The Cap and Switch be sacred to his Grace; Or draw to silk Arachne's subtile line1; 590 The Judge to dance his brother Sergeant call2; An hundred Souls of Turkeys in a pie; 595 Teach Kings to fiddle 3, and make Senates dance. 6c0 And MAKE ONE MIGHTY DUNCIAD OF THE LAND!" 60% What Mortal can resist the Yawn of Gods 4? (St James's first, for leaden G▬▬ preach'd) 5 Then catch'd the Schools; the Hall scarce kept awake; The Convocation gap'd, but could not speak: 610 Lost was the Nation's Sense, nor could be found, Wide, and more wide, it spread o'er all the realm; 615 The Vapour mild o'er each Committee crept; was in 1720 relegated en masse to Pontoise, fr having resisted the last desperate financia measures of Law, the author of the Mississipp scheme, and then director of the Bank of France What Mortal can resist the Yawn of Gods! This verse is truly Homerical; as is the coclusion of the Action, where the great Mother composes all, in the same manner as Minerva at the period of the Odyssey. P. [Part om.] 5 Dr Gilbert Archbishop of York, who had attacked Dr King of Oxford whom Pope much respected. Warton. [Bowles was informed that this prelate was a most eloquent preacher.] 6 Young's Sat. VII. v. 215: 'What felt thy Walpole, pilot of the realm? Our Palinurus slept not at the helm.-' Wakefield. 7 These verses were written many years ag and may be found in the State Poems of tha time. P. and Warburton. V. 616 is from a poem by Halifax. Wakefield. O Muse! relate (for you can tell alone, 620 Whose Heads she partly, whose completely, blest; 'Till drown'd was Sense, and Shame, and Right, and Wrong 626 O sing, and hush the Nations with thy Song! She comes! she comes! the sable Throne behold 2 630 Of Night primæval and of Chaos old! 635 640 645 And Metaphysic calls for aid on Sense! In vain! they gaze, turn giddy, rave, and die. Religion blushing veils her sacred fires, And unawares Morality expires. 650 For public Flame, nor private, dares to shine; Nor human Spark is left, nor Glimpse divine! Lo! thy dread Empire, CHAOS! is restor'd; 1 Wits have short Memories,] This seems to be the reason why the Poets, whenever they give us a Catalogue, constantly call for help on the Muses, who, as the Daughters of Memory, are obliged not to forget any thing. So Homer, Iliad 11. vv. 788 ff. And Virgil, Æn. vii. [vv. 645-6.] SCRIBL. P. 2 She comes! she comes! &c.] Here the Muse, like Jove's Eagle, after a sudden stoop at ignoble game, soareth again to the skies. As Prophecy hath ever been one of the chief provinces of Poesy, our Poet here foretels from what we feel, what we are to fear; and, in the style of other prophets, hath used the future tense for the preterite: since what he says shall be, is already 655 to be seen, in the writings of some even of our most adored authors, in Divinity, Philosophy, Physics, Metaphysics, &c. who are too good indeed to be named in such company. P. 3 [Cf. Ov. Met. VII. v. 209.] 4 Truth to her old Cavern fled,] Alluding to the saying of Democritus, That Truth lay at the bottom of a deep well, from whence he had drawn her: Though Butler says, He first put her in, before he drew her out. Warburton. 5 Ver 643, in the former Edd. stood thus, Philosophy, that reach'd the Heav'ns before, Shrinks to her hidden cause, and is no more. And this was intended as a censure of the Newtonian philosophy. Warburton. BOOK. I. IMITATIONS. Ver. 140. in the former Edd. The page ad 'Miraturque novas frondes et non sua poma.' Virg. Geor. II. [v. 82.] Ver. 1. Say, great Patricians ! since your- mires new beauties not it's own.] selves inspire These wondrous works] 'Dii cœptis (nam vos mutastis et illas).' Ovid, Met. 1. [v. 2.] Ver. 6. Alluding o a verse of Mr Dryden, not in MacFleckno (as is said ignorantly in the Key to the Dunciad, p. 1), but in his verses to Mr Congreve, 'And Tom the second reigns like Tom the first.' [Epistle XII. v. 48.] Ver. 41, 42. Hence hymning Tyburn's Hence, &c.] 'Genus unde Latinum, Albanique patres, atque altæ monia Romæ.' Virg. Æn. 1. [vv. 6, 7.] Ver. 45. In clouded Majesty] 'the Moon Rising in clouded Majesty' Ver. 166. With whom my Muse began, with whom shall end.] 'A te principium, tibi desinet.' Virg. Ecl. vIII. [v. 11.] Ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα, καὶ εἰς Δία λήγετε, Μοῦσαι. 'Prima dicte mihi, summa dicende Camœna.' Ver. 195. 'Me si cœlicolæ voluissent ducere vitam, Has mihi servassent sedes.' Virg. Æn. 11. [vv. 641, 2.] Ver. 197, 198. Could Troy be sav'd-This grey-goose weapon] 'Si Pergama dextra Defendi possent, etiam hac defensa fuissent.' 'Quem neque pauperies, neque mors, neque hand my God.] vincula terrent.' Hor. [Lib. 11. Sat. vII. v. 84.] Ver. 55. Here she beholds the Chaos dark and deep, Where nameless Somethings, &c.] That is to say, unformed things, which are either made into Poems or Plays, as the Booksellers or the Players bid most. These lines allude to the following in Garth's Dispensary, Cant. VI. 'Within the chambers of the globe they spy The beds where sleeping vegetables lie, 'Till the glad summons of a genial ray Unbinds the glebe, and calls them out to day.' Ver. 64. And ductile Dulness, &c.] A parody on a verse in Garth, Cant. I. 'How ductile matter new meanders takes.' Ver. 79. The cloud-compelling Queen] From Homer's Epithet of Jupiter, vepeλnyepéta Zeús. Var. He rolled his eyes that witness'd huge dismay. 'round he throws his [baleful] eyes, That witness'd huge affliction and dismay.' Milt. [Par. Lost], Bk. 1. [vv. 56, 7.] The progress of a bad poet in his thoughts, being (like the progress of the Devil in Milton) through a Chaos, might probably suggest this imi tation. 'Dextra mihi Deus, et telum quod missile libro.' Var. And visit Alehouse,] Waller [to the 'Felix Priamëia virgo! Ver. 245. And thrice he lifted high the Birth day brand,] Ovid, of Althea on a like occasion, burning her offspring : 'Tum conata quater flammis imponere torrem, Cœpta quater tenuit.' [Metam. VIII. vv. 462, 3-] Ver. 250. Now flames the Cid, &c.] 'Jam Deïphobi dedit ampla ruinam, Vulcano superante domus; jam proximus ardet Ucalegon.'En. 11. [vv. 310-2.) Ver. 263. Great in her charms! as when on Shrieves and May'rs She looks and breathes herself into their airs.] Ver. 1. High on a gorgeous seat] Parody of Milton [Par. Lost], Book 11. [vv. 1. ff.] 'High on a throne of royal state, that far Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind, Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand Show'rs on her Kings Barbaric pearl and gold, Satan exalted sate.' Ver. 35. A Poet's form she plac'd before their eyes,] This is what Juno does to deceive Turnus, Æn. x. [vv. 636–40.] 'Tum Dea nube cava, tenuem sine viribus umbram In faciem Æneæ (visu mirabile monstrum!) Dat inania verba, Dat sine mente sonum. The reader will observe how exactly some of these verses suit with their allegorical application here to a Plagiary: There seems to me a great propriety in this Episode, where such an one is imagined by a phantom that deludes the grasp of the expecting Bookseller. Ver. 39. But such a bulk as no twelve bards could raise,] 'Vix illud lecti bis sex [cervice subirent,] Qualia nunc hominum producit corpora tellus.' Virg. Æn. XII. [vv. 899, 900.] 425 Ver. 60. So take the hindmost, Hell.] Ver. 61, &c. Something like this is in Homer, Il. x. v. 220, of Diomed. Two different manners of the same author in his similes are also imitated in the two following; the first, of the Bailiff, is short, unadorned, and (as the Critics well know) from familiar life; the second, of the Water-fowl, more extended, picturesque, and from rural life. The 59th verse is likewise a literal translation of one in Homer1. Ver. 64, 65. On feet and wings, and flies, and wades, and hops; So lab'ring on, with shoulders, hands, and head,] 'So eagerly the Fiend O'er bog, o'er steep, thro' streight, rough, dense, or rare, With head, hands, wings, or feet pursues his way, And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies.' Milton [Par. Lost], Book II. [v. 947 ff.] Ver. 67, 68. With arms expanded, Bernard rows his state, And left-legg'd Jacob seems to emulate.] Milton, of the motion of the Swan, 'rows His state with oary feet.' Par. Lost [Book VII.] v. 440. And Dryden, of another's,-With two left legs. Ver. 73. Here fortun'd Curl to slide;] 'Labitur infelix, cæsis ut forte juvencis Fusus humum viridesque super madefecerat herbas Concidit, immundoque fimo, sacroque cruore.' Virg. Æn. v. of Nisus [v. 329 ff.]. Ver. 74. And Bernard! Bernard!] 'Ut littus, Hyla, Hyla, omne sonaret.' Virg. Ecl. vi. [v. 44.] Ver. 83. A place there is, betwixt earth, air, and seas,] 'Orbe locus medio est, inter terrasque, fretumque, Cœlestesque plagas.' Ovid. Met. XII. [xv. 39, 40.] Ver. 108. Nor heeds the brown dishonours of his face,] 'faciem ostentabat, et udo Turpia membra fimo.' Ver. III. Virg. Æn. v. [vv. 357, 8.] Par levibus ventis, volucrique simillima somno.' 1 [After a diligent search I am disposed to doubt this. Perhaps the allusion is to Iliad XXIII. v. 479.] Ver. 114. His papers light, fly diverse, tost in air;] Virg. Æn. vi. of the Sibyl's leaves, 'Carmina turbata volent rapidis ludibria ventis.' [vv. 74, 5-] Ver. 141, 142. -piteous of his case, Yet smiling at his rueful length of face.] 'Risit pater optimus illi.' 'Me liceat casum misereri insontis amiciSic fatus, tergum Gætuli immane leonis, &c.' Virg. Æn v. [v. 358; vv. 350, 1.] Ver. 151. Himself among the story'd chiefs he spies,] 'Se quoque principibus permixtum agnovit Achi vis Constitit, et lacrymans: Quis jam locus, inquit, Achate ! Quæ regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?' Virg. Æn. 1. [v. 488; vv. 459, 60.] Ver. 156. And the fresh vomit run for ever green!] A parody on these lines of a late noble author: 'His bleeding arm had furnish'd all their rooms, And run for ever purple in the looms.' Ver. 158. Two babes of love close clinging to her waist;] 'Cressa genus, Pholoë, geminique sub ubere nati.' Virg. Æn. v. [v. 285.] Ver. 163. yon Juno-With cow-like udders, and with ox-like eyes.] In allusion to Homer's Βοώπις πότνια "Ηρη. Ver. 165. This China Jordan] In the games of Homer, Il. XXIII. there are set together, as prizes, a Lady and a Kettle, as in this place Mrs Haywood and a Jordan. But there the preference in value is given to the Kettle, at which Mad. Dacier is justly displeased. Mrs H. is here treated with distinction, and acknowledged to be the more valuable of the two. Ver. 169, 170. One on his manly confidence relies, One on his vigour] 'Ille-melior motu, fretusque juventa; Hic membris et mole valens.' Virg. Æn. v. [vv. 430, 1.] Ver. 173, 174. So Jove's bright bow...(Sure sign] The words of Homer, of the Rain-bow, in Iliad XI. [vv. 27, 8.] ' άς τε Κρονίων Εν νέφεϊ στήριξε, τέρας μερόπων ἀνθρώπων. 'Que le fils de Saturn a fondés dans les nües, pour être dans tous les âges une signe à tous les mortels.' Dacier. Ver. 181, 182. So (fam'd like thee for tur bulence and horns Eridanus] Virgil mentions | these two qualifications of Eridanus, Georg. IV. [vv. 371—3-] 'Et gemina auratus taurino cornua vultu, Eridanus, quo non alius per pinguia culta In mare purpureum violentior influit amnis' The Poets fabled of this river Eridanus, that it flowed through the skies. Denham, Cooper's Hill: 'Heav'n her Eridanus no more shall boast, Whose fame in thine, like lesser currents lost; Thy nobler stream shall visit Jove's abodes. To shine among the stars, and bathe the Gods.' Ver. 223, 225. To move, to raise, &c. Let others aim: 'Tis yours to shake, &c.] 'Excudent al spirantia mollius æra, Credo equidem, vivos ducent de marmore vultus, &c.' 'Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento, Hæ tibi erunt artes' [Æn. VI. vv. 847 ff.; vv. 851, 2] Ver. 243. A Cat-call each shall win, &c.] 'Non nostrum inter vos tantas componere lites, Et vitula tu dignus, et hic.' Ver. 247. Virg. Ecl. 111. [vv. 108, 9.] As when the &c.] A Simile with a long tail, in the manner of Homer. Ver. 260. bray back to him again.] A figure of speech taken from Virgil: 'Et vox assensu nemorum ingeminata remugit.' Georg. III. [v. 45.] 'He hears his numerous herds low o'er the plain, While neighb'ring hills low back to them again.' Cowley. The poet here celebrated, Sir R. B. delighted much in the word bray, which he endeavoured to ennoble by applying it to the sound of Armour, War, &c. In imitation of him, and strengthened by his authority, our author has here admitted it into Heroic poetry. Ver. 262. Prick all their ears up, and forget to graze; 'Immemor herbarum quos est mirata juvenca.' Virg. Ecl. vIII. [v. 2.] The progress of the sound from place to place, and the scenery here of the bordering regions, Tottenham-fields, Chancery-lane, the Thames, Westminster-hall, and Hungerford-stairs, are imitated from Virgil, Æn. vII. on the sounding the horn of Alecto: |