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MISCELLANIES.
Ladies and beaus to pleaſe is all the taſk,
But the ſharp critic will inſtruction aſk.
As veils tranſparent cover, but not hide,35
Such metaphors appear when right apply’d;
When thro’ the phraſe we plainly ſee the ſenſe,
Truth, where the meaning ’s obvious, will diſpenſe;
The reader what in reaſon ’s due believes;
Nor can we call that falſe which not deceives.[Explanation 1]40
Hyperboles, ſo daring and ſo bold,
Diſdaining bounds, are yet by rules controll’d:
Above the clouds, but ſtill within our ſight,
They mount with truth, and make a tow’ring flight;
- ↑ When Homer, mentioning Achilles, terms him a Lion, this is a metaphor, and the meaning is obvious and true, though the literal sense be falſe, the poet intending thereby to give his reader ſome idea of the ſtrength and fortitude of his hero. Had he ſaid that wolf, or that bear, this had been falſe, by preſenting an image not conformable to the nature and character of a hero, &c.
