214. Atticus, a name given to Addison in one of the Spectators. This famous satirical sketch of Addison was written long before the rest of the poem. Pope says that he wrote it as early as 1715, and sent it to Addison in revenge for that author's having paid Gildon to abuse him. But this is doubtful. When the lines were first printed Addison's name appeared where "Atticus" now stands.

349. An allusion to a story that Pope was once whipped by some of his enemies and that he wept with pain and rage.

350. An allusion to the slanderous stories circulated by Pope's enemies.

353. The pictur'd shape. Pope was frequently caricatured as a hunchback or an ape.

357. his sovereign's ear. Lord Hervey, Pope's bitter enemy, held a confidential position at the court.

391. Bestia, possibly Horace Walpole, brother of the famous statesman, notorious for his uncleanly habits.

393. marrying discord. An allusion to Addison's unhappy marriage with the Countess of Warwick.

397. dar'd an oath. Pope's father, as a Roman Catholic, declined to take the oath of allegiance, or the oath against the Pope of Rome.

From THE DUNCIAD

The Dunciad is a mock heroic poem written by Pope as a satire on his many enemies, whom he called the Dunces. The first three books of the poem tell of the choice and coronation of a new king of the Dunces, and are full of savage thrusts at Pope's enemies. In the fourth book, which was written much later, the goddess herself comes "in her majesty," to use Pope's phrase, "to destroy Order and Science and to substitute the Kingdom of the Dull upon earth." After receiving the homage of her worshipers and encouraging them in their war upon Wit, Dullness concludes the session with a terrible yawn, whose benumbing influence sweeps irresistibly over the land. Passing abruptly from jest to earnest, the poem concludes with the passage here selected, - a terrible vision of the consequences of the final triumph of Ignorance and Disorder.

These lines are generally considered the strongest and most impressive in all Pope's verse. It is said that he himself admired them so much that his voice used to falter with emotion when he repeated them. “And well it might, sir,” said Dr. Johnson when he heard this anecdote, for they are noble lines."

LINE I. She, the goddess Dullness, of whom the poet has been speaking.

2. Night and Chaos are spoken of in the first book of The Dunciad as the parents of Dullness.

3. Fancy, here equivalent to Imagination.

5. Wit, intellectual brilliancy.

6. The meteor, the flash of genius.

7. Medea, a famous enchantress in classical legend, whose charms were able to veil the light of the stars.

9. Argus'... Hermes'. Argus was a monster in Grecian legend who had a hundred eyes, of which only two slept at one time. Juno, the queen of the gods, appointed him the guardian of a white heifer into which a beautiful lady had been transformed. Jove, however, sent Hermes, i.e., Mercury, to set the heifer free. Mercury played so sweetly on his pipe that Argus closed all his eyes in slumber, whereupon Mercury sealed them fast with his magic wand and then cut off his head.

13. her old cavern. An allusion to the old saying, "Truth lies at the bottom of a well."

14. casuistry, the science which applies the general rules of religion and morality to particular instances. This was often done in a quibbling and evasive fashion, it being the attempt of the casuist to show that circumstances altered cases. The word, consequently, has a bad meaning, and is here used to denote the reasoning which covers up and conceals the truth.

15-16. In these lines Pope is thinking of some philosophers of his own day who tried to explain away the existence of God by referring natural phenomena to a "second cause," that is, to a natural origin other than God. Pope asserts that when Philosophy abandons God and confines itself to the investigation of natural phenomena, it ceases to be true philosophy.

17-20. Under the benumbing influence of Dullness, Physic, i.e., Natural Science, seeks aid from Metaphysic, i.e., Mental Science, and Metaphysic, in turn, from the testimony of the senses. At the same

time the attempt is made to demonstrate by mathematics the mysteries of religion. This confusion of things which ought to be kept separate is one of the first effects of the approach of Dullness, and as a result of this confusion the various sciences mentioned become vain and lifeless.

21. Religion blushes at the impudence of those who attack and the folly of those who defend her.

22. unawares Morality expires. Pope believed that morality could not exist without religion, but would imperceptibly (“ unawares ") vanish from a land where religion had ceased to exist.

26. uncreating word. Just as the creation began with the word of God, "Let there be light," so the empire of Chaos, the opposite of creation, is imagined as beginning with an annihilating (“ uncreating ") word, which quenches all light.

27. Anarch, an author of anarchy, that is, of disorder. Milton, from whom Pope borrowed the word, applies it to Chaos, as Pope does here.

ODE ON SOLITUDE

This charming little poem is a free translation of an ode of Horace. Pope wrote it when he was only twelve years old, but corrected and revised it several times before he printed it in his works. It shows the gentle and better side of his nature, a side too often neglected by those who think of him only as the bitter satirist of a corrupt society.

THOMAS GRAY

ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD.

An elegy is a meditative poem with a sorrowful theme. Gray, in this poem, expresses sorrow for the "destiny obscure" of "the rude forefathers of the hamlet." He pities them for their narrow lot in life, and discusses the question, without reaching any solution, why some men's lives are more highly favored by circumstances than others.

The poem deals with thoughts that are common to all,- thoughts about life, toil, success, death, and eternity, thoughts which never lose their hold on the human mind. And these thoughts are expressed in meter which is melodious to the ear, and in language which fits perfectly the serenity, dignity, and nobleness of the thought. This perfect combination of meter, thought, and language gives the poem a hold on the hearts and minds of men which bids fair to be lasting.

LINE I. curfew. See note on Milton's Il Penseroso, 1. 74.

5. on the sight, from the sight.

7. droning, dully humming.

10. moping, drowsy and discontented.

12. reign, realm.

22. ply her evening care, perform her evening tasks.

26. glebe, the soil.

31. Grandeur, people in high position.

33. heraldry, the science of all that pertains to genealogies ana coats of arms. In this line the "boast of heraldry" means the pride of birth.

38. trophies, memorials of any sort placed over graves. It refers here to busts, columns, or other costly memorials.

39. Where, in the interior of the church. In Gray's time, and long before, it was the custom to bury people of rank and fortune in the interior of the church, and place busts, recumbent figures, or other memorials over their graves. The "rude forefathers," however, were laid to rest in the churchyard. — fretted vault, the arched roof, ornamented with fretwork.

41. storied urn. Urns were used by the ancients to hold the ashes of the dead. In modern times they are sometimes placed on tombs with inscriptions which tell the story of the dead man's life.

43. provoke, arouse.

57. Hampden. John Hampden, a country gentleman of ability and fortune, who refused to pay the ship-money tax which was levied by King Charles I without the consent of Parliament. He was a cousin of Oliver Cromwell, and died fighting for the Puritan cause.

58. The little Tyrant of his fields, perhaps the " village-Hampden's " landlord.

60. Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood. This is Oliver Cromwell, the great Puritan leader, who brought Charles I to the block in 1649. He became ruler of England as Lord Protector.

Gray seems to have shared the prevailing notion of his day, that Cromwell was a bloody usurper. In line 67 he is referred to as wading "through slaughter to a throne." The modern view of Cromwell is more free from prejudice. It considers him, with all his faults, a sincere patriot.

65. lot, the grammatical subject of "circumscrib'd"; it is also the subject of "forbad" in line 67.

66. Their growing virtues, the growth of their virtues.

67. See note on line 60.

71-72. These two lines refer to the system of patronage that prevailed in Gray's time. Pensions or gifts were bestowed on poverty-stricken poets, who in return sang the praises of their patrons. This was one

of the humiliations in life, Gray thinks, that the "lowly train" were free from.

73. madding, excited, raging.

81. unletter'd Muse, illiterate people who compose crude epitaphs in

verse.

84. moralist, one whose mind likes to dwell on serious subjects. 95. chance, by chance.

97. Haply, perhaps. — swain, a countryman.

121. bounty, kindness of heart.

OLIVER GOLDSMITH

THE DESERTED VILLAGE

This poem has been justly praised for its unusual descriptive power. Its clear-cut pictures of homely life, its delicate humor, its strong and sincere human sympathy at once call to mind Chaucer, the greatest of all English descriptive poets.

Goldsmith no doubt meant the poem to be didactic, that is, he intended it to teach a lesson. This was a literary fashion in his day. He wished to show that luxury, which had come in the train of trade, was bringing on the decay of the country. His arguments to this effect have convinced only the unthinking few, while the vividly descriptive parts of the poem have delighted its thousands and tens of thousands.

LINE 1. Sweet Auburn ! This place probably existed only in the brain of the poet. It is possible that he had in mind the small village in Ireland in which he was born.

2. swain, peasant, farm laborer.

4. parting, departing.

10. cot, small cottage.

12. decent, modest.

16. This line means that when toil was over for the day, play had its turn.

17. train, crowd.

25. simply, in a simple, artless way.

27. mistrustless, here equivalent to ignorant.

35. lawn, open country.

37. tyrant's hand, the power of wealth.