This technical trick is accomplished by what the French call overflow,
the running on of the sense from one line to another, a device so
dear to the heart of Milton. Some one has well said that Dryden's
couplets are links in a chain, whilst Pope's are pearls on a string.
Pope enclosed nearly every couplet, so that they are quite separate,
which is one reason why he has given us such a vast number of
aphorisms. To see how totally different in effect the heroic couplet
is when it is closed and when it is open, one may compare almost any
selection from Pope with the opening lines of Keats's _Endymion_,
and then silently marvel that both poems are written in exactly the
same measure.
POPE
Peace to all such! but were there one whose fires
True genius kindles, and fair fame inspires;
Blest with each talent and each art to please,
And born to write, converse, and live with ease:
Should such a man, too fond to rule alone,
Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne,
View him with scornful, yet with jealous eyes,
And hate for arts that caused himself to rise.
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