"
But nobis non licet esse tam disertis--at least, if we study to
refine our numbers. I have long had by me the materials of an
English "Prosodia," containing all the mechanical rules of
versification, wherein I have treated with some exactness of the
feet, the quantities, and the pauses. The French and Italians know
nothing of the two first--at least, their best poets have not
practised them. As for the pauses, Malherbe first brought them into
France within this last century, and we see how they adorn their
Alexandrines. But as Virgil propounds a riddle which he leaves
unsolved -
"Dic quibus in terris, inscripti nomina regum
Nascantur flores, et Phyllida solus habeto" -
so I will give your lordship another, and leave the exposition of it
to your acute judgment. I am sure there are few who make verses
have observed the sweetness of these two lines in "Cooper's Hill" -
"Though deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet not dull;
Strong without rage; without o'erflowing, full" -
and there are yet fewer who can find the reason of that sweetness.
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