later poems-第5节

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all　day　long。〃　　Sorrow　is　a　queen；　he　cries　to　the　Weeper；　and　when
sorrow　would　be　seen　in　state；　〃then　is　she　drest　by　none　but
thee。〃　　Then　you　come　upon　the　fancy；　〃Fountain　and　garden　in　one
face。〃　　All　places；　times；　and　objects　are　〃Thy　tears'　sweet
opportunity。〃　　If　these　charming　passages　lurk　in　his　worst　poems；
the　reader　of　this　anthology　will　not　be　able　to　count　them　in　his
best。　　In　the　Epiphany　Hymn　the　heavens　have　found　means

'To　disinherit　the　sun's　rise；
Delicately　to　displace
The　day；　and　plant　it　fairer　in　thy　face。〃

To　the　Morning：　　Satisfaction　for　Sleep；　is；　all　through；　luminous。
It　would　be　difficult　to　find；　even　in　the　orient　poetry　of　that
time；　more　daylight　or　more　spirit。　　True；　an　Elizabethan　would　not
have　had　poetry　so　rich　as　in　Love's　Horoscope；　but　yet　an
Elizabethan　would　have　had　it　no　fresher。　　The　Hymn　to　St。　Teresa
has　the　brevities　which　this　poetreproached　with　his　longueurs
masters　so　well。　　He　tells　how　the　Spanish　girl；　six　years　old；　set
out　in　search　of　death：　　〃She's　for　the　Moors　and　Martyrdom。
Sweet；　not　so　fast！〃　　Of　many　contemporary　songs　in　pursuit　of　a
fugitive　Cupid；　Crashaw's　Cupid's　Cryer：　　out　of　the　Greek；　is　the
most　dainty。　　But　if　readers　should　be　a　little　vexed　with　the
poet's　light　heart　and　perpetual　pleasure；　with　the　late　ripeness
of　his　sweetness；　here；　for　their　satisfaction；　is　a　passage
capable　of　the　great　age　that　had　lately　closed　when　Crashaw　wrote。
It　is　in　his　summons　to　nature　and　art：

〃Come；　and　come　strong；
To　the　conspiracy　of　our　spacious　song！〃

I　have　been　obliged　to　take　courage　to　alter　the　reading　of　the
seventeenth　and　nineteenth　lines　of　the　Prayer…Book；　so　as　to　make
them　intelligible；　they　had　been　obviously　misprinted。　　I　have　also
found　it　necessary　to　re…punctuate　generally。


WISHES　TO　HIS　SUPPOSED　MISTRESS


This　beautiful　and　famous　poem　has　its　stanzas　so　carelessly　thrown
together　that　editors　have　allowed　themselves　a　certain　freedom
with　it。　　I　have　done　the　least　I　could；　by　separating　two　stanzas
that　repeated　the　rhyme；　and　by　suppressing　one　that　grew　tedious。


ON　THE　DEATH　OF　MR。　CRASHAW


This　ode　has　been　chosen　as　more　nobly　representative　than　that；
better　known；　On　the　Death　of　Mr。　William　Harvey。　　In　the　Crashaw
ode；　and　in　the　Hymn　to　the　Light；　Cowley　is；　at　last；　tender。　　But
it　cannot　be　said　that　his　love…poems　had　tenderness。　　Be　wrote　in
a　gay　language；　but　added　nothing　to　its　gaiety。　　He　wrote　the
language　of　love；　and　left　it　cooler　than　he　found　it。　　What　the
conceits　of　Lovelace　and　the　rest　flagrant；　not　frigiddid　not
do　was　done　by　Cowley's　quenching　breath；　the　language　of　love
began　to　lose　by　him。　　But　even　then；　even　then；　who　could　have
foretold　what　the　loss　at　a　later　day　would　be！


HYMN　TO　THE　LIGHT


It　is　somewhat　to　be　regretted　that　this　splendid　poem　should　show
Cowley　as　the　writer　of　the　alexandrine　that　divides　into　two
lines。　　For　he　it　was　who　first　used　（or　first　conspicuously　used）
the　alexandrine　that　is　organic；　integral；　and　itself　a　separate
unit　of　metre。　　He　first　passed　beyond　the　heroic　line；　or　at　least
he　first　used　the　alexandrine　freely；　at　his　pleasure；　amid　heroic
verse；　and　after　him　Dryden　took　possession　and　then　Pope。　　But
both　these　masters；　when　they　wrote　alexandrines；　wrote　them　in　the
French　manner；　divided。　　Cowley；　however；　with　admirable　art；　is
able　to　prevent　even　an　accidental　pause；　making　the　middle　of　his
line　fall　upon　the　middle　of　some　word　that　is　rapid　in　the
speaking　and　therefore　indivisible　by　pause　or　even　by　any
lingering。　　Take　this　one　instance　…

〃Like　some　fair　pine　o'erlooking　all　the　ignobler　wood。〃

If　Cowley's　delicate　example　had　ruled　in　English　poetry　（and　he
surely　had　authority　on　this　one　point；　at　least）；　this　alexandrine
would　have　taken　its　own　place　as　an　important　line　of　English
metre；　more　mobile　than　the　heroic；　less　fitted　to　epic　or　dramatic
poetry；　but　a　line　liberally　lyrical。　　It　would　have　been　the
light；　pursuing　wave　that　runs　suddenly；　outrunning　twenty；　further
up　the　sands　than　these；　a　swift　traveller；　unspent；　of　longer
impulse；　of　more　impetuous　foot；　of　fuller　and　of　hastier　breath；
more　eager　to　speak；　and　yet　more　reluctant　to　have　done。　　Cowley
left　the　line　with　all　this　lyrical　promise　within　it；　and　if　his
example　had　been　followed；　English　prosody　would　have　had　in　this　a
valuable　bequest。

Cowley　probably　was　two　or　three　years　younger　than　Richard
Crashaw；　and　the　alexandrine　is　to　be　foundto　be　found　by
searchingin　Crashaw；　and　he　took　precisely　the　same　care　as
Cowley　that　the　long　wand　of　that　line　should　not　give　way　in　the
middleshould　be　strong　and　supple　and　should　last。　　Here　are　four
of　his　alexandrines　…

〃Or　you；　more　noble　architects　of　intellectual　noise。〃
〃Of　sweets　you　have；　and　murmur　that　you　have　no　more。〃
〃And　everlasting　series　of　a　deathless　song。〃
〃To　all　the　dear…bought　nations　this　redeeming　name。〃

A　later　poetCoventry　Patmorewrote　a　far　longer　line　than　even
thesea　line　not　only　speeding　further；　but　speeding　with　a　more
celestial　movement　than　Cowley　or　Crashaw　heard　with　the　ear　of
dreams。

〃He　unhappily　adopted；〃　says　Dr。　Johnson　as　to　Cowley's　diction；
〃that　which　was　predominant。〃　　〃That　which　was　predominant〃　was　as
good　a　vintage　of　English　language　as　the　cycles　of　history　have
ever　brought　to　pass。


TO　LUCASTA


Colonel　Richard　Lovelace；　an　enchanting　poet；　is　hardly　read；
except　for　two　poems　which　are　as　famous　as　any　in　our　language。
Perhaps　the　rumour　of　his　conceits　has　frightened　his　reader。　　It
must　be　granted　they　are　now　and　then　daunting；　there　is　a　poem　on
〃Princess　Louisa　Drawing〃　which　is　a　very　maze；　the　little　paths　of
verse　and　fancy　turn　in　upon　one　another；　and　the　turns　are　pointed
with　artificial　shouts　of　joy　and　surprise。　　But；　again；　what　a
reader　unused　to　a　certain　living　symbolism　will　be　apt　to　take　for
a　careful　and　cold　conceit　is；　in　truth；　a　rapturenone　graver；
none　more　fiery　or　more　luminous。　　But　even　to　name　the　poem　where
these　occur　might　be　to　deliver　delicate　and　ardent　poetry　over　to
the　general　sense　of　humour；　which　one　distrusts。　　Nor　is　Lovelace
easy　reading　at　any　time　（the　two　or　three　famous　poems　excepted）。
The　age　he　adorned　lived　in　constant　readiness　for　the　fiddler。
Eleven　o'clock　in　the　morning　was　as　good　an　hour　as　another　for　a
dance；　and　poetry；　too；　was　gay　betimes；　but　intricate　with
figures。　　It　is　the　very　order；　the　perspective；　as　it　were；　of　the
movement　that　seems　to　baffle　the　eye；　but　the　game　was　a　free
impulse。　　Since　the　first　day　danced　with　the　first　night；　no
dancing　was　more　naturalat　least　to　a　dancer　of　genius。　　True；
the　dance　could　be　tyrannous。　　It　was　an　importunate　fashion。　　When
the　Bishop　of　Hereford；　compelled　by　Robin　Hood；　in　merry
Barnsdale；　danced　in　his　boots　（〃and　glad　he　could　so　get　away〃）；
he　was　hardly　in　worse　heart　or　trim　than　a　seventeenth　century
author　here　and　there　whose　original　seriousness　or　work…a…day
piety　would　have　been　content　to　go　plodding　flat…foot　or　halting；
as　the　muse　might　naturally　incline　with　him；　but　whom　the　tune；
the　grace；　and　gallantry　of　the　time　beckoned　to　tread　a　perpetual
measure。　　Lovelace　was　a　dancer　of　genius；　nay；　he　danced　to　rest
his　wings；　for　he　was　winged；　cap　and　heel。　　The　fiction　of　flight
has　lost　its　charm　long　since。　　Modern　art　grew　tired　of　the　idea；
now　turned　to　commonplace；　and　painting　took　leave　of　the　buoyant
urchinsnaughty　cherub　and　Cupid　together；　but　the　seventeenth
century　was　in　love　with　that　old　fancymore　in　love；　perhaps；
than　any　century　in　the　past。　　Its　late　painters；　whose　human
figures　had　no　lack　of　weight　upon　the　comfortable　ground；　yet　kept
a　sense　of　buoyancy　for　this　hovering　childhood；　and　kept　the
angels　and　the　loves　aloft；　as　though　they　shook　a　tree　to　make　a
flock　of　birds　flutter　up。

Fine　is　the　fantastic　and　infrequent　landscape　in　Lovelace's
poetry：

〃This　is　the　palace　of　the　wood；
And　court　o'　the　royal　oak；　where　stood
The　whole　nobility。〃

In　more　than　one　place　Lucasta's；　or　Amarantha's；　or　Laura's　hair
is　sprinkled　with　dew　or　rain　almost　as　freshly　and　wildly　as　in
Wordsworth's　line。

Lovelace；　who　loved　freedom；　seems　to　be　enclosed　in　so　narrow　a
book；　yet　it　is　but　a　〃hermitage。〃　　To　shake　out　the　light　and
spirit　of　its　leaves　is　to　give　a　glimpse　of　liberty　not　to　him；
but　to　the　world。

In　To　Lucasta　I　have　been　bold　to　alter；　at　the　close；　〃you〃　to
〃thou。〃　　Lovelace　sent　his　verses　out　unrevised；　and　the
inconsistency　of　pronouns　is　common　with　him；　but　nowhere　else　so
distressing　as　in　this　brief　and　otherwise　perfect　poem。　　The　fault
is　easily　set　right；　and　it　seems　even　an　unkindness　not　to　lend
him　this　redress；　offered　him　here　as　an　act　of　comradeship。


LUCASTA　PAYING　HER　OBSEQUIES


That　errors　should　abound　in　the　text　of　Lovelace　is　the　more
lamentable　because　he　was　apt　to　make　a　play　of　phrases　that　depend
upon　the　precision　of　a　commanay；　upon　the　precision　of　the　voice
in　reading。　　Lucasta　Paying　her　Obsequies　is　a　poem　that　makes　a
kind　of　dainty　confusion　between　t