Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux

“ The moving Sight her Lord's brave Soul opprest;
Honour and Love contended in his Breast.
Till calling his known Courage to his Aid,
Thus to the Queen of his Desires he said:
(But with a Voice which spoke divided Care,
A Lover's Sweetness, and a Husband's Air,)
Madam, Should I my Happiness disown,
And Joys so often reap'd from you alone;
I should to Honour a curst Traytor prove,
Unworthy of your Bed, and lavish Love ”

“ Resolves, what e'er Fate means, to stand the Blow;
When from his Powdry Roost the Bird of Night
With Fate-denouncing Outcries takes his Flight;
Like Statues, Petrefy'd with chilly Fear,
Unable to resist, they shake, they stare. ”

“ Art thou the Man, who blam'd the tedious Day,
And curs'd the lagging Sun's unkind Delay?
Rise, follow us; great Deeds great Souls inflame.
At this the Barber blush'd with gen'rous Shame.
Then to his well-fill'd Magazine he flies,
Where many an Iron Weapon sacred lies,
Till call'd to Light on some brave Enterprize. ”

“ Dar'st thou then, Traytor, so perfidious prove
To plighted Faith, and Hymeneal Love?
Are all th' Indearments of a Wedded Life,
The soft Embraces of a tender Wife,
(A Wife alas! just ready to expire)
Too Weak to conquer one unkind Desire? ”

“ Why must those who are so worthy to live, be so soon snatch'd from the World, whilst the Worthless and Undeserving are crown'd with Length of Days! I shall say no more upon so sad a Subject, lest I wet with Tears the Preface of a Work purely Jocular. ”

“ In Storms of Icy Rain he plows the Air,
Lays waste the Fields and makes the Orchards bare:
Throws down the blooming Honour of the Boughs,
The Promise of the teeming Year and Lab'ring Gardner's Vows. ”

“ That which indeed to me seems most liable to an Exception, is, that the Gentleman has taken the Liberty in some Places to depart from his Author, and to substitute other Persons and Things in the Room of Those which he has left out or chang'd; and that while he still retains the original Story, and keeps the Scene at Paris, he makes use of the Names of Men and Books in England, 'unknown to and unthought of by Monsieur Boileau, and particularly in the Battle of the Books, where he makes use of some French and some English: I could have wish'd indeed they had all belong'd to one Nation ”

“ While the wrong'd Widow want of Justice mourns,
And the vex'd Air each empty groan returns;
Pale Want and Famine, like some injur'd Ghost,
Stalk o'er the Ground, and weep their Treasures lost.
Infamous Poverty, Devouring Care,
And Everlasting Toil, and lean Despair,
And black Chagrin, Compleat the Mournful Part;
The wretched Off-spring of her Cursed Art!
Case-Books and Codes the Busy [errata 1] Hag Consume,
And Dies her self to dig another's Tomb;
At every Meal, the hungry Fury Eats
Fair Palaces, strong Castles, Country Seats. ”

“ But one, that Peaceful durst her Power disown.
Sacred to pious Ease this Temple stood
Unshook by Tempests in a raging Flood:
Of all her numerous Sisters only she
Enjoy'd an disturb'd Tranquillity.
⁠The Fiend at Sight of this offensive Peace
Grins horrible, she howls, her Serpents hiss;
Then lashing her thin Form, strong Poison fills
Her Mouth; with Vengeance her lean Bosom swells ”

“ She saw Three Champions, who delight in War:
Proudly they march'd beneath her thick Disguise,
Safe in their Strength, secure from Human Eyes:
While Discord's fiery Brands their Souls inflame,
Who threatens here to Aggrandize her Name. ”

“ At length the Canons their strong Fetters break,
Unseal their Lids, and in Confusion Wake:
Monstrous and wild Ideas Each Conceives,
And what his Fancy breeds, his Fear believes:
One Thinks loud Thunder Splits the Sacred Choire ”

“ You will find very Great, but necessary Variations from the Original; whether for the better or the worse, I submit to You, from whose Judgment there is no Appeal.
Nothing checks and deadens the Fancy more than a too superstitious Respect for the Original, especially in Poetry; It is commonly the Cause that an Idolatrous Translator (as la Motte calls such a one) endeavouring too exactly to render All the Beauties of his Author, gives you in Truth never a one. Every Minute Circumstance of a Thought cannot be preserv'd with any tolerable Grace, nor is it indeed necessary ”

“ Darts thro' the Troops and Animates the Whole.
Victoria yielding to thy Stronger Charms,
Caress'd thy Standard and Embrac'd thy Arms.
Asham'd and Angry at their late Defeat,
They light their Taper and their Task repeat:
The Noisy Enemy flies off unhurt,
And what was late their Terror is their Sport. ”

“ And an unweary'd Princess fills Britannia's Throne.
Each Day she frights me with the Noise of Arms,
Slights my Embraces, and defies my Charms.
In vain does Nature, Seas and Rocks oppose,
To bar her Virtue ”

“ At Clotho's Head, and Smote him 'twixt the Brows;
When, Strange effect! the brawny Priest began
To Yawn and stretch; Lethargic Stiffness Ran
Thro' All the Magazines of Vital Heat;
The Veins no more Life's quickning task repeat ”

“ Twenty Large Hogsheads fill'd by my Command,
Rang'd Orthodoxly in my Cellar stand:
These are my Authors, There my Study's plac'd;
By Them Inform'd, Substantial Bliss I Taste;
And since All Knowledge in Opinion lies,
Can, when I please, from thence be Warm and Wise.
As for this Desk; D'ye Think your Books will Charm
The Monster down? Believe me, this Right Arm
More expeditiously your Work shall Do;
The Gorgon without Latin Overthrow.
What ever does offend me I'll Remove,
Tho' All the Fathers shou'd the Desk approve:
Let us to Breakfast, and our Sorrows drown ”

“ But my Lord, if it really be so bold an Undertaking to translate the Lutrin, it is unpardonably worse to offer it to Your Lordship, whose Penetration, is equal to Your Noble Birth; and yet Both yield to the prevalence of your Good Temper, which with a like Indulgence receives the Homage of all sorts of Persons. ”

“ Then Tempting Gold displays: She with delight
Views the bright Scene, and dwells upon the Sight.
When thus the Sire——Contention's Mighty Queen!
Unquestion'd You o'er Kings and Peasants Reign.
Thro' Thee, Force useless is, and Laws are weak;
Statutes, like Cobwebs, You at pleasure Break.
For Thee the Hind Sweats at his drudging Plough;
For Thee his Flocks are fleec'd, his Meadows grow.
For Thee he Yearly reaps his Golden Fields ”

“ Whatever Name or Title the Criticks may be pleas'd to dignify or distinguish this Sort of Writing with, I am sure it has had the good Fortune to be very well receiv'd: The Reputation of the Lutrin in France, and the Dispensary in England, are two of the best Modern Instances of Success in Poetry that can be given. ”

“ What Force cou'd such Confed'rate Pow'rs sustain!
Each honours with a Blow his gallant Hand;
The Desk as bravely strove their Rage to stand:
Firmly a while the Hydra kept his Ground,
Till some dire Hero gave a fatal Wound ”

“ OUR Lordship is not to be inform'd of the great Reputation Monsieur Boileau has acquired by all his Works. They are esteem'd so Nice in themselves, that it has been thought by some as rash an Attempt to translate this French Author, as for an English General to attack an Army of theirs. The late Successes of some former Campaigns have sufficiently prov'd that their Heroes are not Invincible ”

“ However it is very plain that ev'n in this, Virgil has been of great Use to him, and supply'd him with some of his finest Images; to mention one Particular only, every Body may see, that his Fury who sets the good People at Paris together by the Ears, is a manifest Copy of Alecto in the seventh Æneid, or indeed is rather taken from Juno and Alecto together, as both contriving and executing the Mischief her Self. ”

“ And may they prove as killing as her Eye!
⁠Boirude recall'd his Spirits to his Aid,
And with Collected force th' Advice Obey'd.
By Brontin Cover'd, Takes delib'rate Aim,
And at the Warrior darts the Missive Dame.
⁠The tender Auth'ress Softens on his Crown,
And Guiltless of a Wound fell Feebly down.
⁠Ye Miscreant Pair, said Fabri, thus you see
My Front rebates your soft Artillery.
Think ye, that I, who like a Castle stand,
Can fall, the Conquest of a Female Hand? ”

“ And Clients there, the dreadful Charge sustain:
The Lord, Clown, Senator, Fop, Bully, Cit,
Mingling in one vexatious Jargon fight;
Round Themis every Standard they display,
And in the Wordy War consume the Day. ”

“ Confess'd his new-born Joy, and strove to rise:
His Colour grows again, his Voice receives
Its ancient Tone, and the whole Man revives;
The lusty Gammon reassumes its Place,
He scans and blesses every friendly Face.
Then to the general Health a Goblet swills;
Each Man the great Example takes, and fills:
The [4] Cruise bled pure Vermillion Nectar round,
And the Desert their Entertainment crown'd. ”

“ Soften'd his Rage, and broke his three Hours Fast.
Yet the black Choler strugling with his Meat,
Oppos'd the Passage of each luscious Bit.
Good Gilotin express'd in Groans his Care,
And politickly spreads the growing Fear. ”

“ Yes, e're we die, if noble Death must come,
The Rival Desk shall, falling, share Our Doom.
Strengthen'd with Rage, at these Determin'd Words
The Furious Chanter seiz'd the trembling Boards;
When, guided thither by Auspicious Chance,
Roger and John, two well known Chiefs, Advance;
Renowned Normans both, Equally Skill'd
I'th' Law, with Knowledge and Experience fill'd;
They hear his Anger's Source, his Cause they Own ”

“ The Storm be hush'd, and all Compos'd to Peace.
Lo, yon Vast Dome, by Mortals much Revere'd,
Where suppliant Clients at all Hours are heard!
There sits a Matchless Man, and bears in State
My Honourable Purple's Pompous Weight. ”

“ Sends forth her Heroes to dissolve their Fears;
With Insulary Thunder to Prevent
The tow'ring Giants of the Continent.
The L'ouvre shakes, Pale Louis tastes again
The terrors of a New Ramillia Plain.
Th' Escurial dreads ANNA's recruited Might,
And Anjou Saddles for a Second Flight:
Parisian Walls shall prove a weak Defence
For [9] Quixot Kings,and each [10] Knight Errant Prince.
In vain do's Terror urge; Supine they lie,
And wait between the Sheets their Destiny. ”

“ Deaden'd their Spirits and benumb'd their Blood.
The Ardor of their burning Zeal decreas'd;
And lagging Faith their load of Sins Confess'd.
The Mortifying Monk grown Debonair
Shook off the Ashes, and his Coat of Hair.
The Prelate, by Intrigues prefer'd to Place,
High Living held to be Sufficient Grace ”

“ In idle Pastime truanting the Day;
Far from their Studious Masters prying Sight,
They give a Loose to Joy, and Revel in Delight.
But if stern Argus by Surprise appears,
They quit their Pleasures and resume their Fears ”

“ F Criticising other People's Works, especially living and late Authors, were not a Task that I am by no Means inclin'd to, I should have sooner answer'd your Desire, and told you what I thought of Monsieur Boileau's Lutrin, and the Translation of it into English Verse, which you did me the Favour to send me in Writing. ”

“ Go Still be Slaves, still Fawn, and Lick, and Bow;
I will the Canons raise without ye Now.
Approach then, Honest Girot, thou true Friend!
Whom neither Bribes can Shake, nor Prelates Bend:
Do thou the Maundy Thursday's [5] Rattle Take ”

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Errata
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“ Nor does a Religious Person resent the ridiculing of a Rake. I shall not mention how I was engag'd in this Trifle upon a kind of a jocular Challenge made me by the late Monsieur Lamoignon, whom I paint under the Name of Aristus. ”

“ On the last Word tenaciously he Dwells,
And lengthens out the bashful Syllables.
He Stammers, Pauses, Stops, and Speechless grown,
With Shame Oppress'd young Cicero plunges down.
FINIS.
↑ La Grande Chartreuse among the Alps. ↑ Frock. A Monk's Habit. ↑ St. Louis, Founder of the Holy Chapel. ↑ The Chapel was near Mr. Lamoignon's Palace.
Mr. Lamoignon (the Aristus of Boileau) was Premier President; a Place of Law and Equity too. ”