But when once from hence we fly, Uniting In that whiter Island, where There no monstrous fancies shall To create, or cause at all There, in calm and cooling sleep, Pleasures such as shall pursue ROBERT HERRICK. 5 10 15 20 ON A GIRDLE THAT which her slender waist confined 5 A narrow compass! And yet there EDMUND WALLER. 10 VIRTUE SWEET day, so cool, so calm, so bright, For thou must die. Sweet rose, whose hue angry and brave Thy root is ever in its grave, And thou must die. Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses, My music shows ye have your closes, And all must die.' Only a sweet and virtuous soul, Like seasoned timber, never gives, But though the whole world turn to coal, GEORGE HERBERT. THE ELIXIR TEACH me, my God and King, All may of Thee partake: Nothing can be so mean, Which with his tincture for Thy sake,' Will not grow bright and clean. A servant with this clause Makes drudgery divine; Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws, This is the famous stone That turneth all to gold; For that which God doth touch and own 5 10 15 If thou canst get but thither, There grows the flower of Peace, The Rose that cannot wither, Thy fortress and thy ease. Leave then thy foolish ranges, HENRY VAUGHAN. 15 20 JOHN DRYDEN 1631-1700 DRYDEN was born in Northamptonshire, in the heart of England, and was graduated from Cambridge University. He was the son of Puritan parents and went to London to live while Cromwell was Lord Protector. He went over to the Royalist side, however, at the restoration of Charles II in 1660, and welcomed the king heartily in loyal verses. He remained to the end a stout upholder of the Stuart family, in its days of both good and evil repute. In 1663 he married the Lady Elizabeth Howard, the daughter of a Royalist nobleman. He was appointed collector of customs in the port of London, a position which Chaucer had once held. He was also made Poet Laureate and received other marks of royal favor. Dryden's literary activity covered many fields. He wrote satires, plays, odes, critical essays, and made many translations from the classics. His fame to-day rests chiefly upon his satires and his odes. Dryden perhaps had a larger personal following in London than any of the great poets who lived before him. He was the chief literary figure of his day. He held his court at Will's Coffeehouse, where the wittiest men of the time sat at his feet. Pope, when a boy, was taken up to London to get a glimpse of “the great Mr. Dryden." He was buried with great ceremony in Westminster Abbey. |