Such was the life great Scipio once admir’d, Ye sacred Nine ! that all my soul possess, 265 While lasts the mountain, or while Thames shall flow) 270 NOTES. Ver. 263.] Denham, says Dr. Johnson, seems to have been, at least among us, the author of a species of composition that may be denominated Local Poetry, of which the fundamental subject is some particular landscape, to be poetically described, with the addition of such embellishments as may be supplied by historical retrospection, or incidental meditation. Cooper's Hill, if it be maliciously inspected, will not be found without its faults; the digressions are too long, the morality too frequent, and the sentiments such as will not bear a rigorous inquiry. It was first printed at Oxford, in 1633. Warton. VARIATIONS. Methinks around your holy scenes I rove, Here his first lays majestic DENHAM sung; tongue. NOTES. Ver. 271. majestic Denham) Pope, by the expression of "majestic,” has justly characterized the flow of Denham's couplets. It is extraordinary that Pope, who by this expression seems to have appreciated the general cast of harmony in Cooper's Hill, should have made his own cadences so regular and almost unvaried. Denham's couplets are often irregular, but the effect of the pauses in the following lines was obviously the result of a fine ear. The language truly suits the subject. But his proud head the airy mountain hides Whilst winds and storms his lofty forehead beat! Bowles. Ver. 272. There the last numbers flow'd from Cowley's tongue.] Mr. Cowley died at Chertsey on the borders of the Forest, and was from thence conveyed to Westminster. Disgusted with the business and bustle of the world, and the intrigues of courts, Cowley thought to have found an exemption of all cares in retiring to Chertsey. Dr. Johnson wrote a Rambler to ridicule his wish to retire to America, and has published a Letter, vol. i. of bis Lives, p. 29, which he recommends to the perusal of all who pant for solitude. His house at Chertsey now belongs to Mr. Alderman Clarke. Warton. P. VARIATIONS. What sighs, what murmurs, fill'd the vocal shore ! P. Since fate relentless stopp'd their heav'nly voice, No more the forests ring, or groves rejoice; Who now shall charm the shades, where COWLEY strung His living harp, and lofty Denham sung? 280 But hark! the groves rejoice, the forest rings ! Are these reviv'd ? or is it GRANVILLE sings! 'Tis yours, my Lord, to bless our soft retreats, And call the Muses to their ancient seats; To paint anew the flow'ry sylvan scenes, 285 To crown the forests with immortal greens, Make Windsor-hills in lofty numbers rise, And lift her turrets nearer to the skies ; To sing those honours you deserve to wear, And add new lustre to her silver star. 290 Here noble SURREY felt the sacred rage, SURREY, the GRANVILLE of a former age: NOTES. Ver. 282.] The Mira of Granville was the Countess of Newburgh. Towards the end of her life Dr. King, of Oxford, wrote a very seyere satire against her, in three books, 4to, called The Toast. Warton. Ver. 29). Here noble Surrey.] Henry Howard Earl of Surrey, one of the first refiners of the English poetry; who flourish'd in the time of Henry VIII. P. VARIATIONS. Ver. 290. her silver star.] All the lines that follow were not added to the poem till the year 1710. What immediately followed this, and made the conclusion, were these; My humble Muse in unambitious strains P. Matchless his pen, victorious was his lance, Oh would'st thou sing what heroes Windsor bore, NOTES. Ver. 297. Fair Geraldine,) “ The Fair Geraldine, (says Mr. Warton in his Hist. of English Poetry, vol. iii.) the general object of Lord Surrey's passionate sonnets, is commonly said to have lived at Florence, and to have been of the family of the Geraldi of that city. This is a misapprehension of an expression in one of our poet's odes, and a passage in Drayton's Heroic Epistles. She was, undoubtedly, one of the daughters of Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare. · In the History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 12. is a poem of the elegiac kind, in which he laments his imprisonment in Windsor Castle. Warton. Ver. 303. Edward's acts] Edward III. born here. P. In what an exquisite strain does Gray speak of this monarch, and his son ! Mighty victor, mighty lord, Low on his funeral couch he lies ! Which VARIATIONS. Not to recount those several kings, to whom 66 Denham. Draw monarchs chain'd, and Cressi's glorious field, 310 Let softer strains ill-fated Henry mourn, And palms eternal flourish round his urn. NOTES. Which is followed by that striking question, Is the sable warrior fled ?- the dead. The Bard, strophe 2. I have sometimes wondered that Pope did not mention the building of Windsor Castle by Edward III. His architect was William of Wykeham, whose name, it must not be wondered at, if I seize every opportunity of mentioning with veneration and gratitude. Yet, perhaps, he was rather the supervisor and comptroller of the work, than the actual architect, as he had singular talents for business, activity, and management of affairs. Warton. Ver. 307.) “Without much invention, (says Mr. Walpole, vol. iž. p. 59.) and with less taste, Verrio's exuberant pencil was ready at pouring out gods, goddesses, kings, emperors, and triumphs, over those public surfaces, on which the eye never rests long enough to criticise, and where one should be sorry to place the works of a better master ; I mean ceilings and staircases. He received, in all, for his various works, the sum of 6,845l.” Bowles. Ver. 311. Henry mourn.) Henry VI. P. How could he here omit the mention of Eton College, founded by this unfortunate King, and the Chapel of King's College in Cambridge. But Gray has made ample amends for this omission, by VARIATIONS. Ver. 307. Originally thus in the MS. When Brass decays, when Trophies lie o’erthrown, |