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 simply 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 versifying.

VV. VV.

A Discourse

A Discourse of Eng

lishe Poetrie.·

Ntending 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 Tosrpia, beeing deriued from the Verbe molew, which signifieth in Latine fucere 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 ye 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 Verbe. 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 arté 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 ye feasts which were called Panegeryca, and were wont to be celebrated euery fift yeere, there, they that were most pregnant in wytt, B ii and

and indued with great gyfts of wysedome & knowledge in Musicke aboue the rest did vse commonly to make goodly verses measured according to the sweetest 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 Vates: and the rest which sange of loue matters, or other lighter deuises, alluring vnto pleasure and delight, were called Poeta 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 harmonie called Puos, which is an apt composition of wordes or clauses, drawing as it were by force ye hearers eares euen whether soeuer it lysteth: that Plato affirmeth therein to be contained λoxTeix 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 ciuility and gentlenes, and ye right knowledge of humanity by the force of this measurable or tunable speaking.

This opinion shall you finde confirmed throughout the whole workes of Plato and Aristotle. And that such was the estimation of this Poetry at those times, that they supposed all wisedome and knowledge to be included mystically in that diuine instinction, wherewith they thought their Vates to bee inspyred. Wherevpon, throughout the noble workes of those most excellent Philosophers before named, are the authorities of Poets very often alledged. And Cicero in his Tusculane que

stions is of that minde, that a Poet cannot expresse verses aboundantly, sufficiently, and fully, neither his eloquence can flowe plesauntly, or his wordes sounde well and plenteously, without celestiall instinction: which Poets themselues doo ve ry often and gladlie witnes of themselues, as namely Ouid in 6. Fasto: Est deus in nobis Agitante callescimus illo. &c. Wherevnto I doubt not equally to adioyne the authoritye of our late famous English Poet, who wrote the Sheepheards Calender, where lamenting the decay of Poetry, at these dayes, saith most sweetely to the same.

Then make thee winges of thine aspyring wytt,

And whence thou camest flye backe to heauen apace. &c.

Whose fine poeticall witt, and most exquisite learning, as he shewed aboundantly in that péece of worke, in my iudgment inferiour to the workes neither of Theocritus in Greeke, nor Virgill in Latine, whom hee narrowly immitateth: so I nothing doubt, but if his other workes were common abroade, which are as I thinke in ye close custodie of certaine his fréends, we should haue of our owne Poets, whom wee might matche in all respects with the best. And among all other his workes whatsoeuer, I would wysh to haue the sight of hys English Poet, which his fréend E. K. did once promise to publishe, which whether he performed or not, I knowe not, if he did, my happe hath not béene so good as yet to see it.

But to returne to the estimation of Poetry. Beside ye great and profitable fruites contained in Poetry, for the instruction of manners and precepts of good life (for that was chéefly respected in the first age of Poetry) this is also added to the eternall commendations of that noble faculty: that Kinges and Princes, great and famous men, did euer encourage, mayntaine; and reward Poets in al ages: because they were thought onely to haue the whole power in their handes, of making men either immortally famous for their valiaunt exploytes and vertuous exercises, or perpetually infamous for their vicious. liues. Wherevppon it is said of Achilles, that this onely vanB iii

tage

tage he had of Hector, that it was his fortune to be extolled and remowned by the heauenly verse of Homer. And as Tully recordeth to be written of Alexander, that with natural teares he wept ouer Achilles Tombe, in ioy that he conceiued at the consideration, howe it was his happe to be honoured wyth so diuine a worke, as Homers was. Aristotle, a most prudent and learned Philosopher, béeing appointed Schoolemaster to the young Prince Alexander, thought no worke so meete to be reade vnto a King, as the worke of Homer: wherein the young Prince being by him instructed throughly, found such wonderfull delight in the same when hee came to maturity, that hee would not onely haue it with him in all his iourneyes, but in his bedde also vnder his pyllowe, to delight him and teache him both nights and dayes. The same is reported of noble Scipio, who finding the two Bookes of Homer in the spoyle of Kyng Darius, esteemed them as wonderfull precious Jewelles, making one of them his companion for the night, the other for the day. And not onely was he thus affected to yt one péece or parté of Poetry, but so generally he loued the professors thereof, that in his most serious affayres, and hottest warres against Numantia and Carthage, he could no whitte be without that olde Poet Ennius in his company. But to speake of all those noble and wyse Princes, who bare speciall fauour and couutenaunce to Poets, were tedious, and would require a rehearsall of all such, in whose time there grewe any to credite and estimation in that faculty. Thus farre therefore may suffice for the estimation of Poets. Nowe I thinke most méete, to speake somewhat, concerning what hath béene the vse of Poetry, and wherin it rightly consisted, and whereof consequently it obteyned such estimation.

To begin therefore with the first that was first worthelye memorable in the excellent gyft of Poetrye, the best wryters agrée that it was Orpheus, who by the sweete gyft of his heauenly Poetry, withdrew men from raungyng vncertainly, and wandring brutishly about, and made them gather together, and kéepe company, made houses, and kept fellowshippe together, who therefore is reported (as Horace sayth) to asswage the

fiercenesse