66
PRINCIPLES OF
Chap. IV.
"League all your forces then, ye pow'rs above,
"Join all, and try th' omnipotence of Jove:
"Let down our golden everlasting chain,
"Whose strong embrace holds Heav'n, and Earth, and Main:
"Strive all, of mortal and immortal birth,
"To drag, by this, the Thunderer down to earth:
"Ye strive in vain I If I but stretch this hand,
"I heave the gods, the ocean, and the land;
"I fix the chain to great Olympus' height,
"And the vast world hangs trembling in my fight
"For such I reign, unbounded and above;
"And such are men and Gods, compar'd to Jove!"
"Join all, and try th' omnipotence of Jove:
"Let down our golden everlasting chain,
"Whose strong embrace holds Heav'n, and Earth, and Main:
"Strive all, of mortal and immortal birth,
"To drag, by this, the Thunderer down to earth:
"Ye strive in vain I If I but stretch this hand,
"I heave the gods, the ocean, and the land;
"I fix the chain to great Olympus' height,
"And the vast world hangs trembling in my fight
"For such I reign, unbounded and above;
"And such are men and Gods, compar'd to Jove!"
It would be endless to point out all the instances in which Mr Pope has improved both upon the thought and expression of his original. We find frequently in Homer, amidst the most striking beauties, some circumstances introduced which diminish the merit of the thought or of the description. In such instances, thegood
