"Some Beams of Wit on other souls may fall, / Strike through and make a lucid intervall; / But Shadwell's genuine night admits no ray, / His rising Fogs prevail upon the Day."
— Dryden, John (1631-1700)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Jacob Tonson
Date
w. 1677, published October, 1682
Metaphor
"Some Beams of Wit on other souls may fall, / Strike through and make a lucid intervall; / But Shadwell's genuine night admits no ray, / His rising Fogs prevail upon the Day."
Metaphor in Context
All humane things are subject to decay,
And, when Fate summons, Monarchs must o∣bey
This Flecnoe found, who, like Augustus, young
Was call'd to Empire, and had govern'd long:
In Prose and Verse, was own'd, without dispute
Through all the Realms of Non-sense, absolute.
This aged Prince now flourishing in Peace,
And blest with issue of a large increase.
Worn out with business, did at length debate
To settle the Succession of the State:
And pond'ring which of all his Sons was fit
To Reign, and wage immortal War with Wit:
Cry'd, 'tis resolv'd; for Nature pleads that He
Should onely rule, who most resembles me:
Shadwell alone my perfect image bears,
Nature in dulness from his tender years.
Shadwell alone of all my Sons, is he
Who stands confirm'd in full stupidity.
The rest to some faint meaning make pretence,
But Shadwell never deviates into sense.
Some Beams of Wit on other souls may fall,
Strike through and make a lucid intervall;
But Shadwell's genuine night admits no ray,
His rising Fogs prevail upon the Day:
Besides his goodly Fabrick fills the eye,
And seems design'd for thoughtless Majesty:
Thoughtless as Monarch Oakes, that shade the plain,
And, spread in solemn state, supinely reign.
(pp. 1-2, ll. 1-28, from EEBO-TCP, modified)
And, when Fate summons, Monarchs must o∣bey
This Flecnoe found, who, like Augustus, young
Was call'd to Empire, and had govern'd long:
In Prose and Verse, was own'd, without dispute
Through all the Realms of Non-sense, absolute.
This aged Prince now flourishing in Peace,
And blest with issue of a large increase.
Worn out with business, did at length debate
To settle the Succession of the State:
And pond'ring which of all his Sons was fit
To Reign, and wage immortal War with Wit:
Cry'd, 'tis resolv'd; for Nature pleads that He
Should onely rule, who most resembles me:
Shadwell alone my perfect image bears,
Nature in dulness from his tender years.
Shadwell alone of all my Sons, is he
Who stands confirm'd in full stupidity.
The rest to some faint meaning make pretence,
But Shadwell never deviates into sense.
Some Beams of Wit on other souls may fall,
Strike through and make a lucid intervall;
But Shadwell's genuine night admits no ray,
His rising Fogs prevail upon the Day:
Besides his goodly Fabrick fills the eye,
And seems design'd for thoughtless Majesty:
Thoughtless as Monarch Oakes, that shade the plain,
And, spread in solemn state, supinely reign.
(pp. 1-2, ll. 1-28, from EEBO-TCP, modified)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 7 entries in ESTC (1682, 1684, 1685, 1688, 1692, 1693, 1709).
The poem circulated in MS for many years (John Oldham's manuscript was dated 1678). Probably written in 1677. First published in October of 1682.
See Mac Flecknoe, or A Satyr upon the True-Blew-Protestant Poet, T.S. By the Author of Absalom & Achitophel. (London: Printed for D. Green, 1682). <Link to ESTC>
See also part 1 of Miscellany Poems. Containing a New Translation of Virgills Eclogues, Ovid’s Love Elegies, Odes of Horace, and Other Authors; with Several Original Poems. By the Most Eminent Hands. (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, at the Judges-head in Chancery-Lane near Fleet-street, 1684). <Link to ESTC>
Text from John Dryden, MacFlecknoe (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1692). <Link to EEBO-TCP>
Reading John Dryden, ed. Keith Walker (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1987): 142-147.
The poem circulated in MS for many years (John Oldham's manuscript was dated 1678). Probably written in 1677. First published in October of 1682.
See Mac Flecknoe, or A Satyr upon the True-Blew-Protestant Poet, T.S. By the Author of Absalom & Achitophel. (London: Printed for D. Green, 1682). <Link to ESTC>
See also part 1 of Miscellany Poems. Containing a New Translation of Virgills Eclogues, Ovid’s Love Elegies, Odes of Horace, and Other Authors; with Several Original Poems. By the Most Eminent Hands. (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, at the Judges-head in Chancery-Lane near Fleet-street, 1684). <Link to ESTC>
Text from John Dryden, MacFlecknoe (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1692). <Link to EEBO-TCP>
Reading John Dryden, ed. Keith Walker (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1987): 142-147.
Date of Entry
01/04/2016
