Page:Vida's Art of Poetry.djvu/101

This, ^[1] were Arcadia judge, if Pan withstood,
Pan's judge Arcadia would condemn her god.

But tho' our fond indulgence grants the muse,
A thousand liberties in diff'rent views;
When e'er you chuse an image to express
In foreign terms, and scorn the native dress,
Yet be discreet; nor strain the point too far,$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
Let the transition still unforc'd appear,
Nor e'er discover an excess of care;
For some we know with aukward violence
Distort the subject, and disjoint the sense;
Quite change the genuine figure, and deface
The native shape with ev'ry living grace;
And force unwilling objects to put on
An alien face, and features not their own.
A low conceit in disproportion'd terms,
Is like a boy dress'd up in giants arms;
Blind to the truth, all reason they exceed,$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
^[2] Who name a stall, the palace of the steed,
Or grass the tresses of great Rhæa's head.

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1. See Virgil. Eclog. 4.
2. The Catachresis.

'Tis