O Heaven, that such companions thou 'ldst unfold,

And put in every honest hand a whip

To lash the rascals naked through the world!

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Othello. Act iv. Sc. 2.

Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows,

And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows;

But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,

The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar.

When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,

The line too labours, and the words move slow:

Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,

Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Essay on Criticism. Part ii. Line 166.