No More Learning

? ? ? , a maker, or a feigner: his art, an art of imitation or feigning;
expressing the life of man in fit measure, numbers, and harmony,
according to Aristotle; from the word ? ? ? ? ? ? , which signifies to make or
feign. Hence he is called a poet, not he which writeth in measure only,
but that feigneth and formeth a fable, and writes things like the truth.
For the fable and fiction is, as it were, the form and soul of any
poetical work or poem.



_What mean_, _you by a Poem_?


_Poema_. --A poem is not alone any work or composition of the poet's in
many or few verses; but even one verse alone sometimes makes a perfect
poem.
As when AEneas hangs up and consecrates the arms of Abas with this
inscription:--

"AEneas haec de Danais victoribus arma. " {136a}

And calls it a poem or carmen. Such are those in Martial:--

"Omnia, Castor, emis: sic fiet, ut omnia vendas. " {136b}

And--

"Pauper videri Cinna vult, et est pauper. " {136c}

_Horatius_. --_Lucretius_. --So were Horace's odes called Carmina, his lyric
songs. And Lucretius designs a whole book in his sixth:--

"Quod in primo quoque carmine claret. " {136d}

_Epicum_. --_Dramaticum_. --_Lyricum_. --_Elegiacum_. --_Epigrammat_. --And
anciently all the oracles were called Carmina; or whatever sentence was
expressed, were it much or little, it was called an Epic, Dramatic,
Lyric, Elegiac, or Epigrammatic poem.



_But how differs a Poem from what we call Poesy_?


_Poesis_.