ÀҾ˹éÒ˹ѧÊ×Í
PDF
ePub

Churches and Chapels instantly it reach'd;

(St. James's first, for leaden Gilbert preach'd)

REMARKS.

verse is truly Homerical; as is the conclusion of the action, where the great Mother composes all, in the same manner as Minerva at the period of the Odyssey.- -It may indeed seem a very singular Epitasis of a poem, to end as this does, with a GREAT YAWN; but we must consider it as the yawn of a God, and of powerful effects. Nor is it out of nature; most long and grave counsels concluding in this very manner. Nor yet without authority, the incomparable Spencer having ended one of the most considerable of his works with a ROAR; but then it is the Roar of a Lion, the effects whereof (as here of the Yawn) are described as the catastrophe of the poem. P. W.

Ver. 607. Churches and Chapels, &c.] The progress of this Yawn is judicious, natural, and worthy to be noted. First it seizeth the Churches and Chapels; then catcheth the Schools, where, though the boys be unwilling to sleep, the Masters are not; next Westminster-hall, much more hard indeed to subdue, and not totally put to silence even by the Goddess; then the Convocation, which though extremely desirous to speak, yet cannot. Even the House of Commons, justly called the Sense of the Nation, is lost (that is to say, suspended) during the Yawn (far be it from our author to suggest it could be lost any longer!) but it spreadeth at large over all the rest of the kingdom, to such a degree, that Palinurus himself (though as incapable of sleeping as Jupiter himself) yet noddeth for a moment: the effect of which, though ever so momentary, could not but cause some relaxation, for the time, in all public affairs. SCRIBLERUS. P. W.

Ver. 608. for leaden Gilbert] Dr. Gilbert, archbishop of York. He had never given Pope any particular offence; but he had attacked Dr. King of Oxford, whom Pope much respected. And this attack was made in a rude and rough manner. Warton.

I have been informed by a * Prelate of the most distinguished learning, candour, and good sense, that there never was an expression applied with such injustice, as "leaden" to Dr. Gilbert, who was in fact an eloquent and impressive preacher; so much so,

*The Bishop of Salisbury.

that

Then caught the Schools; the Hall scarce kept

awake:

The Convocation gap'd, but could not speak: 610
Lost was the Nation's Sense, nor could be found,
While the long solemn Unison went round:
Wide, and more wide, it spread o'er all the realm;
Ev'n Palinurus nodded at the helm:

REMARKS.

that the amiable Prelate I allude to, having heard an animated discourse delivered by Gilbert, committed some of the leading ideas, and the most striking expressions, to memory; and afterwards preached the same sermon before Dr. Gilbert, and mentioned the circumstance; who very good-naturedly said, "Then you are not ashamed of" leaden Gilbert!" Bowles.

Ver. 610. The Convocation gap'd, but could not speak:] Implying a great desire so to do, as the learned Scholiast on the place rightly observes. Therefore beware, reader, lest thou take this Gape for a Yawn, which is attended with no desire, but to go to rest : by no means the disposition of the Convocation; whose melancholy case in short is this. She was, as is reported, infected with the general influence of the Goddess; and while she was yawning carelessly at her ease, a wanton Courtier took her at advantage, and in the very nick, clapp'd a Gag into her mouth. Well therefore may we know her meaning by her gaping; and this distressful posture which our poet here describes, is just as she stands at this day, a sad example of the effects of Dulness and Malice unchecked and despised. BENTL. W.

Ver. 613. Wide, and more wide, it spread o'er all the realm;
Ev'n Palinurus nodded at the helm :]

This very elegant allusion he owes to Young, Sat. vii. ver. 225.
"What felt thy Walpole, pilot of the realm?

Our Palinurus slept not at the helm :

His eye ne'er clos'd, long since inur'd to wake,

And out-watch ev'ry star for Brunswick's sake."

The expression of the last line is taken from Milton, Penseroso, ver. 87.

"Where I may oft out-watch the Bear."

Wakefield.

The vapour mild o'er each Committee crept; 615
Unfinish'd treaties in each Office slept;
And chiefless armies doz'd out the campaign;
And navies yawn'd for orders on the main.
O Muse! relate (for you can tell alone;
Wits have short memories, and Dunces none) 620

REMARKS.

of a fresher

Ver. 615-618.] These verses were written many years ago, and may be found in the State Poems of that time. So that Scriblerus is mistaken, or whoever else have imagined this poem date. Ver. 615. The vapour mild o'er each Committee crept; Unfinish'd treaties in each Office slept;

And chiefless armies doz'd out the campaign;
And navies yawn'd for orders on the main.]

P. W.

These four verses are said to be taken from the State Poems; but I am unable to point out their station there. They partly existed in the poem, probably that intended, of Halifax on Orpheus and Signora Margarita :

66

And, when the tawny Tuscan rais'd her strain,

Rook furls his sails, and dozes on the main :

Treaties unfinish'd in the office sleep,

And Shovel yawns for orders on the deep.”

Of the first of these verses our poet has made use in his Ode on St Cecilia's Day:

66

High on the stern the Thracian rais'd his strain." Wakefield. Ver. 619. O Muse! relate] Mr. Gray's opinion of this fourth book was as follows: "The genii of operas and schools, with their attendants, the pleas of the virtuosos and florists, and the yawn of Dulness in the end, are as fine as any thing he has written. The metaphysician's part is to me the worst; and here and there a few ill-expressed lines, and some hardly intelligible." Warton.

Ver. 620. Wits have short memories,] This seemeth to be the reason why the poets, whenever they give us a Catalogue, constantly call for help on the Muses, who, as the daughters of Memory, are obliged not to forget any thing. So Homer, Iliad ii.

Πληθὺν δ ̓ ἐκ ἂν ἐγὼ μυθήσομαι ἐδ' ὁνομήνω,

Εἰ μὴ Ολυμπιάδες Μᾶσαι, Διὸς αιγιόχοιο
Θυγατέρες, μνησαίαθ'

VOL. IV.

And

Relate, who first, who last resign'd to rest; Whose heads she partly, whose completely blest; What charms could Faction, what Ambition lull, The venal quiet, and entrance the dull;

Till drown'd was sense, and shame, and right, and

wrong

O sing, and hush the nations with thy song !

[blocks in formation]

625

In vain, in vain! The all-composing hour Resistless falls; the Muse obeys the Pow'r. She comes! she comes! the sable throne behold Of Night primeval, and of Chaos old!

And Virg. Æneid. vii.

REMARKS.

"Et meministis enim, Divæ, et memorare potestis:

Ad nos vix tenuis famæ perlabitur aura."

630

But our poet had yet another reason for putting this task upon the Muse, that, all besides being asleep, she only could relate what passed. SCRIBlerus.

P. W.

Ver. 624. The venal quiet, &c.] It were a problem worthy the solution of Aristarchus himself (and perhaps not of less importance than some of those so long disputed amongst Homer's Scholiasts, as, in which hand Venus was wounded, and what Jupiter whispered in the ear of Juno,) to inform us, which required the greatest effort of our Goddess's power, to entrance the dull, or to quiet the venal. For though the venal may be more unruly than the dull, yet, on the other hand, it demands a much greater expense of her virtue to entrance than barely to quiet. SCRIBL.

W.

Ver. 629. She comes! she comes! &c.] Here the Muse, like Jove's Eagle, after a sudden stoop at ignoble game, soareth again to the skies. As prophecy hath ever been one of the chief provinces of poesy, our poet here foretels from what we feel, what

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 621. Relate, who first, who last resign'd to rest ;

Whose heads she partly, whose completely blest ;]

"Quem telo primum, quem postremum, aspera Virgo,

we

Dejicis? aut quot humi morientia corpora fundis?" Virg. W.†

Before her, Fancy's gilded clouds decay,
And all its varying rainbows die away.
Wit shoots in vain its momentary fires,
The meteor drops, and in a flash expires.
As one by one, at dread Medea's strain,
The sick'ning stars fade off th' ethereal plain;
As Argus' eyes, by Hermes' wand opprest,
Clos'd one by one to everlasting rest;
Thus, at her felt approach, and secret might,
Art after Art goes out, and all is Night.
See skulking Truth to her old cavern fled,
Mountains of casuistry heap'd o'er her head!
Philosophy, that lean'd on Heav'n before,
Shrinks to her second cause, and is no more.

REMARKS.

[ocr errors]

635

640

we are to fear; and in the style of Apollo's prophets, hath used the future tense for the preterit; since what he says shall be, is already to be seen, in the writings of some even of our most adored authors, in Divinity, Philosophy, Physics, Metaphysics, &c. who are too good indeed to be named in such company. P. W.

Ver. 629. the sable throne behold] The sable thrones of Night and Chaos, here represented as advancing to extinguish the light of the Sciences, in the first place blot out the colours of Fancy and damp the fire of Wit, before they proceed to their greater work. W.

Ver. 641. Truth to her old cavern fled,] Alluding to the saying of Democritus, that Truth lay at the bottom of a deep well, from whence he had drawn her; though Butler replied, archly enough, He first put her in, before he drew her out.

W.

Ver. 643. Philosophy, that lean'd on Heav'n] Philosophy has

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 637. As Argus' eyes, &c.]

"Et quamvis sopor est oculorum parte receptus,

at

Parte tamen vigilat

Vidit Cyllenius omnes

Succubuisse oculos," &c.

Ovid. Met. ii.

P.t

« ¡è͹˹éÒ´Óà¹Ô¹¡ÒõèÍ
 »