Tentavit quoque rem, fi digne vertere poffet
Et placuit fibi, natura fublimis et acer:
Nam fpirat tragicum fatis, et feliciter audet:
Sed turpem putat infcite metuitque lituram.
Creditur, ex' medio quia res arceffit, habere
Sudoris minimum; fed habet Comoedia tanto
Plus oneris, quanto veniae minus. ' aspice, Plautus
Quo pacto partes tutetur amantis ephebi,
Ut patris attenti, lenonis ut infidiofi:

Quantus fit Doffennus " edacibus in parafitis;

W

Quam non aftricto percurrat pulpita focco.

Geftit enim * nummum in loculos demittere; poft hoc Securus, cadat an recto stet fabula talo.

Quem tulit ad fcenam ventofo gloria curru, Exanimat lentus fpectator, fedulus inflat:

Sic leve, fic parvum eft, animum quod laudis avarum

VER. 290. Afræa,] A Name taken by Mrs. Behn, Authorefs of feveral obfcene Plays, etc.

Ibid. The frage how loofety does Aftræa tread,] The fine metaphor of nox aftricto, greatly improved by the happy ambiguity of the word loosely.

VER. 296. O you? whom Vanity's light bark conveys,] The metaphor is fine, but inferior to the Original, in many respects, ventofo gloria curru,

has a happy air of ridicule heightened by its allufion to the Roman Triumph. It has a great beauty too, taken in a more serious light, as reprefenting the Poet a Slave to Fame or Glory,

Quem tulit ad fcenam-Gloria.

as was the cuftom in their triumphs. In other refpects the

Not but the P Tragic fpirit was our own,
And full in Shakespear, fair in Otway shone:
But Otway fail'd to polish or refine,

And fluent Shakespear scarce effac'd a line.
Ev'n copious Dryden wanted, or forgot,
The last and greatest Art, the Art to blot.
Some doubt, if equal pains, or equal fire.
The humbler Mufe of Comedy require.
But in known Images of life, I guess

The labour greater, as th' indulgence less.
Obferve how feldom ev'n the best fucceed:
Tell me if 'Congreve's Fools are Fools indeed?
What pert, low Dialogue has Farqu'ar writ!
How Van wants grace, who never wanted wit!

u

The stage how loosely does Aftræa tread,

Who fairly puts all Characters to bed!
And idle Cibber, how he breaks the laws,

W

To make poor Pinky w eat with vaft applause!

X

But fill their purfe, our Poet's work is done,
Alike to them, by Pathos or by Pun.

y

O you! whom Vanity's light bark conveys On Fame's mad voyage by the wind of praise, With what a fhifting gale your course you ply, For ever funk too low, or born too high!

280

285

290'

295

imitation has the preference. It is more juft. For a Poet makes his first entrance on the stage, not immediately, to Triumph, but to try bis Fortune. However,

Who pants for Glory, etc.

Subruit, ac reficit: valeat res ludicra, fi me

Palma negata macrum, donata reducit opimum.
a Saepe etiam audacem fugat hoc terretque poetam
Quod numero plures, virtute et honore minores
Indocti, ftolidique, et depugnare parati

Si difcordet eques, media inter carmina pofcunt

Aut urfum aut pugiles: his nam plebecula gaudet.

Verum equitis quoque jam migravit ab aure voluptas

Omnis, ad incertos oculos, et gaudia vana.

Quatuor aut plures aulaea premuntur in horas;

Dum fugiunt equitum turmae, peditumque catervae :

Mox trahitur manibus regum fortuna retortis;

Effeda feftinant, pilenta, petorrita, naves;

Captivum portatur ebur, captiva Corinthus.

VER. 319. Old Edward's Armour beams on Cibber's breaft.] The Coronation of Henry v111. and Queen Anne Boleyn, in which the Playhouses vied with each other to represent all the pomp of a Coronation. In this noble contention, the Armour of one of the Kings of England was borrowed from the Tower, to dress the Champion.

Who pants for glory finds but short repose, 300

A breath revives him, or a breath o'erthrows.

7 Farewell the stage! if just as thrives the play, The filly bard grows fat, or falls away.

a There still remains, to mortify a Wit, The many-headed Monster of the Pit:

3°5

310

A fenfelefs, worthlefs, and unhonour'd croud;
Who, to disturb their betters mighty proud,
Clatt'ring their sticks before ten lines are spoke,
Call for the Farce, the Bear, or the Black-joke.
What dear delight to Britons Farce affords!
Ever the taste of Mobs, but now of Lords;
(Tafte, that eternal wanderer, which flies
From heads to ears, and now from ears to eyes.}
The Play ftands ftill; damn action and discourse,
Back fly the scenes, and enter foot and horfe; 315
Pageants on pageants, in long order drawn,
Peers, Heralds, Bifhops, Ermin, Gold and Lawn;
The Champion too! and, to complete the jest,
Old Edward's Armour beams on Cibber's breast.

Ibid. Old Edward's Armour, etc.] Defcriptive poetry in the lowest work of a Genius. Therefore when Mr. Pope employs himself in it, he never fails, as here, to ennoble it with fome

Si foret in terris, rideret Democritus ; fea Diverfum confufa genus panthera camelo, Sive elephas albus vulgi converteret ora. Spectaret populum ludis attentius ipfis, Ut fibi praebentem mimo spectacula plura: Scriptores autem h narrare putaret afella Fabellam furdo. nam quae' pervincere voces Evaluere fonum, referunt quem noftra theatra? *Garganum mugire putes nemus, aut mare Tufcum. Tanto cum ftrepitu ludi spectantur, et artes. 1 Divitiaeque peregrinae: quibus oblitus actor Cum ftetit in fcena, concurrit dextera laevae. Dixit adhuc aliquid? nil fane. Quid placet ergo? "Lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno.

m

Ac ne forte putes me, quae facere ipfe recufem,
Cum recte tractent alii, laudare maligne;

Ille' per extentum funem mihi poffe videtur
Ire poeta; meum qui pectus inaniter angit,

VAR. 328. Orcas' formy feep.] The fartheft Northern Promontory of Scotland, oppofite to the Orcades.