brave, and virtuous, without any farther distinction. Particular characters express the species of bravery, of wisdom, and of virtue, for which any one is remarkable. In this discrimination of characters Homer exoels. Tasso approaches the nearest to him in this respect; and Virgil is the most deficient.

Among epic poets it is the practice to select some personage as the hero of the tale. This renders the unity of the subject more perfect, and contributes highly to the interest and perfection of this species of writing. It has been asked, Who, then, is the hero of Paradise Lost? The devil, say some critics, who affect to be pleasant against Milton. But they mistake his intention, by supposing that whoever is triumphant in the close must be the hero of the poem. For Adam is Milton's hero; that is, the capital and most interesting figure in his poem.

In epic poetry there are, beside human characters, gods and supernatural beings. This forms what is called the machinery of epic poetry; and the French suppose this essential to the nature of an epic poem. They hold that, in every epic composition, the main action is necessarily carried on by the intervention of gods. But there seems to be no solid reason for their opinion. Lucan has no gods, no supernatural agents. The author of Leonidas also has no ina. chinery.

But though machinery is not absolutely necessary to the epic plan, it ought not to be totally excluded from it. The marvellous has a great charm for most readers. It leads to sublime description, and fills the imagination. At the same time it becomes a poet to be temperate in the use of supernatural machinery; and so to employ the religious faith or superstition of his country, as to give an air of probability to events most contrary to the common course of nature.

With regard to the allegorical personages, fame, discord, love, and the like, they form the worst kind of machinery. In description they may sometimes be allowed; but they should never bear any part in

the action of the poem. As they are only mere names of general ideas, they ought not to be considered as persons; and cannot mingle with human actors without an intolerable confusion of shadows with realities.

In the narration of the poet, it is of little consequence, whether he relate the whole story in his own character, or introduce one of his personages to relate a part of the action that passed before the poem opens. Homer follows one method in his Iliad, and the other in his Odyssey. It is to be observed, however, that if the narrative be given by any of the actors, it gives the poet greater liberty of spreading out such parts of the subject as he inclines to dwell upon in person, and of comprising the rest within a short recital. When the subject is of great extent, and comprehends the transactions of several years, as in the Odyssey and Eneid, this method seems preférable. But, when the subject is of smaller compass and shorter duration, as in the Iliad and Jerusalem, the poet may, without disadvantage relate the whole in his own person.

What is of the most importance in the narration is, that it be perspicuous, animated, and enriched with every poetic beauty. No sort of composition requires more strength, dignity, and fire, then an epic poem. It is the region in which we look for every thing sublime in description, tender in sentiment, and bold or lively in expression. The ornaments of epic poetry are grave and chaste. Nothing loose, ludicrous, or affected, finds place there. All the objects it presents ought to be great, tender, or pleasing. Descriptions of disgusting or shocking objects are to be avoi ded. Hence the fable of the Harpies in the Æneid, and the Allegory of Sin and Death in Paradise Lost, should have been omitted.

HOMER'S ILIAD AND ODYSSEY.

THE father of epic poetry is Homer; and, in order to relish him, we must divest ourselves of modern ideas of dignity and refinement, and transport our imagination almost three thousand years back in the history of mankind. The reader is to expect a picture of the ancient world The two great characters of Homer's poetry are fire and simplicity. But, to have a clear idea of his merit, let us consider the Iliad under the three heads of the subject or action, the characters, and the narration.

The subject of the Iliad is happily chosen; for no subject could be more splendid than the Trojan war. A great confederacy of the Grecian states, and ten years' siege of Troy, must have spread far abroad the renown of many military exploits, and given an extensive interest to the heroes who were concerned in them. Upon these traditions Homer grounded his poem; and, as he lived two or three centuries after the Trojan war, he had full liberty to intermingle fable with history. He chose not, however, the whole Trojan war for his subject; but with great judgment selected the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, which includes the most interesting period of the war. He has thus given greater unity to his poem. He has gained one hero, or principal character, that is, Achilles; and shown the pernicious effects of discord among confederate princes.

The praise of high invention has in every age been justly given to Homer. His incidents, speeches, characters, divine and human; his battles, his little history pieces of the persons slain, discover a boundless invention. Nor is his judgment less worthy of praise. His story is conducted with great art. He rises upon us gradually. His heroes are introduced with exquisite skill to our acquaintance. The distress thickens as the poem advances: every thing serves to aggrandize Achilles, and to make him the capital figure.

He a

In characters Homer is without a rival. bounds in dialogue and conversation, and this produces a spirited exhibition of his personages. This dramatic method, however, though more natural, expressive, and animated, is less grave and majestic than narrative. Some of Homer's speeches are unseasonable, and others trifling. With the Greek vivacity he has also some of the Greek loquacity.

In no character, perhaps, does he display greater art than in that of Helen. Notwithstanding her frailty and crimes, he contrives to make her an interesting object. The admiration with which the old generals behold her, when she is coming towards them; her veiling herself and shedding tears in the presence of Priam; her grief at the sight of Menelaus; her upbraiding of Paris for his cowardice, and her returning fondness for him, are exquisite strokes, and worthy of a great master.

Homer has been accused of making Achilles too brutal a character; and critics seem to have adopted this censure from two lines of Horace :

Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer,

Jura negat sibi nata; nihil non arrogat armis.

It appears that Horace went beyond the truth. Achilles is passionate; but he is not a contemner of law. He has reason on his side; for, though he discovers too much heat, it must be allowed that he bad been notoriously wronged. Beside bravery and contempt of death, he has the qualities of openness and sincerity. He loves his subjects, and respects the gods. He is warm in bis friendships; and throughout he is highspirited, gallant, and honorable.

Homer's gods make a great figure; but his ma chinery was not his own invention. He followed the traditions of his country. But, though bis machinery. is often lofty and magnificent, yet his gods are often deficient in dignity. They have all the human passions; they drink and feast, and are vulnerable, like men. While, however, he at times degrades his di

vinities, he knows how to make them appear with -most awful majesty. Jupiter, for the most part, is introduced with great dignity; and several of the most sublime conceptions in the Iliad are founded on the appearances of Neptune, Minerva, and Apollo.

The style of Homer is easy, natural, and highly animated. Of all the great poets, he is the most simple in his style, and resembles most the style of the poetical parts of the Old Testament. Pope's translation of him affords no idea of his manner. His versification, however, is allowed to be uncommonly melodious; and to carry beyond that of any poet resemblance of sound to sense.

In narration, Homer is always concise and descriptive. He paints his objects in a manner to our sight. His battles are singularly admirable.. We see them in all their burry, terror, and confusion. In similes no poet abounds so much. His comparisons, however, taken in general, are not his greatest beauties; they come upon us in too quick succession, and often disturb his narration or description. His lions, buils, eagles, and herds of sheep, recur too frequently.

The criticism of Longinus upon the Odyssey is not without foundation; that in this poem Homer may be likened to the setting sun, whose grandeur remains without the heat of his meridian beams. It wants the

In

vigor and sublimity of the Iliad; yet possesses so many beauties, as to be justly entitled to bigh praise. It is a very amusing poem, and has much greater variety than the Iliad. It contains many interesting stories, and pleasing pictures of ancient manners. stead of the ferocity which pervades the Iliad, it presents us most amiable images of humanity and hospitality. It entertains us with many a wonderful adventure, and many a landscape of nature; and instructs us by a rich vein of morality and virtue, running through every part of the poem.

There are some defects, however, in the Odyssey. Many of its scenes fall below the majesty of an epic poem. The last twelve books are in many places