JB/110/125/002

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The passage "Who thats but a queen, fair, sober, wise,
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gil
Such dear concernings hide" he translates "How can a beautiful, modest
prudent queen hide such important secrets from that old cat, bat, & dullest toad?" he
then abuses Shakespeare most contemptuously for it & says his admirers have not dared
to translate it. He objects to the details of Ophelia's death, & thinks that
nations which have produced no Bacon, nor Newton may find consolation in
possessing nothing so disgusting, so intolerable as the church-yard scene

I think highly of Moratin in every thing but his criticisms – His
translations of some of the songs are exquisitely beautiful. For instance

"Lauded all with sweet flowers &"

I would fain leave, if possible, a favorable impression of Moratin – Before he up again
asserts that Shakespeare's merits are so ambiguous that they will not bear rendering into
another language, I recommend him to study the translations of Sokeller, Schlegel, Voss
& Schiller; He must not expect to find his beauties in nor even in Le Tourneur
As a specimen of Moratin's poetical talent, I may perhaps be allowed to copy a most
beautiful touching & harmonious sonnet which he wrote in my Album, while living
in exile:

Nací de honesta madre: diome el Cielo
fácil ingenio en gracias, afluente:
dirigir supo el ánimo inocente
a la virtud, el paternal desvelo.
Con sabido estudio, infatigable anhelo,
pude adquirir coronas a mi frente:
la corva escena resonó en frecuente
aplauso, alzando de mi nombre el vuelo.
Dócil, veraz: de muchos ofendido,
de ninguno ofensor, las Musas bellas
mi pasión fueron, el honor mi guía.
Pero si así las leyes atropellas,
si para ti los méritos han sido
culpas; adiós, ingrata patria mía.

The triumph of liberty has gathered our wanderer again into the fold of his father

Identifier: | JB/110/125/002 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 110.
Date_1		Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	110	Main Headings
Folio number	125	Info in main headings field
Image	002	Titles
Category	collectanea	Number of Pages	6
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering
Penner	sir john bowring	Watermarks
Marginals		Paper Producer
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year
Notes public		ID Number	36115
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