" "They could scarcely have followed
before,"--he objects, in the very accents of Boeotia. Nor will he pass
"the hollow-sounding bittern" of the _Deserted Village_. A barrel may
sound hollow, but not a bird--this wiseacre acquaints us.
Note:
[2] So he was christened. But Lockhart chose to insist that his
second pre-name should properly be "Attila," and thenceforth he was
spoken of in this way.
Had the gifted author of _Lyrics of the Heart_ never heard of rhetorical
figures? But he is not Goldsmith's only hyper-critic. Charles Fox, who
admired _The Traveller_, thought Olivia's famous song in the _Vicar_
"foolish," and added that "folly" was a bad rhyme to "melancholy."[3] He
must have forgotten Milton's:--
Bird that shunn'st the noise of folly,
Most musicall, most melancholy!
Or he might have gone to the other camp, and remembered Pope on Mrs.
Howard:--
Not warp'd by Passion, aw'd by Rumour,
Not grave thro' Pride,, or gay thro' Folly,
An equal Mixture of good Humour,
And sensible soft Melancholy.
Note:
[3] _Recollections_, by Samuel Rogers, 2nd ed., 1859, 43.
AN EPISTLE TO AN EDITOR
"Jamais les arbres verts n'ont essaye d'etre bleus."--
THEOPHILE GAUTIER.
"A new Review!" You make me tremble
(Though as to that, I can dissemble
Till I hear more).
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