With fliding rolles, and bound his neck with ropes.
The fatal gin thus overclambe our walles,

Stuft with armd men: about the which there ran

Children and maides', that holy carolles fang.

And well were they whoes hands might touch the cordes !
With thretning chere, thus flided through our town
The subtill tree, to Pallas temple-ward.

O native land, Ilion, and of the goddes

The mansion placce! O warlik walles of Troy!
Four times it stopt in thentrie of our gate,
Four times the harnesse clatterd in the wombe.

The shade of Hector, in the fame book, thus appears.

Ah me! What one? That Hector how unlike,
Which erst, returnd clad with Achilles spoiles !
Or when he threw into the Grekish shippes
The Trojan flame! So was his beard defiled,
His crifped lockes al cluftred with his blood:
With al fuch woundes as many he received,
About the walles of that his native towne !
Whom franckly thus, methought, I fpake unto,
With bitter teres, and dolefull deadly voice.
"O Trojan light! O only hope of thine!

"What lettes fo long thee ftaid? Or from what coftes,
"Our most defired Hector, doft thou come?
"Whom, after flaughter of our many frends,
"And travail of thy people, and thy towne,
"Alweried, (lord!) how gladly we behold!

"What fory chaunce hath stained thy lively face?
"Or why fee I thefe woundes, alas fo wide!"
He anfweard nought, nor in my vain demaundes
Abode: but from the bottom of his brest
Sighing he fayd: " "Flee, flee, O goddesse son !
"And fave thee from the furie of this flame !"

This was a noble attempt to break the bondage of rhyme. But blank verse was now growing fashionable in the Italian poetry, the school of Surrey. Felice Figlinei, a Sanese, and Surrey's cotemporary, in his admirable Italian commentary on the ETHICS of Aristotle, entitled FILOSOSIA MORALE SOPRA IL LIBRI D' ETHICA D'ARISTOTILE, declaims against the barbarity of rhyme, and strongly recommends a total rejection of this Gothic ornament to his countrymen. He enforces his precept by his own example; and tranflates all Ariftotle's quotations from Homer and Euripides into verfe without rhyme. Gonfalvo Perez, the learned fecretary to Philip of Spain, had also recently tranflated Homer's Odyffey into Spanish blank-verse. How much the excellent Roger Afcham approved of Surrey's disuse of rhyme in this tranflation from Virgil, appears from the following paffage in his SCHOLEMASTER, written about the year 1566". "The noble lord Thomas earle of Surrey, FIRST OF ALL

ENGLISHMEN, in tranflating the fourth [and fecond] booke of Virgill and Gonfalvo Perez, that excellent learned man, "and fecretarie to king Philip of Spayne", in tranflating the "ULYSSES of Homer out of the Greeke into Spanish, have "both by good judgement avoyded the FAULT OF RYMING. The fpying of this fault now is not the curiofitie of English eyes, but even the good judgement alfo of the best

66

I know of no English critic befides, who has mentioned Surrey's Virgil, except Bolton, a great reader of old English books. HYPERCRIT. p. 237. Oxon. 1772.

Among Afcham's Epifiles, there is one to Perez, infcribed Clariffimo viro D. Gon

falvo Perifio Regis Catbolici Secretario primario et Confiliario intimo, Amico meo cariffimo. In which Afcham recommends the embaffador fir William Cecil to his acquaintance, and friendship. EPISTOL. LIB. UN. p. 228. b. edit. Lond. 1581.

"that

"that write in these dayes in Italie.-And you, that be able to "understand no more than ye find in the Italian tong: and 66 never went further than the fchoole of PETRARCH and "ARIOSTO abroade, or elfe of CHAUCER at home, though you have pleasure to wander blindlie still in your foule wronge "way, envie not others, that feeke, as wife men have done "before them, the FAYREST and RYGHTEST way. And "therefore, even as Virgill and Horace deferve moft worthie

prayfe, that they, spying the unperfitnefs in Ennius and "Plautus, by trewe imitation of Homer and Euripides, brought "poetrie to the fame perfectnes in Latin as it was in Greeke, " even fo those, that by the fame way would BENEFIT THEIR "TONG and country, deserve rather thankes than disprayse *."

The revival of the Greek and Roman poets in Italy, excited all the learned men of that country to copy the Roman verfification, and confequently banished the old Leonine Latin verfe. The fame claffical idea operated in fome degree on the vernacular poetry of Italy. In the year 1528, Triffino published his ITALIA LIBERATA DI GOTI, or, ITALY DELIVERED FROM THE GOTHS, an heroic poem, profeffedly written in imitation of the Iliad, without either rhyme, or the ufual machineries of the Gothic romance. Triffino's defign was to deftroy the TERZA RIMA of Dante. We do not, however, find, whether it be from the facility with which the Italian tongue falls into rhyme, or that the best and established Italian poets wrote in the ftanza, that these efforts to reftore blank-verse, produced any lasting effects in the progress of the Italian poetry. It is very probable, that this specimen of the Eneid in blank-verse by Surrey, led the way to Abraham Fleming's blank-verse translation of Virgil's Bucòlics and Georgics, although done in Alexandrines, published in the year 1589 ".

Lord Surrey wrote many other English poems which were never

* B. ii. p. 54. b. 55. a. edit. 1589. 4to.

D 2

y London, 4to.

published,

published, and are now perhaps entirely loft. He translated the ECCLESIASTES of Solomon into English verfe. This piece is cited in the Preface to the Translation of the Pfalms, printed at London in 1567. He also tranflated a few of the Pfalms into metre. These versions of Scripture fhew that he was a friend to the refor mation. Among his works are also recited, a Poem on his friend the young duke of Richmond, an Exhortation to the citizens of London, a Translation of Boccace's Epiftle to Pinus, and a fett of Latin epiftles. Aubrey has preserved a poetical Epitaph, written by Surrey on fir Thomas Clere, his faithful retainer and constant attendant, which was once in Lambeth-church'; and which, for its affection and elegance, deferves to be printed among the earl's poems. I will quote a few lines.

Shelton for love, Surrey for lord thee chase* :
(Aye me, while life did last that league was tender!)
Tracing whose steps, thou faweft Kelsall blase,
Laundersey burnt, and batterd Bulleyn's render*:
At Mortrell gates, hopeless of all recure,
Thine earle halfe dead gave in thy hand his Will;
Which caufe did thee this pining death procure,
Ere fummers foure tymes seven thou couldst fulfill.
Ah, Clere! if love had booted care or cost,
Heaven had not wonne, nor earth so timely loft!

John Clerc, who travelled into Italy with Pase, an eminent linguist of those times, and secretary to Thomas duke of Norfolk father of lord Surrey, in a dedication to the latter, prefixed to his TRETISE OF NOBILITIE printed at London in 1543, has mentioned, with the highest commendations, many translations done by Surrey, from the Latin, Italian, French, and

Spanish languages. But these it is probable were nothing more than juvenile exercises.

Surrey, for his juftness of thought, correctness of style, and purity of expreffion, may justly be pronounced the first English claffical poet. He unquestionably is the first polite writer of loveverfes in our language. It muft, however, be allowed, that there is a striking native beauty in fome of our love-verses written much earlier than Surrey's. But in the most savage ages and countries, rude nature has taught elegance to the lover.

SECT.