For who would confess weariness when he enjoined
a fresh labour? I could not but invoke the assistance of a muse for
this last office:-
"Extremum hunc, Arethusa; . . .
. . . neget quis carmina Gallo?"
Neither am I to forget the noble present which was made me by
Gilbert Dolben, Esq., the worthy son of the late Archbishop of York,
who (when I began this work) enriched me with all the several
editions of Virgil and all the commentaries of those editions in
Latin, amongst which I could not but prefer the Dauphin's as the
last, the shortest, and the most judicious. Fabrini I had also sent
me from Italy, but either he understands Virgil very imperfectly or
I have no knowledge of my author.
Being invited by that worthy gentleman, Sir William Bowyer, to
Denham Court, I translated the first Georgic at his house and the
greatest part of the last AEneid. A more friendly entertainment no
man ever found. No wonder, therefore, if both these versions
surpass the rest; and own the satisfaction I received in his
converse, with whom I had the honour to be bred in Cambridge, and in
the same college.
Pages:
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313