And that Night Piece of his, in the seventh Æneis, where we see the Ship under Sail, by Moon-shine:
[178] Aspirant auræ in noctem; nec candida cursum Luna negat; splendet tremulo sub lumine pontus. Proxima Circææ raduntur littora terræ, Dives inaccessos ubi Solis filia lucos Assiduo resonat cantu, tectisque superbis Urit odoratam nocturna in lumina cedrum, Arguto tenues percurrens pectine telas. Hinc exaudiri gemitus, iræque leonum Vincla recusantum, & sera sub nocte rudentum; Setigerique sues, atque in præsepibus ursi Sævire, ac formæ magnorum ululare luporum.
A Breeze at Night Springs fresh; nor does the silver Moon deny Her Beams, which tremble on the glimm'ring Waves. Next, coasting, close by Circe's Shores they sail; Where she, the wealthy Daughter of the Sun, With ceaseless singing makes the Groves resound, Groves inaccessible; and in the Rooms Of her proud Palace, for nocturnal Light, Sweet Cedar burns: While thro' the slender Web Her whistling Shuttle flies along the Loom. Hence Groans are heard; the Noise of Lions, fierce, Rebellious to their Chains, and roaring loud In Dead of Night; the Grunt of bristly Boars; The Rage of Bears, reluctant, in their Stalls; And huge portentous Forms of howling Wolves.
Tenth Lecture.
It would be entering upon too large a Field, to enquire into all the Variations, and Turns of Thought and Style, which Verse and Prose are capable of: Such as, Interrogations, Exclamations, the different Disposition of Tropes and Figures, the elegant Repetition of Words, the no less elegant Abruptness in Sentences, the Want of Connexion, Apostrophe, Prosopopœia, the Change of Numbers, Persons, Cases, Tenses; and a Multitude of other Incidents, which are reducible to Thought, as well as Style. Since the Variety of these is as infinite, as their Elegance is exquisite, it is impossible to explain them all by Rules, or illustrate them by Example. Longinus has mentioned some few, and our modern Books of Rhetoric are full of them. But the Want of Precept will be abundantly compensated to the Learner, by a good Taste, and a diligent Application to the Study of the best Authors.
Among the many Embellishments of Writing, few are attended with greater Beauty than Antitheta. The Reason is obvious, because Contraries illustrate, and recommend each other by Comparison. Of this the following Passage in Virgil is a remarkable Instance; where we have a beautiful Irony and Antithesis, at the same Time:
[179] Egregiam vero laudem, & spolia ampla refertis, Tuque, puerque tuus, magnum & memorabile nomen; Una dolo Divûm si fœmina victa duorum est.
Prodigious Trophies you indeed have gain'd, You, and your Boy; vast Praise, a deathless Name; If by the Fraud of two celestial Pow'rs One Woman be subdu'd.
Near a-kin to it, is that Antithesis in Ovid:
[180] ——Quæ gloria vestra est; Si juvenes puerum, si multi fallitis unum?