Yet, Virgil will sometimes, on principle, violate all the common received rules of correct versification, in order to attain a particular beauty, or to excite a particular idea-thus, to give an idea of the sudden fall of the ox, with startling sound, he closes the line, in an unusual manner, with a monosyllable-Procumbit humi bos.-So, to express the burst of a pack of dogs-Odora canum vis—and the sudden falling of the shades of night-Vertitur interea cælum et ruit oceano nox.-There is nothing in the art of versifying,* (says Dr. Johnson, most of whose criticisms are highly instructive and just,) so much exposed to the power of the imagination, as the accommodation of the sound to the sense, or the representation of particular images, by the flow of the verse, in which they are expressed.-Homer, the father of all poetical beauty, has been celebrated by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, as the poet, who exhibited the greatest variety of sound.-There are, says he, innumerable passages, in which length of time, bulk of body, extremity of passion, stillness of repose-or brevity, speed, and eagerness, are evidently marked out, by the sound of the syllables.-The learned critic instances the verses, where the blind Polyphemus is represented, as groping out the entrance of his cave.-It is not to be doubted, continues this great critic, that Virgil, who wrote amidst the light of criticism, and owed much of his success to art and labour, endeavoured, among other excellencies, to exhibit this similitude; nor has he been less happy in this than in other graces of versification. -The same may be said, with equal truth, of Apollonius Rhodius. The resemblance of poetical numbers, to the subject they describe, is either general or particular, says Dr. Johnson.--The flow or structure of a whole * See the papers on versification, in the Rambler, by Dr. Johnson. M 2 passage passage the cadence and harmony of a single verse— or the sound of some emphatic and descriptive wordof which there are many in every language-such as roizein, mormurein, psithurizein, knossein, in Greekmurmur, susurrus, boatus, balatus, ululatus, in Latinto kiss, to hiss, bawl, jar, scratch, grating, harsh, in English. -But the use of words of this kind is generally involuntary, and independant of the art of the poet; it shows more skill by the flow of the versification, the disposition of the pauses, the arrangement of whole lines and sentences, to express the rapt, hurried, and precipitate the slow and solemn the melancholy or majestic-the soft and voluptuous-the heavy and labouring-and even, by choice, sometimes to admit the harsh and grating, according to the ever varying spirit of the subject matter-thus, to express the sound of an arrow flying, Virgil has a line of unusual harsh ness "Fugit horrendum stridens elapsa sagitta." To express the confusion and bewildered stare of Sinon, he has a line of unusual construction, where open vowels meet, and a spondee occurs, in the fifth place; and the expression is pleonastic. "Constitit, atque oculis Phrygia agmina circumspexit." There is a noble passage in Callimachus, hymn to Di ana, verse 54, et sequentes, where the poet describes the Cyclops at work, in the caverns of mount Etna, and the verses, both by a selection of apt words, and correspondent flow of the lines, happily express the alternate sound of the vast hammers on the anvils, and the rebellowing of the crater, and the contiguous shores of Sicily and Italy. There can be no doubt, then, that Apollonius super. Apollonius and Virgil aimed at this excellence.-We find, that when they wish to excite the ideas of natural beauty, and celestial grace, the lines are la. boured into an extraordinary degree of harmony.Thus, Book I. 1. 221, we find the description of Calais and Zetes, the winged pair Χρυσειαις φολίδεσσι διαυγέας αμφι δε νωτοις ΚρααίΘ εξ υπαίοιο και αυχενα ενθα και ενθα σε Κυανεαι δονεοντο μετα ποίησιν ενθείραι.” So, again, speaking of the beauty of Jason, v. 774 σε Βηδ' ίμεναι παρόλι Αςυ φαεινω αφερει κα Νύμφαι θηκσαντο δόμων υπεραντέλλοντα σε Και σφισι κυάνεοιο δι' περί ομμαία θέλγει σε Καλον ήρευθομενα γανείαι δε τε ηιθεσία σε Παρθενών ιμείρεσα μεθ' αλλοδαποισιν ἐοντα, 9. Again, Book III. v. 443. σε Θεσπεσιον δ' εν πασι μετέπρεπεν Αισοκατ Virgil, to express a similar subject, elaborates his numbers with singular harmony. "Os humerosque deo similis: namque ipsa decoram σε Casariem nato genetrix, lunenque juvent 66 Purpureum, et lætos oculis adflarat honores." "Qualis ubi hibernam Lyciam, Xanthique fluenta "Ipse jugis Cynthi graditur, mollique fluentem • Fronde premit crinem fingens, atque implicat auro.” Book IV. v. 143, et sequentes. Apollonius has exprest the harmony of the strains of Orpheus, and their effect, in lines of such sweetness, as evidently show design and poetical artifice.-Book I. ▾. 569. σε Τοισι δε φορμίζων ενθημονι μελπεν αυίδη 66 Οι αγροιο παις νηοσσοον ἐυπα]έρειαν 66 Αξίεμον, ἡ κεινας σκοπιας άλο αμφιεπεσκε.. We see here the skilful combination of vowels and liquids.-So, where Medea is described, as putting the wakeful dragon to sleep. σε Βαπλως, ἐκ κυκεών & ακεραία φαρμακ' αοιδαίς 66 Φαρμακε υπνον εβαλλε.”Book 1V. v. 157. The tranquillity of the scene, and the seductive influence, as the Argonauts pass the isle of the Sirens, are described in verses, that flow with a certain corresponding languid sweetness. σε Νηαδ ̓ ἐϋκραης ανεμω φερεν αίψα δε νησον « Θελγεσαι μολπήσιν ὅτις παρα πεισμα βαλοιτο. « Ηδη πεισματ' εμελλον ἐπ ̓ ηιονεσσι βαλεσθαι. Book IV. v. 891. How different is the cadence of the lines, which express the quick and sounding strains which Orpheus employed as a preservative!-See the lines that follow 66 Κραιπνον ἐϋτροχαλοιο μελος καναχησεν ἀοιδης σε Οφρ' αμιδις κλονεοντες επι βρομεωνται ἀκυαι 66 σε Βρεγμω παρθενικην δ' ενοπήν εβιησατο φόρμιγξ. " How expressive of plaintive melody are these lines of Virgil!-Georgic, Book IV. v. 474 66 Ipsa cavâ solans ægrum testudine amorem, "Te dulcis conjux, te solo in litore secum, "Te veniente die, te decedente canebat." How well do the repetitions accord, with the reiterated strains of the mournful bard!- -The song of Iopas, which was of a different character, is mentioned in lines of a different cadence.-Eneid, Book I. v. 740. "Cithará crinitus Jopas "Personat aurata docuit quæ maximus Atlas. “Arcturum, pluviasque Hyadas, geminosque Triones; Quid tantum oceano properent setingere soles "Hiberni, vel quæ tardis mora noctibus obstet." Here the measure is bold, swelling, and sonorous; such as was the descant of the Tyrian minstrel. Again, to express the bewildered stare of astonishment, and confusion of Sinon, standing and gaping around on the croud of Trojans, he introduces what is considered as, in general, destructive of harmony, and incompatible with good versification, a pause in the very close of the line. He also resorts to another unusual expedient, by employing a spondee in the fifth, as well as in the sixth place of the line.-Æneid, B. II. v. 68. "Constitit atque oculis Phrygia Agmina circumspexit" The |