waking knew not where he was, in the short paffage from Corcyra to Ithaca. I like Trapp's verfions for their juftnefs; his Pfalm is excellent, the prodigies in the first Georgic judicious (whence I conclude that 'tis easier to turn Virgil justly in 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, The blasted Phaeton with blazing hair, I am, Your, &c. T LETTER XXIV. Nov. 24, 1710. O make use of that freedom and familia rity of style, 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 least 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 K 4 a certain a certain ifland, with a tale of a King of Denmark's mistress that shall be nameless---But I have compaffion on you, and would not for the world you shall ftay any longer among the Genii and Semidei Manes, you know where; for if once you get so near the moon, Sappho will want your presence in the clouds and inferior regions; not to mention the great lofs Drury-lane will sustain, when Mr. C is in the milky way. These celestial 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 fo are Constables as they represent the King; but you will own a great many of them are very odd fellows, and the devil of any likeness in them. 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; because I think they have little of the main characteristic of this author, a graceful easiness, For let the fenfe be ever fo exactly render'd, unless an author looks like himself, in his air, habit, and manner, 'tis a difguife, and not a tranflation. 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, &c. TH LETTER XXV. From Mr. CROMWELL. Dec 5, 1710. 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 verses, among which is this, As if one Knightly terms in lifts they ran. Pray can you trace chivalry up higher than Pharamond? will you allow it an anachronism ?--Tickel in his verfion of the Phænix from Claudian, When nature ceases, thou shalt ftill remain, Nor fecond Chaos bound thy endless reign. Claudian thus, Et Et elades te nulla rapit, folufque fuperftes, 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 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 fay 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 muft fay, 'tis as faultlefs as the fair to whom 'tis addrefs'd, be she never fo perfect. The M. G. (who, it seems, 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 says, he has no lefs, I affure you, than a veneration for you. Your, &c. To a Lady, with the Works of Voiture. P. LETTER LETTER XXVI. Dec. 17, 1710. IT feems 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 whose works may just deserve reading. I take this poet to have writ like a gentleman, that is, at leisure hours, and more to keep out of idlenefs, than to establish a reputation: so that nothing regular or just can be expected from him. All that regards defign, form, fable (which is the foul of poetry) all that concerns exactnefs, or confent of parts (which is the body) will probably be wanting; only pretty conceptions, fine metaphors, glittering expreffions, and something of a neat caft of verfe (which are properly the dress, gems, or loose ornaments of poetry) may be found in thefe verses. This is indeed the cafe of most other poetical 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 |