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IMITATIONS

OF

ENGLISH POETS.

DONE BY THE AUTHOR IN HIS YOUTH.

THESE imitations of the English Poets, most of which were the productions of a very early age, are valuable and curious, as they serve to show how soon the author perceived, and how deeply he felt, the impressions communicated by poetical composition. Had this not been the case, it would have been impossible for him to have reflected back, as it were, not only the form of expression, but the turn of thought, of the authors he has imitated; some of whom he has at least equalled in their own style, if not excelled. Under this point of view, it is impossible to approve of the remarks of some of his commentators, who affect to be disgusted at the indecency of these pieces, which were published by Warburton; whilst they have not scrupled to bring before their readers productions attributed to Pope, of a much more indecorous nature, which Warburton had properly rejected. That there are passages, in Chaucer, as objectionable, and in Spenser, as indelicate, as those which have been so fastidiously reprobated, will not be denied; and why these sportive and characteristic sketches should be brought to so severe an ordeal, and pointed out to the reprehension of the reader as gross and disagreeable, dull and disgusting, it is not easy to perceive.

IMITATIONS OF ENGLISH POETS.

I.

CHAUCER.

WOMEN ben full of ragerie,

Yet swinken nat sans secresie.
Thilke moral shall ye understond,

From schoole-boy's tale of fayre Irelond:
Which to the fennes hath him betake,
To filche the gray ducke fro the lake.
Right then, there passen by the way,
His aunt, and eke her daughters tway.
Ducke in his trowses hath he hent,
Not to be spied of ladies gent.
"But ho! our nephew, (crieth one)

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"Ho! quoth another, Cozen John;"

And stoppen, and lough, and callen out,

This sely clerk full low doth lout:

They asken that, and talken this,

"Lo here is Coz, and here is Miss."

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15

But, as he glozeth with speeches soote,
The ducke sore tickleth his erse roote:
Fore-piece and buttons all-to-brest,
Forth thrust a white neck, and red crest.
Te-he, cry'd ladies; clerke not spake:
Miss star'd; and gray ducke crieth Quaake.
"O Moder, Moder, (quoth the daughter)
"Be thilke same thing maids longer a'ter?
"Bette is to pyne on coals and chalke,

"Then trust on mon, whose yerde can talke."

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II.

SPENSER.

He that was unacquainted with Spenser, and was to form his ideas of the turn and manner of his genius from this piece, would undoubtedly suppose that he abounded in filthy images, and excelled in describing the lower scenes of life. But the characteristics of this sweet and allegorical poet, are not only strong and circumstantial imagery, but tender and pathetic feeling, a most melodious flow of versification, and a certain pleasing melancholy in his sentiments, the constant companion of an elegant taste, that casts a delicacy and grace over all his compositions. To imitate Spenser, on a subject that does not partake of the pathos, is not giving a true representation of him; for he seems to be more awake and alive to all the softnesses of nature, than almost any writer I can recollect.― Warton.

The above remarks seem scarcely to be called for, on the present occasion. Pope was as well aware, as any one, of the superlative beauties and merits of Spenser, whose works he assiduously studied, both in his early and riper years; but it was not his intention, in these few lines, to give a serious imitation of him. All that he attempted was to show how exactly he could apply the language and manner of Spenser to low and burlesque subjects; and in this he has completely succeeded. To com

pare these lines, as Dr. Warton has done, with those more extensive and highly finished productions, the Castle of Indolence by Thomson, and the Minstrel of Beattie, is manifestly unjust.

THE ALLEY.
I.

In ev'ry town, where Thamis rolls his tyde,
A narrow pass there is, with houses low;
Where ever and anon, the stream is ey'd,
And many a boat, soft sliding to and fro.
There oft are heard the notes of infant woe,

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The short thick sob, loud scream, and shriller squall:

How can ye, mothers, vex your children so?

Some play, some eat, some cack against the wall, And as they crouchen low, for bread and butter call.

II.

And on the broken pavement, here and there,
Doth many a stinking sprat and herring lie;
A brandy and tobacco shop is near,

And hens, and dogs, and hogs are feeding by;

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15

And here a sailor's jacket hangs to dry.
At ev'ry door are sun-burnt matrons seen,
Mending old nets, to catch the scaly fry;
Now singing shrill, and scolding eft between;
Scolds answer foul-mouth'd scolds; bad neighbourhood,

I ween.

III.

The snappish cur (the passenger's annoy)

Close at my heel, with yelping treble, flies;

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The whimp'ring girl, and hoarser-screaming boy,
Join to the yelping treble, shrilling cries;

The scolding quean to louder notes doth rise,

And her full pipes those shrilling cries confound;
To her full pipes, the grunting hog replies;
The grunting hogs alarm the neighbours round,
And curs, girls, boys, and scolds, in the deep base are

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drown'd.

IV.

Hard by a sty, beneath a roof of thatch,
Dwelt Obloquy, who, in her early days,

NOTES.

Ver. 27. There is an assemblage of disgusting and disagreeable sounds in the above stanza, which, one is almost tempted to think, if it were possible, had been contrived as a contrast, or rather as a burlesque, of a most exquisite stanza in the Fairy Queen. The very turn of these numbers bears the closest resemblance with the following, which are, of themselves, a complete concert of the most delicious music :

"The joyous birds, shrouded in chearful shade,
Their notes unto the voice attemper'd sweet,
Th' angelical soft trembling voices made
To th' instruments divine respondence meet;
The silver-sounding instruments did meet,
With the base murmure of the water's fall;
The water's fall, with difference discreet,
Now soft, now loud, unto the wind did call ;
The gentle warbling wind low answered to all."

These images, one would have thought, were peculiarly calculated to have struck the fancy of our young imitator with so much admiration, as not to have suffered him to make a kind of travesty of them.-Warton.

That Pope intended to parody the lines of Spenser is apparent, and he has done it in a manner not less striking and characteristic, in its way, than the original. How these lines can be a contrast to the musical stanza of Spenser, and, at the same time, bear the closest resemblance to it, it is not easy to discover.

VOL. II.

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