The slayer of himself yet saw I there, The gore congeal'd was clotted in his hair: "Cati This reminds me of that forcible description in a х nens. Nor must I omit that affecting image in Spenser, who ever excels in the pathetic: And him besides there lay upon the grass And made an open passage for the gushing flood.* When Palamon perceived his rival had escaped, He stares, he stamps the ground; The hollow tow'r with clamour rings around: Fairy Queen, Book I. Canto 9. Stanza 36. Nor Nor are the feelings of Palamon less strongly impressed on the reader, where he says, The rage of Jealousy then fir'd his soul, If we pass on from descriptions of persons to those of things, we shall find this poem equally excellent. The temple of Mars is situated with propriety in a country desolate and joyless; all around it, The landscape was a forest wide and bare, And prickly stubs instead of trees are found. The * These passages are chiefly of the pathetic sort; for which Dryden in his tragedies is far from being remarkable. But it is not unusual for the same person to succeed in describing externally a distressful character, who may miserably fail in putting proper words in the mouth of such a character. word, so much more difficult is DRAMATIC than DESCRIPTIVE poetry! In a The temple itself is nobly and magnificently studied; and, at the same time, adapted to the furious nature of the god to whom it belonged; and carries with it a barbarous and tremendous idea. The frame of burnish'd steel, that cast a glare Which, hew'd by Mars himself, from Indian quarries came. This scene of terror is judiciously contrasted by the pleasing and joyous imagery of the temples of Venus and Diana. The figure of the last goddess is a design fit for GUIDO to exe cute : The graceful Goddess was array'd in green ; That watch'd with UPWARD eyes the motions of their queen. But, But, above all, the whole description of the entering the lists,* and of the ensuing combat, which is told at length, in the middle of the third book, is marvellously spirited; and so lively, as to make us spectators of that interesting and magnificent tournament. Even the ab. surdity of feigning ancient heroes, such as Theseus and Lycurgus, present at the lists and a modern combat, is overwhelmed and obliterated amidst the blaze, the pomp, and the profusion, of such animated poetry. Frigid and phlegmatic must be the critic, who could have leisure dully and soberly to attend to the anachronism on so striking an occasion. The mind is whirled away by a torrent of rapid imagery, and propriety is forgot. The tale of Sigismunda and Guiscardo is heightened with many new and affecting touches by Dryden. I shall select only the following picture of Sigismunda, as it has the same attitude The reader is desired all along to remember, that the first delineation of all these images is in Chaucer, or Boccace; and it might be worth examining how much Dryden has added purely from his own stock. tude in which she appears in a famous piece of CORREGGIO. Mute, solemn sorrow, free from female noise, For bending o'er the cup, the tears she shed, There is an incomparable wildness in the vision of Theodore and Honoria,* that represents the furious spectre of "the horseman ghost that came thundering for his prey;" and of the gaunt mastiffs that tore the sides of the shrieking damsel he pursued; which is a subject worthy the pencil of Spagnoletti, as it partakes of that savageness which is so striking to the imagination. I shall confine myself to point out only two passages, VOL. II. C It is a *This is one of Boccace's most serious stories. curious thing to see at the head of an edition of Boccace's tales, printed at Florence in 1573, a privilege of Gregory XIII. who says, that in this he follows the steps of Pius V. his predecessor, of blessed memory, and which threatens with severe punishments, all those who shall dare to give any disturbance to those booksellers to whom this privilege is granted. There is also a decree of the inquisition in favour of this edition, in which the holy father caused some alterations to be made. LONGUERUANA, Tom. II. p. 62. a Berlin, 1754. |