Page:An Essay on Criticism - Pope (1711).pdf/16

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Those Rules of old discover'd, not devis'd,
Are Nature still, but Nature Methodiz'd;
Nature, like Monarchy, is but restrain'd
By the same Laws which first herself ordain'd.
First learned Greece just Precepts did indite,
When to repress, and when indulge our Flight:
High on Parnassus' Top her Sons she show'd,
And pointed out those arduous Paths they trod,
Held from afar, aloft, th' Immortal Prize,
And urg'd the rest by equal Steps to rise;
From great Examples useful Rules were giv'n,
She drew from them what they deriv'd from Heav'n,
The gen'rous Critick fann'd the Poet's Fire,
And taught the World, with Reason to Admire.
Then Criticism the Muses Handmaid prov'd,
To dress her Charms, and make her more belov'd;
But following Wits from that Intention stray'd;$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
Who cou'd not win the Mistress, woo'd the Maid,
Set up themselves, and drove a sep'rate Trade:

Against