meet with pardon for it, since it is visibly intended | Who heav'd the mountain, which sublimely stands, to show the great submission and respect with which And casts its shadow into distant lands? I am, 20 THRICE happy Job long liv'd in regal state, 30 40 50 When the bright morning-stars in concert sung, "Who, stretching forth his sceptre o'er the deep, I chain'd them with my word; the boiling sea, "Hath the cleft centre open'd wide to thee? "Where dwells the light? In what refulgent dome? And where has darkness made her dismal home? Thou know'st, no doubt, since thy large heart is fraught With ripen'd wisdom, through long ages brought; "Are mists begotten? Who their father knew? "Thou know'st me not; thy blindness cannot see "To check the shower, who lifts his hand on high, 120 Rage through the world, or waste a guilty land. "Who taught the rapid winds to fly so fast, "Who drew the comet out to such a size, And pour'd his flaming train o'er half the skies? Did thy resentment hang him out? Does he Glare on the nation, and denounce, from thee? "Who on low Earth can moderate the rein, That guides the stars along th' ethereal plain? Appoint their seasons, and direct their course, Their lustre brighten, and supply their force? 140 Canst thou the skies' benevolence restrain, And cause the Pleiades to shine in vain; Or, when Orion sparkles from his sphere, Thaw the cold season, and unbind the year; Bid Mazzaroth his destin'd station know, And teach the bright Arcturus where to glow? Mine is the night, with all her stars; I pour Myriads and nyriads I reserve in store. 66 'Dost thou pronounce where day-light shall be born, 150 And draw the purple curtain of the morn; "Once and again, which I in groans deplore, And all my soul falls prostrate to the ground." He ceas'd: when, lo! again th' Almighty spoke; The same dread voice from the black whirlwind broke. 170 "Can that arm measure with an arm divine? And canst thou thunder with a voice like mine; Or in the hollow of thy hand contain The bulk of waters, the wide-spreading main, When, mad with tempests, all the billows rise In all their rage, and dash the distant skies? 180 "Come forth, in beauty's excellence array'd; And be the grandeur of thy power display'd; Put on omnipotence, and, frowning, make The spacious round of the creation shake; Dispatch thy vengeance, bid it overthrow Triumphant vice, lay lofty tyrants low, And crumble them to dust. When this is done, 1 grant thy safety lodg'd in thee alone; Of thee thou art, and mayst undaunted stand Behind the buckler of thine own right-hand. "Fond man! the vision of a moment made! Dream of a dream! and shadow of a shade! What worlds hast thou produc'd, what creatures fram'd; What insects cherish'd, that thy God is blam'd? 190 | "Who in the stupid ostrich has subdued A parent's care, and fund inquietude? 200 While far she flies, her scatter'd eggs are found, 210 "Who taught the hawk to find, in seasons wise, Perpetual suminer, and a change of skies? When clouds deform the year, she mounts the wind, Shoots to the south, nor fears the storm behind; The Sun returning, she returns again. Lives in his beams, and leaves ill days to men. "Though strong the hawk, though practis'd well to fly, Th' unslaughter'd host, enjoys the promis'd gore. 230 240 They live at once; forsake the dam's warm side; "Didst thou from service the wild-ass discharge, 260 "Survey the warlike horse! didst thou invest With thunder his robust distended chest? No sense of fear his dauntless soul allays; 'Tis dreadful to behold his nostrils blaze; To paw the vale he proudly takes delight, 280 "Mild is my behemoth, though large his frame; Go to the Nile, and, from its fruitful side, And, bound in silk, with thy soft maidens play? 330 Shallpompous banquets swell with such a prize? And the bowl journey round his ample size? Or the debating merchants share the prey, "Am I a debtor? Hast thou ever heard 370 Large is his front; and, when his burnish'd eyes Lift their broad lids, the morning seems to rise. "In vain may death in various shapes invade, The swift-wing'd arrow, the descending blade; 380 His naked breast their impotence defies; The dart rebounds, the brittle falchion flies. Shut in himself, the war without he hears, Safe in the tempest of their rattling spears; The cumber'd strand their wasted volleys strow; His sport, the rage and labour of the foe. "His pastimes like a cauldron boil the flood, And blacken ocean with the rising mud; The billows feel him, as he works his way; His hoary footsteps shine along the sea; The foam high-wrought with white divides the green, And distant sailors point where Death has been. 390 "His like Earth bears not on her spacious face; Alone in Nature stands his dauntless race, For utter ignorance of fear renown'd, In wrath he rolls his baleful eye around; Makes every swoln, disdainful heart subside, And holds dominion o'er the sons of pride." Then the Chaldæan eas'd his labouring breast, With full conviction of his crime opprest. 400 "Thou canst accomplish all things, Lord of Might! And every thought is naked to thy sight, that of "Let there be light," &c. so much only, as the absolute government of nature yields to the 405 creation of it. But, oh! thy ways are wonderful, and lie NOTES ON THE PARAPHRASE. Book of Job.] It is disputed amongst the critics who was the author of the Book of Job; some give it to Moses, some to others. As I was engaged in this little performance, some arguments occurred to me which favour the former of those opinions; and because I do not find them mentioned by any one else, I have flung them into the following notes, where little else is to be expected. Ver. 1.] The Almighty's speech, chapter xxxviii, &c. which is what I paraphrase in this little work, is by much the finest part of the noblest and most antient poem in the world. Bishop Patrick says, its grandeur is as much above all other poetry, as thunder is louder than a whisper. In order to set this distinguished part of the poem in a fuller light, and give the reader a clearer conception of it, I have abridged the preceding and subsequent parts of the poem, and joined them to it; so that this piece is a sort of an epitome of the whole Book of Job. I use the word paraphrase, because I want another which might better answer to the uncommon liberties I have taken. I have omitted, added, and transposed. The mountain, the comet, the Sun, and other parts, are entirely added: those upon the peacock, the lion, &c. are much enlarged; and I have thrown the whole into a method more suitable to our notions of regularity. The judicious, if they compare this piece with the original, will, I flatter myself, find the reasons for the great liberties 1 have indulged myself in through the whole. Longinus has a chapter on interrogations, which shows that they contribute much to the sublime. This speech of the Almighty is made up of them. Interrogation seems, indeed, the proper style of Majesty incensed. It differs from other manner of reproof, as bidding a person execute himself, does from a common execution; for he that asks the guilty a proper question, makes him, in effect, pass sentence on himself. Ver. 41.] The Book of Job is well known to be dramatic, and, like the tragedies of old Greece, is fiction built on truth. Probably this most noble part of it, the Almighty speaking out of the whirlwind (so suitable to the after-practice of the Greek stage, when there happened dignus vindice nodus) is fictitious; but is a fiction more agreeable to the time in which Job lived, than to any since. Frequent, before the Law, were the appearances of the Almighty after this manner, Exod. c. xix. Ezek. c. i. &c. Hence is he said to "dwell in thick darkness and have his way in the whirlwind." The like spirit in these two passages is no bad concurrent argument, that Moses is author of the book of Job. Ver. 191.] Another argument that Moses was the author is, that most of the creatures here are Egyptian. The reason given why the raven is particularly mentioned as an object of the care of Providence, is, because, by her clamorous and importunate voice, she particularly seems always calling upon it; thence xogarow, à xóga, Ælian. L. ii. c. 48. is "to ask earnestly." And since there were ravens on the bank of the Nile more clamorous than the rest of that species, those probably are meant in that place. Ver. 195.] There are many instances of this bird's stupidity: let two suffice. First, It covers its head in the reeds, and thinks itself all out of sight: Stat lumine clauso CLAUD. Ridendum revolta caput, creditqué latere Quæ non ispa videt. Secondly, They that go in pursuit of them, draw the skin of an ostrich's neck on one hand, which proves a sufficient lure to take them with the other. They have so little brain, that Heliogabalus had six hundred heads for his supper. Here we may observe, that our judicious as well as sublime author just touches the great points of distinction in each creature, and then hastens to another. A description is exact when you cannot add, but what is common to another thing; nor withdraw, but something peculiarly belonging to the thing described. A likeness is lost in too much description, as a meaning often in too much illus tration. Ver. 205.] Here is marked another peculiar quality of this creature, which neither flies nor runs directly, but has a motion composed of both, and, using its wings as sails, makes great speed. Vasta velut Libyæ venantum vocibus ales Ver. 206.] Xenophon says, Cyrus had horses that could overtake the goat and the wild ass; but none that could reach this creature. A thousand golden ducats, or a hundred camels, was the stated price of a horse that could equal their speed. Ver. 207.] Though this bird is but just mentioned in my author, I could not forbear going little further, and spreading those beautiful plumes (which are there shut up) in half a dozen lines. The circumstance I have marked of his opening his plumes to the Sun is true: Expandit colores adverso maximè Sole, quia sic fulgentius radiant. PLIN. I. x. c. 20. Ver. 219.] Thuanus (de Re Accip.) mentions a hawk that flew from Paris to London in a night. And the Eygptians, in regard to its swiftness, made it their symbol for the wind; for which reason wo may suppose the bawk, as well as the crow above mentioned, to have been a bird of note in Egypt. Ver. 227.] The eagle is said to be of so acute a Ver. 69.] There is a very great air in all that precedes, but this is signally sublime. We are struck with admiration to see the vast and ungovernable ocean receiving commands, and punctually obey-sight, that, when she is so high in air that man ing them; to find it like a managed horse, raging, tossing, and foaming, but by the rule and direction of its master. This passage yields in sublimity to cannot see her, she can discern the smallest fish under water. My author accurately understood the nature of the creatures he describes, and seems to have been a naturalist as well as a poet, which the next note will confirm. Ver, 231.] The meaning of this question is, Knowest thou the time and circumstances of their bringing forth? For to know the time only was easy, and had nothing extraordinary in it; but the circumstances had something peculiarly expressive of God's providence, which makes the question proper in this place. Pliny observes, that the hind with young is by instinct directed to a certain herb called seselis, which facilitates the birth. Thunder also (which looks like the more immediate hand of Providence) has the same effect. Ps. xxix. In so early an age to observe these things, may style our author a naturalist. Ver. 259.] The descripton, of the horse is the most celebrated of any in the poem. There is an excellent critique on it in the Guardian. I shall therefore only observe, that in this description, as in other parts of this speech, our vulgar translation has much more spirit than the Septuagint; it always takes the original in the most poetic and exalted sense, so that most commentators, even on the Hebrew itself, fall beneath it. Ver. 289.] Pursuing their prey by night is true of most wild beasts, particularly the lion. Ps. vi. 20. The Arabians have one among their 500 names for the lion, which signifies "the hunter by moon-shine." Ver. 322.] Cephesi glaciale caput quo suetos an helam Ferre sitim Python, amnemque avertere ponto. Ver. 377.] "His eyes are like the eye-lids of the morning." I think this gives us as great an image of the thing it would express, as can enter the thought of man. It is not improbable that the Egyptians stole their hieroglyphic for the morning, which is the crocodile's eye, from this passage, though no commentator, I have seen, mentions it. It is easy to conceive how the Egyptians should be both readers and admirers of the writings of Moses, whom I suppose the author of this poem. I have observed already that three or four of the creatures here described are Egyptian; the two last are notoriously so, they are the river-horse and the crocodile, those celebrated inhabitants of the Nile; and on these two it is that our author chiefly dwells. It would have been expected from an author more remote from that river than Moses, in a catalogue of creatures produced to magnify their Creator, to have dwelt on the two largest works of his hand, viz.the elephant and the whale. This is so natural an expectation, that some commentators have rendered behemoth and leviathan, the elephant and whale, though the descriptions in our author will not admit of it: but Moses being, as we may well suppose, under an immediate terrour of the hippopotamus and crocodile, from their daily mischiefs and ravages around him; it is very accountable why he should permit them to take place. ON DR. YOUNG'S TRANSLATION OF BY DR. COBDEN. CLAUD. Pref. in Ruf.THE poem, which, originally great, Let not then this hyberbole seem too much for an eastern poet, though some commentators of name strain hard in this place for a new construction, through fear of it. Ver. 323.] The taking of the crocodile is most difficult. Diodorus says, they are not to be taken but by iron nets. When Augustus conquered Eygpt, he struck a medal, the impress of which was a crocodile chained to a palm-tree, with this inscription, Nemo antea religavit. Ver. 339.] This alludes to a custom of this creature, which is, when sated with fish, to come ashore and sleep among the reeds. Ver. 353.] The crocodile's mouth is exceedingly wide. When he gapes, says Pliny, sit totum os. Martial says to his old woman, Cum comparata rictibus tuis ora so that the expression here is barely just. Ver. 364.] This too is nearer truth than at first view may be imagined. The crocodile, say the na-. turalists, lying long under water, and being there forced to hold its breath, when it emerges, the breath long represt is hot, and bursts out so violently, that it resembles fire and smoke. The horse suppresses not his breath by any means so long, neither is he so fierce and animated; yet the most correct of poets ventures to use the same metaphor concerning him: Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem. By this and the foregoing note I would caution against a false opinion of the eastern boldness from passages in them ill understood.. MISCELLANIES. ON MICHAEL ANGELO'S FAMOUS PIECE WHO IS SAID TO HAVE STABBED A PERSON THAT HE* WHILST his Redeemer on his canvass dies, |