Or give the very Trees, and Fountains sense, as in _Tityrus_,
Thee (_Tityrus_) the Pines, and every Vale, The Fountains, Hills, and every shrub did call:
for by this the Concernment is express'd; and of the like nature is that of _Thyrsis_, in _Virgil's_ _Meliboeus_,
{ 63} When _Phyllis_ comes, my wood will all be green.
And this sort of Expressions is frequent in _Theocritus_, and _Virgil_, and in these the delicacy of _Pastoral_ is principally contain'd, as one of the old _Interpreters_ of _Theocritus_ hath observ'd on this line, in the eighth _Idyllium_,
But let them be so, and so seldom us'd, that nothing appear vehement, and bold, for Boldness and Vehemence destroy the sweetness which peculiarly commends _Bucolicks_, and in those Composures a constant care to be soft and easie should be chief: For _Pastoral_ bears some resemblance to _Terence_, of whom _Tully_, in that Poem which he writes to _Libo_, gives this Character,
His words are soft, and each expression sweet.
In mixing _Passion_ in _Pastorals_, that rule of _Longinus_, in his golden Treatise *peri hypsous*, must be observ'd, _Never use it, but when the matter requires it, and then too very sparingly_.
Concerning the _Numbers_, in which _Pastoral_ should be written, this is my opinion; the _Heroick_ Measure, but not so strong and sounding as in _Epicks_, is to be chosen. _Virgil_ and _Theocritus_ have given us examples; for tho _Theocritus_ hath in one Idyllium mixt other Numbers, yet that can be of no force against all the rest; and _Virgil_ useth no Numbers but _Heroick_, from whence it may be inferr'd, that those are the fittest.
{ 64} _Pastoral_ may sometimes admit plain, but not long _Narrations_ such as _Socrates_ in _Plato_ requires in a Poet; for he chiefly approves those who use a plain _Narration_, and commends that above all other which is short, and fitly expresseth the nature of the Thing. Some are of opinion that _Bucolicks_ cannot endure Narrations, especially if they are very long, and imagine there are none in _Virgil_: but they have not been nice enough in their observations, for there are some, as that in _Silenus_.
Young _Chromis_ and _Mnasylus_ chanct to stray, Where (sleeping in a Cave) _Silenus_ lay, Whose constant Cups fly fuming to his brain, And always boyl in each extended vein: His trusty Flaggon, full of potent Juice, Was hanging by, worn out with Age, and Use, &c.