ON NEÆRA. My wreck of mind, and all my woes, At first, with hapless fond surprise, When my glance met her searching glance, As light leaves in the green woods dance Just as a boy, whose nourice woos him, That can not fly, yet constant trying, Thou, wary mind, thyself preparing But you, induc'd by dalliance deep, Both heart and soul then fled and left Then cease to weep; use is there none To think by weeping to atone; Since heart and spirit from me fled, But go to her, entreat, obtain; If you do not entreat, and gain, As I have been depriv'd of heart and soul. In 1584, two years after Buchanan's death, JAMES THE SIXTH himself ventured into the magic circle of poetry, and published a volume entitled Es says of a Prentice in the Divine art of Poesie. The young king's verses, considering that he was not yet eighteen years of age, are certainly very creditable to him; and we shall therefore quote, in the original spelling, the following poem from the volume alluded to: ANE SCHORT POEME OF TYME. As I was pausing in a morning aire, Who by his rising in the azure skyes, Did dewlie helse all thame on earth do dwell. Whose hie ascending in his purpour chere As beasts to feid, and birds to sing with beir, How for to drive the tyme that did them irk, Then woundred I to see them seik a wyle, For what hath man bot tyme into this lyfe, So spedelie our selfis for to withdraw But sen that tyme is sic a precious thing, Let us employ that tyme that God hath send us, Ayton, the Earl of Ancrum, the Earl of Stirling, Drummond, and Doc tor Arthur Johnston, close the brief list of Scottish poets whom this important period in English literature produced. ROBERT AYTON was born in Fifeshire in 1570. He was well educated, a devoted courtier, and enjoyed the advantages of foreign travel and intercourse with the poets of other nations, particularly with those of England. After king James succeeded to the English crown, he invited Ayton to that court, appointed him one of the gentlemen of the bed-chamber, and private secretary to the queen, besides conferring upon him the honor of knighthood. In England, Ayton, unlike the majority of his countrymen, was very popular; and even Ben Jonson was so proud of his friendship and affection that he boasted of it to Drummond. His death occurred in 1638, but under what circumstances is unknown. Sir Robert Ayton was the author of only a comparatively limited number of poems, but the few that we have are written in very pure English, and evince a smoothness of style and delicacy of fancy that have rarely been surpassed. To illustrate this remark the following stanzas will be sufficient : WOMAN'S INCONSTANCY. I lov'd thee once, I'll love no more, Nothing could have my love o'erthrown, When new desires had conquer'd thee, It had been lethargy in me, Not constancy to love thee still. Yea, it had been a sin to go And prostitute affection so, Since we are taught no prayers to say. To such as must to others pray. Yet do thou glory in thy choice, Thy choice of his good fortune boast; I'll neither grieve nor yet rejoice, To see him gain what I have lost; 256 EARL OF ANCRUM.-EARL OF STIRLING. [LECT. X) The height of my disdain shall be, The EARL OF ANCRUM was a younger son of Sir Andrew Ker of Ferneihurst, and was born in 1578. He early became a very great favorite with king James, and was held in equal esteem by that monarch's son and successor Charles the First. He was possessed of a competent fortune, and his life seems to have passed calmly and smoothly along until an advanced age. His death occurred in 1654. The Earl's poems are generally brief fugitive pieces, and the following sonnet, which he addressed to Drummond the poet in 1624, shows how greatly the union of crowns under James had contributed toward the cultivation of the English style and language in Scotland : IN PRAISE OF A SOLITARY LIFE. Sweet solitary life! lovely, dumb joy, That need'st no warnings how to grow more wise, Which from sore wrongs done to one's self doth rise. Never acquainted with the world's vain broils, And our dear time no fierce ambition spoils. Most happy state, that never tak'st revenge For injuries received, nor dost fear The court's great earthquake, the griev'd truth of change, Nor knows hope's sweet disease that charms our sense, WILLIAM ALEXANDER, afterward Earl of Stirling, was born at Menstrie, in 1580. Having received a liberal education, he travelled abroad with the Duke of Argyle, either as his tutor or his companion; and upon his return to Scotland he selected, as his residence, a rural retreat, where he passed some time in study, and in the composition of the Aurora, his first important poem. On leaving his rural abode, Alexander repaired to Edinburgh, with the design of devoting himself exclusively to poetical pursuits. Here he composed his four tragedies, Darius, Croesus, Alexander, and Julius Cæsar, which were published in London, in 1607, with a dedication to the King. In 1613, Alexander published a sacred poem in twelve books on the Day of Judgment; and during the same year he was appointed one of the gentlemen ushers to Prince Charles, and knighted. Relinquishing, soon after these events occurred, the character of the poet, and assuming that of the statesman, Sir William was appointed by Charles the First, in 1626, secretary of state for Scotland; and with such faithfulness and fidelity did he discharge the duties of this important office, that in 1633, the king created him, by letters patent, Earl of Stirling. He continued to fill the important office which he had so long held, for seven years after this last honor was conferred upon him, and died in his own castle, on the twelfth of February, 1640, in his sixty-first year. The Earl of Stirling published in 1637, a complete edition of his works under the title of Recreations with the Muses, embracing, in addition to the productions already mentioned, a heroic poem entitled Jonathan, and an address to Prince Henry. 'Julius Cæsar,' one of the Earl's tragedies, contains several passages resembling parts of Shakspeare's tragedy of the same name; but it can not be ascertained which was first published. The genius of Shakspeare did not disdain to gather hints and expressions from comparatively obscure authors-the lesser lights of the age-and a famous passage in the "Tempest' is supposed to have been also derived from the Earl of Stirling. In the play of Darius, occurs the following reflection : Let greatness of her glassy sceptres vaunt, Not sceptres, no, but reeds, soon bruised, soon broken: All fades, and scarcely leaves behind a token. The lines of Shakspeare will, of course, instantly suggest themselves And like this insubstantial pageant, faded, Leave not a wreck behind. None of the productions of the Earl of Stirling, touch the heart or entrance the imagination. He has nothing of the humble, but genuine inspiration of Alexander Hume; yet he was a calm aad elegant poet, with considerable fancy, and an ear for refined metrical harmony. The following is one of his best sonnets: TO AURORA. I swear, Aurora, by thy starry eyes, And by those golden locks, whose lock none slips, And by the coral of thy rosy lips, And by the naked snows which beauty dyes; I swear by all the jewels of thy mind, That I have never nurst but chaste desires, And such as modesty might well approve. Then, since I love those virtuous parts in thee, Should'st thou not love this virtuous mind in me^ WILLIAM DRUMMOND, a contemporary of the Earl of Stirling, and a poet of greatly superior genius, was born at Hawthornden, on the thirteenth of November, 1585. His father, Sir John Drummond, was gentleman usher to James the Sixth, and the future poet received his education, first at the uni R |