The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Works of Aphra Behn, ed. by Montague Summers.

When Old Rome's Candidates aspir'd to Fame,
And did the Peoples Suffrages obtain
For some great Consul, or a Cæsar's Name;
The Victor was not half so Pleas'd and Vain,
As I, when given the Honour of your Choice,
And Preference had in that one single Voice;
That Voice, from whence Immortal Wit still flows;
Wit that at once is Solemn all and Sweet,
Where Noblest Eloquence and Judgment shows
The Inspiring Mind Illustrious, Rich, and Great;
A Mind that can inform your wond'rous Pen
In all that's Perfect and Sublime:
And with an Art beyond the Wit of Men,
On what e're Theam, on what e're great Design,
It carries a Commanding Force, like that of Writ Divine.

(2)

With Pow'rful Reasoning drest in finest Sence,
A thousand ways my Soul you can Invade,
And spight of my Opinions weak Defence,
Against my Will, you Conquer and Perswade.
Your Language soft as Love, betrays the Heart,
And at each Period fixes a Resistless Dart,
While the fond list'ner, like a Maid undone,
Inspir'd with Tenderness she fears to own;
In vain essays her Freedom to Regain:
The fine Ideas in her Soul remain,
And Please, and Charm, even while they Grieve and Pain.

(3)

But yet how well this Praise can Recompense
For all the welcome Wounds (before) you'd given!
Scarce any thing but You and Heaven
Such Grateful Bounties can dispense,
As that Eternity of Life can give;
So fam'd by you my Verse Eternally shall live:
Till now, my careless Muse no higher strove
T'inlarge her Glory, and extend her Wings;
Than underneath Parnassus Grove,
To Sing of Shepherds, and their humble Love;
But never durst, like Cowly, tune her Strings,
To sing of Heroes and of Kings.
But since by an Authority Divine,
She is allow'd a more exalted Thought;
She will be valu'd now as Currant Coyn;
Whose Stamp alone gives it the Estimate,
Tho' out of an inferiour Metal wrought.

(4)

But oh! if from your Praise I feel
A Joy that has no Parallel!
What must I suffer when I cannot pay
Your Goodness, your own generous way?
And make my stubborn Muse your Just Commands obey.
My Muse that would endeavour fain to glide
With the fair prosperous Gale, and the full driving Tide,
But Loyalty Commands with Pious Force,
That stops me in the thriving Course,
The Brieze that wafts the Crowding Nations o're,
Leaves me unpity'd far behind
On the Forsaken Barren Shore,
To Sigh with Echo, and the Murmuring Wind;
While all the Inviting Prospect I survey,
With Melancholy Eyes I view the Plains,
Where all I see is Ravishing and Gay,
And all I hear is Mirth in loudest Strains;
Thus while the Chosen Seed possess the Promis'd Land,
I like the Excluded Prophet stand,
The Fruitful Happy Soil can only see,
But am forbid by Fates Decree
To share the Triumph of the joyful Victory.

(5)

'Tis to your Pen, Great Sir, the Nation owes
For all the Good this Mighty Change has wrought;
'Twas that the wondrous Method did dispose,
E're the vast Work was to Perfection brought.
Oh Strange effect of a Seraphick Quill!
That can by unperceptable degrees
Change every Notion, every Principle
To any Form, its Great Dictator please:
The Sword a Feeble Pow'r, compar'd to That,
And to the Nobler Pen subordinate;
And of less use in Bravest turns of State:
While that to Blood and Slaughter has recourse,
This Conquers Hearts with soft prevailing Force:
So when the wiser Greeks o'recame their Foes,
It was not by the Barbarous Force of Blows.
When a long Ten Years Fatal War had fail'd,
With luckier Wisdom they at last assail'd,
Wisdom and Counsel which alone prevail'd.
Not all their Numbers the Fam'd Town could win,
'Twas Nobler Stratagem that let the Conquerour in.

(6)

Tho' I the Wond'rous Change deplore,
That makes me Useless and Forlorn,
Yet I the great Design adore,
Tho' Ruin'd in the Universal Turn.
Nor can my Indigence and Lost Repose,
Those Meagre Furies that surround me close,
Convert my Sense and Reason more
To this Unpresidented Enterprise,
Than that a Man so Great, so Learn'd, so Wise,
The Brave Achievement Owns and nobly Justifies.
'Tis you, Great Sir, alone, by Heaven preserv'd,
Whose Conduct has so well the Nation serv'd,
'Tis you that to Posperity shall give
This Ages Wonders, and its History.
And Great NASSAU shall in your Annals live
To all Futurity.
Your Pen shall more Immortalize his Name,
That even his Own Renown'd and Celebrated Fame.

FINIS.

NOTES.

Notes on the Text.

La Monstre (1686).

p. 4, l. 1 To Peter Weston, Esq. This Epistle Dedicatory and the five complimentary poems which follow are only in the editio princeps, 1686.

p. 12, l. 1 La Monstre. Only in 1686.

p. 12, l. 9 dare. 1697 'dae'. 1735 'do'.

p. 13, l. 14 you will not. 1735 'will you not'.

p. 15, l. 5 Worships. 1735 'Worship'.

p. 17, l. 25 never. 1735 'ever'.

p. 19, l. 30 To give. 1735 'That give'.

p. 20, l. 11 dear Object. 1735 omits 'dear'.

p. 20, l. 18 to the Hour. 1735 omits 'to'.

p. 21, l. 25 so much Goodness. 1686 'Goodness enough', 1697 'Goodness enough to write you enough'. I follow 1735 here as the repetition of 'enough ... enow (enough)' is very harsh.

p. 22, l. 13 Evidences. 1697, 1735 'Evidence'.

p. 23, l. 7 Lover. 1697, 1735 'Lovers'.

p. 24, l. 18 a Heart. 1735 'the Heart', and punctuates with no comma after Heart but after Damon, comma.

p. 29, l. 9 sets. 1735 'set'.

p. 29, l. 10 idle. 1735 omits.

p. 29, l. 12 Melinda. 1686, 1697 'Milinda'.

p. 31, l. 8 shall. 1697, 1735 'should.'

p. 35, l. 26 Sense and. 1735 omits.

p. 35, l. 27 to purchase. 1686, 1697 omit 'to'.

p. 37, l. 4 that. 1697, 1735 'the'.

p. 37, l. 22 never. 1735 'ever'.

p. 40, l. 29 such a sort. 1697, 1735 omit 'such'.

p. 47, l. 9 grow. 1697, 1735 'strow'.

p. 49, l. 29 more. 1697, 1735 'most'.

p. 49, l. 30 Glist'ring. 1697, 1735 'Glitt'ring'.

p. 50, l. 19 recollected. 1735 'collected'.

p. 53, l. 2 Incertainty. 1735 'Uncertainty'.

p. 53, l. 11 Answers. 1735 'Answer'.

p. 53, l. 19 impossible. 1735 'possible', a very patent error.

p. 59, l. 15 the. 1735 'thy'.

p. 65, l. 3 won. 1735 misprints 'now'.

p. 65, l. 7 and. 1735 'tho'.

p. 65, l. 16 unreasonably. 1697, 1735 'unreasonable'.

p. 66, l. 3 happen you. 1735 'happen that you'.

p. 67, l. 8 and Mall. 1735 'the Mall'.

p. 68, l. 26 on me. 1735 'of me'.

p. 70, l. 21 rack. 1686, 1697 'wreck'.

p. 70, l. 23 subvert. 1735 'pervert'.

p. 70, l. 24 To the most tort'ring Jealousy. 1686, 1697 'To tort'ring Jealousie'.

p. 73, l. 4 vanisht. 1735 'banish'd'.

p. 73, l. 21 a Peace. 1735 omits 'a'.

p. 74, l. 17 Imaginations. 1735 'Imagination'.

p. 75, l. 27 unimitable. 1735 (here and elsewhere) 'inimitable.'

p. 75, l. 32 Katharine. 1735 'Catharine'.

p. 75, l. 34 Heighth. 1735 'Height'.

p. 75, l. 35 Meads. 1735 'Meadows.'

p. 76, l. 29 Morland. 1735 'Moreland'.

p. 76, l. 30 Gorden. 1735 'Gordon'.

p. 81, l. 23 toucht. 1735 'taught'.

p. 82, l. 34 to tie. 1697 'to die'.

p. 83, l. 14 believ'd. 1735 'believe'.

p. 86, l. 11 it. 1735 'they'.

p. 88, l. 13 never. 1735 'ever'.

p. 89, l. 3 Odour. 1686, 1697 'Ardour'.

p. 91, l. 8 Fundamentals. 1735 'Foundations'.

p. 94, l. 4 Sent from Damon to Iris. 1697, 1735 both omit this. 1697 on separate title reads: 'The Whole Art of Charming.'

p. 95, l. 18 Iris's. 1697, 1735 'The Lady's'.

p. 95, l. 32 its. 1735 'their'.

p. 98, l. 29 of it weaves a Chain, not easily ... 1697 'if it weaves a Chain, not easily ...' 1735 'if it weaves a Chain, 'tis not easily ...'

p. 100, l. 2 Monarchs. 1735 'Monarch', 1697 'Monarchs guest'.

p. 105, l. 11 softest. 1697, 1735 'softer'.

p. 106, l. 25 Wit and Youth! 1735 'Wit and Truth!'

p. 106, l. 26 Love and Truth. 1735 'Love and Youth'.

Poems Upon Several Occasions (1684).

p. 115, l. 3 Viscount Cramborn and Baron of Islington. So 1684; but 'Cramborn' should be 'Cranborn', and for 'Islington' we should read 'Essingdon.' Possibly Mrs. Behn sent the Dedicatory Epistle to press as an afterthought at the last moment and did not see a proof. Though she was frequently careless, such mistakes as 'Cramborn' and 'Islington' would seem to be chargeable to her printers.

p. 125, l. 32. Forsake their Kinds. Query 'their Kids'.

p. 130, l. 33. E'er they're. 1684 'E'er their'.

p. 139, l. 5. The Gray-Plum'd Natives of the Shades. So 1684, but we should doubtless read 'Gay-Plum'd'. cf. l. 2 of sixth stanza: 'little Gay-wing'd Loves.'

p. 144, l. 11 The Sun and Spring receive but our short Light. This, the reading of 1684, is clearly corrupt but can be easily mended by changing 'receive' to 'revive'.

p. 147, l. 8 the rushing of the wind-blown leaves. On p. 171, l. 23, we have 'Whispering Gales Sigh through the Rushing Leaves.' Mrs. Behn uses 'rushing' in the sense of 'rustling'.

p. 150, l. 17 From Active Joyes with some they hast. The words 'with some' are meaningless and corrupt. Query 'eftsoon'.

p. 154, l. 25 Like Pan, a Majesty. 1684 'Like Panna, Majesty'.

p. 177, l. 15 Gold and Grain. Probably a misprint for 'Golden Grain'.

p. 181, l. 21 Priapus. 1684 'Priapas'.

p. 182, l. 11 All that the Gods e'er made, if Fair. Query 'e'er made of Fair'.

p. 183, l. 28 Astrae. Misprint: the old copy rightly gives 'Astrea.'

p. 183, l. 30 I slept. Muses Mercury (May, 1707), 'I saw last night a pretty sight'.

p. 183, l. 32 Stars. M.M. 'Eyes so bright'.

p. 186, l. 5 are. Misprint: read, with the old copy, 'art.'

p. 194, l. 31 Not add. Query 'Not au' (i.e. Not all).

p. 200, l. 17 were throng. Query 'were throng'd'.

p. 206, l. 20 decry. Misprint: read, with 1684, 'descry'.

p. 207, l. 12 and Kill. 1684 'a Kill'.

p. 218, l. 1 we part. 1684 'me part'.

p. 219, l. 14 thee and I. The bad grammar has not been changed, as it may be due to Mrs. Behn's carelessness.

p. 222, l. 2 Hadst. 1684 'Hads'.

p. 224, l. 25 That, best instructs. 1684 'instruct'. (The comma after 'that' is unnecessary, but Mrs. Behn used it to emphasise the word—here and in the following line.)

p. 225, l. 12 ne'er to visit more. 1684 'near to visit more'.

p. 227, l. 4 whether. i.e. (as frequently) 'whither'.

p. 230, l. 28 barely wishing. Query 'dearly wishing'.

p. 230, l. 33 Love gives. 1684 'give'.

p. 231, l. 18 treads. 1684 'tread'.

p. 232, l. 32 Kisses. 1684 'Kiss'.

p. 233, l. 13 Mad. 1684 'Made'.

p. 235, l. 17 In modest Speech, as might well subdue. Corrupt. Query 'Modest in Speech, such as might well subdue.'

p. 247, l. 2 Says. 1684 'Say'.

p. 250, l. 5 replies. 1684 'reply'.

p. 251, ll. 1-2 the dumb and silent languishes, Are predic'd, which so well explain the Heart. The word 'predic'd' is very suspicious. Taking 'languishes' as a substantive (and deleting the comma), we might change 'predic'd' to 'produc'd' (with the accent on the first syllable).

p. 253, l. 3 Winter. 1684 'Winters'.

p. 253, l. 7 All bleek and cale. In a Pastoral to Mr. Stafford, (p. 383), we have: 'In summer let the Boughs be cale and dry.'

p. 258, ll. 1-2 who's lovely Face Disdain'd the Beauties of the common race. So 1684; but 'Disdain'd' may be a misprint for 'Distain'd' (outshone).

p. 272, l. 28 And let her Feet weep my neglect away. Corrupt. We should doubtless read 'And at her Feet weep my neglect away'.

p. 273, l. 10 hear. 1684 'here'.

p. 278, l. 5 hallow'd. 1684 'hollow'd'.

p. 280, l. 10 wear. 1684 'were'.

p. 284, l. 7 Inspiring Love, inciting. 1684 'Inspiring my Love inciting.'

p. 285, l. 28 soft breath'd. 1684 'oft breath'd'.

LYCIDUS (1688).

p. 302, l. 35 no one place could continue her. So 1688; but 'continue' may be a misprint for 'contain'.

p. 327, l. 4 Now. 1688 'How'.

p. 344, l. 18 This there. 1688, but query ''Tis there'.

p. 345, l. 19 wert. 1688 'wers't'.

p. 352, l. 23 'Twas youth, 'twas wit, 'twas Beauty. 1688 'was Beauty'.

p. 360, l. 12 Amintas. M.M. (April, 1707), 'Amyntas,' and throughout.

p. 360, l. 15 conquer'd. M.M. 'conquer'.

p. 361, l. 5 stoln. M.M. 'stole'.

p. 361, l. 27 with which. M.M. 'wherewith'.

p. 361, l. 29 That may declare. M.M. 'which may disclose'.

p. 362, l. 2 Lovers. M.M. 'shepherds'.

p. 362, l. 4 softer. M.M. 'ruder'.

p. 362, l. 5 By the sad purling ... M.M. 'There, there, my Soul, by some still Rivulet'.

p. 362, l. 7 That. M.M. 'Which'.

p. 362, l. 8 melancholy. M.M. 'solitary'.

p. 362, l. 10 stream the shade forsakes. M.M. 'Streams the Shades forsake'.

p. 362, l. 12 Trees. M.M. 'Boughs'.

p. 362, l. 13 Thô. M.M. 'But'.

p. 362, l. 20 ungrateful know, why tis. M.M. 'Ingrate know how and why'.

p. 362, l. 22 Thy. M.M. 'The'.

p. 362, l. 27 what weak resistance. M.M. 'no opposition'.

p. 362, l. 28 every charming word. M.M. 'For ev'ry dangerous Smile begot ...'

p. 362, l. 30 willing ... will. M.M. 'weeping ... wouldst'.

p. 362, l. 32 But stay thy hasty fight. M.M. 'But stay, my hasty Soul, Alas! Alas!'

p. 363, l. 5 Think how the faithless. M.M. 'Then think how ill he'.

p. 363, l. 6 And then my tortur'd soul. M.M. 'And in that Sigh, my Soul'.

p. 364, l. 17 (Westminster Drollery, 1671.) if I see they mend. Query 'thee mend'.

p. 366, l. 18 (Miscellany, 1685.) Ignorance. 1685 'Igrance'.

p. 375, l. 6 So fair. 1685 'so far'.

p. 375, l. 27 be given. 1685 'be gived'.

p. 379, l. 5 Indian Priests. 1685 'Indian Priest'.

p. 382, l. 28 intrigues. Unless we are to pronounce this as a trisyllable a word must have dropped out of this line.

p. 383, l. 18 Damon false? 1685 'Damon safe?' (The use of the long 's' led to much misprinting.)

p. 384, l. 31 soild. 1685 'solid'.

p. 386, l. 5 tall. 1685 'tale'.

p. 391, l. 3 wand'ring Fires run. In Poems on Affairs of State, II (1703), this is: 'wandring Fire runs.'

p. 402, l. 12 Deme. i.e. 'Demme' (damn me).

Notes: Critical and Explanatory.

La Monstre.

p. 4 Peter Weston, Esq. Peter Weston, the second son of a Cheshire clergyman, was born in 1665. He matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and afterwards proceeding to the Inner Temple (1683) was called to the Bar in 1697. He attained considerable eminence in his profession. Foster, Alumni Oxon. has: 'Weston, Peter s. Tho. of Chester (city) cler. Brasenose Coll. matric. 10 June 1681 aged 16; bar. at law Inner Temple, 1697.' The Inner Temple Admission Register gives: 'Petrus Weston. Generosus filius secundus Thome Weston nuper de Christalton in Comitatu Cestrie Sacre Theologie Professoris generaliter Admissus est in Societatem istius Comitive in consideracione Trium librarum Sex solidorum etc. etc. Septimo die Februarii Anno Domini 1683 (i.e. 1683/4).' In the Inner Temple Records, amongst the Bench Table Orders, is noted, 27-9 January, 1696-7: 'that Peter Weston be called to the bar', and again 31 January following, we have: 'Peter Weston's call to the bar respited.' Doubtless Weston was a friend of Hoyle, and by him introduced to the circle which surrounded Mrs. Behn.

p. 7 Charles Cotton. Charles Cotton was born at Ovingdean (Sussex), 28 April, 1630. Upon coming into his estate he found it heavily encumbered, and probably as much from necessity as from natural inclination turned to literary work. He produced a large number of poems, translations, panegyrics, prominent amongst which is his Scarronides, or Virgil Travestie (1664). He will be remembered by his best lyrics, his Second Part of the Compleat Angler, and his version of Montaigne. Cotton, who seems to have been continually harassed with pecuniary difficulties, was a gay liver, albeit an intimate of Isaak Walton. He died 1687.

p. 7 two Orinda's. 'The matchless Orinda' was Mrs. Katherine Philips (née Fowler), précieuse and poetess (1631-64). After marriage the lady divided her time between London and her husband's house at Cardigan, where she was the centre of a circle of admirers and friends who adopted various fanciful names, e.g. Silvander (Sir Edward Dering), Antenor (her husband). Her verses and a translation of Corneille's Pompée (Dublin, 1663) became famous. At the height of her popularity she died of smallpox at a house in Fleet Street, 22 June, 1664. For an excellent account of her see Gosse, Seventeenth Century Studies.

p. 8 N. Tate. Nahum Tate, born in Dublin, 1652, was educated at Trinity College. He does not appear to have followed any definite profession. Coming to London he produced much miscellaneous literary work, and was even entrusted by Dryden with a portion of the second part of Absalom and Achitophel (1682), the master himself enriching it with some two hundred lines. Tate succeeded (24 December, 1692) Shadwell in the laureateship which he did not hold till his death (12 August, 1715) as Rowe was appointed to that post, 1 August, 1715. His plays are perhaps not so mediocre as they are often judged to be, but they have been damned by his outrageous mangling of King Lear (1681), which, none the less, persevered on the stage for many a long decade.[6] Perhaps he is chiefly known for this, and a version of the Psalms (the first twenty appeared in 1695) written in conjunction with Nicholas Brady (1696).

[6] The Fool was not restored until the time of Macready, when (25 January, 1838), under his Covent Garden management, the rôle was entrusted to Miss Priscilla Horton (Mrs. German Reed), who, it is recorded, achieved great success.

p. 9 G. J. George Jenkins, who, it will be remembered, edited Mrs. Behn's posthumous play, The Widow Ranter, vide Vol. IV, p. 215, and note p. 415 on G. J. (p. 222).

p. 18 cock, and comb. Cock = set his hat jauntily. For comb (his wig), cf. Dryden's prologue to The Conquest of Granada, II (1670):—

when Vizard Masque appears in Pit,
Straight every Man who thinks himself a Wit
Perks up; and, managing his Comb with grace,
With his white Wigg sets off his Nut-brown Face.

And Shadwell's The Humorists (1671), Act v, where Briske says: 'No man appears better upon a Bench in the Play-House; when I stand up to expose my Person between the Acts, I take out my Comb and with a bonne mien comb my Perriwig to the Tune the Fiddles Play: Thus, look you; fa, la, la, la.' Also Congreve, The Way of the World, iii, xii (1700): 'The gentlemen stay but to comb, madam, and will wait on you.' The phrase is frequent.

p. 20 Scrutore. cf. Vol. V, p. 73, The Fair Jilt: 'Scrutore perpetually employ'd,' and note on that passage (p. 519).

p. 75 Varrio. Antonio Verrio, the celebrated Neapolitan painter, was born at Lecce, in the Terra di Otranto, about 1639. His earliest pictures were done for ecclesiastics—the Jesuits College, Naples, the high altar in the Carmelite Church, Toulouse. His facility of execution and rich colouring gained him fame, and Charles II appointed him to direct the royal tapestry works at Mortlake. Soon, however, Verrio was transferred to Windsor to paint the walls and ceilings. Under Charles II and his successor Verrio was in high favour. At the Revolution he threw up his office of surveyor of the royal gardens (a sinecure) and refused to employ his pencil for William of Orange. He had, however, many commissions from nobles and private persons. His sight failing, Queen Anne bestowed on him a pension of £200 a year. He died 1707. A list of Verrio's ceilings will be found in Jesse's Eton and Windsor. Pope, Windsor Forest, has a couplet (307-8):—

from her roofs when Verrio's colours fall,
And leave inaminate the naked wall.

p. 75 Gibbon. Grinling Gibbons, the celebrated sculptor in wood, was born at Rotterdam, 4 April, 1648. He came to London in 1667. He was first brought into notice by Evelyn, who introduced him to the King. Charles II gave Gibbons a place in the board of works. Besides being employed at Windsor, Gibbons decorated other of the royal palaces in marble sculpture as well as wood. His exquisite carvings are to be found in many noble houses. They are unrivalled for their presentment of foliage, fruit, flowers; of a marvellous delicacy and beauty. In 1714 he was appointed master carver to George I. He died at his house in Bow Street, 3 August, 1721.

p. 76 noble Clifdon. Evelyn, 23 July, 1679, writes: 'To Court: after dinner I visited that excellent painter, Verrio, whose works in fresco in the King's palace, at Windsor, will celebrate his name as long as those walls last.... I went to Clifden, that stupendous natural rock, wood, and prospect, of the Duke of Buckingham's, buildings of extraordinary expense. The grots in the chalky rock are pretty: it is a romantic object, and the place altogether answers the most poetical description that can be made of solitude, precipice, prospect, or whatever can contribute to a thing so very like their imaginations. The stand somewhat like Frascati as to its front, and, on the platform, is a circular view to the utmost verge of the horizon which, with the serpenting of the Thames, is admirable. The staircase is for its materials singular; the cloisters, descents, gardens, and avenue through the wood, august and stately; but the land all about wretchedly barren, and producing nothing but fern. Indeed, as I told his Majesty that evening (asking me how I liked Clifden) without flattery, that it did not please me so well as Windsor for the prospect and park, w^ch is without compare; there being but one only opening and that narrow, w^ch led one to any variety, whereas, that of Windsor is everywhere great and unconfined.'

Pope's reference is quoted to triteness:—