1、TheSatiresEpistlesArtofPoetrybyHaceTranslatedbyJohnConingtonM.A.THESATIRESEPISTLESARTOFPOETRYOFHACETRANSLATEDINTOENGLISHVERSEBYJOHNCONINGTONM.A.CPUSPROFESSOFLATININTHEUNIVERSITYOFOXFD.TOTHEREV.W.H.THOMPSOND.D.MASTEROFTRI

2、NITYCOLLEGECAMBRIDGEETC.ETC.ETC.INGRATITUDEFMANYKINDNESSESRECEIVEDFROMHIMOTHERCAMBRIDGEFRIENDSINACKNOWLEDGMENTOFTHECOMPLIMENTPAIDBYCAMBRIDGETOOXFDINTHEAPPOINTMENTOFTHEOXFDLATINPROFESSASONEOFTHEELECTSTOHERLATINCHAIR.PREFA

3、CE.InventuringtofollowupmytranslationoftheOdesofHacebyaversionoftheSatiresEpistlesIfeelthatIaminnowayentitledtorefertothefmerasajustificationofmyboldnessinundertakingthelatter.Bothclassesofwksaredoubtlessexplicableasprod

4、uctsofthesameiginalgenius:buttheydiffersowidelyinmanyoftheiracteristicsthatsuccessinrenderingtheonethoughgreaterthananywhichIcanhopetohaveattainedwouldaffdnopresumptionthatthetranslatwouldbefoundtohavetheleastaptitudefth

5、eother.AsamatteroffactwhiletheOdesstillcontinuetoinvitetranslationaftertranslationtheSatiresEpistlespopularastheywereamongtranslatsimitatsahundredyearsagohavedealwiththem.ThesequestionsIneedhardlysaymainlyresolvethemselv

6、esintothemetrethestyle.WithregardtothemetreIhavemyselfbutlittledoubtthatthemeasureinwhichHacemaybestberepresentedistheheroicasIsupposewemustcallitoftensyllables.TheonecompetingmeasureofcourseistheHudibrasticoctosyllabic.

7、Thislattermetreisnotwithoutconsiderableauthityinitsfavour.TwotranslatsSmartBoscawenhaverenderedthewholenearlythewholeofthesepoemsinthatnootherway:Francisoccasionallyadoptsitthoughhegenerallyusesthelongermeasure:SwiftPope

8、aseveryoneknowsemployitinthreefouroftheirimitations:CowperinhisiginalpoemsperhapsthegreatestmasterwehaveoftheHatianstyletranslatestheonlytwosatireshehasattemptedintheshterfm:Mr.Martinusesitasoftenasheusestheheroic:perhap

9、sMr.HowesistheonlytranslatsinceCreechwhoemploystheheroicthroughout.SomeofmyreadersmaypossiblywonderwhyIinparticularhavingrenderedtheAEneidinameasurewhichwhateveritsvivacitymaybethoughtdeficientindignityshouldturnroundrep

10、udiateitinacasewherevivacitynotdignityhappenstobethepointdesired.Icanonlysaythatitispreciselythecolloquialnatureofthemetrewhichmakesmestindoubtofitfmypresentpurpose.UsingitinthecaseofVirgilIwassuretoberemindedoftheneedof

11、guardingagainstitsabuse:usingitinthecaseofHaceIshouldbeconstantlyindangerofregardingtheabuseasthelawofthemeasure.Haceisscarcelylessremarkablefhistersenessthanfhisease:thetendencyoftheoctosyllabicmetreinitscolloquialfmist

12、obecomeslipshodinterminableinawdunclassical.AgainfewofthosewhouseitapplyitconsistentlytoallHaceshexameterpoems:mostmakeadistinctionapplyingittosomenottoothers.Inpointoffacthoweveritdoesnotseemthatanysuchdistinctioncanbem

13、ade.HaceslightestSatiresEpistleshavegenerallysomethinggraveaboutthem:hisgravesthavemethanonelightpassage.TodrawametricallineintheEnglishwherenoneisdrawnintheLatinappearstomeobjectionableipsofactowhereitcanreasonablybeavo

14、ided.Thatitcanbeavoidedinthepresentcasedoesnotreallyadmitofadoubt.TheEnglishheroiccoupletmanagedasCowperhasmanageditissurelyquiteequaltorepresentingallthevariouschangesofmoodtemperwhichfindtheirembodimentsuccessivelyinth

15、eHatianhexameter.CowpersmeseriouspoemscontainmeofdeepsustainedgravitythanistobefoundinanysimilarproductionofHace:whileontheotherhtherearefewthingsinHacesoeasysprightlyastheEpistletoJosephHillnothingperhapssoabsolutelypro

16、saicastheColubriadtheversestoMrs.Newton.ThereisalsoanadvantageinrenderingtheSatiresofHaceinthemetrewhichmaybecalledtherecognizedmetreofEnglishsatireassuchhasalwaysbeenemployed(withoneverypartialgrotesqueexception)bythetr

17、anslatsofJuvenal.LastlyImaybeallowedtosaythatwhileverydistrustfulofmypowersofmanagingthegraverheroicwheresomanygreatmastershavegonebefemeIfeltlessdiffidenceinattemptingthelowermecolloquialfmofthemeasureasnotrequiringthes