The Preface to the Aeneis of Virgil (1718) Part 4

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 n.o.ble, 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 _aeneis_ only, but all _Virgil_'s Poems in the Compa.s.s of three Years. n.o.body 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 _aeneis_ 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 mult.i.tude 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 s.h.i.+nes 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; p.r.o.ne 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 _saevae 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 aequora 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 mnia torsit Regia, &_ oblitos famae melioris amantes.

What could be more well-mannered, more delicate, and truly _Virgilian_, than the Sweetness, and Softness of that remote, insinuating Expression, _oblitos famae 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 Pa.s.sage 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 distinguis.h.i.+ng Character of his Author. Thus in his Translation of the last Lines of _Homer_'s First Iliad he describes the G.o.ds, and G.o.ddesses as being drunk; and that in no fewer than three Verses, and in some of the coa.r.s.est 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 Saepe 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_ s.h.i.+nes most, we often see least of _Virgil_. To omit many other Instances, the Description of the _Cyclops_ forging Thunder for _Jupiter_, and Armour for _aeneas_, is elegant, and n.o.ble 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 clo 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 Pa.s.sage throughout; which will appear to Those who compare the _Latin_ with the _English_. In the whole Pa.s.sage 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 ign.o.ble 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 Pa.s.sage 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 Pa.s.sion which I have always had for this incomparable Poet. With a View to whom, I will here insert a n.o.ble 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] _Praelectiones Poeticae._

[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_ a la Fable; _& n'a aucune Episode. By which he_ seems at least _to allow that an Episode may not be necessary._

[9] ?? e? ??? ?d??? t??t?, t? d' ???a ?pe?s?d?a. Poetic. Cap XVII.

[10] _The one is ?d???, the other is ???e???. 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 aeneis._

[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_ aeneis; _and from him Mr_. Dryden _in his Dedication of the_ aeneis, _p. 226_, &c. _of the Folio Edition._

[15] _Preface_ to Juvenal.