions, Allusions, or poetical Fictions, elegant and beautiful, by whatever Name they are call’d, matters not. No one, I think, could justly object to you, that you affected a barren Subject for Poetry, the better to shew the Strength of your Parts, and Liveliness of your Invention; like a certain Monarch, who industriously chose a Place for his stately Fountains, incapable of having Water brought to it but at a prodigious Expense, only that he might leave a Monument of the Greatness of his Power and Magnificence: For as different as Poetry and Philosophy may seem to be, the one affords abundant Matter for the other, by furnishing the Mind with a Variety of Ideas, and diverting it continually into new Channels.
Elogiums and Inscriptions are to be reduced to this Head, and Epitaphs likewise; the Elegance of which chiefly consists in an expressive Brevity. They should not have so much as one Epithet, properly so called; nor two Words synonymous. Some of these are true Metre, others are something between Prose and Verse, without any set Measure, but the Words perfectly poetical224.
These little Compositions are often very beautiful: And I might add to them Emblems, or Symbols; by which I mean certain Figures, painted or cut, metaphorically expressing some Action, with an imperfect Sentence at Bottom, which in some measure explains the Sense of the Device, but leaves the Reader to supply the rest. The Painting is call’d the Body of the Emblem, the Sentence at Bottom, the Soul of it. These are Compositions purely poetical, and are often full of Thought and Elegance, I may add, of poetical Action too. A certain French Writer225 (and among the French this Invention is in most Esteem) has writ a long and accurate Dissertation upon Emblems; wherein he has precisely defin’d their Nature, explain’d their different Species, laid down Rules for their Composition, and for distinguishing the true from the false; and, lastly, has produc’d Variety of Examples of them. I shall lay before you one Instance from him, that you may the better judge both of their Nature and Elegance. To express the Secresy of the King of France’s Counsels, as well as the terrible Effects of them to his Enemies, the Sun was represented behind a Cloud, with this half Verse at Bottom:
—Tegiturque, parat dum fulmina.——
Conceal’d while he prepares his Bolts.
This is an Invention which I take to be modern, entirely unknown to the Ancients. And tho’ the French Author I just mention’d may (according to the Genius of his Nation) attribute, perhaps, more to it than it deserves; yet it certainly deserves its Praise, for Elegance and Ingenuity.
But to return to Epigrams: Whatever you write, be short. Those, perhaps, are the best, which don’t exceed eight Lines; for the rest, they cannot be too short. This Rule, however, I don’t propose as a general one. Some Epigrams may be beautiful, tho’ longer; one of which I have already cited in this Discourse.
As to the Verse; in Latin (for of that Language I here principally speak) Hexameter and Pentameter are the most proper, tho’ others are not to be excluded; for Iambics and Hendecasyllables are frequently made use of.
Many of the Hendecasyllable Poems are rather Odes than Epigrams: Some seem to be of a mix’d Nature; and Poetry has nothing more beautiful than both. Catullus is reckon’d the Prince in this Kind of Writing, whom others, both Ancients and Moderns, have very happily imitated, and some, perhaps, excell’d. The Nature of them consists in being lax and free, in chusing light Subjects, especially those of Love; and sometimes serious ones, as Epitaphs, and the like. It is always soft and sweet, full of tender Diminutives, and of Repetitions of the same Verse at proper Distances.
Whether the Ancients or Moderns have deserv’d best of these light Kinds of Poetry, but especially of Epigram, is hard to say. It is certain, the latter have a Turn of Wit which the former were Strangers to; but still I dare not decide the Preference. But leaving that Dispute, we shall all agree in this common Maxim, Inest sua gratia parvis; Little Things have their Beauty; and sometimes not a little Beauty. Tho’ they are small in Bulk, yet they are great in Value; and not only Wit and Ingenuity are requir’d in the Composition of them, but true Reason, and solid Judgment:
Sometimes the Pains requir’d in this Kind of Composition is very great; but then they are always repaid by it. To which we may often apply what Virgil says of the Bees:
227 Ingentes animos augusto in pectore versant.
Their little Bodies mighty Souls inform.
Notes
226 In tenui labor, at tenuis non gloria.——
Slight is the Subject, but not so the Praise.
Pope.