Three Poets, in three distant ages born,
Greece, Italy, and England did adorn;
The first in loftiness of thought surpassed,
The next in majesty, in both the last.
The force of nature could no further go ;
To make a third she joined the former two.

On Milton

I

PREACHED as never sure to preach again,
And as a dying man to dying men.

Love breathing Thanks and Praise.

A

ND so I penned

It down, until at last it came to be, For length and breadth, the bigness which you see.

Apology for his Book. Some said, “ John, print it,' others said, “Not so,' Some said, “ It might do good,' others said, 'No.'

Ibid.

The Slough of Despond.

Pilgrim's Progress. 164

KING-ROCHESTER-ROSCOMMON.

WILLIAM KING. 1663-1712.

AN
ND sat upon a rock, and bobbed for whale.

Upon a Giant's Angling.
Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.*

Orpheus and Eurydice. Line 134.

*

EARL OF ROCHESTER.

1647-1680.

HERE lies our sovereign lord the king,

He never says a foolish thing,
Nor ever does a wise one.

Written on the Bedchamber Door of Charles II.
And ever since the Conquest have been fools.

Artemisia in the Town to Chloe in the Country.

EARL OF ROSCOMMON.

1634-1685.

IMMODEST words admit of no defence,

, For want of decency is want of sense.

Essay on Translated Verse.

* And let us mind, faint heart ne'er won
A lady fair.

BURNS to Dr. Blacklock.

OTWAY--SHEFFIELD--LEE.

165

THOMAS OTWAY. 1651-1685.

O

WOMAN! lovely woman! Nature made thee

To temper man; we had been brutes without you. Angels are painted fair, to look like you : There's in you all that we believe of heaven; Amazing brightness, purity, and truth, Eternal joy, and everlasting love.

Venice Preserved. Act i. Sc. I.

OF

F all those arts in which the wise excel,
Nature's chief masterpiece is writing well.

Essay on Poetry.
There's no such thing in nature, and you'll draw
A faultless monster which the world ne'er saw.

Ibid.

Read Homer once, and you can read no more,
For all books else appear so mean, so poor ;
Verse will seem prose; but still persist to read,
And Homer will be all the books you need.

Ibid.

NATHANIEL LEE. 1650-1692.

THEN he will talk—good gods

, how he will talk !

Alexander the Great Act i. Sc. 3.

166

WALTER POPE-NORRIS.

See the conquering hero comes,
Sound the trumpet, beat the drums.

Ibid. Act ii. Sc. I.

'Tis beauty calls and glory leads the way.

Ibid. Activ. Sc. 2. When Greeks joined Greeks, then was the tug of war.

Ibid. Act iv. Sc. 2.

DR. WALTER POPE.

1714.

MAY
AY I govern my passion with absolute sway,
And grow wiser and better, as my strength

wears away.

The Old Man's W'ish.

JOHN NORRIS. 1657-1711.

HO

OW fading are the joys we dote upon !

Like apparitions seen and gone; But those which soonest take their flight Are the most exquisite and strong ;

Like angel's visits, short and bright, Mortality's too weak to bear them long. The Parting

WH

HEREVER God erects a house of prayer,

The Devil always builds a chapel there ; +
And 't will be found upon examination,
The latter has the largest congregation.

The True-Born Englishman. Part i. Line 1.

0

RICHARD GIFFORD. 1725-1807.

VERSE sweetens toil, however rude the sound ;

All at her work the village maiden sings, Nor, while she turns the giddy wheel aro

round, Revolves the sad vicissitudes of things.

Contemplation.

* Non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare;
Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te.

MARTIAL, Ep. 1. xxxiii.
Je ne vous aime pas, Hylas;
Je n'en saurois dire la cause,
Je sais seulement un chose ;
C'est que je ne vous aime pas.
ROGER DE Bussy, Comte de Rabutin, Epistle 33, Book 1.

+ See Proverbs, page 391.