The Project Gutenberg eBook ofWaltoniana: Inedited Remains in Verse and Prose of Izaak WaltonThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Waltoniana: Inedited Remains in Verse and Prose of Izaak WaltonAuthor: Izaak WaltonEditor: Richard Herne ShepherdRelease date: January 1, 2006 [eBook #9631]Most recently updated: January 2, 2021Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Clare Boothby and PG Distributed Proofreaders*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WALTONIANA: INEDITED REMAINS IN VERSE AND PROSE OF IZAAK WALTON ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Waltoniana: Inedited Remains in Verse and Prose of Izaak WaltonAuthor: Izaak WaltonEditor: Richard Herne ShepherdRelease date: January 1, 2006 [eBook #9631]Most recently updated: January 2, 2021Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Clare Boothby and PG Distributed Proofreaders
Title: Waltoniana: Inedited Remains in Verse and Prose of Izaak Walton
Author: Izaak WaltonEditor: Richard Herne Shepherd
Author: Izaak Walton
Editor: Richard Herne Shepherd
Release date: January 1, 2006 [eBook #9631]Most recently updated: January 2, 2021
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Clare Boothby and PG Distributed Proofreaders
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WALTONIANA: INEDITED REMAINS IN VERSE AND PROSE OF IZAAK WALTON ***
Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Clare Boothby and PG
Distributed Proofreaders
Waltoniana
LONDON1878
1633. I. An Elegie upon Dr. Donne.1635. II. Lines on a Portrait of Donne.1638. III. Commendatory Verses prefixed to The Merchants Mappe ofCommerce.1645. IV. Preface to Quarles' Shepherds Oracles.1650. V. Couplet on Dr. Richard Sibbes.1651. VI. Dedication of Reliquiae Wottonianae.VII. On the Death of William Cartwright.1652. VIII. Preface to Sir John Skeffington's Heroe of Lorenzo.IX. Commendatory Verses to the Author of Scintillula Altaris.1658. X. Dedication of the Life of Donne and Advertisement to theReader.1660. XI. Daman and Dorus: An humble Eglog.1661. XII. To my Reverend Friend the Author of The Synagogue.1662. XIII. Epitaph on his Second Wife, Anne Ken.1670. XIV. Letter to Edward Ward.1672. XV. Dedication of the Third Edition of Reliquiae Wottonianae.1673. XVI. Letter to Marriott.1678. XVII. Preface &c. to Thealma & Clearchus.1680. XVIII. Letter to John Aubrey.1683. XIX. Izaak Walton's Last Will and Testament.
Few men who have written books have been able to win so large a share of the personal affection of their readers as honest Izaak Walton has done, and few books are laid down with so genuine a feeling of regret as the "Complete Angler" certainly is, that they are no longer. "One of the gentlest and tenderest spirits of the seventeenth century," we all know his dear old face, with its cheerful, happy, serene look, and we should all have liked to accompany him on one of those angling excursions from Tottenham High Cross, and to have listened to the quaint, garrulous, sportive talk, the outcome of a religion which was like his homely garb, not too good for every-day wear. We see him, now diligent in his business, now commemorating the virtues of that cluster of scholars and churchmen with whose friendship he was favoured in youth, and teaching his young brother-in-law, Thomas Ken, to walk in their saintly footsteps,—now busy with his rod and line, or walking and talking with a friend, staying now and then to quaff an honest glass at a wayside ale-house—leading a simple, cheerful, blameless life
"Thro' near a century of pleasant years."[1]
We have said that the reader regrets that Walton should have left so little behind him: his "Angler" and his Lives are all that is known to most. But we are now enabled to present those who love his memory with a collection of fugitive pieces, in verse and prose, extending in date of composition over a period of fifty years,—beginning with the Elegy on Donne, in 1633, and terminating only with his death in 1683. All these, however unambitious, are more or less characteristic of the man, and impregnated with the same spirit of genial piety that distinguishes the two well-known books to which they form a supplement.
Walton's devotion to literature must have begun at an early age; for in a little poem, entitledThe Love of Amos and Laura, published in 1619, when he was only twenty-six, and attributed variously to Samuel Purchas, author of "The Pilgrims," and to Samuel Page, we find the following dedication to him:—
"To thee, thou more then thrice beloved friend,I too unworthy of so great a blisse:These harsh-tun'd lines I here to thee commend,Thou being cause it is now as it is:For hadst thou held thy tongue, by silence mightThese have beene buried in obliuious night.
"If they were pleasing, I would call them thine,And disauow my title to the verse:But being bad, I needes must call them mine.No ill thing can be cloathed in thy verse.Accept them then, and where I have offended,Rase thou it out, and let it be amended.
What poems Walton wrote in his youth, we have now no means of knowing; it has not been discovered that any have been printed, unless we adopt the theory advocated by Mr. Singer,[3] and by a writer in the "Retrospective Review,"[4] that the poem ofThealma and Clearchus, which he published in the last year of his life, as a posthumous fragment of his relation John Chalkhill, was really a juvenile work of his own. Some plausibility is lent to this notion by the fact that Walton speaks of the author with so much reticence and reserve in his preface to the volume, and also that in introducing two of Chalkhill's songs into the "Complete Angler," he does not bestow on them the customary words of commendation. This theory has been rebutted by others, who assert that Walton was of too truthful and guileless a nature to resort to such an artifice. We confess that we are unable to see anything dishonest in the adoption, as a pseudonym, of the name of a deceased friend, or anything more than Walton appears to have done on another occasion when he published his two letters on "Love and Truth." It is certain, however, that a family of Chalkhills existed, with whom Walton was closely connected by his marriage with the sister of Bishop Ken. But that an "acquaintant and friend of Edmund Spenser," capable of writing such a poem asThealma and Clearchus, should have kept his talents so concealed, that in an age of commendatory verses no slightest contemporary record of him exists—is, to say the least, extraordinary. There are cogent arguments then on both sides of the question, and there is very little positive proof on either: so we must be content to leave the matter in some doubt and obscurity.
The first production to which our author attached the well-known signature of "Iz. Wa." was an Elegy on the Death of Dr. Donne, the Dean of St. Paul's, prefixed to a collection of Donne's Poems. Walton was then forty years of age. From this time forward we find him more or less engaged, at not very long intervals, on literary labours, till the very year of his death.
The care which Walton spent on his productions seems to have been very great. He wrote and re-wrote, corrected, amended, rescinded, and added. This very poem—the Elegy on Donne—he completely remodelled in his old age, when he inserted it in the collection of his Lives. But we have thought it well to give the original version here as a literary curiosity, and the first work of his that has come down to us. The original Lives themselves—especially those of Wotton and Donne—were mere sketches of what they are in their present enlarged form.
Walton had the good fortune to be thrown very early in life into the society and intimacy of men who were his superiors in rank and education. But he had enough of culture, joined to his inherent reverence of mind, to appreciate and understand all that they had and he wanted.
The preface to Sir John Skeffington'sHeroe of Lorenzohad for two centuries lain forgotten, and escaped the notice of Walton's biographers, till in 1852 it was discovered by Dr. Bliss of Oxford, and communicated by him to the late William Pickering.
The original Spanish work was first published in 1630. The author's real name was not Lorenzo, but Balthazar Gracian, a Jesuit of Aragon, who flourished during the first half of the seventeenth century, when the cultivated style took possession of Spanish prose, and rose to its greatest consideration.[5] It is a collection of short, wise apothegms and maxims for the conduct of life, sometimes illustrated by stories of valour, or prowess, or magnanimity, of the old Castilian heroes who figure in "Count Lucanor." The book, though now no longer read, must have been very popular at one time, for there exist two or three later English versions of it, without, however, the nervous concentration of style and idiomatic diction that characterize the translation sent forth to the world under Walton's auspices.
The two Letters published in 1680 under the title of Love and Truth,[6] were written respectively in the years 1668 and 1679. The evidence of their authorship is twofold, and we think quite conclusive. In one of the very few copies known to exist, and now in the library of Emanuel College, Cambridge, its original possessor, Archbishop Sancroft, has written:—"Is. Walton's 2 letters conc. ye Distemp's of ye Times, 1680," and Dr. Zouch appended to his reprint of the tract[7] a number of parallel passages from other acknowledged writings of Walton, of themselves almost sufficient to fix the question on internal evidence alone.
In the British Museum copy of this tract is the following note on one of the fly-leaves in the autograph of the late William Pickering:—
"The present is the only copy I have met with after twenty years'search, excepting the one in Emanuel College, Cambridge. W. Pickering."
The copy described above [i.e., the Emanuel College copy] appears to be the same edition as the present [that now in the British Museum], but has the following variation. After the title-page is printed
The Author to the Stationer
"Mr. Brome," &c., and the Epistle ends with "Your friend," without the N.N. which is found in this copy. But what is more remarkable, the printed word Author is run through, and corrected with a pen, and over it writtenPublisher, which is evidently in the handwriting of Walton. So Mr. Pickering further certifies.
The following allusion towards the bottom of p. 37 confirms the idea of Walton's authorship. Speaking of Hugh Peters and John Lilbourn, the writer says:—"Their turbulent lives and uncomfortable deaths are not I hope yet worn out of the memory of many. He that compares them with the holy life and happy death of Mr. George Herbert, as it is plainly andI hope trulywrit by Mr. Isaac Walton, may in it find a perfect pattern for an humble and devout Christian to imitate," &c.
The following are the chief parallel passages in this pamphlet and inWalton's other writings, as indicated by Zouch:—
Second Letter,p. 19.Life of George Herbert.
I wish as heartily as you Mr. George Herbert having do that all such Clergy-mens changed his sword and Wives as have silk Cloaths silk clothes into a canonical be-daubed with Lace, and coat, thus warned Mrs. Herbert their heads hanged about against this egregious folly with painted Ribands, were ofstriving for precedency:— enjoyned Penance for their "You are now a minister's pride: And their Husbands wife, and must now so far forget punisht for being so tame, or your father's house, as not so lovingly-simple, as to suffer to claim a precedence of any them; for, by such Cloaths, of your parishioners," &c. they proclaim their own Ambition, and their Husbands folly.
And I say the like, concerning theirstriving for Precedency.
P. 20.Life of George Herbert.
And, I confess also, what One cure for the wickedness you say of a Clergy-mans of the times would be, biddingto faston the Eves of for the clergy themselves Holy-days, in Lent, and the to keep the Ember-weeksEmber Weeks: And I wish strictly, &c. those biddings were forborn, or better practised by themselves.
P. 20.Life of George Herbert.
And, I wish as heartily as Those ministers that huddled you can, that they would not up the church prayers only read, but pray, the without a visible reverence Common Prayer; and not and affection: namely, such huddle it up so fast (as too as semed to say the Lord's many do) by getting into a Prayer or collect in a breath. middle of a second Collect, before a devout Hearer can say Amen to the first.
_Preface to Sanderson's XXIP. 20.Sermons, 1655._
And now, having unbowelled But since I had thus adventured my very soul thus to unbowel myself, freely to you, &c. and to lay open the very inmost thoughts of my heart.
P.21.Life of Sanderton.
A Corrosive, or (asSolomonRiches so gotten, and added says of ill-gotten riches) to his great estate, wouldlike gravel in his teeth. provelike gravel in his teeth.
P. 21.Life of Sir H. Wotton.
ThoseBishops and MartyrsIt was the advice of Sir that assisted in this Reformation, Henry Wotton, "Take heed did not (as SirHenry Wottonof thinking the farther you go said wisely) thinkthe fartherfrom the Church of Rome, they went from the Church of Rome, the nearer you are to God." the nearer they got to heaven.
P. 23.Life of Richard Hooker.
To make the Women, the Here the very women and Shop-keepers, and the middle- shopkeepers were able to judge witted People … less of predestination, and determine busie, and more humble and what laws were fit to lowly in their own eyes, and be obeyed or abolished. to think that they are neither called, nor are fit to meddle with, and judge of the most hidden and mysterious points inDivinity, and Government of theChurchandState.
P. 36.Life of Sanderson.
I desire you to look back Some years before the unhappy with me to the beginning of Long Parliament, this the late Long Parliament nation being then happy and 1640, at which time we in peace. were the quietest and happiest people in the Christian World.
To the present Editor the collection and annotation of these Remains has been a most welcome labour of love. Some of his oldest and most cherished memories connect themselves with the author of the "Complete Angler." That book was one of the first that he ever read with real and genuine delight; and even before reading days commenced, in the earliest dawn of memory, the place where Walton had cut his familiar signature of "Iz. Wa." on Chaucer's tomb in Westminster Abbey, was pointed out to him often by a kindred spirit now here no more. The name of Walton will also be found enshrined in the earliest prose production[8] to which the Editor prefixed his own name. R.H.S.
[1] "Happy old man, whose worth all mankind knowsExcept himself, who charitably showsThe ready road to Virtue, and to Praise,The road to many long, and happy days;The noble arts of generous piety,And how to compass true felicity.——he knows no anxious cares,Thro' near a Century of pleasant years;Easy he lives and cheerful shall he die,Well spoken of by late posterity."
June 5, 1683.(Flatman's Commendatory Verses prefixed to "Thealma and Clearchus;"Poems and Songs by Thomas Flatman, Third Edition.)
[2]The Love of Amos and Laura. Written by S.P. London. Printed for Richard Hawkins, dwelling in Chancery-Lane, neere Serieants Inne, 1619.Printed at the end of a volume entitled,Alcilia, Philoparthens louing Folly, &c., which, from its being signed at the end with the initials "J.C.," has been attributed to Walton's friend, John Chalkhill, whose posthumous poem,Thealma and Clearchus, he published in the last year of his life. The lines to Walton do not appear in the earlier quarto edition of the book issued by the same publisher in 1613, or in the later quarto of 1628.
[3]Thealma and Clearchus; a Pastoral Romance, by John Chalkhill. First Published by Isaac Walton, 1683. A New Edition. Revised and Corrected (by S.W. Singer). Chiswick: 1820.
[4] Vol. iv. (1821), pp. 230-249.
[5] Ticknor'sHistory of Spanish Literature(Lond. 1849), vol. iii. p. 177.
[6]Love and Truth: / in / Two modest and peaceable / Letters / concerning / The distempers of the present Times. / Written / From a quiet and Conformable Citizen of / LONDON, to two busie and Factious/ Shop-keepers in Coventry./
1 Pet. 4. 15.But let none of you suffer as a busiebody in other mens /matters. /
LONDON, / Printed byM.C.forHenry Bromeat the Gun /in St.PaulsChurch-yard. 1680.
COLLATION: 4to. pp. iv. (with Title) 40 (Sig. A 1 and 2;B to E 4).
[7] York, 1795, pp. x. 70.
[8]The School of Pantagruel, Sunbury, 1862, p. 9.
* * * * *
1633.
[Juvenilia: or Certaine Paradoxes and Problemes, written by I. Donne. London, Printed by E.P. for Henry Seyle, and are to be sold at the signe of the Tygers head, in Saint Pauls Church-yard, Anno Dom. 1633 (pp. 382-384)._
Poems, by J.D. with Elegies on the Author's Death. London. Printed by M.F. for JOHN MARRIOT, and are to be sold at his Shop in St. Dunstans Church-yard in Fleet-street, 1635.
The text is printed from the revised version of 1635, and the original readings of 1633 are given at the foot of the page.]
An Elegie uponDR. DONNE.
OurDonneis dead; England should mourne, may sayWe had a man where language chose to stayAnd shew her gracefull power.[1] I would not praiseThat and his vast wit (which in these vaine dayesMake many proud) but, as they serv'd to unlockThat Cabinet, his minde: where such a stockOf knowledge was repos'd, as all lament(Or should) this generall cause of discontent.And I rejoyce I am not so severe,But (as I write a line) to weepe a teareFor his decease; Such sad extremitiesMay make such men as I write Elegies.And wonder not; for, when a generall losseFalls on a nation, and they slight the crosse,God hath rais'd Prophets to awaken themFrom stupifaction; witnesse my milde pen,Not us'd to upbraid the world, though now it mustFreely and boldly, for, the cause is just.Dull age, Oh I would spare thee, but th'art worse,Thou art not onely dull, but hast a curseOf black ingratitude; if not, couldst thouPart withmiraculous Donne, and make no vowFor thee, and thine, successively to payA sad remembrance to his dying day?Did his youth scatterPoetry, whereinWas all Philosophy? was every sinne,Character'd in hisSatyrs? Made so fouleThat some have fear'd their shapes, and kept their souleSafer by reading verse? Did he givedayesPast marble monuments, to those, whose praiseHe would perpetuate? Did he (I feareThe dull will doubt:) these at his twentieth year?But, more matur'd; Did his full soule conceive,And in harmonious-holy-numbers weaveA [2]Crown of sacred sonnets, fit to adorneA dying Martyrs brow: or, to be worneOn that blest head ofMary Magdalen,After she wip'd Christs feet, but not till then?Did hee (fit for such penitents as sheeAnd he to use) leave us aLitany,Which all devout men love, and sure, it shall,As times grow better, grow more classicall?Did he writeHymnes, for piety, for wit,[3]Equall to those, great gravePrudentiuswrit?Spake he allLanguages? knew he all Lawes?The grounds and use ofPhysick; but because'Twas mercenary, wav'd it? Went to seeThat blessed place ofChrists nativity?Did he returne and preach him? preach him soAs since S.Paulnone did, none could? Those know,(Such as were blest to heare him) this is truth.[4]Did he confirm thy aged?[5] convert thy youth?Did he these wonders? And is this deare losseMourn'd by so few? (few for so great a crosse.)But sure the silent are ambitious allTo be Close Mourners at his Funerall;If not; In common pitty they forbareBy repetitions to renew our care;Or, knowing, griefe conceiv'd, conceal'd, consumesMan irreparably, (as poyson'd fumesDoe waste the braine) make silence a safe way,To'inlarge the Soule from these walls, mud and clay,(Materials of this body) to remaineWithDonnein heaven, where no promiscuous painLessens the joy we have, for, withhim, allAre satisfy'd withjoyes essentiall.Dwell on this joy my thoughts; oh, doe not call[6]Griefe back, by thinking of his Funerall;Forget hee lov'd mee; Waste not my sad yeares;(Which hast toDavidsseventy,) fill'd with fearesAnd sorrow for his death; Forget his parts,Which finde a living grave in good mens hearts;And, (for, my first is dayly payd for sinne)Forget to pay my second sigh for him:Forget his powerfull preaching; and forgetI am hisConvert. Oh my frailty! letMy flesh be no more heard, it will obtrudeThis lethargy: so should my gratitude,My flowes[7] of gratitude should so be broke;Which can no more be, thanDonnesvertues spokeBy any but himselfe; for which cause, IWrite noEncomium, but thisElegie,[8]Which, as a free-will-offring, I here giveFame, and the world, and parting with it grieveI want abilities, fit to set forthA monument, great, as Donnes matchlesse worth.IZ. WA.
[1] In the edition of 1633, the poem opens thus:—IsDonne, greatDonnedeceas'd? then England sayThou'hast lost a man where language chose to stayAnd shew it's gracefull power, &c.
[2]La Corona.
[3] for piety and wit,—1633.
[4] As none but hee did, or could do? They know (Such as were blest to heare him know) 'tis truth.—1633.
[5]agein the edition of 1633.
[6] My thoughts, Dwell on thisJoy, and do not call—1633.
[7]vowesin the edition of 1633.
[8] Write noEncomium, but anElegie. Here the poem closed in the edition of 1633.
* * * * *
1635.
[Engraved under William Marshall's Portrait of Donne, "Anno Domini. 1591.Aetatis suae 18," prefixed to the second edition of Donne's Poems, 1635.]
On a Portrait ofDONNEtaken in his eighteenth year.
This was for youth, Strength, Mirth, and wit that TimeMost count their golden Age; but t'was not thine.Thine was thy later yeares, so much refindFrom youths Drosse, Mirth & wit; as thy pure mindThought (like the Angels) nothing but the PraiseOf thy Creator, in those last, best Dayes.Witnes this Booke, (thy Embleme) which beginsWith Love; but endes, with Sighes, & Teares for sin's.IZ: WA:
* * * * *
1638.
[The Merchants Mappe of Commerce: wherein the Universall Manner and Matter of Trade, is compendiously handled. By Lewes Roberts, Merchant. At London, Printed by R.O. for Ralph Mabb MDCXXXVIII.fol.
—The Second Edition, Corrected and much Enlarged. London, MDCLXXI.fol.]
In praise of my friend the Author, and his Booke.
If thou would'st be aStates-man, and survayKingdomes for information; heres a wayMade plaine, and easie: fitter far for theeThen greatOrteliushisGeographie.
If thou would'st be aGentleman, in moreThen title onely; this MAP yeelds thee storeOf Observations, fit for Ornament,Or use, or to give curious eares content.
If thou would'st be aMerchant, buy this Booke:For 'tis a prize worth gold; and doe not lookeDaily for such disbursements; no, 'tis rare,And should be cast up with thy richest ware.
READER, if thou be any, or all three;(For these may meet and make a harmonie)Then prayse this Author for his usefull paines,Whose aime is publike good, not private gaines.IZ. WA.
* * * * *
1645.
[The Shepheards Oracles: Delivered in Certain Eglogues. By Fra: Quarles.London, Printed by M.F. for John Marriot and Richard Marriot, and are tobe sold at their shop in S. Dunstans Church-yard Fleetstreet, under theDyall. 1646.]
To the Reader.
READER,Though the Authour had some years before his lamented death, compos'd,review'd, and corrected these Eglogues; yet, he left no Epistle to theReader, but onely a Title, and a blanke leafe for that purpose.
Whether he meant some Allegoricall exposition of the Shepheards names, or their Eglogues, is doubtfull: but 'tis certain, that as they are, they appear a perfect pattern of the Authour; whose person, and minde, were both lovely, and his conversation such as distill'd pleasure, knowledge, and vertue, into his friends and acquaintance.
'Tis confest, these Eglogues are not so wholly divine as many of his publisht Meditations, which speakhis affections to be set upon things that are above, and yet even such men have their intermitted howres, and (as their company gives occasion) commixtures of heavenly and earthly thoughts.
You are therefore requested to fancy him cast by fortune into the company of some yet unknown Shepheards: and you have a liberty to beleeve 'twas by this following accident.
"He in a Sommers morning (about that howre when the great eye of Heaven first opens it selfe to give light to us mortals) walking a gentle pace towards a Brook (whose Spring-head was not far distant from his peacefull habitation) fitted with Angle, Lines, and Flyes: Flyes proper for that season (being the fruitfull Month ofMay;) intending all diligence to beguile the timorous Trout, (with which that watry element abounded) observ'd a more then common concourse of Shepheards, all bending their unwearied steps towards a pleasant Meadow within his present prospect, and had his eyes made more happy to behold the two fair ShepheardessesAmaryllisandAmintastrewing the foot-paths with Lillies, and Ladysmocks, so newly gathered by their fair hands, that they yet smelt more sweet then the morning, and immediately met (attended withClora Clorinda, and many other Wood-nymphs) the fair and vertuousParthenia: who after a courteous salutation and inquiry of his intended Journey, told him the neighbour-Shepheards of that part of Arcadia had dedicated that day to be kept holy to the honour of their great GodPan; and, that they had designed her Mistresse of a Love-feast, which was to be kept that present day, in an Arbour built that morning, for that purpose; she told him also, thatOrpheuswould bee there, and bring his Harp,Panhis Pipe, andTiterushis Oaten-reed, to make musick at this feast; shee therefore perswaded him, not to lose, but change that dayes pleasure; before he could return an answer they were unawares entred into a living mooving Lane, made of Shepheard and Pilgrimes; who had that morning measured many miles to be eye-witnesses of that days pleasure; this Lane led them into a large Arbour, whose wals were made of the yeelding Willow, and smooth Beech boughs: and covered over with Sycamore leaves, and Honysuccles."
I might now tell in what manner (after her first entrance into this Arbour)Philoclea(Philocleathe fairArcadianShepheardesse) crown'd her Temples with a Garland, with what flowers, and by whom 'twas made; I might tell what guests (besidesAstreaandAdonis) were at this feast; and who (besideMercury) waited at the Table, this I might tell: but may not, cannot expresse what musick the Gods and Wood-nymphs made within; and the Linits, Larks, and Nightingales about this Arbour, during this holy day: which began in harmlesse mirth, and (forBacchusand his gang were absent) ended in love and peace, whichPan(for he onely can doe it) continue inArcadia, and restore to the disturbed Island ofBritannia,and grant that each honest Shepheard may again sit under his own Vine and Fig-tree, and feed his own flock, and with love enjoy the fruits of peace, and be more thankfull.
Reader, at this time and place, the Authour contracted a friendship with certain single-hearted Shepheards: with whom (as he return'd from his River-recreations) he often rested himselfe, and whilest in the calm evening their flocks fed about them, heard that discourse, which (with the Shepheards names) is presented in these Eglogues.
23 Novem. 1645.
* * * * *
1650.
[Written by Izaak Walton in his copy of Dr. Richard Sibbes's work,TheReturning Backslider, 4'10., 1650, preserved in the Cathedral Library,Salisbury. See Sir Harris Nicolas' Memoir of Walton, clv.]
Of this blest man let this just praise be given,Heaven was in him, before he was in heaven.IZAAK WALTON.
* * * * *
1651.
[Reliquiae Wottonianae, or, a Collection of Lives, Letters, Poems; withCharacters of Sundry Personages: and other Incomparable Pieces of Languageand Art. By The curious Pensil of the Ever Memorable Sr. Henry Wotton,Kt., Late, Provost of Eton Colledg. London, Printed by Thomas Maxey, forR. Marriot, G. Bedel, and T. Garthwait. 1651.]
To the Right Honourable The Lady Mary Wotton Baronness, and to her Three Noble Daughters.
Since Bookes seeme by custome to Challenge a dedication, Justice would not allow, that what either was, or concern'd Sir Henry Wotton, should be appropriated to any other Persons; Not only for that nearnesse of Aliance and Blood (by which you may chalenge a civil right to what was his;) but, by a title of that intirenesse of Affection, which was in you to each other, when Sir Henry Wotton had a being upon Earth.
And since yours was a Friendship made up of generous Principles, as I cannot doubt but these indeavours to preserve his Memory wil be acceptable to all that lov'd him; so especially to you: from whom I have had such incouragements as hath imboldned me to this Dedication. Which you are most humbly intreated may be accepted from
Your very reall servant,I. W.
* * * * *
1651.
[Comedies, Tragi-Comedies, with other Poems, by Mr. William Cartwright, late Student of Christ-Church in Oxford, and Proctor of the University. London, Printed for Humphrey Moseley, and are to be sold at his Shop, at the sign of the Prince's Arms in St. Pauls Church-yard, 1651.]
On the Death of my dear Friend Mr. William Cartwright, relating to the foregoing Elegies.
I cannot keep my purpose, but must giveSorrow and Verse their way; nor will I grieveLonger in silence; no, that poor, poor partOf natures legacy, Verse void of Art,And undissembled teares, CARTWRIGHT shall haveFixt on his Hearse; and wept into his grave.Muses I need you not; for, Grief and ICan in your absence weave an Elegy:Which we will do; and often inter-weaveSad Looks, and Sighs; the ground-work must receiveSuch Characters, or be adjudg'd unfitFor my Friends shroud; others have shew'd their Wit,Learning, and Language fitly; for these beDebts due to his great Merits: but for me,My aymes are like my self, humble and low,Too mean to speak his praise, too mean to showThe World what it hath lost in losing thee,Whose Words and Deeds were perfect Harmony.But now 'tis lost; lost in the silent Grave,Lost to us Mortals, lost, 'till we shall haveAdmission to that Kingdom, where He singsHarmonious Anthems to the King of Kings.Sing on blest Soul! be as thou wast below,A more than common instrument to showThy Makers praise; sing on, whilst I lamentThy loss, and court a holy discontent,With such pure thoughts as thine, to dwell with me,Then I may hope to live, and dye like thee,To live belov'd, dye mourn'd, thus in my grave;Blessings that Kings have wish'd, but cannot have.IZ. WA.
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1652.
[The Heroe, of Lorenzo, or, The way to Eminencie and Perfection. A piece of serious Spanish wit Originally in that language written, and in English. By Sir John Skeffington, Kt. and Barronet. London, printed for John Martin and James Allestrye at the Bell in St Pauls Church-yard. 1652.]
Let this be told the Reader,
That SirJohn Skeffington(one of his late Majesties servants, and a stranger to no language ofChristendom) did about 40 years now past, bring this Hero out of Spain into England.
There they two kept company together 'till about 12 months now past: and then, in a retyrement of that learned knights (by reason of a sequestration for his masters cause) a friend coming to visit him, they fell accidentally into a discourse of thewitandgalantryof theSpanish Nation.
That discourse occasioned an example or two, to be brought out of thisHero: and, those examples (with SirJohn'schoice language and illustration) were so relisht by his friend (a stranger to theSpanish tongue) that he became restles 'till he got a promise from SirJohnto translate the whole, which he did in a few weeks; and so long as that imployment lasted it proved an excellent diversion from his many sad thoughts; But he hath now chang'd that Condition, to be possest of that place into which sadnesse is not capable of entrance.
And his absence from this world hath occasion'd mee (who was one of those few that he gave leave to know him, for he was a retyr'd man) to tell the Reader that I heard him say, he had not made theEnglishso short, or few words, as the originall; because in that, the Author had exprest himself so enigmatically, that though he indevour'd to translate it plainly; yet, he thought it was not made comprehensible enough for common Readers, therefore he declar'd to me, that he intended to make it so by a coment on the margent; which he had begun, but (be it spoke with sorrow) he and those thoughts are now buried in the silent Grave,[1] and my self, with those very many that lov'd him, left to lament that losse. I.W.
[1] Compare the poem on the death of Cartwright,supra:—
"But now 'tis lost; lost in the silent grave," &c.
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1652.
[Scintillula Altaris or, a Pious Reflection on Primitive Devotion: as to the Feasts and Fasts of the Christian Church, Orthodoxally Revived. By Edward Sparke, B.D. London; Printed by T. Maxey for Richard Marriot, and are to be sold at his Shop in St. Dunstan's Church-yard in Fleetstreet, 1652.
This book reached a Seventh Edition during Walton's lifetime; but hisCommendatory Verses are only to be found in the first.]
To the Author upon the sight of the first sheet of his Book.
My worthy friend, I am much pleas'd to know,You have begun to pay the debt you oweBy promise, to so many pious friends,In printing your choice Poems; it commendsBoth them, and you, that they have been desir'dBy persons of such Judgment; and admir'dThey must be most, by those that best shal knowWhat praise to holy Poetry we owe.So shall your Disquisitions too; for, thereChoice learning, and blest piety, appear.All usefull to poor Christians: where they mayLearne Primitive Devotion. Each Saints dayStands as a Land-mark in an erring ageto guide fraile mortals in their pilgrimageTo the CoelestiallCan'an; and each Fast,Is both the souls direction, and repast:All so exprest, that I am glad to knowYou have begun to pay the debt you owe.IZ. WA.
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1658.
[The Life of John Donne, Dr. in Divinity, and Late Dean of Saint Pauls Church London. The second impression corrected and enlarged. Ecclus.48.14.He did wonders in his life, and at his death his works were marvelous. London, Printed by J.G. for R. Marriot, and are to be sold at his shop under S. Dunstans Church in Fleet-street. 1658.]
To My Noble & honoured Friend Sir Robert Holt of Afton, in the County of Warwick, Baronet.
Sir,
When this relation of the life of Doctor Donne was first made publick, it had besides the approbation of our late learned & eloquent King, a conjunction with the Authors most excellent Sermons to support it; and thus it lay some time fortified against prejudice; and those passions that are by busie and malicious men too freely vented against the dead.
And yet, now, after almost twenty yeares, when though the memory of Dr. Donne himself, must not, cannot die, so long as men speak English; yet when I thought Time had made this relation of him so like my self, as to become useless to the world, and content to be forgotten; I find that a retreat into a defired privacy, will not be afforded; for the Printers will again expose it and me to publick exceptions; and without those supports, which we first had and needed, and in an Age too, in which Truth & Innocence have not beene able to defend themselves from worse then severe censures.
This I foresaw, and Nature teaching me selfe-preservation, and my long experience of your abilities assuring me that in you it may in found:[1] to you, Sir, do I make mine addreffes for an umbrage and protection: and I make it with so much humble boldnesse, as to say 'twere degenerous in you not to afford it.
For, Sir,
Dr. Donne was so much a part of yourself, as to be incorporated into yourFamily, by so noble a friendship, that I may say there was a marriage offouls betwixt him and your[2] reverend Grandfather, who in his life was anAngel of our once glorious Church, and now no common Star in heaven.
And Dr. Donne's love died not with him, but was doubled upon his Heire, your beloved Uncle the Bishop of [3] Chichester, that lives in this froward generation, to be an ornament to his Calling. And this affection to him was by Dr. D. so testified in his life, that he then trusted him with the very secrets of his soul; & at his death, with what was dearest to him, even his fame, estate, & children.
And you have yet a further title to what was Dr. Donne's, by that dear affection & friendship that was betwixt him and your parents, by which he entailed a love upon yourself, even in your infancy, which was encreased by the early testimonies of your growing merits, and by them continued, till D.Donneput on immortality; and so this mortall was turned into a love that cannot die.
And Sir, 'twas pity he was lost to you in your minority, before you had attained a judgement to put a true value upon the living beauties and elegancies of his conversation; and pitty too, that so much of them as were capable of such an expression, were not drawn by the pensil of aTytianor aTentoret, by a pen equall and more lasting then their art; for his life ought to be the example of more then that age in which he died. And yet this copy, though very much, indeed too much short of the Originall, will present you with some features not unlike your dead friend, and with fewer blemishes and more ornaments than when 'twas first made publique: which creates a contentment to my selfe, because it is the more worthy of him, and because I may with more civility intitle you to it.
And in this designe of doing so, I have not a thought of what is pretended in most Dedications,a Commutation for Courtesies: no indeed Sir, I put no such value upon this trifle; for your owning it will rather increase my Obligations. But my desire is, that into whose hands soever this shall fall, it may to them be a testimony of my gratitude to your self and Family, who descended to such a degree of humility as to admit me into their friendship in the dayes of my youth; and notwithstanding my many infirmities, have continued me in it till I am become gray-headed; and as Time has added to my yeares, have still increased and multiplied their favours.
This, Sir, is the intent of this Dedication: and having made the declaration of it thus publick, I shall conclude it with commending them and you to Gods deare love.
I remain, Sir, what your many merits have made me to be,The humblest of your Servants,ISAAC WALTON.
To the Reader.
My desire is to inform and assure you, that shall become my Reader, that in that part of this following discourse, which is onely narration, I either speak my own knowledge, or from the testimony of such as dare do any thing, rather than speak an untruth. And for that part of it which is my own observation or opinion, if I had a power I would not use it to force any mans assent, but leave him a liberty to disbelieve what his own reason inclines him to.
Next, I am to inform you, that whereas Dr. Donne's life was formerly printed with his Sermons, and then had the same Preface or Introduction to it; I have not omitted it now, because I have no such confidence in what I have done, as to appear without an apology for my undertaking it.
I have said all when I have wished happinesse to my Reader.I.W.
[1]Sic: probably a misprint for "befound?"—ED.
[2]John King, B. of Lond.
[3]Hen. King, now B.C.
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29th MAY 1660.
[Songs and other Poems. By Alex. Brome, Gent. London, Printed for HenryBrome, at the Gun in Ivy-Lane, 1661.
The Second Edition corrected and enlarged, 1664.
The Third Edition enlarged. London, Printed for Henry Brome, at the Star in Little Brittain, 1668.]
To my ingenious FriendMr. BROME,on his various and excellent Poems: An humble Eglog. Written the 29 of May, 1660.
DAMANandDORUS.
Hail happy day!Dorussit down:Now let no sigh, nor let a frownLodge near thy heart, or on thy brow.TheKing!theKing's return'd! and nowLet's banish all sad thoughts and singWe have our Laws, and have our King.
'Tis true, and I would sing, but oh!These wars have sunk my heart so low'Twill not be rais'd.
DAMAN.What not this day?Why 'tis thetwenty ninth of May:LetRebelsspirits sink; let thoseThat like theGothsandVandalsroseTo ruine families, and bringContempt upon ourChurch,ourKing,And all that's dear to us, be sad;But be not thou, let us be glad.And,Dorus, to invite thee, look,Here's a Collection in this Book,Of all those chearful Songs, that weHave sung so oft and merilie[1]
As we have march'd to fight the causeOfGods Anointed, and ourLawsSuch Songs as make not the least odsBetwixt usmortalsand theGods:Such Songs asVirginsneed not fearTo sing, or a graveMatronhear.Here'slovedrestneat, andchast, andgayAsgardensin the month ofMay;Here's harmony, andWit, andArt,To raise thythoughts, and chear thyheart.
Written by whom?
A friend of mine,And one that's worthy to be thine:A CivilSwain, that knows his timesFor business, and that done makes Rhymes;But not till then: my Friend's a manLov'd by the Muses; dear toPan:He blest him with a chearful heart:And they with this sharp wit and Art,Which he so tempers, as noSwain,That's loyal, does or mould complain.
I wou'd fain see him:
Go with meDorus,to yonderbroad beech-tree,There we shall meet him andPhillis,Perrigot,andAmaryllis,Tityrus,and his dearClora,TomandWill,and theirPastora:There wee'l dance, shake hands and sing,We have our Laws,God bless the King.IZ. WALTON.
[1] Have sung with mirth and merry-gle:—1661.
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1661.
[The Synagogue, or The Shadow of the Temple. Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations. In imitation of Mr. George Herbert. The fourth Edition corrected and enlarged. London, Printed for Philemon Stephens, at the guilded Lyon in St. Pauls Churchyard, 1661. p. 67.]
To my Reverend Friend the Author of the Synagogue.
Sir,
I lov'd you for your Synagogue, beforeI knew your person; but now love you more;Because I findIt is so true a picture of your mind:Which tunes your sacred lyreTo that eternal quire;Where holyHerbertfits(O shame to prophane wits)And sings his and your Anthems, to the praiseOf Him that is the first and last of daies.
These holy Hymns had an Ethereal birth:For they can raise sad souls above the earthAnd fix them thereFree from the worlds anxieties and fear.Herbertand you have pow'rTo do this: ev'ry hourI read you kills a sin,Or lets a vertue inTo fight against it; and the Holy GhostSupports my frailties, lest the day be lost.
This holy war, taught by your happy pen,The Prince of Peace approves. When we poor menNeglect our arms,W'are circumvested with a world of harms.But I will watch, and ward,And stand upon my guard,And still consult with you,AndHerbert, and renewMy vows; and say, Well fare his, and your heart,The fountains of such sacred wit and art.IZ. WA.
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1662.
[In Worcester Cathedral. The event is thus recorded by Walton in his Family Prayer-Book: "Anne Walton dyed the 17th of April, about one o'clock in that night, and was buried in the Virgin Mary's Chapel, in the cathedral in Worcester, the 20th day."]
Ex TerrisM.S.Here lyeth buried so much ascould dye of ANNE, the Wife ofIsaak Walton;who wasa Woman of Remarkable Prudence,and of the Primitive Piety; her greatand general knowledge being adornedwith such true humility, and blestwith so much Christian meekness, asmade her worthy of a more memorableMonument.She dyed! (Alas, that she is dead!)the 17th of April, 1662, aged 52.Study to be like her.
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1670.
[Preserved among the MSS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.First printed in "Notes and Queries," May 17, 1856.]
ffor my worthy frendMr. EDWARD WARD,att Rodon Temple, nere unto Lester. AttMr. BABINGTONSatt Rodon Temple.
S'r., I came well from Winton to London, about 3 weikes past: at that time I left Do'r Hawkins well: and my dafter (after a greate danger of child berth) not very well, but by a late letter from him, I heare they be boeth in good health.
The doctor did tell me a gowne and some bookes of y'rs were in danger to be lost, though he had made (at a distance) many inquiries after them, and intreated others to doe so too, but yet inefectually. He theirfore intreated me to undertake a search: and I have donne it so succesfuly that uppon thursday the 24th instant they were d'd to that letter carryer that Inns at the Rose in Smithfeild, and with them the Life of M'r. George Herbert (and 3 others) wrapt up in a paper and directed to you at Rodon Temple, the booke not tyed to the bundell, but of it selfe. The bundell cost me 3s. 8d. carryage to London, and I hope it will now come safe to your hands.
What I have to write more is my heartie wishes for y'r hapines, for I amy'r affec. frend and seruant,IZAAK WALTON.Nou'r 26th, 1670.
If you incline to write to me, direct your letter to be left at M'r. Grinsells, a grocer in King streite in Westminster. Much good doe you with the booke, w'ch I wish better.
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