Page:A study of Ben Jonson (IA studyofbenjonson00swinrich).pdf/123

 Abraham Fraunce or Gabriel Harvey would by charitable readers have been considered incapable: as perhaps indeed they were.

A scarlet piece or two stitch'd in; when or Diana's grove or altar, with the bor- D'ring circles of swift waters, &c., &c.

'The bellman writes better verses,' said Mr. Osbaldistone, when he threw poor Frank's away. Walt Whitman writes no worse, a modern critic will reflect on reading these.

The version of one of Martial's gracefullest epigrams flows more pleasantly than usual till it ends with a horrible jolt, thus:—

He that but living half his days dies such, Makes his life longer than 'twas given him, much.

And Echo answers—Much! Gifford, however, waxes ecstatic over these eight lines. 'It is the most beautiful of all the versions of this elegant poem,' and, if we may believe him, 'clearly and fully expresses the whole of its meaning.' Witness the second line—

That is no more English than it is Latin—no more accurate than it is intelligible. The original is as simple as it is lovely:—