Cette pleine victoire est leur derneir ouvrage, Pompee, Act IV. Sc. 3. The last class comprehends sentiments that are unnatural, as being suited to no character nor passion. These may be subdivided into three branches: first, sentiments unsuitable to the constitution of man, and to the laws of his nature; second, inconsistent sentiments; third, sentiments that are pure rant and extravagance. When the fable is of human affairs, every event, every incident, and every circumstance, ought to be natural, otherwise the imitation is imperfect. But an imperfect imitation is a venial fault, compared with that of running cross to nature. In the Hippolytus of Euripides,* Hippolytus, wishing for another self in his own situation, How much (says he) should I be touched with his misfortune! as if it were natural to grieve more for the misfortunes of another than for one's own. Osmyn. Yet I behold her-yet-and now no more. Nor what they would, but must; a star or toad; Just as the hand of chance administers! Mourning Bride, Act II. Sc. 8. *Act iv. Sc. 5. No man in his senses, ever thought of applying his eyes to discover what passes in his mind; far less of blaming his eyes for not seeing a thought or idea. In Moliere's L'Avare,* Harpagon being robbed of his money, seizes himself by the arm, mistaking it for that of the robber. And again he expresses himself as follows: Je veux aller querir la justice, et faire donner la question à toute ma maison; à servantes, à valets, à fils, à fille, et à moi aussi. Of this second branch the following are examples. -Now bid me run, And I will strive with things impossible, Yea get the better of them. Julius Cesar, Act II. Sc. 3. Vos mains seule sont droit de vaincre un invincible. Le Cid, Act V. Sc. last. Que son nom soit beni. Que son nom soit chanté, Que l'on celebre ses ouvrages Esther, Act V. Sc. last. Au de la de l'eternité Me miserable! which way shall I fly Infinite wrath and infinite despair? Paradise Lost, Book IV. Of the third branch, take the following samples. Lucan talking of Pompey's sepulchre, -Romanum nomen, et omne Inperium Magno est tumuli modus. Obrue saxa * Act iv. Sc. 7. Rura tenere potest, si nullo cespite nomen Hæserit. Erremus populi, cinerumque tuorum, Magne, metu nullas Nili calcemus arenas. L. viii. l. 798. Thus in Rowe's translation: Where there are seas, or air, or earth, or skies, Let the whole Fertile realm his grave supply, Fearful we violate the mighty dead. The following passages are pure rant. speaking to his mother, What is this? Your knees to me? to your corrected son? Cesar. Coriolanus Coriolanus, Act V. Sc. 3. -Danger knows full well, That Cæsar is more dangerous than he. We were two lions litter'd in one day, And I the elder and more terrible. Julius Cesar, Act II. Sc. 4. Almahide. This day I gave my faith to him, he his to me. Almanzor. Good Heav'n, thy book of fate before me lay But to tear out the journal of this day. Or if the order of the world below, Will not the gap of one whole day allow, Give me that minute when she made that vow, That minute ev'n the happy from their bliss might give, Would like divided waters join again. Almanzor. Conquest of Grenada, Act III. -I'll hold it fast As life and when life's gone, I'll hold this last, : And if thou tak'st after I am slain, I'll send my ghost to fetch it back again. Conquest of Grenada, Part II. Act 3. Lyndiraxa. A crown is come, and will not fate allow, And yet I feel something like death is near. My guards, my guards Let not that ugly skeleton appear. Sure Destiny mistakes; this death's not mine; She doats, and means to cut another line. Tell her I am a queen-but 'tis too late; Bow down, ye slaves Bow quickly down, and your submission show; I'm pleas'd to taste an empire ere I go [Dies. Conquest of Grenada, Part II. Act V. Ventidius. But you, ere love misled your wand'ring eyes Were, sure, the chief and best of human race, So perfect, that the gods who form'd you wonder'd At their own skill, and cry'd, A lucky hit Has mended our design. Dryden, All for Love, Act I. Not to talk of the impiety of this sentiment, it is ludicrous instead of being lofty. The famous epitaph on Raphael is no less absurd than any of the foregoing passages : Raphael, timuit, quo sospite, vinci Rerum magna parens, et moriente mori. Imitated by Pope in his Epitaph on Sir Godfrey Kneller: Living, great Nature fear'd he might outvie Her works; and dying, fears herself might die. Such is the force of imitation; for Pope of himself would never have been guilty of thought so extravagant. So much upon sentiments; the language proper for expressing them, comes next in order. CHAPTER XVII. LANGUAGE OF PASSION. AMONG the particulars that compose the social part of our nature, a propensity to communicate our opinions, our emotions, and every thing that affects us, is remarkable. Bad fortune and injustice affect us greatly; and of these we are so prone to complain, that if we have no friend or acqaintance to take part in our sufferings, we sometimes utter our complaints aloud, even where there are none to listen. But this propensity operates not in every state of mind, A man immoderately grieved, seeks to afflict himself, rejecting all consolation: immoderate grief accordingly is mute: complaining is struggling for consolation. |