And so (I say) I'll cut the causes off, Third Part, Henry VI. Act III. Sc. 3. -Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, O thou Goddess, Macbeth, Act V. Sc. 5. Thou divine Nature! how thyself thou blazon'st Not wagging his sweet head; and yet as rough, Cymbeline, Act IV. Sc. 4. Why did not I pass away in secret, like the flower of the rock that lifts its fair head unseen, and strows its withered leaves on the blast? Fingal. There is a joy in grief when peace dwells with the sorrowful. But they are wasted with mourning O daughter of Toscar, and their days are few. They fall away like the flower on which the sun looks in his strength, after the mildew has passed over it, and its head is heavy with the drops of night. Fingal. The sight obtained of the city of Jerusalem by the Christian army, compared to that of land discovered after a long voyage, Tasso's Gierusalem, canto iii. st. 4. The fury of Rinaldo subsiding when not opposed, to that of wind or water when it has a free passage, canto xx. st. 58. As words convey but a faint and obscure notion of great numbers, a poet, to give a lively notion of the object he describes with regard to number, does well to compare it to what is familiar and commonly known. Thus Homer* compares the Grecian *Book ii, 1. 111, army in point of number to a swarm of bees in another passage* he compares it to that profusion of leaves and flowers which appear in the spring, or of insects in a summer's evening: and Milton, As when the potent rod Of Amram's son, in Egypt's evil day, Wav'd round the coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud Paradise Lost, B. I. Such comparisons have, by some writers,t been condemned for the lowness of the images introduced but surely without reason; for, with regard to numbers, they put the principal subject in a strong light. The foregoing comparisons operate by resemblance; others have the same effect by contrast. York. I am the last of noble Edward's sons, Book ii. 1. 551. Richard II. Act II. Sc. 3. †See Vida Poetic. lib. ii. 282. Milton has a peculiar talent in embellishing the principal subject by associating it with others that are agreeable; which is the third end of a comparison. Similes of this kind have, beside, a separate effect: they diversify the narration by new images that are not strictly necessary to the comparison: they are short episodes, which, without drawing us from the principal subject, afford great delight by their beauty and variety: He scarce had ceas'd, when the superior fiend Behind him cast; the broad circumference Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb -Thus far these, beyond Compare of mortal prowess, yet observ'd As when a vulture on Imaus bred, To gorge the flesh of lambs, or yeanling kids, Milton, b. i. Milton, b. i. On hills where flocks are fed, flie towards the springs But in his way lights on the barren plains Of Sericana, where Chineses drive With sails and wind their cany wagons light: Walk'd up and down alone, bent on his prey. Milton, b. iii. Yet higher than their tops When God had show'r'd the earth; so lovely seem'd Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole Those balmy spoils. As when to them who sail Of Araby the blest; with such delay Well-pleas'd they slack their course, and many a league Milton, b. iv. With regard to similes of this kind, it will readily occur to the reader, that when a resembling subject is once properly introduced in a simile, the mind is transitorily amused with the new object, and is not dissatisfied with the slight interruption. Thus, in fine weather, the momentary excursions of a traveller for agreeable prospects or elegant buildings, cheer his mind, relieve him from the languor of uniformity, and without much lengthening his journey, in reality, shorten it greatly in appear ance. Next of comparisons that aggrandise or elevate. These affect us more than any other sort: the reason of which may be gathered from the chapter of Grandeur and Sublimity; and, without reasoning, will be evident from the following instances : As when a flame the winding valley fills, Iliad, xx. 569. Through blood, through death, Achilles still proceeds, O'er slaughtered heroes, and o'er rolling steeds. As when avenging flames with fury driv'n On guilty towns exert the wrath of Heav'n, The pale inhabitants, some fall, some fly, And the red vapours purple all the sky: So rag'd Achilles; Death and dire dismay, And toils, and terrors, fill'd the dreadful day. Iliad, xxi. 605. Methinks, King Richard and myself should meet Richard II. Act III. Sc. 5. As rusheth a foamy stream from the dark shady steep of Cromla, when thunder is rolling above, and dark brown night rests on the hill: so fierce, so vast, so terrible, rush forward the sons of Erin. The chief, like a whale of Ocean followed by all its billows, pours valour forth as a stream, rolling its might along the shore. Fingal, b. i. As roll a thousand waves to a rock, so Swaran's host came on; as meets a rock a thousand waves, so Inisfail met Swa ran. Ibid. I beg peculiar attention to the following simile for a reason that shall be mentioned: Thus breathing death, in terrible array, |