4 ni 2 mind 4 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. mind by an accumulation of similar ideas. Thus when, in the Eneid, the Tyrians busily occupied in building their city are resembled to a hive of bees at work on a summer's day, the leading images of number and industry are not in the least deteriorated by being trans- ferred from men to insects ; but are rather en- hanced by the reference to a scene of which every one has a clear and lively conception. It is true, there are some parallels of this kind which, through an unhappy association of mean or ludicrous ideas, are apt to throw a ridicule upon the primary object ; and which a cultivated taste will therefore avoid. Thus, no modern poet would choose to copy the simile in the Odyssey where Ulysses, tossing restless in his bed, is compared to a hungry man turning a tripe on the coals for his sup- per ; or that in the Iliad, in which the Greeks and Trojans contending for the body of Patro- clus, and pulling it in opposite directions, are likened to curriers stretching a hide. The point of resemblance is indeed sufficiently exact ; but embellishment, not illustration, being the true purpose of a poetic simile, an image that derogates from beauty or gran- deur is not excused by its similitude. It is in ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 5 in burlesque only that such comparisons have an appropriate place: and in that spe- cies of fiction their effect is often singularly happy. The pleasure arising from unexpected re- semblance is of a nature entirely different from that afforded by the class of similes above mentioned ; and is referable to those emotions which we experience when remote and dissimi- lar ideas are brought together by means of some fanciful association, the effecting of which is the peculiar office of the faculty called wit. In the similes of this class, the more unlike in nature are the two objects which are placed in comparison, the more perfectly is the end attained of producing surprise, and amusing the fancy by the reciprocation of contrast and resemblance. Thus, when the two ideas of pleasure and quicksilver are presented together to the mind, the first per- ception is solely that of their diversity. But when Dr. Young has pointed out the circum- stances of resemblance in their being each slit- tering, slippery, eluding the grasp, and, when possessed, leaving a poison in the veins, the unforeseen similarity in two things so radically different strikes us as a discovery ; and we at least O ON SIMILES IN POETRY. least admire the ingenuity of the author, if no higher effect be produced. Pleasures are few, and fewer we enjoy ; Pleasure, like quicksilver, is bright and coy j We strive to grasp it with our utmost skill, Still it eludes us, and it glitters still : If seiz'd at last, compute your mighty gains ; What is it, but rank poison in your veins ? Satire v. There is danger, however, lest in pursuing uncommon parallels, the fancy should stray to whimsical and far-fetched thoughts, which border on the ludicrous. Thus the same wri- ter compares one who subsists upon trifling empty joys, to a cat in an air-pump. And Cowley justly stigmatizes, as a species of false wit, the practice so common in his age (and indeed so frequently exemplified in his own Works) of " obtruding on all things some odd similitude." Yet some degree of invention in a simile, so as to remove it from what is per- fectly obvious, is expected; and it is a received rule in the formation of this figure, that the principal and the accessory image should not be too like. They should not, for example, be only variations of the same fundamental cir- cumstance ; or identical in the action, and only different in the agent : as where Tasso, who ON SIMILES IN POETRY. J who is often faulty in this point, illustrates the expressions of delight exhibited by the christian army when a long drought was termi- nated by a pouring fain, to the sporting of ducks in a shower. It must, however, be acknowledged that Homer, and the other poets of an early period, have seldom been at the trouble to search far for objects of similitude, but have usually con- tented themselves with the first that occurred. But they, and especially the Grecian bard, have given full scope to what I consider as the third purpose of simile, — that of produ- cing variety in their descriptions. Homer, habituated to observe nature with a correct eye, and with a mind alive to every thing- striking and sublime in its scenery, has ma- nifestly made it a leading object to diversify his narrative with numerous pictures drawn from the life, which might give pleasure in- dependently of any application to the topic sug- gesting them. In fact, his merit as a painter from nature is perhaps that in which he stands most distinguished from all other poets. In variety, accuracy, and force, the descrip- tions in his similes greatly surpass those of any of his successors and imitators; and they form 8 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. form a gallery of delineations which the stu- dent of poetry cannot survey with too much attention. In many of these pieces the point of resemblance is lightly touched ; and the poet, unshackled by the supposed necessity of keeping in view a constant parallel between the primary and the accessory image, runs out into a detail of circumstances, in the latter, wholly alien from the occasion on which it was introduced. If this be a deviation from the perfection of simile, which seems to require both copiousness and exactness of parallelism, it has yet been productive of so many grand and impressive sketches in Homer's works, that no true lover of poetry or of nature can wish that a premature correctness of taste had restrained him in his effusions. And though some French critics have endeavoured to throw ridicule upon what they have named his long- taikd similes, yet the imitation of them by Milton, the most truly Homeric of his epic successors, may be esteemed a weighty decision in their favour. One point of congruity, how- ever, may properly be required in these di- gressive descriptions — that if they have no di- rect affinity with the scene that suggested them, they at least should harmonize with it in gene- ral ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 9 ral effect, and not give rise to discordant emo- tions. For although variety be a principal ob- ject in these ornamental additions, it is variety of imagery rather than of sentiment: change in the former may agreeably amuse the imagi- nation, while interruption in the latter would unpleasantly divert the current of the feelings. But as the justness of all rules of art is only to be appretiated by examples of their actual application, I shall now proceed to what I intend for the principal matter of this paper, namely, a critical examination of the similes presented in the works of Homer, the great fountain of poetical imagery in general, and especially of such as belongs to this head ; compared with those of Virgil, who is in gene- ral almost his translator in these figures ; and of Milton, sometimes his imitator, but never without originality. To these I shall occa- sionally add such examples from other poets, principally epic, as are suggested by the parti- cular subject, and may contribute either to entertainment or illustration. The similes will be arranged in classes according to the nature of the objects from which they are taken. I. FROM 10 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. FROM THE HEAVENLY BODIES. It must appear extraordinary that amidst the striking objects of creation which caught the eye of Homer, the most splendid of all, the Sun, should be so little applied by him to poetical use. I can find but one instance in which this luminary is made, in its proper cha- racter, a subject of comparison by him ; and this is comprised in a single line. Achilles, resplendent in arms, is said to be " like the Sun in its ascension.*" //. xix. 398. Unaided by the example of Homer, it would seem that the genius of Virgil was unequal to the management of so grand an object ; but our Milton has ventured to introduce it upon * In all the quotations from Homer, the Greek original will only be referred to, and the sense will be given in an English translation. As accuracy appeared essential for the purpose of criticism and comparison, it was soon found that Pope's translation, however elegant in versification, and often beautiful in language, would not answer the purpose ; and Cowper's not having been published when this paper was begun, I was induced to attempt one of my own of the cited passages, in blank verse, as faithful as possible to the original. But it would be equally an offence against taste ON SIMILES IN POETRV. 1 I upon his canvass, not indeed in meridian splen- dour, but with its glory dimmed and obscured, so as to be a fit parallel to an angelic beino- in a state of degradation. As when the Sun new risen Looks through the horizontal misty air Shorn of his beams ; or from behind the moon In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds On half the nations, and with fear of change Perplexes monarchs ; darken'd so, yet shone Above them all, th' Archangel. Par. L. i. 504. This simile is not properly a comparison between two things, but the imaging of an idea of the fancy by one of the memory; and is therefore an example of that illustrative use of this figure which, though rare in poetry, must occur when the subject of description is something beyond this visible and material world. The Paradise Lost abounds with such similitudes, applied to the superhuman per- taste and modesty not to prefer the admirable versions of that great poet whenever, as is commonly the case, they unite the requisite exactness with their characteristic spirit. When they have seemed to me to fail in that point, I have ventured to substitute my own. To various other quoted passages, likewise, of which I could either meet with no translation, or none sufficiently exact, I have annexed versions composed upon a similar plan. All those which I have borrowed are marked with the writer's name. sonages 12 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. sonages who are the principal actors in the piece ; and this application has been a cause of the peculiar grandeur of his similes, the objects of comparison being naturally derived from the sublimest scenes of creation. Sun shine, though not the sun himself, has afforded an object of resemblance both to Ho- mer and Milton. When Patroclus has repelled the hostile fire from the Grecian ship, the in- terval of returning repose and safety to the Greeks is represented in the following simile : As when the king of lightnings, Jove, dispells From some huge eminence a gloomy cloud, The groves, the mountain-tops, the headland heights Shine all, illumined from the boundless heav'n ; So, when the Greeks had saved the ships from fire, Some ease they found. II. xvi. 29/. Cowper. The similitude here consists in the effects of the two circumstances on the mind, not in the circumstances themselves, in which there is rather an opposition ; fire being extinguished in one case, and light restored in the other : but the result of both is a gleam of returning cheerfulness. Pope, indeed, in contradiction to all the commentators, and to the poet's own explanation of his simile, supposes the like- ness to consist solely in sensible appearances ; and ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 13 and that the clearing away of the smoke after the extinction of the fire, is meant to be pa- ralleled to the dispersion of the cloud ; but this explanation seems forced and unfounded. It may be added, that in the Hebrew poetry, light and joy are used almost synonymously ; and that there are examples of the same me- taphor in the language of Homer himself. Milton, in imitating the descriptive part of this simile, has applied it to the same pur- pose. After Satan has taken upon himself the toil and hazard of the exploratory voyage which was to liberate the diabolic host from their infernal prison, their returning hope and joy are painted in this beautiful comparison : As when from mountain-tops the dusky clouds Ascending, while the north wind sleeps, o'erspread Heav'n's cheerful face, the louring element Scowls o'er the darken'd Landscape snow or shower; If chance the radiant sun with farewell sweet Extend his evening beam, the fields revive, The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings. Par. L. ii. 488. The fourth great epic poet, Tasso, will sup- ply us with another simile from the sun and its light, applied, according to the gallantry of his age, to the purpose of complimenting fe- male 14 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. male beauty. It is introduced in the enchant- ing description of Armida. D'auro ha la chioma, ed hor dal bianco velo Traluce involta, hor discoperta appare. Cos! qual' hor si rasserena il cielo, Hor da Candida nube il Sol traspare, Hor de la nube uscendo, i raggi intorno Piu chiari spiega, e ne raddoppia il giorno. Ger. Lib. iv. st. 29. Now through her snowy veil, half hid from sight, Her golden locks diffuse a doubtful light j And now, unveil'd, in open view they show'd : So Phoebus glimmers through a fleecy cloud, So from the cloud again redeems his ray, And sheds new glories on the face of day. Hoolt. The Moon is introduced in simile, both by Homer and Milton, and is compared by both to the same object ; but what the Grecian bard has only just touched upon, is by our country- man wrought into a noble picture. Of Achilles it is said. And next he rear'd his ample, ponderous shield, Whence beam'd afar a splendour, like the Moon's. //. xix. 373. This image, transferred to the shield of Sa- tan, is thus expanded : his ponderous shield, Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round, Behind ON SIMILES IN POETRY. L^ Behind him cast ; the broad circumference Hung on his shoulders like the Moon, whose orb Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views At evening, from the top of Fesole, Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands, Rivers, or mountains, in her spotty globe. Par. L. i. 28rj. This is one of the instances alluded to, in which Milton imitates the manner of Ho- mer in lengthening out a simile beyond the point of resemblance, for the mere purpose of forming a picture. The figure of the Tus- can artist viewing the moon through his tele- scope, and the fancied rivers and mountains in its spotty surface, have no parallel in Satan or his shield, but serve to give a picturesque effect to the introduction of that luminary, and to amuse the mind by variety. Whether this pleasure be not too dearly purchased when, as in the present case, the accessory circum- stances lead the imagination into a totally different track from that it was pursuing, every reader must determine for himself. Were I to speak from my own experience, I should say, that the versatility of the human mind is such as to enable it to make short excursions from one object to another, and back again, without confusion, and with little interruption to \d ON SIMILES IN POETRV. to the train of ideas belonging to a regular narrative. The moon is a conspicuous object in a simile of Homer's which has been greatly and de- servedly admired for its poetical beauties. It is introduced in a night-scene on the plain before 1 roy. As when around the clear bright Moon, the stars Shine in full splendour, and the winds are hush'd, The groves, the mountain- tops, the headland-height* Stand all apparent, not a vapour streaks The boundless blue, but ether open'd wide All glitters, and the shepherd's heart is cheer' d -, So numerous seem'd those fires between the stream Of Xanthus, blazing, and the fleet of Greece, In prospect all of Troy. //. viii. 551. Cozvper. This is, indeed, an exquisite picture ; and it is obvious that to render it such was the poet's chief purpose ; for the point of resemblance is restricted to the single circumstance of the number of the Trojan fires, compared to that of the stars : and the majestic figure of the moon, the most distinguished object in the scene, together with the glorious diffusion of light from the heavens, and the rejoicing shep- herd, has no parallel in the real scene. If we may digress to a poet of a different class, ON SIMILES IN POETRY. IJ class, but one who certainly possesses much of the epic force and dignity, we shall find in Spenser a simile in which the moon burst- ing from a cloud is painted with suitable ac- companiments as a parallel to the fair and mar- tial Britomart when she lifts up her visor and displays her countenance. As when fair Cynthia in darksome night Is in a noyous cloud enveloped, Where she may find the substance thin and light, Breaks forth her silver beams, and her bright head Discovers to the world discomfited ; Of the poor traveller that went astray \Vith thousand blessings she is heried : Such was the beauty and the sinning ray With which fair Britomart gave light unto the day. F. Q. b. Hi. c. i. 43. Stars are frequent objects of comparison in the three great epic poems, as images both of beauty and of terror. The glitter of arms is obviously resembled to the sparkling of a star. Thus Homer says of Diomed, His helmed head She circled, and his shield, with living fires, Bright as, when brightest, the autumnal Star In ocean laved, and recent from the deep : //. v. 4. Cowper. c and 18 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. and of the spear of Achilles; As in the darksome night, amidst the Stars Fair Hesper shines, the fairest light of heav'n, So sparkled the keen point. //. xxii. 317. Astyanax is compared to a star for his heauty (II. vi. 401 ) ; a similitude which Virgil finely heightens and expands, in applying it to the son of Evander : Ipse agmine Pallas In medio, ehlamyde et pictis conspectus in armis : Qualis ubi Oceani perfusus Lucifer unda, Quern Venus ante alios astrorum diligit ignes, Extulit os sacrum ccelo, tenebrasque rcsolvit. /En. viii. 58/. Young Pallas shone conspicuous o'er the rest, Gilded his arms, embroider'd was his vest : So from the seas exerts his radiant head The Star, by whom the lights of heav'n are led ; Shakes from his rosy locks the pearly dews, Disptls the darkness, and the day renews. Dryden. The circumstance of the planet's lifting his head above the waves, and dispelling the dark- ness, is imagined and expressed with the ele- gance and dignity peculiar to this poet. The translation, though by no means correct, is highly beautiful in point of language. Si at i us ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 1$ Statius gives a manifest imitation of this simile, but so varied in its circumstances as to form a new and very beautiful picture. It is introduced on occasion of a foot-race, in which, while all the competitors are shining with the oil applied to their naked limbs, one is pecu- liarly distinguished by the beauty of his person : Sic ubi tranquillo pellucent sidera ponto, Vibraturque fretis coeli stellantis imago, Omnia clara nitent, sed clarior omnia supra Hesperus exercet radios, qnantusque per ahum ./Ethera, caeruleis tantum monstratur in undis. Theb. vi. 578- Thus, on the bosom of the tranquil main, When every Star in quivering lustre shines, And heaven adorns the deep ; though all are bright, Fair Hesper darts the brightest ray ; nor less Than in the vaulted sky, transcendent glows On the smooth surface of the azure waves. Brightness, but of a terrific and ominous kind, is the attribute of the star to which Hector is compared in the Iliad, with the addi- tional circumstance of its shining and disap- pearing by fits, as that warrior in his rapid motion showed himself in different parts of the line of battle. As, bursting from the clouds, a star malign Now sparkles bright, anon in dusky clouds c 2 Plunges 20 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. Plunges obscurd ; so, marshalling his host, Now in the van, now in the distant rear, % The hero flames. II. xi. 62, Cowper has, I think, unadvisedly called this " pernicious star," a comet-, for in the following simile Homer distinguishes by name a star of baleful influence, and gives a reason why it is regarded as such. The subject of com- parison is Achilles, in all his terrors, pur- suing the Trojans. Glitt'ring he scoufd the plain : as that bright star, Orion's Dog by name, in autumn shines Through the dark night, and shoots his vivid rays, Refulgent 'mid the numerous lights of heav'n. Brightest he shines, but baleful is his sway, To wretched mortals bearing hot disease. 11. xxii. 26. Virgil, in applying the same simile to i*Eneas 7 has heightened the poetical expression, but lias, perhaps, somewhat impaired the effect by dividing the attention between two objects of similitude, a comet, and the Dog-star. Ardet apex capiti, cristisque a vertice flamma Funditur, et vastos umbo vomit aureus ignes : Haud secus ac liquida si quando nocte cometae Sanguinei lugubre rubent ; aut Sirius ardor : Ille sitim morbosque ferens mortalibus agrrs Nascitur, et laevo contristat lumine ccelum : Mn. x. 278. The ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 2L-- The Latians saw from far, with dazzled eyes, The radiant crest that seem'd in flames to rise, And dart diffusive fires around the field, And the keen glittering of the golden shield. Thus threatning comets, when by night they rise, Shoot sanguine streams, and sadden all the skies; So Sirius flashing forth sinister lights, Pale human kind with plagues, and with dry famine frights. Dry den. The first two lines in this passage are an imitation of Homer's description, above quoted, of the armour of Diomed. In the subsequent lines, the expression " lugubre rubent" applied to comets, and the effect attributed to Sirius of " saddening the sky with malignant light,'* are fine strokes of poetical imagery. In sublimity of conception, Milton, adopting this simile, has surpassed both his originals ; as, indeed, the transcendent grandeur of the personages in his fable naturally gave scope to all the lofty imagery with which his mind was stored. He confines his comparison to the comet; which, though not philosophically con- sidered as the cause or precursor of those evils that superstition has connected with its ap- pearance, is sufficiently associated with them in popular opinion to justify a poet in assuming jtlie supposition as fact. On 22 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. On th* other side, Incens'd with indignation, Satan stood Unterrified, and like a Comet burn'd, That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge In th' arctic sky, and from his horrid hair Shakes pestilence and war. Par. L. ii. 170S. What could be imagined more terribly sub- lime and appropriate as an object of similitude to the highest of evil beings, than the figure of a comet blazing through the space of a vast constellation, and scattering plagues from his train ? The fancied form of Orion in the heavens has afforded Virgil a simile of extraordinary grandeur, but somewhat hyperbolical as ap- plied to one who is only a second-rate hero in his poem. At vero ingentem quatiens Mezentius hastam Turbidus ingreditur campo : quam magnus Orion, Cum pedes incedit medii per maxima Nerei Stagna, viam scindens, humero supereminet undas.. JEn. x. 763. Once more the proud Mezentius with disdain Brandish'd his spear., and rush'd into the plain -, Where tow'ring in the midmost ranks he stood, Like tall Orion stalking o'er the flood ; When with his brawny breast he cuts the waves, His shoulder scarce the topmost billow laves. Dry den. Milton ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 2b Milton has a second time introduced the celestial bodies as the only adequate objects of comparison to his angelic leaders. Michael and Satan meet in a conflict which is repre- sented to the imagination by the following simile : such as, to set forth Great things by small, if, Nature's concord broke, Among the constellations war were sprung ! Two Planets, rushing with aspect malign Of fiercest opposition, in mid sky Should combat, and their jarring spheres confound. Par. L. vi. 310. Though the poet endeavours to aocrandize the reader's conception of his personages by warning him that the comparison is only of small things to great, yet this is a mere address to the understanding, for the fancy can scarcely embody any thing greater than the objects which he has selected for the similitude. II. FROM METEORS, LIGHTNTNG, RAYS OF LIGHT, AND CLOUDS. The meteor commonly called a fire-ball is probably meant by Homer in the simile which he applies to the descent of Minerva between the Grecian and Trojan armies. ..;... As 24 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. As a fiery globe Design'd by Jove a portent in the eyes Of mariners, or of some numerous host, Glittering descends, and showering sparks around °, In semblance such she darted to the field, And dropp'd between them. II. iv. 75. Cow per. » This is imitated, and, as usual, much height- ened, by Milton in his description of Uriel's descent to earth. Thither came Uriel, gliding through the ev'n . On a sunbeam, swift as a shooting star In autumn thwarts the night, when vapours nYd Impress the air, and shows the mariner From what point of his compass to beware Impetuous wmds. Par. L. iv. 555. The latter lines are not a gratuitous addition to the simile, but refer to the purpose of Uriel's descent, which was to put Gabriel on his guard against the machinations of Satan. The same poet employs the image of a meteor in his magnificent description of the great Satanic standard. ...... forthwith from the glitt'ring staff unfurl'd Th' imperial ensign, which, full high advanc'd, Shone like a Meteor, streaming to the wind.* Par. L. i. 535. * This is copied by Gray, and by a ludicrous exaggeration applied to the hair and beard of his Welsh Bard. That ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 25 That singular light, the Ignis fatuus, has af- forded Milton a subject for one of his highest- wrought similes. As when a wand'ring fire Compact of unctuous vapour, which the night Condenses, and the cold tn\ irons round, Kindled through agitation to a flame, Which ofr, they s«y, some evil spirit attends, Hovering and blazing with delusive light, Misleads th' amaz'd night wand'rer from his way To bogs an<] mires, and oft through pond and pool, There swallow d .p and lost, from succour far j So glis.er'd the dire snake. n r . r ■ Par. L. ix. 634. Thi: comparison exhibits, in an eminent de- gree, that union of moral with natural resem- blance in which the perfection of this figure consists. The attendant evil Spirit, the delusive light misleading the wanderer to danger and destruction, far from succour, have as much reference to the character and situation of the Serpent and Eve, as the glittering light of the dancing meteor has to the shining skin of the gliding snake. That striking meteorous phenomenon, the Aurora borealis, could have escaped the notice of the ancient poets only from its great infre- quency in their ages or countries. Virgil, indeed, alludes to it in his account of the prodigies 26 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. prodigies at the death of Caesar ; but an appear- ance so rare as to be a prodigy could scarcely be introduced in a simile. Even Milton speaks of it as portentous, where he describes it as an object of similitude to the martial exercises of the fallen angels : As when to warn proud cities, war appears Wag'd in the troubled sky, and armies rush To battle in the clouds ; before each van Prick forth the aery knights, and couch their spears Till thickest legions close ; with feats of arms From either end of heav'n the welkin burns. Par. L. ii. 533. This passage is remarkable for containing a simile within a simile ; for the supposed ex- ercises of the Satanic warriors are not directly compared to the coruscations of the northern lights, but to what those lights are fancied to resemble. Among the images of terror and sublimity offered by nature to the mind of the poet, it was impossible that the awful occurrence of Thunder and Lightning could be overlooked, in which, solemnity of sound, brilliancy of ap- pearance, rapidity of motion, and violence of action, all conspire to impress the imagination. One of the earliest similes in Homer is a noble one ON SIMILES IN POETRY. tf one derived from this source. After his minute catalogue of the Grecian army, the effect of which is to inspire a high idea of its force, he sustains the images of power and number by thus describing their march to the enemy: Fire seem'd to scorch the plain where'er they trod, And the earth groan'd, as when the lightnings huil'd By angry Jove in Arimi descend On Typhon's rumour'd bed, and lash the ground. //. ii. 781. Cowper. Milton, in like manner, compares the sound of a great assembly to that of distant thunder. When the council of Pandemonium broke up, Their rising all at once was as the sound Of thunder heard remote. Par. L. ii. 476. The velocity and brilliancy of lightning are the circumstances of resemblance which Ho- mer applies to Idomem us rushing to battle. (He) Set forth like lightning which Saturnian Jove From bright Olympus shakes into the air, Dazzling all eyes ; a sign to men below : So beam'd the hero's armour as he ran. //. xiii. 242 Cowper. There are two similes in Homer and Virgil in which affections of the mind are compared to the flashing of lightning. By the first poet, the 28 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. the agitation of Agamemnon during the night subsequent to the failure of his endeavours to appease the resentment of Achilles, is thus depicted : As when the spouse of beauteous Juno darts His frequent fires, designing heaviest rain, Or hail, or snow that whitens all the fields, Or devastation of wide-throated war : So frequent from his inmost bosom groan'd The son of Atreus, trembling at his heart. //. x. 5. Coivper. The resemblance here, as marked by the author, is limited to the single circumstance of frequent repetition; but it is probable that the penetrating flashes of uneasy thought found a parallel in his mind in gleams of lightning ; and also, the impending evils consequent on the anger of Achilles, in the calamities of which such lightning is the supposed sign or precursor. In our progress we shall meet with a variety of instances in which this poet plain- ly intends points of similitude which he neg- lects directly to announce. The other simile referred to is in that vo- luptuous passage of the Eneid, where Venus exerts her powers of allurement upon Vulcan, in order to procure from him a suit of celestial armour OX SIMILES IN POETRY. 2Q armour for her son. The effects are thus re- presented : ille repente Accepit solitam flammam : notusque medullas Intravit calor, et labefacta per ossa cucurrit : Haud secus atque olim tonitru cum rnpta corusco Ignea rima micans percurrit lumine nimbos. Mn. viii. 38S. At once he feels the usual flame ; the heat His marrow fires, and runs through all his bones : As when a fiery chink, from thunder burst, Darts cross the clouds, in quiv'ring light display'd. Both Dry den's and Pitt's version of these lines are very defective, as they confine the resemblance to the circumstance of swiftness of motion; whereas Virgil evidently draws a pa- rallel between the metaphorical fire of love, and the actual fire in a flash of lightning. Lucan has a noted simile in which lightning, in the destructive form usually called a thun- derbolt, is made the object of comparison to the character of Julius Caesar, who is previous- ly drawn by the poet with the moral features of restless activity, and irresistible vigour, urging him on to his objects of passion and ambition with the ruin of all that stands in his way. Whether or not this portrait be charge- able with party exaggeration, is not here the question ; SO ON SIMILES IN POETRY. question ; but taking it is as represented, the similitude is ingeniously conceived, and the description it suggests is highly poetical. Qualiter expressum ventis pernubila fulmen i"£theris impulsi sonitu, mundique fragore Emicuit, rupitque diem, populosque paventes Terruit, obliqua praestringens lamina flamma r In sua templa furit ; nullaque exire vetante Materia, magnamque cadens, magnamque revertens Dat stragem late, sparsosque recolligit ignes. Phars. i. 151. Such, while earth trembles, and heav'n thunders loud, Darts the swift lightning from the rending cloud ; Fierce through the day it breaks, and in its flight The dreadful blast confounds the gazer's sight j Resistless in its course delights to rove, And cleaves the temples of its master Jove : Alike where'er it passes or returns With equal rage the fell destroyer burns ; Then with a whirl full in its strength retires, And recollects the force of all its scatter'd fires. Rowe t Besides the general parallel, the circumstance of i( raging against its own temples" manifestly alludes to the hostility exercised by Csesar against his own country. i shall make a further excursion to introduce what appears to me a very sublime as well as ingenious simile belonging to this head, pre- sented ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 31 sented by the fertile fancy of Ariosto. Sacri- pante has been unexpectedly thrown to the ground with his steed by an unknown knight, who passes on and leaves him to rise at his leisure : Quale stordito e stupido aralore Poich* e passato il fulmine, si leva Di la, dove l'altissimo fragore Presso agli uccisi buoi steso l'aveva j Che mira senza fronde, e senza onore II pin, che di lontan veder soleva : Tal si levo il Pagano. Oil. Fur. canto i. 6\5. As when, the thunder past, in stupid trance A peasant slowly rises, whom the bolt, Darted with loudest crash, had stretch'd on earth Beside his slaughter'd steers ; and views amaz'd, Leafless and blasted, all its honours shorn, The distant pine j so rose th' astonish'd chief. Although the peasant himself is here the declared object of comparison, yet the thunder- stroke is the circumstance on which the simili- tude depends, and it has a direct parallel in the shock which overthrew the cavalier. Light glancing from the surface of water is compared by Virgil to the wavering thoughts which occupied the breast of iEneas when agitated by various cares. This simile, which is o2 ON SIMILES IN FOETRY. is of the ingenious class, is borrowed front Apollonius fthodius, and partakes of the cha- racter of the Alexandrian school : the Roman, however, has wrought it with his own beauty of language. .... animum nunc hue celerem^ nunc dividit illuc, In partesque rapk varias, perque omnia versat. Sicut aquae tremulum labris uti lumen ahenis Sole repercussum, aut radiantis imagine lunae, Omnia pervolitat late loca, jamque sub auras Erigitur, summique ferit iaquearia recti. &n. viii. 22o A thousand thoughts his wavering soul divide That turns each way, and points ro every side. So from a brazen vase the trembling stream Reflects the lunar or the solar beam : Swift and elusive of the dazzled eyes From wall to wall the dancing glory flies ; Thence to the ceiling shoot the glancing rays, And o'er the roof the quiv'ring splendour plays. Pitt, It may perhaps be objected to this simile that it is too gay for the occasion ; otherwise.? the quick glances of thought are well paralleled by the play of reflected light. An ingenious comparison between Light and Thought is also given by Tasso, who has taken the hint from Petrarch. It is in the sequel of the charming description of Armida, from which ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 33 Which a clause has already been quoted. The artful fair in her dress discloses just enough to allure the imagination to wander further. Come per acqua, o per ciistallo intero Trapassa il raggio, e no'l divide, 6 pane } Per entro i] chiuso manto osa il pensiero Si penetrar ne la vietata parte. Ger. Lib. iv. 32, As through the limpid stream or crystal bright The rays of Phor.bus dart their piercing light ; So through her vesture Fancy dares to glide, And views what modesty would seem to hide. Hoole. Clouds are striking objects, not only in their visible appearance, but as being the harbingers of grand and terrific effects. They are there- fore well adapted for images of comparison in the sublimer scenes of epic poetry; find the father of this species of composition has left some noble specimens of their use to the ad- miration and imitation of his successors. The first example that I shall select bears the cha- racter of tranquil majesty. like clouds by Jove amass'd On some huge mountain's summit, while the force Of Boreas sleeps, with all the whistling winds That chase the gloomy vapours when they blow : 34 ON SIMILES IN POET R\*. So stood the Grecians, waiting the approach Of Ilium's pow'rs, and neither fled nor fear'd. II. v. 522. Cow per. In the following passage, the terrific prevails ; and there is, perhaps., no simile in Homer, in which a comparative scene is either more justly painted, or more exactly adapted. Agamem- non* reviewing his troops, comes to the bat- talion of the Ajaxes, whom he finds arming, and followed by a " cloud of infantry/' as he figuratively expresses it. This figure he imme- diately expands into a most animated landscape. As when the goat-herd from a rocky point Sees rolling o'er the deep and wafted on By western gales a cloud, that, as it comes, In distant prospect vievv'd, pitch-black appears, And brings worst weather, lightning, storm and rain, He, shudd'ring, drives his flock into a cave -, So moved the gloomy phalanx, rough with spears, And dense with shields of youthful warriors bold, Close-following either Ajax. to the fight. //. iv. 275. Cowper: Virgil has closely imitated this simile, though svith some improvements and some omissions. Qualis ubi ad terras abrupto sidere nimbus It mare per medium ; miseris, heu ! praescia longe Horrescunt corda agricolis : dabit ille ruinas Arboribus, stragemque satis j ruet omnia late : Antevolant, sonitumque ferunt ad litora venti : Tali* ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 35 Talis in adversos duclor RhceteYus hostes Agmen agit : densi cuneis se quisque coactis Agglomerant. s£n. xii. 451* As when some tempest o'er mid ocean roars, And wing'd with whirlwinds gathers to the shores ; With boding hearts, the pea-ants hear from far The sullen murmurs of the distant war j Foresee the harvest levell'd to the giound, And all the forests spread in ruins round, Swift to the land the hollow grumbling wind Flies, and proclaims the furious storm behind : So swift, so furious great iEneas flew, And led against the foes the martial crew. The thick ning squadrons, wedg'd in close array, In one black body win their desperate way. p - The sudden change of person (unmarked in the translation) from the poet to the af- frighted spectator, who exclaims " dabit ille ruinas — ruet omnia late," adds great spirit to the piece; and the circumstance of the winds, like harbingers, preceding the tempest, is a happy addition. At the same time we want the " pitchy darkness," and the significant action of the shepherd hurrying his flock un- der shelter, presented in the Greek picture. Milton, in a simile derived from the same natural objects, has as much surpassed the two preceding poets in sublimity of conception, as the actors in his fable are superior in greatness c 2 to £6 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. to theirs. Satan and Death, those mighty and terrible combatants, preparing to engage, are thus imaged : such a frown Each cast at th' other, as when two black clouds With heav'n's artillery fraught, come rattling on Over the Caspian, then stand front to front Hovering a space, till winds the signal blow To join their dark encounter in mid air. Par. L. ii. 714. As it was necessary for the comparison that the clouds should move in opposite directions, he has properly made them thunder clouds, in which that circumstance is common ; besides that the " artillery" with which they are fraught renders them a more appropriate image of battle. It may be further observed, that in the enunciation of this simile, Milton has adopted the Homeric manner of pointing it to a single circumstance of resemblance, that of their menacing looks to the blackness of clouds, when he intended the whole descrip- tion as a parallel. III. FROM WIND, STORM, AND TEMPEST. These phenomena of nature, the sensible effects ON SIMILES IN POETRY. SJ effects of which are more striking and terrible, considering their frequency, than those of any other, have afforded much matter of description to poets, both directly, and in the way of si- mile. Of Wind, the awful sound is one of the most obvious circumstances adapted to poetical ap- plication. Homer has joined it with the roar- ing of waves, and the rattling of fire, as a com- parison for the noise and tumult of battle. Not so the billows roar The shores among, when Boreas' roughest blast Sweeps landward from the main the swelling surge; Not so, devouring fire among the trees That clothe the mountains when the sheeted flames Ascending wrap the forest in a blaze ; Nor howl the winds through leafy boughs of oaks Upgrown aloft (though loudest there they rave) ; With sounds so awful as were heard of Greeks And Trojans shouting when the clash began. //. xiv. 3g4. Cuwper. The expressive and almost inimitable sono- rousness of the Greek language is singularly striking in the original of these lines. Virgil has copied the images, but has judi- ciously lowered the expression, where he ap- plies them in comparison to the hum- of bees within their hive. Turn 38 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. Turn sonus auditur gravior, tractimque susurrant -, Frigidus ut quondam sylvis immurmurat Auster j Ut mare sollicitum stridet refluentibus undis ; iEstuat ut clausis rapidus fornacibus ignis. Georg. iv. 200, 'Tis (hen in hoarser tones their hums resound, Like hollow winds the rustling forest round j Or billows breaking on a distant shore j Or flames in furnaces that inly roar. Pitt. Dryden, in his version of this passage, seems to have understood by " sonus gravior," a lower sound than usual ; and has, accordingly, with wonderful dexterity accommodated his expres- sions to this idea. The lines are worth quoting; though it will appear that he has entirely misinterpreted the " mare sollicitum stri- det," and the " rapidus ignis aestuat," of the Original. Soft whispers then and broken sounds are heard 3 As when the woods by gentle winds are stirr'd - ? Such stifled noise as the close furnace hides 5 Or dying murmurs of departing tides. The Roman poet makes a more dignified use of the murmuring noise of wind, where he compares to it the assenting and dissenting sound uttered by the assembly of the Gods after the speech of Juno. cunctique ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 3$ cunctique fremebant Codicolae assensu vario : ceu flamina prima Cum deprensa fremunt silvis, et caeca volutant Murmura, venturos nautis prodentia ventos. JF.n. x 96. the Gods divide, And in mixt murmurs vote on either side : So, pent in woods, at first with sullen sound The wind, low murmuring, fills the forest round ; A dreadful signal to the naval train Of the loud storms impending o'er the main. Pitt. Of the English translation here it may be remarked, that it has no authority from the original for representing this murmur in the woods as the forerunner of a .storm at sea, but merely of a wind # . Our great countryman, who never takes a hint from another writer without such improve- ments as give him the merit of originality, has founded a beautiful passage .upon the same si- militude. It occurs at the conclusion of Mam- mon's harangue to the peers in Pandemonium. He scarce had fmish'd, when such murmur fill'd Th' assembly, as when hollow rocks retain * The spirit of exaggeration, characteristic of all second- rate translators, will be too apparent in every passage quoted from Pitt and Rowe. The 40 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. The sound of blust'ring winds, which all night long Had rous'd the sen, now with hoarse cadence lull Sea-faring men o'erwatch'd, whose bark by chance, Or pinnace, anchors in a craggy bay After the tempest. ^ L .. ^ This simile is truly Homeric, but in Homer's best manner. The scenery into which the de- scription wanders is highly picturesque ; and though digressive from the main point of the sinrlitude, yet harmonizes with the sentiment excited by the preceding speech, which is that of repose from toil and danger : " his sentence pleas'd, advising peace." The violent action of wind is associated with its sound, and produces effects well adapted to poetical simile. Thus Homer aptly compares the contest between the Greeks and Trojans for the body of Crebriones, to the conflict of two adverse winds rending a forest. As when the East wind and the South contend To shake some deep wood on the mountain's side, Or beech, or ash, or rugged cornel old, With stormy violence the mingled boughs Smite and snap short each other, crashing loud, So, Trojans and Achaians, mingling, slew- Each other, equally disdaining flight. //. xv i. J 65. Cowper. This simile, but with a totally different ap- plication, ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 41 plication, is adopted by Virgil, who has wrought the description with great force and beauty of language, and with some variety of circum- stance. The comparison is to /Eneas, assailed by the complaints and entreaties of Dido, but withstanding all their force. Ac velut annoso validam cum robore quercum Alpini Boreae, nunc hinc, nunc flatibns illinc Eruere inter se certantj it stridor, et alte Consternunt terranrv concussp stipite frondes : Ipsa haeret scopulis ; et quantum vertice ad auras ,/Etherias, tantrum radice in Tartara tendit. Haud secus assiduis hinc atque hinc vocibus heros Tunditur, et magno persentit pectore curas. Mens immota manet ; lacrymoe volvuntur inanes. Mn.\s. 441. As when the winds their airy quarrel try, Justling from every quarter of the sky, This way and that the mountain oak they bend, His boughs they shatter and his branches rend j With leaves, with falling mast they spread the ground. The hollow valleys echo to the sound : Unmov'd, the royal plant their fury mocks, Or shaken, clings more closely to the rocks j Far as he shoots his towering head on high, So deep in earth his fix'd foundations lie : No less a storm the Trojan hero bears, Thick messages and loud complaints he hears, And bandy 'd words still beating on his ears. } 42 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. Sighs, groans, and tears, proclaim his inward pains, But the firm purpose of his heart remains. Dry den. The remoteness of comparison in this in~ stance may entitle the simile to be ranked in the ingenious class ; but perhaps it is not a very happy example of the kind. The violent ac- tion of the tempest on the tree seems an ex- aggerated parallel to that of female importuni- ties on the mind ; and the translator appears to have felt it such, by the pains he has taken, at the hazard of a degree of the ludicrous, to ag- gravate the effect of the wordy assault upon the hero. From the concluding line (of the original) we may infer that a resemblance was intended to be pointed out between the shak- ing down of the leaves, and the excussion of the tears ; which is surely a cold conceit. Virgil has another simile derived from con- tending winds : in which they are made the apt comparison of the Greeks bursting into Troy from different quarters. Adversi rupto quondam cen turbine venti Confligunt, Zephyrusque, Notusque, et laetus Eois Eurus equis : stridunt sylvae, saevitque tridenti Spumeus, atque imo Nereus ciet aequora fundo. jEn.il. 416. As ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 43 As when the rival winds their quarrel try, Contending for the kingdom of the sky : South, East, and West on airy coursers borne j The whirlwind gathers, and the woods are torn : Then Nereus strikes the deep, the billows rise, And, mix'd with ooze and sand, pollute the skies. Dryden. Homer, when describing Hector dealing destruction among the Greeks, relieves or en- hances the picture with the following simile: As when the West wind drives, with stormy gust, Clouds by the South compell'd, on ocean's face Thick roll the swelling waves, while, dash'd on high, The foam is scatter'd by the sounding blast } So frequent fell the heads beneath the stroke OfHcCt0r " //.xi.305. The point of comparison is here, after this poet's common manner, very loosely stated; for though, in the application of the simile, the number of the slain is the only circum- stance noticed, which has no other parallel than the waves raised in the sea, the real re- semblance consists in the force of Hector, com- pared to a hurricane, scattering the Greeks like foam. Virgil, in a spirited imitation of this simile, has applied it with more accuracy. Ac velut Edoni Boreae cum spiritus alto Insonat iEgaeo, sequiturque ad litora fluctus, Qua 44 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. Qua venti incubuere ; fugam dant nubila coelo : Sic Turnus, quacunque virun secat, agmina cedunt, Conversasque ruunt acies. jEn. xii. 30*5. As when loud Boreas, with his blust'ring train, Stoops from above, incumbent on the main ; Where'er he flies, he drives the rack before, And rolls the billows on th' iEgean shore ; So, where resistless Turnus takes his course, The scatter'd squadrons bend before his force. Dry den. The same poet derives a comparison to the speed of a courser, from a northern gale, in a finely wrought simile, the imagery of which, however, has little parallelism with the primary object. Qualis Hyperboreis Aquilo cum densus ab oris Jncubuit, Scythiaeque hyemes atque aiida differt Nubila : turn segetes altae campique natantes Lenibus horrescunt flabris, summaeque sonorem Dant sylvae, longique urgent ad littora fluctus : Ille volat, simul arva fuga, simul aequora verrens. Georg. iii. lQfj. Like Boreas in his race, when rushing forth He sweeps the skies and clears the cloudy north : The waving harvest bends beneath his blast ; The forest shakes, the groves their honours cast 5 He flies aloft, and, with impetuous roar, Pursues the foaming surges to the shore. Dryden. In ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 45 In this scene, the rapidity of the wind is manifested in its effects, as, indeed, it only could be; but to these effects there is no parallel in the flight of the young courier. It may be here remarked, that in any description of ac- tio?!, employed as a similitude, the point of comparison may be taken either from the thing acting, or from that acted upon. Both, indeed, to render the simile perfect, ought to have their parallels in the primary scene; but, generally, one is the leading, the other, the subordinate, figure. In most of those above quoted, derived from the action of the wind, its poiver, as an agent, is the main circumstance in view, dis- played in different effects. In some hereafter to be produced (particularly where a storm at sea is the subject), the effect itself is the chief point of resemblance intended by the poet. IV. FROM SNOW, HAIL, MIST, AND DEW. Hail and Snow, though both physically cha- racterized as the fall of congealed water, yet differ sufficiently in* their manner of descent and appearance to suggest very different images of comparison. Both, indeed, fall so thick as to 46 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. to afford an image of number and frequency ; but the descent of snow is gentle, and its tex- ture remarkably loose and soft ; whereas hail is firm and hard, and falls rapidly. We shall see by examples how far their application in simile has conformed to these distinctions. Homer compares the volley of stones shower- ed upon the Trojans from the Grecian ramparts, to a snow-storm : Like flakes of snow they fell, that stormy winds, Driving the dusky clouds, thick scatter down Upon the foodful earth. „ .. - In a subsequent passage, he dilates, after his manner, this simple comparison into a minute picture of a fall of snow. As the feath'ry snows Fall frequent, on some wintry day, when Jove Hath ris'n to shed them on the race of man, And show his arrowy stores j he lulls the winds, Then shakes them down continual, cov'ring thick Mountain tops, promontories, flow'ry meads, And cultur'd valleys rich ; the havens too Receive it largely, and the winding shores, But Ocean bounds it there, while Jove enwraps As with a fleecy mantle all beside : So thick alternately by Trojans hurl'd Against the Greeks, and by the Greeks return'd, The stony volleys flew. II. xii. 2/8. Coivper. The ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 4J The first of these similes presents a driving storm of snow, which has force as well as fre- quency ; and is therefore a fitter comparison for the thing paralleled than the still soft descent of flakes in the second ; which gives, indeed, a striking image of closeness and frequency, but is an absolute contrast in other points. The accessory scene in itself is highly beautiful, and cannot fail to please, if we can sufficiently forget the noise and tumult of battle to slide at once into stillness and tranquillity. Virgil has judiciously made a hail-storm the object of similitude to a flight of missile wea- pons, and the fury of battle, in the two follow- ing passages : Sternitur orane solum telis ; turn scuta cavaeque Dant sonitum flictu galeae ;,pugna aspera surgit : Quantus ab occasu veniens pluvialibus Hcedis Verberat imber humum ; quam multa grandine nimbi In vada praecipitant, cum Jupiter horridus Austris Torquet aquosam hyemem, et ccelo cava nubila rumpit JEn. ix. 666. Heaps of spent arrows fall and strew the ground, And helms, and shields, and rattling arms resound. The combat thickens, like the storm that flies From westward, when the show'ry Kids arise : Or patt'ring hail comes pouring on the main When Jupiter descends in harden'd rain ; Or 43 ON SIMILES IN rOETRY. Or bellowing clouds burst with a stormy sound, And with an armed winter strew the ground. Dryden, h Furit iEneas, tectusque tenet se. Ac velut, effusa si quando grandine nimbi Praecipitant, omnis campis diffugit arator, Omnis et agricola, et tuta latet arce viator, Aut amnis ripis, aut alti fornice saxi, Dum pluit ; in terris ut possint, sole reducto, Exercere diem : sic obrutus undique telis, iEneas, nubem belli, dum detonar, omnem Satinet. Mn. x. 802. TheT rojan chief On his Vulcanian orb sustain d the war. As when thick hail comes rattling in the wind, The ploughman passenger and lab'ring hind For shelter to the neighb'ring cover fly, Or hous'd, or safe in hollow caverns lie : But, that o'erblown, when heav'n above them smiles, Return to travel, and renew their toils : TEneas, thus o'erwhelm'd, on every side, The storm of darU undaunted did abide. Dryden. In the first of these similes, not only the multitude of darts, but their clattering against the armour, and the force of their fall, are pa- ralleled by the hail-storm. The second is ex- tended in Homer's manner to a detached pic- ture, but one not incongruous with the scene which suggested it. Virgil ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 40 Virgil again just touches on the same ima- gery, where he compares the blows given by Entellus to Dares, in the boxing match, to hail rattling on the roofs. Homer has one simile in which the glitter, as well as the thick-falling, of snow seems to have been considered as a part of the resemblance. And now the Grecians from their gallant fleet All pour'd themselves abroad. As when the snow, Descending thick from Jove, is driv'n by gusts Of the clear-blowing North, so smiled the field With dazzling casques, boss'd bucklers, hauberks strong, And polish'd weapons issuing from the fleet. //. xix. 35/. Cowper. They who have observed a snow-shower illu- mined by a gleam of sunshine, will be sensible of the force of this comparison. The Grecian bard affords two other similes in which snow is introduced more happily, per- haps, than in any of the former instances. One of these is the celebrated comparison illustrative of the eloquence of Ulysses, whose words, he says, were " like wintry snows." Here, both the softness and copiousness of flakes of falling snow suggest themselves as qualities on which a resemblance equally apt and inge- nious was founded in the poet's conception, e His 50 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. His purpose was to denote an elocution full, uninterrupted, but of that gentle persuasive nature which sinks quietly into the hearer's mind, exciting no resistance by harsh and jar- ring particles. The other application is still more beautiful. He is describing the lamentation of Penelope for her supposed lost lord : 9 She, melting at the sound, With drops of tenderest grief her cheeks bedew'd : And as the snow, by Zephyrus diffused, Melts on the mountain tops, when Eurus breathes, And fills the channels of the running streams, So melted she, and down her lovely cheeks Tour'd fast the tears. , . __ _ n . Oayss, xix. 205. Cowper. The similitude may here be regarded both as mental and corporeal. The soul of Penelope was softened at the mournful recollection of her husband, like snow by a thawing breeze ; and tears overflowed her cheeks, like water from melting snow. Tasso has employed only the former part of the comparison where, in the sweet description of the reconcilement of Rinaldo and Armida, he resembles the gradual melting away of her anger, to the liquefaction of snow. Si parla, e prega, e i preghi bagna, e scalda Hor di lagrime rare, hor di sospiri : Gnde ON SIMILES IN TOETRY. 51 Onde si come suol nevosa falda, Dov' arda il sole, 6 tepid' aura spiri; Cosi l'ira, che 'n lei parea si salda, Solvesij e restan sol gl'altri desiri. Ger. L. xx. 136. He spoke, and speaking sought the fair to move With sighs and tears, the eloquence of love ! Till, like the melting flakes of mountain snow, Where shines the sun, or tepid breezes blow, Her anger, late so fierce, dissolves away, And gentle passions bear a milder sway. Hoole. Mist, an appearance so frequent in these northern climates, and so perpetually recur- ring as an object of description or similitude in the supposed poems of Ossian, is only once made the subject of a simile by Homer. He is describing the silent advance of the Greeks towards the enemy. As when thick mists involve the mountain's head, Fear'd by the shepherd swain, but to the thief Happier than midnight, and the eye extends To a stone's throw its indistinct survey j With such thick dimness of excited dust In their impetuous march, they fill'd the air. IL iii. 10. Cowper. It is probable that, besides the obvious com- parison in this passage of a cloud of dust to a mist, the poet had in his mind a parallel be- e 2 tween 52 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. tvveen the silent approach of the Greek army to their foes, and that of a robber to his prey. The degradation of such a parallel would in that age be little felt, and many instances show that Homer was not nice in suggesting resem- blances. The image of u a thief coming by night" is used, as all may recollect, on a much more solemn occasion. Milton affords a simile of uncommon beauty derived from the same atmospherical incident. All in bright array The cherubim descended ; on the ground Gliding meteorous : as evening mist Ris'n from a river o'er a marish glides, And gathers ground fast at the lab'rer's heel Homeward returning. ^ L ^ ^ The unsubstantial form and smooth motion attributed to these celestial beings are finely imaged by a rolling mist; and the Homeric prolongation of the simile adds greatly to the picturesque effect. The same poet gives a short but very poetical simile in which Dew is an object of comparison. Innumerable as the stars of night, Or stars of morning, dew-drops, which the sun Impearls on every leaf and every flower. Par. L. v. 1745. The ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 53 The host of fallen angels is thus paralleled ; and not only their number, but their splendour, is taken into the resemblance. Apollonius Rhodius, a poet certainly of very elegant invention, has employed the liquefac- tion of dew, as Tasso (who perhaps took the hint from him) has done that of snow in a pas- sage above quoted, to illustrate the effect of a mental emotion. When Medea holds a con- ference with Jason in the temple of Hecate, already enamoured of the hero, the interview adds fuel to the flame. From his yellow locks Love shot a flame that took her dazzled eyes. The pleasant warmth dissolved her inmost soul, As on the rose the dew of night dissolves, Thaw'd by the radiant beams of early morn. Argon, iii. FROM TORRENTS AND RIVERS. These striking objects in the rural landscape could not fail to attract the attention of Homer, the inhabitant of a mountainous country ; and he has accordingly made frequent use of them in simile, with such minuteness and variety of circumstance as clearly indicate the painter from nature. The 54 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. The following is one of the most simple of the kind. As a flood Runs headlong from the mountains to the plain After long show'rs from Jove ; many a dry oak, And many a pine, the torrent sweeps along, And,, turbid, shoots much soil into the sea : So, glorious Ajax troubled wide the field, Horse and man slaught'ring. 11. xi. 492. Coivper. At a time when the strength and prowess of a single warrior superiorly armed was adequate to turn the fortune of a field, (which, whether a reality or not, is assumed by Homer and the epic poets who have imitated him) aggrandizing similes applied to the heroes were an appro- priate ornament ; and the comparison above suggested was perhaps one of the happiest. The parallel in this passage consists not only in the general effect of the torrent, sweeping the plain before it, but in the oaks and pines which it bears down, and which may be re- sembled to the warriors of note who fell be- neath the stroke of Ajax. The same simile is judiciously varied in its circumstances when applied to Diomed making an attack on the Trojans, as yet drawn up in a body ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 55 body to oppose him,, though breaking at the first onset. He rush'd along ; as the full river rolls, That sweeps the bridges in its rapid course, "When, urg'd by Jove's own showers, it sudden comes ; Nor can the buttress'd bridge, nor turfy mound That guards the cultur'd farm, its rage withstand, But down the smiling works of man are dash'd : So from Tydides' arm the Trojan bands, With all their numbers, shrink, nor wait the shock. //. v. 87. Here, the accessory scene properly turns the attention to the obstacles to be overcome, as well as to the propelling force; and the mounds and bridges represent the gross phalanx of the enemy drawn up for resistance. Virgil also employs the comparison of a swoln river, when describing the Greek?, after the demolition of barricades and gates, burst- ing into Priam's palace. Non sic, aggeribus ruptis, cum spumeus amnis Exit, oppositasque evicit gurgite moles, Fertur in arva furens cumulo, camposque per omnes Cum stabulis armenta trahit. ^ •• A ^a sEn. n. 490. Not with so fierce a rage the foaming flood Roars, when he finds his rapid course withstood, Bears down the dams with unresisted sway, And sweeps the cattle and the cots away. Dryden, The 56 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. The same poet has imitated Homer in com- paring his heroes individually to torrents. In the following passage both Turnus and iEneas, engaged in different parts of the field, are thus resembled : Aut ubi decursu rapido de montibus altis Dant sonitum spumosi amnes, et in aequora currunt, Quisque suum populatus iter. JEn. xii. 523. Or rapid torrents from the mountains sweep, Roar down the sides, and thunder to the deep j With weight resistless, and destructive sway, O'er half a ruin'd country take their way. Pitt. This translation, as well as Dryden's, has failed in rendering the " Ouisque suum popu- latus iter" — each laying waste his own track — which is essential to the just application of the comparison to the two opposite leaders. Homer has a noble and well-adapted simile in which the conflict of meeting torrents is described as the object of comparison to the shock of two encountering armies : As when two torrents from the mountains shoot Their mingling floods, by wintry sources fed, Into one gulf ; the solitary swain, Roaming the distant uplands, hears the roarj Such was the thunder of the mingling hosts. J7. iv. 452. Cowper. The ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 57 The figure of the shepherd in this piece is merely an addition for picturesque effect ; but in an obvious imitation of the passage by Virgil, this circumstance is essential to the similitude. iEneas is describing the alarm which roused him from sleep on the fatal night of Troy. He ascends the roof of his house, and listens to the confused sounds, which he compares, first, to that of fire in a corn-field, and then, to the roar of a torrent. aut rapidus montano flumine torrens Sternit agios, sternit sata laeta, boumque labores, Praecipitesque trahit sylvas : stnpet inscius alto Accipiens sonitum saxi de vertice pastor. j£n. ii. 305. Or some big torrent from a mountain's brow, Bursts, pours, and thunders down the vale below, O'erwhelms the fields, lays waste the golden grain, And headlong sweeps the forests to the main : Stunn'd at the din, the swain, with list'ning ears, From some steep rock the sounding ruin hears. Pitt. Thepeasa?it here is the counterpart of JEneas himself; and therefore the adjective " inscius," implying his ignorance of the cause of the din, should not have been sunk in the translation. In the preceding Homeric similes under this head, the application is as obvious and accurate, as 58 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. as the pictures are lively and natural ; whence it will appear more extraordinary, that in the one ne:>t to be produced, in which the descrip- tion is wrought with peculiar force and exact- ness, the point of resemblance should be scarcely discernible. The rout of the Trojans by Patroclus, and the disgraceful flight of Hector across the foss, are the circumstances of the narrative that introduce the simile. As when a tempest from autumnal skies Floats all the fields, what time Jove heaviest pours Impetuous rain, in token of his wrath Against perverters of the laws by force, Who drive forth justice, reckless of the Gods ; The rivers and the torrents, where they dwell, Sweep many a green declivity away, And, groaning, plunge at length into the deep From the hills headlong, leaving where they pass'd No traces of the pleasant works of man : So, flying homeward, groan'd the steeds of Troy II. xvi. 384. Cowper. Eustathius, the great champion of Homer, acknowledges that the only point of resem- blance in this minutely detailed simile, is the noise uttered by the Trojan horses in their flight, compared to that of rushing torrents — a singular exaggeration, surely, and upon an insignificant subject ! Pope, in his translation, artfully varies and extends the similitude. Not ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 59 Not with less noise, with less impetuous force, The tide of Trojans urge their desperate course Than when &c. And, indeed, it is not improbable that a general resemblance of the mingled rout of the Trojans to an inundation, was the leading idea in Homer's mind. The moral digression is valuable as a picture of early manners and sentiments. Virgil also gives a simile in which the noise of an obstructed and rapid stream is the object of comparison. It is where the ambassadors sent to Diomede make their report to the council of king Latinus. Vix ea legati : variusque per ora cucurrit Ausonidum turbata fremor : ceu, saxa morantur Cum rapidos amnes, clauso fit gurgite murmur, Vicinaeque fremunt ripae crepitantibus undis. Mn. xi. 296. Thus of their charge the legates made report j Straight ran a mingled murmur through the court : So when by rocks the torrents are withstood, In deep hoarse murmurs rolls th' imprison'd flood ; Beats on the banks, and, with a sullen sound, "Works, foams, and runs in circling eddies round. Pitt. There remain two similes in Homer derived from the same source with those above quoted, but 60 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. but different in their scenery and application. The first is introduced where Hector, accom- panied by the God Mars himself, advances to check the victorious progress of Diomede. As when the skill-less traveller in his march Cross the wide plain, stops sudden on the brink Of some swift river rushing to the main * And, as he sees it foam and murmuring rage, Leaps backward ; so Tydides quick withdrew. 11. v. 59;. Cowper has adopted the scholiast's interpre- tation of the word here rendered " skill-less/' as meaning "unexperienced in swimming:" but this seems an unnecessary refinement ; as even a good swimmer might start back at the unexpected view of a raging river crossing his path. The picture is very lively, and the com- parison sufficiently exact. The other passage refers to the combat about the dead body of Patroclus, where the two Ajaxes repel the onset of the combined Trojans, while the body is carried off by the Greeks. As a mound Planted with trees and stretch'd athwart the mead Ilepels an overflow ; the torrents loud Baffling, it sends them far away to float The level land, nor can they with the force Of all their waters burst a passage through ; So ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 6 1 So firmly either Ajax in the rear Repress'd the Troians. T , ■■„,». n ? J II. xvi 1. 74/. Cowper. The steady valour of these heroes, one of whom is peculiarly termed f * the bulwark of the Greeks," could not be illustrated by a more apt and dignified comparison. Virgil has two similes derived from rivers, of a different character from any of the pre- ceding. The first relates to that common-place topic of the tendency of every thing terrestrial to degeneracy and decay ; which he illustrates by the comparison of a boat rowed against the stream : sic omnia fatis In pejus mere, ac retro sublapsa referri. Haud aliter quam qui adverso vix fiumine lembum Remigiis subigit ; si brachia forte remisit, Atque ilium in prseceps prono rapit alveus amni. Geurg. i. 109. For such the changeful lot of things below, Still to decay they rush, and ever back v.iid- flow. As one who 'gainst a stream's impetuous course Scarce pulls his slow boat urg'd with all his force, If once his vigour cease, or arms grow slai k, Instant, with headlong haste, the torrent whirls him back. IVarton. The particular application of this simile is to 6*2 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. to agricultural improvement, in which it is ob- viously correct. The expression of toil and difficulty, in the words adverso, yix 9 subigit, is anexample of the characteristic happiness of diction in this poet, and is not unskilfully imi- tated by the translator. In the other passage, Virgil, describing the allied troops under Turnus marching in a column to attack the Trojan camp, employs the following: ima^e : Ceu septem surgens sedatis amnibus altus Per taciturn Ganges : aut pingui flumine Nilus, Cum refluit campis, et jam se condidit alveo. Mn. ix. 30. So mighty Ganges leads with awful pride In seven large streams his swelling solemn tide : So Nile, compos'd within his banks again, Moves in slow pomp, majestic, to the main. Pitt. There is much appropriate dignity in this comparison of the silent advance of an army, not to a torrent, but to a mighty river, filling its channel, but not overflowing. The first line of the passage, composed of spondees, and marked by alliteration, very happily coincides with the sedate grandeur of the imagery. The inundation of a great river has furnished Lucan ON SIMILES IN POETRV. 6*3 Lucan with a well-adapted object of similitude to Pompey, bursting through Caesar's circum- vallation at Dyrrhachium, and spreading over the surrounding country. Sic pleno Padus ore tumens super aggere tutas Excurrit ripas, et totos concutit agros. Succubuit si qua tellus, cumulumque furentem Undarum non passa ruit ; turn flumine toto Transit, et ignotos aperit sibi gurgite campos. Illos terra fugit dominos : his rura colonis Accedunt, donante Pado. pka rs , yi 2?2 low, ^ So, raised by melting streams of Alpine snow, Beyond his utmost margin swells the Po, And loosely lets the spreading deluge flow Where'er the weaker banks opprest retreat, And sink beneath the heapy water's weight, Forth gushing at the breach, they burst their way, And wasteful o'er the drowned country stray : Far distant fields and meads they wander o'er, And visit lands they never knew before : Here from its seat the mouldering earth is torn, And by the flood to other masters borne - } While gathering there it heaps the growing soil } And loads the peasant with his neighbour's spoil. Howe. In this simile the poet has judiciously omit- ted the common circumstances in the descrip- tion of a river flood, such as those which denote its fury and devastations, and has confined him- self 64 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. self to its taking possession, as it were, of new- tracts of country, as a parallel to the diffusion of the Pompeian army after it had broken the lines of investment. I shall conclude this head with a simile in which the circumstance of a torrent running itself dry is made a comparison of tyrannic power fallen to decay. When the cruel Mar- ganorre, in Ariosto, is overthrown, and, with his hands tied behind him, exposed to the in- sults of the populace, his change of condition suggests to the poet the following image : Come torrente, che superbo faccia Lunga pioggia tal volta, o nevi sciolte, Va ruinoso, e giu da monti caccia Gli arbori, e i sassi, i campi, e le ricolte ; Vien tempo poi, che l'orgogliosa faccia Gli cade, e si le forze gli son tolte, Ch'un fanciullo, una femmina per tutto Passar lo puote, e spesso a piede asciutto. Orl. Fur. c. xxxvii. 110. As when a torrent swell'd with melting snows And sounding rains a mighty river grows, Down the steep hills it bears with sweepy sway Trees, cots, and stones, and labouring hinds away > At length, by slow degrees, with less'ning pride In narrow channels rolls the shrinking tide, Till boys and women can the current brave, And dry-shod pass the late tremendous wave, Hoole. The ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 65 The terrific sway of triumphant tyranny, and the scorn and contempt consequent upon its overthrow, are happily paralleled in this comparison. VI. FROM THE SEA, SHIPPING, Sec. Among the objects of nature which are cal- culated to fill the mind with grand and sub- lime ideas, none surpasses that vast expanse of water wihch forms the Ocean. Emulating the sky in the image it presents of boundless ex- tent, this simplicity of effect is compounded with such a variety of appearance on its sur- face, that it affords an almost exhaustless store of striking scenes to the poetical observer. Of these, the greater part are of the awful and terrific kind ; and Homer, whose genius and subject led him peculiarly to the contemplation of such scenery, has drawn largely from this source. He seems, like his aged Chryses, to have walked musing on the shore of the re- sounding main, attentive to all its changes, and fixing in his imagination the several forms it assumed, for the different purposes of de- scription and comparison. It is justly remarked F 66 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. by Pope, in a note on one of these passages* that in order adequately to judge of the beauty and fitness of such resemblances, it is neces- sary for the critic to have been an observer of the things themselves. How far he himself was thus qualified may occasionally be consi- dered ; but the remark is indisputably true ; and in proportion as any one is able to com- pare Homer's descriptions with nature itself, from which alone they are copied, as well in the similes derived from this source, as in all the others, he will the better judge of their accuracj', and understand the purpose for which they are adduced. In the sea-pieces which I shall first consider, the principal circumstances which they are brought to illustrate by comparison are number and motion. When Agamemnon, in a harangue to the as- sembled Greeks, makes a feigned proposal for their return, its effect on the populace is thus described : So moved th' assembly, as the length'ning waves Roll on th' Icarian sea, before the breath Of Eurus and of Notus, rushing down From clouds of father Jove. //. ii. 144. By ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 6j By this image, the fluctuation of a great crowd agitated by various emotionsj is well represented. The armies of Greece and Troy, seated apart on the plain, in silence, in order to hear Hector's challenge to single fight, give rise to the following simile. . As when the West-wind freshens, o'er the main A shivering horror runs, that blackens round The face of Ocean, so the ranks appear'd . Of Greeks and Trojans seated on the plain. //. v\l 63, The armies seated in ranks, and bristling, as Homer says, with helmets, spears and shields, which, from the impatience natural to the oc- casion, would exhibit a gentle quivering mo- tion, afford a just resemblance to the sea curled and roughened by a light breeze. But that the similitude further extends, as Pope sup- poses, to " the repose and awe which ensued, when Hector began to speak," I cannot per- ceive. To me, therefore, there appears an unhappy inconsistency with the rest of the picture in these lines of his translation : the face of Ocean sleeps, And a still horror saddens all the deeps. The word horror, if meant to correspond with the original xact than Dryden's, has failed in rendering the appropriate expression of the original <; si- num trahit," — draws on a hollow or curl ; and the extravagance of the concluding line is very remote from the chasteness of the ori- ginal. One of the most highly wrought sea-pieces in Homer is introduced where Hector and Paris with other chiefs rally the Trojans, and rush together into the thickest of the fight. The march of these at once was as the sound Of mighty winds from deep-hung thunder-clouds Descending; clamorous the blast and wild With ocean mingles ; many a billow, then, Upridged rides turbulent the sounding flood, Foam-crested, billow after billow driv'n : So 74 ON SIMILES IN FOETRY. So moved the host of Troy, rank after rank, Behind their chiefs, all dazzling-bright in arms. //. xiii. JQ5. Cowper. The comparison here is double. The chief- tains are resembled to winds, and the Trojans to the waves of the sea set in motion by them. The similitude is well pointed ; and the de- scriptive merit of the compared scene is very distinguished, particularly in the lines express- ing the tumbling and foaming of the waves, which, in. the original, are a remarkable in- stance of the consonance of sound and sense. The translator has been very happy in his imi- tation of this beauty. The inexhaustible variety of nature has af- forded the poet another marine picture present- ing a striking image of the noise and contention of battle. As when within some rapid river's mouth The billows and stream clash, on either shore Loud sounds the roar of waves ejected wide, Such seem'd the clamours of the Trojan host. //. xvii. 263. Cowper. Here it is to be remarked, that though the poet, after his Usual manner, points the simile to a single circumstance, the noise, yet he un- doubtedly had in his mind the conflict of the two ON SIMILES IN POETRY. /5 two opposing currents, as a parallel to the con- test of the two armies about the body or Pa- troeius. Virgil gives a simile,, not borrowed from Homer, but apparently drawn from his own observation of another circumstance attending the beating of waves on the shore. He has been relating the sudden flight and as sudden rallying of the Latian cavalry. Quails ubi alterno procurrens gurgite pontus Nunc ruit ad terras, scopulosque superjacit undam Spumeus, extremamque sinu perfundit arenam : Nunc rapidus retro, atque aestu revoluta resorbens Saxa, fugit ; littusque vado labente reliaquit. JEn. xi. 624. So swelling surges with a thund'ring roar Driv'n on each others' backs, insult the shore ; Bound o'er the rocks, incroach upon the; land, And far upon the beach eject the sand. Then backward with a swing they take their way, Repulsed from tipper ground, and seek their mother sea: With equal hurry quit th' invaded shore, And swallow back the sand and stones they spew'd before. Dryden. I cthoose Dryden's translation here, as the most nervous and expressive, though coarse and incorrect. The language of the original is admirable ; every word has its peculiar force and meaning, and with the precision of prose has 76 ON SIIVflLES IN POETRY. has all the spirit of poetry. The simile itself affords a lively imitation of the real scene. The tide is a phenomenon scarcely observed in the Mediterranean, and therefore not found in Homer, and little noticed by any of the an- cients. To the moderns it is familiar ; and Spenser has drawn from it a comparison which he applies to one of his allegorical knights who, in a combat, having been forced to give way to the fury of his adversary, returns upon him with redoubled force. Like as the tide that comes fro th* ocean main Flows up the Shenan with contrary force, And overruling him in his own reign, Drives back the current of his kindly course, And makes it seem to have some other source } But when the flood is spent, then back again His borrow'd waters forced to re-disburse, Ke sends the sea his own with double gain, And tribute eke withal, as to his soveraine. F. Q. iv. 3.2;. The simile is apt and well imagined. The figure of a rock assailed by the waves has furnished Homer with a noble image of steady and resisting valour. It is applied to the Greeks, withstanding the assault of Hec- tor though impelled by Jove himself. As some vast rock beside the hoary deep The stress endures of many a hollow wind, And ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 77 And the huge billows tumbling at his base 5 So stood the Danai, nor fled nor fear'd. 11. xv. 586. Cowpcr. Virgil has copied this description with im- provements, in a simile illustrative of a different kind of fortitude, that of king Latinus resist- ing the " civium ardor prava jubentium" — a popular clamour urging him to a measure he disapproved. Ille, velut pelagi rupes immota, resistit 3 Ut pelagi rupes, magno veniente fragore Quae sese, multis circum latrantibus undis, Mole tenet 3 scopuli necquicquam et spumea circum Saxa fremunt, laterique illisa refunditur alga. JEn. vii. 586. But like a rock unmoved, a rock that braves The raging tempest and the rising waves, Prop'd on himself he stands 3 his solid sides Wash off the sea- weeds and the sounding tides : So stood the pious prince, unmoved. Dry dm. The crash of the sea, the barking waves, the foamy crags, and the dashed sea- weed, are cir- cumstances finely selected by the poet, and but inadequately rendered by his translator, who, however, has done justice to the expres- sion " sese mole tenet" u prop'd on him- self he stands." Virgil has applied the same comparison to Mezen tiiis 78 ON SIMILES IN POETRY, Mezentius assailed by a host of enemies (jEm.Xc 6'j3) ; but in a more general description, which therefore it is unnecessary to transcribe. The circumstance of a heaving and fluctua- tion still agitating the surface of the sea after a storm has subsided, is alluded to in the way of simile, by two Roman poets. Lucan ap- plies it to the remaining agitation of the priest- ess of Apollo after delivering her prediction. nee fessa quiescunt Corda -, sed ut tumidus Bores post flamina pontus Rauca gemit, sic multa levant suspiria vatem. Phars. v. 21 6. Nor rests her wearied frame 3 but as the main, When the hoarse blasts of Boreas cease to blow, Still heaving groans 5 so swells with sighs her breast. The other instance is in the " Hercules Fu- rens" of the tragedian Seneca, where he re- presents that hero as tossing with unquiet slum- ber after a dreadful fit of madness. nee adhuc omnes Expulit aestus r sed, ut ingenti Vexata Noto servat longos Unda tumultus, et jam vento Cessante tumet. nor yet subside The swellings of the menial tide : As when, long vex'd, the troubled main Is wont its heavings to retain, And ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 79 And though the storm no longer b'ows, Works blindly in tumultuous throes. In both these passages, one of which is pro- bably borrowed from the other, the similitude is apt and ingenious. The poetical sea-pieces hitherto produced have been such alone as nature presents, formed of her various materials of winds, waves, rocks, shores, and the like. I shall now present some in which man and human art enter into the composition, and add life and interest to the scene. Amidst the crowd of noble images and similes by which Homer confers dignity upon Hector's spirited attempt to destroy the Grecian navy, the following shines with distinguished lustre: He rush'd upon them, as the furious wave, Swoln by the cloud-borne tempest, falls amain On some swift ship, and hides it all in foam : Amid the shrouds the roaring blasts resound ; And the poor sailors view with trembling hearts The near approach of death. ,, ~ This is a picture sketched by a ^ew masterly touches, which produce a more striking effect than minute finishing would have done. Its application as a simile is not close, but coin- cides 80 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. cicles ill the general impression of force in the assailant, and danger to the assaulted. Such a danger, terminating in certain de- struction, is painted by Ariosto as a comparison to the storming of Biserta by the Christians, where the whole army bursts in, after Brandi- marte and two other knights had made [rood their ascent on the wall. Come nel mar, che per tempesta freme, Assaglion l'acque il temerario legno, Ch'or dalla prcra, or dalle parti estreme Cercano entrar con rabbia, e con disdegno j II pallido nocchier sospira e geme, Ch'ajutar deve, e non ha cor, ne ingegno ; Un onda vien al fin cli'occupa il tutto, E, dove quella entro, segue ogni flutto. Orl. Fur. xl. 20. ' As midst the seas when rattling winds prevail, The roaring floods th' endanger' d bark assail - ? And now the prow and now the poop engage, To force their passage with tempestuous rage ; Pale stands (he pilot who should help supply, He sighs — he groans — his art and courage die ; Till through a breach one wave its entrance speeds, And where it enters, wave to wave succeeds. Hoole. Another simile derived from the navigation of his time is employed by Homer to represent the joy of the Trojan army at the return of Hector accompanied by Paris. As ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 81 As when from Jove a fav'ring gale descends On longing sailors, who with polish'd oars Long time have swept the main, till spent with toil Their limbs are slacken'd 5 thus the pair appear'd To wishing Trojans. „ .. . & J II. vn. 4. It will perhaps appear extraordinary that Milton has not yet been quoted, as making use of a store of comparative imagery apparently so well suited to his iofty themes ; but his predecessors had anticipated him in all the most striking natural scenery presented by the sea, and where he could not improve he scorned to borrow ; nor was he, probably, very familiar with maritime views. The advanced state of navigation, however, afforded him topics of poetical description unknown to them, of which he has not failed to avail himself. Thus Satan's Hight to hell upon his exploratory voyage gives rise to the following comparison : As when far off at sea a fleet descry'd Hangs in the clouds, by equinoctial winds Close sailing from Bengala, or the isles Of Ternate or Tidore, whence merchants bring Their spicy drugs ; they on the trading flood Through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape Ply stemming nightly t'ward the pole 5 so seem'd Far off the flying fiend. n T ■■ rn£ > J ° Par. L. 11. 036. This is a fine picture; but as a simile it is e purely 82 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. purely of the ornamental kind, for the resem- blance is too faint to add clearness or force to the primary object. Nay, the ideas it excites are rather of a contrary kind ; for a spice-fleet sailing homeward under prosperous auspices is contemplated with totally opposite emotions to those which accompany the infernal fiend bent upon a purpose of hellish mischief. The imagery, however, was so pleasing to the poet's imagination, that he has repeated it, with some variety, in another simile. As when to them who sail Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past Mozambic, off at sea north-east winds blow Sabean odours from the spicy shore Of Araby the blest : with such delay Well pleas'd they slack their course, and many a league Cheer'd with the grateful smell old Ocean smiles : So entertain'd those odorous sweets the fiend. Par. L. iv. 15Q. The real point of resemblance here consists only in the fragrance of the Arabian gales compared to those of Paradise ; for there is none between Satan and the navigators, though the concluding line seems to connect them in one action. It is therefore defective as a simile; though, like the former passage, it forms an elegant ornamental appendage to the narrative. With on similes In poet&Y. 83 With more exactness Milton afterwards ap- plies a simile in which the sailor's art is de- scribed with almost technical accuracy. The circuitous track of the Serpent in his cautious approach to Eve is thus paralleled with the working of a ship: As when a ship by skilful steersman wrought Nigh river's mouth or foreland, where the wind Veers oft, as oft so steers and shifts her sail j So varied he. n , . •_ Par. L. ix. 513. The description and application are both very happy ; it is difficult, however, to defend our great poet in this passage from a charge of plagiarism. In Dr. Newton's edition of Mil- ton a quotation is given from the " Poemata Sacra" of one Andrew Ramsay, a Scotch divine, published in 1633, containing the same image, in words so similar, and so identical in its per- sonal application, that, unwilling as the editor is to admit the fact, I do not seethe possibility of rejecting such striking marks of imitation. Ramsay's subject is Christ's temptation ; and he applies the simile not, indeed, to the cor- poreal motion of the serpent, but to the change- ful wiles by which the Devil (whom he calls the Tartarean Snake) attempted to effect his purpose. g2 vi 84 ON SIMILES IN POETRf, Ut vento portnm qui forte reflante Non potis est capere, is malos et lintea vela- Carbaseosque sinus obliquat, tendere recta Qua nequit, incurvo radit vada caerula cursu ; Sic gnarns versare dolos, et imagine falsa Ludere Tartareus coluber, contingere metam Se non posse videns pvimo molimine, cursum Mutat, et ad palmam converso tramite tendit. As when a mariner, whom adverse winds Forbid to make his port, from side to side His yards and bellying canvass shifts, and steers Through the blue waves a sinuous track oblique ; So, versed in wiles, and skilful to delude, Th' infernal Serpent, baffled in his aim, His course deserts, and tries a different path. That Milton never saw or heard these lines, as Dr. Newton chooses to suppose, seems highly improbable; but how far it is a literary crime to transplant a beauty from a writer in another language, without acknowledgement, may bear a question. We have seen that the greater part of Virgil's similes are copies of those of Homer. Succeeding poets have closely imitated Virgil ; but in these cases the delicacy of acknowledgement seems never to have been thought of; and poetical ideas have been re- garded as a common fund, whence all were free to draw what suited their purpose. Doubt- less, however, the merit of invention is forfeited whenever ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 85 whenever such appropriations can be clearly pointed out. The mariner's art has furnished Spenser with two similes of the ingenious kind. The first is applied to Sir Guyon, when, after he has lost the palmer, his faithful guide, he proceeds on his way in the confidence of his own honour- able actions. As pilot well expert in perilous wave, That to a stedfast star his course hath bent, When fo gy mists or cloudy tempests have The faithful light of that fair lamp yblent, And cover'd heav'n with hideous dreariment, Upon his card and compass firms his eye (The masters of his long experiment) And to them does the steddy helm apply Bidding his winged vessel fairly forward fly. F. Q. ii. 7- I. A condition the direct opposite of this is re- presented by Statius, where he compares Poly- nices travelling in a stormy night through a dark forest, to a mariner ignorant of his course in a stormy sea. Ac velut hyberno deprensns navita ponto Cui neque temo piger, neque amico sidere monstrat Luna vias, medio caeli pelagique tumultu Stat rationis "mops ; jam jamque aut saxa malignis Expectat Buhmersa vadis, aut vertice acuto Spumantes 86 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. Spumantes scopulos erectae occurrere prorae : Talis opaca legens nemorum Cadmeius heros Accelerat. Theb. i. 370. The Sailor thus, in wintry seas surprised, When nor the sluggish Wain, nor Cynthia's orb, Emits a guiding ray, while rage around The winds and waves, perplex' d and heartless stands, In momentary dread to feel his bark Grate on the sunken rocks, or see it dash Its lofty prow full on the foamy crags. This is a strongly painted scene : but perhaps the clanger by sea is too formidable for a just comparison to that by land with which it is paralleled. Spenser's second marine simile is elegantly made a kind of illustrative apology for the fre- quent digressions in his great poem, by which the thread of narration is interrupted, though, as he affirms, not broken. Like as a ship, that through the ocean wide Directs her course unto one certain coast, Is met of many a counter-wind and tide, With which her winged speed is let and crost, And she herself in stormy surges tost j Yet making many a borde and many a bay, Still winneth way, ne hath her' compass lost ; "Bight so it fares with me in this long way, Whose course is often stay'd, yet never is astray. F. Q. xii. 12. I. The ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 8/ The management of a state has been so fa- miliarly compared to holding the helm of a ship, that the metaphor has almost become common language. Silius Italicus, however, has opened the resemblance in a simile which is pointed with much satirical force. He applies it to the consul Flaminius, whose rashness and presump- tion caused so much mischief in the second Pu- nic war. Ut pelagi rudis, et pontum tractare per artem Nescius, accepit miserae si jura carinae, Ventorum tenet ip-e vicem, cunctisque procellis Dat jactare ratem : fertur vaga gurgite puppis, Ipsius in scopulos dextra impellente magistri. Lib. iv. 715. As he who takes a hapless vessel's helm, New to the sea, nor taught the pilot's art, Becomes himself the storm, and gives the bark A sport to every gale : wide o'er the main She flies, his own rash hand amid the rocks Steering her fatal course. Lucan, describing the precipitate desertion of Rome on the approach of Caesar, introduces the simile of a ship in a storm forsaken by its erew : qualis cum turbidus Auster Repulit a Libycis immensum Syrtibus aequor, Fractaque veliferi sonuerunt pondera mali, Desilit in fluctus deserta puppe magister, Navitaque, 88 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. Navitaque, et nondum sparsa compage carinae ; Naufragium sibi quisque facit. p; ^ j So when the stormy South is heard to roar, And rolls huge billows from the Libyan shore; When rending sails flit with the driving blast, And with a crash down comes the lofty mast 5 Some coward master leaps from off the deck, And, hasty to despair, prevents the wreck ; And though the bark unbroken hold her way, Her trembling crew all plunge into the sea. Rowe. The resemblance is striking, and applies in every particular. The master is represented by Pompey, who forfeited his character for magnanimity by hastily quitting the capital, and was followed by all the senatorial! party. Rome was not only the head, but, as it were, the great vessel of the state ; and they who de- serted it were in an open sen of civil contest. Were not the image obvious, Lucan might have derived it from the allegorical ode of Horace, in which the Roman republic is warned of the danger of new domestic contentions, by the symbol of a crazy ship carried out to sea. Milton is apparently quite original in the si- mile in which he compares the fair and wanton Dalila, in full dress, to a well rigged ship: But who is this, what thing of sea or land ! Female of sex it seems, That ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 8<) That so bedeck' d, ornate, and gay, Comes this way sailing, Like a stately ship Of Javan or Gadire, With all her bravery on, and tackle trim, Sails fill'd and streamers waving, Courted by all the winds that hold them play. Samps. we meet with the following : As when devouring flames some forest seize On the high mountains, splendid from afar The blaze appears ; so, moving on the plain, The steel-clad host innum'rous flash'd to heav'n. //. ii. 4.55. Cowper. The pursuit of the Trojans by Agamemnon gives occasion to the same image, except that a thicket, and not a tall wood, is made the scene of the conflagration # , perhaps, as an apter com- parison for the quick overthrow of an undistin- guished multitude. As when devouring flames a thicket seize, This way and that by whirling winds dispers'd $ Beneath the fiery force the shrubs around Fall by the roots : thus by Atrides' arm The heads of flying Trojans low were laid. //. xi. 155. The poet rises in diction and imagery where Achilles, in like manner, is described as deal- * I am induced so to interpret the passage, not only from the equivocal epithet a£uAw, but the word Soavd*, which is unquestionably appropriated to shrubs. nig $2 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. ing destruction all round him in the midst of- the Troj an host. As on some arid hill a raging fire Runs madly through the dells, till all the wood Is wrapt in flames, while, by the wind convolv'd, This way and that the fiery flakes are hurl'd : So raged on every side the deathful spear. //. xx. 4p0. The scene is here distinctly painted : the fire runs along the woody hollows interposed be- tween the several summits of the mountain, and; aided by the eddying wind, spreads itself through all the extent of cover. Besides the resemblance in the destructive force of the fire, it can scarcely be doubted that in the poet's mind the glittering of the Vulcanian spear was paralleled by the brightness of the flame. Virgil, in an imitation of this and the pre- ceding passages, has enriched and extended the simile by the figure of the author of the con- flagration rejoicing in the accomplishment of his purpose : Ac velut optato, ventis aestate coortis, Dispersa immittit sylvis incendia pastor ; Correpiis subito mediis, extenditur una Horrida per latos acies Vulcania campos : Ille sedens victor flammas despectat ovantes : Non aliter socium virtus coi't omnis in unum, Teque juvat, Palla. JEn. x. 404. As ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 93 As when in summer welcome winds arise, The watchful shepherd to the forest flies, And fires the midmost plants j contagion spreads, And catching flames infect the neighboring heads j Around the forest flies the furious blast, And all the leafy nation sinks at last, And Vulcan rides in triumph o'er the waste : The pastor, pleas'd with his dire victory, Beholds the satiate flames in sheets ascend the sky : So Pallas' troops their scatter 1 d strength unite, And pouring on their foes, their prince delight. Dry den. Neither this nor Pitt's version has done jus- tice to the figure of the shepherd, who, proud of his conquest, looks down on the triumphing flames. Its application to Pallas, however, does not seem very appropriate, since that prince was himself actively engaged as the leader and example of the fight, and did not sit, like the shepherd, a quiet spectator of the devastation he had set at work. It is proper to observe, that the learned Heyne, not conceiving any ade- quate motive for the shepherd to set fire to a wood or forest, interprets, with some proba- bility, the Latin " sylva ' to mean only, in the artificial diction of Virgil, a field covered with stubble or weeds, and fired as a preparation for culture. This rural circumstance is expressly made the subject $4 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. subject of a simile by Ariosto, when describing the overthrow and slaughter of a whole troop by the furious Mandricardo : Come in palude asciutta, dura poco Stridula canna, o in campo arida stoppia, Contra il soffio di Borea, e contra il foco, Che '1 cauto agricoltore insieme accoppia, Quando la vaga fiamma occupa il loco, E scorre per li solchi, e stride, e scoppia : Cos! costor contra la furia accesa Di Mandricardo fan poca difesa. Orl. Fur. c. xiv. 4B* As in the arid fields, or sun-dried meads, The brittle stubble and the spiky reeds Resist but little when the wary hind Kindles the flame, to which the northern wind Gives double force, till wide around it preys, And all the furrows crackle in the blaze ; So these alike in vain defence engage With haughty Mandricardo's dreadful rage. Hoole, Three other different similes derived from conflagration are presented from the exhaustless fund of Homer's observation. The first is taken from the spreading fire in a city ; and its ap- plication is to the Ajaxes, pressed by the pur- suing Trojans, as they retreated with the body of Patroclus: tempestuous war Their steps attending ; rapid as the flames Which, ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 95 V Which, kindled suddenly, some city waste ; Consumed amid the blaze, house after house Sinks, and the wind, meantime, roars through the fire; So them a deafening tumult as they went Pursued, of horses and of men spear-arm'd. //. xvii. /36. Cowper. A more striking image could scarcely have been given of the danger incurred by these he- roes, while the whole brunt of battle urged their retiring steps. The numerous islands of the Archipelago, the theatre, in Homer's time, of continual war and rapine, of reciprocal invasions and mutual leagues of defence, must frequently have exhi- bited the spectacle of what the poet has repre- sented in the following lively draught: As when some island, situate afar On the wide waves, invested all the day By cruel foes from their own city pour'd, Upsends a smoke to heav'n, and torches shows On all her turrets at the close of eve Which flash against the clouds, kindled in hope Of aid from neighbour maritime allies; So from Achilies' head light flash'd to heav'n. 77. xviii. 207. Cowper. I doubt not here, that besides the external resemblance of the two luminous appearances, the poet had in view the occasion of both, as connected with succour and relief; though in reality 96 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. reality that from the head of Achilles was a token of his being about to bestow aid, whilst the signals in the island were to demand it: but this laxity of association is common to the ra- pid conceptions of the Grecian bard. The third Homeric simile is likewise derived from the stock of ideas which the poet had gained from his maritime residence. Such as to mariners a fire appears, Kindled by shepherds on the distant top Of some lone hill; they, driv'n by stormy winds, Reluctant roam far off the fishy deep : Such from Achilles' burning shield divine A lustre struck the skies. //. xix. 375. Cowper. The resemblance here consists merely in the objects — one light compared to another. True poets are the same in all ages. The impression made on the imagination of the old Greek bard by the vivid action of this element, was not different from that felt by the living poet to whom it suggested the following simile $ Then Roderick from the Douglas broke As flashes flame through sable smoke, Kindling its wreaths, long, dark, and low, To one broad blaze, of ruddy glow, So the deep anguish of despair Burst, in fierce jealousy, to air. Lady of the Lake, ii. 34.> The ON SIMILES IN POETRY. ffi The writer of the cultured age is only di- stinguished from his remote predecessor, by applying his description to parallel a mental emotion, instead of another sensible object. VIII. FROM ROCKS AND MOUNTAINS. Those noble and striking objects have af- forded fewer images of comparison to the epic poets than might have been expected; the reason of which has probably been, that their immobility precluded them from being fit re- presentatives of heroic action. We have already seen among the sea-pieces, examples in which a rock beaten by the waves has been very hap- pily adduced as an illustration of passive valour. In the following similes, motion is, as it were, artificially imparted to these great masses for the purpose of rendering them images of active force. The first is from Homer: As when a torrent swoln by frequent rains A rock's round fragment from its stony bonds Rends on the mountain's brow j it bursts away, And flies high-bounding, while beneath its shocks The wood re-echoes 5 still it sweeps along, Till, at the plain arrived, no more it rolls., " Though <)B ON SIMILES IK POETRY. Though launch'd with force : so Hector, threatening loud Swift to the tentB and ships to hew his way, Close on the phalanx stop'd. j, .. ? Virgil has thus imitated this passage: Ac veluti mentis saxurn de vertice praeceps Cum ruit avulsum vento, seu turbidus imber Proluit, aut annis solvit sublapsa vetustas; Fertur in abruptum magno mons improbus actu, Exultatque solo ; sylvas, armenta, virosque Involvens secum : disjecta per agmina Turnus Sic urbis ruit ad muros. ^ .. ^ , As when, by age, or rains, or tempests torn, A rock from some high precipice is borne, Trees, herds and swains involving in the sweep, ' The ma Jam piger, et longo jacet exarmatus ab aevo, Magna tamen fades, et non adeunda senecttis : Et si demissas veniat mugitus ad aures, Erigitur, meminitque sui, viresque peractas Ingemit, et campis alios regnare leones. As in his rocky cave a Lion couch'd, Whom in his prime the hills and forests round Trembled ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 115 Trembled to hear, now stiff with sluggish age, And all disarm'd, yet bears an awful front, That scares beholders : if his flagging ears Receive a distant roar, erects his head, Thinks on past days, regrets his strength decay'd, And groans that other lions rule the plain. There is much true grandeur in this picture ; and a happier image has perhaps never been given of fallen royalty. The dying lion is made by Silius Italicus a comparison of the unfortunate consul Paul us /Emilius, slain at Cannae. ceu, depulsis levioribus hastis Accepit Leo quoin tandem per pectora ferrum, Stat teli patieus media tremebundus arena, Ac manante jubis rictuque etnaribus unda Sanguinis, interdum languentia lumina torquens, Effundit patulo spumantem ex ore cruorem. Lib. x. 242. As when a Lion, lighter darts repell'd, Deep in his breast at length receives the spear, Patient of steel with trembling limbs he stands, While from his jaws and nostrils down his mane Streams the red blood j his languid eyeballs 10II, And lire pours rushing in a foamy tide. This picture is evidently drawn from the amphitheatre, where the prodigious number of wild beasts slaughtered for the amusement of the Roman people gave opportunities for ob- 1 2 serving 116 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. serving their manners and actions that no mo- dern inhabitants of cities can possess. The Leopard or Panther is once alone intro- duced by Homer as an object of comparison (//. xxi. o73) ; and there is so little character- istic in the draught, that I shall not transcribe the passage. I find a remarkable simile in Ariosto > in which the Hunting Leopard is introduced with much spirit and truth of representation. The two heroines, Bradamante and Marfisa, return- ing without success from the chase of king Agramante, are thus compared : Come due belle e generose Parde, Che fuor del lasso sien di pari uscite, Poscia che i cervi, 6 le capre gagliarde Indarno aver si veggano seguite, Vergognandosi quasi che fur tarde, Sc :nose sene tornano, e pentite : Cosi tornar le due donzelle, quando Videro il Pagan salvo, sospirando. Or I. Fur. xxxix. 69. As when two beauteous Pards of generous race- Let slip at once, pursue the bounding stag Or nimble roe, but, thrown behind, return With self-accusing looks, ashamed and sad j Thus measured back their steps the martial maids, The foe in safety left. With ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 1 1 7 With the true Tiger Homer was probably unacquainted, and it is to the Latin poets tbat we must have recourse for the first notices of tbis formidable animal. Virgil, however, only affords a simple comparison, without descrip- tion, of a Tiger amidst a flock of sheep, to Tur- nus having forced his way into the Trojan camp. Lucan puts into tbe mouth of Caesar a simile in which Pompey's alleged thirst of blood is compared to that of a Tiger. Utque ferae Tigres nunquam posuere furorem, Quas nemore Hyrcano, matrum dum lustra sequuntur, Altus caesorum pavit cruor armentorum ; Sic et Syllanum solito tibi lambere ferrum Durat, Magne, sitis. Phars. i. 327. As Tigers fell, whom, in Hyrcanian wilds, Their cruel mother train'd to drink the gore Of slaughter'd kine, ne'er lose the savage taste : So, us'd to lick the bloody Syllan steel, Pompey, thy thirst remains unquench'd. The untameable nature so generally attri- buted to this ferocious beast is the ground of the comparison. Statius enlarges upon the characteristic fierce- ness of the tiger in the following simile, ap- plied to Eteocles whom a horrid vision has in- spired with fury against his brother. Qualis ubi audito venantum murmure Tigris Horruit in maculas, somnosque excussit inertes ; Bella 118 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. Bella cupit, laxatque genas, et temperat ungues \ Mox ruit in turmas, natisque alimenta cruentis Spirantem fert ore virum : sic excitus ira Ductor, in absentem consumit praelia fratrem. Theb. ii. 128. As when a Tigress at the hunter's cry Bursts into streaks, shakes off the drowsy mood, Rouses to war, prepares her teeth and claws, Then rushing on the troop, with blocdy mouth A man yet breathing bears, her cubs' repast : Thus, fired with rage, the chief in combat burns Against his absent brother. The circumstance of the streaks or spots of a tiger or leopard being rendered more con- spicuous when the animal is enraged, is often alluded to by the poets, and is probably founded on observation. From the tremendous strength and fierceness attributed in the simile to the tigress, it may be supposed that the Romans were acquainted with the true Indian species. The speed of a tiger in pursuit of the ravisher of its young was almost proverbial among the ancients, and has been described as well by naturalists as by poets. Silius Italicus adduces it as a comparison to the celerity with which Hannibal flew from Tarentum, upon intelligence of the danger to which Capua was exposed on an attack by the Romans. Haud ON SIMILES IS POETRY. 119 Haud secus amisso Tigris si concita fcetu Emicet, attonitae paucis lustratur in horis Caucasus, et. saltu transmittitur alite Ganges', Donee fulmineo partus vestigia cursu Colligit, et rabiem prenso consumit in hoste. Lib. xii. 458. Thus, of her young bereav'd, the Tigress flies In maddening haste; and through Caucasian cliffs In few short hours her rapid search pursued, Wing'd with the lightning's speed o'er Ganges bounds, Till falling on the track, her furious rage She wreaks in vengeance on th' o'ertaken foe. Milton, of whom we have Ions: lost sight, has ventured to apply his knowledge of the ti- ger's manner of seizing his prey in an original simile applied to Satan, intent on mischief, watching the actions of the human pair in Pa- radise. Then as a Tiger, who by chance hath spy'd In some purlieu two gentle fawns at play, Straight couches close, then rising changes oft His couchant watch, as one who chose his ground Whence rushing he might surest seize them both, Griped in each paw. v Par. L. iv\ 403. This is a very picturesque scene, closely re- sembling that which it is brought to illustrate in its moral or sentimental character, in which atone a real likeness could consist to a creation of the fancy. The 120 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. The Wolf, a more ignoble beast of prey, but one familiar to the observation of the rural in- habitants in Europe and Asia, and whose savage and predatory nature would suggest various fit comparisons for the incidents of warfare, has been introduced in the similes of Homer with the truth and spirit characteristic of that great poet. The following picture is genuine natural history : As Wolves that gorge Their prey yet panting, terrible in force, When on the mountains wild they have devoured An antlefd stag new slain, with bloody jaws Troop all at once to some clear fountain, there To lap with slender tongue the brimming wave ; No fears have they, but at their ease eject From full maws flatulent the clotted gore $ Such seem'd the Myrmidon heroic chiefs Assembling fast around the valiant friend Of swift iEacides. r1 . ,_~ n It. xvi. 150. Cow per. Their hunting in troops, their ravenous manner of feeding, the form of their tongues and mode of drinking (not noticed in Pope's elaborate version of the passage), are circum- stances that a BufTon would select in describing the animal. The application of the simile is but lax ; since the Myrmidons have not yet been engaged in action, and only resemble the wolves ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 12i wolves by their collecting in a troop : but the poet probably meant by the comparison to in- culcate an opinion of their peculiar ferocity; Another natural painting derived from this animal is given by Homer where he describes the rout of the Trojans by the Greeks led by Patroclus : Furious as hungry Woives the kids assail, Or lambs, which haply some unheeding swain Hath left to roam at large the mountains wild ; They, seeing, snatch them from beside the dams, And rend with ruthless haste the feeble prey ; So swift the Danai assail'd the host Of Ilium. //. xvi. 352. Cowpcr. The resemblance here intended consists not only in the fury of the assailants, but in the unresisting timidity of the prey. Virgil affords three similes, not borrowed from Homer, but probably derived from his own observation, in which the manners and actions of wolves are represented in lively and natural colours. The first is an attack made by a troop of these foragers in a mist, compared to the nocturnal daring of a desperate band of Trojans during the sack of their city : Inde Lupi ceu Raptores, atra in nebula, quos improba ventris Exegit c3£cos rabies, catulique relicti Faucibus 122 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. Faucibus expectant siccis ; per tela, per hostes, Vadimus haud dubiam in mortem. Mn. ii. 355. Like ravening Wolves, when fogs obscure the day, Who, urged by furious hunger, and the cries Of tongue-parch'd cubs, expectant in their den. Rush headlong on the prey : through show'rs of darts ' And thronging foes we go to certain death. Dryden's and Pitt's translations mistake the material circumstance " atra in nebula/' which they represent rather as a storm than <: a dark fog." Turnus, attempting to break into the Trojan camp, and eagerly trying every accessible part, is very happily paralleled in the following lines : Ac veluti pleno lupus insidiatus ovili, Cum fremit ad caulas, ventos perpessus et imbres, Nocte super media ; tuti sub matribus agni Balatum exercent; ille asper et improbus ira Saevit in absentes: coltecta fatigat edendi Ex longo rabies, et siccae sanguine fauces : Haud aliter Rutulo, muros et castra tuenti, Ignescunt irae. JEn. ix. 5g. As, beat by tempests, and by famine bold, The prowling Wolf attempts the nightly fold ; Lodged in the guarded field beneath their dams, Safe from the savage, bleat the tender lambs : The monster meditates the fleecy brood ; Now howls with hunger, and now thirsts for blood j Roams ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 123 Roams round the fences that the prize contain., And madly rages at the flock in vain : Thus, as th* embattled towers the chief descries, Rage tires his soul and flashes from his eyes. Pitt. The imootent fury of the assailant, and the security of the Trojans within their fortification, cou'd scarcelv ; in all the range of nature, have "been imaged in a more appropriate comparison. It will hardly he necessary to apprize even the mere English reader, that Virgil is not answer- able for the absurd appellation of " the mon- ster." A trait of character in the wolf has suggested to Virgil a simile applied to the cowardly A runs, who, after having mortally wounded Camilla with his javelin, shrinks back in affright at his own deed. Ac velut ille, prius quam tela inimica sequantur, Cominuo in montes sese avius abdidit altos, Occiso pastore lupus, magnove juvenco, Conscius audacis facti, caudamque remulcens Subjecit pavitantem utero, sylvasque petivit. jEn. xi. 800. As when a prowling Wolf, whose rage has slain Some stately heifer, or the guardian swain, Flies to the mountain with impetuous speed, Confused, and conscious of the daring deed, Claps close his quivering tail between his thighs Ere yet the peopled country round him rise. Pitt. It 12 i ON SIxMILES IN POETRY. It is but justice to mention that the vigorous expression of the last line but one in the trans- lation, which so well renders the original, is co- pied from Dryden. Statins, in an imitation of this simile (Theb. iv. 363), with more probability supposes the wolf to have perpetrated the slaughter only of the fairest of the flock (" pecus,") ; for it is very rare for a single animal of this species to attack a full-grown heifer, and still rarer, a man. Tasso, as a comparison for the fierce Sol i- mano compelled reluctantly to quit the field which he has heaped with slain, represents a wolf driven from the fold after gorging himself with prey, but still thirsting for blood. The picture is strong!}^ drawn, and well applied. Come dal chiuso ovil cacciato viene Lupo tal'hor, che fugge, e si nasconde ; Che, se ben del gran ventre homai ripiene Ha 1' ingorde voragine profonde; Avido pur di sangue, anco fuor tiene La lingua, e'l sugge da le labra immonde j Tale ei sen gia dopo il sanguigno stratio, De la sua cupa fame anco non satio. Gerus. Lib. x. 2. As, hunted from the plundered fold, a Wolf For safety flies, and seeks his dark retreat, When, though the spacious cavern of his maw Be full distent, yet, greedy still of blood, Hf ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 125 He lolls his tongue, and licks his jaws impure : So, from the sanguine carnage of the field, Insatiate still, the Soldan fierce withdrew. Milton, in making the wolf an object of com- parison, could only paint from fancy ; the de- scription, however, in the following simile is new, and the resemblance is exact. It is ap- plied to Satan leaping with a bound over the wall of Paradise. As when a prowling Wolf Whom hunger drives to seek new haunt for prey, Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eve In hurdled cotes amid the field secure, Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold. Par. L. iv. 183. It is here observable that the poet has dwelt chiefly on that part of the description with the subject of which he was personally acquainted — the manner of forming sheep-folds. The Bear is an animal seldom mentioned by the ancient poets, and not at all, as far as I have examined, in the way of comparison. Both Tasso and Ariosto, however, have intro- duced him in similes with some characteristic circumstances. The former poet gives the fol- lowing image of the rage of Argante after re- ceiving a wound : Qual ne l'alpestri selve Orsa, che senta Duro spiedo nel fianco, in rabbia monta, E contra 126 ON SIMILES IN POETTtr. E contra l'arme se medesma avventa, E i perigli, e k morte audace ^rTronta : Tale il Circasso indomito diventa. Ger. Lib. vi. 45. As the She-Bear, in alpine forests chas'd, When feeling in her side the spear, arous'd To madd'ning fuiy, rushes on the foe, Careless of wounds or death : the Pagan thus Burst into fiery wrath. Though it is the nature of several ferocious animals to become more furious on being wound- ed, yet the bear is peculiarly distinguished by his blind and obstinate rage on that occasion. This stupidity or irrationality of passion is ex- emplified by Ariosto, in a simile applied to Rodomonte,, when violently struggling with the mad Orlando upon a bridge. Simiglia Rodomonte intorno a Orlando Lo stolido Orso, che sveller si crede L'arbore onde e caduto j e come n'abbia Quello ogni colpa, odio gli posta, e rabbia. Or I. Fur. xxix. 46. Fierce Rodomonte round Orlando clung, Like to the stupid Bear, who strives t' uproot The tree from which he fell, and vents his rage On the unfeeling trunk, his fancied foe. The force of instinct, which seems so pre- dominant in this creature, is, however, truly interesting as it is shown in that fervent attach- ment OX SIMILES IN POETRY. 12/ 7 merit to its young which so remarkably charac- terizes the she-bear. This is very beautifully described by the same poet, in a simile where it is made the parallel to the zeal of Medoro in protecting the dead body of his king. Come Orsa, che l'alpestre cacciatore Nella pietrosa tana assalit' abbia, Sta sopra i figH con incerto core, E freme in sono di pieta, e di rabbia : Ira 1'invita, e natural furore A spiegar l'unghie, e a insanguinar le labbia j Amor I'intenerisce, e la ritira A riguardar a i figli in mezzo l'ira. Or I. Fur. xix. /. As the She-Bear within her rocky den Assail'd by mountain hunters, o'er her cubs Hangs dubious, growling now in pity's tone, Now with fierce menace ; rage and savage heat Urge her to rush abroad and tear the foe With claws and teeth j but love maternal sooths Her wrathful mood, and brings her back to gaze Upon her helpless young. The truth of this picture will not be ques- tioned by those who recollect the pathetic nar- rative of the slaughter of a polar bear and her cubs, in Phipps's "Voyage towards the North Pole." The JVild-Boar, though not properly a pre- datory 12S ON SIMILES IN POETRY, datory animal, possesses sufficient strength andf ferocity to become a formidable foe when pro- voked ; and from the earliest times his chase has been a scene of dangerous enterprise. Sa- vage, and armed with a desperate weapon, he is mischievous enough to afford an apt compa- rison for the rude warriors of the heroic ages ; and Homer has twice made the boar the subject of a simile, in which he has happily exercised his singular talent for natural description. Ido^ meneus, waiting the attack of iEneas, is thus- resembled : As in the mountains, conscious of his force, The Wild-boar waits a coming multitude Of boist'rous hunters to his ione retreat ; Arching his bristly spine he stands, his eyes Beam rire, and whetting his bright tusks, he burns To drive, not dogs alone, but men to flight : So stood the royal Cretan. //. xiii. 471. Cowper. The attitude and expression of the animal preparing for the combat are painted with great force ; but the application of the comparison is not exact, since Idome'neus is waiting the as- sault of a single foe, which he dreads so much, that he calls loudly upon his friends for aid. In the other example, the boar, completely surrounded ON SIMILES IN POETilY. 129 surrounded by his enemies, represents with greater accuracy the condition of Ulysses, left alone in the field amid a host of Trojans. As when dogs, and swains In prime of manhood, from all quarters rush Around a Boar, he bolts from his retreat, The bright tusk whetting in his crooked jaws ; They press him on all sides, and from beneath Loud gnashings henr, yet, firm, his threats defy 3 Like them the Trojans on all sides assail'd Ulysses, dear to Jove. *, . . , . n . 3 * II. xi. 414. Coivper. Virgil, in imitating these similes, has em- ployed all his poetical skill to improve the pic- ture by new touches, and in particular has loca- lized his scene, and added circumstances taken from the boar-chase as he himself had probably witnessed it. The animal is the counterpart of Aiezentius raging amidst his deadly foes. Ac velut ille canum morsu de montibus altis Actus aper, mnltos Vesulus quern pinifcr annos Defendit, multosve palus Laurentia, silva Fastus arundinea, postquam inter retia ventum est, Substitit, inliemuitque ferox, et inhorruit armos ; Nee cuiquam ira.sci propriusve accedere virtus, Sed jaculis tutisque procul clamoribus instant : Ille autem impavidus partes cunctatur in omnes, Dentibus infrendens, et tergo decutit hastas : Haud aliter, ju^tae quibus est Mezentius irae, Non ulli est animus stricto concurrere ferroj JMissilibus longe et vasto clamore lacessunt. ALn. x. 707. k The 130 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. The translations of this passage both by Dry- den and Pitt are so loose and inaccurate, that I find it necessary to attempt one of my own, which may at least more faithfully represent the original. As, chas'd by eager dogs, a mighty Boar, Whom piny Vesulus has long conceal'd, Who long has fed amid Laurentian reeds, Driv'n from the mountains, when the meshy toils Arrest his flight, stops short, and fiercely snorts, And bristles up his back j the hunter train Dread to approach, but distant press him round With darts, and idle shouts : he, void of fear,, Lingers in every part, and grinds his tusks, And shakes the javelins from his brawny sides : Thus, gathering round the tyrant king, though urg'4 By righteous hate, none dares to prove his arm, But, clamouring loud, they wage a missile war. X. FROM THE BULL, HORSE, AND OTHER QUADRUPEDS. That stately animal the Bull is scarcely in- troduced by Homer otherwise than as the prey of the lion, or the victim of sacrifice; probably on account of the inferior size of the beeve kind in the countries with which he was conversant. He has, indeed, briefly compared the dignity of Agamemnon at the head of the Grecian army, to ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 131 to the distinction with which a bull appears as leader of the herd (//. ii. 480); but he no where considers him under his martial or pugnacious character. Virgil, however, who had taken his ideas of the horned tribe from the noble races in the rich Italian pastures, describes the bull, both directly in the Georgics, and allusively in the /Eneid, as an enraged and formidable comba- tant. He is thus exhibited as a comparison to Turn us impatiently preparing for the final con- flict with iEneas : Mngitus veluti cum prima in praelia Taurus Terriricos ciet, atque irasci in cornua tentat, Arboris obnixus trunco, ventosque lacessit Ictibus, et sparsa ad pugnam proludit arena. JEn. xii. 103. So the fierce Bui], collected in his might, Roars for his rival, and demands the fight ; Impatient for the war, with fury burns, And tries on every tree his angry horns ; Bends his stern brows, and pushes at the air, And paws the flying sands, the prelude of the war. Pitt. The resemblance, indeed, is not very happy ; forTurnus was so far from entering on his " first battle," that he was already the most distin- guished warrior of his country. The poet re- k 2 peats 132 ON SIMILES IN POETItY. peats the simile with more pomp and circum- stance when the two great rivals are actualtv engaged : Ac velut, ingenti Sila snmmove Tabumo, Cum duo converts iniruica in praelia Tauri Frontibus incurrunt, pavidi cessere magistri ; Stat pecus omne metu mutum, mussantque juvencae, Quis pecori imperitet, quem tota armenta sequantur : Uli inter sese multa vi volnera miscent, Cornuaque obnixi inrigunt, et sanguine largo Co la armosque lavant j gemitu nemus omue remugit: Haud aliter Tros iEneas et Daunius heros Concurrunt clypeis. y£«. xii. /15. As where proud Sila's towering summits rise, Or huge Taburnus heaves into the skies, With frowning fronts two mighty Bulls engage j A dreadful war the bellowing rivals wage : Far from the scene the trembling keepers fly ; Struck dumb with terror stand the heifers by, Nor know which lord the subject herds shall lead, And reign at large, the monarch of the mead : Fierce strokes they aim, repeated o'er and o'er ; ~\ Their dewlaps, necks, and sides are bathed in gore ; \ The mountains, streams, and woods rebellow to the roar. J So to the fight the furious heroes fly, So clash their shields, and echo to the sky. Pitt. This is a truly splendid description ; and the application of the simile to the chiefs, who were contending both for dominion and the pos-^ session of Lavinia, is accurately just. These ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 133 These passages, and more especially the de- scription of the rival bulls in the Georgics, where the vanquished retires to solitude till he has recruited his strength, and then returns to try a second encounter, have been imitated by Lucan and Statius, but with little novelty of circumstance. Silius Italicus has a simile in which both the bull and the lion are introduced, the former with peculiar distinction, and each with such appropriate action as to compose a striking pic- ture. A warrior hesitating on the near survey of a powerful antagonist is thus compared : Haud secus e specula praeceps delatus opaca Subsidens campo submissos contrahit artus Quum vicina trucis conspexit cornua Tauri, Quamvis longa fames stimulet, Leo : nunc ferus alta Surgentes cervice toros, nunc torva sub hirta X.umina miratur fronte, acjam signa moventem, Et sparsa pugnas niedi tan tern spectat arena. Lib. v. 310. Thus, headlong from his gloomy covert borne, By raging hunger urg'd, the Lion stops, And crouching low to earth contracts his limbs, When full before him stands the surly Bull. Wond'ring the savage marks his sinewy neck That swells with ire j beneath his shaggy front Two flaming eyes j and sees him fiercely spurn The scatter'd sand, preluding to the fight. The 134 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. The characteristic attitude of the lion watch- ing when to make his spring, and the signs of defiance exhibited by the bull, are sketched with singular truth and spirit. The pastime of bull-baiting, common to many countries, however repugnant to humanity, has supplied Ariosto with a simile happily illustra- tive of the rout and carnage effected by the terrible Rodomonte when shut up and surround- ed in Paris. Chi ha visto in piazza rompere steccato, A cui la folta turba ondeggi intorno, Immansueto toro accanegiato, Stimulate) e percosso tutto il giorno, Che'l popol se ne ftu:ge spaventato, Ed egli or questo, or quel leva su'l corno y Pensi che tale o piu terribil fosse II crudele African, quando si mosse. Or I. Fur. xviii. tg* He who has seen, encircled by the throng Close-wedg'd that waves around, a savage Bull Whom blows and goads have madden'd all the day^ Break loose, and charge among the flying rout, While from his tossing horns now this, now that, Mounts into air ; may view in fancy's eye The cruel Pagan spreading dire dismay Where'er he moved. The same fertile poet, who, in his motley work 5 is more solicitous to entertain his readers with ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 135 With the variety and animation of his draughts, than to preserve the epic dignity, gives a kind of tragi-comic description of the mad Orlando's seizure by his friends, in which he represents him as enabled by his amazing strength to run off with a number of them hanging upon him. This incident suggests a comparison drawn from a similar source with the preceding. Chi ha visto toro, a cui si dia la caccia, E ch'alle orccchie abbia le zanne fiere, Correr mugghiando, e trarre ovunque corre I cani seco, e non potersi sciorre ; Immagini ch' Orlando fosse tale, Che tutti quei guerrier seco traea. Orl. Fur. xxxix. 51. As when a hunted Bull, that feels the fangs Deep in his ears innVd, runs bellowing on, And with him bears the dogs that keep their hold Not to be shaken off ; Orlando thus Ban with the warriors pendent at his sides. Homer's accurate observation of the inci- dents of rural nature has supplied him with a simile taken from the females and young of this species, which presents a pleasing picture. When Ulysses in the island of Circe returns to his ship, the crew of which were lamenting him as lost, their affectionate joy at the sight of him is thus resembled : As 136 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. As when the calves within some village rear'd Behold at eve the herd returning home From fruitful meads, where they have grazed their fill r Forth rushing from the stall, they blare and sport Around their mothers with a ceaseless joy : Such joy, at sight of me, dissolv'd in tears My grateful friends. ^.«.x.410. Cowper. To have been impressed by such a circum- stance displays no less a feeling heart than an attentive eye. Courage without ferocity, strength, speed, and gracefulness of form, distinguish that no- blest of domestic animals, the Horse, which, ever since his association with man, has been his prime favourite. From a very early period he became the subject of poetical description, as appears from the spirited picture of the war- horse in the Book of Job ; and there are many passages in Homer which show the value placed upon the generous steeds that drew the chariots of kings and heroes. One of the most beauti- ful similes in this poet gives a description of this fine creature in all the pride and rapture of recovered freedom. As some stall'd Horse high-pamper'd, snapping short His cord, beats under-feet the sounding soil, Accustom'd in smooth -sliding streams to lave Exulting : high he bears his head ; his mane Wanton& ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 13? Wantons around his shoulders ; pleased he eyes His glossy sides ; and borne on pliant knees Soon finds the haunts where all his fellows graze : So, clad in sun-bright arms, from Ilium's heights Down flew the joyful Paris. //. vi. 506. Confer. The application to Paris going to battle seem9 void of peculiar propriety with respect to action; but the critics have found that the person of that gay and gallant hero is very happily re- presented by a sleek and high-bred stallion, whom they suppose impatient to revisit his fe- males in the pasture, though the Greek inti- mates nothing of the sex of his companions. That Homer, however, had such a moral re- semblance in his view, is rendered improbable, by the repetition of the simile in the identical words, on the occasion of Hector's returning to the field after he had been wounded by Ajax. In fact, the picture is to be regarded as a mere ornament ; and such it is, of the most ex- quisite kind. Virgil, in adopting this simile, has given so close a translation of the Greek, without any addition to the description, that I forbear to transcribe it. The application is to Turnus, whom, in Heyne's opinion, the parallel better suits 138 ON SIMILES IN POETRY, suits than either of the Grecian chiefs, on ac-* count of the great alacrity with which h& is; re- presented as rushing to battle. A comparison better adapted to martial sce- nery hi found in various poets, derived from the effect of the wonted sound of the trumpet upon a war-horse. This is described by Ovid in two energetic lines, the application of which is to Pentheus inflamed to rage by hearing the cla- mour of the Bacchanals. Ut fremit acer Equus, cum bellicus aere canoro Signa dedit tubicen, pugnaeque assumit amorem. Metam. iii. 704. As snorts the fiery Steed, when breath'd through bras* The wonted signal of the fight he hears, That wakes his soul to war. Valerius Flaccus (Argon, ii. 385.) touches on the same comparison ; but it is more opened, and applied with more felicity, by Tasso, where he describes the two deputed warriors suddenly presenting themselves richly armed before Ri* naldo in the enchanted garden of Armida. dual feroce destrier* ch'al faticoso Honor de l'arme vincitor sia tolto j E lascivo marito in vil riposo Fra gli armenti, e ne' paschi erri disciolto ; Se'l desta o suon di tromba, o luminoso Acciar, cola tosto annitrendo e volto : ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 139 Gia gia brama l'arringo, e Thuom su'l dorso Portando urtato riurtar nel corso. Ger. Lib. xvi. 28. As when from martial toil the generous Steed Releas'd,.is giv'n to range the verdant mead, Forgetful of his former fame, he roves, And wooes in slothful ease his dappled loves : If chance the trumpet's sound invades his ears, Or glittering steel before his sight appears, He neighs aloud, and furious pants to bear The valiant chief, and pierce the files of war. Hoole. The resemblance is here rendered very complete by the supposition that the charger was become, like the enamoured knight, " lascivo marito." The impatience of a courser to start for the race, still more excited by the shouts of the surrounding crowd, affords Lucan an apt com- parison to Caesar's ardour for civil war, inflamed by the eloquent exhortation of Curio. ipsi In bellum prono tantum tamen addidit irae, Accenditque ducem, quantum clamore juvatur Eleus sonipes, quamvis jam carcere clauso Immineat foribus, pronusque repagula laxet. Phars. i. 292, Not peals of loud applause with greater force At Grecian El is rouse the fiery Horse, When eager for the course each nerve he strains, Hangs on the bit, and tugs the stubborn reins, At 140 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. At every shout erects his quivering ears, And his broad breast upon the barrier bears. Rowe. The bounding motion of the horses which drew, four abreast, the ancient light chariot has served Homer for a lively parallel to a gal- ley darting forward at every stroke of the oars. She, [the vessel] as four harness' d stallions o'er the plain Shooting together at the scourge's stroke, Toss high their manes, and rapid scour along j So mounted she the waves. ~, ... __ Odyss. xiu. 81. The image of a chariot flying at the full speed of the horses, over which the driver has lost all control, is employed by Virgil to designate the state of general war that agitated the Ro- man world at the time of his composing the Georgics. saevit toto Mars impius orbe : Ut cum carceribus sese efFudere quadrigae, Addunt in spatia j et frustra retinacula tendens Fertur equis auriga, neque audit currus habenas. Georg. i.51 1. So four fierce coursers starting to the race Scour through the plain, and lengthen every pace j Nor reins, nor curbs, nor threat' ning cries they hear, But force along the trembling charioteer. Dryden. This simile is rather of the ingenious than the obvious kind, the true point of resemblance consisting ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 141 consisting in the inability of a ruler to restrain the hostile fury of the people, compared to that of a charioteer to check the career of high-met- tled horses. The indifference of the ancient Greek bard in the choice of his objects of comparison, pro- vided they suited the immediate purpose for which they were adduced, is remarkably di- splayed in a simile of the Iliad, immediately following that in which Ajax, unwillingly re- treating from the assault of the combined Tro- jans, is with much dignity resembled to a lion repelled from the stalls. Wishing still further to exemplify the perseverance of this hero, and the difficulty with which he was compelled to retire from the unequal combat, the poet does not scruple to give him a representative in the Ass; an animal which, where the horse was known, must at all times have been regarded in the same light of relative inferiority that he is at present; and which, in fact, is in this pas- sage characterized by those qualities of sluggish- ness, insensibility, and voracity, that in our idea most degrade his nature. There seems, therefore, to be no foundation for the gloss of critics, who, attempting to palliate this want of refinement in Homer (characteristic of the simplicity 142 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. simplicity of the age in which he lived,) insi- nuate that the Ass was considered at that time as occupying a more respectable rank than is now allotted him. The simile is thus translated by Cowper : As when (the boys o'erpower'd) a sluggish Ass, Whose tough sides erst have shiver* d many a staff, Enters the harvest, and the spiry ears Crops persevering 5 with their rods the boys Still ply him hard, but all their puny might Scarce drives him forth when he hath browsed his fill : So, there, the Trojans and their foreign aids With glittering lances keen huge Ajax urged. //. xi. 557. The translator chooses to suppose that the animal's sides have been previously rendered so callous by the use of the cudgel, that he can scarcely feel the trifling discipline of the boys: but in the original the same word is employed, which he renders first sta^and then rod. The comparison fully exemplifies the quality of pa- tient endurance, which alone it was intended to illustrate. That ancient and faithful servant of man, the Dog, has often attracted poetical notice, espe- cially as his associate in the chase, an employ- ment highly interesting in itself, and affording a lively image of war. His sagacity and per- severance ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 143 severance in the pursuit, and spirit in the attack, offer a parallel to the exertion of the same qualities in the human combatant, which lias frequently been the subject of simile. Thus Hector, pressing close on the rear of the flying Greeks, is resembled to a dog keenly following a retreating wild beast. As when a Hound, confiding in his speed, His fangs oft fastens on the flank or haunch Of boar or lion, and with watchful eye Observes him turning j so the Trojan chief Hung on the flying Greeks, and slew at times The hindmost fugitive. //. viii. 33S. It has been remarked that the partiality of Homer for his countrymen has here led hirn to compare the Greeks, though in flight, to the nobler animal, at the expense of the similitude. He has repeated the same image with some va- riation, and applied it more judiciously, where he compares the throng of Trojans following the retreating Ajaxes to a pack of hounds pur- suing a wild-boar. As Hounds before a band Of youthful hunters, on the wounded boar Make fierce assault 3 awhile at utmost speed They stretch toward him, hungering for the prey. But oft as, turning suddenly, the brawn Withstands them, scatter'd on all sides escape : The Trojans so, thick thronging in the rear, Annoy 'd them sore. //. xvii. 725. Cowper. The 144 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. The chase of Hector round the walls of Troj^ by Achilles gives rise to a simile, certainly not of the aggrandizing kind, but sufficiently exact in the parallel, in which the action of a hunt- ing-dog is naturally represented : As among the mountain-heights The Hound pursues, roused newly from her lair, The flying fawn through many a vale and grove, And though she trembling skulk the shrubs beneath, Her track unravels till he find the prey : So 'scaped not Hector Peleus' rapid son. //. xx ii. 18Q. Coivper. The same comparison is employed when Di- omed and Ulysses in their nocturnal expedition give chase to Dolon. Virgil, who has imitated Homer in con- cluding the contest between his rival heroes, /Eneas and Turnus, with a flight and chase, also adopts the scene by which it is paralleled, but with circumstances descriptive of a stag- hunt as conducted in his own country. Inclusum veluti si quando flumine nactus Cervum, aut punicess septum formidine pennse, Venator cursu canis et latratibus instat -, Ille autem, insidiis et ripa territus alta, Mille fugit refugitque vias : at vividus Umber Haeret hians, jam jamque tenet, similisque tenenti Increpuit malis, morsuque elusus inani est. Mn. xii. 749. As ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 145 As the fleet Stag, by the staunch Hound pursued, Now bounds above the banks, now shoots along the flood, Now from the meshy toils with terror springs. Scared by the plumes that dance upon the strings; He starts, he pants, he stares with wild amaze, And flies his opening foe a thousand ways ; Close at his heels the deep-mouth'd furious Hound Turns as he turns, and traces all the ground : On his full stretch he makes his eager way, And holds, or thinks he holds, the trembling prey. Forth darts the £ tag : his foe cast far behind Catches but empty air, and bites the wind. Pitt. Ovid has given a very lively description of a greyhound coursing a hare, in a simile which he applies to the pursuit of Daphne by the en- amoured Apollo: the diction, though not the scene, is evidently imitated from Virgil. Ut Canis in vacuo Leporem cum Gallicus arvo Vidit, et hie praedam pedibus petit, ille salutem ; Alter inhaesuro similis, jam jamque tenere Sperat, et extento stringit vestigia rostro : Alter in ambiguo est an sit deprensus, et ipsis Morsibus eripitur, tangentiaque ora relinquit : Sic Deus et Virgo est; hie spe celer, ilia timore. Metam. i. 533. As when a Greyhound on the open plain Espies a Hare; they start, and trust in speed One for his prey, the other for her life ; He, just in act to seize, with outstretch'd jaw Presses her steps, and seems to hold the prize : l She. 146 ON SIMILES IN POETRY* She, doubtful whether yet untaken, springs Close from his touch, and cheats his snapping teeth i So fare the God and Maid 5 he wing'd with hope, And she with fear. To this picture I cannot forbear to subjoin one from Dryden's " Annus Mirabilis," in which he carries on the same match between the hound and the hare to a later period, in- troducing it as a comparison to the Prince's disabled ship in his sea-fight with the Dutch, lying by two of the enemy's, which she has also disabled : So have I seen some fearful Hare maintain A course, till tired before the Dog she lay; Who, stretch'd behind her, pants upon the plain, Past power to kill, as she to get away : With his loll'd tongue he faintly licks his prey ; His warm breath blows her flix up as she lies ; She, trembling, creeps upon the ground away, And looks back to him with beseeching eyes. The return of hounds from a fruitless chase has afforded Tasso a short but expressive simile, applied to the warriors who had lost the traces of the fugitive Erminia. Qual dopo lunga e faticosa caccia Tornansi mesti ed anhelanti i Cani, Che la fera perduta habbian di traccia, Kasccsa in selva da gli aperti piani : Tal, ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 147 Tal, pieni d'ira e di vergogna in faccia Riedono stanchi i Cavalier Christiani. Ger. Lib. vii. 2, As, after long and toilsome chase. in vain The panting Dogs unwilling quit the plain, If chance the game their eager search elude, Conceal' d in shelter of the fav'ring wood : So to the camp the Christian Knights return, While ras;e and shame in every visage burn. Hoole. Ariosto, who has been already mentioned as little nice in the choice of his similes, but who describes with great force and nature, compares Very aptly, though rather ignobly, the encounter of two adverse knights, to that of two quarrel- some Dogs : Come soglion talor duo Can mordenti, O per invidia, o per altro odio mossi, Avvicinarsi, digrignando i denti, Con occhi biechi, e piu che bragia rossi ; Indi a morsi venir, di rabbia ardenti, Con aspri ringhi e rabufFati dossi : Cosi alle spadi, dai gridi, e dall' onte ; Venne il Circasso e quel di Chiaramonte. Orl. Fur. ii. 5. As when two Dogs of canker'd kind approach, By hate or envy moved, with grinning teeth, And scowling eyes that glow like coals of fire ; To fury roused, they arch their bristling backs, And snarling rush to right : the warriors thus From taunting words and cries proceed to blows. L2 Not 148 ON SIMILE* IN POETRY. Not less vigorous in description, nor more elevated in subject, is the simile which he em- ploys in relating the final combat between Rug- giero and Rodomonte, when the former has the latter on the ground under him : Come Mastin sotto il feroce Alano, Che fissi i denti nella gola gli abbia, Molto s'affanna, e si dibatte in vano Con occhi ardenti, e con spumose labbia -, E non puo uscire al predator in mano, Che vince di vigor, non gia di rabbia : Cosi falla al Pagano ogni pensiero D'uscir di sotto al vincitor Ruggiero. Orl. Fur. jdvi. 138. As lies a Mastiff prostrate in the grasp Of a fierce Wolf-dog, whose tenacious fangs Close gripe his throat ; and heaves and struggles hard, With eyes on fire, and jaws distain'd with foam, In vain— no efforts can the foe elude, His overmatch in force, though not in rage : Thus vainly did the Pagan strain and toil Beneath the victor chief. In all pictures of the chase, both the chaser and the prey are subjects of interest; and when the scene is introduced as a simile, the princi- pal resemblance may be directed either to the one or the other. Among the wild and timid animals which are the object of pursuit, none are so conspicuous as those of the Stag kind ; and ON SIMILES IN TOETRY. 149 and we accordingly find them in various com- parative pictures made the leading figures on the canvass. Thus, in the Iliad, when Aga- memnon slays two of Priam's sons, none of the Trojans daring to give them succour, the action is thus paralleled : As with resistless fangs the Lion breaks The tender offspring of the nimble Hind, Ent'ring her lair, and takes their feeble lives 5 She, though at hand, can yield them no defence, But through the thick wood, uing'd with terror, starts Herself away, trembling at such a foe : So them no Trojan there had pow'r to save^ Self-saving flight the sole concern of all. 11. xi. 113. Confer. In the application of this simile we want the counterpart of the mother of the young victims, who is the most interesting figure in the acces- sory scene. Statius, who, in his description of a foot-race, has introduced the simile of stags flying from a lion, adds a circumstance so truly poetical that the lines on that account only deserve tran- scription : Non aliter celeres Hircania per avia Cervi, Cum procul impasti fremitum accepere Leonis, Sive putant, rapit attonitos fuga caeca, metusque Congregat, et longum dant cornua mixta fragorem. Theb. vi. 598. Thus, 150 ON SIMILES IN POETRY, Thus, in Hyrcanian wilds, a herd of Stags* That hear, or seem to hear, the dreadful roar Of some ghaunt Lion ; swift they scour away, With terror blind, and, mingling in a throng, Their clashing antlers echo from afar. A more striking image of danger could scarce- ly be conceived than that presented in a simile in the Odyssey put into the mouth of Menelaus, after he has been informed by Telemachus of the proceedings of his mother's suitors. " They wish (says he) to lay themselves in the couch of a man much braver than themselves:" But as it chances, when the Hind hath lay'd Her fawns, new-yean'd, and sucklings yet, to rest Within some dreadful Lion's gloomy den j She roams the hills, and in the grassy vales Feeda heedless, till the Lion, to his lair Returning, rends them both 5 with such a force Resistless shall Ulysses them destroy. Odyss. iv. 335. Cowper. The bed of Ulysses, compared to the den of the lion, constitutes the point of the similitude. The timidity of the Fawn has afforded Ho- race a simile addressed to the young Chloe (Ode 23. 1. i.), which is too familiar to all classic readers to need quotation. It was evi- dently in the eye of Ariosto when he applied to Angelica, flying from the pursuit of Rinaldo, the following simile : Qua! ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 151 Qual pargoletta Damma, o Capriola, Che tra \e frondi del natio boschetto Alia madre veduto abbia la gola Stringer dal Pardo, e aprir il fianco, o il petto, Di selva in selva dal crudel s'invola, E di paura trema, e di sospetto j Ad ogni sterpo che passando tocca Esser si crede all' empia fera in bocca. Orl. Fur. i. 34. Thus when a tender Fawn of Hind or Roe Within the cover of her native grove Has seen her dam a cruel Leopard's prey, With throat all torn, and sides in blood imbrued j From wood to wood the little trembler Hies, With terror at her heart, and, every bush She passing touches, feels the savage jaws Close at her flank. " As the Hart panteth after the water-brook;* says the Psalmist in a short comparison ; which perhaps may have suggested to Tasso the simile which he introduces where Erminia, led by love towards the Christian encampment, is sud- denly alarmed by the attack of one who sup- posed her to be Clorinda, in whose armour she was clad : Si come Cerva, ch'assetata il passo Mova a cercar d'acque lucenti e vive Ove un bel fonte discillar da un sasso, O vide un riume tra frondose rive ; S'incontra i Cani al hora, che'l corpo lasso Ristorar crede a l'onde, a l'ombre esiive, Volge 152 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. Volge indietro fuggendo ; e la paura La stanchezza obliar face, e l'arsura. Ger. Lib. vi. iOg. The Hind thus led by parching thirst to seek The clear and living streams, that gushing forth Flow from a rock, or roll, a lucid rill, Green banks between j if, when her wearied limbs She thinks to lave and rest beneath the shade, The Hounds appear in view, in wild affright She bursts away, fatigue and thirst forgot. I shall add one simile from Virgil, in which a wounded Hind is made the comparison to one labouring under a mental malady. The appli- cation is to the unfortunate Dido. Uritur infelix Dido, totaque vagatur Urbe furens : qualis conjecta Cerva sagitta, Quam procul incautam nemora inter Cressia fixit Pastor agens telis, liquitque volatile ferrum Nescius : ilia fuga silvas saltusque peragrat Dictaeos j haeret lateri lethalis arundo. jEn. iv. 68. Sick with desire, and seeking him she loves, From street to street the raving Dido roves. So when the watchful shepherd from the blind Wounds with a random shaft the careless Hind, Distracted with her pain she flies the woods, Bounds o'er the lawn, and seeks the silent floods - y With fruitless care; for still the fatal dart Sticks in her side, and rankles in her heart. Dry den. There is much exactness of parallel in this passage: ON SIMILES IN POETIIY. 153 passage: the archer wounding unconsciously ("nescius") the incautious hind, who wanders about restless with the mortal shaft fixed in her side, very accurately represents the circum- stances of the unhappy connexion between the Trojan chief and the Tyrian princess. XL FROM BIRDS. This class of animated beings, like the for- mer, affords the varieties of the predaceous, the wild, and the domestic, and presents many ob- jects to the poet applicable to the purposes of simile. In general, the pictures derived from the actions of birds are peculiarly lively and agreeable ; and coming less under common ob- servation than those of quadrupeds, they are more productive of novelty. The rapacious species will take the lead under this head, as under the former ; and in like manner we shall begin with that which has been termed the king of its kind. Homer several times introduces the Ea^le as an object of comparison, but not often with any minuteness of description. The acuteness of his sight is the circumstance of resemblance in the 154 ON SIMILES IN POETRY* the following simile. Menelaus explores the field of battle with an eye Keen as an Eagle's, keenest-eyed of all That wing the air, whom, though he soar aloft, The lev'ret 'scapes not hid in thickest shades, But down he stoops, and at a stroke she dies. 77. xvii. 6/4. Cowper. The poet, as usual, is here contented with one point of similitude ; for, in the exercise of the faculty, nothing can be more dissimilar than the bird and the hero, the latter only em- ploying his quicksightedness to discover his friend Antilochus. In another passage he briefly images the ra- pidity with which the Eagle descends upon his prey. As the Eagle darts Right downward through a sullen cloud to seize Weak lamb or timorous hare, so he to fight Impetuous sprang, and shook his glittering blade. //. xxii. 308. Cowper. Here again the application is defective ; for Hector is advancing to the attack of no weak and timid antagonist, but of the dreaded Achilles. The combat between the Eagle and Serpent is described in a very picturesque manner by Homer, ON SIMILES IN POETRY, 155 Homer, in a passage where it is represented as an omen sent by Jupiter (77. xii. 200). Virgil, in imitating it, has formed the scene into a simile, in which it is made the comparison to Tarcho seizing and carrying off Venulus. Utque volans alte raptum cum fulva Draconem Fert Aquila, implicuitque pedes, atque unguibus haesit ; Saucius at Serpens sinuosa volumina versat, Arrectisque horret squamis, et sibilat ore ; Arduus insurgens : ilia haud minus urget obunco Luctantem rostro j simul aethera verberat alis : Haud aliter praedam Tiburtum ex agmine Tarcho Portat ovans. ^ . ' sEn. xi. 751. So stoops the yellow Eagle from on high, And bears a speckled Serpent through the sky; Fastening his crooked talons on the prey, The prisoner hisses through the liquid way j Resists the royal bird, and though opprest, She fights in volumes, and erects her crest ; Turn'd to her foe, she stiffens every scale, And shoots her forky tongue, and whisks her threat'ning tail. Against the victor all defence is weak ; Th' imperial bird still plies her with his beak, He tears her bowels, and her breast he gores, Then claps his pinions and securely soars. Dry den. The resemblance required that the Eagle should effect his purpose in this instance, though in Homer he is obliged to relinquish his prey: but either event is equally natural. The Ib6 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. The royalty of the Eagle in his superiority to other birds of prey is painted with much force by Spenser, in a simile which he applies to Artegall flying to the attack of Radigund who had overthrown Sir Terpin : Like to an Eagle in his kingly pride, Soaring through his wide empire of the air To weather his broad sails, by chance hath spied A Gosshawk, which hath seized for her share Upon some fowl that should her feast prepare ; With dreadful force he flies at her bylive, That with his souse, which none enduren dare, Her from the quarry he away doth drive, And from her griping pounce the greedy prey doth rive. F. Q. v. 4. 42. The Vulture, an equally strong but less ge- nerous bird of prey, is occasionally mentioned by Homer. His description of a battle be- tween two of them, compared to the combat between Patroclus and Sarpedon, is marked with his characteristic fidelity in painting from nature, As two Vultures tight Eow-beak'd, crook-talon'd, on some lofty rock, Clanging their plumes 3 so they together rush'd With dreadful cries. n ^ ^ ^^ Milton has introduced this bird of carnage as a tit representative of the Evil Being, in a simile tfN SIMILES IX POETRY. 1J/ simile remarkably enriched, according to his manner, with picturesque circumstances. Satan, in his exploratory voyage from hell, first alights on the convexity of the world's outer orb, a "continent dark, waste, and wild," where his situation is thus compared : As when a Vulture on Imaus bred, Whose snowy ridge the roving Tartar bounds, Dislodging from a region scarce of prey To gorge the flesh of lambs or yeanling kids On hills where flocks are fed, flies towards the springs Of Ganges or Hydaspes, Indian streams ; But on his way lights on the barren plains Of Sericana, where Chineses drive "With sails and wind their cany waggons light : So on this windy sea of land the Fiend Walk'd up and down alone, bent on his prey. Par. L. iii. 431. Devious as the description here may seem, the parallel is in the main very exact, compri- sing the nature and purpose of the great enemy of mankind, and his progress in the voyage. The touches of reading and imagination united, which illuminate the picture, will be admired by all who know how to estimate the value of such an union in poetry. The Falcon, which, though inferior in force to the eagle, does not yield to him in courage and ferocity, could not escape the observation of 158 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. of Homer. In the following simile the swift- ness of wing by which this bird is distinguished is the sole point of comparison. It is applied to the instant disappearance of Neptune,, when., under the form of Calchas. he had been rousing- the Greeks to fight. Then, swift as stoops a Falcon from the point Of some rude rock sublime, when he would chase A fowl of other wing along the meads 5 So started Neptune thence, and disappear'd. //. xiii. 62. Cowper. The pursuit of a dove by a hawk is by the same poet made a comparison of Achilles in rapid chase of the flying Hector. As in the mountains, fleetest fowl of air, The Hawk darts eager at the Dove ; she scuds Aslant j he, screaming, springs and springs again To seize her, all impatient for the prey : So flew Achilles constant to the track Of Hector. //. xxii. 13Q. Cowper. It does not appear that in the time of Homer men had invented the art of disciplining birds of the Hawk kind to become their associates in the chase ; nor can 1 find in the Roman po- ets any allusions to falconry. In later poetry, however, such allusions are frequent; for there is much striking imagery connected with this sport, ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 159 Sport, which has always been reckoned one of a noble kind. Thus the princely Tristan, in Spenser, makes his boast, Ne is there Hawk which mantleth her on pearch, Whether high tow'ring or accoasting low, But I the measure of her flight do search, And all her prey, and all her diet know. F. Q. vi. 2. 32. The ascent and descent of the maneged fal- con serve Ariosto for two comparisons to the same object, his imaginary HippogrifF. When this flying steed mounts into the air with Rug- giero, the poet says, .... sale in verso il ciel, via piu leggiero, Che'l Girifalco, a cui leva il Cappello II mastro a tempo, e fa veder l'augello. As the Jer-falcon, when the master's hand Removes his hood, and points the winged prey, Springs to the sky ; so light up-rose the Steed. His precipitate descent with the necromancer to combat with Gradasso is thus paralleled : Quando gli parve poi, voise il destriero, Che chiuse i vanni, e venne a terra a piombo : Come casca dal ciel Falcon maniero, Che levar veggia l'annitra, o'l Colombo. Orl. Fur. ii. 50. He watch'd his time and turn'd the courser's head, Who, with closed wings, descended plumb to earth j As \60 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. As maneged Falcon from his airy height Stoops, when he sees the dove or wild-duck rise. These are simple and obvious comparisons ; but Dryden has given a simile from this source both more ingenious and circumstantial. He is describing a sea-fight between the English and the Dutch, in which the latter have the superiority in numbers : Have you not seen, when, whistled from the fist, Some Falcon stoops at what her eye design'd, And with her eagerness the quarry mist, Straight flies at check, and clips it down the wind ? The dastard Crow, that to the wood made wing, And sees the groves no shelter can afford, AVith her loud caws her craven kind does bring, Who, safe in numbers, cuff the noble bird : Among the Dutch thus Albemarle did fare, &c. Annus MirabiBs. Another striking incident in falconry is the subject of a simile in Spenser, who employs it as the parallel of a combat betweeen prince Arthur and two antagonists : As when a cast of Falcons make their flight At a Hernshaw that lies aloft on wing, The whiles they strike at him with heedless might, The wary fowl his bill doth backward wring, On which the first, whose force her first doth bring, Herself quite through the body doth engore, And falleth down to ground like senseless thing j But ON SIMILES IN POETRY. l6l But th* other, not so swift as she before, Fails of her souse, and passing by doth hurt no more. F. Q, vi. 7. 0. Various examples might be adduced, in which the terror and dispersion of combatants by a formidable foe is resembled to the attack of a hawk upon small or timorous birds ; but there is nothing in the circumstances to render them particularly interesting. Water-fowl^ which enliven so many marshy and solitary situations, have frequently attracted the notice of poetical observers. Their number in the maritime plains of Lesser Asia suggested to Homer a comparison for the thousands of assembled Greeks which appeared at the muster before Troy. ........ as a multitude of fowls in flocks Assembled various, Geese, or Cranes, or Swans Lithe- neck'd, long hovering o'er Cayster's banks On wanton plumes, successive on the mead Alight at last, and with a clang so loud That all the hollow vale of Asius rings ; In number such from ships and tents effused, They cover'd the Scamandrian plain. 77. ii. 459. Cowper. It was merely multitude that Homer had in view in this simile; for the noise uttered by these fowls is afterwards disparagingly compared to that of the Trojans in their advance. m With l6*2 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. With deaf ning shouts, and with the clang of arms The host of Troy advanced. Such clang is heard Along the skies, when from incessant showers Escaping, and from winter's cold, the Cranes Take wing, and over ocean speed away. //. iii. 2. Cowper. The same simile is given by Virgil, and alsa applied to the Trojans when, invested in their fortified camp by Turnus, they descry the shield of iEneas raised as a signal of approaching succour : . . , Clamorem ad sidera tollunt Dardanidae e muris : spes addita suscitat iras : Tela manu jaciunt: quales sub nubibus atris Strymoniae dant signa Grues, atque aethera tranant Cum sonitu, fugiuntque Notos clamore secundo. JEn. x. 20*2, Fired with new hopes the joyful Trojans spy The shining orb ; their darts and javelins fly, And their loud clamours tempest all the sky. Less loud the thick-embody'd Cranes repair, In ranks embattled, through the clouds of air, When, at the signal given, they leave behind, With rapid flight, the pinions of the wind. Pitt. The judgement of the poet, however, may be questioned, in repeating a comparison ap- plied by Homer in derogation of the people whom he himself certainly did not intend to disparage. Lucan ■} ON SIMILES IN POETRY. l63 Lucan happily compares the effect of a night storm in dispersing a fleet and confounding its order of sailing, to that of a high wind in dis- sipating a flight of cranes in their annual mi- gration. The simile contains some good points of natural description. Strymona sic gelidum, brama pellente, relinquunt Poturae te, Nile, Grues, primoque volatu Effingunt varias, casu munstrante. figuras : Mox, ubi percussit tensas Notus altior alas, Confusos temere immixtae glcmerantur in orbes, Et turbata perit dispersis littera pennis. Phars.v. 7 11. So when the Cranes, by winter's heralds warn'd, Desert cold "trymon's banks for distant Nile, In varied figures first they cut their way, As instinct guides j but if a rougher gale Beats on their wide-stretch'd wings, in clustering groups, A mingled rout, they fly, and all confus'd The letter'd order perishes in air. The " turbata littera" — disturbed letter — of the original, alludes to the wedge-like order of flight of these birds, resembled by the ancients to the letter V reversed. Milton, in his fine description of different kinds of birds as first created, alludes to this habit of the migratory water-fowl, which "rang'd in figure wedge their way." The mode of getting on wing practised by M 2 the l64 ON SIMILES IN FOETJIY. the Crane (v/hich is common to the Icng-legged water-fowl) is described with picturesque accu- racy by Ariosto, where he makes it a compa- rison to the rise of the winged horse that bore the necromancer. Cominincio a p^co a poco indi a levarse, Come sue] far la peregrina Grue j Che correr prima, e p which signifies "of a greenish or yellowish hue," without any reference to crest, A3 \6S ON SIMILES IN POETRV. As wails the Bird her tender offspring's fate, Whom, yet unfledg'd, in the thick bnsh conceal'd, Some cruel Snake devours : she flits aronnd With quick shrill cries, unable to protect Her darling young, nor daring to approach The fell destroyer: so, with horror seiz'd, I, wretched mother ! ran from place to place. The comparison is exact, as it includes not only the slaughter of the progeny, but the per- sonal fear of the mothers from the strength and fury of the murderers. Statius introduces the incident of a brood of young birds devoured by a snake, with a va- riation of circumstances, in a simile applied to the lamentation of Hypsipi'e on account of the death of young Archemorus, who was crushed by a stroke of the tail of an enormous serpent* Ac velut aligerae sedem fcetusque parentis Cum piger umbrosa populatus in ilice serpens, Ilia redlt, querulaeque domus miraia qrieiem, Stat super impendens, advectosque horrida mcesto Excutit ore cibos ; cum solus in arbore cara Sanguis, et errantes per capta cubilia plunae. fhtli. v. 599. So when, the feather' d dam abroad for food, Her full-fraught nest, rear'd on the shady oak, A climbing Snake has pillag'd ; from her quest Return'd, the silence cf her chirping home First moves surprise : but when, incumbent near, She views the fav'rite branch distain'd with blood, And ON SIMILES IN POETRY. l6$ And scatter' d plumes the only relic left, — With horror chiU'd, her trembling bill lets fall The far-sought morsel. The action and expression of the parent bird on discovering her loss are very naturally re- presented. Thomson had probably this passage before him when writing his pathetic description of the nightingale robbed of her young; espe- cially in the line, to the ground the vain provision falls. It is, however, Virgil's celebrated simile of the mourning nightingale that has been the principal object of imitation to him and other poets. The relation by Proteus of Orpheus's second loss of Eurydice introduces the follow- ing comparison of his grief and despair. QuaHs populea mcerens Philomela sub umbra Amissos queritur foetus, quos durus arator Observans nido implumes detraxit : at ilia Flet noctem, ramoque sedens miserable carmen Integrat, et mcestis late loca questibus implet. Georg. iv. 511. As Philomel in poplar shades, alone, For her lost offspring pours a mother's moan, Which some rough ploughman marking for his prej From the warm nest unfledged hath dragg'd awayj Perch'd on a bough she all night long complains, And fills the grove with sad repeated strains. Warton. Thii 170 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. This passage is marked with the curious choice of expression for which the author is distinguished ; and the minute touches of the hard ploughman, marking and carrying off the unfiedged young, have been much admired. The force of the description is, however, prin- cipally thrown upon the figure of the deprived mother, as the counterpart of the widowed Or- pheus ; and if there is an inaccuracy in making the songster a female, and assigning a mourn- ful character to the Nightingale's chant, which is, in fact, a rich, varied, and lively melody, Homer was his precursor in the error. I shall conclude this head with two or three miscellaneous similes. In Virgil's ship-race, Mnestheus, passing a competitor who had run upon the rocks, and steering for the open sea, aided by sails as well as oars, gives rise to the following comparison : Qualis spelunca subito commota Columba, Cui domus et dulces latebroso in pumice nidi, Fertur in arva volans, plausumque exrerrita pennis Dat tecto ingentem : mox aere lapsa quieto Radit iter liquidum, celeres neque commovet alas. uEn. v. 213. As when the Dove her rocky hold forsakes, Roused in a fright, her sounding wings she shakes, The cavern rings with clattering ; out she flies, And leaves her callow care, and cleaves the skies : At ON SIMILES IN POETRY. l/l At first she flutters : but at length she springs To smoother flight, and shoots upon her wings. Dryden. Though this simile does not possess the re- semblance which may be called moral, yet the circumstances of action and motion are happily paralleled ; especially if we conceive the vessel, after gaining the open sea, as no longer impelled by oars, but gliding along in full sail. As a painting in natural history the description has great merit. The bird here intended is the Rock -pigeon, Statius derives from a dove-cote a striking scene, which he places in comparison with the people of Thebes scarcely daring to open their gates and issue into the field, after the bloody combat of the hostile brothers which they had beheld trom their walls. Sic ubi prospicuae scandcntem limina turris Idaliae volucres iulvum aspexere draconem, lotus agunt natos, et fceta cubilia valiant Unguibus, imbellesque citant ad praelia pennas : Mox merit licet ille reiro, tamen aera nudum Candida turba timet, tandemque ingressa volatus Horrer, et a mediis etiamnum respicit astris. Theb. xii. 15. Thus when th' Idalian Doves alarm'd survey, Climbing their lofty tower, a dusky snake - t Their young call'd home, they guard the seat of love With 1 /2 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. With threatening claws, and hi for bold defence Their plumes un warlike : soon, perchance, the foe Retiies ■, but still the sw>vv) people fear To trust the open sky ; and, when again They dare to soar, look back lroai middle air. There is novelty in this picture, and its ap- plication is ingenious. Virgil has drawn a simile from his observa- tion (for it appears to be original) ot the man- ners of the House Swallow, which he introduces as affording a comparison to the rapid evolu- tions of Juturna when acting as the charioteer of her brother Turn us in battle. Nigra velut magnas domini cum divitis sedes Pervolat, et pennis alta airia lustrat Hirundo, Pabula parva legens, nidisque loquacious escasj Et nunc porticibus vacuis, nunc humida circum Stagna sonat : similis medios Juturna per hostes Fertur equis, rapidoque volans obit omnia curru. jEn. xii. 473. As the black Swallow near the palace plies, O'er empty courts and under arches flies, Now hawks aloft, now skims along the flood, To furnish her loquacious nest with food ; 1S0 drives the rapid Goddess o'er the plains; The smoking horses run with loosen'd reins. Dryden. They who have amused themselves with at- tending to the rapid flight and quick turns of a swal- ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 1/3 a swallow in full exertion, will be struck with the truth of the description, as well as with the justness of the parallel. XII. FROM SERPENTS. The Serpent tribe, in countries infested by them, must always have attracted much notice, both as objects of curiosity and admiration, and as exciting ideas of personal danger. In the latter view, the poets have frequently drawn a comparison between the sudden alarm felt at the unexpected sight of an enemy, and that occasioned by discovering the vicinity of a ve- nomous snake. The similitude is too close and obvious to admit of ingenuity in the applica- tion; and it is only when some picturesque cir- cumstance is added, that such passages merit particular regard. In the following simile of Homer, the serpent is simply mentioned, and the force of description is expanded on the af- frighted man. As one, descrying in the woodland heights A dreadful Serpent, at the sight recoils, His limbs quake under h'm, his ruddy cheek Turns deadly pale, he flies, he disappears : So godlike Paris, at the dreaded sight Of If4 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. Of Menelaus, plunged into the ranks, And vanish'd lost among the crowds of Troy. 11. iii. 33. Cowper. Virgil, in his imitation of this simile, which he has applied to the Greek Androgeus falling unawares into the midst of a body of Trojans, has adorned it with some description of the serpent, whom he represents as enraged by being trodden upon. Improvisum aspris veluti qui sentibus anguem Pressit humi nitens, trepidusque repente refugit Attollentem iras, et caerula colla tumentem : Haud secus Androgeus visu tremefactus abibat. jEn. ii. 379. As when some peasant in a bushy brake Has with unwary footing press'd a Snake, He starts aside astonish'd when he spies His rising crest, blue neck, and flaming So from our arms surprised Androgeus flies. Dry den. Homer enters more into the natural history of the animal, where he employs it as a compa- rison to Hector waiting the attack of Achilles. As some huge Serpent in a cave, that feeds On baneful drugs, and swells with deadliest ire, A traveller approaching, coils himself Around his den, and hideous looks around : So Hector &c. //. xxii. 93. Cowper. It is some objection to this spirited picture in igeyes: \ flies. J ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 1/5 in its application, that there is a character of malignity in the animal, which is wholly un- suitable to the generous temper of the Trojan hero. Virgil, who appears to have drawn from the life when the serpent is his subject, has two more similes descriptive of different circum- stances relative to its history. It is painted in the brilliant colours of renovated vigour, as a parallel to the youthful Pyrrhus forcing an en- trance into Priam's palace. Qualis ubi in lucem Coluber mala gramina pastus, Frigida sub terra tumidum quern bruma tegebat. Nunc positis novus exuviis nitidusque juventa, Luhrica convolvit sublato pectore terga Arduus ad solem, et Unguis micat ore trisulcis. SEn. ii. 471, So shines, renew'd in youth, the crested Snake, Who slept the winter in a thorny brake, And, casting off his slough, when spring returns. Now looks aloft, and with new glory burns : Restored with poisonous herbs, his ardent sides Reflect the sun, and raised on spires he rides ; High o'er the grass hissing he rolls along, And brandishes by fits his forky tongue. Dryden. The figure of the serpent is here finely wrought, but there is nothing particularly ap- propriate in the comparison. It has, however, been 176 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. been copied by Statius, Silius Italicus, and other poets ; and Silius has applied it more happily in one passage, where Hannibal, leaving his winter-quarters at Capua, carries terror through the adjacent country. The galley of Sergestus, which, in the race, ran on the rocks, and was disabled by the loss of the oars on one side, is compared in its mutilated condition to a wounded serpent. Qualis s«pe viae deprensus in aggere Serpens, iErea quem obiiquum rota transiit ; aut gravis ictu Seminecem liquit saxo lacerumque viator; Nequidquam longos fuglens dat corpore tortus, Parte ferox, ardensque oculis, et sibila colla Arduus atto'lens 3 pars vulnere clauda retentat Nexantem nodis, seque in sua membra plicantem : Tali remigio navis se tarda movebat. Mn. v. 273. As when a Snake, surprised upon the road, Is crnsh'd athwart her body by the load Of heavy wheels ; or with a mortal wound, Her belly bruised, and trodden to the ground, In vain, with loosen'd curls, she crawls along, Yet fierce above she brandishes her tongue j Glares with Jier eyes, and bristles with her scales, But, crouching on the dust, her parts unsound she trails : So slowly to the port the Centaur tends, &c. Dryden. The liveliness and exactness of description in this passage are admirable ; but a great part of it, ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 1/7 it, in the Homeric manner, has no direct ap- plication to the subject of comparison. The readers of Pope will probably recollect the use he has made of the same object of si- militude where he is treating on versification in his Essay on Criticism: A needless Alexandrine ends the song, That, like a wounded Snake, drags its slow length along. /. 356. Kill. FROM INSECTS. Although this class of animated beings from their diminutive bulk may seem ill adapted for comparison in subjects where a certain degree of dignity is to be preserved, yet their vast numbers, and the curious economy under which some of their tribes live, compensate in some measure this natural defect. Among these, the Bee has from early times attracted notice; and has not only afforded an object of speculation to the naturalist, and of profit to the rural eco- nomist, but has supplied the p^et with images applicable to various purposes o description and comparison. Homer speaks of this insect only in its K state 178 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. state of natural congregation, when he makes its numbers a parallel to those of the Greeks assembling in council : As from the hollow reck Bees stream abroad, And in succession endless seek the fields, Now clustering, and now scatter' d far and near, In spring-time, among all the new-blown flowers : So they &c. //. ii. $J. Ccwper. This simile has been copied by Milton with the same simple application to number ; but with the addition of various circumstances to improve the picture, in a beautiful passage fol- lowing the summons of the fallen angels to council in Pandemonium. As Bees In spring-time, when the sun with Taurus rides. Pour forth their populous youth about the hive In clusters - } they among fresh dews and flowers Fly to and fro, or on the smoothed plank, The suburb of their straw-built citadel, New rubb'd with balm, expatiate and confer Their state affairs : so thick the aery crowd Swarm'd and were straiten'd. n T . „^ Par. L. i. /OS. Here the bees are in their domesticated state, and the minute particulars of their habitation and manners, though contributing nothing to enforce the similitude, bring to the mind re- collections of the most agreeable kind. Virgil ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 1/9 Virgil has gone further into resemblance Where he compares the Tynans busily em ployed in the various labours of founding the new city of Carthage, to a colony of bees at work on a summer's day. Quails Apes aestate nova per florea rnra Exercet sub sole labor j cum gentis adultos Educunt foetus, aut cum liquentia mella Stipant, et dulci distendunt nectare cellas - t Aut onera accipiunt venientum, aut agmine facto Ignavum fucos pecus a praesepibus arcent : Fervet opus, redolentque thymo fragrantia mella. j&n. i. 434. Such is their toil, and such their busy pains, As exercise the Bees in flowery plains, When winter past, and summer scarce begun, Invites them forth to labour in the sun : Some lead their youth abroad, while some condense Their liquid store, and some in cells dispense : Some at the gate stand ready to receive The golden burden, and their friends relieve : All with united force combine to drive The lazy drones from the laborious hive : With envy stung they view eadi others deeds*; The fragrant work with diligence proceeds. Dry den. This simile not only affords a very pleasing * The English reader should be informed that this line is , wholly unauthorized by the original. n 2 image, ISO ON SIMILES IN POETRY. image, but contains the happiest parallel that perhaps could be devised to the scene of in- dustry with which it is compared. Siiius Italicus, as a comparison to the people of Sa gun turn hurrying within their walls after a sally, on the approach of Hannibal, has de- scribed the bees hastening home through fear of rain : Aut ubi Cecropius formidine nubis aquosae Sparsa super flores examina tollit Hymettos, Ad dulces ceras et cdori corticis antra Mellis Apes gravidse properant, densoque volatu Raucum connexas glomerant ad limina murmur. Bell. Punic, ii. 21?. As when the threat'nings of a rain-fraught cloud The busy swarms, that range amid the flowers Of sweet Hymeitus, drive in haste away, With honey laden to their waxen combs And cells of odorous bark they clustering fly, And at the threshold clung, hoarse murmurs breathe. When, in the Pharsalia, the Roman troops in Africa were hastening on board their ships with the intention of quitting the senatorian party, they are represented as being recalled to their duty by the severe reproaches of Cato. This incident suggests to the poet the following simile: Haud aliter media revocavit ab sequore puppes, Quam, simul eftetas linquunt examina ceras, Atque ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 181 Atque oblita favi non miscent nexibus alas, Sed sibi quisque volat, nee jam degustat amarum Desidiosa thymumj Phrygii sonus increpet aeris, Attonitae posuere fugam, studiumque laboris FJoriferi repetunt, et sparsi mellis araorem : Gaudet in Hyblaeo securus gramine pastor Divitias servasse casae : sic voce Catonis Inculcata viris justi patientia Martis. Phars. ix. 284. As when the swarming Bees their empty combs Deserting, rush abroad in vagrant flight, Forgetful of their hive they fail to mix Their clustering wings, nor browze the tasteful thyme, But singly stray ; if now the Phrygian brass Loud tinkling sounds, alarm'd they hurry back, Resume their flowery toil, and feel renew'd The ardent zeal to cull the scatter'd sweets ; The swain rejoicing views from Hybla's hill His rustic wealth secured : thus Cato's voice Recall'd endurance of the toils of Mars. The circumstances attending a rambling swarm of bees are not ill depicted in this pas- sage ; but as a simile it appears to me one of those which degrade the subject to which thc-y are applied, by an inadequate and di&propor- tioned parallel. The point of resemblance, consisting in the effect of the tinkling of brass upon the bees, compared to that of the address of Cato upon the soldiers, is but feeble in it- self, and brings together two things the natural disparity 182 OX SIMILES IN FOETRY. disparity of which is so great, that the result borders upon burlesque. Jn the foregoing si- mile from Silius Italicus, the effect of the debas- ing passion of fear alone being the subject of parallel, that of the human fugitives cannot be depreciated by any comparison ; but a heroic act of so highly dignified a character as that of Cato will not bear to be assimilated with a, mean and trivial occurrence. Virgil has a simile (borrowed from Apollonius Rhodius) in which the confusion in the capital of king Latin us, on the approach of /Eneas and his allies, is resembled to that of bees smoked in their cell. Inclusas ut cum latebroso in pumice pastor Vestigavit Apes, fumoque implevit amaro 5 Illae intus trepidae rerum per cerea castra Discurrunt, magnisque acuunt stridoribus iras : Volvitur ater odor tectis ; turn murmure caeco Intus saxa sonant: vacuas it fumus ad auras. Mn. xii. 587. Thus when the Bees, track'd to their secret home Within some cavern'd rock, a swain invades With noisome smoke 5 in dire dismay they run This way and that about their waxen camp, And call forth all their rage with hissings loud : Meantime the deadly vapour rolls around The inmost cells 5 a sullen murmur sounds, And from the chinks the blackening fumes ascend. if ON SIMILES IN FOETRY. }S3 If there is little exactness of parallel in this passage, the picture it presents, though perhaps not altogether suitable to Virgil's epic dignity, is lively and natural. That irritable insect the Wasp is made the subject of a simile by Homer, who has de- scribed its manners with that exactness which denotes the real observer of nature. We may be assured that he had been an actor in the following scene : As Wasps forsake Their home by the way-side, provoked by boys Disturbing inconsiderate their abode, Not without nuisance sore to all who pass ; For if, thenceforth, some traveller unaware Annoy them, issuing one and all they swarm Around him, fearless in their broods' defence : With courage fierce as theirs forth rush'd a flood Of Myrmidons all shouting to the .skies. //. xvi. 259. Cowper. The action in this comparison is sufficiently applicable; for it is when their quarters are immediately endangered by the attack of the Trojans upon the fleet, that the Myrmidons rush upon them ; and if the simile be thought disparaging to the human actors, it is upon no single hero that the degradation falls, but upon a name- 184 ON SIMILES IN POETRY, a nameless crowd. To such considerations, how-* ever, Homer was little attentive. It has already been remarked, that when such a simple idea as that of number is to be en- forced, it is immaterial from what objects the image is taken, provided they are striking exam- ples of the quality in question. Thus poets em^ ploy indifferently the stars of heaven, the sands on the sea-shore, and the leaves in autumn, as comparisons of multitude. Homer, among the similes which distinguish the first grand muster of the Grecian troops before Troy, gives one in which a swarm of Flies is the parallel of number. As in the hovel where the peasant milks His kine in spring-time, when his pails are fill'd, Thick clouds of humming insects on the wing Swarm all around him -, so the Grecians swarm'd An unsummed multitude o'er all the plain. //. ii. 469. Cojvper. The pertinacity of this insect in its attacks has induced Homer, with his usual disregard of refinement, to make a single fly the object of resemblance to Menelaus, resolutely advan- cing to the defence of the dead body of Patro- clus. Pallas inspires the hero with persevering boldness , . , . such ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 185 , such as prompts the Fly, which oft From flesh of man repulsed, her purpose yet To bite holds fast, resolved on human blood. //. xvii. 5/0. Cowpcr. From a note in Cowper's translation I ob- serve that Villoison, confessing that a hero would be degraded by comparing him to a fly, asserts that it is not the persons, but the cou- rage, of the two that are here compared : but this is a mere subterfuge, founded on the in- direct manner in which Homer frequently in- troduces his similes ; for the parallel really takes place in the reader's imagination. Pope chooses to convert the fly into a hornet, by which he gains little in dignity, and spoils the resemblance, Ariosto does not hesitate to copy the compa- rison, however degrading, of the Greek bard, where he resembles Ruggiero attacking the ork, to a fly pestering a mastiff. Simil battaglia fa la Moscha audace Contra il mastin nel polveroso Augusto : Ne gli occhi il punge, e nel' grifo mordace Volagli intorno, e gli sta sempre accostoj E' quel sonar fa spesso il dente asciutto, Ma un tratto, ch 1 cgli arrivi, appaga il tutto. Oil. Fur. x. 105. With 186 ON SIMILES IN POETRV. With the gaunt mastiff thus the Fly maintains Audacious fight when August dries the plains ; Now on his jaw he fixes, now his eyes, And still in ever-wheeling circles flies T' elude the teeth that vainly bite the air, For one dire stroke would finish all his care. Hoole. Mil ton has given a little rural picture in which this property of the fly is made illustrative of the importunity of Satan in renewing his at- tempts upon our Saviour after repeated defeats. ...... as a swarm of Flies in vintage time About the wine-press where sweet must is pour'd, Beat off, returns as oft with humming sound. Par. Reg. iv. 15. No poet, however, with whom I am acquaint- ed, has so much excelled in painting the num- bers and actions of the minute winged tribe as Spenser, who has twice introduced swarms of Gnats as objects of comparison. The first passage occurs where the Red-cross Knight is annoyed with the loathsome brood of the mon- ster Error. As gentle shepherd in sweet eventide, When ruddy Phcebus gins to welke in west, High on a hill, his flocks to viewen wide, Marks which do bite their hasty supper best, A cloud ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 18/ A cloud of cumbrous Gnats do him molest, All striving to infix their feeble stings, That from their noyance he can no where rest, But with his clownish hands their tender wings He brusheth oft, and oft doth mar their murmurings. F. Q.'i. 1. 23. In the second passage, the two knights, Ar- thur and Guyon, approaching the castle of Al- ma, are assailed by a numerous " raskal rout," whom they readily disperse with their swords; and the conflict is thus compared : As when a swarm of Gnats at eventide Out of the fens of Allan do arise, Their murmuring small trumpets sounden wide, Whiles in the air their clust'ring army flies, That as a cloud doth seem to dim the skies j Ne man nor beast may rest or take repast For their sharp wounds and noyous injuries, Till the fierce northern wind with blust'ring blast Do blow them quite away, and in the ocean cast. F. Q. ii. g. 1(5. The scene in this simile is laid in Ireland, where Spenser for some time resided, and the marshy quality of which country had doubtless given him particular occasion to observe the molestation of these insects. The comparisons are rendered exact not only by the number, but the insignificance of the assailants. A more formidable insect foe, which, from the 188 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. the mischief it inflicts, might form a subject even for a sublime comparison, is the Locust ; of which, however, I find fewer vestiges in the poets than might have been expected. Homer briefly compares the Trojans driven by Achil- les into the stream of the Xanthus, to Locusts flying from the fire which he had probably seen employed to expel these ravagers from culti- vated ground. As wheq, by violence of fire expell'd, Locusts uplifted on the wing escape To some broad river ; swift the sudden blaze Pursues them -, they, astonish'd, strew the flood : So, by Achilles driven, a mingled throng Of horses and of warriors overspread Xanthus, and glutted all his sounding course. //. xxi. 12. Cowper. The similitude here consists in the numbers and fate of the sufferers, not in their characters. Milton, who had the talent of elevating even the lowest subjects, has taken advantage, in his simile of Locusts, of the infliction of the' plague of these insects upon the? Egyptians by the ministry of Moses. This enables him to open the description with great dignity. As when the potent rod Of Amram's son, in Egypt's evil day, Wav'd round the coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud Of ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 189 Of Locusts, warping on the eastern wind, That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung Like night, and darken'd all the land of Nile : So numberless were those bad angels seen Hovering on wing under the cope of hell Par. L. i. 338. Although number is here the only circum- stance of similitude directly marked, yet the " hovering on wing," and the mischievous na- ture common to the primary and secondary ob- jects, are to be taken into the resemblance. XIV. FROM VEGETABLES. Although the life possessed by the vegetable creation be of a more imperfect kind than that of animals, it suffices to give them individual existence ; and we therefore find that in poetry, trees and other plants are as familiarly intro- duced in direct or comparative description under a personal character, as the subjects of the preceding classes. Being destitute of spon- taneous motion, they are, indeed, disqualified for becoming fit representatives of the actors in ' busy scenes, and are chiefly limited, as objects of similitude, to passive modes. Yet the stately growth of forest trees, rendering them to the sight 190 ON SIMILES IN POETRVo sight images of magnitude superior to any thing else endowed with life that we behold, together' with the long duration of their existence, im- presses them with a character of sublimity which allows them a place in dignified and aggran- dizing comparison. Homer in several passages compares his he- roes to Oaks. Thus, the two Lapithean chiefs who defend the gate of the Grecian barrier are advantageously paralleled inthefollowingsimile: As when two tall Oaks On the high mountains day by day endure Rough wind and rain, by deep-descending roots Of hugest grov/th fast-founded in the soil ; So they &c. 11. xii. 132. Cowper. The chiefs being planted, as it were, to pro- tect the entrance by their bulk and strength of arm, their resemblance to lofty trees is more exact than if they had been actively engaged in the field. The same comparison is applied by Virgil (/En. ix.) to Pandarus and Bitias, who are sta- tioned in like manner as guards of the Trojan ramparts ; but the poet has exercised more in- vention in his description of the mountain oak assailed by contending winds, already quoted under the third division of similes, but which perhaps more properly belongs to this head. The ON SIMILES IN POETRY. I9I The superior grandeur of Milton's concep- tions is equally displayed in his adoption of this image of comparative greatness, as in the other hints of sublimity, which he has taken from his predecessors. The fallen angels, still faith- ful to their leader, though with " their glory wither'd," are thus resembled : as when Heaven's fire Hath scathed the forest Oaks or mountain Pines, With singed top their stately growth though bare Stands on the blasted heath. Par. L. i. 612. The similitude here applies in every point ; lofty stature, firm root, injury from celestial fire, and station upon a burnt and barren soil, are attributes both of the primary and acces- sory subjects. But no simile of the heroic kind derived from trees has been wrought with so much care, and with so noble an effect, as Lucan's celebrated comparison of Pompey, at the commencement of the civil war, to an aged and consecrated Oak. Qualis frugifero Quercus sublimis in agro Exuvias veteres populi, sacrataque gestans Dona ducum, nee jam validis radicibus haerens, Pondere fixa suo est ; nudosque per aera ramos EfFundens, trunco, non frondibus, efficit umbram : At quamvis primo nutet casura sub Euro, Tot circum silvae firmo se robore tollant, Sola tamen colitur. Phars. i. 136. So 192 ON SIMILES IN POETRV. So, in the field with Ceres' bounty spread^ Uprears some ancient Oak his reverend head j Chaplets and sacred gifts his boughs adorn, And spoils of war by mighty heroes worn : But, the first vigour of his root now gone, He stands dependent on his weight alorre All bare his naked branches are display'd, And with his leafless trunk he forms a shade : Yet though the winds his ruin daily threat, As every blast would heave him from his seat $ Though thousand fairer trees the field supplies, That rich in youthful verdure round him rise j Fixt in his ancient state he yields to none, And wears the honours of the grove alone. Rowe. The resemblance here is of natural to moral greatness ; and it is very exact. Pompey was at that time the most distinguished person in the Roman state; great in the renown of past ac- tions, decorated with a profusion of public ho- nours, and supreme in authority and esteem ; but his best days were over, and he was rather the image of power than the possessor of it. He was supported chiefly by the memory of what he had been ; and was unequal to a new conflict with an active antagonist. All these circumstances are paralleled in the condition of the aged oak, still the most venerable object of the forest, but unsound at the root, and verging to its fall. In ON SIMILES IN POETRY. I93 In one of Homer's similes, the comparison of a warrior to a tree is employed to produce rather a pathetic than an aggrandizing effect. When the young and comely Simoisius falls beneath the spear of Ajax, the catastrophe is thus paralleled : •So, nourish'd long in some well-water'd spot, Crown'd with green boughs, the smooth-skinn'd Poplar falls, Doom'd by the builder to supply with wheels Some splendid chariot : on the bank it lies, A lifeless trunk, to parch in summer airs. //. iv. 4S2. Cowpcr. As there is nothing in the purpose for which the tree was felled either improving the simili- tude, or conveying a poetical image, it might have been more judicious to have omitted that circumstance. The same incident of a tree cut down is ad- duced by Virgil with a very different associa- tion, where he makes it the parallel of no less an event than the final destruction of Troy ; and he accordingly labours to paint it as an ex- ertion of great force, and attended with a mighty crash. Ac veluti, summis antiquam in montibus Ornum Cum ferro accisam crebrisque bipennibus instant Eruere agricolae certatimj ilia usque minatur, Et tremefacta comam concusso vertice imtat : o Vulneribus 194 ON SIMILES IN POETRY, . Vulneribus donee paul itim evicta, supremum Congemuit, traxitque jugis avulsa ruinam. Mn. ii. 626, As when the peasants emulous contend With axes to uproot an ancient Ash On the high mountains j bowing to a fall She trembles oft, and shakes her leafy locks, Till, vanquish'd by degrees, she sinks, then groans Her last, and drags down ruin after her. Cowper.* All that language could do to confer force and dignity has in this passage been effected by the Roman poet ; yet perhaps the compared object is essentially too much inferior to the real one to afford a satisfactory parallel ; especially where the Gods themselves have just been re- presented as aiding in the subversion of the city. It would, I think, have displayed a more correct taste to have omitted all simile on the occasion; for ornament was not wanted after so much splendid description. Homer takes another subject of the vegetable * The great superiority of this version (given in a note of the writer's translation of the Iliad) to those of Dryden and Pitt, makes me much regret that I have not more by the same hand to present. in place of their diffuse, exaggerated, and inexact transla ions. Dryden, indeed, has many hap- pinesses of expies^on, but they are often dearly paid for by deviations both from the matter and manner of the original. kingdom ON SIMILES IN POETRY. igj kingdom as a comparison to a fallen warrior, in a beautiful passage following the death of Eu- phorbus slain by Menelaus. As the luxuriant Olive by a swain Rear'd in some solitude where rills abound » Puts forth her buds, and, fann'd by genial airs On all sides, hangs her boughs with whitest rlow'rs, But by a sudden whirlwind from the trench Uptorn, lies all extended on the field : Such, Pantheus' warlike son Euphorbus seem'd. //. xvii.53. Cowper. In this simile no circumstances are added but such as contribute to picturesque effect, and harmonize with the feelings excited by the real scene. The passage is copied by Valerius Flaccus with scarcely any alteration in the imagery. The Grecian bard has deduced from the shed- ding of the leaves of trees a striking moral com- parison which has been frequently cited. Dio- mede meeting Glaucus in the field of battle de- mands his name and race; and is thus answered: Why asks the brave Tydides whence am I ? For, as the leaves, so springs the race of man : Chill blasts shake down the leaves, and warm'd anew By vernal airs, the grove puts forth again, Age after age ; so man is born and dies. //. vi. 146. Cowper, No more apt resemblance of the short-lived o 2 generations I96 OW SIMILES IN POETiir. generations of human beings, successively as it were thrusting ofFeach other from the mortal scene, could have been found ; while the patri- archal tree which puts forth these annual pro- ducts may in imagination be compared to the exhaustless parent of ages, Time. From the falling leaves Ariosto has drawn a comparison of the inconstancy of a faithless wife. Ma costei, piu volubile che foglia, Quando 1' autumno e piu privo d'umore, Che'l freddo vento gli albori ne spoglia E le soffia dinanzi al suo furore, Verso il marito cangib tosto voglia &c. Orl Fur. xxi. 15, But she, more changeful than a falling leaf By the chill blast in Autumn's sapless reign Whirl'd from the tree, a sport to all its rage, Soon on her husband look'd with alter'd eyes. A leaf flitting at the mercy of every blast is, indeed, an image of mutability that might rea- dily strike a contemplative mind. Yirgil and Milton employ the same compari- son simply with reference to number. Thus the former, to give an idea of the multitude of ghosts which flocked to the bank of the Styx, represents it by that of leaves falling in the woods at the first autumnal frost: and the latter, localizing the scene in his manner, describes the ON SIMILES IN POETRY. \f)J the fallen angels lying entranced in the fiery gulf, Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks In Vallombrosa, where th' Etrurian shades High over-arch'd imbow'r. p j . Catullus will supply us with similes in which the more tender and elegant vegetables are made appropriate objects of comparison. Thus, in his poem on the nuptials of Julia and Manlius, the bride is resembled to a Myrtle, which the poet represents as an exotic and delicate shrub. Flor.idis velut enitens Myrtus Asia ramulis, Quos Hamadryades dese Ludicrum sibt roscido Nutriunt humore. As reard aloft, its flowery sprays The Asian Myrtle fair displays, By wood-nymphs as a plaything bred, And on the dewy moisture fed. And in the same piece he compares her future embraces of the beloved bridegroom to those of the Ivy about a tree, in two lines happily de- scriptive of the habit of this plant : Ut tenax Hedera hue et hue Arborem implicat errans. As clasping Jvy shoots its sprays Around the tree in wanton maze. In 198 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. In another epithalamium Catullus assigns to the separate bands of maidens and youths two contrasted similes, in the first of which a beau- tiful Flower, and in the second a Vine, are the representatives of a marriageable virgin. The passage is among the choicest relics of an- cient Roman poetry. The maidens thus sing; Ut Flos in septis secretus nascitur hortis, Ignotus pecori, nullo convulsus aratro, Quem mulcent aurae, firmat sol, educat imber, Multi ilium pueri, multae optavere puellae : Idem quum tenui carptus defloruit ungui, Nulli ilium pueri, nullae optavere puellae : Sic Virgo dum intacta manet, dum cara suis est, Quum castum amisit polluto corpore florem, Nee pueris jucunda manet, nee cara puellis. As the fair Flower in some wall'd garden born, Brows'd by no flock, by no rude ploughshare torn, Which showers expand, gales fan, and sunbeams cheer, Shoots up, to many a youth and maiden dear ; But when once cropt, its bloom and freshness o'er, Ivor youths, nor maids regard their fav'rite more : The Virgin thus, while yet untouch'd and chaste, By all adh.irtu, by kindred love embraced, If once a touch impure her body stains, Nor dear to maids, nor wish'd by youths remains, The youth return the following strain : Ut vidua in nudo Vitis quae nascitur arvo Nunquam se extollit, nunquam mitem educat uvam, Sec} ON SIMILES IN rOETRY. TqQ Sed tenerum prono deflectens pondere corpus, Jam jam contingit summum radice flagellum, Hanc nulli agricolae, nulli aecoluere juvenci : y At si forte eadem est Ulmo conjuncta marito, Mnlti illam agricolae, multi aecoluere juvenci : Sic Virgo, dum intacta manet, dum inculta senescit. r Quum par connubium ma uro tempore adepta est, Cara viro magis, et minus est invisa parenti. As in the naked field th' unvvedded Vine Nor lifts the head, nor swells with generous wine, But, sinking with its weight, its tallest shoot Reflected bends to meet the distant root -, Unhonour'd, worthless, and forlorn it stands, Untill'd by lab'ring steers or rustic hands ; But should a husband Elm his aid extend, Both lab'ring steers and rustic hinds attend : The Virgin thus, that grew in single state, Neglected, lone, with no protecting mate, In Hymen's equal bands maturely tied Becomes her parent's joy, her lover's pride. It may be regarded as some defect in this elegant passage, that the Flower is not identi- fied as well as its counterpart, the Vine. Ari- osto, in a beautiful version of the first of these similes, ( OrL Fur. i. 42,) has supplied the omission by taking the Rose for the example. The affinity between the Elm and Vine is an obvious parallel to the connubial state, and frequent examples of allusion to it by the poets might be added to that above quoted. Tasso has 500 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. has represented the circumstance with some novelty of imagery in a simile which he applies to the lamentable fate of the warlike and affec- tionate pair, Odoardo and Gildippe, who fall together under the fury of the Soldan, the arm of the husband being cut off with which he was supporting his wounded wife. Come Olmo, a cui la pampinosa pianta Cupida s'avvitichi e si marite, Se ferro il tronca, o turbine lo scianta, Trahe seco a terra la compagna Vite j Et egli stesso il verde onde s'ammanta Le sfronda, e pesta l'uve sue gradite : Par che sen dolga j e piu che '1 proprio fato Di lei gli incresca, che gli more a la to. Ger. Lib. xx. OCfc. As when a husband Elm, around whose trunk Twines with a fond embrace the fruitful Vine, Fell'd by the axe, or by a whirlwind's rage Snapt short, to earth his dear companion drags, And tears, himself, her verdant mantling sprays, And pounds the dulcet clusters : more he seems Than for his own, for her sad fate to grieve, Who withers at his side. Homer in a short simile has compared the commotion of a great assembly, to a field of corn waving in the wind: as the rapid West descending shakes Corn at full growth, and bends the loaded ears, So was the council shaken. 7 ? ■ , A » ^ 11. il. 147. Cowper. Pope, ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 201 Pope, endeavouring in his version to im- prove the picture, supplies the adjuncts of " nodding plumes and groves of waving spears" perhaps recollecting a simile in " Paradise Lost," in which the poet compares the " ported spears" of the angelic squadron hemming in Satan, to ears of corn : thick as when a field Of Ceres ripe for harvest waving bends Her bearded grove of ears, which way the wind Sways them ; the careful ploughman doubting stands Lest on the threshing floor his hopeful sheaves Prove chaff. Par L j y 980< A slight circumstance of resemblance is here converted, by the poet's vivid imagination, into a complete rural picture. XV. FROM MAN, HIS CONDITION, OCCUPATIONS, &:c. The actions of men being for the most part the subjects to which similes in poetry are ap- plied, it is not to be expected that, conversely, they should frequently furnish comparisons to other things. We find, however, occasional passages in which human affections or concerns are introduced by way of parallel; and some- times 202 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. times with a very happy effect, on account of the superior interest that will always be attached to pictures in which our own species are the principal figures. In the ancient writers, too, especially in Homer, the allusion by way of simile to various arts and circumstances of com- mon life is a source of much curious informa- tion relative to the manners of early times. This class of similitudes, therefore, will be found by no means one of the least worthy of obser- vation. It is, however, liable to a peculiar cause of defect ; for, being generally employed to parallel one human occurrence or sentiment by another, the primary and secondary scene often approach too near for that perfection of simile which consists in resemblance contrasted with diversity. Thus where, in the Iliad, the lamentation of Achilles over the dead body of Patroclus is compared to that of a father at the funeral of his son, the slight variation of cir- cumstances rather deserves the name of exem- plification or illustration than of comparison. The simile is more complete, though trivial, where Minerva, warding off an arrow from Menelaus, is resembled to a mother defending her sleeping infant from the attacks of a fly (77. iv. 130) ; since there is a change not only of ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 203 of character and age, but of the object of alarm, and the whole scenery. The sam • remark is applicable to the simile in which Patroclus, in his grief for the danger of the Grecian fleet, appearing all in tears before Achilles, is likened by that hero to a weeping girl. The picture of the latter is drawn with such pleasing touches of nature that I shall transcribe the passage. Why weeps Patroclus like an infant girl That begs her mother, at whose side she runs, To lift her ; pulls her mantle, checks her haste, And, weeping, pleads till she at last prevail ? //. xv i. /. Cowper. Another comparison between two cases in which tears are copiously shed is the subject of a simile in the Odyssey, which presents, per- haps, the most affecting picture to be met with in all the works of this poet. Ulysses at the Pha?acian court, listening to the song of De- modocus, the subject of which is the Trojan war, and the very actions in which he himself was particularly engaged, melts into tears : As when a woman weeps Her husband fall'n in battle for her sake, And for his c ldren's sake, before the gate Of his own city j sinking to his side She close infolds him with a last embrace, And gazing on him as he pants and dies, Shrieks 204 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. Shrieks at the sight ; meantime, the ruthless foe Smiting her shoulders with the spear, to toil Command her and to bondage far away, And her cheek fades with horrcr at the sound : Ulysses, so, from his moist lids let fall The frequent tear. Cdyss. viii. 523. Cowper. Though nothing can be more perfect than this draught, considered as a piece of pathetic painting, yet it will perhaps be thought that the pathos is too strong for the occasion; the tears of Ulysses flowing from a totally different source from that of the captive widow, and de- noting no such anguish of mind. Tender domestic Joy is beautifully described by Homer in a simile in which it is made the parallel of the feelings of Ulysses on descrying land after swimming two days and nights in the sea. Precious as to his children seems the life Of some fond father, who hath long endured His adverse demon's rage, by slow disease And ceaseless anguish wasted, till the Gods Dispel at length their fears, and he revives : So grateful to Ulysses' sight sppear'd Forests and hills. Odyss. v. 3Q4. Cowper. Here, likewise, is no parity in the circum- stances ; but the rejoicing in both instances arises ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 205 arises from a sense of escape from imminent peril. Where man is the subject of both parts of a simile, nothing is easier than to convert them. Thus, the feelings of Penelope on the recog- nition of her long-lost Ulysses are compared to those of shipwrecked mariners on reaching the land : Welcome as land appears to those who swim, Whose gallant bark by winds and rolling waves Assail' d,, hath peri&h'd in the boundless main, A mariner or two, perchance, escape The foamy flood, and swimming, reach the land, Weary indeed, and with incrusted brine All rough, but oh ! how glad to climb the coast ! So welcome in her eyes Ulysses seem'd. Odyss. xxiii. 233. Cowper. The joy of sailors on making the desired land after a long voyage is by Tasso described in a fine simile as a comparison to the emotions which agitated the Christian army on the first distant view of Jerusalem. Ecco apparir Gierusalem si vede : Ecco addhar Gierusalem si scorge : Ecco da mille voce unitamente Gicusalem salutar si sente. Cosi di navigahti aiidace stnolo Che mova a ricercar estranio lido, £ in 206 ON SIMILES IN POETKY, E in mar dubbioso, e sotto ignoto polo : Provi Fonde fallaci, e'l vento infido ; S* al fin discopre il desiato suolo, II saluta da lunge in lieto grido $ E l'uno al altro mostra, e in tanto obblia La noia e'l mal de la passata via. Ger. Lib. iii. 3.4.. Behol.d Jerusalem in prospect lies ! Behold Jerusalem salutes their eyes ! At once a thousand tongues repeat the name, And hail Jerusalem with loud acclaim ! To sailors thus, who, wandering on the main, Have long explored some distant coast in vain, In seas unknown and foreign regions lost, By stormy winds and faithless billows tost, If chance at length th' expected land appear, With joyful shouts they hail it from afar ; They point with rapture to the wish'd-for shore, And dream of former toils and fears no more. Hoole. If this parallel should appear inexact, inas- much as Jerusalem was not the termination of the labours of the crusaders, like the port to mariners,- but rather their crisis ; allowance should be made for the feelings of those gallant warriors, who, in the ardour of zeal, and con- fidence of success, regarded as nothing the toils and dangers that remained after they had reached the spot which was the grand object of their aspirations. Horace ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 207 Horace (Od. 5. /. iv.) compares the long- ings of the Roman people for the return of Au- gustus from a foreign expedition, to those of a mother for the return of her son after a year's absence across the sea ; but this, according to a former remark, is rather an exemplification of the same emotion in a different person, than a proper simile. In the following passage of Ariosto, introduced on the sudden appearance of Angelica before her lover Sacripante, the cause and nature of the passion, as well as the subject, are totally different in the two parts of the comparison. Non mai con tanto gaudio o stupor tanto Lev 6 gli occhi al figliuolo alcuna madre Ch' avea per morto sospirato e pianto, Poi che senz'esso udi tornar le squadre ; Con quanto gaudio il Saracin, &c. n / F * 53 Not with such joy, such wonder, on her Son E'er gaz'd a Mother who with sobs and tears Had wail'd his death, since from the battle-field Without him had return'd the warlike host; As joy'd the Pagan. The same poet, who has more unborrowed images than perhaps any of the epic successors of Homer, though sometimes whimsically ap- plied, gives a touching sketch from domestic life as a parallel to the manner in which the emperor 208 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. emperor Leo was affected towards his foe Rug- giero. Come bambin, se ben la cara Madre Iraconda lo batte, e da se caccia, Non ha riccorso alia sorella o al padre, Ma a lei ritoma, e con dolcezza abbraccia : Cos! Leon, se ben le prime squadre Ruggier gli uccide, e l'altre gli minaccia ; Non lo puo odiar, perch' all* amor piu. tira L'alr.o valor, che quella offesa all' ira. Orl. Fur. xliv. Q2- As when some Mother, even in anger mild, Chides from her sight, chastis'd, her darling Child, The little innocent, with sobbing sighs, Nor to the father nor the sister flies, Eat turns to her, and soft in infant charms, Hangs at her breast and fondles in her arms : So Leon, while he sees Rogero's hand O'erthrow the first, and threat each remnant band,. Joys in his sight; — for less th' offence can move "^ His hatred, than the glorious deeds that prove J> The champion's valour, warm his soul to love. J Hoole. The resemblance in this simile is forced and fanciful, and the secondary scene is highly dis- cordant with the primary ; yet the picture pre- sented cannot fail to give pleasure from the truth and tenderness of its expression. Homer, in describing the chase of Hector by Achilles, has just touched upon the inability to fly ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 209 fly or pursue which is sometimes fancied in a dream. This thought is amplified by Virgil into a simile descriptive of one labouring under the Nightmare, to whom he compares Turnus 5 foiled in all his attempts to escape from ./Eneas. Ac velut in somnis, oculos ubi languida pressit Nocte quies, nequidquam avidos extendere cursus Velle videmur, et in mediis conatibus aegri Succidimus ; non lingua valet, non corpore notas Sufficiunt vires, nee vox aut verba sequuntur : SicTurno, &c. yEn.xii.9O8, .... as, when heavy sleep has closed the sight The sickly fancy labours in the night j We seem to run ; and destitute of force Our sinking limbs forsake us in the course In vain we heave for breath j in vain we cry 3 The nerves unbraced their usual strength deny And on the tongue the faultering accents die So Turnus fared. Dryden. The force and fidelity of this description will be recognized by every one who has suffered under such an attack. It may be compared with one given by Ariosto, of a frightful and disturbed dream, the awakening from which is resembled to Orlando's sudden recovery of his reason. Come chi da noioso e grave sonno Ove 6 vedere abbominevol forme Di monstri che non son ne ch'esser ponno, O gli par cosa far strana ed enorme, r Ancor »7 5 ^ deny, v» lie: J 210 ON SIMILES IN POETRY, Ancor si meraviglia poi che donno E fatto de* suoi sensi, e che non dorme : Cosi, poi che fu Orlando d'error tratto, Restb meraviglioso e stupefatto. Orl. Fur. xxxix. 55. As one whose sense by noxious dreams opprest Sees horrid forms disturb his broken rest, Monsters unknown ! or in his troubled thought Has some strange deed of dreadful import wrought. E'en when he wakes his phantom fears remain, And still the vision haunts his teeming brain : So when his reason had resum'd her sway, Orlando long in stupid wonder lay. Hoole. There are three similes in the Paradise Lost derived from the actions and affections of men, all of which are marked with the original con- ception and poetical imagination of the great author, and display his own, or the Homeric manner of forming comparisons into detached pictures. The first is introduced where Satan> arriving at the gate in the wall of Heaven, ob- tains a sudden prospect of the lower world. As when a Scout Through dark and desert ways with peril gone All night, at last, by break of cheerful dawn Obtains the brow of some high-climbing hill, Which to his eye discovers unaware The goodly prospect of some foreign land First seen, or some renown'd metropolis With CN SIMILES IN POETRY. 211 With glistYng spires and pinnacles adorn'd, Which now the rising sun gilds with his beams : Such wonder seiz'd, though after Heaven seen > The Spirit malign. n r ... . .„ 1 ° Par. L. in. 543. In this fine picture Milton seems to have made a trial of his skill in drawing such bird's- eye views as those which are the distinguished ornaments of Paradise Regained. The simile is one of those in which the objects are too nearly identical to claim any merit of ingenious application; indeed, the comparison is properly only an illustration of a conception in the poet's mind. How'much Milton excelled in rural paintings is abundantly shown in his Allegro and Pense- roso, where they constitute the great charm of the poems ; but he has no where expressed the delight he himself received from country excur- sions so feelingly as in the simile which he em- ploys to denote the sensations of the Serpent at the sight of Eve in Paradise. As one who long in populous city pent, Where houses thick and sewers annoy the air, Forth issuing on a summer's morn to breathe Among the pleasant villages and farms Adjoin'd, from each thing met conceives delight, The smell of grain, or tedded grass, or kine, Or dairy, each rural sight, each rural sound ; P2 If 212 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. If chance with nymph-like step fair virgfn pass, What pleasing seem'd, for her now pleases more. She most, and in her look seems all delight : Such pleasure took the Serpent to behold This flow'ry plat, the sweet recess of Eve. Par. L. ix. 445, Every reluctant inhabitant of a great town will read these charming lines with strong sym- pathy, and will probably little regard their adaptation as a simile, which; indeed, is not re- markably happy. The author appears in his character of a learned admirer of free antiquity in the simile which exhibits a grand comparison of the Ser- pent preparing himself to practise his rhetoric upon Eve. As when of old some Orator renown'd In Athens or free Rome, where eloquence Flourished, since mute, to some great cause address'd^ Stood in himself collected, while each part, Motion, each act won audience ere the tongue, Sometimes in highth began, as no delay Of preface brooking through his zeal of right : So standing, moving, or to highth up grown, The Tempter all impassion'd thus began. Par. L. ix. 6;o. With this passage I shall conclude both the present head and the Essay. I am aware that several more similes might be adduced, especi- ally ON SIMILES IN POETRY. 213 ally from Homer, in which various occupations and arts are alluded to as objects of comparison ; but those in general are more interesting to the antiquarian than to the critic, possessing little, as poetical adjuncts, either to elevate or embel- lish the subjects to which they are annexed. Some of them even are so essentially mean and trivial in their associations, that no descriptive powers in the poet can raise them to the level of proper epic dignity. Thus, not all the pomp and artifice of Virgil's language is able to var- nish the puerility of his comparison of the agi- tation of queen Amata under the influence of rage, to the spinning of a top whipped by boys ; and indeed it is only augmenting the contrast to describe such scenes in elaborate and orna- mental diction. Pictures of common life which display in a striking manner those passions or affections that belong to human nature in ge- neral, may find a place in the noblest species of composition ; but the detail of particular customs or employments often bears an indeli- ble stamp of vulgarity. Other classes of similes might be added to the preceding, but the number is already suf- ficient to fulfil the purpose of this Essay. This was, primarily, to show by examples in what the 214 ON SIMILES IN POETRY. the use, beauty, and adaptation of simile prin- cipally consists; and secondarily, to accumulate a store of some of the most splendid and en- tertaining passages in poetry, selected and ar- ranged so as to exhibit a series of paintings from nature, comprising the most striking and cha- racteristic circumstances noted by poets under each class of similitudes. If these objects have in a tolerable degree been effected, it would be superfluous to lengthen a paper which has been protracted beyond the space intended to be al- lotted to it. But it was not easy to restrain the hand from pointing out to observation passages suggested by those immediately preceding, and each contributing something to the completion of the imagery which prior draughts had com- menced. With respect to the critical remarks usually annexed to the quotations, I am fully sensible that from the diversity of tastes and feelings, a general concurrence in their justice is not to be expected ; but they may perhaps usefully serve to exercise the reader's judgement; and they are submitted to his indulgence. ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. It is well known that the original and etymo- logical conception of the word Poetry contains the notion of making or creating, indicating a difference hetvveen it and common language founded upon an exercise of the invention to produce something new. It might be difficult to exemplify this purpose in every thing that usually bears the name of poetry, any further than as verse may be termed an innovation upon prose or common speech ; but the production of novelty, or the creative exertion, is the very essence of that species of invention which con- sists in the exhibition of new forms of ani- mated beings, endowed with powers and qua- lities fitting them to become actors in the fable into which they are introduced. Of these fancy-formed agents there are two principal classes' one comprizing those supernatural be- ings which derive their origin from popular su- perstition 2\6 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS, perstition or philosophical allegory, modified by the poet's imagination, such as the deities of heathen mythology : the other, consisting of creatures of merely poetical parentage, ge- nerated by means of the process called personU Jication from abstract ideas of the understand* ing. Of these last, Addison, in one of his elegant papers " On the Pleasures of the Imagination,'* (Spectator, No. 420,) thus speaks : " There is another sort of imaginary beings that we some* times meet with in the poets, when the author represents any passion, appetite, virtue, or vice, under a visible shape, and makes it a person or an actor in his poem." To this enumera- tion, however, should have been added some other abstract ideas personified ; such as Na- ture, Time, Death, Sleep, Fame, and the like, which equally belong to this head of poetical creation. Of such, then, it is the purpose of this Essay to treat ; and it is the manner in which these fictitious personages are formed, rather than the propriety of their introduction into the poem, that I mean to consider ; not excluding, however, some remarks upon the agency ascribed to them, which, indeed, may be regarded as part of their description and character. On ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 21/ On comparing a number of examples of this kind of personification, it will presently ap- pear that there are two general methods by which it is effected. Either a simply human figure is drawn, strongly impressed with the quality or circumstance intended to be persons fied ; or a creature of the fancy is exhibited, the character of which is expressed by certain typical emblems or adjuncts. The first of these may be termed a natural, the second an emble- matical personification. From the union of these two modes, a third or mixed species is produced. That these distinctions may be at once conceived, I shall illustrate them by well known examples. The Passions of Le Brun, in which human faces are marked with vivid expressions of rage, terror, grief, &c, are merely natural personifications: the common figure of Fortune, with wings and a bandage over her eyes, and a wheel, is purely emblematical: that of Plenty represented by a full-fed cheerful figure bearing a cornucopia, is of the mixed species. These illustrations are taken from painting, but the images might equally be de- picted by words. In prosecuting the subject I shall adduce under each of the preceding heads a variety of examples from the poets, with such critical 218 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. critical remarks as may tend to establish clear and precise notions concerning the requisites for perfection in each several kind. The natu- ral species of personification will first be con- sidered ; which by an insensible gradation will slide into the mixed-, and the purely emblema- tical will close the survey. I. Before we enter upon the particulars of this section, it may be proper to anticipate a doubt which will readily suggest itself to a reflecting mind. In what, it may be asked, consists the merit or value of a kind of fiction which ap- proaches so nearly to reality ? If Rage, for in- stance, be depicted solely by the figure of a man in a violent anger, what are the inventive powers exerted ; or vvhatisgained by the personi- fication ? It must be acknowledged that in these cases the praise of invention, properly so called, can scarcely be awarded for a draught which must owe its principal merit to an accurate imitation of nature ; yet, since it will be incumbent on the poet to accumulate every circumstance that can throw life and strength into his draught, and to form a general character out of the detached features ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 219 features of a number of individuals, to which he must frequently associate scenery and ac- companiments calculated to correspond with and enhance the effect of the leading figure, the necessity of a vigorous imagination and superior descriptive talents in order to succeed in such representations is apparent. Then, with respect to the use of such fictions, it is to be consi- dered that these imaginary beings are not merely human agents, circumscribed by known laws in their operations : they are a kind of Genii or Powers whose sphere of action is li- mited only by a congruity dependent on their several characters. They may therefore be em- ployed by the poet to produce effects beyond the reach of natural means ; and may be made to act an important part in that machinery which has always been regarded as a capital point of poetical invention. But the truth of these observations will be abundantly eluci- dated during that investigation of particular ex- amples to which 1 proceed. I begin with the personified figure of Famine, or, rather, of Ravenous Hunger, as it is repre- sented by Ovid in his Metamorphoses. The story relates, that Ceres, having vowed revenge against Erisichthon for cutting down a sacred tree, 220 ON FOETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. tree, sends a messenger for this ghastly phan- tom, who is thus described: Famem lapidoso vidit in agro, Unguibus et raras vellentem dentibus herbas. Hirtus erat crinis ; cava lumina j pallor in ore; Labra incana situ : scabrse rubigine fauces : Dura cutis, per quam spectari viscera possent j Ossa sub incurvis exstabant arida lumbis ; Ventris erat pro ventre locus ; pendere putares Pectus, et a spinae tantummodo crate teneri : Auxerat articulos macies, genuumque rigebat Orbis, et immodico prodibant tubera talo. Met. viii. fgg. Crouch'd in a stony field he sees the Power Plucking with teeth and nails the scanty herb. Shaggy her hair, her eyes were sunk in pits j Paleness o'erspread her face ; her whiten'd lips Were hoar with mould ; her mouth was rough with fur } Through her harsh hide her entrails all were seen ; The arid bones about her crooked loins Stood forth; a void the belly's place supplied; Pendent her breast appear'd, and held alone By the bare wickery spine ; the joints enlarged By leanness, made each knee a rigid ball, Each ankle seem a monstrous bunch of bone. A more striking image of a famished person can scarcely be conceived. The " harsh skin, hanging breasts, crate or basket-work of the ribs and spine, and joints stiffened and appa- rently enlarged, are circumstances copied from the ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 221 the life, and represented with singular force. The figure is, however, perfectly natural and merely so. Here are no types or emblems, as, indeed, none were required ; for such a sub- ject could not fail of being its own interpreter. The surrounding scenery is painted with equal reality. Est locus extremis Scythiae glacialis in oris, Triste solum, sterile sine fruge, sine arbore tellus. In icy Scythia's furthest bound there lies A gloomy, steril, cornless, treeless tract. The fanciful or preternatural part of the fic- tion is the manner in which the poet employs his phantom. He makes her take the op- portunity while Erisiehthon lies asleep, of in- spiring himivilh herself, or possessing him, and the poor man awakes with an insatiable hunger, which compels him first, according to the French phrase, manger son rim, to eat up his estate^ and at hist, absolutely to devour himself. There is something ludicrous in the catastrophe, yet the agency of Famine is not unsuitable to her nature. This notion ox inspiring a quality by touching or breathing upon a person, fre- quently occurs in the poets as expressive of the action of these fictitious beings. Churchill's Prophecy of Famine affords a de- scription 222 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS, * scription of this baneful Power formed upon the same natural plan, with few additions ex- cept such as suit his purpose of malignant na- tional satire. The following lines, however, contain a happy conception. With double rows of useless teeth supplied, Her mouth from ear to ear extended wide, Which, when for want of food her entrails pined, She oped, and cursing, swallow'd nought but wind. The employment of Famine in this poem to utter a prophecy, is suitable enough to the general notion of a Genius, and is rendered lo- cally characteristic by the pretence to second- sight. The next figure I shall present is that of Sleep, as it is likewise drawn by the elegant and inventive pencil of Ovid. Though he is elevated to the title and dignity of the god Somnus 9 in form and attributes he is no other than a drowsy mortal, and the poet's invention is principally displayed in the scenery and ac- companiments. He inhabits a gloomy cavern, into which the rays of the sun never penetrate, but where a kind of perpetual, twilight reigns in the foggy air. Hence all shrill and enliven- ing sounds are carefully excluded, and an eter- nal silence prevails, interrupted only by the soft + 0N POETICAL PERSONIFCATIONS. 223 &oft murmuring of the waters of Lethe. Around the entrance grow all kinds of soporiferous herbs. The God himself lies fast asleep upon an ebon couch raised high with down. On the approach of Iris, who is sent to him with a message, with much ado he rouses himself. His painful reluctant efforts are very happily expressed in the following lines. Tarda Deus gravitate jacentes Vix oculos tollens, iterumque iterumque relabens, Summaque percutiens nutanti pectora mento, Excussit tandem sibi se -, cubitoque levatus Quid-veniat scitatur. Metam. xi. 6 18. The God his heavy eyes scarce lifting up, Once and again sunk down, his nodding chin Smote on his breast ; at length himself he shook Out of himself, and on his elbow rais'd, Ask'd why she came. The conceit of shaking himself out of him- self is truly Ovidian ; and has the unhappy effect of reminding the reader that the per- son is only a thing. The poet however has ju- diciously attended to the character of Sleep in making the matter of request to him as easy and brief as possible. It is only that he would send one of the dreams which are represented as constantly flitting like bats about his cavern on a particular mission. When this business is 224 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. is dispatched, the drowsy deity immediately composes himself to slumber again : • rursus mqlli languore solutum Deposuitque caput, stratoque recondidit alto. His head again in languor soft dissolved, He dropp'd, and plunged it in the downy bed. The original personification of Sleep is in Homer ; who, however, lias given it without circumstances or adjuncts. Various poets have since adopted it, and have assigned to the Being a residence, and proper officers and as- sociates. This has been done by Ariosto in his Orlando Furioso, with more happiness of in- vention than by any other writer whom I re- collect posterior to Ovid. The attendants on Sleep are particularly well imagined and de- scribed. In questo albergo il grave Somno giace j L' Ozio da un canto, corpulento e grasso j Dall' altro la Pigrizia in terra siede, Che non puo andare, e mal si regge in piede } I_o sinemorato Oblio sta su la porta j Non lasciaentrar, ne riconosce alcuno ; Non ascolta imbasciata, ne riporta, E parimente tien cacciato ogn'uno. II Silenzio va intorno, e fa la scorta : Ha le scarpe di fcltro, e*l mantel bruno; Ed a quanti ne incontra di lontano, Che non debbian venir cenna con mano. Orl. Fur. xiv. 93. ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 223 Here drowsy Sleep has nVd his noiseless throne, Here Indolence reclines with limbs o'ergrown Through sluggish ease : and Sloth, whose trembling feet Refuse their aid, and sink beneath their weight. Before the portal dull Oblivion goes, He suffers none to pass for none he knows. Silence maintains the watch and walks the round In shoes of felt, with sable garments bound ; And oft as any thither bend their pace, He waves his hand and warns them from the place. Hoole. It is a truly characteristic stroke in Ariosto's nai ration, that when the command is delivered to Sleep, he makes no reply, but intimates by a sign that the thing shall be done. The learned and ingenious professor Heyne, in an Excursus to the fifth book of Virgil, has enumerated various ways in which Somnus is represented by the poets as producing sleep. Virgil makes him sprinkle the temples of Pa- linurus with -a branch wet with Lethean dew. Some elegantly describe him as lulling to repose by the fanning of his wings ; and one writer gives him a horn out of which he pours sleep like a liquor. Boileau has imitated both Ovid and Ariosto in his personification of Mollesse in the " Lutrin :" Mollesse is a being compounded of laziness and luxury, for which I know not an adequate name in English. Her abode is a suitably 2l>6 on poetical personifications. suitably fixed in the dormitory of an abbey. Her attendants are very happily conceived and poetically characterized. Les PJaisifs nonchalans folatrent alcntour. L'un paitrit dans un coin l'embonpoint de chanoines; L' autre broie en riant le vermilion des moines j La Volupte la sert avec des yeas devots ; Et toujours la Sommeil lui verse des pavots. It has been justly, I think, objected to Boi- leau, that he puts too long a speech into the mouth of this languid personage ; hut he was unable to resist a favourable opportunity for some ingenious adulation of Louis XIV. The conclusion however, though closely copied from Ovid, is admirable. La Mollesse oppressee Dans sa bouche a ce mot sent sa languc glacee, Et las c e de parler, sneeombant soijs i'effort, Soupire, etend le bras, ierme l'cei], et s'endort. Thomson's beautiful poem of " The Castle of Indolence" is an allegory turning entirely upon the personification of Indolence and his antagonist Industry, and abounds with con- ceptions similar to those of the writers last mentioned, drest in all the charms of descrip^ tive verse. What can be sweeter and more appropriate than the landscape-painting of the land in which the enchanted castle was seated? Was ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 22/ Was nought around but images of rest j Sleep-soothing groves, and quiet lawns between 5 And flowery beds that slumbrous influence kest, From poppies breathed and beds of pleasant green, Where never yet was creeping creature seen. Meantime unnumber'd glittering streamlets play'd, And hurled every where their waters sheen ; That as they bicker'd through the sunny glade, Though restless still themselves a lulling murmur made. There is no particular portrait of the en- chanter himself, as, indeed, the poet laboured under the difficulty of assigning to him the characteristics of the quality, indolence, and at the same time representing him in action as the " watchful wicked wizard," which the story required him to be — a difficulty that we shall find often attendant on allegorical personifica- tion. In the person of his Porter, however, he has sketched a striking figure of one of the family of Somnus. Waked by the crowd slow from his bench arose A comely full-spread Porter swoln with sleep ; His calm broad thoughtless aspect breathed repose, And in sweet torpor he was plunged deep, Ne could himself from ceaseless yawning keep ; While o'er his eyes the drowsy liquor ran, Through which his half- waked soul would faintly peep. The Knight of Arts and Industry in this piece, the character contrasted to Indolence, is Q. 2 port rayed 228 ON POETICAL PEUSONIFICATION3, portrayed upon the same natural plan, and in figure is no other than a " grave majestic personage in goodly geer arrayed.'' The poet expends all his descriptive powers upon the education and mental culture of his hero, and gives no precise image of his exterior. The ; ' Faery Queen" of Spenser, that inex- haustible store of poetical invention, abounds with allegorical personifications, some of which are of the simple kind we are now considering. Thus the figure of Fear, in the Masque of Cupid, is merely that of a man entirely pos- sessed with this passion. Next him (Dr.ngei) went Fear all arm'd from top to toe, Yet thought himself not safe enough thereby, But fear'd each shadow waving to and froj And his own arms when glittering he did spy Or clashing heard, he fast away did fly j As ashes" pale of hue and winged heel'd j And evermore on Danger fix'd his eye, 'Gainst whom he always bent a brazen shield, Which his right hand unarmed fearfully did wield. F. Q. hi. 12. The vividness of this description affords an example of the characteristic merit of the au- thor. It is scarcely worth while to remark the impropriety of the use of the verb fear in this stanza, (Fear fear'd,) except as pointing out that ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 229 that tendency to undo a personification by re- verting to the term in its abstract sense, which is continually intruding upon this species of fiction It may seem extraordinary that Col- lins in his " Ode to Fear" has made little ad- dition to the descriptive part of Spenser's per- sonification, which he has copied inasmuch as it is the natural picture of a person possessed by that passion. Ah Fear ! ah frantic Fear ! I see, I see thee near ; I know thy hurried step, thy haggard eye ! kc. In his fine " Ode on the Music of the Pas- sions," however, he has characterized Fear by a striking circumstance, which was probably suggested by Spenser's stanza above quoted. First Fear his hand its skill to try, Amid the chords bewilder'd laid, And back recoil'd, he knew not why, E'en at the sound himself had made. The same natural style of painting is adopted by Spenser in the following lines: And trembling Fear still to and fro did fly, And found no place where safe he shroud him might. F. q ii. 7. Despair, a passion akin to Fear, is drawn by Spenser with amazing force of. pencil under the 230 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. the form of a man sunk in the deepest melan- choly. The whole allegory is so admirable that I shall enter into some detail concerning it, as an example of the most striking concep- tion and judicious management of a poetical fiction any where, perhaps, to be met with. It is contained in the first canto of the Faery Queen, The Legend of Holiness. The Red-cross Knight, the champion of true Religion, accompanied by his adored Una, is wandering in search of adventures, according to the established practice of the heroes of chi- valry; when they meet an armed knight riding full speed, and continually looking behind him, as one who fled from a foe. As he approaches, they descry in his countenance all the marks of the wildest affright and horror. His head is bare, his hair " upstaring stiff',*' his face blood- less, and about his neck (a shame to knight- hood ) hangs a halter. The Rcdcross Knight stopping him, demands the cause of his " mis- seeming plight." He at first makes no answer; , but adding new- Fear to his first amazement, staring wide "With stony e}es, and heartless, hollow hue, Astonish' d stood as one thai had espied Infernal furies with their chains untied. At ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 231 At length he stammers oat, For God's dear love, sir Knight, dome not stay, For lo ! he comes, he comes fast after me. He is however detained by force, till he re- covers himself so far as to be able to tell his story ; from which we learn, that in company with another knight, he had fallen in with the cursed wight Despair; who by his devilish arts had persuaded his comrade to stab himself, and had presented him with a halter for the like purpose of suicide; but that he had ex- erted himself so far, as to mount his steed and fly. From this narrative the knight of the lled-cross is induced to resolve upon an encoun- ter with this dangerous fiend ; and Trevisan, the stranger, consents to show him to the cave, provided he may be then allowed to depart: For lever would I die, than see his deadly face. The abode of Despair, with all the dreary and terrific scenery round it, is then painted, in a style which admirably prepares the mind for tragical impressions. The description of the Being himself follows, which is thus powerfully wrought: That darksome cave they enter, where they find That cursed man low sitting on the ground, Musing 232 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. Musing Full sadly in his sullen mind ; His griesly locks long growen, and unbound, Disorder* d hung about his shoulder? round, And hid his face, thro' which his hollow eyne Look'd deadly dull, and stared as astound j His raw-bone cheeks thro' penury and pine Were shrunk into his jaws, as he did never dine. Beside him lay the corse of his new victim, weltering in his blood, with a rusty knife fixed in his breast. The Red-cross Knight, inflamed with virtuous indignation at the view, threatens revenge on the wicked author of this murder; but the fiend, instead of showing remorse, or acknowledging guilt, boldly vindicates the deed, and begins a subtle defence of suicide. The knight is somewhat disconcerted with this un- expected turn ; however, he summons argu- ments to refute those of Despair ; but the art- ful wretch returns to the charge with so much skill and force, personally attacking his anta- gonist, and awakening all the stings of con- science within him, that he is at length visibly disturbed, and his manly powers begin to fail. The foe, perceiving his advantage, further presses him with a horrible vision of the pains of hell, awaiting those who continue to accu- mulate the guilt of transgression ; and observ- ing ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 233 ing that bis mind was totally subdued by this last assault, He to him raught a dagger sharp and keen, And gave it him in hand : his hand did quake, And tremble iike a ieaf of aspen green ; And troubled blood through his pale face was seen To come and go with tidings from the heart, As it a running messenger had been. At last, re.solv'd to work his final smart, He lifted up his hand that back again did start. At this critical moment, his Una, all dis- mayed, interposes, snatches the fatal weapon from his hand, upbraids him with his want of fortitude, and consoles him with the promise of divine pardon. The knight, restored to him- self, mounts his steed, and Hies from the ac- cursed place; by which conclusion the poet seems to intimate, that despair can be with- stood only by shunning the thoughts which in- spire it. In this allegory the most impressive effect is produced by means the most simple, and strictly conformable to the character of the agent. It would have been an obvious expedient to have represented Despair as a huge giant armed with a club, and to have imagined a terrible combat between him and the knight. But in that case the reader's attention would have been diverted from 23 4 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. from the real nature of the passion, by the type under which it was veiled ; and how much so- ever the fancy might have been amused, the understanding would have been much less sa- tisfied, and the feelings less interested. It may indeed be alleged, that as the scene is repre- sented, scarcely any scope is given to allegori- cal invention ; for that Despair is little more than a gloomy fanatic, such as real life often exhibits, whose terrific denunciations are not unfrequently the cause of suicide. But besides the accumulation of every characteristic cir- cumstance in the personal description, and the assign ment of a local habitation which could not belong to a human individual, the conclu- sion clearly marks the visionary or supernatural quality of the being. Which when the carl beheld, and saw his guest Would safe depart, for all his subtle sleight, He chose a haiter from among the rest, And with it hung himself, unbid, unblest. But death he could not work himself thereby, For- thousand times himself he so had drest, Yet natheless it could not do him die, Till he should die his last, that is, eternally. Melancholy, in its softened character of contemplative pensiveness, is finely pourtrayed by Milton as a religious recluse. Come ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 235 Come, pensive Nun devout and pure, Sober, steadfast and demure, All in a robe of darkest grain, Flowing with majestic train, And sable stole of Cyprus lawn Over thy decent shoulders drawn. Come, but keep thy wonted state, With even step and musing gait, And looks commercing with the skies, Thy rapt soul sitting in thine eyes : There held in holy passion still Forget thyself to marble, till With a sad leaden downward cast, Thou fix them on the earth as fast. Penseroso. She is, indeed, invoked as a deity, and a splendid poetical genealogy is framed for her ; but the personal description is merely that of a human figure. There appears to be something emblematical intended by the following lines ; Whose saintly visage is too bright To hit the sense of human sight, And therefore to our weaker view, O'erlaid with black, staid Wisdom's hue : Yet it would be thought no extravagant compli- ment to say the same of a beautiful devotee shrouded in a black veil. And if the poet really conceived of her as a negress, which seems im- plied 236 ON FOETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. plied in the comparison of prince Merrinon's sis^ ter, and the Ethiop queen, though I confess it would greatly impair the figure to my imagina- tion, its natural character would not be altered. On a similar model are formed two elegant sketches of Melancholy, by Warton and Col- lins. " The Ode to Fancy" of the former de- scribes her as Goddess of the tearful eye, Who loves to fold the arms and sigh : And in the " Music of the Passions " of the latter, her air and attitude are thus vividly re- presented : With eyes upraised, as one inspired, Pale Melancholy sat retired. It may be remarked that the last draught corresponds much more with the elevated cast of Milton's Melancholy, than the mere expres- sion of sadness in the first. The affinity between this mental affection and Religious Contemplation is such that their personified representatives will scarcely fail to exhibit a family resemblance. Spenser describes a hermitage on the top of a hill, the inhabitant of which is an aged man named Heavenly Contemplation. In his portrait, to the ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 237 the character of enraptured meditation, are added those marks of abstinence and mortifica- tion, which render him the exact figure of a devout anchorite. Great grace that old man given to him had, For God he often saw from heaven's height j All were his earthly eyen both blunt and bad, And thro' great age had lost their kindly sight, Yet wondrous quick and persant was his spright As eagle's eye that can behold the sun. The hill they scale There do they find that godly aged sire, With snowy locks adown his shoulders shed, As hoary frost with spangles doth attire The mossy branches of an oak half dead. Each bone might through his body well be read, And every sinew seen through his long fast ; For nought he cared his carcass long unfed ; His mind was full of spiritual repast, And pined his flesh to keep his body low and chaste. F. Q.\. 10. The exquisite beauty of the simile adorning this description, will be felt by every one who has the least relish for poetry. Under an exterior not very different, though without the same extenuation of body, and more calculated to attract the eye, the same poet represents Hypocrisy. In the times of monkery, 238 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. monkery, such a figure would doubtless appear rather copied from nature, than the draught of fancy. At length they chnnced to meet upon the way An aged sire, in long black weeds yclad, His feet all bare, his head all hoary gray, And by his belt his book he hanging had ; Sober he seem'd, and very sagely sad, And to the ground his eyes were lowly bent Simple in show, and void of malice bad j And all the way he prayed as he went, And often knock' d his breast, as one that did repent. F. Q.'ul. Hypocrisy has his hermitage too, hut its si- tuation is much more snug and comfortable than that of the mortified solitary above mentioned. His conversation is very naturally derived from the legend and breviary. He told of saints and popes, and evermore He strowed an Avemary after and before. Spenser has obviously copied this portraiture from that of Fraud, in Ariosto, which in most of its circumstances is equally a natural one : Avea piacevol viso, abito onesto, Un' umil vogler d' occhi, un' andar grave, Un' parlar s'i benign©, e si modesto, Che parea Gabriel, che dicesse Ave ! Era brutta, e deforme, in tutto il resto ; Ma nascondea queste fattezze prave Con ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 23$ Con lungo abito, e largo 3 e sot to quello Attosicato avea sempre il coltello. Oil. Fur. xiv. 87. Hoole's version of this passage is so inade- quate, that I shall give a literal one in prose. " She had a pleasing countenance, a decent garb, an hum- ble cast of the eyes, a sober gait, a tone of speech so affec- tionate and modest, that she seemed Gabriel pronouncing the Hail ! in all the rest she was ugly and deformed : but she concealed these misshapen lineaments under a long and wide habit, beneath which she always held an envenomed knife." The deformities hidden under her long robe, are an emblematical circumstance, which per- haps in strict propriety refer this figure to the class of mixed personifications. The concealed and poisoned dagger is probably meant as a stroke of satire against the religious orders, who, at that period, were freely charged, even by catholics, with crimes perpetrated under the disguise of this habit. The very beautiful personification of Disci- pline, in Cowpers " Task, 1 ' keeps so closely to the character of an exemplary master of a school or college, that il can scarcely be ranked among poetic fabrications. He is made, how- ever, an individual, not a genus. His 210 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. His head Not yet by time completely silver'd o'er, Bespoke him past the bounds of freakish youth, But strong for service still and unimpair'd. His decay and death are also described; and his dissolution makes way for another figure, likewise painted exactly from nature — Igno- rance, who, His cap well lined with logic not his own, With parrot-tongue perform'd the scholar's part, Proceeding soon a graduated dunce. Of this latter personage an allegorical repre- sentation, but under a natural form, is given by Spenser, who makes him warder of the cas- tle of the giant Orgoglio, the type of papal power. Prince Arthur, after slaying the giant, comes to this castle, which he finds entirely shut and desolate. He calls loudly ; and At last with creeping crooked pace forth came An old old man, with beard as white as snow ; That on a staff his feeble steps did frame, And guide his weary gate both to and fro ; For his eye-sight him failed long ago : And on his arm a bunch of keys he bore, The which unused, rust did overgrow : Those were the keys of every inner door: But he could not them use, but kept them still in store. F. Q.\. 8. These keys are manifestly emblematical of the Scriptures^ which Ignorance himself is un- able ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 241 •able to peruse, and keeps locked up from the inspection of others. In the next stanza he is represented as looking backwards while he is advancing forwards ; denoting, I suppose, the tendency of Ignorance to revert to ancient errors even while seeming to make progress towards truth. To every question asked him he answers " I cannot tell." The Prince, out of patience with his stupidity, snatches from him the bunch of keys, and opens the doors himself. In this fiction there is, however, a mixture of symbol which properly assigns the figure to the next class. I shall conclude the head of natural personi- fications with two figures from Pope's " Rape of the Lock," which have all the air of being drawn from the life. They are the attendants upon the Goddess of Spleen. Here stood Ill-nature, like an ancient maid, Her wrinkled form in black and white array'd j With store of prayers for mornings, nights, and noons, Her hand is fill'd, her bosom with lampoons. There Affectation with a sickly mien, Shows in her cheeks the roses of eighteen ; Practis'd to lisp, and hang the head aside, Faints into airs, and languishes with pride j On the rich quilt sinks with becoming woe, Wrapt in a gown, for sickness and for show. r II. The 242 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. II. The preceding examples will, it is presumed, sufficiently have elucidated the mode of per- 'sonifying a quality by simply exhibiting a figure impressed with the external marks of its influ- ence. But there are various cases in which this method cannot be so happily applied. The quality or affection may be of too abstracted a nature to display itself intelligibly by external tokens ; or it may approach too nearly to the confines of another to admit of a clear discri- mination, This is often seen in painting, where the intended expression requires an interpreter to render it obvious to the spectator. In such cases, the association of a type or einhlem, de- rived from some circumstance of cause or effect, is found of great use for illustration; and besides, such additions, even when not necessary for that purpose, afford scope for the invention and ingenuity of the poet, and contribute to the de- coration of his draughts. Hence it has hap- pened that the greater part of allegorical per- sonifications are compounded of natural ex- pressions and symbolical adjuncts; and it is in the proper combination of these, and the pre- servation of congruity between the natural and artificial ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 243 artificial characteristics, that the skill and judge- ment of the poet are peculiarly exercised. We shall have frequent occasion, under the present head, to note the defects in this point of even the greatest masters, when their descriptions are drawn out to minuteness. Several of the heathen deities, especially of the subordinate ones, are embodied conceptions of this kind. Ems, Strife, or Contention, is thus sketched by the father of heroic poetry : Apsos av$po what seem'd his head The likeness of a kingly crown had on. Far. L. ii. 666. Here 316 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. Here is a striking example of the powers of poetry to excite grand and impressive images which painting cannot follow, though appeal- ing to the sense which that art peculiarly ad- dresses. The misty indistinctness of outline in this shadowy figure, and its questionable form and substance, which render it unfit for the determinate strokes of the pencil, do not pre- vent the imagination from embodying a mass of black cloud through which appear the ob- scure lineaments of a horrid phantom, suffi- ciently resembling the poet's conception to pro- duce the effect he intended. I am aware that painting has attempted this delineation, but, according to my perceptions, with little success. Though it be possible that Milton in this passage might have taken a hint from the fol- lowing lines of Spenser, yet I think it cannot with justice be said, with Mr. Thyer, that the, former was borrowed from the latter. But after all came Life ; and lastly Death j Death with most grim and griesly visage seen, Yet he is nought but parting of the breath 5 Ne ought to see, but like a shade to ween, Unbodied, unsoul'd, unheard, unseen. F. Q. vii. 7. The whole of picture is contained in the se- cond ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 3lf eond of these lines, and it is the metaphysical description alone of Death, which the rest pre- sent. A critic, with more probability, has point- ed out Homer's description of Hercules in the lower regions (Odyss. xi.) " black as night, and ever in the act to shoot," as the original of Mil- ton's conception. It is under the semblance of the God of War that Death appears in a noble ode (though in- jured by some affectation) in Mason's Caracta- cus, beginning Hark ! heard ye not yon footstep dread That shook the earth with thundring tread ? Perhaps, however, in this bold and martial figure, we want the peculiar features of the Power introduced on the scene. The personified conception of Time is in many respects similar to that of Death. He is equally a destroyer, indeed more universally so, as his destruction extends to inanimate things. His weapon is usually a scythe, in al- lusion to the employment of that weapon to level the flowery pride of the meadows ; but the scythe is obviously an improper bearing when he is figured as undermining or battering down towers. He is represented as old ; either from 318 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. from the effects of Time upon the human form, or from the long duration of past time, to which we familiarly give the name of antiquity . Some have painted him with a single forelock on a bald head ; which, however, as we shall after- wards see, is the more appropriated symbol of Opportunity. He is winged, to express that swiftness of progress which is so common a complaint; and he sometimes measures his course by an hour-glass, like Death. All these emblems are found alike in the graphical and poetical representations of Time. They are, indeed, generally only alluded to as established characteristics by the poets, few of whom have attempted a complete portrait of this Being. Thus Young, in his " Night Thoughts/' hag made a fine use of his being winged. Time, in advance, behind him hides his wings, And seems to creep, decrepit with his age : Behold him when past by ; what then is seen, But his broad pinions swifter than the winds ? And all mankind in contradiction strong, Bueful, aghast, cry out on his career. B. i. The same poet in another passage paints with great force Time as employing his weapon of destruction. Each ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 319 Each moment has its sickle, emulous Of Time's enormous scythe, whose ample sweep Strikes empires from the root. B. i. Parnel, in his " Allegory on Man," gives a picture of Young Time, which has some merit from its novelty. As yet his winters had not shed Their silver honours on his head ; He just had got his pinions free From his old sire Eternity. A serpent girdled round he wore, The tail within the mouth before : A staff he carried, where on high A glass was fixt to measure by : His vest, for day and night, was pied j A bending sickle arm'd his side j And Spring's new months his train adorn : The other seasons were unborn. Young's moment-sickle was probably bor- rowed from this weapon of Time in his infancy not yet a year old. But by much the grandest image of this al- legorical person, that I have met with, is pre- sented in a Latin Ode of Dr. Jortin's, inscribed " Ad Tempus :" it thus commences : O qui .severus fake adamantina Matura fato destruis, et gravi Frangis ruina quicquid axe Praetereas, Deus, incitato ; Tu, 320 ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS* Tu, sede celsus, dum revolubilem Torques laborem, dura Necessitas Auriga in aeternos recursus Flectit equos volucremque currum : Obscura caeco Saecla silentio, Diesque plumis versicoloribus, Annique, volventesque Menses Fulmineum comitantur axem. Tecum alta Virtus laurigeram sedet Decora frontem, et rilia Veritas, Cui vultus immortale fulgens Purpureo radiatur igni. Time seated in a lofty car, whirled along in his destructive orbit, driven by Necessity, and having Virtue and refulgent Truth, his daughter, by his side; while Ages, Years, Months, and Days accompany his chariot: — all together form a group of poetical dig- nity and splendour, which, perhaps, it would not be easy to parallel in the range of allegori- cal fiction. Of Occasion, or Opportunity, a picture is given in an epigram of Ausonius entitled " Oc- casions et Pcenitentiee. ,, It is in the form of a dialogue between the querist and the image, and possesses very little of the spirit of poetry. The following lines are translated from it with a free hand, and have much of what it wants. The ON POETICAL PERSONIFICATIONS. 321 The angelic beauty of the figure is a gratuitous gift of the translator ; but it is no improper ad- dition, considering the beneficent nature of Occasion, when advantage is duly made of her offers. Ah ! who art thou of more than mortal birth, Whom heaven adorns with beauty's brightest beam j On wings of speed why spurn'st thou thus the earth ? " Known but to few, Occasion is my name. No rest I find, for underneath my feet The eternal circle rolls that speeds my way ; Not the strong eagle wings her course so fleet, And these my glittering pinions I display That from the dazzling sight thine eyes may turn away. by 402 VERBAL REMARKS, by express words, or by doing such acts as are inconsistent with the holding of it." But in the instances of the latter which he produces from different authors, the act bears directly and manifestly upon the point : thus, when a man sells himself for a slave, abdicating his freedom is an inseparable consequence, or rather, is the same thing expressed in another manner. But James, by his arbitrary acts^ certainly did not suppose that he renounced the office of king ; nor were they incompatible with that office according to his notions of it, or, perhaps, according to the exercise of it by former English monarchs. The extent of the royal prerogative was the very point on which he and his subjects were at issue ; and however the question of more or less were decided, he could not mean that his relation to his people as sovereign should depend upon the decision. This idea of abdication can therefore be regard- ed only as a remote and forced inference, in which the two parties would not agree, and which is totally adverse to the supposition x>f a voluntary act, like that of the abdication of Charles V., Christina, and other sovereigns. As little is that condition to be found in the circumstance of his " withdrawing himself out of VERBAL REMARKS. 403 of the kingdom/' which is apparently added to help out the deficiencies of the other plea ; since it was the consequence of a foreign inva- sion abetted by his own subjects, and would at most amount only to a temporary desertion. The true cause of this abuse of language is to be sought in the opposition of sentiment be- tween the Whigs and Tories who cooperated in the great national event of the Revolution. The former, who acted alone in Scotland, did not hesitate there to say that king James, by his tyrannical and illegal conduct, had forfeited the crown ; which was undoubtedly the proper expression according to their ideas of govern- ment. They would probably have used the same word in England, had they been strong enough to carry their measures without the To- ries : but that party, who constituted the ma- jority of the nation, could never be brought to acquiesce in such an assumption of judicial authority by the people over their sovereign; and being opposed in their favourite term of desertion, which might be construed as not pre- cluding a future resumption of the regal office, they at length consented, reluctantly, to adopt the word abdication as a medium, though, like most mediums' and compromises, it accorded 2 D 2 with 404 VERBAL REMARKS. with the views of neither party. It is happy for the nation that the act was more decisive than the language by which it was justified. VII. On the ivor ds Infidelity, Infidel, Blasphemy, Blasphemer, Impiety. Though it is obviously necessary that every action or quality important to society should have a specific designation, yet it is desirable that this should express no more than the bare circumstance belonging to it, and not include, by association, other ideas, especially such as imply moral decisions in which mens opinions may by no means agree. Names of this abu- sive kind are often fixed by a ruling party upon things in their own nature indifferent, or con- cerning which human authority has no right to decide, for the purpose of throwing odium upon principles or sentiments which they find inimical to their own interest. Some of the words already treated of afford examples of this policy ; but in none is it more conspicuous than in those placed at the head of this section. Dissent from the established religion of a country is a circumstance which it may be proper to note by a peculiar appellation ; but that VERBAL REMARKS. 405 that such dissent is in its own nature criminal, will scarcely be asserted by any but those who hold that all religion is the creature of the state, and that its truth is no object of consideration. But as religions, the tenets of which are in- compatible with each other, cannot all be true ; and as inquiry and doubt concerning any may proceed from the purest motives, and from the unavoidable diversity of argumentative conclu- sions, is it not manifestly unjust to designate simple disagreement by a term conveying the notion of moral depravity? Infidelity is the negative of fidelity, a word signifying the high virtues of honesty, inte- grity, and faithfulness to engagements ; and in English, the positive term is always employed in this sense. Thus Mr. Gibbon, giving a rea- son for his reply to the strictures of Mr. Davis, says, that he found him attacking u not the faith, but the fidelity of the historian." But although we have appropriated the word faith to religious belief yet it has been thought pro- per to distinguish the opposite of this by the word infidelity, thus confounding a mere dis- sent of the mind with the breach of a moral duty. This word is still in frequent use in its proper acceptation. Thus Dr. Johnson gives as 406 VERBAL REMARKS. as one of its senses, " treachery, deceit, breach of contract or trust ;" and he exemplifies this meaning by a quotation relative to the infide- lities between husband and wife. In the con- version of the Latin word fides to the Christian signification of faith, probably a notion of the obligations incurred by a Christian convert was included ; otherwise it is not obvious how the very distinct ideas of belief ox assent of the under- standing, and adherence to contract or promise, should coalesce in one term. But this combi- nation has been unfortunate for the mere dis- believer of a prevailing system, if it have asso- ciated to an unavoidable conclusion of his rea- son, a depravation of his moral principles. The word infidel, with this mass of obloquy attached to it, is used technically to denote all who reject Christianity ; " unbelievers, mis- creants, and pagans," says Johnson's Dictio- nary. Whether or not it be expedient that all such persons should rank under a common ap- pellation, I do not here inquire ; but that the name should imply nothing more than the com- mon fact, I think may be justly required. A sense of this propriety has induced the more candid and moderate controversialists to employ the term unbelievers, which, though defective in VERBAL REMARKS. 40/ in precision — since it might be asked, " Unbe- lievers in what!" — yet is readily understood where it is used, and insinuates nothing that it does not express. It is true, where bigotry so far prevails that every thing odious is in- cluded in disbelief of the received faith, it matters little by what term that dissent is deno- minated ; and the Mahometans annex as much detestation and contempt to their giaour, as Christians can possibly do to iujidel, though the word has an entirely different derivation. But this feeling is not universal ; and where there is a choice of two terms, one opprobrious, the other civil, a candid man will not hesitate which to prefer. They indeed, who find their account in fostering a prejudice against an an- tagonist, will not readily renounce so easy a method of doing it as that of fixing upon him a vituperative appellation. Another word of frequent polemic use, and conveying a charge of which the person apply- ing it constitutes himself the judge, is Blas- phemy. The original signification of this word is well known to be evil-speaking in general; but in the English, and other modern lan- guages, it has been adopted as a technical term limited to that kind of evil-speaking which consists 408 VERBAL REMARKS. consists in impiety, ov irreverence towards the Supreme Being. No one will deny that there is such a crime, and that it is often sufficiently manifest to justify the imputation. But in the wide diversity of men's religious ideas, cases perpetually occur in which, what one holds sa- cred, another regards as profane ; whence un- avoidably result reciprocal charges of impiety, which may be bandied from party to party eter- nally. It is impossible in the most guarded terms to controvert that claim to divine honour or authority, in persons or doctrines, which is the basis of particular religious systems, with- out giving such a perception of impiety to their votaries as shall appear to them to justify the reproach of blasphemy. How, for example, can the mildest opposer of Mahometism argue against the pretended divine mission of its founder, without involving him in such a charge of imposture as shall strike with horror the pious Mussulman! Here is no medium — his claim must be either admitted or rejected, and the designation of his nature and character fol- lows of course. The Roman-catholic doctrine of the real pre- sence of Christ (and therefore of God himself) in the consecrated wafer, inconceivably absurd and VERBAL REMARKS. 40«J and monstrous as a Protestant may think it, is found by experience to be the tenet which has the firmest hold upon the minds of members of that communion, and that to which the high- est sanctity is annexed. The Gallican church, which, from its resistance to Papal authority, almost incurred the charge of heresy, appears emulously to have vindicated its orthodoxy by its strenuous defence of this doctrine. At the conference between the two religions in France held at Poissy in the sixteenth century, Beza, the advocate of the Reformers, adverting to transubstantiation, said, " We affirm that the body of Jesus Christ is as distant from bread and wine, as the highest heaven from the earth." The expression was inflated, but conveyed no further meaning than a simple denial of the sa- cramental presence ; yet it appeared so shock- ing to the Catholic prelates, that some of them loudly exclaimed Blasphemavit : others rose to be gone, as if fearing to be contaminated in such impious company; and the king, who was present, was requested either to silence Beza, or to dissolve the assembly. On the other hand, the Protestants were always as much scandalized with the idolatrous worship paid to the breaden God, as they termed it; and were as 410 VERBAL REMARKS. as ready to impute blasphemy to the language of priests and monks in extolling the sanctity of a symbol of their own manufacture. For it is lo be observed, that the accusation of im- piety is equally incurred by both parties in such disputes ; and that the derogation to divinity is as flagrant in raising creatures to a level with it, as in attacking its supremacy. Thus the Jewish high-priestexclaimed Blasphemy ! when Jesus announced himself as the son of God ; and many fanatics who have arrogated a parti- cipation in the same character have been treated as blasphemers. It seems impossible to engage in the Trinitarian controversy without being liable to the charge of impiety. Reasonings, how temperate soever, tending to undeify two persons in the Trinity, must be regarded as blasphemous by those who are firmly persuaded of their title to divine honours ; while they who hold as sacred the maxim — Let no inferior nature Usurp,, or share, the throne of its Creator, cannot avoid considering such a multiplication of the objects of worship as treason against the prerogative of the One Supreme. A believer in revelation certainly will not admit the axiom of Hobbes, " Superstition is a religion VERBAL REMARKS. 411 a religion out of fashion, and religion is a su- perstition in fashion;" yet in controversial language it seems to be assumed as matter of fact. Who now feels shocked at the ridicule and sarcasm levelled at the Heathen theology by the Christian writers, which must, at the time, have appeared to a majority of those to whom they were addressed blasphemous in the highest degree, and were probably the cause of some of the persecutions that fell upon the Christian church ? The Italian who pulled oft' his hat to a statue of Jupiter, hoping to be re- membered for his civility should his godship " come into fashion" again, had a right notion of the chronological and geographical nature of piety and impiety in popular estimation. My inference from these observations is, that such a weighty charge as that of blasphemy, which we always see coupled with the most odi- ous epithets, and represented as the highest of crimes, should not be lightly brought, nor simply upon the ground of a difference of opinion as to the sacredness of particular persons or doc- trines. 1 know not to what South alludes in a sentence quoted in Johnson's Dictionary, where he speaks of a " villanou*, impudent and blas- phemous assertion ; " but he was just that kind of 412 VERBAL REMARKS. of character from whom every licence of vitu- perative language in controversy might be ex- pected. We have seen that the term is often convertible ; and nothing can be idler than to indulge in the use of reproachful terms which an antagonist may with as good authority retort upon ourselves. It would be wisdom for a man not to engage at all in religious disputation, till he has brought his mind into such a state, as to bear with tranquillity any argumentative liberty used by his opponent against what he may himself esteem most sacred. Heat that bursts forth in railing language is not, indeed, a proof of a bad cause, but indicates a weak and injudicious defender of that cause, one who has been little accustomed to the use of fair reasoning, and whose opinions are, with respect to himself, mere prejudices. Impiety is a word of more large and lax sig- nification than blasphemy, denoting disregard to religion in general, whether manifested in words or deeds. In common with the former, it has always been freely applied by sects and parties to stigmatize sentiments and practices derogatory from their own ; and poetry and history are filled with applications of the word to marks of indifference or contempt shown to prevalent VERBAL REMARKS. 413 prevalent religions, almost always followed, in their representations, by condign punishment. But when the rational theism of a Socrates, and the daring atheism of a Diagoras, are treated with the same appellation, no other inference can be drawn, than that the person using it finds the tenets of both equally adverse to his inter- ests or his prejudices. Impiety being a nega- tive term, its proper meaning can only be de- termined by that of the positive term piety. If this be rightly defined by Johnson, " dis- charge of duty to God," the duty must first be submitted to the scrutiny of reason, or the grossest superstition may usurp the regard due to rational religion. VIII. On the mixture of words from the learned languages unchanged, with English. Writers zealous for the purity of the English tongue have frequently censured that intermix- ture of French words with which some fashion- able authors have interlarded their styles, and which in general is justly regarded as betray- ing bad taste or affectation. There seems, however, to be equal reason for animadverting upon a similar practice with respect to words in 414 VERBAL REMARKS. in the learned languages. It is common, not only in scientific works, but in those in miscel- laneous literature, to meet with Greek and La- tin terms, which preserve not only their radical forms, but even their grammatical inflections. As the English language is distinguished by its great simplicity in this respect, nothing can be more glaring than this anomaly, which ap- pears to me one of the greatest deformities of which a style is suceptible. The words to which I allude are such as phenomenon, crite- rion, effluvium, genus, miasma, stamen, &c. These, even in the singular form, ill assimilate with the general tone or staple of our language; and it is a defect that we do not, like the Ita- lians and French, at once naturalize them by a vernacular termination. In length of time, when such words have come into popular use, this is often done ; but, through fear of the charge of singularity and innovation, writers of reputation are backward in taking this li- berty, and prefer chequering their diction with a macaronic mixture of words absolutely foreign, notwithstanding the violation of the plainest principles of good taste. But the effect is infinitely worse when such words are pluralized according to their proper form ; VERBAL REMARKS. 4\5 form ; since nothing can be more alien to the rules of English grammar than the practice of antiquity in this respect. What can be more un-english than to form the plurals of the ter- minations on, um, us, ma, men, by a, era, ata, ina, &c. ? 1 grant that our proper plural s gives somewhat of a barbarous sound to the above terminations ; but, to my perception, a caco- phony is not half so bad as an incongruity ; and those writers appear to me worthy of praise, who have ventured upon stamens instead of sta- mina ; miasms instead of miasmata ; and efflu- viums instead of effluvia. The reason why this accommodation to our own language is not oftener made, is the writer's apprehension lest he should be thought wanting in erudition. Persons classically educated are much disposed to hold the maxim that no one can write En- glish correctly who is unacquainted with the learned languages ; and true it is, if a noun cannot be put into the plural without borrow- ing the form of Greek or Latin, a knowledge of the grammar of those languages is indispen- sably necessary to all who use such words. What is this, however, but asserting that our tongue is in an unformed state ; and, indeed, rather a jargon than a language? for every speech that 410 VERBAL REMARKS. that mixes words and grammatical forms be* longing to different languages, is properly a jargon. It ought, on the contrary, to be a maxim, that every cultivated language is a rule to itself, and has no occasion to refer to the practice of another for direction in the use of any terms that properly belong to it. Their original meaning, indeed, must be sought in the languages whence they are derived ; but their actual signification, their syntax and in- flections, are determined by the practice of the best writers in the language; and every one well versed in them ought to be deemed fully capable of acquiring the accurate and elegant use of such language. The French, who have perhaps surpassed every modern nation in the attention paid to fixing and cultivating their own tongue, admit this principle. That it is disputed among us is owing to the classical pride or pedantry which are still too prevalent, and which aim at establishing as marked a difference as possi- ble between the learned and the unlearned. Yet it is certain that some of the best writers in our language have been, and are, females, whose education cannot have familiarized them with the forms and constructions of the tongues of antiquity, but whose taste and refinement render VERBAL REMARKS. 41/ render them, when their minds are duly cul* tivated by the literature accessible to them, ex- cellent judges and proficients in genuine En- glish. It has been a fashion for some years past to impose compound terms from the Greek upon new inventions, not only of the scientific kind, but for popular use, or mere entertainment. These names have had some reference to the nature of the things, but so lax that no an- cient Grecian could bave formed a conception of them without a particular explanation. What would an Athenian have made of Pano- rama, Panopticon, Phantasmagoria, and the like ? A modern, who sees them, knows pre- cisely what the words imply; and so he would if the etymology were Chinese. They are therefore mere arbitrary terms ; and it is rather misleading, than informing, to indicate the things by compounds which, to the few who can understand them, will more probably suggest false than true conceptions. I can sup- pose a young lady, writing to her brother at college that she had seen the different pano- ramas in town, triumphantly corrected by tell- ing her that she was ignorant of the meaning and origin of the word, and that she ought W, 2 E have 418 VERBAL REMARKS. have written panorctmata ; but 1 should be un- willing to admit that the Grecian was the bet- ter English scholar of the two, or that he had a clearer notion of the nature of a circular land- scape. I shall subjoin a remark respecting ortho- graphy. Polite English pronunciation discards all combinations of different vowels, or di- phthongs ; and the practice of our schools gives no other than the simple sound of e to the La- tin diphthongs ce and oe. Why then should they be retained in the spelling of words fairly anglicised ? Dr. Middieton, who adopted the etymological principle in orthography, attempt- ed to introduce the ce in all words in which it existed in the Latin whence they were derived: thus he wrote prelate, prefix, preface, and the like. In this practice he was consistent; but the deformity to the eye was too glaring to be imitated ; and we reserve only enough of the diphthongal spelling to add to the nume- rous anomalies of our language, and give scope to scholastic impertinence. What purpose does it serve to write ceconomy, hemorrhage, phe- nomenon, &c. but to mark that the words are not of the old English staple (a piece of infor- mation unnecessary to a scholar, and useless to one VERBAL REMARKS. 419 one who is not) ; whilst it only misleads in the pronunciation, proper diphthongs being always long, whereas the e which we substitute in speaking such words is generally short? When the rest of the word has assumed an English form, it is mere pedantic barbarism to preserve in it a letter not found in our alphabet. 2 e 2 r^ ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. As the cases are comparatively rare in which the mathematical or the syllogistical forms of argumentation can be employed on topics of hu- man inquiry, it has become necessary frequently to resort to the mode of reasoning from analogy, the essence of which consists in drawing in- ferences concerning things unknown, from their resemblance to things known. Although such a process is of great use in discussing matters of probability, and is, indeed, often the only me- thod of arguing which we can employ, it is highly important for the reasoner to be aware of its defects and inlets to delusion, which last are so numerous, that it has been the parent of most of the errors under which mankind have laboured. There is in human nature such a propensity to pursue resemblances to a fanci- ful length, and from slight premises to draw large conclusions, that a keen speculatist can geldom confine himself within the limits of fair inference ; ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. 421 inference; and the greater his ingenuity and inventive powers, the more is he liable to be led astray by illusory notions. The very narrow foundations upon which extensive analogies have been built cannot but surprise one who studies the history of the human mind without prejudice. Some in- stances of this kind may be usefully adduced, both as being curious in themselves, and as being calculated to strike a deep and salutary impression of the facility with which the judge- ment is misguided in pursuing trains of analo- gical speculation. Few deceptions have prevailed so generally or lasted so long as that of judicial astrology ; yet nothing can be more forced and remote than the analogies on which it is founded. After the influences of the great luminaries, the sun and moon, upon this globe, had been ascertained, it was not an improbable suppo- sition that the other heavenly bodies might also exert influences. But as their apparently inferior bulk would obviously reduce any ac- tion of a similar kind to a mere trifle, men were not satisfied with the direct analogy, but fancied a variety of influences totally different from those of the former, which they deduced from 422 ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. from the most shadowy conformities imagina- ble. The first step in this system of error seems to have been the giving names to the planets. Those of the heathen theology being borrowed for this purpose, analogy transferred the attributes of the deities to the planets which bore their names. For the convenience of astronomers, the whole face of the heavens was then portioned out into figures, compre- hending groups of. the fixed stars, or constella- tions, some of which, in their outlines, exhi- bited a rude resemblance to the object chosen to discriminate them; while, in the greater part, the figure was formed merely by the ar- bitrary fancy of the designer. Even to these constellations, however, qualities w^ere asso- ciated similar to those of" the men, animals, utensils, &c. of which the figures were consti- tuted. The most noted of these lay in the zodiac, or sun's path- way in his apparent orbit round the earth ; and to these was attributed a superior influence, that of the sun being added to the fancied properties of the constel- lations. The task, however, remained of connecting these influences or significations with man and his concerns; and this was the final and most curious ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. 423 curious process of analogy. A planet was sup- posed to shed its influence peculiarly when in a certain part of the heavens; and the child who happened to come into the world at the instant of such an astral predominancy, was to be indelibly impressed with the qualities be- longing to his star. Thus dispositions became jovial, saturnine, martial, mercurial, and the like ; words which from the frequency of their astrological application are adopted into com- mon language. At length the folly proceeded so far, that every event which was to befal a man during his whole life was conceived to be determined by the aspect of the heavens under which he was born ; so that, as Butler humo- rously expresses it, No sooner does he peep into The world, but he has done his do ; Catch'd all diseases, took all physick That cures or kills a man that is sick j Married his punctual dose of wives, Is cuckolded, and breaks or thrives. Hud'dr. From this persuasion, casting a nativity was regarded as the summit of all human science ; and for many ages astrologers were retained by kings and great men for the purpose of making predic- 424 ON KEASONING FROM ANALOGY. predictions, and, from the position of the hea- vens, directing the proper time for engaging in all affairs of consequence. So congenial were these follies to the weakness of the human mind, agitated by the vicissitudes of hope and fear, that they were among the latest delusions banished from Europe by the progress of reason and knowledge, and still reign uncontrolled in the East. But though the notions of astro- logy are now exploded among all persons of sense, yet we are so familiarised with them in our reading, that we are perhaps scarcely sen- sible of the amazing abuse of analogy which first brought them into credit. What wide steps in reasoning (if the process deserves the name) from the material effects of the sun and moon, to the moral influence of a star ! from the supposed qualities of a heathen deity, to similar ones residing in a planet to which chance has affixed the same appellation ! and from the place in the hemisphere occupied by that planet, to the exertion of its influence for life upon a child born at a particular instant ! Yet with such reasoning men of the best un- derstanding were long satisfied. Popular religions in all ages have taken their rise from analogy. A? soon as men had formed a con- ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. 425 a conception of potent beings, the invisible au- thors of effects which could not be produced by human agents, they clothed these beings in bodily shapes resembling their own, and en- dowed them with human passions and affec- tions. In conformity with these notions, the means employed to gain their favour or avert their displeasure were analogically founded upon the experience of similar applications to the feelings of earthly superiors. Lowly pro- strations, addresses in the most studied terms of praise and adoration, altars on which imaginary offerings were made to them of whatever them- selves held most precious *, even to the sacrifice of their own children, the erection of magnifi- cent edifices for their expected residence, the consecration of a select body of men to their service — were modes of doing them honour and rendering them propitious, evidently co- pied from the manifestations of reverence and attachment paid to chiefs and kings. So im- plicitly were these ideas received, that persons engaged in opposite interests contended with each other for the favour of the gods by such bribery as they would have employed towards Jl. vi. go. human 426 ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. human potentates; and, careless of the justice of their cause, placed their reliance upon the tempting olfers of a share in the pillage which success would enable them to make good. His- tory is filled with accounts of these monstrous profanations of religion, which afforded ample scope for the sarcasms of Lucian and other freethinkers in the days of heathenism. Even the purity of Christian theology has been largely contaminated with similar follies and impieties; and catholic sovereigns have not been less profuse of costly bargains for the pro- tection of favourite saints in. their emergencies, than the most superstitious of the believers in pagan mythology. The same analogy between things human and divine has, in almost all religions, either suggested the idea of deities of opposite cha- racters, beneficent and malignant, the respec- tive authors of the goods and evils of which man- kind partake ; or has represented the same be- ings as the distributors of both, according as they have been actuated on different occasions by the motives which influence men in like cases. Savage nations usually have recourse to evil spirits or demons to account for the diseases and other calamities under which they suffer ; whereas ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. 427 whereas the Grecian mythology attributed them to tne same deities, offended by neglect or contumely 7 , who, when soothed and pleased, were kind and beneficent. The gods in Ho- mer are partisans or enemies of Greece or Troy, upon just the same grounds of favour or resentment as the human chiefs attached to each party ; and indeed their moral portraitures are so little distinguished from those of mere mortals, that the philosophers of other ages, when they began to reason upon theological topics, were greatly shocked with the degrada- tion. The epic poets, his imitators, in much more enlightened times persisted in forming their machinery upon similar passions and af- fections of the deities who were actors in their fable; and war and mischief were deliberated upon in the cabinet of Olympus just as they would have been in the privy-councils of ter- restrial monarchs. Errors in science have almost universally- been the offspring of false or imperfect analo- gies; and it is curious to observe how a single term, used by way of illustration, has engen- dered an entire theory with all its appendages. Thus the nenes have been called, as they really are in appearance, strings; but strings are 428 ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. are capable of different degrees of tension, and according to these vibrate with greater or less force. Hence the nervous system was said to be braced or relaxed ; its functions depend- ed upon its tone; the sympathies of one nerve with another were owing to similarity of tension, as had been remarked with respect to fiddle-strings ; nerves communicated their vi- brations to the brain, and excited in that organ tremulous motions which were the immediate cause of sensation ; and so forth. It is a pity that all this ingenious and well-connected sy- stem is overthrown by the simple fact, that the nerves always lie unstretched in a soft bed of cellular substance, to which they are attached by innumerable minute threads, so as to be utterly incapable of any motion like the vi- brating of a cord. For the purposes of quackery and imposture a single word sometimes produces an admirable effect, by engaging the imagination in a kind- of obscure analogy, where no precise or con- sistent theory could be supported. This was remarkablv the case with respect to what was called animal magnetism. Real magnetism was well known as a power in nature characterized by its effect, though its cause remained a se- cret. f£f REASONING FROM ANALOGY. 429 cret. A certain invisible influence proceeding from the magnet exercised a visible opera- tion upon the iron approaching it. By apply- ing the term magnetism to the animal body, it was not intended to maintain that . the same principle existed there; but advantage was taken of the idea the word excited, to insi- nuate that actions equally mysterious and un- accountable might result from some peculiar mode of operating upon one living subject by another. To this suggestion was annexed the doctrine of sympathy, in which mental and corporeal actions are strangely blended, and some undoubted fact has served as the basis of much fiction. As it is indisputable that the image of an absent person acts upon the mind of another, through the medium of memory, and that the feelings and sentiments of that person may be communicated sympathetically to his friend by letter or message ; so it was assumed that the bodily operations, or treat- ments, could be made to exert a required in- fluence at an indefinite distance. This notion nearly resembled that of the cure of wounds by sympathy, so seriously patronized by that ex- traordinary person Sir Kenelm Digby, who, however, maintained his system more philoso- phically, 430 ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. phically, by a subtle application of tbe doc- trines of efrluvia, arid of the mutual attraction of similar particles. All these mystical theories and fraudulent pretensions claim the support of one analogical argument: — as you are obliged to admit for matter of fact several things the causes of which you are unable to comprehend, so you must not reject what we affirm upon the ground of its incomprehensibility. The ar- gument to a certain extent is a good one ; but does not exclude a just suspicion of wonders at- tempted to be rendered credible by weak and sophistical reasoning. Medical theories have been little more than a succession of false or overstrained analogies. At one time chemical ideas gave the vogue, and then, every operation in the animal body, sound or diseased, w r as ascribed to ferments, neutralizations, volatilizations, condensations, and other processes carried on in the labora- tory. Afterwards, mathematical and mecha- nical principles took the lead; and the size and weight of particles, their free motion or obstruction, the density or rarity, viscidity or tenuity of fluids, the impelling and resisting powers, the contractility and elasticity of fibres, and the like; were applied to explain the whole ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. 431 whole animal economy. In later times, the living principle was taken into the account, and the human hody became a self-moved elec- trical machine, subject to excitement, exhaus- tion, overcharge, inertness, &c. Thus each set of theorists have had a favourite analogy, to which they have accommodated their language and reasonings, often to the total disregard of other considerations. A remarkable example of extravagance in analogical reasoning is afforded by Mr. Burke's Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful, where he attempts to shew that it is the essence of the beautiful to produce " an agreeable relaxation of the fibres." To illustrate this, he observes, " that smooth things are relaxing; that sweet things, which are the smooth of taste, are re- laxing too; and thzlsiveet smells, which bear a great affinity to sweet taste*, relax xevy re- markably." He further remarks, that "we often apply the quality of sweetness metaphorically to visual objects ;" and he proposes " for the better carrying on this remarkable analogy of the senses, to call sweetness the beautiful of taste." Professor Dugald Stewart, in his " Philosophi- cal Essays/' has made some very just observa- tions 432 l ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. tions on the abuse of analogy in this celebrated essay. Even men of the world and politicians have sometimes suffered themselves to be mis- led by analogical reasonings in opposition to the dictates of plain sense and experience. In the contest which terminated with the in- dependence of the American colonies, many will remember how much stress was laid in ar- gument upon the natural authority of a mother- country over her daughters, and the obliga- tion of the latter to attend to the wants of the good old parent, and to submit to a subser- viency to her interests. This analogy, however, was not understood on the other side of the At- lantic ; and we know the result of the mother's attempt to whip her children into obedience. From the preceding examples of the abuse of analogy may be deduced the principal cautions requisite in applying it 4:o purposes of argu- mentation. In the first place, it should be founded upon a real, not a nominal, resemblance. Various in- stances have been cited to shew how a single word used with laxity has formed the basis of a delusive analogy. These might be multipli- ed GN REASONING FROM ANALOGY. 433 ed from the effects of that metaphorical appli- cation of terms literally belonging to corporeal objects, to mind and its qualities, which have obtained in all languages. Thus, the word em- ployed to denote the immaterial part of the human compound has always been that by which some kind of subtle matter, such as air, vapour, breath, is primarily denoted. But however this may seem to the imagination di- vested of the properties of gross matter, it re- mains, in effect, as remote from the philoso- phical notion of spirit, (as far as the latter is characterized by a negation of all material pro- perties,) as gold or marble. Yet the popular ideas of soul in its existence when separated from the body have in all countries been de- rived from this false and merely verbal analogy between spirit and matter of great tenuity ; whence have sprung all the fancied forms of ghosts and spectres, souls clad in vestments of air or light, which were objects to the sight and hearing, though impalpable to the touch. To the same head may be referred the errors arising from the use of symbols, the practical consequences of which have frequently been very injurious to rational religion and morality. Thus, crime being metaphorically the stain and -2.F pollution 434 ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. pollution of the soul, and innocence its white- ness and purity, the emblem of washing was employed to denote purgation from mental vi- tiations. But the emblem soon began to be regarded as the thing itself. Ovid in his Fasti, mentioning the annual lustrations practised in Rome, takes notice of the abuse of attributing to the washing itself the property of cleansing from all past delinquencies ; which error he derives from ancient Greece : and after giving some instances of this mode of expiating homi- cide, he rationally exclaims, Ah nimium faciles, qui tristia crimina caedis Fluminea tolli posse putatis aqua ! Too simple souls, who think the guilt of blood Can leave its tincture in the river's flood ! Whether Constantine's reservation of his bap- tism till he should have come to a close of his life and crimes was a relic of heathen supersti- tion, or a sentiment of corrupted Christianity, ecclesiastical historians may decide ; but it is too certain that false notions concerning the efficacy of baptism were early, and still are, among the prominent errors of Christendom. The Jews and Mahometans have made a reli- gious duty of the corporeal ablution, and have thus taken the type for the thing typified. Physio- ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. 435 Physiognomical conclusions may in great part be attributed to mere verbal analogies be- tween the properties of mind and those of body. Thus the expanded brow is supposed to desig- nate an open temper ; the dark overhanging forehead, a gloomy and reserved one : sharp features, to imply an acute understanding, or a keen disposition ; thick fleshy ones, a gross in- tellect or obtuse feelings : a high nose, to indi- cate haughtiness ; a prolonged one, long-suffer- ing or patience, &c. Of kindred origin is the hypothesis that sublimity of genius is the pro- duct of a mountainous or elevated country ; and thzXflatness characterizes the native of the plain. In all these cases it appears that men have been misled by words, and that the poverty of lan- guage in expressing intellectual ideas, by terms borrowed from sensible objects, has suggested resemblances which have no real existence. Secondly, analogical reasonings should be carried to their full and fair extent. General similarity, if it infer one thing, infers more; and we must not select certain points of resem- blance, and reject others, merely because it suits the purpose of our argument. Simila- rity, it is true, is not identity; but if, from one known point of resemblance, we venture 2 F 2 t n 436 ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. to infer another unknown, there is just the same reason for proceeding in the parallel to the remaining points. Thus, astronomers hav- ing discovered that the planets have the same relation to the sun that our earth has, following the same law of moving round that luminary as their centre, and turning meanwhile upon their own axis, a reasonable foundation is laid for the conclusion that they also are inhabited by living creatures. If, however, this be a just analogical deduction, it ought likewise to regulate our conceptions concerning the nature and condition of those creatures. We need not, indeed, suppose them to be men, dogs, or horses ; nor that their modes of sensation, nutrition, propagation, and the like, are iden* tical with those which we find established in our world — for the production of variety is even here an obvious intention of nature, and new sources of it are continually opened to the observer : — but in attributing to them life, we cannot consequentially separate from it those circumstances with which life, in all the forms in which we have surveyed it, is invari- ably accompanied; namely, origin, progress, maturity, decay, and death ; pleasure and pain ; health and disease. And as in this world we universally ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. 48J universally behold good and evil, advantage and disadvantage, mutually acting as cause and effect, and combining in every disposition of things, natural and moral ; so analogy obliges us to conclude that the same mixture prevails more or less in the systems established in re- sembling worlds. The striking corporeal conformities between man and other animals have been minutely pointed out by some philosophers, who have yet been led by the force of pre-conceived hy- potheses to violate analogy, by refusing to ad- mit that the latter possess mental faculties at all similar to those of the former. Thus Des- cartes pertinaciously maintained that brutes are mere machines or automatons ; and that what appears in them to be memory, choice, contrivance, attachment, and the like, is not the result of a part in their composition resem- bling a human soul, but of mere mechanism. But surely if, in comparing the structure of the eye in a man and a dog, I find a perfect simi- larity of organ, and thence infer that the dog sees in the same manner as the man does ; I ought to conclude, that when he comprehends his master's signs, when he fawns upon him, guards him, and protects his property, he un- dergoes A*2 *°8 ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. dergoes internal impressions similar to those of a human being in like circumstances. And, indeed, the argument from analogy, if uncon- tradicted by something more positive, would extend much further, and warrant conclusions of similarity with respect to the future destiny of our fellow- animals. Thirdly, analogy is not to be followed when opposed by actual observation. This rule ope- rates as a check upon the former ; for though analogy cannot limit itself, it ought to submit to the control of a more direct and positive species of argumentation. When two things apparently resembling are proved by examina- tion or experiment to be in some points essen- tially different, the chain of analogy is broken, and all deductions from it respecting the remain- ing points are rendered so uncertain, that a so- ber reasoner will scarcely place much confidence in them. Thus, there are striking similarities between the animal and vegetable classes of creation. The subjects of both proceed through various stages to maturity, decay, and death or loss of organization, and renew themselves in their progeny. But there are also striking points of dissimilarity, such as the circum- stances attending nutrition, motion, sensa- tion ON REASONING FROM ANALOGY. 43