da

instruments, except the kettle-drum, heard at intervals. The capo of it must be suddenly broke in upon, and put to silence by the clang of the harp in a tumultuous rapid movement, joined with the voice, all at once, and not ushered in by any symphony. The harmony may be strengthened by any other stringed instrument; but the harp should every where prevail, and form the continued running accompaniment, submitting itself to nothing but the voice.'

"I cannot quit this and the preceding Ode, without saying a word or two concerning the obscurity which has been imputed to them, and the preference which, in consequence, has been given to his Elegy. It seems as if the persons, who hold this opinion, suppose that every species of poetry ought to be equally clear and intelligible: than which position nothing can be more repugnant to the several specific natures of composition, and to the practice of ancient art. Not to take Pindar and his Odes for an example, (though what I am here defending were written professedly in imitation of him,) I would ask, are all the writings of Horace, his Epistles, Satires, and Odes, equally perspicuous? Among his Odes, separately considered, are there not remarkable differences of this very kind? Is the spirit and meaning of that which begins, Descende cœlo, et dic, age, tibiâ,' Ode iv. lib. 3, so readily comprehended as Persicos odi, puer, apparatus,' Ode xxxviii. lib. 1. And is the latter a finer piece of lyrical composition on that account? Is Integer vitæ, scelerisque purus,' Ode xxii. lib. 1, superior to Pindarum quisquis studet æmulari,' Ode ii. lib. 4; because it may be understood at the first reading, and the latter not without much study and reflection? Now between these Odes, thus compared, there is surely equal difference in point of perspicuity, as between the Progress of Poesy, and the Prospect of Eton College; the Ode on the Spring, and the Bard. But,' say these objectors,' the end of poetry is universally to please. Obscurity, by taking off from our pleasure, destroys that end.' I will grant, that if the obscurity be great, constant, and insurmountable, this is certainly true; but if it be only found in particular passages, proceeding from the nature of the subject and the very genius of the composition, it does not rob us of our pleasure, but super

adds a new one, which arises from conquering a difficulty; and the pleasure which accrues from a difficult passage, when well understood, provided the passage itself be a fine one, is always more permanent than that which we discover at the first glance. The Lyric Muse, like other fine ladies, requires to be courted, and retains her admirers the longer for not having yielded too readily to their solicitations. This argument, ending as it does in a sort of simile, will, I am persuaded, not only have its force with the intelligent readers, (the ZYNETOI,) but also with the men of fashion: as to critics of a lower class, it may be sufficient to transcribe, for their improvement, an unfinished remark, or rather maxim, which I found amongst our author's papers; and which he probably wrote on occasion of the common preference given to his Elegy. The Gout de comparaison (as Bruyere styles it) is the only taste of ordinary minds. They do not know the specific excellence either of an author or a composition for instance, they do not know that Tibullus spoke the language of nature and love; that Horace saw the vanities and follies of mankind with the most penetrating eye, and touched them to the quick; that Virgil ennobled even the most common images by the graces of a glowing, melodious, and well-adapted expression; but they do know that Virgil was a better poet than Horace; and that Horace's Epistles do not run so well as the Elegies of Tibullus.""-MASON.

e.

66

VII.

ODE FOR MUSIC.

(IRREGULAR.)

I.

HENCE, avaunt, ('tis holy ground,) -
Comus, and his midnight crew,
And Ignorance with looks profound,

And dreaming Sloth of pallid hue,

a This Ode was performed in the Senate-house at Cambridge, July 1, 1769, at the Installation of His Grace Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton, Chancellor of the University.

Ver. 1. Hence, avaunt, ('tis holy ground.)] This exordium awakens and animates the attention, and forms a very pleasing contrast with the majestic tranquillity of the next stanza: in which respects it resembles the opening of the Bard.—WAKE

FIELD.

The author, however, in his hurry, seems to have fallen into an error in connecting the abrupt exclamations of the first line with nouns in the third person. Not so Milton :

"Conscience avaunt."

Ver. 2. Comus, and his midnight crew.]

"Meanwhile welcome joy, and feast,

Midnight shout, and revelry,

Tipsy dance, and jollity."

Comus, 102.-WAKEFIELD.

5

Mad Sedition's cry profane,

Servitude that hugs her chain,

Nor in these consecrated bowers

Let painted Flattery hide her serpent-train in

flowers.

Nor Envy base, nor creeping Gain,

Dare the Muse's walk to stain,

While bright-eyed Science watches round:

Hence, away, 'tis holy ground!"

II.

From yonder realms of empyrean day

10

Bursts on my ear th' indignant lay:

There sit the sainted sage, the bard divine,

15

The few, whom genius gave to shine

Through every unborn age, and undiscover'd clime.

Rapt in celestial transport they;

Ver. 7. Nor in these consecrated bowers.]

"Near to her close and consecrated bower."

Mids. Night's Dream.

Ver. 11. While bright-eyed Science watches round.]

-“ Bright-eyed fancy." Progress of Poesy. Ver. 15. There sit the sainted sage, the bard divine.] This assemblage of the great ornaments of virtue and of genius is a magnificent exhibition, and happily suited to the place of that solemnity, which gave birth to this Ode. The rhymes-divine ―shine—and clime—are not sufficiently distinct to stand without offence so near together: and clime is at much too great a distance from the correlative terminations---sublime-rhyme-at the end of the stanza, to answer the expectation of the ear. And this objection affects two other stanzas of this Ode.-WAKE-.

FIELD.

Yet hither oft a glance from high

They send of tender sympathy

To bless the place, where on their opening soul

First the genuine ardour stole.

"Twas Milton struck the deep-ton'd shell,

20

And, as the choral warblings round him swell, Meek Newton's self bends from his state sublime, 25 And nods his hoary head, and listens to the rhyme.

III.

"Ye brown o'er-arching groves,
That contemplation loves,

Ver. 17, 18. Through every unborn age, and undiscovered clime.

Rapt in celestial transport they.]

These two lines are certainly somewhat obscure, and Mr. Wakefield is not much more perspicuous in his attempt to explain them. The meaning will perhaps be best caught from the following parallel quotation :

"Nations unborn your mighty name shall sound,
And worlds applaud that must not yet be found."

Pope's Essay on Criticism, 193. Ver. 26. And nods his hoary head, and listens to the rhyme.] "E'en mitred Rochester would nod the head."

Pope's Prol. to Sat. 143.-WAKefield. Ver. 27. Ye brown o'er-arching groves.] This stanza being supposed to be sung by Milton, is very judiciously written in the metre which he fixed upon for the stanza of his Christmas Hymn.-MASON.

It is, however, remarked by Mr. Wakefield, that the last line but one of Gray's Sonnet is longer by two syllables than the corresponding verse in his original.