Note 184 — WINDSOR FOREST.
Reading edition
Hor., Ode iii. lib. 3:
Quo, Musa, tendis? desine pervicax Referre sermones Deorum et Magna modis tenuare parvis.—Warburton.
Addison's translation of Horace's Ode:
But hold, my muse, forbear thy tow'ring flight Nor bring the secrets of the gods to light.
Pope says that he will not presume "to touch on Albion's golden days," and "bring the scenes of opening fate to light," oblivious that the speech which Father Thames has just delivered is entirely made up of these two topics. As might be inferred from their feebleness, the lines from ver. 426 formed part of the original Windsor Forest, with the exception of the couplet beginning "Where Peace descending," which is of another order of poetry. The second line is exquisite.