THE LESS KNOWN ENGLISH POETS. 19 



wrote a pure pastoral. This is an honour generally given to others, 

 but it is due onlytoWyat; and his " Harpalus, Philliades, and 

 Corin," is unequalled even in Spenser, for its imagery, rural allusion, 

 and grace of measure. 



There is another author, contemporary with Spenser, Shakspeare, 

 Jonson, and Milton, whose merits have been buried beneath the 

 splendour of the reputation acquired by his co-mates ; and who has 

 been overlooked amidst the universal homage paid to the " Gentle 

 Edmund," to the "Swan of Avon," and to the divinity of the 

 " Blind Bard." This is Sir John Davies, who passed through an 

 active and useful life in the late part of the reign of Elizabeth, and 

 the early period of the Stuart dynasty. His " Nosce Teipsum," a 

 poem on the Immortality of the Soul, stands alone in our language ; 

 and is alike extraordinary for the beauty of its composition, the in- 

 genuity of its reasoning, the extent of knowlege displayed in it, and 

 as being the first philosophical poem written by an Englishman. 

 In our opinion, " Nosce Teipsum," and the " Faery Queen," are 

 the two literary boasts of the age of Elizabeth. The works have 

 no points in common, and cannot therefore be compared : both 

 have equal merits of their own, but Spenser's has been fully appre- 

 ciated, whilst Sir John Davies is little known to the general reader : 

 yet we know of no poem better fitted to be universally read. An 

 excellent preface was given with an edition published by Tate, 

 in 1697, in which appear the following remarks on the work : " But 

 as others have laboured to carry out our thoughts, and to entertain 

 them with all manner of delights abroad, it is the peculiar character 

 of this author, that he has taught us to meditate upon ourselves ; that 

 he has disclosed to us greater secrets at home the rare science of a 

 man's self, which the moral philosopher loses in a crowd of defi- 

 nitions, divisions, and distinctions : the historian cannot find it among 

 his musty records, being far better acquainted with the transactions 

 of a thousand years past, than with the present age or with himself: 

 the writers of fables and romances wander from it in following the 

 delusions of a wild fancy, chimeras, and fictions, that do not only 



exceed the works, but also the possibility of nature. 



* * * * * * # 



" What deep philosophy is this ! to discover the process of God's 

 art in fashioning the soul of man after his own image, by remarking 

 how one part moves with another, and how those motions are varied 

 by several positions of each part, from the first springs and plummets, 

 to the very hand that points out the visible and last effects. What 

 eloquence and force of wit to convey these profound speculations, in 

 the easiest language, expressed in words so commonly received, that 

 they are understood by the meanest capacities ; for the poet takes 

 care in every line to satisfy the understanding of mankind : he 

 follows step by step the workings of the mind from the first strokes 

 of sense, then to fancy, afterwards by judgment, into the principles 

 both of natural and supernatural motives : hereby the soul is made 

 intelligible, which comprehends all things besides." 



One of the most remarkable points about the " Immortality of 

 the Soul " is its exquisite finish, the harmony of its rhythm, and 



