That ftruts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more.

O thou Goddefs,

Macbeth, act 5. Sc. 5.

Thou divine Nature! how thyfelf thou blazon'ft
In thefe two princely boys! they are as gentle
As zephyrs blowing below the violet,

Not wagging his fweet head; and yet as rough,
(Their royal blood inchaf'd) as the rudeft wind,
That by the top doth take the mountain pine,
And make him toop to th' vale.

Cymbeline, at 4. Sc. 4.

Why did not I pafs away in fecret, like the flower of the rock that lifts its fair head unfeen, and ftrows its withered leaves on the blait ?

Fingal.

There is a joy in grief when peace dwells with the forrowful. But they are wafted with mourning, O daughter of Tofcar, and their days are few. They fall away like the flower on which the fun looks in his ftrength, after the mildew has paffed over it, and its head is heavy with the drops of night.

Fingal.

The fight obtained of the city of Jerufalem by the Christian army, compared to that of land difcovered after a long voyage, Taffo's Gierufalem, canto 3. ft. 4. The fury of Rinaldo fubfiding when not oppofed, to that of wind or water when it has a free paffage, canto 20. fl. 58.

As words convey but a faint and obfcure notion of great numbers, a poet, to give a lively notion of the object he describes with regard to number, does well to compare it to what is familiar and commonly known. Thus Homer compares the Grecian ar

*Book 2. 1. #41.

my

my in point of number to a fwarm of bees: in another paffage he compares it to that profufion of leaves and flowers which appear in the fpring, or of infects in a fummer's evening; and Milton,

As when the potent rod

Of Amram's fon, in Egypt's evil day,

Wav'd round the coaft, up call'd a pitchy cloud
Of locufts, warping on the eaftern wind,
That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung
Like night, and darkened all the land of Nile :
So numberlefs were thofe bad angels feen,
Hovering on wing under the cope of hell,
'Twixt upper, nether, and furrounding fires.

Paradife Left, b. 1.

Such comparisons have, by fome writers,† been con demned for the lownefs of the images introduced: but furely without reafon; for, with regard to numbers, they put the principal subject in a strong light,

The foregoing comparisons operate by refem plance; others have the fame effect by contraft.

York. I am the laft of Noble Edward's fons,
Of whom thy father, Prince of Wales, was first;
In war, was never lion rag'd more fierce;
In peace, was never gentle lamb more mild;
Than was that young and princely gentleman.
His face thou haft, for even fo look'd he,
Accomplith'd with the number of thy hours.
But when he frown'd it was against the French,
And not against his friends. His noble hand
Did win what he did spend ; and spent not that
Which his triumphant father's hand had won.
His hands were guilty of no kindred's blood,
But bloody with the enemies of his kin.
Oh, Richard! York is too far gone with grief,
Or elfe he never would compare between.

Richard II. at 2. fc. 3.
Milton

Book 2. l. 551.

+ See Vida Poctic. lib. 2. 1. 282.

Milton has a peculiar talent in embellishing the principal fubject by affociating it with others that are agreeable; which is the third end of a comparison. Similes of this kind have, befide, a feparate effect: they diverfify the narration by new images that are not ftrictly neceffary to the comparison: they are fhort epifodes, which, without drawing us from the principal fubject, afford great delight by their beauty and variety:

He scarce had ceas'd when the fuperior fiend

Was moving toward the fhore; his pond'rous fhield,
Ethereal temper, mafly, large, and round,

Behind him caft; the broad circumference
Hung on his thoulders like the moon, whofe orb
Through optic glafs the Tufcan artist views
At ev'ning from the top of Fefole,
Or in Valdarno, to defcry new lands,
Rivers, or mountains, in her fpotty globe.

Thus far thefe, beyond

Milton, b. 1.

Compare of mortal prowefs, yet obferv'd
Their dread commander. He above the reft
In fhape and gefture proudly eminent,
Stood like a tow'r; his form had yet not loft
All her original brightnefs, nor appear'd
Lefs than archangel ruin'd, and th' excefs
Of glory obfcur'd: as when the fun new-rifen
Looks through the horizontal misty air
Shorn of his beams; or from behind the moon
In dim eclipfe, difaftrous twilight fheds
On half the nations, and with fear of change
Perplexes monarchs.

Milton, b. 1.

As when a vulture on Imaus bred,
Whofe fnowy ridge the roving Tartar bounds,
Dillodging from a region fcarce of prey
To gorge the flesh of lambs, or yeanling kids,

On

On hills where flocks are fed, flies toward the fprings
Of Ganges or Hydafpes, Indian ftreams,

But in his way lights on the barren plains
Of Sericana, where Chinefes drive

With fails and wind their cany waggons light:
So on this windy fea of land, the fiend
Walk'd up and down alone, bent on his prey.
Milton, b. 3.

Yet higher than their tops
The verdurous wall of paradife up sprung:
Which to our general fire gave profpect large
Into this nether empire neighbouring round.
And higher than that wall, a circling row
Of goodlieft trees loaden with faireft fruit,
Bloffoms and fruits at once of golden hue,
Appear'd, with gay enamel'd colours mix'd,
On which the fun more glad imprefs'd his beams
Than in fair evening cloud, or humid bow,
When God had fhow'r'd the earth; fo lovely feem'd
That landscape and of pure now purer air
Meets his approach, and to the heart infpires
Vernal delight and joy, able to drive
All fadnefs but defpair: now gentle gales
Fanning their odoriferous wings difpenfe
Native perfumes, and whifper whence they ftole
Thofe balmy fpoils. As when to them who fail
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are pait
Mozambic, off at fea north-eaft winds blow
Sabean odour from the fpicy thore
Of Araby the Bleft; with fuch delay

Well-pleas'd they flack their courfe, and many a league
Cheer'd with the grateful fmell, old Occan fimiles.
Milton, b. 4.

With regard to fimiles of this kind, it will readily occur to the reader, that when a refembling fubject is once properly introduced in a fimile, the mind is tranfitorily amufed with the new object, and is not diffatisfied with the flight interruption. Thus, in fine weather, the momentary excurfions of a traveller for

agreeable

agreeable profpects or elegant buildings, cheer his mind, relieve him from the languor of uniformity, and without much lengthening his journey, in reality, fhorten it greatly in appearance.

Next of comparisons that aggrandize or elevate. These affect us more than any other fort: the reason of which may be gathered from the chapter of Grandeur and Sublimity; and, without reasoning, will be evident from the following inftances:

As when a flame the winding valley fills,
And runs on crackling fhrubs between the hills,
Then o'er the ftubble, up the mountain flies,
Fires the high woods, and blazes to the skies,
This way and that, the fpreading torrent roars;
So fweeps the hero through the wafted thores.
Around him wide, immenfe deftruction pours,
And earth is delug'd with the fanguine fhow'rs.
Iliad xx. 569.

Through blood, through death, Achilles ftill proceeds,
O'er flaughtered heroes, and o'er rolling steeds.
As when avenging flames with fury driv'n
On guilty towns exert the wrath of Heav'n,
The pale inhabitants, fome fall, fome fly,
And the red vapours purple all the sky:
So rag'd Achilles; death and dire difmay,
And toils, and terrors, fill'd the dreadful day.
Iliad xxi. 605.

Methinks, King Richard and my felf fhould meet
With no lefs terror than the elements
Of fire and water, when their thund'ring fhock,
At meeting, tears the cloudy cheeks of Heav'n.
Richard II. act 3. fc. 5.

As rufheth a foamy stream from the dark fhady fteep of Cromla, when thunder is rolling above, and dark brown night refts on the hill: fo fierce, To vaft, fo terrible, rush forward the fons of Erin. The chief, like a whale of

Ocean