缪斯终于厌倦了平达里克这条路，因为这条路一到，她就会迷路;我怀着温柔的喜悦去读寓言，愿意把它翻译出来，也愿意把它轻易地写完;而每一篇小说都匆匆地补上，填满我的书页，使我的思想摆脱忧虑，就像它们给飞禽走兽带来新的礼物，传授新的知识，就像诗人们所展示的那样，同时又使人心旷神怡。但在这里，批评家让我检查这条静脉。他哭着说:“好极了，虽然‘成长的’影响了紧张，但却像它出生时一样死去，没有人关心，也没有人痛苦。”懒惰的轻浮者企图用幼稚的故事来换取名声，但他的目标却落空了。那么，让我的诗，再一次尝试天空，容易被说服的诗人叫道，既然卑劣的作品，你们这些有识之士所鄙视。特洛伊的城墙将是我们更高的舞台，我们强大的主题是阿喀琉斯之怒。赫克托耳的力量和尤利西斯的艺术将以这样的语言来装饰他们的角色，这是霍布斯和查普曼所不能给予的，也是康格里夫和德莱顿所不能给予的。在她的塔楼中，那匹专一的马将被接纳，它有着巨大的破坏力;直到人们说，当火焰将她吞噬 Troy is no more, and Ilium was a Town. Is this the way to please the Men of Taste, The Interrupter cries, this old Bombast? I'm sick of Troy, and in as great a Fright, When some dull Pedant wou'd her Wars recite, As was soft Paris, when compell'd to Fight. To Shades and Springs shall we awhile repair, The Muse demands, and in that milder Air Describe some gentle Swain's unhappy Smart Whose folded Arms still press upon his Heart, And deeper drive the too far enter'd Dart? Whilst Phillis with a careless pleasure reigns The Joy, the Grief, the Envy of the Plains; Heightens the Beauty of the verdant Woods, And softens all the Murmurs of the Floods. Oh! stun me not with these insipid Dreams, Th' Eternal Hush, the Lullaby of Streams. Which still, he cries, their even Measures keep, Till both the Writers, and the Readers sleep. But urge thy Pen, if thou wouldst move our Thoughts, To shew us private, or the publick Faults. Display the Times, High-Church or Low provoke; We'll praise the Weapon, as we like the Stroke, And warmly sympathizing with the Spite Apply to Thousands, what of One you write. Then, must that single Stream the Town supply, The harmless Fable-writer do's reply, And all the Rest of Helicon be dry ? And when so many choice Productions swarm, Must only Satire keep your Fancies warm? Whilst even there, you praise with such Reserve, As if you'd in the midst of Plenty starve, Tho' ne'er so liberally we Authors carve. Happy the Men, whom we divert with Ease, Whom Opera's and Panegyricks please.