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Show . t l The Epiftle Dedicatory. u „_. .,.,j Tnflament are then extended (like fo •" ""SSftV S ^ S B * ^ ^ ^ with thelrtnmolt l U at bended, but where the Images ° f d™ f"^" J thlT Knowledge of Men is not, your Lordfhip. focceeds^fo well m t£• « « £ -^ ftubbom _&n d S j whicl, vourdaih praaiceunheWoild toWckan,Den . , that thc Ro not all alter the lame Gran, ^ . " ^ ^ S e w o ™ * , upon by feverai famecorn^n Humours, m foveraafons, « » t e JJJ g P ^ J ^ ,ie[lC ' WoHd^Here is" J^S^iS^S not fore-feen; all your Heroes ,n the \\ odd. Hei e is no chance; w i and though they feem to S i ^ » ^ * t e r f ^ S t e yet yfi make DeLies for them whkh they cannot limn. They are mov'd (if I may dare to fay fo). like the Ra-doTalcS^ on becaufe their Fetters are Invincible when indeed the Pnfon of their Will, is the m o r S l t K S And infteadof an abfolute Power over their Adieus, me have on v a wn-etched Defire of doing that, which they cannot choofe but do Ilavedwelt, m y Lord, thus long upon your Writing not becaufe youdeferve n o t g S S n S r e noble Commendations, but becaufe I am not equally able to exprefs them in other Subjefts. Like an ill Swimmer, I have willingly ftaiu long inmyownDepth: and though I am eager of performing more, yet am loath to Venture out beyond m v Knowledge. For beyond your Poetry, m y Lord, all is Ocean to me. 'To Speak of you as a Soldier, or a States-Man, were only to betray m y own ignorance: And I could hope no better fuccefs from it than that mifcvzbk Rhetoricianhixd, who folemnly Declaim'd before Hannibal of the conduct of Arms,and the Art of War. I can only fay in general, that the Souls ot other Men ftrine out at little Cranies; they underftand fome one thing, perhaps to Admiration, while they are Darkned on all the other Parts: But your Lordfhip s Soul is an inr-reGlobc of Light, breaking out on every Side ; and if I have only difco-x er'd one Beam of it, 'tis not that thc light falls unequally, but becaufe the Body which receives it, is of unequal Parts. . The acknowledgement of which is a fair occafion ofter'd me, to retire from the confideration of your Lordfhip, to that of m y Self: I here prefent you, m y Lord, with that "m Print which you had the goodnefs not to difhke upon the Stage; and account it happy to have 'met vou here in England : It being at beft, like fmall Wines, to be Drunk out upon the place, and has not Body enough to indure the Sea. I know not whether I have been fo careful of the Plot and Language as I ought; but for the latter I have indeavor'd to write Englifh, as near as I could diftinguifh it from the Tongue of Pedants, and that of affected Travellers: Only I am forry, that ('Speaking fo noble a Language as we do) we Jiave not a more cer- V U 1 U 3 11UUI V/LHWl l^ttLlUHJ) >Vlll\.ll 1^ 11VJVV a Wantonnefs in us, not a Neccffity ; but fo long as fome affect to Speak them; there will not want others who will have the bold nets to Write them. But I fear leaft defending the receiv'd words, I fhall be accus'd for following the New way, I mean, of VVriting Scenes in Verfe : Though , to Speak properly, 'tis not fo much a aew way amongft us, as an old way new reviv'd; For many Years before Shake/pear's Plays, was the Tragedy of Queen Gorboduc in Englifh Verfe , written by that famous Lord Buckhurft, afterwards Earl of Dorfet, and Progenitor to that Excellent Perfon, who fas he inherits his Soul and Title) I wifh may Inherit his good Fortune. Butfuppofing our Country-men had not receiv'd this Writing till of late! Shall we Oppofe our felves to the moft Polifb'd and Ci-yiliz'd Nations of Europe; Shall w e with the fame Singularity oppofe the World in this, as moft of us do in pronouncing Latin; Or do w e defire that the Brand which Barclay has, (I hope) unjuftly laid upon the Englifh fhould ftill continue: Angli fuos ac fua omnia impenfe mirantur; cceteras nationes defpetlui habent. All the tyanifb and Italian Tragedies. I have yet feen, arc writ in Rhyme J for the French, The Epijlle Dedicatory. I do not name them,becaufe it is theFate of ourCouutry-mcn to admit little of theirs among us, but the Bafelt of their Men, the Extravagances of their Fafhions, and the Frippery of their Merchandife. Shakefpear (who with fome Errors not to be .•voided in that Age, had undoubtedly a larger Soul of Poefie, than ever any of our Nation) wis the'firft, who to fhunthe pains of continual Rhyming, invented that kind of Writing, which wc call blank Verfe, but the French more properly, Proffe Mefaree: Into wliich the Englifh Tongue fo naturally Slides, that in Writing Profe'tis hardly to be avoided. And therefore, I admire fome Men fhould perpetually ftumble in a way fo eafic. And inverting the order of their Words, conft.mtlyclofe their lines with Verbs; which though commended fometimes in VVriting Latin, yet w e Were Wftipt at Wtftmnfktr if we us'd it twice together. I know fome, who if they were to Write in Blank Verfe , Sir, I ask your Pardon, would think it Sounded more Heroically to write, Sir, I jour Pardon ask. I fhould judge him to have little command of Englifh , whom the neccffity of a Rhyme fhould force often upon this Rock : Though fometimes it cannot eafily be avoided : And indeed this is the only inconvenience with which Rhyme can be charged. This is that which makes them fay, Rhyme is not natural, it being only fo, when thc Poet either makes a vicious choice of Words, or places them for Rhyme fake fo unnaturally, as no Man would in ordinary Speaking : But when'tis fo judi-cioufly ordered, that the firft W o r d in the Verfe feems to beget the fecond, and rhat the next, till that becomes the laft Word in the Line, which in the negligence of Profe would be fo; it muft then be granted, Rhyme has all the advantages of Profe, befides its own. But the Excellence and Dignity ot it, were never fully known till Mr. Waller taught it; he firft made Writing eafily an Art: Firft fhew'd us to conclude the Scnfc,moft commonly, in DiftichsJ winch irtthe Verle of thofe before him, runs on for fo many Lines together, that the Reader is out ot Breath to overtake it. This fweetnefs of Mr. Waller's Lyrick Poehe was afterwards follow'd in thc Epick by Sir fohn Denbam, innis Cooper's-HU: A Poem which your Lordfhip knows for the Majefty ofthe Style, is, and ever will be the exact Standard of nood Writing. But if weowe the Invention of it to Mr. /» aiur, we aie acknowledging for the Nobleft ufe of it to Sir William ff^i who at once brought it upon the Stage, and made it perfect, in the Siege of Rhodes. The advantages which Rhyme has over Blank Verfe , arc fo many, that it were loft timcto name them: Sir Philip Sidney, in his defence ot Poefie gwes^s ont which, in m v Opinion, is not the leaft confiderable ; I mean the help, a brmgs to Memory: Which Rhyme fo Knits up by the Affinity of Sounds that bv unci - bring the laft Word in one Line we often call to mind both the V erfe 1 hen m the quicknefs of Reparties, (which in P ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ A v 9 ^ l ^ ^ ^ particular a Grace,and is fo aptly Suited to them, that the iuddain Smai u ot die Anfwer and the Sweetncfs of the Rhyme, fet oft die Beauty ot each Other. But ffi2^Taf^r^«1h% becaufe I have not **£*£**£ that it Bounds and Circumfc-: fo Wild and Lawlefs, that to it, leaft it out-run the Judgment. I he gi ua , the Poet too Luxuriant; He is tempted W ^ ^ * W ^ ^ ^ t f j f f i be Omitted, or at leaft Ihut up in fewer Words: But W ^ thedtfficulW«g** Rhyming is interpos'd, where the Poet commonly confinesJgg^Jg £ £ pier, and muft contrive that Sence into fuch Words, ^ W S ^ ^ r X rally follow them, not they the Rhyme ; the Fancy then gives ^ ^ ^ u iL examines that moft which heptoduotfi with the gi g****^1 "ft t0, ave knows, muft pafs the fevereft Teft ofthe Audience, ^ f e t t e y a ^ K it ever'in their Memory : As the Stomach O ' J ^ ^ W W S S B Particle as it ftncTly embraces the Nounfiiment, and takes "toun t ot evogn paflbsthrough. ^ ^ b f ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ " ^ £ ^ muft the Argu-fo is it with Verle ha ^ S ^ t e w ^ M W Otfaerwife, (as ment alone, but the Characters, an JiWMns ^ * • dtprejbf. 'the Scenes, Scaliger fays ofClaudian) the Poet wi 1 be, W ' £ " < mat """W , Difeourfe which in m y Opinion, moft commend it, are thole ol Argumentation |