Rich, rough, and brave, and exercis'd in War,

Again,

"_Hoc metuens, molemque & montis insuper altos
Imposuit, regemque dedit, qui foedere certo
Et premere, & laxas sciret dare jussus habenas,_

Dr. _Trapp_,

"But fearing this, the Sovereign of the Gods
Pent them in gloomy Caves, and o'er them threw
Vast Piles of massy Rocks; impos'd a King,
Who should by certain Measures know to curb,
Or, when commanded, to indulge their Rage.

Mr. _Pit_,

"But _Jove_, the mighty Ruin to prevent,
In gloomy Caves th'Aereal Captives pent:
O'er their wild Rage the pond'rous Rock he spread,
And hurl'd huge Heaps of Mountains on their Head;
And gave a King commissioned to restrain
And curb the Tempest, or to loose the Rein.

_Hurl'd_, _huge_, _Heaps_, _Head_, all in the same Line, imitate
Virgil's _Metuens_, _Molem_, _Montis_.

And again,

"--_Facti de nomine_ Byrsam;
_Sed vos qui tandem, quibus aut venistis ab oris,
Quove tenetis iter?_--

Dr. _Trapp_,

"--And the Name of _Byrsa_ gave
In Mem'ry of the Deed. But, in your turn,
At length inform me, who, and whence you are,
_And whither bound_?--

Mr. _Pit_,

"Hence _Byrsa_ nam'd: But now ye Strangers, say,
Who? Whence you are? And whither lies your way?--

There is no Occasion to make any more Remarks upon these Lines.

Nov. 20. 1736.

_I am_, SIR, _&c._

LETTER VIII.

_SIR,_

It has been said by several Persons, especially by Foreigners, that
there is no such thing as Measure or Feet, or long and short Syllables
in _English_ Words. This Mistake, I believe, is chiefly owing to
_Vossius_, who has advanc'd it in his Treatise _De Poematum Cantu_,
&c. As also, that the _French_ Language is more fit for Heroick Verse
than the _English_. To examine one or both of these Points will be the
Subject of this Letter.

That our Language does not abound with Dactyls and Spondees is very
true; but that we have Words enough which are perfect Iambick and
Trochaick Feet is very certain, and this naturally makes our Verse
Iambick.

_Divine_, _Attend_, _Directs_, are as perfect Iambicks as any _Latin_
Words of two Syllables, and so are most of our Monosyllable Nouns with
their Particles.

_The Lord_, _The Man_, _The Rock_. Every one must perceive that in all
these Words, the last Syllable strikes the Ear more than the first,
or, in other Words, the last is longer t