Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub
[ocr errors]

Jerufalem, or Tyre, are reprefented as fitting in the duft, covered with fackcloth, ftretching out their hands in vain, and loudly lamenting their defolation? Nay, farther, will he reckon them even equal to the following fictions? Wisdom is introduced, faying of herfelf- When 'GOD prepared the heavens, I was there; 'when he fet a circle upon the face of the deep, when he gave to the fea his de'cree that the waters should not pafs his 'commandments, when he appointed the 'foundations of the earth, then was 1 by him as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, playing al'ways before him.' Where, Terentianus, fhall we find our Minerva speaking with fuch dignity and elevation? The goddess of the Hebrew bard is not only the patronefs and inventrefs of arts and learning, the parent of felicity and fame, the guardian and conductress of human life; but the is painted as immortal and eternal, the conftant companion of the great CREATOR himself, and the partaker of his counfels and defigns. Still bolder is the other Profopopceia: 'De'ftruction and Death fay (of Wifdom) ' we have heard the fame thereof with 'our ears. If pretenders to talte and judgment cenfure fuch a fiction as extravagant and wild, I defpife their frigidity and grofs infenfibility.

When JEHOVAH is reprefented as defcending to punish the earth in his just anger, it is added- Before him went the Peftilence. When the Babylonian tyrant is deftroyed, the fir-trees rejoice

[ocr errors]

at his fall, and the cedars of Lebanon, faying, "Since thou art laid down, no "feller is come up against us." And at the captivity of Jerufalem the very ramparts and the walls lament, they languifh together. Read likewife the following addrefs, and tell me what emotion you feel at the time of perufal: 'O thou fword of the Lord, how long will ⚫ it be ere thou be quiet? Put up thyfelf into thy fcabbard, reft and be filent. Art thou not amazed and delighted, my friend, to behold joy and anguish, and revenge, afcribed to the trees of the foreft, to walls, and warlike inftruments?

Before I conclude thefe obfervations, I cannot forbear taking notice of two remarkable paffages in the Hebrew writers, because they bear a close resemblance with two in our own tragedians.

Sophocles, by a noble profopopcia, thus aggravates the mifery of the Thebans, vifited by a dreadful plague: Hell is enriched with groans and lamentations.' This image is heightened by a Jewish author, who defcribes Hell, or Hades, as an enormous monster, who hath extended and enlarged himself, and opened his infatiable mouth without measure.'

Caffandra, in Æfchylus, ftruck with the treachery and barbarity of Clytemneftra, who is murdering her husband Agamemnon, fuddenly exclaims in a prophetic fury- Shall I call her the direful mother of hell!' To reprefent the most terrible fpecies of deftruction, the Jewish poet fays, The firft-born of death fhall devour his ftrength.'

[ocr errors]

Besides the attribution of person and action to objects immaterial or inanimate, there is ftill another fpecies of the profopopoeia no lefs lively and beautiful than the former, when a real perfon is introduced fpeaking with propriety and decorum. The fpeeches which the Jewish poets have put into the mouth of their JEHOVAH, are worthy the greatnefs and incomprehenfible majefty of the Allperfect Being. Hear him afking one of his creatures, with a lofty kind of irony,

Where waft thou, when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if 'thou haft understanding. Who hath laid the meafures thereof, if thou knoweft? or who hath ftretched the line upon it? Whereon are the foundations thereof faftened, or who laid 'the corner stone? When the morning ftars fang together, and all the fons of GOD fhouted for joy? Or who fhut up the fea with doors, when it brake forth as if it had iffued out of the womb?. When I brake up for it my decreed place,and fet bars and doors, and faid"Hitherto fhalt thou come, but no fur"ther, and here fhall the pride of thy "waves be stayed." How can we reply to thefe fublime enquiries, but in the words that follow? Behold, I am vile;

[ocr errors]

what shall I anfwer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.'

I have in a former treatife obferved to

you, that Homer has degraded his gods into men: thefe writers alone have not violated the DIVINE MAJESTY by inadequate and indecent reprefentations, but have made the great CREATOR act and T 2

speak

fpeak in a manner fuitable to the fupreme dignity of his nature, as far as the groffness of mortal conceptions will permit. From the fublimity and fpirituality of their notions, fo different in degree and kind from thofe of the moft exalted philofophers, one may, perhaps, be inclined to think their claim to a divine infpiration reasonable and juft, fince GOD alone can defcribe himself to man. I had written thus far, when I received difpatches from the Emprefs Zenobia, with orders to attend her inftantly at Palmyra; but am refolved, before I fet out, to add to this letter a few remarks on the beautiful comparisons of the Hebrew poets.

The ufe of fimilies in general confifts in the illuftration or amplification of any fubject, or in prefenting pleating pictures to the mind by the fuggeftion of new images. Homer and the Hebrew bards difdain minute refemblances, and feek not an exact correfpondence with every feature of the object they introduce. Provided a general likeness appear, they think it fufficient. Not follicitous for exactness, which in every work is the fure criterion of a cold and creeping genius, they introduce many circumftances that perhaps have no direct affinity to the fubject, but taken all together, contribute to the variety and beauty of the piece.

The pleasures of friendship and benevolence are compared to the perfumes that flow from the ointments ufually poured on the prieft's head, which run down to his beard, and even to the skirts of his cloathing. The fun rifing and breaking in upon the fhades of night, is compared to a bridegroom iffuing out of his chamber; in allufion to the Jewish cuftom of ushering the bridegroom from his chamber at midnight with great folemnity and fplendor, preceded by the light of innumerable lamps and torches. How amiably is the tenderness and follicitude of GOD for his favourites expreffed! As the eagle ftirreth up her neft, fluttereth over her young, fpreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings, fo the Lord alone did lead them!' On the other hand, how dreadfully is his indignation defcribed! I will be unto them as a lion, as a leopard by the way will I obferve them. I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps,

⚫ and I will rent the caul of their heart. A little afterwards the fcene fuddenly. changes, and divine favour is painted by the following fimilitudes: I will be as the dew unto Judæa; he fhall grow as the lily; his branches fhall spread, and his beauty fhall be as the olive tree, and his fmell like mount Libanus. Menander himself, that juft characterizer of human life, has not given us a more apt and lively comparison than the fol-. lowing: As the climbing a fandy way is to the feet of the aged, fo is a wife full of words to a quiet man.' Nor has one of our Grecian poets spoken fo feelingly, fo eloquently, or fo elegantly of beauty, as the Emperor Solomon of his mistress or bride, in images perfectly original and new: Thy hair," fays he, is as a flock of goats that appear from Mount Gilead; thy teeth are like a flock of fheep that are even fhorn, which come up from the wathing: by which fimilitude their exact equality, evennefs, and whiteness, are justly reprefented. Thy neck is like the tower of David, builded for an armoury, ' whereon there hang a thousand buck

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

lers, all fhields of mighty men:' that is, ftrait and tall, adorned with golden chains, and the richest jewels of the east. Thy two breafts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies: the exquifite elegance and propriety of which fimilitude need not be pointed out, and cannot be excelled.

[ocr errors]

I have purpofely referved one comparifon for a conclufion, not only for the fake of it's beauty and juftness, but because it defcribes a friendship fo different from the conftancy which I hope will ever be the character of yours and mine. My brethren,' fays the writer,

have dealt deceitfully with me. They are like torrents, which, when swoln and increased with winter showers and the meltings of ice, promife great and unfailing plenty of waters; but in the times of violent heats, fuddenly are parched up and difappear. The traveller in the deferts of Arabia feeks for them in vain; the troops of Sheba looked, the caravans of Tema waited for them: they came to the accustomed fprings for relief; they were confounded, they perifhed with thirst.'

In giving you these short specimens of Jewish poefy, I think I may compare myfelf to thofe fpies which the above-men

tioned Mofes difpatched to discover the country he intended to conquer; and who brought from thence, as evidences of it's fruitfulness, the most delicious figs and pomegranates, and a branch with one

6

clufter of grapes, fo large and weighty,' fays the hiftorian, that they bare it between two upon a staff. Farewell.

N° LVIII. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1753.

[blocks in formation]

EURIPIDES, proff fan which they cannot comprehend.

URIPIDES, having prefented cannot trace, and cogency in the reafon.

raclitus, a philofopher famed for involation and obfcurity, enquired afterwards his opinion of their merit. What 'I understand,' faid Socrates, I find 'to be excellent; and therefore, believe 'that to be of equal value which I cannot understand."

The reflection of every man who reads this paffage will fuggeft to him the dierence between the practice of Socrates and that of modern critics: Socrates, who had by long obfervation upon himfelf and others, difcovered the weakness of the strongest, and the dimness of the most enlightened intellect, was afraid to decide haftily in his own favour, or to 'conclude that an author had written without meaning, because he could not immediately catch his ideas: he knew that the faults of books are often more justly imputable to the reader, who fometimes wants attention, and fometimes penetration; whofe understanding is often obftructed by prejudice, and often diffipated by remiffnefs; who comes fometimes to a new study, unfurnished with knowledge previously neceffary; and finds difficulties infuperable, for want of ardour fufficient to encounter them.

Obfcurity and clearness are relative terms: to fome readers scarce any book is eafy, to others not many are difficult: and furely they whom neither any exuberant praise bestowed by others, nor any eminent conquefts over ftubborn problems, have entitled to exalt themthemselves above the common orders of mankind, might condefcend to imitate the candour of Socrates; and where they find inconteftible proofs of fuperior genius, be content to think that there is justnefs in the connection which they

This diffidence is never more reasonable, than in the perufal of the authors of antiquity; of those whofe works have been the delight of ages, and transmitted as the great inheritance of mankind from one generation to another: furely, no man can, without the utmost arrogance, imagine, that he brings any fuperiority of understanding to the perufal of thefe books which have been preferved in the devastation of cities, and snatched up from the wreck of nations; which thofe who fled before barbarians have been careful to carry off in the hurry of migration, and of which barbarians have repented the deftruction. If in books thus made venerable by the uniform attestation of fucceffive ages, any passages fhall appear unworthy of that praife which they have formerly received; let us not immediately determine, that they owed their reputation to dulnefs or bigotry; but fufpect at least that our anceftors had fome reafons for their opinions, and that our ignorance of those reafons makes us differ from them.

It often happens, that an author's reputation is endangered in fucceeding times, by that which raised the loudest applaufe among his cotemporaries: nothing is read with greater pleasure than allufions to recent facts,, reigning opinions, or prefent controverfies; but when facts are forgotten, and controverfics extinguished, thefe favourite touches lofe all their graces; and the author in his defcent to pofterity mult be left to the mercy of chance, without any power of afcertaining the memory of thofe things to which he owed his luckieft thoughts and his kindest reception.

On fuch occafions, every reader should remember

remember the diffidence of Socrates, and repair by his candour the injuries of time; he fhould impute the feeming defects of his author to fome chaẩm of intelligence, and fuppofe, that the fenfe which is now weak was once forcible, and the expreffion which is now dubious formerly determinate.

How much the mutilation of ancient hiftory has taken away from the beauty of poetical performances, may be conjectured from the light which a lucky commentator fometimes effufes, by the recovery of an incident that had been long forgotten: thus in the third book of Horace, Juno's denunciations against thofe that fhould prefume to raise again the walls of Troy, could for many ages pleafe only by fplendid images and fwelling language, of which no man difcovered the ufe or propriety; till Le Fevre, by fhewing on what occafion the Ode was written, changed wonder to rational delight. Many paffages yet undoubtedly remain in the fame author which an exacter knowledge of the incidents of his time would clear from objections. Among thefe I have always numbered the following lines:

Aurum per medios ire fatellites,
Et perrumpere amat faxa, potentius
I&u fulmineo. Concidit Auguris
Argivi domus ob lucrum
Demerfa excidio. Diffidit urbium
Portas vir Macedo, et fubruit amulos
Reges muneribus. Munera navium
Sævos illaqueant duces.

Stronger than thunder's winged force,
All powerful gold can spread it's courfe,
Through watchful guards it's paffage make,
And loves through folid walls to break:
From gold the overwhelming woes,
That crush'd the Grecian augur rofe:
Philip with gold through cities broke,
And rival monarchs felt his yoke;
Captains of fhips to gold are flaves,
Though fierce as their own winds and wares.
FRANCIS.

The clofe of this paffage, by which every reader is now difappointed and offended, was probably the delight of the Roman court: it cannot be imagined, that Horace, after having given to gold the force of thunder, and told of it's power to ftorm cities and to conquer kings, would have concluded his account of it's efficacy with it's influence over naval commanders, had he not alluded to fome fact then current in the mouths of men,

and therefore more interefting for a time than the conquefts of Philip. Of the like kind may be reckoned anotherstanza in the fame book:

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

be reconciled to the judgment, by an eafy fuppofition: Horace thus addreffes Agrippa

Scriberis Vario fortis, et hoftium
Vitor, Mæonii carminis alite.

Varius, afwan of Homer's wing,
Shall brave Agrippa's conquests fing.
FRANCIS.

That Varius fhould be called A bird ' of Homeric fong,' appears fo harsh to modern ears, that an emendation of the text has been propofed: but furely the learning of the antients had been long ago obliterated, had every man thought himself at liberty to corrupt the lines which he did not understand. If we imagine that Varius had been by any of his cotemporaries celebrated under the appellation of Mufarum Ales, the swan of the Mufes, the language of Horace becomes graceful and familiar; and that fuch a compliment was at leaft poffible, we know from the transformation feigned by Horace of himself.

The most elegant compliment that was paid to Addifon, is of this obfcure and perishable kind:

When panting virtue her laft efforts made, You brought your Clio to the virgin's aid.

Thefe lines must please as long as they are understood; but can be understood

[ocr errors]

only by thofe that have obferved Addifon's fignatures in the Spectator.

The nicety of these minute allufions I fhall exemplify by another inftance, which I take this occafion to mention, because, as I am told, the commentators have omitted it. Tibullus addreffes Cynthia in this manner:

Te (pretem, fuprema mibi cùm venerit bora,
Te teneam moriens deficiente manu.
Before my clofing eyes, dear Cynthia, ftand,
Held weakly by my fainting trembling hand.

To thefe lines Ovid thus refers in his elegy on the death of Tibullus: Cynthia decedens, felicius, inquit, amata

Cui Nemefis, quid, ait, tibi funt mea damna Sum tibi; vixifti dum tuus ignis eram,

dolori?

Me tenuit moriens deficiente manu.

Bleft was my reign, retiring Cynthia cry'd: Not till he left my breaft, Tibullus dyd. Forbear, faid Nemefis, my lofs to moan, The fainting trembling hand was mine alone.

The beauty of this paffage, which consists in the appropriation made by Nemefis of the line originally directed to Cynthia, had been wholly imperceptible to fucceeding ages, had chance, which has deftroyed fo many greater volumes, deprived us likewife of the poems of Tibullus.

T

N° LIX. TUESDAY, MAY 29, 1753.

——SI PIERIA QUADRANS TIBI NULLUS IN ARCA
STENDATUR, AMES NOMEN VICTUMQUE MACHÆRE
ET VENDAS POTIUS, COMMISSA QUOD AUCTIO VENDIT
STANTIBUS OENOPHORUM, TRIPODES, ARMARIA, CISTAS,
HALCYONEM BACCHI, THEBAS, ET TEREA FAUSTI.

IF NOT A SOUSE IN THY LANK PURSE APPEAR,
GO MOUNT THE ROSTRUM AND TURN AUCTIONEER;
WITH CHINA CRACK'D THE GREEDY CROWD TREPAN,
WITH SPURIOUS PICTURES AND WITH FADSE JAPAN;
SELL THE COLLECTED STORES OF MISERS DEAD,
OR ENGLISH PEERS FOR DEBTS TO GALLIA FLED.

HE indigence of authors, and par

the object of lamentation and ridicule, of compaffion and contempt.

It has been obferved, that not one favourite of the Mufes has ever been able to build a houfe fince the days of Amphion, whofe art it would be fortunate

Juv.

for them if they poffeffed; and that the inflicted on them, is to oblige them to fup in their own lodgings.

Molles ubi reddunt ova columba. Where pigeons lay their eggs.

Boileau

« PoprzedniaDalej »