769 
POE 
who are accuftomed to the flights of Pindar and the ma- 
jefty of Homer, will beftow little praife on the innocent 
mediocrity of Apollonius. 
It would be difficult for a man to find in the whole, 
range of the Latin poetry an hundred original conceptions. 
The Romans learnt philofophy and poetryfrom theGreeks. 
The arts of war and oratory, and the praftice of ftoicifm, 
are the only attainments they can claim as their own. 
Virgil imitated perpetually Homer in his Asneid ; Theo¬ 
critus in his Eclogues : his Georgies, we muft confefs, 
have fome originality. Lucretius learnt his opinions 
from Epicurus. The Grecian odes furnifhed Ovid and 
Horace with their molt ftriking conceptions. The Ro¬ 
mans were refinersj purifiers, improvers, of ideas ; but 
no inventors. 
Of Virgil .—The Aineid, the greateft work, of this 
author, is not in its plan modelled in the Iliad ; it is a 
combination of the aftion of the epic with the adventure 
of the narrative. In ftyle it is an imitation of Homer, 
but far Sweeter; in thought it is an improvement on the 
Greek beauties, and on thofe of his country, (for every 
one knows that Virgil boafted that he had extracted gold 
from the daughter of Ennius,) and a copy of the Subli¬ 
mity of the former. 
All the diftinguiffiing properties of the epic are per¬ 
fectly preferved in the Aineid. The unity of aftion is 
no-where violated. The Settlement of Aineas in Italy by 
the order of the gods, which forms the SubjeCl of the 
poem, is always kept in view. The events which had 
taken place before the opening are very properly placed 
in a narrative recited by the hero ; fo that the real dura¬ 
tion of the aCtion does not exceed the time preferibed by 
the critics. The epifodes are introduced in admirable 
connection with the main SubjeCt; and the nodus, or in¬ 
trigue, is, according to the plan of ancient machinery, 
happily formed. The wrath of Juno, who oppofes herfelf 
to the fettlement of the Trojans in Italy, occafions all 
the difficulties which obftruCt the undertaking, and con¬ 
nects the human with the celeftial operations, throughout 
the poem. In thefe principal ingredients of an epic, 
Virgil has certainly compofed his poem with great care, 
and evinced both art and judgment; but in the diftri- 
bution and management of his SubjeCt, he has not been 
fo happy. All the beauties of the poem are confined to 
the firft fix books, and in this decoration and improve¬ 
ment the poet evidently appears to have exhaufted his 
genius and his invention. The events of the latter 
books are tame and lifelefs. The marriage of Aineas 
with Lavinia cannot interelt us after the romantic love 
of Dido. _ The wars with the Latins, occafioned by a 
trivial incident, chill the imagination, hitherto warmed 
by the grand description of the deftruCtion of Troy. The 
battles are far inferior to thofe of Homer, in fire and Sub¬ 
limity : they are mere copies of thofe in the Iliad, lefs 
diffufe, but alfo with infinitely lefs energy and Spirit. 
The moll llriking defedt obfervable in the condudt of the 
latter part of the Aineid is, that the reader is tempted to 
take part with Turnus againft Aineas. Turnus, a 
brave and gallant prince, is attached to Lavinia, who 
betrays no repugnance to his wiffies. He is favoured by 
her mother ; and the Latins and the Rutuli equally defire 
an union, which is to confirm the public tranquillity. 
Amid thefe favourable aufpices, a ftranger, a fugitive 
from Troy, arrives, to deftroy the flattering prolpedls. 
He fends an embafly to demand an afylum from the old 
king of Latium, who, without any apparent motive, im¬ 
mediately offers him his daughter in marriage. Hence 
follows a cruel and deftrudlive war, in which Turnus, 
while bravely fighting for his miftrefs and his throne, is 
flain by Aineas, and the mother of Lavinia, in defpair, 
puts an end to her life. Such a plan was not calculated 
to make us think favourably of the hero. 
With all thefe defedts, Virgil flill deierves the title of 
Prince of the Latin Poets; and fecond in rank among 
thofe who had diftinguiffied themfelves in the euopcea. 
Vol. XX. No. 1408. 
TRY. 
He poffeffes beauties which have jufty excitea the admi¬ 
ration of every age; and which, with many, to this day, 
hold the balance in equilibrium between his fame and 
that of Homer. If he has not equalled his great precur¬ 
sor in invention, in richnefs, and in the general effeCt of 
his poem, he has furpaffed him in many of his detached 
paffages, and in the exquilite tafte which he uniformly dis¬ 
plays. Next to Sublimity, tendernefs is, perhaps, a prin¬ 
cipal merit in the epic, and this is a merit which Virgil 
poffeffes in a very high degree. He appears to have felt 
every affeCting Scene which he deScribe*, and, with a maf- 
terly touch, can reach the heart by a Angle ftroke. His 
ftyle is Supported in an uniform tone of majefty and 
fweetnefs, and is maintained with a confiftency and per- 
fedtion u'hich cannot be found in any other poet. The 
fecond, the fourth, and the fixth, books, are univerfally 
confidered as the raoft finiffied pieces ever produced by 
the epopcea. The character of Dido is entirely Virgil’s. 
Neither Homer, nor any other poet of Greece, prefented 
the model of So exquifite a portrait. The epifodes of 
Nifus and Euryalus, of Cacus, of the funeral of Pallas, 
and of the ffiield of Aineas, are So many ckef-d' esuvres of 
the art, which amply juftify the celebrity of Virgil. Nor 
is he always deficient in vigour and grandeur: the images 
of horror, prefented by a city burnted and Sacked in the 
night, are ftrongly delineated; and the defeent of Aineas 
abounds with terrific images. 
The Georgies of Virgil is perhaps his moft meritorious 
production. It is one of the few poems on Science that 
convey any ufeful inftrudfion. The fubjedt of hus¬ 
bandry Seems at firft dry and uninviting, and from its 
very nature liable to induce SameneSs. But nobody 
is ever tired of reading the Georgies. We go on with it 
like a novel. It is not tirefome; and the excellence of 
it is, that you have not been reading a pretty description 
of the country only, which is indeed no ufelefs occupa¬ 
tion, but imbibing Sound practical knowledge on a point 
thatinterefts at fome period or other almoft every Engliffi 
gentleman. There are alfo fome moral reflexions in it which 
are worth retaining ; and it is a model of verification. 
His Eclogues, or Paftorals, are mere imitations ; and the 
Second Ihould, we think, be omitted in all School- 
editions. 
The merits and defefts of Lucan have been fo amply dif- 
cuffed in another part of this Encyclopaedia, that we for¬ 
bear to Speak of him here, left we Ihould repeat ourfelves. 
The next attempt at an epic Latin work is the Thebais 
of Statius. The ftory of it is this, CEdipus, whole ftory and 
misfortunes are fo w'ell known,left the kingdom ofThebes 
to Eteocles and Polynices, his inceftuous offspring by his 
mother Jocafta, with this condition, that they Ihould go¬ 
vern alternately every other year. When it came to the 
turn of Polynices to refign the crown, he retired to his 
friend Adraftus, king of Argos. He there meets with Ty- 
deus. Son of Aineus; but, not knowing him, they quarrel 
and fight in the king’s palace. Adraftus, coming out upon 
the alarm, Separates the combatants, and, discovering who 
they are, gives them his two daughters in marriage. 
Adraftus promifes to reftore both to their kingdom, and 
Tydeus, his affiftance to fettle Polynices on the Theban 
throne, of which Eteocles now deprives him, and refolves 
to retain it wholly to himfelf. Upon this Tydeus under¬ 
takes an embaffy to Thebes, but his propofals are rejected 
with Scorn. Having received this juft provocation, war is 
declared againft Eteocles; and an army, being railed, march¬ 
es againft Thebes, under the conduCt of Seven generals, who 
are all flain in the war, except Adraftus. The two brothers 
kill one another in Angle combat; CEdipus is banilhed : 
Jocafta puts an end to her exiftence; and Creon ufurps 
the throne. 
From this ftatement it is evident, that the SubjeCt 
Selected by the poet is not a happy one. In faff, what 
intereft can be excited for two ruffians, curfed by their 
parent, and fulfilling by their own crimes, and the {laugh¬ 
ter of each other, the malediction they have So richly 
9 K merited ? 
