Epistles.
67
If, for his father's sins condemn'd to write, 315
Some young half-feather'd poet takes a flight,
And to my touchstone brings a puny ode,
Which Swift, and Pope, and Prior, would explode;
Tho' ev'ry stanza glitters thick with stars,
And goddesses descend in ivory cars, 320
Is it for me to prove in ev'ry part
The piece irregular by laws of art?
His genius looks but awkward, yet his fate
May raise him to be premier bard of state;
I therefore bribe his suffrage to my fame, 325
Revere his judgment and applaud his flame;
Then cry, in seeming transport, while I speak,
"'Tis well for Pindar that he dealt in Greek!"
He, conscious of desert, accepts the praise,
And, courteous, with increase the debt repays. 330
Boileau 's a mushroom if compar'd to me,
And, Horace, I dispute the palm with thee!
Both, ravish'd, sing Te Phœbum for success;
Rise swift, ye Laurels! Boy! bespeak the press.—
Thus on imaginary praise we feed; 335
Each writes till all refuse to print or read:
From the records of fame condemn'd to pass
To Brisquet's calendar[1], a rubric ass.
Few, wondrous few! are eagle-ey'd to find
A plain disease or blemish in the mind: 340
Some young half-feather'd poet takes a flight,
And to my touchstone brings a puny ode,
Which Swift, and Pope, and Prior, would explode;
Tho' ev'ry stanza glitters thick with stars,
And goddesses descend in ivory cars, 320
Is it for me to prove in ev'ry part
The piece irregular by laws of art?
His genius looks but awkward, yet his fate
May raise him to be premier bard of state;
I therefore bribe his suffrage to my fame, 325
Revere his judgment and applaud his flame;
Then cry, in seeming transport, while I speak,
"'Tis well for Pindar that he dealt in Greek!"
He, conscious of desert, accepts the praise,
And, courteous, with increase the debt repays. 330
Boileau 's a mushroom if compar'd to me,
And, Horace, I dispute the palm with thee!
Both, ravish'd, sing Te Phœbum for success;
Rise swift, ye Laurels! Boy! bespeak the press.—
Thus on imaginary praise we feed; 335
Each writes till all refuse to print or read:
From the records of fame condemn'd to pass
To Brisquet's calendar[1], a rubric ass.
Few, wondrous few! are eagle-ey'd to find
A plain disease or blemish in the mind: 340
- ↑ Brisquet, jester to Francis I. of France, kept a calendar of fools.
