LETTER III.

SIR,

I

N comparing Virgil's and Milton's Versification, I shall begin with Virgil; and shew some of the principal Beauties of his Poetry in this respect: And here I must own myself not a little indebted to La-Cerda, Pontanus and Pierius, but above all to the most excellent Erythræus, who has not only considered every Paragraph, every Line, every Foot, every Word, and every Syllable, but even every Letter in Virgil; and it is not easy to conceive how much may depend on a single Letter, very often the whole Harmony of a Line; and on this Account we have vast Obligations to Pierius; to him we owe this fine Verse, and many others.

"Atq; rotis summas levibus pellabitur undas.———

All the common Editions read perlabitur; which is horrid to the ear. But to go on with the Matter in hand. The principal Excellencies of Virgil's Versification consist of the several following Particulars.

As these three last Articles arise from Observations perfectly new at the time they were written by Erythræus, namely, about 200 Years ago; and as new at this time, having been almost quite lost by I know not what Accident to the World; I must follow my Master, and use his Terms for his Discoveries, except where I differ a little from him.

1st, To begin with the first Article mentioned in this Letter, The Varying of the Pause. This Subject I have met with in several Books, but not fully explained in any one of them to my Capacity; for I must confess I should never have thoroughly apprehended the Varying of the Pause in any Language, if I had not thought of an Expedient to discover what is the common Pause in a Verse that each Language naturally stops at, of which I have any Knowledge.

To find out this, I consulted the middling sort of Poets, or the first Practicers in this Art: In this Enquiry I observ'd from Hesiod and Ennius among the Greek and Latin Poets, and afterwards from Ovid with relation to the latter, and which I am now to speak of, that the common Pause or Stop in all Latin Heroick Verse (to say nothing of the Greek, which agrees with it in this Respect) is upon the 1st Syllable of the 3d Foot. For[page 20] Example,

"Ante mare & tellus | & quod tegit omnia, cælum,

Unus erat toto | Naturæ vultus in orbe,

Quem dixêre Chaos | rudis indigestaque moles;

Nec quicquam, nisi pondus, iners; | congestaque eodem

Non bene junctarum | discordia semina rerum.

Nullus adhuc mundo | præbebat lumina Titan;

Nec nova crescendo | reparabat cornua Phœbe,

Nec circumfuso | pendebat in aëre tellus———

Here we have eight Lines all paused in the same Place, except one, (the 4th); and in this kind of Measure the Metamorphosis is generally written; from whence I collected the natural Pause in the Latin Language to be as abovementioned: I then consulted the best Poem of the best Latin Poet, which begins with these Lines.

"Quid faciat lætas segetes, | quo Sydere Terram

Vertere, | Mæcenas, | ulmisque adjungere Vites

Conveniat, | quæ cura Boum, | qui cultus habendo

Sit Pecori, | Apibus quanta experientia parcis

Hinc canere incipiam |.———

Here I observed that this great Master had artfully avoided the common Pause till he came to the fifth Line; and he takes care to do it as much as possible throughout the whole Work; from whence arises one of the most material Differences in the Versification of Ovid and Virgil; and to produce more Examples would be a needless Labour. In this Place let me take Notice that it is on Account of Varying the Pause that Virgil makes his broken Lines in the Æneid, which suspend all Pauses, and the Ear is relieved by this Means, and attends with fresh Pleasure. Whoever intends to come up to[page 21] Virgil in Harmony in Heroick Numbers in any long Work, must not omit this Art.

2d, The next thing to be attended to, is, The Inversion of the Phrase. This flings the Stile out of Prose, and occasions that Suspense which is the Life of Poetry. This builds the lofty Rhyme (as Milton expresses it) in such manner as to cause that Majesty in Verse of which I have said so much before, that there is no need of saying any thing more here.

3d. The third thing is, The adapting the Sound to the Sense.

Most People know such Instances of this Nature, as Quadrupedante, &c. and Illi inter sese, &c. But few attend to an Infinity of other Examples.

How is the Verse drawn out in length, and how does it labour when strong heavy Land is to be ploughed!

"—————————————Ergo, age teræ

"Pingue solum, primis extemplo a Mensibus Anni

"Fortes invortant tauri.————————————

How nimbly does the Verse move when the turning over very light Ground is represented!

"———————————Sub ipsum

"Arcturum, tenui sāt erit suspendere sulco.———

How slow does the heavy Waggon proceed in this Line!

"Tardaque Eleusinæ Matris Volventïa Plaustra.—

How does the Boat bound over the Po in these two Hemisticks!

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"——————————————Levis innatat alnus

Missa Pado.———

See Feathers dancing on the Water in this!

"———————In aqua colludere plumas.———

No Stem of the Crab-tree is more rough than this Verse.

"Inseritur vero ex fœtu nucis arbutus horrida:

Water is not more liquid than this.

"Speluncisque lacus Clausos, lucosque sonantis.——

S. & L. liquescit Carmen instar aquarum, says Erythræus in his Note on this Line.

How gently flow the Streams in this Verse!

"Unde pater Tiberinus, & unde Aniena fluenta.—

What a roaring do the Hypanis and Caicus make in the next!

"Saxōsumque sōnans Hypanis, Mysusque Caïcus.

But now observe how he raises his Song to honour his Favourite Eridanus!

"Et gemina auratus taurino cornua vultu

Eridanus; quo non alius Per Pinguia culta

In mare purpureum vīolentīor īnfluīt amnīs.

The former Line strikes the Ear with Mysus and Caïcus; here you have Auratus, Eridanus, and Alius. Then an Alliteration, Per Pinguia, and at[page 23] last the whole Passage rolls on in a Dactyl Line, and rushes into the Sea with an Assultus of the Vowel i, repeated five times in three Words.

"————Violentior influit amnis.

The following Line tours into the Skies with the highest Mountain in Italy.

"—————————————Gaudetque nivali

Vertice se attollens pater Appeninus, ad auras.———

This falls down as low as the deepest Valley.

"Saxa per, & scopulos, & depressas convalles.

In short there is nothing in Nature that Virgil's Verse does not convey to the Ear, and the Eye; so that this Subject is inexhaustible, and must be left to every one's particular Observation.

The learned Morhophius has a Passage relating to this Matter which comes in too properly here to be omitted.

"Solent Carminibus suæ esse a Numeris Veneres, & certa quædam Artificia, quæ mirifice ornant versum, quales apud Virgilium, mirum numeri Poetici Observatorem, frequenter occurrunt, e.g. cum versus terminantur Monosyllabis, ut: procumbit humi bos: nascetur ridiculus mus. Vel cum Spondæi multi adhibentur, ut; media agmina circumspexit: Illi inter sese magnâ vi brachia tollunt. Aut cum Dactyli & Spondæi ita miscentur, ut rei naturam exprimant, ut cum de turri ruente ait:

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"——————————————Convellimus altis

Sedibus; impulimusq;, ea lapsa repente ruinam

Cum sonitu trahit.———

"Talia infinita apud Virgilium habentur quæ

homo in iis non exercitatus contemnat, doctus

vero & prudens admiretur.

Polyhist.

There is also a Remark of the judicious Columna on a celebrated Line in Virgil, which is very much to the present Purpose.

Unus Homo Nobis Cunctando Restituit Rem.]

Virgilius de eodem loquens Æneid l. 6. integrum hoc carmen sumpsit, ita tamen, ut spondeorum tarditate Fabii moram referret,

———————————tu Maximus ille es,

Unus, qui nobis cunctando restituis rem.

Enn. Frag.

Sept. 21, 1736,

I am, Sir, &c.

P.S.

The Passage in the learned Muhlius, which I should have inserted at the beginning of this Letter, I send you in a Postscript. You have seen it before, but it is worth reading more than once. You know it belongs principally to the Article that treats of the varying the Pause.

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"Neque potest unus idemque semper tenor in carmine usurpari, sed debet is pro varià periodorum Poeticarum ratione distingui. Et ut insurgat decore & intumescat aliquando, iterumque remittat, ubi opus est, consequimur cæsorum ac periodorum sola inæqualitate. Quod pulcerrime observat Virgilius, cujus alia mensura, alia pedum compositio est in narrationibus, descriptionibus, orationibus, & tanta periodorum numerorumque variatio, ut ad eam perfectionem nihil addi possit. Hujus rei quanta negligentia in Statio, Lucano, Claudiano, Silio Italico? Ubi admirabilis illa harmonia, suavitas, gravitas ipsorum pedum æqualiter, inæqualiter temperatorum, per clausulas verborum fractorum, ac intra regiones suas aliter aliterq; interceptorum? Ut de junctura illa literarum nihil addam, cum vocales ac consonantes ipsæque syllabæ ita miscentur, ut rei naturam tam apte jucundeque exprimant, ut ea geri potius quam cani, spectari magis quam audiri videatur. Talia infinita sunt apud Virgilium, quæ captum imperitorum longe excedunt, doctiores vero & prudentiores impense admirantur; quæ nihil tritum, vulgare, hiuclum nihil elumbe ac contortum patiuntur, at nescio quid virile & stupendum plane, ac majus humana voce videntur sonare. Claudianus certe istud fastigium non attingit, & quod in Maroniana dictione, in illa periodorum ac numerorum varietate præclarum putamus, vix est, ut ejus vel levem umbram ostentet. Sic eadem semper oberrat chorda, quod ridiculum existimat magnus iste dicendi magister."

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