When two syllables likewise are abscinded from the rest, they evidently want some associate sounds to make them harmonious. -Eyes -more wakeful than to drowse, Charm'd with Arcadian pipe, the past'ral reed Of Hermes, or his opiate rod. Meanwhile He ended, and the Son gave signal high First in the east his glorious lamp was seen, His longitude through heav'n's high road; the gray The same defect is perceived in the following line, where the pause is at the second syllable from the beginning. The race Of that wild rout that tore the Thracian bard When the pause falls upon the third syllable or the seventh, the harmony is better preserved; but as the third and seventh are weak syllables, the period leaves leaves the ear unsatisfied, and in expectation of the remaining part of the verse. 1 He, with his horrid crew, Lay vanquish'd, rolling in the fiery gulf, God,-with frequent intercourse, It may be, I think, established as a rule, that a pause which concludes a period should be made for the most part upon a strong syllable, as the fourth and sixth; but those pauses which only suspend the sense may be placed upon the weaker. Thus, the rest in the third line of the first passage satisfies the ear better than in the fourth, and the close of the second quotation better than of the third. The evil soon Drawn back, redounded (as a flood) on those From whom it sprung; impossible to mix With blessedness. -What we by day Lop overgrown, or prune, or prop, or bind, Tending to wild. The paths and bow'rs doubt not but our joint hands The The rest in the fifth place has the same inconvenience as in the seventh and third, that the syllable is weak. Beast now with beast 'gan war, and fowl with fowl, Of man, but fled him, or with countenance grim, The noblest and most majestic pauses which our versification admits, are upon the fourth and sixth syllables, which are both strongly sounded in a pure and regular verse, and at either of which the line is so divided, that both members participate of harmony. But now at last the sacred influence Of light appears, and from the walls of heav'n A glimmering dawn: here nature first begins But far above all others, if I can give any credit to my own ear, is the rest upon the sixth syllable, which, taking in a complete compass of sound, such as is sufficient to constitute one of our lyrick measures, makes a full and solemn close. Some passages which conclude at this stop, I could never read without some strong emotions of delight or ad miration. Before the hills appear'd, or fountain flow'd, Or other worlds they seem'd, or happy isles, He blew His trumpet, heard in Oreb since, perhaps When God descended; and, perhaps, once more If the poetry of Milton be examined, with regard to the pauses and flow of his verses into each other, it will appear, that he has performed all that our language would admit; and the comparison of his numbers with those who have cultivated the same manner of writing, will show that he excelled as much in the lower as the higher parts of his art, and that his skill in harmony was not less than his invention or his learning. NUMB. 91. TUESDAY, January 29, 1751. Dulcis inexpertis cultura potentis amici, Expertus metuit. To court the great ones, and to soothe their pride, HOR. But those that have, know well that danger's near. Creech. TH HE SCIENCES having long seen their votaries labouring for the benefit of mankind without reward, put up their petition to Jupiter for a more equitable distribution of riches and honours. Jupiter was moved at their complaints, and touched with the approaching miseries of men, whom the SCIENCES, wearied with perpetual ingratitude, were now threatening to forsake, and who would have been reduced by their departure to feed in dens upon the mast of trees, to hunt their prey in deserts, and to perish under the paws of animals stronger and fiercer than themselves. A synod of the celestials was therefore convened, in which it was resolved, that PATRONAGE should descend to the assistance of the SCIENCES. PATRONAGE was the daughter of ASTREA, by a mortal father, and had been educated in the school of TRUTH by the Goddesses, whom she was now appointed to protect. She had from her mother that dignity of aspect, which struck terrour into false merit, and from her mistress that reserve, which made her only accessible to those whom the SCIENCES brought into her presence. She |