ηδ' ἐπιθήσω Φάρμαχ', ἅ κεν si de his pharmacis non satis liquet; sunt festivi- A. D. 11 Kalend. Februar. LETTER XIII.* MR. WEST TO MR. GRAY. I OUGHT to answer you in Latin, but I feel I dare not enter the lists with you-cupidum, pater optime, vires deficiunt. Seriously, you write in that language with a grace and an Augustan urbanity that amazes me: your Greek too is perfect in its kind. And here let me wonder that a man, longè Græcorum doctissimus, should be at a loss for the verse and chapter whence my epigram is taken. I am sorry I have not my Aldus with *This was written in French, but as I doubted whether it would stand the test of polite criticism so well as the preceding would of learned, I chose to translate so much of it as I thought necessary, in order to preserve the chain of correspondence. me, that I might satisfy your curiosity; but he, with all my other literary folks, are left at Oxford, and therefore you must still rest in suspense. I thank you again and again for your medical prescription. I know very well that those "risus, festivitates, et facetia" would contribute greatly to my cure, but then you must be my apothecary as well as physician, and make up the dose as well as direct it: send me, therefore, an electuary of these drugs, made up secundùm artem, "et eris mihi magnus Apollo," in both his capacities as a god of poets and god of physicians. Wish me joy of leaving my college, and leave yours as fast as I shall be settled at the Temple very you can. soon. Dartmouth-street, Feb. 21, 1737-8. LETTER XIV. MR. GRAY TO MR. WEST. *BARBARAS ædes aditure mecum, Dulcius quanto, patulis sub ulmi Fallere Musâ ! * I choose to call this delicate Sapphic Ode the first original production of Mr. Gray's muse; for verses imposed either by schoolmasters or tutors ought not, I think, to be taken into the consideration. There is seldom a verse that flows well from the pen of a real poet if it does not flow voluntarily. Usque dum, fulgore magis magis jam O ego felix, vice si (nec unquam Fallere Letho! Multa flagranti radiisq; cincto Cum Dei ardentes medius quadrigas Sentit Olympus! Ohe! amicule noster, et unde, sodes tu povσoTáτактоç adeò repente evasisti? jam te rogitaturum credo. Nescio hercle, sic planè habet. Quicquid enim nugarum i oxoλns inter ambulandum in paἐπὶ σχολῆς limpsesto scriptitavi, hisce te maxumè impertiri visum est, quippe quem probare, quod meum est, aut certè ignoscere solitum probè novi: bonâ tuâ veniâ sit si fortè videar in fine subtristior; nam risui jamdudum salutem dixi; etiam paulò mostitiæ studiosiorem factum scias, promptumque, Kaiνοῖς παλαιὰ δακρύοις στένειν κακά. O lachrymarum fons, tenero sacros Sed de me satis. Cura ut valeas. Jun. 1738. LETTER XV. MR. WEST TO MR. GRAY. I RETURN you a thousand thanks for your elegant ode, and wish you every joy you wish yourself in it. But, take my word for it, you will never spend so agreeable a day here as you describe: alas! the sun with us only rises to shew us the way to Westminster-hall. Nor must I forget thanking you for your little Alcaic fragment. The optic Naiads are infinitely obliged to you. I was last week at Richmond Lodge, with Mr. Walpole, for two days, and dined with Cardinal Fleury:* as far as my short sight can go, the character of his great art and penetration is very just; he is indeed Nulli penetrabilis astro. I go to-morrow to Epsom, where I shall be for about a month. Excuse me, I am in haste,† but believe me always, &c. August 29, 1738. * Sir Robert Walpole. † Mr. West seems to have been indeed in haste when he writ this letter; else, surely his fine taste would have led him to have been more profuse in his praise of the Alcaic fragment. He might, I think, have said, without paying too extravagant a compliment to Mr. Gray's genius, that no poet of the Augustan age ever produced four more perfect lines, or what would sooner impose upon the best critic, as being a genuine ancient composition. |