were merely so many episodes, or pauses, 
jn the principal action, where the poet 
was allowed to interrupt his -narrative, 
fing enliven it by the various graces of 
poetry. It was amid the brilliancy of 
courts, and in the bustle of society, that 
pastorals assumed their present form. 
it was under Ptolemy Philadelphus that 
Theocritus wrote his Idyllia; it was in 
the splendid zra of Augustus, that Virgil 
penned his Bucolics. 
There is hardly any species of poetry 
Jess in favour among the moderns, because 
there is not one so absolutely foreign to 
our manners and taste. This js not al- 
together the fault of the subject, which, 
like most others, is good when exhibited 
with correctness and truth, and is éapa- 
ble of affording considerable pleasure to 
the reader. There are few subjects 
perhaps more favourable to poetry. 
Nature herself presents the most ample 
field for description; and nothing ap- 
pears to flow-more of its own accord into 
poetical numbers, than rivers and moun- 
tains, meadows and hills, flocks and trees, 
-and shepherds devuid of care. But this 
pleasing view of the country and its in- 
habitants, is not verified by our own ob- 
servation; the genuine models of pastoral 
life have never been palpable to our 
senses, “It is only in climates peculiarly 
favoured by nature, under a sky serene 
- and clear, and where the peaceful natives 
are blessed with contentinent and ease, 
that the inhabitants of villages can be 
said to resemble, in any degree, the 
shepherds of Pheocritus and Virgil. . This 
resemblance might be found, even at a 
late period, in the islaud of Sicily, if it 
be true that the peasants were accus- 
tomed to exercise themselves in musical 
contests, particularly upon the flute, 
This would prove that pastoral poetry 
had a more natural foundation than 
merely the tmagination of poets. In 
general, descriptive poetry is the faithful 
copyist of surrounding objects; and that 
of ancient Greece had, no doubt, purer 
models than the miserable peasantry 
who. uow cover-so large a portion of Eu- 
ope. In every age, the fancy of a poet. 
may have embellished whatever he 
tuvched ; but the object must have struck 
him before he thought of adorning it. 
I/ not so graceful and alluring as bis fancy 
drew it, there was at least something of 
nature left. ‘There may have been pe- 
riods in society where peasants were gay 
and artless, living in a state equally dis- 
tant from refinement and _ grossness. 
Our moderh bucolics, indeed, can have 
~ among shepherds, 
438» Lyceum of Ancient Literature.—No. XXIX.. {June 1, 
no such foundation, they are evidently 
copied from the ancients, and professedly 
works of fiction. We hdve never beheld 
a Corydén or Tyrcis: but such may have 
existed in Greece and Italy. A taste 
for song and poetry was common even 
In countries such as 
Arcadia, the boasted seat of pastoral, 
this taste was general; it sprang from the 
soil, and was ihe happy gift of nature.* 
It is from the too glarmg want of re- 
semblance to living manners, that pasto- 
ral poetry has rarely met with success in 
modern times; and has, not unfrequently, 
been the subject of parody and ridicule. 
The tame elegance of Piillips, and the 
suavity of Pope, cannot always satisfy 
the reader, who fooks in vain for the - 
happy innocence and rural felicity which 
they so gratuitously describe. Sweetness 
of versification aud purity of expression 
may constitute the merit of a poet, but 
they are absolutely wasted upon a subject 
sc little susceptible of novelty, variety,” 
or truth of character. This renders it 
of all others the most dificult and un- 
grateful. The poet cannot be expected | 
to delineate the manners of the pea- 
santry, such as they now are. Their 
condition ismean, servile, and laborious ; 
their employments often disgusting, their 
ideas generally upon a level with their 
station, He is reduced to the necessity 
of closely copying the language, senti- 
ments, and imagery, of the ancient pase 
torals, which, from their frequent repe- 
tition, are become trite aud insipid; or, 
wliat is infinitely more absurd, to the 
ease, innocence, and simplicity, of the 
early ages, he adds the polished taste and 
cultivated manners of modern times. 
Into one or other of these extremes, mo- 
dern pastorals have invariably wandered. - 
Hence it is, that this kind of poetry has 
generaliy Leen the employment of young 
and inexperienced minds. At amaturer 
age, the barren and fruitless path has 
been deserted -for works of higher dig- 
nity and more permanent merit. 
Weare willing to adnmt, however, that 
pastoral poetry isa species of compo- 
sition which may be rendered both nas 
tural and aureeable. Considered as a 
work of fiction, so far at least as the cha- 
racters are concerned, we see no solid 
ee 
* Dr. Martyn, in his preface to the Eclogues 
of Virgil, describes Arcadia as a country 
‘© mountainous, and almost inaccessible ;’* 
which seems to favour the idea, that its an- 
cient inhabitants exclusively devoted them- 
selves to pastoralamusements 
~ 
* reason 
