Some lucky licence answer to the full
Th' intent propos'd, that Licence is a rule.
Thus Pegasus, a nearer way to take,

150

May boldly deviate from the common track.
Great Wits sometimes may gloriously offend,
And rise to faults true Critics dare not mend;
From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part,
And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art, 155
Which without passing through the judgment gains
The heart, and all its end at once attains.

160

In prospects thus, some objects please our eyes
Which out of nature's common order rise,
The shapeless rock, or hanging precipice.
But tho' the Ancients thus their rules invade,
(As Kings dispense with laws themselves have made)
Moderns, beware! or if you must offend
Against the precept, ne'er transgress its End;
Let it be seldom, and compell'd by need ;
And have, at least, their precedent to plead.
The Critic else proceeds without remorse,
Seizes your fame, and puts his laws in force...

165

I know there are, to whose presumptuous thoughts Those freer beauties, ev'n in them, seem faults. 170 Some figures monstrous and misshap'd appear, Consider'd singly, or beheld too near,

Which, but proportion'd to their light, or place,
Due distance reconciles to form and grace.

A prudent chief not always must display
His pow'rs, in equal ranks, and fair array,

NOTES.

Ver. 161.] Their means their own.

175

Ver. 175. A prudent chief, &c.] Oióv rɩ πoivoi oi ppóviμoi

But with th' occasion and the place comply,
Conceal his force, may seem sometimes to fly.
Those oft are stratagems which errors seem,
Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream.

NOTES.

180

στρατηλάται κατὰ τὰς τάξεις τῶν στρατευμάτων—Dion. Hal. De struct. orat. P.

The same may be said of music; concerning which, a discerning judge has lately made the following observation. "I do not mean to affirm, that in this extensive work (of Marcello) every recitative air, or chorus, is of equal excellence. A continued elevation of this kind no author ever came up to. Nay, if we consider that variety, which in all arts is necessary to keep up attention, we may perhaps affirm with truth, that inequality makes a part of the character of excellence; that something ought to be thrown into shades, in order to make the lights more striking. And, in this respect, Marcello is truly excellent; if ever he seems to fall, it is only to rise with more astonishing majesty and greatness."*

It may be pertinent to subjoin Roscommon's remark on the same subject.

"Far the greatest part

Of what some call neglect, is study'd art.
When Virgil seems to trifle in a line,

'Tis but a warning-piece which gives the sign
To wake your fancy, and prepare your sight

To reach the noble height of some unusual flight."

Ver. 180. Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream.] "Modeste, et circumspecto judicio de tantis viris pronunciandum est, ne (quod plerisque accidit) damnent quod non intelligunt. Ac si necesse est in alteram errare partem, omnia eorum legentibus placere, quam multa displicere maluerim." Quint. P.

Racine applied this fine passage to Perrault and La Motte when they so much undervalued the ancients, in their famous controversy.

How well Fontenelle, who was at the head of the French wits, that attacked and depreciated Homer, was qualified to judge of our divine old Bard, may be gathered from what

* Avison on Musical Expression, page 103.

Still green with bays each ancient Altar stands, Above the reach of sacrilegious hands;

NOTES.

the present Lord Mansfield told me; that of all the Iliad, the following was the favourite line of this champion of the moderns;

Τίσειαν Δαναοὶ ἐμὰ δάκρυα σοῖσι βέλεσσιν.

Ver. 181. each ancient Altar] "All the inventions and thoughts of the ancients, whether conveyed to us in statues, bas-reliefs, intaglios, cameos, or coins, are to be sought after, and carefully studied. The genius that hovers over these venerable relics, may be called the Father of Modern Art.

"From the remains of the works of the ancients the modern arts were revived, and it is by their means that they must be restored a second time. However it may mortify our vanity, we must be forced to allow them our masters; and we may venture to prophesy, that when they shall cease to be studied, arts will no longer flourish, and we shall again relapse into barbarism.

"The fire of the artist's own genius operating upon these materials, which have been thus diligently collected, will enable him to make new combinations, perhaps, superior to what had ever before been in the possession of the art. As in the mixture of the variety of metals, which are said to have been melted and run together in the burning of Corinth, a new, and till then unknown, metal was produced, equal in value to any of those that had contributed to its composition. And though a curious refiner may come with his crucibles, analyse and separate its various component parts, yet Corinthian brass would still hold its rank amongst the most beautiful and valuable of metals.

"We have hitherto considered the advantages of imitation, as it tends to form the taste, and as a practice by which a spark of that genius may be caught, which illumines these noble works, that ought always to be present to our thoughts.

"We come now to speak of another kind of imitation; the borrowing a particular thought, an action, attitude, or figure, and transplanting it into your own work; this will either come under the charge of plagiarism, or be warrantable, and deserve commendation, according to the address with which it is performed. There is some difference likewise, whether it is upon

Secure from Flames, from Envy's fiercer rage,

Destructive War, and all-involving Age.

See from each clime the learn'd their incense bring!

Hear, in all tongues consenting Pæans ring!

In praise so just let ev'ry voice be join'd,
And fill the gen'ral chorus of mankind.

186

Hail, Bards triumphant! born in happier days;
Immortal heirs of universal praise!

190

195

Whose honours with increase of ages grow,
As streams roll down, enlarging as they flow;
Nations unborn your mighty names shall sound,
And worlds applaud that must not yet be found!
O may some spark of your celestial fire,
The last, the meanest of your sons inspire
(That on weak wings, from far, pursues your flights;
Glows while he reads, but trembles as he writes),
To teach vain Wits a science little known,
T'admire superior sense, and doubt their own! 200

II.

Of all the causes which conspire to blind Man's erring judgment, and misguide the mind,

NOTES.

the ancients or the moderns that these depredations are made. It is generally allowed, that no man need be ashamed of copying the ancients; their works are considered as a magazine of common property, always open to the Public, whence every man has a right to what materials he pleases; and if he has the art of using them, they are supposed to become, to all intents and purposes, his own property.

"The collection which Raffaelle made of the thoughts of the ancients with so much trouble, is a proof of his opinion on this subject. Such collections may be made with much more ease, by means of an art scarce known in his time, I mean that of

What the weak head with strongest bias rules,
Is Pride, the never-failing vice of fools.
Whatever Nature has in worth deny'd,

She gives in large recruits of needful Pride;
For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find

205

210

What wants in blood and spirits, swell'd with wind:
Pride, where Wit fails, steps in to our defence,
And fills up all the mighty void of sense.
If once right reason drives that cloud away,
Truth breaks upon us with resistless day.
Trust not yourself; but your defects to know,
Make use of ev'ry friend-and ev'ry foe.

NOTES.

engraving; by which, at an easy rate, every man may avail himself of the inventions of antiquity." Reynolds.

Ver. 209. Pride, where Wit fails, steps in to our defence,
And fills up all the mighty void of sense.]

A very sensible French writer makes the following remark on this species of pride. "Un homme qui sçait plusieurs Langues, qui entend les Auteurs Grecs et Latins, qui s'eleve même jusqu' à la dignité de SCHOLIASTE; si cet homme venoit à peser son véritable mérite, il trouveroit souvent qu'il se réduit, avoir eu des yeux et de la mémoire; il se garderoit bien de donner le nom respectable de science à une erudition sans lumiere. Il y a une grande difference entre s'enrichir des mots ou des choses, entre alleguer des autorités ou des raisons. Si un homme pouvoit se surprendre à n'avoir que cette sorte de mérite, il en rougiroit plûtôt que d'en être vain." W.

Ver. 213. your defects to know,] Correction is one of the most difficult tasks imposed on an author. It is hard to know how far it ought to be carried. Quintilian has many just and useful observations on this subject. Perhaps the excess of it is productive of as many mischiefs, as the total neglect of it. The file sometimes, instead of polishing, eats away the substance to which it is applied. Akenside much injured his poem by too much correction. Ariosto, as easy and familiar as he seems to be, made many and great alterations in his enchanting poem. Some