ESSAY

ON

Tranflated Verse.

BY THE

EARL of ROSCOMON.

Cape Dona Extrema Tuorum.

LONDON,

Printed for Jacob Tonfon at the Judges Head in
Chancery Lane, 1684.

To the

Earl of Rofcomon, on his Excellent Effay on Tranflated Verfe.

W

Hether the fruitful Nile,or Tyrian Shore,
The feeds of Arts and Infant Science bore,
"Tis fure the noble Plant, tranflated first,
Advanc'd its head in Grecian Gardens nurst.
The Grecians added Verfe, their tuneful Tongue
Made Nature firft, and Nature's God their fong.
Nor ftopt Tranflation here: For conquering Rome
With Grecian Spoils brought Grecian Numbers home;
Enrich'd by thofe Athenian Mufes more,

Than all the vanquish'd World cou'd yield before.
'Till barb'rous Nations, and more barb'rous Times
Debas'd the majesty of Verfe to Rhymes;
Thofe rude at firft: a kind of hobbling Profe:
That limp'd along, and tinckl'd in the clofe:
But Italy, reviving from the trance

Of Vandal, Goth, and Monkih ignorance,
With paufes, cadence, and well vowell'd Words,
And all the Graces a good Ear affords,

:

Made Rhyme an Art and Dante's polifh'd page
Reftor'd a filver, not a golden Age:

Then Petrarch follow'd, and in him we fee,
What Rhyme improv'd in all its height can be ;
At beft a pleafing Sound, and fair barbarity:

A

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The

مت

The French purfu'd their steps; and Brittain, last
In Manly fweetness all the reft furpafs'd.
The Wit of Greece, the Gravity of Rome
Appear exalted in the Brittish Loome;
The Mufes Empire is reftor'd agen,
In Charles his Reign, and by Rofcomon's Pen.
Yet modeftly he does his Work furvey,
And calls a finish'd Poem an ESSAY;
For all the needful Rules are fcatter'd here;
Truth smoothly told, and pleasantly fevere;
(So well is Art difguis'd, for Nature to appeare.)
Nor need those Rules, to give Translation light;
His own example is a flame fo bright;
That he, who but arrives to copy well,
Unguided will advance; unknowing will excel.
Scarce his own Horace cou'd fuch Rules ordain;
Or his own Virgil sing a nobler strain.
How much in him may rifing Ireland boast,
How much in gaining him has Britain loft!
Their Island in revenge has ours reclaim'd,
The more inftructed we, the more we ftill are fham'd.
'Tis well for us his generous bloud did flow
Deriv'd from British Channels long ago;
That here his conquering Ancestors was nurft;
And Ireland but tranflated England first:
By this Reprifal we regain our right;
Elfe muft the two contending Nations fight,

A nobler quarrel for his Native earth,
Than what divided Greece for Homer's birth.
To what perfection will our Tongue arrive,
How will Invention and Translation thrive.
When Authors nobly born will bear their part,
And not disdain th' inglorious praise of Art!
Great Generals thus defcending from command,
With their own toil provoke the Souldiers hand.
How will fweet Ovid's Ghost be pleas'd to hear
His Fame augmented by a Brittish Peer,
How he embellishes His Helen's loves,
Out does his foftnefs, and his fenfe improves?
VVhen thefe tranflate, and teach Tranflators too,
Nor Firstling Kid, nor any vulgar vow
Shou'd at Apollo's grateful Altar ftand;
Rofcomon writes, to that aufpicious hand,
Mufe feed the Bull that fpurns the yellow fand.
Rofcomon, whom both Court and Camps commend,
True to his Prince, and faithful to his friend;
Rofcomon first in Fields of Honour known,
First in the peaceful Triumphs of the Gown
He both Minerva's juftly makes his own.
Now let the few belov'd by Jove, and they,
VVhom infus'd Titan form'd of better Clay,
On equal terms with ancient Wit ingage,
Nor mighty Homer fear, nor facred Virgil's page:
Our English Palace opens wide in ftate;
And without stooping they may pass the Gate.
JOHN DRYDEN

The Earl of Mulgrave.