interesting, until they reach the summit, when the unravelling of the plot takes place.

390. Although the tragic action generally terminates unhappily for the hero of the piece, yet we cannot say that this should always be the case. It is sufficient that he be placed in such situations of peril and danger as to excite in the highest possible degree the most powerful and agitating emotions of our nature; and that the reverses of crime be such as to take a powerful hold of the mind and penetrate its most inmost recesses. This is the case in some of the French tragedies, as in Esther and Athalie, for example. It even seems more proper, in a moral point of view, that virtue should triumph, notwithstanding its foibles and weakness, and that the machinations of vice and crime should be defeated, in spite of their power. For if the triumph of vice and crime makes us detest them, it may also excite us to commit them; whilst the success of virtue encourages us to imitate it. It must, however, be granted that the effect and tendency of the poem, in this case, would be to produce joy and admiration, emotions which soon dissipate the emotions of terror and pity which we experience in the course of the tragic action, and hence a far less profound impression would be left upon the heart of the spectator.

391. The theatrical effects produced by those sudden and unexpected revolutions in the fate or fortune of the principal character, which so strike the spectator, are very properly intended to cause a deep impression on the mind, provided they are ap

propriately introduced, and follow so naturally from what goes before that the spectator can explain the reason and propriety of their introduction, though he could not anticipate them.

392. But in his attempts to excite terror and pity, the tragic poet ought to be well on his guard not to inspire horror. This feeling is too painful to produce that species of anxious solicitude on account of those whom we love and admire, which is a pleasing emotion in the mind. If the poet paints crime, he will spare the spectator all revolting and degrading exhibitions of it. If he represents a villain, he will, as we have observed before, give him at least some redeeming quality, some virtuous disposition, some trait of innocence or humanity, or at least a deep feeling of remorse.

Ex.-Richard III.; Charles de Moor, in the Robbers, by Schiller; Nero; Cleopatra; Medea; etc.

Those monsters, if such there are in nature, who take delight in vice and crime merely for its own sake, and whose cool ferocity, in the midst of the most abominable deeds, inspires only unmixed horror in the spectator, should be banished from the stage.

3. OF THE DANGERS OF THE THEATRE.

393. It may be said, without fear of contradiction, that of all the species of poetical composition, tragedy is best suited to give scope to the play of the passions; and hence it is a most powerful instrument in the hands of an able poet. Unfortunately, how

ever, the greater part of dramatic poets are too ambitious of the public applause, and hence study to please the taste of a pit, which is always more or less corrupt, and basely flatter those passions which they ought to harmonize and correct by their vivid pictures and lively representations of the consequences of vice and virtue;-and this, too often, at the expense of religion, of morality, and of sound principle. On our theatre this is too frequently the case, and there are numberless instances that might be quoted in which the authors hesitate not to falsify history, attributing the actions of men of real virtue and excellence to base, selfish, or unworthy motives; and thus it too often happens that the only merit upon which the success of their compositions rests lies in the power they possess of successfully inflaming the baser passions of our nature.

III. OF THE OPERA.

394. To the class of dramatic composition under consideration belongs the opera, which is a tragedy set to music, and in which the actors sing their parts. The opera admits the marvellous, which cannot be introduced into tragedy without shocking probability, except, indeed, in the case of ghosts, which still seem to maintain their place from the hold they have taken in the popular belief; and it, accordingly, brings upon the stage the gods, demons, the furies, and all those fantastic beings with which imagination has peopled the earth and the air. It combines with

the charm of music and of poetry all the pomp of theatrical decoration.

The strict observance of the laws of unity is frequently disregarded in this species of dramatic composition. It embraces the most extraordinary events, combines the most unexpected incidents, which must, nevertheless, be appropriately linked together, and concludes the unravelling of the plot by some striking catastrophe.

Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Seneca, Corneille, Racine, Crebillon, Voltaire, Shakspeare, Addison, Home, Congreve, Rowe, may be mentioned as models of tragic poetry.

ART. 2. OF THE EPOPOIEA OR EPIC POETRY.

395. The word epopoiea (εños яolɛw, verbum facio, to make a recital) by which the kind of poetry of which we are now to treat is distinguished, properly signifies a poetical narration; but its meaning has been restricted, and it is now exclusively applied to the most beautiful, the most noble, in short, the greatest effort of poetical genius,-an EPIC POEM.

396. Hence an epic poem must contain the recital of an heroic action, marvellous in its incidents, and important in its consequences.

It is the narration of a great action; and in this respect it differs from tragedy, which is the representation of one. It is a poetical narration, adorned with fictitious incidents and machinery, and in this particular it differs from history. It is the narration of an heroic action; and in this there is something

that elevates it above a romance, in which there is always something familiar and common. And finally, the character of the narration is marvellous; and it is this which, in fact, gives it the highest rank among the productions which have their origin in the conception of the human mind.

397. The object of an epic poem is to excite pleasure and admiration, by exhibiting the triumph of virtue and heroism under the most distressing and trying circumstances, and to elevate the heart by the display of heroic achievements and noble sentiments, which are inspired by the spectacle of a hero who succeeds in some difficult or glorious enterprise, by surmounting the obstacles placed in his way from the wickedness or vices of men, and by bringing under subjection his own passions.

SECT. 1. OF THE QUALITIES OF THE EPIC ACTION.

398. The action of an epic poem should be founded upon truth, and it ought to possess the other qualities of probability, (v. No. 308,) of unity, (v. No. 309,) and of integrity, (v. No. 311,) of which we have already treated. The mere history of a hero, or distinguished personage, such as the Thebaid of Statius, the Henriade of Voltaire, or a simple recital of historical events, such as the Punic war of Silius Italicus, Lucan's Pharsalia, are not therefore epic poems, although written in verse, because they embrace many actions and exploits which are quite independent of each other, and do not tend to the consummation of one single action.