Whom every blast that blows That rage of roaring wind When erst I grew in wood? The foe that there annoy'd? I shall be more at ease Amid the flashing seas? I fear, if Æole1 frown, Both thou and I shall drown. THE LOVER TO HIS LADY, WHO GAZED MUCH UP TO THE SKIES. My girl, thou gazest much Upon the golden skies : Would I were Heaven! I would behold SIR EDWARD DYER. (1540-1607.) SIR EDWARD DYER, born in the reign of Henry VIII., lived till some years after King James's accession to the English throne. He was a friend of Sir Philip Sidney, and of Sir Philip's sister, the Countess of Pembroke. His verses are found scattered in the Paradise of Dainty Devices, 1578, the Phoenix Nest, 1593, in various contemporary manuscripts, and in England's Helicon. This last was by far the most valuable of the Elizabethan Miscellanies. It was published in London in 1600, and again in 1614, and contained specimens from all the favourite poets and sonneteers of the sixteenth century. A complete collection of Dyer's writings in verse and prose has been edited by Mr. Grosart for the Fuller Worthies Library, 1872. 1 Æolus, the god of winds. P TO PHILLIS THE FAIR SHEPHERDESS,1 My Phillis hath the morning sun My Phillis hath prime-feathered flowers, That leaps since she doth own them. But Phillis hath too hard a heart; It yields no mercy to desert, Nor grace to those that crave it. Sweet Sun, when thou lookest on, And, if in life her love she nill2 agree me, Though much I want which most would have, No princely pomp, no wealthy store, No shape to feed a loving eye,— To none of these I yield as thrall; 4 For why? My mind doth serve for all. 1 From England's Helicon. Mr. Grosart doubts whether this is Dyer's. 2 Will not. 3 Nature. 4 Slave. I see how plenty suffers oft, They get with toil, they keep with fear: Content I live, this is my stay; I seek no more than may suffice; Content with that my mind doth bring. Some have too much, yet still do crave; They poor, I rich; they beg, I give; I laugh not at another's loss; I fear no foe, I fawn no friend; Some weigh their pleasure by their lust, My wealth is health and perfect ease; Thus do I live, thus will I die ; 1 A cunning craftiness. EDWARD VERE, EARL OF OXFORD. EDWARD VERE, seventeenth Earl of Oxford, was a contributor to England's Helicon of 1600, as well as to the Paradise of Dainty Devices of 1576, to Breton's Bower of Delights of 1597, and to other contemporary publications. This nobleman married a daughter of Lord Burleigh, and, because of his rank and his talents, was highly popular among the literary men of his day. THE SHEPHERD'S COMMENDATION OF HIS NYMPH. What shepherd can express From which each throws a dart, Possessed by desire : No sweeter life I try1 Than in her love to die! The lily in the field, Heaven pictured in her face Fair Cynthia's silver light, So bright my Nymph doth shine, With this, there is a red Which in her cheeks is spread, When Phoebus from the bed The morning, blushing red He shows in my Nymph's face, This pleasant lily-white, This sweet fair Dea spread, These sunbeams in my eye, These beauties, make me die ! AN EPIGRAM. Were I a king, I might command content; Answered thus by Sir Philip Sidney. Wert thou a king, yet not command content, GEORGE PEELE. (1552?-1596.) PEELE held a high place among the Elizabethan dramatists. He was of Devonshire origin; graduated at Oxford as Master of Arts in 1579, and went to London, where he lived "on the Bankside over against Blackfriars,”1 says his historian; was made City-poet, and had the ordering of the pageants. Of his 1 Wood's Athena. |