Joseph Trapp

“ And in proportion, the nearer one approaches to the Original, the better it is; provided the Version be in other Respects no way prejudiced, but rather improved by it: A Thing, in my Apprehension, by no Means inconceivable. A Translator should draw the Picture of his Author: And in Painting, we know, Likeness is the first Beauty; so that if it has not That, all the rest are insignificant. Draw Virgil as like as you can; To think of improving him is arrogant; and to flatter him, is impossible. ”

“ How delightful must it be, to enjoy so sweet a Retirement! What a Glory, to be so inglorious! This, I say, is generally the Natural Make of learned, and ingenious Men; and Homer himself, notwithstanding his Poetical Fire, was in all probability of the same Complexion. But if we consider Virgil as a Poet; I hope to make it appear, before I have finished This Preface, that, as such, he wanted neither the Sanguine, nor the Cholerick; tho' at the same time I acknowledge a Man's natural Temper will very much incline him to one way of Thinking, and Writing, more than to another. ”

“ For tho' the Drama be, in some Respects, more perfect than the Epopée, in others it is inferiour. And it is not Virgil's Fault, if we will not distinguish between the Building of a House, and of a City; or between that of a City, and of the Universe. In a Work of such an Extent as an Epic Poem, and all delivered in Narration, not represented by Action, these Interruptions of the main Business (especially when they are some of the most beautiful Parts of the Poem, as they always are in Virgil's) are so far from being Improprieties, that they are Excellencies. ”

“ And I am aware that such Observations will by some Criticks be called modern Criticisms. But be That as it will; I am for Truth and Reason, whether it be called Ancient, or Modern.
To display the Excellence of Virgil's Style, Diction, and Versification, cannot be the Business of this Preface: Here again I must refer to my Notes. I only observe, that nothing can be more sublime, and majestick, than some Parts; nothing more sweet, and soft, than others; nothing more harmonious, flowing, numerous, and sounding than both his Soft, and his Sublime. ”

“ Dryden's is, in many Parts, a noble, and spirited Translation; and yet I cannot, upon the Whole, think it a good one; at least, for Mr. Dryden. Not but that I think his Performance is prodigious, and exceedingly for his Honour, considering the little time he allowed himself for so mighty a Work; having translated not the Æneis only, but all Virgil's Poems in the Compass of three Years. Nobody can have a truer Respect for That great Man, than I have; or be more ready to defend him against his unreasonable Accusers; who (as Mr. Pope justly observes) envy, and calumniate him. ”

“ That which is distinguished by the Name of Epic, or Heroic, is beyond comparison the Noblest, and most Excellent. An Heroic Poem, truly such, is undoubtedly the greatest Work which the Soul of Man is capable to perform. ”

“ I do not mean more Men killed, more Battles fought, more Speeches spoke, and the like: Those are not Incidents; and I own Homer has many more of them than Virgil. Mr. Pope admires the Variety of Homer's Battles for this Reason, that tho' they are so numerous they are not tedious. This is extraordinary indeed, if it be true: But whether a Thing be tedious or not, is Matter of Experience, rather than of Judgment; and so every particular Person must speak as he finds. ”

“ Dryden took Delight in abusing Priests, and Religion; Virgil did not. It is indeed wonderful that a Man of so fine, and elevated a Genius, and at the same time of so good a Judgment, as Mr. Dryden certainly was, could so much as endure those clumsey Ideas, in which he perpetually rejoices ”

“ Therefore, the better we understand a Poet, the more we love and admire him; the more Pleasure we conceive in reading him well translated: As we most delight to see the Pictures of Those whom we best love; and to see the Persons themselves in Variety of Dresses. Upon which Account, I will be bold to affirm; that he who says he values no Translation of this, or that Poem, because he understands the Original, has indeed no true Relish, that is, in effect, no true Understanding of Either. ”

“ At present, I cannot forbear saying, that to be such an Improver is at least almost as much Glory, as to be the original Inventer. [14]
As the Case is stated between these two great Poets by the most moderate Criticks; Homer excelled in Fire, and Invention; and Virgil in Judgment. Invention has been already enough considered: Judgment, and Fire are farther to be discoursed of. That Virgil excelled in Judgment, we all allow. But how far did he excel? Did he not very much? Almost beyond Comparison? I shall here say very little of Homer's Errours, and Virgil's Excellencies in that Respect. ”

“ And tho' it be one great Privilege in this sort of Verse, to make a full Period at the Beginning, or in the Middle of a Line; yet you may do it too often. Milton, I think, does so; who sometimes gives you thirty, or forty Verses together, not one of which concludes with a full Period. But to return to our Comparison.
Tho' all This be rather Matter of Sense, than of Reason; yet I appealed to the best Genius's, and Judges in Poetry; because it is a great Mistake to think that all Ears are equally Judges. It may as well, nay better, be affirmed that all Persons have equally Ears for Musick. ”

“ By those who commonly discourse of Heroic, and Dramatic Poetry, the Action, and the Fable seem not to be sufficiently distinguished. The Action is a great Achievement of some illustrious Person, attended with an important and memorable Event. The Fable is that Complication of Incidents, Episodes, and other Circumstances, which tend to the carrying on of the Action, or give Reasons for it, or at least embellish and adorn it. ”

“ This may be affirmed of his Works in general; but I am now obliged to consider his Translation of the Æneis in particular. As he was the great Refiner of our English Poetry, and the best Marshaller of Words that our Nation had then, at least, produced; and all, who have followed him, are extremely indebted to him, as such: his Versification here, as every where else, is generally flowing, and harmonious; and a multitude of Beauties of all kinds are scattered through the Whole. But then, besides his often grosly mistaking his Author's Sense; as a Translator, he is extremely licentious. ”

“ What if those Episodes are not Parts of the Action? They are Parts of the Poem, and with the greatest Skill inferred in it. What if they are not absolutely necessary? They are very convenient; and that is sufficient. For if we allow that they are entirely ornamental, we deny that they are impertinent, or superfluous; no Things in the World being more uniform, or more naturally and elegantly connected. Nor does Virgil ever commit the Fault of those whom Horace justly condemns ”

“ No Science starts into Perfection at it's Birth: And it is amazing that the Works of this great Poet come so near it as they do. Thus as to himself: Then as to others; his Glory in Point of Precedency is uncontestable; he is the Father of Poets, and of Poetry; and Virgil particularly has copy'd from him in a multitude of Instances. But after all, the Question is; Whether upon the whole, Homer's or Virgil's be the best Poems, as we have them now; setting aside all external Considerations, relating to Times, and Customs; Inventing, and Borrowing ”

“ A Work of This Nature is to be regarded in Two different Views; both as a Poem, and as a Translated Poem. In the one, all Persons of good Sense, and a true Taste of Poetry, are Judges of it; tho' they are skilled in no Language, but their Own. In the other, Those only are so; who besides the Qualification just mentioned, are familiarly acquainted with the Original. And it may well admit of a Question, to which of these Species of Readers a good Translation is the more agreeable Entertainment. The Unlearned are affected like Those, who see the Picture of One whose Character they admire ”

“ The Truth is, (so far as it appears from their several Works) the Greek Poet knew little of the Passions, in comparison of the Roman.
It must be observed, that tho' most of the Instances, which I have now produced out of Virgil, are taken from warlike Adventures; yet it is a great Errour to think (as some do) that all Fire consists in Quarrelling and Fighting: as do nine Parts in ten of Homer's, in his Iliad. The Fire we are speaking of, is Spirit and Vivacity; Energy of Thought, and Expression; which way soever it affects us; whether it fires us by Anger, or otherwise ”

“ It is proper, if you please, to be inserted in such a Work; and many more as important as This are interspersed up and down, and mentioned among other Things, both in That of Virgil, and in Those of Homer. But how much more noble, extensive, and truly Heroic a Moral is This; That Piety to God, and Justice and Goodness to Men, together with true Valour, both Active, and Passive, (not such as consists in Strength, Intrepidity, and Fierceness only, which is the Courage of a Tyger, not of a Man) will engage Heaven on our Sides, and make both Prince, and People, victorious, flourishing, and happy? ”

“ But admitting that in the Iliad the Action is more simple, as well as the Time shorter, than in the Æneis: Doubtless a single Action is better than a complicated one, as [Pg xix] such; or in other Words, it is better, if it can be made equally entertaining. But there is the Difficulty: And for that Reason, it is a Question not yet decided, whether, even in Pieces for the Theatre, complicated Actions, all things considered, be not, generally speaking, preferable to single ones. And there is yet more Reason to prefer the former in an Epic Poem ”

“ Pope says of Ogilby's Homer, may as well be apply'd to his Virgil, that his Poetry is too mean for Criticism. Mr. Dryden tells us, that no Man understood Virgil better than the Earl of Lauderdale; and I believe few did. His Translation is pretty near to the Original; tho' not so close, as it's Brevity would make one imagine; and it sufficiently appears that he had a right Taste of Poetry in general, and of Virgil's in particular. He shews a true Spirit; and in many Places is very beautiful. But we should certainly [Pg xlix] have seen Virgil far better translated by a Noble Hand ”

“ The Greek Language, it is true, is superiour to the Latin, in This, as well as in every thing else; being the most expressive, the most harmonious, the most various, rich, and fruitful, and indeed, upon all Accounts, the best Language in the World. But if notwithstanding this great Advantage, Virgil's Diction and Versification be preferable to Homer's; his Glory for That very Reason will be so much the greater. Homer's Epithets, for the most part, are in Themselves exceedingly beautiful ”

“ I am aware too, that setting aside the Word Dramatic, Aristotle expresly declares for a Multitude of Speeches, and little Narration in Epic Poetry: But then I beg Leave once for all to make a Remark upon this Subject, which may be applied to some others; That Aristotle's Precepts are formed upon Homer's Practice; no other Heroic Poet having then appeared in the World. ”

“ It shines like the Light, and burns like the Fire.
As to Similes, Homer is supposed to have the full Propriety of Them; and even the greatest Part of Virgil's must be His. That a great Number of Virgil's are taken from him, I deny not; but most of them are exceedingly improved by being transplanted: Tho' I believe if he had taken fewer from Homer, and given us more of his own, his Poem would have been so much the better. Not that he really has copy'd from Homer in this Instance, near so much as some Criticks pretend; and he has more Similes entirely his own ”

“ This was abundantly performed by Virgil; whose Æneis is therefore only not perfect, because it did not receive his last Hand. Tho', even as it now is, it comes the nearest to Perfection of any Heroic Poem; and indeed of any Poem whatsoever, except another of his Own: I mean his Georgicks; which I look upon to be the most Consummate of all [Pg v] human Compositions: It's Author for Genius and Judgment, for Nature and Art, joined together, and taken one with another, being the greatest, and best of all human Writers. ”

“ But besides; admitting Homer to have the Advantage so far as this Objection supposes; yet still Virgil has it upon the Whole, even with respect to Fire, of which we are now discoursing. Tho' the Light in the cloudy Shrine were more than That in the Sun; yet in the Sun it is placed in a higher, and more regular Sphere; more aptly disposed for warming and illuminating, and more commodiously situated for the Delight and Benefit of Mankind. "The Roman Author (we are told) seldom rises into very astonishing Sentiments, where he is not fired by the Iliad. ”

“ In these Lines we have the Images of a hoary old Man, a vast rocky Mountain, black Clouds, Wind and Rain, Ice and Snow; One shrinks, and shivers, while one reads them: And yet the World affords few better Instances of Poetical Fire ”

“ In Lucan, and Statius, it bursts out in sudden, short, and interrupted Flashes: In Milton, it glows like a Furnace, kept up to an uncommon Fierceness by the Force of Art: In Shakespear, it strikes before we are aware, like an accidental Fire from Heaven: But in Homer, and in Him only, it burns every where clearly, and every where irresistibly." Supposing his Account of Lucan and Statius to be true: I no more know how to distinguish it from his Account of Shakespear, than I agree with him in the Character he gives of that great Man. For Fires from Heaven do not often strike ”

“ And lest we should imagine That Glass to be a Burning-Glass; it is reflected, and rather shining, than warm. Now I desire to be informed, what truer Idea any one can have of the coldest, and most spiritless Writer in the World; supposing him only to be a good Judge, and a Man of tolerable Parts. If I am my self a little warm upon this Subject, I hope it may be pardoned upon such an Occasion; when so great a Genius as Virgil's is unjustly censured by so great a Genius as Mr. ”

“ However, I do not pretend to decide as a Judge, but only to [Pg x] argue as an Advocate; and a Man may be allowed to plead with Prejudice, tho' he always ought to determine without it: For it may do no Mischief at the Bar, tho it be intolerable upon the Bench. But that my Reader may not be misguided by it, upon a Supposition that I am; I desire him to consider, that as I differ from some great Criticks, so I have the Authority of others to support my Opinion. I need not insist upon Scaliger, Rapin, and the incomparable Earl of Roscommon, whose Judgments upon this Point are very well known ”

“ We oftner think of the Author himself, when we read Virgil, than when we are engaged in Homer. All which are the Effects of a colder Invention, that interests us less in the Action described: Homer makes us Hearers, and Virgil leaves us Readers." I have the Misfortune to be of a quite different Sentiment. If Virgil outshines Homer in any thing, it is especially in his Speeches. ”