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Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten

Aesthetica

Interlinear Beta v2 · §§501–525

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§ 501

Est veritas generalis: Vir bonus iniquis etiam suspicionibus eorum, quos amat, aliquando cedit.

There is a general truth: a good man sometimes yields even to the unjust suspicions of those whom he loves.

Nonne autem illa maior apparet analogo rationis apud legentes Liv. II. 6.

But does not that greater truth appear to the analogue of reason among those reading Livy II.6:

Sourced quotation · Livy [539]

in Valerium Consulem, non invidiam solum, sed suspicionem etiam, cum atroci crimine, ortam, eum regnum affectare, quia aedificabat in summa Velia? Ibi alto et munito loco arcem inexpugnabilem fore. Convocato autem in concilium populo tunc Valerium in aliis dixisse: Non obstabunt P. Valerii aedes libertati vestrae, Quirites. Tuta vobis erit Velia. Deferam non in planum modo aedes, sed colli etiam subiiciam, ut vos supra suspectum me civem habitetis. In Velia aedificent, quibus melius, quam Valerio, libertas creditur. Delatam postea confestim esse materiam omnem infra Veliam, et in infimo clivo domum aedificatam. Hinc opiniones ita in contrarium versas esse, ut popularis abhinc sit habitus, unde cognomen Publicolae.

"After this the surviving consul, who had been in such favour with the multitude, found himself–such is its fickleness–not only unpopular but an object of suspicion, and that of a very grave character. It was rumoured that he was aiming at monarchy, for he had held no election to fill Brutus' place, and he was building a house on the top of the Velia, an impregnable fortress was being constructed on that high and strong position. [...] “The house of Publius Valerius shall be no check upon your freedom, your Velia shall be safe. I will not only move my house to level ground, but I will move it to the bottom of the hill that you may dwell above the citizen whom you suspect. Let those dwell on the Velia who are regarded as truer friends of liberty than Publius Valerius.” All the materials were forthwith carried below the Velia and his house was built at the very bottom of the hill where now stands the temple of Vica Pota. Laws were passed which not only cleared the consul from suspicion but produced such a reaction that he won the people's affections, hence his sobriquet of Publicola."

Si maior haec Liviana veritas recte iudicatur aliquo respectu, ac generalis illa; meminerimus orationem ementitum esse Livium, § 496.

If this Livian truth is rightly judged greater in some respect than that general one, let us remember that Livy invented the speech, § 496.

§ 502

14) Sit strictissime verum aliquando, quod non ita raro contingit, hac ratione comparatum, ut non ex opinione vulgi tantum, sed etiam bonis factorum criticis falsi singulariter simile videatur, neque tamen vires locusve sint venuste cogitaturo multis eius vindicare verisimilitudinem, aut destituatur, quantum illud cognoscitur, requisita pulcritudini cogitatorum, ubertate, dignitate, luce, e. c. § 22, solum, si sit, et nullis exornatum latissime falsis.

14) Let something most strictly true sometimes be so constituted, which happens not so rarely, that not only from the opinion of the crowd, but also to good critics of facts, it seems singularly like the false, and yet there is neither strength nor place for one who is to think gracefully to vindicate its verisimilitude by many things; or, insofar as it is known, it lacks the things required for the beauty of thoughts, richness, dignity, light, for example, § 22, if it stands alone and is adorned by no things false in the broadest sense.

Habes in unum contractos multos casus, in quibus veris heterocosmicis, quae strictissime vero vel substituantur, vel immisceantur, opus esse videatur, §§ 444, 475.

You have many cases contracted into one, in which there seems to be need for heterocosmic truths, which may either be substituted for the most strictly true or mixed with it, §§ 444, 475.

§ 503

Quoniam itaque tot necessitatibus urgetur pulcre cogitaturus a veritate, quam dicunt, transeundi ad solam aliquam verisimilitudinem, §§ 491–502: non raro poeta fiet.

Since, therefore, one who is to think beautifully is pressed by so many necessities to pass over from truth, as they call it, to some mere verisimilitude, §§ 491–502, he will not rarely become a poet.

Sourced quotation · Plautus [540]

Poeta, tabulas quum cepit sibi, / Quaerit, quod nusquam est gentium, reperit / tamen, / Facit illud veri simile, quod mendacium est.

"But just as the poet, when he has taken up his tablets, seeks what nowhere in the world exists, and still finds it, and makes that like truth which really is a fiction;"

Plaut. Pseud. l. 4. v. 8. Aestheticus autem veritatem metaphysicam et aestheticologicam distinguens, ut obiectum et perceptionem eiusdem, uti rem, et conceptum de re; hanc aestheticologicam notat esse vel complete claram, vel minus.

Plautus, Pseudolus, book 4, verse 8. But the aesthetician, distinguishing metaphysical and aestheticological truth as the object and the perception of the same, as the thing and the concept of the thing, notes that this aestheticological truth is either completely clear or less so. They call the former truth, the latter verisimilitude.

Priorem veritatem dicunt, posteriorem verisimilitudinem.

The philosopher calls the former complete certainty, the other truth in uncertain, probable, doubtful, and improbable things.

Philosophus priorem completam certitudinem dicit; alteram veritatem in incertis, probabilibus, dubiis, improbabilibus. Hinc aestheticus suadet non in solis complete certis pulcre verum quaerere, sed idem rimari simul per incerta, probabilium, dubiorum, improbabilium, quamdiu semet ipsum non subducit amatoris oculis in turpem falsi similitudinem, vel ipsam falsi turpitudinem definiens. S. XXVIII.

Hence the aesthetician advises that the beautifully true should not be sought only in things completely certain, but that the same should also be searched out through uncertain things, through probable, doubtful, and improbable things, so long as it does not withdraw itself from the lover's eyes into ugly false-likeness, or into the very ugliness of the false, as defined in Section XXVIII.

§ 504

Pulcre cogitaturus consilium, § 503. prosequitur, circumstrepentibus falsi rumoribus, unam veritatem, plerumque per incerta, sectatus,

The one who is to think beautifully pursues the counsel, § 503, while rumors of the false roar around him, having followed one truth, for the most part through uncertain things, and

Sourced quotation · Horace [541]

populumque falsis / Dedocet uti / vocibus

"Phraates, throned where Cyrus sate,
May count for blest with vulgar herds,
But not with Virtue; soon or late
From lying words
She weans men's lips;"

falsi mendaciorumque, aut in verbis facilis de rerum et vitae veritate sibi gratulatur in sinu, quando nonnunquam per mediam, quam Falsitatis et Mendaciorum aiunt, silvam in plena sese refulgens offert luce

of falsity and lies, or, ready in words, congratulates himself inwardly concerning the truth of things and of life, when sometimes, through the middle of what they call the forest of Falsity and Lies, in full light, shining, there offers herself

Sourced quotation · Horace [542]

Pudor, et Iustitiae soror / Incorrupta Fides, nudaque Veritas.

"Quintilius? Piety, twin sister dear
Of Justice! naked Truth! unsullied Faith!
When will ye find his peer?"

§ 505

Quae non totidem ideis sentimus, quot denuo cogitamus, quaeque tamen sensitive cognoscenda sunt, sunt fingenda, M. § 589. Hinc Fictiones Latius Dictae, M. § 590. perceptiones combinando praescindendoque phantasmata formatae, longe maximam pulcre cogitandorum partem constituunt.

Those things which we do not sense with as many ideas as we think again, and which nevertheless must be cognized sensitively, must be feigned, Metaphysics § 589. Hence fictions in the broader sense, Metaphysics § 590, phantasms formed by combining and abstracting perceptions, constitute by far the greatest part of things to be thought beautifully.

Sourced quotation · Horace [543]

Ficta voluptatis caussa sint proxima veris,

"Let whatever is imagined for the sake of entertainment, have as much
likeness to truth as possible;"

§ 504.

§ 504.

§ 506

Non proxima solum veris, sed et ipsa strictissime vera plurima, non nisi fictionibus latius dictis pulcre cogitari sensitiveque possunt.

Not only things nearest to truths, but also very many things themselves most strictly true, can be thought beautifully and sensitively only by fictions broadly so called.

Quot ea sunt obiectorum pulcre cogitaturi, de quibus ille possit dicere:

How many are those things among the objects of one who is to think beautifully, concerning which he could say:

Sourced quotation · Virgil [544]

quae ipse vidi, Et quorum pars magna fui?

"which woeful scene I saw,
and bore great part in each event I tell."

Nec in his fictionibus carent, nisi experientiae stricte dictae, si narrentur omnino pure nudeque.

Nor are they without these fictions, except experiences strictly so called, if they are narrated altogether purely and nakedly.

Reliqua huius universi vel praeterita, si narrem secundum fidem historicam, neque tamen stricte expertus, vel praesentia tempore, si percipiam absentia loco sensitive, vel futura, etiamsi tandem ex mea praeconceptione fiant in hoc universo, ut turris ex anticipatione architecti, tamen sunt Fictiones (latius dictae, § 505) quas dicere liceat Strictissime Veras.

The remaining things of this universe, whether past things, if I narrate them according to historical trustworthiness and yet have not strictly experienced them; or things present in time, if I perceive them sensibly while absent in place; or future things, even if at length from my preconception they come to be in this universe, as a tower from the anticipation of an architect, nevertheless are fictions (broadly so called, § 505), which it is permissible to call most strictly true.

§ 507

Erunt itaque fictiones, sicuti veritates, falsitates et verisimilitudines, vel generales, vel singulares, et hae vel huius universi cognitionem ingredientur, vel erunt heterocosmicae, §§ 445, 441. Generales habent suas regulas S. XXVIIII. Singulares, pars cognitionis de hoc universo venustae, aut erunt strictissime verae, § 506, res facti, vel eventus praesentes, vel vere futura sistentes, quae tamen ipse cogitans non stricte expertus est, aut minus.

Therefore fictions, just like truths, falsities, and verisimilitudes, will be either general or singular; and these singular ones will either enter into cognition of this universe, or they will be heterocosmic, §§ 445, 441. General ones have their own rules in Section XXVIIII. Singular fictions, as a part of graceful cognition concerning this universe, will either be most strictly true, § 506, presenting matters of fact, or present events, or genuinely future things, which nevertheless the thinker himself has not strictly experienced; or they will be less so.

Quae cognitione huius universi percipiuntur, neque tamen accurate intuitiva, hinc fictiones latius dictae, § 505, sunt Fictiones Historicae Late Dictae.

Those things which are perceived in cognition of this universe, and yet are not accurately intuitive, hence fictions broadly so called, § 505, are historical fictions broadly so called.

§ 508

Troianas romanorum origines narrant Virgilius et Livius l. I, uterque non expertus, hinc uterque per fictionem historicam late dictam, § 507. Ille Aenean narrat insciis Graiis et hostibus per fugam elapsum; hic in Aeneam, et ob vetustum hospitii ius, et quia pacis reddendaeque Helenae semper auctor fuerat, nullum ius belli Achivos exercuisse.

Virgil and Livy, book I, narrate the Trojan origins of the Romans, each not having experienced them; hence each narrates through historical fiction broadly so called, § 507. The former narrates that Aeneas slipped away in flight without the Greeks and enemies knowing it; the latter says that against Aeneas, both because of the ancient right of hospitality and because he had always been an advocate of peace and of returning Helen, the Achaeans exercised no right of war.

Ille Aenean primo ducit in Thraciam, hic in Macedoniam.

The former first leads Aeneas into Thrace, the latter into Macedonia.

Adventum Aeneae in Italiam proxime sequuta uterque diversim mente concipiunt.

The things that immediately followed Aeneas' arrival in Italy each conceives differently in mind.

Illi Ascanius, ac Iulus idem Creusae filius.

For the former Ascanius, and the same Iulus, is the son of Creusa.

Huic Ascanius ex Lavinia natus, addenti tamen;

For the latter Ascanius is born from Lavinia, yet he adds:

Sourced quotation · Livy [545]

Haud nihil ambigam (quis enim rem tam veterem pro certo affirmet?). Hiccine fuerit Ascanius, an maior, quam hic, Creusa natus matre, Ilio incolumi, comesque inde paternae fugae, quem Iulum eundem Iulia gens auctorem nominis sui nuncupat. Ubicunque et quacunque matre genitus, certe natum Aenea constat.

"I will not discuss the question–for who could speak decisively about a matter of such extreme antiquity?–whether the man whom the Julian house claim, under the name of Iulus, as the founder of their name, was this Ascanius or an older one than he, born of Creusa, whilst Ilium was still intact, and after its fall a sharer in his father's fortunes. This Ascanius, where-ever born, or of whatever mother–it is generally agreed in any case that he was the son of Aeneas–[...]"

Ubicunque et quocunque patre genita sit fictio strictissime vera, § 506, amborum hae, praeter alias, sunt fictiones historicae late dictae, § 507. Ascanius in Aeneide est persona verisimilis, S. XXVIII.

Wherever and from whatever father a most strictly true fiction may have been born, § 506, these of both authors, besides others, are historical fictions broadly so called, § 507. Ascanius in the Aeneid is a verisimilar person, Section XXVIII.

§ 509

Fictiones historicae late dictae omnem cognitionem huius universi apud pulcre cogitantem complexae, quam ipse non expertus est, aut sistunt saltem inexperto strictissime veros eventus huius universi fictiones strictissime verae, § 506, aut talia, quae suppositis omnibus in hoc universo nobis sensitive notis eventibus et momentis eventum circumstantibus, tamen fieri potuissent aut possent, et erunt Fictiones, etiamsi a poetis cogitentur, Strictius Historicae.

Historical fictions broadly so called, embracing every cognition of this universe in the beautiful thinker which he himself has not experienced, either present, at least to one inexperienced, most strictly true events of this universe, fictions most strictly true, § 506, or such things as, with all events and circumstances surrounding events in this universe sensibly known to us having been supposed, nevertheless could have happened or could happen, and they will be fictions, even if they are thought by poets, more strictly historical.

§ 510

Turnus Virgilii Aeneae tantum, Turnus Livii Aeneae Latinoque simul bellum infert, et hic eo eventu, ut Aborigines Troianique ducem Latinum victores amittant.

The Turnus of Virgil brings war only upon Aeneas; the Turnus of Livy brings war upon Aeneas and Latinus at the same time, and this with the outcome that the Aborigines and Trojans, though victors, lose their leader Latinus.

Mezentius Virgilii ab Aenea occiditur.

The Mezentius of Virgil is killed by Aeneas.

Mezentius Livii ab Aenea vincitur quidem, sed operum mortalium hoc ultimo patrato Aeneas sepelitur, Mezentio superstite.

The Mezentius of Livy is indeed defeated by Aeneas, but, with this last of mortal works accomplished, Aeneas is buried while Mezentius survives.

Unum horum auctorem solum legenti tantum abest, ut fictionum vel strictius historicarum ipsius narrationes suspectae esse possent, ut eas potius in fictionibus strictissime veris haberet, § 506. Conferenti tamen utrumque non licet per auctoritatem Livii Virgilianas fabulas numerare in fictionibus strictius historicis, § 509.

For one reading only one author of these two, it is so far from being the case that his narratives could be suspect as fictions, even more strictly historical ones, that he would rather hold them among fictions most strictly true, § 506. Yet for one comparing both, it is not permitted, on Livy's authority, to count the Virgilian tales among fictions more strictly historical, § 509.

§ 511

Si fingantur talia, quae ob notam et cogitanti et cogitaturis ipso duce, sicuti praesumi debet, circumstantiam, et hypothesin eventumque huius mundi certum, in eodem hoc universo locum non habeant, ut eiusdem possibilia, supposita tamen alia quadam hypothesi, quae non est possibile huius universi, fieri pulcre potuissent aut possent, vel turpiter, per cognitionem mediam: tales Fictiones heterocosmicae, § 441, quia inventor earum, quasi novum creat orbem fingendo, si vel maxime ab historico proferantur, dicuntur Poeticae.

If such things are feigned which, because of a circumstance known both to the thinker and to those who will think with him as guide, as ought to be presumed, and because of the hypothesis and certain event of this world, have no place in this same universe as its possibilities, yet, with some other hypothesis supposed, which is not a possibility of this universe, they could beautifully have come about or could come about, or basely, through mediate cognition: such heterocosmic fictions, § 441, because their inventor, by feigning, creates as it were a new world, even if they are brought forward by a historian, are called poetic.

§ 512

Ira Iunonis Aen. 1. 19–85 est fictio poetica, tempestas – 127 historica.

The anger of Juno, Aeneid 1.19–85, is a poetic fiction; the storm, to 127, is historical.

Neptunus aequorum pacator poetica – 160. Troianorum descensus in Africam historica – 227, nisi cervi dubium moveant.

Neptune as pacifier of the seas is poetic, to 160. The descent of the Trojans into Africa is historical, to 227, unless the stags raise a doubt.

Colloquium Iovis et Veneris, legatioque Mercurii est fictio poetica, v. 308.

The conversation of Jupiter and Venus, and Mercury's embassy, is poetic fiction, verse 308.

Sourced quotation · Virgil [546]

At pius Aeneas per noctem plurima volvens, / Ut primum lux alma data est, exire, locosque / Explorare novos, quas vento accesserit oras, / Qui teneant, (nam inculta videt,) hominesne feraene, / Quaerere constituit, sociisque exacta referre

"But good Aeneas, pondering all night long
his many cares, when first the cheerful dawn
upon him broke, resolved to take survey
of this strange country whither wind and wave
had driven him,–for desert land it seemed,–
to learn what tribes of man or beast possess
a place so wild, and careful tidings bring
back to his friends."

– 317, est fictio historica.

to 317, is historical fiction.

Hinc incipit poetica de Didone fictio ultra l. I–V. protensa, §§ 509, 511.

From here begins the poetic fiction concerning Dido, stretched beyond books I–V, §§ 509, 511.

§ 513

Complexum et satis male cohaerens systema fictionum omnis generis iam a pluribus elegantioribus ingeniis adoptatarum et suppositarum synecdochice dicamus Mundum Poetarum.

Let us, by synecdoche, call the complex and rather badly coherent system of fictions of every kind already adopted and supposed by many more elegant minds the world of the poets.

Hic enim cosmogoniae philosophorum pleraeque, ne excepta quidem Cartesiana, non minus locum inveniunt, ac theogoniae veterum theologorum, et quicquid est mythologiae, non notioris illius solum, graecae ac romanae, sed et per alias gentes ab Indis ad Eddam πατροπαράδοτα.

For here most cosmogonies of the philosophers, not even the Cartesian one excepted, find a place no less than the theogonies of the ancient theologians, and whatever there is of mythology, not only that better-known Greek and Roman mythology, but also ancestral traditions among other peoples, from the Indians to the Edda.

Huc acta sanctorum ex omni sua parte, quae vel historice, vel poetice ficta sit, ipsa signa illorum, ductus, positusque, quibus pingi sculptique solent.

Here belong the acts of the saints in every part of them that is feigned either historically or poetically, and the very signs of them, the gestures and postures by which they are usually painted and sculpted.

Huius terra quaedam nova est mundus cabbalisticus cum suis quatuor elementorum incolis, olim admodum in obscuro qui habitaverant. e.c.

A certain new land of this world is the cabbalistic world with its inhabitants of the four elements, who once had lived in very great obscurity, for example.

§ 514

In mundo poetarum est quaedam admodum late patens regio chimaerarum, fictionum omni veritate metaphysica, quae suis obiectis inesset, destitutarum, quam mundi poetarum dicamus Utopiam.

In the world of the poets there is a certain very widely extending region of chimeras, fictions deprived of every metaphysical truth that would be in their objects, which let us call the utopia of the world of the poets.

Magna pars mundi fabulosi postquam est ingressa mundum poetarum, illum non tanget ultra limites, § 456, pulcre cogitaturus. Contra hanc regulam impingunt, 1) qui nunc aeque sibi licitum putant ex mythologia veterum multa nugari, ac illud licitum olim graecis romanisque fuit, quorum spectatores praecipui per analogon rationis eiusdem absurda non eo usque penetraverant, ac nunc omnes, qui vix aere lavantur.

After a great part of the fabulous world has entered the world of the poets, one who is to think beautifully will not touch it beyond the limits, § 456. Against this rule offend, 1) those who now think it equally permitted for themselves to trifle much from the mythology of the ancients, as that was once permitted to Greeks and Romans, whose principal spectators, through the analogue of reason, had not penetrated the absurdities of the same to the same degree as now all do, who are scarcely washed with air.

§ 515

2) Qui omnino nugas eiusmodi systemati optimo maximo verissimae religionis immiscent, aut iis auditoribus occinunt, quibus serpentes non avibus, sed angelis, aut certe columbis, geminare videantur, si vel ex solo suo sensitivo iudicio ac sapore, non publico quidem, probe tamen maturo, pessime cohaerentem eiusmodi lucis et tenebrarum coagmentationem examinent, § 415. Ipse Virgilius advocans in auxilium, quicquid est ubique numinum rusticorum, Georg. I:

2) Those who altogether mix trifles of this sort into the best, greatest system of the truest religion, or sing them to those hearers, to whom serpents may seem to mate not with birds, but with angels, or certainly with doves, if, even from their own sensory judgment and taste alone, not indeed public but nevertheless properly mature, they examine such a very badly coherent joining together of light and darkness, § 415. Virgil himself, calling to his aid whatever there is everywhere of rustic divinities, Georgics I:

Sourced quotation · Virgil [547]

Diique deaeque omnes, studium quibus arva tueri, / Quique novas alitis non ullo semine fruges,

"Gods all and Goddesses,
Who make the fields your care, both ye who nurse
The tender unsown increase,"

v. 21. probe cavet, ne quem deorum suis immisceat, quos venerantur tantum

verse 21. he takes good care not to mix among his own any of the gods whom only

Sourced quotation · Juvenal [548]

sanctae gentes, / quibus haec nascuntur in hortis / Numina.

"What a holy race to have such divinities springing up in their gardens!"

Iuv. XV.

venerate. Juvenal XV.

§ 516

Quaedam fictio poetica, § 511, mundi poetici, § 513, non tangens turpiter utopiam, §§ 514, 515, cuidam ex eodem parti conformiter, etiam positive, i.e. ita concipiet suum orbem, quem creat heterocosmice fingendo, ut hic bene cohaereat, quantum aesthetice suos praecipuos auditores rem scrutaturos debet praesumere, probe cognitae parti mundi poetarum, ex eius anticipationibus mente formari possit, ita eventus suos sistat, uti solitum est, in regione mundi poetici data, habeat cum eadem unitatem aestheticam, et ex eadem suam mutuo verisimilitudinem accipiat.

A certain poetic fiction, § 511, of the poetic world, § 513, not basely touching utopia, §§ 514, 515, conformably to some part from the same world, even positively, that is, it will so conceive its own world, which it creates by feigning heterocosmically, that this world coheres well, insofar as aesthetically it must presume that its principal hearers will examine the matter, with a well-known part of the world of the poets, can be formed in the mind from its anticipations; it so presents its own events as is customary in the given region of the poetic world, has aesthetic unity with that same region, and from it receives in turn its own verisimilitude.

Eiusmodi Figmentum Poeticum dicamus Analogicum.

Let us call a poetic invention of this sort analogical.

§ 517

Harum fictionum praeceptum est Horatii, secundum S. XXVIIII.

The precept for these fictions is Horace's, according to Section XXVIIII.

Sourced quotation · Horace [549]

Scriptor, honoratum si forte reponis Achillem, / Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer, / Iura neget sibi nata, nihil non arroget armis, / Sit Medea ferox invictaque, flebilis Ino, / Perfidus Ixion, Io vaga, tristis Orestes.

"If as poet you have to represent the renowned Achilles; let him be indefatigable, wrathful, inexorable, courageous, let him deny that laws were made for him, let him arrogate every thing to force of arms. Let Medea be fierce and untractable, Ino an object of pity, Ixion perfidious, Io wandering, Orestes in distress."

A.P. 120. Non leviter moveor hic pro: honoratum Homereum cum Bentleio legere, licet rationem videam, cur honoratus Achilles dictus sit, cui summus et Alexandro etiam Magno invidendus honor contigerit, ab optimo poetarum aeternitati consecrari.

Ars poetica 120. I am not lightly moved here to read, with Bentley, Homeric in place of honored, although I see the reason why Achilles is called honored: the highest honor, enviable even to Alexander the Great, befell him, to be consecrated to eternity by the best of poets.

In his paene solis fictionibus poeticis acquievit Virgilius.

In almost only these poetic fictions Virgil rested content.

§ 518

Fictio Poetica novum ita creans orbem, ut eum nec cuidam ex mundo poetico regioni faciat admodum similem, aut conducentem et aptius haerentem, est Prorsus Ignota.

A poetic fiction creating a new world in such a way that it makes it neither very similar to some region from the poetic world, nor conducive and more aptly adhering to it, is wholly unknown.

Huic quoniam non succurrit iam supponenda in spectatoribus verisimilitudo mundi poetici, § 512, quoniam desunt anticipationes in iisdem bene multae, quas iam reperisset analogica fictio, § 516, quoniam per ipsum mundum poeticum insolita est, nec in hoc universo fieri potuit, § 511, adeoque multis omnino falsisimilis videbitur, § 489, insignem habeat, oportet, verisimilitudinem internam, singularem venustius coniunctorum ordinem, successivorum harmoniam et convenientiam oculos multa cum luce ferientem, notabiliorem unitatem, et generatim venustatem omnino singularem, si recto nihilominus talo stare debeat, satisque punctorum ferre, S. XXVII. § 22.

Since the verisimilitude of the poetic world, already to be presupposed in spectators, § 512, does not come to its aid, since many anticipations are lacking in those same spectators, which an analogical fiction would already have found, § 516; since it is unusual through the poetic world itself, and could not have happened in this universe, § 511, and therefore to many it will seem altogether false-like, § 489; it must have distinguished internal verisimilitude, a singular order of things more gracefully joined, a harmony and fittingness of successive things striking the eyes with much light, a more notable unity, and generally an altogether singular grace, if nevertheless it must stand on a straight ankle and carry enough points, Section XXVII, § 22.

§ 519

Hinc Horatius ex poemate tantae famae, ac Ilias est, rectius putat particulam aliquam diducere, A.P. 130,

Hence Horace thinks it more correct to draw out some little part from a poem of such fame as the Iliad is, Ars poetica 130,

Sourced quotation · Horace [550]

Quam si proferres ignota indictaque primus.

"you with more prudence will reduce the Iliad into acts, than if you first introduce arguments unknown and never treated of before."

Hinc denominationem sumsi fictionum, de quibus § 518. Quales si quis tamen audeat, illum monet:

From here I have taken the denomination of the fictions treated in § 518. Yet if anyone should dare such fictions, Horace warns him:

Sourced quotation · Horace [551]

Si quid inexpertum scenae committis, et audes, / Personam formare novam, servetur ad imum, / Qualis ab incepto processerit et sibi constet. / Difficile est proprie communia dicere;

"If you offer to the stage any thing unattempted, and venture to form a new character; let it be preserved to the last such as it set out at the beginning, and be consistent with itself. It is difficult to write with propriety on subjects to which all writers have a common claim;"

quod mihi sic videor recte interpretari: Veritates generales, quas nemo sibi videtur ignorare, primum in exemplo aliquo singulari sistere satis pulcras, quod nemo adhoc ante nos ex parte venustius pinxerit, prorsus adhuc ignotum: illud vero maioris est difficultatis, ac multis videatur,

which I seem to myself rightly to interpret thus: to present general truths, which no one seems to himself not to know, first in some singular example as beautiful enough, which no one before us has yet painted in a more graceful respect, is something still wholly unknown; this, however, is of greater difficulty than it may seem to many.

§ 520

Fictio poetica, quae prae se quidem fert analogiam, nescio quam, cum mundo poetico, neque tamen multo post contra eandem, quam suam fecerat, mundi illius regionem graviter impingit, eidem contradicentia affirmans, contra eius ἦθος pugnantia, quae fierent in eodem per casum purum, quae frustra fierent, quae seiungunt per eundem inseparabilia, spectatoribus obiiciens, erit talis fictio Figmentum Anomalon.

A poetic fiction which indeed displays before itself some analogy, I know not what, with the poetic world, and yet not long afterward gravely strikes against that same region of that world which it had made its own, affirming things contradictory to it, things fighting against its ἦθος, offering to the spectators things that would happen in it by pure chance, things that would happen in vain, things that separate through that same region what is inseparable, such a fiction will be an anomalous invention.

§ 521

Figmentum anomalon quum nec in hoc universo fieri possit, nec in illo poetico, nec interne possit esse singulariter verisimile, quia iam quasi recepit in sinum, quibus nihilo secius contradicat, unde gentium accipiat adeo necessariam elegantiae vel veritatem, vel omnino verisimilitudinem?

Since an anomalous invention can happen neither in this universe nor in that poetic one, nor can internally be singularly verisimilar, because it has already as it were received into its bosom the things to which it nevertheless contradicts, from where among the nations could it receive either truth, or at all verisimilitude, so necessary to elegance?

S. XXVII, XXVIIII. Vide, quanto illud opere caveat Livius, 1.2, ne de morte Aeneae famam poeticae fictionis infringat, quoniam strictissime veram fictionem promere, aut non voluit, aut non potuit:

Sections XXVII, XXVIIII. See with how much care Livy, 1.2, avoids this, lest he violate, concerning the death of Aeneas, the report of poetic fiction, since he either did not wish, or could not, bring forth a most strictly true fiction: "He is placed," he says,

Sourced quotation · Livy [552]

Situs est, ait, quemcumque eum dici iusque fasque est, super Numicium flumen: Iovem indigetem appellant.

"His tomb–whatever it is lawful and right to call him–is situated on the bank of the Numicius. He is addressed as “Jupiter Indiges.”"

§ 522

Ad eiusmodi tamen anomala figmenta ne trahantur, 1) si dissensus est inter historicos strictissime vera, et poetas heterocosmica fingere supponendos, § 519. Hinc huc non pertinet: An amaverit Didun Aeneas, de qua quaestione peculiarem librum edidisse dicitur Atteius philologus, quia Iustinus post Virgilium, huic contrarius, narrat eam univiram et castissimam l. XVIII. Iustinoque rationes chronologicae favent.

Yet they are not to be dragged into anomalous inventions of this sort, 1) if there is a disagreement between historians, who are to be supposed to give things most strictly true, and poets, who are to be supposed to feign heterocosmic things, § 519. Hence this does not belong here: "whether Aeneas loved Dido," on which question Atteius the philologist is said to have published a special book, because Justin, after Virgil and contrary to him, narrates that she was a woman of one husband and most chaste, book XVIII. And chronological reasons favor Justin.

Ausonius hic potius et Silius liberum habuerant, quem sequi velint mundum, hunc, an poeticum.

Here rather Ausonius and Silius had it free which world they wished to follow: this one, or the poetic one.

Unde Ausonius utrumque sequutus est in diversis epigrammatibus, sane non gravi culpa.

Hence Ausonius followed each in different epigrams, certainly without grave fault.

Poeticum epigrammate, de quo § 408. Hunc ep. III.

The poetic world in the epigram about which § 408 speaks; this world in epigram III.

Sourced quotation · Ausonius (traditionally); pseudo-Ausonius in modern scholarship [553]

Vos magis historicis, lectores, credite de me, / Quam qui furta deum concubitusque canunt, / Falsiloqui vates, temerant qui carmine verum, / Humanisque deos assimilant vitiis.

"Do you, readers, believe rather the historians about me, than those who sing of the stealthy loves and intrigues of the Gods. Untrue bards are they, who blemish the truth by their lives, and attribute to the Gods the frailties of men."

§ 523

Silius autem sequutus est mundum Virgilii poeticum, non tamen sine libertate poetica, L. VIII. Apud hunc distrahuntur, apud Virgilium maiore cum unitate se propius excipientia.

But Silius followed the poetic world of Virgil, yet not without poetic freedom, book VIII. In him things are drawn apart which in Virgil follow one another more closely with greater unity.

Tandem Dido moritura,

At last, Dido, about to die, says:

Sourced quotation · Silius Italicus [554]

Dii longae noctis, quorum iam numina nobis / Mors instans maiora facit, precor, inquit, adeste, / Et placidi victos ardore admittite manes. Aeneae coniux, Veneris nurus, ulta maritum, / Vidi constructas nostrae Carthaginis arces, / Nunc ad vos magni descendet corporis umbra, / Me quoque fors dulci quondam vir notus amore / Exspectat, curas cupiens aequare priores,

"“Ye gods of endless night,” she cried, “whose power seems greater to one at the point of death, help me, I pray, and give a kindly welcome to a spirit that love has conquered. The wife of Aeneas, the daughter-in-law of Venus, I avenged my husband, I saw the towers of my city Carthage rise; and now the shade of a great queen shall go down to your domain. Perhaps my husband, whose love was sweet to me long ago, is waiting for me there, eager to love me no less than before.”"

Confer §§ 405, 406. et hanc Didonem Silii, nisi fallor, quantum postpones Virgilii Didoni, tantum tamen adhuc antepones Ovidii Didoni: sicut Ausoniana Dido, de qua § 520, maior est, ac Dido Ausonii, de qua § 405.

Compare §§ 405, 406. And this Dido of Silius, if I am not mistaken, however much you rank her below Virgil's Dido, by that much you will still rank her above Ovid's Dido: just as the Ausonian Dido, concerning whom § 520 speaks, is greater than the Dido of Ausonius, concerning whom § 405 speaks.

§ 524

2) Si dissensus ab antecedente nos mundo poetico tantillus fuerit, ut inde oriri visa falsitas tantilla sit, quae forsitan ad § 454 referri posse iure censeatur. Huc aequus censor referet Aeschyli secessum a mundo Homeri poetico, dum in hoc Patroclus aetate maior est, ac Achilles, Aeschylus Patroclum tamen iuniorem fingit, ideo a Platone, magno poetarum inimico, male habitus.

2) If the disagreement from the poetic world preceding us is so very small that the apparent falsity arising from it is so very small that it may perhaps rightly be judged able to be referred to § 454. A fair judge will refer here Aeschylus' departure from Homer's poetic world, while in that world Patroclus is older in age than Achilles, yet Aeschylus feigns Patroclus as younger, and for that reason he was badly treated by Plato, the great enemy of poets.

Hinc nec deterritus est auctoritate tanti philosophi Martialis, quin Aeschylum potius, quam Homerum sequeretur, XI. ep.44. nec Statius sibi temperavit, quin omnino medium velut iter sibi novum legeret, cuius in Achilleide Patroclus Achilli

Hence Martial was not deterred by the authority of so great a philosopher from following Aeschylus rather than Homer, book XI, epigram 44. Nor did Statius restrain himself from choosing for himself, as it were, an altogether middle new path, in whose Achilleid Patroclus is to Achilles

Sourced quotation · Statius [555]

par studiis aevique modis.

"well-matched in the pursuits and ways of youth,"

§ 525

Regerat aliquis: Has certe fictiones concedes esse mendacia.

Someone might object: Surely you will concede that these fictions are lies.

Cur itaque definis, illustras, distinguis, et analogica saltim commendare videris? § 516. Equidem ipse despero populum falsis vocibus uti dedocere, § 504, hinc ex eius loquendi modo dixi sententiam aperte, § 477. Forsan tamen S. Augustinus me felicior est, quando ille l. II. quaest. ev. 51:

Why, then, do you define, illustrate, distinguish them, and seem at least to commend the analogical ones? § 516. Indeed I myself despair of teaching the people to unlearn using false words, § 504; hence I openly stated the opinion from their way of speaking, § 477. Perhaps, however, Saint Augustine is more fortunate than I, when he says in book II, question 51 of the Gospel Questions: "Not everything," he says,

Passage with quotations · Augustine [556]

Non omne, inquit, quod fingimus, mendacium est, sed quando id fingimus, quod nihil significat: (quod nullius veritatis est, sed non solum falsitatis aestheticae, verum etiam moralis, foetus et turpe signum) tunc est mendacium. Quum autem fictio nostra refertur ad aliquam significationem, (ut in aliquo comparativo, cuius perceptio satis digna est, veritatem si complete certam non possumus, saltem incomplete talem, si maximam aliquam non possumus, ei tamen proximam veritatem candido pectore, purisque manibus exhibeamus), non est mendacium, sed aliqua figura veritatis, § 26. Alioquin omnia, quae a sapientibus et sanctis viris, vel etiam ab ipso domino, figurate dicta sunt, deputabuntur mendacia, quia secundum usitatum intellectum (veritatis strictissime dictae) veritas non subsistit in talibus dictis. - - - Fictio, quae ad aliquam veritatem refertur (haec autem esse etiam potest poetica) figura est, quae non refertur, mendacium est.

"For not every thing we feign is a falsehood, but only when we feign that which means nothing. But when our feigning has reference to a certain meaning it is not a falsehood, but a kind of figure of the truth. Otherwise all the things figuratively spoken by wise and holy men, or even by our Lord Himself, must be accounted falsehoods. For to the experienced understanding truth consists not in certain words, but as words so also deeds are feigned without falsehood to signify a particular thing. [...] A fiction founded on truth is a figure; not so founded, it is a lie."

(which belongs to no truth, but is the offspring and ugly sign not only of aesthetic falsity but also of moral falsity) (so that in some comparative object, whose perception is sufficiently worthy, if we cannot display completely certain truth, at least such truth incompletely, if we cannot display some greatest truth, yet the truth nearest to it, with candid breast and pure hands), § 26. (of truth most strictly so called) (and this can also be poetic)

Sources and textual notes

[539] Livy, Ab urbe condita 2.7.5-12 and 2.8.1. Rev. Canon Roberts, History of Rome, vols. 1-2 (London: J. M. Dent and Sons; New York: E. P. Dutton, 1912), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

This is not a continuous quotation. Baumgarten compresses Livy's narrative, shifts much of it into indirect discourse, omits Valerius's intervening speech, and replaces Livy's statement that laws changed public opinion with the broader opiniones ... versas. He also prints affectare for adfectare, subiiciam for subiciam, and “P. Valerii” where Livy's direct speech has “P. Valeri.” The brackets in both comparison passages mark the same deliberately omitted source material.

Reuse information

Roberts's translation was published in 1912 and is in the United States public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[540] Plautus, Pseudolus 401-403. Henry Thomas Riley, The Comedies of Plautus, vol. 1 (London: G. Bell and Sons, 1912), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten omits Plautus's introductory sed quasi, changes cum to quum, expands contracted nusquamst to nusquam est, and alters capitalization, punctuation, and lineation. Riley translates mendacium as “fiction,” fitting Pseudolus's comparison of his improvised scheme to a poet's invention.

Reuse information

Riley died in 1878 and the cited edition was published in 1912; the translation is in the public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[541] Horace, Odes 2.2.19-21. John Conington, The Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace (London: George Bell and Sons, 1882), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten extracts the object and verb from the stanza, leaving behind both their subject, Virtus, and the clause concerning Phraates. He changes capitalization and supplies no final punctuation. Conington's full stanza is retained because “She” refers back to Virtue and “lying words” translates falsis vocibus.

Reuse information

Conington died in 1869 and the cited edition was published in 1882; the translation is in the public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[542] Horace, Odes 1.24.6-8. John Conington, The Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace (London: George Bell and Sons, 1882), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Horace's virtues are governed by cui and by the following question, “when will they find anyone his equal?” Baumgarten omits both the relative pronoun and the question, turning the names into a freestanding list; he also adds commas and changes capitalization. Conington renders Pudor as “Piety” and reverses the source order of Faith and Truth for his stanza.

Reuse information

Conington died in 1869 and the cited edition was published in 1882; the translation is in the public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[543] Horace, Ars poetica 338. Christopher Smart, revised by Theodore Alois Buckley, The Works of Horace (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1863), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten prints caussa for causa, capitalizes the line, and replaces the colon with a comma. Smart's “entertainment” represents voluptatis, and his “as much likeness ... as possible” expands the superlative relation proxima.

Reuse information

Smart died in 1771 and the cited edition was published in 1863; the translation is in the public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[544] Virgil, Aeneid 2.5-6. Theodore C. Williams, The Aeneid of Virgil (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1910), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten begins after the verb eruerint, removes enclitic -que from quaeque, and omits emphatic miserrima (“most wretched things”). His terminal question mark belongs to his own sentence, whereas Virgil continues with Quis talia fando. Williams's “woeful” preserves the adjective that Baumgarten drops.

Reuse information

Williams's translation was published in 1910 and is in the United States public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[545] Livy, Ab urbe condita 1.3.2-3. Rev. Canon Roberts, History of Rome, vols. 1-2 (London: J. M. Dent and Sons; New York: E. P. Dutton, 1912), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten's haud nihil ambigam (“I shall have no slight doubt”) adds nihil to Livy's haud ambigam (“I will not dispute the question”), materially changing the opening. He also doubles the consonant in Hiccine, prints affirmet for adfirmet, reorders Creusa matre ... natus, omits is Ascanius at the second sentence, and stops after the parenthetical certainty about Aeneas. Roberts translates Livy's received text, not Baumgarten's altered opening.

Reuse information

Roberts's translation was published in 1912 and is in the United States public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[546] Virgil, Aeneid 1.305-309. Theodore C. Williams, The Aeneid of Virgil (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1910), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

The wording agrees with the comparison text. Baumgarten moves and adds commas, parenthesizes nam inculta videt, changes capitalization, and stops before Virgil identifies where Aeneas leaves the fleet. Williams renders plurima volvens as pondering his many cares.

Reuse information

Williams's translation was published in 1910 and is in the United States public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[547] Virgil, Georgics 1.21-22. James Rhoades, The Poems of Vergil, vol. 1 (London: Oxford University Press, 1921), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten's words agree with the comparison text apart from capitalization and terminal punctuation. The lines belong to Virgil's opening invocation; Rhoades's “unsown increase” closely represents non ullo semine fruges.

Reuse information

Rhoades's translation was published in 1921 and is in the United States public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[548] Juvenal, Satires 15.10-11. George Gilbert Ramsay, Juvenal and Persius (London: William Heinemann; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1918), Wikisource text. Source 1

Baumgarten omits Juvenal's exclamatory o, changes accusative sanctas gentes to nominative sanctae gentes, moves numina onto a separate capitalized line, and replaces the exclamation mark with a period. The sarcasm concerns Egyptian leeks and onions revered as divinities; Ramsay preserves the exclamatory force of the source.

Reuse information

Ramsay's translation was published in 1918 and is in the United States public domain. Wikisource supplies a proofread scan transcription.

[549] Horace, Ars poetica 120-124. Christopher Smart, revised by Theodore Alois Buckley, The Works of Horace (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1863), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten's words agree with the comparison edition; his changes are capitalization and punctuation. Smart's “untractable” is the edition's historical spelling, and his prose turns Horace's catalogue into a series of explicit dramatic instructions.

Reuse information

Smart died in 1771 and the cited edition was published in 1863; the translation is in the public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[550] Horace, Ars poetica 130. Christopher Smart, revised by Theodore Alois Buckley, The Works of Horace (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1863), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten extracts only the comparative clause, whose quam depends on the omitted assertion that dramatizing the Iliad is “more rightly” done. Smart's whole sentence is therefore retained. Baumgarten also changes capitalization and makes Horace's colon a period.

Reuse information

Smart died in 1771 and the cited edition was published in 1863; the translation is in the public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[551] Horace, Ars poetica 125-128. Christopher Smart, revised by Theodore Alois Buckley, The Works of Horace (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1863), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten prints scenae committis for the comparison edition's scaenae conmittis, redistributes commas, and stops before the source's connective tuque. Smart's “any thing” is retained as printed; his prose makes the requirement of a new character's consistency explicit.

Reuse information

Smart died in 1771 and the cited edition was published in 1863; the translation is in the public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[552] Livy, Ab urbe condita 1.2.6. Rev. Canon Roberts, History of Rome, vols. 1-2 (London: J. M. Dent and Sons; New York: E. P. Dutton, 1912), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten inserts ait, prints iusque for Livy's ius, and prints Numicium for Numicum, besides changing punctuation and capitalization. Roberts supplies “His tomb” for the elliptical situs est and uses the corresponding river form “Numicius.”

Reuse information

Roberts's translation was published in 1912 and is in the United States public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[553] Pseudo-Ausonius, epigram “On the Image of Dido,” traditionally numbered Epigrammata 90 and often numbered 118 in modern editions, lines 15-18. Henry T. Riley, The Heroides: or Epistles of the Heroines, The Amours, Art of Love, Remedy of Love, and Minor Works of Ovid (London: George Bell and Sons, 1885), note to Heroides 7.68. Source 1

The poem was transmitted under Ausonius's name but is commonly treated as pseudo-Ausonian and as a Latin adaptation of a Greek epigram. Baumgarten prints Falsiloqui where the comparison text has falsidici and changes punctuation and capitalization. Riley's surprising “by their lives” for carmine is present in the printed scan and has therefore not been silently corrected.

Reuse information

Riley died in 1878 and the cited edition was published in 1885; the translation is in the public domain. The Internet Archive scan supplies the consulted copy.

[554] Silius Italicus, Punica 8.140-147. J. D. Duff, Silius Italicus: Punica, vol. 1 (London: William Heinemann; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1927), ToposText transcription. Source 1

Baumgarten prints Dii for Di and changes punctuation and capitalization; the words otherwise agree. Lines 8.144 onward belong to the textually disputed Additamentum Aldinum (8.144-223), but they occur both in Baumgarten's source tradition and in Duff's edition. Duff's “great queen” interprets magni corporis umbra rather than reproducing its literal image.

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Duff's translation was first printed in 1927 and is in the United States public domain. ToposText supplies the consulted digital text.

[555] Statius, Achilleid 1.176. J. H. Mozley, Statius, vol. 2, Thebaid V-XII; Achilleid (London: William Heinemann; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1928), Wikisource transcription. Source 1

The phrase describes Patroclus, whose name appears two lines earlier. Baumgarten extracts it from a clause that continues sed robore longe (“but far [behind] in strength”) and changes the source comma to a period. Mozley's “well-matched” makes the implied comparison explicit.

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Mozley's translation was published in 1928 and is in the United States public domain. Wikisource supplies the digital transcription.

[556] Augustine, Quaestiones evangeliorum 2.51, on Luke 24:28. Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea, vol. 3, Luke (Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1843), English translation issued under John Henry Newman's editorship; final recap supplied from Cornelius a Lapide, The Great Commentary, vol. 4, St Luke, trans. Thomas W. Mossman, 4th ed. (Edinburgh: John Grant, 1908). Source 1 · Source 2

No complete old direct English translation of Quaestiones evangeliorum 2.51 was located in this pass. The Catena Aurea preserves the main passage in English but omits Augustine's repeated final distinction; Mossman's translation of a Lapide's quotation supplies that recap. Baumgarten omits enim and igitur, inserts inquit and an extra in before talibus dictis, prints Quum for Cum, and marks several intervening omissions. The two English witnesses have been joined with an editorial ellipsis, not represented as one continuous translation.

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Both cited English editions were published before 1931 and are in the United States public domain. The online transcriptions reproduce the 1843 and 1908 editions.