the third end of a comparifon. Similes of this kind have, befide, a separate effect: they diverfify the narration by new images that are not strictly neceffary to the comparison: they are fhort episodes, which, without distracting us from the principal fubject, afford great delight by their beauty and variety:
He scarce had ceas'd, when the fuperior fiend
Was moving toward the fhore; his pond'rous fhield,
Ethereal temper, maffy, large, and round,
Behind him caft; the broad circumference
Hung on his fhoulders like the moon, whose orb
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views
At ev❜ning from the top of Fefole,
Or in Valdarno, to defcry new lands,
Rivers, or mountains, in her spotty globe.
Milton, b. 1.
Thus far thefe, beyond
Compare of mortal prowefs, yet obferv'd
Their dread commander. He, above the rest
In fhape and gesture proudly eminent,
Stood like a tow'r; his form had yet not loft
All her original brightnefs, nor appear'd
Lefs than arch-angel ruin'd, and th' excefs
Of glory obfcur'd: as when the fun new-rifen
VOL. III.
.C
Looks through the horizontal mifty air
Shorn of his beams; or from behind the moon.
In dim eclipfe, difastrous twilight sheds
On half the nations, and with fear of change
Perplexes monarchs.
Milton, b. 1.
As when a vulture on Imaus bred,
Whofe fnowy ridge the roving Tartar bounds, Diflodging from a region fcarce of prey To gorge the flesh of lambs, or yeanling kids, On hills where flocks are fed, flies toward the
fprings
Of Ganges or Hydafpes, Indian ftreams,
But in his way lights on the barren plains
Of Sericana, where Chineses drive
With fails and wind their cany waggons light;
So on this windy fea of land, the fiend
Walk'd up and down alone, bent on his
Yet higher than their tops
The verdurous wall of Paradise up sprung :
Which to our general fire gave profpect large
Into this nether empire neighbouring round.
And higher than that wall, a circling row
Of goodlieft trees loaden with faireft fruit,
Bloffoms and fruits at once of golden hue,
Appear'd, with gay enamel'd colours mix'd,
On which the fun more glad imprefs'd his beams
Than in fair evening cloud, or humid bow,
When God hath fhow'r'd the earth; fo lovely
feem'd
That landscape and of pure now purer air
Meets his approach, and to the heart infpires
Vernal delight and joy, able to drive
All fadnefs but defpair: now gentle gales
Fanning their odoriferous wings difpenfe
Native perfumes, and whifper whence they stole
Those balmy fpoils. As when to them who fail
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past
Mozambic, off at fea North-east winds blow
Sabean odour from the spicy fhore
Of Arabie the Bleft; with fuch delay
Well pleas'd they flack their course, and many a league,
Chear'd with the grateful fmell, old Ocean fmiles, Milton, b. 4.
With regard to fimiles of this kind, it will readily occur to the reader, that when the refembling fubject or circumftance is once properly introduced in a fimile, the mind paffes eafily to the new objects, and is tranfitorily amufed with them, without feeling any dif guft at the flight interruption. Thus, in fine weather, the momentary excursions of C 2
a traveller for agreeable profpects or fumptuous buildings, chear his mind, relieve him from the langour of uniformity, and without much lengthening his journey in reality, fhorten it greatly in appearance.
Next of comparisons that aggrandize or elevate. These make stronger impreffions than any other fort; the reafon of which may be gathered from the chapter of grandeur and fublimity, and, without reafoning, will be evident from the following inftances.
As when a flame the winding valley fills,
And runs on crackling fhrubs between the hills,
Then o'er the stubble up the mountain flies,
Fires the high woods, and blazes to the skies,
This way and that, the spreading torrent roars;
So fweeps the hero through the wasted shores.
Arou d him wide, immenfe deftruction pours,
And earth is delug'd with the fanguine fhow'rs.
Iliad xx. 569.
Through blood, through death, Achilles ftill proceeds,
O'er flaughter'd heroes, and o'er rolling steeds.
As
As when avenging flames with fury driv❜n
On guilty towns exert the wrath of Heav'n,
The pale inhabitants, fome fall, fome fly,
And the red vapours purple all the sky.
So rag'd Achilles: Death, and dire dismay,
And toils, and terrors, fill'd the dreadful day.
Iliad xxi. 605.
Methinks, King Richard and myself should meet With no lefs terror than the elements
Of fire and water, when their thund'ring fhock,
At meeting tears the cloudy cheeks of heaven.
Richard II. act. 3. fc. 5.
I beg peculiar attention to the following fimile, for a reason that fhall be mentioned.
Thus breathing death, in terrible array,
The clofe-compacted legions urg'd their way:
Fierce they drove on, impatient to destroy;
Troy charg'd the firft, and Hector first of Troy.
As from fome mountain's craggy forehead torn,
A rock's round fragment flies with fury born,
(Which from the stubborn ftone a torrent rends)
Precipitate the pond'rous mass descends:
From steep to steep the rolling ruin bounds:
At
every fhock the crackling wood refounds;
Still gath'ring force, it fmoaks; and urg'd amain,
Whirls, leaps, and thunders down, impetuous to
the plain :
There
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