poem ON THE DEATH OF A FAIR INFANT; which opens beautifully;

tua.

hands holding an anchor, with a fnake twined round it; and it is fupported on one fide by Lownes's ftar, or fign, and on the other by Peter Short's ftar. Though the fign of these two printers was equally a far, yet Lownes adopted a very different ftar from his predeceffor. The fign of Peter Short is a bible open, held by a hand in the middle of a very bright ftar with twenty radii, of which eight are tortuous, and twelve are direct; and the motto round it is, Et ufque ad nubes veritas Lownes's tign was a star, fingly, with twelve radiations, fix tortuous and fix direct; and his motto is, Os homini fublime dedit. The former star is prefixed to fix elegies on the death of Prince Henry, in 1613, printed at the Bread-ftreet Hill prefs; and the letters P. S. under it, indicate it to have been Peter Short's fign. To the fame elegies is prefixed a poetical addrefs to the reader, figned H. L. (i. e. Humfrey Lownes,) and R. S. (probably Rachael or Rebecca Short, the widow of his predeceffor). Lownes's own far is prefixed to Sylvefter's Funeral Elegy on the Prince, printed the fame year; and the letters H and D, on each fide of it, indicate it to have been originally the fign of Henry Denham, a printer of eminence at. the Star in Pater Nofter Row about the year 1564.

- O Fairest Flower, no fooner blown but blasted!} Sweet filken Primrose, fading timelessly! Summer's chief honour, if thou hadst outlasted Bleak Winter's force,

Amongst Sylvefter's Sylvefter's Pofthumi, is an ELEGY ON DAME HELEN BRANCH, which thus laments her children, who died young;

But all these joys, alas! BUT LITTLE LASTED, All thefe FAIR BLOSSOMS were UNTIMELY BLASTED;

Surely here is fomething more than bare coincidence!

26. Stay, gentle Swains, for, though in this disguise, I jee bright honour Sparkle thro' your eyes,]

Thus, fpeaking of Solomon masked;

But yet, whate'er he do or can devise,
DISGUISED GLORY SHINETH IN HIS EYES *.

P. 459.

This fimilarity is noticed by Mr. Todd, in his much-enriched edition of Comus. Part i. p. 32.

63. To the celestial Syren's harmony

That fit upon the nine infolded spheres,]

For, as they fay, for fuperintendant there,
The fupreme voice placed IN EVERY SPHERE

A SYREN SWEET; that from HEAVEN'S HAR

MONY

Inferior things might learn beft melody. p. 301.

I need not point out to your ear, that the rythm of the second verse of this paffage is frequent with Milton. It is, indeed, one of thofe, which Bentley would have proposed to amend by reading

The voice fupreme,

64. -the nine-infolded Spheres,]

Of Du Bartas's Urania it is faid,

Her NINE-FOLD voice did choicely imitate
Th' harmonious mufic of Heaven's nimble dance.

72.

p. 526.

the heavenly tune, which none can hear, Of human mold, with grofs unpurged ear,]

In Sylvefter's Du Bartas, being purged from paffion is a neceffary qualification for

being admitted to the chorus of the heavenly mufes, and of the Syrens of the Spheres. The poet addreffes the Deity,

Father of light! fountain of learned art!

Now, now, or never, PURGE my pureft part!That, PURG'D FROM PASSION, thy divine address May guide me thro' Heaven's glift'ring palaces; Where happily my dear Urania's grace,

And her fair fifters, I may all embrace;

And THE MELODIOUS SYRENS OF THE SPHERES, Charming my fenfes with thofe fweets of theirs.

84.

-Smooth enamell'd green,]

p. 286.

Mr. Warton fays, that he had "fuppofed "modern poetry to have been originally "obliged to Milton for the epithet en“amell'd in rural defcription." But it occurs, as he has observed, repeatedly in Sylvefter's Du Bartas ;

Th' ENAMELL'D meads

p. 208.

Juft in the midft of this ENAMELL'D vale,

P. 262.

Th' ENAMEL'D vallies, where the liquid glafs,
Of filver brooks in curled ftreams do pafs,

P. 282. 89.-branching

The morifco, or old moorish dance, is mentioned in Sylvefter's Du Bartas ;

Here