352 POPE. 



Correctness in this case is but a-synonyme of monotony, 

 and words are chosen for the number of their syllables, for 

 their rubbishy value to fill-in, instead of being forced upon 

 the poet by the moaning which occupios the mind. 

 Language becomes useful for its diluting properties, rather 

 than as the medium by means of which the thought or 

 fancy precipitate themselves in crystals upon a connecting 

 thread of purpose. Let us read a few verses from Beaumont 

 and Fletcher, that we may feel fully the difference between 

 the rude and the reformed styles. This also shall be a 

 speech of Aspatia s. Antiphila, one of her maidens, is 

 working the story of Theseus and Ariadne in tapestry, for 

 the older masters loved a picturesque background and knew 

 the value of fanciful accessaries. Aspatia thinks the face of 

 Ariadne not sad enough : 



&quot; Do it by me, 



Do it again by me, the lost Aspatia, 

 And you shall find all true but the wild island. 

 Suppose I stand upon the seabeach now, 

 Mine arms thus, and my hair blown with the wind, 

 Wild as that desert ; and let all about me 

 Be teacher of my story. Do my face 

 (If ever thou hadst feeling of a sorrow) 

 Thus, thus, Antiphila ; strive to make me look 

 Like sorrow s monument ; and the trees about me 

 Let them be dry and leafless ; let the rocks 

 Groan with continual surges ; and behind me 

 Make all a desolation.&quot; 



What instinctive felicity of versification ! what sobbing 

 breaks and passionate repetitions are here ! 



We see what the direction of the new tendency was, but 

 it would be an inadequate or a dishonest criticism that 

 should hold Pope responsible for the narrow compass of the 

 instrument which was his legacy from his immediate 

 predecessors, any more than for the wearisome thrumming- 

 over of his tune by those who came after him and who had 

 caught his technical skill without his genius. The question 

 properly stated is, How much was it possible to make of the 

 material supplied by the age in which he lived 1 and how 

 much did he make of it 1 Thus far, among the great English 



