LETTER V.
SIR,
I
Am now to consider Milton's Versification under the same Heads as I have considered Virgil's, so far as there is Opportunity of doing it.
I. To begin with The Varying of the Pause, which is the Soul of all Versification in all Languages. Verse is Musick, and Musick is more or less pleasing as the Notes are more or less varied, that is, raised or sunk, prolonged or shortned.
In order to judge of the varying of English Versification, I first endeavour'd (as I have already said, with respect to the Latin) to find out the common Pause in English Verse, that is, where the Voice naturally makes some sort of Stop when a Verse is read. To this purpose I look'd into Mr. Cowley's Davideis (for it would be of no use to quote such Authors as Quarles and Ogilby, who never had any Reputation for Poetry; but this Gentleman has been stil'd, and is at present recorded in Westminster-Abbey, as Anglorum Pindarus, Maro, Flaccus) and there I soon found the common Pause to be upon the last Syllable of the second Foot. For Example:
[page 40]
"I sing the Man | who Judah's Sceptre bore
In that Right-hand, | which held the Crook before;
Who from best Poet, | best of Kings did grow:
The two chief Gifts | Heav'n could on Man bestow.
Much Dangers first, | much Toil did he sustain,
Whilst Saul and Hell | crost his strong Fate in vain.
Nor did his Crown | less painful Work afford—
Here we have seven Lines, and all of them, except the third, paus'd in the same place.
Thus I discovered from Cowley in English what I perceived from Ovid in Latin. I then turned to the Paradise Lost, and there I found Milton even surpasses Virgil in this particular. Virgil uses the common Pause at the fifth Line of the Georgicks, but Milton does not use it till he comes to the sixth Line in his Paradise Lost.
"Of Man's first Disobedience | and the Fruit
Of that forbidden Tree | whose mortal Taste
Brought Death into the World | and all our Woe,
With Loss of Eden | 'till one greater Man
Restore us | and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing Heavenly Muse |—————————
It would be needless to produce more Examples to this purpose; and I believe I may venture to affirm that the Verse is varied at least with as much Skill in the Paradise Lost, as even in the Georgick itself: I am inclinable to think with more, because in this respect the English Language surpasses the Latin, by reason of its Monosyllables, of which I have said enough for any body at all versed in these Matters, to be able to make out what is here advanc'd. But before I quit this Article, I will observe that it is to the artful and uncommon varying the Pause, that the Harmony is owing in those two[page 41] celebrated Lines of Sir John Denham.
"Tho' deep | yet clear; | tho' gentle | yet not dull.
Strong | without Rage, | without o'erflowing | full.
This is one of those Mysteries in Versification which the late Duke of Bucks would not suffer Mr. Dryden to communicate to the Publick. To the same Art is owing the Delicacy of two of the finest Lines in all the Latin Tongue.
"Te | dulcis conjux | te | solo in littore | secum,
Te | veniente die | te | decedente | canebat.
Of the same Nature are many Lines in Milton, of which this is one:
"Him first | Him last | Him midst | and without End.
II. I come now to the second Particular: The Inversion of the Phrase. Every Page affords Instances of this Nature.
"———————Him the Almighty Pow'r
Hurl'd headlong flaming from the ethereal Sky.
Again,
"———Up stood the Corny Reed
Embattell'd in her Field.————
Again,
"————————Him the most High
Rapt in a balmy Cloud with winged Steeds
Did, as thou saw'st, Receive.
[page 42]
And in one of Milton's juvenile Poems we have
"Trip the pert Fairies.———————
And,
"Revels the spruce jocund Spring.
Comus.
III. The third thing to be consider'd, is, The adapting the Sound to the Sense.
Who does not hear the Warbling of a Brook, the Rustling of Wings, the rough Sound of Trumpets and Clarions, and the soft one of Flutes and Recorders in the following Lines?
"Fountains, and ye that warble as ye flow
Melodious Murmur warbling, tune his Praise.
Again,
"———————But Chief the spacious Hall
Thick swarm'd, both on the Ground and in the Air,
Brush'd with the Hiss of rustling Wings.
Again,
"Then strait commands, that at the warlike Sound
Of Trumpets loud and Clarions, be uprear'd
His mighty Standard.—————
Again,
"———Nor with less Dread, the loud
Ethereal Trumpet from on High 'gan blow.
[page 43]
Again,
"———————————Thus they
Breathing united Force with fixed Thought
Mov'd on in Silence to soft Pipes.
Who does not see Porpoises and Dolphins tumbling about in the Ocean when he reads this Line?
"———————————On smooth the Seal,
And bended Dolphins play: part huge of Bulk,
Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their Gate,
Tempest the Ocean.———————
How variously the Rivers run in these Verses?
"——————————So the watry Throng
Wave rowling after Wave, where way they found,
If steep, with Torrent rapture, if through plain
Soft Ebbing.——————————
How is the Verse extended where the Whale lies at length upon the Ocean!
"—————————There Leviathan
Hugest of living Creatures, on the Deep
Stretch'd like a Promontory sleeps.———
How does the Line labour when the Elephant is working himself through the stiff Clay, whilst the lesser Animals sprout up as it were in an Instant!
"————————Scarce thro' his Mould
Behemoth, biggest born of Earth, upheav'd
His Vastness.——————————
[page 44]
And,
"———Fleec'd the Flocks and bleating, rose
As Plants.————
But I shall have occasion to take notice of this Subject hereafter.
IV. The fourth thing to be enquir'd into is, The mixing of singular and plural Numbers, in which Milton excels.
"———————Flowers were the Couch
Pansies, and Violets, and Asphodel,
And Hyacinth, Earth's freshest softest Lap.
Again,
"———Through many a dark and dreary Vale
They pass'd, and many a Region dolorous,
O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp,
Rocks, Caves, Lakes, Fens, Bogs, Dens, and
Shades of Death.
Again,
"Sporting the Lion ramp'd, and in his Paw
Dandled the Kid; Bears, Tigers, Ounces, Pards,
Gambol'd before them.————
Again,
"———————Sweet Interchange
Of Hill and Valley, Rivers, Woods and Plains,
Now Land, now Sea, and Shores with Forest crown'd
Rocks, Dens and Caves.
[page 45]
Again,
"The glittering Guard he pass'd, and now is come
Into the blissful Field, thro' Groves of Myrrh,
And flow'ry Odours, Cassia, Nard, and Balm.
V. As to the fifth Remark upon Virgil, which relates to his using the Particles Que and Et in his Verse, there can be nothing of that nature in Milton. So that I proceed to
VI. The sixth thing to be observed, which is, The Collocatio Verborum.
Milton often places the Adjective after the Substantive, which very much raises the Stile.
"Strait he commands that at the warlike Sound
Of Trumpets loud, and Clarions, be uprear'd
His mighty Standard. That proud Honour claim'd
Azazel, as his Right; a Cherub tall.————
Again,
"Thy Goodness beyond Thought and Pow'r Divine.———
And again,
"Then from the Mountain hewing Timber tall.
But the utmost of his Art in this respect consists in his removing the Adjective, the Substantive, and even the Verb, from the Line or Verse in which the Sense is previously contained, and the grammatical Construction inverted, to the Beginning of the[page 46] next Line. This has a wonderful Effect; especially when the Word is a Monosyllable.
"Here finish'd he, and all that he had made
View'd—and behold all was entirely good.
Again,
"Over their Heads triumphant Death his Dart
Shook—But refus'd to strike.
This artful Collocation commands the Attention, and makes the Reader feel and see what is offer'd to him.
That this Effect is owing to the Collocation will appear by considering any one of the Instances now produc'd. For Example:
"Over their Heads triumphant Death his Dart
Shook.———
This Passage makes the Reader see Death with his Dart in his Hand, making it over the Heads of the unhappy Creatures describ'd in the Lazar-house, as plainly as if the whole was painted upon Canvas. But let this Line be alter'd thus:
"Over their Heads Death shook his dreadful Dart.
How much of the Fire and Spirit of this Passage is lost, will be easily perceiv'd.
I was long of Opinion that Milton had invented this Art himself, for I knew he had it not from Virgil: The Latin Language is hardly capable of it. But by Accident I found Milton learn'd it from Homer, though it is plain what is Art in the former was Chance in the latter; which cannot be disputed when[page 47] it is considered that in so many thousand Lines that we have of Homer's, there is I believe but one single Instance of this Monosyllable Collocation; but in Milton there are many, both Substantives, Adjectives and Verbs. The single Instance in Homer is in Odysse 9. in the Story of Polyphemus.
[ Συν δὲ δύω μαρπσας, ὥς τε φύλακας ποτὶ γαίη
Κοπτ'.]
[ Συν δε δύω μαρπσας, ώς τε φύλακας ποτι γαίη
Κοπτ'. ]
Hom. Odyss. &c.
"Two of my hapless Friends with all his Pow'r,
Like Dogs, the Monster on the rocky Floor
DASH'D.———
Can any body be insensible of the Power of this Word, Dash'd, as it is here plac'd.
I remember an Instance of this Monosyllable Collocation at the Beginning of a Line in rhym'd Verse, which is very well worth inserting here. It is at the Conclusion of Mr. Pit's 4th Æneid, when Juno sends Iris from Heaven in haste to relieve Dido from the Agonies of Death.
"Tum Juno Omnipotens, longum miserata dolorem,
Difficilesque obitus, Irim Demisit Olympo
Quæ luctantem animam, nexosque resolveret artus.
"Then mighty Juno with a melting Eye,
Beheld her dreadful Anguish from the Sky;
And bade fair Iris from the starry Pole,
Fly, and enlarge her agonizing Soul.
How is the Verse animated by the placing that Monosyllable, Fly, at the Beginning of the last Line.—The Reader sees all the Concern of Juno, and all the Hurry she is in to get the unhappy Queen released from the Pangs of Death.
[page 48]
Milton likewise uses his Monosyllables very artfully in placing them at the Conclusion of a Line, so as to divide the last Foot of the Verse, which has a very extraordinary Effect.
"Silence, ye troubled Waves, and thou, Deep,
Peace.
Again he divides the last Foot by making a Monosyllable the Beginning of a new Sentence, which is very pleasing.
"——————Up flood the Corny Reed
Imbattled in his Plain, the humble Furz
And Bush with frisled Hair implicit. Last
Rose as in Dance the stately Trees.
Milton also sometimes places two Monosyllables at the End of the Line, stopping at the 4th Foot, to adapt the Measure of the Verse to the Sense; and then begins the next Line in the same manner, which has a wonderful Effect.
"Now at their shady Lodge arriv'd, both stopt,
Both turn'd, and under open Sky ador'd
The God who made, &c.
This artful Manner of writing makes the Reader see them Stop and Turn to worship God before they went into their Bower. If this Manner was alter'd, much of the Effect of the Painting would be lost.
"And now arriving at their shady Lodge
Both stopt, both turn'd, and under open Sky
Ador'd the God, &c.
This falls very short of the Original. So in Latin,
[page 49]
"Jamq; domûs ventum est umbrosæ ad limina: sistunt
Ambo, ambo vertunt, & aperto numen adorant
Sub Cœlo.——————
Alter these Lines, thus,
"Et nunc Arborei ventum est ad limina tecti;
Sistunt Ambo, Ambo vertunt, & numen Adorant
Sub Cœlo.——————
There is here just the same Difference in the Latin as in the English.
I cannot omit two other Instances of Milton's wonderful Art in the Collocation of Words, by which the Thoughts are exceedingly heighten'd.
"Under his forming Hands a Creature grew
Manlike, but different Sex, so lovely fair,
That what seem'd fair in all the World, seem'd now
Mean, or in her summ'd up.————
What a Force has that Word mean, as it is plac'd!
Again,
"I turn'd my Thoughts, and with capacious Mind
Considered all Things visible in Heav'n,
Or Earth, or Middle, all Things fair and good;
But all that Fair and Good, in thy Divine
Semblance, and in thy Beauty's heav'nly Ray
United I beheld————————
I presume there is no other Language in which Perfection equal to this is to be found: And I could give many more Instances of the same kind out of the Paradise Lost.
[page 50]
VII. The seventh Particular in Virgil was his Varying the Common Pronunciation, in which Milton has imitated him in several Places; the following is one Instance.
———Thus to his Son au—di—bly spake.
For so it must be read, and not after the common manner.
Again,
"Hoarse Murmur eccho'd to his Words Applause
"Thro' the in—fi—nite Host————
And the like in many other Places.
VIII. His Verses contrary to the Common Measure. The following is an Example of this kind.
"Drove headlong down to the Bottomless Pit.—
Those who may be apt to find fault with such Arts as these (for Arts they are in Virgil and Milton) little think what it is to write 10 or 12 thousand Lines, and to vary the Sound of them in such manner as to entertain the Ear from the Beginning to the End of the Work.
IX. I come now to the Alliteratio.
And 1. To speak of the single Alliteratio. This is so common in Milton, that you need but begin the Poem, or open any Page of it, and you will meet with it.
[page 51]
"Of Man's first Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that forbidden Tree, whose mortal Taste
Brought Death into the World, and all our Woe.
Again,
"Restore us, and Regain the blissful Seat.
And
"Sing Heav'nly Muse! that on the Secret Top.
And a little lower,
"That Shepherd who first taught the chosen Seed.
But I will produce an Example or two of this kind out of our Author's juvenile Poems. His Verses upon the Circumcision are addressed to the Angels that appear'd to the Shepherds, and begin thus,
"Ye flaming Pow'rs, and winged Warriors bright,
That erst with Musick and triumphant Song
Through the soft Silence of the listning Night
So sweetly sung your Joy the Clouds along.
All the Masters of Verse from Chaucer to Milton, and from Milton to this time, were sensible of this Art. Dryden attends to it more than any thing else.
"Beneath the Shade which Beechen Boughs diffuse,
You Tityrus entertain your Sylvan Muse:
Round the wide World in Banishment we roam,
Forc'd from our pleasing Fields and native Home.
[page 52]
Again,
Arms and the Man I sing, who forc'd by Fate
And haughty Juno's unrelenting Hate,
Expell'd and Exil'd, left the Trojan Shore:
Long Labours, both by Sea and Land he bore.
Mr. Pope begins his Poems with this Delicacy.
"First in these Fields I try the Sylvan Strains,
Nor blush to sport on Windsor's blissful Plains.
Fair Thames flow gently from thy Sacred Spring,
While on thy Banks Sicilian Muses Sing;
Let Vernal Airs thro' trembling Osiers play,
And Albion's Cliffs resound the rural Lay.
You, that too wise for Pride, too good for Pow'r
Enjoy the Glory to be great no more.
Mr. Pitt has the following Lines in his 2d Æneid.
"So when an aged Ash, whose Honours rise
From some steep Mountain tow'ring to the Skies,
With many an Axe by shouting Swains is ply'd,
Fierce they repeat the Strokes from every Side;
The tall Tree trembling, as the Blows go round,
Bows the high Head, and nods to every Wound.
Sir Philip Sidney, who was very unhappy in Versification, seems to have despised this Beauty in Verse, and even to have thought it an Excellence to fix the Pause always in one Place, namely at the End of the second Foot: So that he must have had no more Ear for Poetry than Mr. Cowley. Not but that I am apt to think some Writers in Sir Philip Sidney's time carried this matter to a ridiculous Extreme. Others thought this Beauty a Deformity, and concluded it so from two or three silly Latin[page 53] Lines of Ennius and Tully, such as,
O Tite, Tute, Tati, &c.
And,
O Fortunatam, natam, &c.
without ever attending to Virgil in the least.
Spencer every where abounds in all his Works with Alliterations; I will produce but one, which is exceeding beautiful.
"The Lilly, Lady of the Flow'ry Field.
Here is a double initial Alliteration, and a continual mix'd Alliteration of the liquid L, which makes the Verse so very musical that there are few such Lines in our, or any other Language.
Fairfax, who was one of the first curious Versifyers amongst us, embellishes his Lines continually with this Ornament.
In his Description of a Troop of fighting Monks, in his first Book of his Translation of Tasso, are these Lines.
"Their jolly Notes, they Chanted loud and Clear:
And horrid Helms high on their Heads they bear.
Than which Verses nothing can be more truly poetical.
But to go farther back than either Fairfax or Spencer, those celebrated Lines in our antient Translation of the Psalms owe their greatest Beauty to their Alliteration.
[page 54]
"The Lord descended from above,
And bow'd the Heavens high,
And underneath his Feet he cast
The Darkness of the Sky.
"On Cherubs and on Cherubims
Full royally he rode,
And on the Wings of mighty Winds
Came flying all abroad.
A Line of Chaucer's just now offers itself to my Memory, which has almost all the Arts of Poetry in it.
"A Sheffield Whittle bare he in his Hose.
There is a fine Alliteration in the Conclusion of the Line, Bare he in his Hose, and a mix'd one at the Beginning of it. The h in the first Syllables of the second and third Words mixes the Sound very agreeably; and lastly, the Inversion of the Phrase (where the Nominative is put immediately after the Verb) is extremely poetical. Bare he. Chaucer seems (to me) by the help of a delicate Ear, and a curious Judgment, to have learnt all his Graces from Virgil. 1. His Rhyme. 2. His Inversion of the Phrase: And 3. His Alliteratio. The Varying of the Pause he does not seem to have attended to. But to return to Milton.
Having spoken sufficiently of the Initial, I come now to the mix'd Alliteration. And this latter is almost as common as the former, and is to be found in all such Lines as these.
"————————And now is come
Into the blissful Field.———————
Every Ear must perceive how the f and the l are mingled in the two last Words.
[page 55]
Again,
"—————Thro' Groves of Myrrh.———
Here the rough r predominates as much as the soft l did in the first Part of the Verse.
Again,
"And Flow'ry Odours.————
Here the Allusio Verborum is introduc'd. Flow'r at the Beginning of the first Word, and Dour at the End of the second, make a most agreeable Harmony. The Line concludes with what may be call'd the Assultus, or the Attack upon the Ear.
"———Cāssiā, Nārd ānd Bālm.———
These five A's in four Words at the End of the Line must make themselves perceiv'd if Words can do it. 'Tis of the same kind as Virgil's,
"————Tumidā æquorā plācāt.
But it may be proper to add another Instance or two of the Allusio Verborum.
"So talk'd the spirited sly Snake, and Eve
Yet more amaz'd.————————
Again,
"When from the Boughs a savoury Odour blown.
[page 56]
Again,
"Immediately the Mountains huge appear
Emergent, and their broad bare Backs upheave
Into the Clouds.————
Again,
"—Scarce from his Mould
Behemoth, biggest born of Earth, upheav'd
His Vastness.———————
Spirited sly Snake.———Boughs blown.———
Broad bare Backs.———Behemoth biggest born.
All these Passages are in the same Stile of Sound as Virgil's—Metuens, Molem, Montis.
"Hoc metuens, molemque & montis insuper altos
Imposuit.—————————
Observe how the molemque & montis labour in the Verse exactly in the same manner as
Broad, bare Backs, and Behemoth biggest born.
But here let me give you a few more Instances of the Allusio Verborum, or the mixing of Sounds of Words in rhym'd Verse.
"As o'er th'Aerial Alps sublimely spread
Some aged Oak uprears his reverend Head.
Pit's Æneid.
A Gentleman justly esteemed for his great Learning and excellent Skill in Criticism, but not of so delicate an Ear as Mr. Pit, would have had him writ, As on th'Aerial Alps.
[page 57]
But then the Verse would have wanted much of its Harmony, because O'er mingles in Sound with A'er which On does not; and the same thing would have happen'd in the next Line, if it had stood thus—Some aged Oak uplifts his mighty Head.—Because uplifts and mighty have no Resemblance in Sound to each other, or to Aged and Head; but as the Line stands,
"Some aged Oak uprears his Reverend Head,
the Words all melt into one another, and the Musick dies along the Verse from the Beginning to the End. This is the greatest Delicacy of Poetry, neither are the other Graces wanting in this Verse. The Pause is properly varied, the first Line is entirely suspended. There is in it a double Alliteration, Aerial Alps, sublimely spread: And to conclude all, the Rhyme is as perfect as possible.
Octob. 11. 1736.
I am, Sir, &c.
P.S.
In looking over this Letter I observe a Passage in Milton, which merits a very particular Consideration, and which I ought to have taken notice of before, when I was speaking of the Collocation of Words; the Passage I mean is, For since I first, &c. The entire Passage runs thus,
[page 58]
Eve, easily may Faith admit that all
The Good which we enjoy, from Heav'n descends;
But, that from us ought should ascend to Heav'n
So prevalent as to concern the Mind
Of God high-blest, or to incline his Will,
Hard to belief may seem; yet this will Prayer,
Or one short Sigh of human Breath, up born
Ev'n to the Seat of God. For since I sought
By Pray'r th' offended Deity to appease;
Kneel'd and before him humbled all my Heart,
Methought I saw him placable and mild,
Bending his Ear, &c.
How extremely fine is the Poetry of this Passage? How soft is the beginning, occasion'd by the Assonance of the two first Words, Eve, Easily, and of the five next all alliterated with the same Vowel, A
"——————May Faith admit that all.
How solemn is the Pause at the 1st Syllable of the 3d Line! But————
And the Cæsure upon the Monosyllable Us that follows immediately,
"But—that from us————
And the same Energy is plainly perceiv'd at the End of the 6th Line, where the Cæsure is plac'd upon the Monosyllable yet,
"Yet—this will Prayer, &c.
But when we come to that Line,
"Kneel'd; and before Him humbled all my Heart,
[page 59]
such is the Force of the Word kneel'd in that Situation, that we actually see Adam upon his Knees before the offended Deity; and by the Conclusion of this Paragraph,———Bending his Ear, Infinite Goodness is visibly as it were represented to our Eyes as inclining to hearken to the Prayers of his penitent Creature.
[page 60]
