thou from idlenes and euer be stable Martiall a most dissolute wryter among all other yet not without many graue and prudent spéeches as this is one worthy to be marked of these fond youthes which intangle theyr wytts in raging loue who stepping once ouer shoes in theyr fancyes neuer rest plunging till they be ouer head and eares in their follie If thou wylt-eschewe bitter aduenture And auoyde the annoyance of a pensifull hare Set in no one person all wholly thy pleasure The lesse maist thou ioy but the lesse shalt thou smart These are but fewe gathered out by happe yet sufficient to shewe that the wise and circumspect Readers may finde very many profitable lessons dispersed in thâ—…â—…orkes neither take any harme by reading such Poemes but good if they wil themselues Neuertheles I would not be thought to hold opinion that the reading of them is so tollerable as that there neede no respect to be had in making choyse of readers or hearers for if they be prohibited from the tender and vnconstant wits of children and young mindes I thinke it not without great reason neyther am I of that deuillish opinion of which some there are and haue beene in England who hauing charge of youth to instruct them in learning haue especially made choyse of such vn childish stuffe to reade vnto young Schollers as it shoulde seeme of some filthy purpose wylfully to corrupt theyr tender mindes and prepare them the more ready for their loathsome dyetts For as it is sayd of that impudent worke of Luciane a man were better to reade none of it then all of it so thinke I that these workes are rather to be kept altogether from children theÌ„ they should haue frée liberty to reade them before they be méete either of their owne discretion or by héedefull instruction to make choyse of the good from the badde As-for our Englishe Poetrie I know no such perilous péeces except a fewe balde ditties made ouer the Béere potts which are nothing lesse then Poetry which anie man may vse and reade without damage or daunger which indeede is lesse to be meruailed at among vs then among the olde Latines and Gréekes Considering that Christianity may be a state to such illecibrous workes and inuentions as among them for their Arte sake myght obtaine passage Nowe will I speake some what of that princelie part of Poetrie wherein are displaied the noble actes and valiant exploits of puissaunt Captaines expert souldiers wise men with the famous reportes of auncient times such as are the Heroycall workes of Homer in Gréeke and the heauenly verse of Virgils AEneidos in Latine which workes comprehending as it were the summe and grounde of all Poetrie are verelie and inconâ—…parably the best of all other To these though wee haue no English worke aunswerable in respect of the glorious ornaments of gallant handling yet our auncient Chroniclers and reporters of our Countrey affayres come most néere them and no doubt if such regarde of our English spéeche and curious handling of our verse had béene long since thought vppon and from time to time béene pollished and bettered by men of learning iudgement and authority it would ere this haue matched them in all respects A manifest example thereof may bée the great good grace and swéete vayne which Eloquence hath attained in our spéeche because it hath had the helpe of such rare and singuler wits as from time to time myght still adde some amendment to the same Among whom I thinke there is none that will gainsay but Master Iohn Lilly hath deserued moste high commendations as he which hath stept one steppe further therein then any either before or since he first began the wyttie discourse of his Euphues Whose workes surely in respecte of his singuler eloquence and braue composition of apt words and sentences let the learned examine and make tryall thereof thorough all the partes of Rethoricke in fitte phrases in pithy sentences in gallant tropes in flowing spéeche in plaine sence and surely in my iudgment I thinke he wyll yéelde him that verdict which Quintilian giueth of bothe the best Drators Demosthenes and Tully that from the one nothing may be taken away to the other nothing may be added But a more néerer example to prooue my former assertion true I meane y e méetnesse of our spéeche to receiue the best forme of Poetry may bée taken by conference of that famous translation of Master D. Phaer with the coppie it selfe who soeuer please with courteous iudgement but a little to compare and marke them both together and weigh with himselfe whether the English tongue might by little and little be brought to the verye maiesty of a ryght Heroicall verse First you may marke how Virgill alwayes â—…itteth his matter in hande with wordes agréeable vnto the same affection which he expresseth as in hys Tragicall exclamations what patheâ—…all spéeches he frameth in his com fortable consolations howe smoothely hys verse runnes in his dreadfull battayles and â—…réery byckerments of warress howe bygge and boystrous his wordes sound and the like notes in all partes of his worke may be obserued Which excellent grace and comely kind of choyse if the translatour hath not hitte very neere in our course English phrase iudge vprightly wee wyll conferre some of the places not picked out for the purpose but such as I tooke turning ouer the Booke at randon When the Troyans were so tost about in tempestious wether caused by AEolus at AEunoes request and driuen vpon the coaste of Affrick with a very néere scape of their liues AEneas after hée had gone a land and kylled plenty of victuals for his company of Souldiours hée deuided the same among them and thus louinglie and swéetely he comforted them AEn Lib. 1. et dictis moerentia pectora mulcet O socij neque ignari sumus ante malorum O paâ—… grauâ—…ora dabit deus his quoque finem Uos et scyllaeam rabiem penitusque sonantes Accestis scopulos vos et cyclopea saxa Experti reuocate animos maestumque timorem Mittite forsan et haec olim meminisse iâ—…uabit Per varios casus per tot discrimina rerum Tendimus in Latium sedes vbi fata quietas Ostendunt illic fas regna resurgere troiae Durate et vosmet rebus seruate secundis Talia vâ—…ce refert curisque ingentibus aeger Spem vuliu simulat premit altum corde dolorâ—…m Translated thus And then to chéere their heauy barts with these words he bim bent O Mates quoth he that many a woe haue bidden and borne ere thvs Worse haue we séene and this also shall end when Gods wyll is Through Sylla rage ye wott and through the roaring rocks we past Though Cyclops shore was full of feare yet came we through at last Plucke vppe your harts and driue from thence both feare and care away To thinke on this may pleasure be perhapps another day By paynes and many a daunger sore by sundry chaunce we wend To
mens iudgements hath neuer attained to anie sufficient ripenes nay not ful auoided the reproch of barbarousnes in Poetry the rudenes of the Countrey or basenesse of wytts or the course Dialect of the speeche experience vtterlie disproueth it to be anie of these what then surelie the canckred enmitie of curious custome which as it neuer was great freend to any good learning so in this hath it grounded in the most such a negligent perswasion of an impossibilitie in matching the best that the finest witts and most diuine heades haue contented them selues with a base kinde of fingering rather debasing theyr faculties in setting forth theyr skyll in the coursest manner then for breaking custome they would labour to adorne their Countrey and aduaunce their style with the highest most learnedst toppe of true Poetry The rudenes or vnaptnesse of our Countrey to be either none or no hinderaunce if reformation were made accordinglie the exquisite excellency in all kindes of good learning nowe flourishing among vs inferiour to none other nation may sufficiently declare That there be as sharpe and quicke wittes in England as euer were among the peerelesse Grecians or renowmed Romaines it were a note of no witte at all in me to deny And is our speeche so course or our phrase so harshe that Poetry cannot therein finde a vayne whereby it may appeare like it selfe why should we think so basely of this rather then of her sister I meane Rethoricall Eloquution which as they were by byrth Twyns by kinde the same by originall of one descent so no doubt as Eloquence hath founde such fauourers in the English tongue as she frequenteth not any more gladly so would Poetrye if there were the like welcome and entertainment gyuen her by our English Poets without question aspyre to wonderfull perfection and appeare farre more gorgeous and delectable among vs. Thus much I am bolde to say in behalfe of Poetrie not that I meane to call in question the reuerend and learned workes of Poetrie written in our tongue by men of rare iudgement and most excellent Poets but euen as it were by way of supplication to the famous and learned Lawreâ—t Masters of Englande that they would but consult one halfe howre with their heauenly Muse what credite they might winne to theyr natiue speeche what enormities they might wipe out of English Poetry what a fitte vaine they might frequent wherein to shewe forth their worthie faculties if English Poetrie were truely reformed and some perfect platforme or Prosodia of versifying were by them ratifyed and sette downe eyther in immitation of Greekes and Latines or where it would skant abyde the touch of theyr Rules the like obseruations selected and established by the naturall affectation of the speeche Thus much I say not to perswade you that are the fauourers of Englishe Poetry but to mooue it to you beeing not the firste that haue thought vpoÌ„ this matter but one that by coÌ„sent of others haue taken vppon me to lay it once again in your wayes if perhaps you may stumble vppon it and chance to looke so lowe from your diuine cogitations when your Muse mounteth to the starres and ransacketh the Spheres of heauen whereby perhaps you may take compassion of noble Poetry pittifullie mangled and defaced by rude smatterers and barbarous immitatours of your worthy studies If the motion bee worthy your regard it is enough to mooue it if not my wordes woulde sim ply preuaile in perswading you and therefore I rest vppon thys onely request that of your courtesies you wyll graunt passage vnder your fauourable corrections for this my simple censure of English Poetry wherein if you please to runne it ouer you shall knowe breefely myne opinion of the most part of our accustomed Poets and particularly in his place the lyttle somewhat which I haue sifted out of my weake brayne concerning thys reformed verfifying VV VV A Discourse of Englishe Poetrie INtending to write some discourse of English Poetrie I thinke it not amysse if I speake something generally of Poetrie as what it is whence it had the beginning and of what estimation it hath alwayes béene and ought to be among al sorts of people Poetrie called in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beeing deriued from the Uerbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth in Latine facere in English to make may properly be defined the arte of making which word as it hath alwaies beene especially vsed of the best of our English Poets to expresse y t very faculty of speaking or wryting Poetically so doth it in deede containe most fitly the whole grace and property of the same ye more fullye and effectually then any other English Uerbe That Poetry is an Arte or rather a more excellent thing then can be contayned wythin the compasse of Arte though I neede not stande long to prooue both the witnes of Horace who wrote de arte Poetica and of Terence who calleth it Artem Musicam and the very naturall property thereof may sufficiently declare The beginning of it as appeareth by Plato was of a vertuous and most deuout purpose who witnesseth that by occasion of méeting of a great company of young men to solemnize y e feasts which were called Panegeryca and were wont to be celebrated euery fift yeere there they that were most pregnant in wytt and indued with great gyfts of wysedome knowledge in Musicke aboue the rest did vse commonly to make goodly verses measured according to the swéetest notes of Musicke containing the prayse of some noble vertue or of immortalitie or of some such thing of greatest estimation which vnto them séemed so heauenly and ioyous a thing that thinking such men to be inspyrde with some diuine instinct from heauen they called them Vates So when other among them of the finest wits and aptest capacities beganne in imitation of these to frame ditties of lighter matters and tuning them to the stroake of some of the pleasantest kind of Musicke then began there to growe a distinction and great diuersity betwéene makers and makers Whereby I take it beganne thys difference that they which handled in the audience of the people graue and necessary matters were called wise men or eloquent men which they meant by Uates and the rest which sange of loue matters or other lighter deuises alluring vnto pleasure and delight were called Poetae or makers Thus it appeareth both Eloquence and Poetrie to haue had their beginning and originall from these exercises béeing framed in such swéete measure of sentences pleasant harmonic called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is an apt composition of wordes or clauses drawing as it were by force y e hearers eares euen whether soeuer it lysteth that Plato affirmeth therein to be contained 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an inchauntment as it were to perswade them anie thing whether they would or no. And héerehence is sayde that men were first withdrawne from a wylde and sauadge kinde of life to ciuillity and gentlenes
they be wisely and narrowly read After his time I know no worke of any great fame till the time of Horace a Poet not of the smoothest style but in sharpnesse of wytt inferiour to none and one to whom all the rest both before his time and since are very much beholding About the same time were Iuuenall and Persius then Martial Seneca a most excellent wryter of Tragedies Boetius Lucretius Statius Val Fiaccus Manilius Ausonius Claudian and many other whose iust times and seuerall workes to speake of in this place were neither much néedefull nor altogeather tollerable because I purposed an other argument Onely I wyll adde two of later times yet not farre inferiour to the most of them aforesayde Pallengenius and Bap Manâ—uanus and for a singuler gyft in a sweete Heroicall verse match with them Chr. Oclan the Authour of our Anglorum Praelia But nowe least I stray too farre from my puopose I wyl come to our English Poets to whom I would I were able to yeelde theyr deserued commendations and affoorde them that censure which I know many woulde which can better if they were nowe to write in my stéede I know no memorable worke written by any Poet in our English spéeche vntill twenty yéeres past where although Learning was not generally decayde at any time especially since the Conquest of King William Duke of Normandy as it may appeare by many famous works learned bookes though not of this kinde wrytten by Byshoppes and others yet surelye that Poetry was in small price among them it is very manifest and no great maruayle for euen that light of Grieke and Latine Poets which they had they much contemned as appeareth by theyr rude versifying which of long time was vsed a barbarous vse it was wherin they conuerted the naturall property of the swéete Latine verse to be a balde kinde of ryming thinking nothing to be learnedly written in verse which fell not out in ryme that is in wordes whereof the middle worde of eche verse should sound a like with the last or of two verses the ende of both should fall in the like letters as thus O malè viuentes versus audite sequentes And thus likewyse Propter haec et alia dogmata doctorum Reor esse melius et magis decorum Quisque suam habeat et non proximorum This brutish Poetrie though it had not the beginning in this Countrey yet so hath it béene affected héere that the infection thereof would neuer nor I thinke euer will be rooted vppe againe I meane this tynkerly verse which we call ryme Master Ascham sayth that it first began to be followed and maintained among the Hunnes and Gothians and other barbarous Nations who with the decay of all good learning brought it into Italy from thence it came into Fraunce and so to Germany at last conueyed into England by men indeede of great wisedome and learning but not considerate nor circum spect in that behalfe But of this I must intreate more heereafter Henry the first King of that name in England is wonderfully ertolled in all auncient Recordes of memory for hys singuler good learning in all kinde of noble studies in so much as he was named by his surname Beaucleark as much to say as Fayreclerke whereof perhappes came y e name of Fayreclowe what knowledge hee attained in the skyll of Poetry I am not able to say I report his name for proofe that learning in this Country was not little estéemed of at that rude time and that like it is among other studies a King would not neglect the faculty of Poetry The first of our English Poets that I have heard of was Iohn Gower about the time of king Rychard the seconde as it should séeme by certayne coniectures bothe a Knight and questionlesse a singuler well learned man whose workes I could wysh they were all whole and perfect among vs for no doubt they contained very much déepe knowledge and delight which may be gathered by his fréend Chawcer who speaketh of him oftentimes in diuer places of hys workes Chawcer who for that excellent fame which hee obtayned in his Poetry was alwayes accounted the God of English Poets such a tytle for honours sake hath béene giuen him was nert after if not equall in time to Gower and hath left many workes both for delight and profitable knowledge farre excéeding any other that as yet euer sâ—â—â—e hys time directed theyr studies that way Though the manner of hys stile may séeme blunt course to many fine English eares at these dayes yet in trueth if it be equally pondered and with good iudgment aduised and confirmed with the time wherein he wrote a man shall perceiue thereby euen a true picture or perfect shape of a right Poet. He by his delightsome vayne so gulled the eares of men with his deuises that although corruption bare such sway in most matters that learning and truth might skant bée admitted to shewe it selfe yet without controllment myght hée gyrde at the vices and abuses of all states and gawle with very sharpe and eger inuentions which he did so learnedly and pleasantly that none therefore would call him into question For such was his bolde spyrit that what enormities he saw in any he would not spare to pay them home eyther in playne words or els in some prety and pleasaunt couert that the simplest might espy him Néere in time vnto him was Lydgate a Poet surely for good proportion of his verse and méetely currant style as the time affoorded comparable with Chawcer yet more occupyed in supersticious and odde matters then was requesite in so good a wytte which though he handled them commendably yet the matters themselues béeing not so commendable hys estimation hath béene the lesse The next of our auncient Poets that I can tell of I suppose to be Pierce Ploughman who in hys dooinges is somewhat harshe and obscure but indéede a very pithy wryter and to hys commendation I speake it was the first that I haue séene that obserued y e quantity of our verse without the curiosity of Ryme Since these I knowe none other tyll the time of Skelton who writ in the time of kyng Henry the eyght who as indéede he obtayned the Lawrell-Garland so may I wyth good ryght yéelde him the title of a Poet hée was doubtles a pleasant conceyted fellowe and of a very sharpe wytte excéeding bolde and would nyppe to the very quicke where he once sette holde Next hym I thynke I may place master George Gaskoyne as paine full a Souldier in the affayres of hys Prince and Country as he was a wytty Poet in his wryting whose commendations because I found in one of better iudgment then my selfe I wyl sette downe hys wordes and suppresse myne owne of hym thus wryteth E. K. vppon the ninth AEglogue of the new Poet. Master George Gaskoyne a wytty Gentleman and the very chéefe of our late rymers who and if some partes of learning wanted