20. Augustus: George II: see Horace, Epistle, II, i, Dedication note.
22. screen: See Horace, Epistle, I, i, 95n.
23. ’faith: In faith.
26. The Great Man: Walpole. groat: See ‘III Bathurst’, 366n.
34. what he thinks mankind: Walpole was fond of saying that every man has his price.
36. laugh out: Laugh out loud.
39. Jekyl: Sir Joseph Jekyl, Whig politician who stood up against his party when he thought it in the wrong. Old Whig: i.e. not a supporter of the current Walpole government.
40. wig: Jekyl wore an old-fashioned voluminous wig.
41. Patriot: See ‘III Bathurst’, 139n.
42. lord chamberlains: In the Stage Licensing Act of 1737 (repealed 1968), this official was charged with censorship of new plays.
46. His Prince: Frederick Louis, the Prince of Wales, who had broken with his father; he never ascended the throne, since he died (1751) before George II did.
47. Lyttelton: George Lyttelton: see Horace, Epistle, I, i, 29n.
50. Lord Fanny: Lord John Hervey: see ‘Arbuthnot’, Advertisement note and 149 and note.
51. Sejanus, Wolsey: Powerful chief ministers of the Emperor Sejanus and of Henry VIII, respectively. Fleury: See Horace, Satire, II, i, 75n.
66. Henley: John Henley: see ‘Donne’, 51n.
67. Favonio: ‘Favonius’ is Latin for the mild west wind of springtime; here implies a flatterer.
71–2. Fox’s … Hervey’s once again: Henry Fox delivered a speech of condolence on the death of Queen Caroline that was thought to have been ghostwritten by Hervey, who later published his own Latin adaptation of it. Senate: Ironic classical name for the British Parliament.
75. Middleton and Bland: The theologian Conyers Middleton and the Eton headmaster Henry Bland, both distinguished Latinists. For Middleton, see also ‘Dunciad’, IV, 103–4n., and for Bland, see also ‘Dunciad’, I, 231n.
78. the nation’s sense: i.e. universally approved.
80. Hang the sad verse: Mourning verses pinned to the coffin. Carolina: Queen Caroline.
82. All parts … blest: Pope rejects claims that the queen had not received the sacraments on her deathbed, and that she died unreconciled with her son (and his friend), the Prince of Wales.
84. gazetteer: Journalist writing for a newspaper such as the Gazette.
85. a God’s: In God’s.
86. graced: ‘grace: to adorn; to dignify; to embellish’ (Dictionary).
92. Selkirk … De la Ware: Noblemen whose probity Pope admired.
98. nepenthe: Drug causing forgetfulness, as in the Odyssey, IV, 220–21.
100. place: Government post.
102. All tears … eyes: ‘God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes’ (Revelation 21:4).
104. lose a question: Have a parliamentary motion rejected. job: Government appointment exploited for private gain.
107–8. three sov’reigns … next: During Pope’s lifetime William, Mary, and Anne had died, succeeded by the despised George I.
113. empty boast: i.e. because they haven’t got it.
115. Cibber’s son: Theophilus Cibber, actor and minor writer, son of Colley Cibber.
116. Rich: John Rich, theatrical producer.
119. Ward: Probably John Ward: see ‘III Bathurst’, 20n.
120. Japhet: Japhet Crook: see ‘III Bathurst’, 86n. his Grace: Archbishop William Wake, who assisted George II in suppressing the politically inflammatory will of George I.
121. Bond: See ‘III Bathurst’, 100n.
122. like kings: The implication is that kings can break promises with impunity.
123. If Blount dispatched himself: Charles Blount, a deist who wrote freethinking essays and eventually killed himself, though from disappointment in love rather than philosophical principle.
124. Passeran: Italian deist who argued that suicide is not unethical, and had recently died in England.
125–6. a printer … hang himself and wife: ‘a fact that happened in London a few years past. The unhappy man left behind him a paper justifying his action by the reasonings of some of these authors’ (Pope’s note).
128. Vice thus abused: By being flaunted by commoners, rather than by aristocrats who can expect to get away with it.
129. deprecate: ‘to ask pardon for’ (Dictionary).
130. thunder … on gin: Notoriously destructive of public health, the consumption of gin was controlled by an act of Parliament in 1736.
131. Foster: Popular Baptist preacher.
132. metropolitans: Archbishops.
133. a Quaker’s wife: The Quakers were exceptional in permitting women to preach.
134. Landaff: Bishopric in Wales, whose occupant had ridiculed Pope.
135. Allen: Philanthropist Ralph Allen, Fielding’s model a decade later for Squire Allworthy in Tom Jones.
144. greatness: A patron of high rank. mean: ‘contemptible; despicable’ (Dictionary).
149. scarlet: Commonly associated with sexual sin.
150. carted: Exposed humiliatingly in a cart, a punishment for prostitutes.
151. car: Chariot.
152. genius: ‘the protecting or ruling power of men, places, or things’ (Dictionary).
153. arms: Weapons.
154. flag inverted: Tories denounced Walpole for preferring peace to vindicating Britain’s honour in war.
155. foreign gold: i.e. fortunes amassed by pillaging India and other colonies.
157. pagod: See ‘Donne’, 239n.
162. ambition: In the positive sense, aspiring to achieve something of value.
Dialogue II
1. Paxton: Nicholas Paxton, Treasury Solicitor, who tracked down and prosecuted slurs on the court and government; also 141.
5. Thirty-nine: Reference to the original title of Dialogue I, ‘One Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Eight’.
6. amain: ‘with vehemence; with vigour; fiercely; violently’ (Dictionary).
7. Invention: Poetic imagination.
11. Guthrie: James Guthrie, the ordinary, or chaplain, of Newgate Prison, published convicts’ confessions but tactfully replaced their names with dashes.
13. sharper: ‘a tricking fellow; a petty thief; a rascal’ (Dictionary).
14. gen’ral: i.e. not aimed at specific persons.
15. souse: ‘to fall as a bird on its prey’ (Dictionary). the kind: Humankind.
17. hall: i.e. hall of justice.
18. rev’rend atheists: Clergymen who are secretly unbelievers.
22. The pois’ning dame: If a specific woman is meant, she has not been identified.
25. elector: One of the small number of adult males eligible to vote for a Member of Parliament.
29. royal harts: If a hart (a stag over six years of age) was pursued by the king or queen and escaped, it could be declared a ‘hart royal’ that no one else was allowed to hunt.
30. Admit … requires: i.e. suppose we admit that the law requires that knights be spared.
31. squires: Gentry who rank below knights.
33. dean: The clergyman in charge of a cathedral, ranking below its bishop.
39. Wild: Jonathan Wild, a ‘thief-taker’ who controlled London crime until he was executed in 1725, notorious for delivering his henchmen to the law when he had no further use for them. Fielding and others satirized him as ‘the Great Man’, with an obvious analogy to Walpole.
40. made a job: Made an opportunity for private gain at government expense.
41. drench: Soak at a public pump.
42. for the love of vice: Ironically imitating ‘for the love of God’.
49. directors: Profiteering managers of speculative institutions such as the South Sea Company. plums: See ‘III Bathurst’, 122n.
50. ministers: Cabinet ministers.
57. Peter: Peter Walter: see ‘III Bathurst’, 20n.
61. Selkirk: The Earl of Selkirk, as in Dialogue I, 92 and note. the prince: Of Wales.
64. there is: i.e
. there does exist.
65. Scarb’rough: the Earl of Scarborough, admired for unwavering loyalty to the king.
67. Kent: William Kent, landscape gardener who laid out Pelham’s estate at Esher (66) in Surrey. Pelham: Henry Pelham, supporter of Walpole.
70. desert: Merit, deservingness.
71–2. Secker … Rundle … Benson: Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury, and two other bishops. decent: Becoming, suitable.
71. Manners: ‘ceremonious behavior; studied civility’ (Dictionary).
73. Berkeley: George Berkeley, philosopher, and since 1734 Bishop of Cloyne in Ireland.
77. Somers … Halifax: Elderly noblemen who encouraged Pope as a young poet.
79–80. Shrewsbury … Carleton … Stanhope: Noblemen whose public service Pope admired.
82. Atterbury: See ‘Arbuthnot’, 355n.
84–8. Pult’ney, Chesterfield … Argyle … Wyndham: Leaders of the opposition to Walpole.
85. Attic: Classic Greek (also referred to as ‘Attic salt’).
87. the field: Battlefield.
91. train: Followers, dependants.
94. lays: Poems.
97. beaver: ‘a hat of the best kind; so called from being made of the fur of beaver’ (Dictionary). glory: ‘lustre; brightness’ (Dictionary).
99. Man of Ross: John Kyrle: see ‘III Bathurst’, 250n. my Lord May’r: Sir John Barnard: see Horace, Epistle, I, i, 85n.
103. in or out: i.e. in power or out of power.
107. booby: ‘a dull, heavy, stupid fellow’ (Dictionary).
108. widow … of men: i.e. every widow conventionally laments losing the best of men.
110. stoop: Swoop down, from falconry.
111. number: ‘comparative multitude’ (Dictionary).
114. pretend: Lay claim to.
116. Richelieu: French cardinal who was chief adviser to Louis XIII. wanted: Lacked. Louis: Louis XIV, who patronized Boileau.
117. young Ammon: Alexander the Great (see ‘Essay on Criticism’, 376n.) lamented having no Homer to celebrate his life.
120. To Cato, Virgil paid: Though enjoying the patronage of the Emperor Augustus, Virgil praised the fiercely republican Cato the Younger in the Aeneid (VIII, 670).
121. mine: i.e. my own poetic lines.
129. Arnall: William Arnall, a venal political journalist.
130. Cobham: See ‘I Cobham’, Dedication note. Polwarth: Henry Hume, Lord Polwarth, who as Lord Marchmont would have a long and distinguished political career.
131. Lyttelton: See Horace, Epistle, I, i, 29n.
132. St John: Bolingbroke: see Horace, Satire, II, i, 127n.
133. Sir Robert: Walpole.
135. tyrant to his wife: Walpole was well known to overlook his wife’s infidelities.
137. Verres: Cruel and corrupt Roman governor of Sicily, with an allusion to Walpole. Wolsey: See Dialogue I, 51n.
140. spur-galled hackney: Cheap hired horse, bruised by being spurred, and, by implication, a hack writer who works for pay.
141. pots: Of ale.
142. new-pensioned: Given a permanent income with no duties attached. pretend: ‘to put in a claim truly or falsely’ (Dictionary).
143. break my windows: This recalls an incident when Bolingbroke and Bathurst were dining at Pope’s villa and ruffians broke his windows.
147. tools: ‘tool: a hireling; a wretch who acts at the command of another’ (Dictionary), with a pun on ‘mauling’ a workman’s tools.
149. saws: Pun on ‘wise saws’, sententious remarks.
150. Turenne: See ‘Essay on Man’, IV, 100n.
151. took his pay: Received wages from him.
152. fellow: ‘a word of contempt: the foolish mortal; the mean wretch; the sorry rascal’ (Dictionary).
159. Page: See Horace, Satire, II, i, 82n.; i.e. a brutal judge.
160. the bard: Bubb Dodington: see ‘IV Burlington’, 20n.; also Dialogue I, 12.
161. ‘In pow’r … a friend’: From a poem by Dodington, from the two-line ‘distich’ (160).
165. gown: Worn by the clergy, ‘stained’ by his disgraceful conduct.
166. the florid youth: Apparently Stephen Fox (see Horace, Satire, II, i, 49), but the point of the allusion is lost.
170. House: Of Commons.
172. As hog to hog: i.e. they consume each other’s excrement. Westphaly: Westphalia in Germany, noted for its ham.
176. mess: ‘a dish; a quantity of food’ (Dictionary, citing this line).
183. civet-cats: Creatures from whose unpleasant secretions perfume was made.
187. Pindus: Mountain in Thessaly, home of the Muses.
192. in: In office.
194. a staring reason on his brows: i.e. the horns of a cuckold.
195. rod: Of punishment.
202. coxcomb’s: See ‘Essay on Criticism’, 27n.
206. own: Acknowledge.
210. the bar: Law courts.
218. Hall: Westminster Hall, seat of justice but often ‘tardy’ to enforce it.
219. stall: ‘the seat of a dignified clergyman in the choir’ (Dictionary).
222. the eye of day: Sunlight, which easily shines through cobwebs.
227. Gazette: The government’s official newspaper; accented on the first syllable. Address: Formal reply by the Lords or Commons to a speech by the king.
230. Waller’s wreath … nation’s scar: Edmund Waller’s elegy for Oliver Cromwell, whom Pope regarded as having wounded England in the civil wars of the seventeenth century.
231. feather: Boileau (see ‘Essay on Criticism’, 714n.) suggested in a poem that Louis XIV’s white plume would shine like a star or comet to presage his enemies’ defeat.
235. opes: Opens.
237. Anstis … grave: The Herald at Arms, one of whose duties at a royal funeral was to cast broken staffs and ensigns of honour into the grave.
238. stars: Emblems of knightly orders. ***: The references are deliberately unclear, but ‘George’ and ‘Fred’rick’ – the king and his eldest son – would fit.
239. Mordington: Nobleman whose wife ran a gambling house. Stair: John Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, a general under Marlborough and later a distinguished ambassador to France.
240. Hough: John Hough, Bishop of Worcester, who defended the Anglican church against the Catholic James II. mitre: Bishop’s ceremonial headdress.
241. Digby: William Digby, a friend of Pope’s.
245. grateful: Pleasing.
247. mean: Low, not elevated.
249. truth stands trembling: With the threat of censorship mentioned at the beginning of the poem.
252. Cause: i.e. liberty.
The Dunciad
When the original three-book version of the ‘Dunciad’ appeared in 1728, no one quite knew what to make of it. It had roots in the parodic games of the Scriblerus Club, and there was plenty of precedent for ironic praise of bad writers, going back to Dryden’s superb ‘Mac Flecknoe’ half a century before, in which the playwright Thomas Shadwell was pilloried as heir-apparent to the kingdom of Dullness. But ‘Mac Flecknoe’ was a couple of hundred lines long and focused on a single target; the ‘Dunciad’ was a thousand lines long (it eventually swelled to 1,750) and was filled to overflowing with the names of writers who were all, according to Pope, ‘dunces’. Very loosely based on the Aeneid, in which Aeneas moves his kingdom from Troy to Latium, the poem traces the progress of the Goddess of Dullness from the commercial City of London to the fashionable West End, pausing along the way for a grotesque travesty of epic games. The hero, or rather anti-hero, is Lewis Theobald, a competent scholar who had made the mistake of criticizing Pope’s edition of Shakespeare. In the following year a massive ‘Dunciad Variorum’ reprinted the poem with revisions and with massively detailed commentary, much of it attributed to the pedantic ‘Martinus Scriblerus’ whom the Scriblerians had delighted to impersonate.
Nor was Pope yet finished with the poem, for in 1742 an entirely new fourth book, loaded with footnotes and
commentary, appeared under the title ‘The New Dunciad’. Drawing on material once intended for the never-realized Opus Magnum, it now criticized cultural trends of all kinds, ranging from butterfly collecting to gourmet cooking. And surprisingly, there was a new king of Dullness, the actor-playwright and Poet Laureate Colley Cibber, who had made the mistake of publishing a pamphlet against Pope that included a humiliating anecdote about his early life. Johnson later commented, ‘Unhappily the two heroes were of opposite characters, and Pope was unwilling to lose what he had already written; he has therefore depraved his poem by giving to Cibber the old books, the cold pedantry and sluggish pertinacity of Theobald’ (Life of Pope, p. 186). Johnson, who began his career as an anonymous writer in what Pope despised as ‘Grub Street’, also objected to Pope’s patrician contempt for ‘dunces’ whose crime was writing to earn a living (see headnote to ‘From the Iliad’).
In 1743 the fourth book was republished together with the other three, all of them revised yet again, as ‘The Dunciad in Four Books’. This edition proved to be the last, and is the one given here, with the conventional title ‘The Dunciad’. Since most of its targets were obscure in their own time and forgotten afterward, a reader will seldom learn much by knowing who they were (they are identified in the Notes as economically as possible). Pope’s own notes to the poem are voluminous and prolix, and only a few can be included here. What makes the poem live is its inventiveness and wit, ‘perhaps the best specimen that has yet appeared,’ Johnson said, ‘of personal satire ludicrously pompous’ (Life of Pope, p. 241).
Epigraph: ‘At last Phoebus Apollo arrived and stopped the serpent as it was about to bite, turning its open jaws to stone, and freezing the wide-open mouth’ (Ovid, Metamorphoses, XI, 58, 60). The implication seems to be that just as Apollo prevented a serpent from devouring the severed head of the singer Orpheus, so Pope’s poem can turn his enemies to stone even if they believe they have dealt him fatal blows.
Book the First
Argument: City: The financial district in London, known as ‘the City’. hastes into the midst: Echoing Horace’s advice that a narrative should begin in medias res, ‘in the middle of things’. revolving: Reflecting on. Bays: Colley Cibber, recalling Buckingham’s play The Rehearsal in which Dryden was satirized as the sententious playwright Bayes (alluding to the bay-leaf crown of the Poet Laureate); see also 108n. period: Conclusion. Thulè: Poem by Ambrose Philips: see ‘Arbuthnot’, 100n.; also 105 and 258 and note below. Eusden: The Reverend Laurence Eusden: see ‘Arbuthnot’, 15n.; also 104n. below.
The Rape of the Lock and Other Major Writings: Poems and Other Writings (Penguin Classics) Page 52
