A Full Enquiry into the Nature of the Pastoral (1717)

by Thomas Purney

CHAP. II.

Of the Fable; and the means of making a perfect One.

A Fable proper for Pastoral, and best adapted to delight, must have these following Qualities to render It compleat.

First, It must be one entire Action, having a Beginning, a Middle, and an End.

Secondly, A perfect Fable must have a due Length. And not consist of only a mournful Speech which a Shepherd find's occasion to make; or the like.

Thirdly, And since all Poetry is an Imitation of the most Considerable, or the most Delightful Actions in the Person's Life we undertake; not any trifling Action can be sufficient to constitute the Fable.

Fourthly, Another Quality which a Pastoral Fable should have to be the most compleat is a Moral Result.

I shall speak to all these Heads, except the first, concerning the Unity; for without that Quality, it's self-evident that 'tis no Fable. By Unity I mean the same with Aristotle.[A]

[Footnote A: See his 6th Chapter.]