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 coarse91.2 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 forth91.3 the heav'nly maid!
Thou staffe of him bore91.4 him, that bore our sins,
Which, but set down, to bloom and bear begins!
Thou rod of Aaron, with one motion hurl'd,
Bud'st91.5 a perfume of flowers through the world!
You91.6 strange calcined91.7 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'd91.8 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 she92.2 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-Lover92.3
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 forty92.6 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 trus93.3 thy golden feet and wings.
It may93.4 be thought false melody93.5
T' ascend to heav'n by silver strings;
This is Urania's heraldry.
Thy royal poem now we may extol,
As93.6 truly Luna blazon'd upon Sol.
III.
As when Amphion first did call
Each listning stone from's den;
And with his93.7 lute did form the93.8 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.
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.
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 OF CHESSE.94.1
Sir, how unravell'd is the golden fleece:
Men, that could only fool at FOX AND GEESE,
Are new-made polititians94.2 by thy
And both can judge and conquer with a look.
The hidden fate94.3 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 sway95.4
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 ESSAYES95.5 have we beheld!
That well might have the 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 his95.8 bone95.9 arm'd;
So we, secure in this fair relique, stand95.10
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, 1659, 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.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]