Weigh part with part, and with prophetick eye

115 The future power of all thy tints descry ; And those, those only on the canvas place, Whose hues are social, whose effect is

grace. 1 Vivid and faithful to the historick

page, Express the customs, manners, forms, and

age; m Nor paint conspicuous on the foremost plain Whate'er is false, impertinent, or vain; But like the Tragick Muse, thy lustre throw, Where the chief action claims its warmest glow.

120

Atque futurorum jam præsentire colorum
Par erit harmoniam, captando ab utrisque ve-

nustum. * Sit thematis genuina ac viva expressio, juxtà Textum antiquorum, propriis cum tempore formis. • Nec quod inane, nihil facit ad rem, sive videtur Improprium, miniméque urgens, potiora tenebit Ornamenta operis ; Tragicæ sed lege sororis, Summa ubi res agitur, vis summa requiritur Artis.

This rare, this arduous task no rules can teach,

125 No skill'd preceptor point, no practice reach; 'Tis taste, 'tis genius, 'tis the heav'nly ray Prometheus ravish'd from the car of day.

In Egypt first the infant art appear’d, Rude and unform'd; bụt when to Greece she

steer'd Her prosperous course, fair Fancy met the

130

Maid;

Wit, Reason, Judgment, lent their powerful aid; Till all complete the gradual wonder shone, And vanquish'd Nature own'd herself out

done.

90

Ista labore gravi, studio, monitisque magistri Ardua pars nequit addisci: rarissima namque, Ni priùs æthereo rapuit quod ab axe Prometheus Sit jubar infusum menti cum flamine vitæ. Mortali haud cuivis divina hæc munera dantur ; Non uti Dædaleam licet omnibus ire Corinthum.

Ægypto informis quondam pictura reperta, Græcorum studiis, et mentis acumine crevit : Egregiis tandem illustrata et adulta magistris, Naturam visa est miro superare

9$

?Twas there the Goddess fix'd her blest abodes,

135 There reign’d in Corinth, Athens, Sicyon,

Rhodes,
Her various vot’ries various talents crown'd,

Yet each alike her inspiration own’d:
: Witness those marble miracles of grace,

Those tests of symmetry where still we trace 140
All art's perfection: With reluctant gaze
To these the genius of succeeding days
Looks dazzled up, and, as their glories spread,
Hides in his mantle his diminish'd head.
? Learn then from Greece, ye youths, Pro-

portion's law, Inform’d by her, each just Position draw ;

145

99

Quos inter, Graphidos Gymnasia prima suêre Portus Athenarum, Sicyon, Rhodos, atque Corinthus, Disparia inter se mod cum ratione laboris ; Ut patet ex veterum Statuis, formæ atque decoris Archetypis ; queis posterior nil protulit ætas Condignum, et non inferius longè, arte modoque.

9 Horum igitur vera ad normam positura legetur ;

Skilful to range each large unequal part, ,
With varied motion and contrasted art ;
Full in the front the nobler limbs to place,
And poise each figure on its central base. 150

But chief from her that flowing outline take,
Which floats, in wavy windings, like the snake,
Or lambent flame ; which, ample, broad, and

long, Reliev?d not swell’d, at once both light and

strong,
Glides thro' the graceful whole. Her art

divine
Cuts not, in parts minute, the tame design,
But by a few bold strokes, distinct and free,
Calls forth the charms of perfect symmetry.

155

195

Grandia, inæqualis, formosaque partibus amplis
Anteriora dabit membra, in contraria motu
Diverso variata, suo librataque centro ;

Membrorumque sinus ignis flammantis ad instar,
Serpenti undantes flexu ; sed lævia, plana,
Magnaquę signa, quasi sine tubere subdita tactu,
Ex longo deducta fluant, non secta minutim,
Insertisque toris sint nota ligamina, juxta
Compagem anatomes, et membrificatio Græco

11

True to anatomy, more true to grace,
She bids each muscle know its native place ; 169
Bids small from great in just gradation rise,
And, at one visual point, approach the eyes.
Yet deem not, youths, that perspective can

give Those charms complete by which your works

shall live : What tho' her rules may to your hand impart

165 A quick mechanick substitute for art, Yet formal, geometrick shapes she draws; Hence the true Genius scorns her rigid laws ; By Nature taught he strikes th’unerring lines, Consults his eye, and as he sees designs. .

170

Deformata modo, paucisque expressa lacertis, Qualis, apud veteres ; totoque Eurythmia partes Componat; genitumque suo generante sequenti" Sit minus, et puncto videantur cuncta sub uno.

Regula certa licet nequeat prospectica dici, Aut complimentum graphidos; sed in arte juvanem, Et modus accelerans operandi : at corpora falso Sub visu in multis referens, mendosa labascit ; Nam Geometralem nunquam sunt corpora juxtâ Mensuram depicta oculis, sed qualia visa.