"FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS," ETC.
(Vol. v., p. 100.)
Since my former communication on the use of the phrase "From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but a step," I have met with some farther examples of kindred forms of expression, which you may deem worth inserting in "N. & Q."
Shakspeare has an instance in Romeo and Juliet, where he describes "Love" as—
"A madness most discreet,
A choaking gall, and a preserving sweet."
Quarles has it in his Emblems, Book iv. Epigram 2.:—
"Pilgrim, trudge on; what makes thy soul complain?
Crowns thy complaint; the way to rest is pain: