Epistle to ROBERT, Earl of Oxford and Mortimer JAMES CRAGGS, Esq. Secretary of State 290 Mr. JERVAS, with Mr. DRYDEN'S Transla- A Prologue to a Play for Mr. DENNIS'S Benefit, in 1733, when he was old, blind, and in great dis- SONG, by a Person of Quality, 1733 On his Grotto at Twickenham, composed of Marble, Spars, Gems; Ores; and Minerals To Mrs. M..B: on her Birth-day To Mr. THOMAS SOUTHERN. on his Birth-day, 1742 ROXANA, or the Drawing Room, an Eclogue + Lines sung by DURASTANTI, when she took her leave + Upon the Duke of Marlborough's House at Wood- + The Fourth Epistle of the First Book of HORACE'S A Fragment, attributed by some to Pope, and by Verses left by Mr. POPE, on his lying in the same Bed which WILMOT, the celebrated Earl of Ro- CHESTER, slept in, at Adderbury + The Challenge, a Court Ballad + Mr. POPE's Welcome from Greece, a Copy of Verses written by Mr. GAY upon Mr. Pope's having finished I. On CHARLES Earl of DORSET, in the church III. On the Hon. SIMON HARCOURT, only Son of Lord Chancellor HARCOURT; at the church of Stanton Harcourt, in Oxfordshire, 1720 IV. On JAMES CRAGGS, Esq. in Westminster-abbey 368 V. Intended for Mr. Rowe, in Westminster-abbey 370 VI. On Mrs. CORBET, who died of a Cancer in her IX. On General HENRY WITHERS, in Westminster- X. On Mr. ELIJAH FENTON, at Easthamstead in XI. On Mr. GAY, in Westminster-abbey, 1732 XII. Intended for Sir ISAAC NEWTON, in Westmin- XIII. On Dr. FRANCIS ATTERBURY, Bishop of Ro- CHESTER, who died in exile at Paris, 1732. XIV. On EDMUND Duke of BUCKINGHAM, who died in the nineteenth year of his age, 1735 SAPPHO PHAONI*. ECQUID, ut inspecta est studiosæ litera dextræ, Protinus est oculis cognita nostra tuis? 5 NOTES. * Ovid seems to have had the merit of inventing this beautiful species of writing epistles under feigned names. Though indeed Propertius has one composition of this sort, an Epistle of Arethusa to Lycortas, B. iv. Eleg. 3. It is a high improvement on the Greek Elegy, to which its dramatic form renders it much superior. The judgment of the writer must chiefly appear, by opening the complaint of the person introduced, just at such a period of time, as will give occasion for the most tender sentiments, and the most sudden and violent turns of passion to be displayed. Ovid may perhaps be blamed for a sameness of subjects, in these epistles of his heroines; and his epistles are likewise too long; which circumstance has forced him into a repetition and languor in the sentiments. It would be a pleasing task, and conduce to the formation of a good taste, to shew how differently Ovid and the Greek Tragedians have made Medea, Phædra, and Deinaira, speak on the very same occasions. Such a comparison would abundantly manifest the fancy and wit of Ovid, and the judgment and nature of Euripides and Sophocles. If the character of Medea was not better supported in the Tra Ver. 2. The force of Protinus is lost in the translation. |