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Rhetoric and Poetry in the Renaissance

A Study of Rhetorical Terms in English Renaissance Literary Criticism

By

Donald Lemen Clark, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English in Columbia University

1922




To my Father and Mother




Preface



In this essay I undertake to trace the influence of classical rhetoric on
the criticisms of poetry published in England between 1553 and 1641. This
influence is most readily recognized in the use by English renaissance
writers on literary criticism of the terminology of classical rhetoric.
But the rhetorical terminology in most cases carried with it rhetorical
thinking, traces of whose influence persist in criticism of poetry to the
present day.

The essay is divided into two parts. Part First treats of the influence of
rhetoric on the general theory of poetry within the period, and Part
Second of its influence on the renaissance formulation of the purpose of
poetry. This division is called for not by the logic of the material, but
by history and convenience. A third phase of the influence of rhetorical
terminology I have already touched on in an article on _The Requirements
of a Poet[1]_, where I have shown that historically the renaissance ideal
of the nature and education of a poet is in part derived from classical
rhetoric.

No writer today, who would treat of the criticism of the renaissance, can
escape his deep indebtedness to Dr. Joel Elias Spingarn, whose _Literary
Criticism in the Renaissance_ has so carefully traced the debt of English
criticism to the Italians. In going over the ground surveyed by him and by
many other scholars I have been able to add but slight gleanings of my
own. In this field it is my privilege only to review and to supplement
what has already been discovered. But whereas others have called attention
to the classical and Italian sources for English critical ideas, I am
able to show that in addition to these sources, the English critics were
profoundly influenced by English mediaeval traditions. That these
mediaeval traditions derived ultimately from post-classical rhetoric and
that they were for the most part later discarded as less enlightened and
less sound than the critical ideas of the Italian Aristotelians does not
lessen their importance in the history of English literary criticism.

In so far as the text of quoted classical writers is readily accessible in
modern editions, I offer my readers only an English translation. For
quotations difficult of access I add the Latin in a footnote. In the case
of those English critics whose writings are incorporated in the
_Elizabethan Critical Essays_ edited by Mr. Gregory Smith, or in the
_Critical Essays of the Seventeenth Century_, edited by Dr. J.E. Spingarn,
I have made my citations to those collections in the belief that such a
practice would add to the convenience of the reader.

The greatest pleasure that I derive from this writing is that of
acknowledging my obligations to my friends and colleagues at Columbia
University who have so generously assisted me. Professor G.P. Krapp aided
me by his valuable suggestions before and after writing and generously
allowed me to use several summaries which he had made of early English
rhetorical treatises. Professor J.B. Fletcher helped me by his friendly
and penetrating criticism of the manuscript. I am further indebted to
Professor La Rue Van Hook, Dr. Mark Van Doren, Dr. S.L. Wolff, Mr. Raymond
M. Weaver, and Dr. H.E. Mantz for various assistance, and to the Harvard
and Columbia University Libraries for their courtesy. My greatest debt is
to Professor Charles Sears Baldwin, whose constant inspiration,
enlightened scholarship, and friendly encouragement made this book
possible.




Contents



Part First:  The General Theory of Rhetoric and of Poetry


I. Introductory
  1. The Distinction between Rhetoric and Poetic

II. Classical Poetic
  1. Aristotle
  2. "Longinus"
  3. Plutarch
  4. Horace

III. Classical Rhetoric
  1. Definitions
  2. Subject Matter
  3. Content of Classical Rhetoric
  4. Rhetoric as Part of Poetic
  5. Poetic as Part of Rhetoric

IV. Classical Blending of Rhetoric and Poetic
  1. The Contact of Rhetoric and Poetic in Style
  2. The Florid Style in Rhetoric and Poetic
  3. The False Rhetoric of the Declamation Schools
  4. The Contamination of Poetic by False Rhetoric

V. The Middle Ages
  1. The Decay of Classical Rhetorical Tradition
  2. Rhetoric as Aureate Language

VI. Logic and Rhetoric in the English Renaissance
  1. The Content of Classical Rhetoric Carried over into Logic
  2. The Persistence of the Mediaeval Tradition of Rhetoric
  3. The Recovery of Classical Rhetoric
  4. Channels of Rhetorical Theory

VII. Renaissance Poetic
  1. The Reestablishment of the Classical Tradition
  2. Rhetorical Elements

VIII. Theories of Poetry in the English Renaissance
  1. The Rhetorical Period of English Criticism
  2. The Influence of Horace
  3. The Influence of Aristotle
  4. Manuals for Poets 5. Rhetorical Elements in Later English Classicism



Part Second: The Purpose of Poetry


I. The Classical Conception of the Purpose of Poetry
  1. General
  2. Moral Improvement through Precept and Example
  3. Moral Improvement through Allegory
  4. The Influence of Rhetoric

II. Medieval Ideas of the Purpose of Poetry
  1. Allegorical Interpretations in the Middle Ages
  2. Allegory in Mediaeval England

III. Rhetorical Elements in Italian Renaissance Conceptions of the Purpose
     of Poetry
  1. The Scholastic Grouping of Poetic, Rhet