urge

of Destruction, if I may fo call it, in the Campaign; and another at the Conclufion of the firft A&t of Cato. Now tho' felecting particular Paffages from a Poet is not a certain Method, nor a fair one, of forming a proper Eftimate of his general Excellence, yet as you fo ftrongly these two, with an Air of Triumph, to be the Infpiration of Caftalian Streams, I must defire you to examine them with me critically Line by Line, and I dare fay you'll own, that both betray a great Poverty of Imagination by an infipid Repetition of one Thought in different Expreffions. To begin then with the celebrated Simile in the Campaign, which, for half a Century, has been undistinguishingly admired.

"So when an Angel by Divine Command "With rifing Tempefts shakes a guilty Land, "Such as of late o'er pale BRITANNIA past, "Calm and ferene he guides the furious Blast, "And pleas'd th' ALMIGHTY's Orders to perform, "Rides in the Whirlwind and directs the Storm.”

Now take the second Line of each Couplet, and examine whether the Thought is

varied. Is not shaking a guilty Land with a rifing Tempeft, and directing the Storm, and guiding the furious Blaft, the fame Action? Is not acting by Divine Command, in the first Verse, and performing the Almighty's Orders, in the fifth, the fame Thought likewife? MARCIA's Simile in CATO abounds ftill more with this tirefome Tautology.

So the pure limpid Stream when foul with Stains
Of rufhing Torrents, and defcending Rains,
Works itself clear, and as it runs refines."

CATO, A&I.

Rufhing Torrents, and defcending Rains, works itself clear, and as it runs refines. But now having had the difagreeable Office of denying, for the fake of Truth, this excellent Man a Right to a Pretenfion of being a good Poet, Justice will exact, and my own Inclination lead me to take notice, that his Translations of OVID are as faithful and fpirited, and at the fame time carry as much the free unfetter'd Air of Originals, as any other Translations in the English Language. As I have

particulariz'd

ticulariz'd his Defects as a Poet, give me leave to take the more pleasurable Part now to point out Inftances of his Capacity as a Tranflator, which I will felect from the Stories of NARCISSUS and ECHO, in the third Book; and of SALMACIS and HERMAPHRODITUS, in the fourth Book of the METAMORPHOSIS. The following Description receives the fame additional Beauty from the Tranflation, as the Youth's Image did from the furrounding Waters.

"Now all undrest upon the Banks he stood,
"And clapt his Sides, and leapt into the Flood:
"His lovely Limbs the Silver Waves divide,
"His Limbs appear more lovely thro' the Tide,
As Lillies fhut within a cryftal Cafe,
"Receive a gloffy Luftre from the Glass.” †

SALM. & HER M. Book iv.

The following Paffages likewife among many others receive the fame Advantage.

D 3

+ Ille, cavis velox applaufo corpore palmis,
Defilit in latices: alternaque brachia ducens
In liquidis tranflucet aquis: ut eburnea fi quis
Signa tegat claro, vel candida lilia vitro.

"The

METAM. Lib. iv.

"The Boy knew nought of Love, and touch'd with shame "He ftrove and blush'd, but ftill the Blush became ;

"In rifing Blushes ftill fresh Beauties rose;

"The funny Side of Fruit fuch Blushes fhews,
"And fuch the Moon, when all her Silver White
"Turns in Eclipfes to a ruddy Light.

"With eager Steps the Lycian Fields he croft,
"And Fields that border on the Lycian Coast;
"A River here he view'd fo lovely bright,
"It fhew'd the Bottom in a fairer light,

"Nor kept a Sand conceal'd from human Sight;
"The Stream produc'd nor flimy Ooze nor Weeds,
"Nor miry Rufhes, nor the fpiky Reeds,
"But dealt enriching Moisture all around,

"The fruitful Banks with chearful Verdure crown'd,
"And kept the Spring eternal on the Ground.*

"But oft would bathe her in the crystal tide: Oft with a Comb her dewy Locks divide;

Ibid.

Ibid.

}

"Now

-Pueri rubor ora notavit

Nefcia quid fit amor: fed et erubuiffe decebat.
Hic color aprica pendentibus arbore pomis,
Aut ebori tincto eft, aut fub candore rubenti,
Cum fruftra refonant æra auxiliaria Lunæ.

*Ille etiam Lycias urbes, Lyciæque propinquos
Caras adeft. Vidit hic ftagnum lucentis ad imum
Ufque folum lymphæ. Non illic Canna paluftris,
Nec fteriles ulvæ, nec acuta cufpide junci.
Perfpicuus liquor eft. Stagni tamen ultima vivo
Cefpite cinguntur, femperque virentibus herbis.

Ibid.

"Now in the 'impid Streams fhe viewed her Face, "And dreft her Image in the floating Glass ; "On Beds of Leaves fhe now repos'd her Limbs, "Now gather'd Flowers that grew about her Streams; "And then by Chance was gath'ring, as fhe ftood "To view the Boy, and long'd for what fhe view'd t.

Ibid.

Give me leave to transcribe two Paffages from the Story of NARCISSUS, and I will refer you to the Whole for a more entire Satisfaction.

"But why fhould I complain, I'm sure he burns
"With equal Flames, and languishes by turns.
"Whene'er I ftoop, he offers at a Kiss,

"And when my Arms I ftretch, he ftretches his.
"His Eyes with pleasure on my Face he keeps,
"He fmiles my Smiles, and when I weep he weeps.
"Whene'er I fpeak, his moving Lips appear
"To utter fomething which I cannot hear ‡.

Story of Narcif. Book iii.

+ Sed modo fonte fuo formofos perluit artus:
Sæpe Citoriaco deducit pectine crines;
Et quid fe deceat spectatas confulit undas.
Nunc perlucenti circumdata corpus amictu,
Mollibus aut foliis, aut mollibus incubat herbis.
Sæpe legit flores. Et tunc quoque forte legebat,
Cum puerum vidit: vifumque optavit habere,

Spem mihi nefcio quam vultu promittis amico: Cumque ego porrexi tibi brachia, porrigis ultro:

Ibid.