agitated in this state of uncertainty! The poet has here fuffered his imagination to wanton in luxuriance at the expence of draanatic propriety; and the whole pailage may be confidered as a fair illuftration of the beautiful cyprefs of Horace, elegantly defigned, when the real object to be painted is a fhipwreck :

"Sed nunc non erat his locus, et fortaffe cupreffum
Scis fimulare; quid hoc, fi fractis enatat exfpes

Navibus, ære dato qui pingitur?" (De Art. Poet. V. 21.)

This purple fhred therefore must be condemned, as a rich but affected ornament mifplaced, and though it dazzles the eye, it revolts against the judgment. The laft objection to the plot, which I fhall mention, is that of the machinery of Minerva in the catastrophe of the piece: it is evident, fays Ariftotle," that the unravelling of the fable ought to happen from the subject itfelf, and not by the ufe of machinery, as in the Medea: but the machinery, if used, should relate to things out of the drama itfelf, either to such past events, which it is impotfible for man to know, or to thofe in future, which require prediction and explanation; for we admit, that the gods can difcern all things:" Hence we may collect, that Ariftotle difapproved in genera! of machinery in the drama; but, if there introduced, he limits it to particular objects and circumftances: if the introduction of Mercury in the Prologus be measured by this ftandard of criticifin, it must immediately be condemned, as defenceless; but this of Minerva in the catastrophe will be found to contain all thofe circumstances prescribed by Aristotle and Horace;

"Nec deus interfit, nifi dignus vindice nodus
(De Art. Poct. v. 192.)

Inciderit."

For the goddess reveals to Jon the connexion of Apollo with Creufa, palliates the reponfe of the oracle, declares the refolution of the god to difclose the truth hereafter at Athens, and foretells the future glory of Ion and his defcendents in Afia and Europe. "There are but four pieces in Euripides, fays Dacier, where the prefence of gods is conducted with any regard to this rule of Ariftotle: thofe are the Iphigenia in Tauris, the Helena, the lon, and the Electra: and yet I am perfuaded that in those verr pieces Euripides could have difcovered in his art other means of difpenfing with thefe machines." Thefe are the principal defects, which appear to me in the conduct of the plot; but with all its imperfections it has many beauties to counterbalance them.’

Mr. Jodrell then enters into a defcription of the feveral characters of the play, and executes it with an equal degreeof taste and judgment. He confiders the fongs of the chorus, and determines impartially on the propriety and impropriety of them.-The ftyle of thefe volumes is, in general, agreeable and perfpicuous. When a writer is complete master of

his fubject, he will always deliver himself with eafe and pro priety.

et vox et verba fequuntur.

It is obfervable of this work, that two volumes of illuftrations are employed on two plays only of Euripides; if the author proceed, and as much criticifm be exhausted on every tragedy, it will become very voluminous. This ingenious critic, notwithstanding, has promifed, in his preface, to purfue his plan of dramatic enquiry on the other plays, if he hould be flattered by any fuccefs in the prefent publication. We can, on our part, affure him, that if he continue his obfervations with the fame spirit and affiduity, we shall be happy to peruse them; in the mean time, these volumes will, we doubt not, be confidered as a valuable acquifition to the world of literature, and more especially in the two univerfities, where claffical knowlege is ftill, we hope, held in fome eiteem, and to whom our warmeft recommendation will be totally unneceffary.

Select Odes of Pindar and Horace tranflated; and other Original Poems: together with Notes, critical, hiftorical, and explanatory. By the Rev. William Tasker, A. B. Vol. I. 8vo, 75. 6d. Dodfley.

AS this work has been long fince published, and no no

tice of it taken by us, it may be necessary to make fome apology for our neglect, which we can, with great truth, affure the ingenious author, did not arife from any contempt of his performance. The true and only caufe was, that we have been in conftant expectation of the fucceeding volumes promifed in the title-page; as we would always wifh rather to review the whole of any work at once, than to give our opinion, at different times, of detached parts. Mr. Tasker, however, having probably, for reafons best known to himself, laid afide his intention of publishing the other volumes, we fhall proceed to the confideration of this, which is not without a confiderable fhare of poetical merit. A tranflation of Pindar and Horace's Odes, efpecially of thofe which this author has felected, was an arduous task; the best of Pindar's, as he very properly obferves in his prefatory efflay, had already been picked out by Mr. Weft. Mr. Tafker has, confequently, been confined to the most inconfiderable and inferior compofitions of a moft unequal poet; add to this that, as he farther remarks:

• One

One part even of the literati are prejudiced against Pindar's odes, as flighty and incoherent compofitions; and that the other part are fuch enthufiaftic admirers of them, that they look upon thefe poems as fomething more than human; and confequently will be difappointed in any tranflation; befides, that the Olympic and other facred games, which were held in fuch high veneration throughout all Greece, lofe their dignity with the English reader.'

With all these and many other disadvantages, Mr. Tasker, has contested; and, with a spirit that does him honour, given us an harmonious and animated version of several odes, which we do not recollect were ever before fo well translated.- From these, we shall select part of the 8th Nemean, infcribed to Deinias, on his victory in the foot-race.

'S TR OP HE 1.

O beauty! herald of the queen of love,
(Whofe fweets ambrofial, mortals prove)
Thron'd on the youth's or virgin's eye.
'I is you announce th' approaching extafy;
Your influence ruleth unconfin'd,
While your capricious mind

Is now to one, now to another kind.
O goddess of the human heart!
To merit's claim thy power impart,

And grant throughout thy wide domain,

That virtuous youths who love, may never love in vain.

'ANTIS TROPHE

When thundering Jove Egina wed,
The loves thus crown'd the nuptial bed;
From whofe celeftial warm embrace
Budded the honour of his race
Enone's king, renown'd in fight,
The rifing glory of his age,

In action bold, in council fage,

And of defiring eyes all, lovely to the fight.
Each neighbouring hero, honour's flower,
Uniting own'd the monarch's power,
The various chieftains glad obey,

And court the fcepter of his righteous fway;

I.

The kings, who led their peaceful flocks
O'er Athens, and her craggy rocks,
Or where old Pelops' fons maintain
O'er hardy Sparta their extenfive reign.

O righteous

O righteous judge! great Eacus! attend,
To thee the humble knee I bend,
The Lydian mitre in my hand,
Whofe facred borders all around,
Embroider'd are with mulic's variegated found;
Regard thy native land,
For thy gina, city fair,

And her great citizens, I offer up the prayer;
And ample thanks prefer to thee

For Deinias' late victory;

When rivalling his fire, the vigorous fon

In Nemea's double courfe, the prize of fwiftnefs won,

The happiness the gods implant,
A lafting root fhall never want:
Such as old Cinyras poffeft,

In Cyprus' ifle, with riches bleft.

II.

I ftop my rapid foot in glory's dubious course
And draw new breath, to gain fresh force,
O Cinyras! a doubtful name

Nor yet establish'd in the lift of fame ;
In various strains bards fing of thee,
What worth from envy e'er was free?
Confiftent with the wifer few

For me to fing thy praife anew,
And try thy virtues by the test of truth,
Were but to lay up food for envy's carping tooth:
Envy which fpares th' ignoble croud,
While at tranfcendent worth the ever rails aloud.

ANTIS TROPHE II.

The mafter of the seven fold shield,
Great Ajax felf, was forc'd to yield
To envy's power; by her opprefs'd

He plung'd his conquering fword in his heroic breaft;
(Such is th' oblivious fate decreed

To warrior-chiefs, who cannot plead!)

What time Laertes' wily fon

The Græcian votes clandeftine won,

The hero of unconquer'd hand and heart

A victim fell to Ulyffean art;

Robb'd of Achilles' golden arms refign'd his breath,

And quench'd his mighty rage, wrestling with mightier death,

Or when they fought upon the plain,
Round great Achilles newly-flain,
Or in what other martial ftrife
The heroes hazarded their life:
But fubtle rhet'ric's fpecious flowers,
Artfully ftrew'd in ancient hours,
Bore down and fwallow'd fober fenfe
In the full vortex of ftrong eloquence:
Such power the gods to eloquence decreed,
To fink the glorious act, and raise th' ignoble deed!

1

From him deriv'd-nor pine that others hold
Vaft tracts of land, and mines of richest gold;
Some diftant offspring may inherit
Pindar's fole heritage, poetic fpirit,
Who, warm with Phoebus' heavenly fire
In honour's caufe attun'd his lyre,
Purfu'd th' example of the candid few,

To praife, where praife; and blame, where blame was due." This, as our readers will eafily perceive, is a faithful and not inelegant tranflation; neither fervilely clofe, nor too loosely paraphrated. One line of it is, however, for want of proper explanation, almost unintelligible to the mere English reader, though it adheres ftrictly to the original; that we mean, where Mr. Tafker has rendered the words καναχηδα πε Toneλueva mitram fonore variatam by the mitre embroidered with mufic's variated found; the embroidery of found is certainly an unwarrantable expreffion, which even the licentia Pindarica can hardly excufe.

ungav

To the tranflation of Pindar, Mr. Tafker has fubjoined fome explanatory notes, which illuftrate the original, and which fhew him to be a man of learning and tafte.-We are sorry to hear that, as he informs us in his preface, he is a fequeftrated rector; and that this work was executed under complicated diftrefs, embarrassment, and perplexity. When men of genius and abilities languifh in penury, and are perpetually struggling with misfortunes, it is a reproach to the rich and great. We fincerely wish it were in our power, by any thing which we could fay in his favour, to be the means of removing every obstruction to his happiness, or to the free exertion of his talents.