THE TEMPLE OF FAME.
Price One Shilling.
The Temple of Fame.
L
Cheron inv.
Saml . Gribelin Junr . Sculp.
THE TEMPLE OF FAME: A VISION.
By Mr.
POPE.
THE SECOND EDITION.
LONDON:
Printed for BERNARD LINTOTT between the two
Temple-Gates
in
Fleetstreet.
1715.
Advertisement.
T HE Hint of the following Piece was taken from
Chaucer
's
House of Fame.
The Design is in a manner entirely alter'd, the Descriptions and most of the particular Thoughts my own: Yet I could not suffer it to be printed without this Acknowledgment, or think a Concealment of this Nature the less unfair for being common. The Reader who would compare this with
Chaucer,
may begin with his Third Book of
Fame,
there being nothing in the Two first Books that answers to their Title.
THE TEMPLE OF FAME.
I N that soft Season when descending Showers
Call forth the Greens, and wake the rising Flowers;
When opening Buds salute the welcome Day,
And Earth relenting feels the Genial Ray;
As balmy Sleep had charm'd my Cares to Rest,
And Love it self was banish'd from my Breast,
(What Time the Morn mysterious Visions brings,
While purer Slumber spread their golden Wings)
A Train of Phantoms in wild Order rose,
And, join'd, this Intellectual Scene compose.
I stood, methought, betwixt Earth, Seas, and Skies;
The whole Creation open to my Eyes:
In Air self-balanc'd hung the Globe below,
Where Mountains rise, and circling Oceans flow;
Here naked Rocks and empty Wastes were seen,
There tow'ry Cities, and the Forests green:
Here sailing Ships delight the wand'ring Eyes;
There Trees, and intermingl'd Temples rise:
Now a clear Sun the shining Scene displays,
The transient Landscape now in Clouds decays.
O'er the wide Prospect as I gaz'd around,
Sudden I heard a wild promiscuous Sound,
Like broken Thunders that at distance roar,
Or Billows murm'ring on the hollow Shoar:
Then gazing up, a glorious Pile beheld,
Whose tow'ring Summit ambient Clouds conceal'd.
High on a Rock of Ice the Structure lay,
Steep its Ascent, and slipp'ry was the Way;
The wond'rous Rock like
Parian
Marble shone,
And seem'd to distant Sight of solid Stone.
Inscriptions here of various Names I view'd,
The greater Part by hostile Time subdu'd;
Yet wide was spread their Fame in Ages past,
And Poets once had promis'd they should last.
Some fresh engrav'd appear'd of Wits renown'd;
I look'd again, nor cou'd their Trace be found.
Criticks I saw, that others Names deface,
And fix their own with Labour in their place:
Their own like others soon their Place resign'd,
Or disappear'd, and left the first behind.
Nor was the Work impair'd by Storms alone,
But felt th' Approaches of too warm a Sun:
For Fame, impatient of Extreams, decays
Not more by Envy than Excess of Praise.
Yet Part no Injuries of Heav'n cou'd feel,
Like Crystal faithful to the graving Steel:
The Rock's high Summit, in the Temple's Shade,
Nor Heat could melt, nor beating Storm invade.
There Names inscrib'd unnumber'd Ages past
From Time's first Birth, with Time it self shall last;
These ever new, nor subject to Decays,
Spread, and grow brighter with the Length of Days.
So
Zembla
's Rocks (the beauteous Work of Frost)
Rise white in Air, and glitter o'er the Coast;
Pale Suns, unfelt, at distance roll away,
And on th' impassive Ice the Lightnings play:
Eternal Snows the growing Mass supply,
Till the bright Mountains prop th' incumbent Sky:
As
Atlas
fix'd, each hoary Pile appears,
The gather'd Winter of a thousand Years.
On this Foundation
Fame
's high Temple stands;
Stupendous Pile! not rear'd by mortal Hands.
Whate'er proud
Rome,
or artful
Greece
beheld,
Or elder
Babylon,
its Frame excell'd.
Four Faces had the Dome, and ev'ry Face
Of various Structure, but of equal Grace:
Four brazen Gates, on Columns lifted high,
Salute the diff'rent Quarters of the Sky.
Here fabled Chiefs in darker Ages born,
Or Worthies old, whom Arms or Arts adorn,
Who Cities rais'd, or tam'd a monstrous Race;
The fourfold Walls in breathing Statues grace:
Heroes in animated Marble frown,
And Legislators seem to think in Stone.
Westward, a sumptuous Frontispiece appear'd,
On Dorick Pillars of white Marble rear'd,
Crown'd with an Architrave of antique Mold,
And Sculpture rising on the roughen'd Gold.
In shaggy Spoils here
Theseus
was beheld,
And
Perseus
dreadful with
Minerva
's Shield:
There great
Alcides
stooping with his Toil,
Rests on his Club, and holds th'
Hesperian
Spoil.
Here
Orpheus
sings; Trees moving to the Sound
Start from their Roots, and form a Shade around:
Amphion
there the loud creating Lyre
Strikes, and beholds a sudden
Thebes
aspire;
Cythaeron
's Ecchoes answer'd to his Call,
And half the Mountain roll'd into a Wall:
There might you see the length'ning Spires ascend,
The Domes swell up, the widening Arches bend,
The growing Tow'rs like Exhalations rise,
And the huge Columns heave into the Skies.
The Eastern Front was glorious to behold,
With Diamond flaming, and
Barbarick
Gold.
There
Ninus
shone, who spread th'
Assyrian
Fame,
And the great Founder of the
Persian
Name:
There in long Robes the Royal
Magi
stand,
Grave
Zoroaster
waves the circling Wand:
The sage
Chaldaeans
rob'd in White appear'd,
And
Brachmans
deep in desert Woods rever'd.
These stop'd the Moon, and call'd th' unbody'd Shades
To Midnight Banquets in the glimm'ring Glades;
Made visionary Fabricks round them rise,
And airy Spectres skim before their Eyes;
Of
Talismans
and
Sigils
knew the Pow'r,
And careful watch'd the Planetary Hour.
Superior, and alone,
Confucius
stood,
Who taught that useful Science, to be
good.
But on the South a long Majestick Race
Of
Aegypt
's Priests the gilded Niches grace,
Who measur'd Earth, describ'd the starry Spheres,
And trac'd the long Records of Lunar Years.
High on his Car
Sesostris
struck my View,
Whom scepter'd Slaves in golden Harness drew:
His Hands a Bow and pointed Jav'lin hold,
His Giant Limbs are arm'd in Scales of Gold.
Between the Statues Obelisks were plac'd,
And the learn'd Walls with Hieroglyphicks grac'd.
Of
Gothick
Structure was the Northern Side,
O'erwrought with Ornaments of barb'rous Pride.
There huge Colosses rose, with Trophies crown'd,
And
Runick
Characters were grav'd around:
There sate
Zamolxis
with erected Eyes,
And
Odin
here in mimick Trances dies.
There, on rude Iron Columns smear'd with Blood,
The horrid Forms of
Scythian
Heroes stood,
Druids
and
Bards
(their once loud Harps unstrung)
And Youths that dy'd to be by Poets sung.
These and a thousand more of doubtful Fame,
To whom old Fables gave a lasting Name,
In Ranks adorn'd the Temple's outward Face;
The Wall in Lustre and Effect like Glass,
Which o'er each Object casting various Dies,
Enlarges some, and others multiplies.
Nor void of Emblem was the mystick Wall,
For thus Romantick Fame increases all.
The Temple shakes, the sounding Gates unfold,
Wide Vaults appear, and Roofs of fretted Gold,
Rais'd on a thousand Pillars, wreath'd around
With Lawrel-Foliage, and with Eagles crown'd:
Of bright, transparent Beryl were the Walls,
The Freezes Gold, and Gold the Capitals:
As Heaven with Stars, the Roof with Jewels glows,
And ever living Lamps depend in Rows.
Full in the Passage of each spacious Gate
The sage Historians in white Garments wait;
Grav'd o'er their Seats the Form of
Time
was found,
His Scythe revers'd, and both his Pinions bound.
Within, stood Heroes who thro' loud Alarms
In bloody Fields pursu'd Renown in Arms.
High on a Throne with Trophies charg'd, I view'd
The
Youth
that all things but himself subdu'd;
His Feet on Sceptres and
Tiara
's trod,
And his horn'd Head express'd the
Libyan
God.
There
Caesar,
grac'd with both
Minerva
's, shone;
Caesar,
the World's great Master, and his own;
Unmov'd, superior still in every State;
And scarce detested in his Country's Fate.
But chief were those who not for Empire fought,
But with their Toils their People's Safety bought:
High o'er the rest
Epaminondas
stood;
Timoleon,
glorious in his Brother's Blood;
And
Scipio,
Saviour of the
Roman
State,
Great in his Triumphs, in Retirement great.
Here too the Wise and Good their Honours claim,
Much-suff'ring Heroes, of less noisy Fame,
Fair Virtue's silent Train: Supreme of these
Here ever shines the Godlike
Socrates.
Here triumphs He whom
Athens
did expel,
In all things Just, but when he sign'd the Shell.
Here his Abode the martyr'd
Phocion
claims,
With
Agis,
not the last of
Spartan
Names:
Unconquer'd
Cato
shews the Wound he tore,
And
Brutus
his ill Genius meets no more.
But in the Centre of the hallow'd Quire
Six pompous Column's o'er the rest aspire;
Around the Shrine it self of
Fame
they stand,
Hold the chief Honours, and the Fane command.
High on the first, the mighty
Homer
shone;
Eternal Adamant compos'd his Throne;
Father of Verse! in holy Fillets drest,
His Silver Beard wav'd gently o'er his Breast;
Tho' blind, a Boldness in his Looks appears,
In Years he seem'd, but not impair'd by Years.
The Wars of
Troy
were round the Pillar seen:
Here fierce
Tydides
wounds the
Cyprian
Queen:
Here
Hector
glorious from
Patroclus
Fall,
Here dragg'd in Triumph round the
Trojan
Wall,
Motion and Life did ev'ry Part inspire,
Bold was the Work, and prov'd the Master's Fire;
A strong Expression most he seem'd t'affect,
And here and there disclos'd a brave Neglect.
A Golden Column next in Rank appear'd,
On which a Shrine of purest Gold was rear'd;
Finish'd the whole, and labour'd ev'ry Part,
With patient Touches of unweary'd Art:
The
Mantuan
there in sober Triumph sate,
Compos'd his Posture, and his Look sedate;
On
Homer
still he fix'd a reverend Eye,
Great without Pride, in modest Majesty.
In living Sculpture on the Sides were spread
The
Latian
Wars, and haughty
Turnus
dead;
Eliza
stretch'd upon the fun'ral Pyre,
Aeneas
bending with his aged Sire:
Troy
flam'd in burnish'd Gold, and o'er the Throne
Arms and the Man
in Golden Cyphers shone.
Four Swans sustain a Carr of Silver bright,
With Heads advanc'd, and Pinions stretch'd for Flight:
Here, like some furious Prophet,
Pindar
rode,
And seem'd to labour with th' inspiring God.
A-cross the Harp a careless Hand he flings,
And boldly sinks into the sounding Strings.
The figur'd Games of
Greece
the Column grace,
Neptune
and
Jove
survey the rapid Race:
The Youth's hang o'er their Chariots as they run
The fiery Steeds seem starting from the Stone;
The Champions in distorted Postures threat,
And all appear'd Irregularly great.
Here happy
Horace
tun'd th'
Ausonian
Lyre
To sweeter Sounds, and temper'd
Pindar
's Fire:
Pleas'd with
Alcaeus
manly Rage t'infuse
The softer Spirit of the
Sapphick
Muse.
The polish'd Pillar different Sculptures grace;
A Work outlasting Monumental Brass.
Here smiling
Loves
and
Bacchanals
appear,
The
Julian
Star and Great
Augustus
here.
The Doves that round the Infant Poet spread
Myrtles and Bays, hung hov'ring o'er his Head.
Here in a Shrine that cast a dazling Light,
Sate fix'd in Thought the mighty
Stagyrite;
His Sacred Head a radiant Zodiack crown'd,
And various Animals his Sides surround;
His piercing Eyes, erect, appear to view
Superior Worlds, and look all Nature thro'.
With equal Rays immortal
Tully
shone,
The
Roman Rostra
deck'd the Consul's Throne:
Gath'ring his flowing Robe, he seem'd to stand,
In Act to speak, and graceful, stretch'd his Hand:
Behind,
Rome
's
Genius
waits with
Civick
Crowns,
And the Great Father of his Country owns.
These massie Columns in a Circle rise,
O'er which a pompous Dome invades the Skies:
Scarce to the Top I stretch'd my aking Sight,
So large it spread, and swell'd to such a Height.
Full in the midst, proud
Fame
's Imperial Seat
With Jewels blaz'd, magnificently great;
The vivid Em'ralds there revive the Eye;
The flaming Rubies shew their sanguine Dye;
Bright azure Rays from lively Saphirs stream,
And lucid Amber casts a Golden Gleam.
With various-colour'd Lights the Pavement shone,
And all on fire appear'd the glowing Throne;
The Dome's high Arch reflects the mingled Blaze,
And forms a Rainbow of alternate Rays.
When on the
Goddess
first I cast my Sight,
Scarce seem'd her Stature of a Cubit's height,
But swell'd to larger Size, the more I gaz'd,
Till to the Roof her tow'ring Front she rais'd.
With her, the Temple ev'ry Moment grew,
And ampler
Vista's
open'd to my View,
Upward the Columns shoot, the Roofs ascend,
And Arches widen, and long Iles extend.
Such was her Form, as antient Bards have told,
Wings raise her Arms, and Wings her Feet infold;
A Thousand busy Tongues the Goddess bears,
And Thousand open Eyes, and Thousand list'ning Ears.
Beneath, in Order rang'd, the tuneful Nine
(Her Virgin Handmaids) still attend the Shrine:
With Eyes on Fame for ever fix'd, they sing;
For Fame they raise the Voice, and tune the String.
With Time's first Birth began the Heav'nly Lays,
And last Eternal thro' the Length of Days.
Around these Wonders as I cast a Look,
The Trumpet sounded, and the Temple shook,
And all the Nations, summon'd at the Call,
From diff'rent Quarters fill the crowded Hall:
Of various Tongues the mingled Sounds were heard;
In various Garbs promiscuous Throngs appear'd;
Thick as the Bees, that with the Spring renew
Their flow'ry Toils, and sip the fragrant Dew,
When the wing'd Colonies first tempt the Sky,
O'er dusky Fields and shaded Waters fly,
Or settling, seize the Sweets the Blossoms yield,
And a low Murmur runs along the Field.
Millions of suppliant Crowds the Shrine attend,
And all Degrees before the Goddess bend;
The Poor, the Rich, the Valiant, and the Sage,
And boasting Youth, and Narrative old Age.
Their Pleas were diff'rent, their Request the same,
For Good and Bad alike are fond of Fame.
Some she disgrac'd, and some with Honours crown'd;
Unlike Successes equal Merits found.
Thus her blind Sister, fickle
Fortune
reigns,
And undiscerning, scatters Crowns and Chains.
First at the Shrine the Learned World appear,
And to the Goddess thus prefer their Prayer:
Long have we sought t'instruct and please Mankind,
With Studies pale, with Midnight Vigils blind;
But thank'd by few, rewarded yet by none,
We here appeal to thy superior Throne:
On Wit and Learning the just Prize bestow,
For
Fame
is all we must expect below.
The Goddess heard, and bade the Muses raise
The Golden Trumpet of eternal Praise:
From Pole to Pole the Winds diffuse the Sound,
That fills the Circuit of the World around;
Not all at once, as Thunder breaks the Cloud;
The Notes at first were rather sweet than loud:
By just degrees they ev'ry moment rise,
Fill the wide Earth, and gain upon the Skies.
At ev'ry Breath were balmy Odours shed,
Which still grew sweeter as they wider spread:
Less fragrant Scents th' unfolding Rose exhales,
Or Spices breathing in
Arabian
Gales.
Next these the Good and Just, an awful Train,
Thus on their Knees address'd the sacred Fane.
Since living Virtue is with Envy curst,
And the best Men are treated like the worst,
Do thou, just Goddess, call our Merits forth,
And give each Deed th' exact intrinsic Worth.
Not with bare Justice shall your Act be crown'd,
(Said Fame) but high above Desert renown'd:
Let fuller Notes th' applauding World amaze,
And the loud Clarion labour in your Praise.
This Band dismiss'd, behold another Crowd
Prefer'd the same Request, and lowly bow'd,
The constant Tenour of whose well spent Days
No less deserv'd a just Return of Praise.
But strait the direful Trump of Slander sounds,
Thro' the big Dome the doubling Thunder bounds:
Loud as the Burst of Cannon rends the Skies,
The dire Report thro' ev'ry Region flies:
In ev'ry Ear incessant Rumours rung,
And gath'ring Scandals grew on ev'ry Tongue.
From the black Trumpet's rusty Concave broke
Sulphureous Flames, and Clouds of rolling Smoke:
The pois'nous Vapor blots the purple Skies,
And withers all before it as it flies.
A Troop came next, who Crowns and Armour wore,
And proud Defiance in their Looks they bore:
For thee (they cry'd) amidst Alarms and Strife,
We sail'd in Tempests down the Stream of Life;
For thee whole Nations fill'd with Flames and Blood,
And swam to Empire thro' the purple Flood.
Those Ills we dar'd thy Inspiration own,
And all that Virtue seem'd was done for thee alone.
Ambitious Fools! (the Queen reply'd, and frown'd)
Be all your Acts in dark Oblivion crown'd;
There sleep forgot, with mighty Tyrants gone,
Your Statues moulder'd, and your Names unknown.
A sudden Cloud strait snatch'd them from my Sight,
And each Majestick Phantom sunk in Night.
Then came the smallest Tribe I yet had seen,
Plain was their Dress, and modest was their Mein.
Great Idol of Mankind! we neither claim
The Praise of Merit, nor aspire to Fame;
But safe in Deserts from the Applause of Men,
Would die unheard of, as we liv'd unseen.
'Tis all we beg thee, to conceal from Sight
Those Acts of Goodness, which themselves requite.
O let us still the secret Joy partake,
To follow Virtue ev'n for Virtue's sake.
And live there Men who slight immortal Fame?
Who then with Incense shall adore our Name?
But, Mortals know, 'tis still our greatest Pride,
To blaze those Virtues which the Good would hide.
Rise! Muses, rise! add all your tuneful Breath,
These must not sleep in Darkness and in Death.
She said: in Air the trembling Musick floats,
And up the Winds triumphant swell the Notes;
So soft, tho' high, so loud, and yet so clear,
Ev'n list'ning Angels lean'd from Heaven to hear:
To farthest Shores th' Ambrosial Spirit flies,
Sweet to the World, and grateful to the Skies.
Next these a youthful Train their Vows exprest,
With Feathers crown'd, with gay Embroid'ry drest:
Hither, they cry'd, direct your Eyes, and see
The Men of Pleasure, Dress, and Gallantry:
Ours is the Place at Banquets, Balls and Plays;
Sprightly our Nights, polite are all our Days;
Courts we frequent, where 'tis our pleasing Care
To pay due Visits, and address the Fair:
In fact, 'tis true, no Nymph we cou'd persuade,
But still in Fancy vanquish'd ev'ry Maid;
Of unknown Dutchesses leud Tales we tell,
Yet would the World believe us, all were well.
The Joy let others have, and we the Name,
And what we want in Pleasure, grant in Fame.
The Queen assents, the Trumpet rends the Skies,
And at each Blast a Lady's Honour dies.
Pleas'd with the strange Success, vast Numbers prest
Around the Shrine, and made the same Request:
What you (she cry'd) unlearn'd in Arts to please,
Slaves to your selves, and ev'n fatigu'd with Ease,
Who lose a Length of undeserving Days;
Wou'd you usurp the Lover's dear-bought Praise?
To just Contempt, ye vain Pretenders, fall,
The Peoples Fable, and the Scorn of all.
Strait the black Clarion sends a horrid Sound,
Loud Laughs burst out, and bitter Scoffs fly round,
Whispers were heard, with Taunts reviling loud,
And scornful Hisses ran thro' all the Croud.
Last, those who boast of mighty Mischiefs done,
Enslave their Country, or usurp a Throne;
Or who their Glory's dire Foundation laid,
On Sovereigns ruin'd, or on Friends betray'd,
Calm, thinking Villains, whom no Faith can fix,
Of crooked Counsels and dark Politicks;
Of these a gloomy Tribe surround the Throne,
And beg to make th' immortal Treasons known.
The Trumpet roars, long flaky Flames expire,
With Sparks, that seem'd to set the World on fire.
At the dread Sound, pale Mortals stood aghast,
And startled Nature trembled with the Blast.
This having heard and seen, some Pow'r unknown
Strait chang'd the Scene, and snatch'd me from the Throne.
Before my View appear'd a Structure fair,
Its Site uncertain, if in Earth or Air;
With rapid Motion turn'd the Mansion round;
With ceaseless Noise the ringing Walls resound:
Not less in Number were the spacious Doors,
Than Leaves on Trees, or Sands upon the Shores;
Which still unfolded stand, by Night, by Day,
Pervious to Winds, and open ev'ry way.
As Flames by Nature to the Skies ascend,
As weighty Bodies to the Center tend,
As to the Sea returning Rivers roll,
And the touch'd Needle trembles to the Pole:
Hither, as to their proper Place, arise
All various Sounds from Earth, and Seas, and Skies.
Or spoke aloud, or whisper'd in the Ear;
Nor ever Silence, Rest or Peace is here.
As on the smooth Expanse of Crystal Lakes,
The sinking Stone at first a Circle makes;
The trembling Surface, by the Motion stir'd,
Spreads in a second Circle, then a third;
Wide, and more wide, the floating Rings advance,
Fill all the wat'ry Plain, and to the Margin dance.
Thus ev'ry Voice and Sound, when first they break,
On neighb'ring Air a soft Impression make;
Another ambient Circle then they move.
That, in its turn, impels the next above;
Thro' undulating Air the Sounds are sent,
And spread o'er all the fluid Element.
There various News I heard, of Love and Strife,
Of Peace and War, Health, Sickness, Death, and Life;
Of Loss and Gain, of Famine and of Store,
Of Storms at Sea, and Travels on the Shore,
Of Prodigies, and Portents seen in Air,
Of Fires and Plagues, and Stars with blazing Hair,
Of Turns of Fortune, Changes in the State,
The Falls of Fav'rites, Projects of the Great,
Of old Mismanagements, Taxations new;—
All neither wholly false, nor wholly true.
Above, below, without, within, around,
Confus'd, unnumber'd Multitudes are found,
Who pass, repass, advance, and glide away;
Hosts rais'd by Fear, and Phantoms of a Day.
Astrologers, that future Fates foreshew,
Projectors, Quacks, and Lawyers not a few;
And Priests and Party-Zealots, num'rous Bands
With home-born Lyes, or Tales from foreign Lands;
Each talk'd aloud, or in some secret Place,
And wild Impatience star'd in ev'ry Face:
The flying Rumours gather'd as they roll'd,
Scarce any Tale was sooner heard than told;
And all who told it, added something new,
And all who heard it, made Enlargements too,
In ev'ry Ear it spread, on ev'ry Tongue it grew.
Thus flying East and West, and North and South,
News travel'd with Increase from Mouth to Mouth;
So from a Spark, that kindled first by Chance,
With gath'ring Force the quick'ning Flames advance;
Till to the Clouds their curling Heads aspire,
And Tow'rs and Temples sink in Floods of Fire.
When thus ripe Lyes are to perfection sprung,
Full grown, and fit to grace a mortal Tongue,
Thro' thousand Vents, impatient forth they flow,
And rush in Millions on the World below.
Fame sits aloft, and points them out their Course,
Their Date determines, and prescribes their Force:
Some to remain, and some to perish soon,
Or wane and wax alternate like the Moon.
Around a thousand winged Wonders fly,
Born by the Trumpet's Blast, and scatter'd thro' the Sky.
There, at one Passage, oft you might survey
A Lye and Truth contending for the way;
And long 'twas doubtful, both so closely pent,
Which first should issue thro' the narrow Vent:
At last agreed, together out they fly,
Inseparable now, the Truth and Lye;
The strict Companions are for ever join'd,
And this or that unmix'd, no Mortal e'er shall find.
While thus I stood, intent to see and hear,
One came, methought, and whisper'd in my Ear;
What cou'd thus high thy rash Ambition raise?
Art thou, fond Youth, a Candidate for Praise?
'Tis true, said I, not void of Hopes I came,
For who so fond as youthful Bards of Fame?
But few, alas! the casual Blessing boast,
So hard to gain, so easy to be lost:
How vain that second Life in others Breath,
Th' Estate which Wits inherit after Death!
Ease, Health, and Life, for this we must resign,
(Unsure the Tenure, but how vast the Fine!)
The Great Man's Curse without the Gains endure,
Be envy'd, wretched, and be flatter'd poor;
All luckless Wits our Enemies profest,
And all successful, jealous Friends at best.
Nor Fame I slight, nor for her Favours call;
She comes unlook'd for, if she comes at all:
But if the Purchase costs so dear a Price,
As soothing Folly, or exalting Vice:
Oh! if the Muse must flatter lawless Sway,
And follow still where Fortune leads the way;
Or if no Basis bear my rising Name,
But the fall'n Ruins of Another's Fame:
Then teach me, Heaven! to scorn the guilty Bays;
Drive from my Breast that wretched Lust of Praise;
Unblemish'd let me live, or die unknown,
Oh grant an honest Fame, or grant me none!
NOTES.
S OME modern Criticks, from a pretended Refinement of Taste, have declar'd themselves unable to relish allegorical Poems. 'Tis not easy to penetrate into the meaning of this Criticism; for if
Fable
be allow'd one of the chief Beauties, or as
Aristotle
calls it, the very
Soul
of Poetry, 'tis hard to comprehend how that Fable should be the less valuable for having a Moral. The Ancients constantly made use of Allegories: My Lord
Bacon
has compos'd an express Treatise in proof of this, entitled,
The Wisdom of the Antients;
where the Reader may see several particular Fictions exemplify'd and explain'd with great Clearness, Judgment and Learning. The Incidents indeed, by which the Allegory is convey'd, must be vary'd, according to the different Genius or Manners of different Times: and they should never be spun too long, or too much clogg'd with trivial Circumstances, or little Particularities. We find an uncommon Charm in Truth, when it is convey'd by this Side-way to our Ʋ nderstanding; and 'tis observable, that even in the most ignorant Ages this way of Writing has found Reception. Almost all the Poems in the old
Provençal
had this Turn; and from these it was that
Petrarch
took the Idea of his Poetry. We have his
Trionfi
in this kind; and
Boccace
pursu'd in the same Track. Soon after
Chaucer
introduc'd it here, whose
Romaunt of the Rose, Court of Love, Flower and the Leaf, House of Fame,
and some others of his Writings are Master-pieces of this sort. In Epick Poetry, 'tis true, too nice and exact a Pursuit of the Allegory is justly esteem'd a Fault; and
Chaucer
had the Discernment to avoid it in his
Knight
's
Tale,
which was an Attempt towards an Epick Poem.
Ariosto,
with less judgment, gave intirely into it in his
Orlando;
which tho' carry'd to an Excess, had yet so much Reputation in
Italy,
that
Tasso
(who reduc'd Heroick Poetry to the juster Standard of the Ancients) was forc'd to prefix to his Work a scrupulous Explanation of the Allegory of it, to which the Fable it-self could scarce have directed his Readers. Our Countryman
Spencer
follow'd, whose Poem is almost intirely allegorical, and imitates the manner of
Ariosto
rather than that of
Tasso.
Ʋ pon the whole, one may observe this sort of Writing (however discontinu'd of late) was in all Times so far from being rejected by the best Poets, that some of them have rather err'd by insisting in it too closely, and carrying it too far: And that to infer from thence that the Allegory it self is vicious, is a presumptuous Contradiction to the Judgment and Practice of the greatest Genius's, both ancient and modern.
Pag.
II.
ver.
3.
So
Zembla
's Rocks,
&c.
Tho' a short Verisimilitude be not requir'd in the Descriptions of this visionary and allegorical kind of Poetry, which admits of every wild Object that Fancy may present in a Dream, and where it is sufficient if the moral Meaning atone for the Improbability: Yet Men are naturally so desirous of Truth, that a Reader is generally pleas'd, in such a Case, with some Excuse or Allusion that seems to reconcile the Description to Probability and Nature. The Simile here is of that sort, and renders it not wholly unlikely that a
Rock
of
Ice
should remain for ever, by mentioning something like it in the Northern Regions, agreeing with the Accounts of our modern Travellers.
P.
12.
ver.
1.
Four Faces had the Dome,
&c.
The Temple is describ'd to be square, the four Fronts with open Gates facing the different Quarters of the World, as an Intimation that all Nations of the Earth may alike be receiv'd into it. The Western Front is of
Grecian
Architecture: the Dorick Order was peculiarly sacred to Heroes and Warriors. Those whose Statues are here mention'd, were the first Names of old
Greece
in Arms and Arts.
Pag.
13.
ver.
3.
There great
Alcides,
&c.
This Figure of
Hercules
is drawn with an eye to the Position of the famous Statue of
Farnese.
Pag.
14.
ver.
4.
And the great Founder of the
Persian
Name.
Cyrus
was the Beginner of the
Persian,
as
Nihus
was of the
Assyrian
Monarchy. The
Magi
and
Chaldeans
(the chief of whom was
Zoroaster
) employ'd their Studies upon Magick and Astrology, which was in a manner almost all the Learning of the antient
Asian
People. We have scarce any Account of a moral Philosopher except
Confucius,
the great Lawgiver of the
Chinese,
who liv'd about two thousand Years ago.
Pag.
15.
ver.
2.
Egypt
's Priests,
&c.
The Learning of the old
Egyptian
Priests consisted for the most part in Geometry and Astronomy: They also preserv'd the History of their Nation. Their greatest Hero upon Record is
Sesostris,
whose Actions and Conquests may be seen at large in
Diodorus,
&c. He is said to have caus'd the Kings he vanquish'd to draw him in his Chariot. The Posture of his Statue, in these Verses, is correspondent to the Description which
Herodotus
gives of one of this Prince's Statues remaining in his own time.
Pag.
15.
ver.
11.
Of
Gothick
Structure was the Northern Side.
The Architecture is agreeable to that part of the World. The Learning of the
Northern
Nations lay more obscure than that of the rest.
Zamolxis
was the Disciple of
Pythagoras,
who taught the Immortality of the Soul to the
Scythians. Odin,
or
Woden,
was the great Legislator and Hero of the
Goths.
They tell us of him that being subject to Fits, he persuaded his Followers, that during those Trances he receiv'd Inspirations from whence he dictated his Laws. He is said to have been the Inventor of the
Runic
Characters.
Pag.
16.
ver.
5.
Druids
and
Bards,
&c.
These were the Priests and Poets of those People, so celebrated for their savage Virtue. Those heroick Barbarians accounted it a Dishonour to die in their Beds, and rush'd on to certain Death in the Prospect of an After-Life, and for the Glory of a Song from their Bards in Praise of their Actions.
Pag.
17.
ver.
ult.
The Youth that all things but himself subdu'd.
Alexander
the Great: The
Tiara
was the Crown peculiar to the
Asian
Princes: His Desire to be thought the Son of
Jupiter Ammon
caus'd him to wear the Horns of that God, and to represent the same upon his Coins, which was continu'd by several of his Successors.
Pag.
18.
ver.
10.
Timoleon
glorious in his Brother's Blood.
Timoleon
had sav'd the Life of his Brother
Timophanes
in the Battel between the
Argives
and
Corinthians;
but afterwards kill'd him when he affected the Tyranny, preferring his Duty to his Country to all the Obligations of Blood.
Pag.
19.
ver.
3.
—He whom
Athens
did expel,
In all things just, but when he sign'd the Shell.
Aristides,
who for his great Integrity was distinguish'd by the Appellation of
the Just.
When his Countrymen would have banish'd him by the
Ostracism,
where it was the Custom for every Man to sign the Name of the Person he voted to Exile in an Oyster-Shell; a Peasant, who could not write, came to
Aristides
to do it for him, who readily sign'd his own Name.
Vide Plutarch.
See the same Author of
Phocion, Agis,
&c.
Pag.
19.
ver.
9.
But in the Center of the hallow'd Quire,
&c.
In the midst of the Temple, nearest the Throne of
Fame,
are plac'd the greatest Names in Learning of all Antiquity. These are describ'd in such Attitudes as express their different Characters. The Columns on which they are rais'd are adorn'd with Sculptures, taken from the most striking Subjects of their Works; which are so executed, as that the Sculpture bears a Resemblance in its Manner and Character, to the Manner and Character of their Writings.
Pag.
21.
ver.
13.
Four Swans sustain,
&c.
Pindar
being seated in a Chariot, alludes to the Chariot-races he celebrated in the
Grecian
Games. The Swans are the Emblems of the
Ode,
as their soaring Posture intimates the Sublimity and Activity of his Genius.
Neptune
presided over the
Isthmian,
and
Jupiter
over the
Olympian
Games.
Pag.
22.
ver.
13.
Pleas'd with
Alcaeus
Manly Rage t' infuse
The softer Spirit of the
Sapphick
Muse.
This expresses the mixt Character of the Odes of
Horace.
The second of these Verses alludes to that Line of his:
Spiritum Graiae tenuem Camoenae.
As another which follows, to that,
Exegi Monumentum aere perennius.
The Action of the
Doves
hints at a Passage in the 4th Ode of his third Book.
Me fabulosae Vulture in Appulo,
Altricis extra limen Apuliae,
Ludo fatigatumque somno,
Fronde nova puerum Palumbes
Texêre; mirum quod foret omnibus—
Ut tuto ab atris corpore viperis
Dormirem & ursis: ut permerer sacra
Lauroque, collataque myrto,
Non sine Dis animosus infans.
Which may be thus English'd;
While yet a Child, I chanc'd to stray,
And in a Desart sleeping lay;
The savage Race withdrew, nor dar'd
To touch the Muses future Bard:
But
Cytheraea
's gentle Dove
Myrtles
and
Bays
around me spread,
And crown'd your Infant Poet's Head,
Sacred to
Musick
and to
Love.
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