126
The Dunciad.
Book III.
Oh born to see what none can see awake!
Behold the wonders of th' oblivious Lake.
45 Thou, yet unborn, hast touch'd this sacred shore;
The hand of Bavius drench'd thee o'er and o'er.
But blind to former as to future fate,
What mortal knows his pre-existent state?
Who knows how long thy transmigrating soul
50 Might from Bœotian to Bœotian roll?[R 1]
How many Dutchmen she vouchsaf'd to thrid?
How many stages thro' old Monks she rid?
And all who since, in mild benighted days,
Mix'd the Owl's ivy with the Poet's bays.[I 1]
55 As man's Mæanders to the vital spring
Roll all their tides, then back their circles bring;
Or whirligigs, twirl'd round by skilful swain,
Suck the thread in, then yield it out again:
All nonsense thus, of old or modern date,
60 Shall in thee centre, from thee circulate.
Behold the wonders of th' oblivious Lake.
45 Thou, yet unborn, hast touch'd this sacred shore;
The hand of Bavius drench'd thee o'er and o'er.
But blind to former as to future fate,
What mortal knows his pre-existent state?
Who knows how long thy transmigrating soul
50 Might from Bœotian to Bœotian roll?[R 1]
How many Dutchmen she vouchsaf'd to thrid?
How many stages thro' old Monks she rid?
And all who since, in mild benighted days,
Mix'd the Owl's ivy with the Poet's bays.[I 1]
55 As man's Mæanders to the vital spring
Roll all their tides, then back their circles bring;
Or whirligigs, twirl'd round by skilful swain,
Suck the thread in, then yield it out again:
All nonsense thus, of old or modern date,
60 Shall in thee centre, from thee circulate.
Remarks
- ↑ Ver. 50. Might from Bœotian, &c.] Bœotia lay under the ridicule of the Wits formerly, as Ireland does now; tho' it produced one of the greatest Poets and one of the greatest Generals of Greece:Bœotum crasso jurares aere natum.Horat.
Imitations
- ↑ Ver. 54. Mix'd the Owl's ivy with the Poet's bays,]———fine tempora circum
Inter victrices hederam tibi serpere lauros.Virg. Ecl. viii.
