382 
Lizhi glancing from the furface of wa- 
ter, Is by the fame poet compared to the 
wavering thoughts which occupied the 
"preaft of FEneas, when agitated with va- 
riety of cares. This fimile, which is of 
the ingenious kind, is borrowed from 
Apollonius Rhodius, but wrought up by 
Virgil, with great beauty of language : 
animum nunc huc celerem, nunc 
dividit illuc, 
‘In partefque rapit varias, perque omnia verfat. - 
Sicut ague tremulum labris ubi lumen ahenis 
Sole repercuffum, aut radiantis imagine lune, 
Omnia pervolitat late loca, janyque fub auras 
Erigitur, fummique ferit laquearia tecti. 
FEN. vill. 22, 
A thoufand thoughts his wavering foul divide 
That turns each way, and points to every fide. 
So from a brazen vafe the trembling ftream 
Reflects the lunar or the folar beam : 
Swift and elufive of the dazzled eyes, 
From wall to wall the dancing glory flies ; 
Thence to the cieling fhoot the glancing rays, 
And o’er the roof the quiv’sing fplendour plays. 
Pras. 
IT find but one reference in fimile to 
thar beautiful celeftial appearance, the 
vainbow ; and this, indeed, can fcarcely 
be termed a comparifon, fae it is only 
painting one object by Snare nearly re- 
fembling it.—Minerva’s defcent to raife 
the drooping fpirits of he Greeks after 
the death of Patrocius, is thus defcribed 
by Homer : 
As Jove to mortal view his radiant bow 
From heav’n extends, a fign of direful war 
Or chilling cold, which interrupts the toil 
1 lab’ring hinds, and faddens ail the flocks: 
Thus, fhronded in a radiant cloud, the hot 
©: Greeks fhe enter’d and the warriors rous’d. 
LES REVEL /GA7. 

The defcription of the rainbow is very 
faint; and its charadier, as an inauipicious 
fen, il accords with the purpote | or the 
ceeleftial vifitant in the prefent inifance. 
Clouds ace ftriking objects, not only in 
their vifible appearance, b ie but as the fere- 
runners of certain grand and terrible ae 
reéts. They are,. therefore, well aeniee 
for images of comparifon in the fublimer 
fcenes of epic poetry; and the father of 
this fpecies of compofition has~ afforded 
fome noble examples of their ufe to the 
imiiation. of his. fucceflors... The firit 
which I fhall felect, bears the charatier 
f tranquil majetty : 
As clouds, which Jove, when every breath is 
fall, 
Bas fuser on the mountain’s lofty brow, 
While fleeps the might of Boreas, and the reft 
OF thofe rude blafts, that fhriiling-founding rend 
Thé dufky clouds: fo ftedfait and unmov’d, 
‘The Greeks attend their foes. ny. ¥. 522. 
% 
Similes of Homer, Virgil, and Milton. 
[ June 
In the following paflage, the terrific 
prevails ; and there i is, perhaps, no fimile 
in Homer, in which a comparative fcene 
is either more juftly painted, or more ex-_ 
aétly adapted. Agamemnon, reviewing 
his troops, comes to the batallion of the 
Ajaxes, whom he finds arming, and fol- 
lowed by ‘*a cloud of infantry,’’ as he 
figuratively expreffes it. This figure he 
immediately expands intoa meft animated 
reprefentation : : : 
As from a watch-tower’s height, the hoped 
fwain 
Defcries a coming cloud, by Zephyr driv’n 
Acrofs the main; from far like pitch it fhows, 
Black’ning the fky ; and with it brmgs along 
A mighty ftorm ; he fhudders at the fight, 
And drives his flock beneath the thelt’ring cave: 
Thus round each Ajax, dark andclofe, the bands 
Of warlike youth, with fhields and briitling 
fpears, 
All horrent, move to war. 
IL. iv. 29§ 
Virgil has clofely imitated this fimile, 
though with fome improvements, and 
fome omiffions : 
Qualis ubi-ad terras abrupto fidere nimbus 
It mare per medium; miferis heu prefcia longe 
Horrefcunt corda agricolis ; dabit ille ruinas 
Arboribus, ftragemque fatis ; ruet omnia late ; 
Antevolant, fonitumque ferunt ad Jittora venti : 
Talis in adverfos duétor Rheteius hoftes 
Agmen agit; denfi cunecs fe qujfque coactis 
Agglomerant, 
SEN. Xil. 45F. 
As when fome tempeft o’er mid ocean roars, 
And wing'd with whuilwimds gathers to the 
fhores ; 
With boding hearts, the peafants hear from far 
The fuilen murmurs of the diftant war ; 
Forefee the harveft levell’d to the ground, 
And all the foreits fpread in rus round ; 
Swift to the land the hollow grumbling wind 
Flies, and proclaims the furicus ftorm behind : 
So fwift, fo furious great A®neas flew, 
And led again fr the foes the martial crew. 
The thick’ning tquadrons, wedg’d in clofe array, 
In one black body win their defperate way. 
Pitt. 
The fudden change of perfon here (un- 
marked in the tranflation ) from the poet 
to the affrighted fpectator, who cries, 
“ dabit ille ruinas, ruet omntalaie,’ is a 
fine artifice, and aaa great fpirit to the 
piece ; and the circumftance of the winds 
fyi ing ‘before, as harbingers. of the coming 
tempe! t, is a well- imagined addition 3 at 
the fame time, we want the “ pitchy 
darknefs” of the Greek p:€ture, and the. 
fgnificant aétion of the thepherd hurry- 
ing his flock under fhelter. 
Milton, ina fimile derived fromthefame 
objects s,has, by his or iginal and pres 
fubli Ames 

