Twentieth-Century Anthologies Page
[picture of Dryden opposite the title page, inscribed:] Nations unborn his mighty name shall sound, and worlds applaud that must not yet be found. John Dryden, Died May 1, 1701.
London: Printed by ad for J. Nichols, Red Lion Passage, Fleet-Street. MDCCLXXX
[The title on each left-hand page of the volume, appearing at the top, is MISCELLANY POEMS. True of all volumes.]
To the Reverend Thomas Percy, D.D. Dean of Carlisle.
Rev. Sir,
When these Miscellanies are inscribed to a Percy, I place them under the most auspicious shelter. The Reliques of Ancient Poetry, with which you obliged the world in your younger years, would, independent of all other claims, have pointed you out as a proper Patron to these Fugitive Remains. But, excellent as your own Publications are, it is neither to them, nor to your elevated Station in Life, that I pay this disinterested Tribute.
Happy in a Family Connexion, which, however remotely, entitles me to claim Relationship with the Poet Cleiveland [sic.] (extracts from whose Works will add merit to a future volume [v / vi] this Collection); I am proud to have it known that the Dean of Carlisle derives his descent from the same Family, his father's mother having been niece to the Bard above-mentioned: a Family distinguished in private life for having produced a succession of most excellent Clergymen, treading in the steps of their venerable Ancestor, the Rev. Thomas Cleiveland, father of the Poet, who is upon record*[(1) for his very worthy character and most exemplary life.
That urbanity, Sir, with which you recognized me as of kin to you, and the Friendship I have since in consequence experienced from you, as they have made an indelible impression, demand the warm acknowledgements with which these volumes are most respectfully presented by,
Sir,
Your very much obliged and faithful humble servant,
Jan. 1, 1780.
J. NICHOLS. [vi / vii:]
This Collection, though formed principally from that of Mr. Dryden, is by no means a mere republication; which would now have been particularly ill-timed, as a large portion of that excellent Miscellany (the first which appeared in this kingdom with reputation) is very properly arranged among the "Works of the English Poets;" and some pages had crept into Dryden's Collection, which may be permitted to perish without regret. there still, however, are an infintie number of small poems, which, coming under neither of these descriptons, must be allowed to possess considerable merit; being the productions of men of real genius, who, from the brevity rather than the inferiority of their writings, have been usually styled "Minor Poets."
On Dryden's foundation the present superstructure is begun. In its progress, almost every undertaking of a similar nature has been consulted, and material parts incorporated. The Collections formed by Fenton and Steele have been epitomized; whilst Pope's Pemberton's, Lintot's, and [vii / viii] C. Tooke's, have occasionally contributed to embellishment.
The Collection by Mr. Dodsley is allowed to be the completest of the kind; and with this the present publication is so far from interfering, that not a single poem is intended to be printed, which is either in "Dodsley's Collection," the Supplement to it by Mr. Pearch, or in the Sixty Volumes of the "English Poets." To all or either of these, therefore, this Selection will be a suitable appendage; and the more so, as I have preserved some poems of merit, which before were not known to have existed.
The Reader will find in these volumes some of the earliest productions of Dryden; some originals by Sir William Temple; and Ode by Swift, which had long been considered as irrecoverable; a considerable number of good poems by Steele, Parnell, Fenton, Broome, and Yalden, with a few pieces by Halifax, Dorset, Rochester, Sprat, Prior*[(2), Pope, Boling- [p. viii / ix] broke, Philips, King, Smith, Watts, Pitt, Hughes, A. Philips, and Tickell, which are not to be found in any edition of their works. [p. ix / x (such a short page bec. of the long footnote)]
The assistance of some intelligent friends has enabled me to add a biographical account of almost every Writer here seleccted; and their persuasions have induced me to lay before the publick four volumes, as part of the plan I have undertaken. Two others are actually in the press [there end up being 8 total]. There are still an infinite number of Collections, which amidst a chaos of weeds, would afford a considerable quantity of flowers well worth the transplanting. But the encouragement these meet with must determine whether the publication shall cease at the end of the sixth volume, or be extended still farther. Without any great idea of emolument, which in this case is far from being the principal object, I am unwilling to sacrifice the little leisure of a laborious life in a pursuit that I have not reason to think will in some small degree contribute to "the public stock of harmless pleasure."
To my concluding volume shall be annexed a complete Poetical Index. In the mean time, for the convenience of the Reader, a short Index to the Notes will follow this Advertisement.
Jan. I, 1780. J.N. [x / xi:]
[removed to another web site: go to Nichols's Index for Volumes 1-4.]
----------
DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.
The Head of Dryden, by Basire, Frontispiece, vol. I.
[Typically written under the title is a statement telling where the poem is from or where it is not from; iv.315:] To King James II. 1684-5. On the Death of King Charles II. By Mr. Stepney; not in his Poems. [314:] Verses By Lord Halifax. From Dr. Grey's MSS. . . . Song. By the Earl of Dorset. Not printed in his Poems.
[Each volume has an index which is at the back of the volume, but called a "Contents."]
Elegy, by the Wife of St. Alexias, &c. 1
Sappho to Phaon. By Sir Carr Scrope. 6
Sireno and Diana. BTS 10
Prologue to the Man of Mode. BTS. 1676. 16
Song. BTS. 16
Prologue to the Rival Queens. BTS. 1677. 17
Horace, Book I. Ode IV. [no auth] 19
Pharmaceutria, from Theocritus. By Mr. Bowles. 21
Horace, Book II. Ode XV. imitated. By Dr. Chetwood. 29
The Eighth Eclogue of Virgil. By the same. 31
The Praises of Italy. BTS. 31
Upon Desire. [no auth] 37
A Song. [no auth] 41
On Mr. Waller. By Sir Thomas Higgons. 42
To the Duke, on his Return, 1682. By Nath. Lee. 47
On the Snuff of a Candle. Made in Sickness. By Mrs. Wharton. 51
Song. BTS. 52
The Lamentations of Jeremiah. By the same. 53
Song to a Lady, who discovered a new Star in Cassiopeia. By Mr. Charles Dryden. 56
Ariadne's Complaint, on being deserted by Theseus. By William Cartwright. 58
In Memory of the most worthy Ben Jonson. BTS. 63
A new Catch. [no auth] 69
The Parting of Hector and Andromache. By Dr. Chetwood. 70
Ode in Imitation of Pindar, on the Death of Thomas, Earl of Ossory. By the same. 75
On the Death of James Duke of Ormond. BTS. 83
To the present Duke. [no auth] 84
On the Death of Mr. Waller. By Mrs. Behn. 85
A Prologue. By Sir Charles Sedley. 89
On the Death of King Charles II. By Mr. William Bowles. 92
The Reapers. From Theocritus. BTS. 96
The Honey-stealer. [no auth(3)] 99
The Complaint of Ariadne. From Catullus. By Mr. William Bowles. 100
Eunica, or the Neatherd. From Theocritus. BTS. 104
Cynisca's Love. From Theocritus. BTS. 107
Proeus. From Sannazarius. BTS. 110
Sappho's Ode. From Longinus. By the same. 115
On the Protector's Death. By Mr. Goldophin. 116
On Mr. Waller. By Mr. Thomas Rymer. 120
Verses by M. St. Evremont. 1684. 123
In English. By Mr. Rymer. 124
To Mr. Riley, on drawing Mr. Waller's Picture. ibid.
The Deserted Swain. [no auth] 125
On the Death of Mr. Waller. By Mr. Higgons. 128
On Solitude. 130
A Character of the English. By Robert Wolseley, Esq. 138
To the Memory of Mr. Waller. By Sir John Cotton, Bart. 139
News from Hell. By Captain Radcliff. 141
Nature's Changes. By Sir Robert Howard. 147
The Duel of the Stags. BTS. 154
To Count Montecuccoli, against Pride upon sudden Advancement. By an unknown Writer. From the Itallian of Fulvio Testi. 165
Catullus, Epig. XIX. BTS. 167
From the Greek of Menage. BTS. 168
Invitation into the Country. BTS. 169
Horace, Book II. Ode XXIII. By Dr. Pope. 170
The Old Man's Wish. BTS. 173
Song. [no auth] 174
Song. [no auth] 175
Song. [no auth] 176
Hero's Complaint to Leander. [no auth] ibid.
Song. [no auth.] 179
Written in a Book. [no auth] 180
To Mr. Hoddesdon. By Mr. Dryden. 181
Prologue to the Duke of Guise. By the same. 1683. 183
Epilogue. BTS. 185
Another Epilogue. BTS. 186
Hunting the Hare, an old Song. [no auth] 188.
Songs by Sir George Etherege, 192, 193, 194 [just like that in table of contents / index]
To the Marchioness of Newcastle. By the same. 195
[There is a note here which is not listed in the index, and there is no mention of the omission in "Additional Remarks and Corrections," although there is more said about her there. i.195:] To the Marchioness of Newcastle*, on her Incomparabel Poems. By the Same.
*Margaret, youngest daugher of Sir Charles Lucas, married to the marquis (afterwards duke of Newcastle in 1645. Jacob says, she had a great deal of wit, and was the most voluminous dramatic writer of our female poets; and Langbaine tells us, that all the language and plots of her plays were her own, a commendation which will atone for some faults in her numerous productions; consisting of [I expected him to list the faults] letter, plays, poems, philosophical discourses, and orations; all which are enumerated [and nothing else] in Ballard's "Memoirs of Learned Ladies." Amongst them are "Poems and Phancies," fol. 1653 and 1664; 19 plays; her own life 1656, and that of the duke her husband 1667. Mr. Ballard also refers to two volumes of her Grace's poems in MS. She was buried in Westminster-Abbey, Jan. 7, 1673-4. N.
Madam, with so much wonder we are struck,
When we begin to read your
matchless book'\;
A while your own excess of merit stays
Our forward
pens, and does suspend your praise,
Till time our minds does gently
recompense,
Allays this wonder, and our duty shows; [i.195 / 196]
Instructs
us how your virtues to proclaim,
And what we ought to pay your great fame;
Your
fame, which in your country has no bounds,
But wheresoever Learning's known
resounds.
Those graces Nature did till now divide,
Your sex's glory, and
our sex's pride,
Are join'd in you, and all to you submit,
The brightest
beauty, and the sharpest wit:
No faction here, or fiery envy sways;
They
give you myrtle, while we offer bays.
What mortal dares dispute those
wreaths with you,
Arm'd thus with lightning, and with thunder too?
This
made the great Newcastle's heart your prize;
Your charming soul, and your
victorious eyes,
Had only power his marital mind to tame,
And raise in
his heroic breast a flame,
A flame, which with his courage still aspires,
As
if immortal fuel fed those fires.
This mighty chief, and your great self,
made one,
Together the same race of glory run;
Together in the wings of
fame you move,
Like yours his virtue, and like yours his love.
While we,
your praise endeavouring to rehearse,
Pay that great duty in our humble
verse;
Such as may justly move your anger; you,
Like heaven, Like
heaven, forgive them, and accept them too.
But what we cannot, your brave
hero pays,
He builds those monuments we strive to raise;
Such as to
after-ages shall make known,
While he records your deathless fame, his own.
[i.196 / 197]
So when an artist some rare beauty draws,
Both in our
wonder share and our applause:
His skill from time secures the glorious
dame,
And makes himself immortal in her fame.
The Forsaken Mistress. BTS. 197
To a Very Young Lady. BTS 198 [This is the famous, "Sweetest bud of beauty may, / No untimely frost decay," and it sounds exactly the same to me.]
The Divided Heart. BTS 199
On the Translations of Mr. J.N. out of the French and Italian. BTS. 200
Voiture's Urania. By Sir George Etherege. [name rpt. bec. new page] 201
To Sylvia. BTS. 202
To a Lady, who fled the Sight of him. BTS. 203
To a Lady, asking him a Question. BTS. ibid.
To the Memory of Mr. Dryden. 204
Horace, Book II. Ode XI. By John Howe, Esq. 209
Songs. BTS. 211, 212
Horace, Book II. Ode XIV. [no auth/trans., for all] 213
Book IV. Ode XIII. 214
Book IV. Ode VII. 216
Book II. Ode X. 217
Book I. Ep. XVIII. 219
Book II. Ode III. 227
The Grove. [no auth] 229
Part of Virgil's Fourth Georgick. By Mr. Creech. 230
Lord Falkland's Eclogue on the Death of B. Jonson. 236
To the Memory of Ben Jonson. By Lord Buckhurst. 249
On Ben Jonson. By Mr. Henry King. ibid.
To the Memory of Ben Jonson. By Jasper Mayne. 252
Description of Fortune. By Michael Drayton, Esq. 258 [Note on Drayton quotes Granger extensively, saying that he was forgotten even though his "'reputation . . . stood on the same level with that of Cowley'" because "`He frequently wants that elevation of thought essential to poetry.'" Granger ends with, "His character among his friends was that of a modest and amiable man,'" and Nichols ends by quoting the inscription on his monument in Westminster Abbey, i.258 note.]
Thyrsis's Praise to his Mistress. By William Browne*. 259
[i.259:] * An excellent writer, whose fate was as uncommon as it was unmerited. He who was admired and beloved by all the best writers of his time, who was esteemed and highly recommended by the critical Jonson and the learned Selden, was in a few years after his death almost forgotten. To the no small credit of Mr. T. Davies, his writings were for the [i.259 / 260] first time completely collected in 1772, in three neat volumes, of a size which makes them a proper companion for the "English Poets," and consequently renders it unnecessary to print here any more than a specimen of his poetry. But a few particulars of his life shall be given in the words of Mr. Davies: "William Browne, descended of a good family . . . . [i.260-2, to the end of the poem, which is shorter than the notes by far. After quoting Davies, Nichols continues:] To this account I shall only add t hat Mr. Warburton the herald appears to have been possessed of some MS. poems by this author, which were sold, with the rest of his library, about the year 1759 or 1760. [He shifts here from talking about Browne to talking about Davies's projects as an editor:] I cannot but wish that Mr. Davies had met with sufficient encouragement to have proceeded with the work he announced at the conclusion of his preface [to Browne?], under the title of "England's Helicon." He published, however, in the same size, the whole works of Suckling, in 1770; the poems of Marvell and Carew in 1772; and those of Sir John Davies in 1773. A small portion, therefore, of each of these writers will be sufficient for this collection. N.
To Michael Drayton, Esq. By Mr. John Selden*. 263
*This famous antiquary, descended from a good family, . . . . [Note continues over course of all selections, 263-6, and is much much much longer than these two short 15-line and 10-line, respectively, poems.
To Mr. William Browne. BTS. 266
On the Death of Mr. Selden. By Dr. Bathurst. 1654. 267
Conclusion of Chapman's Hymns of Homer. [Title on i.271 reads differently:] Verses by George Chapman*, Annexed to His Batrachomyomachia. [Verses written by Chapman occuring at the conclusion of his vol. of Homer's Hymns.] 271
To Beauty. BTS 275
Conclusion of Nosce Teipsum. By Sir John Davies. 276
Detraction execrated. By Sir John Suckling. 279
Song. By Thomas Carew, Esq.
The Primrose. BTS. 284
THE END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
"BTS" means "By the Same" author who wrote the preceding poem.
"FTS" means "From the Same" collection which is listed as the source of the preceding poem.
(1)[Nichols's note:] *See "Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy," p. 221.
(2)[Nichol's note:] The following anecdotes of this
excellent Poet being curious, I print them in the words of the friend from whom
they are received: "At lord Oxford's seat at Wimple (now lord Hardwicke's)
there hung a fine picture [p. vii / ix] of Harley in his Speaker's robes, with
the role of the bill in his hand for bringing-in the present family; which, if I
mistake not, was done by his casting vote. In allusion to Harley's being
afterwards sent to the Tower, Prior wrote with a pencil on the white scroll,
Bill paid such a day.--The late Recorder of Cambridge [Pont] has seen
some MS. Dialogues of the Dead of Prior's; they were prose, but had verse
intermixed freely: and the [NB:] specimen, I heard, proved it. The
Dialogue was between Sir Thomas More and the Vicar of Bray. You must allow that
the characters are well chosen; and the speakers maintain their respective
opinions smartly: at last the Knight seems to come over to his adversary, at
least so far as to allow that the doctrine was convenient, if not honourable;
but that he did not see how any man could allow himself to act thus: when the
Vicar concludes; Nothing easier, with proper management; &c. You must go
the right way to the work--
For Conscience, like a fiery horse,
Will
stumble, if you check his course:
But ride him with an easy rein,
And
rub him down with worldly gain,
He'll carry you through thick and thin,
Safe,
although dirty, to your inn."
This certainly is sterling sense.--It
would give me great pleasure to be enabled to present these Dialogues to the
world; but where they are now deposited is unknown.
Go back to the Nichols Home Page.
| Back to top | Back to the Twentieth-Century Anthologies Page |
|