Next the Fable of Epics, the Poem is to be considered; which, after Bossu,
is the other part of its general Nature, and shews the manner of handling
it, comprehending Thoughts, Expressions and Verses; of which there need
not much be said, since they are obvious to every Reader. The Thoughts
must be clear and just, and noble, and the Diction or Expression suited to
them. The chief Difficulty, as Rapin observes, is to keep up the Sublime,
which Virgil has done admirably, even in the meanest Subjects; and which
Aristotle thinks may be best done by the judicious use of Metaphors. There
ought to meet, according to him, Proportion in the Design, Justness in the
Thoughts, and Exactness in the Expression, to constitute an accomplish'd
Heroic Poem; and the great Art of Thought and Expression lies in this,
that they be natural and proper without Meanness, and sublime without a
vitious Swelling and Affectation.

The Matter is next in an Heroic Poem, which must be one important Action;
it must be important, Res gestæ Regumque Ducumque, with Horace. "It only
speaks of Kings and Princes," says Rapin, by which he must mean that it
chiefly and principally turns upon them: for both Virgil and Homer have
occasion for Traitors, and Cryers, and Beggars, nay even Swineherds (in
the Odysses), and yet still more, of whole Armies, which can't be all
compos'd of Kings and Princes. However, the more there is of these lower
Walks in the Plan of a Design, the less Heroic it must appear, even in the
Hands of the greatest Genius in Nature. Such a Genius, I think, was
Homer's, and yet the Truth of this Assertion will be plain to any who
compares his Odysses with his Iliads; where he'll find, if 'tis not for
want of Judgment, in the latter a very different Air from the former, in
many places much more dead and languishing, and this which I have given,
seems one probable Reason on't; not excluding that of Longinus, that Homer
was then grown old, and besides too much of the Work was spent in
Narration; to which may be added, that he here design'd a wise and prudent