The loves and heroines of the poets

Preface

My object in this volume is to present specimens of English love-poetry, especially that which is, or seems to be, addressed to particular women — "the Loves and Heroines of the Poets," and to give, as concisely as possible, all that is known concerning them. I begin with the three great Italian poets, because I conceive their love-sonnets — above all, Petrarch's — to have been the models after which our early poets shaped their amorous fancies. Wyatt and Surrey, even when most original, are little better than imitators of Petrarch. Indeed, so notorious was this fact in the generation immediately succeeding them, that they were said to have travelled in Italy, and to have brought their art from thence. I trace the course of love-poetry in English Literature from Wyatt to the poets of the present day. I have gone over the ground carefully, and have selected what seemed to me the best specimens for a volume of this kind. The poetic literature of the age of Elizabeth and the times of Charles the First and Second, is largely represented. I have arranged ray materials chronologically, giving the dates at which the different poems were written, wherever they were known, or at least the dates and names of the volumes in which, as far as I could ascertain, they were first printed : where there was nothing positive to guide me, I have arranged them conjeoturally. When I could consult the early editions, I have done so, although I have not

IV PREFACE.

always followed their readings, when a later one seemed better. I have chosen authenticated portraits, when I could obtain them, in preference to ideal heads, greatly, I think, to the permanent value of the work. For some of the best of these illustrations I am indebted to my friend Barry, who has copied from their scarce originals the portraits of Laura, Beatrice, and Geraldine, and drawn from his imagination the ideal heads of Shakespeare's Mistress, Burns's Highland Mary, and Coleridge's Genevieve.

R. H. S.

CONTENTS,

DAJSTTK ^^LIGJ-HIKRI.

Beatrice

'■ To every captive soul "

"Young, tender, noble maiden' " O Love ! since while I gazed "

" Tell me, kind ladies " .

" All thoughts that meet "

" Many the times " .

" So noble and so modest " .

" He the perfection sees "

" A lady piteous, and of tender age

"Say, pilgrims, ye who go " .

" Remembrance had brought back "

" Farewell, alas ! farewell " .

inRA.lSrCESCO PETRARCH.

Laura

He confesses the vanity of his passion

He blames love for wounding him .

On the portrait of Laura .

Recollections of love

He is bewildered ....

Could he but see the house of Laura

Though he is unhappy

To the fountain of Vaucluse

He envies every spot that she frequents . 18

To the sun 18

To love, on Laura walking abroad . . 19

He leaves Vaucluse 19

Hearing no tidings of her . . . .20

He desires to die 20

He prays that she will be near him . . 21

He would die of grief 21

Since her death, he has ceased to Uve . . 22

TORQTTA.TO T^SSO.

Leonora

. 23

•' If love his captive bind "

. 28

" I see the anchored bark " .

. 28

"Thou, in thy unripe years" .

. 29

" Till Laura comes, who now "

. 29

" I saw two ladies once "

. 29

" 'Twas night and underneath "

. 30

" Ah me ! it is a cruel destiny "

" One day my lady at a balcony " .

"Three high-born dames it was my lot"

" She, who a maiden, taught me, love " .

" Anger a champion bold '' . .

" Wandering Ulysses " . . . .

" A hell of torment " . . . .

SIR THOMAS T^Y^TT.

Note 34

The lover prayeth his offered heart . 35

The lover forsaketh his unkind love . 35

The lover despairing to attain ... 36

The deserted lover consoleth himself . 36

The lover curseth the time An earnest suit to his unkind mistress .

The forsaken lover consoleth himself The lover laments the death of his love

HEUSTRY HOT^T^RID.

EARL OP SURREY.

Geraldine

Description and praise of his lov Complaint ....

. 41 I Request to his love . . 43 A praise of his lady . 43