Chapter 367

The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds

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_The Campaign_.

And, pleased th' Almighty's orders to perform Rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm.[9]

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[Note 9: This line has been frequently ascribed to Pope, as it is found in the Dunciad, Book iii., line 261.]

_From the Letter on Italy_.

For wheresoe'er I turn my ravished eyes, Gay gilded scenes and shining prospects rise; Poetic fields encompass me around, And still I seem to tread on classic ground.[10]

[Note 10: Malone states that this was the first time the phrase _classic ground_, since so common, was ever used.]

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_Ode_.

The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue, ethereal sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim.

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Soon as the evening shades prevail, The moon takes up the wondrous tale, And nightly to the listening earth Repeats the story of her birth; While all the stars that round her burn, And all the planets in their tarn, Confirm the tidings as they roll, And spread the truth from pole to pole.

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Forever singing, as they shine, The hand that made us is divine.

JONATHAN SWIFT. 1667-1745.

_Imitation of Horace_. B. ii. Sat. 6.

I've often wished that I had clear, For life, six hundred pounds a year, A handsome house to lodge a friend, A river at my garden's end.

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_Poetry, a Rhapsody_.

So geographers, in Afric maps, With savage pictures fill their gaps, And o'er unhabitable downs Place elephants for want of towns.

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WILLIAM CONGREVE. 1669-1729.

_The Mourning Bride_. Act i. Sc. 1.

Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast. To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.

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By magic numbers and persuasive sound.