Epistles.
61
Most spoil the boon that Nature's pleas'd t'impart
By too much varnish or by want of art:
By solid science all her gifts are grac'd, 150
Like gems new polish'd, and with gold enchas'd.
Votes to th' unletter'd 'squire the laws allow,
As Rome receiv'd dictators from the plough:
But arts, address, and force of genius, join
To make a Hanmer in the senate shine. 155
Yet one presiding pow'r in ev'ry breast
Receives a stronger sanction than the rest;
And they who study and discern it well
Act unrestrain'd, without design excel,
But court contempt, and err without redress, 160
Missing the master-talent they possess.
Whiston perhaps in Euclid may succeed,
But shall I trust him to reform my creed?
In sweet assemblage ev'ry blooming grace
Fix Love's bright throne in Teraminta's face, 165
With which her faultless shape and air agree,
But, wanting wit, she strives to repartee;
And, ever prone her matchless form to wrong,
Lest Envy should be dumb she lends her tongue.
By long experience D———y may, no doubt, 170
Ensnare a gudgeon, or sometimes a trout;
Yet Dryden once exclaim'd (in partial spite)
"He fish!"—because the man attempts to write.
Oh! if the water-nymphs were kind to none
But those the Muses bathe in Helicon, 175
By too much varnish or by want of art:
By solid science all her gifts are grac'd, 150
Like gems new polish'd, and with gold enchas'd.
Votes to th' unletter'd 'squire the laws allow,
As Rome receiv'd dictators from the plough:
But arts, address, and force of genius, join
To make a Hanmer in the senate shine. 155
Yet one presiding pow'r in ev'ry breast
Receives a stronger sanction than the rest;
And they who study and discern it well
Act unrestrain'd, without design excel,
But court contempt, and err without redress, 160
Missing the master-talent they possess.
Whiston perhaps in Euclid may succeed,
But shall I trust him to reform my creed?
In sweet assemblage ev'ry blooming grace
Fix Love's bright throne in Teraminta's face, 165
With which her faultless shape and air agree,
But, wanting wit, she strives to repartee;
And, ever prone her matchless form to wrong,
Lest Envy should be dumb she lends her tongue.
By long experience D———y may, no doubt, 170
Ensnare a gudgeon, or sometimes a trout;
Yet Dryden once exclaim'd (in partial spite)
"He fish!"—because the man attempts to write.
Oh! if the water-nymphs were kind to none
But those the Muses bathe in Helicon, 175
