And does in the pomegranates close And all the way, to guide their chime, Henry Vaughan. AUTHOR of a number of poems, chiefly devotional. Born 1621. Died 1695. He was intended for the bar, but in consequence of the civil wars he returned to his native place, Newton in Brecknock, where he followed the profession of physician, and where he died in 1695. EARLY RISING AND PRAYER. WHEN first thy eyes unveil, give thy soul leave The spirit's duty: true hearts spread and heave Give him thy first thoughts then, so shalt thou keep Yet never sleep the sun up; prayer should Rise to prevent the sun; sleep doth sins glut, Which must be carried on, and safely may; THE NATIVITY. AWAKE, glad heart! get up, and sing! The sun doth shake Light from his locks, and all the way, Awake! awake! hark, how th' wood rings; Awake! awake! Man is their high-priest, and should rise I would I were some bird or star, And road of sin! Then either star or bird should be I would I had in my best part Thy manger was! But I am all filth and obscene; Yet, if thou wilt, thou canst make clean. O release him! And let once more, by mystic birth, John Dryden. Born 1631. Died 1701, His contemporaries having left his life unwritten, nothing now can be known of this great poet beyond what uncertain tradition has supplied. John Dryden was born at Aldwinkle, near Oundle, in Northamptonshire. He was of good family, his grandfather being a baronet. He was first sent to Westminster School, and afterwards to Cambridge. His college life gave few indications of his future greatness, and it was not till 1658, when in his twenty-seventh year, that he became a public candidate for fame. He then wrote heroic stanzas on the death of Cromwell. Shortly after appeared his first play; but it was so much condemned that he was compelled to recall it, and endeavour to make it more in accordance with public taste. In 1663 he married a daughter of the Earl of Berkshire, but the match added neither to his wealth nor happiness. In 1666 he published a long poem, "Annus Mirabilis," an account of the events of 1666, which is esteemed one of his most elaborate works. He was now so much talked of that he succeeded Davenant as poet-laureate and royal historiographer, for each of which posts he received £100 a year. About 1673 Dryden had his complacency put to a severe test by the publication of a play by Elkanah Settle, which became very successful on the stage, and which threatened the supremacy of Dryden. Dryden could not repress his temper, and wrote such a criticism of the play as could only be the result of malignant jealousy. From this time play after play issued from Dryden's prolific pen and were generally well received. He did not enjoy his reputation unmolested, however: the two most distinguished wits of the nobility, Buckingham and Rochester, declared themselves his enemies, and in a play they introduced in 1671 gratified their utmost malice on the poet. In 1681 Dryden united politics with his poetry, and wrote a memorable satire called "Absalom and Achitophel," on the faction of which Shaftesbury and Monmouth were the heads. The reception this satire met with was extraordinary; the allusions were quite understood, and the attractions of wit, elegance, and harmony filled every mind with delight; the Duke of Monmouth was Absalom, the Earl of Shaftesbury was Achitophel, the Duke of Buckingham was Zimri. In another poem he lashes Settle under the name of Doeg. Dryden seems to have been a time-server; to please the bigoted James VII., and to obtain a continuance of his pension, which had been stopped, he became a Roman Catholic. The first public fruits of the change was the "Hind and Panther," an allegorical poem in which the main arguments of the Roman Church are fully stated; the poem is sharp and unsparing in its wit and satire. The Hind represents the Papacy, and the Panther the Church of England. The Revolution of 1688 deprived Dryden of his offices; and as notwithstanding all he had written he remained poor, necessity still urged him forward, and in his declining years he produced some of his noblest works. Among these may be mentioned his immortal Ode to St Cecilia, or Alexander's Feast, which has never been surpassed. It shed a lustre on the last days of the poet, who died in Gerard Street, on 1st May 1701. A subscription was made for a public funeral, and he was interred with great pomp in Westminster Abbey. FROM "ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL." CHARACTER OF SHAFTESBURY. Or these the false Achitophel was first; And o'er-inform'd the tenement of clay. Pleased with the danger, when the waves went high Got, while his soul did huddled notions try; Then seized with fear, yet still affecting fame, So easy still it proves, in factious times, Oh! had he been content to serve the crown, K |