336 
” 
diftortions of the natural order of ideas, 
and fubftitutiens of lefs proper terms for 
more proper, for the purpofe of hu- 
mouring the verfification. It is an eafy_ 
thing to fhow failures of every kind, in 
a bad or carelefs poet. Wot only the 
mechanifm. of verie, but every figure 
which is intended to elevate poetry above 
profe, is only a fource of the ludicrous, 
when abfurdly executed. Ifa writer is 
not equal to the overcoming of difftcul- 
ties, let him be contented with profe. 
I am fure, the Enguirer cannot with to 
reduce poetry to the level of a Stern- 
hold’s powers, or even a Dryden’s, if 
weakly and negligently exerred.— 
Though 1 do not quite agree with fome 
French critics, in the opinion, that the 
chief pleafure of verfe arifes from its 
difficulty ; yet I know of no exquifite 
production of art, which is of cheap 
and vulgar acquifition. It appears im- 
portant, that poetry fhould pollefs fome- 
thing to diftinguifh it, in a clear and 
marked manner, from the language of 
common fpeech. The modes of. verfi- 
fication praétifed in modern Europe, 
feem not to have done this fufficiently ; 
and to this defeét, the contrivance of 
rhyme may be attributed. With refpect 
to Englith heroic blank-verfe as it is 
now generally allowed, that the divifion 
of it into parcels of ten feet is addreff- 
ed merely to the-eye, and not to the 
ear; it has become {carcely polfible to af- 
fign it meafure, properly fo called, or to 
difcriminate it, with any precifion, from 
melodious profe. Ido not mean to af- 
fert, that it has not its peculiar beau- 
ties; and where the fubjeét and diétion 
are highly poetical, they may, perhaps, 
better accord with the freedom of blank 
verfe, than with the reftraint of rhyme 
-—at leaf, unlefs the latter is managed 
with great care and fkill. But if expe- 
rience (the only guide in this matter) 
has fhown us, that, in fome inftances, 
rhyme may be difpenfed with, it has, 
f imagine, equally fhown, that, in moft 
others, it cannot. I do not think, with 
the Enquirer, that there has been any 
want of trials to get rid of the fetiers of 
rhyme, and yet retain the beauties of 
verfe. But the ear has at once revolted 
againft them. A fenfe of deficiency has 
been perceived, which no effort on the 
part of the poet has been able to fupply ; 
nor do I except from this charge, the mea- 
fure of Collins’s Ode to Evening, notwith- 
ftanding all the charms of its imagery. As 
to the attempts for adopting the ancient 
Jyric meafures in Englith poetry, 1 look 
Defehce of Rhyme... Anfwer to G. W. 
[May, 
upon them only as the playful exercifes 
of fcholars ; and by no means as ferious 
or probable efforts for the improvement 
of our verfe. The fhackle in them- is 
evidently much greater than in’ our 
rhymed meafuyes. 
On the whdle, I fhould hardly hefitate 
to lay it down as the prefent rule of tafte 
on.this fubjeét, that the light, the ele- 
gant, the gay, the lively, the varied 
ftrains of Englith poetry, would lofe al- 
moft all their grace and delicacy without 
the appendage of rhyme. 
Cosmo. 

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
STR, 
qN anfwer to G. W. it may be obferv- 
ed, that the divine title El, and its 
derivatives Eloh, Elohim, Eliah, Elioun,; 
Helios, Belus, Babel, &c. &c. were uled 
by the Chaldeans and Syrians, many 
ages before the Jewith facred books had 
exiftence, and could not, therefore, be 
taken from thence. On the contrary, it 
would not be difficult to prove, that the 
Jewifh writers applied to their divinity, 
the titles ufed by the furrounding na- 
tions. G. W. juftly obferves, the term 
Elioun is fo applied in many paffages of 
feripture ; and he will furelv allow, that 
Meilchizedek was high-prieft of Elioun, 
betore he became acquainted with Abra- 
ham, whom he “ bleffed as the lefs.”’ 
The terms Adon, and Adonai, were 
likewife employed by the Syrians, in the 
moft remote times, as titles of the Divi- 
nity, and adopted by the Jews, after 
their fettlement in Canaan. In the fame 
manner, the titles af ‘** Lord of Hea- 
ven *’’ (Beel-famin in Sanchoniatho) and 
“Ancient of Days*,’ were originally 
ufed in Chaldea +, and employed by the 
Jews, after their captivity in that coun- 
try. 
Even Balaam, whocame from “Aram, 
out of the mountains of the eaft,” 1s faid 
to have been a prophet of Fehuab, as well 
as of Elioun {, when he was brought to 
curfe the Ifraelites, an unknown people, 
from the borders of Egypt. 
But the point in queftion only refpects 

* See Daniel’s Prophecies. 
+ Hyde, de Religione Vet. Perfar. 
{ “ Balaam faid, I cannot go beyond the 
word of Jehuah, my God,” Numb. xxii. 18. 
v~-*¢ Balaam, the fon of Beor, hath faid, he who 
heard the words of El, and knew the know- 
ledge of Elioun.” Ibid. xxiv. 16, 
the 
‘ 
