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poets above Pope ? Was even Addison, (theauthor of Cato), or Rowe, (one of the higherorder of dramatists as far as success goes), orYoung, or even Otway and Southerne, everraised for a moment to the same rank with Pope in the estimation of the reader or the critic, be-fore his death or since ? If Mr. Bowles willcontend for classifications of this kind, let himrecollect that descriptive poetry has been rankedas among the lowest branches of the art, anddescription as a mere ornament, but which shouldnever form «the subject” of a poem. The Itali ans , with the most poetical language, and themost fastidious taste in Europe , possess now fivegreat poets, they say, Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto ,Tasso, and lastly Alfieri; and whom do theyesteem one of the highest of these, and someof them the very highest? Petrarch the son-neteer: it is true that some of his Canzoni arenot less esteemed, but not more j who everdreams of his Latin Afrikap
W'ere Petrarch to be ranked according to the.« order » of bis compositions, where would the