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diff --git a/36137-0.txt b/36137-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e658639 --- /dev/null +++ b/36137-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2990 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Preface to the Aeneis of Virgil (1718), by +Joseph Trapp + +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: The Preface to the Aeneis of Virgil (1718) + +Author: Joseph Trapp + +Editor: Malcolm Kelsall + +Release Date: May 17, 2011 [EBook #36137] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PREFACE *** + + + + +Produced by Tor Martin Kristiansen, Margo Romberg, Joseph +Cooper and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net. + + + + + + + + THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY + + + JOSEPH TRAPP + + + + + THE + + PREFACE + + TO + + T H E Æ N E I S + + OF + + VIRGIL + + + (_1718_) + + + _Introduction by_ + + MALCOLM KELSALL + + + PUBLICATION NUMBERS _214-215_ + + WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY + + UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES + + _1982_ + + GENERAL EDITOR + + David Stuart Rodes, _University of California, Los Angeles_ + + EDITORS + + Charles L. Batten, _University of California, Los Angeles_ + George Robert Guffey, _University of California, Los Angeles_ + Maximillian E. Novak, _University of California, Los Angeles_ + Thomas Wright, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ + + ADVISORY EDITORS + + Ralph Cohen, _University of Virginia_ + William E. Conway, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ + Vinton A. Dearing, _University of California, Los Angeles_ + Arthur Friedman, _University of Chicago_ + Louis A. Landa, _Princeton University_ + Earl Miner, _Princeton University_ + Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_ + James Sutherland, _University College, London_ + Robert Vosper, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ + + CORRESPONDING SECRETARY + + Beverly J. Onley, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ + + EDITORIAL ASSISTANT + + Frances M. Reed, _University of California, Los Angeles_ + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Joseph Trapp's translation of the _Aeneid_ was first published in two +volumes dated respectively 1718 and 1720. Its appearance coincided with +his vacation of his chair as Professor of Poetry at the University of +Oxford, an office which he was the first to hold and to which he had +been elected in 1708.[1] The translation may be seen both as a +valediction to the University by one whose subsequent career was to be +made through the paths of clerical controversy and as a claim for the +attention and patronage of the great world. The dedicatee was William, +Lord North and Grey, and the list of subscribers is rich with the names +of lords temporal and spiritual, including the Lord Primate of Ireland +(Thomas Lindsay), who took four sets. Addison, Arbuthnot, Berkeley, +Thomas Sheridan, Tickell, Swift, Young, and Thomas Warton (who succeeded +Trapp as Professor of Poetry) also subscribed, but not Pope, whose views +on Homer, Trapp criticised and misquoted. The University of Oxford was +generous in its support (Cambridge was less so). We have, thus, in +Trapp's _Aeneid_ a translation of Virgil that was probably read by many +of the important figures of the English Augustan cultural milieu. In +turn, Trapp, writing with highest academic authority, offers in his +Preface an important critical account of Virgil's epic. + +Trapp's career was typical of his times, combining literary and critical +activity with religious and political partisanship. He was born into a +clerical family in 1679 (his father was rector of Cherrington, +Gloucestershire) and after proceeding to New College School, Oxford, and +Wadham College, he attracted the attention of the wits by a series of +paraphrases, translations, complimentary effusions (including "Peace. A +poem: inscribed to ... Viscount Bolingbroke, 1713"), and at least one +successful tragedy, _Abra-Mule; or Love and Empire_ (1704). In public +affairs he was active in the defence of Henry Sacheverell, and his +partisanship here must have cemented his relationship with Dr. William +Lancaster, one of the bail for Sacheverell, who was Vice-Chancellor of +Oxford at the time of Trapp's election to the chair of poetry. Less +fortunate was Trapp's association with the dedicatee of the translation +of the _Aeneid_, for Lord North and Grey, who was prominent in seeking +to quash Sacheverell's impeachment (and became a privy-councillor in +1711), was committed to the Tower in 1722 for complicity in the +Atterbury plot and ended his days a wanderer on the continent. That +Atterbury himself was a subscriber to the _Aeneid_ serves further to +underline Trapp's Tory affiliations. The dedication by Trapp of his +Oxford lectures on poetry (_Praelectiones Poeticae_, 1711-19)[2] to +Bolingbroke appears to complete a fatal concatenation of literary and +political association in the light of events after the death of Queen +Anne. + +Nonetheless, Trapp survived and prospered. Under the Tories he had been +for a time chaplain to Sir Constantine Phipps, Lord Chancellor of +Ireland, and shortly afterwards to Bolingbroke, who stood as godfather +to Trapp's son Henry. During the Tory collapse, Peterborough presented +him to the rectorship of Dauntsey in Wiltshire; Dr. Lancaster obtained +for him the lectureship at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster; and in +the 1730s Bolingbroke, restored, preferred him to the rectorship of +Harlington, Middlesex. Other livings and the presidency of Sion College +were to accrue for faithful service, as Trapp turned his pen to the +defence of the established church: first against the Roman Catholics +(for which, perhaps, the University of Oxford created him Doctor of +Divinity in 1728) and later against the Methodists, especially in his +discourses on _The Nature, Folly, Sin, and Danger of being Righteous +over much_ (1739). + +Such engagements left him little time for literary creativity in the +years before his death in 1747. However, Trapp finally finished his +labors on Virgil by issuing a translation of the works (1731); and his +poem _Thoughts Upon the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell_ +(1734-35) shows him attempting to combine literary pleasure with +theological instruction--a potent mixture forcibly administered to his +parishoners, for it is recorded that he desired in his will that a copy +be presented to each "housekeeper" among them. _The Paradisus Amissus, +Latine Redditus_ appeared in 1741-44. This translation of Milton into +Latin is more than a freak of the neoclassical mind. It is the natural +complement to his earlier translation of the _Aeneid_ into Miltonic +blank verse as well as his attempt to judge the classic sublime by the +achievement of the masterwork of Christian epic, a task that had +preoccupied him as Oxford's Professor of Poetry. + +The importance of Trapp's Preface to his version of the _Aeneid_ (and +the extensive notes to the text) lies fundamentally in the fusion of +Miltonic example with neoclassical precept in an attempt both to +understand the Latin text rationally and to communicate the intensely +exciting and moving experience that the _Aeneid_ evokes. This was a new +departure. French Aristotelian criticism of classical epic was +(inevitably) not influenced by Milton. In the English tradition, neither +Dryden in his Dedication of the _Aeneid_ nor Pope in the prefatory +material to the _Iliad_ (with which Trapp frequently takes issue) used +_Paradise Lost_ as the basic touchstone of value. Trapp was to be +sneered at in Delany's "News from Parnassus" for claiming in Pythagorean +vein that the spirit of Milton had descended to him. This was unfair; he +made no such claim. Trapp was trying to discover affinities between past +and present in poetic sensibility and in the use of language. In doing +so, he sought to place a major English poet in relation to Virgil, and +he judged from this example that the English blank verse line had more +of the grandeur of the Latin hexameter than the couplet in the hands +even of Dryden or Pope. His taste told him that the imaginative +invention and force of Milton had more of the Virgilian spirit than the +elegant correctness of English Augustanism. He argues his position with +vigor in the Preface and in his notes, and often with illustrative +example. + +The conventional view that Trapp wished to change by the interpolation +of Milton was that, whereas Virgil merited the laurel for judgment and +decorum, Homer possessed greater "fire," "sublimity," "fecundity," +"majesty," and "vastness" (to use Trapp's terms). Homer was praised as +the great original and inventor; Virgil followed in his steps with more +refinement and rationality, showing everywhere that good sense and +polished concision of expression characteristic of the Augustan age (so, +for instance, René Rapin claimed in the well-known _Comparaison_).[3] +One blossomed with the wild abundance and grandeur of nature; the other +displayed that cultivated order shown in fields and gardens. Trapp +accepts all that was granted to the Roman poet, but he claims for +Virgil, Homeric qualities also: his borrowings are merely the basis for +his invention (witness the tale of Dido); and as for the fire of +sublimity, Trapp, like a critical Prometheus, filches that also. Among +the many instances of the Virgilian fire given in the Preface, he cites +"the Arrival of _Aeneas_ with his Fleet and Forces" in the tenth book. +His translation runs thus: + + Amaz'd stood _Turnus_, and th' _Ausonian_ Chiefs; + 'Till, looking back, they saw the Navy move + Cov'ring the Sea, and gliding make to Shore. + Fierce burns his Helm; and from his tow'ring Crest + Flame flashes; and his Shield's round Bossy Gold + Vomits vast Fires: As when in gloomy Night + Ensanguin'd Comets shoot a dismal Glare; + Or the red Dog-Star, rising on the World, + To wretched Mortals threatens Dearth, and Plagues, + With Baleful Light; and saddens all the Sky. (360 _ff._) + +Trapp does not play the trite old game of setting the texts of Homer and +Virgil in comparison, but what comes to his mind at once in his note, +and rightly, given the language of his translation, is Milton describing +Satan: + + Like a Comet burn'd, + That fires the Length of _Ophiucus_ huge + In th' Artick Sky; and from his horrid hair + Shakes Pestilence and War. (II. 708-711) + +Similarly, when Aeneas hastens to meet Turnus in the twelfth book, +Miltonic translation and Miltonic original are brought together to show +the similarity between Virgilian and Christian sublime: + + _Aeneas_ ... with Joy + Exults; and thunders terrible in Arms. + As great as _Athos_, or as _Eryx_ great, + Or Father _Apennine_, when crown'd with Okes + He waves the ruffled Forest on his Brow, + And rears his snowy Summit to the Clouds. (902 ff.) + + * * * * * + + On th' other Side _Satan_ allarm'd + Collecting all his Might, dilated stood; + Like _Teneriff_, or _Atlas_ unremov'd: + His Stature reach'd the Sky, and on his Crest + Sat Horrour plum'd. (IV. 985-989) + +In the light of such illustration, it is not surprising that Trapp, in +the Preface, when he wishes to give the feel of the Virgilian sublime, +quotes Milton's description of the creation: + + Let there be Light, said God; and forthwith Light + Ethereal, first of Things, Quintessence pure, + Sprang from the Deep. (p. xxx) + +When he wants to show what grandeur with propriety the English language +can achieve (even in the teeth of Dryden's rendering of Virgil, which he +pertinently censures), he chooses his prime examples from Milton: +witness the account of Satan "Hurl'd headlong, flaming from th' ethereal +Sky...." It was a bold undertaking by Trapp, for Pope's version of +Homer, elegantly correct in couplets, was in the press. Many a man was +to suffer more in _The Dunciad_ for less.[4] + +Trapp's immediate critical associates in England clearly are John Dennis +and Joseph Addison, and the origins of Trapp's thinking in classical +antiquity may be found in Longinus. Dennis had united Milton with the +poets of antiquity as an example of the passionate effects of the +religious sublime,[5] while Addison (who had already translated a +fragment of _Aeneid_ III into blank verse) in his _Spectator_ papers on +_Paradise Lost_ had tastefully combined the structural formalism of +Aristotelian criticism of the epic with enthusiastic comment on the +grandeur and beauty of Milton's verse. To these must be added Trapp's +favorite, Roscommon, who in _An Essay on Translated Verse_ (1685)[6] had +interposed an imitation of Milton to illustrate how English verses might +rise to Roman greatness. But it would be unfair to Trapp merely to +reduce him to a series of component sources. He adopts and adapts; and +as far as the criticism of Virgil was concerned, his Preface and his +notes are a refreshing plea for something that he felt had not been +sufficiently emphasized in the _Aeneid_: the ever-varying energetic +passion that Longinian criticism had claimed was an essential quality of +the greatest literary works. Trapp's choice of Miltonic example is only +one means by which he emphasises that to truly respond to the _Aeneid_ +(as to any major poem) was to be ravished by an overwhelming emotive +experience. "The Art, and Triumph of Poetry are in nothing more seen, +and felt, than in _Moving the Passions_," he comments in his "Remarks" +on the tragical action of the fourth book to which he prefaced "_An +Essay upon the Nature, and Art of_ Moving the Passions _in Tragedy, and +Epic Poetry_" (I. 377). "A Man cannot command his own Motions, while he +reads This; The very _Verses are alive_" (II. 942) is a typical comment +from his "Remarks" (on breaking the truce in the twelfth book). He +introduces the third book by citing Horace: the poet's art is like +magic, transporting us now to Thebes, now to Athens (I. 365). Sometimes +he throws up his hands in rapture at the _je ne sais quoi_: "Some +Beauties are the more so, for not being capable of Explanation. I feel +it, tho' I cannot account for it" (I. 339). It is to the text the +Preface lays the foundation for this kind of response in its emphasis on +the emotive range of Virgil--on his power to burn and to freeze, to +raise admiration, terror, and pity. "The _Greek_ Poet knew little of the +Passions, in comparison of the _Roman_" his argument runs, setting +Virgil on the peak of Parnassus. + +This enthusiastic excitement is firmly controlled in the Preface by the +disciplines of more formal criticism, and here, inevitably, Trapp +follows the same kind of standard authorities as Dryden in his +translation. It would be untypical of the man not to give positive +guarantees of his learning and respectability. He shows that he had +absorbed the arguments of René le Bossu's _Traité du Poème Epique_ +(1675) and knows Jean Regnauld de Segrais' translation of the _Aeneid_ +(1668). He was familiar with René Rapin's _Réflexions sur la Poétique +d'Aristote_ (1674) and André Dacier's _La Poétique d'Aristote Traduite +en Français. Avec des Remarques_ (1692). The name of J. C. Scaliger +intrudes, if only to be mentioned with distaste; for the pedantic +querulousness of Scaliger's extended comparison of Homer with Virgil +attracted Trapp no more than it did Addison, both critics, in the +English humanistic tradition, being more concerned with an appreciative +and elegant brevity than with exhaustive scholarship. It was necessary +also to show some knowledge of the quarrel of the ancients and moderns; +but Trapp is concerned with the integrity of European culture, not with +the inane counting of points for or against past or present and not at +all with scoring off personal antagonists. In comparison, he makes +Swift, who always sneered at him, and even Pope seem sometimes trivial +and bitchy. + +The restrained humanism of the Preface is noticeable. Thus, although the +critical concerns of the age lead Trapp to seek to annex "clear Ideas" +"to the Words, _Action_, _Fable_, _Incident_, and _Episode_," there is +nothing in his writing resembling the prolegomena to the _Aeneid_ in the +Delphin edition,[7] prolegomena that define epic from the doctrine of +Aristotle as the imitation of one action, illustrious, complete, of a +certain magnitude, which by narration in hexameter verse raises eminent +men to the prime virtues by delight and admiration, proceeds to define +the _actio_, _fabula_, _mores_, _sententia_, and _dictio_ in the +abstract, and then demonstrates that the definitions fit the _Aeneid_ +(_ergo_ it is an epic poem). This is scientific method ossified. On the +other hand, if one compares Dryden's Dedication of the _Aeneid_, Trapp +equally eschews the quirky digressiveness (and the wholesale +borrowings), which give to Dryden's writing both its sense of personal +and spontaneous insight and yet its prolixity and mere messiness. Trapp +had studied the art to blot. The reader is spared Dryden's extended and +pointless discussion (at second hand) of how long the action of the +_Aeneid_ takes, let alone whether this is the right length for an epic +action or whether Aeneas was too lacrymose to be a hero (presumably +Trapp thought that those who will believe that will believe anything). +Likewise, Dryden's political insights, gathered as much from his own +experience as from Roman history, are also swiftly passed by for more +aesthetic concerns. Perhaps the view of Dryden (and Pope) that the +_Aeneid_ was a party piece like _Absalom and Achitophel_ was +unbalanced,[8] but Trapp might have reflected that, if any man knew +about political poetry, it was John Dryden and that the _Aeneid_ has a +place in the history of the Roman civil wars. But the Oxford professor +was more concerned with the sublime and beautiful. + +As a critic of classical epic there can be little reasonable doubt that +Trapp stands comparison with either Dryden or Pope, and the honesty and +value of his critical endeavor are worth respect. He can be cool and +analytical when dispassionate reason is required (witness his account of +how in brevity and morality Virgil surpasses Homer); but he is in no +sense tied by a rigidly formalistic approach, happy to praise even that +"_Variety_" which "justifies the Breach of almost any Rule" (Preface p. +xlvi), or the organic development of structure that seems to be "_no +Method_ at all" (II. 953). Essentially, behind this firm but flexible +criticism, there is a compelling sense that to read a great poem is to +submit to an overwhelming experience; and his criticism is always +hastening to illustration, with the tacit appeal, "It is like this, +isn't it?" What is particularly stimulating, whether one accepts the +claim or not that Virgilian style and sensibility are reflected in +Milton, is the continual illumination of the classics by the vernacular +and particularly by modern example. It seems as if he is claiming that, +to understand the past, we must respond to the literature of our own +culture and that there are no important barriers between antiquity and +the modern world, the appreciation of foreign languages and our own +tongue. All true culture is always immediate and felt vitally as part of +our being. In attempting to express this, Trapp is in touch with what is +best in neoclassicism. + +University of Reading. + + + + +NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION + + +[1] He had held the chair for the maximum period of ten years permitted +by the original statute. For further particulars, see Thomas Hearne, +_Remarks and Collections_, ed. C. E. Doble (Oxford, 1886), entries for +14 July and 27 July 1708. + +[2] There is a translation by William Bowyer, assisted by William +Clarke, entitled _Lectures on Poetry_ (London, 1742). + +[3] _Comparaison des poèmes d'Homère et de Virgile_ (Paris, ?1688). + +[4] He is identified by the Twickenham editor as the "_T--_" of the line +"_T--s_ and T--the church and state gave o'er," in _The Dunciad_ of 1728 +II. 381, but was dropped from the _Variorum_ in 1729. In the Warburton +note of 1743, I.33, he may be alluded to in the gibe at "Professors." + +[5] Notably in _The Advancement and Reformation of Modern Poetry_ +(London, 1701) and _The Grounds of Criticism in Poetry_ (London, 1704). + +[6] The Miltonic passage was added to the second edition (1685). The +poem originally appeared the previous year. + +[7] Ed. Carolus Ruaeus, i.e. Charles de la Rue (Paris, 1675). + +[8] I have further discussed this point in "What God, What Mortal? The +_Aeneid_ and English Mock-Heroic," _Arion_ 8 (1969), 359-79. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + +The Preface to Joseph Trapp's translation of _The ÆNEIS of Virgil_, +Volume I (1718) is reproduced from a copy of the first edition in the +William Andrews Clark Memorial Library (Shelf Mark: +*FPR3736/T715V3/1718). A typical type-page (p. vii) measures 231 x 156 +mm. + + + + + THE + ÆNEIS + OF + VIRGIL, + TRANSLATED INTO + BLANK VERSE: + + By _JOSEPH TRAPP_, M.A. + Professor of Poetry in the University of _Oxford_. + + _----Parnassia Laurus + Parva sub ingenti Matris se subjicit umbra_. + + Virg. + + VOLUME _the_ FIRST. + + _LONDON_: + Printed in the Year MDCCXVIII. + + + + +THE + +PREFACE. + + +However Poetry may have been dishonoured by the _Follies_ of some, and +the _Vices_ of others; the Abuse, or Corruption of the best Things being +always the worst: It will, notwithstanding, be ever regarded, as it ever +has been, by the wisest, and most judicious of Men, as the very _Flower_ +of human _Thinking_, the most _exquisite Spirit_ that can be extracted +from the _Wit_ and _Learning_ of Mankind. But I shall not now enter into +a formal Vindication of this Divine Art from the many groundless +Aspersions which have been cast upon it by Ignorance, and Ill-nature; +nor display either it's Dignity in it self, or it's Usefulness both in +Philosophy, and Religion; or the delightful Elegancy of it's refined +Ideas, and harmonious Expressions. This I have in some measure +attempted in another[1] Treatise; to which I rather chuse to refer the +Reader, than to repeat what I have already said, tho' in a different +Language from This, in which I am now writing. I shall therefore only +observe at present, that to hate, or despise Poetry, not only argues a +Man deficient in Wisdom, and Learning; but even brings his Virtue and +Goodness under Suspicion: What our _Shakespear_ says of another +melodious Science, being altogether as applicable to This; and Poetry it +self being the Musick of Thoughts, and Words, as Musick is the Poetry of +Sounds. + + _The Man that hath not Musick in his Soul, + And is not mov'd with Concord of sweet Sounds; + Is fit for Treasons, Stratagems, and Spoils; + The Motions of his Spirit are dull as Night, + And his Affections dark as Erebus: + Let no such Man be trusted.----_[2] + +And as Poetry was by the Heathen stiled the _Language of the Gods_; much +the same may be said by a Christian of the one true Deity: Since a great +part of the Holy Scriptures themselves is to the last degree Poetical, +both in Sentiments, and Diction. + +But among all the Species, or Kinds of Poetry; That which is +distinguished by the Name of Epic, or Heroic, is beyond comparison the +Noblest, and most Excellent. _An Heroic Poem, truly such, is undoubtedly +the greatest Work which the Soul of Man is capable to perform._ These +are the first Words of Mr. _Dryden_'s admirable Dedication of his +_English Æneis_ to the present Duke of _Buckingham_: They are translated +indeed from Monsieur _Rapin_; and are likewise the first Words of his +Comparison between _Homer_ and _Virgil_.[3] "The Design of it (continues +Mr. _Dryden_) is to form the Mind to Heroic Virtue by Example; 'Tis +convey'd in Verse, that it may delight, while it instructs; The Action +of it is always One, Entire, and Great. The least, and most trivial +Episodes, or Under-Actions, which are interwoven in it, are Parts either +necessary, or convenient; that no others can be imagined more suitable +to the place in which they are. There is Nothing to be left void in a +firm Building; even the Cavities ought not to be filled with Rubbish, +which is of a perishable Kind, destructive of the Strength: But with +Brick, or Stone, tho' of less pieces, yet of the same Nature, and fitted +to the Cranies. Even the least Portions of them must be of the Epic +kind; All Things must be Grave, Majestical, and Sublime: Nothing of a +foreign Nature, like the trifling Novels, which _Ariosto_,[4] and others +have inserted in their Poems. By which the Reader is misled into another +sort of Pleasure, opposite to That which is designed in an Epic Poem. +One raises the Soul, and hardens it to Virtue; the other softens it +again, and unbends it into Vice." But what makes this Kind of Poem +preferable to all others, is, that it virtually contains and involves +them: I mean their Excellencies and Perfections, besides That which is +proper, and peculiar to it self. This likewise is observed by Mr. +_Rapin_ in the place above-cited: And by this Assertion I do not +contradict what I have cited from Mr. _Dryden_; which I am supposed to +approve, while I transcribe it. For besides that he does not speak, as I +do, of the different _Turns_, and _Modifications_ of _Thinking_, and +_Writing_, but of _trifling Episodes_, or _Under-Actions_, which he says +are improper for this sort of Poetry, and in which I entirely agree with +him; I say, besides This, I do not affirm that an Ode, or an Elegy, for +example, can with propriety be _actually_, and _formally_ inserted in an +Heroic Poem; But only that the regular Luxuriancy, and noble Excursions +of _That_, and the pathetical and tender Complainings of _This_, are not +always forreign to the Nature of an Epic Subject, but are sometimes very +properly introduced to adorn it. The same may be said of the Poignancy +of Satyr; and the natural Images of ordinary Life in Comedy. It is one +Thing to say, that an Heroic Poem virtually includes These; and another, +that it actually puts them into Practice, or shews them at large in +their proper Forms, and Dresses. I do not mention Tragedy; because That +is so nearly ally'd to Heroic Poetry, that there is no Dispute or +Question concerning it. An Epic Poem then is the same to all the other +Kinds of Poetry, as the _Primum Mobile_ is to the System of the +Universe, according to the Scheme of the ancient Astronomy: That great +Orb including all the heavenly Bodies in it's Circumference, and +whirling them round with it's own Motion. And then the Soul of the +Poet, or rather of Poetry, informing this mighty, and regular Machine, +and diffusing Life and Spirit thro' the whole Frame, resembles that +_Anima Mundi_, that Soul of the World, according to the _Platonic_, and +_Pythagorean_ Philosophy, thus admirably represented in the Sixth +_Æneid_: + + _Principio cœlum, ac terras, camposque liquentes, + Lucentemque globum Lunæ, Titaniaque astra + Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus + Mens agitat molem, & magno se corpore miscet._ + +Here we have at once the Soul of Poetry, and the Soul of the World: The +one _exerted_, while the other is _described_. Whether there be any such +Thing as the Last or not, we certainly perceive the First; and however +That be, Nothing, in reality, can give us a justly resembling Idea of +the Fabrick of an Heroic Poem; but That, which alone is superiour to it, +the Fabrick of the Universe. + +I speak of an Heroic Poem, properly so called; for I know of but Three, +or Four, which deserve the Glory of That Title. And it's transcendent +Excellence is doubtless the Reason, why so few have attempted a Work of +this Nature; and fewer have succeeded in such their Attempts. _Homer_ +arose like Light at the Creation; and shone upon the World, which (at +least so far as we know) was, with respect to that kind of Light, in +total Darkness, before his Appearing. Such was the Fire, and Vivacity of +his Spirit; the Vastness, and Fecundity of his Invention; the Majesty, +and Sublimity of his Thoughts, and Expressions; that, notwithstanding +his Errours and Defects, which must be acknowledged, his controuling, +and over-bearing Genius demanded those prodigious Honours, which in all +Ages have been justly paid him. I say, notwithstanding his Errours and +Defects: for it would have been strange indeed, had he been chargeable +with None; or had he left no room to be refined, and improved upon by +any Successour. + +This was abundantly performed by _Virgil_; whose _Æneis_ is therefore +only not perfect, because it did not receive his last Hand. Tho', even +as it now is, it comes the nearest to Perfection of any Heroic Poem; and +indeed of any Poem whatsoever, except another of his Own: I mean his +_Georgicks_; which I look upon to be the most Consummate of all human +Compositions: It's Author for Genius and Judgment, for Nature and Art, +joined together, and taken one with another, being the greatest, and +best of all human Writers. How little Truth soever there may be in the +Prodigies which are said to have attended his Birth; certain it is, that +a Prodigy was then born; for He himself was such: And when God made That +Man, He seems to have design'd to shew the World how far the Powers of +mere human Nature can go, and how much they are capable of performing. +The Bent of his Mind was turned to Thought, and Learning in general; and +to Poetry, and Philosophy in particular. Which we are assured of not +only from the Spirit and Genius of his Works; but from the express +Account which he gives of himself, in Those sweet Lines of the second +_Georgick_: + + _Me vero primum dulces ante omnia Musæ + (Quarum sacra fero, ingenti perculsus amore) + Accipiant, cœlique vias, & sydera monstrent. + Defectus solis varios, lunæque labores; + Unde tremor Terris, quâ vi maria alta tumescant + Objicibus ruptis, rursusque in seipsa residant. + Quid tantum oceano properent se tingere soles + Hyberni, vel quæ tardis mora noctibus obstet._ + +It is true, he here only tells us of his Inclination to Natural +Philosophy; but then he tells it us in Poetry: As few Things are more +nearly related. + +For his Temper, and Constitution; if We will believe Mr. _Dryden_[5], it +was Phlegmatick, and Melancholick: As _Homer_'s was Sanguine, and +Cholerick, and This, he says, is the Reason of the different Spirit, +which appears in the Writings of those two great Authors. I make no +doubt, but that _Virgil_, in his _natural Disposition, as a Man_, was +rather Melancholick; as, I believe, most learned, and contemplative Men +ever were, and ever will be. And therefore how does he breath the very +Soul of a Poet, and of a Philosopher; when in the Verses immediately +following Those above-cited, he thus expresses the Thoughtfulness of +both those Tempers, as well as the peculiar Modesty of his Own! + + _Sin has nè possim naturæ accedere partes + Frigidus obstiterit circum præcordia sanguis; + Rura mihi, & rigui placeant in vallibus amnes, + Flumina amem, silvasque inglorius.----_ + +Methinks, I _see_ him, while I read Those Verses; I am sure I _feel_ +him. How delightful must it be, to enjoy so sweet a Retirement! What a +Glory, to be so inglorious! This, I say, is generally the Natural Make +of learned, and ingenious Men; and _Homer_ himself, notwithstanding his +Poetical Fire, was in all probability of the same Complexion. But if we +consider _Virgil as a Poet_; I hope to make it appear, before I have +finished This Preface, that, _as such_, he wanted neither the Sanguine, +nor the Cholerick; tho' at the same time I acknowledge a Man's _natural +Temper_ will _very much incline_ him to one way of Thinking, and +Writing, more than to another. + +But tho' his _Genius_ was thus perfect; yet I take his _most +distinguishing_ Character to be the incomparable _Accuracy_ of his +_Judgment_; and particularly his elegant, and exquisite _Brevity_. He is +never luxuriant, never says any thing in vain: _We admire Others_ (says +Monsieur _Rapin_) _for what they say; but we admire_ Virgil, _for what +he does not say_: And indeed his very Silence is expressive, and even +his Omissions are Beauties. Yet is his Brevity neither _dry_, nor +_obscure_; so far otherwise, that he is both the _fullest_, and the +_clearest_ Writer in the World. He always, says enough, but never too +much: And This is to be observed in him, as well when he insists upon a +Thing, as when he slightly passes it over, when his Stile is long, and +flowing, as when it is short, and concise; in This Sense, he is brief, +even where he enlarges; and while he rolls like a Torrent, he has +nothing frothy, or redundant. So that to Him, of all Mankind, are Those +famous Verses of Sir _John Denham_ most particularly applicable: + + _Tho' deep, yet clear; tho' gentle, yet not dull; + Strong, without Rage; without O'erflowing, full._ + +Meaning _Rage_ properly so called; not the _Poetical Fury_: For That He +was very far from wanting; as will be seen in it's proper Place. His +avoiding Redundancy therefore proceeded neither from Poverty, nor +Parsimony; but from Elegancy, and Exactness. So correct is he in Those +Parts of his Writings which are allowed to be finished; that I have +often thought what a Treasure That Man would be possessed of (were such +a Thing possible) who could procure the Filings of his Poems; and shew +the World what _Virgil_ would _not_ shew it. The very Chippings of Those +Diamonds would be more valuable than the richest Jewel of the _Indies_. + +I have already said enough to involve my self in the now unavoidable +Comparison between _Homer_, and _Virgil_; which has so much employ'd the +Speculations of the Learned. Because it will be justly expected that I +should endeavour at least to give some Reasons for my Assertions; or +rather for my _Opinion_: For I desire that my _Assertions_ may all along +be understood to imply no more. As to _Homer_, nothing can be farther +from my Thoughts than to defraud that prodigious Man of his due Praise. +I have before said a little of it; and (would the Limits of this +Discourse permit) could with Pleasure enlarge upon that Subject. Many of +his Faults, as they are called, are indeed no Faults; but only charged +upon him by ignorant Pretenders to Criticism: Others, if they are really +so, are not His, but are entirely to be imputed to the Manners and +Customs of the Age in which he writ: And even those which are least +justifiable are to be excused upon this single Consideration, that he +was the first of his Species. No Science starts into Perfection at it's +Birth: And it is amazing that the Works of this great Poet come so near +it as they do. Thus as to himself: Then as to others; his Glory in Point +of Precedency is uncontestable; he is the Father of Poets, and of +Poetry; and _Virgil_ particularly has copy'd from him in a multitude of +Instances. But after all, the Question is; Whether upon the whole, +_Homer_'s or _Virgil_'s be the best Poems_, as we have them now; setting +aside all _external Considerations_, relating to Times, and Customs; +Inventing, and Borrowing; Precedency, and Succession; Master, and +Scholar; and regarding only the _internal Advantages_, and +_Disadvantages_, Beauties, and Faults of both; upon the Foundations of +Nature, and Art, of Truth, and Reason. _Homer_'s Faults are to be +excused: I am very glad of it; for I have an exceeding Honour, and Love +for him. But still _They are Faults_: Has _Virgil_ so many? I mean too +in Proportion, and allowing for the unequal Length of their Writings. +_Virgil_ imitated _Homer_, and borrowed from him: But did he not +_improve_, as well as _imitate_; and by borrowing, and adding to his own +vast Fund what the other never parted with, grow richer than him from +whom he so borrowed? In a word, did he not out of two very good Poems +make a better than either of them, or than both of them put together? I +am sensible it may be said on the other hand, that _Homer_ had the +_Disadvantage_, as well as _Glory_ of being the First: He had no body to +rely upon, but himself; whereas _Virgil_ had _Homer_'s Materials, +besides his own. All this I acknowledge; nay at present, and for +Argument's sake, let _Homer_'s be the _greater Glory_: Still is not +_Virgil_'s the _best Poem_? For I agree that in these Comparisons we +ought to make a Distinction between the _Man_, and the _Work_. Or if we +must make the Comparison in the former respect; _Homer_ was _Virgil_'s +Master, Father, what you please: But nothing is more common, than for +the Scholar to excel the Master, and the Son the Father. I think we +ought to lay aside the Prejudices of an undue Veneration for the +_greatest Antiquity_, and argue only from _Reason_; and that not only in +the Comparison of the Ancients with one another; but even in That of the +Ancients with the Moderns. I have a very great Honour for the _Greeks_ +and _Romans_; but 'tis because their Writings are generally _good_, not +because they are _ancient_: And when we think they are otherwise than +good, I cannot imagine why we should not say so; provided it be with +Modesty, and with a due Deference to the Opinions of Those who differ +from us, whether they be dead or living. The famous Dispute about +Ancient and Modern Learning would, I believe, be soon determined; were +it not for unreasonable Prejudices to each of Those Names respectively. +The Ancients, _as such_, have the Advantage in This, that they ought to +be honoured as the Inventers of most Arts and Sciences; but then the +Moderns, _as such_, have the Advantage in This, that besides their own +Strength and Sagacity, they have the Models of the Ancients to improve +upon: And very strange it would be, if they should not improve in some +things, as well as lose in others. + +I shall give the particular Reasons for my Opinion of these two great +Poets, before I finish: In the mean time, I hope the Reader will excuse +my Rambling. I am very sensible that I shall not only differ in judgment +from many Criticks of great Name, both Ancient and Modern; but that I am +like to fall under the ready, and natural Censure of being prejudiced my +self, while I warn against it in others. All I can say, is, that I have +endeavoured to divest my self of it as much as possible; but cannot be +positive that I am entirely free from it; being well aware that nothing +in the World is more difficult. For I am sure I have followed _One_ +Precept of my Lord _Roscommon_, in his excellent Essay on Translated +Verse: + + _Examine how your Humour is inclin'd, + And which the ruling Passion of your Mind; + Then seek a Poet who that way does bend, + And chuse an Author, as you chuse a Friend._ + +And as this is _One_ Circumstance, which is like to make a Man succeed, +as a _Translator_; so it is like to make him err, as a _Judge_. For this +Sort of Friendship (like all others) will certainly incline us to be +partial in favour of the Person whom we praise, or defend. It is in +This, as in every thing else; the Affections will be apt to biass the +Understanding; and doubtless a Man in a great measure judges This, or +That way of Writing to be best, because it is most agreeable to his own +natural Temper. Thus, for Example; One Man judges (as he calls it) +_Horace_'s Satyrs to be the best; Another is for _Juvenal_'s: When, all +this while, strictly speaking, they may not so much differ in +_Judgment_, as _Inclination_: For each of them perhaps will allow Both +to be best _in their Kind_; but the one is chiefly _delighted_ with this +Kind, and the other with that; and _there_ is all the real Difference +between them. And tho' this does not exactly parallel the present Case; +the Poems of _Homer_ and _Virgil_ being more of the same Species, than +the Satyrs of _Horace_ and _Juvenal_; yet it comes very near it: and the +Word _Species_ will admit of more Distinction than is commonly imagined: +These two Heroic Poets being very different in their _Turn_, and +_Manner_ of Thinking, and Writing. But after all, there are in Nature +and Reason certain Rules by which we are to judge in these Matters, as +well as in others; and there are still such things as Truth and +Falshood, notwithstanding Partiality and Prepossession. And this I can +assure my Reader, I am not prejudiced in Behalf of my Author, by +attempting to be his Translator; for I was of the same Opinion, before I +had the least Thought of this daring Enterprize. However, I do not +pretend to decide as a Judge, but only to argue as an Advocate; and a +Man may be allowed to plead with Prejudice, tho' he always ought to +determine without it: For it may do no Mischief at the Bar, tho it be +intolerable upon the Bench. But that my Reader may not be misguided by +it, upon a Supposition that I am; I desire him to consider, that as I +differ from some great Criticks, so I have the Authority of others to +support my Opinion. I need not insist upon _Scaliger_, _Rapin_, and the +incomparable Earl of _Roscommon_, whose Judgments upon this Point are +very well known; but I will produce the Words of _Macrobius_, as +collected by _la Cerda_[6], because he is commonly supposed to be in the +other Interest. It is true, in the Comparison of particular Passages, he +generally prefers _Homer_; yet he says, _Virgilius Homero ditior, +locupletior, cultior, purior, clarior, fortior vi argumentorum, +diligentior, observantior, uberior, pulchrior_. "_Virgil_ is richer, and +fuller than _Homer_, neater, purer, clearer, stronger in the Force of +his Arguments, more diligent, more observing, more copious, more +beautiful." Thus, I say, he speaks, as he is represented by the +above-mentioned Commentator; who only pretends to have picked up those +Words from several scattered Passages in his Writings: Whether they are +faithfully collected, or no (for he does not quote the particular +Places) I have not had the Patience to examine, nor am I at all +solicitous to know. It would be endless to cite _Scaliger_ upon this +Subject; and besides, when I agree with him, it is rather in his Praise +of _Virgil_, than in his Dispraise of _Homer_. I am far from being of +his Opinion in some Particulars, and farther from approving of his Way +and Manner of Proceeding. He inveighs against _Homer_ with as much +Bitterness, as if he had a personal Quarrel with him; prosecutes him +with all the Malice of Criticism, and that too sometimes false +Criticism; and is upon the whole highly injurious to the Character of +that wonderful Poet. Yet I cannot on the other side agree with Madam +_Dacier_, who is at least even with _Scaliger_, by calling him the worst +Critick in the World: _Le plus mechant Critique du Monde_, are the very +Words she uses. On the contrary, I think, he is generally upon these +Occasions rather Hyperbolical in his Expressions, than Erroneous in his +Judgment. I am indeed amazed at the Confidence of Monsieur _de la +Motte_, who treats _Homer_ with the greatest Freedom, and almost with +Contempt, when at the same time he acknowledges he does not understand +one Word of his Language. For my self, I have nothing to say, but that +I have a Right to deliver my Sentiments, as well as another; and, to use +the Words of that noble Poet and Critick above-mentioned, + + _I speak my private, but impartial Sense, + With Freedom, and I hope without Offence._ + +And here I cannot but observe, that tho' I am charmed with that fine +Turn of his, after having remarked upon some supposed Faults in _Homer_; + + _But I offend_; Virgil _begins to frown, + And_ Horace _looks with Indignation down; + My blushing Muse with conscious Fear retires, + And whom they like implicitly admires:_ + +Tho', I say, I am charmed with the Elegancy of the Poet, the Modesty of +the Critick, and the courtly Politeness of the Nobleman; and tho', as I +shall observe hereafter, I am not of his Opinion, as to the Particulars +he takes notice of, in the Verses preceding: yet I do not understand +why, for disapproving of some things in _Homer_, he should apprehend +either the Frowns of _Virgil_, or the Indignation of _Horace_. As +_Virgil_ saw the Beauties of _Homer_, while he imitated them; he no less +saw his Errours, while he avoided them. And as to _Horace_, that _Nil +molitur inepte_, in one Place, and----_Quandoque bonus dormitat +Homerus_, in another, must be regarded as Hyperboles; the one as an +Auxesis, the other as a Meiôsis. Not but that upon the whole, he +certainly admired _Homer_; nor would he have been the good Judge he was, +if he had not. But as he was acquainted with the _Iliad_, and the +_Odyssee_, so had he lived to have been as well acquainted with the +_Æneis_; would he not have preferred the last, before both the first? +Those who differ from me will say he _would not_; and 'tis altogether as +easy for me to say he _would_. The same, and more, may be remarked of +_Aristotle_; who was perfectly acquainted with _Homer_, but not at all +with _Virgil_. + +Invention, Fire, and Judgment, will, I think, include all the Requisites +of an Epic Poem. The Action, the Fable, the Manners, the Compass, and +Variety of Matter, seem to be properly comprehended under the First of +these; yet not so as to exclude the Two last. For the particular +Disposition of them all is an Act of the Judgment, as the first Creating +of them is an Act of Invention; and Fire, tho' distinct from Invention, +and Judgment, has a near Relation to them Both, as it assists the one, +and is to be regulated by the other. + +By those who commonly discourse of Heroic, and Dramatic Poetry, the +Action, and the Fable seem not to be sufficiently distinguished. The +Action is a great Achievement of some illustrious Person, attended with +an important and memorable Event. The Fable is that Complication of +Incidents, Episodes, and other Circumstances, which tend to the carrying +on of the Action, or give Reasons for it, or at least embellish and +adorn it. I make this Distinction; because Episodes are such, as are +either absolutely necessary, or very requisite. Of the former sort is +that long Narration of _Æneas_, I mean in the main Substance of it, +which is the entire Subject of the Second, and Third Books. This perhaps +will not by some be allowed to be an Episode; because, I think, it is +not commonly called so: For that Word is generally appropriated to +_Actions_, and therefore will be supposed not applicable to a +_Narration_. But I think we shall speak more clearly; if by that Word we +mean (as indeed the [7]Etymology of it imports) whatsoever is +_adventitious_ to the grand Action of the Poem, connected to it, or +inserted in it; whether it be it self an Action, or no. And there is +Ground enough to distinguish This from the immediate, and direct Train, +or Course of the main Action it self; and to shew what may, and may not, +be called an Episode. For Example; The Sailing of the _Trojan_ Fleet +from _Sicily_ in the First Book, it's Arrival there again at the +Beginning of the Fifth, and it's Sailing from thence at the End of that +Book; The Landing at _Cumæ_ in the Beginning of the Sixth; and in +another Part of _Italy_, at the Beginning of the Seventh; The whole +Operations of that Book, and so of all the rest, wherever the Heroe +himself, or his Armies for him, either with or without his Presence, are +directly engaged in the great Affair to be carry'd on, are, all of them, +so many successive Parts of one, and the same Action (the great Action +of the Poem) continued in a direct Line, and flowing in it's proper +Channel. But where any Part comes under any one of the Bye-Characters +above-mentioned, it is properly an Episode, whether it be an Action, or +a Narration. The long Recital of Adventures in the Second and Third +Books is not an _Action_, but it is _Necessary_: The Expedition of +_Nisus_ and _Euryalus_ in the Ninth is not _Necessary_, but it is an +_Action_: And Both are Episodes. Which brings us back to the Distinction +before taken notice of, between Incidents and Episodes, and the several +Kinds of the latter. All Episodes are Incidents; but it is not so on the +Reverse. The Storm in the First Book, driving the Fleet on the Coast of +_Carthage_, is an Incident, but not an Episode; because the Heroe +himself, and the whole Body of his Forces, are concerned in it; and so +it is a _direct_, not a _collateral_ Part of the main Action. But even +Episodes (as I said) must carry on the main Action, or give Reasons for +it, or at least embellish it: And therefore I said they are either +_absolutely necessary_, or _very requisite_. The Narration in the Second +and Third Books is not a _Part_ of the Action; but it _gives Reasons_ +for it, and so is _Necessary_: The Adventures of _Nisus_ and _Euryalus_ +in the Ninth Book, of _Mezentius_ in the Tenth, and of _Camilla_ in the +Eleventh, are all _requisite_, but not _absolutely necessary_; and yet +they are properly _Parts_ of the main Action, tho' _collateral_, not +_direct_. The Loves of _Dido_ and _Æneas_ in the Fourth Book, the Sports +at the Tomb of _Anchises_ in the Fifth, the Description of Hell in the +Sixth, the Story of _Cacus_, and the Decorations of the Shield in the +Eighth, are all supposed by some to be entirely ornamental, and no Parts +of the main Action. And This perhaps they may imagine to be a great +Point yielded to the Disadvantage of _Virgil_. Admitting it were so, +_Homer_ would gain nothing by it; most of them being taken from him, and +he having more of such _Excrescencies_, if they must be so called. But +This in Reality is no reasonable Objection against either. The Episode +of _Dido_ and _Æneas_ shall be considered in my Remarks upon the Fourth +Book. The Descent into Hell is a direct Part of the Action; the Heroe +going thither to consult his Father's Ghost concerning the Operations of +the War, and the future Fate of Himself, and his Posterity (for _all_ +Action, even in an Heroic Poem, does not consist in _Fighting_:) And it +would be very strange, if, in a Work of such a Length, the Poet might +not be allowed to take that Occasion, to describe the Regions thro' +which his Heroe passed, and to make the noblest, and most surprizing +Description that ever the World saw. The same may be said of the +Casting, and Engraving of the Shield, which contains a considerable Part +of the _Roman_ History; as does the Speech of _Anchises_ in the +foregoing Division; both introduced with exquisite Art, and Judgment. +For the rest; granting that they are purely ornamental; and that while +the Poet is describing them, the Action stands still, as the Criticks +express themselves: There let it stand, with all my heart, 'till +_Virgil_ thinks fit to set it a going again. If the Action stands still, +I am sure the Poem does not; and the Reader, I think, must be very +phlegmatick, if his Spirits do. What if those Episodes are not Parts of +the Action? They are Parts of the Poem, and with the greatest Skill +inferred in it. What if they are not absolutely _necessary_? They are +very _convenient_; and that is sufficient. For if we allow that they are +entirely ornamental, we deny that they are impertinent, or superfluous; +no Things in the World being more uniform, or more naturally and +elegantly connected. Nor does _Virgil_ ever commit the Fault of those +whom _Horace_ justly condemns; by whom + + _Purpureus, late qui splendeat, unus & alter + Assuitur pannus----_ + +But the Foundation of all this wrong Criticism, is the Errour of +reducing an Heroic Poem to the narrow Rules of the _Stage_. For tho' the +Drama be, in some Respects, more perfect than the Epopée, in others it +is inferiour. And it is not _Virgil_'s Fault, if we will not distinguish +between the Building of a House, and of a City; or between that of a +City, and of the Universe. In a Work of such an Extent as an Epic Poem, +and all delivered in Narration, not represented by Action, these +Interruptions of the main Business (especially when they are some of the +most beautiful Parts of the Poem, as they always are in _Virgil_'s) are +so far from being Improprieties, that they are Excellencies. This +Variety is a Relief to the Mind of the Reader; who is more diverted by +the alternate Rest, and Rapidity of the Action, than he would be by it's +perpetual Motion. Nay the Mind is therefore the more in perpetual +Motion, (tho' in several kinds of it) than if the Action really were so. +For the Poem, as I observed, does not stand still, tho' the Action may. + +If what I have discoursed upon Episodes be not in the usual, I think it +is in the clearer way of Expressing; and as such I propose it to +others. _Bossu_, in his excellent Treatise of Epic Poetry, has some +nice Distinctions concerning them; which to me are more subtile, than +perspicuous: But that, I am sensible, may be my Fault, not his. And yet +he seems not to distinguish enough, when he says all Episodes are +necessary Parts of the Action, and makes no Difference between +Necessary, and Convenient. Nay he appears to be inconsistent[8] with +himself upon this Head, and to mistake the Sense of _Aristotle_. To the +Doctrine of which Philosopher I think my Account is more agreeable. For +after he has represented the Action of the _Odyssée_ in a direct Line, +as I have That of the _Æneis_; he immediately adds,[9] _This then is +proper; the rest are Episodes_. By the Word _Proper_, I understand +Immediately, and Directly Necessary. But he no where says that all +Episodes are so in any Sense; but leaves that Matter at large. For tho' +his _French_ Translators, _Bossu_, and _Dacier_ (which latter, I think, +is in the same Errour with the former) use the same Word _Proper_, when +apply'd to Episodes, as when apply'd to the main Action; yet the +Words[10] in the Original are different. _Bossu_ argues, that the +litteral Signification of the Word _Episode_, [something _adventitious_] +cannot take place; because an Episode must not be _added_, or +_superinduced_, but naturally _flow_, or _arise_ from the Subject. As if +a new Person could not enter a Room to a Company already there +assembled, without being impertinent: Surely his Coming may not only be +proper, but necessary; tho' I confess it may not be necessary, and yet +be proper: Which is the very thing I would say of Episodes. According to +this, when _Virgil_ says in the Seventh Book, + + _Hos_ super advenit _Volsca de gente Camilla;_ + +That Heroine is a mere Intruder; and her Story afterwards in the +Eleventh Book is no _Episode_. In short, it matters not whether we say +those Incidents _flow_, or _arise from_ the Subject; or are _added_, and +_connected to it_; or _inserted_, and _interwoven with_ it: If they are +_natural_, and _proper Parts_ of the _Poem_, That is sufficient; all +the rest is a Dispute about Words, and of no Importance, or +Significancy. However it be, I think I cannot better represent the +several sorts of Episodes which I have mentioned, than by an Instance +nearly ally'd to my Subject; I mean that of a General making a Campaign. +All the important Undertakings, and Performances of Himself, or the +Gross of his Army, or Both, in pursuance of the Design proposed, are +direct Parts of the main Action; and so far the Campaign, and the Poem +agree even in Terms. If he sitting in his Tent either gives, or hears, +the Recital of something past, the Knowledge of which is absolutely +necessary to the Prosecution of his Enterprize; This indeed is not +Action: But still it was said to be absolutely necessary in order to the +Prosecution of his Enterprize. And so is that Narration of _Æneas_ in +the Second, and Third Books, in order to the carrying on of the Action, +and to shew the Reason of it. This in War would not be called an +Episode; but it is so in Poetry. Should the same General detach a Part +of his Army upon a particular Expedition; and the Commander of that Body +behave himself with uncommon Gallantry, and attempt something very +extraordinary, and to be distinguished in History; whether he succeeded +in that Attempt or not: This would indeed be a Part of the Campaign; but +perhaps not a necessary one; because the Campaign might have subsisted, +and have been successful, or unsuccessful, with it, or without it. Such +are the Episodes of _Nisus_ and _Euryalus_; of _Mezentius_; and of +_Camilla_. The Case of the same General's being for some time diverted +from Action by an Amour, or some such Incident, shall be considered in +my Remarks upon the Fourth Book. But should he in Time of Inaction, tho' +the Campaign still continued, entertain his Officers and Soldiers with +warlike Sports and Recreations; or hear the Relation of some memorable +Adventure, in the Place where he encamped (like the Adventure of +_Hercules_, and _Cacus_) tho' no way concerning his own Affairs: These +indeed would not be Parts of the Action of his Campaign; but still might +be very properly recorded in History, and afford great Delight to the +Reader; who would by no Means be offended either with the General, or +the Historian; nor think the History of that Campaign to be less of a +Piece, because the warlike Operations were for some Time suspended. For +we must still remember, that tho' an Epic Poem be widely different from +History in many Circumstances; yet it is more nearly ally'd to it, than +any Dramatic Piece whatsoever. The learned Reader, I fear, will think I +might have troubled him with fewer Words upon this Subject, but such +Readers I presume not to instruct: What I have said may not perhaps be +altogether unuseful to Those who are less conversant in these Matters: +To acquaint them with which, nothing can contribute more, than clear +Ideas annexed to the Words, _Action_, _Fable_, _Incident_, and +_Episode_: All which (especially the last) are ill understood by many, +who yet use them with the greatest Freedom and Familiarity. + +Now if my Opinion be not received, I hope my avowed Ignorance will at +least be excused; while I confess, that tho' I very clearly apprehend +the Settling of the _Trojan_ Colony in _Italy_ to be the Action of the +_Æneis_; and the Return of _Ulysses_ to be the Action of the _Odyssée_: +yet I do not so well understand how the Anger of _Achilles_ comes to be +called the Action of the _Iliad_. For besides that Anger is a Passion, +not an Action: And if you mean the immediate Effect of that Anger, not +the Anger it self; Standing still, and doing nothing (which was the +Consequence of that Heroe's Resentment) can as little be called an +Action as the Other; I say, not to insist upon This, tho' it is by no +means so trivial a Nicety as some may suppose; the Anger of _Achilles_ +is not the _main Subject_ of the Poem, nor the chief Hinge upon which it +turns. The Action of it seems to be the Conquest of _Troy_; the Fable, +the _Trojan_ War; and the Anger of _Achilles_, an important Incident, +serving to aggrandize the Heroe, and consequently the Action, and to +render them more illustrious; as also at the same time to convey that +useful Moral, concerning the fatal Effects of Discord and Contention. It +will be said, that what I have mentioned is not the Action of the Poem, +because _Homer_ has not proposed it as such: But may it not be as well +replied, that _it is_ the Action of the Poem; and therefore he _should +have_ proposed it as such? For what is the Action, appears from the +Stress and Turn of the Work, not from the Title or Exordium; from the +End, not from the Beginning: And of This the Readers are to judge, as +well as of any thing else. Did not _Homer_ then know the Action of his +own Poem? Yes questionless; but he did not mention it in his +Proposition; which may possibly be chargeable upon him as an Errour: He +mentions the most important Incident, but omits the Action. Had the +Exordium set forth the Defeat of the _Trojans_, and the Destruction of +_Troy_, with such a Clause as this, "Tho' that great Event was suspended +by the fatal Anger of _Achilles_, Ἠ μύρι' Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε' ἔθηκε, and so +on, as it now stands; it would, in my humble Opinion, have been more +unexceptionable than it is at present. But I beg Pardon for even seeming +to pretend to correct _Homer_; and speak This with all possible +Submission. It is true, the Conquest of _Troy_ is not compleated in the +_Iliad_; no more is the Settlement of the _Trojans_ by the Building of +the Heroe's City in the _Æneis_: But _Hector_ is killed in the one; as +_Turnus_ is in the other; and the Consequences of Both are very visible. +I acknowledge indeed, that those of the former are not so near in view +as those of the latter. But tho' _Virgil_ in his _Æneis_, and _Homer_ +himself in his _Odyssée_, inform us that the Death of _Hector_ was not +the immediate Cause of the Destruction of _Troy_; the War continuing +with great Obstinacy for a considerable time after that Heroe's Death; +as the Stratagem of the Wooden Horse was the immediate Cause of that +City's Destruction; And tho' _Homer_ confines the direct Action of his +_Iliad_ only to a Part of the _Trojan_ War: Yet he takes in the Whole +from the Amour of _Paris_ and _Helen_ to the Burning of the Town, by way +of Narration, and by way of Prophecy; which Artifice, next to Fiction, +is the most proper Character of Epick Poetry, as distinguished from +History. For the Invention of This, we are (at least so far as we know) +solely obliged to _Homer_: And for This alone, if he had done nothing +else, he would have merited that immortal Glory, which for This, and for +a thousand other Excellencies, he now most justly possesses. + +The Shortness of the Time, and the Simplicity of the Action, are +Circumstances which, in the Opinion of some, give the _Iliad_ a great +Advantage over the _Æneis_. The first mentioned would be no such +Advantage; if what _Ruæus_ says were true; that the _Iliad_ takes up a +Year: For Monsieur _Segrais_ has made it plain to a Demonstration, that +the _Æneis_ takes up no more. But I wonder _Ruæus_ should affirm That of +the _Iliad_; when it is manifest that the whole Action includes no more +than forty seven Days. As to the Simplicity, or Singleness of which; if +That be the Action which I apprehend, (for, out of Deference to the +commonly received Opinion, I do not insist upon it) the Action is more +complex, than it is generally supposed. But admitting that in the +_Iliad_ the Action is more simple, as well as the Time shorter, than in +the _Æneis_: Doubtless a single Action is better than a complicated one, +_as such_; or in other Words, it is better, if it can be made equally +entertaining. But there is the Difficulty: And for that Reason, it is a +Question not yet decided, whether, even in Pieces for the Theatre, +complicated Actions, all things considered, be not, generally speaking, +preferable to single ones. And there is yet more Reason to prefer the +former in an Epic Poem; which is of a far wider Extent, and partakes the +Nature of History in some Respects, as well as of the Drama in others. +"_Virgil_ (says Mr. _Pope_[11]) for want of so warm a Genius [as +_Homer_'s] aided himself by taking in a more extensive Subject, as well +as a greater Length of Time; and contracted the Design of both _Homer_'s +Poems into one, which is yet but a fourth Part as large as his." The +supposed Coolness of _Virgil_'s Genius shall be considered hereafter. At +present I acknowledge he took what he thought proper out of the _Iliad_ +and _Odyssée_, tho' he did not take his _Design_ from either; and his +first six Books resemble the _Odyssée_, as the last six do the _Iliad_: +And his one Poem, 'tis granted, is in Number of Books no more than a +Quarter of _Homer_'s two. But in This the Advantage seems to be on his +Side. For there is, if I do not greatly miscalculate, as much important +Matter, and as great a Variety of Incidents, in _Virgil_'s Twelve, as in +_Homer_'s Forty eight. And yet is _Virgil_'s Poem too much crouded, and +the Matter too thick? I think not. Are not _Homer_'s, on the contrary, +too lean? and is not the Matter too thinly spred? I think it is. When I +say a greater Number of Incidents; I do not mean more Men killed, more +Battles fought, more Speeches spoke, and the like: Those are not +Incidents; and I own _Homer_ has many more of them than _Virgil_. Mr. +_Pope_ admires the Variety of _Homer_'s Battles for this Reason, that +tho' they are so numerous they are not tedious. This is _extraordinary_ +indeed, if it be _true_: But whether a Thing be tedious or not, is +Matter of Experience, rather than of Judgment; and so every particular +Person must speak as he finds. Upon his Multitude of Speeches, the most +ingenious Gentleman above-mentioned, (who was certainly _born a Poet_, +if ever Man was) has this Remark: "It is hardly credible, in a Work of +such a Length, how small a Number of Lines are employed in Narration. In +_Virgil_ the Dramatic Part is less in proportion to the Narrative." It +is so; and even in proportion to the different Length of their Works, +_Homer_ has undoubtedly more Speeches than _Virgil_; too many, in my +humble Opinion. _Homer_ has not enough of the Narrative Part; but +_Virgil_ has enough of the Dramatic; if it must be so called. For, by +the way, (tho' I very well remember that _Aristotle_ applies this Word +to the Epopée, and have elsewhere taken notice of it, and have observed +from Monsieur _Dacier_, that he uses it in a different Sense from This +of which we are now speaking) I do not understand why Speech-making in +an Heroic Poem must be called _Dramatic_; and by virtue of that Name +pass for a Beauty. The Drama indeed consists wholly of Speeches; but +then they are spoken by the Persons themselves, who are actually +introduced and represented; not related and recited by the Author as +spoken by others, as they always are in an Epic Poem. _Those_ are both +agreeable, and necessary; _These_, if they take up far the greatest Part +of the Work, being inserted by the everlasting Repetition of those +introducing, and closing interlocutory Tags, Κaί μιν φωνήσας, Τόν δ' +αὖτε προσέειπε, Ὣς ἔφατ', Τὸν δ' ἀπαμειβόμενος, _&c._ are apt to tire +the Reader; nor does the Word _Dramatic_ at all lessen the Disgust which +they give him. I am aware too, that setting aside the Word _Dramatic_, +_Aristotle_ expresly declares for a Multitude of Speeches, and little +Narration in Epic Poetry: But then I beg Leave once for all to make a +Remark upon this Subject, which may be applied to some others; That +_Aristotle_'s Precepts are formed upon _Homer_'s Practice; no _other_ +Heroic Poet having _then_ appeared in the World. But since the Case is +now quite altered, to give _Homer_ the Preference to _Virgil_ upon Rules +entirely drawn from his own Practice, would be _begging the Question_ +even in the Judgment of _Aristotle_ as a Logician, whatever might be his +Opinion as a Critick. Not but that, after all, a far greater Part even +of _Virgil_'s Poem is employed in Speeches, than one would imagine +without a _very close Attention_: If I may judge of others by my self, +we are deceived by him in this Particular, (so exquisite is his Art) and +even after frequent Readings do not ordinarily take notice that there +are so many Speeches in his _Æneis_ as there really are: An infallible +Sign that they are excellent in themselves, and most skilfully +introduced and connected. I agree that in an Epic Poem they ought to be +_very numerous_; tho' I do not ground that Opinion upon the Reason which +_Aristotle_ assigns; _viz._ That otherwise a Poet would not be an +_Imitator_. For is there no _Imitation_ but in _Speeches_? What are +_Descriptions_? + +By more Incidents then I do not mean (as I said) more Men killed, more +Battles fought, more Speeches spoke; but more memorable and surprizing +Events. Take these Poems therefore purely as Romances; and consider them +only with regard to the History, and Facts contained in them, the Plots, +the Actions, Turns, and Events; That of _Virgil_ is more copious, full, +various, and surprizing, and every way more entertaining, than Those of +_Homer_. Then is there any Comparison between the Subjects of the Poems? +Between the Anger of _Achilles_, (if That be the Subject of the _Iliad_) +and the Return of _Ulysses_ in Those of the Greek Poet; and the Founding +of _Rome_, and the Glory of the _Romans_ in That of the Latin one? + +It is said by Mr. _Dryden_[12], and others, that _Homer_'s Moral is more +Noble than _Virgil_'s; but for what Reason I know not. The Quarrel of +_Achilles_ and _Agamemnon_ teaches us the ill Consequences of Discord in +a State; and the Story of the Dogs, the Sheep, and the Wolf, in _Æsop_'s +Fables, does the same.[13] This indeed is a very good Lesson; but it +seems too narrow, and particular, to be the _Grand Moral_ of an Heroic +Poem. It is proper, if you please, to be _inserted_ in such a Work; and +many more as important as This are interspersed up and down, and +mentioned among other Things, both in That of _Virgil_, and in Those of +_Homer_. But how much more noble, extensive, and truly Heroic a Moral is +This; That Piety to God, and Justice and Goodness to Men, together with +true Valour, both Active, and Passive, (not such as consists in +Strength, Intrepidity, and Fierceness only, which is the Courage of a +Tyger, not of a Man) will engage Heaven on our Sides, and make both +Prince, and People, victorious, flourishing, and happy? And This is the +Moral of the _Æneis_, properly so called. For tho' _Virgil_ had plainly +another End in view, which was to conciliate the Affections of the +_Roman_ People to the new Government of _Augustus Cæsar_; upon which +_Bossu_, and after him Mr. _Dryden_, have largely, and excellently +discoursed: Yet this is rather of a Political, than of a Moral Nature. +Mr. _Pope_ seeming to acknowledge that the Moral of the _Æneis_ is +preferable to That of the _Iliad_, only says that the same Arguments +upon which that Preference is grounded might set the _Odyssée_ above the +_Æneis_. But as he does not give Reasons for that Assertion, it will be +sufficient to say, that there seems to me to be at least as much +Morality in _Virgil_'s Poem, as in the _Odyssée_ it self; and that +particularly in the Characters of the Heroes, _Æneas_ as much excels +_Ulysses_ in Piety, as _Achilles_ does _Æneas_ in rapid Valour. And for +Virtue in general, the Point between the two Heroes last mentioned is +entirely yielded by every Body in favour of _Virgil_'s; the very Moral +of the _Iliad_ requiring that it's Heroe should be immoral. But sure it +is more artful and entertaining, as well as useful and instructive, to +have the Moral of the Poem so cast and contrived, that the principal +Person in it may be good and virtuous, as well as great and brave. It +will be said, _Homer_ could not avoid that Inconvenience; _Achilles_ +having a known Character before: It may be so; and I am glad of that +Excuse: But still _so it is_; and it would have been _better_, if it had +been _otherwise_. Or if you will have it as Mr. _Pope_ puts it, (less, I +think, to _Homer_'s Advantage) He did not design to do otherwise: "They +blame him (says he) for not doing what he never designed: As because +_Achilles_ is not as good, and perfect a Prince as _Æneas_, when the +very Moral of his Poem required a contrary Character." I wish then his +Design had been _different_: Because if it had, it would have been +_better_. If a Man does ill; is it an Answer to say, He designed to do +so? The Account which _Horace_ gives of _Achilles_ is a very true one: + + _Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer; + Jura negat sibi nata, nihil non arrogat armis._ + +Heroic Virtues, no doubt! An admirable Character of a Demi-god! + +But who will contend that the _Grecian_ Poet is comparable to the +_Roman_, in his exquisite Understanding of humane Nature, and +particularly in his Art of moving the Passions? Which is one of the most +distinguishing Characters of a Poet, and in which he peculiarly triumphs +and glories. I mention only the fourth _Æneid_, (tho' an hundred other +Instances might be mentioned) and desire That Book alone may be matched +in this respect by all _Homer_'s Works put together. And yet I am not +unmindful of several excellent pathetical Passages in both those +immortal Poems. + +What has been hitherto discoursed, includes both Judgment and Invention. +That _Homer_ excels _Virgil_ in the latter of These, is generally taken +for granted. That he invented _before_ him, and invented _more_, is an +undoubted Truth: But it does not from thence follow that he invented +_better_, or that he had a _better Invention_. For to say that _Virgil_ +betrays a Barrenness of Genius, or Scantiness of Imagination, (even in +comparison with _Homer_) is a most groundless, and unjust Reflection +upon him. It is his exact Judgment which makes both his Fancy, and his +Fire seem less to Some, than they really are. And then we must consider +that it was the Fashion among the _Romans_ to adopt all Learning of the +_Greeks_ into their own Language: It was so in Oratory, and Philosophy, +as well as in Poetry. And therefore it is no Consequence that _Virgil_ +was of a narrower Invention than _Homer_ himself, because in many things +he copied from him: And yet That Inference is continually made, and +those things unreasonably confounded. And after all; _Virgil_ did not +copy so much from _Homer_, as some would make us believe; from whose +Discourse, if we had no other Evidence, one would imagine the Latin to +be little more than a Translation, and an Abridgment of the Greek. The +admirable Choice of his Subject, and Heroe, for the Honour of his +Country; his most artfully interweaving the _Roman_ History, especially +at those three remarkable Divisions in the First, the Sixth, and the +Eighth Books; his Action, and the Main of his Fable; the exquisite +Mechanism of his Poem, and the Disposition of it's Parts, are entirely +his own; as are most of his Episodes: And I suppose it will be allowed +that his Diction and Versification were not taken from _Homer_. To pass +over many other things which might be mentioned, and some of which I +shall mention in my Notes; Why must _Dido_ and _Æneas_ be copied from +_Calypso_ and _Ulysses_? The Reason is plain: _Dido_ and _Calypso_ were +Women, (if the latter, being a Goddess, may be called so;) and _Ulysses_ +and _Æneas_ were Men; and between those Men and Women there was a +Love-Adventure, and a Heroe detained by it. That is all the Resemblance +between the Persons immediately concerned. _Jupiter_'s Message by +_Mercury_ indeed is plainly taken from _Homer_ by _Virgil_: But _Virgil_ +might very well think of that Imitation, after he had laid the Plan of +_Dido_'s Episode; which is quite of another Nature from _Calypso_'s, and +introduced with a quite different Design. For the same Reason, I +suppose, the Conversation between _Venus_ and _Jupiter_ in the First +_Æneid_ must be taken from _Homer_; because _Thetis_ has a Conference +with that God (in favour of her Son too) in the First _Iliad_. _Virgil_ +mentions Sea and Land, Heaven and Earth, Horses and Chariots, Gods and +Men; nay he makes use of Hexameter Verse, and the Letters of the +Alphabet; and _Homer_, tho' in a different Language, had I confess, done +all This before him. But where _Virgil_ really does (as he often does) +imitate _Homer_; how does he at the same time _exceed_ him! What +Comparison is there between the Funeral Games for _Patroclus_, and those +for _Anchises_? Between the Descent of _Ulysses_ into Hell, and that of +_Æneas_? Between the merely ornamental Sculptures upon _Homer_'s +_Vulcanian_ Shield, and the _Roman_ History, and the Triumphs of +_Augustus_ upon _Virgil_'s? In my Notes I shall be more particular: At +present, I cannot forbear saying, that to be _such_ an Improver is at +least almost as much Glory, as to be the original Inventer.[14] + +As the Case is stated between these two great Poets by the most moderate +Criticks; _Homer_ excelled in Fire, and Invention; and _Virgil_ in +Judgment. _Invention_ has been already enough considered: _Judgment_, +and _Fire_ are farther to be discoursed of. That _Virgil_ excelled in +Judgment, we all allow. But _how far_ did he excel? Did he not _very +much_? Almost beyond Comparison? I shall here say very little of +_Homer_'s Errours, and _Virgil_'s Excellencies in that Respect. The +latter I shall speak of in my Notes; And the former I have no mind to: +Both, because it has been so frequently, and largely done already; and +also, because it is an uneasy Task; and I had much rather remark upon +Beauties, than upon Faults; especially in one of the greatest Men that +ever lived; and for whom I have an exceeding Love, and Veneration. I +think he is unjustly censured by my Lord _Roscommon_, and Others, for +his _Railing Heroes, and Wounded Gods_. The one was agreeable to the +Manners of those Ages, which he best knew: And as to the other, Those +who are thus wounded are subordinate Deities, and supposed to have +Bodies, or certain Vehicles equivalent to them. Indeed, as _Jupiter_ is +invested with Omnipotence, and other Attributes of the supreme God; I +know not how to account for his being bound and imprisoned by his +Subjects, and requiring the Assistance of a Giant to release him: And +tho' the _Wound_ of _Mars_ may be no Impropriety; yet his _Behaviour_ +upon it is very strange: He roars, and runs away, and tells his Father; +and the God of War is the veriest Coward in the Field. Nor can I forbear +thinking, notwithstanding all the Refinements of Criticks, and +Commentators, that the Figure which _Vulcan_ makes in the Synod of the +Gods is a little improper, and unheroical. But, as I said, I care not to +insist upon these Things; nor do I deny that _Virgil_ has Faults, and +that too in his first Six Books, which are most correct, and least +liable to Exception. I shall in my Remarks take Notice of some Passages, +which I think to be such. No _Mortal_ was ever yet the Author of a Work +absolutely perfect: There are but _Two_ such in the World; if we may +properly say so: For the _World_ it self is one of them. + +_Virgil_ then greatly excelled _Homer_ in Judgment: So much, that had he +been greatly excelled by him in Fire, the Advantage, upon the Comparison +in these two Respects, would have been on his Side. But I shall not +consider, on the other hand, how far _Homer_ exceeded _Virgil_ in Fire; +because I utterly deny that he exceeded him in it at all. + +This, I am sensible, will seem a bold Assertion. Many who, upon the +Whole, prefer _Virgil_, give him up here: Many, I say; for Some do not. +And never was any Author more injured, than he has been, by some +Criticks, especially _Modern ones_, in the Article of Genius, and +Poetical Fire. What do these Gentlemen call Fire? Or how much Fire would +they have? It is impossible to instance in Particulars here; I shall do +That in my Notes: I can now only refer to some general Heads, among a +Multitude more, which I cannot so much as mention. In the First Book, +_Juno_'s Speech, _Æolus_, the Storm, the Beginning of _Dido_'s Passion: +Almost the whole Second Book throughout: _Polyphemus_, and _Ætna_ in the +Third: The Sports, and the Burning of the Ships, in the Fifth: The +Sibyl's Prophetick Enthusiasm, and the Descent into Hell in the Sixth: +_Juno_'s Speech again, the Fury _Alecto_, the Occasion of the War, and +the Assembling of the Forces in the Seventh: The Story of _Cacus_ in the +Eighth, the _Cyclops_, and the Shield: In the Ninth, the Beginning of +warlike Action; at + + _Hic subitam nigro glomerari pulvere nubem + Prospiciunt Teucri, & tenebras insurgere campis,_ &c. + +_Nisus_ and _Euryalus_; and the amazing Exploits of _Turnus_ in the +Enemy's City: In the Tenth, the Arrival of _Æneas_ with his Fleet and +Forces, at + + _Ardet apex capiti, cristisque à vertice flamma + Funditur, & vastos umbo vomit aureus ignes,_ &c. + +It is needless, and would be almost endless, to recite the Rapidity of +the War in the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Books; _Mezentius_; +_Camilla_; the Speeches of _Turnus_, to _Drances_, to _Latinus_, to his +Sister _Juturna_; and lastly, the single Combat between _Æneas_ and Him: + + _At Pater Æneas, audito nomine Turni, + Deserit & muros, & summas deserit arces; + Præcipitatque moras omnes, opera omnia rumpit, + Lætitia exultans, horrendumque intonat armis: + Quantus Athos,_ &c. + +Which reminds me, by the way, that the same Persons, who blame _Virgil_ +for want of Fire, blame his Heroe for want of Courage; and with just as +much Reason. I agree, that each of these Poets in his Temper and Spirit +extremely resembles his Heroe: And accordingly, _Homer_ is no more +superior to _Virgil_ in _true Fire_, than _Achilles_ is to _Æneas_ in +_true Courage_. But what necessarily supposes the Poetical Fire, and +cannot subsist without it, has not been yet mentioned upon this Head; +tho' it was taken Notice of upon another: I mean, _Moving the Passions_, +especially those of Terrour and Pity. The Fourth Book throughout I have +above referred to: The Death of _Priam_; The Meeting of _Æneas_ and +_Andromache_; _Nisus_ and _Euryalus_ again: _Evander_'s Concern for his +Son before his Death, and his Lamentation after it; The Distress of +_Juturna_, and the Fury in the Shape of an Owl flapping upon the Shield +of _Turnus_, are some Instances selected out of many. The Truth is, (so +far as it appears from their several Works) the _Greek_ Poet knew little +of the Passions, in comparison of the _Roman_. + +It must be observed, that tho' most of the Instances, which I have now +produced out of _Virgil_, are taken from warlike Adventures; yet it is a +great Errour to think (as some do) that all Fire consists in Quarrelling +and Fighting: as do nine Parts in ten of _Homer_'s, in his _Iliad_. The +Fire we are speaking of, is _Spirit_ and _Vivacity_; _Energy_ of +_Thought_, and _Expression_; which way soever it _affects us_; whether +it fires us by _Anger_, or _otherwise_; nay, tho' it _does not fire us +at all_, but even produces a _quite contrary Effect_. However it may +sound like a Paradox; it is the Property of this Poetical Flame to chill +us with Horrour, and make us weep with Pity, as well as to kindle us +with Indignation, Love, or Glory: It is it's Property to cool, as well +as to burn; and Frost and Snow are it's Fuel, as much as Sulphur. + + _----Jamque volans, apicem, & latera ardua cernit + Atlantis duri, cœlum qui vertice fulcit; + Atlantis, cinctum assidue cui nubibus atris + Piniferum caput, & vento pulsatur, & imbri: + Nix humeros infusa tegit, tum flumina mento + Præcipitant senis, & glacie riget horrida barba._ + +In these Lines we have the Images of a hoary old Man, a vast rocky +Mountain, black Clouds, Wind and Rain, Ice and Snow; One shrinks, and +shivers, while one reads them: And yet the World affords few better +Instances of Poetical Fire; which is as much shewn in describing a +Winter-piece, as in describing a Battle, or a Conflagration. However, as +it appears from the Examples before cited, _Virgil_ was not deficient +even in That sort of Fire which is commonly called so, the fierce, the +rapid, the fighting: And where he either shews not That, or none at all, +'tis not because he _can't_, but because he _w'on't_; because 'tis not +proper. To explain my self, I refer the Reader to my Remark upon V. 712 +of the First Book. Excepting some uncorrect Verses, _Virgil_ never +flags: Or when he appears to do so, it is on purpose; according to that +most true Opinion of my Lord _Roscommon_: + + _For I mistake; or far the greatest Part + Of what some call Neglect, was study'd Art. + When_ Virgil _seems to trifle in a Line; + 'Tis like a Warning-piece, which gives the Sign, + To wake your Fancy, and prepare your Sight + To reach the noble Height of some unusual Flight._ + +His very Negligences are accurate, and even his Blemishes are Beauties. +Besides; a considerable Number of Verses together may have little, or no +Fire in them; and yet be very graceful, and deserve great Praise. +_Virgil_ (which I think is not so observable in _Homer_) can be elegant, +and admirable, without being in a Hurry, or in a Passion. He is +sometimes higher indeed, and sometimes lower: but he always flies; and +that too (as Mr. _Segrais_ judiciously observes) always at a Distance +from the Ground: He rises, and sinks, as he pleases; but never flutters, +or grovels. Can the same be as truly said of _Homer_? His Fire in the +main is divine; but as I think he has too much of it in some Places, has +he not too little in others? Mr. _Dryden_ says, [15]_Milton runs into a +flat Thought, sometimes for a hundred Lines together_. Which, I think, +is not true: He sometimes flags in many Lines together; and perhaps the +same may be as truly said of his Greek Master. In _Homer_ methinks I see +a Rider of a noble, generous, and fiery Steed; who always puts him upon +the Stretch, and therefore sometimes tires him: _Virgil_ mounted upon +the same, or such another, gives him either the Reins, or the Curb, at +proper times; and so his Pace, if not always rapid, as it should not be, +is always stately, and majestick; and his Fire appears by being +suppressed, as well as by being indulged. For the Judgment of this +incomparable Poet, in alternately suppressing, and indulging his Divine +Fury, puts me in mind of his own _Apollo_ overruling and inspiring his +own _Sibyl_; which whole Passage, by the way (for I shall cite but Part +of it) is it self one of the noblest Instances of Poetical Fire this Day +extant in the whole World. My Application a little perverts it: But That +is a small Circumstance in Allusions. + + _At Phœbi nondum patiens immanis in antro + Bacchatur vates, magnum si pectore possit + Excussisse Deum_; tanto magis ille fatigat + Os rabidum, fera corda domans, fingitque premendo. + +But afterwards; + + _Talibus ex adyto dictis Cumæa Sibylla + Horrendas canit ambages, antroque remugit, + Obscuris vera involvens_; ea fræna furenti + Concutit, & stimulos sub pectore vertit Apollo. + +What was my Lord _Roscommon'_s Precept, was _Virgil_'s Practice, + + _To write with Fury, but correct with Phlegm:_ + +Things very consistent in their own Nature. And therefore I must insist +that _Virgil_ was no way deficient in Poetical Fire; and that _Homer_ +excelled him not in that Particular. By which last I always mean, that +either _Homer_ had not _more_ of it, or if he had _more in the Whole_, +he had _too much_ in _some_ Instances, and _too little_ in _others_. If +His were _more_ than _Virgil_'s, (tho' even That I question) it was not +_better_; no nor _so good_: considering how their Fire was disposed, or +(if I may so speak) situated in their several Constitutions; and what +use they severally made of it in their Writings. And therefore upon this +Article I must take the Liberty to say, Mr. _Pope_ is not just to +_Virgil_, as well as to some other Poets, in the Preface to his +admirable Translation of _Homer_. "This Fire (says he) is discerned in +_Virgil_; but discerned as through a Glass, reflected, and rather +shining than warm, but every-where equal and constant: In _Lucan_, and +_Statius_, it bursts out in sudden, short, and interrupted Flashes: In +_Milton_, it glows like a Furnace, kept up to an uncommon Fierceness by +the Force of Art: In _Shakespear_, it strikes before we are aware, like +an accidental Fire from Heaven: But in _Homer_, and in Him only, it +burns every where clearly, and every where irresistibly." Supposing his +Account of _Lucan_ and _Statius_ to be true: I no more know how to +distinguish it from his Account of _Shakespear_, than I agree with him +in the Character he gives of that great Man. For Fires from Heaven do +not _often_ strike; and when they do, are of no long Continuance: And so +_Shakespear_'s, like That of the other Two before mentioned, is supposed +to _burst out in short, sudden, and interrupted Flashes_: For Instance, +like Lightning; which is the only Fire from Heaven that we ordinarily +see, or hear of, and even That not very frequently. For if any other +Celestial flashes are here meant, they indeed may be more Divine; but +they are much more rare, and short, than Those of _Statius_ and _Lucan_. +Whereas _Shakespear_, in my Judgment, has more of the Poetical Fire, +than either of those Poets. _Milton_ indeed had more of it than He: and +therefore I am no less suprized at the Character here given of his Fire, +that _it glows like a Furnace, kept up to an uncommon Fierceness by the +Force of Art_: Because, tho' his Art, Learning, and Use of Books, +especially of _Homer_, be very great; yet he is most distinguished by +natural Genius, Spirit, Invention, and Fire; in all which perhaps he is +not very much inferiour to _Homer_ himself. Whose Fire again does not, I +conceive, _burn every where clearly, and irresistibly_: Or if it did, it +would be no Commendation. For the small Praise here given to _Virgil_, +is, in my Opinion, no true Praise at all: His Fire is not every where +equal: and it would be a Fault in him, if it were; as I have above +observed. But waving That; Surely such an Account of _Virgil_'s Fire was +never given by any Critick before. _It is discerned_: As faint, and +lessening an Expression, as could have been thought of. And how is it +even _discerned_? Only _through a Glass_: And lest we should imagine +That Glass to be a _Burning-Glass_; it is _reflected_, and _rather +shining, than warm_. Now I desire to be informed, what truer Idea any +one can have of the coldest, and most spiritless Writer in the World; +supposing him only to be a good Judge, and a Man of tolerable Parts. If +I am my self a little warm upon this Subject, I hope it may be pardoned +upon such an Occasion; when so great a Genius as _Virgil_'s is unjustly +censured by so great a Genius as Mr. _Pope_'s. However it be; _Homer_, +according to this Account, remains the Sun of Poetry: For I know of no +other Luminary (to which he may be compared) whose Fire _burns every +where clearly, and every where irresistibly_. Whereas, if we must pursue +these Similes of Light, and Fire, (tho', like other Similes, they do not +answer in every Particular) I should rather say, as I hinted in the +Beginning of this Preface, that the Fire of Poetry arose in _Homer_, +like Light at the Creation; shining, and burning, it is true, but +enshrined in a Cloud: But was afterwards transplanted into _Virgil_, as +into the Sun; according to the Account which _Milton_ gives of Both:[16] + + _Let there be Light, said God; and forthwith Light + Ethereal, first of Things, Quintessence pure, + Sprang from the Deep; and from her native East + To journy thro' the airy Gloom began, + Sphear'd in a radiant Cloud: For yet the Sun + Was not; She in a cloudy Tabernacle + Sojourn'd the while.----_ + +Afterwards: + + _Of Light by far the greater Part he took, + Transplanted from her cloudy Shrine, and plac'd + In the Sun's Orb, made porous to receive + And drink the liquid Light; firm to retain + Her gather'd Beams, great Palace now of Light._ + +If it be said, that according to this Account, _Homer_ has the +Advantage; because _all_ the Light is supposed to have been first in +him, and only a _Part_ of it (tho' the greatest) transferred to +_Virgil_: it must be remembered that we are only making a _Comparison_: +For if it were an exact _Parallel_, we must conceive (which we are far +from doing) that the _very individual_ Fire of the _Greek_ Poet was +transferred into the _Roman_; and that the one ceases to exist +separately from the other. But besides; admitting _Homer_ to have the +Advantage _so far_ as this Objection supposes; yet still _Virgil_ has it +_upon the Whole_, even with respect to Fire, of which we are now +discoursing. Tho' the Light in the cloudy Shrine were _more_ than That +in the Sun; yet in the Sun it is placed in a _higher_, and more +_regular_ Sphere; more _aptly disposed_ for _warming_ and +_illuminating_, and more _commodiously situated_ for the Delight and +Benefit of Mankind. "The _Roman_ Author (we are told) seldom rises into +very astonishing Sentiments, where he is not fired by the _Iliad_.[17]" +Tho' I absolutely deny the Matter of Fact yet supposing it were true, +still _fired he is_: The Poetical Spirit is in him, however he came by +it; and that too _better_, if not _more_, than in him from whom he is +imagined to have received it. How far the Reader will be of my Opinion +upon this Head I know not: But to me the Truth of what I have urged +resembles the _Things_ of which I have been speaking: It _shines_ like +the _Light_, and _burns_ like the _Fire_. + +As to _Similes_, _Homer_ is supposed to have the full Propriety of +_Them_; and even the greatest Part of _Virgil_'s must be His. That a +great Number of _Virgil_'s are taken from him, I deny not; but most of +them are exceedingly improved by being transplanted: Tho' I believe if +he had taken fewer from _Homer_, and given us more of his own, his Poem +would have been so much the better. Not that he really has copy'd from +_Homer_ in this Instance, near so much as some Criticks pretend; and he +has more Similes entirely his own; than the aforesaid Criticks will +allow him. In my Remarks I shall mention some Particulars. + +Generally speaking, _Homer's Descriptions_ are admirable. But even in +this View, I think Those are unjust to _Virgil_, who do not allow that +he excels his Master. Consider the several Instances already cited, upon +the Article of Poetical Fire; for most of them may be equally applied to +This. What Images! what Paintings! what Representations of Nature! what +Nature it self, do we find and feel in them! Besides a Multitude of +others, which cannot now be so much as mentioned: I must here again +refer to my Notes for Particulars. + +For _Style_, _Diction_, and _Verification_, _Homer_, I acknowledge, is +allowed the Triumph, even by the Generality of _Virgil_'s Party: +particularly by _Rapin_; as he is likewise by him in the Instances of +_Fire_, and _Description_, above-mentioned. However, that I may not be +thought singular in my Opinion, a Character which I by no means desire; +it may be considered that I agree with _Scaliger_ in his express +Assertions, and with my Lord _Roscommon_ in his Hints and Insinuations, +not to mention other Authorities; when I frankly declare my Sentiments, +that the _Roman_ Poet is superiour to the _Grecian_ even in this +Respect. The _Greek_ Language, it is true, is superiour to the _Latin_, +in This, as well as in every thing else; being the most expressive, the +most harmonious, the most various, rich, and fruitful, and indeed, upon +all Accounts, the best Language in the World. But if notwithstanding +this great Advantage, _Virgil_'s Diction and Versification be preferable +to _Homer_'s; his Glory for That very Reason will be so much the +greater. _Homer's Epithets_, for the most part, are in _Themselves_ +exceedingly beautiful; but are not many of them _superfluous_? Whether +many, nay all, of those Particles which are commonly (and indeed, I +think, falsly enough) called Expletives, be significant or no, I do not +now dispute: But admitting them to be so; are not too many little Words, +whether _Expletives_, nay whether _Particles_, or not, often crouded +together? Ἤ εἰ δή ποτέ τοι κατὰ, _&c._ and Ἦ ῥὰ νύ μοί ποτὲ καὶ σὺ, +_&c._ are not, I own, very agreeable Sounds to my Ears; and many more of +the same Kind are to be met with. Moreover, does not _Homer_ make an ill +use of one great Privilege of his Language, (among many others) I mean +That of dissolving Diphthongs, by so very frequently inserting a Word of +five, or six Syllables, to drag his Sense to the End of a Verse, which +concludes with the long Word aforesaid? Those Words, even at the End of +a Verse, are sometimes indeed very agreeable: But are they not often +otherwise? Especially at the Close of a Paragraph, or Speech; when for +the most part too they are Epithets: and yet more especially, when those +Epithets are of little Significancy? I shall give but one Instance, +tho' it were very easy to produce many; and That shall be the last Line +of the _Iliad_: Upon which, compared with the last of the _Æneis_, I +cannot but think that + + _Vitaque cum gemitu fugit indignata sub umbras_, + +is a nobler Conclusion of an Heroic Poem, than + + Ὣς οἲ γ' ἀμφίεπον τάφον Ἕκτορος ἱπποδάμοιο. + +A thousand things of the same, or of the like Nature, might be +mentioned: And I am aware that such Observations will by some Criticks +be called _modern Criticisms_. But be That as it will; I am for Truth +and Reason, whether it be called Ancient, or Modern. + +To display the Excellence of _Virgil_'s Style, Diction, and +Versification, cannot be the Business of this Preface: Here again I must +refer to my Notes. I only observe, that nothing can be more sublime, and +majestick, than some Parts; nothing more sweet, and soft, than others; +nothing more harmonious, flowing, numerous, and sounding than both his +Soft, and his Sublime. As to which latter, when he describes the Fury, +Noise, and Confusion of War, I recollect That of my Lord _Roscommon_; + + _Th'_ Æneian _Muse, when she appears in State, + Makes all_ Jove's _Thunder on her Verses wait._ + +And That of _Virgil_ himself: + + _----Quo non præstantior alter + Ære ciere viros, Martemque accendere cantu._ + +For those Lines may as well be applied to the Trumpet of _Virgil_, as of +_Misenus_. Not but that in this way of Writing, I mean the Martial, and +the Furious, _Homer_, setting aside his Redundancy, is at least equal to +_Virgil_; perhaps superiour. But then he is not comparable to him in the +other Part, the smooth, the soft, and the sweetly flowing. This in +_Virgil_ always puts me in mind of some Verses of his own, which I have +elsewhere cited: Verses, which, in the Sixth Eclogue, the Speakers +apply to each other; and which, above all Writers, are most applicable +to Him, who gives Speech to them both. + + _Tale tuum carmen nobis, divine Poeta, + Quale sopor fessis in gramine, quale per æstum + Dulcis aquæ saliente sitim restinguere rivo. + Nam neque me tantum venientis sibilus Austri, + Nec percussa juvant fluctu tam littora, nec quæ + Saxosas inter decurrunt flumina valles._ + +But the exquisite Art of _Virgil_'s Versification is seen in his varying +the Pauses, and Periods, and Cadence of his Numbers; in being rough or +smooth, soft or vehement, long or short, _&c._ according to the Nature +of the Ideas he would convey to the Mind: in which, I think, he exceeds +all Writers, whether Ancient or Modern; and is in particular the best +Versifier, as well as, upon the whole, the best Poet in the World. + +Upon the Subject of _Speeches_, Mr. _Pope_ tells us, "That in _Virgil_ +they often consist of general Reflections, or Thoughts, which might be +equally just in any Person's Mouth upon the same Occasion. As many of +his Persons have no apparent Characters; so many of his Speeches escape +being applied, and judged by the Rule of Propriety. We oftner think of +the Author himself, when we read _Virgil_, than when we are engaged in +_Homer_. All which are the Effects of _a colder Invention_, that +interests us less in the Action described: _Homer_ makes us Hearers, and +_Virgil_ leaves us Readers." I have the Misfortune to be of a quite +different Sentiment. If _Virgil_ outshines _Homer_ in any thing, it is +especially in his _Speeches_. Which are all, so far as it is necessary, +adapted to the Manners of the Speakers, and diversified by their several +Characters. Nor do I know of any one Beauty by which _Virgil_ is more +peculiarly distinguished, than That of his Speeches: Considering the +Sweetness and Softness of some, the Cunning and Artifice of others; the +Majesty and Gravity of a third sort; the Fire and Fury of a fourth: In +which two last Kinds especially we have the united Eloquence of Oratory, +and Poetry; and read _Tully_ involved in _Virgil_. That the Characters +of the Heroes are more particularly marked and distinguished in the +_Greek_, than in the _Latin_, I readily acknowledge. In That the +_Iliad_ excels the _Æneis_; and, I think, in nothing else. And the +Controversy between these two great Poets Should, in my Opinion, be thus +determined: "That _Virgil_ is very much obliged to _Homer_; and +_Homer_'s Poems, upon the whole, very much exceeded by _Virgil_'s." + +But I am sensible, that by arguing for _Virgil_ I have all this while +been arguing against my self. For the more excellent the Author, the +more presumptuous the Translator. I have however thus much to plead in +my Excuse, That this Work was very far _advanced_, before it was +_undertaken_; having been for many Years the Diversion of my leisure +Hours at the University, and growing upon me by insensible Degrees; so +that a great _Part_ of the _Æneis_ was _actually translated_, before I +had _any Design_ of _attempting the Whole_. But with regard to the +_Publick Office in Poetry_, with which the University of _Oxford_ was +afterwards pleased to honour me, (an Honour which I Now enjoy, and which +I shall Forever gratefully acknowledge) I thought it might not be +improper for me to review, and finish this Work; which otherwise had +certainly been as much neglected by Me, as perhaps it will now be by +Every body else. + +It is to That renowned Seat of Learning and Virtue, (the Pride and Glory +of our Island!) + + _----cujus amor mihi crescit in horas,_ + +and my Love and Veneration for which I Shall never be able to express: +It is to That famous University, I say, that I owe a very considerable +Part of my Encouragement in this Undertaking; tho' at the same time I +have great and signal Obligations to many _Others_, who were not only +Subscribers to it themselves, but Promoters of it by their Interest in +their Friends. With the most grateful Sense of the Favour, and Honour +done me, I return my _general_ Thanks to _All_ Those of the Nobility, +and Gentry, and all Others, who appear as my Subscribers: But These my +_especial Benefactors_ are desired to accept of my more _particular_ +Acknowledgments. Even These (many of whom are Persons of Quality) are so +numerous, that to mention them would be to transcribe a great Part of my +List into my Preface: And Since I cannot properly name them _All_, I +think it the best Manners to name _None_. I wish for Their sakes, as +well as my Own, that, when they have read this Translation, they may +not repent of the _generous Encouragement_ they have given it. + +One Thing of which, I hope, I may say; and That is, that _it is a +Translation_. And if it be; I believe I may add, that it is almost the +only one in Verse, and of a considerable Length. And this I am very far +from speaking, upon the Account of any great Opinion which I have +conceived of my own Performance. For besides that a Translation may be +very _close_, and yet very _bad_. Others could have done the same thing +much better, if they would: But they thought it either impracticable, or +improper. They have been so averse from the Folly of rendering Word for +Word, that they have ran into the other Extreme; and their Translations +are commonly so very licentious, that they can scarce be called so much +as Paraphrases. Whereas, were it practicable to translate _verbatim_ in +the strictest Sense; and yet preserve the Elegance, and Sublimity, and +Spirit of the Author, as much as if one allowed one's self a greater +Latitude: That Method ought to be chosen before the other. And in +proportion, the nearer one approaches to the Original, the better it is; +provided the Version be in other Respects no way prejudiced, but rather +improved by it: A Thing, in my Apprehension, by no Means inconceivable. +A Translator should _draw the Picture_ of his Author: And in Painting, +we know, _Likeness_ is the _first_ Beauty; so that if it has not _That_, +all the rest are insignificant. Draw _Virgil_ as _like_ as you can; To +think of _improving_ him is _arrogant_; and to flatter him, is +_impossible_. I have not added, or omitted very many Words: Many indeed +are varied; the Sense of the Substantive in the Latin, being often +transferred to the Adjective in the English; and so on the Reverse: with +a great Number of such like Instances, which it is needless to mention. +Yet many Lines are translated Word for Word: But, upon the Whole, to +give a tolerable, and yet a perfectly litteral Version, I take to be in +the Nature of Things absolutely impossible. + +I am sensible too, as I said before, that it may be a true Translation, +a close Translation; and yet, after all, a very bad Translation. Whether +This be so, or not, is with all imaginable Deference submitted to the +Judgment of the World. To render the bare Sense, and Words of a Poet, is +only to paint his Features, and Lineaments; but to render his _Poetry_, +that is, the _peculiar Turn_ of his Thoughts, and Diction, is to paint +his _Air_ and _Manner_. And as the Air of a Face arises from a Man's +_Soul_, as well as from his Body; it is just the same here: Or rather, +This peculiar Turn of the Poet's Sentiments and Expressions _is it self_ +the Soul of his Poetry: If we are asked what That is; the Answer must +be, if we may properly compare a _Mode_ to a _Substance_, that the Soul +of Poetry, like the Soul of Man, is perceivable only by its Effects; +like That, immaterial, and invisible; and like That too, immortal. + +But then all this being taken care of, certainly the nearer to the +Original, the better: Nay indeed it is impossible to hit the Air right; +unless you hit the Features, from which the Air, so far as it relates to +the Body, rises, and results. Should my Translation be approved of for +the Spirit of Poetry; I should not be sorry, nay I should be glad, if at +the same time it served for a Construing-Book to a School-Boy. But still +whenever it happens (as it very often does, and must) that a close +Version, and a graceful Expression are inconsistent; the latter is +always to be preferred. A _less litteral Translation_ is very frequently +beautiful; but nothing can justify _an ill Verse_. In This Case, one +departs from the Original by adhering to it; and such an Author as +_Virgil_ might justly say of his bad Translator, what _Martial_ says of +his bad Neighbour; + + _Nemo tam prope, tam proculque nobis._ + +For the Version would retain more not only of the _Beauty_, but of the +_real Sense_ of the Original; and so _upon the whole_, be more _like_ +it: If it were a less faithful Interpretation of Words and Expressions. + +Here therefore we can no longer pursue the Comparison between Painting +and Translating: When true Beauty is to be imitated, the Features cannot +be too exactly traced in the One, to make a handsom Likeness; but Words +may be too exactly rendered in the Other. Upon this Head I cannot avoid +transcribing a Passage from the ingenious, and (in all Instances, but +one) judicious Dr. _Felton_'s Dissertation upon _Reading the Classicks +addressed to the Lord Marquis of_ Granby. "When therefore ([18]says He) +you meet with any Expressions which will not be rendered without this +Disadvantage, the Thing to be regarded is the Beauty and Elegance of the +Original; and your Lordship, without minding any thing but the Sense of +the Author, is to consider how that Passage would be best expressed in +_English_, if you were not tied up to the Words of the Original: And you +may depend upon it, that if you can find a Way of expressing the same +Sense as beautifully in _English_; you have hit the true Translation, +tho' you cannot construe the Words backwards, and forwards into one +another: For then you certainly have translated, as the Author, were he +an _Englishman_, would have wrote." And since I have cited thus much +from That Treatise; I will borrow a little more from it upon the Nature, +and Difficulty of Translations in general: Because it entirely expresses +my Sentiments, in far better Words than I am able to make use of. +"[19]'Tis no exceeding Labour for every great Genius to exert, and +manage, and master his own Spirit: But 'tis almost an insuperable Task +to compass, to equal, to command the Spirit of another Man. Yet this is +what every Translator taketh upon himself to do; and must do, if he +deserves the Name. He must put himself into the Place of his Authors, +not only be Master of their Manner as to their Style, their Periods, +Turn, and Cadence of their Writings; but he must bring himself to their +Habit, and Way of Thinking, and have, if possible, the same Train of +Notions in his Head, which gave Birth to Those they have selected, and +placed in their Works." For the Rest, I refer my Reader to the +Dissertation it self; of which I would say that it is a most curious and +delicate Piece of Wit, and Criticism, and polite Learning; did I not +fear that (for a Reason which I will not mention) it would look like +Vanity in Me to do common Justice to it's Author. At the same time I +must acknowledge that the Doctor represents a Translation of _Virgil_ +after Mr. _Dryden_'s as a desperate Undertaking: Which would be no small +Mortification to me; were not mine of a different Nature from His: Of +which more in it's proper Place. + +Endeavouring to resemble _Virgil_ as much as possible, I have imitated +him in his _Breaks_. For tho' I am satisfied he never intended to leave +those Verses unfinished, and therefore he is in that Particular absurdly +mimicked by some Moderns in their Original Writings; yet _unfinished +they are_: And this Imitation is not (with Mr. _Dryden_'s Leave) "like +the Affectation of _Alexander_'s Courtiers, who held their Necks awry, +because He could not help it." For besides that a _wry Neck_ is one +thing, and a _Scar_ is another; _Apelles_ in a _Picture_ ought to have +imitated his Master's Imperfection, if he intended to draw an exact +Likeness, tho' his _Courtiers_ were ridiculous Flatterers for doing the +Same in their _Gestures_. + +A Work of This Nature is to be regarded in Two different Views; both as +a _Poem_, and as a _Translated Poem_. In the one, all Persons of good +Sense, and a true Taste of Poetry, are Judges of it; tho' they are +skilled in no Language, but their Own. In the other, Those only are so; +who besides the Qualification just mentioned, are familiarly acquainted +with the Original. And it may well admit of a Question, to which of +these Species of Readers a good Translation is the more agreeable +Entertainment. The Unlearned are affected like Those, who see the +Picture of One whose Character they admire; but whose Person they never +saw: The Learned, like Those who see the Picture of one whom they love, +and admire; and with whom they are intimately acquainted. The Reason of +the first Pleasure is clear; but That of the last requires a little more +Consideration. It may all, be resolved into the Love of Imitation, +Comparison, and Variety; which arises from the Imperfection of human +Happiness; for a Reason which I have elsewhere[20] assigned. Delightful +therefore it is to compare the Version with the Original: Through the +whole Course of which Comparison, we discover many retired Beauties in +the Author himself, which we never before observed. Delightful it must +be to have the same Ideas started in our Minds, different ways; and the +more agreeable those Ideas are in themselves, the more agreeable is this +Variety. Therefore, the better we understand a Poet, the more we love +and admire him; the more Pleasure we conceive in reading him well +translated: As we most delight to see the Pictures of Those whom we best +love; and to see the Persons themselves in Variety of Dresses. Upon +which Account, I will be bold to affirm; that he who says he values no +Translation of this, or that Poem, because he understands the Original, +has indeed no true Relish, that is, in effect, no _true Understanding_ +of _Either_. + +It is indeed no less certain on the Reverse, that a Man is as much +provoked to see an ill Picture of his Friend, or Mistress, as he is +pleased to see a good one; and it is just the same in Translations. But +it is evident that the _bare Understanding_ of a Poet (as that Word is +commonly used) is not the _only_ Argument of one's _truly_ understanding +him: that is, understanding him as a _Poet_. Because what I have just +now said, concerning the Agreeableness of a good Translation, holds as +true, when it is from our own Language to another, as when it is from +another to our own. It may be presumed that _Milton_'s _Paradise Lost_, +being in _English_, is well _understood_ (vulgarly speaking) by +_Englishmen_. But notwithstanding That, were it possible (as I think it +is not) to have all That amazing Poem as well translated into _Latin_, +or _Greek_, as some Parts of it certainly may be; with what Pleasure +should we read it! And he who would not read such a Translation with +Pleasure, will, I believe, be allowed by all who have a right Taste of +Poetry not _truly_ to understand the Original. Besides what I have said +concerning the Delight arising from Imitation, Comparison, and Variety, +which respects the Relation between the Version, and the Original; the +Translator's Work, even to Those who understand the Original, is in a +great measure a _New Poem_: The Thought, and Contrivance are his +Author's; but his Language, and the Turn of his Versification, and +Expressions, are his own. What I have offered upon this Subject relates +to Translations in general: Of my own in particular I have nothing to +say, but what I have said before; which is to submit it to the Judgment +of Others. + +In Pursuance of my Design of endeavouring to be as like _Virgil_ as +possible; I have chosen Blank Verse, rather than Rhime. For besides that +the Fetters of Rhime often cramp the Expression, and spoil the Verse, +and so you can both translate more closely, and also more fully express +the Spirit of your Author, without it, than with it; I say besides This, +supposing other Circumstances were equal, Blank Verse is _in it self +better_. It is not only more Majestick, and Sublime, but more Musical, +and Harmonious: It has more _Rhime_ in it, according to the ancient, and +true Sense of the Word, than Rhime it self, as it is now used. For in +it's original Signification, it consists not in the Tinkling of Vowels, +and Consonants; but in the metrical Disposition of Words, and Syllables, +and the proper Cadence of Numbers; which is more agreeable to the Ear, +without the Jingling of like Endings, than with it. The Reader may say, +To whose Ear is it so? To Yours perhaps; but not to Mine. And I grant +all This to be matter of Fact, rather than of Reason; and to be +determined by Votes, rather than Arguments. And accordingly a great +Majority of the best Genius's, and Judges in Poetry now living, with +many of whom I have frequently conversed upon this Subject, have +determined in favour of this way of Writing. And among Those who are +dead, the same was the Opinion not only of my Lord _Roscommon_ (to omit +others,) but of [21]Mr. _Dryden_ Himself; who was the best Rhimer, as +well as the best Poet, of the Age in which he lived. And indeed let but +a Man consult his own Ears. + + _----Him the Almighty Pow'r + Hurl'd headlong, flaming from th' ethereal Sky, + With hideous Ruin, and Combustion, down + To bottomless Perdition; there to dwell + In Adamantine Chains, and penal Fire; + Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to Arms. + Nine times the Space that measures Day, and Night + To mortal Men, he with his horrid Crew + Lay vanquish'd, rowling in the fiery Gulph, + Confounded, tho' immmortal----_ + +Who that hears This, can think it wants Rhime to recommend it? Or rather +does not think it sounds far better without it? I purposely produced a +Citation, beginning and ending in the Middle of a Verse; because the +Privilege of resting on this, or that Foot, sometimes one, and sometimes +another, and so diversifying the Pauses, and Cadences, is the greatest +Beauty of Blank Verse, and perfectly agreeable to the Practice of our +Masters, the _Greeks_, and _Romans_. This can be done but rarely in +Rhime: For if it were frequent, the Rhime would be, in a manner, lost by +it: The End of almost every Verse must be something of a Pause; and it +is but seldom that a Sentence begins in the Middle. The same may be said +of placing the Verb after the Accusative Case; and the Adjective after +the Substantive; both which, especially the last, are more frequent in +Blank Verse, than in Rhime. This Turn of Expression likewise is +agreeable to the Practice of the Ancients; and even in our own Language +adds much to the Grandeur, and Majesty of the Poem, if it be wrought +with Care, and Judgment. As does also the judicious interspersing (for +_judicious_, and _sparing_ it must be) of _antique_ Words, and of such +as, being derived from _Latin_, retain the Air of That Language: Both +which have a better Effect in Blank Verse, than in Rhime; by Reason of a +certain Majestick Stiffness, which becomes the one, more than the other. +_Milton_ indeed has, I think, rather too much of This: And perhaps the +most ingenious Mr. _Philips_ has too much imitated him in it; as he has +certainly well nigh equalled him in his most singular Beauties. I speak +of this Stiffness only in some particular Passages, for which it is +proper: For Blank Verse, when it pleases, can be as smooth, as soft, and +as flowing, as Rhime. Now these Advantages alone (were there no other) +which Blank Verse has above Rhime, would more than compensate for the +Loss of that Pleasure which comes from the Chiming of Syllables; the +former, by reason of those Advantages, being, all things considered, +even more musical, and harmonious, as well as more noble, and sublime, +than the latter. + +Upon Varying the Pauses it is to be observed, that Two Verses together +should rarely pause at the same Foot; for a Reason too plain to be +mentioned. I said _rarely_; because there is no Law so strict in Things +of This Nature, but that it is sometimes a Vertue to break it. And tho' +it be one great Privilege in this sort of Verse, to make a full Period +at the Beginning, or in the Middle of a Line; yet you may do it too +often. _Milton_, I think, does so; who sometimes gives you thirty, or +forty Verses together, not one of which concludes with a full Period. +But to return to our Comparison. + +Tho' all This be rather Matter of Sense, than of Reason; yet I appealed +to the best Genius's, and Judges in Poetry; because it is a great +Mistake to think that all Ears are equally Judges. It may as well, nay +better, be affirmed that all Persons have equally Ears for Musick. This +Sentiment is not _purely_ Organical, and depends not _solely_ upon the +Mechanism of Sense. The Judgment has _a Share_ in it: Or if it has not; +there is (which amounts to much the same) so close an Union between the +Soul and Body of Man, as also between the Spirit and the Diction, which +may be called the Soul and Body of Poetry; that the Poetical Turn of any +Person's Mind affects the very Organs of Sense. Readers of vulgar and +mean Tastes may relish Rhime best; and so may Some even of the best +Taste; because they have been habituated to it. But the more they +accustom themselves to Blank Verse; the better they will like it: + + _----Si propius stes, + Te capiet magis----_ + +After all, I cannot agree with Those, who _entirely condemn_ the Use of +Rhime even in an Heroic Poem; nor can I absolutely reject That in +Speculation, which Mr. _Dryden_, and Mr. _Pope_ have ennobled by their +Practice. I acknowledge too that, in some particular Views, tho' not +upon the Whole, This Way of Writing has the Advantage over the other. +You may pick out more Lines, which, singly considered, look mean, and +low, from a Poem in Blank Verse, than from one in Rhime: supposing them +to be in other respects equal. Take the Lines singly by themselves, or +in Couplets; and more in Blank Verse shall be less strong, and smooth, +than in Rhime: But then take a considerable Number together; and Blank +Verse shall have the Advantage in both Regards. Little, and ignoble +Words, as _Thus_, _Now_, _Then_, _Him_, &c. on the one Hand; and long +ones, as _Elements_, _Omnipotent_, _Majesty_, &c. on the other, would in +a Poem consisting of Rhime sound weak, and languishing, at the End of a +Verse: because the Rhime draws out the Sound of those Words, and makes +them observed, and taken notice of by the Ear: Whereas in Blank Verse +they are covered, and concealed by running immediately into the next +Line. And yet a considerable Number of Lines are not, in the Main, +Prosaick, or Flat; but more Noble, than if they were all in Rhime. For +Instance, the following Verses out of _Milton_'s _Paradise Lost_, Book +II. + + _Of Heav'n were falling, and these Elements----_ + + _Instinct with Fire, and Nitre hurry'd him----_ + +taken singly, look low, and mean; but pray read them in Conjunction with +others; and then see what a different Face will be set upon them. + + _----Or less than if this Frame + Of Heav'n were falling, and these Elements + In Mutinie had from her Axle torn + The stedfast Earth. At last his sail-broad Vans + He spreads for flight; and in the surging Smoke,_ &c. + + _----Had not by ill chance + The strong Rebuff of some tumultuous Cloud + Instinct with Fire, and Nitre, hurry'd him + As many miles aloft. That fury stay'd; + Quench'd in a boggy Syrtis, neither Sea, + Nor good dry Land: Nigh founder'd on he fares, + Treading the crude Consistence----_ + +Thus again in the VIth Book. + + _Had to her Center shook. What wonder? when----_ + + _Had not th' Eternal King Omnipotent----_ + + _And limited their Might; tho' number'd such----_ + +These Verses disjointed from their Fellows make but an indifferent +Figure: But read the following Passage and I believe you will +acknowledge there is not one bad Verse in it: + + _So under fiery Cope together rush'd + Both Battles maine, with ruinous Assault, + And inextinguishable Rage: All Heav'n + Resounded; and had Earth been then, all Earth + Had to her Center shook. What wonder? when + Millions of fierce encountring Angels fought + On either side; the least of whom could wield + These Elements, and arm him with the force + Of all their Regions. How much more of pow'r, + Army 'gainst Army, numberless, to raise + Dreadful Combustion, warring, and disturb, + Tho' not destroy, their happy native Seat: + Had not th' Eternal King Omnipotent + From his strong Hold of Heav'n high over-rul'd + And limited their Might; tho' number'd such + As each divided Legion might have seem'd + A num'rous Host in strength, each armed hand + A Legion----_ + +In Short, a Poem consisting of Rhime is like a Building in which the +Stones are all (or far the greatest part of them) _hewn with equal +Exactness_; but are all of a Shape, and not so well jointed: _Every one_ +of them, _by it self_, is better squared, than _some_ in another +Building, in which they are of different Figures. But tho' in this +latter there shall be a few, which, taken separately, do not look so +well: yet some _running into others_, and all being _better adjusted_ +together; it shall not only _upon the Whole_, but with regard to any +_considerable Part_, by it self, be a stronger, and a more beautiful +Fabrick, than the former. + +But we are told that Blank Verse is not enough distinguished from Prose. +The Answer must be, It is according as it is. That of our _English_ +Tragedies, I confess, is not; tho' very proper for the Purpose to which +it is apply'd. This indeed is what the _French_ rightly call _Prose +mesurée_, rather than Verse. But much worse is to be said of _any_ Poem, +which is only written in the Shape of Metre, but has no more of Verse in +it, than of Rhime; no Harmony, or Prosody, no true Metrical Cadence; +half the Lines concluding with double Syllables, as _Torment_, +_Greatness_, and the Participles ending in _ing_. This deserves not so +much as the Name of _Prose on Horseback_; 'Tis Prose upon Crutches; and +of all Prose the vilest. But if Blank Verse be laboured, as it ought to +be; it is sufficiently distinguished from Prose. We have no Feet, nor +Quantities, like the Ancients; and nothing in our poor Language will +ever supply That Defect: Rhime is at least as far from doing it, as the +more Advantageous Variety of Cadences in Blank Verse: Which requires so +much the more Care, and Art, to work it up into Numbers, and Support it +from groveling into Prose. + +Which naturally leads us to observe further, that many Imperfections, +both in Thought, and Expression, will be overlooked in Rhime, which will +not be endured in Blank Verse: So that the same may be said of This, +which _Horace_ applies to Comedy; + + _Creditur----habere + Sudoris minimum; sed habet----tanto + Plus oneris, quanto veniæ minus----_ + +I do not say, Rhime is, all things considered, more easy than the other: +That Point cannot be well determined; because it relates to the +particular Genius's of particular Persons. For my own part, if I never +made one good Verse, I have made many good Rhimes: But supposing Both to +be equally easy, I should chuse Blank Verse, for the Reasons already +alledged. + +After all which, if some Gentlemen are resolved that _Blank Verse shall_ +be _Prose_; they have my free Leave to _enjoy their Saying_: provided I +may have Theirs to think they mean nothing by it; unless they can prove +that Rhime is essential to Metre; consequently that the _Goths_, and +_Monks_ were the first Inventers of Verse; and that _Homer_, and +_Virgil_, as well as _Milton_, wrote nothing but Prose. + +_Milton_ indeed has _too many_ of those looser and weaker Verses; as he +has some Lines which are no Verses at all. These for Instance, + + _Burnt after them to the bottomless Pit:_ + + _In the Visions of God; It was a Hill:_ + +are Lines consisting of ten Syllables; but they are no more _English_ +Verses, than they are _Greek_ ones. Many _irregular_ and _redundant_ +Verses, and more of an ill Sound and Cadence, are to be met with in his +Poem; sometimes a considerable Number of them together. Whether This was +_Negligence_ in him, or _Choice_, I know not. Certain it is from the +main Tenour of his Verification, than which nothing can be more +heroically sonorous, that it was not Want of Ear, Genius, or Judgment. +What is the true Cadence of an _English_ Verse, is sufficiently known to +the Ears of every one who has a Taste of Poetry. Sometimes it is not +only allowable, but beautiful, to run into harsh, and unequal Numbers. +Mr. _Dryden_ himself does it; and we may be sure he knew when he did it, +as well as we could tell him. In a Work intended for Pleasure, _Variety_ +justifies the Breach of almost any Rule, provided it be done but +_rarely_. Among the Ancient Poets, what are many of those _Figures_ (as +we call them) both in Prosody, and Syntax, but so many Ways of making +_false Quantity_, and _false Grammar_, for the sake of _Variety_? False, +I mean, ordinarily speaking; for Variety, and That only, makes it +elegant. _Milton_ however has too much irregular Metre: But if his +overruling Genius, and Merit might in Him _authorize_ it, or at least +_excuse_ it; yet _nobis non licet esse tam audacibus_: especially when +I am translating _Virgil_, the most exact, and accurate Versificator in +the World: A Character, however, which he would not deserve (for the +Reason just mentioned) were he not in _some_ Verses irregular, and +unaccurate. I am sure I have truly imitated him in _That_; I wish I may +have done so in _any thing else_. + +Two Things remain to be taken notice of, equally relating to Rhime, and +Blank Verse. It is a known Fault in our Language, that it is too much +crouded with _Monosyllables_: Yet some Verses consisting wholly of them +sound well enough: However, the fewer we have of them, the better it is. +I believe there are as few of them in this Translation as in any +_English_ Poem of an equal Length; which is all I shall say upon This +Article. + +The Other is the _Elision of Vowels_: Upon which, in my Opinion, the +Criticks have ran into Extremes on both Sides. Mr. _Dryden_ declares for +it as a general Rule which he has observed without Exception, in his +Translation of the _Æneis_;[22] and is utterly against _a Vowel gaping +after another for want of a Cesura_, as he expresses himself. Another +great Master and Refiner of our Language[23] is for very little, or no +Abbreviation; if I do not mistake his Meaning. It is true, in the +Letter, to which I refer, he instances only in cutting off the Vowel E +at the End of our Participles ending in _ed_; but I presume his Argument +is equally designed against the Elision of a Vowel before a Vowel in two +different Words: And, if I do not forget, he has declared himself of +That Opinion, when I have had the Honour and Pleasure of his most +agreeable and instructive Conversation. But with humble Submission to +both these great Men, the Elision seems sometimes proper, and sometimes +not, in the Particle _The_; for upon That, and the Particle _To_, the +Question chiefly turns; _He_, and _She_ being but very rarely +abbreviated by any tolerable Writer: And therefore Mr. _Dryden_ +expresses himself too much at large, when he speaks of Vowels in +general. And when this Elision is proper, and when not, the Ear is a +sufficient Judge. The _French_, we know, continually use it in their +_Le_, and that in Prose, and common Discourse, as well as in Verse: +_L'Amour_, _L'Eternel_, _L'Invincible_, &c. As also in their Pronouns, +_me_, _te_, and _se_. In our _English_ Poetry, I think it may be either, +_Th' Eternal_, _Th' Almighty_; or _The Eternal_, _The Almighty_; but +rather the former: It should be always, _The Army_, _The Enemy_; never +_Th' Army_, or _Th' Enemy_. And so in other Instances: Of which the Ear +(which by the way will never endure the Sound of _Th' Ear_) is always to +be Judge. But of these Things too much. + +The Kind of Verse therefore, which I have chosen, distinguishes this +Translation from Those of Others, who have gone before me in this bold +Undertaking: For I had never heard of Dr. _Brady_'s Design, 'till long +after This was in a great Forwardness. And His being not yet executed; +He is not to be reckoned among my Predecessors: of whom I presume it is +expected that I should now give some Account. When I say my Translation +is thus distinguished from Those of Others, I speak of our own +Countrymen; because _Hannibal Caro_'s _Italian Æneis_ is in Blank Verse, +such as it is: For [24]Mr. _Dryden_'s Character of it is a very true one; +and I need not add any thing to it. Few Persons were ever more +familiarly acquainted with the _Æneis_, had a truer Gust, and Relish of +it's Beauties, or enter'd more deeply into the Sentiments, into the very +Soul, and Spirit of it's Author, than Monsieur _Segrais_. His Preface is +altogether admirable; and his Translation perhaps almost as good as the +_French_ Language will allow; which is just as fit for an Epic Poem, as +an ambling Nag is for a War-Horse. It is indeed my Opinion of the +_French_; that none write better _of_ Poetry, and few (as to _Metre_) +worse _in_ it. Their Language is excellent for Prose; but quite +otherwise for Verse, especially Heroic. And therefore tho' the +Translating of Poems into Prose is a strange, modern Invention; yet the +_French_ Transposers are in the right; because their Language will not +bear Verse. The Translation of the _Æneis_ into _Scotish_ Metre by +_Gawin Douglas_ Bishop of _Donkeld_, is said to be a very extraordinary +Work by Those who understand it better than I do: There being added to +it a long List of great Men, who give him a wonderful Character, both as +an excellent Poet, and a most pious Prelate. What Mr. _Pope_ says of +_Ogilby's Homer_, may as well be apply'd to his _Virgil_, that his +Poetry is too mean for Criticism. Mr. _Dryden_ tells us, that no Man +understood _Virgil_ better than the Earl of _Lauderdale_; and I believe +few did. His Translation is pretty near to the Original; tho' not so +close, as it's Brevity would make one imagine; and it sufficiently +appears that he had a right Taste of Poetry in general, and of +_Virgil_'s in particular. He shews a true Spirit; and in many Places is +very beautiful. But we should certainly have seen _Virgil_ far better +translated by a Noble Hand; had the Earl of _Lauderdale_ been the Earl +of _Roscommon_; or had the _Scotish_ Peer followed all the Precepts, and +been animated with the Genius of the _Irish_. + +But the most difficult, and invidious Part of my prefacing Task is yet +to come. How could I have the Confidence to attempt a Translation of +_Virgil_, after Mr. _Dryden_? At least to publish it; after Mr. _Pope_ +has in effect given us his Opinion before-hand, that such a Work must be +unsuccessful to any Undertaker (much more to so mean a one, as I am) by +declaring that _He_ would never undertake it _Himself_? I do not say he +makes That Inference; but if his _Modesty_ would not suffer him to do +it, his _Merit_ must oblige others to do it for him. I so far agree with +That most ingenious Gentleman, that Mr. _Dryden_'s is, in many Parts, a +noble, and spirited Translation; and yet I cannot, upon the Whole, think +it a good one; at least, for Mr. _Dryden_. Not but that I think his +Performance is prodigious, and exceedingly for his Honour, considering +the little time he allowed himself for so mighty a Work; having +translated not the _Æneis_ only, but all _Virgil_'s Poems in the Compass +of three Years. Nobody can have a truer Respect for That great Man, than +I have; or be more ready to defend him against his unreasonable +Accusers; who (as Mr. _Pope_ justly observes) envy, and calumniate him. +But I hope I shall not be thought guilty of either (I am sure they are +the Things of the World which I abhor) if I presume to say that his +Writings have their dark, as well as their bright Side; and that what +was said of somebody else may be as well applied to Him: _Ubi bene, nemo +melius; Ubi male, nemo pejus_. + +This may be affirmed of his Works in general; but I am now obliged to +consider his Translation of the _Æneis_ in particular. As he was the +great Refiner of our _English_ Poetry, and the best Marshaller of Words +that our Nation had then, at least, produced; and all, who have followed +him, are extremely indebted to him, as such: his Versification here, as +every where else, is generally flowing, and harmonious; and a multitude +of Beauties of all kinds are scattered through the Whole. But then, +besides his often grosly mistaking his Author's Sense; as a Translator, +he is extremely licentious. Whatever he alledges to the contrary in his +Preface; he makes no Scruple of adding, or retrenching, as his Turn is +best served by either. In many Places, where he shines most as a Poet, +he is least a Translator; And where you most admire Mr. _Dryden_, you +see least of _Virgil_. Then whereas my Lord _Roscommon_ lays down this +just Rule to be observed by a Translator with regard to his Author, + + _Fall, as he falls; and as he rises, rise:_ + +Nothing being more absurd than for those two Counter-parts to be like a +Pair of Scales, one mounting as the other sinks; Mr. _Dryden_ frequently +acts contrary to this Precept, at least to the latter Part of it: Where +his _Author_ soars, and towers in the Air, _He_ often grovels, and +flutters upon the Ground. Instances of all these Kinds are numerous. If +I produce a few, it is not to detract from his Translation, in order to +recommend my own: I detest That base Principle of little, and envious +Spirits: And besides, I am sensible that it would be as foolish, as +ungenerous: For of Mine, the World _will_, and _ought to be_ judge, +whatever I say, or think; and it's Judgment in these Matters is never +erroneous. It is not therefore that I am acted by the Spirit of +_malevolent_ Criticism, or Criticism _commonly so called_; which is +nothing but the Art of finding Fault: But I do it, partly to _justify_ +my _Undertaking_ (tho' of a different Kind from His, which is what I +_chiefly_ insist upon) not to _recommend_ my _Performance_; partly for +the Instruction, and Improvement of my self, and others; for the sake of +Truth, and _true Criticism_; that is, right, and impartial Judgment, +joined with good Nature, and good Manners; prone to _excuse_, but not to +_falsify_; and _delighting_ to dwell upon _Beauties_, tho' _daring_ to +remark upon _Faults_. + +Were we to make a few scattered Strictures upon the First Book only; we +should observe that he leaves out a very material Word in the very +_first_ Line: And That too happens to be the Word _First_: As if That +stood for Nothing, in _Virgil_'s Verse; and as if _First_ would not have +stood as well as _Forc'd_ in his own. Especially, since there are two +Adjectives more of the same Signification [_Expell'd_, and _Exil'd_ in +the next Verse but one] agreeing with the same Substantive, all three to +express the single Epithet _Profugus_: Which, by the way, is Tautology, +and utterly unlike _Virgil_'s Manner; who never says any thing in vain, +and whose chief Beauty is Brevity. In the very next two Lines, +_Italiam_, _Lavinaque Littora_ are left out; tho' necessary to the +Design of the Poem: Not to mention his strange Transposing of _sævæ +memorem Junonis ob iram_. V. 28. _Long cited by the People of the Sky_, +is entirely added. As is, V. 41. _Electra's Glories, and her injur'd +Bed_; and the two following Lines. The Addition of three Verses together +is too much in all Reason. V. 66. _Then as an Eagle grasps the trembling +Game_, is wholly his own. And so is V. 107, 108. _The charming Daughters +of the Main Around my Person wait, and bear my Train._ V. 144, +145.----_Whose dismember'd Hands yet bear The Dart aloft, and clench the +pointed Spear_. As there is no Hint of This in _Virgil_; so I doubt it +is not Sense in it self. For how the Hand of a Body, which has been dead +seven Years, can hold a Spear aloft, I cannot imagine. V. 220. _And +quenches their innate Desire of Blood_. This is not only added; but too +gross, and horrid for _Virgil_'s Meaning in that Place. V. 233. After, +_Two Rows of Rocks_ (which, by the way, is no Translation of _geminique +minantur in coelum scopuli_) the next Words are totally omitted; +_Quorum sub vertice late Æquora tuta silent_. V. 459. _Then on your Name +shall wretched Mortals call_, is not included in _Multa tibi ante aras +nostra cadet hostia dextra_. He is speaking of _himself_, and his +_Friends_ in particular; not of _wretched Mortals_ in general; of +_Thanksgiving_, not of _Prayer_. V. 886.----_You shall find, If not a +costly Welcome, yet a kind_, is no more in _Virgil_, than it is like his +Stile. But as for the _Flatnesses_, and low _prosaick_ Expressions, +which are not a few, and which even the Rhime neither covers, nor +excuses; I will for several Reasons forbear to transcribe any of them. +These _Errata_ which I have mentioned in the First Book only, (and there +are in it many more such, which I have not mentioned) are either in +_adding to_, or _curtailing_, or _mistaking_ the Sense of the Original. + +But upon the Article of adding to his Author, and altering his Sense, +there is one Fault in Mr. _Dryden_ which is not to be pardoned. I mean +when he does it directly contrary not only to the _Sense_, but to the +_Temper_ and _Genius_ of his Author; and that too in those Instances +which injure him not only as a _good Poet_, but as a _good Man_. As +_Virgil_ is the most chaste, and modest of Poets, and has ever the +strictest Regard to Decency; after the Prayer of _Iarbas_ to _Jupiter_ +in the Fourth Book, he proceeds thus: + + _Talibus orantem dictis, arasque tenentem + Audiit omnipotens; oculosque ad mœnia torsit + Regia, &_ oblitos famæ melioris amantes. + +What could be more well-mannered, more delicate, and truly _Virgilian_, +than the Sweetness, and Softness of that remote, insinuating Expression, +_oblitos famæ melioris amantes_? For this Piece of a Verse Mr. _Dryden_ +gives us Three entire ones; which I will not transcribe. The two first +are totally his own; and to One who is not himself _insensible of +Shame_, those fulsom Expressions must be very nauseous. Part of the last +Verse indeed is _Virgil_'s; and it comes in strangely, after the odious +Stuff that goes before it. If _Virgil_ can be said to be remarkable for +any one good Quality more than for Modesty, it is for his awful +Reverence to Religion. And yet, as Mr. _Dryden_ represents him +describing _Apollo_'s Presence at one of his own Festivals, he speaks +Thus; Book iv. V. 210. + + _Himself, on Cynthus walking, sees below + The merry Madness of the sacred Show._ + +_Virgil_ says, He walks on the Top of _Cynthus_; That's all: The rest is +Mr. _Dryden_'s. And it is exactly of a Piece with a Passage in the Third +Georgick; in which, without any sort of Provocation, or the least Hint +from his Author, He calls the _Priest_ the _Holy Butcher_. If Mr. +_Dryden_ took Delight in abusing Priests, and Religion; _Virgil_ did +not. It is indeed wonderful that a Man of so fine, and elevated a +Genius, and at the same time of so good a Judgment, as Mr. _Dryden_ +certainly was, could so much as endure those clumsey Ideas, in which he +perpetually rejoices; and that to such a degree, as to thrust them into +_Translations_, contrary not only to the Design, and Meaning, but even +to the Spirit, and Temper, and most distinguishing Character of his +Author. Thus in his Translation of the last Lines of _Homer_'s First +Iliad he describes the Gods, and Goddesses as being drunk; and that in +no fewer than three Verses, and in some of the coarsest Expressions +that our Language will admit of: Whereas the Original gives not the +least Intimation of any such thing; but only says that they were +_sleepy_, and went _to bed_. And therefore here again I cannot be of Mr. +_Pope_'s Opinion, _that it is a great Loss to the Poetical World that +Mr._ Dryden _did not live to translate the Iliad_. If we may judge of +what the Whole would have been by the Specimen which he has left us; I +think it was a Gain to the Poetical World that Mr. _Dryden_'s Version +did not hinder us from Mr. _Pope_'s. Which may be said, without any +great Compliment to the latter. + +As to the Instances of Mr. _Dryden_'s sinking, where his Author most +remarkably rises, and being flat where his Author is most remarkably +elegant; they are many: But I am almost tired with Quotations; quite +tired with such invidious ones, as these are; it being (as I said) much +more agreeable to my Temper to remark upon Beauties, than upon Faults, +and Imperfections; especially in the Works of great Men, who (tho' they +may have written many things not capable of being defended, yet) have +written many more, which I can only admire, but do not pretend to equal. +And That is the present Case. I shall therefore mention but one Example +of this Kind; And it is the unutterable Elegancy of these Lines in the +Fourth Book, describing the Scrietch-Owl: + + _Solaque culminibus, ferali carmine bubo + Sæpe queri_, & longas in fletum ducere voces. + +How is This translated in the following Verses? Or rather is it +translated at all? + + _----With a boding Note + The solitary Scrietch-Owl strains her Throat; + And on a Chimney's Top, or Turret's height, + With Songs obscene disturbs the Silence of the Night._ + +To produce more Instances would be needless; because One general Remark +supersedes them all. It is acknowledged by every body that the First Six +Books in the Original are the best, and the most perfect; but the Last +Six are so in Mr. _Dryden_'s Translation. Not that even in These +_Virgil_ properly sinks, or flags in his Genius; but only he did not +live to correct them, as he did the former. However, they abound with +Beauties in the Original; and so indeed they do in the Translation, +more, as I said, than the First Six: Which is visible to any one that +reads the Whole with Application. + +I observed in the last place, that where Mr. _Dryden_ shines most, we +often see least of _Virgil_. To omit many other Instances, the +Description of the _Cyclops_ forging Thunder for _Jupiter_, and Armour +for _Æneas_, is elegant, and noble to the last degree in the _Latin_; +and it is so to a very great degree in the _English_. But then is the +_English_ a Translation of the _Latin_? + + _Hither the Father of the Fire by Night + Thro' the brown Air precipitates his Flight: + On their eternal Anvils here be found + The Brethren beating, and the Blows go round._ + +Our Language, I think, will admit of few things more truly Poetical, +than those four Lines. But the two first are set to render + + _Huc tunc Ignipotens cœlo descendit ab alto._ + +There is nothing of _coelo ab alto_ in the Version; nor of _by Night, +brown Air_, or _precipitates his Flight_ in the Original. The two last +are put in the room of + + _Ferrum exercebant vasto Cyclopes in antro, + Brontesque, Steropesque, & nudus membra Pyracmon._ + +_Vasto in antro_ in the first of these Lines, and the last Line entirely +are left out in the Translation. Nor is there any thing of _eternal +Anvils_ (I wish there were) or _here be found_, in the Original: And +_the Brethren beating, and the Blows go round_, is but a loose Version +of _Ferrum exercebant_. Much the same may be said of the whole Passage +throughout; which will appear to Those who compare the _Latin_ with the +_English_. In the whole Passage Mr. _Dryden_ has the true Spirit of +_Virgil_; but he would have had never the less of it, if he had more +closely adhered to his Words, and Expressions. + +Sometimes he is _near enough_ to the Original; And tho' he _might have +been nearer_, he is altogether admirable, not only as a _Poet_, but as a +_Translator_. Thus in the Second Book; + + _Pars ingentem formidine turpi + Scandunt rursus equum, & nota conduntur in alvo._ + + _And some, oppress'd with more ignoble Fear, + Remount the hollow Horse_, and pant in secret there. + +And in the Twelfth, after the last Speech of _Juturna_; + + _Tantum effata, caput glauco contexit amictu, + Multa gemens, & se fluvio Dea condidit alto._ + + _She drew a length of Sighs; no more she said, + But with her azure Mantle wrap'd her Head; + Then plung'd into her Stream with deep Despair_, + And her last Sobs came bubbling up in Air. + +Tho' the last Line is not expressed in the Original, yet it is in some +measure imply'd; and it is in it self so exceedingly beautiful, that the +whole Passage can never be too much admired. These are Excellencies +indeed; This is truly Mr. _Dryden_. _Si sic omnia dixisset_, tho' he had +approached no nearer to the Original than This; my other Criticisms upon +his Translation had been spared. And after all, I desire that Mine, +being in a different sort of Verse, may be considered as an Undertaking +of _another kind_, rather than as an Attempt to _excel His_. For tho' I +think even That may very well _be done_; yet I am too sensible of my own +Imperfection, to presume to say it can be done by _Me_. I have nothing +to plead, besides what I have already alledged, in Excuse of my many, +and great Faults, in the Execution of This bold Design; but that I was +drawn into it, not by any Opinion of my Abilities to perform it, but by +the inexpressible Passion which I have always had for this incomparable +Poet. With a View to whom, I will here insert a noble Stroke out of my +Lord _Roscommon_'s excellent _Essay on Translated Verse_: Which, I +think, is proper to stand in This Place, both as a Conclusion of my +Preface, and as a Kind of Poetical Invocation to my Work: + + _Hail mighty_ MARO! _May That sacred Name + Kindle my Breast with Thy celestial Flame; + Sublime Ideas, and apt Words infuse: + The Muse instruct my Voice, and THOU inspire the Muse._ + + + + +FOOTNOTES TO THE PREFACE: + +[1] _Prælectiones Poeticæ._ + +[2] _Merchant of Venice._ + +[3] _De tous les Ouvrages dont l'Esprit de l'Homme est capable, le Poem +Epique est sans doute le plus accompli._ + +[4] _For so it should certainly be read; tho' both in the Folio and +Octavo Editions, 'tis_ Aristotle. + +[5] _Preface to his Fables._ + +[6] Elogia Virgilii Cap. IV Major _Homero_. + +[7] _The Word was originally applied to Dramatic Poetry, and from thence +transferred to Epic._ Aristotle _uses it in more Senses than one; which +seem not to be rightly distinguished by his Interpreters. However we are +for that Reason more at Liberty to apply it, as we think most proper._ + +[8] _For he mentions several Episodes, which he allows to be truly such; +which yet are only convenient, not necessary. And besides, he says, p. +100, and in other Places_, Une Episode est une partie necessaire de +l'Action: _And yet, p. 102_, Le premier plan de l'Action contient +_seulement ce qui est propre & necessaire_ à la Fable; _& n'a aucune +Episode. By which he_ seems at least _to allow that an Episode may not +be necessary._ + +[9] Τὸ μεν οὖν ἰδιον τοὖτο, τὰ δ' ἄλλα ἐπεισόδια. Poetic. Cap XVII. + +[10] _The one is ἴδιον, the other is οἰκεῖον. The former is of a more_ +close, restrained, _and_ peculiar _Signification, than the latter: The +former relating_ most properly _to a Man_'s Person; _the latter to his_ +Possessions. + +[11] _Preface to_ Homer. + +[12] _Dedication of the Æneis._ + +[13] _See_ Bossu, _Chap. IX._ + +[14] _Upon the Article of_ Virgil's _Invention, see M._ Segrais _at +large in his admirable Preface to his Translation of the_ Æneis; _and +from him Mr_. Dryden _in his Dedication of the_ Æneis, _p. 226_, &c. _of +the Folio Edition._ + +[15] _Preface_ to Juvenal. + +[16] Paradise lost, _Book VII._ + +[17] _Preface to Mr._ Pope's Homer. + +[18] P. 142. _Second Edition._ + +[19] _P. 158._ + +[20] _Præl. Poet._ Vol. I. Præl. 2. + +[21] _Verses before L._ Roscommon's _Essay. And Preface to his_ Virgil. + +[22] _Preface to it._ + +[23] _Dr._ Swift _in his Letter to the Earl of_ Oxford. + +[24] _Preface to his_ Virgil. + + + * * * * * + + +Transcriber's Notes + + +Spelling: English spelling in the 18th century had many differences from +present-day spelling, and most of the spelling has therefore been +retained without alteration. + +The following may also be correct, and have been retained: +"Excrescencies" (Preface p. xiii), "it self" (Preface p. xvii), "w'on't" +(Preface p. xxvii), "encountring" (Preface p. xliv, a quotation from +Milton PL Book 6), "forreign" (Preface p. xlviii), "litteral" (Preface +p. xv), "Scotish" (Preface p. xlviii), "grosly" (Preface p. xlix). + +The spelling "Aeneid" is standard in the Introduction, and the spelling +"Æneid" is standard in the Preface. + +The following more obvious typos have been amended: "parishoners" to +"parishioners" (Introduction p. iv) "mnch" to "much" (Preface p. xlv +line 14) "Transprosers" to "Transposers" (Preface p. xlviii line 23) + +Missing period has been inserted on the following pages in the Preface: +p. xv (after "rest are Episodes"), p. xlii (after "Vertue to break it"), +and p. l (after "Erroneous"). + +Footnotes 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15 in the Preface have been +particularly difficult to decipher. + +Missing period has been added at the end of footnotes 5, 11, 15 and 19. + +Incorrectly placed breathings and diacritics on diphthongs in the Greek +text have been correctly placed. + +Inconsistent positioning of footnote numbers has been retained. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Preface to the Aeneis of Virgil +(1718), by Joseph Trapp + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PREFACE *** + +***** This file should be named 36137-0.txt or 36137-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/1/3/36137/ + +Produced by Tor Martin Kristiansen, Margo Romberg, Joseph +Cooper 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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