various languages. It is amusing however to hear Mr. Lofft making apologies for so small a 1 umber of these petits morceaux and assuring the reader that his larder is not exhausted. "Ir it is imagined because these Sonnets are divided into ter Centenaries that I had difficulty to make up the Number; this is a great Error which the Appendix will of itself refute. I flatter my. self there are few indeed which ought to have been omitted. And I am sure that there are many which if possible ought to have been inserted. These poetic Spirits have surrounded me in the form of Sonnets, as Charon is said by the Poet to be surrounded by the Shades pressing for a passage. I have had the same embarrassment of Choice; and great unwillingness of Rejection. "Navita sed tristis nunc hes, nunc accipit illos; "Now these, now those he singles from the Train; While others he declines, left on the dreary Plain." P. 254, The one thousand and one of the Arabian nights, are quite lost in the profusion of our author, who has not only given us his ten complete Centenaries of sonnets, but an Appendix at the head, containing about a hundred, and a Corona at the tail consisting of sixteen more, besides a Finale. Of these many are originals of the best Italian poets, to which are attached translations, generally by the hand of Mr. Lofft. Of these we cannot speak in terms of uniform approbation, the versions being much too luxuriant, and abounding with those misconceptions of the meaning of the original, which we should not have expected from Mr. Lofft. We will take the first that offers itself: DI PETRARCA. (cxv.) "O D' ARDENTE Virtute ornata & calda, O sol già d'honestate intero albergo; O Fiamma, o Rose, sparse in dolce falda Di viva neve, in che io mi specchio & tergo; 2. Del vostro nome,—si mie rime intese Fossin si,-lunge havrei pien Tule & Battra, Parte del Mondo, udrallo 'l bel paëse Ch' Appennin parte, & 'I Mar circonda, & l' Alpe. TRANSLATION. TRANSLATION. "O MIND by ardent Virtue grac'd and warm'd my Heart; Mansion of noble Probity, who art 2. "Created, may approach-The Name if Rime And dread Olympus.-But a narrower bound We are surprised at finding valor translated strength; whereas it constantly signifies "worth" or "probity." The whole line indeed is wretchedly rendered. Fulda does not signify " foldings;" but "a sloping side," as la falda d' una montagna," the side or slope of a mountain." The "fresh carnation" of Mr. Lofftis exceedingly pretty and poetical ; but it is a flower of his own fancy, not to be found in the bouquet of the original. But this, as we suppose, is substituted for in che io me specchio & tergo,as we will not suppose that Mr. Lofft can possibly mean "charm'd We view with fresh carnation snow take part." Asgiving the slightest idea of the Italian expression, which literally signifies in which I view and purify myself." We say nothing of the pair of lumbering participles "unharmed created," which jostle each other most awkwardly, notwithstanding the division of the sonnet softens the defect to the eye, but we will pass on to the last line, which we are surprised to see so loosely and so ignoantly rendered.We leave for better Geographers than ourselves to determine what country lies between the Alps and the Apennines, as we had always conceived that the latter formed nearly a right angle with the former; and we do not conceeive that Mr. Lofft means to designate that part of Italy alone which is included the angle, at least if he does, Petrarca does not. Petrarca describes Italy as the country which the Apennines divide, and the sea, and the Alps surround, which in our view, is a most correct Geographical designation; and it would have been better, if Mr. Lofft had done the same. But we are still more surprised at this vague and unmeaning translation of Mr. L., when when we remember that this very line has almost past into a proverb. We cannot suppose that Mr. L. can be ignorant of the two common periphrases used by the Italian poets in describing Italy, which are consecrated by classical usage no less than by the authority of their inventors. The one was first used by Dante in his Inferno, who calls it "Il paëse ove il si suona." The second is the line in the sonnet before us "Ch' Apennin parte, & 'l mar circonda, & l' Alpe. Both these modes of expression are so classical that we find them perpetually used by the best Italian writers. Thus Algarotti in writing to his master and friend the famous Zannotti, and describing the progress which the authority of da Crusca acquired in dictating the laws of the Italian language, uses this very line as a periphrasis for Italy. Surely the knowledge of this cicumstance should have caused Mr. Lofft to be much more ac curate in his translation. The following magnificent and spirited Apostrophe of Alfici tc Rome cannot fail of engaging the attention of the reader. D'ALFIERI. ROMA. "VUOTA insalubre Region, the State Di Popol reo, codardo, intanguinato! De astuti vil' in folgid' ostro avvrolti ; 2. "Citta, non Cittadini: augusti Tempii; Ogni luttro cangiar vede, ma in peggio: Non sei tu, ROMA, d' ogni vizio il seggio?" Now for a little Alfieri and water TRANSLATION. TO ROME. "UNHEALTHY Land! that callst thyself a State; Mute Mute spectres of a Race: whose looks are fill'd Vile paltry Craft in splendid purple veil'd! Than their vain Wealth! a Prince, imagin'd Great;" 2. "By Superstition hallow'd! City proud Keys (as thou saidst) to which Heaven's Portals bow'd 25 Aug. 1805. C. L. We do admire the diluent powers of Mr. Lofft, and the happy metamorphose of the champagne of Altieri into the sober gooseberry of our translator-we will not violate the dignity of the original by exposing the miserable weaknesses, errors, and omissions of the translator. In some instances however Mr. Lofft is more happy; the two following are perhaps among the most favourable specimens of his translations. PETRARCA. "AMOR, che vedi ogni pensier' aperto, 2. "Ben veggio di lontan' il dolce Lume TRANSLATION. "O LOVE, that seest my Heart without Disguise, Thou Thou know'st for thee this Breast what suffering tries: 2. True: I discern far off the chearing light To which, through tractless Wilds, thou urgest me, But Wings like thine to bear me to Delight I want:-Yet from these pangs I would not flee Finding this only favor in her sight That not dispicas'd my Love and Death she see." DI PETRARCA. (ccxcv.) 29 Aug. 1807. C. L "LASCIATA hai MORTE senza Sole il Mondo, 2. "Pianger l'aér & la terra e 'l mar deverabbe E'l Ciel, che del mio pianto hor si fa bello. TRANSLATION. (ELEGIAC.) "DEATH, Thou the World without a Sun hast left, 2. "See captive Truth and virgin Softness fade! 3. "Let Earth, Air, Sea, their common Woes bemoan: Mankind lament; which, now it's boast is flown, A gemless |