62 CONNECTION OF BATH WITH THE 



Contemporary with Daniel was Sir John Haring- 

 TON, himself a poet of no mean rank, and one to whom 

 England and EngUsh poesy owe nearly as much as 

 England and English science to Athelardus ; for to 

 him in a great measure is to be attributed the intro- 

 duction of that taste for Italian poetry and Italian 

 literature, which is one principal cause why the poetry 

 of the reign of Elizabeth is of so different a cast from 

 the poetry of the reign of her father. What is 

 Skelton, or even Surrey, when we speak of Spenser 

 and Shakespeare? and how much do Spenser and 

 Shakespeare, and even Milton, owe to the poetry and 

 literature of Italy! Harington translated the great 

 poem of Ariosto into English, and did everything in 

 his power to familiarize the English with the great 

 writers of Italy. He assisted also in drawing the arts 

 from thence, for he employed Barozzi to design for 

 him the house which he built at Kelston. 



The notices of Bath in the poems of Sylvester 

 show that he had a personal acquaintance with the 

 country around us ; and it was here that a critic not 

 long deceased [37] proved his curious position that 

 the writings of Sylvester, neglected as they now are, 

 were much studied by Milton ; that many portions of 

 them dwelt on his memory ; and that he has inter- 

 woven in his great works many compound terms and 

 poetic phrases which he had found in Sylvester. 



