LETTERS

ON

· ENGLISH POETRY.

TO

A YOUNG LADY

ON A

COURSE

OF

ENGLISH POETRY.

BY J. AIKIN, M. D.

.... Hail, ye mighty masters of the lay,
Nature's true sons, the friends of man and truth,
Whose song, sublimely sweet, serenely gay,
Amused my childhood, and inform’d my youth:

For well I know, wherever ye reside,
There harmony, and peace, and innocence abide.

Minstrel.

SECOND EDITION.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR

J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD,

BY RICHARD TAYLOR AND CO., SHOE-LANE,

CONTENTS

-

LETTER I.

p. 1.

The design proposed. Objection to poetry as

too conversant with the passion of love-con-
sidered. Nature of verse, and pleasure uni-
versally derived from it.

The first object, to habituate the ear to the me-