following pages, even if they were without any thing no precedent in like precedent,[and solely calculated to gratify the Case Warsheld curiosity, or taste.] But neither of these is the case.

their favor in the

and that too

is it

Wakefield, Monk, and many more of our recent other classical editors of sufficiently high authority-I may add Porson in one instance, that, as it happens, an impertinent one-have given their sanction to the principle, and that, not merely in the case of Greek and Latin quotations, which would of course be necessary for purposes of elucidation. They have adduced passages from some of our English poets, but so sparingly, as to hint a want rather than to supply it, and to justify us in asking, why, if this is done at all, it is not done more completely? why, if the principle is a sound one, it is not worth following up? This may perhaps have arisen from a dread of interfering too much with the strictly the wish of cant classical character of their works, or from a just iming the reader caution against leading their readers to a light and against agreeable perusal, rather than a severe and critical study of the author before them. The few quotations, however, which have been given, have been favourably, not to say greedily, received and copied by one translator and editor after another, to satiety, till in some cases it is almost impossible to ascertain

is it

the

in whom they have originated: [occasionally the debt s

is acknowledged, and the name of the discoverer

mentioned, as having aptly illustrated the passage in question] The want or the advantage of these references is further acknowledged by the frequent call which is made for parallel passages in school and college examination papers. Collections of the kind have been thought worthy of publication, even without any principle of connection; such, for instance, as have appeared in the Classical Journal, ices of are and D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature.

It is evi

dent that gleanings of this sort, however entertaining they may be, can only be accidentally useful: when brought forward expressly for the illustration of one or more authors, there is a certainty of reference, by means of which they may be rendered available for various purposes, instead of being listlessly read, and pronounced to be curious.

Much has of late years been said, truly, though rather in general terms, on the great aptness of the English language, when compared with the Latin, for the expression of Greek ideas—an advantage depending less on mere copiousness, than on an actual similarity in the style of thought. The statement may, I think, be tested in some respects more satisfactorily by a comparison of parallel passages, than by direct translations of entire authors. The a The power of any

a What is generally called command of language, is not the faculty here meant. In the advanced stage of the literature of any nation, there are

a

Wainer in the

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single individual, even over the language of his own.
country, is far more limited than we are at first in-
clined to suppose. To this, of course, each translator
is confined, and probably also, in a great degree, to
the fashionable diction of his own period: it is true
he chooses his author, yet he would be glad to get
rid of many passages of which he gives a version as a
matter of necessity, though he may be conscious that
they would be better managed by other hands. In
the other case, we have writers of various periods,
and widely differing in their powers and modes of
expression. Here the resemblances, if accidental,
are likely to be in more sincere accordance with the
genius of the English language, as being uninfluenced
altogether by the antecedent classical passages; and
if intentional, they are likely to be more spirited and

generally current phrases, which, with a slight alteration, will apply to all the
shades of ordinary ideas. Such phrases seem sometimes more than half to
dictate the thought which they express: from this apparently automatic
style, no wonder that so many take refuge in extreme simplicity, or foreign
extravagances, especially where they are not conscious that freshness of

thought will force them upon new combinations of words [or supply them s

with new images

And as regards poetical writing, compare the diction, for example, of the twenty closing lines of Milton's L'Allegro with that of the second-rate writers of any of the eras of English literature. Common-place ornament is easily procured, either by single figures, or in the piece, from the more chaste, to the ultra florid; they remind us of architectural decorations cast in moulds, which our leading writers, when they "built the lofty rhyme," had to chisel for themselves, Of the former we see the same patterns plastered on edifices of the most different kinds, whilst the latter are exquisitely adapted to that for which they were expressly made.

+ and not without use to the general business of a überal education. Moras "arially done in some exitions school _ of the Greek plays, and even in ciemaniary works, on Creek grammar, or Greek composition, as in the case of the case Id from things Introduction; where the coincidences of thought bureen Xenokhon and Shakes reave are pointed out. Jeannot therefore but express my regret that more actention hav not been paid to this subject.

will

INTRODUCTION.

xi

vigorous, having been chosen from especial preference, [provided, of course, that they have not been taken at second-hand.] Hence I have been led to hope, that the study of such passages, when presented together with those which they resemble, may be of service

Some

to any who are practising Greek versification: if not have even an, who there are other ways in which some of them may

are p

be useful in an educational point of view. In the
notes to those editions of the Greek plays which have Tolished
been published principally for the use of schools, and
also in the notes of one of our most approved Greek
grammars, there are a few short illustrations of the
more common Greek idioms, taken from some of the
English poets it is to be regretted that there are no
more ;| as I have found, by personal experience, that
any construction, thus exemplified, is impressed on the
memory of a young student more readily and mere
strongly than it would be by the citation of Greek or
Latin instances tending to the same point: where
there is opportunity, I think it is better for the
pas-
sages to be pointed out in the original, but this can
only be done conveniently to a small number.

In closing my remarks on the possible utility of
this work, I may add, that future editors of our
English poets may find in it materials which, perhaps,
would not otherwise have fallen in their way.

The sources from which I have been supplied are

author

the poetical portions of the Old Testament, and Apo-
crypha; the more eminent Greek, and Latin poets,
with one or two exceptions of which I shall hereafter
speak; almost all those of our own country who have
been deemed worthy of notice [by good authorities,]
from Chaucer, to the present time. Bishop Percy's
Relics, and the Dramatic Collections of Hawkins
and Dodsley have afforded me several passages; and
I have some few from translations of Anglo-Saxon
poems. I could willingly have extended my list of
authors, but it must be evident that most readers
will take comparatively little interest in a reference
to a poet of whose name they have not even heard.

In my choice of Eschylus and Sophocles as a basis, I have partly followed my own taste, and partly taken advantage of that of the present day. Of late years, an extraordinary share of attention has been given to the study of the Greek dramatists at both our universities; very few students at either of them reach a degree, without having read, as a matter of necessity, one, or more, Greek plays. Every assistance has been rendered for this purpose by the best scholars of the day, from the most voluminous criticism, to the plain prose translation; and the comparatively easy path which I have taken, is almost the only one which is not already crowded. Further than this, amongst many instances which might be