and in the first place, to cite the original, that those who are acquainted with the French language, may have an opportunity of judging not only of the merits of the extracts as English poetry, but of their fidelity as translations. No. V. Here strive for empire, o'er the happy scene, And finds amazed, where'er she casts her eye, PAULUS SILENTARIUS, apud Bland. THE first book of the Gardens of De Lille is principally occupied in teaching how to borrow and combine with the happiest skill and effect, the richest materials of picturesque beauty; how best, in fact, to convert the scene to be embellished into a perfect and appropriate and harmonious whole; by consulting beyond all things the genius of the place, and so adapting the operations of art to the peculiarities of the site, as to hide its defects, and call forth all its advantages; a subject which naturally leads to a consideration of the different species of landscapes and of gardens. After a few preliminary lines, in which the author commemorates the return of Spring, and speaks with well-founded rapture of the happy subject he had chosen, he thus proceeds to invoke the assistance of the Didactic Muse. Toi donc, qui, mariant la grâce à la vigueur, Viens orner un sujet plus riche, plus fertile, Et, comme un rayon par colore un beau nuage, L'art innocent et doux que célèbrent mes vers, Chant i. Beautiful as these lines certainly are, the following version of them, especially that part of it which is distinguished by italics, must, if I am not greatly mistaken, be pronounced equal in point of melody, and superior in point of poetic expression. Come then, O Muse! that oft in union sweet, A theme once bless'd by Virgil's happy choice.. The gentle art, that now adorns my lays, Hence in Alcinoüs' blooming orchard shone A garden, which Bacon has justly termed the purest of all human pleasures, appears to have been also the most ancient. The garden of Alcinous is certainly, as De Lille has remarked, in a note to his introductory lines, a precious monument of the antiquity and history of gardens, and clearly one of the earliest productions of infant art; but we possess one yet anterior, and, if tradition be correct in pointing out its site, one that, from its very situation, must have included much of picturesque as well as of regular beauty. I allude to the garden of King Solomon, slightly mentioned in Ecclesiastes, and delineated more at length, through the medium of comparison, in the Song of Songs, of which latter description the following is an admirable version by my friend Dr. Good: My bride! my love! in thee perfection meets ; |