ABSTRACT
We read with nothing but disgust the satirical poetry of Cleveland, Butler, Oldham and Marvell, or even of men whose high rank did not soften their style, Rochester, Dorset, Mulgrave.
(iv. 433)
b) From the seventh edition, 1864:
We cannot say of Dryden, that ‘he bears no traces of those sable streams;’1 they sully too much the plumage of that stately swan, but his indomitable genius carries him upwards to a purer empyrean. The rest are just distinguishable from one another, not by any high gifts of the muse, but by degrees of spirit, of ease, of poignancy, of skill and harmony in versification, of good sense and acuteness. They may be easily disposed of. Cleveland is sometimes humourous, but succeeds only in the lightest kinds of poetry. Marvell wrote sometimes with more taste and feeling than was usual, but his satires are gross and stupid. Oldham, far superior in this respect, ranks perhaps next to Dryden; he is spirited and pointed, but his versification is too negligent, and his subjects temporary. [Discussion of Roscommon and Mulgrave omitted.] Rochester, endowed by nature with more considerable and varied genius, might have raised himself to a higher place than he holds. Of Otway, Duke and several more, it is not worth while to give any character. The Revolution did nothing for poetry; William’s reign, always excepting Dryden, is our nadir in works of imagination. [Discussion of Blackmore omitted.] The lighter poetry, meantime, of song and epigram did not sink along with the serious; the state of society was much less adverse to it. Rochester, Dorset, and some more whose names are unknown, or not easily traced, do credit to the Caroline period.
