Chapter 25

[110]So Soame and Dryden of the Ode, in the Translation of Boileau's Art of Poetry:Her generous style at random oft will part,And by a brave disorder shows her art.And again:A generous Muse,When too much fettered with the rules of art,May from her stricter bounds and limits part.—Wakefield.[111]This allusion is perhaps inaccurate. The shapeless rock, and hanging precipice do not rise out of nature's common order. These objects are characteristic of some of the features of nature, of those especially that are picturesque. If he had said that amid cultivated scenery we are pleased with a hanging rock, the allusion would have been accurate.—Bowles.The criticism of Bowles does not apply to the passage in Sprat's Account of Cowley, from which Pope borrowed his comparison: "He knew that in diverting men's minds there should be the same variety observed as in the prospects of their eyes, where a rock, a precipice, or a rising wave is often more delightful than a smooth even ground, or a calm sea."[112]Another couplet originally followed here:But care in poetry must still be had;It asks discretion ev'n in running mad:And though, &c.which is theinsanire cum rationetaken from Terence by Horace, at Sat. ii. 3, 271.—Wakefield.[113]"Their" means "their own."—Warton.[114]Dryden in his dedication to the Æneis: "Virgil might make this anachronism by superseding the mechanic rules of poetry, for the same reason that a monarch may dispense with or suspend his own laws."[115]Pope's manuscript supplies two omitted lines:The boldest strokes of art we may despise,Viewed in false lights with undiscerning eyes.[116]A violation of grammatical propriety, into which many of our first and most accurate writers have fallen. "Mishapen" is doubtless the true participle.—Wakefield.[117]Pope took his imagery from Horace, Ars Poet., 361:Ut pictura, poesis erit: quæ, si propiùs stes,Te capiat magis; et quædam, si longiùs abstes:Hæc amat obscurum; volet hæc sub luce videri.He was also indebted to the translation of Boileau's Art of Poetry by Dryden and Soame:Each object must be fixed in the due place,And diff'ring parts have corresponding grace.[118]Οιυν τι ποιουσιν οι φρονιμοι στρατηλαται κατα τας ταζεις των στρατευματων. Dion. Hal. De Struct. Orat.—Warburton.[119]It may be pertinent to subjoin Roscommon's remark on the same subject:——Far the greatest partOf what some call neglect is studied art.When Virgil seems to trifle in a line,'Tis but a warning piece which gives the sign,To wake your fancy and prepare your sightTo reach the noble height of some unusual flight.—Warton.Variety and contrast are necessary, and it is impossible all parts should be equally excellent. Yet it would be too much to recommend introducing trivial or dull passages to enhance the merit of those in which the whole effort of genius might be employed.—Bowles.[120]Modeste, et circumspecto judicio de tantis viris pronunciandum est, ne (quod plerisque accidit) damnent quod non intelligunt. Ac si necesse est in alteram errare partem, omnia eorum legentibus placere, quam multa displicere maluerim. Quint.—Pope.Lord Roscommon was not disposed to be so diffident in those excellent verses of his Essay:For who, without a qualm, hath ever lookedOn holy garbage, though by Homer cooked?Whose railing heroes, and whose wounded gods,Make some suspect he snores as well as nods.—Wakefield.Pope originally wrote in his manuscript,Nor Homer nods so often as we dream,which was followed by this couplet:In sacred writ where difficulties rise,'Tis safer far to fear than criticise.[121]So Roscommon's epilogue to Alexander the Great:Secured by higher pow'rs exalted standsAbove the reach of sacrilegious hands.—Wakefield.[122]The poet here alludes to the four great causes of the ravage amongst ancient writings. The destruction of the Alexandrine and Palatine libraries by fire; the fiercer rage of Zoilus, Mævius, and their followers, against wit; the irruption of the barbarians into the empire; and the long reign of ignorance and superstition in the cloisters.—Warburton.I like the original verse better—Destructive war, and all-devouring age,—as a metaphor much more perspicuous and specific.—Wakefield.In his epistle to Addison, Pope has "all-devouring age," but the epithet here is more original and striking, and admirably suited to the subject. This shows a nice discrimination. "All-involving" would be as improper in the Essay on Medals as "all-devouring" would be in this place.—Bowles.A couplet in Cooper's Hill suggested the couplet of Pope:Now shalt thou stand, though sword, or time, or fire,Or zeal more fierce than they, thy fall conspire.[123]Thus in a poem on the Fear of Death, ascribed to the Duke of Wharton:——There rival chiefs combineTo fill the gen'ral chorus of her reign.—Wakefield.[124]Cowley on the death of Crashaw:Hail, bard triumphant.Virg. Æn. vi. 649:Magnanimi heroes! nati melioribus annis.—Wakefield.Dryden's Religio Laici:Those giant wits in happier ages born.From Pope's manuscript it appears that he had originally written:Hail, happy heroes, born in better days.In a note he gave the line from Virgil of which his own was a translation.[125]An imitation of Cowley, David. ii. 833:Round the whole earth his dreaded name shall soundAnd reach to worlds that must not yet be found.—Wakefield.[126]Oldham's Elegies:What nature has in bulk to me denied.[127]"Everybody allows," says Malebranche, "that the animal spirits are the most subtle and agitated parts of the blood. These spirits are carried with the rest of the blood to the brain, and are there separated by some organ destined to the purpose." Pope adopted the doctrine "allowed by everybody," but which consisted of assumptions without proof. The very existence of these fluid spirits had never been ascertained. The remaining physiology of Pope's couplet was erroneous. When there is a deficiency of blood, its place is not supplied by wind. The grammatical construction, again, is vicious, and ascribes "blood and spirits" to souls as well as to bodies. The moral reflection illustrated by the simile is but little more correct. Men in general are not proud in proportion as they have nothing to be proud of.[128]Pope is commonly considered to have laid down the general proposition that total ignorance was preferable to imperfect knowledge. The context shows that he was speaking only of conceited critics, who were presumptuous because they were ill-informed. He tells such persons that the more enlightened they become the humbler they will grow.[129]In the early editions,Fired with the charms fair science does impart.Though "does" is removed, "with what" is less dignified and graceful than "with the charms." The diction of the couplet is prosaic and devoid of elegance.—Wakefield.[130]Dryden, in the State of Innocence, Act i. Sc. i.:Nor need we tempt those heights which angels keep.—Wakefield.[131]The proper word would have been "beyond."[132][Much we begin to doubt and much to fearOur sight less trusting as we see more clear.]So pleased at first the tow'ring Alps to try,Filled with ideas of fair Italy,The traveller beholds with cheerful eyesThe less'ning vales, and seems to tread the skies.—Pope.The couplet between brackets is from the manuscript. The next couplet, with a variation in the first line, was transferred to the epistle to Jervas.[133]This is, perhaps, the best simile in our language—that in which the most exact resemblance is traced between things in appearance utterly unrelated to each other.—Johnson.I will own I am not of this opinion. The simile appears evidently to have been suggested by the following one in the works of Drummond:All as a pilgrim who the Alps doth pass,Or Atlas' temples crowned with winter's glass,The airy Caucasus, the Apennine,Pyrene's cliffs where sun doth never shine,When he some heaps of hills hath overwent,Begins to think on rest, his journey spent,Till mounting some tall mountain he doth findMore heights before him than he left behind.—Warton.The simile is undoubtedly appropriate, illustrative, and eminently beautiful, but evidently copied.—Bowles.[134]Diligenter legendum est ac pæne ad scribendi solicitudinem: nec per partes modo scrutanda sunt omnia, sed perlectus liber utique ex integro resumendus. Quint.—Pope.[135]The Bible never descends to the mean colloquial preterites of "chid" for "did chide," or "writ" for "did write," but always uses the full-dress word "chode" and "wrote." Pope might have been happier had he read his Bible more, but assuredly he would have improved his English.—De Quincey.[136]Boileau's Art of Poetry by Dryden and Soame, canto i.:A frozen style, that neither ebbs or flows,Instead of pleasing makes us gape and doze.[137]Much in the same strain Garth's Dispensary, iv. 24:So nicely tasteless, so correctly dull.—Wakefield.[138]This is an adaptation of a couplet in Dryden's Eleonora:Nor this part musk, or civet can we call,Or amber, but a rich result of all.[139]It is impossible to determine whether he refers to St. Peter's or the Pantheon.[140]An impropriety of the grossest kind is here committed. Grammar requires "appears."—Wakefield.[141]Dryden's translation of Ovid's Met. book xv.Greater than whate'er was, or is, or e'er shall be.—Holt White.Epilogue to Suckling's Goblins:Things that ne'er were, nor are, nor ne'er will be.—Isaac Reed.[142]Horace, Ars Poet. 351:Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucisOffendar maculis.[143]Laysforlays down, but, as Warton remarks, the word thus used is very objectionable.[144]To the same effect Quintilian, lib. i. Ex quo mihi inter virtutes grammatici habebitur, aliqua nescire.—Wakefield.[145]The incident is taken from the Second Part of Don Quixote, first written by Don Alonzo Fernandez de Avellanada, and afterwards translated, or rather imitated and new-modelled, by no less an Author than the celebrated Le Sage. "But, Sir, quoth the Bachelor, if you would have me adhere to Aristotle's rules, I must omit the combat. Aristotle, replied the Knight, I grant was a man of some parts; but his capacity was not unbounded; and, give me leave to tell you, his authority does not extend over combats in the list, which are far above his narrow rules. Believe me the combat will add such grace to your play, that all the rules in the universe must not stand in competition with it. Well, Sir Knight, replied the Bachelor, for your sake, and for the honour of chivalry, I will not leave out the combat. But still one difficulty remains, which is, that our common theatres are not large enough for it. There must be one erected on purpose, answered the Knight; and in a word, rather than leave out the combat, the play had better be acted in a field or plain."—Warton.[146]In all editions till the quarto of 1743,As e'er could D——s of the laws o' th' stage.[147]In the manuscript the reply of the knight is continued through another couplet:In all besides let Aristotle sway,But knighthood's sacred, and he must give way.[148]The phrase "curious not knowing," is from Petronius, and Pope has written the words of his original on the margin of the manuscript: Est et alter, non quidem doctus, sed curiosus, qui plus docet quam scit.[149]The conventionalities of foppery and ceremony are always changing, and what Pope says of manners may have been extensively true of his own generation. At present bad manners commonly proceed either from defective sensibility, or from men having more regard to themselves than to their company.[150]This had been the practice of some artists. "Their heroes," says Reynolds, speaking of the French painters in 1752, "are decked out so nice and fine that they look like knights-errant just entering the lists at a tournament in gilt armour, and loaded most unmercifully with silk, satin, velvet, gold, jewels, &c." Pope had in his mind a passage of Cowley's Ode on Wit:Yet 'tis not to adorn, and gild each part;That shows more cost than art.Jewels at nose and lips but ill appear;Rather than all things wit, let none be there.[151]Naturam intueamur, hanc sequamur: id facillimè accipiunt animi quod agnoscunt. Quint. lib. 8, c. 3.—Pope.Dryden's preface to the State of Innocence: "The definition of wit, which has been so often attempted, and ever unsuccessfully, by many poets, is only this, that it is a propriety of thoughts and words."[152]Pope's account of wit is undoubtedly erroneous; he depresses it below its natural dignity, and reduces it from strength of thought to happiness of language.—Johnson.The error was in stating a partial as an universal truth; for the second line of the couplet correctly describes the quality which gives the charm to numberless passages both in prose and verse. Instead of "ne'er so well," the reading of the first edition was "ne'er before," which was not equally true. But Pope followed the passage in Boileau, from which the line in the Essay on Criticism was derived: "Qu'est-ce qu'une pensée neuve, brillante, extraordinaire? Ce n'est point, comme se le persuadent les ignorants, une pensée que personne n'a jamais eu, ni dû avoir. C'est au contraire une pensée qui a dû venir à tout le monde, et que quelqu'un s'avise le premier d'exprimer. Un bon mot n'est bon mot qu'en ce qu'il dit une chose que chacun pensoit, et qu'il la dit d'une manière vive, fine et nouvelle."[153]Light "sweetly recommended" by shades, is an affected form of speech. "Does 'em good," in the next couplet, offends in the opposite direction, and is meanly colloquial.[154]Two lines, which follow in the manuscript, are, from such a poet, worth quoting as a curiosity, since in the ruggedness of the metre, the badness of the rhyme, and the grossness of the metaphor, they are among the worst that were ever written:Justly to think, and readily express,A full conception, and brought forth with ease.[155]"Let us," says Mr. Webb, in a passage quoted by Warton, "substitute the definition in the place of the thing, and it will stand thus: 'A work may have more of nature dressed to advantage than will do it good.' This is impossible, and it is evident that the confusion arises from the poet having annexed different ideas to the same word."[156]"Take upon content" for "take upon trust" was a form of speech sanctioned by usage in Pope's day. Thus Rymer says of Hart the actor, "What he delivers every one takes upon content. Their eyes are prepossessed and charmed by his action."[157]Nothing can be more just, or more ably and eloquently expressed than this observation and illustration respecting the character of false eloquence. Fine words do not make fine poems, and there cannot be a stronger proof of the want of real genius than those high colours and meretricious embellishments of language, which, while they hide the poverty of ideas, impose on the unpractised eye with a gaudy semblance of beauty.—Bowles.[158]"Decent" has not here the signification of modest, but is used in the once common sense of becoming, attractive.[159]Dryden's preface to All for Love: "Expressions are a modest clothing of our thoughts, as breeches and petticoats are for our bodies." Pope's couplet should have been more in accordance with his precept. "Still" is an expletive to piece out the line, and upon this superfluous word, he has thrown the emphasis of the rhyme, which, in its turn, is mean and imperfect.[160]Abolita et abrogata retinere, insolentiæ cujusdam est, et frivolæ in parvis jactantiæ. Quint. lib. i. c. 6.Opus est, ut verba a vetustate repetita neque crebra sint, neque manifesta, quia nil est odiosius affectatione, nec utique ab ultimis repetita temporibus. Oratio cujus summa virtus est perspicuitas, quam sit vitiosa, si egeat interprete? Ergo ut novorum optima erunt maxime vetera, ita veterum maxime nova. Idem.—Pope.[161]See Ben Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour.—Pope.Dryden's Dedication to the Assignation: "He is only like Fungoso in the play, who follows the fashion at a distance."[162]If Pope's maxim was universally obeyed no new word could be introduced. Dryden was more judicious. "When I find," he said, "an English word significant and sounding, I neither borrow from the Latin nor any other language; but when I want at home I must seek abroad."[163]Quis populi sermo est? quis enim? nisi carmina molliNunc demum numero fluere, ut per læve severosEffundat junctura ungues: scit tendere versumNon secus ac si oculo rubricam dirigat uno.—Pers., Sat. i.—Pope.Garth in the Dispensary:Harsh words, though pertinent, uncouth appear;None please the fancy who offend the ear.[164]"There" is a feeble excrescence to force a rhyme.[165]Fugiemus crebras vocalium concursiones, quæ vastam atque hiantem orationem reddunt. Cic. ad Heren. lib. iv. Vide etiam Quintil. lib. ix. c. 4.—Pope.Vowels were said to open on each other when two words came together of which the first ended, and the second commenced with a vowel. Pope has illustrated the fault by crowding three consecutive instances into his verse. The poets diminished the conflict of vowels by a free recourse to elisions. The most usual were the cutting off the "e" in "the," as "th' unlearned," ver. 327; and the "o" in "to," as "t' outlast," ver. 131, "t' examine," ver. 134, "t' admire," ver. 200. The two words were thus fused into one, and the old authors combined them in writing as well as in the pronunciation. The manuscripts of Chaucer have "texcuse," not "t' excuse;" "thapostle," not "th' apostle." The custom has not kept its ground. Whatever might be supposed to be gained in harmony by the conversion of "to examine" into "texamine," or of "the unlearned" into "thunlearned" was more than lost by the departure from the common forms of speech.[166]"The characters of bad critic and bad poet are grossly confounded; for though it be true that vulgar readers of poetry are chiefly attentive to the melody of the verse, yet it is not they who admire, but the paltry versifier who employs monotonous syllables, feeble expletives, and a dull routine of unvaried rhymes." Essays Historical and Critical.—Warton.[167]"Low" in contradistinction to lofty. The phrase would now mean coarse and vulgar words.[168]From Dryden. "He creeps along with ten little words in every line, and helps out his numbers withfor,to, andunto, and all the pretty expletives he can find, while the sense is left half-tired behind it." Essay on Dram. Poetry.—Warburton.A collection of monosyllables when it arises from a correspondence of subject is highly meritorious. Let a single example from Milton suffice:O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp,Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens and shades of death.How successfully does this range of little words represent to our imaginations,The growing labours of the lengthened way.—Wakefield."It is pronounced by Dryden," says Johnson, "that a line of monosyllables is almost always harsh. This is evidently true, because our monosyllables commonly begin and end with consonants." As Dryden expressed it, "they are clogged with consonants," and "it seldom," he says, "happens but a monosyllable line turns verse to prose, and even that prose is rugged and inharmonious." The authority of Dryden has led many persons to mistrust their own ears, and imagine, like Johnson and Wakefield, that monosyllables were only fitted at best to produce some special effect. Numerous examples in Dryden's poetry contradict his criticism, and Milton abounds in sweet and sonorous monosyllabic lines, as Par. Lost, v. 193:His praise, ye winds, that from four quarters blowBreathe soft or loud; and wave your tops, ye pines,With ev'ry plant, in sign of worship wave.And ver. 199:ye birds,That singing up to heaven gate ascend,Bear on your wings and in your notes his praise.Melodious lines, such as the first verse in the first of these passages, which have the monosyllables relieved but by a single dissyllable, are past counting up. Addison praised Pope for exemplifying the faults in the language which condemned them. "The gaping of the vowels in the second line, the expletive 'do' in the third line, and the ten monosyllables in the fourth, give such a beauty to this passage, as would have been very much admired in an ancient poet." The feat was too easy to call for much admiration. There was more difficulty in eschewing than in mimicking the vicious style of bad versifiers. Pope himself has not avoided the frequent use of "low words" and "feeble expletives."[169]Atterbury's Preface to Waller's Poems: "He had a fine ear, and knew how quickly that sense was cloyed by the same round of chiming words still returning upon it."[170]Hopkins's translation of Ovid's Met., book xi.:No tame nor savage beast dwells there; no breezeShakes the still boughs, or whispers thro' the trees:Here easy streams with pleasing murmurs creep,At once inviting and assisting sleep.—Wakefield.Pope uses these trite ideas and "unvaried chimes" himself. In the fourth Pastoral we have "gentle breeze, trembling trees, whispering breeze, dies upon the trees," and in Eloisa we have "the curling breeze, panting on the trees."—Croker.Pope took the idea from Boileau:Si je louois Philis "en miracles féconde,"Je trouverois bientôt, "à nulle autre seconde;"Si je voulois vanter un objet "nonpareil,"Je mettrois à l'instant, "plus beau que le soleil;"Enfin, parlant toujours d' "astres" et de "merveilles,"De "chefs-d'oeuvres des cieux," de "beautés sans pareilles."[171]Dryden in his Annus Mirabilis, stanza 123:So glides the trodden serpent on the grass,And long behind his wounded volume trails.—Wakefield.[172]Boileau's Art of Poetry translated by Soame and Dryden:Those tuneful readers of their own dull rhymes.[173]The construction might be for anything that the composition shows to the contrary, "leave such to praise," which is subversive of the poet's meaning.—Wakefield.[174]Sufficient justice is not done to Sandys, who did more to polish and tune the English versification by his Psalms and his Job, than those two writers, who are usually applauded on this subject.—Warton.Bowles adds his testimony to "the extraordinary melody and vigour" of the versification of Sandys. Ruffhead, in his life of Pope, having called the Ovid of Sandys an "indifferent translation," Warburton has written on the margin, "He was not an indifferent, but a very fine translator and versifier."[175]Writers who seem to have composed with the greatest ease have exerted much labour in attaining this facility. It is well known that the writings of La Fontaine were laboured into that facility for which they are so famous, with repeated alterations and many erasures. Moliere is reported to have passed whole days in fixing upon a proper epithet or rhyme, although his verses have all the flow and freedom of conversation. I have been informed that Addison was so extremely nice in polishing his prose compositions that when almost a whole impression of a Spectator was worked off he would stop the press to insert a new preposition or conjunction.—Warton.[176]Lord Roscommon says:The sound is still a comment to the sense.—Warburton.The whole of this passage on the adaptation of the sound to the sense is imitated, and, as may be seen by the references of Warburton, is in part translated, from Vida's Art of Poetry.[177]Tum is læta canunt, &c. Vida, Poet. 1. iii. ver. 403.—Warburton.[178]Tum longe sale saxa sonant, &c. Vida, Poet. 1. iii. v. 388.—Warburton.[179]Atque ideo si quid geritur molimine magno,Adde moram et pariter tecum quoque verba laborent Segnia. Vida, ib. 417.—Warburton.[180]At mora si fuerit damno, properare jubebo, &c. Vida, ib. 420.—Warburton.[181]Our poet here endeavours to fasten on Virgil a most insufferable absurdity, which no poetical hyperbole will justify, namely, the reality of these wonderful performances, a flight over the unbending corn, and across the sea with unbathed feet. Virgil only puts the supposition, and speaks of her extraordinary velocity in the way of comparison, that she seemed capable of accomplishing so much had she made the attempt. She could fly, if she had chosen, nor would have injured, in that case, the tender blades of corn.—Wakefield.[182]The verse intended to represent the whisper of the vernal breeze must surely be confessed not much to excel in softness or volubility; and the smooth stream runs with a perpetual clash of jarring consonants. The noise and turbulence of the torrent is, indeed, distinctly imaged; for it requires very little skill to make our language rough. But in the lines which mention the effort of Ajax, there is no particular heaviness or delay. The swiftness of Camilla is rather contrasted than exemplified. Why the verse should be lengthened to express speed, will not easily be discovered. In the dactyls, used for that purpose by the ancients, two short syllables were pronounced with such rapidity, as to be equal only to one long; they therefore naturally exhibit the act of passing through a long space in a short time. But the Alexandrine, by its pause in the midst, is a tardy and stately measure; and the word "unbending," one of the most sluggish and slow which our language affords, cannot much accelerate its motion.—Johnson.Wakefield says that "the tripping wordlabours, in ver. 371, is unhappy," and Aaron Hill contended that three at least of the five concluding words of the line "danced away upon the tongue with a tripping and lyrical lightness."[183]See Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music; an Ode by Mr. Dryden.—Pope.[184]This resembles a line in Hughes's Court of Neptune:Beholds th' alternate billows all and rise.—Wakefield.[185]And now and then, a sigh he stole,And tears began to flow. Dryden.—Wakefield.[186]Pope confounds vocal and instrumental with poetical harmony. Timotheus owed his celebrity to his music, and Dryden never wrote a note.

[110]So Soame and Dryden of the Ode, in the Translation of Boileau's Art of Poetry:

Her generous style at random oft will part,And by a brave disorder shows her art.

And again:

A generous Muse,When too much fettered with the rules of art,May from her stricter bounds and limits part.—Wakefield.

[111]This allusion is perhaps inaccurate. The shapeless rock, and hanging precipice do not rise out of nature's common order. These objects are characteristic of some of the features of nature, of those especially that are picturesque. If he had said that amid cultivated scenery we are pleased with a hanging rock, the allusion would have been accurate.—Bowles.The criticism of Bowles does not apply to the passage in Sprat's Account of Cowley, from which Pope borrowed his comparison: "He knew that in diverting men's minds there should be the same variety observed as in the prospects of their eyes, where a rock, a precipice, or a rising wave is often more delightful than a smooth even ground, or a calm sea."

The criticism of Bowles does not apply to the passage in Sprat's Account of Cowley, from which Pope borrowed his comparison: "He knew that in diverting men's minds there should be the same variety observed as in the prospects of their eyes, where a rock, a precipice, or a rising wave is often more delightful than a smooth even ground, or a calm sea."

[112]Another couplet originally followed here:But care in poetry must still be had;It asks discretion ev'n in running mad:And though, &c.which is theinsanire cum rationetaken from Terence by Horace, at Sat. ii. 3, 271.—Wakefield.

[112]Another couplet originally followed here:

But care in poetry must still be had;It asks discretion ev'n in running mad:And though, &c.

which is theinsanire cum rationetaken from Terence by Horace, at Sat. ii. 3, 271.—Wakefield.

[113]"Their" means "their own."—Warton.

[114]Dryden in his dedication to the Æneis: "Virgil might make this anachronism by superseding the mechanic rules of poetry, for the same reason that a monarch may dispense with or suspend his own laws."

[115]Pope's manuscript supplies two omitted lines:The boldest strokes of art we may despise,Viewed in false lights with undiscerning eyes.

[115]Pope's manuscript supplies two omitted lines:

The boldest strokes of art we may despise,Viewed in false lights with undiscerning eyes.

[116]A violation of grammatical propriety, into which many of our first and most accurate writers have fallen. "Mishapen" is doubtless the true participle.—Wakefield.

[117]Pope took his imagery from Horace, Ars Poet., 361:Ut pictura, poesis erit: quæ, si propiùs stes,Te capiat magis; et quædam, si longiùs abstes:Hæc amat obscurum; volet hæc sub luce videri.He was also indebted to the translation of Boileau's Art of Poetry by Dryden and Soame:Each object must be fixed in the due place,And diff'ring parts have corresponding grace.

[117]Pope took his imagery from Horace, Ars Poet., 361:

Ut pictura, poesis erit: quæ, si propiùs stes,Te capiat magis; et quædam, si longiùs abstes:Hæc amat obscurum; volet hæc sub luce videri.

He was also indebted to the translation of Boileau's Art of Poetry by Dryden and Soame:

Each object must be fixed in the due place,And diff'ring parts have corresponding grace.

[118]Οιυν τι ποιουσιν οι φρονιμοι στρατηλαται κατα τας ταζεις των στρατευματων. Dion. Hal. De Struct. Orat.—Warburton.

[119]It may be pertinent to subjoin Roscommon's remark on the same subject:——Far the greatest partOf what some call neglect is studied art.When Virgil seems to trifle in a line,'Tis but a warning piece which gives the sign,To wake your fancy and prepare your sightTo reach the noble height of some unusual flight.—Warton.Variety and contrast are necessary, and it is impossible all parts should be equally excellent. Yet it would be too much to recommend introducing trivial or dull passages to enhance the merit of those in which the whole effort of genius might be employed.—Bowles.

[119]It may be pertinent to subjoin Roscommon's remark on the same subject:

——Far the greatest partOf what some call neglect is studied art.When Virgil seems to trifle in a line,'Tis but a warning piece which gives the sign,To wake your fancy and prepare your sightTo reach the noble height of some unusual flight.—Warton.

Variety and contrast are necessary, and it is impossible all parts should be equally excellent. Yet it would be too much to recommend introducing trivial or dull passages to enhance the merit of those in which the whole effort of genius might be employed.—Bowles.

[120]Modeste, et circumspecto judicio de tantis viris pronunciandum est, ne (quod plerisque accidit) damnent quod non intelligunt. Ac si necesse est in alteram errare partem, omnia eorum legentibus placere, quam multa displicere maluerim. Quint.—Pope.Lord Roscommon was not disposed to be so diffident in those excellent verses of his Essay:For who, without a qualm, hath ever lookedOn holy garbage, though by Homer cooked?Whose railing heroes, and whose wounded gods,Make some suspect he snores as well as nods.—Wakefield.Pope originally wrote in his manuscript,Nor Homer nods so often as we dream,which was followed by this couplet:In sacred writ where difficulties rise,'Tis safer far to fear than criticise.

Lord Roscommon was not disposed to be so diffident in those excellent verses of his Essay:

For who, without a qualm, hath ever lookedOn holy garbage, though by Homer cooked?Whose railing heroes, and whose wounded gods,Make some suspect he snores as well as nods.—Wakefield.

Pope originally wrote in his manuscript,

Nor Homer nods so often as we dream,

which was followed by this couplet:

In sacred writ where difficulties rise,'Tis safer far to fear than criticise.

[121]So Roscommon's epilogue to Alexander the Great:Secured by higher pow'rs exalted standsAbove the reach of sacrilegious hands.—Wakefield.

[121]So Roscommon's epilogue to Alexander the Great:

Secured by higher pow'rs exalted standsAbove the reach of sacrilegious hands.—Wakefield.

[122]The poet here alludes to the four great causes of the ravage amongst ancient writings. The destruction of the Alexandrine and Palatine libraries by fire; the fiercer rage of Zoilus, Mævius, and their followers, against wit; the irruption of the barbarians into the empire; and the long reign of ignorance and superstition in the cloisters.—Warburton.I like the original verse better—Destructive war, and all-devouring age,—as a metaphor much more perspicuous and specific.—Wakefield.In his epistle to Addison, Pope has "all-devouring age," but the epithet here is more original and striking, and admirably suited to the subject. This shows a nice discrimination. "All-involving" would be as improper in the Essay on Medals as "all-devouring" would be in this place.—Bowles.A couplet in Cooper's Hill suggested the couplet of Pope:Now shalt thou stand, though sword, or time, or fire,Or zeal more fierce than they, thy fall conspire.

I like the original verse better—

Destructive war, and all-devouring age,—

as a metaphor much more perspicuous and specific.—Wakefield.

In his epistle to Addison, Pope has "all-devouring age," but the epithet here is more original and striking, and admirably suited to the subject. This shows a nice discrimination. "All-involving" would be as improper in the Essay on Medals as "all-devouring" would be in this place.—Bowles.

A couplet in Cooper's Hill suggested the couplet of Pope:

Now shalt thou stand, though sword, or time, or fire,Or zeal more fierce than they, thy fall conspire.

[123]Thus in a poem on the Fear of Death, ascribed to the Duke of Wharton:——There rival chiefs combineTo fill the gen'ral chorus of her reign.—Wakefield.

[123]Thus in a poem on the Fear of Death, ascribed to the Duke of Wharton:

——There rival chiefs combineTo fill the gen'ral chorus of her reign.—Wakefield.

[124]Cowley on the death of Crashaw:Hail, bard triumphant.Virg. Æn. vi. 649:Magnanimi heroes! nati melioribus annis.—Wakefield.Dryden's Religio Laici:Those giant wits in happier ages born.From Pope's manuscript it appears that he had originally written:Hail, happy heroes, born in better days.In a note he gave the line from Virgil of which his own was a translation.

[124]Cowley on the death of Crashaw:

Hail, bard triumphant.

Virg. Æn. vi. 649:

Magnanimi heroes! nati melioribus annis.—Wakefield.

Dryden's Religio Laici:

Those giant wits in happier ages born.

From Pope's manuscript it appears that he had originally written:

Hail, happy heroes, born in better days.

In a note he gave the line from Virgil of which his own was a translation.

[125]An imitation of Cowley, David. ii. 833:Round the whole earth his dreaded name shall soundAnd reach to worlds that must not yet be found.—Wakefield.

[125]An imitation of Cowley, David. ii. 833:

Round the whole earth his dreaded name shall soundAnd reach to worlds that must not yet be found.—Wakefield.

[126]Oldham's Elegies:What nature has in bulk to me denied.

[126]Oldham's Elegies:

What nature has in bulk to me denied.

[127]"Everybody allows," says Malebranche, "that the animal spirits are the most subtle and agitated parts of the blood. These spirits are carried with the rest of the blood to the brain, and are there separated by some organ destined to the purpose." Pope adopted the doctrine "allowed by everybody," but which consisted of assumptions without proof. The very existence of these fluid spirits had never been ascertained. The remaining physiology of Pope's couplet was erroneous. When there is a deficiency of blood, its place is not supplied by wind. The grammatical construction, again, is vicious, and ascribes "blood and spirits" to souls as well as to bodies. The moral reflection illustrated by the simile is but little more correct. Men in general are not proud in proportion as they have nothing to be proud of.

[128]Pope is commonly considered to have laid down the general proposition that total ignorance was preferable to imperfect knowledge. The context shows that he was speaking only of conceited critics, who were presumptuous because they were ill-informed. He tells such persons that the more enlightened they become the humbler they will grow.

[129]In the early editions,Fired with the charms fair science does impart.Though "does" is removed, "with what" is less dignified and graceful than "with the charms." The diction of the couplet is prosaic and devoid of elegance.—Wakefield.

[129]In the early editions,

Fired with the charms fair science does impart.

Though "does" is removed, "with what" is less dignified and graceful than "with the charms." The diction of the couplet is prosaic and devoid of elegance.—Wakefield.

[130]Dryden, in the State of Innocence, Act i. Sc. i.:Nor need we tempt those heights which angels keep.—Wakefield.

[130]Dryden, in the State of Innocence, Act i. Sc. i.:

Nor need we tempt those heights which angels keep.—Wakefield.

[131]The proper word would have been "beyond."

[132][Much we begin to doubt and much to fearOur sight less trusting as we see more clear.]So pleased at first the tow'ring Alps to try,Filled with ideas of fair Italy,The traveller beholds with cheerful eyesThe less'ning vales, and seems to tread the skies.—Pope.The couplet between brackets is from the manuscript. The next couplet, with a variation in the first line, was transferred to the epistle to Jervas.

[132]

[Much we begin to doubt and much to fearOur sight less trusting as we see more clear.]So pleased at first the tow'ring Alps to try,Filled with ideas of fair Italy,The traveller beholds with cheerful eyesThe less'ning vales, and seems to tread the skies.—Pope.

The couplet between brackets is from the manuscript. The next couplet, with a variation in the first line, was transferred to the epistle to Jervas.

[133]This is, perhaps, the best simile in our language—that in which the most exact resemblance is traced between things in appearance utterly unrelated to each other.—Johnson.I will own I am not of this opinion. The simile appears evidently to have been suggested by the following one in the works of Drummond:All as a pilgrim who the Alps doth pass,Or Atlas' temples crowned with winter's glass,The airy Caucasus, the Apennine,Pyrene's cliffs where sun doth never shine,When he some heaps of hills hath overwent,Begins to think on rest, his journey spent,Till mounting some tall mountain he doth findMore heights before him than he left behind.—Warton.The simile is undoubtedly appropriate, illustrative, and eminently beautiful, but evidently copied.—Bowles.

[133]This is, perhaps, the best simile in our language—that in which the most exact resemblance is traced between things in appearance utterly unrelated to each other.—Johnson.

I will own I am not of this opinion. The simile appears evidently to have been suggested by the following one in the works of Drummond:

All as a pilgrim who the Alps doth pass,Or Atlas' temples crowned with winter's glass,The airy Caucasus, the Apennine,Pyrene's cliffs where sun doth never shine,When he some heaps of hills hath overwent,Begins to think on rest, his journey spent,Till mounting some tall mountain he doth findMore heights before him than he left behind.—Warton.

The simile is undoubtedly appropriate, illustrative, and eminently beautiful, but evidently copied.—Bowles.

[134]Diligenter legendum est ac pæne ad scribendi solicitudinem: nec per partes modo scrutanda sunt omnia, sed perlectus liber utique ex integro resumendus. Quint.—Pope.

[135]The Bible never descends to the mean colloquial preterites of "chid" for "did chide," or "writ" for "did write," but always uses the full-dress word "chode" and "wrote." Pope might have been happier had he read his Bible more, but assuredly he would have improved his English.—De Quincey.

[136]Boileau's Art of Poetry by Dryden and Soame, canto i.:A frozen style, that neither ebbs or flows,Instead of pleasing makes us gape and doze.

[136]Boileau's Art of Poetry by Dryden and Soame, canto i.:

A frozen style, that neither ebbs or flows,Instead of pleasing makes us gape and doze.

[137]Much in the same strain Garth's Dispensary, iv. 24:So nicely tasteless, so correctly dull.—Wakefield.

[137]Much in the same strain Garth's Dispensary, iv. 24:

So nicely tasteless, so correctly dull.—Wakefield.

[138]This is an adaptation of a couplet in Dryden's Eleonora:Nor this part musk, or civet can we call,Or amber, but a rich result of all.

[138]This is an adaptation of a couplet in Dryden's Eleonora:

Nor this part musk, or civet can we call,Or amber, but a rich result of all.

[139]It is impossible to determine whether he refers to St. Peter's or the Pantheon.

[140]An impropriety of the grossest kind is here committed. Grammar requires "appears."—Wakefield.

[141]Dryden's translation of Ovid's Met. book xv.Greater than whate'er was, or is, or e'er shall be.—Holt White.Epilogue to Suckling's Goblins:Things that ne'er were, nor are, nor ne'er will be.—Isaac Reed.

[141]Dryden's translation of Ovid's Met. book xv.

Greater than whate'er was, or is, or e'er shall be.—Holt White.

Epilogue to Suckling's Goblins:

Things that ne'er were, nor are, nor ne'er will be.—Isaac Reed.

[142]Horace, Ars Poet. 351:Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucisOffendar maculis.

[142]Horace, Ars Poet. 351:

Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucisOffendar maculis.

[143]Laysforlays down, but, as Warton remarks, the word thus used is very objectionable.

[144]To the same effect Quintilian, lib. i. Ex quo mihi inter virtutes grammatici habebitur, aliqua nescire.—Wakefield.

[145]The incident is taken from the Second Part of Don Quixote, first written by Don Alonzo Fernandez de Avellanada, and afterwards translated, or rather imitated and new-modelled, by no less an Author than the celebrated Le Sage. "But, Sir, quoth the Bachelor, if you would have me adhere to Aristotle's rules, I must omit the combat. Aristotle, replied the Knight, I grant was a man of some parts; but his capacity was not unbounded; and, give me leave to tell you, his authority does not extend over combats in the list, which are far above his narrow rules. Believe me the combat will add such grace to your play, that all the rules in the universe must not stand in competition with it. Well, Sir Knight, replied the Bachelor, for your sake, and for the honour of chivalry, I will not leave out the combat. But still one difficulty remains, which is, that our common theatres are not large enough for it. There must be one erected on purpose, answered the Knight; and in a word, rather than leave out the combat, the play had better be acted in a field or plain."—Warton.

[146]In all editions till the quarto of 1743,As e'er could D——s of the laws o' th' stage.

[146]In all editions till the quarto of 1743,

As e'er could D——s of the laws o' th' stage.

[147]In the manuscript the reply of the knight is continued through another couplet:In all besides let Aristotle sway,But knighthood's sacred, and he must give way.

[147]In the manuscript the reply of the knight is continued through another couplet:

In all besides let Aristotle sway,But knighthood's sacred, and he must give way.

[148]The phrase "curious not knowing," is from Petronius, and Pope has written the words of his original on the margin of the manuscript: Est et alter, non quidem doctus, sed curiosus, qui plus docet quam scit.

[149]The conventionalities of foppery and ceremony are always changing, and what Pope says of manners may have been extensively true of his own generation. At present bad manners commonly proceed either from defective sensibility, or from men having more regard to themselves than to their company.

[150]This had been the practice of some artists. "Their heroes," says Reynolds, speaking of the French painters in 1752, "are decked out so nice and fine that they look like knights-errant just entering the lists at a tournament in gilt armour, and loaded most unmercifully with silk, satin, velvet, gold, jewels, &c." Pope had in his mind a passage of Cowley's Ode on Wit:Yet 'tis not to adorn, and gild each part;That shows more cost than art.Jewels at nose and lips but ill appear;Rather than all things wit, let none be there.

Yet 'tis not to adorn, and gild each part;That shows more cost than art.Jewels at nose and lips but ill appear;Rather than all things wit, let none be there.

[151]Naturam intueamur, hanc sequamur: id facillimè accipiunt animi quod agnoscunt. Quint. lib. 8, c. 3.—Pope.Dryden's preface to the State of Innocence: "The definition of wit, which has been so often attempted, and ever unsuccessfully, by many poets, is only this, that it is a propriety of thoughts and words."

[151]Naturam intueamur, hanc sequamur: id facillimè accipiunt animi quod agnoscunt. Quint. lib. 8, c. 3.—Pope.

Dryden's preface to the State of Innocence: "The definition of wit, which has been so often attempted, and ever unsuccessfully, by many poets, is only this, that it is a propriety of thoughts and words."

[152]Pope's account of wit is undoubtedly erroneous; he depresses it below its natural dignity, and reduces it from strength of thought to happiness of language.—Johnson.The error was in stating a partial as an universal truth; for the second line of the couplet correctly describes the quality which gives the charm to numberless passages both in prose and verse. Instead of "ne'er so well," the reading of the first edition was "ne'er before," which was not equally true. But Pope followed the passage in Boileau, from which the line in the Essay on Criticism was derived: "Qu'est-ce qu'une pensée neuve, brillante, extraordinaire? Ce n'est point, comme se le persuadent les ignorants, une pensée que personne n'a jamais eu, ni dû avoir. C'est au contraire une pensée qui a dû venir à tout le monde, et que quelqu'un s'avise le premier d'exprimer. Un bon mot n'est bon mot qu'en ce qu'il dit une chose que chacun pensoit, et qu'il la dit d'une manière vive, fine et nouvelle."

[152]Pope's account of wit is undoubtedly erroneous; he depresses it below its natural dignity, and reduces it from strength of thought to happiness of language.—Johnson.

The error was in stating a partial as an universal truth; for the second line of the couplet correctly describes the quality which gives the charm to numberless passages both in prose and verse. Instead of "ne'er so well," the reading of the first edition was "ne'er before," which was not equally true. But Pope followed the passage in Boileau, from which the line in the Essay on Criticism was derived: "Qu'est-ce qu'une pensée neuve, brillante, extraordinaire? Ce n'est point, comme se le persuadent les ignorants, une pensée que personne n'a jamais eu, ni dû avoir. C'est au contraire une pensée qui a dû venir à tout le monde, et que quelqu'un s'avise le premier d'exprimer. Un bon mot n'est bon mot qu'en ce qu'il dit une chose que chacun pensoit, et qu'il la dit d'une manière vive, fine et nouvelle."

[153]Light "sweetly recommended" by shades, is an affected form of speech. "Does 'em good," in the next couplet, offends in the opposite direction, and is meanly colloquial.

[154]Two lines, which follow in the manuscript, are, from such a poet, worth quoting as a curiosity, since in the ruggedness of the metre, the badness of the rhyme, and the grossness of the metaphor, they are among the worst that were ever written:Justly to think, and readily express,A full conception, and brought forth with ease.

Justly to think, and readily express,A full conception, and brought forth with ease.

[155]"Let us," says Mr. Webb, in a passage quoted by Warton, "substitute the definition in the place of the thing, and it will stand thus: 'A work may have more of nature dressed to advantage than will do it good.' This is impossible, and it is evident that the confusion arises from the poet having annexed different ideas to the same word."

[156]"Take upon content" for "take upon trust" was a form of speech sanctioned by usage in Pope's day. Thus Rymer says of Hart the actor, "What he delivers every one takes upon content. Their eyes are prepossessed and charmed by his action."

[157]Nothing can be more just, or more ably and eloquently expressed than this observation and illustration respecting the character of false eloquence. Fine words do not make fine poems, and there cannot be a stronger proof of the want of real genius than those high colours and meretricious embellishments of language, which, while they hide the poverty of ideas, impose on the unpractised eye with a gaudy semblance of beauty.—Bowles.

[158]"Decent" has not here the signification of modest, but is used in the once common sense of becoming, attractive.

[159]Dryden's preface to All for Love: "Expressions are a modest clothing of our thoughts, as breeches and petticoats are for our bodies." Pope's couplet should have been more in accordance with his precept. "Still" is an expletive to piece out the line, and upon this superfluous word, he has thrown the emphasis of the rhyme, which, in its turn, is mean and imperfect.

[160]Abolita et abrogata retinere, insolentiæ cujusdam est, et frivolæ in parvis jactantiæ. Quint. lib. i. c. 6.Opus est, ut verba a vetustate repetita neque crebra sint, neque manifesta, quia nil est odiosius affectatione, nec utique ab ultimis repetita temporibus. Oratio cujus summa virtus est perspicuitas, quam sit vitiosa, si egeat interprete? Ergo ut novorum optima erunt maxime vetera, ita veterum maxime nova. Idem.—Pope.

[160]Abolita et abrogata retinere, insolentiæ cujusdam est, et frivolæ in parvis jactantiæ. Quint. lib. i. c. 6.

Opus est, ut verba a vetustate repetita neque crebra sint, neque manifesta, quia nil est odiosius affectatione, nec utique ab ultimis repetita temporibus. Oratio cujus summa virtus est perspicuitas, quam sit vitiosa, si egeat interprete? Ergo ut novorum optima erunt maxime vetera, ita veterum maxime nova. Idem.—Pope.

[161]See Ben Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour.—Pope.Dryden's Dedication to the Assignation: "He is only like Fungoso in the play, who follows the fashion at a distance."

[161]See Ben Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour.—Pope.

Dryden's Dedication to the Assignation: "He is only like Fungoso in the play, who follows the fashion at a distance."

[162]If Pope's maxim was universally obeyed no new word could be introduced. Dryden was more judicious. "When I find," he said, "an English word significant and sounding, I neither borrow from the Latin nor any other language; but when I want at home I must seek abroad."

[163]Quis populi sermo est? quis enim? nisi carmina molliNunc demum numero fluere, ut per læve severosEffundat junctura ungues: scit tendere versumNon secus ac si oculo rubricam dirigat uno.—Pers., Sat. i.—Pope.Garth in the Dispensary:Harsh words, though pertinent, uncouth appear;None please the fancy who offend the ear.

[163]

Quis populi sermo est? quis enim? nisi carmina molliNunc demum numero fluere, ut per læve severosEffundat junctura ungues: scit tendere versumNon secus ac si oculo rubricam dirigat uno.—Pers., Sat. i.—Pope.

Garth in the Dispensary:

Harsh words, though pertinent, uncouth appear;None please the fancy who offend the ear.

[164]"There" is a feeble excrescence to force a rhyme.

[165]Fugiemus crebras vocalium concursiones, quæ vastam atque hiantem orationem reddunt. Cic. ad Heren. lib. iv. Vide etiam Quintil. lib. ix. c. 4.—Pope.Vowels were said to open on each other when two words came together of which the first ended, and the second commenced with a vowel. Pope has illustrated the fault by crowding three consecutive instances into his verse. The poets diminished the conflict of vowels by a free recourse to elisions. The most usual were the cutting off the "e" in "the," as "th' unlearned," ver. 327; and the "o" in "to," as "t' outlast," ver. 131, "t' examine," ver. 134, "t' admire," ver. 200. The two words were thus fused into one, and the old authors combined them in writing as well as in the pronunciation. The manuscripts of Chaucer have "texcuse," not "t' excuse;" "thapostle," not "th' apostle." The custom has not kept its ground. Whatever might be supposed to be gained in harmony by the conversion of "to examine" into "texamine," or of "the unlearned" into "thunlearned" was more than lost by the departure from the common forms of speech.

[165]Fugiemus crebras vocalium concursiones, quæ vastam atque hiantem orationem reddunt. Cic. ad Heren. lib. iv. Vide etiam Quintil. lib. ix. c. 4.—Pope.

Vowels were said to open on each other when two words came together of which the first ended, and the second commenced with a vowel. Pope has illustrated the fault by crowding three consecutive instances into his verse. The poets diminished the conflict of vowels by a free recourse to elisions. The most usual were the cutting off the "e" in "the," as "th' unlearned," ver. 327; and the "o" in "to," as "t' outlast," ver. 131, "t' examine," ver. 134, "t' admire," ver. 200. The two words were thus fused into one, and the old authors combined them in writing as well as in the pronunciation. The manuscripts of Chaucer have "texcuse," not "t' excuse;" "thapostle," not "th' apostle." The custom has not kept its ground. Whatever might be supposed to be gained in harmony by the conversion of "to examine" into "texamine," or of "the unlearned" into "thunlearned" was more than lost by the departure from the common forms of speech.

[166]"The characters of bad critic and bad poet are grossly confounded; for though it be true that vulgar readers of poetry are chiefly attentive to the melody of the verse, yet it is not they who admire, but the paltry versifier who employs monotonous syllables, feeble expletives, and a dull routine of unvaried rhymes." Essays Historical and Critical.—Warton.

[167]"Low" in contradistinction to lofty. The phrase would now mean coarse and vulgar words.

[168]From Dryden. "He creeps along with ten little words in every line, and helps out his numbers withfor,to, andunto, and all the pretty expletives he can find, while the sense is left half-tired behind it." Essay on Dram. Poetry.—Warburton.A collection of monosyllables when it arises from a correspondence of subject is highly meritorious. Let a single example from Milton suffice:O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp,Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens and shades of death.How successfully does this range of little words represent to our imaginations,The growing labours of the lengthened way.—Wakefield."It is pronounced by Dryden," says Johnson, "that a line of monosyllables is almost always harsh. This is evidently true, because our monosyllables commonly begin and end with consonants." As Dryden expressed it, "they are clogged with consonants," and "it seldom," he says, "happens but a monosyllable line turns verse to prose, and even that prose is rugged and inharmonious." The authority of Dryden has led many persons to mistrust their own ears, and imagine, like Johnson and Wakefield, that monosyllables were only fitted at best to produce some special effect. Numerous examples in Dryden's poetry contradict his criticism, and Milton abounds in sweet and sonorous monosyllabic lines, as Par. Lost, v. 193:His praise, ye winds, that from four quarters blowBreathe soft or loud; and wave your tops, ye pines,With ev'ry plant, in sign of worship wave.And ver. 199:ye birds,That singing up to heaven gate ascend,Bear on your wings and in your notes his praise.Melodious lines, such as the first verse in the first of these passages, which have the monosyllables relieved but by a single dissyllable, are past counting up. Addison praised Pope for exemplifying the faults in the language which condemned them. "The gaping of the vowels in the second line, the expletive 'do' in the third line, and the ten monosyllables in the fourth, give such a beauty to this passage, as would have been very much admired in an ancient poet." The feat was too easy to call for much admiration. There was more difficulty in eschewing than in mimicking the vicious style of bad versifiers. Pope himself has not avoided the frequent use of "low words" and "feeble expletives."

A collection of monosyllables when it arises from a correspondence of subject is highly meritorious. Let a single example from Milton suffice:

O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp,Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens and shades of death.

How successfully does this range of little words represent to our imaginations,

The growing labours of the lengthened way.—Wakefield.

"It is pronounced by Dryden," says Johnson, "that a line of monosyllables is almost always harsh. This is evidently true, because our monosyllables commonly begin and end with consonants." As Dryden expressed it, "they are clogged with consonants," and "it seldom," he says, "happens but a monosyllable line turns verse to prose, and even that prose is rugged and inharmonious." The authority of Dryden has led many persons to mistrust their own ears, and imagine, like Johnson and Wakefield, that monosyllables were only fitted at best to produce some special effect. Numerous examples in Dryden's poetry contradict his criticism, and Milton abounds in sweet and sonorous monosyllabic lines, as Par. Lost, v. 193:

His praise, ye winds, that from four quarters blowBreathe soft or loud; and wave your tops, ye pines,With ev'ry plant, in sign of worship wave.

And ver. 199:

ye birds,That singing up to heaven gate ascend,Bear on your wings and in your notes his praise.

Melodious lines, such as the first verse in the first of these passages, which have the monosyllables relieved but by a single dissyllable, are past counting up. Addison praised Pope for exemplifying the faults in the language which condemned them. "The gaping of the vowels in the second line, the expletive 'do' in the third line, and the ten monosyllables in the fourth, give such a beauty to this passage, as would have been very much admired in an ancient poet." The feat was too easy to call for much admiration. There was more difficulty in eschewing than in mimicking the vicious style of bad versifiers. Pope himself has not avoided the frequent use of "low words" and "feeble expletives."

[169]Atterbury's Preface to Waller's Poems: "He had a fine ear, and knew how quickly that sense was cloyed by the same round of chiming words still returning upon it."

[170]Hopkins's translation of Ovid's Met., book xi.:No tame nor savage beast dwells there; no breezeShakes the still boughs, or whispers thro' the trees:Here easy streams with pleasing murmurs creep,At once inviting and assisting sleep.—Wakefield.Pope uses these trite ideas and "unvaried chimes" himself. In the fourth Pastoral we have "gentle breeze, trembling trees, whispering breeze, dies upon the trees," and in Eloisa we have "the curling breeze, panting on the trees."—Croker.Pope took the idea from Boileau:Si je louois Philis "en miracles féconde,"Je trouverois bientôt, "à nulle autre seconde;"Si je voulois vanter un objet "nonpareil,"Je mettrois à l'instant, "plus beau que le soleil;"Enfin, parlant toujours d' "astres" et de "merveilles,"De "chefs-d'oeuvres des cieux," de "beautés sans pareilles."

[170]Hopkins's translation of Ovid's Met., book xi.:

No tame nor savage beast dwells there; no breezeShakes the still boughs, or whispers thro' the trees:Here easy streams with pleasing murmurs creep,At once inviting and assisting sleep.—Wakefield.

Pope uses these trite ideas and "unvaried chimes" himself. In the fourth Pastoral we have "gentle breeze, trembling trees, whispering breeze, dies upon the trees," and in Eloisa we have "the curling breeze, panting on the trees."—Croker.

Pope took the idea from Boileau:

Si je louois Philis "en miracles féconde,"Je trouverois bientôt, "à nulle autre seconde;"Si je voulois vanter un objet "nonpareil,"Je mettrois à l'instant, "plus beau que le soleil;"Enfin, parlant toujours d' "astres" et de "merveilles,"De "chefs-d'oeuvres des cieux," de "beautés sans pareilles."

[171]Dryden in his Annus Mirabilis, stanza 123:So glides the trodden serpent on the grass,And long behind his wounded volume trails.—Wakefield.

[171]Dryden in his Annus Mirabilis, stanza 123:

So glides the trodden serpent on the grass,And long behind his wounded volume trails.—Wakefield.

[172]Boileau's Art of Poetry translated by Soame and Dryden:Those tuneful readers of their own dull rhymes.

[172]Boileau's Art of Poetry translated by Soame and Dryden:

Those tuneful readers of their own dull rhymes.

[173]The construction might be for anything that the composition shows to the contrary, "leave such to praise," which is subversive of the poet's meaning.—Wakefield.

[174]Sufficient justice is not done to Sandys, who did more to polish and tune the English versification by his Psalms and his Job, than those two writers, who are usually applauded on this subject.—Warton.Bowles adds his testimony to "the extraordinary melody and vigour" of the versification of Sandys. Ruffhead, in his life of Pope, having called the Ovid of Sandys an "indifferent translation," Warburton has written on the margin, "He was not an indifferent, but a very fine translator and versifier."

Bowles adds his testimony to "the extraordinary melody and vigour" of the versification of Sandys. Ruffhead, in his life of Pope, having called the Ovid of Sandys an "indifferent translation," Warburton has written on the margin, "He was not an indifferent, but a very fine translator and versifier."

[175]Writers who seem to have composed with the greatest ease have exerted much labour in attaining this facility. It is well known that the writings of La Fontaine were laboured into that facility for which they are so famous, with repeated alterations and many erasures. Moliere is reported to have passed whole days in fixing upon a proper epithet or rhyme, although his verses have all the flow and freedom of conversation. I have been informed that Addison was so extremely nice in polishing his prose compositions that when almost a whole impression of a Spectator was worked off he would stop the press to insert a new preposition or conjunction.—Warton.

[176]Lord Roscommon says:The sound is still a comment to the sense.—Warburton.The whole of this passage on the adaptation of the sound to the sense is imitated, and, as may be seen by the references of Warburton, is in part translated, from Vida's Art of Poetry.

[176]Lord Roscommon says:

The sound is still a comment to the sense.—Warburton.

The whole of this passage on the adaptation of the sound to the sense is imitated, and, as may be seen by the references of Warburton, is in part translated, from Vida's Art of Poetry.

[177]Tum is læta canunt, &c. Vida, Poet. 1. iii. ver. 403.—Warburton.

[177]

Tum is læta canunt, &c. Vida, Poet. 1. iii. ver. 403.—Warburton.

[178]Tum longe sale saxa sonant, &c. Vida, Poet. 1. iii. v. 388.—Warburton.

[178]

Tum longe sale saxa sonant, &c. Vida, Poet. 1. iii. v. 388.—Warburton.

[179]Atque ideo si quid geritur molimine magno,Adde moram et pariter tecum quoque verba laborent Segnia. Vida, ib. 417.—Warburton.

[179]

Atque ideo si quid geritur molimine magno,Adde moram et pariter tecum quoque verba laborent Segnia. Vida, ib. 417.—Warburton.

[180]At mora si fuerit damno, properare jubebo, &c. Vida, ib. 420.—Warburton.

[180]

At mora si fuerit damno, properare jubebo, &c. Vida, ib. 420.—Warburton.

[181]Our poet here endeavours to fasten on Virgil a most insufferable absurdity, which no poetical hyperbole will justify, namely, the reality of these wonderful performances, a flight over the unbending corn, and across the sea with unbathed feet. Virgil only puts the supposition, and speaks of her extraordinary velocity in the way of comparison, that she seemed capable of accomplishing so much had she made the attempt. She could fly, if she had chosen, nor would have injured, in that case, the tender blades of corn.—Wakefield.

[182]The verse intended to represent the whisper of the vernal breeze must surely be confessed not much to excel in softness or volubility; and the smooth stream runs with a perpetual clash of jarring consonants. The noise and turbulence of the torrent is, indeed, distinctly imaged; for it requires very little skill to make our language rough. But in the lines which mention the effort of Ajax, there is no particular heaviness or delay. The swiftness of Camilla is rather contrasted than exemplified. Why the verse should be lengthened to express speed, will not easily be discovered. In the dactyls, used for that purpose by the ancients, two short syllables were pronounced with such rapidity, as to be equal only to one long; they therefore naturally exhibit the act of passing through a long space in a short time. But the Alexandrine, by its pause in the midst, is a tardy and stately measure; and the word "unbending," one of the most sluggish and slow which our language affords, cannot much accelerate its motion.—Johnson.Wakefield says that "the tripping wordlabours, in ver. 371, is unhappy," and Aaron Hill contended that three at least of the five concluding words of the line "danced away upon the tongue with a tripping and lyrical lightness."

Wakefield says that "the tripping wordlabours, in ver. 371, is unhappy," and Aaron Hill contended that three at least of the five concluding words of the line "danced away upon the tongue with a tripping and lyrical lightness."

[183]See Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music; an Ode by Mr. Dryden.—Pope.

[184]This resembles a line in Hughes's Court of Neptune:Beholds th' alternate billows all and rise.—Wakefield.

[184]This resembles a line in Hughes's Court of Neptune:

Beholds th' alternate billows all and rise.—Wakefield.

[185]And now and then, a sigh he stole,And tears began to flow. Dryden.—Wakefield.

[185]

And now and then, a sigh he stole,And tears began to flow. Dryden.—Wakefield.

[186]Pope confounds vocal and instrumental with poetical harmony. Timotheus owed his celebrity to his music, and Dryden never wrote a note.

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