No More Learning

It is cast in the form of a dialogue between the poet himself and
Arbuthnot. Pope begins by complaining of the misfortunes which his
reputation as a successful man of letters has brought upon him. He is a
mark for all the starving scribblers of the town who besiege him for
advice, recommendations, and hard cash. Is it not enough to make a man
write 'Dunciads? ' Arbuthnot warns him against the danger of making foes
(ll. 101- 104), but Pope replies that his flatterers are even more
intolerable than his open enemies. And with a little outburst of
impatience, such as we may well imagine him to have indulged in during
his later years, he cries:

Why did I write? What sin to me unknown
Dipt me in ink, my parents' or my own?

and begins with l. 125 his poetical autobiography. He tells of his first
childish efforts, of poetry taken up "to help me thro' this long disease
my life," and then goes on to speak of the noble and famous friends who
had praised his early work and urged him to try his fortune in the open
field of letters. He speaks of his first poems, the 'Pastorals' and
'Windsor Forest', harmless as Hervey's own verses, and tells how even
then critics like Dennis fell foul of him. Rival authors hated him, too,
especially such pilfering bards as Philips. This he could endure, but
the coldness and even jealousy of such a man as Addison--and here
appears the famous portrait of Atticus--was another matter, serious
enough to draw tears from all lovers of mankind.

Passing on (l. 213) to the days of his great success when his 'Homer'
was the talk of the town, he asserts his ignorance of all the arts of
puffery and his independence of mutual admiration societies. He left
those who wished a patron to the tender mercies of Halifax, who fed fat
on flattery and repaid his flatterers merely with a good word or a seat
at his table. After all, the poet could afford to lose the society of
Bufo's toadies while such a friend as Gay was left him (l. 254).

After an eloquent expression of his wish for independence (ll. 261-270),
he goes on to speak of the babbling friends who insist that he is always
meditating some new satire, and persist in recognizing some wretched
poetaster's lampoon as his. And so by a natural transition Pope comes to
speak of his own satiric poems and their aims. He says, and rightly,
that he has never attacked virtue or innocence. He reserves his lash for
those who trample on their neighbors and insult "fallen worth," for cold
or treacherous friends, liars, and babbling blockheads. Let Sporus
(Hervey) tremble (l. 303). Arbuthnot interposes herewith an ejaculation
of contemptuous pity; is it really worth the poet's while to castigate
such a slight thing as Hervey, that "mere white curd"? But Pope has
suffered too much from Hervey's insolence to stay his hand, and he now
proceeds to lay on the lash with equal fury and precision, drawing blood
at every stroke, until we seem to see the wretched fop writhing and
shrieking beneath the whip. And then with a magnificent transition he
goes on (ll. 332-337) to draw a portrait of himself. Here, he says in
effect, is the real man that Sporus has so maligned. The portrait is
idealized, of course; one could hardly expect a poet speaking in his own
defense in reply to venomous attacks to dissect his own character with
the stern impartiality of the critics of the succeeding century, but it
is in all essentials a portrait at once impressive and true.

Arbuthnot again interrupts (l. 358) to ask why he spares neither the
poor nor the great in his satire, and Pope replies that he hates knaves
in every rank of life. Yet by nature, he insists, he is of an easy
temper, more readily deceived than angered, and in a long catalogue of
instances he illustrates his own patience and good nature (ll. 366-385).
It must be frankly confessed that these lines do not ring true. Pope
might in the heat of argument convince himself that he was humble and
slow to wrath, but he has never succeeded in convincing his readers.

With l. 382 Pope turns to the defense of his family, which, as we have
seen, his enemies had abused as base and obscure. He draws a noble
picture of his dead father, "by nature honest, by experience wise"
simple, modest, and temperate, and passes to the description of himself
watching over the last years of his old mother, his sole care to

Explore the thought, explain the asking eye
And keep a while one parent from the sky.

If the length of days which Heaven has promised those who honor father
and mother fall to his lot, may Heaven preserve him such a friend as
Arbuthnot to bless those days. And Arbuthnot closes the dialogue with a
word which is meant, I think, to sum up the whole discussion and to
pronounce the verdict that Pope's life had been good and honorable.

Whether that blessing [1] be deny'd or giv'n,
Thus far was right, the rest belongs to Heav'n.

It seems hardly necessary to point out the merits of so patent a
masterpiece as the 'Epistle to Arbuthnot'. In order to enjoy it to the
full, indeed, one must know something of the life of the author, of the
circumstances under which it was written, and, in general, of the social
and political life of the time. But even without this special knowledge
no reader can fail to appreciate the marvelous ease, fluency, and
poignancy of this admirable satire. There is nothing like it in our
language except Pope's other satires, and of all his satires it is, by
common consent, easily the first. It surpasses the satiric poetry of
Dryden in pungency and depth of feeling as easily as it does that of
Byron in polish and artistic restraint. Its range of tone is remarkable.
At times it reads like glorified conversation, as in the opening lines;
at times it flames and quivers with emotion, as in the assault on
Hervey, or in the defense of his parents. Even in the limited field of
satiric portraiture there is a wide difference between the manner in
which Pope has drawn the portrait of Atticus and that of Sporus. The
latter is a masterpiece of pure invective; no allowances are made, no
lights relieve the darkness of the shadows, the portrait is frankly
inhuman. It is the product of an unrestrained outburst of bitter
passion. The portrait of Atticus, on the other hand, was, as we know,
the work of years. It is the product not of an outburst of fury, but of
a slowly growing and intense dislike, which, while recognizing the
merits of its object, fastened with peculiar power upon his faults and
weaknesses. The studious restraint which controls the satirist's hand
makes it only the more effective. We know well enough that the portrait
is not a fair one, but we are forced to remind ourselves of this at
every step to avoid the spell which Pope's apparent impartiality casts
over our judgments. The whole passage reads not so much like the heated
plea of an advocate as the measured summing-up of a judge, and the last
couplet falls on our ears with the inevitability of a final sentence.
But the peculiar merit of the 'Epistle to Arbuthnot' consists neither in
the ease and polish of its style, nor in the vigor and effectiveness of
its satire, but in the insight it gives us into the heart and mind of
the poet himself. It presents an ideal picture of Pope, the man and the
author, of his life, his friendships, his love of his parents, his
literary relationships and aims. And it is quite futile to object, as
some critics have done, that this picture is not exactly in accordance
with the known facts of Pope's life. No great man can be tried and
judged on the mere record of his acts. We must know the circumstances
that shaped these, and the motives that inspired them. A man's ideals,
if genuinely held and honestly followed, are perhaps even more valuable
contributions to our final estimate of the man himself than all he did
or left undone.

All I could never be,
All, men ignored in me,
This, I was worth to God, whose wheel the pitcher shaped.

And in the 'Epistle to Arbuthnot' we recognize in Pope ideals of
independence, of devotion to his art, of simple living, of loyal
friendship, and of filial piety which shine in splendid contrast with
the gross, servile, and cynically immoral tone of the age and society in
which he lived.



[Footnote 1: i. e. the blessing of Arbuthnot's future companionship,
for which Pope (l. 413) had just prayed. ]





ADVERTISEMENT

Dr. John Arbuthnot, one of Pope's most intimate friends, had been
physician to Queen Anne, and was a man of letters as well as a doctor.
Arbuthnot, Pope, and Swift had combined to get out a volume of
Miscellanies in 1737. His health was failing rapidly at this time, and
he died a month or so after the appearance of this 'Epistle'.


EPISTLE

'1 John:'

John Searle, Pope's faithful servant.


'4 Bedlam:'

a lunatic asylum in London in Pope's day. Notice how Pope mentions, in
the same breath, Bedlam and Parnassus, the hill of the Muses which poets
might well be supposed to haunt.


'8 thickets:'

the groves surrounding Pope's villa.

'Grot:'

see Introduction [grotto].


'10 the chariot:'

the coach in which Pope drove.

'the barge:'

the boat in which Pope was rowed upon the Thames.


'13 the Mint:'

a district in London where debtors were free from arrest. As they could
not be arrested anywhere on Sunday, Pope represents them as taking that
day to inflict their visits on him.


'15 Parson:'

probably a certain Eusden, who had some pretensions to letters, but who
ruined himself by drink.


'17 Clerk:'

a law clerk.


'18 engross:'

write legal papers.


'19-20'

An imaginary portrait of a mad poet who keeps on writing verses even in
his cell in Bedlam. Pope may have been thinking of Lee, a dramatist of
Dryden's day who was confined for a time in this asylum.


'23 Arthur:'

Arthur Moore, a member of Parliament for some years and well known in
London society. His "giddy son," James Moore, who took the name of Moore
Smythe, dabbled in letters and was a bitter enemy of Pope.


'25 Cornus:'

Robert Lord Walpole, whose wife deserted him in 1734. Horace Walpole
speaks of her as half mad.


'31 sped:'

done for.


'40'

Pope's counsel to delay the publication of the works read to him is
borrowed from Horace: "nonumque prematur in annum" '(Ars Poetica, 388). '


'41 Drury-lane,'

like Grub Street, a haunt of poor authors at this time.


'43 before Term ends:'

before the season is over; that is, as soon as the poem is written.


'48 a Prologue:'

for a play. Of course a prologue by the famous Mr. Pope would be of
great value to a poor and unknown dramatist.


'49 Pitholeon:'

the name of a foolish poet mentioned by Horace. Pope uses it here for
his enemy Welsted, mentioned in l. 373. --'his Grace:' the title given a
Duke in Great Britain. The Duke here referred to is said to be the Duke
of Argyle, one of the most influential of the great Whig lords.


'53 Curll':

a notorious publisher of the day, and an enemy of Pope. The implication
is that if Pope will not grant Pitholeon's request, the latter will
accept Curll's invitation and concoct a new libel against the poet.


'60'

Pope was one of the few men of letters of his day who had not written a
play, and he was at this time on bad terms with certain actors.


'62'

Bernard Lintot, the publisher of Pope's translation of Homer.


'66 go snacks':

share the profits. Pope represents the unknown dramatist as trying to
bribe him to give a favorable report of the play.


'69 Midas':

an old legend tells us that Midas was presented with a pair of ass's
ears by an angry god whose music he had slighted. His barber, or,
Chaucer says, his queen, discovered the change which Midas had tried to
conceal, and unable to keep the secret whispered it to the reeds in the
river, who straightway spread the news abroad.


'75'

With this line Arbuthnot is supposed to take up the conversation. This
is indicated here and elsewhere by the letter A.


'79 Dunciad':

see Introduction, p. xviii.


'85 Codrus':

a name borrowed from Juvenal to denote a foolish poet. Pope uses it here
for some conceited dramatist who thinks none the less of himself because
his tragedy is rejected with shouts of laughter.


'96'

Explain the exact meaning of this line.


'97 Bavius':

a stock name for a bad poet. See note on 'Essay on Criticism', l. 34.


'98 Philips':

Ambrose Philips, author among other things of a set of 'Pastorals' that
appeared in the same volume with Pope, 1709. Pope and he soon became
bitter enemies. He was patronized by a Bishop Boulter.


'99 Sappho':

Here as elsewhere Pope uses the name of the Greek poetess for his enemy,
Lady Mary Wortley Montague.


'109 Grubstreet':

a wretched street in London, inhabited in Pope's day by hack writers,
most of whom were his enemies.


'111 Curll'

(see note to l. 53) had printed a number of Pope's letters without the
poet's consent some years before this poem was written.


'113-132'

Pope here describes the flatterers who were foolish enough to pay him
personal compliments. They compare him to Horace who was short like
Pope, though fat, and who seems to have suffered from colds; also to
Alexander, one of whose shoulders was higher than the other, and to
Ovid, whose other name, Naso, might indicate that long noses were a
characteristic feature of his family. Pope really had large and
beautiful eyes. Maro, l. 122, is Virgil.


'123'

With this line Pope begins an account of his life as a poet. For his
precocity, see Introduction, p. xii.


'129 ease:'

amuse, entertain.


'friend, not Wife:'

the reference is, perhaps, to Martha Blount, Pope's friend, and may have
been meant as a contradiction of his reported secret marriage to her.


'132 to bear:'

to endure the pains and troubles of an invalid's life.


'133 Granville:'

George Granville, Lord Lansdowne, a poet and patron of letters to whom
Pope had dedicated his 'Windsor Forest. '


'134 Walsh:'

see note on 'Essay on Criticism,' l. 729.


'135 Garth:'

Sir Samuel Garth, like Arbuthnot, a doctor, a man of letters, and an
early friend of Pope.


'137'

Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury; John, Lord Somers; and John
Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham; all leading statesmen and patrons of
literature in Queen Anne's day.


'138 Rochester:'

Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, an intimate friend of Pope.


'139 St. John:'

Bolingbroke. For Pope's relations with him, see introduction to the
'Essay on Man,' p. 116.


'143'

Gilbert Burnet and John Oldmixon had written historical works from the
Whig point of view. Roger Cooke, a now forgotten writer, had published a
'Detection of the Court and State of England. ' Pope in a note on this
line calls them all three authors of secret and scandalous history.


'146'

The reference is to Pope's early descriptive poems, the 'Pastorals' and
'Windsor Forest. '


'147 gentle Fanny's:'

a sneer at Lord Hervey's verses. See the introduction to this poem, p.
126.


'149 Gildon:'

a critic of the time who had repeatedly attacked Pope. The poet told
Spence that he had heard Addison gave Gildon ten pounds to slander him.


'151 Dennis:'

see note on 'Essay on Criticism. ' l. 270.


'156 kiss'd the rod:'

Pope was sensible enough to profit by the criticisms even of his
enemies. He corrected several passages in the 'Essay on Criticism' which
Dennis had properly found fault with.


'162 Bentley:'

the most famous scholar of Pope's day. Pope disliked him because of his
criticism of the poet's translation of the 'Iliad', "good verses, but
not Homer. " The epithet "slashing" refers to Bentley's edition of
'Paradise Lost' in which he altered and corrected the poet's text to
suit his own ideas.

'Tibbalds':

Lewis Theobald (pronounced Tibbald), a scholar who had attacked Pope's
edition of Shakespeare. Pope calls him "piddling" because of his
scrupulous attention to details.


'177 The Bard':

Philips, see note on l. 98. Pope claimed that Philips's 'Pastorals' were
plagiarized from Spenser, and other poets. Philips, also, translated
some 'Persian Tales' for the low figure of half a crown apiece.


'187 bade translate':

suggested that they translate other men's work, since they could write
nothing valuable of their own.


'188 Tate':

a poetaster of the generation before Pope. He is remembered as the part
author of a doggerel version of the Psalms.


'191-212'

For a discussion of this famous passage, see introduction to the
'Epistle' p. 130.


'196 the Turk':

it was formerly the practice for a Turkish monarch when succeeding to
the throne to have all his brothers murdered so as to do away with
possible rivals.


'199 faint praise':

Addison was hearty enough when he cared to praise his friends. Pope is
thinking of the coldness with which Addison treated his 'Pastorals' as
compared to those of Philips.


'206 oblig'd':

note the old-fashioned pronunciation to rhyme with "besieged. "


'207 Cato':

an unmistakable allusion to Addison's tragedy in which the famous Roman
appears laying down the law to the remnants of the Senate.


'209 Templars':

students of law at the "Temple" in London who prided themselves on their
good taste in literature. A body of them came on purpose to applaud
'Cato' on the first night.

'raise':

exalt, praise.


'211-212 laugh . . . weep':

explain the reason for these actions.

'Atticus':

Addison's name was given in the first version of this passage. Then it
was changed to "A---n. " Addison had been mentioned in the 'Spectator'
(No. 150) under the name of Atticus as "in every way one of the greatest
geniuses the age has produced. "


'213 rubric on the walls':

Lintot, Pope's old publisher, used to stick up the titles of new books
in red letters on the walls of his shop.


'214 with claps':

with clap-bills, posters.


'215 smoking:'

hot from the press.


'220 George:'

George II, king of England at this time. His indifference to literature
was notorious.
'228 Bufo:'

the picture of a proud but grudging patron of letters which follows was
first meant for Bubb Doddington, a courtier and patron of letters at the
time the poem was written. In order to connect it more closely with the
time of which he was writing, Pope added ll. 243-246, which pointed to
Charles Montague, Earl of Halifax. Halifax was himself a poet and
affected to be a great patron of poetry, but his enemies accused him of
only giving his clients "good words and good dinners. " Pope tells an
amusing story of Montague's comments on his translation of the 'Iliad'
(Spence, 'Anecdotes', p. 134). But Halifax subscribed for ten copies of
the translation, so that Pope, at least, could not complain of his lack
of generosity.

'Castalian state:'

the kingdom of poets.


'232'

His name was coupled with that of Horace as a poet and critic.


'234 Pindar without a head:'

some headless statue which Bufo insisted was a genuine classic figure of
Pindar, the famous Greek lyric poet.


'237 his seat:'

his country seat.


'242 paid in kind:'

What does this phrase mean?


'243'

Dryden died in 1700. He had been poor and obliged to work hard for a
living in his last years, but hardly had to starve. Halifax offered to
pay the expenses of his funeral and contribute five hundred pounds for a
monument, and Pope not unreasonably suggests that some of this bounty
might have been bestowed on Dryden in his lifetime.


'249'

When a politician wants a writer to put in a day's work in defending
him. Walpole, for example, who cared nothing for poetry, spent large
sums in retaining writers to defend him in the journals and pamphlets of
the day.


'254'

John Gay, the author of some very entertaining verses, was an intimate
friend of Pope. On account of some supposed satirical allusions his
opera 'Polly' was refused a license, and when his friends, the Duke and
Duchess of Queensberry (see l. 260) solicited subscriptions for it in
the palace, they were driven from the court. Gay died in 1732, and Pope
wrote an epitaph for his tomb in Westminster Abbey. It is to this that
he alludes in l. 258.


'274'

Balbus is said to mean the Earl of Kinnoul, at one time an acquaintance
of Pope and Swift.


'278'

Sir William Yonge, a Whig politician whom Pope disliked. He seems to
have written occasional verses. Bubo is Bubo Doddington (see note on l
230).


'297-298'

In the Fourth Moral Essay, published in 1731 as an 'Epistle to the Earl
of Burlington', Pope had given a satirical description of a nobleman's
house and grounds, adorned and laid out at vast expense, but in bad
taste. Certain features of this description were taken from Canons, the
splendid country place of the Duke of Chandos, and the duke was at once
identified by a scandal-loving public with the Timon of the poem. In the
description Pope speaks of the silver bell which calls worshipers to
Timon's chapel, and of the soft Dean preaching there "who never mentions
Hell to ears polite. " In this passage of the 'Epistle to Arbuthnot' he
is protesting against the people who swore that they could identify the
bell and the Dean as belonging to the chapel at Canons.


'303 Sporus':

a favorite of Nero, used here for Lord Hervey. See introduction to this
poem, p. 128.


'304 ass's milk':

Hervey was obliged by bad health to keep a strict diet, and a cup of
ass's milk was his daily drink.


'308 painted child':

Hervey was accustomed to paint his face like a woman.


'317-319'

Pope is thinking of Milton's striking description of Satan "squat like a
toad" by the ear of the sleeping Eve ('Paradise Lost', IV, 800). In this
passage "Eve" refers to Queen Caroline with whom Hervey was on intimate
terms. It is said that he used to have a seat in the queen's hunting
chaise "where he sat close behind her perched at her ear. "


'322 now master up, now miss':

Pope borrowed this telling phrase from a pamphlet against Hervey written
by Pulteney, a political opponent, in which the former is called "a
pretty little master-miss. "


'326 the board':

the Council board where Hervey sat as member of the Privy Council.


'328-329'

An allusion to the old pictures of the serpent in Eden with a snake's
body and a woman's, or angel's, face.


'330 parts':

talents, natural gifts.


'338-339'

An allusion to Pope's abandoning the imaginative topics to his early
poems, as the 'Pastorals' and 'The Rape of the Lock', and turning to
didactic verse as in the 'Essay on Man', and the 'Moral Epistles'.


'347'

An allusion to a story circulated, in an abusive pamphlet called 'A Pop
upon Pope', that the poet had been whipped for his satire and that he
had cried like a child.


'349'

Dull and scandalous poems printed under Pope's name, or attributed to
him by his enemies.


'351 the pictur'd shape':

Pope was especially hurt by the caricatures which exaggerated his
personal deformity.


'353 A friend in exile':

probably Bishop Atterbury, then in exile for his Jacobite opinions.


'354-355'

Another reference to Hervey who was suspected of poisoning the mind of
the King against Pope.


'361 Japhet':

Japhet Crooke, a notorious forger of the time. He died in prison in
1734, after having had his nose slit and ears cropped for his crimes;
see below, l. 365.


'363 Knight of the post':

a slang term for a professional witness ready to, swear to anything for
money. A knight of the shire, on the other hand, is the representative
of a county in the House of Commons.


'367 bit':

tricked, taken in, a piece of Queen Anne slang. The allusion is probably
to the way in which Lady Mary Wortley Montague allowed Pope to make love
to her and then laughed at him.


'369 friend to his distress':

in 1733, when old Dennis was in great poverty, a play was performed for
his benefit, for which Pope obligingly wrote a prologue.


'371'

Colley Gibber, actor and poet laureate. Pope speaks as if it were an act
of condescension for him to have drunk with Gibber. --'Moore': James
Moore Smythe (see note on l. 23), whom Pope used to meet at the house of
the Blounts. He wrote a comedy, 'The Rival Modes', in which he
introduced six lines that Pope had written. Pope apparently had given
him leave to do so, and then retracted his permission. But Moore used
them without the permission and an undignified quarrel arose as to the
true authorship of the passage.


'373 Welsted',

a hack writer of the day, had falsely charged Pope with being
responsible for the death of the lady who is celebrated in Pope's 'Elegy
to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady'.


'374-375'

There is an allusion here that has never been fully explained. Possibly
the passage refers to Teresa Blount whom Pope suspected of having
circulated slanderous reports concerning his relations with her sister.


'376-377'

Suffered Budgell to attribute to his (Pope's) pen the slanderous gossip
of the 'Grub Street Journal',--a paper to which Pope did, as a matter of
fact, contribute--and let him (Budgell) write anything he pleased except
his (Pope's) will. Budgell, a distant cousin of Addison's, fell into bad
habits after his friend's death. He was strongly suspected of having
forged a will by which Dr. Tindal of Oxford left him a considerable sum
of money. He finally drowned himself in the Thames.


'378 the two Curlls':

Curll, the bookseller, and Lord Hervey whom Pope here couples with him
because of Hervey's vulgar abuse of Pope's personal deformities and
obscure parentage.


'380 Yet why':

Why should they abuse Pope's inoffensive parents? Compare the following
lines.


'383'

Moore's own mother was suspected of loose conduct.


'386-388 Of gentle blood . . . each parent':

Pope asserted, perhaps incorrectly, that his father belonged to a
gentleman's family, the head of which was the Earl of Downe. His mother
was the daughter of a Yorkshire gentleman, who lost two sons in the
service of Charles I (cf. l. 386).


'389 Bestia':

probably the elder Horace Walpole, who was in receipt of a handsome
pension.


'391'

An allusion to Addison's unhappy marriage with the Countess of Warwick.


'393 The good man':

Pope's father, who as a devout Roman Catholic refused to take the oath
of allegiance (cf. l. 395), or risk the equivocations sanctioned by the
"schoolmen," 'i. e'. the Catholic casuists of the day (l. 398).


'404 Friend':

Arbuthnot, to whom the epistle is addressed.


'405-411'

The first draft of these appeared in a letter to Aaron Hill, September
3, 1731, where Pope speaks of having sent them "the other day to a
particular friend," perhaps the poet Thomson. Mrs. Pope, who was very
old and feeble, was of course alive when they were first written, but
died more than a year before the passage appeared in its revised form in
this 'Epistle'.


'412'

An allusion to the promise contained in the fifth commandment.


'415 served a Queen':

Arbuthnot had been Queen Anne's doctor, but was driven out of his rooms
in the palace after her death.


'416 that blessing':

long life for Arbuthnot. It was, in fact, denied, for he died a month or
so after the appearance of the 'Epistle'.





* * * * *


NOTES ON


ODE ON SOLITUDE

Pope says that this delightful little poem was written at the early age
of twelve. It first appeared in a letter to his friend, Henry Cromwell,
dated July 17, 1709. There are several variations between this first
form and that in which it was finally published, and it is probable that
Pope thought enough of his boyish production to subject it to repeated
revision. Its spirit is characteristic of a side of Pope's nature that
is often forgotten. He was, indeed, the poet of the society of his day,
urban, cultured, and pleasure-loving; but to the end of his days he
retained a love for the quiet charm of country life which he had come to
feel in his boyhood at Binfield, and for which he early withdrew from
the whirl and dissipations of London to the groves and the grotto of his
villa at Twickenham.





* * * * *


NOTES ON


THE DESCENT OF DULLNESS

In the fourth book of the 'Dunciad', Pope abandons the satire on the
pretenders to literary fame which had run through the earlier books, and
flies at higher game. He represents the Goddess Dullness as "coming in
her majesty to destroy Order and Science, and to substitute the Kingdom
of the Dull upon earth. " He attacks the pedantry and formalism of
university education in his day, the dissipation and false taste of the
traveled gentry, the foolish pretensions to learning of collectors and
virtuosi, and the daringly irreverent speculations of freethinkers and
infidels. At the close of the book he represents the Goddess as
dismissing her worshipers with a speech which she concludes with "a yawn
of extraordinary virtue. " Under its influence "all nature nods," and
pulpits, colleges, and Parliament succumb. The poem closes with the
magnificent description of the descent of Dullness and her final
conquest of art, philosophy, and religion. It is said that Pope himself
admired these lines so much that he could not repeat them without his
voice faltering with emotion. "And well it might, sir," said Dr. Johnson
when this anecdote was repeated to him, "for they are noble lines. " And
Thackeray in his lecture on Pope in 'The English Humorists' says:

"In these astonishing lines Pope reaches, I think, to the very
greatest height which his sublime art has attained, and shows himself
the equal of all poets of all times. It is the brightest ardor, the
loftiest assertion of truth, the most generous wisdom, illustrated by
the noblest poetic figure, and spoken in words the aptest, grandest,
and most harmonious. "





* * * * *





EPITAPH ON GAY

John Gay, the idlest, best-natured, and best-loved man of letters of his
day, was the special friend of Pope. His early work, 'The Shepherd's
Week', was planned as a parody on the 'Pastorals' of Pope's rival,
Ambrose Philips, and Pope assisted him in the composition of his
luckless farce, 'Three Hours after Marriage'. When Gay's opera 'Polly'
was forbidden by the licenser, and Gay's patrons, the Duke and Duchess
of Queensberry, were driven from court for soliciting subscriptions for
him, Pope warmly espoused his cause. Gay died in 1732 and was buried in
Westminster Abbey. Pope's epitaph for his tomb was first published in
the quarto edition of Pope's works in 1735--Johnson, in his discussion
of Pope's epitaphs ('Lives of the Poets'), devotes a couple of pages of
somewhat captious criticism to these lines; but they have at least the
virtue of simplicity and sincerity, and are at once an admirable
portrait of the man and a lasting tribute to the poet Gay.





* * * * *





APPENDIX


THE RAPE OF THE LOCK


Nolueram, Belinda, tuos violare capillos
Sed juvat, hoc precibus me tribuisse tuis.

MART.



FIRST EDITION




CANTO I


What dire offence from am'rous causes springs,
What mighty quarrels rise from trivial things,
I sing--This verse to C--l, Muse! is due:
This, ev'n Belinda may vouchsafe to view:
Slight is the subject, but not so the praise, 5
If she inspire, and he approve my lays.

Say what strange motive, goddess! could compel
A well-bred lord t' assault a gentle belle?
O say what stranger cause, yet unexplored,
Could make a gentle belle reject a lord? 10
And dwells such rage in softest bosoms then,
And lodge such daring souls in little men?

Sol through white curtains did his beams display,
And ope'd those eyes which brighter shine than they,
Shock just had giv'n himself the rousing shake, 15
And nymphs prepared their chocolate to take;
Thrice the wrought slipper knocked against the ground,
And striking watches the tenth hour resound.
Belinda rose, and midst attending dames,
Launched on the bosom of the silver Thames: 20
A train of well-dressed youths around her shone,
And ev'ry eye was fixed on her alone:
On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore
Which Jews might kiss and infidels adore.
Her lively looks a sprightly mind disclose, 25
Quick as her eyes, and as unfixed as those:
Favours to none, to all she smiles extends;
Oft she rejects, but never once offends.
Bright as the sun, her eyes the gazers strike,
And, like the sun, they shine on all alike. 30
Yet graceful ease, and sweetness void of pride,
Might hide her faults, if belles had faults to hide:
If to her share some female errors fall,
Look on her face, and you'll forgive 'em all.

This nymph, to the destruction of mankind, 35
Nourished two locks, which graceful hung behind
In equal curls, and well conspired to deck
With shining ringlets her smooth iv'ry neck.
Love in these labyrinths his slaves detains,
And mighty hearts are held in slender chains. 40
With hairy springes we the birds betray,
Slight lines of hair surprise the finny prey,
Fair tresses man's imperial race insnare,
And beauty draws us with a single hair.

Th' adventurous baron the bright locks admired; 45
He saw, he wished, and to the prize aspired.
Resolved to win, he meditates the way,
By force to ravish, or by fraud betray;
For when success a lover's toil attends,
Few ask if fraud or force attained his ends. 50

For this, ere Phoebus rose, he had implored
Propitious heav'n, and every pow'r adored,
But chiefly Love--to Love an altar built,
Of twelve vast French romances, neatly gilt.
There lay the sword-knot Sylvia's hands had sewn 55
With Flavia's busk that oft had wrapped his own:
A fan, a garter, half a pair of gloves,
And all the trophies of his former loves.
With tender billets-doux he lights the pire,
And breathes three am'rous sighs to raise the fire. 60
Then prostrate falls, and begs with ardent eyes
Soon to obtain, and long possess the prize:
The pow'rs gave ear, and granted half his pray'r,
The rest the winds dispersed in empty air.

Close by those meads, for ever crowned with flow'rs, 65
Where Thames with pride surveys his rising tow'rs,
There stands a structure of majestic frame,
Which from the neighb'ring Hampton takes its name.
Here Britain's statesmen oft the fall foredoom
Of foreign tyrants, and of nymphs at home; 70
Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey,
Dost sometimes counsel take--and sometimes tea.

Hither our nymphs and heroes did resort,
To taste awhile the pleasures of a court;
In various talk the cheerful hours they passed, 75
Of who was bit, or who capotted last;
This speaks the glory of the British queen,
And that describes a charming Indian screen;
A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes;
At ev'ry word a reputation dies. 80
Snuff, or the fan, supply each pause of chat,
With singing, laughing, ogling, and all that.

Now when, declining from the noon of day,
The sun obliquely shoots his burning ray;
When hungry judges soon the sentence sign, 85
And wretches hang that jurymen may dine;
When merchants from th' Exchange return in peace,
And the long labours of the toilet cease,
The board's with cups and spoons, alternate, crowned,
The berries crackle, and the mill turns round; 90
On shining altars of Japan they raise
The silver lamp, and fiery spirits blaze:
From silver spouts the grateful liquors glide,
While China's earth receives the smoking tide.
At once they gratify their smell and taste, 95
While frequent cups prolong the rich repast.
Coffee (which makes the politician wise,
And see through all things with his half-shut eyes)
Sent up in vapours to the baron's brain
New stratagems, the radiant lock to gain. 100
Ah cease, rash youth! desist ere't is too late,
Fear the just gods, and think of Scylla's fate!
Changed to a bird, and sent to flit in air,
She dearly pays for Nisus' injured hair!

But when to mischief mortals bend their mind, 105
How soon fit instruments of ill they find!
Just then, Clarissa drew with tempting grace
A two-edged weapon from her shining case:
So ladies, in romance, assist their knight,
Present the spear, and arm him for the fight; 110
He takes the gift with rev'rence, and extends
The little engine on his fingers' ends;
This just behind Belinda's neck he spread,
As o'er the fragrant steams she bends her head.
He first expands the glitt'ring forfex wide 115
T' enclose the lock; then joins it, to divide;
One fatal stroke the sacred hair does sever
From the fair head, for ever, and for ever!

The living fires come flashing from her eyes,
And screams of horror rend th' affrighted skies. 120
Not louder shrieks by dames to heav'n are cast,
When husbands die, or lapdogs breathe their last;
Or when rich china vessels, fall'n from high,
In glitt'ring dust and painted fragments lie!

"Let wreaths of triumph now my temples twine," 125
The victor cried, "the glorious prize is mine!
While fish in streams, or birds delight in air,
Or in a coach and six the British fair,
As long as Atalantis shall be read,
Or the small pillow grace a lady's bed, 130
While visits shall be paid on solemn days,
When num'rous wax-lights in bright order blaze,
While nymphs take treats, or assignations give,
So long my honour, name, and praise shall live! "

What time would spare, from steel receives its date, 135
And monuments, like men, submit to fate!
Steel did the labour of the gods destroy,
And strike to dust th' aspiring tow'rs of Troy;
Steel could the works of mortal pride confound,
And hew triumphal arches to the ground. 140
What wonder then, fair nymph! thy hairs should feel
The conqu'ring force of unresisted steel?





CANTO II


But anxious cares the pensive nymph oppressed,
And secret passions laboured in her breast.
Not youthful kings in battle seized alive,
Not scornful virgins who their charms survive,
Not ardent lover robbed of all his bliss, 5
Not ancient lady when refused a kiss,
Not tyrants fierce that unrepenting die,
Not Cynthia when her manteau's pinned awry,
E'er felt such rage, resentment, and despair,
As thou, sad virgin! for thy ravished hair. 10

While her racked soul repose and peace requires,
The fierce Thalestris fans the rising fires.
"O wretched maid! " she spread her hands, and cried,
(And Hampton's echoes, "Wretched maid! " replied)
"Was it for this you took such constant care 15
Combs, bodkins, leads, pomatums to prepare?
For this your locks in paper durance bound?
For this with tort'ring irons wreathed around?
Oh had the youth been but content to seize
Hairs less in sight, or any hairs but these! 20
Gods! shall the ravisher display this hair,
While the fops envy, and the ladies stare!
Honour forbid! at whose unrivalled shrine
Ease, pleasure, virtue, all, our sex resign.
Methinks already I your tears survey, 25
Already hear the horrid things they say,
Already see you a degraded toast,
And all your honour in a whisper lost!
How shall I, then, your helpless fame defend?
'T will then be infamy to seem your friend! 30
And shall this prize, th' inestimable prize,
Exposed through crystal to the gazing eyes,
And heightened by the diamond's circling rays,
On that rapacious hand for ever blaze?
Sooner shall grass in Hyde Park Circus grow, 35
And wits take lodgings in the sound of Bow;
Sooner let earth, air, sea, to chaos fall,
Men, monkeys, lapdogs, parrots, perish all! "

She said; then raging to Sir Plume repairs,
And bids her beau demand the precious hairs: 40
Sir Plume, of amber snuff-box justly vain,
And the nice conduct of a clouded cane,
With earnest eyes, and round unthinking face,
He first the snuff-box opened, then the case,
And thus broke out--"My lord, why, what the devil! 45
Zounds! damn the lock! 'fore Gad, you must be civil!
Plague on't! 't is past a jest--nay, prithee, pox!
Give her the hair. "--He spoke, and rapped his box.

"It grieves me much," replied the peer again,
"Who speaks so well should ever speak in vain: 50
But by this lock, this sacred lock, I swear,
(Which never more shall join its parted hair;
Which never more its honours shall renew,
Clipped from the lovely head where once it grew)
That, while my nostrils draw the vital air, 55
This hand, which won it, shall for ever wear. "
He spoke, and speaking, in proud triumph spread
The long-contended honours of her head.

But see! the nymph in sorrow's pomp appears,
Her eyes half-languishing, half drowned in tears; 60
Now livid pale her cheeks, now glowing red
On her heaved bosom hung her drooping head,
Which with a sigh she raised, and thus she said:
"For ever cursed be this detested day,
Which snatched my best, my fav'rite curl away; 65
Happy! ah ten times happy had I been,
If Hampton Court these eyes had never seen!
Yet am not I the first mistaken maid,
By love of courts to num'rous ills betrayed.
O had I rather unadmired remained 70
In some lone isle, or distant northern land,
Where the gilt chariot never marked the way,
Where none learn ombre, none e'er taste bohea!
There kept my charms concealed from mortal eye,
Like roses, that in deserts bloom and die. 75
What moved my mind with youthful lords to roam?
O had I stayed, and said my pray'rs at home!