151 



Softly fweet in Lydian meafures, 

 Thus he footh'd his foul to pleafures- 



The Roman language, however, and the elegant, the luxurious and 

 gallant court of Augufius were deftined to exhibit amatory poetry, in 

 its full perfeftion, in the perfons of the three great poets, Ovid^ 

 Tibullus and Propertius. Thefe celebrated and juftly admirable cotempo- 

 raries, though they treat on a common fubjeft, fliow much originality 

 of genius and manner, and differ, in a lingular and ftriking degree, 

 from each other; while the critical reader Hands fufpended, and is 

 doubtful, on which he fliall bellow the preference, and at laft beftows 

 it, rather according to his peculiar jafte and fancy, than from a de- 

 cided conviflion of the real fuperiority of the writer, whom he thus 

 prefers. 



Ovid, Tibullus and Propertius have this in common, that they did not 

 merely produce light and occafional amorous effufions, the offspring of 

 carelefsnefs, chance and leifure. They feem, to have given their whole 

 fouls and affeftions to the purfuits of love ; to have made that paffion the 

 grand object of their lives ; the great and favourite fubjeft of their mufe. 

 This admirable triumvirate appeared, in faft, to have looked on their amatory 

 compofitions, with the confcious pride of genius ; and to have confider- 

 ed them as the fureft foundations of their pretenfions to poetical repu- 

 tation. In forming this judgment of their own pretenfions and talents, 

 they were perfeftiy well founded ; for, in their produftions confecrated 

 to love, they Ihew an energy and talent, a care, a ftudy, a corrcft- 

 ncfs of compofition, and a knowledge of the human heart, a feeling of 

 ail the doubts and uncertainties, the pains and pleafures, the hopes and 

 fears of the delightful but tormenting paffion, which they celebrate, 

 fuch as fcarccly ever has been equalled in any language, and certain- 

 ly never has been furpaffed. 



Ovid furpaffes his rivals and contemporaries, in fancy, gaiety, inge- 

 nuity, and wit ; Tibullus, in nature, pathos, real tendernefs, fweetnefs, 

 eafe and unaffefted fimplicity ; Propertius excels, in fublimity, loltinefs 

 of manner, dignity and refinement of fentiment, purity of paffion, and 



learning, 



