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CHAPTER V.

THE SO-CALLED METAPHYSICAL POETS.

75. George Wither. 1588-1667. (History, p. 105.)

THE OBLIGATIONS OF GEORGE WITHER TO THE MUSE.

From THE SHEPHERD'S HUNTING.

The Shepherd's Hunting :—in the poetical language of the time, a shepherd was simply a denizen of the ideal world of poets; thus to Spenser Chaucer (called Tityrus) is the "god of shepherds;" to Shakespeare Marlowe is the "dead shepherd;" and to Milton "the homely shepherd's trade" (Lycidas, 1. 65) is merely another expression for the cultivation of poetry. See Mr. Masson's Life of Milton, p. 411.

In my former days of bliss,
Her Divine skill taught me this,
That from everything I saw
I could some invention draw;
5 And raise pleasure to her height
Thro' the meanest object's sight.
By the murmur of a spring,
Or the least bough's rusteling;
By a daisy, whose leaves spread
10 Shut when Titan goes to bed;
Or a shady bush or tree;

1. Bliss, fr. O. E. blis, joy.

4. Invention, used here in the old sense of creative power, as exercised in the works of the imagination.

9. Daisy: according to Chaucer, whose

etymology has never been disputed, this flower is so called because it is "the eye of the day."

10. Titan: a classical name for the Sun.

She could more infuse in me,
Than all nature's beauties can
In some other wiser man.

15 The strange music of the waves
Beating in their hollow caves;

This black den which rocks emboss,
Overgrown with eldest moss;

The rude portals that give sight
20 More to terror than delight;
This my chamber of neglect,
Walled about with disrespect;
From all these and this dull air,
A fit object for despair,
25 She hath taught by her might
To draw comfort and delight.

15. Strange, Fr. étrange, It. stranio, comes from Lat. extraneus.

17. Emboss: this word has various meanings to swell up; to thrust into; to lie in ambush. Here it seems to sig

nify to cover as if with boscage or bushes. 21, 22. Wither was a prisoner in the Marshalsea when he wrote The Shepherd's Hunting.

76. George Herbert. 1593-1633. (History, p. 105.)

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Only a sweet and virtuous soul,

Like season'd timber, never gives;

15 But though the whole world turn to coal,
Then chiefly lives.

20

SIN.

Lord, with what care hast thou begirt us round!

Parents first season us: then schoolmasters

Deliver us to laws: they send us bound

To rules of reason, holy messengers,
Pulpits and Sundays, sorrow dogging sin,
Afflictions sorted, anguish of all sizes,
Fine nets and stratagems to catch us in,
Bibles laid open, millions of surprizes,
25 Blessings beforehand, ties of gratefulness,
The sound of glory ringing in our ears:
Without, our shame; within, our consciences:
Angels and grace, eternal hopes and fears.
Yet all these fences and their whole array
One cunning bosom-sin blows quite away.

30

2. Bridal bride-ale, O. E. bryd-eale, meant originally the marriage festivity. According to Mr. Garnett, bride is of Celtic origin, and means "one who is possessed," priawd.

5. Brave, finely dressed, showy-its

ordinary meaning once.

22. Sorted, fitted or adapted to the circumstances, temper, &c., of each person. One of the early meanings of sort is to agree.

77. Sir Henry Wotton. 1568–1639.
THE HAPPY LIFE.

How happy is he born and taught
That serveth not another's will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill.

5 Whose passions not his masters are,
Whose soul is still prepared for death,
Untied unto the worldly care

Of public fame or private breath;

Who envies none that chance doth raise,
10 Or vice; who never understood

How deepest wounds are given by praise,
Nor rules of state, but rules of good.

Who hath his life from rumours freed,
Whose conscience is his strong retreat;
15 Whose state can neither flatterers feed,
Nor ruin make oppressors great;

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78. Richard Lovelace. 1618-1658. (History, p. 106.)

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2. Nunnery: nun comes from It. nonna, a grand-mother, the first nuns having

been oldish women.

SPECS. ENG. LIT.

I

79. Thomas Carew. 1589-1639. (History, p. 106.)

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Tell her that's young,

And shuns to have her graces spied,

That hadst thou sprung

In deserts, where no men abide,
Thou must have uncommended died.

Small is the worth

Of beauty from the light retired:
Bid her come forth,

Suffer herself to be desired,
And not blush so to be admired.

4. Resemble: this verb is here used transitively, in the sense of to compare.

12. Retired, withdrawn, fr. Fr. retirer, th. tirer, It. tirare, to draw. This word

also had a transitive signification once: "to retire themselves," "to retire their power," are phrases in Shakespeare.

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