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A Full Enquiry into the Nature of the Pastoral (1717) by Thomas Purney
page 26 of 105 (24%)
Epick Poetry, is work'd up by violent Means, as Machines, and the like;
In Pastoral it must be produced so easy and natural, as to seem to
proceed from it self.

Nor must the Change of Fortune be produced by any sudden Contrast, as
in most Tragedies it is; since Surprize (unless very weak) is a Fault in
Pastoral, tho' a Beauty in other Poetry.

'Tis also evident that the Ills which a Shepherd falls into, from some
slight, and almost inevitable Slip (from which the Moral is form'd) must
be infinitely less than those which embarrass a Hero; because Ills must
be proportion'd to the Fault; and 'tis plain, the Faults of a Swain are
suppos'd to be very minute.

A hundred Observations, like this last, might be made, too
inconsiderable to enumerate; but the Poet, when he form's his Fable,
cannot avoid observing 'em. Otherwise, 'tis best he keep to the Simple
Fable; which, tho' a better may, by Industry, be form'd, is far enough
from being faulty.


SECT. 3.

_What Circumstances or Actions of a Shepherd's Life are properest for
the Poet to go upon_.

We cannot be pleas'd with the Description of any State, or Life, which
at that time we would not willingly exchange our present State for.
Nor is it possible to be pleas'd with any thing that is very low and
beggarly. Therefore, methinks, I would raise my Shepherd's Life to a
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