For aye He in His work doth rest, With gentle care to hear thy suit, and grant thee thy request. In boast of outward works He taketh no delight, Nor waste of words; such sacrifice unsavoureth in His sight.1 Surrey also paraphrased several of the Psalms. Thomas, Lord Vaux (1511-62), descendant of an ancestor who had been Lord of Vaux in Normandy before he accompanied William I. to England, wrote some poems of which one or two are of a religious character. The following are the two concluding stanzas of some verses on The Instabilitie of Youth: -- Thou that by power to life didst raise the dead; Thou that canst heed and help in all assays, Forgive the guilt that grew in youth's vain ways! Lord, mind no more youth's error and unskill, The following is from his lines Of a Contented Spirit. I should like to have matched it with the very pleasing verses of Sir Edward Dyer-My mynde to me a kyngdome is, and so to have included that writer among authors of sacred verse; but whereas this by Lord Vaux may be considered as coming just within the verge of religious poetry, the other I am obliged to consider as standing just without. The arrangement of stanzas is that of Dr. Hannah in his interesting compilation from the 'Courtly Poets' of 1540-1650.3 1 Surrey's Poems; Chalmers' English Poets: In humble sprite is set the temple of the Lorde, Wher yf thow enter, loke thy mouth and conscyence may accorde. Poems of Lord Vaux, ed. by Grosart. There is some little doubt whether part of this poem was not by J. Haryngton. But Mr. Grosart judges it far most probable that Haryngton merely wrote out the poem with some variations upon it. 3 J. Hannah's Poems of Raleigh, Wotton, and other Courtly Poets (15401650), p. 132. When all is done and said, In the end thus shall you find And clear from worldly cares, To deem can be content The sweetest time in all his life The body subject is To fickle fortune's power, Is casual every hour; And death in time doth change When as the mind, which is divine, Our wealth leaves us at death, The sweetest time in all my life In a note to the verses quoted in the preceding page, John Haryngton was mentioned as the possible author of the verses more probably ascribed to Lord Vaux. Haryngton did not write much, but was quite able to hold his own among the minor poets of Queen Elizabeth's Court. He stood high in the Queen's favour, and in Mary's reign had been confined in the Tower at the same time that she was, for correspondence with her. The following is the last verse of an Elegy written by him during his imprisonment : Death is a port whereby we pass to joy : Life is a lake that drowneth all in pain; Death is so dear it killeth all annoy; Life is so lewd [poor], that all it yields is vain; For as by life to bondage man was brought, Even so by death all freedom too was wrought.2 Poems of Lord Vaux, ed. by Grosart, vol. iv.: When all is doen and saied.' 2 Sir J. Harrington's Nuge Antiquæ, ii. 332. A hymn by Walter, Earl of Essex, who died in 1576, was written during intervals of great pain, and was sung by him very shortly before his death. The night following' (runs a contemporary account), which was the night before he died, he called William Hewes, which was his musician, to play upon the virginal and to sing. "Play," said he, "My song, Will Hewes, and I will sing it myself." It was the following Hymn of Penitence: O heavenly God, O Father dear, cast down Thy heavenly eye My life had like to tread the steps that leads the way to hell. That ever my licentious life so wickedly was bent. Since thus therefore with doleful plaints I do Thy mercy crave, That after death my soul may have in heaven a dwelling place.1 There is also a hymn which has been ascribed to Robert, Earl of Essex, the powerful favourite of Elizabeth, which, in that case, would have been written just 1 A Godly and virtuous Song made by the Honorable the Earle of Essexe, late deceased, in Grosart, vol. iv. In the Paradyse of Daynty Devises, 1576, it has the initials of Francis Kynwelmersh; but it appears from Mr. Grosart's investigations that there is no question about the real authorship, and that F. K. are simply the initials of the copyist. before his execution. But its interest is lost, if, as appears far more probable, it is simply a sort of elegy, written soon after his death by an anonymous author. It begins : Welcome, sweet Death, the kindest friend I have.1 In the Paradise of Dainty Devices (1575), there are two hymns by Francis Kynwelmersh, of whom little is known, except that he was a gentleman of Essex, that he was a member of Gray's Inn, and that in 1566 he joined with George Gascoigne in translating the Jocasta of Euripides. The following are two verses from his hymn for Christmas Day : This day to man came pledge of perfect peace, This day to man came love and unity, In Christes flock let love be surely placed; As we in Christ, and Christ in us may dwell. From whence proceedeth all felicity.2 His Hymn for Whitsunday I quote in full :— Come Holy Ghost, eternal God, and ease the woful grief, The great distress Of sinful heaviness. Come, comfort the afflicted thoughts of my consuméd heart; That I by thee From sin may purged be. 1 Essex Laste Voyage to the Haven of Happiness, Grosart, vol. iv.; and Hannah's Courtly Poets, note 248. 2 The Paradyse of Daynty Devises; M. Edwards, 1576; ed. by Sir Egerton Brydges, in British Bibliographer, 1812, p. 11. Thou art my God: to Thee alone O teach me then the way, Make Thee my only stay. My lips, my tongue, my heart and all Yea, every living thing Shall sweetly sing To Thee, O heavenly King.1 An Easter Hymn in the same collection is by Jasper Heywood (1535-98). He was a Greek and Hebrew scholar of some note, and a Fellow first of Merton and then of All Souls. In 1562 he joined the Jesuits, and was placed in 1581 at the head of that body in England. The hymn in question is of no particular merit, but I quote the last verse, which is also the best :— O man, arise with Christ therefore, Since he from sin hath made thee free. Beware thou fall in sin no more, But rise as Christ did rise for thee. When He at day of doom shall say: Come thou, my child, and dwell with me. Robert Crowley (1518-88) was a demy of Magdalen College; then, after occupying himself for a few years as a printer, he took orders, and became a noted preacher. He was a strong Puritan, and, at Mary's accession, fled to Frankfort. After his return he was made Prebend and Archdeacon of Hereford. Afterwards he was Prebend of St. Paul's, and Vicar of St. Giles', Cripplegate. But his strict and narrow opinions, and the zeal with which he propagated them, soon brought him into 1 The Paradyse of Daynty Devises, p. 6: 'Come, holy ghost, eternall God, and ease the wofull greefe.' 2 Id. p. 5: 'O man, aryse with Christe therefore.' |