Thefe, 'tis enough to temper and employ; 115 120 And when, in act, they cease, in prospect, rise: 125 The whole employ of body and of mind. All VARIATIONS. After ver. 112. in the MS. The foft reward the virtuous, or invite; COMMENTARY. VER. 123. Pleafures are ever in our bands or eyes;] His third argument against the Stoics (from ver. 122 to 127.) is, that the Paffions are a continual fpur to the pursuit of Happiness; which, without these powerful inciters, we should neglect, and fink into a fenfeless indolence. Now Happinefs is the end of our creation ; and this excitement, the means to that end: therefore, these movers, the Paffions, are the inftruments of God, which he hath put into the hands of Reason to work withal. WARBURTON. NOTES. VER. 117. Love, Hope, and Joy,] This beautiful groupe of allegorical perfonages, fo ftrongly contrafted, how does it act? The profopopeia is unfortunately dropped, and the metaphor changed immediately in the fucceeding lines, viz. "Thefe mix'd with art," &c. WARTON. All spread their charms, but charm not all alike; COMMENTARY. Hence VER. 127. All spread their charms, &c.] The Poet now proceeds in his subject; and this last observation leads him naturally to the difcuffion of his next principle. He fhews then, that though all the Paffions have their turn in fwaying the determinations of the mind, yet every Man hath one MASTER PASSION, that at length flifles or absorbs all the reft. The fact he illustrates at large in his epiftle to Lord Cobham. Here (from ver. 126 to 149.) he giveth us the CAUSE of it. Those Pleasures or Goods, which are the objects of the Paffions, affect the mind by ftriking on the fenses; but as, through the formation of the organs of our frame, every man hath fome one fenfe ftronger and more acute than others, the object which ftrikes the stronger or acuter sense, whatever it be, will be the object most defired; and confequently, the pursuit of that will be the ruling Paffion: That the difference of force in this ruling Paffion, fhall, at firft, perhaps, be very small, or even imperceptible; but Nature, Habit, Imagination, Wit, nay even Reason itself, shall affift its growth, till it hath at length drawn and converted every other into itself. All which is delivered in a ftrain of Poetry so wonderfully fublime, as fufpends, for a while, the ruling Paffion in every Reader, and engroffes his whole admi ration. This naturally leads the Poet to lament the weakness and infufficiency of human Reafon (from ver. 148 to 161.); and the purpose he had in fo doing, was plainly to intimate THE NECESSITY OF A WARBURTON. MORE PERFECT DISPENSATION TO MANKIND. NOTES. VER. 128. On diff'rent fenfes] A didactic poet has thus nobly illuftrated this very doctrine: "Diff'rent minds Incline to diff'rent objects: one pursues And gentlest beauty. Hence, when lightning fires And Hence diff'rent Paffions more or lefs inflame, As Man, perhaps, the moment of his breath, The young disease, that must fubdue at length, 130 135 Grows with his growth, and ftrengthens with his strength : So, caft and mingl'd with his very frame, The Mind's disease, its RULING PASSION, came; NOTES. And Ocean, groaning from the lowest bed, 140 Whatever All on the margin of fome flow'ry ftream, AKENSIDE. WARTON. VER. 129. Hence diff'rent Paffions] It may be doubted, as Johnfon juftly obferves, whether there be any foundation in Nature for this great paramount principle of action, and whether Pope does not confound "Paffions, Appetites, and Habits,” in his theory. VER. 133. As Man, perhaps, &c.]" Antipater Sidonius Poeta omnibus annis uno die natali tantum corripiebatur febre, et eo confumptus eft fatis longa fenecta." Plin. 1. vii. N. H. This Antipater was in the times of Craffus, and is celebrated for the quicknefs of his parts by Cicero. WARBURTON, Whatever warms the heart, or fills the head, Nature its mother, Habit is its nurse; NOTES. 145 150 Ah! VER. 147. Reafon itself, &c.] The Poet, in fome other of his epiitles, gives examples of the doctrines and precepts here delivered. Thus, in that of the Ufe of Riches, he has illuftrated this truth in the character of Cotta: "Old Cotta fham'd his fortune and his birth, 'Yet was not Cotta void of wit or worth. What though (the ufe of barb'rous fpits forgot) WARBURTON. VER. 148. turns vinegar] Taken from Bacon, De Calore; and the preceding verfe, and comparison, 132. “Like Aaron's serpent,”. is from Bacon likewise. WARTON. VER. 148. turns vinegar] This comparison, which might be very proper in Philofophy, has a mean effect in Poetry. VER. 149. We, wretched fubje&s, &c.] St. Paul himself did not choose to employ other arguments, when difpofed to give us the highest idea of the usefulness of CHRISTIANITY (Rom. vii.). But it may be, the Poet finds a remedy in NATURAL RELIGION. Far from it. He here leaves Reafon unrelieved. What is this then, but an intimation that we ought to feek for a cure in that Religion, which only dares profefs to give it? WARBURTON. Ah! if the lend not arms, as well as rules, What can fhe more than tell us we are fools? 155 Proud of an eafy conqueft all along, She but removes weak Paffions for the strong: So, when small humours gather to a gout, 160 The doctor fancies he has driv'n them out. And treat this paffion more as friend than foe: COMMENTARY. 165 Let VER. 161. Yes, Nature's road, &c.] Now as it appears from the account here given of the ruling Paffion and its cause (which results from the structure of the organs), that it is the road of Nature, the Poet fhews (from ver. 160 to 197.), that this road is to be followed. So that the office of Reafon is not to direct us what paffion to exercise, but to affist us in RECTIFYING, and keeping within due bounds, that which Nature hath so strongly impreffed; because "A mightier Power the ftrong direction sends, And fev'ral Men impels to fev'ral ends." WARBURTON. VER. 167. Like varying winds, &c.] The Poet having proved that the ruling paffion (fince Nature hath given it us) is not to be overthrown, NOTES. VER. 160. The doctor fancies, &c.] The fame may be faid of this as of the line 148. G 2 |