STREP HON. O'er golden fands let rich Pactolus flow, DAPHNI S. Celestial Venus haunts Idalia's groves; If Windfor-fhades delight the matchlefs maid, STREP HON. 65 All nature mourns, the fkies relent in fhow'rs, Hufh'd are the birds, and clos'd the drooping flow'rs; VARIATIONS. VER. 61. It food thus at first, Let rich Iberia golden fleeces boast, Her purple wool the proud Affyrian coast, VER. 61. Originally thus in the MS. Go, flow'ry wreath, and let my Sylvia know, DAPHNIS. Go, tuneful bird, that pleas'd the woods fo long, Of Amaryllis learn a fweeter fong; To Heav'n arifing then her notes convey, For Heav'n alone is worthy fuch a lay. · P. W. VER. 69, &c. These verses were thus at first : All nature mourns, the birds their fongs deny, P.. IMITATIONS. VER. 69. All nature mourns,] "Aret ager, vitio moriens fitit aëris herba," &c. Phyllidis adventu noftrae nemus omne virebit." Virg. P. If Delia fmile, the flow'rs begin to spring, DAPHNI S. All nature laughs, the groves are fresh and fair, The Sun's mild luftre warms the vital air; If Sylvia smiles new glories gild the fhore, STREP HON. In spring the fields, in autumn hills I love, At morn the plains, at noon the fhady grove, But Delia always; abfent from her fight, 75 Nor plains at morn, nor groves at noon delight. 80 DAPHNI S. Sylvia's like autumn ripe, yet mild as May, More bright than noon, yet fresh as early day; Ev'n fpring displeases, when she shines not here; But bleft with her, 'tis fpring throughout the year. STREP HON. Say, Daphnis, fay, in what glad foil appears, 85 A wondrous Tree that facred Monarchs bears; Tell me but this, and I'll difclaim the prize, REMARKS. VER. 86. A wondrous Tree that facred Monarchs bears;] An allufion to the Royal Oak, in which Charles II. had been hid from the pursuit after the battle at Worcester. P. This is one of the most trifling and puerile conceits in any of our author's works; except what follows of the Thistle and the Lily. VOL. I. F Nay DAPHNI S. Nay tell me first, in what more happy fields The Thistle springs, to which the Lily yields: And then a nobler prize I will refign; For Sylvia, charming Sylvia fhall be thine. DAMON. 90 Cease to contend, for, Daphnis, I decree, The bowl to Strephon, and the lamb to thee: Bleft Swains, whose Nymphs in ev'ry grace excel; Bleft Nymphs, whose Swains those graces fing fo well! Now rife, and hafte to yonder woodbine bow'rs, 97 A foft retreat from fudden vernal show'rs; The turf with rural dainties fhall be crown'd, While op'ning blooms diffuse their sweets around. For fee! the gath'ring flocks to fhelter tend, And from the Pleiads fruitful fhow'rs defcend. VARIATIONS. VER. 99. was originally, The turf with country dainties fhall be spread, REMARKS. ΙΟΙ P. VER. 93. Ceafe to contend,] An author of ftrong fense, but not of equal tafte and feeling, and who preferred the dungeons of the Strand to the valleys of Arcadia, fays, "That every intelligent reader fickens at the mention of the crook and the pipe, the fheep and the kids." This appears to be an unjust and harsh condemnation of all Paftoral Poetry. And the fame author depreciates and defpifes the Amynta of Taflo, and the Pastor Fido of Guarini, two pieces of exquifite poetry, and which have gained a lasting applaufe. IMITATIONS. VER. 90. The Thifle fprings, to which the Lily yields:] Alludes to the device of the Scots Monarchs, the Thistle worn by Queen Anne; and to the arms of France, the Fleur de lys. The two riddles are in imitation of those in Virg. Ecl. iii. "Dic quibus in terris infcripti nomina Regum P. A mixture of British and Grecian ideas may juftly be deemed a blemish in thefe Paftorals: and propriety is certainly violated, when he couples Pactolus with Thames, and Windfor with Hybla. Complaints of immoderate heat, and wishes to be conveyed to cooling caverns, when uttered by the inhabitants of Greece, have a decorum and confiftency, which they totally lofe in the character of a British fhepherd: and Theocritus, during the ardors of Sirius, muft have heard the murmurings of a brook, and the whispers of a pine, with more home-felt pleasure, than Pope could poffibly experience upon the fame occafion. We can never completely relifh, or adequately understand any author, especially any ancient, except we keep in our eye, his climate, his country, and his age. Pope himself informs us, in a Note, that he judiciously omitted the following verfe, And lift'ning wolves grow milder as they hear, on account of the abfurdity, which Spenfer overlooked, of introducing wolves into England. But on this principle, which is certainly a just one, may it not be afked why he should speak, the fcene lying in Windfor Foreft, of the fultry Sirius, of the grateful clusters of grapes, of a pipe of reeds, the antique fiftula, of thanking Ceres for a plentiful harvest, of the facrifice of lambs, with many other inftances that might be adduced to this purpose. That Pope however was fenfible of the importance of adapting images to the scene of action, is obvious from the following example of his judgment; for in translating Audiit Eurotas, juffitque edifcere Lauros, he has dexterously dropt the laurels appropriated to Eurotas, as he is fpeaking of the river Thames, and has rendered it, Thames heard the numbers, as he flow'd along, And bade his Willows learn the moving fong. In the paffages which Pope has imitated from Theocritus, and from his Latin Translator Virgil, he has merited but little applause. It may not be unentertaining to fee how coldly and unpoetically Pope has copied the fubfequent appeal to the Nymphs on the death of Daphnis, in comparison of Milton on Lycidas, one of his juvenile, but one of his moft exquifite pieces. Where were ye, Nymphs, when the remorseless deep F 2 For For neither were ye playing on the steep Nor yet where Deva spreads her wizard stream. LYCIDAS. The mention of places remarkably romantic, the fuppofed habitations of Druids, Bards, and Wizards, is far more pleafing to the imagination, than the obvious introduction of Cam and Ifis, as feats of the Muses. |