Art of Poetry an Epistle to the Pisos

Project Gutenberg's The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The Pisos, by
Horace
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: The Art Of Poetry An Epistle To The Pisos
Q. Horatii Flacci Epistola Ad Pisones, De Arte Poetica.
Author: Horace
Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9175]
[Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule]
[This file was first posted on September
11, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: Latin, French and English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
0. START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF
POETRY ***
Produced by Distributed Proofreaders
Q. HORATII FLACCI Epistola ad PISONES,
DE ARTE POETICA.
THE ART OF POETRY AN EPISTLE TO THE PISOS.
TRANSLATED FROM HORACE
WITH NOTES BY GEORGE COLMAN.
[Transcriber's Note: Several ineligible words were found in several
languages throughout the text, these are marked with an asterisk.]
London: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand
MDCCLXXXIII TO
The Rev. JOSEPH WARTQN, D.D. MASTER of WINCHESTER
SCHOOL; AND TO The Rev. THOMAS WARTON, B.D. FELLOW
of TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD.
MY DEAR FRIENDS!
In a conversation, some months ago, I happened to mention to you the
idea I had long entertained of that celebrated Epistle of Horace,
commonly distinguished by the title of THE ART OF POETRY. I will
not say that you acceded to my opinion; but I flattered myself that I at
least interested your curiosity, and engaged your attention: our
discourse, however, revived an intention I had once formed, of
communicating my thoughts on the subject to the Publick; an intention
I had only dropt for want of leisure and inclination to attempt a
translation of the Epistle, which I thought necessary to accompany the
original, and my remarks on it. In the original, Horace assumes the air

and stile of an affectionate teacher, admonishing and instructing his
young friends and pupils: but the following translation, together with
the observations annexed, I address to You as my Masters, from whom
I look for sound information, a well-grounded confirmation of my
hypothesis, or a solution of my doubts, and a correction of my errors.
It is almost needless to observe, that the Epistle in question has very
particularly exercised the critical sagacity of the literary world; yet it is
remarkable that, amidst the great variety of comments and decisions on
the work, it has been almost universally considered, except by one
acute and learned writer of this country, as a loose, vague, and
desultory composition; a mass of shining materials; like pearls unstrung,
valuable indeed, but not displayed to advantage.
Some have contended, with Scaliger at their head, that this pretended
Art of Poetry is totally void of art; and that the very work, in which the
beauty and excellence of Order (ordinis virtus et Venus!) is strongly
recommended, is in itself unconnected, confused, and immethodical.
The advocates for the writer have in great measure confessed the
charge, but pleaded in excuse and vindication, the familiarity of an
epistle, and even the genius of Poetry, in which the formal divisions of
a prosaick treatise on the art would have been insupportable. They have
also denied that Horace ever intended such a treatise, or that he ever
gave to this Epistle the title of _the Art of Poetry_; on which title the
attacks of Scaliger, and his followers, are chiefly grounded. The title,
however, is confessedly as old as the age of Quintilian; and that the
work itself has a perpetual reference to Poets and Poetry, is as evident,
as that it is, from beginning to end, in its manner, stile, address, and
form, perfectly Epistolary.
The learned and ingenious Critick distinguished above, an early
ornament to letters, and now a worthy dignitary of the church, leaving
vain comments, and idle disputes on the title of the work, sagaciously
directed his researches to scrutinize the work itself; properly
endeavouring to trace and investigate from the composition the end and
design of the writer, and remembering the axiom of the Poet, to whom
his friend had been appointed the