The Preface to the Aeneis of Virgil (1718) Part 3

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 _aeneis_ 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 n.o.bility, 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 Lat.i.tude: 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 n.o.bis._

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 Pa.s.sage from the ingenious, and (in all Instances, but one) judicious Dr. _Felton_'s Dissertation upon _Reading the Cla.s.sicks 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 Lords.h.i.+p, without minding any thing but the Sense of the Author, is to consider how that Pa.s.sage 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 compa.s.s, 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] a.s.signed. 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 Circ.u.mstances 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 s.p.a.ce 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 Pa.s.sages, 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 n.o.ble, 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 enn.o.bled 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 ign.o.ble 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 languis.h.i.+ng, 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 n.o.ble, 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 Pa.s.sage 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 a.s.sault, 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 mesuree_, 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 Quant.i.ties, 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 veniae 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 G.o.d; 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 Quant.i.ty_, 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 _n.o.bis 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 _aeneis_;[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 p.r.o.nouns, _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 aeneis_ 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 _aeneis_, 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 _aeneis_ 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 n.o.ble 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_.