Or where the pictures for the page atone,

140

And Quarles is sav'd by beauties not his own.
Here swells the shelf with Ogilby the Great;
There, stamp'd with arms, Newcastle shines com-
Here all his suff'ring brotherhood retire,
And 'scape the martyrdom of jakes and fire:

[plete:

145

A Gothic library! of Greece and Rome
Well purg'd, and worthy Settle, Banks, and Broome.

REMARKS.

v. 141. Ogilby the Great.] "John Ogilby was one who, " from a late initiation into literature, made such a progress as might well style him the prodigy of his time! "sending into the world so many large volumes! his translations of Homer and Virgil done to the life, and "with such excellent sculptures: and (what added great grace to his works) he printed them all on special good paper, and in a very good letter," Winstanley, Lives of poets.

v. 142. There, stamp'd with arms, Newcastle shines complete The Dutchess of Newcastle was one who bu"sied herself in the ravishing delights of poetry; lear ing to posterity in print three ample volumes of her studious endeavours." Winstanley, ibid. Langbaine reckons up eight folios of her Grace's, which were usually adorned with gilded covers, and had her coat of arms upon them.

v. 146.---worthy Settle, Banks and Broome.1 The Poet has mentioned these three authors in particular, as they are parallel to our hero in his three capacities: r. 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, such as shows, birth-days, &c. 2. Banks

IMITATIONS.

v. 140. In the former edit.

The page admires new beauties not its own.]
"Miraturque novas frondes et non sua poma."
Virg. Georg. II.

But, high above, more solid learning shone, The Classics of an age that heard of none; There Caxton slept, with Wynkyn at his side,

One clasp'd in wood, and one in strong cow-hide; 150 There, sav'd by spice, like mummies, many a year, Dry bodies of divinity appear;

De Lyra there a dreadful front extends,

And here the groaning shelves Philemon bends.

REMARKS.

was his rival in tragedy, (though more successful) in one of his tragedies, the Earl of Essex, which is yet alive: Anna Boleyn, the Queen of Scots, and Cyrus the Great, are dead and gone. These he dressed in a sort of beggar's velvet, or a happy mixture of the thick fustian and thin prosaic; exactly imitated in Parolla and Isidora, Cæsar in Egypt, and the heroic Daughter. 3. Broome was a serving-man of Ben Jonson, who once picked up a comedy from his betters, or from some cast scenes of his masters, not entirely contemptible.

v. 194. Caxton. A printer in the time of Edward IV. Richard III. and Henry VII. Wynkyn de Word, his successor, in that of Henry VII. and VIII.

v. 153. Nich. de Lyra; or Harpsfield, a very volu minous commentator, whose works, in five vast folios, were printed in 1472.

v. 154. Philemon Holland, doctor in physic. "He "translated so many books, that a man would think he "had done nothing else; insomuch that he might be "called Translator-General of his age. The books alone "of his turning into English, are sufficient to make a country gentleman a compleat library." Winstanley.

VARIATIONS.

v. 146. In the first edit. it was

Well purg'd, and worthy, W---y, W---s and B1---. And in the following altered to Wythers, Quarles, and Bloome, on which was the following note:

It was printed in the surreptitious editions, W- ly,

Of these twelve volumes, twelve of amplest size, 155 Redeem'd from tapers and defrauded pies,

Inspir'd he seizes: these an altar raise;
An hecatomb of pure, unsully'd lays

That altar crowns; a folio common-place

Founds the whole pile, of all his works the base: 160
Quartos, Octavos, shape the less'ning pyre,
A twisted birth-day ode completes the spire.
Then he, great tamer of all human art!
First in my care, and ever at my heart;
Dulness! whose good old cause I yet defend,
With whom my Muse began, with whom shall end,
E're since Sir Fopling's periwig was praise,

To the last honors of the Butt and Bays:

165

O thou! of bus'ness the directing scul!

170

To this our head like bias to the bowl,
Which, as more pond'rous, made its aim more true,
Obliquely waddling to the mark in view:

VARIATIONS.

W--s, who were persons eminent for good life; the one writ the Life of Christ in verse, the other some valuable pieces in the lyric kind, on pious subjects. 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 abused the "greatest personages in power, which brought upon "him frequent correction. The Marshalsea and New

66

gate were no strangers to him." Winstanley. Quarles was a dull writer, but an honester man. Blcome's books are remarkable for their cuts.

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

And last, a little Ajax tips the spire.

Var.---a little Ajar.] In duodecimo, translated from Syphoces, by Tibbald,

O! ever gracious to perplex'd mankind,

Still spread a healing mist before the mind;
And, lest 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 sure barrier between that and sense;
Or quite unravel all the reas'ning thread,
And hang some curious cobweb in its stead!
As, forc'd from wind-guns, lead itself can fly,
And pond'rous slugs cut swiftly 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.

Some dæmon stole my pen (forgive th' offence)

And once betray'd me into common sense:

IMITATIONS.

175

180

185

v. 166. With whom my muse began, with whom shall end.] "A te principium, tibi desinet.---"

Virg. Eel. vui. Εκ Λιος ἀρχι μισθα, και εἰς Δία λὴγελε Μέσαι The. "Prima dicte mihi, summa dicenda Camoena." Hor.

VARIATIONS.

v. 177. Or, if to wit, &c.] In the former edit.
Ah! still o'er Britain stretch that peaceful wand,
Which lulls th' Helvetian and Batavian land;
Where rebel to thy throne, if Science rise,
She does but show her coward face, and dies:
There thy good Scholiasts, with unweary'd pains,
Make Horace flat, and humble Maro's strains:
Here studious I unlucky Moderns save,
Nor sleeps one error in it's father's grave,
Old puns restore, lost blunders nicely seen,
And crucify poor Shakespeare once a week.
For the supplying, in the worst of days,
Notes to dull books, and prologues to dull plays,

Else all my prose and verse were much the same;

This prose on stilts, that, poetry fall'n lame.

Did on the stage my fops appear confin'd?

My life gave ampler lessons to mankind.

Did the dead letter unsuccessful prove?
The brisk example never fail'd to move.

190

Yet sure, had Heav'n decreed to save the state,
Heav'n had decreed these works a longer date.
Could Troy be sav'd by any single hand,
This gray-goose 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 amidst the doctors sit,
Teach oaths to gamesters, and to nobles wit?

VARIATIONS.

Not that my quill to critics was confin'd,
My verse gave ampler lessons to mankind;
So gravest precepts may successless prove,
But sad examples never fail to move,
As, forc'd from wind-guns, &c.

195

200

v. 15. Yet sure, bad Heaven, &c.] In the former edit.
Had Heav'n decreed such works a longer date,
Heav'n had decreed to spare the Grub-street state.
But see great Settle to the dust descend,

And all thy cause and empire at an end!
Could Troy be sav'd,---&c.

IMITATIONS.

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

"Me si coelicolæ voluissent duccère vitam,

"Has mihi servassent sedes,'

Virg. Æn. II.

v.197,198. Could Troy be sav'd---This gray-goose weapon.] -Si Pergama dextra

Defendi possent, etiam hac defensa fui sent. Virg. Ibid.