Note 349 — JUVENAL'S SATIRES. (continued 2)
Lewis Evans translation
Vatem egregium. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. iv., 43, "Ingenium cui sit, cui mens divinior, atque os magna sonaturum, des nominis hujus honorem." How immeasurably finer of the two is Juvenal's description of a poet!
"But he, the bard of every age and clime, Of genius fruitful, and of soul sublime, Who from the glowing mint of fancy pours No spurious metal, fused from common ores, But gold to matchless purity refined, And stamp'd with all the godhead in his mind: He whom I feel, but want the power to paint, Must boast a soul impatient of restraint, And free from every care—a soul that loves The Muses' haunts, clear springs and shady groves." Gifford.
Of this passage, Hodgson says, Gifford has drawn the prize in the lottery of translation, all others must be blanks after it.