TRY. 
775 
POE 
and con foies himfelf with the refleClion, that the youth of 
future ages, who may experience the joys or the pangs of 
love, will hang over his tomb, and exclaim, “ Ardoris 
noftri magne poeta jaces.” 
The Elegies contained in the remaining three books, 
being addrefled to different perfons, and upon various 
lubjefts, are probably lefs incerelting to thofewho admire 
the impaffioned ftyleand moving language of thofe add reff- 
ed to Cynthia. Some are political ; others, particularly 
thofe imitated from the Greeks, are learned and abltrufe. 
Of his fatirical powers, the 16th of the iff book is a fa¬ 
vourable fpecimen, though too clofe an imitation of Ca¬ 
tullus. 
From the extreme groiTnefs. which deformed the ama¬ 
tory eft'ufions of fome of the preceding authors, we turn 
to the poems of Tibullus. Here we find no drawbacks 
on our enjoyment; the pleafure they afford us, whatever 
be its degree, we can always tafte unalloyed; thejudg* 
ment is not revolted by pedantry, nor the feelings dif- 
guffed by pictures of grofs obfcenity. He may not be 
able to boaft of the almoft intoxicating fweetnefs of Ca¬ 
tullus, and he may be excelled by Propertius in fplendour 
and dignity of verfification; but, as we have before obferv- 
ed, he has fleered clear of the more ferious errors which 
disfigured the productions of his competitors. Conftancy, 
however, does not appear to have been his virtue; nor did 
he think it neceffary to reftriCt to one nymph only, either 
the ardour of his flame or the homage of his mufe. Delia 
and Plautia,Nemefis, Neaera, and Sulpicia, are each of them 
by turns the themes of his praifes. Pofterity, however, 
has no reafon to regret either the warmth or the fickle- 
nefs of his character as a lover. Though amorous, he is no 
where licentious; and his Elegies difplay a union of 
chaftenefs and warmth rarely found in amatory poetry. 
His language always appears the genuine expreflion of 
his feelings; of one who fits down to write what he thinks, 
not to think what he fhall write. In native pathos he 
hands perhaps alone; and the graces of fafcinating fiin- 
plicity which everywhere encounter us in his verfe, 
make us ready to exclaim of it, as he does of his own 
Sulpicia, “ Mille habet ornatus; mille decenter habef.” 
Few. writers have met with more juft or more genera} 
admiration ; and it is difficult to feleCt excellencies where 
all is beautiful. Perhaps nothing in his elegies is more 
tender and fpirited, than the manner in which he pro- 
pofes to furprife his miftrefs: 
At tu cafta, precor, maneas, fan&ique pudoris 
Affideat cuftos fedula Temper anus. 
Hsec tibi fabellas referat, pofitaque lucerna. 
Deducat pleno ftamina longa colo. 
Tunc veniam J'ubitd, ne quifquam nuniiet ante 
Sed videar ccelo miffus adejje tibi. 
Tunc mihiy qualis eris, longos turbata capillos, 
Obvia nuduto, Delia, curve pede. El. 3. 
His praife to Sulpicia is among his beft known produc¬ 
tions ; the compliment, 
Illam quicquid agit, quoquo veftigia fleClit, 
Componit furtim, fubfequiturque decor, 
is as beautifully conceived as the lines are mufically 
turned. 
Horace.-— It is impoflible to clafs this poet. He wrote 
almoft every kind of poem. His Odes are, in fome few 
Inftances, clothed with that fublimity which fo exclufively 
belongs to the flights of Pindar: more commonly they 
are of a beautiful and tender caff, or of a philofophical and 
friendly kind. The exquifite fenfual and joyous glee of 
Anacreon he attempted with fuccefs. He wrote in every 
fpecies of verfe with equal facility. His thoughts are 
the genuine offspring of nature : they are dictated by 
truth and reafon. Unwilling to deck his ftyle with fri¬ 
volous ornaments which can amufe only fuperficial minds, 
he compenfates for the want of thefe by the grandeur of 
his ideas and figures, in the Odes; and by the chaftenefs 
of his elocution, and the propriety of his images, in his 
Satires and Epiftles. Grace everywhere flows from his 
pen, and pleafes the more becaufe natural and unftudied. 
His poetry is not a barren foil; the ufeful and the agree¬ 
able fpring up together; we are at once amufed and in- 
ftruCted. The mind finds itfelf enriched by fables, liif- 
tory, and geography, which are fprinkled through the 
whole work with judgement, and without affectation. The 
heart is improved by a variety of wife reflections on 
the manners of his age, and by the lively reprefentations 
of vice and virtue. In a word, the tafte is formed by a 
compofition juft and correCt, without conftrainc; full of 
grace and beauty, without varnifh ; eafy, and yet not ne¬ 
gligent; always feafoned with fo much wit and learning 
as to leave no room for difguft. 
It has been fometimes faid, that elegance, not fublimity, 
is the charaCteriftic of Horace. But, furely, if any one 
turn to the 15th, 35th, 37th, Odes of the firft book; the 
ill, 13th, and 19th, of the fecond book; and, efpecially, 
the ift, 3d, and 4th, the character of Regulus in the 5th, 
and the 25th, of the third book; the 4th, 9th, and 14th, 
of the fourth book ; he will allow Horace pretenfions to 
fublimity. Obfervealfo with what magnificence, and pomp 
of expreflion, he defcribes a lyric poet, and a favourite of 
the mufes, in the 3d Ode of book iv. 
Quern tu, Melpomene, femel 
Nafcentem placido lumine videris. 
Ilium non labor Ifthmius 
Clarabit pugilem ; non equus impiger 
Curru ducet Acha'ico 
ViCtorem : neque res bellica Deliis 
Ornatum foliis ducem, 
Quod regum tumidas contuderit minas, 
Oftendet Capitolio : 
Sed quae Tibur aquae fertile perfluunt, 
Et fpiflae nemorum comae, 
Fingent iEolio carmine nobilem. 
But the fplendour of Horace, not having the glare and 
extravagance of Pindar, does not fo immediately ftrike 
the eye, but is generally more agreeable to the underftand- 
ing of the reader. He is more correCl in his expreflions, 
lefs extravagant in his metaphors, lefs bold in his tranli- 
tions. Though he fometimes fwells, and rifes high, lie 
never exceeds thofe limits which a clear judgment pre- 
fcribed to a warm imagination. 
The Satires of Horace are perhaps the moft effectual 
that ever were written. He does not often indulge in the 
biting farcafm of Perfius, nor had the oratorical profufion 
and indignation of Juvenal; but he is politer than either, 
and has the art of varying the tedium of mere fatire by 
allufions, introductions, and reflexions. His morality is 
good ; his maturer age difclaimed the errors of Epicurifm 
that his youth had adopted; and he fpeaks with due ve¬ 
neration of one Supreme Power, fuperior to all created 
beings, who will not fuffer crimes to be committed with 
impunity; to whom even kings art accountable for their 
conduCt, and who ought to be the fource and end of all 
their aCtions. He teaches us, that happinefs confifts in 
the right ufe of our reafon, and in curbing the tumultu¬ 
ousTallies of our paflions ; that we cannot too foon de¬ 
vote ourfelves to the ftudy of wifdom ; that nothing but 
virtue deferves our admiration, and that, without it, 
there can be no true or rational freedom. He has proved 
himfelf a mailer in the moft difficult part of human con¬ 
duct, that of advifing others, which he always does with 
great fincerity, but without the appearance of premedita¬ 
tion. The 10th Ode of lib. ii. to Licinius Mursena, is a 
fine example of this. Murtena was brother-in-law to 
Mectenas, and, through his interell, could have little 
doubt of being promoted. But this would not fatisfy his 
reftlefs ambition; nor could the feafonable advice of 
Horace prevent him from entering into a conl’piracy with 
Fannius and others, which coft him his life.—In the 15th 
of lib. i. where he reprefents Nereus as declaring to Paris 
