er, triplicates. Terrestrial
steeds--celestial steeds--marine steeds! The natural and supernatural
are united--when Achilles is half of mortal, half of immortal
derivation; when heavenly coursers are yoked in the chariots of men;
when Juno, for a moment, grants voice to the horse of Achilles; and the
horse, whom Achilles has unjustly reproved, answers prophesying the
death of the hero.

Why Homer made the _Iliad_ in hexameters, no man can tell; but having
done so, he thereby constituted for ever the proper metre of Greek--and
Latin--Epic poetry. But what a multitude of subjects, how different from
one another does that, and every other Epic poem, comprehend! Glory to
the hexameter! it suits them all. Now, in every Epic poem, and in few
more than in the _Iliad_, there are many dramatic scenes. But in the
Greek tragic drama, the dialogue is mainly in iambics; for this reason,
that iambics are naturally suited for the language of conversation. Be
it so. Yet here in the Epic, the dialogue is felt to be as natural in
hexameters as the heart of man can desire. Hear Agamemnon and Achilles.
Call to mind that colloquy in Pelides' tent.

Rhyme is unknown in Greek; and it is of rhyme that we are treating,
though you may not see our drift. From Homer, then, pass on to Ariosto
and Tasso. They, too, are Epic poets who have charmed the world. Their
poems may not have such a sweep as the _Iliad_, still their sweep is
great. Rich in rhyme is their language--rich the stanza they delighted
in--_ottava rima_, how rich the name! Is rhyme unnatural from the lips
of their peers and paladins? No--an inspired speech. Is hexameter blank
verse alone fit for the mouths of Greek heroes--eight-line stanzas of
oft-recurring rhymes for the mouths of Italian? Gentle shepherd, tell me
why.

But the "Paradise Lost" is in blank verse. It is. The fallen angels
speak not in rhyme--nor Eve nor Adam. So Milton willed. But Dante's
Purgatory, and Hell, and Heaven, are in rhyme--ay, and in difficult
rhyme, too--_terza rima_. Yet the damned speak it naturally--so do the
blessed. How dreadful from Ugolino, how beautiful from Beatrice!

But the drama--the drama--the drama--is your cry--what say we to the
drama? Listen, and you shall hear--

The Tragic Drama rose at Athens. The splendid and inexhaustible
mythology of gods and heroes, which had supplied the Epic Muse with the
materials of her magnificent relations, furnished the matter of a new
species of poetr