What it adds to
sweetness, it takes away from sense; and he who loses the least by
it may be called a gainer; it often makes us swerve from an author's
meaning. As if a mark he set up for an archer at a great distance,
let him aim as exactly as he can, the least wind will take his arrow
and divert it from the white.
I return to our Italian translator of the "AEneis;" he is a foot-
poet; he lackeys by the side of Virgil at the best, but never mounts
behind him. Doctor Morelli, who is no mean critic in our poetry,
and therefore may be presumed to be a better in his own language,
has confirmed me in this opinion by his judgment, and thinks withal
that he has often mistaken his master's sense. I would say so if I
durst, but am afraid I have committed the same fault more often and
more grossly; for I have forsaken Ruaeus (whom generally I follow)
in many places, and made expositions of my own in some, quite
contrary to him, of which I will give but two examples, because they
are so near each other in the tenth AEneid:-
"Sorti pater aequus utrique.
Pages:
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287