XXV111 



KISE AND PUOUUESS 



topics, than in any other part of liis works. 

 Hesiod was before his eyes only so far that 

 Hesiod had likewise sung of rural scenes and 

 occupations; but Virgil leads us into a new 

 country, filled with new images, and where we 

 feel ourselves under the conduct of a nobler and 

 more eloquent guide. Had the same degree of 

 originality appeared in his epic poem, Virgil 

 might better have supported a comparison, 

 which it is now highly indiscreet in his admirers 

 lo institute, with the great minstrel of Greece. 

 But, under existing circumstances, it is wonder- 

 ful that any one should place the JKneid in com- 

 petition with the works of Homer. It is deficient 

 in the primary requisite for exciting a strong 

 interest 'Hie character of the hero is a blank ; 

 we neither sympathize with his feelings nor care 

 for his success. How different from those pro- 

 minent and commanding features that rivet our 

 attention to the persons and the adventures of 

 Achilles and the Wanderer of Ithaca ! And for 

 the poet's failure in this respect there is an 

 obvious reason. The character of ./Eneas came 

 not to him conveyed by the hot breath of a liv- 

 ing tradition. He drew upon his fancy for the 

 image, and that too under no livelier impulse 

 than the wish to make the Trojan prince an al- 

 legory of the emperor Augustus. If such an 

 inspiration was bad, the attempt to unite in one 

 poem the distinct plans and excellencies of the 

 Iliad and Odyssey was equally unfavourable to 

 the structure and management of the plot. It 

 has neither the concentrated dramatic interest 

 of the first, nor the free scope and bewitching 

 variety of the second. The ffAieid has striking 

 beauties ; but it has not the peculiar charm of 

 the Iliad it has not the peculiar charm of the 

 Odyssey. Had the wishes of Virgil with respect 

 to its destruction been obeyed, the world would 

 have lost much of splendid expression, dexterous 

 imitation, and graceful imagery, but we are not 

 sure that much fame would have been sacrificed 

 by the author of the Georgics. 



Of all the great lights of Latin literature, 

 HORACE, though an unblushing plagiary with 

 regard to the Greek originals, stands most alone 

 in relation to his own countrymen. In lyric 

 poetry he is not approached either by Catullus 

 before him, or by Statins after him; in the easy 

 flow of his epistolary verse he has no rival ; and 

 in satire, however we may rank his merits in 

 comparison with those of Persius and Juvenal, 

 his vein of liberal sarcasm and elegant philoso- 

 phy is peculiar to himself. Perhaps the balanced 

 judgment, the avoidance of extremes, so con- 

 spicuous in .the rest of his writings, may be es- 

 teemed the true cause why his lyric efforts, pre- 



eminent as they are among the productions of 

 the Roman muse, bear little resemblance to the 

 nobler effusions of the Grecian masters. The 

 very circumstances of Roman life, in the culti- 

 vated and intellectual classes, divided between 

 political occupations, and the enjoyment of ex- 

 cessive luxury, and in either case adverse to that 

 susceptibility of high and keen emotions which 

 is essential to the development of the lyric facul- 

 ty, opposed an obstacle to his success. But the 

 temper of his mind increased the difficulties with 

 which Horace had to contend. Where he mere- 

 ly translates the minor poems of Archilochus, 

 Alcman, or Alcasus, or borrows detached thoughts 

 and forms of expression from Pindar, we are 

 pleased with his ingenuity ; but, except once or 

 twice on Roman subjects, which seem to have 

 roused the pride of citizenship, we search in vain 

 for the flow and fire of genuine enthusiasm. 

 There is little of Pindaric ecstasy about him. In 

 reading the odes of Horace we figure to ourselves 

 a man of genius, in some delightful retreat, fol- 

 lowing out the train of sentiments and images 

 that arise in his mind, with great self-compla- 

 cency and a design to please his patrons or his 

 friends; but there is nothing like the Greek 

 inspiration of a solemn festival, a public triumph, 

 music sounding in the poet's ear, and nations 

 hanging on his lips. In Horace we have point, 

 terseness, and vivacity ; in Pindar the glow of a 

 " fine frensiy " and impetuosity hurrying us 

 along in a breathless transport. These authors 

 well display the opposite tendencies of their dif- 

 ferent languages ; the condensed vigour of the 

 Roman periodic style the mingled abruptness 

 and diffusiveness of the not more manly, but 

 more genial and enchanting Greek. 



LIVT is the third great ornament of the 

 Augustan period. In genius he might, perhaps, 

 justly be ranked even above his poetical contem- 

 poraries. His originality alone, had he no other 

 merit, seems to entitle him to this pre-eminence ; 

 since he struck out for himself a new path, re- 

 mote at once from the crude and meagre style 

 of Fabius Pictor and his followers, and from the 

 affected mannerism and ambitious philosophy c 

 Sal lust. To rebut imputations upon his veraci- 

 ty, his impartiality, or his diligence in collecting 

 facts and collating authorities, is not necessary 

 here. Looking solely to his literary qualifica- 

 tions for writing history, it is impossible to con- 

 ceive anything superior to his power of animated 

 narrative and picturesque description, or to the 

 freedom and acuteness with which he delineates 

 striking characters as well as important events. 

 The eloquence that yet lingered in his pages was 

 a rich compensation to his own times, and still 



