Part 4

"Quicquid tamen ejus sit, ostendunt Miltoni scripta virum vel in ipsâ juventute: quæ enim ille adolescens scripsit carmina Latina, unà cum Anglicis edita, ætatem illam longè superant, quâ ille vir scripsit poëmata Anglica, sed sine rythmis, quos, ut pestes carminum vernaculorum, abesse volebat, _quale illud decem libris constans, The Paradise Lost_, plena ingenii & acuminis sunt, sed insuavia tamen videntur ob _rythmi_ defectum; quem ego abesse à tali carminum genere non posse existimo, quicquid etiam illi, & Italis nonnullis, & nuper Isaaco Vossio in libro _de Poematum cantu_, videatur." _Polyhist._

However, we must take _Paradise Lost_ as it is, and rejoice that we have in it, one of the finest Works that ever the Wit of Man produc'd: But then the Imperfection of this Work must not be pleaded in favour of such other Works as have hardly any thing worthy of Observation in them. Placing _Milton_ with his blank Verse by himself (as indeed he ought to be in many other respects, for he certainly has no Companion) this Dispute about the Excellency of _blank_ Verse, and even the Preference of it to _rhym'd_ Verse, may be determined by comparing two Writers of Note, who have undertaken the same Subject; that is, _Virgil_'s Æneid.

Now I will take all the Passages of that Poem mentioned in my Letters to you, and compare them in these two Translations: And if it shall appear by the Comparison that the _rhym'd_ Verses have not only more Harmony and Conciseness, but likewise that they express _Virgil_'s Sense more fully and more perspicuously than the _blank_ Verse, will it not be easy to determine which of these two Sorts ought to be preferr'd?

Octob. 22. 1736.

_I am_, SIR, _&c._

* * * * *

_P.S._

When I was taking notice of _Virgil_'s Arts of Versification, I should not have omitted his sudden varying the Tense of the Verb from the Preterperfect to the Present.

"_Non tua te nobis, Genitrix pulcherrima talem_ Promisit, _Graiisque ideo bis_ vindicat _armis_.

This is very agreeable both as to the Verse and the Sense; for it makes the thing described 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 said, perhaps, that _Fairfax_ used _bear_ here for the sake of the Verse; let that be allow'd, but then it must be likewise granted, that _Virgil_ uses _vindicat_ instead of _vindicavit_, for the sake of his Verse, which he would not have done, if it had not been more beautiful than the common Prose way of writing: And as it is an Excellency in _Virgil_, so it is in _Fairfax_.

LETTER VII.

_SIR,_

I am now to collect the Passages of the _Æneid_, mentioned in my former Letters, and bring them together with the _rhym'd_ and _blank_ Verse Translations.

The first Passage is this (not to take notice of the very first Lines, which Mr. _Pit_ has translated in two different manners)

"_Sic cunctus pelagi cecidit fragor, æquora postquam Prospiciens genitor, coeloque invectus aperto Flectit equos, curruque volans dat lora secundo._

Dr. _Trapp_,

"So all the hurry of the Ocean ceas'd, Soon as its God appear'd above the Waves: Who, managing his Steeds in Air serene, Flies swift with slacken'd Reins and loose Career.

Mr. _Pit_,

"Then did the roaring Waves their Rage compose, When the great Father of the Flood arose, Rapt by his Steeds he flies in open Day, Throws up the Reins, and skims the watry Way.

"_Atque rotis summas levibus pellabitur undas._

Dr. _Trapp_,

"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.

Again,

"_Æole (namque tibi divûm pater atque hominum rex Et mulcere dedit fluctus, & tollere vento)_

Dr. _Trapp_,

"--O Æolus (for thee The Sire of Gods, and King of Men impow'rs To smooth the Waves, or raise them with the Wind.)

Mr. _Pit_,

"--Since mighty _Jove_, The King of Men, and Sire of Gods above, Gives thee, great _Æolus_, the Power to raise Storms at thy sovereign Will, and smooth the Seas.

Again,

"_Sit ait, & dicto citius tumida æquora placat, Collectasque fugat nubes, solemque reducit._

Dr. _Trapp_,

"So spake the God, and sooner than he spoke Appeas'd the tossing of the Waves, dispell'd The Clouds collected, and restor'd the Sun.

Mr. _Pit_,

"He spoke, and speaking chas'd the Clouds away: Hush'd the loud Billows, and restor'd the Day.

Again,

"--_Fotum Gremio dea tollit in altos Idaliæ lucos._

Dr. _Trapp_,

"--And on her Bosom hush'd, Carries him to _Idalia_'s lofty Groves.--

Mr. _Pit_,

"Lull'd in her Lap to rest, the Queen of Love Conveys him to the soft _Idalian_ Grove.

Again,

"--_Ubi tot Simois correpta sub undis Scuta virûm, galeasque, & fortia corpora volvit,_

Dr. _Trapp_,

"Where _Simois_ in his rapid Torrent rolls So many Warriour Bodies, Helms and Shields.

Mr. _Pit_,

"Where _Simois_ Streams incumber'd with the Slain, Roll'd Shields, and Helms, and Heroes to the Main.

Again,

"_Urbs antiqua fuit, Tyrii tenuere coloni Carthago, Italiam contra, Tiberinaque longe Ostia, dives opum, studiisque asperrima belli,_

Dr. _Trapp_,

"Fronting th' _Italian_ Coast, and _Tyber_'s Mouth, Tho' far remote, an ancient City stood. _Carthage_ its Name, a Colony of _Tyre_, Mighty in Wealth, and rough in study'd War,

Mr. _Pit_,

"Against th' _Italian_ Coast, of ancient Fame, A City rose, and _Carthage_ was the Name; A _Tyrian_ Colony: From _Tyber_ far, Rich, rough, and brave, and exercis'd in War,

Again,

"_Hoc metuens, molemque & montis insuper altos Imposuit, regemque dedit, qui foedere certo Et premere, & laxas sciret dare jussus habenas,_

Dr. _Trapp_,

"But fearing this, the Sovereign of the Gods Pent them in gloomy Caves, and o'er them threw Vast Piles of massy Rocks; impos'd a King, Who should by certain Measures know to curb, Or, when commanded, to indulge their Rage.

Mr. _Pit_,

"But _Jove_, the mighty Ruin to prevent, In gloomy Caves th'Aereal Captives pent: O'er their wild Rage the pond'rous Rock he spread, And hurl'd huge Heaps of Mountains on their Head; And gave a King commissioned to restrain And curb the Tempest, or to loose the Rein.

_Hurl'd_, _huge_, _Heaps_, _Head_, all in the same Line, imitate Virgil's _Metuens_, _Molem_, _Montis_.

And again,

"--_Facti de nomine_ Byrsam; _Sed vos qui tandem, quibus aut venistis ab oris, Quove tenetis iter?_--

Dr. _Trapp_,

"--And the Name of _Byrsa_ gave In Mem'ry of the Deed. But, in your turn, At length inform me, who, and whence you are, _And whither bound_?--

Mr. _Pit_,

"Hence _Byrsa_ nam'd: But now ye Strangers, say, Who? Whence you are? And whither lies your way?--

There is no Occasion to make any more Remarks upon these Lines.

Nov. 20. 1736.

_I am_, SIR, _&c._

LETTER VIII.

_SIR,_

It has been said by several Persons, especially by Foreigners, that there is no such thing as Measure or Feet, or long and short Syllables in _English_ Words. This Mistake, I believe, is chiefly owing to _Vossius_, who has advanc'd it in his Treatise _De Poematum Cantu_, &c. As also, that the _French_ Language is more fit for Heroick Verse than the _English_. To examine one or both of these Points will be the Subject of this Letter.

That our Language does not abound with Dactyls and Spondees is very true; but that we have Words enough which are perfect Iambick and Trochaick Feet is very certain, and this naturally makes our Verse Iambick.

_Divine_, _Attend_, _Directs_, are as perfect Iambicks as any _Latin_ Words of two Syllables, and so are most of our Monosyllable Nouns with their Particles.

_The Lord_, _The Man_, _The Rock_. Every one must perceive that in all these Words, the last Syllable strikes the Ear more than the first, or, in other Words, the last is longer than the first, which is all that makes an Iambick _Latin_ Foot.

The following Words, _People_, _Substance_, _Angels_, _Chearful_, and the like, are all Trochaick Feet; for it is easily observ'd, that the first Syllable dwells longer on the Ear than the latter.

I wonder that _Vossius_, who was a Canon of _Windsor_, did not perceive this in the Metre which he could not but often have heard at Church.

"All People that on Earth do dwell Sing to the Lord with chearful Voice.

Suppose these two Lines were alter'd thus,

"All ye People that on Earth dwell, Sing to the Lord with Voice chearful.

Here the natural Sound of the Words _People_ and _Chearful_ is very much alter'd, by their being wrong plac'd; or rather, the Verse is quite destroy'd: But to chuse an Example from _Milton_.

"And if our _Substance_ be _indeed Divine_.--

Let this be alter'd,

"And indeed Divine if be our Substance.--

Is not the Verse quite destroy'd by this Alteration? And does it not appear to be so, because _Indeed_ and _Divine_, which are Iambick Feet, are plac'd as if they were Trochaick, and _Substance_, which is a Trochaick Foot, is plac'd as if it were an Iambick? But I might have omitted the altering of this Line of _Milton_'s, if I had thought of one in _Cowley's Davideis_, which is as barbarous as it is possible for the Wit of Man to make a Verse.

"To Divine Nobé directs then his Flight. _Lib. 3. v. 3._

_Nobé_, Mr. _Cowley_ says in his Notes, he puts instead of _Nob_, because that Word seem'd to him to be _unheroical_. But that is not what I am chiefly to take notice of. _Divine_ and _Directs_ are both Iambicks, but Mr. _Cowley_ has made them both Trochaicks, which makes this Line so terrible to the Ear.

It is plain that _Vossius_, who came into _England_ when he was pretty much advanc'd in Years, and in all probability convers'd chiefly in _Latin_ or _French_, knew nothing at all of the Pronunciation of _English_ Words. We have as certainly Feet or Numbers in our Language, as in the _Latin_; and indeed the _Latin_ seems to me to be rather more arbitrary in this respect than the _English_. What Reason can be given why _ma_ in _manus_ is short, and _ma_ in _manes_ long? Why is _a_ in _amens_ long, and _a_ in _amans_ short, and the like of other Words too numerous to relate?

That all _English_ Verses are _Iambick_, appears most plainly by considering Monosyllable Lines. For Example:

"Arms and the Man I sing, who forc'd by Fate.

Here _Arms_, _the_, _I_, _who_, _by_, appear to be shorter in their Sound than _and_, _man_, _sing_, _forc'd_, _fate_.

Again,

"Breathe soft or loud, and wave your Tops, ye Pines.

In this Line the same Difference is perceiv'd between _breathe_, _or_, _your_, _ye_; and _soft_, _loud_, _wave_, _tops_, _pines_.

Whence it is evident that these Lines are perfectly Iambick.

The Particle _and_, as well as some other Monosyllables, may be said to be common, like many Words in _Latin_; they submit themselves to be alter'd by the Voice in reading, and may be pronounced either long or short: But this is not so in other Words. And here it may be proper to observe, that _Milton_ has a very artful Way of varying his Numbers, by putting a Trochaick Foot at the Beginning of a Verse; and the Reason why he could do it, is, that the Verse is not enough form'd in that place for the Ear to perceive the Want of the proper Measure. The Examples of this kind are very numerous: I will mention but two.

"_Angels_, for ye behold him, and with Song.

And again,

"_Fountains_, and ye that warble as ye flow.

Nov. 27. 1736.

_I am_, SIR, _&c._

LETTER IX.

_SIR,_

To reply to the Opinion that _Vossius_ has given in favour of _French_ Verse compared with _English_, I would observe in the first Place that what the _French_ call Heroick Verse, is the very worst Sort of Verse that can be contriv'd. If the Excellence of Verse consists chiefly in varying the Pause, as I have shewn it does in the _Latin_, and could do the same in the _Greek_ and other Languages; what must be thought of that Sort of Versification in which the Pause is most strictly preserv'd in the same Place in every Line, be it for 10 or 20 thousand together, especially in Verses of 12 Syllables? Perhaps an _Englishman_ may not be a very proper Person to make this Objection to _French_ Verse: I will therefore produce the Opinion of several of their own Writers.

_Ronsard_, in the Preface to his _Franciade_, owns that their _Alexandrine_ Lines have too much prattle (_ils ont trop de caquet_) and that it is a Fault in their Poetry that one Line does not run into another, and therefore he wrote his _Franciade_ in Verses of ten Syllables, and broke the Measure. The Author of the History of _French_ Poetry confesses, that the constant Pause in their Lines makes the Poetry tedious; and the judicious and learned Translator of _Quintilian_ says directly, that it is owing to the continual Sameness of Numbers that their Verse cannot please long. In reality, it is a kind of Stanza, and ought to be so writ.

_Jeune & vaillant Heros Dont la haute sagesse N'est point le fruit tardif D'une lente vieillesse._

Not to insist upon the _Prattle_ (as _Ronsard_ calls it) of these two celebrated Lines; for what does _Vaillant_ add to _Heros_, or _haute_ to _sagesse_, and what is the Difference between _tardif_ and _lente_? I say to let this pass, the eternal Repetition of the same Pause is the Reverse of Harmony: Three Feet and three Feet for thousands of Lines together, make exactly the same Musick as the ting, tong, tang of the same Number of Bells in a Country-Church. We had this wretched sort of Metre amongst us formerly, and _Chaucer_ is justly stil'd the Father of _English_ Verse, because he was the first that ever wrote in rhym'd Couplets of ten Syllables each Line. He found, by his Judgment, and the Delicacy of his Ear, that Lines of eight Syllables, such as _Gower_ his Cotemporary wrote in, were too short, and the twelve Syllable-Lines too long. He pitch'd upon the other Sort just mentioned, and that is now found, by the Experience of so many Ages, to be the most majestick and most harmonious kind of Verse. Just the same Obligation the _Romans_ had to _Ennius_: He first introduc'd the Hexameter Line, and therefore is properly called the Father of their Poetry; and it is judiciously said, that if they had never had _Ennius_, perhaps they had never had _Virgil_. If the _French_ had taken _Ronsard_'s Advice instead of following _Malherbe_, perhaps they might, and indeed they certainly would have arriv'd at a better Art of Versification than we see now amongst them: But they have miss'd their Way; tho' had it happen'd otherwise, they could never have equall'd the _English_ in Poetry, because their Language is not capable of it, for two Reasons which I shall mention, and many others that I could add to them.

_1st_, Their Words do not sound so fully as ours, of which these Nouns are Examples, _God_, _Dieu_. _Man_, _L'Homme_. In both the _English_ Words every Letter is perceiv'd by the Ear. In the _French_ the first Word is of a very confused Sound, and the latter dies away in the _e_ mute. So _Angels_, _Ange_. _Head_, _Tete_. And innumerable others. And in Verbs, _to love_, _to hate_, _Aimer_, _Hayir_. In the _English_ the Sound is clear and strong. In _French_ the last Letter is dropp'd, and the Words don't dwell upon the Ear like the _English_.

_2d_, They have too many Particles: To shew how much more their Verse is incumber'd by them than the _English_, I will give you an Example from a Passage in _Milton_.

"So spoke, so wish'd much humbled _Eve_, but Fate Subscrib'd not; Nature first gave Signs, imprest On Bird, Beast, Air; Air suddenly eclips'd After short blush of Morn.--

Now to put this Passage into _French_ all the following Particles must be added.

_Le_, _La_, _Des_, _Les_, _Les_, _Le_, _Le_, _Un_, _Du_. Of which there is not one in the _English_: And what an Effect this would have in Heroick Verse, you will easily judge.

Upon the whole, _Vossius_ was very little acquainted with _English_ Heroic Poetry. _Hudibras_ was the favourite Bard in his time, and therefore he does us the Honour to say, the _English_ is extremely fit for that sort of Poetry which the _Italians_ call _Sdruccioli_, that is, Doggrel Verse.

Thus much for _Vossius_, and his _French_ and _English_ Poetry. I will now shew you a very different Opinion of another learned Foreigner, referr'd to more than once already, and I will give it you in his own Words.

"_Sane in Epico Carminum genere_; Joh. Miltoni _insigne poema_, The Paradise Lost, _Gallos omnes in epicis inseliciores longo post se intervallo reliquit_. Morhosius Polyhistor.

This judicious Critick gave the same Opinion of Mr. _Cowley_ above 50 Years ago, which Mr. _Pope_ has given of him lately in one of his _Horatian_ Epistles.

"Abr. Cowley _seu Coulejus poemata scripsit_, &c. _Quæ ad genium Virgiliani Carminis non accedunt: argutiis enim nimium indulget, ut Epigrammaticum potius quod interdum scribat, quam planum carmen: Ac præterea non ubique purus est: quanquam Angli illum omnes veterum Poetarum numeros implevisse sibi persuadeant._

Foreigners, I am apt to think, frequently judge with more Exactness of our Countrymen's Performances than the generality of the Natives. I think the Judgment of another learned Foreigner very sensible, when he says upon reading _Virgilium Dryd[)e]ni_, "That if the Original had been no better than the Copy, _Augustus_ would have done well to have committed it to the Flames." But the Author's own Words are worth perusing.

"_Sæpe, Maro, dixi, quantum mutatus ab illo es! Romani quondam qui stupor orbis eras. Si te sic tantum voluisset vivere Cæsar, Quam satius, flammis te periisse foret._ _Vid._ Fabric. Bib. Lat.

December 4. 1736,

_I am_, SIR, _&c._

LETTER X.

_SIR,_

By what I have shewn in the preceding Letters, it sufficiently appears that _Virgil_ and _Milton_ had good reason to begin with _Hinc canere incipiam_. _Nunc te Bacche canam._ _Arma Virumque cano._ _Sing Heavenly Muse._ Their Verse is all _Musick_, and that is the reason why their Poems please, though ever so often read: And all Poetry that is not attended with Harmony, is properly speaking no Poetry at all.

Let the Sense be ever so fine, if the _Verse_ is not _melodious_, the Reader will undoubtedly find himself soon overtaken with Drowsiness. But what I chiefly hope I have made out, is, that _Rhyme_ does not owe its Original to _Druids_, or to _dreaming Monks_, since it is certain there is more _Rhyme_ in _Virgil_, than there can be in any _English_ Translation of his Works. _English_ Verse never admits but of two Syllables that Rhyme in two Lines. But in _Virgil_, it is not easy to tell how many Rhymes there are in a single Line; as for Example,

"_O nimium Coelo, & pelago confise sereno,_

"_Et sola in siccâ secum spatiatur arenâ._

And the like. But what would you say, if I was to observe to you all that _Erythræus_ has writ of the Rhyme _Cum intervallo, & sine intervallo_ in _Virgil_? Of the Rhyme _sine intervallo_ there are four Examples in the two first Lines of the _Æneid_, namely, in the first, _no_--_tro_, and _qui_--_pri_. In the second, _to_--_pro_, and _que_-- _ve_.

"_Arma virumque can[=o], tr[=o]jæ qu[=i] pr[=i]mus ab oris Italiam, fat[=o] pr[=o]fugus, Lavinaqu[=e] v[=e]nit._--

But for this particular, and the other just mentioned, I refer you to _Erythræus_ himself, if you would be fully instructed on this Subject. The Conclusion of this whole Matter is this: Rhyme is certainly one of the chief Ornaments of _Latin_ Verse, even of _Virgil_'s Verse: Most of his wonderful, harmonious Paragraphs are concluded with a full, strong, plain Rhyme: And if this is the Case; if _Virgil_'s Verse would lose one of its chief Ornaments by being stript of Rhyme, What would _English_ Verse do without it? Those learned Persons who in their Writings have treated Rhyme only as a needless _Gingle_, had not fully considered all that could be said on this Subject: _Rhyme_, as I have observed once before, has many Enemies because of its Difficulty, when accompanied with all the other necessary Arts of Versification. It is a particular Talent which very few are blessed with, and ought to be esteemed accordingly: But if we give way to the Disuse of it, and even suffer Blank Verse to be brought in Competition with it, Poetry will in a short time be lost in _England_, as it has been long since in _Italy_, and, if I mistake not, from this very Cause. They have Blank-vers'd _Homer_, _Virgil_, and _Milton_, and I believe all the _Classick Poets_: And if we follow their Example in giving Applause to this kind of Verse, we must expect the same Consequences. We should be the more to blame in this respect, because we have lately had so many excellent Writers of proper Verse amongst us, as _Addison_, _Rowe_, _Prior_, and many others; and have now Mr. _Pope_, Mr. _Pit_, and some whom I do not just now recollect.

_Milton_, as I observ'd already, is never to be mention'd as an Example in favour of Blank-Verse: To supply the Want of _Rhyme_ in him, there are so many Arts of Verse, such Variety of Melody, that it would require no small Volume to point them out.

I have nothing more to add, but that it is a very surprizing thing, that _Milton_ ever undertook to write in such a _Stile_ as he has made use of, and yet more surprizing that he should be read by all sorts of People, considering that the _Stile_ is more properly _Latin_ or _Greek_ than _English_.

I believe both these Things arise from the same Cause, which to me seems to be the _English Bible_; at least, as to the latter, it cannot be from any thing else. That _Milton_ acquir'd his _Stile_ from the _Common Bible_, is not at all improbable, though he understood the Original. It is certain he was entirely conversant with the _Bible_, and, in all Probability frequently made use of the _English_ Translation. Now this Translation is, by Great Providence, (give me leave to call it so) adapted to the _Latin and Greek Collocation_, or Arrangement of Words; that is, the Words are placed in the _English_ as they stand in those Languages, which, perhaps, you may not have so much attended to but that you may be glad to see some Examples of what I am speaking of.

Psalm v. 3. _My Voice shalt thou hear in the Morning, O Lord; in the Morning will I direct Prayer unto thee, and will look up._

Matthew xiii. 1. _The same Day went Jesus out of the House, and sat by the Sea-side._

Matthew xxvii. 32. _And as they came out, they found a Man of_ Cyrene, Simon _by Name_: Him _they compelled to bear his Cross_.

John ii. 11. _This Beginning of Miracles did_ Jesus _in_ Cana _of_ Galilee.

John xii. 16. _These things understood not his Disciples at the first._

John viii. 44. _Ye are of your Father the Devil, and the Lusts of your Father will ye do._

"_Verbo sensum cludere, multo, si compositio patiatur, optimum est. In Verbis enim Sermonis vis inest._" Quintil.