THE LOOKING-GLASS.

WITH

ON MRS. PULTENEY.

ITH fcornful mien, and various tofs of air,
Fantastic, vain, and infolently fair,
Grandeur intoxicates her giddy brain,
She looks ambition, and fhe moves difdain.
Far other carriage grac'd her virgin life,
But charming G—y's loft, in P—y's wife.
Not greater arrogance in him we find,
And this conjunction fwells at least her mind :
O could the fire, renown'd in glass, produce
One faithful mirrour for his daughter's use!
Wherein the might her haughty errors trace,
And by reflection learn to mend her face:
The wonted fweetness to her form restore,
Be what he was, and charm mankind once more!

NOTES.

5

10

VER. 6. But charming G–y's loft, &c.] Anna Maria Gumley, daughter of John Gumley of Ifleworth, was married to Pulteney, who received with her a very large fortune.

VER. 9. O could the fire, renown'd in glafs,] Her father gained his fortune from a glass manufactory; upon which circumstance, though hitherto unexplained, the force and elegance of this severe but pleafing compofition turns.

Thefe lines were fuppreffed, as Pope afterwards received great civilities from Pulteney.

A FAREWELL TO LONDON.

IN THE YEAR 1715.

DEAR, damn'd, distracting town, farewell!

This

Thy fools no more I'll teize :

year in peace, ye critics, dwell,
Ye harlots, fleep at ease!

To drink and droll be Rowe allow'd
Till the third watchman's toll;

Let Jervase gratis paint, and Frowde
Save three-pence and his foul.

Farewell Arbuthnot's raillery

On every learned fot;

And Garth, the best good Christian he,
Altho' he knows it not.

Lintot, farewell! thy bard must go;
Farewell, unhappy Tonfon!

Heaven gives thee for thy lofs of Rowe,
Lean Philips, and fat Johnson t.

NOTES.

Why

Elsewhere called "Macer."

+ Probably the friend of Wilkes; he wrote fixteen dramatic

pieces of indifferent merit.

See Cibber's Life.

Why should I stay? Both parties* rage;
My vixen mistress † fqualls;

The wits in envious feuds engage:

And Homer (damn him!) calls.

The love of arts lies cold and dead
In Hallifax's urn;

And not one Mufe of all he fed,

Has yet the grace to mourn.

My friends, by turns, my friends confound,
Betray, and are betray'd:

Poor Yrs fold for fifty pounds,
And Bll is a jade.

Why make I friendships with the great,
When I no favour feek?

*

Still idle, with a busy air,

Deep whimfies to contrive;

The gayeft valetudinaire,

Most thinking rake alive.

NOTES.

Solicitous

Whigs, and Tories; or rather the Jacobites: for this was written the year of the rebellion.

I think he means Terefa Blount, his first flame, who never would submit to his jealoufies and humours.

3

Solicitous for other ends,

Tho' fond of dear repofe ; Careless or drowsy* with my friends, And frolick with my foes.

Luxurious lobster-nights, farewell †,
For fober, ftudious days!

And Burlington's delicious meal,

For fallads, tarts, and pease!

Adieu

NOTES.

* He is faid once to have fallen afleep at his own table, when the Prince of Wales was in company.

It is curious that Nicholas Breton, an obscure writer of verfes 1577, makes nearly the fame complaint in his Poem called "Farewell to Town." See Ellis' Specimens, vol. ii. page 270. And now farewell each dainty difb,

With fundry forts of fugar'd wine!
Farewell, I fay, fine flesh and fish,.

To please this dainty mouth of mine!

I now, alas! must leave all these,

And make good cheer with bread and cheese !

Warton had here introduced, as Pope's, an abufive address to Bolingbroke, I have omitted it, because I cannot think Pope would write thefe lines of himself:

"In fpight of fears, of mercy fpight,

My genius ftill muft rail, and write.
Hafte to thy Twick 'nham's fafe retreat,
And mingle with the grumbling great;
There, half devour'd by fpleen, you'll find
The rhyming bubbler of mankind;
There (objects of our mutual hate)
We'll ridicule both church and state."

Adieu to all but Gay alone *

Whose foul, fincere and free,

Loves all mankind, but flatters none,

And fo may starve with me.

NOTES.

Gay was the favourite of Pope, and was received into his utmost confidence; a friendship was formed between them, which lasted to their feparation by death. JOHNSON. He mentions Gay again, in his Prologue to the Satires, verse 256, with all the pathetic fenfibility of the tenderest friendship, in ftrains of fupreme excellence :

-They left me GAY;

Left me to fee neglected Genius bloom,
Neglected die, and tell it on his tomb;
Of all thy blameless life the fole return

My verfe, and QUEENSB'RY weeping o'er thy urn!'

WAKEFIELD.