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- Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
- Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
- Sprache: Englisch
"Speculum Amantis," a collection of medieval allegorical poetry, delves into the multifaceted nature of love through a series of vivid narratives and moral reflections. This text, attributed to various authors, showcases an intricate blend of didacticism and lyrical elegance, reflecting the courtly love tradition prevalent in the 14th century. Utilizing elaborate allegories and rich symbolism, the poems navigate the complexities of human emotion, virtue, and the divine, engaging the reader in a meditative exploration of amorous devotion alongside ethical considerations. The work is set against the backdrop of a society grappling with the dualities of desire and morality, increasingly situated in the context of both spiritual longing and earthly relationships. The authors behind "Speculum Amantis" are emblematic of the collaborative and often anonymous nature of medieval literature, as many poets drew inspiration from contemporaneous philosophical and theological paradigms. This collection serves as an insightful reflection of the cultural milieu of its time, revealing how love was conceptualized not just as a personal experience but also as a societal construct often tethered to moral imperatives and religious undertones. Readers seeking a profound engagement with the themes of love and morality will find "Speculum Amantis" a compelling addition to their literary repertoire. Its eloquent verse and rich allegorical content resonate with timeless reflections on the human condition, making it a salient read for those interested in medieval literature, poetic tradition, or the ever-relevant discourse on love.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
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Speculum Amantis
Table of Contents
PREFACE.
In sending out this little anthology of seventeenth-century love-verses, I must say a few words by way of explanation or apology. Some eighteen months ago I published a collection of "Lyrics from the Song-books of the Elizabethan Age" (J. C. Nimmo), and recently I issued a second collection, "More Lyrics from the Song-books of the Elizabethan Age" (J. C. Nimmo). Those volumes were addressed to all classes of readers. They may lie on a drawing-room table without offence. Philemon may give them to his Amanda on her birthday with the full assurance that he will run no risk of bringing a blush to the fair nymph's cheek. I was careful to exclude from those collections any poems that passed the bounds of conventional propriety. In the seventeenth century those bounds were not so well defined as in the present age. John Attey, in 1622, dedicated his "First Book of Airs" to "The Right Honourable John, Earl of Bridgewater, Viscount Brackley, and Baron of Ellesmere; and the truly Noble and Virtuous Lady, Frances, Countess of Bridgewater." Among Attey's songs are the audacious verses, "My days, my months, my years," which I have given in the present collection (page 15). A noble and virtuous lady now-a-days would be justly incensed if she found such a lyric in a song-book of which she had accepted the dedication; but we may be sure that John Attey's patroness did not withdraw her favour from the composer, or express herself shocked at his temerity. Manners have changed, and "My days, my months, my years" is no longer a song for the drawing-room; but snugly stowed away with its fellows on a top shelf in the library it can do no harm.
In the present volume I have gathered together from the song-books the songs that could find no place in the former collections, and I have included several poems from rare miscellanies of the seventeenth century.
Although some of the poems here collected will be familiar to students, I am confident that a considerable portion of the anthology is unknown. Sir Walter Raleigh is a prominent figure in English literature. The late Archdeacon Hannah's edition of Raleigh's poems is a valuable piece of work; and Sir Egerton Brydges, in collecting what he supposed to be Raleigh's poems, showed commendable industry, but scant judgment. I therefore count myself fortunate in having discovered the characteristic poem, "Nature that wash'd her hands in milk" (page 76), which escaped the researches of previous enquirers. The last stanza of that poem, "Oh cruel time, which takes in trust," with a couple of lines tacked on, was published in Raleigh's Remains, where it is said to have been "found in his bible in the Gatehouse at Westminster." Every reader has that stanza by heart, but the complete poem—as given in the Harleian MS.—is printed for the first time.
Aurelian Townsend is a poet about whom I have often felt curiosity. He was the friend of Carew, and Suckling introduces him into The Session of the Poets. From one of the Malone MSS., in the Bodleian Library, I have recovered the charming verses "To the Lady May;" and I can lay my hand on other poems of Townsend which have never seen the light.[1] The poems by Henry Ramsay (page 118), of whom I know nothing, of Bishop Andrewes (page 121), and of J. Paulin (page 127), are not hackneyed; and I might refer to many others.
The finest of all Cartwright's poems is here—the magnificent "Song of Dalliance"—beginning, "Hark, my Flora! Love doth call us." It is ascribed to Cartwright in the unique miscellany (preserved in the Bodleian), Sportive Wit: the Muses' Merriment, 1656, but is not printed in his Works. Cartwright had a great reputation among his contemporaries. "My son, Cartwright," said Ben Jonson, "writes all like a man." "Cartwright was the utmost man could come to" in the opinion of that excellent prelate, Bishop Fell. All the wits of the age paid tributes to his memory. Anthony-à-Wood and Lloyd rush into raptures about him. After reading the various panegyrics on his poems it is a sad disappointment to turn to the poems themselves. But if Cartwright wrote other poems equal to "Hark, my Flora!"—not for publication (for he was "the most florid and seraphical preacher in the University," and seraphical preachers should not publish Songs of Dalliance), but to be circulated in manuscript among his friends—then the esteem in which his poetical abilities were held would be intelligible.
Among the rare miscellanies from which I have quoted are Wits Interpreter, 1655, 1671; The Academy of Compliments, 1650; The Marrow of Compliments, 1655; Sportive Wit, 1656; The Mysteries of Love and Eloquence (edited by Milton's nephew, Edward Phillips), 1658; Wit and Drollery, 1661; The New Academy of Compliments, 1671; The Windsor Drollery, 1672; and The Bristol Drollery, 1674. Many poems are from MSS. preserved in the Bodleian Library and the British Museum. The Rev. J. W. Ebsworth, with his usual kindness, has helped me when my knowledge or memory has been at fault. No man has so intimate a knowledge as Mr. Ebsworth of the floating literature of the second half of the seventeenth century.
Though not a few of the poems in the present volume could not be included in anthologies intended for general circulation, I must yet be allowed to state that I have reprinted nothing that is offensively gross. There is a great deal of dirt—nasty worthless trash—in the miscellanies of the Restoration, and with this garbage I have not chosen to meddle.
Dalkeith, N.B.,August, 1888.
INDEX OF FIRST LINES.
PAGE
After long service and a thousand vows (
Bristol Drollery
)
19
As Chloe o'er the meadow past (
Sir Charles Sedley
)
122
As I traversed to and fro (
Academy of Compliments
)
36
As youthful day put on his best (
Westminster Drollery
)
63
Away, away! call back what you have said (
Corkine
)
88
Be thou joyful, I am jolly (
Windsor Drollery
)
87
Beauty, since you so much desire (
Campion
)
6
Black eyes, in your dark orbs doth lie (
Howell
)
32
Chloris, forbear awhile (
Sportive Wit
)
93
Chloris, when I to thee present (
Westminster Drollery
)
41
Chloris saw me sigh and tremble (
Vinculum Societatis
)
7
Come, be my Valentine (
Bishop Andrewes
)
121
Come, my Clarinda, we'll consume (
Paulin
)
127
Come, Phillis, let's to yonder grove (
Bristol Drollery
)
7
Constant wives are comforts to men's lives (
Add. MS. 22601
)
3
Cupid is an idle toy (
Folly in Print
)
4
Cupid, thou art a sluggish boy (
Mysteries of Love and Eloquence
)
42
Dear Castadorus, let me rise (
Jordan
)
53
Dear, I must do (
Folly in Print
)
25
Do not ask me, charming Phillis (
New Academy of Compliments
)
43
Do not rack my bleeding heart (
Ramsay
)
118
Down in a garden sat my dearest love (
Wit's Interpreter
)
9
Dunces in love, how long shall we (
Rawlinson MS., Poet. 117
)
10
Fair Chloris in a gentle slumber lay (
Songs and Poems of Love and Drollery
)
94
Fairest, if you roses seek (
Bristol Drollery
)
72
Fairest thing that shines below (
New Academy of Compliments
)
109
Gaze not on thy beauty's pride (
Carew
)
84
Go and count her better hours (
Rawlinson MS. Poet. 206
)
67
Go, fickle man, and teach the moon to range (
Hammond
)
124
Hark, my Flora! Love doth call us (
Cartwright
)
10
He or she that hopes to gain (
Harl. MS. 6918
)
120
He that hath no mistress must not wear a favour (
Corkine
)
44
He that intends to woo a maid (
Academy of Compliments
)
14
Her dainty palm I gently prest (
Marrow of Compliments
)
45
I dream'd we both were in a bed (
Herrick
)
40
I have followed thee a year at least (
New Academy of Compliments
)
107
I pray thee, sweet John, away (
Greaves
)
46
I swear by muscadel (
Duke of Newcastle
)
47
I walk'd abroad not long ago (
Wither
)
101
I will not do a sacrifice (
Wit Restored
)
67
If any hath the heart to kill (
Campion
)
99
If my lady bid begin (
Academy of Compliments
)
1
If shadows be the picture's excellence (
Rawlinson MS. Poet. 199
)
30
In summer time when birds do sing (
Harl. MS. 7322
)
79
In summer time when grass was mown (
Harl. MS. 791
)
82
Know, falsest man, as my love was (
Hammond
)
125
Know, Sylvia, that your curious twist (
Songs and Poems of Love and Drollery
)
106
Ladies, whose marble hearts despise (
Munsey
)
78
Ladies, you that seem so nice (
Henry Lawes' Airs and Dialogues
)
98
Lady, on your eyes I gazed (
Wit's Recreations
)
115
Let common beauties have the power (
Harl. MS. 6917
)
2
Like to the wealthy island thou shalt lie (
New Academy of Compliments
)
13
Lose no time nor youth, but be (
Mysteries of Love and Eloquence
)
73
Love in rambling once astray (
Wit at a Venture
)
68
Maids they are grown so coy of late (
Marrow of Compliments
)
97
Methought the other night (
Jones
)
34
My days, my months, my years (
Attey
)
15
My love hath vowed he will forsake me (
Campion
)
95
My love in her attire doth show her wit (
Davison's Poetical Rhapsody
)
12
My mistress sings no other song (
Jones
)
16
Naked love did to thine eye (
Sherburne
)
114
Nature, that wash'd her hands in milk (
Sir Walter Rawleigh
)
76
Nay pish! nay phew! nay faith and will you? fie! (
Sportive Wit
)
49
Nay, Silvia, now you're cruel grown (
Rawlinson MS. Poet. 94
)
21
No, Sylvia, 'tis not your disdain (
Songs and Poems of Love and Drollery
)
39
O how oftentimes have I (
Harl. MS. 7332
)
111
Once I must confess I loved (
Wit Restored
)
83
Once and no more: so said my life (
Wit's Interpreter
)
29
Phillis, for shame, let us improve (
Westminster Drollery
)
105
Pish, modest sipper, to't again (
New Academy of Compliments
)
69
Poor Celia once was very fair (
Flatman
)
90
Pretty nymph, why always blushing (
Wit's Cabinet
)
110
Shall we die (
Westminster Drollery
)
74
Sighs, blow out those flames in me (
Rawlinson MS. Poet. 199
)
119
Silvia, now your scorn give over (
Vinculum Societatis
)
96
Sleepy, my dear? Yes, yes, I see (
Wit's Interpreter
)
17
Sol shines not th[o]rough all the year so bright (
Bristol Drollery
)
18
Some men desire spouses (
Weelkes
)
104
