of a Country on its Inhabitants. 277 
effe&'s of many of his defcriptions and compa- 
rifons.* 
Milton appears to have been fo fenfible of this 
effect of Homer’s pi&urefque reprefentations, 
that he has ventured, perhaps improperly, to 
* Glad earth perceives, and from her bofom pours 
Unbidden herbs, and voluntary flowers : 
Thick new-born violets a foft carpet fpread. 
And cluftring lotos fwell’d the riling bed ; 
And fudden hyacinths the turf bellrow. 
And flamy crocus made the mountain glow : 
Celeftial dews defcending o’er the ground, 
Perfume the mount, and breathe ambrofia round. 
Pope's Homer Iliad. B. XIV. L. 395. 
Next this, the eye the art of Vulcan leads 
Deep thro’ fair forefls and a length of meads. 
And flails, and folds, and fcatter’d cots between. 
And fleecy flocks, that whiten all the feene. 
Homer's Iliad. Defer, of Achilles’s Shield. 
Elyflum lhall be thine, the blifsful plains 
Of utmoft earth, where Radamanthus reigns : 
Joys ever young unmix’d, with pain or fear. 
Fill the wide circle of the eternal year: 
Stern winter fmiles on that aufpicious clime j 
The fields are florid with unfading prime; 
From the bleak pole no winds inclement blow* 
Mould round the hail, or lhake the fleecy fnow ; 
But from the breezy deep, the bleft inhale 
The fragrant murmurs of the weftern gale, 
Homer's Odyff. B. IV. 
T 3 adorn 
