a 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 undiguised,
May by observant taste be there surprised.
Thus, true to art, and zealous to excel,
Ponder on Nature's powers, and weigh them well! Explore through earth and heaven, through sea and skies,
The accidental graces as they rise;
b 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;
For her the Artist shuns the fuming feast,
The midnight roar, the Bacchanalian guest,
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;
Perque vias, vultus hominum, motusque notabis Libertate sua proprios, positasque figuras
Ex sese faciles, ut inobservatus, habebis.
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
Exhaustam reparet mentem recreata; sed inde
Litibus, et curis, in cælibe libera vita,
a LXVIII. The Method of catching natural Passions.
b LXIX. Of the TableBook.
C LXVIII. Affectus inobservati et naturales.
d LXIX. Non desint Pugillares.
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,
While Genius, Practice, Contemplation join
To warm his soul with energy divine;
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,
True judgment guides his hand, true taste refines.
Hence ceaseless toil, devotion to his art,
A docile temper, and a generous heart;
Docile, his sage preceptor to obey,
Generous, his aid with gratitude to pay;
Blest with the bloom of youth, the nerves of health,
And competence, a better boon than wealth.
Great blessings these! yet will not these
His tints to charm at every labouring hour:
All have their brilliant moments, when alone
They paint as if some star propitious shone.
Secessus procul à turba, strepituque remotos,
Villarum, rurisque beata silentia quærit :
Namque recollecto, totâ incumbente Minervâ,
Ingenio, rerum species præsentior extat;
Commodiusque operis compagem amplectitur omnem.
Infami tibi non potior sit avare peculî
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
Sublimes, firmum corpus, florensque juventa,
Commoda res, labor, artis amor, doctusque magister:
Et quamcumque voles occasio porrigat ansam,
Ni genius quidam adfuerit, sidusque benignum,
Dotibus his tantis, nec adhuc ars tanta paratur.
Yet then, e'en then, the hand but ill conveys
The bolder grace that in the fancy plays:
Hence, candid critics, this sad truth confest,
Accept what least is bad, and deem it best;
Lament the soul in error's thraldom held,
Compare life's span with art's extensive field;
Know that, ere perfect taste matures the mind,
Or perfect practice to that taste be join'd,
comes sickness, comes contracting
And chills the warmth of youth in every vein.
Rise then, ye youths, while yet that warmth inspires,
While yet nor years impair, nor labour tires,
While health, while strength are yours, while that
Which shone auspicious on your natal day,
Conducts you to Minerva's peaceful quire,—
Sons of her choice, and sharers of her fire,
Rise at the call of art: expand your breast,
Capacious to receive the mighty guest,
While, free from prejudice, your active eye
Preserves its first unsullied purity;
Distat ab ingenio longè manus.
Censentur, quæ prava minus; latet omnibus error;
Vitaque tam longæ brevior non sufficit arti.
Desinimus nam posse senes, cùm scire periti
Incipimus, doctamque manum gravat ægra senectus;
Nec gelidis fervet juvenilis in artibus ardor.
Quare agite, O Juvenes, placido quos sidere natos
Paciferæ studia allectant tranquilla Minervæ ;
Quosque suo fovet igne, sibique optavit alumnos !
Eja agite, atque animis ingentem ingentibus artem
Exercete alacres, dum strenua corda juventus
Viribus exstimulat vegetis, patiensque laborum est;
Dum vacua errorum, nulloque imbuta sapore
While new to beauty's charms, your eager soul
Drinks copious draughts of the delicious whole,
And Memory on her soft, yet lasting page,
Stamps the fresh image which shall charm through
e When duly taught each geometric rule,
Approach with awful step the Grecian school,
The sculptured relics of her skill survey,
Muse on by night, and imitate by day;
No rest, no pause, till, all her graces known,
A happy habit makes each grace your own.
As years advance, to modern masters come,
Gaze on their glories in majestic ROME;
Admire the proud productions of their skill,
Which VENICE, PARMA, and BOLOGNA fill:
And, rightly led by our preceptive lore,
Their style, their colouring, part by part, explore.
See RAFFAELLE there his forms celestial trace,
Unrivall❜d sovereign of the realms of grace :
Pura nitet mens, et rerum sitibunda novarum,
Præsentes haurit species, atque humida servat!
f In geometrali prius arte parumpèr adulti
Signa antiqua super Graiorum addiscite formam;
Nec mora, nec requies, noctuque dieque labori,
Illorum menti atque modo, vos donec agendi
Praxis ab assiduo faciles assueverit usu.
Mox, ubi judicium emensis adoleverit annis, Singula, quæ celebrant primæ exemplaria classis, Romani, Veneti, Parmenses, atque Bononi,
Partibus in cunctis pedetentìm, atque ordine recto,
Ut monitum suprà est, vos expendisse juvabit.
Hos apud invenit Raphael miracula summo
Ducta modo, Veneresque habuit quas nemo deinceps.
e LXXX. The Method of Studies for a young Painter.
See ANGELO, with energy divine,
Seize on the summit of correct design:
Learn how, at JULIO's birth, the Muses smiled,
And in their mystic caverns nursed the child;
How, by th' Aonian powers their smile bestow'd,
His pencil with poetic fervour glow'd;
When faintly verse Apollo's charms convey'd,
He oped the shrine, and all the god display'd:
His triumphs more than mortal pomp adorns,
With more than mortal rage his battle burns;
His heroes, happy heirs of fav'ring fame,
More from his art than from their actions claim.
Bright, beyond all the rest, CORREGGIO flings
His ample lights, and round them gently brings
The mingling shade. In all his works we view
Grandeur of style, and chastity of hue.
Yet higher still great TITIAN dared to soar, He reach'd the loftiest heights of colouring's power; His friendly tints in happiest mixture flow, '
His shades and lights their just gradations know;
His were those dear delusions of the art,
That round, relieve, inspirit every part;
Hence deem'd divine, the world his merit own'd,
With riches loaded, and with honours crown'd.
Quidquid erat formæ scivit Bonarota potenter.
Julius à puero musarum eductus in antris,
Aonias reseravit opes, graphicâque poesi,
Quæ non visa prius, sed tantum audita poetis,
Ante oculos spectanda dabit sacraria Phœbi;
Quæque coronatis complevit bella triumphis
Heroum fortuna potens, casusque decoros,
Nobilius re ipsâ antiqua pinxisse videtur.
Clarior ante alios Corregius extitit, ampla
Luce superfusa, circum coëuntibus umbris,
Pingendique modo grandi, et tractando colore
Corpora. Amicitiamque, gradusque, dolosque colorum,
Compagemque ita disposuit Titianus, ut inde
Divus sit dictus, magnis et honoribus auctus,
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