The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia · Chapter
Imlac's History Continued—A Dissertation Upon Poetry explained
Imlac continues his history, explaining his pursuit of poetry as the highest learning.
What happens
Imlac continues his history, explaining his pursuit of poetry as the highest learning. He describes his study of ancient poets, his realization that greatness cannot be achieved through imitation, and his turn to nature and life as his true subjects. He outlines the poet's duty to observe general properties of nature and all modes of life, to transcend personal and cultural prejudices, and to write for posterity rather than contemporary praise.
Themes in this chapter
The Limits of Reason and Imagination
Imlac's discourse on poetry explores the tension between the poet's imaginative reach and the necessity of grounding art in universal truths and observable nature.
The Vanity of Human Wishes
Imlac's acceptance that a true poet must 'content himself with the slow progress of his name' and forgo contemporary praise highlights the vanity of seeking immediate fame.
Characters to notice
- Imlac
Imlac narrates his poetic journey, detailing his studies, his rejection of imitation, and his philosophy of poetry as the interpreter of nature and legislator of mankind.
- Rasselas
The Prince interjects with a comment on the vastness of nature, noting that even within the Happy Valley he continually discovers new things.
Key passages
“He must divest himself of the prejudices of his age and country; he must consider right and wrong in their abstracted and invariable state; he must disregard present laws and opinions, and rise to general and transcendental truths, which will always be the same.”
A poet must set aside the biases of their own time and place, focusing on universal and unchanging principles of right and wrong, and aim for truths that transcend current customs.
Imlac defines the poet's need for objectivity and universality.
“The business of a poet is to examine, not the individual, but the species; to remark general properties and large appearances. He does not number the streaks of the tulip, or describe the different shades of the verdure of the forest.”
A poet should focus on general characteristics and broad patterns rather than minute details, capturing what is universally recognizable.
Imlac articulates the neoclassical preference for the general over the particular in art.