Ath。Whenthingshaveanaccompanyingcharm,eitherthebestthinginthemisthisverycharm,orthereissomerightnessorutilitypossessedbythem;-forexample,Ishouldsaythateatinganddrinking,andtheuseoffoodingeneral,haveanaccompanyingcharmwhichwecallpleasure;butthatthisrightnessandutilityisjustthehealthfulnessofthethingsserveduptous,whichistheirtruerightness。
Cle。Justso。
Ath。Thus,too,Ishouldsaythatlearninghasacertainaccompanyingcharmwhichisthepleasure;butthattherightandtheprofitable,thegoodandthenoble,arequalitieswhichthetruthgivestoit。
Cle。Exactly。
Ath。Andsointheimitativearts-iftheysucceedinmakinglikenesses,andareaccompaniedbypleasure,maynottheirworksbesaidtohaveacharm?
Cle。Yes。
Ath。Butequalproportions,whetherofqualityorquantity,andnotpleasure,speakinggenerally,wouldgivethemtruthorrightness。
Cle。Yes。
Ath。Thenthatonlycanberightlyjudgedbythestandardofpleasure,whichmakesorfurnishesnoutilityortruthorlikeness,norontheotherhandisproductiveofanyhurtfulquality,butexistssolelyforthesakeoftheaccompanyingcharm;andtheterm“pleasure“
ismostappropriatelyappliedtoitwhentheseotherqualitiesareabsent。
Cle。Youarespeakingofharmlesspleasure,areyounot?
Ath。Yes;andthisItermamusement,whendoingneitherharmnorgoodinanydegreeworthspeakingof。
Cle。Verytrue。
Ath。Then,ifsuchbeourprinciples,wemustassertthatimitationisnottobejudgedofbypleasureandfalseopinion;andthisistrueofallequality,fortheequalisnotequalorthesymmetricalsymmetrical,becausesomebodythinksorlikessomething,buttheyaretobejudgedofbythestandardoftruth,andbynootherwhatever。
Cle。Quitetrue。
Ath。Dowenotregardallmusicasrepresentativeandimitative?
Cle。Certainly。
Ath。Then,whenanyonesaysthatmusicistobejudgedofbypleasure,hisdoctrinecannotbeadmitted;andiftherebeanymusicofwhichpleasureisthecriterion,suchmusicisnottobesoughtoutordeemedtohaveanyrealexcellence,butonlythatotherkindofmusicwhichisanimitationofthegood。
Cle。Verytrue。
Ath。Andthosewhoseekforthebestkindofsongandmusicoughtnottoseekforthatwhichispleasant,butforthatwhichistrue;
andthetruthofimitationconsists,asweweresaying,inrenderingthethingimitatedaccordingtoquantityandquality。
Cle。Certainly。
Ath。Andeveryonewilladmitthatmusicalcompositionsareallimitativeandrepresentative。Willnotpoetsandspectatorsandactorsallagreeinthis?
Cle。Theywill。
Ath。Surelythenhewhowouldjudgecorrectlymustknowwhateachcompositionis;forifhedoesnotknowwhatisthecharacterandmeaningofthepiece,andwhatitrepresents,hewillneverdiscernwhethertheintentionistrueorfalse。
Cle。Certainlynot。
Ath。Andwillhewhodoesnotknowwhatistruebeabletodistinguishwhatisgoodandbad?Mystatementisnotveryclear;
butperhapsyouwillunderstandmebetterifIputthematterinanotherway。
Cle。How?
Ath。Therearetenthousandlikenessesofobjectsofsight?
Cle。Yes。
Ath。Andcanhewhodoesnotknowwhattheexactobjectiswhichisimitated,everknowwhethertheresemblanceistruthfullyexecuted?
Imean,forexample,whetherastatuehastheproportionsofabody,andthetruesituationoftheparts;whatthoseproportionsare,andhowthepartsfitintooneanotherindueorder;alsotheircoloursandconformations,orwhetherthisisallconfusedintheexecution:
doyouthinkthatanyonecanknowaboutthis,whodoesnotknowwhattheanimaliswhichhasbeenimitated?
Cle。Impossible。
Ath。Butevenifweknowthatthethingpicturedorsculpturedisaman,whohasreceivedatthehandoftheartistallhisproperpartsandcoloursandshapes,mustwenotalsoknowwhethertheworkisbeautifulorinanyrespectdeficientinbeauty?
Cle。Ifthiswerenotrequired,Stranger,weshouldallofusbejudgesofbeauty。
Ath。Verytrue;andmaywenotsaythatineverythingimitated,whetherindrawing,music,oranyotherart,hewhoistobeacompetentjudgemustpossessthreethings;-hemustknow,inthefirstplace,ofwhattheimitationis;secondly,hemustknowthatitistrue;andthirdly,thatithasbeenwellexecutedinwordsandmelodiesandrhythms?
Cle。Certainly。
Ath。Thenletusnotfaintindiscussingthepeculiardifficultyofmusic。Musicismorecelebratedthananyotherkindofimitation,andthereforerequiresthegreatestcareofthemall。Forifamanmakesamistakehere,hemaydohimselfthegreatestinjurybywelcomingevildispositions,andthemistakemaybeverydifficulttodiscern,becausethepoetsareartistsveryinferiorincharactertotheMusesthemselves,whowouldneverfallintothemonstrouserrorofassigningtothewordsofmenthegesturesandsongsofwomen;
noraftercombiningthemelodieswiththegesturesoffreemenwouldtheyaddontherhythmsofslavesandmenofthebasersort;nor,beginningwiththerhythmsandgesturesoffreemen,wouldtheyassigntothemamelodyorwordswhichareofanoppositecharacter;
norwouldtheymixupthevoicesandsoundsofanimalsandofmenandinstruments,andeveryothersortofnoise,asiftheywereallone。Buthumanpoetsarefondofintroducingthissortofinconsistentmixture,andsomakethemselvesridiculousintheeyesofthosewho,asOrpheussays,“areripefortruepleasure。“Theexperiencedseeallthisconfusion,andyetthepoetsgoonandmakestillfurtherhavocbyseparatingtherhythmandthefigureofthedancefromthemelody,settingbarewordstometre,andalsoseparatingthemelodyandtherhythmfromthewords,usingthelyreortheflutealone。
Forwhentherearenowords,itisverydifficulttorecognizethemeaningoftheharmonyandrhythm,ortoseethatanyworthyobjectisimitatedbythem。Andwemustacknowledgethatallthissortofthing,whichaimsonlyatswiftnessandsmoothnessandabrutishnoise,andusesthefluteandthelyrenotasthemereaccompanimentsofthedanceandsong,isexceedinglycoarseandtasteless。Theuseofeitherinstrument,whenunaccompanied,leadstoeverysortofirregularityandtrickery。Thisisallrationalenough。Butweareconsideringnothowourchoristers,whoarefromthirtytofiftyyearsofage,andmaybeoverfifty,arenottousetheMuses,buthowtheyaretousethem。Andtheconsiderationswhichwehaveurgedseemtoshowinwhatwaythesefiftyyear-oldchoristerswhoaretosing,maybeexpectedtobebettertrained。Fortheyneedtohaveaquickperceptionandknowledgeofharmoniesandrhythms;otherwise,howcantheyeverknowwhetheramelodywouldberightlysungtotheDorianmode,ortotherhythmwhichthepoethasassignedtoit?
Cle。Clearlytheycannot。
Ath。Themanyareridiculousinimaginingthattheyknowwhatisinproperharmonyandrhythm,andwhatisnot,whentheycanonlybemadetosingandstepinrhythmbyforce;itneveroccurstothemthattheyareignorantofwhattheyaredoing。Noweverymelodyisrightwhenithassuitableharmonyandrhythm,andwrongwhenunsuitable。
Cle。Thatismostcertain。
Ath。Butcanamanwhodoesnotknowathing,asweweresaying,knowthatthethingisright?
Cle。Impossible。
Ath。Thennow,aswouldappear,wearemakingthediscoverythatournewly-appointedchoristers,whomweherebyinviteand,althoughtheyaretheirownmasters,compeltosing,mustbeeducatedtosuchanextentastobeabletofollowthestepsoftherhythmandthenotesofthesong,thattheymayknowtheharmoniesandrhythms,andbeabletoselectwhataresuitableformenoftheirageandcharactertosing;andmaysingthem,andhaveinnocentpleasurefromtheirownperformance,andalsoleadyoungermentowelcomewithdutifuldelightgooddispositions。Havingsuchtraining,theywillattainamoreaccurateknowledgethanfallstothelotofthecommonpeople,orevenofthepoetsthemselves。Forthepoetneednotknowthethirdpoint,viz。,whethertheimitationisgoodornot,thoughhecanhardlyhelpknowingthelawsofmelodyandrhythm。Buttheagedchorusmustknowallthethree,thattheymaychoosethebest,andthatwhichisnearesttothebest;forotherwisetheywillneverbeabletocharmthesoulsofyoungmeninthewayofvirtue。AndnowtheoriginaldesignoftheargumentwhichwasintendedtobringeloquentaidtotheChorusofDionysus,hasbeenaccomplishedtothebestofourability,andletusseewhetherwewereright:-Ishouldimaginethatadrinkingassemblyislikelytobecomemoreandmoretumultuousasthedrinkinggoeson:this,asweweresayingatfirst,willcertainlybethecase。
Cle。Certainly。
Ath。Everymanhasamorethannaturalelevation;hisheartisgladwithinhim,andhewillsayanythingandwillberestrainedbynobodyatsuchatime;hefanciesthatheisabletoruleoverhimselfandallmankind。
Cle。Quitetrue。