Amid that area wide they took their stand,
Where the tall may-pole once o'er-look'd the Strand;
But now (so ANNE and Piety ordain)
A Church collects the saints of Drury-lane.
With Authors, Stationers obey'd the call,
(The field of glory is a field for all.)
Glory, and gain, th' industrious tribe provoke;
And gentle Dulness ever loves a joke.
A Poet's form she plac'd before their eyes,
And bade the nimblest racer seize the prize;
No meagre, muse-rid mope, adust and thin,
In a dun night-gown of his own loose skin;
But such a bulk as no twelve bards could raise,
Twelve starv'ling bards of these degen'rate days.

Alexander Pope's satirical masterpiece, "The Dunciad," uses this passage to showcase his disdain for the literary mediocrity of his time. Here, he vividly depicts a scene where dulness reigns supreme, mocking the societal and cultural decline epitomized by the so-called "King of the Dunces." The imagery of authors and stationers gathering in a once-notable place, now transformed by "Piety" into a church, underscores the transformation of intellectual pursuits into something trivial and vapid. The line "gentle Dulness ever loves a joke" encapsulates the poem’s central theme—mocking those who achieve "glory" not through merit but through mediocrity. Pope's satirical prowess shines as he mocks the "degen'rate days," skewering those who, like the depicted poet, are inflated by self-importance yet lack true substance and talent.