ABSTRACT
Skillful versifiers of many nations shall serve as our precedent and example in this matter. Italian poets have translated nearly all the Romans and Greeks into such rhymeless verse (which they call versi sciolti); well known among them are the translations of Virgil by Annibal Caro and [Lucrecia Marchetti], both of which in almost no way stand apart from the original. New works in this verse style have also been composed there, such as Trissino’s Italia liberata. Among Englishmen one mustn’t forget Milton and his glorious Paradise Lost. Mention might also be made of others if I did not risk prolonging my discourse unnecessarily. In many places I have preferred to translate Horace word for word, though I myself perceived that in order to do so I was compelled to use words or forms of locution that were new and therefore not fully intelligible to the reader unskilled in Latin. This action I excuse by the fact that I undertook this translation not only for the sake of those who are content to read Horace’s Epistles in Russian, with no knowledge of Latin, but also for those who are studying Latin and wish to understand the original completely. In addition, another benefit will derive from this method if in the end these new words and locutions enter into everyday use, for through this our language is enriched; this goal in the translation of books must not be forgotten.
