Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian > Volume 3

ON THE POEMS OF OSSIAN. 1 67
The fundamental rules delivered by Arif-
totle, concerning an epic poem, are thefe:
That the a£tion which is the ground- work
of the poem, (hould be one, complete, and
great ; that it fliould be feigned, not mere-
ly hiftorical 5 that it fhould be enlivened
with charaders and manners, and heighten-
ed by the marvellous.
But before entering on any of thefe, it
may perhaps be alked, what is the moral
of Fingal ? For, according to M. BolTu,
an epic poem is no other than an allegory,
contrived to illuftrate fome moral truth.
The poet, fays this critic, muft begin with
fixing on fome maxim or inftruftion which
he intends to inculcate on mankind. He
next forms a fable, like one of ^fop's,
wholly with a view to the moral ; and hav-
ing thus fettled and arranged his plan, he
then looks into traditionary hiftory for names
and incidents, to give his fable fome air of
probability. Never did a more frigid, pe-
dantic notion, enter into the mind of a cri-
tic. We may fafely pronounce, that he who
Ihould compofe an epic poem after this man-
ner, who ftiould firfl lay down a moral and
contrive a plan, before he had thought of
his perfonages and a£iors, might deliver in-
deed very found inftru6cion, but would find
few readers. There cannot be the leaft
doubt that the firfl objecl which ftrikes an
epic poet, which fires his genius, and gives
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