Kitap 1
2.5
That eloquence is regarded as the wisdom of speech, Ulysses manifests throughout the whole poem, both in the Trial,The second book of the Iliad. the Petitions,The ninth book of the Iliad. and the Embassy.The deputation of Menelaus and Ulysses to demand back Helen, alluded to by Antenor, in the third book of the Iliad. Of him it is said by Antenor, But when he spake, forth from his breast did flow A torrent swift as winter’s feather’d snow.But when he did send forth the mighty voice from his breast, and words like unto wintry flakes of snow, no longer then would another mortal contend with Ulysses. Iliad iii. 221.Iliad iii. 221. Who can suppose that a poet capable of effectively introducing into his scenes rhetoricians, generals, and various other characters, each displaying some peculiar excellence, was nothing more than a droll or juggler, capable only of cheating or flattering his hearer, and not of instructing him.
2.5
Are we not all agreed that the chief merit of a poet consists in his accurate representation of the affairs of life? Can this be done by a mere driveller, unacquainted with the world?
2.5
The excellence of a poet is not to be measured by the same standard as that of a mechanic or a blacksmith, where honour and virtue have nothing to do with our estimate. But the poet and the individual are connected, and he only can become a good poet, who is in the first instance a worthy man.
