27(5 o« Englijh poetry — Cemus, -^ug. 21. 



jniiar stamp to those ot Milton ; for these were al- 

 ways great : nor could the smallest spark of levity e- 

 ver find accefs to his mind. His ear for the charms 

 of musical sounds seems to have been exquisitely 

 delicate ; and to a person who has felt the over- 

 powering ecstacy which can be derived from this 

 source, the language of Milton in his Comus speaks 

 •' unutterable things." I will not hesitate to declare, 

 that were I ever to become ambitious of the cha- 

 racter of a poet, I fhould be more proud to have 

 been capable of writing the Comus of Milton t; an 

 all his other works, the Paradise Lost itself not i-x- 

 cepted, 



. You see, my dear boy, that though age has damp- 

 ed somewhat of that enthusiasm, which was apt to 

 hurry me sometimes in the early pa:ts of life, be- 

 yond the bounds that men with other propensities 

 thought strictly reasonable, I still cheriih tut^e 

 feelings with ineflFable delight. In matters of taste, 

 it is to the perceptive powers, and not to the reaso- 

 ning facvilty that application fliould be made. \ 

 poet who proceeds only by line and rule, is a per- 

 fect solicism in nciture. 



My paper puti me in mind that it is time to 

 close this epistle. It is not impofsible but I may- 

 resume the subject at another time, though I do not 

 say for certain, I fhall do so ; that will be as thi 

 spirit nwveth. Adieu ! 



To le continuedt 



