. . . “I was much pleased to hear of your engagement
with Dryden: not that he is, as a poet,
any great favourite of mine: I admire his talents and genius highly, but his is
not a poetical genius. The only qualities I can find in
Dryden that are essentially
poetical, are a certain ardour and impetuosity of mind, with an excellent ear.
It may seem strange that I do not add to this, great command of language: That he certainly has, and of such language, too, as it
is most desirable that a poet should possess, or rather that he should not be
without. But it is not language that is, in the highest sense of the word,
poetical, being neither of the imagi-
DRYDEN—1805. | 81 |
“But too much of this; I am glad that you are to be his editor. His political and satirical pieces may be greatly benefited by illustration, and even absolutely require it. A correct text is the first object of an editor—then such notes as explain difficult or obscure passages; and lastly, which is much less important, notes pointing out authors to whom the poet has been indebted, not in the fiddling way of phrase here and phrase there—(which is detestable as a general practice)—but where he has had essential obligations either as to matter or manner.
“If I can be of any use to you, do not fail to apply
to me. One thing I may take the liberty to suggest, which is, when you come to
the fables, might it not be
advisable to print the whole of the tales of Boccace in a smaller type in the original language? If this
should look too much like swelling a book, I should certainly make such
extracts as would show where Dryden has
most strikingly improved upon, or fallen below, his ori-
82 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. |