Here one poor word an hundred clenches makes 1, There motley images her fancy strike, 65 Figures ill pair'd, and Similes unlike. All these and more the cloud-compelling Queen * 3 Now May'rs and Shrieves all hush'd and satiate lay, Here one poor word an hundred clenches makes,] It may not be amiss to give an instance or two of these operations of Dulness out of the works of her Sons, celebrated in the Poem. A great Critic formerly held these clenches in such abhorrence, that he declared, "he that would pun, would pick a pocket." Yet Mr Dennis's works afford us notable examples in this kind; "Alexander Pope hath sent abroad into the world as many Bulls as his namesake Pope Alexander.-Let us take the initial and final letters of his name, viz. A. P-E, and they give you the idea of an Ape.-Pope comes from the Latin word Popa, which signifies a little Wart; or from poppysma, because he was continually popping out squibs of wit, or rather Popysmata, or Popisms." DENNIS on Hom. and Daily Journal, June 11, 1728. P. [A 'clench' or 'clinch' was a common expression for a pun.] 2 How Farce and Epic-How Time himself, &c.] Allude to the transgressions of the Unities in the Plays of such Poets. For the Miracles wrought upon Time and Place, and the mixture of Tragedy and Comedy, Farce and Epic, see Pluto and Proserpine, Penelope, &c. if yet extant. P. 3 Ver. 85 in the former Editions, "Twas on the day when Thorold, rich and grave.' Sir George Thorold, Lord Mayor of London in the year 1720. The Procession of a Lord Mayor is made partly by land, and partly by water.-Cimon, the famous Athenian General, obtained a victory by sea, and another by land, on the same day, over the Persians and Barbarians. P. [The battle of the Eurymedon.] 4 But liv'd in Settle's numbers one day more.] A beautiful manner of speaking, usual with poets in praise of poetry. Settle was poet to the City of London. His office was to compose yearly panegyrics upon the Lord Mayors, and verses to be spoken in the pageants: But that part of the shows being at length frugally abolished, the employment of City-poet ceased; so that upon Settle's demise there was no successor to that place. P. [Part om.] [As to Elkanah Settle, see To the Author of a Poem entitled Successio; in Miscellaneous Poems.] Much to the mindful Queen the feast recalls Old Prynne in restless Daniel] The first edition had it, She saw in Norton all his father shine: a great mistake! for Daniel De Foe had parts, but Norton De Foe was a wretched writer, and never attempted Poetry. Much more justly is Daniel himself made successor to W. Pryn, both of whom wrote Verses as well as Politics. And both these authors had a semblance in their fates as well as writings, having been alike sentenced to the Pillory. P. [Part om. William Prynne was in the year 1633 sentenced to a fine of £5000, placed in the pillory, and sentenced to imprisonment till he should recant, on account of his Histriomastix, written in condemnation of plays and supposed to reflect on Queen Henrietta Maria. De Foe underwent a similar punishment in 1703 for his book the Shortest Way with the Dissenters, but was not, like Prynne, subjected to the penalty of losing his ears, as Pope implies infra, Bk. II. v. 147.] 3 And Eusden eke out, &c.] Laurence Eusden, Poet Laureate [before Cibber]. Mr Jacob gives a catalogue of some few only of his works, which were very numerous. Of Blackmore, see Book 11. Of Philips, Book 1. 262 and Book 111. prope fin. Nahum Tate was Poet Laureate, a cold writer, of no invention; but sometimes translated tolerably when befriended by Mr Dryden. In his second part of Absalom and Achitophel are above two hundred admirable lines together of that great hand, which strongly shine thro' the insipidity of the rest. Something parallel may be observed of another author here mentioned. P. [Part om.] 4 And all the mighty Mad] This is by no means to be understood literally, as if Mr Dennis were really mad, according to the Narrative of Dr Norris in Swift and Pope's Miscellanies. No-it is spoken of that Excellent and Divine Madness, so often mentioned by Plato: that poetical rage and enthusiasm, with which Mr D. hath, in his time, been highly possessed; and of those extraordinary hints and motions whereof he himself so feelingly treats in his preface to the Rem. on Pr. Arth. Mr John Dennis was the son of a Saddler in London born in 1657. He paid court to Mr Dryden; and having obtained some 95 100 105 correspondence with Mr Wycherley and Mr Congreve, he immediately obliged the public with their Letters. He made himself known to the Government by many admirable schemes and projects; which the Ministry, for reasons best known to themselves, constantly kept private. For his character as a writer, it is given us as fellows: "Mr Dennis is excellent at Pindaric writings, perfectly regular in all his performances, and a person of sound Learning. That he is master of a great deal of Penetration and Judg ment, his criticisms (particularly on Prince Arthur) do sufficiently demonstrate. From the same account it also appears "that he writ Plays more to get Reputation than Money." DENNIS of himself. See Giles Jacob's Lives of Dram. Poets, p. 68, 69, compared with p. 286. [For an account of the life-long combat between Pope and his arch-enemy Dennis, of which the former had by no means invariably the best, see Introductory Memoir. The Narrative on the Frenzy of J. D. was written by Pope in 1713.] [As to Colley Cibber and Theobald see Introductory Remarks to the Dunciad.] But chief in Bays's, &c.] In the former Edd. thus, But chief, in Tibbald's monster-breeding breast: Sees Gods with Dæmons in strange league ingage, And earth, and heav'n, and hell her battles wage. She ey'd the Bard, where supperless he sate, And pin'd, unconscious of his rising fate; Studious he sate, with all his Books around, Sinking from thought to thought, &c.' Var. Tibbald] Author of a pamphlet intitled, Shakespear restor'd. During two whole years while Mr Pope was preparing his Edition of Shakespear, he published Advertisements, requesting assistance, and promising satisfaction to any who could contribute to its greater perfection. But this Restorer, who was at that time soliciting favours of him by letters, did wholly conceal his design, till after its publication; (which he was since not ashamed to own, in a Daily Journal of Nov. 26, 1728). And then an outcry was made in the Prints, that our Author had joined with the Bookseller to raise an extravagant subscription: in which he had no share, of which he had no knowledge, and against which he had publickly advertised in his own proposals for Homer. Pro Bays, form'd by nature Stage and Town to bless1, Blasphem'd his Gods, the Dice, and damn'd his Fate; That slipp'd thro' Cracks and Zig-zags of the Head; of Wit, 110 115 120 125 Next, o'er his Books his eyes began to roll, In pleasing memory of all he stole, How here he sipp'd, how there he plunder'd snug, 8 There hapless Shakespear, yet of Tibbald sore, bably that proceeding elevated Tibbald to the dignity he holds in this Poem, which he seems to deserve no other way better than his brethren; unless we impute it to the share he had in the Journals, cited among the Testimonies of Authors prefixed to this work. P. Bays, form'd by nature, &c.] It is hoped the poet here hath done full justice to his Hero's character, which it were a great mistake to imagine was wholly sunk in stupidity: he is allowed to have supported it with a wonderful mixture of Vivacity. This character is heightened according to his own desire, in a Letter he wrote to our author. "Pert and dull at least you might have allowed me. What am I only to be dull, and dull still, and again, and for ever." He then solemnly appealed to his own conscience, "that he could not think himself so, nor believe that our Poet did; but that he spoke worse of him than he could possibly think; and concluded it must be merely to shew his Wit, or for some Profit or Lucre to himself." Life of C. C. chap. vii. and Letter to Mr P. pag. 15. 40. 53. P. 2 Shame to Fortune! Because she usually shews favour to persons of this Character, who have a three-fold pretence to it. P. 3 [A thin Third day, i.e. of the performance of one of his plays.] 4 From Lord Rochester on Man: Warton. 5 Round him much Embryo, &c.] In the former Editions thus, 130 8 The Frippery] "When I fitted up an old play, it was as a good housewife will mend old linen, when she has not better employment." Life, p. 217. octavo. P. Hapless Shakespear, &c.] It is not to be doubted but Bays was a subscriber to Tibbald's Shakespear. He was frequently liberal this way; and, as he tells us, "subscribed to Mr Pope's Homer, out of pure Generosity and Civility; but when Mr Pope did so to his Nonjuror, he concluded it could be nothing but a joke." Letter to Mr P. p. 24, This Tibbald, or Theobald, published an edition of Shakespear, of which he was so proud himself as to say, in one of Mist's Journals, June 8, "That to expose any Errors in it was impracticable." And in another, April 27, "That whatever care might for the future be taken by any other Editor, he would still give above five hundred emendations, that shall escape them all." P. 10 Wish'd he had blotted] It was a ridiculous praise which the Players gave to Shakespear, The rest on Out-side merit but presume1, 135 140 There, stamp'd with arms, Newcastle shines complete1: Here all his suff'ring brotherhood retire, And 'scape the martyrdom of jakes and fire: A Gothic Library! of Greece and Rome 145 Well purg'd, and worthy Settle, Banks, and Broome 5. But, high above, more solid Learning shone, The Classics of an Age that heard of none; 'that he never blotted a line." Ben Jonson honestly wish'd he had blotted a thousand; and Shakespear would certainly have wished the same, if he had lived to see those alterations in his works, which, not the Actors only (and especially the daring Hero of this poem) have made on the Stage, but the presumptuous Critics of our days in their Editions. P. 1 The rest on Out-side merit, &c.] This Library is divided into three parts; the first consists of those authors from whom he stole, and whose works he mangled; the second, of such as fitted the shelves, or were gilded for shew, or adorned with pictures; the third class our author calls solid learning, old Bodies of Divinity, old Commentaries, old English Printers, or old English Translations; all very voluminous, and fit to erect altars to Dulness. P. 2 [The author of the Emblems, whom Pope sneers at in Imitations of Horace, Bk. 11. Ep. 1. v. 377.1 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." Winstanly, Lives of Poets. P. [Ogilby (born 1600, died 1676,) began life as a dancing-master, and after being educated by charity at Cambridge, came before the public both as poet and printer. It is in the latter capacity that he is chiefly remarkable; from his press at Whitefriars he issued a large variety of works, among which his Maps became specially famous.] 4 There, stamp'd with arms, Newcastle shines complete: "The Duchess of Newcastle was one who busied herself in the ravishing delights of Poetry; leaving to posterity in print three ample Volumes of her studious endeavours." 150 Winstanly, ibid. Langbane reckons up eight Folios of her Grace's; which were usually adorned with gilded covers, and had her coat of arms upon them. P. [The Duchess of Newcastle, in the times of the Commonwealth and Charles II., published a large number of poetical and 'philosophical' works, and a kind of narrative cyclopædia called the World's Olio.] 5 Worthy Settle, Banks, and Broome.] The Poet has mentioned these three authors in particular, as they are parallel to our Hero in three capacities: 1. 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 was his Rival in Tragedy (tho' 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 drest in a sort of Beggar's Velvet, or a happy Mixture of the thick Fustian and thin Prosaic; exactly imitated in Perolla and Isidora, Cæsar in Égypt, 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 Master, not entirely contemptible. P. 6 More solid Learning] Some have objected, that books of this sort suit not so well the library of our Bays, which they imagine consisted Novels, Plays, and obscene books; but they are to consider, that he furnished his shelves only for ornament, and read these books no more than the Dry Bodies of Divinity, which, no doubt, were purchased by his father, when he designed him for the Gown. See the note on v. 200. P. 7 Caxton] A Printer in the time of Edward IV. Rich. III. and Hen. VII; Wynkyn de Word, his successor, in that of Hen. VII. and VIIL The former translated into prose Virgil's Æneis, as a history; of which he speaks, in his Proeme, in a very singular manner, as of a book hardly known. P. [Part om.] De Lyra1 there a dreadful front extends, And here the groaning shelves Philemon 2 bends. Of these twelve volumes, twelve of amplest size, 155 Redeem'd from tapers and defrauded pies, Founds the whole pile, of all his works the base; heart; Dulness! whose good old cause I yet defend, With whom my Muse began, with whom shall end. E'er since Sir Fopling's Periwig was Praise, 160 165 To the last honours of the Butt and Bays: O thou! of Bus'ness the directing soul! To this our head like bias to the bowl, 170 Which, as more pond'rous, made its aim more true, Obliquely waddling to the mark in view: 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, 175 Guard the sure barrier between that and Sense; Nich. de Lyra, or Harpsfield, a very voluminous commentator, whose works, in five vast folios, were printed in 1472. P. 2 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 complete Library. Winstanly. P. 3 A twisted, &c.] in the former Edd. And last, a little Ajax tips the spire.' Warburton. A little Ajax] in duodecimo, translated from Sophocles by Tibbald. P. [The birth-day Ode of course substituted in allusion to Cibber's laureateship. Cf. v. 168.] ▲ E'er since Sir Fopling's Periwig] The first visible cause of the passion of the Town for our Hero was a fair flaxen full-bottom'd periwig, which, he tells us, he wore in his first play of the Fool in fashion. This remarkable Periwig usually made its entrance upon the stage in a sedan, brought in by two chairmen, with infinite approbation of the audience. P. [Part om.] 180 5 Or, if to Wit, &c.] in the former Edd. 'Ah! still o'er Britain stretch that peaceful wand, Which lulls th' Helvetian and Batavian land; Warburton. 6 As forc'd from wind-guns, &c.] The thought of these four verses is found in a poem of our Author's of a very early date (namely written at fourteen years old, and soon after printed) to the author of a poem called Successio. [See Miscellaneous Poems.] Warburton. |