365 



poetical and picturesque ; and such I 

 believe it always has been thought. The 

 ruffled plumage of the eagle, which Mr. 

 Gilpin has put in italics, as the circum- 

 stance which most strongly marks that 

 character, is both in Mr. West's translation, 

 and Mr. Gray's imitation ; but as far as I 

 can judge, there is not the least trace of it 

 in the original. I have not the most dis- 

 tant pretensions to any critical knowledge 

 of the Greek language ; yet still I think, 

 that by the help of those interpreters who 

 have studied it critically, an unlearned 

 man, if he feels the spirit of a passage, may 

 arrive at a pretty accurate idea of the 

 force of the expressions. From them it ap- 

 pears to me, that far from describing the 

 eagle with ruffled plumes, or with any cir- 

 cumstance truly picturesque, Pindar has, 

 on the contrary, avoided every idea that 

 might disturb the repose, and majestic 

 beauty of his image. After he has described 

 the eagle's flagging wing, he adds tyov vutov 

 which is so opposite to ruffled, that it 

 seems to signify that perfect smoothness 



B B 3 



