Because they saw it not, I not dislike II. FR. BEAUMONT. To the worthy Author Mr. JOHN FLETCHER, upon his Faithful Shepherdess. THE wise, and many-headed bench, that sits Upon the life and death of plays, and wits, (Compos'd of gamester, captain, knight, knight's man, Velvet, or taffata cap, rank'd in the dark With the shop's foreman, or some such brave spark, They saw it half, damn'd thy whole play; and, more, With vices, which they icok'd for, and came to. Do crown thy murder'd poem; which shall rise Or moths, shall eat what all these fools admire. BEN. JONSON. making perfect sheets, the editor, to avoid leaving a blank leaf in the body of the book, there inserted this letter; and hence, undoubtedly, originated the situation of the poem, which ought (did its title deserve attention) to have been placed at the end of the whole work; for had any specification been intended, we should not have had the vague expression, two of the precedent," but "the two precedent comedies." Seward says, Shirley supposes the Humorous Lieutenant to be one of the plays referred to by the verses: Shirley thought nothing of the matter, knew nothing of the arrangement, did nothing but write the preface: It were unjust to believe he did more.-It is not always easy to discover Seward's meaning; but he seems, however, to have distrusted Shirley's supposition, and to have relied on the subsequent editor, by saying the verses "were published at the end of the Nice Valour AND Woman-Hater, in the second folio." This proves nothing; that editor continued them with the play to which he found them annexed. The title to these verses runs, "Mr. Francis Beaumont's Letter to Ben. Jonson, written before he and Master Fletcher came to London, with two of the precedent comedies then not finished, which deferred their merry meetings at the Mermaid.' If this title and the situation afford proof of any kind, it will be directly opposite to Seward's opinion: First, as the title mentions" two of the precedent comedies," the Woman-Hater could NOT be one, having no place in the first folio. Secondly, Seward says, "Fletcher could not be with Beaumont; but what says the title? Written before he AND Master Fletcher came," &c. And, thirdly, if Beaumont AND Fletcher were together, Nice Valour and the Humorous Lieutenant must be looked on as joint productions. But, besides the title and situation failing to prove which the comedies were, the poem itself affords no proof that Beaumont was then writing any play at all. The words When these SCENES are PERFECT, are all which can lead to such a supposition; and may we not understand those words to mean only, "When I CHANGE the SCENE," or, "when the time for my stay HERE is COMPLETED?" with this sense of the word perfect every reader of old books must be acquainted. Whether this explanation is admitted, or not, it at least seems clear that no such external evidence as Seward supposes, is deducible from either the title or situation of the poem in question. J. N. Το III. To Mr. FRANCIS BEAUMONT, (then living.) IV. BEN. JONSON. On Mr. FRANCIS BEAUMONT, on his Imitations of Ovid, an Ode. THE matchless lust of a fair poesy, Which erst was buried in old Rome's decays, Now 'gins with heat of rising majesty, Her dust-wrapt head from rotten tomb to raise, The wanton Ovid, whose enticing rimes Have with attractive wonder forc'd attention, Produce a poet, whose more rare invention The strongest marble fears the smallest rain; Nor dreads age, envy, cank'ring rust or rain. V. On Mr. BEAUMONT. (Written presently after his Death.) BEAUMONT lies here; and where now shall we have A muse like his to sigh upon his grave? J. F.s This short copy (which seems wrote with a sincerity not common in complimentary poems) treats Beaumont not only as an excellent critic, but as an excellent poet; and is an answer to Beaumont's letter to Jonson. SEWARD. The J. F. here is undoubtedly John Fletcher, and the ode, though not immediately relating to the plays, is inserted here, first, for its intrinsic merit; and, secondly, as it will be pleasing to find that Fletcher's muse was animated with friendship as well as Beaumont's; a circumstance, which, till I saw this ode, seemed wanting to complete the amiable union which reigned between them. In the third stanza, the reader will see an authority for Milton's use of the word rime for verse in general, "Things unattempted yet in prose or rime." That Beaumont wrote Which Dr Bentley so injudiciously altered to prose and verse. something in the Ovidian manner seems evident from these lines; but the Hermaphrodite which is printed as his, and supposed to be the thing referred to in this ode, is claimed by Cleaveland as a conjunct performance between himself and Randolph. SEWARD. Ah! Ah! none to weep this with a worthy tear, But Nature's puzzled when she works in fire: Great brains (like brightest glass) crack straight, while those Of stone or wood hold out, and fear not blows: And we their ancient hoary heads can see, Who now shall pay thy tomb with such a verse As thou that lady's didst, fair Rutland's hearse?] To pay thy tomb is a little obscure, but it seems to mean, to repay thee for writing so excellent an epitaph, by one as excellent on thyself. There are several epitaphs and elegies in Beaumont's Poems, but by an expression in Mr. Earle's two next lines relating to the marble of the tomb, I believe the following beautiful epitaph is what is here referred to: This is extremely in the spirit of Milton and Shakespeare's epitaphs, and shews that Beaumont excelled in every species of writing which he attempted. There are three elegies of his which I believe genuine, and they have great merit; two are signed by his name, and another begins, "Can my poor lines no better office have, Than, screech-owl like, still dwell about the grave?" This shews that he had wrote several elegies and epitaphs. SEWARD. Beaumont Beaumont dies young, so Sidney died before; Such in his time was he, of the same piece, The smooth, ev'n, natural wit, and love of Greece. On them, whose quickness comes far short of ours, I will not yield thy works so mean a praise; More pure, more chaste, more sainted that are plays, To pass a fire, or laugh an hour in bed. How do the muses suffer every where, Taken in such mouths' censure, in such cars, That, 'twixt a whiff, a line or two rehearse, 8 Drink, or tobacco, it may keep the day. So Sidney did before; ] It might perhaps have been-so Sidney died before. Beaumont's Poems exhibit died. & This all a poem's leisure after play, Whilst SEWARD. Drink or tobacco, it may keep the day.] What is all a poem's leisure? I can aflix no idea to it but a Latinism, which if designed is extremely forced. This is all a poem's, i. e. a poem's part, power or worth, it may serve to spend one's leasure hours after dice, drink, or tobacco. But unless the reader sees a more natural explication, I believe he will agree to its being discarded as a corruption, for a trifling change will give a clear sense, This all a poem's pleasure, after play, e. All the pleasure a poem gives to these sons of dulness, is to spin out or pass away the time till sun-set, after cards, bottles, and tobacco are removed; thus to pass a fire, a little above, signifies to pass away the time till the fire is burnt out. But to keep a day, is an expression not very applicable to this sense, (a sense which the context evidently requires) and though it may indeed be strained to something like it, yet as we can retain three of the letters in keep, and by a small transposition of the rest, give a much properer verb, it seems probable that cke was the original, we generally now say, to the out the day; but it was used by our ancestors without the adverb, to eke a thing, i. e. to protract or lengthen it out. The reader will see a much greater corruption of the press than either of there at the latter end of this poem. SEWARD. The Whilst ev'n their very idleness, they think, Who, if my pen may as my thoughts be free, A coz'ning Davus; " take the fool away, 10 Yet these are wits, because they're old, and now, JOH. EARLE.13 On The meaning seems to be, "They have no leisure for poetry, till they have done with gaming, drinking, and smoaking; these having had their time, poetry may command the day." 9 Pity then dull we, we that better know, Will a more serious hour on thee bestow.] There is too much inconsistency in this sentence to suppose it genuine. He ironically calls himself and friends dull, and literally asserts their superior understanding in the same sentence. Beside, Pity then we will bestow, &c. does not seem English. I change but an n to an m, and read, Pity them dull; We, we that, &c. SEWARD. The text is from Beaumont's Poems. 10 Their conceit was poor, &c.] Mr. Earle's reflections on Terence are in part at least very unjust. There is perhaps too much sameness in his plots; but his old men and young, his servants, his parasites, &c. are each a distinct character from all the rest, and preserved throughout each play with infinite spirit and judgment. Beside which, the elegant diction and fine sentiments which every where abound in him are patterns to the best comic writers; and which Beaumont and Fletcher strive to excel him in by adding sublimity of poetry to justness of sentiment; well knowing that jests and drollery are only the lowest degree of SEWARD. comic excellence. "A coz'ning dance.] Corrected by Theobald, who says, "Davus is the name of a subtle juggling servant in Terence's comedy called the Fair Andrian." A thirsty fame.] To make thirsty signify poor or scanty may be admitted; but as the smallest change gives a more natural word, thrifty seems the original. The text from Beaumont's Poems. SEWARD. This copy varies considerably from that printed with Beaumont's Poems. 13 Joh. Earle. Mr. Earle was young when he wrote this, and there are indisputable marks of a bright poetic genius, which had probably been greatly inspired by an intimacy with Beaumont. He was in high repute as a preacher and a scholar in King Charles the First's reign; and seems to have been a true patriot; for it is probable that he opposed the court in the beginning of the troubles, as he was elected one of the Assembly of Divines; but he refused to act with them, and adhered to the king in his lowest state, and for it was deprived |