(A monster, horrid, formless, gross, and blind.)
To give a better idea of the efficient way in which the poet has roughened the above verse to suit the picture of a monster, one of his ordinary lines may be quoted:—
"Formosam resonare doces Amaryllida silvas."
But it is wrong to call this an ordinary line, since Dr. Johnson considered it to be the most musical in any human language. Ovid, again, has made the sense and sound (and also construction) agree finely in the following passage:—
"Sponte sua carmen numeros veniebat ad aptos,
Et quod tentabam dicere versus erat."
Pope has imitated these lines, and applied them to himself, the signification being simply—
"I lisp'd in numbers, for the numbers came."
Among our own great bards, Milton stands peculiarly distinguished for success in the use of this ornament of verse. The "Allegro" and "Penseroso" exhibit various exquisite instances.
"Swinging slow with sullen roar."