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Th' increasing prospect tires our wand'ring eyes;
Hills
peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise.*

This comparison is frequently mentioned as an instance of the strength of fancy. The images, however, appear too general and indistinct, and the last line conveys no new idea to the mind. The following picture in Shaftesbury, on the same sort of subject, appears to be more full and striking. foot, the rocky country rises into hills, a proper basis of the ponderous mass above; where huge embodied rocks lie piled on one another, and seem to prop the high arch of heaven. See! with what trembling steps poor mankind tread the narrow brink of the deep precipices! From whence with giddy horror they look down, mistrusting even the ground that bears them; whilst they hear the hollow sound of torrents underneath, and see the ruin of the impending rock; with falling trees, which hang with their roots upwards, and seem to draw more ruin after them." See the picturesque description of AnK 4 nibal

"Beneath the mountain's

* Ver. 225.

+ The MORALISTS. Characteristics, vol. ii. page 253.

nibal passing the Alps, in Livy, who is a great

poet.

18. A perfect judge will read each work of wit
With the same spirit that it's author writ.*

"To be able to judge of poetry, (says Voltaire,) a man must feel strongly, must be born with some sparks of that fire which animates the poet whom he criticises. As in deciding upon the merit of a piece of music, it is not enough, it is, indeed, nothing, to calculate the proportion of sounds as a mathematician, but we must have an ear and a soul for music."†

19. Thus when we view some well proportion'd dome, (The world's just wonder, and ev'n thine, O Rome!) No single parts unequally surprise,

All comes united to th' admiring eyes;

No monstrous height, or breadth, or length, appear;
The whole at once is bold and regular.

This is justly and elegantly expressed; and though it may seem difficult to speak of the

* Ver. 233.

Ubi supra, page 301.

+ Ver. 247.

same

same subject after such a description, yet Akenside has ventured, and nobly succeeded.

Mark, how the dread PANTHEON stands

Amid the domes of modern hands!

Amid the toys of idle state,

How simply, how severely great!

Then pause!*

20. Once on a time, La Mancha's knight, they say,
A certain bard encount'ring on the way.t

By this short tale, POPE has shewed us how much he could have excelled in telling a story of humour. The incident is taken from the second part of Don Quixote, first written by Don Alonzo Fernandez de Avellanada, and afterwards translated, or rather imitated, and new-modelled, by no less an author than the celebrated Le Sage.‡ The

* Ode to L. Huntingdon.

+ Ver. 267.

Le Sage generally took his plans from the Spanish writers, the manners of which nation he has well imitated. Le Diable Boiteux was drawn from the Diabolo Cojuelo of Guevara; his Gil Blas, from Don Gusman D'Alfarache. Le Sage made a journey into Spain to acquaint himself with the Spanish customs. He is a natural writer, of true humour. He died in a little house near Paris, where he supported himself by writing, 1747, He had been deaf ten years.

The book is not so contemptible as some authors insinuate; it was well received in France, and abounds in many strokes of humour and character worthy Cervantes himself. The brevity to which POPE's narration was confined, would not permit him to insert the following humorous dialogue at length. "I am satisfied you'll compass your design, (said the scholar,) provided you omit the combat in the lists. Let him have a care of that, (said Don Quixote, interrupting him;) that is the best part of the plot. But, Sir, (quoth the Bachelor,) if you would have me adhere to Aristotle's rules, I must omit the combat. Aristotle, (replied the Knight,) I grant, was a man of some parts; but his capacity was not unbounded: and give me leave to tell you, his authority does not extend over combats in the list, which are far above his narrow rules. Would you suffer the chaste queen of Bohemia to perish? For how can you clear her innocence? Believe me, COMBAT is the most honourable method you can pursue; and, besides, it will add such grace to your play, that all the rules in the universe must not stand in competition with it. Well, Sir Knight, (replied the Bachelor,) for your sake, and for the

honour

honour of chivalry, I will not leave out the combat: and that it may appear the more glorious, all the court of Bohemia shall be present at it, from the princes of the blood, to the very footmen. But still one difficulty remains, which is, that our common theatres are not large enough for it. There must be one erected on purpose, (answered the Knight;) and, in a word, rather than leave out the combat, the play had better be acted in a field or plain.*

3

21. Some to conceit alone their taste confine,

And glitt'ring thoughts struck out at every line.†

Simplicity, with elegance and propriety, is the perfection of style in every composition. Let us, on this occasion, compare two passages from Theocritus and Ovid upon the same subject. The Cyclops, in the former, addresses Galatea with comparisons, natural, obvious, and drawn from his situation.

Ω λευκα

* Continuation of Hist. of Don Quixote, b. iii. ch. 10.

+ Ver. 289.

* Δεξέως δε αρετη, σαφή και μη ταπεινὴν εἶναι. Aristot. Poet. c. 22.

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