Poetics | Page 5

and of the agents mainly with a view to the
action.
Third in order is Thought,--that is, the faculty of saying what is
possible and pertinent in given circumstances. In the case of oratory,
this is the function of the Political art and of the art of rhetoric: and so
indeed the older poets make their characters speak the language of civic
life; the poets of our time, the language of the rhetoricians. Character is
that which reveals moral purpose, showing what kind of things a man
chooses or avoids. Speeches, therefore, which do not make this
manifest, or in which the speaker does not choose or avoid anything
whatever, are not expressive of character. Thought, on the other hand,
is found where something is proved to be. or not to be, or a general
maxim is enunciated.
Fourth among the elements enumerated comes Diction; by which I
mean, as has been already said, the expression of the meaning in words;
and its essence is the same both in verse and prose.
Of the remaining elements Song holds the chief place among the
embellishments.
The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all
the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of
poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart
from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular
effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of
the poet.

VII
These principles being established, let us now discuss the proper
structure of the Plot, since this is the first and most important thing in
Tragedy.

Now, according to our definition, Tragedy is an imitation of an action
that is complete, and whole, and of a certain magnitude; for there may
be a whole that is wanting in magnitude. A whole is that which has a
beginning, a middle, and an end. A beginning is that which does not
itself follow anything by causal necessity, but after which something
naturally is or comes to be. An end, on the contrary, is that which itself
naturally follows some other thing, either by necessity, or as a rule, but
has nothing following it. A middle is that which follows something as
some other thing follows it. A well constructed plot, therefore, must
neither begin nor end at haphazard, but conform to these principles.
Again, a beautiful object, whether it be a living organism or any whole
composed of parts, must not only have an orderly arrangement of parts,
but must also be of a certain magnitude; for beauty depends on
magnitude and order. Hence a very small animal organism cannot be
beautiful; for the view of it is confused, the object being seen in an
almost imperceptible moment of time. Nor, again, can one of vast size
be beautiful; for as the eye cannot take it all in at once, the unity and
sense of the whole is lost for the spectator; as for instance if there were
one a thousand miles long. As, therefore, in the case of animate bodies
and organisms a certain magnitude is necessary, and a magnitude which
may be easily embraced in one view; so in the plot, a certain length is
necessary, and a length which can be easily embraced by the memory.
The limit of length in relation to dramatic competition and sensuous
presentment, is no part of artistic theory. For had it been the rule for a
hundred tragedies to compete together, the performance would have
been regulated by the water-clock,--as indeed we are told was formerly
done. But the limit as fixed by the nature of the drama itself is this: the
greater the length, the more beautiful will the piece be by reason of its
size, provided that the whole be perspicuous. And to define the matter
roughly, we may say that the proper magnitude is comprised within
such limits, that the sequence of events, according to the law of
probability or necessity, will admit of a change from bad fortune to
good, or from good fortune to bad.

VIII

Unity of plot does not, as some persons think, consist in the Unity of
the hero. For infinitely various are the incidents in one man's life which
cannot be reduced to unity; and so, too, there are many actions of one
man out of which we cannot make one action. Hence, the error, as it
appears, of all poets who have composed a Heracleid, a Theseid, or
other poems of the kind. They imagine that as Heracles was one man,
the story of Heracles must also be a unity. But Homer, as in all else he
is of surpassing merit, here too--whether from art or natural
genius--seems to have happily discerned the