253

135

The reft on outside merit but prefume,
Or ferve (like other fools) to fill a room;
Such with their fhelves as due proportion hold,
Or their fond parents drefs'd in red and gold;
Or where the pictures for the page atone,
And Quarles is fav'd by beauties not his own.
Here fwells the shelf with Ogilby the Great;
There, ftamp'd with arms, Newcastle fhines complete:
Here all his fuff'ring brotherhood retire,
And 'fcape the martyrdom of jakes and fire:
A Gothic library! of Greece and Rome

140

145

Well purg'd, and worthy Settle, Banks, and Broome.

REMARKS.

But

"and dull at least you might have allowed me.
"dull, and dull till, and again, and for ever?" He then folemnly appealed
What! am I only to be
to his own confcience, that "he could not think himfelf fo, or believe
"that our Poet did; but that he spoke worfe of him than he could pof-
"fibly think; and concluded it must be merely to fhew his wit, or for
fome profit or lucre to himfelf." Life of C. C. ch. vii. and Letter to Mr.
P. p. 15, 40, 53. And to fhew his claim to what the Poet was founwil-
ling to allow him, of being pert as well as dull, he declares he will have
the last word; which occafioned the following epigram:

Quoth Cibber to Pope, though in verfe you foreclofe,
I'll have the latt word; for by G.. I'll write profe.
Poor Colley! thy reas'ning is none of the strongest,
For know, the laft word is the word that lasts longest.

v. 141. Ogilby the Great.] "John Ogilby was one who, from a late ini"tiation into literature, made fuch a progrefs as might well style him "the prodigy of his time! fending into the world fo many large volumes! "His tranflation of Homer and Virgil done to the life, and with fach ex"cellent fculptures: and (what added great grace to his works) he printed them all on fpecial good paper, and in a very good letter." Winflanley, Lives of Poets.

v. 142. There, flamp'd with arms, Newcastle fbines complete.] "Duchefs of Newcastle was one who bufied herself in the ravishing delights "The "of poetry; leaving to poterity in print three ample volumes of her "udious endeavours." Winstanley, ibid. Langbaine reckons up eight folios of her Grace's, which were ufually adorned with gilded covers, and had her coat of arms upon them.

v. 146.-worthy Settle, Banks, and Broome.] The Poet has mentioned thefe three authors in particular, as they are parellel to our hero in his three capacities: 1. Settle was his brother Laureate; only indeed upon half-pay, for the City instead of the Court; but equally famous for unintelligible flights in his poems on public occasions, fuch as hows, birthdays, &c. 2. Banks was his rival in tragedy, though more fuccessful in one of his tragedies, the Earl of Effex, which is yet alive: Anna Boleyn, the Queen of Scots, and Cyrus the Great, are dead and gone. Thefe

v. 140. In the former edit.

IMITATIONS.

The page admires new beauties not its own.]

"Miraturque novas frondes et non fua poma." .Virg. Georg. II. VOL. II.

254

But, high above, more folid learning fhone, The Claffics of an age that heard of none; There Caxton flept, with Wynkyn at his side, One clafp'd in wood, and one in ftrong cow-hide; 150 There, fav'd by fpice, like mummies many a year, Dry bodies of divinity appear:

De Lyra there a dreadful front extends,

And here the groaning thelves Philemon bends.

Of thefe twelve volumes, twelve of ample fize, 155 Redeem'd from tapers and defrauded pies, Infpir'd he feizes: these an altar raise; An hecatomb of pure unfully'd lays

That altar crowns; a folio common-place

Founds the whole pile, of all his works the base: 160 Quartos, octavos, fhape the lefs'ning pyre,

A twisted birth-day ode completes the spire.

REMARKS.

Then

Thefe he dreffed in a fort of beggar's velvet, or a happy mixture of the thick fuftian or thin profaic; exactly imitated in Parolla and Ifidora, Cæfar in Egypt, and the Heroic Daughter. 3. Broome was a ferving-man of Ben. Johnson, who once picked up a comedy from his betters, or from fome caft fcenes of his mafter's, not entirely contemptible.

v. 149. Caxton.] A printer in the time of Edward IV. Richard III. and Henry VII. Wynkyn de Worde, his fucceffor, in that of Henry VII. and Vill.

v. 153.] Nich. de Lyra, or Harpsfield, a very voluminous commentator, whofe works, in five vaft folios, were printed in 1472.

v. 154.] Philemon Holland, doctor in phyfic. "He tranflated fo many "books, that a man would think he had done nothing elfe; infomuch "that he might be called Tranilator-General of his age. The books alone "of his turning into English are fufficient to make a country gentle. "man a complete library." Winfanley.

VARIATIONS.

v. 146. In the first edit. it was

Well purg'd, and worthy W----y, W----s, and Bl----.

And in the following altered to Wythers, Quarles, and Bloome, on which was the following note:

It was printed in the furreptitious editions, W----ly, W----s, who were perfons eminent for good life; the one writ the Life of Chrift in verfe, the other fome valuable picces in the lyric kind, on pious fubjects. The line is here restored according to its original.

"George Wythers was a great pretender to poetical zeal against the "vices of the times, and abufed the greateft perfonages, in power, "which brought upon him frequent correction. The Marthaliea and "Newgate were no strangers to him." Winstanley. Quarles was a dull writer, but an honefter man. Bloome's books are remarkable for their

cuts.

v. 162. A twifled, &c.] In the former edit.

And last, a little Ajax tips the fpire. Var.a little Ajax.] in duodecimo, translated from Sophocles, by

Tibbald.

Then he, Great tamer of all human art! First in my care, and ever at my heart; Dulnefs! whofe good old cause I yet defend,

165

With whom my Mufe began, with whom fhall end,
E'er fince Sir Fopling's periwig was praife,
To the last honors of the Butt and Bays:
O thou! of bus'nefs the directing foul!
To this our head, like bias to the bowl,

170

175

Which, as more pond'rous, made its aim more true,
Obliquely waddling to the mark in view:
O! ever gracious to perplex'd mankind,
Still spread a healing mift before the mind;
And, left we err by Wit's wild dancing light,
Secure us kindly in our native night.
Or, if to wit a coxcomb make pretence,
Guard the fure barrier between that and fenfe
Or quite unravel all the reas'ning thread,
And hang fome curious cobweb in its ftead!
As, forc'd from wind-guns, lead itself can fly,
And pond'rous flugs cut fwiftly through the sky;
As clocks to weight their nimble motion owe,
The wheels above urg'd by the load below;
Me Emptiness and Dulness could inspire,
And were my elasticity and fire.

IMITATIONS.

2. 166. With whom my Mufe began, with whom shall end.]
"A te principium, tibi definet."
Ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα, και εἰς Δία λὴγελε Μέσαι.
"Prima dicte mihi, fumma dicenda Camoena."
VARIATIONS.

180

185 Some

Virg. Ecl. viii.
Theoc.

v. 177. Or, if to wit, &c.] In the former edit.
Ah! till o'er Britain ftretch that peaceful wand
Which lulls th' Helvetian and Batavian land;
Where rebel to thy throne, if Science rite,
She does but how her coward face, and dies:
There thy good Scholiafts, with unweary'd pains,
Make Horace flat, and humble Maro's trains:
Here ftudious I unlucky Moderns fave,
Nor fleeps one error in its father's grave,
Old puns reftore, loft blunders nicely feek,
And crucify poor Shakespeare once a week,
For the fupplying, in the worst of days,

Notes to dull books, and prologues to dull plays.
Not that my quill to critics was confin'd,
My verfe gave ampler leffons to mankind;
So gravent precepts may fuccefslefs prove,
But fad examples never fail to move,
As, forc'd from wind-guns, &'c.

Hor.

Some dæmon ftole my pen (forgive th' offence)
And once betray'd me into common sense,
Elfe all my profe and verfe were much the fame;
This profe on ftilts, that poetry fall'n lame.
Did on the stage my fops appear confin'd?
My life gave ampler leffons to mankind.
Did the dead letter unfuccefsful prove?
The brifk example never fail'd to move.

190

Yet fure, had Heav'n decreed to fave the ftate,

195

Heav'n had decreed these works a longer date.
Could Troy be fav'd by any single hand,

This gray-gcofe weapon must have made her stand.
What can I now! my Fletcher cast aside,
Take up the Bible, once my better guide?
Or tread the path by vent'rous heroes trod;
This box my thunder, this right-hand my God?
Or, chair'd at White's, amidit the Doctors fit,
Teach oaths to gameliers, and to nobles wit?
Or bidst thou rather party to embrace?
(A friend to party thou, and all her race;
'Tis the fame rope at diff'rent ends they twist;
To Dulnefs Ridpath is as dear as Mist.)
Shall I, like Curtius, desp'rate in my zeal,
O'er head and ears plunge for the commonweal?
Or rob Rome's ancient geefe of all their glories,
And cackling fave the monarchy of Tories?

VARIATIONS,

v. 195. Yet fure had Heav'n, &c.] In the former edit.
Had Heav'n decreed fuch works a longer date,
Heav'n had decreed to fpare the Grub-street fate,
But fee great Settle to the duft defcend,
And all thy caute and empire at an end!
Could Troy be fav'd, ---&c.

IMITATIONS.

v 195----had Heav'n decreed, &c.]

"Me fi coelicola voluiffent ducere vitam,
"Has mih: fervaffent fedes."----

v. 197, 198. Could Troy be fav'd- -This gray-geofe weapon.]
66 -Si Pergama dextra

Defendi poffent, etiam hac defenfa fuiffent."

7. 202. This box my thunder, this right hand my God?]
"Dextra mihi Deus, et telum quod miffle libro."

200

205

210

Hold

Virg. Æn. II.

Virg. ibid.

Virgil, of the Gods of Mezentius.