590

595

600

The Cap and Switch be sacred to his Grace;
With Staff and Pumps the Marquis lead the Race;
From Stage to Stage the licens'd Earl may run,
Pair'd with his Fellow-Charioteer the Sun;
The learned Baron Butterflies design,
Or draw to silk Arachne's subtile linel;
The Judge to dance his brother Sergeant call?;
The Senator at Cricket urge the Ball;
The Bishop stow (Pontific Luxury !)
An hundred Souls of Turkeys in a pie;
The sturdy Squire to Gallic masters stoop,
And drown his Lands and Manors in a Soupe.
Others import yet nobler arts from France,
Teach Kings to fiddle 3, and make Senates dance.
Perhaps more high some daring son may soar,
Proud to my list to add one Monarch more!
And nobly conscious, Princes are but things
Born for First Ministers, as Slaves for Kings,
Tyrant supreme! shall three Estates command,
And MAKE ONE MIGHTY DUNCIAD OF THE LAND!”

More she had spoke, but yawn'd—All Nature nods:
What Mortal can resist the Yawn of Gods 4?
Churches and Chapels instantly it reach'd;
(St James's first, for leaden G-

preach'd) 5
Then catch'd the Schools; the Hall scarce kept awake;
The Convocation gap'd, but could not speak:
Lost was the Nation's Sense, nor could be found,
While the long solemn Unison went round:
Wide, and more wide, it spread o'er all the realm;
Ev'n Palinurus nodded at the Helm 6:
The Vapour mild o’er each Committee crept;
Unfinish'd Treaties in each Office slept;
And Chiefless Armies doz'd out the Campaign;
And Navies yawn'd for Orders on the Main?.

бо;

5

610

O Muse! relate (for you can tell alone,
Wits have short Memories , and Dunces none),

620 Relate, who first, who last resign'd to rest; Whose Heads she partly, whose completely, blest; What Charms could Faction, what Ambition lull, The Venal quiet, and entrance the Dull; 'Till drown'd was Sense, and Shame, and Right, and WrongO sing, and hush the Nations with thy Song!

626

*

*

*

*

*

630

635

640

In vain, in vain—the all-composing Hour
Resistless falls: the Muse obeys the Pow'r.
She comes ! she comes! the sable Throne behold?
Of Night primæval and of Chaos old!
Before her, Fancy's gilded clouds decay,
And all its varying Rain-bows die away.
Wit shoots in vain its momentary fires,
The meteor drops, and in a flash expires.
As one by one, at dread Medea's strain 3,
The sick’ning stars fade off th' ethereal plain;
As Argus' eyes by Hermes' wand opprest,
Clos'd one by one to everlasting rest;
Thus at her felt approach, and secret might,
Art after Art goes out, and all is Night.
See skulking Truth to her old cavern fled“,
Mountains of Casuistry heap'd o'er her head !
Philosophy, that lean'd on Heav'n before 5,
Shrinks to her second cause, and is no more.
Physic of Metaphysic begs defence,
And Metaphysic calls for aid on Sense!
See Mystery to Mathematics fly!
In vain! they gaze, turn giddy, rave, and die.
Religion blushing veils her sacred fires,
And unawares Morality expires.
For public Flame, nor private, dares to shine;
Nor human Spark is left, nor Glimpse divine!
Lo! thy dread Empire, Chaos! is restor'd;
Light dies before thy uncreating word;
Thy hand, great Anarch! lets the curtain fall,
And universal Darkness buries All.

645

650

655

2

2

IMITATIONS.

Book. I.

Ver. 140. in the former Edd. The page ad Ver. 1. Say, great Patricians ! since your- mires new beauties not it's own.] selves inspire These wondrous works]

Miraturque novas frondes et non sua poma' Dii cæptis (nam vos mutastis et illas).'

Virg. Geor. 11. (v. 82.) Ovid, Met. 1. [v. 2.) Ver. 166. With whom my Muse begar, Ver. 6. Alluding o a verse of Mr Dryden, with whom shall end.] not in MacFleckno (as is said ignorantly in the

*A te principium, tibi desinet.'Key to the Dunciad, p. 1), but in his verses to

Virg. Ecl. viii. [v. 11.) Mr Congreve,

'Εκ Διός αρχόμεσθα, και εις Δία λήγετε, Μούσαι. ‘And Tom the second reigns like Tom the first.'

Theoc. (Id. XVII. V. 1.) [Epistle xii. v. 48.] *Prima dicte mihi, summa dicende Camæna.' Ver. 41, 42. Hence hymning Tyburn's

Hor. (Lib. 1. Epist. 1. v. I.) Hence, &c.]

Ver. 195. Had Heav'n decreed, &c.]
Genus unde Latinum,

*Me si coelicolæ voluissent ducere vitam,
Albanique patres, atque altæ moenia Romæ.' Has mihi servassent sedes.'
Virg. Æn. 1. (vy. 6, 7.)

Virg. Æn. II. (vv. 641, 2.) Ver. 45. In clouded Majesty]

Ver. 197, 198.

Could Troy be sau'd-Tkis 'the Moon

grey-goose weapon) Rising in clouded Majesty'

"Si Pergama dextra Milton (Par. Lost], Book iv. (vv. 606, 7.] Defendi possent, etiam hac defensa fuissent' Ver. 48. that knows no fears Of hisses,

Virg. ibid. (vv. 291, 2.) blows, or want, or loss of ears:)

Ver. 202.

This Box my Thunder, this right “Quem neque pauperies, neque mors, neque hand my God.] vincula terrent.'

'Dextra mihi Deus, et telum quod missile libr.' Hor. (Lib. 11. Sat. vir. v. 84.]

Virgil, of the Gods of Mezentius. Here she beholds the Chaos dark

(Æn. X. v. 773.) and deep, Where nameless Somethings, &c.] Var. And visit Alehouse,) Waller [to the That is to say, unformed things, which are either King] on his Navy, made into Poems or Plays, as the Booksellers or ‘T'hose tow'rs of Oak o'er fertile plains might go the Players bid most. These lines allude to the And visit mountains where they once did grow.' following in Garth's Dispensary, Cant. vi.

Ver. 229. Unstain'd, untouch'd, &c.] Within the chambers of the globe they spy

'Felix Priamēia virgo! The beds where sleeping vegetables lie, Jussa mori : quæ sortitus non pertulit ullos, 'Till the glad summons of a genial ray Nec victoris heri tetigit captiva cubile! Unbinds the glebe, and calls them out to day.' Nos, patria incensa, diversa peræquora vectæ, &c.' Ver. 64. And ductile Dulness, &c.] A

Virg. Æn. II. (v. 320 ff] parody on a verse in Garth, Cant. I.

Ver. 245. And thrice he lifted high the Birik‘How ductile matter new meanders takes.' day brand,] Ovid, of Althæa on a like occasion,

Ver. 79. The cloud-compelling Queen] From burning her offspring : Homer's Epithet of Jupiter, vepelnyepéta Zevs. “Tum conata quater flammis imponere tortem,

Var. He rolled his eyes that witness'd huge Coepta quater tenuit.' dismay.

[Metam. VIII. vv. 462, 3.1 'round he throws his (baleful] eyes, Ver. 250. Now flames the Cid, &c.) That witness'd huge affliction and dismay.'

Jam Deïphobi dedit ampla ruinam, Milt. (Par. Lost), Bk. I. (vv. 56, 7.] Vulcano superante domus; jam proximus ardet The progress of a bad poet in his thoughts, Ucalegon.'- Ex. II. [vv. 3:0–2] being like the progress of the Devil in Milton) Ver. 263. Great in her charms! as when ox through a Chaos, might probably suggest this imi- Shrieves and May'rs She looks and breathes tation.

Ver. 55.

425

esse

Ver. 311.

"Alma parens confessa Deam ; qualisque videri Ver. 60. So take the hindmost, Hell.] Cælicolis, et quanta solet'

'Occupet extremum scabies; mihi turpe relinVirg. Æn. 11. (vv. 591, 2.]

qui est.' Hor. de Arte (v. 417). Et lætos oculis afflavit honores.'

Ver. 61, &c. Something like this is in Homer, Id. Æn. 1. (v. 591.] Il. x. v. 220, of Diomed. Two different manVer. 269. This the Great Mother, &c.] ners of the same author in his similes are also 'Urbs antiqua fuit

imitated in the two following; the first, of the Quam Juno fertur terris magis omnibus unam Bailiff, is short, unadorned, and (as the Critics Posthabita coluisse Samo: hic illius arma, well know) from familiar life; the second, of the Hic currus fuit: hic regnum Dea gentibus Water-fowl, more extended, picturesque, and

from rural life. The 59th verse is likewise a (Si qua fata sinant) jam tum tenditque fovet. literal translation of one in Homer! que.'

Virg. Æn. 1. (vv. 12 ff.) Ver. 64, 65. On feet and wings, and flies, Ver. 304. The creeping, dirty, courtly Ivy and wades, and hops; So lab'ring on, with join.)

shoulders, hands, and head, ] ‘Quorum Imagines lambunt,

'So eagerly the Fiend Hederæ sequaces.'

O’er bog, o'er steep, thro' streight, rough, Pers. (Prol. vv. 5, 6.]

dense, or rare, 0! when shall rise a Monarch, With head, hands, wings, or feet pursues his &c.] Boileau, Lutrin, Chant. 11. (vv. 123, 4.]

way, * Hélas ! qu'est devenu ce temps, cet heureux And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or temps,

flies.' Où les Rois s'honoraient du nom de Fainéans:

Milton [Par. Lost], Book 11. (v. 947 ff.] &c.'

Ver. 67, 68. With arms expanded, Bernard

rows his state, And left-leggd Jacob seems to BOOK II.

emulate.] Milton, of the motion of the Swan, Ver. 1. High on a gorgeous seat] Parody of

'rows Milton [Par. Lost], Book 11. (vv. 1. ff.]

His state with oary feet.' ‘High on a throne of royal state, that far

Par. Lost [Book vii.] v. 440. Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind, And Dryden, of another's,-With two left legs. Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand

Here fortun'd Curl to slide;] Show'rs on her Kings Barbaric pearl and gold, *Labitur infelix, cæsis ut forte juvencis Satan exalted sate.'

Fusus humum viridesque super madefecerat Ver. 35. A Poet's form she plac'd before

herbas their eyes,] This is what Juno does to deceive Concidit, immundoque fimo, sacroque cruore.' Turnus, Æn. x. (vv. 636-40.]

Virg. Æn. v. of Nisus (v. 329 ff.). 'Tum Dea nube cava, tenuem sine viribus

And Bernard ! Bernard!] umbram

'Ut littus, Hyla, Hyla, omne sonaret.' In faciem Æneæ (visu mirabile monstrum!)

Virg. Ecl. vi. (v. 44.] Dardaniis ornat telis, clypeumque jubasque Ver. 83. A place there is, betwixt earth, air, Divini assimilat capitis

and seas,] Dat inania verba,

‘Orbe locus medio est, inter terrasqae, freDat sine mente sonum.

tumque, The reader will observe how exactly some of Coelestesque plagas.' these verses suit with their allegorical application

Ovid. Met. xii. (xv. 39, 40. ] here to a Plagiary: There seems to me a great

Ver. 108. Nor heeds the brown dishonours propriety in this Episode, where such an one is of his face.] imagined by a phantom that deludes the grasp

'faciem ostentabat, et udo of the expecting Bookseller.

Turpia membra fimo.'
But such a bulk as no twelve bards

Virg. Æn. v. [vv. 357, 8.] could raise,]

Ver. III.

A shapeless shade, &c.] Vix illud lecti bis sex (cervice subirent,]

'Effugit imago Qualia nunc hominum producit corpora tellus.' Par levibus ventis, volucrique simillima somno.' Virg. Æn. XII. (vv. 899, 900.]

Virg. Æn. Vi. (vv. 702, 2.] 1 (After a diligent search I am disposed to doubt this. Perhaps the allusion is to Iliad xxil.

V. 479.]

Ver. 73.

Ver. 74.

Ver. 39

Ver. 223, 225.

Ver. 114. His papers light, fly diverse, tost bulence and horns) Eridanus] Virgil mentions in air;] Virg. Æn. vi. of the Sibyl's leaves, these two qualifications of Eridanus, Carmina

Georg. IV. [vv. 375-3-1 turbata volent rapidis ludibria ventis.' ‘Et gemina auratus taurino cornua vultu,

[vv. 74, 5.] Eridanus, quo non alius per pinguia culta Ver. 141, 142.-piteous of his case, Yet In mare purpureum violentior influit amnis' smiling at his rueful length of face.]

The Poets fabled of this river Eridanus, that 'Risit pater optimus illi.' it flowed through the skies. Denham, Cooper's Me liceat casum misereri insontis amici- Hill: Sic fatus, tergum Gætuli immane leonis, &c.' 'Heav'n her Eridanus no more shall boast, Virg. Æn v. (v. 358; vv. 350, 1.]

Whose fame in thine, like lesser currents lost; Ver. 151. Himself among the story'd chiefs

Thy nobler stream shall visit Jove's abode. he spies,]

To shine among the stars, and bathe the

Gods.' “Se quoque principibus permixtum agnovit Achivis

To move, to raise, &c. La Constitit, et lacrymans : Quis jam locus, inquit, others aim: 'Tis yours to shake, &c.] Achate!

*Excudent alii spirantia mollius æra, Quæ regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?'

Credo equidem, vivos ducent de marmore Virg. Æn. I. [v. 488; vv. 459, 60.]

vultus, &c.' Ver. 156. And the fresh vomit run for ever 'Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, me green!] A parody on these lines of a late noble

mento, author:

Hæ tibi erunt artes' ‘His bleeding arm had furnish'd all their rooms,

[Æn. VI. vv. 847 ff. ; v. 851, 2] And run for ever purple in the looms.'

Ver. 243. A Cat-call each shall win, &c.] Ver. 158. Two babes of love close clinging to Non nostrum inter vos tantas componert her waist;]

lites, 'Cressa genus, Pholoë, geminique sub ubere

Et vitula tu dignus, et hic.'
nati.'
Virg. Æn. v. [v. 285.]

Virg. Ecl. 111. (vv. 108,91 Ver. 163. yon Juno—With cow-like udders,

Ver. 247. As when the &c.] A Simile with and with ox-like eyes.] In allusion to Homer's

a long tail, in the manner of Homer. BOWTILS TÓTvLa 'Hon.

Ver. 260. bray back to him again.] A figur: Ver. 165. This China Jordan)

of speech taken from Virgil: "Tertius Argolica hac galea contentus abito.'

'Et vox assensu nemorum ingeminata remsVirg. Æn. v. [v. 314.]

git.'

Georg. III. [v. 45] In the games of Homer, Il. xxiii. there are

'He hears his numerous herds low o'er the set together, as prizes, a Lady and a kettle, as

plain, in this place Mrs Haywood and a Jordan. But

While neighb'ring hills low back to thes there the preference in value is given to the

again.'

Cowley Kettle, at which Mad. Dacier is justly displeased. Mrs H. is here treated with distinction, and ac

The poet here celebrated, Sir R. B. delighed

much in the word bray, which he endeavoured 33 knowledged to be the more valuable of the two. Ver. 169, 170. One on his manly confidence War, &c. In imitation of him, and strengthes

ennoble by applying it to the sound of Armou", relies, One on his vigour] "Ille-melior motu, fretusque juventa;

ed by his authority, our author has here admitted

it into Heroic poetry.
Hic membris et mole valens.'
Virg. Æn. V. (vv. 430, 1.]

Ver. 262. Prick all their ears up, and forg Ver. 173, 174.

So Jove's bright bow... (Sure to graze; sign] The words of Homer, of the Rain-bow,

'Immemor herbarum quos est mirata juvenca' in Iliad xi. (vv. 27, 8.]

Virg. Ecl. viii. [v. 2] «άς τε Κρονίων

The progress of the sound from place to place 'Εν νέφεϊ στήριξε, τέρας μερόπων ανθρώπων. and the scenery here of the bordering regioes 'Que le fils de Saturn a fondés dans les nües, Tottenham-fields, Chancery-lane, the Thame pour être dans tous les âges une signe à tous les Westminster-hall, and Hụngerford-stairs, are in mortels.'

Dacier. tated from Virgil, Æn, vil, on the sounding tac Ver. 181, 182. So (fam'd like thee for tur- horn of Alecto: