But Pallas now Tydides' soul inspires, Fills with her rage, and warms with all her fires; force O'er all the Greeks decrees his fame to raise, Above the Greeks her warrior's fame to raise, his deathless And crown her hero with immortal praise : distinguish'd Bright from his beamy crest the lightnings play, From his broad buckler flash'd the living ray; The Goddess with her breath the flames supplies, When first he rears his radiant orb to sight, When fresh he rears his radiant orb to sight, furious Where the war bleeds, and where the fiercest rage. fight burns, thickest The sons of Dares first the combat sought, In Vulcan's fane the father's days were led, There liv'd a Trojan-Dares was his name, Conclusion of Book VIII. v. 687. As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night, As when in stillness of the silent night, As still in air the trembling lustre stood, When no loose gale disturbs the deep serene, not a breath And no dim cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene; not a Around her silver throne the planets glow, o'er the dark trees a yellow sheds, O'er the dark trees a yellower green they shed, gleam verdure And tip with silver every mountain's head. shepherds, gazing with delight Eye the blue vault, and bless the vivid light, glorious So many flames before the navy blaze, And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays; Of these specimens every man who has cultivated poetry, or who delights to trace the mind from the rudeness of its first conceptions to the elegance of its last, will naturally desire a greater number; but most other readers are already tired, and I am not writing only to poets and philosophers. The "Iliad" was published volume by volume, as the translation proceeded: the four first P books appeared in 1715. The expectation of this work was undoubtedly high, and every man who had connected his name with criticism or poetry was desirous of such intelligence as might enable him to talk upon the popular topick. Halifax, who, by having been first a poet and then a patron of poetry, had acquired the right of being a judge, was willing to hear some books while they were yet unpublished. Of this rehearsal Pope afterwards gave the following account: 4 66 66 66 66 "The famous Lord Halifax was rather a pretender "to taste than really possessed of it-When I had "finished the two or three first books of my transla❝tion of the Iliad,' that Lord desired to have the pleasure of hearing them read at his house-Addison, Congreve, and Garth, were there at the reading. "In four or five places, Lord Halifax stopt me very civilly, and with a speech each time of much the same kind, I beg your pardon, Mr. Pope; but "there is something in that passage that does not "quite please me. Be so good as to mark the place, "and consider it a little at your leisure. — I am sure you can give it a little turn.'-I returned from "Lord Halifax's with Dr. Garth, in his chariot ; " and, as we were going along, was saying to the "Doctor, that my Lord had laid me under a great "deal of difficulty by such loose and general obser"vations; that I had been thinking over the passages "almost ever since, and could not guess at what it "was that offended his Lordship in either of them. "Garth laughed heartily at my embarrassment; said, "I had not been long enough acquainted with Lord 66 P First four. This vulgar expression has escaped Dr. Johnson's accurate pen. C. Spence. "Halifax to know his way yet; that I need not "puzzle myself about looking those places over and 66 over when I got home. All you need do (says "he) is to leave them just as they are; call on Lord "Halifax two or three months hence, thank him for "his kind observations on those passages, and then "read them to him as altered. I have known him "much longer than you have, and will be answerable " for the event.' I followed his advice; waited on "Lord Halifax some time after; said, I hoped he "would find his objections to those passages removed; "read them to him exactly as they were at first; "and his Lordship was extremely pleased with them, "and cried out, Ay, now they are perfectly right; nothing can be better." It is seldom that the great or the wise suspect that they are despised or cheated. Halifax, thinking this a lucky opportunity of securing immortality, made you some advances of favour and some overtures of advantage to Pope, which he seems to have received with sullen coldness. All our knowledge of this transaction is derived from a single letter (Dec. 1, 1714), in which Pope says, "I am obliged to you, both for the "favours you have done me, and those intend me. "I distrust neither your will nor your memory, when "it is to do good; and if I ever become troublesome or solicitous, it must not be out of expectation, but "out of gratitude. Your Lordship may cause me "to live agreeably in the town, or contentedly in the "country, which is really all the difference I set between an easy fortune and a small one. It is indeed 66 a high strain of generosity in you to think of mak"ing me easy all my life, only because I have been so "happy as to divert you some few hours; but, if I 66 may have leave to add, it is because you think me "no enemy to my native country, there will appear 66 a better reason; for I must of consequence be very "much (as I sincerely am) yours, &c." |