Page:An Essay on Translated Verse - Roscommon (1684).djvu/7

To the

Earl of Roscomon, on his Excellent Essay
on Translated Verse.

 

WHether the fruitful Nile, or Tyrian Shore,
The seeds of Arts and Infant Science bore,
'Tis sure the noble Plant, translated first,
Advanc'd its head in Grecian Gardens nurst.
The Grecians added Verse, their tuneful Tongue
Made Nature first, and Nature's God their song.
Nor stopt Translation here: For conquering Rome
With Grecian Spoils brought Grecian Numbers home;
Enrich'd by those Athenian Muses more,
Than all the vanquish'd World cou'd yield before.
'Till barb'rous Nations, and more barb'rous Times
Debas'd the majesty of Verse to Rhymes;
Those rude at first: a kind of hobbling Prose:
That limp'd along, and tinckl'd in the close:
But Italy, reviving from the trance
Of Vandal, Goth, and Monkish ignorance,
With pauses, cadence, and well vowell'd Words,
And all the Graces a good Ear affords,
Made Rhyme an Art: and Dante's polish'd page
Restor'd a silver, not a golden Age:
$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$Then Petrarch follow'd, and in him we see,
What Rhyme improv'd in all its height can be;
At best a pleasing Sound, and fair barbarity: