* This to obtain, let taste with judgment join'd The future whole infix upon thy mind;

Be there each line in truth ideal drawn,
Or ere a colour on the canvass dawn;
Then as the work proceeds, that work submit
To sight instinctive, not to doubting wit;
The eye each obvious error swift descries,
Hold then the compass only in the eyes.

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m Give to the dictates of the learn'd respect,

Nor proudly untaught sentiments reject,

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Severe to self alone: for self is blind,

And deems each merit in its offspring join'd:
Such fond delusion time can best remove,

Concealing for a while the child we love :

n Nec prius inducas tabulæ pigmenta colorum,

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Expensi quàm signa typi stabilita nitescant,
Et menti præsens operis sit pegma futuri.

Prævaleat sensus rationi, quæ officit arti.
Conspicuæ; inque oculis tantummodo circinus esto.
P Utere doctorum monitis, nec sperne superbus
Discere, quæ de te fuerit sententia vulgi:
Est cœcus nam quisque suis in rebus, et expers
Judicii, prolemque suam miratur amatque.

* LXI. The Original must be in the head, and the Copy on the cloth.

'LXII. The Compass to be in the eyes.

m LXIII. Pride an enemy to good painting.

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" LXI. Archetypus in mente, Apographus in tela.

LXII. Circinus in oculis.

P LXIII. Superbia pictori nocet plurimum.

F

By absence then the eye impartial grown,
Will, tho' no friend assist, each error own;
But these subdued, let thy determin'd mind
Veer not with every critic's veering wind,
Or e'er submit thy genius to the rules
Of prating fops, or self-important fools;
Enough if from the learn'd applause be won;
Who doat on random praises, merit none.

a By Nature's sympathetic power, we see,

As is the parent, such the progeny:

Ev'n Artists, bound by their instinctive law,

In all their works their own resemblance draw:
Learn then" to know thyself;" that precept sage
Shall best allay luxuriant Fancy's rage;

Shall point how far indulgent Genius deigns
To aid her flight, and to what point restrains.

Ast ubi consilium deerit sapientis amici,
Id tempus dabit, atque mora intermissa labori.
Non facilis tamen ad nutus, et inania vulgi
Dicta, levis mutabis opus, geniumque relinques :
Nam qui parte sua sperat bene posse mereri
Multivaga de plebe, nocet sibi, nec placet ulli.

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630

635

Cumque opere in proprio soleat se pingere pictor, (Prolem adeo sibi ferre parem natura suevit,) Proderit imprimis pictori γνῶθι σεαυτόν, Ut data quæ genio colat, abstineatque negatis.

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• LXIV. Know thyself.

LXIV. Nosce teipsum.

But as the blushing fruits, the breathing flowers,
Adorning Flora's and Pomona's bowers,

When forcing fires command their buds to swell,
Refuse their dulcet taste, their balmy smell;
So Labour's vain extortion ne'er achieves

That grace supreme which willing Genius gives.

Thus tho' to pains and practice much we owe,
Tho' thence each line obtains its easy flow,
Yet let those pains, that practice, neʼer be join'd,
To blunt the native vigour of the mind.

+ When shines the morn, when in recruited course The spirits flow, devote their active force

To every nicer part of thy design,

But pass no idle day without a line:

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Fructibus utque suus nunquam est sapor, atque venustas
Floribus, insueto in fundo, præcoce sub anni
Tempore, quos cultus violentus et ignis adegit:
Sic nunquam, nimio quæ sunt extorta labore,
Et picta invito genio, nunquam illa placebunt.

* Vera super meditando, manûs labor improbus adsit; Nec tamen obtundat genium, mentisque vigorem, 465 y Optima nostrorum pars matutina dierum, Difficili hanc igitur potiorem impende labori. Nulla dies abeat, quin linea ducta supersit :

* And wand'ring oft the crowded streets along,
The native gestures of the passing throng
Attentive mark; for many a casual grace,
Th' expressive lines of each impassion'd face
That bears its joys or sorrows undisguis'd,
May by observant Taste be there surpriz❜d.
Thus, true to art, and zealous to excel,

Ponder on Nature's powers, and weigh them well!
Explore thro' earth and heaven, thro' sea and skies,
The accidental graces as they rise;

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And while each present form the Fancy warms, 665 Swift on thy tablets fix its fleeting charms.

To Temperance all our liveliest powers we owe, She bids the Judgment wake, the Fancy flow;

d Mox quodcumque mari, terris, et in aëre pulchrum Contigerit, chartis propera mandare paratis, Dum præsens animo species tibi fervet hianti.

Non epulis nimis indulget Pictura, meroque Parcit: Amicorum nisi cum sermone benigno

LXVIII. The method of catching natural passions.

LXIX. Of the table-book.

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* LXVIII. Affectus inobservati et naturales.

d LXIX. Non desint pugil lares.

And seeks those softer opiates of the soul,
The social circle, the diluted bowl:
Crown'd with the freedom of a single life,
He flies domestic din, litigious strife;
Abhors the noisy haunts of bustling trade,
And steals serene to solitude and shade;
There calmly seated in his village bower,
He gives to noblest themes the studious hour,

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While Genius, Practice, Contemplation join

To warm his soul with energy divine;

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For paltry gold let pining misers sigh,
His soul invokes a nobler deity;

Smit with the glorious avarice of fame,

He claims no less than an immortal name;

Hence on his fancy just conception shines,

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True judgment guides his hand, true taste refines;

Hence ceaseless toil, devotion to his art,

A docile temper, and a generous heart;

Exhaustam reparet mentem recreata; sed inde
Litibus, et curis, in cœlibe libera vita,

Villarum, rurisque beata silentia quærit :

Secessus procul à turba, strepituque remotos,

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Namque recollecto, totâ incumbente Minervâ,

Ingenio, rerum species præsentior extat;

Commodiusque operis compagem amplectitur omnem.
Infami tibi non potior sit avara peculi

Cura, aurique fames, modicâ quam sorte beato,
Nominis æterni, et laudis pruritus habendæ,
Condigna pulchrorum operum mercedis in ævum.
Judicium, docile ingenium, cor nobile, sensus

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