Dryden, I think, fomewhere remarks, that rhyme often helped him to a thought; an obfervation, which, probably, Spenfer's experience had likewife supplied him with. Spenfer, however, muft have found more affiftance in this refpect, from writing in rhyme, than Dryden, in proportion as his stanza obliged him to a more repeated use of it. In fpeaking of Spenfer's rhyme, it ought to be remarked, that he often new-fpells a word to make it rhyme more precifely. precifely. Take thefe fpecimens, F. Q. v. xii. 31. "And of her own foule entrailes makes her meat, "Meat fit for fuch a monfter's monsterous DYEAT." Again, F. Q. iii. iii. 48. "Tho when the term is full ACCOMPLISHID, "Then fhall a fpark of fire, which hath long while Again, F. Q. iii. iv. 42. "Then all the rest into their coches CLIM, "And through, &c. "Upon great Neptunes necke they foftly swim." Again, F. Q. iv. iii. 26. "Mightily amate, "As faft as forward erft, now backward to RETRATE. Again, F. Q. iv. ii. 27. "Shall have that golden girdle for reward, "And of, &c. "Shall to the faireft ladie be PREFAR'D." And, to be fhort, we meet with YCLED for yclad, DARRE for dare, PREJUDIZE for prejudice, SAM for fame, LAM for lamb, DENAY for deny, PERVART for pervert, HEARE for hair, and numberless other inftances of orthography deftroyed for the fake of rhyme. This was a liberty which Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate, frequently made use of; and it may not be improper, in this place, to exhibit the fentiments of a critick in queen Elizabeth's age upon it. "Now there cannot be in a MAKER a fowler fault than to falfifie his accent to ferve his cadence; or, by untrue orthography, to wrench his words to help his rhyme; for it is a fign that fuch a maker is not copious in his own language." However, he feems afterwards to allow the deviation from true fpelling, in fome measure. "It is fomewhat more tollerable to help the rhyme by falfe orthographie, than to leave an unpleasant diffonance to the eare, by keeping trewe orthographie and losing the rime; as for example, it is better to rime dore with reStore, than in his true orthographie which is doore. -Such men were in effect the moft part of all your old rimers, and 'fpecially Gower, who, to make up his rime, would for the moft part write his terminant fyllable with falfe orthographie; and many times not sticke to put a plaine French word for an English; and fo by your leave do many of our common rimers at this day." Puttenham's Arte of English Poefie, B. 2. c. 8. We find in many paffages of our author the orthography violated, when the rhyme without such an expedient would be very exact; thus BITE, when made to rhyme with delight, is fometimes fpelt BIGHT, as if the eye could be fatisfied in this cafe as well as the ear. Inftances of this fort occur often in Harington's Ariofto, and more particularly of the word faid, which is often occafionally written SED. This practice was continued as far down as the age of Milton. See Lycidas, ver. 128. Befides what the grim wolf with privy paw "Daily devours apace, and nothing SED.' 1645, Said is thus printed SED in the edition of that it might appear to rhyme, with greater pro priety, to the preceding Spread: Later editors, not knowing the fashion of writing faid, upon fome occafions, SED, altered it to fed, which utterly deftroyed the fenfe. The fame fpelling is found again in the fame edition, and for the fame reason, in L'Allegro : "She was pincht and pull'd fhe SED, Hughes, not confidering our author's common practice of misfpelling a word for the convenience of his rhyme, makes him guilty of many diffonant rhymes: for that editor, among other examples of his exactness, has reduced Spenfer's text to modern orthography with great accuracy. : It is indeed furprising upon the whole, that Spenfer fhould execute a poem of uncommon length, with so much spirit and ease, laden as he was with fo many fhackles, and embarraffed with fo complicated a BONDAGE OF RIMING. Nor can I recollect, that he has been fo careless as to fuffer the fame word to be repeated as a rhyme to itself, in more than four or five inftances; a fault, which if he had more frequently committed, his manifold beauties of verfification would have obliged us to overlook: and which Harington should have avoided more fcrupulously, to compenfate, in fome degree, for the tamenefs and profaick mediocrity of his numbers. Notwithstanding our author's frequent and af e with fo much Spirit and ease,] The English verfification has been much smoothed by Waller; who ufed to own, that he derived the harmony of his numbers from Fairfax's Taffo, who well-vowelled his lines; though Sandys was a melodious verfifier; and Spenfer has perhaps more variety of mufick than either of them. Jos. WARTON. fected ufage of obfolete words and phrafes, yet it may be affirmed, that his ftyle, in general, has great perfpicuity and facility. It is alfo remarkable, that his lines are feldom broken by tranfpofitions, antithefes, or parentheses. His fenfe and found are equally flowing and uninterrupted. From this fingle confideration, an internal argument arifes, which plainly demonftrates that Britaines Ida is not written by Spenfer. Let the reader judge from the following fpecimen. Among the reft, that all the reft excel'd, "A dainty boy there wonn'd, whofe harmleffe yeares "Now in their freshest budding gently fwel'd: a The author of The Arte of English Poefie feems to blame Spenfer for this. "Our MAKER therefore, at thefe dayes, thall not follow Piers Plowman, nor Gower, nor Lydgate, nor yet Chaucer; for their language is now out of use with us.' B. 3. c. 1. The Faerie Queene was not published when this critick wrote, fo that this cenfure is levelled at the Paftorals, which, however, in another place he commends. "For eglogue and pastoral poefie, Sir Philip Sydney, and Maister Challener, and that other gentleman who wrote the late Shepherds Kalender." B. 1. c. 31. Spenfer had published his Paftorals about ten years before; to which he did not prefix his name. One of Spenfer's contemporary poets has ridiculed the obfolete language of the Faerie Queene, viz. Daniel, in his 52d Sonnet: "Let others fing of Knights and Palladines, "In aged accents, and untimely words." T. WARTON. Thefe nice gentlemen are alfo mentioned in Skialetheia, &c. certaine Epigrams & Satyres, Lond. 1598. 12mo. Sat. vi. "No, let's esteeme Opinion as she is, "Fovles bawble, &c. 66 For, in these our times, "Some of opinions gulls carpe at the rimes "Of reuerend CHAWCER: other-fome do praise them, "Some blame deep SPENCER for his grandam words; "His maister-peece of cunning giuing praise, "And grauity to his profound-prickt layes." TODD. "His nimph-like face ne'er felt the nimble sheeres, "Youth's downie bloffome through his cheeke appeares: "His lovely limbes (but love he quite difcarded) "Were-made for play, (but he no play regarded;) And fit love to reward, and be with love rewarded. "High was his forehead, arch't with filver mould, "(Where never anger churlish wrinkle dighted,) "His auburne lockes hung like darke threds of gold, "That wanton aires (with their faire length incited) "To play among their wanton curles delighted. "His fimiling eyes with fimple truth were stord, "Ah! how thould truth in those thiefe eyes be ftord, "Which thousand loves had ftoln, and never once reftord "His cheerfull lookes, and merry face would proove "(If eyes the index be where thoughts are read) "A dainty play-fellow for naked Love. "Of all the other parts enough &c." But there are other arguments which prove this poem to be the work of a different hand. It has a vein of pleafing defcription; but is, at the fame time, filled with conceits and witticifms, of which Spenfer has much fewer, than might be expected from the tafte of his age. It's manner is like that of Fletcher's Purple Iland. I fufpect it to have been written in imitation of Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis. The author, whoever he was, certainly lived about the latter end of Elizabeth, or the beginning of James I. Our author's Paftorals are written in profeffed imitation of Chaucer's ftyle. This he tells us exprefsly in the beginning of Colin Clouts come home again: "The fhepherd's boy, beft knowen by that name, "That after TITYRUS firft fung his lay." The first edition of which was printed in London, for William Leake, 1602, 12mo. T. WARTON. f Milton, in imitation of our author, ftyles Chaucer TITYRUS, where he hints at Chaucer's having travelled into Italy, Manf. v. 34. 66 Quin et in has quondam pervenit TITYRUS oras." i 3 |