A LETTER V. From Mr. WALSH. Sept. 9, 1706. T my return from the North I received the favour of your letter, which had lain there till then. Having been absent about fix weeks, I read over your Paftorals again, with a great deal of pleafure, and to judge the better read Virgil's Eclogues, and Spenfer's Calendar, at the fame time; and, I affure you, I continue the fame opinion I had always of them. By the little hints you take upon all occafions to improve them, 'tis probable you will make them yet better against winter; tho' there is a mean to be kept even in that too, and a man may correct his verses till he takes away the true fpirit of of them; especially if he submits to the correction of fome who pass for great Critics, by mechanical rules, and never enter into the true defign and Genius of an author. I have seen some of thefe, that would hardly allow any one good Ode in Horace, who cry Virgil wants fancy, and that Homer is very incorrect. While they talk at this rate, one would think them above the common rate of mortals; but generally they are great admirers of Ovid and Lucan; and when they write themselves, we find out all the myftery. They scan their verfes upon their fingers; run after Conceits and glaring thoughts; their poems are all made up of Couplets, of which the first may be laft, or the last first, without any fort of prejudice to their works; in which there is no defign, or method, or any thing natural or just. For you are certainly in the right, that in all writings whatfoever (not poetry only) nature is to be followed; and we should be jealous of ourselves for being fond of Similies, Conceits, and what they call faying fine Things. When we were in the North, my Lord Wharton fhew'd me a letter he had receiv'd from a certain great General in Spain *; I told him I would by all means have that General recall'd, and fet to writ ng here at home, for it was impoffible that a man with fo much Wit as he fhew'd, could be fit to command an Army, or do any other bufinefst. As for what you fay of Expreffion: 'tis indeed the fame thing to Wit, as Drefs is to Beauty: I have feen many women over-drefs'd, and feveral look better in a careless night-gown, with their hair about their ears, than Mademoiselle Spanheim drefs'd for a ball. I do not defign to be in London till towards the parliament: then I fhall certainly be there; and hope by that time you will have finifh'd your Paftorals as you would have them appear in the world, and particularly the third, of Autumn, which I have not yet feen. Your laft Eclogue being *The Earl of Peterborow. Mr. Walih's Remark will be thought very innocent, when the reader is informed that it was made on the Earl of Peterborow, just before the glorious campaigns of Barcelona and Va lentia. upon the fame fubject as that of mine on Mrs. Tempeft's Death, Ifhou'd take it very kindly in you to give it a little turn, as if it were to the Memory of the fame Lady, if they were not written for fome particular Woman whom you would make immortal. You may take occafion to fhew the difference between Poets Miftreffes, and other mens. I only hint this, which you may either do, or let alone just as you think fit. I fhall be very much pleas'd to see you again in Town, and to hear from you in the mean time. I am, with very much esteem, Your, &c. LETTER VI. Oct. 22, 1706. FTER the thoughts I have already fent you A on the fubject of English Verfification, you Α defire my opinion as to fome farther particulars. There are indeed certain Niceties, which, tho' not much obferved even by correct verfifiers, I cannot but think, deferve to be better regarded. 1. It is not enough that nothing offends the ear, but a good Poet will adapt the very Sounds, as well as Words, to the things he treats of. So that there is (if one may exprefs it fo) a Style of Sound. As in defcribing a gliding ftream, the numbers fhould run eafy and flowing; in defcribing a rough torrent or deluge, fonorous and fwelling, and fo of the rest. This is evident every where in Homer and Virgil, and no where else, that I know of, to any observable degree. The following examples will make this plain, which I have taken from Vida. Molle viam tacito latsu per levia radit. Tolle moras, cape saxe manu, cape robora, Paftor. -This, I think, is what very few obferve in prac tice, and is undoubtedly of wonderful force in imprinting the image on the reader: We have one excellent example of it in our language, Mr. Dryden's Ode on St. Cæcilia's day, entitled Alexander's Feaft. 2. Every nice ear muft (I believe) have obferv'd, that in any smooth English verfe of ten fyllables, there is naturally a Paufe at the fourth, fifth, or fixth fyllable. It is upon these the ear refts, and upon the judicious change and management of which depends the variety of verfification. For example, At the fifth. Where'er thy navy | spreads her canvass wings, At the fourth. Homage to thee and peace to all she brings. At the fixth. - Like tracts of leverets | iu morning snow. Now I fancy, that, to preserve an exact Harmony and Variety, the Pause at the 4th or 6th fhould not be continued above three lines together, without the interpofition of another; elfe it will be apt to weary the ear with one continued tone, at least it does mine: That at the 5th runs quicker, and carries not quite fo dead a weight, fo tires not fo much, tho' it be continued longer. 3. Another nicety is in relation to Expletives, whether words or fyllables, which are made ufe of purely to supply a vacancy: Do before verbs plural is abfolutely fuch; and it is not improbable but future refiners may explode did and does in the fame manner, which are almost always used for the fake of rhyme. The fame caufe has occafioned the promiscuous ufe of you and thou to the fame perfon, which can never found fo graceful as either one or the other. 4. I would also object to the irruption of Alexandrine verses, of twelve fyllables, which, I think, should never be allow'd but when some remarkable beauty or propriety in them atones for the liberty: Mr. Dryden has been too free of these, especially in his latter works. I am of the fame opinion as to Triple Rhimes. 5. I could equally object to the Repetition of the fame Rhymes within four or fix lines of each other, as tiresome to the ear thro' their Monotony. |