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From vulgar bounds with brave diforder part,

355

160

And fnatch a grace beyond the reach of art,
Which, without paffing through the judgment, gains
The heart, and all its end at once attains.
In prospects thus, fome objects please our eyes,
Which out of nature's common order rife,
The shapeless rock, or hanging precipice.
Great Wits fometimes may gloriously offend,
And rife to faults true Critics dare not mend.
But though the Ancients thus their rules invade
(As Kings dispense with laws themselves have made);
Moderns, beware! or, if you must offend
Against the precept, ne'er tranfgrefs its end;
Let it be seldom, and compell'd by need:
And have, at least, their precedent to plead.
The Critic elfe proceeds without remorse,
Seizes your fame, and puts his laws in force.

I know there are, to whose presumptuous thoughts

Those freer beauties, ev'n in them, feem faults.
Some figures monstrous and mis-shap'd appear,
Confider'd fingly, or beheld too near,

Which, but proportion'd to their light, or place,
Due distance reconciles to form and grace.
A prudent chief not always must display
His powers in equal ranks, and fair array,

165

170

175

But

VARIATION.

After ver. 158. the first edition reads,

But care in poetry must still be had,

It afks difcretion ev'n in running mad;
And though the ancients, &c.

And what are now ver. 159, 160, followed ver. 151.

But with th' occafion and the place comply,
Conceal his force, nay fometimes feem to fly.
Those oft are ftratagems which errors feem,
Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream.

Still green with bays each ancient Altar stands,
Above the reach of facrilegious hands;
Secure from Flames, from Envy's fiercer rage,
Destructive War, and all-involving Age.

See from each clime the learn'd their incenfe bring!
Hear, in all tongues confenting Pæans ring!
In praise so just let every voice be join'd,
And fill the general chorus of mankind.
Hail, Bards triumphant! born in happier days;
Immortal heirs of universal praise !
Whofe honours with increase of ages grow,
As ftreams roll down, enlarging as they flow;
Nations unborn your mighty names shall found,
And worlds applaud that must not yet be found!
O may fome spark of your celestial fire,
The laft, the meaneft of your fons infpire,

180

190

195

(That, on weak wings, from far purfues your flights;
Glows while he reads, but trembles as he writes)
To teach vain wits a fcience little known,
T'admire fuperior fenfe, and doubt their own:

Ver. 178. Ed. 1.

VARIATIONS.

200

Of

Oft hide his force, nay feem fometimes to fly..
Ver. 184. Ed. 1. Destructive war, and all-devouring Age.
Ver. 186. Ed. 1.

Hear, in all tongues applauding Pæans ring!

Ver. 197. Ed. 1. That with weak wings, &c.

388250

Of all the caufes which confpire to blind
Man's erring judgment, and misguide the mind,
What the weak head with ftrongest bias rules,
Is PRIDE, the never-failing vice of fools.
Whatever Nature has in worth deny'd,

She gives in large recruits of needful Pride!
For as in bodies, thus in fouls, we find

What wants in blood and spirits, fwell'd with wind:
Pride, where Wit fails, fteps in to our defence,

And fills up all the mighty void of sense.
If once right reafon drives that cloud away,
Truth breaks upon us with resistless day.
Trust not yourself; but, your defects to know,
Make ufe of every friend-and every foe.
A little learning is a dangerous thing!
Drink deep, or tafte not the Pierian spring :
There fhallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely fobers us again.
Fir'd at first fight with what the Mufe imparts,
In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts,
While, from the bounded level of our mind,
Short views we take, nor fee the lengths behind;
But more advanc'd, behold with strange surprize
New diftant scenes of endless science rife!

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210

215

220

So

VARIATIONS.

Ver. 219.

Fir'd with the charms fair Science does impart, In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Art. Ver. 223. But more advanc'd, furvey, &c.

So pleas'd at firft the towering Alps we try,
Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky,
Th' eternal fnows appear already past,

And the first clouds and mountains feem the laft:

But, those attain'd, we tremble to furvey
The growing labours of the lengthen'd way,
Th' increafing prospect tires our wandering eyes,
Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise !
A perfect judge will read each work of Wit
With the same spirit that its author writ:
Survey the WHOLE, nor feek flight faults to find

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230

235

Where nature moves, and rapture warms the mind;
Nor lofe, for that malignant dull delight,

The generous pleasure to be charm'd with wit.
But, in fuch lays as neither ebb nor flow,
Correctly cold, and regularly low,

That, fhunning faults, one quiet tenour keep;
We cannot blame indeed-but we may fleep.
In wit, as Nature, what affects our hearts
Is not th' exactness of peculiar parts;
'Tis not a lip, or eye, we beauty call,
But the joint force and full refult of all.

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245

Thus when we view fome well-proportion'd dome, (The world's just wonder, and ev'n thinë, O Rome!)

VARIATION.

Ver. 225.

So pleas'd at firft the towering Alps to try,

Fill'd with ideas of fair Italy,

The traveller beholds with chearful eyes

The leffening vales, and feems to tread the fkies.

No

No fingle parts unequally furprize,

All comes united to th' admiring eyes;

250

No monftrous height, or breadth, or length appear; The Whole at once is bold, and regular.

Whoever thinks a faultlefs piece to fee,

Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er fhall be.
In every work regard the writer's end,

255

Since none can compass more than they intend;
And if the means be juft, the conduct true,
Applaufe, in fpite of trivial faults, is due.
As men of breeding, fometimes men of wit,
T'avoid great errors, must the less commit :
Neglect the rules each verbal Critic lays,
For not to know fome trifles, is a praise.
Moft Critics, fond of fome fubfervient art,
Still make the Whole depend upon a Part:

They talk of principles, but notions prize,

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265

And all to one lov'd folly facrifice.

Once on a time, La Mancha's Knight, they say,
A certain Bard encountering on the way,
Difcours'd in terms as juft, with looks as fage,
As e'er could Dennis, of the Grecian stage;
Concluding all were defperate fots and fools,
Who durft depart from Ariftotle's rules,

270

Our

VARIATIONS.

Ver. 259. As men of breeding, oft the men of wit. Ver. 265. They talk of principles, but parts they prize. Ver. 270. As e'er could Dennis of the laws o' th' stage. Ver. 272. Ed. 1. That durft, &c.

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