gradually, like the swell of an organ, he foars into the highest dignity of found.

Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whofe guile,

Stir'd up with envy and revenge, deceiv'd
The mother of mankind, what time his pride
Had caft him out from heav'n, with all his
hoft

Of rebel Angels, by whofe ald afpiring
To fet himself in glory above his peers,
He trufted to have equal'd the most high,
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the throne and monarchy of God
Rais'd impious war in heav'n and battel
proud

With vain attempt. Him the almighty power

Hurl'd headlong flaming from th' ethereal

iky,

With hideous ruin and combustion, down To bottomlefs Perdition, there to dwell In adamantine chains, and penal fire, Who durft defy th' Omnipotent to arms. Par. Loft.

It is obvious from what I have faid of it, that the Couplet is not formed for such gradations as these. On the contrary, from the fameness in its flow, every fentiment, of what nature foever, comes equally recommended to the ear, and of course to our at tention. Thus, the following thought in Eloisa to Abelard, receives as much importance from the movement of the verse, as it could have done, had it been destined to infpire us with the most noble and virtuous feelings.

Not Cæfar's emprefs wou'd I deign to prove No, make me mistress to the man I love.

Afp. THIS fentiment may, as you have obferved, receive an importance from the movement of the verfe; but you will allow, that it is very little indebted to the expreffion.

Eug. THE expreffion must often be dif graced, when a rhyme is neceffary. You have made, Afpafia, a much better ufe of this paffage, than I meant to do: for I produced it merely to fhew, that where a fameness of verfification prevails, there can be no degrees, no contrafts in the founds, which, like shades in painting, throw forward, and give a distinction to the fuperior beauties.

Hor. MR. Pope feems to have had the fame idea, with respect to the thoughts, you have with respect to the founds.

that

He fays,

To bestow heightening on every part, is monstrous: fome parts ought to be lower than the reft; and nothing looks more ridiculous than a work, where the thoughts, however different in their own feem all on a level,'

" nature,

Letter to Mr. Walsh.

Eug. I wonder he did not perceive the ill effects of this equality in the cadence of his verfe, as well as in the colouring of his ideas. Of all the modes of versification, that have been cultivated by men of fenfe, the [d] Latin diftich, and modern couplet are the greatest levellers. There is no li

[d] The couplet, like the diftich, has a ftrong epi grammatic turn: it is formed to run into points; but, above all, it delights in the antithefis; and the art of the verfifier is complete, when the difcord in the ideas is

berty, no continuance in their movements. Like the out-line of a fcholar in drawing, they are broken, and interrupted; but, a flow of pencil is the ftile of a master in his art.. Would you have a proof of what I

advance ?

Ye facred Nine! that all my foul poffefs,
Whose raptures fire me, and whofe vifions
blefs;

Bear me, oh bear me to fequefter'd scenes,
The bow'ry mazes, and furrounding greens.
W. Foreft.

HERE, you cannot but be fenfible, how the enthusiasm is tamed by the precision of the couplet, and the confequent littleness in the scenery.

proportioned to the accord in the founds. To jar and jingle in the fame breath, is a mafter piece of Gothic refinement.

LA