第60章

’Youmaytranslatebooksofscienceexactly。Youmayalsotranslatehistory，insofarasitisnotembellishedwithoratory，whichispoetical。Poetry，indeed，cannotbetranslated；and，therefore，itisthepoetsthatpreservelanguages；forwewouldnotbeatthetroubletolearnalanguage，ifwecouldhaveallthatiswritteninitjustaswellinatranslation。Butasthebeautiesofpoetrycannotbepreservedinanylanguageexceptthatinwhichitwasoriginallywritten，welearnthelanguage。’

’Goldsmith(hesaid，)referredeverythingtovanity；hisvirtues，andhisvicestoo，werefromthatmotive。Hewasnotasocialman。

Heneverexchangedmindwithyou。’

WespenttheeveningatMr。Hoole’s。Mr。Mickle，theexcellenttranslatorofTheLusiad，wasthere。Ihavepreservedlittleoftheconversationofthisevening。Dr。Johnsonsaid，’Thomsonhadatruepoeticalgenius，thepowerofviewingeverythinginapoeticallight。Hisfaultissuchacloudofwordssometimes，thatthesensecanhardlypeepthrough。Shiels，whocompiledCibber’sLivesofthePoets，wasonedaysittingwithme。ItookdownThomson，andreadaloudalargeportionofhim，andthenasked，——Isnotthisfine？Shielshavingexpressedthehighestadmiration。

Well，Sir，(saidI，)Ihaveomittedeveryotherline。’

IrelatedadisputebetweenGoldsmithandMr。RobertDodsley，onedaywhentheyandIwerediningatTomDavies’s，in1762。

Goldsmithasserted，thattherewasnopoetryproducedinthisage。

DodsleyappealedtohisownCollection，andmaintained，thatthoughyoucouldnotfindapalacelikeDryden’sOdeonSt。Cecilia’sDay，youhadvillagescomposedofveryprettyhouses；andhementionedparticularlyTheSpleen。JOHNSON。’IthinkDodsleygaveupthequestion。HeandGoldsmithsaidthesamething；onlyhesaiditinasoftermannerthanGoldsmithdid；forheacknowledgedthattherewasnopoetry，nothingthattoweredabovethecommonmark。Youmayfindwitandhumourinverse，andyetnopoetry。

Hudibrashasaprofusionofthese；yetitisnottobereckonedapoem。TheSpleen，inDodsley’sCollection，onwhichyousayhechieflyrested，isnotpoetry。’BOSWELL。’DoesnotGray’spoetry，Sir，towerabovethecommonmark？’JOHNSON。Yes，Sir；butwemustattendtothedifferencebetweenwhatmeningeneralcannotdoiftheywould，andwhateverymanmaydoifhewould。Sixteen-stringJack*toweredabovethecommonmark。’BOSWELL。’Then，Sir，whatispoetry？’JOHNSON。’Why，Sir，itismucheasiertosaywhatitisnot。WeallKNOWwhatlightis；butitisnoteasytoTELLwhatitis。’

*Anotedhighwayman，whoafterhavingbeenseveraltimestriedandacquitted，wasatlasthanged。Hewasremarkableforfopperyinhisdress，andparticularlyforwearingabunchofsixteenstringsatthekneesofhisbreeches——BOSWELL。

OnFriday，April12，IdinedwithhimatourfriendTomDavies’s。

HeremindedDr。JohnsonofMr。Murphy’shavingpaidhimthehighestcomplimentthateverwaspaidtoalayman，byaskinghispardonforrepeatingsomeoathsinthecourseoftellingastory。

JohnsonandIsuptthiseveningattheCrownandAnchortavern，incompanywithSirJoshuaReynolds，Mr。Langton，Mr。Nairne，nowoneoftheScotchJudges，withthetitleofLordDunsinan，andmyveryworthyfriend，SirWilliamForbes，ofPitsligo。

Wediscussedthequestionwhetherdrinkingimprovedconversationandbenevolence。SirJoshuamaintaineditdid。JOHNSON。’No，Sir：beforedinnermenmeetwithgreatinequalityofunderstanding；

andthosewhoareconsciousoftheirinferiority，havethemodestynottotalk。Whentheyhavedrunkwine，everymanfeelshimselfhappy，andlosesthatmodesty，andgrowsimpudentandvociferous：

butheisnotimproved；heisonly

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