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of mufic in general, than the joint efforts of all the great compofers in Europe; this fuppofition I fhall hereafter endeavour to explain and confirm, in fpeaking of him only as a lyric poet.

The Abate Pietro Metaftafio, was adopted at Rome, while very young, by the celebrated civilian, Gravina, who difcovering in him an extraordinary talent for poetry, undertook the care of his educa. tion; and, after he had been in structed under his eye, in all the parts of polite literature, he fent him to Calabria, in the kingdom of Naples, to learn Greek, as a living language, it being ftill fpoken in that province, by the natives. He had fuch a faculty of fpeaking verfes extempore, fo early as at five years old, that Gravina ufed to fet him on a table, to perform the part of an Improv

ifatore; but this exercife was found to exhauft him fo much, that a physician affured his patron, if he continued this practice, it would destroy him; for at fuch times he was fo truly aflatus numine, that his head and ftomach fwelled, and became inflamed, while his extremities grew cold, Gravina feeing this, thought it neceflary to take the phyfician's advice, and would never suffer him more to improvvifare. Metaftafio now fpeaks of the practice as equally repugnant to grammar, and to common fenfe; for whoever accustoms himself in this rapid manner, to diftort every thought into rhyme, deftroys all tafte, and totally precludes felec. tion till, by degrees, the mind and genius accommodating them felves to inaccuracies and abfurdi

ties, not only lofe a relish for labour, but for every thing that is chafte and correct.

Gravina made Metaftafio tranflate all Homer into Italian verse, before he was fourteen years of age; and this, perhaps, deftroyed fome of that veneration for the ancients, with which most men of true genius are poffeffed *. Fielding faid of himself, that he bore marks of the difficulty of Homer, about him all his life. Gravina idolized the ancients, and perhaps, Metaftafio, taking the contrepied, refpects them too little.

He has opinions fixed and unalterable, peculiar to himself, concerning many things, particularly rhyme: he fill thinks that the Hebrew Pfalms are in rhyme, and that this confonance of verfes is infinitely more ancient than is gene. rally imagined. He thinks that Milton's Paradife Loft cannot be a perfect poem, because it is written in blank verfe, though all the narrative parts of his own dramatic pieces are in meatured profe; indeed, before each fong, he has a couplet, or clofe, ufually in rhime, which prepares for the change.

The whole tenor of his life is equally innoxious with his writ ings. He lives with the most mechanical regularity, which he fuffers none to difturb; he has not dined from home thefe thirty years; he is very difficult of accefs, and equally averfe to new perfons, and new things: he fees, in a familiar way, but three or four people, and thein conftantly every night, from eight o'clock till ten; he abhors writing, and never fets pen to paper but by compulfion: as it was ne

*Gravina died in the year 1728, and made Metastasio his heir.

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ceffary to bind Silenus, before he would fing; and Proteus, to oblige him to give oracles.

He has long been invefted with the title and appointments of imperial laureate; and when the emperor, emprefs, or any one of the imperial family orders it, he fits down and writes, two hours at a time only, just as he would tranfcrite a poem written by any one elfe; never waiting for a call, invoking the Mufe, or even receiv ing her favours at any other than his own ftated periods.

He was applied to by the editors of the Encyclopedie, to write the article Opera for that work; but he politely declined the talk, fuppofing it impoffible that his fentiments on the fubje& fhould be pleafing to the French nation.

Taffo is his favourite of all poets; he likes not Fingal, on account of its wildness and obfcurity; he reads with his feled friends ancient and modern authors every evening; he is extremely fond of the writings of Count Me dini, a Bohemian, whofe poetical compofitions, he fays, are fuperior to thofe of all other living writers. This count is tranflating the Henriade of Voltaire into Italian Ottave Rime.

A perfon of very high rank af. fured me, that he had been five years in Vienna before he could get acquainted with Metatafio, or even into converfation with him; and after that time, but three vifits had been exchanged between them in feveral years; indeed, in my applications for letters of recommendation to this exquifite poet, before I left England, I had

been mortified by an affurance, "that it would be in vain for me "to attempt even a fight of Metaf"tafio, as he was totally worn out, "incommunicative, and averse to "fociety on all occafions."

However, this account had been expreffed in too ftrong terms; for, upon my arrival at Vienna, I found that befides the conftant fociety of his particular friends every evening, he had a kind of levee each morning, at which he was vifited by a great number of perfons of high rank and diftinguifhed me

rit.

If he is attended to with complaifance, he converfes very freely. and agreeably; but if contradicted, he becomes immediately filent; he is too well-bred, as well as too in. dolent, to difpute; if what he thinks erroneous be advanced, in oppofition to any thing he has faid, he paffes it over in filence. He likes not animated difcuffions, fuch as generally fubfift among men of talents and learning; but rather chufes the cafe and moderation of a private individual, than to lay down the law in the decifive manner of a public and exalted character. Indeed there feems to be that foft calmness in his life, which fubfifts in his writings, where he reasons, even in paffion, more than he raves; and that even tenor of propriety and correctnefs which runs through all his works, is, in fome degree, conftitutional. He is as feldom, perhaps, violently agitated in his writings as in his life, and he may be called the poet of the golden age; in which fimplicity and decorum are faid to have reigned, more than the wild

The Poems of Offian are tranflated into Italian, by the Abate Melchior Cefarotti, and were published at Padua in 1763.

and

and furious paffions. The effufions of patriotifm, love, and friendship, which he pours out with exquifite fweetness, are affections of a foft and gentle kind, which his heart felt, and his foul has coloured.

He has not, perhaps, the fire of a Corneille, or the wit and variety of a Voltaire; but he has all the pathos, all the correctnefs of a Racine, with more originality. I need only mention his well-known poem, Grazie a gl' Inganni tuoi, which has been fo many times imitated and tranflated in all languages: this contains a fpecies of wit, peculiar to Metallufio, in which he turns trivial circumftances to account. Shakespeare has faid, in derision, of one of his characters, that "he has a reasonable good wit," and this is feriously true with respect to Metaftafio, whofe wit is not compofed of epigrammatic points, or whimsical conceits; nei. ther is it biting, nor farcaftical; but confits of familiar and natural things, highly polished, and fet in diamonds.

'Tis nature to advantage drefs'd,

What oft was thought, but ne'er

fo well exprefs'd.

The fweetness of his language and verfification give a grace to all that he writes, and the natural tendency of his genius is to point out reclitude, propriety, and decorum; and though he discovers in every ffanza of his Nifa, that he is not cured of his passion for a jílt, yet he plainly proves that he ought to be fo.

[We hall add to this general character, an account of our author's firit vifit to that celebrated poet.]

At fix o'clock in the evening Lord Stormont carried me to him. We found only one of his particular friends with him, who is likewife one of the imperial librarians, and the perfon to whom I had been introduced at the library, and whɔ had arranged the visit.

This great poet is lodged, as many other great poets have been before him, in a very exalted fituation, up no less than four pair of ftairs. Whether modern bards prefer the fublimity of this abode, on account of its being fomewhat on, a level with mount Parnaffus, nearer their fire Apollo, or in the neighbourhood of gods in general, I fhall not determine; but a more plain and humble reafon can be affigned for Metaitafio's habitation being "twice two flories high," if we confider the peculiar prero gative which the emperor enjoys at Vienna, of appropriating, to the ufe of the officers of his court and army, the first floor of every house and palace in that city, fix or eight privileged places only excepted. On this account,, princes, ambassadors, and nobles, ufually inhabit the fecond Itories; and the third, fourth, and even fifth floors, the foufes being very large and high, are well fitted up, for the reception of opulent and noble families; and our poet, though he occupies that part of a houfe, which, in Eng. land, is thought only fit for domeftics to fleep in, has neverthe lefs an exceeding good and elegant apartment, in which an imperial laureate way, with all due dignity, hold dalliance with the mufes.

He received us with the utmost cheerfulness and good- breeding; and I was no lefs aftonifhed tha pleafed

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pleafed at finding him look fo well: he does not feem more than fifty years of age, though he is at least feventy-two*; and for that time of life, he is the handsomest man I ever beheld. There are painted on his countenance all the genius, goodness, propriety, benevolence, and rectitude, which conftantly cha Jacterife his writings. I could not keep my eyes off his face, it was fo pleafing and worthy of contemplation. His converfation was of a piece with his appearance: polite, eafy, and lively. We got him to open upon mufic much more than we expected; for, in general, he avoids entering deep into any particular fubject. He fet off, however, by laying, he could furnish me with very few new lights upon my fubject, as he had never confi. dered it with fufficient attention; however, in the course of our conwerfation, he difcovered himself to have a very good general knowledge both of the hiftory and theory of music; and I was very much flattered to find his fentiments correfpond with my own in many doubtful particulars.

We difcuffed the following fubjects: the mufical fcales of the ancient Greeks; their melody, chorus, modes, and declamation; the origin of modern harmony and operas; the fondness for fugues in the last century, and for noife in this, &c. &c.

He feems rather pleafed with Mr. Hoole's tranflation of the two first volumes of his works; but thinks, with me, that if he has fail. ed, it is more in the fongs than

recitatives: however, in excufe for Mr. Hoole, he fays, that the cafe is hopeless in tranflating Italian poetry, for the language itself is fo foft and musical, that no other can furnish words equivalent in fweetLefs. He likes no one of the many thoufand tranflations and imitations of his Grazi e agl' Inganni tuci, I asked him, if he was author of a duo to these words, which I had procured many years ago, and fung him the two or three firft bars; and he faid, "fomething like

it."

We talked of the different editions of his works; he thinks thofe of Paris and Turin, in ten volumes, are the most complete and correct. Thefe contain all that he intended to publifh, except the opera of Ruggiero, performed at Milan laft year. Lord Stormont lamented that the pieces were not arranged in an exact chronological order; but Metaftafio faid, that it was of little moment to the public whether he wrote Artaferle or Didone first; however, he confeffed, that there were fome particulars which gave birth to feveral of thefe pieces, which perhaps fhould be known.

Here he told us, that when his miftrefs, the Emprefs-Queen, was going to be married to the Duke of Lorrain, he was applied to for an opera on the occafion, and he had only eighteen days allowed him to write it in. He immediately cried out that it was impoffible; but, when he got home, he sketched out the ftory of Achilles in Sciros; he delineated a kind of argument upon a large fheet of paper;

*There is an edition of his opera of Giuftino extant, which was printed in 1713; and as he was faid to have been fourteen when he wrote that poem, it throws his birth into the laft century.

here

here he was to begin; thus far the first act; these the incidents of the fecond, and this the catastrophe of the third. Then he distributed bufinefs to his feveral characters: here a fong, here a duo, and here a foliloquy. He then proceeded to write the dialogue, and to divide it into fcenes, which were feverally given to the compofer the moment they were finished, and by him to the performer to be got by heart. For the eighteen days included the whole arrangement of poetry, mufic, dancing, fcenes, and decora

tions,

He faid that neceffity frequently augmented our powers, and forced us to perform, not only what we thought ourselves incapable of, but in a much more expeditious, and often in a better manner, than the operations of our choice and leifure; he added, that Hypermneftra was produced in nine days, and it is remarkable, that Achilles and Hypermnestra, are two of Metallafio's best dramas.

Lord Stormont asked if he had ever fet any of his operas to mufic himself, and he anfwered, that he was not musician fufficient; he had, indeed, now and then given a compofer the motivo, or.fubject of an air, to fhew how he wifhed it fhould exprefs his words; but no more. His Lordship told him, that old Fontenelle had faid in his hearing, that no mufical drama would be perfect, or interefting, till the poet and musician were one, as in ancient times; and that when Rouffeau's Devin du Village came out, and fo delighted every hearer, the literary patriarch Fontenelle, attributed its fuccefs to that union of poet and musician.

compofition, was now an affair of fo much skill and fcience, in regard to counterpoint, the knowledge of inftruments, the powers of a finger, and other particulars, that it required too much time and application for a modern poet, or man of letters, to acquire them.

He faid, he did not think that there was now one finger left, who could fuftain the voice in the manner the old fingers were used to do. I endeavoured to account for this, and he agreed with me, that theatrical mufic was become too inftrumental; and that the cantatas of the beginning of this century, which were fung by no other accompaniment than a harpsichord or violoncello, required better finging than the prefent fongs, in which the noify accompaniments can hide defects as well as beauties, and give relief to a finger.

He feemed to think, that the mufic of the laft age, was in general too full of fugues, of parts, and contrivances, to be felt or under. food, except by artifts. All the different movements of the several parts, their inverfions and divifions, he faid, were unnatural, and by covering and deforming the melody, only occafioned confufion.

He confirmed to me the story of his having been forced, by Gravina, to tranflate the whole Iliad of Homer into Italian Ottave Rime, at twelve years old. He likewise mentioned his having made veríes all'improvvisa when young; but that he had difcontinued the practice before he was feventeen.

Several jokes efcaped him in the courfe of our converfation, and he was equally chearful, polite, and attentive, the whole time. We But Metaftafio faid, that mufical stayed with him just two hours;

and,

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