She mounts the throne; her head a cloud con ceal'd; In broad effulgence all below reveal'd ; REMARKS. 20' of a new moral world, makes it partake of its original principles. Ver. 16. Lead and Gold] i. e. dull and venal. P. W. P. W. Ver. 18. all below reveal'd;] It was the opinion of the Ancients, that the Divinities manifested themselves to men by their Backparts. Virg. Æneid. i. et avertens, roseâ cervice refulsit. But this passage may admit of another exposition.-Vet. Adag. The higher you climb, the more you show your a―. Verified in no instance more than in Dulness aspiring. Emblematized also by an ape climbing and exposing his posteriors. SCRIBLERus. P. W. Ver. 20. her Laureat Son reclines.] With great judgment is it imagined by the poet, that such a colleague as Dulness had elected, should sleep upon the Throne, and have very little share in the action of the poem. Accordingly he hath done little or nothing from the day of his anointing; having passed through the second book without taking part in any thing that was transacted about him; and through the third, in profound sleep. Nor ought this, well considered, to seem strange in our days, when so many King-consorts have done the like. SCRIBLERUS. P. W. This verse our excellent Laureat took so to heart that he appealed to all mankind, "if he was not as seldom asleep as any fool?" But it is hoped the poet hath not injured him, but rather verified his prophecy (p. 243. of his own Life, 8vo. ch, ix.) where he says, "the reader will be as much pleased to find me a dunce in my old age, as he was to prove me a brisk blockhead in my youth." Wherever there was any room for briskness of any sort, even in sinking, he hath had it allowed; but here, where there is nothing for him to do but to take his natural rest, he must permit his historian to be silent. It is from their actions only that Princes have their character, and poets from their works; and if in those he be as much asleep as any fool, the poet must leave him and them to sleep to all eternity. BENTLEY. P.t Beneath her foot-stool, Science groans in chains, His blunted arms by Sophistry are borne, REMARKS. 25 Ver. 20. her Laureat] "When I find my name in the satirical works of this poet, I never look upon it as any malice meant to me, but PROFIT to himself. For he considers that my face is more known than most in the nation; and therefore a Lick at the Laureat will be a sure bait ad captandum vulgus, to catch little readers."-Life of Colly Cibber, ch. ii. Now if it be certain, that the works of our poet have owed their success to this ingenious expedient, we hence derive an unanswerable argument, that this Fourth DUNCIAD, as well as the former three, hath had the author's last hand, and was by him intended for the press; or else to what purpose hath he crowned it, as we see, by this finishing stroke, the profitable Lick at the Laureat? BENTLEY. P.t Ver. 21, 22. Beneath her foot-stool, &c.] We are next presented with the pictures of those whom the Goddess leads in captivity. Science is only depressed and confined so as to be rendered useless; but Wit or Genius, as a more dangerous and active enemy, punished, or driven away; Dulness being often reconciled in some degree with Learning, but never upon any terms with Wit. And accordingly it will be seen that she admits something like each Science, as Casuistry, Sophistry, &c. but nothing like Wit, Opera alone supplying its place. P. W. Ver. 27. Morality, by her false guardians drawn,] Morality is the daughter of Astraa. This alludes to the mythology of the ancient poets, who tell us that in the golden and silver ages, or in the state of nature, the Gods cohabited with men here on earth; but when, by reason of man's degeneracy, society was forced to have recourse to THE DUNCIAD. BOOK IV. Gasps, as they straiten at each end the cord, And dies, when Dulness gives her Page the word. Too mad for mere material chains to bind, Now to pure space lifts her extatic stare, REMARKS. 35 to a magistrate, and that the ages of brass and iron came on, (that Ver. 30. gives her Page the word.] There was a Judge of this Ver. 31. Mad Mathesis] Alluding to the strange conclusions some Mathematicians have deduced from their principles, concerning the real quantity of matter, the reality of space, &c.] P. W. Ver. 31. Mad Mathesis] Not only at liberty, but got to the head of an Academy, and turned Metaphysician. See L'Essai sur la formation des corps organisés. w.t Ver. 31. Mad Mathesis] This vicious accent of the word is authorized by Prudentius, and other authors of declining Latinity. Wakefield. Ver. 33. Pure space] i. e. pure and defecated from matterextatic stare; the condition of men who look about with full assurance of seeing what does not exist; such as those who expect to find space a real being. W. Ver. 34. running round the circle, finds its square.] Regards the wild and fruitless attempts of squaring the circle. P. W. There to her heart sad Tragedy address'd The dagger wont to pierce the Tyrant's breast; And promis'd vengeance on a barb'rous age. 40 Nor could'st thou, CHESTERFIELD! a tear refuse; REMARKS. Ver. 36. Watch'd both by Envy's and by Flatt'ry's eye :] One of the misfortunes falling on authors, from the Act for subjecting Plays to the power of a Licenser, being the false representations to which they were exposed, from such as either gratified their envy to merit, or made their court to greatness, by perverting general reflections against vice into libels on particular persons. P. W. Ver. 39. But sober History] History attends on Tragedy, Satire on Comedy, as their substitutes in the discharge of their several functions; the one in high life, recording the crimes and punishments of the great; the other in low, exposing the vices or follies of the people. But it may be asked, how came History and Satire to be admitted with impunity to minister comfort to the Muses, even in the presence of the Goddess, and in the midst of all her triumphs? A question, says Scriblerus, which we thus resolve: History was brought up in her infancy by Dulness herself; but being afterwards espoused into a noble house, she forgot (as is usual) the humility of her birth, and the cares of her early friends. This occasioned a long estrangement between her and Dulness. At length, in course of time, they met together in a monk's cell, were reconciled, and became better friends than ever. After this, they had a second quarrel, but it held not long, and are now again on reasonable terms, and so are like to continue. This accounts for the connivance shewn to History on this occasion. But the boldness of SATIRE springs from another cause. The reader ought to know, that she alone of all the sisters is unconquerable, never to be silenced, when truly inspired and animated (as should seem) from above, for this very purpose, to oppose the kingdom of Dulness to her last breath. W. 45 When lo! a harlot form soft sliding by, With mincing step, small voice, and languid eye: Foreign her air, her robe's discordant pride In patch-work flutt'ring, and her head aside: REMARKS. Ver. 43. Nor could'st thou, &c.] This Noble Person, in the year 1737, when the Act aforesaid was brought into the House of Lords, opposed it in an excellent speech (says Mr. Cibber) “ with a lively spirit, and uncommon eloquence." This speech had the honour to be answered by the said Mr. Cibber, with a lively spirit also, and in a manner very uncommon, in the 8th Chapter of his Life and Manners. And here, gentle reader, would I gladly insert the other speech, whereby thou mightest judge between them: but I must defer it on account of some differences not yet adjusted between the Noble Author and myself, concerning the true reading of certain passages. BENTLEY. P. W. Ver. 45. When lo! a harlot form] The attitude given to this phantom represents the nature and genius of the Italian Opera; its affected airs, its effeminate sounds, and the practice of patching up these Operas with favourite songs, incoherently put together. These things were supported by the subscriptions of the Nobility. This circumstance, that OPERA should prepare for the opening of the grand Sessions, was prophesied of in Book iii. ver. 301. "Already Opera prepares the way, P. W. The sure fore-runner of her gentle sway." Our author had not seen the charming dramas of Metastasio; who is indeed a very fine tragic poet; the plans of some of his pieces are conducted with the truest art and judgment, which cannot be surprising to those who know that this enchanting writer has been excelled by few moderns in genius and in learning. Hear a very serious philosopher asserting, "that nothing can be more deeply affecting than the interesting scenes of the serious Opera; when to good poetry and good music, to the poetry of Metastasio and the music of Pergolese, is added the execution of a good actor." Essays of ADAM SMITH, p. 159. See also p. 167. of the Musical Imitations in the same works. Voltaire thinks more highly of the Opera than Pope: |