According to this model, Horace wrote his odes
and epodes; for his satires and epistles, being intended wholly for
instruction, required another style -
"Ornari res ipsa negat, contenta doceri" -
and therefore, as he himself professes, are sermoni propriora
(nearer prose than verse). But Virgil, who never attempted the
lyric verse, is everywhere elegant, sweet, and flowing in his
hexameters. His words are not only chosen, but the places in which
he ranks them for the sound; he who removes them from the station
wherein their master sets them spoils the harmony. What he says of
the Sibyl's prophecies may be as properly applied to every word of
his--they must be read in order as they lie; the least breath
discomposes them, and somewhat of their divinity is lost. I cannot
boast that I have been thus exact in my verses; but I have
endeavoured to follow the example of my master, and am the first
Englishman perhaps who made it his design to copy him in his
numbers, his choice of words, and his placing them for the sweetness
of the sound.
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