Sound and Sense
True
ease
in
writing
comes
from
art,
not
chance,
As
those
move
easiest
who
have
learned
to
dance.
'Tis
not
enough
no
harshness
gives
offense,
The
sound
must
seem
an
echo
to
the
sense:
Soft
is
the
strain
when
Zephyr
gently
blows,
And
the
smooth
stream
in
smoother
numbers
flows;
But
when
loud
surges
lash
the
sounding
shore,
The
hoarse,
rough
verse
should
like
the
torrent
roar;
When
Ajax
strives
some
rock's
vast
weight
to
throw,
The
line
too
labors,
and
the
words
move
slow;
Not
so,
when
swift
Camilla
scours
the
plain,
Flies
o'er
the
unbending
corn,
and
skims
along
the
main.
Hear
how
Timotheus'
varied
lays
surprise,
And
bid
alternate
passions
fall
and
rise!
