Book IV.
The Dunciad.
205
O Muse! relate (for you can tell alone,
620 Wits have short Memories,[R 1] and Dunces none)
Relate, who first, who last resign'd to rest;
Whose Heads she partly, whose completely blest;
What Charms could Faction, what Ambition lull,
The Venal quiet, and intrance the Dull;[R 2]
625 'Till drown'd was Sense, and Shame, and Right, and Wrong—
O sing, and hush the Nations with thy Song!
******
In vain, in vain,–the all-composing Hour
Resistless falls: The Muse obeys the Pow'r.
620 Wits have short Memories,[R 1] and Dunces none)
Relate, who first, who last resign'd to rest;
Whose Heads she partly, whose completely blest;
What Charms could Faction, what Ambition lull,
The Venal quiet, and intrance the Dull;[R 2]
625 'Till drown'd was Sense, and Shame, and Right, and Wrong—
O sing, and hush the Nations with thy Song!
******
In vain, in vain,–the all-composing Hour
Resistless falls: The Muse obeys the Pow'r.
Remarks.
- ↑ Ver. 620. Wits have short Memories,] This seems to be the reason why the Poets, whenever they give us a Catalogue, constantly call for help on the Muses, who, as the Daughters of Memory, are obliged not to forget any thing. So Homer, Iliad 2.And Virgil, Æn. 7.Πληθὺν δ᾽ οὐκ ἂν ἐγὼ μυθήσομαι οὐδ᾽ ὀνομήνω
Εἰ μὴ Ὀλυμπιάδες Μοῡσαι, Διὸς αἰγίοχοιο
Θυγατέρες, μνησαίαθ᾽—But our Poet had yet another reason for putting this Task upon the Muse, that all besides being asleep, she only could relate what passed. Scribl.Et meministis enim, Divæ, & memorare potestis:
Ad nos vix tenuis famæ perlabitur aura. - ↑ Ver. 624. The Venal quiet, and intrance the Dull;] It would be a Problem worthy the solution of Aristarchus himself, and (perhaps not of less importance than some of those weighty questions so long and warmly disputed amongst Homer's Scholiasts, as, in which hand Venus was wounded, and what Jupiter whisper'd in the ear of Juno) to inform us, which required the greatest effort of our Goddess's power, to intrance the Dull, or to quiet the Venal. For tho' the Venal may be more unruly than the Dull, yet, on the other hand, it demands a much greater expence of her Virtue to intrance than barely to quiet. Scribl.
