1 Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES v.i THE WORKS O F CELEBRATED AUTHORS, Of whofe WR i T i N G s there are but fmall Remains. VOLUME tie FIRST. Containing the W o R K s of The EARL O/*ROSCOMMON. Tfjt EARL o/~ D o R s E T. The EARL of HAL LI FAX. AND Sir S A M u E L GARTH. LONDON: I * Printed for J, and R. T o N s ON and S, D R A p E * in the Strand. \ MDCCL, PR-' Hit V/&5" v./ ADVERTISEMENT. ytS a wry imperfect Collection of the Works of the celebrated Writers contained in thefe Volumes (the Poems of Bi/hop Sprat excepted ) have been offer* d to the Publick, we prefume no Apology is necejjaryfor the prefent Publication. After a diligent fearch we can Jind no other Pieces written by thofe Authors, than what are here inferted 9 and we hope it will not appear, that any Jpurious ones are printed amongft them. 'The Notes to the Earl ofRofcommOn's Yranjlations referring to the Originals, induced us to publifo thofe Pieces oppojite to the Verjiom -, but we judg'd it wou'd be fwelling the Work unneceffarily to do the fame by the other Tranjlations. The Reader will fad f owe material Alterations VOL. I. A 2 in 1946436 ADVERTISEMENT. in the Tranjlation of Horace'j Art of Poetry y 'which were communicated by Dr. Rawlinfon from a Copy corrected by hh Lordjhip's own Hand. 'The fize of thefe Volumes, which is greater than we expefttd, mujl be our excufe for not adding any more to them,, than the Poems of Bijhop Sprat. POEMS POEMS B Y T H E EARL 0jf ROSCOMMON, Voi. I. A N ESSAY O N TRANSLATED VERSE. A P P Y that Author, whofe correft * Effay Repairs fo well our Old Horatian way : And happy you, who (by propitious Fate) On great Apollo* $ facred Standard wait, And with ftrift Difcipline inftrufted right, Have learn'd to ufe your Arms before you But fince the Preis, the Pulpit and the Stage, [fight. Confpire to cenfure and expofe our Age: Provok'd, too far, we refolutely muft, To the few Virtues that we have, be juft. For who have long'd, or who have labour'd more To fearch the Treafures of the Roman Store ; Or dig in Grecian Mines for purer Ore ; The nobleft Fruits Tranfplanted in our Ifle With early Hope, and fragrant Bloffoms fmile. Familiar Ovid tender Thoughts infpires, And Nature feconds all his loft Defires : * E/ay en Peetry, written by the Ite Duke of Buckingham- (hire, B 2 Tbeccrituf 4 P o E M s by the Theocritus docs now to Us belong ; And Albioii* Rocks repeat his rural Song. Who has not heard how Italy was bled, Above the Metis, above the wealthy Eaft? Or Callus* Song, fo tender, and fo true, As ev'n Lycoris might with Pity view ! When mourning Nymphs attend their Dapbnis* Herfe, Who does not weep, that reads the moving Verfe! But hear, oh hear, in what exalted Strains ^ Sicilian Mufes through thefe happy Plains, V Proclaim Saturnian Times, our own Apollo reigns. j When Trance had breath'd, after intefline Broils, And Peace and Conqueft crown'd her foreign Toils, There (cultivated by a Royal Hand) Learning grew faft, and fpread, and bleft the Land ; The choiceft Books, that Rome or Greece have known, Her excellent Tranflators made her own: And Europe ftill confiderably gains, Both by their good Example and their Pains. Frcm hence our gen'rous Emulation came, Wd undertook, and we perform'd the fame. But now, we fhe.v the World a nobler Way, And in tranflated Verfe, do more than They, Serene, and clear, harmonious Horace flows, With Sweetnefs not to be expreft in Profe. Degrading Prole explains his Meaning ill, And (hews the Stuff, but not the Workman's Skill. I (who have ferv'd him more than twenty Years) Scarce know my Mafter as he there appears. Vain are our Neighbours Hopes, and vain their Cares, The Fault is more their Language's, than theirs. *fi courtly, florid, and abounds in Words Of fofcer Sound than ours perhaps affords. But who did ever in French Authors fee The comprehenfive EngHJh Energy ? 7'he weighty Bullion of one Sterling Line,' Drawn to French Wire, would thro' whole Pages fhine. I Earl of Rose OMMON. 5 I fpeak my private, but impartial Senfe, With Freedom, and (I hope) without Offence: For Til recant, when France can mew me Wit, As ftrong as oars, and as fuccinflly writ. *Tis true, Compofing is the nobler Part, But good Tranflation is no eafy Art, For tho* Materials have long fmce bfen found, Yet both your Fancy, and your Hands are bound; And by improving what was writ before, Invention labours lefs, but Judgment, more. The Soil intended for Pierian Seeds Muft be well purg'd, from rank pedantick Weeds. jjpello ftarts, and all Parna/us (hikes, At the rude rumbling Baralipton makes. For none have been with Admiration read, But who (befide their Learning) were well-bred. The firft great Work, (a Task perform'd by few) Is, that yourfelf may to yourfe!f be tr:e : No Mask, no Tricks, no Favo r, no Referve; Difleft your Mind, examine ev' y Nerve. Whoever vainly on his Strength depends, Begins like Virgil, but like b'tevius, ends. That Wretch (in fpite of hi. forgotten Rhymes) Condemn'd to live to all accepting Times, With pompous Nonfenfe and a bellowing Sound Sung lofty Ilium, tumbling to the Ground. And (if my Mufe can through pait Ages feej That noiiy, naufeou?, gaping Fool was he ; Exploded, when with univerfal Scorn, The Mountains labour'd and a Moufe was born. Learn, team, Crotona's brawny Wreftler cries, Audacious Moruas and be timely wile! 'Tis I that call, remember Mitts Erd, Wedg'd in that limber, which he ilrove to rend. B 3 Each 6 P o E M s by the Each Poet with a different Talent writes, One praifes, one inftrucls, another bites. Horace did ne'er afpire to Epic Bays, Nor lofty Klaro ftoop to Lyric Lays. Examine how your Humour is inclin'd, And which the ruling Paflion of your Mind ; Then, feek a Poet who your Way does bend, .And choofe an Author as you choofe a Friend. United by this fympathetic Bond, You grow familiar, intimate, and fond ; Your Thoughts, your Words, your Stiles, your Souls agree, No longer his Interpreter, but he. With how much Eafe is a young Mufe betray'd, How nice the Reputation of the Maid ? Your early, kind, paternal Care appears, By chart Inftruftion of her tender Years. The firft Imprefiion in her infant Breaft Will be the deepeft, and fhould be the beft. Let not Aufterity breed fervile Fear, No wanton Sound offend her Virgin-ear. Secure from foolifti Pride's affefted State, And fpecious Flatt'ry's more pernicious Bait, Habitual Innocence adorns her Thoughts, But your Negledl muft anfwer for her Faults. Immodeft Words admit of no Defence; For want of Decency is want of Senfe. What mdd'rate Fop wou'd rake the Park or Stews, Who among Troops of faultlefs Nymphs may choofe ? Variety of 1'uch is to be found ; Take then a Subjeft, proper to expound : '^T But moral, great, and worth a Poet's Voice, For Men. of Senfe defpife a trivial Choice: And iuch Applaufe it muft expeft to meet, As would feme Painter bufy in a Street, To Copy Bulls and Bears, and ev'ry Sign That calls the ftaring Sots to nafty Wine. Yet Earl of Ros c o MM o N. 7 Yet 'tis not all to have a Subjeft good, It muft delight us when 'tis underftood. He that brings fulfom Objefts to my View, (As many Old have done, and many New) With naufeous Images my Fancy fills, And all goes down like Oxymel of Squills. Inflrul the lift'ning World how Maro fings Of ufeful Subjedls, and of lofty Things. Thefe will fuch true, fuch bright Ideas raife, As merit Gratitude, as well as Praife : But foul Defcriptions are offenfive {till, Either for being Like, or being 111. For who, without a Qualm, hath ever look'd On holy Garbage, tho' by Homer cook'd ? Whofe railing Heroes, and whofe wounded Gods, Make fome fufpeft, He Snores, as well as Nods. But I offend Virgil begins to frown, And Horace looks with Indignation down ; My blufhing Mu/e with confcious Fear retires, And whom they like, implicitly admires. On fare Foundations let your Fabrick rife, And with attractive Majefty furprife, Not by affefted, meritricious Arts, But ftrift harmonious Symmetry of Parts. Which through the whole infenfibly muft pafs, With vital Heat to animate the Mafs. A pure, an aftive, an aufpicious Flame, And bright as Heav'n, from whence the Bleijing came ; But few, oh few Souls, prsordain'd'by Fate, The Race of God?, have reached that envy'd Height. No Rebel-Titan^ facrilegious Crime, By heaping Hills on Hills can thither climb. The grizly Ferry-man of Hell deny'd Mneas Entrance, 'till he knew his Guide ; How juftly then will impious Mortals fall, Whofe Pride wcu'd foar to Her.v'n without a Call? B 4 Pride 8 P o E M s by the Pride (of all others the moft dang'rous Fault,) Proceeds from want of Senfe, or want of Thought, .The Men, who labour and digeft things moft, Will be much apter to defpond, than boaft. For if your Author be profoundly good, Twill coft you dear before he's underftood. How many Ages fince has Virgil writ ? How few are they who underftand him yet? Approach his Altars with religious Fear, No vulgar Deity inhabits there : Heav'n (hakes not more at Jove's imperial Nod, Than Poets fhou'd before their Mantuan God. Hail mighty Maro! may that Sacred Name Kindle my Breaft with thy celeftial Flame; Sublime Ideas, and apt Words infufe. The Muft inflruft my Voice, and thou infpire the Mu/ef What I have inftanc'd cnly in the beft, Is, in proportion, true of all the reft. Take pains the genuine Meaning to explore; There fweat, there ftrain, tug the laborious Oar: Search ev'ry Comment that your Care can find, Some here, fome there, may hit the Poet's Mind j Yet be not blindly guided by the Throng j The Multitude is always in the Wrong. When Things appear unnatural or hard, Confult your Author, with himfelf compar'd ; Who knows what Blefling Phoebus may beltow, And future Ages to your Labour owe ? Such Secrets are not eafily found out, But once difcover'd, leave no room for doubt. Truth damps Conviftion in your ravifh'd Breaft, And Peace and Joy attend the glorious Gueft. Truth flill is one ; Truth is divinely brighf, No cloudy Doubts obfcure her native Light ; While in your Thoughts you find the leaft Debate, You jnay Confound, but never can Tranflate. Your Earl ^ROSCOMMON. Your Stile will this thro' all Difguifes (how, For none explain, more clearly than they know. He only proves he underitands a Text, Whofe Expofuion leaves it unperplex'd. They who too faithfully on Names infift, Rather create than diffipate the Mift j And grow unjuft by being over nice, (For fuperftitious Virtue turns to Vice.) Let * Crafts' s Ghoft, and Labiemis tell How twice in Parthian Plains their Legions fell. Since Rome hath been fo jealous of her Fame, That few know Pacorus' or Monafe? Name. Words in one Language elegantly us'd, Will hardly in another be excus'd. And fome that Home admir'd in Gofer's Time, May neither fuit our Genius nor our Clime. The genuine Senfe, intelligibly told, Shews a Tranflator both dafcreet and bold. Excurfions are inexpiably bad ; And 'tis much fafer to leave out than add. Abftrufe and myftick Thought* you muft exprefs With painful Care, but feeming Eafinefs ; For Truth mines brighted thro' the plaineft Drefs. TftjEnean Mufe, when me appears in State, Makes all Jovis Thunder on her Verfes wait, Yet writes fometimes as foft and moving Things As Venus fpeaks, or Philomela fmgs. Your Author always will the beft advife, Fall when he fails, and when he rifes, rife. Affeaed Noife is the moft wretched Thing, That to Contempt can empty Scriblers bring. Vowels and Accents, regularly plac'd, On even Syllables (and ftill the laft) Tho' grofs innumerable Faults abound, Jn fpite of Nonfenfe, never fail of Sound, * Hor. lib, 3. Od, 6, 10 P o E M s by the But this is meant of even Vetfe alone, As being moft harmonious and moft known: For if you will unequal Numbers try, There 'Accents on odd Syllables muft lie. Whatever Sifter of the learned Nine Does to your Suit a willing Ear incline, Urge your Succefs, deferve a lafting Name, She'll crown a grateful and a conftant Flame. But if a wild Uncertainty prevail, And turn your veering Heart with ev'ry Gale, You lofe the Fruit of all your former Care, For the fad Profpeft of a juft Defpair. A Quack (too fcandaloufly mean to name) Had, by Man-Midwifry, got Wealth, and Famej As if Lucina had forgot her Trade, The lab'ring Wife invokes his furer Aid. Well-feafon'd Bovvis the Goffips Spirits raife, Who while fhe guzzles, chats the Doctor's Praife. And largely, what (he wants in Words, fuppltes, With Maudlin-Eloquence of trickling Eyes. But what a thoughtiefs Animal is Man, (How very aftive in his own Trepan!) For greedy of Phyficians frequent Fees, From female mellow Praise he takes Degrees j Struts in a new unlicens'd Goun, and then, From faving Women falls to kilning Men. Another fuch had lefc the Nation thin, In ipite of all the Children he brought in. His Pills as thick as Hand-Granadoes flewj And where they fell, as certainly they flew; His Name ftruck ev'ry where as great a Damp, As Archimedes through the Reman Csinp. With this the Doftor'f Pride began to cool ; For fmarting foundly may convince a Fool. But now Repentance came too late, for Grace; And meagre Famine ftar'd him. in the Face, Faia Earl c/'RoscoMMON. 1 1 Fain wou'd he to the Wives be reconciPd, But found no Husband left to own a Child. The Friends, that got the Brats, were poifon'd tooi In this fad Cafe what cou'd our Vermin do ? Worry 'd with Debts and pail all hope of Bail, Th' unpity'd Wretch lies rotting in a Jail: And there with Basket-Alms, fcarce kept alive* Shews how miftaken Talents ought to thrive. I pity, from my Soul, unhappy Men, Compell'd by Want to proftitute their Pen ; Who muft, like Lawyers, either ftarve or plead, And follow, right or wrong, where Guineas lead ! But you, Pompilian, wealthy, pamper'd Heirs, Who to your Country owe your Swords and Cares, Let no vain Hope your eafy Mind feduce, For rich ill Poets are without Excufe. 'Tis very dang'rous, tampring with a Mufe, The Profit's fmall, and you have much to lofe; por tho' true Wit adorns your Birth or Place, Degen'rate Lines degrade th' attainted Race. No Poet any Paffion can excite ; But what they feel tranfport them when they write. Have you been led through the Cumaan Cave, And heard th' impatient Maid divinely rave ? J hear her now ; I fee her rolling Eyes : And panting ; Lo ! the God, the God (he cries ; With Words, not hers, and more than human Sound, She makes th' obedient Ghofts peep trembling thro* the Ground. But tho' we muft obey when Heav'n commands, And Man in vain the facred Call withftands, Beware what Spirit rages in your Breaft j. For ten infpir'd, ten thoufand are pofleft. Thus make the proper uie of each Extreme, And write with Fury, but correft with Phlegm, As when tke chearful Hours too freely pafs, And Iparkling Wine fmiles in the tempting Glafs, Your 12 POEMS by the ^our Pulfe advifes, and begin? to beat ^hro' ev'ry fuelling Vein a loud Retreat: v o when a Muff propitioufly invites, Improve her Flours, and i-idulge her Flights j B'Jt when you find that vigorous Heat abate, Leave off, and for another Summons wait. Before the radhnt Sun, a glimmering Lamp, Adul.'rate Metals to the Sterling Stamp, Appear not meaner, than meer human Lines, Compar'd with thofe whofc Infpiration Ihines : Thefe, nervous, bold; thofe languid and remifs; There, Cold falutes; but here, a Lover's Kifs. Thus have I Teen a rapid, headlong Tide, With foaming Waves the pafllve Scan divide; Whofe lazy Waters without Motion lay, While he, with eager Force, urg'd his impetuous Way. The Privilege that ancient Poets claim, 1 New tum'd to Licenfe by too juft a Name, Belongs to none but an eftablifh'd Fame, J Which fcorns to take it Abfurd Expreffions, crude, abortive Thoughts, All the lewd Legion of exploded Faults, Bafe Fugitives to that Afylum fly, And (acred Laws with Infolence defy. Not thus our Heroes of the former Days, Deferv'd and gain'd their never-fading Bays ; For I miftake, or far the greater! Part Of what fome call Negleft, was ftudy'd Art. When Firgil feems to trifle in a Line, 'Tis like a Warning-piece, which gives the Sign To wake your Fancy, and prepare yoor Sight, To reach the noble Height of fome unufual Flight, I lofe my Patience, when with faucy Pride, By untun'd Ears I hear his Numbers try'd. Revcrfe of Nature! {hall fuch Copies then Arraign th' Originals of Mark's Pen ! Earl of Rose OMM o N. 13 And the rude Notions of Pedantick Schools Biafphcme the facred Founder of our Rules ! The Delicacy of the niceft Ear Finds nothing harfh, or out of Order there. Sublime or low, unbended or intenfe, The Sound is ftill a Comment to the Senfe. p A skilful Ear, in Numbers fliould prefide, And all Difputes without Appeal decide. This ancient Rome, and elder Athens found, Before miftaken Stops debauch'd the Sound. When, by Impulfe from Heav'n, Tyrtaus fung, In drooping Soldiers a new Courage fprung ; Reviving Sparta now the Fight maintain'd, And what two Gen'rals loft, a Poet gain'd. By fecret Influence of indulgent Skies, Empire and Poefy together rife. True Poets are the Guardians of a State, And when they fail, portend approaching Fate. For that which Rome to Conqueft did infpire, Was not the Veftal, but the Mufes Fire ; Heav'n joins the Bleflings: No declining Age E'er fell the Raptures of Poetick Rage. Of many Faults, Rhyme is (perhaps) the Caufej Too ftril to Rhyme, we flight more ufeful Laws, For that, in Greece or Rome, was never known, Till by barbarian Deluges o'erflown: Subdu'd, undone, they did at laft obey, And change their own for their Invaders way. I grant that from fome mofly, Idol Oak, In double Rhymes our Thar and Woden fpoke ; And by Succeffion of unlearned Times, As Bardi began, fo Mtnks rung on the Chiracs. 14 P o E M s by the But now that fbezbiu and the facred Nine, With all their Beams on our bleft Ifland fhine, Why fhould not We their ancient Rites reftore, And be, what Rome or Athens were before ? ' * Have we forgot hew Raphael's numerous Profe Led our exalted Souls thro* heav'nly Camps, And mark'd the Ground where proud apoftate Thrones Defy'd Jehovah ! Here, 'twixt Hoft and Hoft, (A narrow but a dreadful Interval) Portentous Sight ! before the Cloudy Van Satan with vail and haughty Strides advanc'd, Came tow'ring arm'd in Adamant and Gold. There bellowing Engines, with their fiery Tubes, Difpers'd ^Ethereal Forms and down they fell By thoufands, Angels on Arcb-Angeh roll'd ; Recover'd, .to the Hills they ran, they flew, Which (with their pond'rous load, Rocks, Waters, Woods) From their firm Seats torn by the fhaggy Tops They bore like Shields before them thro' the Air, 'Till more incens'd they hurl'd 'em at their Foes. All was Confufion, HeavVs Foundations fhook, Threatning no lefs than Univerfal Wreck, For MichatFs Arm main Promontories flung, And over-preft whole Legions weak with Sin: Yet they blafphem'd and ftruggled as they lay, 'Till the great Enfign of Mejffiah blaz'd, And (arm'd with Vengeance) God's Victorious Son (Effulgence of Paternal Deity) Grafping ten thouiand Thunders in his Hand Drove th' old Original Rebels headlong down., And fent them flaming to the vaft Abyfs. O may I live to hail the Glorious Day, . And fing loud Paeans thro' the crowded Way, * An ,/ty n Blink Vtrfc, out of Paradife Loft, B*>k VI. When Earl myric*> Te netnus omne canet. nee Pbezbt gratior ulla eft, Quamjibi qiue Va ri prafcripfit pag iaa nomen. Pergite y Pierides. Cbromis W Mnafylus in antrc Silenum puerifomno Was ever ill receiv'd, or unfecure of Fame. -^ Proceed, my Mufe. Young Cbtomis and Mnafjlus chanc'd to ftray tfhere (fleeping in a Cave) Silenus lay, Whofe conftant Cups fly fuming to his Brain, *d always boil in each extended Vein ; His 22 P o F. M s &y the Serta procttl tantum capiti delapfa jacebant : Et gravis attrita pendebat tantbarus ansa. AggreJJi (nam ftepe fenex fpe carminis ambo Luferat] ittjiciutit ipjis ex *vincula fertis. Addit ft foci am , timidifque fupervenit JEgle : jEgle Ndiadum pulcberrima. jamque ub vincula neffitis ? inquit. Sofoite me, pueri. fails eft potuiffe videri. Carmina qua: vu/tis, cognofcite : carmina volts ; Huic aliud mercedis erit. jimul incipit ipfe. Turn uaccer Olytnpo. Earl of R o s c o M M o N. 27 And ll Linus thus (deputed by the reft) The Hero's welcome, and their thanks exprefs'd : This Harp of old to Hefiod did belong, To this, the Mufes Gift, join thy harmonious Song ; Charm'd by thefe Strings, Trees ftarting from the Ground, Have follow'd with delight the pow'rful Sound. Thus confecrated, thy. ' 5 Gryn&an Grove Shall have no Equal in Apollo s Love. Why fliou'd I fpeak of the ' * Megarian Maid, For Love perfidious, and by Love betray'd ?~ And ' f her, who round with barking Monfters arm'd, The wandring Greeks (ah frighted Men) alarm'd j 1 6 Whofe only Hope on fhatter'd Ships depends, While fierce Sea-dogs devour the mangled Friends. Or tell the Tbracian Tyrants alter'd Shape, And dire Revenge of Philomelas Rape, Who to thofe Woods direfts her mournful courfe, Where ftie had fuffer'd by inceftuous Force, While loth to leave the Palace too well known, Progne flies, hovering round, and thinks it ftill her own? Whatever near ' 7 Eurofa's happy Stream With Laurels crown'd had been Apolltfs Theme, Silenus fmgs ; the neighbouring Rocks reply, And fend his Myftick Numbers through the Sky j Till Night began to fpread her gloomy Veil, And call'd the counted Sheep from ev'ry Dale ; The weaker Light unwillingly declin'd, And to prevailing Shades the murm'ring World refign'd. C z POST- : 3 P o B M s ODE aw SOLITUDE. HV ..:: .-._ WidlFbr aor^fcrocfen, 0*07 0. Rocks of Hones ad Fan, I fee VM to&'d Adwrk*ifc Pride fc --'._ ::: '.- ."f^.t^.'f ~. Hofes My, JLocfarfMy, i of V I fee ? 7i: - - Itk bytkeel d ~~ - - -c. ^ ' - -I . .- .~'-.- v :,-ii~v : ^ . mrV fi in i
  • bicb their Country to as full of. Lin. 5. Per Syrtes aeftuofas. It is rat to be urtlerfiod here tbxt whit!) is frcftrly caWd tb: Syrtei a Land of much under-woody Covert. Mr. Guget had -written this Remark on tbe Margin of bis Horace, iiibicb tbe Learned Mr. Menage lent me. Line 15. Nee Julia; tellus. Mauritania is a Part of Numidia, wbicb ww under the Go-vernment of Juba, who bad there fo great a number of Lions and Tigers, tbat tbe People were at la/I forc'd to abandon their Dwellings, and tbe tilling of tbeir ' Ground. Lin. 17. Pone me pigris. He means, There is no Place fo favage, nor fi hideout, tbat tbe Thoughts of bis Miftrefs weu'd ntt render agreeable ta him, and where that Goddefs, who ft power- ful Protefiion be bjs already experienced, could not fer.d btm Succtur, and draw bim out of all tbofe Dangers wbicb Jboud threaten bis Life, 'Tis on this Account be is refolv^d always t love her, and this Love 'will be a certain Refuge for bim in every Danger, In all tbe Btoks of Chivalry tberc is nothing more gallant. Tigris Earl of R o s c OM M o N. 37 Pigris campis. Theft fatir Verges admirably d'ftgn tie two Polar Zones, tubitb are always en-viron'd by Ice and killing Frofts. Pigri Campi wonderfully exprefs Countries cordttnned to a perpetual Sterility, and in a manner deprived of the Motion cf Life. Lin. 19. Quod latus mundi. Latus is a very proper Wtrd, tbe two Zones being tbe tiuo Sides of tbe World, Malufque Jupiter urget. This ExprrJ/ion is extremely fne and very Poetical. He looks upn tbofe places as deform d by Jupiter as a Mark of bis Anger ; Nothing cou"d better paint tbe In- clemency of a Climate : Jupiter, for tbe Air. Lin. 21. Pone fub curru. Under tbe Torrid Zene, between tbe two Tropicks. Lin. M. In terra 1 domibus negafa. Tbe Ancients believed tbe Torrid Zone to be intirely uninhabitable, but now every one knows that it is not only inhabited, but a/fa very temperate tbtf tbe happy Mixture of Warmth by Day, and tbe frejb Breezes of tbe Nigbt. Lin. 23. Duke ridentem, dulce loquenfem. Horace bas bere join d two tbe moft conjiderable Alluremt nts, tbe grace of making her laugh tnd ffeak agreeably, lie bas tranjlated visrd fr word this fne PaJJ'agc of Sapho. Kati Trlxricv dfu $ett5o-o.t vfrnnivei ars you fpeak with fo much Pleafure, And is charm'd whene'er you fmile. On 38 Po E M s by the On Mr. DRYDEN'J RILIGIO LAICI. BE G O N you Slaves, you idle Vermin go, Fly from the Scourges, and your Mailer know ; Let free, impartial Men from Dryden learn Myfterious Secrets of a high Concern, And weighty Truths, folid convincing Senfe, Explain'd by unaffefted Eloquence. What can you (Reverend Levi ) here take ill ? Men ilill had Faults, and Men will have them flill ; He that hath none, and lives as Angels do, Mufl be an Angel ; but what's that to you ? While mighty Lewis finds the Pope too great, And dreads the Yoke of his impofing Seat, Our Sedls a more Tyrannick Pow'r aflame, And wou'd for Scorpions change the Rods of Rcme; That Church detain'd the Legacy Divine : Fanaticks calt the Pearls of Heav'n to Swine : What then have honelt thinking Men to do, But choofe a Mean between th' Ufurping two ? Nor can th 1 ^Egyptian Patriarch blame my Mufe, Which for his Firmneis.does his Heat excufe ; Whatever Councils have approv'd his Creed, The P RE FAC E lure was his own Aft and Deed. Our Church will have that Preface read (you'll fay) ~\ Tis true, but fo me will th' Apocrypha ; C And fuch as can believe them freely may. J But did that God (fo little underftood) Whole darling Attribute is being good, From the dark Womb of the rude Chaos bring Such various Creatures, and make Man their King; Yet Earl o/'RoscoMMON. 39 Yet leave his fW ;//?, Man, his chiefeft Care, More wretched than the vileft Infecb are ? O ! how much happier and more fafe are they ? If helplefs Millions muft be doom'd a Prey To yelling Furies, and for ever burn In that fad Place from whence is no Return, For Unbelief in one they never knew, Or for not doing what they cou'd not do ! The very Fiends know for what Crime they fell, (And fo do all their Followers that rebel ;) If then, a blind, well-meaning Indian ftray, Shall the great Gulph be fhow'd him for the Way ? For better Ends our kind Redeemer dy'd, Or the falFn Angels rooms will be but ill fupply'd, That Cbrijl, who at the great deciding Day (For He declares what He refolves to fay) Will Damn the Goats, for their ill-natur d Faults, And fave the Sheep, for Afilms not for Thoughts, Hath too much Mercy to fend Men to Hell, For humble Charity, and hoping well. To what Stupidity are Zealots grown, Whofe Inhumanity profufely fhown In Damning Crowds of Souls, may Damn their own I'll err at leaft on the fecurer Side, A Convert free from Malice and from Pride. .1 Tart 40 P o E M s by the Part of the Fifth S c E N E of the Second A c T in Guarini's PA STOR FIDO. A M A R I L L I. f^ARE felue beate ^^ E voi folingbi, e taciturni borrori Di ripofo, e di pace alberghi veri, O quanta volentieri A rluederui i torno, e fe le flelle M'bauejfcr data inferte Di I'iuer a me JiejJ~a> e di far vita Conforme a le mie and was afraid of a Cold. WINTER, thy Cruelty extend, 'Till fatal Tempefts fwell the Sea, In vain let finking Pilots pray, Beneath thy Yoke let Nature bend, Let piercing Froft, and lafting Snow, Thro' Woods and Fields Dellruftion fow ! Yet 48 P o E M- s by the Yet we unmov'd will fit and fmile, While you thefe leffer Il ; s create, Thefe we can bear ; but gentle Fate, And thou bleft Genius of our Ifle, From Winter's Rage defend her Voice, At which the lift'ning Gods rejoice. May that celeftial Sound each Day With Extafy tranfport our Souls, Whilft all our Paffions it controls, And kindly drives our Cares away ; Let no ungentle Cold deftroy, All Tafte we have of heav'nly Joy. EPILOGU E to ALEXANDER the Great, when affed at the 'Theatre in Dublin. YO U 've feen to Night the Glory of the Eaft, The Man, who all the then known World pofleft, That Kings in Chains, did Son of Amman call, And Kingdoms thought divine, by Treafon fall. Him Fortune only favour'd for her Sport, And when his Conduct wanted her Support, His Empire, Courage, and his boafted Line, Were all prov'd Mortal by a Slave's Defign. Great Charles, whofe Birth has promis'd milder Sway, Whofe awful Nod all Nations muft obey, Secur'd by higher Pow'rs, exalted ftands Above the reach of facrilegious Hands ; Thofe Miracles that guard his Crowns, declare That Heav'n has form'd a Monarch worth their Carej Born to advance the Loyal, and depofe His own, his Brother's, and his Father's Foes. Faction, Earl of R o s c o M M o N. 4$ Faction, that once made Diadems her Prey, And ftopt our Prince in his triumphant Way, Fled like a Mill: before this radiant Day. So when, in Heav'n, the mighty Rebels roff, Proud, and refolv'd that Empire to depofe, Angels fought firft, but unfuccefsful prov'd, God kept the Conqueft for his beft Eelov'd: At fight of fuch Omnipotence they fly, Like Leaves before autumnal Winds, and die. All who before him did afcend the Throne, Labour'd to draw three reftiff Nations on. He boldly drives 'em forward without Pain, They hear his Voice, and ftraight obey the Rein. Such Terror fpeaks him deftin'd to command ; We wnrmip Jove with Thunder in his Hand; But when his Mercy without Pow'r appears, We flight his Altars, and negleft our Pray'rs. How weak in Arms did Civil Difcord fhew ! n Like Saul (he flruck with Fury at her Foe, When an immortal Hand did ward the Blow. Y Her Offspring, made the Royal Hero's Scorn, Like Sons of Earth, all fell as foon as born : Yet let us boaft, for fure it is our Pride, When with their Blood our Neighbour Lands were dy'd, Ireland's untainted Loyalty remain'd, Her People guiltlefs, and her Fields unftain'd. VOL, I,' D ON 50 P o E M s by the ON THE DAY of JUDGMENT. I. TH E Day of Wrath, that dreadful Day, Shall the whole World in Afhes lay, As David and the Sibyls fay. II. What Horror will invade the Mind, When the ftrift Judge, who would be kind, Shall have few venial Faults to find ? III. The laft loud Trumpet's wond'rous Sound, Shall through the rending Tombs rebound, And wake the Nations under Ground. IV. Nature and Death mall, with Surprise, Behold the pale Offender rife, And view the Judge with confcious Eyes. V. Then fhall, with univerfal Dread, The facred Myftick Book be read, To try the Living, and the Dead. VI. The Judge afcends his awful Throne, He makes each fecret Sin be known, And all with Shame confefs their own. VII. O Earl o/'RoscoMMON. 51 VII. O then ! What Intereft fliall I make, To fave my laft important Stake, When the moft Juft have Caufe to quake ? VIII. Thou mighty, formidable King, Thou Mercy's unexhaufted Spring, Some comfortable Pity bring ! IX. Forget not what my Ranfom coft, Nor let my Dear-bought Soul be loft, In Storms of guilty Terror toft. X. Thou who for me didft feel fuch Pain, Whofe precious Blood the Crofs did ftain, Let not thofe Agonies be vain. XI. Thou whom avenging Pow'rs obey, Cancel my Debt (too great to pay) Before the fad accounting Day. XII. Surrounded with amazing Fears, Whofe Load my Soul with Anguifh bears, I figh, I weep : Accept my Tears. XIII. Thou who wer't mov'd with Mary's Grief, And, by abfolving of the Thief, Haft giv'n me Hope, now give Relief. D 2 XIV, 52 P o E M s by the XIV. Rejeft not my unworthy Pray'r, Preferve me from that dang'rous Snare Which Death and gaping Hell prepare. XV. Give my exalted Soul a Place, Among thy chbfen Right-hand Race; The Sons of God, and Heirs of Grace. XVI. From that infatiable Abyfs, Where Flames devour, and Serpents hifs, Promote me to thy Seat of Blifs. XVII. Proftrate my contrite Heart I rend, My God, my Father, and my Friend ; Do not forfake me in my End. XVIII. Well may they curfe their fecond Breath, Who rife to a reviving Death, Thou great Creator of Mankind, Let guilty Man Compaflion find. PR O- Earl 0/"RoscoMMoN. 53 PROLOGUE to POMPEY, A Tragedy ', tranflated by Mrs. K. Philips, from the French of Monfieur Corneille, and a ft ed at the Theatre in D u B L i N. HP 1 H E mighty Rivals, whofe deftruftive Rage /*- Did the whole World in Civil Arms engage, Are now agreed ; and make it both their Choice, To have their Fates determin'd by your Voice. Cfefar from none but you will have his Doom, He Kates th' obfequious Flatteries of Rome: He fcorns, where once he rul'd, now to be try'd, And he hath rul'd in all the World befidr. When he the Thames, the Danube, and the Nile Had ftain'd with Blood, Peace floarim'd in this Ifle j And you alone may boaft, you never (aw Cafar till now, and now can give him Law. Great Pompey too, comes as a Suppliant here^ But fays he cannot now begin to fear : He knows your equal Juftice, and (to tell A Roman Truth) he knows himfelf too well. Succefs, 'tis true, waited on C/*/2zr's fide, But Pompey thinks he conquer'd when he dy'd. His Fortune, when me prov'd the moft unkind, Chang'd his Condition, but not Gala's Mind. Then of what Doubt can Pompey's Caufe admit, Since here fo many Cato's judging fit ? But you, bright Nymphs, give C, You (like Tom Howard] did at once fupply : From Sijnefs Blood your Loyalty did fpring ; You (how us all your Parents, but the King, From whofe too tender and too bounteous Arms, (Unhappy he who fuch a Viper warms ; * Tt tbt Lord Lieutenant* Earl of Rose o M MON. 55 As dutiful a Subject, as a Son) To your true Parent, the whole Town, you run. Read, if you can, how th' old Apoftate fell, Out-do his Pride, and merit more than Hell : Both he and you were glorious and bright, The firft and faireft of the Sons of Light : But when, like him, you offer'd at the Crown, Like him, your angry Father kick'd you down. A D POEMS by the A D R M A N S. H O R. L I B. III. ODE VI. Cbrruptos fuse aetatis mores infe&atur. || E L I C T A tnajorum tmmeritus lues, Romane : donee templa rtfeceris y jEdefque labentes Deorum^ & Faeda nigro Jitnulacra fumo. Dh te mlnorem quod geris, imperas. 5 Hinc omne principium^ hue refer exitum. Di null a negleQi dederunt Hefperia mala Iu8uof// Sail, and wing'd each Scytbian Dart D 5 Firft,, 58 Po E M s by ft>e Fcecunda culpte facula, ttuptias Pnntum inqulno'vei-e, & gwus % & dotnos. Hoc fonte dermata clades In patriam, populumque fluxll. 2O Motus doceri gaudet lonicos Matura -virgo, & fingitur artubus yam xunc, tff inceftos amores De tenero meditatur ungui. 'Max junior es qu/trit adult eros 2$ later mariti vina : neque eligif, Cui donet imfermiffa raptim Gaudia, luminibus remoth: Serf Jaffa cor am no Jine conjcio Surgit marifo : feu. vocat inftitor, 2 Sett na T erJ r are glebas, f? fever a 40 Matris ad arbitrium recifbs Portare fuftes, Sol ubi montium Mutaret umbras, & juga demeret Bobtts fatlgatis, ami cum Tempus agens abeunte curru. 45 Damnofa quid non imminuit dies? jEtas parentum pejor avis tulit Nos nequiores, max daturas Progeniem witiofiorem. Earl of Ros c OMM o N. 6j But Soldiers of a ruftick Mould, Rough, hardy, feafon'd, manly, bold, Either they dug the ftubborn Ground, Or through hewn Woods their weighty Strokes did found. And after the declining Sun Had chang'd the Shadows, and their Task was done. Home with their weary Team they took their way, And drown'd in friendly Bowls the Labour of the Day. Time fenfibly aft things impairs ; Our Fathers have been worle than theirs ; And we than ours ; next Age will fee A Race more profligate than we, . (With all the Pains we take) have Skill enough to be. REMARKS 62 P o E M s by the REMARKS on the foregoing ODE. THIS Ode it a Leffan of Morality. Horace it perfua ding tie Romans, that Contempt of Religion, and Corruption if Man- ners, iver the folt Caufes of all the Misfortunes -which bad kefallen Rome. The Time -when it -was ivritten ivas after the Defeat of Antony, about the Tear of Rome, DCCXX1V, w DCCXXV. Lin. i. Delicla majorum immeritus lues.] The Pagans bad di f cover d this Truth, That Pojlerity might fuffer for a Crime of their Ancrftors ; and that till fuch Crimt "was atcnd for, the Children of the Offenders 'were liable to the Pttnijbmtnt due to their Crime. Lin. z. Donee templa refeceris.] He means the Templet talicb lad been burnd during the Wars. This points at Auguftus in par- ticular : For that Prince ivas very diligent in repairing the Templet which bad been denwlijh'd or burnt, and raijing them up again. Lin. 3. ./Edefque labentes Deorum.] The different between an. JEdes Sacra and a Temple, iaas tbii- y ^Edes Sacra, was pro- perly a facred Edifice dedicated to fame Deity, but "without the Ceremony f the Augurs j a Temple -was a certain fpace of Ground fet apart by the Augurs, but not hallowed nor consecrated to any of the Gcds, as the Roftra, Curia Pompeia, Curia Julia, Curia HofUiia. Hence it is no hard matter to conceive hov> one might be turned into the other ; that is, bow a Temple might be made an JEdes Sacra, and an y^des Sacra a Temple : there -were federal at Rome, vibicb Vierc both the one and the other at the fame time. Lin. 4. Et fceda nigro fimulachra fumo.J This is a Jine Pajfage. Horace, after be bad fpoke of the Temples being burnt, ftts before the Eyes of the Romans the Statues of the Gods, all over Hack with the Smoke tf the Flames vjhicb bad turned the Templts to AJhes. Here it is proper to mention what ive find in Book I. Odt XXXV. vobicb -was ivritten a lit tit after this: - Quid inta&um nefafti Liquimus ? unde manus jurentus Metu Deorum continuit? quibus Pepercit aris? Profane Wretches ! what have we not defil'd ? In what Inftance has the Fear of the Gods reftrain'd the facrilegious Hands of our young Soldiers ? Is there any one of the Altars which they hare fpar'd ? Lin. Earl of R o s c o M M o N.' 63 Lin. 5. Dls te minorem quod gcris imperas. J Cbrijtians them- fcl-vet could not have given tetter InftruRion* to Princes : You are linger Kings than you own a God above you, and trufl in bis Power. This Horace -writ not fo much for the Roman People, as for Au- guftus j of whom, Book I. Ode XII. Speaking to Jupiter, be/ays, Te minor latum reget *quus orbem-: He will ever own you to be above him ; he will content him- felf with the Government of the World. Lin. 6. Hinc omne principium.] He fays we Jhould begin all 9ur Works -with Prayer to the Gods, and fnd tbem -with Thankf- fi-vings. This be recommends as a feafonable Precept, after fo mufb Mifery vukitb bad followed upon the Contempt of Religion. Lin. 8. Hefperia;.] Italy, caird alfo Hefperia proxima, f iijtinguijb it from Spain, which was catt'd Hefperia ultima. Lin. 9. Jam bis Monaefcs.] Undoubtedly Horace ffeaki bere of the tiuo Viftories which the Parthians got over the Remans, one under Monasfes, and the other tinder Pacorus their Generals. He likeivife imputes tbefe Misfortunes of the Romans to the Contempt which they bad Jhftvn to Religion. It it probable that one of tbefe ViElorics of the Parthians, was the Defeat of Crafluj, tuba march" d again/} the Parthians, in dejfar.ce tf all the unlucky Omens which happened both at Rome, and in the Camp, as Dion reports. Hifi, Book XL. But the difficulty is t know whether CralTus was de- feated by Monaefes, who ivas a chief Man about King Or odes. Hifttriam agree that it was Surena -who routed Crafius. What it Surena ? not a proper Name, tut a Title of Dignity, and fignifes, The King's Lieutenant : Now Monaefe* ivas the fecond Man of the Empire: And therefore it is probable that Surena ivas the Title tf Monasfes. This Pajfage of Horace it very conjiderable ; for it is the only one of all Antiquity which gives ui light in this famous Story. The Vifiory of Monaafe* over the Romans proved fatal to him f elf : For King Orodes groiving jealous of bis Glory, put him t Death foott after it. And therefore that Monaefes, tobo put him- ftlf into Antony'* Hands feventeen Years after this Defeat of Craflus, and inborn Antony fcr.t back to Phraates, either because he JufpeKed him, or becaufe he top'd be might do him good Seritic.e fbout the Prince, ivas the Son of the former. Et Paccri manus.} Pacorus ivas tie eldeft Son of Orodes, ivh ftnt him to railage Syria prefently upon tie Defeat ff/'Craffus : But be was then fo young, that be had only the Name of General, and Ozace* ttnmanded the Army. He ivas feat thither again -with Labienus twe or three Tears after, and did great Service; for he fubdued all Syria, 64 P o E M s by the Syria, except Tyre, at Dion writes, Book XLVIII. Ht was Sefeated *nd jlain three Tears after by Ventidius, Antony's Lieutenant. Lin. 10. Non aufpicatos contudit im| etus.] He calls tbe Effortt of tbe Romans againft tbe Farthians, nor jufpicatos, unaufficious, contrary to the Aufpicia, becaufe CrafFus bid entered upon tbit . War witbfingular Contempt of tbofe Divine Tokens Firjl of all, , when be left Rome, tbe Tribune Ateius having cppof+d bn Depar- ture, and not being able to flop him, conveyed a Cb*jfing-dijh to tbe City-Gate, thro' which be was t o pafi ; and as Ci ffus went out be caft fame Perfumes upon tb-- Fire, and then threw it about, with horrible Curfes and Imprecations. This Craffus minded nor, tut went on bis way. In like manner be flighted all tbe unlucky Prefaces that bcfel him. And, laflly, when tbe Siotbfayers let bint know, that tbe Tokens in the Sacrifices were unfortunate, be took nt Notice of -what they fa id. Lin. ii. Et adjecUFe praedam torquibus.] He fa\s, that tbt Parthians enlarged the Chains about their Ntcks with tb; Gold ar.d Silver which they bad taken from tbe Romans. Here it muft be remembered, that tbe Farthians wore Chains about their Mcks, like tbe old Gauls and Germans- Lin. 12. Renidet.] >Ai, be laughs. Sc Catullus, Ode XXXVI. Egnatius quod candidos habet denies, Renidet ufquequaque. Egnatius is always laughing, becaufe he has white Teeth. Lin. 14. Dtlevit uibem U&, to dance, fo the Latins ufe moveri and motus fur the fame. Thus Horace in another place ; Ut feftis matrona moveri jufia Diebus. And again, ut qui Nunc Satyrum, nunc agreftem Cyclopa movetur. And Virgil, dant motus incompofitos. Cicero bat tbe fami Pbrafe in hit third Paradox : Hiftrio fi paulo fe movit extra nu- merum. lonicos.] Ionian Dances were the mojl lafciviout cf any. For tbe World did not afford a more -voluptuous People than the Ionian*. Lin. 12. Matura virgo.] That is t Maid who it marriageable; for anting tbe old Romans /'/ iat counted a Reproach fr a Maid cf that Age to danct 5 this Exercife bang permitted to none but young Children. Fingitur artubus.] Fingere Jig nifitt the fame as formare, com- ponere, to fajhicn, toft. It it a Term borrow' d from the Dancing- Schools. Horace fays, that at that Age tbe Maid was Jlill frac- tifing to make her Joints fupple, that jfhe might fucceed the better in her lafcivious Movements. Lambin has read in fame Mar.ufcriptt, fingitur artibus. If that be tbe true reading, Horace would fay that the Maidt learn d all the Tricks, and profits' d all the inveig- ling Arts, which cemmon Strumpets made ufe of in their Trade.. 66 P o E M s by the Lin. 24. De tenero meditatur ungui.] This is a Greek Proverb, aa-it^aii TV ovv% ho -writes that few Children are like their Father ; that be ebfcrvcd a great many to be tvorfe, but rarely found cne tetter. But it -well deferves to be noted, that Horace grounded his Rt-mark uptn true HiJIory, of the Times far the three firjl Generations, and that be prophejied truly of the fourth, at is eafy to frc-ve, l>y comparing the Rtign ef Tiberius -with that of AuguAus. HORACE HORACE' ART P o E T R Y. Scribendi rede, fapere eft 6c principiutn & fons. PREFACE T O T H E ART of POETRY. T Have feldom known a Trick fucceed, and will put none * upon the Reader ; but tell him plainly that 1 think it could never be more feafonable than now to lay down fucb Rules, as if they be obferv'd, 'will make Men write more correflly, and judge more difcreetly : But Horace muft be read ferloufly or not at all, for elfe the Reader won't be tht better for him, and I Jhall have loft my Labour, 1 have kept as clofe as 1 could, both to the Meaning, and the Wordt of the Author, and done nothing but what I believe he would forgive if he were alive ; and I have often ask'd my f elf that Queftion. 1 know this is a Field, Per quern magnus equos Auruncts flexit Alumnus. J)ut with all the RefpeB due to the Name of Ben. Johnlbnj to which no Man pays more Veneration than I ; it cannot be denyd, that the Conflraint of Rhime, and a literal Tranjlation (to vjhich Horace in this Book declares himfelf an Enemy] has made him want a Comment in many Places. My chief Care has been to write intelligibly, and where the Latin was cbfcure, I have added a Line or two to explain it. I am below the Envy of the Criticks, but if I durft, 1 would beg them- to remember, that Horace ow'd his Favour and his Fortune to the Charafter given of him by Virgil and Varius, that Fundanius ' and Pollio are ftill valued by what Horace fays of them, and that in their Golden Age, there was a good Underftanding among tht Ingenious, and thofe who 'were the moft Efteemd were the left NaturJ. ROSCOMMON. 72 P o E M s by the D E ARTE POETICA LIBER, AD PISONES. J~ ~IUMA NO capiti cervleem piflor equinam y anger e Ji we/it, & varias inducere plumas t Vndique collatis membris : ut turpiter atrum Dejinat in pifeem mulier formofa fupsrne : Speflatum admijji rifum teneatis amid ? - Credit e, Pifones, ijli tabula fore librum Perfimilem, cujus, we/at y the Scd nunc ncn erat bis locus : & fortajfft cupreffiim Sets fiinulare . Quid hoc ? Jt frafiis enatat exfpes 20 KaviltUt are data qui pingitur ? amphora ccepit Injlitui't currents rota cur urceus exit? Deniquejit) quod vis, fimplex duntaxat &f unum. Maxima pars watutn, pater ; tf ju Ji quid componere cur em, 3 ;; Non ntagis effe we Urn, quam pravo vivere nafo t Spcclandtim tiigris oculis, nigroque capillo. Sutnite materiam we/iris, qui fcribitis, a: quam Vitibviy & verfate diu t quid f err e recufent, Quid valtant burneri, cui lecla potenter erit res, 40 Kicfacundia defer -et bunc, nee lucidus or do. Or dints k^cc virtus erit & wenus, aut egofallor, Ut jam nunc dicat, jam nunc debentia did Pleraque Earl of Rose OM M o N. 75. But they mifplace them all, and croud them in, And are as much to feek in other things, As he that only can defign a Tree, Would be to draw a Shipwreck or a Storm. When you begin with fo much Pomp and Show, Why is the End fo little and fo low ? Be what you will, fo you be ilill the fame. Mod Poets fall into the groffeft Faults, Deluded by a feeming Excellence : By ftriving to be fhort, they grow Obfcure, And when they would writefmoothly.they want Strength, Their Spirits fink ; while others that afiecl A lofty Stile, fwell to a Tympany ; Some tim'rous Wretches ftart at ev'ry Blaft, And fearing Tempefts, dare not leave the Shore; Others, in Love with wild Variety, Draw Boars in Waves, and Dolphins in a Wood; Thus fear of Erring, join'd with want of Skill, Is a moil certain way of Erring ftill. The meaneft Workman in th' jEmilian Square, May grave the Nails, or imitate the Hair, But cannot finifh what he hath begun ; What * [can be] more ridiculous than he ? For one or two good Features in a Face, Where all the reft are fcandaloufly ill, Make it but more remarkably deform'd. Let Poets match their Subjeft to their Strength, And often try what Weight they can fupport, - And what their Shoulders are too weak to bear, After a ferious and judicious Choice, Method and Eloquence will never fail. As well the Force as Ornament of Verfe, Confift in choofing a fit Time for things, X it there 7 6 ' P o E M s by the Pleraque dijferat, &f prafenj in tempus omittat. Hoc amet, hoc fpernat promijfi car minis auflor. In *verbis ttiatn tennis cautufque ftrendis : Dixeris egregie, notttm fi callida utm penes arbitrium eft & jus ff norma loquendi. Res gefler/is ftudiis eetas animufque mirilis Qutcrit opes & amicitias, infcrwit bonort : Commijiffe cavet quod mox mutare laboret. Null a fenem circumveniunt tncommjda : *vel quod Quterit, & invert t is mifer abftinet, ac tlmtt uti : I 70 Vtl quod res omnes timide gelidique minijjrat, Dilator, fpe longus, iners, avidufque futuri t Difficilis, querulut : laudator temporis aSi Se puero, cenfor caftigatorque minor-urn. Mult a ferunt anni 'vetiitentes contmoda, ftcunt^ 1 7 f "Multa recedentes adinunt, ne forte feniles Mandextur juveni partes, pueroqite 'virilts^ Semper in adjunfiis tevoque tnorablmur aptis* Aut agitur ret in fcenis. aut afla refer tur. Segnius irritant animos demijfa per aurfm, 1 go >xam quee funt oculis fubjefia fidelibus, & quit Jpfe fibi tradit fpefiator. Non tamen intus T>igna geri, promes in fcenam : multaque toilet Ex cculis, que mox narret facundia pr&fens. Ntc pueros coram populo Medea trucidet ; j 8 c Aut bumana palam coquat exta nefarius Atreui : Aut in avem Progne 'vertatur, Cadmus in anguem. ojlendi^ mibi fee, incredu'us odi. Earl of R o s c o M M o N. 8$ Tte Epilogue, and fee the Curtain fall ; Mind how our Tempers alter 6 [in] our Years, And by 7 [that Rule] form all your Characters. One that hath newly learn'd to fpeak and go, Loves childifh Plays, is foon provok'd and pleas'd, And changes ev'ry Hour his wav'ring Mind. A Youth that firft caft off his Tutor's Yoke, Loves Horfes, Hounds, and Sport, and Exercife, Prone to all Vice, impatient of Reproof, Proud, carelefs, fond, inconftant, and profufe. Gain and Ambition mle our riper Years, And make us Slaves to Intereft and Pow'r. Old Men are only walking Hofpitals, Where all Defefts, and all Difeafes, croud With reftlefs Pain, and more tormenting Fear, Lazy, morofe, full of Delays and Hopes, Opprefs'd with Riches which they dare not ufe; Ill-natur'd Cenfors of the prefent Age, And fond of all the Follies of the paft. Thus all the Treafure of our flowing Years, Our Ebb of Life for ever takes away. Boys muft not have th' ambitious Care of Men, Nor Men the weak Anxieties of Age. Some things are acled, others only told ; But what we hear moves lefs than what we fee ; Spectators only have their Eyes to truft, But Auditors muft truft their Ears and you ; Yet there are things improper for a Scene, Which Men of Judgment only will relate. "Medea muft not draw her murd'ring Knife, And fpill her Childrens Blood upon the Stage, Nor Atreus there his horrid Feait prepare. Cadmus and Prognis Metamorpbojts, (She to a Swallow turn'd, he to a Snake) And whatfoever contradicts my Senfe, I hate to fee, and never can believe. 6 vtitb 7 tttft Ruin Five 86 P o E M s by the Neve minor, neu Jit quint o produftior a fin Tabula, qua pofci vult, & fpeflata reponi. \ 90 AVr Deus interjit, niji dignus vindice nodus Incidtrit : nee quarta loqui perfena laboret, dfloris partes chorus officiumqut virile Defendat : neu quid medios intercinat aflus^ Quod non propofito conducat & beer eat apte, 195 llle bonisfaveatque, & concilietur amicis : Et regat iratos, iff amet peccare timentes : llle dopes laudet menft? brevis, ille falubrem Juflitiam, kgefque, 3 apertis otia port is ; llle tegat commijfa : Deofque preeetur ts oret, 200 Ut redeat miferis, abeat fortuna fupcrbis. Tibia non, ut rune, oricbalco vinfia, tul vejligia Greeca Aufi defer ere, iff celebrare domejlica fafta: Vel qui prtetextas, i Credit, 5* excludit fanos flelicone Po'itas Dftnocritus : bona pars non ungues potter e curat, Non barbam : fecreta petit lo:a, balnea. uem bis te.-que bonum, cttm rifu miror: & idem JndigKor, quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus. Verum opere in longofas ejl obrepere fomnum, 360 Ut piffura, poefis erit. qui Expiritrce, VOL. I. F And 93 P o E M s by the OJfendunt, poterat duel quia ccena fene i/lis : 376 Sic animis natum iaventumque poema juvandis, Si paulum a fummo difrejfit, vergit ad imam. Ludere jut nefcit, campeftribus abftinet armis : Jndo8nfque //'/<# fifcivt trocbive quicfcit, 380 tfefyijfie rifum tollant impune corona: Qtii nefcit, verfus tamtn audet fingere, quidni ? Liber & ingenutu, preefertim cenfus equeflrem Summum nummorum, vitioque remotus ab omni. *Tit nibjl jtrvita dices faciffve Minerva: 3^5 Id till judicium eft, ea metis : Jt quid tamen olitn Scripjeris, in Metii dcjctndat judicis aurfs, F.t patrjj, (3* noftras : nonumque prematur in annum Mtmbranii intus pofitis, delere licelit nan tdiderii : nefcit vox mi/a reverti. 390 Syfoejires homines facer interprefque Deo/urn Cadilus & vifiu fcedo detirruit Orpheus: Difius ob hoc lenire tigres rapidofque hones : Diflus iff Ampkiony ^hebanee conditor arcis, Saxa movere fono teftudinis, & prece blandst 395 Ducere quo vellei. fuit bac fapientia quondam, Publica privatii fecernere^ facra profanis : Concubitu probibtre vago, dare jura marjtis, Oppida moliri : leges incidere ligno. Sic honor & nsmrn divinis vatibus atque 400 Cartniniiu s Earl of Rose OMMON. 99 And might with more Difcretion have been fpar'd ; So Poefy, whofe End is to delight, Admits of no Degrees, but muft be ftill Sublimely good, or defpicably ill. In other things Men have fome Reafon left. And one that cannot Dance, or Fence, or Run, Defpairing of Succefs, forbears to try; But all (without Confideration) write ; ' Some thinking that th' Omnipotence of Wealth Can turn them into Poets when they pleafe. But Pifo, you are of too quick a fight Not to difcern which way your Talent lies, Or vainly ' 6 [with your Genius to contend ;] Yet if it ever be your Fate to write, Let your Productions pafs the ftricleft Hands, Mine and your Father's, and not fee the Light, Till Time and Care have ripen'd ev'ry Line. What you keep by you, you may change and mend, But Words once fpoke can never be recall'd. Orpheus, infpir'd by most than human Po\v'r, Did not, as Poets feign, tae Savage Beafts, But Men as lawlefs, and as wild as they, And firft diffuaded them from Rage and Blood ; Thus when Amphion built the 'Tbeban Wall, They feign'd the Stones obey'd his Magick Lute ; Poets, the firft Inftruftors of Mankind, Brought all things to their proper, native ufe ; Some they appropriated to the Gods, And fome to publick, fome to private Ends : Promifcuous Love by Marriage was reftrain'd, Cities were built, and ufeful Laws were made; 1 7 [So great was the Divinity of Verfe, And fuch Obfervance to a Poet paid.] 16 flruggle with yeur Genius, IT St ancient is the Pedigree of Verfe, And fo Divint a Poet's Funaitn, F 2 Then I oo P o E M s by the Car minibus venit. poft bos in/ignis Homer us Tyrtaufque mares anitttos in Martia bella Verfibus exacuit. dii udem hue fe dejecerit ? atque Se, anger e clathros, Indoilum doSumqus fugat recitator acerbus. Quern *in at placidit coeant immitia.] Horace's Anfwer, We give you the Privilege you demand, but on Condition you do not abufe it. I, a long Time, thought the firft Thirteen Veifes of this Epiftle were a fort of Dedication and Preface, and that Horace, to excufe th,; Disorder in which he left it, wrote to the Pifo't ; The Bock I addrefs to you is like the Pifiitre I b.i-ve keen /peaking of, in which I was miftaken. He would then cer- tainly have written it Fore Librum bunc Jimilem. Add to th, that not looking upon himfelf to be a Poet, nor on his Art of faitry as a Work of Importance, 'cia not likely he fhouM go- about 1 10 NOTES on the Art of Poetry. about to excufe its want of Regularity j it being neither r.e- ceiTary nor pofiible to obferve it in fuch a Treatife as this. The Difcovery of the Dialogue between the bad Poets and Hsract confirms me in the Opinion that I was miftaken, snd my Reafon has convinc'd feveral good Judges of the fame Miftake. Ut f!acid:i cieant imtcitia.] Painters and Poets are only Imitators, and are to paint only what is or what may be ; there being nothing eli'e that can be imitated. But they have both often abus'd their Art, and forfaken probable Ideas for mon- ftrous Imaginations. Fitnvivt complains of this Fault in Painters, in the Vth Chaptef of his Vllth Book : From hence proceed Grttefjuet, which are not to be compar'd to a regular Figure. This Rule of Hcrtce is one of the moft Important in the Art of Poetry 5 never to join Incompatible Subjects, nor offend againft Nature, Verinntulity and Truth. 14. Irceftis gravibus pleruoiyue & tr.agna pfofejjls.^ He comes from the general Rule to Particulars, and gives an Example f the vitious Variety which he condemns. He choofes one that's the leaft mocking, but 'tis by fo much the more dan- gerous Vice, by how much it fiides in under an Appearance cf Virtue. He is fpeaking of Defcriptions, a Snare which is almoft inevitable to little Genius's. Horace fiiews us how apt Poets are to fall into the Ridiculous by this Means : From grave and ferious Beginnings, which promife fublime and marvellous things, they fefcend into a (hining Defcription of a Wood, an Altar of Ditna, a River, the Rhine, the Rainbow ; their Defcnptions are ftitch'd together like Patch- Work. Their Patches, indeed, are Purple, but are Childifh and Extravagant, becaufe ill plac'd. Writers muft never abandon themfelves to fuch Digreffions, let them be of what Nature foever, when their Defign calls thtm eifewhere. 16. Hjuem incus & ara Diar*.] I believe, with Tbeodorut M&rciiui, he fpeaks of the Wood and Altar of Aricia, pretended to have been built by Orejies, who there Confecrated the Statue of Diana Taurica, which, when he had kill'd King Tboas, hs brought from Scytlia. The Poets thought this a fine Subject for Def: r tior.j. Jt took in Oreftet, Diana Taurica, her Sacri- fices in Scjtkia, and at Arid*, with the odd Cuftom in her Temple. There ccu'd be but one Prieft and he a Fugitive. He Hcuft with his ewn Hand kill the Prieft his Predeceflbr, if he v.'culd get into has Place. For which Rtafon the Prieft who held it, was always arm'd to defend himftlf. Ovid caL this Temple of Arida, a Kingdom aeqair'd by the Sword, and wub a criminal Hand, NOTES en the Art of Poetry. 1 1 1 Partatpje per gladios regna ntcente matat. 18. A-Jt fianen Rbeimm.] Horace had without doubt been often tir'd with the Defcription of the Rhine, in the Poems written on Auguftuft Vi&ories on that Side. The Bad Poets never omit plunging into that River, as Alfims, of whom he fpeak. in the Xth Satyr of the Ift Book. Turg-dta Alpima jugvlat dum Montana, dvmque Dijftngit Rbeni luttum cafvt, tec. Aut ptuviut defcribitur Area*.'] The Rainbow is as likely as any thing to turn a wretched Poet's Brain. The wonderful Mixture of its Colours are with them fo worthy of Admiration, that they let no Opportunity flip to defcribe it ; few imitating in this the Difcretion of Homer and Virgil Hemer fays not above ne Word of her, and Virgil but two Lines, E rgs Iris crcceis per cerium rofcida pftmis Millc trabetu varies adverfo felt Ct'^rei Ad-oolat. A Defcription as Rapid as Iris's Flight. 19. Et fcrtaje cvfreflvm fcis fimulare."] The young Potts and Painters began the Practice of their Arts with Descriptions and Imitations of Cyprefs. 20. Sifraffis er.atat exfpet aavibui.] What's the painting of Cyprefs to that of a Wreck ? What are Defcription s in Poetry, when illuftrious Actions are the Subject of the Song ? Hortce alludes to thofe tx vtta Pidures, made by fuch as had efcap'd Shipwreck. ZI. Ampbori ceefit injsitui, currmtt nta cxr Urceus exit ?j An Image taken from a Potter, v.-ho commonly began his Trade by making little Pots called Urcesi, and ended with a great Pitcher cali'd Amphora, which was his Maftcr-piece. To begin with an Ampbtra and end with an Urceus, is like a Poet who after a magnificent Beginning, falls and is loft in Defcrip- tion. Amptmra anfwers to inaptit gra-mbaiy and Urceta fo purpuretis faunas. 23. Demiqve Jit q-jid-ois Jimplex dxxtaxat & mum.] The Rale that refults from what he has faid. Simplicity and Unity are entirely oppofite to the Fault he has been fpeaking of. De- fcriptians, which have no immediate Relation to the Subject, corrupt 112 NOTES on the Art of Poetry. corrupt and deftroy them. Homer, Virgil, and Sopboclift De- fcriptions are all neceffary, and well introduc'd. 35. Decipimur ffecie rtfii.'} This is not a new Rule, but the general Reafon of the Fault he has been explaining : We are ciecsiv'd by Appearance in the Beauties of Art, as wtll as thofe of Nature ; a Poet thinks to adorn his Subject by De- fcriptions, and he fpoils it. Bnvis effe laboro, obfcurus fio, &c. are Examples to confirm this Propofiiion. Brrvii effe, &c.] Brevity is certainly one of the great Beau- ties of Difcourfe ; but fo near a Neighbour to Obfcurity, that it is very difficult in following the one, not to fall into the other. Perfpicuity is the principal Virtue, Virtus prima perfpicui-tai. 16. Sefiar.tem I* via ner-vi dfftdunt.^j As by endeavouring to make ftrong Verfes and Expreflions, an Author renders them hard and rough, fo by endeavouring to polifh, he very often weakens them. 27. Prcfeffut grandia target.] They fall into this Error, that flretch what is Grand too far 5 as Gorgiai, in calling Xerxes the Jupiter of tie Perfiyns, and he who call'd Brutus the Sun of Afia ; they become Bombaft, when they fludy to be Grejt. 2.8. Serpit Humi tutus niinium timidufque proctll*.] Poetry is a Sea, and thofe who fail on it, if they are" wife, will never venture tco far from the Shore, nor come too near it. Heract's Expreffion feems rather to be borrow'd from Birds, who creep on the Ground, when the Winds and Storms make 'em afraid cf rifinR; into the Air. 2.9. %ui variare cupit rem prodigsaliter ur.am.~\ This Verffe proves, that whatever he has already faid is only the Confe- quencs of the fame Rule. For he returns to it again, by Shewing, That thofe who to arrive at the Marvellous, which he here terms Prodigieu;, vary a Subject, and tack to it pompous Defcriptions, form Monfters. Omnia Mtnftrt faciunt, faysCataiiut. 'Tis as if they fhould place Dolphins in the Woods, and Boars in the Sea. The Word prodigialiter is taken here in a good Senfe, as are often our Words Prodigious and Prodigisujly, For it muft not be imagin'd that it refers to dppingit. 31. In -vitium dutit culp*fuga.] The fear of falling into one Vice, is frequently the occafion of our falling into a greater than that which we endeavour'd to avoid. We would fhun a tedious Uniformity, and we are guilty of a monftrous Mixture : The reafon is, we make this Mixture with-ut Arc, which can only teach us to do it, and not offend Uniformity. Our keft Examples are Homer, Tbtocritut, and Virgil, 2. & mi Hum NOTES on the Art of Poetry. 1 1 3 32. vfmilium circa ludum fabtr J'WKJ.] Herace here means a certain Statuary, who liv'd at the Bottom of the Circus, near a Place call'd the Sciocl if /Emilius j becaufe a Fencing-Mafter, nam'd ^milius Lentulus, kept liis Gladiators there. This Statuary gave a great deal of grace and eafinefs to Hair, and finifti'd the Nails admirably ; but take his Statues altogether they were wretched Pieces, there being no Connexion of the Parts, nor that Agreement which, like the Soul, adds Life and Action to the Figure, and is the All in All in a Statue. 'Tis the farre with Poets, who know not how to make any Thing but a Defcription, to exprefs a Sentiment, or make a ftrong Comparifon, with all which they are at the beft but miserable Poets. 34. Penere totum.] Ponere, to put, for tt do, to make, as in the Greek T/9-a< : He fays elfewhere, Solars nunc tominem poitere rune Drum ; and tottm is what we call All together, a Ttrm properly us'd in Painting and Sculpture, when Pictures or other Pieces, confiding of many Figures, are fo difpos'd, that the different Parts agree to form one fmgle and the fame whole, and reprefent one fingle Object. 'Tis alfo made ufe f in Pieces where there is but one Figure, either in Sculpture or Painting, the different Parts of which ought to have fo natural a Connection with each other, that they may form but one fingle and the fame Bcdy. 'Tis not enough that the Artift knows how to make an Head, an Arm, a Foot, he muft underftand how to put the whole together, fo that it may be one fingle Figure, wl:ich has nothing maim'd in it, but is every where equally well defi^ti'd and finifh'd. 36. Qvam praw Divert Ni.~\ The Pentameter Verfe is the Etegiack. Horace calls it Exiguum becaufe it wants a Foot of the Hexa. meter. For this Reafon he fays, two Verfes higher, Verfbui impariter juvflis. The Moderns want the Beauty of this Ine- H'ility in their Elegiatks. Ovid exprefles it thus, Venit edoratot Elegfia nexa tapilltt, Et putt pti ili'i kngior elttr erat, Emiferit 120 NOTES on the Art of Poetry. Emiferit autor, Grammatici certant.~\ Horace tells US it is no known who invented the Elegy, nor why it was fo nam'd Terentius Maurus fays the fame, and tint fome People will hT it to be CaUinous, others, Tbeoclcs, Arcbilocbus, or Terpatder. 79. Arcbilocbum proprii rabits armavit i'jinto.'] He attributes the Invention of lambicks to Arcbilocbus. True, no body wrote them fo well as he, till his Time, but there were lambick Verfes long before him ; however, for his bringing them to fuch Perfection, they were call'd the tambickt cf Arclilscbus. 80. Huno Stcci ceferf pedtm grandtfquc cothurni,] Svccut, the Sock of Comedy. Cytburnut the Euskm of Tragedy. Tragedy and Comedy uf:ng lambicks as fitteft for Converfation. 81. Alternit aptum Sermonibus.] Horace afiigns three Qualities to lambick Verfe ; That 'tis proper for C mveifation, that it compofcs beft the Tumults of the Theatre, and is good to car.'y en the Action : As for the firft, one can hardly fpeak in the Greek and Latin Tongues without making lambicks ; as both Arijlctle and Cicero have obferv'd. See the IVth Chip, of A'ijlstle's Art of Pcetry ; and Cicero tells us, Mag'.am enim partem ex iambii ttoftra conjlat oratio. 8z. Et popularct oi'.ctnttmft'fpi'us.'] Silences the Noife of the People ; for the lambick Verfe not beinz much different from their ordinary Way of freaking, their Attention was the mere eafily engag'd : It is not fo with the Modern Languages. Et tiatum rebus egttidis.] Horace took this from Afiftotle't Art of Poetry, where 'tis faid lambick and Tetrameter Vtrf* are proper to give Motion. The one is fuited to Dances, the other to Aclion. Q^inttlian tells us why the lambick Verfe is proper for Action, The Movement of it is quicker, &c. frequentiorem quaji fu/fum babet, ab omnibus pjrttb-s infurgit, & a bre-vibus in lengas nititur 6f crtfcit. 83. Mufa dedit fdibus Divot fuerofjue Dtorbm] He is about to enter upon the Subjects of Lyrick Poetry ; and it being not kiown who Invented it, he afcribes the Invention to the Mufes. Orpheus learnt it of the Mufe Calliope his Mother, at in the Xllth Ode of the Ift Book. Arte materna rapidos morantem Fluminum lapfui. Dlvos, faerefjue Deorum.'} There were four forts of Lyrick Poems, Hymns, Panegyricks, Lamentation, and Bacchanalian Songs : Hymns and Ditbyrambicks were for Gidt \ Panegyricts for Her tet and Viclvrt. at Giecian Games} Lamentations for Lovers } NOTE s on the Art of Poerry. 1 2 1 Lavtrs ; the general Name is the Ode. See the Xllth Ode of the I ft Book, and the lid Ode cf the IVth Book. Et juvenum curat & libcra vina referrt.] The fourth kind cf Ly ricks, the Songs of the Baochanals, on Love, Mirth, and Wine. 86. Defcriptas fcrvarc vices of crumfue colorcs.] There is fome difficulty in this Verfe, becaufe it is not prefently perceiv'd whether it relates to that which goes before, or (hat whi:h comes after it. Horace having fpoken of the different Subjccl* and Cliara&ers of Epick, Elegiack, ami lambick Poems, adds, tint a Poet who dies not know how te diAingruifh them, does not deferve the Name of one. He who would in the Elegy afTume the Epick Tone, or would mix tha Softnef* of the Elegy with the Roughnefs of the lambick, would make but a furry Poem of it. Mr. Dacier's Complaint of the French Poet? touches all the Moderns, which is, that in mofl of 'cm, their Pjjlerals are Elegies j their Elegies, Efrcks ; and their Lyrickt, He Cl!U drfcn'p'ai Vic?s, J'icei adt-ier.tat, fff.grc-fr.- , the different Subjects, the different Charades, of thcfe ci.; .- rent Poems. Operuir..p4 again, upon his farther Importunities, Thou wilt Ruin me, deft r.ot tbau fee tbott wilt take atvay all my Tale from me. What adds to the Plea- fantry of this Satire on the Tehpbus of Euripides, is, that the whole Scene is in a manner made up of his own Verfes. Tbn- dorus Marcil.it is therefore miftaken, in faying the Eyul in Horace alludes to Pelcus enly, and not to Telepbus ; For Ttle- pbus himfelf fays, How am I drivtnfrcm my Houfe in Want / every Thing tiectfl'ary, ScC. Ennius and Nrt-vius brought Euri- pidefs Telepbus on the Rtynan Stage. In Er.nius this Exil'd Kinj fays, Regnum reliqui feptus mer.dici Stola, I left my Kingdom in a Beggar's Habit. Ariftopbana ridicules this Play of Euripidet, , for the Impoflibility of a King's being reduced to Beggary. Horace is fatisfy'd with faying Pauper. AZfcbylus alfo writ a Telepbus ; but one cannot believe he fell into the fame Error of which he accufes Euripides, and introduces the King in Rags. 97. Projicit Amp-Mas & Stfjuipedalia Verbs.] Amful/as for Swelling Thoughts, Sefquipedalia Verba, for Bombaft Words. Sefquipcdalia, a Foot and Kalf, for their Length. The Greekt often made compound Words of a prodigious Length, which were fuceefsful in the Sublint:, but Ridiculous in the Pafficn of Grief. See the Hid Epiftle. Ampullatur in Arte. 99. Nsn falls eft pulcra effe Poimata, dulcia funio.] A P'ay mould not only be Fine, but it mould be Touching. Horace here refers to the Ignorance of fuch as fancy they have made a Fine Play, when they have been lavifh of the Flowers of Rhetorick ; all which are Nothing if it does not move ; for that's the principal end of Dramatick Poetry : 'Tis with this View Plato calls Tragedy, The tnojl diverting and moving Effent tf Poetry. In Dulcia, Sweet, moving, Htrace imitates Anjlotle in the XXth Chapter of his Art of Poetry. Heinjiut miftaket G * the f 24 NOTE s on the Art of Poetry. the Fire for Commendable. Horace would certainly never have call'd a Play Commendable, if it had not been Moving. 'Til thus in a Piflure ; the Bufincfs is not to make it glare with fine Colours without Conduct, but to render the Action fenfible. In order to which, no Colour fhould be u&'d but what will agree with it, and make the defir'd ImprefTion. 100. Et fbccuttyt+e veleitt.] It fhould infpire all the Paffions it plcafes ; Hate, Fear, Terror, Pity. 102. Si es the more Moving. Se-verumfiria difiu.] A grave Peifon muft fpeak anfwerabiy to his Character. Euripides is not fo difcreet as Sopbccles. Ser.ec* the tragick Poet never minds this Rule. He is fo fond of fhinirg every where, that he becomes ridiculous. ic8. Famjt enint Natura trius nas ir.tirs ad omnem ft'tursarum babitumJ\ In thefe four admirable Verfes, Hcract gives the Re^- fon of the Precepts contained in the two preceeding ones. His Reafon is drawn from our Mother Nature, who gave us a Heart capable of feeling all the Changes of Fortune, and a Tongue to exprefs it. When our Words do not ar.fwcr the Condition we are in, the Heart ftrikes one String in the Inftrument of Man infiead of another, and makes a very difagreeable Difcord. 109. Ju-vat out impellit.] Nature helps us to put ourfelves into a Rage. Horace adds Impellit, to denote the Impetuofity of that Paffion. 110. Aut ad bumutn mcerore gravi dedacit.~\ Horace's Expreflion agrees very well with the Paffion he fpeaks of. How natural is his Image of the Humiliation of an afflicted Man ? How ridicu- lous does it render all frothy Expreffions in that Condition ? 112. Si dicentit erunt firtunis alfrna difla~\ The Language muft always agree with the Condition of the Perfon fpeaking j otherwife the Orate r will be laught at. See Antonius fpeaking for M. Aquiliut, in the 2d Book of Cieero't Orations. Ncn print fum ccr.af.'t mifericordiam a'iit commovire quam mifericsrdia jt.m ipfe caftus, *c. G 3 114. L>- 226 NOTES 0//^ Art of Poetry. 114. Jr.tereit muhum Divufne loquatur an bcros.~\ A Poet muft alfo fuit the Language of his Aclors to their Age and Characters. A God muft exprefs himfelf otherwife than a Hero. An old Man than a young Man. This Rule is not much obferv'd by the Moderns. J3iuam fi proferrit ignota ir.diElaque priut.'] By ignota indiftaquc he means the fame thing as by his Communia, un- JtHow* Subjefls : He adds indicia to ignota. Subjects never treated of before. For a Story may be unknown, without being vtio ; 'tis what he fays in the XXVth Ode of the IJId Book. JDicam injigne, &c. / will ffeak of new Tbings -which have ntt yet been ffoken of. 131. PublUa Mat cries privati juris erit, fi, &c.] Left the Advice he has been giving Poets might caufe them to fall into fervile Imitations, by handling known Subjects, he teaches them how they arc to govern themfelves, to make fuch Storiet proper. Publtca mtteries, the Ilias, the Tbebaidt, the OdjJJey, And all the Subjects of the ancient Tragedies : He oppofes futlitm NOTES on the Art of Poetry. 1 3 r PMiet materiel to Communia ; Cbryftppus boafted he had made Euripides^ Medea his own, becaufe he had net follow'd that Poet's Difpofition of his Subj^ft. 132. Nee circa vilcm patulumjue tntraberii Orbem.] Horace advifes Poets to take the Subjefls of their Tragedies out of Homer's Poems, and he here cautions them againft the Faults they might be guilty of. The firft and moft confiderable, is to amufe themfelves, circa Orbbn vilem & fatulum, tu:tb A vile Circuit open to til the World, that is, with bringing into a Tragedy all the Parts of Homer's Poem, imitating his very Connexion and Chain : As for Inftance, in opening the Scene with the Quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, and clofmg all with Hsffor's Funeral. Heinjiut is miftaken, in thinking Horace means a vain Circuit of Words, that Jo not relate to the SutjeJ. The Circuit he fpeaks of, is in the Fable, and nothing can be more Vicious : For what would be but of a juft Ex'ent for an Heroick Poem, would be monftrous, conftn'd to the narrow Limits of a Tragedy. Remember, above ail things, fayt, Ariftotle, not to make a Tragedy of an Epick Plot ; / call an Epick Plot, a Plot conf.jling of federal Fables ; as if you Jbould biirtg all toe liias into tr.i Play. There's another vicious Circuit btfldes this. See the i4;th Verfe. 133. Nee verbum -verbo curabii redderc.] Not to tranflate Homer Word for Word, the Bufinefs of an exait Tranflator, n^t of a Poet. He mould imitate the Difcretion of ^fchylus t Stpcocles, and Euripides, who all of 'em make bold with User's Sentiments, but do not tranflate him literally: Htraa condemns the fuperftltious Exaftnefs of fuch Tranflators as keep clofe to the Letter. Ciaro fays very well, in the Treatife fc Oftim. Gen. Orat. Speaking of the two Orations of uirti/ian''s Judgment, C'aufula ipfa vnius Syllabx non vftata addidit Gratiam. The Fable of the Mountain that brought forth a Moufe is in v.fop. Pbui nil molitur inepte.] Horace's faying that Homer did nothing Improperly, ought to reftrain fome Modern Authors, who by endeavouring to find out grofs Faults in him, only difcover their Ignorance and ill Talte. 141. Die Ktibi, Mufa, -virum.] Horace includes the three fir/I Verfes of Homer's Odyffey in two, contenting himfelf with expreffing the Modefty and Simplicity of Homer's Beginning, without explaining all the Parts of it ; for otherwife one might find confiderable Faults in his Tranflation. He has forgotten the Epithet fl-oXt/Tfesw, wife, which marks Ulvffet's Character : He neglects the Circumftance that makes us moft conccrn'd for his Hero, It /M*A* 5roxX* v 5rx.*f^;8, Who -wander d a Icag Time. He fays, in a loofe way, after the taking of Troy, whereas 'tis in Hemer, after bavir.g ruind Troy ; but, as I have faid, his Defign was to fliew HimeSs Modefty, and not to tranflate him. 143. N^nfumum ex fulgorc, fed ex furr.o dare ijcem.~\ Thsfe pampous Beginnings that are not carry'd on, refeml.le Fuel which eafily takes Fire, and after having blaz'd awhile, goes out, and waftes away in Smoke : 'Tis a Straw Fire. Whereas modeft Beginnings increafe as they proceed, and are like folid Fuel, which is hard to kindle, (mokes awhile, blazes up, and safts forth a Fire that warms, illuminates, and burns a long time. Ut fpeciofa debinc tniracula fromat,'] Horace here calls //- mer'i Stories of Antipbatcs, Scylla, Cbarybdia, the Cyclfpi Fo!y~ fbemutf &c. Jbining Wendert. And Lmgintis makes a very fine Comparifon of the Ilias and Od\JJ"ey, with reference to thefe Fables. A the Ocean is always great, tbt' fometimes be leaves bis Shores, and it cvnjind in narrower Limits ; fo Homer *lfo ba-ving left tbe Jltas, isjtill great, even in the incredulous and fabulous Stories ef' tbe Odyfley. He alludes to the Tempefts, the Cyclops, &c, the fame Places Horace calls Wonders. Longinus in the fame Chapter calls thofe Stories the Dreams of Jupiter, Dreams worthy of the King of the Gods. 145. Antipbaten,\ Antifbates, King of the Leftrigons, de- fcrib'd in the Xth Book of the OdyJJ'ey. They were Man-eaten and Htmer fays they carry'd away Ulyjes's Followers in Strings, like fo many Strings of Fifli. Scyllftr.que & Cbarybdim.'] Two Rocks in the Strait of Sicily, the one calFd Scyl.'a, from the Punick Word Sco!, which fignifies Deftrutlion, the other Cbarybdis, from Cborcldam, figni- fying an My ft of Perdition. Haner makes two horrible Mon- 'em, See the Dcfcription in the Xllth Book of the Ody/ey. CltM NOT E s on the Art of Poetry. 1 3 * Cunt Cyclope.] Polyphemus, King of the Cycltps, who dwelt in Sicily, near the Promontory of Lilybtum ; Tis one of the mcft agreeable Tales in Hsmer. See the IXth Book of the Ody/ey. 146- Nee reditum Diomedisab interim M.eleagri.~\ Homtr has not written on Diomedeis Return : Neither is it what Horace means in this Paffage ; the Senfe of which is, That Homer, in his Poem on the Return of UlyJ/'es, has not done like the Poet Antimachus in his Return of Diomedfs, whfe Adventure he begins with the Death of his Uncle Meleagcr, which is abfurd : for by this he gives a Beginning to the Beginning of the Action ; Before tvbicb, as Arijlatle obferves, nothing muft be fufpos'd Necejj'ary. This Matter is treated of in the Vllth Chapter of his Art of Poetry. 147. Nee gemin bellumTrcjanum ordi:ur ab ova.] The Trojan War is not the Subject of the Ilias, 'tis only the Occafion of it. Ihmer makes no Beginning nor End to the Siege of Troy ; nay, there's hardly a Middle that's proper to it ; but he forgets none of the Parts of his Subject, which is Achilla's Choler. He does not fo much as relate the Ciicumftances of the Rape of Helen the Caufe of the War. Horace laught hers at the Author of the little Ilias, who beg,an his Poem with the two Eggs : In one of which Helen and Clytcmnejlra were inclos'd ; in the other Caftor and Pollux. The Unity of the Perfon can never excufe the breaking the Unity of the Afiion, which, as Aiijlotle teaches, muft be always preferv'd : He condemns, in his Art of Poetry, ths Authors of the Heracliade and Tbeftiade, for not obferving that Unity, and fets Homer's Conduit as an Example. He has not in kisOdvJ/ly heap'd together all the Events thathappen'd to Ulyffa ; nor in the Ilias does he amufe himftlf with writing the Hiilory of Acbilles : He introduces no Adventure that has not Relation to his Subject in either of thefe Poems. Statius, after Aiifiotlc and Horace had given fuch good Rules, falls into a greater Fault than even the Author of the little I/iat j inftead of beginning his Tbetaid with the Inceftuous Birth of Eteocla and Pulyr.ices, he begins it with the Rape of Eurofa, the Gcca- fion of the founding of Thebes. 148. Semper ad e-ventum fejlinat.] Still going forward to the End of his Subject, he makes ufe of no Efifode but what leads to it. The End of the Ilias is Achilles'*, Vengeance. Statius, inftead of going forward to the End of his Action, feems afraid of coming to it, and flies back by Efifodes independent of his. Subject. 149. Et in medial rts, nen fecus ac not as, auditor em rafit.] A Pafiage of great Importance, and very difficult: It has been in- terpreted, as if Htrace \vould fay, that Htmer prefently tranfports 136 NOTES on the Art of Poetry. his Readers to the Middle of his Subject, to hold them always in Defiie and Hope to the End of it. This, 'tis true, is one of the greateft Beauties of an Epic Poem, and Homer has not neg- lected it, as Macrobius obferves in the lid Chapter of the XVth Book of his Saturnalia ; but Horace having treated of (his Pre- cept in th,e 4 ad and 43d Verfes, 'tis not likely he (hould repeat it here : Betides, Horace does not talk here of what Homer does in the Beginning, but what he does in the Sequel, thro' the whole courfe of the Poem, as appears plainly by what goes before, Semper ad cventam feftinat, He always bajlen'd to the End tf the Aftion. The true Senfe of this Paflage is, Htmer carries his Readers fwiftly over all Things that preceded the Aclion ; he calls them medtas res, middle Things, either becaufe he placet the Recital of 'em in the Courfe of the Poem, after the Begin- ning, or before the End ; or becaufe they are Things which the Creeks call properly /uio-ct, middling, indifferent. Horace fay*, the Poet pafies fwiftly over thofe Adventures, as if they were known : And fuch is Homer's conftant Practice ; every thing that precedes the Siege of Trey, and Ackillefs Vengeance, it related in (he courfe of the Poem, as publick Events known to all the World : This a Tragick Poet ought to cbferve, as well as an Epick. Sophocles, in bis Oediput , pafles fwiftly over every thing that precedes the Action of his Tragedy. 150. Et qua defferat trattata nitefcen pcffc, re/infuit."] This is a Confequence of what he faid juft before, That Homer carries his Reader fwiftly over everyThing that precedes his Aftion ; fear- ing one might from thence believe he gave the whole Hiftory. Hirace fliews the Poet's Addrefs, in not mentioning all the Incidents of the Story, but making a judicious Choice of them ; leaving thofe that were not fufceptible of Ornaments, fuirabJe to the Grandeur and Majefty of his Poem : He does notfpeak of Ltda's Eggs, nor the Rape of Helen in the IHai, nor of ths Sacrifice of Tfbigenia, nor of Acbillefs Difguifing himfelf lik a Girl ; and thus a Tragick Poet fhould rejeft all Incidents that do not anfwer the Grandeur of his Subject. 151. Atque ita mentitur, fie veris fa/fa remifcet.] The Soul of an Epick Poem, is the Fable, which includes a general Truth, made particular by the Application of Names. Thus the Truth eontain'd in the Iliat is, That Union and Subordination prefervc States, and that Difcord and Difobediencc deftroy them : The Fiftion in which this Truth is wrapt up is the Quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, feign'd to be taken from a known Story as the Trojan War, to make it the more probable. In epick Poetry the Fiflion goes always on with the Truth j but 'tis not only NOTE s on the Art of Poetry. 137 nly moral Truth that Homer teaches in his Fictions, fometimci alfo 'tis Phyfical and Hiitorical, which he enfolds in fine Fablci, to render 'em the more Marvellous, and confequently the m re Agieeablc. None has facet eded fo well as himfelf in thefs TMti: Hsraii begins this Precept with them, and continues it With the Mixture of the FcHe and the Truth, Sic -verisfalfa re-, rr.ijut. Which is a perfect Explanation of Homer's Conduct, and" all the Myftery of an Epick Poem, according to A-iJlttJe's Rules. The Poet fiift draws the Plan of IMS Fable, which is not lefs a Fable thin any of ^f-'f''s ; mtntitur, be feigns. After he has laid down this Phn, he muft make his Fable probable, and pcr- fuade that it has been done, to have it believ'd that 'tis pofliblc. To trm.purpofe he attributes it to certain known Perfons ; he names the Places that were the Scene of it, all which he takes from a known Story, borrowing feme true Actions and Circum- ftances, which he accommodates to hi& Defign, Sic vert's falfa remijcet ; thofe Poets who have not, like Homer, drawn the Plan ef their- Poems, after they had fought out fome Hero in Hifiory, and chofen a true Action done by that Hero, have never fuc- ceedtd : As Siliut, Statius, Lucan, and among the Greeks the Authors of the Heracliade and Tbef.adc: Arifiotle prefcribes this R'.ls in the XVII Ith Chapter of his Ait of Poetry, and it is the Foundation of an Epic Poem. 1 52. Primo ne medium, media ne difcrepet itnum.] He every where mixes the Fable with the Truth, That the three Parts of his Subject may be connected and equal. The Middle, which is the Knot, muft anfwer to the Beginning; and the End, which is the urravelling of it, to the Beginning and Middle. If Fiction is Hs'd in one Part, and not in all, the Parts will be fo unequal and disjointed that they will not compofe one. Whole: Neither will the Mar-velhus, which is produc'd more by Fiction than Truth, reign thro' the Work as it ought to do. This is alfo to be cbfcrv'd in Tragedy. 153. Tu, quid ego & fcpulus mecumdefiJeret, audi.] He return* to the Manners. Tu, Thou, who writefl Dramalick Poems. All Pcets, and not the Pifo't. 154. i plauforis egn aulta manentit] If you would have u ftay the Play out, Aulta manerc, Stay 'till the Curtain it raiid, or as we fay now-a-days, till the Curtain is dropt. See Aulc Dramate fere tret f> erj "or. ne fola agurtt. But it may happen there may be Occafion for Four to fpeak. Monficur />' Aubignac pretends Horace does not entirely con- demn the introducing a Fourth Perfon, but that a Fourth Perfon fliou'd not force him ft If to fpeak. The Text will bear fuch a Conftruftion, and our Poets have added a Fifth to this Fourth Perfon. Nay Scaliger in the Hid Book of his Art of Poetry, fays, They make no Scruple of bringing a Fourth Perfon into a Scene. As AriQophanes'* Gboft in the Frogs, the fame- in bit Plufus and in bis Birds. However what Scjliger fays of Arif- icpbams does not decide the Difpute. For Horace talki of Tragedy, and not of Comedy, in which no Body queftions a great deal more Liberty may be taken. 'Tis very likely Horace's Rule is Simple, and without Rcftri&ion, drawn from the Common Practice of the Greeks, and its being the moft conve- nient, the moft natural, and the moft f.fe Way. Anftotle irjf.irms us, ^fckylus invented a Principal Perfon, which he join'd to him who appear'd between the Songs of the Chorus, and that Sapbocies added aTrrrd. Neverthelefs there are Three Aclors to be met with in fome of vfchy/us's Flays. See the Remarks on the IVth Chapter of that Philofopher's Art of Poetry, 193. Afioris partes chorus, officiumque -virile deferdat.~\ The Chorus were a Company of Aclors, who fupply'd the Place of thofe who ought probably to be prefcnt at the Action repre- fented, and were concein'd in it. 'Twas the Foundation of all the Probability of Dramatick Poetry, which fmce it has loft its Chorus has loft at leaft half of its Verifimi'ity and greatcil Ornament, rendring our Modern Tragedy no mere than the Shadow of the Ancient. The Chorus had two Func- tions. For in the Courf* of the A&s, they were to join in the Aclion and acT: a Part, the Coripbteus fpeaking alone in the Name of all the reft, and after each AcT: all the Chorus was to note the Interval by their Songs. Horace prefcribes here two Rules NOTES on the Art of Poetry. 145 Rules for thefe two Functions of the Cbsrus. The firft is con- tain'd in this Verfe, AEloris P fries Chorus cjpciuttjut virile defendat. Tbe Cborus mufl a& the Part ef an After, and perform the Funfti'ces *f a f>"glt Perfon. 'Tis a Trariflation or Explanation of a Paflage in Arlftttlf* Art of Poetry, wherein 'tis faid, The Cborus miift all the Part ef an AfJor, be one of the Perfons ef the Place, and make a Part of the tsobtle. The Second Function is ontain'd in the following Remarks. 194. Not quid medial inter tinat a flits, quod non propajito can- ducat.] What the Chorus fung between the ABs to mark the Intervals : Which Song Horace will have to agree with the Subject, that is, be taken frem it, and help to the forwarding it. Arijlotle fays, Sophocles and Euripides fliould be imitated in this ; and thofe who do otherwife, inferta car.unt, fing in- ferted Songs, as fuitable to one Tragedy as another. Sophocles is the true Model for the Conftitutron of Cherubs : Euripides was fometimes deficient in this, tho' Sialiger prefers his Con- dudt to Sophocles"* ; Ariftopbanet blames Euripides for it, in his Jlcbarnenfes, And tbofe, fays he, tobo compofe b.is Chorus ftand there like Fools : Upon which the Scboliaft makes this judicious Remark, Ariftophanes in this Vcrfe laughs at Euripides for in- troducing Chorus's that do not Jitig Things agreeable ta tbe SubjitJ, but Stories that are foreign to it, as in his Phoenicians, 196. Ille bonis faveatque.~\ In thefe fix Verfes Horace tells us what was the Bufmefs of the Chorus : Scaltger forgets a great deal of it. The Chorus always took the Part of honeft Men ; the Theatre was then the School of Piety and Juftice better taught there than in the Temples. Et concilietur amicit. Some have read fif conjilietur amicis, to give Counfel to its Friends; That was indeed one of the Duties of the Chorus ; but I queftion whether there are any Instances of confiliari, to ex- prefs giving Counfel ; 'till I meet with one I will rather choof* to read 6f concilietur amicis, that is it join'd with its Friends, and fupported their Interefts. 197. Et regat iratos.] As in Oedipus, the Chorus endea- vours to moderate that Prince's Choler againft Tircjias, anil Tirejias's againft him. Et amet peccare timentes.] The Chorus was fo religious that it always declar'd for the Innocent againft the Guilty. 198. Jlle dapts laudet menftt brevis.'] The Chorus of Tragedy may have frequent Occafions to commend Sobriety, one of the principal Moral Virtues, Vol. I. H 199. Hie 1 46 NOTE s on the Art of Poetry. 199. llh Jalubrem, jujiitiatu, legefque.'] The Chorus of Otdiput furnimes us with wonderful Examples of what Horace write* on this Subject. Et apertii otia portis.] As in that fine Chorus of Eurifidts, when addrefiing to the Queen of Peace, it fays, Queen of Riches, taffy Peace, Fairejl of the Goddt/es ; With what Impatience have I waited, How long expeBcd you in vain f I fear Old Age will now deflrcy mt Before I Jl;all Mold your Beauty, Before your Dances I behold So full of Grace, before I fee Tour Cro-zvnt, yaur Feajis, and bear your Swgt 200. Ilk tegat corntKifla.'] The moft eflential Qualities of the Chorus, are Fidelity and Secrecy, without which all Verifimi- lity is loft, and the Poem fpoil'd. Thefe Qualities depend on the Poet's Addrefs, who ought fo to choofe his Chorus, that its own Intereft may engage it to conceal what it is intrufted with, and to take care, that in concealing it, it does nothing againft its Duty. Euripides has committed a Fault of this kind in his Medea, who tho* a Stranger at Corinth, contrives the Death of her Rival the King of Corinth's Daughter, as alfo that of the King, and afterwards to kill her own Children, tells the Chorus, compos'd of Ccrinthian Women, the King'i Subjecls, her Defign, and yet they are fo faithful to this Fo- reigner, that they do not difcover it to their Natural Prince. The Chorus, 'tis true, muft be faithful, but without violating dhe Laws of Nature, or the Laws of God : The Fidelity of t!ie Corinthian Women to Medea is criminal ; the Greek Scho. liaft endeavours to excufe it, by faying, that the Corinthian Woman being free, declar'd for Juftice, as Chorus'* ought to do, which Excufe is ridiculous and impious ; and the fame Euripidet, who has made this Corinthian Chorus fo faithful, when it fhould not have been fo, makes the Chorus of Creufa's Waiting Women in ION, fail in their Fidelity to Xuthut, and reveal her Husband's Secret to their Miftrefs, tho' he had commanded thsm, on Pain of Death, not to do it. Horace's Pvule is, indeed, not fo general, but it may admit of feme Exception } but I can much lefs forgive Euripides for the Treachery sommitted in Ipbigtnia in Taxris ; the Chorus is twmpodJ of Grtcier. Women, and this Princefs begs them to tell NOTES on the Art of Poetry. 147 tell no Body of her Plot to carry off the Statue of Diana, promifing to take them with her. The Women are faithful to her, and yt (he flies away alone with Oreftei, and abandons them to the Rage of Tboas, who would certainly have fsverely punhh'd them, had not Minerva come to their DeliTerance. 201. Ut redeat miferis, abeat fortune fuperbis,] A neceflary Confequence of the Juftice and Piety of the Chorus ; the Ancients blame Euripides, becaufe his Chorus's are not always fo much concern'd as they ought to be, for the Unhappy. Scpbocles never err'd once in this Particular. aoz. Tibia nan at nurtc, Oricbalco finSa,~\ The eighteen fol- lowing Vcrfes are obfcure. After having fpoken of the Cho- rus's in Tragedy, he fpeaks of the Changes that had happen'd in the Mufick, and the Verfe, and the better to explain it, makes ufe of a very juft Example, faying, that as the Chorus's of the Roman Plays, which were at firft plain, with one very little' Flute, and without any Ornament, chang'd the Tone when the Roman People began to be more powerful and rich, Riches and Luxury having introduc'd the fame Change in Verfs and Mufick, as in Manners ; fo the fame Thing happen'd to the Chorus of the Greik Tragedies, the Mufick of which was at firft as plain as the Verfe, but by degrees it became more harmonious and ftrong, and the Meafure of the Verfe was accommodated to the Mufick ; in which Meafure they foon imitated the Dignity and Majefty of the Oracles. Oricbalco vintla.] 'Ofi%ct\x.ov, Oricbalk, a fort of Mountain Copper, what we now-a-days call Braft : The Ancients efteem'd it fo much, that for a long time they preferr'd it to Gold itfclf, as in the lid Chapter of the XXXIVth Book of Pliny : Virgil puts it with Gold, fpeaking of Turnia't Cuirafs. Thofs who took it for a natural Metal, half Gold, and half Copper, did not remember Ariftotlis OWervation, that Nature produces no fuch fort of Metal. Tubtque tmula.] The Flute was brought by degrees to fuch a Pitch, that it equal'd the Trumpet, and was then us'd in the Cboruis of Tragedies. aoj. Sed tinuitjimplfxque,'] Tenuis oppos'd to tuba temuta ; Jimplex to oricbalco vinfia. Foramine pauco adfpirare eboris erat utilis.] Having few Holes, proper for the Chorus" t of Tragedy, which do not require founding Mufick. The old Commentator, fays farro, in the Hid Book of the Latin Tongus, which is loft, faid he had fe tic of the ancient Flutes with but four Holes. H t *04. Adjfirart 148 NOTES on the Art of Poetry. 204. Adfpirarc cborii erat uti/is.] A little Flute is fufficient for a Chorus, firft, becaufe the Mufick mould be foft, loud Mufick not agreeing with the Sentiments the Chorus ought to have, as Pity, Tendernefs, &c. and fecondly, becaufe the Theatres were then very little, and not much frequented. 206. Quo fane popalus tutnerabilis titfote parvus . ] Horace lays down four Reafons why the Remans were at firft no fonder of Theatrical Representation* : As j. They were but few in Number. ~. They were Wife. 3. They were Pious, and 4. They were Modeft. Mcr.fieur le Fevre will have it, that the firft deflroys all the reft. If the Flay-Houfes were empty, becaufe there were few People to fiil them, what need we attribute it to their Piety or Wifdom ? He therefore corre&ed the Text parcus, 'Ihrifty, for par-vus, fmall ; which Reading is not juft : Horact oppofes farvus, to agros extendere, and/atiormurus, as he op- pofes the three other Epithets, Mfe, Pious, and Mcdeji, to vinequt diurno placari genius, to the diffblute Manners which i eign'd foon after on Feftival Days ; befides, the Word parcut, Thrifty, which Monfieur le Frvrt would read inftead of par-vus, fmall, cannot come in here on any account, fmce the People djd not pay any Thing at the theatre, the Magiftrates defray, ing the Charge. 208. Poftquam ccepit agros exttndcre vifior.^ When their Victories oblig'd the Romans to extend the Compafs of their Walls, to admit the Nations they had fubdu'd, then Luxury and Riches alter'd the Verfe and Mufick of the Chorus's, from Simplicity to Pomp. 209. ffncjae diurnc placari Genius fejlis itnpune diebus.] 'Twas not lawful for the firft Ron-.ans to debauch by Day-light, even I\ot on Feftivoh ; flacari Genius, fottb tfycir Genius : A happy Exprefijon for the Mirth of Wine and goad Company. 211. AcceJJ-t numerifque, modifque licentia major.'] They gave themfelves full Liberty to alter the Verfe and Mufick, from a foft and fimple, to a lofty and diverfify'd Tone. 212. Indcfius quid enimfaperet.] Horace attributes the Variety and Wantonnefs, which were added to Poetry and Mufick, to the Ignorance, Lazinefs, Rudenefs, and Vilenefs of the Vil- lagers admitted by the Romans into their Body. Socrates and Plato, are of Opinion, that wanton Mufick proceeds from the Ignorance of the Mind, and the. Corruption of the Heart. Libetque labarum.~\ Lazy, and in Repcfe after the Vintage and Harveft. 213. Urbane confvfus, turpis Lore/lc'] The Rudenefs and Debauchery of the Villagers, prevailed over the Gentility and Severity of the Rtmart. 214- Sis NOTES en the Art of Poetry. 149 214. Sic prifcee motumque 6f luxuriant tddidit art/.] The Players on the Flute added Movement and Wantonnefj to the ancient Art, which was before chafte and fevere. Motxs anfwers to numeris, in the 2 nth Verfe, and luxuria to midn. Pliny fays, While they made ufe of fimple Mufick, tut after the Variety and Wanfonnefs of Song were added to it, which is taken from the IVth Book of Tbeofbra/lus's Hiftory of Hants. Plato tells us, The Variety in Mufick produc d Jntemperar.ee. 215. Traxitque vagus per pulplta -ve/icn.] Drefs, as well as Mufick, was corrupted : The Muficians wore their Robes with long Trains, only us'd by the Grcckt ; in Tragedies they cail'd them Syrma, as in Julius Pollux. Vagus relates to the Motion of the Chorus, in fmging the Stropbees and Antiftropbtcs. 216. Sic ttiam j/Uftut voces crc-verc feveris.] The Application of the Example. As our Mufick and Poetry chang'd as our People aggrandiz'd themfelves ; fo did alfo the Grecian Lyre, from a plain to a lofty Tone : Cicero, in his lid Book de L-g:bus, fpeaks of the Severities of the ancient Mujick : antiqu* Mujictf fe-veritas. Fidibus.] Horace affures us the ancient Greek Tragedy made ufe of the Lyre ; and indeed the Lyre was us'd a long time. Scpbocles play'd on it in his Tragedy of Tbamyris. 217. Et tulit elcquiitm infolitum facur.dia praceps.] The Verfe* of the Greek Chorus, like thofe of the Latin, underwent the fame Change as the Mufick ; inftead of Plainnefs an Ex- travagance of Language was affeclcd, little different from that of the Priefts in pronouncing their Oracles. Horace here falls on the Greek Tragick Poets, who are very often Bombaft, and affecting the Sublime, fwell into Fuflian, in imitation of the Priefts. Heinjius is very much miftaken in this Paffage. Facundin prteceps.] The Epithet Praceps, is enough to fhew us, that Horac; is cenfuring and not commending : Facundia fraceps is a bold rafh Eloquence, the Rhetoricians call it Meteora, and Quintilian, pracipitia. Lsxginus oppofes it to the Sublime. 'Twas faid of ^fcbylus, fublimis ufque ad vitium. 218. Utiliumque fagax rerum & divir.a futuri.] Heinfas is out again here : Horace, as he pretends, is fhewing how Tra- gedy came to its Perfection ; whereas he is not talking of Tragedy in general, but of the Chorus, and fhews how it came to be corrupted : One of the Functions of the Chorus was to comfort the Afflicted, which ought to be perform'd with a Noble Simplicity ; but from giving Advice, the Poets, in Time, gave entirely into Propbefy, as the Chorus of v.fcby!tu : dgtmimnvn fays, I propbefy without Mi/ion and witiout Wages. H 3 ilerace 1 50 NOT E s on the Art of Poetry. Horace here condemns the Bombaft Diction, and the Obfcurity of the Chorus's. azo. Carmine qtti tragico *vilem tertavit eb bircum."] He now fpeaks of the Satyrick Poetry of the Greeks j a fort of Poetry between Comedy and Tragedy : Horace feems here to attribute the Invention of it to Tbefpis : He ivbo difputed the Prims ef Tragedy, fcon produced Satyrs} but there are two Reafons againft this Opinion : The firft is, we read no where of Tbefpis' 9 Satyrick Pieces ; and the fecond, that the Difputes for the Prize of Tragick Poetry were not in ufe in The/pit's Time, as Plutarck informs us in the Life of Solon. Suidas is pofitive that Pratinas was the Inventor of Satyrs. He liv'd a few Years after the Death of Tbefpis ; 'tis therefore likely Horace means him, and that this Poet, after having difputed the Prize of Tragedy, in a very little while wrote Satyrs. Tragico carmine certavit.'} The Difputes of the Prize of Tra- gick Poetry were by the Poets producing their Pieces to be play'd in Publick : 'Tis plain by this Paffage, that thefe Dif- putes were more Ancient than the Invention of Satyrs. Ok hircum,'] The Poet who obtain'd the Prize had a Goat for his Reward 5 it being the ufual Sacrifice to Bacchus, who prefided over Tragedy; and fome will have it Tragedy takes its Name from this very Goat, t^ydft*., The Sang of the Goat. 221. Agrefles Satyros nndavit.~\ Shew'd Satyrs naked, and without Difguife, that is, bad Satyrick Pieces play'H, wherein Satyrs compos'd the Chorus, with Father Silenus at their Head : Demetrius Pbalereus fays, No Body can ever form a Tragedy, wherein Rallery and Laughter may be introduced) for be "would then ivrite a Satyr, There's but one remaining of all the Satyrick Pieces of the Ancients, which is the Cyclops of Euri- pides, and that's fufficient to juftify what Horace has written of them ; he fays Agrefte* Satyroi, as Euripides faid of the Cyclops, 222. Et afper incolumi gravitate jecum tentavit.] He endea- vour'd to bring Rallery and Pleafantry into Satyrick Pieces, without offending the Gravity of Tragedy : The Poet muft always remember he is writing a fort of Tragedy, and have a care of falling into mean Rallery, which is only excufable in Comedy. Tiberius in the Cyclops rallies Ulyjj'es, and yet preferves the Gravity of Tragedy. / know tbis famous Prater, this nobli Sprig of Sifyphus. Horace ufes the Word Afper, Sharp, to ex- prefs its Rallery. 223. Illeceiris erat & grata novitatt morandus fpetlator.'] He attributes the Origin of Satyrs to the Audience's Defue of Novelty ; No T E s on the Art of Poetry. 1 5 1 Novelty : D!medes, and Marias ViRtrinus, hare faid the fame Thing. Satyrot induxcrunt ludtndi caufa, jocandique, tit Jimul SpecJator inter Res Tragical feriafque, Satyrorum quoqvt jocis & luf.bui deltSaretur. The Poets however had a more ufeful and fpecious Prettnce for it : Tragedy was at firft only a Chorus, who fung ths Praifes of Baecbut ; Actors were afterwards in- troduc'd, and Scenes and Acts plac'd between their Songs ; Tragedy became fo alter'd at laft, that the Chorus was almoft loft in it, infomuch, that it was a Saying, It makei not at all for Bacchus. The People were not for abolishing a good old Cuftom ; and the Poets, in Honour of Bacchus, and to give them Satisfaction, refolv'd to eftablifh the ancient Chorus, and in fuch an agreeable Manner, that it fhould be improv'd by the Addition of Pleafantry ; this was the Origin of Satjrs, wiiereia the Chorus mingled the Praifes of Bacchus, 2Z4. FunSufoue ficris, & potus & exlex.~\ The three Rea- fons for the Invention of fomething to divert the Audience. i. They offer'd a Sacrifice, in which there was no want of Meat and Wine. a. They drank chearfully at that Feftival. 3. They were for any Thing frolickfom and extravagant. 22,5. Vtrum ita rifores, ita commendare dicaccs.~\ Tho' on thofe Feftivals the People were diforderly, their vicious Taftes muft not be humour'd with impudent Satyrs ; they muft be half ferious to correct thofe vicious Taftes, and half pleafant to be fuited to the Feftival : It may be objected, How comes it Horace lays down Rules for the Satyrick Pieces of the Greeks, of what ufe could thefe Rules be to the Remans f In Anfwer, Horace prefcrib'd thcfe Rules, becaufe the Romans imitated the Satyrs in their Attellanes, at in Diomedes. There's a third fort of Roman Plays caird Attellanes, from Attella, a City in Tufcany, "where they began, which in their SubjeS and Rallery are entirely like thefatyrick Pieces of the Greeks ; the only diffe- rence being, in the latter, Satyn or other ridiculous Actors were introduc'd, z*Autolycus, Burns, &c. and in the Atttllana, obfcene Actors, as Marcus : If Diomedet is not miftaken, his Perfonte obfcente are the fame Horace calls Satyrs 3 but Vofiius, pretends it fheuld be read ptrfona ofca, Ofcan or TufcaH Actors ; obfcene Perfons being rather in the Mima than in the Attellants : By what Horace fays, 'tis unqueftionable that there were Satyrs, and 'tis doubtlefs out of one of them Martut netorinus took that Verfe, dl't't f a g ite > qiatitt- Satyri, H 4 Perhaps^ T 5 2 No T E s on the Art of Poetry. Perhaps, inftead of Tufcan A&ors, the Roman afterwards irt- rroduc'd Satyrs into thefc Attellancs. This Paffjge to be clear fhould run thus : In our Attellane Plays nve have imitated the Satyrick Tragedies of the Greeks ; but tbo' the Occajions on -which ihfy are played le ftill t be fame, and the People ant no lefs mad, ytt we ought not to conform to their -vicious Appetites j lue Jhould give 'em fame of thofe rallying and poignant Satyrs, and make 'fin pafs, &c. Bring 'em into Vogue, Commendare. 2.26. It a verier e feria ludo.] This PafTage fignifies turning ftrious Things into gay, playing Satyrick Scenes after Tragical: .As in Greece, and Attellanes after Tragedies as in Rome. 227. Ne quicumque Dem, quicumque adbibibitur Herot,~\ Gods, Kings, and Heroes were reprefented in the Attellanes, as well as the Satyrick Pieces. Diomedes is therefore miftaken when he i'ays, Satyrick Poetry is -with tbe Greeks a Theatrical Perfor- mance t in lubicb the Tragick Poets ba-ve not introduced Kings and Heroes, but Satyrs to rally and be merry. The principal After in Euripedes's Cyclopt is UlyJJ'e*. 228. Regali cottfpeffus in auro nuper & oftro.~\ The Greek Poets, when the Prize of Tragedy was difputed, had com- mcnJy four Tragedies reprefented, the laft of which was a Satyrick Piece. The four were terra'd Tetralogy, and were written on the fame Subject as Ufyjfis, Achilles, Orejies, &c. they had the fame Name, the Heroes of the Play : The Oref- t'tade of tsfcbylus is fo call'd, to exprefs the four Tragedies written on the Adventures of Orcfles. There were alfo Tctra- icgitt, where the four Pieces were written on different Suhjefts : We read of a Tetralogy of Euripedes, which confifled of four Plays, on fo many different Fables ; as the Medea, the Phi' leftiiei, the DiEiys, and the Reapers ; but thofe that were on the Adventures of the fatane Hero were moft efleem'd, as being moil difficult. In the Frogs of Arljltpkar.es, Euripides bids ^Lfcbylus, Rebcarfe tbe frjt Prologue of bis Oreftiade. The Romans had no Tetralogies : They wrote a Tragedy, and an Attellane, on the fame Hero 5 the fame Adlor appear'd in botli ; for which Reafon Horace carefully recommends to the Poet fo to order it, that the Hero who was feen deckt in Gold and Purple, Nuper, in the firft Play, the Tragedy, might not dwin- dle in the fccond, the Attellane, to a comick Character: In' a word, the Hero in the Attellane mould keep the Middle, between the Sublime of Tragedy and the Meannefs of Comedy : The Romans had fomething. like Tetralogies, they had three Plays afted, one after another, on the fame SubjecY; the firft a real Tragedy 5 the fecond the Attsllane j the third a Satyr or Exode, a NOTES on tie Art of Poetry. 153 a kind ot Farce of one Act ; they were all acled in the fame Cloaths, with the fame Mask, and by the fame Actors ; there were alfo the Tabcrnaria, Tavern Pitces, more decent than tlis Exodes. NuperJ\ This proves, that the fame Actor play'd in the Atteliane, as play'd in the Tragedy : Plautus tells us as much in the Prologue to his Menecbmes, Htc urbs Epidamnum eji, &c. This City Jball be Epidamnum, during this Piece ; ivben we flay another it Jhall be another City, after the farm manner as -we change the Band of Players ; far the fame Atlor is fometimes a Slave, femetimes a Merchant, fomctimes a Young Man, fometimes an Old one, fometimes a Beggar, fometimes a King, &c. St. Jerome has a fine Comparifon on this changing of our Parts in the Scene of Life. 227. Migret in obfcuras bumill ferment talernaiJ} The Taber- raria was fo call'd, becaufe there were Taverns on the Stage: Feffus fays of 'em, Viris excellentibus bumiles permixti, ut funt plagiarii, fer-vi Caupontf. People of Quality were jumbled in them with the Rabble. The Dialogue was low. Vojjius pre- tends Plautus's Ampbytrion is one of thefe Pieces, in which neither Gods nor Heroes were ever introduc'd ; for Horace fays, the Hero cf the AtteUar.e ought not to imitate the vulgar ^ao- guage of the Tavern Piece. 231. Ejfutire loaves indigna Tragtedla -verfus.] Horace fpeaks of the Atteliane, which was in fuch Efteem, that thofe who play'd in it were not rank'd with the Comedians ; when they play'd ill they were not oblig'd to unmask on the Stage, as the others were : They did not lofe their Pay, and were allov.-'d to lift in the Armies ; wherefore mean and low Verfes were unworthy fo grave and honourable a Poem as the AttcUe?.:. 232. Ut feftis matrona mweri Jaffa didus.] An admirable Defcription of the Characters of the Satyrs introduc'd in thefc Attellanes ; they mould not be faucy and impudent like common Satyrs, nor folemn and referv'd like Stoicks, but gay and plea- fant ; in a word, an Atteliane fhould imitate a modcll Woman, who does not make Profeffion of Dancing, yet dances on Feftival-Days, in obedience to Religion and Cuftom. Euripides s Satyrs, in the Cyclops, are juft fuch as Horace defcribes 'em, and keep the Mean he recommends. Matrona mo-veri jujj'a."} Young Women were commonly chofen for the Dances in Honour of the Gods. Marry'd Wo- men danc'd on the Feaft of the great Goddefs, by Order of the Pontiffs j wherefore Horace ufes the Word ;/. j 54 No T E s on the Art of Poetry. 34- Non ego inornata & dominantia nomina folum "verbaque,] A Poet who writes Attellanes fhould not neglect his Style, nor give every Thing its Name without a Turn : Dominantia verb a, Prefer Names ; he calls them Reigning, becaufe they are properly Matters of the Things they fignify ; the Greeks term'd them K tSpict, Mafters. In Euripides's Cyclops, Si/enus fpeaking 'to VlyJJ'es and his Companions, fays, Now you have gat yeungHellen again, have not you all care/I her a little, Jince Jhe loves fo much to change her Husband? which is modeft for a Si/enus in hit Cups : Horace would correct the Licentioufnefs of the Satyrick Pieces of his Time. 235. Satyrerum fcriptor,'] If I were to write Satyrs, for Satyrick Pieces. z$6. Nee Jic enitar tragice differre color!.] The Satyrick Pieces mould keep the exact Mean between the Tragick and the Comick Style ; but the Poet mould not be always fo afraid of the Tragick, as to make Silenus in an Attellane talk like a Footman in a Comedy ; Silenus is a Perfon who may fpeak nobly, as he does in Euripides^ Cyclops. Tragico cotori.'] He takes the Metaphor from Painting, and calls the different Styles, Colours 5 the colouring of Tragedy muft be preferv'd in the Attellanes. 237. Dcvufne loquatur an avdax Pythias.] Daws was a Footman in Menander's and Terence's Comedies. Pythias a Servant-maid in a Comedy of Lucilius's, who cheated Old Simon of his Money. Horace fpeaking of the Comick Styles, ufes a Comick Term, emuntto Simone } emungere is in the Low Style, emunxi arginto fenes, 239. An cuftos famulufjue Dei Siltnus.~\ All the Ancients reprefent Silenus as a wrinkled old Man, bald, and flat-nos'd, \vith a long Beard j they make him Governor and Fofter- lather of Bacchus. Orpheus begins his Hymns to him thus 3 Hear me tbeu venerable FoJler-Fatber of Bacchus. 240. Ex ficto ffium carmen fequar.] The Attellane Poets, a* tvell as the Comick, invented their Subject as they pleas'd. Horace condemns this Practice, and fays, he would take the Subject of his Attellane, as well as his Tragedy, from fome known Story, as there ought to be no difference in this between a Tragedy and an Attellane. Euripides took the Story of his Cyclops from the OdyJ/ey. 241. Ut Jilt quiiiis fperet idem, fudet tnultutn fruftraque laioret.~\ 'Tis difficult to obferve Nature and Verifimility in invented Stories ; difficile eft froprie communia dicere. The Subject taken from a known Story appears fo natural, that every one believes he could do as much himfelf, 842. Tantun NOTE s on the Art of Poetry. 155 4Z. Tantum feriet junlfurajue pallet.] Htrace is talking of the Difpofition of the Subject, and affirms, that when a Subject taken from a known Story, fuch as Uhffes t Qrtftct, &c. is well concerted, and well adjufted, it deceives all the World, who think nothing fo eafy ; whereas in truth, as ^uintllian fays of Eloquence, nothing is harder, than what every one imagines he could have done himfelf j the Poet invents Incidents, but applies them to a known Story, of which he makes one proba- ble Whole, by that ingenious Connection Horace calls junfluram. 143. Tantum de media fumptis accedit benaris.] So many Charms are there in known Subjects. Di media fumpta, Subjects that are in every one's Hands, fuch as the Adventures of Ulffis, of one of which Euripides form'd the Story of his Cyclops, 344. Syl-vis deduBi ca-veant me judice Faun:.'] The Poets of his Time were apt to forget, that the Satyrs and Fauns were the Inhabitants of the Woods. 345. Nee velut innati triviit ac pens fgrenftu, aut nimium.] The two Extremities he recommends to them to avoid, not to make their Satyrs too polite, nor too rude j Politenefs and Brutality reign in Cities, in the Country Simplicity, which is the Mean between Brutality and Politenefs. 246. Nimium teneris juvenentur >verjlbus.~\ Horace has coin'd the Word jwenari, to oxprefs the Greek Word vt*vtv!r, a Robe with a Train. 279. In/lra-vit pulpita tignis.] Pulpitum, the Stage. 281. SucceJJit vetus bis cemecdia.] Heinfiut pretends thefe four Verfes mould come after the zsoth, where horacc fpeaks of Satyrs, to which he affirms the eld Comedy fucceeded. But thrs is their true Place. Whoj Horace fays, the old Comedy fuc- ceedtd Tbefpit and ^fciylus's Plays, he does not mean that there were no Tragic Poets after them, nor wou'd he have it underftood that the old Comedy ow'd its Origin to Tragedy. His Defign is to ftiew us that Comedy was cultivated after Tragedy had arriv'd to a Degree of Perfection, which is alfo Arifiotlis Opinion. Comedy, fays he, was not cultivated from the Begir.nirg, as Tragedy was, &c. After the grave and ferious Part of the firft Tragedies was feparated from the Comic, the Poets^ ftuck to the former and neglected the latter. After Tragedy was ar- riv'd at Perfection, the Pcets began to cultivate Comedy even in vfcbylus's time, as did Cbionides, Magr.cs and Phormui, with Succefj. And foon after tsfcbyius's Death, Comedy alfo arriv'd to Perfection in the Works of Cratinut, Plato, Epicbarmes, Crates, Eupclis, drijiopbanes, who were Contemporaries. Wherefore Horaci had reafon to fay, SucceJJit vetus Us dmtedia. Mat-cut Antoninus tells us inXIch Bock, After Tragedy the old Comedy ap- ftar'd. Does Marcus Antoninus mean the Sstyric Tragedy ? 'Twould be ridiculous to fuppofe it. For it is eafy to prove, that the old Comedy came bsfcre the fatyric Pieces, Monfisur JBoileau in his Poetry fpeaks of this Mat;er, To the Succtfs of tbefirft Tragic Slew, TV old Comedy in Greece its Birth did oivt. He means, as Horace does, Comedy was cultivated after Tragedy was perfect. 281. Sed in -vitium libertat excidit.'] The old Comedy was of two forts ; that which was properly fo call'd, in which was no Fable, the Poets reprov'd Vice openly, and fpar'd neither Citi- zens nor Magiftrates, whofe Names, and even the Liktnefs of their Faces, they brought on the Stage. But when Lyfander had made himfelf Mafter of Athens, and chang'd the Government from a Democracy into an Ariftocracy, putting it into the Hands of the Thirty Tyrants, fuch a Liberty which was not compatible with Tyranny, difpleas'd, and the Poets were forbidden to name thofe whofe Actions they reprefented. Fictitious Names were then us'd, but the Characters fo well painted, that the Perfon* cou'd not be mifUken. This was call'd the Middle Cotnidy, which 162 NOTES on the Art of Poetry. which lafted till Alexander's Time, who having made himfelf Mafter of Greece, reftrain'd the Licentioufnefs it had by degrees come to. This gave Rife to the 'New Comedy, being an Imita- tion of Common Life, with feign'd Stories and Suppofititious Names. Horace fpeaks of the lail Change. Et -vim.] Vis t the Force, for the fyarfnefs, the Scandal. 284. Cborufjue tur-bittr obticuit, fublato jure dcendi.~\ He does not fpeak of the Reformation made in the old Comedy. For there was a Chorus in the middle ; but of the Law againfl the Poets of the Latter, who bing forbidden to fall on the Vices of their Fellow- Citizens, and expofing them Perfonally on the Stage, fupprefs'd the Chorus, which was apply'd particularly to that Ule, as appears in the Pcrabafus of drifiopbanes's Chorus's, where the Poet digrefles to talk cf himfelf, or thePublick; which not being allow'd afterwards in the New Comedy, there was no Chorus in it, as may be feen in Meaander's Plays. As there's no Chorus in Terence's and P/autus's of the fame Kind with the New Comedy, they are purely Moral ; every thing is feign'd, both Subjeils and Names, the Flutes fill'd up the In- tervals between the Ads. Tur fiter obticuit.] Shamefully Silent, to avoid the Punifti- jnent inflidied by the new Law. Horace looks on this Reftraint as a fort of Difgrace, for turpiter does not relate to Decendi. 285. NilinttJitatumnoJlriliquerePoeta,'] Horace having fpoke cf the Changes that happen'd in the three Kinds of Greek Co- medy, -idds, the Latin Poets try'd ail Three, that is, they take in the Gall of the Old Con-.edy, and the Pleafantry of the Middle^ in their Imitations of the New. The Atttllatict had Chorus's like Ariftopbancs^s Comedies, 286. Vtftigia Graca aufi defertre, f celebrare domejlica facia."] The Latin Poets at firft tranfiafed Greek Plays call'd Palliatat from thence, the Subjedl of the Story being Greek ; they after- wards invented Stories of their own, which Horace terms Domejiica faEta, Domeftick Adventures, 288. Vel q ui pratextas, -uil qui docuere togatas.] One of the moft difficult Paffages in Horace ; and the main Difficulty con- fifts in knowing whether Horace does not mean Tragedy by fretextas, and Comedy by togatas, or whether he fpeaks only of the different Kinds of Comedy, which laft is the only true Interpretation. Feftut writes, Togatarum duplex eft genus, fra~ ttxtarum bominum faftigii, qua Jic appellantur quod togis fratextit rempullicam adminijlrarent, Tabernariarum, quia bominibus excel- Itatibus etiam bumiles permixti. Togata is the Genus which comprehends the two Kinds of Runcn Comedies j pratcxta 'n oae NOTE s on the Art of Poetry. 163 n of the Speciet comprehended under the Genus, wherefore they are here Togatuam lingua."] By his Tongue, that is, by his Writing'. He fpenks particularly of Theatrical Pieces, and grants, that thro' the Hafte and Negligence of the Comick Poets, Comedy lia*d never arriv'd to its Perfection. S^tintilian fays to the fame purpofe : In Comeedia maxitrt daudicamus, H^e are very iveak in Ctmtdy. 291. Lim* later & msra.] The trouble of Cor reeling, Unite labor, anfwers to multa litura, in the fecond Verfe after this, and the Patience to keep a Work a long time by one, without publishing it, nwj. to multa dies. 293. Carmen reprcbtndite quod non multa diet & multa litura,~\ Horace here paiFes Sentence on an infinite Number of Writings ; for every thing that is not well Corrected is conriemn'd as Im- perftcl. Horace was continually Correcting his Verfes, S.-rip- tervm qutque retexens, Sat. III. Bcok II. 294. Prttfeclum defies non ca/liga-vit ad unguem.'] A Metaphor taken from th. fe that work in Marble, in Wood, fefis a preferring Duality ; and Books that are rubb'd with it are nit apt to grow Mouldy or Wvrm-eaten. Pliny tells us, that the rubbing Nuna's Books with it kept them undamnify'd 500 Years under Ground. Dicfcorides fays, there's a Virtue in Cedar that will preferve dead Bodies. 332. Et tevi fcrvanda cuprejo.] They did not only rub Books with Cedar Oil, but they kept them in Cyprefs Cafes, which have the fame Virtue as Cedar. 333. Aut prcdeffe -volant, aut deleeJare Poet*.] Horace does not fpeak here of the different Works of Poets, but of the different Qualities of the fame Work, and the different Views of the Poets, who would either inftruft or pleafe, or do both. Horace declares very juftly for the latter ; he's talking ftill of Comedy. 335. ^uidyuid pracipies, eflo bre-vis.] Thofe who would in- ftruft fliould be mort, that their Inftruftion may be eafily com- prehended and retain'd, 337. Omne NOTE sow the Art of Poetry. 169 517. timr.e fupervacuum plena de ptElerc n:anat.~] A Metaphor taken from a Veflel that's full, and can receive no more, all that's pour'd there afterwards is fpilt. 'Tis thus in In- ftruftive Difcourfes, all that's over and above runs off and makes no Imprefikm. 338. Field "voluptatit eavfa Jittt proxima veris.] A Rule for thofe that would pleafe never to err againll Probability : Re- couife may fometi.-nes be had to the Gods, to whom all things arc poffible, in Inftruftive Things ; but in thofe that arc in- tended to divert, nothing muft look miraculous or incredible. 'Tis obfervable how Horace expreflas himfelf, fpeaking of th Subjects of Comedy : He fays fifla, becaufe the Subjects of the Wnv Comedy are always feign'd, whereas thofe of Tragedy ar taken from fome known Story. A Poet, fays Pfeutui, rendert that probable tebich is only a Dream. 339. NIC q:iodcum/ju! volet pofcat Jtbi fabula credi.~\ A Poet fhould not only avoid what's monftrous and extravagant, but fhould offer nothing but what's credible. I'm fatisfy'd this Verfe ought to be render'd Word for Word, That a Comtek Sub- jffi don not require iv Jhould trvft it ivitb tvbat it pltafes. A Poet mud not hazard all forts of Adventures in Comedy, no more than in Tragedy. He muft nsither in the Reprefentation ror ths Recital venture any thing againft the Rules of Proba- bility. The Example that follows will make this clear. 340. Ntu prarfe Lamia vivxm fuerum ex'rabat *l-voJ\ A Poet muft not expofe a Lamia, a monftrous Woman who had fwallow'd a Child, which was taken alive out of her Belly. Ho- race, no doubt, alludes to fome Poet, who had brought this fabu- lous Incident info his Play. 341. Centurite finiorum egitant exptrtia ff:igis,'] He fays old Men defpis'd fuch Ficlions, as ccnttinins nothing inftrucKve. Ceatiiri* fer.iorum, the Centuries of ld. R-Ln, the Bands of old Mer.: For Servius TuHixs divided the Ru:wn People into fix Claflcs, each Clafs compos'd of Men of the uaie Age, or the fame Rank, or the fame Eftate, and this was done for the Eafe of the People's Aflemblies in the Comitium. By Cwuri* fcnit- rum may be alfo underflocd the Ser.atan, and I rather think it fo on account of what follows. 342. CelJtprattreuntauJleraPxmcta'Rbetiir.ei.] As the Senators defpife ufelefs Fifticns, fo the Ejxites rejeftsd fuch as wera not pleafant, and to get the Applaufe f both, the pleafant and ufeful fhould be join'd together. Ce'.ft Rbnmr.es, the Equita. Nothing is more ridiculous than to imagine Cclji is here for High, fuch as are of great Courage, excelfa anima. Rbw*. Vt.I. I that 170 No T E s on the Art of Poetry. that [3, RcKani, from the Name of one of the three ancjent Tribes, into which the People were diftributed ; The Rbamnenfa, the Tatiens, and the Luceret. A-jflera Poemata.] Dry Poems, where the Dulce is not join'd with the Utile, the pleafant with the profitable. 343. Omne tulit punfivm."] Alluding to the manner of voting in the Cetr.itium, by Points. 344. LetJerem deleStar.do pariterque monend.~\ Both the plea- fant and profitable mufl go together, and never be afunder, wherefore he fays, fariter. 345. Hie meret tera liber Sojiis."] The Safins*!, famous Book- fellers of that Time, mention' d in the laft Epiftle of the Firft Book. 347. Sutit delifta tamtn quibus igns-viffe vclimus.] Tho' a Comick Poet ought to inftrudt and divert every where, fome Faults will be fergiven him, if he does not. 348. Nam neque cbcrda fonum. ] A Comparison that fhew very well of what Nature Faults muft be that are pardonable, they ought to be like thofe falfe Tones, which a falfe String, or a String ill ftruck, fometimes gives 5 it makes a Diflbnance, but fuch a one as is not perceptible, the other Strings that perfectly accord and give a right Tone drowning it. 3 50. Nee femper feriet quodcumque minabitur arcus.] As the beft Markfman in the World does not always hit die White, fo the beft Poet does not always fucceed. 351. Vcrum ubi plura nitext in tartnitte.] As no Writings can be pretended to be perfect, fo the beft are thofe where the Ccod not only furpafs the Bad, but where the Bad is very trivial. 3?2. Faucis tffcndar rxaeulit qvas out incuria fodit, out bu- tr.atia.] The Faults of Poets ought to be either little Negli- gences, or meer Marks of human Frailty } Mankind not being Lble to take equal Care of every thing. Lenginm has explain'd this Paffage in his XXXth Chapter. 353- ^'^ "*] u pon Horace's faying, we fhould pardon fuch little Negligences : This Objection is made to him, or he makes it himfelf. Qxid ergo ? What muft we blame them ? Since one may make any thing pafs for a Negligence. 354. Ut fcriptorji pcccat idem Librarius.] Striptor Librarius, a Bookfeller who writes Books with his own Hand. The Faults which ought not to be pardon'd are thofe that are too common, and always the fame. As we do not pardon a Trarifcribcr wlio always errs in the lame Word. 357. Sic NOTES on the Art of Poetry. 17! 357. Sic mibi qui multum ce/jt.] He who often falls into thofe Negligences. The Greek Proverb fays, 'Tis a Sign of a Fool to be twice guilty of the fame Fault. Fit Cbterilus.] The fame Cbaerilus fpoken of in the Ift Epiftle of the Second Book. 358. Quern bis terque bonum cum rifu miror & idem.] Horace twice or thrice admires this Cbeerilus; he admires himfo, that he laughs at him again and again. Two or three fine Places in a Play do not hinder its being a bad one, if there's nothing elfe anfwerable. 359. Indigncr quandoque bsnui dormitat Hcmerus.] When I wonder how Cbxrilut could come off fo well twice or thrice, fays Horace, I am in a downright Rage with Homer for fleep- ing fometimes as he does. Faults are as rare in Homer as Beau- ties in middling Authors. Howjuft, how polite is thisThoughr, and how glad am I that Horace could not without Indignation fee the Faults that efcaped Homer, whofe Faults are fo few, that there are a Thoufand good Things for every one of 'em j none of which are grofs and fundamental. i^uandequt,] For quandocumquc, qaot ies, Indigtior quoties. Horace fays, I ftill laugh at Cbterilut in admiring him as 1 have done, twiee or thrice ; whereas I always admire H-mer, and feel a fecret Indignation when he happens to deep. Which fhews how much thofe are miftaken, who wou'd turn this Quandique bonut darmitat Htmerus, into a Sort of Proverb. 360. Verum Opere in longo.] He excufes thofe Faults of Ha- mer, by faying, that in a Work of Length a Man may be al- low'd to fleep fometimes. See the Firft Chapter of the Tenth Book of Quintilian. 361. Ut pifiura, pcfjfs erit.] Poetry and Painting, are in fome Meafure like ne another, being both Imitations, but are different in as much as they imitate differently. Horace wou'd only (hew us that Poetry is in fome Refpscls like Painting. jlriftotle alfo compares Poetry to Painting. Here Hoi-ace touches upon one of the Things that are common to both Imitations ; which is, that Poetry as well as Painting has its Light and Point of Sight, in which its Effect is to bs jcdg'd of, and if difplac'd, an ill Judgment will be made. Horace might as wtll have faid, Poetry is like Sculpture, for Statuaries proportion their Figures to the Plaees for which they are defign'd as well as Painters. %u*, Jt propiutftes.] Horace fays, 'Tis in Poetry like Paint- ing, and as there are Piftures which fnould be feen at a Dif- tanee, and others near to them, fo there are fome Pieces in Poetry that fhou'd be look'd upon by different Lights, and have I * dif. 172 No T E s on the Art of Poetry. different Points of Sight, out of which they lofe their Grace and Regularity. This Matter is fully explain'd by off~a, in the Vlllth Chapter of the laft Book of his Treatife on Epick Poetry. 362. Et queedam, Ji longius alftes.'] The Bits and Scraps taken out of Homer and Virgil to be ridicul'd, are moft com- monly thofe that fhould be feen at a Diftance, and in the Places, for which they were made. They appear irregular, be- eaufe mifplac'd. 364. line amat obfcurum."] A Painter muft not place in a full Light what was made for a fmall one ; neither muft any Part of a Poem, which was made for Obfcurity, be examin'd by a full Light. 365. Hac ptacuit feme!.] As there are feme Things in Paint- ing, defign'd only to pleafe for a Moment, fo there are fome in Poetry intended only to pleafe, en paj/ant. The former made for the Eye while it pafles to the more labour' d Part, and the latter for the Mind. 371. Diferti MeJJ'a!a.~\ The fame Mejfala Corvir.us, the fa- mous Orator, whom he fpeaks of in the XXIft Ode of th Third Book. Cafellius Auliif.] A Roman Knight, one of the moft eminent Lawyers of that Time. A Man of great Learning, Eloquence and Wit. There are feveral Jefts of his ftill remember'd in the ancient Authors. But, What, fays Monfieur Dacier, adds more to bit Hcr.tur tban all bit Wit and Learning, is, bis having the Courage to preferve bis Liberty, ivben every one iuas running into Slavery. The Triumviri, Lepidus, Anthony and Auguftus t cou'd never oblige him to draw up the Edict for their Pro- fcription ; and 'tis remarkable, that the French Commentator fhould clofe his Refle&iens with this Obfervation. It is glori- ous to Auguftus, that a Man fa free might be mentioned toitb Ap- flaufe by a Poet of bit Court. 372. Mediocritus effe poetis,] Mediocrity is not to be en- dur'd in Poetry; if it is not excellent, 'tis wretched. 373. ffon bcrxincs, non Dii, r.on conceffere columnee,"] Every thine; is againft this Mediocrity : Men, Gods, and the Pofts of ti>> Bookfellcrs Shops. Men rejeft it. The Gods, Apollo, Bac~ ebus, and the Mufet, difown it. The Pofls of the Shops, on which they were fix'd, bare *em with Regret. He calls that olumnef here, which he terms Pila, in thi IVth Satyr. The old Commentator fays, they were Ports where the Poets pat u Bills qf -the Time and Place, where and when they would pub iickly raid their Works. Cut thefe Pofts are more likely ta b NOTES on the Art of Poetry; 173 be thofe of the Bookfellers Shops, where their Books were fix'd for Sale. All new Books were fo fix'd. I believe Advertift- ments of things loft were alfo fix'd to them. For Propertiu* having loft his Pocket-Book, fays to his Foot- boy, I Pucr, &c. Go presently and fx it n fame Poft, that I'd give fo much to ta-vt my Pocket-Bsok again, and advertife that thy Afajler lives at the Exquiliad, lubitber it muft be brought. Book the Fourth Eleg. XX. 374. Ut grctat inter tnenfat fympbonia difcitrs.'] Mufick, Eflences, &c. are the Joy of a Feaft, when they are excellent, but when they arc bad they fpoil it, 'Tis the fame in Poetry, made for the Pleafure and Eafc of the Mind. When it is in- different, it has a quite contrary Effeft, being as deteftable at Difcord in Mufick, or bad Eflences. 375. Crajfum Unguentum.] Thick Eflences of an /// Smell. Et fardo earn mtlle papaver.] White Poppey-feed, rofted, was mingled with Honey, as Nanniut has very well obferv'd. Pliny in theVIIth Chapter of the XXXth Book, Papaverit,8cc. Ibere are tbree Sorts of Hsme Poppy, the white, the Seed ofiobicb rvfted the ancientt us'd tf Jerve at tbe Second Table, mix'd -with Honey. There was nothing worfe than this Seed mix'd with Sardinian Honey, which was very bitter, becaufeof the abund- ance of bitter Herbs in that Ifle. Virgil in the VHIth Eclogue^ Immo ego Sardois videar tibi amarior Hcrbis, Let me appear mart titter than Sardinian Herbs, 378. Poterat duci quia ccena Jine ij}is."\ As a Feaft may bt good without Mufick and Eflences, fo a Man may be worthy and agreeable without making Verfes. 377- Juvandis.'} To pleafe the Mind. To inftruft and in- form. Juvandis comprehends both, like the Greek Word, WpfXc??. 379. Ludere yui nefctt, tampejlribut abjiinet armis."] Ludere, to do his Exercifes well, to ride, wreftle, fwim, throw the Javelin, handle a Pike and Sword, play at Tennis, Quoits, &V. which he calls Arma campeftria, the Arms of the Field of Man. 380. Tractive,] In the XXIVth Ode of the Hid Book. Seu Grxco jubeft Trtcbf, 383. Liber & Ingenuus.] As if People of Quality cou'd know every thing without Learning. A falfe Prejudice in their Favour, which has prevail'd a long Time. Jngenuus, a Man born of a free Father. See the Vlth Satyr of the Ift Book. Cinfui equtflrem fummam nummtrum.'] He who is put in th Regifter of the Ctnfiu, as rich enough to be a Knight, about icooo Crowns. I j 384- K- 1 74 No T E s on the Art of Poe try. 384. Vitioque remotui ab omn!.] As if being well-bred and honeft, qualify'd a Man to make Verfes. Htrace doubtlefs had his Eyts to fome Equittt who thought fo. 385. Tu nibil invita dicet faciefve Minerva,] He foftens the Precepts he has been giving. 386. Id tibi judiciutn eft, ta Mer.t.] Judlcium, the Opinion that caufes a Refolution. Mem, What executes it. Horace fpeaks to the Elder Pifo, as wanting no Inftrudlion. 387. Scripferis.'] The old Commentator, fays Pifo the Elder, wrote Tragedies. In Mftii defcendat Judicii aures.] Speaking of Spuriut Metius Tarpa, a great Critick, and one of the Judges appointed to examine Writings. He mentions him in the Tenth Satire of the Firft Book. Thefe Judges or Academicians, founded by Augvflus, lafted a long while. Onupbriut Pan-vinus mentions an Infcription, by which it appears, that in the Reign of Domitian, one L. Valdriut Fvdens, a Native of Tarentum, at about thirteen Years of Age, obtain'd the Prize of Poetry, and \vas crown'd by the Judgment of the Judges. CORONATUS KST INTER POITAS LATINOS OMNIBUS SENTENTIH JUDICUM. 'Tis true, this Youth was crown'd in the Quinquennial Games, inftituted by Domitian in Honour of Jupiter Capitclinus, and Mr. Maffon has oppos'd a Paflage of Sueteniut about thofe Games in oppo- fition to Mr. Dacier's Remark on the Duration of thefe Judges eftablim'd by Auguftut. But, fays the latter, " Do thefe S^uin- yuennial Judges, inftituted by Domitian, prove, there were none appointed before by A'J^uflus ? Might they not continue till Dcmitian's Time ? And be nam'd by that Emperor to prefide at thofe Games. Mr. MaJJ'oa's ill Reafoning is a Confequence of the Error he fell into about thisVerfe of the Tenth Satire. Httc ego Ludo, Qua nee in Jrum.] I think Heinftus as unhappy here as in his other Emendations of the Text. What is faid in the Sequel, is not indeed connected with what goes before ; however 'tis well purfu'd. Horace fearing he might difcourage Pifo by what he has been faying of the Difficulties in Poetry, now fpeaks of the Rewards to thofe that furmount them, and the Honours paid to the firft Poets, as Orpheus, Ampbion, &C. Sacer interprefque Dcorum,~\ He calls Orpheus fo, Becaufe he was a Divine, and inftituted the Orgia. Virgil ftiles him fbrei- tius Sacerdos. The Hymns that go under his Name were not made by the ancient Orpheus, who liv'd in Mofn's Time, but by one Onomachus, who liv'd in the Time of Pijiftratus. 392. Ctedibus & -viftu feedo dterruit] Horace fpeaks of an Orpheus who was more ancient than the Expedition of the Argonauts. Palepbatus, a very ancient author afiures us, that the Fable f Orpheus, who by his Harmony drew Tigers and Lions after him, was invented on his foftning the Minds of the Bacchanalian Nymphs, and making 'em quit the Mountains whither they were fled, and where they had fpent feveral Days in tearing Sheep to Pieces. 394. DieJus & Ampbion, Tbcbanx eor.ditar arcis."] Cadmus built Thebes about 1400 Years before the Birth of our Saviour, and 25 Years after it was built Amfbitn encompafs'd it with Walls, and built a Citadel; and for that, by his Harmony, or accordins to others, by his Eloquence, he perfuaded the Citi- zens and Peafants to fet their Hands to the Work, it was fa- bled he rais'd the Citadel and Walls with the Sound of his Lyre, and that the Stores leap'd of themfelves into their proper Places. 396. Fuit beec fapientia quondam publicaprivatis fecernere.'] The firft Poets were properly Philofophers, who made ufe of Poetry the better to infmuate themfelves into Mens Minds, and fliew them how to diftinguifh publick and private Good, to govern their Paflions, and manage themfelves difcreetly in their own Affairs, to mind Oeconomy, to build Cities, and obey the Laws. 398. Maritii,] As we fay marry'd People, Husbands and Wives, 1 4 398. Lt- 176 NOTES on the Art of Poetry. 399. Leges, incidere Lignd.] The firft Laws were written i Veife, and in Verfe Scion begins his Laws. Ligno.] On wooden Tables. The Rcmant engrav'd theirs oil Copper-Plates. 4<;c. /<: honor f r.omen di-vinis vatikus.] Thus Poetry and Toets acquired fo much Honour by doing good to Mankind, and by correcting their Errors. 401. Pc/i bos infignis Homerus.] Poetry in the Second' Ag took another Courfe, to elevate Mens Courage and qualify them to ferve their Country, itfungthe Deeds of Heroes. Ho- mer and Tyrtavi began the Second Age. 401. Tyruufyue.] He was a Schoolmafler, little, ugly, limp- irtr, and one-ey'd j iheAtbeniavs gave him, by way of Derifion, to the Spartans, who, by Order of Pytbitn Apollo, demanded a General of them to lead them againft the Mcflcnians, which h* d.d, and was beaten, by the Meffenftns in three feveral Battles. This fo reduc'd the Sfartans, that they were forc'd to lift their Slaves, and promife them the Wives of the flain. The Kingt of Sparta, difcourag'd by fo many LoflTes, wou'd have return'd Home, but Tyrt&us repeating fome Verfei of his at the Head of the Army, fo animated the Soldiers that they fell on tha Enemy and routed them. Some of thefe Verfes are ftill extant. This was about 680 Years before Chrift. 403. Di&* per carmina fortes.'] Horace places the Oracles ia the Second Age of Poetry. Arifltybants, with more Reafon, puts them in the Firft : Oracles being more ancient than Homer^ perhaps he means, that the firft Oracles were deliver'd in Prcfe, and afterwards in Veife only, which is true. 404. Et ile carmen, an arte qutefitum eft.] H* does not forget the grand Queftion, Whether Poetry comes from Nature or Art. Hornet, to hinder the Fife's trufting wholly to their NOTE s on the Art of Poetry. 177 their Genius, determines it, that Nature and Art fhould always go together. Nature, 'tis true, is the Bafis of all, as Horace owns in the Hid and Vlth Odes of the IVthBook. Nature alone it prefer- able to Art alone, but join'd together it makes Perfection. Nature gives a Facility, Art, Method and Safety. An certior quant Natura, fays Cicero ; and Lorginus obfervcs, that as free as- Nature appears, fhe does nothing good at a venture, and is no Enemy to Rules. Nature without Art is blind, and rafh; Art without Nature, rude, barren and dry. <%uirtilian has it, Wt believe there s nothing perfefi, but ivbat is produc'd by Nature ffjlftcd by Art. Art is never fo perfeft as when it imitates Nature. Nature never fucceedsfo well, as when it conceals Art. 410. Nee rude quid profit Ingenium.] Rude Ingenium, A Ge- nius, which the' happy of itfelf, is always rude when not polifh'd by Art. 412. Qtii ftudet oftatam curfu eontingere retam.~\ He proves by Examples, that there is nothing where Nature alone fuffices, and where there's no Occafion of Art. The Prize- Fighters not only laboured hard to fucceed ; they liv'd in a general Abfti- nence of every thing call'd Pleafure: Are the Poets exempted from this Law of Labour ? No Man will ever make a good Poet without it. 413. Puer.~\ They began thefe Exercifes very young. 414. Sjxi Pytbia cantat tibicen.'} Horace does not mean Py- tlick Gamts, they were then out of Ufe, but the Players on the Flute in the ancient Chorus's of Comedies. When all the Chorus fung, one of them play'd to accompany the Song, who was thenc call'd Cboraale. And after their Songs were done, there was another Player on the Flute, who play'd fingly too what was fung fingly ; and this laft was termed Pytbavle, a Player for Pythian Songs ; which were like Poems or Hymns to Afollo, fung; in the City of Pytb*. Diomedes fays, When tha Chorus fung, the Players en the Flute accompany'' d them 'with tbe Flutt calfd the Chorus Flute, and arfwer'd tvitb the Pythick Flute to the Jingle Songs. Thefe Pythaules and Choraules, who vjre of old part of the Band of Muficians in the dramatick Representations, feparated afterwards and play'd by themfelves. There were fome of thefe Mafters very famous, and of thefe Horace fpeaks. 415. Didicit prius, 'extimuitque Mogijirum.'] There never was an eminent Player on the Flute, who had not ferv'd art Ap- prenticeihip ; wherefore fince Nature is not fufficient for little Things how fhould (he fuffice for great ? 15 416, Nuns j 78 "NOTES on the Art of Poetry. 416. Kuncfatit eft, dixiffc, Ego mira psemata pango.] This Language is but too common now-a-days, and People too apt to think they have no need of reading the ancients, fmce they in their own Opinion think they write fo well wi'hout it. 417. Occufet extremumfcobies.'] An Expreffion us'd by Children, who at certain Plays cry'd out, The Mange will take the bir.dmoft. Mibi turpe relinqui eft,] While I am ftudying the ancients others will get before me, and write Comedies and Tragedies. Jf I write without Study, let who will learn th Rules, I will fay I know them. 429. Ut pracOf ad mercei turlam qui cogit emendas.] Art and Nature are not always enough to make a good Poet j there muft be alfo faithful Friends to tell an Author of his Faults, which are hard to be found by fuch Great Men as the Pifo't. Horace compares rich Poets to publick Criers ; as the latter invited People to come and buy their Ware, the former invited Flat- terers. Ke who praifes is the Purchafer. Cfgit.J Convocat, fummons People and Flatterers together. 421. Dives agrit.] This Verfe is repeated in the Second Sa- tire of the Firft Book. 422. Si -vert eft untJum qui re8e ponere pijfie.] If the rich Poet will treat and lend a poor Brother Poet, 'twill be a Wonder if he know* how to difcern the Friend from the Flatterer. Horace makes here, en fzffant, a nice Encomium on the Pifo's. Unftum ptnere.'] To treat high. Opfonium is underftood. Martial faid to Ptmfoniut, Quod tamen grande Sepbos clamat tiki turba tegata t ffen tu Pomponi, ccena diferta tua eft, 'Tis not thee Pomponius, 'tis thy Supper that is fo eloquent. Pliny calls fuch Parafites Lavdiceenas. 423. Levi propaupere. ] Levis, inconftant, light, perfidious. 414. Emus.] Happy ; he who diftinguiflies the Flatterer from ihe Friend. 426. Tu feu danaris, feu quid donare volet cm'.] He advifes the Elder Pifo never to read liisVerfes to a Man to whom he has lately given or promised a Prefent. A Self-inferefted Friend will never make a good Critick. 427. Plenum Lae:itiuintiiius to examinej may we not conclude, that in the Hid Scene of the lid Aft, tvhen Cleopatra fays, Je connois ma portee t ? nefrens point le change, He would have thought this Verfe inert, poor, weak and mean* as well as thofe that follow in the Hid Scene of the Hid Aft. Caef. Comme a-t-ellt re^u lei cffrei de ma flamme ? Ant. Comme n'ofant la croire, f la creyant dans /' ami r Par tin 'refus modefte & fait four in EUe s*en dit indigne, & la croit merit cr* jts one that durft not believe ivbat Jhe did believe in her Saul. By * mode/I Refufal, Jbe faid Jhe ivat unworthy of a PaJJion, ivbicb /be thought Jbe deferv'd. Thefe Verfes are flat and affefted j very far from the Character of Mark Antony, and Tragedy. The Language is mean, and only fit for a Life-Guard-Man. 446. Culpabit duroi.~\ Verfes may be hard either for the Words, or the Things ; the laft is the greateft Fault. Monfieur Cerneille has been guilty of it in thefe : Lei Princes ont cela. de leur baute raiffance, Leur ame dam leur fang prend des imprej/ions t %u: deffous leur -virtu rangent hurt pajjicns, T Tis hard and mocking to fay, The Soul takes Impreff.ont of Virtue in the Blood, which is as contrary to the Ethicks, as the Theology of the Pagans : Of the fame kind is, what dffar (ays io the lid Sceneof the Hid Acl. Et qui verfe en not cceurs, ave: fame & le fang, Et la baine du Kom, & le mepris du rang. tLorat did not inflil i* a Roman the Saul ad Shod. /- NOTES on the Art of Poetry. 1 8 1 Inctmtis allinit atrum.] Quintilius would have fet this Mark as without Grace and Ornament, on what Atboreefnys in ths- lid Scene of the lid Adi, fpeaking of Pamfy who was jufl expir'd. Et tient la trahifon, yue It Roy leur prefcr'rt, Trap au dtffous de lay pour y prefler fefprit. Sa Thou malt no more be lull'd afleep By me miftaken Maid. SONG To CHLORIS, from the Blind ARCHER I. AH ! Cklcrij, 'tis time to difarm your bright Eyes, And lay by thofe terrible Glances j We live in an Age that's more civil and wife, Than to follow the Rules of Romances. II. When once your round Bubbies begin but to pout, They'll allow you no long time of courting ; And you'll find it a very hard task to hold out? Foe all Maidens are mortal at Fourteen, SONG. 202 P o E M s by the BW SONG. i. METHINKS tht poor Town has been troubled too long, With Pbillis and Chlorii in every Song j By Fools, who at" once can both love and defpair, And will never leave calling 'em cruel and fair j Which juftly provokes me in Rhime to exprefs The Truth that I know of bonny black Eefs. II. This Sefs of my Heart, this Bef< of my Soul, Has a Skin unite as Milk, and Hair black as a Coal ; She's plump, yet with eafe you may fpan her round Wafte, But her round fweliing Thighs can fcarce be embrac'd : Her Belly is fofr, not a word of the reft ; Eut I know what I think, when I drink to the beft. III. The Plowman and 'Squire, the arranter Clown, At home (he fubdu'd in her Paragon Gown i But now me adorns both the Boxes and Pit, And the proudeft Town- gallants are forc'd to fubmit ; All Hearts fall a leaping wherever {he comes, And beat Day and Night, like my Lord Craven's Drums. IV. I dare not permit her to come to Whitehall, For fhe'd out {hine the Ladies, Paint, Jewels, and all: If a Lord {hou'd but whifper his Love in the Crowd, She'd fell him a Bargain, and laugh out aloud : Then the Queen over-hearing what Betty did fay, Would fend Mr. Roper to take her away. Put Earl of D o R s E T. 203 V. Bjt to thofe that have had my dear Bt/i in their Arms, She's gentle, and knows how to foften her Charms ; And to every Beauty can add a new Grace, Having learn'd how to lifp, and to trip in her Pace ; And with Head on one fide, and a languifhing Eye, To kill us by looking as if ihe would die. SON i. MAY the Ambitious ever find Succefs in Crowds and Noife, While gentle Love does fill my Mind With filent real Joys. II. May Knaves and Fools, grow rich and great, And the World think 'em wifej While I lie dying at her Feet, And all the World defpifc. III. Let conquering Kings new Triumphs raife, And melt in Court Delights : Her Eyes can give much brighter Days, Her Arms much fofter Nights, 204 POEMS by the J A jeune Iris aux cheveux gris Difeit a Theodate, Retcurnons, tnon cker, a Paris, A HILL IS, the faireft of Love's Foes, * Though fiercer than a Dragon, Pbillis, that fcorn'd the powder'd Beaus, What has fhe now to brag on ? So long {he kept her Legs fo clofe, 'Till they had fcarce a Rag on. Compell'd thro' Want, this wretched Maid Did fad Complaints begin; Which furly Strephon hearing, faid, It was both Shame and Sin, To pity.fuch a lazy Jade, As will neither play nor fpin. ' ON s fparkling Wit, and Eyes, United, caft too fierce a Light, Which blazes high, but quickly dies, Pains not the Heart, but hurts the Sight. Love is a calmer, gentler Joy, Smooth are his Looks, and foft his Pace ; Her Cupid is a black-guard Boy, That runs his Link full in your Face. SONG. Earl of D o R s E T. 207 ON , methinks you are unfit * For your great Lord's embrace; For tho' we all allow you Wit, We can't a handfom Face. Then where's the Pleafure, where's the Good, Of fpending Time and Coft ? For if your Wit ben't underftood, Your Keeper's Blifs is loft. S O . N G. i. P HILL IS, for fliame let us improve A thoufand diff'rent Ways, Thofe few ftiort Moments fnatch'd by Love, From many tedious Days. II. If you want Courage to defpife The Cenfure of the Grave, Though Love's a Tyrant in your Eyes, Your Heart is but a Slave. III. My Love is full of noble Pride, Nor can it e'er fubmir, To let that Fop, Difcretion, ride Jo Triumph over ic. Jalfe 208 POEMS by the, &c, IV. Falfe Friends I have, as well as you, Who daily counfel Me Fame and Ambition to purfue, And leave off loving Thee. V. But when the leaft Regard I {hew To Fools, who thus advife, May I be dull enough to grow Moft miferably wife. THE THE CONTENTS OF THE Earl of DORSET V WORKS. yO Mr. Edward Howard, on bis incomparable incom* * prebenfiblePoem call V, The Britifli Princes. Page 189 To the fame on his Plays. 190 To Sir Thomas St. Serfe, on the printing bit Play, calfd Tarugo's Wiles. 1668. 191 Epilogue to MoliereV Tartuffe, tranjlated by Mr. Med- burn, fpoken by Tartuffe. 1 92 ue on the Revival of Ben Johnfon'-f Play, calFt Every Man in his Humour. 1 94 SONG, 'written at Sea, in the Jirft Dutch War, 1665, the Night before an Engagement. 196 On the Countefs of Dorchefter, Miftrefi to King James the Second. Written in 1680. 199 On the Same. ibid. Knotting. 2 OO SONG. To Chloris from the Blind Archer. 201 SONG. Methinks the poor Town has been troubled too long, &c, 202 SONG. May the Ambitious ever find, &c. 203 La jeune Iris aux cbe