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Puttenham, George, -1590

"The Arte of English Poesie"

And in the end (which is worst
of all) makes his vaunt that neuer English finger but his hath toucht
_Pindars_ string which was neuerthelesse word by word as _Rounsard_ had
said before by like braggery. These be his verses.
_And of an ingenious inuention infanted with pleasant trauaile._
Whereas the French word is _enfante_ as much to say borne as a
child, in another verse he saith.
_I will freddon in thine honour._
For I will shake or quiuer my fingers, for so in French is _freddon_,
and in another verse.
_But if I will thus like pindar,
In many discourses egar._
This word _egar_ is as much to say as to wander or stray out of the way,
which in our English is not receiued, nor these wordes _calabrois,
thebanois_, but rather _calabrian, theba_ [_filanding sisters_] for the
spinning sisters: this man deserues to be endited of pety _larceny_ for
pilfring other mens deuices from them & conuerting them to his owne vfe
for in deede as I would with euery inuentour which is the very Poet to
receaue the prayses of his inuention, so would I not haue a translatour be
ashamed to be acknowen of this translation.
[Sidenote: _Cacosintheton_, or the Misplacer.]
Another of your intollerable vices is ill disposiiton or placing of your
words in a clause or sentence: as when you will place your adiectiue after
your substantiue, thus: _Mayde faire, widow riche, priest holy_, and such
like, which though the Latines did admit, yet our English did not, as one
that said ridiculously.


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