The Lucasta Poems online

Then to sum up the abstract of his store,
He flings a rope of Pearl of forty more.
Ah, see! the stagg'ring virtue faints! which he
Beholding, darts his Wealths Epitome;
And now, to consummate her wished fall,
Shows this one Carbuncle, that darkens all.

"THE WILD-GOOSE CHASE. A Comedie: As it hath been acted
with singular applause at the BLACKFRIERS. Being the Noble,
Last, and Onely REMAINES of those Incomparable DRAMATISTS,
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Gent. London: Printed for
Humphrey Moseley, 1652," folio.

Singer reads HE, but original SHE, as above. Of course
Cleopatra is meant.

Fletcher's MAD LOVER.

Fletcher's FAITHFUL SHEPHERDESS.

THE MAID'S TRAGEDY, by Beaumont and Fletcher, 1619.

Should we not read FIFTY, and understand the collected
edition of Beaumont and Fletcher's Works in 1647?

The WILD-GOOSE CHASE, which is also apparently the CARBUNCLE
mentioned two lines lower down.



TO
MY NOBLE KINSMAN THOMAS STANLEY, ESQ.
ON HIS LYRICK POEMS COMPOSED
BY MR. JOHN GAMBLE.

I.
What means this stately tablature,
The ballance of thy streins,
Which seems, in stead of sifting pure,
T' extend and rack thy veins?
Thy Odes first their own harmony did break:
For singing, troth, is but in tune to speak.

II.
Nor trus thy golden feet and wings.
It may be thought false melody
T' ascend to heav'n by silver strings;
This is Urania's heraldry.
Thy royal poem now we may extol,
As truly Luna blazon'd upon Sol.

III.
As when Amphion first did call
Each listning stone from's den;
And with his lute did form the wall,
But with his words the men;
So in your twisted numbers now you thus
Not only stocks perswade, but ravish us.

IV.
Thus do your ayrs eccho ore
The notes and anthems of the sphaeres,
And their whole consort back restore,
As if earth too would blesse Heav'ns ears;
But yet the spoaks, by which they scal'd so high,
Gamble hath wisely laid of UT RE MI.

Thomas Stanley, Esq., author of the HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY,
and an elegant poet and translator, v. SUPRA.

Lovelace wrote these lines for AYRES AND DIALOGUES. TO BE SUNG
TO THE THEORBO, LUTE, OR BASE-VIOLL: By John Gamble, London,
Printed by William Godbid for the Author, 1656. folio. [The words
are by Stanley.]

"Wood, in his account of this person, vol. i. col. 285,
conjectures that many of the songs in the above collection
(Gamble's AYRES, &c. 1659), were written by the learned Thomas
Stanley, Esq., author of the HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY, and seemingly
with good reason, for they resemble, in the conciseness and elegant
turn of them, those poems of his printed in 1651, containing
translations from Anacreon, Bion, Moschus and others." - Hawkins.

LUCASTA and AYRES AND DIALOGUES read THUS, which leaves
no meaning in this passage.

Old editions have MAY IT.

Harmonie - AYRES AND DIALOGUES, &c.

Original reads AND, and so also the AYRES AND DIALOGUES.

Old editions have THE.

So the AYRES AND DIALOGUES. LUCASTA has HIS.

P. 249. UT RE MI.

See LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, 1598, iv. 3: -
"Hol. Old Mantuan! Old Mantuan! who understandeth thee not,
loves thee not - UT, RE, SOL, la, mi, FA" - -

And Singer's SHAKESPEARE, ed. 1856, ii. 257, NOTE 15.



TO DR. F. B[EALE]; ON HIS BOOK OF CHESSE.

Sir, how unravell'd is the golden fleece:
Men, that could only fool at FOX AND GEESE,
Are new-made polititians by thy book,
And both can judge and conquer with a look.
The hidden fate of princes you unfold;
Court, clergy, commons, by your law control'd.
Strange, serious wantoning all that they
Bluster'd and clutter'd for, you PLAY.

These lines, among the last which Lovelace ever wrote,
were originally prefixed to "The Royal Game of Chesse-Play.
Sometimes the Recreation of the late King, with many of the
Nobility. Illustrated with almost an hundred gambetts. Being
the Study of Biochino, the famous Italian [Published by Francis
Beale.]" Lond. 1656, 12mo.

The text of 1656 has, erroneously no doubt, POLITIANS.

Text of 1656 has FATES.



TO THE GENIUS OF MR. JOHN HALL.
ON HIS EXACT TRANSLATION OF HIEROCLES
HIS COMMENT UPON THE GOLDEN VERSES OF PYTHAGORAS.

Tis not from cheap thanks thinly to repay
Th' immortal grove of thy fair-order'd bay
Thou planted'st round my humble fane, that I
Stick on thy hearse this sprig of Elegie:
Nor that your soul so fast was link'd in me,
That now I've both, since't has forsaken thee:
That thus I stand a Swisse before thy gate,
And dare, for such another, time and fate.
Alas! our faiths made different essays,
Our Minds and Merits brake two several ways;
Justice commands I wake thy learned dust,
And truth, in whom all causes center must.

Behold! when but a youth, thou fierce didst whip
Upright the crooked age, and gilt vice strip;
A senator praetext, that knew'st to sway
The fasces, yet under the ferula;
Rank'd with the sage, ere blossome did thy chin,
Sleeked without, and hair all ore within,
Who in the school could'st argue as in schools:
Thy lessons were ev'n academie rules.
So that fair Cam saw thee matriculate,
At once a tyro and a graduate.

At nineteen, what ESSAYES have we beheld!
That well might have the book of Dogmas swell'd;
Tough Paradoxes, such as Tully's, thou
Didst heat thee with, when snowy was thy brow,
When thy undown'd face mov'd the Nine to shake,
And of the Muses did a decad make.
What shall I say? by what allusion bold?
NONE BUT THE SUN WAS ERE SO YOUNG AND OLD.

Young reverend shade, ascend awhile! whilst we
Now celebrate this posthume victorie,
This victory, that doth contract in death
Ev'n all the pow'rs and labours of thy breath.
Like the Judean Hero, in thy fall
Thou pull'st the house of learning on us all.
And as that soldier conquest doubted not,
Who but one splinter had of Castriot,
But would assault ev'n death so strongly charmd,
And naked oppose rocks, with his bone arm'd;
So we, secure in this fair relique, stand
The slings and darts shot by each profane hand.
These soveraign leaves thou left'st us are become
Sear clothes against all Times infection.

Sacred Hierocles, whose heav'nly thought
First acted ore this comment, ere it wrote,
Thou hast so spirited, elixir'd, we
Conceive there is a noble alchymie,
That's turning of this gold to something more
Pretious than gold, we never knew before.
Who now shall doubt the metempsychosis
Of the great Author, that shall peruse this?
Let others dream thy shadow wandering strays
In th' Elizian mazes hid with bays;
Or that, snatcht up in th' upper region,
'Tis kindled there a constellation;
I have inform'd me, and declare with ease
THY SOUL IS FLED INTO HIEROCLES.

These lines were originally prefixed to "Hierocles
upon the Golden Verses of Pythagoras. Teaching a Virtuous
and Worthy Life. Translated by John Hall, of Durham, Esquire.
OPUS POSTHUMUM." Lond. 1657, 12mo. (The copy among the King's
pamphlets in the British Museum appears to have been purchased
on the 8th Sept. 1656.) The variations between the texts of 1656
and 1659 are chiefly literal, but a careful collation has enabled
me to rectify one or two errors of the press in LUCASTA.

Lovelace refers to the lines which Hall wrote in
commendation of LUCASTA, 1649.

The HORAE VACIVAE of Hall, 1646, 16mo., are here meant.

See Beloe's translation of Aulus Gellius, ii. 86.

HORAE VACIVAE, or Essays and some Occasional Considerations.
Lond. 1646, 16mo., with a portrait of Hall by William Marshall,
au. aet. 19.

Sampson.

Scanderbeg, whose real name was George Castriot.
CASTRIOT is also one of the DRAMATIS PERSONAE in Fletcher'
KNIGHT OF MALTA.

So the text of 165 , .e. of the lines as originally
written by the poet. Lucasta, 659, erroneously has THIS.

"And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth
his hand and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith." - JUDGES, xv. 15.

i.e. withstand.

So the text of 1656. LUCASTA has WROUGHT.



TRANSLATIONES / TRANSLATIONS.





SANAZARI HEXASTICON.

Viderat Adriacis quondam Neptunus in undis
Stare urbem et toto ponere Jura mari:
Nunc mihi Tarpeias quantumvis, Jupiter, Arces
Objice et illa mihi moenia Martis, ait,
Seu pelago Tibrim praefers, urbem aspice utramque,
Illam homines dices, hanc posuisse deos.

SANAZAR'S HEXASTICK.

In Adriatick waves when Neptune saw,
The city stand, and give the seas a law:
Now i' th' Tarpeian tow'rs Jove rival me,
And Mars his walls impregnable, said he;
Let seas to Tyber yield; view both their ods!
You'l grant that built by men, but this by gods.

Rome.

Points of difference or contrast. For LET SEAS, &c., we
ought to read SHALL SEAS, &c.



IN VIRGILIUM. PENTADII.

Pastor, arator, eques; pavi, colui, superavi;
Capras, rus, hostes; fronde, ligone, manu.

IN ENGLISH.

A swain, hind, knight: I fed, till'd, did command:
Goats, fields, my foes: with leaves, a spade, my hand.



DE SCAEVOLA.

Lictorem pro rege necans nunc mutius ultro
Sacrifico propriam concremat igne manum:
Miratur Porsenna virum, paenamque relaxans
Maxima cum obscessis faedera a victor init,
Plus flammis patriae confert quam fortibus armis,
Una domans bellum funere dextra sua.

ENGLISHED.

The hand, by which no king but serjeant dies,
Mutius in fire doth freely sacrifice;
The prince admires the Hero, quits his pains,
And Victor from the seige peace entertains;
Rome's more oblig'd to flames than arms or pow'r,
When one burnt hand shall the whole war devour.

A somewhat imperfect rendering of LICTOR.

The reader will easily judge for himself of the valueless
character of these translations; but it is only just to Lovelace
to suggest that they were probably academic exercises only,
and at the same time to submit that they are not much worse than
Marlowe's translation of Ovid, and many other versions of the
Classics then current.



DE CATONE.

Invictus victis in partibus omnia Caesar
Vincere qui potuit, te, Cato, non potuit.

OF CATO.

The world orecome, victorious Caesar, he
That conquer'd all, great Cato, could not thee.



ITEM.

Ictu non potuit primo Cato solvere vitam;
Defecit tanto vulnere victa manus:
Altius inseruit digitos, qua spiritus ingens
Exiret, magnum dextera fecit iter.
Opposuit fortuna moram, involvitque, Catonis
Scires ut ferro plus valuisse manum.

ANOTHER.

One stabbe could not fierce Cato's life unty;
Onely his hand of all that wound did dy.
Deeper his fingers tear to make a way
Open, through which his mighty soul might stray.
Fortune made this delay to let us know,
That Cato's hand more then his sword could do.

Cato of Utica.



ITEM.

Jussa manus sacri pectus violare Catonis
Haesit, et inceptum victa reliquit opus.
Ille ait, infesto contra sua vulnera vultu:
Estne aliquid, magnus quod Cato non potuit?

ANOTHER.

The hand of sacred Cato, bad to tear
His breast, did start, and the made wound forbear;
Then to the gash he said with angry brow:
And is there ought great Cato cannot do?



ITEM.

Dextera, quid dubitas? durum est jugulare Catonem;
Sed modo liber erit: jam puto non dubitas!
Fas non est vivo quenquam servire Catone,
Nedum ipsum vincit nunc Cato si moritur.

ANOTHER.

What doubt'st thou, hand? sad Cato 'tis to kill;
But he'l be free: sure, hand, thou doubt'st not still!
Cato alive, 'tis just all men be free:
Nor conquers he himself, now if he die.



PENTADII.

Non est, fulleris, haec beata non est
Quod vos creditis esse, vita non est:
Fulgentes manibus videre gemmas
Et testudineo jacere lecto,
Aut pluma latus abdidisse molli,
Aut auro bibere, aut cubare cocco;
Regales dapibus gravare mensas,
Et quicquid Lybico secatur arvo;
Non una positum tenere cella:
Sed nullos trepidum timere casus,
Nec vano populi favore tangi,
Et stricto nihil aestuare ferro:
Hoc quisquis poterit, licebit illi
Fortunam moveat loco superbus.

ENGLISHED.

It is not, y' are deceav'd, it is not blisse
What you conceave a happy living is:
To have your hands with rubies bright to glow,
Then on your tortoise-bed your body throw,
And sink your self in down, to drink in gold,
And have your looser self in purple roll'd;
With royal fare to make the tables groan,
Or else with what from Lybick fields is mown,
Nor in one vault hoard all your magazine,
But at no cowards fate t' have frighted bin;
Nor with the peoples breath to be swol'n great,
Nor at a drawn stiletto basely swear.
He that dares this, nothing to him's unfit,
But proud o' th' top of fortunes wheel may sit.



AD M. T. CICERONEM.
CATUL EP. 50.

Disertissime Romuli nepotum,
Quot sunt, quotque fuere, Marce Tulli,
Quotque post alios erunt in annos,
Gratias tibi maximas Catullus
Agit, pessimus omnium poeta:
Tanto pessimus omnium poeta,
Quanto tu optimus omnium patronus.

TO MARCUS T. CICERO.
IN AN ENGLISH PENTASTICK.

Tully to thee, Rome's eloquent sole heir,
The best of all that are, shall be, and were,
I the worst poet send my best thanks and pray'r:
Ev'n by how much the worst of poets I,
By so much you the best of patrones be.



AD JUVENCIUM. CAT. EP. 49.

Mellitos oculos tuos, Juvenci,
Si quis me sinat usque basiare,
Usque ad millia basiem trecenta;
Nec unquam videat satur futurus:
Non si densior aridis aristis,
Sit nostrae seges osculationis.

TO JUVENCIUS.

Juvencius, thy fair sweet eyes
If to my fill that I may kisse,
Three hundred thousand times I'de kisse,
Nor future age should cloy this blisse;
No, not if thicker than ripe ears
The harvest of our kisses bears.



DE PUERO ET PRAECONE. CATUL.

Cum puero bello praeconem qui videt esse,
Quid credat, nisi se vendere discupere?


CATUL.

With a fair boy a cryer we behold,
What should we think, but he would not be sold?

Lovelace has made nonsense of this passage. We ought
to read rather, "but that he would be sold!"



PORTII LICINII.

Si Phoebi soror es, mando tibi, Delia, causam,
Scilicet, ut fratri quae peto verba feras:
Marmore Sicanio struxi tibi, Delphice, templum,
Et levibus calamis candida verba dedi.
Nunc, si nos audis, atque es divinus Apollo,
Dic mihi, qui nummos non habet unde petat.

ENGLISHED.

If you are Phoebus sister, Delia, pray,
This my request unto the Sun convay:
O Delphick god, I built thy marble fane,
And sung thy praises with a gentle cane,
Now, if thou art divine Apollo, tell,
Where he, whose purse is empty, may go fill.

Reed or pipe.



SENECAE EX CLEANTHE.

Duc me, Parens celsique Dominator poli,
Quocunque placuit, nulla parendi mora est;
Adsum impiger; fac nolle, comitabor gemens,
Malusque patiar facere, quod licuit bono.
Ducunt volentem Fata, nolentem trahunt.

ENGLISHED.

Parent and Prince of Heav'n, O lead, I pray,
Where ere you please, I follow and obey.
Active I go, sighing, if you gainsay,
And suffer bad what to the good was law.
Fates lead the willing, but unwilling draw.



QUINTI CATULI.

Constiteram exorientem Auroram forte salutans,
Cum subito a laeva Roscius exoritur.
Pace mihi liceat, coelestes, dicere vestra.
Mortalis visu pulchrior esse deo.
Blanditur puero satyrus vultuque manuque;
Nolenti similis retrahit ora puer:
Quem non commoveat, quamvis de marmore? fundit
Pene preces satyrus, pene puer lachrymas.

ENGLISHED.

As once I bad good morning to the day,
O' th' sudden Roscius breaks in a bright ray:
Gods with your favour, I've presum'd to see
A mortal fairer then a deitie.
With looks and hands a satyre courts the boy,
Who draws back his unwilling cheek as coy.
Although of marble hewn, whom move not they?
The boy ev'n seems to weep, the satyre, pray.



FLORIDI. DE EBRIOSO.

Phoebus me in somnis vetuit potare Lyaeum,
Pareo praeceptis: tunc bibo cum vigilo.

OF A DRUNKARD.

Phoebus asleep forbad me wine to take:
I yield; and now am only drunk awake.



DE ASINO QUI DENTIBUS AENEIDEM CONSUMPSIT.

Carminis iliaci libros consumpsit asellus;
Hoc fatum Troiae est: aut equus, aut asinus.

THE ASSE EATING THE AENEIDS.

A wretched asse the Aeneids did destroy:
A horse or asse is still the fate of Troy.



AUSONIUS LIB. EPIG.

Trinarii quodam currentem in littoris ora
Ante canes leporem caeruleus rapuit;
At lepus: in me omnis terrae pelagique rapina est,
Forsitan et coeli, si canis astra tenet.

ENGLISHED.

On the Sicilian strand a hare well wrought
Before the hounds was by a dog-fish caught;
Quoth she: all rape of sea and earth's on me,
Perhaps of heav'n, if there a dog-star be.

Qu. a contraction of AIT.



AUSONIUS LIB. EPIG.

Polla, potenta, tribon, baculus, scyphus: arcta supellex
Haec fuerant Cinici, sed putat hanc nimiam:
Namque cavis manibus cernens potare bubulcum,
Cur, scyphe, te, dixit, gusto supervacuum?

ENGLISHED.

The Cynicks narrow houshould stuffe of crutch,
A stool and dish, was lumber thought too much:
For whilst a hind drinks out on's palms o' th' strand
He flings his dish: cries: I've one in my hand!



AUSONIUS LIB. I. EPIG.

Thesauro invento qui limina mortis inibat,
Liquit ovans laqueum, quo periturus erat;
At qui, quod terrae abdiderat, non repperit aurum,
Quem laqueum invenit nexuit, et periit.

ENGLISHED.

A treasure found one, entring at death's gate,
Triumphing leaves that cord, was meant his fate;
But he the gold missing, which he did hide,
The halter which he found he knit: so dy'd.



A LA CHABOT.

Object adorable et charmant!
Mes souspirs et mes pleurs tesmoignent mon torment;
Mais mon respect m'empeche de parler.
Ah! que peine dissimuler!
Et que je souffre de martyre,
D'aimer et de n'oser le dire!

TO THE SAME AYRE IN ENGLISH, THUS,

Object adorable of charms!
My sighs and tears may testifie my harms;
But my respect forbids me to reveal.
Ah, what a pain 'tis to conceal!
And how I suffer worse then hell,
To love, and not to dare to tell!

Original has MES RESPECTS.



THEOPHILE BEING DENY'D HIS ADDRESSES TO KING JAMES,
TURNED THE AFFRONT TO HIS OWN GLORY IN THIS EPIGRAM.

Si Jaques, le Roy du scavior,
Ne trouue bon de me voir,
Voila la cause infallible!
Car, ravy de mon escrit,
Il creut, que j'estois tout esprit
Et par consequent invisible.

LINEALLY TRANSLATED OUT OF THE FRENCH.

If James, the king of wit,
To see me thought not fit,
Sure this the cause hath been,
That, ravish'd with my merit,
He thought I was all spirit,
And so not to be seen.



AUSONIUS.

Vane, quid affectas faciem mihi ponere, pictor,
Ignotamque oculis solicitare manu?
Aeris et venti sum filia, mater inanis
Indicii, vocemque sine mente gero.
Auribus in vestris habito penetrabilis echo;
Si mihi vis similem pingere, pinge sonos.

IN ENGLISH.

Vain painter, why dost strive my face to draw
With busy hands? a goddesse eyes nere saw.
Daughter of air and wind, I do rejoyce
In empty shouts; (without a mind) a voice.
Within your ears shrill echo I rebound,
And, if you'l paint me like, then paint a sound.



AUSON[IUS].

Toxica zelotypo dedit uxor maecha marito,
Nec satis ad mortem credidit esse datum;
Miscuit argenti lethalia pondera vivi,
Ut celeret certam vis geminata necem.
Ergo, inter sese dum noxia pocula certant,
Cessit lethalis noxa saltuiferi.
Protinus in vacuos alvi petiere recessus,
Lubrica dejectis quae via nota cibis.
Quam pia cura Deum! prodest crudelior uxor.
Sic, cum fata volunt, bina venena juvant.

IN ENGLISH.

Her jealous husband an adultresse gave
Cold poysons, to[o] weak she thought for's grave;
A fatal dose of quicksilver then she
Mingles to hast his double destinie;
Now whilst within themselves they are at strife,
The deadly potion yields to that of life,
And straight from th' hollow stomack both retreat
To th' slippery pipes known to digested meat.
Strange care o' th' gods the murth'resse doth avail!
So, when fates please, ev'n double poysons heal.



AUSONIUS EPIG.

Emptis quod libris tibi bibliotheca referta est,
Doctum et grammaticum te, philomuse, putas.
Quinetiam cytharas, chordas et barbita conde:
Mercator hodie, cras citharoedus, eris.

IN ENGLISH.

Because with bought books, sir, your study's fraught,
A learned grammarian you would fain be thought;
Nay then, buy lutes and strings; so you may play
The merchant now, the fidler, the next day.



AVIENI V. C. AD AMICOS.

Rure morans, quid agam, respondi, pauca rogatus:
Mane, deum exoro famulos, post arvaque viso,
Partitusque meis justos indico labores;
Inde lego, Phoebumque cio, Musamque lacesso;
Tunc oleo corpus fingo, mollique palaestra
Stringo libens animo, gaudensque ac foenore liber
Prandeo, poto, cano, ludo, lavo, caeno, quiesco.

ENGLISHED.

Ask'd in the country what I did, I said:
I view my men and meads, first having pray'd;
Then each of mine hath his just task outlay'd;
I read, Apollo court, I rouse my Muse;
Then I anoynt me, and stript willing loose
My self on a soft plat, from us'ry blest;
I dine, drink, sing, play, bath, I sup, I rest.

Rufus Festus Avienus, the Latin poet.



AD FABULLUM. CATUL. LIB. I. EP. 13.

Caenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me
Paucis, si dii tibi favent, diebus;
Si tecum attuleris bonam atque magnam
Caenam, non sine candida puella,
Et vino, et sale, et omnibus cachinnis.
Haec si, inquam, attuleris, Fabulle noster,
Caenabis bene: nam tui Catulli
Plenus sacculus est aranearum.
Sed, contra, accipies meros amores,
Seu quod suavius elegantiusve est:
Nam unguentum dabo, quod meae puellae
Donarunt Veneres Cupidinesque;
Quod tu cum olfacies, deos rogabis,
Totum te faciant, Fabulle, nasum.

ENGLISHED.

Fabullus, I will treat you handsomely
Shortly, if the kind gods will favour thee.
If thou dost bring with thee a del'cate messe,
An olio or so, a pretty lass,
Brisk wine, sharp tales, all sorts of drollery,
These if thou bringst (I say) along with thee,
You shall feed highly, friend: for, know, the ebbs
Of my lank purse are full of spiders webs;
But then again you shall receive clear love,
Or what more grateful or more sweet may prove:
For with an ointment I will favour thee
My Venus's and Cupids gave to me,
Of which once smelt, the gods thou wilt implore,
Fabullus, that they'd make thee nose all ore.



MART. LIB. I. EPI. 14.

Casta suo gladium cum traderet Arria Paeto,