107
VERSES to a Lady,
with VOLTAIRE'S _Temple of Taste_ 112
A TOWN ECLOGUE 116
JUPITER and the CLOWN. A Fable 120
An Elegy on the DEATH of a LINNET 128
An EVENING PIECE 131
To Miss ---- with a Flower 134
SAPPHO's Ode to VENUS translated 136
To the Memory of Mrs. ---- 138
To the Memory of Mr. H*** M***. An Elegy 143
To the Memory of the late
pious, and ingenious Mr. HERVEY 147
The Third Chapter of HABAKKUK paraphrased 152

An
ESSAY
on the
LYRIC POETRY
of the
ANCIENTS.

Humbly Inscribed
to the
RIGHT HONOURABLE
JAMES Lord DESKFOORD.

An
E S S A Y
on the
LYRIC POETRY of the ANCIENTS.

LETTER I.

MY LORD,

It is an observation, no doubt, familiar to your Lordship, that Genius
is the offspring of Reason and Imagination properly moderated, and
co-operating with united influence to promote the discovery, or the
illustration of truth. Though it is certain that a separate province is
assigned to each of these faculties, yet it often becomes a matter of
the greatest difficulty to prevent them from making mutual
encroachments, and from leading to extremes which are the more
dangerous, because they are brought on by an imperceptible progression.
--Reason in every mind is an uniform power, and its appearance is
regular, and invariably permanent. When this Faculty therefore
predominates in the sphere of composition, sentiments will follow each
other in connected succession, the arguments employed to prove any point
will be just and forcible; the stability of a work will be principally
considered, and little regard will be payed to its exterior ornament.
Such a work however, though it may be valued by a few for its intrinsic
excellence, yet can never be productive of general improvement, as
attention can only be fixed by entertainment, and entertainment is
incompatible with unvaried uniformity[1].

[Footnote 1: Neque ipsa Ratio (says the elegant and sensible
Quintilian speaking of Eloquence) tam nos juvaret, nisi quae
con