Virtutes habeat, fic collige : vatis o avarus

Non temere eft animus : P versus amat, hoc ftudet

unum;

Detrimenta, 9 fugas fervorum, incendia ridet;

Non' fraudem focio, puerove incogitat ullam

Pupillo; vivit filiquis, et pane secundo s;

* Militiae quanquam piger et malus, utilis urbi ;

Si das hoc, parvis quoque rebus magna juvari.

Ver. 201. Of little use, etc.) There is a poignancy in the following verses, which the original did not aim at,

nor affect.

VER. 204. And (tho' no Soldier)] Horace had not acquitted himself much to his credit

in this capacity (non bene reli&ta parmula) in the battle of Philippi. It is manifeft he alludes to himself, in this whole account of a Poet's character ; but with an intermixture of irony : Vi

200

Sometimes the Folly benefits mankind;
And rarely. Ay'rice taints the tuneful mind.
Allow him but his plaything of a Pen,
He ne'er rebels, or plots, like other men:
9 Flight of Cashiers, or Mobs, he'll never mind; 195
And knows no losses while the Muse is kind.

To'cheat a Friend, or Ward, he leaves to Peter;
The good man heaps up nothing but mere metre,
Enjoys his Garden and his book in quiet;
And then- a perfect Hermit in hiss diet.

Of little use the Man you may suppose,
Who says in verse what others say in prose;
Yet let me show, a Poet's of some weight,
And (tho' no Soldier) useful to the State.
v What will a Child learn sooner than a song ? 205
What better teach a Foreigner the tongue ?
What's long or short, each accent where to place,
And speak in public with some sort of grace.
I scarce can think him such a worthless thing,
Unless he praise some Monster of a King;

Notes.
vit filiquis et pane secundo has a relation to his Epicurism ;
Os tenerum pueri, is ridicule : The nobler office of a Poet
follows, Torquet ab ob/coenis - Mox etiam pectus — Reete
facta refert, etc. which the Imitator has apply'd where
he thinks it more due than to himself. He hopes to be
pardoned, if, as he is fincerely inclined to praise what
deserves to be praised, he arraigns what deserves to be ar-
aigned, in the 210, 211, and 2121h Verses. P.

:

210

Torquet w ab obscuenis jam nunc fermonibus aurem;

Mox etiam pectus praeceptis forinat amicis,

Afperitatis, et invidiae corrector, et irae;

Recte facta refert; * orientia tempora notis

Inftruit exemplis ; y inopem folatur et aegrum.

Caftis cum pueris ignara puella mariti

Notes.

VER. 226. the Idiot and the Poor.) A foundation for the maintenance of Idiots, and a fund for aslifting the Poor, by lending small sums of money on demand. P.

VER. 229. Not but there are, etc.] Nothing can be more truly humourous or witry chan all that follows to Ý 240. Yet the noble fobriety of the original, or, at least

, the appearance of fobriety, which is the same thing here, is of a tatie vaitly superior to it.

1

220

Or Virtue, or Religion turn to sport,
To please a lewd, or unbelieving Court.
Unhappy Dryden !-In all Charles's days,
Roscommon only boasts unspotted bays ;
And in our own (excuse some Courtly stains) 215
No whiter page than Addison remains.
He, w from the taste obscene reclaims our youth,
And sets the Paffions on the side of Truth,
Forms the soft bofom with the gentlest art,
And pours each buman Virtue in the heart.
Let Ireland tell, how Wit upheld her cause,
Her Trade supported, and supplied her Laws;
And leave on Swift this grateful verse ingrav’d,
The Rights a Court attack'd, a Poet fav’d.
Behold the hand that wrought a Nation's cure,

225
Stretch'd to y' relieve the Idiot and the Poor,
Proud Vice to brand, or injur's Worth adorn,
And * ftretch the Ray to Ages yet unborn.
Not but there are, who merit other palms;
Hopkins and Sternhold glad the heart with a Psalms :
The · Boys and Girls whom charity maintains, 231
Implore your help in these pathetic strains :

Notes. VER. 230. Sternhold.] One of the versifiers of the old singing plalins. He was a Courtier, anda Groom of the Robes to Hen. VIII. and of the Bedchamber to Edward vi. Füller, in his Church llisory, says he was esteemed an exscilant Port,

1

Diceret unde preces, vatem ni Musa dediffet?
Poscit opem chorus, et praesentia numina sentit;
Coelestes implorat aquas, docta prece blandus;
Avertit morbos, e metuenda pericula pellit;
Impetrat et pacem, et locupletem frugibus annum.
a Carmine Dî superi placantur, carmine Manes.

• Agricolae prisci, fortes, parvoque beati,
Condita poft frumenta, levantes tempore festo
Corpus et ipsum animum spe finis dura ferentem,
Cum sociis operum pueris et conjuge fida,
Tellurem porco, Silvanum lacte piabant,
Floribus et vino Genium memorem brevis aevi.
Fescennina per hunc inventa licentia morem
f Versibus alternis opprobria rustica fudit;
Libertasque recurrentes accepta per annos
Lufit amabiliter : 8 donec jam saevus apertam
In rabiem coepit verti jocus, et per honestas
Ire domos impune minax. doluere cruento

Dente lacessiti: fuit intactis quoque cura

Notes. VIR. 241. Our rural Ancestors, etc.) This is almost literal; and shews, that the beauty and spiritp so much ad