translation of "Hero and Leander" proved him one of the most musical and exquisite of poets. The famous song here given, No. 7, appeared in "The Passionate Pilgrim," 1599. See note on Shakespeare, p. 390.

ANDREW MARVELL, Milton's assistant in the Latin secretaryship, was born at Winestead, March 31, 1621. He was educated at Hull and at Trinity College, Cambridge. After some travel on the Continent and private tutoring at the home of Lord Fairfax he was recommended by Milton to a post under the Commonwealth, and in 1657 he became Milton's assistant. In January, 1659, he was elected a member of Parliament for Hull, and at the Restoration he used his influence to protect Milton. He continued to take a highly honorable part in politics until his death in London, August 18, 1678. He is remembered as a political satirist and controversialist, and as a lyric poet of great charm.

WILLIAM JULIUS MICKLE, usually thought though not certainly proved to be the author of No. 194, was born September 28, 1735, at Langholm, Dumfriesshire. Educated at Langholm and in the schools of Edinburgh, he became clerk in a brewery, which by 1757 he owned. But his literary interests led to neglect of business and to failure. In 1765 he became corrector to the Clarendon Press, and six years later began his translation of the "Lusiads" of Camoens, finished in 1775. After some attempts at dramatic writing and a visit to Portugal, where he was elected a member of the Royal Academy, he settled into a government sinecure. To Evans's "Old Ballads, Historical and Narrative, With Some of Modern Date," 1777-1784, he contributed his beautiful "Cumnor Hall," mentioned by Scott in the Introduction to "Kenilworth." He died at Forest Hill, near Oxford, October 28, 1788. "The Sailor's Wife" has sometimes been given, on very insufficient evidence, to a certain Jean Adam or Jane Adams, a Scotch schoolmistress.

JOHN MILTON, usually regarded as the greatest English nondramatic poet, was born in London, December 9, 1608. He was fortunate in his home. His father enabled him to spend several years in leisure and travel after he had completed his studies at Cambridge, and to these happy years belong his lovely early poems. Then he taught a few pupils, continued his own deep studies, and began the series of his great prose pamphlets. At the beginning of the Commonwealth he was appointed Latin Secretary to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and lost his sight through overwork. At the Restoration he was in danger of his life and went into hiding. "Paradise Lost" was begun in 1658 and published in 1667. "Paradise Regained" and "Samson Agonistes" appeared together in 1671. Milton died November 8, 1674. The present poem, No. 85, was composed at the end of 1629, when Milton had just passed his twenty-first birthday, an extraordinary achievement for so young a man.

THOMAS MOORE, the friend of Byron, was born in Dublin, May 28, 1779. He came to London with some fame as a rising poet, and became celebrated for his "Irish Melodies," published from 1807 to 1834. "Lalla Rookh," a pseudo-oriental tale in verse, 1817, expressed the same interest in the East that made Byron's oriental poems popular. Moore died at Sloperton Cottage, Wiltshire, February 25, 1852. He won some distinction as a satirist and as a prose writer by his biographies, particularly his "Life, Letters, and Journals of Lord Byron."

THOMAS NASH, the youngest of the Elizabethan university wits, was born at Lowestoft in November, 1567. He studied at Cambridge from 1582 to 1586, and became the friend and defender of Greene and Marlowe. His important works are "Jack Wilton," a novel, 1594, and the play "Summer's Last Will and Testament," 1600, from which this song, No. 1, is taken. He was dead by 1601.

JOHN NORRIS was born at Collingbourne-Kingston, Wiltshire, 1657. He was educated at Winchester and at Exeter College, Oxford, and became fellow of All Souls. He entered the ministry and wrote much in a religious or mystical vein. In 1692 he became rector of Bemerton, near Salisbury, the parish that George Herbert had made famous. Norris died there in 1711.

CAROLINA OLIPHANT, Baroness Nairne, was born at Gask, Perthshire, August 16, 1766. She was inspired by Burns's poems to imitate and revise old Scotch songs, and under an assumed name contributed to the collections of the time. "The Land o' the Leal," 1798, No. 198, was sent for comfort to Mrs. Campbell Colquhoun, who had lost a child. The latter part of Lady Nairne's life was spent in travel for the health of her own son. She died at Gask, October 26, 1845.

AMBROSE PHILIPS was born in Shropshire about 1675. He was educated at Shrewsbury and at St. John's College, Cambridge. His famous "Pastorals," 1709, which excited Pope's jealousy, were perhaps written while he was in college. He was befriended by Swift, Addison, and Steele. In 1724 he became secretary to the Bishop of Armagh, and later rose to be judge of the prerogative court. He died in London, June 18, 1749. He was ridiculed by Henry Carey (see p. 379) as "Namby Pamby.”

ALEXANDER POPE was born in London, May 21, 1688. He was brought up a Roman Catholic, and spent a sickly childhood and youth in retirement. His literary career began with his "Pastorals," 1709, and his fame was assured by "The Rape of the Lock," 1714. He died at Twickenham, May 30, 1744. He had long since become the chief poet of the age, but as his work lay chiefly in the fields of satiric and didactic verse, he is represented in this volume by only the present poem, No. 154, which he claimed to have written when he was twelve years old. The piece is remarkably Horatian in tone.

Matthew Prior was born in Dorsetshire, July 21, 1664. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, and afterwards had a distinguished diplomatic career, especially at the time of the Peace of Utrecht. He is considered by many to be the best English writer of society verse. He died September 18, 1721.

FRANCIS QUARLES was born at Romford, Essex, where he was baptized May 8, 1592. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, and studied law at Lincoln's Inn. After a short residence abroad he settled in London and published poems of an eccentric and religious character. Before 1629 he became secretary to the Bishop of Armagh, Ireland. Before 1633 he was in England again, at Roxwell, Essex. In 1635 he published his famous book, the "Emblems." He died September 8, 1644.

SAMUEL ROGERS was born at Stoke Newington, July 30, 1763. He entered the banking business at his father's wish, but his real interest was in literature. În 1781 he made his first appearance in print with a paper reminiscent of Johnson's "Rambler." His first volume of poems was published in 1786. In 1792 appeared "The Pleasures of Memory." From that year his reputation constantly increased. He was the friend of most of the prominent statesmen, artists, and poets who flourished during his long life. He died in London, December 18, 1855.

SIR WALTER SCOTT, whom Tennyson called the greatest man of letters of the nineteenth century, was born at Edinburgh, August 15, 1771. After graduating from Edinburgh University he became a lawyer, but managed to do much writing in addition to his public duties. His "Border Minstrelsy” was published in 1802, "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" in 1805, "Marmion" in 1808, "The Lady of the Lake" in 1810, "Rokeby" in 1813. After 1814 Scott devoted himself to his novels, but the incidental poems in his stories are among the best short lyrics in the language. He died at Abbotsford, September 21, 1832.

SIR CHARLES SEDLEY was born about 1639 at Aylesford, Kent. He was for a while at Wadham College, Oxford, and after the Restoration was a member of Parliament. Although once noted as a dramatist, a wit, and a man of taste, he is chiefly remembered for his dissolute life. His best trait seems to have been his gift of song writing. He died August 20, 1701.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, greatest of English dramatists, was born at Stratford-on-Avon, April 23, 1564. His early life is the subject of much conjecture; recent discoveries have made his later years a little less legendary than they were. He married Anne Hathaway when he was little more than a boy, and shortly afterwards he went to London and became connected with the stage as actor and playwright, and

shareholder in two theaters. He died at Stratford, April 23, 1616. The songs in this anthology are taken from his various dramas and from "The Passionate Pilgrim," 1599, a collection of poems, of which five are known to be Shakespeare's. The sonnets are from the collection printed in 1609.

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY was born at Field Place, Sussex, August 4, 1792. He was educated at Eton and at University College, Oxford, but was expelled by the college authorities in 1811 for the publication of his tract, "The Necessity of Atheism." His father practically disowned him, and the radical nature of his poems and his conduct caused his virtual exile from England. His last years were spent in Italy. He published "Queen Mab" in 1813, "Alastor" in 1816, "The Revolt of Islam" in 1817, "Prometheus Unbound" in 1820, and "The Cenci" in the same year. He was drowned in the Mediterranean, July 8, 1822. Like Wordsworth, he is now praised by his admirers almost as much for his personality as for his poems.

JAMES SHIRLEY was born in London, September 18, 1596. He was educated at the Merchant Tailors School, at St. John's College, Oxford, and at Catherine Hall, Cambridge. He took orders in the English Church, but later became a Roman Catholic and devoted his life to writing plays. He was a prolific dramatist and ranks as the last of the great Elizabethan playwrights. No. 91 is from his masque "Cupid and Death"; No. 92 is from his "Contention of Ajax and Ulysses." He died of exposure during the fire of London, October, 1666.

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY was born of noble parentage at Penshurst, Kent, November 29, 1554. At Shrewsbury School he formed his famous friendship with Fulke Greville, his biographer. For a time he studied at Christ Church, Oxford, and later traveled on the Continent. Returning to Elizabeth's court, he was the friend of Spenser and other poets. By the nobility of his character and by his romantic death he became the ideal English courtier. At the battle of Zutphen, September 22, 1586, he was fatally wounded, and died on October 17. He was only incidentally a writer, but in each of his works, "Astrophel and Stella,” "The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia," "The Apologie for Poetrie," he had the fortune to set the standard for Elizabethan sonnet sequences, romances, and criticism. For his contemporaries he was the model of the perfect gentleman, and such he remains to us.

CHRISTOPHER SMART was born at Shipbourne, Kent, April 11, 1722. He was educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, and became a fellow of that college in 1745. Later he removed to London and published an unimportant volume of poems. He lost his reason, but in a sane interval wrote the Song to David," 1763, from which these lines,

No. 179, are taken. But for this extraordinary poem, one of the most imaginative of the century, Smart would be known, if at all, mainly as a hack writer. He died in London, May 21, 1771.

ROBERT SOUTHEY was born at Bristol, August 12, 1774. He was educated at Westminster School and at Balliol, Oxford. With Coleridge he took a deep interest in the French Revolution, and was for a while a decided Radical. After his marriage to the sister of Coleridge's wife, the necessity of supporting the Coleridges as well as his own large family developed the steadier qualities in his fine character. His home for the chief part of his life was at Keswick. Besides much reviewing and historical writing and general literary work, he wrote some ambitious epics like "Thalaba," 1801, and "The Curse of Kehama," 1810, and a few memorable short poems. In 1813 he became poet laureate. He died at Keswick, March 21, 1843.

EDMUND SPENSER, one of the greatest of English poets, was born in London, in 1552. He was educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, and joined the group of young poets at Elizabeth's court. In 1579 appeared "The Shepheardes Calendar," the most important poem since Chaucer's day. In 1580 Spenser was appointed secretary to the Lord Deputy of Ireland. In 1590 he issued the first three books of "The Faerie Queene"; in 1595 "Colin Clouts Come Home Againe," the "Amoretti,” and the "Epithalamion"; and in 1596, the fourth, fifth, and sixth books of "The Faerie Queene." He died in London, January 16, 1599.

SIR JOHN SUCKLING was born at Whitton, Middlesex, February, 1609. He was a precocious child, and early became distinguished for his wit. After attending Trinity College, Cambridge, he traveled much on the Continent. He was popular at the English Court for his verses and plays, and was also noted as a gamester and a gallant. The song here given, No. 129, his most famous piece, occurs in his play "Aglaura," 1638. For political reasons he was obliged to leave the country. The manner of his death is uncertain. One story is that he committed suicide in Paris, probably before the end of 1642.

JOSHUA SYLVESTER, born in Kent, 1563, was a business man who made literature his avocation. In 1606 he was attached to the Court as a poet. His translations from the French poet Du Bartas had great fame and much influence, but are now forgotten. He died at Middelburg, September 28, 1618.

JAMES THOMSON was born at Ednam, Roxburghshire, probably on September 7, 1700. He was educated at Jedburgh and at the University of Edinburgh. In 1725 he came to London in search of a literary career. His fame was secured by "The Seasons," published in four parts between 1726 and 1730. Aside from some dramatic writing, his only other