COMMENDATORY POEMS. JOHN SHEFField, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM. John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, descended from a noble family of great antiquity, distinguished himself in a military capacity both by sea and land. After the Revolution, he was created Marquis of Normanby, and on the accession of Queen Anne, Duke of Buckingham; under which different titles he is celebrated by his contemporaries, and in particular by Dryden, Roscommon, Lansdown, Garth, and Pope. His Essay on Poetry may be considered as one of the earliest attempts to restore a just taste in English literature, and as having led the way to the great improvement which soon afterwards followed. Of the splendid mansion which he erected in St. James's Park, since called Buckingham House, and of his manner of living there, he has left a very curious account in a letter to the Duke of Chandos. He died in February, 1720. He married Catherine Darnley, daughter of James II. by the Countess of Dorchester. ON MR. POPE AND HIS POEMS. WITH Age decay'd, with Courts and bus'ness tir'd, 5 Encomiums suit not this censorious time, Itself a subject for satiric rhyme ; 10 Ignorance honour'd, Wit and Worth defam'd, And yet so wonderful, sublime a thing As the great ILIAD, scarce could make me sing; A good Companion, and as firm a Friend. 'Tis great delight to laugh at some men's ways, But a much greater to give Merit praise. 15 20 ANNE, COUNTESS OF WINCHELSEA, Wife of Daniel, second Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, distinguished herself by her poem on the Spleen, printed in Gildon's Miscellany, 1701. She also wrote a Tragedy, never acted, called Aristomenes. Her poems were printed in London, 1713. Octavo1. The following complimentary verses to Pope are omitted in the editions of Warburton, Warton, and Bowles; but having been given by Pope in the first edition of his Poems, in 1717, are here reprinted from that edition. TO MR. POPE. THE Muse of every heavenly gift allow'd And in each verse he draws a bill on fame. Swift has addressed her in an Impromptu, under the name of Ardelia ; v. Swift's Works, Sir Walter Scott's ed. vol. xiii. p. 344. Then let us find, in your foregoing page, Nor by injurious scruples think it fit To hide their judgments who applaud your wit. Inform the head, whilst you dissolve the heart; With vernal sweets fresh breathing from the plains. Your Tales be easy, natural, and gay, Nor all the Poet in that part display; 30 Nor let the Critic there his skill unfold, For Boccace thus, and Chaucer Tales have told. Soothe, as you only can, each differing taste, And for the future charm as in the past. 35 40 "Tis not from friends that write, or foes that read; Censure or praise must from ourselves proceed. VOL. II. с MR. WYCHERLEY. THE following lines by Wycherley afford a very favourable specimen of his poetical talents; insomuch that Dennis and others contended that Pope was himself the author of them; a charge which Pope thought it worth his while to refute, by stating that "the first brouillon of them, and the second copy with corrections, were both extant in Wycherley's own hand-writing." They were written in 1708, before the publication of the pastorals; and are repeatedly referred to in Wycherley's Letters to Pope; in one of which he says, "I have made a damn'd compliment in verse upon the printing your pastorals, which you shall see when you see me." TO MR. POPE, ON HIS PASTORALS. IN these more dull, as more censorious days, And write not to the head, but to the ear: 5 10 15 20 Fancy improves, and judgment makes your own: Altho' disgraceful 'tis their clothes to wear. 25 |