LETTER III.


_SIR,_

In comparing _Virgil_'s and _Milton_'s Versification, I shall begin
with _Virgil_; and shew some of the principal Beauties of his Poetry
in this respect: And here I must own myself not a little indebted to
_La-Cerda_, _Pontanus_ and _Pierius_, but above all to the most
excellent _Erythræus_, who has not only considered every Paragraph,
every Line, every Foot, every Word, and every Syllable, but even every
Letter in _Virgil_; and it is not easy to conceive how much may depend
on a single Letter, very often the whole Harmony of a Line; and on
this Account we have vast Obligations to _Pierius_; to him we owe this
fine Verse, and many others.

"_Atq; rotis summas levibus_ pellabitur _undas_.--

All the common Editions read _perlabitur_; which is horrid to the ear.
But to go on with the Matter in hand. The principal Excellencies of
_Virgil_'s Versification consist of the several following Particulars.

1st, The continual varying of the Pause.

2d, The Inversion of the Phrase.

3d, The adapting of the Sound to the Sense.

4th, The mixing of the singular and plural Numbers.