CHAP. XVI. THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 287 



Pet. 1 *, marry, Sir ! this is musick *For aye, as some- 

 indeed ; this has chear'd my heart, and * Shakesfeare. 

 made me to remember six verses in 

 praise of musick, which I will speak to you instantly. 



Musick ! miraculous rhet'rick, that s peak's t sense 



Without a tongue, excelling eloquence ; 



With what ease might thy errors he excused, 



Wert thou as truly lov'd as th' art abus'd ! 



Kut though dull souls neglect, and some reprove thee, 



I cannot hate thee, 'cause the Angels love thee t. 



flourishing at that time in Italy, namely, Luca Marenzio, Monteverde, 

 Horatio Vecchi, Cifra, the Prince of Venosa, and others. 



It should seem that Lawes and Milton were well acquainted, for the 

 former composed the original musick to the masque of Comas ; and, at the 

 exhibition of that performance at Ludlow-castle, acted the part of the at- 

 tendant spirit. The best account extant of him, except that in the Atben. 

 Oxon. is contained in Mr. Fenton's note on the poem of Mr. Waller, above- 

 mentioned. 



And, now I am upon this subject, I will tell the reader a secret ; which 

 is, That musick was, in its greatest perfection, in Europe, from about the 

 middle of the sixteenth to the beginning of the seventeenth century ; when, 

 with a variety of treble-instruments, a vicious taste was introduced, and 

 vocal harmony received its mortal wound. In this period, flourished 

 Palestrina ; the Prince of Venosa ; and the several other authors above- 

 mentioned to have been collected by Milton ; and, to the immortal honour 

 of this nation, our own Tallis and Byrd ; and, some years after in the 

 more elegant kinds of composition, such as madrigals, canzonets, &c. 

 Wilbye, Weelkes, Bennet, Morley, Bateson, and others, whose works 

 shew deep skill and fine invention. 



| See these Verses t with some small variation ; at the end of the book, 

 entitled, Select Ay res and Dialogues t referred to from pa. 189, n.; with 

 " W. D. knight," under the bottom line, which I take to signify, that 

 they were written by Sir William Davenant. 



And let me be excused, if, from the same book, I here insert the fol 

 lowing verses, on the subject of musick, written by Mr. Thomas Ran- 

 dolph, and printed among his poems. 



Musick ! thou queen of souls, get up and string 

 Thy pow'rful lute : and some sad Requiem sing, 

 Till rocks requite thy echo with a groan, 

 And the dull cliffs repeat the duller tone : 

 Then, on a sudden, with a nimble hand, 

 Run gently o'er the chords ; and, so, command 

 The pine to dance, the oak his roots forego, 

 The holm and aged elm to foot it too ; 

 Myrtles shall caper, lofty cedars run, 

 And call the courtly palm to make up one : 

 Then, in the midst of all their jolly train, 

 Strike a sad note ; and fix them trees again. 

 B 2 



