Belvidera talking to her father of her husband: Think you saw what pass’d at our last parting; Think you beheld him like a raging lion, Pacing the earth, and tearing up his steps, Fate in his eyes, and roaring with the pain Of burning fury; think you saw his one hand Fix’d on my throat, while the extended other Grasp’d a keen threat’ning dagger; oh, ’twas thus We last embrac’d, when, trembling with revenge, He dragg’d me to the ground, and at my bosom Presented horrid death; cry’d out, My friends, Where are my friends? swore, wept, rag’d, threaten’d, lov’d; For he yet lov’d, and that dear love preserv’d me To this last trial of a father’s pity. I fear not death, but cannot bear a thought That that dear hand should do th’ unfriendly office; If I was ever then your care, now hear me; Fly to the senate, save the promis’d lives Of his dear friends, ere mine be made the sacrifice. _Venice preserv’d, act 5._ To preserve this resemblance betwixt words and their meaning, the sentiments of active and hurrying passions ought to be dressed in words where syllables prevail that are pronounced short or fast; for these make an impression of hurry and precipitation. Emotions, on the other hand, that rest upon their objects, are best expressed by words where syllables prevail that are pronounced long or slow. A person affected with melancholy has a languid and slow train of perceptions. The expression best suited to this state of mind, is where words not only of long but of many syllables abound in the composition. For that reason, nothing can be finer than the following passage: In those deep solitudes, and awful cells, Where heav’nly-pensive Contemplation dwells, And ever-musing Melancholy reigns. _Pope, Eloisa to Abelard._ To preserve the same resemblance, another circumstance is requisite, that the language conformable to the emotion, be rough or smooth, broken or uniform. Calm and sweet emotions are best expressed by words that glide softly; surprise, fear, and other turbulent passions, require an expression both rough and broken. It cannot have escaped any diligent inquirer into nature, that in the hurry of passion, one generally expresses that thing first which is most at heart. This is beautifully done in the following passage. Me, me; adsum qui feci: in me convertite ferrum, O Rutuli, mea fraus omnis. _Æneid ix. 427._ Passion has often the effect of redoubling words, the better to make them express the strong conception of the mind. This is finely represented in the following examples: ---- Thou sun, said I, fair light! And thou enlighten’d earth, so fresh and gay! Ye hills and dales, ye rivers, woods, and plains! And ye that live, and move, fair creatures! tell Tell, if ye saw, how came I thus, how here.-- _Paradise Lost, b. viii. 273._