VIRGIDEMIARUM. SIXE BOOKES. FIRST THREE BOOKES, OF TOOTH-LESSE SATYRS. 1. POETICALL 2. ACADEMICALL. 3. MORALL. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. By the kindness of Mr. Henry Ellis, of the British Museum, the Editor is enabled, in addition to the fruits of his own researches, to enrich the following masterly performance of his author with some of those elucidations, which his frequent imitation of the Classics and his perpetual allusions to temporary and local circumstances have rendered indispensable to a full comprehension of the spirit and beauty of his satire. Mr. Ellis has had it in contemplation to publish an edition of the Satires, fully illustrated: which design, it is to be hoped, he will find leisure to accomplish. In the mean time he has had the goodness to allow the Editor to select such notes from his papers, as might appear most necessary and he has also furnished him with Warton's notes on his author, contained in a few of the first sheets of the fourth volume of his History of English Poetry, which had passed the press before the death of the learned critic. Mr. Ellis's notes are marked E, and those of Mr. Warton W. For the rest the Editor is responsible. Those obsolete words, which rarely occur in the Satires, are explained in the Notes. The following are such as repeatedly occur. For the rest, the Glossary to the Whole Works may be consulted. Albe, or albee-albeit, although. Certes-certainly. Covetise-corvetousness. Dight-dressed, decked. Erst-first, formerly. Eyne-eyes. Gan-began. Gin-begin. Frere-friar. Hundreth-hundred. List-choose. Meed-reward. Mote, or mought-might. Playned, playning-complained, complaining. Sith-since. Spright---spirit. Treen-trees. Weene-to imagine. Wot-to know. Writhen-wrinkled, distorted, twisted. HIS DEFIANCE TO ENVY. NAY; let the prouder Pines of Ida feare The sudden fires of heaven; and decline In humble dales, whom heav'ns do not despight; Let high attemps dread envy and ill tongues, this sense So adders shroud themselves in fayrest leaves: whilere—just now, a little while ago. Shakespeare uses erewhile in Else your memory is bad, going o'er it EREWHILE. Raleigh uses the word as Hall does. · are like be gald i. e. are like to be fretted, marked, or torn. So in Book IV. Sat. 5. With some GAL'D trunk, ballac'd with straw and stone. And in the conclusion to Book III. Hold out, ye guiltie and ye GALLED hides. 'So golden Mazor wont suspicion breed Of deadly Hemlock's poison'd potion. Mazor, or mazer, is explained in the old dictionaries to be a standing-cup to drink in, commonly made of maeser, a Dutch word for maple. The contrast of the poet then is, between a cup usually made of maple, and the same cup made of gold. Nor the low bush feares climbing yvy-twine: Nor baser deed dreads envy and ill tongues, Manicled long with bonds of modest feare, To lead sad Pluto captive with my song, May be she might in stately Stanzaes frame And somewhat say, as more unworthy done, recklesse-careless, or severe. 'kestrels-a species of hawk: from the French querqelle, cercelle: these from the Latin circulus; so called from the shape or disposition of its tail. • weeter-wetter. 1 wan-won. Stories of ladies, and advent'rous knights. A pointed allusion to the finished and descriptive poetry of Spenser. E. Then might vaine envy waste her duller wing, Since in our Satyre lyes both good and ill, And show his rougher and his hairy hide, Tho mine be smooth, and deckt in carelesse pride. To sound our love, and to our song accord, Or want of use, or skilfull maker's name. • Song for sung: thus spelt for the sake of the rhime. E. This conformity of the orthography to the rhime is very frequent. Indeed the orthography, in our author's days, was regulated by no fixed principles. There is no kind of conformity, in this respect, between the first edition of the Satires printed in 1597, and the subsequent editions of 1599, and 1602. I have followed, with very few exceptions, that of the first edition: from which edition I have also corrected several gross mistakes which had crept into all that followed. 1° steere-a young bullock. "faulted-blamed, found fault with, |