From an absolute point of view many criticisms must be made of Pope's version.
The publication of Pope's Homer marks an important stage in the development of authorship.
But, first, stay, And view their triumphs as they pass this way; And then devise what best contents thy mind, By cunning in thine art to cross the Pope, Or dash the pride of this solemnity; To make his monks and abbots stand like apes, And point like antics at his triple crown; To beat the beads about the friars' pates, Or clap huge horns upon the Cardinals' heads; Or any villany thou canst devise; And I'll perform it, Faustus.
Enter the CARDINALS and BISHOPS, some bearing crosiers, some the pillars; MONKS and FRIARS, singing their procession; then the POPE, RAYMOND king of Hungary, the ARCHBISHOP OF RHEIMS, BRUNO led in chains, and ATTENDANTS.
Of course I read other things of Pope's besides his pastorals, even at the time I read these so much.
Upon the whole I think much better of the kind than I once did, though still not so much as I should have thought if I had read the poem when the fever of my love for Pope was at the highest.
'Wife,' said the fisherman, as he looked at all this greatness, 'are you pope?' 'Yes,' said she, 'I am pope.' 'Well, wife,' replied he, 'it is a grand thing to be pope; and now you must be easy, for you can be nothing greater.'
'cannot you be easy with being pope?' 'No,' said she, 'I am very uneasy as long as the sun and moon rise without my leave.
But soon after this no fewer than five Bulls, or letters from the
Pope, were sent against Wyclif.
The old pope however did not answer, but looked aside timidly, with a painful and gloomy expression.
"To speak before three eyes," said the old pope cheerfully (he was blind of one eye), "in divine matters I am more enlightened than Zarathustra himself--and may well be so.
Only can he be blamed for the election of Julius the Second, in whom he made a bad choice, because, as is said, not being able to elect a
Pope to his own mind, he could have hindered any other from being elected
Pope; and he ought never to have consented to the election of any cardinal whom he had injured or who had cause to fear him if they became pontiffs.
The pope heaped attentions upon Rospigliosi and Spada, conferred upon them the insignia of the cardinalate, and induced them to arrange their affairs and take up their residence at Rome.
"The table was laid in a vineyard belonging to the pope, near San Pierdarena, a charming retreat which the cardinals knew very well by report.
Such was the
pope whom the fools had just chosen for themselves.
