Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

Jake.

following fentence), they brought him out, and fpirited him on to the fight, presuming that his favourite god would enable him to come off victorious-avrag 'Axóλλwv, &c.

This is Lennep's conjectural reading; which, whether the true one or not, must be allowed to affix a tolerable meaning to a paffage that was before very unintelligible.

Ver. 302. From the blood that was fpilt on the ground, Apollo produced a flower, called after the name of his favourite youth. See Ovid. Metam. I. x. Ver. 331. Antilochus, mentioned frequently in Hom. II.

Ver. 333. The defcendants of Eacus. He was the son of Jupiter and Ægina: his offspring were Phocus, Peleus, Teucer, and Telamon.

Ver. 269. Demophoon, fon of Thefeus, on his Ver. 390. The fiction to which our author in return from Troy, paffed through Thrace, where this place, and Virgil, in Æneid vi. allude, is borhe was hofpitably received by Phillis, its queen, rowed from B. xix. of Hom. Odyff. Itis imaginwho fell in love with and married him. Heed, that this story of the gates of fleep may have having expreffed his defire to vifit Athens, his had a real foundation, and have been built upon native country, Phillis confented to his departure, the cuftoms of the Egyptians. See the note on ver. upon condition that he would return on a certain 656. book xix. of Pope's Ody. Our poet has repreday which he should appoint. Demophoon pro- fented these fanciful gates as opened by Night; mifed to be with her on the appointed day. When and with great propriety. the day came, Phillis, tortured with the pangs of "The ancients," fays Sir Edward Sherburne, an impatient lover, ran nine times to the fhore, painted Sleep like a man heavy with flumber; upper black; which from this circumftance was called in Greek his under-garment white, his Enneados: but unable any longer to fupport his by expreffing day and night; holding in his hand abfence, fhe, in a fit of defpair, hanged herfelf. a horn; fometimes really fuch, fometimes of ivory, in the likeness of one; through which, they See Ovid's Epift. ii. Phillis to Demoph. Ver. 274. A province and city of Theffaly; feigned, that he conveyed dreams; true, when the the birth-place of Achilles. But, for a more parfame was of horn, falfe when of ivory." Some have ticular account of Coluthus's geography, the read-aligned, as a reason why true dreams pafs through

er may confult Lennep's note on ver. 215, where he shows (to make use of his own words), " quam "fuerit in geographicis hofpes Coluthus."

Ver. 296. Hyacinthus was a young prince of the city Amycle in Laconia. He had made fo extraordinary a progress in literature, that he was confidered as a favourite of Apollo. As he was playing with his fellows, he was unfortunately ftruck on the head by a quoit, and died of the blow. The poets have enlarged on this fimple story in the following manner :

The wind which blew the quoit afide, and gave it the fatal direction, they have called Zephyrus ; whom they have reprefented as the rival of Apol. lo. Zephyrus having received for his kindneffes to Hyacinthus, the moft ungrateful returns, was refolved to punish him for his infolence; and having challenged him one day to a game of quoits, he ftruck the unfortunate youth a blow on the temples.

The inhabitants of Amycle, says the poet,
δείδ' αύτου

Σκυζόμενος, καὶ τοῦτον ἀνήγαγεν..
were displeased with the conteft propofed by Ze-
phyrus, and withdrew Hyacinthus from the fight;
or, perhaps (till better to connect this with the

[ocr errors]

there

the gate of horn, and falfe ones through the gate being transparent, and ivory of falsehood, as being of ivory-that horn is a fit emblem of truth, as impenetrable.

Ver. 448. Virgil, Æn. vi. 278. calls sleep cerfanguineus letbi.

Ver. 450. Hence, i. e. by reafon of the likeness there is betwixt thefe two affections.

Ver. 464. The line in the original is obfcure, but without the leaft reafon. It is here reftored and ufually misplaced. It is given to Hermione, to its proper place; and is an obfervation which comes naturally enough from the mouth of Helen. See Lennep's note on the passage.

Ver. 482. Caffandra was the daughter of Priam, and priestess of Apollo. Apollo gave her the gift of prophecy; but on her refufing to comply with the conditions on which it was given her, he rendered it ineffectual, by ordaining that her predic tions fhould never be believed. Hence it was, that, when Paris fet fail for Greece in pursuit of Helen, her prophecy, that he should bring home a flame, which fhould confume his country, was not regarded. Her appearance, therefore, on the prefent occafion is quite in character; and our poet has shown his judgment by the reprefenta tion he has given of her.

THE WORKS

OF

T. LUCRETIUS CARUS.

TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK,

Y

THOMAS CREECH, M. A.

CREECH'S LUCRETIUS.

ΤΗΣ

PREFACE.

HE poems of the ancients, tranflated into modern languages, are justly compared to flowers, of the growth of warmer regions, tranfplanted thence into our colder climates: They often die in the raifing; but, if with difficulty they are brought to bear, the flowers they produce, wanting the indulgent warmth of their native fun, degenerate from their ancient ftock; they impair in liveliLefs of colour, and lofe their fragrancy of fmell, or retain at best but a faint odour. Verfe, in like manner, when tranfplanted from the language of one country into that of another, participates of all the defects of the air and foil; and when ancient wit comes to be taught and confined in modern numbers, the noble fpirit, for want of the warmth with which the original was written, evaporates in transfufing, and often becomes little better than a dead and fenfelefs image. Hence we fee, that though compofing be indeed the nobler part of poetry, yet to tranflate well is fcarce a lefs difficult task. The materials, I grant, are found to the tranflator's hands; but then his fancy is bound up and confined; for he must build according to his model; and though his invention toil the lefs, his judgment muft labour the more; otherwife he will never copy his original, nor do juftice to his author.

I will not prefume to give my opinion, either in praife or difpraife, of the following tranflation in general; the many teftimonies, given in behalf of it, by the tranflator's learned and ingenious friends, in their commendatory verses, which, as they were to all the former editions of this work, are likewife prefixed to this, render all that can be faid in praife of it fuperfluous, and in blame of it ineffectual; for who will dare to cenfure a work, that has defervedly found fo favourable a reception, and gained fuch a general approbation and applaufe? What Mr. Waller writes to Mr. Evelyn on his tranflation of the first book of Lucretius only, may with greater juftice be applied to our tranflator:

For here Lucretius whole we find,
His words, his music, and his mind :
Thy art has to our country brought
All that he writ, and all he thought.

Waller

Now all tranflated books, whatever subjects they treat of, are, or ought to be, intended for the be

[ocr errors]

nefit and instruction of such as understand not the languages in which the originals are written, and if they fail of that end, they are always, and at best, but useless amusements: But if they affert principles, and advance maxims and propofitions, that are repugnant to the doctrine of the Chriftian faith, or to the precepts of morality and good manners, they may prove of ill confequence to fome, particularly to the unwary or lefs intelligent readers. It were better that books of that nature (and most of the writings of the ancient Heathens are fuch, in a lefs or greater degree) were never tranflated at all, than that, by being rendered into modern languages, they should fall into the hands of all forts of readers; many of whom, not being capable to judge of the ftrength or weaknefs of the arguments they find in them, are often feduced into errors. Such books are a fort of edged tools, that either ought to be kept from the weak, and the illiterate; or, when they are put into their hands, they ought to be inftru&ted how to use them without danger. This being granted in general, is fufficient to juftify my undertaking, and to prove the usefulness of it, in writing the following notes and animadverfions on this English Lucretius.

I foresee, nevertheless, that fome will blame, and perhaps cenfure me feverely, for having beftowed fo much time and labour on an impious poet : For this, will they fay, is that very Lucretius, who believes, and endeavours all he can to prove, the human foul to be corporeal and mortal; and who, by fo doing, denies a future ftate, either of happiness or mifery, and takes away all hopes of our falvation in a bleffed and eternal futurity: This is he, who flatly denies the Providence of God, which is the chief bafis and fupport of the Chriftian religion: And, laftly, this is he who teaches, and afferts to be true, that Atheistical hypothesis of Democritus and Epicurus, concerning the indivifible principles, and the nature of all things. This, I confefs, feems at first fight to be a grievous accufation; but yet, if duly confidered, it will appear to be of little moment: For not to mention that, for the fame reason that we ought not, as fome pretend, to read Lucretius, we ought likewife to abstain from reading all, at leaft moft of the authors of antiquity, fince in their writings are contained many impious, profane,

false, ridiculous, and fabulous affertions; infomuch, that all our poets, orators, hiftorians, and philofophers must be rejected and thrown away, as debauchers of youth, and corrupters of good manners, if their writings were once to be tried by the standard of our faith, and by the doctrine of Christianity; not to mention, I fay, all this, I dare boldly affirm, that whatever propofitions Lucretius advances, contrary to the Chriftian religion, are fo vifibly and notorioufly falfe, and confequently fo easily answered, that they cannot in the least ftartle any one, who profeffes our holy belief: For inftance, Lucretius, in his third book, after having, as he thinks, fully demonftrated the corporality of the human foul, brings no lefs than twenty-fix arguments to prove its mortality likewife: But all of them, when they come to be maturely confidered, are of fo little validity, and fo obvious to be confuted, that, far from being able to ftagger in the leaft the faith of a Christian, no man, I think, though but of mean capacity, can, on fuch lender and unconvincing proofs, believe, even if he would, that the foul dies with the bo dy. Nor are his arguments, by which he labours to overthrow all belief of a divine Providence, and to wreft the power of creation out of the hands, even of Omnipotence itfelf, more cogent or perfuafive, as will, I hope, be made appear in the following notes and animadverfions; in which I have made it my chief study to fhow the weakness, and to expofe to my readers the infufficiency of them. How well I have fuccceded in my attempt must be left to the judgment of the public; the defign, I am fure, was well-meaning and honeft; and if the performance be answerable, it may juftly challenge a favourable reception: For what Chriftian will not be pleafed to fee, that not even the most penetrating wit of Lucretius has been able to advance any thing felid against the power of that infinite God whom he adores; efpecially confidering, that if any fuch impieties could have been defended, he certainly was capable of defending them :

-Si pergama dextrâ

Defendi poffent, certè hâc defenfa fuiffent. Virg. Moreover, what danger can arife to any man, though but of common understanding, while he reads that ridiculous doctrine of the Epicurean philofophers concerning their atoms, or minute indivifible corpufcles, which they held to be the firft principles of all things? An opinion fo abfurd, that even the bare mentioning of it confutes it. So far, therefore, from being of dangerous confequence to us is the reading thofe abfurdities of the ancients concerning the nature of things, that, on the contrary, we may 'gain from thence the great advantage of acquiring a more perfect knowledge of nature, and of the wonderful works of God: For nature has imprinted on all men an innate defire of truth; and to know the falfe opinions of others, will excite and tir them up to be the more diligent in the inquiry and fearch of it will render them the more capable to judge and determine concerning it, and to retain in their

minds the more firmly the convictions it imprints upon them. As light is then most beautiful when it first rifes out of darkness, so truth is then most delightful when it first emerges out of errors. For as my lord Rofcommon finely expresses it, Truth ftamps conviction on your ravish'd breast, And peace and joy attend the glorious gueft.

Essay on Tranflated Verfe.

Nor is all that Lucretius has written, impious, falfe, or ridiculous: on the contrary, many excellent things are contained in his poem; many that well deferve to be read and remembered even by Chriftians. How excellently does he declaim against ambition, and all manner of injustice and cruelty; against superstition, and the fear of death; against avarice, luxury, and luft; against all the other paffions of the mind, and dishonest pleasures of the body. Is he not continually exhorting his Memmius to fobriety, temperance, chastity, magnanimity, and all the reft of the moral virtues? Infomuch that what Diogenes writes of Epicurus feems to be true; that he was falfely accused by fome perfons of indulging himself too much in pleasure, and that it was a mere calumny in them to wreft, as they did, to a wrong fenfe, the mean. ing of that philofopher, and to interpret what he faid of the tranquillity of the mind, as if it had been spoken of the fenfual delights of the body. To the fame purpofe Caffius, that great general of the Romans, after he had embraced the Epicu rean philofophy, writing to Cicero, explains this matter in the following words: They, fays he, whom we call lovers of pleafure, are indeed lovers of goodness and of juftice; and men who practise and cultivate all manner of virtues: for there is no true pleasure without a good and virtuous life: "ii, qui á nobis pando vocantur, funt q καλοι καὶ φιλοδικά οι, omnefque virtutes et colunt et retinent: & γαρ ἔτινηδίως ἄνευ τῇ καλὼς καὶ δια xás "as the fame Caffius there cites the very words of Epicurus, who himself takes notice of this calumny, and complains of the malice and difingenuoufnefs of his accufers, who, not under ftanding it aright, had mifreprefented his doc trine concerning pleafure: When we affert, fays he, that pleafure is the chief good and greatest felicity of man, we mean not the pleasures of the luxurious and libidinous; not the pleasures of the tafte, the touch, or any other fenfual enjoyments, as fome ignorant perfons, or fuch as diffent from our opinions, or as take them in a wrong fenfe, maliciously give out but what we call pleasure is, to be exempt from pain of body, and to have a mind ferene and void of all cares and perturbations; for not the company of lafcivious boys and women, not luxurious eating and drinking; not to feed on fish, and other delicious meats that load the tables of the wealthy, nor any other fenfual delights can procure a happy life; but a right and found reafon, that fearches into, and difcerns the caules why fome things are to be defired, others to he avoided; and that chafes and expels thofe opini ons, by means of which the mind is difquieted, and vexed with paffions and anxieties. Thus we

« EdellinenJatka »