the sensation experienced from the ridiculous: as in the following instances, And pulpit, drum ecclesiastic, CANTO i. 1. 11. A wight he was, whose very sight would Do. 1. 15. That Latin was no more difficile, Than to a blackbird 'tis to whistle. Beside he was a shrewd philosopher, Do. 1. 53. And had read every text and gloss over. Do. 1. 127. This seems to be a favourite word with Butler to make a rhyme to, we have it frequently besides : When he's engag'd, and takes no notice, If any press upon him, who 'tis. Great actions are not always true sons Do. 1. 701. Do. 1. 885. You mention the comic rhymes of Swift as being superior to those of Butler, (Letters on Poetry, p. 241.) a few of them shall be given, though it is difficult to find a poem of his of the humourous kind to which reference can be made with propriety. His Rhapsody On Poetry is perhaps as little liable to exception as any with which I am acquainted: And here a simile comes pat in: Though Chickens take a month to fatten, &c. In modern wit all printed trash is Set off with numerous breaks-and dashes Convey by penny-post to Lintot, But let no friend alive look into 't. For you can ne'er be too far gone Read all the prefaces of Dryden, A forward critic often dupes us Then lest with Greek he over-run ye, Complain, as many an ancient bard did, Yet what the world refused to Lewis, 'Tis fifty thousand times below it. It strikes me that something of the same kind of sensation, a surprize and pleasure is excited if the rhyme be particularly apt, if it comes pat in; as in the following instances from the same poem: While every fool his claim alledges, And how agreeably surpriz'd Be silent as a politician, For talking may beget suspicion. You lose your credit all at once; Or like a bridge that joints a marish His humble senate this professes And each perfection long imputed, Judicious Rymer oft review, You raise the honour of the peerage, The rhymes in Garrick's Epigram on Dr. Hill are very happy: XXI. For physic and farces, His equal there scarce is; His physic a farce is. The bad rhymes in the Epigram on Foote and Quin, given before, (p. 363.) add to the general effect of the piece. On this ground I trust the rhymes in the Song of The Onion, in the first volume of my collection, p. 342. may be defended. A compound rhyme is introduced in a song in your Vocal Poetry. (p. 237.) The subject is light, but it does not appear sufficiently humourous to admit the comic rhyme: Friendship of another kind is, &c. Love, one grain is worth the Indies. In Congreve's song "Tell me no more I am deceiv'd," (Essays on Song-Writing, p. 209.) we have the triple rhymes' of common-woman and no man-and hard thing-farthing and bargain. The Song of The Tight Little Island is very good in its comic rhymes, and with a few alterations would be an excellent Song. I have been informed on good authority that it was a favourite with the late amiable Bishop of London, who used to repeat the burden of it with great satisfaction. The Friends and the Oyster, given before, p. 394. contains some comic rhymes. The effect of these rhymes is heightened when still farther violence is done to a word, as where it is divided, and one or more syllables put at the end of one line as a rhyme, and the other, or the remainder carried on to the beginning of the next, as in that admirable burlesque Song, in the play of The Rovers, in the Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin: VERSE 5. There first for thee my passion grew, -niversity of Gottingen. 6. Sun, moon, and thou vain world, adieu, -niversity of Gottingen- The compound rhyme has been sometimes admitted into serious Songs, where, if it be suffered to pass, it certainly is not desirable. Collins introduces into his Date Obolum Bellisario: |