EPISTLES CRITICAL AND DIDACTIC. EPISTLE I. On the DIFFERENT STYLES OF POETRY. ΤΟ HENRY LORD VISC. BOLINGBROKE. FROM THOMAS PARNELL, D. D. Vatibus addere calcar, Ut studio majore petant Helicona virentem. Hor. I HATE the vulgar with untuneful mind; Hearts uninspir'd, and senses unrefin'd. Hence, ye prophane: I raise the sounding string, When Greece could truth in Mystic Fable shroud, And with delight instruct the listening crowd, An ancient Poet (Time has lost his name) Deliver'd strains on Verse to future fame. Still, as he sung, he touch'd the trembling lyre, And felt the notes a rising warmth inspire. Ye sweetening Graces, in the music throng, Assist my genius, and retrieve the song From dark oblivion. See, my genius goes "WIT is the Muse's horse, and bears on high The daring Rider to the Muses' sky: Who, while his strength to mount aloft he tries, "At first, he riseth o'er a land of toil, Whose Point of Epigram is sunk to Pun; On scatter'd letters, raise a painful scheme; Would all the brightest strokes of verse require, And (if my fire and fears aright presage) Shall clear new ground, and grots and caves repair, Then, while a lover treads a lonely walk, Resound through verse, and with a false pretence If tricks on words acquire an endless name, At this the Poet stood concern'd a while, "By a cold region next the Rider goes, Where all lies cover'd in eternal snows; Where no bright genius drives the chariot high, To glitter on the ground, and gild the sky. Bleak level Realm, where Frigid Styles abound, Where never yet a daring thought was found, But counted feet is Poetry defin'd; |