Carew, Thomas A selection

*

I

SELECTION

FROM THE

POETICAL WORKS

Careto,

LONDOX:

PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME ; By John Evans, Bristol Mercury Office ;

AND SOLD BY THOMAS FRY & CO. NO. 46, HIGH-STREET, BRISTOL.

Ysio.

.

TO

SIR S. EGERTON BRYDGES, K. J.

THE RENOVATOR OF EARLY ENGLISH LITERATURE,

THIS SELECTION

FROM THE WORKS OF

CAREW,

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,

BY

THE EDITOR.

A 2

PREFACE.

THE PUBLIC is here presented with a selection from the Poetical Works of an unjustly-neglected Author, and I shall feel ample gratification in the conscious ness of reviving his memory, if what I have done be instrumental to that effect.

To many readers, the notes appended may appear prolix and unnecessary; I can only observe, they appeared to me not irrelative. One principal object in gathering them was, to induce the Lover of Poesy to give more attention to the contemporaries of my Author. In our enthusiastic admiration of " Fancy's

VI

" sweetest children," SPENSER, SlfAK- SPEARE, and the immortal MlLTON, we seem to have forgotten the existence of Drayton, Daniel, Browne, the two Fletchers, Drummond, and Wither* — poets who, although not possessing the power to engage the imagination so strongly as the great triumvirate, are still, to a high degree, sublime, pictu resque, and pathetic ; and they must, either from the present age or from posterity, receive that regard to their merits which has hitherto been denied them, except by the " chosen few."

I now commit this volume to the indulgent Critic, with an earnest hope,

* To these may be added, Hab'mgton, Lovelace, Herrick, and, in the department of the Drama, Beaumont and Fletcher, Ben Jonson, Massinger, Shirley, and Ford.

Tii

that CAREW may be at last restored to that rank he ought long ago to have possessed, and that Waller may be no longer exclusively considered the Refiner of English Poetry.

A learned Critic has long ago remarked, that " CAREW opens the poetical age of " Charles I. with great lustre. He pre- *e served the harmony of his verse, if not " the purity of his taste, untainted by " his metaphysical contemporaries. In " point of versification, he is the link " which joins Spenser and Fairfax to " Waller and Denham."— British Critic, vol. xix. p. 621.

To conclude, — I devoutly wish the reader may receive as much pleasure in perusing, as I have in editing, this Selection.

JOHN FRY.

Bristol, January 1810.

SOME ACCOUNT OF

THOMAS CAREW.

THE trite observation, that the Life of a Man of Letters is too uniform for much diversity of relation in narrating it, although the fallacy of such corol lary is evinced in many instances to the contrary, on the present occasion remains in full force. The life of Carew had few incidents, and those are easily told.

The sera of his birth is doubtful, but, from col lateral circumstances, probably about 1577- He was a descendant from the ancient and honorable family of his name, long seated in Cornwall (but the branch whence he immediately sprung was of Glocestershire), and brother to Sir Matthew Carew, a strenuous and distinguished adherent to Charles, in the unfortunate dissensions which, a century and an half ago, deluged this country with blood t Thomas received his education at Corpus Christi College, Oxford ; and although, according to Wood, it does not appear that he was matriculated as at member, or admitted to a degree, his genius and abilities early acquired him the notice of the wise and good.

Tlis attainments and education were improved by travel, and the manners and customs of different countries which he visited were observed with an attentive eye.

On his return, birth, as well as accomplishments, were his introductions to the circles of the great ; and Wood tells us, " he was adored by the poets of his time." Trusting implicitly to the honest bio grapher, we know he was beloved by Jonson, Donne, D'Avenant, May, and Suckling ; although after liis death the latter could write of him,

" Tom Carew was next, but he had a fault

*' That would Hot w«ll stand with a Laureat ;

t( His Muse was hide-bound, and thn issue of 's brain

" Was seldom brought forth but with trouble and pain/*

To this unmerited censure we need only oppose the opinion of the ingenious Mister Headley : " He " has the case without the pedantry of Waller, and *' perhaps less conceit."

The interest of his brother probably opened the way for an introduction to Charles, the fruits of which were, being appointed Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, and Sewer in ordinary to His Majesty: those posts he retained till his death, which happened in 1639, universally regretted.

Lord Clarendon has recorded of him that he possessed excellent parts, and " was a person of a ** pleasant and facetious wit, and made many

XI

" poems (especially in the amorous way), which " for the sharpness of the fancy, and the elegancy " of the language, in which that language was f( spiced, were at last equal, if not superior to any " of that time. But his glory was, that after fifty " years of his life, spent with less severity or exact- '* ness than it ought to have been, he died with the " greatest remorse for that license, and with the " greatest manifestation of Christianity that hi* " best friends could desire."

A little remains to be said relative -to Celia, the lady to whom most of his amatory productions are addressed. At this period of time it would be difficult, and indeed impracticable, to ascertain her real name : we have no clue to direct us, either in his own writings or those of his contemporaries. For her, however, a sincere affection seems to have been entertained, although he never received a return.

*' Oh Love, requited Love, how fine thy thrills,

" That shake the trembling frame with ecatacy,

" E'en every vein celestial pleasure fills,

" And inexpressive bliss is in each sigh."

Brydges, Son. 30, Poems, ed. 1807.

This disappointment may palliate, if it does not. excuse the irregularities of his conduct.

I may be expected to say a few words respecting the merit of the Poems selected in the following

ru , o£ /vt^C /AM t>

<7 •

'

Xll

pages. Among the elegant Relieves of Bi&hop Percy, and Specimens of Mister Ellis, many of them have already found a place, as well as in the Select Beauties of Mister Headley, who seems to have entertained a very just idea of Carew, although his critique has not succeeded in regaining the public attention.

It is in the Amatory department that we must seek, in order to form a correct opinion of his poetical talent. In it I do not hesitate to assert, every reader of taste will discover a tender glow of imagination and felicity in combining ideas, that mark him as a true poet. It is easy to scribble verses, but quite different to write poetry. In Carew we almost always perceive an unaffected method of sentiment, so many beautiful images that are not to be found in any former author; added to which, so mellifluous a flow of harmony in his lines, that we cannot deny him the praise of the latter. He is the first that has sung the praises of Beauty, and the delightful sensations of Love, with Doric delicacy. He displays a manner of his own, much superior to the pedantic metaphysical effusions of Waller, and he only requires to be more known to be more redde.

The beautiful little piece, Disdaine Returned, has already met the commendation of that elegant critic, Bishop Percy, arid been inserted in Mister Ellis's Specimens.

Kill

la the Pastoral Dialogue, there are some pas sages exquisitely fine. Such are,

" Stee, Leve, the blushes of the morn appear,

11 And now she hangs her pearly store,

" Rob'd from the eastern shore,

" Pth* cowslips bell and roses rare."

" They kist and wept, and from their lips and eyes, 4< In a nrixt dew of briny sweet, " Their joys and sorrows meet."

The ensuing image has been used in a dilated manner by many of our modern poets.

" The winged hours fly fast while we embrace, " But when we want their help to meet, " They move with leadeu feet."

The Primrose also so sweetly

" BepeaiTd with true poetic dew."

evidently ranks our author amongst " Fancy's children," who

" Warble their native wood notes wild."

It may not be improper to remark, that for this Selection the 2d edition of Carew, 1()42, has been used, with one exception, in which 1 have conjec- tu rally altered a word.

" The parents that first crave her breath, " And their sad friends laid her in earth."'

XIV

So stand the two lines in that edition, and the one of 1772 ; but I have taken the liberty, for the sake of the rime, of altering the first line to

" The parents that first gave her birth." And so it is most probable Carew wrote it.

J. F.

Bristol, Jan. 1810.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Pago

DEDICATION Hi

PREFACE v

SOME ACCOUNT OF THOMAS CAREW ir

AMATORY. Perswasions to Lore 3

Lips and Eyes 1O

SONG. Murdring Beauty 12

Stcrecie Protested 13

A Prayer to the Wind 14

SONG. Mediocrity in Love rejected 17

Good Counsel to a Young Maid.. .18

To my Mistris, sitting by a River's Side.. ..20

SONG. Conquest by Flight 22

To my Inconstant Mistris 34

Perswasions t» Enjoy 25

Ingrateful Beauty threatned 26

Disdaiee returned ~9

SONG. Eternity of Love protested 31

Good Counsell to a Young Maid 39

SONG. To One who, when I prais'd my

Mistris Beauty, said I was blind 39

To nay Mistris, I burning in Love 34

To her againe, she burning in a

Feaver 3§

A Fly that flew into my Mistria her Eye.. .37 Celia Singing 3£

XVI

Page

AMATORY. Boldnesse in Love 40

A Pastoral 1 Dialogue. 42

Ucd and White Roses 46

The Enquiry 47

The Primrose 49

The Protestation 5-2

The Dart 56

Upon a Mole in Celia's Bosome 57

DESCRIPTIVE. The. Spring 6l

To Saxhorn 64

To my Friend G. N. from Wrest 6a

ELEGIAC. Epitaph on Lady Mary VilLers 79

Auuthcr 80

EPISTOLARY. Upon Master W. Mouutague his

licturnc 83

To my worthy Friend Master George

S-.:iids 87

To my Lord Admirall .~ 90

TO

A. L.

PERSWASIONS TO LOVE.

THINKE not, 'cause men flatt'ring say,

Y'are fresh as Aprill, sweet as May,

Bright as is the morning- starre

That you are so ; or though you are,

Be not therefore proud, and deem 5

All men unworthy your esteeme:

v. 3. Bright as is the morning starre.] — Thus Milton, Ode on May Morning^ 1.1.

" Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger, " Comes dancing from the East."

Spenser, F. Q. h. i. c. 12. st 21.

" As bright as doth the morning starre appeare Out of the East."

B 2

For being so, you loose the pleasure

Of being faire, since that rich treasure

Of rare beauty and sweet feature

Was bestow 'd on you by Nature 10

To be enjoy'd, and 'twere a sin

There to be scarce, where she hath beene

So prodigall of her best graces;

Thus common beauties and meane faces

Shall have more pastime, and enjoy 15

The sport you loose, by being coy.

Did the thing for which I sue,

Onely concerne myselfe, not you;

Were men so fram'd as they alone

Reap'd all the pleasure, women none, 20

Then had you reason to be scant;

But twere a madnesse not to grant

That which affords (if you consent)

To you the giver, more content

Than me the beggar; oh then be 25

Kind to yourselfe, if not to mee;

Starve not yourselfe, because you may

Thereby make me pine away;

Nor let brittle beauty make

You your wiser thoughts forsake: 30

For that lovely face will faile;

Eeautie's sweet, but beautie's fraile;

'Tis sooner past, Yis sooner done

Than summer's raine, or winter's sun *

Most fleeting when it is most deare ; 35

'Tis gone, while wee but say 'tis here.

These curious locks so aptly twind,

Whose every haire a soule doth bind,

v. 32. Beautie's siceet, but beautie's frail."]-* -Milton, Par, Zatf, b. xi. v. 538.

" thou must outlive

Thy youth, thy strength, thy beauty, which will change To wither'd, weak, and gray.'"

t-. 37- These curious locks so aptly twind, &c.] — There is a great similarity between this poem and Daniel's " Descrip tion of Beauty," translated from Marino, particularly the four following stanzas.

Old trembling age will come,

With wrinkTd cheeks and stains,

With motion troublesome;

With skin and bloodless veins,

That lively visage reaven,

And made deform1d and old,

Hates sight of glass it lovVI so to behold.

6

Will change their abroun hue, and grow White, and cold as winter's snow. 40

That eye which now is Cupid's nest Will prove his grave, and all the rest

Thy gold and scarlet shall

Pale silver-colour be j

Thy row of pearls shall fall

Like wither'd leaves from tree;

And thou shalt shortly see

Thy face and hair to grow,

All ploughed with furrows, overswoln with snow.

That which on Flora's breast,

All fresh and flourishing,

Aurora newly drest

Saw in her dawning spring ;

Quite dry and languishing,

Depriv'd of honour quite,

Day closing Hesperus beholds at night.

Fair is the lily ; fair

The rose ; of flow'rs the eye !

Both wither in the air,

Their beauteous colours die ;

And so at length shall lie,

Deprived of former grace,

The lillies of thy breasts, the roses of thy face.

v. 39. Alroun^— Auburn.

Will follow ; in the cheeke, chin, nose,

Nor lilly shall be found, nor rose ;

And what will then become of all 45

Those, whom now you servants call ?

Like swallowes, when your summer's done

They'le fly, and seeke some warmer sun.

Then wisely chuse one to your friend,

Whose love may (when your beauties end) 50

Remaine still firm : be provident,

And thinke before the summer's spent

Of following winter ; like the ant

In plenty hoord for time of scant.

Cull out amongst the multitude 55

Of lovers, that seek to intrude

Into your favour, one that may

Love for an age, not for a day ;

One that will quench your youthfull fires,

And feed in age your hot desires. 60

v. 53 like the ant

In plenty hoord for time of .spmtf.]— • Milton, Par. 7.0s/, b. vii. 485.

" The parsimonious emmet, provident " Offufurc."

For when the stormes of Time have mov'd Waves on that cheeke which was belov'd ; When a faire ladie's face is pin'd, And yellow sprcd, where red once shin'd ; When beauty, youth, and all sweets leave her, 65 Love may returne, but lovers never :

And old folkes say there are no paines

,

Like itch of love in aged vaines.

Oh love me then, and now begin it,

Let us not loose this present minute : 70

For time and age will worke that wrack

Which time or age shall nere call back.

The snake each yeare fresh skin resumes,

And Eagles change their aged plumes ;

The faded Rose each spring receives 75

A fresh red tincture on her leaves :

v. 73- The snake each yeare fresh skin resumes.} — Thus Milton, Par. Lost, b. x. 218.

" Or as the snake with youthful coat repaid."

v. 76. The faded rose each spring receives

Afresh red tincture on ler leaves-] — Milton, Sonn. 20. v. 6.

" Favonius reinspire

" The frozen earth, and clothe in fresh attire " The lily and rose."

But if your beauties once decay, You never know a second May. Oh then be wise, and whilst your season Affords you dayes for sport, doe reason; 80 Spend not in vaine your lives short houre, But crop in time your beauties flower, Which will away, and doth together Both bud and fade, both blow and wither.

10

LIPS AND EYES.

IN Celia's face a question did arise,

Which were more beautiful!, her Lips or Eyes:

We (said the Eyes) send forth those poyntcd

darts

Which pierce the hardest adamantine hearts. From us (replyde the Lips) proceed those blisses, 5 Which lovers reape by kind words and sweet

kisses. Then wept the Eyes, and from their springs did

powre Of liquid orientall pearle a shower.

v. 7 and from their springs did powre

Of liquid oriental! pearle a shower] — This metaphor is very beautiful 5 as in Milton, Par. Losf, b. v. 1.

" Now morn, her rosy stops iu tlic eastern clime " Advancing, sow'd the earth with orient pearl ."

11

Whereat the Lips, mov'd with delight and

pleasure, Through a sweet smile unlockt their pearlie

treasure; And bad Love judge, whether did adde more

grace, Weeping, or smiling pearles in Celia's face. 12

12

SONG.

MURDRING BEAUTY.

I'LL gaze no more on her bewitching face, Since ruine harbours there in every place: For my enchanted soule alike she drowns • With calmes or tempests of her smiles and

frownes.

Tie love no more those cruell eyes of her's, 5 Which, pleas'd or anger'd, still are murderers : For if shee dart (like lightning) thro" the ayre Her beames of wrath, she kils me with despaire : If she behold mee with a pleasing eye, I surfet with excesse of joy, and dye. 10

v. 7 dart, like lightning, thro* the ayre.] — Milton, Par.

Lost, b. vi. 642.

" Light as the lightning glimpse they ran."

B. x. 184.

'• Saw Satan fall, \\luiUghtiiiiig, <lown from Heaven.'*

Samson. Agon. 1284.

" Swift as the lightning glance,"

13

SECRECIE PROTESTED.

FEARE not (deare Love) that Tie reveale

Those houres of pleasure we two steale ;

No eye shall see, nor yet the sun

Descry, what thou and I have done ;

No eare shall heare our love ; but wee 5

Silent as the night will be 5

The God of Love himselfe (whose dart

Did first wound mine, and then thy heart)

Shall never know, that we can tell,

What sweets in stolne embraces dwell : 10

This only meanes may find it out;

If, when I dye, physicians doubt

What caus'd my death ; and, there to view

Of all their judgements which was true,

Rip up my heart : O then I feare 1 5

The world will see thy picture there.

v. 6. Silent as the night.] — Milton has, Par, Lost, b. iv. 647, " Siknt night:'

Browne's Brit. Past. b. i. s. 4.

" All husht and silent as the mid of night,"

14

»

A PRAYER TO THE WIND.

Gofi them gentle whispering Beare this sigh 5 and if thou find

v. l. Goe thou gentle whispering wind.]— Thus Miltou, Par. Reg. b. ii. 26,

" Where winds with reeds and osiers whispering play."

i' Allegro, llG.

" By whispering vjinds soon lull'd asleep."

Ode on Christ" s Nat. 64, &c.

" The winds, with wonder whist,

" Smoothly the waters kist,

" Whispering new joys to the mild ocean."

Consult also Mister Todd's Notes on the two former pas sages, in his last edition of Milton.

Browne's Brit. Past. b. i. s. 4. " A western, mild, and pretty whimpering gale, " Came dallying with the leaves along the dale."

r. 1. Goe thou gentle whispering wind, Bcare this sigh ; and if thoujind Where my cruell faire doth rent,

Cast it in her snoirie breast.] — Pope seems to have had this passage in view when he wrote

" Go, gentle gales, and bear my sighs away! *{ To Delia's car the tender notes convey."

Autumn, Past' 3.

15

Where my crucll faire doth test^

Cast it in her snowie brest ;

So_, enflam'd by my desire, 5

It may set her heart afire :

Those sweet kisses thou shalt gaine

Will reward thee for thy paine.

Boldly light upon her lip.

I There suck odours, and thence skip 10

To her bosome ; lastly,, fall

Downe, and wander over all ;

Range about those ivorie hills

From whose every part distils

Amber-dew 5 there spices grow, 15

There pure streams of Nectar flow ;

There perfume thyselfe and bring

All those sweets upon thy wing :

As thou return 'st, change by thy power

Every weed into a flower ; 20

Turne each thistle to a vine,

Make the bramble eglantine ;

v. 4. Cast it in her snowie breast. ] — Thus Spenser, F. Q. b. iv, c, 11. st. si.

" And Psamathe, for her broad snowy breasts."

16

For so rich a bootie made,

Doe but this, and I am paid.

Thou canst with thy povverfull blast 25

Heat apace, and coole as fast :

Thou canst kindle hidden flame,

And agen destroy the same :

Then, for pitty, either stir

Up the fire of love in her, 30

That alike both flames may shine,

Or else quite extinguish mine.

17

SONG.

MEDIOCRITY IN LOVE REJECTED.

GIVE me more love, or more disdaine,

The torrid, or the frozen zone Bring equall ease unto my paine;

The temperate affords me none : Either extreame, of Jove, or hate, £

Is sweeter than a calme estate.

Give me a storme ; if it be love, Like Danae in that golden showre

I swimme in pleasure; if it prove Disdaine, that torrent will devoure TO

My vulture-hopes; and he's possest

Of Heaven, that's but from Hell releast :

Then crowne my joyes, or cure my paine;

Give me more love, or more disdaine. c"

18

SONG.

GOOD COUNSEL TO A YOUNG MAID.

GAZE not on thy beauties pride, Tender maid, in the false tide That from lovers eyes doth slide.

-Let thy faithful Chrystall show, How thy colours come and goe : Beautie takes a foyle from woe.

Love, that in those smooth streames lyes Under pitties faire disguise, Will thy melting heart surprize.

10

%

Then beware ; for those that cure Love's disease^ themselves endure For reward^ a calenture. 15

Rather let the lover pine,

Than his pale cheeke should assigne

A perpetuall blush to thine.

v. 15. a calenture.']—- A. distemper peculiar to sailors in hot climates ; wherein they imagine the sea to be green fields, and will throw themselves into it. — Johnson's Diet.

TO MY MISTRIS,

SITTING BY A RIVER'S SIDE, AN EDDY.

MARKE how yond eddy steales away

From the rude streame into the bay ;

There lockt up safe, she cloth divorce

Her waters from the channels course,

And scornes the Torrent, that did bring 5

Her headlong from her native spring,

Now doth she with her new love play,

Whilst hee runs murmuring away.

Mark how shee courts the bankes, whilst they

As amorously their armes display, 10

T' embrace and clip her silver waves :

See how shee strokes their sides, and craves

An entrance there, which they deny ;

Whereat shee frownes, threatning to fly

Home to her streame, and 'gins to swim 15

Backward, but from the chanels brim

21

Smiling, returnes into the creeke, With thousand dimples on her cheeke.

Be thou this eddy, and Pie make My breast thy shore, where thou shalt take 20 Secure repose, and never dreame Of the quite forsaken streame : Let him to the wide ocean haste, There lose his colour, name, and taste; Thou shalt save all, and safe from him, 25 Within these armes for ever swim.

v. 18. With thousand dimples on her cheeke.]— Browne, Brit. Past. s. v. v. 135.

" And every river, with unusual pride

" And dimpled cheek."

Milton, Co/was, 11 9-

" By dimpled brook and fountain brim."

Shenstone, Rural Elegance.

(t For dimpled brook and leafy grove."

Thomson, Spring, 173.

«' softly shaking on the dimpled pool

*' Prelusive drops." 425. " The d-wpferl water."

Little's (Moore) Poems. Edit. 1805, p. 175. " Floating within the dimpled stream.*

22

SONG.*

CONQUEST BY FLIGHT.

LADIES, fly from Love's smooth tale, Oathes steep'd in teares do oft prevailc ; Griefe is infectious, and the ayre Enflam'd with sighes will blast the fayre : Then stop your eares, when lovers cry, 5

Lest yourselfe weep, when no soft eye Shall with a sorrowing teare repay That pitty which you cast away.

Young men, fly, when beauty darts Amorous glances at your hearts : 10

The fixt marke gives the shooter ayme, And ladies lookes have power to mayme :

* The 2d stanza of this song is to be found in " Festura Voluptatis, or the Banquet of Pleasure," by S (amuel) P (ecke) 1639, 4°.

23

Now 'twixt their lips, now in their eyes, Wrapt in a smile, or kisse Love lies ; Then fly betimes, for only they 15

Conquer love that run away.

24

SONG.

TO MY INCONSTANT MISTRIS.

WHEN thou, poor excommunicate From all the joyes of love, shall see

The full reward^ and glorious fate, Which my strong faith shall purchase me, Then curse thine owne inconstancy. 5

A fayrer hand than thine, shall cure That heart which thy false oathes did wound j

And to my soule, a soule more pure Than thine shall by love's hand be bound, And both with equall glory crown'd. 10

Then shalt thou weepe, entreat, complaine To Love, as I did once to thee ;

When all thy teares shall be as vainc As mine were then, for thou shalt bee Damn'd for thy false Apostasie. \b

25

SONG. *

PERSWASIONS TO. ENJOY.

IF the quick spirits in your eye

Now languish, and anon must dye ;

If every sweet, and every grace

Must fly from that forsaken face ;

Then (Celia) let us reape our joys, 5

Ere time such goodly fruit destroy cs.

Or, if that golden fleece must grow For ever, free from aged snow ; If those bright suns must know no shade, Nor your fresh beauties ever fade; 10

Then feare not (Celia) to bestow What still being gather'd still must grow. Thus, either Time his sickle brings In vaine, or else in vaine his wings.

* This mellifluous Song has been inserted in the elegant specimens of Doctor Aikin . See his Essays on Song-writing, p. 247, ed. 1774. The Icarmti Doctor, however, was i?no- vai.t of the author.

26

INGRATEFUL BEAUTY THREATNED.

KNOW, Celia, (since thou art so proud) 'Twas I that gave thee thy renowne :

Thou hadstj in the forgotten crowd Of common beauties, liv'd unknowne,

Had not my verse exhaPd thy name, 5

And with it ympt the wings of Fame.

f. 6 ympt the icings of Fame.'] — This phrase is bor rowed from Falconry. To IMP is to add a new piece to a broken stump. See Spenser's Hymne of Heavenly Beautie, v. 134.

" Thence gathering plumes of perfect speculation " To impe the wings of thy high flying mynd."

Spenser, Faerie Queene, b. iv. c. 9. 4.

'* And, having ympt the head to it agayne."

Fletcher, Purp. Isle. 1st, 24.

" imping thei r flaggy King

" With thy stoln plumes."

Milton, Sonnet 15.

" the false North displays

" Her broken league to imp th«ir serpent wing;."

27

That killing power is none of thine,

I gave it to thy voyce and eyes : Thy sweets, thy graces, all are mine ;

Thou art my starre, shinst in my skies; lo Then dart not from thy borrowed sphere Lightning on him that fixt thee there.

Cleavland's Rebel Scot, v. 29.

" Help, ye tart satirists, to imp my rage,

" With all the scorpions that should whip this age,*'

Browne, Brit. Past. h. i. s. 2.

" a barren tree,

" Which when the gard'ner on it pains bestows, '* To graft an imp thereon, in time it grows*"

b.ii. s. 2.

" And when thy temple's well deserving bays ** Might imp a pride in thee to reach thy praise.'7

Massinger, Renegado, act v. sc. 8.,

" to imp

" New feathers to the broken wings of time."

Raman Actor, act v. sc. 2-

" Conld I imp feathers to the wings of time."

The Great Duke of Florence, acti. sc. 1.

" Imp feathers to the broken wings of time."

28

Tempt me with such affrights no more,

Lest what I made, I uncreate: Let fooles thy mystique formes adore, 15

I'le know thee in thy mortall state. Wise poets, that wrap't Truth in tales, Knew her themselves through all her veiles.

DISDAINE RETURNED.

HEE that loves a rosie cheeke,

Or a corall lip admires, Or from star-like eyes doth seeke

Fuell to mantaine his fires ; As old Time makes these decay, 5

So his flames must waste away.

But a smooth, and stedfast mind, Gentle thoughts and calme desires,

Hearts with equall love combind,

Kindle never dying fires. 1O

Where these are not, I despise

Lovely cheeks, or lips or eyes.

No tears, Celia, now shall win

My resolv'd heart to return ; I have searcht thy soule within, 15

And find nought, but pride, and scorne j

^•3 star-like eyes.]— -Milton, P. L. b. vii. 446,

has " starry eyes."

30

I have learn'd thy arts, and now

Can disdaine as much as thou.

Some power5 in my revenge convey

That love to her, I cast away. 20

31

SONG.

ETERNITY OF LOVE PROTESTED.

How ill doth he deserve a lover's name,

Whose pale weak flame Cannot retaine

His heate, in spite of absence or disdaine ;

But doth at once, like paper set on fire, 5

Burne, and expire !

True love can never change his seat,

Nor did he ever love that could retreat.

That noble flame, which my brest keeps alive, Shall still survive 10

When my soule's fled ;

Nor shall my love dye when my bodye's dead ;

That shall waite on me to the lower shade, And never fade.

My very ashes in their urne 15

Shall like a hollow'd lamp, for ever burne.

32

GOOD COUNSELL TO A YOUNG MAID.

WHEN you the Sun-burnt Pilgrim sec,

Fainting with thirst, hast to the springs ; Marke how at first with bended knee

He courts the crystal Nymphs, and flings His body to the earth, where he 5

Prostrate, adores the flowing Deitie, But when his sweaty face is drencht

In her coole waves, when from her sweet Bosome, his burning thirst is quencht ;

Then marke how with disdainful! feet 10 He kicks her banks, and from the place That thus refresht him, moves with sullen pace. So shalt thou be despis'd, faire Maid,

When by the sated Lover tasted ; What first he did with teares invade, 15

Shall afterwards with scorne be wasted ; When all the Virgin-springs grow dry, When no strcamcs shall be left, but in thine eye.

33

SONG.

TO ONE, WHO, WHEN I PRAISED MY MISTRIS BEAUTY, SAID I WAS BLIND.

WONDER not though I am blind, For you must be

Dark in your eyes, or in your mind; If, when you see

Her face, you prove not blind like me: 5

If the powerful beames that fly From her eye,

And those amorous sweets that lye

Scatter'd in each neighbouring part,

Find a passage to your heart, 10

Then you'le confesse your mortall sight

Too weake for such a glorious light:

For if her graces you discover,

You grow like me a dazel'd Lover;

But if those beauties you not spy, 15

Then are you blinder farre then I.

34

SONG

TO MY MISTRlSj I BURNING IX LOVE.

I Burne, and cruell you, in vaine,

Hope to quench me with distlaine;

If from your eyes those sparkles came

That have kindlexl all this flame,

What boots it me, tho' now you shrowd 5

Those fierce comets in a cloud,

v- 5. What boots it me ]— To boot; profit, advantage, as in Shakspeare, Ant. 1$ Cleop. act iv. sc. i.

"Give him no breath, but now

" Make boot of his distraction."

Milton, Sampson Agonistes, 560.

" What loots it at one gate to make defence, " And at another to let in the foe."

Milton, Lj/cidas, 64.

" Alas! what boots it with incessant care

" To tend the homely, slighted, shepherd's tr^tte.?

Urowne, Brit. Past. b. i. s. i.

"what Joof

" Is it to me to pluck up by the root

«c My former love, and in his place to *<tvr

"As ill a seed."

35

Since all the flames that I have felt,

Could your snow yet never melt ?

Nor can your snow (tho* you should take

Alpes into your bosomc) slake 10

The heate of my enamour 'd heart;

But with wonder learne Love's art.

No seas of yce can cool desire ;

Equall flames must quench Love's fire:

Then thinke not that my heart can die., 15

Till you burne as wel as L

J) 8

36

SONG

TO HER AGAIN E, SHE BURNING IN A FEAVER.

Now she burnes as well as 1,

Yet my heat can never dye;

She burnes that never knew desire,

She that was yce, she. that was fire. 4-

She, whose cold heart chaste thoughts did arme

So, as Loves could never warme

The frozen bosome where it dwelt ;

She burnes, and all her beauties melt:

She burnes, and cryes, Loves fires are mild;

Feavers are Gods — he's a child. 10

Love, let her know the difference

'Twixt the heat of soule and sense;

Touch her with thy flames divine,

So shalt thou quench her fire and mine.

37

A FLY THAT FLEW INTO MY MISTRIS HER EYE.*

WHEN this fly liv'd, she us'd to play

In the sunshine all the day ;

'Till coming neere my Celia's sight,

She found a new and unknowne light,

So full of glory, as it made 5

The nooneday sun a gloomy shade ;

Then this amorous fly became

My rivall, and did court iny flame.

She did from hand to bosome skip,

And from her breath, her cheeke, and lip, 10

Suck'd all the incense, and the spice,

And grew a bird of Paradise :

At last into her eye she flew,

There scorcht in flames, and drown 'd in dew,

* Clcavland has closely imitated this poem in one with tlie same title. See Poems, ed, 1659, p. 126.

38

Like Phaeton from the sun's spheare, 15

She fell, and with her dropt a teare ;

Of which a pearle was straight compos'd,

Wherein her ashes lye enclos'd,

Thus she received from Celia's eye,

Funerall flame, tomb obsequie. 20

SONG.

CELIA SINGING,

You, that thinke Love can convey,

No other way

Eut through the eyes^ into the heart

His fatall dart.

Close up those casements, and but heare 5 This Syren sing, And on the wing

Of her sweet voyce it shall appeare

That Love can enter at the eare ;

Then unvaile your eyes, behold \Q

The curious motrld

Where that voyce dwels ; and as we know,

When the cocks crow,

We freely may

Gaze on the day; 15

So may you, when the musique's done,

'Awake and see the rising Sun.

40

BOLDNESSE IN LOVE.*

MARK how the bashfull morne in vaine

Courts the amorous Marigold With sighing blasts and weeping raine ;

Yet she refuses to unfold :

But when the planet of the day 5

Approacheth with his powerfull ray,

* Compare with this little piece, the Sunflower and the Ivy^ in Langhorne's Fables of Flora, wherein he seems to have imitated it.

v. 5. But when the planet of the day, &c.] — The marigold is said to open and shut its leaves with the Sun. Thus Browne's Brit. Past. b. i. s. 5.

" The day is woxen olde,

" And gins to shut in with the marigold.'"

Cleavland's Poems, 1659, p. 27.

" The marigold, whose courtiers face

" Echoes the Sun, and doth unlace

" Her at his ri<e, at his full stop

** Packs, and shuts up her gaudy shop.**

41

Then she spreads, then she receives

His warmer beames into her virgin leaves.

So shall thou thrive in love, fond boy;

If thy teares and sighs discover 10

Thy griefe, thou never shah enjoy

The just reward of a bold lover:

But when with moving accents thou

Shalt constant faiih, and service vow,

Thy Celia shalt receive those charmes 15

With open cares, and with unfolded armes.

Slsakspcare, Winter's Tale, act iv. sc. 3.

" The marigold, that goes to bed with the Sun, " And with him rises weeping.'"

"Prime's Sermon at Oxford, 12mo, 1588. " No Marigold servant of God, to open with the Sun, and shut with the dewe."'

Lord Howard's Defensative, 1583, 4to. " The marigold* dooih close and open with the Sunned

Thomson's Summer,

" But one, the lofty follower of the Sun, " Sad when he sets, shuts up her yellow leaves " Drooping all night ; and, when he M arm returns, " Points her cuanjour'd bosom to his ray."

42 A PASTOR ALL DIALOGUE.*

SHEPHERD^ NIMPHSj CHORUS.

SHEPHERD.

THIS mossie banke they prest. — NIM. That aged

oak

Did canopie the happy pay re All night from the dampe ayre. CHO. Here let us sit, and sing the words they

spoke, Till the day breaking their embraces broke. 5

SHEPHERD.

See^ Love,, the blushes of the jnorne appear;

* The commencement of this dialogue is very closely imitated from Shakspcare's Romeo and Juliet, act iii. ic. 5.

v. G. Keey Lovey the blttslies of the morne appear- ]

Ronico look, Love, what envious streaks

J)o4ttrc the severing; clouds in yonder oast : J^ig-nt's candles ai-e burnt out, and jocund day Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops j I roust be gone and live, or stay and die.

43

And now she hangs her pearly store (Rob'd from the easterne shore)

I" th' couslips bell and roses rare ;

Sweet^ I must stay no longer here. 10

NIMPH. Those streakes of doubtfull light, usher not day,

But shew my Sunne jnust -set; no Morne

Shall shine till thou returne: The yellow Planets, and the gray Dawne, shall attend thce on thy way. 15

v. 6. See, Love, tlie blushes of the morn appea And now she /tangs fter pearly store (Roifd fror-i the easterne shore)

T th1 cowslips bell and roses rare.]-— See Note on the Primrose.

V. 1 ] . Those streakes of doubt full light, &c.] Juliet. Yon light is not day-light, I know it, I : It is some meteor 1 !*at thp sun exhales, To be to thee this night a torch-bearer, And light thee on thy way to Mantua; Therefore stay yet, thou needst not to he gone.

v. 14. The yellow Planets, and the gray

Daicne, shall attend thee on tliy icay.~\—~ The Rev. H. J- Todd has already, in his excellent edition of Milton, remarked

44

SHEPHERD.

If thine eyes guild ray pathes, they may forbeare Their nselesse shine. — NIM. My teares will

quite

Extinguish their faint light. SHEP. Those drops will make their heames more

cleare, Loves flames will shine in every teare. 20

CHORUS.

They kist, and wept, and from their lips, and eyes,

the similarity between these two lines and Par. Lost, b. vii.

v. 373.

" the gray

" Dawn, and the Pleiades before him danc'd,

" Shedding sweet influence.11

. See also Lycidast r. 187.

" the still morn went out with sandals gray."

Cleavland's Poems, 1659, p. 155. " As the gray morning dawn\l"

Porset's Induction to the Minor fur Magistrates- " The morrow gray-"

45

In a mixt clew of briny sweet,

Their joves and sorrowes meet ; But she cryes out.- — NIM. Shepherd, arise,, The Sun betray es us else to spies,

SHEPHERD.

The winged houres fly fast whilst we embrace j But when we want their helpe to meet, They move with leaden feet. NIM. Then let us pinion time, and chace The day for ever from this place. 3D

SHEPHERD.

Harke! — NIM. Ah me, stay! — SHEP. Forever.

NIM. No, arise;

We must begone. — SHEP. My nest of spice. NIM. My soule.i — SHEP. My Paradise. GHO. Neither could say farewell, but through

their eyes Griefe interrupted speech with tears supplies.

». 26. The winged houres,}'- Thus .in G. Fletcher's Ckrisft st. 22.

" The swift-winged hours."

23. They move with leaden feet.] — Milton, Ode on Time, V. &. " The lazy leaden-stepping hours."

46

RED AND WHITE ROSES.*

READE in these Roses the sad story

Of my hard fate, and your own glory.

In the White you may discover

The palenesse of a fainting Lover ;

In the Red, the flames still feeding 5

On my heart with fresh wounds bleeding.

The White will tell you how I languish

And the Red cxpresse my anguish :

The White my innocence displaying,

The Keel my martyrdome betraying, 10

The frownes that on your brow resided,

Have those Roses thus divided 5

Oh ! let your smiles but clear the weather,

And then they both shall grow together*

* A learned friend has informed me tliat this is an imitation' of Bonefouius.

THE ENQUIRY.

AMONGST the myrtles as I walkt, Love and my sighes thus intertalkt: Tell me (said I, in deep distresse,) Where may I find my shepherdesse ?

Thou foole (said Love) , knowst thou not this, 5 In every thing that's good she is ? In yonder tulip, goe and sceke, There maist find her lip, her chceke*

* This piece, and the Primrase, have been inserted ia Herrick's Hesperides, 1647 ; and an acute critic (Doctor Drake) has contended for their being his property. But not to argue on the internal evidence, it will only be necessary to consider, that both had been published as Carew's, s< v. :i years previous. Herrick could not he ignorant of that circum stance, and therefore would have noticed it, had they been his own productions. He probably only borrowed them — *» unusual •eeurrence in that age.

48

In yon cnanimel'd pansie by,

There thou shall have her curious eye. 10

In bloome of peacb> in rosie bud,

There wave the streamers of her blood.

In brightest lillies that there stands,

The emblems of her whiter hands.

In yonder rising hill there smels 15

Such sweets as in her bosome d\vels.

'Tis true (said I) : and thereupon

I went to pluck them one by one,

To make of parts a union ;

But on a suddaine ail was gone. 20

With that I stopt : said Love, These be

(Fond man) resemblances of thee :

And, as these flowres, thy joyes shall die,

Even in the twinkling of an eye :

And all thy hopes of her shall wither, 23 Like these short sweets thus knit together.

f. 9. In yon tnammd*d pansie by, &c.] — Thus Milton, v. 144.

" the pansy freak'd with jet."

49

THE PRIMROSE.

ASKE me why I send you here This firstling of the infant yeare ; Aske me why I send to you This Primrose all bepearl'd with dew ;

v. 2. This firstling of the infant yeare.}— The early birth and short-liv'd bloom of the primrose is a favorite subject with our elder poets.

Milton, Lycidas, 142.

" Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies."

Ode on the Death of a fair Infant, 2.

" Soft silken primrose, fading timelessly."

i Ode on May Morning , 4.

" and the pale primrose."

Shakspeare, Winter's Tale, act iv. sc. 5.

" pale primroses

'* That die unmarried."

Cymbeline, act iv. sc. 2.

" The flower, that's like thy face, pale primrose."

i>. 4. ....... Primrose all bepearl'd with dew .]— 'Fletcher,

Piscatory Eclogues. E. vii. v. 5.

" Her weeping eyes in pearled dew she steeps."

X

50

I strait will whisper in your eares, j

The sweets of Love are vvasht with teares : Aske me why this flow'r doth show So yellow, green, and sickly too ;

Milton, Par. Lost, b. v. 746.

u dew drops, which the snn

" Impearls on eVery leaf and every flower."

Spenser, Faer. Q. b. iv. c, 5, 45.

" With pearly dew sprinkling the morning grasse'"

Sylvester's DM Eartas, p. 70, ed. 1621.

" the flowry meads

« Impearfd with tears."

Dray ton, Sonnet 53. Poems, I2mo. (circ. 1630). " the daintie dew impearled flowers."

Browne, Brit. Past. b. i. s. 2.

" Next morn with pearls of dew bedecks our plains,"

G. Fletcher's Triumph on Earth, st. 42.

" the round sparks of dew,

" That hung upon their azure leaves, did show (t Like twinkling stars."

Mason too has " each dewy - spangled jlowret"

Elfrida in Poems, ed, 1779, p. 78.

Pope's Autumn, Past. 3.

" falling dews v»ii\\ tpangles deck'd the glade.'-'

51

Aske me why the stalk is weak,

And bending, yet it doth not break; 10

I must tell you, these discover

What doubts and fears are in a Lover.

52 THE PROTESTATION.

A SONNET.

No more shall meads be deckt with flowers, Nor sweetnesse dwell in rosie bowers ;

t,. i meads be deckt wit h /otom.]— So Daniel,

Ode to Delia.

" the eartht our common mother,

" Hath her bosom deck'd with floors?

Spenser, Prothalamion. " And all the meades adornd with daintie gemmes."

Ruins of Time*

" deckt with daintie ftou-res*

Sylvester's Bethuliaii's Rescue, in Poems, l6i4, l6mo. p. ll§.

" In May, the meads are not sopy'd withjtfowm," &c. Milton, VAllegro, 75.

'* Meadoics trim with daisies pied.n

Mason's El/ndat Poems, ed. 1779, p. 75. "the flow'r besprinkled facn."

Little's (Moore) Poems, ed. 1805, p. 96. " Where ftowrets deck the green earth's breait."

53

Nor greenest buds on branches spring,

Nor warbling birds delighl to sing ;

Nor Aprill violets paint the grove ; $

If I forsake my Celia's love.

The fish shall in the ocean burne,

And fountaines sweet shall bitter turne ;

The humble oake no flood shall know,

When floods shall highest hils oreflow 5 10

Black Lasthe shall oblivion leave 5

If ere my Celia I deceive.

r. 4. Nor warbling birds delight to sing.'] — Pope, Autumn, Past, 3

" The birch shall cease to tune their evening song,

*' The winds to breathe, the waving woods to move,

" And streams to murmur, ere 1 cease to love."

r.5. Nor 4 prill violets paint the grove.]— Compare Milton, Par. Lost, b. iv. 700.

............... " Under foot the violet,

" Crocus, and hyacinth, with rich inlay, *' Broidcr'd the ground."

" And in the violet-embroider* d vale."

?<. 11. ElacJ: La-thc shall oUirion leave.] — Lethe, well known as the river of- oblivion in the Heathen Mythology, has

54

Love shall his bow and shaft lay by,

And Venus Doves want wings to fly $

The Sun refuse to shew his light, 15

And day shall then be turn'd to night,

And in that night no starre appear ;

If once I leave my Celia deare.

Love shall no more inhabit earth,

Nor Lovers more shall love for worth ; 20

Nor joy above in heaven dwell,

Nor paine torment poore soules in hell ;

Grim death no more shall horrid prove ;

If ere I leave bright Celia's love. *

been beautifully described by Milton, Par. Lost* b. ii.

582

...." a slow and silent stream

" Lethe, the rirer of oblivion, rolls " Her watry labyrinth, whereof who drinks " Forthwith his former state and being forgets, " Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain."

* There is a great similarity between this " Sonnet" arid a Poem by E. S. in The Paradise of dayntie Devises, 1576, p. 46. That purt which more immediately relates to the subject, I extract.

55

'* The grase me thinkes should growe in side : u The starves unto the yearth cleave faste : " The water streame should passe awrie, " The winds should leve their stregt of blast. " The Sonn'e and Moone, by one assent, " Should both forsake the firmament.

" The fishe in ayer should flie with finne, " The foules iu fioiul should bryng forth fry, " All thyngs me thinks should erst beginne " To take their course unnaturally : " Afore my frende should alter so, " Without a cause to bee my foe."

At p. 62, a Poem, by M. Edwards. " The fire shall freese, the frost shall frie, the frozen

mountains hie; " What strange thinges shall dame Nature force to turne

her course awrie. a My ladie hath me left and taken a newe man."

56

THE DART.

OFT when I looke, I may descry A little face peepe through that eye ; Sure that's the Boy, which wisely chose His throne among such beames as those, Which if his quiver chance to fall, May serve for darts to kill withall.

UPON A MOLE IN CELIA's BOSOME.

THAT lovely spot which thou dost see

In Celia's bosome, was a Bee,

Who built her amorous spicy nest

I' th' hyblas of her either breast ;

But, from close ivery hyves, she flew 5

To suck the aromatick dew

Which from the neighbour vale distils,

Which parts those two twin sister hils ;

There feasting on ambrosiall meat,

A rowling file of balmy sweat 10

(As in soft murmurs, before death,

Swan-like she sung) chokt up her breath,

v. 3 amorous spicy nest .] — See the Pastoral Dialogue,

V. 33.

" My nest of spice."

v. 11. As in soft murmur •$, before death

Swan-like site sung.']— -Thus Gorges' Sonnet in TodcVs life of Spenser, p. 89.

" So sings the sv. aim, when life is taking flight."

58

So she in water did expire,

More precious than the Phoenix fire ;

Yet still her shaddow there remaines 15

Confind to those Elyzian plaines ;

With this strict law, that who shall lay

His bold lips on that milky way,

The sweet and smart, from thence shall bring

Of the Bees honey and her sting. 20

Browne, Brit. Past. b. ii. s. 5.

" as a dying swan tliat sadly sings

" Her nioaneful dirge unto the silver springs."

Poems to tlie Memory of Edm. Waller, Esq. 1688.

" Now, in soft notes, like dying swans, he'd sing."

P. Fletcher's Purple Island, c. i. st. 30.

" The dying swan, v hen years her temples pierce, " In music's strains breathes out her life and verse, " And chanting her own dirge, tides on her watry hcrse.*

G. Fletcher's Triumph orer Death, st. ] . " So down the silver streams of Eridan, " On either side bankt with a lily wall, " Whiter than both, rides the triumphant jwan, " And sings his dirge, and prophecies his fall, ** Diving into his watry funeral."

Spenser's Elegy on Sir Philip Sidney. " Tfce swan that sings about to die."

Besmpttor*

THE SPRING.

Now that the winter's gone, the earth hath lost Her snow-white robes, and now no more the

frost

Candies the grass, or casts an icy cream Upon the silver lake, or chrystal stream : 4

t>. 1. Now that the winter's gone, &c.] — Spenser's Shepherd's Cal. March.

" pleasant Spring appeareth,

" The grasse now gins to be refresht : " The swallow peeps out of her nest."

v, 2 and- now no more the frost

Candies the grass.]— This beautiful idea seems closely imitated from Drayton. See his Quest of Cynthia, in poems, 4to. 1627, p. 137-

" Since when those frosts that winter brings, Which candy every greene-"

Compare also Browne's Brit- Past. b. i. s. 4. " And hoarisd /ratf j had candied all the plains."

62

But the warm Sun thaws the benummed earth, And makes it tender, gives a sacred birth To the dead swallow, wakes in hollow tree The drowsy cuckow and the humble bee. Now do a quire of chirping minstrels bring In triumph to the world, the youthful spring ; 10 The vallies, hills, and woods, in rich array, Welcome the coining of the long'd-for May.

f. 11. The vallies, hills, and woods, in rich array,

Welcome the coming of the long'd-for May.] — Thu* Chaucer, Knight's Tafe, v. 1511.

'* O Maye, with all thy floures and thy grenc, " Right welcotne be thou, faire freshe May."

Milton, Ode on May Morning, 3.

" The flowery May, who from her green lap throw* " The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose."

v,5.

" Hail, bounteous May, that dost inspire *' Mirth, and youth, and warm desire 5 " Woods and groves are of thy dressing, "Hilly and dale, doth boast thy blessing^."

Spenser, Faerie Qunene, b. vii. c. 7, 34.

" Then came faire May, the fay rest Mayd on ground, " Dcckt all with dainties of her seasons pryde, " And throwing Jlowres out of her lap around."

63

Now all things smile; only my Love doth low'r: Nor hath the scalding noon-day-sun the pow'r To melt that marble ice, which still doth hold 15 Her heart congeal'd, and makes her pity cold. The ox, which lately did for shelter fly Into the stall, doth now securely lie In open fields : and love no more is made By the fire-side ; but in the cooler shade 20 Amyntas now doth with his Chloris sleep Under a sycamore, and all things keep Time with the season ; only she doth carry June in her eyes, in her heart January.

But more especially consult The Paradise of dayntie Devises, 1st ed. 1576 •, of which collection the second poem is *« M. Edwardes May" and in the edit, of 1580, there is " A Replit. to M. Edwards May," by M. S. [Sackville.]

Dolarny's Primrose^ by John Reynolds, 4to. 1606. " When Jtowring May had, with her morning deawes> ** Watred the meadmves and the vallies gveene, ** The tender lambes with nimble footed eawes, " Came forth to meete the wanton Sommers queene. " The lively kidds came with the little fawnes,' '* Tripping witk speed over the pleasant lawnes," &.c,

64

TO SAXHAM.

THOUGH frost and snow lockt from mine eyes

That beauty which without dore lyes ;

The gardens, orchards, walkes, that so

I might not all thy pleasures know ;

Yet (Saxham) thon, within thy gate, 5

Art of thy selfe so delicate,

So full of native sweets, that bless

Thy roofe with inward happinesse;

As neither from, nor to thy store,

Winter takes ought, or Spring adds more. 10

The cold and frozen ayre had sterv'd

Much poore, if not by thee preserv'd ;

Whose prayers have made thy Table blest

With plenty, far above the rest.

The season hardly did afford 15

Coarse cates unto thy neighbour's board,

v. 16. Coarse rates unto tin iw^Mow'fAMrrf.] — Cates is here used, in an enlarged sense, for food j but it generally implies

65

Yet thou hadst dainties, as the sky

Had only been thy volarie ;

Or else the birds, fearing the snow,

Might to another dtluge grow, 20

The Pheasant, Partridge, and the Larke,

Flew to thy house, as to the Arke.

The willing Oxe of himself came

Home to the slaughter, with the Lambe,

And every beast did thither bring 25

Himselfe to be an offering.

The scalie herd more pleasure tooke,

Bath'd in thy dish, then in the brooke.

Water, Earth, Ayre, did all conspire

To pay their tributes to thy fire ; 30

Whose cherishing flames themselves divide

Thro' every roome, where they deride

The night, and cold abroad ; whilst they

Like Suns within, keep endlesse day.

that kind only of a luxurious nature, as in Milton, Par.

Reg. b. ii. 348.

<{ Alas! how simple, to these cates comparM, " \Vas that crude apple that diverted Eve."

ffi

Those chearfull beames send forth their light, 35

To all that wander in the night,

And seeme to beckon from aloofe

The weary Pilgrim to thy roofe ;

Where, if refresht, he will away,

He's fairly welcome ; or, if stay, 40

Farre more, which he shall hearty find,

Both from the Master and the Hinde.

The stranger's welcome each man there

Stamp'd on his chearfull brow doth weare ;

Nor doth this welcome, or his cheere, 45

Grow less, 'cause he stayes longer here.

There's none observes (much less repines)

How often this man sups or dines,

Thou hast no porter at the doore

T' examine or keepe back the poore ; 50

v. 42 and the Hinde.~\ — Hind formerly was

the term for a servant, as in Shakspeare's Merry Wives of Windsor, act iii. sc. 5, " A couple of Ford's knaves, his hinds, were called forth by their mistress, to carry me in the name of foul cloihes to Datchet-lane.''— It is derived from the Saxon hine, famulus, servus. Douglas' Firgtt. Hynis, hinds, servants, &c.

67

Nor locks nor bolts ; thy gates have beene

Made only to let strangers in ;

Untaught to shut, they do not feare

To stand wide open all the yeare ;

Carelesse who enters^ for they know 55

Thou never didst deserve a foe;

And as for theeves, thy bountie's such,

They cannot steale^ thou giv'st so much.

F 2

TO MY FRIEND G. N. FROM WREST.

I BREATHE (sweet Ghib) the temperate ayre of

Wrest,

Where I no more with raging stormes opprest, Weare the cold nights out by the banke of

Tweed, On the bleake mountains where fierce tempests

breed,

And everlasting Winter dwels; where milde 5 Favonius, and the Vernall winds, exil'd, Did never spread their wings; but the wild

North Brings sterill Fearne, Thistles, and Brambles

forth.

Here, steep'd in balmy dew, the pregnant earth Sends from her teeming wombe a nowrie birth ; And cherisht with the warme Suns quickning

heale, 1 1

Her porous bosome doth rich odours sweat;

69

Whose perfumes through the ambient ayre diffuse Such native aromatiques, as we use No forraigne gums, nor essence fetcht from farre, 15

No volatile spirits, nor compounds that are Adulterate ; but, at Natures cheape expence, With farre more genuine sweets refresh the

sense.

Such pure and uncompounded beauties, bless This mansion with an usefull comelinesse 20 Devoid of art ; for here the architect Did not with curious skill a pile erect Of carved marble, touch, or porphyry, But built a house for hospitality. 24

No sumptuous chimney-peece of shining stone k Invites the strangers eye to gaze upon, And coldly entertaines his sight ; but cleare And cheerfull flames, cherish and warme him here.

». 13 ambient ayre.] — Thus Milton, Par. l*st,

1>. vii. 89.

" the ambient air wide interfused

" Embracing round this florid earth-."

70

No Dorique, nor Corinthian pillars grace With Imagery this structures naked face : 30 The Lord and Lady of this place delight Rather to be in act, than seeme, in sight. Instead of Statues to adorne their Wall, They throng with living men their merry hall. Where, at large tables fill'd with wholsome

meats, 35

The servant, tenant, and kind neighbour eats : Some of that ranke, spun of a finer thread, Are with the women, steward, and chaplaine

fed

With daintier cates j others of better note, Whom wealth, parts, office, or the heralds coat Have sever'd from the common, freely sit 40 At the Lords table, whose spread sides admit A large accesse of friends to fill those seats Of his capacious sickle, fill'd with meats

0.44 fiWdwltk meats

Of thoycest relish, till his oaken back Under the load of pil'd-up dishes crack.~\ — Compqrc -Milton, I'ar. Reg. b. ii. 341.

*' With dishes pil'd, aud meats of nelttst wrt " And s(n-ot*r.*

71

Of choycest relish, till his oaken back 45

Under the load of pil'd-np dishes crack. Nor think, because our piramids, and high Exalted turrets threaten not the sky, That therefore Wrest of narrownesse complaines, Or streightned walls; for she more numerous . trains 50

Of noble guests dally receives, and those Can with farre more conveniencie dispose, Than prouder piles, where the vaine builder

spent

More cost in outward gay embellishment Than reall use; which was the sole designe 55 Of our contriver, who made things not fine^ But fit for service. Amalthea's home Of plenty is not in effigie worne

v. 57 .Amaltl* eel's home

Of plenty ~\—AmaWiea, in the

Heatlicn Mythology, is the daughter of MelissHs, King of Crete, and nurse of Jupiter, from whom she received a goat's horn, which had the power of supplying her wishes, and from thence called Cornucopia, or horn of plenty (see Ovid). Thus Milton, Par. Reg. ii. 350-

" Fruits and flowers from Amalthea's horn."'

72

Without the gate, but she within the dore Empties her free and unexhausted store ; 60 Nor crown 'd with wheaten wreathes doth Ceres

stand

In stone, with a crook'd sickle in her hand : Nor on a marble tunne, his face besmear'd With grapes, is curl'd uncizard Bacchus rear'd. We offer not in emblemes, to the eyes, 63 But to the taste those useful deities : We presse the juicie God, and quaffe his blood, And grind the yellow Goddesse into food. Yet we decline not all the worke of Art; 69 But where more bounteous Nature bears a part,

»•. ill. Ceres.] — Ceres, in the Heathen Mythology, is th* tioddess of corn and harvests.

»;. (>4 curl* d u ncizard Hacchus. ] — Uncizard, pro-

hably, is the old orthography for ?<w5cmorV, ami derived from the Latin, incido, to cut off. The same word is to be found in his Elegy on Dr. Donnet v 5.

*' Such as in' uncizard lectrtr from the flower " Of tailing rhetorick."

v.68. the yellow Goddesse. ] — Ceres has generally

the epithet of yellow, in allusion to ripe corn.

73

And guides her handmaid, if she but dispence Fit matter, she with care and diligence Employes her skill; for where the neighbour

sourse

Powers forth her waters, she directs her course, And entertaines the flowing streames in deepe 75 And spacious channels, where they slowly creepe In snaky windings, as the shelving ground Leads them in circles, till they twice surround This island Mansion, which, i' th' centre plac'dj Is with a double Crystal heaven embraced; 60 In which our watery constellations floate, Our fishes, swans, our waterman and boat,

tft 74 slie directs her course,

And entertaines the Rowing streames in decpe . And spacious channels, tcherc they slowly creepe In snaky idndings, as the shelving ground Leads them in circles, till they ttcice surround

This island Mansion ]^-P. Fletcher's-

Purple Island, c. ii. st. 9.

" for thousand brooks

" In azure channels glide on silver sand ".Their serpent windings, and deceiving crooks " Circling about, nnd watering all the plain."

Envy'd by those above, which wish to slake Their starre-burnt limbs in our refreshing lake ; But they stick fast, nayled to the barren sphcare. Whilst our encrease in fertile waters here 86 Disport, and wander freely where they please Within the circuit of our narrow seas. With various trees we fringe the water's brinke, Whose thirsty roots the soaking moysture drinke, And whose extended boughes in equal rankes 91 Yield fruit, and shade, and beauty to the banks. On this side young Vertumnus sits, and courts His ruddy-cheek'd Pomona ; Zephyre sports

9.93. On this side young Vertumnus, &c-] — Vertumnus was the God of tradesmen, and had the power of taking any shape. His courtship of Pomona forms one of Ovid's Met. In the disguise of an old woman, he visited her gardens, and, nfter artfully praising the fruit, insinuated the pleasure of a married life. Pomona heard him with indifference, having already refused Pan, Priapus, and Silcnus ; but when Ver- tumuus assumed the appearance of youth, the Goddess could no longer resist the beauties of his person, — Zephyr, the son of Aurora, is represented as presiding over fruits and flowers, and married Flora, the Goddess of flowers j thus alluded to by Milton, Par. Lost, b.v. lG.

" Mild as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes."

Lycida*, 19.

" Zephyr with Aurora playing.'1

75

On th' other, with lov'd Flora, yeelding there 95 Sweets for the smell, sweets for the palate here. But did you taste the high and mighty drinke Which from that fountaine flows, yould thinke The God of wine did his plumpe clusters bring, And crush the Faleme grape into our spring; Or else, disguis'd in watery robes did swim 101 To Ceres bed, and make her big of him, Begetting so himselfe on her : for know Our vintage here in March doth nothing owe To theirs in Autumne; but our fire boyles here As lusty liquor as the sun makes there. 106 Thus I enjoy myselfe, and taste the fruit Of this blest place ; whilst, toyl'd in the pursuit Of bucks and stags, th' embleme of warre you

strive To keepe the memory of our annes alive. 11O

Clegfac*

EPITAPH ON THE LADY MARY VILLERS.*

THE Lady Mary Villers lies

Under this stone : with weeping eyes

The parents that first gave her birth

And their sad friends, lay'd her in earth.

If any of them (Reader) were 5

Knowne unto thee, shed a teare,

Or if thyselfe possesse a gemme,

As deare to thee as this to them ;

Though a stranger to this place,

Bewayle in theirs, thine own hard pase; 10

For thou perhaps at thy returne

Mayest find thy darling in an urne.

* In his epitaph on Lady Mary VUlerst he is eminently pathetic. —ANDERSON*

80

ANOTHER.

THIS little vault, this narrow roome,

Of Love and Beauty is the tombe ;

The dawning beame, that gan to cleare

Our clouded sky, lyes darkened here,

For ever set to us by death: 5

Sent to inflame the world beneath ;

JTwas but a bud, yet did containe

More sweetnesse than shall spring againe j

A budding Starre, that might have growne

Into a Sun, when it had blowne : 10

This hopefull Beauty did create

New life in Love's declining state ;

But now his empire ends, and we

From fire and wounding darts are free:

His brand, his bow, let no man feare ; 15

The flames, the arrowes, all lye here.

UPON MASTER W. MOUNTAGUE HIS RETURNS FROM TRAVELL.

LEADE the black bull to slaughter, with the bore And lambe, then purple with their mingled gore The oceans curled brow, that so we may The Sea- Gods for their careful wastage pay : Send grateful Incense up in pious smoake 5 To those mild Spirits that cast a curbing yoake Upon the stubborne winds., that calmely blew To the wisht shore our long'd-for Mountague. Then, whilst the Aromatique odours burne In honour of their Darlings safe returnc, 10

v. 3. The oceans curled 5ro?o.]— • So Browne's Brit, Past. b. i. 8. 5.

" curled stream.''1

G 2

84

The Muse's quire shall thus with voyce and hand Bless the faire gale that drove his ship to land. Sweetly-breathing vernall Ayre, That with kind warmth doest repayre Winter's ruines; from whose breast 15 All the gums and spice of th' East Borrow their perfumes ; whose eye Guilds the morn, and cleares the sky; Whose dishevel'd tresses shed Pcarles upon the violet bed ; 20

v 13. Sweetly-breathing rernall Ayre,

That with kind icarmtli, &c.J— Compare Milton, Par. Losf, b. iv. 156.

*' Now gentle gales,

" Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense

" Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole

" Those balmy spoils."

1. 0(34.

" airs, vernal airs,

t{ Breathing the smell of field and grove."

v. 18- Guilds the morn.] — Thus Pope's Messiah, v. 99. " No more the rising Sun shall gild the morn."

r. 20. Pearles upon the violet bed.]— See Note on " The Primrose."

85

On whose brow, with calme smiles drest, The Halcion sits and builds her nest; Beauty > Youth, and endlesse Spring, Dwell upon thy rosie wing. Thou, if stormy Boreas throwes 2v5

Doune whole Forrests when he blowes,

v. 21. On whose broic, icith calme smiles drest,

T/ie Haitian sits and builds her nest*"] — So in Browne's Siit. Past. b. ii. s. i.

" As smooth afe when the HalcyOn bitilds her nest."

The best account of this popular belief respecting the King Fisher, that I have ever redde in any old work, I here extract from Melanchton's Dedicatory Epistle to the Duke of Savoy, prefixed to Joye's Exposition of Daniel the Prop/ietc, 1st edit. Geneve, 1545.

" For thei saye that in the most sharpe and coldest tyme of the yerc, these balcions making their nestis in the sea rockis or sandia, will sitte their egges and hatche forth their chikens. And therfore the same sea that harboureth these fowles thus sitting vpon their egges, wil be so cawrae and still to her geistis for 14 dayes, that men may sewerjy sayl without perel vpon her, not shaken nor molested with any storine or tempeste, nor yet the nestis of theis biides so nighe the water not once shaken nor hurt with any sourges. For the seas wil not for that tyme of these birdis sitting and hatching, decease her geistis. And therfore is this trail- quilite of the sea for that Htlc tyme as a trwce taking in the winter, called the halcions dayes "

86

With a pregnant flowery birth

Canst refresh the teeming earth :

If he nip the early bud,

If he blast what's fayre or good; 30

If hee scatter our choyce flowers,

If he shake our hils or bowers,

If his rude breath threaten us ;

Thou canst stroake great JEolus,

And from him the grace obtaine 35

To bind him in an iron chaine.

j whilst you deale your body Amongst your

friends,

And fill their circling armes, my glad soule sends

This her embrace: thus wee of Delphos greet;

As lay-men clasp their hands, we joyne our

feet. 40

v. 34 stroake great JEolusJ]— Stroake, to sootb,

as in Bacon's Henry ?th; Works, eel. 1765, vol. iii. p. 85, " There he set forth a new proclamation, stroking the people with fair promises.'*

TO MY WORTHY FRIEND,

MASTER GEORGE SANDS,*

ON HIS TRANSLATION OF THE PSALMS.

I PRESSE not to the quire,, nor dare I greet The holy place with my unhallowed feet ; My unwasht Muse polutes not things divine, Nor mingles her prophaner notes with thine : Here, humbly at the porch she stayes, 5

And with glad eares sucks in thy sacred layes.

* George Sandys was born at Bishop's Thorp in 1577, the son of Edwin, Archbishop of York. He entered himself at Mary Hall, Oxon, 1589, but received tuition ut Corpus Christ! College, Cambridge. In l6lO he began his travels in the East, of which an account was published in 1610, so much esteemed, that it passed through a number of editions. On his return, he was appointed Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Charles I. and died in 1643.

He translated the Psalms of David, 1636, I2mo. ; Grotius1 Christ's Passion, lG40; Job, Ecclesiastes, and Lamentations, 16:38, folio, and 1676, 8vo. ; Solomon's Song, 1641, 4to. ; and Ovid's Metamorphoses, with 1st book of Virgil's ^Eneid; Oryden rsteerwd him the most harmonious writer of the age,

88

So, devout penitents of old were wont,

Some without doore, and some beneath the font,,

To stand and heare the churches liturgies,

Yet not assist the solemne exercise: 10

Sufficeth her, that she a lay-place gaine,

To trim thy vestments, or but beare thy traine;

Though nor in tune, nor wing, she reach thy

larke,

Her lyrick-feet may dance before the Arke, Who knowes, but that her wandring eyes that

run, 1 5

Now hunting glow-wormes, may adore the Sun : A pure flame may, shot by Almighty power Into her brest, the earthy flame devoure : My eyes in penitentiall dew may steepe That brine, which they for sensuall love did

weepe. 20

So (though 'gainst Natures course) fire may be

quencht

With fire, and water be with water drencht ; Perhaps my restlesse soule, tyr'de with pursuit Of mortall beauty, seeking without fruit 24

89

Contentment there, which hath not, when

enjoy 'd, Quencht all her thirst, nor satisfi'd, though

cloy'd ;

Weary of her vaine search below, above In the first Faire may find th' immortal love. Prompted by thy example then, no more In moulds of clay will I my God adore ; 30 But teare those idols from my heart, and write What his blest Spirit, not fond Love, shall indite; Then I no more shall court the verdant Bay, But the dry leavelesse trunke on Golgotha; And rather strive to gaine from thence one

thorn e, 35

Than all the flourishing wreathes by Laureats

worne.

90

TO MY LORD ADMIRALL *, ON HIS LATE SICKNESSE AND RECOVERY.

WITH joy like ours, the Thracian youth invades Orpheus, returning from th' Elysian shades, Embrace the heroe, and his stay implore, Make it their publike suit he would no more Desert them so, and for his spouses sake, 5 His vanish 'd love, tempt the Lethsean lake : The ladies too, the brightest of that time, Ambitious all his lofty bed to climbe, Their doubtfull hopes with expectation feed, Which shall the fair Euridice succeed; 10

Euridice, for whom his numerous moan Makes listning trees and savage mountaines groane

* George Villiers, Bukeof Buckingham, the unfortunate favorite of Charles I. who fdl by the hands of Felton. It is sometimes unfortunate to be the favorite even of a King.

91

Through all the ayre, his sounding strings dilate Sorrow like that which »touch'd our hearts of

late;

Your pining sicknesse, and your restlesse pain, At once the land affecting, and the mayne. 16 When the glad newes, that you were Admirall, Scarce through the nation spread, 'twas fear'd

by all That our great Charles, whose wisdome shines

in you, Should be perplexed how to chuse anew : 20

v. li. Euridice, for whom his numerous moan

Makes listning trees and sarage mountains <?roan Through all the aijre.] — Pope's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, V, 113.

*' Yet ev'n in death Eury'ice he sung, " Eurydice still trembled on his tongue, " Eurydice the woods, " Eur>dice the floods, " Eurydice the rocks, aiiu hollow mountains rung."

r. 19. Our great Charles ] — It is to be lamented that Carew should have so ill applied his panegyric; but the poc-*s of his time were too much inclined to flatter Princes at the cxpence of truth. It is only when a Monarch is truly the father of his People, that he deserves to be praised by Men of

92

So more then private was the joy and grief, That at the worst it gave our soules reliefc, That in our age such sense of vertue liv'd_, They joy'd so justly, and so justly griev'd.

Genius; a Tyrant should only have his virtues echoed by a pensioned Laureat. ?.Iilton, the glorious boast of Britain and her Sons, knew better the value of Liberty than to laud the greatest subverter of it ; he

" could contemn

" Riches, though offer'd from the hand of Kings."

To some, this note may appear out of place ; but I could not suffer an opportunity to escape of declaring my abhor rence of the tyranny of Charles 1. I cannot forget that I am a Briton, a native of that

"Isle,

" The greatest and the best of all the main."

And to the last hour of my existence I hope to exclaim,

" England ! with all thy faults, I love thee still—

" My country! and, while yet a nook is left,

" Where English minds and manners may be found,

" Shall be constrained to love thee. Though thy clirae

" Be fickle, and thy year most part deformed

" With dripping rains, or withered by a frost,

4< I would not \rt exchange thy sullen skies,

" And fields without a flower, for wanner France

" With all her vines." COVVPER.

93

Nature, her fairest light eclipsed, scemes 25 Hcrselfe to suffer in these sad extreames ; While not from thine alone thy blood retires, But from those cheeks which all the world

admires.

The stem thus threatned, and the sap, in thee Droop all the branches of that noble tree; 30 Their beauties they, and we our love suspend, Nought can our wishes save thy health intend ; As lillies overcharg'd with rain, they bend Their beauteous heads, and with high Heaven contend,

v, 33. As lillies overcharged with rain, they bend

Their beauteous heads.]— This beautiful simile is to be found in Homer, //. book viii. 1. 306. Thus in Pope's transl. 1. 371.

" As full-blown poppies overcharg'd with rain " Decline the head, and drooping kiss the plain."

Compare also Fletcher, Purp. IsL can. xi. st. 33. " So have I often seen a purple flower, " Fainting through heat, hang down her drooping head."

P. Fletcher's Eliza, part ii. st. 6.

" like fainting flowers oppress'dwith raitu"

94

Fold thee within their snowy arms, and cry 35 He is too faultlesse, and too young' to die : So, like immortals, round about thee they Sit, that they fright approaching death away. Who would not languish by so fair a train, To be lamented and restor'd againe ? 40

Or thus withheld, what hasty soule would go, Though to the blest ? Ore young Adonis so Fair Venus mourn'd, and wilh the precious

showre Of her warm tearse cherisht the springing flower.

Milton, Samp. Agon. 728.

" but now with head declin'd,

" Like a fair flower surcharg'd with dew."

Dryden, Aurengzebc. " Your head declined, " Droops, like a rose surcharg'd with morning dew.'*

Carew, however, is the first English poet in whom the idea is to be tumid.

«. 42 Ore young Adonis vo

Fair Venus mourn' d*] — Thus Spenser's Mourning l\Iuse of Thestylis.

" Venus when she waild

*c Her deare Aiionis sluine."

95

The next support, fair hope of your great name, And second pillar of that noble frame, 46

By losse of thee would no advantage have, But, step by step, pursues thee to thy grave.

And now relentlesse Fate, about to end 49 The line, which backward doth so farre extend That antique stock, which still the world supplies With bravest spirits, and with brightest eyes, Kind Phrebus interposing, bade me say, Such stormes no more shall shake that house ;

but they,

Like Neptune and his sea-borne Neece, shall be The shining glories of the Land and Sea, 56 With courage guard, and beauty warm our age, And lovers fill with like poetique rage *.

* This Epistle has besn erroneously ascribed to Waller.

Evans, Printer, Bristol.

PR 3339 C2A6 1810

Carew, Thomas A selection

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