Yet, Sir, a reflect, the mischief is not great; Thefe Madmen never hurt the Church or State; Sometimes the Folly benefits mankind;
And rarely • Avaricè taints the tuneful mind.
Allow him but his b plaything of a Pen,
He ne'er rebels, or plots, like other men :
9 Flight of Cashiers, or Mobs, he'll never mind;
And knows no loffes while the Mufe is kind.
Tor 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 fays in verse what others say in profe;
Yet let me show, a Poet 's of fome weight,
And (though no Soldier) useful to the State.
" What will a Child learn sooner than a song?
What better teach a Foreigner the tongue ?
What's long or short, each accent where to place,
And speak in public with some fort of grace.
n Hic error tamen et levis haec infania, quantas
Virtutes heabeat, fic collige: vatis avarus
Non temere eft animus : P versus amat, hoc ftudet unum ; Detrimenta, a fugas fervorum, incendia ridet; Non fraudem focio, puerove incogitat ullam Pupillô vivit filiquis, et pane fecundo $; + Militiæ quanquam piger et malus, utilis urbi; Si das hoc, parvis quoque rebus magna juvari ; a Os tenerum pueri balbumque poeta figurat:
I fcarce can think him fuch a worthless thing,
Unless he praise fome Monster of a King:
Or Virtue, or Religion turn to sport,
To please a lewd, or unbelieving Court,
Unhappy Dryden!-In all Charles's days,
Rofcommon only boasts unspotted bays;
And in our own (excuse fome Courtly stains)
No whiter page than Addison remains,
He, w from the tafte obfcene reclaims our youth,
And fets the Paffions on the fide of Truth,
Forms the foft bofom with the gentleft art,
And pours each human Virtue in the heart.
Let Ireland tell, how Wit upheld her caufe,
Her trade supported, and supplied her laws;
And leave on SWIFT this grateful verfe engrav'd,
"The Rights a Court attack'd, a Poet fav'd.”
Behold the hand that wrought a Nation's cure,
Stretch'd to relieve the Idiot and the Poor,
Proud Vice to brand, or injur'd Worth adorn,
And y ftretch the Ray to ages yet unborn.
Not but there are, who merit other palms;
Hopkins and Sterr.nold glad the heart with Pfalms: 230 The z Boys and Girls whom charity maintains, Implore your help in these pathetic strains:
Torquet w ab obfcoenis jam nunc fermonibus aurem ;
Mox etiam pectus praeceptis format amicis,
Afperitatis, et invidiae corrector, et irae;
Recte facta refert; y orientia tempora notis
Inftruit exemplis ; x inopem folatur et
Caftis cum z pueris ignara puella mariti
How could Devotion b touch the country pews,
Unless the Gods bestow'd a proper Muse ?
Verfe cheers their leifure, Verfe affifts their work,
Verfe for Peace, or fings down Pope and Turk. prays The filenc'd Preacher yields to potent strain,
And feels that grace his prayer befought in vain; The bleffing thrills through all the labouring throng, And Heaven is won by Violence of Song.
Our e rural Ancestors, with little bleft,
Patient of labour when the end was reft,
Indulg'd the day that hous'd their annual grain,
With feasts, and offerings, and a thankful strain :
The joy their wives, their fons, and fervants fhare, 245
Eafe of their toil, and partners of their care:
The laugh, the jeft, attendants on the bowl,
Smooth'd every brow, and open'd every foul:
Difceret undeb preces, vatem ni Mufa dediffet?
Pofcit opem chorus, et praefentia numina fentit ;
Coeleftes implorat aquas, docta prece blandus;
Avertit morbos, c metuenda pericula pellit;
Impetrat et pacem, et locupletem frugibus annum.
d Carmine Dî fuperi plaçantur, carmine Manes.
Agricolae prifci, fortes, parvoque beati,
Condita poft frumenta, levantes tempore fefto
Corpus et ipfum animum fpe finis dura ferentem,
Cum fociis operum pueris et conjuge fida,
Tellurem porco, Silvanum lacte piabant,
Floribus et vino Genium memorem brevis aevi..
Fefcennina per hunc inventa licentia morem.
But Times corrupt, and g Nature ill-inclin'd,
Produc'd the point that left a sting behind;
Till, friend with friend, and families at ftrife,
Triumphant Malice rag'd through private life.
Who felt the wrong, or fear'd it, took th' alarm,
Appeal'd to Law, and Justicel ent her arm.
At length, by wholesome h dread of statutes bound,
The Poets learn'd to please, and not to wound:
Moft warp'd to i Flattery's fide; but fome, more nice,
Preferv'd the freedom, and forebore the vice.
Hence Satire rose, that just the medium hit,
And heals with morals what it hurts with Wit.
k We conquer'd France, but felt our Captive's charms;
Her Arts victorious triumph'd o'er our Arms;
f Verfibus alternis opprobria rustica fudit;
Libertafque recurrentes accepta per annos
Lufit amabiliter : & donec jam faevus apertam
In rabiem coepit verti jocus, et per honestas
Ire domos impune minax. doluere cruento
Dente laceffiti: fuit intactis quoque cura
Conditione fuper communi: h quin etiam lex
Poenaque lata, malo quae nollet carmine quemquam
Defcribi. vertere modum, formidine fuftis
Adi bene dicendum, delectandumque redacti.
⚫k Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit, et artes
Intulit agrefti Latio. fic horridus ille
Britain to foft refinements lefs a foe,
Wit grew polite, and Numbers learn'd to flow.
Waller was smooth; but Dryden taught to join
The varying verse, the full refounding line,
The long majestic March, and Energy divine.
Though ftill fome traces of our m ruftic vein
And splayfoot verse remain'd, and will remain.
Late, very late, correctness grew our care,
When the tir'd Nation n breath'd from civil war.
Exact Racine, and Corneille's noble fire,
Show'd us that France had something to admire.
Not but the Tragic fpirit was our own,
And full in Shakespeare, fair in Otway shone:
But Otway fail'd to polish or refine,
And a fluent Shakespeare scarce effac'd a line.
Ev'n copious Dryden wanted, or forgot,
The laft and greatest Art, the Art to blot.
Defluxit 1 numerus Saturnius, et grave virus
Munditiae pepulere: fed in longum tamen aevum
Manferunt, hodieque manent, m veftigia ruris.
Serus enim Graecis admovit acumina chartis;
Et poft n Punica bella quietus quaerere coepit,
Quid Sophocles et Thefpis et Aefchylus utile ferrent:
Tentavit quoque rem, fi digne vertere poffet :
Et placuit fibi, natura fublimis et acer :
Nam P fpirat tragicum fatis, et feliciter audet:
Sed 4 turpem putat infcite metuitque lituram.
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