On the Sublime and Beautiful/Part II/Chapter 21

SUCH sounds as imitate the natural inarticulate voices of men, or any animals in pain or danger, are capable of conveying great ideas; unless it be the well-known voice of some creature, on which we are used to look with contempt. The angry tones of wild beasts are equally capable of causing a great and awful sensation. Hinc exaudiri gemitus ir&#230;que leonum Vincla recusantum, et sera sub nocte rudentum; Setigerique sues, atque in pr&#230;sepibus ursi S&#230;vire; et form&#230; magnorum ululare luporum. It might seem that these modulations of sound carry some connexion with the nature of the things they represent, and are not merely arbitrary; because the natural cries of all animals, even of those animals with whom we have not been acquainted, never fail to make themselves sufficiently understood; this cannot be said of language. The modifications of sound, which may be productive of the sublime, are almost infinite. Those I have mentioned are only a few instances to show on what principles they are all built.