Tentavit quoque rem, fi digne vertere poffet 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 fluent Shakespear scarce effac'd a line. The labour greater, as th' indulgence less. u The stage how loosely does Aftræa tread, Who fairly puts all Characters to bed! W To make poor Pinky w eat with vaft applause! X But fill their purfe, our Poet's work is done, 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. 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; 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, Ille' per extentum funem mihi poffe videtur VAR. 328. Orcas' formy feep.] The fartheft Northern Promontory of Scotland, oppofite to the Orcades. |