Letters Concerning Poetical Translations And Virgil's and Milton's Arts of Verse, &c.

LETTER V.

Chapter 53,557 wordsPublic domain

_SIR,_

I am now to consider _Milton_'s Versification under the same Heads as I have considered _Virgil_'s, so far as there is Opportunity of doing it.

I. To begin with _The Varying of the Pause_, which is the Soul of all Versification in all Languages. Verse is Musick, and Musick is more or less pleasing as the Notes are more or less varied, that is, raised or sunk, prolonged or shortned. In order to judge of the varying of _English_ Versification, I first endeavour'd (as I have already said, with respect to the _Latin_) to find out the common Pause in _English_ Verse, that is, where the Voice naturally makes some sort of Stop when a Verse is read. To this purpose I look'd into Mr. _Cowley_'s _Davideis_ (for it would be of no use to quote such Authors as _Quarles_ and _Ogilby_, who never had any Reputation for Poetry; but this Gentleman has been stil'd, and is at present recorded in _Westminster-Abbey_, as _Anglorum Pindarus_, _Maro_, _Flaccus_) and there I soon found the common Pause to be upon the last Syllable of the second Foot. For Example:

Here we have seven Lines, and all of them, except the third, paus'd in the same place.

Thus I discovered from _Cowley_ in _English_ what I perceived from _Ovid_ in _Latin_. I then turned to the _Paradise Lost_, and there I found _Milton_ even surpasses _Virgil_ in this particular. _Virgil_ uses the common Pause at the fifth Line of the _Georgicks_, but _Milton_ does not use it till he comes to the sixth Line in his _Paradise Lost_.

It would be needless to produce more Examples to this purpose; and I believe I may venture to affirm that the Verse is varied at least with as much Skill in the _Paradise Lost_, as even in the _Georgick_ itself: I am inclinable to think with more, because in this respect the _English_ Language surpasses the _Latin_, by reason of its Monosyllables, of which I have said enough for any body at all versed in these Matters, to be able to make out what is here advanc'd. But before I quit this Article, I will observe that it is to the artful and uncommon varying the Pause, that the Harmony is owing in those two celebrated Lines of Sir _John Denham_.

This is one of those Mysteries in Versification which the late Duke of _Bucks_ would not suffer Mr. _Dryden_ to communicate to the Publick. To the same Art is owing the Delicacy of two of the finest Lines in all the _Latin_ Tongue.

Of the same Nature are many Lines in _Milton_, of which this is one:

"Him first | Him last | Him midst | and without End.

II. I come now to the second Particular: _The Inversion of the Phrase_. Every Page affords Instances of this Nature.

"--Him the Almighty Pow'r Hurl'd headlong flaming from the ethereal Sky.

Again,

"--Up stood the Corny Reed Embattell'd in her Field.--

Again,

"--Him the most High Rapt in a balmy Cloud with winged Steeds Did, as thou saw'st, Receive.

And in one of _Milton_'s juvenile Poems we have

"Trip the pert Fairies.--

And,

"Revels the spruce jocund Spring. _Comus._

III. The third thing to be consider'd, is, _The adapting the Sound to the Sense_.

Who does not hear the Warbling of a _Brook_, the Rustling of _Wings_, the rough Sound of _Trumpets_ and _Clarions_, and the soft one of _Flutes_ and _Recorders_ in the following Lines?

"Fountains, and ye that warble as ye flow Melodious Murmur warbling, tune his Praise.

Again,

"--But Chief the spacious Hall Thick swarm'd, both on the Ground and in the Air, _Brush'd with the Hiss of rustling Wings_.

Again,

"Then strait commands, that at the warlike Sound Of _Trumpets_ loud and _Clarions_, be uprear'd His mighty Standard.--

Again,

"--Nor with less Dread, the loud Ethereal Trumpet from on High _'gan blow_.

Again,

"--Thus they Breathing united Force with fixed Thought Mov'd on _in Silence to soft Pipes_.

Who does not see Porpoises and Dolphins tumbling about in the Ocean when he reads this Line?

"--On smooth the Seal, And bended Dolphins play: part huge of Bulk, Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their Gate, Tempest the Ocean.--

How variously the Rivers run in these Verses?

"--So the watry Throng Wave rowling after Wave, where way they found, If steep, with Torrent rapture, if through plain Soft Ebbing.--

How is the Verse extended where the Whale lies at length upon the Ocean!

"--There Leviathan Hugest of living Creatures, on the Deep Stretch'd like a Promontory sleeps.--

How does the Line labour when the Elephant is working himself through the stiff Clay, whilst the lesser Animals sprout up as it were in an Instant!

"--Scarce thro' his Mould _Behemoth_, biggest born of Earth, upheav'd His Vastness.--

And,

"--Fleec'd the Flocks and bleating, rose As Plants.--

But I shall have occasion to take notice of this Subject hereafter.

IV. The fourth thing to be enquir'd into is, _The mixing of singular and plural Numbers_, in which _Milton_ excels.

"--Flowers were the Couch Pansies, and Violets, and _Asphodel_, And _Hyacinth_, Earth's freshest softest Lap.

Again,

"--Through many a dark and dreary Vale They pass'd, and many a Region dolorous, O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp, Rocks, Caves, Lakes, Fens, Bogs, Dens, and Shades of Death.

Again,

"Sporting the _Lion_ ramp'd, and in his Paw Dandled the _Kid_; Bears, Tigers, Ounces, Pards, Gambol'd before them.--

Again,

"--Sweet Interchange Of Hill and Valley, Rivers, Woods and Plains, Now Land, now Sea, and Shores with Forest crown'd Rocks, Dens and Caves.

Again,

"The glittering Guard he pass'd, and now is come Into the blissful Field, thro' Groves of Myrrh, And flow'ry Odours, _Cassia_, _Nard_, and _Balm_.

V. As to the fifth Remark upon _Virgil_, which relates to his using the Particles _Que_ and _Et_ in his Verse, there can be nothing of that nature in _Milton_. So that I proceed to

VI. The sixth thing to be observed, which is, _The Collocatio Verborum_.

_Milton_ often places the Adjective after the Substantive, which very much raises the Stile.

"Strait he commands that at the warlike Sound Of Trumpets _loud_, and Clarions, be uprear'd His mighty Standard. That proud Honour claim'd _Azazel_, as his Right; a Cherub _tall_.--

Again,

"Thy Goodness beyond Thought and Pow'r _Divine_.--

And again,

"Then from the Mountain hewing Timber _tall_.

But the utmost of his Art in this respect consists in his removing the Adjective, the Substantive, and even the Verb, from the Line or Verse in which the Sense is previously contained, and the grammatical Construction inverted, to the Beginning of the next Line. This has a wonderful Effect; especially when the Word is a Monosyllable.

"Here finish'd he, and all that he had made _View'd_--and behold all was entirely good.

Again,

"Over their Heads triumphant Death his Dart _Shook_--But refus'd to strike.

This artful Collocation commands the Attention, and makes the Reader feel and see what is offer'd to him.

That this Effect is owing to the Collocation will appear by considering any one of the Instances now produc'd. For Example:

"Over their Heads triumphant Death his Dart _Shook_.--

This Passage makes the Reader see Death with his Dart in his Hand, making it over the Heads of the unhappy Creatures describ'd in the _Lazar-house_, as plainly as if the whole was painted upon Canvas. But let this Line be alter'd thus:

"Over their Heads Death shook his dreadful Dart.

How much of the Fire and Spirit of this Passage is lost, will be easily perceiv'd.

I was long of Opinion that _Milton_ had invented this Art himself, for I knew he had it not from _Virgil_: The _Latin_ Language is hardly capable of it. But by Accident I found _Milton_ learn'd it from _Homer_, though it is plain what is _Art_ in the former was _Chance_ in the latter; which cannot be disputed when it is considered that in so many thousand Lines that we have of _Homer_'s, there is I believe but one single Instance of this Monosyllable Collocation; but in _Milton_ there are many, both Substantives, Adjectives and Verbs. The single Instance in _Homer_ is in _Odysse_ 9. in the Story of _Polyphemus_.

[Greek: Sun de duô marpsas, hôs te phulakas poti gaiê / Kopt'] _Hom._ Odyss. _&c._

"Two of my hapless Friends with all his Pow'r, Like Dogs, the Monster on the rocky Floor DASH'D.--

Can any body be insensible of the Power of this Word, _Dash'd_, as it is here plac'd.

I remember an Instance of this Monosyllable Collocation at the Beginning of a Line in rhym'd Verse, which is very well worth inserting here. It is at the Conclusion of Mr. _Pit_'s 4th _Æneid_, when _Juno_ sends _Iris_ from Heaven in haste to relieve _Dido_ from the Agonies of Death.

_"Tum Juno Omnipotens, longum miserata dolorem, Difficilesque obitus, Irim_ Demisit Olympo _Quæ luctantem animam, nexosque resolveret artus_.

"Then mighty _Juno_ with a melting Eye, Beheld her dreadful Anguish from the Sky; And bade fair _Iris_ from the starry Pole, _Fly_, and enlarge her agonizing Soul.

How is the Verse animated by the placing that Monosyllable, _Fly_, at the Beginning of the last Line.--The Reader sees all the Concern of _Juno_, and all the Hurry she is in to get the unhappy Queen released from the Pangs of Death.

_Milton_ likewise uses his Monosyllables very artfully in placing them at the Conclusion of a Line, so as to divide the last Foot of the Verse, which has a very extraordinary Effect.

"Silence, ye troubled Waves, and thou, _Deep_, Peace.

Again he divides the last Foot by making a Monosyllable the Beginning of a new Sentence, which is very pleasing.

"--Up flood the Corny Reed Imbattled in his Plain, the humble Furz And Bush with frisled Hair implicit. _Last_ Rose as in Dance the stately Trees.

_Milton_ also sometimes places two Monosyllables at the End of the Line, stopping at the 4th Foot, to adapt the Measure of the Verse to the Sense; and then begins the next Line in the same manner, which has a wonderful Effect.

"Now at their shady Lodge arriv'd, _both stopt_, _Both turn'd_, and under open Sky ador'd The God who made, _&c._

This artful Manner of writing makes the Reader see them _Stop_ and _Turn_ to worship God before they went into their Bower. If this Manner was alter'd, much of the Effect of the Painting would be lost.

"And now arriving at their shady Lodge _Both stopt, both turn'd_, and under open Sky Ador'd the God, _&c._

This falls very short of the Original. So in _Latin_,

"_Jamq; domûs ventum est umbrosæ ad limina_: sistunt Ambo, ambo vertunt, & _aperto numen adorant Sub Coelo._--

Alter these Lines, thus,

"_Et nunc Arborei ventum est ad limina tecti_; Sistunt Ambo, Ambo vertunt, & _numen Adorant Sub Coelo._--

There is here just the same Difference in the _Latin_ as in the _English_.

I cannot omit two other Instances of _Milton_'s wonderful Art in the Collocation of Words, by which the Thoughts are exceedingly heighten'd.

"Under his forming Hands a Creature grew Manlike, but different Sex, so lovely fair, That what seem'd fair in all the World, seem'd now _Mean_, or in her summ'd up.--

What a Force has that Word _mean_, as it is plac'd!

Again,

"I turn'd my Thoughts, and with capacious Mind Considered all Things visible in Heav'n, Or Earth, or Middle, all Things fair and good; But all that Fair and Good, in thy Divine _Semblance_, and in thy Beauty's heav'nly Ray United I beheld--

I presume there is no other Language in which Perfection equal to this is to be found: And I could give many more Instances of the same kind out of the _Paradise Lost_.

VII. The seventh Particular in _Virgil_ was his _Varying the Common Pronunciation_, in which _Milton_ has imitated him in several Places; the following is one Instance.

"--Thus to his Son au--[=di]--bly spake.

For so it must be read, and not after the common manner.

Again,

"Hoarse Murmur eccho'd to his Words Applause Thro' the in--[=fi]--nite Host--

And the like in many other Places.

VIII. _His Verses contrary to the Common Measure._ The following is an Example of this kind.

"Drove headlong down to the Bottomless Pit.--

Those who may be apt to find fault with such Arts as these (for Arts they are in _Virgil_ and _Milton_) little think what it is to write 10 or 12 thousand Lines, and to vary the Sound of them in such manner as to entertain the Ear from the Beginning to the End of the Work.

IX. I come now to the _Alliteratio_.

And 1. To speak of the single _Alliteratio_. This is so common in _Milton_, that you need but begin the Poem, or open any Page of it, and you will meet with it.

"Of Man's _first_ Disobedience, and the _Fruit_ Of that forbidden _Tree_, whose mortal _Taste_ Brought Death into the _World_, and all our _Woe_.

Again,

"_Restore_ us, and _Regain_ the blissful Seat.

And

"_Sing_ Heav'nly Muse! that on the _Secret_ Top.

And a little lower,

"That _Shepherd_ who first taught the chosen _Seed_.

But I will produce an Example or two of this kind out of our Author's juvenile Poems. His Verses upon the Circumcision are addressed to the Angels that appear'd to the Shepherds, and begin thus,

"Ye flaming Pow'rs, and _winged Warriors_ bright, That erst with Musick and triumphant Song Through the _soft Silence_ of the listning Night _So sweetly sung_ your Joy the Clouds along.

All the Masters of Verse from _Chaucer_ to _Milton_, and from _Milton_ to this time, were sensible of this Art. _Dryden_ attends to it more than any thing else.

"_Beneath_ the Shade which _Beechen Boughs_ diffuse, _You Tityrus_ entertain _your_ Sylvan Muse: _Round_ the _wide World_ in Banishment _we roam_, _Forc'd from_ our pleasing _Fields_ and native Home.

Again,

_Arms and_ the Man I sing, who _forc'd_ by _Fate_ And _haughty_ Juno's unrelenting _Hate_, _Expell'd_ and _Exil'd_, left the _Trojan_ Shore: _Long Labours_, both by Sea and _Land_ he bore.

Mr. _Pope_ begins his Poems with this Delicacy.

"_First_ in these _Fields_ I try the _Sylvan Strains_, Nor _blush_ to sport on _Windsor's blissful_ Plains. _Fair_ Thames _flow_ gently _from_ thy _Sacred Spring_, While on thy Banks _Sicilian_ Muses _Sing_; Let Vernal Airs _thro' tre_mbling Osiers play, And _Albion_'s Cliffs _resound_ the _rural_ Lay. You, that too wise for _Pride_, too good for _Pow'r_ Enjoy the _Glory_ to be _great_ no more.

Mr. _Pitt_ has the following Lines in his 2d _Æneid_.

"So when an _aged Ash_, whose Honours rise From some _steep_ Mountain tow'ring to the _Skies_, With many _an Axe_ by _shouting Swains_ is ply'd, _Fierce_ they repeat the _Strokes from_ every _Side_; _The tall Tree trembling_, as the Blows go round, Bows the _high Head_, and nods to every Wound.

Sir _Philip Sidney_, who was very unhappy in Versification, seems to have despised this Beauty in Verse, and even to have thought it an Excellence to fix the Pause always in one Place, namely at the End of the second Foot: So that he must have had no more Ear for Poetry than Mr. _Cowley_. Not but that I am apt to think some Writers in Sir _Philip Sidney_'s time carried this matter to a ridiculous Extreme. Others thought this Beauty a Deformity, and concluded it so from two or three silly _Latin_ Lines of _Ennius_ and _Tully,_ such as,

_O Tite, Tute, Tati_, &c.

And,

_O Fortunatam, natam_, &c.

without ever attending to _Virgil_ in the least.

_Spencer_ every where abounds in all his Works with _Alliterations_; I will produce but one, which is exceeding beautiful.

"The _Lilly, Lady_ of the _Flow'ry Field_.

Here is a double initial Alliteration, and a continual mix'd Alliteration of the liquid _L_, which makes the Verse so very musical that there are few such Lines in our, or any other Language.

_Fairfax_, who was one of the first curious Versifyers amongst us, embellishes his Lines continually with this Ornament.

In his Description of a Troop of fighting Monks, in his first Book of his Translation of _Tasso_, are these Lines.

"Their jolly Notes, they _Chanted_ loud and _Clear_: And _horrid Helms high_ on their _Heads_ they bear.

Than which Verses nothing can be more truly poetical.

But to go farther back than either _Fairfax_ or _Spencer_, those celebrated Lines in our antient Translation of the _Psalms_ owe their greatest Beauty to their _Alliteration_.

"The Lord descended from above, And bow'd the _Heavens high_, And underneath his Feet he cast The Darkness of the Sky.

"On _Cherubs_ and on _Cherubims_ Full _royally_ he _rode_, And on the _Wings_ of mighty _Winds_ Came flying _all abroad_.

A Line of _Chaucer_'s just now offers itself to my Memory, which has almost all the Arts of Poetry in it.

"A _Sheffield_ Whittle bare _he_ in _his Hose_.

There is a fine Alliteration in the Conclusion of the Line, Bare _he_ in _his Hose_, and a mix'd one at the Beginning of it. The _h_ in the first Syllables of the second and third Words mixes the Sound very agreeably; and lastly, the Inversion of the Phrase (where the Nominative is put immediately after the Verb) is extremely poetical. _Bare he._ _Chaucer_ seems (to me) by the help of a delicate Ear, and a curious Judgment, to have learnt all his Graces from _Virgil_. 1. His Rhyme. 2. His Inversion of the Phrase: And 3. His Alliteratio. The Varying of the Pause he does not seem to have attended to. But to return to _Milton_.

Having spoken sufficiently of the _Initial_, I come now to the _mix'd Alliteration_. And this latter is almost as common as the former, and is to be found in all such Lines as these.

"--And now is come Into the _blissful Field_.--

Every Ear must perceive how the _f_ and the _l_ are mingled in the two last Words.

Again,

"--Th[r=]o' G[r=]oves of My[rr=]h.--

Here the rough _r_ predominates as much as the soft _l_ did in the first Part of the Verse.

Again,

"And _Flow'r_y O_dours_.--

Here the _Allusio Verborum_ is introduc'd. _Flow'r_ at the Beginning of the first Word, and _Dour_ at the End of the second, make a most agreeable Harmony. The Line concludes with what may be call'd the _Assultus_, or the Attack upon the Ear.

"--_C[=a]ssi[=a], N[=a]rd [=a]nd B[=a]lm._--

These five _A_'s in four Words at the End of the Line must make themselves perceiv'd if Words can do it. 'Tis of the same kind as _Virgil_'s,

"--_Tumid[=a] æquor[=a] pl[=a]c[=a]t._

But it may be proper to add another Instance or two of the _Allusio Verborum_.

"So talk'd the _spirited sly Snake_, and _Eve_ Yet more amaz'd.--

Again,

"When from the _Boughs_ a savoury Odour _blown_.

Again,

"Immediately the Mountains huge appear Emergent, and their _broad bare Backs_ upheave Into the Clouds.--

Again,

"--Scarce from his Mould _Behemoth, biggest born_ of Earth, upheav'd His Vastness.--

Spirited sly Snake.--Boughs blown.--Broad bare Backs.--_Behemoth_ biggest born.

All these Passages are in the same Stile of Sound as _Virgil_'s-- _Metuens_, _Molem_, _Montis_.

"_Hoc metuens, molemque & montis insuper altos Imposuit._--

Observe how the _molemque_ & _montis_ labour in the Verse exactly in the same manner as

Broad, bare Backs, and _Behemoth_ biggest born.

But here let me give you a few more Instances of the _Allusio Verborum_, or the mixing of Sounds of Words in rhym'd Verse.

"As o'er th'Aerial _Alps_ sublimely spread Some aged Oak uprears his reverend Head. _Pit_'s Æneid.

A Gentleman justly esteemed for his great Learning and excellent Skill in Criticism, but not of so delicate an Ear as Mr. _Pit_, would have had him writ, _As on th'Aerial Alps_.

But then the Verse would have wanted much of its Harmony, because _O'er_ mingles in Sound with _A'er_ which _On_ does not; and the same thing would have happen'd in the next Line, if it had stood thus-- _Some aged Oak uplifts his mighty Head_.--Because _uplifts_ and _mighty_ have no Resemblance in Sound to each other, or to _Aged_ and _Head_; but as the Line stands,

"Some aged Oak uprears his Reverend Head,

the Words all melt into one another, and the Musick dies along the Verse from the Beginning to the End. This is the greatest Delicacy of Poetry, neither are the other Graces wanting in this Verse. The Pause is properly varied, the first Line is entirely suspended. There is in it a double Alliteration, _Aerial Alps, sublimely spread_: And to conclude all, the Rhyme is as perfect as possible.

Octob. 11. 1736.

_I am_, SIR, _&c._

* * * * *

_P.S._

In looking over this Letter I observe a Passage in _Milton_, which merits a very particular Consideration, and which I ought to have taken notice of before, when I was speaking of the Collocation of Words; the Passage I mean is, _For since I first_, &c. The entire Passage runs thus,

"_Eve, easily_ may Faith admit that all The Good which we enjoy, from Heav'n descends; _But_, that from _us_ ought should ascend to Heav'n So prevalent as to concern the Mind Of God high-blest, or to incline his Will, Hard to belief may seem; _yet_ this will Prayer, Or one short Sigh of human Breath, up born Ev'n to the Seat of God. For since I sought By Pray'r th' offended Deity to appease; _Kneel'd_ and before him humbled all my Heart, Methought I saw him placable and mild, Bending his Ear, _&c._

How extremely fine is the Poetry of this Passage? How soft is the beginning, occasion'd by the Assonance of the two first Words, _Eve_, _Easily_, and of the five next all alliterated with the same Vowel, _A_

"--_May Faith admit that all._

How solemn is the Pause at the 1st Syllable of the 3d Line! _But_--

And the Cæsure upon the Monosyllable _Us_ that follows immediately,

"_But_--that from _us_--

And the same Energy is plainly perceiv'd at the End of the 6th Line, where the Cæsure is plac'd upon the Monosyllable _yet_,

"_Yet_--this will Prayer, _&c._

But when we come to that Line,

"_Kneel'd_; and before Him humbled all my Heart,

such is the Force of the Word _kneel'd_ in that Situation, that we actually see _Adam_ upon his Knees before the offended Deity; and by the Conclusion of this Paragraph,--_Bending his Ear_, Infinite Goodness is visibly as it were represented to our Eyes as inclining to hearken to the Prayers of his penitent Creature.