ART. XII. Extracts from the Paradise of Dainty Devises. 1576.

I have given an account of the contents of this curious collection in the first volume of this work. Notwithstanding the various editions, through which it passed, I believe it to be so scarce, that a republication of any of its flowers must be acceptable to the lovers of old English poetry; and I venture to assert this, though it seems to be in direct contradiction to the opinion of the British Critic; who intimated, (I must say too hastily) that the extracts from this work, given in the first volume of the Poetical Register, were too common and too familiar to all readers of this cast to occupy the space they there filled.

The poems of this collection are characterized almost entirely by moral sentiment. There is nothing in them of legendary or historical matter: nor indeed even of imagery or description. They form a strong contrast therefore to the style and manner of "the Mirror for Magistrates," which are entirely narrative.

I think I shall be performing an useful service to the literary world, if I can find room to introduce gradually into these volumes the whole of this scarce miscellany. But whether I shall be able to do so, will depend on many future considerations.

Jan. 6, 1897.

*P. 255.

NO,

No. I.

The Translation of the Blessed Saint Barnard's Verses containing the unstable Felicity of this wayfaring world.

I.

Cur mundus militat sub vana gloria,
Cujus prosperitas est transitoria?

Tam cito labitur ejus potentia,

Quam vasa figuli, quæ sunt fragilia.

"Why doth each state apply

Itself to worldly praise?

And undertake such toil

To heap up honour's gain?

Whose seat, though seeming sure,
On fickle fortune stays,
Whose gifts were never prov'd
Perpetual to remain :
But e'en as earthen pot

With every fillip fails,

So fortune's favour flits,

And fame with honour quails."

2.

"Plus crede literis, scriptis in glacie,
Quam mundi fragilis vane fallacia,
Fallax in premiis, virtutis specie,
Que nunquam habuit tempus fiducia.

"Think rather firm to find
A figure graven in ice,
Whose substance subject is
To heat of shining sun,
Than hope for stedfast stay

In wanton worlds device,

Whose

1

Whose feigned fond delights

From Falsehood's forge do come,
And under Virtue's veil

Are largely dealt about,
Deceiving those who think

Their date will never out."

3.

"Magis credendum est viris fallacibus, Quam mundi miseris prosperitatibus, Falsis insaniis et voluptatibus,

Falsis quoque studiis et vanitatibus.

"The trifling truthless tongue
Of Rumour's lying lips,
Deserves more trust, than doth
The highest happy hap,
That world to worldlings gives;
For see how honour slips
To foolish fond conceits,
To Pleasure's poison'd sap,

To studies false in proof,

To arts applied to gain,

To fickle fancy's toys,

Which Wisdom deemeth vain."

4.

"Dic ubi Salomon, olim tam nobilis?
Vel ubi Samson est, dux invincibilis?
Vel dulcis Jonathas, multum amabilis ?
Vel pulcher Absolon, vultu mirabilis ?

Where is the sacred King

That Solomon the Wise?

Whose wisdom former times
Of duty did commend?
Where is that Samson strong,

That monstrous man in size,
Whose forced arm did cause
The mighty pillars bend?
Where is the peerless Prince,
The friendly Jonathas?
Or Absolon, whose shape
And favour did surpass ?"

5.

Quo Casar abiit, celsus imperio?
Vel Dives splendidus, totus in prandio ?
Dic ubi Tullius, clarus eloquio?
Vel Aristoteles, summus ingenio?

"Where is that Cæsar now,

Whose high renowned fame
Of sundry conquests won

Throughout the world did sound?

Or Dives rich in store,

And rich in richly name,
Whose chest with gold, and dish

With dainties did abound?
Where is the passing grace

Of Tully's pleading skill?

Or Aristotle's vein,

Whose pen had wit and will?"

6.

"O esca vermium, O massa pulveris!
O ros, O vanitas, cur sic extolleris?
Ignoras penitus, utrum cras vixeris;
Fac bonum omnibus, quam diu poteris!

"O food

"O food of filthy worms,

O lump of loathsome clay,
O life, full like the dew

Which morning sun doth waste;
O shadow vain, whose shape
With sun doth shrink away,
Why gloriest thou so much,
In honour to be placed?
Sith that no certain hour
Of life thou dost enjoy,

Most fit it were thy time
In goodness to employ !"

7.

"Quam breve festum est hac mundi gloria!
Ut umbra hominum, sic ejus gaudia;
Que semper subtrahit æterna premia,
Et ducunt hominum ad dura devia.

"Hæc mundi gloria, quæ magni penditur,

Sacris in literis flos fani dicitur,

Ut