XVI NEW L.ETTERS. 
business of versificatioii : but as you have fully answered that 
intent by your late excellent lines ; you must for the future ex- 
cuse niy replying in the same way, and make some allowance 
for the difference of our ages. 
However, when at any time you hnd y^" muse propitious, I 
shall always rejoice to see a copy of y"^ performance ; and shall 
be ready to commend ; and w^hat is more rare, yet more sincere, 
even to object and criticize where there is occasion. 
A little turn for English poetry is no doubt a pretty accom- 
plishment for a young Gent : and will not only enable him the 
better to read and relish our best poets ; but will, like dancing 
to the body, have an happy influence even on his prose compo- 
sitions. Our best poets have been our best prose-writers : of 
this assertion Dryden and Pope are notorious instances. It 
would be in vain to think of saying much here on the art of 
versification : instead of the narrow limits of a letter such a 
subject would require a large volume. However, I may say in 
few words, that the way to excell is to copy only from our best 
writers. The great grace of poetry consists in a perpetual 
variation of y'' cjidences : if possible no two lines following 
ought to have their pause at the same foot. Another beauty 
should not be passed over, and that is the use of throwing the 
sense and pause into the third line, which adds a dignity and 
freedom to y^ expressions. Dryden introduced this practice, 
and carryed it to great perfection : but his successor Pope, by 
his over exactness, corrected away that noble liberty, and almost 
reduced every sentence within the narrow bounds of a couplet. 
Alliteration, or the art of introducing words beginning with the 
same letter in the same or following line, has also a fine effect 
when managed with discretion. Dryden and l*ope practised this 
art with wonderful success. As, for example, where you say " The 
polish'd beetle," . . the epithet " burnish'd " would be better 
for the reason above. But then you must avoid affectation in 
this case, and let the alliteration slide-in as it were without design : 
and this secret will make your lines appear bold and nervous. 
There are also in poetry allusions, similes, and a thousand 
nameless graces, the etticacy of which nothing can make you 
sensible of but the careful reading of our best poets, and a nice 
