And then a nodding beam, or pig of lead,
God knows, may hurt the very ableft head.
Have you not feen, at Guildhall's narrow pafs,
Two Aldermen dispute it with an Ass ?
And peers give way, exalted as they are,
Ev'n to their own f-r-v---nce in a car?

105

(i) Go, lofty poet! and in fuch a crowd, Sing thy fonorous verse---but not aloud. Alas! to grottos and to groves we run, To eafe and filence, ev'ry Mufe's fon : Blackmore himfelf, for any grand effort, Would drink and dofe at Tooting or Earl's-court. How shall I rhyme in this eternal roar? How match the bards whom none e'er match'd before? 115

110

(k) The man, who, ftretch'd in Ifis' calm retreat,
To books and ftudy gives fev'n years complete,
See! ftrow'd with learned duft, his night-cap on,
He walks, an object new beneath the fun!

Hac rabiofa fugit canis, hac lutulenta ruit fus.
(2) I nunc, et verfus tecum meditare canoros.
Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus, et fugit urbes,
Rite cliens Bacchi, fomno gaudentis et umbra.
Tu me inter ftrepitus nocturnos atque diurnos
Vis canere, et contracta fequi veftigia vatum ?

(k) Ingenium, fibi quod vacuas defumfit Athenas,
Et ftudiis annos feptem dedit, infenuitque
Libris et curis, ftatua taciturnius exit

NOTES.

Ver. 113. Tooting---Earl's-court.] Two village, within a few miles of London.

The

L 3

The boys flock round him, and the people

ftare:

120

So ftiff, fo mute! fome ftatue you would fwear,
Stept from its pedestal to take the air!

And here, while town, and court, and city roars,
With mobs, and duns, and foldiers, at their doors;
Shall I, in London, act this idle part?
125
Compofing fongs, for fools to get by heart?

(1) The Temple late two brother-ferjeants faw, Who deem'd each other oracles of Law; With equal talents, thefe congenial fouls, One lull'd th' Exchequer, and one ftumn'd the Rolls; Each had a gravity would make you split, And thook his head at Murray, as a wit. 'Twas, Sir, your law"----and, "Sir, your elo: 66 quence."

131

"Yours, Cowper's manner----and yours, Talbot's "fenfe."

135

[m] Thus we difpofe of all poetic merit, Yours Milton's genius, and mine Homer's fpirit. Call Tibbald Shakefpear, and he'll wear the nine, Dear Cibber! never match'd one ode of thine.

Plerumque, et rifu populum quatit; hic ego rerum
Fluctibus in mediis, et tempeitatibus urbis,
Verba lyræ motura fonum connectere digner?

(7) Frater erat Romæ confulti rhetor; ut alter Alterius fermone meros audiret honores: Gracchus ut hic illi, foret huic ut Mucius ille. Qui minus argutos vexat furor ifte poetas?

Carmina compono, hic elegos; mirabile vifu, latumque novem Mufis opus. afpice primum, Quanto cum faftu, quanto molimine circum

Lord!

140

Lord! how we ftrut thro' Merlin's Cave, to fee
No poets there, but Stephen, you, and me.
Walk with respect behind, while we at ease
Weave laurel crowns, and take what names we please.
My dear Tibullus!" if that will not do,
"Let me be Horace, and be Ovid you:

66

"Or, I'm content, allow me Dryden's strains, 145
"And you thall rife up Otway for your pains."
Much do I fuffer, much, to keep in peace 1
This jealous, wafpith, wrong-head, rhyming race;
And much must flatter, if the whim should bite
To court applause by printing what I write: 150
But let the fit pass o'er, I'm wife enough,
To top my ears to their confounded ftuff.

Spectemus vacuam Romanis vatibus ædem.

Mox etiam (fi forte vacas) fequere, et procul audi,
Quid ferat, et quare fibi nectat uterque coronam.
Cadimur et totidem plagis confumimus hoftem,
Lento Samnites ad lumina prima duello.
Difcedo Alcæus puncto illius; ille meo quis?
Quis, nifi Callimachus? fi plus ad pofcere vifus:
Fit Mimnermus, et optivo cognomine crefcit.
Multa fero, ut placem genus irritabile vatum,
Cum fcribo, et fupplex populi fuffragia capto:
Idem finitis ftudiis, et mente recepta,
Obturem patulas impune legentibus aures.

NOTES.

Ver. 129. Merlin's Cave,] In the royal gardens at Richmond. By this it fhould feem, as if the collection of poetry, in that place, was not to our author's taffe.

Ver. 140. But Stephen.] Mr Stephen Duck, a modest and worthy man, who had the honour (which many, who thought themfelves his betters in poetry, had not) of being esteemed by Mr Pope.

156

[2] In vain, bad rhymers all mankind reject, They treat themselves with moft profound refpect; 'Tis to fmall purpose that you hold your tongue, Each prais'd within, is happy all day long; But how feverely with themselves proceed The men, who write fuch verfe as we can read? Their own ftrict judges, not a word they spare, That wants or force, or light, or weight, or care, Howe'er unwillingly it quits its place, 161 Nay tho' at court (perhaps) it may find grace: Such they'll degrade; and fometimes, in its stead, [o] In downright charity revive the dead; Mark where a bold expreffive phrafe appears, 165 Bright thro' the rubbish of fome hundred years; Command old words that long have flept, to wake, Words, that wife Bacon or grave Raleigh spake;

(2) Ridentur mala qui componunt carmina: verum Gaudent fcribentes, et fe venerantur, et ultro, Si taceas, laudant; quidquid fcripfere, beati. At qui legitimum cupiet feciffe poema, Cum tabulis animum cenforis fumet honefti : Audebit quæcunque parum fplendoris habebunt, Et fine pondere erunt, et honore indigna ferentur, Verba movere loco; quamvis invita recedant, Et verfenter adhuc intra penetralia Veste: (a) Obfcurata diu populo bonus eruet, atque Proferet in lucem fpeciofa vocabula rerum, Que prifcis memorata Catonibus atque Cethegis, Nunc fitus informis premit et deferta vetuftas: Adfcifcet nova, quæ genitor produxerit ufus: Vehemens et liquidus, puroque fimillimus amni, Fundet opes, Latiumque beabit divite lingua :

Or

Or bid the new be English, ages hence,
(For Ufe will father what's begot by Senfe), 170
Pour the full tide of eloquence along,
Serenely pure, and yet divinely strong,
Rich with the treafures of each foreign tongue;
Prune the luxuriant, the uncouth refine,
But fhow no mercy to an empty line:
Then polish all with fo much life and ease,
You think 'tis Nature, and a knack to please:
"But eafe in writing flows from art, not chance,
"As thofe move eafieft who have learn'd to dance."

175

[p] If fuch the plague and pains to write by rule,
Better (fay I) be pleas'd, and play the fool: 181
Call, if you will, bad rhyming a difeafe,
It gives men happiness, or leaves them ease.
There liv'd in primo Georgii (they record)
A worthy member, no fmall fool, a Lord;
Who, tho' the House was up, delighted fat,
Heard, noted, anfwer'd, as in full debate:
In all but this, a man of fober life,
Fond of his friend, and civil to his wife;
Not quite a madman, though a pafty fell,
And much too wife to walk into a well.

185

190

Luxuriantia compefcet: nimis afpera fano
Levabit cultu, virtute carentia tollet:
Ludentis fpeciem dabit, et torquebitur, ut qui
Nunc Satyrum, nunc agreftem Cyclopa movetur,
(p) Prætulerim fcriptor delirus inerfque videri,
Dum mea delectent mala me, vel denique fallant,
Quam fapere, et ringi. Fuit haud ignobilis Argis,
Qui fe credebat miros audire tragœdos,
In vacuo lætus feffor plauforque theatro:

Him