Page:The Works of Alexander Pope (1717).djvu/120
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84
ESSAY on CRITICISM.
From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part,
And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art,
Which, without passing thro' the judgment, gains
The heart, and all its end at once attains.
In prospects, thus, some objects please our eyes,
Which out of nature's common order rise,
The shapeless rock, or hanging precipice.
But care in poetry must still be had,
It asks discretion ev'n in running mad:
And tho' the Ancients thus their rules invade,
(As Kings dispense with laws themselves have made)
Moderns beware! or if you must offend
Against the Precept, ne'er transgress its End;
Let it be seldom, and compell'd by need;
And have, at least, their precedent to plead.
The Critic else proceeds without remorse,
Seizes your fame, and puts his laws in force.
I know there are, to whose presumptuous thoughts
Those freer beauties, ev'n in them, seem faults.
And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art,
Which, without passing thro' the judgment, gains
The heart, and all its end at once attains.
In prospects, thus, some objects please our eyes,
Which out of nature's common order rise,
The shapeless rock, or hanging precipice.
But care in poetry must still be had,
It asks discretion ev'n in running mad:
And tho' the Ancients thus their rules invade,
(As Kings dispense with laws themselves have made)
Moderns beware! or if you must offend
Against the Precept, ne'er transgress its End;
Let it be seldom, and compell'd by need;
And have, at least, their precedent to plead.
The Critic else proceeds without remorse,
Seizes your fame, and puts his laws in force.
I know there are, to whose presumptuous thoughts
Those freer beauties, ev'n in them, seem faults.
Some