Alexandro Gillio.
SI mihi Aurum, aut cælata pretiose vasa, aut quicquid istiusmodi mirantur Mortales, dono dedisses, puderet certe non vicissim, quantum ex meis facultatibus suppeteret, te aliquando remunerasse. Cum vero tam lepidum nobis, & venustum Hendecasyllabon nudiustertius donaveris, quanto charius quidem Auro illud est merito, tanto nos reddidisti magis solicitos, quâ re conquisitâ tam jucundi beneficii gratiam rependeremus; erant quidem ad manum nostra hoc in genere nonnulla, sed quæ tuis in certamen muneris æquale nullo modo mittenda censerem. Mitto itaque quod non plane meum est, sed & vatis etiam illius vere divini, cujus hanc Oden alterâ ætatis septimanâ, nullo certe animi proposito, sed subito nescio quo impetu ante lucis exortum, ad Græci carminis Heroici legem in lectulo fere concinnabam: ut hoc scilicet innixus adjutore qui te non minus argumento superat, quam tu me artificio vincis, haberem aliquid, quod ad æquilibrium compensationis accedere videatur; si quid occurrit, quod tuæ de nostris, ut soles, opinioni minus satisfecerit, scias, ex quo ludum vestrum reliquerim hoc me unicum atque primum græce composuisse, in Latinis, ut nosti, Anglicisque libentius versatum. Quandoquidem qui Græcis componendis hoc sæculo studium atque operam impendit, periculum est, ne plerumque surdo canat. Vale, meque Die Lunæ Londini (si Deus voluerit) inter Bibliopolas expecta. Interim si quid apud illum
Doctorem, annuum Collegii Præsidem, quâ vales amicitiâ, nostrum poteris negotium promovere; cura
quæso, ut meâ causâ quam cito adeas; iterum Vale.
E nostro Suburbano, Decemb. 4. 1634.
To Alexander Gill.
If you had made me a present of gold, or of richly
chased vessels, or of anything of that sort which men
admire, I should certainly be ashamed not to recompense you in my turn so far as lay within my power. By
giving me, the day before yesterday, such a brilliant and
charming poem in hendecasyllabics, you have made me
the more anxious, as its value is beyond that of gold, to
find some precious object with which to requite so delightful a gift. I had indeed a few compositions of my
own in that style at hand, but thought none of them
worthy to be sent in emulation of your own gift. I therefore send what is not entirely my own, but partly the
work of that truly divine poet, this Ode of whom I set
about translating into Greek heroic meter at daybreak
one day last week, before I was up, not of any set purpose, but on some sudden impulse. I hoped thus to have
something not unworthy to rank beside your work, relying on the help of one who surpasses you in his subject
as much as you do me in skill. If there is anything in it
which fails to come up to the standard you usually expect of my work, I must tell you that this is the first and
only Greek verse I have composed since I left your
school; my preference being, as you know, for Latin or
English. The fact is, that anyone who spends time or
trouble on Greek verse nowadays is apt to run the risk
of piping to deaf ears.
Farewell, and expect me (God willing) at the booksellers' in London on Monday. Meanwhile, if you can
do anything to further my cause with the Doctor, this
year's President of the College, through your friendship
with him, I beg of you to go to him as soon as may be,
for my sake.
Again, farewell.
Dated from our suburban house, December 4. 1634
Translation by Phyllis B. Tillyard
