So, when the sun by day, or moon by night,
Strike on the polished brass their trembling light.—P. 2.
This similitude is literally taken from Apollonius Rhodius; and it is hard to say whether the original or the translation excels. But, in the shield which he describes afterwards in this Æneïd, he as much transcends his master Homer, as the arms of Glaucus were richer than those of Diomedes—Χρυσεα χαλχειων.
Æneas takes the mother and her brood,
And all on Juno's altar are bestowed.—P. 4.
The translation is infinitely short of Virgil, whose words are these:
——Tibi enim, tibi maxima Juno,
Mactat, sacra ferens, et cum grege sistit ad aram—
for I could not turn the word enim into English with any grace, though it was of such necessity in the Roman rites, that a sacrifice could not be performed without it. It is of the same nature, (if I may presume to name that sacred mystery,) in our words of consecration at the altar.