pear by the Comparison that the rhym'd Verfes have not only more Harmony and Concifenefs, but likewife that they exprefs Virgil's Senfe more fully and more perfpicuously, will it not be easy to determine which of these two forts is the fineft? Octob. 22. 1736. I am, SIR, &c. P. S. WHEN I was taking notice of Virgil's Art of Verfification, I fhould not have omitted his fudden varying the Tenfe of the Verb from the Preterperfect to the Prefent. "Non tua te nobis, Genetrix pulcherrima talem "Promifit, Graiifque ideo bis vindicat armis. This is very agreeable both as to the Verse and the Senfe, for it makes the thing defcribed more immediately present than it would be otherwise, I cannot just now recollect an Example in Milton of this Nature, but I remember one in Fairfax, in a Couplet already cited. "Their jolly Notes they chanted loud and clear, "And horrid Helms high on their Heads they bear. This is much more lively and peinturesque than if he had writ bore, and you will easily perceive it. It may be faid, perhaps, that Fairfax ufed bear here for the fake of the Verfe; let that be allow'd, but then it must be likewise granted, that Virgil ufes vindicat inftead of vindicavit, for the fake of his Verfe, which he would not have done, if it had not been more beautiful than the common Profe way of Writing: And as it is an Excellency in Virgil, fo it is in Fairfax. LET LETTER.2.VII. I SIR, AM now to collect the Paffages of the Æneid, mentioned in my former Letters, and bring them together with the rhym'd and blank Verse Translations. The first Paffage is this (not to take notice of the very first Lines, which Mr. Pit has tranflated in two different manners) "Sic cun&tus pelagi cecidit fragor, æquora poftquam "Profpiciens genitor, caloque invectus aperto "Flectit equos, curruque volans dat lora fecundo. Dr. Trap, "So all the burry of the Ocean ceas'd, Flys fwift with flacken'd Reins and loofe Career. Mr. Pit, "Then did the roaring Waves their Rage compose, "When the great Father of the Flood arose, Rapt "Rapt by his Steeds he flies in open Day, "Throws up the Reins, and skims the watry Way. Pray what do you think of that fame fo which the Doctor begins with? And what do you think of that burry, and of that its in the next Line? And of managing in the third Line! Might it not be expected that other fort of Language than this fhould be found in Verfe, which is under no Restraints of Rhyme? But the truth is, the fault does not lye there, and to make any farther Comparison between thefe Lines of Dr. Trap's and Mr. Pit's would be using you too ill. I proceed to another Paffage. "And with light Wheels upon the Surface rides. Mr. Pit, "Then mounted on his Radiant Carr he rides, "And wheels along the Level of the Tides. I have faid fo much already of these two fine Lines of Mr. Pit's, that it would be needless to add any thing here, in order to fhew how vastly this furpaffes the other Tranflation. This has every Charm of the Original. Again, "Eole (namque tibi divám pater atque bominum réx "Et mulcere dedit fluctus, & tollere vento) Dr. 66 Dr. Trapp, O Eolus (for thee "The Sire of Gods, and King of Men impow'rs "To fmooth the Waves, or raise them with the Wind.) Since mighty Jove, "The King of Men, and Sire of Gods above, "Gives thee, great Eolus, the Power to raise "Storms at thy fovereign Will, and smooth the Seas. Again, "Sic ait, & dicto citius tumida æquora placat, Collectafque fugat nubes, folemque reducit. 66 Dr. Trapp, "So fpake the God, and fooner than he spoke "Appeas'd the toffing of the Waves, dispell'd "The Clouds collected, and restor❜d the Sun. Mr. Pit, "He fpoke, and fpeaking chas'd the Clouds away, "Hufh'd the loud Billows, and reftor'd the Day, 66 "Idaliæ lucos. Again, Fotum Gremio dea tollit in altos Dr. |