Sooth'd with the sound, the king grew vain; Fought all his battles o'er again; And thrice he routed all his foes; and thrice he slew the slain. The master saw the madness rise; He chose a mournful Muse, He sung Darius great and good, Fallen from his high estate, Deserted, at his utmost need, 70 80 With downcast looks the joyless victor sate, Revolving in his alter'd soul [Heroic Love, a tragedy by George Granville, based on the story of Briseis in the Iliad, was probably first acted in 1697; it had great success on the stage (Downes). Dryden's epistle, with heading as above, was printed with the first edition of the play, which was published on February 19, 1698 (Malone, I, 1, 310, on the authority of an advertisement in the London Gazette). Granville, who was created Lord Lansdowne in 1711, is known in literature as the friend of Pope as well as of Dryden.] AUSPICIOUS poet, wert thou not my friend, How could I envy, what I must commend! But since 't is nature's law, in love and wit, : That youth should reign, and with'ring age submit, With less regret those laurels I resign, Which, dying on my brows, revive on thine. With better grace an ancient chief may yield The long contended honors of the field, Catch at a peace, and wisely turn devout. age Can best, if any can, support the stage; Mr. Dryden bowed to the good old lady, and spoke extempore the f[ollowing verses]: So much religion in your name doth dwell, My prayers shall be, while this short life endures, THE MONUMENT OF A FAIR MAIDEN LADY WHO DIED AT BATH AND IS THERE INTERR'D [This epitaph was first printed, with title as above, in the volume of Fables, 1700. It is found on a mural tablet in Bath Abbey, where it is preceded by the following words: "Here lyes the Body of Mary, third Daughter of Richard Frampton of Moreton in Dorsetshire, Esq and of Iane his Wife, sole Daughter of S Francis Cottington of Founthill in Wilts, who was born Ianuary ye J 167%. And Dyed after Seven Weeks sickness on the 6 of 7ber 1698. This Monument was Erected by Cath. Frampton, her second Sister and Executress in testimony of her Grief, Affection, and Gratitude." The tablet is surmounted by a bust of Mary Frampton. The text above is from a copy of the tablet, kindly furnished the present editor by the Reverend S. A. Boyd, Rector of Bath. The text of the poem follows that printed in the Fables.] [In March, 1700 (Malone, I, 1, 327, on the authority of an advertisement in the Flying Post), Tonson published a folio volume with title-page reading as follows: This volume, the "last fruit off an old tree," contained, besides the material printed below, the epitaph on The Monument of a Fair Maiden Lady (p. 735, above) and a reprint of Alexander's Feast. The earliest of the new poems contained in it were probably written late in 1697 or early in 1698. In Dryden's correspondence there are several charming references to this last great work of his pen. On February 2, 1699, he writes to his kinswoman Mrs. Steward: "In the mean time, betwixt my intervalls of physique and other remedies which I am useing for my gravell, I am still drudgeing on: always a poet, and never a good one. I pass my time 29 |