of natural thoughts are the most rational of all. They aspire no higher than they ought, and their thoughts are never at variance with sound judgment. Besides the River Rhyme, which I have described as issuing from the foot of the mountains, there is another, called the River of Reason. These two rivers are at a great distance from one another; and, as they have a very different course, they could not be made to communicate except by canals, which would cost a great deal of labour. For these canals of communication could not be formed at all places, because there is only one part of the River Rhyme which is in the neighbourhood of the River Reason; and hence, many cities situated on the Rhyme, such as Roundelay and Ballad, could have no commerce with the Reason, whatever pains might be taken for that purpose. Further, it would be necessary that these canals should cross the Desarts of Common Sense, as you will see by the map; and that is almost an unknown country. The Rhyme is a large river, whose course is crooked and unequal, and, on account of its numerous falls, it is extremely difficult to navigate. On the contrary the Reason is very straight and regular, but it does not carry vessels of every burthen. There is, in the Land of Poetry, a very obscure forest, where the rays of the Sun never enter. It is the forest of Bombast. The trees are close, spreading and twined into each other. The forest is so ancient that it has become a sort of sacrilege to prune its trees, and there is no probability that the ground will ever be cleared. A few steps into this forest and we lose our road without dreaming that we have gone astray. It is full of imperceptible labyrinths, from which no one ever returns. The Reason is lost in this forest. The extensive province of Imitation is very sterile-It produces nothing. The inhabitants are extremely poor, and are obliged to glean in the richer fields of the neighbouring provinces; and some even make fortunes by this beggarly occupation. The Empire of Poetry is very cold towards the north; and, consequently, this quarter is the most populous. There are the cities of Anagram and Acrostic, with several others of a similar description. Finally, in that sea which bounds the States of Poetry, there is the Island of Satire, surrounded with bitter waves. The salt from the water is very strong and dark coloured. The greater part of the brooks of this island resemble the Nile in this, that their sources are unknown; but it is particularly remarkable that there is not one of them whose waters are fresh. A part of the same sea is called the Archipelago of Trifles.-The French term it L'Archipel des Bagatelles; and their voyagers are well acquainted with those islands. Nature seems to have thrown them up in sport, as she did those of the Ægean Sea. The principal islands are the Madrigal, the Song, and the Impromptu. No lands can be lighter than those islands, for they float upon the waters. 337 INDEX. ABLE, etymology and explanation of.. their use in Prosody Accusative, Observations on the...... Acrostics, explained and exemplified its place supplied by a phrase .... PAGE. .17 6 .178 86-88 ........96-97 ....270 ...81 .314 .115-117 ADDISON, Example on Punctuation from.......... why his Cato is not a Stock-play Address, by L. Murray, analyzed AKENSIDE'S Pleasures of Imagination, characterized 322 Alexandrines, origin and description of Allegory, explanation and use of — examples of ...... Alliteration, explanation and usages of.. Allusion, explanation and examples of. Anagram, explanation and examples of ......163-165 Anecdote, Chinese..... ..183 ..246 Antibacchius, that species of feet explained..........183 Q Asterisks, their use in punctuation Auxiliary Verbs, explained and exemplied........9-25 Authors, why they use the plural pronoun we. BACCHIUS, a species of feet, explained. of Flodden Field...... Bathos, definition and examples of ......169, 175, 324 Battle of Hohenlinden, (Campbell's). Be, observations on that verb .78 137 .183 .260 230 .259 13, 50-54 Break, its mark and use BRIGHTLAND's, Rule for shall and will... .... .77 .30 |