There is no knowing how long this twaddle might have held the public taste had not William Gifford (Editor of the Quarterly Review) produced his famous satires The Baviad, and The Maeviad, in which he mercilessly exposed the inflated nonsense written by the Della Cruscans; and by well chosen extracts from their poems turned the laugh so completely against them that they slunk back into their native obscurity.
Gifford’s satires are still read with pleasure, and the extracts given in the notes show that Pope’s nonsense verses were excelled by the would-be-serious Della Cruscans; as for example—
“Slighted love the soul subduing
Silent sorrow chills the heart,
Treach’rous fancy still pursuing,
Still repels the poisoned dart.
Soothing those fond dreams of pleasure
Pictur’d in the glowing breast,
Lavish of her sweetest treasure,
Anxious fear is charm’d to rest.