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ver, you are beginning to enter into a courfe of life, where you will want much advice to divert you from falling into many errors, fopperies, and follies, to which your fex is fubject.

Swift.

See another example, ftill more faulty, in the commencement of Cicero's oration, Pro Archia poeta.

Before we proceed farther, it may be proper to take a review of the rules laid down in this and the preceding fection, in order to make some general obfervations. That order of the words and members of a period is justly termed natural, which corresponds to the natural order of the ideas that compofe the thought. The tendency of many of the foregoing rules, is to fubftitute an artificial arrangement, in order to reach fome beauty either of found or meaning that cannot be reached in the natural order. But feldom it happens, that in the fame period there is place for a plurality of thefe rules: if one beauty can be catched, another must be relinquished; and the only queftion is, Which ought to be preferred? This is a queftion that cannot be refolved by any general rule: if the natural order be not relished, a few trials will difcover that artificial order which has the best effect; and this exercife, fupported by a good tafte, will in time make the choice eafy. All that can be faid in general is,

that

that in making a choice, found ought to yield to fignification.

The tranfpofing words and members out of their natural order, fo remarkable in the learned languages, has been the subject of much speculation. It is agreed on all hands, that fuch tranfpofition or inverfion beftows upon a period a very fenfible degree of force and elevation; and yet writers feem to be at a lofs in what manner to account for this effect. Cerçeau afcribes fo much power to inverfion, as to make it the characteristic of French verfe, and the fingle circumstance which in that language diftinguishes verfe from profe and yet he pretends not to fay, that it hath any other power but to raise surprise; he must mean curiofity, which is done by suspending the thought during the period, and bringing it out entire at the clofe. This indeed is one power of inverfion; but neither its fole power, nor even that which is the most remarkable, as is made evident above. But waving cenfure, which is not an agreeable task, I enter into the matter; and begin with obferving, that if conformity between words and their meaning be agreeable, it must of course be agreeable to find the fame order or arrangement in both. Hence the beauty of a plain or natural style, where the order of the words correfponds precifely to the order of the ideas. Nor is this the fingle beauty

Reflections fur la poefie Françoise.

VOL. II.

F

of

of a natural style: it is alfo agreeable by its fimplicity and perfpicuity. This obfervation throws light upon the fubject: for if a natural ftyle be in itfelf agreeable, a tranfpofed style cannot be fo; and therefore it cannot otherwife be agreeable, but by contributing to fome pofitive beauty that is excluded in a natural ftyle. To be confirmed in this opinion, we need but reflect upon fome of the foregoing rules, which make it evident, that language, by means of inverfion, is fufceptible of many beauties that are totally excluded in a natural arrangement of words. From these premiffes it clearly follows, that inversion ought not to be indulged, unlefs in order to reach fome beauty fuperior to thofe of a natural ftyle. It may with great certainty be pronounced, that every inversion which is not governed by this rule, will appear harsh and strained, and be difrelished by every man of tafte. Hence the beauty of inverfion when happily conducted; the beauty, not of an end, but of means, as furnishing opportunity for numberless ornaments that find no place in a natural ftyle hence the force, the elevation, the harmony, the cadence, of fome compofitions: hence the manifold beauties of the Greek and Roman tongues, of which living languages afford but faint imitations.

SECT.

SE C T. III.

Beauty of language from a refemblance between found and fignification.

A

Refemblance of the found to the fignifica

tion of certain words, is a beauty which has escaped no critical writer, and yet is not handled with accuracy by any of them. They have probably been of opinion, that a beauty fo obvious to the feeling, requires no explanation. This undoubtedly is an error; and to avoid it, I fhall give examples of the various refemblances between found and fignification, and at the fame time fhall endeavour to explain why fuch refemblances are beautiful. Beginning with examples where the refemblance between the found and fignification is the most entire, I proceed to others where the refemblance is lefs and lefs fo.

There being frequently a ftrong resemblance of one found to another, it will not be furprifing to find an articulate found resembling one that is not articulate thus the found of a bow-ftring is imitated by the words that exprefs it:

The ftring let fly,

Twang'd fhort and sharp, like the thrill fwallow's cry.

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The found of felling trees in a wood :

Loud founds the ax, redoubling strokes on ftrokes ;
On all fides round the foreft hurls her oaks
Headlong. Deep-echoing groan the thickets brown,
Then rustling, crackling, crafbing, thunder down.
Iliad, xxiii. 144.

But when loud furges lafh the founding fhore
The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar.
Pope's Efay on Criticism, 369.

No perfon can be at a lofs about the cause of this beauty it is obviously that of imitation.

That there is any other natural refemblance of found to fignification, muft not be taken for granted. There is evidently no refemblance of found to motion, nor of found to fentiment. In this matter, we are apt to be deceived by artful pronunciation: the fame paffage may be pronounced in many different tones, elevated or humble, fweet or harsh, brisk or melancholy, fo as to accord with the thought or fentiment: fuch concord must be diftinguished from that concord between found and fenfe, which is perceived in fome expreffions independent of artful pronunciation: the latter is the poet's work; the former must be attributed to the reader. Another thing contributes ftill more to the deceit : in language, found and fenfe are fo intimately connected, as that the properties of the one are readily communicated to the other; for example,

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