To Horace, unity, wholeness, and consistency are crucial in good poetry. He continuously emphasizes this as he speaks of rooting new ideas in the familiar and maintaining consistent character portrayal. Characters should also be consistent with real life, similar to Aristotle’s idea of characters being “lifelike” and adhering to “probable impossibilities” in Poetics.
A good poet gives “fresh meaning to a familiar word”, similar to the concept of Defamiliarization in Russian Formalism. A poet should learn the proper style and structure of poetry, but should also be free to invent new words, as man’s creation is not lasting and the rise and fall of new terms is natural. Horace seems to emphasize a balance between order and creativity.
Horace also highlights the importance of emotions in poetry, echoing Poetics - Aristotle and Plato’s implications in the Republic by stating that poetry should have charm in addition to beauty. However, in addition to emotions, poetry can also provide utility and combine it with pleasure, rebuking the surface meaning of Socrates’ statements on Poetry in Plato’s Republic.
Wisdom is the foundation for good poetry, which should imitate human life and character to provide pleasure, useful precepts, or both.
Natural talent and skill are dependent on one another. “I myself cannot see what study can do without a rich vein of natural talent, or, on the other hand, what can be achieved by native genius unless it is cultivated” (110)
Poetry teaches the way to right living. It should bring pleasure and utility.
highlights
The mountains will fall into labour, and there will be born — an absurd little mouse. – p. 102
Note: don’t set the audience’s expectations too high by attempting to imitate great works. This made me laugh.
The foundation and fountain-head of good composition is wisdom – p. 107
When once this corroding lust for profit has infected our minds, can we hope for poems to be written that are worth rubbing over with cedar oil and storing away in cases of polished cypress? – p. 107