Whate'er of mungril no one class admits, Nor absent they, no members of her state, Let standard-authors, thus, like trophies borne, 90 Appear more glorious, as more hack'd and torn. And you, my critics! in the chequer'd shade, Admire new light through holes yourselves have made. 100 There march'd the bard and blockhead side by side, Who rhym'd for hire, and patroniz'd for pride. A new edition of old son gave; VARIATION. Ver. 114. 120 "Leave not a foot of verse, a foot of stone, A page, a grave, that they can call their own; But spread, my sons, your glory thin or thick, On passive paper, or on solid brick. 130 So by each bard, an alderman shall sit, A heavy lord shall hang at every wit, And while on Fame's triumphal car they ride, Some slave of mine be pinion'd to their side." Now crowds on crowds around the goddess press, Each eager to present the first address. Dunce scorning dunce beholds the next advance, But fop shows fop superior complaisance. REMARKS. Ver. 128. A page, a gråve,] For what less than a grave can be granted to a dead author? or what less than a page can be allowed a living one! Ver. 128. A page,] Pagina, not pedissequus. A page of a book, not a servant, follower, or attendant: no poet having had a page since the death of Mr. Thomas Durfey.-Scribl. Ver. 131. So by each bard an alderman, &c.] Vide the Tombs of the Poets, editio Westmonasteriensis. Ibid.--an alderman shall sit,] Alluding to the monument erected for Butler by alderman Barber. Ver. 132. A heavy lord shall hang at every wit,] How unnatural an image, and how ill-supported! saith Aristarchus. Had it been, A heavy wit shall hang at every lord, something might have been said, in an age so dis What! no respect, he cried, for Shakespeare's tinguished for well-judging patrons. For lord, page? Ver. 115. &c.] These four lines were printed in a separate leaf by Mr. Pope in the last edition, which he himself gave, of the Dunciad, with directions to the printer, to put this leaf into its place as soon as sir T. H.'s Shakespeare should be published. Ver. 119. Thus revive. &c.] The goddess applands the practice of tacking the obscure names of persons not eminent in any branch of learning, to those of the most distinguished writers; either by printing editions of their works with impertinent alterations of their text, as in the former instances; or by setting up monuments disgraced with their own vile names and inscriptions, as in the latter. then, read load; that is, of debts here, and of commentaries hereafter. To this purpose, conspicuous is the case of the poor author of Hudibras, whose body, long since weighed down to the grave, by a load of debts, has lately had a more unmerciful load of commentaries laid upon his spirit; wherein the editor has achieved more than Virgil himself, when he turned critic, could boast of, which was only, that he had picked golď out of another man's dung, whereas the editor has picked it out of his own.-Scribl. Aristarchus thinks the common reading right : and that the author himself had been struggling, and but just shaken off his load when he wrote the following epigram: My lord complains, that Pope, stark mad with gardens, Has lopt three trees the value of three farthings: But he's my neighbour, cries the peer polite, And if he'll visit me, I'll wave my right. What? on compulsion? and against my will, A lord's acquaintance? Let him file his bill. Ver. 137, 138. Dunce scorning dunce beholds the next advance, But top shows fop superior complaisance. } This is not to be ascribed so much to the different manners of a court and college, as to the different effects which a pretence to learning, and a pretence to wit, have on blockheads. For as judgment consists in finding out the differences in things, and wit in finding out their likenesses, so the dunce 140 When lo! a spectre rose, whose index-hand Words are man's province, words we teach alone. To ask, to guess, to know, as they commence, REMARKS. This great prince was the first who assumed the title of Sacred Majesty, which his loyal clergy transferred from God to him. "The principles of passive obedience and non-resistance (says the author of the Dissertation on Parties, Letter 8), which before his time had skulked perhaps in some old homily, were talked, written, and preached into vogue in that inglorious reign." Ver. 194. Though Christ-church, &c.] This line is doubtless spurious, and foisted in by the 170 impertinence of the editor; and accordingly we have put it in between hooks. For I affirm this college came as early as any other, by its proper deputies; nor did any college pay homage to Dulness in its whole body.-Bentl. is all discord and dissension, and constantly busied in reproving, examining, confuting, &c. while the fop flourishes in peace, with songs and hymns of praise, addresses, characters, epithalamiums, &c. Ver. 140. the dreadful wand;] A cane usually borne by schoolmasters, which drives the poor souls about like the wand of Mercury.-Scribl. Ver. 151. like the Samian letter, The letter Y used by Pythagoras as an emblem of the different roads of virtue and vice. Et tibi quæ Samios diduxit litera ramos.-Pers. Ver. 174. that master-piece of man.] Viz. an epigram. The famous Dr. South declared a per fect epigram to be as difficult a performance as an epic poem. And the critics say, "An epic poem is the greatest work human nature is capable of." Ver. 176. Some gentle James, &c.] Wilson tells us that this king, James the First, took upon himself to teach the Latin tongue to Car, earl of Somerset ; and that Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador would speak false Latin to him, ou pur pose to give him the pleasure of correcting it, whereby he wrought himself into his good graces. Ver. 196. still expelling Locke,] In the year 1703 there was a meting of the heads of the University of Oxford to censure Mr. Locke's Essay on Human Understanding, and to forbid the reading of it. See his Letters in the last Edit. Ver. 198. On German Crouzaz, and Dutch Burgers lyck ] There seems to be an improbability that the doctors and heads of houses should ride on horseback, who of late days, being gouty or unwieldy, have kept their coaches. But these are horses of great strength, and fit to carry any weight, as their German and Dutch extraction av manifest; and very famous we may conclude, being honour'd with names, as were the horses Pegasus and Bucephalus -Scribl. Though I have the greatest deference to the penetration of this eminent scholiast, and must own that nothing can be more natural than his interpretation, or juster than that rule of criticism, which directs us to keep to the literal sense, when no apparent absurdity accompanies it (and sure there is no absurdity in supposing a logician on horseback), yet still I must needs think the hackneys here celebrated were not real horses, nor even Centaurs, which, for the sake of the learned Chiron, I should rather be inclined to think, if I were forced to find them four legs, but downright plain men, though logicians: and only thus ine-. tamorphosed by a rule of rhetorie, of which cardinal Perron gives us an example, where he calls Clavius, Un esprit pesant, lourd, sans subtilité, ni gentillesse, un gros cheval d'Alle magne." 200 As many quit the streams that murmuring fall REMARKS. 210 Here I profess to go opposite to the whole stream of commentators. I think the poet only aimed, though awkwardly, at an elegant Græcism in this representation; for in that language the word xos [horse] was often prefixed to others, to denote greatness of strength; as irokázalov, ἵππόγλωσσον ἱππομάραθρον, and particularly ΙπποINOMON, a great connoisseur, which comes nearest to the case in hand.-Scip. Maff. Ver. 199. the streams] The river Cam, running by the walls of these colleges, which are particularly famous for their skill in disputation. Ver. 220. of Me or Te,] It was a serious dispute, about which the learned were much divided, and some treatises written: had it been about meum and tuum it could not be more contested, than whether at the end of the first Ode of Horace, to read, Me doctarum hederæ præmia frontium, or, Te doctarum hedera.-By this the learned Ver. 202. sleeps in port.] viz. "Now retired into harbour, after the tempests that had long agitated his society." So Scriblerus. But the learned Scipio Maffei understands it of a certain wine called port, from Oporto, a city of Portugal, of which this professor invited him to drink abun-scholiast would seem to insinuate that the dispute dantly. Scip. Maff. De Compotation. Academicis. [And to the opinion of Manci inclineth the sagacious annotator on Dr. King's Advice to Horace.] was not about meum and tuum, which is a inistake: for, as a venerable sage observeth, words are the counters of wisemen, but the money of fools; so that we see their property was indeed concerned.--Scribl. Ver. 210. Aristarchus.] A famous commentator and corrector of Homer, whose name has been Ver. 222. Or give up Cicero to C or K.] frequently used to signify a complete critic. The Grammatical disputes about the manner of procompliment paid by our author to this eminentnouncing Cicero's name in Greek. It is a dispute professor, in applying to him so great a name, was the reason that he hath omitted to comment on this part which contains his own praises. We shall therefore supply that loss to our best ability. Scribl. Ver. 214. Critics like me-] Alluding to two famous editions of Horace and Milton; whose richest veins of poetry he had prodigally reduced to the poorest and most beggarly prosc.-Verily the learned scholiast is grievously mistaken. Aristarchus is not boasting here of the wonders of his art in annihilating the sublime; but of the usefulness of it, in reducing the turgid to its proper class; the words "make it prose again," plainly showing that prose it was, though ashamed of its original, and therefore to prose it should return. Indeed, much it is to be lamented that Dulness doth not confine her critics to this useful task; and commission them to dismount what Aristophanes calls Ρημαθ' ίπποβάμονα, all prose on hors-back.-Scribl. Ver. 216. Author of something yet more great than letter;] Alluding to those grammarians, such as Palamedes and Simonides, who invented whether in Latin the name of Hermagoras should end in as or a. Quintilian quotes Cicero as writing it Hermagora, which Bently rejects, and says Quintilian must be mistaken, Cicero could not write it so, and that in this case he would not believe Cicero himself. These are his very words: Ego vero Ciceronem ita scripsisse ne Ciceroni quidem affirmanti crediderim.-Epist. ad Mill. in fin. Frag. Menand. et Phil. Ver. 223, 224. Freind-Alsop] Dr. Robert Freind, master of Westminster-school, and canon of Christ-church, Dr. Anthony Alsop, a happy imitator of the Horatian style. Ver. 226. Manilius and Solinus] Some critics having had it in their choice to comment either on Virgil or Manilius, Pliny or Solinus, have chosen the worse author, the more freely to display their critical capacity. Ver. 228, &c. Suidas, Gellius, Stobæus] The first a dictionary-writer, a collector of impertinent facts and barbarous words; the second a minute critic; the third an author, who gave his commonplace book to the public, where we happen to find much mince-meat of old books. The critic eye, that microscope of wit, Sees hairs and pores, examines bit by bit: How parts relate to parts, or they to whole; The body's harmony, the beaming soul, Are things which Kuster, Burman, Wasse shall see, When man's whole frame is obvious to a flea. "Ah, think not, mistress! more true Dulness lies In Folly's cap, than Wisdom's grave disguise. 240 Like buoys, that never sink into the flood, On Learning's surface we but lie and nod, Thine is the genuine head of many a house, And much divinity without a Nous. Nor could a Barrow work on every block, Nor has one Atterbury spoil'd the flock. See! still thy own, the heavy canon roll, And metaphysic smokes involve the pole. For thee we dim the eyes, and stuff the head With all such reading as was never read: For thee explain a thing till all men doubt it, And write about it, goddess, and about it: So spins the silk-worm small its slender store, And labours, till it clouds itself all o'er. What though we let some better sort of fool Thrid ev'ry science, run through every school? Never by tumbler through the hoops was shown Such skill in passing all, and touching none. He may indeed (if sober all this time) Plague with dispute, or persecute with rhyme. 260 We only furnish what he cannot use, 250 Or wed to what he must divorce, a Muse: REMARKS. 270 Ver. 245, 246. Barrow, Atterbury] Isaac Barrow, master of Trinity, Francis Atterbury, dean of Christ-church, both great geniuses and eloquent preachers; one more conversant in the sublime geometry, the other in classical learning; but who equally made it their care to advance the polite arts in their several societies. Ver. 272. lac'd governor] Why lac'd? Because gold and silver are necessary trimming to denote the dress of a person of rank, and the governor must be supposed so in foreign countries, to be admitted into courts and other places of fair reception. But how comes Aristarchus to know at sight that this governor came from France? Know? Why, by the laced coat.-Scribl. 280 Walker! our hat"- -nor more he deign'd to say, cast, Safe and unseen the young Æneas past: Thence bursting glorious, all at once let down, Stunn'd with his giddy larum half the town. REMARKS. 290 Ver. 280. As if he saw St. James's] Reflecting on the disrespectful and indecent behaviour of several forward young persons in the presence, so offensive to all serious men, and to none more than the good Scriblerus. Ver. 281. th' attendant orator] The governor above-said. The poet gives him no particular name; being unwilling, I presume, to offend or to do injustice, to any, by celebrating one only with whom this character agrees, in preference to so many who equally deserve it.-Scribl, Ver. 284. A dauntless infant! never scar'd with God] i. e. Brought up in the enlarged principles of modern education; whose great point is, to keep the infant mind free from the prejudices of opinion, and the growing spirit unbroken by terrifying names. Amongst the happy consequences of this reformed discipline, it is not the least, that we have never afterwards any occasion for the priest, whose trade, as a modern wit informs us, is only to finish what the nurse began. -Scribl. Ver. 286.-the blessing of a rake.] Scriblerus is here much at a loss to find out what this blessing should be. He is sometimes tempted to imagine it might be the marrying a great fortune: but this, again, for the vulgarity of it, he rejects, as something uncommon seemed to be prayed for. And after many strange conceits, not at all to the honour of the fair sex, he at length rests in this, that it was, that her son might pass for a wit; in which opinion he fortifies himself by ver. 316. where the orator, speaking of his pupil, says, that he Intrigued with glory, and with spirit whor'd, which seems to insinuate that her prayer was Ibid. Whore, pupil, and lac'd governor] Some critics have objected to the order here, being of opinion that the governor should have the pre-heard. cedence before the whore, if not before the pupil. But were he so placed, it might be thought to insinuate that the governor led the pupil to the whore; and were the pupil placed first, he might be supposed to lead the governor to her. our impartial poet, as he is drawing their picture, represents them in the order in which they are nerally seen; namely, the pupil between the whore and the governor, but placeth the whore first. as she usually governs both the other. But every where else, lays open the very soul of Here the good scholiast, as, indeed, modern criticism, while he makes his own ignorance of a poctical expression hold open the door to much erudition and learned conjecture: the blessing of a rake signifying no more than that he might be a rake; the effects of a thing for the thing itself, a common figure. The careful mother only wished her son might be a rake, as well knowing that its attendant blessings would follow of course. Her too receive (for her my soul adores), 300 Unseen at church, at senate, or at court, Intrepid then, o'er seas and lands he flew : As Jansen, Fleetwood, Cibber shall think fit; 321 329 This glorious youth, and add one Venus more. REMARKS. No cause, no trust, no duty, and no friend, 340 But Annius, crafty seer, with ebon wand, 360 Soft, as the wily fox is seen to creep, Ver. 307. But chief, &c.] These two lines, in Blest in one Niger, till he knows of two." Ver. 308. And Cupids ride the lion of the deeps;] The winged lion, the arms of Venice. This republic heretofore the most considerable in Europe, for her naval force and the extent of her commerce; now illustrious for her carnivals. Ver. 318. greatly-daring din'd;] It being indeed no small risque to eat through those extraordinary compositions, whose disguised ingredients are generally unknown to the guests, and highly inflammatory and unwholesome. Ver. 324. With nothing but a solo in his head;] With nothing but a solo? Why, if it be a solo, how should there be any thing else? Palpable tautology! Read boldly au opera, which is enough of conscience for such a head as has lost all its Latin. Bentl. Ver. 326. Jansen, Fleetwood, Cibber] Three very eminent persons, all managers of plays: who, though not governors by profession, had, each in his way, concerned themselves in the education of youth; and regulated their wits, their morals, or their finances, at that period of their age which is the most important, their entrance into the polite world. Of the last of these, and his talents for this end, see Book i. ver. 199, &c. REMARKS. 370 Ver. 331. Her too receive, &c.] This confirms what the learned Scriblerus advanced in his note on ver. 272, that the governor, as well as the pupil, had a particular interest in this lady. Ver. 341. Thee too, my Paridel !] The poet seems to speak of this young gentleman with great affection. The name is taken from Spenser, who gives it to a wandering courtly squire, that travelled about for the same reason for which many young squires are now fond of travelling, and especially to Paris. Ver. 347. Annius,] The name taken from Annins the monk of Viterbo, famous for many impositions and forgeries of ancient manuscripts and inscriptions, which he was prompted to by mere vanity, but our Annius had a more substantial motive. Ver. 363. Attys and Cecrops] The first king of Atheus, of whom it is hard to suppose any coins are extant; but not so improbable as what follows, that there should be any of Mahomet, who forbad all images; and the story of whose pigeon was a monkish fable. Nevertheless one of these Anniuses made a counterfeit medal of that impostor, now in the collection of a learned nobleman. |