Surprising touches and "a just method well-designed, / May leave a strong impression in the mind"
— Dryden, John (1631-1700) [Poem ascribed to]
Work Title
Date
1683
Metaphor
Surprising touches and "a just method well-designed, / May leave a strong impression in the mind"
Metaphor in Context
The theatre for a young poet's rhymes
Is a bold venture in our knowing times:
An author cannot easily purchase fame;
Critics are always apt to hiss, and blame:
You may be judged by every ass in town,
The privilege is bought for half-a-crown.
To please, you must a hundred changes try;
Sometimes be humble, then must soar on high;
In noble thoughts must everywhere abound,
Be easy, pleasant, solid, and profound;
To these you must surprising touches join,
And show us a new wonder in each line;
That all, in a just method well-designed,
May leave a strong impression in the mind.
These are the arts that tragedy maintain:
Is a bold venture in our knowing times:
An author cannot easily purchase fame;
Critics are always apt to hiss, and blame:
You may be judged by every ass in town,
The privilege is bought for half-a-crown.
To please, you must a hundred changes try;
Sometimes be humble, then must soar on high;
In noble thoughts must everywhere abound,
Be easy, pleasant, solid, and profound;
To these you must surprising touches join,
And show us a new wonder in each line;
That all, in a just method well-designed,
May leave a strong impression in the mind.
These are the arts that tragedy maintain:
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
A translation from the French Boileau, the bulk of the translation was Englished by Sir William Soame. Dryden helped to revise it; he and Soame are both generally credited with the translation.
See John Dryden, The Poetical Works of John Dryden. Ed. George R. Noyes. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1909).
See John Dryden, The Poetical Works of John Dryden. Ed. George R. Noyes. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1909).
Date of Entry
05/12/2005
