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Pope, no fmall gratification on the annunciation of the prefent work. The Advertisement prefixed to it, will fhew what the reader is to expect from Mr. Wakefield:

As the expensiveness of the prefent undertaking renders it neceffary for me to make the experiment of the public difpofition in detached volumes, I fhall referve the general remarks, which I intend to offer on the poetical character of my author, to a future occafion. In the mean time, it is proper that I fhould advertise the reider, that my notes are intended to recommend Mr. Pope as an Englifh claffic to men of taste and elegance; and that they pretend to no fubtleties of inveftigation, no profundities of criticifm, no grand difcoveries of refined argumentation and curious coherence. It has been my refolution to present to the world as much originality as poffible; and I fhall be found to have borrowed very little from other commentators; and that little has been confcientioufly affigned to its proper owner. I never could approve of the too common practice of fwelling books with the reiterated labours of other critics; a practice not honourable as it regards our own fraternity of writers, nor refpectful to the community. The text is taken from bishop Warburton's edition; a man, for whofe talents and penetration I entertain the highest reverence; and whose powers of intellect have been furpaffed by very few individuals of his fpecies, in any age or nation. All communications relative to this work, conveyed to the publishers, whether of hiftorical anecdote, or literary remark, will be thankfully received, and faithfully acknowledged.

I fubmit this work with diffidence and folicitude to the judg ment of the candid and intelligent: and, if I should be fortunate enough to meet with their countenance on this occafion, the fucceeding volumes, if life and health permit, will speedily appear.'

This volume comprehends Mr. Pope's very elegant Preface, his Difcourfe on Paftoral Poetry; his Juvenile Poems, including his Paftorals, and Windfor Foreft; Ode on St. Cecilia's Day; Chorus to the Tragedy of Brutus; Effay on Criticism; Rape of the Rock; Elegy on a Lady; Eloifa to Abelard; Epiftles to feveral Perfons, Epitaphs, &c.-Mr. Wakefield fhould have given us a table of contents.

In the notes on the difcourfe on paftoral poetry, Mr. Wakefield gives us the following information :

The variations in this difcourfe, inferted below, and thofe in the paftorals not marked P. are from "the firft copy of the pastorals,” written in Mr. Pope's own hand, and communicated to me in the most ready and obliging manner by Thomas Brand Hollis, efq. On the first page are found the words in the inverted commas above, and on the second, the following memorandum in the fame hand :

"Mem: This Copy is that wch. past thro. ye. hands of Mr. Wallı, Mr. Congreve, Mr. Mainwaring, Dr. Garth, Mr. Gran

ville, Mr. Southern, Sr. H. Sheers, Sr. W. Trumbull, Ld. Halifax, Marq. of Dorchester, D. of Bucks, &c. Only ye. 3rd. Eclog. was written fince some of these saw ye. other 3. wch. were written as they here ftand wth. ye. Essay, anno 1704. Ætat. meæ, 16.

"The alterations from this copy were upon the objections of fome of thefe, or my own."

The next leaf, on which probably nothing was written of importance, has been torn out: then on the third page is in large printed characters, "An Effay on Paftoral;" which regularly commences with the following paragraph: the original, &c. The whole of which effay, as well as the paftorals, is moft beautifully written in imitation of print: on which subject Dr. Johnson has the following remark. "He first learned to write by imitating printed books; a fpecies of penmanship in which he retained great excellence through his whole life, though his ordinary hand was not elegant." Elegant, perhaps, it may not deferve to be called in comparifon with the other; but regular, diftinct, and legible it certainly is, as it can poffibly be. The variations fhall be noticed with all the brevity, that a proper fpecification of them will admit.'

To enable our readers to form a judgment of the manner in which this work is conducted, we fhall present them with part of the Windfor Forest, together with Mr. Wakefield's

notes.

WINDSOR FOREST*.

< TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE GEORGE LORD LANSDOWN.

Non injuffa cano: te noftræ, Vare, myricæ,

Te nemus omne canet; nec Phoebo gratior ulla eft,

Quam fibi quæ Vari præfcripfit pagina nomen.

VIRG.

My lawns and woodlands no unbidden lays

Shall teach, O! Varus, to refound thy praife.

No pages Phoebus confecrates to fame

More pleas'd, than what prefcribe thy honour'd name.

Thy foreft, Windfor! and thy green retreats,
At once the monarch's and the Mufe's feats,

(G. W.)

Invite

This poem was written at two different times: the first part of it, which relates to the country, in the year 1704, at the fame time with the paftorals: the latter part was not added till the year 1713, in which it was published. P. Our poet, in the prologue to the fatires, thus modeftly exprelles himself, in allusion chiefly to the following poem and his pastorals:

Soft were my numbers: who could take offence

While pure defcription held the place of sense?
Like gentle Fanny's was my flowery theme,

A painted mistress or a furling stream.

As

your

fhades.

Invite my lays. Be prefent, fylvan maids!
Unlock your fprings, and open all
Granville commands; your aid, O Mufes, bring!
What mufe for Granville can refuse to fing?

• The groves of Eden vanish'd now fo long,
Live in description, and look green in fong:
Thefe, were my breaft infpir'd with equal flame,
Like them in beauty, fhould be like in fame.
Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain,
Here earth and water feem to ftrive again ;
Not chaos-like together crufh'd and bruis'd,
But, as the world, harmoniously confus'd:
Where order in variety we fee,

And where, though all things differ, all agree.
Here waving groves a chequer'd scene display,
And part admit, and part exclude the day;
As fome coy nymph her lover's warm address
Nor quite indulges, nor can quite reprefs.

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As Virgil fays of the prayer of Aruns, that the gods granted one half, and difperft the other half into empty air; fo we cannot allow the deficiency of fenfe to our poet, but readily grant, that defeription never attained fuch excellence as in his juvenile performances.

Ver. 3. &c. originally thus:

VARIATION.

Chafte goddess of the woods,

Nymphs of the vales, and Naids of the floods,

Lead me through arching bow'rs and glimm'ring glades:
Unlock your fprings-

• I cannot discover a fufficient reafon for his omiffion of the beautiful verfes in the variation; and wish that he had restored them to their place.

Ver. 4. Virgil, Geo. i. 175.

fanctos aufus recludere fontes :

• Once more unlock for thee the facred fpring. Dryden.

And, open all your fbades, is the pandite nunc Helicona, Dea, of the fame poet, En. vii.

Now, facred fifters, open all your fpring. Dryden.

Ver. 7. Our author doubtlefs had in view, two paffages of Addison's Letter from Italy; the firft of which is worthy of Pope himself:

Sometimes mifguided by the tuneful throng,

I look for ftreams immortaliz'd in fong,

That loft in filence and oblivion lie;

Dumb are their fountains, and their channels dry;
Yet run for ever by the mufe's skill,

And in the fnrooth description murmur still,

Oh! could the muse my ravish'd breast inspire
With warmth like your's, and raife an equal fire!
Unnumber'd beauties in my verfe should shine,
And Virgil's Italy fhould yield to mine.

Ver. 14. The diction of this couplet is curiously happy. He might have in his eye the concors difcordia-the friendly difcord of Ovid.

Ver. 19. There is a levity in this comparifon, which appears to me unfeafonable, and but ill according with the ferene dignity of the fubject. But, as the poet omitted with great judgment the luxuriances of h's youthful imagination in future revifals of his works, and has retained this paflage, I am very dithdent of diffent from him in fuch cales.

There,

There, interfpers'd in lawns and op'ning glades,
Thin trees arife that thun each other's fhades.
Here in full light the ruffet plains extend:
There wrapt in clouds the bluish hills afcend.
Ev'n the wild heath difplays her purple dyes,

25

And 'midft the defert fruitful fields arife,

That crown'd with tufted trees and fpringing corn,

Like verdant ifles the fable waste adorn.

Let India boast her plants, nor envy we

The weeping amber, or the balmy tree,
While by our oaks the precious loads are born,
And realms commanded which thofe trees adorn.
Not proud Olympus yields a nobler fight,
Though gods affembled grace his tow'ring height,
Than what more humbler mountains offer here,
Where, in their bleffings, all thofe gods appear.
See Pan with flocks, with fruits Pomona crown'd;
Here blushing Flora paints th' enamell'd ground;
Here Ceres' gifts in waving profpect ftand,
And nodding tempt the joyful reaper's hand;
Rich industry fits fmiling on the plains,
And peace and plenty tell, a Stuart reigns.

Not thus the land appear'd in ages past,
A dreary defart, and a gloomy waste,

30

35

40

VARIATION.

Ver. 24. Bluife. This form of the word is deftitute of dignity.
Ver. 25. originally thus:

Why fhould I fing our better funs or air,

Whofe vital draughts prevent the leach's care,

While through fresh fields th' en iv`ning odours breathe,

Or fpread with vernal blooms the purple heath?'

The profaic vulgar language, and the imperfect rhyme in these verses, justify their fuppreffion; and prove, like most of these instances, of personal criticifm in our poet, that he had not forgot what he imputes to Dryden,

The laft and greatest art, the art to blot.'

Ver. 28. This fimile, both natural and appofite, is a very pleasing illuftration of the fubject.

Ver. 30. This verfe exhibits the fame beauty as was pointed out at verfe fixty-fecond of the first paftoral. So Dryden, Virg. Geo. i.

And foft Idume weeps her od'rous tears.

Ver. 31. This orthography is vicious: it fhould be borne. And a further defect in this couplet is a too quick recurrence of the rhyme.

Ver. 33. This fabulous mixture of ftale images, Olympus and the gods, is, in my opinion, extremely puerile, especially in this defcription of real fcenery. Pan, Pomona, and the reft, mere reprefentative fubftitutions, give no offence, but contribute to elevate and enliven.

Ver. 43. This retrofpect is well imagined; and has a fine effect in connection with the gaiety and luxuriance of the preceding defcription.

C. R. N. ARR. (XI.) Fune, 1794.

Το

45

50

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To favage beafts and favage laws a prey,
And kings more furious and fevere than they;
Who claim'd the skies, difpeopled air and floods,
The lonely lords of empty wilds and woods;
Cities laid waste, they storm'd the dens and caves,
(For wifer brutes were backward to be flaves).
What could be free, when lawless beafts obey'd,
And ev❜n the elements a, tyrant fway'd?
In vain kind feafons fwell'd the teeming grain,
Soft fhow'rs diftill'd, and funs
grew warm
in vain
The fwain with tears his fruftrate labour yields,
And famish'd dies amidft his ripen'd fields.
What wonder then, a beast or fubject flain
Were equal crimes in a defpotic reign?
Both doom'd alike, for fportive tyrants bled,
But while the fubject ftarvid, the beaft was fed.
Proud Nimrod firit the bloody chace began,
A mighty hunter, and his prey was man :
Our haughty Norman boasts that barb'rous name,
And makes his trembling flaves the royal game.
The fields are ravish'd from th' industrious fwains,
From men their cities, and from gods their fanes;
The levell'd towns with weeds lie cover'd o'er ;
The hollow winds through naked temples roar;

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VARIATION.

Ver. 46. There is an inaccuracy in this couplet: the former verfe fhould have run thus, with the tranfpofition of a single word:

To favage laws and favage beasts a prey;'

fince the pronoun they of the following line can only refer with propriety to favage beafts, because the savage laws were a part of the fury and severity in question.

• Ver. 49. originally thus in the MS.

From towns laid wafte, to dens and caves they ran,

(For who first stoop'd to be a flave was man).'

Ver. 50. The conceit in this line is alike childish and deftitute of propriety; because dens and caves are the residence of these brutes at all times, and therefore their retreat to these places conftitutes no argument of their averfion to flavery. And the following couplet is by no means worthy of the poet. The fix next verfes are of a much fuperior character.

• Ver. 57. &c. No wonder favages or fubjects flain....

But fubjects ftarv'd, while favages were fed."

It was originally thus; but the word favages is not properly applied to beafts, but to men; which occafioned the alteration. P.

Ver. 65. The fields are ravif'd, &c.] Alluding to the deftruction made in the New Foreft, and the tyrannies exercifed there, by William I. P.

• The fields are ravish'd from th' industrious swains,
From men their cities, and from gods their fanes :'

Tranflated from

Templa adimit divis, fora civibus, arva colonis,

an old monkish writer, I forget who. P.

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Ver. 67. The words cover'd o'er conftitute, in my opinion, a very feeble ter

mination

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