461

She, cautious to transgress so sage a rule, Confin'd to soberest tints her learned school; For tho' she lov'd by varied mode to join. Tumultuous crowds in one immense design, Yet there we ne'er condemn such hostile hues

As cut the parts or glaringly confuse;

In tinsel trim no foppifh form is drest.
Still flows in graceful unity the vest;

465

And o'er that vest a kindred mantle spreads, Unvaried but by power of lights and shades, Which mildly mixing, every social dye

Unites the whole in loveliest harmony.

470

340

(Quæ fuit antiquis corruptio dicta colorum,)
Cùm plures opere in magno posuêre figuras,
Nè conjuncta simul variorum inimica colorum
Congeries formam implicitam, et concisa minutis.
Membra daret pannis, totam unamquamque figu-

ram

Affini, aut uno tantùm vestire colore,

345

Sunt soliti; variando tonis tunicamque, togamque, Carbaseosque sinus, vel amicum in lumine et

umbra

Contiguis circum rebus sociando colorem.

h When small the space, or pure the ambient air,

Each form is seen in bright precision clear;
But if thick clouds that purity deface,

If far extend that intervening space,
There all confus'd the objects faintly rise,
As if prepar'd to vanish from our eyes.

475

i Give them each foremost part a touch so

bright,

That, o'er the rest, its domineering light

May much prevail; yet, relative in all,

Let greater parts advance before the small. 480

1

k

Qua minus est spatii aërei, aut quà purior aër, 349 Cuncta magis distincta patent, speciesque reservant : Quâque magis densus nebulis, aut plurimus aër

1 Amplum inter fuerit spatium porrectus, in auras Confundet rerum species, et perdet inanes.

Anteriora magis semper finita, remotis Incertis dominentur et abscedentibus, idque More relativo, ut majora minoribus extent.

h XXXVII. Of the In

terposition of Air.

1 XXXVIII. The Rela.

tion of Distances.

355

k XXXVII. Aër interpositus.

'XXXVIII. Distantiaruni

Relatio.

m Minuter forms, when distantly we trace, Are mingled all in one compacted mass;

Such the light leaves that clothe remoter woods,

And such the waves on wide-extended floods.
" Let each contiguous part be firm allied, 485
Nor labour less the separate to divide ;
Yet so divide that to th' approving eye
They both at small and pleasing distance lie.

• Forbid two hostile colours close to meet, And win with middle tints their union

sweet;

490

P Cuncta minuta procul massam densantur in unam; Ut folia arboribus sylvarum, et in æquore fluctus.

Contigua inter se coëant, sed dissita distent, Distabuntque tamen grato, et discrimine parvo. Extrema extremis contraria jungere noli; Sed medio sint usque gradu sociata coloris.

r

360

Yet varying all thy tones, let some aspire
Fiercely in front, some tenderly retire.

t

Vain is the hope by colouring to display The bright effulgence of the noon-tide ray, Or paint the full-orb'd Ruler of the skies 495 With pencils dipp'd in dull terrestrial dyes : But when mild Evening sheds her golden light; When morn appears array'd in Modest white; When soft suffusion of the vernal shower 499 Dims the pale sun; or, at the thund'ring hour, When, wrapt in crimson clouds, he hides his head,

Then catch the glow and on the canvas spread.

Corporum erit tonus atque color variatus ubique;

Quærat amicitiam retro; ferus emicet ante.

365

* Supremum in tabulis lumen captare diei, Insanus labor artificum; cùm attingere tantum Non pigmenta queant: aurcam sed vespere lucem, Seu modicùm mane albentem; sive ætheris actam Post hyemen nimbis transfuso sole caducam ; Seu nebulis fultam accipient, tonitruque rubentem, 376

y Bodies of polish'd or transparent tone,
Of metal, crystal, iv'ry, wood, or stone;
And all whose rough unequal parts are rear'd,505
The shaggy fleece, thick fur, or bristly beard;
The liquid too; the sadly melting eye,
The well-comb'd locks that wave with glossy

dye;

Plumage and silks; a floating form that take,
Fair Nature's mirrour, the extended lake; 510
With what immers'd thro' its calm medium
shines

By reflex light, or to its surface joins ;

These first with thin and even shades portray,
Then, on their flatness strike th' enlivening ray,
Bright and distinct, and last, with strict review,
Restore to every form its outline true.

2 Lævia quæ lucent, veluti crystalla, metalla,

516

Ligna, ossa, et lapides; villosa, ut vellera, pelles,
Barbæ, aqueique oculi, crines, holoserica, plumæ;
Et liquida, ut stagnans aqua, reflexæque sub undis
Corporcæ species, et aquis contermina cuncta,
Subter ad extremum liquidè sint picta, superque
percussa suis, signisque repostis.

Luminibus

375

XLIV. Quædam circa

Praxim.