12. The triple Tyrant, the Pope, so called from the triple crown, or tiara, worn by him as head of the church. 14. Babylonian. The Puritans considered the Roman Catholic Church to be the Babylon mentioned in Revelations, xvii and xviii, as persecuting the saints. THE CAVALIER POETS SIR HENRY WOTTON (1568-1639) Wotton is a link between the poets of Elizabeth's time and the group of Cavalier poets proper. The poem here printed is addressed to Elizabeth, the sister of Charles I. She married Frederick, the Elector Palatine, and became the mother of Prince Rupert, the famous Cavalier leader of the civil wars in England. Her husband's assumption of the title of King of Bohemia led to the terrible Thirty Years' War in Germany. Elizabeth was greatly beloved in England, and "for her winning princely comportment" was called the Queen of Hearts. TO HIS MISTRESS THE QUEEN OF BOHEMIA LINE 9. what's your praise? what praise do you receive? THOMAS CAREW (1589-1639) Carew is the first of the Cavalier poets. He was an attendant on Charles I, and very popular at the court of that monarch before the outbreak of the civil war. He wrote sonnets, elegies, and at least one elaborate masque; but he is remembered only by his songs. Of these the one here printed is the best known. ASK ME NO MORE LINE 3. your beauty's orient deep, the rich Eastern sea of your beauty. 6. golden atoms, the motes that dance in the sunshine. 11. sweet dividing, sweetly singing. 16. their sphere, the circle in the sky from which they fell. 18. The Phoenix, a fabulous bird of classic and medieval legend. It was said to live for five hundred years, and then to burn itself to death on a pyre of spices and fragrant woods. From its ashes sprang a new phoenix. SIR JOHN SUCKLING (1608-1642) Suckling was one of the most striking figures at the court of Charles I. He was a courtier, a soldier, and a politician, and only a poet by way of diversion. A Ballad upon a Wedding, here given, is his best poem, but the song Why so pale and wan, Fond Lover? is probably even better known. A BALLAD UPON A WEDDING The wedding was that of Lord Broghill and Lady Margaret Howard. The poem was probably addressed to Lovelace, but it is supposed to be written by a countryman to some rural friend. 1. Dick, Richard Lovelace, the poet. 6. wake, a church festival. 7. Charing-Cross, a cross erected in London by Edward I in memory of his dear queen (chère reine), Eleanor. the way where we do sell our hay, the present Haymarket, a district in London. 13. pest'lent fine, very elegantly dressed. 17. undo, bankrupt. 18. still, always. 19. Course-a-Park, a country game of that day in which girls chose their partners. The men's names in this stanza are those of imaginary friends of the writer and of Dick. 24. of the Crown, of an inn called the Crown. 32. Whitsun-ale, a festival held on the seventh Sunday after Easter. It was customary to choose the prettiest girl at the festival for the Whitsun-lady, but the bride at the wedding was fairer than any country girl ever seen at such a feast. 34 kindly ripe, fully ripened by the sun. 47. sun upon an Easter-day. There was an old superstition that the sun danced every Easter morning for joy in the resurrection of the Lord. 51. undone, ruined by love. 66. spent, lost. 67. nick, nick of time. It was the old custom for the cook to announce that dinner was ready by knocking thrice upon the kitchen table. This served instead of the dinner bell. 71. trained band, militia company. 75. intreated, invited to sit down at table. 85. hats fly off. Men wore their hats at table in those days, but took them off while grace was being said or while drinking a lady's health. 87. One after another of the guests called on the company to drink the bride's health. 89. he made it hers by stealth. The bridegroom secretly drank the bride's health, even when another lady's was proposed. WHY SO PALE AND WAN, FOND LOVER? This is a song in Suckling's play, Aglaura. Orsames, the singer, calls it "a little foolish counsel I gave a friend of mine four or five years ago when he was falling into a consumption" on account of a hopeless love affair. Its gay indifference strikes the true Cavalier note. RICHARD LOVELACE (1618-1658) Lovelace was the handsomest man of his generation, and a great favorite of Charles I. He was twice thrown into prison by Parliament, and spent a large fortune in the king's cause. He died in a cellar in utter poverty just before the return of the Stuarts. The two songs here given are by far the best of his work. GOING TO THE WARS This poem may have been written when Lovelace went northward with the king to fight against the Scotch in 1640. TO ALTHEA FROM PRISON Lovelace was thrown into prison in 1642, just before the outbreak of the civil war. Althea is the fanciful name which he here gives his sweetheart, Lucy Sacheverell, whom he usually calls Lucasta. On a false report of his death she married another suitor, a step which, it is said, drove her poet lover to despair. LINE 7. wanton, frolic. 10. allaying Thames, water to weaken the wine. 17. committed, caged. 28. That, a prison. ROBERT HERRICK (1594-1674) Herrick is the greatest of the Cavalier poets. As a young scholar he sat at the feet of Jonson and was "sealed of the tribe of Ben." He had the good fortune to spend nearly twenty years as a country clergyman in a quiet village in Devonshire, where he could follow his poetic tastes undisturbed by the troubles of the time. His verses give us the prettiest possible picture of country life in merry England before the Puritans became supreme in the land. He was driven from his pulpit by the Puritans in 1648, but was restored when Charles II came back. CORINNA'S GOING A-MAYING Corinna is a lady's name taken from the Latin poets. It was the custom in Herrick's day for young men and girls to rise before daybreak on the first of May, and go out into the fields and groves to gather flowers and green branches for the May Day festival. The song is supposed to be sung at the window of a sleeping girl early on May morning. LINE 2. the god unshorn, Apollo, the god of the sun, with his long flowing locks. 3. Aurora, the goddess of the dawn. 5. slug-a-bed, lazy girl. 10. matins, morning prayers. 13. Whenas, when. 14. Spring, rise. 17. Flora, the goddess of flowers. 21. the childhood of the day, the early morning. 22. orient pearls, Eastern pearls, here used for dewdrops. 24. dew-locks, dewy locks. 25. Titan, the sun. 28. beads, prayers. TO ANTHEA Anthea is another lady's name often found in Herrick's poems. If he had as many sweethearts as he has different ladies' names in his verses, he must have been a most inconstant lover. Probably, however, most of his ladies were purely imaginary persons. LINE 2. Protestant, used here in the sense of 'champion.' 18. cypress-tree, a dark evergreen tree often planted in graveyards, and so most suitable to cover a despairing lover's head. THE NIGHT PIECE This night song is a beautiful contrast to the morning song to Corinna which precedes it. Julia is, perhaps, the lady's name which occurs most frequently in Herrick's poems. LINE 1. the glow-worm, not our firefly, but a sort of beetle common in England, which shows a pale green light after dark. 7. slow-worm, a small snakelike lizard, considered very poisonous. CHERRY-RIPE 66 Cherry-ripe" was a street cry in London in Herrick's day. UPON PREW HIS MAID Prudence Baldwin, Herrick's maid, or housekeeper, is often mentioned in his poems. This little quatrain is one of the most graceful of English epitaphs. THE WHITE ISLAND Herrick was not only a poet of love and pleasure, but wrote some beautiful religious verses. This poem, one of the best examples of his sacred verse, serves to connect him with such poets as Herbert and Vaughan. The white island of Greek mythology was identified by a Latin writer, Pliny, with the Islands of the Blessed. LINE 9. that whiter Island, Heaven, — whiter because more beautiful than the fabled island of Greek legend. 11. Candour, whiteness. 23. too, to,' the sign of the infinitive "have" in the next line. Herrick seems to have spelled it "too" only for the sake of the rhyme. EDMUND WALLER (1605-1687) Waller links the Cavalier poets to the age of Dryden, as Wotton joins them to that of Elizabeth. He was one of the first of English poets to use the polished heroic couplet; but he is now best remembered by two lovely songs, one of which is here given. |