EPISTLE VI
EPISTLE TO DON DOMINGO DE IRIARTE, ON HIS TRAVELLING TO VARIOUS FOREIGN COURTS
It seems to me, dear brother, that Apollo
A course divine now does not always follow,
Nor please to dictate verses of a tone,
Worthy a sponsor such as he to own;
But rather would be human, and prefer
To prose in rhymes of warmthless character;
Without the enthusiasm sublime of old,
And down the wings of Pegasus would fold,
Not to be borne in flight, but gently stroll’d.
You who forgetful of this court now seek
Those of the east and north to contemplate,
Forgive me, if in envy I may speak,
That to indulge it has allow’d you fate
The tasteful curiosity! to view
With joy the land, so famed and fortunate,
Which erst a Tully and a Maro knew,
To which Æmilius, Marius service paid,
Which Regulus and the Scipios obey’d.
Long would it be and idle to recall
The triumphs, with their blazonries unfurl’d,
Matchless of her, that once of Europe all
Was greater part, metropolis of the world.
I only ask of you, as you may read,
How in Avernus, destined to succeed,
Anchises show’d Æneas, in long line,
The illustrious shades of those, who were to shine
One day the glory of the Italian shore,
Now you, more favour’d than the Trojan chief,
Not in vain prophecy, but tried belief,
From what you see, by aid of history’s lore,
To admire the lofty state which Rome possess’d,
The which her ruins and remains attest.
From our Hispanian clime I cannot scan
With you the column of the Antonine,
The fane or obelisk of the Vatican,
Or the Capitol, and Mount Palatine;
I cannot see the churches, or the walls,
The bridges, arches, mausoleums, gates,
The aqueducts, palaces, and waterfalls,
The baths, the plazas, porticos, and halls,
The Coliseum’s, or the Circus’ fates;
But still the immortal writings ’tis for me,
Of Livy, Tacitus, Cicero, to see;
I see Lucretius, Pliny, Juvenal,
Augustus, Maro and Mæcenas all;
With their names is the soul exalted high,
Heroic worth and honour to descry;
And so much more that model imitates
A nation now, so much more to be gain’d,
Is seen it but to approach the lofty heights
Of splendour, wealth, fame, power, that Rome attain’d.
From the benignant lands that richly gleam
Beneath the Tiber’s fertilizing stream,
You next will pass, where borne as he arose,
Through colder realms the mighty Danube flows.
Girded in pleasant borders ’tis for you
The Austrian Vienna there to view;
To admire the monarch, warlike, good and wise,
With the magnanimous Prussian king who vies
An army brave and numerous to sway;
Chosen and hardy, forward to obey,
Whom as companions honour’d he rewards,
And not as slaves abased a lord regards.
There agriculture flourish you will see;
Public instruction is promoted free;
The arts extended rapidly and wide;
And these among, in culture and esteem,
That with which Orpheus tamed the furious pride
Of forest beasts, and cross’d the Lethe’s stream:
There all the tales of wonderful effect,
Of music’s art divine, with which are deck’d
The ancient Greek and Latin histories,
No longer will seem fables in your eyes,
When near you may applaud the loftiness,
The harmony, and the consonance sublime,
All that in varied symphonies to express
Has power the greatest master of our time;
Haydn the great, and merited his fame,
Whom to embrace I beg you in my name.
But now the confines of the German land
I see you leaving, for the distant strand
Of Britain’s isle your rapid course to take,
And tour political around to make.
There in the populous court, whose walls’ long side
Bathes the deep Thames in current vast and wide,
A nation’s image will before your eyes
In all things most extraordinary rise.
Not rich of old, but happy now we see
By totally unshackled industry.
A nation liberal, but ambitious too;
Phlegmatic, and yet active in its course;
Ingenuous, but its interests to pursue
Intent; humane, but haughty; and perforce
Whate’er it be, the cause it undertakes,
Just or unjust, defends without remorse,
And of all fear and danger scorn it makes.
There with inevitably great surprise,
What in no other country we may see,
You will behold to exert their energies
Men act and speak with perfect liberty.
The rapid fortune too you will admire
Which eloquence and valour there acquire;
Nor power to rob has wealth or noble birth
The premiums due to learning and to worth.
You will observe the hive-like multitude
Of diligent and able islanders,
Masters of commerce they have well pursued,
Which ne’er to want or slothfulness defers;
All in inventions useful occupied,
In manufactures, roads, schools, arsenals,
Experiments in books and hospitals,
And studies of the liberal arts to guide.
There you will know in fine what may attain
An education wise; the skilful mode
Of patriotic teaching, so to train
Private ambition, that it seek the road
Of public benefit alone to gain:
The recompense and acceptation just,
On which founds learning all its hope and trust;
And a wise government, whose constant aim
Is general good, and an eternal fame.
Midst others my reflections I would fain,
In some description worthy of the theme,
(If it were not beyond my powers) explain,
The varied scenes, enchantment all that seem,
Which the Parisian court on your return
Prepares, and offers you surprised to learn.
Polish’d emporium of Europe’s courts,
The which with noble spectacles invites,
With public recreations and resorts,
That give to life its solace and delights;
Brilliant assemblages! and these among,
The chief and most acceptable to gain,
Of all to this new Athens that belong,
To enjoy the fellowship of learned men;
With useful science, or with taste alone,
Who enlighten foreign nations, and their own.
But I, who from this narrow corner write,
In solitude, while shaking off the dust
From military archives, ill recite
What I, O travelling Secretary! trust
Yourself will better practically see,
Whilst I can only know in theory.
Continue then your journey on in health;
From tongue to tongue, from land to land proceed:
To be a statesman eminent your meed.
Acquire each day with joy your stores of wealth,
Of merit and instruction; I the while,
As fits my mediocrity obscure,
Will sing the praise of quiet from turmoil;
Saying, as Seneca has said of yore;—
«Let him, who power or honours would attain,
On the high court’s steep precipice remain.
I wish for peace, that solitude bestows,
Secluse to enjoy the blessings of repose.
To pass my life in silence be my fate,
Unnoticed by the noble, or the great:
That when my age, without vain noise or show,
Has reach’d the bounds allotted us below,
Though a plebeian only to pass by,
Perhaps I yet an aged man may die.
And this I do believe, no death of all
Than his more cruel can a man befall,
Who dying, by the world too truly known,
Is of himself most ignorant alone».
Tomás de Iriarte
Translation by James Kennedy
James Kennedy. "Modern poets and poetry of Spain" (1860). Produced by Cornell University Library, 1992.