whatever he attempted at other times was never to his satisfaction,
though he courted his fancy never so much; so that, in all the years
he was about this poem, he may be said to have spent half his time
therein."

Upon this relation Toland remarks, that in his opinion Philips has
mistaken the time of the year; for Milton, in his Elegies, declares,
that with the advance of the spring he feels the increase of his
poetical force, redeunt in carmina vires. To this it is answered,
that Philips could hardly mistake time so well marked; and it may be
added, that Milton might find different times of the year favourable
to different parts of life. Mr. Richardson conceives it impossible
that "such a work should be suspended for six months, or for one.
It may go on faster or slower, but it must go on." By what
necessity it must continually go on, or why it might not be laid
aside and resumed, it is not easy to discover.

This dependence of the soul upon the seasons, those temporary and
periodical ebbs and flows of intellect, may, I suppose, justly be
derided as the fumes of vain imagination. Sapiens dominabitur
astris. The author that thinks himself weather-bound will find,
with a little help from hellebore, that he is only idle or
exhausted. But while this notion has possession of the head, it
produces the inability which it supposes. Our powers owe much of
their energy to our hopes; possunt quia posse videntur. When
success seems attainable, diligence is enforced; but when it is
admitted that the faculties are suppressed by a cross wind, or a
cloudy sky, the day is given up without resistance; for who can
contend with the course of nature?