Dennis, The Advancement and Reformation of Modern Poetry, ch. 7

ジョン・デニス
『現代詩の発展と改革：批評論文』より
第7章
詩における狂乱状態の原因：実例

詩における狂乱状態とは、上に見たような驚嘆・称賛と憧れ、喜び、恐怖、愕然などという激情に他ならない。それらは、自然にそれらをもたらすような思考によってひきおこされる。憧れ・称賛とは、偉大なことを頭に思い描いた時に魂を高揚させる自尊の念とともに、心を高ぶらせる。喜びが大きい時、人は我を忘れる。言葉を失うほどの驚きは、ある種の興奮状態をもたらす。以下、どうしてそうなるのか、例を見ていこう。まずはホラティウスのオード3.3からである。

（引用略）

内容は以下のとおりである。

勇敢な男が正しいことをすると固く心に決めている。彼の美徳は揺るがない。馬鹿な群衆がわめき暴れて押し寄せてきても、暴君ににらまれても、嵐に荒れるアドリア海を支配する南風が怒り狂ってやかましく襲ってきても、ユピテルの燃える右腕から雷が投げつけられても。そう、この世界の骨組みがばらばらに脱臼しておぞましい音とともに爆速で落ちてきて彼をつぶすことはあるかもしれないが、それでも彼の心が揺らぐことは絶対にない。－－そんな原文から大きな狂乱状態が伝わることは言うまでもないが、この狂乱がどのようなものか、少し考えてみる。するとわかるのは、上の詩には高揚感と厳格さと激烈さ、つまりは驚嘆と称賛、そして憧れに足る何かがあることだ。この詩は言葉を失うほど恐ろしい。このような激情をわたしたちが感じるのはなぜか。もちろん、そこで語られる思考の内容そのものが、然るべき言葉によってあらわされたなら、言わば自然に激情をもたらすからである。上に見てきたように、偉大なものが驚嘆・称賛と憧れをもたらす。強いものに傷つけられそうな時に人は恐怖を抱く。人が驚き、愕然として言葉を失うのは、非常に恐ろしいものが襲ってきた時である。これらのものそのものが、あるいはそれについて考えた時に、激情が生まれるのである。上の詩をよく読めば、そこで思考されている内容が偉大で、恐ろしく、そして部分的に驚愕すべきものであることがわかるだろう。

が、さらに三つの点に注意してほしい。まず、上の詩においては、思考が見事に段階的に上昇している。ホラティウスは恐ろしいものからより恐ろしいものへとのぼっていき、そして最後に愕然と言葉を失う。荒れ狂う群集、目で脅す暴君、嵐の海、ユピテルの怒りをあらわす雷、そしてこの世すべての破滅・崩壊を彼は順に描く。第二に、思考が上昇するにしたがい、詩人の心も高ぶっていっている。やはり激情は思考によってもたらされるのである。三つめ、暴君に関する第二の思考以降さらに狂乱の度を高めるにあたり、ホラティウスは神にふれている。むしろ、そうせざるをえない。古代ローマ思想について最低限の知識があれば、嵐・海・雷に宗教的な意味があることは明らかなはずである。

次に、読者に思い浮かべていただこう。これはただ「大きい」ことによって心動かす、心を高ぶらせるイメージ、つまり絵である。ミルトンの『楽園喪失』第1巻は、ルシファーについてこう記述する。

……他の者たちより彼は
大きく、誇り高く、上から
塔のように見下ろしていた。まだその姿は
天にいた時の光を完全に失ってはおらず、
堕ちた大天使にふさわしい陰のある輝きを
放っていた。たとえるなら、それは、太陽が
霧の地平線から昇りつつ、
あるいは雲の後ろで、
蝕のようにぼんやりと、禍（わざわい）を告げる
薄明を半球上の国々に投げかけ、王たちに革命の恐れを
抱かせているかのようであった。こうして高く暗く、
この大天使は輝いていた。彼の顔には、
雷によって刻まれた傷跡が深く、いく筋も走っていた。

この10数行とその直前の10行を比べて考えていただきたい。なぜこちらのほうがはるかに偉大に感じられるのか。それはもちろん、描かれている内容の規模が大きいからである。だが、なぜ内容の大きさが詩の偉大さにつながるのか。もちろん、大きいものが詩人に驚きと称賛の念を与え、気高く誇り高い気持ちにさせるからである。それが詩の偉大さとなってあらわれるのである。それは支配的な威厳であり、強く激しく、言わば暴力的に心を揺さぶる。描かれている内容の規模が大きく、同時にとても恐ろしいからである。心を押しつぶすほどの激情とはある種の暴力であり、それが痛いほど強い言葉になってあらわれるのである。そのように気高い主題のなか、神に関係するものがもっとも偉大であることは言うまでもない。

天才詩人による描写二点について考えてみよう。ウェルギリウスの第二巻からである。まず、大木を切り倒す描写だ。これに驚嘆したユリウス・スカリゲルは、ユピテルが手を入れてもこれ以上よくならないと言った。もうひとつはあの比類なきラオコオンの彫刻の題材となったものだ。あれはローマのベルウィデーレの庭園で見たが、本当に言葉を失うほどすばらしかった。芸術というより、あの哀れな男そのものだった。恐怖と悲しみのなか体が麻痺して石になったニオベと同じように。

最初のものは、壮大かつ恐ろしい絵だ。ウェルギリウスは、10年間包囲され、そして最後に滅んだトロイを倒れる梣（とねりこ）にたとえる。樵（きこり）たちが長きにわたって斧で根元を刻みつづけてきた木が最後に倒れるようすに、である。

Ac veluti summis antiquam in montibus ornum,
Cum ferro accisam, crebrisque bipennibus instant.
Eruere Agricolae certatim, illa usque minatur.
Et Tremefacta Comam concusso vertice nutat,
Volneribus Donec Paulatim evicta, supremum
Congemuit, traxitque Jugis avolsa ruinam.

屈強な樵たちは、何度も何度も打ち、打ち、打ち、
力いっぱい腕を伸ばして激しく斧を振りまわし、
天に昇り伸びる樫の堅い根元にその刃を食いこませる。
長らく山に君臨した大木は、
打たれるたびに大きく頷くように揺れ、
高くそびえきらめく頭を震わせる。
何度も何度も何度も打たれ、傷つき、木はとうとう
最期のうめきとともに倒れる。
その力と重さと速さのために大地が割け、岩も割れる。
恐るべき木は、倒れ滅ぶ時にも恐ろしい。

よく見ていただきたいのだが、描かれる絵のなかの動きとともに詩人の心は高ぶっていく。こうして恐怖が立体的に描かれる。

-------------------Illa usque minatur,
Et tremefacta comam, concusso vertice mutat.

なぜなら、すべての激情は、それがとても大きくなった時には狂乱状態をともなうからである。さらに言うなら、心が苦しくなるようなすべての激情は、狂乱に加えて無慈悲な暴力とともにやってくるからである。まるで自分の目で見ているかのように、詩人は動く絵を言葉で描く。だから恐ろしい。ラオコオンの場面も見てみよう。

Laocoon Ductus Neptuno sorte Sacerdos,
Sollennes Taurum Ingentem mactabat ad aras,
Ecce autem gemini, a Tenedo, Tranquilla per alta
(Horresco referens) Immensis Orbibus Angues
Incumbunt pelago, pariterque ad littera tendunt:
Pectora quorum inter fluctus arrecta, Jubaeque
Sanguineae exuperant undas, pars cetera Pontum
Pone legit, sinuantque Immensa volumine Terga.
Fit Sonitus, spumante salo, Jamque arva tenebant.
Ardentesque Oculos Suffecti Sanguine & igni,
Sibila Lambebant linguis vibrantibus ora.
Diffugimus visu exangues, illi agmine certo
Laocoonta petunt, & primum parva Duorum
Corpora natorum Serpens anplexus uterque

Implicat, & miseros morsu Depascitur artus,
Post Ipsum auxilio Subeuntem, ac Tela ferentem
Corripiunt, spirisque ligant ingentibus, & Jam
Bis medium amplexi, bis collo squamea circum
Terga Dati, superant capite & ceraicibus altis.
Ille simul manibus tendit divellere nodos,
Perfusus sanie vitas atroque veneno.
Clamores simul Horrendos ad Sydera tollit.
Quales Mugitus, fugit cum saucius aram
Taurns & incertam excussit cervice secarim.

無韻の英語で訳すとこうなる。

くじでネプトゥルヌスの神官となっていたラオコオンが、
いけにえの儀式のために大きく強い牛を
殺す準備をしていた。その時！ 見よ！ テネドスから
大きな蛇が！ ありえないほど巨大な二匹の蛇が！
（思い出すだけで恐怖に震え、血が凍って
死にそうになる。神経がみな凍える気がする。）
海面に横たわりとぐろを巻くこの怪物二匹が
ともにすごい速さで岸に向かってやってきた。
波に直立する斑点のある胸、
血を求める残忍な顔、まさに見るもおぞましい。
そこから下は水中でうねり曲がり、
輪がいくつもできている。鳴り響く海の音、
鱗の鎧の恐ろしい尾が
水を打ち、潮が泡立つ。
今、蛇は浜にたどり着き、炎の目、
血の色の目から、燃える矢の視線を放つ。
血の気を失ったわたしたちは
怯え、震え、一目散に逃げるしかなかった。
燃える蛇たちはラオコオンにまっすぐ向かい、
まず彼の子ふたりをつかまえた。
あちこち手足にからみつき、
そして関節を噛み砕く。
何というごちそう……。無力な父は
空をつんざく叫び声をあげながら助けに走る。
が、怒りに狂う蛇たちのほうからむしろ飛びかかり、
巨大な毒入りとぐろのなかにラオコオンを巻きこむ。
腰に二重、首にも二重に巻きついて、
醜く恐ろしい首と頭を
空高くもちあげて、気を失いつつある彼を
上からにらむ。が、それでもラオコオンは
筋肉の力のかぎりをふりしぼり、
腕をぐいっと、またぐいっと伸ばして、
ほどけない毒蛇のとぐろを引きちぎり、
その内臓の気持ち悪い中身をぶちまけようとする。
が、無理だ。痛みに耐えられず絶叫する。
怒りに狂った眼をぎらぎらと見開くことしかできない。
獰猛な雄牛だったら狂ったように飛び跳ねて、
体に刺さりきらなかった斧をふりはらい、雄叫びをあげつつ
血に染まった祭壇から逃げていったことだろう。

これはたいした狂乱状態だ。高ぶる心、暴力的なまでの感情、そして狂気が伝わってくる。いろんな意味で大きく、震えるほど恐ろしい内容を扱っているからである。ウェルギリウスは動く絵、強く激しく動く絵を描いている。想像力が燃えあがり、その結果見えないはずの絵が彼の目の前にある。だから彼は自分が描くラオコオンの危険を自分も感じ、恐怖に震え、おぞましさに凍えるのである。これはまさに自分が感じている激情の表現に他ならない。だからこそ、通常ありえないほど読者の心は揺さぶられることになる。が、さらにていねいに、危険が近づくにつれて詩人の心が高まっていくようす、詩人のなかで恐怖が大きくなっていくようすを確認しよう。

-------------------- Jamque aroa tenebint
Ardentesque oculos, &c.
今、蛇は浜にたどり着き……

（つづく）

*****
John Dennis (1657-1734)
From The Advancement and Reformation of Modern Poetry:
A Critical Discourse.
Ch. 7
The Causes of Poetical Enthusiasm, shewn by Examples

The Enthusiasm that is found in Poetry, is nothing but the forementioned passions, Admiration, Joy, Terror, Astonishment, flowing from the thoughts which naturally produce them. For Admiration, together with that Pride which exalts the soul at the conceiving a great Hint, gives elevation; Joy, if 'tis great, gives transport, and astonishment gives vehemence. But now let us shew by examples, how this was done, and let us begin with that Admirable Ode of Horace, which is the third of the Third Book.

Justum & Tenacem propositi virum,
Non civium ardor prava Jubentium,
Non vultus instantis Tyranni
Mente quatit solida, neque Auster
Dux Inquieti Turbidus Adriae;
Nec fulmin antis magna Jovis manus,
Se fractus Illabatur Orbis
Impavidum ferient Ruinae.

That is,

The man, the brave man, who is resolv'd upon a right and a firm principle, is sure never to have his solid vertue shaken, neither by the rage of the giddy multitude, nor by the frowns of an insulting Tyrant, nor by the Fury of the Roaring South, that Turbulent Ruler of the Tempestuous Adria; no, nor by the Red Right Hand of Thundring Jove: Nay, should the World's disjointed Frame come rushing down with a Dismal Sound upon him, its Ruines might Crush, but they could never Shake him. Now 'tis plain that in the original there is a great deal of Enthusiasm. But let us observe a little what this Enthusiasm is. Upon observation we shall find then, that in the fore-mentioned Verses there is Elevation, Severity and Vehemence, and consequently there is something Admirable in them, and Terrible and Astonishing. Now why should we feel these passions in reading these thoughts, unless the passions naturally attend them, when they are express'd as they should be? But Admiration, as we have said above, must come from something that is great, and Terror from something that is powerful, and likely to hurt; and Astonishment from something that is very Terrible, and very likely to hurt; that is, from things that are so, or from their Idea's. The Reader, upon examining the fore-mention'd Verses, will find that the thoughts in them all are great and terrible, and some of them are astonishing.

But here I desire the Reader to observe three things: First, the admirable gradation of Thought here. How the Poet rises from something that is Terrible, to something that is more Terrible, till he comes at last to something Astonishing and Amazing. How from the Rage of the Mad Multitude, he proceeds to the frowns of a Tyrant that stands threatning by: How he rises from thence to a storm at Sea, and from thence to the wrath of Jove express'd in the dreadful Thunder, and from thence to the final dismal Dissolution of all things. The next thing that I desire him to observe is, How the Spirit of the Poet rises with his Thoughts, which is a sure sign, that the one is nothing but the passions that attend on the other. And the third thing that the Reader is to remark is, that the Poet could not carry his Enthusiasm higher after the second thought, without having recourse to Religion. For he who knows any thing of the Pagan system, knows that the three last thoughts are taken from their Religion.

Let us now set before the Reader an Image, that only by its greatness will move him and exalt him. The passage is in the first Book of Milton's Paradice Lost, where he thus describes Lucifer.

-------------------- He above the rest,
In shape and gesture proudly eminent,
Stood like a Towr, his form had yet not lost
All her original Brightness, nor appear'd
Less than Archangel ruin'd, and th' excess
Of Glory obscur'd, as when the Sun new risn
Looks thro the Horizontal misty Air,
Shorn of his Beams, or from behind a Cloud,
In dim Eclipse Disastrous Twilight sheds
On half the Nations, and with fear of change
Perplexes Monarchs; Darkned so yet shone
Above them all th' Archangel, but his Face
Deep Scars of Thunder had Intrench'd.

I desire the Reader would give himself the trouble of comparing these ten lines, with the ten that preceded them, and then to tell me, why the Spirit should be so much greater in these than it is in the others; unless it proceeded from the greatness of the Ideas, or how the greatness of the Ideas could cause it, but by infusing into the Poet admiration and a noble pride, which express'd make the Spirit, which is stately and majestick till the last, and then it grows vehement, because the Idea which causes it, is not only great, but very Terrible. For all the afflicting Passions that are violent are express'd with vehemence. The Reader cannot but observe of himself, that the greatest of these noble Ideas is taken from Religion.

-------------------- But his Face
Deep Scars of Thunder had Intrench'd.

Now let us consider two very masterly Images, out of the Second Book of Virgil; the first is the Hewing down of a Tree, which appear'd so admirable to Julius Scaliger, that he affirm'd that Jupiter could never have mended it; and the second gave occasion for that Incomparable Statue of Laocoon, which I saw at Rome, in the Gardens of Beluidere, and which is so astonishing, that it does not appear to be the work of Art, but the miserable Creature himself, like Niobe benumm'd and petrify'd with grief and horror.

The first, besides its Greatness, carries Terror along with it. Virgil compares the Destruction of Troy, which had been ten years besieg'd, to the fall of a Mountain Ash, at whose Root the labouring Swains had been a long time hewing with their Axes.

Ac veluti summis antiquam in montibus ornum,
Cum ferro accisam, crebrisque bipennibus instant.
Eruere Agricolae certatim, illa usque minatur.
Et Tremefacta Comam concusso vertice nutat,
Volneribus Donec Paulatim evicta, supremum
Congemuit, traxitque Jugis avolsa ruinam.

And as when sturdy Swains, with frequent strokes,
Hewing with all their stretcht out arms, let drive
At the firm Root of some aspiring Oak,
Which long the Glory of the Mountain stood,
That ev'ry moment formidably nods,
And shakes the lofty glories of its crown,
Till broken by repeated wounds at last,
Down it comes rushing with a fatal groan,
And tears the Earth, and rends the solid Rock,
And still is Dreadful in its hideous fall.

Now here I desire the Reader to consider, how the Poet raises his Spirit as soon as he sets his Image in motion, and brings in Terror to his relief.

-------------------Illa usque minatur,
Et tremefacta comam, concusso vertice mutat.

For all the passions, when they are very great, carry Fury along with them, and all the afflicting passions, together with Fury, carry Vehemence and Severity. And the Poet hereby setting his Image in motion, had set it before his eyes, and so made it the more terrible. Let us now consider that of Laocoon.

Laocoon Ductus Neptuno sorte Sacerdos,
Sollennes Taurum Ingentem mactabat ad aras,
Ecce autem gemini, a Tenedo, Tranquilla per alta
(Horresco referens) Immensis Orbibus Angues
Incumbunt pelago, pariterque ad littera tendunt:
Pectora quorum inter fluctus arrecta, Jubaeque
Sanguineae exuperant undas, pars cetera Pontum
Pone legit, sinuantque Immensa volumine Terga.
Fit Sonitus, spumante salo, Jamque arva tenebant.
Ardentesque Oculos Suffecti Sanguine & igni,
Sibila Lambebant linguis vibrantibus ora.
Diffugimus visu exangues, illi agmine certo
Laocoonta petunt, & primum parva Duorum
Corpora natorum Serpens anplexus uterque

Implicat, & miseros morsu Depascitur artus,
Post Ipsum auxilio Subeuntem, ac Tela ferentem
Corripiunt, spirisque ligant ingentibus, & Jam
Bis medium amplexi, bis collo squamea circum
Terga Dati, superant capite & ceraicibus altis.
Ille simul manibus tendit divellere nodos,
Perfusus sanie vitas atroque veneno.
Clamores simul Horrendos ad Sydera tollit.
Quales Mugitus, fugit cum saucius aram
Taurns & incertam excussit cervice secarim.
Which in English Blank Verse runs thus,

Laocoon, now Great Neptune's Priest, by Lot,
The solemn Sacrifice a mighty Bull
Prepar'd to slay; when lo from Tenedos
Two huge Twin Serpents of prodigious size,
(A shivering horror chills all my life blood
At the bare thought and freezes ev'ry Nerve)
Their monstrous folds incumbent on the Main,
With equal haste come rowling tow'rds the Shore.
Their spotty Breasts erect above the Waves,
And bloody Crests, look fearful to the eye.
Their other parts come winding through the flood
In many a waving spire; the Sea resounds,
While with the Scaly horrors of their Tayls
They swinge the foaming brine.
And now they land, now dart their flaming Eyes,
Distain'd with Blood, and streaming all with fire.
We, pale and bloodless at the dismal sight,
All in a moment trembling disappear.
They to the Priest direct their flaming way,
And of his little Sons each seizing one,
Around their Limbs they twine their snaky Spires.
And on their little trembling Joynts they feed:
A dismal Feast; and while their wretched Sire
With piercing shrieks comes rushing to their aid,
At him with Fury both at once they dart,
And clasping him with their vast pois'nous folds,
Twice round his Waste they twist, and twice his Neck;
And stretching o're his Head, their dismal Head
And lofty Crests, upon the dying wretch
They dreadfully look down: He all in vain
With all his might his brawny Muscles strains,
And stretches his extended arms, to tear
The pois'nous and inextricable folds,
And from their entrails squeezes horrid gore.
And now tormented, hideously he roars,
And stamping, stares from his distracted eyes.
Thus madly bounds about the impetuous Bull,
When from his wound he shakes th' uncertain Axe,
And Bellowing, from the Bloody Altar broke.

And now here we find a deal of Enthusiasm; which is nothing but the elevation, and vehemence and fury proceeding from the Great and Terrible and Horrible Ideas. For the Poet setting his Image in so much motion, and expressing it with so much action, his inflam'd Imagination set it before his very eyes, so that he participated of the Danger which he describ'd, was shaken by the Terror, and shiver'd with the Horror. And what is it but the expression of the passions he felt, that moves the Reader in such an extraordinary manner. But here let us observe how the Spirit of the Poet rises, as the Danger comes nearer, and the Terror grows upon him.

----- Jamque aroa tenebint
Ardentesque oculos, &c.
And now they land, &c.

Let us consider beside what prodigious force all this must have in the connexion, where Religion adds to the Terror, encreases the Astonishment, and augments the Horror. For 'twas by the direction of Minerva that this Terrible Incident was brought about, who had combin'd with Juno to destroy the Trojans, as has been at large declar'd in a former Critical Treatise. And thus we have endeavour'd to shew how the Enthusiasm proceeds from the thoughts, and consequently from the subject. But one thing we have omitted, that as thoughts produce the spirit, the spirit produces and makes the expression; which is known by experience to all who are Poets; for never any one, while he was wrapt with Enthusiasm, wanted either Words or Harmony; and is selfevident to all who consider, that the Expression conveys and shows the Spirit, and therefore must be produced by it. So that from what we have said we may venture to lay down this Definition of Poetical Genius. Poetical Genius in a Poem is the true expressions of Ordinary or Enthusiastick Passion, proceeding from Ideas, to which it naturally belongs; and Poetical Genius in a Poet, is the power of expressing such Passion worthily: And the sublime is a great thought exprest with the Enthusiasm that belongs to it, which the Reader will find Agreeable to the Doctrine of Cecilius. Longinus, I must confess, has not told us what the sublime is; because Cecilius, it seems, had done that before him. Tho methinks, it was a very great fault in so great a Man as Longinus, to write a Book which could not be understood, but by another Mans Writings; especially when he saw that those Writings were so very defective, that they were not likely to last. But tho Longinus does not directly tell us, what the Sublime is, yet in the first six or seven Chapters of his Book, he takes a great deal of pains to set before us, the effects which it produces in the minds of Men; as, for example, that it causes in them admiration and surprize; a noble Pride, and a noble Vigour, an invincible force transporting the Soul from its ordinary Situation, and a Transport, and a fulness of Joy mingled with Astonishment. These are the effects that Longinus tells us that the Sublime produces in the minds of men. Now I have endeavour'd to shew what it is in Poetry that works these effects. So that take the Cause and the Effects together, and you have the Sublime.

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004890743.0001.000
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