DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.33699#0054
4^ The Vicar of Wakefield,
Our family dined in the field, and we sate,
or rather reclined, round a temperate repasf,
our cloth spread upon the hay, while Mr.
Burchell gave chearfulness to the feasf. To
heighten our satisfaciion two blackbirds
^nswered each other from opposite hedges, the
familiar redbreasf came and pecked the crumbs
from our hands, and every sound seemed but
the echo of tranquillity. „I never lit thus,'*
says Sophia, „but I think of the two lovers,
„ so fweetly descrihed by Mr. Gay, who were
„ ssruck dead in each other's arms. There
„ is sbmething* so pathetic in the description,
,, that I have read it a hundred times with new
,, rapture." — „In my opinion,'* cried my
ion , „ the finesf sfrokes in that description are
,, much below thole in the Acis and Gaiatea
„ of Ovid. The Roman poet undersfands the
,, use of con trad better, and upon that
„ figure artfully managed all sfreng th in the
„ pathetic depends." '—< „ It is remarkable,"
cried Mr. Burchell, „ that both the poets you
„ mention have equally contributed to intro-
3, dace a false tasfe into their respecfive coun-
,, tries, by loading all their lines with epithet.
,, Men of little genius found them mod easily
„ imitated in their defecls, and Engiish poe-
„ try, like that in the latter empire of Rome,
,, is nothing at present but a combination of
„ luxuriant images, without plot or con-
,, nexion; a siring of epithets that improve
,, the sound, without carrying on the sense.
„ Tut perhaps, Madam, while I thus repre-
„ bend others, vou'll think it jusf that I
,, should give them an opportunity to retaliate,
Our family dined in the field, and we sate,
or rather reclined, round a temperate repasf,
our cloth spread upon the hay, while Mr.
Burchell gave chearfulness to the feasf. To
heighten our satisfaciion two blackbirds
^nswered each other from opposite hedges, the
familiar redbreasf came and pecked the crumbs
from our hands, and every sound seemed but
the echo of tranquillity. „I never lit thus,'*
says Sophia, „but I think of the two lovers,
„ so fweetly descrihed by Mr. Gay, who were
„ ssruck dead in each other's arms. There
„ is sbmething* so pathetic in the description,
,, that I have read it a hundred times with new
,, rapture." — „In my opinion,'* cried my
ion , „ the finesf sfrokes in that description are
,, much below thole in the Acis and Gaiatea
„ of Ovid. The Roman poet undersfands the
,, use of con trad better, and upon that
„ figure artfully managed all sfreng th in the
„ pathetic depends." '—< „ It is remarkable,"
cried Mr. Burchell, „ that both the poets you
„ mention have equally contributed to intro-
3, dace a false tasfe into their respecfive coun-
,, tries, by loading all their lines with epithet.
,, Men of little genius found them mod easily
„ imitated in their defecls, and Engiish poe-
„ try, like that in the latter empire of Rome,
,, is nothing at present but a combination of
„ luxuriant images, without plot or con-
,, nexion; a siring of epithets that improve
,, the sound, without carrying on the sense.
„ Tut perhaps, Madam, while I thus repre-
„ bend others, vou'll think it jusf that I
,, should give them an opportunity to retaliate,