Page:Life of Edmond Malone.djvu/379

Rh torrents. These torrents too, in Homer, are winter torrents, which the translator has overlooked. Afterwards, however, these torrents become swollen. By what?—By “num’rous ,” the prettiest word he could have chosen. What do they do?—They rush to the vales, and then are dispersed through a thousand different channels till they reach the ocean. In the original there is not a word of this. The two torrents rush from the mountains into a hollow valley, and being there pent up, the mountain shepherd is stunned by the noise of the conflicting waters. But a very close translation with which the same gentleman furnished me, will best prove how the beautiful simile has suffered in Pope’s hands.

It is rather extraordinary that so good a critic as Mr. Melmoth overlooked these circumstances, and should have chosen these lines of Pope’s in particular for so high an eulogium.

When Dr. Johnson was struck with the palsy a few days ago (June 1783), after the first shock was over and he had time to recollect himself, he attempted to speak in English. Unable as he found himself to pronounce the words, he tried what he could do with Latin, but here he found equal difficulty. He then attempted Greek, and could utter a few words, but slowly and with pain. In the evening he called for paper, and wrote a Latin Hymn,