it hath been ordained otherwise, and he by death departed from that right, we pray you doe not envy his friends, the office of their care and paine, to have collected and published them; and so to have published them, as where (before) you were abused with divers ftolne and furreptitious copies, maimed and deformed by the frauds and ftealths of injurious impoftors that expofed them: even thofe are now offered to your view cured, and perfect of their limbes; and all the reft, abfolute in their numbers as he conceived them. Who, as he was a happy imitator of nature, was a most gentle expreffer of it. His minde and hand went together: and what he thought, he uttered with that eafineffe, that we have fcarce received from him a blot in his papers. But it is not our province, who onely gather his workes, and give them you, to praise him. It is yours that reade him. And there we hope, to your divers capacities, you will finde enough, both to draw, and hold you: for his wit can no more lie hid, then it could be loft. him, therefore; and againe, and againe and if then you doe not like him, furely you are in fome manifeft danger, not to understand him. And fo we leave you to other of his friends, who, if you need, can be your guides: if you neede them not, you can leade yourfelves, and others. And fuch readers we wish him. Reade JOHN HEMINGE, MR. POPE'S Mr. POPE's PREFACE. I T is not my defign to enter into a criticism upon this author; though to do it effectually, and not fuperficially, would be the beft occafion that any just writer could take, to form the judgment and tafte of our nation. For of all English poets Shakefpeare must be confeffed to be the fairest and fullest fubject for criticism, and to afford the most numerous, as well as most confpicuous inftances, both of beauties and faults of all forts. But this far exceeds the bounds of a preface, the bufinefs of which is only to give an account of the fate of his works, and the disadvantages under which they have been tranfmitted to us. We shall hereby extenuate many faults which are his, and clear him from the imputation of many which are not a defign, which, though it can be no guide to future criticks to do him juftice in one way, will at least be fufficient to prevent their doing him an injuftice in the other. I cannot however but mention fome of his principal and characteristick excellencies, for which (notwithstanding his defects) he is juftly and univerfally elevated above all other dramatick writers. Not that this is the proper place of praising him, but because I would not omit any occafion of doing it. If ever any author deferved the name of an original, it was Shakespeare. Homer himself drew not [F 3] his his art fo immediately from the fountains of nature, it proceeded through Egyptian ftrainers and channels, and came to him not without fome tincture of the learning, or fome caft of the models, of thofe before him. The poetry of Shakespeare was infpiration indeed; he is not fo much an imitator, as an inftrument, of nature; and it is not fo just to say that hẹ fpeaks from her, as that the speaks through him. His characters are fo much nature herfelf, that it is a fort of injury to call them by fo distant a name as copies of her. Thofe of other poets have a conftant refemblance, which fhews that they received them from one another, and were but multipliers of the fame image: each picture, like a mock-rainbow, is but the reflexion of a reflexion. But every fingle character in Shakespeare is as much an individual, as thofe in life itself, it is as impoffible to find any two alike; and fuch as from their relation or affinity in any refpect appear moft to be twins, will, upon comparifon, be found remarkably diftinct. To this life and variety of character, we muit add the wonderful prefervation of it; which is fuch throughout his plays, that had all the fpeeches been printed without the very names of the perfons, I believe one might have applied them with certainty to every fpeaker. The power over our paffions was never poffeffed in a more eminent degree, or difplayed in fo different inftances. Yet all along, there is feen no labour, no pains to raise them; no preparation to guide our guefs to the effect, or be perceived to lead toward it: but the heart fwells, and the tears burit out, just at the proper places: we are furprized the moment we weep; and yet upon reflexion find the paffion fo juft, that we fhould be furprized if we had not wept, and wept at that very moment. How aftonishing is it again, that the paffions directly oppofite to thefe, laughter and fpleen, are no lefs at his command! that he is not more a master of the the great than of the ridiculous in human nature; of our nobleft tenderneffes, than of our vainest foibles; of our strongest emotions, than of our idleft fenfations! Nor does he only excel in the paffions: in the coolness of reflexion and reasoning he is full as admirable. His fentiments are not only in general the most pertinent and judicious upon every fubject; but by a talent very peculiar, fomething between penetration and felicity, he hits upon that particular point on which the bent of each argument turns, or the force of each motive depends. This is perfectly amazing, from a man of no education or experience in thofe great and publick scenes of life which are ufually the fubject of his thoughts: fo that he seems to have known the world by intuition, to have looked through human nature at one glance, and to be the only author that gives ground for a very new opinion, that the philofopher, and even the man of the world, may be born, as well as the poet. It must be owned, that with all thefe great excellencies, he has almost as great defects; and that as he has certainly written better, fo he has perhaps written worfe, than any other. But I think I can in fome measure account for thefe defects, from feveral caufes and accidents; without which it is hard to imagine that fo large and fo enlightened a mind could ever have been fufceptible of them. That all thefe contingencies fhould unite to his difadvantage feems to me almost as fingularly unlucky, as that fo many various (nay contrary) talents fhould meet in one man, was happy and extraordinary. It must be allowed that ftage-poetry, of all other, is more particularly levelled to please the populace, and its fuccefs more immediately depending upon the common fuffrage. One cannot therefore wonder, if Shakespeare, having at his firft appearance no other aim in his writings than to procure a fubfiftence, di[F 4] rected rected his endeavours folely to hit the tafte and hu mour that then prevailed. The audience was generally compofed of the meaner fort of people; and therefore the images of life were to be drawn from those of their own rank: accordingly we find, that not our author's only, but almoft all the old comedies have their scene among tradefmen and mechanicks: and even their historical plays ftrictly follow the common old ftories or vulgar traditions of that kind of people. In tragedy, nothing was fo fure to furprize and cause admiration, as the most strange, unexpected, and confequently most unnatural, events and incidents; the moft exaggerated thoughts; the most verbose and bombaft expreffion; the most pompous rhymes, and thundering verfification. In comedy, nothing was fo fure to please, as mean buffoonry, vile ribaldry, and unmannerly jefts of fools and clowns. Yet even in thefe our author's wit buoys up, and is borne above his fubject: his genius in thofe low parts is like fome prince of a romance in the disguise of a fhepherd or peafant; a certain greatness and spirit now and then break out, which manifeft his higher extraction and qualities. It may be added, that not only the common audience had no notion of the rules of writing, but few even of the better fort piqued themselves upon any great degree of knowledge or nicety that way; till Ben Jonfon getting poffeffion of the ftage, brought critical learning into vogue: and that this was not done without difficulty, may appear from those frequent leffons (and indeed almost declamations) which he was forced to prefix to his first plays, and put into the mouth of his actors, the grex, chorus, &c. to remove the prejudices, and inform the judgment of his hearers. Till then, our authors had no thoughts of writing on the model of the ancients: their tragedies were only hiftories in dialogue; and their co |