embraced those pursuits from which it had long been restrained; and society soon obtained that state of general improvement, and conceived that regard for intellectual life, which have never ceased to be cherished since. Surrey was one of the first writers of love-verses in the language, and is esteemed the first classical poet. The lover and the scholar are united in him: his eyes are as often "Cast up into the maiden's tower," as into the book of knowledge, and he as often speaks in praise of his love as of his learning. He wrote but little, yet he had a great influence upon the literature of his country. "Surrey," says Mr. Southey, "was the first English poet who wrote metrically; and the first who used blank verse,-that verse which, for its peculiar and excellent adaptation to the English language, ought to be called the English measure. He wrote also the first English sonnets; and he used the ternal rhyme of Dante,-a meter, by its solemn continuity, so suited to grave subjects, that some poet will surely one day make for himself a lasting reputation by worthily employing it." A PRAISE OF HIS LOVE. Give place ye lovers, here before That spent your boasts and brags in vaine; The best of yours, I dare will sayne, Or brightest day the darkest night. And thereto hath a troth as just For what she saith, ye may it trust I could rehearse, if that I would I know she swore with raging mind, There was no loss, by law of kind That could have gone so near her heart: And this was chiefly all her pain, She could not make the like again. He broke the bondage of rhyme, and gave the first example of English blank verse. He clothed a part of the Eneid in an English dress, and with great fidelity to the sense, preserved much of the beauty of Virgil, the description of Dido's passion, and of the city, revive an association of school-boy days. And when they were all gone, And the dim moon doth oft withhold the light; And sliding stars provoking unto sleep, So to beguile the love cannot be told! The turrets now arise not, erst before: THE FRAILTY OF BEAUTY. Brittle beauty, that nature made so frail, Thou fairest as fruit that with the frost is taken, Nature, even in the most savage ages, teaches elegance to the lover; but Surrey has given to his muse a classic grace, and has contributed something to the advancement of learning in his justness of thought, his purity of diction, and correctness of style. Gascoigne was one of the earliest English dramatic writers and possessed much versatility of talent. He wrote a variety of versification. GASCOIGNE'S GOOD MORROW. You that have spent the silent night, And joy to see the cheerful light That riseth in the east; Now clear your voice, now cheer your heart, Come help me now to sing; Each willing wight come bear a part To praise the heavenly King. And you, whom care in prison keeps, Or secret sorrow breaks your sleeps, Yet bear a part in doleful wise, Yea think it good accord, And acceptable sacrifice, Each sprite to praise the Lord. The dreadful night with darksomeness Had overspread the light, And sluggish sleep with drowsiness Had overspread our might: A glass wherein you may behold, Each storm that stops our breath, Our bed the grave, our clothes like mould, And sleep like dreadful death. Yet as this deadly night did last But for a little space, And heavenly day, now night is past Doth shew his pleasant face, So must we hope to see God's face At last in heaven on high, Where we have changed this mortal place For immortality. And of such hopes, and heavenly joys, As then we hope to hold, All earthly sights and worldly toys Are tokens to behold. The day is like the day of doom, The sun, the Son of man, The skies, the heavens, the earth, the tomb, The rainbow bending in the sky So by the blood that Christ hath shed, The misty clouds that fall sometime And overcast the skies, Are like to troubles of our time But as such dews are dried up quite The heavens on high perpetually do more; |