I am now to proceed to the _Assonantia Syllabarum_ or _Rhyme_. I have
shown under this Head how much _Virgil_ abounds in _Rhyme_; from
whence I conclude, that it may be reasonably supposed _Rhyme_ had its
Original from a nobler Beginning than the Barbarity of _Druids_ and
_Monks_. It is very probable that _Chaucer_, _Dante_, and _Petrarch_
learnt it from _Virgil_, and that other Nations follow'd the Example
they had set them.

To say the _Bards_ rhym'd in the Times of grossest Ignorance, merely
by their own Invention, only proves that Rhyme is naturally
harmonious. We are told by the Learned that the _Hebrew_ Poetry is in
_Rhyme_, and that where-ever any Footsteps of this Art are to be
trac'd, _Rhyme_ is always found, whether in _Lapland_ or in _China_.

If it should be objected that the _Greek_ Tongue is an Exception to
this general Rule; that Matter perhaps may be disputed, or a
particular Answer might be given. But that the _Latin_ Language is a
Friend to _Rhyme_ is clear beyond all doubt; and the same is as true
of all the living Tongues that are distinguished in the learned World.

It is no wonder that _Verse_ without _Rhyme_ has so many Advocates
amongst the Dealers in Poetry, because of its Facility. _Rhym'd_
Verse, with all its Ornaments, especially the artful Way of varying
the Pause, is exceeding difficult; and so are all the curious
Productions of Art. Fine Painting, fine Musick or Sculpture, are all
very hard to perform; it is the Difficulty that makes those Performances
so deserving of Applause when they attain the highest Perfection. As to
the Matter before us; _Rhyme_ (as Mr. _Dryden_ justly observes) never
was _Milton_'s Talent: This appears from his juvenile Poems. And when