1.11. Of poemes and their sundry formes and how thereby the auncient Poets receaued surnames.
As the matter of Poesie is diuers, so was the forme of their poemes &
maner of writing, for all of them wrote not in one sort, euen as all of them
wrote not vpon one matter. Neither was euery Poet alike cunning in all as in
some one kinde of Poesie, nor vttered with like felicitie. But wherein any
one most excelled, thereof he tooke a surname, as to be called a Poet
Heroick, Lyrick, Elegiack, Epigramatist or otherwise. Such therefore
as gaue them selues to write long histories of the noble gests of kings
& great Princes entermedling the dealings of the gods, halfe gods or
Heroes of the gentiles, & the great & waighty consequences
of peace and warre, they called Poets Heroick, whereof Homer
was chief and most auncient among the Greeks, Virgill among the
Latines:
Others who more delighted to write songs or ballads of pleasure, to be song
with the voice, and to the harpe, lute, or citheron & such other musical,
instruments, they were called melodious Poets [
melici] or by a more
common name
Lirique Poets, of which sort was
Pindarus,
Anacreon and
Callimachus with others among the Greeks:
Horace and
Catullus among the Latines. There were an other
sort, who sought the fauor of faire Ladies, and deuoted to bemone their
estates at large, & the perplexities of loue in a certain pitious verse
called
Elegie, and thence were called
Eligiack: such among the
Latines were
Ouid, Tibullus, & Propertius. There were also Poets
that wrote onely for the stage, I means playes and interludes, to recreate
the people with matters of disporte, and to that intent did set forth in
shewes & pageants, accompanied with speach the common behauiours
and maner of life of priuate persons, and such as were the meaner sort of
men, and they were called
Comicall Poets, of whom among the
Greekes
Menander and
Aristophanes were most excellent, with
the Latines
Terence and
Plautus. Besides those Poets
Comick there were other who serued also the stage, but medled not
with so base matters: For they set forth the dolefull falles of infortunate
& afflicted Princes, & were called Poets
Tragicall. Such
were
Euripides and
Sophocles with the Greeks,
Seneca
among the Latines. There were yet others who mounted nothing so high as
any of them both, but in base and humble stile by maner of Dialogue, vttered
the priuate and familiar talke of the meanest sort of men, as shepheards,
heywards and such like, such was among the Greekes
Theocritus: and
Virgill among the Latines, their poemes were named
Eglogues
or shepheardly talke. There was yet another kind of Poet, who intended to
taxe the common abuses and vice of the people in rough and bitter speaches,
and their inuectiues were called
Satyres, and them selues
Satyricques. Such were
Lucilius, Iuuenall and
Persius
among the Latines, & with vs that wrote the booke called Piers
plowman. Others of a more fine and pleasant head were giuen wholly to
taunting and scoffing at vndecent things, and in short poemes vttered pretie
merry conceits, and these men were called
Epigrammatistes. There
were others that for the peoples good instruction, and triall of their owne
witts vsed in places of great assembly, to
say by rote nombers of short and sententious meetres, very pithie and of
good edification, and thereupon were called Poets
Mimistes: as who
would say, imitable and meet to be followed for their wise and graue
lessons. There was another kind of poeme, inuented onely to make sport,
& to refresh the company with a maner of buffonry or counterfaiting of
merry speaches, comuerting all that which they had hard spoken before, to a
certaine derision by a quite contrary sence, and this was done, when
Comedies or
Tragedies were a playing, & that betweene the
actes when the players went to make ready for another, there was great
silence, and the people waxt weary, then came in these maner of
counterfaite vices, they were called
Pantomimi, and all that had
before bene sayd, or great part of it, they gaue a crosse construction to it
very ridiculously. Thus haue you how the names of the Poets were giuen
them by the formes of their poemes and maner of writing.