Letters of Pliny
groans the rending ground."<a href="#linknote-153" name="linknoteref-
153" id="linknoteref-153">[153]</a>
Again,
"Reclin'd on clouds his steed and armour lay."<a href="#linknote-154"
name="linknoteref-154" id="linknoteref-154">[154]</a>
So in this passage:
"As torrents roll, increas'd by numerous rills, With rage impetuous down
their echoing hills, Rush to the vales, and pour'd along the plain, Roar
through a thousand channels to the main."
It requires, I say, the nicest balance to poise these metaphors, and
determine whether they are incredible and meaningless, or majestic and
sublime. Not that I think anything which I have written, or can write,
admits of comparison with these. I am not quite so foolish; but what I
would be understood to contend for is, that we should give eloquence
free rein, and not restrain the force and impetuosity of genius within
too narrow a compass. But it will be said, perhaps, that one law applies
to orators, another to poets. As if, in truth, Marc Tully were not as
bold in his metaphors as any of the poets! But not to mention particular
instances from him, in a point where, I imagine, there can be no
dispute; does Demosthenes[155] himself, that model and standard of true
oratory, does Demosthenes check and repress the fire of his indignation,
in that well-known passage which begins thus: "These wicked men, these
flatterers, and these destroyers of mankind," &c. And again: "It is
neither with stones nor bricks that I have fortified this city," &c. --
And afterwards: "I have thrown up these out-works before Attica, and
pointed out to you all the resources which human prudence can suggest,"
&c.--And in another place: "O Athenians, I swear by the immortal gods
that he is intoxicated with the grandeur of his own actions," &c.[156] -
- But what can be more daring and beautiful than that long digression,
which begins in this manner: "A terrible disease?" -- The following
passage likewise, though somewhat shorter, is equally boldly conceived:
-- "Then it was I rose up in opposition to the daring Pytho, who poured
forth a torrent of menaces against you," &c.[157] -- The subsequent
stricture is of the same stamp: "When a man has strengthened himself, as
Philip has, in avarice and wickedness, the first pretence, the first
false step, be it ever so inconsiderable, has overthrown and destroyed
all," &c.[158]--So in the same style with the foregoing is this: --
"Railed off, as it were, from the privileges of society, by the
concurrent and just judgments of the three tribunals in the city." --
And in the same place: "O Aristogiton! you have betrayed that mercy
which used to be shown to offences of this nature, or rather, indeed,
you have wholly destroyed it. In vain then would you fly for refuge to a
port, which you have shut up, and encompassed with rocks."--He has said
before: "I am afraid, therefore, you should appear in the judgment of
some, to have erected a public seminary of faction: for there is a
weakness in all wickedness which renders it apt to betray itself!" --
And a little lower: "I see none of these resources open to him; but all
is precipice gulf, and profound abyss."--And again: "Nor do I imagine
that our ancestors erected those courts of judicature that men of his
character should be planted there, but on the contrary', eradicated,
that none may emulate their evil actions."--And afterwards: "If he is
then the artificer of every wickedness, if he only makes it his trade
and traffic," &c.--And a thousand other passages which I might cite to
the same purpose; not to mention those expressions which Aeschines calls
not words, but wonders.--You will tell me, perhaps, I have unwarily
mentioned Aeschines, since Demosthenes is condemned even by him, for
running into these figurative expressions. But observe, I entreat you,
how far superior the former orator is to his critic, and superior too in
the very passage to which he objects; for in others, the force of his
genius, in those above quoted, its loftiness, makes itself manifest. But
does Aeschines himself avoid those errors which he reproves in
Demosthenes? "The orator," says he, "Athenians, and the law, ought to
speak the same language; but when the voice of the law declares one
thing, and that of the orator another we should give our vote to the
justice of the law, not to the impudence of the orator."[159]--And in
another place: "He afterwards manifestly discovered the design he had,
of concealing his fraud under cover of the decree, having expressly
declared therein that the ambassadors sent to the Oretae gave the five
talents, not to you, but to Callias. And that you may be convinced of
the truth of what I say (after having stripped the decree of its
gallies, its trim, and its arrogant ostentation) the clause itself." --
And in another part: "Suffer him not to break cover and escape out of
the limits of the question." A metaphor he is so fond of that he repeats
it again. "But remaining firm and confident in the assembly, drive him
into the merits of the question, and observe well how he doubles."--Is
his style more reserved and simple when he says: "But you are ever
wounding our ears, and are more concerned in the success of your daily
harangues than for the salvation of the city?"--What follows is
conceived in a yet higher strain of metaphor: "Will you not expel this
man as the common calamity of Greece? Will you not seize and punish this
pirate of the state, who sails about in quest of favourable
conjunctures," &c.--With many other passages of a similar nature. And
now I expect you will make the same attacks upon certain expressions in
this letter as you did upon those I have been endeavouring to defend.
The rudder that groans, and the pilot compared to a sea-god, will not, I
imagine, escape your criticism: for I perceive, while I am suing for
indulgence to my former style, I have fallen into the same kind of
figurative diction which you condemn. But attack them if you please
provided you will immediately appoint a day when we may meet to discuss
these matters in person: you will then either teach me to be less daring
or I shall teach you to be more bold. Farewell.
CVII -- To CANINIUS
I HAVE met with a story, which, although authenticated by undoubted
evidence, looks very like fable, and would afford a worthy field for the
exercise of so exuberant, lofty, and truly poetical a genius as your
own. It was related to me the other day over the dinner table, where the
conversation happened to run upon various kinds of marvels. The person
who told the story was a man of unsuspected veracity:--but what has a
poet to do with truth? However, you might venture to rely upon his
testimony, even though you had the character of a faithful historian to
support. There is in Africa a town called Hippo, situated not far from
the sea-coast: it stands upon a navigable lake, communicating with an
estuary in the form of a river, which alternately flows into the lake,
or into the ocean, according to the ebb and flow of the tide. People of
all ages amuse themselves here with fishing, sailing, or swimming;
especially boys, whom love of play brings to the spot. With these it is
a fine and manly achievement to be able to swim the farthest; and he
that leaves the shore and his companions at the greatest distance gains
the victory. It happened, in one of these trials of skill, that a
certain boy, bolder than the rest, launched out towards the opposite
shore. He was met by a dolphin, who sometimes swam before him, and
sometimes behind him, then played round him, and at last took him upon
his back, and set him down, and afterwards took him up again; and thus
he carried the poor frightened fellow out into the deepest part; when
immediately he turns back again to the shore, and lands him among his
companions. The fame of this remarkable accident spread through the
town, and crowds of people flocked round the boy (whom they viewed as a
kind of prodigy) to ask him questions and hear him relate the story. The
next day the shore was thronged with spectators, all attentively
watching the ocean, and (what indeed is almost itself an ocean) the
lake. Meanwhile the boys swam as usual, and among the rest, the boy I am
speaking of went into the lake, but with more caution than before. The
dolphin appeared again and came to the boy, who, together with his
companions, swam away with the utmost precipitation. The dolphin, as
though to invite and call them back, leaped and dived up and down, in a
series of circular movements. This he practised the next day, the day
after, and for several days together, till the people (accustomed from
their infancy to the sea) began to be ashamed of their timidity. They
ventured, therefore, to advance nearer, playing with him and calling him
to them, while he, in return, suffered himself to be touched and
stroked. Use rendered them courageous. The boy, in particular, who first
made the experiment, swam by the side of him, and, leaping upon his
back, was carried backwards and forwards in that manner, and thought the
dolphin knew him and was fond of him, while he too had grown fond of the
dolphin. There seemed, now, indeed, to be no fear on either side, the
confidence of the one and tameness of the other mutually increasing; the
rest of the boys, in the meanwhile, surrounding and encouraging their
companion. It is very remarkable that this dolphin was followed by a
second, which seemed only as a spectator and attendant on the former;
for he did not at all submit to the same familiarities as the first, but
only escorted him backwards and forwards, as the boys did their comrade.
But what is further surprising, and no less true than what I have
already related, is that this dolphin, who thus played with the boys and
carried them upon his back, would come upon the shore, dry himself in
the sand, and, as soon as he grew warm, roll back into the sea. It is a
fact that Octavius Avitus, deputy governor of the province, actuated by
an absurd piece of superstition, poured some ointment[160] over him as
he lay on the shore: the novelty and smell of which made him retire into
the ocean, and it was not till several days after that he was seen
again, when he appeared dull and languid; however, he recovered his
strength and continued his usual playful tricks. All the magistrates
round flocked hither to view this sight, whose arrival, and prolonged
stay, was an additional expense, which the slender finances of this
little community would ill afford; besides, the quiet and retirement of
the place was utterly destroyed. It was thought proper, therefore, to
remove the occasion of this concourse, by privately killing the poor
dolphin. And now, with what a flow of tenderness will you describe this
affecting catastrophe![161] and how will your genius adorn and heighten
this moving story! Though, indeed, the subject does not require any
fictitious embellishments; it will be sufficient to describe the actual
facts of the case without suppression or diminution. Farewell.
CVIII -- TO FUSCUS
You want to know how I portion out my day, in my summer villa at Tuscum?
I get up just when I please; generally about sunrise, often earlier, but
seldom later than this. I keep the shutters closed, as darkness and
silence wonderfully promote meditation. Thus free and abstracted from
these outward objects which dissipate attention, I am left to my own
thoughts; nor suffer my mind to wander with my eyes, but keep my eyes in
subjection to my mind, which, when they are not distracted by a
multiplicity of external objects, see nothing but what the imagination
represents to them. If I have any work in hand, this is the time I
choose for thinking it out, word for word, even to the minutest accuracy