author:Ovid

“ Perhaps the Criticks of a more exalted Taste, may discover such Beauties in the antient Poetry, as may escape the Comprehension of us Pigmies of a more limited Genius. They may be able to fathom the Divine Sense of the Pagan Theology; whilst we aim at no more, than to judge of a little common Sense.
It is, and ever will be a Rule to a great many, to applaud and condemn with the general Vogue, tho' never so ill grounded. The most are afraid of being Particular ”

“ It was remarkable, That She, who, with a Manner most engaging, taught the innocent Pleasures to appear more desirable, than the Criminal; who was every Day the Life of some new agreeable Diversion; should behave Her self, upon that cruel Tryal, with a Magnanimity so unshaken, that those who were Witnesses might have imagin'd, She scarce ever had done any thing, but study how to Dye.
It is the greatest Happiness can attend an Age under a long Depravation of Morals, to be blest with Examples, where Virtue is set off by the Advantage of Birth. ”

“ Poets, to give a Loose to a warm Fancy, are generally too apt, not only to expatiate in their Simile's, but introduce them too frequently; by doing the first, they detain the Attention too long from the principal Narration; and by the latter, they make too frequent Breaches in the Unity of the Poem.
Those two Errors Ovid has most discerningly avoided. How short, and significant are generally his Comparisons! he fails not, in these, to keep a stiff Rein on a High-mettled Pegasus; and takes care not to surfeit here, as he had done on other Heads, by an erroneous Abundance. ”

“ I am sure one is no more oblig'd to do so, than a Painter is to make every Face, that sits to him, handsome. 'Tis enough if he sets the best Features he finds in their full and most advantageous Light. But if the Poet has private Deformities, tho' Good-breeding will not allow to expose him naked, yet surely there can be no Reason to recommend him, as the most finish'd Model of Harmony and Proportion. ”

“ There are Perfections so shining, that one must be the very Worst of Mortals, or the very Best, not to admire in all Those, who possess them. To be blest with a Disposition to Charity, not confin'd by any other Limits, than the Modesty of those who ask It: To know, and be ready to excuse Faults ”

“ Tho' the Poet be justly celebrated for a most consummate Judgment, yet by an Endeavour to imitate Homer's Simile's, he is not only very long, but by introducing several Circumstances, he fails of an applicable Relation betwixt the principal Subject, and his new Ideas. He sometimes thinks fit to work into the Piece some differing Embroidery, which, tho' very rich, yet makes at best but glorious Patch-work. ”

“ Through the whole Texture of this Work, Ovid discovers the highest Humanity, and a most exceeding good Nature. The Virtuous in Distress are always his Concern; and his Wit contrives to give them an Immortality with himself.
He seems to have taken the most Pains in the first and second Book of the Metamorphoses, tho' the thirteenth abounds with Sentiments most moving, and with calamitous Incidents, introduc'd with great Art. ”

“ Human Nature is always more affected by what it sees, than what it hears of; And as those Ideas, which enter by the Eye, find the surest Passage to the Heart; so the more the Object, whatever it be, seems desirable to the One, the longer it continues in the Other. ”

“ To know the politer Languages of the present Age, as a Native, and the greater Occurrences, and Periods of the Past, as an Historian, make up a Character, which is so obvious, that Every one will know where to apply it, except the Person, whose it really is: and if in this Your Royal Highness be at a Loss, I think it is the only thing within the Province of Your Sex You are ignorant of. ”

“ From Cenis; that Effeminacy in Youth may change to Valour in Manhood, and that as Fame Perishes, so does Censure.
From Tereus; that one Crime lays the Foundation of many; and that the same Person, who begins with Lust, may conclude with Murder.
From Midas; that no Body can punish a Covetous Man worse, than he punishes himself; that scarce any thing wou'd sometimes prove more fatal to us, than the Completion of our own Wishes; and that he who has the most Desires, will certainly meet with the most Disappointments. ”

“ Ovid was so far from paying a blind Deference to the venerable Name of his Grecian Predecessor, in the Character of his Gods; that when Jupiter punishes Andromeda for the Crimes of her Mother, he calls him injustus Ammon, Met. B. 4. and takes commonly an honourable care of the Decorum of the Godhead, when their Actions are consistent with the Divinity of their Character. His Allegories include some Religious, or instructive Moral, wrap'd up in a peculiar Perspicuity. ”

“ And here it is obvious, that Ovid had a discerning Notion of the Gravitation of Bodies. 'Tis now demonstrated, that every Part of Matter tends to every Part of Matter with a Force, which is always in a direct simple Proportion of the Quantity of the Matter, and an inverse duplicate Proportion of the Distance; which Tendency or Gravitating is constant and universal. This Power, whatever it be, acting always proportionably to the solid Content of Bodies, and never in any Proportion to their Superficies ”

“ To add is often hazardous; but to retrench, commonly judicious. If our Author, instead of saying all he could, had only said all he should; Daphne had done well to fly from the God of Wit, in order to crown his Poet: Thus Ovid had been more honoured and ador'd in his Exile, than Augustus in his Triumphs. ”

“ Whether they consider the flowing Grace of his Versification; the vigorous Sallies of his Fancy; or the peculiar Delicacy of his Periods; they'll discover Excellencies never to be enough admir'd. If they trace him from the first Productions of his Youth, to the last Performances of his Age, they'll find, that as the Tyranny of Rhyme never impos'd on the Perspicuity of the Sense; so a languid Sense never wanted to be set off by the Harmony of Rhyme. ”

“ The Objection to Ovid, that he never knows when to give over, is too manifest. Tho' he frequently expatiates on the same Thought, in different Words; yet in his Simile's, that Exuberance is avoided. There is in them all a Simplicity, and a Confinement to the present Object ”

“ From the Pythagorean Philosophy, it may be observ'd, that Man is the only Animal, who kills his Fellow-Creature without being angry.
From Proteus we have this Lesson, that a Statesman can put on any Shape; can be a Spaniel to the Lyon, and a Lyon to the Spaniel; and that he knows not to be an Enemy, who knows not how to seem a Friend; that if all Crowns shou'd change their Ministry, as often as they please, tho' they may be call'd other Ministers, they are still the same Men. ”

“ Hally's Discourse on the Barometer, that if, on the Surface of the Earth, an Inch of Quicksilver in the Tube be equal to a Cylinder of Air of 300 Foot, it will be at a Mile's Height equal to a Cylinder of Air of 2700000: And therefore the Air at so great a Distance from the Earth, must be rarify'd to so great a Degree, that the Space it fills must bear a very small Proportion to that which is entirely void of Matter. ”

“ Ovid as much deserves Praise, for saying a great deal in a little, as Censure for saying a little in a great deal. None of the Classick Poets had the Talent of expressing himself with more Force and Perspicuity.
Phaeton desires some Pledge of his Father's Tenderness, and asks to be trusted with his Chariot. He answers,
Pignora certa petis ”

“ The Metamorphoses must be consider'd, as is observ'd before, very uncorrect; and Virgil's Works as finish'd: tho' his own Modesty wou'd not allow the Æneids to be so. It seems it was harder for him to please himself, than his Readers. His Judgment was certainly great, nor was his Vivacity of Imagination less; for the first without the last is too heavy, and like a Dress without Fancy; and the last without the first is too gay, and but all Trimming. ”

“ Dido, like other Ladies, resents the Neglect, enumerates the Obligations the Lover is under, upbraids him with Ingratitude, threatens him with Revenge, then by and by submits, begs for Compassion, and has Recourse to Tears.
It appears from this Piece, that Virgil was a discerning Master in the Passion of Love: And they that consider the Spirit, and Turn of that inimitable Line⸻Qui Bavium non odit⸻ cannot doubt but he had an equal Talent for Satyr.
Nor does the Genius of Ovid more exert on the Subject of Love, than on all others. ”

“ But to return to Ovid; tho' I cannot vindicate him for his Points, I shall endeavour to mollify his Criticks, when they give him no Quarter for his Diction, and attack him so inflexibly for ending his Lines with Monosyllables, as —si quis —si non, &c. and as I think he cannot be excus'd more advantagiously, than by affirming, that where he has done it once, Virgil has twenty times
There are a great many Endings of Lines in this manner, and more indeed than seems consistent with the Majesty of Heroick Verse. ”

“ THE Method I propose in writing this Preface, is to take Notice of some of the Beauties of the Metamorphoses, and also of the Faults, and particular Affectations. After which I shall proceed to hint at some Rules for Translation in general; and shall give a short Account of the following Version.
I shall not pretend to impose my Opinion on others with the magisterial Authority of a Critic; but only take the Liberty of discovering my own Taste. ”

“ The Man, that cou'd make Kings immortal, and raise triumphant Arches to Heroes, now wants a poor square Foot of Stone, to show where the Ashes of one of the greatest Poets, that ever was upon Earth, are deposited. ”

“ In the End, Inclination, as it does always, gets the better of Discretion.
This last Fable shows how touchingly the Poet argues in Love Affairs, as well as those of Medea, and Scylla. The two last are left by their Heroes, and their Reflections are very natural, and affecting. Ovid seem'd here to have had Virgil's Passion of Dido in his Eye, but with this Difference ”

“ The Original should always be kept in View, without too apparent a Deviation from the Sense. Where it is otherwise; it is not a Version, but an Imitation. The Translator ought to be as intent to keep up the Gracefulness of the Poem, as artful to hide its Imperfections; to copy its Beauties, and to throw a Shade over its Blemishes, to be faithful to an ldolatry, where the Author excells ”

“ To have a Superiority of Genius capable of judging of the highest Affairs, and an Application so observant, as to penetrate into the most Minute: To be easy to lay down Grandeur upon familiar Occasions, and discerning to take It up, when Dignity of Station requires ”

“ When they are otherwise, they are Furies. 'Tis certain that Parnassus is at best but a barren Mountain, and its Inhabitants contrive to make it more so by their unneighbourly Deportment; the Authors are the only Corporation that endeavour at the Ruin of their own Society. Every Day may convince them, how much a rich Fool is respected above a poor Wit. ”

“ That of Phæton; how the too great Tenderness of the Parent proves a Cruelty to the Child; and that he who would climb to the Seat of Jupiter, generally meets with his Bolt by the way.
The Tale of Baucis and Philemon is most inimitably told. He omits not the minutest Circumstance of a Cottage Life; and is much fuller than Virgil, where he brings in his contented old Man Corycius. G. 4. Ovid represents a good old Couple; happy, and satisfy'd a cleanly Poverty, hospitable, and free of the few things, that Fortune had giv'n them; moderate in Desires ”

“ Juno calls Diana, the Goddess of Chastity, κύον ἀδδεές, Brazen-fac'd Bitch; Hom. Il. I. B. 21. l. 481. Jupiter insults his Daughter, the Goddess of Wisdom, for Rashness and Folly; bids Iris tell her, he'll maul her Coach-Horses for her, like a surly Bitch as she is; ἀινοτάΊη κύον: Il. B. 8. from l. 400. to l. 425. then threatens in another Place to beat his Wife, that divine Vixon, the immortal Partner of the Empyreal Throne, και σε πλήγησιν ἱμάσσω Il. B. 15. l. 17.
The Commentators may endeavour to hide those Absurdities under the Veil of Allegories ”

“ Juno upbraids Venus, and Cupid ironically, that two Deities cou'd be able to get the better of one weak Woman,
——Memorabile nomen,
Una dolo Divûm, si fæmina victa duorum est.
Æn. B. 4. l. 95. Euryalus, going upon an Enterprise, expresses his Concern for his surviving Mother, if he shou'd fall, and recommends her to the Care of Ascanius, who answers,
Namque erit ista mihi genitrix, nomenque Creüsæ
Solum defuerit—
Venus is importunate in her Sollicitations to Vulcan, to make Armour for her Son: He answers,
——Absiste precando
Viribus indubitare tuis—⁠Æn. B. 7. ”