Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

Ev'n then, before the fatal engine clos'd,

A wretched Sylph too fondly interpos'd;

Fate urg'd the sheers, and cut the Sylph in twain, (But airy substance foon unites again)

150

The

NOTES.

VER. 152. But airy fubftance] See Milton, lib. vi. of Satan cut afunder by the Angel Michael. P.

This line is an admirable parody on that paffage of Milton, which, perhaps oddly enough, defcribes Satan wounded:

"The griding fword, with difcontinuous wound,

Pafs'd thro' him; but th' etherial substance clos'd,
Not long divifible.”

The parodies are fome of the moft exquifite parts of this poem. That which follows from the "Dum juga montis aper," of Virgil, contains fome of the moft artful ftrokes of fatire, and the most poignant ridicule imaginable.

The introduction of frequent parodies on serious and folemn paffages of Homer and Virgil, give much life and spirit to heroi-comic poetry. "Tu dors, Prelat? tu dors?" in Boileau, is the "Evde Alge vis" of Homer, and is full of humour. The wife of the barber talks in the language of Dido in her expoftulations to her Æneas, at the beginning of the second Canto of the Lutrin. Pope's parodies of Sarpedon in Homer, and of the defcription of Achilles's fceptre, together with the fcales of Jupiter, from Homer, Virgil, and Milton, are judiciously introduced in their feveral places; are perhaps fuperior to those Boileau or Garth have used, and are worked up with peculiar pleasantry. The mind of the reader is engaged by novelty, when it fo unexpectedly finds a thought or object it had been accustomed to furvey in another form, fuddenly arrayed in a ridiculous garb. A mixture also of comic and ridiculous images, with such as are ferious and important, adds no fmall beauty to this fpecies of poetry, when real and imaginary diftreffes are coupled together

"Not youthful kings in battle feiz'd alive,

Not fcornful virgins who their charms furvive," &c. Which is much fuperior to a fimilat paffage in the Dispensary. Canto v.

The meeting points the facred hair diffever
From the fair head, for ever, and for ever!

154

Then flash'd the living light'ning from her eyes, And screams of horror rend th' affrighted skies. Not louder fhrieks to pitying heav'n are cast, When husbands, or when lap-dogs breathe their last; Or when rich China veffels fall'n from high, In glitt'ring duft, and painted fragments lie! Let wreaths of triumph now my temples twine, (The Victor cry'd) the glorious prize is mine! While fish in streams, or birds delight in air, Or in a coach and fix the British Fair,

As long as Atalantis fhall be read,

Or the small pillow grace a Lady's bed,

NOTES.

160

165

While

VER. 165. Atalantis] A famous book written about that time by a woman: full of Court and Party scandal; and in a loose effeminacy of ftyle and fentiment, which well-fuited the debauched tafte of the better vulgar.

W.

Mrs. Manley, the author of it, was the daughter of Sir Roger Manley, Governor of Guernsey, and the author of the first volume of the famous Turkish Spy, publifhed, from his papers, by Dr. Midgley. She was known and admired by all the wits of the times. She wrote three plays; Lucius, the laft, 1717, was dedicated to Sir Richard Steele, with whom she had quarrelled fome time before. He wrote the prologue to it, and Prior the epilogue. She was also celebrated by Lord Lanfdown. She died in the house of Alderman Barber, Swift's friend; and was faid to have been the mistress of the Alderman.

IMITATIONS.

VER. 163, 170.

"Dum juga montis aper, fluvios dum pifcis amabit, Semper honos, nomenque tuum, laudefque manebunt."

VIRG. P.

While vifits shall be paid on folemn days,
When num'rous wax-lights in bright order blaze,
While nymphs take treats, or affignations give, 169
So long my honour, name, and praise shall live!
What Time would fpare, from Steel receives its date,
And monuments, like men, fubmit to fate!
Steel could the labour of the Gods destroy,
And strike to duft th' imperial tow'rs of Troy;
Steel could the works of mortal pride confound,
And hew triumphal arches to the ground.

176 What wonder then, fair nymph! thy hairs fhould feel The conqu❜ring force of unrefifted Steel?

VER. 177.

IMITATIONS.

"Illé quoque everfus mons eft, &c.

Quid faciant crines, cum ferro talia cedant ?”

CATULL. de com. Berenices. P.

X 4

THE RAPE OF THE LOCK.

BUT

CANTO IV.

UT anxious cares the penfive nymph opprefs'd,
And fecret paffions labour'd in her breast.
Not youthful kings in battle feiz'd alive,
Not fcornful virgins who their charms furvive,
Not ardent lovers robb'd of all their blifs,
Not ancient ladies when refus'd a kiss,
fierce that unrepenting die,
Not Cynthia when her manteau's pinn'd awry,
E'er felt fuch rage, refentment, and despair,
As thou, fad Virgin! for thy ravish'd Hair.

Not

tyrants

.5

10

For, that fad moment, when the Sylphs withdrew, And Ariel weeping from Belinda flew, Umbriel, a dufky, melancholy fprite, As ever fully'd the fair face of light,

VARIATIONS.

Down

VER. 11. For, that fad moment, &c.] All the lines from hence to the 94th verfe, that defcribe the houfe of Spleen, are not in the firft Edition; inftead of them followed only thefe,

While her rack'd Soul repofe and peace requires,

The fierce Thaleftris fans the rifing fires.

And continued at the 94th verse of this Canto.

IMITATIONS.

P.

VER. 1." At regina gravi," &c. VIRG. Aeneid. iv. P.

[ocr errors]

Down to the central earth, his proper scene,
Repair'd to search the gloomy Cave of Spleen.

Swift on his footy pinions flits the Gnome,
And in a vapour reach'd the dismal dome.
No chearful breeze this fullen region knows,
The dreaded Eaft is all the wind that blows.
Here in a grotto, fhelter'd clofe from air,
And screen'd in fhades from day's detefted glare,
She fighs for ever on her penfive bed,

Pain at her fide, and Megrim at her head.

15

Two handmaids wait the throne: alike in place,

But diff'ring far in figure and in face.

Here ftood Ill-nature like an ancient maid,
Her wrinkled form in black and white array'd!

20

24

With ftore of pray'rs, for mornings, nights, and noons, Her hand is fill'd; her bofom with lampoons.

30

There

NOTES.

VER. 16. Cave of Spleen.]

"Thro' me ye pass to Spleen's terrific dome,
Thro' me, to Discontent's eternal home!

Thro' me, to those who faddend human life,

By fullen humour or vexatious ftrife;

And here thro' scenes of endless vapour hurl'd,

Are punish'd in the forms they plagu'd the world;
Juftly they feel no joy, who none bestow,

All ye who enter, every hope forego!"

It is thus Mr. Hayley, in allufion to Dante's striking infcription over hell-gate, begins his description of the dwelling of Spleen. She and her attendants are afterwards painted with force and spirit in the next 200 verses, and more. His mild and engaging Serena, her prim and four aunt Penelope, and the good old Squire, are admirable portraits. Whether Pope's Belinda in lofing her lock, or Hayley's Serena, in being prevented going to a mafquerade, felt the greater mortification and misfortune, is an arduous point that must be determined by the Ladies.

« AnteriorContinuar »