36 Prosscr Hall Frye 



exact conformity with nature, but by its suitabilit) to the particu- 

 lar purpose. For this reason, because "the plot, the characters, 

 the wit, the passions, the descriptions are all exalted above the 

 level of common converse," Dryden advocates the use in tragedy 

 of the heroic couplet, for, he asks, if "blank verse is acknowledged 

 to be too low for a poem . . . how much more for tragedy ?"^ 



Such is the position originally taken by Dryden in the great 

 dispute concerning the relative dramatic merits of blank verse and 

 heroic couplets. No doubt his mind was somewhat imposed upon 

 by the example of French tragedy. But it is evident at the same 

 time that his mistaken preference for rhyme is due, not to his 

 misconception of the character of the drama, but to his miscon- 

 ception of the character of blank verse. The question with him 

 always reduced itself to this, that the only possible objection to 

 couplets was their unnaturalness. Whereto he replied that trag- 

 edy should raise dialogue above the tone of natural conversation, 

 as is perfectly right, aiid that blank verse was too much like prose 

 to answer the purpose, as was quite wrong. What confirms his 

 general position with reference to tragedy itself is the fact that 

 blank verse has finally been accepted on the very grounds whereon 

 he rejected it, because it is felt as the only measure possessing 

 the requisite loftiness for tragedy. And in fact, as his own under- 

 standing of English literature increased and his appreciation of 

 its genius improved, he gave up the couplet himself and took to 

 blank verse more or less successfully. In the beginning, however, 

 it is only fair to remember, he was in reality attempting to pro- 

 duce a kind of illusion quite different from that of Shakespeare 

 and Avhat has turned out to be our traditional poetic drama, and 

 this he succeeded in a sense in doing for a while in the heroic 

 play. 



To this extent, then, it seems clear that Dryden and his succes- 

 sors understood what literature is or ought to be. Indeed, one of 

 the most striking characteristics of their period as compared with 

 ours is their strong literary sense. We may have more feeling 

 for "life" and "nature" nowadays, especially for their picturescjue 



'Dryden. An Essay of Dramatic P.oesy. 



36 



