Letters Concerning Poetical Translations | Page 9

more like our own, I will divide the Verse into two Parts.
"_Poculaque inventis Acheloia miscuit uvis._
"_Totaque Thuriferis Panchaia pinguis arenis._
"_Et premere, & laxas Sciret dare, jussus habenas._
"_Atque rotis summas Levibus pellabitur undas._
"_O nimium coelo Et pelago confise sereno._
Many more of these Lines might be produced, but these are sufficient.
Of the plain direct Double Rhyme (which is the Sort of Rhyme the Spectator speaks of No. 60, and which the Monks were in Love with) the following are Instances.
"Hic labor extremus, longarum h?c meta viarum.
Again,
"_I nunc & verbis Virtutem illude superbis._
Again,
"_Cornua veletarum Obvertimus Antennarum._
2. Of the intermediate plain Rhyme, the following are Examples.
"Imposuit, regemque dedit, qui foedere certo.
And,
"Descendo, ac ducente Deo flammam inter & hostes.
In this Passage Virgil uses Deus in speaking of a Goddess, for no other Reason imaginable but to enrich his Verse with Rhyme.
3. Of the scanning conclusive Rhyme the following are Instances.
"Sylvestrem tenui musam medi--taris [=a]--ven[=a].
"Nudus in ignota pali--nure j[=a]--cebis [=a]--ren[=a].
From whence it appears that Virgil's Poetry is almost all Rhyme of one kind or other; and it is evident beyond Dispute that he generally concludes his strong, sounding, majestick Paragraphs with a full Rhyme, for which I refer to that fine Line already more than once mentioned, which sums up the Praises of Italy.
"Totaque thuriferis Panchaia pinguis arenis.
And to the Conclusion of his finest work.
"_Hic vero subitum, ac dictu mirabile monstrum Aspiciunt: liquefacta boum per viscera toto Stridere apes utero, & ruptis effervere costis, Immensasque trahi nubes; jamque arbore summa Confluere, & lentis uvam demittere ramis._
And to this I will add the last Line of the Epilogue to the Georgicks.
"Tytyre te patul? cecini sub tegmine fagi.
Where the two several Hemisticks or Parts of the Verse Rhyme each to itself.
I would observe here that both Ovid and Lucan, for want of Judgment, begin with a full Rhyme; the consequence of which is, that the Conclusion of the Paragraph is less sonorous than the Beginning, which must needs have a bad Effect.
"In nova fert animus mutatas discere formas. Ovid.
"Bella per ?mathios plus quam Civilia Campos. Lucan.
But a modern Writer, and a much better Composer of Latin Verses than either Ovid or Lucan, has with great Judgment taken care to follow Virgil's Example in this and many other Particulars. I mean Vanerius. There are a great Number of Lines in his _Pr?dium Rusticum which are worthy of Virgil_ himself: I shall entertain you with some of them.
In his Kitchen-Garden, the following Passage is a Description of all the numerous Family of Colworts, or the Cabbage-kind.
"_Quid dicam quanta jactat se Brassica laude? Sive volubilibus redit in se frondibus, Orbesque Orbibus agglomerans, capitis sub mole laborat; Tornato similes Ebori seu candida Flores Ediderit, seu Coniacas imitata Cupressus, Seque suas plicat in frondes, & acumen in album Desinit, & tenui venit haud ingloria Mens?. Sive hieme in media cum c?tera frigore torpent Loeta viret, Boreamque trucem, Caurosque malignos Despiciens, vacuis ultro Dominatur in hortis._"
In his Description of the Farm-yard, he paints the following several Sorts of Fowls in this Manner:
"Se pict? cervicis Anas | & Garulus Anser Tarda mole movent: | habitu Gallina _modesto Progreditur: | Caudam Gallus Cristasque rubentes Erigit, | & motis sibi plaudit L?tior alis_."
And I cannot omit this most charming Verse which describes the Courtship of a Pigeon.
"S?pe solum verrens Penna pendente rotatur."
"Oft with his trailing Wing the wanton Dove Brushes the Ground, and wheels about his Love.
Such Verse as this must please in all Ages, and in all Countries, where the Readers have any Taste and Delicacy of Ear. All the Beauties of Virgil's Poetry are in these Lines; and you may observe in the four last mentioned,
1. How curiously the Pause is varied.
In the first Line it is upon the first Syllable of the fourth Foot.
In the second Line it is upon the first Syllable of the third Foot.
In the third Line it is upon the first Syllable of the second Foot.
In the fourth Line it is upon the last Syllable of the first Foot.
2. Observe the initial Alliteration in the first, second and third Lines.
In the first, Anas and Anser.
In the second, Mole, Movent, and Modesto.
In the third, Caudam, Cristasque.
The mixt Alliteration in the first Line where Garrulus is placed betwixt Anser and Anas, makes the Verse very sonorous; but the mixt Alliteration in the last Line where the Vowel i is repeated eight times in seven Words, is a very masterly Stroke;
"Erigit, & motis sibi plaudit loetior alis."
--Ille hinc concentus in omni Carmine Divini vatis.--
Which extempore Remark is itself an Instance of what I am taking notice of as imitated from Virgil.
3. You will perceive the Allusio Verborum to have a very good Effect in the second Line.
"Tarda mole movent, habitu gallina modesto."
4. The mixing the singular and plural Numbers in the third Line is very judicious.
"Caudam Cristasque rubentes.
Ovid would have said,
"Caudam Cristamque--
Lastly, The