Expreffion. For the two firft of thefe, Ovid is fa. mous amongst the Poets; for the latter, Virgil. Ovid images more often the Movements and Affections of the Mind, either combating between two contrary Paffions, or extreamly difcompos'd by one: His Words therefore are the least part of his Care, for he pictures Nature in diforder, with which the Study and Choice of Words is inconfiftent. This is the proper Wit of Dialogue or Difcourfe, and confequently of the Drama, where all that is faid is to be fuppos'd the effect of fudden Thought, which, though it excludes not the quickness of Wit in Repartees, yet admits not a too curious Election of Words, too frequent Allufions, or ufe of Tropes, or, in fine, any thing that bews re. moteness of Thought, or Labour, in the Writer. On the other fide, Virgil fpeaks not fo often to us in the perfon of another, like Ovid; bu in his own. be re- lates almof all things as from himself, and thereby gains more Liberty than the other, to exprefs his Thoughts with all the Graces of Elocution, to write more figuratively. and to confefs as well the labour as the force of his Imagination. Though be defcribes his Dido well and naturally, in the violence of her Paffions yet ke muft yield in that to the Myrrha, the Biblis, the Althea, of Ovid; for, as great an Ad- mirer of him as I am, I must acknowledge, that, if I fee not more of their Souls than I fee of Dido's, at leaf I have a greater concernment for them: And that convinces me, that Ovid has touched thofe ten- der ftrokes more delicately than Virgil could. But when Action or Perfons are to be defcribed, when any fuch Image is to be fet before us, how bold, how ma fterly are the Strokes of Virgil! We fee the Objects he prefents us with, in their Native Figures, in their
proper Motions; but fo we fee them, as our own EyesB 5
