Part 8 (2/2)

The same may be said of Thought.

I want very much to be informed, whether there is a perfect Agreement of Thought in these several Quotations out of _Homer_, or how they must be understood so as not to contradict one another. The first Couplet is against _Wine_:

_Inflaming Wine, pernicious to Mankind, Unnerves the Limbs, and dulls the n.o.ble Mind._

The next Couplet is for Wine:

_With_ Thracian _Wines recruit thy honour'd Guests, For happy Counsels flow from sober Feasts._

What follows taken out of the _Notes_ upon _Homer_ is against Wine.

_What_ Hector _says against Wine in the two first Verses has a great Deal of Truth in it: It is a vulgar Mistake to imagine the Use of Wine, either raises the Spirits or encreases Strength._

The next Words are for Wine:

_Then with a plenteous Draught refresh his Soul, And draw new Spirits from the generous Bowl._

Again for Wine:

_For Strength consists in Spirits and in Blood, And those are ow'd to generous Wine and Food._

And the Translator's Observation, that the moderate Use of Wine does not raise the Spirits, is not the truer, because it is said by _Hector_, the Son of _Priam_. Father _Sirmond_, a sober reverend as well as learned Priest says quite another Thing:

Si bene commemini causae sint quinque bibendi, Hospitis Adventus, praesens Sitis, atque futura, Et Vini bonitas, & quaelibet altera Causa.

_If all be true_, &c.

Whoever reads an Author with Exactness cannot fail of meeting with several Pa.s.sages, where Self-love, Humour, Party, or Complexion, are uppermost. Thus a good Catholick will never have a good Word for a Heretick, nor a _Puritan_ for a _Papist_. Dr. _Ch----_ will never speak well of Punch, nor Dr. _Mand----_ of Watergruel. He who writes well is jealous of him who judges well, and he who judges well envies him who writes well. The _Swifts_ turn every Thing into Grimace, the _Whistons_ into Mathematicks, and whatever touches an Author's own Taste, he is always recommending to his Reader.

We all remember how the Duke of _Malborough_ was treated by the blessed Peace-makers for beating their Friends the _French_. _Delight in War_ was a Mark set upon him in a most solemn Manner, and a memorable Instance of our Wisdom and Grat.i.tude. There is a Paraphrase upon it in the Version of _Homer_; and when the Application is made will turn the _Epick_ into Satyr.

_Curs'd is the Man, and void of Law and Right, Unworthy Property, unworthy Light; Unfit for publick Rule or private Care, That Wretch, that Monster who delights in War; Whose l.u.s.t is Murder, and whose horrid Joy To tear his Country_, &c.

To _tear_ a Country is very much in Heroicks. The Image of _Discord_ has good Lines in it; but methinks they would not have been the Worse, if they had been heated a little in _Milton_'s Furnace:

_Discord, dire Sister of the slaughtering Pow'r, Small at her Birth,_ but rising ev'ry Hour; _While scarce the Skies her horrid Head can bound, She stalks on Earth, and_ shapes _the World around: The Nations bleed, where e'er her Steps she turns, The Groan still deepens, and the Combat burns._

I refer to the Judgement of the Reader, whether the following Image of Discord taken from a modern burlesque Poem, has not more of the Epick in it:

Non tulit invisae speciem Discordia Pacis, Ilicet horrentes ad fibila concitat hydros, Ulcisci jubet Ira nefas. Spumantia felle Ora tument, micat ex oculis ardentibus Ignis.

_Discord enrag'd at the Approach of Peace Made her Snakes hiss, and urg'd to dire Revenge.

Her foaming Mouth of horrid Poison full, From her red Eyes she darted Flakes of Fire._

The new invented Words made use of by the Translator of _Homer_ are well enough chosen, and well warranted by the Practice of the greatest Poets, such as _Moveless_, _Instarr'd_, _Inurn'd_, _Conglobe_, _Deathful_, _Fountful_, _Lengthful_:

_But if you write of Things abstruse and new, Words of your own inventing may be us'd._ Roscom.

I have mention'd some of the Helps which were prepared for the Translator of the _Ilias_. But Dr. _Felton_ informs us, Dr. _Busby_ would not allow of Notes; a very curious Remark That. It is not impossible, but Dr. _Busby_ himself might have read and taught _Homer_ 50 Years as a _Grammarian_, without understanding him as a Poet. A Portion of that Genius which inspir'd the Author is requisite for the Reader to see all the Beauties that are in a Poem. I believe the Lord _Roscommon_'s Judgement will be preferred to that of both those Doctors:

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