é 
* 460] 
The Golden Terge is another al- 
legorical poem of Dunbar’s, con- 
structcd in a stanza similar to Spen- 
ser’s, but more artificial, and far 
more difficult*. In description 
perhaps it excels, in sentiment it 
scarcely equals the Thistle and 
‘Rose. Its narrative is not inter- 
charged withdialogue ; its. allegory 
refers to the passicns, the dominion 
of beauty, the subjection cf reason, 
and is Jess fortunate than the This- 
tle and Rose, whose occult and se. 
condary signification is an histori- 
cal truth, that subsists apart, and 
however embellished, cannot be ob- 
scured by the ostensible emblem. 
When the passions, or the mental 
powers are personified and involv. 
ed in ation, we pursué the tale, 
forgetful of their abstraion, to 
which it is relative; bur to remedy 
this, the Golden Terge has a merit 
in its brevity which few allegorical 
poems possess. The allegorical 
genius of our ancient poetry dis- 
covers often a sublime invention ; 
but it has intercepted what is now 
mere valuable, the representation 
of genuine chara¢ter and of the 
manners peculiar to ancient life. 
These manners Dunbar has some- 
times delineated with humour, in 
poems lately retrieved from cblivi- 
ont; and from them he appears in 
the new light of a skilful satirist 
_and an attentive observer of hu- 
man nature. 
Gawin Douglas, his contempo- 
rary, was more conspicuous by the 
rare union of birth and learning, 
and is still distinguished as the first 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 
1796.. 
poetical translator of the classies in 
Britain. Early in youth he trans. 
lated Ovid’s de Remedia Amoris (a 
work that has perished); at a 
maturer age, Virgil’s Eneid inte 
Seottish heroics ; a trenslation po- 
pular till superseded at the close 
of the last century by others more 
elegant, not more faithful, nor 
perhaps more spi irited f 
nal poems are King Heart and the 
Palace of Honour, allegories too 
much protra¢ted, theese marked 
through out with a vivid invention; 
but his most valuable performances 
are prologues to the books of his 
Enéid; stored occasionally with 
exquisite description. As a poet he 
is inferior to Donbar, neither so 
tender nor so various in his pow 
ers. His taste and judgment are 
less corre€t, and his verses less po- 
lished. The one describes by se- 
leGting, the ether by accumulating 
images; bet with sach success: 
His prologues descriptive of the 
winter solstice, ef a morning and 
evening in summer, transport the 
mind to the seasons they delineate, 
teach it to sympathize with the 
poet’s, and. to watch with kis the 
minutest changes that nature ex. 
hibits. These are the earliest po- 
ems professedly descriptive ; but j in 
description Scottish poets are rich 
beyond belief. Their language 
swells with the subject, depicting 
nature with the brightest and hap- 
piest seletion of colours. The 
Janguage of modern poetry is more 
intelligible, not so luxuriant, nor 
the terms so harmonious. De- 
* Like Spenser’s, it consists of nine verses, restricted however to two st ip. 
stead of three, which S ee ’s admits of. 
+ Vide his poems in 
inkerton’s Collection. 
tlt was finished in sixteen months; and, till Dryden’s appeared, seems to have 
been received as a standard translation: «ill 
translation. 
en it was certainiy the best 
scription 
oHits origi- 
