1822. | The Enquirer.- 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
THE ENQUIRER. 
No. xxxii. 
What are the Comparative Pretensions 
o/pore and boileau ? 
ITT may not be wholly unprofitable, 
.11 or iminteresting at this time—if 
only in reference to the great Bowles 
and Pope question — to attempt 
some elucidation of the poetical quali¬ 
ties of the great bard of Twickenham, 
by considering the rank they ought to 
hold in comparison with those of his 
contemporaries. Among these, none 
-offer. themselves with such striking 
features of resemblance, as Dryden 
and Boileau, though both may be rather 
-said, in point of time, to have preceded 
him. .With the former he lias been so 
frequently and fully compared that it 
would be useless to review the subject. 
the latter: as with the 
No. XXXII, 
489 
Not so with 
exception of some incidental remarks 
of Aire and War ton, the consider¬ 
ation, is new to us. 
Though we ar 
decidedly hostile to that false criticism 
■still in vogue with our old Reviews, 
which institutes mean comparisons be¬ 
tween authors of similar or opposite 
powers, for the invidious purpose of el e¬ 
vating the character of the one, on the 
ruins of the other, instead of gratifying 
and improving their readers by point¬ 
ing out their varied or assimilating 
qualities, to shew how the rich chorus 
of our poetry is made complete; we 
cannot resist the pleasure of touching 
on the respective excellencies and sin¬ 
gular coincidences we discover in the 
characters of Pope and Boileau. In¬ 
deed, there are, perhaps, no two authors, 
either of ancient or modern date, who 
in their genius and pursuits, afford us 
so complete and happy a parallel. And 
this surprising similarity applies no 
less to their peculiar genius and writ¬ 
ings, than to the times in which they 
lived, to the state of literature in their 
respective countries, and to the high 
station they both attained, and the re¬ 
putation they enjoyed while living, In 
the eyes of nobility and princes, and 
in the promise of fame opened to their 
view. 
Thus, they both lived in times equally 
fortunate for their reputation, and 
their honourable reception in the 
world. It was truly the Augustan age 
of England and of France that seemed 
to have restored other Horaces and 
Virgils, and other Ovids and Ciceros 
to the courts of Lewis and Queen Anne. 
Equally rich in the poetry of love and 
Monthly Mag. No. 362. 
passion, as in ih& comedy of manners 
and of polished life, a chivalfic spirit 
seemed still to linger among’us, and 
the influence of poetry was visible in 
the feelings and expressions, if not in 
the actions of men. If the lyric and 
dramatic genius of older times seemed 
to. slumber, they still possessed subli¬ 
mity of sentiment and description, and 
with high pathetic powers united a 
keen and humourous relish of satire 
and burlesque. In all of these, Pope 
and Boileau must be allowed to have 
been at the head of their art, among 
contemporaries of no common qualifi¬ 
cations. Their names will be found 
as highly distinguished above the great 
writers of their age, as above all those 
who have followed them. 
In the invention and developemenfc 
of their subjects, in felicity and com¬ 
pleteness of execution, uniformity of 
character and purpose, with an uncom¬ 
mon richness and harmony of language 
and versification, their poems will stand 
as models and tests of excellence, ter¬ 
rible indeed to future candidates for 
fame, and almost affecting the past with 
an appearance of barbarism. And for 
this superiority also, they are both in¬ 
debted, like Horace and Virgil, to an 
early and assiduous study of the best 
models of their predecessors, united to 
a fine taste and genius of their own, in 
adapting their poetical powers to the 
wants, character, and humours of their 
respective countrymen. 
In their literary controversies with 
the critics and dunces of the age, we 
find them equally enthusiastic admirers 
and champions of the old writers, 
against the innovations of the moderns; 
and especially in that learned attack 
made by the French academicians on 
the ancients’ want of decency, and 
Homer’s impoliteness, which was after¬ 
wards transferred, by way of sympathy, 
to the dunces of England. But Per- 
rault appears to have met, from Boi¬ 
leau, with much the same reception as 
Bentley and his friends, not long after, 
did from the satire of Dean Swift and 
Pope. And surely another Dimciad 
will soon be a desideratum, to comme¬ 
morate the new labours of the choice 
spirits, and small gentleman wits of the 
present day. 
In their choice of subjects, as well 
as in the more important features of 
their poetic character, and the studies 
they pursued, the French and English 
poets will also be found to agree. It 
would appear that they aimed at the 
3 Q - same 
