Our systems are now restored following recent technical disruption, and we’re working hard to catch up on publishing. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. Find out more: https://www.cambridge.org/universitypress/about-us/news-and-blogs/cambridge-university-press-publishing-update-following-technical-disruption
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
On a shelf in the magnificent New York library of Dr. Rosenbach is a somewhat dilapidated little vellum-bound manuscript, measuring about 5¾ x 7½ inches, which appears to have been written at the beginning of the second quarter of the seventeenth century. The pages are not numbered and there is no list of contents. The front leaf is defective at the bottom, and the first few leaves have been stained by damp on the upper right corner so that some words can no longer be deciphered.
For permission to publish the poems contained in this paper I am indebted to the kindness and the scholarly spirit of Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach.
page 809 note 2 A remarkable spelling of the name, which I do not remember to have seen anywhere else and which clearly indicates how the first syllable was pronounced. Some surviving quips on Sir Walter's name depend on pronouncing the first syllable “raw.”
page 809 note 3 Almost wholly washed out by damp.—In the ensuing notes the following abbreviations will be employed: A for Arber, B for Bullen, Br for Brydges, D for Davison, EH for England's Helicon (1600), G for Grosart, H for Mr. F. C. Hersey, R for Rosenbach transcript, OR for Old Readings, PP for Passionate Pilgrim (1599), and W for Mr. White's manuscript.
page 809 note 4 giue them all] W. Br.
page 809 note 5 Go, tell] Br.
page 809 note 6 painted] Br.
page 809 note 7 Go, tell] Br.
page 809 note 8 and doth no] W.A.H. but does no] Br.
page 809 note 9 and] Br.
page 809 note 10 Church and Court] D. A, H.
page 809 note 11 Square brackets represent deletions.
page 809 note 12 Then give them both] W, D, A, H.
page 809 note 13 Acting but others actions] W.
Acting, by others' action;] D. A. H.
Acting, but Oh their actions] Br.
page 809 note 14 i.e., loved.
page 809 note 15 nor] D.
page 809 note 16 omitted by W. D. A.
page 809 note 17 affections] W.
a faction] H.
affection] D, A.
their factions] Br.
page 809 note 18 rule] W, Br.
manage] D, A, H.
page 809 note 19 affaires of state] W, Br.
the estate] D, A, H.
page 809 note 20 That] Modern.
page 809 note 21 those] W.
page 809 note 22 Like] D, A.
page 809 note 23 Then give them all] W. D. A. H. Spare not to give] Br.
page 809 note 24 lacks] Br.
page 809 note 25 meets] W, D, A. is] Br, H.
page 809 note 26 And] W, D, Br, A, H.
page 809 note 27 you] W.
page 809 note 28 that] W, Br.
page 809 note 29 she] W, D, A, H.
page 809 note 30 how] D, A, H.
page 809 note 31 she] Br.
page 809 note 32 falters] W, Br, A, H. alters] D.
page 809 note 33 if] W.
page 809 note 34 do] Br.
page 809 note 35 fickle Br (misprint?).
page 809 note 36 in] W, D, Br, A, H.
page 809 note 37 i.e., over-wiseness.
page 809 note 38 if] Br.
page 809 note 39 Then] Br.
page 809 note 40 pretension] Br, H.
page 809 note 41 if] Br.
page 809 note 42 yield] Br.
page 809 note 43 Then] Br.
page 809 note 44 still] W, D, Br, A, H.
page 809 note 45 do] W, Br.
page 809 note 46 estraying] W.
page 809 note 47 want] D, A, H.
page 809 note 48 so] A.
page 809 note 49 it's] W, D, Br, A, H.
page 809 note 50 off] D, Br, A, H.
page 809 note 51 preferred] D, A.
page 809 note 52 do] W, D, Br, A, H.
page 809 note 53 say] W. So] A, H.
page 809 note 54 Because] D, A.
page 809 note 55 thou] W.
page 809 note 56 Deserves] D, Br, A, H.
page 809 note 57 Yet stab] Br.
page 809 note 58 who] Br (for he that).
page 809 note 59 thy] D my] A.
page 809 note ∗ For a remarkably full account of this poem, the reader is referred to Miss Agnes Latham's recent book, The Poems of Sir Walter Ralegh, pp. 152-161.
page 809 note 60 Responsio.
page 815 note 1 Isaak Walton quoted all six stanzas in his Complete Angler, published in 1653. It is printed that way in Arber's Anthology (1899) and in vol. 3 of Bullen's edition of The Works of Christopher Marlowe (1885). Sir Egerton Brydges reprinted it, omitting the sixth stanza, in his collected edition of The Poems of Sir Walter Raleigh, 1813. It must be noted that Bullen's collation is utterly undependable. I have not seen The Complete Angler.
page 815 note 2 Liue with me] PP. Come liue with mee] EH, B, H.
page 815 note 3 And] Old readings (OR).
page 815 note 4 all the pleasures] OR.
page 815 note 5 That hilles and vallies, dales and fields] PP, B, H.
That grove or valley, hill or field,] Br.
That Vallies, groues, hills and fieldes] EH.
That vallies, groves, or hills or fields] I. W.
page 815 note 6 And all the craggy mountaines yeeld.] PP.
Woods, or steeple mountaine yeeldes] EH, B, H.
Or woods and steepie mountains yeeldes] I. W.
Or wood and steepy mountain yield.] Br.
page 815 note 7 There will we] PP.
And wee will] EH, B, H.
Where we will] I. W., Br.
page 815 note 8 sit] OR.
page 815 note 9 on rising] Br. (for upon the).
page 815 note 10 Seeing] EH, B, H.
page 815 note 11 our] I, W.
page 815 note 12 by] PP.
page 815 note 13 sings] EH.
page 815 note 14 Pleas'd will I make thee beds] Br.
There will I make thee a bed] PP.
And I will make thee beds] EH, I. W., B, H.
page 815 note 15 With [for and make] PP. And twine] Br.
And] EH, B, H.
page 815 note 16 fragrant] OR.
And then] I. W.
page 815 note 17 cap] OR.
page 815 note 18 rural] Br.
cup] B (misprint?).
page 815 note 19 Imbrodered] PP. Imbroydred] EH. Embroidered] H.
page 815 note 20 An] B.
If] Br.
page 815 note 21 pleasures] OR.
page 815 note 22 may thee [for thy mind may] OR. can thee] Br.
page 815 note 23 Come] EH, I. W., B, H. To] Br.
page 816 note 1 all] OR.
page 816 note 2 on] Br.
page 816 note 3 Omitted by Br.
page 816 note 4 my passion] Br.
page 816 note 5 The] OR.
page 816 note 6 But fading flowers in every field,] Br.
page 816 note 7 wayward] OR.
page 816 note 8 To winter floods their treasures yield] Br.
page 816 note 9 honey'd] Br.
page 816 note 10 Not in the old copies and superfluous.
page 816 note 13 grow] OR.
page 816 note 14 complaines] EH, B.
page 816 note 15 belt] EH, Br.
page 816 note 16 Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses] OR (A very interesting variant.) Thy belt of straw, and ivy buds,] Br.
page 816 note 17 cap] OR.
page 816 note 18 kirtle] OR.
page 816 note 19 posies] OR.
page 816 note 20 break] OR.
page 816 note 21 Are all soon wither'd, broke, forgotten,] Br.
page 816 note 22 But could youth] OR.
page 816 note 23 still] OR.
page 816 note 24 breede] OR. had] Br.
page 816 note 25 date] OR.
page 816 note 26 nor] OR.
page 816 note 27 those] Br.
page 817 note 1 Collier thought that the lines “contradict the supposition” that Field was himself the author of the poem, but I cannot agree with him as to this. The identity of Lady May is lost in obscurity.
page 817 note 2 his = its.
page 817 note 3 him = itself.
page 817 note 4 This word is preceded by doonn, the oo being written above two deleted' letters (ow?).
page 817 note 5 Collier reads that for the ye of the MS.
page 817 note 6 Collier reads with.
page 817 note 7 his = Field's.
page 817 note 8 Collier, 'lay.
