Tentavit quoque rem, fi digne vertere pofset:
Et placuit fibi, natura fublimis et acer:
Nam P fpirat tragicum fatis, et feliciter audet:
Sed 9 turpem putat infcite metuitque lituram.
Creditur, ex medio quia res arceffit, habere
Sudoris minimum; fed habet Comoedia tanto

S

Plus oneris, quanto veniae minus. aspice, Plautus Quo pacto partes tutetur amantis ephebi,

t

Ut patris attenti, lenonis ut infidiofi :

Quantus fit Doffennus "edacibus in parafitis;

W

Quam non aftri&o percurrat pulpita focco.

Geftit enim * nummum in loculos demittere; post hac Securus, cadat an recto ftet fabula talo.

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

Sic leve, fic parvum eft, animam quod laudis avarum

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

Ibid, The ft ge bow loofcly does Aftræa tread,] The fine metaphor of non 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 ferious light, as representing the Poet a Slave to Fame or Glory, Quem tulit ad fcenam---Gloria.

as was the custom in their triumphs. In other respects the

Not but the Tragic fpirit was our own,
And full in Shakespear, fair in Otway fhone:
But Otway fail'd to polish or refine,
And 4 fluent Shakespear fcarce effac'd a line.
Ev'n copious Dryden wanted, or forgot,
The laft and greatest Art, the Art to blot.
Some doubt, if eqnal pains, or equal fire
The humbler Muse 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 ftage how " loosely does Aftræa tread,

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

X

To make poor Pinky eat with a vast applaufe!
But fill their purse, our Poet's work is done,]
Alike to them, by Pathos or by Pun.

O you! whom y Vanity's light bark conveys
On Fame's mad voyage by the wind of praise.
With what a fhifting gale your courfe 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 ftage, not immediately, to Triumph, but to try his Fortune. However,

Who pants for Glory, etc.

is much fuperior to the Original.

Subruit, ac reficit: z 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 b depugnare parati

Si difcordet eques, media inter carmina pofcunt

с

Aut urfum aut pugiles: his nam plebecula gaudet.

d

Verum equitis quoque jam migravit ab aure voluptas

Omnis, ad incertos oculos, et gaudia vana.

Quatuor aut plures aulaea premuntur in horas;

e

Dum fugiunt equitum tnrmae, peditumque catervac:

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 breast.] The Coronation of Henry v111, and Queen Anne Boleyn, in which the Playhouses vied with each other to reprefent 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 drefs the Champion.

Who pants for glory finds but short repose,
A breath revives him, or a breath o'erthrows.
2 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 :

b

с

300

305

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 d
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 fcenes, and enter foot and horse; 315
Pageants on pageants, in long order drawn,
Peers, Heralds, Bishops, 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, ete. ] Defcriptive poetry is the lowest work of a Genius. Therefore when Mr. Pope employs himself in it, he never fails, as here, to ennoble it with fome stroke or other.

f Si foret in terris, rideret Democritus; feu
Diverfum confufa genus panthera camelo,
Sive & elephas albus vulgi converteret ora.
Spectaret populum ludis attentius ipfis,
Ut fibi praebentem mimo fpectacula plura :
Scriptores autem narrare putaret afello

i

Fabellam furdo. nam quae pervincere voces
Evaluere fonum, referunt quem nostra theatra?
k Garganum mugire putes nemus, aut mare Tufcum.
Tanto cum ftrepitu ludi spectantur, et artes.
1 Divitiaeque peregrinae: quilns 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

VER. 328. Orcas' ftormy steep.] The fartheft Northern Promontory of Scotland, oppofite to the Orcades.