a defence of poesie and poems-第10节

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t　being　abused；　by　the　reason　of　his　sweet　charming　force；　it　can　do　more　hurt　than　any　other　army　of　words；　yet　shall　it　be　so　far　from　concluding；　that　the　abuse　shall　give　reproach　to　the　abused；　that；　contrariwise；　it　is　a　good　reason；　that　whatsoever　being　abused；　doth　most　harm；　being　rightly　used　（and　upon　the　right　use　each　thing　receives　his　title）　doth　most　good。　　Do　we　not　see　skill　of　physic；　the　best　rampire　｛68｝　to　our　often…assaulted　bodies；　being　abused；　teach　poison；　the　most　violent　destroyer？　　Doth　not　knowledge　of　law；　whose　end　is　to　even　and　right　all　things；　being　abused；　grow　the　crooked　fosterer　of　horrible　injuries？　　Doth　not　（to　go　in　the　highest）　God's　word　abused　breed　heresy；　and　His　name　abused　become　blasphemy？　　Truly；　a　needle　cannot　do　much　hurt；　and　as　truly　（with　leave　of　ladies　be　it　spoken）　it　cannot　do　much　good。　With　a　sword　thou　mayest　kill　thy　father；　and　with　a　sword　thou　mayest　defend　thy　prince　and　country；　so　that；　as　in　their　calling　poets　fathers　of　lies；　they　said　nothing；　so　in　this　their　argument　of　abuse；　they　prove　the　commendation。

They　allege　herewith；　that　before　poets　began　to　be　in　price；　our　nation　had　set　their　heart's　delight　upon　action；　and　not　imagination；　rather　doing　things　worthy　to　be　written；　than　writing　things　fit　to　be　done。　　What　that　before　time　was；　I　think　scarcely　Sphynx　can　tell；　since　no　memory　is　so　ancient　that　gives　not　the　precedence　to　poetry。　　And　certain　it　is；　that；　in　our　plainest　homeliness；　yet　never　was　the　Albion　nation　without　poetry。　　Marry；　this　argument；　though　it　be　levelled　against　poetry；　yet　it　is　indeed　a　chain…shot　against　all　learning　or　bookishness；　as　they　commonly　term　it。　　Of　such　mind　were　certain　Goths；　of　whom　it　is　written；　that　having　in　the　spoil　of　a　famous　city　taken　a　fair　library；　one　hangman；　belike　fit　to　execute　the　fruits　of　their　wits；　who　had　murdered　a　great　number　of　bodies；　would　have　set　fire　in　it。　　〃No；〃　said　another；　very　gravely；　〃take　heed　what　you　do；　for　while　they　are　busy　about　those　toys；　we　shall　with　more　leisure　conquer　their　countries。〃　　This；　indeed；　is　the　ordinary　doctrine　of　ignorance；　and　many　words　sometimes　I　have　heard　spent　in　it；　but　because　this　reason　is　generally　against　all　learning　as　well　as　poetry；　or　rather　all　learning　but　poetry；　because　it　were　too　large　a　digression　to　handle　it；　or　at　least　too　superfluous；　since　it　is　manifest　that　all　government　of　action　is　to　be　gotten　by　knowledge；　and　knowledge　best　by　gathering　many　knowledges；　which　is　reading；；　I　only　say　with　Horace；　to　him　that　is　of　that　opinion；


〃Jubeo　stultum　esse　libenter〃　｛69｝


for　as　for　poetry　itself；　it　is　the　freest　from　this；　objection；　for　poetry　is　the　companion　of　camps。　　I　dare　undertake；　Orlando　Furioso；　or　honest　King　Arthur；　will　never　displease　a　soldier：　　but　the　quiddity　of　〃ens〃　and　〃prima　materia〃　will　hardly　agree　with　a　corslet。　　And；　therefore；　as　I　said　in　the　beginning；　even　Turks　and　Tartars　are　delighted　with　poets。　　Homer；　a　Greek；　flourished　before　Greece　flourished；　and　if　to　a　slight　conjecture　a　conjecture　may　be　opposed；　truly　it　may　seem；　that　as　by　him　their　learned　men　took　almost　their　first　light　of　knowledge；　so　their　active　men　receive　their　first　notions　of　courage。　　Only　Alexander's　example　may　serve；　who　by　Plutarch　is　accounted　of　such　virtue　that　fortune　was　not　his　guide　but　his　footstool；　whose　acts　speak　for　him；　though　Plutarch　did　not；　indeed；　the　phoenix　of　warlike　princes。　　This　Alexander　left　his　schoolmaster；　living　Aristotle；　behind　him；　but　took　dead　Homer　with　him。　　He　put　the　philosopher　Callisthenes　to　death；　for　his　seeming　philosophical；　indeed　mutinous；　stubbornness；　but　the　chief　thing　he　was　ever　heard　to　wish　for　was　that　Homer　had　been　alive。　　He　well　found　he　received　more　bravery　of　mind　by　the　pattern　of　Achilles；　than　by　hearing　the　definition　of　fortitude。　And；　therefore；　if　Cato　misliked　Fulvius　for　carrying　Ennius　with　him　to　the　field；　it　may　be　answered　that　if　Cato　misliked　it　the　noble　Fulvius　liked　it；　or　else　he　had　not　done　it；　for　it　was　not　the　excellent　Cato　Uticensis　whose　authority　I　would　much　more　have　reverenced；　but　it　was　the　former；　in　truth　a　bitter　punisher　of　faults；　but　else　a　man　that　had　never　sacrificed　to　the　Graces。　　He　misliked；　and　cried　out　against；　all　Greek　learning；　and　yet；　being　fourscore　years　old；　began　to　learn　it；　belike　fearing　that　Pluto　understood　not　Latin。　　Indeed；　the　Roman　laws　allowed　no　person　to　be　carried　to　the　wars　but　he　that　was　in　the　soldiers'　roll。　　And；　therefore；　though　Cato　misliked　his　unmustered　person；　he　misliked　not　his　work。　　And　if　he　had；　Scipio　Nasica　（judged　by　common　consent　the　best　Roman）　loved　him：　　both　the　other　Scipio　brothers；　who　had　by　their　virtues　no　less　surnames　than　of　Asia　and　Afric；　so　loved　him　that　they　caused　his　body　to　be　buried　in　their　sepulture。　So；　as　Cato's　authority　being　but　against　his　person；　and　that　answered　with　so　far　greater　than　himself；　is　herein　of　no　validity。

But　｛70｝　now；　indeed；　my　burthen　is　great；　that　Plato's　name　is　laid　upon　me；　whom；　I　must　confess；　of　all　philosophers　I　have　ever　esteemed　most　worthy　of　reverence；　and　with　good　reason；　since　of　all　philosophers　he　is　the　most　poetical；　yet　if　he　will　defile　the　fountain　out　of　which　his　flowing　streams　have　proceeded；　let　us　boldly　examine　with　what　reason　he　did　it。

First；　truly；　a　man　might　maliciously　object　that　Plato；　being　a　philosopher；　was　a　natural　enemy　of　poets。　　For；　indeed；　after　the　philosophers　had　picked　out　of　the　sweet　mysteries　of　poetry　the　right　discerning　of　true　points　of　knowledge；　they　forthwith；　putting　it　in　method；　and　making　a　school　of　art　of　that　which　the　poets　did　only　teach　by　a　divine　delightfulness；　beginning　to　spurn　at　their　guides；　like　ungrateful　apprentices；　were　not　content　to　set　up　shop　for　themselves；　but　sought　by　all　means　to　discredit　their　masters；　which；　by　the　force　of　delight　being　barred　them；　the　less　they　could　overthrow　them；　the　more　they　hated　them。　　For；　indeed；　they　found　for　Homer　seven　cities　strove　who　should　have　him　for　their　citizen；　where　many　cities　banished　philosophers　as　not　fit　members　to　live　among　them。　　For　only　repeating　certain　of　Euripides'　verses　many　Athenians　had　their　lives　saved　of　the　Syracusans；　where　the　Athenians　themselves　thought　many　of　the　philosophers　unworthy　to　live。　　Certain　poets；　as　Simonides　and　Pindar；　had　so　prevailed　with　Hiero　the　First；　that　of　a　tyrant　they　made　him　a　just　king；　where　Plato　could　do　so　little　with　Dionysius　that　he　himself；　of　a　philosopher；　was　made　a　slave。　　But　who　should　do　thus；　I　confess；　should　requite　the　objections　raised　against　poets　with　like　cavillations　against　philosophers；　as　likewise　one　should　do　that　should　bid　one　read　Phaedrus　or　Symposium　in　Plato；　or　the　discourse　of　Love　in　Plutarch；　and　see　whether　any　poet　do　authorise　abominable　filthiness　as　they　do。

Again；　a　man　might　ask；　out　of　what　Commonwealth　Plato　doth　banish　them？　　In　sooth；　thence　where　he　himself　alloweth　community　of　women。　　So；　as　belike　this　banishment　grew　not　for　effeminate　wantonness；　since　little　should　poetical　sonnets　be　hurtful；　when　a　man　might　have　what　woman　he　listed。　　But　I　honour　philosophical　instructions；　and　bless　the　wits　which　bred　them；　so　as　they　be　not　abused；　which　is　likewise　stretched　to　poetry。　　Saint　Paul　himself　sets　a　watchword　upon　philosophy；　indeed　upon　the　abuse。　　So　doth　Plato　upon　the　abuse；　not　upon　poetry。　　Plato　found　fault　that　the　poets　of　his　time　filled　the　world　with　wrong　opinions　of　the　gods；　making　light　tales　of　that　unspotted　essence；　and　therefore　would　not　have　the　youth　depraved　with　such　opinions。　　Herein　may　much　be　said；　let　this　suffice：　　the　poets　did　not　induce　such　opinions；　but　did　imitate　those　opinions　already　induced。　　For　all　the　Greek　stories　can　well　testify　that　the　very　religion　of　that　time　stood　upon　many　and　many…fashioned　gods；　not　taught　so　by　poets；　but　followed　according　to　their　nature　of　imitation。　　Who　list　may　read　in　Plutarch　the　discourses　of　Isis　and　Osiris；　of　the　cause　why　oracles　ceased；　of　the　Divine　providence；　and　see　whether　the　theology　of　that　nation　stood　not　upon　such　dreams；　which　the　poets　indeed　superstitiously　observed；　and　truly；　since　they　had　not　the　light　of　Christ；　did　much　better　in　it　than　the　philosophers；　who；　shaking　off　superstition；　brought　in　atheism。

Plato；　therefore；　whose　authority　I　had　much　rather　justly　construe　than　unjustly　resist；　meant　not　in　general　of　poets；　in　those　words　of　which　Julius　Scaliger　saith；　〃qua　authoritate；　barbari　quidam　atque　insipidi；　abuti　velint　ad　poetas　e　republica　exigendos　｛71｝：〃　but　only　meant　to　drive　out　those　wrong　opinions　of　the　Deity；　whereof　now；　without　farther　law；　Christianity　hath　taken　away　all　the　hurtful　belief；　perchance　as　he　thought　nourished　by　then　esteemed　poets。　　And　a　man　need　go　no　farther　than　to　Plato　himself　to　know　his　meaning；　who；　in　his　dialogue　called　〃Ion；〃　｛72｝　giveth　high；　and　rightly；　divine　commendation　unto　poetry。　　So　as　Plato；　banishing　the　abuse；　not　the　thing；　not　banishing　it；　but　giving　due　honour　to　it；　shall　be　our　patron；　and　not　our　adversary。　　For；　indee