# Modern Parnassus; or, The New Art of Poetry/Part 4

PART IV.
THE CONTRAST.
ARGUMENT.
* ↑ Non satis est puris versum perscribere verbis, Quem si dissolvas, quivis stomachetur eodem Quo personatus pacto pater. Hor. lib, i, sat. iv, 54.
* ↑ Sed nunc non erat his locus. Ep. ad. Piso.
* ↑ M. Boileau was a remarkable instance of this perplexity. Mais moi qu' un vain caprice, une bizarre humeur Pour mes péchés, je crois, it devenir rimeur, Dans ce rude métier, où mon esprit se tue, En vain pour la trouver je travaille et je sue; Souvent j'ai beau rêver du matin jusqu' au soir; Quand je veux dire blanc, la quinteuse dit noir. Si je veux d'un galant dépeindre la figure, Ma plume pour rimer trouve l'Abbé de Pure: Si je veux exprimer un auteur sans défaut, La raison dit Virgile, et la rime Quinault. Sat. ii, 12.
* ↑ Sæpe stylum vertas, iterum quæ digna legi sint Scripturus.
* ↑ Happy deliverance from such servitude as the following lines bespeak.Ah quoties aliquis frustra consueta retentat Munera, nec cernit cœlum se tendere contra, Adversosque Deos, atque implacabile numen! Vid. Poet. ii, 420.
* ↑ The case and happiness, which our youthful bard experiences, in the disregard of all obsolete maxims, entirely gives the lie to the portentous denunciation of Vida.Infelix autem (quidam nam sæpè reperti) Viribus ipse suis temerè qui fisus et arte, Externæ quasi opis nihil indigus, abnegat audax Fida sequi veterum vestigia. Poet. iii, 245.
* ↑ And thus, my love, as on the midway slope Of yonder hill, I stretch my limbs at noon, Whilst through my half-clos'd eyelids I behold The sunbeams dance like diamonds on the main, And tranquil muse upon tranquillity, Pull many a thought, uncall'd and undetain'd, And many idle flitting phantasies, Traverse my indolent and passive brain. Coleridge's Poems, p. 130, third edit.
* ↑ The owls have hardly sung their last, While our four travellers homeward wend; The owls have hooted all night long, And with the owls began my song, And with the owls must end. Wordsworth's Lyr. Bal. fourth edit. vol. i, p. 128
* ↑ Poor little foal, of an oppressed race! I love the languid patience of thy face, And oft, with gentle hand, I give thee bread, And clap thy ragged coat, and pat thy head. But what thy dulled spirits bath dismay'd, That never thou dost sport along the glade? ••••••••••••••• Innocent foal! thou poor, despis'd forlorn, I hail thee brother, spite of the fool's scorn. Poems by S. T. Coleridge—Piece entitled, "To a young Ass, its Mother being tethered near it."
* ↑ By this means you avoid the fatigue prescribed by the old writers.Quinetiam augustis si non urgebere rebus Cum fandi tibi mille viae, tibi mille figurae Occurrunt, tum mille yias, tum mille figuras Nunc hanc, nunc aliam ingredere et mutare memento. Vid. Poet. iii, 32.
* ↑ The "Idiot Boy" of Mr. Wordsworth has had more admirers than the more elaborate composition, entitled "Animal Tranquillity and Decay;" in which the author, in spite of his system, has fallen into the style of what the malcontents would term the old genuine orthodox poetry.The little hedgerow birds, That peck along the road, regard him not. He travels on, and in his face, his step, His gait, is one expression; every limb, His look and bending figure, all bespeak A man, who does not move with pain, but moves With thought. He is insensibly subdu'd To settled quiet; he is one by whom All effort seems forgotten; one, to whom Long patience hath such mild composure giv'n, That patience now doth seem a thing of which He hath no need. Lyr. Ball. vol. i, page 7.
* ↑ Mr. Wordsworth's theory leads him to choose low and rustic life, as the subject of his verse. He states several reasons for adopting the language of that condition, He contends, in his preface to Lyrical Ballads, that "such a language, arising out of repeated experience and regular feelings, is a more permanent and a far more philosophical language, than that which is frequently substituted for it by poets, who think that they are conferring honour upon themselves and their art, in proportion as they separate themselves from the sympathies of men, and indulge in arbitrary and capricious habits of expression, in order to furnish food for fickle tastes, and fickle appetites, of their own creation." This is language, which might be employed with sincerity both by the advocates of the ancient and the modern school; but the meaning, which they would severally attach to it, would be far different. Mr Wordsworth's meaning is obvious, from his illustration of the doctrine in the Lyrical Ballads, which exhibit the character and language of Betty Foy, Johnny, &e. &c. In pursuance of this plan of poesy, it would be easy, in a future edition of Milton's Poems, to expunge the Arcadian names, by which he attempted to elevate the thought, and soften the style; and to substitute, in their place, the Christian and sirnames, which are used in common life.THE OLD WAY. Hard by, a cottage chimney smokes, From betwixt two aged oaks, Where Corydon and Thyrsis met, Are at their sav'ry dinner set, Of herbs and other country messes, Which the neat-handed Phyllis dresses; And then, in haste, her bow'r she leaves, With Thestylis to bind the sheaves. IMPROVED VERSION. Hard by, a cottage chimney smokes, From betwixt two aged oaks, Where Harry Gill and Johnny met, Are at their sav'ry dinner set, Of herbs and other country messes, Which the neat-handed Betty dresses; And then, in haste, her bow'r she leaves, With honest Giles to bind the sheaves. This improvement of style seems to have been adopted by some cotemporaries of M. Boileau, who speaks of the circumstance with his usual prejudice against innovation.Au contraire, cet autre, abject dans son langage, Fait parler ses Bergers, comme on parle au village. Ses vers plats et grossiers, dépouillés d'agrément, Toujours baisent la terre, et rampent tristement. On dirait que Ronsard sur ses pipeaux rustiques Vient encor fredonner sea Idylles gothiques, Et changer, sans respect de l'oreille et du son, Lycidas en Pierrot, et Phyllis en Thoinon. L'Art. Poet. chan. ii. }}
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