Virtutes habeat, fic collige: vatis
Non temere eft animus: ? versus amat, hoc ftudet
Detrimenta, o fugas fervorum, incendia ridet;
Non' fraudem focio, pucrove incogitat ullam
Pupillo; vivit filiquis, et pane secundo ';
Militiae quanquam piger et malus, utilis urbi ;
Si das hoc, parvis quoque rebus magna juvari.
v Os tenerum pueri balbumque poeta figurat :
Notes. VER. 201. Of little use, etc.) There is a poignancy in the following verses, which the original did not aim at,
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
Sometimes the Folly benefits mankind;
And rarely · Ay'rice taints the tuneful mind.
Allow him but his P plaything of a Pen,
He ne'er rebels, or plots, like other men:
9 Flight of Calhiers, 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 his s 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 fome Monster of a King; 210
Notes. svit filiquis et pane fecundo has a relation to his Epicurism ; Os tenerum pueri, is ridicule : The nobler office of a Poet follows, Torquct ab obfcoenis - 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 arraigned, in the 210, 211, and 2121h Verses. P.
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.
229.
Not but there are, etc.] Nothing can be more truly humourous or witry than all that follows to
240. Yet the noble sobriety of the original, or, at least, the appearance of sobriety, which is the same thing here, is of a taste vastly superior to it.
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 fome 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 bosom with the gentlest art,
And pours each human Virtue in the heart.
220
Let Ireland tell, how Wit upheld her cause,
Her Trade fupported, 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'd Worth adorn,
And * stretch 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 :
Nores. VER. 230. Sternhold.] One of the versifiers of the old singing pfalms. He was a Courtier, and Groom of the Robes to Hen. vini, and of the Redchamber to Edward vi. Fuller, in his Church History, says he was esteemed an excellent Poet,
Disceret unde preces, vatem ni Musa dedisset?
Poscit opem chorus, et praesentia numina sentit;
Coelestes implorat aquas, docta prece blandus;
Avertit morbos, metuenda pericula pellit;
Impetrat et pacem, et locupletem frugibus annum.
• Carmine Dî superi placantur, carmine Manes.
Agricolae prisci, fortes, parvoque beati,
Condita poft frumenta, levantes tempore festo
Corpus et ipsum animum fpe finis dura ferentem,
Cum sociis operum pueris et conjuge fida,
Tellurem porco, Silvanum lacte piabant,
Floribus et vino Genium memorem brevis aevi.
Fefcennina
per
hunc inventa licentia morem
* Versibus alternis opprobria rustica fudit;
Libertasque recurrentes accepta per annos
Lusit amabiliter : & 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.
VER. 241. Our rural Ancestors, etc.] This is almost li-
teral; and thews, that the beauty and spirit, so much ad-
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