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Churches and chapels instantly it reach'd;

(St. James's first, for leaden G

preach'd); 104

Then catch'd the schools; the Hall scarce kept awake:

The Convocation gaped, but could not speak :

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Lost was the nation's sense, nor could be found,

While the long solemn unison went round:

Wide, and more wide, it spread o'er all the realm;
Even Palinurus nodded at the helm:

"The vapour mild o'er each committee crept; Unfinish'd treaties in each office slept;

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And chiefless armies dozed out the campaign;
And navies yawn'd for orders on the main." 105
O Muse! relate (for you can tell alone,

Wits have short memories, and dunces none,) 106

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a god, and of powerful effects. Nor is it out of nature; most long and grave counsels concluding in this very manner: nor yet without authority, the incomparable Spenser having ended one of the most considerable of his works with a roar; but then it is the roar of a lion, the effects whereof (as here of the yawn) are described as the catastrophe of the poem.

104 The progress of this yawn is judicious, natural, and worthy to be noted. First it seizeth the churches and chapels; then catcheth the schools, where, though the boys be unwilling to sleep, the masters are not. Next Westminster Hall, much more hard indeed to subdue, and not totally put to silence even by the goddess. Then the Convocation, which, though extremely desirous to speak, yet cannot. Even the House of Commons, justly called the sense of the nation, is lost (that is to say suspended) during the yawn, (far be it from our author to suggest it could be lost any longer!) but it spreadeth at large over all the rest of the kingdom, to such a degree, that Palinurus himself (though as incapable of sleeping as Jupiter himself) yet noddeth for a moment: the effect of which, though ever so momentary, could not but cause some relaxation, for the time, in all public affairs.-Scriblerus. [Dr. Gilbert, Archbishop of York, who had given Pope no offence, so far as is known, but who had attacked the Jacobite Dr. King, of Oxford, and was a favourite at court.]

105 These verses were written many years ago, and may be found in the state poems of that time. So that Scriblerus is mistaken, or whoever else have imagined this poem of a fresher date.

[Wakefield says these four verses partly existed in the poem of Halifax on Orpheus and Signora Margarita :

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And, when the tawny Tuscan raised her strain,

Rook furls his sails, and dozes on the main :

Treaties unfinished in the office sleep,

And Shovel yawns for orders on the deep."]

106 This seemeth to be the reason why the poets, whenever they give us a

Relate, who first, who last resign'd to rest; 107
Whose heads she partly, whose completely blest;
What charms could faction, what ambition, lull

The venal quiet, and intrance the dull;

Till drown'd was sense and shame, and right and wrong: 625 O sing, and hush the nations with thy song!

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In vain, in vain,-the all-composing hour Resistless falls: the Muse obeys the power.

She comes! she comes! the sable throne behold

Of Night primeval, and of Chaos old!
Before her, Fancy's gilded clouds decay,
And all its varying rainbows die away.
Wit shoots in vain its momentary fires,
The meteor drops, and in a flash expires.
As one by one, at dread Medea's strain,

The sick'ning stars fade off the ethereal plain;
As Argus' eyes, by Hermes' wand oppress'd,108
Closed one by one to everlasting rest;
Thus, at her felt approach, and secret might,
Art after art goes out, and all is night.
See skulking Truth to her old cavern fled,
Mountains of Casuistry heap'd o'er her head!
Philosophy, that lean'd on Heaven before,
Shrinks to her second cause, and is no more.
Physic of Metaphysic begs defence,

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635

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And Metaphysic calls for aid on Sense!

catalogue, constantly call for help on the Muses, who, as the daughters of Memory, are obliged not to forget anything. So Homer, Iliad. ii. :

“Πληθὺν δ ̓ οὐκ ἂν ἐγὼ μυθήσομαι οὐδ ̓ ὀνομήνω,

Εἰ μὴ Ὀλυμπιάδες Μούσαι, Διός αιγιόχοιο

Θυγατέρες, μνησαίαθ'

And Virg. Æneid, vii.

"Et meministis enim, Divæ, et memorare potestis:

Ad nos vix tenuis famæ perlabitur aura."

But our poet had yet another reason for putting this task upon the Muse, that, all besides being asleep, she could only relate what passed. 107 "Quem telo primum, quem postremum aspera Virgo

Dejicis? aut quot humi morientia corpora fundis?"-Virg. 108 "Et quamvis sopor est oculorum parte receptus,

Parte tamen vigilat

Vidit Cyllenius omnes

Succubuisse oculus," &c.—Ovid. Met. ii.

See Mystery to Mathematics fly!

In vain! they gaze, turn giddy, rave, and die.
Religion, blushing, veils her sacred fires,

And unawares Morality expires.

Nor public flame, nor private, dares to shine;
Nor human spark is left, nor glimpse divine!
Lo! thy dread empire, Chaos! is restored;
Light dies before thy uncreating word:
Thy hand, great Anarch! lets the curtain fall;
And universal darkness buries all.

THE YAWN OF DULNESS AND ITS EFFECTS.

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BY THE AUTHOR,

A DECLARATION.

WHEREAS certain haberdashers of points and particles, being instigated by the spirit of pride, and assuming to themselves the name of critics and restorers, have taken upon them to adulterate the common and current sense of our glorious ancestors, poets of this realm, by clipping, coining, defacing the images, mixing their own base alloy, or otherwise falsifying the same; which they publish, utter, and vend as genuine : The said haberdashers having no right thereto, as neither heirs, executors, adminis. trators, assigns, or in any sort related to such poets, to all or any of them: Now we, having carefully revised this our Dunciad,1 beginning with the words, "The mighty mother," and ending with the words, "buries all," containing the entire sum of one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four verses, declare every word, figure, point, and comma of this impression to be authentic And do therefore strictly enjoin and forbid any person or persons whatsoever, to erase, reverse, put between hooks, or by any other means, directly or indirectly, change or mangle any of them. And we do hereby earnestly exhort all our brethren to follow this our example, which we heartily with our great predecessors had heretofore set, as a remedy and prevention of all such abuses. Provided always, that nothing in this declaration shall be construed to limit the lawful and undoubted right of every subject of this realm, to judge, censure, or condemn, in the whole or in part, any poem or poet whatsoever.

Given under our hand, at London, this third day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred thirty and two.

Declarat' cor' me,

JOHN BARBER, Mayor.

1 Read thus confidently, instead of "beginning with the word Books, and ending with the word flies," as formerly it stood. Read also, "containing the entire sum of one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four verses," instead of" one thousand and twelve lines;" such being the initial and final words, and such the true and entire contents of this poem. Thou art to know, reader! that the first edition thereof, like that of Milton, was never seen by the author (though living and not blind). The editor himself confessed as much in his Preface; and no two poems were ever published in so arbitrary a manner. The editor of this had as boldly suppressed whole passages, yea the entire last book, as the editor of Paradise Lost added and augmented. Milton himself gave but ten books, his editor twelve; this author gave four books, his editor only three. But we have happily done justice to both; and presume we shall live in this, our last labour, as long as in any of our others.-Bentley.

APPENDIX.

A LIST OF BOOKS, PAPERS, AND VERSES,

IN WHICH OUR AUTHOR WAS ABUSED, BEFORE THE PUBLICATION OF THE

DUNCIAD;

WITH THE TRUE NAMES OF THE AUTHORS.

REFLECTIONS Critical and Satirical, on a late Rhapsody, called An Essay on Criticism. By Mr. Dennis. Printed by B. Lintot, price 6d.

A New Rehearsal, or Bayes the younger; containing an Examen of Mr. Rowe's plays, and a word or two on Mr. Pope's Rape of the Lock. Anon. [By Charles Gildon.] Printed for J. Roberts, 1714, price 18.

Homerides; or, a Letter to Mr. Pope, occasioned by his intended translation of Homer. By Sir Iliad Doggrel. [Tho. Burnet and G. Ducket, esquires.] Printed for W. Wilkins, 1715, price 9d.

Æsop at the Bear Garden; a Vision, in imitation of the Temple of Fame, by Mr. Preston. Sold by John Morphew, 1715, price 6d.

The Catholic Poet, or Protestant Barnaby's Sorrowful Lamentation; a Ballad about Homer's Iliad. By Mrs. Centlivre, and others, 1715, price 1d. An Epilogue to a Puppet-Show at Bath, concerning the said Iliad. By George Ducket, Esq. Printed by E. Curl

A complete Key to

the What d'ye call it. Anon. [By Griffin, a player; supervised by Mr. Th- -.] Printed by J. Roberts, 1715.

A True Character of Mr. P. and his Writings, in a Letter to a Friend. Anon. [Dennis.] Printed for S. Popping, 1716, price 3d.

The Confederates; a Farce. By Joseph Gay. [J. D. Breval.] Printed for R. Burleigh, 1717, price 18.

Remarks upon Mr. Pope's Translation of Homer; with two Letters concerning Windsor Forest, and the Temple of Fame. By Mr. Dennis. Printed for E. Curl, 1717, price 18. 6d.

Satires on the Translators of Homer, Mr. P. and Mr. T. Morris.] 1717, price 6d.

Anon. [Bez.

The Triumvirate; or, a Letter from Palemon to Celia at Bath. Anon. [Leonard Welsted.] 1711, folio, price 18.

The Battle of Poets; an Heroic Poem. By Tho. Cooke. Printed for J. Roberts. Folio, 1725.1

[1 Here properly the list should have closed, for the publications afterwards named were subsequent to the Dunciad, and consequently were not unprovoked

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