Page:The Dunciad - Alexander Pope (1743).djvu/154

Here, in a dusky vale where Lethe rolls,^{[I 1]}
Old Bavius sits,^{[R 1]} to dip poetic souls,^{[I 2]}
25 And blunt the sense, and fit it for a skull
Of solid proof, impenetrably dull:
Instant, when dipt, away they wing their flight,
Where Brown and Mears^{[R 2]} unbar the gates of Light,^{[I 3]}

Remarks

years, and died of too large a dose, in the year 1692.

1. Ver. 24. Old Bavius sits,] Bavius was an ancient Poet, celebrated by Virgil for the like cause as Bays by our author, though not in so christian-like a manner: For heathenishly it is declared by Virgil of Bavius, that he ought to be hated and detested for his evil works; Qui Bavium non odit; whereas we have often had occasion to observe our Poet's great Good nature and Mercifulness thro' the whole course of this Poem. Scribl.
   Mr. Dennis warmly contends, that Bavius was no inconsiderable author; nay, that "He and Mævius had (even in Augustus's days) a very formidable party at Rome, who thought them much superior to Virgil and Horace: For (saith he) I cannot believe they would have fixed that eternal brand upon them, if they had not been coxcombs in more than ordinary credit." Rem. on Pr. Arthur, part ii. c. 1. An argument which, if this poem should last, will conduce to the honour of the gentlemen of the Dunciad.
2. Ver. 28. Brown and Mears] Booksellers, Printers for any body.—The allegory of the souls of the dull coming forth in the form of books, dressed in calf's leather, and being let abroad in vast

Imitations

1. Ver. 23. Here in a dusky vale, &c.]
   ———Videt Æneas in valle reducta
   Seclusum nemus ————
   Lethæumque domos placidas qui prænatat amnem, &c.
   Hunc circum innumerae gentes, &c.Virg. Æn. vi.
2. Ver. 24. Old Bavius sits, to dip poetic souls,] Alluding to the story of Thetis dipping Achilles to render him impenetrable:
   At pater Anchises penitus convalle virenti
   Inclusas animas, superumque ad lumen ituras,
   Lustrabat ———Virg. Æn. vi.
3. Ver. 28. Unbar the gates of Light,] An Hemistic of Milton.