41. 'do reply'-A F.-42. Give each of them'-B.-44. 'In fickle points'—A. 'In tricks and points'—F.—46. ‘Herself by much preciseness'-D.-47. 'And if'—A B.-48. 'Then give'— A. Then straight give'-E. 'So give them all'-F.-50. So A B C. In Dav. and D E, 'prevention'—. In F, ‘perversion’— corrected in MS. in Fulman's copy.-53. 'And if they yield reply'—A. ('if' also in F. 'yield' also in B.)-54. Then give' -A D.-59. 'if they do'-A E F. 'if they dare'—B.-62. ‘by estrayning'-E.-63. 'Tell Scholars lack'-Birch; but 'Tell Schools they lack'-A E.-64. Mispr. in Dav. 'so much'—. In the Lee Priory ed. of Davison, it is 'too much'—and 'so' is marked as a variation in the 3rd and 4th eds.-70. Mispr. in Dav. 'preferred'-. 75. So A B C D. In Dav. and E, 'Because' 77. Yet stab at thee who will'-A B C. who that will' -D and Nicolas.-78. So A B C. 'thy soul'-Dav. and D. 'the soul may'-E.-In E, stanzas 7 and 8 are transposed; one stanza is interpolated after line 36, and a second at the end.In F, stanzas 5 and 6 are transposed, and the last three stanzas are omitted.-In G, no stanza consists of more than four lines but the first; one is interpolated after the fourth; the sixth is altered; and the remaining seven are altogether omitted, their place being supplied by thirteen quatrains of most wretched doggrel.-Some of the corrections are made in ed. Nicolas, which differs from both the 4th and the L. P. eds. of Davison in one or two other small particulars.] LIIII IIIII II. SIR WALTER RALEIGH'S PILGRIMAGE. ["THIS is an extraordinary poem; a mixture of sublime ideas and sentiments, with quaint and degrading images. It is said to have been written in the short interval between his sentence and execution."-BRYDGES.* In another note, Brydges says ;- "This poem is too full of far-fetched conceits to suffer us to believe that it was really written the night before Raleigh's execution. It might have been composed in the contemplation of death in one of the many years between his sentence and execution, during that sad period of cruel and unexampled imprisonment. It contains a mixture of bold and sublime passages, such as the aspiring and indignant soul of Raleigh was likely to utter. The first stanza, in which the imagery drawn from a pilgrim is vividly depicted, fills the mind with a wild interest."-Mr. Tytler (p. 264, ed. 1840,) supposes, with far more probability, that * Cf. Oldys, 424, 556. Cayley, ii. 165. D'Israeli, Cur. Lit. 420, ed. 1839. A copy in MS. Ashm. 38, No. 70, is entitled, " Verses made by S1 Walter Raleigh the night before hee was beheaded." it was written in 1603, in the interval between his condemnation and his respite. Although we are not to give a literal meaning to lines 51 and 52, they clearly indicate a certain expectation of a very closely impending execution ; and some other lines were evidently written when the indignation roused by Coke's coarse and scurrilous abuse had not yet had time to subside. Raleigh was kept in suspense for at least three weeks after his trial in 1603, during some part of which this piece may have been written. Some lines in it can scarcely be read without pain; and I would have omitted them, but that I was unwilling to mutilate the Poem. But before we condemn them as irreverent, we should recollect the circumstances under which they were probably composed. At such a period, when the perspective through which we view things must be altogether changed, the familiar distinctions between small and great might be easily neglected, as if they were not real, but only relative to us; and a man of bold and ardent spirit, which had not then been broken down by long imprisonment, might give vent, in strange and startling metaphors, to those strong feelings of mingled confidence and indignation, which could find no outlet in more ordinary language. The Poem is now reprinted from one of the old editions of Raleigh's Remains (1661, p. 256); with a few corrections, which are noted in the Variations, where the original readings are marked A. The same text (without the alterations) was followed in the main by Birch (ii. 398), from whom Brydges took his copy (=B). In the Oxford edition (viii. 723), many "improvements" are introduced from one of the Rawlinson MSS.; but it will be seen that they bear too many marks of polishing to be genuine (=C). I have added some other variations from a copy in Mr. Pickering's MS. (fol. 82, =D,) where the title is the same with that here given. The readings of the Ashm. MS. (=E) are only quoted in a few cases, to support an occasional alteration.] IVE me my Scallop-shell of Quiet; [5] My Gown of Glory (Hopes true gage); Where spring the Nectar Fountains. [15] Upon every Milken hill. My Soul will be a-drie before, But after, it will thirst no more. Then by that happy blestfull day, More peacefull Pilgrims I shall see, [20] That have cast off their rags of clay, And walk apparelled fresh like me. [25] I'le take them first, to quench their thirst, At those clear Wells Where sweetnesse dwells, Drawn up by Saints in Crystal Buckets. And when our Bottles and all we Are fill'd with immortalitie, Then the blessed Paths wee'l travel, [30] Strow'd with Rubies thick as gravel,— Sealings of Diamonds, Saphire floors, No forg'd Accuser bought or sold, And when the grand twelve million Iury 'Gainst our Souls black Verdicts give, [50] To him that made Heaven, Earth, & Sea, That, since my flesh must die so soon, And want a Head to dine next noon, Just at the stroak, when my veins start and spread, [55] Then am I ready, like a Palmer fit, To tread those blest Paths which before I writ. [VARIATIONS.-In B, lines 7, 8, 9, 10 are arranged as 7, 10, 8, 9. In A C D as above.-7. 'Bodies only Balmer'—A B D. |