petual dialogue between personages in the character of shepherds, and full of rural and pastoral images. Q. Where the lyric? A. In the song of Moses; the song of Deborah; and the whole book of Psalms. In the latter, the ode is exhibited in all its forms Q. Who are the most eminent of the sacred poets? A. David, Isaiah, and the author of the book of Job. Q. In what does David chiefly excel ? A. In the pleasing, the soft, and the tender. Q. What is the reigning character of Isaiah? A. Majesty. He is, without exception, the most sublime of all poets. Q. To what does Jeremiah incline? Q. For what is Ezekiel distinguished? Q. Which of the minor prophets are distinguished for poetical spirit? A. Hosea, Joel, Micah, Habakkuk, and, especially, Nahum. Q. Which of the prophetical books is destitute of poetry? A. Daniel and Jonah. Q. Where is laid the scene of the book of Job? A. In the land of Uz, which is part of Arabia. Q. What is its imagery? A. Of a different kind from that employed by the Hebrew poets; no allusion is made to the land of Judea, or the Jewish rites and history; the longest comparison is to a brook that fails in the season of heat. Q. What is the character of the poetry of Job? A. It is superior to that of all the sacred writers, except Isaiah. A peculiar glow of fancy and strength of description characterize He renders visible whatever he treats it. of. EPIC POETRY. Q. What is an Epic Poem ? A. The recital of some illustrious enterprize in a poetical form. Q. What is its general character? A. It is the most dignified of all poetical works, and the most difficult of execution. Q. What are some of the principal epic poems that have been written? A. The Iliad of Homer; the Æneid of Virgil; the Jerusalem of Tasso; Milton's Paradise Lost; Lucan's Pharsalia; Ossian's Fingal; Camoens' Lusiad; Voltaire's Henriade. Q. What is the predominant character of the Epic ? A. Admiration, excited by heroic actions. Q. What is its moral character? A. Superior to that of any other poetry. Valour, truth, justice, friendship, magnanimity, and piety, are constantly presented under splendid and honourable colours. Q. What properties should the action or subject of the poem have? A. Unity, greatness, and that which is interesting. Q. What is meant by its unity? A. That it be one action or enterprise which the poet chooses for his subject; and that the action be entire and complete. Q. Does this exclude Episodes ? A. No. Q. What are Episodes ? A. Certain actions or incidents introduced into the narration, connected with the principal action; yet not so essential to it as to destroy, if they had been omitted, the main subject of the poem. Q. What are the rules regarding their introduction? A. They must have a sufficient connexion with the poem; must present objects of a different kind from those which go before, and those which follow; and must be particularly elegant and well finished. Q. What contributes to the grandeur of the Epic subject? A. Antiquity. It tends to aggrandize both persons and events, and allows the poet the liberty of adorning his subject by means of fiction. Q. What will tend much to make an Epic interesting? A. The introduction of affecting incidents; placing the heroes in dangerous and trying situations; and winding up the plot in a natural and probable manner. Q. How should the Epic poem end? A. Generally, successfully; Lucan and Milton have taken a contrary course. Q. What is the duration of the epic action? A. Various; the action of the Iliad lasts forty-seven days; of the Odyssey, fifty-eight; of the Eneid, a year and some months. Q. How may poetic characters be divided? A. Into general and particular;-such as are wise, brave, and virtuous, without any further distinction; and such as express the species of bravery and virtue, for which any one is eminent. Q. In which is genius chiefly exerted? Q. In this, who has excelled? A. Homer. Tasso has come next. Virgil has been most deficient. Q. What one personage is essential to an epic poem ? A. A hero; or one distinguished above all the rest. Q. What advantage is obtained by it? A. It renders the unity of the subject more sensible; tends to interest us more in the enterprise; and gives the poet an opportunity of exerting his talents for adorning and displaying one character with more splendour. Q. What other personages are usually introduced into epic poems besides human actors ? A. Gods, or supernatural beings. Q. Is this machinery essential? A. Not absolutely; yet it enables the poet to aggrandize his subject, and to enlarge and diversify his plan. Q. What machinery do allegorical personages love, discord, fame, and the like, form? A. The worst of any; and should never be permitted to bear any share in the action of the poem. Q. What should the narration be? A. Perspicuous, animated, and enriched with all the beauties of poetry. Q. What the ornaments? A. All of the grave and chaste kind. Q. What objects should be presented to us ? A. None but the great, tender, and pleasing. HOMER'S ILIAD AND ODYSSEY-VIR- Q. Who is the father of Epic Poetry? Q What reflection is necessary, that the reader may enter into the spirit of Homer? A. That he is reading the most ancient book in the world next to the Bible; that he is not to look for the correctness and elegance of the |