Chapter III: Part 3

But then all this being taken care of, certainly the nearer to the Original, the better: Nay indeed it is impossible to hit the Air right; unless you hit the Features, from which the Air, so far as it relates to the Body, rises, and results. Should my Translation be approved of for the Spirit of Poetry; I should not be sorry, nay I should be glad, if at the same time it served for a Construing-Book to a School-Boy. But still whenever it happens (as it very often does, and must) that a close Version, and a graceful Expression are inconsistent; the latter is always to be preferred. A _less litteral Translation_ is very frequently beautiful; but nothing can justify _an ill Verse_. In This Case, one departs from the Original by adhering to it; and such an Author as _Virgil_ might justly say of his bad Translator, what _Martial_ says of his bad Neighbour;

_Nemo tam prope, tam proculque nobis._

For the Version would retain more not only of the _Beauty_, but of the _real Sense_ of the Original; and so _upon the whole_, be more _like_ it: If it were a less faithful Interpretation of Words and Expressions.

Here therefore we can no longer pursue the Comparison between Painting and Translating: When true Beauty is to be imitated, the Features cannot be too exactly traced in the One, to make a handsom Likeness; but Words may be too exactly rendered in the Other. Upon this Head I cannot avoid transcribing a Passage from the ingenious, and (in all Instances, but one) judicious Dr. _Felton_'s Dissertation upon _Reading the Classicks addressed to the Lord Marquis of_ Granby. "When therefore ([18]says He) you meet with any Expressions which will not be rendered without this Disadvantage, the Thing to be regarded is the Beauty and Elegance of the Original; and your Lordship, without minding any thing but the Sense of the Author, is to consider how that Passage would be best expressed in _English_, if you were not tied up to the Words of the Original: And you may depend upon it, that if you can find a Way of expressing the same Sense as beautifully in _English_; you have hit the true Translation, tho' you cannot construe the Words backwards, and forwards into one another: For then you certainly have translated, as the Author, were he an _Englishman_, would have wrote." And since I have cited thus much from That Treatise; I will borrow a little more from it upon the Nature, and Difficulty of Translations in general: Because it entirely expresses my Sentiments, in far better Words than I am able to make use of. "[19]'Tis no exceeding Labour for every great Genius to exert, and manage, and master his own Spirit: But 'tis almost an insuperable Task to compass, to equal, to command the Spirit of another Man. Yet this is what every Translator taketh upon himself to do; and must do, if he deserves the Name. He must put himself into the Place of his Authors, not only be Master of their Manner as to their Style, their Periods, Turn, and Cadence of their Writings; but he must bring himself to their Habit, and Way of Thinking, and have, if possible, the same Train of Notions in his Head, which gave Birth to Those they have selected, and placed in their Works." For the Rest, I refer my Reader to the Dissertation it self; of which I would say that it is a most curious and delicate Piece of Wit, and Criticism, and polite Learning; did I not fear that (for a Reason which I will not mention) it would look like Vanity in Me to do common Justice to it's Author. At the same time I must acknowledge that the Doctor represents a Translation of _Virgil_ after Mr. _Dryden_'s as a desperate Undertaking: Which would be no small Mortification to me; were not mine of a different Nature from His: Of which more in it's proper Place.

Endeavouring to resemble _Virgil_ as much as possible, I have imitated him in his _Breaks_. For tho' I am satisfied he never intended to leave those Verses unfinished, and therefore he is in that Particular absurdly mimicked by some Moderns in their Original Writings; yet _unfinished they are_: And this Imitation is not (with Mr. _Dryden_'s Leave) "like the Affectation of _Alexander_'s Courtiers, who held their Necks awry, because He could not help it." For besides that a _wry Neck_ is one thing, and a _Scar_ is another; _Apelles_ in a _Picture_ ought to have imitated his Master's Imperfection, if he intended to draw an exact Likeness, tho' his _Courtiers_ were ridiculous Flatterers for doing the Same in their _Gestures_.

A Work of This Nature is to be regarded in Two different Views; both as a _Poem_, and as a _Translated Poem_. In the one, all Persons of good Sense, and a true Taste of Poetry, are Judges of it; tho' they are skilled in no Language, but their Own. In the other, Those only are so; who besides the Qualification just mentioned, are familiarly acquainted with the Original. And it may well admit of a Question, to which of these Species of Readers a good Translation is the more agreeable Entertainment. The Unlearned are affected like Those, who see the Picture of One whose Character they admire; but whose Person they never saw: The Learned, like Those who see the Picture of one whom they love, and admire; and with whom they are intimately acquainted. The Reason of the first Pleasure is clear; but That of the last requires a little more Consideration. It may all, be resolved into the Love of Imitation, Comparison, and Variety; which arises from the Imperfection of human Happiness; for a Reason which I have elsewhere[20] assigned. Delightful therefore it is to compare the Version with the Original: Through the whole Course of which Comparison, we discover many retired Beauties in the Author himself, which we never before observed. Delightful it must be to have the same Ideas started in our Minds, different ways; and the more agreeable those Ideas are in themselves, the more agreeable is this Variety. Therefore, the better we understand a Poet, the more we love and admire him; the more Pleasure we conceive in reading him well translated: As we most delight to see the Pictures of Those whom we best love; and to see the Persons themselves in Variety of Dresses. Upon which Account, I will be bold to affirm; that he who says he values no Translation of this, or that Poem, because he understands the Original, has indeed no true Relish, that is, in effect, no _true Understanding_ of _Either_.

It is indeed no less certain on the Reverse, that a Man is as much provoked to see an ill Picture of his Friend, or Mistress, as he is pleased to see a good one; and it is just the same in Translations. But it is evident that the _bare Understanding_ of a Poet (as that Word is commonly used) is not the _only_ Argument of one's _truly_ understanding him: that is, understanding him as a _Poet_. Because what I have just now said, concerning the Agreeableness of a good Translation, holds as true, when it is from our own Language to another, as when it is from another to our own. It may be presumed that _Milton_'s _Paradise Lost_, being in _English_, is well _understood_ (vulgarly speaking) by _Englishmen_. But notwithstanding That, were it possible (as I think it is not) to have all That amazing Poem as well translated into _Latin_, or _Greek_, as some Parts of it certainly may be; with what Pleasure should we read it! And he who would not read such a Translation with Pleasure, will, I believe, be allowed by all who have a right Taste of Poetry not _truly_ to understand the Original. Besides what I have said concerning the Delight arising from Imitation, Comparison, and Variety, which respects the Relation between the Version, and the Original; the Translator's Work, even to Those who understand the Original, is in a great measure a _New Poem_: The Thought, and Contrivance are his Author's; but his Language, and the Turn of his Versification, and Expressions, are his own. What I have offered upon this Subject relates to Translations in general: Of my own in particular I have nothing to say, but what I have said before; which is to submit it to the Judgment of Others.

In Pursuance of my Design of endeavouring to be as like _Virgil_ as possible; I have chosen Blank Verse, rather than Rhime. For besides that the Fetters of Rhime often cramp the Expression, and spoil the Verse, and so you can both translate more closely, and also more fully express the Spirit of your Author, without it, than with it; I say besides This, supposing other Circumstances were equal, Blank Verse is _in it self better_. It is not only more Majestick, and Sublime, but more Musical, and Harmonious: It has more _Rhime_ in it, according to the ancient, and true Sense of the Word, than Rhime it self, as it is now used. For in it's original Signification, it consists not in the Tinkling of Vowels, and Consonants; but in the metrical Disposition of Words, and Syllables, and the proper Cadence of Numbers; which is more agreeable to the Ear, without the Jingling of like Endings, than with it. The Reader may say, To whose Ear is it so? To Yours perhaps; but not to Mine. And I grant all This to be matter of Fact, rather than of Reason; and to be determined by Votes, rather than Arguments. And accordingly a great Majority of the best Genius's, and Judges in Poetry now living, with many of whom I have frequently conversed upon this Subject, have determined in favour of this way of Writing. And among Those who are dead, the same was the Opinion not only of my Lord _Roscommon_ (to omit others,) but of [21]Mr. _Dryden_ Himself; who was the best Rhimer, as well as the best Poet, of the Age in which he lived. And indeed let but a Man consult his own Ears.

_----Him the Almighty Pow'r
Hurl'd headlong, flaming from th' ethereal Sky,
With hideous Ruin, and Combustion, down
To bottomless Perdition; there to dwell
In Adamantine Chains, and penal Fire;
Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to Arms.
Nine times the Space that measures Day, and Night
To mortal Men, he with his horrid Crew
Lay vanquish'd, rowling in the fiery Gulph,
Confounded, tho' immmortal----_

Who that hears This, can think it wants Rhime to recommend it? Or rather does not think it sounds far better without it? I purposely produced a Citation, beginning and ending in the Middle of a Verse; because the Privilege of resting on this, or that Foot, sometimes one, and sometimes another, and so diversifying the Pauses, and Cadences, is the greatest Beauty of Blank Verse, and perfectly agreeable to the Practice of our Masters, the _Greeks_, and _Romans_. This can be done but rarely in Rhime: For if it were frequent, the Rhime would be, in a manner, lost by it: The End of almost every Verse must be something of a Pause; and it is but seldom that a Sentence begins in the Middle. The same may be said of placing the Verb after the Accusative Case; and the Adjective after the Substantive; both which, especially the last, are more frequent in Blank Verse, than in Rhime. This Turn of Expression likewise is agreeable to the Practice of the Ancients; and even in our own Language adds much to the Grandeur, and Majesty of the Poem, if it be wrought with Care, and Judgment. As does also the judicious interspersing (for _judicious_, and _sparing_ it must be) of _antique_ Words, and of such as, being derived from _Latin_, retain the Air of That Language: Both which have a better Effect in Blank Verse, than in Rhime; by Reason of a certain Majestick Stiffness, which becomes the one, more than the other. _Milton_ indeed has, I think, rather too much of This: And perhaps the most ingenious Mr. _Philips_ has too much imitated him in it; as he has certainly well nigh equalled him in his most singular Beauties. I speak of this Stiffness only in some particular Passages, for which it is proper: For Blank Verse, when it pleases, can be as smooth, as soft, and as flowing, as Rhime. Now these Advantages alone (were there no other) which Blank Verse has above Rhime, would more than compensate for the Loss of that Pleasure which comes from the Chiming of Syllables; the former, by reason of those Advantages, being, all things considered, even more musical, and harmonious, as well as more noble, and sublime, than the latter.

Upon Varying the Pauses it is to be observed, that Two Verses together should rarely pause at the same Foot; for a Reason too plain to be mentioned. I said _rarely_; because there is no Law so strict in Things of This Nature, but that it is sometimes a Vertue to break it. And tho' it be one great Privilege in this sort of Verse, to make a full Period at the Beginning, or in the Middle of a Line; yet you may do it too often. _Milton_, I think, does so; who sometimes gives you thirty, or forty Verses together, not one of which concludes with a full Period. But to return to our Comparison.

Tho' all This be rather Matter of Sense, than of Reason; yet I appealed to the best Genius's, and Judges in Poetry; because it is a great Mistake to think that all Ears are equally Judges. It may as well, nay better, be affirmed that all Persons have equally Ears for Musick. This Sentiment is not _purely_ Organical, and depends not _solely_ upon the Mechanism of Sense. The Judgment has _a Share_ in it: Or if it has not; there is (which amounts to much the same) so close an Union between the Soul and Body of Man, as also between the Spirit and the Diction, which may be called the Soul and Body of Poetry; that the Poetical Turn of any Person's Mind affects the very Organs of Sense. Readers of vulgar and mean Tastes may relish Rhime best; and so may Some even of the best Taste; because they have been habituated to it. But the more they accustom themselves to Blank Verse; the better they will like it:

_----Si propius stes,
Te capiet magis----_

After all, I cannot agree with Those, who _entirely condemn_ the Use of Rhime even in an Heroic Poem; nor can I absolutely reject That in Speculation, which Mr. _Dryden_, and Mr. _Pope_ have ennobled by their Practice. I acknowledge too that, in some particular Views, tho' not upon the Whole, This Way of Writing has the Advantage over the other. You may pick out more Lines, which, singly considered, look mean, and low, from a Poem in Blank Verse, than from one in Rhime: supposing them to be in other respects equal. Take the Lines singly by themselves, or in Couplets; and more in Blank Verse shall be less strong, and smooth, than in Rhime: But then take a considerable Number together; and Blank Verse shall have the Advantage in both Regards. Little, and ignoble Words, as _Thus_, _Now_, _Then_, _Him_, &c. on the one Hand; and long ones, as _Elements_, _Omnipotent_, _Majesty_, &c. on the other, would in a Poem consisting of Rhime sound weak, and languishing, at the End of a Verse: because the Rhime draws out the Sound of those Words, and makes them observed, and taken notice of by the Ear: Whereas in Blank Verse they are covered, and concealed by running immediately into the next Line. And yet a considerable Number of Lines are not, in the Main, Prosaick, or Flat; but more Noble, than if they were all in Rhime. For Instance, the following Verses out of _Milton_'s _Paradise Lost_, Book II.

_Of Heav'n were falling, and these Elements----_

_Instinct with Fire, and Nitre hurry'd him----_

taken singly, look low, and mean; but pray read them in Conjunction with others; and then see what a different Face will be set upon them.

_----Or less than if this Frame
Of Heav'n were falling, and these Elements
In Mutinie had from her Axle torn
The stedfast Earth. At last his sail-broad Vans
He spreads for flight; and in the surging Smoke,_ &c.

_----Had not by ill chance
The strong Rebuff of some tumultuous Cloud
Instinct with Fire, and Nitre, hurry'd him
As many miles aloft. That fury stay'd;
Quench'd in a boggy Syrtis, neither Sea,
Nor good dry Land: Nigh founder'd on he fares,
Treading the crude Consistence----_

Thus again in the VIth Book.

_Had to her Center shook. What wonder? when----_

_Had not th' Eternal King Omnipotent----_

_And limited their Might; tho' number'd such----_

These Verses disjointed from their Fellows make but an indifferent Figure: But read the following Passage and I believe you will acknowledge there is not one bad Verse in it:

_So under fiery Cope together rush'd
Both Battles maine, with ruinous Assault,
And inextinguishable Rage: All Heav'n
Resounded; and had Earth been then, all Earth
Had to her Center shook. What wonder? when
Millions of fierce encountring Angels fought
On either side; the least of whom could wield
These Elements, and arm him with the force
Of all their Regions. How much more of pow'r,
Army 'gainst Army, numberless, to raise
Dreadful Combustion, warring, and disturb,
Tho' not destroy, their happy native Seat:
Had not th' Eternal King Omnipotent
From his strong Hold of Heav'n high over-rul'd
And limited their Might; tho' number'd such
As each divided Legion might have seem'd
A num'rous Host in strength, each armed hand
A Legion----_

In Short, a Poem consisting of Rhime is like a Building in which the Stones are all (or far the greatest part of them) _hewn with equal Exactness_; but are all of a Shape, and not so well jointed: _Every one_ of them, _by it self_, is better squared, than _some_ in another Building, in which they are of different Figures. But tho' in this latter there shall be a few, which, taken separately, do not look so well: yet some _running into others_, and all being _better adjusted_ together; it shall not only _upon the Whole_, but with regard to any _considerable Part_, by it self, be a stronger, and a more beautiful Fabrick, than the former.

But we are told that Blank Verse is not enough distinguished from Prose. The Answer must be, It is according as it is. That of our _English_ Tragedies, I confess, is not; tho' very proper for the Purpose to which it is apply'd. This indeed is what the _French_ rightly call _Prose mesurée_, rather than Verse. But much worse is to be said of _any_ Poem, which is only written in the Shape of Metre, but has no more of Verse in it, than of Rhime; no Harmony, or Prosody, no true Metrical Cadence; half the Lines concluding with double Syllables, as _Torment_, _Greatness_, and the Participles ending in _ing_. This deserves not so much as the Name of _Prose on Horseback_; 'Tis Prose upon Crutches; and of all Prose the vilest. But if Blank Verse be laboured, as it ought to be; it is sufficiently distinguished from Prose. We have no Feet, nor Quantities, like the Ancients; and nothing in our poor Language will ever supply That Defect: Rhime is at least as far from doing it, as the more Advantageous Variety of Cadences in Blank Verse: Which requires so much the more Care, and Art, to work it up into Numbers, and Support it from groveling into Prose.

Which naturally leads us to observe further, that many Imperfections, both in Thought, and Expression, will be overlooked in Rhime, which will not be endured in Blank Verse: So that the same may be said of This, which _Horace_ applies to Comedy;

_Creditur----habere
Sudoris minimum; sed habet----tanto
Plus oneris, quanto veniæ minus----_

I do not say, Rhime is, all things considered, more easy than the other: That Point cannot be well determined; because it relates to the particular Genius's of particular Persons. For my own part, if I never made one good Verse, I have made many good Rhimes: But supposing Both to be equally easy, I should chuse Blank Verse, for the Reasons already alledged.

After all which, if some Gentlemen are resolved that _Blank Verse shall_ be _Prose_; they have my free Leave to _enjoy their Saying_: provided I may have Theirs to think they mean nothing by it; unless they can prove that Rhime is essential to Metre; consequently that the _Goths_, and _Monks_ were the first Inventers of Verse; and that _Homer_, and _Virgil_, as well as _Milton_, wrote nothing but Prose.

_Milton_ indeed has _too many_ of those looser and weaker Verses; as he has some Lines which are no Verses at all. These for Instance,

_Burnt after them to the bottomless Pit:_

_In the Visions of God; It was a Hill:_

are Lines consisting of ten Syllables; but they are no more _English_ Verses, than they are _Greek_ ones. Many _irregular_ and _redundant_ Verses, and more of an ill Sound and Cadence, are to be met with in his Poem; sometimes a considerable Number of them together. Whether This was _Negligence_ in him, or _Choice_, I know not. Certain it is from the main Tenour of his Verification, than which nothing can be more heroically sonorous, that it was not Want of Ear, Genius, or Judgment. What is the true Cadence of an _English_ Verse, is sufficiently known to the Ears of every one who has a Taste of Poetry. Sometimes it is not only allowable, but beautiful, to run into harsh, and unequal Numbers. Mr. _Dryden_ himself does it; and we may be sure he knew when he did it, as well as we could tell him. In a Work intended for Pleasure, _Variety_ justifies the Breach of almost any Rule, provided it be done but _rarely_. Among the Ancient Poets, what are many of those _Figures_ (as we call them) both in Prosody, and Syntax, but so many Ways of making _false Quantity_, and _false Grammar_, for the sake of _Variety_? False, I mean, ordinarily speaking; for Variety, and That only, makes it elegant. _Milton_ however has too much irregular Metre: But if his overruling Genius, and Merit might in Him _authorize_ it, or at least _excuse_ it; yet _nobis non licet esse tam audacibus_: especially when I am translating _Virgil_, the most exact, and accurate Versificator in the World: A Character, however, which he would not deserve (for the Reason just mentioned) were he not in _some_ Verses irregular, and unaccurate. I am sure I have truly imitated him in _That_; I wish I may have done so in _any thing else_.

Two Things remain to be taken notice of, equally relating to Rhime, and Blank Verse. It is a known Fault in our Language, that it is too much crouded with _Monosyllables_: Yet some Verses consisting wholly of them sound well enough: However, the fewer we have of them, the better it is. I believe there are as few of them in this Translation as in any _English_ Poem of an equal Length; which is all I shall say upon This Article.

The Other is the _Elision of Vowels_: Upon which, in my Opinion, the Criticks have ran into Extremes on both Sides. Mr. _Dryden_ declares for it as a general Rule which he has observed without Exception, in his Translation of the _Æneis_;[22] and is utterly against _a Vowel gaping after another for want of a Cesura_, as he expresses himself. Another great Master and Refiner of our Language[23] is for very little, or no Abbreviation; if I do not mistake his Meaning. It is true, in the Letter, to which I refer, he instances only in cutting off the Vowel E at the End of our Participles ending in _ed_; but I presume his Argument is equally designed against the Elision of a Vowel before a Vowel in two different Words: And, if I do not forget, he has declared himself of That Opinion, when I have had the Honour and Pleasure of his most agreeable and instructive Conversation. But with humble Submission to both these great Men, the Elision seems sometimes proper, and sometimes not, in the Particle _The_; for upon That, and the Particle _To_, the Question chiefly turns; _He_, and _She_ being but very rarely abbreviated by any tolerable Writer: And therefore Mr. _Dryden_ expresses himself too much at large, when he speaks of Vowels in general. And when this Elision is proper, and when not, the Ear is a sufficient Judge. The _French_, we know, continually use it in their _Le_, and that in Prose, and common Discourse, as well as in Verse: _L'Amour_, _L'Eternel_, _L'Invincible_, &c. As also in their Pronouns, _me_, _te_, and _se_. In our _English_ Poetry, I think it may be either, _Th' Eternal_, _Th' Almighty_; or _The Eternal_, _The Almighty_; but rather the former: It should be always, _The Army_, _The Enemy_; never _Th' Army_, or _Th' Enemy_. And so in other Instances: Of which the Ear (which by the way will never endure the Sound of _Th' Ear_) is always to be Judge. But of these Things too much.

The Kind of Verse therefore, which I have chosen, distinguishes this Translation from Those of Others, who have gone before me in this bold Undertaking: For I had never heard of Dr. _Brady_'s Design, 'till long after This was in a great Forwardness. And His being not yet executed; He is not to be reckoned among my Predecessors: of whom I presume it is expected that I should now give some Account. When I say my Translation is thus distinguished from Those of Others, I speak of our own Countrymen; because _Hannibal Caro_'s _Italian Æneis_ is in Blank Verse, such as it is: For [24]Mr. _Dryden_'s Character of it is a very true one; and I need not add any thing to it. Few Persons were ever more familiarly acquainted with the _Æneis_, had a truer Gust, and Relish of it's Beauties, or enter'd more deeply into the Sentiments, into the very Soul, and Spirit of it's Author, than Monsieur _Segrais_. His Preface is altogether admirable; and his Translation perhaps almost as good as the _French_ Language will allow; which is just as fit for an Epic Poem, as an ambling Nag is for a War-Horse. It is indeed my Opinion of the _French_; that none write better _of_ Poetry, and few (as to _Metre_) worse _in_ it. Their Language is excellent for Prose; but quite otherwise for Verse, especially Heroic. And therefore tho' the Translating of Poems into Prose is a strange, modern Invention; yet the _French_ Transposers are in the right; because their Language will not bear Verse. The Translation of the _Æneis_ into _Scotish_ Metre by _Gawin Douglas_ Bishop of _Donkeld_, is said to be a very extraordinary Work by Those who understand it better than I do: There being added to it a long List of great Men, who give him a wonderful Character, both as an excellent Poet, and a most pious Prelate. What Mr. _Pope_ says of _Ogilby's Homer_, may as well be apply'd to his _Virgil_, that his Poetry is too mean for Criticism. Mr. _Dryden_ tells us, that no Man understood _Virgil_ better than the Earl of _Lauderdale_; and I believe few did. His Translation is pretty near to the Original; tho' not so close, as it's Brevity would make one imagine; and it sufficiently appears that he had a right Taste of Poetry in general, and of _Virgil_'s in particular. He shews a true Spirit; and in many Places is very beautiful. But we should certainly have seen _Virgil_ far better translated by a Noble Hand; had the Earl of _Lauderdale_ been the Earl of _Roscommon_; or had the _Scotish_ Peer followed all the Precepts, and been animated with the Genius of the _Irish_.

But the most difficult, and invidious Part of my prefacing Task is yet to come. How could I have the Confidence to attempt a Translation of _Virgil_, after Mr. _Dryden_? At least to publish it; after Mr. _Pope_ has in effect given us his Opinion before-hand, that such a Work must be unsuccessful to any Undertaker (much more to so mean a one, as I am) by declaring that _He_ would never undertake it _Himself_? I do not say he makes That Inference; but if his _Modesty_ would not suffer him to do it, his _Merit_ must oblige others to do it for him. I so far agree with That most ingenious Gentleman, that Mr. _Dryden_'s is, in many Parts, a noble, and spirited Translation; and yet I cannot, upon the Whole, think it a good one; at least, for Mr. _Dryden_. Not but that I think his Performance is prodigious, and exceedingly for his Honour, considering the little time he allowed himself for so mighty a Work; having translated not the _Æneis_ only, but all _Virgil_'s Poems in the Compass of three Years. Nobody can have a truer Respect for That great Man, than I have; or be more ready to defend him against his unreasonable Accusers; who (as Mr. _Pope_ justly observes) envy, and calumniate him. But I hope I shall not be thought guilty of either (I am sure they are the Things of the World which I abhor) if I presume to say that his Writings have their dark, as well as their bright Side; and that what was said of somebody else may be as well applied to Him: _Ubi bene, nemo melius; Ubi male, nemo pejus_.

This may be affirmed of his Works in general; but I am now obliged to consider his Translation of the _Æneis_ in particular. As he was the great Refiner of our _English_ Poetry, and the best Marshaller of Words that our Nation had then, at least, produced; and all, who have followed him, are extremely indebted to him, as such: his Versification here, as every where else, is generally flowing, and harmonious; and a multitude of Beauties of all kinds are scattered through the Whole. But then, besides his often grosly mistaking his Author's Sense; as a Translator, he is extremely licentious. Whatever he alledges to the contrary in his Preface; he makes no Scruple of adding, or retrenching, as his Turn is best served by either. In many Places, where he shines most as a Poet, he is least a Translator; And where you most admire Mr. _Dryden_, you see least of _Virgil_. Then whereas my Lord _Roscommon_ lays down this just Rule to be observed by a Translator with regard to his Author,

_Fall, as he falls; and as he rises, rise:_

Nothing being more absurd than for those two Counter-parts to be like a Pair of Scales, one mounting as the other sinks; Mr. _Dryden_ frequently acts contrary to this Precept, at least to the latter Part of it: Where his _Author_ soars, and towers in the Air, _He_ often grovels, and flutters upon the Ground. Instances of all these Kinds are numerous. If I produce a few, it is not to detract from his Translation, in order to recommend my own: I detest That base Principle of little, and envious Spirits: And besides, I am sensible that it would be as foolish, as ungenerous: For of Mine, the World _will_, and _ought to be_ judge, whatever I say, or think; and it's Judgment in these Matters is never erroneous. It is not therefore that I am acted by the Spirit of _malevolent_ Criticism, or Criticism _commonly so called_; which is nothing but the Art of finding Fault: But I do it, partly to _justify_ my _Undertaking_ (tho' of a different Kind from His, which is what I _chiefly_ insist upon) not to _recommend_ my _Performance_; partly for the Instruction, and Improvement of my self, and others; for the sake of Truth, and _true Criticism_; that is, right, and impartial Judgment, joined with good Nature, and good Manners; prone to _excuse_, but not to _falsify_; and _delighting_ to dwell upon _Beauties_, tho' _daring_ to remark upon _Faults_.

Were we to make a few scattered Strictures upon the First Book only; we should observe that he leaves out a very material Word in the very _first_ Line: And That too happens to be the Word _First_: As if That stood for Nothing, in _Virgil_'s Verse; and as if _First_ would not have stood as well as _Forc'd_ in his own. Especially, since there are two Adjectives more of the same Signification [_Expell'd_, and _Exil'd_ in the next Verse but one] agreeing with the same Substantive, all three to express the single Epithet _Profugus_: Which, by the way, is Tautology, and utterly unlike _Virgil_'s Manner; who never says any thing in vain, and whose chief Beauty is Brevity. In the very next two Lines, _Italiam_, _Lavinaque Littora_ are left out; tho' necessary to the Design of the Poem: Not to mention his strange Transposing of _sævæ memorem Junonis ob iram_. V. 28. _Long cited by the People of the Sky_, is entirely added. As is, V. 41. _Electra's Glories, and her injur'd Bed_; and the two following Lines. The Addition of three Verses together is too much in all Reason. V. 66. _Then as an Eagle grasps the trembling Game_, is wholly his own. And so is V. 107, 108. _The charming Daughters of the Main Around my Person wait, and bear my Train._ V. 144, 145.----_Whose dismember'd Hands yet bear The Dart aloft, and clench the pointed Spear_. As there is no Hint of This in _Virgil_; so I doubt it is not Sense in it self. For how the Hand of a Body, which has been dead seven Years, can hold a Spear aloft, I cannot imagine. V. 220. _And quenches their innate Desire of Blood_. This is not only added; but too gross, and horrid for _Virgil_'s Meaning in that Place. V. 233. After, _Two Rows of Rocks_ (which, by the way, is no Translation of _geminique minantur in coelum scopuli_) the next Words are totally omitted; _Quorum sub vertice late Æquora tuta silent_. V. 459. _Then on your Name shall wretched Mortals call_, is not included in _Multa tibi ante aras nostra cadet hostia dextra_. He is speaking of _himself_, and his _Friends_ in particular; not of _wretched Mortals_ in general; of _Thanksgiving_, not of _Prayer_. V. 886.----_You shall find, If not a costly Welcome, yet a kind_, is no more in _Virgil_, than it is like his Stile. But as for the _Flatnesses_, and low _prosaick_ Expressions, which are not a few, and which even the Rhime neither covers, nor excuses; I will for several Reasons forbear to transcribe any of them. These _Errata_ which I have mentioned in the First Book only, (and there are in it many more such, which I have not mentioned) are either in _adding to_, or _curtailing_, or _mistaking_ the Sense of the Original.

But upon the Article of adding to his Author, and altering his Sense, there is one Fault in Mr. _Dryden_ which is not to be pardoned. I mean when he does it directly contrary not only to the _Sense_, but to the _Temper_ and _Genius_ of his Author; and that too in those Instances which injure him not only as a _good Poet_, but as a _good Man_. As _Virgil_ is the most chaste, and modest of Poets, and has ever the strictest Regard to Decency; after the Prayer of _Iarbas_ to _Jupiter_ in the Fourth Book, he proceeds thus:

_Talibus orantem dictis, arasque tenentem
Audiit omnipotens; oculosque ad mœnia torsit
Regia, &_ oblitos famæ melioris amantes.

What could be more well-mannered, more delicate, and truly _Virgilian_, than the Sweetness, and Softness of that remote, insinuating Expression, _oblitos famæ melioris amantes_? For this Piece of a Verse Mr. _Dryden_ gives us Three entire ones; which I will not transcribe. The two first are totally his own; and to One who is not himself _insensible of Shame_, those fulsom Expressions must be very nauseous. Part of the last Verse indeed is _Virgil_'s; and it comes in strangely, after the odious Stuff that goes before it. If _Virgil_ can be said to be remarkable for any one good Quality more than for Modesty, it is for his awful Reverence to Religion. And yet, as Mr. _Dryden_ represents him describing _Apollo_'s Presence at one of his own Festivals, he speaks Thus; Book iv. V. 210.

_Himself, on Cynthus walking, sees below
The merry Madness of the sacred Show._

_Virgil_ says, He walks on the Top of _Cynthus_; That's all: The rest is Mr. _Dryden_'s. And it is exactly of a Piece with a Passage in the Third Georgick; in which, without any sort of Provocation, or the least Hint from his Author, He calls the _Priest_ the _Holy Butcher_. If Mr. _Dryden_ took Delight in abusing Priests, and Religion; _Virgil_ did not. It is indeed wonderful that a Man of so fine, and elevated a Genius, and at the same time of so good a Judgment, as Mr. _Dryden_ certainly was, could so much as endure those clumsey Ideas, in which he perpetually rejoices; and that to such a degree, as to thrust them into _Translations_, contrary not only to the Design, and Meaning, but even to the Spirit, and Temper, and most distinguishing Character of his Author. Thus in his Translation of the last Lines of _Homer_'s First Iliad he describes the Gods, and Goddesses as being drunk; and that in no fewer than three Verses, and in some of the coarsest Expressions that our Language will admit of: Whereas the Original gives not the least Intimation of any such thing; but only says that they were _sleepy_, and went _to bed_. And therefore here again I cannot be of Mr. _Pope_'s Opinion, _that it is a great Loss to the Poetical World that Mr._ Dryden _did not live to translate the Iliad_. If we may judge of what the Whole would have been by the Specimen which he has left us; I think it was a Gain to the Poetical World that Mr. _Dryden_'s Version did not hinder us from Mr. _Pope_'s. Which may be said, without any great Compliment to the latter.

As to the Instances of Mr. _Dryden_'s sinking, where his Author most remarkably rises, and being flat where his Author is most remarkably elegant; they are many: But I am almost tired with Quotations; quite tired with such invidious ones, as these are; it being (as I said) much more agreeable to my Temper to remark upon Beauties, than upon Faults, and Imperfections; especially in the Works of great Men, who (tho' they may have written many things not capable of being defended, yet) have written many more, which I can only admire, but do not pretend to equal. And That is the present Case. I shall therefore mention but one Example of this Kind; And it is the unutterable Elegancy of these Lines in the Fourth Book, describing the Scrietch-Owl:

_Solaque culminibus, ferali carmine bubo
Sæpe queri_, & longas in fletum ducere voces.

How is This translated in the following Verses? Or rather is it translated at all?

_----With a boding Note
The solitary Scrietch-Owl strains her Throat;
And on a Chimney's Top, or Turret's height,
With Songs obscene disturbs the Silence of the Night._

To produce more Instances would be needless; because One general Remark supersedes them all. It is acknowledged by every body that the First Six Books in the Original are the best, and the most perfect; but the Last Six are so in Mr. _Dryden_'s Translation. Not that even in These _Virgil_ properly sinks, or flags in his Genius; but only he did not live to correct them, as he did the former. However, they abound with Beauties in the Original; and so indeed they do in the Translation, more, as I said, than the First Six: Which is visible to any one that reads the Whole with Application.

I observed in the last place, that where Mr. _Dryden_ shines most, we often see least of _Virgil_. To omit many other Instances, the Description of the _Cyclops_ forging Thunder for _Jupiter_, and Armour for _Æneas_, is elegant, and noble to the last degree in the _Latin_; and it is so to a very great degree in the _English_. But then is the _English_ a Translation of the _Latin_?

_Hither the Father of the Fire by Night
Thro' the brown Air precipitates his Flight:
On their eternal Anvils here be found
The Brethren beating, and the Blows go round._

Our Language, I think, will admit of few things more truly Poetical, than those four Lines. But the two first are set to render

_Huc tunc Ignipotens cœlo descendit ab alto._

There is nothing of _coelo ab alto_ in the Version; nor of _by Night, brown Air_, or _precipitates his Flight_ in the Original. The two last are put in the room of

_Ferrum exercebant vasto Cyclopes in antro,
Brontesque, Steropesque, & nudus membra Pyracmon._

_Vasto in antro_ in the first of these Lines, and the last Line entirely are left out in the Translation. Nor is there any thing of _eternal Anvils_ (I wish there were) or _here be found_, in the Original: And _the Brethren beating, and the Blows go round_, is but a loose Version of _Ferrum exercebant_. Much the same may be said of the whole Passage throughout; which will appear to Those who compare the _Latin_ with the _English_. In the whole Passage Mr. _Dryden_ has the true Spirit of _Virgil_; but he would have had never the less of it, if he had more closely adhered to his Words, and Expressions.

Sometimes he is _near enough_ to the Original; And tho' he _might have been nearer_, he is altogether admirable, not only as a _Poet_, but as a _Translator_. Thus in the Second Book;

_Pars ingentem formidine turpi
Scandunt rursus equum, & nota conduntur in alvo._

_And some, oppress'd with more ignoble Fear,
Remount the hollow Horse_, and pant in secret there.

And in the Twelfth, after the last Speech of _Juturna_;

_Tantum effata, caput glauco contexit amictu,
Multa gemens, & se fluvio Dea condidit alto._

_She drew a length of Sighs; no more she said,
But with her azure Mantle wrap'd her Head;
Then plung'd into her Stream with deep Despair_,
And her last Sobs came bubbling up in Air.

Tho' the last Line is not expressed in the Original, yet it is in some measure imply'd; and it is in it self so exceedingly beautiful, that the whole Passage can never be too much admired. These are Excellencies indeed; This is truly Mr. _Dryden_. _Si sic omnia dixisset_, tho' he had approached no nearer to the Original than This; my other Criticisms upon his Translation had been spared. And after all, I desire that Mine, being in a different sort of Verse, may be considered as an Undertaking of _another kind_, rather than as an Attempt to _excel His_. For tho' I think even That may very well _be done_; yet I am too sensible of my own Imperfection, to presume to say it can be done by _Me_. I have nothing to plead, besides what I have already alledged, in Excuse of my many, and great Faults, in the Execution of This bold Design; but that I was drawn into it, not by any Opinion of my Abilities to perform it, but by the inexpressible Passion which I have always had for this incomparable Poet. With a View to whom, I will here insert a noble Stroke out of my Lord _Roscommon_'s excellent _Essay on Translated Verse_: Which, I think, is proper to stand in This Place, both as a Conclusion of my Preface, and as a Kind of Poetical Invocation to my Work:

_Hail mighty_ MARO! _May That sacred Name
Kindle my Breast with Thy celestial Flame;
Sublime Ideas, and apt Words infuse:
The Muse instruct my Voice, and THOU inspire the Muse._

FOOTNOTES TO THE PREFACE:

[1] _Prælectiones Poeticæ._

[2] _Merchant of Venice._

[3] _De tous les Ouvrages dont l'Esprit de l'Homme est capable, le Poem Epique est sans doute le plus accompli._

[4] _For so it should certainly be read; tho' both in the Folio and Octavo Editions, 'tis_ Aristotle.

[5] _Preface to his Fables._

[6] Elogia Virgilii Cap. IV Major _Homero_.

[7] _The Word was originally applied to Dramatic Poetry, and from thence transferred to Epic._ Aristotle _uses it in more Senses than one; which seem not to be rightly distinguished by his Interpreters. However we are for that Reason more at Liberty to apply it, as we think most proper._

[8] _For he mentions several Episodes, which he allows to be truly such; which yet are only convenient, not necessary. And besides, he says, p. 100, and in other Places_, Une Episode est une partie necessaire de l'Action: _And yet, p. 102_, Le premier plan de l'Action contient _seulement ce qui est propre & necessaire_ à la Fable; _& n'a aucune Episode. By which he_ seems at least _to allow that an Episode may not be necessary._

[9] Τὸ μεν οὖν ἰδιον τοὖτο, τὰ δ' ἄλλα ἐπεισόδια. Poetic. Cap XVII.

[10] _The one is ἴδιον, the other is οἰκεῖον. The former is of a more_ close, restrained, _and_ peculiar _Signification, than the latter: The former relating_ most properly _to a Man_'s Person; _the latter to his_ Possessions.

[11] _Preface to_ Homer.

[12] _Dedication of the Æneis._

[13] _See_ Bossu, _Chap. IX._

[14] _Upon the Article of_ Virgil's _Invention, see M._ Segrais _at large in his admirable Preface to his Translation of the_ Æneis; _and from him Mr_. Dryden _in his Dedication of the_ Æneis, _p. 226_, &c. _of the Folio Edition._

[15] _Preface_ to Juvenal.

[16] Paradise lost, _Book VII._

[17] _Preface to Mr._ Pope's Homer.

[18] P. 142. _Second Edition._

[19] _P. 158._

[20] _Præl. Poet._ Vol. I. Præl. 2.

[21] _Verses before L._ Roscommon's _Essay. And Preface to his_ Virgil.

[22] _Preface to it._

[23] _Dr._ Swift _in his Letter to the Earl of_ Oxford.

[24] _Preface to his_ Virgil.

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes

Spelling: English spelling in the 18th century had many differences from present-day spelling, and most of the spelling has therefore been retained without alteration.

The following may also be correct, and have been retained: "Excrescencies" (Preface p. xiii), "it self" (Preface p. xvii), "w'on't" (Preface p. xxvii), "encountring" (Preface p. xliv, a quotation from Milton PL Book 6), "forreign" (Preface p. xlviii), "litteral" (Preface p. xv), "Scotish" (Preface p. xlviii), "grosly" (Preface p. xlix).

The spelling "Aeneid" is standard in the Introduction, and the spelling "Æneid" is standard in the Preface.

The following more obvious typos have been amended: "parishoners" to "parishioners" (Introduction p. iv) "mnch" to "much" (Preface p. xlv line 14) "Transprosers" to "Transposers" (Preface p. xlviii line 23)

Missing period has been inserted on the following pages in the Preface: p. xv (after "rest are Episodes"), p. xlii (after "Vertue to break it"), and p. l (after "Erroneous").

Footnotes 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15 in the Preface have been particularly difficult to decipher.

Missing period has been added at the end of footnotes 5, 11, 15 and 19.

Incorrectly placed breathings and diacritics on diphthongs in the Greek text have been correctly placed.

Inconsistent positioning of footnote numbers has been retained.

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