A little glooming light, much like a shade.
F. Q. c. II., s. 14.
Can you imagine that Milton did not take his idea from hence, when he said, in his Penseroso,
—glowing embers thro’ the room
Teach light to counterfeit a gloom?
4. Again, in his description of Paradise,
Flow’rs of all hues, and without thorn the rose.
Every poet of every time is lavish of his flowers on such occasions. But the rose without thorn is a rarity. And, though it was fine to imagine such an one in Paradise, could only be an Italian refinement. Tasso, you will think, is the original, when you have read the following lines;
Senza quei suoi pungenti ispidi dumi
Spiegò le foglie la purpurea Rosa.
5. Another instance, still more remarkable, may be taken from Mr. Pope. One of the most striking passages in the Essay on Man is the following,
Superior Beings, when of late they saw
A mortal man unfold all nature’s law,
Admir’d such wisdom in an earthly shape,
And shew’d a Newton, as we shew an ape.
Ep. ii. v. 31.
Can you doubt, from the singularity of this sentiment, that the great poet had his eye on Plato? who makes Socrates say, in allusion to a remark of Heraclitus, Ὅτι ἀνθρώπων ὁ σοφώτατος πρὸς θεὸν πίθηκος φανεῖται. Hipp. Major.