Which what is honest, base, or just, or good,
Better than _Crantor_, or _Chrysippus_ show'd.
For tis _Poetry_ that like a chast unspotted Virgin, shews men the
way, and the means to live happily, who afterward are deprav'd by the
immodest precepts of vitiated and impudent _Philosophy_. For every
body knows, that the _Epick_ sets before us the highest example of the
Bravest man; the _Tragedian_ regulates the Affections of the Mind; the
_Lyrick_ reforms Manners, or sings the Praises of Gods, and Heroes; so
that there's no part of _Poetry_ but hath it's proper end, and
profits.
But grant all this true, _Pastoral_ can make no such pretence: if you
sing a _Hero_, you excite mens minds to imitate his Actions, and
notable Exploits; but how can _Bucolicks_ apply these or the like
advantages to its self? _He that reads {47} Heroick Poems, learns what
is the vertue of a Hero, and wishes to be like him; but he that reads
Pastorals, neither learns how to feed sheep, nor wishes himself a
shepherd:_ And a great deal more to this purpose you may see in
_Modicius_, as _Pontanus_ cites him in his Notes on _Virgil's_
_Eclogues_.
But when tis the end of _Comedy_, as _Jerom_ in his Epistle to
_Furia_ says, to know the Humors of Men, and to describe them; and
_Demea_ in _Terence_ intimates the same thing,
To look on all mens lives as in a Glass,
And take from those Examples for our Own,
so that our Humors and Conversations may be better'd, and improv'd;
why may not _Pastoral_ be allow'd the same Priviledge, and be admitted
to regulate and improve a _Shepherd's_ life by its _Bucolicks_? For
since tis a product of the Golden Age, it will shew the most innocent
manners of the most ancient Simplicity, how plain and honest, and how
free from all varnish, and deceit, to more degenerate, and worse
times: And certainly for this tis commendable in its kind, since its
design in drawing the image of a Country and Shepherd's life, is to
teach Honesty, Candor, and Simplicity, which are the vertues of
_private_ men; as _Epicks_ teach the highest Fortitude, and Prudence,
and Conduct, which are the vertues of _Generals_, and _Kings_.
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