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In short the Verbal Copyer is incumber'd with so many difficulties at once, that he can never disintangle himself from all. He is to consider at the same time the thought of his Authour, and his words, and to find out the Counterpart to each in another Language: and besides this he is to confine himself to the compass of Numbers, and the Slavery of Rhime. 'Tis much like dancing on Ropes with fetter'd Leggs: A man may shun a fall by using Caution, but the gracefulness of Motion is not to be expected: and when we have said the best of it, 'tis but a foolish Task; for no sober man would put himself into a danger for the Applause of scaping without breaking his Neck. We see Ben. Johnson could not avoid obscurity in his literal Translation of Horace, attempted in the same compass of Lines: nay Horace himself could scarce have done it to a Greek Poet;
Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.
either perspicuity or gracefulness will frequently be wanting. Horace has indeed avoided both these Rocks in his Translation of the three first Lines of Homers Odysses, which he has Contracted into two.
Dic mihi Musa Virum captae post tempora Trojæ
Qui mores hominum multorum vidit & urbes.
Muse, speak the man, who since the Siege of Troy,
So many Towns, such Change of Manners saw. } Earl of Rosc.
But then the sufferings of Ulysses, which are a Considerable part of that Sentence are omitted.
The Consideration of these difficulties, in a servile, literal Translation, not long since made two of our famous Wits, Sir John Denham, and Mr. Cowley to contrive another way of turning Authours into our Tongue, call'd by the latter of them, Imitation. As they were Friends, I suppose they Communicated their thoughts on this Subject to each other, and therefore their reasons for it are little different: though the practice of one is much more moderate.
et cela manque souvent, soit de clarté, soit de grâce. De fait, Horace a su éviter ces deux écueils dans sa traduction des trois premiers vers de l'Odyssée
Dic mihi Musa Virum captae post tempra Trojae
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mise à jour le 6 juillet 2011