Ὣς οἲ γ' ἀμφίεπον τάφον Ἕκτορος ἱπποδάμοιο.
A thousand things of the same, or of the like Nature, might be mentioned: And I am aware that such Observations will by some Criticks be called modern Criticisms. But be That as it will; I am for Truth and Reason, whether it be called Ancient, or Modern.
To display the Excellence of Virgil's Style, Diction, and Versification, cannot be the Business of this Preface: Here again I must refer to my Notes. I only observe, that nothing can be more sublime, and majestick, than some Parts; nothing more sweet, and soft, than others; nothing more harmonious, flowing, numerous, and sounding than both his Soft, and his Sublime. As to which latter, when he describes the Fury, Noise, and Confusion of War, I recollect That of my Lord Roscommon;
Th' Æneian Muse, when she appears in State,
Makes all Jove's Thunder on her Verses wait.
And That of Virgil himself:
——Quo non præstantior alter
Ære ciere viros, Martemque accendere cantu.
For those Lines may as well be applied to the Trumpet of Virgil, as of Misenus. Not but that in this way of Writing, I mean the Martial, and the Furious, Homer, setting aside his Redundancy, is at least equal to Virgil; perhaps superiour. But then he is not comparable to him in the other Part, the smooth, the soft, and the sweetly flowing. This in Virgil always puts me in mind of some Verses of his own, which I have elsewhere cited: Verses, which, in the Sixth Eclogue, the Speakers apply to each other; and which, above all Writers, are most applicable to Him, who gives Speech to them both.
Tale tuum carmen nobis, divine Poeta,
Quale sopor fessis in gramine, quale per æstum
Dulcis aquæ saliente sitim restinguere rivo.
Nam neque me tantum venientis sibilus Austri,
Nec percussa juvant fluctu tam littora, nec quæ
Saxosas inter decurrunt flumina valles.
But the exquisite Art of Virgil's Versification is seen in his varying the Pauses, and Periods, and Cadence of his Numbers; in being rough or smooth, soft or vehement, long or short, &c. according to the Nature of the Ideas he would convey to the Mind: in which, I think, he exceeds all Writers, whether Ancient or Modern; and is in particular the best Versifier, as well as, upon the whole, the best Poet in the World.
Upon the Subject of Speeches, Mr. Pope tells us, "That in Virgil they often consist of general Reflections, or Thoughts, which might be equally just in any Person's Mouth upon the same Occasion. As many of his Persons have no apparent Characters; so many of his Speeches escape being applied, and judged by the Rule of Propriety. We oftner think of the Author himself, when we read Virgil, than when we are engaged in Homer. All which are the Effects of a colder Invention, that interests us less in the Action described: Homer makes us Hearers, and Virgil leaves us Readers." I have the Misfortune to be of a quite different Sentiment. If Virgil outshines Homer in any thing, it is especially in his Speeches. Which are all, so far as it is necessary, adapted to the Manners of the Speakers, and diversified by their several Characters. Nor do I know of any one Beauty by which Virgil is more peculiarly distinguished, than That of his Speeches: Considering the Sweetness and Softness of some, the Cunning and Artifice of others; the Majesty and Gravity of a third sort; the Fire and Fury of a fourth: In which two last Kinds especially we have the united Eloquence of Oratory, and Poetry; and read Tully involved in Virgil. That the Characters of the Heroes are more particularly marked and distinguished in the Greek, than in the Latin, I readily acknowledge. In That the Iliad excels the Æneis; and, I think, in nothing else. And the Controversy between these two great Poets Should, in my Opinion, be thus determined: "That Virgil is very much obliged to Homer; and Homer's Poems, upon the whole, very much exceeded by Virgil's."