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diff --git a/17548.txt b/17548.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..de5fd19 --- /dev/null +++ b/17548.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3117 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Letters Concerning Poetical Translations, by +William Benson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Letters Concerning Poetical Translations + And Virgil's and Milton's Arts of Verse, &c. + +Author: William Benson + +Release Date: January 18, 2006 [EBook #17548] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS CONCERNING POETICAL *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Carol David, Lesley Halamek +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +LETTERS + +CONCERNING + +Poetical Translations, &c. + +(Price One Shilling.) + + + + + + +LETTERS + +CONCERNING + +Poetical Translations, + +AND + +VIRGIL'S and MILTON'S + +ARTS of VERSE, &c. + + + +_LONDON_: +Printed for J. ROBERTS, near the _Oxford-Arms_ +in _Warwick-Lane_. MDCCXXXIX. + + + + + + +LETTER I. + + +_SIR,_ + +I am now going to obey your Commands; but you must let me do it in my +own way, that is, write as much, or as little at a time as I may have +an Inclination to, and just as things offer themselves. After this +manner you may receive in a few Letters, all that I have said to you +about poetical Translations, and the resemblance there is between +_Virgil's_ and _Milton's_ Versification, and some other Matters of the +same nature. + +To begin with the Business of Translation. + +Whoever sits down to translate a Poet, ought in the first place to +consider his Author's peculiar _Stile_; for without this, tho' the +Translation may be very good in all other respects, it will hardly +deserve the Name of a Translation. + +The two great Men amongst the Antients differ from each other as much +in this particular as in the Subjects they treat of. The Stile of +_Homer_, who sings the Anger or Rage of _Achilles_, is _rapid_. The +Stile of _Virgil_, who celebrates the Piety of _AEneas_, is +_majestick_. But it may be proper to explain in what this Difference +consists. + +The Stile is _rapid_, when several Relatives, each at the head of a +separate Sentence, are governed by one Antecedent, or several Verbs by +one Nominative Case, to the close of the Period. + +Thus in _Homer_: + + "Goddess, sing the pernicious Anger of _Achilles_, which brought + infinite Woes to the _Grecians_, and sent many valiant Souls of + Heroes to Hell, and gave their Bodies to the Dogs, and to the Fowls + of the Air." + +Here you see it is the Anger of _Achilles_, that does all that is +mentioned in three or four Lines. Now if the Translator does not +nicely observe _Homer's_ Stile in this Passage, all the Fire of +_Homer_ will be lost. For Example: "O Heavenly Goddess, sing the Wrath +of the Son of _Peleus_, the fatal Source of all the Woes of the +_Grecians_, that Wrath which sent the Souls of many Heroes to +_Pluto's_ gloomy Empire, while their Bodies lay upon the Shore, and +were torn by devouring Dogs, and hungry Vultures." + +Here you see the Spirit of _Homer_ evaporates; and in what immediately +follows, if the Stile of _Homer_ is not nicely attended to, if any +great matter is added or left out, _Homer_ will be fought for in vain +in the Translation. He always hurries on as fast as possible, as +_Horace_ justly observes, _semper ad eventum festinat_; and that is +the reason why he introduces his first Speech without any Connection, +by a sudden Transition; and why he so often brings in his [Greek: ton +d' apameibomenos]: He has not patience to stay to work his Speeches +artfully into the Subject. + +Here you see what is a _rapid_ Stile. I will now shew you what is +quite the contrary, that is, a _majestic one_. To instance in +_Virgil_: "Arms and the Man I sing; the first who from the Shores of +_Troy_ (the Fugitive of Heav'n) came to _Italy_ and the _Lavinian_ +Coast." Here you perceive the Subject-matter is retarded by the +_Inversion of the Phrase_, and by that _Parenthesis_, the _Fugitive of +Heaven_ all which occasions _Delay_; and _Delay_ (as a learned Writer +upon a Passage of this nature in _Tasso_ observes) is the Property of +Majesty: For which Reason when _Virgil_ represents _Dido_ in her +greatest Pomp, it is, + + --_Reginam_ cunctantem _ad limina primi_ + _Poenorum expectant_.-- + +For the same Reason he introduces the most solemn and most important +Speech in the _AEneid_, with three Monosyllables, which causes great +Delay in the Speaker, and gives great Majesty to the Speech. + + --_O Qui Res_ Hominumq; Deumq;-- + +These three Syllables occasion three short Pauses. _O--Qui--Res_--How +slow and how stately is this Passage! + +But it happens that I can set the Beginning of the _AEneid_ in a clear +Light for my purpose, by two Translations of that Passage, both by the +same Hand; one of which is exactly in the manner of _Virgil_, the +other in the manner of _Homer_: The two Translations are made by the +Reverend Mr. _Pitt_. He published the first among some Miscellany +Poems several Years since, the latter in his four Books of the _AEneid_ +about two Years ago. + +I. + + "Arms and the Man I sing; the first who driv'n + From _Trojan_ Shores, the Fugitive of Heav'n, + Came to th' _Italian_ and _Lavinian_ Coast;-- + +II. + + "Arms and the Man I sing, the first who bore + His Course to _Latium_ from the _Trojan_ Shore.-- + +The first Translation is exact in every respect: You have in it the +Suspence and Majesty of _Virgil_. The second is a good Translation, +though not at all like _Virgil_, but exactly like _Homer_: There is no +Hesitation, but the Verse and the Matter hurry on together as fast as +possible. + +I have now shown you what is a _rapid_, and what is a _majestick +Stile_. But a few more Lines of the Beginning both of the _Iliad_ and +of the _AEneid_ will make it still more plain. + + ILIAD. + + "The Anger of _Achilles_, Goddess, sing; + Which to the _Greeks_ did endless Sorrows bring; + And sent untimely, to the Realms of Night, + The Souls of many Chiefs, renown'd in Fight: + And gave their Bodies for the Dogs to tear, + And every hungry Fowl that wings the Air. + And thus accomplish'd was the Will of _Jove_, + Since first _Atrides_ and _Achilles_ strove. + What God the fatal Enmity begun? + _Latona_'s, and great _Jove_'s immortal Son. + He through the Camp a dire Contagion spread, + The Prince offended, and the People bled: + With publick Scorn, _Atrides_ had disgrac'd + The Reverend _Chryses_, _Phoebus'_ chosen Priest. + He to redeem his Daughter, sought the Shore, + Where lay the _Greeks_, and mighty Presents bore: + Deckt with the Ensigns of his God, he stands, + The Crown, the golden Sceptre in his Hands; + To all he su'd, but to the Princes most, + Great _Atreus_'s Sons, the Leaders of the Host: + Princes! and _Grecian_ Warriors! may the Gods + (The Pow'rs that dwell in Heav'ns sublime Abodes) + Give you to level _Priam_'s haughty Tow'rs, + And safely to regain your native Shores. + But my dear Daughter to her Sire restore, + These Gifts accept, and dread _Apollo_'s Pow'r; + The Son of _Jove_; he bears a mighty Bow, + And from afar his Arrows gall the Foe. + + + AENEID. + + Arms and the Man I sing, the first who driv'n + From _Trojan_ Shores, the Fugitive of Heav'n, + Came to th' _Italian_ and _Lavinian_ Coast; + Much o'er the Earth was He, and Ocean tost, + By Heavenly Powers, and _Juno_'s lasting Rage; + Much too He bore, long Wars compell'd to wage; + E'er He the Town could raise, and of his Gods, + In _Latium_ settle the secure Abodes; + Whence in a long Descent the _Latins_ come, + The _Albine_ Fathers, and the Tow'rs of _Rome_. + + +Sept. 6. 1736. + + _I am_, SIR, _&c._ + + * * * * * + +_P.S._ + +I Should not part with the Passage in _Homer_ above-mentioned without +observing that the Speech of _Apollo_'s Priest is wonderfully +Peinturesque, and in Character. We plainly see the Priest holding up +his Hands, and pointing with his Crown and Sceptre to Heaven. + + "Princes! and _Grecian_ Warriors! may the Gods + (The Pow'rs that dwell in Heav'ns sublime Abodes) + +It is a Priest that speaks, and his Audience is composed of Soldiers +who had liv'd ten Years in a Camp. He does not only put them in mind +of the _Gods_, but likewise of the _Place_ where they dwelt, and at +the same time points up to it. Neither is the Conclusion of the Speech +less remarkable than the Beginning of it: The Priest of _Apollo_ does +not end in an humble supplicant manner like a common Suitor; but he +frankly offers his Presents, and threatens the Generals and Princes he +addresses himself to, with the Vengeance of his God if they refuse his +Request: And he very artfully lets them know that his God is not a +Deity of inferior Rank, but the Son of _Jove_; and that his Arrows +reach from a great Distance. The next Line to those last mentioned I +cannot omit taking notice of, because it contains, in my Opinion, one +of the most beautiful Expressions in all the poetical Language. _To +give to do a thing._ + + "Princes! and _Grecian_ Warriors! may the Gods + (The Pow'rs that dwell in Heav'ns sublime Abodes) + _Give you to level Priam_'s haughty Tow'rs, + And safely to regain your native Shores. + +_Virgil_ was so sensible of this charming Expression, that he has used +it in the three following Passages, and I believe in one or two others +in the very first _AEneid_. + + "--_Tibi Divum paler atque hominum rex + Et mulcere_ dedit _fluctus & tollere vento_.-- + + "--_Tu_ das _epulis accumbere Divum_.-- + + "_O regina, novam cui condere Jupiter urbem + Justitiaque_ dedit _gentes fraenare superbas_:-- + +_Salvini_ in his _Italian_ Translation in 1723, dedicated to his late +Majesty, is attentive to all the Beauties of the Passage in _Homer_ +last mentioned. + + "--_A voi gl' Iddii, + Che l'Olimpie magioni abitan_, dieno + _Espugnar ilio e a casa far ritorno_." + + + + +LETTER II. + + +_SIR_, + +I Should now go upon the Comparison of _Virgil_'s and _Milton_'s +Versification, in which you will meet with that Paradox, as you +thought it at first, namely, that the principal Advantage _Virgil_ has +over _Milton_ is _Virgil_'s Rhyme. But I beg leave to postpone that +matter at present, because I have a mind to make some Remarks upon the +second Line in the Translation of the beginning of the _Iliad_ +mentioned in my former Letter, in which the auxiliary Verb _did_ (as +our Grammarians call it) is made use of. The Line runs thus. + + "Which to the _Greeks did_ endless Sorrows bring. + +It is commonly apprehended from a Passage in Mr. _Pope_'s _Essay on +Criticism_, that all auxiliary Verbs are mere _Expletives_. + + "While Expletives their feeble Aid _do_ join, + And ten low Words oft creep in one dull Line. + +But this I believe Mr. _Pope_ never intended to advance. _Milton_ has +used them in many Places, where he could have avoided it if he had +pleased. I will produce one. + + --"Him the most High + Wrapt in a balmy Cloud with fiery Steeds + _Did_, as thou saw'st, receive.-- + +_Milton_ might have said, + + "Receiv'd, as thou hast seen.-- + +But he thought the auxiliary Verb added Strength to the Expression, as +indeed it does. I own where the auxiliary Verb is brought close to its +principal, and _that_ a thin monosyllable, as in the Line just now +referred to, the Verse is very rude and disagreeable. But to prove +that the auxiliary Verb may be employed properly, I will produce an +Instance in rhym'd Verse, as strong as that of _Milton_ just +mentioned. + + "Then _did_ the roaring Waves their Rage compose, + When the great Father of the Flood arose. + +_Pit's_ 1st AEneid. + +I believe it will not be disputed, but that this Line is as full, as +sonorous, and majestick as if the auxiliary Verb had been left out, +and the Author had used _compos'd_ instead of _did compose_. The +Expression is certainly more beautiful and more poetical; and the +reason of it is, that it occasions suspence, which raises the +attention; or in other Words the auxiliary Verb gives notice of +something coming, before the principal thing itself appears, which is +another Property of Majesty. Mr. _Dryden_'s authority might likewise +be added on this occasion; even in his celebrated Lines on _Milton_ it +is to be met with. + + "_Greece_, _Italy_, and _England did_ adorn. + +In his Translation of the _AEneid_ there are many Instances of the same +nature, one of which I will mention; + + "The Queen of Heav'n _did_ thus her fury vent. + +The Metre of this Line, as the Words are here rang'd, is not bad, as +the Ear can judge; but it would have been extremely so, if he had writ +it thus, + + "The Queen of Heaven her Fury thus _did_ vent.[A] + +[Footnote A: + His Heart, his Mistress and his Friends _did_ share. + _Pope_, on _Voiture_.] + +From whence it appears that the auxiliary Verb is not to be rejected +at all times; besides, it is a particular Idiom of the _English_ +Language: and has a Majesty in it superior to the _Latin_ or _Greek_ +Tongue, and I believe to any other Language whatsoever. + +Many Instances might be brought to support this Assertion from Great +Authorities. I shall produce one from _Shakespear_. + + --_This to me + In dreadful Secrecy impart they_ did. + +The Auxiliary Verb is here very properly made use of; and it would be +a great loss to _English_ Poetry, if it were to be wholly laid aside. +In Translations from the _Greek_ and _Latin_, I believe it wou'd +sometimes be impossible to do justice to an Author without this Help: +I think the Passage in _Homer_ before us, I mean the two first Lines +of the _Iliad_, are an Instance of this kind. They have been +translated by many Persons of late, _Dryden_, _Manwaring_, Mr. +_Tickel_, and by Mr. _Pope_ twice, and not by any one of 'em, as I +apprehend, in the Spirit of _Homer_. As to Mr. _Pope_'s two +Translations, I don't understand why the latter ought to be preferr'd +to the former. Mr. _Pope_'s first Translation stood thus. + + The Wrath of _Peleus'_ Son, the direful Spring + Of all the _Grecian_ Woes, _O_ Goddess sing. + +Mr. _Pope_ had reason to be dissatisfy'd with the _O_ in the second +Line, and to reject it; for _Homer_ has nothing of it. But now let us +see how the Vacancy is supplied in Mr. _Pope_'s new Translation. + + _Achilles'_ Wrath, to _Greece_ the direful Spring + Of Woes un-number'd, _Heav'nly_ Goddess, sing. + +Is not _Heav'nly_ as much an Expletive as _O_, and can either of these +Couplets deserve to be plac'd in the Front of the Iliad? I could wish +Mr. _Pope_ would return these two Lines once more to the Anvil, and +dismiss all Expletives here at least. But enough of Expletives. + +I shall now say something of _Monosyllables_, which seem to be +absolutely condemn'd in the second Line of the two Verses just +mention'd from Mr. _Pope's Essay on Criticism_. + + And ten low Words oft creep in one dull Line. + +Mr. _Dryden_ indeed has said in several Places, that the vast Number +of _Monosyllables_ in our Language makes it barbarous and rough, and +unfit for Poetry. I am apt to think Mr. _Pope_ gave into Mr. +_Dryden_'s Sentiment a little too hastily. I own _ten low Words_ too +frequently _creep on in one dull line_, in a Poet's Works, whom Mr. +_Pope_ has formerly celebrated with no mean Encomiums. + +The following Lines afford an Example in this respect. + +At the beginning of the third Book of the _Davideis_, this is the +Description of _Goliah_'s Sword. + + "A Sword so great, that _it_ was only _fit_ + To take off his great Head, who came with _it_. + _Cowley._ + +Here are ten _dull_ Words most certainly in one _dull_ Line. + + "To take off his great Head, who came with _it_. + +And miserable is the Metre in which they creep on. But hundreds of +_monosyllable_ Lines are to be found in _Milton_ that are as sublime, +as beautiful, and as harmonious as can possibly be written. Look only +into the Morning Hymn in the fifth Book. + + "Speak ye who best can tell, ye Sons of Light. + +Again, + + "Thou Sun! of this great World both Eye and Soul. + +Again, + + "And when high Noon hast gain'd, and when thou fall'st. + +Again, + + "With the fixt Stars, fixt in their Orb that flies. + +Again, + + "Breathe soft or loud; and wave your Tops, ye Pines. + +Again, + + "Bear on your Wings and in your Notes his Praise. + +Can it be said that ten dull Words creep on dully in any one of these +Lines? But Examples may likewise be given in rhym'd Verse, of the +Harmony of _Monosyllables_. Harmony consists in mixing rough and +smooth, soft and harsh Sounds. What Words can be rougher than such as +these, _Rides_, _Rapt_, _Throws_, _Storms_; or smoother than these, +_Wheel_, _Hush_, _Lull_? + + "Then mounted on his radiant Carr he _rides_, + And _wheels_ along the level of the Tides. + _Pit_'s 1st AEneid. + +How rough is the first Line, how soft the latter! As soft as the +Original, which is a Masterpiece. + + "_Rapt_ by his Steeds he flies in open Day, + _Throws_ up the Reins, and skims the watry Way. + + "Has given to thee great _AEolus_ to raise + _Storms_ at thy sov'reign Will, and _smooth_ the Seas. + + + "He spake, and speaking chas'd the Clouds away, + _Hush'd_ the loud Billows, and restor'd the Day. + + "Mean time the Goddess on _Ascanius_ throws, + A balmy Slumber and a sweet Repose. + _Lull'd_ in her Lap to Rest, the Queen of Love, + Convey'd him to the soft _Idalian_ Grove. + _Pit_'s 1st AEneid. + +Where can a smoother Line than this be found in our Language? + + "_Lull'd_ in her Lap to Rest, the Queen of Love. + +And it may be observed that this Line is all Monosyllables. + +_Monosyllables_ are likewise of great consequence on another account. +The Strength of the _English_ Language is greatly owing to them: For +to them it is principally obliged for its Conciseness; and Conciseness +is Strength. Now Conciseness is not only to express ourselves in as +few Words as we can, but the Excellency of the Language shews itself, +if those few Words are composed of few Syllables. And herein upon +Examination, the Strength of the _English_ Tongue will be found to +lye; and for this reason it may be said to be more concise than the +_Latin_; which will appear if _Virgil_ is turned into _English_, I +mean even _English_ Verse. For Example: + + "--_Ubi tot Simois correpta sub undas + Scuta virum, Galeasq; & fortia Corpora volvit._ + + "Where _Simois_ Streams incumber'd with the slain, + Roll'd Shields, and Helms, and Heroes to the Main. + _Pit_'s 1st AEneid. + +To discover which of these two Passages is the most concise, it is not +sufficient to shew, that there are two whole _English_ Lines, and but +one Line and three Parts of another in the _Latin_. _Latin_ and +_English_ Lines cannot be compared together, because in a _Latin_ Line +there are six Feet, and in an _English_ Line but five. Again, in +_Latin_ Verse there must be in every Line one Foot of three Syllables, +often three or four, or even five Feet of three Syllables, and +sometimes four or five Syllables in one Foot. Whereas in an _English_ +Line, there is hardly ever more than two Syllables in a foot. So that +an _English_ Verse cannot be compared with the _Latin_ by the Line, or +by the Foot, but only by the Syllables of which the Words are +composed, which make the Feet in both the Languages. The Business then +is to enquire whether we write or pronounce more Syllables in the +_Latin_ or _English_ Verses here quoted: Upon Enquiry it appears that +there are twenty nine Syllables in the _Latin_, and but twenty one in +the _English_; so that the _English_ is almost one third part less +than the _Latin_; which certainly shews the former to be much more +concise than the latter, there being nothing left out in the +_English_, but the whole Thought is rather more fully expressed: And +this we see is owing to _Monosyllables_ both Verbs and Nouns, +_Streams_, _Slain_, _Shields_, _Roll'd_, _Helms_, _Main_. In short the +whole Passage is equal to the Original in Majesty and Harmony, and +superior in Conciseness. + +To give another Example or two of the same nature. + + "_Urbs antiqua fuit, Tyrii tenuere Coloni, + Carthago, Italiam contra, Tyberinaque longe + Ostia, dives opum, studiisque Asperrima Belli._ + + "Against the _Italian_ Coast, of ancient Fame + A City rose, and _Carthage_ was the Name; + A _Tyrian_ Colony, from _Tyber_ far, + Rich, rough, and brave, and exercis'd in war. + Mr. _Pit_'s AEneid. + + "--_Facti de Nomine Byrsam, + Sed vos, qui tandem, quibus aut venistis ab oris, + Quove tenetis iter?_-- + + "Hence _Byrsa_ nam'd.--But now ye Strangers, say, + Who, whence you are, and whither lies your Way? + +I have chosen here three Passages of three very different kinds, and +in all of them the _English_ appears to be much more concise than the +_Latin_; neither is there any thing wanting in the Fulness of the +Sense, or in Majesty, or in Harmony of Numbers, any more in the two +last Passages than in the former. Another Instance of this kind might +be produced out of _Virgil_'s most perfect Work, the _Georgick_, +although it wants the Advantage of being translated by such a Hand as +Mr. _Pit_'s. + + "_Si vero Viciamq; seres vitemq; Faselum, + Nec Pelusiacoe curam aspernabere lentis._ + + "But if the Vetch you sow, or meaner Tare, + Nor shall disdain th' _AEgyptian_ Lentil's Care. + +In the _Latin_ there are thirty Syllables in the two Lines, in the +_English_ but twenty one. So that the _English_ is almost one third +more concise than the _Latin_; and at the same time _Virgil_'s Sense +fully expressed. + +I will conclude this Letter with the Opinion of a Foreigner concerning +our Monosyllables: A Person not at all prepossessed in favour of our +Language. + +"The _English_ Language, besides the most significant Words borrowed +from the _Latin_, _Greek_, &c. and often shortned, hath a vast Stock +of its own, and being for the most part Monosyllables, no Speech is +capable of expressing Thought in Sounds so few as the _English_ does: +This is easily observed by the Translations of the _English_ into +Foreign Languages. + + "The Strength and Conciseness that Monosyllables (especially in + Verbs) produce, are of wonderful Use in Lyrick Poetry, because they + Enter into any Foot or Measure of Verses, by different + Transpositions; so that I dare venture to assert, there is no + _Italian_ or Foreign Song, which _English_ Words will not suit; the + Variety of Feet and Metres producing equal Variety of Mode and + Movements in Composition. The want of this is what makes the + _French_ vocal Musick so confined and uniform; for I cannot + recollect above two of their Verbs in use in the infinitive Mood, + that are Monosyllables, and not one exact Dactile in all their + Polysyllables." + _Roener_'s Preface to his _Melopeia Sacra_. + +Sept. 13. 1736. + + _I am_, SIR, _&c._ + + + + +LETTER III. + + +_SIR,_ + +In comparing _Virgil_'s and _Milton_'s Versification, I shall begin +with _Virgil_; and shew some of the principal Beauties of his Poetry +in this respect: And here I must own myself not a little indebted to +_La-Cerda_, _Pontanus_ and _Pierius_, but above all to the most +excellent _Erythraeus_, who has not only considered every Paragraph, +every Line, every Foot, every Word, and every Syllable, but even every +Letter in _Virgil_; and it is not easy to conceive how much may depend +on a single Letter, very often the whole Harmony of a Line; and on +this Account we have vast Obligations to _Pierius_; to him we owe this +fine Verse, and many others. + + "_Atq; rotis summas levibus_ pellabitur _undas_.-- + +All the common Editions read _perlabitur_; which is horrid to the ear. +But to go on with the Matter in hand. The principal Excellencies of +_Virgil_'s Versification consist of the several following Particulars. + +1st, The continual varying of the Pause. + +2d, The Inversion of the Phrase. + +3d, The adapting of the Sound to the Sense. + +4th, The mixing of the singular and plural Numbers. + +5th, The giving Majesty and Strength to his Verse with the connecting +Particles _Que_ and _Et_. + +6th, The _Collocatio Verborum_, or artful way of placing Words. + +7th, The changing the common Pronunciation of Words. + +8th, Verses contrary to the common Measure. + +9th, 10th, and 11th, His _Alliteratio_, _Allusio Verborum_, and +_Assonantia Syllabarum_. + +As these three last Articles arise from Observations perfectly new at +the time they were written by _Erythraeus_, namely, about 200 Years +ago; and as new at this time, having been almost quite lost by I know +not what Accident to the World; I must follow my Master, and use his +Terms for his Discoveries, except where I differ a little from him. + + +1st, To begin with the first Article mentioned in this Letter, _The +Varying of the Pause_. This Subject I have met with in several Books, +but not fully explained in any one of them to my Capacity; for I must +confess I should never have thoroughly apprehended the Varying of the +Pause in any Language, if I had not thought of an Expedient to +discover what is the common Pause in a Verse that each Language +naturally stops at, of which I have any Knowledge. + +To find out this, I consulted the middling sort of Poets, or the first +Practicers in this Art: In this Enquiry I observ'd from _Hesiod_ and +_Ennius_ among the _Greek_ and _Latin_ Poets, and afterwards from +_Ovid_ with relation to the latter, and which I am now to speak of, +that the common Pause or Stop in all _Latin_ Heroick Verse (to say +nothing of the _Greek_, which agrees with it in this Respect) is upon +the 1st Syllable of the 3d Foot. For Example, + + "_Ante mare & tellus | & quod tegit omnia, caelum, + Unus erat toto | Naturae vultus in orbe, + Quem dixere Chaos | rudis indigestaque moles; + Nec quicquam, nisi pondus, iners; | congestaque eodem + Non bene junctarum | discordia semina rerum. + Nullus adhuc mundo | praebebat lumina Titan; + Nec nova crescendo | reparabat cornua Phoebe, + Nec circumfuso | pendebat in aere tellus_-- + +Here we have eight Lines all paused in the same Place, except one, +(the 4th); and in this kind of Measure the _Metamorphosis_ is +generally written; from whence I collected the natural Pause in the +_Latin_ Language to be as abovementioned: I then consulted the best +Poem of the best _Latin_ Poet, which begins with these Lines. + + "_Quid faciat laetas segetes, | quo Sydere Terram + Vertere, | Maecenas, | ulmisque adjungere Vites + Conveniat, | quae cura Boum, | qui cultus habendo + Sit Pecori, | Apibus quanta experientia parcis + Hinc canere incipiam |._-- + +Here I observed that this great Master had artfully avoided the common +Pause till he came to the fifth Line; and he takes care to do it as +much as possible throughout the whole Work; from whence arises one of +the most material Differences in the Versification of _Ovid_ and +_Virgil_; and to produce more Examples would be a needless Labour. In +this Place let me take Notice that it is on Account of Varying the +Pause that _Virgil_ makes his broken Lines in the _AEneid_, which +suspend all Pauses, and the Ear is relieved by this Means, and attends +with fresh Pleasure. Whoever intends to come up to _Virgil_ in Harmony +in Heroick Numbers in any long Work, must not omit this Art. + + +2d, The next thing to be attended to, is, _The Inversion of the +Phrase_. This flings the Stile out of Prose, and occasions that +Suspense which is the Life of Poetry. This _builds the lofty Rhyme_ +(as _Milton_ expresses it) in such manner as to cause that Majesty in +Verse of which I have said so much before, that there is no need of +saying any thing more here. + + +3d. The third thing is, _The adapting the Sound to the Sense_. + +Most People know such Instances of this Nature, as _Quadrupedante_, +&c. and _Illi inter sese_, &c. But few attend to an Infinity of other +Examples. + +How is the Verse drawn out in length, and how does it labour when +strong heavy Land is to be ploughed! + + "--_Ergo, age terrae + Pingue solum, primis extemplo a Mensibus Anni + Fortes invortant tauri._-- + +How nimbly does the Verse move when the turning over very light Ground +is represented! + + "--_Sub ipsum + Arcturum_, tenui s[=a]t erit _suspendere sulco_.-- + +How slow does the heavy Waggon proceed in this Line! + + "_Tardaque Eleusinae Matris Volventia Plaustra._-- + +How does the Boat bound over the _Po_ in these two Hemisticks! + + "--_Levis innatat alnus + Missa Pado._-- + +See Feathers dancing on the Water in this! + + "--_In aqua colludere plumas._-- + +No Stem of the Crab-tree is more rough than this Verse. + + "_Inseritur vero ex foetu nucis arbutus horrida:_ + +Water is not more liquid than this. + + "_Speluncisque lacus Clausos, lucosque sonantis._-- + +_S. & L. liquescit Carmen instar aquarum_, says _Erythraeus_ in his +Note on this Line. + +How gently flow the Streams in this Verse! + + "_Unde pater Tiberinus, & unde Aniena fluenta._-- + +What a roaring do the _Hypanis_ and _Caicus_ make in the next! + + "_Sax[=o]sumque s[=o]nans Hypanis, Mysusque Caicus._ + +But now observe how he raises his Song to honour his Favourite +_Eridanus_! + + "_Et gemina_ auratus _taurino cornua vultu_ + Eridanus; _quo non_ alius _Per Pinguia culta + In mare purpureum v[=i]olent[=i]or [=i]nflu[=i]t amn[=i]s._ + +The former Line strikes the Ear with _Mysus_ and _Caicus_; here you +have _Auratus_, _Eridanus_, and _Alius_. Then an Alliteration, _Per +Pinguia_, and at last the whole Passage rolls on in a Dactyl Line, and +rushes into the Sea with an _Assultus_ of the Vowel _i_, repeated five +times in three Words. + + "--_Violentior influit amnis._ + +The following Line tours into the Skies with the highest Mountain in +_Italy_. + + "--_Gaudetque nivali + Vertice se attollens pater Appeninus, ad auras._-- + +This falls down as low as the deepest Valley. + + "_Saxa per, & scopulos, & depressas convalles._ + +In short there is nothing in Nature that _Virgil's_ Verse does not +convey to the _Ear_, and the _Eye_; so that this Subject is +inexhaustible, and must be left to every one's particular Observation. + +The learned _Morhophius_ has a Passage relating to this Matter which +comes in too properly here to be omitted. + + "Solent Carminibus suae esse a Numeris Veneres, & certa quaedam + Artificia, quae mirifice ornant versum, quales apud Virgilium, mirum + numeri Poetici Observatorem, frequenter occurrunt, e.g. cum versus + terminantur Monosyllabis, ut: _procumbit humi bos: nascetur + ridiculus mus_. Vel cum Spondaei multi adhibentur, ut; _media agmina + circumspexit: Illi inter sese magna vi brachia tollunt_. Aut cum + Dactyli & Spondaei ita miscentur, ut REI NATURAM EXPRIMANT, ut cum de + turri ruente ait: + + "--_Convellimus altis + Sedibus; impulimusq;, ea lapsa repente_ ruinam + _Cum sonitu trahit_.-- + + "Talia infinita apud Virgilium habentur quae homo in iis non + exercitatus contemnat, doctus vero & prudens admiretur. + _Polyhist._ + +There is also a Remark of the judicious _Columna_ on a celebrated Line +in _Virgil_, which is very much to the present Purpose. + + _Unus Homo Nobis Cunctando Restituit Rem._] + +Virgilius de eodem loquens AEneid l. 6. integrum hoc carmen sumpsit, +ita tamen, ut _spondeorum tarditate Fabii moram referret_, + + --tu Maximus ille es, + Unus, qui nobis cunctando restituis rem. + _Enn. Frag._ + +Sept. 21, 1736, + + _I am_, SIR, _&c._ + + * * * * * + +_P.S._ + +The Passage in the learned _Muhlius_, which I should have inserted at +the beginning of this Letter, I send you in a Postscript. You have +seen it before, but it is worth reading more than once. You know it +belongs principally to the Article that treats of _the varying the +Pause_. + + "Neque potest unus idemque semper tenor in carmine usurpari, sed + debet is pro varia periodorum Poeticarum ratione distingui. Et ut + insurgat decore & intumescat aliquando, iterumque remittat, ubi opus + est, consequimur caesorum ac periodorum sola inaequalitate. Quod + pulcerrime observat _Virgilius_, cujus alia mensura, alia pedum + compositio est in narrationibus, descriptionibus, orationibus, & + tanta periodorum numerorumque variatio, ut ad eam perfectionem nihil + addi possit. Hujus rei quanta negligentia in _Statio_, _Lucano_, + _Claudiano_, _Silio Italico_? Ubi admirabilis illa harmonia, + suavitas, gravitas ipsorum pedum aequaliter, inaequaliter + temperatorum, per clausulas verborum fractorum, ac intra regiones + suas aliter aliterq; interceptorum? Ut de junctura illa literarum + nihil addam, cum vocales ac consonantes ipsaeque syllabae ita + miscentur, ut rei naturam tam apte jucundeque exprimant, ut ea + _geri_ potius quam _cani_, _spectari_ magis quam _audiri_ videatur. + Talia infinita sunt apud _Virgilium_, quae captum imperitorum longe + excedunt, doctiores vero & prudentiores impense admirantur; quae + nihil tritum, vulgare, hiuclum nihil elumbe ac contortum patiuntur, + at nescio quid virile & stupendum plane, ac majus humana voce + videntur sonare. _Claudianus_ certe istud fastigium non attingit, & + quod in _Maroniana_ dictione, in illa periodorum ac numerorum + varietate praeclarum putamus, vix est, ut ejus vel levem umbram + ostentet. Sic eadem semper oberrat chorda, quod ridiculum existimat + magnus iste dicendi magister." + + + + +LETTER IV. + + +_SIR_, + +[Sidenote: IV.] + +The fourth thing to be consider'd is, _Virgil_'s _mixing the Singular +and Plural Numbers_. This has a wonderful Effect, and is very +diligently attended to by _Virgil_; but I believe never once thought +of by _Ovid_, or any other _Roman_ Writer in the Days of _Augustus_. + + "_Quid faciat laetas_ Segetes, _quo sidere_ terram + _Vertere, Maecenas, ulmisque adjungere_ vites, + _Conveniat: quae cura boum, qui cultus habendo + Sit_ pecori, apibus _quanta experientia parcis_. + +Here you have _segetes_ and _terram_, and then _vites_, and after that +_pecori_ and _apibus_. + +Again, + + "--_Camposque, & flumina late + Curva tenent: ut molle_ siler, _lentaeque_ genistae, + Populus, & _glauca canentia fronde_ Salicta. + _Pars autem posito surgunt de semine: ut altae_ + Castaneae; _nemorumq; Jovi quae maxima frondet_ + Esculus, _atque habitae Graiis oracula_ quercus. + +Here are _Siler_ and _Genistae_, _Populus_ and _Salicta_, _Castaneae_ +and _Esculus_, and _Quercus_. + +Again, + + "Arma Virumque _cano, Trojae qui primus ab oris_ + Italiam, _fato profugus_, Lavinaque _venit_ + Litora. _Multum ille &_ terris _jactatus &_ alto, + _Vi_ Superum _saevae memorem_ Junonis _ob iram. + Multa quoq; & bello passus, dum conderet_ urbem, + _Inferretque_ Deos _Latio_: genus _unde Latinum + Albanique_ patres, _atque altae moenia Romae_. + +These _two first Words_ of the _AEneid_ are an Example +of what I am taking notice of; and then we have in this Introduction +_Italiam_ and _Litora Lavina_, _Terris_ and _Alto_, _Superum_ and +_Junonis_, _Urbem_ and _Deos_, _Genus_ and _Patres_. + +But the most beautiful Passage of this Nature is in the _Georgics_. +Here the thing to be done, and the Instrument with which it is to be +done, are varied alternately. + + "_Quod nisi & assiduis_ terram _insectabere_ rastris, + _Et_ sonitu _terrebis_ aves, _& ruris opaci_ + Falce _premes_ umbras, votisq; _vocaveris_ imbrem. + +Terram _rastris_, sonitu _aves_, falce _umbras_, votis _imbrem_. + +Upon which _La Cerda_ makes this Remark: + + "_Placet_ Virgilius _semper, sed cur placeat saepe ignoratur. In + rebus quatuor recensendis numquam pluralem cum plurali, neque + singularem cum singulari, quod minus ad varietatem: sed semper cum + singulari pluralem. Unica terra multis rastris insectanda est, unica + pluvia multis votis petenda. Contra, multae aves terrendae unico + sonitu, multae umbrae unica falce compescendae._" + +Now in _Ovid_ nothing of this Art is to be found. + + "_Ante_ mare & tellus, _& (quod tegit omnia)_ coelum, + _Unus erat toto naturae_ vultus _in orbe, + Quem dixere_ chaos: _rudis indigestaque_ moles, + _Nec quicquam nisi_ pondus _iners_. + +Here are _Mare_, _Tellus_, _Coelum_, _Vultus_, _Chaos_, _Moles_, and +_Pondus_, without any one word of the Plural Number amongst them. + + +V. The next Particular to be taken notice of, is _Virgil_'s uncommon +Use of the Particles _Et_ and _Que_. + + "--_Multum ille_ et _terris jactatus_ et _alto_; + _Multa quoque_ et _bello passus_-- + Et _premere_, et _laxas sciret dare jussus habenas_. + +And more frequently in his most finish'd Piece. + + _Quid tibi odorato referam sudantia ligno. + Balsama_que, et _Baccas_-- + _Quod nisi_ et _assiduis terram insectabere rastris_, + Et _sonitu terrebis aves_, et _ruris opaci + Falce premes umbras, votis_que _vocaveris imbrem. + Si vero viciam_que _seres, vilem_que _Faselum_. + +This Manner of using these connecting Particles, gives Majesty and +Strength to the Verse. It gives Majesty, because it occasions Suspense +and raises the Attention. For Example: + + _Si vero Viciam_que _seres_-- + +Here the _que_ hinders the Sense from being concluded, till you have +read the rest of the Line, + + --_Vilemque Faselum._ + +But if the Poet had writ (supposing the Verse would have allowed it) + + _Si vero Viciam seres_-- + +the Reader would have understood him without going any farther; and it +is easily perceiv'd the Verse would have been very flat to what it is +now. This double Use of the Particles gives Strength to the Verse; +because, as the Excellent _Erythraeus_ observes, the copulative +Conjunctions are in Language of the same Use as Nerves in the Body, +they serve to connect the Parts together; so that these Sorts of +Verses which we are speaking of may be very properly called, Nervous +Lines. + +This Art _Virgil_ most certainly learnt from _Homer_: for there is +nothing more remarkable in _Homer_'s Versification, nothing to which +the Majesty of it is more owing, than this very thing, and I wonder +none of his Commentators (that I have seen) have taken notice of it. +There are four in the 23 first Lines of the Iliad, of this Kind. I +will put the _Latin_ for the sake of the generality of Readers. + + _Atrides_que, _rex virorum,_ et _nobilis Achilles. + Redempturus_que _filiam, ferens_que _infinitum pretium liberationis, + Atridae_que, et _alii bene ocreati Achivi, + Reverendum_que _esse sacerdotem,_ et _splendidum accipiendum + pretium_. + Clarke's _Translation_. + + +VI. I come now to the _Collocatio Verborum_, of which there is no +occasion to give any more than one Instance: + + "_Vox quoque per lucos vulgo exaudita silentes_ + Ingens.-- + +The Reader cannot but perceive that the Manner of placing _Ingens_ has +a wonderful Effect; it makes him hear the melancholy Voice _groan +through the Grove_. + + +VII. The _changing the common Pronunciation of Words_, as thus: + + _"Fluvi[)o]rum Rex Eridanus._-- + +And + + _"Strid[)e]re apes utero & ruptis efferv[)e]re costis._ + + +VIII. _Lines contrary to the common Measure_, or rather without any +Measure at all, _viz._ + + "_Quod fieri ferro, liquidove potest electro, + Saxa per & scopulos & depressas convalles._ + + + +IX, X, XI. These are the three Articles formerly mentioned, namely, +the _Alliteratio_, the _Allusio Verborum_, and the _Assonantia +Syllabarum_. + + +1. As to the _Alliteratio_. This is of several Kinds, it is _Initial_, +_Single_ and _Double_; sometimes _Treble_, or more frequent. It is +likewise _Mix'd_, that is, both in the first Letters of the Words, and +in the following Syllables. It is sometimes so often repeated, that it +may be term'd _Assultus_, or an Attack upon, or a storming of the Ear. + +The following are Examples of the _Single Alliteratio_. + + "_Quid faciat laetas_ segetes, _quo_ sidere _terram_ + Vertere, _Maecenas_, _ulmisque adjungere_ vites, + Conveniat: _quae_ cura _boum_, _qui_ cultus _habendo_. + +Again, + + "--_Sed_ viva volare + _Sideris in numerum_.-- + +And, + + "--_Asia longe_ + Pulia palus.-- + +Of the _Double_ initial _Alliteratio_, this is an Example: + + "_Totaque thuriferis Panchaia pinguis arenis._ + +Of the _Treble_ and more frequent initial _Alliteratio_, this is an +Instance: + + "_Et sola in sicca secum spatiatur arena._ + +The _Mix'd Alliteratio_, and the _Assultus_ are to be found in these +two Lines: + + "Illas _ducit_ amor trans Gargara, transque sonantem + Ascanium: superant _montes_, & flumina tranant. + +In these two Lines the Vowel _a_ is repeated fourteen times, and what +an Effect this has upon the Ear, the Reader cannot but perceive. + + +2. Of the _Allusio Verborum_, the following are Examples: + + "_Nec nocturna quidem carpentes pensa puellae._ + +Again, + + "_Hoc metuens; molemque & montes insuper altos._ + +Again, + + "_Stat sonipes, ac frena ferox spumantia mandit._ + +Again, + + "_Vitavisse vices Danaum._ + + +3. Of the _Assonantia Syllabarum_ or _Rhyme_, there are in _Virgil_ +the several following Sorts. + +1. _The plain direct Rhyme_, which is of two Kinds, _Single_ or +_Double_. + +2. _The intermediate_ or _casual plain Rhyme_. + +3. _The scanning conclusive Rhyme_. So called, because it would hardly +be perceived by the Generality of Readers, unless they first scann'd +the Verse; but when they have done that in three or four Lines, the +Ear will afterwards make the necessary Distinction without any farther +trouble. + +I will explain and give Examples of all these several sorts of _Rhyme_ +in their Order. + + +1. To treat of the plain _Single_ direct _Rhyme_. The following Verses +are Examples of this sort of Rhyme: But to make them more like our +own, I will divide the Verse into two Parts. + + "_Poculaque inventis + Acheloia miscuit uvis._ + + "_Totaque Thuriferis + Panchaia pinguis arenis._ + + "_Et premere, & laxas + Sciret dare, jussus habenas._ + + "_Atque rotis summas + Levibus pellabitur undas._ + + "_O nimium coelo + Et pelago confise sereno._ + +Many more of these Lines might be produced, but these are sufficient. + +Of the plain direct _Double_ Rhyme (which is the Sort of Rhyme the +_Spectator_ speaks of No. 60, and which the Monks were in Love with) +the following are Instances. + + "_Hic labor extremus, lon_garum _haec meta vi_arum. + +Again, + + "_I nunc & verbis + Virtutem illude superbis._ + +Again, + + "_Cornua veletarum + Obvertimus Antennarum._ + + +2. _Of the intermediate plain Rhyme_, the following are Examples. + + "Imposuit, _regemque_ dedit, _qui foedere certo_. + +And, + + "_Descendo, ac ducente_ Deo _flammam inter & hostes_. + +In this Passage _Virgil_ uses _Deus_ in speaking of a _Goddess_, for +no other Reason imaginable but to enrich his Verse with Rhyme. + + +3. Of the _scanning conclusive Rhyme_ the following are Instances. + + "_Sylvestrem tenui musam medi--taris [=a]--ven[=a]_. + + "_Nudus in ignota pali--nure j[=a]--cebis [=a]--ren[=a]_. + +From whence it appears that _Virgil_'s Poetry is almost all Rhyme of +one kind or other; and it is evident beyond Dispute that he generally +concludes his strong, sounding, majestick Paragraphs with a full +Rhyme, for which I refer to that fine Line already more than once +mentioned, which sums up the Praises of _Italy_. + + "_Totaque thuriferis Panchaia pinguis arenis._ + +And to the Conclusion of his finest work. + + "_Hic vero subitum, ac dictu mirabile monstrum + Aspiciunt: liquefacta boum per viscera toto + Stridere apes utero, & ruptis effervere costis, + Immensasque trahi nubes; jamque arbore summa + Confluere, & lentis uvam demittere ramis._ + +And to this I will add the last Line of the Epilogue to the +_Georgicks_. + + "_Tytyre te patulae cecini sub tegmine fagi._ + +Where the two several Hemisticks or Parts of the Verse Rhyme each to +itself. + +I would observe here that both _Ovid_ and _Lucan_, for want of +Judgment, begin with a full Rhyme; the consequence of which is, that +the Conclusion of the Paragraph is less sonorous than the Beginning, +which must needs have a bad Effect. + + "_In nova fert animus muta_tas _discere for_mas. + Ovid. + + "_Bella per AEmath_ios _plus quam Civilia Cam_pos. + Lucan. + +But a modern Writer, and a much better Composer of _Latin_ Verses than +either _Ovid_ or _Lucan_, has with great Judgment taken care to follow +_Virgil_'s Example in this and many other Particulars. I mean +_Vanerius_. There are a great Number of Lines in his _Praedium +Rusticum_ which are worthy of _Virgil_ himself: I shall entertain you +with some of them. + +In his Kitchen-Garden, the following Passage is a Description of all +the numerous Family of Colworts, or the Cabbage-kind. + + "_Quid dicam quanta jactat se Brassica laude? + Sive volubilibus redit in se frondibus, Orbesque + Orbibus agglomerans, capitis sub mole laborat; + Tornato similes Ebori seu candida Flores + Ediderit, seu Coniacas imitata Cupressus, + Seque suas plicat in frondes, & acumen in album + Desinit, & tenui venit haud ingloria Mensae. + Sive hieme in media cum caetera frigore torpent + Loeta viret, Boreamque trucem, Caurosque malignos + Despiciens, vacuis ultro Dominatur in hortis._" + +In his Description of the Farm-yard, he paints the following several +Sorts of Fowls in this Manner: + + "_Se pictae cervicis_ Anas | _& Garulus_ Anser + _Tarda mole movent: | habitu_ Gallina _modesto + Progreditur: | Caudam_ Gallus _Cristasque rubentes + Erigit, | & motis sibi plaudit Laetior alis_." + +And I cannot omit this most charming Verse which describes the +Courtship of a Pigeon. + + "_Saepe solum verrens Penna pendente rotatur._" + + "Oft with his trailing Wing the wanton Dove + Brushes the Ground, and wheels about his Love. + +Such Verse as this must please in all Ages, and in all Countries, +where the Readers have any Taste and Delicacy of Ear. All the Beauties +of _Virgil_'s Poetry are in these Lines; and you may observe in the +four last mentioned, + + +1. How curiously the _Pause_ is varied. + +In the first Line it is upon the first Syllable of the fourth Foot. + +In the second Line it is upon the first Syllable of the third Foot. + +In the third Line it is upon the first Syllable of the second Foot. + +In the fourth Line it is upon the last Syllable of the first Foot. + + +2. Observe the _initial Alliteration_ in the first, second and third +Lines. + +In the first, _Anas_ and _Anser_. + +In the second, _Mole_, _Movent_, and _Modesto_. + +In the third, _Caudam_, _Cristasque_. + + +The mixt Alliteration in the first Line where _Garrulus_ is placed +betwixt _Anser_ and _Anas_, makes the Verse very sonorous; but the +mixt Alliteration in the last Line where the Vowel _i_ is repeated +eight times in seven Words, is a very masterly Stroke; + + "_Er_i_g_i_t, & mot_i_s s_i_b_i _plaud_i_t loet_i_or al_i_s_." + + --I_lle h_i_nc concentus_ i_n omn_i + _Carm_i_ne D_i_v_i_n_i _vat_i_s_.-- + +Which _extempore_ Remark is itself an Instance of what I am taking +notice of as imitated from _Virgil_. + + +3. You will perceive the _Allusio Verborum_ to have a very good Effect +in the second Line. + + "_Tarda m_o_le m_o_vent, habitu gallina m_o_dest_o." + + +4. The mixing the singular and plural Numbers in the third Line is +very judicious. + + "_Caudam_ Cristasque _rubentes_. + +_Ovid_ would have said, + + "_Caudam_ Cristamque-- + + +Lastly, The full Rhyme in the fourth Line makes the whole Paragraph +very harmonious. It is not improper to produce here the Conclusion of +the Description of _AEolus_'s Cave, which is one of the finest Passages +in the _AEneid_. + + "_Sed pater omnipotens spelunc_is _abdidit at_ris + _Hoc metuens_, mo_lemque &_ mo_ntis insuper altos + Imposu_it, _regemque ded_it, _qui foedere certo + Et premere, & lax_as _sciret dare jussus haben_as. + +Would not any body think that _Vanerius_ intended to vie with _Virgil_ +in this Place? + +October 2. 1736. + + _I am_, SIR, _&c._ + + * * * * * + +_P.S._ + +The Examples I have given in this Letter of _plain direct Rhyme_ are +only in _long_ or _heroic_ Verse, but I might have instanc'd in _Lyric +Lines_. _Horace_ abounds in Rhyme. In the first Ode we find + + _Metaque fervidis + Evitata rotis + Palmaque nobilis + Illum si proprio + Condidit horreo_ + +and several others. + +In two of his finest Odes the following Lines are as full Rhymes as +can possibly be made, + + _Nec venenatis + Gravida sagittis + Pone me Pigris + Ubi nulla campis + Arbor aestiva + Recreatur Aura + Aut in umbrosis + Heliconis Oris + Aut super Pindo + Gelidove in Haemo._ + +The two last are doubly rhym'd. + + + + +LETTER V. + + +_SIR,_ + +I am now to consider _Milton_'s Versification under the same Heads as +I have considered _Virgil_'s, so far as there is Opportunity of doing +it. + + +I. To begin with _The Varying of the Pause_, which is the Soul of all +Versification in all Languages. Verse is Musick, and Musick is more or +less pleasing as the Notes are more or less varied, that is, raised or +sunk, prolonged or shortned. In order to judge of the varying of +_English_ Versification, I first endeavour'd (as I have already said, +with respect to the _Latin_) to find out the common Pause in _English_ +Verse, that is, where the Voice naturally makes some sort of Stop when +a Verse is read. To this purpose I look'd into Mr. _Cowley_'s +_Davideis_ (for it would be of no use to quote such Authors as +_Quarles_ and _Ogilby_, who never had any Reputation for Poetry; but +this Gentleman has been stil'd, and is at present recorded in +_Westminster-Abbey_, as _Anglorum Pindarus_, _Maro_, _Flaccus_) and +there I soon found the common Pause to be upon the last Syllable of +the second Foot. For Example: + + "I sing the Man | who _Judah_'s Sceptre bore + In that Right-hand, | which held the Crook before; + Who from best Poet, | best of Kings _did_ grow: + The two chief Gifts | Heav'n could on Man bestow. + Much Dangers first, | much Toil did he sustain, + Whilst _Saul_ and Hell | crost his strong Fate in vain. + Nor did his Crown | less painful Work afford-- + +Here we have seven Lines, and all of them, except the third, paus'd in +the same place. + +Thus I discovered from _Cowley_ in _English_ what I perceived from +_Ovid_ in _Latin_. I then turned to the _Paradise Lost_, and there I +found _Milton_ even surpasses _Virgil_ in this particular. _Virgil_ +uses the common Pause at the fifth Line of the _Georgicks_, but +_Milton_ does not use it till he comes to the sixth Line in his +_Paradise Lost_. + + "Of Man's first Disobedience | and the Fruit + Of that forbidden Tree | whose mortal Taste + Brought Death into the World | and all our Woe, + With Loss of _Eden_ | 'till one greater Man + Restore us | and regain the blissful Seat, + Sing Heavenly Muse |-- + +It would be needless to produce more Examples to this purpose; and I +believe I may venture to affirm that the Verse is varied at least with +as much Skill in the _Paradise Lost_, as even in the _Georgick_ +itself: I am inclinable to think with more, because in this respect +the _English_ Language surpasses the _Latin_, by reason of its +Monosyllables, of which I have said enough for any body at all versed +in these Matters, to be able to make out what is here advanc'd. But +before I quit this Article, I will observe that it is to the artful +and uncommon varying the Pause, that the Harmony is owing in those two +celebrated Lines of Sir _John Denham_. + + "Tho' deep | yet clear; | tho' gentle | yet not dull. + Strong | without Rage, | without o'erflowing | full. + +This is one of those Mysteries in Versification which the late Duke of +_Bucks_ would not suffer Mr. _Dryden_ to communicate to the Publick. +To the same Art is owing the Delicacy of two of the finest Lines in +all the _Latin_ Tongue. + + "_Te | dulcis conjux | te | solo in littore | secum, + Te | veniente die | te | decedente | canebat._ + +Of the same Nature are many Lines in _Milton_, of which this is one: + + "Him first | Him last | Him midst | and without End. + + +II. I come now to the second Particular: _The Inversion of the +Phrase_. Every Page affords Instances of this Nature. + + "--Him the Almighty Pow'r + Hurl'd headlong flaming from the ethereal Sky. + +Again, + + "--Up stood the Corny Reed + Embattell'd in her Field.-- + +Again, + + "--Him the most High + Rapt in a balmy Cloud with winged Steeds + Did, as thou saw'st, Receive. + +And in one of _Milton_'s juvenile Poems we have + + "Trip the pert Fairies.-- + +And, + + "Revels the spruce jocund Spring. + _Comus._ + + +III. The third thing to be consider'd, is, _The adapting the Sound to +the Sense_. + +Who does not hear the Warbling of a _Brook_, the Rustling of _Wings_, +the rough Sound of _Trumpets_ and _Clarions_, and the soft one of +_Flutes_ and _Recorders_ in the following Lines? + + "Fountains, and ye that warble as ye flow + Melodious Murmur warbling, tune his Praise. + +Again, + + "--But Chief the spacious Hall + Thick swarm'd, both on the Ground and in the Air, + _Brush'd with the Hiss of rustling Wings_. + +Again, + + "Then strait commands, that at the warlike Sound + Of _Trumpets_ loud and _Clarions_, be uprear'd + His mighty Standard.-- + +Again, + + "--Nor with less Dread, the loud + Ethereal Trumpet from on High _'gan blow_. + +Again, + + "--Thus they + Breathing united Force with fixed Thought + Mov'd on _in Silence to soft Pipes_. + +Who does not see Porpoises and Dolphins tumbling about in the Ocean +when he reads this Line? + + "--On smooth the Seal, + And bended Dolphins play: part huge of Bulk, + Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their Gate, + Tempest the Ocean.-- + +How variously the Rivers run in these Verses? + + "--So the watry Throng + Wave rowling after Wave, where way they found, + If steep, with Torrent rapture, if through plain + Soft Ebbing.-- + +How is the Verse extended where the Whale lies at length upon the +Ocean! + + "--There Leviathan + Hugest of living Creatures, on the Deep + Stretch'd like a Promontory sleeps.-- + +How does the Line labour when the Elephant is working himself through +the stiff Clay, whilst the lesser Animals sprout up as it were in an +Instant! + + "--Scarce thro' his Mould + _Behemoth_, biggest born of Earth, upheav'd + His Vastness.-- + +And, + + "--Fleec'd the Flocks and bleating, rose + As Plants.-- + +But I shall have occasion to take notice of this Subject hereafter. + + +IV. The fourth thing to be enquir'd into is, _The mixing of singular +and plural Numbers_, in which _Milton_ excels. + + "--Flowers were the Couch + Pansies, and Violets, and _Asphodel_, + And _Hyacinth_, Earth's freshest softest Lap. + +Again, + + "--Through many a dark and dreary Vale + They pass'd, and many a Region dolorous, + O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp, + Rocks, Caves, Lakes, Fens, Bogs, Dens, and + Shades of Death. + +Again, + + "Sporting the _Lion_ ramp'd, and in his Paw + Dandled the _Kid_; Bears, Tigers, Ounces, Pards, + Gambol'd before them.-- + +Again, + + "--Sweet Interchange + Of Hill and Valley, Rivers, Woods and Plains, + Now Land, now Sea, and Shores with Forest crown'd + Rocks, Dens and Caves. + +Again, + + "The glittering Guard he pass'd, and now is come + Into the blissful Field, thro' Groves of Myrrh, + And flow'ry Odours, _Cassia_, _Nard_, and _Balm_. + + +V. As to the fifth Remark upon _Virgil_, which relates to his using +the Particles _Que_ and _Et_ in his Verse, there can be nothing of +that nature in _Milton_. So that I proceed to + + +VI. The sixth thing to be observed, which is, _The Collocatio +Verborum_. + +_Milton_ often places the Adjective after the Substantive, which very +much raises the Stile. + + "Strait he commands that at the warlike Sound + Of Trumpets _loud_, and Clarions, be uprear'd + His mighty Standard. That proud Honour claim'd + _Azazel_, as his Right; a Cherub _tall_.-- + +Again, + + "Thy Goodness beyond Thought and Pow'r _Divine_.-- + +And again, + + "Then from the Mountain hewing Timber _tall_. + +But the utmost of his Art in this respect consists in his removing the +Adjective, the Substantive, and even the Verb, from the Line or Verse +in which the Sense is previously contained, and the grammatical +Construction inverted, to the Beginning of the next Line. This has a +wonderful Effect; especially when the Word is a Monosyllable. + + "Here finish'd he, and all that he had made + _View'd_--and behold all was entirely good. + +Again, + + "Over their Heads triumphant Death his Dart + _Shook_--But refus'd to strike. + +This artful Collocation commands the Attention, and makes the Reader +feel and see what is offer'd to him. + +That this Effect is owing to the Collocation will appear by +considering any one of the Instances now produc'd. For Example: + + "Over their Heads triumphant Death his Dart + _Shook_.-- + +This Passage makes the Reader see Death with his Dart in his Hand, +making it over the Heads of the unhappy Creatures describ'd in the +_Lazar-house_, as plainly as if the whole was painted upon Canvas. But +let this Line be alter'd thus: + + "Over their Heads Death shook his dreadful Dart. + +How much of the Fire and Spirit of this Passage is lost, will be +easily perceiv'd. + +I was long of Opinion that _Milton_ had invented this Art himself, for +I knew he had it not from _Virgil_: The _Latin_ Language is hardly +capable of it. But by Accident I found _Milton_ learn'd it from +_Homer_, though it is plain what is _Art_ in the former was _Chance_ +in the latter; which cannot be disputed when it is considered that in +so many thousand Lines that we have of _Homer_'s, there is I believe +but one single Instance of this Monosyllable Collocation; but in +_Milton_ there are many, both Substantives, Adjectives and Verbs. The +single Instance in _Homer_ is in _Odysse_ 9. in the Story of +_Polyphemus_. + + [Greek: Sun de duo marpsas, hos te phulakas poti gaie / Kopt'] + _Hom._ Odyss. _&c._ + + "Two of my hapless Friends with all his Pow'r, + Like Dogs, the Monster on the rocky Floor + DASH'D.-- + +Can any body be insensible of the Power of this Word, _Dash'd_, as it +is here plac'd. + +I remember an Instance of this Monosyllable Collocation at the +Beginning of a Line in rhym'd Verse, which is very well worth +inserting here. It is at the Conclusion of Mr. _Pit_'s 4th _AEneid_, +when _Juno_ sends _Iris_ from Heaven in haste to relieve _Dido_ from +the Agonies of Death. + + _"Tum Juno Omnipotens, longum miserata dolorem, + Difficilesque obitus, Irim_ Demisit Olympo + _Quae luctantem animam, nexosque resolveret artus_. + + "Then mighty _Juno_ with a melting Eye, + Beheld her dreadful Anguish from the Sky; + And bade fair _Iris_ from the starry Pole, + _Fly_, and enlarge her agonizing Soul. + +How is the Verse animated by the placing that Monosyllable, _Fly_, at +the Beginning of the last Line.--The Reader sees all the Concern of +_Juno_, and all the Hurry she is in to get the unhappy Queen released +from the Pangs of Death. + +_Milton_ likewise uses his Monosyllables very artfully in placing them +at the Conclusion of a Line, so as to divide the last Foot of the +Verse, which has a very extraordinary Effect. + + "Silence, ye troubled Waves, and thou, _Deep_, + Peace. + +Again he divides the last Foot by making a Monosyllable the Beginning +of a new Sentence, which is very pleasing. + + "--Up flood the Corny Reed + Imbattled in his Plain, the humble Furz + And Bush with frisled Hair implicit. _Last_ + Rose as in Dance the stately Trees. + +_Milton_ also sometimes places two Monosyllables at the End of the +Line, stopping at the 4th Foot, to adapt the Measure of the Verse to +the Sense; and then begins the next Line in the same manner, which has +a wonderful Effect. + + "Now at their shady Lodge arriv'd, _both stopt_, + _Both turn'd_, and under open Sky ador'd + The God who made, _&c._ + +This artful Manner of writing makes the Reader see them _Stop_ and +_Turn_ to worship God before they went into their Bower. If this +Manner was alter'd, much of the Effect of the Painting would be lost. + + "And now arriving at their shady Lodge + _Both stopt, both turn'd_, and under open Sky + Ador'd the God, _&c._ + +This falls very short of the Original. So in _Latin_, + + "_Jamq; domus ventum est umbrosae ad limina_: sistunt + Ambo, ambo vertunt, & _aperto numen adorant + Sub Coelo._-- + +Alter these Lines, thus, + + "_Et nunc Arborei ventum est ad limina tecti_; + Sistunt Ambo, Ambo vertunt, & _numen Adorant + Sub Coelo._-- + +There is here just the same Difference in the _Latin_ as in the +_English_. + +I cannot omit two other Instances of _Milton_'s wonderful Art in the +Collocation of Words, by which the Thoughts are exceedingly +heighten'd. + + "Under his forming Hands a Creature grew + Manlike, but different Sex, so lovely fair, + That what seem'd fair in all the World, seem'd now + _Mean_, or in her summ'd up.-- + +What a Force has that Word _mean_, as it is plac'd! + +Again, + + "I turn'd my Thoughts, and with capacious Mind + Considered all Things visible in Heav'n, + Or Earth, or Middle, all Things fair and good; + But all that Fair and Good, in thy Divine + _Semblance_, and in thy Beauty's heav'nly Ray + United I beheld-- + +I presume there is no other Language in which Perfection equal to this +is to be found: And I could give many more Instances of the same kind +out of the _Paradise Lost_. + + +VII. The seventh Particular in _Virgil_ was his _Varying the Common +Pronunciation_, in which _Milton_ has imitated him in several Places; +the following is one Instance. + + "--Thus to his Son au--[=di]--bly spake. + +For so it must be read, and not after the common manner. + +Again, + + "Hoarse Murmur eccho'd to his Words Applause + Thro' the in--[=fi]--nite Host-- + +And the like in many other Places. + + +VIII. _His Verses contrary to the Common Measure._ The following is an +Example of this kind. + + "Drove headlong down to the Bottomless Pit.-- + +Those who may be apt to find fault with such Arts as these (for Arts +they are in _Virgil_ and _Milton_) little think what it is to write 10 +or 12 thousand Lines, and to vary the Sound of them in such manner as +to entertain the Ear from the Beginning to the End of the Work. + + +IX. I come now to the _Alliteratio_. + +And 1. To speak of the single _Alliteratio_. This is so common in +_Milton_, that you need but begin the Poem, or open any Page of it, +and you will meet with it. + + "Of Man's _first_ Disobedience, and the _Fruit_ + Of that forbidden _Tree_, whose mortal _Taste_ + Brought Death into the _World_, and all our _Woe_. + +Again, + + "_Restore_ us, and _Regain_ the blissful Seat. + +And + + "_Sing_ Heav'nly Muse! that on the _Secret_ Top. + +And a little lower, + + "That _Shepherd_ who first taught the chosen _Seed_. + +But I will produce an Example or two of this kind out of our Author's +juvenile Poems. His Verses upon the Circumcision are addressed to the +Angels that appear'd to the Shepherds, and begin thus, + + "Ye flaming Pow'rs, and _winged Warriors_ bright, + That erst with Musick and triumphant Song + Through the _soft Silence_ of the listning Night + _So sweetly sung_ your Joy the Clouds along. + +All the Masters of Verse from _Chaucer_ to _Milton_, and from _Milton_ +to this time, were sensible of this Art. _Dryden_ attends to it more +than any thing else. + + "_Beneath_ the Shade which _Beechen Boughs_ diffuse, + _You Tityrus_ entertain _your_ Sylvan Muse: + _Round_ the _wide World_ in Banishment _we roam_, + _Forc'd from_ our pleasing _Fields_ and native Home. + +Again, + + _Arms and_ the Man I sing, who _forc'd_ by _Fate_ + And _haughty_ Juno's unrelenting _Hate_, + _Expell'd_ and _Exil'd_, left the _Trojan_ Shore: + _Long Labours_, both by Sea and _Land_ he bore. + +Mr. _Pope_ begins his Poems with this Delicacy. + + "_First_ in these _Fields_ I try the _Sylvan Strains_, + Nor _blush_ to sport on _Windsor's blissful_ Plains. + _Fair_ Thames _flow_ gently _from_ thy _Sacred Spring_, + While on thy Banks _Sicilian_ Muses _Sing_; + Let Vernal Airs _thro' tre_mbling Osiers play, + And _Albion_'s Cliffs _resound_ the _rural_ Lay. + You, that too wise for _Pride_, too good for _Pow'r_ + Enjoy the _Glory_ to be _great_ no more. + +Mr. _Pitt_ has the following Lines in his 2d _AEneid_. + + "So when an _aged Ash_, whose Honours rise + From some _steep_ Mountain tow'ring to the _Skies_, + With many _an Axe_ by _shouting Swains_ is ply'd, + _Fierce_ they repeat the _Strokes from_ every _Side_; + _The tall Tree trembling_, as the Blows go round, + Bows the _high Head_, and nods to every Wound. + +Sir _Philip Sidney_, who was very unhappy in Versification, seems to +have despised this Beauty in Verse, and even to have thought it an +Excellence to fix the Pause always in one Place, namely at the End of +the second Foot: So that he must have had no more Ear for Poetry than +Mr. _Cowley_. Not but that I am apt to think some Writers in Sir +_Philip Sidney_'s time carried this matter to a ridiculous Extreme. +Others thought this Beauty a Deformity, and concluded it so from two +or three silly _Latin_ Lines of _Ennius_ and _Tully,_ such as, + + _O Tite, Tute, Tati_, &c. + +And, + + _O Fortunatam, natam_, &c. + +without ever attending to _Virgil_ in the least. + +_Spencer_ every where abounds in all his Works with _Alliterations_; I +will produce but one, which is exceeding beautiful. + + "The _Lilly, Lady_ of the _Flow'ry Field_. + +Here is a double initial Alliteration, and a continual mix'd +Alliteration of the liquid _L_, which makes the Verse so very musical +that there are few such Lines in our, or any other Language. + +_Fairfax_, who was one of the first curious Versifyers amongst us, +embellishes his Lines continually with this Ornament. + +In his Description of a Troop of fighting Monks, in his first Book of +his Translation of _Tasso_, are these Lines. + + "Their jolly Notes, they _Chanted_ loud and _Clear_: + And _horrid Helms high_ on their _Heads_ they bear. + +Than which Verses nothing can be more truly poetical. + +But to go farther back than either _Fairfax_ or _Spencer_, those +celebrated Lines in our antient Translation of the _Psalms_ owe their +greatest Beauty to their _Alliteration_. + + "The Lord descended from above, + And bow'd the _Heavens high_, + And underneath his Feet he cast + The Darkness of the Sky. + + "On _Cherubs_ and on _Cherubims_ + Full _royally_ he _rode_, + And on the _Wings_ of mighty _Winds_ + Came flying _all abroad_. + +A Line of _Chaucer_'s just now offers itself to my Memory, which has +almost all the Arts of Poetry in it. + + "A _Sheffield_ Whittle bare _he_ in _his Hose_. + +There is a fine Alliteration in the Conclusion of the Line, Bare _he_ +in _his Hose_, and a mix'd one at the Beginning of it. The _h_ in the +first Syllables of the second and third Words mixes the Sound very +agreeably; and lastly, the Inversion of the Phrase (where the +Nominative is put immediately after the Verb) is extremely poetical. +_Bare he._ _Chaucer_ seems (to me) by the help of a delicate Ear, and +a curious Judgment, to have learnt all his Graces from _Virgil_. 1. +His Rhyme. 2. His Inversion of the Phrase: And 3. His Alliteratio. The +Varying of the Pause he does not seem to have attended to. But to +return to _Milton_. + +Having spoken sufficiently of the _Initial_, I come now to the _mix'd +Alliteration_. And this latter is almost as common as the former, and +is to be found in all such Lines as these. + + "--And now is come + Into the _blissful Field_.-- + +Every Ear must perceive how the _f_ and the _l_ are mingled in the two +last Words. + +Again, + + "--Th[r=]o' G[r=]oves of My[rr=]h.-- + +Here the rough _r_ predominates as much as the soft _l_ did in the +first Part of the Verse. + +Again, + + "And _Flow'r_y O_dours_.-- + +Here the _Allusio Verborum_ is introduc'd. _Flow'r_ at the Beginning +of the first Word, and _Dour_ at the End of the second, make a most +agreeable Harmony. The Line concludes with what may be call'd the +_Assultus_, or the Attack upon the Ear. + + "--_C[=a]ssi[=a], N[=a]rd [=a]nd B[=a]lm._-- + +These five _A_'s in four Words at the End of the Line must make +themselves perceiv'd if Words can do it. 'Tis of the same kind as +_Virgil_'s, + + "--_Tumid[=a] aequor[=a] pl[=a]c[=a]t._ + +But it may be proper to add another Instance or two of the _Allusio +Verborum_. + + "So talk'd the _spirited sly Snake_, and _Eve_ + Yet more amaz'd.-- + +Again, + + "When from the _Boughs_ a savoury Odour _blown_. + +Again, + + "Immediately the Mountains huge appear + Emergent, and their _broad bare Backs_ upheave + Into the Clouds.-- + +Again, + + "--Scarce from his Mould + _Behemoth, biggest born_ of Earth, upheav'd + His Vastness.-- + +Spirited sly Snake.--Boughs blown.--Broad bare Backs.--_Behemoth_ +biggest born. + +All these Passages are in the same Stile of Sound as _Virgil_'s-- +_Metuens_, _Molem_, _Montis_. + + "_Hoc metuens, molemque & montis insuper altos + Imposuit._-- + +Observe how the _molemque_ & _montis_ labour in the Verse exactly in +the same manner as + + Broad, bare Backs, and _Behemoth_ biggest born. + +But here let me give you a few more Instances of the _Allusio +Verborum_, or the mixing of Sounds of Words in rhym'd Verse. + + "As o'er th'Aerial _Alps_ sublimely spread + Some aged Oak uprears his reverend Head. + _Pit_'s AEneid. + +A Gentleman justly esteemed for his great Learning and excellent Skill +in Criticism, but not of so delicate an Ear as Mr. _Pit_, would have +had him writ, _As on th'Aerial Alps_. + +But then the Verse would have wanted much of its Harmony, because +_O'er_ mingles in Sound with _A'er_ which _On_ does not; and the same +thing would have happen'd in the next Line, if it had stood thus-- +_Some aged Oak uplifts his mighty Head_.--Because _uplifts_ and +_mighty_ have no Resemblance in Sound to each other, or to _Aged_ and +_Head_; but as the Line stands, + + "Some aged Oak uprears his Reverend Head, + +the Words all melt into one another, and the Musick dies along the +Verse from the Beginning to the End. This is the greatest Delicacy of +Poetry, neither are the other Graces wanting in this Verse. The Pause +is properly varied, the first Line is entirely suspended. There is in +it a double Alliteration, _Aerial Alps, sublimely spread_: And to +conclude all, the Rhyme is as perfect as possible. + +Octob. 11. 1736. + + _I am_, SIR, _&c._ + + * * * * * + +_P.S._ + +In looking over this Letter I observe a Passage in _Milton_, which +merits a very particular Consideration, and which I ought to have +taken notice of before, when I was speaking of the Collocation of +Words; the Passage I mean is, _For since I first_, &c. The entire +Passage runs thus, + + "_Eve, easily_ may Faith admit that all + The Good which we enjoy, from Heav'n descends; + _But_, that from _us_ ought should ascend to Heav'n + So prevalent as to concern the Mind + Of God high-blest, or to incline his Will, + Hard to belief may seem; _yet_ this will Prayer, + Or one short Sigh of human Breath, up born + Ev'n to the Seat of God. For since I sought + By Pray'r th' offended Deity to appease; + _Kneel'd_ and before him humbled all my Heart, + Methought I saw him placable and mild, + Bending his Ear, _&c._ + +How extremely fine is the Poetry of this Passage? How soft is the +beginning, occasion'd by the Assonance of the two first Words, _Eve_, +_Easily_, and of the five next all alliterated with the same Vowel, +_A_ + + "--_May Faith admit that all._ + +How solemn is the Pause at the 1st Syllable of the 3d Line! _But_-- + +And the Caesure upon the Monosyllable _Us_ that follows immediately, + + "_But_--that from _us_-- + +And the same Energy is plainly perceiv'd at the End of the 6th Line, +where the Caesure is plac'd upon the Monosyllable _yet_, + + "_Yet_--this will Prayer, _&c._ + +But when we come to that Line, + + "_Kneel'd_; and before Him humbled all my Heart, + +such is the Force of the Word _kneel'd_ in that Situation, that we +actually see _Adam_ upon his Knees before the offended Deity; and by +the Conclusion of this Paragraph,--_Bending his Ear_, Infinite +Goodness is visibly as it were represented to our Eyes as inclining to +hearken to the Prayers of his penitent Creature. + + + + +LETTER VI. + + +_SIR,_ + +[Sidenote: XI.] + +I am now to proceed to the _Assonantia Syllabarum_ or _Rhyme_. I have +shown under this Head how much _Virgil_ abounds in _Rhyme_; from +whence I conclude, that it may be reasonably supposed _Rhyme_ had its +Original from a nobler Beginning than the Barbarity of _Druids_ and +_Monks_. It is very probable that _Chaucer_, _Dante_, and _Petrarch_ +learnt it from _Virgil_, and that other Nations follow'd the Example +they had set them. + +To say the _Bards_ rhym'd in the Times of grossest Ignorance, merely +by their own Invention, only proves that Rhyme is naturally +harmonious. We are told by the Learned that the _Hebrew_ Poetry is in +_Rhyme_, and that where-ever any Footsteps of this Art are to be +trac'd, _Rhyme_ is always found, whether in _Lapland_ or in _China_. + +If it should be objected that the _Greek_ Tongue is an Exception to +this general Rule; that Matter perhaps may be disputed, or a +particular Answer might be given. But that the _Latin_ Language is a +Friend to _Rhyme_ is clear beyond all doubt; and the same is as true +of all the living Tongues that are distinguished in the learned World. + +It is no wonder that _Verse_ without _Rhyme_ has so many Advocates +amongst the Dealers in Poetry, because of its Facility. _Rhym'd_ +Verse, with all its Ornaments, especially the artful Way of varying +the Pause, is exceeding difficult; and so are all the curious +Productions of Art. Fine Painting, fine Musick or Sculpture, are all +very hard to perform; it is the Difficulty that makes those Performances +so deserving of Applause when they attain the highest Perfection. As to +the Matter before us; _Rhyme_ (as Mr. _Dryden_ justly observes) never +was _Milton_'s Talent: This appears from his juvenile Poems. And when +he sate down to write the _Paradise lost_, his Imagination was too +vigorous, too lofty to be shackled by _Rhyme_. It must be own'd that a +thousand Beauties would have been lost, which now shine with amazing +Splendor in that Poem, if _Milton_ had writ in the most exquisite +_Rhyme_. But then on the other hand, it is as certain that upon the +whole it would have been a more agreeable Poem to the Generality of +Readers than it is at present. Of this Opinion was the learned +Foreigner mentioned in a former Letter, a judicious Critick both in +the ancient and modern Languages. + + "Quicquid tamen ejus sit, ostendunt Miltoni scripta virum vel in + ipsa juventute: quae enim ille adolescens scripsit carmina Latina, + una cum Anglicis edita, aetatem illam longe superant, qua ille vir + scripsit poemata Anglica, sed sine rythmis, quos, ut pestes carminum + vernaculorum, abesse volebat, _quale illud decem libris constans, + The Paradise Lost_, plena ingenii & acuminis sunt, sed insuavia + tamen videntur ob _rythmi_ defectum; quem ego abesse a tali carminum + genere non posse existimo, quicquid etiam illi, & Italis nonnullis, + & nuper Isaaco Vossio in libro _de Poematum cantu_, videatur." + _Polyhist._ + +However, we must take _Paradise Lost_ as it is, and rejoice that we +have in it, one of the finest Works that ever the Wit of Man produc'd: +But then the Imperfection of this Work must not be pleaded in favour +of such other Works as have hardly any thing worthy of Observation in +them. Placing _Milton_ with his blank Verse by himself (as indeed he +ought to be in many other respects, for he certainly has no Companion) +this Dispute about the Excellency of _blank_ Verse, and even the +Preference of it to _rhym'd_ Verse, may be determined by comparing two +Writers of Note, who have undertaken the same Subject; that is, +_Virgil_'s AEneid. + +Now I will take all the Passages of that Poem mentioned in my Letters +to you, and compare them in these two Translations: And if it shall +appear by the Comparison that the _rhym'd_ Verses have not only more +Harmony and Conciseness, but likewise that they express _Virgil_'s +Sense more fully and more perspicuously than the _blank_ Verse, will +it not be easy to determine which of these two Sorts ought to be +preferr'd? + +Octob. 22. 1736. + + _I am_, SIR, _&c._ + + * * * * * + +_P.S._ + +When I was taking notice of _Virgil_'s Arts of Versification, I should +not have omitted his sudden varying the Tense of the Verb from the +Preterperfect to the Present. + + "_Non tua te nobis, Genitrix pulcherrima talem_ + Promisit, _Graiisque ideo bis_ vindicat _armis_. + +This is very agreeable both as to the Verse and the Sense; for it +makes the thing described more immediately present than it would be +otherwise. I cannot just now recollect an Example in _Milton_ of this +nature, but I remember one in _Fairfax_, in a Couplet already cited. + + "Their jolly Notes they _chanted_ loud and clear, + And horrid Helms high on their Heads they _bear_. + +This is much more lively and peinturesque than if he had writ _bore_, +and you will easily perceive it. It may be said, perhaps, that +_Fairfax_ used _bear_ here for the sake of the Verse; let that be +allow'd, but then it must be likewise granted, that _Virgil_ uses +_vindicat_ instead of _vindicavit_, for the sake of his Verse, which +he would not have done, if it had not been more beautiful than the +common Prose way of writing: And as it is an Excellency in _Virgil_, +so it is in _Fairfax_. + + + + +LETTER VII. + + +_SIR,_ + +I am now to collect the Passages of the _AEneid_, mentioned in my +former Letters, and bring them together with the _rhym'd_ and _blank_ +Verse Translations. + +The first Passage is this (not to take notice of the very first Lines, +which Mr. _Pit_ has translated in two different manners) + + "_Sic cunctus pelagi cecidit fragor, aequora postquam + Prospiciens genitor, coeloque invectus aperto + Flectit equos, curruque volans dat lora secundo._ + +Dr. _Trapp_, + + "So all the hurry of the Ocean ceas'd, + Soon as its God appear'd above the Waves: + Who, managing his Steeds in Air serene, + Flies swift with slacken'd Reins and loose Career. + +Mr. _Pit_, + + "Then did the roaring Waves their Rage compose, + When the great Father of the Flood arose, + Rapt by his Steeds he flies in open Day, + Throws up the Reins, and skims the watry Way. + + "_Atque rotis summas levibus pellabitur undas._ + +Dr. _Trapp_, + + "And with light Wheels upon the Surface rides, + +Mr. _Pit_, + + "Then mounted on his radiant Carr he rides, + And wheels along the Level of the Tides. + +Again, + + "_AEole (namque tibi divum pater atque hominum rex + Et mulcere dedit fluctus, & tollere vento)_ + +Dr. _Trapp_, + + "--O AEolus (for thee + The Sire of Gods, and King of Men impow'rs + To smooth the Waves, or raise them with the Wind.) + +Mr. _Pit_, + + "--Since mighty _Jove_, + The King of Men, and Sire of Gods above, + Gives thee, great _AEolus_, the Power to raise + Storms at thy sovereign Will, and smooth the Seas. + +Again, + + "_Sit ait, & dicto citius tumida aequora placat, + Collectasque fugat nubes, solemque reducit._ + +Dr. _Trapp_, + + "So spake the God, and sooner than he spoke + Appeas'd the tossing of the Waves, dispell'd + The Clouds collected, and restor'd the Sun. + +Mr. _Pit_, + + "He spoke, and speaking chas'd the Clouds away: + Hush'd the loud Billows, and restor'd the Day. + +Again, + + "--_Fotum Gremio dea tollit in altos + Idaliae lucos._ + +Dr. _Trapp_, + + "--And on her Bosom hush'd, + Carries him to _Idalia_'s lofty Groves.-- + +Mr. _Pit_, + + "Lull'd in her Lap to rest, the Queen of Love + Conveys him to the soft _Idalian_ Grove. + +Again, + + "--_Ubi tot Simois correpta sub undis + Scuta virum, galeasque, & fortia corpora volvit,_ + +Dr. _Trapp_, + + "Where _Simois_ in his rapid Torrent rolls + So many Warriour Bodies, Helms and Shields. + +Mr. _Pit_, + + "Where _Simois_ Streams incumber'd with the Slain, + Roll'd Shields, and Helms, and Heroes to the Main. + +Again, + + "_Urbs antiqua fuit, Tyrii tenuere coloni + Carthago, Italiam contra, Tiberinaque longe + Ostia, dives opum, studiisque asperrima belli,_ + +Dr. _Trapp_, + + "Fronting th' _Italian_ Coast, and _Tyber_'s Mouth, + Tho' far remote, an ancient City stood. + _Carthage_ its Name, a Colony of _Tyre_, + Mighty in Wealth, and rough in study'd War, + +Mr. _Pit_, + + "Against th' _Italian_ Coast, of ancient Fame, + A City rose, and _Carthage_ was the Name; + A _Tyrian_ Colony: From _Tyber_ far, + Rich, rough, and brave, and exercis'd in War, + +Again, + + "_Hoc metuens, molemque & montis insuper altos + Imposuit, regemque dedit, qui foedere certo + Et premere, & laxas sciret dare jussus habenas,_ + +Dr. _Trapp_, + + "But fearing this, the Sovereign of the Gods + Pent them in gloomy Caves, and o'er them threw + Vast Piles of massy Rocks; impos'd a King, + Who should by certain Measures know to curb, + Or, when commanded, to indulge their Rage. + +Mr. _Pit_, + + "But _Jove_, the mighty Ruin to prevent, + In gloomy Caves th'Aereal Captives pent: + O'er their wild Rage the pond'rous Rock he spread, + And hurl'd huge Heaps of Mountains on their Head; + And gave a King commissioned to restrain + And curb the Tempest, or to loose the Rein. + +_Hurl'd_, _huge_, _Heaps_, _Head_, all in the same Line, imitate +Virgil's _Metuens_, _Molem_, _Montis_. + +And again, + + "--_Facti de nomine_ Byrsam; + _Sed vos qui tandem, quibus aut venistis ab oris, + Quove tenetis iter?_-- + +Dr. _Trapp_, + + "--And the Name of _Byrsa_ gave + In Mem'ry of the Deed. But, in your turn, + At length inform me, who, and whence you are, + _And whither bound_?-- + +Mr. _Pit_, + + "Hence _Byrsa_ nam'd: But now ye Strangers, say, + Who? Whence you are? And whither lies your way?-- + +There is no Occasion to make any more Remarks upon these Lines. + +Nov. 20. 1736. + + _I am_, SIR, _&c._ + + + + +LETTER VIII. + + +_SIR,_ + +It has been said by several Persons, especially by Foreigners, that +there is no such thing as Measure or Feet, or long and short Syllables +in _English_ Words. This Mistake, I believe, is chiefly owing to +_Vossius_, who has advanc'd it in his Treatise _De Poematum Cantu_, +&c. As also, that the _French_ Language is more fit for Heroick Verse +than the _English_. To examine one or both of these Points will be the +Subject of this Letter. + +That our Language does not abound with Dactyls and Spondees is very +true; but that we have Words enough which are perfect Iambick and +Trochaick Feet is very certain, and this naturally makes our Verse +Iambick. + +_Divine_, _Attend_, _Directs_, are as perfect Iambicks as any _Latin_ +Words of two Syllables, and so are most of our Monosyllable Nouns with +their Particles. + +_The Lord_, _The Man_, _The Rock_. Every one must perceive that in all +these Words, the last Syllable strikes the Ear more than the first, +or, in other Words, the last is longer than the first, which is all +that makes an Iambick _Latin_ Foot. + +The following Words, _People_, _Substance_, _Angels_, _Chearful_, and +the like, are all Trochaick Feet; for it is easily observ'd, that the +first Syllable dwells longer on the Ear than the latter. + +I wonder that _Vossius_, who was a Canon of _Windsor_, did not +perceive this in the Metre which he could not but often have heard at +Church. + + "All People that on Earth do dwell + Sing to the Lord with chearful Voice. + +Suppose these two Lines were alter'd thus, + + "All ye People that on Earth dwell, + Sing to the Lord with Voice chearful. + +Here the natural Sound of the Words _People_ and _Chearful_ is very +much alter'd, by their being wrong plac'd; or rather, the Verse is +quite destroy'd: But to chuse an Example from _Milton_. + + "And if our _Substance_ be _indeed Divine_.-- + +Let this be alter'd, + + "And indeed Divine if be our Substance.-- + +Is not the Verse quite destroy'd by this Alteration? And does it not +appear to be so, because _Indeed_ and _Divine_, which are Iambick +Feet, are plac'd as if they were Trochaick, and _Substance_, which is +a Trochaick Foot, is plac'd as if it were an Iambick? But I might have +omitted the altering of this Line of _Milton_'s, if I had thought of +one in _Cowley's Davideis_, which is as barbarous as it is possible +for the Wit of Man to make a Verse. + + "To Divine Nobe directs then his Flight. + _Lib. 3. v. 3._ + +_Nobe_, Mr. _Cowley_ says in his Notes, he puts instead of _Nob_, +because that Word seem'd to him to be _unheroical_. But that is not +what I am chiefly to take notice of. _Divine_ and _Directs_ are both +Iambicks, but Mr. _Cowley_ has made them both Trochaicks, which makes +this Line so terrible to the Ear. + +It is plain that _Vossius_, who came into _England_ when he was pretty +much advanc'd in Years, and in all probability convers'd chiefly in +_Latin_ or _French_, knew nothing at all of the Pronunciation of +_English_ Words. We have as certainly Feet or Numbers in our Language, +as in the _Latin_; and indeed the _Latin_ seems to me to be rather +more arbitrary in this respect than the _English_. What Reason can be +given why _ma_ in _manus_ is short, and _ma_ in _manes_ long? Why is +_a_ in _amens_ long, and _a_ in _amans_ short, and the like of other +Words too numerous to relate? + +That all _English_ Verses are _Iambick_, appears most plainly by +considering Monosyllable Lines. For Example: + + "Arms and the Man I sing, who forc'd by Fate. + +Here _Arms_, _the_, _I_, _who_, _by_, appear to be shorter in their +Sound than _and_, _man_, _sing_, _forc'd_, _fate_. + +Again, + + "Breathe soft or loud, and wave your Tops, ye Pines. + +In this Line the same Difference is perceiv'd between _breathe_, _or_, +_your_, _ye_; and _soft_, _loud_, _wave_, _tops_, _pines_. + +Whence it is evident that these Lines are perfectly Iambick. + +The Particle _and_, as well as some other Monosyllables, may be said +to be common, like many Words in _Latin_; they submit themselves to be +alter'd by the Voice in reading, and may be pronounced either long or +short: But this is not so in other Words. And here it may be proper to +observe, that _Milton_ has a very artful Way of varying his Numbers, +by putting a Trochaick Foot at the Beginning of a Verse; and the +Reason why he could do it, is, that the Verse is not enough form'd in +that place for the Ear to perceive the Want of the proper Measure. The +Examples of this kind are very numerous: I will mention but two. + + "_Angels_, for ye behold him, and with Song. + +And again, + + "_Fountains_, and ye that warble as ye flow. + +Nov. 27. 1736. + + _I am_, SIR, _&c._ + + + + +LETTER IX. + + +_SIR,_ + +To reply to the Opinion that _Vossius_ has given in favour of _French_ +Verse compared with _English_, I would observe in the first Place that +what the _French_ call Heroick Verse, is the very worst Sort of Verse +that can be contriv'd. If the Excellence of Verse consists chiefly in +varying the Pause, as I have shewn it does in the _Latin_, and could +do the same in the _Greek_ and other Languages; what must be thought +of that Sort of Versification in which the Pause is most strictly +preserv'd in the same Place in every Line, be it for 10 or 20 thousand +together, especially in Verses of 12 Syllables? Perhaps an +_Englishman_ may not be a very proper Person to make this Objection to +_French_ Verse: I will therefore produce the Opinion of several of +their own Writers. + +_Ronsard_, in the Preface to his _Franciade_, owns that their +_Alexandrine_ Lines have too much prattle (_ils ont trop de caquet_) +and that it is a Fault in their Poetry that one Line does not run into +another, and therefore he wrote his _Franciade_ in Verses of ten +Syllables, and broke the Measure. The Author of the History of +_French_ Poetry confesses, that the constant Pause in their Lines +makes the Poetry tedious; and the judicious and learned Translator of +_Quintilian_ says directly, that it is owing to the continual Sameness +of Numbers that their Verse cannot please long. In reality, it is a +kind of Stanza, and ought to be so writ. + + _Jeune & vaillant Heros + Dont la haute sagesse + N'est point le fruit tardif + D'une lente vieillesse._ + +Not to insist upon the _Prattle_ (as _Ronsard_ calls it) of these two +celebrated Lines; for what does _Vaillant_ add to _Heros_, or _haute_ +to _sagesse_, and what is the Difference between _tardif_ and _lente_? +I say to let this pass, the eternal Repetition of the same Pause is +the Reverse of Harmony: Three Feet and three Feet for thousands of +Lines together, make exactly the same Musick as the ting, tong, tang +of the same Number of Bells in a Country-Church. We had this wretched +sort of Metre amongst us formerly, and _Chaucer_ is justly stil'd the +Father of _English_ Verse, because he was the first that ever wrote in +rhym'd Couplets of ten Syllables each Line. He found, by his Judgment, +and the Delicacy of his Ear, that Lines of eight Syllables, such as +_Gower_ his Cotemporary wrote in, were too short, and the twelve +Syllable-Lines too long. He pitch'd upon the other Sort just +mentioned, and that is now found, by the Experience of so many Ages, +to be the most majestick and most harmonious kind of Verse. Just the +same Obligation the _Romans_ had to _Ennius_: He first introduc'd the +Hexameter Line, and therefore is properly called the Father of their +Poetry; and it is judiciously said, that if they had never had +_Ennius_, perhaps they had never had _Virgil_. If the _French_ had +taken _Ronsard_'s Advice instead of following _Malherbe_, perhaps they +might, and indeed they certainly would have arriv'd at a better Art of +Versification than we see now amongst them: But they have miss'd their +Way; tho' had it happen'd otherwise, they could never have equall'd +the _English_ in Poetry, because their Language is not capable of it, +for two Reasons which I shall mention, and many others that I could +add to them. + +_1st_, Their Words do not sound so fully as ours, of which these Nouns +are Examples, _God_, _Dieu_. _Man_, _L'Homme_. In both the _English_ +Words every Letter is perceiv'd by the Ear. In the _French_ the first +Word is of a very confused Sound, and the latter dies away in the _e_ +mute. So _Angels_, _Ange_. _Head_, _Tete_. And innumerable others. And +in Verbs, _to love_, _to hate_, _Aimer_, _Hayir_. In the _English_ the +Sound is clear and strong. In _French_ the last Letter is dropp'd, and +the Words don't dwell upon the Ear like the _English_. + +_2d_, They have too many Particles: To shew how much more their Verse +is incumber'd by them than the _English_, I will give you an Example +from a Passage in _Milton_. + + "So spoke, so wish'd much humbled _Eve_, but Fate + Subscrib'd not; Nature first gave Signs, imprest + On Bird, Beast, Air; Air suddenly eclips'd + After short blush of Morn.-- + +Now to put this Passage into _French_ all the following Particles must +be added. + +_Le_, _La_, _Des_, _Les_, _Les_, _Le_, _Le_, _Un_, _Du_. Of which +there is not one in the _English_: And what an Effect this would have +in Heroick Verse, you will easily judge. + +Upon the whole, _Vossius_ was very little acquainted with _English_ +Heroic Poetry. _Hudibras_ was the favourite Bard in his time, and +therefore he does us the Honour to say, the _English_ is extremely fit +for that sort of Poetry which the _Italians_ call _Sdruccioli_, that +is, Doggrel Verse. + +Thus much for _Vossius_, and his _French_ and _English_ Poetry. I will +now shew you a very different Opinion of another learned Foreigner, +referr'd to more than once already, and I will give it you in his own +Words. + + "_Sane in Epico Carminum genere_; Joh. Miltoni _insigne poema_, The + Paradise Lost, _Gallos omnes in epicis inseliciores longo post se + intervallo reliquit_. + Morhosius Polyhistor. + +This judicious Critick gave the same Opinion of Mr. _Cowley_ above 50 +Years ago, which Mr. _Pope_ has given of him lately in one of his +_Horatian_ Epistles. + + "Abr. Cowley _seu Coulejus poemata scripsit_, &c. _Quae ad genium + Virgiliani Carminis non accedunt: argutiis enim nimium indulget, ut + Epigrammaticum potius quod interdum scribat, quam planum carmen: Ac + praeterea non ubique purus est: quanquam Angli illum omnes veterum + Poetarum numeros implevisse sibi persuadeant._ + +Foreigners, I am apt to think, frequently judge with more Exactness of +our Countrymen's Performances than the generality of the Natives. I +think the Judgment of another learned Foreigner very sensible, when he +says upon reading _Virgilium Dryd[)e]ni_, "That if the Original had +been no better than the Copy, _Augustus_ would have done well to have +committed it to the Flames." But the Author's own Words are worth +perusing. + + "_Saepe, Maro, dixi, quantum mutatus ab illo es! + Romani quondam qui stupor orbis eras. + Si te sic tantum voluisset vivere Caesar, + Quam satius, flammis te periisse foret._ + _Vid._ Fabric. Bib. Lat. + +December 4. 1736, + + _I am_, SIR, _&c._ + + + + +LETTER X. + + +_SIR,_ + +By what I have shewn in the preceding Letters, it sufficiently appears +that _Virgil_ and _Milton_ had good reason to begin with _Hinc canere +incipiam_. _Nunc te Bacche canam._ _Arma Virumque cano._ _Sing +Heavenly Muse._ Their Verse is all _Musick_, and that is the reason +why their Poems please, though ever so often read: And all Poetry that +is not attended with Harmony, is properly speaking no Poetry at all. + +Let the Sense be ever so fine, if the _Verse_ is not _melodious_, the +Reader will undoubtedly find himself soon overtaken with Drowsiness. +But what I chiefly hope I have made out, is, that _Rhyme_ does not owe +its Original to _Druids_, or to _dreaming Monks_, since it is certain +there is more _Rhyme_ in _Virgil_, than there can be in any _English_ +Translation of his Works. _English_ Verse never admits but of two +Syllables that Rhyme in two Lines. But in _Virgil_, it is not easy to +tell how many Rhymes there are in a single Line; as for Example, + + "_O nimium Coelo, & pelago confise sereno,_ + + "_Et sola in sicca secum spatiatur arena._ + +And the like. But what would you say, if I was to observe to you all +that _Erythraeus_ has writ of the Rhyme _Cum intervallo, & sine +intervallo_ in _Virgil_? Of the Rhyme _sine intervallo_ there are four +Examples in the two first Lines of the _AEneid_, namely, in the first, +_no_--_tro_, and _qui_--_pri_. In the second, _to_--_pro_, and _que_-- +_ve_. + + "_Arma virumque can[=o], tr[=o]jae qu[=i] pr[=i]mus ab oris Italiam, + fat[=o] pr[=o]fugus, Lavinaqu[=e] v[=e]nit._-- + +But for this particular, and the other just mentioned, I refer you to +_Erythraeus_ himself, if you would be fully instructed on this Subject. +The Conclusion of this whole Matter is this: Rhyme is certainly one of +the chief Ornaments of _Latin_ Verse, even of _Virgil_'s Verse: Most +of his wonderful, harmonious Paragraphs are concluded with a full, +strong, plain Rhyme: And if this is the Case; if _Virgil_'s Verse +would lose one of its chief Ornaments by being stript of Rhyme, What +would _English_ Verse do without it? Those learned Persons who in +their Writings have treated Rhyme only as a needless _Gingle_, had not +fully considered all that could be said on this Subject: _Rhyme_, as I +have observed once before, has many Enemies because of its Difficulty, +when accompanied with all the other necessary Arts of Versification. +It is a particular Talent which very few are blessed with, and ought +to be esteemed accordingly: But if we give way to the Disuse of it, +and even suffer Blank Verse to be brought in Competition with it, +Poetry will in a short time be lost in _England_, as it has been long +since in _Italy_, and, if I mistake not, from this very Cause. They +have Blank-vers'd _Homer_, _Virgil_, and _Milton_, and I believe all +the _Classick Poets_: And if we follow their Example in giving +Applause to this kind of Verse, we must expect the same Consequences. +We should be the more to blame in this respect, because we have lately +had so many excellent Writers of proper Verse amongst us, as +_Addison_, _Rowe_, _Prior_, and many others; and have now Mr. _Pope_, +Mr. _Pit_, and some whom I do not just now recollect. + +_Milton_, as I observ'd already, is never to be mention'd as an +Example in favour of Blank-Verse: To supply the Want of _Rhyme_ in +him, there are so many Arts of Verse, such Variety of Melody, that it +would require no small Volume to point them out. + +I have nothing more to add, but that it is a very surprizing thing, +that _Milton_ ever undertook to write in such a _Stile_ as he has made +use of, and yet more surprizing that he should be read by all sorts of +People, considering that the _Stile_ is more properly _Latin_ or +_Greek_ than _English_. + +I believe both these Things arise from the same Cause, which to me +seems to be the _English Bible_; at least, as to the latter, it cannot +be from any thing else. That _Milton_ acquir'd his _Stile_ from the +_Common Bible_, is not at all improbable, though he understood the +Original. It is certain he was entirely conversant with the _Bible_, +and, in all Probability frequently made use of the _English_ +Translation. Now this Translation is, by Great Providence, (give me +leave to call it so) adapted to the _Latin and Greek Collocation_, or +Arrangement of Words; that is, the Words are placed in the _English_ +as they stand in those Languages, which, perhaps, you may not have so +much attended to but that you may be glad to see some Examples of what +I am speaking of. + + Psalm v. 3. _My Voice shalt thou hear in the Morning, O Lord; in the + Morning will I direct Prayer unto thee, and will look up._ + + Matthew xiii. 1. _The same Day went Jesus out of the House, and sat + by the Sea-side._ + + Matthew xxvii. 32. _And as they came out, they found a Man of_ + Cyrene, Simon _by Name_: Him _they compelled to bear his Cross_. + + John ii. 11. _This Beginning of Miracles did_ Jesus _in_ Cana _of_ + Galilee. + + John xii. 16. _These things understood not his Disciples at the + first._ + + John viii. 44. _Ye are of your Father the Devil, and the Lusts of + your Father will ye do._ + + + "_Verbo sensum cludere, multo, si compositio patiatur, optimum est. + In Verbis enim Sermonis vis inest._" + Quintil. + +By these Passages, and innumerable others that might be produc'd, it +appears that the _English Bible_ is translated in such a manner as I +have mentioned above: And as we see many Places in the _Paradise +Lost_, which are exactly taken from this Translation, Why may we not +conclude _Milton_ acquir'd much of his Stile from this Book? I can +give an Instance of another very learned Person, who certainly learnt +his way of Writing from it. I mean the late Dr. _Clarke_. Nothing can +be more clear than his _Stile_, and yet nothing can be more like the +_Greek_ or _Latin_, agreeably to the _English Bible_. I beg leave to +produce one Instance from his _Exposition of the Church Catechism_. + + "_Next after the Creed are in natural Order plac'd the Ten + Commandments._ + +Is there any thing in _Demosthenes_ or _Tully_ more inverted than this +Passage? And yet the meanest Persons understand it, and are not at all +shock'd at it; and this cannot possibly, with respect to them, proceed +from any thing else, but their having been from their Childhood +accustomed to this Language in the _Bible_, and their still continuing +frequently to hear it in the publick Offices of the Church, and +elsewhere: From whence I am apt to think Mr. _Pope_'s Opinion is not +to be subscrib'd to, when he says, + + "_And what now_ Chaucer _is, shall_ Dryden _be_." + +It did not occur to that ingenious Writer, that the State of the +_English_ Language is very different at this time from what it was in +_Chaucer_'s Days: It was then in its Infancy: And even _the publick +Worship of God was in a foreign Tongue_, a thing as fatal to the +_Language_ of any Country, as to _Religion_ itself. But now we have +all that Service in the vernacular Tongue; and besides that, the +_Bible_ in _English_, which may be properly called the _Standard_ of +our Language: For this Book contains a Variety of every kind of +_Stile_, the _Poetick_, the _Historick_, the _Narrative_, and all +framed after the manner of the most learned Tongues. So that whilst +this _Book_ continues to be as publickly used among us as it is at +present, the _English_ Language cannot receive any great Alteration; +but all sorts of learned Men may write, either in Verse or Prose, in +the most learned manner in their native Tongue, and at the same time +be perfectly understood by the common People. Indeed, if ever we +should be so unhappy as to be depriv'd of the _publick Use_ of that +_Book_, all that came with it, must go with it; and then Farewel the +_English Language_, Farewel _Milton_, Farewel _Learning_, and Farewel +all that distinguishes Man from Beasts. + +Decemb. 9. 1736. + + _I am_, SIR, _&c._ + + +_FINIS._ + +[Transcriber's Notes: + +Several sequential lines of poetry had opening quotes; these have been +removed for clarity. + +Several lines have no closing quotes. These have not been corrected. + +LETTER I: Superfluous opening quote removed: "Subject-matter + +LETTER V.: +Section numbered '3.' in original; changed to 'III' for consistency. + +LETTER X.: +Corrected typo: 'primns' changed to 'primus'] + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Letters Concerning Poetical +Translations, by William Benson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS CONCERNING POETICAL *** + +***** This file should be named 17548.txt or 17548.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/5/4/17548/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Carol David, Lesley Halamek +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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