Part 28 (2/2)

Receive, sweet Lord, with thy thrice sacred hand (Which sacred Muses make their instru froraced, they h encountere Zoilus his band

Vouchsafe, right virtuous Lord, with gracious eyes-- Those heavenly laive and take in course that holy fire-- To view ht: Whoht, to rise Shall to thy virtues, of much worth, aspire

Toreater power, To to the earl his masterly essay in romance, 'The Life of Jack Wilton' He describes Southae, as 'a dear lover and cherisher as well of the lovers of poets as of the poets themselves' 'A new brain,' he exclaiet me, to canonise your name to posterity, if in this my first atteh 'Jack Wilton' was the first book Nash formally dedicated to Southampton, it is probable that Nash had ression at the close of his 'Pierce Pennilesse' he grows eloquent in praise of one whonificent rewarder of vertue, Jove's eagle-borne Ganimede, thrice noble Amintas' In a sonnet addressed to 'this renowned lord,' who 'draws all hearts to his love,' Nash expresses regret that the great poet, Edmund Spenser, had omitted to celebrate 'so special a pillar of nobility' in the series of adulatory sonnets prefixed to the 'Faerie Queene;' and in the last lines of his sonnet Nash suggests that Spenser suppressed the nobleht not comprise thy fame {385b}

Southampton was beyond doubt the nobleman in question It is certain, too, that the Earl of Southaain, as he admitted, penned 'amorous villanellos and qui passas' One of the least reputable of these efforts of Nash survives in an obscene love-poe of Valentines,' which may be dated in 1595 Not only was this dedicated to Southaain in the for patron as his 'friend' {386}

Markham's sonnet, 1595 Florio's address, 1598

Meanwhile, in 1595, the versatile Gervase Markham inscribed to Southampton, in a sonnet, his patriotic poeht off the Azores Markha force of his patron's eyes, but with blasphemous temerity asserted that the sweetness of his lips, which stilled the hty God

Markhalorious laurel of the Muses' hill, Whose eyes doth crown the ht lamp of virtue, in whose sacred skill Lives all the bliss of ear-enchanting rave assays, Bend thy courageous thoughts unto these lines-- The grave from whence h designs-- And when the stubborn stroke of hty ears Vouchsafe to sweet it with thy blessed tongue Whose well-tuned sound stills ic lays be blest by thee And from thy lips suck their eternity

Subsequently Florio, in associating the earl's nalish dictionary--the 'Worlde of Wordes'--more soberly defined the earl's place in the republic of letters when he wrote: 'As to racious sunshi+ne of your honour hath infused light and life'

The congratulations of the poets in 1603

The most notable contribution to this chorus of praise is to be found, as I have already shown, in Shakespeare's 'Sonnets' The say was sounded by men of letters until Southampton's death When he was released from prison on James I's accession in April 1603, his praises in poets' rateful incident celebrated by Shakespeare in what is probably the latest of his sonnets (No cvii), but Saratulation in ed strains

Daniel addressed to Southampton many lines like these:

The world had never taken so full note Of what thou art, hadst thou not been undone: And only thy affliction hath begot More fame than thy best fortunes could have won; For ever by adversity are wrought The greatest works of admiration; And all the fair exarown

Only the best-compos'd and worthiest hearts God sets to act the hard'st and constanst'st parts {388a}

Davies was more jubilant:

Noisest men with mirth do seelad

Then let's beill bestead

Southa, And on the viol there sweet praises sing, For he is co {388b}

Many like praises, soe Chape Wither, Sir John Beaumont, and others could be quoted Beauyrises him in the varied capacities of warrior, councillor, courtier, father, and husband But it is as a literary patron that Beaumont insists that he chiefly deserves relory last which is the best, The love of learning which he oft expressed In conversation, and respect to those Who had a naies on Southampton