Page:The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, Volume 2.djvu/153

Rh the stanzas indeed are not equal. An imperial crown cannot be one continued diamond; the gems must be held together by some less valuable matter.

In his first ode for Cecilia's day, which is lost in the splendor of the second, there are passages which would have dignified any other poet. The first stanza is vigorous and elegant, though the word diapason is too technical, and the rhymes are too remote from one anotheranother [sic].

From harmony, from heavenly harmony,
 * This universal frame began:

When nature underneath a heap of jarring atoms lay,
 * And could not heave her head,

The tuneful voice was heard from high,
 * Arise, ye more than dead.

Then cold and hot, and moist and dry, In order to their stations leap,
 * And musick's power obey.

From harmony, from heavenly harmony,
 * This universal frame began:
 * From harmony to harmony

Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
 * The diapason closing full in man.

The conclusion is likewise striking, but it includes an image so awful in itself, that Rh