Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	esq_n	john_n	sir_n	7,834	5	9.8904	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42746	Miscellaneous letters and essays on several subjects philosophical, moral, historical, critical, amorous, &c., in prose and verse : directed to John Dryden, Esq., the Honourable Geo. Granvill, Esq., Walter Moile, Esq., Mr. Dennis, Mr. Congreve, and other eminent men of th' age / by several gentlemen and ladies.	Gildon, Charles, 1665-1724.; Moyle, Walter, 1672-1721.; Dryden, John, 1631-1700.	1694 (1694)	Wing G732; ESTC R14504	119,130	250

private Designs and Int'rests to the public Good But I have unawares faln into a Con●…emplation of your Virtu●…s which I dare not persue but as the Painter who after he had given to the several Figures of his Picture the various forms and expressions of Grief drew a V●…il over the Father's Face as unable to express his So Sir ought I having given a View of some part of your Merits to leave the rest to the Imagination of the Reader better inform'd by your known Reputation I have said enough to make all Men admire and love you that do not know you and it must be the Defect of my Abilities if they stop on this side the highest and most Awful Veneration However I have this Comfort that I have rais'd the first Pyramid tho' a very poor o●… to your desert to which greater Artists will in time build up more Glorious Monuments when you shall declare your self the Patron of the Poetic Glory of England as you have been of her Int'rest And these Hopes makes me presume to Dedicate not only this small Book to you but also my self and all the Endeavours of Sir Your most Humble And most Obedient Servant CHARLES GILDON THE PREFACE THere is no Man I think doubts but that 't is Variety that composes the Regale of the Mind as well as that of the Body which has made me have a regard to that in the following Book for I have intermixt things Historical Moral Amorous and Gallant with the rougher Critical Discourses Some will gratifie the Fancy others the Judgment or at least I design'd they shou●…d I shall not say much for that part of the Book which is none of mine because that need no Defence and I cannot urge much for the other if the Reasons it contains be insufficient for its Justification In the hurry of writing I forgot one very good Defence of a Passage in the Othello of Shakespear which Mr. Rymer has loudly exclaim'd against and which a very good Friend of mine advis'd me to insert in the Preface 't is this Awake what hoa Brabantio c. An old black Ram is tupping your white Ewe c. Mr. Rymer will have it that a rap at the Door wou'd better express Jago 's Meaning than all that noise but if Mr. Rymer wou'd consult the Reason of the thing he 'll find that the noise Roderigo and Jago made contributed very much to their design of surprizing and alarming Brabantio by that to transport him from Consideration to a violent Passion I am sorry that a Man of Mr. Rymer 's Learning shou'd be so bigotted to the Antients as to become an Enemy to the Honor of his own Country in that thing which is perhaps the only we can truly pretend to excel all others in viz. Poetry Courage Virtue and Wisdom Greece and ROME will never be out-Rival'd in but I am apt to think they have both been out-done in Poetry by the English and tho' the latter once subdu'd this Island yet were she now in all her Glory with all the Encouragements she gave her Poets she wou'd confess her self conquer'd in Poetry For notwithstanding all those Encouragements Poets met with there and the want of 'em here in England we have the Honor to have more and better Poets than ever Greece or Rome saw So that Poetry like a Tree Transplanted to a foreign Clime grew not with all their Care and Cultivation so kindly as here without any Poetry being therefore our Native Right I hope the moderate Reader will excuse the Heat I sometimes run into in the Defence of it I hope too the Graver Gentlemen the Precisians will not be scandaliz'd at my Zeal for the Promotion of Poetry because the Reason of it is that 't is observable from History that the Decay and Neglect of that always was a fatal Symptom of the Loss of Antient Virtue Power and Glory A COLLECTION OF Miscellaneous Essays and Letters To JOHN DRYDEN Esq May the 1●…th 16●… I Hope Sir you 'l not measure my Love and Value for you by the Visits I make you for then you wou'd extreamly inj●…e me for I ●…nnot be so impudent with a Man I h●… an aweful Esteem for as to int●…de too often into his Company for I 'm sensible I can in no measure attone for the loss of that time my Visits wou'd ●…ob from your better Thoughts and I rather satisf●… my s●…lf with the expression of my Ze●…l and Love in absence than at the expence of my ●…iend grati●…e my ow●…e of his ●…quent Company But yet I confess this lo●… default of my Duty can be excus'd by nothing but the unavoidable 〈◊〉 about my Concerns in the Country which has divorc'd me as long from Wh●… I value next you my Books Mistake me not Sir I mean not my Scribling which I 'm far enough from valuing and only comply with by the compelling Obligation that taught the Parrot suum XAIPE Nay I have so l●…le of an Author that I have not Arrogance and want all Self Esteem which some ev'n as dull as my self abound with beyond bea●…ing and which is indeed like a Wise tho' an Evil yet such a one that is necessary For a Di●…idence of one'●… 〈◊〉 in Writing as well as in Addresses to the 〈◊〉 and the G●…at is seldom any advantage to a Man at least in this Age where the highest Impudence Pa●… 〈◊〉 a handsom Assurance and N●… and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for W●… and Rep●… 〈◊〉 dispi●… a Ma●… and a●… he can't please himself with wh●… he Writes so he very hardly can ●…ise to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●…y that are not duller But when I was 〈◊〉 to this C●…se of Scribling I 〈◊〉 my self with a●… much of a Sto●… as I cou'd to 〈◊〉 my self against publick Censure and in my own de●…ence soon believ'd Reputation but a Whim since the Worst had their Admirers as well as the ●…est at least in our Age nor cou'd I perswade my self that the next wou'd be one 〈◊〉 better in 〈◊〉 Judgment And to say truth there is nothing cou'd make me have any tolerable Opinion of my self but the Love and Esteem I have for you whom 〈◊〉 me leave to contradict my self and shew such Arrogance I do pretend to value as much as any Man can and I defie my greatest ●…nemies to do me Justice and contradict me by any word or discourse ev'n where I had a Moral Certainty you cou'd never hear of it again This Sir I urge as a Praise of my self for next to being a good Poet is to know how to value one the first has given Immortality the latter when in a Man of Quality gain'd it But lest the length of my Letter shou'd do what I apprehend from my Visits I 'll Subscribe my self Your Friend and humble Servant Charles Gildon To his Ingenious Friend Mr. George Isaacson in de●…ence of Personal Reflections 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ●…th 16●… YOU tell me you ha●… read 〈◊〉 Book and are extreamly 〈◊〉

Representation of the Pains and Thoughts attending the Passion of Love for sure the Advantage of Art in Poems cannot destroy the End which is not to be obtain'd in Painting without it viz. a lively Representation of Nature Similes ●…ne Thoughts and shining Points if they be just and good must certainly give a greater Idea of any Pain than a bare and unpolished Rhime without Beauty or Grace This gives us a weak a faint an unmoving Vi●…w of the Pain That sets it close to us magnifies and enlarges it This gives it you as the reverse end of a Prospective Glass does Objects That as the right end of it so that if a Representation of our Pain be the Path to Success Art will be no ill Help and guide in it unless we 'll suppose that our Mistress would be more sensibly touched with a Grubstreet Ballad than a Copy of Verses by a Cowley or a Waller But indeed the Pain a Lover feels cannot be truely and with Life represented without Similes as is evident from the very Nature of the Mind when in ●…ain For 't is an universal Measure of our Judgment of things to compare them with something else and the Mind in expressing its Pains endeavours to make it known in its full Greatness to give therefore the greater Image of it it generally seeks out something by a Comparison of which it hopes to obtain that End Comparison being the only Distinction of Degrees of things This makes it narrowly in these Circumstances regard and observe that Train of Ideas that continually pass before it to call out such as are most proper for its purpose For 't is evident as Mr. Lock remarks to any one that will but observe what passes in his own Mind that there is a Train of Ideas constantly succeeding one another in his Understanding as long as he 's awake An Assertion therefore of an Ingenious Friend of mine to the Prejudice of the Moderns against Similes in the Expression of the Passions of Love and Grief is contrary to the very Nature of the Mind For let any Man endeavour to retain any particular Idea firmly and without Alteration he will sind it not in his Power to do it any considerable time such a necessary Succession and Variation of Ideas the Origin of Similes is there in the human Mind But because 't is said that 't is the nature of Grief to confine the Soul straiten the Imagination and extremely lessen the Number of its Objects I shall only oppose the Assertion of this Gentleman whom I have always allow'd a Man of great Wit and Sense with an Observation of Mr. Le Clerk whom I 'm sure no Man that knows his Works will deny to be one of the best Philosophers of the Age in the 6th Chapter of his Ontologie and the 4th Paragraph he has to this purpose This being so we observe that the time seems short to those who spend it in Mirth or any Employment they perform with Pleasure and Desire but on the contrary Tedious and Irksome to the Unfortunate and those that are in Pain or to those that are against their Wills oblig'd to some troublesome Business For we keep the Idea that is Gratefull and Pleasant to us as long without Variation as we are able and thus by the viewing of the fewer Ideas the time we spend in Pleasure and Content seems the shorter whilst on the contrary our Minds endeavour to drive away a troublesome Idea and strive to substitute some others in its room Turning Winding Changing Adding and Diminishing it as the uncasie inquietude Prompts Thus the time seems longer than it wou'd do else by that vast and numerous Train of Ideas which as I may say shew themselves en passant to the Mind with an incredible Rapidity and Swiftness From this just and rational Observation of Mr. Le Clerk 't is evident That Similes are not so unnatural in expression of Grief or Pain as some Ingenious Gentlemen contend For the Mind especially that which is us'd to an Expression of its self in Allegory and Similes will easily in this Number of Ideas meet with some that will answer the End the Mind is born to with so much Impatience and Desire For 't is here also evident That Grief multiplies nor lessens the Number of the Objects of the Mind From what has been said 't will appear That Similes cannot be an unnatural Expression of this Passion or any Effects of it I shall therefore proceed to those few particular Instances the Author of the Preface gives by which he draws a short Parallel betwixt the Ancients and the Moderns I am pleas'd says he with Tibullus when he says he cou'd live in a Desart with his Mistress where never any Humane Foot-steps appear'd because I doubt not but he really thinks what he says But I confess I can hardly forbear Laughing when Petrarch tells us he cou'd live without any other Sust●…nance than his Mistresses Looks I confess I must ev'n here dissent from him too for if you go to the Rigor or Severity of the Reason of both Expressions they are equally impossible and in Impossibilities as well as Infinites there are no Degrees For I can see no greater Probability of Living in a Desart where there were no Humane Foot-steps than on the Looks of a Mistress only unless like 〈◊〉 he wou'd feed on the Leaves of the Trees and Grass of the Ground if there were any which is not very kind to hope his Mistress wou'd comply with But supposing it impossible is there any Necessity of a Lovers saying nothing that exceeds the Bounds of Possibility especially in Poetry where Hyperbole's are justifiable almost to Extravagance That certainly wou'd be most unnatural of all for the Thoughts of a Man really in Love are naturally Extravagant ev'n to Impossibilities tho poss●… quia posse videntur The very Definition of this Passion in Ethics shews it violent and exorbitant But we may in favour of Petrarch and Mr. Cowley who make use of the same Thought say that they mean the Dyet of their Love is a Look of their Mistress I must confess I 'm extremely surpriz'd to find your Ingenious Friend an Advocate for that which wou'd make all the Sir Courtly's Compositions of the Nation the Standard of good Verses when he himself is really so well qualify'd to write like Cowley and Waller and has by his own Practice in those Verses that are Publish'd better confuted his Preface than all I can pretend to say To my Honoured and Ingenious Friend Mr. Harrington for the Modern Poets against the Ancients AS the Justice and Generosity of your Principle the sweet Agreeableness of your Humor the Vivacity of your Wit and the strength and force of your Judgment and Penetration justly endear you to all your Acquaintance so they qualify you for a Judge of the present Controversie betwixt the Moderns and the Ancients for the Prize of Glory in Learning and Poetry Monsieur Perault whom

I have not yet had the Opportunity to Read has given it to the Moderns Rapin to the Ancients Mr. Rymer has with abundance of Indignation appear'd on Rapin's side I cannot determine whether Mr. Perault has been too partial to his own Country-men an Error on the right side but I 'm sure Mr Rymer has been extremely injurious to his which has made me perhaps too angry with him in my former Discourses But I assure my self that you are too good an Englishman to let Friendship to any Man bribe you to condemn those rough Effects of my Zeal for the English Nation I will be more just than my Adversary I will yield that Greece had Great Poets notwithstanding all those monstrous Faults and Absurdities they abound with tho he will not allow the English any Honour because they have been guilty of Errors Nay I 'll say more that the Poetry of Greece was her most valuable Learning for that still maintains its Share of Glory and Esteem whilst her Philosophy is now exploded by the Universal Reason of Mankind Homer Pindar Sophocles and Euripides will as long as they are understood preserve their Characters of Excellent Poets tho the Stagyrite with all his Volumes is now shrunk from his Ostentatious Title of the Philosopher to that of a good Critic or Grammarian Tho I grant the Gracians this yet I cannot subscribe to the rest of the Hyperbolicall raises some of our Modern Critics give them For I confess I can discover no such Universal Genius in Homer as they contend for as that all Arts and Siences may be learn't from him Virgil seems to me more generally Learned by far and Mr. Cowley among our English Poets may without Partiality be put up for his Rival in the Glory of Learning As for the Numbers of Homer Rapin vastly extols their Variety and yet confesses that to be the Property of the Greek Language which makes it the easier Task for Homer to perform and by consequence lessens his Merit on that Account But it cannot be deny'd that Virgil has as much Variety in this as the Roman Language wou'd allow and as was necessary for the Beauty of his Poem and they are in his Descriptions especially so well chosen that they extremely contribute to the Image of the thing describ'd as Gemitus dedere Caverna praruptus aqu●… Mons. The sound of the first makes u●… as it were hear the hollow noise the Spear of Lyacoon made in the Trojan Horse the other Places in our View such a watry Mountain Among our English Poets none can compare with Mr. Dryden for Numbers His Descriptions are all very perfect in all things but his Numbers contribute not a little to the force and life of the Representation for they carry something in them distinct from the Expression and Thought as in his Description of Night What an Image of a profound Stillness does this following Verse set before us The Mountains seem to Nod their drousie Heads I have not room nor leisure at this time to make a thorough parallel betwixt the Ancients and the Moderns and shall only cursorily runover the Heads I have touch'd the Universality of Genius and the variety of Numbers this last being the Prerogative of the Language more than of the Poets Judgment I think is apparently the due of the Moderns who I 'm confident wou'd ne'er have been guilty of those Absurdities the Ancients abound with Thuy seem to have been Masters of but little Reason when they made their Gods such limited and criminal Beings-Homer often digresses from the Hero that is the Subject of his Poem to entertain us with other Objects too remote from Achilles You may Sir easily perceive that I press not so hard as I might on the Ancients that I omit abundance of Improprieties and Absurdities ridiculous even to Childishness because I wou'd not be thought to rob the Fathers of Poetry of their just Value and Esteem tho I confess I am of Mr. St. Euremont's Opinion that no Name can Privilege Nonsense or ill Conduct The Enemies of the Moderns will not deal so Civilly with them They deny them to be Poets because they have not strictly observed the Rules laid down by Aristotle but by that they discover themselves either ignorant or negligent of the most chief and important end of Poetry that is Pleasure Now it cannot be deny'd but he is the best Poet who takes the surest means to obtain the end he aims at in which regard must be had to tho Humour Custom and Inclination of the Auditory but an English Audience will never be pleas'd with a dry Jejune and formal Method that excludes Variety as the Religious observation of the Rules of Aristotle does And all those that exclaim against the ty some of our English Poets have taken must grant that a Variety that contributes to the main Design cannot divide our Concern And if so 't is certainly an Excellence the Moderns have gain'd above the Ancients This wou'd appear plainer if I had room and time to instance in Particulars The Plays Mr. Dryden has bless'd tho Age with will prove this which if compar'd as I hereafter intend with those of Sophocles and Euripides either for the Plot Thought or Expression will gain him the Poets Garland from those two Hero's of Old Greece The Plagiarism objected to our Poets is common to the Ancients too for Virgil took from Homer Theocritus and ev'n Ennius and we are assur'd Homer himself built upon some Predecessors And tho' their thoughts may be something a-kin yet they alter their Dress and in all other things we are satisfied with the variety of the outward visible Form tho' the intrinsic value be the same as Mr. Congreve's Song has it Nothing new besides their Faces e'ry Woman is the same In all things as well as Women the meer Variety of Appearance whets our Desire and Curiosity I am SIR Your Humble Servant Charles Gildon TO THE HONOURABLE GEORGE GRANVIL Esq An Essay at a parallel betwixt Philosophy and the Love of Women THo' I confess Horace has generally a very just Apprehension of Things yet can I never agree with him in his notions of Happiness Lib. 1. Epist. 6. Nil admirari prope res est ●…a Numici Solaque qu●… possit facere 〈◊〉 Beatum for 't is certain that Happiness consists in Pleasure but there can be no Pleasure without a Gentle and agreeable Emotion of the Passion of Admiration the Ground of Love and Joy out of which all Pleasure is compos'd As an instance of this Truth it must be granted that as Uirtue is the chief Basis of Humane Happiness so 't will never be embrac'd by any Man that does not admire and esteem its Excellence And in the same manner the other parts of Philosophy lead us to Pleasure by Admiration For what pleasure is there in Physics which proceed not from that agreable Wonder given us by the strange and surprizing Variety and force