Letters Concerning Poetical Translations | Page 7

lacus Clausos, lucosque sonantis.--
S. & L. liquescit Carmen instar aquarum, says Erythræus in his Note
on this Line.
How gently flow the Streams in this Verse!
"Unde pater Tiberinus, & unde Aniena fluenta.--
What a roaring do the Hypanis and Caicus make in the next!
"Sax[=o]sumque s[=o]nans Hypanis, Mysusque Caïcus.
But now observe how he raises his Song to honour his Favourite
Eridanus!
"Et gemina auratus taurino cornua vultu Eridanus; quo non alius _Per
Pinguia culta In mare purpureum v[=i]olent[=i]or [=i]nflu[=i]t
amn[=i]s._

The former Line strikes the Ear with Mysus and Caïcus; here you have
Auratus, Eridanus, and Alius. Then an Alliteration, _Per Pinguia_, and
at last the whole Passage rolls on in a Dactyl Line, and rushes into the
Sea with an Assultus of the Vowel i, repeated five times in three
Words.
"--Violentior influit amnis.
The following Line tours into the Skies with the highest Mountain in
Italy.
"--_Gaudetque nivali Vertice se attollens pater Appeninus, ad auras._--
This falls down as low as the deepest Valley.
"Saxa per, & scopulos, & depressas convalles.
In short there is nothing in Nature that Virgil's Verse does not convey
to the Ear, and the Eye; so that this Subject is inexhaustible, and must
be left to every one's particular Observation.
The learned Morhophius has a Passage relating to this Matter which
comes in too properly here to be omitted.
"Solent Carminibus suæ esse a Numeris Veneres, & certa quædam
Artificia, quæ mirifice ornant versum, quales apud Virgilium, mirum
numeri Poetici Observatorem, frequenter occurrunt, e.g. cum versus
terminantur Monosyllabis, ut: _procumbit humi bos: nascetur ridiculus
mus. Vel cum Spondæi multi adhibentur, ut; media agmina
circumspexit: Illi inter sese magnâ vi brachia tollunt_. Aut cum Dactyli
& Spondæi ita miscentur, ut REI NATURAM EXPRIMANT, ut cum
de turri ruente ait:
"--_Convellimus altis Sedibus; impulimusq;, ea lapsa repente_ ruinam
Cum sonitu trahit.--
"Talia infinita apud Virgilium habentur quæ homo in iis non exercitatus
contemnat, doctus vero & prudens admiretur. Polyhist.

There is also a Remark of the judicious Columna on a celebrated Line
in Virgil, which is very much to the present Purpose.
Unus Homo Nobis Cunctando Restituit Rem.]
Virgilius de eodem loquens Æneid l. 6. integrum hoc carmen sumpsit,
ita tamen, ut spondeorum tarditate Fabii moram referret,
--tu Maximus ille es, Unus, qui nobis cunctando restituis rem. Enn.
Frag.
Sept. 21, 1736,
I am, SIR, &c.
* * * * *
P.S.
The Passage in the learned Muhlius, which I should have inserted at the
beginning of this Letter, I send you in a Postscript. You have seen it
before, but it is worth reading more than once. You know it belongs
principally to the Article that treats of _the varying the Pause_.
"Neque potest unus idemque semper tenor in carmine usurpari, sed
debet is pro varià periodorum Poeticarum ratione distingui. Et ut
insurgat decore & intumescat aliquando, iterumque remittat, ubi opus
est, consequimur cæsorum ac periodorum sola inæqualitate. Quod
pulcerrime observat Virgilius, cujus alia mensura, alia pedum
compositio est in narrationibus, descriptionibus, orationibus, & tanta
periodorum numerorumque variatio, ut ad eam perfectionem nihil addi
possit. Hujus rei quanta negligentia in Statio, Lucano, Claudiano, Silio
Italico? Ubi admirabilis illa harmonia, suavitas, gravitas ipsorum
pedum æqualiter, inæqualiter temperatorum, per clausulas verborum
fractorum, ac intra regiones suas aliter aliterq; interceptorum? Ut de
junctura illa literarum nihil addam, cum vocales ac consonantes
ipsæque syllabæ ita miscentur, ut rei naturam tam apte jucundeque
exprimant, ut ea geri potius quam cani, spectari magis quam audiri

videatur. Talia infinita sunt apud Virgilium, quæ captum imperitorum
longe excedunt, doctiores vero & prudentiores impense admirantur;
quæ nihil tritum, vulgare, hiuclum nihil elumbe ac contortum patiuntur,
at nescio quid virile & stupendum plane, ac majus humana voce
videntur sonare. Claudianus certe istud fastigium non attingit, & quod
in Maroniana dictione, in illa periodorum ac numerorum varietate
præclarum putamus, vix est, ut ejus vel levem umbram ostentet. Sic
eadem semper oberrat chorda, quod ridiculum existimat magnus iste
dicendi magister."

LETTER IV.
SIR,
[Sidenote: IV.]
The fourth thing to be consider'd is, Virgil's _mixing the Singular and
Plural Numbers_. This has a wonderful Effect, and is very diligently
attended to by Virgil; but I believe never once thought of by Ovid, or
any other Roman Writer in the Days of Augustus.
"Quid faciat lætas Segetes, quo sidere terram Vertere, Mæcenas,
ulmisque adjungere vites, _Conveniat: quæ cura boum, qui cultus
habendo Sit pecori, apibus quanta experientia parcis_.
Here you have segetes and terram, and then vites, and after that pecori
and apibus.
Again,
"--_Camposque, & flumina late Curva tenent: ut molle siler, lentæque_
genistæ, Populus, & glauca canentia fronde Salicta. Pars autem posito
surgunt de semine: ut altæ Castaneæ; nemorumq; Jovi quæ maxima
frondet Esculus, atque habitæ Graiis oracula quercus.
Here are Siler and Genistæ, Populus and Salicta, Castaneæ and Esculus,
and Quercus.

Again,
"Arma Virumque cano,