DE

ARTE CRITIC A.

A

LATIN VERSION.

OF

Mr. POPE's Effay on CRITICISM.

Nec me animi fallit-

Difficile illuftrare Latinis. verfibus effe

(Multa novis verbis præfertim cum fit agendum)
Propter egeftatem linguæ, & rerum novitatem. LUCRET.

Has plac'd thee in this fervile cell,
Where Discipline and Dulness dwell,

Where Genius ne'er was feen to roam ;
Where ev'ry selfish foul's at reft,

Nor ever quits the carnal breast,

But lurks and fneaks at home!

III.

Tho' dim'd thine eye, and clipt thy wing,
So grov'ling! once fo great!
The grief-inspired Mufe fhall fing
In tend'reft lays thy fate.

What time by thee fcholaftic Pride
Takes his precife, pedantic stride,
Nor on thy mis'ry casts a care,
The ftream of love ne'er from his heart
Flows out, to act fair pity's part;

But stinks, and stagnates there.
IV.

Yet useful still, hold to the throng---
Hold the reflecting glass,---
That not untutor'd at thy wrong
The passenger may pass:

Thou type

of wit and fenfe confin'd,

Cramp'd by the oppreffors of the mind,

Who ftudy downward on the ground; Type of the fall of Greece and Rome; While more than mathematic gloom, Envelopes all around!

ΑΝ

DE

ARTE CRITIC A.

A

LATIN VERSION

OF

Mr. POPE's Effay on CRITICISM.

Nec me animi fallit-

Difficile illuftrare Latinis verfibus effe

(Multa novis verbis præfertim cum fit agendum)

Propter egeftatem linguæ, & rerum novitatem. LUCRET.

34

ΑΝ

ESSAY on CRITICISM.

"T

IS hard to fay, if greater want of fkill

Appear in writing, or in judging ill;
But of the two, lefs dang'rous is th' offence
To tire our patience, than mislead our sense.
Some few in that, but numbèrs err in this,
Ten cenfure wrong, for one who writes amifs.
A fool might once himself alone expose,
Now one in verfe makes many more in profe.

'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none
Go juft alike, yet each believes his own.
In poets as true genius is but rare,

True tafte as feldom is the critic's fhare;
Both must alike from heav'n derive their light,
These born to judge, as well as those to write.
+ Let fuch teach others who themselves excel,
And cenfure freely who have written well.

15

+ Qui fcribit artificiofe, ab aliis commode fcripta facile intelligere poterit.

Çrc. ad Herenn. b. 4.

5

Authors

DE

35

ARTE CRITICA.

ICTU difficile eft, an fit dementia major

DICT

Egiffe invitâ vatem criticumne Minervâ ;.

Ille tamen certe venia tibi dignior errat

Qui laffat, quam qui feducit in avia, sensus.

Sunt, qui abfurda canunt; fed enim ftultiffima ftultos 5
Quam longe exuperat criticorum natio vates;

Se folum exhibuit quondam, melioribus annis
Natus hebes, ridendum; at nunc mufa improba prolem
Innumeram gignit, quæ mox fermone foluto
Equiparet ftolidos verfus, certetque ftupendo..

Nobis judicium, veluti quæ dividit horas

Machina, conftruitur, motus non omnibus idem,
Non pretium, regit ufque tamen fua quemque. Poetas
Divite perpaucos venâ donavit Apollo,

Et criticis recte fapere eft rariffima virtus;
Arte in utraque nitent felices indole foli,
Mufaque quos placido nafcentes lumine vidit.
Ille alios melius, qui inclaruit ipfe, docebit,
Jureque quam meruit, poterit tribuiffe coronan.

ΙΟ

15