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APPENDIX.

No. I.

CONJECTURAL AND CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS

ON

1. The SOPHONISBA of THOMSON;

2. The CATO of ADDISON;

3. The CATONE of METASTASIO.

"What is borrowed is not to be enjoyed as our own; and it is the business of critical justice to give every bird' of the Muses his proper feather.

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I. The SOPHONISBA of Thomson.

THOUGH Thomson, in the elegant little preface to his Sophonisba, does not acknowledge any obligations to the Sofonisba of Trissino, yet I am inclined to think he has many. The plots of both plays are conducted in the same manner, with this difference only, that, in the Italian tragedy, Cato once appears, and a chorus remains constantly upon the stage. But as the appearance of that stern republican was not necessary

a

cessary to promote, or hasten the catastrophe, it might be dispensed with; and the laws of the English stage proscribed the chorus. However, though Thomson, in obedience to the dramatic laws to which he was subject, omitted the chorus, yet he seems to have done so with some reluctance; as he subjoins to his drama "A nuptial song, intended to have been inserted in the fourth act;" which, had it been introduced, was to have been sung, chorally, by the female attendants of Sophonisba. Into this song our poet has transfused several beauties from an Ode to Love, in Trissino's tragedy, beginning

Amor, che ne i leggiadri, &c.

But this is not the only occasion on which the English poet seems indebted to the Italian bard: in the following passages. the marks of imitation are strong.

The manner in which Syphax was made prisoner, is thus: related by both poets..

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By Masinissa, the massylian prince,

Pierc'd, threw him headlong to his clustering foes

And now he comes in chains.

E mentre, ch'era intento a questa cosa,
Trovossi in mezzo de i nimici armati,

Che gli uccisero sotto il suo cavallo,

Poi

Poi con tanto furor gli andaro adosso,

Che'a viva forza nel menar' prigione.

When the captivity of Thomson's Sophonisba appears inevitable, she exclaims,

And is it fit for me,

Who in my veins, from Asdrubal deriv'd,

Hold Carthaginian enmity to Rome.

To

is it fit for me

To sit in feeble grief, and trembling wait
Th' approaching victor's rage, reserv'd in chains
grace his triumph, and become the scorn
every Roman dame? Gods! how my soul
Disdains the thought! This, this fhall set it free.-

Of

Sarà, ch'io lasci la regale stanza,

E lo nativo mio dolce terreno ;

E ch'io trappassi il mare,

E mi convenga stare

In servitù, sotto'l superbo freno

Di gente aspra, e proterva,

Nimica natural del mio paese.

Non fien di me, non fien tal' cose intese

Più tosto vo' morir, che viver serva.

a 2

(Offers to stab herself.}

In

In the English play, Phoenissa, the friend and confidant of Sophonisba, prevents the execution of the bloody purpose of the queen, observing, at the same time, that death

is our last resort, and always sure.

adding, however, that she would herself rather

urge the faithful poniard to her heart,

than see her

drag a chain,

And walk the triumph of insulting Rome.

In the Italian tragedy, the chorus interferes on the same occasion, and in the same manner; and employs similar arguments to dissuade Sophonisba from having immediate recourse to suicide, to save herself from captivity.

Buon è, buon è fuggir sì crude mani;

Ma non già con la morte;

Ch'ella è l'estremo mal di tutti i mali.

While Masinissa is raising the kneeling Sophonisba, the English poet makes him thus call upon the gods to confirm his promise.

here I swear,

By the tremendous powers that rule mankind!

By heaven, and earth, and hell! by love and glory!

The

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