Nec quisquam noceat "cupido mihi pacis! at ille, Qui me commôrit (melius non tangere! clamo,) *Flebit, et insignis totâ cantabitur urbe. 'Cervius iratus leges minitatur et urnam; Canidia Albutî, quibus est inimica, venenum ; Grande malum Turius, si quid se judice certes; "Ut, quo quisque valet, suspectos terreat, utque Imperet hoc Natura potens, sic collige mecum. Dente lupus, cornu taurus petit; unde, nisi intus Monstratum? Scævæ vivacem crede nepoti a Matrem; nil faciet sceleris pia dextera (mirum, Ut neque calce lupus quemquam, neque dente petit bos?) Sed mala tollet anum vitiato melle cicuta. b 'Ne longum faciam: seu me tranquilla senectus NOTES. force d'avoir des soldats, nous n'aurons plus que des soldats, et nous serons comme des Tartares." Warburton. Ver. 78. Slides into verse,] Closely copied from Boileau : Et malheur a tout nom qui propre à la censure, Peut entrer dans un vers sans rompre la mesure. Warton. Ver. 81. Delia's rage,] A Miss Mackenzie died about this time, and was supposed to have been poisoned from jealousy. A hint of this kind was sufficient for Pope. The person alluded to was Lady D. Bowles. -ne. Ver. 81-84. Slander-libell'd by her hate.] There seems to be more spirit here than in the original: but it is hard to pronounce with certainty for though one may be confident there is more force in the 83d and 84th lines than in "Canidia Albutî, quibus est inimica, venenum;" yet there might be something, for aught we know, in the character or history of Cervius, which might bring up that line to the spirit and poignancy of the 82d verse of the Imitation. Warburton. "Peace is my dear delight-not FLEURY'S more: But touch me, and no Minister so sore. Whoe'er offends, at some unlucky time *Slides into verse, and hitches in a rhyme, Sacred to ridicule his whole life long, And the sad burthen of some merry song. 'Slander or poison dread from Delia's rage; Hard words or hanging, if your judge be Page; From furious Sappho scarce a milder fate, P-x'd by her love, or libell'd by her hate. 80 "Its proper power to hurt, each creature feels; 85 Bulls aim their horns, and asses lift their heels; 'Tis a bear's talent not to kick, but hug; And no man wonders he's not stung by pug. a "So drink with Walters, or with Chartres eat, They'll never poison you, they'll only cheat. Then, learned Sir! (to cut the matter short) Whate'er my fate, or well or ill at Court, NOTES. 90 Ver. 83. From furious Sappho] There is no doubt, notwithstanding all his evasions, who is here meant by Sappho; but what Warburton calls "spirited," is unmanly and disgraceful. Bowles. Ver. 85-90. Its proper power to hurt, &c.] All, except the two last lines, inferior to the elegance and precision of the original. Warburton. Ver. 91. Then, learned Sir!] The brevity and force of the original is evaporated in this long and feeble paraphrase of the next ten lines. The third and three succeeding verses are very languid and verbose, and perhaps some of the worst he has written. Warton. Ver, 93-96. Whether old age-shade;] The original is more finished, Exspectat, seu mors atris circumvolat alis, Dives, inops, Romæ, seu fors ita jusserit, exul, "Quisquis erit vitæ, scribam, color. Vitalis, metuo; et majorum ne quis amicus H. Quid? cùm est Lucilius ausus NOTES. finished, and even more sublime. Besides, the last verse-To wrap me in the universal shade, has a languor and redundancy unusual with our author. Warburton. Bowles. and with all this Ver. 98. Or whiten'd wall] From Boileau. Ver. 99. In durance, exile, Bedlam, or the Mint,] The Poet, in in our equal government, might talk at his ease, levity of style, of the disasters incident to wit. rious matter with Horace; and is so still with bours; one of whom has well expressed their condition in the fol lowing lines: "Eh! Que sait-on ? Un simple badinage, But it was a seour witty neigh Mal entendu d'un prude, ou d'un sot, Peut vous jetter sur un autre rivage: Pour perdre un sage, il ne faut qu'un bigot." Warburton. Ver. 100. Like Lee or Budgell,] One is sorry to see Lee, a true genius, coupled with Budgell, and his insanity ridiculed. Warton. Ver. 101. your days can ne'er be long;] The original says, "Lest any one of your powerful friends should strike you with a cold and contemptuous look."-"Racine meurt," says Voltaire, par une foiblesse grande; parcequ'un autre homme en passant dans une galerie ne l'a pas regardé. J'en suis faché; mais le rôle de Phædre n'en est pas moins admirable." Warton. Ver. 104. Will club their testers, &c.] The image is exceeding humorous; and, at the same time, betrays the injustice of their resentment, in the very circumstance of their indulging it, as it shews the Poet had said no more of their avarice than was true. His Or Death's black wing already be display'd, Whether the darken'd room to muse invite, 95 Like Lee or Budgell, I will rhyme and print. 100 F. Alas, young man! your days can ne'er be long; In flower of age you perish for a song! Plums and Directors, Shylock and his wife, e P. What? arm'd for virtue when I point the 105 pen, Brand the bold front of shameless guilty men, Dash the proud gamester in his gilded car, Bare the mean heart that lurks beneath a star; Can there be wanting to defend her cause, Lights of the church, or guardians of the laws? 110 Could pension'd Boileau lash in honest strain Flatterers and bigots even in Louis' reign? NOTES. His abundance of wit has made his readers backward in acknowledging his talent for humour. But the veins are equally rich; and the one flows with ease, and the other is always placed with propriety. Warburton. Ver. 105. What? arm'd for virtue] From this line to Ver. 140 is a passage of as much force and energy as any that can be produced in the English language, in rhyme. Warton. Ver. 110. Lights of the church, or guardians of the laws?] Because just satire is an useful supplement to the sanctions of law and religion; and has, therefore, á claim to the protection of those who preside in the administration either of church or state. Warburton. Ver. 111. Could Boileau-could Dryden] I believe neither of them 'Detrahere et pellem, nitidus quâ quisque per ora Cederet, introrsum turpis; num Lælius, et qui Duxit ab oppressâ meritum Carthagine nomen, NOTES. them would have been suffered to do this, had they not been egregious flatterers of the several Courts to which they belonged. Warburton. Ver. 111. Could pension'd Boileau—Could Laureate Dryden] It was Horace's purpose to compliment the former times; and therefore he gives the virtuous examples of Scipio and Lælius: it was Mr. Pope's design to satirize the present; and therefore he gives the vicious examples of Louis, Charles, and James. Either way the instances are fully pertinent; but in the latter they have rather greater force. Only the line, "Uni æquus virtuti atque ejus amicis," loses something of its spirit in the Imitation; for the amici referred to, were Scipio and Lælius. Warburton. Ver. 111. Could pension'd Boileau] Boileau acted with much caution and circumspection when he first published his Lutrin here alluded to, and endeavoured to cover and conceal his subject by a preface intended to mislead his reader from the real scene of action; but it ought to be observed, that he afterwards, in the year 1683, threw aside this disguise, openly avowing the occasion that gave rise to the poem, the scene of which was not Bourges or Pourges, as before he had said, but Paris itself; the quarrel he celebrated being betwixt the treasurer and the chanter of the Holy Chapel in that city. The canons were so far from being offended, that they shewed their good sense and good temper by joining in the laugh. Upon which Boileau compliments them, and adds, that many of that society were persons of so much wit and learning, that he would as soon consult them upon his works as the members of the French Academy. The name of the chanter was Barrin; that of the treasurer, Claude Avri, bishop of Constance in Normandy. The quarrel began in July, 1667. See Letters of Brossette to Boileau: à Lyon, 1770, p. 242, v. 1; et Œuvres de M. Boileau Despreaux, par M. de Saint Marc, tom. ii. 177, Paris, 1747. He justly says, "e'en in Louis' reign;" for his bigotry was equally contemptible and cruel; and, if we may credit St. Simon, he actually died a Jesuit. Warton. |