has derived from Milton's masterly skill a sweetness, of which the English tongue could hardly be thought susceptible. "His praise, ye winds, that from four quarters blow, To hill, or valley, fountain, or fresh shade To give us only good; and, if the night Disperse it, as now light dispels the dark."-B. v. l. 208. "Ei fawl, chwi Wyntoedd, o bedryfan chwyth, Anadlwch war neu fán; a chwyfwch frig, Chwi Sybwydd, a phob llys, o arwydd iawl. Ffynnonau, a chwi, o delori ar Eich rhed, felysion dyrddau, aed eich mawl. Chwi holl Fywiolion unwch leisiau maws: O eddain dyfroedd chwi, a daiar chwi I roi i ni ond da; ac os y nos A gludai ddim o ddrwg neu gudd, ffwyrâa Di hyn, mal weithion tarfa gwawl y gwyll."-P. 136-7. 、 The smoothest lines in this passage, in the original, are those, which describe the "warbling" of the fountains, and the singing of the birds; and the translation will not suffer in the comparison, unless it be objected, indeed, that the beautiful repetition of the word "warble" in the English lines is lost in the Welsh. The word "telori," used in the sense of perori, to chaunt, does not seem to embrace the full melody of the original, though the ex pression, "O delori ar Eich rhed, felysion dyrddau,→ must be acknowleged to be remarkably soft. The line, too, "Bear on your wings and in his notes your praise,” is very happily rendered by→→ "Ar edyn ac ar adaw dygwch fawl." The first line of this extract, it may be remarked, presents one instance, amongst numbers that might be selected, of the comprehensive signification of some Welsh words. This is the word "bedryfan," (a mutation of pedryfan,) which implies the "four quarters of the world." The Greek, as is well known, abounds in examples of this sort, and which have always been regarded amongst the most prominent beauties of that noble language*. The following passage describes the descent of Raphael to Paradise, and has always been considered to exceed in beauty, as well as in sublimity, the correspondent passages in Homer and Virgil, which represent the descent of Mercury +. "Down thither, prone in flight, He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky He lights, and to his proper shape returns Classical scholars will be at no loss to recollect numerous instances of this peculiarity of the Greek; but I wish to mention one, which has just occurred to me, and especially, as it appears apposite to the occasion. Milton, in his "Masque of Comus," has the following passage, "What time the labour'd ox In his loose traces from the furrow came;" all of which may be expressed in Greek by the simple term Baλls. There are many compounds in Welsh, beginning with Bu, a term synonymous with the Greek B8, but none, that I can remember, of the same import as this. + See Iliad, 24. v. 339. and Enid, 4. v. 238. A Seraph wing'd; six wings he wore, to shade Each shoulder broad, came mantling o'er his breast Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round "I lawr ar wysg ei hed Buana, a thrwy y nwyfrëawl wybr Yr haul, eheda hyd i Thêb yr Aipht. Ei addas rith adeiniawg Seraph y Disgyna efe; chwe aden huddent ei A few instances of that independent feature of the Welsh tongue, which has, I believe, been already partially noticed in the CAMBRO-BRITON, occur in the preceding lines, where the words Penaig, Aiphtt, and Gwynfa are used, instead of the names employed in all other languages, for Phonix, Egypt, and Vol. i. p. 99-ED. The etymological reasons for considering this as a primitive Welsh word have already appeared in this work. See vol. i. p. 374-ED. Paradise. The names, adopted in the translation, are in fact purely Welsh: and many other instances may be found in the work of the judicious use Mr. Pughe has made of his learning in this respect. These I design to make the subject of a distinct letter hereafter, as well as to offer some remarks on their presumed etymons. The remainder of the fifth Book, which is occupied with the discourse between Raphael and Adam, and the account given by the former of the first appearances of revolt amongst the rebel angels, presents no very remarkable passage. I shall, therefore, offer a few extracts from the succeeding Book, which, in its description of the battle in Heaven, comprises so many images of awful grandeur, though it is generally admitted, that in true poetical beauty it is surpassed by some other portions of this divine poem. The first extract is from that passage, which relates the encounter of Abdiel and Satan : "So saying, a noble stroke he lifted high, He back recoil'd; the tenth on bended knee Gwedyd hyny, ergyd gwych á gwnai fry, Y ddaiar wynt, neu ruthriad dwfr á wṛdd Ar soddi."-P. 169. This passage, it will be seen, is, for the most part, very happily rendered not only is the sense almost literally preserved, but the several pauses of the verse, in which so much of the beauty of Milton's metre is known to consist, are preserved in the translation. The fifth, sixth, and seventh lines exemplify this. In the last line but one, however, "mynydd coedawg" does not seem to convey the same comprehensive image as "a mountain with all his pines," nor do the words "ar soddi" form so forcible a conclusion of this sublime simile as those in the original. The following lines, which succeed the last at a short interval, have been cited among the instances of Milton's attempts to adapt the sound to the sense: and, whether they do so or not, I cannot help thinking them highly poetical. When he represented the chariot wheels as raging, he, perhaps, had in mind the dope parlas of Homer, though, I believe, there is a Scriptural expression still nearer. Let us see, how the passage appears in a Welsh dress. "Arms on armour clashing bray'd Ofnadwy ffrwch, a ffraw olwynion certh Gerbydau prês gwythâent; garw oedd y swn O drin."-P. 169. It will surely be granted, that the words employed here are, at least, as appropriate as those in the original: and the pauses, as in the preceding example, are also strictly observed. The word "gwythâent," too, is happily chosen, and corresponds with a similar use of it by Llywarch Hen. "Yn Llongborth welais i wythaint." In Llongborth I saw the rage of slaughter. I fear, the limits, to which I ought to confine my letters, will not allow me to make any great addition to the observations I have here offered. I shall, therefore, intrude no more on your pages at present than merely to call the attention of your readers to two other extracts from the sixth Book, and of which it may be a sufficient recommendation to say, that they are marked, in the original, by the genuine characteristics of the Miltonian muse, and are translated with spirit and fidelity by Mr. Pughe. In the first extract is briefly described the approach of night after the first encounter of the celestial combatants, as well as the manner in which it was passed by both armies. "Now night her course began, and over Heaven Inducing darkness, grateful truce impos'd, And silence on the odious din of war; |