11 NOVEMBER 1911, Page 18

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.")

Sin,—The following quotation, which I take from the "Imperial Dictionary" s.v. "Curious," may possibly be of interest :- " Each ornament about her seemly lies, By curious chance, or careless art composed."

—Fairfax.

Words are the clothing of thought, and the context (intexto vestibus colore, &c.) seems to suggest that such an idea was in the poet's mind. Though "careless art" is not a strict trans- lation, it expresses the " studied abandon " of curinsa felicitas.