And then, His monftrous Enemy With Sturdy Steps came ftalking in his fight, An hideous Gyant horrible and high 8. Those Verfes in the firft Georgic, -Ter funt conati imponere Pelio Scilicet, atque Offæ frondofum are contriv'd with great Art to reprefent the prodigious Pains the Giants took in heaping Mountains upon Mountains to scale Heaven, and the flowness of their Progrefs in that unwieldy Work. For a Vowel open before a Vowel, makes a Chasm, and requires a strong & Fairy Queen. h Geor. I. 281. D 2 and and full Breath; therefore a Paufe must follow, which naturally expreffes Difficulty and Opposition. But when Swiftnefs and Speed are to be defcrib'd, fee how the fame wonderful Man varies his Numbers, and ftill fuits his Verse to his Subject! Quadrupedante putrem Sonitu quatit Ungula Campum. Here the rapid Numbers, and short Syllables fuftain'd with strong Vowels, admirably represent both the Vigour and Speed of a Horfe at full Stretch fcowring o'er the Plain. When Horace fings of Mirth, Beauty, and other Subjects that require Delicacy and Sweetnefs of Compofition, he fmooths his Lines with foft Syllables, and flows in gay and melting Numbers. Scarce any Reader is fo much a Stoic, but good Humour fteals upon him; and he reads with fomething of the Temper which the Author Author was in when he wrote. How inexpreffibly fweet are thofe near Lines! Vrit me Glyceræ nitor Splendentis Pario marmore puriùs: Vrit grata Protervitas, Et Vultus nimium lubricus afpici. Innumerable Beauties of this Nature. are scatter'd thro' his Lyric Poetry. But when he undertakes lofty and noble Subjects, he raises his Style, and ftrengthens his Expreffion. For Example, when he propofes to do Honour to Pindar, and fing the Glories of Auguftus, he reaches the Grecians nobleft Flights, has all his Magnificence of Thought, his Strength of Fancy, and daring Liberty of Fi gures. The Roman Swan foars as high as the Theban; he equals that commanding Spirit, thofe awful and vigorous Beauties which he generously proD 3 nounces nounces inimitable; and praifes both his immortal Predeceffor in Lyric Poetry, and his Royal Benefactor, with as much Grandeur and exalted Eloquence, as ever Pindar prais'd any of his Heroes. 'Tis a just Observation of Longi nus, that tho' Homer and Virgil are chiefly confin'd to the Dactyl and Spondee, and rarely use even any equivalent Feet, yet they temper them together with fuch aftonishing Skill and Diligence, fo carefully vary their Syllables, and adapt their Sounds to the Nature of the thing defcrib'd, that in their Poems there is all the harmonious change and variety of Numbers which can be compos'd by all the poffible Turns, and different Pofition of all the Feet in the Languages. I fhall add no more of my own upon this Head, but conclude with those curious and judicious Lines of Mr. Pope. Tis not enough, no harshness gives The found muft feem an Echo to the Senfe. Soft is the Strain when Zephyr And the fmooth Stream in Smoother But when loud Surges lafh the The boarfe rough Verfe fhou'd like the Torrent roar. When Ajax ftrives fome Rock's vaft Weight to throw, The Line too Labours, and the Not fo when Swift Camilla fcours Flies o'er th' unbending Corn, and skims along the Main. §. 6. A Reader of fuch Authors can scarce ever be weary; he has the i. Effay on Criticism, pag. 20. Edit. 3. D 4 advan |