(And little fure imported to remove,

To hunt for Truth in Maudlin's learned grove.)
But knottier points we knew not half so well,
Depriv'd us foon of our paternal Cell;

And certain Laws, by fuff'rers thought unjust,
Deny'd all pofts of profit or of truft:

Hopes after hopes of pious Papifts fail'd,

While mighty WILLIAM's thund'ring arm prevail'd.
For Right Hereditary tax'd and fin'd,
He ftuck to poverty with peace of mind;
And me, the Mufes help'd to undergo it;
Convict a Papift he, and I a Poet.

But (thanks to Homer) fince I live and thrive,
Indebted to no Prince or Peer alive,

бо

65

Sure I should want the care of ten Monroes,

If I would fcribble, rather than repose.

70

8 Years following years, steal something ev'ry day,

At laft they steal us from ourselves away;

Atque inter filvas Academi quaerere verum.
Dura fed emovere loco me tempora grato;
Civilifque rudem belli tulit aeftus in arma,
Caefaris Augufti non refponfura lacertis.
Unde fimul primum me dimifere Philippi,
Decifis humilem pennis, inopemque paterni
Et laris et fundi, paupertas impulit audax
Ut verfus facerem: fed, quod non defit, habentem,
Quae poterunt unquam fatis expurgare cicutae,
Ni melius dormire putem, quam fcribere versus ?
* Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes ;

NOTE S.

VER. 70. Monroes,] Dr. Monroe, Phyfician to Bedlam Hospital. VER. 73. At laft they feal us from ourselves away;] i. e. Time

changes all our paffions, appetites, and inclinations.

In one our Frolics, one Amusements end,
In one a Mistress drops, in one a Friend;
This fubtle Thief of life, this paltry Time,
What will it leave me, if it fnatch my rhyme?
If ev'ry wheel of that unweary'd Mill,

me do?

That turn'd ten thousand verses, now stands still ?
↳ But after all, what would you have
When out of twenty I can please not two;
When this Heroics only deigns to praise,
Sharp Satire that, and that Pindaric lays ?
One likes the Pheasant's wing, and one the leg;
The vulgar boil, the learned roast an egg.
Hard talk to hit the palate of fuch guests,
When Oldfield loves, what Dartineuf detests.

1 But grant I may relapfe, for want of grace, Again to rhyme: can London be the place?

Who there his Mufe, or felf, or foul attends,

75

80

85

90

In crowds, and courts, law, business, feasts, and friends?

My counsel fends to execute a deed :

A Poet begs me I will hear him read :

Eripuere jocos, venerem, convivia, ludum;
Tendunt extorquere poemata. quid faciam vis?

h Denique non omnes eadem mirantur amantque. Carmine tu gaudes: hic delectatur iambis ; Ille Bioneis fermonibus, et fale nigro.

Tres mihi convivae prope diffentire videntur,
Pofcentes vario multum diverfa palato.

Quid dem? quid non dem ? renuis quod tu, jubet alter:
Quod petis, id fane eft invifum acidumque duobus.
i Praeter caetera me Romaene poemata cenfes
Scribere poffe, inter tot curas totque labores ?
Hic fponfum vocat, hic auditum fcripta, relictis
Omnibus officiis: cubat hic in colle Quirini,

In Palace-yard at nine you'll find me there-
At ten for certain, Sir, in Bloomfb'ry fquare-
Before the Lords at twelve my Caufe comes on-
There's a Rehearsal, Sir, exact at one.-
"Oh but a Wit can study in the freets,
"And raise his mind above the mob he meets.”
Not quite fo well however as one ought;
A hackney-coach may chance to fpoil a thought;
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 pass,
Two Aldermen difpute it with an Ass ?
And Peers give way, exalted as they are,
Ev'n to their own S-r-v--nce in a Car?

* Go, lofty Poet! and in fuch a crowd,
Sing thy fonorous verfe-but not aloud.
Alas! to Grottoes and to Groves we run,
To eafe and filence, ev'ry Mufe's fon:
Blackmore himself, for any grand effort,

Would drink and doze at Tooting or Earl's-Court.

Hic extremo in Aventino; vifendus uterque.
Intervalla vides humane commoda.

"Verùm

95

ICO

105

116

"Purae funt plateae, nihil ut meditantibus obftet.” Feftinat calidus mulis gerulifque redemtor:

Torquet nunc lapidem, nunc ingens machina tignum:
Triftia robuftis luctantur funera plauftris :

Hac rabiofa fugit canis, hac lutulenta ruit fus.
* I nunc, et verfus tecum meditare canoros.
Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus, et fugit urbes,
Rite cliens Bacchi, fomno gaudentis et umbra.

NOTE S.

VER. 104. Have you not feen, etc.] The fatirical pleasantry of this image, and the humorous manner of representing it, raises the imitation, in this place, far above the original.

VER. 113. Would drink and doze, etc.] This has not the delicacy, for it wants the elegant ambiguity, of

How fhall I rhyme in this eternal roar?

119

How match the bards whom none e'er match'd before?
1 The Man, who, ftretch'd in Ifis' calm retreat, 116
To books and study gives fev'n years complete,
See! ftrow'd with learned duft, his nightcap on,
He walks, an object new beneath the fun!
The boys flock round him, and the people ftare:
So ftiff, fo mute! fome ftatue you would swear,
Stept from its pedeftal 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?
Compofing fongs, for Fools to get by heart?

The Temple late two brother Sergeants faw,
Who deem'd each other Oracles of Law;
With equal talents, thefe congenial fouls,

1

125

129

One lull'd th' Exchequer, and one ftunn'd the Rolls;

Tu me inter ftrepitus nocturnos atque diurnos
Vis canere, et contracta fequi veftigia vatum ?
'Ingenium, fibi quod vacuas defumfit Athenas,
Et ftudiis annos feptem dedit, infenuitque
Libris et curis, ftatua taciturnius exit

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

m Frater erat Romae confulti rhetor; ut alter Alterius fermone meros audiret honores:

NOTES.

Rite cliens Bacchi, fomno gaudentis et umbra;

where the intemperance of Poets is not the obvious, but the Secret meaning. For Bacchus was the patron of the Drama as well as of the Bottle and fleep was courted for infpiration, as well as to relieve a debauch.

Ibid. Tooting-Earl's-Court.] Two villages within a few miles of London.

Each had a gravity would make you split,

And fhook his head at Murray, as a Wit.

'Twas, "Sir, your law"-and "Sir, your eloquence," "Yours, Cowper's manner-and yours, Talbot's fenfe." Thus we difpofe of all poetic merit,

135

140

Yours Milton's genius, and mine Homer's fpirit. Call Tibbald Shakespear, and he'll fwear the Nine, Dear Cibber! never match'd one Ode of thine. 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 : "Or, I'm content, allow me Dryden's strains, "And you fhall rife up Otway for your pains."

Gracchus ut hic illi foret, huic ut Mucius ille.
Qui minus argutos vexat furor ifte poetas
"Carmina compono, hic elegos; mirabile vifu,
Caelatumque novem Mufis opus aspice primum,
Quanto cum faftu, quanto molimine circum-
spectemus vacuam Romanis vatibus aedem.

Mox etiam (fi forte vacas) fequere, et procul audi,
Quid ferat, et quare fibi nectat uterque coronam.
Caedimur et totidem plagis confumimus hoftem,
Lento Samnites ad lumina prima duello.
Difcedo Alcaeus puncto illius; ille meo quis?
Quis, nifi Callimachus ? fi plus adpofcere vifus ;
Fit Mimnermus, et optivo cognomine crescit.

NOTE S.

145

VER. 132. And book his head at Murray, as a Wit.] It is the filly confolation of blockheads in all profeffions, that he, whom nature has formed to excel, does it not by his fuperior knowledge, but his wit and fo they keep themfelves in countenance as not fairly outdone, but only outwitted.