Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

Ver. 114. His papers light, fly diverse, tost in air;] Virg. Æn. VI. of the Sibyl's leaves, 'Carmina

turbata volent rapidis ludibria ventis.' [vv. 74, 5.] Ver. 141, 142. -piteous of his case, Yet smiling at his rueful length of face.]

'Risit pater optimus illi.'

'Me liceat casum misereri insontis amiciSic fatus, tergum Gætuli immane leonis, &c.' Virg. En v. [v. 358; vv. 350, 1.]

Ver. 151. Himself among the story'd chiefs he spies,]

'Se quoque principibus permixtum agnovit Achivis

Constitit, et lacrymans: Quis jam locus, inquit,

Achate!

Quæ regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?'

Virg. Æn. 1. [v. 488; vv. 459, 60.]

Ver. 156. And the fresh vomit run for ever green!] A parody on these lines of a late noble author:

'His bleeding arm had furnish'd all their rooms, And run for ever purple in the looms.'

Ver. 158. Two babes of love close clinging to her waist;]

'Cressa genus, Pholoë, geminique sub ubere nati.' Virg. Æn. v. [v. 285.]

Ver. 163. yon Juno-With cow-like udders, and with ox-like eyes.] In allusion to Homer's Βοώπις πότνια "Ηρη.

Ver. 165. This China Jordan] 'Tertius Argolica hac galea contentus abito.' Virg. Æn. v. [v. 314.]

In the games of Homer, Il. XXIII. there are set together, as prizes, a Lady and a Kettle, as in this place Mrs Haywood and a Jordan. But there the preference in value is given to the Kettle, at which Mad. Dacier is justly displeased. Mrs H. is here treated with distinction, and acknowledged to be the more valuable of the two. Ver. 169, 170. One on his manly confidence

relies, One on his vigour] 'Ille-melior motu, fretusque juventa; Hic membris et mole valens.' Virg. Æn. v. [vv. 430, 1.] Ver. 173 174. So Jove's bright bow...(Sure sign] The words of Homer, of the Rain-bow, in Iliad XI. [vv. 27, 8.]

άς τε Κρονίων Εν νέφεϊ στήριξε, τέρας μερόπων ἀνθρώπων. 'Que le fils de Saturn a fondés dans les nües, pour être dans tous les âges une signe à tous les mortels.' Dacier.

Ver. 181, 182. So (fam'd like thee for tur

bulence and horns) Eridanus] Virgil mentions these two qualifications of Eridanus,

Georg. IV. [vv. 371-3.] 'Et gemina auratus taurino cornua vultu, Eridanus, quo non alius per pinguia culta In mare purpureum violentior influit amnis.' The Poets fabled of this river Eridanus, that it flowed through the skies. Denham, Cooper's Hill:

'Heav'n her Eridanus no more shall boast, Whose fame in thine, like lesser currents lost; Thy nobler stream shall visit Jove's abodes, To shine among the stars, and bathe the Gods.'

[blocks in formation]

Hæ tibi erunt artes'

[En. VI. vv. 847 ff.; vv. 851, 2.]

Ver. 243. A Cat-call each shall win, &c.] 'Non nostrum inter vos tantas componere lites,

Et vitula tu dignus, et hic.'

Virg. Ecl. 111. [vv. 108, 9.]

Ver. 247. As when the &c.] A Simile with a long tail, in the manner of Homer. Ver. 260. bray back to him again.] A figure of speech taken from Virgil:

'Et vox assensu nemorum ingeminata remugit,' Georg. III. [v. 45.] 'He hears his numerous herds low o'er the plain,

While neighb'ring hills low back to them again.' Cowley.

The poet here celebrated, Sir R. B. delighted much in the word bray, which he endeavoured to ennoble by applying it to the sound of Armour, War, &c. In imitation of him, and strengthened by his authority, our author has here admitted it into Heroic poetry.

Ver. 262. Prick all their ears up, and forget to graze; 'Immemor herbarum quos est mirata juvenca.' Virg. Ecl. vIII. [v. 2.]

The progress of the sound from place to place, and the scenery here of the bordering regions, Tottenham-fields, Chancery-lane, the Thames, Westminster-hall, and Hungerford-stairs, are imitated from Virgil, Æn. vii. on the sounding the horn of Alecto:

'Audiit et Trivia longe lacus, audiit amnis Sulphurea Nar albus aqua, fontesque Velini, &c.' [v. 516 ff.]

Ver. 273. The king of dykes, &c.] 'Fluviorum rex Eridanus, -quo non alius, per pinguia culta, In mare purpureum violentior influit amnis.' Virg. [Georg. I. v. 482; IV. vv. 372, 3.] Ver. 285. Then sighing thus, And am I now threescore? &c.]

'-Fletque Milon senior, cum spectat inanes Herculeis similes, fluidos pendere lacertos.' Ovid [Met. xv. 229, 30].

Ver. 293. and call on Smedley lost; &c.] 'Alcides wept in vain for Hylas lost, Hylas, in vain, resounds thro' all the coast.' Lord Roscommon's Translat. of Virgil's Ecl. vI.

Ver. 302. Not everlasting Blackmore] 'Nec bonus Eurytion prælato invidit honori, &c.' Virg. Æn. [vI. v. 44.] Ver. 329. Greater he looks, and more than mortal stares:] Virg. Æn. VI. of the Sibyl:

'majorque videri,

Nec mortale sonans.' [vv. 49, 50.] Ver. 346. Thence to the banks, &c.] 'Tum canit errantem Permessi ad flumina Gal

lum,

Utque viro Phoebi chorus assurrexerit omnis; Ut Linus hæc illi divino carmine pastor, Floribus atque apio crines ornatus amaro, Dixerit, Hos tibi dant calamos, en accipe, Musæ,

Ascræo quos ante seni &c.'

[Virg. Ecl. vi. vv. 64 ff.] Ver. 380, 381. The same their talents... Each prompt &c.]

'Ambo florentes ætatibus, Arcades ambo, Et certare pares, et respondere parati.' Virg. Ecl. vii. [vv. 4, 5.] Ver. 382. And smit with love of Poetry and Prate.]

'Smit with the love of sacred song.'

Milton [Par. Lost, Bk. III. v. 29]. Ver. 384. The heroes sit, the vulgar form a ring;] 'Consedere duces, et vulgi stante corona.' Ovid, Met. XIII. [v. 1.] Ver. 410. o'er all the sea of heads.] 'A waving sea of heads was round me spread, And still fresh streams the gazing deluge fed.'

Blackm. Job. Ver. 418. And all was hush'd, as Folly's self lay dead.] Alludes to Dryden's verse in the Indian Emperor [Act III. Sc. 2. v. 1];

'All things are hush'd, as Nature's self lay dead.'

BOOK III.

Ver. 7, 8. Hence from the straw where Bedlam's Prophet nods, He hears loud Oracles, and talks with Gods:]

'Et varias audit voces, fruiturque deorum
Colloquio.' Virg. Æn. vi. [vv. 91, 2.]
Ver. 15.
A slipshod Sibyl &c.]
'Conclamat Vates

furens antro se immisit aperto.'
Virg. [Æn. VI. vv. 259, 262.]

Ver. 23. Here, in a dusky vale &c.]
'Videt Æneas in valle reducta

Seclusum nemus...

Lethæumque domos placidas qui prænatat

amnem,' &c.

Hunc circum innumeræ gentes, &c.'

Virg. Æn. vi. [vv. 703 ff.]

Ver. 24. Old Bavius sits, to dip poetic souls,] Alluding to the story of Thetis dipping Achilles to render him impenetrable:

'At pater Anchises penitus convalle virenti Inclusas animas, superumque ad lumen ituras, Lustrabat.' Virg. Æn. vi. [vv. 679-81.] Ver. 28. unbar the gates of Light,] An Hemistic of Milton.

Ver. 31, 32. Millions and millions-Thick as the stars, &c.]

'Quam multa in silvis autumni frigore primo Lapsa cadunt folia, aut ad terram gurgite ab alto

Quam multæ glomerantur aves, &c.'

Ver. 54.

bays,]

Virg. Æn. vi. [vv. 309 ff] Mix'd the Owl's ivy with the Poet's

'sine tempora circum Inter victrices hederam tibi serpere lauros.' Virg. Ecl. vIII [vv. 12, 13.]

Ver. 61, 62. For this our Queen unfolds to vision true Thy mental eye, for thou hast much to view:] This has a resemblance to that passage in Milton [Par. Lost], Book xI. [vv. 411 ff.] where the Angel

'To nobler sights from Adam's eye remov'd The film;

Then purg'd with Euphrasie and Rue The visual nerve-for he had much to see.' There is a general allusion in what follows to that whole Episode.

Ver. 117, 118. Happy!-had Easter never

[blocks in formation]

Ver. 127, 129. Now look thro' Fate!-See all her Progeny, &c.]

'Nunc age, Dardaniam prolem quæ deinde sequatur

Gloria, qui maneant Itala de gente nepotes, Illustres animas, nostrumque in nomen ituras, Expediam.' Virg. Æn. vi. [vv. 756 ff.]

Ver. 131. As Berecynthia, &c.] 'Felix prole virûm, qualis Berecynthia mater Invehitur curru Phrygias turrita per urbes, Læta deûm partu, centum complexa nepotes, Omnes cœlicolas, omnes supera alta tenentes.' Virg. Æn. vi. [vv. 784 ff.]

Ver. 139. Mark first that Youth, &c.] 'Ille vides, pura juvenis qui nititur hasta, Proxima forte tenet lucis loca.'

Virg. Æn. vi. [vv. 760, 1.] Ver. 141. With all thy Father's virtues blest, be born!] A manner of expression used by Virgil, Ecl. vIII. [v. 17.]

'Nascere! præque diem veniens, age, Lucifer.' As also that of patriis virtutibus, Ecl. IV. [v. 17.] It was very natural to shew to the Hero, before all others, his own Son, who had already begun to emulate him in his theatrical, poetical, and even political capacities. By the attitude in which he here presents himself, the reader may be cautioned against ascribing wholly to the Father the merit of the epithet Cibberian, which is equally to be understood with an eye to the Son. From the strong fate of drams if

Ver. 145. thou get free,]

'si qua fata aspera rumpas,

Tu Marcellus eris!'

Virg. Æn. vi. [vv. 882, 3.] Ver. 147. Thee shall each ale-house &c.] 'Te nemus Anguitiæ, vitrea te Fucinus unda, Te liquidi flevere lacus.'

Virg. Æn. vIII. [vv. 759, 60.] Virgil again, Ecl. x. [v. 13.] 'Illum etiam lauri, illum flevere myricæ, &c.' Ver. 150. 'duo fulmina belli Scipiadas, cladem Libya!'

Virg. Æn. vi. [vv. 842, 3.] Ver. 166. And makes Night hideous] 'Visit thus the glimpses of the moon, Making Night hideous.'

Shakesp. [Hamlet, Act 1. Sc. 4.]

Ver. 169. Flow, Welsted, flow! &c.] Parody on Denham, Cooper's Hill.

'O could I flow like thee, and make thy

stream

My great example, as it is my theme: Tho' deep, yet clear; tho' gentle, yet not dull;

[blocks in formation]

'Euryalus, forma insignis viridique juventa, Nisus amore pio pueri.'

Virg. Æn. v. [vv. 295, 6.]

Ver. 185. But who is he, &c.] Virg. Æn. vi [vv. 808 ff.] questions and answers in this manner, of Numa:

'Quis procul ille autem ramis insignis olivæ, Sacra ferens?-nosco crines, incanaque menta, &c.'

Ver. 224. Learn ye Dunces! not to scorn your God.] 'Discite justitiam moniti, et non temnere divos.' Virg. [Æn. vi. v. 620.]

Ver. 244. And other planets] 'solemque suum, sua sidera norunt.' Virg. Æn. vi. [v. 641.] Ver. 246. Whales sport in woods, and dolphins in the skies;]

'Delphinum sylvis appingit, fluctibus aprum.' Hor. [de Arte Poet. v. 30.] Ver. 251. Son? what thou seek'st is in thee:] '(Quod petis in te est)

Ne te quæsiveris extra.' Pers. [Sat. 1. v. 7. The first part of this seems to be loosely quoted from Hor. Lib. 1. Epist. XI. v. 29.]

Ver. 256. Wings the red lightning, &c.] Like Salmoneus in Æn. vI. [vv. 586, 590, 1.] 'Dum flammas Jovis, et sonitus imitatur Olympi.' 'Nimbos, et non imitabile fulmen, Ære et cornipedum cursu simularat equorum.' Ver. 258. o'er all unclassic ground:] Alludes to Mr Addison's verse, in the praises of Italy:

'Poetic fields encompass me around,

And still I seem to tread on classic ground.' [Letter from Italy to Lord Halifax.] As v. 264 is a parody on a noble one of the same author in The Campaign; and v. 259, 260, on two sublime verses of Dr Young].

Ver. 319, 320. This, this is he, foretold by ancient rhymes, Th' Augustus, &c.]

'Hic vir, hic est! tibi quem promitti sæpius

audis,

Augustus Cæsar, divum genus; aurea condet
Secula qui rursus Latio, regnata per arva
Saturno quondam.'

Virg. Æn. vi. [vv. 791 ff.] Saturnian here relates to the age of Lead, mentioned book 1. v. 26.

Ver. 340. And thro' the Iv'ry Gate, &c.] 'Sunt geminæ Somni portæ; quarum altera fertur

Cornea, qua veris facilis datur exitus umbris Altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto, Sed falsa ad cœlum mittunt insomnia manes.' Virg. Æn. vi. [vv. 893 ff.]

Book IV.

Ver. 54. Joy to great Chaos!] 'Joy to great Cæsar.'

The beginning of a famous old Song.

Ver. 126. Admire new light &c.] 'The Soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd, Lets in new light, through chinks that time has made.'

Waller. [Lines On his Divine Poems.] Ver. 142. Dropping with infant's blood, &c.] "First Moloch, horrid King, besmear'd with blood

Of human Sacrifice, and parents' tears.'

Milton [Par. Lost, 1. vv. 392, 3]. Ver. 207. He, kingly, did but nod;] 'He, kingly, from his State Declin'd not.' Milton [Par. Lost, XI. vv. 249, 50].

Ver. 210.

is Aristarchus yet unknown?] 'Sic notus Ulysses?'

Virg. [Æn. II. v. 44.] 'Dost thou not feel me, Rome?'

Ben. Jonson [first verse of Catiline].

Ver. 215. Roman and Greek Grammarians, &c.] Imitated from Propertius speaking of the Eneid. [Lib. 11. Eleg. xxv. vv. 65, 6.]

'Cedite, Romani scriptores, cedite Graii!

Nescio quid majus nascitur Iliade.' Ver. 284. A dauntless infant never scar'd with God.]

'sine Dis animosus Infans.'

Hor. [Lib. 1. Od. IV. v. 20.] Ver. 332. So may the sons of sons &c.] 'Et nati natorum, et qui nascentur ab illis.' Virg. [Æn. II. v. 98.]

[blocks in formation]

These Verses are translated from Catullus, Epith. [vv. 39 ff.]

'Ut flos in septis secretus nascitur hortis, Quam mulcent auræ, firmat Sol, educat imber, Multi illum pueri, maltæ optavere puellæ: Idem quum tenui carptus defloruit ungui, Nulli illum pueri, nullæ optavere puellæ, &c.' Ver. 421. Of all th' enamel'd race,] The poet seems to have an eye to Spenser, Muiopotmos. [vv. 17, 18.]

'Of all the race of silver-winged Flies
Which do possess the Empire of the Air.'
Ver. 427, 428. It fled, I follow'd, &c.]
'I started back,

It started back; but pleas'd I soon return'd,
Pleas'd it return'd as soon.'

Milton [Par. Lost, IV. vv. 402, 3.] Ver. 518. Which whoso tastes, forgets his former friends, Sire, &c.]

• Αὐτίκ ̓ ἄρ ̓ εἰς οἶνον βάλε φάρμακον, ἔνθεν ἔπινον Νηπενθές τ ̓ ἀχολόν τε, κακῶν ἐπίληθον ἁπάντων. Homer of the Nepenthe, Odyss. IV. [vv. 220, 1.]

Ver. 622. Virg. Æn. xI. 664, 5. Warburton. Ver. 637. As Argus' eyes, &c.] 'Et quamvis sopor est oculorum parte receptus, Parte tamen vigilat.'

'Vidit Cyllenius omnes Succubuisse oculos, &c.'

Ovid. Met. 1. [vv. 685, 6; 713, 4]

BY THE AUTHOR

A DECLARATION.

WHEREAS certain Haberdashers of Points and Particles, being instigated by the spirit of Pride, and assuming to themselves the name of Critics and Restorers, have taken upon them to adulterate the common and current sense of our Glorious Ancestors, Poets of this Realm, by clipping, coining, defacing the images, mixing their own base allay, or otherwise falsifying the same; which they publish, utter, and send as genuine: The said haberdashers having no right thereto, as neither heirs, executors, administrators, assigns, or in any sort related to such Poets, to all or any of them: Now, We, having carefully revised this our Dunciad, beginning with the words The Mighty Mother, and ending with the words buries All, containing the entire sum of One thousand seven hundred and fifty four verses, declare every word, figure, point, and comma of this impression to be authentic: And do therefore strictly enjoin and forbid any person or persons whatsoever to erase, reverse, put between hooks, or by any other means, directly or indirectly, change or mangle any of them. And we do hereby earnestly exhort all our brethren to follow this our example, which we heartily wish our great Predecessors had heretofore set, as a remedy and prevention of all such abuses. Provided always, that nothing in this Declaration shall be construed to limit the lawful and undoubted right of every subject of this Realm, to judge, censure, or condemn, in the whole or in part, any Poem or Poet whatsoever.

Given under our hand at London, this third day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand, seven hundred, thirty and two.

Declarat' cor' me,

JOHN BARBER, Mayor.

P.

« AnteriorContinuar »