The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 13Dryden, John
General
The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 13
Dryden, John
Poetry
Thus, both Horace and Quintilian give a kind of primacy of honour to
Lucilius, amongst the Latin satirists.[21] For, as the Roman language
grew more refined, so much more capable it was of receiving the
Grecian beauties, in his time. Horace and Quintilian could mean no
more, than that Lucilius writ better than Ennius and Pacuvius; and on
the same account we prefer Horace to Lucilius. Both of them imitated
the old Greek comedy; and so did Ennius and Pacuvius before them. The
polishing of the Latin tongue, in the succession of times, made the
only difference; and Horace himself, in two of his Satires, written
purposely on this subject, thinks the Romans of his age were too
partial in their commendations of Lucilius; who writ not only loosely,
and muddily, with little art, and much less care, but also in a time
when the Latin tongue was not yet sufficiently purged from the dregs of
barbarism; and many significant and sounding words, which the Romans
wanted, were not admitted even in the times of Lucretius and Cicero, of
which both complain.
But to proceed:--Dacier justly taxes Casaubon, saying, that the Satires
of Lucilius were wholly different in specie, from those of Ennius
and Pacuvius. Casaubon was led into that mistake by Diomedes the
grammarian, who in effect says this: "Satire amongst the Romans, but
not amongst the Greeks, was a biting invective poem, made after the
model of the ancient comedy, for the reprehension of vices; such as
were the poems of Lucilius, of Horace, and of Persius. But in former
times, the name of Satire was given to poems, which were composed of
several sorts of verses, such as were made by Ennius and Pacuvius;
more fully expressing the etymology of the word satire, from _satura_,
which we have observed." Here it is manifest, that Diomedes makes a
specifical distinction betwixt the Satires of Ennius, and those of
Lucilius. But this, as we say in English, is only a distinction without
a difference; for the reason of it is ridiculous, and absolutely
false. This was that which cozened honest Casaubon, who, relying on
Diomedes, had not sufficiently examined the origin and nature of those
two satires; which were entirely the same, both in the matter and the
form: for all that Lucilius performed beyond his predecessors, Ennius
and Pacuvius, was only the adding of more politeness, and more salt,
without any change in the substance of the poem. And though Lucilius
put not together in the same satire several sorts of verses, as Ennius
did, yet he composed several satires, of several sorts of verses, and
mingled them with Greek verses: one poem consisted only of hexameters,
and another was entirely of iambicks; a third of trochaicks; as is
visible by the fragments yet remaining of his works. In short, if the
Satires of Lucilius are therefore said to be wholly different from
those of Ennius, because he added much more of beauty and polishing
to his own poems, than are to be found in those before him, it will
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