TO THE HONOURABLE CHARLES YORK E. SIR, THE complaint which Theocritus makes in one of his Idylliums, of the neglect shown to his Muse, naturally reminded me of my own necessity. The utmost ambition of my wishes could not have aspired after a more illustrious patron than Mr. Yorke; I was not kept long in suspense, having, through a worthy friend, received permission to inscribe to you the subsequent sheets; and the favour was granted in a manner so peculiarly polite, that I esteemed the obligation moro than doubled. It was customary among the ancient Romans for the plebeians to choose out of the body of the patricians protectors or patrons, whose care it was to assist their clients with their interest, and defend them from the oppression of the great; to advise them in points of law, to manage their suits, and secure their peace and happiness: what a powerful advocate in this respect you would prove, let the pleadings at the bar, the decisions in Westminster-hall, and the debates in the senate determine. But the friend I seek at present must be eminent for his enlivened genius, the delicacy of his taste in literature, his classical learning, and his generous protection of the Muses: and where can I find these shining abilities and these benevolent virtues so happily combined, as in that eminent patron who does me the honour to countenance the following work? you, sir, are not only Musis amicus, but -Musarumq; comes cui, carmina semper Et citharæ cordi. You have long since sacrificed to the Muses with success, and had not the tenour of your studies, warmed by the example, and improved by the knowledge and experience of your admirable father, formed you to shine with so much lustre in a more active and exalted sphere, you had been ranked with the most celebrated authors in polite learning. But I cease to wonder that you should have attained qualifications like these, in the early culture of your talents, when I consider your zeal to vindicate the privilege of your predecessors; for the great lawgivers of antiquity were generally poets: Themis and the Muses are nearly joined in affinity; both derived from Heaven, they both distribute concord, harmony, and good-will among the inhabitants of the Earth. To whom then can I present these Arcadian scenes with so much propriety as to the friend of ancient eloquence and ancient poetry; one whom I know to have been an intelligent reader and admirer of Theocritus? let me congratulate myself on my good fortune, in having, by this performance, found more distinguished favour from Mr. Yorke, than Theocritus experienced at the court of Hiero. That the honours and reputation you have so deservedly acquired may more and more; that you may live long and happily, for the encouragement of the liberal sciences, and the service of your country, is the earnest wish of, sir, your most obliged, Orpington, and obedient servant, FRANCIS FAWKES. PREFACE. WHEN I had formed a resolution of publishing a translation of this inimitable Greek poet, I in tended to have availed myself of every elegant and faithful version of any particular Idyllium that fell in my way; and then have endeavoured, to the best of my ability, to make up the deficiency. With this view, I carefully examined Mr. Dryden, who has left translations of four Idylliums, the 3d, the 18th, the 23d, and the 27th. There are many beautiful lines in the third, but take it altogether and it is a tedious paraphrase; for the original contains only 54 verses, which he has multiplied into no fewer than 127; particularly there are three lines, beginning at the 18th, Ω το καλον τοθορώσα το παν λιθος" ω κυανοφρε Νύμφα. *· το λο Sweet black-ey'd maid, &c. which he has expanded into twelve. Now though English heroic verse consists of no more than ten syllables, and the Greek hexameter sometimes rises to seventeen, but if upon an average we say fifteen, then two Greek verses is equal in point of syllables to three of English: but if a translator is so extravagantly licentious, he must lose sight of his original, and by introducing new thoughts of his own, disguise his author so that nobody can know him again. But Mr. Dryden has a far greater foible than this, which effectually prevents me from inserting any of his translations in this volume, which is, that whenever he meets with any sentiment in an author which has the least tendency to indecency, he always renders it worse; nay, even in these Idylliums where the original has given him no handle at all, he has warpt the simple meaning of Theocritus into obscenity. Sed vitiis nemo sine nascitur; no man had more excellencies as a poet than Mr. Dryden, therefore the hand of candour should draw a veil over constitutional blemishes. In Dryden's Miscellany Poems there are seven or eight translations of other Idylliums, viz. the 2d, 10th, 14th, and 20th by W. Bowles; the 11th by Duke, and the 1st and some others by different hands; but none of these, I found, would suit my purpose: there are so many wild deviations from the original, such gross mistakes, and so many incorrect and empty lines, that they will sound very barshly in the polished ears of the present age. Fully satisfied with this inquisition, I then determined to undertake the whole work myself; considering that every translation from an ancient author, as well as every original work, is generally most agreeable to the reader which is finished by the same hand: because in this case there is kept up a certain uniformity of style, an idiomatical propriety of diction, which is infinitely more pleasing than if some different, though more able hand, had here and there interlarded it with a shining version, than if Purpureus, late qui splendeat, unus et alter I have been informed by some venerable critics, that Creech's translation of Theocritus was well done, and a book of reputation; that he thoroughly understood the classics, and had a peculiar facility in unfolding their beauties, and that if there was published a new edition of his translation, there would be no necessity for its being superseded by another. I beg leave to dissent entirely from these gentlemen, who probably having read Creech when they were young, and having no ear for poetical numbers, are better pleased with the rough music of the last age than the refined harmony of this; and will not easily be persuaded, that modern improvements can produce any thing superior. However Creech may have approved himself in Lucretius or Manilius, I shall venture to pronounce his translation of Theocritus very bald and hard, and more rustic than any of the rustics in the Sicilian bard: he himself modestly entitles his book, The Idylliums of Theocritus done into English: and they are done as well as can be expected from Creech, who had neither an ear for numbers, nor the least delicacy of expression. It will be incumbent upon me to make good this bold assertion, which I can easily do by producing a few examples. In the first Idyllium, he calls that noble pastoral cup, a fine two handled pot; and the rig, the tendrils or claspers with which scandent plants use to sustain themselves in climbing, he |