“ Maria,
an elegy.
Frail is the virgin lily's flower,
Frail is the blushing rose,
When first in Flora's vernal hour
Their beauties they disclose.
But far more frail, alas! than they
The blooming maid is seen,
Who, mildly bright as dawning day
Steps forth on life's gay scene. ”

“ Yet by some such fortuitous liquefaction, was mankind taught to procure a body, at once in a high degree solid and transparent, which might admit the light of the sun, and exclude the violence of the wind; which might extend the sight of the philosopher to new ranges of existence, and charm him at one time, with the unbounded extent of the material creation, and at another, with the endless subordination of animal life ”

“ The earth, the atmosphere, and the waters, are one immense laboratory, in which a series of compositions and decompositions is perpetually carried on. The quickening energy of the sun, the fountain of light and life, pervades every combination of matter. ”

“ The moon, and the other heavenly bodies, exert an influence on our globe; our globe in return has a re-action upon them. The various meteors, and other phenomena of the atmosphere, even the fiery tail of the comet, are supposed by many philosophers to owe their origin to vapours and exhalations from our earth. The supposition of the poet, therefore, though fanciful, is not extravagant. From the ashes of a plant manuring the soil, might certainly spring a more vigorous plant, which scattering its seeds, might in time, phoenix-like, grow up a wood. ”

“ All that regards design, form, fable, (which is the soul of poetry,) all that concerns exactness, or consent of parts, (which is the body,) will probably be wanting: only pretty conceptions, fine metaphors, glittering expressions, and something of a neat cast of verse (which are properly the dress, gems, or loose ornaments of poetry,) may be found in these verses. This is, indeed, the case of most other poetical writers of miscellanies: nor can it be well otherwise, since no man can be a true poet who writes for diversion only. ”

“ Gertrude Aston, fourth daughter of Sir Walter, who married Henry Thimelby, appears to have employed herself occasionally in writing verses, not with a view of being thought a poetess, but merely from a strong desire to pour forth her feelings on such subjects as excited her sensibility. ”

“ When my memory or reading supplied me with parallel passages from other authors, I have freely inserted them.
"It is always gratifying, says Johnson, to trace a sentiment." [42] And indeed, this is a species of illustration, with which every scholar, and I believe, almost every reader, is generally delighted.
In the notes, I have found an opportunity to insert two short poems of my own composition; not only for the reasons there assigned, but from an anxious desire to prove that the Heliconian maids still love to linger among the hills, the streams, and the groves of Tixall. ”

“ Nothing can be more delightful, than to contemplate, in the different seasons of the year, or at different times of the day, the mingled effects of light and shade among these dilapidated, ivied walls. ”

“ But, above all, on a clear, moonlight night, when all around is still, and when the recollections, and emotions, which such a scene is calculated to excite, are awakened, and exalted by the solemn, congenial serenity of the nocturnal heavens, it is then that fancy and feeling will exert their influence, and take full possession of the mind and heart. ”

“ One can hardly conceive a harder trial to the feelings, than that of parting with a dearly beloved object, who is about to embark on a long voyage. The frailty of the vessel, the dangers of the ocean, with the difficulty, and uncertainty of future communication, all combine to heighten the distress. ”

“ To My Esteemed Patron, Sir Walter Aston,
Knight of the Honourable Order of the Bathe.
Although our sundry, (yet our sacred) flames,
Worke divers and as contrarie effects, [2]
Yet than your owne, we seeke not other names,
Nor stranger arches our free muse erects. ”

“ Microcosm, from the Greek, signifies the little world, and is opposed to macrocosm, the great world, or the universe. In this sense man is called a microcosm, from the admirable contrivance and wonderful distribution of parts in the human frame; and also from being imagined, by some fanciful philosophers, to have something in him analogous to the four elements. It appears to have been a favourite word with our older writers, both in prose and verse. ”

“ The strength he gains is from th' embrace he gives.
On their own axis as the planets run,
Yet make at once their circle round the sun;
So two consistent motions act the soul,
And one regards itself, and one the whole.
Thus God and Nature linked the general frame,
And bade self-love and social be the same.
P. 50.The loadston loves its iron, &c.
This seems to be an allusion to one of the dark peripatetical notions concerning the virtues of the magnet, which has been a kind of ignis fatuus to philosophers, and a prolific source of quackery in all ages. ”

“ Constantia Aston, the youngest daughter of Sir Walter Aston, was married to Walter Fowler, Esq. of St Thomas' Priory, near Stafford. That she had a great love for good poetry, is evident from the passages in her letters to her brother Herbert, already quoted: but that she wrote poems herself, I have no evidence to adduce. The reader will find a beautiful little poem addressed to her before her marriage, in the fourth division. ”

“ For these poems, therefore, of the Astons and Thimelbyes, I am not unwilling to adopt the character which Pope has given of the poetry of Crashaw:—
"I take this poet to have writ like a gentleman, that is, at leisure hours, and more to keep out of idleness than to establish a reputation: so that nothing regular or just can be expected of him. ”

“ Flights of imagination, beautiful imagery, delicacy of sentiment, and elegance of language, were all to be sacrificed to far-fetched conceits, remote allusions, metaphysical subtleties, and quaint combinations of the most incongruous ideas. ”

“ For there is not any vertue that disposeth a man either to the service of God, or to the service of his country, to civill society, or private friendship, that did not manifestly appear in his conversation, not as acquired by necessity, or affected upon occasion, but inherent, and shining in a generous constitution of his nature. ”

“ Our poet, Edward Thimelby, seems to have held this "Delight of the European Princes" very cheap; and it appears, that the "Lyrics" and other performances of this wonderful genius, for whom "kingdoms were to contend," have now sunk into utter oblivion!
L. 12. While spheires and angells sing, and make no noise.
If nature thundered in his opening ears,
And stunned him with the music of the spheres,
How would he wish that Heaven had left him still
The whispering zephyr and the purling rill!
Essay on Man, Ep. 1. ”

“ This work has been the text-book of all those writers calling themselves philosophers, who, since his time, have maintained that self-love is the only ruling principle of the thoughts and actions of mankind. ”

“ On further investigation, I have discovered Several of them, in the numerous little volumes of poetry, which were published during the latter part of the 17th century; [12] though they are mostly without any author's name, and the poems they contain, are frequently said to be written, "By a Person of Quality." As I knew that the family at Tixall, and their friends, were persons of quality, and that they were also writers of poetry, I saw no reason to suppose but that they might have been the authors of some of these poems. ”

“ And beauty draws us with a single hair.
We have had so much about glass in these little poems, that I cannot refrain from adding the following admirable passage from the Rambler, on the manufacture of that useful article:
"Who, when he saw the first sand or ashes, by a casual intenseness of heat, melted into a metalline form, rugged with excrescences, and clouded with impurities, would have imagined, that, in this shapeless lump, lay concealed so many conveniencies of life, as would in time constitute a great part of the happiness of the world? ”

“ Dr Warton, I think, has observed, that English poetry is chiefly deficient in lyrical productions. Songs, and sonnets, hymns, and moral stanzas, epistles, satires, and pastorals, appear to have been the favourite subjects among those of our earlier poets, who addicted themselves to minor compositions in verse. ”

“ It is but justice to the authors of the poetry in this volume to remark, that there are fewer of these extravagant absurdities in their compositions than in most of the poems of the writers just mentioned.
The last stanza is eminently beautiful. It recalls to my mind those figures of the Magdalen which are to be seen in pictures of the crucifixion by some of the first Italian painters. Sometimes she is represented kneeling on the ground, and embracing the foot of the cross, while the blood of the Redeemer is trickling down upon her head. ”

“ From an attentive perusal of them, together with the lines in the title-page of this work, as well as from the long and cordial intimacy which subsisted between the poet and his patron, I am induced to think, that Drayton composed several of his poems at Tixall. Sir Walter Aston appears to have imbibed, at an early age, a decided taste for literature and poetry; for we find, that Drayton dedicated to him, his "Epistle of the Black Prince," in his collection of "Heroical Epistles," in 1598; most of which appear to have been published separately, some years before. ”

“ It is composed in stanzas of seven lines, of ten syllables each; a measure of verse, which Chaucer uses in this, and many other considerable works, and which he is supposed to have introduced into the English language. "It obtained afterward," says Godwin, (Life of Chaucer, vol. i. p. 234,) "the name of Rythm royal, was the favourite measure of a long succession of English poets, and is particularly dear to all genuine lovers of English poetry, as having been employed by our admirable Spenser, in his two exquisite Hymns of Love and Beauty. ”

“ In Lord Bagot's house, at Blithfield, about eight miles from Tixall, there is a portrait of the first Lord Aston painted on board. He has a firm, but pleasing countenance; short, light-coloured hair, and whiskers; his dress is black, laced with gold; and round his neck is a triple gold chain, which is said to have been a present from King Charles I.
P. 94. These lines were composed on the marriage of Walter, second Lord Aston, with the Lady Mary Weston, daughter of Richard Weston, Earl of Portland, which took place in the year 1629. ”

“ The harmony of the spheres is much spoken of by many of the ancient philosophers and fathers of the church, and was supposed to be produced by the regular motion of the stars and planets. Plato, Philo Judæus, St Augustin, St Ambrose, St Isidore, Boethius, and many others, were strongly possessed with this motion, which they attribute to the various proportional impressions of the heavenly globes on one another; which, acting under proportional intervals, form a delightful harmony. It is impossible, according to them, that such stupendous bodies, moving with such rapidity, should be silent ”

“ The few, but affecting incidents, related of Mary Magdalen, in the Gospel, are well adapted to excite the sensibility, and to warm the fancy of a poet. But sacred poetry has seldom been successful. "It is easy," says Mr Headley, "to mistake the enthusiasm of devotion for the inspiration of fancy. To mix the waters of Jordan and Helicon in the same cup was reserved for the hand of Milton; and for him, and him only, to find the bays of Mount Olivet equally verdant with those of Parnassus."
It seems pretty clear, that the writer of these stanzas was Edward Thimelby. ”

“ How shrunk is every thing as it appears in the glass of nature! so that if it were not for the assistance of artificial mediums, false lights, refracted angles, varnish, and tinsel, there would be a mighty level in the felicity, and enjoyments of mortal men."—Tale of a Tub, Sect. ”

“ Lady Elizabeth Savage, sister of Earl Rivers, was the wife of Sir John Thimelby of Irnham, eldest brother of Edward Thimelby the poet, of Henry Thimelby, husband of Gertrude Aston, whose poems form the second part of this miscellany; and of Catherine Thimelby, often mentioned in the last part these poems, the wife of Herbert Aston, second son of the first Lord Aston. Moreover, Earl Rivers's second brother was married to the widow of Sir Edward Somerset; and Anne, youngest daughter of the second Lord Aston, was married to Sir Henry Somerset, Sir Edward's elder brother. ”

“ Let this reflection give ease to your anxious thoughts, but render not your joys too serious, by dwelling for ever upon it. It is sufficient to be once acquainted with this philosophy, in order to give an unbounded loose to love and jollity, and remove all the scruples of a vain superstition; but while youth and passion, my fair one, prompt our eager desires, we must find gayer subjects of discourse to intermix with these amorous caresses."
P. 245. This spirited song I have found in a miscellany, with this singular title: "Wit at a Venture, or Clio's Privy Garden ”

“ He was a young man, of very superior talents, of great literary attainments, a poet, a scholar, and a saint, of the most amiable disposition, and the most engaging manners. For many years he kept up a constant correspondence with the editor, chiefly on literary subjects. He has therefore felt his loss, not only as a brother, but as a companion, and director of his studies, whom he regrets, and laments, from year to year. Truly can he say ”

“ In the presence of the clergy and people, the three daughters of Arcadius dedicated their virginity to God; and the obligation of their solemn vow was inscribed on a tablet of gold and gems, which they publickly offered in the great church of Constantinople. Their palace was converted into a monastery; and all males, except the guides of their conscience, were scrupulously excluded from the holy threshold. Pulcheria, her two sisters, and a chosen train of favoured damsels, formed a religious community ”

“ The Right Honourable Lady Aston.
It is remarkable, that the first poem in this Third Division, like that in the First, is on the sorrows of Mary Magdalen.
Mrs Catherine Gage, to whom it is addressed, was the daughter of Sir Thomas Gage, Bart, of Firle, co. Suff., and second wife to Walter, third Lord Aston. At this time, young unmarried ladies of quality were always stiled Mrs; when that was disused, and they came to be called Miss, I do not know.—In the 'Guardian,' published 1713, the young ladies of the Lizard family are stiled Mrs Jane, Mrs Mary, Mrs Betty. ”

“ In this miscellany, this poem is ascribed to a Mr Motteux, who was a French refugee, and much connected with the wits, and scholars, of his time. He is said to have been killed, in some quarrel, in a brothel in London.
Where all dissolved to dust, in nature's mass are lost. ”