Attempt > Volume 1 and Select writings

244
THE ATTEMPT
“ I cannot crouch, nor kneel to such a wrong,
To worship them, like God on earth alone,
That are as wolves these silly lambs among.”
We are apt to grow weary of the continual theme of love which all poets sing,
hut there is a pleasant freshness and earnestness in the following lines, in which Wyatt
pleads not to be cast aside—
“ Disdain me not, that am your own;
Refuse me not, that am so true ;
Mistrust me not, till all be known ;
Forsake me not now for no new.”
A contemporary of Sir Thomas Wyatt was Howard, Earl of Surrey, a general
favourite in his time, as all characters such as his ought, and are sure to be. A fine
bold soldier, yet talented and with a mixture of romance through it all, victorious alike
in tournaments and battles, he carried everything before him. His verses are spirited and
yet gentle, as in the lines written upon the death of his friend, the above-mentioned
poet, where his manly sorrow shows itself clearly. After speaking of the “ diverse ”
feelings excited in the breasts of others by the death of his friend, he breaks off with—
“ But I—that know what harboured in that head,
What virtues rare and tempered in that breast—
Honour the place that such a jewel bred,
And kiss the ground whereas thy corse doth rest.”
In reading over the works of such poets, it is interesting to observe how many of the
expressions and even lines of our more modern poets, are taken from, or have been
suggested by their predecessors. For example, in the well-known lines—
“ My only books,
Are women’s looks,”
is much the same turn of expression as that which we find in one of the uncertain
authors of the reign of Henry VIII., where the poet, singing highly the praises of a
lady, asserts that—
“ The virtue of her lively looks
Excels the precious stone ;
I wish to have none other books
To read or look upon. ”
The reign of Edward III. produced few poets of note, but the literature of the
reign is remarkable for making a strong effort to turn into purer currents. Many
men occupied themselves in versifying parts of the Scriptures, more particularly the
Psalms; and numerous were the metrical translations which appeared during the