ARGUMENT TO BOOK THE FIRST. THE Proposition, the Invocation, and the Inscription. Then the Original of the great Empire of Dulness, and cause of the continuance thereof. The beloved seat of the Goddess is described, with ber chief attendants and officers, her functions, operations, and effects. Then the Poem bastes into the midst of things, presenting ber on the evening of a Lord Mayor's day, revolving the long succession of her sons, and the glories past and to come. She fixes ber eye on Tibbald to be the instrument of that great event which is the subject of the Poem. He is described pensive in his study, giving up the cause, and apprehending the period of her empire from the old age of the present monarch Settle: Wherefore debating whether to betake himself to Law or Politicks, be raises am.. altar of proper books, and (making first bis solemn prayer and declaration) purposes thereon to sacrifice all his unsuccessful writings. As the pile is kindled, the Goddess beholding the flame from ber seat, flies in person, and puts it out, by casting upon it the poem of Thule. She forthwith reveals herself to him,transports bim to ber Temple, unfolds her arts, and initiates bim into ber mysteries; then announcing the death of Settle that night, anoints, and proclaims him Successor. BOOK I. BOOKS and the Man I sing, the first who brings Still her old empire to confirm, she tries, O THOU! whatever title please thine ear, easy chair, 10 15 20 From thy Boeotia tho' her pow'r retires, Grieve not, my SWIFT! at ought our realm acquires, Here pleas'd behold her mighty wings outspread 25 To hatch a new Saturnian age of lead. Where wave the tatter'd ensigns of Rag-fair, A yawning ruin hangs and nods in air; Keen, hollow winds howl thro' the bleak recess, 30 Here in one bed two shiv'ring sisters lye, The cave of Poverty and Poetry. This, the great mother dearer held than all The clubs of Quidnunc's, or her own Guild-hall. Here stood her opium, here she nurs'd her owls, 35 Hence springs each weekly muse, the living boast Hence the soft sing-song on Cecilia's day, 40 And New-year odes, and all the Grub-street race. 50 Where, Where, in nice balance, truth with gold she weighs, And solid pudding against empty praise. Here she beholds the chaos dark and deep, Where nameless somethings in their causes sleep, Till genial Jacob, or a warm third-day 55 Call forth each mass, a poem, or a play : How hints, like spawn, scarce quick in embryo lie, Here one poor word an hundred clenches makes, There motley images her fancy strike, Figures ill-pair'd, and similies unlike. She sees a mob of metaphors advance, 60 65 Pleas'd with the madness of the mazy dance: How Farce and Epic get a jumbled race; Realms shift their place, and ocean turns to land. 70 75 She, |