the first Georgic judicious (whence I conclude that 'tis eafier to turn Virgil juftly into blank verfe, than rhyme.) The eclogue of Gallus, and fable of Phaeton pretty well; but he is very faulty in his numbers; the fate of Phaeton might run thus:

то

O make use of that freedom and familiarity of ftyle, which we have taken up in our correfpondence, and which is more properly talking upon paper, than writing; I will tell you without any preface, that I never took Tycho Brahe for one of the ancients, or in the leaft an acquaintance of Lucan's: nay, 'tis a mercy on this occafion, that I do not give you an account of his life and converfation; as how he liv'd fome years like an inchanted knight in a certain ifland, with a tale of a King of Denmark's miftrefs that shall be nameless-But I have compaffion on you, and would not for the world you should stay any longer among the Genii and Semidei Manes, you know where; for if once you get fo near the moon, Sappho will want your prefence in the clouds and inferior regions; not to mention the great lofs Drurylane will fuftain, when Mr. C is in the milky way. These celeftial thoughts put me in mind of the priests you mention, who are a fort of Sortilegi in one fenfe, because in their lottery there are more blanks than prizes; the adventurers being at beft in an uncertainty, whereas the fetters up are fure of fomething. Priefts indeed in their character, as they reprefent God, are facred; and so are conftables as they reprefent the king; but you will own a great many of them are very odd fellows, and the devil

of

of any likeness in them. Yet I can affure you, I honour the good as much as I deteft the bad, and I think, that in condemning thefe, we praise those. The tranflations from Ovid I have not fo good an opinion of as you; beeaufe I think they have little of the main characteristic of this author, a graceful eafinefs. For let the fenfe be ever fo exactly render'd, unless an author looks like himfelf, in his air, habit and manner, 'tis a disguise, and not a tranflation. But as to the Pfalm, I think David is much more beholden to the tranflator than Ovid; and as he treated the Roman like a Jew, fo he has made the Jew fpeak like a Roman. Your, etc.

LETTER XXV.

From Mr. CROMWELL.

Dec. 5, 1710.

THE
HE fame judgment we made on Rowe's ixth of Lucan
will ferve for his part of the vith, where I find this
memorable line,

Parque novum Fortuna videt concurrere, bellum
Atque virum.

For this he employs fix verfes, among which is this,
As if on Knightly terms in lifts they ran.

Pray can you trace chivalry up higher than Pharamond? will you allow it an anachronifm?-Tickel in his verfion of the Phoenix from Claudian,

When nature ceafes, thou shalt ftill remain,
Nor fecond Chaos bound thy endless reign.

Claudian thus,

Et clades te nulla rapit, folufque fuperftes,
Edomita tellure, manes;

which plainly refers to the deluge of Deucalion and the conflagration of Phaeton; not to the final diffolution Your thought of the priests lottery is very fine: you

play

play the wit, and not the critic, upon the errors of your brother.

Your obfervations are all very juft: Virgil is eminent for adjusting his diction to his fentiments: and, among the moderns, I find you practise the profodia of your rules. Your poem fhews you to be, what you say of Voiture-with books well bred: the ftate of the fair, tho' fatirical, is touch'd with that delicacy, and gallantry, that not the court of Auguftus, not-But hold I fhall lofe what I lately recovered, your opinion of my fincerity: yet I must say, 'tis as faultlefs as the fair to whom 'tis addrefs'd, be fhe never fo perfect. The M. G. (who, it feems had no right notion of you, as you of him) tranfcrib'd it by lucubration: From fome difcourfe of yours, he thought your inclination led you to (what the men of fashion call learning) pedantry; but now, he fays, he has no lefs, I affure you, than a veneration for you. Your, etc.

IT

LETTER XXVI.

Dec. 17, 1710.

Tfeems that my late mention of Crafhaw, and my quotation from him, has mov'd your curiofity. I therefore fend you the whole Author, who has held a place among my other books of this nature for fome years; in which time having read him twice or thrice, I find him one of those whofe works may just deferve reading. I take this poet to have writ like a gentleman, that is, at leifure hours, and more to keep out of idleness, than to establish a reputation: fo that nothing regular or juft can be expected from him. All that regards defign, form, fable (which is the foul of poetry) all that concerns exactness, or confent of parts (which is the body) will probably be wanting; only pretty conceptions, fine metaphors, glittering expreffions, and fomething of a neat caft of verse (which are properly the drefs,

To a Lady, with the Works of Voiture.

gems,

gems, or loofe ornaments of poetry) may be found in thefe verfes. This is indeed the cafe of moft other poeical writers of mifcellanies; nor can it well be otherwife, fince no man can be a true poet who writes for diverfion only. These authors fhould be confider'd as verfifiers and witty men, rather than as poets; and under this head will only fall the thoughts, the expreffion, and the numbers. Thefe are only the pleafing part of poetry, which may be judged of at a view, and comprehended all at once. And (to exprefs myself like a painter) their colouring entertains the fight, but the lines and life of the picture are not to be inspected too narrowly.

This author form'd himself upon Petrarch, or rather upon Marino. His thoughts, one may observe, in the main are pretty; but oftentimes far-fetch'd, and too often ftrain'd and ftiffen'd to make them appear the greater: For men are never fo apt to think a thing great, as when it is odd or wonderful; and inconfiderate authors would rather be admir'd than underftood. This ambition of furprizing a reader, is the true natural caufe of all fuftian, or bombaft in poetry. To confirm what I have faid, you need but look into his firft poem of the Weeper, where the 2d, 4th, 6th, 14th, 21ft ftanzas are as fublimely düll, as the 7th, 8th, 9th, 16th, 17th, 20th and 23d ftanzas of the fame copy, are foft and pleafing and if these last want any thing, it is an eafier and more unaffected expreffion. The remaining thoughts in that poem might have been fpared, being either but repetitions, or very trivial and mean. And by this example in the firft, one may guess at all the reft; to be like this, a mixture of tender gentle thoughts and fuitable expreffions, of forced and inextricable conceits, and of needlefs fillers up to the reft. From all which it is plain, this author writ faft, and fet down what came uppermoft. A reader may fkim off the froth, and ufe the clear underneath; but if he goes too deep will meet with a mouthful of dregs; either the top or the bottom of him are good for little, but what he did in his own, natural, middle way, is beft.

T.

To fpeak of his numbers, is a little difficult, they are various and irregular, and moftly Pindaric: 'tis evident his heroic verse (the best example of which is his Mufic's Duel) is carelessly made up; but one may ima gine from what it now is, that, had he taken more care, it had been mufical and pleafing enough, not extremely majeftic, but fweet: and, the time confider'd of his writing, he was (even as uncorrect as he is) none of the worft verfificators.

I will just observe, that the best pieces of this author are, a Paraphrase on Pfal. xxiii. On Leffius, Epitaph on Mr. Ashton, Wishes to his fuppos'd mistress, and the Dies Ira.

I

LETTER XXVII.

Dec. 30, 1710.

Refume my old liberty of throwing out myself upon paper to you, and making what thoughts float uppermoft in my head, the fubject of a letter. They are at prefent upon laughter, which (for ought I know) may be the cause you might fometimes think me too remiss a friend, when I was moft entirely fo: for I am never fo inclin'd to mirth as when I am moft pleas'd and most easy, which is in the company of a friend like yourself.

As the fooling and toying with a miftrefs is a proof of fondness, not disrespect, fo is raillery with a friend. I know there are prudes in friendship, who expect diftance, awe, and adoration, but I know you are not of them; and I for my part, am no Idol worthipper, tho'a Papift. If I were to address Jupiter himself in a heathen way, I fancy I fhould be apt to take hold of his knee, in a familiar manner, if not his of beard like Dionyfius; I was just going to say, of his buttons; but I think Jupiter wore none (however I won't be pofitive to fo nice a critic as you, but his robe might be fubnected with a Fibula.) I know fome philofophers define laughter, A recommending ourselves to our own favour, by comparison with VOL. III. Cc c

the