300 DRYDEN. 



with prose as much as he pleases, and it will only elevate 

 and enliven ; but the moment he mixes a particle of prose 

 with his poetry, it precipitates the whole/ Wordsworth, 

 he added, never forgave him. The always hasty Dryden, 

 as I think I have already said, was liable, like a careless 

 apothecary s prentice, to make the same confusion of 

 ingredients, especially in the more mischievous way. I 

 cannot leave the &quot; Annus Mirabilis &quot; without giving an 

 example of this. Describing the Dutch prizes, rather like 

 an auctioneer than a poet, he says that 



&quot; Some English wool, vexed in a Belgian loom, 

 And into cloth of spongy softness made, 

 Did into France or colder Denmark doom, 

 To ruin with worse ware our staple trade.&quot; 



One might fancy this written by the secretary of a board 

 of trade in an unguarded moment ; but we should remember 

 that the poem is dedicated to the city of London. The 

 depreciation of the rival fabrics is exquisite ; and Dryden, 

 the most English of our poets, would not be so thoroughly 

 English if he had not in him some fibre of la nation 

 boutiquiere. Let us now see how he succeeds in attempting 

 to infuse science (the most obstinately prosy material) with 

 poetry. Speaking of &quot;a more exact knowledge of the 

 longitudes,&quot; as he explains in a note, he tells us that, 



&quot; Then we upon our globe s last verge shall go, 

 And view the ocean leaning on the sky ; 

 From thence our rolling neighbours we shall know, 

 And on the lunar world securely pry.&quot; 



Dr. Johnson confesses that he does not understand this. 

 Why should he, when it is plain that Dryden was wholly in 

 the dark himself ? To understand it is none of my business, 

 but I confess that it interests me as an Americanism. We 

 have hitherto been credited as the inventors of the 

 &quot;jumping-off place&quot; at the extreme western verge of the 

 world. But Dryden was beforehand with us. Though he 

 doubtless knew that the earth was a sphere (and perhaps 

 that it was flattened at the poles), it was always a flat 



