790 
POETRY 
fcarcely many more unufed words than we find in a 
modern Scotch novel, which nobody fears the time of 
ftudying; and with a gloflary, and a few general rules, 
Chaucer is readable in a few hours as eafily as Pope. He 
repays this toil by concifenefs, humour, and dramatic cha- 
rafler, that evidently funk deep into the hearts of our 
fucceeding poets, and probably laid the foundation of 
that nervous and expreffive verfe which afforded fuch 
amazing facilities in the expreffion of the paflions to the 
dramatifts of the Elizabethan age. 
Chaucer fometimes affronts us by a quaint and unin¬ 
viting difplay of learning. Not that this fhould be any 
detraction from the fidelity of his characters; for it was 
evidently the fafhion of his age, and a neceffary confe- 
quence of the emergence from barbarifm then taking 
place. But his contemporary Goiver has left us, in his 
“ Confeffio Amantis,” a very elaborate compendium of 
claffical knowledge and fuperftitious opinions. He bor¬ 
rowed from the continental poets their extravagant fond- 
nefs for allegory, and wrote many cold and tedious pic¬ 
tures of perfonified vicesand virtues, which, being diveft- 
ed of all human fliape, diveft human beings of all intereft 
in them. The plan of this poem is curious, being no 
lefs than the confeffion of a lover to a priefl of Venus ; 
and the mixture of true piety with claffic amatory ex- 
preflions is truly remarkable. Gower betrays little of 
that fondnefs for Saxon words in preference to Norman, 
that is found in Chaucer; and his “ Cinquante Balades” 
are compofed almolt entirely in the baftard French then 
commonly fpoken. Thefe fmall pieces have, however, 
much beauty and grace. 
We have elfewhere remarked, when fpeaking of Italian 
poefy, that verfe dared to raife its voice againft monkifh 
vices and political errors long before fuch profane liberties 
were allowed in profe. This was the cafe alfo in Eng¬ 
land. The continued bold and well-grounded attacks 
Chaucer made on the priefts is remarkable. Shelton (who 
has the honour to have been the only poet in the time of 
Henry VII.) lafhed alfo with equal feverity the vices of 
the clergy ; and confequently was punifhed by the bifhop 
of the diocefe, who made his licentious language, and his 
keeping a concubine, fufficient reafons for the meafure. 
He carried, however, his attacks towards one who united 
the clerical and legiflative fundiions, the imperious 
Wclfey ; and the rafh poet was only laved from imprifon- 
ment by taking refuge in a fanfluary. This author is 
remarkable as an early fymptom of that quaint and buf- 
foonifh fpecies of fatire which fo much difgraced his 
fucceffors. His great fault feems to have been, that, with 
the exceptions before pointed out, he directed his in- 
veflives againft trifling and temporary follies rather than 
againft thofe errors which are common to mankind in 
general ; and that he fought to promote laughter too fre¬ 
quently by abbreviations and cant words. 
Surrey , the flower of chivalry, the nobleman of whofe 
manners, virtues, and warlike exploits, fo much has been 
written, arofe in the reign of Harry VIII. and gave to 
Englilh poetry a claim to polifh and excellence in the dif¬ 
ferent branches of the elegy and amatory fonnet. His pro- 
duftionsare natural and unaffefled; and are therefore fupe- 
riorin fome refpefls to the Italian lonneteers and their Eng- 
lifh imitators, of whom the learning obfcured the fenfibi- 
lity. Surrey alfo introduced blank verfe, juft then becoming 
favoured in Italy, into England. Warton accords this 
firft eflay the praife, that “ the diflion is poetical, and 
varied with proper paufes and that the tranflation (for 
it confifts of the 2d and 4th books of the Aineid) is exe¬ 
cuted with fidelity : we will take leave to add, with a fide¬ 
lity that has never been equalled ; and we cannot help alfo 
remarking, that the fweetnefs of many lines in Surrey’s 
blank verle have not been furpafled by Milton himfelf. 
The grandeft period of our poetical hiftory is ufhered 
in by the name of Gafcoiyne , an author of the greateft poe¬ 
tical merits, but one who has long been neglefled, partly 
on account of the fcarcity of his works, partly on account 
of the general neglefl which attended the old poets until 
very recently. He has the merit of having produced, in 
the drama, the fecond tragedy ever compofed in Englifh 
blank verfe, and the firft comedy in that tongue in profe. 
The tragedy was called “ Jocafta,” taken of courfe from 
the Greek; the comedy, called the “ Suppofes,” has the 
claim of having furnifhed Shakefpeare with much aflift- 
ance in his comedies. The amatory pieces of Gafcoigne, 
though very pathetic and tender, were rather diftinguifhed 
by difference, than excellence, from thofe of his contem¬ 
poraries. But his “ Steel Glafs” is one of the few di- 
daflic and fatirical poems that is not tedious. Indeed 
to us the perufal of it afforded unalloyed delight. It is 
at once a piflure of the drefs, manners, purfuits, claffes 
of fociety, prevalent opinions, and political changes, of 
the day; and yet its intereft is not merely temporary. 
There are ftrokes of polite fatire equal to the beft of Ho¬ 
race; a bold unmafking of all the faults of the great, and 
yet no undue elevation of the little. The ploughman 
takes in morals a rank by the proudeft noble ; and yet the 
advantages of birth and fortune are eftimated with a free 
and handfome liberality. The morals of our poet are 
exquifite; and his political advice, if not confonant with 
prefent notions, conftituted the opinions of the moft en¬ 
lightened men of his time. We cannot refill the tranf- 
cription of one paflage from his works, becaufe it at once 
fhows that great and free opinions were common ; that 
the errors of Ariftotle’s logic was perceived by others as 
well as Bacon ; and laftly, becaufe there is an inftance of 
the fublime in his advice to the avaricious, not to be found 
in his predeceffors. The poet is advifing the priefts to 
pray for the univerfities, that they may “bring up their 
babes in decent wife.” 
That Philofophy fmell no fecret fmoke 
Which magic makes in wicked myfteries; 
That Logick leape not ouer every ftile 
Before he come a furlong neare the hedge 
With curious quids to maintain argument; 
That Sophiftrie do not deceive itfelf; 
That Colmography keepe his compafle wel; 
Mid fuch as be hiftoriographers 
Truft not too much in every tatlyng tong, 
Nor blended be by partialitie. 
That Phyficke thrive not ouer fall by murder. 
That Numbring men, in al their euens and odds. 
Do not forget that only Unitie 
Unmeafurable, infinite, and one. 
***** 
That Aftrologie looke not ouer high, 
And light meanwhile in every puddled pit; 
That Grammar grudge not at our Englifh tong, 
Becaufe it (lands by monofyllaba, 
And cannot be declared as others are. 
Though the above fpecimen may not be confidered as very 
elegant verfe, it is by no means deficient in many good 
qualities ; and there are many parts in the “Steel Glafs” 
that equal in polifh the moft elegant poets of the day. 
The Englifh verfe is perhaps indebted to Spenfer be¬ 
yond any other poet. In the judgment of the accom- 
plifhed Dryden, his paftoral pieces were fcarcely inferior 
to thofe of Theocritus and Virgil; and no one can help 
allowing that the variety and fweetnefs of his meafure far 
furpafles even that of Pope. The language he wrote in 
certainly poflefled, from the greater length of many fylla- 
bles, a mufical rhythm unknown to modern days; but, 
independent of this, there are other circutnftances which 
render the Spenferian flanza, next to blank verfe, the 
ftyle of compofition on which England may chiefly pride 
herfelf. It is much freer than mere hexameters ; more 
melodious than any fhorter fpecies; and admits every 
poflible variety of rhyme. It is moreover capable of de- 
fcribing nature, or touching the feelings, with equal ef¬ 
fect. It is majeftic, and thus fuits fublime thoughts ; 
fprightly and merry ; elegant and mournful; indeed ca¬ 
pable 
