The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 13Dryden, John
General
The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 13
Dryden, John
Poetry
_When he should thanks to Pan and Pales pay,
And better Ceres._--P. 245.
Pan, the god of shepherds, and Pales, the goddess presiding over rural
affairs; whom Virgil invocates in the beginning of his second Georgic.
I give the epithet of _better_ to Ceres, because she first taught the
use of corn for bread, as the poets tell us; men, in the first rude
ages, feeding only on acorns, or mast, instead of bread.
Note VII.
_Not five, the strongest that the Circus breeds._--P. 246.
The learned Holyday (who has made us amends for his bad poetry in this
and the rest of these satires, with his excellent illustrations), here
tells us, from good authority, that the number five does not allude
to the five fingers of one man, but to five strong men, such as were
skilful in the five robust exercises then in practice at Rome, and were
performed in the circus, or public place ordained for them. These five
he reckons up in this manner: 1. The Cæstus, or Whirlbatts, described
by Virgil in his fifth Æneid; and this was the most dangerous of all
the rest. The 2d was the foot-race. The 3d, the discus; like the
throwing a weighty ball; a sport now used in Cornwall, and other parts
of England; we may see it daily practised in Red-Lyon Fields. The 4th,
was the Saltus, or Leaping; and the 5th, wrestling naked, and besmeared
with oil. They who practised in these five manly exercises were called
#Pentathloi#.
Note VIII.
_If, with thy guards, thou scour'st the streets by night,
And dost in murders, rapes, and spoils, delight._--P. 247.
Persius durst not have been so bold with Nero as I dare now; and
therefore there is only an intimation of that in him which I publicly
speak: I mean, of Nero's walking the streets by night in disguise,
and committing all sorts of outrages, for which he was sometimes well
beaten.
Note IX.
_Not what thou dost appear,
But what thou art, and find the beggar there._--P. 247.
Look into thyself, and examine thy own conscience; there thou shalt
find, that, how wealthy soever thou appearest to the world, yet thou
art but a beggar; because thou art destitute of all virtues, which are
the riches of the soul. This also was a paradox of the Stoic school.
THE
FIFTH SATIRE
OF
PERSIUS.
INSCRIBED TO
THE REV. DR BUSBY.
THE SPEAKERS
PERSIUS AND CORNUTUS.
THE ARGUMENT.
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