His Fable, Subject, fcope in ev'ry Page;
Religion, Country, genius of his Age:
Without all thefe at once before your eyes,
Cavil you may, but never criticize.

VARIATIONS.

120

VER. 123. Cavil you may, but never criticize.] The author after this verse originally inferted the following, which he has however omitted in all the editions:

Zoilus, had these been known, without a Name
Had dy'd, and Perault ne'er been damn'd to fame;
The fenfe of found Antiquity had reign'd,
And facred Homer yet been unprophan'd.
None e'er had thought his comprehensive mind
To modern cuftoms, modern rules confin'd;
Who for all ages writ, and all mankind.

COMMENTARY.

P.

}

fafely through every confiderable work we undertake to examine; and, without which, we may cavil indeed, as the Poet truly obferves, but can never criticize. We might as well fuppofe that Vitruvius's book alone would make a perfect Judge of Architecture, without the knowledge of fome great mafter-piece of science, such as the Rotonda at Rome, or the Temple of Minerva at Athens; as that Ariftotle's should make a perfect fudge of wit, without the ftudy of Homer and Virgil. Thefe therefore he principally recommends to complete the Critic in his Art. But as the latter of thefe Poets has, by fuperficial judges been confidered rather as a copier of Homer, than an original from Nature, our Author obviates that common error, and shews it to have arisen (as often error does) from a truth, viz. that Homer and Nature were the fame; and how that the ambitious young Poet, though he fcorned to stoop at any thing fhort of Nature, when he came to understand this great truth, had the prudence to contemplate Nature in the place where he was feen to moft advantage, collected in all her charms in the clear mirror of Homer. Hence it would

Be Homer's works your study and delight,
Read them by day, and meditate by night; 125
Thence form your judgment, thence your maxims
bring,

And trace the Mufes upward to their spring.
Still with itself compar'd, his text peruse;
And let your comment be the Mantuan Mufe.

When first young Maro in his boundless mind
A work t' outlaft immortal Rome defign'd, 131
Perhaps he feem'd above the Critic's law,
And but from Nature's fountain fcorn'd to draw:

When firft young Maro fung of Kings and Wars,
Ere warning Phoebus touch'd his trembling ears,

COMMENTARY.

follow, that though Virgil ftudied Nature, yet the vulgar reader would believe him to be a copier of Homer, and though he copied Homer, yet the judicious reader would fee him to be an imitator of Nature: the finest praife which any one, who came after Homer, could receive.

NOTES.

VER: 130. When firft young Maro, etc.] Virg. Eclog. vi.
Cum canerem reges et prælia, Cynthius aurum

Vellit.

It is a tradition preferved by Servius, that Virgil began with writing a poem of the Alban and Roman affairs; which he found above his years, and defcended first to imitate Theocritus on rural fubjects, and afterwards to copy Homer in Heroic poetry. P.

But when t' examine ev'ry part he came,
Nature and Homer were, he found, the fame. 135
Convinc'd, amaz'd, he checks the bold defign:
And rules as ftrict his labour'd work confine,
As if the Stagirite o'erlook'd each line.
Learn hence for ancient rules a just esteem;
To copy nature is to copy them.

Some beauties yet no Precepts can declare,
For there's a happiness as well as care.
Mufic resembles Poetry, in each

140

Are nameless graces which no methods teach,
And which a mafter-hand alone can reach. 145
If, where the rules not far enough extend,
(Since rules were made but to promote their end)

COMMENTARY.

VER. 141. Some beauties yet no Precepts can declare, etc.] Our author, in these two general directions for studying Nature and her Commentators, having confidered Poetry as it is, or may be reduced to Rule; left this fhould be mistaken as fufficient to attain PERFECTION either in writing or judging, he proceeds [from ver. 140 to 201.] to point up to those fublimer beauties which Rules will never reach, nor enable us either to execute or tafte: beauties, which rise fo high above all precept as not even to be defcribed by it; but being entirely the gift of Heaven, Art, and Reafon have no further share in them than just to regulate their operations. These Sublimities of Poetry, like the Mysteries of Religion (fome of which are above Reason, and fome contrary to it) may be divided into two forts, such as are above Rules, and fuch as are contrary to them.

VER. 146. If, where the rules, etc.] The first fort our author

Some lucky licence answer to the full

Th' intent propos'd, that Licence is a rule.
Thus Pegafus, a nearer way to take,

150

May boldly deviate from the common track;

COMMENTARY.

defcribes [from ver. 145 to 159.] and fhews, that where a great beauty is in the Poet's view, which no stated Rules will direct him how to reach, there, as the purpose of rules is only to attain an end like this, a lucky Licence will fupply the want of them: nor can the Critic fairly object to it, fince this Licence, for the reafon given above, has the proper force and authority of a Rule.

66

NOTES.

VER. 146. If, where the rules, etc.] "Neque enim rogationibus plebifve fcitis fan&ta funt ifta præcepta, fed hoc, quicquid eft, Utilitas excogitavit. Non negabo autem fic "utile effe plerumque; verum fi eadem illa nobis aliud fua"debit Utilitas, hanc, relictis magiftrorum autoritatibus, fe"quemur." Quintil. lib. ii, cap. 13. P.

VER. 150. Thus Pegafus, etc.] We have obferved how the precepts for writing and judging are interwoven throughout the whole Poem. The fublime flight of a Poet is first defcribed, foaring above all vulgar bounds, to fnatch a Grace directly which lies beyond the reach of a common adventurer. And afterwards, the effect of that Grace upon the true Critic : whom it penetrates with an equal rapidity; going the nearest way to his heart, without paffing through his Judgment. By which is not meant that it could not ftand the test of Judgment; but that, as it was a beauty uncommon, and above rule, and the Judgment habituated to determine only by rule, makes its direct appeal to the heart; which, when once gained, foon brings over the Judgment, whofe concurrence (it being now enlarged and fet above forms) is easily procured. That this is the Poet's fublime conception appears from the concluding words:

"and all its end at once attains.”

it

For Poetry doth not attain all its end, till it hath gained the Judgment as well as Heart.

155

From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part,
And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art,
Which without paffing thro' the judgment, gains
The heart, and all its end at once attains.
In profpects thus, fome objects please our eyes,
Which out of nature's common order rife,
The shapeless rock, or hanging precipice..
Great Wits fometimes may gloriously offend,
And rife to faults true Critics dare not mend. 160
But tho' the Ancients thus their rules invade,
(As Kings difpenfe with laws themselves have

made)

Moderns, beware! or if

you muft offend

Against the precept, ne'er tranfgrefs its End; Let it be feldom, and compell'd by need'; 165 And have, at least, their precedent to plead.

COMMENTARY.

VER, 159. Great Wits fometimes may gloriously offend, etc.] He describes next the fecond fort, the beauties against rule. And even here, as he obferves [from ver. 158 to 169.] the offence is fo glorious, and the fault fo fublime, that the true Critic will not dare either to cenfure or reform them. Yet ftill the Poet is never to abandon himself to his imagination: The rules laid down for his conduct in this refpect, are thefe; 1. That though he tranfgrefs the letter of fome one particular Precept, yet that he be still careful to adhere to the end or Spirit of them all; which end is the creation of one iform perfect Whole. And 2. That he have, in each inftance, the authority of the difpenfing power of the Ancients to plead for him. These rules obferved, this licence will be feldom ufed, and only when he is compelled by need: which will difarm the Critic, and screen the offender from his laws.