chief Talent, and indeed his distinguishing Excellence, lies in the Sublimity of his Thoughts. There are others of the Moderns who rival him in every other part of Poetry; but in the Greatness of his Sentiments he triumphs over all the Poets both Modern and Ancient,
Homer
only excepted. It is impossible for the Imagination of Man to distend itself with greater Ideas, than those which he has laid together in his first,
second
, and sixth Book
s
. The seventh, which describes the Creation of the World, is likewise wonderfully Sublime, tho' not so apt to stir up Emotion in the Mind of the Reader, nor consequently so perfect in the Epic Way of Writing, because it is filled with less Action.
the judicious Reader compare what
Longinus