The Life and Notable Adventures of that Renown'd Knight, Don Quixote De la Mancha Merrily Translated into Hudibrastick Verse. By Edward Ward |
 | I, II. |
To my very good Friend Mr. Edw. Ward
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 | The Life and Notable Adventures of that Renown'd Knight, Don Quixote De la Mancha |  |
To my very good Friend Mr. Edw. Ward
on his excellent Version of part of the Life and Notable Adventures of Don Quixote into English Metre.
Friendship commands what Friendship should excuse
In an unpractic'd and neglected Muse,
That lost to Numbers and Untuneful, long
Has been estrang'd from Melody and Song,
But when Thy Verse, and such as Thine has wrought
Warmth in my Breast and Rapture in my Thought,
Else had I with the rest that read thy Lays,
In silence wonder'd at, not sung Thy Praise.
In an unpractic'd and neglected Muse,
That lost to Numbers and Untuneful, long
Has been estrang'd from Melody and Song,
But when Thy Verse, and such as Thine has wrought
Warmth in my Breast and Rapture in my Thought,
Else had I with the rest that read thy Lays,
In silence wonder'd at, not sung Thy Praise.
Believe me, for I Sycophants detest,
Well is Thy Author's Sense in Thine exprest,
And fam'd Cervantes to thy Metre owes
The Beauties he had lost before in Prose;
Whilst Butler, from whose excellence of Quill,
Judgment, and Wit, and Harmony distil,
Rescu'd from servile Imitators shines
In Thine as in his Own unerring Lines:
Spight of Thy Wrongs Thou hast his Fame retriev'd,
So had that Bard translated had he liv'd.
Well is Thy Author's Sense in Thine exprest,
And fam'd Cervantes to thy Metre owes
The Beauties he had lost before in Prose;
Whilst Butler, from whose excellence of Quill,
Judgment, and Wit, and Harmony distil,
Rescu'd from servile Imitators shines
In Thine as in his Own unerring Lines:
Spight of Thy Wrongs Thou hast his Fame retriev'd,
So had that Bard translated had he liv'd.
'Tis true, the Task is difficult and great,
And calls for much of Time, and much of Sweat,
The Knight's Adventures wholly to compleat.
However, do not from that Labour start,
Artists must give Encouragement to Art,
And I in this unthankful Age foresee
That Saying fully verified in Thee.
And calls for much of Time, and much of Sweat,
The Knight's Adventures wholly to compleat.
However, do not from that Labour start,
Artists must give Encouragement to Art,
That Saying fully verified in Thee.
Criticks may snarl, and from ill-natur'd Pride,
The Worth they can't arrive at may deride,
As want of Merit in themselves makes known
How they would lessen Beauties not their own.
Yet be not from the search of Fame deter'd,
Who ridicules Preferment that's prefer'd?
The Worth they can't arrive at may deride,
As want of Merit in themselves makes known
How they would lessen Beauties not their own.
Yet be not from the search of Fame deter'd,
Who ridicules Preferment that's prefer'd?
Go on, my Friend, thy wonted Steps persue,
Still to Thy Author and Thyself be true,
Amongst the Just and Loyal still be read,
Nor quit thy wonted Honesty for Bread,
Like others, who like Chaff by Tempests born,
Vere to that Quarter where the Courtiers turn.
To Knaves in Power never basely sneak,
Nor thy Repose of Soul for Interest break.
Still to Thy Author and Thyself be true,
Amongst the Just and Loyal still be read,
Nor quit thy wonted Honesty for Bread,
Like others, who like Chaff by Tempests born,
Vere to that Quarter where the Courtiers turn.
To Knaves in Power never basely sneak,
Nor thy Repose of Soul for Interest break.
The Times shall come, and lo! those Times are near,
When Men shall Truth of Principle revere,
When Thou, and such as Thou, no more shalt fall
A Sacrifice to Dagon and to Baal,
But dare to speak what would unspoken wrong
Strict Innocence of Heart, as well as Tongue;
When that prevailing Faction shall decease,
And even those Quixote Bravoes sue for Peace.
When Men shall Truth of Principle revere,
When Thou, and such as Thou, no more shalt fall
A Sacrifice to Dagon and to Baal,
But dare to speak what would unspoken wrong
Strict Innocence of Heart, as well as Tongue;
When that prevailing Faction shall decease,
And even those Quixote Bravoes sue for Peace.
W. Pittis, late Fellow of New-College in Oxford.
| The Life and Notable Adventures of that Renown'd Knight, Don Quixote De la Mancha | |