Part 106 (2/2)

713. _His return to London._ Written at the same time as his _Farewell to Dean Bourn_, _i.e._, after his ejection in 1648, the year of the publication of the _Hesperides_.

715. _No pack like poverty._ Burton, _Anat. Mel._ iii. 3: ??d?? pe??a?

a??te??? ?st? f??t???. ”No burden, saith Menander, is so intolerable as poverty.”

718. _As many laws_, etc. Tacit. _Ann._ iii. 27: Corruptissima in republica plurimae leges.

723. _Lay down some silver pence._ Cp. Bishop Corbet's _The Faeryes Farewell_:--

”And though they sweep their hearths no less Than maids were wont to do, Yet who of late for cleanliness Finds sixpence in her shoe?”

725. _Times that are ill ... Clouds will not ever_, etc., two reminiscences of Horace, II. _Od._ x. 17, and ix.

727. _Up tails all._ This tune will be found in Chappell's _Popular Music of the Olden Time_, vol. i. p. 196. He notes that it was a favourite with Herrick, who wrote four other poems in the metre, viz.: _The Hag is Astride_, _The Maypole is up_, _The Peter-penny_, and _Twelfth Night: or, King and Queen_. The tune is found in Queen Elizabeth's Virginal Book, and in the _Dancing Master_ (1650-1690). It is alluded to by Ben Jonson, and was a favourite with the Cavaliers.

730. _Charon and Philomel._ This dialogue is found with some slight variations of text in Rawlinson's MS. poet. 65. fol. 32. The following variants may be noted: l. 5, _voice_ for _sound_; l. 7, _shade_ for _bird_; l. 11, _warbling_ for _watching_; l. 12, _hoist up_ for _thus hoist_; l. 13, _be gone_ for _return_; l. 18, _praise_ for _pray_; l.

19, _sighs_ for _vows_; l. 24, omit _slothful_. The dialogue is succeeded in the MS. by an old catch (probably written before Herrick was born):--

”A boat! a boat! haste to the ferry!

For we go over to be merry, To laugh and quaff, and drink old sherry”.

After the catch comes the following dialogue, written (it would seem) in imitation of Herrick's _Charon and Philomel_: the speakers' names are not marked:--

”Charon! O Charon! the wafter of all souls to bliss or bane!

Who calls the ferryman of h.e.l.l?

Come near and say who lives in bliss and who in pain.

Those that die well eternal bliss shall follow.

Those that die ill their own black deeds shall swallow.

Shall thy black barge those guilty spirits row That kill themselves for love? Oh, no! oh, no!

My cordage cracks when such foul sins draw near, No wind blows fair, nor I my boat can steer.

What spirits pa.s.s and in Elysium reign?

Those harmless souls that love and are beloved again.

That soul that lives in love and fain would die to win, Shall he go free? Oh, no! it is too foul a sin.

He must not come aboard, I dare not row, Storms of despair my boat will overblow.

But when thy mistress (?) shall close up thine eyes then come aboard, Then come aboard and pa.s.s; till then be wise and sing.”

”Then come aboard” from the penultimate line and ”and sing” from the last should clearly be struck out.

739. _O Jupiter_, etc. Eubulus in Athenaeus, xiii. 559: ? ?e?

p???t??t', e?t' ??? ?a??? p?te

??? ???a??a?; ?? ??' ?p?????? ??a?

p??t?? ???st?? ?t??t??. Comp. 885.

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