PREFACE. 223 As inthe conduct ofmy studies with regard to divinity, I have reason to repent of nothing more than that I have not perused the bible with more frequency ;' soWI were to set up for a poet, with a design to exceed all the modern writers, I would follow the advice of Rapin, and read the prophets night and day. I am sure the composures of the following book would have been filled with much greater sense, and appeared with much more agreeable ornaments, had I derived a larger portion from the holy scriptures. Besides, we may -fetch a further answer to Monsieur Boileau's objection, from other poets of his own country. What a noble use have Racine and Corneillemade of christian subjects, in some of their best tragedies ? What a divine variety of scenes are displayed, and pious passions awakened in those poems? The martyrdom of Polyeucte, how doth it reign over our loveand pity, and at the same time animate our zeal and devotion ! May Ihere be permitted the liberty to return my thanks to that fair and ingenious band* that directed me to such entertainments in a foreign language, which I had long wished for, and sought in vain in our own. Yet I must confess, that the Davideis, and the two Arthurs, have so far answered Boileau's objection, in English, as that the obstacles of attempting christian poesy are broken down, and the vain pretence of its being impracticable, is experimen- tally confuted +. It is trite indeed, the christian mysteries have not so much need of gay trap- pings as beautified, or rather composed, the heathen superstition. But this still makes for the greater Ease and surer success of the poet. The wonders of our reli- gion, in a plain narration and a simple dress, have a native grandeur, a dignity, and a beauty in them, though they do not utterly disdain all methods of ornament. The book of the Revelation seems to be a prophecy in the form of an opera, or a dramatic poem, where divine art illustrates the subject with many charming glories ; but still it most be acknowledged, that the naked themes of christianity have something brighter and bold in them, something more surprising and celestial than all the adventures of gods and heroes, all thedazzling images of false lustre that form and garnish a heathen song : Here the very argument would give won- derful aids to the muse, and the heavenly theme would so relieve a dull hour, and a languishing genius, that when the muse nods, the sense would burn and sparkle upon the reader, and keephim feelingly awake. With how much less toil and expence mighta Dryden, an Otway, a Congreve, or a Dennis, furnish out a christian poem, than a modern play? There is nothing amongst all the ancient fables, or later romances, that have two such extremes united in them, as the eternal God becoming an infant of days ; the possessor of the palace of heaven laid to sleep in a manger ; the holy Jesus, who knew no sin, bearing the sins of men in his body on the tree ; agonies of sorrow loading the soul of him who was God over all, blessed for ever; and the Sovereign of life stretching his arms on a cross, bleeding and expiring: The heaven and the hell in our divi- nity are infinitely more delightful and dreadful than the childish figments of a dog with three heads, the buckets of the Belides, the furies with snaky hairs, or all the flowery stories of Elysium. And if we survey the one as themes divinely true, and the other as a medley of fooleries which we can never believe, the advantage for touching the springs of passion will fall infinitely on the side of the christian poet; our wonder and our love, our pity, delight, and sorrow, with the long train of hopes and fears, must needs be under the command of an harmonious pen, whese every line makes a part of the reader's faith, and is the very life or death of his soul. If, the trifling and incredible tales that furnish out a tragedy, arè so armed by wit and fancy, as to become sovereign of the rational powers, to triumph over all the affections, and manage our smiles and our tears at pleasure ; how wondrous a conquest might be obtained over a wild world, and reduce it, at least, to sobriety, * Philomela. ¢ Sir RichardBlackmore, in his admirable preface to bis last poem intitled Alfred, has more copiously refuted all Boileau's arguments on this subject, and that with great justice and elegance. 1723. I am persuaded that many persons who despise the poem would acknowledge the just sentiments of that preface.
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