racterised by any peculiarities of inflection, nor by any great latitude in the use of foreign idioms. More copious it is, however, than one would at firft imagine. I know of no author who has confidered it in the way of detail * What follows is but a very

fhort fpecimen.

1. A few Greek and Latin idioms are

Since writing the above, I have had the pleasure to read the following judicious remarks on this fubject. "The language of the age is never the language of "poetry, except among the French, whofe verfe, where "the fentiment or image does not fupport it, differs in "nothing from profe. Our poetry, on the contrary, "has a language peculiar to itself; to which almost every << one that has written has added fomething, by enrich"ing it with foreign idioms and derivatives; nay, fome"times words of their own compofition or invention.

66

"love

ftood filent in his mood

-

Shakespeare and Milton have been great creators_this 66 way; and no one more licencious than Pope or Dry"den, who perpetually borrow expreffions from the "former. Let me give you fome inftances from Dryden, "whom every body reckons a great mafter of our poe"tical tongue. Full of mufeful mopings unlike the "trim of love - a pleasant beverage a roundelay of with knots and "knares deformed his ireful mood in proud array "his boon was granted and difarray and fhameful "routwayward but wife-furbifbed for the field"dodder'd oaks-difberited-fmouldering flames-retch"les of laws crones old and ugly. the beldam at his "fide—the grandam- hag-villanize his father's fame. But they are infinite: and our language not being a fettled thing, (like the French), has an undoubted right to words of an hundred years old, pro"vided antiquity have not rendered them unintelligible." Mr Gray's Letters, fect. 3. letter 4.

common

common in English poetry, which are feldom or never to be met with in profe. QUENCHED OF HOPE. Shakespeare. SHORN OF HIS BEAMS.

Milton.

Created thing NOR VALUED HE NOR SHUN'D. Milton. 'Tis thus we riot, while wHO SOW IT STARVE. Pope. This day BE BREAD AND PEACE MY LOT. Pope. INTO WHAT PIT THOU SEE'ST FROM WHAT HEIGHT FALLEN. Milton. He deceived The mother of mankind, WHAT TIME HIS PRIDE HAD CAST HIM out of heaven. Milton. Some of thefe, with others to be found in Milton, feem to have been adopted for the fake of brevity, which in the poetical tongue is indifpenfable. For the fame reason, perhaps, the articles a and the are fometimes omitted by our poets, though lefs frequently in ferious than burlesque compofition *. .-In English, the adjective generally goes before the fubftantive, the no

* In the Greek poetry, the omiffion of the article is more frequent than the use of it. The very learned and ingenious author of A Treatise On the origin and progress of Language, fuppofes, that in the time of Homer, who eftablished their poetical language, the article was little ufed by the Greeks: and this fuppofition appears highly probable, when we confider, that in the Latin, which was derived from the Pelafgic tongue, (a very ancient dialect of Greek), there is no article. Yet, though the article had been in ufe in Homer's age, I imagine, that he, and every other Greek poet who wrote hexameters, would have often found it neceffary to leave it out.

minative before the verb, and the active verb before (what we call) the accufative, Exceptions, however, to this rule, are not uncommon even in profe. But in poetry they are more frequent. Their homely joys, and DESTINY OBSCURE. Now fades the glimmering landscape on the fight; and all the air folemn ftillness bolds. In general, that verfification may be lefs difficult, and the cadence more uniformly pleafing; and fometimes, too, in order to give energy to expreffion, or vivacity to an image, the English poet is permitted to take much greater liberties, than the profe-writer, in arranging his words, and modulating his lines and periods. Examples may be feen in every page of Paradife Loft.

2. Some of our poetical words take an additional fyllable, that they may fuit the verse the better; as, difpart, diftain, difport, affright, enchain, for part, ftain, fport, fright, chain. Others feem to be nothing else than common words made fhorter, for the convenience of the verfifier. Such are auxiliar, fublunar, trump, vale, part, clime, fubmifs, frolic, plain, drear, dread, helm, morn, mead, eve and even, gan, illume and illumine, ope, hoar, bide, fwage, fcape; for auxiliary, fublunary, trumpet, valley, depart, climate, fubmiffive, frolicfome, complain, dreary, dreadful, helmet, morning, meadow, evening, began or began to, illuminate, open, hoary, abide, affuage, efcape, Of fome of these the

fhort

fhort form is the more ancient. In Scotland, even, morn, bide, fwage, are still in vulgar ufe; but morn, except when contradiftinguished to even, is fynonymous, not with morning, (as in the English poetical dialect), but with morrow. The Latin poets, in a way fomewhat fimilar, and perhaps for a fimilar reason, shortened fundamentum, tutamentum, munimentum, &c. into fundamen, tutamen, munimen *

3. Of the following words, which are now almost peculiar to poetry, the greater part are ancient, and were once no doubt in common ufe in England, as many of them ftill are in Scotland. Afield, amain, annoy (a noun), anon, aye (ever), beheft, blithe, brand (fword), bridal, carol, dame (lady), featly, fell (an adjective), gaude, gore, hoft (army), lambkin, late (of late), lay (poem), lea, glade, gleam, burl, lore, meed, orifons, plod (to travel laboriously), ringlet, rue (a verb), ruth, ruthless, fojourn (a noun), fmite, Speed (an active verb), Save (except), Spray (twig), feed, ftrain (fong), ftrand, fwain, thrall, thrill, trail (a verb), troll, wail, welter, warble, wayward, woo, the while (in the mean time), yon, of yore.

Quod poetæ alligati ad certam pedum neceffitatem, non femper propriis uti poffint, fed depulfi a recta via neceffario ad eloquendi quædam diverticula confugiant; nec mutare quædam modo verba, fed extendere, corripere, convertere, dividere, cogantur.

Quintilian.

4. These

4.

These that follow are alfo poetical; but, fo far as I know, were never in common ufe. Appal, arrowy, attune, battailous, breezy, car (chariot), clarion, cates, courfer, darkling, flicker, floweret, emblaze, gairish, circlet, impearl, nightly, noifeless, pinion (wing), fhadowy, flumberous, ftreamy, troublous, wilder (a verb), brill (a verb), Shook (fhaken), madding, viewlefs.-I fufpect too, that the following, derived from the Greek and Latin, are peculiar to poetry. Clang, clangor, choral, bland, boreal, dire, enfanguined, ire, ireful, lave (to wash), nymph (lady, girl), orient, panoply, philomel, infuriate, jocund, radiant, rapt, redolent, refulgent, verdant, vernal, zypher, zone (girdle), fylvan, suffuse.

5. In most languages, the rapidity of pronunciation abbreviates fome of the commoneft words, or even joins two, or perhaps more, of them, into one; and fome of these abbreviated forms find admiffion into writing. The English language was quite diffigured by them in the end of the last century; but Swift, by his fatire and example, brought them into difrepute: and, though fome of them be retained in converfation, as don't, fhan't, can't, they are now avoided in folemn ftyle; and by elegant writers in general, except where the colloquial dialect is imitated, as in comedy. 'Tis and 'twas, fince the time of Shaftesbury, feem to have been daily lofing credit, at least in profe; but still have a place in poetry; perhaps be

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