*Each nobler symbol classic Sages use, To mark a virtue, or adorn a Muse. Ensigns of war, of peace, or rites divine, These in thy work with dignity may shine:

295

+ But sparingly thy earth-born stores unfold,
Nor load with gems, nor lace with tawdry gold;
Rare things alone are dear in custom's eye,
They lose their value as they multiply.

Of absent forms the features to define,
Prepare a model to direct thy line;

§ Each garb, each custom, with precision trace, Unite in strict decorum time with place;

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|| Nobilia arma juvant Virtutum ornantque figuras,

215

Qualia Musarum, Belli, cultusque Deorum. § Nec sit opus nimiùm gemmis auroque refertum ; Rara etenim magno in pretio, sed plurima vili.

220

¶ Quæ deinde ex vero nequeant præsente videri, Prototypum prius illorum formare juvabit. ** Conveniat locus, atque habitus; ritusque de

* And emulous alone of genuine fame,
Be grace, be majesty thy constant aim,
That majesty, that grace so rarely given
To mortal man, nor taught by art, but Heaven.
+ In all to sage propriety attend,

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311

Nor sink the clouds, nor bid the waves ascend;
Lift not the mansions drear of hell or night
Above the Thunderer's lofty arch of light;
Nor build the column on an osier base;
But let each object know its native place.

+ Servetur: Sit nobilitas, charitumque venustas, (Rarum homini munus, Cœlo, non arte pretendum). Naturæ sit ubique tenor, ratioque sequenda. § Non vicina pedum tabulata excelsa Tonantis 225 Astra domus depicta gerent, nubesque, notosque; Nec mare depressum laquearia summa, vel orcum; Marmoreamque feret cannis vaga pergula molem: Congrua sed propria semper statione locentur.

*XXVII. Grace and Ma

jesty.

+ XXVIII. Every thing in its proper place.

XXVII. Charitas et Nobilitas.

§ XXVIII. Res quæque locum suum teneat.

* Thy last, thy noblest task remains untold, 315 Passion to paint, and sentiment unfold; Yet how these motions of the mind displayCan colours catch them, or can lines pourtray? Who shall our pigmy pencils arm with might To seize the soul, and force her into sight? Jove, Jove alone; his highly-favour'd few Alone can call such miracles to view.

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But this to rhet'ric and the schools I leave, Content from ancient lore one rule to give : "By tedious toil no passions are exprest, "His hand who feels them strongest paints them best."

325

*Hæc præter, motus animorum, et corde repostos

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Exprimere affectus, paucisque coloribus ipsam Pingere posse animam, atque oculis præbere videndam,

"Hoc opus, hic labor est. Pauci, quos æquus amavit Jupiter, aut ardens avexit ad æthera virtus, Dís similes potuere" manu miracula tanta.

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Hos ego rhetoribus tractandos desero; tantùm Egregii antiquum memorabo sophisma magistri: "Verius affectus animi vigor exprimit ardens, "Soliciti nimiùm quàm sedula cura laboris."

* XXIX. The Passions.

VOL. III.

+ XXIX. Affectus.

E

* Yet shall the Muse with all her force proscribe Of base and barbarous forms that Gothic tribe, Which sprung to birth what time through lust of

sway,

Imperial Latium bade the world obey:

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Fierce from the North the headlong demons flew, The wreaths of Science wither'd at their view; Plagues were their harbingers, and war accurst, And luxury, of every fiend the worst:

Then did each Muse behold her triumphs fade, 335 Then pensive Painting droop'd the languish'd head;

+ Denique nil sapiat Gothorum barbara trito 240 Ornamenta modo, sæclorum et monstra malorum : Queis ubi bella, famem, et pestem, discordia, luxus, Et Romanorum res grandior intulit orbi, Ingenuæ periere artes, periere suberbæ Artificum moles; sua tunc miracula vidit Ignibus absumi Pictura, latere coacta

245

* XXX. Gothic Orna

ment to be avoided.

+ XXX. Gothorum Ornamenta fugienda.

340

And sorrowing Sculpture, while the ruthless flame
Involv'd each trophy of her sister's fame,
Fled to sepulchral cells her own to save,
And lurk'd a patient inmate of the grave.
Meanwhile beneath the frown of angry heaven,
Unworthy every boon its smile had given,
Involv'd in error's cloud, and scorn'd of light,
The guilty empire sunk. Then horrid Night,
And Dullness drear their murky vigils kept, 345
In savage gloom the impious ages slept,
Till Genius, starting from his rugged bed,
Full late awoke, the ceaseless tear to shed
For perish'd art; for those celestial hues,
Which Xeuxis, aided by the Attic Muse,

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Fornicibus, sortem et reliquam confidere cryptis ;
Marmoribusque diu Sculptura jacere sepultis.
Imperium interea, scelerum gravitate fatiscens,
Horrida nox totum invasit, donoque superni 250
Luminis indignum, errorum caligine mersit,
Impiaque ignaris damnavit sæcla tenebris.
Unde coloratum Graiis huc usque magistris
Nil superest tantorum hominum, quod mente
modoq.

Nostrates juvet artifices, doceatque laborem ; 255