Qass PN%4i Book W j& / / ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLES OF TRANSLATION. L. 1 ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLES OF TRANSLATION *^M GU-W^ 5*T O-M- 5 <■■ \1 THE THIRD EDITION, WITH LARGE ADDITIONS AND ALTERATIONS. Wee converti ut Interpret, sed nt Orator, sententiis iisdem et earum formis tanquam Jiguris, verbis ad nostram consuctudinem ajrtis. Cic. Be Opt. Gen. Orat. 14. EDINBURGH : Printed by NeiU $ Co. FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO. EDINBURGH LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME & BROWN, AND CADELL AND DAVIES, LONDON. 1813. .r. TO JAMES GREGORY, M. D. F. R. S. Edin. PRINCIPAL PHYSICIAN TO HIS MAJESTY FOR SCOTLAND j WHO, TO GREAT PROFESSIONAL ABILITY AND EMINENCE IN GENERAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY, UNITES THE MOST DISTINGUISHED CLASSICAL KNOWLEDGE AND TASTE IN POLITE LITERATURE : THIS ESSAY, WHICH HAS BEEN HONOURED WITH HIS APPROBATION, IS, IN TOKEN OF A FRIENDSHIP WHICH HAS STOOD THE TEST OF ALMOST HALF A CENTURY, DEDICATED BY ALEX. FRASER TYTLER. VOODHOUSELEE, ) August 1812. / PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION. J n preparing for the Press a Third Edition of this Essay, the Author has endeavoured, by making ample additions to the matter of the Work, as well as by a careful revisal of the style) to render it less unworthy of that very flattering measure of approbation it has received from the literary world. Sensible that the didactic precepts which form the Laws of Translation, are best verified by the variety and aptness of the examples brought to illustrate them, he has in this edition very considerably enlarged the num- ber of illustrations brought as examples both of excellencies and defects. Of these, in so far as reason and good sense afford a criterion, the opinion of all intelligent rea- Vlll PREFACE, ders will probably be uniform. But, as it is not to be denied, that in many of the ex- amples adduced in this Essay* the appeal lies not so much to any settled canons of criticism, as to individual taste ; it will not be surprising, if in such instances, a diversi- ty of opinion should take place : and the Author having exercised with great freedom his own judgment in such points, it would ill become him to blame others for using the same freedom in dissenting from his opi- nions. The chief benefit to be derived from all such discussions in matters of taste, does not so much arise from any certainty we can obtain of the rectitude of our critical deci- sions, as from the pleasing and useful exer- cise which they give to the finest powers of the mind, and those which most distinguish us from the inferior animals. In one material point at least, the Author may be allowed to flatter himself, that some advantage may accrue from his undertaking. PREFACE. IX It will serve to demonstrate, that the Art of Translation is of more dignity and import- ance than has generally been imagined. It will afford sufficient conviction, that excel- lence in this art is neither a matter of easy attainment, nor what lies at all within the reach of ordinary abilities ; since it not only demands those acquired endowments which are the fruit of much labour and study, but requires a larger portion of native talents and of genuine taste, than are necessary for excelling in many departments of original composition. CONTENTS, Page Introduction, 1 CHAPTER I. Description of a good Translation. — General Rules flow- ing from that description, - * 13 CHAPTER II. First general Rule : A Translation should give a com" plete transcript of the ideas of the original work. — Knowledge of the language of the original, and ac- quaintance with the subject. — Examples of imperfect transfusion of the sense of the original. — What ought to be the conduct of a Translator where the sense is am* biguous, n m 1/ XH CONTENTS. Page CHAPTER III. Whether it is allowable for a Translator to add to or re- trench the ideas of the original. — Examples of the use and abuse of this liberty. — The liberty allowed to the Translator depends on the nature of the work, 35 CHAPTER IV. Of the freedom allowed in poetical Translation. — Pro-* gress of poetical Translation in England. — B. Johnson, Holiday, May, Sandys, Fanshaw, Dryden. — Roscom- mon's Essay on Translated Verse* — Pope's Homer, 63 CHAPTER V. Second general Ride : The style ana) manner of wri- ting in a Translation should be of the same character with that of the original. — Tanslations of the Scrip- tures — Of Homer, Qc A just taste requisite for the discernment of the characters of style and manner. — Examples of failure in this particular ; — The grave ex- changed for the formal ; — the elevated for the bom- bast; — the lively for the petulant ; — the simple for the childish — Hobbes, Lf Estrange, Echard, $c. 109 CONTENTS. Xlll CHAPTER VI. Page Examples of a good Taste in poetical Translation* V. Bournes Translations from Mallet and from Prior. — Dr Atterbury , from Horace — The Dukede Nivernois, from Horace. — Dr Jortin, from Simo- nides. — Imitation of the same by the Archbishop of York. — Mr Glasse,from Masons Caractacus — Mr Webb, from the Anthologia — Grotius from the same. — Hughes, from Claudian — .fieattie, from Pope* — Pope, from Boilcau. — Fragments of the Greek Dramatists, by Mr Cumberland, - 141 CHAPTER VII. Limitation of the Pule regarding the Imitation of Style. — This Imitation must be regulated by the Ge* nius of Languages. — The Latin admits of a great- er brevity of Expression than the English ; as does the French. — The Latin and Greek allow of greater Inversions than the English, — and admit more freely of Ellipsis, - - 177 CHAPTER VIII. Whether a Poem can be well translated into Prose, 201 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. Page Third General Rule : A Translation should have all the ease of original composition — Extreme difficulty in the observance of this rule — Contrasted instances of success and failure.— Of the necessity of sacrifi- cing one rule to another, - - 209 CHAPTER X. It is less difficult to attain the ease of original compo- sition in Poetical, than in Prose Translation, — Ly- ric Poetry admits of the greatest liberty of Trans- lation, — Examples distinguishing Paraphrase from Translation, — from Dry den, Lowth, Fontenelle, Prior, Anguillara, Hughes, - - 229 CHAPTER XL Of the Translation of Idioms — -General Idioms Idiomatic Phrases. — Examples from Spelman, SmoU let's Gil Bias, Cotton, Echard, Sterne. — Injudicious use of Idioms in the Translation, which do not cor- respond with the age or country of the original. — Idiomatic Phrases sometimes incapable of Transla<* Hon, - - 251 CONTENTS. XV Pag* CHAPTER XII. Difficulty of Translating Don Quixote, from its Idio- matic Phraseology Of the best Translations of that Romance — Comparison of the Translation by Motteux with that by Smollet, - - 281 CHAPTER XIII. Other characteristics of Composition which render Translation difficult Antiquated Terms. — New Terms — Verba Ardentia — Simplicity of Thought and Expression — In Prose — In Poetry — Naivete in the latter — Chaulieu, — Parnelle, — Theocritus, — La Fontaine. — Series of Minute Distinctions mark- ed by characteristic Terms — Strada — Florid Style, and vague expression — Pliny's Natural History, 321 CHAPTER XIV. Of Burlesque Translation Travesty and Parody — - Scarrons Virgile Travesti, — Another species of Ludicrous Translation, - * 361 XVI CONTENTS, CHAPTER XV. Page The genius of the Translator should be akin to that of the original author.-— The best Translators have shone in original composition of the same species with that which they have translated* — Of VoU taires Translations from Shakespeare* -Of the pe* culiar character of the wit of Voltaire, — His Trans- lation fro?n Hudibras. — Excellent anonymous French Translation of Hudibras. — Translation of Rabelais by Urquhart and Motteux, - - 371 Appendix, - - 405 ERRATA. Pag. 46. line 6. from the bottom, xeuiv r. xxivov - 146. The Note is misplaced : It belongs to P. 149- as it •refers to Horace's dialogue with Lydia. • 160. 1. 6. %^. Such likewise appears to be the opinion of M. Huet : " Optimum " ergo ilium esse dico interpretandi modum, quum auctoris sen- " tcntias primum, deinde ipsis etiam, si ita fert utriusque CHAP. U TRANSLATION. 15 to the Former idea of translation, it is al- lowable to improve and to embellish ; ac- cording to the latter, it is necessary to pre- serve even blemishes and defects ; and to these must likewise be superadded the harsh- ness that must attend every copy in which the artist scrupulously studies to imitate the minutest lines or traces of his original. As these two opinions form opposite ex- tremes, it is not improbable that the point of perfection should be found between the two, I would therefore describe a good translation to be, That, in which the merit of the original work is so completely trans~ fused into another language, as to be as distinctly apprehended, and as strongly felt , by a native of the country to which that * Ungues facultas, verbis arctissime adhoeret interpres, et na<* (( tivum postremo auctoris character em, quoad ejusjieri potest t (C adumbrat ; idque unum studet, id mdla cum detractions im* v minutum, nullo additarnento auctum, sed integrum, suique R omni ex parte, simillimum, perquam fideliter exhibeat. <{ Universe ergo verbum de verbo exprimendum, et vocum }, Ixeog, have not their sense precisely and perfectly conveyed by the La- tin words virtus, temper antia, misericordia, and still less by the English words, virtue, temperance, mercy. The Latin word virtus is frequently synonymous to valour, a sense which is never conveyed by the English word virtue. Temper ant ia, Latin, implies moderation in every desire, and is defined by Cicero, Moderatio cupiditatum rationi obe- * Dr George Campbell, Preliminary Dissertations to a new Translation of the Gospels. CHAP. II. TRANSLATION. 21 diens *. The English word temperance, in its ordinary use, is limited to moderation in eating and drinking : -Observe The rule of not too much,, by temperance taught, In what thou eat'st and drink'st. Par, Lost, b. ii. It is true, that Spenser has used the term in its more extensive signification : He calm'd his wrath with goodly temperance. But no modern prose-writer has authorised such extension of its meaning. The following passage is quoted by the ingenious writer above mentioned, to shew, in the strongest manner, the extreme diffi- culty of apprehending the precise import of words of this order in dead languages : " JEgritudo est opinio recens mali prasentis, " in quo demitti contrahiqne animo rectum " esse videatur. JEgritudini subjiciuntur b3 * Cic. de Fin. 1. 2. 22 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. II. " angor, mmror, dolor, Indus, cerumna, afflic- " tatio : angor est cegritudo premens, mceror " cegritudo jlebilis, cerumnm cegritudo labor i- " osa, dolor cegritudo crucians, affiictalio " cegritudo cum vexatione corporis, luctus " cegritudo ex ejus qui earns fuer at, interitu " acerbo *." — " Let any one," says D' Alem- bert, " examine this passage with attention, " and say honestly, whether, if he had not " known of it, he would have had any idea " of those nice shades of signification here " marked, and whether he would not have " been much embarrassed, had he been wri- " ting a dictionary, to distinguish, with ac- " curacy, the words cegritudo, mceror dolor, " angor, luctus, cerumna, afflictatio" The fragments of Varro, de Lingua La- tina, the treatises of Festus and of No- nius, the Origin es of Isiodorus Hispalensis, the work of Ausonius Popma, de Differen- tiis Verborum, the Synonymes of the Abbe Girard, the Synonymes Latins of Dumesnil, * Cic. Tusc. Quaest. L 4. CHAP. II. TRANSLATION. 23 and the elaborate work of Professor Hill on the same subject, will furnish numberless instances of those very delicate shades of distinction in the signification of words, which nothing but the most intimate ac- quaintance with a language can teach ; but without the knowledge of which distinc- tions in the original, and an equal power of discrimination of the corresponding terms of his own language, no translator can be said to possess the primary requisites for the task he undertakes. But a translator, thoroughly master of the language, and competently acquainted with the subject, may yet fail to give a com- plete transcript of the ideas of his original author. M. D'Alembert has favoured the public with some admirable translations from Ta- citus ; and it must be acknowledged, that he possessed every qualification requisite for the task he undertook. If, in the course of the following observations, I may have oc- casion to criticise any part of his writings, b4 24 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. It. or those of other authors of equal celebrity, I avail myself of the just sentiment of M. Duclos, " On peut toujours relever les " defauts des grands hommes, et peut-£tre " sont ils les seuls qui en soient dignes, et " dont la critique soit utile." Duclos, Pref. de V Hist, de Louis XI. Tacitus, in describing the conduct of Pisa upon the death of Germanicus, says : Piso- nem interim ap-ud Coum insulam nuncius ad- sequitur, excessisse Germanicum ; Tacit. An. lib. 2. c. 75. This passage is thus translated by M. D'Alembert, " Pison apprend, dans u l'isle de Cos, la mort de Germanicus." In translating this passage, it is evident that M. D'Alembert has not given the complete sense of the original. The sense of Tacitus is, that Piso was overtaken on his voyage homeward, at the Isle of Cos, by a messen- ger, who informed him that Germanicus was dead. According to the French trans- lator, we understand simply, that when Piso arrived at the Isle of Cos, he was informed that Germanicus was dead. We do not learn from this, that a messenger had followed CHAP. II. TRANSLATION. 25 him on his voyage to bring him this intel- ligence. The fact was, that Piso purposely lingered on his voyage homeward, expecting this very messenger who here overtook him. But, by M. D'Alembert's version it might be understood, that Germanicus had died in the island of Cos, and that Piso was informed of his death by the islanders immediately on his arrival. The passage is thus trans- lated, with perfect precision, by D'Ablan- court : " Cependant Pison apprend la nou- " velle de cette mort par un courier exprfes, " qui l'atteignit en Fisle de Cos." After Piso had received intelligence of the death of Germanicus, he delibera- ted whether to proceed on his voyage to Rome, or to return immediately to Syria, and there put himself at the head of the legions. His son advised the former mea- sure ; but his friend Domitius Celer argued warmly for his return to the province, and urged, that all difficulties would give way to him, if he had once the command of the army, and had increased his force by new levies. " At si teneat exercitum, augeat 26 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. II. " vires, multa quae provideri non possunt " in melius casura," An. L 2. c. 77. This M. D'Alembert has translated, " Mais que " s'il savoit se rendre redoutable a la tete " des troupes, le hazard ameneroit des cir- " Constances heureuses et imprevues." In the original passage, Domitius advises Piso to adopt two distinct measures ; the first, to obtain the command of the army, and the second, to increase his force by new levies. These two distinct measures are confound- ed together by the translator, nor is the sense of either of them accurately given ; for from the expression, " se rendre redout- " able a la tete des troupes," we may under- stand, that Piso already had the command of the troops, and that all that was requi- site, was to render himself formidable in that station, which he might do in various other ways than by increasing the levies. Tacitus, speaking of the means by which Augustus obtained an absolute ascendency over all ranks in the state, says, Cum ccete- ri nobiliurri) qttanto qnis servitio promptior, opibus et honoribus extollerentur ; An. 1. 1. CHAP. II. TRANSLATION. 2? c. 1. This D' Alembert has translated, " Le " reste des nobles trouvoit dans les richesses " et dans les honneurs la recompense de 1'- " esclavage." Here the translator has but half expressed the meaning of his author, which is, that " the rest of the nobility " were exalted to riches and honours, in " proportion as Augustus found in them an " aptitude and disposition to servile obe- " dience :" or, as it is well translated by Mr Murphy, " the leading men were raised to " wealth and honours, in proportion to the " alacrity with which they courted theyoke*. 5 * Cicero, in a letter to the Proconsul Phi* lippus, says, Quod si Romce te vidissem, co~ ramque gratias egissem, quod tibi L. Egna- t ins familiar issimus mens absens, L. Op puis prcesens cur& fuisset. This passage is thus translated by Mr Melmoth : " If I were in " Rome, I should have waited upon you " for this purpose in person, and in order * The excellent translation of Tacitus by Mr Murphy had not appeared when the first edition of this Essay was publish- ed. 28 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. II. " likewise to make my acknowledgments to " you for your favours to my friends Egna- " tius and Oppius." Here the sense is not completely rendered, as there is an omis- sion of the meaning of the words absens and prcEsens* Wheue the sense of an author is doubt- ful, and where more than one meaning can be given to the same passage or expression, (which, by the bye, is always a defect in composition), the translator is called upon to exercise his judgment, and to select that meaning which is most consonant to the train of thought in the whole pas- sage, or to the author's usual mode of think- ing, and of expressing himself To imi- tate the obscurity or ambiguity of the ori- ginal, is a fault * ; and it is still a greater, * M. Huet, however, thinks otherwise, and his opinion is a necessary consequence from the strict method of interpre- tation for which he contends : Verbum ambigue dictum est, et duplicem admittit explicationem. Cerie res in medio po- sita ut erat, ita debuit consistere, et verbum anceps ancipiti verbo reddi, ipsaque sentential ambiguitas reprazsentari. De Opt. Gen. Interpret, p. 27. Edit. Lond. 1684. CHAP. IL TRANSLATION. 29 to give more than one meaning, as D' Alem- bert has done in the beginning of the Pre- face of Tacitus. The original runs thus: Urban Romam a principio Reges habuere. Libert a te?n et consulatum i. Brutus instituit. Dictaturce ad tempus sumebantur ; neque Decemvir alis potestas ultra biennium, neque Tribunorum militum consular ejus diu valuit. The ambiguous sentence is, Dictaturce ad tempus sumebantur ; which may signify ei- ther, " Dictators were chosen for a limited " time," or, " Dictators were chosen on " particular occasions or emergencies.'' D' Alembert saw this ambiguity ; but how did he remove the difficulty ? Not by exer- cising his judgment in determining between the two different meanings, but by giving them both in his translation. " On creoit " au besoin des dictateurs passagers." Now, this double sense it was impossible that Tacitus should ever have intended to convey by the words ad tempus : and be- tween the two meanings of which the words are susceptible, a very little critical judgment was requisite to decide. I know not that ad tempus is ever used in the sense SO PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. II, 4 of " for the occasion or emergency." If this had been the author's meaning, he would probably have used either the words ad occasionern, or pro re nata. But even al- lowing the phrase to be susceptible of this meaning *, it is not the meaning which Ta- citus chose to give it in this passage. That the author meant that the Dictator was created for a limited time, is, I think, evi- dent from the sentence immediately follow- ing, which is connected by the copulative neque with the preceding : Diet at ur a ad tempus sumebantur : neque Decemviralis po- testas ultra biennium valuit : " The office of " Dictator was instituted for a limited time : " Nor did the power of the Decemvirs sub- " sist beyond two years." M. D'Alembert's translation of the concluding sentence of this chapter is cen- * Mr Gordon has translated the words ad tempus, ec in pres- " sing emergencies ;" and Mr Murphy, " in sudden emergen- " cies only." This sense is, therefore, probably warranted by good authorities. But it is evidently not the sense of the author in this passage, as the context sufficiently indicates- CHAP, II. TRANSLATION, 31 surable on the same account. Tacitus says, Sea veteris populi Romani prosper a vel ad- versa, claris scriptoribus memorata sunt ; temporibusque Augusti dicendis non defuere decora ingenia, donee gliscente adulatione de- terrerentur. Tiberii, Caiique, et Claudii, ac Reronis res y florentibus ipsis, ob me turn falsce : postquam occiderant, recentibus odiis composite stmt, hide consilium mihi pauca de Au gusto, et extrema trader e : mox Tiberii principatum, et ccetera, sine ira et studio, quo- rum causas procul habeo. Thus translated by D'Alembert : " Des auteurs illustres ont " fait connoitre la gloire et les malheurs " de l'ancienne republique ; l'histoire meme " d'Auguste a ete ecrite par de grands ge- " nies, jusqu'aux terns ou la necessite de " flatter les condamna au silence. La " crainte menagea tant qu'ils vecurent, Ti- " bere, Caius, Claude, et Neron ; des qu'ils " ne furent plus, la haine toute recente les " dechira. J'ecrirai done en peu de mots " la fin du regne d'Auguste, puis celui de " Tibere, et les suivans ; sans fiel et sans " bassesse : mon caractere m'en eloign e, et " les terns m'en dispensent." In the last 32 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. II. part of this passage, the translator has given two different meanings to the same clause, sine ira et studio, quorum causas procul ha- beo, to which the author certainly meant to annex only one meaning ; and that, as I think, a different one from either of those expressed by the translator. To be clearly understood, I must give my own version of the whole passage. " The history of the " ancient republic of Rome, both in its " prosperous and in its adverse days, has " been recorded by eminent authors : Even " the reign of Augustus has been happily " delineated, down to those times when the " prevailing spirit of adulation put to silence " every ingenuous writer. The annals of " Tiberius, of Caligula, of Claudius, and of " Nero, written while they were alive, were " falsified from terror ; as were those histo- " ries composed after their death, from ha- " tred to their recent memories. For this " reason, I have resolved to attempt a short " delineation of the latter part of the reign " of Augustus ; and afterwards that of Ti- " berius, and of the succeeding princes ; " conscious of perfect impartiality, as, from CHAP. II. TRANSLATION. 33 " the remoteness of the events, I have no w motive, either of odium or adulation." In the last clause of this sentence, I believe I have given the true version of sine ira et studio, quorum causas procul habeo : But if this be the true meaning of the au- thor, M. D'Alembert has given two diffe- rent meanings to the same sentence, and neither of them the true one : " sans fiel " et sans bassesse : mon caractere m'en " 61oigne, et les terns m'en dispensent." According to the French translator, the his- torian pays a compliment first to his own character, and 2dly, to the character of the times ; both of which he makes the pledges of his impartiality : but it is perfectly clear that Tacitus neither meant the one com- pliment nor the other ; but intended sim- ply to say, that the remoteness of the events which he proposed to record, precluded eve- ry motive either of unfavourable prejudice or of adulation. CHAP. III. TRANSLATION. 35 CHAPTER III. Whether it is allowable for a Translator to add to or retrench the ideas of the ori~ ginal. — Examples of the use and abuse of this liberty. — The liberty allowed to the Translator depends on the nature of the work. If it be necessary that a translator should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work, it becomes a question, whether it is allowable in any case to add to the ideas of the original what may appear to give greater force or illustration ; or to take from them what may seem to weaken them from redundancy. To give a general answer to this question, I would say, that c2 86 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. Ill* this liberty may be used, but with the great- est caution. It must be further observed, that the superadded idea shall have the most necessary connection with the original thought, and actually increase its force. And, on the other hand, that whenever an idea is cut off by the translator, it must be only such as is an accessory, and not a prin- cipal in the clause or sentence. It must likewise be confessedly redundant, so that its retrenchment shall not impair or weaken the original thought. Under these limita- tions, a translator may exercise his judg- ment, and assume to himself, thus far, the character of an original writer. It will be allowed, that in the following instance the translator, the elegant Vincent Bourne, has added a very beautiful idea, which, while it has a most natural connec- tion with th.e original thought, greatly heigh- tens its energy and tenderness. The two following stanzas are a part of the fine bal- lad of Colin and Lucy, by Tickell. CHAP, III. TRANSLATION, 37 To-morrow in the church to wed, Impatient both prepare ; But know, fond maid, and know, false man, That Lucy will be there. There bear my corse, ye comrades, bear, The bridegroom blithe to meet ; He in his wedding-trim so gay, I in my winding-sheet. Thus translated by Bourne : Jungere eras dextrae dextram properatis uterque, Et tarde interea creditis ire diem. Credula quin virgo, juvenis quin perfide, uterque Scite, quod et pacti Lucia testis erit. Exangue, oh ! illuc, comites, deferte cadaver, Qua semel, oh ! iterum congrediamur, ait ; 4 Vestibus ornatus sponsalibus ille, caputque Ipsa sepulchrali vincta, pedesque stola. In this translation, which is altogether excellent, it is evident, that there is one most beautiful idea superadded by Bourne, in the line Qua semel, &c. ; which won- derfully improves upon the original thought. In the originals the speaker, deeply impres- sed with the sense of her wrongs, has no other idea than to overwhelm her perjured c3 38 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. III. lover with remorse at the moment of his approaching nuptials. In the translation, amidst this prevalent idea, the speaker all at once gives way to an involuntary burst of tenderness and affection, " Oh, let us " meet once more, and for the last time !" Semel, oh ! iter urn congrediamnr, ait. — It was only a man of exquisite feeling, who was capable of thus improving on so fine an ori- ginal *. Achilles, (in the first book of the Iliad), won by the persuasion of Minerva, resolves, though indignantly, to give up Briseis, and Patroclus is commanded to deliver her to the heralds of Agamemnon : fig yiov, htex.1 £' evyuv tco a uung mjy Tra^ot vqxg A^ptim' *H y clzxacr ap<* rojtn yvvt) Ki'iv. Ilias, A. 345. * There is a French translation of this ballad by Le Mierre, which, though far inferior to that of Bourne, has yet a great deal of the tender simplicity of the original. See a few stanzas in the Appendix, NO. 1. CHAP. III. TRANSLATION. 39 " Thus he spoke. But Patroclus was obe- " dient to his dear friend. He brought out " the beautiful Briseis from the tent, and " gave her to be carried away. They re- " turned to the ships of the Greeks ; but " she unwillingly went, along with her at- " tendants." Patroclus now th' unwilling Beauty brought ; She in soft sorrows, and in pensive thought, Past silent, as the heralds held her hand, And oft look'd back, slow moving o'er the strand. Pope. The ideas contained in the three last lines are not indeed expressed in the original, but they are implied in the word asasca ; for she who goes unwillingly, will move slowly^ and oft look back. The amplifica- tion highly improves the effect of the pic- ture. It may be incidentally remarked, that the pause in the third line, Past silent^ is admirably characteristic of the slow and hesitating motion which it describes. In the poetical version of the 137th Psalm, by Arthur Johnston, a compostion of clas- c4 40 PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. III. sical elegance, there are several examples of ideas superadded by the translator, inti- mately connected with the original thoughts, and greatly heightening their energy and beauty. Urbe procul Solymae, fusi Babylonis ad undas Flevimus, et lachrymae fluminis instai erant ; Sacra Sion toties animo totiesque recursans, Materiem lachrymis praebuit usque novis : Desuetas saliceta lyras, et muta ferebant Nablia, servili non temeranda manu. Qui patria exegit, patriam qui submit, hostis Pendula captivos sumere plectra jubet : Imperat et laetos, mediis in fletibus, hymnos, Quosque Sion cecinit, nunc taciturna ! modos. Ergone pacta Deo peregrinae barbita genti Fas erit, et sacras prostituisse lyras ? Ante meo, Solyme, quam tu de pectore cedas, Nesciat Hebragam tangere dextra chelyn. Te nisi tollat ovans imam super omnia, lingua Faucibus haerescat sidere tacta meis. Ne tibi noxa recens, scelerum Deus ultor ! Idumes Excidat, et Solymis perniciosa dies : Vertite, clamabant, fundo jam vertite templum, Tectaque montanis jam habitanda feris. Te quoq.se poena manet, Babylon ! quibus astra lacessis Culmina mox fient, quod premis, aequa solo : 6HAP. III. TRANSLATION. 41 Felicem, qui clade pari data damna rependet^ Et feret ultrices in tua tecta faces ! Felicem, quisquis scopulis illidet acutis Dulcia materno pignora rapta sinu ! I pass over the superadded idea in the second line, lachrymce fluminis instar erant 9 because bordering on the hyperbole, it de- rogates, in some degree, from the chaste simplicity of the original. To the simple fact, " We hanged our harps on the willows " in the midst thereof," which is most poeti- cally conveyed by Demttas saliceta h/ras, et rnuta ferebant nublia, is superadded all the force of sentiment in that beautiful expres- sion,which so strongly paints the mixed emo- tions of a proud mind under the influence of poignant grief, heightened by shame, servill non temeranda manu. So likewise in the following stanza there is the noblest im- provement of the sense of the original : Imperat et laetos, mediis in fletibus., hynmos, Quosque Sion cecinit, nunc taciturna ! modos. The reflection on the melancholy silence that now reigned on that sacred hill, " once 42 PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. III. " vocal with their songs," is an additional thought, the force of which is better felt than it can be conveyed by words. An ordinary translator sinks under the energy of his original : the man of genius frequently rises above it. Horace, arraign- ing the abuse of riches, makes the plain and honest Ofellus thus remonstrate with a wealthy Epicure, (Sat. 2. b. 2.) Cur eget indignus quisquam te divite ? A question, to the energy of which it was not easy to add, but which has received the most spirited improvement from Mr Pope : How dar'st thou let one worthy man be poor ? An improvement is sometimes very hap- pily made, by substituting figure and meta- phor for simple sentiment ; as in the fol- lowing example, from Mr Mason's excel- lent translation of Du Fresnoy's Art of Painting. In the original, the poet, treat- CHAP. III. TRANSLATION, 43 ing of the merits of the antique statues, says : , queis posterior nil protulit setas Condignum, et non inferius longc, arte modoque. This is a simple fact, in the perusal of which the reader is struck with nothing else but the truth of the assertion. Mark how in the translation the same truth is conveyed in one of the finest figures of poetry : ■ ' with reluctant gaze To these the genius of succeeding days Looks dazzled up, and, as their glories spread, Hides in his mantle his diminish'd head. The description of the Spring, in the se- cond Georgic, is possessed of very high poetic merit ; and the following passage, from which Buchanan has taken the idea of his Calendce Mai in tanto ceta- tisflore, tantisque rebus gestis, in ipso rerum cardine, quum is totum orbem terrarum im- perio suo subjecturus videretur, sibi immatura morte ereptum* Invidisse Deos f elicit at i ejus, qui invictum per tot gentes regem^ atque om- nibus terris formidabilem, et Deo quam mor- tali similiorem, e vita sustulissent* Deinde ad se conversi, sort em suam deplorare ac la- mentari, animi simul et consilii inopes, quis- nam tanti exercitus dux^postliac futurus esset, inter se mcesti requirebant. Plerique rem Alexandri et Macedojium in cequo ponebant. In this piece of splendid declamation, which must have been allowed the praise of elo- quence, if it had appeared in the speech of an orator, the translator is guilty of three egre- gious faults : He has mutilated in one part his author's sense; for "AXXov cLKka nugudtiovlos rnv (p'/i^w is not translated at all : he has, in the last clause of the sentence, mistaken the author's meaning, in the words, voXXolg yag in h Uu rijg uZioHreug, &c. ; and he has, through the whole, introduced a variety of additional ideas, and reflections political and moral, re- CHAP. III. TRANSLATION. 61 Guarding the fortunes and fate of Alexander, of which there is not a trace in the original ; thus interpolating, disfiguring and disguising his author, and utterly departing from his style and manner, so as scarcely to leave a resemblance between the copy and its pro- totype, CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION* 63 CHAR IV. Of the freedom allowed in Poetical Transla- tion. — Progress of Poetical Translation in England. — B. Johnson, Holiday, Sandys, Fanshaw, Dry den. — Roscommon 9 s Essay on Translated Verse. — Popes Homer. In the preceding chapter, in treating of the liberty assumed by translators, of adding to, or retrenching from the ideas of the origi- nal, several -examples have been given, where that liberty has been assumed with propriety both in prose composition and in poetry. In the latter, it is more peculiarly allowable. " I " conceive it," says Sir John Denham, "a vul- " gar error in translating poets, to affect be- " mg nans interpres. Let that care be with " them who deal in matters of fact or mat- 64 PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. IT. " ters of faith ; but whosoever aims at it " in poetry, as he attempts at what is not " required, so shall he never perform what he " attempts ; for it is not his business alone " to translate language into language, but " poesie into poesie ; and poesie is of so " subtle a spirit, that in pouring out of one " language into another, it will all evapo- " rate ; and if a new spirit is not added in " the transfusion, there will remain nothing u but a caput mortuum" Denhams Pre- face to the %d book of VirgiVs 2E?ieid. In poetical translation, the English wri- ters of the 16th, and the greatest part of the 17th century, seem to have had no other care than (in Denham's phrase) to translate language into language, and to have placed their whole merit in presenting a literal and servile transcript of their original. Ben Johnson, in his translation of Ho- race's Art of Poetry, has paid no attention to the judicious precept of the very poem he was translating : CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 65 Nee verbum verbo curabis reddere, Jidus Interpres. Witness the following specimens, which will strongly illustrate Denham's judicious ob- servations. Mortal ia facta peribunt ; Nedum sermonum stet honos et gratia vivax. Multa renascentur quae jam cecidere, cadentqu.e Quae nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus, Quern penes arbitrium est et jus et norma loquendi. De Art. Poet. All mortal deeds Shall perish ; so far off it is the state Or grace of speech should hope a lasting date. Much phrase that now is dead shall be reviv'd., And much shall die that now is nobly liv'd, If custom please, at whose disposing will The power and rule of speaking resteth still. B. JOHNSOX Inierdum tamen et vocem Comcedia tollit, Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore, Et Tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri. Telephus et Peleus, cum pauper et exul uterque^ Projicit ampidlas et sesqidpedalia verba. Si curat cor spectantis tetigisse querela; E 66 PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. IV. Yet sometime doth the Comedy excite, Her voice, and angry Chremes chafes outright, With swelling throat, and oft the tragic wight Complains in humble phrase. Both Telephus And Peleus, if they seek to heart-strike us, That are spectators, with their misery, When they are poor and banish'd, must throw by Their bombard-phrase, and foot-and-half-foot words. B. Johnson". So, in B. Johnson's translations from the Odes and Epodes of Horace, besides the most servile adherence to the words, even the measure of the original is imitated. Non me Lucrina juverint conchylia, Magisve rhombus, aut scari, Si quos Eois intonata fluctibus Hyems ad hoc vertat mare : Non Afra avis descendat in ventrem meum, Non attagen Ionicus. Jucundior, quam lecta de pinguissimis Oliva ramis arborum ; Aut herba lapathi prata amantis, et gravi Malvse salubres corpori. Hor. Epod. 2. CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 67 Not Lucrine oysters I could then more prize, Nor turbot, nor bright golden eyes ; If with east floods the winter troubled much Into our seas send any such : The Ionian godwit, nor the ginny-hen Could not go down my belly then More sweet than olives that new-gather'd be, From fattest branches of the tree, Or the herb sorrel that loves meadows still, Or mallows loosing bodies ill. B. Johnson. Of the same character for rigid fidelity, is the translation of Juvenal by Holiday, a writer of great learning, and even of criti- cal acuteness, as the excellent commentary on his author fully shews. Omnibus in terris quce sunt a Gadibus usque Auroram et Gangem pauci dignoscere possunt Vera bona, atque Mis multum diversa, remote Erroris nebidd. Quid enim ratione timemus, Ant cvpimus ? quid tarn dextro pede concipis, ut tc Conatus non poeniteat, votique peracti. Evertsre domos totas optantibus ipsis Diijaciles. Juv. Sat. 10. £2 68 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. IV. In all the world which between Cadiz lies And eastern Ganges, few there are so wise To know true good from feign' d, without all mist Of Error. For by Reason's rule what is't We fear or wish ? What is't we e'er begun With foot so right, but we dislik'd it done ? Whole houses th' easie gods have overthrown At their fond prayers that did the houses own. Holiday's Juvenal. There were, however, even in that age, some writers who manifested a better taste in poetical translation. May, in his trans- lation of Lucan's Pharsalia, and Sandys, in his Metamorphoses of Ovid, while they strictly adhered to the sense of their au- thors, and generally rendered line for line, have given to their versions both an ease of expression and a harmony of num- bers, which make them approach very near to original composition. The reason is, they have disdained to confine themselves to a literal interpretation, but have every where adapted their expression to the idiom of the language in which they wrote. CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 69 The following passage will give no unfa- vourable idea of the style and manner of May. In the 9th book of the Pharsalia, Caesar, when in Asia, is led from curiosity to visit the Plain of Troy. Here fruitless trees, old oaks with putrefy'd And sapless roots, the Trojan houses hide, And temples of their Gods : all Troy's o'erspread With bushes thick, her mines ruined. He sees the bridall grove Anchises lodg'd ; Hesione's rock ; the cave where Paris judg'd ; Where nymph Oenone play'd ; the place so fam'd For Ganymedes' rape; each stone is nam'd. A little gliding stream, which Xanthus was, Unknown he past, and in the lofty grass Securely trode ; a Phrygian straight forbid Him tread on Hector's dust ! (with ruins hid, The stone retain'd no sacred memory.) Respect you not great Hector's tomb, quoth he ! — O great and sacred work of poesy, That free'st from fate, and giv'st eternity To mortal wights ! But Caesar, envy not Their living names, if Roman Muses aught May promise thee, while Homer's honoured By future times, shall thou, and I, be read : e3 ^0 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. IT. No age shall us with darke oblivion staine, But our Pharsalia ever shall remain. May's Lucan. b. Q. Jam silvae steriles, et putres robore trunci Assaraci pressere domos, et templa deorum Jam lassa radice tenent : ac tota teguntur Pergama dumetis ; etiam periere ruinae. Aspicit Hesiones scopulos, silvasque latentes Anchisae thalamos ; quo judex sederit antro ; Unde puer raptus coelo ; quo vertice Nais Luserit Oenone : nullum est sine nomine saxum. Inscius in sicco serpentem pulvere rivum Transierat, qui Xanthus erat ; securus in alto Gramine ponebat gressus : Phrj'x incola manes Hectoreos calcare vetat : discussa jacebant Saxa, nee ullius faciem servantia sacri : Hectoreas, monstrator ait, non respicis aras ? O sacer, et magnus vatum labor ; omnia fato Eripis, et populis donas mortalibus aavum ! Invidia sacral, Caesar, ne tangere famae : Nam siquid Latiis fas est promittere Musis, Quantum Smyrnei durabunt vatis honores, Venturi me teque legent : Pharsalia nostra Vivet, et a nullo tenebris damnabitur aevo. Pliarsal. I g. CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 71 Independently of the excellence of the above translation, in completely conveying the sense, the force, and spirit of the ori- ginal, it possesses one beauty which the more modern English poets have entirely neglect- ed, or rather purposely banished from their versification in rhyme ; I mean the varied harmony of the measure, which arises from changing the place of the pauses. In the modern heroic rhyme, the pause is almost invariably found at the end of a couplet. In the older poetry, the sense is continued from one couplet to another, and closes in various parts of the line, according to the poet's choice, and the completion of his his meaning : A little gliding stream, which Xanthus was, Unknown he past — and in the lofty grass Securely trode — a Phrygian straight forbid Him tread on Hector's dust — with ruins hid, The stone retain'd no sacred memory. He must be greatly deficient in a musi- cal ear, who does not prefer the varied bar- e 4 72 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. IV. mony of the above lines to the uniform return of sound, and chiming measure of the following ; Here all that does of Xanthus stream remain. Creeps a small brook along the dusty plain. While careless and securely on they pass. The Phrygian guide forbids to press the grass ; This place, he said, for ever sacred keep, For here the sacred bones of Hector sleep : Then warns him to observe, where rudely cast, Disjointed stones lay broken and defac'd. Rowe's Lucan. Yet the Pharsalia by Rowe is, on the whole, one of the best of the modern trans- lations of the classics. Though sometimes diffuse and paraphrastical, it is in general faithful to the sense of the original ; the language is animated, the verse correct and melodious ; and when we consider the extent of the work, it is not unjustly characterised by Dr Johnson, as one of " the greatest productions of English poe- !' try." CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 73 Of similar character to the versification of May, though sometimes more harsh in its structure, is the poetry of Sandys : There's no Alcyone ! none,, none ! she died Together with her Cej^x. Silent be All sounds of comfort. These, these eyes did see My shipwrecked Lord. I knew him ; and my hands Thrust forth t' have held him : but no mortal bands Could force his stay. A ghost ! yet manifest, My husband's ghost : which, Oh, but ill express'd His forme and beautie, late divinely rare ! Now pale and naked, with yet dropping haire : Here stood the miserable ! in this place : Here, here ! (and sought his aerie steps to trace). Sandys' Ovid, b. 11. Nulla est Alcyone, nulla est, ait ,* occidit una Cum Ceyce suo ; solantia tollite verba : Naufragus interiit ; vidi agnovique, manusque Ad discedentem, cupiens retinere, tetendi. Umbra fuit : sed et umbra tamen manifesto, virique Vera mei ; non ille quidem, si quceris, habebat Assuetos vultus, nee quo prius ore nitebat. Tallentem, nudumque, et adhuc humente capillo. 74 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. IV* Infelix vidi : stetit hoc miserabilis ipso Ecce loco : (et qucerit vestigia siqua supersint.) Metam. I 11. In the above example, the solantia tollite verba is translated with peculiar felicity, " Silent be all sounds of comfort ;" as are these words, Aec quo prius ore nitebat y " Which, oh ! but ill express'd his forme " and beautie." " No mortal bands could " force his stay," has no strictly correspond- ing sentiment in the original. It is a hap- py amplification ; which shews that Sandys knew what freedom was allowed to a poeti- cal translator, and could avail himself of it. From the time of Sandys, who published his translation of the Metamorphoses of Ovid, in 1626, there does not appear to have been much improvement in the art of translating poetry till the age of Dry den * : * In the poetical works of Milton, we find many noble imitations of detached passages of the ancient classics ; but there is nothing that can be termed a translation, unless aa CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 75 for though Sir John Denham has thought proper to pay a high compliment to Fan- shaw on his translation of the Pastor* Fido y terming him the inventor of " a new and " nobler way *" of translation, we find no- thing in that performance which should en- title it to more praise than the Metamoiv phoses by Sandys, and the Pharsalia by May f, English version of Horace's Ode to Pyrrha ; which it is pro-* bable the author meant as a whimsical experiment of the ef- fect of a strict conformity in English both to the expression and measure of the Latin. See this singular composition in the Appendix, NO. 2. * That servile path thou nobly dost decline, Of tracing word by word, and line by line. A new and nobler way thou dost pursue, To make translations and translators too : They but preserve the ashes, thou the flame ; True to his sense, but truer to his fame. Denham to Sir R. Fanshavf. t One of the best passages of Fanshaw's translation of the Pastor Fido, is the celebrated apostrophe to Spring ; /O PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. IV. But it was to Dryden that poetical trans- lation owed a complete emancipation from her fetters ; and exulting in her new liber- ty, the danger now w r as, that she should run Spring, the year's youth, fair mother of new flowers, New leaves, new loves, drawn by the winged hours. Thou art return'd ; but the felicity Thou brought'st me last is not return'd with thee. Thou art return'd ; but nought returns with thee. Save my lost joy's regretful memory. Thou art the self-same thing thou wert before, As fair and jocund : but I am no more The thing I was, so gracious in her sight, Who is heavens masterpiece and earth's delight. O bitter sweets of love ! far worse it is To lose than never to have tasted bliss. O Primavera gioventu del anno, Bella madre di nori, D'herbe novelle, e di novelli amori : Tu torni ben, ma teco, Non tornano i sereni E fortunati di de le mie gioie ! Tu torni ben, tu torni, Ma teco altro non torna Ghe del perduto mio caro tesoro La rimembranza misera e dolente. CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 77 into the extreme of licentiousness. The followers of Dryden saw nothing so much to be emulated in his translations as the ease of his poetry : Fidelity was but a se- condary object, and translation for a while was considered as synonymous with para- phrase. A judicious spirit of criticism was now wanting, to prescribe bounds to this increasing licence, and to determine to what precise degree a poetical translator might assume to himself the character of an ori- ginal writer. In that design, Roscommon wrote his Essay on Translated Verse; in Tu quella se tu quella, Ch'eri pur dianzi vezzosa e bella. Ma non son io gia quel ch'un tempo fui> Si earo a gli occhi altrui. O dolcezze amarissime d'amore ! Quanto e piu duro perdervi, che mai Non v'haver 6 provate, 6 possedute ! Pastor Fido, act 3. sc. 1. In those parts of the English version which are marked in Italics, there is some attempt towards a freedom of transla- tion ; but it is a freedom of which Sandys and May had long before given many happier specimens. 78 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. IV. which, in general, he has shewn great cri- tical judgment ; but proceeding, as all re- formers, with rigour, he has, amidst many excellent precepts on the subject, laid down one rule, which every true poet (and such only should attempt to translate a poet) must consider as a very prejudicial restraint. After judiciously recommending to the translator, first to possess himself of the sense and meaning of his author, and then to imitate his manner and style, he thus pre- scribes a general rule, Your author always will the best advise ; Fall when he falls, and when he rises, rise. Far from adopting the former part of this maxim, I conceive it to be the duty of a poetical translator, never to suffer his ori- oinal to fall *. He must maintain with him * I am aware, that a sense may be given to this precept of Roscommon, which will justify its propriety : " Let the " elevation of the copy keep pace with that of the original, " where the subject requires elevation of expression : let it " imitate it likewise in plainness and simplicity, if such be CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 79 a perpetual contest of genius ; lie must at- tend him in his highest flights, and soar, if he can, beyond him : and when he perceives, any time, a diminution of his powers, when he sees a drooping wing, he must raise him. on his own pinions *. Homer has been judged by the best critics to fall at times beneath himself, and to offend, by introdu- cing low images and puerile allusions. Yet how admirably is this defect veiled over, or altogether removed, by his translator Pope. In the beginning of the 8th book " the character which the sentiment requires." I have na fault to find with the precept, if so qualified. * A very ingenious critic, to whom I am indebted for a singularly able and candid review of this Essay in the Eu- ropean Magazine, for September and October 1793, has cen- sured this opinion as allowing to translators a liberty of de- parting from that truth and fidelity of representation, which it is their first duty rigidly to observe. But in a subsequent part of the same criticism, it appears, that this difference of opinion is more a seeming than a real opposition of sentiment s and I am happy to find the opinion I have advanced on this head, sanctioned by so respectable an authority as that of M. Delille ; whose translation of the Georgics of Virgil, though censurable (as I shall remark) in a few particulars, is, on the whole, a very fine performance, " II faut etre quelquefois 80 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. IV. of the Iliad, Jupiter is introduced in great majesty, calling a council of the gods, and giving them a solemn charge to observe a strict neutrality between the Greeks and Trojans : Zevg os @£ouy ccyo^rjy < 7roif i o'(x,70 regTizzgavvog, 'AzooTtzrq zogv^rj '7ro'kvo > ztgccSog OuXvu^oio- " Aurora with her saffron robe, had u spread returning light upon the world, " when Jove delighting-in-thunder sum- " sUperieur a son original, precisement parce qu'on lui est i c tres-infe-rieur." Delille Disc. Prelim, a la Trad. de$ Georgiques. Of the same opinion is the elegant author of the poem on Translation : Unless an author like a mistress warms, How shall we hide his faults, or taste his charms ? How all his modest, latent beauties find ; How trace each lovelier feature of the mind ; Soften each blemish, and each grace improve, And treat him with the dignity of love ? Francklin, CHAP. IT. TRANSLATION. 81 " moned a council of the gods upon the " highest point of the many-headed Olym- " pus; and while he thus harangued, all " the immortals listened with deep atten- " tion," This is a very solemn opening ; but the expectation of the reader is mise- rably disappointed by the harangue itself, of which I shall give a literal translation, KexXvrs ftev 9 wkfleg re 9-so/, sraVa/ re %eaimi x 3 0aiiol £HAP. IV* TRANSLATION. 89 u is so intense, that one cannot see farther " than he can throw a stone : So rose the " dust under the feet of the Greeks march- " ing silently to battle." With what superior taste has the trans- lator heightened this simile, and exchang- ed the offending circumstance for a beauty. The fault is in the third line ; tm-o-ov rig r liri\eu(r " When I placed you on my knees, I filled " you full with meat minced down, and " gave you wine, which you often vomited Like aged limbs which feebly go, Beneath a venerable head of snow. No author of real genius is more censur- able on this score than Dryden. Obsidere alii telis angusta viarum Oppositi : stat ferri acies mucrone coruscO Stricta parata neci. JEnei$,u. S22s Thus translated by Dryden : a 98 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. IV. To several posts their parties they divide, Some block the narrow streets, some scour the wide :. The bold they kill, th' unwary they surprise,; Who fights finds death, and death finds him who flies. Of these four lines, there are scarcely more than four words which are warranted by the original. " Some block the narrow " streets." Even this is a faulty transla- tion of Obsklere alii telis angusta viarurn ; but it fails on the score of mutilation, not redundancy. The rest of the ideas which compose these four lines, are the original property of the translator ; and the antithe- tical witticism in the concluding line, is far beneath the chaste simplicity of Vir- gil. The same author, Virgil, in describing a pestilential disorder among the cattle, gives the following beautiful picture, which, as an ingenious writer justly remarks *, has every excellence that can belong to descrip- tive poetry : * Dr Beattie's Dissertation on Poetry and Music, p. 357.- 4to. edit. GHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 99 Ecce autem duro fumans sub vomere taums Cqncidit, et mixtum spumis vomit ore cruorem, Extremosque ciet gemitus. It tristis arator, Moerentem abjungens fraterna morte juvencum, Atque opere in medio defixa relinquit aratra. Which Mr Dryden thus translates : The steer who to the yoke was bred to bow, (Studious of tillage and the crooked plow), Falls down and dies ; and dying, spews a flood Of foamy madness, mix'd with clotted blood. The clown, who, cursing Providence, repines, His mournful fellow from the team disjoins ; With many a groan forsakes his fruitless care, And in the unfinish'd furrow leaves the share, " I would appeal to the reader," says Dr Beattie, " whether, by debasing the charm- " ing simplicity of It tristis arator with his " blasphemous paraphrase, Dryden has not " destroyed the beauty of the passage." He has undoubtedly, even although the trans- lation had been otherwise faultless. But it is very far from being so. Duro fumans sab vomere, is not translated at all, and another idea is put in its place. Extremosque ciet q2 100 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. IV. gemitus, a most striking part of the descrip- tion, is likewise entirely omitted. " Spews a flood," is vulgar and nauseous ; and " a flood of foamy madness" is nonsense. In short, the whole passage in the translation is a mass of error and impropriety *. u u The simple expression, Jam Procyonfurit, in Horace, 3. 29. is thus translated by the same author : The Syrian star Barks from afar, And with his sultry breath infects the sky^ * A late translator of the Georgics thus renders the pas- sage with equal fidelity and good taste : At once the bullock falls beneath the yoke, Blood and mixt foam beneath his nostrils smoke : He groans his last : the melancholy swain Leaves the fixt plough amid th' unfurrow'd plain, And frees the lonely steer, whose mournful eye Beholds with fond regret a brother die. The Georgics of Virgil transL by W. Sotheby. CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 101 This barking of a star is a bad specimen of the music of the spheres. Dry den, from the fervour of his imagination, and the ra- pidity with which he composed, is frequent- ly guilty of similar impropriety in his meta- phorical language. Thus, in his version of Du Fresnoy, de Arte Grapkica, he trans- lates Indolis ut vigor inde potens obstrictus hebescatj " Neither would I extinguish the fire of a ** vein which is lively and abundant." The following passage in the second Georgic, as translated by Delille, is an ex- ample of vitious taste : Ac, dum prima novis adolescit frondibus aetas, Parcendum teneris : et dum se laetus ad auras Palmes agit, laxis per purum immissus habenis, Ipsa acies nondum falce tentanda.— - Quand ses premiers bourgeons s'empresseront declore* Que lacier rigoureux n'y touche point encore ; Meme lorsque dans 1'air, qu'il commence a braver, Le rejetton moins frele ose enfin s'elever ; JPardonne a son audace en faveur de son age.— g3 102 PRINCIPLES OP CHAP, rv The expression of the original is bold and figurative, Icetus ad auras, laxis per pur urn immissus habenis ; but there is no- thing that offends the chastest taste. The concluding line of the translation is dis- gustingly finical, Vardonne a son audace enfaveur de son age. Mr Pope's translation of the following passage of the Iliad, is censurable on a si- milar account : Aaoi {JAv (pdivvSaci vregi ftrohiv, clIttv tb rei%og 9 mccgvctf/j&vor Iliad, 6. 327- For thee great Ilion's guardian heroes fall, Till heaps of dead alone defend the wall. Of this conceit, of dead men defending the walls of Troy, Mr Pope has the sole merit. The original, with grave simplicity, declares, that the people fell, fighting before the town, and around the walls *. * Fitzosborne's Letters, 43. CHAP. IV, TRANSLATION. 108 In the translation of the two following lines from Ovid's Epistle of Sappho to Phaon, the same author has added a witti- cism, which is less reprehensible, because it accords with the usual manner of the poet whom he translates ; yet it cannot be term- ed an improvement of the original : " Scribimus, et lachrymis oculi rorantur aborti:^ " Aspice, quam sit in hoc multa litura loco." See, while I write, my words are lost in tears, The less my sense, the more my love appears. Pope. The favourite English anacreontic " Bu- " s?/, curious, thirsty FhjT is thus translated in the Carmina QuadragesimaUo, vol. ii. ; a collection which contains some pieces of high merit. Picta auro, et nitidis variata coloribus alas, Musca, veni nostris hospes arnica scyphis. Hospes eris, madidae seu te moderatior uvae Haustus, seii recreet plenior, hospes eris. Indulge geniali horae, facilique Lyaeo, Dum s^evum Lachesis tarda moratur opus. ©4 104 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. IV. Nam tua, devolvi prseceps, brevis interit aetas, Et nostra est parili prsecipitata fuga. Non tamen est sortem cur indignemur iniquam, Virgilius periit, Virgiliique culex *. In this version, which is not without me- rit, the superadded illustration in the last line, flowing naturally from the sentiment of the original, is no more than what is al- lowable in poetical translation ; but I doubt if it is an improvement. Sure I am, at least, that Dum scevum Lachesis tarda mo- ratur opus, though likewise consonant to the sentiment of the original, has no propriety * Busy, curious, thirsty fly, Drink with me, and drink as I ; Freely welcome to my cup, Couldst thou sip, and sip it up ; Make the most of life you may ; Life is short, and wears away : Both alike, both thine and mine, Hasten quick to their decline ; Thine's a summer, mine's no more, Though repeated to threescore : Threescore summers, when they're gone Will appear as short, as one. CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 105 when applied to the short life of a fly. In the version of the same anacreontic by Vincent Bourne, the translator, with better taste, has adhered to the chastened simpli- city of the original, without any attempt at embellishment : Potare., musca, de meo aut quovis scypho, Vocata, non vocata, praesens advena ; Lubens, libensque curiosam exple sitim, Siccare totum, si valebis poculum : iEvi fugacis punctulum carpe, arripe ; JEvi, quod interire pergit indies. Utriusque vita properat, et tua et mea^ Ad exitum cursu incitato vergere ; JEstas tuae, nee amplius spatium est mea?^ Ad bis tricenas usque si redit vices : Cum praeteribit bis tricena, sicuti Unius aestatis videbitur fuga. But if authors, even of taste and genius, be found at times to have made an injudi- cious use of that liberty which is allowed in the translation of poetry, we must expect to see it miserably abused indeed, where those talents are evidently wanting. The following specimen of a Latin version of the Paradise Lo$t y is an example of every 106 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. IV. thing that is vitioiis and offensive in poeti- cal translation. Primaevi ca.no furta patris, furtumque secutae Tristiafata necis, labes ubi prima notavit Quotquot Adamaeo genitos de sanguine vidit Phoebus ad Hesperias ab Eoo cardine met as ; Quos procul auricomis Paradisi depulit hortis. Dira cupido attavura, raptique injuria pomi : Terrigena donee meliorque et major Adamus> Amissis meliora bonis, majora reduxit. Quosque dedit morti lignum inviolabile, mortis Unicus ille alio rapuit de limine ligno. Terrenusque licet pereat Paradisus, at ejus Munere laxa patet Paradisi porta superni : Haec oestro stimulata novo mens pandere gestit. Quis mihi monstret iter ? Quis carbasa nostra profundo Dirigat in dubio ? Gul. Hog.ei Paradisus Amissus, I. L How completely is Milton disguised in this translation ! His majesty exchanged for meanness, and his simplicity for bom- bast *. * It is amusing to observe the conceit of this author, and the compliment he imagines he pays to the taste of his pa- tron in applauding this miserable composition ; " Adeo - tibi CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 107 The preceding observations, though they principally regard the first general rule of translation, viz. that which enjoins a com- plete transfusion of the ideas and senti- ments of the original work, have likewise a near connection with the second general rule, which I shall now proceed to consider. ** placuit, lit quaedam etiam in melius mutasse tibi visus fue* " rim." With similar arrogance and absurdity, he gives Milton credit for the materials only of the poem., assuming to him- -self the whole merit of its structure : " Miltonus Paradisum " Amissum invenerat; ergo Miltoni hie lana estj at mea *" tela tamen/ J CHAP. V. TRANSLATION. 109 CHAR V. Second General Rule : The Style and Man* ner of writing in a Translation should be of the same Character with that of the Ori- ginaL — •Translations of the Scriptures ; — Of Homer, &c. ; — A just Taste requisite for the Discernment of the Characters of Style and Manner. — Examples of failure in this particular ; — The grave exchanged for the formal ; — The elevated for the bom- bast ; — The lively for the petulant ; — The simple for the childish. Hobbes, L J Es- trange, Echard, &c. Next in importance to a faithful transfu- sion of the sense and meaning of an author, is an assimilation of the style and manner of writing in the translation to that of the original. This requisite of a good transla- 110 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. V. tion, though but secondary in importance, is more difficult to be attained than the for- mer ; for the qualities requisite for justly discerning and happily imitating the various characters of style and manner, are much more rare than the ability of simply under- standing an author's sense. A good trans- lator must be able to discover at once the true character of his author's style. He must ascertain with precision to what class it be- longs ; whether to that of the grave, the elevated, the easy, the lively, the florid and ornamented, or the simple and unaffected ; and these characteristic qualities he must have the capacity of rendering equally con- spicuous in the translation as in the origi- nal. If a translator fail in this discern- ment, and want this capacity, let him be ever so thoroughly master of the sense of his author, he will present him through a distorting medium, or exhibit him often in a garb that is unsuitable to his character. The chief characteristic of the historical style of the Sacred Scriptures, is its simpli- city. This character belongs indeed to the CHAP. V. TRANSLATION. Ill language itself. Dr Campbell has justly re- marked, that the Hebrew is a simple tongue; that " their verbs have not, like the " Greek and Latin, a variety of moods and " tenses, nor do they, like the modern lan- " g ua g es 5 abound in auxiliaries and con- u junctions. The consequence is, that in " narrative, they express by several simple " sentences, much in the way of the re- " lations used in conversation, what in " most other languages would be compre- a hended in one complex sentence of three " or four members *." The same author gives, as an example of this simplicity, the beginning of the first chapter of Gene- sis, where the account of the operations of the Creator on the first day is contained in eleven separate sentences. " 1. In the * beginning God created the Heaven and " the Earth. 2. And the earth was without " form, and void. 3. And darkness was " upon the face of the deep. 4. And the " spirit of God moved upon the face of the " waters. 5. And God said, let there be * Third Preliminary Dissertation to a New Translation of the Four Gospels. 112 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. V. " light. 6. And there was light. 7. And " God saw the light, that it was good. 8* " And God divided the light from the " darkness. 9. And God called the light " day. 10. And the darkness he called " night. 11. And the evening and the " morning were the first day." " This," says Dr Campbell, " is a just representa- " tion of the style of the original. A more " perfect example of simplicity of struc- " ture, we can no where find. The sen- " tences are simple, the substantives are not " attended by adjectives, nor the verbs by " adverbs ; no synonymas, no superlatives, " no effort at expressing things in a bold, " emphatical, or uncommon manner*" Castalio's version of the Scriptures is entitled to the praise of elegant Latinity, and he is in general faithful to the sense of his original ; but he has totally departed from its style and manner, by substituting the complex and florid composition to the simple and unadorned. His sentences are formed in long and intricate periods, in which many separate members are artfully CHAP. V. TRANSLATION. 113 combined ; and we observe a constant en- deavour at a classical phraseology and or- namented diction *. In Castalio's ver- sion of the foregoing passage of Genesis^ nine sentences of the original are thrown into one period. 1. Principio creavit Deus ccelum et terrain* % Quum autem csset ter- ra iners at que rudis, tenebrisque effusum profundum, et divinus spiritus sese super a- quas libraret) jussit Deus ut exist eret lux, et extitit lux ; qtiaiii quum videret Deus esse bonam, lueem secrevit a tenebris, et lu- cent diem, et tenebras noctem appellaviti 3. ltd extitit ex vcspere et mane dies primuSi H * " His affectation of the manner of some of the poets " and orators has metamorphosed the authors he interpreted, *l and stript them of the venerable signatures of antiquity, ic which so admirably befit them ; and which, serving as in- " trinsic evidence of their authenticity, recommend their 1 tc writings to the serious and judicious. Whereas, when ac- ie coutred in this new fashion, no body would imagine them " to have been Hebrews ; and yet ; (as some critics have justly u remarked), it has not been within the compass of Castalio's u art, to make them look like Romans." Dr Campbell^ tOth Prelim. Diss. 114 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. V. Dr Beattie has justly remarked, that the translation of the Old Testament by Cas- talio does great honour to that author's learning, but not to his taste. u The quaint- " ness of his Latin betrays a deplorable in- u attention to the simple majesty of his " original. In the Song of Solomon, he " has debased the magnificence of the lan- " guage and subject by diminutive f$ which, " though expressive of familiar endearment, " he should have known to be destitute of " dignity, and therefore improper on so- " lemn occasions." — " Mea Columbula, os- *' tende mihi tuurn vulticulum ; fac nt au- " diam tuarn voculam ; nam et voculam ve- ** nustulam, et vulticulum habes lepidulum, — 11 Vent in meos hortulos, sororcula mea spon- " sa. — Ego dormioi vigilante meo corcu- " lo * " &c. The version of the Scriptures by Arias Montanus, is in some respects a contrast to that of Castalio. Arias, by adopting the li- • Essay on, Laughter and Ludicrous Composition. CHAP. V. TRANSLATION. 115 teral mode of translation, probably intend- ed to give as faithful a picture as he could, both of the sense and manner of the ori- ginal. Not considering the different genius of the Hebrew, the Greek, and the Latin, in the various meaning and import of words of the same primary sense ; the difference of combination and construction, and the peculiarity of idioms belonging to each tongue ; he has treated the three languages as if they corresponded perfectly in all those particulars ; and the consequence is, he has produced a composition which fails in every one requisite of a good translation : it con-< veys neither the sense of the original, nor its manner and style ; and it abounds in barbarisms, solecisms, and grammatical in- accuracy *. In Latin, two negatives make an affirmative ; but it is otherwise in Greek, they only give force to the negation f : %u%i§ h2 * Dr Campbell, 10th Prel. Diss, part 2. t The Greek language even admits of three negatives, with similar effect in strengthening the negation,, as Qvdag a*«vf* 4vah ovJwec. 116 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. V. Ifjcn ov hwuefa iroteiv vfev, as translated by Arias, sine me non potestis facer e nihil, is therefore directly contrary to the sense of the original : And surely that translator cannot be said either to do justice to the manner and style of his author, or to write with the ease of original composition, who, instead of per-' spicuous thought, expressed in pure, correct, and easy phraseology, gives us obscure and unintelligible sentiments, conveyed in bar^ barous terms and constructions, irreconcile- able to the rules of the language in which he uses them. Et nunc dixi vobis antejieri y ut quum factum fuerit credatis. — *Ascendit autem et Joseph a Galilcea in civitatem Da- vid, propter esse ipsum ex domo et familia David, describi cum Maria desponsata sibi uxore, existente prcegriante* Factum autem in esse eos ibi f impleti sunt dies par ere ip- sam. — Venerunt ad portam, qua spontanea aperta est eis, et exeunt es processerunt vicum. — Nunquid aquam prohibere potest quis ad non baptizare hos ? — Sped at descendens su- per se vas quoddam linteum f quatuor initiis CHAP. IV. TRANSLATION. 117 vinctum, — Aperiens autem Petrns os, dixit : In xeritate deprehendo quia non est persona-* rum acceptor Deus *, The characteristic of the language of Ho- mer is strength united with simplicity. He employs frequent images, allusions, and si- miles ; but he very rarely uses metaphorical expression. The use of this style, there- fore, in a translation of Homer, is an offence against the character of the original. Mr Pope, though not often, is sometimes char- h3 * The language of that ludicrous work, Epistolce obscuro- rum virorum, is an imitation, and by no means an exaggera^ ted picture of the style of Arias Montanuss version of the Scriptures. Vos bene audivistis qualiter Papa habuit unum magnum animal quod vocatumfuit Elephas ; et habuit ipsum in magno konorc, et valde amavit Mud. Nunc igitur debetis scire, quod tale animal est mortuum. Et quandofuit irifir* mum, tunc Papa fuit in magna tristitia, et vocavit medicos plureSy et dixit eis : Si est possibile, satiate mihi Elephas* Tunc fecerunt magnam diligentiam, et viderunl ei urinam, et dederunt ei unam purgationem quae constat quinque centum aureos, sed tameti non potuerunt Elephas facere merdare 3 et sic est mortuum ; et Papa dolet multum super Elephas ; quia fuit mirabile animal, habens longum rostrum in magna quart* tilate. — Ast ego non curabo ista mundana negotia t quae afft* Tur\t perditiqnem (mimce* Valete* 118 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. V. geable with this fault ; as where he terms the arrows of Apollo " the feather' d fates," Iliad, 1. 68., a quiver of arrows, " a store of u flying fates," Odyssey, 22. 136: or instead of saying, that the soil is fertile in corn, u in " wavy gold the summer vales are dress'd," Odyssey, 19. 131 * ; the soldier wept, " from " his ey£s pour'd down the tender dew." Ibid. 11. 486. Virgil, in describing the shipwreck of the Trojans, says, Apparent rari nanies in gurgite vasto ; Which the Abbe des Fontaines thus trans- lates : " A peine un petit nombre de ceux qui " montoient le vaisseau purent se sauver a u la nage.^ Of this translation Voltaire justly remarks, " C'est traduire Virgile u en style de gazette. Ou est ce vaste '* It is well known, that the greater part of the Odyssey Was not translated by Pope himself, but by some assistants, whom he employed and paid for their labours ; but having revised the whole, and published the work under his own Bame, he is justly responsible for all its faults. CHAP. V. TRANSLATION. 119 " gouffre que peint le po6te, gurgite vasto ? " Oh est V apparent rati nantesP Ce n'est " pas ainsi qu'on doit traduire l'Eneide." Voltaire, Quest, sur VEncyclop. mot Ampli- fication* If we are thus justly offended at hearing Virgil speak in the style of the Evening Post or the Daily Advertiser, what must we think of the translator, who makes the so- lemn and sententious Tacitus express him- self in the low cant of the streets, or in the dialect of the waiters of a tavern ? Facile Asiniwn et Messalam inter Anto- nium et Augustum belhrum prcemiis refertos : Thus translated in a version of Tacitus by Mr Dryden and several eminent hands : " Asinius and Messala, who feathered their u nests well in the civil wars 'twixt Antho- " ny and Augustus/' Vinolentiam et libi- dines usurpans : u Playing the good-fellow." Frustra Arminium prmcribi : " Trumping u up Arminius's title." Sed Agrippina //- bertam cemulam, nurum >ncillam, ali que eun- dem in modum muliebri.er fremere : " But h4 120 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. V. " Agrippina could not bear that a freed- " woman should nose her." And another translator says, " But Agrippina could not " bear that a freedwoman should beard her." Of a similar character with this translation of Tacitus is a translation of Suetonius by several gentlemen of Oxford *, which a- bounds with such elegancies as the follow- ing : Sestio Gallo, libidinoso et prodigo sent : ** Sestius Gallus, a most notorious old Sir * c Jolly." J ucundissimos et omnium horarum amicos ; " His boon companions and sure " cards." Nullam unquam occasion em de- dit : " They never could pick the least hole " in his coat." — So likewise in a translation of Livy, Samnites pro aris et focis pitgna- bant : " The Samnites fought for church and " chimney, as the saying is." — And with equal elegance, Quidam Lncanorum pretio ascitic clari magis quam honesti, quum cor- pora nuda infolisseni, &c : "The Lucani- " ans, a parcel of rapscallions, ran away in $ querpo." * London, l6$L CHAP. V. TRANSLATION. 121 Juno's apostrophe to Troy, in her speech to the Gods in council, is thus translated in a version of Horace by " The Most Emi- * nent hands." •Ilion, Ilion, Fatalis incestusqiie judex, S?c. Hon. 3. 3, O Ilion, Ilipn, I with transport view The fall of all thy wicked, perjur'd crew ! Pallas and I have borne a rdnJtUhs grudge To that curst Shepherd, that incestuous judge. In the following passage of Juvenal's tenth Satire, the striking moral of the thought is most happily aided by the language in which it is clothed : — — nulla aconita bibuntur Fictilibus ; tunc ilia times, quum pocula sumes Gemmata, et lato Setinum ardebit in auro. But how miserably is the sentiment deba-* sed by the expression in a modern transla- tion : 122 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. V. -yet no poisonous drug Was ever swallow'd from an earthen mug : When rich wine sparkles in the bowl superb, With gold and gems, then fear the deadly herb. Owen's Juvenal. The description of the majesty of Jupiter, contained in the following passage of the first book of the Iliad, is allowed to be a true specimen of the sublime. It is the archetype from which Phidias acknowledged he had framed his divine sculpture of the Olympian Jupiter : 9 Afbfig6 'OXvpirov He spoke, and awful bends his sable brows, Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod, The stamp of fate, and sanction of the God : High heav'n, with trembling, the dread signal took, And all Olympus to its centre shook. Pope. Certainly Mr Hobbes of Malmsbury perceived no portion of that sublime which CHAP. V. TRANSLATION. 123 was felt by Phidias and by Pope, when he could thus translate this fine description : This said, with his black brows he to her nodded,, Wherewith displayed were his locks divine ; Olympus shook at stirring of his godhead, And Thetis from it jump'd into the brine. In the translation of the Georgics, Mr Dryden has displayed great powers of poetry. But Dryden had little relish for the pathetic, and no comprehension of the natural language of the heart. The beauti- ful simplicity of the following passage has entirely escaped his observation, and he has been utterly insensible to its tender- ness : Ipse cavd solans ozgrum iestudine amorem, Te, dulcis conjux, te solo in littore secum, Te veniente die, te decedente canebat. Virg. Geor. 4 Th* unhappy husband, husband now no more, Did on his tuneful harp his loss deplore, And sought his mournful mind with music to restore .1 124 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. V. On thee, dear Wife, in deserts all alone, He call'd, sigh'd, sung > his griefs with day begun, Nor were they finished with the setting sun. 5 The three verbs, calVd sigjfd, sung, are here substituted, with peculiar infelicity, for the repetition of the pronoun ; a change which converts the pathetic into the ludi- crous. In the same episode, the poet compares the complaint of Orpheus to the wailing of a nightingale, robb'd of her young, in those well known beautiful verses : Quails populea mcerens Philomela sub umbra Amissos qveritur foetus, quos durus arator Observans nido implumes, detraxit : at ilia Flet noctem, ramoque sedens miserabile carmen fntegrat, et mcestis late loca questibus implet. Thus translated by Dry den : So, close in poplar shades, her children gone, The mother nightingale laments alone ; Whose nest some prying churl had found, and thence By stealth, convey'd the feather'd innocence j CHAP. V. TRANSLATION. 125 But she supplies the night with mournful strains^ And melancholy music fills the plains. How poor is this translation when com- pared with its original ; yet, on the whole, less censurable than the following version by a French poet of high reputation : Telle sur im rameau durant la nuit obscure Philomele plaintive attendrit la nature, Accuse en gemissant l'oiseleur inhumain, Qui, glissant dans son nid line furtive main; Ravit ces tendres fruits que l'amour fit ecldrre, Et qu'un leger duvet ne couvroit pas encore. Delille, Georg. de Virg. It is evident, that there is a complete evaporation of the beauties of the original in this translation : and the reason is, that the French poet has substituted sentiments for facts, and refinement for the simple pa- thetic. The nightingale of Delille melts all nature with her complaint ; accuses with he? sighs the inhuman fowler, who glides his thievish hand into her nest, and plunders the tender fruits that were hatched by love ! How different this sentimental foppery from 126 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. V. the chaste simplicity of Virgil ! — We per- ceive a similar vein of affected sentiment in the translation of the Paradise Lost by the same author : So spake our general mother ; and with eyes Of conjugal affection unreprov'd And meek surrender, half embracing, lean'd On our first father ; half her swelling breast Naked met his, under the flowing gold Of her loose tresses hid; he in delight Both of her beauty and submissive charms, Smil'd with superior love. Sur Adam a ces mots, ctun air affectueux Ellejette un regard chaste et voluptueux, Tel quen permet V Hymen, tel qit amour en inspire : ILe ciel qui la forma se peint dans son sourire. Le cceuf sur son epoux doucement appuye, Ses bras respectueux Ventourent a moitie ; Et voilani a demi ce sein qu'il idolatre Ses cheveux d'orjlottoient, sur sa gorge d'albdtre, Adam reste muet, il admire tout has Un amour si soumis, de si chastes appas ; Et ses yeux rasmrant la beaute qui I'embrasse Peigne?it la Majesti souriant a la grace. Parad. Perd. I. iv. CHAP. V. TRANSLATION. 127 In the beautiful story of Pyramus and Thisbe, Ovid describes in a single couplet, the death of Pyramus, in terms of the most affecting simplicity : Ad nomen Thisbes, oculos jam morte gravatos Pyramus erexit, visaque recondidit ilia, A French author of some reputation, has thus rendered the passage, accommoda- ting it to the taste of his age and country : C'est Pyrame ! c'est lui ! dormiroit-il, grands Dieux 1 Pyrame ! a cette voix Pyrame ouvre les yeux : (< Je croyois qu'aux enfers tu venois de descendre, ec Et que tu m'attendais — c'est moi qui vais t'attendre." II dit. — Son ceil couvert du voile de la moit, Cherche Thisbe dans l'ombre, et la trouvant encor, Avec un doux effort longtems fixe sur elie, Se renferme et s'eteint dans la nuit eternelle. Lettres a Emilk par Demqutier. We may affirm for certain, that the wri- ter who could depart thus widely from the character of his original, had not the smalL est feeling of that beautiful simplicity which characterizes it, 128 PltlNCiPLES OF CHAP. V. The following passage in the 6th book of the Iliad has not been happily translated by Mr Pope. It is in the parting inter- view between Hector and Andromache* Qg slvaffj c&Xoy/oio i i is o (piXctgyvgog zi&v iv Oi%a y Kot;, t) TTotsigt furcifer, Accipiam, modo sis veni hue : invenies infortunium. Echard, who saw no distinction between the familiar and the vulgar, has translated this in the true dialect of the streets : " I think there never was such a long " night since the beginning of the world, " except that night I had the strappado, " and rid the wooden horse till morning ; " and o' my conscience, that was twice as CHAP. V. TRANSLATION. 137 " long *. By the mackins, I believe Phce- " bus has been playing the good-fellow, " and's asleep too. I'll be hang'd if he " ben't in for't, and has took a little too " much o' the creature. « Mer. Say you so, slave ? What, treat " Gods like yourselves. By Jove, have " at your doublet, Rogue, for scandalum " magnatum. Approach then, you'll ha* " but small joy here. " Mer. Accedam, at que hanc appellabo " atque supparasitabo patri." Ibid. sc. 3. " Mer. I'll to her, and tickle her up as " my father has done." " Sosia. Irritabis crabrones." Ibid, act 2, sc. 2. " Sosia* You'd as good p — ss in a bee- " hive." Seneca, though not a chaste writer, is re- markable for a courtly dignity of expres- * Echard has here mistaken the author's sense. He ought to have said, " o' my conscience, this night is twice as long as that was." 138 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. V, sion, which, though often united with ease, is in the opposite extreme to meanness or vulgarity. L'Estrange has presented him through a medium of such coarseness, that he is hardly to be known. Probatos itaque semper lege, et siquando ad alios divertere libuerit, ad priores redi. — IfihU ctque sanitate??! impedit qiiam remedio- rum crebva mutatio, Ep. 2. " Of authors be sure to make choice of the best ; and, as I said before, stick close to them ; and though you take up others by the bye, re- serve some select ones, however, for your study and retreat. Nothing is more hurt- ful, in the case of diseases and wounds, than the frequent shifting of physic and plasters." Tuit qui dicer et, Quid prodis operam? ille quem quceris elatus, combustus est, De belief. lib. /• c. 21. " Friend, says a fellow, you " may hammer your heart out, for the man " you look for is dead." CHAP. V, TRANSLATION. 139 Cum mult a in crudelitatem Pisistrati con- viva ebrius dixisset. De ira, lib. 3. c. 11. " Thrasippus, in his drink, fell foul upon " the cruelties of Pisistratus." From the same defect of taste, the simple d natural ma ish and insipid. and natural manner degenerates into child- J'ai perdu tout mon bonheur, J'ai perdu mon serviteur, Colin me delaisse. Helas ! il a pu changer ! Je voudrois n'y plus songer: J'y songe sans cesse. Rousseau, Devin de Village. I've lost my love, Fve lost my swain : Colin leaves me with disdain. Naughty Colin ! hateful thought ! To Colinette her Colin's naught. I will forget him — that I will ! Ah, t'wont do — I love him stilL CHAP. VI. TRANSLATION. 141 CHAPTER VL Examples of a good Taste in Poetical Trans- lation. — Bourne's Translations from Mal- let and from Prior, — Dr Atterbury from Horace. — The Duke de Nivernois from Horace. — Dr Jortin from Simonides. — Imitation of the same by Dr Markham. — Mr Glasse from Mason's Caractacus. — Mr Webb from the Anthologia. — Grotius from the sa?ne. — Hughes from Claudian, — Beattiefrom Pope. — Pope from Boileau. — Fragments of the Greek Dramatists by Mr Cumberland. After these examples of faulty transla- tion, from a defect of taste in the translator, or the want of a just discernment of his au- thor's style and manner of writing, I shall 142 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. VI. now present the reader with some specimens of perfect translation, where the authors have entered with exquisite taste into the manner of their originals, and have suc- ceeded most happily in the imitation of it. The first is the opening of the beautiful ballad of William and Margaret, translated by Vincent Bourne. I. When all was wrapt in dark midnight, And all were fast asleep, In glided Margaret's grimly ghost, And stood at William's feet. II. Her face was like the April morn, Clad in a wintry-cloud ; And clay-cold was her lily hand, That held her sable shrowd. III. So shall the fairest face appear, When youth and years are flown ; Such is the robe that Kings must wear. When death has reft their crown* CHAP. VI. TRANSLATION. 143 IV. Her bloom was like the springing flower, That sips the silver dew ; The rose was budded in her cheek, And opening to the view. V. But Love had, like the canker-worm, Consum'd her early prime ; The. rose grew pale and left her cheek, She died before her time. L Omnia nox tenebris, tacitaque involverat umbra, Etfessos homines vinxerat alta quies : Cum valvas patuere, et gressu illapsa silenti, Thyrsidis ad tectum stabat imago Ckloes. II. f alius erat, qualis lachrymosi vidtus Aprilis, Cui dubia hyberno conditur imbre dies; Quaque sepulchralem a pedibus collegit amictum f Candidior nivibus, frigidiorqiie maims, III, Qumque dies aberunt molles, et Iceta juventus, Gloria pallebit, sic Cyparissi tua ; Cum mors decutiet capiti diademata, reguw JHac erit in trabea conspickntfus hono$. 144 Principles of chap. to. IV. Forma fait (dum forma fait J nascentis ad instar Floris, cui cano gemmula rore tumet ; Ft Veneres risere, et subrubuere lobelia, Subrubet ut teneris purpura prima rosis. V. Sed lenta exedit tabes mollemque ruborem, Etfaciles risus, et juvenile decus ; Ft rosa paulatim languens, nudata reliquit Oscula ; prceripuit mors properata Ckloen. The second is a small poem by Prior, en- titled Ckloe Huntings which is likewise trans- lated into Latin by Bourne. Behind her neck her comely tresses tied, Her ivory quiver graceful by her side, A-hunting Chloe went ; she lost her way, And through the woods uncertain chanc'd to stray. Apollo passing by beheld the maid ; And, Sister dear, bright Cynthia, turn, he said ; The hunted hind lies close in yonder brake. Loud Cupid laugh'd, to see the God's mistake : And laughing, cried a Learn better, great Divine, To know thy kindred, and to honour mine. Rightly advis'd, far hence thy sister seek, Or on Meander's banks, or Latmus' peak. CHAP, VI. TRANSLATION. 145 But in this nymph., my friend, my sister know ; She draws my arrows, and she bends my bow. Fair Thames she haunts, and every neighbouring grove. Sacred to soft recess, and gentle Love. Go with thy Cynthia, hurl the pointed spear At the rough boar, or chace the flying deer : I, and my Chloe, take a nobler aim ; At human hearts we fling, nor ever miss the game. Forte Chloe, pulchros nodo collecta capillos Post collum, pharetraque latus succincta decora, Venatrix ad sylvam that : cervumque secuta Elapsum visu, deserta per avia tendit Incerta. Errantem nympham conspexit Apollo, Et, converte tuos, dixit, mea Cynthia, cursus ; En ibi (monstravitque manuj tibi cervus anhelat Occultus dumo, latebrisque moratur in illis. Improbus hoec audivit Amor, lepidumque cachinnum Attollens, poterantne etiam tua numinafalli ? Jlinc, quoeso, bone Phoebe, tuam dignospe sororem, Et melius venerare meam. Tua Cynthia longe, Mceandri ad ripas, aut summi in vertice Latmi, Versatur ; nostra est soror hcec, nostra, inquit arnica, est Hcec nostros promit calamos, arcumque sonantem Jncurvat, Tamumque colens, placidosque recessus. Lucorum, auos alma quies sacravit amori. K 146 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. VI, Ite per mnbrosos saltus, lustrisque vel aprum Excutite horrentem setis, cervumve fugacem, Tuque sororque tua, et directo sternite ferro : Nobilior labor, et divis dignissima cura, Meque Chloenque manet ; nos cor da humana ferimus, Vibrantes cerium vulnus nee inutile telum. The third example I shall give, is Bishop Atterbury's translation of the third Ode of the fourth book of Horace * : He, on whose birth the Lyric Queen Of numbers smiTd, shall never grace Th' Isthmian gauntlet, nor be seen First in the fam'd Olympic race. He shall not, after toils of war, And taming haughty monarch's pride, With laurel' d brows, conspicuous far, To Jove's Tarpeian temple ride. But him the streams that warbling flow Rich Tyber's flow'ry meads along, And shady groves (his haunts) shall know The Master of the iEolian song. * It is of this celebrated ode that Joseph Scaliger has absurdly said, " that he had rather have been the author, i f than King of Arragon/* CHAP. VI. TRANSLATION. 147 The sons of Rome, majestic Rome ! Have fix'd me in the Poet's choir. And envy now, or dead, or dumb, Forbears to blame what they admire. Goddess of the sweet-sounding lute, Which thy harmonious touch obeys, Who canst the finny race, tho' mute, To Cygnet's dying accents raise ; Thy gift it is, that all with ease. My new, unrival'd honours own ; That I still live, and living please, O Goddess ! is thy gift alone. Quern tu, Melpomene, semel Nascentem placido famine videris, Ilium non labor Isthmius Clarabit pugilejn ; non equus impiger Curru ducet Achaico Victor em j neque res bellica Deliisj Ornatum foliis ducem, Quod regum tumidas contuderit minas, Ostendet Capitolio: Sed quce Tibur aquce fertile perjluunt, Et spissce nemorum comoe, Fingent Molio carmine nobilem* k2 148 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. VI. Momce principis urbium Dignatur soboles inter amabiles Vatum ponere me choros ; Etjam dente minus mordeor invido. 0, testudinis aurece Dulcem qua? strepitum, Pieri, temperas / mutts quoque piscibus Donatura Cycni, si libeat, sonum ! Totum muneris hoc tui est, Quod monstror digito prceiereuntium Romance Jidicen tyrce : Quod spiro et placeo, si placeo, tuum est *-. * An anonymous English translator of the same ode has done justice to his original, in a complete transfusion of its sense, and a considerable portion of its nerve and spirit ; but with a sensible deficiency of that ease and melody of numbers which characterize his prototype, and shine con- spicuously in the preceding translation : Whom thou, O daughter chaste of Jove, Didst at his birth, with eyes of love Behold, in Isthmian games, nor he Fam'd for the wrestler's wreath shall be : Nor yet his latest lineage grace, By conquering in the chariot-race : Nor him the toils to warriors known, A laurel'd chief, shall victor crown. CHAP. VI. TRANSLATION. 149 The fourth specimen, is a translation by the Duke de Nivernois, of Horace's dialogue with Lydia : Horace. Plus heureux qu'un monarque au faite des grandeurs, J'ai vu mes jours dignes d'envie, Tranquilles, ils couloient au gre de nos ardeurs : Vous m'aimiez, charmante Lydie. But fruitful Tibur's winding floods, And all her verdant mass of woods, To render famous shall conspire, For varied verse that suits the lyre. Imperial Rome, the nurse of Fame> Has deign' d to register my name Among the poets' tuneful choir, And envy now abates her ire. Goddess, who the notes dost swell, So sweetly on my golden shell ; Who canst confer, if such thy choice, On fishes mute the cygnet's voice : 'Tis to thee I wholly owe Whispers flying where I go ; That to the pressing throng I'm show'd Inventor of the Roman ode. k3 150 PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. VI. Lydie Que mes jours etoient beaux, quand des soins les plus doux Vous payiez ma flamme sincere ! Venus me regardoit avec des yeux jaloux ; Chloe n'avoit pas S9U vous plaire. Horace. Par son luth, par sa voix, organe des amours, Chloe seule me paroit belle : Si le Destin jaloux veut epargner ses jours, Je donnerai les miens pour elle. Lydie. Le jeune Calais, plus beau que les amours, Plait seul a mon ame ravie . Si le Destin jaloux veut epargner ses jours, Je donnerai deux fois ma vie. Horace. Quoi, si mes premiers feux, ranimant leur ardeur, Etouffoient une amour fatale ; Si, perdant pour jamais tous ses droits sur mon cceur, Chloe vous laissoit sans rivale Lydie. Calais est charmant : mais je n'aime que vous, Ingrat, mon cceur vous Justine , Heureuse egalement en des liens si doux, De perdre ou de passer la vie. CHAP. VI* TRANSLATION. 151 Horace. Donee gratus eram tibi, Nee quisquam potior brachia Candida? Cervici juvenis dabat ; Persarum vigui rege beatior, Lydia. Donee non aliam magis Arsisti, neque erat Lydia post Chloen ; Multi Lydia nominis JRomana vigui clarior Ilia. Horace. Me nunc Thressa Chloe regit, Didces docta modos, et ciiharae sciens : Pro qua non meiuam mori, Si parcent animcejata superstitu Lydia. Me torretface mutua Thurini Calais Jilius Ornitki ; Pro quo bis patiar mori, Si parcent puerofata super stiti. k4 152 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. VI. Horace. Quid, si prisca redit Venus, Diductosque jugo cogit aheneo? Sijiava excutitur Chloe, Rejectceque patetjamia hydioe ? Lydia. Quamquam sidere pulchrior Ille est, tu levior cortice, et improbo Iracundior Hadria; Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeamlibens. Hor. /. S. Od. 9. If any thing is faulty in this excellent translation by the Duke de Nivernois, it is the last stanza, which does not convey the happy petulance, the procacitas of the original. The reader may compare with this, the fine translation of the same Ode by Bishop Atterbury, " Whilst I was fond, " and you were kind," which is too well known to require insertion. The next example is a translation by Dr Jortin, of that beautiful fragment of Simo- nides, preserved by Dionysius, in which Danae, exposed with her child to the fury CHAP. VI. TRANSLATION. 153 of the ocean, by command of her inhuman father, is described lamenting over her sleep- ing infant : Ex Dionys. Hal. De Compositione Verbo- rum, c. 26. "Org Xocgvazi ev dctiltoi'hea clvepog "BgitArj zsveoov, xivri&eiffa de "ki^va, Uageicug, kptpi re Ueg h&ev re' u rezvov, 'Oiov iyu vrovov. cv $ a,vre yttX&&7\m "Hrogi xvu* crv V avaXeav 'Ynzgfo rea,v xopuv Qadeluv TloLgwrog zvpctrog ax k\eyeig Ov$ averts Tecum mille modis ineptiebat. Tu dormis, volitantque qui solebant Risus in roseis tuis labellis.- Dormi parvule ! nee mali dolores Qui matrem cruciant tuae quietis Rumpant somnia. — Quando, quando tales Redibunt oculis meis sopores ! As a counterpart to these specimens of Latin translation, or imitation from the Greek, I shall now lay before the reader, what I conceive to be an attempt yet more arduous, though accomplished with equal felicity. The specimen I allude to is taken from a complete translation of Mason's Ca- ractacus into Greek verse, by the late Mr CHAP. VI. TRANSLATION. 157 Glasse of Christ Church, Oxon ; a work which has been justly deemed one of the most extraordinary efforts in Greek litera- ture that has appeared since the revival of letters. The following speech of Caractacus to the. Druids, who attempt to soothe his agitated mind, preparatory to the cere- mony of initiating him in their mysteries, and adopting him into their sacred order, must be allowed to possess great poetical merit. I present it first in the English ; in order that those parts may be more parti- cularly remarked, in which the translator has assumed an allowable latitude, and per- haps even improved upon his original. The Chief of the Druids thus addres- ses Caractacus ; proposing to him the vir- tuous fortitude of his daughter as an ex* ample : ■ _— See, Prince, this prudent maid, Now, while the ruddy flame of sparkling youth 15S PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. VI. Glows on her beauteous cheek, can quit the world Without a sigh, whilst thou Caractacus. would save my queen, From a hase ravisher ; would wish to plunge This falchion in his breast, and so avenge Insulted royalty. O holy men ! Ye are the sons of piety and peace ; Ye never felt the sharp vindictive spur That goads the injur'd warrior ; the hot tide That flushes crimson on the conscious cheek Of him who burns for glory ; else indeed Ye much would pity me : would curse the fate That coops me here inactive in your graves, Robs me of hope, tells me this trusty steel Must never cleave one Roman helm again, Never avenge my queen, nor free my country. Druid. 'Tis Heaven's high will Caractacus. I know it, reverend fathers ! 'Tis Heaven's high will, that these poor aged eyes Shall never more behold that virtuous woman, To whom my youth was constant : 'twas Heaven's high will To take her from me at that very hour, CHAP. VI. TRANSLATION. 159 When best her love might soothe me ; that black hour, May memory ever raze it from her records ! When all my squadrons fled, and left their king Old and defenceless : him, who nine whole years Had taught them how to conquer : yes, my friends^ For nine whole years against the sons of rapine I led my veterans, oft to victory, Never, till then, to shame ! Bear with me, Druid, I've done : begin the rites, ■ The beauties of this fine speech are not im- paired in the following version, which, with equal pathos, has a smplicity more conso- nant to the language of the translation, than would have been any attempt to imitate the glowing diction of the original : KocXcug sXs^ccg- zc&i to fizkris'oy KugcwTccx ■ 160 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. TL KAPAKTAKOS. Efc {JLtOlS'OgOC OlhOt Ualffut rov vfigiffjg , owajg, yv^rcov ?\ap, TtfAag&M fid eXvy plug dsivrjv Xafir}, Tijgaurxer '-■• h i\ -AvIpov, Z dvtrcifAfAOPog Avcl% zax.5rut, rqv rs trefAvqv sus'Mrt? i JLvd% Rvoy}(rccl\ oizreipcir uv hd'hiwrwovy *Ov l^OhtohOT IfipifrX (AOlPUg CV7C0 A&oiirev thing' bwror, bwo6' vs'spoy Va^ouov h yAyuHriv ircura %iv Xmuv "Ava^t)', og 'IrocXw uno'xivs'ojv nccra, 'Hyyiffccubriv Kgog zvdog ivvaileg fgoira* 'Aury/gag Ityewyov vuvlzg — ?Q Agv?,Agv? f Mavtrj QogSfAui — tto7o» l^fivim "koyov ; liyu* weguiv60\ wg tome, (Secpta,* 'Caractacus, Grceco Carmine redditus, a Georgio Henrico Glasse, A. B. Mdes Christi alumno. Qxon. 1771 *. The next specimen I shall give, is the translation of a beautiful epigram, from the Antholonia, which is supposed by Junius to be descriptive of a painting mentioned by Pliny f, in which, a mother wounded, and L * The author of this excellent translation gave afterwards to the public a similar proof of erudition and taste in his ver- sion of the Samson Agonistes of Milton. See 2AM* £2 N AmNlETHS, Groeco Carmine redditus, a G. H. Glasse, A. M. Mdes Christi nuper alumno. Qxon. 1788. ♦f- Hujus (viz. Aristidis) pictura est, oppido capto, ad met" frjs morientis e vulnere mammam adrepens infans ; intelligi<° 162 PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. "V% in the agony of death, is represented as giving suck to her infant for the last time. EXxvcov vfrocriov vciyuu, zoircitp'&ifAsyqg, H^ yug f/(pss Seeks freshest pasture and the purest air ; Explores the lost, the wandering sheep directs, By day o'ersees them, and by night protects ; l3 * J. H. Beattie, son of the learned and ingenious Dr Beat- tie of Aberdeen, a young man who disappointed the promise of great talents by an early death. In him, the author of The Minstrel saw his Edwin realized. 166 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP, VI. The tender lambs he raises in his arms, Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms : Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage The promis'd Father of the future age. The following translation by Pope, of a fable from Boileau, affords a singular ex- ample of a very rare conjunction, the most scrupulous fidelity to the original, with a complete transfusion of its poetical spirit : Once, (says an author, where, I need not say,) Two travellers found an oyster in their way ; Both fierce, both hungry ; the dispute grew strong, While, scale in hand, dame Justice pass'd along. Before her each with clamour pleads the laws, Explaiu'd the matter, and would win the cause. Dame Justice, weighing long the doubtful right, Takes, opens, swallows it, before their sight. The cause of strife remov'd so rarely well, There take, (says Justice), take ye, each, a shell. We thrive at Westminster by fools like you ! 'Twas a fat oyster. — Live in peace — Adieu. Un jour, dit un auteur, n'importe en quel chapitre, Deux voyageurs a jeun, rencontrerent une huitre. Tous deux la contestoient. lorsque dans leur chemin, La Justice pass , la balance a la main ; CHAP. VI, TRANSLATION. 167 t)evant elle a grand bruit ils expliquent la chose ; Tous deux avee depens veulent gagner leur cause. La Justice, pesant ce droit litigieux, Demande l'huitre, 1'ouvre, et l'avale a. leurs yeux ; Et par ce bel arret terminant la battaille ; Tenez> voila, dit elle, a chacun une ecaille. Des sottises d'autrui nous vivons au Palais; Messieurs, l'huitre etoit bonne — Adieu.— Vivez en paix. To these specimens of perfect translation, in which, not only the ideas of the origi- nal are completely transfused, but the man- ner most happily imitated, I add the follow- ing admirable translations by Mr Cumber- land*, of two fragments from the Greek dramatists Timocles and Diphilus, which are preserved by Athenseus. The first of these passages beautifully illustrates the moral uses of the tragic drama : l4 * Observer, vol. iv. p. 115. and vol, v. p. 145, 168 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. VI, Nay, my good friend, out hear me ! I confess Man is the child of sorrow, and this world, In which we breathe, hath cares enough to plague us ; But it hath means withal to soothe these cares : And he who meditates on others woes, Shall in that meditation lose his own : Call then the tragic poet to your aid, Hear him, and take instruction from the stage : Let Telephus appear ; behold a prince, A spectacle of poverty and pain, Wretched in both. — And what if you are poor ? Are you a demigod ? Are you the son Of Hercules ? Begone ! Complain no more. Doth your mind struggle with distracting thoughts ? Do your wits wander ? Are you mad ? Alas ! So was Alcmeon, whilst the world ador'd His father as their God. Your eyes are dim ; What then ! The eyes of (Edipus were dark, Totally dark. You mourn a son ; he's dead ; Turn to the tale of Niobe for comfort, And match your loss with hers. You're lame of foot } Compare it with the foot of Philoctetes, And make no more complaint. But you are old, Old and unfortunate ; consult Oeneus ; Hear what a king endur'd, and learn content. Sum up your miseries, number up your sighs, CHAP. VI. TRANSLATION. 169 The tragic stage shall give you tear for tear, And wash out all afflictions but its own *>» The following fragment from Diphilus conveys a very favourable idea of the spirit * The original of the fragment of Timocles 7 £l rdv, etKHTOV yjv It rat (AiXX&i Asys. Av$-£6)7ros zev \7rl7c6V6v tpvcru, K.CCI 7CoXXol XV7TVjj> fiios h lotVTCJ <£>«£«*. Tlecpx^v^xg ouv typovTioav ctvtvpxro Tavrxg. yoig vSj tav iota* A>j3-»)y A#£aw» Ms0' vioovijs ctTrqX&l 7retidivS-lis 0' oifiuc. TiSg ya,^ r pay obits 7Fpcorov u fixXu uv 7iivn£ov $%$(. At ken. Drip. lib. vi- ^hus, in the literal version of Dalechampius : Hem amice, nunc auscuUa quod dicturus sum tibi Animal natura laboriosum homo est. Tristia vita secum affert plurima : Ilaque Curarum hoec adinvenit solatia : Mentem enim suorum malorum oblitam, Alienorum casuum reputatio consolaiur, Indequejit ea larta, et erudita ad sapientiant. Ttajicos enim primum, si libel, considera* Quam prosint omnibus. Qui eget, Pauperiorem sefuisse Telephum Cum intelligit, leniusfert inopiam. Insania qui cegrotat, de Alcmeone is cOgitet. Lippus est aliquis, Phirtea ccecum is contemptetur. Obiit tibijilius, dolorem levabit exemplum Niobcs* €hudicat quispiam, Philocteten is respicito. CHAP. VI. TRANSLATION. 171 der the Great. Of this period Diphilus and Menander were among the most shining or- naments : We have a notable good law at Corinth, Where, if an idle fellow outruns reason, Feasting and junketting at furious cost, The sumptuary proctor calls upon him, And thus begins to sift him. — You live well, But have you well to live? You squander freely, Have you the wherewithal ? Have you the fund For these outgoings ? If you have, go on 1 If you have not, we'll stop you in good time, Before you outrun honesty ; for he Who lives we know not how, must live by plunder ; Either he picks a purse, or robs a house, Or is accomplice with some knavish gang, Or thrusts himself in crowds, to play th' informer, And put his perjur'd evidence to sale : This a well-order'd city will not suffer ; Such vermin we expel " And you do wisely > " But what is that to me ?" Why this it is : Miser est senex aliquis, in (Eneum is intuetor. Omnia namque graviora quam patiatur Infortunia quids animadvertens in aliis cum depreltenderif. Suas calamitates luget mimis. 172 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. VL Here we behold you every day at work, Living forsoooth ! not as your neighbours live, But richly, royally, ye gods ! — Why man, We cannot get a fish for love or money, You swallow the whole produce of the sea : YouVe driv'n our citizens to browse on cabbage ; A sprig of parsley sets them all a fighting, As at the Isthmian games : If hare or partridge, Or but a simple thrush comes to the market, Quick, at a wOrd, you snap him : By the Gods ! lJunt Athens through, you shall not find a feather But in your kitchen ; and for wine, 'tis gold Not to be purchas'd. — We may drink the ditches. *. * The original of the fragment of Diphilus TotSro iiopipov l Z*], xxt rt 7rotav. x.etv piv % ita me Jupiter amet, nobis jam videre licel s Peregrini multum auxistis vini pretium. * The greater part of the fragments translated by Mr Cumberland, are to be found in two separate works of Gro- tius, viz. Excerpta ex Tragcediis et Commoediis Grcecis, Paris, 1626, 4to; and Dicta Poetarum quce apud Stobozum extant; Paris, 1623, 4to. CHAP. VII, TRANSLATION. 177 CHAR VII. Limitation of the Rule regarding the Imita- tion of Style, — This Imitation must be re- gulated by the Genius of Languages, — The Latin admits of a greater Brevity of Expression than the English ; — As does the French. — The Latin and Greek allow greater Inversions than the English, — And admit more freely of Ellipsis. 1 he rule which enjoins to a translator the imitation of the style of the original author, demands several limitations. 1. This imitation must always be regula- ted by the nature of the genius of the lan- guages of the original and of the transla- tion. M 178 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. VII. The Greek language, from the frequency and familiarity of ellipsis, allows a concise- ness of expression which is scarcely attain- able in any other tongue, and perhaps least of all in the English. O [ktv £ Tac hist. 1. 49. " Digne de Tempire au " jugement de tout le monde, tant qu'il ne " regna pas." This is not the idea of the author ; for Tacitus does not mean to say that Galba was judged worthy of the em- pire till he attained to it ; but that all the world would have thought him worthy of the empire if he had never attained to it. 2. The Latin and Greek languages ad- mit of inversions which are inconsistent with the genius of the English : Mr Gordon, injudiciously aiming at an imitation of the Latin construction, has gi^- ven a barbarous air to his translation of Tacitus: " To Pallas, who was by Claudius " declared to be the deviser of this scheme, " the ornaments of the praetorship, and CHAP. VII. TRANSLATION. 197 " three hundred seventy-five thousand " crowns, were adjudged by Bareas Soranus " consul designed," An. L 12. " Still to " be seen are the Roman standards in the " German groves, there, by me, hung up," An. lib. 1. " Naturally violent was the spi- " rit of Arminius, and now, by the capti- " vity of his wife, and by the fate of his " child, doomed to bondage though yet un- " born, enraged even to distraction." Ibid* " But he, the more ardent he found the aft u fetions of the soldiers, and the greater the " hatred of his uncle, so much the more " intent upon a decisive victory, weighed " with himself all the methods," &c. lb, lib. 2. Thus, Mr Macpherson, in his translation of Homer, (a work otherwise valuable, as containing for the most part a faithful trans- fusion of the sense of his author), has ge- nerally adopted an inverted construction, which is incompatible with the genius of the English language. " Tlepolemus, the race " of Hercules, — brave in battle and great in " arms, nine ships led to Troy, with mag-? n3 198 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. VII. " nanimous Rhodians filled. Those who " dwelt in Rhodes, distinguished in nations " three, — who held Lindus, Ialyssus, and " white Camirus, beheld him afar. — Their " leader in arms was Tlepolemus, renown- " ed at the spear, II. L 2. — The heroes the " slaughter began. — Alexander first a war- " rior slew — Through the neck, by the helm " passed the steel. — Iphinous, the son of " Dexius, through the shoulder he pierced " —to the earth fell the chief in his blood, " lb. L 7. Not unjustly we Hector admire; " matchless at launching the spear ; to " break the line of battle, bold, lb. I. 5. " Nor for vows unpaid rages Apollo ; nor " solemn sacrifice denied." lb. L 1. 3. The English language is not incapable of an elliptical mode of expression ; but it does not admit of it to the same degree as the Latin. Tacitus says, Trepida civitas in- cusare liberium, for trepida civitas incepit incusare Tiberium. We cannot say in Eng- lish, " The terrified city to blame Tibe- " rius :" And even as Gordon has transla- ted these words, the ellipsis is too violent €HAP. VII. TRANSLATION. 199 for the English language ; " hence against " Tiberius many complaints." II. lib. 1. L 53. " For nine days the arrows of the god " were darted through the army." The elliptical brevity of Mr Macpherson's trans- lation of this verse, has no parallel in the original ; nor is it agreeable to the English idiom : " Nine clays rush the shafts of the God." n4 CHAP. VIII. TRANSLATION. 201 CHAPTER VIII. Whether a Poem can be well translated into Vrose. T rom all the preceding observations re- specting the imitation of style, we may de- rive this precept, That a translator ought always to figure to himself, in what man- ner the original author would have expres- sed himself, if he had written in the lan- guage of the translation. This precept leads to the examination, and probably to the decision, of a question which has admitted of some dispute, Whe- ther a poem can be well translated into prose ? 202 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. VIII. There are certain species of poetry, of which the chief merit consists in the sweet- ness and melody of the versification. Of these it is evident, that the very essence must perish in translating them into prose. What should we find in the following beau- tiful lines, when divested of the melody of verse ? She said, and melting as in tears she lay, In a soft silver stream dissolved away. The silver stream her virgin coldness keeps, For ever murmurs, and for ever weeps ; Still bears the name the hapless virgin bore, And bathes the forest where she rang'd before. Pope's Windsor Forest. But a great deal of the beauty of every regular poem, consists in the melody of its numbers. Sensible of this truth, many of the prose translators of poetry, have attempt- ed to give a sort of measure to their prose, which removes it from the nature of ordi- nary language. If this measure is uniform, and its return regular, the composition is no longer prose, but blank-verse. If it is riot uniform, and does not regularly return CHAP. VIII. TRANSLATION. 203 upon the ear, the composition will be more unharmonious, than if the measure had been entirely neglected. Of this, Mr Macpher- son's translation of the Iliad is a strong ex- ample. But it is not only by the measure that poetry is distinguishable from prose. It is by the character of its thoughts and senti- ments, and by the nature of that language in which they are clothed *. A boldness of figures, a luxuriancy of imagery, a frequent use of metaphors, a quickness of transition, a liberty of digressing ; all these are not only allozcable in poetry, but to many spe- cies of it, essential. But they are quite un- suitable to the character of prose. When seen in a prose translation, they appear pre- posterous and out of place, because they are never found in an original pilose compo- sition. * " C'est en quoi consiste le grand art de la Poesie, de dire f* figurement presque tout ce qu'elle dit." Rapin Reflex, sur la Poetique en general, § 29. 204 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. VIII. In opposition to these remarks, it may be urged, that there are examples of poems originally composed in prose, as Fenelon's Telemachus. But to this we answer, that Fenelon, in composing his Telemachus, has judiciously adopted nothing more of the cha- racteristics of poetry than what might safely be given to a prose composition. His good taste prescribed to him certain limits, which he was under no necessity of transgressing. But a translator is not left to a similar free- dom of judgment : he must follow the foot- steps of his original. Fenelon's Epic Poem is of a very different character from the Iliad, the iEneid, or the Gerusalemme Li- berata. The French author has, in the con- duct of his fable, seldom transgressed the bounds of historic probability ; he has spa- ringly indulged himself in the use of the Epic machinery ; and there is a chastity and so- briety even in his language, very different from the glowing enthusiasm that characteri- zes the diction of the poems we have men- tioned : We find nothing in the Telemaque, of the Os magna sonaturum. CHAP. VIII. TRANSLATION. 205 The difficulty of translating poetry into prose, is different in its degree, according to the nature or species of the poem. Didac- tic poetry, of which the principal merit con- sists in the detail of a regular system, or in rational precepts which flow from each other in a connected train of thought, will evident- ly suffer least by being transfused into prose. But every didactic poet judiciously en- riches his work with such ornaments as are not strictly attached to his subject. In a prose translation of such a poem, all that is strictly systematic or preceptive may be transfused with propriety ; all the rest, which belongs to embellishment, will be found impertinent and out of place. Of this we have a convincing proof in Dryden's translation of the valuable poem of Du Fresnoy, De Arte Graphica. The didactic parts of the poem are translated with be- coming propriety ; but in the midst of those practical instructions in the art of painting, how preposterous appear in prose such pas- sages as the following ? £06 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. VIII. " Those things which the poets have " thought unworthy of their pens, the paint- " ers have judged to be unworthy of their " pencils* For both those arts, that they " might advance the sacred honours of re* " ligion, have raised themselves to heaven ; " and having found a free admission into the " palace of Jove himself, have enjoyed the " sight and conversation of the Gods, whose " awful majesty they observe, and whose " dictates they communicate to mankind, " whom, at the same time, they inspire with " those celestial flames which shine so glo- ** riously in their works." " Besides all this, you are to express the motions of the spirits, and the affections or passions, whose centre is the heart. This is that in which the greatest difficul- ty consists. Few there are whom Jupi- ter regards with a favourable eye in this undertaking." u « " And as this part, (the Art of Colour- " ing), which we may call the utmost per- " fection of Painting, is a deceiving beauty, CHAP. VIII. TRANSLATION. 20? " but withal soothing and pleasing ; so she " has been accused of procuring lovers for " her sister (Design), and artfully engaging " us to admire her." But there are certain species of poetry, of the merits of which it will be found impossible to convey the smallest idea in a prose translation. Such is Lyric poetry, where a greater degree of irregularity of thought, and a more unrestained exuberance of fancy, is allowable than in any other spe- cies of composition. To attempt, therefore, a translation of a lyric poem into prose, is the most absurd of all undertakings ; for those very characters of the original which are essential to it, and which constitute its highest beauties, if transferred to a prose translation, become unpardonable blemish- es. The excursive range of the sentiments, and the play of fancy, which we admire in the original, degenerate in the translation into mere raving and impertinence. Of this the translation of Horace in prose, by Smart, furnishes proofs in every page. 208 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. VIII. We may certainly, from the foregoing observations, conclude, that it is impossible to do complete justice to any species of poe- tical composition in a prose translation ; in other words, that none but a poet can trans- late a poet. CHAP. IX. TRANSLATION. 209 CHAPTER IX. Third General Hide — A Translation should have all the Ease of Original Composition* — Extreme difficulty in the observance of this Rule. — Contrasted Instances of Suc- cess and Failure. — Of the Necessity of sometimes sacrificing one Rule to another. It now remains, that we consider the third general law of Translation. In order that the merit of the original work may be so completely transfused as to produce its full effect, it is necessary, not only that the translation should contain a perfect transcript of the sentiments of the original, and present likewise a resemblance 210 PRINCIPLES OF . CHAP. IX. of its style and manner ; but, That the trans- lation should have all the ease of original composition. When we consider those restraints with- in which a translator finds himself necessa- rily confined, with regard to the sentiments and manner of his original, it will soon appear, that this last requisite includes the most difficult part of his task *, It is not * " Quand il s'agit de representer dans une autre langue -* les choses, les pensees, les expressions, les tours, les tons <( d'un ouvrage ; les choses telles qu'elles sont, sans rien ajou- 11 ter, ni retrancher, ni deplacer ; les pensees dans leurs cou- iC leurs, leurs degres, leurs nuances ; les tours, qui donnent le iC feu, l'esprit, et la vie au discours ; les expressions natu- " relies, flgurees, fortes, riches, gracieuses, dedicates, &c. le " tout d'apres un modele qui cammande durement, et qui " veut qu'on lui obeisse d*un air aise ; il faut, sinon autant de " genie, du moins autant de gout pour bien traduire, que pour " composer. Peutetre meme en faut il davantage. L'auteur qui kcci wamcj&kl axpfiky x*i noon- CHAP. IX. TRANSLATION. 228 " ly well acquainted with the whole Ency- ©HAP, X. TRANSLATION. 238 Here the translator has indeed superadd- ed no new images or illustrations ; but he has, in two parts of the stanza, given a mo- ral application which is not in the original : " That ill adorns the form, while it cor- " rupts the heart •" and " Studious of " every praise, but virtue, truth, and sense." These moral lines are unquestionably a very high improvement of the original ; but they seem to me to exceed the liberty allowed in a professed translation of a poem. In that fine translation by Dry den, of the 29th ode of the 3d book of Horace, which upon the whole is paraphrastical, the ver- sion of the two following stanzas has no more licence than what is justifiable : Fortuna scevo Icetd negotio, et Ludurr- insolentem ludere pertinax, Transmutat incertos konores, Nunc mihi, nunc alii benigna* Laudo manentem : si celeres quatii Pennas, resigno quae dedit : et mea Virtute me involvo, prohamque Pauperiem sine dote qucero* 234 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP.X. Fortune, who with malicious joy Does man, her slave, oppress, Proud of her office to destroy. Is seldom pleas'd to bless. Still various and inconstant still, But with an inclination to be ill, Promotes, degrades, delights in strife, And makes a lottery of life. I can enjoy her while she's kind ; But when she dances in the wind, And shakes her wings, and will not stay, I puff the prostitute away : The little or the much she gave is quietly resigned ; Content with poverty, my soul I arm, And Virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm. The celebrated verses of Adrian, addressed to his Soul, have been translated and imi- tated by many different writers. Animula, vagula, blandula, Hospes, comesque corporis I Quae nunc abibis in loca, Pallidula, frigida, nudula, Nee ut soles dabis joca ? CHAP. X. TRANSLATION. 235 By Casaubon. 'Ezvn xxi eroti^yi rapxros, Ho7 VVV TCthXlV iXiVTiXl, Apzvvig, yos^atre xxt E Pachino, e Pelom, e Lilibeo, Quasi attufFar nel mar l'altera fronte : Cadde il martel di man nel monte Etneo Al re di Lenno, a Sterope e a Bronte : Fuggir fiere, e augei del lor ricetto ; E si strinse ogni madre il %lio al petto, Every thing in this passage, except the first line, is additional imagery with which Anffuillara has embellished his original * but he must be a tasteless reader who is in* sensible to the high merit of those additions, The exquisitely tender image in the last line, contrasted with t|ie pictures of horror in 238 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. X. those immediately preceding, affords a fine example of the union of the sublime and beautiful. In the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, the simple ideas announced in these two lines, Tempore crevit amor : taedae quoque jure co'issent ; Sed vetuere patres quod non potuere vetare, are the subject of the following paraphrase, which is as beautiful in its composition, as it is unbounded in the licence of its amplifi- cation : Era l'amor cresciuto a poco a poco Secondo erano in lor cresciuti gli anni : E dove prima era trastullo, e gioco, Scherzi, corrucci, e fanciulleschi inganni, Quando fur giunti a quella eta di foco Dove comincian gli amorosi affanni Che l'alma nostra ha si leggiadro il manto E che la Donna e'l huom s'amano tanto ; Era tanto l'amor, tanto il desire, Tanta la fiamma, onde ciascun ardea : Che 1' uno e 1' altro si vedea morire, Se pietoso Himeneo non gli giungea. CHAP. X. TRANSLATION. 239 E tanto era maggior d'ambi il martire, Quanto il voler de l'un Taltro scorge. Ben ambo de le nozze eran content!, Ma no'l sofir iro i loro empi parenti. Eran fra i padri lor pochi anni avanti Nata una troppo cruda inimicitia : E quanto amore, e f e s'hebber gli amanti, Tanto regno ne' padri odid e malitia. Gli huomini della terra piu prestanti, Tentar pur di ridurli in amicitia ; E vi s'affaticar piu volte assai ; Ma non vi sepper via ritrovar mai, Quei padri., che fra lor fur si infedeli Vetaro a la fanciulla, e al giovinetto, A due si belli amanti, e si fedel.i Che non dier lucgo al desiato affetto : Ahi padri irragionevoli e crudeli % Perche togliete lor tanto diletto ; S'ogn'un di loro il suo desio corregge Con la terrena, e la celeste legge ? * A striking resemblance to this beautiful apostrophe " Ahi ?' padri irragionevoli," is found in the beginning of Moncrif's Romance d' Alexis et Alls, a ballad which the French justly consider as a model of tenderness and elegant simplicity; 240 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. X. sfortunati padri, ove tendete, Qual ve gli fa destin tener disgiunti ? Perche vetate, quel che non potete ? Che gli animi saran sempre congiunti ? Ahij che sara di voi, se gli vedrete Per lo vostro rigor restar defunti ? Ahi, che co' vostri non sani consigli Procurate la morte a* vostri figli ! Pourquoi rompre leur manage, Medians parens ? lis auroient fait si bon menage A tous momens ! Que sert d'avoir bagues et dentelle Pour se parer ? Ah ! la richesse la plus belle Est de s'aimer. Quand on a commence la vie Disant ainsi : Oui, vous serez toujours ma mie, Vous mon ami : Quand l'age augmente encor Ten vie De s'entreumr> Qu'avec un autre on nous marie Vaut mieux mourir. CHAP. X. TRANSLATION. 241 In the following poem by Mr Hughes, which the author has entitled an imitation of the 16th ode of the 2d book of Horace, the greatest part of the composition is a just and excellent translation, while the rest is a free paraphrase or commentary on the origi- nal. I shall mark in Italics, all that I consi- der as paraphrastical : the rest is a just trans- lation, in which the writer has assumed no more liberty, than was necessary to give the poem the easy air of an original com* position. I. Indulgent Quiet ! Pow'r serene, Mother of Peace, and Joy, and Love, O say, thou calm, propitious Queen, Say, in what solitary grove, Within what hollow rock, or winding cell, By human eyes unseen, Like some retreated Druid dost thou dwell ? And why, illusive Goddess ! why, When we thy mansion would surround, Why dost thou lead us through enchanted ground, To mock our vain research, anflfrom our wishes fly 9 242 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. X. II. The wand'ring sailors, pale with fear, For thee the Gods implore, When the tempestuous sea runs high, And when through all the dark, benighted sky, No friendly moon or stars appear, To guide their steerage to the shore : For thee the weary soldier prays, Furious in fight the sons of Thrace, And Medes, that wear majestic by their side A full-charg'd quiver's decent pride, Gladly with thee would pass inglorious days-, Renounce the warrior's tempting praise, And buy thee, if thou might'st be sold, With gems, and purple vests, and stores of plunder'd gold. III. But neither boundless wealth, nor guards that wait Around the Consul's honour'd gate. Nor antichambers with attendants fill'd, The mind's unhappy tumults can abate, Or banish sullen cares, that fly Across the gilded rooms of state, And their foul nests- like swallows build Close to the palace-roofs and tow'rs that pierce the sky ? Much less will Nature's modest wants supply : CHAP. X. TRANSLATION. 243 And happier lives the homely swain, Who in some cottage, far from noise, His few paternal goods enjoys ; Nor knows the sordid lust of gain, Nor with Fear's tormenting pain His hovering sleep destroys. IV. Vain man ! that in a narrow space At endless game projects the darting spear ! For short is life's uncertain race ; Then why, capricious mortal ! why Dost thou for happiness repair To distant climates and a foreign air ? Fool ! from thyself thou canst not fly, Thyself the source of all thy care : So flies the wounded stag, provok'd with pain, Bounds o'er the spacious downs in vain; The feather 'd torment sticks within his side. And from the smarting wound a purple tide Marks all his way with blood, and dyes the grassy plain, V. But swifter far is execrable Care Than stags, or winds, that through the skies Thick-driving snows and gather'd tempests bear : Pursuing Care the sailing ship out-flies. «2 244 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. X. Climbs the tall vessels painted sides ,' Nor leaves arm'd squadrons in the field, But with the marching horseman rides, And dwells alike in courts and camps, and makes all places yield. VI. Then, since no state's completely blest, Let's learn the bitter to allay With gentle mirth, and, wisely gay, Enjoy at least the present day, And leave to Fate the rest. Nor with vain fear of ills to come Anticipate th s appointed doom. Soon did Achilles quit the stage; The hero fell by sudden death ; While Tithon to a tedious, wasting age Drew his protracted breath. And thus, old partial Time, my friend, Perhaps unask'd, to worthless me Those hours of lengthen'd life may lenct* Which he'll refuse to thee. VII. Thee shining wealth, and plenteous joys surround. And all thy fruitful fields around Unnumber'd herds of cattle stray ; CHAP. X. TRANSLATION. 245 Thy harness'd steeds with sprightly voice, Make neighbouring vales and hills rejoice, While smoothly thy gay chariot flies o'er the swift-mea- sur'd way. To me the stars with less profusion kind, An humble fortune have assign'd, And no untuneful Lyric vein, But a sincere contented mind That can the vile, malignant crowd disdain *. * Otium divos rogat in patenti Prensus iEgeo, simul atra nubes Condidit Lunam, neque certa fulgent Sidera nautis. Otium bello furiosa Thrace, Otium Medi pharetra decori, Grosphe, non gemmis, neque purpura venale, nee auro. Non enim gaza?, neque Consularis Summovet lictor miseros tumultus Mentis, et curas laqueata circum Tecta volantes. Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternum Splendet in mensa tenui salinum : Nee leves somnos Timor -aut Cupidii Sordidus aufert. q3 r 246 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. X, On the subject of poetical translation, no writer has thrown together more sound sense, and just observation, in a small com- pass, than Mr Dryden : and with his re- marks, which go near to exhaust the subject, I shall conclude this chapter : Quid brevi fortes jaculamur aevQ Multa ? quid terras alio calentes Sole mutamus ? Patriae quis exuj, Se quoque fugit ? Scandit seratas vitiosa naves Cura, nee turmas equitum relinquit, Qcyor cervis, et agente nimbos Ocyor Euro. Laetus in praesens animus, quod ultra es> Oderit curare ; et amara lento Temperat risu. Nihil est ab omni Parte beatum. Abstulit clarum cita mors Achillem : Longa Tithonum minuit senectus ; Et mihi forsan, tibi quod negarit, Porriget hora. CHAP. X. TRANSLATION. 247 " No man is capable of translating poe- " try, who, besides a genius to that art, is " not a master, both of his author's Ian- " guage and of his own : nor must we un- " derstand the language only of the poet, " but his particular turn of thoughts and " expression, which are the characters that " distinguish, and as it were, individuate " him from all other writers. When we are " come thus far, it is time to look into our- " selves, to conform our genius to his, to " give his thoughts either the same turn, if " ovir tongue will bear it, or if not, to vary " but the dress, not to alter or destroy the " substance. The like care must be taken " of the more outward ornaments, the Te greges centum, Siculseque circum Mugiunt vaccae ; tibi tollit hinnitum Apta quadrigis equa : te bis Afro Murice tinctas. Vestiunt lanae : mihi parva rura, et Spiritum Graiae tenuem Camcenae Parca non mendax dedit, et malignum Spernere vulgus. Hor. Od. 2. 16. Q4 248 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. X. " words. When they appear, which is but sel- " dom, literally graceful, it were an injury " to the author, that they should be chan- ct ged : but since every language is so full " of its own proprieties, that what is beauti- " ful in one is often barbarous, nay some- c * times nonsense in another, it would be " unreasonable to limit a translator to the " narrow compass of his author's words. It " is enough if he choose out some expres- a sion which does not vitiate the sense. I " suppose he may stretch his chain to such a a latitude ; but by innovation of thoughts, u methinks, he breaks it. By this means, " the spirit of an author may be transfused, " and yet not lost : and thus, it is plain, " that the reason alleged by Sir John Den- " ham has no farther force than to expres- " sion : for thought, if it be translated truly, " cannot be lost in another language ; but u the words that convey it to our apprehen- " sion, (which are the image and ornament " of that thought), may be so ill chosen, as " to make it appear in an unhandsome " dress, and rob it of its native lustre. <♦ There is, therefore, a liberty to be allow- CHAP. X. TRANSLATION, 249 " ed for the expression : Neither is it ne- " cessary that words and lines should be " confined to the measure of their original. " The sense of an author, generally speak- " ing, is to be sacred and inviolable. If the " fancy of Ovid be luxuriant, it is his cha- " racter to be so ; and if I retrench it, he is " no longer Ovid. It will be replied, that " he receives advantage by this lopping off " his superfluous branches ; but I rejoin, " that a translator has no such right. When " a painter copies from the life, I suppose a he has no privilege to alter features and " lineaments, under pretence that his pic- a ture will look better; perhaps the face u which he has drawn would be more exact, " if the eyes or nose were altered ; but it " is his business to make it resemble the a original. In two cases only there may a " seeming difficulty arise ; that is, if the " thought be either notoriously trivial or dis- f< honest: but the same answer ^will serve a for both, That then they ought not to be " translated. -Et quae Desperes tractata nitescere posses relinquaSi" Drydens Vref. to Trans, from Ovids Epistles. CHAP, XI. TRANSLATION, 251 CHAPTER XL Of the Translation of Idioms.— -General Idioms, — Idiomatic Phrases. — Examples from Spelman, Smollefs Gil Bias, Cotton, Echard, Sterne. — Injudicious Use of Idi- oms in the Translation, which do not cor- respond with the Age or Country of the Original. — ■ Idiomatic Phrases sometimes incapable oj Translation. V T hile a translator endeavours to give to his work all the ease of original com- position, the chief difficulty he has to encounter will be found in the translation of idioms, or those turns of expression which do not belong to universal grammar, but of which every language has its own. 252 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XI. that are exclusively proper to it. It will be easily understood, that when I speak of the difficulty of translating idioms, I do not mean those peculiar phrases in all languages of which the sense is not accurately con- veyed by the literal meaning : As, for ex- ample, the French phrase, tin homme bien ?ie, which we see often translated, a man well born, or of a good family ; instead of a man of good natural dispositions : for a mistake in phrases of this kind only shews the trans- lator's insufficient knowledge of the lan- guage from which he translates. Neither do I mean those general modes of arrange- ment or construction which regulate a whole language, and which may not be common to it with other tongues : As, for example, the placing the adjective always before the substantive in English, which in French and in Latin is more commonly placed after it ; the use of the participle in English, where the present tense is used in other langua- ges ; as he is writing, scribit, il ecrit ; the use of the preposition to before the infi- nitive in English, where the French use the preposition de or of These last, which CHAP. XI. TRANSLATION. 253 may be termed the general idioms of a lan- guage, are soon understood, and are ex- changed for parallel idioms with the utmost ease. With regard to these a translator can never err, unless through affectation or choice. For example, in translating the French phrase, II profit a (Tun avis, he may choose fashionably to say, in violation of the English construction, he profited of an advice ; or, under the sanction of poetical licence, he may choose to engraft the idiom of one language into another, as Mr Mac- pherson has done, where he says, " Him " to the strength of Hercule^ the lovely " Astyochea bore ;" 'Ov rzzzv ' AfTvoyjicx,, j3«2 B^aKhmif II. lib. 2. 1. 165. I must here, however, notice two errors in regard to general idioms into which many translators from the French language into the English, have fallen, either from igno- rance, or inattention to the general con- struction of the two languages. 1. In nar- rative, or the description of past actions, the French often use the present tense for the preterite : Deu.r jeunes nobles Mexicains 254 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XI, jettent leurs armes, et mennent d lui comme, dfoerteurs. Ik mettent un genouil a terre dans la posture des supplians ; Us le saisis- sent, et selaneent de la platforme* — Cortez s 9 en dSbarasse, et se retient d la balustrade* Les deux jeunes nobles perissent sans avoir execute leur generense entreprise. Raynal Hist. Phil, et Pol. liv. vi. Let us ob- serve the awkward effect of a similar use of the present tense in English. " Two_young ** Mexicans of noble birth throw away their " arms, and come to him as deserters. They w kneel in the posture of suppliants ; they " seize him, and throw themselves from the " platform. — Cortez disengages himself " from their grasp, and keeps hold of the " ballustrade. The noble Mexicans perish " without accomplishing their generous de- " sign." In like manner, the use of the present for the past tense is very common in Greek, and we frequently remark the same impropriety in English translations from that language. " After the death of " Darius, and the accession of Artaxerxes, * Tissaphernes accuses Cyrus to his brother " of treason : Artaxerxes gives credit to CHAP. XI. TRANSLATION. 255 " the accusation, and orders Cyrus to be " apprehended, with a design to put him " to death ; but his mother having saved " him by her intercession, sends him back " to his government." Spelmans Xenophon. In the original, these verbs are put in the present tense, hufiuXXzi, tufarai, (rvKkapfium, aKovefjuTrsi' But this use of the present tense in narrative is contrary to the genius of the English language. The poets have assu- med it : and in them it is allowable, be- cause it is their object to paint scenes as present to the eye ; ut pictura poesis ; but all that a prose narrrative can pretend to, is an animated description of things past : if it goes any farther, it encroaches on the department of poetry *. * In one way, however, this use of the present tense is found in the best English historians, namely, in the sum- mary heads, or content of chapters. ft Lambert Simnel in- ({ vades England, — Perkin Warbeck is avowed by the Duchess " of Burgundy — he returns to Scotland — he is taken pri- " soner — and executed," Hume. But it is by an ellipsis that the present tense comes to be thus used. The sentence at large would stand thus : u This chapter relates how Lam- fl bert Simnel invades England, how Perkin Warbeck if? " avowed by the Duchess of Burgundy," &c. 256 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XI. 2. The following error relative to a gene- ral idiom, is one of which we may find ex- amples, even in translations of great merit. The French, in familiar conversation, with an equal or inferior, use the personal pro- noun tu and te or toi, in the singular num- ber instead of the plural vous ; (lis se tutoyent). This usage is always indica- tive of ease and familiarity, and often of endearment, But it is idiomatic, or pe- culiar to the French language ; the English does not admit that mode of speech in fa- miliar discourse. None but a Quaker uses thee and $kau+ with the corresponding em- ployment of the verb in the singular num- ber. Such use, therefore, in the English, produces a quite contrary effect to that which it produces in the French ; and in- stead of ease, familiarity or endearment, is necessarily attended with stiffness, forma- lity and precision. The translation of Gil Bl&s by Smollett, is a work of great me- rit. The English author is true to the sense, manner, and spirit of his original, and is often extremely happy in the inter- change of particular idioms. But he has- CHAP. XI. TRANSLATION. 257 uniformly erred with regard to that general idiomatic use of the pronoun tH i te y and toi ; and has thus thrown an air of stillness and formality on those parts, which in the original are most distinguished for their ease and spirit. A single example will illustrate these remarks : " Fabrice ne put mime sem~ " pecher de me dire un jour : En verite, Gil " Blas^je ne te reconnois plus, Avant que " tu fusses a la cour, tu avois toujours V esprit " tranquille : a present je te vois sans cesse " agite. Tu formes prqjet sur projet pour " t'enricher, et plus tu amasses de Men, plus " tu veux en amasser. Outre cela, te le di- " rai-je ? Tu nas plus avec moi ces Spanche- " mens de cceur, ees manieres lihres qui font " le charme des liaisons. Tout an contraire, " tu t'enveloppes, et me caches le fonds de " ton ame. Je remarque meme de la contrainte " dans les honnetetes que tu me fais. En- " Jin Gil Bias 71 est plus ce meme Gil Bias " quefai connu. Tu plaisantes sans chute, " lui respondis-je, d y un air assez froid. Je " ri appercois en moi aucun cliangement. — Ce 46 nest point d tes yeux, repliqua-t-il, quon " doit s'en rapporter. lis sont fascine's. R 258 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XI. " Crois-moi 9 ta metamorphose nest que trop " veritable" Fabricio one day could not help saying, " Truly, Gil Bias, thou art " grown out of my knowledge : before thy " coming to Court, thou wast always easy " and tranquil : at present thou art inces- u santly agitated with project after project " to enrich thyself; and the more wealth " thou hast got, the more wouldst thou " amass. Besides, let me tell thee, thou no " longer treatest me with that effusion of " the heart, and freedom of behaviour which " are the soul of friendship : on the contra- " ry, thou wrappest thyself up, and con- " cealest from me thy secret views : nay, I " can perceive constraint in all thy civilities " towards me . In short, Gil Bias is no long- er the same Gil Bias whom I formerly knew. You joke, sure, (said I, with an air of indifference), I can't perceive any u change in myself.— Thy own eyes are no ** judges, (answered he), they are bewitch- " ed ; believe me, the metamorphosis is " but too true." — The contrasted effect of the ease of the original with the stiffness of the translation, must be apparent to every CHAP. XI* TRANSLATION. 259 reader. Ill one place the translator was compelled into the right path* Tu plaisantes, sans doute, lui repawns je : " You joke, sure, u said I."— -" Thoujohest, sure, said J," could not have been tolerated in easy conversa- tion : a proof that ought to have led the in- genious translator to suspect that he had been violating the English idiom through the whole passage. But it is not with regard to such general idioms as I have mentioned above, that an able translator will often be led into &rror. It is in the translation of those particular idio- matic phrases of which eivery language has its own collection ; phrases which are gene- rally of a familiar nature, and which occur most commonly in conversation, or in that species of Writing which approaches to the ease of conversation. The translation is perfect, when the trans- lator finds in his own language an idiomatic phrase corresponding to that of the original. Montaigne (Ess. 1. I.e. 29.) says of Gallio, M Lequel ayant ete envoye en exil en Tisle n- 2 * 260 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XI. " de Lesbos, on fut averti a Rome, quil s'y a donnoit du bon temps, et que ce qu'on lui u avoit enjoint pour peine, lui tournoit a " commodit6.' , The difficulty of transla- ting this sentence lies in the idiomatic phrase, " quil s 9 y donnoit du bon temps." Cotton finding a parallel idiom in English, has translated the passage with becoming ease and spirit : " As it happened to one " Gallio, who having been sent an exile to " the isle of Lesbos, news was not long af- " ter brought to Rome, that he there lived " as merry as the day was long ; and that " what had been enjoined him for a pe- " nance, turned out to his greatest pleasure " and satisfaction." Thus, in another pas- sage of the same author, (Essais, 1. 1. c. 29.) " *.Sz feusse He chef de part, j'eusse prins " autre voye plus naturelle." — " Had I ruVd " the roast, I should have taken another tc and more natural course." So likewise, (Ess. 1. 1. c. 25.) " Mais d'y enfoncer plus a avant, et de m etre ronge les onglts a " V etude a' Jristote, monarche de la doc- " trine moderne." — " Rut, to dive farther " than that, and to have cudgeled my brains CHAP. XI. TRANSLATION. 261 " in the study of Aristotle, the monarch of " all modern learning." So, in the fol- lowing passages from Terence, translated by Echard : " Credo manibus pedibusque " obnixe omnia facturum" Andr. Act. 1. " I know he'll be at it tooth and nail." " Herus, quantum audio, uxore excidit," Andr. Act. 2. " For aught I perceive, my " poor master may go whistle for a wife." In like manner, the following collo- quial phrases are capable of a perfect translation by corresponding idioms. Rem acu tetigisti, " You have hit the nail " upon the head." Mihi isthic nee seritur nee metitur, Plaut. " That's no bread and " butter of mine." Omnem jecit aleam, " It was neck or nothing with him." Ti *gog aX(pira -, Aristoph. Nub. " Will that make " the pot boil ?" It is not perhaps possible to produce a happier instance of translation by corre- sponding idioms, than Sterne has given in the translation of Slawkenbergius's Tale, Nihil me poenitet hujus nasi, " Quoth Pam- r3 262 principles of chap. xr. " phagus ; that is, my nose has been the ma- li king of me." Nee est cur pceniteat ; "that " is, How the deuce should such a nose " fail ?" Tristram Shandy, vol. iii. chap. 7. Miles peregrini in faciem snspexit. Di honi y nova forma nasi! " The centinel looked up " into the stranger's face. — Never saw such " a nose in his life !" Ibid. As there is nothing which so much con- duces both to the ease and spirit of compo- sition, as a happy use of idiomatic phrases, there is nothing which a translator, who has a moderate command of his own language, is so apt to carry to a licentious extreme. Echard, whose translations of Terence and of Plautus, have, upon the whole, much me- rit, is extremely censurable for his intempe- rate use of idiomatic phrases. In the first ^ct of the Andria, Davus thus speaks to himself: Enimvero, Dave, nihil loci est segnitice neque socordice. Quantum intellexi senis sententiam de nuptiis : Quae si non astu providentur, me out herum pessundabunt ; Nee quid agam ceitum est, Pamphilumne adjutem an auscid* tem sent. Terent Andr, Act. 1. sc & 13HAP. XI. TRANSLATION. 263 The translation of this passage by Echard, exhibits a strain of vulgar petulance, whicli is very opposite to the chastened simplicity of the original. " Why, seriously, poor Davy, 'tis high u time to bestir thy stumps, and to leave off " dozing ; at least, if a body may guess at " the old man's meaning by his mumping. " If these brains do not help me out at a ' dead lift, to pot goes Pilgarlick, or his " master, for certain : and hang me for a " dog, if I know which side to take ; whe* " ther to help my young master, or make " fair with his father." In the use of idiomatic phrases, a transla- tor frequently forgets both the country of his original author, and the age in which he wrote ; and while he makes a Greek or a Roman speak French or English, he unwit- tingly puts into his mouth allusions to the manners of modern France or England *, r4 * It is surprising, that this fault should meet even with ap- probation from so judicious a, critic as Denham. In the pre- 264 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XI. This, to use a phrase borrowed from paint- ing, may be termed an offence against the costume. The proverbial expression, /3ar^a- %a Hug, in Theocritus, is of similar import with the English proverb, to carry coals to face to his translation of the second book of the iEneid, he says : " As speech is the apparel of our thoughts., so there " are certain garbs and modes of speaking which vary with ec the times ; the fashion of our clothes being not more sub- " ject to alteration, than that of our speech : and this I think " Tacitus means by that which he calls Sermonem temporis " istius auribus accommodatum, the delight of change being as " due to the curiosity of the ear as of the eye : and therefore, " if Virgil must needs speak English, it were fit he should iC speak, not only as a man of this nation, but as a man of this " age." The translator's opinion is exemplified in his prac- tice. Infandum, Regina, jnbes renovare dolorem. {{ Madam, when you command us to review " Our fate, you make our old wounds bleed anew." Of such translation it may with truth be said, in the words of Francklin, Thus Greece and Rome, in modem dress arrayU, . Js but antiquity in masquerade. CHAP. XI. TRANSLATION. 265 Newcastle ; but it would be a gross impro- priety to use this expression in the transla- tion of an ancient classic. Cicero, in his oration for Archias, says, " Persona quce prop- " ter otium et studium minime in judiciis pe- " riculisque versata est." M. Patru has translated this, " Un homme que ses etudes u et ses livres ont eloigne du commerce du " Palais." The Palais, or the Old Palace of the kings of France, it is true, is the place where the parliament of Paris and the chief courts of justice were assembled for the decision of causes ; but it is just as ab- surd to make Cicero talk of his haranguing in the Palais, as it would be of his pleading in Westminster Hall. In this respect, Echard is most notoriously faulty : We find in every page of his translations of Te- rence and Plautus, the most incongruous jumble of ancient and of modern manners. He talks of the " Lord Chief-Justice of " Athens," Jam tu autem nobis Prceturam geris ? Plaut. Epid. act. 1. sc. 1. and says, " I will send him to Bridewell with his skin ** stripped over his ears," Hominem irriga- tum plagis pistori dabo, Ibid. sc. 3. " I must c 266 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XI. " expect to beat hemp in Bridewell all the " days of my life," Molendutn mini est us- que in pistrina, Ter. Phormio. act 2. " He " looks as grave as an alderman," Tris- tis severitas inest in putty, Ibid Andria, act 5. — The same author makes the ancient heathen Romans and Greeks swear British and Christian oaths ; such as, " Fore " George, Blood and ounds, Gadzookers, " 'Sbuddikins, By the Lord Harry !" They are likewise well read in the books both of the Old and New Testament : " Good " b'ye, Sir Solomon," says Gripus to Tra- ehalion, Salve, Thales ! Ph Rudens, act 4, sc. 3. ; and Sosia thus vouches his own iden- tity to Mercury, " By Jove I am he, and u 'tis as true as the gospel," Per Jovem jnro, mea esse, neque me fa (sum dicer e, PL Amphit act 1. sc. 1 *. The same ancients, in Mr Echard's translation, are familiarly * The modern air of the following sentence is, however, not displeasing : Antipho asks Cherea, where he has bespoke supper ; he answers, Apud libertum Discum, " At Discus the *' freedman's." Echard, with a happy familiarity, says, " At " old Harry Platter's. Ter. Eun. act. 3. sc. 5. CHAP. XI. TRANSLATION, 26*7 acquainted with the modern invention of gunpowder ; " Had we but a mortar now " to play upon them under the covert way, " one bomb would make them scamper," Fun dam tibi nunc nimis vellem dart, ut tu illos procul kinc ex oculto cccderes, facerent fugam, Ter. Eun. act 4. And as their sol- diers swear and fight, so they must needs drink like the moderns : " This god can't af- " ford one brandy-shop in all his domi- -• nions," Ne thermopolium qaidem ullum tile instruit, PL Rud. act 2. sc. 9. In the same comedy, Plautus, who wrote 180 years before Christ, alludes to the battle of La Hogue, fought A. D. 1692. « I'll be as " great as a king," says Gripus, " I'll have ■ c a Royal Sun * for pleasure, like the King H of France, and sail about from port to " port," Navibus magnis mercaturam faciam, PL Rud. act 4. sc, 2. * Alluding to the French Admiral's ship Le Soleil Royal beaten and disabled by KusselJ. 268 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XI. In the Latin Poems of Pitcairne *, we remark an uncommon felicity in clothing pictures of modern manners in classical phraseology. In familiar poetry, and in pieces of a witty or humorous nature, this has often a very happy effect, and exalts the ridicule of the sentiment, or humour of the picture. But Pitcairne's fondness for the lan- guage of Horace, Ovid, and Lucretius, has led him sometimes into a gross violation of propriety, and the laws of good taste. In the translation of a Psalm, we are shocked when we find the Almighty addressed by the epithets of a heathen divinity, and his attributes celebrated in the language and al- lusions proper to the Pagan mythology. Thus, in the translation of the 104th Psalm, every one must be sensible of the glaring impropriety of the following expressions : * A poet from whom Dryden and Prior did not disdain to translate. See the epitaph on the Viscount of Dundee, trans- lated by Dry den , and Gualterus Danistonus ad amkos ) by- Prior. CHAP. XI. TRANSLATION. 269 Dexteram invictam canimus, Jovemque Qui triumphatis, hominum et Deorum Praesidet regnis — — — Quam tuae virtus tremefecit orbent Juppiter dextrae. Et manus ventis tua Daedaleas Assuit alas. facile sque leges Rebus imponis, quibus antra parent jEoli. Proluit siccam pluvialis aether Barbam, et arentes humeros Atlantis. Quae fovet tellus, fluidumque regnum Tethyos. Juppiter carmen mihi semper. Juppiter solus mihi rex. In the entire translation of the Psalms by Johnston, we do not find a single in- stance of similar impropriety. And in the admirable version by Buchanan, there are (to my knowledge) only two passages which 270 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XI. are censurable on that account. The one is the beginning of the 4th Psalm : O Pater, O hominum Divunique aeterna potestas ! which is the first line of the speech of Venus to Jupiter, in the 1 0th iEneid : and the other is the beginning of Psalm 82. where two entire lines, with the change of one syllable, are borrowed from Horace : Regilm timendorum in proprios greges, Reges in ipsos imperium est Jovce. In the latter example, the poet probably judged that the change of Jovis into Jovce removed all objection ; and Ruddiman has attempted to vindicate the Divum of the former passage, by applying it to saints or angels : but allowing there were sufficient apology for both those words, the impro- priety still remains : for the associated ideas present themselves immediately to the mind, and we are justly offended with the literal adoption of an address to Jupiter in a hymn to the Creator. CHAP. XI. TRANSLATION. 271 If a translator is bound, in general, to ad- here with fidelity to the manners of the age and country to which his original belongs, there are some instances in which he will find it necessary to make a slight sacrifice to the manners of his modern readers* The ancients, in the expression of resent- ment or contempt, made use of many epi- thets and appellations which sound ex- tremely shocking to our more polished ears, because we never hear them employed but by the meanest and most degraded of the populace. By similar reasoning we must conclude, that those expressions conveyed no such meaning or shocking ideas to the ancients, since we find them used by the most dignified and exalted characters. In the 19th book of the Odyssey, Melantho, one of Penelope's maids, having vented her spleen against Ulysses, and treated him as a bold beggar who had intruded himself into the palace as a spy, is thus sharply re- proved by the Queen : 272 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XI. These opprobrious epithets, in a literal translation would sound extremely offensive from the lips of the vrsgi Or, que m'est il provenu de ceci ? Pleurai longtems, longtems contai fleurette, Et puis au bout, suis devenu mari. Bibliotheque des Amans, par M. Sylvain M. . . . Paris. If the above is capable of a translation* which should do it justice, it must be done by a skilful imitation of its antiquated lan- guage ; and by the pen of a Pope, or a Haw- kins Browne *, * The ingenious author of A Pipe of Tobacco, in imitation of the manner of six different English poets ; and yet more distinguished for his admirable poem, De Immortalitate Animi 3 — one of the best specimens of the Latin poetry of the mo- flerns. 34 CHAP. XII. TRANSLATION. 281 CHAPTER XII. Difficulty of translating Don Quixote, from its Idiomatic Phraseology.— Of the best Translations of that Romance. — Compa- rison of the Translation by Motteux with that by Smollet, 1 here is perhaps no book to which it is more difficult to do perfect justice in a trans- lation than theDonQuixoteof Cervantes. This difficulty arises from the extreme frequency of its idiomatic phrases. As the Spanish language is in itself highly idiomatical, even the narrative part of the book is on that ac- count difficult ; but the colloquial part is studiously filled with idioms, as one of the principal characters continually expresses 282 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XII. himself in proverbs. Of this work there have been many English translations, exe- cuted, as may be supposed, with vari- ous degrees of merit. The two best of these, in my opinion, are the translations of Motteux and Smollet, both of them writers eminently well qualified for the task they undertook. It will not be foreign to the purpose of this Essay, If I shall here make a short comparative estimate of the merit of these translations *. Smollet inherited from nature a strong sense of ridicule, a great fund of original humour, and a happy versatility of talent, by which he could accommodate his style to almost every species of writing. He could adopt alternately the solemn, the live- ly, the sarcastic, the burlesque, and the vul- * The translation published by Motteux bears, in the title-page, that it is the work of several hands ; but as of these Mr Motteux was the "principal, and revised and cor- rected the parts that were translated by others, which indeed we have no means of discriminating from his own, I shall, in the following comparison, speak of him as the authpi; q£ the whole work. CHAP. XII. TRANSLATION. 283 gar. To these qualifications he joined an inventive genius, and a vigorous imagina- tion. As he possessed talents equal to the composition of original works of the same species with the romance of Cervantes ; so it is not perhaps possible to conceive a wri- ter more completely qualified to give a per- fect translation of that romance. Motleux, with no great abilities as an ori- ginal writer, appears to me to have been en- dowed with a strong perception of the ri- diculous in human character ; a just dis- cernment of the weaknesses and follies of mankind. He seems likewise to have had a great command of the various styles which are accommodated to the expression both of grave burlesque, and of low humour. Inferior to Smollet in inventive genius, he seems to have equalled him in every quality which was essentially requisite to a translator of Don Quixote. It may therefore be sup- posed, that the contest between them will be nearly equal, and the question of prefe- rence very difficult to tie decided. It would have been so, had Smollet confided in his 284 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XII, own strength, and bestowed on his task that time and labour which the length and dif- ficulty of the work required : but Smollet too often wrote in such circumstances, that dispatch was his primary object He found various English translations at hand, which he judged might save him the labour of a new composition. Jarvis could give him faithfully the sense of his author ; and it was necessary only to polish his asperi- ties, and lighten his heavy and awkward phraseology. To contend with Motteux, Smollet found it necessary to assume the armour of Jarvis. This author had pur- posely avoided, through the whole of his work, the smallest coincidence of expres- sion with Motteux, whom, with equal pre- sumption and injustice, he accuses in his preface of having " taken his version ^ wholly from the French *." We find, * The only French translation of Don Quixote with which I am acquainted;, is that to which is subjoined a continuation of the Knight's adventures, in two supplemental volumes. This translation, which, from a note on the Dedication, ap- pears to he the work of M. Lancelot, has undergone number-* CHAP. XII. TRANSLATION* §85 therefore, both in the translation of Jarvis and Smollet, which is little else than an im- proved edition of the former, that there is a studied rejection of the phraseology of less editions, and is therefore, I presume, the best ; perhaps indeed the only one, except a very old version, which is men- tioned in the Preface, as being quite literal, and very antiqua- ted in its style. It is therefore to be presumed, that whew Jarvis accuses Motteux of having taken his version entirely from the French, he refers to that translation above men- tioned, to which Le Sage has given a supplement. If this be the case, we may confidently affirm, that Jarvis has done Mot- teux the greatest injustice. On comparing his translation with the French, there is a discrepancy so absolute and uni- versal, that there does not arise the smallest suspicion that he had ever seen that version. Let any passage be compared ud aperturam lihri ; as, for example, the following: " De simples huttes tenoient lieu de maisons, et de palais " aux habitans de la terre; les arbres se defaisant d'eux- il memes de leurs ecorces, leur fournissoient de quoi couv- " rir leurs cabanes, et se garantir de l'intemperie des sai- " The tough and strenuous cork-trees did of themselves., if and without other art than their native liberiility, dismiss " and impart their broad, light bark, which served to cover " those lowly huts, propped up with rough-hewn stakes, that ff were first built as a shelter against the inclemencies of the 286 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XII* Motteux. Now, Motteux, though he has frequently assumed too great a licence, both " La beaute n'etoit point un avantage dangereux aiix jeu- " nes filles ; elles alloient librement partout, etalant sans ar- " tifice et sans dessein totis les presens que leur avoit fait la " Nature, sans se cacher davantage, qu' autant que Thonne- " tete commune a tons les siecles l'a toujours demande." " Then was the time, when innocent beautiful young tc shepherdesses went tripping over the hills and vales, their tc lovely hair sometimes plaited, sometimes loose and flowing, rt clad in no other vestment but what was necessary to cover " decently what modesty would always have concealed." Motteux. It will not, I believe, be asserted, that this version of Mot- teux bears any traces of being copied from the French, which is quite licentious and paraphrastical. But when we subjoin the original, we shall perceive, that he has given a very just and easy translation of the Spanish. Los valientes alcornoques despedian de si dn otro artificio que el de su cortesia, sus anchas y livianas cortezas, sin que se commenqaron d cubrir las casas, sobre rusticas estacas susien- tadas, no mas que para defensa de las inclemencias del cielo. Entonces si, que andaban las simples y kermosas zagalejas de valle en valle, y de otero en otero, en trenza y en cabello, sin mas vestidos de aquellos que eran menester para cubrir hanesta* mente lo que la honestidad quiere. CttAP. XII. TRANSLATION. 287 both in adding to and retrenching from the ideas of his original, has, upon the whole, a very high degree of merit as a translator. In the adoption of corresponding idioms he has been eminently fortunate, and, as in these there is no great latitude, he has in general preoccupied the appropriate phrases ; so that a succeeding translator, who proceed- ed on the rule of invariably rejecting his phraseology, must have, in general, altered for the worse. Such, I have said, was the rule laid down by Jarvis, and by his copyist and improver, Smollet, who, by thus absurd- ly rejecting what his own judgment and taste must have approved, has produced a Composition decidedly inferior, on the whole, to that of Motteux. While I justi- fy the opinion I have now given, by com- paring several passages of both translations, I shall readily allow full credit to the per- formance of Smollet, wherever I find that there is a real superiority to the work of his rival translator. After Don Quixote's unfortunate en- counter with the Yanguesian carriers, in 288 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XII. which the Knight, Sancho, and Rozinante* were all most grievously mauled, his faith- ful squire lays his master across his ass, and conducts him to the nearest inn, where a miserable bed is made up for him in a cock-loft. Cervantes then proceeds as fol- lows : En est a maldita cama se accost 6 Don Quixote : y luego la ventera y su hija le em- plastdron de arriba abaxo, alumbrandoles Maritornes : que asi se llamaba la Asturia- na. Y como al vizmalle, viese la ventera tan acardenalado & partes a Don Quixote, dixo que aquello mas parecian golpes que caida. Nofueron golpes, dixo Sancho^ sino que la pena tenia muchos picos y tropezones, y que cada uno habia hecho su cardinal, y tambien le dixo : haga vuestra merced, senora, de ma- nera que queden algunas estopas, que nofal- tard quien las haya menester, que tambien me duelen a mi un poco los lomos. Desa mane^ ra, respondio la ventera^ tambien debistes vos de caer ? No cat, dico Sancho Panza, sino que del sobresalto que tome de ver caer d mi amo, de tal manera me duele a mi el CHAP. XII. TRANSLATION. 289 cuerpo, que me parece que me han dado mil palos. Translation by Motteux. " In this ungracious bed was the Knight u laid to rest his belaboured carcase ; and 44 presently the hostess and her daughter " anointed and plastered him all over, while 44 Maritornes (for that was the name of the " Asturian wench) held the candle. The u hostess, while she greased him, wonder- 44 ing to see him so bruised all over, I fan- 44 cy, said she, those bumps look much more 44 like a dry beating than a fall. , 'Twas no " dry beating, mistress, I promise you, 44 quoth Sancho ; but the rock had I know " not how many cragged ends and knobs, " and every one of them gave my master a 44 token of its kindness. And by the 44 way, forsooth, continued he, I beseech 44 you save a little of that same tow and 44 ointment for me too, for I don't know 44 what's the matter with my back, but I 44 fancy I stand mainly in want of a little T 290 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XII. greasing too. What, I suppose you fell too ? quoth the landlady. Not I, quoth Sancho, but the very fright that I took to see my master tumble down the rock, has so wrought upon my body, that I am as sore as if I had been sadly mauled." Translation by Smollet. " In this wretched bed Don Quixote ha- " ving laid himself down, was anointed from " head to foot by the good woman and her 4i daughter, while Maritornes (that was the " Asturian's name) stood hard by, holding " a light. . The landlady, in the course of " her application, perceiving the Knight's " whole body black and blue, observed, that " those marks seemed rather the effects of " drubbing than of a fall ; but Sancho af- " firmed she was mistaken, and that the " marks in question were occasioned by the " knobs and corners of the rocks among "which he fell. And now, I think of it, u said he, pray, Madam, manage matters *. so as to leave a little of your ointment, CHAP. XII. TRANSLATION. 291 " for it will be needed, I'll assure you : my " own loins are none of the soundest at " present. What, did you fall too? said " she. I can't say I did, answered the " squire ; but I was so infected by seeing " my master tumble, that my whole body " akes, as much as if I had been cudgelled " without mercy." Op these two translations, it will hardly be denied that Motteux's is both easier in point of style, and conveys more forcibly the humour of the dialogue in the original. A few contrasted phrases will shew clearly the superiority of the former. Motteux. " In this ungracious ?bed was " the Knight laid to rest his belaboured " carcase." Smollet. " In this wretched bed Don " Quixote having laid himself down." Motteux. " While Maritornes (for that " was the name of the Asturian wench) " held the candle." t 2 292 PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. Xlf. Smollet. " While Maritornes (that was " the Asturian's name) stood hard by, hold- " ing a light." Motteux* " The hostess, while she grea- " sed him." Smollet. " The landlady, in the course u of her application." Motteux. " I fancy, said she, those " bumps look much more like a dry beat- " ing than a fall." Smollet. " Observed, that those marks " seemed rather the effects of drubbing than « of a fall." Motteux* " 'Twas no dry beating, mis- " tress, I promise you, quoth Sancho." Smollet. " But Sancho affirmed she was " in a mistake." Motteux. " And, by the way, forsooth, " continued he, I beseech you save a little, " of that same tow and ointment for me ; CHAP. XII. TRANSLATION. 293 " for I don't know what's the matter with u my back, but I fancy I stand mainly in " need of a little greasing too." Smollet. " And now, I think of it, said " he, pray, Madam, manage matters so as " to leave a little of your ointment, for it " will be needed, I'll assure you : my own " loins are none of the soundest at pre- " sent." Mvtteux* " What, I suppose you fell * too ? quoth the landlady. Not I, quoth " Sancho, but the very fright," &c. Smollet. " What, did you fall too ? said she. I can't say I did, answered the squire ; but I was so infected," &c. There is not only more ease of expres- sion and force of humour in Motteux's translation of the above passages than in Smollet's, but greater fidelity to the origi- nal. In one part, nofueron golpes, Smol- let has improperly changed the first person for the third, or the colloquial style for the t3 294 PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. XII. narrative, which materially weakens the spi- rit of the passage. Cada ano habia hecho su cardenal is most happily translated by Mot- teux, " every one of them gave him a to- " ken of its kindness ;" but in Smollet's version, this spirited clause of the sentence evaporates altogether. — Algunas estopas is more faithfully rendered by Motteux than by Smollet. In the latter part of the pas- sage, when the hostess jeeringly says to Sancho, Desa manera tambien debutes vos de caer ? the squire, impatient to wipe off that sly insinuation against the veracity of his story, hastily answers, No cai. To this Motteux has done ample justice, " Not I, " quoth Sancho." But Smollet, instead of the arch effrontery, which the author meant to mark by this answer, gives a tame apolo- getic air to the squire's reply, " I can't say " I did, answered the squire." Don Quix. par. 1. cap. 16. Don Quixote and Sancho, travelling in the night through a desert valley, have their ears assailed at once by a combination of the most horrible sounds, the roaring of ca- CHAP. XII. TRANSLATION. 295 taracts, clanking of chains, and loud strokes repeated at regular intervals ; all which per- suade the Knight, that his courage is im- mediately to be tried in a most perilous ad- venture. Under this impression, he felici- tates himself on the immortal renown ha is about to acquire, and, brandishing his lance, thus addresses Sancho, whose joints are quaking with affright : Asi que aprieta an poco las cinchas a Eo- cinante y y quedate a Dios ; y asperame aqui hasta tres dias, no mas, en los quales si no volviere, puedes tu voloerte a nuestra aldea, y desde alli^ por hacerme merced y buena obra, iras al Toboso, donde divas al i?ico?n- parable seTwra mia Dulcinea, que su cautivo caballero murio por acometer cosas, que le hiciesen digno de poder llamarse sayo. Don Quix. par. 1. cap. 20. Translation by Motteux. " Come, girth Rozinante straiter, and " then Providence protect thee: Thou may'st t 4 296 PRINCIPLES OF CHAP. XII* " stay for me here ; but if I do not return " in three days, go back to our village, and " from thence, for my sake, to Toboso, " where thou shalt say to my incomparable " lady Dulcinea, that her faithful knight " fell a sacrifice to love and honour, while " he attempted things that might have made " him worthy to be called her adorer." Translation by Smollet. u Therefore straiten Rozinante's girth, " recommend thyself to God, and wait for " me in this place, three days at farthest ; ic w T ithin which time if I come not back, " thou mayest return to our village, and, ** as the last favour and service done to me, a go from thence to Toboso, and inform my " incomparable mistress Dulcinea, that " her captive knight died in attempting " things that might render him worthy to * c be called her lover." Om comparing these two translations, that of Smollet appears to me to have better CHAP. XII* TRANSLATION. 297 preserved the ludicrous solemnity of the original. This is particularly observable in the beginning of the sentence, where there is a most humorous association of two coun- sels very opposite in their nature, the re- commending himself to God, and girding Rozinante. In the request, " and as the u last favour and service done to me, go H from thence to Toboso ;" the tranlations of Smollet and Motteux are, perhaps, near- ly equal in point of solemnity, but the sim- plicity of the original is better preserved by Smollet * * Perhaps a parody was here intended of the famous epi- taph of Simonides, on the brave Spartans who fell at Ther- mopylae : SI |sjv, ecyyuXov AxKiScctftevioig, on tjj^s " O stranger, carry back the news to Lacedemon, that f< we died here to prove our obedience to her laws/* This, it will be observed, may be translated, or at least closely imi- tated, in the very words of Cervantes ; divas— que su ca~ ballero murio por acometer cosas 3 que le hiciesen digno dz el diablo que " no duerme y que todo lo anasca, hizo de " manera, que el amor que el pastor tenia a " su pastora se volviese en omecillo y mala vo- " luntad, y la causa fuS segun malas lenguas, M una cierta cantidad de zelillos que ella le " did, tales que pasaban de la raya, y llega- " ban a lo vedado, y fue tanto lo que el pas- " tor la aborrecio de alii adelante, que por " no verla se quiso ausentar de aquella tierra, u 6 irse donde sus ojos no la viesen jamas ; la " Toralva, que se vio desdenada del Lope, lite- " go le quiso Men mas que nunca le habia tt querido." Ibid. CHAP. XII. TRANSLATION, 301 Translation by Motteux. " Well, but, as you know, days come " and go, and time and straw makes med- a lars ripe ; so it happened, that after seve- " ral days coming and going, the devil, who " seldom lies dead in a ditch, but will have " a finger in every pye, so brought it about, " that the shepherd fell out with his sweet- a heart, insomuch that the love he bore her a turned into dudgeon and ill-will ; and the " cause was, by report of some mischievous u tale-carriers, that bore no good-will to ei- " ther party, for that the shepherd thought " her no better than she should be, a little " loose i' the hilts, &c *. Thereupon being " grievous in the dumps about it, and now " bitterly hating her, he e'en resolved to " leave that country to get out of her sight : " for now, as every dog has his day, the " wench perceiving he came no longer a " suitering to her, but rather toss'd his One expression is omitted which is a little to^ gross. 302 PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. XII. " nose at her and shunn'd her, she began to " love him, and doat upon him like any " thing." I believe it will be allowed, that the above translation not only conveys the complete sense and spirit of the original, but that it greatly improves upon its humour. When Smollet came to translate this passage, he must have severely felt the hardship of that law he had imposed on himself, of invaria- bly rejecting the expressions of Motteux, who had in this instance been singularly successful. It will not therefore surprise us, if we find the new translator to have here failed as remarkably as his predecessor has succeeded. Translation by Smollet. " And so, in process of time, the devil, who never sleeps, but wants to have a fin- ger in every pye^ managed matters in such a manner, that the shepherd's love " for the shepherdess was turned into ma- CHAP. XII. TRANSLATION. SOS " lice and deadly hate : and the cause, ac- " cording to evil tongues, was a certain quantity of small jealousies she gave him, exceeding all bounds of measure. And such was the abhorrence the shepherd " conceived for her, that, in order to avoid " the sight of her, he resolved to absent himself from his own country, and go where he should never set eyes on her again. Toralvo finding herself despised by Lope, began to love him more than " ever." Smollet, conscious that in the above pas- sage Motteux had given the best possible fn e translation, and that he had supplanted him in the choice of corresponding idioms, seems to have piqued himself on a rigid ad- herence to the very letter of his original. The only English idiom, being a plagiarism from Motteux, " wants to have a finger in " every pye" seems to have been adopted from absolute necessity : the Spanish phrase would not bear a literal version, and no other idiom was to be found but that which Motteux had preoccupied. 304 PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. XII. From an inflexible adherence to the same law, of rejecting the phraseology of Motteux, we find in every page of this new translation numberless changes for the worse : Se que no mira del mql qjo a la mochacha. u I have observed he casts a sheep's eye " at the wench." Motteux. I can perceive he has no dislike to the girl." Smollet. Teresa me pusieron en el bautismo, nombre mondo y escueto, sin anadiduras, ni cortoyi- zas, ni arrequives de Danes ni Donas. I was christened plain Teresa, without any fiddle-faddle, or addition of Madam, or Your Ladyship." Motteux. w Teresa was I christened, a bare and * c simple name, without the addition, garni- *' ture, and embroidery of Don or Donna." Smollet, CHAP. XII# TRANSLATION. 305 Sigue tu cuento, Sancho. " Go on with thy story, Sancho." MoU tern* " Follow thy story, Sancho." Smollet* Yo confieso que he andado algo risneno en demasia. " I confess I carried the jest too far." Mottenx. " I see I have exceeded a little in my «! a pleasantry." Smollet. De mis vinas vengo, no se nada, no soy ttmigo de saber vidas agenas. " I never thrust my nose into other men's " porridge; it's no bread and butter of " mine : Every man for himself, and God u for us all, say I." Motteuoc, u I prune my own vine, and I know no- 306 PRINCIPLES OF GHAP. XII. " thing about thine. I never meddle with " other people's concerns." Smollet. Y advierta que ya tengo edad para dar consejos. Quien bien tiene, y mal escoge, por bien que se enoja, no se venga *. " Come, Master, I have hair enough in " my beard to make a counsellor : he that " will not when he may, when he will he " shall have nay." Motteux. " Take notice that I am of an age to give " good counsels. He that hath good in his " view, and yet will not evil eschew, his folly " deserveth to rue." Smollet. Rather than adopt a corresponding proverb, as Mot- teux has done, Smollet chuses, in this in- stance, and in many others, to make a pro- verb for himself, by giving a literal version of the original in a sort of doggrel rhyme. * Thus it stands in all the editions by the Royal Academy of Madrid ; though in Lord Carteret's edition the latter part ©f the proverb is given thus, apparently with more propriety: del mal que le, viene no se enoje^ £HAP. XII, TRANSLATION, 307 Vive Roque, que es la seuora nuestra ama mas ligera que un alcotan, y que puede ense- nar al mas diestro Cordobes o Meaicano. " By the Lord Harry, quoth Sancho, our " Lady Mistress is as nimble as an eel. " Let me be hang'd, if I don't think she " might teach the best Jockey in Cordova or " Mexico to mount a-horseback." Motteux. . " By St Roque, cried Sancho, my Lady " Mistress is as light as a hawk % and can " teach the most dextrous horseman to " ride." Smotlet. The chapter which treats of the puppet- show, is well translated both by Motteux and Smollet. But the discourse of the boy who explains the story of the piece, in Mot- teux's translation, appears somewhat more consonant to the phraseology commonly u 2 * Mas ligera que un alcotan is more literally translated by Smollet than by Motteux ; but if Smollet piqued himself en fidelity, why was Cordobes o Mexicano omitted. 308 PRINCIPLES OP CHAP. XII* used on such occasions : — " Now, gentle* " men, in the next place, mark that perso- " nage that peeps out there with a crown " on his head, and a sceptre in his hand : " That's the Emperor Charlemain.-^Mind " how the Emperor turns his back up- " on him. — Don't you see that Moor ; " — hear what a smack he gives on her r sweet lips, — and see how she spits " and wipes her mouth with her white " smoke-sleeve. See how she takes on, " and tears her hair for very madness, " as if it was to blame for this affront. — " Now mind what a din and hurly-burly " there is." Motteux. This jargon ap- pears to me to be more characteristic of the speaker than the following : " And " that personage who now appears with a " crown on his head and a sceptre in his " hand, is the Emperor Charlemagne.- — Be- " hold how the Emperor turns about and " walks off.— Don't you see that Moor ; — " Now mind how he prints a kiss in the " very middle of her lips, and with what " eagerness she spits, and wipes them with " the sleeve of her shift, lamenting aloud, " and tearing for anger her beautiful hair. CHAP. XII. TRANSLATION. SOS 54 as if it had been guilty of the trans- cc Forgets his lady fair and true." Motleiix. " Now Gayferos at tables playing, " Of Melisendra thinks no more." Smollet. Caballero, si a Francia ides, P