No More Learning

'209 Templars':

students of law at the "Temple" in London who prided themselves on their
good taste in literature. A body of them came on purpose to applaud
'Cato' on the first night.

'raise':

exalt, praise.


'211-212 laugh . . . weep':

explain the reason for these actions.

'Atticus':

Addison's name was given in the first version of this passage. Then it
was changed to "A---n. " Addison had been mentioned in the 'Spectator'
(No. 150) under the name of Atticus as "in every way one of the greatest
geniuses the age has produced. "


'213 rubric on the walls':

Lintot, Pope's old publisher, used to stick up the titles of new books
in red letters on the walls of his shop.


'214 with claps':

with clap-bills, posters.


'215 smoking:'

hot from the press.


'220 George:'

George II, king of England at this time.
His indifference to literature
was notorious.


'228 Bufo:'

the picture of a proud but grudging patron of letters which follows was
first meant for Bubb Doddington, a courtier and patron of letters at the
time the poem was written. In order to connect it more closely with the
time of which he was writing, Pope added ll. 243-246, which pointed to
Charles Montague, Earl of Halifax. Halifax was himself a poet and
affected to be a great patron of poetry, but his enemies accused him of
only giving his clients "good words and good dinners. " Pope tells an
amusing story of Montague's comments on his translation of the 'Iliad'
(Spence, 'Anecdotes', p. 134). But Halifax subscribed for ten copies of
the translation, so that Pope, at least, could not complain of his lack
of generosity.

'Castalian state:'

the kingdom of poets.


'232'

His name was coupled with that of Horace as a poet and critic.


'234 Pindar without a head:'

some headless statue which Bufo insisted was a genuine classic figure of
Pindar, the famous Greek lyric poet.


'237 his seat:'

his country seat.


'242 paid in kind:'

What does this phrase mean?


'243'

Dryden died in 1700. He had been poor and obliged to work hard for a
living in his last years, but hardly had to starve. Halifax offered to
pay the expenses of his funeral and contribute five hundred pounds for a
monument, and Pope not unreasonably suggests that some of this bounty
might have been bestowed on Dryden in his lifetime.