Letters Concerning Poetical Translations | Page 8

Trojæ qui primus ab oris Italiam, fato profugus,
Lavinaque venit Litora. Multum ille & terris jactatus & alto, Vi
Superum sævæ memorem Junonis _ob iram. Multa quoq; & bello
passus, dum conderet_ urbem, Inferretque Deos Latio: genus _unde
Latinum Albanique patres, atque altæ moenia Romæ_.
These two first Words of the Æneid are an Example of what I am taking
notice of; and then we have in this Introduction Italiam and Litora
Lavina, Terris and Alto, Superum and Junonis, Urbem and Deos, Genus
and Patres.
But the most beautiful Passage of this Nature is in the Georgics. Here
the thing to be done, and the Instrument with which it is to be done, are
varied alternately.
"Quod nisi & assiduis terram insectabere rastris, Et sonitu terrebis aves,
& ruris opaci Falce premes umbras, votisq; vocaveris imbrem.
Terram rastris, sonitu aves, falce umbras, votis imbrem.
Upon which La Cerda makes this Remark:
"Placet Virgilius _semper, sed cur placeat sæpe ignoratur. In rebus
quatuor recensendis numquam pluralem cum plurali, neque singularem
cum singulari, quod minus ad varietatem: sed semper cum singulari
pluralem. Unica terra multis rastris insectanda est, unica pluvia multis
votis petenda. Contra, multæ aves terrendæ unico sonitu, multæ umbræ
unica falce compescendæ._"
Now in Ovid nothing of this Art is to be found.
"Ante mare & tellus, & (quod tegit omnia) coelum, Unus erat toto
naturæ
vultus _in orbe, Quem dixere chaos: rudis indigestáque_ moles,
Nec quicquam nisi pondus iners.
Here are Mare, Tellus, Coelum, Vultus, Chaos, Moles, and Pondus,

without any one word of the Plural Number amongst them.
V. The next Particular to be taken notice of, is Virgil's uncommon Use
of the Particles Et and Que.
"--Multum ille et terris jactatus et alto; Multa quoque et bello passus--
Et premere, et laxas sciret dare jussus habenas.
And more frequently in his most finish'd Piece.
_Quid tibi odorato referam sudantia ligno. Balsamaque, et Baccas_--
Quod nisi et assiduis terram insectabere rastris, Et sonitu terrebis aves,
et _ruris opaci Falce premes umbras, votisque vocaveris imbrem. Si
vero viciamque seres, vilemque Faselum_.
This Manner of using these connecting Particles, gives Majesty and
Strength to the Verse. It gives Majesty, because it occasions Suspense
and raises the Attention. For Example:
Si vero Viciamque seres--
Here the que hinders the Sense from being concluded, till you have
read the rest of the Line,
--Vilemque Faselum.
But if the Poet had writ (supposing the Verse would have allowed it)
Si vero Viciam seres--
the Reader would have understood him without going any farther; and
it is easily perceiv'd the Verse would have been very flat to what it is
now. This double Use of the Particles gives Strength to the Verse;
because, as the Excellent Erythræus observes, the copulative
Conjunctions are in Language of the same Use as Nerves in the Body,
they serve to connect the Parts together; so that these Sorts of Verses
which we are speaking of may be very properly called, Nervous Lines.
This Art Virgil most certainly learnt from Homer: for there is nothing

more remarkable in Homer's Versification, nothing to which the
Majesty of it is more owing, than this very thing, and I wonder none of
his Commentators (that I have seen) have taken notice of it. There are
four in the 23 first Lines of the Iliad, of this Kind. I will put the Latin
for the sake of the generality of Readers.
Atridesque, rex virorum, et _nobilis Achilles. Redempturusque filiam,
ferensque infinitum pretium liberationis, Atridæque, et alii bene ocreati
Achivi, Reverendumque esse sacerdotem, et splendidum accipiendum
pretium_. Clarke's Translation.
VI. I come now to the Collocatio Verborum, of which there is no
occasion to give any more than one Instance:
"Vox quoque per lucos vulgo exaudita silentes Ingens.--
The Reader cannot but perceive that the Manner of placing Ingens has a
wonderful Effect; it makes him hear the melancholy Voice _groan
through the Grove_.
VII. The changing the common Pronunciation of Words, as thus:
"Fluvi[)o]rum Rex Eridanus.--
And
"Strid[)e]re apes utero & ruptis efferv[)e]re costis.
VIII. Lines contrary to the common Measure, or rather without any
Measure at all, viz.
"_Quod fieri ferro, liquidove potest electro, Saxa per & scopulos &
depressas convalles._

IX, X, XI. These are the three Articles formerly mentioned, namely, the
Alliteratio, the Allusio Verborum, and the _Assonantia Syllabarum_.

1. As to the Alliteratio. This is of several Kinds, it is Initial, Single and
Double; sometimes Treble, or more frequent. It is likewise Mix'd, that
is, both in the first Letters of the Words, and in the following Syllables.
It is sometimes so often repeated, that it may be term'd Assultus, or an
Attack upon, or a storming of the Ear.
The following are Examples of the Single Alliteratio.
"Quid faciat lætas segetes, quo sidere terram Vertere, Mæcenas,
ulmisque adjungere vites, Conveniat: