Poetry in general seems to have sprung from two causes, each of them

lying deep in our nature. First, the instinct of imitation is

implanted in man from childhood, one difference between him and

other animals being that he is the most imitative of living creatures,

and through imitation learns his earliest lessons; and no less

universal is the pleasure felt in things imitated. We have evidence of

this in the facts of experience. Objects which in themselves we view

with pain, we delight to contemplate when reproduced with minute

fidelity: such as the forms of the most ignoble animals and of dead

bodies. The cause of this again is, that to learn gives the

liveliest pleasure, not only to philosophers but to men in general;

whose capacity, however, of learning is more limited. Thus the

reason why men enjoy seeing a likeness is, that in contemplating it

they find themselves learning or inferring, and saying perhaps, 'Ah,

that is he.' For if you happen not to have seen the original, the

pleasure will be due not to the imitation as such, but to the

execution, the coloring, or some such other cause.

Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature. Next, there is the

instinct for 'harmony' and rhythm, meters being manifestly sections of

rhythm. Persons, therefore, starting with this natural gift

developed by degrees their special aptitudes, till their rude

improvisations gave birth to Poetry.

Poetry now diverged in two directions, according to the individual

character of the writers. The graver spirits imitated noble actions,

and the actions of good men. The more trivial sort imitated the

actions of meaner persons, at first composing satires, as the former

did hymns to the gods and the praises of famous men. A poem of the

satirical kind cannot indeed be put down to any author earlier than

Homer; though many such writers probably there were. But from Homer

onward, instances can be cited- his own Margites, for example, and

other similar compositions. The appropriate meter was also here

introduced; hence the measure is still called the iambic or lampooning

measure, being that in which people lampooned one another. Thus the

older poets were distinguished as writers of heroic or of lampooning

verse.

As, in the serious style, Homer is pre-eminent among poets, for he

alone combined dramatic form with excellence of imitation so he too

first laid down the main lines of comedy, by dramatizing the ludicrous

instead of writing personal satire. His Margites bears the same

relation to comedy that the Iliad and Odyssey do to tragedy. But

when Tragedy and Comedy came to light, the two classes of poets

still followed their natural bent: the lampooners became writers of

Comedy, and the Epic poets were succeeded by Tragedians, since the

drama was a larger and higher form of art.

Whether Tragedy has as yet perfected its proper types or not; and

whether it is to be judged in itself, or in relation also to the

audience- this raises another question. Be that as it may, Tragedy- as

also Comedy- was at first mere improvisation. The one originated

with the authors of the Dithyramb, the other with those of the phallic

songs, which are still in use in many of our cities. Tragedy

advanced by slow degrees; each new element that showed itself was in

turn developed. Having passed through many changes, it found its

natural form, and there it stopped.

Aeschylus first introduced a second actor; he diminished the

importance of the Chorus, and assigned the leading part to the

dialogue. Sophocles raised the number of actors to three, and added

scene-painting. Moreover, it was not till late that the short plot was

discarded for one of greater compass, and the grotesque diction of the

earlier satyric form for the stately manner of Tragedy. The iambic

measure then replaced the trochaic tetrameter, which was originally

employed when the poetry was of the satyric order, and had greater

with dancing. Once dialogue had come in, Nature herself discovered the

appropriate measure. For the iambic is, of all measures, the most

colloquial we see it in the fact that conversational speech runs

into iambic lines more frequently than into any other kind of verse;

rarely into hexameters, and only when we drop the colloquial

intonation. The additions to the number of 'episodes' or acts, and the

other accessories of which tradition tells, must be taken as already

described; for to discuss them in detail would, doubtless, be a

large undertaking.

诗一般的似乎是异军突起，从两项原因，他们每个人

躺在深藏于我们的本性。首先，本能的模仿是

植入人从童年，其中的区别，他和

其他动物正说，他是最模仿的众生，

并通过模仿，学会了他的最早的教训;没有少

普遍的是感到高兴的事情，在模仿。我们有证据

这在事实的经验。物体在自己的人，我们的看法

与疼痛，我们高兴沉思时，复制与分钟

富达：如表格的最卑鄙动物及死亡

机构。造成这起再次是，学习赋予

生动高兴，这不仅是为了哲学家，但男人普遍;

他们的能力，但是，学习的是更为有限。因此，

为何男性享有看见似的是，在考虑它

他们发现自己学习或推理，并说，也许， '啊，

这就是他' ，因为如果你是不是看到原来，

游乐场将因不仿这样，但对

执行，着色，或者一些其他原因。

仿制，那么，是一个本能的，我们的性质。其次是

本能'和谐'和节奏，仪表正在明显章节

节奏。人，因此，从这个自然馈赠

研制度其特殊的性向，直到他们的粗鲁

即兴生下诗。

诗歌，现在有分歧的两个方向，根据个人

性格的作家。该格拉弗烈酒模仿高尚的行动，

和行动的好男人。越是琐碎排序模仿

行动meaner人，在第一次排版讽刺，因为前者

没有呗，以神和歌颂著名的男性。一首诗的

讽刺的一种不能确实放下任何作者早

荷马虽然很多这样的作家，也许有。但是，从荷马

以后，事例可以举出-他自己的margites ，举例来说，

其他类似的成分。适当的米还这里

介绍了，因此，这项措施仍称为iambic或lampooning

措施，被认为是人们乔布斯对方。因此，

老诗人被尊敬，作为作家的英雄或lampooning

韵文。

因为，在严重的作风，荷马是前著名诗人当中，因为他

单相结合戏剧形式与卓越的仿制，所以他太

首先提出了主要线路的喜剧中，扮演了可笑

而不是写个人的讽刺。他margites负有相同

有关喜剧伊利亚特和奥德赛做的，以悲剧收场。但

当悲剧与喜剧被揭发后，这两个班的诗人

仍然遵循其自然弯曲： lampooners成为作家

喜剧，史诗诗人接替tragedians ，自

话剧是一个更大更高的艺术形式。

是否悲剧尚未完善，其适当类型或没有;

无论是判断本身，或与之相关的，也向

观众这就提出了另外一个问题。可尽管如此，悲剧-作为

也是喜剧-是在第一次仅仅是即兴创作。 1起源

与作者的dithyramb外，其他人士与该阳

歌曲，目前仍在使用中，在我们的许多城市。悲剧

先进的慢度;每一个新的因素，表明本身是在

反过来发达。经通过了许多变化，但发现其

自然的形式出现，并有停下。

埃斯库罗斯首先介绍了第二男主角，他削弱

重要的是合唱团，并指派领导的一部分，以

对话。 sophocles提出的行动者的数目至3名，并补充说：

现场手绘。此外，它不是到很晚的时候才得知短阴谋

抛弃其中一个更大的指南针，以及怪诞文辞的

早些时候satyric形式，为庄严地的悲剧。该iambic

措施则取代了trochaic tetrameter ，原本

受雇当诗歌当时的satyric秩序，并有较大

与舞蹈。对话一旦而来的，自然自己发现

适当的措施。为iambic是，在所有的措施中，最

口语化，我们看到它在事实会话讲话违反了

到iambic线更加频繁，比任何其他种类的诗句;

很少到hexameters ，只有当我们放弃口语

语调。添加到多少'情节'或行为，并

其他配件，其中传统告诉，必须采取如前所述

描述;讨论这些问题，详细会，无疑是一个

大事业。