St. Lucia.
In a former Number I drew attention to that peculiar fondness for "Irish
rhymes" which is more evident in Swift than in any other poet; and another
correspondent afterwards gave examples to show that "our premier poet,
Pope," sometimes tripped in the same Hibernian manner. In looking over an
old volume of the _New Monthly Magazine_, during the time of its being
edited by the poet Campbell, I have stumbled upon a passage which is so
_apropos_ to the subject referred to, that I cannot resist quoting it; and
independent of its bearing on our Irish rhyming discussion, the passage has
sufficient interest to excuse my making a Note of it. It occurs in one of a
series of papers called "The Family Journal," supposed to have been written
by the immediate descendants of the "Will Honeycomb" of the _Spectator_. A
{313} dinner-party is assembled at Mr. Pope's, when the conversation takes
this turn:
"Mr. Walscott asked if he (Dryden) was an Englishman or an Irishman,
for he never could find out. 'You would find out,' answered Mr. Pope,
'if you heard him talk, for he cannot get rid of the habit of saying
_a_ for e. He would be an Englishman with all his heart, if he could;
but he is an Irishman, that is certain, and with all his heart too in
one sense, for he is the truest patriot that country ever saw.... You
must not talk to him about Irish rhymes,' added Mr. Pope, 'any more
than you must talk to me about the _gods_ and _abodes_ in my Homer,
which he quarrels with me for. The truth is, we all write Irish rhymes,
and the Dean contrives to be more exact that way than most of us.'
'What!' said Mr. Walscott, 'does he carry his Irish accent into his
writings, and yet think to conceal himself?' Mr. Pope read to us an odd
kind of Latin-English effusion of the Dean's, which made us shake with
laughter. It was about a consultation of physicians. The words, though
Latin in themselves, make English when put together; and the
Hibernianism of the spelling is very plain. I remember a taste of it. A
doctor begins by inquiring,
"'Is his Honor sic? Præ lætus felis pulse. It do es beat veris loto
_de_.'
"Here _de_ spells _day_. An Englishman would have used the word _da_.
"'No,' says the second doctor; 'no, notis as qui cassi e ver feltu
metri it,' &c.
"_Metri_ for _may try_.
"Mr. Pope told us that there were two bad rhymes in the _Rape of the
Lock_, and in the space of eight lines:
"'The doubtful beam long nods from side to side;
At length the wits mount up, the hairs subside.
But this bold lord, with manly strength endued,
She with one finger and a thumb subdued.'
"_Mr. Walscott._ 'These would be very good French rhymes.'
"_Mr. Pope._ 'Yes, the French make a merit of necessity, and force
their poverty upon us for riches. But it is bad in English. However, it
is too late to alter what I wrote. I now care less about them,
notwithstanding the Doctor. When I was a young man, I was for the free
_disinvolte_ way of Dryden, as in the _Essay on Criticism_; but the
town preferred the style of my pastorals, and somehow or other I agreed
with them. I then became very cautious, and wonder how those lines in
the _Lock_ escaped me. But I have come to this conclusion, that when a
man has established his reputation for being able to do a thing, he may
take liberties. Weakness is one thing, and the carelessness of power
another.'"--_New Monthly Magazine_, vol. xiii. (1825), pp. 551, 552.
With regard to the French rhyme, I see, in a note to _Odes and other
Poems_, by Henry Neele, 1821, that he apologises for rhyming _multitude_
with _solitude_, by saying:
"It is of that kind which is very common in French, but I fear hardly
justified by English practice. Still, 'La rime est une esclave, et ne
doit qu'obéir.'"
I would append to this Note a Query. Where in Swift's works is the
"Latin-English effusion of the Dean's" to be met with?[2] or is it composed
for him by the writer of the article? I only know of two such effusions
really written by Swift; the _Love Song_, "Apud in is almi des ire," &c.,
and the _Epigram on Dic_:
"Dic, heris agro at an da quarto finale
Fora ringat ure nos an da stringat ure tale."
I should also like to know the author of the clever series of papers from
which I have quoted.