THE EPODE, or Stand. ND such a force the fair example had, The good, and durst not practise it, were glad That such a law Was left yet to mankind; Where they might read and find Of two so early men Whose lines her rolls were, and records : Who, ere the first down bloomed on the chin, Had sow'd these fruits, and got the harvest in. LXXXVIII. AN EPIGRAM 5 TO WILLIAM EARL OF NEWCASTLE, ON HIS FENCING. HEY talk of Fencing, and the use of arms, To hit in angles, and to clash with time: Of bodies meet like rarified air! 5 Jonson's connection with the family of this distinguished nobleman was close and of long continuance. [Here followed, in the edition of 1816, a footnote of ten pages, which it has been thought better to transfer to another part of the volume. See post, MISCELLANEOUS PIECES.] Their weapons darted with that flame and force, 6 LXXXIX. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORD HIGH treasurer of England, AN EPISTLE MENDICANT, MDCXXXI. MY LORD, OOR wretched states, prest by extremities, Disease the enemy, and his ingineers, All this, my lord, is valour: this is yours, &c.] This was written many years before the earl of Newcastle, (or, as the MS. terms him, of Mansfield) took up arms in the defence of his king and country. Jonson knew his patrons; and it may be added, to the credit of his discernment, that few of them belied his praises. 7 Richard, lord Weston. He was appointed to this office in 1628, and was succeeded at his death, in 1634, by a commission, And made those strong approaches by false brays, But lies block'd up, and straiten'd, narrow'd in, XC. TO THE KING ON HIS BIRTH-DAY, Nov. 19, MDCXXXII. AN EPIGRAM ANNIVERSARY. HIS is king Charles his day. Speak it, thou Unto the ships, and they from tier to tier, at the head of which was Laud. This Epistle enables us to ascertain the commencement of that illness which, after a tedious and painful conflict of eleven years, terminated the poet's life in 1637. And ever close the burden of the song, Still to have such a Charles, but this Charles long. The wish is great; but where the prince is such, What prayers, people, can you think too much! XCI. ON THE RIGHT HONOURABLE AND VIRTUOUS Lord Weston, LORD HIGH TREASURER OF ENGLAND, UPON THE DAY HE WAS MADE EARL OF PORTLAND, FEB. 17, MDCXXXII. TO THE ENVIOUS. 8 BOOK Hath raised to be the PORT unto his LAND! Thou sluggish spawn, that canst, but wilt not see! 8 To the Envious.] Weston had many enemies, and his sudden rise was not seen without jealousy. Charles appears to have entertained an extraordinary regard for him, probably on account of his being warmly recommended by the duke of Buckingham, whose favour, however, he is said to have outlived. The treasurer seems to have been an imprudent, improvident man; with considerable talents for business, but fickle and irresolute. He died, lord Clarendon says, without being lamented, " bitterly mentioned by those who never pretended to love him, and severely censured by those who expected most from him and deserved best of him." Dream thou couldst hurt it, but before thou wake To effect it, feel thou'st made thine own heart ache. XCII. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE HIEROME, LORD WESTON,9 AN ODE GRATULATORY, FOR HIS RETURN FROM HIS EMBASSY, MDCXXXII. UCH pleasure as the teeming earth When she puts forth the life of every thing; She lies deliver'd without pain, Of the prime beauty of the year, the Spring. The very verdure of her nest, As all the wealth of season there was spread, Have multiplied their arts and powers, In making soft her aromatic bed. The eldest son of the earl of Portland; a young man of amiable manners, and of talents and worth. 1 Doth shew the Graces and the Hours.] The Hours are the poetical goddesses, which in common language mean only the seasons; but our poet has the authority of his Greek and Roman predecessors. WHAL. I do not quite understand what was meant to be said in this note; but I will venture to add to it, that there is a great deal of grace and beauty in this little compliment. |