How different Milton? Yet not the more Geafe I to wander, where the Mufes haunt Clear fpring, of fhady grove, or funny hill, Smit with the love of facred fong; but chief Thee, Sion, and the flow'ry brooks beneath, That wash thy hallow'd feet, and warbling flow, Nightly I vifit. Par. Loft. .THO' it do not immediately belong to this part of my fubject, yet I must take notice here of a beauty, which finds its place naturally in blank verfe, but is almost inćompatible with the regular movement of the couplet. I mean thofe fudden breaks of tranfitions in the verfe, which fo ftrongly characterize the paffions; and dart, as it were, were, a fentiment into the inmost foul of the reader. Is this the region, this the foil, the clime, Said then the loft Arch-angel, this the feat That we must change for Heav'n, this mournful gloom For that celeftial light. Be it fo, fince he Who now is fov'ra'n can dispose and bid What shall be right: fartheft from him is beft, Whom reafon hath equal'd, force hath made fupreme Above his equals, Farewell, happy fields, Where joy for ever dwells. Hail borrors, bail Infernal world, and thou profoundest hell Receive thy new poffeffor. Par. Loft. In the pathetic fpeeches of Dido, in the fourth Eneid, there are many fine ex THE amples of the force that may be given to a fentiment, by these sudden breaks and tranf itions in the verfe: yet, these are entirely loft in the English translation. It cannot be faid, that Dryden wanted feeling. To what then can we impute this weakness, if it be not to the invariable tamenefs and regularity of the couplet? You, Hortenfio, may be convinced of this, by comparing the English with the Roman poet: but, Afpafia must be fatisfied fome other way. I will therefore repeat Mr. Dryden's Tranflation of a particular paffage; after which, I will give you one in blank verfe, which, I think, enters more into the fpirit of the original. As I am certain, Afpafia, that you remember both the paffage and the occafion; it will require no introduction, ་་།་ F As [e] As if the peaceful state Of heavenly powers were touched with human fate! But go thy flight no longer I detain, Go feek thy promis'd kingdom thro' the main; Yet, if the heavens will hear my pious vow, Then fhalt thou call on injured Dido's name. Afp. I HOPE, Eugenio, your blank verse will give the poor queen a little more spirit. [e] Scilicet is fuperis labor eft, ea cura quietos Sollicitat! Neque te teneo, neque dicta refello. 1, fequere Italiam ventis, pete regna per undas; Spero equidem mediis, fi quid pia numina poffunt, Supplicia haufurum fcopulis, ac nomine Dido Sæpe vocaturum— Eug. You fhall judge for yourfelf Think we, fuch toils, fuck cares disturb the peace Of heav'ns bleft Habitants? Alike I fcorn On fome avenging rock, call, often call It often happens in the couplet versification, that, when the poet has fully expreffed his idea, the neceffity of a rhyme obliges him to weaken its effect by the addition of fome unneceffary circumstance; the following inftance We |