THE

DUNCIA D.

BOOK III.

ARGUMENT TO BOOK THE THIRD.

AFTER the other persons are disposed in their proper places of rest, the Goddess transports the King to her Temple, and there lays him to slumber with bis bead on her lap: a position of marvellous virtue, which causes all the Visions of wild enthusiasts, projectors, politicians, inamoratos, castle-builders, chymists, and poets. He is immediately carried on the wings of Fancy to the Elyzian shade, where, on the banks of Lethe, the souls of the dull are dipped by Bavius, before their entrance into this world. There be is met by the ghost of Settle, and by him made acquainted with the wonders of the place, and with those which be is bimself destined to perform. He takes him to a Mount of Vision, from whence he shews him the past triumphs of the empire of Dulness, then the present, and lastly the future: bow small a part of the world was ever conquered by Science, bow soon those conquests were stopped, and those very nations again re duced to ber dominion. Then distinguishing the Island of Great Britain, shews by what aids, and by what persons, it shall be forthwith brought to her empire. These be causes to pass in review before bis eyes, describing each by his proper figure, character, and qualifications. On a sudden the scene shifts, and a vast number of miracles and prodigies appear, utterly surprizing and unknown to the King himself, till they are explained to be the wonders of his own reign now commencing. On this subject ·Settle breaks into a congratulation, yet not unmixed with concern, that bis own times were but the types of these. He prophecies bow first the nation shall be over-run with Farces, Operas, and Shows; and the throne of Dulness advanced over both the Theatres; then bow ber Sons shall preside in the seats of Arts and Sciences, till in conclusion all shall return to their original Chaos: A scene, of which the present action of the Dunciad is but a type or foretaste, giving a glympfe, or Pisgah-sight of the promised Fulness of ber Glory; the accomplishment whereof will, in all probability, bereafter be the theme of many other and greater Dunciads.

BOOK III.

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BUT in her temple's last recess inclos'd,
On Dulness' lap th' anointed head repos'd.
Him close she curtain'd round with vapours blue,
And soft besprinkled with Cimmerian dew.
Then raptures high the seat of sense o’erflow,
Which only heads refin❜d from reason know.
Hence, from the straw where Bedlam's prophet nods,
He hears loud oracles, and talks with gods:
Hence the fool's paradise, the statesman's scheme,
The air-built castle, and the golden dream,
The maid's romantic wish, the chymist's flame,
And poet's vision of eternal fame.

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And now, on Fancy's easy wing convey'd, The King descended to th' Elyzian shade. There, in a dusky vale where Lethe rolls,

Old Bavius sits, to dip poetic souls,

And blunt the sense, and fit it for a skull

Of solid proof, impenetrably dull:

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Instant when dipt, away they wing their flight, Where Brown and Mears unbar the gates of light,

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VOL. IV.

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Demand

Demand new bodies, and in calf's array,
Rush to the world, impatient for the day.
Millions and millions on these banks he views,
Thick as the stars of night, and morning dews,
As thick as bees o'er vernal blossoms fly,
As thick as eggs at Ward in pillory.

Wond'ring he gaz'd: when lo! a sage appears,
By his broad shoulders known, and length of ears,
Known by the band and suit which Settle wore,
(His only suit) for twice three years before :
All as the vest, appear'd the wearer's frame,
Old in new state, another yet the same.
Bland and familiar as in life, begun

Thus the great father to the greater son:

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Oh born to see what none can see awake'!

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Behold the wonders of th' oblivious lake.

Thou, yet unborn, hast touch'd this sacred shore;
The hand of Bavius drench'd thee o'er and o'er.
But blind to former, as to future fate,
What mortal knows his pre-existent state?
Who knows how long, thy transmigrating soul
Might from Baotian to Baotian roll!
How many Dutchmen she vouchsaf'd to thrid?
How many stages thro' old Monks she rid?
And all who since, in mild benighted days,
Mix'd the owl's ivy with the poet's bays?
As man's meanders to the vital spring

Roll all their tydes, then back their circles bring;

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Or

Or whirligigs, twirl'd round by skilful swain,
Suck the thread in, then yield it out again;
All nonsense thus, of old or modern date,
Shall in thee centre, from thee circulate.
For this, our Queen unfolds to vision true
Thy mental
eye, for thou hast much to view:
Old scenes of glory, times long cast behind

Shall first recall'd, rush forward to thy mind:
Then stretch thy sight o'er all her rising reign,
And let the past and future fire thy brain.

Ascend this hill, whose cloudy point commands Her boundless empire over seas and lands. See, round the poles where keener spangles shine, Where spices smoke beneath the burning line, (Earth's wide extreams) her sable flag display'd; And all the nations cover'd in her shade!

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Far eastward cast thine eye, from whence the sun
And orient science at a birth begun.
One god-like monarch all that pride confounds,
He, whose long wall the wand'ring Tartar bounds.
Heav'ns! what a pile? whole ages perish there :
And one bright blaze turns learning into air.

Thence to the south extend thy gladden'd eyes ;
There rival flames with equal glory rise,
From shelves to shelves see greedy Vulcan roll,
And lick up all their physic of the soul.

How little, mark! that portion of the ball,
Where, faint at best, the beams of science fall;
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