:

many others, that I believe think I have encouraged ⚫ them from my window but pray let me have your opi⚫nion of the use of the window in a beautiful lady; and how often she may look out at the fame man, without ⚫ being fuppofed to have a mind to jump out to him.

• Your's,

Aurelia Careless.'

• Mr. Spectator,

Twice.

I Have for fome time made love to a lady, who re

ceived it with all the kind returns I ought to expect : ⚫ but without any provocation, that I know of, she has of late fhunned me with the utmost abhorrence, infomuch that she went out of church laft Sunday in the midst of • divine fervice, upon my coming into the fame pew. Pray, Sir, what must I do in this business?

York, Jan. 20, 1711-12.

WE have in this town a fort of people who pre

tend to wit, and write lampoons: I have lately ⚫ been the fubject of one of them. The fcribbler had not genius enough in verfe to turn my age, as indeed I am an old maid, into raillery, for affecting a youthier turn than is confiftent with my time of day; and therefore ⚫he makes the title of his Madrigal, the character of Mrs. Judith Lovebane, born in the year 1680. What I defire of you is, that you difallow that a coxcomb, who pretends to write verfe, fhould put the most malicious thing he can fay in profe. This I humbly con⚫ceive will difable our country wits, who indeed take a great deal of pains to fay any thing in rhyme, though ⚫ they fay it very ill.

• I am, Sir,

Your humble fervant,

Sufanna Lovebane.'

. Mr.

• Mr. Spectator,

WE are feveral of us, gentlemen and ladies, who

board in the fame houfe, and after dinner one

of our company, an agreeable man enough otherwise, • stands up and reads your paper to us all. We are the ⚫ civileft people in the world to one another, and therefore I am forced to this way of defiting our reader, when he is doing this office, not to ftand afore the fire. This 'will be a general good to our family this cold weather. He will, I know, take it to be our common request when he comes to these words, "Pray, Sir, fit down ;" which I defire you to infert, and you will particularly • oblige

Your daily reader,

I

SIR,

A M a great lover of dancing, but cannot perform fo well as fome others; however, by my out-of-the-way capers, and fome original grimaces, I do not fail to divert the company, particularly the ladies, who laugh immoderately all the time. Some, who pretend to be my friends, tell me they do it in derifion, and would advise me to leave it off, withal that I make myself ridiculous. I do not know what to do in this affair, but I am refolved not to give over upon any account, until I have the opinion of the Spectator.

F Mr. Trott is not aukward out of time, he has a right to dance let who will laugh but if he has no ear he will interrupt others; and I am of opinion he should fit ftill. Given under my hand this fifth of February,

1711-12.

T

The Spectator.

Saturday,

After what I have faid in my laft Saturday's paper,

I fhall enter on the fubject of this without further preface, and remark the feveral defects which appear in the fable, the characters, the fentiments, and the language of Milton's Paradife Loft; not doubting but the reader will pardon me, if I alledge at the fame time whatbe faid for the extenuation of fuch defects. The firft imperfection which I fhall obferve in the fable is,. that the event of it is unhappy.

ever may

The fable of every poem is, according to Ariftotle's divifion, either fimple or implex. It is called fimple when there is no change of fortune in it; implex, when the fortune of the chief actor changes from bad to good, or from good to bad. The implex fable is thought the moft perfect; I fuppofe, because it is more proper to ftir up the paffions of the reader, and to furprife him with a greater variety of accidents.

The implex fable is therefore of two kinds; in the first the chief actor makes his way through a long series of dangers and difficulties, until he arrives at honour and profperity, as we fee in the ftory of Ulyffes. In the fecond, the chief actor in the poem falls from fome eminent pitch of honour and profperity, into mifery and difgrace. Thus we fee Adam and Eve finking from a ftate of innocence and happiness, into the most abject condition of fin and forrow.

The moft taking tragedies among the ancients, were built on this laft fort of implex fable, particularly the tragedy of dipus, which proceeds upon a ftory, if we may believe Ariftotle, the most proper for tragedy that could be

invented

invented by the wit of man. I have taken fome pains in a former paper to fhew, that this kind of implex fable, wherein the event is unhappy, is more apt to affect an audience than that of the first kind; notwithstanding many excellent pieces among the ancients, as well as moft of those which have been written of late years in our own country, are raised upon contrary plans. I muft however own, that I think this kind of fable, which is the most perfect in tragedy, is not fo proper for an heroic poem.

Milton feems to have been fenfible of this imperfection in his fable, and has therefore endeavoured to cure it by feveral expedients; particularly by the mortification which the great adverfary of mankind meets with upon his return to the affembly of infernal spirits, as it is defcribed in a beautiful paffage of the tenth book; and likewife by the: vifion wherein Adam at the close of the poem fees his offfpring triumphing over his great enemy, and himself reftored to a happier Paradife than that from which he fell.

There is another objection against Milton's fable, which is indeed almoft the fame with the former, though placed in a different light, namely, that the hero in the Paradife Loft is unfuccefsful, and by no means a match for his enemies. This gave occafion to Mr. Dryden's reflexion, that the devil was in reality Milton's hero. I think I have obviated this objection in my firft paper. The Paradife Loft is an epic or a narrative poem, and he that looks for an héro in it, fearches for that which Milton never intended; but if he will needs fix the name of an hero upon any perfon in it, it is certainly the Meffiah who is the hero, both in the principal action, and in the chief episode, Paganism could not furnish out a real action for a fable greater than that of the Iliad or Æneid, and therefore an heathen could not form an higher notion of a poem than one of that kind, which they call an heroic. Whether Milton's is not of a fublimer nature I will not prefume to determine: it is fufficient that I fhew there is in the Paradife Loft all the greatnefs of plan, regularity of defign, and masterly beauties which we difcover in Homer and Virgil.

I must in the next place observe, that Milton has interwoven in the texture of his fable fome particulars which do not feem to have probability enough for an epic poem, particularly in the actions which he afcribes to fin and

death,,

death, and the picture which he draws of the Limbo of Vanity, with other paffages in the fecond book. Such allegories rather favour of the spirit of Spenfer and Ariofto, than of Homer and Virgil.

In the structure of his poem he has likewise admitted too many digreffions. It is finely obferved by Aristotle, that the author of an heroic poem hould feldom speak himself, but throw as much of his work as he can into the mouths of those who are his principal actors. Arif totle has given no reafon for this precept: but I prefume it is because the mind of the reader is more awed and elevated when he hears Æneas or Achilles fpeak, than when Virgil or Homer talk in their own perfons. Befides, that affuming the character of an eminent man is apt to fire the imagination, and raise the ideas of the author. Tully tells us, mentioning his dialogue of old age, in which Cato is the chief speaker, that upon a review of it he was agreeably.impofed upon, and fancied that it was Cato and not he himself, who uttered his thoughts on that fubject.

If the reader would be at the pains to fee how the story of the Iliad and the Eneid is delivered by thofe perfons who act in it, he will be furprised to find how little in either of thefe poems proceeds from the authors. Milton has, in the general difpofition of his fable, very finely obferved this great rule; infomuch, that there is fcarce a third part of it which comes from the poet; the reft is spoken either by Adam and Eve, or by fome good or evil fpirit who is engaged either in their deftruction or defence.

From what has been here observed it appears, that digreffions are by no means to be allowed of in an epic poem. If the poet, even in the ordinary courfe of his narration, fhould fpeak as little as poffible, he fhould certainly never let his narration fleep for the fake of any reflexions of his own. I have often obferved, with a fecret admiration, that the longeft reflexion in the Eneid is in that paffage of the tenth book, where Turnus is reprefented as dreffing himfelf in the fpoils of Pallas, whom he had flain. Virgil here lets his fable stand still for the fake of the following remark. "How is the mind of man "ignorant of futurity, and unable to bear profperous "fortune with moderation! The time will come when Turnus fhall wish that he had left the body of

"Pailas