"On th' other side, Satan, alarm'd,
Collecting all his might dilated stood,
Like Teneriff or Atlas unremov'd:
His stature reach'd the sky, and on his crest
Sat Horror plum'd; nor wanted in his grasp
What seem'd both spear and shield."
Par. Lost, lib. iv. 985.
It would be easy to adduce similar instances from the ancient sources, but I will only mention From Milton an illustration of the συστρεψας of Demosthenes, and of the passionate abruptness with which Gray commences "The Bard:"
"As when of old some orator renown'd
In Athens or free Rome, where eloquence