The Poetical Works of John Dryden

best please possible, b th Ovid, and sometimes with our old English poet, Chaucer; translateing such stories e a dog ou In another my fancy; and intend besides them to add somewhat of my own: so that it is not ut ere the summer be pass'd, I may come down to you with a volume in my hand, t of the water, with a duck in his mouth." (Malone, I, 2; 74, 75.)

"I am still

se,

threesco

On July 14

letter, written March 4 of the same year, he tells the same correspondent: drudging at a book of Miscellanyes, which I hope will be well enough; if otherPADRON re and seven may be pardon'd." (Ibid. I, 2; 82, 83.)

I REMEM 1699, he writes to Samuel Pepys, the diarist:

commend MIO,

me; and

hought fit BER, last year, when I had the honour of dineing with you, you were pleas'd to

1 Tales fr

own to y

o me the character of Chaucer's GOOD PARSON. Any desire of yours is a command ss in Miaccordingly I have put it into my English, with such additions and alterations as Having translated as many Fables from Ovid, and as many Novills from Boccace Jom Chaucer, as will make an indifferent large volume in folio, I intend them for the 1 please chaelmass term next. In the mean time my PARSON desires the favour of being 0 am ou, and promises, if you find any fault in his character, he will reform it. Whenever he shall wait on you, and for the safer conveyance, I will carry him in my pocket;

On N

"If

onta

ach

vember 7 the poet again writes to Mrs. Steward: ou desire to hear any thing more of my affairs, the Earl of Dorsett and your Cousin sele [Charles Montague, later Earl of Halifax] have both seen the two poems, to the Orth of Ormond, and my worthy Cousin Driden; and are of opinion that I never writt better. Or friends are divided in their judgments, which to preferr; but the greater part are for h my dear kinsman; which I have corrected with so much care, that they will now be of his sight, and do neither of us any dishonour after our death." (Ibid. I, 2; 93, 94.) arch 12, 1700, Dryden writes once more to the same person, announcing the publication ook:

DAM,

Is a week since I receiv'd the favour of a letter, which I have not yet acknowledg'd to you. that time my new Poems were publish'd, which are not come till this day into my hands. are a debt to you, I must confess; and I am glad, because they are so unworthy to be a present. Your sisters, I hope, will be so kind to have them convey'd to you; that my ings may have the honour of waiting on you, which is deny'd to me. The Town encourages with more applause than any thing of mine deserves: and particularly my Cousin Driden ted one from me so very indulgently, that it makes me more and more in love with him." I, 2; 127, 128.)

ally, on April 11, 1700, only twenty days before his death, Dryden sends to Mrs. Steward jer beginning:

JADAM,

HE ladies of the town have infected you at a distance: they are all of your opinion, and like 1st book of Poems better than any thing they have formerly seen of mine. I always thought Verses to my Cousin Driden were the best of the whole; and to my comfort, the Town Is them so; and he, which pleases me most, is of the same judgment, as appears by a noble nt he has sent me, which surpris'd me, because I did not in the least expect it." (Ibid. I, 29, 130.)]

ΤΟ

IS GRACE THE DUKE OF
ORMOND

ORD,

estates are held in England by paying a t the change of every lord. I have enthe patronage of your family, from the of your excellent grandfather to this prelay. I have dedicated the Lives of Plu

tarch to the first duke; and have celebrated the memory of your heroic father. Tho' I am very short of the age of Nestor, yet I have liv'd to a third generation of your house; and by your Grace's favor am admitted still to hold from you by the same tenure.

I am not vain enough to boast that I have deserv'd the value of so illustrious a line; but my fortune is the greater, that for three descents they have been pleas'd to distinguish my

poems from those of other men; and have accordingly made me their peculiar care. May it be permitted me to say, that as your grandfather and father were cherish'd and adorn'd with honors by two successive monarchs, so I have been esteem'd and patroniz'd by the grandfather, the father, and the son, descended from one of the most ancient, most conspicuous, and most deserving families in Europe.

'Tis true that by delaying the payment of my last fine, when it was due by your Grace's accession to the titles and patrimonies of your house, I may seem, in rigor of law, to have made a forfeiture of my claim; yet my heart has always been devoted to your service; and since you have been graciously pleas'd, by your permission of this address, to accept the tender of my duty, 't is not yet too late to lay these poems at your feet.

The world is sensible that you worthily succeed, not only to the honors of your ancestors, but also to their virtues. The long chain of magnanimity, courage, easiness of access, and desire of doing good, even to the prejudice of your fortune, is so far from being broken in your Grace, that the precious metal yet runs pure to the newest link of it; which I will not call the last, because I hope and pray it may descend to late posterity; and your flourishing youth, and that of your excellent duchess, are happy omens of my wish.

'Tis observ'd by Livy and by others that some of the noblest Roman families retain'd a resemblance of their ancestry, not only in their shapes and features, but also in their manners, their qualities, and the distinguishing characters of their minds. Some lines were noted for a stern, rigid virtue, salvage, haughty, parsimonious, and unpopular: others were more sweet and affable, made of a more pliant paste, humble, courteous, and obliging; studious of doing charitable offices, and diffusive of the goods which they enjoy'd. The last of these is the proper and indelible character of your Grace's family. God Almighty has endued you with a softness, a beneficence, an attractive behavior winning on the hearts of others; and so sensible of their misery, that the wounds of fortune seem not inflicted on them, but on yourself. You are so ready to redress, that you almost prevent their wishes, and always exceed their expectations; as if what was yours was not your own, and not given you to possess, but to bestow on wanting merit. But this is a topic which I must cast in shades, lest I offend your modesty, which is so far from being ostentatious of the good you do that it blushes even to have it known; and therefore I must leave you to the satisfaction and testimony of your own conscience, which, tho' it be a silent panegyric, is yet the best.

aad more

print:

You are so easy of access, that hint, not more, whose doors were open side to save the people even the co ity of asking entrance; where all spare confin'd admitted; where nothing that w was denied; where misfortune wa recommendation, and where, I ca the day, bear saying, that want itself wad an hour af mediator, and was next to merit.

The history of Peru assures us ts or flows,: cas, above all their titles, esteen not disc highest, which call'd them Lovers

a name more glorious than the Felt mind; Augustus of the Roman emperors kind, epithets of flattery, deserv'd by fe and not running in a blood, like thesign'd gentleness and inherent goodness of th family.

Ind

Gold, as it is the purest, so it is and most ductile of all metals. Iron the hardest, gathers rust, corrodes itse therefore subject to corruption; it w intended for coins and medals, or to faces and inscriptions of the great. fit for armor, to bear off insults, and the wearer in the day of battle; but t ger once repell'd, 't is laid aside by the as a garment too rough for civil conver a necessary guard in war, but too har cumbersome in peace, and which keeps embraces of a more human life.

For this reason, my Lord, tho' you courage in a heroical degree, yet I asc to you but as your second attribute: m beneficence, and compassion claim preced as they are first in the divine nature. A trepid courage, which is inherent in your G is at best but a holiday kind of virtue, seldom exercis'd, and never but in cases cessity; affability, mildness, tenderness, a word which I would fain bring back to it ginal signification of virtue, I mean goo ture, are of daily use: they are the brea mankind, and staff of life: neither sighs tears, nor groans, nor curses of the vanqui follow acts of compassion and of charity? a sincere pleasure and serenity of mind in who performs an action of mercy, which ca suffer the misfortunes of another withou dress, lest they should bring a kind of c gion along with them, and pollute the h ness which he enjoys.

Yet since the perverse tempers of ma since oppression on one side, and ambi the other, are sometimes the unavoidable sions of war; that courage, that magnar and resolution, which is born with you, be too much commended. And here it g me that I am scanted in the pleasure of ing on many of your actions; but aidéoμal is an expression which Tully often uses,

will do what he dares not, and fears the ease of the Romans.

, that E, be sometimes been forc'd to amplify on
e open on but here, where the subject is so fruit-
the cher the harvest overcomes the reaper, I
ere all still ten'd by my chain, and can only see
hat wesco forbidden me to reach; since it is not
ne way 14d me to commend you according to the
e, I caros f my wishes, and much less is it in my
elf wayo make my commendations equal to
merit. nd t
rits.

es us td this frugality of your praises, there
esteemt fite things which I cannot omit, without
Lovers frng from your character. You have
he Fel Mid your own education, as enables you
perorsy
the debt you owe your country, or,
d by fee roperly speaking, both your countries;
like the e you were born, I may almost say, in
ness of t at the Castle of Dublin, when your

fe.

ather was Lord Lieutenant, and have so it is teen bred in the Court of England. als. Ironis address had been in verse, rrodes its all'd you, as Claudian calls Mercury, I might tion; it a commune, gemino faciens commercia als, or to The better to satisfy this double oblireat. Inyou have early cultivated the genius ults, and re to arms, that when the service of tle; but tor Ireland shall require your courage side by the conduct, you may exert them both to ivil convenefit of either country. You began in ut too barinet what you afterwards practic'd in hich keeps P; and thus both Lucullus and Cæsar a crowd of shining Romans) form'd d. tho' yoes to the war by the study of history, ret I asthe examples of the greatest captains, ttribute: Greece and Italy, before their time. I laim prece ose two commanders in particular, benature. ey were better read in chronicle than nt in your Ghe Roman leaders; and that Lucullus of virtue, cular, having only the theory of war tin cases oks, was thought fit, without practice, nderness, nt into the field against the most forback to it enemy of Rome. Tully indeed was mean goole Learn'd Consul in derision; but then the brot born a soldier: his head was turn'd ither sighs way; when he read the tactics, he the vanquaking on the bar, which was his field of The knowledge of warfare is thrown of mind in a general who dares not make use of F, which ca knows. I commend it only in a man her withouage and of resolution: in him it will kind of eis martial spirit, and teach him the

of charity:

ute the b

rs of ma

voidable

the best victories, which are those that st bloody, and which, tho' achiev'd by nd, are manag'd by the head. Science d ambiguishes a man of honor from one of those ic brutes whom undeservedly we call Curst be the poet who first honor'd that name a mere Ajax, a man-killing h you The Ulysses of Ovid upbraids his ignoere it that he understood not the shield for

magnar

sure of c παιδέομαι

en uses,

739

which he pleaded: there was engraven on it plans of cities, and maps of countries, which Ajax could not comprehend, but look'd on them as stupidly as his fellow beast, the lion. But on the other side, your Grace has given yourself the education of his rival; you have studied every spot of ground in Flanders, which for these ten years past has been the scene of battles and of sieges. No wonder if you perform'd your part with such applause on a theater which you understood so well.

If I design'd this for a poetical encomium, it were easy to enlarge on so copious a subject; but confining myself to the severity of truth, and to what is becoming me to say, only pass over many instances of your military I must not skill, but also those of your assiduous diligence in the war; and of your personal bravery, attended with an ardent thirst of honor; a long train of generosity; profuseness of doing good; a soul unsatisfied with all it has done; and an unextinguish'd desire of doing more. this is matter for your own historians; I am, But all as Virgil says, Spatiis exclusus iniquis.

ities, I must stay a little on one action, which Yet not to be wholly silent of all your charpreferr'd the relief of others to the consideration of yourself. When, in the battle of Landen, your heat of courage (a fault only pardonable to your youth) had transported you so far before your friends that they were unable to follow, much less to succor you; when you were not only dangerously, but, in all appearance, mortally wounded; when in that desperate condition you were made prisoner, and carried to Namur, at that time in possession of the French; then it was, my Lord, that you took a considerable part of what was remitted to you of your own revenues, and, as a memorable instance of your heroic charity, put it into the hands of Count Guiscard, who was governor of the place, to be distributed among your fellow prisoners. The French commander, charm'd with the greatness of your soul, accordingly consign'd it to the use for which it was intended by the donor; by which means the lives of so many miserable men were sav'd, and a comfortable provision made for their subsistence, who had otherwise perish'd, had not you been the companion of their misfortune; or rather sent by Providence, like another Joseph, to keep out famine from invading those whom in humility you call'd your brethren. How happy was it for those poor creatures, that your Grace was made their fellow sufferer! And how glorious for you, that you chose to want, rather than not relieve the mending the charity of Dido to the Trojans, wants of others! The heathen poet, in comspoke like a Christian:

Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco.

"Tis observ'd by Livy and by others that some of the noblest Roman families retain'd a resemblance of their ancestry, not only in their shapes and features, but also in their manners, their qualities, and the distinguishing characters of their minds. Some lines were noted for a stern, rigid virtue, salvage, haughty, parsimonious, and unpopular: others were more sweet and affable, made of a more pliant paste, humble, courteous, and obliging; studious of doing charitable offices, and diffusive of the goods which they enjoy'd. The last of these is the proper and indelible character of your Grace's family. God Almighty has endued you with a softness, a beneficence, an attractive behavior winning on the hearts of others; and so sensible of their misery, that the wounds of fortune seem not inflicted on them, but on yourself. You are so ready to redress, that you almost prevent their wishes, and always exceed their expectations; as if what was yours was not your own, and not given you to possess, but to bestow on wanting merit. But this is a topic which I must cast in shades, lest I offend your modesty, which is so far from being ostentatious of the good you do that it blushes even to have it known; and therefore I must leave you to the satisfaction and testimony of your own conscience, which, tho' it be a silent panegyric, is yet the best.

when arriv'd, she scarce had more You are so easy of access, that I' know;

not more, whose doors were open'

side to save the people even the conly to refresh the former hint, ity of asking entrance; where all read her Maker in a fairer print: admitted; where nothing that wous, as she had no time to spare was denied; where misfortune whuman thoughts, but was confind a recommendation, and where, I ca pray'r.

bear saying, that want itself wan such charities she pass'd the day, mediator, and was next to merit. s wondrous how she found an hour : The history of Peru assures us t pray.

cas, above all their titles, esteem so calm, it knew not ebbs or flows highest, which call'd them Lovers

a name more glorious than the Felt passion could but curl, not disem Augustus of the Roman

emperors;

pose.

epithets of flattery, deserv'd by fale softness, with a manly mind: and not running in a blood, like thehter duteous, and a sister kind gentleness and inherent goodness of tess patient, and in death resign't family.

MODERN

Gold, as it is the purest, so it is t and most ductile of all metals. Iron the hardest, gathers rust, corrodes itse therefore subject to corruption; it wa intended for coins and medals, or to t faces and inscriptions of the great. Inadvertisement in the Flying Fo fit for armor, to bear off insults, and lows: the wearer in the day of battle; but t ger once repell'd, 't is laid aside by the as a garment too rough for civil conver a necessary guard in war, but too har cumbersome in peace, and which keeps embraces of a more human life.

For this reason, my Lord, tho' you courage in a heroical degree, yet I ascr to you but as your second attribute: m beneficence, and compassion claim preced as they are first in the divine nature. trepid courage, which is inherent in your G is at best but a holiday kind of virtue, seldom exercis'd, and never but in cases cessity; affability, mildness, tenderness, word which I would fain bring back to its ginal signification of virtue, I mean goo ture, are of daily use: they are the brea mankind, and staff of life: neither sighs tears, nor groans, nor curses of the vanquiivum) follow acts of compassion and of charity n. lib. 5. a sincere pleasure and serenity of mind in who performs an action of mercy, which ca suffer the misfortunes of another withou dress, lest they should bring a kind of cate next gion along with them, and pollute the h ness which he enjoys.

Yet since the perverse tempers of mae material printed below, the since oppression on one side, and ambi and a reprint of Alexander's the other, are sometimes the unavoidabley written late in 1697 or early sions of war; that courage, that magnan

and resolution, which is born with you, cas to this last great work of be too much commended. And here it gward:

me that I am scanted in the pleasure of dremedies which am useing

ing on many of your actions; but aidéoμaι good one. I pris my time

is an expression which Tully often uses,

times wild do what he dares not, and fears the 1st please of the Romans.

ssible, be sometimes been forc'd to amplify on a dog on but here, where the subject is so fruitanother the harvest overcomes the reaper, I I am still ten'd by my chain, and can only see threeseo forbidden me to reach; since it is not a July 14,d me to commend you according to the PADRON f my wishes, and much less is it in my [REMENO make my commendations equal to mmend trits.

e; and this frugality of your praises, there ought fit things which I cannot omit, without Tales frag from your character. You have 8 in Mid your own education, as enables you An to y the debt you owe your country, or, please roperly speaking, both your countries; am e you were born, I may almost say, in at the Castle of Dublin, when your ather was Lord Lieutenant, and have been bred in the Court of England. 'n Nethis address had been in verse, I might 'If call'd you, as Claudian calls Mercury, ntagen commune, gemino faciens commercia chesto. The better to satisfy this double obliothen, you have early cultivated the genius se thave to arms, that when the service of rthy in or Ireland shall require your courage On M'our conduct, you may exert them both to his benefit of either country. cabinet what you afterwards practic'd in You began in amp; and thus both Lucullus and Cæsar T mit a crowd of shining Romans) form'd youtaselves to the war by the study of history, ey by the examples of the greatest captains,

a of Greece and Italy, before their time. I he those two commanders in particular, bese they were better read in chronicle than of the Roman leaders; and that Lucullus bid articular, having only the theory of war Firm books, was thought fit, without practice, lette sent into the field against the most forable enemy of Rome. Tully indeed was d the Learn'd Consul in derision; but then vas not born a soldier: his head was turn'd lather way; when he read the tactics, he bin thinking on the bar, which was his field of "tle. The knowledge of warfare is thrown

rese

y on a general who dares not make use of t he knows. I commend it only in a man tourage and of resolution: in him it will this martial spirit, and teach him the Ito the best victories, which are those that east bloody, and which, tho' achiev'd by rhand, are manag'd by the head. Science Song nguishes a man of honor from one of those etic brutes whom undeservedly we call Curst be the poet who first honor'd that name a mere Ajax, a man-killing t. The Ulysses of Ovid upbraids his ignothat he understood not the shield for

ine a

oy'd

ime

ent

es.

ce,

739

If I design'd this for a poetical encomium, it were easy to enlarge on so copious a subject; but confining myself to the severity of truth, and to what is becoming me to say, only pass over many instances of your military I must not skill, but also those of your assiduous diligence in the war; and of your personal bravery, attended with an ardent thirst of honor; a long train of generosity; profuseness of doing good; unextinguish'd desire of doing more. a soul unsatisfied with all it has done; and an this is matter for your own historians; But all as Virgil says, Spatiis exclusus iniquis. I am,

Yet not to be wholly silent of all your charities, I must stay a little on one action, which preferr'd the relief of others to the consideration of yourself. When, in the battle of Landen, your heat of courage (a fault only pardonable to your youth) had transported you so far before your friends that they were unable to follow, much less to succor you; when you were not only dangerously, but, in all appearance, mortally wounded; when in that desperate condition you were made prisoner, and carried to Namur, at that time in possession of the French; then it was, my Lord, that you took a considerable part of what was remitted to you of your own revenues, and, as a memorable instance of your heroic charity, put it into the hands of Count Guiscard, who was governor of the place, to be distributed among your fellow prisoners. The French commander, charm'd with the greatness of your soul, accordingly consign'd it to the use for which it was intended by the donor; by which means the lives of so many miserable men were sav'd, and a comfortable provision made for their subsistence, who had otherwise perish'd, had not you been the companion of their misfortune; or rather sent by Providence, like another Joseph, to keep out famine from invading those whom in humility you call'd your brethren. How happy was it for those poor creatures, that your Grace was made their fellow sufferer! And how glorious for you, that you chose to want, rather than not relieve the mending the charity of Dido to the Trojans, wants of others! The heathen poet, in comspoke like a Christian :

Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco.

« Previous Continue »

Books