205
Laudes ufque adeo meritas vox quæque rependat,
Humanique fimul generis chorus omnis adefto.
Salvete, O vates! nati melioribus annis,
Munus & immortale æternæ laudis adepti !
Queis juvenefcit honos longo maturior ævo,
Ditior ut diffundit aquas, dum defluit amnis!
Vos populi mundique canent, facra nomina, quos jam
Inventrix (fic diis vifum eft) non contigit ætas !
Pars aliqua, o utinam! facro fcintillet ab igne
Illi, qui veftra eft extrema & humillima proles !
(Qui longe fequitur vos debilioribus alis
Lector magnanimus, fed enim, fed fcriptor inaudax)
Sic critici vani, me præcipiente, priores
Mirari, arbitrioque fuo diffidere difcant.
215
Omnibus ex caufis, quæ animum corrumpere junctis Viribus, humanumque folent obtundere acumen, Pingue caput folita eft momento impellere fummo Stultitiæ femper cognata fuperbia; quantum Mentis nafcenti fata invidere, profufo Tantum fubfidio faftûs fuperaddere gaudent; Nam veluti in membris, fic fæpe animabus, inanes Exundant vice + fpirituum, vice fanguinis auræ Suppetias inopi venit alma fuperbia menti, Atque per immenfum capitis fe extendit inane! Quod fi recta valet ratio hanc difpergere nubein Naturæ verique dies fincera refulget.
Trust not yourself by your defects to know,
Make use of ev'ry friend---and ev'ry foe.
A little learning is a dang'rous thing,
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring;
There fhallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely fobers us again.
Fir'd at first fight with what the muse imparts,
In fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts,
While from the bounded level of our mind,
Short views we take, nor fee the lengths behind;
But more advanc'd, behold with strange surprize
New diftant scenes of endless science rife!
So pleas'd at firft the tow'ring Alps we try,
Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky,
Th' eternal fnows appear already past,
And the first clouds and mountains seem the last;
But thofe attain'd, we tremble to furvey
The growing labour of the lengthen'd way,
Th' increafing profpect tires our wond'ring eyes,
Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arife!
+ A perfect judge will read each work of wit With the fame spirit that its author writ,
+ Diligenter legendum eft, ac pene ad fcribendi follicitudinem ; nec per partes modo fcrutanda funt omnia; fed perlectus liber utique ex integro refu
mendus.
QUINTIL.
Cuicunque eft animus penitus cognofcere culpas,
Nec fibi, nec fociis credat, verum omnibus aurem
Commodet, apponatque inimica opprobria lucro.
Ne mufæ invigiles mediocritèr, aut fuge fontem
Caftalium omnino, aut hauftu te prolue pleno:
Iftius laticis tibi mens abstemia torpet
Ebria, fobrietafque redit revocata bibendo.
Intuitu mufæ primo, novitateque capta
Afpirat doctrinæ ad culmina fumma juventus
Intrepida, & quoniam tunc mens eft arcta, fuoque 235
Omnia metitur modulo, malè lippa labores
Ponè fecuturos oculis non afpicit æquis:
Mox autem attonitæ jam jamque fcientia menti
Crebrefcit variata modis fine limite miris !
Sic ubi defertis confcendere vallibus Alpes
Aggredimur, nubefque humiles calcare videmur,
Protinus æternas fuperâffe nives, & in ipfo
Inveniffe viæ lætamur limine finem:
His vero exactis tacito terrore ftupemus
Durum crefcentem magis & magis ufque laborem,
Jam longus tandem profpectus læfa fatigat
Lumina, dum colles affurgunt undique fæti
Collibus, impofitæque emergunt Alpibus Alpes.
Ingeniofa leget judex perfectus eâdem Quâ vates fcripfit ftudiofus opufcula curâ,
Survey the whole, nor feek flight faults to find,
Where nature moves, and rapture warms the mind;
Nor lofe, for that malignant, dull delight,
The gen'rous pleasure to be charm'd with wit:
But in fuch lays as neither ebb nor flow,
Correctly cold, and regularly low,
That shunning faults, one quiet temper keep,
We cannot blame indeed---but we may fleep:
In wit, as nature, what affects our hearts
Is not th' exactnefs of peculiar parts :
'Tis not a lip, nor eye, we beauty call,
But the joint force, and full refult of all. Thus when we view fome well-proportion'd dome, 250 (The world's juft wonderd, and ev'n thine, O Rome!)
No fingle parts unequally furprize,
All comes united to the admiring eyes;
No monstrous height, or breadth, or length appear;
The whole at once is bold and regular.
Whoever thinks a faultlefs piece to see,
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er fhall be.
In ev'ry work regard the writer's end,
Since none can compass more than they intend;
And if the means be juft, the conduct true,
Applaufe, in fpight of trivials faults, is due.
As men of breeding, fometimes men of wit,
T'avoid great errors, must the lefs commit.
Totum perpendet, cenforque eft parcus, ubi ardor
Exagitat naturæ animos & concitat œftrum ;
Nec tam fervili generofa libidine mutet
Gaudia, quæ bibulæ menti catus ingerit author.
Verum ftagnantis mediocria carmina mufæ,
Quæ reptant fub limâ & certâ lege ftupefcunt,
Quæ torpent uno erroris fecura tenore,
Hæc equidem nequeo culpare---& dormio tantum.
Ingenii, veluti naturæ, non tibi conftant
Illecebræ formâ, quæ certis partibus infit ;
Nam te non reddit labiumve oculusve venustum,
Sed charitum cumulus, collectaque tela decoris.
Sic ubi luftramus perfectam infignitèr ædem,
(Quæ Romam fplendore, ipfumqne ita perculit orbem)
Læta diu non ullâ in fimplice parte morantur
Lumina, fed fefe per totum errantia pafcunt;
Nil longum latumve nimis, nil altius æquo
Cernitur, illuftris nitor omnibus, omnibus ordo.
265
Quod confummatum eft opus omni ex parte, nec ufquam
Nunc exftat, nec erat, nec erit labentibus annis.
Quas fibi proponat metas adverte, poeta
Ultra aliquid fperare, illas fi abfolvat, iniquum eft;
Si recta ratione utatur, confilioque
Perfecto, miffis maculis, vos plaudite clamo.
Accidit, ut vates, veluti vafer Aulicus, erret
Sæpius errorem, ut vitet graviora, minorem.
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