 understand,
together with a catalogue of the names of places, for which the author seems to
have rambled strangely from his subject, more studious of making a silly parade
of his skill in poetical geography, than of interesting the passions of the
heart. Indeed, one would be apt to conclude from this circumstance, that his
grief was mere affectation, did not he blubber so piteously in the last verse. I
could have wished, that more dignity had been preserved in the stanza which
describes the old gentlewoman's benevolence, and that the last line had been
altogether omitted, because it conjures up a most ridiculous image of her having
actually hatched that same poultry, which she is said to have tended with such
maternal care.«
    To these animadversions the censured bard replied, that the verse, in being
irregular, the more nearly resembled the natural exclamations of real
affliction; and that such irregularity had not only been excused, but even
considered as a beauty in many modern productions. He owned, that the allusions
might be obscure to some readers, and therefore he intended to explain them in
notes, at the bottom of the page. As to the topical descriptions which the
critic had censured so severely, he said they were inserted to amuse and relieve
the imagination of the reader, that he might not be too much affected with the
Pathos of the subject; and with regard to the line,
 
                      As if she common mother were of all,
 
far from carrying that ludicrous implication he had mentioned, it certainly
conveyed the most amiable and parental idea of the deceased; and he did not
doubt, that he should find his own opinion confirmed by that of the public, in a
very comfortable sale of the work.
    »So, after all this profession of filial tenderness, (cried the epic bard)
the world will have some reason to say, you wanted to make a job of your
grandmother's death.« »Perhaps (answered the other) I shall make a present of
the copy to my bookseller.« »If you desire to be thought altogether
disinterested in the affair, (resumed the critic) you ought to print a few
copies at your own expence, and distribute them gratis among your friends; by
these means, you will have as good a chance to see your own talents admired, and
the memory of your grandame immortalized, as if you had sold the property of the
piece for a thousand pounds.«
    This proposal seemed to disconcert the elegiac writer; when the chairman
interposing, »Pshaw! (said he) why the devil should he be more delicate in
