Captivum portatur ebur, captiva Corinthus.

'Si foret in terris, rideret Democritus; feu
Diverfum confufa genus panthera camelo,
Sive & elephas albus vulgi converteret ora.
Spectaret populum ludis attentius ipfis,

Ut fibi praebentem mimo fpectacula plura:
Scriptores autem 1 narrare putaret afello

h

i

Fabellam furdo. nam quae pervincere voces

Evaluere fonum, referunt quem nostra theatra? * Garganum mugire putes nemus, aut mare Tufcum. Tanto cum ftrepitu ludi fpectantur, et artes,

m

1 Divitiaeque peregrinae: quibus oblitus actor Cum ftetit in fcena, concurrit dextera laevae. Dixit adhuc aliquid? nil fane. Quid placet ergo? a Lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno.

Ac ne forte putes me, quae facere ipfe recufem, Cum recte tractent alii, laudare maligne;

Ille per extentum funem mihi poffe videtur

With laughter fure Democritus had dy'd,

Had he beheld an Audience gape fo wide.

g

Let Bear or Elephant be e'er fo white,

320

The people, fure, the people are the fight!
Ah lucklefsh Poet! ftretch thy lungs and roar,
That Bear or Elephant shall heed thee more; 325
While all its throats the Gallery extends,

And all the Thunder of the Pit afcends!
Loud as the Wolves, on Orcas' ftormy steep,

k

Howl to the roarings of the Northern deep.
Such is the shout, the long-applauding note, 330
At Quin's high plume, or Oldfield's 1 petticoat;
Or when from Court a birth-day fuit bestow'd,
Sinks them loft Actor in the tawdry load.
Booth entershark! the Universal peal!
"But has he spoken?" Not a fyllable.

335

What shook the stage, and made the people stare?
"Cato's longWig, flow'r'd gown, and lacquer'd chair.
Yet left you think I railly more than teach,
Or praise malignly Arts I cannot reach,

Let me for once presume t'instruct the times, 340
To know the Poet from the Man of rhymes:

NOTES.

VER. 328. Orcas' ftormy steep.] The fartheft Northern Promontory of Scotland, oppofite to the Orcades. P.

Ire poeta ; ° meum qui pectus inaniter angit,

Irritat, mulcet, falfis terroribus implet,

Ut magus; et modo me Thebis, modo ponitAthenis.

P Verum age, et his, qui fe lectori credere malunt,

Quam spectatoris fastidia ferre superbi,

Curam impende brevem: fi munus Apolline dig

num

Vis complere libris; et vatibus addere calcar,

Ut ftudio majore petant Helicona virentem.

* Multa quidem nobis facimus mala faepe poetae, (Ut vineta egomet caedam mea) cum tibi librum

› Solicito damus, aut feffo: cum laedimur, * unum

NOTES.

VER. 347. To Thebes, to Athens, etc.] i. e. is equally knowing in the manners of the most different people; and has the skill to employ thofe manners with decorum.

'Tis he, who gives my breaft a thousand pains,

Can make me feel each Paffion that he feigns;
Inrage, compose, with more than magic Art,
With Pity, and with Terror, tear my heart; 345
And fnatch me, o'er the earth, or thro' the air,
To Thebes, to Athens, when he will, and where.
P But not this part of the Poetic state
Alone, deferves the favour of the Great :

Think of thofe Authors, Sir, who would rely 350
More on a Reader's sense, than Gazer's eye.
Or who fhall wander where the Muses fing?
Who climb their mountain, or who tafte their spring?
How shall we fill a Library with Wit,
When Merlin's Cave is half unfurnish'd yet? 355
My Liege! why Writers little claim your thought,
I guess; and, with their leave, will tell the fault:
We' Poets are (upon a Poet's word)

Of all mankind, the creatures most abfurd:

S

The feafon, when to come, and when to go, 360

To fing, or ceafe to fing, we never know;

NOTES.

VER. 354. a Library] Munus Apolline dignum. The Palatine Library then building by Auguftus. P.

VER. 355. Merlin's Cave] A Building in the Royal Garden: of Richmond, where is a fmall, but choice Collection of Books. P.

Si quis amicorum est aufus reprendere verfum :
Cum loca jam recitata revolvimus irrevocati:
Cum lamentamur non apparere labores
Noftros, et tenui deducta poemata filo;

Cum fperamus eo rem venturam, ut, fimul atque *

Carmina refcieris nos fingere, commodus ultro
Arceffas, et egere vetes, et fcribere cogas.
Sed tamen efty operae precium cognofcere, quales
Aedituos habeat belli fpectata domique
Virtus, indigno non committenda poetae.

a Gratus Alexandro regi Magno fuit ille
Choerilus, incultis qui verfibus et male natis
Rettulit acceptos, regale numifma, Philippos.
Sed veluti tractata notam labemque remittunt
Atramenta, fere fcriptores carmine foedo
Splendida facta linunt. idem rex ille, poema
Qui tam ridiculum tam care prodigus emit,
Edicto vetuit, ne quis fe praeter Apellem
Pingeret, aut alius Lyfippo duceret aera
Fortis Alexandri vultum fimulantia. quod fi

NOTES.

VER. 385. But Kings in Wit may want difcerning Spirit.] This is not much to be wondered at fince the Sacerdotal Cha