ON RECEIVING FROM LADY FRANCES SHIRLEY A STANDISH AND TWO PENS. YES, I beheld the Athenian queen 'Secure the radiant weapons wield: Awed, on my bended knees I fell; Received the weapons of the sky; And dipp'd them in the sable well, The fount of fame or infamy. 'What well? what weapon?' Flavia cries: A standish, steel and golden pen! 10 It came from Bertrand's, not the skies; 15 I gave it you to write again. 15 Bertrand's. A famous toy-shop at Bath.. But, friend, take heed whom you attack; You'll bring a house, I mean of peers, Red, blue, and green, nay, white and black, L- and all, about your ears. You'd write as smooth again on glass; As not to stick at fool or ass, 20 "Athenian queen!' and 'sober charms!" 25 I tell ye, fool, there's nothing in 't : 'Tis Venus, Venus gives these arms; In Dryden's Virgil see the print. 'Come, if you'll be a quiet soul, That dares tell neither truth nor lies, I'll list you in the harmless roll 28 Eneas receiving the celestial armour. 30 1740, A POEM. THE authenticity of this poem has been disputed. Bowles ' has no doubt that this very interesting fragment was the beginning of the very satire to which Warburton alluded' in his remarks on the lines to lady F. Shirley. Roscoe doubts, whether it ought to be even reprinted in an edition of Pope; denies that it is either interesting, or consistent with Pope's known opinions at the period; and fairly enough appeals to the lines themselves, for evidence that they have nothing to do with either the 'severe or the sublime,' by which Warburton characterised the suppressed poem. On the other hand, we have the distinct statement of Warton: This fragment of an unpublished satire of Pope was communicated to me by the kindness of Dr. Wilson, formerly fellow of Trinity-college, Dublin, who speaks of it in the following terms :-This poem I transcribed from a rough draught in Pope's own hand. He left many blanks, for fear of the Argus eye of those, who, if they cannot find, can fabricate treason: yet, spite of his precaution, it fell into the hands of his enemies. To the hieroglyphics there are direct allusions, I think, in some of the notes on the Dunciad. It was lent to me by a grandson of lord Chetwynd, an intimate friend of the famous lord Bolingbroke, who gratified his curiosity by a boxful of the rubbish and sweepings of Pope's study, whose executor he was, in conjunction with lord Marchmont.'' Such testimony appears decisive. It is, at least, too strong to be rebutted by conjectures on the shifting opinions of a party writer, or criticism on the casual inferiority of his performance. The names are supplied by Bowles. 1740, A POEM. (THE NOTES BY MR. BOWLES.) 1 O WRETCHED B—‚' jealous now of all, What god, what mortal, shall prevent thy fall? Turn, turn thy eyes from wicked men in place, And see what succor from the patriot race. 2 C, his own proud dupe, thinks monarchs. things 5 Made just for him, as other fools for kings; He foams a patriot to subside a peer; 3 10 And damns the market where he takes no gold. Grave, righteous S3 jogs on, till, past belief, S He finds himself companion with a thief. To purge and let thee blood, with fire and That those who bind and rob thee, would not kill, 5 Good C hopes, and candidly sits still. 27 Of Ch-s W- . who speaks at all, No more than of sir Har-y or sir PWhose names once up, they thought it was not wrong To lie in bed; but sure they lay too long. 8 20 Gr, C -m, B-t, pay thee due regards, Unless the ladies bid them mind their cards. 9 with wit that must And Cd, who speaks so well and writes, 25 Whom (saving W.) every Whose wit and must needs S harper bites, equally provoke one; Finds thee, at best, the butt to crack his joke on. As for the rest, each winter up they run; And all are clear, that something must be done. Then urged by C-t," or by Ct stopp'd, 31 Inflamed by P," and by P— dropp'd; They follow reverently each wondrous wight, Amazed that one can read, that one can write : So geese to gander prone obedience keep, Hiss if he hiss, and if he slumber, sleep; Till, having done whate'er was fit or fine, Utter'd a speech, and ask'd their friends to dine; 5 Perhaps the earl of Carlisle. 6 Sir Charles Hanbury Williams. 7 Sir Henry Oxenden and sir Paul Methuen. 8 Lords Gower, Cobham, and Bathurst. 9 Lord Chesterfield. 10 Lord Cateret. "William Pulteney, created in 1742 earl of Bath. 35 |