9 SIR THOMAS WYAT. SIR THOMAS WYAT was born in Allington Castle, Kent, A.D. 1503. He was educated at Cambridge. In spite of the rumour that he had been attached to Anne Boleyn, he was employed by Henry VIII. on important foreign missions, especially at the court of Spain; and distinguished himself by the ability with which he discharged the duties of an ambassador. He was, notwithstanding, committed to the Tower on his return, but acquitted on his trial; a fortunate circumstance in an age in which innocence afforded no security. Though engaged in a career of constant activity (he was at one time in command of a ship of war), Wyat found time for studies, which would have left yet more important results behind, had he not been cut off by a fever, at the age of thirty-eight, A.D. 1542. He was noted for the commanding beauty of his person. ODE. The Lover complaineth the unkindness of his Love. My lute, awake! perform the last As to be heard where ear is none, The rocks do not so cruelly Proud of the spoil that thou hast got Vengeance shall fall on thy disdain ; May chance thee lye withred and old, And then may chaunce thee to repent Now cease, my lute! this is the last and past: Now is this song both sung TO HIS MISTRESS. Forget not yet the tried intent Forget not yet when first began Forget not yet the great assays, Forget not!-0, forget not this! Forget not then thine own approved, 11 EARL OF SURREY. HENRY HOWARD, Earl of Surrey, was the son of the third Duke of Norfolk. He was born, as is supposed, in the year 1516, and probably educated at Cambridge, as he was elected high-steward of that university. At the age of sixteen, Surrey was contracted in marriage to the Lady Frances Vere, daughter to the Earl of Oxford. Surrey was a warrior, as well as poet and courtier. He distinguished himself at the siege of Landrecy, and commanded, afterwards, at Guisnes and at Boulogne. He had previously served with his father in Scotland, and received the order of the Garter on his return. His splendid career was soon brought to a close. In the year 1546 Surrey was committed to the Tower, by the tyrant Henry VIII., on a groundless charge of high treason; one of the allegations in support of which was, that he bore the arms of Edward the Confessor. The Duke of Norfolk, imprisoned at the same time, was saved by the king's death; but his illustrious son was beheaded on Towerhill in the thirty-first year of his age. Surrey is said to have travelled in Italy; and many traces of Italian literature are to be found in his poetry. He wrote in the ternal metre of Dante, and introduced among us the sonnet form of composition. He was also the first English poet who wrote in blank verse. The works of Surrey and of Wyat were among the earliest to herald that second period of English poetry which, after an eclipse of a hundred and fifty years, fulfilled the promise of its dawn at the end of the fourteenth century. A COMPLAINT BY NIGHT OF THE LOUER NOT BELOUED. Alas, so all thinges now doe holde their peace, The beastes, the ayer, the birdes their songe doe cease, Bringing before my face the great encrease In joy and wo, as in a doubtful case: For my swete thoughtes sometime do pleasure bring; Geves me a pang, that inwardly doth sting, When that I thinke what grief it is againe, To liue and lack the thing should rid my paine. DESCRIPTION OF SPRING. The soote' season, that bud and bloom forth brings, LORD VAUX. LORD VAUX was the second Baron of that name. He was present at the coronation of Anne Bulleyn, on which occasion he was decorated with the order of the Bath. Little more is known of him, except that he was, at one time, a soldier, and commanded in the island of Jersey. UPON HIS WHITE HAIRS. [From the "Aged Lover's Renunciation of Love."] These hairs of age are messengers They be the lines that lead the length They say my youth is fled with strength, And how old age is well begun ; The which I feel, and you may see They be the strings of sober sound, 1 sweet. 2 mate. 3 mingles. 4 destruction. Their tunes declare a time from ground God grant to those that white hairs have, Their souls may joy their lives well spent. THOMAS SACKVILLE. THOMAS SACKVILLE, Lord Buckurst, and Earl of Dorset, was born at Buckurst, in Sussex, A.D. 1527. He studied both at Oxford and Cambridge. He filled successively many of the highest posts in the state; one of which obliged him to take a part, as commissioner, in the judicial murder of Mary Queen of Scots. He died suddenly at the council-table in the year 1608. Sackville was one of our earliest tragic writers, and contributed a legend to the Mirror for Magistrates. He was as celebrated for his eloquence as for his political talents and literary accomplishments. ALLEGORICAL PERSONAGES IN HELL. And first within the porch and jaws of hell Her eyes unstedfast, rolling here and there, Whirl'd on each place, as place that vengeance brought; Toss'd and tormented by the tedious thought |