Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows,

And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows;

But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,

The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar.

—Pope: Essay on Criticism.

On a sudden open fly,

With impetuous recoil and jarring sound,

Th’ infernal doors, and on their hinges grate

Harsh thunder.—Milton: Paradise Lost, ii.

Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw.—Milton: Lycidas.