VII. HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED POEMS.
Reading edition
METAPHRASE OF SOME OF THE PSALMS, &c.
NOTE.
The Manuscript Volume from which the following hitherto unpublished Poems are taken, is the property of David Laing, Esq., LL.D., Edinburgh, who purchased it, or perhaps obtained it in exchange many years ago from the Rev. John Jamieson, D.D., author of the "Scottish Dictionary" and other learned works—a scholar of full learning and to be held in honour in many respects. It was parted with to his like-minded friend as containing the hitherto unprinted 'Psalms,' &c., by Sir John Davies; but no memorial remains to ascertain the quarter from whence Dr. Jamieson obtained the Volume. Mr. Laing states that, if anything was said at the time on the subject, it has escaped his recollection; and this cannot be wondered at, as it must have been from thirty to forty years ago.
Along with eminent Experts I have carefully compared this Manuscript with undoubted holographs of Sir John Davies, preserved in Her Majesty's State Paper Office (State Papers: Domestic. James I. Vol. 173. No. 54: Oct. 18, 1624, etc., etc.) and among the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum—the former being preferable as being of the same year-date with ours: and I feel constrained to pronounce it throughout non-autograph. There are at least FIVE handwritings in the volume—as more particularly described in locis: but none bears a resemblance to Sir John Davies'. The Manuscript, therefore, belongs to a class that abounds at the Period, viz, a Scribe's transcript and which closely resembles that of MS. Speeches and other writings of Davies preserved among the Harleian MSS. This is further, in accord with Sir John Davies' practice, as appears by 'The Egerton Papers' of Mr. Collier, (Camden Society, 1840, I Vol. 40.) where in a letter to Ellesmere (pp. 410-16) he apologizes for his own 'ill hand' and substitutes his 'man's.' The evidence for Davies' authorship of these Poems is EXTERNAL and INTERNAL.
(a) The existence of the 'Metaphrase of the Psalms'—which composes the greater portion of the Manuscript—has long been on record. Thus Anthony-a-Wood in his Athenæ states "Besides the before-mentioned things (as also Epigrams, as 'tis said) which were published by, and under the name of Sir John Davies, are several MSS. of his writing and composing, which go from hand to hand, as (I) Metaphrase of several of K. David's Psalms...." (edn. Bliss ii., 403.) The original of the Psalms' MS. was in possession of Sir John's own daughter, the Countess of Huntingdon, as I found in the Carte MSS. Bodleian, Oxford.
The others are MSS.—some in part since published—which Wood describes as formerly in the Library of Sir James Ware, and then in that of the Earl of Clarendon.
(b) The handwriting of the Manuscript is exactly correspondent with that of its date '1624.' It is uniform from Psalm I. to L.
(c) Throughout the 'Psalms' and other Poems, favourite words of Sir John Davies' occur: in part peculiar to him or used in a peculiar way. I must refer the Student to the Poems themselves for the great majority of examples: but note here half-a-dozen—all the references being to our own edition of the previous Poems.
1. 'Withall': "... that sinne that we are borne withall." ('Nosce Teipsum' page 57, stanza 5th, line 4th.) So in the 'Psalms': "Be merciful and hear my prayer withall." (Ps. 4th, line 4th.)
2. 'Wight': "... this World below did need one wight." (page 60: stanza 4th, line 1st.) So in the 'Psalms': "... measures Iustice vnto euery wight." (Ps. 9th, line 16th.)
3. 'gray Winter': "Here flow'ry Spring-tide and there Winter gray." (page 63, stanza 1st, line 4th.) So in 'A Maid's Hymne in praise of Virginity': "To whome graye Winter neuer doth apeare." (line 7th.)
4. 'On' meaning 'o'er': "Will holds the royall scepter on the soul" ('Nosce Teipsum,' page 79, stanza 2nd, line 3rd.) "And on the passions of the heart doth raigne." (page 79, stanza 2d, line 4th.) So in the 'Psalms': "Let not my foes trihumph on mee againe." (Ps. 35th, line 37th). "In that my foe doth not trihumph on me." (Ps. 41st, line 22d.)
5. 'Detruded': "... such as me detruded downe to Hell." (page 110, stanza 1st, line 1st.) So in the 'Psalms': Therefore although my soule detruded were euen to Hell's gates.... (Ps. 23rd, line 7th.)
6. 'Center' meaning 'Earth': "Suruey all things that on this center here." (page 25th, stanza 1st, line 4th.) So in the 'Psalms': "And all that dwell on his round Center here." (Ps. 23rd, line 16th.)
It were easy to multiply these instances from the 'Psalms' and the other Poems.
(d) The secular Poems contain personal allusions that authenticate their authorship. In the 'Elegie of Loue' and in the lines "To the Kinge vpon his Maties first comming into England" these are of singular interest and value. The latter harmonizes with the fact that Sir John Davies proceeded North to meet the King: and it has a direct reference to his 'Nosce Teipsum.' Speaking of his Muse he exclaims,
"Thy sight had once an influence divine Which gave it power the Soul of man to vew."
Another personal allusion is found in his address to the "Ladyes of Founthill" in his native Wilts.
(e) The "Verses sent to the Kinge with ffiges" is inscribed "by Sir John Davis" and the "Elegiacal Epistle" which immediately follows these 'Verses' naturally closes a Volume containing the compositions of our Worthy. 'Davis' is his own spelling in the 1608 edition of 'Nosce Teipsum,' and in Davison's 'Rhapsody.'
(f) Exclusive of the 'Psalms'—the Davies' authorship of which admits of no doubt—the other Poems have Sir John Davies' characteristics in choice of subjects and style, and specific wording, as above. 'Elegie' is herein used as in the title-page of 'Nosce Teipsum.'
The Manuscript is a thin folio of forty-one leaves and one page: but verso of 35th leaf consists of Memoranda headed "The State of England before the Conquest, briefely. By Henry, Lord Hastings, amongst his Notes found": and leaves 36 and 37 and page 38 (verso blank) contain 'Notes' on "William Bastarde, the Norman Conquerour of England." The former is in a handwriting different from all the rest: the latter the same as the Poems that follow "Part of an Elegie in prayse of Marriage." There are a number of contemporary and of more recent blank leaves. It is bound in dark calf, with tooled ornament in the centre.
In preparing this Manuscript for the Press, my anxious endeavour has been faithfully to reproduce the original: only I have extended the contractions 'wh and wch' for 'with' and 'which' and 'or. yr' for 'our' and 'your' and the like. I have somewhat modified the capitals: but in the Divine names (nouns and pronouns) and impersonations, have employed capitals. The punctuation of the Manuscript is almost nil: I have adopted present usage on a uniform principle; and also the apostrophe of the possessive case, &c. Only one point perplexed me a little, viz. the sign of the plural. At the period a peculiar form represented 'es' as denoting plural, but examination showed our Manuscript as using it with 'e' immediately before. Hence it is apparent the Scribe used it arbitrarily. My rule has been to represent it simply by 's' for our plural, except in the cases—pointed out where they occur—in which 'es' as an additional syllable is required for the rhythm. Throughout, the orthography is literally preserved: and besides six collations of my transcript with the Original, by myself, I have had the advantage of a minute comparison by my experienced and erudite friend, the late John Bruce, Esq., of London, and in part by W. Aldis Wright, Esq., M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge. So that our first publication of the Manuscript may be relied on as absolutely true to the Original. It may be added that I have adhered to the order in which the several Poems are given, with the single exception of placing the anonymous very noticeable 'Elegiacal Epistle' on the death of Davies last. The two short pieces that precede it in our Volume, occupy in the MS. the closing page, which is a kind of fly-leaf.
I feel assured that every admirer of Sir John Davies will agree with me that a deep debt of gratitude is due to Mr. Laing for his generous consent to have the Manuscript included in our editions of the 'Poems.' Independent of the interest attaching to their illustrious authorship the 'Psalms' seem to me to possess rare merits, being as a whole strikingly faithfull to the Original, and not para-phrastic—hence Anthony-a-Wood's 'Metaphrase'—simple yet picturesque, 'smooth' but melodious, and in every quality infinitely superior to the attempts of Bacon, Jeremy Taylor, Rous, and others. Some of the Versions must find a place in the Church's Psalmody and Hymnology.
I must not omit to acknowledge the courteous attention of Mr. W. Carew Hazlitt in informing me of the existence and ownership of the Manuscript. Anything further requiring to be said, will be found in the footnotes. G.