TEXTUAL NOTES
Reading edition
This is most probably Dorothy Spencer, born Sidney, Countess of Sunderland, Waller’s ‘Saccharissa,’ then a widow: a woman entirely worthy of Stanley’s admiration, and within his circle of personal friends. The Holy Court, a practical and devotional treatise by Nicolas Caussin, S.J., was first translated into English by Sir Thomas Hawkins, and published in London in 1626. There was a fine five-volume edition printed in 1650. A copy of this may, very likely, have been Stanley’s gift. The poem, 1651, is preceded by ‘Madam’ in formal address.
The Editor guesses this young lady, the ‘bright dawn,’ who will ‘challenge every heart,’ later, to be the future Marchioness of Halifax, the little Dorothy, daughter of the Earl of Sunderland (who was killed at Newbury when she was three years old), and ‘Saccharissa.’ She was eleven in 1651. Waller, Sedley, and others, have left happier poems addressed to children, in the same forced tone, which was quite characteristic of the time.
‘Dear, fold me once more in thine arms’ (p. 10).
Love’s Innocence (p. 12).
‘See how this ivy, Dear, doth twine.’
‘Then blush not, Fair, that flame to show, Which, like thyself, no crime can know. Thus, led by those chaste guides, we may Embrace and kiss as free as they.’
‘As are our flames, ’bove reach of words. Thus, Doris, we of these may learn.’
This, in the edition of 1647, is followed by twenty-seven lines of citations from the Greek poets, giving the origins of the epithets applied here to Love.
The Glow-Worm (p. 13).
‘This living star of earth.’
But Stanley’s sensitive sequence, ‘A star thought,’ etc., seems to forbid our recurring to the ‘living star’ as better than the ‘animated gem.’
‘Which doth deceive.’
The title, 1651, is simply: ‘Desiring her to Burn his Verses.’
Title, in Stanley, 1651, reads: ‘On the Edition of Mr. Fletcher’s Works.’
This poem, under the title, ‘To my most honour’d Aunt, the Lady Dormer,’ is the dedication of 1647. Who this lady was is not clear to the Editor, unless she was Alice, daughter to Sir Richard Molyneux, Bart., of Sefton, Lancashire, widow of Sir William Dormer, and mother of the splendid first Earl of Carnarvon, killed in the King’s cause at Newbury, 1643. It is rather noticeable that many of Stanley’s friends and kinsfolk, like the Dormers, were Catholics.
To Mr. W. Hammond (p. 17).
‘Nor any flame but what is thine will own.’
Title in Stanley, 1647: ‘On Mr. I. S. his Poems.’
‘Next like some skilful artist, who to wonder.’
‘And hast so far even future aims surpass’d.’
In Stanley, 1647, entitled: ‘To Mr. E. S. on his Translation of Medea, with the other Tragedies of Seneca the philosopher, and vindication of the Author.’ Sherburne was not knighted until 1682, four years after Stanley’s death.
In Stanley, 1647: ‘To Mr. I. H. on his Essays.’
‘I’ll not commend thee; for thou hast outgrown The reach of all men’s praises but thine own. Encomiums to their full objects are exact: To praise, and not at full, is to detract. And with most justice,’ etc.
The rest as in the present edition. ‘Full,’ in the third line just quoted, is certainly a misprint, crept up from the line below.
‘The pride of others’ autumns poor appears.’
John Hall of Durham was but nineteen years old in 1646.
Fragmenta Aurea, the posthumous collection of Suckling’s poetry, came out in 1646, with a fine portrait engraving by Marshall.
The verses by Stanley’s tutor and friend are reproduced in the editions both of 1647 and of 1651.
THE UNION. Μία ψύχη, δυὸ σώματα By Mr. William Fairfax. As in the crystal-centre of the sight Two subtle beams make but one cone of light, Or, when one flame twin’d with another is, They both ascend in one bright pyramis; Our spirits thus into each other flow,5 One in our being, one in what we know, In what we will, desire, dislike, approve, In what we love; and one is that pure love. As in a burning glass the aerial flame With the producing ray is still the same,10 We to love’s purest quintessence refin’d, Do both become one undivided mind. This sacred fire into itself converts Our yielding spirits and our melting hearts, Till both our lines into one spirit run;15 So several lines are in their centre one. And when thy fair idea is impress’d In the soft tablet of my easier breast, The sweet reflexion brings such sympathy, That I my better self behold in thee;20 And all perfections that in thee combine, By this resultance are entirely mine. Thy rays disperse my shades, who only live Bright in the lustre thou art pleas’d to give,
The Blush (p. 24).
The Cold Kiss (p. 25).
The Idolater (p. 25).
The Magnet (p. 26).
Song: ‘Foolish Lover’ (p. 28).
The Parting (p. 29).
‘But when hereafter thou shalt know That grief hath slain me, come.’
Counsel (p. 29).
‘Stars to jewels they divest thee.’
‘Who would keep another’s heart, With her own must never part.’
Expostulation with Love, in Despair (p. 30).
The text here given is a composite. The variants follow:
‘Love, with what strange tyrannic laws must they Comply, which are subjected to thy sway! How far all justice thy commands decline Which though they hope forbid, yet love enjoin!’
The elision of the relative pronoun between lines 3 and 4 of the present text, and again in the course of line 5, is an irritating mannerism of the time, nowhere more frequent than in Stanley.
‘When death and cold despair inhabit near?’
And 1657:
‘When death and old despair inhabit here?’
‘Rule in my breast alone, or else retire.’
‘Or let me not desire, or else possess! Neither, or both, are equal happiness.’
And 1657:
‘Thus let me ... Either, or both ...’
Song: ‘Faith, ’tis not worth your pains’ (p. 31).
‘To seek t’inspire A heart so pure as mine.’
Expectation (p. 32).
The Breath (p. 33).
Gamble evidently had the 1647 copy of this song before him, as he follows it throughout, slighting Stanley’s corrections of 1651.
The Night: a Dialogue (p. 34).
Unalter’d by Sickness (p. 35).
‘Sickness, in vain thou dost invade A beauty that can never fade.’
The additional opening lines figure only in 1657; there, however, ‘her’ in the second line is misprinted ‘our,’ and line 4 reads:
‘Those beauties which can never fade.’
‘One o’ th’ sweets which crown this Fair.’
But 1657:
‘On those sweets which crown her fair.’
‘To Celia’ is omitted in 1651.
‘Men might languish, and not die At thy then less scorching fire.’
‘Celia Singing’ is the title except in 1647, and the whole is there printed as one stanza.
Not in the edition of 1651. The poem is printed in this section on account of its relation to ‘The Return,’ which follows. ‘The Return’ is possibly but another version of ‘Palinode.’
The Return (p. 38).
Chang’d, yet Constant (p. 39).
The edition of 1651 omits ‘To Chariessa.’ The Editor regrets having included it, by an oversight, in this section.
Song: ‘When I lie burning’ (p. 42).
Delay (p. 43).
The Repulse (p. 44).
Song: ‘Celinda, by what potent art?’ (p. 45).
The Tomb (p. 46).
‘And (thou in this flame sacrific’d to me), We might each other’s mutual martyr be.’
The whole third stanza is reproduced from 1647; it figures neither in 1651 nor in 1657.
1647: ‘To One that pleaded her own Want of Merit.’
1647: ‘The Killing Kiss.’
‘They both unite and join.’
‘Our lips, our tongues, each other’s thoughts betray.’
The Snowball (p. 50).
1647: ‘A Deposition from Beauty.’
Love’s Heretic (p. 52).
La Belle Confidante (p. 54).
‘Even in divorce delighted, . . . . . Still in the grave united.’
The Divorce (p. 57).
‘That taught me such idolatry.’
The line as printed in this book follows 1657.
‘I by thy hate might be releas’d, Who now am prisoner to thy love.’
‘Thus whilst so many suppliants do Implore thy pity they may prove.’
The Bracelet (p. 58).
‘A heart that many storms withstood, have sold.’
‘Guards and defends my heart.’
The Farewell (p. 59).
‘And may, in spite of Fate, thus blest, Be, by this death, of heaven possess’d.’
And 1651:
‘And be, in spite of Fate, thus blest, By this sad death, of heaven possess’d.’
‘Exchange of Souls’: 1647.
The Exequies (p. 61).
‘Whose cold embraces do a victim hide That, paid to Beauty, on Love’s altar died.’
The Silkworm (p. 62).
‘To make thy ornament her spoil.’
Facts, and the context, force one to reverse the possessive pronouns.
‘That her rich work and labours, thou Wilt,’ etc.
Ambition (p. 62).
Song: ‘When, dearest Beauty’ (p. 63).
Song: ‘I will not trust’ (p. 64).
Song: ‘I prithee’ (p. 65).
The Loss (p. 66).
Entitled ‘Song’: 1647.
Stanley gives the title inaccurately.
Mr. W. M.’s Wither-like song (the author of which the Editor has not identified), appears only in the edition of 1651:—
Wert thou yet fairer than thou art, (Which lies not in the power of art,) Or hadst thou in thine eyes more darts Than ever Cupid shot at hearts; Yet if they were not thrown at me,5 I would not cast a thought on thee. I’d rather marry a disease, Than court the thing I cannot please: She that will cherish my desires Must meet my flames with equal fires.10 What pleasure is there in a kiss, To him that doubts the heart’s not his? I love thee not because thou’rt fair, Softer than down, smoother than air; Nor for the Cupids that do lie15 In either corner of thine eye. Wouldst thou then know what it might be? ’Tis I love you, ’cause you love me.
Entitled simply ‘Song’ in 1647.
TRANSLATIONS.
Claim to Love. Guarini. [1651, 1657] (p. 72).
The Sick Lover. Guarini. [1647, 1651, 1657] (p. 72).
Apollo and Daphne. Marino. [1651] (p. 74).
A Lady Weeping. Montalvan. [1651, 1657] (p. 75).
The Hasty Kiss. Secundus. [1647, 1651, 1657] (p. 76).
Translations from Anacreon. [1651, 1657.]