There's not a budding boy or girl, this day, A deal of youth, ere this, is come Back, and with white thorn laden home. Some have dispatch'd their cakes and cream Before that we have left to dream; And some have wept, and woo'd, and plight'd troth, Many a green gown has been given; Many a glance, too, has been sent Many a jest told of the key's betraying This night, and locks pick'd; yet w' are not a Maying. Come, let us go, while we are in our prime, And take the harmless folly of the time. We shall grow old apace, and die Our life is short, and our days run Lies drown'd with us in endless night. Then, while time serves, and we are but decaying, A THANKSGIVING FOR HIS HOUSE. Lord, Thou hast given me a cell, A little house, whose humble roof Under the spars of which I lie Where Thou, my chamber for to ward Of harmless thoughts, to watch and keep Low is my porch, as is my fate, And yet the threshold of my door Who hither come, and freely get Like as my parlour, so my hall, A little buttery, and therein A little bin, Which keeps my little loaf of bread Some brittle sticks of thorn or brier Make me a fire, Close by whose living coal I sit, Lord, I confess, too, when I dine, And all those other bits that be There placed by Thee. The worts, the parslain, and the mess Which of Thy kindness Thou hast sent: Makes those, and my beloved beet, 'Tis thou that crown'st my glittering hearth And giv'st me wassail bowls to drink, Lord, 'tis thy plenty-dropping hand All this, and better, dost Thou send That I should render for my part A thankful heart, Which, fir'd with incense, I resign But the acceptance-that must be, JOSEPH HALL, Bishop of Norwich, though much more distinguished as a prose writer than as a poet, is yet allowed to be the first English author who wrote satirical verse with any degree of elegance. His satires refer to general objects, and present some just pictures of the more remarkable anomalies in human character: they are also written in a style of greater polish and volubility than most of the compositions of that age. Of these satires we present the following as a specimen : -: THE DOMESTIC TUTOR. A gentle squire would gladly entertain Into his house some trencher-chapelain: Some willing man that might instruct his sons, And that would stand to good conditions. First, that he lie upon the truckle-bed, While his young master lieth o'er his head. Ever presume to sit above the salt. Third, that he never change his trencher twice. But he must ask his mother to define, How many jerks he would his breech should line. All these observed, he could contented be, To give five marks and winter livery. Lecture the Centh. JOHN CHALKHILL-WILLIAM HABINGTON-THOMAS RANDOLPH-SIR WILLIAM DAVENANT-SIR RICHARD FANSHAWE-SIR JOHN SUCKLING-WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT -JOHN CLEVELAND-RICHARD LOVELACE-RICHARD CRASHAW. WE E have long lingered with the English miscellaneous poets of the age of Elizabeth, James, and Charles the First, and yet our task is not done; for there still remain to be noticed and illustrated, Chalkhill, Habington, Randolph, Davenant, Fanshawe, Suckling, and a number of others of equal eminence. JOHN CHALKHILL was born about the year 1600, but of his life comparatively little is known. Izaak Walton, who published, in 1683, a pastoral romance entitled Thealma and Clearchus by Chalkhill, remarks, 'that the author was, in his time, a man generally known, and as well beloved; for he was humble and obliging in his behaviour; a gentleman, a scholar, very innocent and prudent; and, indeed, his whole life was useful, quiet, and virtuous.' Chalkhill died in 1679, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral, upon the walls of which, his tombstone of black marble is still to be seen. The scene of Thealma and Clearchus is laid in Arcadia, and the author, like the ancient poets, describes the golden age and all its charms, which were succeeded by an iron age, in the introduction of ambition, avarice, and tyranny. The plot is complicated and obscure, and the characters are deficient in individuality; the poem must, therefore, be read, like the Faery Queen, for its romantic description and its occasional felicity of language. The versification is that of the heroic couplet, varied, like Milton's Lycidas, by breaks and pauses in the middle of the line. The following brief extracts will sufficiently illustrate these remarks: THE PRIESTESS OF DIANA. Within a little silent grove hard by, And ever and anon he might well hear A sound of music steal in at his ear As the wind gave it being:-so sweet an air * A hundred virgins he might there espy They tender'd their devotions: with sweet airs, He could not see her face, only his ear Was blest with the sweet words that came from her. THE VOTARESS OF DIANA. Clarinda came at last, With all her train, who, as along she pass'd A coat of silver tinsel, short before, And fring'd about with gold: white buskins hide And all the lustre by such beauty grac'd, As her reflection made them seem more fair; One would have thought Diana's self were there; For in her hand a silver bow she held, And at her back there hung a quiver fill'd WILLIAM HABINGTON was descended from an ancient family, and born at Hendlip, Worcestershire, in 1605. He received his education at St. Omers and Paris, and when he had completed his studies was earnestly solicited to enter into the society of Jesuits; but as their habits of life suited neither his taste nor his genius, he left them and returned to England. Soon after his return to his native country, Habington married Lucia, daughter of the first Lord Powis, and from that time until his death, which occurred on the thirtieth of November, 1654, his life presents few incidents worthy of particular notice. Habington had all the vices of the metaphysical school, excepting its occasional licentiousness. He tells us, in the preface to his works, that 'if the innocency of a chaste muse shall be more acceptable, and weigh heavier in the balance of esteem, than a fame begot in adultery of study, I doubt I shall leave fame no hope of competition.' And of a pure attachment he beautifully remarks, that, when love builds upon the rock of Chastity, it may safely contemn the battery of the waves and threatenings of the wind; since time, that makes a mockery of the firmest structures, shall itself be ruinated before that be demolished.' Twenty years before his death, when he had scarcely attained the thirtieth year of his age, Habington published his poems under the title of The Mistress, The Wife, and The Holy Man. These titles included each several copies of verses, and the same design was afterward adopted by Cowley. The life of the poet seems to have glided quietly away, cheered by the society and affection of his Lucia. He had no stormy passions to agitate him, and no unruly imagination to control or subdue. His poetry is of the same unruffled description-placid, tender, and often elegant-but studded with conceits to show his wit and fancy. The following description of Lucia under the feigned name of Castara, is full of beauty: DESCRIPTION OF CASTARA. Like the violet which, alone, For she's to herself untrue Such is her beauty as no arts Have enrich'd with borrow'd grace; Folly boasts a glorious blood, Cautious, she knew never yet Nor speaks loud to boast her wit: In her silence eloquent: Of herself survey she takes, But 'tween men no difference makes. |