been the proper poet for King William? Addison, however, printed
the piece.

The Letter from Italy has been always praised, but has never been
praised beyond its merit. It is more correct, with less appearance
of labour, and more elegant, with less ambition of ornament, than
any other of his poems. There is, however, one broken metaphor, of
which notice may properly be taken:--

"Fired with that name--
I bridle in my struggling Muse with pain,
That longs to launch into a nobler strain."

To BRIDLE A GODDESS is no very delicate idea; but why must she be
BRIDLED? because she LONGS TO LAUNCH; an act which was never
hindered by a BRIDLE: and whither will she LAUNCH? into a NOBLER
STRAIN. She is in the first line a HORSE, in the second a BOAT; and
the care of the poet is to keep his HORSE or his BOAT from SINGING.

The next composition is the far-famed "Campaign," which Dr. Warton
has termed a "Gazette in Rhyme," with harshness not often used by
the good-nature of his criticism. Before a censure so severe is
admitted, let us consider that war is a frequent subject of poetry,
and then inquire who has described it with more justice and force.
Many of our own writers tried their powers upon this year of
victory: yet Addison's is confessedly the best performance; his
poem is the work of a man not blinded by the dust of learning; his
images are not borrowed merely from books. The superiority which he
confers upon his hero is not personal prowess and "mighty bone," but
deliberate intrepidity, a calm command of his passions, and the