Pastoral poetry, the species which we next proceed to consider, is not of so ancient an origin as those we have already contemplated. Figures and descriptions of a pas toral kind indeed occur in the earliest poems that have been handed down to us ; but these descriptions are inci dental only ; and it is now allowed by all critics that pasto ral poetry was not cultivated as a separate and distinct branch of the art till towns and cities had been built and inhabited, till gradation of rank had been established, and men had become comparatively luxurious and refined. Rural peace and tranquillity were not known or not appre ciated till they could be contrasted with the bustle and anxiety of courts and large cities. " Alen, then," to use the words of an elegant writer," began to look back on the more simple and innocent life which their forefathers led, or which they supposed them to have led ; they looked back upon it with pleasure; and in those rural scenes and pastoral occupations imagining a degree of felicity to take place, superior to what they now enjoyed, conceived the idea of celebrating it in poetry. It was in the court of King Ptolemy that Theocritus wrote the first pastorals with which we are acquainted ; and in the court of Au gustus he was imitated by Virgil." But to whatever date we may assign the origin of pastoral poetry, it is agreed on all hands that no species of the poetic art is more fasci nating, sweet, and natural. It brings before our minds the most ancient, the most innocent, the most happy, and the simplest form of existence. It recalls to the imagina tion of most of us the place of our birth, and the haunts of our childhood, " the green pastures and the still waters," hallowed and endeared to us by many a tender associa tion, and on which at every period of our life memory lingers with peculiar fondness. Flocks, trees, flowers, streams, rural love and rural peace, carry charms to every bosom.
In writing pastoral poetry, however, rural life must be painted, not literally as we find it in the present age, but in reference to those innocent and simple times descrihed so exquisitely by the earlier pastoral poets. It is this pleasing illusion, probably- more than any thing else, which has shed such inexpressible beauty and swertoess over this species of poetry.—Of pastoral compositions, the language, it is evident, must he humble, devoid of floridness and pomp ; the figures simple, concise, and taken from lurid scenery and rural occupations ; the sen timents, the result of natural and unsophisticated emo tions. Apostrophes to inanimate objects, if not turgidly executed, may be frequent ; digressions may be allowed, if short, and directly connected with the circumstances in which the parties are supposed to be placed.
There is a form of pastoral poetry that has been introduc ed in recent times, and which it would be improper to over look, namely, that, in which it assumes the character of the regular drama, founded on the sympathy and innocence of rural manners. Of this kind the Pastor Fido of Guarini, and Tasso's Ammta, are well known. But our own country has produced a pastoral drama which will bear a compa rison with any composition of the kind. We allude to the " Gentle Shepherd" of Ramsay, which abounds with beauties of the highest and most varied order. it is com pletely free from offensive rusticity or coarseness ; it uni fot mly sustains the genuine character of rural simplicity ; lvhile, at the same time, the affecting incidents, tender sentiments, and natural description, by which it is cha racterized, would do honour to any poet.—Among the
ancients. the most celebrated writers of pastorals are Theo critus and Virgil. Various authors of our own country have applied their genius to pastoral composition,—but with no eminent success ; and, with the exception of Ramsay, Britain can boast of no great poet in this depart ment of writing but Shenstone, whose " Pastoral Ballad" has challenged the praise and admiration of every critic. Of all the moderns, however, Gesncr, a native of Switzer land, has cultivated pastoral composition with the most brilliant success. He excels chiefly in the description of domestic sympathy and felicity, the mutual affection of husbands and wives, of parents and children, of brothers and sisters, and of lovers. There is throughout his Idyls such sweet and tender sentiments, such genuine touches of nature, as must make a deep impression on every heart susceptible of pure and simple, yet elevated emotions.
The object of Didactic Poetry, which is the next spe cies that claims attention, is to convey knowledge and in struction. It has been employed chiefly on moral, philo sophical, and critical subjects. In works of this nature, method and arrangement are indispensably necessary, so as to give a connected strain of instruction ; and yet in no department of writing are such privileges allowed. Di gressions and episodes of all kinds, historical or fabulous, every embellishment and illustration may with propriety be introduced, provided they originate naturally in the subject, and tend to elucidate or enforce it. The great art of a didactic poet, indeed, is to relieve the reader by digressions and collateral discussions ; and to make, as it were, the ostensible object of his composition subservient to illustrations and episodes, which are susceptible of higher poetry and deeper interest than can be communi cated to a continued series of grave instructions. It is this in which the chief interest of Virgil's Georgics con sists. and the genius of the author is most eminently di s s played. This celebrated production, with all the merit which in other respects it possesses, and all the valuable information it conveys, would be comparatively unin teresting and prosaic, were it not for the beautiful and highly poetical digressions by which it is characterized ; such as the praises of Italy, the felicity of rural life, the fable of Aristacus, the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Nor is the talents of Virgil less remarkable in connecting his episodes happily with his subject : they are all made directly subservient to the great purpose of his treatise, and they are introduced and terminated sc happily, that we believe the two to be perfectly inseparable,—and a di dactic poem is entitled to praise, not for any one quality more than for its resembling, in the points just specified, the Georgics of Virgil. This kind of poetry, it may be remarked, is one of the highest species of the art. It does not merely require elevation of sentiment, and and dignity of language, but it embraces almost every other mode of poetical writing, the descriptive, the pa thetic, the tender, and the sublime ; and is therefore to be cultivated only by poets of the highest and most varied endowments. Didactic poetry has been cultivated both in ancient and modern times, by Ltfcretius, Virgil, Ho race, Vida, Boileau, Pope, Akenside, Young, Rogers, Campbell.