Upon her shoulders wings she wears, With letters hung, like eastern pigeons, And Mercuries of furthest regions. Butler, however, is a mere episode. Genuine satire was reintroduced by Satires Marvell, and ten years later revived by Oldham. The example of that very gifted, if sinister, young man, seems to have finally directed Dryden's attention to a species of poetry which must already have occupied his thoughts in the criticism of Casaubon as well as in the marvellous the rival party. The two a F all our antic fights and pageantry, Which English ideots run in crowds to fee, Portrait of the First Earl of Shaftesbury here exceeds in force of bludgeon as far as he lags behind him in skill of rapier practice. But these four satires hold together, and should always be read in unison. In them Dryden suddenly rises to the height of his genius. Everything about him has expanded-the daring eloquence, the gusto of triumphant wit, and above all the majestic crash of the couplet, have for the first time been forged into a war-trumpet, through which the trumpeter can peal what notes he wishes. Jotham Lord Halifax + Hushai Lord, Side od halik sord Radnor Contemporary MS. Key to Dryden's "Absalom and Achitophel" Michall the Queen David the King Absalon the Duke of Mounmouth Pharoah the King of France From a Copy in the British Museum Shimei Bethell Corah Dr Oates Bathshabath Portsmouth Zadock Bishop of London FROM "ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL," PART I. Some by their Monarch's fatal mercy grown Were raised in power and public office high; A name to all succeeding ages curst: Jotham Lord Hallifax Hushai Lord Hide Jonas Sr Wm Jones A fiery soul, which working out its way, And o'er-informed the tenement of clay. A daring pilot in extremity, Pleased with the danger, when the waves went high, Great wits are sure to madness near allied And their partitions do their bounds divide; Else, why should he, with wealth and honour blest, Refuse his age the needful hours of rest? To compass this the triple bond he broke, And fitted Israel for a foreign yoke; Then, seized with fear, yet still affecting fame, So easy still it proves in factious times FROM "MACFlecknoe.”1 This is thy province, this thy wondrous way, In thy felonious heart though venom lies, It does but touch thy Irish pen, and dies. Thy genius calls thee not to purchase fame In keen Iambics, but mild Anagram. Leave writing plays, and choose for thy command Set thy own songs, and sing them to thy lute. 1 This passage satirises Shadwell, who had posed as a sort of reincarnation of Ben Jonson; the "mountain belly" is quoted from Jonson's humorous description of himself. The harmony and strength of Dryden's mature manner, directed to perfectly serious themes, may now be exemplified : FROM "RELIGIO LAICI." Dim as the borrowed beams of moon and stars To lonely, weary, wandering travellers Is Reason to the soul and as on high Thy rolling fires discover but the sky, Not light us here, so Reason's glimmering ray Was lent, not to assure our doubtful way, But guide us upward to a better day. When day's bright lord ascends our hemisphere, So pale grows Reason at Religion's sight, So dies, and so dissolves in supernatural light. Some few, whose lamp shone brighter, have been led From cause to cause to Nature's secret head, Leapt into form (the noble work of chance, Not even the Stagirite himself could see, And Epicurus guessed as well as he. FROM "THE HIND AND THE PANTHER," PART I. A milk-white Hind, immortal and unchanged She feared no danger, for she knew no sin. Yet had she oft been chased with horns and hounds And Scythian shafts; and many winged wounds A numerous exile, and enjoyed her pains. With grief and gladness mixed, their mother viewed Her martyred offspring and their race renewed ; Their corps to perish, but their kind to last, So much the deathless plant the dying fruit surpassed. And wandered in the kingdoms once her own. |