a circumstance sufficient of itself alone to overwhelm and extinguish all enthusiasm, and produce endless tautologies and circumlocutions. Are not these suppositions strengthened by what Dr. Warburton has informed us, namely, that POPE, in this poem, intended to have treated amply "Of ALL that regarded civil regimen, or the science of politics; that the several forms of a republic were here to be examined and explained; together with the several modes of religious worship, as far forth as they affect society;" than which, surely, there could not have been a more improper subject for an epic poem. It is not impertinent to observe, for the sake of those who are fond of the history of literature, and of the human mind in the progress of it, that the very first poem that appeared in France, any thing like an epic poem, was on this identical subject, of Brutus arriving in England. It was written by Master EUSTACHE, SO early as in the reign of Louis the Seventh, surnamed the Young, who ascended the throne in the year 1137, and who was the husband of the celebrated Eleonora, T 3 * Vol. III. Eleonora, afterwards divorced, and married to our Henry the Second. The author called it, Le ROMAN de Brut. Every piece of poetry was at that time denominated a romance. The Latin language ceased to be regularly spoken in France about the ninth century; and was succeeded by what was called the Romance-tongue, a mixture of the language of the Francs, and of bad Latin. The species of writing, called Romans, began in the tenth century, according to the opinion of the Benedictine fathers,* who have well refuted M. Fleuri and Calmet, who make it less ancient by two hundred years. The poem, or Roman, we are speaking of, is full of wonderful and improbable tales, and supernatural adventures, suited to the taste of so barbarous an age. It is matter of some curiosity, to see a specimen of the style of this eldest of the French poets. This is his exordium: Qui veut ouir, qui veut scavoir, * Hist. Lit. T. 6, 7. We We may judge, from this passage, of the state of the language. Master Eustache has been particularly careful to mark the time in which he lived and wrote, by his two concluding lines : L'an mil cent cinquante-cinq ans Fit Maistre Eustache ces Romans. I will take leave to add, that the second poem, now remaining, in the French language, was 2 entitled, The Romance of Alexander the Great. It was the confederated work of four authors, famous in their time. Lambert le Court, and Alexander of Paris, sung the exploits of Alexander; Peter de Saint Clost, wrote his will in verse; the writing the will of a hero being then a common topic; and John le Nivelois added a book concerning the manner in which his death was revenged. It is remarkable, that before this time, all the Romans had been composed in verses of eight syllables; but in this piece, the four authors first used verses of TWELVE syllables, as more solemn and majestic. And this was the origin, though but little known, of those verses T4 which which we now call ALEXANDRINES, the French heroic measure; the name being derived from Alexander, the hero of the piece, or from Alexander, the most celebrated of the four poets concerned in this work. These were the most Fauchet highly applauded poets of that age. commends this poem; particularly a passage where a Cavalier is struck to the ground with a lance, who, says the old bard, Du long comme il etoit, mesura la campagne. Which is not inferior to Virgil's Hesperiam metire jacens. One would not imagine this line had been written so early as the middle of the twelfth century. A great and truly learned antiquary has remarked, for the honour of our country, that about this time, 1160, appeared the first traces of any theatre. "A monk called Geoffry, who was afterwards abbot of St. Alban's in England, employed in the education of youth, made his pupils pupils represent, with proper scenes and dresses, tragedies of piety. The subject of the first dramatic piece, was the miracles of saint Catharine, which appeared long before any of our representations of the MYSTERIES.* SECTION The president Henault, Histoire de France. Tom. I. p. 151. a Paris 1749. |