The following performance, as the title imports, was originally composed in the Welch language. Its style is elegant and pure. And if the translator has not, as many of his brethren have done, suffered the spirit of the original totally to evaporate, he apprehends1 it will be found to contain much novelty of conception, much classical taste, and great spirit and beauty in the execution. It appears under the name of Cadwallo, an ancient bard2, who probably lived at least one hundred years before the commencement of our common era. The manners of the primitive3 times seem to be perfectly4 understood by the author, and are described with the air of a man who was in the utmost degree familiar with them. It is impossible to discover in any part of it the slightest trace of Christianity. And we believe it will not be disputed, that in a country so pious5 as that of Wales, it would have been next to impossible for the poet, though ever so much upon his guard, to avoid all allusion6 to the system of revelation. On the contrary, every thing is Pagan, and in perfect conformity7 with the theology we are taught to believe prevailed at that time.
These reasons had induced us to admit, for a long time, that it was perfectly genuine, and justly ascribed to the amiable8 Druid. With respect to the difficulty in regard to the preservation9 of so long a work for many centuries by the mere10 force of memory, the translator, together with the rest of the world, had already got over that objection in the case of the celebrated11 Poems of Ossian. And if he be not blinded by that partiality, which the midwife is apt to conceive for the productions, that she is the instrument of bringing into the world, the Pastoral Romance contains as much originality12, as much poetical13 beauty, and is as happily calculated to make a deep impression upon the memory, as either Fingal, or Temora.
The first thing that led us to doubt its authenticity14, was the striking resemblance that appears between the plan of the work, and Milton’s celebrated Masque at Ludlow Castle. We do not mean however to hold forth15 this circumstance as decisive in its condemnation16. The pretensions17 of Cadwallo, or whoever was the author of the performance, are very high to originality. If the date of the Romance be previous to that of Comus, it may be truly said of the author, that he soared above all imitation, and derived18 his merits from the inexhaustible source of his own invention. But Milton, it is well known, proposed some classical model to himself in all his productions. The Paradise Lost is almost in every page an imitation of Virgil, or Homer. The Lycidas treads closely in the steps of the Daphnis and Gallus of Virgil. The Sampson Agonistes is formed upon the model of Sophocles. Even the little pieces, L’Allegro and Il Penseroso have their source in a song of Fletcher, and two beautiful little ballads19 that are ascribed to Shakespeare. But the classical model upon which Comus was formed has not yet been discovered. It is infinitely20 unlike the Pastoral Comedies both of Italy and England. And if we could allow ourselves in that licence of conjecture21, which is become almost inseparable from the character of an editor, we should say: That Milton having written it upon the borders of Wales, might have had easy recourse to the manuscript whose contents are now first given to the public: And that the singularity of preserving the name of the place where it was first performed in the title of his poem, was intended for an ingenuous22 and well-bred acknowledgement of the source from whence he drew his choicest materials.
But notwithstanding the plausibility23 of these conjectures24, we are now inclined to give up our original opinion, and to ascribe the performance to a gentleman of Wales, who lived so late as the reign25 of king William the third. The name of this amiable person was Rice ap Thomas. The romance was certainly at one time in his custody26, and was handed down as a valuable legacy27 to his descendants, among whom the present translator has the honour to rank himself. Rice ap Thomas, Esquire, was a man of a most sweet and inoffensive disposition28, beloved and respected by all his neighbours and tenants29, and “passing rich with ‘sixty’ pounds a year.” In his domestic he was elegant, hospitable30, and even sumptuous31, for the time and country in which he lived. He was however naturally of an abstemious32 and recluse33 disposition. He abounded34 in singularities, which were pardoned to his harmlessness and his virtues35; and his temper was full of sensibility, seriousness, and melancholy36. He devoted37 the greater part of his time to study; and he boasted that he had almost a complete collection of the manuscript remains38 of our Welch bards39. He was often heard to prefer even to Taliessin, Merlin, and Aneurim, the effusions of the immortal40 Cadwallo, and indeed this was the only subject upon which he was ever known to dispute with eagerness and fervour. In the midst of the controversy41, he would frequently produce passages from the Pastoral Romance, as decisive of the question. And to confess the truth, I know not how to excuse this piece of jockeyship and ill faith, even in Rice ap Thomas, whom I regard as the father of my family, and the chief ornament42 of my beloved country.
Some readers will probably however be inclined to apologise for the conduct of Mr. Thomas, and to lay an equivalent blame to my charge. They will tell me, that nothing but the weakest partiality could blind me to the genuine air of antiquity43 with which the composition is every where impressed, and to ascribe it to a modern writer. But I am conscious to my honesty and defy their malice44. So far from being sensible of any improper45 bias46 in favour of my ancestor, I am content to strengthen their hands, by acknowledging that the manuscript, which I am not at all desirous of refusing to their inspection47, is richly emblazoned with all the discoloration and rust48 they can possibly desire. I confess that the wording has the purity of Taliessin, and the expressiveness49 of Aneurim, and is such as I know of no modern Welchman who could write. And yet, in spite as they will probably tell me of evidence and common sense, I still aver50 my persuasion51, that it is the production of Rice ap Thomas.
But enough, and perhaps too much, for the question of its antiquity. It would be unfair to send it into the world without saying something of the nature of its composition. It is unlike the Arcadia of sir Philip Sidney, and unlike, what I have just taken the trouble of running over, the Daphnis of Gessner. It neither on the one hand leaves behind it the laws of criticism, and mixes together the different stages of civilization; nor on the other will it perhaps be found frigid52, uninteresting, and insipid53. The prevailing54 opinion of Pastoral seems to have been, that it is a species of composition admirably fitted for the size of an eclogue, but that either its nature will not be preserved, or its simplicity55 will become surfeiting56 in a longer performance. And accordingly, the Pastoral Dramas of Tasso, Guarini, and Fletcher, however they may have been commended by the critics, and admired by that credulous57 train who clap and stare whenever they are bid, have when the recommendation of novelty has subsided58 been little attended to and little read. But the great Milton has proved that this objection is not insuperable. His Comus is a master-piece of poetical composition. It is at least equal in its kind even to the Paradise Lost. It is interesting, descriptive and pathetic. Its fame is continually increasing, and it will be admired wherever the name of Britain is repeated, and the language of Britain is understood.
If our hypothesis respecting the date of the present performance is admitted, it must be acknowleged that the ingenious Mr. Thomas has taken the Masque of Milton for a model; and the reader with whom Comus is a favourite, will certainly trace some literal imitations. With respect to any objections that may be made on this score to the Pastoral Romance, we will beg the reader to bear in mind, that the volumes before him are not an original, but a translation. Recollecting59 this, we may, beside the authority of Milton himself, and others as great poets as ever existed who have imitated Homer and one another at least as much as our author has done Comus, suggest two very weighty apologies. In the first place, imitation in a certain degree, has ever been considered as lawful60 when made from a different language: And in the second, these imitations come to the reader exaggerated, by being presented to him in English, and by a person who confesses, that he has long been conversant61 with our greatest poets. The translator has always admired Comus as much as the Pastoral Romance; he has read them together, and been used to consider them as illustrating62 each other. Any verbal coincidences into which he may have fallen, are therefore to be ascribed where they are due, to him, and not to the author. And upon the whole, let the imperfections of the Pastoral Romance be what they will, he trusts he shall be regarded as making a valuable present to the connoisseurs63 and the men of taste, and an agreeable addition to the innocent amusements of the less laborious64 classes of the polite world.
1 apprehends | |
逮捕,拘押( apprehend的第三人称单数 ); 理解 | |
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2 bard | |
n.吟游诗人 | |
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3 primitive | |
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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4 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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5 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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6 allusion | |
n.暗示,间接提示 | |
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7 conformity | |
n.一致,遵从,顺从 | |
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8 amiable | |
adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的 | |
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9 preservation | |
n.保护,维护,保存,保留,保持 | |
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10 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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11 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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12 originality | |
n.创造力,独创性;新颖 | |
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13 poetical | |
adj.似诗人的;诗一般的;韵文的;富有诗意的 | |
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14 authenticity | |
n.真实性 | |
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15 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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16 condemnation | |
n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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17 pretensions | |
自称( pretension的名词复数 ); 自命不凡; 要求; 权力 | |
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18 derived | |
vi.起源;由来;衍生;导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取 | |
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19 ballads | |
民歌,民谣,特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 ); 讴 | |
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20 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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21 conjecture | |
n./v.推测,猜测 | |
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22 ingenuous | |
adj.纯朴的,单纯的;天真的;坦率的 | |
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23 plausibility | |
n. 似有道理, 能言善辩 | |
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24 conjectures | |
推测,猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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25 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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26 custody | |
n.监护,照看,羁押,拘留 | |
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27 legacy | |
n.遗产,遗赠;先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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28 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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29 tenants | |
n.房客( tenant的名词复数 );佃户;占用者;占有者 | |
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30 hospitable | |
adj.好客的;宽容的;有利的,适宜的 | |
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31 sumptuous | |
adj.豪华的,奢侈的,华丽的 | |
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32 abstemious | |
adj.有节制的,节俭的 | |
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33 recluse | |
n.隐居者 | |
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34 abounded | |
v.大量存在,充满,富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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36 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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37 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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38 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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39 bards | |
n.诗人( bard的名词复数 ) | |
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40 immortal | |
adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的 | |
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41 controversy | |
n.争论,辩论,争吵 | |
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42 ornament | |
v.装饰,美化;n.装饰,装饰物 | |
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43 antiquity | |
n.古老;高龄;古物,古迹 | |
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44 malice | |
n.恶意,怨恨,蓄意;[律]预谋 | |
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45 improper | |
adj.不适当的,不合适的,不正确的,不合礼仪的 | |
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46 bias | |
n.偏见,偏心,偏袒;vt.使有偏见 | |
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47 inspection | |
n.检查,审查,检阅 | |
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48 rust | |
n.锈;v.生锈;(脑子)衰退 | |
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49 expressiveness | |
n.富有表现力 | |
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50 aver | |
v.极力声明;断言;确证 | |
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51 persuasion | |
n.劝说;说服;持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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52 frigid | |
adj.寒冷的,凛冽的;冷淡的;拘禁的 | |
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53 insipid | |
adj.无味的,枯燥乏味的,单调的 | |
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54 prevailing | |
adj.盛行的;占优势的;主要的 | |
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55 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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56 surfeiting | |
v.吃得过多( surfeit的现在分词 );由于过量而厌腻 | |
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57 credulous | |
adj.轻信的,易信的 | |
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58 subsided | |
v.(土地)下陷(因在地下采矿)( subside的过去式和过去分词 );减弱;下降至较低或正常水平;一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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59 recollecting | |
v.记起,想起( recollect的现在分词 ) | |
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60 lawful | |
adj.法律许可的,守法的,合法的 | |
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61 conversant | |
adj.亲近的,有交情的,熟悉的 | |
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62 illustrating | |
给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 ); 说明; 表明; (用示例、图画等)说明 | |
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63 connoisseurs | |
n.鉴赏家,鉴定家,行家( connoisseur的名词复数 ) | |
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64 laborious | |
adj.吃力的,努力的,不流畅 | |
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