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For thee explain a thing till all men doubt it,
And write about it, Goddess, and about it:
So spins the silk-worm small its slender store,
And labors till it clouds itself all o'er.

251
What though we let some better sort of fool
Thrid ev'ry science, run through ev'ry school?
Never by tumbler through the hoops was shown
Such skill in passing all, and touching none.
He may indeed (if sober all this time)

Plague with dispute, or persecute with rhyme. 260
We only furnish what we cannot use,

Or wed to what he must divorce, a Muse:
Full in the midst of Euclid dip at once,
And petrify a genius to a dunce :
Or set on metaphysic ground to prance,
Show all his paces, not a step advance.
With the same cement, ever sure to bind,
We bring to one dead level ev'ry mind:
Then take him to develope, if you can,

265

And hew the block off, and get out the man. 270 But wherefore waste I words? I see advance Whore, pupil, and lac'd governor from France. Walker! our hat-nor more he deign'd to say, But, stern as Ajax, spectre strode away.

273

In flow'd at once a gay embroider'd race, And titt'ring push'd the pedants off the place: Some would have spoken, but the voice was drown'd By the French horn, or by the op'ning hound. The first came forwards with as easy mien, As if he saw St. James's and the Queen.

280

When thus the artendant Orator begun ;
Receive, great Empress! thy accomplish'd son;
Thine from the birth, and sacred from the rod,
A dauntless infant! never scar'd with God.
The sire saw, one by one, his virtues wake; 285
The mother begg'd the blessing of a rake.
Thou gav'st that ripeness which so soon began,
And ceas'd so soon, he ne'er was boy nor man;
Through school and college, thy kind cloud o'ercast,
Safe and unseen the young Æneas past: 290

295

Thence bursting glorious, all at once let down,
Stunn'd with his giddy larum half the town.
Intrepid then, o'er seas and lands he flew ;
Europe he
saw, and Europe saw him too.
There all thy gifts and graces we display,
Thou, only thou, directing all our way!
To where the Seine, obsequious as she runs,
Pours at great Bourbon's feet her silken sons;
Or Tyber, now no longer Roman, rolls,
Vain of Italian arts, Italian souls:
To happy convents, bosom'd deep in vines,
Where slumber abbots, purple as their wines:
To isles of fragrance, lily-silver'd vales,
Diffusing langour in the panting gales:
To lands of singing, or of dancing slaves,
Love-whisp'ring woods, and lute-resounding waves.

IMITATIONS.

v. 284. A dauntless infant! never scar'd with God.]

....sine Dis aniinosus Infans,'

300

305

Hor

315

But chief her shrine where naked Venus keeps,
And Cupids ride the Lion of the deeps;
309
Where, eas'd of fleets, the Adriatic main
Wafts the smooth eunuch and enamour'd swain.
Led by my hand, he saunter'd Europe round,
And gather'd ev'ry vice on Christian ground;
Saw ev'ry court, heard ev'ry king declare
His royal sense, of op'ras or the fair;
The stews and palace equally explor'd,
Intrigu'd with glory, and with spirit whor'd;
Try'd all hors d'œuvres, all liqeurs defin'd,
Judicious drank, and greatly-daring din'd;
Dropt the dull lumber of the Latin store,
Spoil'd his own language, and acquir'd no more;
All classic learning lost on classic ground;
And last turn'd Air, the echo of a sound!
See now, half-cur'd, and perfectly well-bred,
With nothing but a solo in his head;
As much estate, and principle, and wit,
As Jansen, Fleetwood, Cibber shall think fit;

REMARKS.

321

325

v. 307. But chief.] &c. These two lines, in their force o imagery and colouring, emulate and equal the pencil of Rube v. 308. And Cupids ride the Lion of the deeps.] The winged Lion, the arms of Venice. This republic was heretofore the most considerable in Europe for her naval force, and the extent of her commerce; now illustrious for her Carnivals.

v 326...Jansen, Fleetwood. Cibber.] Three very eminent persons, all managers of plays; who, though not governors by profession, had, each in his way, concerned themselves in t education of youth, and regulated their wits. their morals of their finances, at that period of their age which is the most in portant, their entrance into the polite world. Of the last of thes And his talents for this end, see Book 1. ver. 199, &c.

Stol'n from a duel, follow'd by a nun,

And, as if a borough choose him, not undone;
Sée, to my country happy I restore

This glorious youth, and add one Venus more. 330
Her too receive, (for her my soul adores,)
So may the sons of sons of sons of whores,
Prop thine, O Empress! like each neighbour throne,
And make a long posterity thy own.

340

Pleas'd, she accepts the hero, and the dame, 335
Wraps in her veil, and frees from sense of shame.
Then look'd, and saw a lazy lolling sort,
Unseen at church, at senate, or at court,
Of ever-listless loit'rers, that attend
No cause, no trust, no duty, and no friend.
Thee too, my Paridel she mark'd thee there,
Stretch'd on the rack of a too easy chair,
And heard thy everlasting yawn confess
The pains and penalties of idleness.
She pity'd! but her pity only shed
Benigner influence on the nodding head.

But Annius, crafty seer, with ebon wand,
And well-dissembled em'rald on his hand,

345

IMITATIONS.

. 332. So may the sons of sons, &c.].

Et nati natorum, et qui nascentur ab illis.'

7. 342. Stretch'd on the rack..

And heard, &c.]

Sedet, aternumque sedcbit!

Infelix Theseus, Phlegyasque miserrimus omnes
Admonet.'..

Firg.

Virg.

351

False as his gems, and canker'd as his coins, Came, crammed with capon, from where Poilio diacs. Soft, as the wily fox is seen to creep, Where bask on sunny banks the simple sheep, Walk round and round, now prying here, now there, So he, but pious, whisper'd first his pray'r: Grant, gracious Goddess! grant me still to cheat! O may thy cloud still cover the deceit ! Thy choicer mists on this assembly shed, But pour them thickest on the noble head. So shall each youth, assisted by our eyes, 360 See other Cæsars, other Homers rise; Thro' twilight ages hunt th' Athenian fowl, Which Chalcis gods, and mortals call an owl. Now see an Attys, now a Cecrops clear, Nay, Mahomet! the pigeon at thine ear; Be rich in ancient brass, tho' not in gold, And keep his lares, tho' his house be sold; To headless Phœbe his fair bride postpone, Honor a Syrian prince above his own; Lord of an Otho, if I vouch it true;

365

Bless'd in one Niger, till he knows of two. 370 Mummius o'erheard him; Mummius, fool renown'd, Who like his Cheops, stinks above the ground,

IMITATIONS.

D. 355...grant me still to cheat!

O may thy coud still cover the deceit!]

Da, pulchra Laverna,

'Da mihi fallere...

Noctem peccatis et fraudibus objice nubem. Hor.

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