The plea
that otherwise the plot would have been ruined, is ridiculous; such
a plot should not in the first instance be constructed. But once the
irrational has been introduced and an air of likelihood imparted to
it, we must accept it in spite of the absurdity. Take even the
irrational incidents in the Odyssey, where Odysseus is left upon the
shore of Ithaca. How intolerable even these might have been would be
apparent if an inferior poet were to treat the subject. As it is,
the absurdity is veiled by the poetic charm with which the poet
invests it.
The diction should be elaborated in the pauses of the action,
where there is no expression of character or thought. For, conversely,
character and thought are merely obscured by a diction that is
over-brilliant
POETICS|25
XXV
With respect to critical difficulties and their solutions, the
number and nature of the sources from which they may be drawn may be
thus exhibited.
The poet being an imitator, like a painter or any other artist, must
of necessity imitate one of three objects- things as they were or are,
things as they are said or thought to be, or things as they ought to
be. The vehicle of expression is language- either current terms or, it
may be, rare words or metaphors. There are also many modifications
of language, which we concede to the poets. Add to this, that the
standard of correctness is not the same in poetry and politics, any
more than in poetry and any other art. Within the art of poetry itself
there are two kinds of faults- those which touch its essence, and
those which are accidental.
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