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@@ -0,0 +1,11434 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lucasta, by Richard Lovelace + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lucasta + +Author: Richard Lovelace + +Posting Date: August 16, 2008 [EBook #703] +Release Date: October, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCASTA *** + + + + +Produced by Gary R. Young. + + + + + + + + +LUCASTA. + + +By + +Richard Lovelace + + + + + +TO +WILLIAM HAZLITT, ESQ., OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, A REGISTRAR OF +THE COURT OF BANKRUPTCY IN LONDON, + +This Little Volume + +IS INSCRIBED AS A SLIGHT TESTIMONY OF THE GREATEST RESPECT, +BY HIS AFFECTIONATE SON, THE EDITOR. + + + +CONTENTS. + + + +PART I. + + PAGE + Dedication 3 + Verses addressed to the Author 5 + + I. Poems Addressed or Relating To Lucasta. + + Song. To Lucasta. Going beyond the Seas 25 + Song. To Lucasta. Going to the Warres 26 + A Paradox 27 + Song. To Amarantha, that she would Dishevell her Haire 29 + Sonnet 31 + Ode. To Lucasta. The Rose 31 + Love Conquer'd. A Song 33 + A Loose Saraband 34 + Orpheus to Woods 37 + Orpheus to Beasts 37 + Dialogue. Lucasta, Alexis 39 + Sonnet 41 + Lucasta Weeping. Song 42 + To Lucasta, from Prison. An Epode 43 + Lucasta's Fanne, with a Looking-glasse in it 46 + Lucasta, taking the Waters at Tunbridge 48 + To Lucasta. Ode Lyrick 50 + Lucasta paying her Obsequies to the Chast Memory of my + Dearest Cosin Mrs. Bowes Barne[s] 51 + Upon the Curtaine of Lucasta's Picture, it was thus Wrought 53 + Lucasta's World. Epode 53 + The Apostacy of One, and but One Lady 54 + Amyntor from beyond the Sea to Alexis. A Dialogue 56 + Calling Lucasta from her Retirement 58 + Amarantha, a Pastoral 60 + + + II. Poems Addressed to Ellinda. + + + To Ellinda, that lately I have not written 74 + Ellinda's Glove 75 + Being Treated. To Ellinda 76 + To Ellinda, upon his late Recovery. A Paradox 79 + + + III. Miscellaneous Poems + + + To Chloe, courting her for his Friend 81 + Gratiana Dauncing and Singing 82 + Amyntor's Grove 84 + The Scrutinie 89 + Princesse Loysa Drawing 90 + A Forsaken Lady to her False Servant 92 + The Grassehopper. To My Noble Friend, + Mr. Charles Cotton [the elder] 94 + An Elegie on the Death of Mrs. Cassandra Cotton 97 + The Vintage to the Dungeon. A Song 99 + On the Death of Mrs. Elizabeth Filmer. An Elegiacall Epitaph 100 + To My Worthy Friend Mr. Peter Lilly 102 + The Lady A[nne] L[ovelace]. My Asylum in a Great Extremity 104 + A Lady with a Falcon on her Fist. To the Honourable + my Cousin A[nne] L[oveace] 108 + A Prologue to the Scholars 110 + The Epilogue 111 + Against the Love of Great Ones 113 + To Althea, from Prison 117 + Sonnet. To Generall Goring, after the Pacification at Berwicke 120 + Sir Thomas Wortley's Sonnet 122 + The Answer 123 + A Guiltlesse Lady Imprisoned; after Penanced 124 + To His Deare Brother Colonel F[rancis] L[ovelace] 125 + To a Lady that desired me I would beare my part with her + in a Song 126 + Valiant Love<TOC.1> 131 + La Bella Bona Roba. To My Lady H. 133 + Sonnet. "I Cannot Tell," &c. 134 + A la Bourbon 135 + The Faire Begger 136 + A Dialogue betwixt Cordanus and Amoret 138 + + +<This is approximately the original location of footnote <TOC.1>. +This footnote has been moved to a position after the poem +'La Bella Bona Roba.'> + + + + IV. Commendatory and Other Verses, prefixed to + Various Publications between 1638 and 1647. + + An Elegie. Princesse Katherine Borne, Christened, Buried + in one Day (1638) 140 + Clitophon and Lucippe translated. To the Ladies (1638) 143 + To My Truely Valiant, Learned Friend; who in his Booke + resolv'd the Art Gladiatory into the Mathematicks (1638) 146 + To Fletcher Reviv'd (1647) 148 + + + +PART II. + + + I. Poems Addressed or Relating to Lucasta. + + Dedication 155 + To Lucasta. Her Reserved Looks 157 + Lucasta Laughing 157 + Night. To Lucasta 158 + Love Inthron'd 159 + Her Muffe 160 + A Black Patch on Lucasta's Face 162 + Another 163 + To Lucasta 165 + To Lucasta 165 + Lucasta at the Bath 166 + The Ant 168 + + + II. Miscellaneous Poems. + + Song. Strive not, &c. 170 + In Allusion to the French Song: "N'entendez vous pas + ce Language" 171 + Courante Monsieur 173 + A Loose Saraband 174 + The Falcon 176 + Love made in the First Age. To Chloris 180 + To a Lady with Child that ask'd an Old Shirt 183 + Song. In mine own Monument I lye, &c. 184 + Another. I did believe, &c. 184 + Ode. You are deceiv'd, &c. 185 + The Duell 187 + Cupid far gone 188 + A Mock Song 190 + A Fly caught in a Cobweb 191 + A Fly about a Glasse of Burnt Claret 193 + Female Glory 196 + A Dialogue. Lute and Voice 197 + A Mock Charon. Dialogue 198 + The Toad and Spyder. A Duell 199 + The Snayl 207 + Another 209 + The Triumphs of Philamore and Amoret 211 + Advice to my best Brother, Coll: Francis Lovelace 218 + Paris's Second Judgement 221 + Peinture. A Panegyrick to the best Picture of Friendship, + Mr. Pet. Lilly 222 + An Anniversary on the Hymeneals of my Noble Kinsman, + Thomas Stanley, Esq. 227 + On Sanazar's being honoured with 600 Duckets by the + Clarissimi of Venice 229 + + + + III. Commendatory Verses, prefixed to Various + Publications between 1652 and 1657. + + To My Dear Friend, Mr. E[ldred] R[evett] on his Poems moral + and divine 241 + On the Best, Last, and only Remaining Comedy of Mr. Fletcher, + "The Wild-Goose Chase" (1652) 245 + To My Noble Kinsman Thomas Stanley, Esq.; on his Lyrick Poems + composed by Mr. John Gamble (1656) 247 + To Dr. F. B[eale]; on his Book of Chesse (1656) 249 + To the Genius of Mr. John Hall (1657) 250 + + Translations 253 + + Elegies on the Death of the Author 279 + + + + INTRODUCTION. + +There is scarcely an UN-DRAMATIC writer of the Seventeenth Century, +whose poems exhibit so many and such gross corruptions as those +of the author of LUCASTA. In the present edition, which is the +first attempt to present the productions of a celebrated and +elegant poet to the admirers of this class of literature in a +readable shape, both the text and the pointing have been amended +throughout, the original reading being always given in the footnotes; +but some passages still remain, which I have not succeeded +in elucidating to my satisfaction, and one or two which have defied +all my attempts at emendation, though, as they stand, they are +unquestionably nonsense. It is proper to mention that several +rather bold corrections have been hazarded in the course of the +volume; but where this has been done, the deviation from the +original has invariably been pointed out in the notes. + +On the title-page of the copy of LUCASTA, 1649, preserved among +the King's Pamphlets in the British Museum, the original possessor +has, according to his usual practice, marked the date of purchase, +viz., June 21; perhaps, and indeed probably, that was also +the date of publication. A copy of LUCASTA, 1649, occasionally +appears in catalogues, purporting to have belonged to Anne, +Lady Lovelace; but the autograph which it contains was taken +from a copy of Massinger's BONDMAN (edit. 1638, 4to.), which her +Ladyship once owned. This copy of Lovelace's LUCASTA is bound up +with the copy of the POSTHUME POEMS, once in the possession +of Benjamin Rudyerd, Esq., grandson and heir of the distinguished +Sir Benjamin Rudyerd, as appears also from his autograph +on the title.<1.1> + +In the original edition of the two parts of LUCASTA, 1649-59, +the arrangement of the poems appears, like that of the text, +to have been left to chance, and the result has been a total +absence of method. I have therefore felt it part of my duty to +systematise the contents of the volume, and, so far as it lay in my +power, to place the various pieces of which it consisted in their +proper order; all the odes, sonnets, &c. addressed or referring to +the lady who is concealed under the names of LUCASTA and AMARANTHA +have now been, for the first time, brought together; and the copies +of commendatory and gratulatory verses, with one exception prefixed +by Lovelace to various publications by friends during his life-time, +either prior to the appearance of the first part of his own +poems in 1649, or between that date and the issue of his Remains +ten years later, have been placed by themselves, as an act of +justice to the writer, of whose style and genius they are, as is +generally the case with all compositions of the kind, by no means +favourable specimens. The translations from Catullus, Ausonius, +&c. have been left as they stood; they are, for the most part, +destitute of merit; but as they were inserted by the Poet's +brother, when he edited the posthumous volume, I did not think it +right to disturb them, and they have been retained in their full +integrity. + +Lovelace's LUCASTA was included by the late S. W. Singer, Esq., +in his series of "Early English Poets;" but that gentleman, +besides striking out certain passages, which he, somewhat +unaccountably and inconsistently, regarded as indelicate, +omitted a good deal of preliminary matter in the form of +commendatory verses which, though possibly of small worth, +were necessary to render the book complete; it is possible, +that Mr. Singer made use of a copy of LUCASTA which was deficient +at the commencement. It may not be generally known that, +independently of its imperfections in other respects, +Mr. Singer's reprint abounds with the grossest blunders. + +The old orthography has been preserved intact in this edition; +but with respect to the employment of capitals, the entirely +arbitrary manner in which they are introduced into the book as +originally published, has made it necessary to reduce them, as well +as the singularly capricious punctuation, to modern rules. At the +same time, in those cases where capitals seemed more characteristic +or appropriate, they have been retained. + +It is a singular circumstance, that Mr. Singer (in common with +Wood, Bliss, Ellis, Headley, and all other biographers,) overlooked +the misprint of ARAMANTHA for AMARANTHA, which the old compositor +made, with one or two exceptions, wherever the word occurred. In +giving a correct representation of the original title-page, I have +been obliged to print ARAMANTHA. + +In the hope of discovering the exact date of Lovelace's birth +and baptism, I communicated with the Rev. A. J. Pearman, incumbent +of Bethersden, near Ashford, and that gentleman obligingly examined +the registers for me, but no traces of Lovelace's name are to be +found. + + W. C. H. + +Kensington, August 12, 1863. + +<1.1> Mr. B. R. was a somewhat diligent collector of books, +both English and foreign. On the fly-leaves of his copy +of Rosse's MYSTAGOGUS POETICUS, 1648, 8vo., he has written +the names of a variety of works, of which he was at the time +seemingly in recent possession. + + + + BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. + +With the exception of Sir Egerton Brydges, who contributed to the +GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE for 1791-2 a series of articles on the life +and writings of the subject of the present memoir, all the +biographers of Richard Lovelace have contented themselves with +following the account left by Anthony Wood of his short and unhappy +career. I do not think that I can do better than commence, at +least, by giving word for word the narrative of Wood in his own +language, to which I purpose to add such additional particulars in +the form of notes or otherwise, as I may be able to supply. But +the reader must not expect much that is new: for I regret to say +that, after the most careful researches, I have not improved, to +any large extent, the state of knowledge respecting this elegant +poet and unfortunate man. + +"Richard Lovelace," writes Wood, "the eldest son of Sir William +Lovelace<2.1> of Woollidge in Kent, knight, was born in that +country [in 1618], educated in grammar learning in +Charterhouse<2.2> School near London, became a gent. commoner of +Gloucester Hall in the beginning of the year 1634,<2.3> and in that +of his age sixteen, being then accounted the most amiable and +beautiful person that ever eye beheld; a person also of innate +modesty, virtue, and courtly deportment, which made him then, but +especially after, when he retired to the great city, much admired +and adored by the female sex. In 1636, when the king and queen +were for some days entertained at Oxon, he was, at the request of a +great lady belonging to the queen, made to the Archbishop of +Canterbury [Laud], then Chancellor of the University, actually +created, among other persons of quality, Master of Arts, though but +of two years' standing; at which time his conversation being made +public, and consequently his ingenuity and generous soul +discovered, he became as much admired by the male, as before by the +female, sex. After he had left the University, he retired in great +splendour to the court, and being taken into the favour of Lord +George Goring, afterwards Earl of Norwich, was by him adopted a +soldier, and sent in the quality of an ensign, in the Scotch +expedition, an. 1639. Afterwards, in the second expedition, he was +commissionated a captain in the same regiment, and in that time +wrote a tragedy called THE SOLDIER, but never acted, because the +stage was soon after suppressed. After the pacification of +Berwick, he retired to his native country, and took possession [of +his estate] at Lovelace Place, in the parish of Bethersden,<2.4> at +Canterbury, Chart, Halden, &c., worth, at least, <pounds>500 per +annum. About which time he [being then on the commission of the +peace] was made choice of by the whole body of the county of Kent +at an assize, to deliver the Kentish petition<2.5> to the House of +Commons, for the restoring the king to his rights, and for settling +the government, &c. For which piece of service he was committed +[April 30, 1642] to the Gatehouse at Westminster,<2.6> where he +made that celebrated song called, STONE WALLS DO NOT A PRISON MAKE, +&c. After three or four months' [six or seven weeks'] imprisonment, +he had his liberty upon bail of <pounds>40,000 [<pounds>4000?] +not to stir out of the lines of communication without a pass from +the speaker. During the time of this confinement to London, +he lived beyond the income of his estate, either to keep up +the credit and reputation of the king's cause by furnishing +men with horses and arms, or by relieving ingenious men in want, +whether scholars, musicians, soldiers, &c. Also, by furnishing +his two brothers, Colonel Franc. Lovelace, and Captain William +Lovelace (afterwards slain at Caermarthen)<2.7> with men and +money for the king's cause, and his other brother, called Dudley +Posthumus Lovelace, with moneys for his maintenance in Holland, +to study tactics and fortification in that school of war. After +the rendition of Oxford garrison, in 1646, he formed a regiment +for the service of the French king, was colonel of it, and +wounded at Dunkirk;<2.8> and in 1648, returning into England, he, +with Dudley Posthumus before mentioned, then a captain under him, +were both committed prisoners to Peter House,<2.9> in London, where +he framed his poems for the press, entitled, LUCASTA: EPODES, ODES, +SONNETS, SONGS, &c., Lond. 1649, Oct. The reason why he gave that +title was because, some time before, he had made his amours to a +gentlewoman of great beauty and fortune, named Lucy Sacheverell, +whom he usually called LUX CASTA; but she, upon a stray report that +Lovelace was dead of his wound received at Dunkirk, soon after +married.<2.10> He also wrote ARAMANTHA [Amarantha], A PASTORAL, +printed with LUCASTA.<2.11> Afterwards a musical composition of two +parts was set to part of it by Henry Lawes,<2.12> sometimes servant +to king Charles I., in his public and private music. + +"After the murther of king Charles I. Lovelace was set at liberty, +and, having by that time consumed all his estate,<2.13> grew +very melancholy (which brought him at length into a consumption), +became very poor in body and purse, was the object of charity, +went in ragged cloaths (whereas when he was in his glory he wore +cloth of gold and silver), and mostly lodged in obscure and dirty +places, more befitting the worst of beggars and poorest of +servants, &c. After his death his brother Dudley, before +mentioned, made a collection of his poetical papers, fitted them +for the press, and entitled them LUCASTA: POSTHUME POEMS, Lond. +1659,<2.14> Oct., the second part, with his picture before +them.<2.15> These are all the things that he hath extant; those +that were never published were his tragedy, called THE SOLDIER or +SOLDIERS, before mentioned; and his comedy, called THE +SCHOLAR,<2.16> which he composed at sixteen years of age, when he +came first to Gloucester hall, acted with applause afterwards in +Salisbury Court. He died in a very mean lodging in Gunpowder +Alley,<2.17> near Shoe Lane,<2.18> and was buried at the west-end +of the church of S. Bride, alias Bridget, in London, near to the +body of his kinsman Will. Lovelace, of Gray's Inn, Esq., in sixteen +hundred fifty and eight,<2.19> having before been accounted by all +those that well knew him to have been a person well versed in the +Greek<2.20> and Latin<2.21> poets, in music, whether practical or +theoretical, instrumental or vocal, and in other things befitting a +gentleman. Some of the said persons have also added, in my +hearing, that his common discourse was not only significant and +witty, but incomparably graceful, which drew respect from all men +and women. Many other things I could now say of him, relating +either to his most generous mind in his prosperity, or dejected +estate in his worst state of poverty, but for brevity's sake I +shall now pass them by. At the end of his Posthume Poems are +several elegies written on him by eminent poets of that time, +wherein you may see his just character." + +Such is Wood's account; it is to be regretted that that writer +did not supply the additional information, which he tantalizes us +by saying that he possessed, and could have published, had he not +been afraid of being tedious. His love of brevity is, in this +case, most provoking. + +As might be expected, the Journals of Parliament cast additional +light on the personal connexion of Lovelace with the Kentish +Petition of 1642, which was for the GENERAL redress of existing +grievances, not, as the editor of the VERNEY PAPERS seems to have +considered, merely for the adjustment of certain points relative to +the Militia. Parliamentary literature has not a very strong +fascination for the editors of old authors, and the biographers of +Lovelace have uniformly overlooked the mine of information which +lies in the LORDS' AND COMMONS' JOURNALS. The subject was +apparently introduced, for the first time, into Parliament on the +28th March, 1642, when a conference of both Houses took place, +respecting "a petition from Kent, which, praying for a Restoration +of the Bishops, Liturgy and Common Prayer, and other constitutional +measures, was voted seditious and against privilege and the peace +of the kingdom;" on the same occasion, Lord Bristol and Mr. Justice +Mallett were committed to the Tower for having in their possession +a copy of the document. On the 7th April it was ordered by both +Houses, that the Kentish Petition should be burned by the hands of +the common hangman. + +On the 28th April, the Commons acquainted the Upper House, +by Mr. Oliver Cromwell, "that a great meeting was to be held +next day on Blackheath, to back the rejected Kentish +Petition."<2.22> + +Two days later, a strange scene occurred at Westminster. +Let the Commons' Journals tell the story in their own language:-- + +"30 April, 1642. The House being informed that divers gentlemen +of the county of Kent were at the door, that desired to present +a petition to the House; + +"They were called in, presented their Petition, and withdrew. + +"And their Petition was read, and appeared to be the same +that was formerly burnt, by order of both Houses, by the hands +of the common hangman. Captain LEIGH reports that, being at +the Quarter Sessions held at MAIDSTONE, he observed certain +passages which he delivered in writing. + +"Captain Lovelace, who presented the Petition, was called in; +and Mr. Speaker was commanded to ask him, from whose hand +he had this Petition, and who gave him warrant to present it. + +"'Mr. GEO. CHUTE delivered him [he replied] the Petition the next +day after the Assizes.' + +"'The gentlemen [he continued], that were assembled at BLACKHEATH, +commanded him to deliver it.' + +"[The Speaker then inquired] whether he knew that the like was +burnt by the order of this House, and that some were here +questioned for the business. + +"'He understood a general rumour, that some gentlemen were +questioned. + +"'He had heard a fortnight since, that the like Petition was burned +by the hand of the common hangman. + +"'He knew nothing of the bundle of printed petitions.' + +"He likewise said, 'that there was a petition at the Quarter +Sessions, disavowed by all the Justices there, which he tore.' + +"Sir William Boteler was likewise called in, [and] asked when he +was at Yorke. + +"[He] answered, 'On Wednesday last was sevennight, he came from +Yorke, and came to his house in London. + +"'He heard of a petition that was never delivered. + +"'He never heard of any censure of the Parliament. + +"'He heard that a paper was burnt for being irregularly burnt +[?presented]. + +"'He had heard that the Petition, that went under the name of +the Kentish Petition, was burnt by the hands of the common hangman. + +"'He never heard of any order of either, [or] of both, the Houses +concerning [the Petition]. + +"'He was at Hull on Thursday or Friday was a sevennight: as he +came from Yorke, he took Hull in the way. He had heard, that +Sir Roger Twisden was questioned for the like Petition. + +"'He was yesterday at BLACKHEATH.' + +"Resolved, upon the question, that Captain Lovelace shall be +presently Committed prisoner to the Gatehouse. + +"Resolved, upon the question, that Sir William Boteler shall be +presently committed prisoner to the Fleet. + +"Ordered, that the sergeant shall apprehend them, and carry them +in safe custody, and deliver them as prisoners to the several +prisons aforesaid." + +On the 4th May, 1642, the House of Commons ordered Mr. Whittlock +and others to prepare a charge against Mr. Lovelace and Sir William +Boteler with all expedition; but nothing further is heard of the +matter till the 17th June, When Lovelace<2.23> and Boteler +petitioned the House separately for their release from custody. +Hereupon Sir William was discharged on finding personal bail to the +extent of <pounds>10,000, with a surety for <pounds>5000; and in +the case of his companion in misfortune it was ordered, on the +question, that "he be forthwith bailed upon GOOD security." This +"good security," surely, did not reach the sum mentioned by Wood, +namely, <pounds>40,000; but it is likely that the author of the +ATHENAE is ONLY wrong by a cypher, and that the amount fixed was +<pounds>4000, as it has been already suggested. Thus Lovelace's +confinement did not exceed seven weeks in duration, and the +probability, is that the sole inconvenience, which he subsequently +experienced, was the loss of the bail. + +The description left by Wood and Aubrey of the end of Lovelace +can only be reconciled with the fact, that his daughter and heiress +conveyed Kingsdown, Hever,<2.24> and a moiety of Chipsted, +to the Cokes by marriage with Mr. Henry Coke, by presuming that +those manors were entailed; while Lovelace Place, as well perhaps +as Bayford and Goodneston, not being similarly secured, were sold +to defray the owner's incumbrances. At any rate it is not, +upon the whole, very probable that he died in a hovel, in a state +of absolute poverty;<2.25> that he received a pound a week +(equal to about <pounds>4 of our money) from two friends, +Cotton and another, Aubrey himself admits; and we may rest +satisfied that, however painful the contrast may have been between +the opening and close of that career, the deplorable account given +in the ATHENAE, and in the so-called LIVES OF EMINENT MEN, is much +exaggerated and overdrawn. + +It has not hitherto been remarked, that among the Kentish gentry +who, from time to time, elected to change the nature of their +tenure from gavelkind to primogeniture, were the Lovelaces +themselves, in the person of Thomas Lovelace,<2.26> who, by Act of +Parliament 2 and 3 Edw. VI. obtained, concurrently with several +other families, the power of conversion. This Thomas Lovelace was +not improbably the same, who was admitted a student of Gray's Inn +in 1541; and that he was of the Kentish Lovelaces there is not much +reason to doubt; although, at the same time, I am unable to fix the +precise degree of consanguinity between him and Serjeant William +Lovelace of Gray's Inn, who died in 1576, and who was great-grandfather +to the author of LUCASTA. The circumstance that the real property +of Thomas Lovelace aforesaid, situated in Kent, was released by Act +of Parliament, 2 and 3 Edw. VI. from the operations of gavelkind tenure +(assuming, as is most likely to have been the case, that he was of the +same stock as the poet, though not an immediate ancestor,) seems to +explain the following allusion by Dudley Lovelace in the verses +prefixed by him to LUCASTA, 1649:-- + + "Those by the landed have been writ, + Mine's but a younger-brother wit." + +As well as the subjoined lines by Lovelace in the poem entitled, +"To Lucasta, from Prison," (see p. 44 of present edition):-- + + "Next would I court my LIBERTY, + And then my birthright, PROPERTY." + +There is evidence to prove that Lovelace was on intimate terms +with some of the wits of his time, and that he had friendly +relations with many of them--such as Hall, Rawlins, Lenton, and +particularly the Cottons. John Tatham, the City Poet, and author +of THE FANCIES THEATER, 1640, knew him well, and addressed to him +some stanzas, not devoid of merit, during his stay abroad. +In 1643, Henry Glapthorne, a celebrated dramatist and poet +of the same age, dedicated to Lovelace his poem of WHITEHALL, +printed in that year in a quarto pamphlet, with elegies +on the Earls of Bedford and Manchester.<2.27> The pages +of LUCASTA bear testimony to the acquaintance of the author +with Anthony Hodges of New College, Oxford, translator of +CLITOPHON AND LEUCIPPE from the Greek of Achilles Tatius +(or rather probably from a Latin version of the original), +and with other<2.28> members of the University.<2.29> + +Although it is stated by Wood that LUCASTA was prepared for the +press by Lovelace himself, on his return from the Continent in +1648, it is impossible to believe that any care was bestowed on the +correction of the text, or on the arrangement of the various pieces +which compose the volume: nor did his brother Dudley Posthumus, who +edited the second part of the book in 1659, perform his task in any +degree better. In both instances, the printer seems to have been +suffered to do the work in his own way, and very infamously he has +done it. To supply all the short-comings of the author and his +literary executor at this distance of time, is, unfortunately, out +of the power of any editor; but in the present republication I have +taken the liberty of rearranging the poems, to a certain extent in +the order in which it may be conjectured that they were written; +and where Lovelace contributed commendatory verses to other works, +either before or after the appearance of the first portion of +LUCASTA, the two texts have been collated, and improved readings +been occasionally obtained. + +The few poems, on which the fame of Lovelace may be said to rest, +are emanations not only of the stirring period in which he lived, +but of the peculiar circumstances into which he was thrown +at different epochs of his life. Lovelace had not the melodious +and exquisite taste of Herrick, the wit of Suckling, or the power +of Randolph (so often second only to his master Jonson). +Mr. Singer has praised the exuberant fancy of Lovelace; but, +in my thinking, Lovelace was inferior in fancy, as well as in +grace, both to Carew and the author of HESPERIDES. Yet Lovelace +has left behind him one or two things, which I doubt if any of +those writers could have produced, and which our greatest poets +would not have been ashamed to own. Winstanley was so far right in +instituting a comparison between Lovelace and Sydney, that it is +hard to name any one in the entire circle of early English +literature except Sydney and Wither, who could have attempted, with +any chance of success, the SONG TO ALTHEA FROM PRISON; and how +differently Sydney at least would have handled it! We know what +Herrick would have made of it; it would have furnished the theme +for one more invocation to Julia. From Suckling we should have had +a bantering playfulness, or a fescennine gaiety, equally unsuited +to the subject. Waller had once an opportunity of realizing the +position, which has been described by his contemporary in immortal +stanzas; but Waller, when he was under confinement, was thinking +too much of his neck to write verses with much felicity, and +preferred waiting, till he got back to Beaconsfield (when his +inspiration had evaporated), to pour out his feelings to Lady +Dorothy or Lady Sophia. Wither's song, "Shall I wasting in +Despair," is certainly superior to the SONG TO ALTHEA. Wither was +frequently equal to Lovelace in poetical imagery and sentiment, and +he far excelled him in versification. The versification of +Lovelace is indeed more rugged and unmusical than that of any other +writer of the period, and this blemish is so conspicuous throughout +LUCASTA, and is noticeable in so many cases, where it might have +been avoided with very little trouble, that we are naturally led to +the inference that Lovelace, in writing, accepted from indolence or +haste, the first word which happened to occur to his mind. Daniel, +Drayton, and others were, it is well known, indefatigable revisers +of their poems; they "added and altered many times," mostly +for the better, occasionally for the worse. We can scarcely +picture to ourselves Lovelace blotting a line, though it would +have been well for his reputation, if he had blotted many. + +In the poem of the LOOSE SARABAND (p. 34) there is some resemblance +to a piece translated from Meleager in Elton's SPECIMENS OF CLASSIC +POETS, i. 411, and entitled by Elton "Playing at Hearts." + + "Love acts the tennis-player's part, + And throws to thee my panting heart; + Heliodora! ere it fall, + Let desire catch swift the ball: + Let her in the ball-court move, + Follow in the game with love. + If thou throw me back again, + I shall of foul play complain." + +And an address to the Cicada by the same writer, (IBID. i. 415) +opens with these lines:-- + + "Oh, shrill-voiced insect that, with dew-drops sweet + Inebriate, dost in desert woodlands sing." + +In the poem called "The Grasshopper" (p. 94), the author speaks +of the insect as + + "Drunk ev'ry night with a delicious tear, + Dropped thee from heaven."---- + +The similarity, in each case, I believe to have been entirely +accidental: nor am I disposed to think that Lovelace was under any +considerable or direct obligations to the classics. I have taken +occasion to remark that Lovelace seems to have helped to furnish +a model to Cleveland, who carried to an extraordinary length that +fondness for words and figures derived from the alchymist's +vocabulary; but as regards the author of LUCASTA himself, it may +be asserted that there are few writers whose productions exhibit +less of book-lore than his, and even in those places, where he has +employed phrases or images similar to some found in Peele, +Middleton, Herrick, and others, there is great room to question, +whether the circumstance can be treated as amounting to more than +a curious coincidence. + +The Master of Dulwich College has obligingly informed me, +that the picture of ALTHEA, as well as that of Lovelace himself, +bequeathed by Cartwright the actor to Dulwich College in 1687, +bears no clue to date of composition, or to the artist's name, +and that it does not assist in the identification of the lady. +This is the more vexatious, inasmuch as it seems probable that +ALTHEA, whoever she was, became the poet's wife, after LUCASTA'S +marriage to another. The CHLOES, &c. mentioned in the following +pages were merely more or less intimate acquaintances of Lovelace, +like the ELECTRA, PERILLA, CORINNA, &c. of Herrick. But at the +same time an obscurity has hitherto hung over some of the persons +mentioned under fictitious names in the poems of Lovelace, +which a little research and trouble would have easily removed. +For instance, no one who reads "Amarantha, a Pastoral," +doubts that LUCASTA and AMARANTHA are one and the same person. +ALEXIS is Lovelace himself. ELLINDA is a female friend of +the poet, who occasionally stayed at her house, and on one +occasion (p. 79) had a serious illness there. ELLINDA marries +AMYNTOR, under which disguise, I suspect, lurks the well known +Maecenas of his time, Endymion Porter. If Porter be AMYNTOR, of +course ELLINDA must be the Lady Olivia Porter, his wife. ARIGO +(see the poem of AMYNTOR'S GROVE) signifies Porter's friend, +Henry Jermyn. It may be as well to add that the LETTICE mentioned +at p. 121, was the Lady Lettice Goring, wife of Lovelace's friend, +and third daughter of Richard Boyle, first Earl of Cork. This lady +died before her husband, to whom she brought no issue. + +The following lines are prefixed to FONS LACHRYMARUM, &c. +by John Quarles, 1648, 8vo., and are subscribed, as will be seen, +R. L.; they may be from the pen of Lovelace; but, if so, +it is strange that they were not admitted, with other productions +of a similar character, into the volume published by the poet +himself in 1649, or into that edited by his brother in 1659. + + TO MY DEAR FRIEND THE AUTHOR. + + The Son begins to rise, the Father's set: + Heav'n took away one light, and pleas'd to let + Another rise. Quarles, thy light's divine, + And it shall teach Darkness it self to shine. + Each word revives thy Father's name, his art + Is well imprinted in thy noble heart. + I've read thy pleasing lines, wherein I find + The rare Endeavors of a modest mind. + Proceed as well as thou hast well begun, + That we may see the Father by the Son. + R. L. + +Arms of Lovelace of Bethersden: Gules, on a chief indented argent, +three martlets sable. + +<2.1> Pedigree of the family of Richard Lovelace, the poet. + + Richard Lovelace, of Queenhithe (temp. Hen. VI.). + ! + Lancelot Lovelace. + ! + ----------------------------------------------- + ! ! ! + Richard Lovelace, William Lovelace John (ancestor of the + d. s. p. (ob. 1501). Lords Lovelace, of + ! Hurley (co. Berks). + ! + --------------------------- + ! ! + John William Lovelace. + ! + William Lovelace, Serjeant at Law, ob. 1576. + ! + ------------------------ + ! + Sir William Lovelace, ob.1629===Elizabeth, daughter of + (according to Berry). ! Edward Aucher, Esq., of + ! Bishopsbourne. + ! + --------------------- + ! + Sir William Lovelace===Anne, daughter and heir of + ! Sir William Barnes, of Woolwich. + ! + ----------------------------------------------------- + ! ! ! ! ! ! + Richard===? Althea. ! William. ! Dudley.===Mary Johanna===Robert + Lovelace,! ! ! ! Lovelace, ! Caesar + born ! Francis. Thomas. ! (? his ! Esq. + 1618 ! ! cousin). ! + ! ! ! + ! A daughter, ! + ! b. 1678. ! + ! ! + Margaret===Henry Coke, Esq. 5th ------------------- + ! son of the Chief ! ! ! + ! Justice, and ancestor Anne. Juliana. Johanna. + ! of the Earls of Leicester. + ! + ------------------------------------- + ! ! ! ! + Richard. Ciriac. . . . . . . . . + +The above has been partly derived from a communication to the +GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE for Dec. 1791, by Sir Egerton Brydges, +who chiefly compiled it from Hasted, compared with Berry's +KENT GENEALOGIES, 474, where there are a few inaccuracies. +It is, of course, a mere skeleton-tree, and furnishes no +information as to the collateral branches, the connexion between +the houses of Stanley and Lovelace, &c. Sir Egerton Brydges' +series of articles on Lovelace in the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, with +the exception of that from which the foregoing table is taken, +does not contain much, if anything, that is new. On the 3rd of +May, 1577, Henry Binneman paid "vi<pence> and a copie" to the +Stationers' Company for the right to print "the Briefe Course of +the Accidents of the Deathe of Mr. Serjeant Lovelace;" and on the +30th of August following, Richard Jones obtained a licence to print +"A Short Epitaphe of Serjeant Lovelace." This was the same person +who is described in the pedigree as dying in 1576. His death +happened, no doubt, like that of Sir Robert Bell and others, at the +Oxford Summer assizes for 1576. See Stow's ANNALES, fol. 1154. + +In 1563, Barnaby Googe the poet dedicated his EGLOGS, EPITAPHES, +AND SONNETTES, NEWLY WRITTEN, to "the Ryght Worshypfull M. Richard +Lovelace, Esquier, Reader of Grayes Inne." + +The following is a list of the members of the Lovelace family +who belonged to the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn from 1541 +to 1646:-- + + Thomas Lovelace, admitted 1541. + William Lovelace, " 1548. Called to the bar in 1551. + Richard Lovelace, " 1557. Reader in 1563. Barnaby Googe's + friend. + Lancelot Lovelace, " 1571. + William Lovelace, " 1580. + Lancelot Lovelace, " 1581. Recorder of Canterbury, + ob. 1640, aet. 78. + Francis Lovelace, " 1609. Perhaps the same who was Recorder + of Canterbury in 1638. + Francis Lovelace " 1640. Probably the poet's younger + (of Canterbury), brother. + William Lovelace, " 1646. + +For these names and dates I am indebted to the courtesy +of the Steward of Gray's Inn. + +Sir William Lovelace, the poet's grandfather who, according to +Berry, died in 1629, was a correspondent of Sir Dudley Carleton +(see CALENDARS OF STATE PAPERS, DOMESTIC SERIES, 1611-18, pp. 443, +521, 533; Ibid. 1618-23, p. 17). It appears from some Latin lines +before the first portion of LUCASTA, that the poet's father served +with distinction in Holland, and probably it was this circumstance +which led to Lovelace himself turning his attention in a similar +direction: for the latter was on service in the Low Countries, +perhaps under his father (of whose death we do not know the date, +though Hasted intimates that he fell at the Gryll), when his friend +Tatham, afterwards the city poet, addressed to him some verses +printed in a volume entitled OSTELLA (printed in 1650). + +<2.2> Mr. A. Keightley, Registrar of the Charterhouse, with his +usual kindness, examined for me the books of the institution, +in the hope of finding the date of Lovelace's admission, &c., +but without success. Mr. Keightley has suggested to me that +perhaps Lovelace was not on the foundation, which is of course +highly probable, and which, as Mr. Keightley seems to think, +may account for the omission of his name from the registers. + +<2.3> "He was matriculated at Gloucester Hall, June 27, 1634, as +"filius Gul. Lovelace de Woolwich in +Com. Kant. arm. au. nat. 16.'"--Dr. Bliss, +in a note on this passage in his edition of the ATHENAE. + +<2.4> Bethersden is a parish in the Weald of Kent, eastward +of Smarden, near Surrenden. "The manor of Lovelace," says Hasted +(HISTORY OF KENT, iii. 239), "is situated at a very small distance +SOUTH-WESTWARD from the church [of Bethersden]. It was in early +times the property of a family named Grunsted, or Greenstreet, +as they were sometimes called; the last of whom, HENRY DE GRUNSTED, +a man of eminent repute, as all the records of this county testify, +in the reigns of both King Edward II. and III., passed away this +manor to KINET, in which name it did not remain long; for WILLIAM +KINET, in the 41st year of King Edward III., conveyed it by sale +to JOHN LOVELACE, who erected that mansion here, which from hence +bore his name in addition, being afterwards styled BETHERSDEN-LOVELACE, +from which sprang a race of gentlemen, who, in the +military line, acquired great reputation and honour, and by their +knowledge in the municipal laws, deserved well of the Commonwealth; +from whom descended those of this name seated at BAYFORD in +SITTINGBORNE, and at KINGSDOWN in this county, the Lords Lovelace +of Hurley, and others of the county of Berks." The same writer, +in his HISTORY OF CANTERBURY, has preserved many memorials +of the connexion of the Lovelaces from the earliest times +with Canterbury and its neighbourhood. William Lovelace, +in the reign of Philip and Mary, died possessed of the mansion +belonging to the abbey of St. Lawrence, near Canterbury; +after the death of his son William, it passed to other hands. +In 1621, Lancelot Lovelace, Esq., was Recorder of Canterbury; +in 1638, Richard Lovelace, Esq., held that office; and in the +year of the Restoration, Richard Lovelace, the poet's brother, was +Recorder. In the Public Library at Plymouth, there is a folio MS. +(mentioned in Mr. Halliwell's catalogue, 1853), containing +"Original Papers of the Molineux and LOVELACE Families." I regret +that I have not had an opportunity of inspecting it. Mr. Halliwell +does not seem to have examined the volume; at all events, that +gentleman does not furnish any particulars as to the nature of the +contents, or as to the period to which the papers belong. This +information, in the case of a MS. deposited in a provincial library +in a remote district, would have been peculiarly valuable. It is +possible that the documents refer only to the Lovelaces of Hurley, +co. Berks. + +<2.5> "The Humble Petition of the Gentry, Ministers, and +Commonalty, for the county of Kent, agreed upon at the General +Assizes for that county." See JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS, iv. +675-6-7. The "framers and contrivers" of this petition were Sir +Edward Dering, Bart., of Surrenden-Dering; Sir Roger Twysden, the +well-known scholar; Sir George Strode, and Mr. Richard Spencer. On +the 21st May, 1641, Dering had unsuccessfully attempted to bring in +a bill for the ABOLITION of church government by bishops, +archbishops, &c., whereas one of the articles of the petition of +1642 (usually known as DERING'S PETITION) was a prayer for the +restoration of the Liturgy and the maintenance of the episcopal +bench in its integrity. A numerously signed petition had also +been addressed to both Houses by the county in 1641, in which +the strongest reasons were given for the adoption of Dering's +proposed act. From 1641 to 1648, indeed, the Houses were +overwhelmed by Kentish petitions of various kinds. This portion +of Wood's narrative is confirmed by Marvell's lines prefixed to +LUCASTA, 1649:-- + + "And one the Book prohibits, because Kent + Their first Petition by the Authour sent." + +"Sir William Boteler, of Kent, returning about the beginning of +APRIL 1642, from his attendance (being then Gentleman Pentioner) +on the king at YORKE, then celebrating St. GEORGE'S feast, +was by the earnest solicitation of the Gentry of Kent ingaged +to joyn with them in presenting the most honest and famous Petition +of theirs to the House of Commons, delivered by Captain RICHARD +LOVELACE, for which service the Captain was committed Prisoner to +the GATE HOUSE, and SIR WILLIAM BOTELER to the Fleet, from whence, +after some weeks close imprisonment, no impeachment in all that +time brought in against him [Boteler], many Petitions being +delivered and read in the House for his inlargement, he was at last +upon bail of <pounds>20,000 [<pounds>15,000] remitted to his house +in LONDON, to attend DE DIE IN DIEM the pleasure of the House."--MERCURIUS +RUSTICUS, 1646 (edit. 1685, pp. 7, 8). The fact was +that, although on the 7th of April, 1642, the Kentish petition in +favour of the Liturgy, &c. had been ordered by the House of Commons +to be burned by the common hangman (PARLIAMENTS AND COUNCILS +OF ENGLAND, 1839, p. 384), Boteler and Lovelace had the temerity, +on the 30th of the same month, to come up to London, and present it +again to the House. It was this which occasioned their committal. +In the VERNEY PAPERS (Camd. Soc. 1845, p. 175) there is the +following memorandum:-- + + "Captaine Lovelace committed to the Gatehouse ! Concerning + Sir William Butler committed to the Fleete ! Deering's + ! petition." + +<2.6> "Gatehouse, a prison in Westminster, near the west end +of the Abbey, which leads into Dean's Yard, Tothill Street, +and the Almonry"--Cunningham's HANDBOOK OF LONDON, PAST AND +PRESENT. But for a more particular account, see Stow's SURVEY, +ed. 1720, ii. lib. 6. + + "The Gatehouse for a Prison was ordain'd, + When in this land the third king EDWARD reign'd: + Good lodging roomes, and diet it affords, + But I had rather lye at home on boords." + Taylor's PRAISE AND VIRTUE OF A JAYLE AND JAYLERS, + (Works, 1630, ii. 130). + +<2.7> By an inadvertence, I have spoken of THOMAS, instead of +WILLIAM, Lovelace having perished at Caermarthen, in a note +at p. 125. <i.e. note 52.1> + +<2.8> It appears from the following copy of verses, printed +in Tatham's OSTELLA, 1650, 4to., that Lovelace made a stay +in the Netherlands about this time, if indeed he did not serve +there with his regiment. + + UPON MY NOBLE FRIEND RICHARD LOVELACE, ESQ., HIS + BEING IN HOLLAND. AN INVITATION. + + Come, Adonis, come again; + What distaste could drive thee hence, + Where so much delight did reign, + Sateing ev'n the soul of sense? + And though thou unkind hast prov'd, + Never youth was more belov'd. + Then, lov'd Adonis, come away, + For Venus brooks not thy delay. + + Wert thou sated with the spoil + Of so many virgin hearts, + And therefore didst change thy soil, + To seek fresh in other parts? + Dangers wait on foreign game; + We have deer more sound and tame. + Then, lov'd Adonis, come away, + For Venus brooks not thy delay. + + Phillis, fed with thy delights, + In thy absence pines away; + And love, too, hath lost his rites, + Not one lass keeps holiday. + They have changed their mirth for cares, + And do onely sigh thy airs. + Then, lov'd Adonis, come away, + For Venus brooks not thy delay. + + Elpine, in whose sager looks + Thou wert wont to take delight, + Hath forsook his drink and books, + 'Cause he can't enjoy thy sight: + He hath laid his learning by, + 'Cause his wit wants company. + Then, lov'd Adonis, come away, + For friendship brooks not thy delay. + + All the swains that once did use + To converse with Love and thee, + In the language of thy Muse, + Have forgot Love's deity: + They deny to write a line, + And do only talk of thine. + Then, lov'd Adonis, come away, + For friendship brooks not thy delay. + + By thy sweet Althea's voice, + We conjure thee to return; + Or we'll rob thee of that choice, + In whose flames each heart would burn: + That inspir'd by her and sack, + Such company we will not lack: + That poets in the age to come, + Shall write of our Elisium. + +<2.9> Peter, or rather PETRE House, in Aldersgate Street, +belonged at one time to the antient family by whose name it was +known. The third Lord Petre, dying in 1638, left it, with other +possessions in and about the city of London, to his son William. +(Collins's PEERAGE, by Brydges, vii. 10, 11.) When Lovelace was +committed to Peter House, and probably long before (MERCURIUS +RUSTICUS, ed. 1685, pp. 76-79), this mansion was used as a house of +detention for political prisoners; but in Ward's DIARY (ed. Severn, +p. 167), there is the following entry (like almost all Ward's +entries, unluckily without date):--"My Lord Peters is an Essex man; +hee hath a house in Aldersgate Street, wherein lives the Marquis +of Dorchester:" implying that at that period (perhaps about 1660), +the premises still belonged to the Petre family, though temporarily +let to Lord Dorchester. Another celebrated house in the same +street was London House, which continued for some time to be the +town residence of the Bishops of London. When it had ceased to be +an episcopal abode, it was adapted to the purposes of an ordinary +dwelling, and, among the occupants, at a somewhat later period, was +Tom Rawlinson, the great book-collector. See Stow, ed. 1720, ii. +lib. iii. p. 121. + +<2.10> How different was the conduct, under similar circumstances, +of the lady whom Charles Gerbier commemorates in his ELOGIUM +HEROINUM, 1651, p. 127. "Democion, the Athenian virgin," he tells +us, "hearing that Leosthenes, to whom she was contracted, was slain +in the wars, she killed herself; but before her death she thus +reasoned with herself: 'Although my body is untoucht, yet should I +fall into the imbraces of another, I should but deceive the second, +since I am still married to the former in my heart.'" + +<2.11> Wood's story about LUCASTA having been a Lucy Sacheverell, +"a lady of great beauty and fortune," may reasonably be doubted. +Lucasta, whoever she was, seems to have belonged to Kent; +the SACHEVERELLS were not a Kentish family. Besides, the +corruption of Lucy Sacheverell into Lucasta is not very obvious, +and rather violent; and the probability is that the author of +the ATHENAE was misled by his informant on this occasion. +The plate etched by Lely and engraved by Faithorne, which +is found in the second part of LUCASTA, 1659, can scarcely +be regarded as a portrait; it was, in all likelihood, a mere +fancy sketch, and we are not perhaps far from the truth in our +surmise that the artist was nearly, if not quite, as much +in the dark as to who Lucasta was, as we are ourselves +at the present day. + +<2.12> This is a mistake on the part of Wood, which (with many +others) ought to be corrected in a new edition of the ATHENAE. +Lawes did not set to music AMARANTHA, A PASTORAL, nor any portion +of it; but he harmonized two stanzas of a little poem to be found +at p. 29 of the present volume, and called "To Amarantha; that she +would dishevel her Hair." + +<2.13> Hasted states that soon after the death of Charles I. the +manor of Lovelace-Bethersden passed by purchase to Richard Hulse, +Esq. + +<2.14> On the title-page of this portion of LUCASTA, as well as +on that which had appeared in 1649, the author is expressly styled +RICHARD LOVELACE, ESQ.: yet in Berry's KENT GENEALOGIES, p. 474, +he is, curiously enough, called SIR Richard Lovelace, KNT. It is +scarcely necessary to observe that the error is on Berry's side. + +<2.15> The most pleasing likeness of Lovelace, the only one, +indeed, which conveys any just idea to us of the "handsomest man of +his time," is the picture at Dulwich, which has been twice copied, +in both instances with very indifferent success. One of these +copies was made for Harding's BIOGRAPHICAL MIRROR. Bromley +(DICTIONARY OF ENGRAVED BRITISH PORTRAITS, 1793, p. 101) correctly +names F[rancis] Lovelace, the writer's brother, as the designer +of the portrait before the POSTHUME POEMS. + +<2.16> Winstanley, perhaps, intended some allusion to these two +lost dramas from the pen of Lovelace, when he thus characterizes +him in his LIVES OF THE POETS, 1687, p. 170:--"I can compare no +man," he says, "so like this Colonel LOVELACE as SIR PHILIP SIDNEY, +of which latter it is said by one in an epitaph made of him:-- + + 'Nor is it fit that more I should acquaint, + Lest men adore in one + A Scholar, SOULDIER, Lover, and a Saint.'" + +As to the comparison, Winstanley must be understood to signify +a resemblance between Lovelace and Sydney as men, rather than +as writers. Winstanley's extract is from WITS' RECREATIONS, +but the text, as he gives it, varies from that printed by +the editor of the reprint of that work in 1817. + +<2.17> Gunpowder Alley still exists, but it is not the Gunpowder +Alley which Lovelace knew, having been rebuilt more than once +since 1658, It is now a tolerably wide and airy court, without +any conspicuous appearance of squalor. There is no tradition, +I am sorry to say, respecting Lovelace; all such recollections +have long been swept away. When one of the old inhabitants +told me (and there are one or two persons who have lived here +all their life) that a great poet once resided thereabout, +I naturally became eager to catch the name; but it turned out +to be Dr. Johnson, not Lovelace, the latter of whom might have +been contemporary with Homer for aught they knew to the contrary +in Gunpowder Alley. It appears from Decker and Webster's play +of WESTWARD HOE, 1607 (Webster's Works, ed. Hazlitt, i. 67), +that there was another Gunpowder Alley, near Crutched Friars. + +<2.18> Hone (EVERY-DAY BOOK, ii. 561, edit. 1827), states, +under date of April 28, that "during this month in 1658 +the accomplished Colonel Richard Lovelace died IN THE GATEHOUSE +AT WESTMINSTER, whither he had been committed," &c. No authority, +however, is given for in assertion so wholly at variance with +the received view on the subject, and I am afraid that Hone has +here fallen into a mistake. + +<2.19> Aubrey, in what are called his LIVES OF EMINENT MEN, +but which are, in fact, merely rough biographical memoranda, +states under the head of Lovelace:--"Obiit in a cellar in +Long acre, a little before the restauration of his Matie. +Mr. Edm. Wyld,<<AN.1>> &c. had made collections for him, +and given him money.....Geo. Petty, haberdasher, in Fleet street, +carried xx<shillings> to him every Monday morning from Sr....Many +and Charles Cotton, Esq. for....moneths, BUT WAS NEVER REPAYD." +Aubrey was certainly a contemporary of Lovelace, and Wood seems +to have been indebted to him for a good deal of information; +but all who are acquainted with Aubrey are probably aware that +he took, in many instances, very little trouble to examine for +himself, but accepted statements on hearsay. Wood does not, +in the case of Lovelace, adopt Aubrey's account, and it is to +be observed that, IF the poet died as poor as he is represented +by both writers to have died, he would have been buried by the +parish, and, dying in Long Acre, the parochial authorities would +not have carried him to Fleet Street for sepulture. + +<<AN.1>> P. xxiv. MR. EDM[UND] WYLD. +This gentleman, the friend of Aubrey, Author of the MISCELLANIES, +&c., and (?) the son of Sir Edmund Wyld, seems to have furnished +the former with a variety of information on matters of current +interest. See Thoms' ANECDOTES AND TRADITIONS, 1839, p. 99. +He is, no doubt, the E. W. Esq., whom Aubrey cites as his +authority on one or two occasions, in his REMAINS OF GENTILISM +AND JUDAISM. He was evidently a person of the most benevolent +character, and Aubrey (LIVES OF EMINENT MEN, ii. 483) pays him +a handsome tribute, where he describes him as "a great fautor +of ingenious and good men, for meer merit's sake." + +<2.20> See p. 149, NOTE 3.<i.e. note 63.4> His acquaintance +with Hellenic literature possibly extended very little beyond +the pages of the ANTHOLOGIA. + +<2.21> His favourites appear to have been Ausonius and Catullus. + +<2.22> On the 5th May, 1642, a counter-petition was presented +by some Kentish gentlemen to the House of Commons, disclaiming +and condemning the former one.--JOURNALS OF THE H. OF C. ii. 558. + +<2.23> "The humble petition of Richard Lovelace, Esquire, +a prisoner in the Gate-house, by a former order of this +House."--JOURNALS, ii. 629. + +<2.24> This property, which was of considerable extent and value, +was purchased of the Cheney family, toward the latter part +of the reign of Henry VI, by Richard Lovelace, of Queenhithe. + +<2.25> I do not think that there is any proof, that Gunpowder-alley +was, at the time when Lovelace resided there, a particularly poor +or mean locality. + +<2.26> See Lambarde (PERAMBULATION OF KENT, 1570, ed. 1826, +p. 533). + +<2.27> As so little is known of the personal history of Lovelace, +the reader may not be displeased to see this Dedication, and it is +therefore subjoined:-- + + "To my Noble Friend And Gossip, CAPTAIN RICHARD LOVELACE. + "Sir, + "I have so long beene in your debt that I am almost desperate + in my selfe of making you paiment, till this fancy by + ravishing from you a new curtesie in its patronage, promised + me it would satisfie part of my former engagements to you. + Wonder not to see it invade you thus on the sudden; gratitude + is aeriall, and, like that element, nimble in its motion and + performance; though I would not have this of mine of a French + disposition, to charge hotly and retreat unfortunately: there + may appeare something in this that may maintaine the field + courageously against Envy, nay come off with honour; if you, + Sir, please to rest satisfied that it marches under your + ensignes, which are the desires of + "Your true honourer, + "Hen. Glapthorne." + +<2.28> It has never, so far as I am aware, been suggested that +the friend to whom Sir John Suckling addressed his capital ballad:-- + + "I tell thee, Dick, where I have been," + +may have been Lovelace. It was a very usual practice (then even +more so than now) among familiar acquaintances to use the +abbreviated Christian name in addressing each other; thus Suckling +was JACK; Davenant, WILL; Carew, TOM, &c.; in the preceding +generation Marlowe had been KIT; Jonson, BEN; Greene, ROBIN, and so +forth; and although there is no positive proof that Lovelace and +Suckling were intimate, it is extremely probable that such was the +case, more especially as they were not only brother poets, but both +country gentlemen belonging to neighbouring counties. Suckling +had, besides, some taste and aptitude for military affairs, and +could discourse about strategics in a city tavern over a bowl of +canary with the author of LUCASTA, notwithstanding that he was a +little troubled by nervousness (according to report), when the +enemy was too near. + +<2.29> From Andrew Marvell's lines prefixed to LUCASTA, 1649, +it seems that Lovelace and himself were on tolerably good terms, +and that when the former presented the Kentish petition, and was +imprisoned for so doing, his friends, who exerted themselves to +procure his release, suspected Marvell of a share in his disgrace, +which Marvell, according to his own account, earnestly disclaimed. +See the lines commencing:-- + + "But when the beauteous ladies came to know," &c. + + + + ADDITIONAL NOTES. + +<This is the original location of notes AN.1, AN.2, AN.3, AN.4, +and AN.5. These notes have been moved to appropriate locations +in the text.> + + + + LUCASTA: + + Epodes, Odes, Sonnets, + Songs, &c. + + TO WHICH IS ADDED + + Aramantha, + a + PASTORALL. + + BY + RICHARD LOVELACE, + Esq. + + + LONDON, + Printed by Tho. Harper, and are to be sold + by Tho. Evvster, at the Gun, in + Ivie Lane. 1649. + + + + THE DEDICATION. + + TO THE RIGHT HON. MY LADY ANNE LOVELACE.<3.1> + + To the richest Treasury +That e'er fill'd ambitious eye; +To the faire bright Magazin +Hath impoverisht Love's Queen; +To th' Exchequer of all honour +(All take pensions but from her); +To the taper of the thore +Which the god himselfe but bore; +To the Sea of Chaste Delight; +Let me cast the Drop I write. + And as at Loretto's shrine +Caesar shovels in his mine, +Th' Empres spreads her carkanets, +The lords submit their coronets, +Knights their chased armes hang by, +Maids diamond-ruby fancies tye; +Whilst from the pilgrim she wears +One poore false pearl, but ten true tears: + So among the Orient prize, +(Saphyr-onyx eulogies) +Offer'd up unto your fame, +Take my GARNET-DUBLET name, +And vouchsafe 'midst those rich joyes +(With devotion) these TOYES. + Richard Lovelace. + +<3.1> This lady was the wife of the unfortunate John, second Lord +Lovelace, who suffered so severely for his attachment to the King's +cause, and daughter to the equally unfortunate Thomas, Earl of +Cleveland, who was equally devoted to his sovereign, and whose +estates were ordered by the Parliament to be sold, July 26, 1650. +See PARLIAMENTS AND COUNCILS OF ENGLAND, 1839, p. 507. + + + + VERSES ADDRESSED TO THE AUTHOR. + + + + TO MY BEST BROTHER ON HIS POEMS CALLED "LUCASTA." + +Now y' have oblieg'd the age, thy wel known worth +Is to our joy auspiciously brought forth. +Good morrow to thy son, thy first borne flame +Which, as thou gav'st it birth, stamps it a name, +That Fate and a discerning age shall set +The chiefest jewell in her coronet. + +Why then needs all this paines, those season'd pens, +That standing lifeguard to a booke (kinde friends), +That with officious care thus guard thy gate, +As if thy Child were illigitimate? +Forgive their freedome, since unto their praise +They write to give, not to dispute thy bayes. + +As when some glorious queen, whose pregnant wombe +Brings forth a kingdome with her first-borne Sonne, +Marke but the subjects joyfull hearts and eyes: +Some offer gold, and others sacrifice; +This slayes a lambe, that, not so rich as hee, +Brings but a dove, this but a bended knee; +And though their giftes be various, yet their sence +Speaks only this one thought, Long live the prince. + +So, my best brother, if unto your name +I offer up a thin blew-burning flame, +Pardon my love, since none can make thee shine, +Vnlesse they kindle first their torch at thine. +Then as inspir'd, they boldly write, nay that, +Which their amazed lights but twinkl'd at, +And their illustrate thoughts doe voice this right, +Lucasta held their torch; thou gav'st it light. + Francis Lovelace, Col. + + + + AD EUNDEM. + +En puer Idalius tremulis circumvolat alis, +Quem prope sedentem<4.1> castior<4.2> uret amor. +Lampada sic videas circumvolitare Pyrausta,<4.3> +Cui contingenti est flamma futura rogus. +Ergo procul fugias, Lector, cui nulla placebunt +Carmina, ni fuerint turpia, spurca, nigra. +Sacrificus Romae lustralem venditat undam: +Castior est illa Castalis unda mihi: +Limpida, et <<eulikrines>>, nulla putredine spissa, +Scilicet ex puro defluit illa jugo. +Ex pura veniunt tam dia poemata mente, +Cui scelus est Veneris vel tetigisse fores. + Thomas Hamersley, Eques Auratus. + +<4.1> Old ed. SIDENTEM. + +<4.2> Old ed. CARTIOR. + +<4.3> See Scheller's LEX. TOT. LAT. voce PYRAUSTA and PYRALIS + + + + ON THE POEMS. + +How humble is thy muse (Deare) that can daign +Such servants as my pen to entertaine! +When all the sonnes of wit glory to be +Clad in thy muses gallant livery. +I shall disgrace my master, prove a staine, +And no addition to his honour'd traine; +Though all that read me will presume to swear +I neer read thee: yet if it may appear, +I love the writer and admire the writ, +I my owne want betray, not wrong thy wit. +Did thy worke want a prayse, my barren brain +Could not afford it: my attempt were vaine. +It needs no foyle: All that ere writ before, +Are foyles to thy faire Poems, and no more. +Then to be lodg'd in the same sheets with thine, +May prove disgrace to yours, but grace to mine. + Norris Jephson, Col. + + + + TO MY MUCH LOVED FRIEND, RICHARD LOVELACE Esq. + + CARMEN EROTICUM. + +Deare Lovelace, I am now about to prove +I cannot write a verse, but can write love. +On such a subject as thy booke I coo'd +Write books much greater, but not half so good. +But as the humble tenant, that does bring +A chicke or egges for's offering, +Is tane into the buttry, and does fox<5.1> +Equall with him that gave a stalled oxe: +So (since the heart of ev'ry cheerfull giver +Makes pounds no more accepted than a stiver),<5.2> +Though som thy prayse in rich stiles sing, I may +In stiver-stile write love as well as they. +I write so well that I no criticks feare; +For who'le read mine, when as thy booke's so neer, +Vnlesse thy selfe? then you shall secure mine +From those, and Ile engage my selfe for thine. +They'l do't themselves; <thee> this allay you'l take, +I love thy book, and yet not for thy sake. + John Jephson, Col.<5.3> + +<5.1> TO FOX usually means to intoxicate. To fox oneself +is TO GET DRUNK, and to fox a person is TO MAKE HIM DRUNK. +The word in this sense belongs to the cant vocabulary. +But in the present case, fox merely signifies TO FARE or TO FEAST. + +<5.2> A Dutch penny. It is very likely that this individual +had served with the poet in Holland. + +<5.3> Three members of this family, or at least three persons +of this name, probably related, figure in the history of the +present period, viz., Colonel John Jephson, apparently a military +associate of Lovelace; Norris Jephson, who contributed a copy +of verses to LUCASTA, and to the first folio edition of Beaumont +and Fletcher's plays, 1647; and William Jephson, whose name occurs +among the subscribers to the SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT, 1643. + + + + TO MY NOBLE AND MOST INGENIOUS FRIEND, + COLONEL RICHARD LOVELACE, UPON HIS "LUCASTA." + +So from the pregnant braine of Jove did rise +Pallas, the queene of wit and beautious eyes, +As faire Lucasta from thy temples flowes, +Temples no lesse ingenious then Joves. +Alike in birth, so shall she be in fame, +And be immortall to preserve thy Name. + + + + ANOTHER, UPON THE POEMS. + +Now, when the wars augment our woes and fears, +And the shrill noise of drums oppresse our ears; +Now peace and safety from our shores are fled +To holes and cavernes to secure their head; +Now all the graces from the land are sent, +And the nine Muses suffer banishment; +Whence spring these raptures? whence this heavenly rime, +So calme and even in so harsh a time? +Well might that charmer his faire Caelia<6.1> crowne, +And that more polish't Tyterus<6.2> renowne +His Sacarissa, when in groves and bowres +They could repose their limbs on beds of flowrs: +When wit had prayse, and merit had reward, +And every noble spirit did accord +To love the Muses, and their priests to raise, +And interpale their browes with flourishing bayes; +But in a time distracted so to sing, +When peace is hurried hence on rages wing, +When the fresh bayes are<6.3> from the Temple torne, +And every art and science made a scorne; +Then to raise up, by musicke of thy art, +Our drooping spirits and our grieved hearts; +Then to delight our souls, and to inspire +Our breast with pleasure from thy charming lyre; +Then to divert our sorrowes by thy straines, +Making us quite forget our seven yeers paines +In the past wars, unlesse that Orpheus be +A sharer in thy glory: for when he +Descended downe for his Euridice, +He stroke his lute with like admired art, +And made the damned to forget their smart. + John Pinchbacke, Col<<AN.2>> + +<6.1> Many poets have celebrated the charms of a CAELIA; +but I apprehend that the writer here intends Carew. + +<6.2> Waller. + +<6.3> Original has IS. + +<<AN.2>> P. 10. JOHN PINCHBACK, COL[ONEL]. +Pinchback neither is nor was, I believe, a name of common +occurrence; and it is just possible that the Colonel may be the +very "old Jack Pinchbacke" mentioned by Sir Nicholas L'Estrange, +in his MERRY PASSAGES AND JESTS, of which a selection was given +by Mr. Thoms in his ANECDOTES AND TRADITIONS, 1839. L'Estrange, +it is true, describes the Colonel as a "gamester and rufler, +daubed with gold lace;" but this is not incompatible with the +identity between the PINCHBACKE, who figures in LUCASTA, and +OLD JACK, who had perhaps not always been "a gamester and ruffler," +and whose gold lace had, no doubt, once been in better company than +that which he seems to have frequented, when L'Estrange knew him. +The "daubed gold lace," after all, only corresponds with the +picture, which Lovelace himself may have presented in GUNPOWDER +ALLEY days. + + + + <<EXASTIKON. + +Pseudetai hostis ephe-dolichos chronos oiden ameiben + Ounoma, kai panton mnemosynen olesai. +Oden gar poiein agathen ponos aphthonos esti, + Hon medeis aion oiden odousi phagein. +Oden soi, phile, doke men aphthiton, ogathe, mousa, + Hos eis aionas ounoma ee teon.>> + Villiers Harington, L.C. + + + + TO HIS MUCH HONOURED FRIEND, MR. RICHARD LOVELACE, ON HIS POEMS. + +He that doth paint the beauties of your verse, +Must use your pensil, be polite, soft, terse; +Forgive that man whose best of art is love, +If he no equall master to you prove. +My heart is all my eloquence, and that +Speaks sharp affection, when my words fall flat; +I reade you like my mistresse, and discry +In every line the quicknesse of her eye: +Her smoothnesse in each syllable, her grace +To marshall ev'ry word in the right place. +It is the excellence and soule of wit, +When ev'ry thing is free as well as fit: +For metaphors packt up and crowded close +Swath <ye> minds sweetnes, and display the throws, +And, like those chickens hatcht in furnaces, +Produce or one limbe more, or one limbe lesse +Then nature bids. Survey such when they write, +No clause but's justl'd with an epithite. +So powerfully you draw when you perswade, +Passions in you in us are vertues made; +Such is the magick of that lawfull shell +That where it doth but talke, it doth compell: + For no Apelles 'till this time e're drew + A Venus to the waste so well as you. + W. Rudyerd.<7.1> + +<7.1> Only son of Sir Benjamin Rudyerd, Kt., known as a poet +and a friend of poets, and as a warm advocate of Episcopacy. +See MEMOIRS OF SIR B. R., edited by Manning, 1841, 8vo, p. 257. + + + +The world shall now no longer mourne nor vex +For th' obliquity of a cross-grain'd sex; +Nor beauty swell above her bankes, (and made +For ornament) the universe invade +So fiercely, that 'tis question'd in our bookes, +Whether kils most the Amazon's sword or lookes. +Lucasta in loves game discreetly makes +Women and men joyntly to share the stakes, +And lets us know, when women scorne, it is +Mens hot love makes the antiparisthesis; +And a lay lover here such comfort finds +As Holy Writ gives to affected minds. +The wilder nymphs, lov's power could not comand, +Are by thy almighty numbers brought to hand, +And flying Daphnes, caught, amazed vow +They never heard Apollo court till now. +'Tis not by force of armes this feat is done, +For that would puzzle even the Knight o' th' Sun;<8.1> +But 'tis by pow'r of art, and such a way +As Orpheus us'd, when he made fiends obay. + J. Needler, Hosp. Grayensis. + +<8.1> A celebrated romance, very frequently referred to by our +old writers. Sir Thomas Overbury, in his CHARACTERS, represents +a chambermaid as carried away by the perusal of it into the realms +of romance, insomuch that she can barely refrain from forsaking +her occupation, and turning lady-errant. The book is better known +under the title of THE MIRROR OF PRINCELY DEEDES AND KNIGHTHOOD, +wherein is shewed the worthinesse of the Knight of the Sunne, &c. +It consists of nine parts, which appear to have been published +at intervals between 1585 and 1601. + + + + TO HIS NOBLE FRIEND, MR. RICHARD LOVELACE, UPON HIS POEMS. + +SIR, + Ovr times are much degenerate from those, +Which your sweet Muse, which your fair fortune chose; +And as complexions alter with the climes, +Our wits have drawne th' infection of our times. +That candid age no other way could tell +To be ingenious, but by speaking well. +Who best could prayse, had then the greatest prayse; +'Twas more esteemd to give then wear the bayes. +Modest ambition studi'd only then +To honour not her selfe, but worthy men. +These vertues now are banisht out of towne, +Our Civill Wars have lost the civicke crowne. +He highest builds, who with most art destroys, +And against others fame his owne employs. +I see the envious caterpillar sit +On the faire blossome of each growing wit. + The ayre's already tainted with the swarms +Of insects, which against you rise in arms. +Word-peckers, paper-rats, book-scorpions, +Of wit corrupted the unfashion'd sons. +The barbed censurers begin to looke +Like the grim Consistory on thy booke; +And on each line cast a reforming eye +Severer then the yong presbytery. +Till, when in vaine they have thee all perus'd, +You shall for being faultlesse be accus'd. +Some reading your LUCASTA will alledge +You wrong'd in her the Houses priviledge; +Some that you under sequestration are, +Because you write when going to the Warre; +And one the book prohibits, because Kent +Their first Petition by the Authour sent. + But when the beauteous ladies came to know, +That their deare Lovelace was endanger'd so: +Lovelace, that thaw'd the most congealed brest, +He who lov'd best, and them defended best, +Whose hand so rudely grasps the steely brand, +Whose hand so gently melts the ladies hand, +They all in mutiny, though yet undrest, +Sally'd, and would in his defence contest. +And one, the loveliest that was yet e're seen, +Thinking that I too of the rout had been, +Mine eyes invaded with a female spight +(She knew what pain 't would be to lose that sight). +O no, mistake not, I reply'd: for I +In your defence, or in his cause, would dy. +But he, secure of glory and of time, +Above their envy or mine aid doth clime. +Him valianst men and fairest nymphs approve, +His booke in them finds judgement, with you, love. + Andr. Marvell + + + + TO COLONEL RICHARD LOVELACE, +ON THE PUBLISHING OF HIS INGENIOUS POEMS. + + If the desire of glory speak a mind +More nobly operative and more refin'd, +What vast soule moves thee, or what hero's spirit +(Kept in'ts traduction pure) dost thou inherit, +That, not contented with one single fame, +Dost to a double glory spread thy name, +And on thy happy temples safely set +Both th' Delphick wreath and civic coronet? + Was't not enough for us to know how far +Thou couldst in season suffer, act and dare +But we must also witnesse, with what height +And what Ionick sweetnesse thou canst write, +And melt those eager passions, that are +Stubborn enough t' enrage the god of war +Into a noble love, which may expire<9.1> +In an illustrious pyramid of fire; +Which, having gained his due station, may +Fix there, and everlasting flames display. +This is the braver path: time soone can smother +The dear-bought spoils and tropheis of the other. +How many fiery heroes have there been, +Whose triumphs were as soone forgot as seen? +Because they wanted some diviner one +To rescue <thee> from night, and make <thee> known. + Such art thou to thy selfe. While others dream +Strong flatt'ries on a fain'd or borrow'd theam, +Thou shalt remaine in thine owne lustre bright, +And adde unto 't LUCASTA'S chaster light. + For none so fit to sing great things as he, +That can act o're all lights of poetry. +Thus had Achilles his owne gests design'd, +He had his genius Homer far outshin'd. + Jo. Hall.<<9.2>> + +<9.1> Original has ASPIRE. + +<9.2> The precocious author of HORAE VACIVAE, 1646, and +of a volume of poems which was printed in the same year. +In the LUCASTA are some complimentary lines by Lovelace +on Hall's translation of the commentary of Hierocles on +the Golden Verses of Pythagoras, 1657. + + + + TO THE HONORABLE, VALIANT, AND INGENIOUS COLONEL RICHARD LOVELACE, + ON HIS EXQUISITE POEMS. + + Poets and painters have some near relation, +Compar'd with fancy and imagination; +The one paints shadowed persons (in pure kind), +The other paints the pictures of the mind +In purer verse. And as rare Zeuxes fame +Shin'd, till Apelles art eclips'd the same +By a more exquisite and curious line +In Zeuxeses (with pensill far more fine), +So have our modern poets late done well, +Till thine appear'd (which scarce have paralel). + They like to Zeuxes grapes beguile the sense, +But thine do ravish the intelligence, +Like the rare banquet of Apelles, drawn, +And covered over with most curious lawn. + Thus if thy careles draughts are cal'd the best, +What would thy lines have beene, had'st thou profest +That faculty (infus'd) of poetry, +Which adds such honour unto thy chivalry? +Doubtles thy verse had all as far transcended +As Sydneyes Prose, who Poets once defended. + For when I read thy much renowned pen, +My fancy there finds out another Ben +In thy brave language, judgement, wit, and art, +Of every piece of thine, in every part: +Where thy seraphique Sydneyan fire is raised high +In valour, vertue, love, and loyalty. + Virgil was styl'd the loftiest of all, +Ovid the smoothest and most naturall; +Martiall concise and witty, quaint and pure, +Iuvenall grave and learned, though obscure. + But all these rare ones which I heere reherse, +Do live againe in Thee, and in thy Verse: +Although not in the language of their time, +Yet in a speech as copious and sublime. + The rare Apelles in thy picture wee +Perceive, and in thy soule Apollo see. +Wel may each Grace and Muse then crown thy praise +With Mars his banner and Minerva's bayes. + Fra. Lenton.<10.1> + +<10.1> The author of the YOUNG GALLANT'S WHIRLIGIGG, 1629, +and other poetical works. Singer does not give these lines. +In the WHIRLIGIG there is a curious picture of a young gallant +of the time of Charles I., to which Lovelace might have sat, +had he been old enough at the time. But Lenton had no want +of sitters for his portrait. + + + + TO HIS HONOURED AND INGENIOUS FRIEND, COLONEL RICHARD LOVELACE, + ON HIS "LUCASTA." + +Chast as Creation meant us, and more bright +Then the first day in 's uneclipsed light, +Is thy LUCASTA; and thou offerest heere +Lines to her name as undefil'd and cleere; +Such as the first indeed more happy dayes +(When vertue, wit, and learning wore the bayes +Now vice assumes) would to her memory give: +A Vestall flame that should for ever live, +Plac't in a christal temple, rear'd to be +The Embleme of her thoughts integrity; +And on the porch thy name insculpt, my friend, +Whose love, like to the flame, can know no end. +The marble step that to the alter brings +The hallowed priests with their clean offerings, +Shall hold their names that humbly crave to be +Votaries to th' shrine, and grateful friends to thee. +So shal we live (although our offrings prove +Meane to the world) for ever by thy love. + Tho. Rawlins.<11.1> + +<11.1> A well known dramatist and poet. These lines are not +in Singer's reprint. + + + + TO MY DEAR BROTHER, COLONEL RICHARD LOVELACE. + +Ile doe my nothing too, and try +To dabble to thy memory. +Not that I offer to thy name +Encomiums of thy lasting fame. +Those by the landed have been writ: +Mine's but a yonger-brother wit; +A wit that's hudled up in scarres, +Borne like my rough selfe in the warres; +And as a Squire in the fight +Serves only to attend the Knight, +So 'tis my glory in this field, +Where others act, to beare thy shield. + Dudley Lovelace, Capt.<12.1> + +<12.1> The youngest brother of the poet. Besides the present +lines, and some to be found in the posthumous volume, of which +he was the editor, this gentleman contributed the following +commendatory poem to AYRES AND DIALOGUES [by Thomas Stanley Esq.] +set by John Gamble, 1656. The verses themselves have little merit; +and the only object which I had in introducing them, was to add +to the completeness of the present edition:-- + + TO MY MUCH HONORED COZEN, MR. STANLEY, + UPON HIS POEMS SET BY MR. JOHN GAMBLE. + + I. + Enough, enough of orbs and spheres, + Reach me a trumpet or a drum, + To sound sharp synnets in your ears, + And beat a deep encomium. + + II. + I know not th' Eight Intelligence: + Those that do understand it, pray + Let them step hither, and from thence + Speak what they all do sing or say: + + III. + Nor what your diapasons are, + Your sympathies and symphonies; + To me they seem as distant farre + As whence they take their infant rise. + + IV. + But I've a grateful heart can ring + A peale of ordnance to your praise, + And volleys of small plaudits bring + To clowd a crown about your baies. + + V. + Though laurel is thought thunder free, + That storms and lightning disallows, + Yet Caesar thorough fire and sea + Snatches her to twist his conquering brows. + + VI. + And now me thinks like him you stand + I' th' head of all the Poets' hoast, + Whilest with your words you do command, + They silent do their duty boast. + + VII. + Which done, the army ecchoes o're, + Like Gamble Ios one and all, + And in their various notes implore, + Long live our noble Generall. + Dudley Posthumus Lovelace. + + + + DE DOMINO RICHARDO LOVELACIO, +ARMIGERO ET CHILIARCHA,<13.1> VIRO INCOMPARABILI. + +Ecce tibi, heroi claris natalibus orto;<13.2> + Cujus honoratos Cantia vidit avos. +Cujus adhuc memorat rediviva Batavia patrem, + Inter et Herculeos enumerare solet. +Qui tua Grollaferox, laceratus vulnere multo, + Fulmineis vidit moenia Pacta globis. +Et cum saeva tuas fudisset Iberia turmas, + Afflatu pyrii pulveris ictus obit. +Haec sint magna: tamen major majoribus hic est, + Nititur et pennis altius ire novis. +Sermonem patrium callentem et murmura Celtae, + Non piguit linguas edidicisse duas. +Quicquid Roma vetus, vel quicquid Graecia jactat, + Musarum nutrix alma Calena dedit. +Gnaviter Hesperios compressit Marte cachinnos, + Devictasque dedit Cantaber ipse manus. +Non evitavit validos Dunkerka lacertos, + Non intercludens alta Lacuna vias, +Et scribenda gerens vivaci marmore digna, + Scribere Caesareo more vel ipse potest. +Cui gladium Bellona dedit, calamumque Minerva, + Et geminae Laurus circuit umbra comam. +Cujus si faciem spectes vultusque decorem, + Vix puer Idalius gratior ore fuit. + +<13.1> Strictly speaking, the officer in command of a thousand men, +from the Greek <<chiliarches>>, or <<chiliarchos>>, but in the +present instance meaning nothing more than Colonel. + +<13.2> I have amended the text of these lines, which in the +original is very corrupt. I suppose that the compositor was +left to himself, as usual. + + + + AD EUNDEM. + +Herrico succede meo: dedit ille priora +Carmina, carminibus non meliora tuis.<14.1> + +<14.1> Herrick's HESPERIDES had appeared in 1648. + + + + <<PERI TOY AYTOY. + +Aoulakios pollaplasios philos estin emeio. + Tounoma esti philos, kai to noema philos. +Kai phylon antiphylo megaloisin agaklyton ergois: + Tes aretes cheiros kai phrenos anchinoos. +Hos neos en tytthais pinytos selidessin etheke + Poieton ekaston chromat epagromenos. +Phrouron Mousaon, pokinon essena Melisson, + En Charitessi charin, kai Meleessi meli.>> + Scripsit Jo. Harmarus, + Oxoniensis, C. W. M.<15.1> + +<15.1> A celebrated scholar and philologist. An account of him +will be found in Bliss's edition of Wood's ATHENAE. He published +an Elegy on St. Alban the Protomartyr and an Apology for Archbishop +Williams, and edited Scapula. These lines are omitted by Singer. + + + + POEMS. + + + + SONG. + SET BY MR. HENRY LAWES.<16.1> + TO LUCASTA. GOING BEYOND THE SEAS. + + I. + If to be absent were to be + Away from thee; + Or that when I am gone, + You or I were alone; +Then my LUCASTA might I crave +Pity from blustring winde or swallowing wave. + + II. + But I'le not sigh one blast or gale + To swell my saile, + Or pay a teare to swage + The foaming blew-gods rage; +For whether he will let me passe +Or no, I'm still as happy as I was. + + III. + Though seas and land betwixt us both, + Our faith and troth, + Like separated soules, + All time and space controules: +Above the highest sphere wee meet, +Unseene, unknowne, and greet as angels greet + + IV. + So then we doe anticipate + Our after-fate, + And are alive i'th' skies, + If thus our lips and eyes +Can speake like spirits unconfin'd +In Heav'n, their earthy bodies left behind. + +<16.1> Of Henry and William Lawes an account may be found in Burney +and Hawkins. Although the former (H. Lawes) set many of Lovelace's +pieces to music, only two occur in the AYRES AND DIALOGUES FOR ONE, +TWO, AND THREE VOYCES, 1653-55-8, folio. + + + + SONG. + SET BY MR. JOHN LANIERE. + TO LUCASTA. GOING TO THE WARRES. + + I. +Tell me not, (sweet,) I am unkinde, + That from the nunnerie +Of thy chaste breast and quiet minde + To warre and armes I flie. + + II. +True: a new Mistresse now I chase, + The first foe in the field; +And with a stronger faith imbrace + A sword, a horse, a shield. + + III. +Yet this inconstancy is such, + As you too shall adore; +I could not love thee, dear, so much, + Lov'd I not Honour more. + + + + A PARADOX. + + I. +Tis true the beauteous Starre<17.1> + To which I first did bow +Burnt quicker, brighter far, + Than that which leads me now; + Which shines with more delight, + For gazing on that light + So long, neere lost my sight. + + II. +Through foul we follow faire, + For had the world one face, +And earth been bright as ayre, + We had knowne neither place. + Indians smell not their neast; + A Swisse or Finne tastes best + The spices of the East.<17.2> + + III. +So from the glorious Sunne + Who to his height hath got, +With what delight we runne + To some black cave or grot! + And, heav'nly Sydney you + Twice read, had rather view + Some odde romance so new. + + IV. +The god, that constant keepes + Unto his deities, +Is poore in joyes, and sleepes + Imprison'd in the skies. + This knew the wisest, who + From Juno stole, below + To love a bear or cow. + +<17.1> i.e. LUCASTA. + +<17.2> The East was celebrated by all our early poets as the land +of spices and rich gums:-- + + "For now the fragrant East, + The spicery o' th' world, + Hath hurl'd + A rosie tincture o'er the Phoenix nest." + OTIA SACRA, by Mildmay, Earl of Westmoreland, 1648, p. 37. + + + + SONG. + SET BY MR. HENRY LAWES. + TO AMARANTHA;<18.1> THAT SHE WOULD DISHEVELL HER HAIRE. + + I. + Amarantha sweet and faire, +Ah brade<18.2> no more that shining haire! + As my curious hand or eye, +Hovering round thee, let it flye. + + II. + Let it flye as unconfin'd +As it's calme ravisher, the winde, + Who hath left his darling, th' East, +To wanton o're that<18.3> spicie neast. + + III. + Ev'ry tresse must be confest: +But neatly tangled at the best; + Like a clue of golden thread, +Most excellently ravelled. + + IV. + Doe not then winde up that light +In ribands, and o'er-cloud in night, + Like the sun in's early ray; +But shake your head, and scatter day. + + V. + See, 'tis broke! within this grove, +The bower and the walkes of love, + Weary lye we downe and rest, +And fanne each other's panting breast. + + VI. + Heere wee'll strippe and coole our fire, +In creame below, in milk-baths<18.4> higher: + And when all wells are drawne dry, +I'll drink a teare out of thine eye. + + VII. + Which our very joys shall leave, +That sorrowes thus we can deceive; + Or our very sorrowes weepe, +That joyes so ripe so little keepe. + +<18.1> A portion of this song is printed, with a few orthographical +variations, in the AYRES AND DIALOGUES, part i. 1653; and it is +also found in Cotgrave's WITS INTERPRETER, 1655, where it is called +"Amarantha counselled." Cotgrave used the text of Lawes, and only +gives that part of the production which he found in AYRES AND +DIALOGUES. + +<18.2> Forbear to brade--Lawes' AYRES AND DIALOGUES, and Cotgrave. + +<18.3> This--Lawes' AYRES AND DIALOGUES. Cotgrave reads HIS. + +<18.4> Milk-baths have been a favourite luxury in all ages. +Peele had probably in his mind the custom of his own time and +country when he wrote the following passage:-- + + "Bright Bethsabe shall wash in David's bower, + In water mix'd with purest almond flower, + And bathe her beauty in the milk of kids." + KING DAVID AND FAIR BETHSABE, 1599. + + + + SONNET. + SET BY MR. HUDSON. + + I. +Depose your finger of that ring, + And crowne mine with't awhile; +Now I restor't. Pray, dos it bring + Back with it more of soile? +Or shines it not as innocent, +As honest, as before 'twas lent? + + II. +So then inrich me with that treasure, + 'Twill but increase your store, +And please me (faire one) with that pleasure + Must please you still the more. +Not to save others is a curse +The blackest, when y'are ne're the worse. + + + + ODE. + SET BY DR. JOHN WILSON.<19.1> + TO LUCASTA. THE ROSE. + + I. +Sweet serene skye-like flower, +Haste to adorn her bower; + From thy long clowdy bed + Shoot forth thy damaske<19.2> head. + + II. +New-startled blush of FLORA! +The griefe of pale AURORA, + Who will contest no more, + Haste, haste, to strowe her floore. + + III. +Vermilion ball, that's given +From lip to lip in Heaven; + Loves couches cover-led, + Haste, haste, to make her bed. + + IV. +Dear offspring of pleas'd VENUS, +And jollie plumpe SILENUS; + Haste, haste, to decke the haire, + Of th' only sweetly faire. + + V. +See! rosie is her bower, +Her floore is all this flower; + Her bed a rosie nest + By a bed of roses prest. + + VI. +But early as she dresses, +Why fly you her bright tresses? + Ah! I have found, I feare; + Because her cheekes are neere. + +<19.1> Dr. John Wilson was a native of Feversham in Kent, +a gentleman of Charles the First's chapel, and chamber-musician +to his majesty. For an account of his works, +see Burney's HISTORY OF MUSIC, vol. iii. pp. 399-400, +or Hawkins' HISTORY OF MUSIC, iii. 57, where a portrait +of Wilson, taken from the original painting, will be found. +Wood, author of the FASTI and ATHENAE, says that he was +in his time, "the best at the lute in all England." Herrick, +in his HESPERIDES, 1648, has these lines in reference to +Henry Lawes:-- + + "Then if thy voice commingle with the string, + I hear in thee the rare Laniere to sing, + OR CURIOUS WILSON." + +<19.2> In a MS. copy of the poem contemporary with the author, +now before me, this word is omitted. + + + + LOVE CONQUER'D. + A SONG. + SET BY MR. HENRY LAWES. + + I. +The childish god of love did sweare + Thus: By my awfull bow and quiver, +Yon' weeping, kissing, smiling pair, +I'le scatter all their vowes i' th' ayr, + And their knit imbraces shiver. + + II. +Up then to th' head with his best art + Full of spite and envy blowne, +At her constant marble heart, +He drawes his swiftest surest dart, + Which bounded back, and hit his owne. + + III. +Now the prince of fires burnes; + Flames in the luster of her eyes; +Triumphant she, refuses, scornes; +He submits, adores and mournes, + And is his votresse sacrifice. + + IV. +Foolish boy! resolve me now + What 'tis to sigh and not be heard? +He weeping kneel'd, and made a vow: +The world shall love as yon' fast two; + So on his sing'd wings up he steer'd. + + + + A LOOSE SARABAND. + SET BY MR. HENRY LAWES. + + I. +Ah me! the little tyrant theefe! + As once my heart was playing, +He snatcht it up and flew away, + Laughing at all my praying. + + II. +Proud of his purchase,<20.1> he surveys + And curiously sounds it, +And though he sees it full of wounds, + Cruel one, still<20.2> he wounds it. + + III. +And now this heart is all his sport, + Which as a ball he boundeth +From hand to breast, from breast to lip, + And all its<20.3> rest confoundeth. + + IV. +Then as a top he sets it up, + And pitifully whips it; +Sometimes he cloathes it gay and fine, + Then straight againe he strips it. + + V. +He cover'd it with false reliefe,<20.4> + Which gloriously show'd it; +And for a morning-cushionet + On's mother he bestow'd it. + + VI. +Each day, with her small brazen stings, + A thousand times she rac'd it; +But then at night, bright with her gemmes, + Once neere her breast she plac'd it. + + VII. +There warme it gan to throb and bleed; + She knew that smart, and grieved; +At length this poore condemned heart + With these rich drugges repreeved. + + VIII. +She washt the wound with a fresh teare, + Which my LUCASTA dropped, +And in the sleave<20.5>-silke of her haire + 'Twas hard bound up and wrapped. + + IX. +She proab'd it with her constancie, + And found no rancor nigh it; +Only the anger of her eye + Had wrought some proud flesh by it. + + X. +Then prest she narde in ev'ry veine, + Which from her kisses trilled; +And with the balme heald all its paine, + That from her hand distilled. + + XI. +But yet this heart avoyds me still, + Will not by me be owned; +But's fled to its physitian's breast; + There proudly sits inthroned. + +<20.1> Prize. It is not uncommonly used by the early dramatists +in this sense; but the verb TO PURCHASE is more usually found than +the noun. + + "Yet having opportunity, he tries, + Gets her goodwill, and with his purchase flies." + Wither's ABUSES STRIPT AND WHIPT, 1613. + +<20.2> Here I have hazarded an emendation of the text. In original +we read, CRUELL STILL ON. Lovelace's poems were evidently printed +without the slightest care. + +<20.3> Original reads IT'S. + +<20.4> Original has BELIEFE. + +<<20.5>> Soft, like floss. + + + + ORPHEUS TO WOODS. + SONG. + SET BY MR. CURTES. + +Heark! Oh heark! you guilty trees, +In whose gloomy galleries +Was the cruell'st murder done, +That e're yet eclipst the sunne. +Be then henceforth in your twigges +Blasted, e're you sprout to sprigges; +Feele no season of the yeere, +But what shaves off all your haire, +Nor carve any from your wombes +Ought but coffins and their tombes. + + + + ORPHEUS<21.1> TO BEASTS. + SONG. + SET BY MR. CURTES.<21.2> + + I. +Here, here, oh here! EURIDICE, + Here was she slaine; +Her soule 'still'd through a veine: + The gods knew lesse +That time divinitie, + Then ev'n, ev'n these + Of brutishnesse. + + II. +Oh! could you view the melodie + Of ev'ry grace, +And musick of her face,<21.3> + You'd drop a teare, +Seeing more harmonie + In her bright eye, + Then now you heare. + +<21.1> By Orpheus we may perhaps understand Lovelace himself, +and by Euridice, the lady whom he celebrates under the name +of Lucasta. Grainger mentions (BIOG. HIST. ii. 74) a portrait +of Lovelace by Gaywood, in which he is represented as Orpheus. +I have not seen it. The old poets were rather fond of likening +themselves to this legendary personage, or of designating +themselves his poetical children:-- + + "We that are ORPHEUS' sons, and can inherit + By that great title"-- + Davenant's WORKS, 1673, p. 215. + +Many other examples might be given. Massinger, in his CITY MADAM, +1658, makes Sir John Frugal introduce a representation of the story +of the Thracian bard at an entertainment given to Luke Frugal. + +<21.2> A lutenist. Wood says that after the Restoration he became +gentleman or singing-man of Christ Church, Oxford. He was one of +those musicians who, after the abolition of organs, &c. during the +civil war, met at a private house at Oxford for the purpose of +taking his part in musical entertainments. + +<21.3> "Such was Zuleika; such around her shone + The nameless charms unmark'd by her alone; + The light of love, the purity of grace, + The mind, the music breathing from her face." + Byron's BRIDE OF ABYDOS, canto 1. + (WORKS, ed. 1825, ii. 299.) + + + + DIALOGUE. + LUCASTA, ALEXIS.<22.1> + SET BY MR. JOHN GAMBLE.<22.2> + + I. + Lucasta. + TELL me, ALEXIS, what this parting is, + That so like dying is, but is not it? + + Alexis. + It is a swounding for a while from blisse, + 'Till kind HOW DOE YOU call's us from the fit. + + Chorus. + If then the spirits only stray, let mine + Fly to thy bosome, and my soule to thine: + Thus in our native seate we gladly give + Our right for one, where we can better live. + + II. +Lu. But ah, this ling'ring, murdring farewel! + Death quickly wounds, and wounding cures the ill. +Alex. It is the glory of a valiant lover, + Still to be dying, still for to recover. + +Cho. Soldiers suspected of their courage goe, + That ensignes and their breasts untorne show: + Love nee're his standard, when his hoste he sets, + Creates alone fresh-bleeding bannerets. + + III. +Alex. But part we, when thy figure I retaine + Still in my heart, still strongly in mine eye? +Lu. Shadowes no longer than the sun remaine, + But <whee> his beams, that made 'em, fly, they fly. +Cho. Vaine dreames of love! that only so much blisse + Allow us, as to know our wretchednesse; + And deale a larger measure in our paine + By showing joy, then hiding it againe. + + IV. +Alex. No, whilst light raigns, LUCASTA still rules here, + And all the night shines wholy in this sphere. +Lu. I know no morne but my ALEXIS ray, + To my dark thoughts the breaking of the day. + + Chorus. +Alex. So in each other if the pitying sun + Thus keep us fixt, nere may his course be run! +Lu. And oh! if night us undivided make; + Let us sleepe still, and sleeping never wake! + + The close. + Cruel ADIEUS may well adjourne awhile + The sessions of a looke, a kisse, or smile, + And leave behinde an angry grieving blush; + But time nor fate can part us joyned thus. + +<22.1> i.e. the poet himself. + +<22.2> "John Gamble, apprentice to Ambrose Beyland, a noted +musician, was afterwards musician at one of the playhouses; +from thence removed to be a cornet in the King's Chapel. +After that he became one in Charles the Second's band of violins, +and composed for the theatres. He published AYRES AND DIALOGUES +TO THE THEORBO AND BASS VIOL, fol. Lond., 1659."--Hawkins. + + + + SONNET. + SET BY MR. WILLIAM LAWES. + + I. +When I by thy faire shape did sweare, +And mingled with each vowe a teare, + I lov'd, I lov'd thee best, + I swore as I profest. +For all the while you lasted warme and pure, + My oathes too did endure. +But once turn'd faithlesse to thy selfe and old, +They then with thee incessantly<23.1> grew cold. + + II. +I swore my selfe thy sacrifice +By th' ebon bowes<23.2> that guard thine eyes, + Which now are alter'd white, + And by the glorious light +Of both those stars, which of<23.3> their spheres bereft, + Only the gellie's left. +Then changed thus, no more I'm bound to you, +Then swearing to a saint that proves untrue. + +<23.1> i.e. at once, immediately. + +<23.2> Her eyebrows. + +<23.3> Original reads OF WHICH. + + + + LUCASTA WEEPING. + SONG. + SET BY MR. JOHN LANEERE. + + I. +Lucasta wept, and still the bright + Inamour'd god of day, +With his soft handkercher of light, + Kist the wet pearles away. + + II. +But when her teares his heate or'ecame, + In cloudes he quensht his beames, +And griev'd, wept out his eye of flame, + So drowned her sad streames. + + III.<24.1> +At this she smiled, when straight the sun + Cleer'd by her kinde desires; +And by her eyes reflexion + Fast kindl'd there his fires. + +<24.1> This stanza is not found in the printed copy of LUCASTA, +1649, but it occurs in a MS. of this poem written, with many +compositions by Lovelace and other poets, in a copy of Crashaw's +POEMS, 1648, 12mo, a portion of which having been formed of the +printer's proof-sheets, some of the pages are printed only on one +side, the reverse being covered with MSS. poems, among the rest +with epigrams by MR. THOMAS FULLER (about fifty in number). There +can be little doubt, from the character of the majority of these +little poems, that by "Mr. Thomas Fuller" we may understand the +church-historian. + + + + TO LUCASTA. FROM PRISON + AN EPODE.<25.1> + + I. +Long in thy shackels, liberty +I ask not from these walls, but thee; +Left for awhile anothers bride, +To fancy all the world beside. + + II. +Yet e're I doe begin to love, +See, how I all my objects prove; +Then my free soule to that confine, +'Twere possible I might call mine. + + III. +First I would be in love with PEACE, +And her rich swelling breasts increase; +But how, alas! how may that be, +Despising earth, she will love me? + + IV. +Faine would I be in love with WAR, +As my deare just avenging star; +But War is lov'd so ev'rywhere, +Ev'n he disdaines a lodging here. + + V. +Thee and thy wounds I would bemoane, +Faire thorough-shot RELIGION; +But he lives only that kills thee, +And who so bindes thy hands, is free. + + VI. +I would love a PARLIAMENT +As a maine prop from Heav'n sent; +But ah! who's he, that would be wedded +To th' fairest body that's beheaded? + + VII. +Next would I court my LIBERTY, +And then my birth-right, PROPERTY; +But can that be, when it is knowne, +There's nothing you can call your owne? + + VIII. +A REFORMATION I would have, +As for our griefes a SOV'RAIGNE salve; +That is, a cleansing of each wheele +Of state, that yet some rust doth feele. + + IX. +But not a reformation so, +As to reforme were to ore'throw, +Like watches by unskilfull men +Disjoynted, and set ill againe. + + X. +The PUBLICK FAITH<25.2> I would adore, +But she is banke-rupt of her store: +Nor how to trust her can I see, +For she that couzens all, must me. + + XI. +Since then none of these can be +Fit objects for my love and me; +What then remaines, but th' only spring +Of all our loves and joyes, the King? + + XII. +He who, being the whole ball +Of day on earth, lends it to all; +When seeking to ecclipse his right, +Blinded we stand in our owne light. + + XIII. +And now an universall mist +Of error is spread or'e each breast, +With such a fury edg'd as is +Not found in th' inwards of th' abysse. + + XIV. +Oh, from thy glorious starry waine +Dispense on me one sacred beame, +To light me where I soone may see +How to serve you, and you trust me! + +<25.1> This was written, perhaps, during the poet's confinement +in Peterhouse, to which he was committed a prisoner on his return +from abroad in 1648. At the date of its composition, there can be +little doubt, from expressions in stanzas vi. and xii. that the +fortunes of Charles I. were at their lowest ebb, and it may be +assigned without much risk of error to the end of 1648. + +<25.2> "The publick faith? why 'tis a word of kin, + A nephew that dares COZEN any sin; + A term of art, great BEHOMOTH'S younger brother, + Old MACHAVIEL and half a thousand other; + Which, when subscrib'd, writes LEGION, names on truss, + ABADDON, BELZEBUB, and INCUBUS." + Cleaveland's POEMS, ed. 1669, p. 91. + + + + LUCASTA'S FANNE, WITH A LOOKING-GLASSE IN IT.<26.1> + + I. +Eastrich!<26.2> thou featherd foole, and easie prey, + That larger sailes to thy broad vessell needst; +Snakes through thy guttur-neck hisse all the day, + Then on thy iron messe at supper feedst.<26.3> + + II. +O what a glorious transmigration + From this to so divine an edifice +Hast thou straight made! heere<26.4> from a winged stone + Transform'd into a bird of paradice! + + III. +Now doe thy plumes for hiew and luster vie + With th' arch of heav'n that triumphs or'e past wet, +And in a rich enamel'd pinion lye + With saphyres, amethists and opalls set. + + IV. +Sometime they wing her side,<26.5> <thee> strive to drown + The day's eyes piercing beames, whose am'rous heat +Sollicites still, 'till with this shield of downe + From her brave face his glowing fires are beat. + + V. +But whilst a plumy curtaine she doth draw, + A chrystall mirror sparkles in thy breast, +In which her fresh aspect when as she saw, + And then her foe<26.6> retired to the west. + + VI. +Deare engine, that oth' sun got'st me the day, + 'Spite of his hot assaults mad'st him retreat! +No wind (said she) dare with thee henceforth play + But mine own breath to coole the tyrants heat. + + VII. +My lively shade thou ever shalt retaine + In thy inclosed feather-framed glasse, +And but unto our selves to all remaine + Invisible, thou feature of this face! + + VIII. +So said, her sad swaine over-heard and cried: + Yee Gods! for faith unstaind this a reward! +Feathers and glasse t'outweigh my vertue tryed! + Ah! show their empty strength! the gods accord. + + IX. +Now fall'n the brittle favourite lyes and burst! + Amas'd LUCASTA weepes, repents and flies +To her ALEXIS, vowes her selfe acurst, + If hence she dresse her selfe but in his eyes. + +<26.1> This adaptation of the fan to the purposes of a mirror, +now so common, was, as we here are told, familiar to the ladies +of Lovelace's time. Mr. Fairholt, in his COSTUME IN ENGLAND, +1846, p. 496, describes many various forms which were given at +different periods to this article of use and ornament; but the +present passage in LUCASTA appears to have escaped his notice. + +<26.2> Ostrich. Lyly, in his EUPHUES, 1579, sig. c 4, +has ESTRIDGE. The fan here described was composed of +ostrich-feathers set with precious stones. + +<26.3> In allusion to the digestive powers of this bird. + +<26.4> Original reads NEERE. + +<26.5> The poet means that Lucasta, when she did not require +her fan for immediate use, wore it suspended at her side or +from her girdle. + +<26.6> The sun. + + + + LUCASTA, TAKING THE WATERS AT TUNBRIDGE.<27.1> + + I. +Yee happy floods! that now must passe + The sacred conduicts of her wombe, +Smooth and transparent as your face, + When you are deafe, and windes are dumbe. + + II. +Be proud! and if your waters be + Foul'd with a counterfeyted teare, +Or some false sigh hath stained yee, + Haste, and be purified there. + + III. +And when her rosie gates y'have trac'd, + Continue yet some Orient wet, +'Till, turn'd into a gemme, y'are plac'd + Like diamonds with rubies set. + + IV. +Yee drops, that dew th' Arabian bowers, + Tell me, did you e're smell or view +On any leafe of all your flowers + Soe sweet a sent, so rich a hiew? + + V. +But as through th' Organs of her breath + You trickle wantonly, beware: +Ambitious Seas in their just death + As well as Lovers, must have share. + + VI. +And see! you boyle as well as I; + You, that to coole her did aspire, +Now troubled and neglected lye, + Nor can your selves quench your owne fire. + + VII. +Yet still be happy in the thought, + That in so small a time as this, +Through all the Heavens you were brought + Of Vertue, Honour, Love and Blisse. + +<27.1> From this it might be conjectured, though the ground for +doing so would be very slight, that LUCASTA was a native of Kent +or of one of the adjoining shires; but against this supposition +we have to set the circumstance that elsewhere this lady is called +a "northern star." + + + + TO LUCASTA. + ODE LYRICK. + + I. +Ah LUCASTA, why so bright? +Spread with early streaked light! +If still vailed from our sight, +What is't but eternall night? + + II. +Ah LUCASTA, why so chaste? +With that vigour, ripenes grac't, +Not to be by Man imbrac't +Makes that Royall coyne imbace't, +And this golden Orchard waste! + + III. +Ah LUCASTA, why so great, +That thy crammed coffers sweat? +Yet not owner of a seat +May shelter you from Natures heat, +And your earthly joyes compleat. + + IV. +Ah Lucasta, why so good? +Blest with an unstained flood +Flowing both through soule and blood; +If it be not understood, +'Tis a Diamond in mud. + + V. +LUCASTA! stay! why dost thou flye? +Thou art not bright but to the eye, +Nor chaste but in the mariage-tye, +Nor great but in this treasurie, +Nor good but in that sanctitie. + + VI. +Harder then the Orient stone, +Like an apparition, +Or as a pale shadow gone, +Dumbe and deafe she hence is flowne. + + VII. +Then receive this equall dombe: +Virgins, strow no teare or bloome, +No one dig the Parian wombe; +Raise her marble heart i'th' roome, +And 'tis both her coarse and tombe. + + + + LUCASTA PAYING HER OBSEQUIES TO THE CHAST MEMORY + OF MY DEAREST COSIN MRS. BOWES BARNE[S].<28.1> + + I. +See! what an undisturbed teare + She weepes for her last sleepe; +But, viewing her, straight wak'd a Star, + She weepes that she did weepe. + + II. +Griefe ne're before did tyranize + On th' honour of that brow, +And at the wheeles of her brave eyes + Was captive led til now. + + III. +Thus, for a saints apostacy + The unimagin'd woes +And sorrowes of the Hierarchy + None but an angel knowes. + + IV. +Thus, for lost soules recovery + The clapping of all wings +And triumphs of this victory + None but an angel sings. + + V. +So none but she knows to bemone + This equal virgins fate, +None but LUCASTA can her crowne + Of glory celebrate. + + VI. +Then dart on me (CHAST LIGHT)<28.2> one ray, + By which I may discry +Thy joy cleare through this cloudy day + To dresse my sorrow by. + +<28.1> This lady was probably the wife of a descendant of +Sir William Barnes, of Woolwich, whose only daughter and heir, +Anne, married the poet's father, and brought him the seat in Kent. +See GENTS. MAGAZINE for 1791, part ii. 1095. + +<28.2> A translation of LUCASTA, or LUX CASTA, for the sake +of the metre. + + + + UPON THE CURTAINE OF LUCASTA'S PICTURE, + IT WAS THUS WROUGHT.<29.1> + +Oh, stay that covetous hand; first turn all eye, +All depth and minde; then mystically spye +Her soul's faire picture, her faire soul's, in all +So truely copied from th' originall, +That you will sweare her body by this law +Is but its shadow, as this, its;--now draw. + +<29.1> Pictures used formerly to have curtains before them. +It is still done in some old houses. In WESTWARD HOE, 1607, +act ii. scene 3, there is an allusion to this practice:-- + + "SIR GOSLING. So draw those curtains, and let's see the + pictures under 'em."--Webster's WORKS, ed. Hazlitt, i. 133. + + + + LUCASTA'S WORLD. + EPODE. + + I. +Cold as the breath of winds that blow +To silver shot descending snow, + Lucasta sigh't;<30.1> when she did close + The world in frosty chaines! + And then a frowne to rubies frose + The blood boyl'd in our veines: +Yet cooled not the heat her sphere +Of beauties first had kindled there. + + II. +Then mov'd, and with a suddaine flame +Impatient to melt all againe, + Straight from her eyes she lightning hurl'd, + And earth in ashes mournes; + The sun his blaze denies the world, + And in her luster burnes: +Yet warmed not the hearts, her nice +Disdaine had first congeal'd to ice. + + III. +And now her teares nor griev'd desire +Can quench this raging, pleasing fire; + Fate but one way allowes; behold + Her smiles' divinity! + They fann'd this heat, and thaw'd that cold, + So fram'd up a new sky. +Thus earth, from flames and ice repreev'd, +E're since hath in her sun-shine liv'd. + +<30.1> Original reads SIGHT. + + + + THE APOSTACY OF ONE, AND BUT ONE LADY. + + I. +That frantick errour I adore, + And am confirm'd the earth turns round; +Now satisfied o're and o're, + As rowling waves, so flowes the ground, +And as her neighbour reels the shore: + Finde such a woman says she loves; + She's that fixt heav'n, which never moves. + + II. +In marble, steele, or porphyrie, + Who carves or stampes his armes or face, +Lookes it by rust or storme must dye: + This womans love no time can raze, +Hardned like ice in the sun's eye, + Or your reflection in a glasse, + Which keepes possession, though you passe. + + III. +We not behold a watches hand + To stir, nor plants or flowers to grow; +Must we infer that this doth stand, + And therefore, that those do not blow? +This she acts calmer, like Heav'ns brand, + The stedfast lightning, slow loves dart, + She kils, but ere we feele the smart. + + IV. +Oh, she is constant as the winde, + That revels in an ev'nings aire! +Certaine as wayes unto the blinde, + More reall then her flatt'ries are; +Gentle as chaines that honour binde, + More faithfull then an Hebrew Jew, + But as the divel not halfe so true. + + + + AMYNTOR<31.1> FROM BEYOND THE SEA TO ALEXIS.<31.2> + + A DIALOGUE. + + Amyntor. + Alexis! ah Alexis! can it be, + Though so much wet and drie + Doth drowne our eye, + Thou keep'st thy winged voice from me? + + Alexis. + Amyntor, a profounder sea, I feare, + Hath swallow'd me, where now + My armes do row, + I floate i'th' ocean of a teare. + + Lucasta weepes, lest I look back and tread + Your Watry land againe. +Amyn. I'd through the raine; + Such showrs are quickly over-spread. + + Conceive how joy, after this short divorce, + Will circle her with beames, + When, like your streames, + You shall rowle back with kinder force, + + And call the helping winds to vent your thought. +Alex. Amyntor! Chloris! where + Or in what sphere + Say, may that glorious fair be sought? + +Amyn. She's now the center of these armes e're blest, + Whence may she never move, + Till Time and Love + Haste to their everlasting rest. + +Alex. Ah subtile swaine! doth not my flame rise high + As yours, and burne as hot? + Am not I shot + With the selfe same artillery? + + And can I breath without her air?--Amyn. + Why, then, + From thy tempestuous earth, + Where blood and dearth + Raigne 'stead of kings, agen + + Wafte thy selfe over, and lest storms from far + Arise, bring in our sight + The seas delight, + Lucasta, that bright northerne star. + +Alex. But as we cut the rugged deepe, I feare + The green god stops his fell + Chariot of shell, + And smooths the maine to ravish her. + +Amyn. Oh no, the prince of waters' fires are done; + He as his empire's old, + And rivers, cold; + His queen now runs abed to th' sun; + + But all his treasure he shall ope' that day: + Tritons shall sound: his fleete + In silver meete, + And to her their rich offrings pay. + +Alex. We flye, Amyntor, not amaz'd how sent + By water, earth, or aire: + Or if with her + By fire: ev'n there + I move in mine owne element. + +<31.1> Endymion Porter? + +<31.2> Lovelace himself. + + + + CALLING LUCASTA FROM HER RETIREMENT. + ODE. + + I. +From the dire monument of thy black roome, +Wher now that vestal flame thou dost intombe, +As in the inmost cell of all earths wombe. + + II. +Sacred Lucasta, like the pow'rfull ray +Of heavenly truth, passe this Cimmerian way, +Whilst all the standards of your beames display. + + III. +Arise and climbe our whitest, highest hill; +There your sad thoughts with joy and wonder fill, +And see seas calme<32.1> as earth, earth as your will. + + IV. +Behold! how lightning like a taper flyes, +And guilds your chari't, but ashamed dyes, +Seeing it selfe out-gloried by your eyes. + + V. +Threatning and boystrous tempests gently bow, +And to your steps part in soft paths, when now +There no where hangs a cloud, but on your brow. + + VI. +No showrs but 'twixt your lids, nor gelid snow, +But what your whiter, chaster brest doth ow,<32.2> +Whilst winds in chains colder for<32.3> sorrow blow. + + VII. +Shrill trumpets doe only sound to eate, +Artillery hath loaden ev'ry dish with meate, +And drums at ev'ry health alarmes beate. + + VIII. +All things Lucasta, but Lucasta, call, +Trees borrow tongues, waters in accents fall, +The aire doth sing, and fire is<32.4> musicall. + + IX. +Awake from the dead vault in which you dwell, +All's loyall here, except your thoughts rebell +Which, so let loose, often their gen'rall quell. + + X. +See! she obeys! By all obeyed thus, +No storms, heats, colds, no soules contentious, +Nor civill war is found; I meane, to us. + + XI. +Lovers and angels, though in heav'n they show, +And see the woes and discords here below, +What they not feele, must not be said to know. + +<32.1> Original has COLME. + +<32.2> i.e. own. + +<32.3> Original reads YOUR. + +<32.4> Original has FIRE'S, but FIRE IS is required by the metre, +and it is probably what the poet wrote. + + + + AMARANTHA. + A PASTORALL.<33.1> + + Up with the jolly bird of light +Who sounds his third retreat to night; +Faire Amarantha from her bed +Ashamed starts, and rises red +As the carnation-mantled morne, +Who now the blushing robe doth spurne, +And puts on angry gray, whilst she, +The envy of a deity, +Arayes her limbes, too rich indeed +To be inshrin'd in such a weed; +Yet lovely 'twas and strait, but fit; +Not made for her, but she to it: +By nature it sate close and free, +As the just bark unto the tree: +Unlike Love's martyrs of the towne, +All day imprison'd in a gown, +Who, rackt in silke 'stead of a dresse, +Are cloathed in a frame or presse, +And with that liberty and room, +The dead expatiate in a tombe. + No cabinets with curious washes, +Bladders and perfumed plashes; +No venome-temper'd water's here, +Mercury is banished this sphere: +Her payle's all this, in which wet glasse +She both doth cleanse and view her face. + Far hence, all Iberian smells, +Hot amulets, Pomander spells, +Fragrant gales, cool ay'r, the fresh +And naturall odour of her flesh, +Proclaim her sweet from th' wombe as morne. +Those colour'd things were made, not borne. +Which, fixt within their narrow straits, +Do looke like their own counterfeyts. +So like the Provance rose she walkt, +Flowerd with blush, with verdure stalkt; +Th' officious wind her loose hayre curles, +The dewe her happy linnen purles, +But wets a tresse, which instantly +Sol with a crisping beame doth dry. + Into the garden is she come, +Love and delight's Elisium; +If ever earth show'd all her store, +View her discolourd budding floore; +Here her glad eye she largely feedes, +And stands 'mongst them, as they 'mong weeds; +The flowers in their best aray +As to their queen their tribute pay, +And freely to her lap proscribe +A daughter out of ev'ry tribe. +Thus as she moves, they all bequeath +At once the incense of their breath. + The noble Heliotropian +Now turnes to her, and knowes no sun. + And as her glorious face doth vary, +So opens loyall golden Mary<33.2> +Who, if but glanced from her sight, +Straight shuts again, as it were night. +The violet (else lost ith' heap) +Doth spread fresh purple for each step, +With whose humility possest, +Sh' inthrones the Poore Girle<33.3> in her breast: +The July-flow'r<33.4> that hereto thriv'd, +Knowing her self no longer-liv'd, +But for one look of her upheaves, +Then 'stead of teares straight sheds her leaves. + Now the rich robed Tulip who, +Clad all in tissue close, doth woe +Her (sweet to th' eye but smelling sower), +She gathers to adorn her bower. + But the proud Hony-suckle spreads +Like a pavilion her heads, +Contemnes the wanting commonalty, +That but to two ends usefull be, +And to her lips thus aptly plac't, +With smell and hue presents her tast. + So all their due obedience pay, +Each thronging to be in her way: +Faire Amarantha with her eye +Thanks those that live, which else would dye: +The rest, in silken fetters bound, +By crowning her are crown and crown'd.<33.5> + And now the sun doth higher rise, +Our Flora to the meadow hies: +The poore distressed heifers low, +And as sh' approacheth gently bow, +Begging her charitable leasure +To strip them of their milkie treasure. + Out of the yeomanry oth' heard, +With grave aspect, and feet prepar'd, +A rev'rend lady-cow drawes neare, +Bids Amarantha welcome here; +And from her privy purse lets fall +A pearle or two, which seeme[s] to call +This adorn'd adored fayry +To the banquet of her dayry. + Soft Amarantha weeps to see +'Mongst men such inhumanitie, +That those, who do receive in hay, +And pay in silver<33.6> twice a day, +Should by their cruell barb'rous theft +Be both of that and life bereft. + But 'tis decreed, when ere this dies, +That she shall fall a sacrifice +Unto the gods, since those, that trace +Her stemme, show 'tis a god-like race, +Descending in an even line +From heifers and from steeres divine, +Making the honour'd extract full +In Io and Europa's bull. +She was the largest goodliest beast, +That ever mead or altar blest; +Round [w]as her udder, and more white +Then is the Milkie Way in night; +Her full broad eye did sparkle fire; +Her breath was sweet as kind desire, +And in her beauteous crescent shone, +Bright as the argent-horned moone. + But see! this whiteness is obscure, +Cynthia spotted, she impure; +Her body writheld,<33.7> and her eyes +Departing lights at obsequies: +Her lowing hot to the fresh gale, +Her breath perfumes the field withall; +To those two suns that ever shine, +To those plump parts she doth inshrine, +To th' hovering snow of either hand, +That love and cruelty command. + After the breakfast on her teat, +She takes her leave oth' mournfull neat +Who, by her toucht, now prizeth her<33.8> life, +Worthy alone the hollowed knife. + Into the neighbring wood she's gone, +Whose roofe defies the tell-tale Sunne, +And locks out ev'ry prying beame; +Close by the lips of a cleare streame, +She sits and entertaines her eye +With the moist chrystall and the frye<33.9> +With burnisht-silver mal'd, whose oares<33.10> +Amazed still make to the shoares; +What need she other bait or charm, +What hook<33.11> or angle, but her arm? +The happy captive, gladly ta'n, +Sues ever to be slave in vaine, +Who instantly (confirm'd in's feares) +Hasts to his element of teares. + From hence her various windings roave +To a well-orderd stately grove; +This is the pallace of the wood +And court oth' Royall Oake, where stood +The whole nobility: the Pine, +Strait Ash, tall Firre, and wanton Vine; +The proper Cedar, and the rest. +Here she her deeper senses blest; +Admires great Nature in this pile, +Floor'd with greene-velvet Camomile, +Garnisht with gems of unset fruit, +Supply'd still with a self recruit; +Her bosom wrought with pretty eyes +Of never-planted Strawberries; +Where th' winged musick of the ayre +Do richly feast, and for their fare, +Each evening in a silent shade, +Bestow a gratefull serenade. + Thus ev'n tyerd with delight, +Sated in soul and appetite; +Full of the purple Plumme and Peare, +The golden Apple, with the faire +Grape that mirth fain would have taught her, +And nuts, which squirrells cracking brought her; +She softly layes her weary limbs, +Whilst gentle slumber now beginnes +To draw the curtaines of her eye; +When straight awakend with a crie +And bitter groan, again reposes, +Again a deep sigh interposes. +And now she heares a trembling voyce: +Ah! can there ought on earth rejoyce! +Why weares she this gay livery, +Not black as her dark entrails be? +Can trees be green, and to the ay'r +Thus prostitute their flowing hayr? +Why do they sprout, not witherd dy? +Must each thing live, save wretched I? +Can dayes triumph in blew and red, +When both their light and life is fled? +Fly Joy on wings of Popinjayes +To courts of fools, where<33.12> as your playes +Dye laught at and forgot; whilst all +That's good mourns at this funerall. +Weep, all ye Graces, and you sweet +Quire, that at the hill inspir'd meet: +Love, put thy tapers out, that we +And th' world may seem as blind as thee; +And be, since she is lost (ah wound!) +Not Heav'n it self by any found. + Now as a prisoner new cast,<33.13> +Who sleepes in chaines that night, his last, +Next morn is wak't with a repreeve, +And from his trance, not dream bid live, +Wonders (his sence not having scope) +Who speaks, his friend or his false hope. + So Amarantha heard, but feare +Dares not yet trust her tempting care; +And as againe her arms oth' ground +Spread pillows for her head, a sound +More dismall makes a swift divorce, +And starts her thus:----Rage, rapine, force! +Ye blew-flam'd daughters oth' abysse, +Bring all your snakes, here let them hisse; +Let not a leaf its freshnesse keep; +Blast all their roots, and as you creepe, +And leave behind your deadly slime, +Poyson the budding branch in's prime: +Wast the proud bowers of this grove, +That fiends may dwell in it, and move +As in their proper hell, whilst she +Above laments this tragedy: +Yet pities not our fate; oh faire +Vow-breaker, now betroth'd to th' ay'r! +Why by those lawes did we not die, +As live but one, Lucasta! why---- +As he Lucasta nam'd, a groan +Strangles the fainting passing tone; +But as she heard, Lucasta smiles, +Posses<33.14> her round; she's slipt mean whiles +Behind the blind of a thick bush, +When, each word temp'ring with a blush, +She gently thus bespake; Sad swaine, +If mates in woe do ease our pain, +Here's one full of that antick grief, +Which stifled would for ever live, +But told, expires; pray then, reveale +(To show our wound is half to heale), +What mortall nymph or deity +Bewail you thus? Who ere you be, +The shepheard sigh't,<33.15> my woes I crave +Smotherd in me, me<33.16> in my grave; +Yet be in show or truth a saint, +Or fiend, breath anthemes, heare my plaint, +For her and thy breath's symphony, +Which now makes full the harmony +Above, and to whose voice the spheres +Listen, and call her musick theirs; +This was I blest on earth with, so +As Druids amorous did grow, +Jealous of both: for as one day +This star, as yet but set in clay, +By an imbracing river lay, +They steept her in the hollowed brooke, +Which from her humane nature tooke, +And straight to heaven with winged feare,<33.17> +Thus, ravisht with her, ravish her. + The nymph reply'd: This holy rape +Became the gods, whose obscure shape +They cloth'd with light, whilst ill you grieve +Your better life should ever live, +And weep that she, to whom you wish +What heav'n could give, has all its blisse. +Calling her angell here, yet be +Sad at this true divinity: +She's for the altar, not the skies, +Whom first you crowne, then sacrifice. + Fond man thus to a precipice +Aspires, till at the top his eyes +Have lost the safety of the plain, +Then begs of Fate the vales againe. + The now confounded shepheard cries: +Ye all-confounding destines! +How did you make that voice so sweet +Without that glorious form to it? +Thou sacred spirit of my deare, +Where e're thou hoverst o're us, hear! +Imbark thee in the lawrell tree, +And a new Phebus follows thee, +Who, 'stead of all his burning rayes, +Will strive to catch thee with his layes; +Or, if within the Orient Vine, +Thou art both deity and wine; +But if thou takest the mirtle grove, +That Paphos is, thou, Queene of Love, +And I, thy swain who (else) must die, +By no beasts, but thy cruelty: +But you are rougher than the winde. +Are souls on earth then heav'n<33.18> more kind? +Imprisoned in mortality +Lucasta would have answered me. +Lucasta, Amarantha said, +Is she that virgin-star? a maid, +Except her prouder livery, +In beauty poore, and cheap as I; +Whose glory like a meteor shone, +Or aery apparition, +Admir'd a while, but slighted known. + Fierce, as the chafed lyon hies, +He rowses him, and to her flies, +Thinking to answer with his speare---- + Now, as in warre intestine where, +Ith' mist of a black battell, each +Layes at his next, then makes a breach +Through th' entrayles of another, whom +He sees nor knows whence he did come, +Guided alone by rage and th' drumme, +But stripping and impatient wild, +He finds too soon his onely child. + So our expiring desp'rate lover +Far'd when, amaz'd, he did discover +Lucasta in this nymph; his sinne +Darts the accursed javelin +'Gainst his own breast, which she puts by +With a soft lip and gentle eye, +Then closes with him on the ground +And now her smiles have heal'd his wound. +Alexis too again is found; +But not untill those heavy crimes +She hath kis'd off a thousand times, +Who not contented with this pain, +Doth threaten to offend again. + And now they gaze, and sigh, and weep, +Whilst each cheek doth the other's steep, +Whilst tongues, as exorcis'd, are calm; +Onely the rhet'rick of the palm +Prevailing pleads, untill at last +They[re] chain'd in one another fast. +Lucasta to him doth relate +Her various chance and diffring fate: +How chac'd by Hydraphil, and tract +The num'rous foe to Philanact, +Who whilst they for the same things fight, +As Bards decrees and Druids rite, +For safeguard of their proper joyes +And shepheards freedome, each destroyes +The glory of this Sicilie; +Since seeking thus the remedie, +They fancy (building on false ground) +The means must them and it confound, +Yet are resolved to stand or fall, +And win a little, or lose all. + From this sad storm of fire and blood +She fled to this yet living wood; +Where she 'mongst savage beasts doth find +Her self more safe then humane<33.19> kind. + Then she relates, how Caelia--<33.20> +The lady--here strippes her array, +And girdles her in home-spunne bayes +Then makes her conversant in layes +Of birds, and swaines more innocent, +That kenne not guile [n]or courtship ment. + Now walks she to her bow'r to dine +Under a shade of Eglantine, +Upon a dish of Natures cheere +Which both grew, drest and serv'd up there: +That done, she feasts her smell with po'ses +Pluckt from the damask cloath of Roses. +Which there continually doth stay, +And onely frost can take away; +Then wagers which hath most content +Her eye, eare, hand, her gust or sent. + Intranc't Alexis sees and heares, +As walking above all the spheres: +Knows and adores this, and is wilde,<33.21> +Untill with her he live thus milde.<33.22> +So that, which to his thoughts he meant +For losse of her a punishment, +His armes hung up and his sword broke, +His ensignes folded, he betook +Himself unto the humble crook. +And for a full reward of all, +She now doth him her shepheard call, +And in a see of flow'rs install: +Then gives her faith immediately, +Which he returns religiously; +Both vowing in her peacefull cave +To make their bridall-bed and grave. + But the true joy this pair conceiv'd, +Each from the other first bereav'd, +And then found, after such alarmes, +Fast-pinion'd in each other's armes, +Ye panting virgins, that do meet +Your loves within their winding sheet, +Breathing and constant still ev'n there; +Or souls their bodies in yon' sphere, +Or angels, men return'd from hell +And separated mindes--can tell. + +<33.1> The punctuation of this piece is in the original edition +singularly corrupt. I have found it necessary to amend it +throughout. + +<33.2> The marigold. + +<33.3> A flower so called. + +<33.4> More commonly known as THE GILLIFLOWER. + +<33.5> i.e. the lady gathers the flowers, and binds them in her +hair with a silken fillet, making of them a kind of chaplet +or crown. + +<33.6> i.e. silvery or white milk. + +<33.7> An uncommon word, signifying WRINKLED. Bishop Hall seems +to be, with the exception of Lovelace, almost the only writer who +used it. Compare, however, the following passage:-- + + "Like to a WRITHEL'D Carion I have seen + (Instead of fifty, write her down fifteen) + Wearing her bought complexion in a box, + And ev'ry morn her closet-face unlocks." + PLANTAGENET'S TRAGICALL STORY, by T. W. 1649, p. 105. + +<33.8> Original has PRIZE THEIR. + +<33.9> The fish with their silvery scales. + +<33.10> Fins. + +<33.11> Original reads BUT LOOK. + +<33.12> Original has THERE. + +<33.13> i.e. condemned. + +<33.14> This word does not appear to have any very exact meaning. +See Halliwell's DICTIONARY OF ARCHAIC WORDS, art. POSSE, and +Worcester's Dict. IBID, &c. The context here requires TO TURN +SHARPLY OR QUICKLY. + +<33.15> Original has SIGHT. + +<33.16> Original reads I. The meaning seems to be, "I crave +that my woes may be smothered in me, and I may be smothered +in my grave." + +<33.17> Reverence. + +<33.18> i.e. in heaven. + +<33.19> i.e. than among human kind. + +<33.20> It may be presumed that LUCASTA had adopted the name +of CAELIA during her sylvan retreat. + +<33.21> Impatient. + +<33.22> Tranquil or secluded. + + + + TO ELLINDA, THAT LATELY I HAVE NOT WRITTEN. + + I. +If in me anger, or disdaine +In you, or both, made me refraine +From th' noble intercourse of verse, +That only vertuous thoughts rehearse; + Then, chaste Ellinda, might you feare + The sacred vowes that I did sweare. + + II. +But if alone some pious thought +Me to an inward sadnesse brought, +Thinking to breath your soule too welle, +My tongue was charmed with that spell; + And left it (since there was no roome + To voyce your worth enough) strooke dumbe. + + III. +So then this silence doth reveal +No thought of negligence, but zeal: +For, as in adoration, +This is love's true devotion; + Children and fools the words repeat, + But anch'rites pray in tears and sweat. + + + + ELLINDA'S GLOVE. + SONNET. + + I. +Thou snowy farme with thy five tenements!<34.1> + Tell thy white mistris here was one, + That call'd to pay his dayly rents; +But she a-gathering flowr's and hearts is gone, +And thou left voyd to rude possession. + + II. +But grieve not, pretty Ermin cabinet, + Thy alabaster lady will come home; + If not, what tenant can there fit +The slender turnings of thy narrow roome, +But must ejected be by his owne dombe?<34.2> + + III. +Then give me leave to leave my rent with thee: + Five kisses, one unto a place: + For though the lute's too high for me, +Yet servants, knowing minikin<34.3> nor base, +Are still allow'd to fiddle with the case. + +<34.1> i.e. the white glove of the lady with its five fingers. + +<34.2> Doom. + +<34.3> A description of musical pin attached to a lute. It was +only brought into play by accomplished musicians. In the address +of "The Country Suiter to his Love," printed in Cotgrave's WITS +INTERPRETER, 1662, p. 119, the man says:-- + + "Fair Wench! I cannot court thy sprightly eyes + With a base-viol plac'd betwixt my thighs, + I cannot lisp, nor to a fiddle sing, + Nor run upon a high-strecht minikin." + +In Middleton's FAMILIE OF LOVE, 1608 (Works by Dyce, ii. 127) +there is the following passage:-- + + "GUDGEON. Ay, and to all that forswear marriage, and can be + content with other men's wives. + GERARDINE. Of which consort you two are grounds; one touches + the bass, and the other tickles the minikin." + + + + BEING TREATED. + TO ELLINDA. + + For cherries plenty, and for corans +Enough for fifty, were there more on's; +For elles of beere,<35.1> flutes<35.2> of canary, +That well did wash downe pasties-Mary;<35.3> +For peason, chickens, sawces high, +Pig, and the widdow-venson-pye;<35.4> +With certaine promise (to your brother) +Of the virginity of another, +Where it is thought I too may peepe in +With knuckles far as any deepe in;<35.5> +For glasses, heads, hands, bellies full +Of wine, and loyne right-worshipfull;<35.6> +Whether all of, or more behind--a +Thankes freest, freshest, faire Ellinda. +Thankes for my visit not disdaining, +Or at the least thankes for your feigning; +For if your mercy doore were lockt-well, +I should be justly soundly knockt-well; +Cause that in dogrell I did mutter +Not one rhime to you from dam-Rotter.<35.7> + + Next beg I to present my duty +To pregnant sister in prime beauty, +Whom well I deeme (e're few months elder) +Will take out Hans from pretty Kelder, +And to the sweetly fayre Mabella, +A match that vies with Arabella; +In each respect but the misfortune, +Fortune, Fate, I thee importune. + + Nor must I passe the lovely Alice, +Whose health I'd quaffe in golden chalice; +But since that Fate hath made me neuter, +I only can in beaker pewter: +But who'd forget, or yet left un-sung +The doughty acts of George the yong-son? +Who yesterday to save his sister +Had slaine the snake, had he not mist her: +But I shall leave him, 'till a nag on +He gets to prosecute the dragon; +And then with helpe of sun and taper, +Fill with his deeds twelve reames of paper, +That Amadis,<35.8> Sir Guy, and Topaz +With his fleet neigher shall keep no-pace. + But now to close all I must switch-hard, + [Your] servant ever; + LOVELACE RICHARD. + +<35.1> This expression has reference to the old practice +of drinking beer and wine out of very high glasses, with +divisions marked on them. A yard of ale is even now a well +understood term: nor is the custom itself out of date, since +in some parts of the country one is asked to take, not a glass, +but A YARD. The ell was of course, strictly speaking, a larger +measure than a yard; but it was often employed as a mere synonyme +or equivalent. Thus, in MAROCCUS EXTATICUS, 1595, Bankes says:-- +"Measure, Marocco, nay, nay, they that take up commodities make no +difference for measure between a Flemish elle and an English yard." + +<35.2> In the new edition of Nares (1859), this very passage is +quoted to illustrate the meaning of the word, which is defined +rather vaguely to be A CASK. Obviously the word signifies +something of the kind, but the explanation does not at all satisfy +me. I suspect that a flute OF CANARY was so called from the cask +having several vent-holes, in the same way that the French call a +lamprey FLEUTE D'ALEMAN from the fish having little holes in the +upper part of its body. + +<35.3> Forsyth, in his ANTIQUARY'S PORTFOLIO, 1825, mentions +certain "glutton-feasts," which used formerly to be celebrated +periodically in honour of the Virgin; perhaps the pasties used on +these occasions were thence christened PASTIES-MARY. + +<35.4> Venison pies or pasties were the most favourite dish in +this country in former times; innumerable illustrations might be +furnished of the high esteem in which this description of viand +was held by our ancestors, who regarded it as a thoroughly English +luxury. The anonymous author of HORAE SUBSECIVAE, 1620, p. 38 +(this volume is supposed to have been written by Giles Brydges, +Lord Chandos), describes an affected Englishman who has been +travelling on the Continent, as "sweating at the sight of a pasty +of venison," and as "swearing that the only delicacies be +mushrooms, or CAVIARE, or snayles." + + "The full-cram'd dishes made the table crack, + Gammons of bacon, brawn, and what was chief, + King in all feasts, a tall Sir Loyne of BEEF, + Fat venison pasties smoaking, 'tis no fable, + Swans in their broath came swimming to the table."-- + Poems of Ben Johnson Junior, by W. S. 1672, p. 3. + +<35.5> An allusion to the scantiness of forks. "And when your +justice of peace is knuckle-deep in goose, you may without +disparagement to your blood, though you have a lady to your mother, +fall very manfully to your woodcocks."-- Decker's GULS HORN BOOK, +1609, ed. Nott, p. 121. + + "Hodge. Forks! what be they? + Mar. The laudable use of forks, + Brought into custom here, as they are in Italy, + To the sparing of napkins--" + Jonson's THE DEVIL IS AN ASS, act. v. scene 4. + + "Lovell. Your hand, good sir. + Greedy. This is a lord, and some think this a favour; + But I had rather have my hand in my dumpling." + Massinger's NEW WAY TO PAY OLD DEBTS, 1633. + +<35.6> The sirloin of beef. + +<35.7> Rotterdam. + +<35.8> AMADIS DE GAULE. The translation of this romance by Anthony +Munday and two or three others, whose assistance he obtained, made +it popular in England, although, perhaps with the exception of the +portion executed by Munday himself, the performance is beneath +criticism. + + + + TO ELLINDA. + VPON HIS LATE RECOVERY. + A PARADOX. + + I. +How I grieve that I am well! + All my health was in my sicknes, +Go then, Destiny, and tell, + Very death is in this quicknes. + + II. +Such a fate rules over me, + That I glory when I languish, +And do blesse the remedy, + That doth feed, not quench my anguish. + + III. +'Twas a gentle warmth that ceas'd + In the vizard of a feavor; +But I feare now I am eas'd + All the flames, since I must leave her. + + IV. +Joyes, though witherd, circled me, + When unto her voice inured +Like those who, by harmony, + Only can be throughly cured. + + V. +Sweet, sure, was that malady, + Whilst the pleasant angel hover'd, +Which ceasing they are all, as I, + Angry that they are recover'd. + + VI. +And as men in hospitals, + That are maim'd, are lodg'd and dined; +But when once their danger fals, + Ah th' are healed to be pined! + + VII. +Fainting so, I might before + Sometime have the leave to hand her, +But lusty, am beat out of dore, + And for Love compell'd to wander. + + + + TO CHLOE, COURTING HER FOR HIS FRIEND. + + I. +Chloe, behold! againe I bowe: +Againe possest, againe I woe; + From my heat hath taken fire + Damas, noble youth, and fries,<36.1> + Gazing with one of mine eyes, + Damas, halfe of me expires: +Chloe, behold! Our fate's the same. +Or make me cinders too, or quench his flame + + II. +I'd not be King, unlesse there sate +Lesse lords that shar'd with me in state + Who, by their cheaper coronets, know, + What glories from my diadem flow: + Its use and rate<36.2> values the gem: + Pearles in their shells have no esteem; +And, I being sun within thy sphere, +'Tis my chiefe beauty thinner lights shine there. + + III. +The Us'rer heaps unto his store +By seeing others praise it more; + Who not for gaine or want doth covet, + But, 'cause another loves, doth love it: + Thus gluttons cloy'd afresh invite + Their gusts from some new appetite; +And after cloth remov'd, and meate, +Fall too againe by seeing others eate. + +<36.1> This is not unfrequently used in old writers in the sense +of BURN:-- + + "But Lucilla, who now began to frie in the flames of love, +all the company being departed," &c.--Lyly's EUPHUES, 1579, +sig. c v. verso. + + "My lady-mistresse cast an amourous eye + Upon my forme, which her affections drew, + Shee was Love's martyr, and in flames did frye." + EGYPT'S FAVORITE. THE HISTORIE OF JOSEPH. + By Sir F. Hubert, 1631, sig. C. + +<36.2> The estimation in which it is held, its marketable worth. + + + + GRATIANA DAUNCING AND SINGING. + + I. +See! with what constant motion +Even and glorious, as the sunne, + Gratiana steeres that noble frame, +Soft as her breast, sweet as her voyce, +That gave each winding law and poyze, + And swifter then the wings of Fame. + + II. +She beat the happy pavement +By such a starre-made firmament, + Which now no more the roofe envies; +But swells up high with Atlas ev'n, +Bearing the brighter, nobler Heav'n, + And in her, all the Dieties. + + III. +Each step trod out a lovers thought +And the ambitious hopes he brought, + Chain'd to her brave feet with such arts, +Such sweet command and gentle awe, +As when she ceas'd, we sighing saw + The floore lay pav'd with broken hearts. + + IV. +So did she move: so did she sing: +Like the harmonious spheres that bring + Unto their rounds their musick's ayd; +Which she performed such a way, +As all th' inamour'd world will say: + The Graces daunced, and Apollo play'd. + + + + AMYNTOR'S GROVE,<37.1> + HIS CHLORIS, ARIGO,<37.2> AND GRATIANA. + AN ELOGIE. + + It was<37.3> Amyntor's Grove, that Chloris +For ever ecchoes, and her glories; +Chloris, the gentlest sheapherdesse, +That ever lawnes and lambes did blesse; +Her breath, like to the whispering winde, +Was calme as thought, sweet as her minde; +Her lips like coral gates kept in +The perfume and<37.4> the pearle within; +Her eyes a double-flaming torch +That alwayes shine, and never scorch; +Her<37.5> selfe the Heav'n in which did meet +The all of bright, of faire and sweet. + Here was I brought with that delight +That seperated soules take flight; +And when my reason call'd my sence +Back somewhat from this excellence, +That I could see, I did begin +T' observe the curious ordering +Of every roome, where 'ts hard to know, +Which most excels in sent or show. +Arabian gummes do breathe here forth, +And th' East's come over to the North; +The windes have brought their hyre<37.6> of sweet +To see Amyntor Chloris greet; +Balme and nard, and each perfume, +To blesse this payre,<37.7> chafe and consume; +And th' Phoenix, see! already fries! +Her neast a fire in Chloris<37.8> eyes! + Next<37.9> the great and powerful hand +Beckens my thoughts unto a stand +Of Titian, Raphael, Georgone +Whose art even Nature hath out-done; +For if weake Nature only can +Intend, not perfect, what is man, +These certainely we must prefer, +Who mended what she wrought, and her; +And sure the shadowes of those rare +And kind incomparable fayre +Are livelier, nobler company, +Then if they could or speake, or see: +For these<37.10> I aske without a tush, +Can kisse or touch without a blush, +And we are taught that substance is, +If uninjoy'd, but th'<37.11> shade of blisse. + Now every saint cleerly divine, +Is clos'd so in her severall shrine; +The gems so rarely, richly set, +For them wee love the cabinet; +So intricately plac't withall, +As if th' imbrordered the wall, +So that the pictures seem'd to be +But one continued tapistrie.<37.12> + After this travell of mine eyes +We sate, and pitied Dieties; +Wee bound our loose hayre with the vine, +The poppy, and the eglantine; +One swell'd an oriental bowle +Full, as a grateful, loyal soule +To Chloris! Chloris! Heare, oh, heare! +'Tis pledg'd above in ev'ry sphere. + Now streight the Indians richest prize +Is kindled in<37.13> glad sacrifice; +Cloudes are sent up on wings of thyme, +Amber, pomgranates, jessemine, +And through our earthen conduicts sore +Higher then altars fum'd before. + So drencht we our oppressing cares, +And choakt the wide jawes of our feares. +Whilst ravisht thus we did devise, +If this were not a Paradice +In all, except these harmlesse sins: +Behold! flew in two cherubins, +Cleare as the skye from whence they came, +And brighter than the sacred flame; +The boy adorn'd with modesty, +Yet armed so with majesty, +That if the Thunderer againe +His eagle sends, she stoops in vaine.<37.14> +Besides his innocence he tooke +A sword and casket, and did looke +Like Love in armes; he wrote but five, +Yet spake eighteene; each grace did strive, +And twenty Cupids thronged forth, +Who first should shew his prettier worth. +But oh, the Nymph! Did you ere know +Carnation mingled with snow?<37.15> +Or have you seene the lightning shrowd, +And straight breake through th' opposing cloud? +So ran her blood; such was its hue; +So through her vayle her bright haire flew, +And yet its glory did appeare +But thinne, because her eyes were neere. + Blooming boy, and blossoming mayd, +May your faire sprigges be neere betray'd +To<37.16> eating worme or fouler storme; +No serpent lurke to do them harme; +No sharpe frost cut, no North-winde teare, +The verdure of that fragrant hayre; +But<37.17> may the sun and gentle weather, +When you are both growne ripe together, +Load you with fruit, such as your Father +From you with all the joyes doth gather: +And may you, when one branch is dead, +Graft such another in its stead, +Lasting thus ever in your prime, +'Till th' sithe is snatcht away from Time.<37.18> + +<37.1> In the MS. copy this poem exhibits considerable variations, +and is entitled "Gratiana's Eulogy." + +<37.2> ARIGO or ARRIGO is the Venetian form of HENRICO. I have no +means of identifying CHLORIS or GRATIANA; but AMYNTOR was probably, +as I have already suggested, Endymion Porter, and ARIGO was +unquestionably no other than Henry Jermyn, or Jarmin, who, though +no poet, was, like his friend Porter, a liberal and discerning +patron of men of letters. + + "Yet when thy noble choice appear'd, that by + Their combat first prepar'd thy victory: + ENDYMION and ARIGO, who delight + In numbers--" + Davenant's MADAGASCAR, 1638 (Works, 1673, p. 212). + +See also p. 247 of Davenant's Works. + +Jermyn's name is associated with that of Porter in the noblest +dedication in our language, that to DAVENANT'S POEMS, 1638, 12mo. +"If these poems live," &c. + +<37.3> This and the five next lines are not in MS. which opens +with "Her lips," &c. + +<37.4> So original; MS. reads OF. + +<37.5> This and the next thirteen lines are not in MS. + +<<37.6>> i.e. tribute. + +<37.7> FAIRE--MS. + +<37.8> HER FAIRE--MS. The story of the phoenix was very popular, +and the allusions to it in the early writers are almost +innumerable. + + "My labour did to greater things aspire, + To find a PHOENIX melted in the fire, + Out of whose ashes should spring up to birth + A friend"-- + POEMS OF Ben Johnson jun., by W. S., 1672, p. 18. + +<37.9> This and the next eleven lines are not in MS. + +<37.10> The MS. reads SHE. + +<37.11> The MS. reads for BUT TH' "the." + +<37.12> In the houses of such as could afford the expense, +the walls of rooms were formerly lined with tapestry instead +of paper. + +<37.13> So MS.; original has A. + +<37.14> An allusion to the fable of Jupiter and Ganymede. + +<37.15> MIX'D WITH DROPPINGE SNOW--MS. + +<37.16> This and the succeeding line are not in MS. + +<37.17> This and the six following lines are not in MS. + +<37.18> Here we have a figure, which reminds us of Jonson's famous +lines on the Countess of Pembroke; but certainly in this instance +the palm of superiority is due to Lovelace, whose conception of +Time having his scythe snatched from him is bolder and finer than +that of the earlier and greater poet. + + + + THE SCRUTINIE. + SONG. + SET BY MR. THOMAS CHARLES.<38.1> + + I. +Why shouldst thou<38.2> sweare I am forsworn, + Since thine I vow'd to be? +Lady, it is already Morn, + And 'twas last night I swore to thee + That fond impossibility. + + II. +Have I not lov'd thee much and long, + A tedious twelve moneths<38.3> space? +I should<38.4> all other beauties wrong, + And rob thee of a new imbrace; + Should<38.5> I still dote upon thy face. + + III. +Not but all joy in thy browne haire + In<38.6> others may be found; +But I must search the black and faire, + Like skilfulle minerallists that sound + For treasure in un-plow'd-up<38.7> ground. + + IV. +Then if, when I have lov'd my<38.8> round, + Thou prov'st the pleasant she; +With spoyles<38.9> of meaner beauties crown'd, + I laden will returne to thee, + Ev'n sated with varietie. + +<38.1> This poem appears in WITS INTERPRETER, by John Cotgrave, +ed. 1662, p. 214, under the title of "On his Mistresse, +who unjustly taxed him of leaving her off." + +<38.2> So Cotgrave. LUCASTA reads SHOULD YOU. + +<38.3> So Cotgrave. This is preferable to HOURS, the reading in LUCASTA. + +<38.4> So Cotgrave. LUCASTA reads MUST. + +<38.5> So Cotgrave. LUCASTA has COULD. + +<38.6> So Cotgrave. LUCASTA reads BY. + +<38.7> UNBIDDEN--Cotgrave. + +<38.8> THEE--Cotgrave. + +<38.9> IN SPOIL--Cotgrave. + + + + PRINCESSE LOYSA<39.1> DRAWING. + + I saw a little Diety, +MINERVA in epitomy, +Whom VENUS, at first blush, surpris'd, +Tooke for her winged wagge disguis'd. +But viewing then, whereas she made +Not a distrest, but lively shade +Of ECCHO whom he had betrayd, +Now wanton, and ith' coole oth' Sunne +With her delight a hunting gone, +And thousands more, whom he had slaine; +To live and love, belov'd againe: +Ah! this is true divinity! +I will un-God that toye! cri'd she; +Then markt she SYRINX running fast +To Pan's imbraces, with the haste +Shee fled him once, whose reede-pipe rent +He finds now a new Instrument. +THESEUS return'd invokes the Ayre +And windes, then wafts his faire; +Whilst ARIADNE ravish't stood +Half in his armes, halfe in the flood. + Proud ANAXERETE doth fall +At IPHIS feete, who smiles at<39.2> all: +And he (whilst she his curles doth deck) +Hangs no where now, but on her neck. +Here PHOEBUS with a beame untombes +Long-hid LEUCOTHOE, and doomes +Her father there; DAPHNE the faire +Knowes now no bayes but round her haire; +And to APOLLO and his Sons, +Who pay him their due Orisons, +Bequeaths her lawrell-robe, that flame +Contemnes, Thunder and evill Fame. + There kneel'd ADONIS fresh as spring, +Gay as his youth, now offering +Herself those joyes with voice and hand, +Which first he could not understand. + Transfixed VENUS stood amas'd, +Full of the Boy and Love, she gaz'd, +And in imbraces seemed more +Senceless and colde then he before. +Uselesse Childe! In vaine (said she) +You beare that fond artillerie; +See heere a pow'r above the slow +Weake execution of thy bow. + So said, she riv'd the wood in two, +Unedged all his arrowes too, +And with the string their feathers bound +To that part, whence we have our wound. + See, see! the darts by which we burn'd +Are bright Loysa's pencills turn'd, +With which she now enliveth more +Beauties, than they destroy'd before. + +<39.1> Probably the second daughter of Frederic and Elizabeth +of Bohemia, b. 1622. See Townend's DESCENDANTS OF THE STUARTS, +1858, p. 7. + +<39.2> Original has OF. + + + + A FORSAKEN LADY TO HER FALSE SERVANT + THAT IS DISDAINED BY HIS NEW MISTRISS.<40.1> + + Were it that you so shun me, 'cause you wish +(Cruels't) a fellow in your wretchednesse, +Or that you take some small ease in your owne +Torments, to heare another sadly groane, +I were most happy in my paines, to be +So truely blest, to be so curst by thee: +But oh! my cries to that doe rather adde, +Of which too much already thou hast had, +And thou art gladly sad to heare my moane; +Yet sadly hearst me with derision. + + Thou most unjust, that really dust know, +And feelst thyselfe the flames I burne in. Oh! +How can you beg to be set loose from that +Consuming stake you binde another at? + + Uncharitablest both wayes, to denie +That pity me, for which yourself must dye, +To love not her loves you, yet know the pain +What 'tis to love, and not be lov'd againe. + + Flye on, flye on, swift Racer, untill she +Whom thou of all ador'st shall learne of thee +The pace t'outfly thee, and shall teach thee groan, +What terrour 'tis t'outgo and be outgon. + + Nor yet looke back, nor yet must we +Run then like spoakes in wheeles eternally, +And never overtake? Be dragg'd on still +By the weake cordage of your untwin'd will +Round without hope of rest? No, I will turne, +And with my goodnes boldly meete your scorne; +My goodnesse which Heav'n pardon, and that fate +MADE YOU HATE LOVE, AND FALL IN LOVE WITH HATE. + + But I am chang'd! Bright reason, that did give +My soule a noble quicknes, made me live +One breath yet longer, and to will, and see +Hath reacht me pow'r to scorne as well as thee: +That thou, which proudly tramplest on my grave, +Thyselfe mightst fall, conquer'd my double slave: +That thou mightst, sinking in thy triumphs, moan, +And I triumph in my destruction. + + Hayle, holy cold! chaste temper, hayle! the fire +Rav'd<40.2> o're my purer thoughts I feel t' expire, +And I am candied ice. Yee pow'rs! if e're +I shall be forc't unto my sepulcher, +Or violently hurl'd into my urne, +Oh make me choose rather to freeze than burne. + +<40.1> Carew (POEMS, ed. 1651, p. 53) has some lines, entitled, +"In the person of a Lady to her Inconstant Servant," which are +of nearly similar purport to Lovelace's poem, but are both shorter +and better. + +<40.2> RAV'D seems here to be equivalent to REAV'D, or BEREAV'D. +Perhaps the correct reading may be "reav'd." See Worcester's +DICTIONARY, art. RAVE, where Menage's supposition of affinity +between RAVE and BEREAVE is perhaps a little too slightingly +treated. + + + + THE GRASSEHOPPER. + TO MY NOBLE FRIEND, MR. CHARLES COTTON.<41.1> + ODE. + + I. +Oh thou, that swing'st upon the waving eare<41.2> + Of some well-filled oaten beard,<41.3> +Drunk ev'ry night with a delicious teare<41.4> + Dropt thee from Heav'n, where now th'art reard. + + II. +The joyes of earth and ayre are thine intire, + That with thy feet and wings dost hop and flye; +And when thy poppy workes, thou dost retire + To thy carv'd acorn-bed to lye. + + III. +Up with the day, the Sun thou welcomst then, + Sportst in the guilt plats<41.5> of his beames, +And all these merry dayes mak'st merry men,<41.6> + Thy selfe, and melancholy streames. + + IV. +But ah, the sickle! golden eares are cropt; + CERES and BACCHUS bid good-night; +Sharpe frosty fingers all your flowrs have topt, + And what sithes spar'd, winds shave off quite. + + V. +Poore verdant foole! and now green ice, thy joys + Large and as lasting as thy peirch<41.7> of grasse, +Bid us lay in 'gainst winter raine, and poize + Their flouds with an o'erflowing glasse. + + VI. +Thou best of men and friends? we will create + A genuine summer in each others breast; +And spite of this cold Time and frosen Fate, + Thaw us a warme seate to our rest. + + VII. +Our sacred harthes shall burne eternally + As vestal flames; the North-wind, he +Shall strike his frost-stretch'd winges, dissolve and flye + This Aetna in epitome. + + VIII. +Dropping December shall come weeping in, + Bewayle th' usurping of his raigne; +But when in show'rs of old Greeke<41.8> we beginne, + Shall crie, he hath his crowne againe! + + IX. +Night as cleare Hesper shall our tapers whip + From the light casements, where we play, +And the darke hagge from her black mantle strip, + And sticke there everlasting day. + + X. +Thus richer then untempted kings are we, + That asking nothing, nothing need: +Though lord of all what seas imbrace, yet he + That wants himselfe, is poore indeed. + +<41.1> Charles Cotton the elder, father of the poet. He died +in 1658. This poem is extracted in CENSURA LITERARIA, ix. 352, +as a favourable specimen of Lovelace's poetical genius. The +text is manifestly corrupt, but I have endeavoured to amend it. +In Elton's SPECIMENS OF CLASSIC POETS, 1814, i. 148, is a +translation of Anacreon's Address to the Cicada, or Tree-Locust +(Lovelace's grasshopper?), which is superior to the modern poem, +being less prolix, and more natural in its manner. In all +Lovelace's longer pieces there are too many obscure and feeble +conceits, and too many evidences of a leaning to the metaphysical +and antithetical school of poetry. + +<41.2> Original has HAIRE. + +<41.3> i.e. a beard of oats. + +<41.4> Meleager's invocation to the tree-locust commences thus +in Elton's translation:-- + + "Oh shrill-voiced insect! that with dew-drops sweet + Inebriate----" + +See also Cowley's ANACREONTIQUES, No. X. THE GRASSHOPPER. + +<41.5> i.e. horizontal lines tinged with gold. See Halliwell's +GLOSSARY OF ARCHAIC WORDS, 1860, art. PLAT (seventh and eighth +meaning). The late editors of Nares cite this passage from LUCASTA +as an illustration of GUILT-PLATS, which they define to be "plots +of gold." This definition, unsupported by any other evidence, is +not very satisfactory, and certainly it has no obvious application +here. + +<41.6> Randolph says:-- + + "----toiling ants perchance delight to hear + The summer musique of the gras-hopper." + POEMS, 1640, p. 90. + +It is it question, perhaps, whether Lovelace intended by the +GRASSHOPPER the CICADA or the LOCUSTA. See Sir Thomas Browne's +INQUIRIES INTO VULGAR ERRORS (Works, by Wilkins, 1836, iii. 93). + +<41.7> Perch. + +<41.8> i.e. old Greek wine. + + + + AN ELEGIE. + ON THE DEATH OF MRS. CASSANDRA COTTON, + ONLY SISTER TO MR. C. COTTON.<42.1> + + Hither with hallowed steps as is the ground, +That must enshrine this saint with lookes profound, +And sad aspects as the dark vails you weare, +Virgins opprest, draw gently, gently neare; +Enter the dismall chancell of this rooome, +Where each pale guest stands fixt a living tombe; +With trembling hands helpe to remove this earth +To its last death and first victorious birth: +Let gums and incense fume, who are at strife +To enter th' hearse and breath in it new life; +Mingle your steppes with flowers as you goe, +Which, as they haste to fade, will speake your woe. + + And when y' have plac't your tapers on her urn, +How poor a tribute 'tis to weep and mourn! +That flood the channell of your eye-lids fils, +When you lose trifles, or what's lesse, your wills. +If you'l be worthy of these obsequies, +Be blind unto the world, and drop your eyes; +Waste and consume, burn downward as this fire +That's fed no more: so willingly expire; +Passe through the cold and obscure narrow way, +Then light your torches at the spring of day, +There with her triumph in your victory. +Such joy alone and such solemnity +Becomes this funerall of virginity. + + Or, if you faint to be so blest, oh heare! +If not to dye, dare but to live like her: +Dare to live virgins, till the honour'd age +Of thrice fifteen cals matrons on the stage, +Whilst not a blemish or least staine is scene +On your white roabe 'twixt fifty and fifteene; +But as it in your swathing-bands was given, +Bring't in your winding sheet unsoyl'd to Heav'n. +Daere to do purely, without compact good, +Or herald, by no one understood +But him, who now in thanks bows either knee +For th' early benefit and secresie. + + Dare to affect a serious holy sorrow, +To which delights of pallaces are narrow, +And, lasting as their smiles, dig you a roome, +Where practise the probation of your tombe +With ever-bended knees and piercing pray'r, +Smooth the rough passe through craggy earth to ay'r; +Flame there as lights that shipwrackt mariners +May put in safely, and secure their feares, +Who, adding to your joyes, now owe you theirs. + + Virgins, if thus you dare but courage take +To follow her in life, else through this lake +Of Nature wade, and breake her earthly bars, +Y' are fixt with her upon a throne of stars, +Arched with a pure Heav'n chrystaline, +Where round you love and joy for ever shine. + + But you are dumbe, as what you do lament +More senseles then her very monument, +Which at your weaknes weeps. Spare that vaine teare, +Enough to burst the rev'rend sepulcher. +Rise and walk home; there groaning prostrate fall, +And celebrate your owne sad funerall: +For howsoe're you move, may heare, or see, +YOU ARE MORE DEAD AND BURIED THEN SHEE. + +<42.1> Cassandra Cotton, only daughter of Sir George Cotton, +of Warblenton, Co. Sussex, and of Bedhampton, co. Hants, died +some time before 1649, unmarried. She was the sister of Charles +Cotton the elder, and aunt to the poet. See WALTON'S ANGLER, +ed. Nicolas, Introduction, clxvi. + + + + THE VINTAGE TO THE DUNGEON. + A SONG.<43.1> + SET BY MR. WILLIAM LAWES. + + I. +Sing out, pent soules, sing cheerefully! +Care shackles you in liberty: +Mirth frees you in captivity. + Would you double fetters adde? + Else why so sadde? + + Chorus. +Besides your pinion'd armes youl finde +Griefe too can manakell the minde. + + II. +Live then, pris'ners, uncontrol'd; +Drink oth' strong, the rich, the old, +Till wine too hath your wits in hold; + Then if still your jollitie + And throats are free-- + + Chorus. +Tryumph in your bonds and paines, +And daunce to the music of your chaines. + +<43.1> Probably composed during the poet's confinement in +Peterhouse. + + + + ON THE DEATH OF MRS. ELIZABETH FILMER.<44.1> + AN ELEGIACALL EPITAPH. + + You that shall live awhile, before +Old time tyrs, and is no more: +When that this ambitious stone +Stoopes low as what it tramples on: +Know that in that age, when sinne +Gave the world law, and governd Queene, +A virgin liv'd, that still put on +White thoughts, though out of fashion: +That trac't the stars, 'spite of report, +And durst be good, though chidden for't: +Of such a soule that infant Heav'n +Repented what it thus had giv'n: +For finding equall happy man, +Th' impatient pow'rs snatch it agen. +Thus, chaste as th' ayre whither shee's fled, +She, making her celestiall bed +In her warme alablaster, lay +As cold is in this house of clay: +Nor were the rooms unfit to feast +Or circumscribe this angel-guest; +The radiant gemme was brightly set +In as divine a carkanet; +Of<44.2> which the clearer was not knowne, +Her minde or her complexion. +Such an everlasting grace, +Such a beatifick face, +Incloysters here this narrow floore, +That possest all hearts before. + + Blest and bewayl'd in death and birth! +The smiles and teares of heav'n and earth! +Virgins at each step are afeard, +Filmer is shot by which they steer'd, +Their star extinct, their beauty dead, +That the yong world to honour led; +But see! the rapid spheres stand still, +And tune themselves unto her will. + + Thus, although this marble must, +As all things, crumble into dust, +And though you finde this faire-built tombe +Ashes, as what lyes in its wombe: +Yet her saint-like name shall shine +A living glory to this shrine, +And her eternall fame be read, +When all but VERY VERTUE'S DEAD.<44.3> + +<44.1> This lady was perhaps the daughter of Edward Filmer, Esq., +of East Sutton, co. Kent, by his wife Eliza, daughter of Richard +Argall, Esq., of the same place (See Harl. MS. 1432, p. 300). +Possibly, the Edward Filmer mentioned here was the same as the +author of "Frenche Court Ayres, with their Ditties englished," +1629, in praise of which Jonson has some lines in his UNDERWOODS. + +<44.2> Original reads FOR. + +<44.3> "Which ensuing times shall warble, + When 'tis lost, that's writ in marble." + Wither's FAIR VIRTUE, THE MISTRESS OF PHILARETE, 1622. + +Headley (SELECT BEAUTIES, ed. 1810, ii. p. 42) has remarked +the similarity between these lines and some in Collins' +DIRGE IN CYMBELINE:-- + + "Belov'd till life can charm no more; + And MOURN'D TILL PITY'S SELF BE DEAD." + + + + TO MY WORTHY FRIEND MR. PETER LILLY:<45.1> + ON THAT EXCELLENT PICTURE OF HIS MAJESTY AND THE DUKE OF YORKE, + DRAWNE BY HIM AT HAMPTON-COURT. + + See! what a clouded majesty, and eyes +Whose glory through their mist doth brighter rise! + See! what an humble bravery doth shine, +And griefe triumphant breaking through each line, +How it commands the face! so sweet a scorne +Never did HAPPY MISERY adorne! +So sacred a contempt, that others show +To this, (oth' height of all the wheele) below, +That mightiest monarchs by this shaded booke +May coppy out their proudest, richest looke. + + Whilst the true eaglet this quick luster spies, +And by his SUN'S enlightens his owne eyes; +He cures<45.2> his cares, his burthen feeles, then streight +Joyes that so lightly he can beare such weight; +Whilst either eithers passion doth borrow, +And both doe grieve the same victorious sorrow. + + These, my best LILLY, with so bold a spirit +And soft a grace, as if thou didst inherit +For that time all their greatnesse, and didst draw +With those brave eyes your royal sitters saw. + + Not as of old, when a rough hand did speake +A strong aspect, and a faire face, a weake; +When only a black beard cried villaine, and +By hieroglyphicks we could understand; +When chrystall typified in a white spot, +And the bright ruby was but one red blot; +Thou dost the things Orientally the same +Not only paintst its colour, but its flame: +Thou sorrow canst designe without a teare, +And with the man his very hope or feare; +So that th' amazed world shall henceforth finde +None but my LILLY ever drew a MINDE. + +<45.1> Mr., afterwards Sir Peter, Lely. He was frequently called +Lilly, or Lilley, by his contemporaries, and Lilley is Pepys' +spelling. "At Lord Northumberland's, at Sion, is a remarkable +picture of King Charles I, holding a letter directed 'au roi +monseigneur,' and the Duke of York, aet. 14, presenting a penknife +to him to cut the strings. It was drawn at Hampton Court, when +the King was last there, by Mr. Lely, who was earnestly recommended +to him. I should have taken it for the hand of Fuller or Dobson. +It is certainly very unlike Sir Peter's latter manner, and is +stronger than his former. The King has none of the melancholy +grace which Vandyck alone, of all his painters, always gave him. +It has a sterner countenance, and expressive of the tempests he +had experienced."--Walpole's ANECDOTES OF PAINTING IN ENGLAND, +ed. 1862, p. 443-4. + +<45.2> Original reads CARES. + + + + THE LADY A. L.<46.1> + MY ASYLUM IN A GREAT EXTREMITY. + + With that delight the Royal captiv's<46.2> brought +Before the throne, to breath his farewell thought, +To tel his last tale, and so end with it, +Which gladly he esteemes a benefit; +When the brave victor, at his great soule dumbe, +Findes something there fate cannot overcome, +Cals the chain'd prince, and by his glory led, +First reaches him his crowne, and then his head; +Who ne're 'til now thinks himself slave and poor; +For though nought else, he had himselfe before. +He weepes at this faire chance, nor wil allow, +But that the diadem doth brand his brow, +And under-rates himselfe below mankinde, +Who first had lost his body, now his minde, + + With such a joy came I to heare my dombe, +And haste the preparation of my tombe, +When, like good angels who have heav'nly charge +To steere and guide mans sudden giddy barge, +She snatcht me from the rock I was upon, +And landed me at life's pavillion: +Where I, thus wound out of th' immense abysse, +Was straight set on a pinacle of blisse. + + Let me leape in againe! and by that fall +Bring me to my first woe, so cancel all: +Ah! 's this a quitting of the debt you owe, +To crush her and her goodnesse at one blowe? + Defend me from so foule impiety, +Would make friends grieve, and furies weep to see. + + Now, ye sage spirits, which infuse in men +That are oblidg'd twice to oblige agen, +Informe my tongue in labour what to say, +And in what coyne or language to repay. +But you are silent as the ev'nings ayre, +When windes unto their hollow grots repaire.<46.3> + Oh, then accept the all that left me is, +Devout oblations of a sacred wish! + + When she walks forth, ye perfum'd wings oth' East, +Fan her, 'til with the Sun she hastes to th' West, +And when her heav'nly course calles up the day, +And breakes as bright, descend, some glistering ray, +To circle her, and her as glistering haire, +That all may say a living saint shines there. +Slow Time, with woollen feet make thy soft pace, +And leave no tracks ith' snow of her pure face; +But when this vertue must needs fall, to rise +The brightest constellation in the skies; +When we in characters of fire shall reade, +How cleere she was alive, how spotless, dead. +All you that are a kinne to piety: +For onely you can her close mourners be, +Draw neer, and make of hallowed teares a dearth: +Goodnes and justice both are fled the earth. + + If this be to be thankful, I'v a heart +Broaken with vowes, eaten with grateful smart, +And beside this, the vild<46.4> world nothing hath +Worth anything but her provoked wrath; +So then, who thinkes to satisfie in time, +Must give a satisfaction for that crime: +Since she alone knowes the gifts value, she +Can onely to her selfe requitall be, +And worthyly to th' life paynt her owne story +In its true colours and full native glory; +Which when perhaps she shal be heard to tell, +Buffoones and theeves, ceasing to do ill, +Shal blush into a virgin-innocence, +And then woo others from the same offence; +The robber and the murderer, in 'spite +Of his red spots, shal startle into white: +All good (rewards layd by) shal stil increase +For love of her, and villany decease;<46.5> +Naught<46.6> be ignote, not so much out of feare +Of being punisht, as offending her. + + So that, when as my future daring bayes +Shall bow it selfe<46.7> in lawrels to her praise, +To crown her conqu'ring goodnes, and proclaime +The due renowne and glories of her name: +My wit shal be so wretched and so poore +That, 'stead of praysing, I shal scandal her, +And leave, when with my purest art I'v done, +Scarce the designe of what she is begunne: +Yet men shal send me home, admir'd, exact; +Proud, that I could from her so wel detract. + + Where, then, thou bold instinct, shal I begin +My endlesse taske? To thanke her were a sin +Great as not speake, and not to speake, a blame +Beyond what's worst, such as doth want a name; +So thou my all, poore gratitude, ev'n thou +In this wilt an unthankful office do: +Or wilt I fling all at her feet I have: +My life, my love, my very soule, a slave? +Tye my free spirit onely unto her, +And yeeld up my affection prisoner? +Fond thought, in this thou teachest me to give +What first was hers, since by her breath I live; +And hast but show'd me, how I may resigne +Possession of those thing are none of mine. + +<46.1> i.e. Anne, Lady Lovelace, the poet's kinswoman, who seems +to have assisted him in some emergency, unknown to us except +through the present lines. + +<46.2> Caractacus(?). + +<46.3> The mythology of Greece assigned to each wind a separate +cave, in which it was supposed to await the commands of its +sovereign Aeolus, or Aeolos. It is to this myth that Lovelace +alludes. + +<46.4> A very common form of VILE among early writers. + +<46.5> This reads like a parody on the fourth Eclogue of Virgil. +The early English poets were rather partial to the introduction +of miniature-pictures of the Golden Age on similar occasions +to the present. Thus Carew, in his poem TO SAXHAM, says:-- + + "The Pheasant, Partridge, and the Lark + Flew to thy house, as to the Ark. + The willing Oxe of himself came + Home to the slaughter with the Lamb. + And every beast did thither bring + Himself, to be an offering." + Carew's POEMS, 1651, p. 34. + +<46.6> Vice. + +<46.7> We should read THEMSELVES. + + + + A LADY WITH A FALCON ON HER FIST. + TO THE HONOURABLE MY COUSIN A[NNE] L[OVELACE.] + + I. +This Queen of Prey (now prey to you), + Fast to that pirch of ivory +In silver chaines and silken clue, + Hath now made full thy victory: + + II. +The swelling admirall of the dread + Cold deepe, burnt in thy flames, oh faire! +Wast not enough, but thou must lead + Bound, too, the Princesse of the aire? + + III. +Unarm'd of wings and scaly oare, + Unhappy crawler on the land, +To what heav'n fly'st? div'st to what shoare, + That her brave eyes do not command? + + IV. +Ascend the chariot of the Sun + From her bright pow'r to shelter thee: +Her captive (foole) outgases him; + Ah, what lost wretches then are we! + + V. +Now, proud usurpers on the right + Of sacred beauty, heare your dombe; +Recant your sex, your mastry, might; + Lower you cannot be or'ecome: + + VI. +Repent, ye er'e nam'd he or head, + For y' are in falcon's monarchy, +And in that just dominion bred, + In which the nobler is the shee. + + + + A PROLOGUE TO THE SCHOLARS. + A COMAEDY PRESENTED AT THE WHITE FRYERS.<47.1> + + A gentleman, to give us somewhat new, +Hath brought up OXFORD with him to show you; +Pray be not frighted--Tho the scaene and gown's +The Universities, the wit's the town's; +The lines each honest Englishman may speake: +Yet not mistake his mother-tongue for Greeke, +For stil 'twas part of his vow'd liturgie:-- +From learned comedies deliver me! +Wishing all those that lov'd 'em here asleepe, +Promising SCHOLARS, but no SCHOLARSHIP. + + You'd smile to see, how he do's vex and shake, +Speakes naught; but, if the PROLOGUE do's but take, +Or the first act were past the pikes once, then-- +Then hopes and joys, then frowns and fears agen, +Then blushes like a virgin, now to be +Rob'd of his comicall virginity +In presence of you all. In short, you'd say +More hopes of mirth are in his looks then play. + + These feares are for the noble and the wise; +But if 'mongst you there are such fowle dead eyes, +As can damne unaraign'd, cal law their pow'rs, +Judging it sin enough that it is ours, +And with the house shift their decreed desires, +FAIRE still to th' BLACKE, BLACKE still to the WHITE-FRYERS;<47.2> +He do's protest he wil sit down and weep +Castles and pyramids . . . +. . . . . . No, he wil on, +Proud to be rais'd by such destruction, +So far from quarr'lling with himselfe and wit, +That he wil thank them for the benefit, +Since finding nothing worthy of their hate, +They reach him that themselves must envy at: + +<47.1> This was the theatre in Salisbury Court. See Collier, +H. E. D. P. iii. 289, and Halliwell's DICTIONARY OF OLD PLAYS, +art. SCHOLAR. From the terms of the epilogue it seems to have +been a piece occupying two hours in the performance. Judging, +I presume, from the opening lines, Mr. Halliwell supposes it +to have been originally acted at Gloucester Hall. Probably +Mr. Halliwell is right. + +<47.2> A quibble on the two adjacent theatres in Whitefriars +and Blackfriars. + + + + THE EPILOGUE. + + The stubborne author of the trifle<48.1> crime, +That just now cheated you of two hours' time, +Presumptuous it lik't him,<48.2> began to grow +Carelesse, whether it pleased you or no. + + But we who ground th' excellence of a play +On what the women at the dores wil say, +Who judge it by the benches, and afford +To take your money, ere his oath or word +His SCHOLLARS school'd, sayd if he had been wise +He should have wove in one two COMEDIES; +The first for th' gallery, in which the throne +To their amazement should descend alone, +The rosin-lightning flash, and monster spire +Squibs, and words hotter then his fire. + + Th' other for the gentlemen oth' pit, +Like to themselves, all spirit, fancy, wit, +In which plots should be subtile as a flame, +Disguises would make PROTEUS stil the same: +Humours so rarely humour'd and exprest, +That ev'n they should thinke 'em so, not drest; +Vices acted and applauded too, times +Tickled, and th' actors acted, not their crimes, +So he might equally applause have gain'd +Of th' hardned, sooty, and the snowy hand.<48.3> + + Where now one SO SO<48.4> spatters, t'other: no! +Tis his first play; twere solecisme 'tshould goe; +The next 't show'd pritily, but searcht within +It appeares bare and bald, as is his chin; +The towne-wit sentences: A SCHOLARS PLAY! +Pish! I know not why, but th'ave not the way.<48.5> + + We, whose gaine is all our pleasure, ev'n these +Are bound by justice and religion to please; +Which he, whose pleasure's all his gaine, goes by +As slightly, as they doe his comaedy. + + Culls out the few, the worthy, at whose feet +He sacrifices both himselfe and it, +His fancies first fruits: profit he knowes none, +Unles that of your approbation, +Which if your thoughts at going out will pay, +Hee'l not looke farther for a second day.<48.6> + +<48.1> Perhaps TRIFLING was the word written by Lovelace. +A VENIAL OFFENCE is meant. + +<48.2> It would be difficult to point out a writer so unpardonably +slovenly in his style or phraseology as Lovelace. By "Presumptuous +it lik't him," we must of course understand "Presumptuous that +he liked it himself," or presumptuously self-satisfied. + +<48.3> i.e. the rough and dirty occupants of the gallery and +the fair spectators in the boxes. + +<48.4> An exclamation of approval, when an actor made a hit. +The phrase seems to be somewhat akin to the Italian "SI, SI," +a corruption of "SIA, SIA." + +<48.5> i.e. they do not know how to act a play. + +<48.6> This prologue and epilogue were clearly not attached +to the play when it was first performed by the fellow-collegians +of the poet at Gloucester Hall, as an amateur attempt in the +dramatic line, but were first added when "The Scholars" was +reproduced in London, and the parts sustained by ordinary actors. + + + + AGAINST THE LOVE OF GREAT ONES. + + Vnhappy youth, betrayd by Fate +To such a love<49.1> hath sainted hate, +And damned those celestiall bands<49.2> +Are onely knit with equal hands; +The love of great ones is a love,<49.3> +Gods are incapable to prove: +For where there is a joy uneven, +There never, never can be Heav'n: +'Tis such a love as is not sent +To fiends as yet for punishment; +IXION willingly doth feele +The gyre of his eternal wheele, +Nor would he now exchange his paine +For cloudes and goddesses againe. + + Wouldst thou with tempests lye? Then bow +To th' rougher furrows of her brow, +Or make a thunder-bolt thy choyce? +Then catch at her more fatal voyce; +Or 'gender with the lightning? trye +The subtler<49.4> flashes of her eye: +Poore SEMELE<49.5> wel knew the same, +Who<49.6> both imbrac't her God and flame; +And not alone in soule did burne, +But in this love did ashes turne. + + How il doth majesty injoy +The bow and gaity oth' boy, +As if the purple-roabe should sit, +And sentence give ith' chayr of wit. + + Say, ever-dying wretch, to whom +Each answer is a certaine doom,<49.7> +What is it that you would possesse, +The Countes, or the naked Besse?<49.8> +Would you her gowne or title do? +Her box or gem, the<49.9> thing or show? +If you meane HER, the very HER, +Abstracted from her caracter, +Unhappy boy! you may as soone +With fawning wanton with the Moone, +Or with an amorous complaint +Get prostitute your very saint; +Not that we are not mortal, or +Fly VENUS altars, and<49.10> abhor +The selfesame knack, for which you pine; +But we (defend us!) are divine, +[Not] female, but madam born,<49.11> and come +From a right-honourable wombe. +Shal we then mingle with the base, +And bring a silver-tinsell race? +Whilst th' issue noble wil not passe +The gold alloyd<49.12> (almost halfe brasse), +And th' blood in each veine doth appeare, +Part thick Booreinn, part Lady Cleare; +Like to the sordid insects sprung +From Father Sun and Mother Dung: +Yet lose we not the hold we have, +But faster graspe the trembling slave; +Play at baloon with's heart, and winde +The strings like scaines, steale into his minde +Ten thousand false<49.13> and feigned joyes +Far worse then they; whilst, like whipt boys, +After this scourge hee's hush with toys. + + This<49.14> heard, Sir, play stil in her eyes, +And be a dying, live<49.15> like flyes +Caught by their angle-legs, and whom +The torch laughs peece-meale to consume. + +<49.1> i.e. THAT hath sainted, &c. + +<49.2> So the Editor's MS. copy already described; the printed +copy has BONDS. + +<49.3> So Editor's MS. Printed copy has-- + "The Love of Great Ones? 'Tis a Love." + +<<49.4>> Subtle--Editor's MS. + +<49.5> Semele she--Editor's MS. + +<49.6> She--Ibid. + +<49.7> Dombe--LUCASTA. + +<49.8> BESS is used in the following passage as a phrase +for a sort of female TOM-O-BEDLAM-- + + "We treat mad-Bedlams, TOMS and BESSES, + With ceremonies and caresses!" + Dixon's CANIDIA, 1683, part i. canto 2. + +And the word seems also to have been employed to signify +the loose women who, in early times, made Covent Garden +and its neighbourhood their special haunt. See Cotgrave's +WITS INTERPRETER, 1662, p. 236. But here "naked Besse," +means only a woman who, in contradistinction to a lady of rank, +has no adventitious qualities to recommend her. + +<49.9> Original reads HER. + +<49.10> Altars, or--LUCASTA. + +<49.11> Borne--LUCASTA. + +<49.12> Allay'd--LUCASTA. + +<49.13> So Editor's MS. LUCASTA has HELLS. + +<49.14> From this word down to LIVES is omitted in the MS. copy. + +<49.15> Original has LIVES. + + + + TO ALTHEA. + FROM PRISON. + SONG. + SET BY DR. JOHN WILSON.<50.1> + + I. +When love with unconfined wings + Hovers within my gates; +And my divine ALTHEA brings + To whisper at the grates; +When I lye tangled in her haire,<50.2> + And fetterd to her eye,<50.3> +The birds,<50.4> that wanton in the aire, + Know no such liberty. + + II. +When flowing cups run swiftly round + With no allaying THAMES, +Our carelesse heads with roses bound, + Our hearts with loyal flames; +When thirsty griefe in wine we steepe, + When healths and draughts go free, +Fishes, that tipple in the deepe, + Know no such libertie. + + III. +When (like committed linnets<50.5>) I + With shriller throat shall sing +The sweetnes, mercy, majesty, + And glories of my King. +When I shall voyce aloud, how good + He is, how great should be, +Inlarged winds, that curle the flood, + Know no such liberty. + + IV. +Stone walls doe not a prison make, + Nor iron bars a cage; +Mindes innocent and quiet take + That for an hermitage; +If I have freedome in my love, + And in my soule am free, +Angels alone that sore above + Enjoy such liberty. + +<50.1> The first stanza of this famous song is harmonized in +CHEERFULL AYRES OR BALLADS: FIRST COMPOSED FOR ONE SINGLE VOICE, +AND SINCE SET FOR THREE VOICES. By John Wilson, Dr. in Music, +Professor of the same in the University of Oxford. Oxford, 1660 +(Sept. 20, 1659), 4to. p. 10. I have sometimes thought that, +when Lovelace composed this production, he had in his recollection +some of the sentiments in Wither's SHEPHERDS HUNTING, 1615. See, +more particularly, the sonnet (at p. 248 of Mr. Gutch's Bristol +edition) commencing:-- + + "I that er'st while the world's sweet air did draw." + +<50.2> Peele, in KING DAVID AND FAIR BETHSABE, 1599, has a similar +figure, where David says:-- + + "Now comes my lover tripping like the roe, + And brings my longings tangled in her hair." + +The "lover" is of course Bethsabe. + +<50.3> Thus Middleton, in his MORE DISSEMBLERS BESIDES WOMEN, +printed in 1657, but written before 1626, says:-- + + "But for modesty, + I should fall foul in words upon fond man, + That can forget his excellence and honour, + His serious meditations, being the end + Of his creation, to learn well to die; + And live a PRISONER TO A WOMAN'S EYE." + +<50.4> Original reads GODS; the present word is substituted +in accordance with a MS. copy of the song printed by the late +Dr. Bliss, in his edition of Woods ATHENAE. If Dr. Bliss had +been aware of the extraordinary corruptions under which the text +of LUCASTA laboured, he would have had less hesitation in adopting +BIRDS as the true reading. The "Song to Althea," is a favourable +specimen of the class of composition to which it belongs; but +I fear that it has been over-estimated. + +<50.5> Percy very unnecessarily altered LIKE COMMITTED LINNETS +to LINNET-LIKE CONFINED (Percy's RELIQUES, ii. 247; Moxon's ed.) +Ellis (SPECIMENS OF EARLY ENGLISH POETS, ed. 1801, iii. 252) +says that this latter reading is "more intelligible." It is not, +however, either what Lovelace wrote, or what (it may be presumed) +he intended to write, and nothing, it would seem, can be clearer +than the passage as it stands, COMMITTED signifying, in fact, +nothing more than CONFINED. It is fortunate for the lovers +of early English literature that Bp. Percy had comparatively +little to do with it. Emendation of a text is well enough; +but the wholesale and arbitrary slaughter of it is quite another +matter. + + + + SONNET. + TO GENERALL GORING,<51.1> AFTER THE PACIFICATION AT BERWICKE. + A LA CHABOT.<51.2> + + I. + Now the peace is made at the foes rate,<51.3> +Whilst men of armes to kettles their old helmes translate, + And drinke in caskes of honourable plate. + In ev'ry hand [let] a cup be found, + That from all hearts a health may sound + To GORING! to GORING! see 't goe round. + + II. + He whose glories shine so brave and high, +That captive they in triumph leade each care and eye, + Claiming uncombated the victorie, + And from the earth to heav'n rebound, + Fixt there eternall as this round: + To GORING! to GORING! see him crown'd. + + III. + To his lovely bride, in love with scars, +Whose eyes wound deepe in peace, as doth his sword in wars; + They shortly must depose the Queen of Stars: + Her cheekes the morning blushes give, + And the benighted world repreeve; + To LETTICE! to LETTICE! let her live. + + IV. + Give me scorching heat, thy heat, dry Sun, +That to this payre I may drinke off an ocean: + Yet leave my grateful thirst unquensht, undone; + Or a full bowle of heav'nly wine, + In which dissolved stars should shine, + To the couple! to the couple! th' are divine. + +<51.1> Particulars of this celebrated man, afterward created +Earl of Norwich, may be found in Eachard's HISTORY, Rushworth's +COLLECTIONS, Whitelocke's MEMOIRS, Collins' PEERAGE by Brydges, +Pepys' DIARY (i. 150, ed. 1858), and Peck's DESIDERATA CURIOSA, +(ed. 1779, ii. 479). Whitelocke speaks very highly of his +military character. In a poem called THE GALLANTS OF THE TIMES, +printed in "Wit Restored," 1658, there is the following passage:-- + + "A great burgandine for WILL MURRAY'S sake + GEORGE SYMONDS, he vows the first course to take: + When STRADLING a Graecian dog let fly, + Who took the bear by the nose immediately; + To see them so forward Hugh Pollard did smile, + Who had an old curr of Canary oyl, + And held up his head that GEORGE GORING might see, + Who then cryed aloud, TO MEE, BOYS, TO MEE!" + +See, also, THE ANSWER:-- + + "GEORGE, Generall of Guenefrieds, + He is a joviall lad, + Though his heart and fortunes disagree + Oft times to make him sad." + +Consult Davenant's Works, 1673, p. 247, and FRAGMENTA AULICA, +1662, pp. 47, 54. Lord Goring died Jan. 6, 1663 (Smyth's +OBITUARY, p. 57; Camden Soc.). + +<51.2> A LA CHABOT was a French dance tune, christened after +the admiral of that name, in the same manner as A LA BOURBON, +mentioned elsewhere in LUCASTA, derived its title from another +celebrated person. Those who have any acquaintance with the +history of early English music need not to be informed that +it was formerly the practice of our own composers to seek the +patronage of the gentlemen and ladies about the Court for their +works, and to identify their names with them. Thus we have +"My Lady Carey's Dumpe," &c. &c. + +<<51.3>> Expense. + + + + SIR THOMAS WORTLEY'S SONNET ANSWERED. + + [THE SONNET. + + I. + No more +Thou little winged archer, now no more + As heretofore, +Thou maist pretend within my breast to bide, + No more, +Since cruell Death of dearest LYNDAMORE + Hath me depriv'd, +I bid adieu to love, and all the world beside. + + II. + Go, go; +Lay by thy quiver and unbend thy bow + Poore sillie foe, +Thou spend'st thy shafts but at my breast in vain, + Since Death +My heart hath with a fatall icie deart + Already slain, +Thou canst not ever hope to warme her wound, + Or wound it o're againe.] + + + THE ANSWER. + + I. + Againe, +Thou witty cruell wanton, now againe, + Through ev'ry veine, +Hurle all your lightning, and strike ev'ry dart, + Againe, +Before I feele this pleasing, pleasing paine. + I have no heart, +Nor can I live but sweetly murder'd with + So deare, so deare a smart. + + II. + Then flye, +And kindle all your torches at her eye, + To make me dye +Her martyr, and put on my roabe of flame: + So I, +Advanced on my blazing wings on high, + In death became +Inthroan'd a starre, and ornament unto + Her glorious, glorious name. + + + + A GUILTLESSE LADY IMPRISONED: AFTER PENANCED. + SONG. + SET BY MR. WILLIAM LAWES. + + I. +Heark, faire one, how what e're here is + Doth laugh and sing at thy distresse; +Not out of hate to thy reliefe, + But joy t' enjoy thee, though in griefe. + + II. +See! that which chaynes you, you chaine here; + The prison is thy prisoner; +How much thy jaylor's keeper art! + He bindes your hands, but you his heart. + + III. +The gyves to rase so smooth a skin, + Are so unto themselves within; +But, blest to kisse so fayre an arme, + Haste to be happy with that harme; + + IV. +And play about thy wanton wrist, + As if in them thou so wert drest; +But if too rough, too hard they presse, + Oh, they but closely, closely kisse. + + V. +And as thy bare feet blesse the way, + The people doe not mock, but pray, +And call thee, as amas'd they run + Instead of prostitute, a nun. + + VI. +The merry torch burnes with desire + To kindle the eternall fire, +And lightly daunces in thine eyes + To tunes of epithalamies. + + VII. +The sheet's ty'd ever to thy wast, + How thankfull to be so imbrac't! +And see! thy very very bonds + Are bound to thee, to binde such hands. + + + + TO HIS DEARE BROTHER COLONEL F. L. +IMMODERATELY MOURNING MY BROTHERS<52.1> UNTIMELY DEATH + AT CARMARTHEN. + + I. +If teares could wash the ill away, +A pearle for each wet bead I'd pay; +But as dew'd corne the fuller growes, +So water'd eyes but swell our woes. + + II. +One drop another cals, which still +(Griefe adding fuell) doth distill; +Too fruitfull of her selfe is anguish, +We need no cherishing to languish. + + III. +Coward fate degen'rate man +Like little children uses, when +He whips us first, untill we weepe, +Then, 'cause we still a weeping keepe. + + IV. +Then from thy firme selfe never swerve; +Teares fat the griefe that they should sterve; +Iron decrees of destinie +Are ner'e wipe't out with a wet eye. + + V. +But this way you may gaine the field, +Oppose but sorrow, and 'twill yield; +One gallant thorough-made resolve +Doth starry influence dissolve. + +<52.1> Thomas Lovelace. See MEMOIR. <see note 2.7> + + + +TO A LADY THAT DESIRED ME I WOULD BEARE MY PART WITH HER IN A SONG. + MADAM A. L.<53.1> + + This is the prittiest motion: +Madam, th' alarums of a drumme +That cals your lord, set to your cries, +To mine are sacred symphonies. + + What, though 'tis said I have a voice; +I know 'tis but that hollow noise +Which (as it through my pipe doth speed) +Bitterns do carol through a reed; +In the same key with monkeys jiggs, +Or dirges of proscribed piggs, +Or the soft Serenades above +In calme of night,<53.2> when<53.3> cats make<53.4> love. + + Was ever such a consort seen! +Fourscore and fourteen with forteen? +Yet<53.5> sooner they'l agree, one paire, +Then we in our spring-winter aire; +They may imbrace, sigh, kiss, the rest: +Our breath knows nought but east and west. +Thus have I heard to childrens cries +The faire nurse still such lullabies, +That, well all sayd (for what there lay), +The pleasure did the sorrow pay. + + Sure ther's another way to save +Your phansie,<53.6> madam; that's to have +('Tis but a petitioning kinde fate) +The organs sent to Bilingsgate, +Where they to that soft murm'ring quire +Shall teach<53.7> you all you can admire! +Or do but heare, how love-bang Kate +In pantry darke for freage of mate, +With edge of steele the square wood shapes, +And DIDO<53.8> to it chaunts or scrapes. +The merry Phaeton oth' carre +You'l vow makes a melodious jarre; +Sweeter and sweeter whisleth He +To un-anointed<53.9> axel-tree; +Such swift notes he and 's wheels do run; +For me, I yeeld him Phaebus son. + Say, faire Comandres, can it be +You should ordaine a mutinie? +For where I howle, all accents fall, +As kings harangues, to one and all.<53.10> + + Ulisses art is now withstood:<53.11> +You ravish both with sweet and good; +Saint Syren, sing, for I dare heare, +But when I ope', oh, stop your eare. + + Far lesse be't aemulation +To passe me, or in trill or<53.12> tone, +Like the thin throat of Philomel, +And the<53.13> smart lute who should excell, +As if her soft cords should begin, +And strive for sweetnes with the pin.<53.14> + + Yet can I musick too; but such +As is beyond all voice or<53.15> touch; +My minde can in faire order chime, +Whilst my true heart still beats the time; +My soule['s] so full of harmonie, +That it with all parts can agree; +If you winde up to the highest fret,<53.16> +It shall descend an eight from it, +And when you shall vouchsafe to fall, +Sixteene above you it shall call, +And yet, so dis-assenting one, +They both shall meet in<53.17> unison. + + Come then, bright cherubin, begin! +My loudest musick is within. +Take all notes with your skillfull eyes; +Hearke, if mine do not sympathise! +Sound all my thoughts, and see exprest +The tablature<53.18> of my large brest; +Then you'l admit, that I too can +Musick above dead sounds of man; +Such as alone doth blesse the spheres, +Not to be reacht with humane eares. + +<53.1> "Madam A. L." is not in MS. copy. "The Lady A. L." and +"Madam A. L." may very probably be two different persons: for +Carew in his Poems (edit. 1651, 8vo. p. 2) has a piece "To A. L.; +Persuasions to Love," and it is possible that the A. L. of Carew, +and the A. L. mentioned above, are identical. The following poem +is printed in Durfey's PILLS TO PURGE MELANCHOLY, v. 120, but +whether it was written by Lovelace, and addressed to the same lady, +whom he represents above as requesting him to join her in a song, +or whether it was the production of another pen, I cannot at all +decide. It is not particularly unlike the style of the author of +LUCASTA. At all events, I am not aware that it has been +appropriated by anybody else, and as I am reluctant to omit any +piece which Lovelace is at all likely to have composed, I give +these lines just as I find them in Durfey, where they are set to +music:-- + + "TO HIS FAIREST VALENTINE MRS. A. L. + + "Come, pretty birds, present your lays, + And learn to chaunt a goddess praise; + Ye wood-nymphs, let your voices be + Employ'd to serve her deity: + And warble forth, ye virgins nine, + Some music to my Valentine. + + "Her bosom is love's paradise, + There is no heav'n but in her eyes; + She's chaster than the turtle-dove, + And fairer than the queen of love: + Yet all perfections do combine + To beautifie my Valentine. + + "She's Nature's choicest cabinet, + Where honour, beauty, worth and wit + Are all united in her breast. + The graces claim an interest: + All virtues that are most divine + Shine clearest in my Valentine." + +<53.2> Nights--Editor's MS. + +<53.3> Where--Ibid. + +<53.4> Do--Ibid. + +<53.5> There is here either an interpolation in the printed copy, +or an HIATUS in the MS. The latter reads:-- + + "Yet may I 'mbrace, sigh, kisse, the rest," &c., + +thus leaving out a line and a half or upward of the poem, +as it is printed in LUCASTA. + +<53.6> MS. reads:--"Youre phansie, madam," omitting "that's to +have." + +<53.7> Original and MS. have REACH. + +<53.8> This must refer, I suppose, to the ballad of Queen Dido, +which the woman sings as she works. The signification of LOVE-BANG +is not easily determined. BANG, in Suffolk, is a term applied +to a particular kind of cheese; but I suspect that "love-bang Kate" +merely signifies "noisy Kate" here. As to the old ballad of Dido, +see Stafford Smith's MUSICA ANTIQUA, i. 10, ii. 158; and Collier's +EXTRACTS FROM THE REGISTERS OF THE STATIONERS' COMPANY, i. 98. +I subjoin the first stanza of "Dido" as printed in the MUSICA +ANTIQUA:-- + + "Dido was the Carthage Queene, + And lov'd the Troian knight, + That wandring many coasts had seene, + And many a dreadfull fight. + As they a-hunting road, a show'r + Drove them in a loving bower, + Down to a darksome cave: + Where Aenaeas with his charmes + Lock't Queene Dido in his armes + And had what he would have." + +A somewhat different version is given in Durfey's PILLS TO PURGE +MELANCHOLY, vi. 192-3. + +<53.9> AN UNANOYNTED--MS. + +<53.10> This and the three preceding lines are not in MS. + +<53.11> Alluding of course to the very familiar legend of +Ulysses and the Syrens. + +<53.12> A quaver (a well-known musical expression). + +<53.13> A--MS. + +<53.14> A musical peg. + +<53.15> AND--MS. + +<53.16> A piece of wire attached to the finger-board of a guitar. + +<53.17> Original and MS. read AN. + +<53.18> The tablature of Lovelace's time was the application +of letters, of the alphabet or otherwise, to the purpose of +expressing the sounds or notes of a composition. + + + + VALIANT LOVE. + + I. +Now fie upon that everlasting life! I dye! + She hates! Ah me! It makes me mad; +As if love fir'd his torch at a moist eye, + Or with his joyes e're crown'd the sad. +Oh, let me live and shout, when I fall on; + Let me ev'n triumph in the first attempt! + Loves duellist from conquest 's not exempt, +When his fair murdresse shall not gain one groan, +And he expire ev'n in ovation. + + II. +Let me make my approach, when I lye downe + With counter-wrought and travers eyes;<54.1> +With peals of confidence batter the towne; + Had ever beggar yet the keyes? +No, I will vary stormes with sun and winde; + Be rough, and offer calme condition; + March in and pread,<54.2> or starve the garrison. +Let her make sallies hourely: yet I'le find +(Though all beat of) shee's to be undermin'd. + + III. +Then may it please your little excellence + Of hearts t' ordaine, by sound of lips, +That henceforth none in tears dare love comence + (Her thoughts ith' full, his, in th' eclipse); +On paine of having 's launce broke on her bed, + That he be branded all free beauties' slave, + And his own hollow eyes be domb'd his grave: +Since in your hoast that coward nere was fed, +Who to his prostrate ere was prostrated. + +<54.1> This seems to be it phrase borrowed by the poet from +his military vocabulary. He wishes to express that he had +fortified his eyes to resist the glances of his fair opponent. + +<54.2> Original reads most unintelligibly and absurdly MARCH +IN (AND PRAY'D) OR, &c. TO PREAD is TO PILLAGE. + + + + LA BELLA BONA ROBA.<55.1><<TOC.1>> + TO MY LADY H. + ODE. + + I. +Tell me, ye subtill judges in loves treasury, +Inform me, which hath most inricht mine eye, +This diamonds greatnes, or its clarity? + + II. +Ye cloudy spark lights, whose vast multitude +Of fires are harder to be found then view'd, +Waite on this star in her first magnitude. + + III. +Calmely or roughly! Ah, she shines too much; +That now I lye (her influence is such), +Chrusht with too strong a hand, or soft a touch. + + IV. +Lovers, beware! a certaine, double harme +Waits your proud hopes, her looks al-killing charm +Guarded by her as true victorious arme. + + V. +Thus with her eyes brave Tamyris spake dread, +Which when the kings dull breast not entered, +Finding she could not looke, she strook him dead. + +<55.1> This word, though generally used in a bad sense by early +writers, does not seem to bear in the present case any offensive +meaning. The late editors of Nares quote a passage from one of +Cowley's ESSAYS, in which that writer seems to imply by the term +merely a fine woman. + +<<TOC.1>> Since the note at p. 133 <i.e. note 55.1> was written, +the following description by Aubrey (LIVES, &c., ii. 332), +of a picture of the Lady Venetia Digby has fallen under my notice. +"Also, at Mr. Rose's, a jeweller in Henrietta Street, in Covent +Garden, is an excellent piece of hers, drawne after she was newly +dead. She had a most lovely sweet-turned face, delicate darke +browne haire. She had a perfect healthy constitution; strong; +good skin; well-proportioned; inclining to a BONA-ROBA." + + + + I. +I cannot tell, who loves the skeleton +Of a poor marmoset; nought but boan, boan; +Give me a nakednesse, with her cloath's on. + + II. +Such, whose white-sattin upper coat of skin, +Cut upon velvet rich incarnadin,<56.1> +Has yet a body (and of flesh) within. + + III. +Sure, it is meant good husbandry<56.2> in men, +Who do incorporate with aery leane, +T' repair their sides, and get their ribb agen. + + IV. +Hard hap unto that huntsman, that decrees +Fat joys for all his swet, when as he sees, +After his 'say,<56.3> nought but his keepers fees. + + V. +Then, Love, I beg, when next thou tak'st thy bow, +Thy angry shafts, and dost heart-chasing go, +Passe RASCALL DEARE, strike me the largest doe.<56.4> + +<56.1> i.e. Carnation hue, a species of red. As an adjective, +the word is peculiarly rare. + +<56.2> Management or economy. + +<56.3> i.e. Essay. + +<56.4> A RASCAL DEER was formerly a well-known term among +sportsmen, signifying a lean beast, not worth pursuit. Thus +in A C. MERY TALYS (1525), No. 29, we find:--"[they] apoynted +thys Welchman to stand still, and forbade him in any wyse +to shote at no rascal dere, but to make sure of the greate male, +and spare not." In the new edition of Nares, other and more recent +examples of the employment of the term are given. But in the +BOOK OF SAINT ALBANS, 1486, RASCAL is used in the signification +merely of a beast other than one of "enchace." + + "And where that ye come in playne or in place, + I shall you tell whyche ben bestys of enchace. + One of them is the bucke: a nother is the doo: + The foxe and the marteron: and the wylde roo. + And ye shall, my dere chylde, other bestys all, + Where so ye theym finde, Rascall ye shall them call." + + + + A LA BOURBON. + DONE MOY PLUS DE PITIE OU<57.1> PLUS DE CREAULTE, + CAR SANS CI IE NE PUIS PAS VIURE, NE MORIR. + + I. +Divine Destroyer, pitty me no more, + Or else more pitty me;<57.2> +Give me more love, ah, quickly give me more, + Or else more cruelty! + For left thus as I am, + My heart is ice and flame; + And languishing thus, I + Can neither live nor dye! + + II. +Your glories are eclipst, and hidden in the grave + Of this indifferency; +And, Caelia, you can neither altars have, + Nor I, a Diety: + They are aspects divine, + That still or smile, or shine, + Or, like th' offended sky, + Frowne death immediately. + +<57.1> Original reads AU. + +<57.2> In his poem entitled "Mediocrity in Love rejected," +Carew has a similar sentiment:-- + + "Give me more Love, or more Disdain, + The Torrid, or the Frozen Zone, + Bring equall ease unto my paine; + The Temperate affords me none: + Either extreme, of Love, or Hate, + Is sweeter than a calme estate." + Carew's POEMS, ed. 1651, p. 14. + +And so also Stanley (AYRES AND DIALOGUES, set by J. Gamble, +1656, p. 20):-- + + "So much of absence and delay, + That thus afflicts my memorie. + Why dost thou kill me every day, + Yet will not give me leave to die?" + + + + THE FAIRE BEGGER. + + I. +Comanding asker, if it be + Pity that you faine would have, +Then I turne begger unto thee, + And aske the thing that thou dost crave. +I will suffice thy hungry need, +So thou wilt but my fancy feed. + + II. +In all ill yeares, was<58.1> ever knowne + On so much beauty such a dearth? +Which, in that thrice-bequeathed gowne, + Lookes like the Sun eclipst with Earth, +Like gold in canvas, or with dirt +Unsoyled Ermins close begirt. + + III. +Yet happy he, that can but tast + This whiter skin, who thirsty is! +Fooles dote on sattin<58.2> motions lac'd: + The gods go naked in their blisse. +At<58.3> th' barrell's head there shines the vine, +There only relishes the wine. + + IV. +There quench my heat, and thou shalt sup + Worthy the lips that it must touch, +Nectar from out the starry cup: + I beg thy breath not halfe so much. +So both our wants supplied shall be, +You'l give for love, I, charity. + + V. +Cheape then are pearle-imbroderies, + That not adorne, but cloud<58.4> thy wast; +Thou shalt be cloath'd above all prise, + If thou wilt promise me imbrac't.<58.5> +Wee'l ransack neither chest nor shelfe: +Ill cover thee with mine owne selfe. + + VI. +But, cruel, if thou dost deny + This necessary almes to me, +What soft-soul'd man but with his eye + And hand will hence be shut to thee? +Since all must judge you more unkinde: +I starve your body, you, my minde. + +<58.1> Original reads WA'ST. + +<58.2> Satin seems to have been much in vogue about this time +as a material for female dress. + "Their glory springs from sattin, + Their vanity from feather." +A DESCRIPTION OF WOMAN in WITS INTERPRETER, 1662, p. 115. + +<58.3> Original has AND. + +<58.4> Original reads CLOUDS. + +<58.5> i.e. TO BE embraced. + + + + [A DIALOGUE BETWIXT CORDANUS AND AMORET, ON A LOST HEART. + +Cord. Distressed pilgrim, whose dark clouded eyes + Speak thee a martyr to love's cruelties, + Whither away? +Amor. What pitying voice I hear, + Calls back my flying steps? +Cord. Pr'ythee, draw near. +Amor. I shall but say, kind swain, what doth become + Of a lost heart, ere to Elysium + It wounded walks? +Cord. First, it does freely flye + Into the pleasures of a lover's eye; + But, once condemn'd to scorn, it fetter'd lies, + An ever-bowing slave to tyrannies. +Amor. I pity its sad fate, since its offence + Was but for love. Can<59.1> tears recall it thence? +Cord. O no, such tears, as do for pity call, + She proudly scorns, and glories at their fall. +Amor. Since neither sighs nor tears, kind shepherd, tell, + Will not a kiss prevail? +Cord. Thou may'st as well + Court Eccho with a kiss. +Amor. Can no art move + A sacred violence to make her love? +Cord. O no! 'tis only Destiny or<59.2> Fate + Fashions our wills either to love or hate. +Amor. Then, captive heart, since that no humane spell + Hath power to graspe thee his, farewell. +Cord.<59.3> Farewell. +Cho. Lost hearts, like lambs drove from their folds by fears, + May back return by chance, but not<59.4> by tears.]<59.5> + +<59.1> So Cotgrave. Lawes, and after him Singer, read CAN'T. + +<59.2> So Cotgrave. Lawes and Singer read AND. + +<59.3> Omitted by Lawes and Singer: I follow Cotgrave. + +<59.4> So Cotgrave. Lawes printed NE'ER. + +<59.5> This is taken from AYRES AND DIALOGUES FOR ONE, TWO, +AND THREE VOYCES, By Henry Lawes, 1653-5-8, where it is set +to music for two trebles by H. L. It was not included in the +posthumous collection of Lovelace's poems. This dialogue +is also found in WITS INTERPRETER, by J. Cotgrave, 1662, 8vo, +page 203 (first printed in 1655), and a few improved readings +have been adopted from that text. + + + + COMMENDATORY AND OTHER VERSES, + PREFIXED TO VARIOUS PUBLICATIONS BETWEEN 1638 AND 1647 + + + + AN ELEGIE. +PRINCESSE KATHERINE<60.1><<AN.3>> BORNE, CHRISTENED, BURIED, + IN ONE DAY. + + You, that can haply<60.2> mixe your joyes with cries, +And weave white Ios with black Elegies, +Can caroll out a dirge, and in one breath +Sing to the tune either of life, or death; +You, that can weepe the gladnesse of the spheres, +And pen a hymne, in stead of inke, with teares; +Here, here your unproportion'd wit let fall, +To celebrate this new-borne funerall, +And greete that little greatnesse, which from th' wombe +Dropt both a load to th' cradle and the tombe. + + Bright soule! teach us, to warble with what feet +Thy swathing linnen and thy winding sheet, +Weepe,<60.3> or shout forth that fonts solemnitie, +Which at once christn'd and buried<60.4> thee, +And change our shriller passions with that sound, +First told thee into th' ayre, then to<60.5> the ground. + + Ah, wert thou borne for this? only to call +The King and Queen guests to your buriall! +To bid good night, your day not yet begun, +And shew<60.6> a setting, ere a rising sun! + + Or wouldst thou have thy life a martyrdom? +Dye in the act of thy religion, +Fit, excellently, innocently good, +First sealing it with water, then thy blood? +As when on blazing wings a blest man sores, +And having past to God through fiery dores, +Straight 's roab'd with flames, when the same element, +Which was his shame, proves now his ornament; +Oh, how he hast'ned death, burn't to be fryed,<60.7> +Kill'd twice with each delay, till deified. +So swift hath been thy race, so full of flight, +Like him condemn'd, ev'n aged with a night, +Cutting all lets with clouds, as if th' hadst been +Like angels plum'd, and borne a Cherubin. + + Or, in your journey towards heav'n, say, +Tooke you the world a little in your way? +Saw'st and dislik'st its vaine pompe, then didst flye +Up for eternall glories to the skye? +Like a religious ambitious one, +Aspiredst for the everlasting crowne? + + Ah! holy traytour to your brother prince, +Rob'd of his birth-right and preheminence! +Could you ascend yon' chaire of state e're him, +And snatch from th' heire the starry diadem? +Making your honours now as much uneven, +As gods on earth are lesse then saints in heav'n. + + Triumph! sing triumphs, then! Oh, put on all +Your richest lookes, drest for this festivall! +Thoughts full of ravisht reverence, with eyes +So fixt, as when a saint we canonize; +Clap wings with Seraphins before the throne +At this eternall coronation, +And teach your soules new mirth, such as may be +Worthy this birth-day to divinity. + + But ah! these blast your feasts, the jubilies +We send you up are sad, as were our cries, +And of true joy we can expresse no more +Thus crown'd, then when we buried thee before. + + Princesse in heav'n, forgivenes! whilst we +Resigne our office to the HIERARCHY. + +<60.1> All historical and genealogical works are deficient +in minute information relative to the family of Charles I. +Even in Anderson's ROYAL GENEALOGIES, 1732, and in the folio +editions of Rapin and Tindal, these details are overlooked. +At page 36 of his DESCENDANTS OF THE STUARTS, 1858, Mr. Townend +observes that two of the children of Charles I. died in infancy, +and of these the Princesse Katherine, commemorated by Lovelace, +was perhaps one. The present verses were originally printed +in MUSARUM OXONIENSIUM CHARISTERIA, Oxon. 1638, 4to, from which +a few better readings have been obtained. With the exceptions +mentioned in the notes, the variations of the earlier text from +that found here are merely literal. + +<<AN.3>> P. 140. PRINCESSE KATHERINE, BORNE, &C., IN ONE DAY. +In Ellis's ORIGINAL LETTERS, Second Series, iii. 265, is printed +a scrap from Harl. MS. 6988, in the handwriting of the Princess +Elizabeth, daughter of Charles I., giving a list of the children +of that prince by Henrietta Maria, with the dates of their birth. +There mention is made of a Princess Katherine, born Jan. 29, 1639. +1639 is, I believe, a slip of the pen for 1637; that is to say, +the princess was born on the 29th of January, 1637-8. This +discrepancy between the CHARISTERIA and the memorandum in Harl. MS. +escaped Sir H. Ellis, who was possibly unaware of the existence of +the former. For, unless a mistake is assumed on the part of the +writer of the MS., the existence of TWO Princesses Katherine must +be granted. + +<60.2> This reading from CHARISTERIA, 1638, seems preferable to +APTLY, as it stands in the LUCASTA. + +<60.3> So the CHARISTERIA. The reading in LUCASTA is MOURNE. + +<60.4> In LUCASTA the reading is BURIED, AND CHRIST'NED. + +<60.5> This word is omitted in the LUCASTA; it is here supplied +from the CHARISTERIA. + +<60.6> LUCASTA reads SHOWE'S. SHEW, as printed in CHARISTERIA, +is clearly the true word. + +<60.7> i.e. freed. FREE and FREED were sometimes formerly +pronounced like FRY and FRYED: for Lord North, in his +FOREST OF VARIETIES, 1645, has these lines-- + + "Birds that long have lived free, + Caught and cag'd, but pine and die." + +Here evidently FREE is intended to rhyme with DIE. + + + + CLITOPHON AND LUCIPPE TRANSLATED.<61.1> + TO THE LADIES. + + Pray, ladies, breath, awhile lay by +Caelestial Sydney's ARCADY;<61.2> +Heere's a story that doth claime +A little respite from his flame: +Then with a quick dissolving looke +Unfold the smoothnes of this book, +To which no art (except your sight) +Can reach a worthy epithite; +'Tis an abstract of all volumes, +A pillaster of all columnes +Fancy e're rear'd to wit, to be +The smallest gods epitome, +And so compactedly expresse +All lovers pleasing wretchednes. + + Gallant Pamela's<61.3> majesty +And her sweet sisters modesty +Are fixt in each of you; you are, +Distinct, what these together were; +Divinest, that are really +What Cariclea's<61.4> feign'd to be; +That are ev'ry one the Nine, +And brighter here Astreas shine; +View our Lucippe, and remaine +In her, these beauties o're againe. + + Amazement! Noble Clitophon +Ev'n now lookt somewhat colder on +His cooler mistresse, and she too +Smil'd not as she us'd to do. +See! the individuall payre +Are at sad oddes, and parted are; +They quarrell, aemulate, and stand +At strife, who first shal kisse your hand. + + A new dispute there lately rose +Betwixt the Greekes and Latines, whose +Temples should be bound with glory, +In best languaging this story;<61.5> + +Yee heyres of love, that with one SMILE +A ten-yeeres war can reconcile; +Peacefull Hellens! Vertuous! See: +The jarring languages agree! +And here, all armes layd by, they doe +In English meet to wayt on you. + +<61.1> Achillis Tatii Alexandrini DE LUCIPPES ET CLITOPHONTIS +AMORIBUS LIBRI OCTO. The translation of this celebrated work, +to which Lovelace contributed the commendatory verses here +republished, was executed by his friend Anthony Hodges, A.M., +of New College, Oxford, and was printed at Oxford in 1638, 8vo. +There had been already a translation by W. Burton, purporting +to be done from the Greek, in 1597, 4to. The text of 1649 and +that of 1638 exhibit so many variations, that the reader may be +glad to have the opportunity of comparison:-- + + "TO THE LADIES. + "Fair ones, breathe: a while lay by + Blessed Sidney's ARCADY: + Here's a story that will make + You not repent HIM to forsake; + And with your dissolving looke + Vntie the contents of this booke; + To which nought (except your sight) + Can give a worthie epithite. + 'Tis an abstract of all volumes, + A pillaster of all columnes + Fancie e're rear'd to wit, to be + Little LOVE'S epitome, + And compactedly expresse + All lovers happy wretchednesse. + + "Brave PAMELA'S majestie + And her sweet sister's modestie + Are fixt in each of you, you are + Alone, what these together were + Divinest, that are really + What Cariclea's feign'd to be; + That are every one, the Nine; + And on earth Astraeas shine; + Be our LEUCIPPE, and remaine + In HER, all these o're againe. + + "Wonder! Noble CLITOPHON + Me thinkes lookes somewhat colder on + His beauteous mistresse, and she too + Smiles not as she us'd to doe. + See! the individuall payre + Are at oddes and parted are; + Quarrel, emulate, and stand + At strife, who first shall kisse your hand. + + "A new warre e're while arose + 'Twixt the GREEKES and LATINES, whose + Temples should be bound with glory + In best languaging this story: + You, that with one lovely smile + A ten-yeares warre can reconcile; + Peacefull Hellens awfull see + The jarring languages agree, + And here all armes laid by, they doe + Meet in English to court you." + Rich. Lovelace, Ma: Ar: A: Glou: Eq: Aur: Fil: Nat: Max. + +See Halliwell's DICTIONARY OF OLD PLAYS, 1860, art. CLYTOPHON. + +<61.2> There can be no doubt that Sidney's ARCADIA was formerly +as popular in its way among the readers of both sexes as Sir +Richard Baker's CHRONICLE appears to have been. The former was +especially recommended to those who sought occasional relaxation +from severer studies. See Higford's INSTITUTIONS, 1658, 8vo, +p. 46-7. In his poem of THE SURPRIZE, Cotton describes his +nymph as reading the ARCADIA on the bank of a river-- + + "The happy OBJECT of her eye + Was SIDNEY'S living ARCADY: + Whose amorous tale had so betrai'd + Desire in this all-lovely maid; + That, whilst her check a blush did warm, + I read LOVES story in her form." + POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. + By Charles Cotton, Esq. Lond. 1689, 8vo, p. 392. + +<61.3> The Pamela of Sydney's ARCADIA + +<61.4> The allusion is to the celebrated story of THEAGENES AND +CHARICLEA, which was popular in this country at an early period. +A drama on the subject was performed before Court in 1574. + +<61.5> Lovelace refers, it may be presumed, to an edition +of ACHILLES TATIUS, in which the Greek text was printed +with a Latin translation. + + + + TO MY TRUELY VALIANT, LEARNED FRIEND; WHO IN HIS BOOKE<62.1> + RESOLV'D THE ART GLADIATORY INTO THE MATHEMATICKS. + + I. +Hearke, reader! wilt be learn'd ith' warres? + A gen'rall in a gowne? +Strike a league with arts and scarres, + And snatch from each a crowne? + + II. +Wouldst be a wonder? Such a one, + As should win with a looke? +A bishop in a garison, + And conquer by the booke? + + III. +Take then this mathematick shield, + And henceforth by its rules +Be able to dispute ith' field, + And combate in the schooles. + + IV. +Whilst peaceful learning once againe + And the souldier so concord, +As that he fights now with her penne, + And she writes with his sword. + +<62.1> "PALLAS ARMATA. The Gentlemen's Armorie. Wherein +the right and genuine use of the Rapier and of the Sword, +as well against the right handed as against the left handed +man 'is displayed.' [By G. A.] London, 1639, 8vo. With several +illustrative woodcuts." The lines, as originally printed +in PALLAS ARMATA, vary from those subsequently admitted into +LUCASTA. They are as follow:-- + + TO THE READER. + Harke, reader, would'st be learn'd ith' warres, + A CAPTAINE in a gowne? + Strike a league with bookes and starres, + And weave of both the crowne? + + Would'st be a wonder? Such a one + As would winne with a looke? + A schollar in a garrison? + And conquer by the booke? + + Take then this mathematick shield, + And henceforth by its rules, + Be able to dispute ith' field, + And combate in the schooles. + + Whil'st peacefull learning once agen + And th' souldier do concorde, + As that he fights now with her penne, + And she writes with his sword. + Rich. Lovelace, A. Glouces. Oxon. + + + + + TO FLETCHER REVIV'D.<63.1> + + How have I bin religious? what strange good +Has scap't me, that I never understood? +Have I hel-guarded Haeresie o'rthrowne? +Heald wounded states? made kings and kingdoms one? +That FATE should be so merciful to me, +To let me live t' have said I have read thee. + + Faire star, ascend! the joy! the life! the light +Of this tempestuous age, this darke worlds sight! +Oh, from thy crowne of glory dart one flame +May strike a sacred reverence, whilest thy name +(Like holy flamens to their god of day) +We bowing, sing; and whilst we praise, we pray. + + Bright spirit! whose aeternal motion +Of wit, like Time, stil in it selfe did run, +Binding all others in it, and did give +Commission, how far this or that shal live; +Like DESTINY of poems who, as she +Signes death to all, her selfe cam never dye. + + And now thy purple-robed Traegedy,<63.2> +In her imbroider'd buskins, cals mine eye, +Where the brave Aetius we see betray'd, +T' obey his death, whom thousand lives obey'd; +Whilst that the mighty foole his scepter breakes, +And through his gen'rals wounds his own doome speakes, +Weaving thus richly VALENTINIAN, +The costliest monarch with the cheapest man. + + Souldiers may here to their old glories adde, +The LOVER love, and be with reason MAD:<63.3> +Not, as of old, Alcides furious,<63.4> +Who wilder then his bull did teare the house +(Hurling his language with the canvas stone): +Twas thought the monster ror'd the sob'rer tone. + + But ah! when thou thy sorrow didst inspire +With passions, blacke as is her darke attire, +Virgins as sufferers have wept to see +So white a soule, so red a crueltie; +That thou hast griev'd, and with unthought redresse +Dri'd their wet eyes who now thy mercy blesse; +Yet, loth to lose thy watry jewell, when +Joy wip't it off, laughter straight sprung't agen. + + Now ruddy checked Mirth with rosie wings<63.5> +Fans ev'ry brow with gladnesse, whilst she sings +Delight to all, and the whole theatre +A festivall in heaven doth appeare: +Nothing but pleasure, love; and (like the morne) +Each face a gen'ral smiling doth adorne. + + Heare ye, foul speakers, that pronounce the aire +Of stewes and shores,<63.6> I will informe you where +And how to cloath aright your wanton wit, +Without her nasty bawd attending it:<63.7> +View here a loose thought sayd with such a grace, +Minerva might have spoke in Venus face; +So well disguis'd, that 'twas conceiv'd by none +But Cupid had Diana's linnen on; +And all his naked parts so vail'd, th' expresse +The shape with clowding the uncomlinesse; +That if this Reformation, which we +Receiv'd, had not been buried with thee, +The stage (as this worke) might have liv'd and lov'd +Her lines, the austere Skarlet<63.8> had approv'd; +And th' actors wisely been from that offence +As cleare, as they are now from audience.<63.9> + + Thus with thy Genius did the scaene expire,<63.10> +Wanting thy active and correcting fire, +That now (to spread a darknesse over all) +Nothing remaines but Poesie to fall: +And though from these thy Embers we receive +Some warmth, so much as may be said, we live; +That we dare praise thee blushlesse, in the head +Of the best piece Hermes to Love<63.11> e're read; +That we rejoyce and glory in thy wit, +And feast each other with remembring it; +That we dare speak thy thought, thy acts recite: +Yet all men henceforth be afraid to write. + +<63.1> Fletcher the dramatist fell a victim to the plague of 1625. +See Aubrey's LIVES, vol. 2, part i. p. 352. The verses here +republished were originally prefixed to the first collected edition +of Beaumont and Fletcher's TRAGEDIES AND COMEDIES, 1647, folio. +It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that Lovelace was +only a child when Fletcher died. + +<63.2> VALENTINIAN, A TRAGEDY. First printed in the folio of 1647. + +<63.3> THE MAD LOVER. Also first printed in the folio of 1647. + +<63.4> An allusion to the HERCULES FURENS of Euripides. Lovelace +had, no doubt, some tincture of Greek scholarship (See Wood's ATH. +OX. ii. 466); but as to the extent of his acquirements in this +direction, it is hard to speak with confidence. Among the books +of Mr. Thomas Jolley, dispersed in 1853, was a copy of Clenardus +INSTITUTIONES GRAECAE LINGUAE, Lugd. Batav. 1626, 8vo., on the +title of which was "Richard Lovelace, 1630, March 5," supposed +to be the autograph of the poet when a schoolboy. + +<63.5> In the margin of the copy of 1647, against these lines +is written--"COMEDIES: THE SPANISH CURATE, THE HUMOROUS +LIEUTENANT, THE TAMER TAMED, THE LITTLE FRENCH LAWYER." + +<63.6> Sewers. + +<63.7> THE CUSTOME OF THE COUNTREY--Marginal note in the copy +of 1647. + +<63.8> Query, LAUD. + +<63.9> These lines refer to the prohibition published by the +Parliament against the performance of stage-plays and interludes. +The first ordinance appeared in 1642, but that not being found +effectual, a more stringent measure was enacted in 1647, directing, +under the heaviest penalties, the total and immediate abolition +of theatricals. + +<63.10> i.e. The scenic drama. The original meaning of SCENE +was a wooden stage for the representation of plays, &c., +and it is here used therefore in its primitive sense. + +<63.11> In the old mythology of Greece, Cupid is the pupil +of Mercury or Hermes; or, in other words, LOVE is instructed +by ELOQUENCE and WIT. + + + + LUCASTA. + + Posthume + POEMS + 0F + + RICHARD LOVELACE ESQ; + + THOSE HONOURS COME TOO LATE, + THAT ON OUR ASHES WAITE. + Mart. lib. I. Epig. 26. + + LONDON. + + Printed by WILLIAM GODBID for + + CLEMENT DARBY. + + 1659. + + THE DEDICATION. + + TO THE RIGHT H0N0RABLE JOHN LOVELACE, ESQUIRE.<64.1> + +SIR, + +LUCASTA (fair, but hapless maid!) +Once flourisht underneath the shade +Of your illustrious Mother; now, +An orphan grown, she bows to you! +To you, her vertues' noble heir; +Oh may she find protection there! +Nor let her welcome be the less, +'Cause a rough hand makes her address: +One (to whom foes the Muses are) +Born and bred up in rugged war: +For, conscious how unfit I am, +I only have pronounc'd her name +To waken pity in your brest, +And leave her tears to plead the rest. + Sir, + Your most obedient + Servant and kinsman + + DUDLEY POSTHUMUS-LOVELACE. + + +<64.1> This gentleman was the eldest son of John, second Lord +Lovelace of Hurley, co. Berks, by Anne, daughter of Thomas, +Earl of Cleveland. The first part of LUCASTA was inscribed +by the poet himself to Lady Lovelace, his mother. + + + + POEMS. + + + + TO LVCASTA. + + HER RESERVED LOOKS. + +LUCASTA, frown, and let me die, + But smile, and see, I live; +The sad indifference of your eye + Both kills and doth reprieve. +You hide our fate within its screen; + We feel our judgment, ere we hear. +So in one picture I have seen + An angel here, the devil there. + + + + LUCASTA LAUGHING. + +Heark, how she laughs aloud, +Although the world put on its shrowd: +Wept at by the fantastic crowd, + Who cry: one drop, let fall +From her, might save the universal ball. + She laughs again + At our ridiculous pain; + And at our merry misery + She laughs, until she cry. + Sages, forbear + That ill-contrived tear, + Although your fear +Doth barricado hope from your soft ear. +That which still makes her mirth to flow, + Is our sinister-handed woe, +Which downwards on its head doth go, + And, ere that it is sown, doth grow. + This makes her spleen contract, + And her just pleasure feast: + For the unjustest act + Is still the pleasant'st jest. + + + + NIGHT. + + TO LUCASTA. + +Night! loathed jaylor of the lock'd up sun, + And tyrant-turnkey on committed day, +Bright eyes lye fettered in thy dungeon, + And Heaven it self doth thy dark wards obey. + Thou dost arise our living hell; + With thee grones, terrors, furies dwell; + Until LUCASTA doth awake, +And with her beams these heavy chaines off shake. + +Behold! with opening her almighty lid, +Bright eyes break rowling, and with lustre spread, + And captive day his chariot mounted is; + Night to her proper hell is beat, + And screwed to her ebon seat; +Till th' Earth with play oppressed lies, +And drawes again the curtains of her eyes. + +But, bondslave, I know neither day nor night; + Whether she murth'ring sleep, or saving wake; +Now broyl'd ith' zone of her reflected light, + Then frose, my isicles, not sinews shake. + Smile then, new Nature, your soft blast + Doth melt our ice, and fires waste; +Whil'st the scorch'd shiv'ring world new born +Now feels it all the day one rising morn. + + + + LOVE INTHRON'D. + + ODE. + + I. +Introth, I do my self perswade, + That the wilde boy is grown a man, +And all his childishnesse off laid, + E're since LUCASTA did his fires fan; + H' has left his apish jigs, + And whipping hearts like gigs: + For t' other day I heard him swear, +That beauty should be crown'd in honours chair. + + II. +With what a true and heavenly state + He doth his glorious darts dispence, +Now cleans'd from falsehood, blood and hate, + And newly tipt with innocence! + Love Justice is become, + And doth the cruel doome; + Reversed is the old decree; +Behold! he sits inthron'd with majestie. + + III. +Inthroned in LUCASTA'S eye, + He doth our faith and hearts survey; +Then measures them by sympathy, + And each to th' others breast convey; + Whilst to his altars now + The frozen vestals bow, + And strickt Diana too doth go +A-hunting with his fear'd, exchanged bow. + + IV. +Th' imbracing seas and ambient air + Now in his holy fires burn; +Fish couple, birds and beasts in pair + Do their own sacrifices turn. + This is a miracle, + That might religion swell; + But she, that these and their god awes, +Her crowned self submits to her own laws. + + + + HER MUFFE. + + I. +Twas not for some calm blessing to deceive, +Thou didst thy polish'd hands in shagg'd furs weave; + It were no blessing thus obtain'd; + Thou rather would'st a curse have gain'd, +Then let thy warm driven snow be ever stain'd. + + II. +Not that you feared the discolo'ring cold +Might alchymize their silver into gold; + Nor could your ten white nuns so sin, + That you should thus pennance them in, +Each in her coarse hair smock of discipline. + + III. +Nor, Hero-like who, on their crest still wore +A lyon, panther, leopard, or a bore, + To looke their enemies in their herse, + Thou would'st thy hand should deeper pierce, +And, in its softness rough, appear more fierce. + + IV. +No, no, LUCASTA, destiny decreed, +That beasts to thee a sacrifice should bleed, + And strip themselves to make you gay: + For ne'r yet herald did display +A coat, where SABLES upon ERMIN lay. + + V. +This for lay-lovers, that must stand at dore, +Salute the threshold, and admire no more; + But I, in my invention tough, + Rate not this outward bliss enough, +But still contemplate must the hidden muffe. + + + + A BLACK PATCH<65.1> ON LUCASTA'S FACE. + +Dull as I was, to think that a court fly + Presum'd so neer her eye; + When 'twas th' industrious bee + Mistook her glorious face for paradise, +To summe up all his chymistry of spice; + With a brave pride and honour led, + Neer both her suns he makes his bed, +And, though a spark, struggles to rise as red. + Then aemulates the gay + Daughter of day; + Acts the romantick phoenix' fate, + When now, with all his sweets lay'd out in state, + LUCASTA scatters but one heat, +And all the aromatick pills do sweat, +And gums calcin'd themselves to powder beat, + Which a fresh gale of air + Conveys into her hair; + Then chaft, he's set on fire, +And in these holy flames doth glad expire; + And that black marble tablet there + So neer her either sphere + Was plac'd; nor foyl, nor ornament, +But the sweet little bee's large monument. + +<65.1> The following is a poet's lecture to the ladies of his +time on the long prevailing practice of wearing patches, +in which it seems that Lucasta acquiesced:-- + + BLACK PATCHES. + VANITAS VANITATUM. + LADIES turn conjurers, and can impart + The hidden mystery of the black art, + Black artificial patches do betray; + They more affect the works of night than day. + The creature strives the Creator to disgrace, + By patching that which is a perfect face: + A little stain upon the purest dye + Is both offensive to the heart and eye. + Defile not then with spots that face of snow, + Where the wise God His workmanship doth show, + The light of nature and the light of grace + Is the complexion for a lady's face. + FLAMMA SINE FUMO, by R. Watkyns, 1662, p. 81. + +In a poem entitled THE BURSSE OF REFORMATION, in praise of +the New Exchange, printed in WIT RESTORED, 1658, patches are +enumerated among the wares of all sorts to be procured there:-- + + "Heer patches are of every cut, + For pimples and for scars." + +They were also used for rheum, as appears from a passage in +WESTWARD HOE, 1607:-- + + "JUDITH. I am so troubled with the rheum too. Mouse, what's + good for it? + HONEY. How often I have told you you must get a patch." + Webster's WORKS, ed. Hazlitt, i. 87. See +Durfey's PILLS TO PURGE MELANCHOLY, v. 197. + +"Mrs. Pepys wore patches, and so did my Lady Sandwich and her +daughter."--DIARY, 30 Aug. and 20 Oct. 1660. + + + + ANOTHER. + + I. +As I beheld a winter's evening air, +Curl'd in her court-false-locks of living hair, +Butter'd with jessamine the sun left there. + + II. +Galliard and clinquant she appear'd to give, +A serenade or ball to us that grieve, +And teach us A LA MODE more gently live. + + III. +But as a Moor, who to her cheeks prefers +White spots, t' allure her black idolaters, +Me thought she look'd all ore-bepatch'd with stars. + + IV. +Like the dark front of some Ethiopian queen, +Vailed all ore with gems of red, blew, green, +Whose ugly night seem'd masked with days skreen. + + V. +Whilst the fond people offer'd sacrifice +To saphyrs, 'stead of veins and arteries, +And bow'd unto the diamonds, not her eyes. + + VI. +Behold LUCASTA'S face, how't glows like noon! +A sun intire is her complexion, +And form'd of one whole constellation. + + VII. +So gently shining, so serene, so cleer, +Her look doth universal Nature cheer; +Only a cloud or two hangs here and there. + + + + TO LUCASTA. + + I. + I laugh and sing, but cannot tell + Whether the folly on't sounds well; + But then I groan, + Methinks, in tune; +Whilst grief, despair and fear dance to the air + Of my despised prayer. + + II. + A pretty antick love does this, + Then strikes a galliard with a kiss; + As in the end + The chords they rend; +So you but with a touch from your fair hand + Turn all to saraband. + + + + TO LUCASTA. + + I. +Like to the sent'nel stars, I watch all night; + For still the grand round of your light + And glorious breast + Awake<66.1> in me an east: +Nor will my rolling eyes ere know a west. + + II. +Now on my down I'm toss'd as on a wave, + And my repose is made my grave; + Fluttering I lye, + Do beat my self and dye, +But for a resurrection from your eye. + + III. +Ah, my fair murdresse! dost thou cruelly heal + With various pains to make me well? + Then let me be + Thy cut anatomie, +And in each mangled part my heart you'l see. + +<66.1> Original has AWAKES. + + + + LUCASTA AT THE BATH. + + I. +I' th' autumn of a summer's day, +When all the winds got leave to play, +LUCASTA, that fair ship, is lanch'd, +And from its crust this almond blanch'd. + + II. +Blow then, unruly northwind, blow, +'Till in their holds your eyes you stow; +And swell your cheeks, bequeath chill death; +See! she hath smil'd thee out of breath. + + III. +Court, gentle zephyr, court and fan +Her softer breast's carnation wan; +Your charming rhethorick of down +Flyes scatter'd from before her frown. + + IV. +Say, my white water-lilly, say, +How is't those warm streams break away, +Cut by thy chast cold breast, which dwells +Amidst them arm'd in isicles? + + V. +And the hot floods, more raging grown, +In flames of thee then in their own, +In their distempers wildly glow, +And kisse thy pillar of fix'd snow. + + VI. +No sulphur, through whose each blew vein +The thick and lazy currents strein, +Can cure the smarting nor the fell +Blisters of love, wherewith they swell. + + VII. +These great physicians of the blind, +The lame, and fatal blains of Inde +In every drop themselves now see +Speckled with a new leprosie. + + VIII. +As sick drinks are with old wine dash'd, +Foul waters too with spirits wash'd, +Thou greiv'd, perchance, one tear let'st fall, +Which straight did purifie them all. + + IX. +And now is cleans'd enough the flood, +Which since runs cleare as doth thy blood; +Of the wet pearls uncrown thy hair, +And mantle thee with ermin air. + + X. +Lucasta, hail! fair conqueresse +Of fire, air, earth and seas! +Thou whom all kneel to, yet even thou +Wilt unto love, thy captive, bow. + + + + THE ANT.<67.1> + + I. +Forbear, thou great good husband, little ant; + A little respite from thy flood of sweat! +Thou, thine own horse and cart under this plant, + Thy spacious tent, fan thy prodigious heat; +Down with thy double load of that one grain! +It is a granarie for all thy train. + + II. +Cease, large example of wise thrift, awhile + (For thy example is become our law), +And teach thy frowns a seasonable smile: + So Cato sometimes the nak'd Florals saw.<67.2> +And thou, almighty foe, lay by thy sting, +Whilst thy unpay'd musicians, crickets, sing. + + III. +LUCASTA, she that holy makes the day, + And 'stills new life in fields of fueillemort,<67.3> +Hath back restor'd their verdure with one ray, + And with her eye bid all to play and sport, +Ant, to work still! age will thee truant call; +And to save now, th'art worse than prodigal. + + IV. +Austere and cynick! not one hour t' allow, + To lose with pleasure, what thou gotst with pain; +But drive on sacred festivals thy plow, + Tearing high-ways with thy ore-charged wain. +Not all thy life-time one poor minute live, +And thy ore-labour'd bulk with mirth relieve? + + V. +Look up then, miserable ant, and spie + Thy fatal foes, for breaking of their<67.4> law, +Hov'ring above thee: Madam MARGARET PIE: + And her fierce servant, meagre Sir JOHN DAW: +Thy self and storehouse now they do store up, +And thy whole harvest too within their crop. + + VI. +Thus we unt[h]rifty thrive within earth's tomb + For some more rav'nous and ambitious jaw: +The grain in th' ant's, the ant<67.5> in the pie's womb, + The pie in th' hawk's, the hawk<67.6> ith' eagle's maw. +So scattering to hord 'gainst a long day, +Thinking to save all, we cast all away. + +<67.1> A writer in CENSURA LITERARIA, x. 292 (first edit.)--the +late E. V. Utterson, Esq.--highly praises this little poem, and +says that it is not unworthy of Cowper. I think it highly +probable that the translation from Martial (lib. vi. Ep. 15), +at the end of the present volume, was executed prior to the +composition of these lines; and that the latter were suggested +by the former. Compare the beautiful description of the ant in +the PROVERBS OF SOLOMON:--"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider +her ways and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, +provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the +harvest.--PROVERBS, vi. 6-8. + +In the poems of John Cleveland, 1669, is a piece entitled +"Fuscara, or the Bee Errant," which is of a somewhat similar +character, and is by no means a contemptible production, though +spoiled by that LUES ALCHYMISTICA which disfigures so much of the +poetry of Cleveland's time. The abilities of Cleveland as a +writer seem to have been underrated by posterity, in proportion +to the undue praise lavished upon him by his contemporaries. + +<67.2> The Floralia, games antiently celebrated at Rome in honour +of Flora. + +<67.3> Here used for DEAD OR FADED VEGETATION, but strictly it +means DEAD OR FADED LEAF. FILEMORT is another form of the same +word. + +<67.4> Original has HER. + +<67.5> Original reads ANTS. + +<67.6> Original reads HAWKS. + + + + SONG. + + I. + Strive not, vain lover, to be fine; + Thy silk's the silk-worm's, and not thine: +You lessen to a fly your mistriss' thought, +To think it may be in a cobweb caught. + What, though her thin transparent lawn + Thy heart in a strong net hath drawn: +Not all the arms the god of fire ere made +Can the soft bulwarks of nak'd love invade. + + II. + Be truly fine, then, and yourself dress + In her fair soul's immac'late glass. +Then by reflection you may have the bliss +Perhaps to see what a true fineness is; + When all your gawderies will fit + Those only that are poor in wit. +She that a clinquant outside doth adore, +Dotes on a gilded statue and no more. + + + + IN ALLUSION TO THE FRENCH SONG. + + N' ENTENDEZ VOUS PAS CE LANGUAGE. + + CHORUS. + THEN UNDERSTAND YOU NOT (FAIR CHOICE) + THIS LANGUAGE WITHOUT TONGUE OR VOICE? + + I. + How often have my tears + Invaded your soft ears, + And dropp'd their silent chimes + A thousand thousand times? + Whilst echo did your eyes, + And sweetly sympathize; + But that the wary lid + Their sluces did forbid. + +Cho. THEN UNDERSTAND YOU NOT (FAIR CHOICE) + THIS LANGUAGE WITHOUT TONGUE OR VOICE? + + II. + My arms did plead my wound, + Each in the other bound; + Volleys of sighs did crowd, + And ring my griefs alowd; + Grones, like a canon-ball, + Batter'd the marble wall, + That the kind neighb'ring grove + Did mutiny for love. + +Cho. THEN UNDERSTAND YOU NOT (FAIR CHOICE) + THIS LANGUAGE WITHOUT TONGUE OR VOICE? + + III. + The rheth'rick of my hand + Woo'd you to understand; + Nay, in our silent walk + My very feet would talk; + My knees were eloquent, + And spake the love I meant; + But deaf unto that ayr, + They, bent, would fall in prayer. + +Cho. YET UNDERSTAND YOU NOT (FAIR CHOICE) + THIS LANGUAGE WITHOUT TONGUE OR VOICE? + + IV. + No? Know, then, I would melt + On every limb I felt, + And on each naked part + Spread my expanded heart, + That not a vein of thee + But should be fill'd with mee. + Whilst on thine own down, I + Would tumble, pant, and dye. + +Cho. YOU UNDERSTAND NOT THIS (FAIR CHOICE); + THIS LANGUAGE WANTS BOTH TONGUE AND VOICE. + + + + COURANTE<68.1> MONSIEUR. + + That frown, Aminta, now hath drown'd + Thy bright front's pow'r, and crown'd + Me that was bound. + No, no, deceived cruel, no! + Love's fiery darts, +Till tipt with kisses, never kindle hearts. + + Adieu, weak beauteous tyrant, see! + Thy angry flames meant me,<68.2> + Retort on thee: + For know, it is decreed, proud fair, + I ne'r must dye +By any scorching, but a melting, eye. + +<68.1> COURANTE was a favourite dance and dance-tune. It is +still known under the same name. + +<68.2> i.e. THAT meant me, which was intended for me. + + + + A LOOSE SARABAND. + + I. +Nay, prethee, dear, draw nigher, + Yet closer, nigher yet; +Here is a double fire, + A dry one and a wet. +True lasting heavenly fuel +Puts out the vestal jewel, +When once we twining marry +Mad love with wild canary. + + II. +Off with that crowned Venice,<69.1> + 'Till all the house doth flame, +Wee'l quench it straight in Rhenish, + Or what we must not name. +Milk lightning still asswageth; +So when our fury rageth, +As th' only means to cross it, +Wee'l drown it in love's posset. + + III. +Love never was well-willer + Unto my nag or mee, +Ne'r watter'd us ith' cellar, + But the cheap buttery. +At th' head of his own barrells, +Where broach'd are all his quarrels, +Should a true noble master +Still make his guest his taster. + + IV. +See, all the world how't staggers, + More ugly drunk then we, +As if far gone in daggers + And blood it seem'd to be. +We drink our glass of roses, +Which nought but sweets discloses: +Then in our loyal chamber +Refresh us with love's amber. + + V. +Now tell me, thou fair cripple, + That dumb canst scarcely see +Th' almightinesse of tipple, + And th' ods 'twixt thee and thee, +What of Elizium's missing, +Still drinking and still kissing; +Adoring plump October; +Lord! what is man, and<69.2> sober? + + VI. +Now, is there such a trifle + As honour, the fools gyant, +What is there left to rifle, + When wine makes all parts plyant? +Let others glory follow, +In their false riches wallow, +And with their grief be merry: +Leave me but love and sherry. + +<69.1> QU. a crowned goblet of Venice glass. + +<69.2> i.e. if. + + + + THE FALCON. + + Fair Princesse of the spacious air, +That hast vouchsaf'd acquaintance here, +With us are quarter'd below stairs, +That can reach heav'n with nought but pray'rs; +Who, when our activ'st wings we try, +Advance a foot into the sky. + + Bright heir t' th' bird imperial, +From whose avenging penons fall +Thunder and lightning twisted spun! +Brave cousin-german to the Sun! +That didst forsake thy throne and sphere, +To be an humble pris'ner here; +And for a pirch of her soft hand, +Resign the royal woods' command. + + How often would'st thou shoot heav'ns ark, +Then mount thy self into a lark; +And after our short faint eyes call, +When now a fly, now nought at all! +Then stoop so swift unto our sence, +As thou wert sent intelligence! + + Free beauteous slave, thy happy feet +In silver fetters vervails<70.1> meet, +And trample on that noble wrist, +The gods have kneel'd in vain t' have kist. +But gaze not, bold deceived spye, +Too much oth' lustre of her eye; +The Sun thou dost out stare, alas! +Winks at the glory of her face. + + Be safe then in thy velvet helm, +Her looks are calms that do orewhelm, +Then the Arabian bird more blest, +Chafe in the spicery of her breast, +And loose you in her breath a wind +Sow'rs the delicious gales of Inde. + + But now a quill from thine own wing +I pluck, thy lofty fate to sing; +Whilst we behold the varions fight +With mingled pleasure and affright; +The humbler hinds do fall to pray'r, +As when an army's seen i' th' air, +And the prophetick spannels run, +And howle thy epicedium. + + The heron mounted doth appear +On his own Peg'sus a lanceer, +And seems, on earth when he doth hut, +A proper halberdier on foot; +Secure i' th' moore, about to sup, +The dogs have beat his quarters up. + + And now he takes the open air, +Drawes up his wings with tactick care; +Whilst th' expert falcon swift doth climbe +In subtle mazes serpentine; +And to advantage closely twin'd +She gets the upper sky and wind, +Where she dissembles to invade, +And lies a pol'tick ambuscade. + + The hedg'd-in heron, whom the foe +Awaits above, and dogs below, +In his fortification lies, +And makes him ready for surprize; +When roused with a shrill alarm, +Was shouted from beneath: they arm. + + The falcon charges at first view +With her brigade of talons, through +Whose shoots, the wary heron beat +With a well counterwheel'd retreat. +But the bold gen'ral, never lost, +Hath won again her airy post; +Who, wild in this affront, now fryes, +Then gives a volley of her eyes. + + The desp'rate heron now contracts +In one design all former facts; +Noble, he is resolv'd to fall, +His and his en'mies funerall, +And (to be rid of her) to dy, +A publick martyr of the sky. + + When now he turns his last to wreak +The palizadoes of his beak, +The raging foe impatient, +Wrack'd with revenge, and fury rent, +Swift as the thunderbolt he strikes +Too sure upon the stand of pikes; +There she his naked breast doth hit, +And on the case of rapiers's split. + + But ev'n in her expiring pangs +The heron's pounc'd within her phangs, +And so above she stoops to rise, +A trophee and a sacrifice; +Whilst her own bells in the sad fall +Ring out the double funerall. + + Ah, victory, unhap'ly wonne! +Weeping and red is set the Sun; +Whilst the whole field floats in one tear, +And all the air doth mourning wear. +Close-hooded all thy kindred come +To pay their vows upon thy tombe; +The hobby<70.2> and the musket<70.3> too +Do march to take their last adieu. + + The lanner<70.4> and the lanneret<70.5> +Thy colours bear as banneret; +The GOSHAWK and her TERCEL<70.6> rows'd +With tears attend thee as new bows'd, +All these are in their dark array, +Led by the various herald-jay. + + But thy eternal name shall live +Whilst quills from ashes fame reprieve, +Whilst open stands renown's wide dore, +And wings are left on which to soar; +Doctor robbin, the prelate pye, +And the poetick swan, shall dye, +Only to sing thy elegie. + +<70.1> i.e. VERVELS. See Halliwell's DICTIONARY OF ARCHAIC AND +PROVINCIAL WORDS, art. VERVEL. + +<70.2> A kind of falcon. It is the FALCO SUBBUTEO of Linnaeus. +Lyly, in his EUPHUES (1579, fol. 28), makes Lucilla say-- +"No birde can looke agains the Sunne, but those that bee +bredde of the eagle, neyther any hawke soare so hie as the +broode of the hobbie." + + "Then rouse thee, muse, each little hobby plies + At scarabes and painted butterflies." + Wither's ABUSES STRIPT AND WHIPT, 1613. + +<70.3> The young male sparrow-hawk. + +<70.4> The FALCO LANIARIUS of Linnaeus. + +<70.5> The female of the LANNER. Latham (Faulconrie, lib. ii. +chap. v. ed. 1658), explains the difference between the LANNER +and the GOSHAWK. + +<70.6> Here used for the female of the goshawk. TIERCEL and +TASSEL are other forms of the same word. See Strutt's SPORTS +AND PASTIMES, ed. Hone, 1845, p. 37. + + + + LOVE MADE IN THE FIRST AGE. + + TO CHLORIS. + + I. +In the nativity of time, +Chloris! it was not thought a crime + In direct Hebrew for to woe. +Now wee make love, as all on fire, +Ring retrograde our lowd desire, + And court in English backward too. + + II. +Thrice happy was that golden age, +When complement was constru'd rage, + And fine words in the center hid; +When cursed NO stain'd no maid's blisse, +And all discourse was summ'd in YES, + And nought forbad, but to forbid. + + III.<71.1> +Love then unstinted love did sip, +And cherries pluck'd fresh from the lip, + On cheeks and roses free he fed; +Lasses, like Autumne plums, did drop, +And lads indifferently did drop + A flower and a maiden-head. + + IV. +Then unconfined each did tipple +Wine from the bunch, milk from the nipple; + Paps tractable as udders were. +Then equally the wholsome jellies +Were squeez'd from olive-trees and bellies: + Nor suits of trespasse did they fear. + + V. +A fragrant bank of strawberries, +Diaper'd with violets' eyes, + Was table, table-cloth and fare; +No palace to the clouds did swell, +Each humble princesse then did dwell + In the Piazza of her hair. + + VI. +Both broken faith and th' cause of it, +All-damning gold, was damn'd to th' pit; + Their troth seal'd with a clasp and kisse, +Lasted until that extreem day, +In which they smil'd their souls away, + And in each other breath'd new blisse. + + VII. +Because no fault, there was no tear; +No grone did grate the granting ear, + No false foul breath, their del'cat smell. +No serpent kiss poyson'd the tast, +Each touch was naturally chast, + And their mere Sense a Miracle. + + VIII. +Naked as their own innocence, +And unembroyder'd from offence, + They went, above poor riches, gay; +On softer than the cignet's down, +In beds they tumbled off their own: + For each within the other lay. + + IX. +Thus did they live: thus did they love, +Repeating only joyes above, + And angels were but with cloaths on, +Which they would put off cheerfully, +To bathe them in the Galaxie, + Then gird them with the heavenly zone. + + X. +Now, Chloris! miserably crave +The offer'd blisse you would not have, + Which evermore I must deny: +Whilst ravish'd with these noble dreams, +And crowned with mine own soft beams, + Injoying of my self I lye. + +<71.1> This and the succeeding stanza are omitted by Mr. Singer +in his reprint. + + + +TO A LADY WITH CHILD THAT ASK'D AN OLD SHIRT.<72.1><AN.4> + + And why an honour'd ragged shirt, that shows, +Like tatter'd ensigns, all its bodie's blows? +Should it be swathed in a vest so dire, +It were enough to set the child on fire; +Dishevell'd queen[s] should strip them of their hair, +And in it mantle the new rising heir: +Nor do I know ought worth to wrap it in, +Except my parchment upper-coat of skin; +And then expect no end of its chast tears, +That first was rowl'd in down, now furs of bears. + + But since to ladies 't hath a custome been +Linnen to send, that travail and lye in; +To the nine sempstresses, my former friends, +I su'd; but they had nought but shreds and ends. +At last, the jolli'st of the three times three +Rent th' apron from her smock, and gave it me; +'Twas soft and gentle, subt'ly spun, no doubt; +Pardon my boldnese, madam; HERE'S THE CLOUT. + +<72.1> A portion of this little poem is quoted in Brand's +POPULAR ANTIQUITIES (edit. 1849, ii. 70), as an illustration +of the custom to which it refers. No second example of such +an usage seems to have been known to Brand and his editors. + +<<AN.4>> P. 183. TO A LADY WITH CHILDE THAT ASK'T AN OLD SHIRT. +The custom to which the Poet here refers, was no doubt common +in his time; although the indefatigable Brand does not appear +to have met with any illustration of it, except in LUCASTA. +But since the note at p. 183 <i.e. note 72.1> was written, the +following passage in the old morality of THE MARRIAGE OF WIT +AND WISDOM (circa 1570) has come under my notice:-- + + "INDULGENCE [to her son WIT]. + Well, yet before the goest, hold heare + MY BLESSING IN A CLOUTE, + WELL FARE THE MOTHER AT A NEEDE, + Stand to thy tackling stout." + +The allusion is to the contemplated marriage of WIT to his +betrothed, WISDOM. + + + + SONG. + + I. +In mine one monument I lye, + And in my self am buried; +Sure, the quick lightning of her eye + Melted my soul ith' scabberd dead; +And now like some pale ghost I walk, +And with another's spirit talk. + + II. +Nor can her beams a heat convey, + That may my frozen bosome warm, +Unless her smiles have pow'r, as they, + That a cross charm can countercharm. +But this is such a pleasing pain, +I'm loth to be alive again. + + + + ANOTHER. + +I did believe I was in heav'n, +When first the heav'n her self was giv'n, +That in my heart her beams did passe +As some the sun keep in a glasse, +So that her beauties thorow me +Did hurt my rival-enemy. +But fate, alas! decreed it so, +That I was engine to my woe: +For, as a corner'd christal spot, +My heart diaphanous was not; +But solid stuffe, where her eye flings +Quick fire upon the catching strings: +Yet, as at triumphs in the night, +You see the Prince's Arms in light, +So, when I once was set on flame, +I burnt all ore the letters of her name. + + + + ODE. + + I. +You are deceiv'd; I sooner may, dull fair, +Seat a dark Moor in Cassiopea's<73.1> chair, + Or on the glow-worm's uselesse light + Bestow the watching flames of night, + Or give the rose's breath + To executed death, + Ere the bright hiew + Of verse to you; +It is just Heaven on beauty stamps a fame, +And we, alas! its triumphs but proclaim. + + II. +What chains but are too light for me, should I +Say that Lucasta in strange arms could lie? + Or that Castara<73.2> were impure; + Or Saccarisa's<73.3> faith unsure? + That Chloris' love, as hair, + Embrac'd each en'mies air; + That all their good + Ran in their blood? +'Tis the same wrong th' unworthy to inthrone, +As from her proper sphere t' have vertue thrown. + + III. +That strange force on the ignoble hath renown; +As AURUM FULMINANS, it blows vice down. + 'Twere better (heavy one) to crawl + Forgot, then raised, trod on [to] fall. + All your defections now + Are not writ on your brow; + Odes to faults give + A shame must live. +When a fat mist we view, we coughing run; +But, that once meteor drawn, all cry: undone. + + IV. +How bright the fair Paulina<73.4> did appear, +When hid in jewels she did seem a star! + But who could soberly behold + A wicked owl in cloath of gold, + Or the ridiculous Ape + In sacred Vesta's shape? + So doth agree + Just praise with thee: +For since thy birth gave thee no beauty, know, +No poets pencil must or can do so. + +<73.1> The constellation so called. In old drawings Cassiopeia +is represented as a woman sitting in a chair with a branch in her +hand, and hence the allusion here. Dixon, in his CANIDIA, 1683, +part i. p. 35, makes his witches say:-- + + "We put on Berenice's hair, + And sit in Cassiopeia's chair." + +Randolph couples it with "Ariadne's Crowne" in the following +passage:-- + + "Shine forth a constellation, full and bright, + Bless the poor heavens with more majestick light, + Who in requitall shall present you there + ARIADNE'S CROWNE and CASSIOPEIA'S CHAYR." + POEMS, ed. 1640, p. 14. + +<73.2> William Habington published his poems under the name of +CASTARA, a fictitious appellation signifying the daughter of +Lord Powis. This lady was eventually his wife. The first +edition of CASTARA appeared in 1634, the second in 1635, and +the third in 1640. + +<73.3> Waller's SACHARISSA, i.e. Lady Dorothy Sydney. + +<73.4> Lollia Paulina, who first married Memmius Regulus, and +subsequently the Emperor Caligula, from both of whom she was +divorced. She inherited from her father enormous wealth. + + + + THE DUELL. + + I. +Love drunk, the other day, knockt at my brest, + But I, alas! was not within. +My man, my ear, told me he came t' attest, + That without cause h'd boxed him, +And battered the windows of mine eyes, +And took my heart for one of's nunneries. + + II. +I wondred at the outrage safe return'd, + And stormed at the base affront; +And by a friend of mine, bold faith, that burn'd, + I called him to a strict accompt. +He said that, by the law, the challeng'd might +Take the advantage both of arms and fight. + + III. +Two darts of equal length and points he sent, + And nobly gave the choyce to me, +Which I not weigh'd, young and indifferent, + Now full of nought but victorie. +So we both met in one of's mother's groves, +The time, at the first murm'ring of her doves. + + IV. +I stript myself naked all o're, as he: + For so I was best arm'd, when bare. +His first pass did my liver rase: yet I + Made home a falsify<74.1> too neer: +For when my arm to its true distance came, +I nothing touch'd but a fantastick flame. + + V. +This, this is love we daily quarrel so, + An idle Don-Quichoterie: +We whip our selves with our own twisted wo, + And wound the ayre for a fly. +The only way t' undo this enemy +Is to laugh at the boy, and he will cry. + +<74.1> "To falsify a thrust," says Phillips (WORLD OF WORDS, +ed. 1706, art. FALSIFY), "is to make a feigned pass." Lovelace +here employs the word as a substantive rather awkwardly; but +the meaning is, no doubt, the same. + + + + CUPID FAR GONE. + + I. +What, so beyond all madnesse is the elf, + Now he hath got out of himself! + His fatal enemy the Bee, + Nor his deceiv'd artillerie, + His shackles, nor the roses bough +Ne'r half so netled him, as he is now. + + II.<75.1> +See! at's own mother he is offering; + His finger now fits any ring; + Old Cybele he would enjoy, + And now the girl, and now the boy. + He proffers Jove a back caresse, +And all his love in the antipodes. + + III. +Jealous of his chast Psyche, raging he + Quarrels with<75.2> student Mercurie, + And with a proud submissive breath + Offers to change his darts with Death. + He strikes at the bright eye of day, +And Juno tumbles in her milky way. + + IV. +The dear sweet secrets of the gods he tells, + And with loath'd hate lov'd heaven he swells; + Now, like a fury, he belies + Myriads of pure virginities, + And swears, with this false frenzy hurl'd, +There's not a vertuous she in all the world. + + V. +Olympus he renownces, then descends, + And makes a friendship with the fiends; + Bids Charon be no more a slave, + He Argos rigg'd with stars shall have, + And triple Cerberus from below +Must leash'd t' himself with him a hunting go. + +<75.1> This stanza was suppressed by Mr. Singer. + +<75.2> Original reads THE. + + + + A MOCK SONG. + + I. + Now Whitehall's in the grave, + And our head is our slave, +The bright pearl in his close shell of oyster; + Now the miter is lost, + The proud Praelates, too, crost, +And all Rome's confin'd to a cloister. + He, that Tarquin was styl'd, + Our white land's exil'd, + Yea, undefil'd; +Not a court ape's left to confute us; + Then let your voyces rise high, + As your colours did flye, + And flour'shing cry: +Long live the brave Oliver-Brutus.<76.1> + + II. + Now the sun is unarm'd, + And the moon by us charm'd, +All the stars dissolv'd to a jelly; + Now the thighs of the Crown + And the arms are lopp'd down, +And the body is all but a belly. + Let the Commons go on, + The town is our own, + We'l rule alone: +For the Knights have yielded their spent-gorge; + And an order is tane + With HONY SOIT profane, + Shout forth amain: +For our Dragon hath vanquish'd the St. George. + +<76.1> Cromwell. + + + + A FLY CAUGHT IN A COBWEB. + +Small type of great ones, that do hum +Within this whole world's narrow room, +That with a busie hollow noise +Catch at the people's vainer voice, +And with spread sails play with their breath, +Whose very hails new christen death. +Poor Fly, caught in an airy net, +Thy wings have fetter'd now thy feet; +Where, like a Lyon in a toyl, +Howere thou keep'st a noble coyl, +And beat'st thy gen'rous breast, that o're +The plains thy fatal buzzes rore, +Till thy all-bellyd foe (round elf<77.1>) +Hath quarter'd thee within himself. + + Was it not better once to play +I' th' light of a majestick ray, +Where, though too neer and bold, the fire +Might sindge thy upper down attire, +And thou i' th' storm to loose an eye. +A wing, or a self-trapping thigh: +Yet hadst thou fal'n like him, whose coil +Made fishes in the sea to broyl, +When now th'ast scap'd the noble flame; +Trapp'd basely in a slimy frame, +And free of air, thou art become +Slave to the spawn of mud and lome? + + Nor is't enough thy self do's dresse +To thy swoln lord a num'rous messe, +And by degrees thy thin veins bleed, +And piecemeal dost his poyson feed; +But now devour'd, art like to be +A net spun for thy familie, +And, straight expanded in the air, +Hang'st for thy issue too a snare. +Strange witty death and cruel ill +That, killing thee, thou thine dost kill! +Like pies, in whose entombed ark +All fowl crowd downward to a lark, +Thou art thine en'mies' sepulcher, +And in thee buriest, too, thine heir. + + Yet Fates a glory have reserv'd +For one so highly hath deserv'd. +As the rhinoceros doth dy +Under his castle-enemy, +As through the cranes trunk throat doth speed, +The aspe doth on his feeder feed; +Fall yet triumphant in thy woe, +Bound with the entrails of thy foe. + +<77.1> The spider. + + + + A FLY ABOUT A GLASSE OF BURNT CLARET. + + I. +Forbear this liquid fire, Fly, +It is more fatal then the dry, +That singly, but embracing, wounds; +And this at once both burns and drowns. + + II. +The salamander, that in heat +And flames doth cool his monstrous sweat, +Whose fan a glowing cake is said, +Of this red furnace is afraid. + + III. +Viewing the ruby-christal shine, +Thou tak'st it for heaven-christalline; +Anon thou wilt be taught to groan: +'Tis an ascended Acheron. + + IV. +A snow-ball heart in it let fall, +And take it out a fire-ball; +Ali icy breast in it betray'd +Breaks a destructive wild granade. + + V. +'Tis this makes Venus altars shine, +This kindles frosty Hymen's pine; +When the boy grows old in his desires, +This flambeau doth new light his fires. + + VI. +Though the cold hermit over wail, +Whose sighs do freeze, and tears drop hail, +Once having pass'd this, will ne'r +Another flaming purging fear. + + VII. +The vestal drinking this doth burn +Now more than in her fun'ral urn; +Her fires, that with the sun kept race, +Are now extinguish'd by her face. + + VIII. +The chymist, that himself doth still,<78.1> +Let him but tast this limbecks<78.2> bill, +And prove this sublimated bowl, +He'll swear it will calcine a soul. + + IX. +Noble, and brave! now thou dost know +The false prepared decks below, +Dost thou the fatal liquor sup, +One drop, alas! thy barque blowes up. + + X. +What airy country hast to save, +Whose plagues thou'lt bury in thy grave? +For even now thou seem'st to us +On this gulphs brink a Curtius. + + XI. +And now th' art faln (magnanimous Fly) +In, where thine Ocean doth fry, +Like the Sun's son, who blush'd the flood +To a complexion of blood. + + XII. +Yet, see! my glad auricular +Redeems thee (though dissolv'd) a star, +Flaggy<78.3> thy wings, and scorch'd thy thighs, +Thou ly'st a double sacrifice. + + XIII. +And now my warming, cooling breath +Shall a new life afford in death; +See! in the hospital of my hand +Already cur'd, thou fierce do'st stand. + + XIV. +Burnt insect! dost thou reaspire +The moist-hot-glasse and liquid fire? +I see 'tis such a pleasing pain, +Thou would'st be scorch'd and drown'd again. + +<78.1> i.e. distil. + +<78.2> Lovelace was by no means peculiar in the fondness which +he has shown in this poem and elsewhere for figures drawn from +the language of alchemy. + + "Retire into thy grove of eglantine, + Where I will all those ravished sweets distill + Through Love's alembic, and with chemic skill + From the mix'd mass one sovereign balm derive." + Carew's POEMS (1640), ed. 1772, p. 77. + + "----I will try + From the warm limbeck of my eye, + In such a method to distil + Tears on thy marble nature----" + Shirley's POEMS (Works by Dyce, vi. 407). + + "Nature's Confectioner, the BEE, + Whose suckers are moist ALCHYMIE, + The still of his refining Mould, + Minting the garden into gold." + Cleveland's POEMS, ed. 1669, p. 4. + + "Fisher is here with purple wing, + Who brings me to the Spring-head, where + Crystall is Lymbeckt all the year." + Lord Westmoreland's OTIA SACRA, 1648, p. 137, + +<78.3> WEAK. The word was once not very uncommon in writings. +Bacon, Spenser, &c. use it; but it is now, I believe, confined +to Somersetshire and the bordering counties. + + "LUKE. A south wind + Shall sooner soften marble, and the rain, + That slides down gently from his flaggy wings, + O'erflow the Alps." + Massinger's CITY MADAM, 1658. + + + + FEMALE GLORY. + +Mongst the worlds wonders, there doth yet remain +One greater than the rest, that's all those o're again, +And her own self beside: A Lady, whose soft breast +Is with vast honours soul and virtues life possest. +Fair as original light first from the chaos shot, +When day in virgin-beams triumph'd, and night was not, +And as that breath infus'd in the new-breather good, +When ill unknown was dumb, and bad not understood; +Chearful, as that aspect at this world's finishing, +When cherubims clapp'd wings, and th' sons of Heaven did sing; +Chast as th' Arabian bird, who all the ayr denyes,<79.1> +And ev'n in flames expires, when with her selfe she lyes. +Oh! she's as kind as drops of new faln April showers, +That on each gentle breast spring fresh perfuming flowers; +She's constant, gen'rous, fixt; she's calm, she is the all +We can of vertue, honour, faith, or glory call, +And she is (whom I thus transmit to endless fame) +Mistresse oth' world and me, and LAURA is her name. + +<79.1> The Phoenix. + + + + A DIALOGUE. + LUTE AND VOICE. + +L. Sing, Laura, sing, whilst silent are the sphears, + And all the eyes of Heaven are turn'd to ears. + +V. Touch thy dead wood, and make each living tree + Unchain its feet, take arms, and follow thee. + + CHORUS. + L. Sing. V. Touch. 0 Touch. L. 0 Sing. + BOTH. It is the souls, souls sole offering. + +V. Touch the divinity of thy chords, and make + Each heart string tremble, and each sinew shake. + +L. Whilst with your voyce you rarifie the air, + None but an host of angels hover here. + + CHORUS. SING, TOUCH, &c. + +V. Touch thy soft lute, and in each gentle thread + The lyon and the panther captive lead. + +L. Sing, and in heav'n inthrone deposed love, + Whilst angels dance, and fiends in order move. + + DOUBLE CHORUS. + What sacred charm may this then be + In harmonie, + That thus can make the angels wild, + The devils mild, + And teach<80.1> low hell to heav'n to swell, + And the high heav'n to stoop to hell? + +<80.1> Original and Singer read REACH. + + + + A MOCK CHARON. + + DIALOGUE. + + CHA. W. + +W. Charon! thou slave! thou fooll! thou cavaleer!<81.1> +CHA. A slave! a fool! what traitor's voice I hear? +W. Come bring thy boat. CH. No, sir. W. No! sirrah, why? +CHA. The blest will disagree, and fiends will mutiny + At thy, at thy [un]numbred treachery. +W. Villain, I have a pass which who disdains, + I will sequester the Elizian plains. +CHA. Woes me, ye gentle shades! where shall I dwell? + He's come! It is not safe to be in hell. + + CHORUS. + Thus man, his honor lost, falls on these shelves; + Furies and fiends are still true to themselves. + +CHA. You must, lost fool, come in. W. Oh, let me in! + But now I fear thy boat will sink with my ore-weighty sin. + Where, courteous Charon, am I now? CHA. Vile rant!<81.2> + At the gates of thy supreme Judge Rhadamant. + + DOUBLE CHORUS OF DIVELS. + Welcome to rape, to theft, to perjurie, + To all the ills thou wert, we canot hope to be; + Oh, pitty us condemned! Oh, cease to wooe, + And softly, softly breath, least you infect us too. + +<81.1> This word is used here merely to denote a GALLANT, +a FELLOW. From being in its primitive sense a most honourable +appellation, it became, during and after the civil war between +Charles and the Parliament, a term of equivocal import. + +<81.2> Here equivalent to RANTER, and used for the sake of the +metre. + + + + THE TOAD AND SPYDER. + + A DUELL. + + Upon a day, when the Dog-star +Unto the world proclaim'd a war, +And poyson bark'd from black throat, +And from his jaws infection shot, +Under a deadly hen-bane shade +With slime infernal mists are made, +Met the two dreaded enemies, +Having their weapons in their eyes. + + First from his den rolls forth that load +Of spite and hate, the speckl'd toad, +And from his chaps a foam doth spawn, +Such as the loathed three heads yawn; +Defies his foe with a fell spit, +To wade through death to meet with it; +Then in his self the lymbeck turns, +And his elixir'd poyson urns. +Arachne, once the fear oth' maid<82.1> +Coelestial, thus unto her pray'd: +Heaven's blew-ey'd daughter, thine own mother! +The Python-killing Sun's thy brother. +Oh! thou, from gods that didst descend, +With a poor virgin to contend, +Shall seed of earth and hell ere be +A rival in thy victorie? +Pallas assents: for now long time +And pity had clean rins'd her crime; +When straight she doth with active fire +Her many legged foe inspire. +Have you not seen a charact<82.2> lie +A great cathedral in the sea, +Under whose Babylonian walls +A small thin frigot almshouse stalls? +So in his slime the toad doth float +And th' spyder by, but seems his boat. +And now the naumachie<82.3> begins; +Close to the surface her self spins: +Arachne, when her foe lets flye +A broad-side of his breath too high, +That's over-shot, the wisely-stout, +Advised maid doth tack about; +And now her pitchy barque doth sweat, +Chaf'd in her own black fury wet; +Lasie and cold before, she brings +New fires to her contracted stings, +And with discolour'd spumes doth blast +The herbs that to their center hast. +Now to the neighb'ring henbane top +Arachne hath her self wound up, +And thence, from its dilated leaves, +By her own cordage downwards weaves, +And doth her town of foe attack,<82.4> +And storms the rampiers<82.5> of his back; +Which taken in her colours spread, +March to th' citadel of's head. +Now as in witty torturing Spain, +The brain is vext to vex the brain, +Where hereticks bare heads are arm'd +In a close helm, and in it charm'd +An overgrown and meagre rat, +That peece-meal nibbles himself fat; +So on the toads blew-checquer'd scull +The spider gluttons her self full. +And vomiting her Stygian seeds, +Her poyson on his poyson feeds. +Thus the invenom'd toad, now grown +Big with more poyson than his own, +Doth gather all his pow'rs, and shakes +His stormer in's disgorged lakes; +And wounded now, apace crawls on +To his next plantane surgeon,<82.6> +With whose rich balm no sooner drest, +But purged is his sick swoln breast; +And as a glorious combatant, +That only rests awhile to pant, +Then with repeated strength and scars, +That smarting fire him new to wars, +Deals blows that thick themselves prevent, +As they would gain the time he spent. + + So the disdaining angry toad, +That calls but a thin useless load, +His fatal feared self comes back +With unknown venome fill'd to crack. +Th' amased spider, now untwin'd, +Hath crept up, and her self new lin'd +With fresh salt foams and mists, that blast +The ambient air as they past. +And now me thinks a Sphynx's wing +I pluck, and do not write, but sting; +With their black blood my pale inks blent,<82.7> +Gall's but a faint ingredient. +The pol'tick toad doth now withdraw, +Warn'd, higher in CAMPANIA.<82.8> +There wisely doth, intrenched deep, +His body in a body keep, +And leaves a wide and open pass +T' invite the foe up to his jaws, +Which there within a foggy blind +With fourscore fire-arms were lin'd. +The gen'rous active spider doubts +More ambuscadoes than redoubts; +So within shot she doth pickear,<82.9> +Now gall's the flank, and now the rear; +As that<82.10> the toad in's own dispite +Must change the manner of his fight, +Who, like a glorious general, +With one home-charge lets fly at all. +Chaf'd with a fourfold ven'mous foam +Of scorn, revenge, his foes and 's own, +He seats him in his loathed chair, +New-made him by each mornings air, +With glowing eyes he doth survey +Th' undaunted hoast he calls his prey; +Then his dark spume he gred'ly laps, +And shows the foe his grave, his chaps. + + Whilst the quick wary Amazon +Of 'vantage takes occasion, +And with her troop of leggs carreers +In a full speed with all her speers. +Down (as some mountain on a mouse) +On her small cot he flings his house; +Without the poyson of the elf, +The toad had like t' have burst himself: +For sage Arachne with good heed +Had stopt herself upon full speed, +And, 's body now disorder'd, on +She falls to execution. +The passive toad now only can +Contemn and suffer. Here began +The wronged maids ingenious rage, +Which his heart venome must asswage. +One eye she hath spet out, strange smother, +When one flame doth put out another, +And one eye wittily spar'd, that he +Might but behold his miserie. +She on each spot a wound doth print, +And each speck hath a sting within't; +Till he but one new blister is, +And swells his own periphrasis. +Then fainting, sick, and yellow-pale, +She baths him with her sulph'rous stale; +Thus slacked is her Stygian fire, +And she vouchsafes now to retire. +Anon the toad begins to pant, +Bethinks him of th' almighty plant, +And lest he peece-meal should be sped, +Wisely doth finish himself dead. +Whilst the gay girl, as was her fate, +Doth wanton and luxuriate, +And crowns her conqu'ring head all or +With fatal leaves of hellebore. +Not guessing at the pretious aid +Was lent her by the heavenly maid. +The neer expiring toad now rowls +Himself in lazy bloody scrowls, +To th' sov'raign salve of all his ills, +That only life and health distills. +But loe! a terror above all, +That ever yet did him befall! + + Pallas, still mindful of her foe, +(Whilst they did with each fires glow) +Had to the place the spiders lar +Dispath'd before the ev'nings star. +He learned was in Natures laws, +Of all her foliage knew the cause, +And 'mongst the rest in his choice want +Unplanted had this plantane plant. + + The all-confounded toad doth see +His life fled with his remedie, +And in a glorious despair +First burst himself, and next the air; +Then with a dismal horred yell +Beats down his loathsome breath to hell. + + But what inestimable bliss +This to the sated virgin is, +Who, as before of her fiend foe, +Now full is of her goddess too! +She from her fertile womb hath spun +Her stateliest pavillion, +Whilst all her silken flags display, +And her triumphant banners play; +Where Pallas she ith' midst doth praise, +And counterfeits her brothers rayes, +Nor will she her dear lar forget, +Victorious by his benefit, +Whose roof inchanted she doth free +From haunting gnat and goblin bee, +Who, trapp'd in her prepared toyle, +To their destruction keep a coyle. + + Then she unlocks the toad's dire head, +Within whose cell is treasured +That pretious stone, which she doth call +A noble recompence for all, +And to her lar doth it present, +Of his fair aid a monument. + +<82.1> It will be seen that this poem partly turns on the +mythological tale of Arachne and Minerva, and the metamorphosis +of the former by the angry goddess into a spider (<<arachne>>). + +<82.2> i.e. CARAK, or CARRICK, as the word is variously spelled. +This large kind of ship was much used by the Greeks and Venetians +during the middle ages, and also by other nations. + +<82.3> The poet rather awkwardly sustains his simile, and +employs, in expressing a contest between the toad and the +spider, a term signifying a naval battle, or, at least, +a fight between two ships. + +<82.4> Lovelace's fondness for military similitudes is constantly +standing in the way, and marring his attempts at poetical imagery. + +<82.5> A form of RAMPART, sanctioned by Dryden. + +<82.6> Medicinal herb or plant. + +<82.7> Blended. + +<82.8> CAMPANIA may signify, in the present passage, either +a field or the country generally, or a plain. It is a clumsy +expression. + +<82.9> In the sense in which it is here used this word seems +to be peculiar to Lovelace. TO PICKEAR, or PICKEER, means +TO SKIRMISH. + +<82.10> So that. + + + + THE SNAYL. + + Wise emblem of our politick world, +Sage Snayl, within thine own self curl'd, +Instruct me softly to make hast, +Whilst these my feet go slowly fast. + + Compendious Snayl! thou seem'st to me +Large Euclid's strict epitome; +And in each diagram dost fling +Thee from the point unto the ring. +A figure now trianglare, +An oval now, and now a square, +And then a serpentine, dost crawl, +Now a straight line, now crook'd, now all. + + Preventing<83.1> rival of the day, +Th' art up and openest thy ray; +And ere the morn cradles the moon,<83.2> +Th' art broke into a beauteous noon. +Then, when the Sun sups in the deep, +Thy silver horns e're Cinthia's peep; +And thou, from thine own liquid bed, +New Phoebus, heav'st thy pleasant head. + + Who shall a name for thee create, +Deep riddle of mysterious state? +Bold Nature, that gives common birth +To all products of seas and earth, +Of thee, as earth-quakes, is afraid, +Nor will thy dire deliv'ry aid. + + Thou, thine own daughter, then, and sire, +That son and mother art intire, +That big still with thy self dost go, +And liv'st an aged embrio; +That like the cubbs of India, +Thou from thy self a while dost play; +But frighted with a dog or gun, +In thine own belly thou dost run, +And as thy house was thine own womb, +So thine own womb concludes thy tomb. + + But now I must (analys'd king) +Thy oeconomick virtues sing; +Thou great stay'd husband still within, +Thou thee that's thine dost discipline; +And when thou art to progress bent, +Thou mov'st thy self and tenement, +As warlike Scythians travayl'd, you +Remove your men and city too; +Then, after a sad dearth and rain, +Thou scatterest thy silver train; +And when the trees grow nak'd and old, +Thou cloathest them with cloth of gold, +Which from thy bowels thou dost spin, +And draw from the rich mines within. + + Now hast thou chang'd thee, saint, and made +Thy self a fane that's cupula'd; +And in thy wreathed cloister thou +Walkest thine own gray fryer too; +Strickt and lock'd up, th'art hood all ore, +And ne'r eliminat'st thy dore. +On sallads thou dost feed severe, +And 'stead of beads thou drop'st a tear, +And when to rest each calls the bell, +Thou sleep'st within thy marble cell, +Where, in dark contemplation plac'd, +The sweets of Nature thou dost tast, +Who now with time thy days resolve, +And in a jelly thee dissolve, +Like a shot star, which doth repair +Upward, and rarifie the air. + +<83.1> Anticipating, forerunning. + +<83.2> It can scarcely be requisite to mention that Lovelace +refers to the gradual evanescence of the moon before the growing +daylight. It is well known that the lunar orb is, at certain +times, visible sometime even after sunrise. + + + + ANOTHER. + +The Centaur, Syren, I foregoe; +Those have been sung, and lowdly too: +Nor of the mixed Sphynx Ile write, +Nor the renown'd Hermaphrodite. +Behold! this huddle doth appear +Of horses, coach and charioteer, +That moveth him by traverse law, +And doth himself both drive and draw; +Then, when the Sunn the south doth winne, +He baits him hot in his own inne. +I heard a grave and austere clark +Resolv'd him pilot both and barque; +That, like the fam'd ship of TREVERE, +Did on the shore himself lavere: +Yet the authentick do beleeve, +Who keep their judgement in their sleeve, +That he is his own double man, +And sick still carries his sedan: +Or that like dames i'th land of Luyck, +He wears his everlasting huyck.<84.1> +But banisht, I admire his fate, +Since neither ostracisme of state, +Nor a perpetual exile, +Can force this virtue, change his soyl: +For, wheresoever he doth go, +He wanders with his country too. + +<84.1> i.q. HUKE. "Huke," says Minshen, "is a mantle such as +women use in Spaine, Germanie, and the Low Countries, when they +goe abroad." Lovelace clearly adopts the word for the sake of +the metre; otherwise he might have chosen a better one. + + + + THE TRIUMPHS OF PHILAMORE AND AMORET. + + TO THE NOBLEST OF OUR YOUTH AND BEST OF FRIENDS, + CHARLES COTTON, Esquire.<85.l> + +BEING AT BERISFORD, AT HIS HOUSE IN STAFFORDSHIRE. + FROM LONDON. + + A POEM. + + Sir, your sad absence I complain, as earth +Her long-hid spring, that gave her verdures birth, +Who now her cheerful aromatick head +Shrinks in her cold and dismal widow'd bed; +Whilst the false sun her lover doth him move +Below, and to th' antipodes make love. + + What fate was mine, when in mine obscure cave +(Shut up almost close prisoner in a grave) +Your beams could reach me through this vault of night, +And canton the dark dungeon with light! +Whence me (as gen'rous Spahys) you unbound, +Whilst I now know my self both free and crown'd. + + But as at Meccha's tombe, the devout blind +Pilgrim (great husband of his sight and mind) +Pays to no other object this chast prise, +Then with hot earth anoynts out both his eyes: +So having seen your dazling glories store, +It is enough, and sin for to see more. + + Or, do you thus those pretious rayes withdraw +To whet my dull beams, keep my bold in aw? +Or, are you gentle and compassionate, +You will not reach me Regulus his fate? +Brave prince! who, eagle-ey'd of eagle kind, +Wert blindly damn'd to look thine own self blind! + + But oh, return those fires, too cruel-nice! +For whilst you fear me cindars, see, I'm ice! +A nummed speaking clod and mine own show,<85.2> +My self congeal'd, a man cut out in snow: +Return those living fires. Thou, who that vast +Double advantage from one-ey'd Heav'n hast, +Look with one sun, though 't but obliquely be, +And if not shine, vouchsafe to wink on me. + + Perceive you not a gentle, gliding heat, +And quick'ning warmth, that makes the statua sweat; +As rev'rend Ducaleon's black-flung stone, +Whose rough outside softens to skin, anon +Each crusty vein with wet red is suppli'd, +Whilst nought of stone but in its heart doth 'bide. + + So from the rugged north, where your soft stay +Hath stampt them a meridian and kind day; +Where now each A LA MODE inhabitant +Himself and 's manners both do pay you rent, +And 'bout your house (your pallace) doth resort, +And 'spite of fate and war creates a court. + + So from the taught north, when you shall return, +To glad those looks that ever since did mourn, +When men uncloathed of themselves you'l see, +Then start new made, fit, what they ought to be; +Hast! hast! you, that your eyes on rare sights feed: +For thus the golden triumph is decreed. + + The twice-born god, still gay and ever young, +With ivie crown'd, first leads the glorious throng: +He Ariadne's starry coronet +Designs for th' brighter beams of Amoret; +Then doth he broach his throne, and singing quaff +Unto her health his pipe of god-head off. + + Him follow the recanting, vexing Nine +Who, wise, now sing thy lasting fame in wine; +Whilst Phoebus, not from th' east, your feast t' adorn, +But from th' inspir'd Canaries, rose this morn. + + Now you are come, winds in their caverns sit, +And nothing breaths, but new-inlarged wit. +Hark! One proclaims it piacle<85.3> to be sad, +And th' people call 't religion to be mad. + + But now, as at a coronation, +When noyse, the guard, and trumpets are oreblown, +The silent commons mark their princes way, +And with still reverence both look and pray; +So they amaz'd expecting do adore, +And count the rest but pageantry before. + + Behold! an hoast of virgins, pure as th' air +In her first face,<85.4> ere mists durst vayl her hair: +Their snowy vests, white as their whiter skin, +Or their far chaster whiter thoughts within: +Roses they breath'd and strew'd, as if the fine +Heaven did to earth his wreath of swets resign; +They sang aloud: "THRICE, OH THRICE HAPPY, THEY +THAT CAN, LIKE THESE, IN LOVE BOTH YIELD AND SWAY." + + Next herald Fame (a purple clowd her bears), +In an imbroider'd coat of eyes and ears, +Proclaims the triumph, and these lovers glory, +Then in a book of steel records the story. + + And now a youth of more than god-like form +Did th' inward minds of the dumb throng alarm; +All nak'd, each part betray'd unto the eye, +Chastly: for neither sex ow'd he or she. +And this was heav'nly love. By his bright hand, +A boy of worse than earthly stuff did stand; +His bow broke, his fires out, and his wings clipt, +And the black slave from all his false flames stript; +Whose eyes were new-restor'd but to confesse +This day's bright blisse, and his own wretchednesse; +Who, swell'd with envy, bursting with disdain, +Did cry to cry, and weep them out again. + + And now what heav'n must I invade, what sphere +Rifle of all her stars, t' inthrone her there? +No! Phoebus, by thy boys<85.5> fate we beware +Th' unruly flames o'th' firebrand, thy carr; +Although, she there once plac'd, thou, Sun, shouldst see +Thy day both nobler governed and thee. +Drive on, Bootes, thy cold heavy wayn, +Then grease thy wheels with amber in the main, +And Neptune, thou to thy false Thetis gallop, +Appollo's set within thy bed of scallop: +Whilst Amoret, on the reconciled winds +Mounted, and drawn by six caelestial minds, +She armed was with innocence and fire, +That did not burn; for it was chast desire; +Whilst a new light doth gild the standers by. +Behold! it was a day shot from her eye; +Chafing perfumes oth' East did throng and sweat, +But by her breath they melting back were beat. +A crown of yet-nere-lighted stars she wore, +In her soft hand a bleeding heart she bore, +And round her lay of broken millions more;<85.6> +Then a wing'd crier thrice aloud did call: +LET FAME PROCLAIM THIS ONE GREAT PRISE FOR ALL. + + By her a lady that might be call'd fair, +And justly, but that Amoret was there, +Was pris'ner led; th' unvalewed robe she wore +Made infinite lay lovers to adore, +Who vainly tempt her rescue (madly bold) +Chained in sixteen thousand links of gold; +Chrysetta thus (loaden with treasures) slave +Did strow the pass with pearls, and her way pave. + + But loe! the glorious cause of all this high +True heav'nly state, brave Philamore, draws nigh, +Who, not himself, more seems himself to be, +And with a sacred extasie doth see! +Fix'd and unmov'd on 's pillars he doth stay, +And joy transforms him his own statua; +Nor hath he pow'r to breath [n]or strength to greet +The gentle offers of his Amoret, +Who now amaz'd at 's noble breast doth knock, +And with a kiss his gen'rous heart unlock; +Whilst she and the whole pomp doth enter there, +Whence her nor Time nor Fate shall ever tear. +But whether am I hurl'd? ho! back! awake +From thy glad trance: to thine old sorrow take! +Thus, after view of all the Indies store, +The slave returns unto his chain and oar; +Thus poets, who all night in blest heav'ns dwell, +Are call'd next morn to their true living hell; +So I unthrifty, to myself untrue, +Rise cloath'd with real wants, 'cause wanting you, +And what substantial riches I possesse, +I must to these unvalued dreams confesse. + + But all our clowds shall be oreblown, when thee +In our horizon bright once more we see; +When thy dear presence shall our souls new-dress, +And spring an universal cheerfulnesse; +When we shall be orewhelm'd in joy, like they +That change their night for a vast half-year's day. + + Then shall the wretched few, that do repine, +See and recant their blasphemies in wine; +Then shall they grieve, that thought I've sung too free, +High and aloud of thy true worth and thee, +And their fowl heresies and lips submit +To th' all-forgiving breath of Amoret; +And me alone their angers object call, +That from my height so miserably did fall; +And crie out my invention thin and poor, +Who have said nought, since I could say no more. + +<85.1> Charles Cotton the younger, Walton's friend. He was born +on the 28th of April, 1630. He married, in 1656, Isabella, +daughter of Sir Thomas Hutchinson, of Owthorp, co. Notts, Knight. +See Walton's ANGLER, ed. 1760, where a life of Cotton, compiled +from the notes of the laborious Oldys, will be found. The poet +died in 1687, and, two years later, his miscellaneous verses were +printed in an octavo volume. + +<85.2> i.e. the shadow of myself. + +<85.3> A crime, from the Latin PIACULUM which, from meaning +properly AN ATONEMENT, was afterwards used to express WHAT +REQUIRED an atonement, i.e. an offence or sin. + +<85.4> The sky in the early part of the morning, before it is +clouded by mists. + +<85.5> Phaeton. + +<85.6> 0riginal reads, OF MILLIONS BROKEN MORE. The above is +certainly preferable; but the reader may judge for himself. +It should be borne in mind that the second part of LUCASTA +was not even printed during the poet's life. If he had survived +to republish the first portion, and to revise the second perhaps +we should have had a better text. + + + + ADVICE TO MY BEST BROTHER, + COLL: FRANCIS LOVELACE.<86.1> + + Frank, wil't live unhandsomely? trust not too far +Thy self to waving seas: for what thy star, +Calculated by sure event, must be, +Look in the glassy-epithete,<86.2> and see. + + Yet settle here your rest, and take your state, +And in calm halcyon's nest ev'n build your fate; +Prethee lye down securely, Frank, and keep +With as much no noyse the inconstant deep +As its inhabitants; nay, stedfast stand, +As if discover'd were a New-found-land, +Fit for plantation here. Dream, dream still, +Lull'd in Dione's cradle; dream, untill +Horrour awake your sense, and you now find +Your self a bubbled pastime for the wind; +And in loose Thetis blankets torn and tost. +Frank, to undo thy self why art at cost? + + Nor be too confident, fix'd on the shore: +For even that too borrows from the store +Of her rich neighbour, since now wisest know +(And this to Galileo's judgement ow), +The palsie earth it self is every jot +As frail, inconstant, waveing, as that blot +We lay upon the deep, that sometimes lies +Chang'd, you would think, with 's botoms properties; +But this eternal, strange Ixion's wheel +Of giddy earth ne'er whirling leaves to reel, +Till all things are inverted, till they are +Turn'd to that antick confus'd state they were. + + Who loves the golden mean, doth safely want +A cobwebb'd cot and wrongs entail'd upon't; +He richly needs a pallace for to breed +Vipers and moths, that on their feeder feed; +The toy that we (too true) a mistress call, +Whose looking-glass and feather weighs up all; +And cloaths which larks would play with in the sun, +That mock him in the night, when 's course is run. + + To rear an edifice by art so high, +That envy should not reach it with her eye, +Nay, with a thought come neer it. Wouldst thou know, +How such a structure should be raisd, build low. +The blust'ring winds invisible rough stroak +More often shakes the stubborn'st, prop'rest oak; +And in proud turrets we behold withal, +'Tis the imperial top declines to fall: +Nor does Heav'n's lightning strike the humble vales, +But high-aspiring mounts batters and scales. + + A breast of proof defies all shocks of Fate, +Fears in the best, hopes in worser state; +Heaven forbid that, as of old, time ever +Flourish'd in spring so contrary, now never. +That mighty breath, which blew foul Winter hither, +Can eas'ly puffe it to a fairer weather. +Why dost despair then, Frank? Aeolus has +A Zephyrus as well as Boreas. + + 'Tis a false sequel, soloecisme 'gainst those +Precepts by fortune giv'n us, to suppose +That, 'cause it is now ill, 't will ere be so; +Apollo doth not always bend his bow; +But oft, uncrowned of his beams divine, +With his soft harp awakes the sleeping Nine. + + In strictest things magnanimous appear, +Greater in hope, howere thy fate, then<86.3> fear: +Draw all your sails in quickly, though no storm +Threaten your ruine with a sad alarm; +For tell me how they differ, tell me, pray, +A cloudy tempest and a too fair day? + +<86.1> One of the younger brothers of the poet. In the +year of the Restoration he filled the office of Recorder of +Canterbury, and in that capacity delivered the address of the +city to Charles II. on his passage through the place. This +speech was printed in 1660, 4to, three leaves. The following +extracts from the CALENDARS OF STATE PAPERS (Domestic Series, +1660-1, page 139), throw a little additional light on the +history of this person:-- + +"1660, July 1.--Petition of Fras. Lovelace, Recorder of Canterbury, +to the King, for the stewardship of the liberties of St. Augustine, +near Canterbury, for himself and his son Goldwell. Has suffered +sequestration, imprisonment, and loss of office, for his loyalty. +WITH A NOTE OF THE REQUESTED GRANT FOR FRAS. LOVELACE. + +"Grant to Fras. Lovelace, of the office of chief steward of the +Liberties of the late monastery of St. Augustine, near Canterbury." + +<86.2> Unless the poet is advising his brother, before the latter +ventures on a long sea voyage, to look in the crystal, or beryl, +so popular at that time, in order to read his fortune, I must +confess my ignorance of the meaning of "glassy-epithete." +See, for an account of the beryl, Aubrey's MISCELLANIES, +edit. 1857, p. 154. + +<86.3> Than. + + + + PARIS'S SECOND JUDGEMENT, + + UPON THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF MY DEAR + BROTHER MR. R. CAESAR.<87.1> + +Behold! three sister-wonders, in whom met, +Distinct and chast, the splendrous<87.2> counterfeit<87.3> +Of Juno, Venus and the warlike Maid, +Each in their three divinities array'd; +The majesty and state of Heav'ns great Queen, +And when she treats the gods, her noble meen; +The sweet victorious beauties and desires +O' th' sea-born princess, empresse too of fires; +The sacred arts and glorious lawrels torn +From the fair brow o' th' goddesse father-born; +All these were quarter'd in each snowy coat, +With canton'd<87.4> honours of their own, to boot. +Paris, by fate new-wak'd from his dead cell, +Is charg'd to give his doom impossible. +He views in each the brav'ry<87.5> of all Ide; +Whilst one, as once three, doth his soul divide. +Then sighs so equally they're glorious all: +WHAT PITY THE WHOLE WORLD IS BUT ONE BALL! + +<87.1> Second son of Sir John Caesar, Knt., who was the second +surviving son of Sir Julius Caesar, Knt., Master of the Rolls. +Mr. Robert Caesar married the poet's sister Johanna, by whom +he had three daughters, co-heirs--Anne, Juliana, and Johanna. +These are the ladies commemorated in the text. See Lodge's +LIFE OF SIR JULIUS CAESAR, 1827, p. 54. + +<87.2> Original reads SPLENDORS. + +<87.3> This word is here used to signify simply RESEMBLANCE or +COPY. + +<87.4> i.e. quartered. CANTON, in heraldry, is a square space +at one of the corners of a shield of arms. + +<87.5> Bravery here means, as it often does in writers of and +before the time of Lovelace, A BEAUTIFUL OR FINE SPECTACLE, +or simply BEAUTY. BRAVE in the sense of FINE (gaudy or gallant) +is still in use. + + + + PEINTURE. + +A PANEGYRICK TO THE BEST PICTURE OF FRIENDSHIP, + MR. PET. LILLY. + + If Pliny, Lord High Treasurer of all<88.1> +Natures exchequer shuffled in this our ball,<88.2> +Peinture her richer rival did admire, +And cry'd she wrought with more almighty fire, +That judg'd the unnumber'd issue of her scrowl, +Infinite and various as her mother soul, +That contemplation into matter brought, +Body'd Ideas, and could form a thought. +Why do I pause to couch the cataract,<88.3> +And the grosse pearls from our dull eyes abstract, +That, pow'rful Lilly, now awaken'd we +This new creation may behold by thee? + + To thy victorious pencil all, that eyes +And minds call reach, do bow. The deities +Bold Poets first but feign'd, you do and make, +And from your awe they our devotion take. +Your beauteous pallet first defin'd Love's Queen, +And made her in her heav'nly colours seen; +You strung the bow of the Bandite her son,<88.4> +And tipp'd his arrowes with religion. +Neptune as unknown as his fish might dwell, +But that you seat him in his throne of shell. +The thunderers artillery and brand, +You fancied Rome in his fantastick hand; +And the pale frights, the pains, and fears of hell +First from your sullen melancholy fell. +Who cleft th' infernal dog's loath'd head in three, +And spun out Hydra's fifty necks? by thee +As prepossess'd w' enjoy th' Elizian plain, +Which but before was flatter'd<88.5> in our brain. +Who ere yet view'd airs child invisible, +A hollow voice, but in thy subtile skill? +Faint stamm'ring Eccho you so draw, that we +The very repercussion do see. + Cheat-HOCUS-POCUS-Nature an assay<88.6> +O' th' spring affords us: praesto, and away!<88.7> +You all the year do chain her and her fruits, +Roots to their beds, and flowers to their roots. +Have not mine eyes feasted i' th' frozen Zone +Upon a fresh new-grown collation +Of apples, unknown sweets, that seem'd to me +Hanging to tempt as on the fatal tree, +So delicately limn'd I vow'd to try +My<88.8> appetite impos'd upon my eye?<88.9> + You, sir, alone, fame, and all-conqu'ring rime, +File<88.10> the set teeth of all-devouring time. +When beauty once thy vertuous paint hath on, +Age needs not call her to vermilion; +Her beams nere shed or change like th' hair of day,<88.11> +She scatters fresh her everlasting ray. +Nay, from her ashes her fair virgin fire +Ascends, that doth new massacres conspire, +Whilst we wipe off the num'rous score of years, +And do behold our grandsire[s] as our peers; +With the first father of our house compare +We do the features of our new-born heir: +For though each coppied a son, they all +Meet in thy first and true original. + Sacred! luxurious! what princesse not +But comes to you to have her self begot? +As, when first man was kneaded, from his side +Is born to's hand a ready-made-up bride. +He husband to his issue then doth play, +And for more wives remove the obstructed way: +So by your art you spring up in two noons +What could not else be form'd by fifteen suns; +Thy skill doth an'mate the prolifick flood, +And thy red oyl assimilates to blood. + Where then, when all the world pays its respect, +Lies our transalpine barbarous neglect? +When the chast hands of pow'rful Titian +Had drawn the scourges of our God and man, +And now the top of th' altar did ascend +To crown the heav'nly piece with a bright end; +Whilst he, who in<88.12> seven languages gave law, +And always, like the Sun, his subjects saw, +Did, in his robes imperial and gold, +The basis of the doubtful ladder hold. +O Charls!<88.13> a nobler monument than that, +Which thou thine own executor wert at! +When to our huffling Henry<88.14> there complain'd +A grieved earl, that thought his honor stain'd: +Away (frown'd he), for your own safeties, hast! +In one cheap hour ten coronets I'l cast; +But Holbeen's noble and prodigious worth +Onely the pangs of an whole age brings forth.<88.15> +Henry! a word so princely saving said, +It might new raise the ruines thou hast made. + O sacred Peincture! that dost fairly draw, +What but in mists deep inward Poets saw; +'Twixt thee and an Intelligence no odds,<88.16> +That art of privy council to the gods! +By thee unto our eyes they do prefer +A stamp of their abstracted character; +Thou, that in frames eternity dost bind, +And art a written and a body'd mind; +To thee is ope the Juncto o' th' abysse, +And its conspiracy detected is; +Whilest their cabal thou to our sense dost show, +And in thy square paint'st what they threat below. + Now, my best Lilly, let's walk hand in hand, +And smile at this un-understanding land; +Let them their own dull counterfeits adore, +Their rainbow-cloaths admire, and no more. +Within one shade of thine more substance is, +Than all their varnish'd idol-mistresses: +Whilst great Vasari and Vermander shall +Interpret the deep mystery of all, +And I unto our modern Picts shall show, +What due renown to thy fair art they owe +In the delineated lives of those, +By whom this everlasting lawrel grows. +Then, if they will not gently apprehend, +Let one great blot give to their fame an end; +Whilst no poetick flower their herse doth dresse, +But perish they and their effigies. + +<88.1> An allusion is, of course, intended to Pliny's +NATURAL HISTORY which, through Holland's translation, +became popular in England after 1601. + +<88.2> i.e. in our globe. + +<88.3> A term borrowed from the medical, or rather surgical, +vocabulary. "To couch a cataract" (i.e. in the eye) is to +remove it by surgical process. + +<88.4> An allusion to Lely's pictures of Venus and Cupid. + +<88.5> Falsely portrayed. + +<88.6> A glimpse. + +<88.7> Some picture by Lely, in which the painter introduced +a spring landscape, is meant. The poet feigns the copy of Nature +to be so close that one might suppose the Spring had set in +before the usual time. The canvass is removed, and the illusion +is dispelled. "Praesto, 'tis away," would be a preferable reading. + +<88.8> i.e. if my appetite, &c. Lovelace's style is elliptical +to an almost unexampled degree. + +<88.9> The same story, with variations, has been told over and +over again since the time of Zeuxis. + +<88.10> Original edition has FILES. + +<88.11> HAIR is here used in what has become quite an obsolete +sense. The meaning is outward form, nature, or character. +The word used to be by no means uncommon; but it is now, +as was before remarked, out of fashion; and, indeed, I do not think +that it is found even in any old writer used exactly in the way +in which Lovelace has employed it. + +<88.12> Original reads TO. + +<88.13> Charles V. + +<88.14> Henry VIII. + +<88.15> A story too well known to require repetition. The Earl +is not mentioned.--See Walpole's ANECDOTES OF PAINTING, ed. 1862, +p.71. + +<88.16> i.e. no difference. A compliment to Lely's spirituality. + + + +AN ANNIVERSARY ON THE HYMENEALS OF MY NOBLE KINSMAN,<89.1> + THO. STANLEY, ESQUIRE.<89.2> + + I. + The day is curl'd about agen + To view the splendor she was in; + When first with hallow'd hands +The holy man knit the mysterious bands +When you two your contracted souls did move + Like cherubims above, + And did make love, +As your un-understanding issue now, +In a glad sigh, a smile, a tear, a vow. + + II. + Tell me, O self-reviving Sun, + In thy perigrination + Hast thou beheld a pair +Twist their soft beams like these in their chast air? +As from bright numberlesse imbracing rayes + Are sprung th' industrious dayes, + So when they gaze, +And change their fertile eyes with the new morn, +A beauteous offspring is shot forth, not born. + + III. + Be witness then, all-seeing Sun, + Old spy, thou that thy race hast run + In full five thousand rings;<89.3> +To thee were ever purer offerings +Sent on the wings of Faith? and thou, O Night,<89.4> + Curtain of their delight, + By these made bright, +Have you not mark'd their coelestial play, +And no more peek'd the gayeties of day? + + IV. + Come then, pale virgins, roses strow, + Mingled with Ios as you go. + The snowy ox is kill'd, +The fane with pros'lyte lads and lasses fill'd, +You too may hope the same seraphic joy, + Old time cannot destroy, + Nor fulnesse cloy; +When, like these, you shall stamp by sympathies +Thousands of new-born-loves with your chaste eyes. + +<89.1> Lovelace was connected with the Stanleys through the +Auchers. The Kentish families, about this time, intermarried +with each other to a very large extent, partly to indemnify +themselves from the consequences of gravelkind tenure (though +many had procured parliamentary relief); and the Lovelaces, +the Stanleys, the Hammonds, the Sandyses, were all more or less +bound together by the ties of kindred. See the tree prefixed +by Sir Egerton Brydges to his edition of HAMMOND'S POEMS, 1816, +and the Introduction to STANLEY'S POEMS, 1814. Sir William +Lovelace, the poet's grandfather, married Elizabeth, daughter +of Edward Aucher, Esq., of Bishopsbourne, near Canterbury, while +Sir William Hammond, of St. Alban's Court, married, as his second +wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Anthony Aucher, Esq., of +Bishopsbourne, by whom he had, among other children, Mary, +who became the wife of Sir Thomas Stanley, of Cumberlow, father of +Thomas Stanley, the poet, historian, and translator of Bion, &c. + +<89.2> See THE POEMS OF WILLIAM HAMMOND, 1655, edited by +Sir E. Brydges, 1816, p. 54, where there is a similar poem +on Stanley and his bride from the pen of Hammond, who also claimed +relationship with the then newly-married poet. The best account +of Stanley is in the reprint of his Poems and Translations, 1814, +8vo. + +<89.3> Meaning that the earth had made 5000 revolutions round +the sun; or, in other words, that the sun was 5000 years old. + +<89.4> Original reads AND THOU OF NIGHT. + + + +ON SANAZAR'S BEING HONOURED WITH SIX HUNDRED DUCKETS + BY THE CLARISSIMI OF VENICE, + FOR COMPOSING AN ELIGIACK HEXASTICK OF THE CITY. + + A SATYRE. + + Twas a blith prince<90.1> exchang'd five hundred crowns +For a fair turnip. Dig, dig on, O clowns +But how this comes about, Fates, can you tell, +This more then Maid of Meurs, this miracle? +Let me not live, if I think not St. Mark +Has all the oar, as well as beasts, in's ark! +No wonder 'tis he marries the rich sea, +But to betroth him to nak'd Poesie, +And with a bankrupt muse to merchandise; +His treasures beams, sure, have put out his eyes.<90.2> +His conquest at Lepanto<90.3> I'l let pass, +When the sick sea with turbants night-cap'd was; +And now at Candie his full courage shown, +That wan'd to a wan line the half-half moon.<90.4> +This is a wreath, this is a victorie, +Caesar himself would have look'd pale to see, +And in the height of all his triumphs feel +Himself but chain'd to such a mighty wheel. + And now me thinks we ape Augustus state, +So ugly we his high worth imitate, +Monkey his godlike glories; so that we +Keep light and form with such deformitie, +As I have seen an arrogant baboon +With a small piece of glasse zany the sun. + Rome to her bard, who did her battails sing, +Indifferent gave to poet and to king; +With the same lawrells were his temples fraught, +Who best had written, and who best had fought; +The self same fame they equally did feel, +One's style ador'd as much as t' other's steel. +A chain or fasces she could then afford +The sons of Phoebus, we, an axe or cord; +Sometimes a coronet was her renown, +And ours, the dear prerogative of a crown. +In marble statu'd walks great Lucan lay, +And now we walk, our own pale statua. +They the whole year with roses crownd would dine, +And we in all December know no wine; +Disciplin'd, dieted, sure there hath bin +Ods 'twixt a poet and a Capuchin. + Of princes, women, wine, to sing I see +Is no apocrypha: for to rise high +Commend this olio of this lord 'tis fit: +Nay, ten to one, but you have part of it; +There is that justice left, since you maintain +His table, he should counter-feed your brain. +Then write how well he in his sack hath droll'd, +Straight there's a bottle to your chamber roll'd, +Or with embroider'd words praise his French suit, +Month hence 'tis yours with his mans, to boot; +Or but applaud his boss'd legs: two to none, +But he most nobly doth give you one. +Or spin an elegie on his false hair: +'Tis well, he cries, but living hair is dear. +Yet say that out of order ther's one curl, +And all the hopes of your reward you furl.<90.5> + Write a deep epick poem, and you may +As soon delight them as the opera, +Where they Diogenes thought in his tub, +Never so sowre did look so sweet a club. + You that do suck for thirst your black quil's blood,<90.6> +And chaw your labour'd papers for your food, +I will inform you how and what to praise, +Then skin y' in satin as young Lovelace plaies. +Beware, as you would your fierce guests, your lice, +To strip the cloath of gold from cherish'd vice; +Rather stand off with awe and reverend fear, +Hang a poetick pendant in her ear, +Court her as her adorers do their glasse, +Though that as much of a true substance has, +Whilst all the gall from your wild<90.7> ink you drain, +The beauteous sweets of vertues cheeks to stain; +And in your livery let her be known, +As poor and tatter'd as in her own. +Nor write, nor speak you more of sacred writ, +But what shall force up your arrested wit. +Be chast; religion and her priests your scorn, +Whilst the vain fanes of idiots you adorn. +It is a mortal errour, you must know, +Of any to speak good, if he be so. +Rayl, till your edged breath flea<90.8> your raw throat, +And burn remarks<90.9> on all of gen'rous note; +Each verse be an indictment, be not free +Sanctity 't self from thy scurrility. +Libel your father, and your dam buffoon, +The noblest matrons of the isle lampoon, +Whilst Aretine and 's bodies you dispute, +And in your sheets your sister prostitute. + Yet there belongs a sweetnesse, softnesse too, +Which you must pay, but first, pray, know to who. +There is a creature, (if I may so call +That unto which they do all prostrate fall) +Term'd mistress, when they'r angry; but, pleas'd high, +It is a princesse, saint, divinity. +To this they sacrifice the whole days light, +Then lye with their devotion all night; +For this you are to dive to the abysse, +And rob for pearl the closet of some fish. +Arabia and Sabaea you must strip +Of all their sweets, for to supply her lip; +And steal new fire from heav'n, for to repair +Her unfledg'd scalp with Berenice's hair; +Then seat her in Cassiopeia's chair. +As now you're in your coach: save you, bright sir, +(O, spare your thanks) is not this finer far +Then walk un-hided, when that every stone +Has knock'd acquaintance with your ankle-bone? +When your wing'd papers, like the last dove, nere +Return'd to quit you of your hope or fear, +But left you to the mercy of your host +And your days fare, a fortified toast.<90.10> + How many battels, sung in epick strain, +Would have procur'd your head thatch from the rain +Not all the arms of Thebes and Troy would get +One knife but to anatomize your meat, +A funeral elegie, with a sad boon,<90.11> +Might make you (hei!) sip wine like maccaroon;<90.12> +But if perchance there did a riband<90.13> come, +Not the train-band so fierce with all its drum: +Yet with your torch you homeward would retire, +And heart'ly wish your bed your fun'ral pyre. + With what a fury have I known you feed +Upon a contract and the hopes 't might speed! +Not the fair bride, impatient of delay, +Doth wish like you the beauties of that day; +Hotter than all the roasted cooks you sat +To dresse the fricace of your alphabet, +Which sometimes would be drawn dough anagrame,<90.14> +Sometimes acrostick parched in the flame;<90.15> +Then posies stew'd with sippets, mottos by: +Of minced verse a miserable pye. +How many knots slip'd, ere you twist their name +With th' old device, as both their heart's the same! +Whilst like to drills the feast in your false jaw +You would transmit at leisure to your maw; +Then after all your fooling, fat, and wine, +Glutton'd at last, return at home to pine. + Tell me, O Sun, since first your beams did play +To night, and did awake the sleeping day; +Since first your steeds of light their race did start, +Did you ere blush as now? Oh thou, that art +The common father to the base pissmire, +As well as great Alcides, did the fire +From thine owne altar which the gods adore, +Kindle the souls of gnats and wasps before? + Who would delight in his chast eyes to see +Dormise to strike at lights of poesie? +Faction and envy now are<90.16> downright rage. +Once a five-knotted whip there was, the stage: +The beadle and the executioner, +To whip small errors, and the great ones tear; +Now, as er'e Nimrod the first king, he writes: +That's strongest, th' ablest deepest bites. +The muses weeping fly their hill, to see +Their noblest sons of peace in mutinie. +Could there nought else this civil war compleat, +But poets raging with poetic heat, +Tearing themselves and th' endlesse wreath, as though +Immortal they, their wrath should be so, too? +And doubly fir'd Apollo burns to see +In silent Helicon a naumachie. +Parnassus hears these at his first alarms; +Never till now Minerva was in arms. + O more then conqu'ror of the world, great Rome! +Thy heros did with gentleness or'e come +Thy foes themselves, but one another first, +Whilst envy stript alone was left, and burst. +The learn'd Decemviri, 'tis true, did strive, +But to add flames to keep their fame alive; +Whilst the eternal lawrel hung ith' air: +Nor of these ten sons was there found one heir. +Like to the golden tripod, it did pass +From this to this, till 't came to him, whose 'twas. +Caesar to Gallus trundled it, and he +To Maro: Maro, Naso, unto thee? +Naso to his Tibullus flung the wreath, +He to Catullus thus did bequeath. +This glorious circle, to another round, +At last the temples of their god it bound. + I might believe at least, that each might have +A quiet fame contented in his grave, +Envy the living, not the dead, doth bite: +For after death all men receave their right.<90.17> +If it be sacriledge for to profane +Their holy ashes, what is't then their flame? +He does that wrong unweeting<90.18> or in ire, +As if one should put out the vestal fire. + Let earths four quarters speak, and thou, Sun, bear +Now witnesse for thy fellow-traveller. +I was ally'd, dear Uncle,<90.19> unto thee +In blood, but thou, alas, not unto me; +Your vertues, pow'rs, and mine differ'd at best, +As they whose springs you saw, the east and west.<90.20> +Let me awhile be twisted in thy shine, +And pay my due devotions at thy shrine. + Might learned Waynman<90.21> rise, who went with thee +In thy heav'ns work beside divinity, +I should sit still; or mighty Falkland<90.22> stand +To justifie with breath his pow'rful hand; +The glory, that doth circle your pale urn, +Might hallow'd still and undefiled burn: +But I forbear. Flames, that are wildly thrown +At sacred heads, curle back upon their own; +Sleep, heavenly Sands, whilst what they do or write, +Is to give God himself and you your right. + There is not in my mind one sullen<90.23> fate +Of old, but is concentred in our state: +Vandall ore-runners, Goths in literature: +Ploughmen that would Parnassus new-manure; +Ringers of verse that all-in-chime, +And toll the changes upon every rime. +A mercer now by th' yard does measure ore +An ode, which was but by the foot before; +Deals you an ell of epigram, and swears +It is the strongest and the finest wears. +No wonder, if a drawer verses rack, +If 'tis not his, 't may be the spir't of sack; +Whilst the fair bar-maid stroaks the muses teat, +For milk to make the posset up compleat. + Arise, thou rev'rend shade, great Johnson, rise! +Break through thy marble natural disguise! +Behold a mist of insects, whose meer breath +Will melt thy hallow'd leaden house of death. +What was Crispinus,<90.24> that you should defie +The age for him?<90.25> He durst not look so high +As your immortal rod, he still did stand +Honour'd, and held his forehead to thy brand. +These scorpions, with which we have to do, +Are fiends, not only small but deadly too. +Well mightst thou rive thy quill up to the back, +And scrue thy lyre's grave chords, untill they crack. +For though once hell resented musick, these +Divels will not, but are in worse disease. +How would thy masc'line spirit, father Ben, +Sweat to behold basely deposed men, +Justled from the prerog'tive of their bed, +Whilst wives are per'wig'd with their husbands head? +Each snatches the male quill from his faint hand, +And must both nobler write and understand, +He to her fury the soft plume doth bow: +O pen, nere truely justly slit till now! +Now as her self a poem she doth dresse. +And curls a line, as she would do a tresse; +Powders a sonnet as she does her hair, +Then prostitutes them both to publick aire. +Nor is 't enough, that they their faces blind +With a false dye; but they must paint their mind, +In meeter scold, and in scann'd order brawl, +Yet there's one Sapho<90.26> left may save them all. + But now let me recal my passion. +Oh! (from a noble father, nobler son) +You, that alone are the Clarissimi, +And the whole gen'rous state of Venice be, +It shall not be recorded Sanazar +Shall boast inthron'd alone this new made star; +You, whose correcting sweetnesse hath forbad +Shame to the good, and glory to the bad; +Whose honour hath ev'n into vertue tam'd +These swarms, that now so angerly I nam'd. +Forgive what thus distemper'd I indite: +For it is hard a SATYRE not to write. +Yet, as a virgin that heats all her blood +At the first motion of bad<90.27> understood, +Then, at meer thought of fair chastity, +Straight cools again the tempests of her sea: + So when to you I my devotions raise, + All wrath and storms do end in calm and praise. + +<90.1> Louis XI. of France was the prince here intended. See +MERY TALES AND QUICKE ANSWERS, No. 23 (ed. Hazlitt). I fear +that if Lovelace had derived his knowledge of this incident +<f>rom the little work mentioned, he would have been still more +sarcastic; for Louis, in the TALES AND QUICKE ANSWERS, is made +to give, not 500 crowns for a turnip, but 1000 crowns for a radish. + +<90.2> Perhaps Lovelace is rather too severe on Sannazaro. That +writer is said to have occupied twenty years in the composition +of his poem on the Birth of the Saviour, for which he probably +did not receive a sixth part of the sum paid to him for his +hexastic on Venice; and so he deserved this little windfal, which +came out of the pocket of a Government rich enough to pay it ten +times over. See Corniano's VITA DI JACOPO SANNAZARO, prefixed to +the edition of his ARCADIA, published at Milan in 1806. Amongst +the translations printed at the end of LUCASTA, and which it seems +very likely were among the earliest poetical essays of Lovelace, +is this very epigram of Sannazaro. As in the case of THE ANT, +I have little doubt that the satire was suggested by the +translation. + +<90.3> The battle of Lepanto, in which Don John of Austria and +the Venetians defeated the Turks, 1571. + +<90.4> The Turkish crescent. + +<90.5> Close, or shut up. + +<90.6> i.e. write as a means of subsistence. + +<90.7> Unrefined. + +<90.8> Flay, excoriate. + +<90.9> Original reads ALL MARKS. + +<90.10> A hard toasted crust. + +<90.11> A fee or gratuity given to a poet on a mournful occasion, +and made more liberal by the circumstances of affliction in which +the donors are placed. + +<90.12> Generally, a mere coxcomb or dandy; but here the poet +implies a man about town who is rich enough to indulge +in fashionable luxuries. + +<90.13> The ribbon by which the star of an order of knighthood +was attached to the breast of the fortunate recipient. It +sometimes also stood for the armlet worn by gentlemen in our +poet's day, as a mark of some lady's esteem. See Shirley's +POEMS (Works, vi. 440). + +<90.14> A crude anagram. + +<90.15> An imperfect acrostic. Few readers require to be told +that anagrams and acrostics were formerly one of the most +fashionable species of composition. Lovelace here pictures +a poetaster "stewing" his brains with a poem of this description, +which of course demanded a certain amount of tedious and minute +attention to the arrangement of the name of the individual +to whom the anagram or acrostic was to be addressed, and this +was especially the case, where the writer contemplated +a DOUBLE acrostic. + +<90.16> Original reads IS. + +<90.17> Ovid. EL. 15. + +<90.18> Unwitting. + +<90.19> The Lovelaces were connected, not only with the Hammonds +Auchers, &c., but on the mother's side with the family of Sandys. +See Berry's KENT GENEALOGIES, which, however, are not by any means +invariably reliable. The subjoined is partly from Berry:-- + + Edwin Sandys, === Cecilia, da. of Thomas + Archbishop of ! Wilford, of Cranbrook, + York, ob. 1588. ! Co. Kent, Esq. ob. 1610. + ! + -------------------------------------------- + ! ! ! + [Sir]===(4thly)Catherine, George, trans- Anne===Sir William +Edwin ! da. of Sir R. lator of the Barnes, of +Sandys ! Bulkeley, of Psalms, &c., Woolwich, + ! Anglesey. ob. 1643-4, the poet's + ! Lovelace's maternal + ! GREAT-uncle. grandfather. + ! + Richard Sandys Esq.===Hester, da. of Edwin Aucher, second + son of Anthony Aucher, Esq., of + Bishopsbourne. + +<90.20> [George] Sandys published, in 1615, his "Relation +of a Journey Begun A.D. 1610," &c., which became very popular, +and was frequently reprinted. + +<90.21> "There was Selden, and he sat close by the chair; + Wainman not far off, which was very fair." + Suckling's SESSION OF THE POETS. + +<90.22> "Hales set by himself, most gravely did smile + To see them about nothing keep such a wil; + APOLLO had spied him, but knowing his mind + Past by, and call'd FALKLAND, that sat just behind. + He was of late so gone with divinity, + That he had almost forgot his poetry, + Though to say the truth (and APOLLO did know it) + He might have been both his priest and poet." + Suckling's SESSION OF THE POETS. + +Lord Falkland was a contributor to JONSONUS VIRBIUS, 1638, +and was well known in his day as an occasional writer. + +<90.23> SULLEN is here used in the sense of MISCHIEVOUS. +In Worcester's Dictionary an example is given of its employment +by Dryden in a similar signification. + +<90.24> Thomas Decker, the dramatist and poet, whom Jonson +attacked in his POETASTER, 1602, under the name of CRISPINUS. +Decker retorted in SATIROMASTIX, printed in the same year, +in which Jonson appears as YOUNG HORACE. + +<90.25> An allusion to the lines: + + "Come, leave the loathed stage, + And the more loathsome age," + +prefixed to the NEW INNE, 1631, 8vo. Jonson's adopted son Randolph +expostulated with him on this occasion in the ode beginning:-- + + "Ben, doe not leave the stage, + 'Cause 'tis a loathsome age." + Randolph's POEMS, 1640, p. 64. + +Carew and others did the same. + +<90.26> Katherine Philips, the MATCHLESS ORINDA, b. 1631, d. 1664. +Jeremy Taylor addressed to her his "Measures and Offices of +Friendship," 1657, and Cowley wrote an ode upon her death. + +<90.27> By MOTION OF BAD I presume the poet means WICKED IMPULSE. + + + + COMMENDATORY VERSES, + PREFIXED TO VARIOUS PUBLICATIONS BETWEEN 1652 AND 1657. + + + + TO MY DEAR FRIEND MR. E[LDRED] R[EVETT].<91.1> + ON HIS POEMS MORAL AND DIVINE. + + Cleft as the top of the inspired hill, +Struggles the soul of my divided quill, +Whilst this foot doth the watry mount aspire, +That Sinai's living and enlivening fire, +Behold my powers storm'd by a twisted light +O' th' Sun and his, first kindled his sight, +And my lost thoughts invoke the prince of day, +My right to th' spring of it and him do pray. + + Say, happy youth, crown'd with a heav'nly ray +Of the first flame, and interwreathed bay, +Inform my soul in labour to begin, +Ios or Anthems, Poeans or a Hymne. +Shall I a hecatombe on thy tripod slay, +Or my devotions at thy altar pay? +While which t' adore th' amaz'd world cannot tell, +The sublime Urim or deep oracle. + + Heark! how the moving chords temper our brain, +As when Apollo serenades the main, +Old Ocean smooths his sullen furrow'd front, +And Nereids do glide soft measures on't; +Whilst th' air puts on its sleekest, smoothest face, +And each doth turn the others looking-glasse; +So by the sinewy lyre now strook we see +Into soft calms all storm of poesie, +And former thundering and lightning lines, +And verse now in its native lustre shines. + + How wert thou hid within thyself! how shut! +Thy pretious Iliads lock'd up in a nut! +Not hearing of thee thou dost break out strong, +Invading forty thousand men in song; +And we, secure in our thin empty heat, +Now find ourselves at once surprised and beat, +Whilst the most valiant of our wits now sue, +Fling down their arms, ask quarter too of you. + + So cabin'd up in its disguis'd coarse<91.2> rust, +And scurf'd all ore with its unseemly crust, +The diamond, from 'midst the humbler stones, +Sparkling shoots forth the price of nations. + Ye safe unriddlers of the stars, pray tell, +By what name shall I stamp my miracle? +Thou strange inverted Aeson, that leap'st ore +From thy first infancy into fourscore, +That to thine own self hast the midwife play'd, +And from thy brain spring'st forth<91.3> the heav'nly maid! +Thou staffe of him bore<91.4> him, that bore our sins, +Which, but set down, to bloom and bear begins! +Thou rod of Aaron, with one motion hurl'd, +Bud'st<91.5> a perfume of flowers through the world! +You<91.6> strange calcined<91.7> seeds within a glass, +Each species Idaea spring'st as 'twas! +Bright vestal flame that, kindled but ev'n now, +For ever dost thy sacred fires throw! + + Thus the repeated acts of Nestor's age, +That now had three times ore out-liv'd the stage, +And all those beams contracted into one, +Alcides in his cradle hath outdone. + + But all these flour'shing hiews, with which I die +Thy virgin paper, now are vain as I: +For 'bove the poets Heav'n th' art taught to shine +And move, as in thy proper crystalline; +Whence that mole-hill Parnassus thou dost view, +And us small ants there dabbling in its dew; +Whence thy seraphic soul such hymns doth play, +As those to which first danced the first day, +Where with a thorn from the world-ransoming wreath +Thou stung, dost antiphons and anthems breathe; +Where with an Angels quil dip'd i' th' Lambs blood, +Thou sing'st our Pelicans all-saving flood, +And bath'st thy thoughts in ever-living streams, +Rench'd<91.8> from earth's tainted, fat and heavy steams. +There move translated youth inroll'd i' th' quire, +That only doth with wholy lays inspire; +To whom his burning coach Eliah sent, +And th' royal prophet-priest his harp hath lent; +Which thou dost tune in consort unto those +Clap wings for ever at each hallow'd close: +Whilst we, now weak and fainting in our praise, +Sick echo ore thy Halleluiahs. + +<91.1> Revett has some verses to the memory of Lovelace, +which will be found among the Elegies at the end of the volume. +The present lines were apparently written for a projected edition +of Revett's poems, which, for some unknown reason, was never +published. Revett has also verses prefixed to THE ROYAL GAME +OF CHESSE PLAY, 1656; to AYRES AND DIALOGUES, by John Gamble, +1656; and to Hall's translation of the COMMENT OF HIEROCLES UPON +THE GOLDEN VERSES OF PYTHAGORAS, 1657. + +<91.2> Original has COURSE. + +<91.3> This is only one instance among many which might be cited +from LUCASTA of the employment of an intransitive verb in a +transitive signification. + +<91.4> i.e. THAT BORE HIM. + +<91.5> i.e. THAT BUD'ST. + +<91.6> Orig. has THOU. + +<91.7> This word, now employed only in a special sense, was +formerly a very common and favourite metaphor. Thus Lord +Westmoreland, in his OTIA SACRA, 1648, p. 19, says:-- + + "When all the vertue we can here put on + Is but refined imperfection, + Corruption calcined--" + + See also p. 137 of the same volume. + +<91.8> Rinsed. + + + + ON THE BEST, LAST, AND ONLY REMAINING COMEDY + OF MR. FLETCHER. + + THE WILD GOOSE CHASE.<92.1> + + I'm un-ore-clowded, too! free from the mist! +The blind and late Heaven's-eyes great Occulist, +Obscured with the false fires of his sceme, +Not half those souls are lightned by this theme. + + Unhappy murmurers, that still repine +(After th' Eclipse our Sun doth brighter shine), +Recant your false grief, and your true joys know; +Your blisse is endlesse, as you fear'd your woe! +What fort'nate flood is this! what storm of wit! +Oh, who would live, and not ore-whelm'd in it? +No more a fatal Deluge shall be hurl'd: +This inundation hath sav'd the world. +Once more the mighty Fletcher doth arise, +Roab'd in a vest studded with stars and eyes +Of all his former glories; his last worth +Imbroiderd with what yet light ere brought forth. +See! in this glad farewel he doth appear +Stuck with the Constellations of his Sphere, +Fearing we numb'd fear'd no flagration, +Hath curl'd all his fires in this one ONE: +Which (as they guard his hallowed chast urn) +The dull aproaching hereticks do burn. + + Fletcher at his adieu carouses thus +To the luxurious ingenious, +As Cleopatra did of old out-vie, +Th' un-numb'red dishes of her Anthony, +When (he at th' empty board a wonderer) +Smiling she<92.2> calls for pearl and vinegar, +First pledges him in's BREATH, then at one draught +Swallows THREE KINGDOMS of To HIS BEST THOUGHT. + + Hear, oh ye valiant writers, and subscribe; +(His force set by) y'are conquer'd by this bribe. +Though you hold out your selves, he doth commit +In this a sacred treason in your wit; +Although in poems desperately stout, +Give up: this overture must buy you out. + + Thus with some prodigal us'rer 't doth fare, +That keeps his gold still vayl'd, his steel-breast bare; +That doth exceed his coffers all but's eye, +And his eyes' idol the wing'd Deity: +That cannot lock his mines with half the art +As some rich beauty doth his wretched heart; +Wild at his real poverty, and so wise +To win her, turns himself into a prise. +First startles her with th' emerald Mad-Lover<92.3> +The ruby Arcas,<92.4> least she should recover +Her dazled thought, a Diamond he throws, +Splendid in all the bright Aspatia's woes;<92.5> +Then to sum up the abstract of his store, +He flings a rope of Pearl of forty<92.6> more. +Ah, see! the stagg'ring virtue faints! which he +Beholding, darts his Wealths Epitome;<92.7> +And now, to consummate her wished fall, +Shows this one Carbuncle, that darkens all. + +<92.1> "THE WILD-GOOSE CHASE. A Comedie: As it hath been acted +with singular applause at the BLACKFRIERS. Being the Noble, +Last, and Onely REMAINES of those Incomparable DRAMATISTS, +Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Gent. London: Printed for +Humphrey Moseley, 1652," folio. + +<92.2> Singer reads HE, but original SHE, as above. Of course +Cleopatra is meant. + +<92.3> Fletcher's MAD LOVER. + +<92.4> Fletcher's FAITHFUL SHEPHERDESS. + +<92.5> THE MAID'S TRAGEDY, by Beaumont and Fletcher, 1619. + +<92.6> Should we not read FIFTY, and understand the collected +edition of Beaumont and Fletcher's Works in 1647? + +<92.7> The WILD-GOOSE CHASE, which is also apparently the CARBUNCLE +mentioned two lines lower down. + + + + TO + MY NOBLE KINSMAN THOMAS STANLEY,<93.1> ESQ. + ON HIS LYRICK POEMS COMPOSED + BY MR. JOHN GAMBLE.<93.2> + + I. +What means this stately tablature, + The ballance of thy streins, +Which seems, in stead of sifting pure, + T' extend and rack thy veins? +Thy Odes first their own harmony did break: +For singing, troth, is but in tune to speak. + + II. +Nor trus<93.3> thy golden feet and wings. + It may<93.4> be thought false melody<93.5> +T' ascend to heav'n by silver strings; + This is Urania's heraldry. +Thy royal poem now we may extol, +As<93.6> truly Luna blazon'd upon Sol. + + III. +As when Amphion first did call + Each listning stone from's den; +And with his<93.7> lute did form the<93.8> wall, + But with his words the men; +So in your twisted numbers now you thus +Not only stocks perswade, but ravish us. + + IV. +Thus do your ayrs eccho ore + The notes and anthems of the sphaeres, +And their whole consort back restore, + As if earth too would blesse Heav'ns ears; +But yet the spoaks, by which they scal'd so high, +Gamble hath wisely laid of UT RE MI.<<AN.5>> + +<93.1> Thomas Stanley, Esq., author of the HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY, +and an elegant poet and translator, v. SUPRA. + +Lovelace wrote these lines for AYRES AND DIALOGUES. TO BE SUNG +TO THE THEORBO, LUTE, OR BASE-VIOLL: By John Gamble, London, +Printed by William Godbid for the Author, 1656. folio. [The words +are by Stanley.] + +<93.2> "Wood, in his account of this person, vol. i. col. 285, +conjectures that many of the songs in the above collection +(Gamble's AYRES, &c. 1659), were written by the learned Thomas +Stanley, Esq., author of the HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY, and seemingly +with good reason, for they resemble, in the conciseness and elegant +turn of them, those poems of his printed in 1651, containing +translations from Anacreon, Bion, Moschus and others."--Hawkins. + +<93.3> LUCASTA and AYRES AND DIALOGUES read THUS, which leaves +no meaning in this passage. + +<93.4> Old editions have MAY IT. + +<93.5> Harmonie--AYRES AND DIALOGUES, &c. + +<93.6> Original reads AND, and so also the AYRES AND DIALOGUES. + +<93.7> Old editions have THE. + +<93.8> So the AYRES AND DIALOGUES. LUCASTA has HIS. + +<<AN.5>> P. 249. UT RE MI. + +See LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, 1598, iv. 3:-- + "Hol. Old Mantuan! Old Mantuan! who understandeth thee not, + loves thee not--UT, RE, SOL, la, mi, FA"---- + +And Singer's SHAKESPEARE, ed. 1856, ii. 257, NOTE 15. + + + +TO DR. F. B[EALE]; ON HIS BOOK OF CHESSE.<94.1> + +Sir, how unravell'd is the golden fleece: +Men, that could only fool at FOX AND GEESE, +Are new-made polititians<94.2> by thy book, +And both can judge and conquer with a look. +The hidden fate<94.3> of princes you unfold; +Court, clergy, commons, by your law control'd. +Strange, serious wantoning all that they +Bluster'd and clutter'd for, you PLAY. + +<94.1> These lines, among the last which Lovelace ever wrote, +were originally prefixed to "The Royal Game of Chesse-Play. +Sometimes the Recreation of the late King, with many of the +Nobility. Illustrated with almost an hundred gambetts. Being +the Study of Biochino, the famous Italian [Published by Francis +Beale.]" Lond. 1656, 12mo. + +<94.2> The text of 1656 has, erroneously no doubt, POLITIANS. + +<94.3> Text of 1656 has FATES. + + + + TO THE GENIUS OF MR. JOHN HALL. + ON HIS EXACT TRANSLATION OF HIEROCLES +HIS COMMENT UPON THE GOLDEN VERSES OF PYTHAGORAS.<95.1> + + Tis not from cheap thanks thinly to repay +Th' immortal grove of thy fair-order'd bay +Thou planted'st round my humble fane,<95.2> that I +Stick on thy hearse this sprig of Elegie: +Nor that your soul so fast was link'd in me, +That now I've both, since't has forsaken thee: +That thus I stand a Swisse before thy gate, +And dare, for such another, time and fate. +Alas! our faiths made different essays, +Our Minds and Merits brake two several ways; +Justice commands I wake thy learned dust, +And truth, in whom all causes center must. + + Behold! when but a youth, thou fierce didst whip +Upright the crooked age, and gilt vice strip; +A senator praetext,<95.3> that knew'st to sway<95.4> +The fasces, yet under the ferula; +Rank'd with the sage, ere blossome did thy chin, +Sleeked without, and hair all ore within, +Who in the school could'st argue as in schools: +Thy lessons were ev'n academie rules. +So that fair Cam saw thee matriculate, +At once a tyro and a graduate. + + At nineteen, what ESSAYES<95.5> have we beheld! +That well might have the book of Dogmas swell'd; +Tough Paradoxes, such as Tully's, thou +Didst heat thee with, when snowy was thy brow, +When thy undown'd face mov'd the Nine to shake, +And of the Muses did a decad make. +What shall I say? by what allusion bold? +NONE BUT THE SUN WAS ERE SO YOUNG AND OLD. + + Young reverend shade, ascend awhile! whilst we +Now celebrate this posthume victorie, +This victory, that doth contract in death +Ev'n all the pow'rs and labours of thy breath. +Like the Judean Hero,<95.6> in thy fall +Thou pull'st the house of learning on us all. +And as that soldier conquest doubted not, +Who but one splinter had of Castriot,<95.7> +But would assault ev'n death so strongly charmd, +And naked oppose rocks, with his<95.8> bone<95.9> arm'd; +So we, secure in this fair relique, stand<95.10> +The slings and darts shot by each profane hand. +These soveraign leaves thou left'st us are become +Sear clothes against all Times infection. + + Sacred Hierocles, whose heav'nly thought +First acted ore this comment, ere it wrote,<95.11> +Thou hast so spirited, elixir'd, we +Conceive there is a noble alchymie, +That's turning of this gold to something more +Pretious than gold, we never knew before. +Who now shall doubt the metempsychosis +Of the great Author, that shall peruse this? +Let others dream thy shadow wandering strays +In th' Elizian mazes hid with bays; +Or that, snatcht up in th' upper region, +'Tis kindled there a constellation; +I have inform'd me, and declare with ease +THY SOUL IS FLED INTO HIEROCLES. + +<95.1> These lines were originally prefixed to "Hierocles +upon the Golden Verses of Pythagoras. Teaching a Virtuous +and Worthy Life. Translated by John Hall, of Durham, Esquire. +OPUS POSTHUMUM." Lond. 1657, 12mo. (The copy among the King's +pamphlets in the British Museum appears to have been purchased +on the 8th Sept. 1656.) The variations between the texts of 1656 +and 1659 are chiefly literal, but a careful collation has enabled +me to rectify one or two errors of the press in LUCASTA. + +<95.2> Lovelace refers to the lines which Hall wrote in +commendation of LUCASTA, 1649. + +<95.3> The HORAE VACIVAE of Hall, 1646, 16mo., are here meant. + +<95.4> See Beloe's translation of Aulus Gellius, ii. 86. + +<95.5> HORAE VACIVAE, or Essays and some Occasional Considerations. +Lond. 1646, 16mo., with a portrait of Hall by William Marshall, +au. aet. 19. + +<95.6> Sampson. + +<95.7> Scanderbeg, whose real name was George Castriot. +CASTRIOT is also one of the DRAMATIS PERSONAE in Fletcher'<s> +KNIGHT OF MALTA. + +<95.8> So the text of 165 , .e. <sic> of the lines as originally +written by the poet. Lucasta, <1>659, erroneously has THIS. + +<95.9> "And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth +his hand and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith."--JUDGES, xv. 15. + +<95.10> i.e. withstand. + +<95.11> So the text of 1656. LUCASTA has WROUGHT. + + + + TRANSLATIONES / TRANSLATIONS. + + + + <--------------------> + + SANAZARI HEXASTICON. + +Viderat Adriacis quondam Neptunus in undis + Stare urbem et toto ponere Jura mari: +Nunc mihi Tarpeias<96.1> quantumvis, Jupiter, Arces + Objice et illa mihi moenia Martis, ait, +Seu pelago Tibrim praefers, urbem aspice utramque, + Illam homines dices, hanc posuisse deos. + + SANAZAR'S HEXASTICK. + +In Adriatick waves when Neptune saw, +The city stand, and give the seas a law: +Now i' th' Tarpeian tow'rs Jove rival me, +And Mars his walls impregnable, said he; +Let seas to Tyber yield; view both their ods!<96.2> +You'l grant that built by men, but this by gods. + +<96.1> Rome. + +<96.2> Points of difference or contrast. For LET SEAS, &c., we +ought to read SHALL SEAS, &c. + + <--------------------> + + IN VIRGILIUM. PENTADII. + +Pastor, arator, eques; pavi, colui, superavi; +Capras, rus, hostes; fronde, ligone, manu. + + IN ENGLISH. + +A swain, hind, knight: I fed, till'd, did command: +Goats, fields, my foes: with leaves, a spade, my hand. + + <--------------------> + + DE SCAEVOLA. + +Lictorem pro rege necans nunc mutius ultro + Sacrifico propriam concremat igne manum: +Miratur Porsenna virum, paenamque relaxans + Maxima cum obscessis faedera a victor init, +Plus flammis patriae confert quam fortibus armis, + Una domans bellum funere dextra sua. + + ENGLISHED. + +The hand, by which no king but serjeant<97.1> dies, +Mutius in fire doth freely sacrifice; +The prince admires the Hero, quits his pains, +And Victor from the seige peace entertains; +Rome's more oblig'd to flames than arms or pow'r, +When one burnt hand shall the whole war devour.<97.2> + +<97.1> A somewhat imperfect rendering of LICTOR. + +<97.2> The reader will easily judge for himself of the valueless +character of these translations; but it is only just to Lovelace +to suggest that they were probably academic exercises only, +and at the same time to submit that they are not much worse than +Marlowe's translation of Ovid, and many other versions of the +Classics then current. + + <--------------------> + + DE CATONE. + +Invictus victis in partibus omnia Caesar + Vincere qui potuit, te, Cato, non potuit. + + OF CATO. + +The world orecome, victorious Caesar, he +That conquer'd all, great Cato, could not thee. + + <--------------------> + + ITEM. + +Ictu non potuit primo Cato solvere vitam; + Defecit tanto vulnere victa manus: +Altius inseruit digitos, qua spiritus ingens + Exiret, magnum dextera fecit iter. +Opposuit fortuna moram, involvitque, Catonis + Scires ut ferro plus valuisse manum. + + ANOTHER. + +One stabbe could not fierce Cato's<98.1> life unty; +Onely his hand of all that wound did dy. +Deeper his fingers tear to make a way +Open, through which his mighty soul might stray. +Fortune made this delay to let us know, +That Cato's hand more then his sword could do. + +<98.1> Cato of Utica. + + <--------------------> + + ITEM. + +Jussa manus sacri pectus violare Catonis + Haesit, et inceptum victa reliquit opus. +Ille ait, infesto contra sua vulnera vultu: + Estne aliquid, magnus quod Cato non potuit? + + ANOTHER. + +The hand of sacred Cato, bad to tear +His breast, did start, and the made wound forbear; +Then to the gash he said with angry brow: +And is there ought great Cato cannot do? + + <--------------------> + + ITEM. + +Dextera, quid dubitas? durum est jugulare Catonem; + Sed modo liber erit: jam puto non dubitas! +Fas non est vivo quenquam servire Catone, + Nedum ipsum vincit nunc Cato si moritur. + + ANOTHER. + +What doubt'st thou, hand? sad Cato 'tis to kill; +But he'l be free: sure, hand, thou doubt'st not still! +Cato alive, 'tis just all men be free: +Nor conquers he himself, now if he die. + + <--------------------> + + PENTADII. + +Non est, fulleris, haec beata non est +Quod vos creditis esse, vita non est: +Fulgentes manibus videre gemmas +Et testudineo jacere lecto, +Aut pluma latus abdidisse molli, +Aut auro bibere, aut cubare cocco; +Regales dapibus gravare mensas, +Et quicquid Lybico secatur arvo; +Non una positum tenere cella: +Sed nullos trepidum timere casus, +Nec vano populi favore tangi, +Et stricto nihil aestuare ferro: +Hoc quisquis poterit, licebit illi +Fortunam moveat loco superbus. + + ENGLISHED. + +It is not, y' are deceav'd, it is not blisse +What you conceave a happy living is: +To have your hands with rubies bright to glow, +Then on your tortoise-bed your body throw, +And sink your self in down, to drink in gold, +And have your looser self in purple roll'd; +With royal fare to make the tables groan, +Or else with what from Lybick fields is mown, +Nor in one vault hoard all your magazine, +But at no cowards fate t' have frighted bin; +Nor with the peoples breath to be swol'n great, +Nor at a drawn stiletto basely swear. +He that dares this, nothing to him's unfit, +But proud o' th' top of fortunes wheel may sit. + + <--------------------> + + AD M. T. CICERONEM. + CATUL EP. 50. + +Disertissime Romuli nepotum, +Quot sunt, quotque fuere, Marce Tulli, +Quotque post alios erunt in annos, +Gratias tibi maximas Catullus +Agit, pessimus omnium poeta: +Tanto pessimus omnium poeta, +Quanto tu optimus omnium patronus. + + TO MARCUS T. CICERO. + IN AN ENGLISH PENTASTICK. + +Tully to thee, Rome's eloquent sole heir, +The best of all that are, shall be, and were, +I the worst poet send my best thanks and pray'r: +Ev'n by how much the worst of poets I, +By so much you the best of patrones be. + + <--------------------> + + AD JUVENCIUM. CAT. EP. 49. + +Mellitos oculos tuos, Juvenci, +Si quis me sinat usque basiare, +Usque ad millia basiem trecenta; +Nec unquam videat satur futurus: +Non si densior aridis aristis, +Sit nostrae seges osculationis. + + TO JUVENCIUS. + +Juvencius, thy fair sweet eyes +If to my fill that I may kisse, +Three hundred thousand times I'de kisse, +Nor future age should cloy this blisse; +No, not if thicker than ripe ears +The harvest of our kisses bears. + + <--------------------> + + DE PUERO ET PRAECONE. CATUL. + +Cum puero bello praeconem qui videt esse, + Quid credat, nisi se vendere discupere? + + + CATUL. + +With a fair boy a cryer we behold, +What should we think, but he would not be sold?<99.1> + +<99.1> Lovelace has made nonsense of this passage. We ought +to read rather, "but that he would be sold!" + + <--------------------> + + PORTII LICINII. + +Si Phoebi soror es, mando tibi, Delia, causam, + Scilicet, ut fratri quae peto verba feras: +Marmore Sicanio struxi tibi, Delphice, templum, + Et levibus calamis candida verba dedi. +Nunc, si nos audis, atque es divinus Apollo, + Dic mihi, qui nummos non habet unde petat. + + ENGLISHED. + +If you are Phoebus sister, Delia, pray, +This my request unto the Sun convay: +O Delphick god, I built thy marble fane, +And sung thy praises with a gentle cane,<100.1> +Now, if thou art divine Apollo, tell, +Where he, whose purse is empty, may go fill. + +<100.1> Reed or pipe. + + <--------------------> + + SENECAE EX CLEANTHE. + +Duc me, Parens celsique Dominator poli, +Quocunque placuit, nulla parendi mora est; +Adsum impiger; fac nolle, comitabor gemens, +Malusque patiar facere, quod licuit bono. +Ducunt volentem Fata, nolentem trahunt. + + ENGLISHED. + +Parent and Prince of Heav'n, O lead, I pray, +Where ere you please, I follow and obey. +Active I go, sighing, if you gainsay, +And suffer bad what to the good was law. +Fates lead the willing, but unwilling draw. + + <--------------------> + + QUINTI CATULI. + +Constiteram exorientem Auroram forte salutans, + Cum subito a laeva Roscius exoritur. +Pace mihi liceat, coelestes, dicere vestra. + Mortalis visu pulchrior esse deo. +Blanditur puero satyrus vultuque manuque; + Nolenti similis retrahit ora puer: +Quem non commoveat, quamvis de marmore? fundit + Pene preces satyrus, pene puer lachrymas. + + ENGLISHED. + +As once I bad good morning to the day, +O' th' sudden Roscius breaks in a bright ray: +Gods with your favour, I've presum'd to see +A mortal fairer then a deitie. +With looks and hands a satyre courts the boy, +Who draws back his unwilling cheek as coy. +Although of marble hewn, whom move not they? +The boy ev'n seems to weep, the satyre, pray. + + <--------------------> + + FLORIDI. DE EBRIOSO. + +Phoebus me in somnis vetuit potare Lyaeum, + Pareo praeceptis: tunc bibo cum vigilo. + + OF A DRUNKARD. + +Phoebus asleep forbad me wine to take: +I yield; and now am only drunk awake. + + <--------------------> + + DE ASINO QUI DENTIBUS AENEIDEM CONSUMPSIT. + +Carminis iliaci libros consumpsit asellus; + Hoc fatum Troiae est: aut equus, aut asinus. + + THE ASSE EATING THE AENEIDS. + +A wretched asse the Aeneids did destroy: +A horse or asse is still the fate of Troy. + + <--------------------> + + AUSONIUS LIB. EPIG. + +Trinarii quodam currentem in littoris ora + Ante canes leporem caeruleus rapuit; +At<101.1> lepus: in me omnis terrae pelagique rapina est, + Forsitan et coeli, si canis astra tenet. + + ENGLISHED. + +On the Sicilian strand a hare well wrought +Before the hounds was by a dog-fish caught; +Quoth she: all rape of sea and earth's on me, +Perhaps of heav'n, if there a dog-star be. + +<101.1> Qu. a contraction of AIT. + + <--------------------> + + AUSONIUS LIB. EPIG. + +Polla, potenta, tribon, baculus, scyphus: arcta supellex + Haec fuerant Cinici, sed putat hanc nimiam: +Namque cavis manibus cernens potare bubulcum, + Cur, scyphe, te, dixit, gusto supervacuum? + + ENGLISHED. + +The Cynicks narrow houshould stuffe of crutch, +A stool and dish, was lumber thought too much: +For whilst a hind drinks out on's palms o' th' strand +He flings his dish: cries: I've one in my hand! + + <--------------------> + + AUSONIUS LIB. I. EPIG. + +Thesauro invento qui limina mortis inibat, + Liquit ovans laqueum, quo periturus erat; +At qui, quod terrae abdiderat, non repperit aurum, + Quem laqueum invenit nexuit, et periit. + + ENGLISHED. + +A treasure found one, entring at death's gate, +Triumphing leaves that cord, was meant his fate; +But he the gold missing, which he did hide, +The halter which he found he knit: so dy'd. + + <--------------------> + + A LA CHABOT. + +Object adorable et charmant! +Mes souspirs et mes pleurs tesmoignent mon torment; +Mais mon respect<102.1> m'empeche de parler. +Ah! que peine dissimuler! +Et que je souffre de martyre, +D'aimer et de n'oser le dire! + + TO THE SAME AYRE IN ENGLISH, THUS, + +Object adorable of charms! +My sighs and tears may testifie my harms; +But my respect forbids me to reveal. +Ah, what a pain 'tis to conceal! +And how I suffer worse then hell, +To love, and not to dare to tell! + +<102.1> Original has MES RESPECTS. + + <--------------------> + + THEOPHILE BEING DENY'D HIS ADDRESSES TO KING JAMES, + TURNED THE AFFRONT TO HIS OWN GLORY IN THIS EPIGRAM. + + Si Jaques, le Roy du scavior, + Ne trouue bon de me voir, + Voila la cause infallible! + Car, ravy de mon escrit, + Il creut, que j'estois tout esprit + Et par consequent invisible. + + LINEALLY TRANSLATED OUT OF THE FRENCH. + + If James, the king of wit, + To see me thought not fit, + Sure this the cause hath been, + That, ravish'd with my merit, + He thought I was all spirit, + And so not to be seen. + + <--------------------> + + AUSONIUS. + +Vane, quid affectas faciem mihi ponere, pictor, + Ignotamque oculis solicitare manu? +Aeris et venti sum filia, mater inanis + Indicii, vocemque sine mente gero. +Auribus in vestris habito penetrabilis echo; + Si mihi vis similem pingere, pinge sonos. + + IN ENGLISH. + +Vain painter, why dost strive my face to draw +With busy hands? a goddesse eyes nere saw. +Daughter of air and wind, I do rejoyce +In empty shouts; (without a mind) a voice. +Within your ears shrill echo I rebound, +And, if you'l paint me like, then paint a sound. + + <--------------------> + + AUSON[IUS]. + +Toxica zelotypo dedit uxor maecha marito, + Nec satis ad mortem credidit esse datum; +Miscuit argenti lethalia pondera vivi, + Ut celeret certam vis geminata necem. +Ergo, inter sese dum noxia pocula certant, + Cessit lethalis noxa saltuiferi. +Protinus in vacuos alvi petiere recessus, + Lubrica dejectis quae via nota cibis. +Quam pia cura Deum! prodest crudelior uxor. +Sic, cum fata volunt, bina venena juvant. + + IN ENGLISH. + +Her jealous husband an adultresse gave +Cold poysons, to[o] weak she thought for's grave; +A fatal dose of quicksilver then she +Mingles to hast his double destinie; +Now whilst within themselves they are at strife, +The deadly potion yields to that of life, +And straight from th' hollow stomack both retreat +To th' slippery pipes known to digested meat. +Strange care o' th' gods the murth'resse doth avail! +So, when fates please, ev'n double poysons heal. + + <--------------------> + + AUSONIUS EPIG. + +Emptis quod libris tibi bibliotheca referta est, + Doctum et grammaticum te, philomuse, putas. +Quinetiam cytharas, chordas et barbita conde: + Mercator hodie, cras citharoedus, eris. + + IN ENGLISH. + +Because with bought books, sir, your study's fraught, +A learned grammarian you would fain be thought; +Nay then, buy lutes and strings; so you may play +The merchant now, the fidler, the next day. + + <--------------------> + + AVIENI<103.1> V. C. AD AMICOS. + +Rure morans, quid agam, respondi, pauca rogatus: +Mane, deum exoro famulos, post arvaque viso, +Partitusque meis justos indico labores; +Inde lego, Phoebumque cio, Musamque lacesso; +Tunc oleo corpus fingo, mollique palaestra +Stringo libens animo, gaudensque ac foenore liber +Prandeo, poto, cano, ludo, lavo, caeno, quiesco. + + ENGLISHED. + +Ask'd in the country what I did, I said: +I view my men and meads, first having pray'd; +Then each of mine hath his just task outlay'd; +I read, Apollo court, I rouse my Muse; +Then I anoynt me, and stript willing loose +My self on a soft plat, from us'ry blest; +I dine, drink, sing, play, bath, I sup, I rest. + +<103.1> Rufus Festus Avienus, the Latin poet. + + <--------------------> + + AD FABULLUM. CATUL. LIB. I. EP. 13. + +Caenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me +Paucis, si dii tibi favent, diebus; +Si tecum attuleris bonam atque magnam +Caenam, non sine candida puella, +Et vino, et sale, et omnibus cachinnis. +Haec si, inquam, attuleris, Fabulle noster, +Caenabis bene: nam tui Catulli +Plenus sacculus est aranearum. +Sed, contra, accipies meros amores, +Seu quod suavius elegantiusve est: +Nam unguentum dabo, quod meae puellae +Donarunt Veneres Cupidinesque; +Quod tu cum olfacies, deos rogabis, +Totum te faciant, Fabulle, nasum. + + ENGLISHED. + +Fabullus, I will treat you handsomely +Shortly, if the kind gods will favour thee. +If thou dost bring with thee a del'cate messe, +An olio or so, a pretty lass, +Brisk wine, sharp tales, all sorts of drollery, +These if thou bringst (I say) along with thee, +You shall feed highly, friend: for, know, the ebbs +Of my lank purse are full of spiders webs; +But then again you shall receive clear love, +Or what more grateful or more sweet may prove: +For with an ointment I will favour thee +My Venus's and Cupids gave to me, +Of which once smelt, the gods thou wilt implore, +Fabullus, that they'd make thee nose all ore. + + <--------------------> + + MART. LIB. I. EPI. 14. + +Casta suo gladium cum traderet Arria Paeto, + Quem de visceribus traxerat ipsa suis; +Si qua fides, vulnus quod feci non dolet, inquit: + Sed quod tu facies, hoc mihi, Paete, dolet. + + ENGLISHED. + +When brave chast Arria to her Poetus gave +The sword from her own breast did bleeding wave: +If there be faith, this wound smarts not, said she; +But what you'l make, ah, that will murder me. + + <--------------------> + + MART. EPI. XLIII. LIB. I. + +Conjugis audisset fatum cum Portia Bruti, + Et substracta sibi quaereret arma dolor, +Nondum scitis, ait, mortem non posse negari, + Credideram satis hoc vos docuisse patrem. +Dixit, et ardentes avido bibit ore favillas. + I nunc, et ferrum turba molesta nega. + + IN ENGLISH. + +When Portia her dear lord's sad fate did hear, +And noble grief sought arms were hid from her: +Know you not yet no hinderance of death is, +Cato, I thought, enough had taught you this, +So said, her thirsty lips drink flaming coales: +Go now, deny me steel, officious fools! + + <--------------------> + + MART. EP. XV. LIB. 6. + +Dum Phaetontea formica vagatur in umbra, + Implicuit tenuem succina gutta feram, +Dignum tantorum pretium tulit illa laborum: + Credibile est ipsam sic voluisse mori. + + ENGLISHED. + +Whilst in an amber-shade the ant doth feast, +A gummy drop ensnares the small wild-beast, +A full reward of all her toyls hath she; +'Tis to be thought she would her self so die. + + <--------------------> + + MAR. LIB. IV. EP. 33. + +Et latet et lucet, Phaetontide condita gutta + Ut videatur apis nectare clausa suo. +Sic modo, quae fuerat vita contempta manente, + Funeribus facta est jam preciosa suis. + + IN ENGLISH. + +Both lurks and shines, hid in an amber tear, +The bee, in her own nectar prisoner; +So she, who in her life time was contemn'd, +Ev'n in her very funerals is gemm'd. + + <--------------------> + + MART. LIB. VIII. EP. 19. + +Pauper videri Cinna vult, et est pauper. + + IN ENGLISH. + + Cinna seems<104.1> poor in show, + And he is so. + +<104.1> A very inadequate translation of VIDERI VULT. + + <--------------------> + + OUT OF THE ANTHOLOGIE.<105.1> + +<<Esbese ton lychnon moros phyllon apo pollon + Daknomenos, lexas ouk eti me blepete.>> + + IN AN ENGLISH DISTICK. + +A fool, much bit by fleas, put out the light; +You shall not see me now (quoth he); good night. + +<105.1> This is from Lucian. + + <--------------------> + + IN RUFUM. CATUL. EP. 64. + +Noli admirari, quare tibi foemina nulla, + Rufe, velit tenerum supposuisse femur; +Non ullam rarae labefactes munere vestis, + Aut pellucidulis deliciis lapidis. +Laedit te quaedam mala fabula, qua tibi fertur + Valle sub alarum trux habitare caper. +Hunc metuunt omnes, neque mirum: nam mala valde est + Bestia, nec quicum<106.1> bela puella cubet. +Quare aut crudelem nasorum interfice pestem, + Aut admirari desine, cur fugiant. + + TO RUFUS. + +That no fair woman will, wonder not why, +Clap (Rufus) under thine her tender thigh; +Not a silk gown shall once melt one of them, +Nor the delights of a transparent gemme. +A scurvy story kills thee, which doth tell, +That in thine armpits a fierce goat doth dwell. +Him they all fear full of an ugly stench:<106.2> +Nor 's 't fit he should lye with a handsome wench; +Wherefore this noses cursed plague first crush, +Or cease to wonder, why they fly you thus. + +<106.1> An archaic form of QUOCUM. + +<106.2> Original has STINCH. + + <--------------------> + + CATUL. EP. 71. + + DE INCONSTANTIA FOEMINEI AMORIS. + +Nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere velle, + Quam mihi: non, si Jupiter ipse petat; +Dicit; sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti, + In vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua. + + FEMALE INCONSTANCY. + +My mistresse sayes she'll marry none but me; +No, not if Jove himself a suitor be. +She sayes so; but what women say to kind +Lovers, we write in rapid streams and wind. + + <--------------------> + + AD LESBIAM, CAT. EP. 73. + +Dicebas quondam, solum to nosse Catullum, + Lesbia, nec prae me velle tenere Jovem; +Dilexi tum te, non tantum ut vulgus amicam, + Sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos. +Nunc te cognovi, quare et impensius uror, + Multo mi tamen es vilior et levior. +Qui potis est inquis, quod amantem injuria talis + Cogat amare magis, sed bene velle minus? +Odi et amo; quare id faciam, fortasse requiris; + Nescio; sed fieri sentio, et excrucior. + + ENGLISHED. + +That me alone you lov'd, you once did say, +Nor should I to the king of gods give way. +Then I lov'd thee not as a common dear, +But as a father doth his children chear. +Now thee I know, more bitterly I smart; +Yet thou to me more light and cheaper art. +What pow'r is this? that such a wrong should press +Me to love more, yet wish thee well much lesse. +I hate and love; would'st thou the reason know? +I know not; but I burn, and feel it so. + + <--------------------> + + IN LESBIAM CAT. EP. 76. + +Huc est mens deducta tua, mea Lesbia, culpa, + Atque ita se officio perdidit ipsa suo. +Ut jam nec bene velle queam tibi, si optima sias: + Nec desistere amare, omnia si facias. + + ENGLISHED. + +By thy fault is my mind brought to that pass, +That it its office quite forgotten has: +For be'est thou best, I cannot wish thee well, +And be'est thou worst, then I must love thee still. + + <--------------------> + + AD QUINTIUM. CAT. EP. 83. + +Quinti, si tibi vis oculos debere Catullum, + Aut aliud si quid carius est oculis, +Eripere ei noli, multo quod carius illi + Est oculis, seu quid carius est oculis. + + TO QUINTIUS. + +Quintius, if you'l endear Catullus eyes, +Or what he dearer then his eyes doth prize, +Ravish not what is dearer then his eyes, +Or what he dearer then his eyes doth prize. + + <--------------------> + + DE QUINTIA ET LESBIA. EP. 87. + +Quintia formosa est multis, mihi candida, longa, + Recta est; haec ego sic singula confiteor: +Tota illud formosa nego: nam multa venustas; + Nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis. +Lesbia formosa est quae, cum pulcherrima tota est, + Tum omnibus una omneis surripuit veneres. + + ENGLISHED. + +Quintia is handsome, fair, tall, straight: all these +Very particulars I grant with ease: +But she all ore 's not handsome; here's her fault: +In all that bulk there's not one corne of salt, +Whilst Lesbia, fair and handsome too all ore, +All graces and all wit from all hath bore. + + <--------------------> + + DE SUO IN LESBIAM AMORE. EP. 88. + +Nulla potest mulier tantum se dicere amatam + Vere, quantum a me Lesbia amata mea est; +Nulla fides ullo fuit unquam faedere tanta, + Quanta in amore suo ex parte reperta mea est. + + ENGLISHED. + +No one can boast her self so much belov'd, +Truely as Lesbia my affections prov'd; +No faith was ere with such a firm knot bound, +As in my love on my part I have found. + + <--------------------> + + AD SYLONEM. EP. 104. + +Aut sodes mihi redde decem sestertia, Sylo, + Deindo esto quam vis saevus et indomitus; +Aut si te nummi delectant, desine, quaeso, + Leno esse, atque idem saevus et indomitus. + + ENGLISHED. + +Sylo, pray pay me my ten sesterces, +Then rant and roar as much as you shall please; +Or if that mony takes [you,]<107.1> pray, give ore +To be a pimp, or else to rant and roar. + +<107.1> Original has TAKES, but a word is wanting to complete +the metre, and perhaps the poet wrote TAKES YOU, i.e. captivates +you. + + <--------------------> + + + + ELEGIES + + + SACRED + To the Memory of the + AUTHOR: + + + By several of his Friends. + + + Collected and Published + BY + D. P. L. + + + NUNQUAM EGO TE VITA FRATER AMBILIOR + ADSPICIAM POSTHAC; AT CERTE SEMPER AMABO. + Catullus. + + + LONDON, Printed 1660. + + + + ELEGIES. + + + + TO THE MEMORY OF MY WORTHY FRIEND + COLL. RICHARD LOVELACE.<108.1> + + To pay my love to thee, and pay it so, +As honest men should what they justly owe, +Were to write better of thy life, then can +The assured'st pen of the most worthy man. +Such was thy composition, such thy mind, +Improv'd from vertue, and from vice refin'd; +Thy youth an abstract of the world's best parts, +Invr'd to arms and exercis'd to arts, +Which, with the vigour of a man, became +Thine and thy countries piramids of fame. +Two glorious lights to guide our hopeful youth +Into the paths of honour and of truth. + These parts (so rarely met) made up in thee, +What man should in his full perfection be: +So sweet a temper into every sence +And each affection breath'd an influence, +As smooth'd them to a calme, which still withstood +The ruffling passions of untamed blood, +Without a wrinckle in thy face, to show +Thy stable breast could a<108.2> disturbance know. +In fortune humble, constant in mischance; +Expert in both, and both serv'd to advance +Thy name by various trialls of thy spirit, +And give the testimony of thy merit. +Valiant to envy of the bravest men, +And learned to an undisputed pen; +Good as the best in both and great, but yet +No dangerous courage nor offensive wit. +These ever serv'd the one for to defend, +The other, nobly to advance thy friend, +Under which title I have found my name +Fix'd in the living chronicle of fame +To times succeeding: yet I hence must go, +Displeas'd I cannot celebrate thee so. +But what respect, acknowledgement and love, +What these together, when improv'd, improve: +Call it by any name (so it express +Ought like a tribute to thy worthyness, +And may my bounden gratitude become) +LOVELACE, I offer at thy honour'd tomb. + And though thy vertues many friends have bred +To love thee liveing, and lament thee dead, +In characters far better couch'd then these, +Mine will not blott thy fame, nor theirs encrease. +'Twas by thine own great merits rais'd so high, +That, maugre time and fate, it shall not dye. + Sic flevit. + Charles Cotton. + +<108.1> These lines may be found, with some verbal variations, +in the poems of Charles Cotton, 1689, p. 481-2-3. + +<108.2> This reading is adopted from Cotton's Poems, 1689, p. 482. +In LUCASTA we read NO DISTURBANCE. + + + + UPON THE POSTHUME AND PRECIOUS POEMS +OF THE NOBLY EXTRACTED GENTLEMAN MR. R. L.<109.1> + +The rose and<109.2> other fragrant flowers smell best, +When they are pluck'd and worn in hand or brest, +So this fair flow'r of vertue, this rare bud +Of wit, smells now as fresh as when he stood; +And in these Posthume-Poems lets us know, +He on<109.3> the banks of Helicon did grow. +The beauty of his soul did correspond +With his sweet out-side: nay, it went<109.4> beyond. + Lovelace, the minion<109.5> of the Thespian dames, + Apollo's darling, born with Enthean flames, + Which in his numbers wave and shine so clear, + As sparks refracted from<109.6> rich gemmes appear; +Such flames that may inspire, and atoms cast, +To make new poets not like him in hast.<109.7> + Jam. Howell. + +<109.1> These lines, originally printed as above, were included +by Payne Fisher in his collection of Howell's Poems, 1663, +8vo., where they may be found at p. 126. Fisher altered the +superscription in his ill-edited book to "Upon the Posthume-POEMS +of Mr. Lovelace." + +<109.2> WITH--Howell's Poems. + +<109.3> THAT HE UPON--ibid. + +<109.4> IF NOT GO BEYOND--ibid. + +<109.5> Fr. MIGNON, darling. + +<109.6> So in Howell's Poems. LUCASTA has IN. + +<109.7> "Such sparks that with their atoms may inspire + The reader with a pure POETICK fire." + Howell's POEMS. + + + + AN ELEGIE, + + SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF MY LATE HONOURED FRIEND, + COLLONELL RICHARD LOVELACE. + + Pardon (blest shade), that I thus crowd to be +'Mong those that sin unto thy memory, +And that I think unvalu'd reliques spread, +And am the first that pillages the dead; +Since who would be thy mourner as befits, +But an officious sacriledge commits. +How my tears strive to do thee fairer right, +And from the characters divide my sight. +Untill it (dimmer) a new torrent swells, +And what obscur'd it, falls my spectacles + Let the luxurious floods impulsive rise, +As they would not be wept, but weep the eyes, +The while earth melts, and we above it lye +But the weak bubbles of mortalitie; +Until our griefs are drawn up by the Sun, +And that (too) drop the exhalation. +How in thy dust we humble now our pride, +And bring thee a whole people mortifi'd! +For who expects not death, now thou art gone, +Shows his low folly, not religion. + Can the poetick heaven still hold on +The golden dance, when the first mover's gon? +And the snatch'd fires (which circularly hurl'd) +In their strong rapture glimmer to the world, +And not stupendiously rather rise +The tapers unto these solemnities? + Can the chords move in tune, when thou dost dye, +At once their universal harmony? +But where Apollo's harp (with murmur) laid, +Had to the stones a melody convey'd, +They by some pebble summon'd would reply +In loud results to every battery; +Thus do we come unto thy marble room, +To eccho from the musick of thy tombe. + May we dare speak thee dead, that wouldest be +In thy remove only not such as we? +No wonder, the advance is from us hid; +Earth could not lift thee higher then it did! +And thou, that didst grow up so ever nigh, +Art but now gone to immortality! +So near to where thou art, thou here didst dwell, +The change to thee is less perceptible. + Thy but unably-comprehending clay, +To what could not be circumscrib'd, gave way, +And the more spacious tennant to return, +Crack'd (in the two restrain'd estate) its urn. +That is but left to a successive trust; +The soul's first buried in his bodies dust. + Thou more thy self, now thou art less confin'd, +Art not concern'd in what is left behind; +While we sustain the losse that thou art gone, +Un-essenc'd in the separation; +And he that weeps thy funerall, in one +Is pious to the widdow'd nation. + And under what (now) covert must I sing, +Secure as if beneath a cherub's wing; +When thou hast tane thy flight hence, and art nigh +In place to some related hierarchie, +Where a bright wreath of glories doth but set +Upon thy head an equal coronet; +And thou, above our humble converse gon, +Canst but be reach'd by contemplation. + Our lutes (as thine was touch'd) were vocall by, +And thence receiv'd the soul by sympathy, +That did above the threds inspiring creep, +And with soft whispers broke the am'rous sleep; +Which now no more (mov'd with the sweet surprise) +Awake into delicious rapsodies; +But with their silent mistress do comply, +And fast in undisturbed slumbers lye. + How from thy first ascent thou didst disperse +A blushing warmth throughout the universe, +While near the morns Lucasta's fires did glow, +And to the earth a purer dawn did throw. +We ever saw thee in the roll of fame +Advancing thy already deathless name; +And though it could but be above its fate, +Thou would'st, however, super-errogate. + Now as in Venice, when the wanton State +Before a Spaniard spread their crowded plate, +He made it the sage business of his eye +To find the root of the wild treasury; +So learn't from that exchequer but the more +To rate his masters vegetable ore. +Thus when the Greek and Latin muse we read, +As but the<110.1> cold inscriptions of the dead, +We to advantage then admired thee, +Who did'st live on still with thy poesie; +And in our proud enjoyments never knew +The end of the unruly wealth that grew. +But now we have the last dear ingots gain'd, +And the free vein (however rich) is drein'd; +Though what thou hast bequeathed us, no space +Of this worlds span of time shall ere embrace. +But as who sometimes knew not to conclude +Upon the waters strange vicissitude, +Did to the ocean himself commit, +That it might comprehend what could not it, +So we in our endeavours must out-done +Be swallowed up within thy Helicon. + Thou, who<110.2> art layd up in thy precious cave, +And from the hollow spaces of thy grave, +We still may mourn in tune, but must alone +Hereafter hope to quaver out a grone; +No more the chirping sonnets with shrill notes +Must henceforth volley from our treble throtes; +But each sad accent must be humour'd well +To the deep solemn organ of thy cell. + Why should some rude hand carve thy sacred stone, +And there incise a cheap inscription? +When we can shed the tribute of our tears +So long, till the relenting marble wears; +Which shall such order in their cadence keep, +That they a native epitaph shall weep; +Untill each letter spelt distinctly lyes, +Cut by the mystick droppings of our eyes. + El. Revett.<110.3> + +<110.1> Original has THE BUT. + +<110.2> Original has OW. + +<110.3> I have already pointed out, that the author of these +truly wretched lines was probably the same person, on whose +MORAL AND DIVINE POEMS Lovelace has some verses in the LUCASTA. +The poems of E. R. appear to be lost, which, unless they were +far superior to the present specimen, cannot be regarded as +a great calamity. + + + + AN ELEGIE. + +Me thinks, when kings, prophets, and poets dye, +We should not bid men weep, nor ask them why, +But the great loss should by instinct impair +The nations, like a pestilential ayr, +And in a moment men should feel the cramp +Of grief, like persons poyson'd with a damp. +All things in nature should their death deplore, +And the sun look less lovely than before; +The fixed stars should change their constant spaces, +And comets cast abroad their flagrant<111.1> faces. +Yet still we see princes and poets fall +Without their proper pomp of funerall; +Men look about, as if they nere had known +The poets lawrell or the princes crown; +Lovelace hath long been dead, and he<111.2> can be +Oblig'd to no man for an elegie. +Are you all turn'd to silence, or did he +Retain the only sap of poesie, +That kept all branches living? must his fall +Set an eternal period upon all? +So when a spring-tide doth begin to fly<111.3> +From the green shoar, each neighbouring creek grows dry. +But why do I so pettishly detract +An age that is so perfect, so exact? +In all things excellent, it is a fame +Or glory to deceased Lovelace name: +For he is weak in wit, who doth deprave +Anothers worth to make his own seem brave; +And this was not his aim: nor is it mine. +I now conceive the scope of their designe, +Which is with one consent to bring and burn +Contributary incence on his urn, +Where each mans love and fancy shall be try'd, +As when great Johnson or brave Shakespear dyed. +Wits must unite: for ignorance, we see, +Hath got a great train of artillerie: +Yet neither shall nor can it blast the fame +And honour of deceased Lovelace name, +Whose own LUCASTA can support his credit +Amongst all such who knowingly have read it; +But who that praise can by desert discusse +Due to those poems that are posthumous? +And if the last conceptions are the best, +Those by degrees do much transcend the rest; +So full, so fluent, that they richly sute +With Orpheus lire, or with Anacreons lute, +And he shall melt his wing, that shall aspire +To reach a fancy or one accent higher. +Holland and France have known his nobler parts, +And found him excellent in arms and arts. +To sum up all, few men of fame but know, +He was TAM MARTI, QUAM MERCURIO.<111.4> + +<111.1> Burning. + +<111.2> Original has WE. + +<111.3> A fine image! + +<111.4> The motto originally employed by George Gascoigne, who, +like Lovelace, wielded both the sword and the pen. + + + + TO HIS + NOBLE FRIEND CAPT. DUDLEY LOVELACE +UPON HIS EDITION OF HIS BROTHERS POEMS. + + Thy pious hand, planting fraternal bayes, +Deserving is of most egregious praise; +Since 'tis the organ doth to us convey +From a descended sun so bright a ray. +Clear spirit! how much we are bound to thee +For this so great a liberalitie, +The truer worth of which by much exceeds +The western wealth, which such contention breeds! +Like the Infusing-God, from the well-head +Of poesie you have besprinkled +Our brows with holy drops, the very last, +Which from your Brother's happy pen were cast: +Yet as the last, the best; such matchlesse skill +From his divine alembick did distill. +Your honour'd Brother in the Elyzian shade +Will joy to know himself a laureat made +By your religious care, and that his urn +Doth him on earth immortal life return. +Your self you have a good physician shown +To his much grieved friends and to your own, +In giving this elixir'd medecine, +For greatest grief a soveraign anodine. + Sir, from your Brother y' have convey'd us bliss; +Now, since your genius so concurs with his, +Let your own quill our next enjoyments frame; +All must be rich, that's grac'd with Lovelace name. + Symon Ognell M.D.<112.1> Coningbrens. + +<112.1> This person is not mentioned in Munk's Roll +of the Royal College of Physicians, 1861. + + + + ON THE + TRULY HONOURABLE COLL. RICHARD LOVELACE, +OCCASIONED BY THE PUBLICATION OF HIS POSTHUME-POEMS. + + ELEGIE. + +Great son of Mars, and of Minerva too! +With what oblations must we come to woo +Thy sacred soul to look down from above, +And see how much thy memory we love, +Whose happy pen so pleased amorous ears, +And, lifting bright LUCASTA to the sphears, +Her in the star-bespangled orb did set +Above fair Ariadnes coronet, +Leaving a pattern to succeeding wits, +By which to sing forth their Pythonick fits. +Shall we bring tears and sighs? no, no! then we +Should but bemone our selves for loosing thee, +Or else thy happiness seem to deny, +Or to repine at thy felicity. +Then, whilst we chant out thine immortal praise, +Our offerings shall be onely sprigs of bays; +And if our tears will needs their brinks out-fly, +We'l weep them forth into an elegy, +To tell the world, how deep fates wounded wit, +When Atropos the lovely Lovelace hit! +How th' active fire, which cloath'd thy gen'rous mind, +Consum'd the water, and the earth calcin'd +Untill a stronger heat by death was given, +Which sublimated thy poor soul to heaven. +Thou knew'st right well to guide the warlike steed, +And yet could'st court the Muses with full speed +And such success, that the inspiring Nine +Have fill'd their Thespian fountain so with brine. +Henceforth we can expect no lyrick lay, +But biting satyres through the world must stray. +Bellona joyns with fair Erato too, +And with the Destinies do keep adoe, +Whom thus she queries: could not you awhile +Reprieve his life, until another file +Of poems such as these had been drawn up? +The fates reply'd that thou wert taken up, +A sacrifice unto the deities; +Since things most perfect please their holy eyes, +And that no other victim could be found +With so much learning and true virtue crown'd. +Since it is so, in peace for ever rest; +Tis very just that God should have the best. + Sym. Ognell M.D. Coningbrens. + + + + ON MY BROTHER. + +Lovelace is dead! then let the world return +To its first chaos, mufled in its urn; +The stars and elements together lye, +Drench'd in perpetual obscurity, +And the whole machine in confusion be, +As immethodick as an anarchie. +May the great eye of day weep out his light, +Pale Cynthia leave the regiment of night, +The galaxia, all in sables dight, +Send forth no corruscations to our sight, +The Sister-Graces and the sacred Nine, +Statu'd with grief, attend upon his shrine, +Whose worth, whose loss, should we but truly rate, +'Twould puzzle our arithmetic to state +Th' accompt of vertu's so transcendent high, +Number and value reach infinity. +Did I pronounce him dead! no, no! he lives, +And from his aromatique cell he gives +Spice-breathed fumes, whose odoriferous scent +(In zephre-gales which never can be spent) +Doth spread it self abroad, and much out-vies +The eastern bird in her self-sacrifice; +Or Father Phoebus, who to th' world derives +Such various and such multiformed lives, +Took notice that brave Lovelace did inspire +The universe with his Promethean fire, +And snatcht him hence, before his thread was spun, +En'ving that here should be another Sun. T. L.<113.1> + +<113.1> Thomas Lovelace, one of the poet's brothers. + + + + ON THE DEATH OF MY DEAR BROTHER. + + EPITAPH. + +Tread (reader) gently, gently ore +The happy dust beneath this floor: +For in this narrow vault is set +An alablaster cabinet, +Wherein both arts and arms were put, +Like Homers Iliads in a nut, +Till Death with slow and easie pace +Snatcht the bright jewell from the case; +And now, transform'd, he doth arise +A constellation in the skies, +Teaching the blinded world the way, +Through night, to startle into day: +And shipwrackt shades, with steady hand, +He steers unto th' Elizian land. + Dudley Posthumus-Lovelace. + + + + THE END. + + + + +Comments on the preparation of the E-Text: + + +ANGLE BRACKETS: + +Any place where angle brackets are used, i.e. < >, it is +a change made during the preparation of this E-Text. +The original printed book did not use this character at all. + +SQUARE BRACKETS: + +The square brackets, i.e. [ ] are copied from the printed book, +without change. + +FOOTNOTES: + +For this E-Text version of the book, the footnotes have been +consolidated at the end of each section of the introduction, +and at the end of each poem. + +Numbering of the footnotes has been changed, and each footnote +is given a unique identity in the form <XX.YY>, where XX is +a poem or a section of the introduction, and YY is the number +of the note within that poem or section. + +Some footnote markers are missing. I have inserted markers where +I believe they should go. All such markers are identified by +double brackets. e.g. <<9.2>> + +There were 5 footnotes in an "Additional Notes" section of the +book, and one footnote in the Table of Contents. These footnotes +have been identified as <<AN.1>> to <<AN.5>> and <<TOC.1>>. They +have been moved to the end of the appropriate sections of the +E-Text, and footnote markers, identified by double angle brackets, +i.e. << >> have been added. The original locations of these +footnotes in the body text, however, are also indicated for +information. + +LATIN AND GREEK POEMS: + +This E-Text contains some poems in Latin and in Greek. + +The Latin poems are reproduced as they appear in the book, +except that the accent marks have been deleted. + +The Greek poems were originally typeset in Greek characters. +For this E-Text, the Greek characters have been TRANSLITERATED +into Roman characters, using a system developed for the +US Library of Congress, Ref. + + ALA-LC ROMANIZATION TABLES + TRANSLITERATION SCHEMES FOR NON-ROMAN SCRIPTS + Approved by the Library of Congress and the American Library + Association + Tables compiled and edited by Randall K. Barry + Network Development and MARC Standards Office + Library of Congress, Washington, 1991 + +Again, it was necessary to delete the accent marks, this time +accents which were recommended to be placed over the roman +characters. The Greek poems are set off by angle brackets. + +Single Greek words embedded in roman text have also been +transliterated, as described above, and are identified by +double angle brackets, e.g. <<eulikrines>> + +SPELLING: + +I have made no spelling corrections whatsoever. In the poems, +the spelling is very inconsistent, with several different versions +of a word being used in different places + +OTHER PROBLEMS WITH THE TEXT: + +In a few places, the capital 'V' and 'I' characters were used +where we would use a capital 'U' of 'J' instead. These have not +been changed. For example, Vnlese, Iuvenal. Where the capitals +in the original text were used to highlight the first word of +a poem, 'V' was changed to 'v', for example, OVR became Ovr. + +The copy of the book which I worked from had been re-bound on +several occasions. It is possible that the 'Table of Contents' +was originally placed after the introduction. + +CHANGES TO THE TEXT: + +Symbols for British currency are changed to <pounds>, <shillings>, +and <pence>. + +In several places the word 'the' appears with an accent mark over +the 'e'. The accent is in the form of a horizontal line above +the letter. This word has been rendered as '<thee>'. Similarly +'whe' with an accent over the 'e' is rendered as '<whee>'. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lucasta, by Richard Lovelace + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCASTA *** + +***** This file should be named 703.txt or 703.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/7/0/703/ + +Produced by Gary R. 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