1806.|  Extraéts from the Portfolio of a Man of Letters. 
In the third eclogue there is a fimile, 
too, whichis prettily appropriate. 
Qualis tranquillo quz labitur equore cymba, 
Cum Zephyris fummez crifpantur leniter 
unda, 
Tuta volat, luditque hilaris per tranftra ju- 
ventus, 
Talis vita mihi dum me Chloris amabat. 
There.is a line of Lord Strangford, 
*¢ His courfe was pleafure’s placid wave,” 
in which the fimile of Sannizarius is exhi- 
bited in miniature. 
POPs VIRGIL 
Pitt's tranflation of the A®neid has ne- 
ver received half the encomiums it de- 
ferves. Thereare many who prefer Dry- 
den’s, though in many inftances a very 
flovenly performance. Where the poet 
indeed breaks out, as he occafionally does, 
he far furpaffes Pitt, and poffefles more 
fire perhaps than Virgil himfelf. But 
Pitt preferves better the grave majefty of 
the Manruan bard, and the corre&t harmo- 
ny of his numbers, I fhall quote a few 
palages of the original, with their tranfla- 
tions, in which I shink the fuperiority of 
Pitt is evident. 
Et, fi fata Deum, fimens non lava fuiffet, 
Impulerat ferro Argolicas feedare latebras ; 
Trojaque nunc ftares, Priamique arx alta ma- 
neres, fEneid, IL, 1. 54. 
Thefé lines are thus tranflated by Dry- 
den : 
And had not Heaven the fall of Troy de- 
fign’d, 
Or had not men been fated to be blind, 
- Enough was faid and done t’ infpire a better 
4 mind, | 
Then had our lances pierc’d the treacherous 
wood, 
And Ilian towers, and Priam’s empire ftood. 
Thefe lines are flat and profaic. Pitt 
is {carcely intevior-to his original. 
Then, had not partial fate confpir’d to blind 
With more than madnefs every Trojan mind, 
The crowd the treacherous ambufh had ex- 
plor’d, 
And not a Greek had "fcap’d the vengeful 
fword. 
Old Priam ftill bis empire would enjoy, 
And ftill thy towers had ftood, majeftic Troy ! 
This laf line breathes the very fpirit of 
Virgil. 
Ter conatus ibi collo dare brachia circum 5 
Ter fruitra compreffa manus effugit imago. 
Ve 792 
Dryden : 
And thrice about her neck my arms I flung, 
And thrice deceiv’s, on vain embraces hung, 
MontTuty Mac., No. 143. 
433 
Light as an empty dream at break of day, 
Or asa blaft of wind, fhe rufh’d away. 
Pitt is far more fpirited, and equally 
preferves the elegant repetition of the ori- 
ginal. 
Thrice round her neck my eager arms I 
threw, 
Thrice from my empty arms the phantom 
ew, 
Swift asthe wind, with momentary flight, 
Swift as a fleeting vifion of the night. 
Turris erat vafto fufpectu pontibus altis 
Opportuna loco; fummis quam viribus ome 
nes 
Expugnare Itali fummaque evertere opum vi 
Certabant ; Troés contra defendere faxis, 
Perque cavag denfi tela intorquere feneftras, 
Princeps ardentem conjecit lampada Turnus, 
Et flammam affixit lateri ; que plurima vento 
Corripuit tabulas, et poftibus hafit adefis. 
Turbatitrepidare intus, fruftraque malorum 
Velle fugam; dum fe glomerant, retroque 
refidunt 
In partem, guz pefte caret, tum pondere ture 
ris 
Procubuit fubito, et ceelum tonat omne fra 
gore. IX, §30. 
Dryden : 
There ftood a tower, amazing to the fight, 
Built up of beams, and of ftupendous height. 
Art, and the nature of the place, confpir'd 
To furnith all the ftrength that war requir’d. 
To level this the bold Italians join : 
The wary Trojans obviate the defign ; 
With weighty ftones o’erwhelmed their troops 
below, 
Shoot through the loop-holes, and fharp jave- 
lins throw. 
Turnus, the chief, toffed from his thunders 
ing hand, 
Againft the wooden walls, a flaming brand. 
It firuck, the fiery plague; the winds were 
. high, 
The planks were feafoned, and the timber 
dry. 
Contagion caught the ports; it fpread along, 
Scorched, and to diftance drove the fcattered 
throng. ; 
The Trojans fled, the fire purfued amain, 
Still gathering faft upon the trembling train, 
Till crowding to the corners of the wall, 
Down thie defence and the defenders fall. 
The mighty flaw makes heaven itfelf re- 
found, 
The dead, and dying Trojans ftrew the 
ground, 
Thefe lines with the exception of the 
four laft are faithful and poetical, but mu& 
yield to the following, which are wroughg 
up with uncommon fpirit and elegance. 
Pitt. 
Full o’er the wall a turret rofe on high, 
Stage above ftage, unrivalled, to the fky. 
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