Book I.
The Dunciad.
61
As clocks to weight their nimble motion owe,
The wheels above urg'd by the load below:
185 Me Emptiness, and Dulness could inspire,
And were my Elasticity, and Fire.
Some Dæmon stole my pen (forgive th'offence)
And once betray'd me into common sense:
Else all my Prose and Verse were much the same;
190 This, prose on stilts; that, poetry fall'n lame.
Did on the stage my Fops appear confin'd?
My Life gave ampler lessons to mankind.
Did the dead Letter unsuccessful prove?
The brisk Example never fail'd to move.
195 Yet sure had Heav'n decreed to save the State,[I. 1]
Heav'n had decreed these works a longer date.
Could Troy be sav'd by any single hand,[I. 2]
This grey-goose weapon must have made her stand.
What can I now my Fletcher[R. 1] cast aside,
200 Take up the Bible, once my better guide?
The wheels above urg'd by the load below:
185 Me Emptiness, and Dulness could inspire,
And were my Elasticity, and Fire.
Some Dæmon stole my pen (forgive th'offence)
And once betray'd me into common sense:
Else all my Prose and Verse were much the same;
190 This, prose on stilts; that, poetry fall'n lame.
Did on the stage my Fops appear confin'd?
My Life gave ampler lessons to mankind.
Did the dead Letter unsuccessful prove?
The brisk Example never fail'd to move.
195 Yet sure had Heav'n decreed to save the State,[I. 1]
Heav'n had decreed these works a longer date.
Could Troy be sav'd by any single hand,[I. 2]
This grey-goose weapon must have made her stand.
What can I now my Fletcher[R. 1] cast aside,
200 Take up the Bible, once my better guide?
Remarks
- ↑ Ver. 199: my Fletcher] A familiar manner of speaking, used by modern Critics, of a favourite author. Bays might as justly speak thus of Fletcher, as
Imitations
