Suppose a painter to a human head Should join a horse's neck, and wildly spread The various plumage of the feather'd kind O'er limbs of different beasts, absurdly joined. Or if he gave to view of beauteous maid Above the waist with every charm arrayed, But ending, fish-like, in a mermaid tail, Could you to laugh at such a picture fail? Such is the book that, like a sick man's dreams, Varies all shapes, and mixes all extremes. "Painters and poets our indulgence claim, Their daring equal, and their art the same." I own the indulgence, such I give and take; But not through nature's sacred rules to break. Your opening promises some grand design, And purple patches with broad lustre shine Sewed on the poem; here in laboured strain A sacred grove, or fair Diana's fane Rises to view; there through delightful meads A murmuring stream its winding water leads. Why will you thus a mighty vase intend, If in a worthless bowl your labours end? Then learn this wandering humour to control, And keep one equal tenour through the whole. THE FALSEHOOD OF EXTREMES IN STYLE But oft our greatest errors take their rise From our best views. I strive to be concise, And prove obscure. My strength, or passion, flees, When I would write with elegance and ease. Aiming at greatness, some to fustian soar: Some, bent on safety, creep along the shore. Thus injudicious, while one fault we shun, Into its opposite extreme we run. CHOICE OF THEME Examine well, ye writers, weigh with care, What suits your genius, what your strength can bear; For when a well-proportioned theme you choose, Nor words, nor method shall their aid refuse. WORDS OLD AND NEW The author of a promised work must be Subtle and careful in word-harmony. To choose and to reject. You merit praise If by deft linking of known words a phrase Strikes one as new. Should unfamiliar theme Need fresh-invented terms, proper will seem Diction unknown of old. This licence used With fair discretion never is refused. As when the forest, with the bending year, First sheds the leaves, which earliest appear, So an old race of words maturely dies, And some, new born, in youth and vigour rise. Many shall rise which now forgotten lie; Others, in present credit, soon shall die, If custom will, whose arbitrary sway Words and the forms of language must obey. WORDS MUST SUIT CHARACTER