Part 4 (1/2)

The Hero of the Iliad, as I observed in a former paper, is made to lament very pathetically,--that ”life is not like all other possessions, to be acquired by theft.”--A reflection, in my opinion, evidently shewing, that, if he _did_ refrain from the practice of this ingenious art, it was not from want of an inclination that way. We may remember too, that in _Virgil's_ poem, almost the first light in which the _Pious aeneas_ appears to us, is a _deer-stealer_; nor is it much excuse for him, that the deer were wandering without keepers; for however he might, from this circ.u.mstance, have been unable to ascertain whose property they were; he might, I think, have been pretty well a.s.sured that they were not _his_.

Having thus acquitted our Hero of misconduct, by the example of his betters, I proceed to what I think the Master-Stroke of the Poet.

”The Knave of Hearts ”He stole those Tarts, ”And----took them----quite away!!”

Here, whoever has an ear for harmony, and a heart for feeling, must be touched! There is a desponding melancholy in the run of the last line!

an air of tender regret in the addition of ”_quite away!_” a something so expressive of irrecoverable loss! so forcibly intimating the ”_Ah nunquam reditura!_” ”They never can return!” in short, such an union of sound and sense, as we rarely, if ever meet with in any author, ancient or modern. Our feelings are all alive--but the Poet, wisely dreading that our sympathy with the injured Queen might alienate our affections from his Hero, contrives immediately to awaken our fears for him, by telling us, that

”The King of Hearts ”Call'd for those Tarts,”--

We are all conscious of the fault of our Hero, and all tremble with him, for the punishment which the enraged Monarch may inflict;

”And beat the Knave--full sore!”

The fatal blow is struck! We cannot but rejoice that guilt is justly punished, though we sympathize with the guilty object of punishment.

Here _Scriblerus_, who, by the bye, is very fond of making unnecessary alterations, proposes reading ”_Score_” instead of ”_sore_,” meaning thereby to particularize, that the beating bestowed by this Monarch, consisted of _twenty_ stripes. But this proceeds from his ignorance of the genius of our language, which does not admit of such an expression as ”_full score_,” but would require the insertion of the particle ”_a_,” which cannot be, on account of the metre. And this is another great artifice of the Poet: by leaving the quant.i.ty of beating indeterminate, he gives every reader the liberty to administer it, in exact proportion to the sum of indignation which he may have conceived against his Hero; that by thus amply satisfying their resentment, they may be the more easily reconciled to him afterwards.

”The King of Hearts ”Call'd for those Tarts, ”And beat the Knave full sore!”

Here ends the second part, or _middle_ of the poem; in which we see the character, and exploits of the Hero, pourtrayed with the hand of a master.

Nothing now remains to be examined, but the third part, or _End_. In the _End_, it is a rule pretty well established, that the Work should draw towards a conclusion, which our Author manages thus.

”The Knave of Hearts ”Brought back those Tarts.”

Here every thing is at length settled; the theft is compensated; the tarts restored to their right owner; and _Poetical Justice_, in every respect, strictly, and impartially administered.

We may observe, that there is nothing in which our Poet has better succeeded, than in keeping up an unremitted attention in his readers to the main instruments, the machinery of his poem, viz. The _Tarts_; insomuch, that the aforementioned _Scriblerus_ has sagely observed, that ”he can't tell, but he doesn't know, but the tarts may be reckoned the heroes of the Poem.” _Scriblerus_, though a man of learning, and frequently right in his opinion, has here certainly hazarded a rash conjecture. His arguments are overthrown entirely by his great opponent, _Hiccius_, who concludes, by triumphantly asking, ”Had the tarts been eaten, how could the Poet have compensated for the loss of his Heroes?”