Not fo, when diadem'd with rays divine, Touch'd with the Flame that breaks from Virtue's Shrine,

235

Her Priestess Mufe forbids the Good to die,
And opes the Temple of Eternity.
There, other Trophies deck the truly brave,
Than fuch as Anftis cafts into the Grave;
Far other Stars than * and ** wear,

And may defcend to Mordington from STAIR; (Such as on HOUGH's unfully'd Mitre shine, 240 Or beam, good DIGBY, from a Heart like thine) Let Envy howl, while Heav'n's whole Chorus fings,

And bark at Honour not confer'd by Kings;
Let Flatt'ry fick'ning fee the Incense rife,
Sweet to the World, and grateful to the Skies: 245

NOTES.

Aftre de la Plume blanche que le Roy porte ordinairement "à fon Chapeau, et qui eft en effet une efpece de Comete, "fatale à nos ennemis."

P.

VER. 237. Antis] The chief Herald at Arms. It is the cuftom, at the funeral of great peers, to caft into the grave the broken ftaves and enfigns of honour.

P.

VER. 239. Stair] John Dalrymple Earl of Stair, Knight of the Thistle; ferved in all the wars under the Duke of Marlborough; and afterwards as Embaffador in France. P.

VER. 240, 241. Hough and Digby] Dr. John Hough Bifhop of Worcester, and the Lord Digby. The one an affertor of the Church of England in oppofition to the false measures of King James II. The other as firmly attached to

Truth guards the Poet, fanctifies the line,
And makes immortal, Verfe as mean as mine.
Yes, the last Pen for Freedom let me draw,
When Truth stands trembling on the edge of
Law;
249
Here, Laft of Britons! let your Names be read;
Are none, none living? let me praise the Dead,
And for that Cause which made your Fathers fhine,
Fall by the Votes of their degen'rate Line.

Fr. Alas! alas! pray end what you began, And write next winter more Essays on Man. 255

VARIATIONS.

VER. 255. in the MS.

Quit, quit these themes, and write Effays on Man,

NOTES.

the cause of that King. Both acting out of principle, and equally men of honour and virtue.

P.

VER. ut.] This was the laft Poem of the kind printed by our Author, with a resolution to publish no more; but to enter thus, in the most plain and folemn manner he could, a fort of PROTEST against that infuperable corruption and depravity of manners, which he had been fo unhappy as to live to fee. Could he have hoped to have amended any, he had continued those attacks; but bad men were grown fo fhamelefs and fo powerful, that Ridicule was become as unsafe as it was ineffectual. The Poem raised him, as he knew it would, fome enemies; but he had reafon to be fatisfied with the approbation of good men, and the teftimony of his own. confcience.

P.

ΟΝ

Receiving from the Right Hon. the Lady

FRANCES SHIRLEY

A STANDISH and Two PENS.

Y

ES, I beheld th' Athenian Queen Defcend in all her fober charms ; "And take (fhe faid, and fmil'd ferene) "Take at this hand celeftial arms:

"Secure the radiant weapons wield;

"This golden lance fhall guard Defert, "And if a Vice dares keep the field,

"This steel fhall ftab it to the heart."

Aw'd, on my bended knees I fell,

Receiv'd the weapons of the sky; And dipt them in the fable Well, The Fount of Fame or Infamy.

NOTES.

The Lady Frances Shirley] A Lady whofe great Merit Mr. Pope took a real pleasure in celebrating.

"What Well? what Weapon? (Flavia cries)

"A ftandish, steel and golden pen!
"It came from Bertrand's, not the fkies;
"I gave it you to write again.

"But, Friend, take heed whom you attack;

"You'll bring a House (I mean of Peers) "Red, Blue, and Green, nay white and black, "Land all about your ears.

"You'd write as smooth again on glass,
"And run, on ivory, so glib,
"As not to stick at fool or afs

b

"Nor ftop at Flattery or Fib.

"Athenian Queen! and fober charms !
" I tell ye, fool, there's nothing in't:
" "Tis Venus, Venus gives these arms';
"In Dryden's Virgil fee the print.

NOTES.

A famous toy-shop at Bath.
The Dunciad.

The Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot.

Such toys being the ufual prefents from lovers to thei mistresses

• When the delivers Eneas a fuit of heavenly armour.

"Come, if you'll be a quiet foul,

"That dares tell neither Truth nor Lies',

"I'll lift you in the harmless roll

"Of those that fing of these poor eyes."

NOTES.

fi. e. If you have neither the courage to write Satire, nor the application to attempt an Epic Poem.-He was then meditating on fuch a work.