fe and Poetical
Works of Mr. John Milton," in 1740, says that these two poems are justly
admired by foreigners as well as Englishmen, and have therefore been
translated into all the modern languages. This volume contains, among
other things, "An Examination of Milton's Style"; "Explanatory and
Critical Notes on Divers Passages of Milton and Shakspere"; "The
Resurrection," a blank verse imitation of "Lycidas," "Comus," "L'Allegro"
and "Il Penserosa," and the "Nativity Ode." Peck defends Milton's rhymed
poems against Dryden's strictures. "He was both a perfect master of rime
and could also express something by it which nobody else ever thought
of." He compares the verse paragraphs of "Lycidas" to musical bars and
pronounces its system of "dispersed rimes" admirable and unique.

[8] "Life of Milton."

[9] "Il Pacifico: Works of William Mason," London, 1811, Vol. I. p. 166.

[10] "Odes on Several Descriptive and Allegoric Subjects."

[11] "To Fancy."

[12] _Cf_. Gray's "Elegy," first printed in 1751:

"Save that, from yonder ivy-mantled tower,
The moping owl does to the moon complain
Of such as, wandering near her secret bower,
Molest her ancient, solitary reign."

[13] "On the Approach of Summer." The "wattled cotes," "sweet-briar
hedges," "woodnotes wild," "tanned haycock in the mead," and "valleys
where mild whispers use," are transferred bodily into this ode from
"L'Allegro."

[14] Three volumes appeared in 1748; a second edition, with Vol. IV. added
in 1749, Vols. V. and VI. in 1758. There were new editions in 1765,
1770, 1775, and 1782. Pearch's continuations were published in 1768
(Vols. VII. and VIII.) and 1770 (Vols. IX. and X.); Mendez's independent
collection in 1767; and Bell's "Fugitive Poetry," in 18 volumes, in
1790-97.

[15] The reader who may wish to pursue this inquiry farther will find the
following list of Miltonic imitations useful: Dodsley's "Miscellany," I.
164, Pre-existence: "A Poem in Imitation of Milton," by Dr. Evans. This
is in blank verse, and Gray, in a letter to Walpole, calls it "nonsense."
II. 109. "The Institution of the Order of the Garter," by Gilbert West.
This is a dramatic poem, with a chorus of British bards, which is several
times quoted and commended in Joseph Warton's "Essay on Pope." West's
"Monody on the Death of Queen Caroline," is a "Lycidas" imitation. III.
214, "Lament for Melpomene and Calliope," by J. G. Cooper; also a
"Lycidas" po