Other Metaphysical Poets.-Strangely enough, the authors who were most guilty of fantastic writing were writers of poems on sacred subjects. FRANCIS QUARLES wrote a curious set of religious Emblems, and in one of them he compares life to a meadow which "to-day wears "HOLY GEORGE her green plush, and is to-morrow hay." HERBERT," as he was called, wrote a series of hymns, In one of his matins, or mornentitled The Temple, &c. ing songs, he speaks of climbing to heaven on a sunbeam. After him came RICHARD CRASHAW, a very clever and learned poet, whose writings are for the most part of a religious character. Alluding to the changing of water into wine at the wedding feast, he says-"The conscious water saw its God and blushed." III. THE LYRIC POETS. ROBERT HERRICK (b. London, 1591, d. 1674)-After receiving his education at Cambridge, this poet was appointed to a Devonshire vicarage, where he continued to labour for twenty years. During the civil war he was ejected by Cromwell. For this he was not very sorry, being naturally a merry man, and more at home in a tavern than in a church, loving better the jovial company of the wits of his time than the rude "salvages" who had been his parishioners. After the Restoration he got back to his vicarage, and repenting of his errors, died in 1674. His poetical works consist, for the most part, of short song-like poems, called lyrics, and are nearly all about His imagery is very beautiful, love, wine, and women. and his language expressive and full of music. append a little lyric by way of illustration— But with my fingers pointed to The lips of Julia. "Some asked how pearls did grow, and where, Then spake I to my girl, We SAMUEL DANIEL. To part her lips, and show me there "One asked me where the roses grew, But forthwith bade my Julia show 87 Other Lyric Poets. The most important names belonging to this class are those of CAREW, SUCKLING, and LOVELACE, all of whom were attached to the court of Charles I., and for that reason were sometimes called the Court Poets. They are also known as the Poets of Gallantry, since most of their lyrics are in praise of the ladies. IV. OTHER POETS. Historical Poets.-SAMUEL DANIEL (1562-1619) was highly esteemed as the author of The History of the Civil Wars, or Wars of the Roses. It is a well written poem on a very prosy subject. RICHARD THE SECOND'S LAST MORNING. (From Daniel's "History of the Civil Wars.") "The morning of that day which was his last, Out at a little grate his eyes he cast Upon those bordering hills and open plain, "O happy man,' saith he, that lo I see, Grazing his cattle in those pleasant fields, "Thou sitt'st at home safe by thy quiet fire, ... And hear'st of others' harms, but fearest none: Perhaps thou talk'st of me, and dost inquire "Thrice happy you that look as from the shore, Other men's travels, while yourselves sit free. Descriptive Poets. MICHAEL DRAYTON was the author of the Polyolbion, which might be called the Poetical Geography of England and Wales, for it describes the scenery and tells the history of all the noteworthy places in the country. His most exquisite work is the Nymphidia, a delightful poem, in which the wonders of fairy-land are described with a richness of imagination and a gracefulness of language rarely surpassed. QUEEN MAB'S CHARIOT. (From Drayton's "Nymphidia.") Four nimble gnats the horses were, Upon the coach-box getting. "Her chariot of a snail's fine shell, The seat the soft wool of the bee, The cover (gallantly to see) The wing of a py'd butterflee; I trow, 'twas simple trimming." Satirical Poets. The principal satirists were DONNE (already alluded to) and HALL, Bishop of Norwich, whose THE RISE AND EARLY PROGRESS OF THE DRAMA. 39 Toothless Satires first, and afterwards his Biting Satires, were directed against some of the vices of his time, and are interesting because of the pictures we thus obtain of the manners and customs of the age. CHAPTER V. THE RISE AND EARLY PROGRESS OF THE DRAMA. The Mystery or Miracle Play-the Morality-the Interludethe First Comedy-the First Tragedy-the First Theatres. THE EARLY DRAMATISTS-Marlowe-Other Dramatists. The Mystery or Miracle Play.-This is the name of the first kind of play known in England, and it dates back to the Norman period. The common people of that time were very ignorant; and the monks, in order to teach them something of sacred history, set up three platforms in their churches, one above another, to represent Hell, Earth, and Heaven. On these they acted the stories of the Bible. Such plays were common until the end of the fourteenth century. The Morality. As civilization advanced, the Mystery gave place to the Morality-that is, a play by which the people were taught useful lessons, showing how the good are rewarded, and the wicked punished. Instead, however, of the Adams, and Cains, and Abrahams of the Mystery, we have such characters as Wisdom, Good Counsel, Gluttony, Pride, &c. In short, the Morality was just an allegory acted on the stage. It continued to be popular till the close of the sixteenth century. The Interlude.—This was a still nearer approach to the modern drama. It was shorter and merrier than either of the preceding plays, and is supposed to have been played between the acts of the wearisome Morality, with a view to make the audience more cheerful. This is why they are called inter-ludes. JOHN HEYWOOD, jestër to Henry VIII., wrote many plays of this kind. The First Comedy. The original meaning of the word comedy is a merry-making song. It now means a play in which the little faults and failings of the people are held up to public ridicule. The earliest English comedy is Ralph Royster Doyster, by NICHOLAS UDALL. Ralph is a young heir, with more money than brains. He is, surrounded by a set of flatterers, who help him to spend his wealth, and secretly make him their laughing-stock by leading him into all sorts of scrapes. The play very clearly shows the weaknesses of middle class society in the sixteenth century. It was first acted in 1551. The First Tragedy.—The word tragedy comes from two Greek words, meaning a goat song. It was the name of an anthem sung to a heathen god, just before a goat was killed for the sacrifice; hence tragedy now means ɑ drama ending in sorrow and death. The first regular play of this kind in England was written by SACKVILLE and NORTON, and is called Gorboduc, or Ferrex and Porrex. It tells the story of an ancient British king (Gorboduc), and his two sons, named respectively Ferrex and Porrex. These brothers quarrelled. Ferrex was driven from the land; and, on attempting to gain back his lost possessions, was defeated and slain. Porrex is afterwards put to death by his own mother and her women. This tragedy was first acted in 1562. The First Theatres.-Long before the existence of regular theatres, there were companies of strolling players, who had a portable stage, which they could erect in a barn, in the yard of an inn, at fairs, and at other places of public resort. It is not of such as these we mean to speak, but of the first theatres established in London. These were built, for the most part, on the south side of the Thames, because, in Elizabeth's time at least, the residents on the north disliked both plays and players. The most celebrated of the London theatres was the Globe, which was an octagon or eight-sided building, having no roof except high above the stage, for between the stage and the roof |