Much do I fuffer, much, to keep in peace
This jealous, wafpifh, wrong-head, rhyming race;
And much muft flatter, if the whim fhould bite
To court applause by printing what I write :
But let the fit pafs o'er, I'm wife enough
To ftop my ears to their confounded stuff.

In vain, bad Rhymers all mankind reject,

They treat themselves with moft profound refpect;
'Tis to small 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 Verse as we can read?
Their own ftrict Judges, not a word they spare,
That wants or force, or light, or weight, or care.

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.

150

155

160

• Ridentur mala qui componunt carmina: verum:
Gaudent fcribentes, et se venerantur, et ultro,
Si taceas, laudant; quidquid fcripfere, beati..
At qui legitimum capiet feciffe poema,

Cum tabulis animum cenforis fumet honefti ::
Audebit, quaecunque parum fplendoris habebunt,
Et fine pondere erunt, et honore indigna ferentur

NOTE S..

VER. 159. not a word they spare-That wants or force, or light, or weight, or care.] Force and light refpect figurative expression; and fignify, that it be fuch as awakes the imagination, and be taken from obvious fubjects; for without the first quality it will want force; without the other, light.

Weight and care respect literal expreffion, the first marking out the character of the verb; the other of the noun; and fignify that, in ever propofition, the attribute fhould be important, and the fubje precife.

Howe'er unwillingly it quits its place,

165

Nay tho' at Court (perhaps) it may find grace:
Such they'll degrade; and fometimes, in its ftead,
P In downright charity revive the dead;
Mark where a bold expreffive phrase appears,
Bright thro' the rubbish of fome hundred years;
Command old words that long have flept, to wake,
Words, that wife Bacon, or brave Rawleigh spake;
Or bid the new be English, ages hence,
(For Ufe will father what's begot by Senfe)
Pour the full tide of eloquence along,
Serenely pure, and yet divinely ftrong,
Rich with the treasures 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:

170

}

175

Verba movere loco; quamvis invita recedant,
Et verfentur adhuc intra penetralia Veftae:
Obfcurata diu populo bonus eruet, atque
Proferet in lucem speciofa vocabula rerum,
Quae prifcis memorata Catonibus atque Cethegis,
Nunc fitus informis premit et deferta vetuftas:
Adfcifcet nova, quae genitor produxerit usus :
Vebemens et liquidus, puroque fimillimus amni,
Fundet opes, Latiumque beabit divite lingua:
Luxuriantia compefcet: nimis afpera fano
Levabit cultu, virtute carentia tollet:

NOTE S.

VER. 170. For Use will father what's begot by Senfe.] A very fine and happy improvement on the expreffion, if not on the thought, of his original.

"But eafe in writing flows from Art, not chance;
"As thofe move eafieft who have learn'd to dance."
9 If fuch the plague and pains to write by rule, 180
Better (fay I) be pleas'd, and play the fool;
Call, if you will, bad rhyming a disease,
It gives men happinefs, or leaves them ease.
There liv'd in primo Georgii (they record)
A worthy member, no small fool, a Lord;
Who, tho' the Houfe was up, delighted fate,
Heard, noted, anfwer'd, as in full debate:
In all but this, a man of sober life,
Fond of his Friend, and civil to his Wife;
Not quite a madman, tho' a pasty fell,
And much too wife to walk into a well.

Ludentis fpeciem dabit, et torquebitur, ut qui
Nunc Satyrum, nunc agreftem Cyclopa movetur.
Praetulerim 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 tragoedos,
In vacuo laetus feffor plauforque theatro:
Caetera qui vitae fervaret munia recto
More; bonus fane vicinus, amabilis hofpes,
Comis in uxorem ? poffet qui ignofcere fervis,
Et figno laefo non infanire lagenae:

Poffet qui rupem, et puteum vitare patentem.

NOTE S.

185

190

VER. 184. There liv'd in primo Georgii, etc.] The imitation of this ftory of the Madman is as much fuperior to his original, in the fine and eafy manner of telling, as that of Lucullus's Soldier comes fhort of it. It is true, the turn Horace's madman took, agrees better with the fubject of his Epiftle, which is Poetry; and doubt lefs there were other beauties in it, which time has deprived us of. For it is in poetry as in painting, the most delicate touches go first; and what is worse, they agree in this too, that they are laft obferved. So that, what between time and ill taite, the greatest beauties are

the fhorteft lived.

Him, the damn'd Doctors and his Friends immur'd,

They bled, they cupp'd, they purg'd; in short, they cur'd:

Whereat the gentleman began to stare

My Friends! he cry'd, p-x take you for your care! 195 That from a Patriot of diftinguifh'd note,

Have bled and purg'd me to a fimple Vote.

:

200

Well, on the whole, plain prose must be my fate :
Wisdom (curse on it) will come foon or late.
There is a time when Poets will grow dull
I'll e'en leave verfes to the boys at school:
To rules of Poetry no more confin'd,
I'll learn to fmooth and harmonize my Mind,
Teach ev'ry thought within its bounds to roll,
And keep the equal measure of the Soul.

• Soon as I enter at my country door,
My mind refumes the thread it dropt before;
Thoughts which at Hyde-park-corner I forgot,
Meet and rejoin me, in the penfive Grot.
There all alone, and compliments apart,
I ask these fober questions of my heart.

205

210

Hic ubi cognatorum opibus curifque refe&us,
Expulit elleboro morbum bilemque meraco,
Et redit ad fefe: Pol me occidiftis, amici,
Non fervaftis, ait; cui fic extorta voluptas,
Et demtus per vim mentis gratiffimus error.

Nimirum fapere eft abjectis utile nugis,
Et tempeftivum fueris concedere ludum;
• Ac non verba fequi fidibus modulanda Latinis,
Sed verae numerofque modofque ediscere vitae.
Quocirca mecum loquor haec, tacitufque recordor:

215

t If, when the more you drink, the more you crave, You tell the Doctor; when the more you have, The more you want, why not with equal ease Confefs as well your Folly, as Disease? The heart refolves this matter in a trice, "Men only feel the Smart, but not the Vice." • When golden Angels cease to cure the Evil: You give all royal Witchcraft to the Devil: When fervile Chaplains cry, that birth and place 220 Indue a Peer with honour, truth, and grace, Look in that breast, most dirty D-! be fair, Say, can you find out one fuch lodger there? Yet ftill, not heeding what your heart can teach, You go to church to hear these Flatt'rers preach. 225 Indeed, could wealth bestow or wit or merit, A grain of courage, or a spark of spirit,

* Si tibi nulla fitim finiret copia lymphae, Narrares medicis: quod quanto plura parasti, Tanto plura cupis, nulline faterier audes ?

u Si vulnus tibi monftrata radice vel herba Non fieret levius, fugeres radice vel herba Proficiente nihil curarier: audieras, cui Rem Di donarint, illi decedere pravam Stultitiam; et, cum fis nihilo fapientior, ex quo Plenior es, tamen uteris monitoribus îfdem ? At fi divitiae prudentem reddere poffent, Si cupidum timidumque minus te; nempe ruberes.

NOTE S.

VER. 218. When golden Angels, etc.] This illuftration is much happier than what is employed in his original; as by raifing pecu niary ideas, it prepares the mind for that morality it is brought to illustrate.

VER. 220. When servile Chaplains cry, etc.] Dr. Ken—t,