THE PREFACE.
Men of Learning and Leisure have usually busied
themselves in reprinting the Works of the
celebrated antient Authors in the Greek and Latin
Languages: By which means it happens, that
of many of these we have more than we need,
and Numbers of no Use at all; the Editors being
so very inconsiderable, as to drive Gentlemen of Taste back
to the earliest Impressions of Books, where the genuine Sense
appears in a truer Light than in the idle Comments of our modern
Publishers. First Editions are rarely to be seen, but like
Jewels in the Cabinets of the richly Curious; and many new
ones bear little Value, either from their Commonness, or Coarseness.
What then has been done by the really Learned to the
dead Language, by treading backwards into the Paths of Antiquity,
and reviving and correcting good old Authors, we in
Justice owe to our own great Writers, both in Prose, and Poetry.
They are in some degree our Classics; on their Foundation we
must build, as the Formers and Refiners of our Language.
IN reforming old Palaces, we find that Time and Carelesness
have kept equal Pace in spreading Ruin; and so it fares
-- viii --
with Authors, who carry with the Rust of Antiquity, the Blemishes
of Neglect and ill Usage. Of this, Shakespear
is a very remarkable Instance, who has been handed down from
Age to Age very incorrect, his Errors increasing by Time, and being
almost constantly republish'd to his Disgrace. Whatever were
the Faults of this great Poet, the Printers have been hitherto as
careful to multiply them, as if they had been real Beauties;
thinking perhaps with the Indians that the disfiguring a good
Face with Scars of artificial Brutes, had improv'd the Form and
Dignity of the Person. A fine Writer thus treated looks like
Deiphobus among the Shades, so maim'd by his pretended Friend,
that the good Æneas hardly knew him again; and with him we may cry out,
Quis tam crudeles optavit sumere Pœnas?
The Answer is easy, the Tribe of Editors, Correctors, and
Printers, who have usually as little Pity for a Helen, as she had
for her Husband.
THESE Abominations of the Press, with several others,
we shall no doubt find remov'd in the new Edition of his
Plays. When a Genius of similar Fire and Fancy, temper'd with a
learned Patience, sits down to consider what Shakespear
would Think, as well as what he could Write, we may then
expect to see his Works answer our Idea of the Man.
FAR be it from any Hopes of mine, that this Edition of
his Poems should equal his curious Correctness: a less faulty
one than the former is all the Reader is to expect. A short
History, and some few occasional Remarks will be added, to
give Light to some Passages, as well of the Author, as of
Mr. Gildon.
THIS Gentleman republish'd these Poems from an old
Impression, in the Year 1710. at the same time with Mr. Rowe's
-- ix --
Publication of his Plays. He uses many Arguments to prove
them genuine, but the best is the Style, Spirit, and Fancy of
Shakespear, which are not to be mistaken by any tolerable
Judge in these Matters. Venus and Adonis, Tarquin and Lucrece,
are out of Dispute, they being put to the Press, and
dedicated by the Author himself to the Earl of Southampton his
great Patron. So that Mr. Rowe is evidently mistaken when
he says, That his Venus and Adonis was the only Piece of
Poetry he publish'd himself; there being the same Authority for
his Tarquin and Lucrece, as for the other.
IF we allow the rest of these Poems to be genuine (as I think
Mr. Gildon has prov'd them) the Occasional ones will appear to
be the first of his Works. A young Muse must have a Mistress
to play off the beginnings of Fancy, nothing being so apt to raise
and elevate the Soul to a pitch of Poetry, as the Passion of Love.
We find, to wander no farther, that Spenser, Cowley, and many
others paid their First-fruits of Poetry to a real, or an imaginary
Lady. Upon this occasion I conjecture, that Shakespear
took fire on reading our admirable Spenser, who went
but just before him in the Line of Life, and was in all probability
the Poet most in Vogue at that time. To make this Argument
the stronger, Spenser is taken notice of in one of these little
Pieces as a Favourite of our Author's. He alludes certainly to the
Fairy Queen, when he mentions his Deep Conceit; that Poem being
entirely Allegorical. It has been remark'd, that more Poets have
sprung from Spenser than all our other English Writers; to which
let me add an Observation of the late Dr. Garth, That most of
our late ones have been spoil'd by too early an Admiration of
Milton. Be it to Spenser then that we owe Shakespear!
The Fairest Scyon of the Fairest Tree.
In Metaphor, Allusion, Description, and all the strongest and
highest Colourings of Poetry, they both are certainly without
Equals. Spenser indeed trod more in the Paths of Learning,
-- x --
borrow'd, improv'd, and heighten'd all he imitated: But
Shakespear's Field is Nature, and there he undoubtedly
triumphs without a Rival. His Imagination is a perpetual
Fountain of Delight, and all drawn from the same Source: even
his Wildnesses are the Wildnesses of Nature. So that Milton
seems to have hit his Character best, when he says,
&lblank; Shakespear, Fancy's sweetest Child,
Warbles his native Wood-notes wild.
The Child of Fancy, with the additional Epithet of sweetest, is an
Expression perfectly fine, becoming both the Praiser, and the
Praised, and exactly after the manner of the antient Poets.
AND yet I cannot place his Learning so low as others
have done, there being evident Marks thro all his Writings of
his Knowledge in the Latin Language, and the Roman History.
The Translation of Ovids two Epistles, Paris to Helen, and her
Answer, gives a sufficient Proof of his Acquaintance with that
Poet. Nor are these Letters so very easy for a common Translator:
For there is a good deal of the Heathen Mythology and
Poetical Fictions, of which Shakespear misses none,
but is ever faithful to the Original. How they may be receiv'd
in these Days of flowing Versification I know not; but I have a
Translation of the Metamorphoses of the same Age, far inferior to these Epistles.
BUT to return to Mr. Gildon, the Republisher of these
Poems. He has prefix'd to them an Essay on the Rise and Progress
of the Stage, and added Remarks on all his Plays, in order
to let the Reader into the Beauties, and Defects of Shakespear.
As to the Essay, tho there have been many Things
wrote in a loose unconnected manner on the same Subject, yet I
have seen nothing in our Tongue so regular, so fully explanatory,
or so well supported by Instances from the antient
Tragic Poets. One may safely say, that this was the Study of
-- xi --
his whole Life, the darling and over-ruling Passion of his Soul,
which work'd off, and shew'd it self on all Occasions both in Discourse
and Composition. Sophocles and Euripides were his Idols,
whom he look'd upon with a sort of religious Veneration, and
took a Pride in making Converts to his Opinion, by displaying
their hidden Glories to the rest of Mankind. This intimate Acquaintance
with these great Originals, made him an excellent
Judge of what deviated from their Standard. Great modern
Names and Authorities were never his Guides, but a Conformity
to the just Rules of the best antient Critics, and the first
Writers. For this Reason the Reader will find him in the Course
of the Remarks, bearing very hard on Mr. Dryden, tho at the
same time that he condemn'd the Critic, he admir'd the Poet.
THE same cannot be said of his Style, as his Sense; his
Expression being often dark, his Sentences long, unequal, and
crouded with Words of the same Signification. A depression of
Fortune, want of Health and Leisure, allow'd him no Time
for the Filings, and Polishings of a correct Writer. And yet
with all his Imperfections, there is great Matter of Improvement
to be pick'd out of his Essay, and Remarks.
Cum flueret Lutulentus, erat quod tollere velles.
I must not here leave Mr. Gildon without taking notice of an
Argument he has brought to prove these Poems genuine; which
is the Use of the Compound and Decompound Epithets, as if
this was in a manner peculiar to Shakesprar. Others
have carried the matter further, and from thence argu'd Shakespear
into an Understanding of the Greek Language, from
whence they are deriv'd. Any one who is acquainted with old
English Books, may see they were in use before our Author's
Time; and as for their being taken from the Greeks, that will
appear ridiculous, when we consider how easily those Epithets
are form'd. For allow but any Number adopted into our
Tongue, and a hundred may be coin'd in as many Minutes. For
-- xii --
Instance, if I read far-shooting from the Greek, could not I presently
compound Fire-darting, and twenty others?
BUT since we are upon this Subject, let us examine it a
little more closely. I wish the Patrons of this Practice would
give us any Reason for flinging in this unnatural foreign Mixture
into our Language, when we have Words of Signification,
and Sound sufficient to answer our Ideas. What occasion is there
for Adulteration, when we have current Coin enough of our
own? All our best and modest Writers have stretch'd no farther
than the Compound, and those sparingly, and in Translation,
where they will best bear. If the Compounds may be
bore with Patience, the Decompounds are mere Monsters; as
these of our Author, the Hot-scent-smelling Hounds, the Dew-be-dabled
Morn, &c. They offend the Ear, and cannot be repeated
without uneasiness. The Genius of every Tongue is
different; and tho the Greek abounds with these beautifully
extravagant Liberties, neither the severe Chastity of the Latin,
nor our own will allow of them. Vida an excellent Critic is
of the same Opinion as to the Latin; and as his Words may
have some Influence, I shall give a Translation of a Passage or
two to this Purpose.
“Multa tamen Graiæ fert Indulgentia Linguæ,
“Quæ nostros minus addeceant graviora sequentes.
Unnumber'd Liberties may Greece become,
Which suit not the severer Tongue of Rome.
But he is fuller soon after; as here,
“Verba etiam tum Bina juvat conjungere in unum,
“Mollitèr inter se vinclo sociata jugali:
“Verùm Plura nefas vulgo congesta coire,
-- xiii --
“Ipsaque Quadrifidis subniti corpora membris.
“Itala nec passim fert Monstra Tricorpora Tellus.
“Horresco diros sonitus, ac levia fundo
“Invitus per-terricrepas per Carmina Voces.
Two Single Words in pleasing Union join,
If gently wedded in a Social Line:
But more nor Rule, nor Decency afford,
Verse hobbles on a long-four-jointed Word.
The Decompounds of Three, are very rare,
And Monsters foreign to our Latian Air.
Harsh jarring Sounds strike grating on the Sense,
And give my Reason, as my Ear, Offence.
Unwillingly I force in gliding Song
A grumbling Thrice-re-gurgling Word along.
OUR Language, as it now stands, bears a near Affinity to
the Latin, and most of its Rules are become our own. Writers
should therefore consider first what our Tongue will bear, know
its Original, how it has been improv'd, and from whence it has
borrowed, before they begin with such bold Innovations. A
single Authority is neither a Rule, nor a Guide. Casaubon de
Linguâ Anglicâ vetere will show them the Excellence, Force,
Power and Compass of our Mother English; after which they will
hardly seek out for harsh and unnatural Imitations of a Dead
Language.
BUT enough of this. It is not my Province to speak of
Shakespear's Plays; only I cannot but observe that some of
them do not answer their Titles. In Julius Cæsar for Instance,
there is little of the Man, or his memorable Exploits, unless
what is said after his Death; and if any one were to form an
Idea of him from what Shakespear makes him speak, he
-- xiv --
would make but an indifferent Figure for the Foremost of Mankind.
Hear only his Character from Tully, an Enemy—“Fuit in
illo Ingenium, Ratio, Memoria, Litteræ, Cura, Cogitatio,
Diligentia: res bello gesserat, quamvis Reipublicæ calamitosas,
attamen Magnas. Multos annos regnare est meditatus: magno
labore, magnis periculis, quod cogitaverat, effecerat: muneribus,
monumentis, congiariis, epulis multitudinem imperitam
deliniebat: suos prœmiis, adversarios Clementiæ Specie
devinxerat. Quid multa? attulerat jam liberæ Civitati, partim
metu, partim patientis, Consuetudinem Serviendi.”
A Cæsar thus qualified, and shown in all these Lights, were
fit for the Pen of an Addison, or a Congreve; and then we might
cry out with Anthony,
Here was a Cæsar—when comes such Another?
I THOUGHT to say no more to his Plays; but the Character
my Lord Shaftesbury gives them is too considerable to be
omitted. He was himself a fine Writer, and an excellent Judge of
Nature, so that his Testimony will bear a just sway with the Reader.
His words are, “Our old Dramatic Poet, Shakespear,
may witness for our good Ear and manly Relish. Notwithstanding
his natural Rudeness, his unpolish'd Style, his antiquated
Phrase and Wit, his want of Method and Coherence, and his Deficiency
in almost all the Graces and Ornaments of this kind of
Writing; yet by the Justness of his Moral, the Aptness of
many of his Descriptions, and the plain and natural Turn of
several of his Characters, he pleases his Audience, and often
gains their Ear, without a single Bribe from Luxury or Vice.
That Piece of his, (the Tragedy of Hamlet) which appears
to have most affected English Hearts, and has perhaps
been oftnest acted of any which have come upon our Stage,
is almost one continu'd Moral: a Series of deep Reflections,
drawn from one Mouth, upon the Subject of one single Accident
and Calamity, naturally fitted to move Horror and Compassion.
-- xv --
It may be properly said of this Play, if I mistake
not, that it has only One Character or principal Part. It
contains no Adoration or Flattery of the Sex: no ranting at
the Gods: no blustering Heroism: nor any thing of that curious
mixture of the Fierce and Tender, which makes the
hinge of modern Tragedy, and nicely varies it between the
Points of Love, and Honour.”
I HAVE already run this Preface to a great length, otherwise
I should have taken notice of some beautiful Passages in the
Poems; but a Reader of Taste cannot miss them.
FOR my own part, as this Revisal of his Works obliged me
to look over Shakespear's Plays, I can't but think the Pains
I have taken in correcting, well recompensed by the Pleasure I
have receiv'd in reading: And if after this, I should attempt any
thing Dramatic in his Vein and Spirit, be it owing to the Flame
borrow'd from his own Altar!
Hampstead
Nov. 24.
1724.
-- i --
George Sewell [1723–5], The works of Shakespear in six [seven] volumes. Collated and Corrected by the former Editions, By Mr. Pope ([Vol. 7] Printed by J. Darby, for A. Bettesworth [and] F. Fayram [etc.], London) [word count] [S11101].
