1. It is not enough that nothing offends the ear, but a good poet will adapt the very Sounds, as well as Words, to the things he treats of. So that there is (if one may exprefs it fo) a Style of Sound. As in defcribing a gliding ftream, the numbers fhould run eafy and flowing; in defcribing a rough torrent or deluge, fonorous and fwelling, and fo of the reft. This is evident every where in Homer and Vir gil, and no where elfe, that I know of, to any obfervable degree. The following examples will make this plain, which I have taken from Vida. Molle viam tacito lapfu per levia radit. Tolle moras, cape faxa manu, cape robora, Paftor. This, I think, is what very few obferve in practice, and is undoubtedly of wonderful force in imprinting the image on the reader: We have one excellent example of it in our language, Mr. Dryden's Ode on St. Cæcilia's day, entitled, Alexander's Feast. 2. Every nice ear muft (I believe) have observ❜d, that in any fmooth English verfe of ten fyllables, there is naturally a Paufe at the fourth, fifth, or fixth fyllable. It is upon thefe the ear refts, and upon the judicious change and management of which depends the variety of verfification. For example, At the fifth. Where'er thy navy | fpreads her canvass wings, Homage to thee and peace to all she brings. At the fixth. Like tracts of leverets in morning fnow. Now Now I fancy, that, to preserve an exact Harmony and Variety, the Paufe at the 4th or 6th fhould not be continued above three lines together, without the interpofition of another; elfe it will be apt to weary the ear with one continued tone, at least it does mine: That at the 5th runs quicker, and carries not quite fo dead a weight, fo tires not fo much, tho' it be continued longer. 3. Another nicety is in relation to Expletives, whether words or fyllables, which are made ufe of purely to fupply a vacancy: Do before verbs plural is abfolutely fuch; and it is not improbable but future refiners may explode did and does in the fame manner, which are almoft always used for the fake of rhime. The fame cause has occafioned the promifcuous ufe of you and thou to the fame perfon, which can never found fo graceful as either one or the other. 4. I would alfo object to the irruption of Alexandrine verfes, of twelve fyllables, which, I think, fhould never be allow'd but when fome remarkable beauty or propriety in them atones for the liberty: Mr. Dryden has been too free of these, especially in his latter works. I am of the fame opinion as to Triple Rhimes. 5. I could equally object to the Repetition of the fame Rhimes within four or fix lines of each other, as tiresome to the ear thro' their Monotony. 6. Monofyllable Lines, unlefs very artfully managed, are stiff, or languishing: but may be beautiful to exprefs Melancholy, Slownefs, or Labour. 7. To come to the Hiatus, or Gap between two words, which is caus'd by two vowels opening on each other (upon which you defire me to be particular) I think the rule in this cafe is either to use the Cæfura, or admit the Hiatus, juft as the ear is leaft E 2 fhock'd fhock'd by either: For the Cæfura fometimes offends the ear more than the Hiatus itself, and our language is naturally overcharg'd with confonants: As for example; If in this verse, The old bave Int'reft ever in their eye, we should say, to avoid the Hiatus, But th' old have int'reft. The Hiatus which has the worft effect, is when one word ends with the fame vowel that begins the following; and next to this, thofe vowels whofe founds come nearest to each other, are most to be avoided. O, A, or U, will bear a more full and graceful found than E, I, or Y. I know, fome people will think these Obfervations trivial, and therefore I am glad to corroborate them by fome great authorities, which I have met with in Tully and Quintilian. In the fourth book of Rhetoric to Herennius, are these words: Fugiemus crebras vocalium concurfiones, qua vaftam atque hiantem reddunt orationem; ut boc eft, Bacca anea amaniffimæ impeng debant. And Quintilian, 1. ix. cap. 4. Vocalium concurfus cum accidit, biat & interfiftit, & quafi laborat oratio. Peffimi longe qua eafdem inter fe literas committunt, fonabunt: Præcipuus tamen erit hiatus earum quæ cavo aut patulo ore efferuntur. E plenior litera eft, I anguftior. But he goes on to reprove the excefs on the other hand of being too folicitous in this matter, and fays admirably, Nefcio an negligentia in hoc, aut folicitudo fit pejor. So likewife Tully (Orator. ad Brut.) Theopompum reprehendunt, quod eas literas tanto opere fugerit, etfi idem magifter ejus Socrates: which laft author, as Turnabus on Quintilian obferves, has hardly one Hiatus in all his works. Quintilian tells us, that Tully and Demofthenes did not much obferve this nicety, tho' Tully himself fays in his Orator, Crebra ifta vocum concurfi, quam magna magna ex parte vitiofam, fugit Demofthenes. If I am not mistaken, Malherbe of all the moderns has been the most scrupulous in this point; and I think Menage in his obfervations upon him fays, he has not one in his poems. To conclude, I believe the Hiatus fhould be avoided with more care in poetry than in Oratory; and I would conftantly try to prevent it, unless where the cutting it off is more prejudicial to the found than the Hiatus itself. I am, &c. A. POPE. Mr. Walsh died at forty-nine years old, in the year 1708, the year before the Effay on Criticism was printed, which concludes with his Elogy. P. LETTERS TO AND FROM H. CROMWELL, Efq. From the Year 1708 to 1711, I LETTER I. March 18, 1708. Believe it was with me when I left the Town, as it is with a great many men when they leave the World, whose lofs itself they do not so much regret, as that of their friends whom they leave behind in it. For I do not know one thing for which I can envy London, but for your continuing there. Yet I guess you will expect me to recant this expreffion, when I tell you that Sappho (by which heathenifh name you have chriften'd a very orthodox Lady) did not accompany me into the Country. Well, you have your Lady in the Town ftill, and I have my Heart in the Country ftill, which being wholly unemploy'd as yet, has the more room in it for my friends, and does not want a corner at your ervice. You have extremely obliged me by your frankne s and kindness; and if I have abus'd it by too much freedom on my part, I hope you will attribute it to the natural openness of my temper, which hardly knows how to fhow Respect, where it feels Affection. I would |