| From 1660 to 1750, a genre of poetry known as the Imitation enjoyed great popularity in England. This genre attracted poets such as Swift, Pope, and Johnson. Horace and Juvenal were the preeminently imitated poets of the day, and Jonathan Swift imitated Horace's odes, satires, and epistles many times from 1712 to 1736. The enduring nature of the attraction suggests that Horace held a special significance for the poet Swift.;However, Swift, like Pope, chose to complicate a number of his Horatian Imitations with a Juvenalian presence. He did not hesitate to blend satiric voices of the past with his own to suit his poetic purposes. By using Horace's poems as vehicles, Swift could aim sharp attacks. His eclectic practice imparts to his poetry variety and enrichment, and suggests that Swift conceived of the Imitation not as a constraining, but as a liberating form. Everywhere his Horatian Imitations reveal a highly sophisticated understanding of classical convention, and his imitative practice suggests that he was far more original than the term "Horatian Imitation" would suggest.;This dissertation examines the diverse topical, literary, and psychological reasons underpinning Swift's selection of Horace as his model in the Imitation. The study of Swift's Horatian poems is valuable for a number of reasons. For example, traditional opinion has dictated that we view Swift as Juvenalian. While a Juvenalian element exists in Swift, it is usually overemphasized. Many of his Horatian Imitations reveal Swift to have thought of himself as a distinctly Horatian figure. Equally important, these poems prove that Swift was more than a competent translator and versifier; through Horace he achieved poetic elegance--a quality with which the poet Swift is not usually associated. Moreover, imitating Horace enabled him to achieve something he had difficulty achieving any other way: success as a writer of deeply emotional poetry. |
