'Tis to them enough of good, That you give this little hope to gain you. I Ech. Give this little hope to gain you. 2 Ech. Little hope to gain you. If they love, You shall quickly see ; For when to flight you move, 1 Ech. Follow you, the more you flee. If not, impute it each to other's matter; 2 Ech. You vow'd was water. Ethi. Enough, bright nymphs, the night grows old, And we are grieved we cannot hold You longer light; but comfort take. Your father only to the lake Shall make return yourselves, with feasts, With glorious light throughout the year) And wholesome dew, call'd ros-marine: So that, this night, the year gone round, Your faces dry, and all is done. At which, in a dance, they returned to sea, where they By which our waters know To ebb, that late did flow. Back seas, back nymphs; but with a forward grace, So ended the first Masque; which, beside the singular· grace of music and dances, had the success in the nobility of performance, as nothing needs to the illustration, but the memory by whom it was personated. 5 By whom it was personated.] Jonson gives us the names of the masquers as they danced on shore, in couples, from their splendid shell, together with the symbols which they bore in their hands. 6 Countess of Bedford.] Lucy, the lady of Edward, third earl of Bedford, and daughter of John lord Harrington. She was a munificent patron of genius, and seems to have been peculiarly kind to Jonson. One of the most exquisite compliments that ever was offered to talents, beauty, and goodness, was paid by the grateful poet to this lady. (Epig. 76.) The biographers are never weary of repeating, after one another, that she was "the friend of Donne and Daniel, who wrote verses on her;" but of Jonson, who wrote more than both, they preserve a rigid silence. Lady Herbert.] Called by sir Dudley Carleton, Ann Herbert. She was the daughter of sir William Herbert of St. Julian's, Monmouthshire, and a great heiress. This lady was at first intended for her cousin, Philip Herbert, brother of the celebrated lord Pembroke, the friend of Jonson and of genius; but married sir Edward, afterwards lord Herbert of Cherbury. 8 Countess of Derby.] Alice, the daughter of sir John Spencer of Althorpe, (where Jonson's beautiful Entertainment of The Satyr was represented,) and widow of Ferdinando, fifth earl of Derby. She took for her second husband lord keeper Egerton. For this celebrated lady, who appears to have greatly delighted in these elegant and splendid exhibitions, Milton wrote his Arcades, the songs of which are a mere cento from our author's Masques, of which, in fact, it is a very humble imitation. 9 Lady Rich.] There were two of this name; but the person here meant was probably Penelope, lady Rich, whose story made some noise at a subsequent period. She parted from her husband, as it was said, by consent, and while he was yet living, married Mountjoy, earl of Devonshire. The match was unfortunate. The king was offended, the Earl miserable, and Laud, who performed the ceremony, passed through many years of obloquy for his officiousness, notwithstanding his pretended ignorance of the lady's former marriage. 1 Countess of Suffolk.] Catharine, the daughter of sir Henry Knevit of Charlton in Wiltshire, married first to Richard, lord La. Bevill,2 } The Names. The Symbols. LA. EFFINGHAM.3 4. {PSYCHROTE.} 4. {The SALAMANDER 4 simple. LA. EL. HOWARD,*} 5. {GLYCYTE, } 5. {A cloud full of LA. SUS. LA. WORTH,6 LA. WALSINGHAM. MALACIA. rain dropping. 6.{PERIPHERE.} 6. { An um sphered with wine. Rich, and afterwards to lord Thomas Howard, first earl of Suffolk. She was more famed for accomplishments than virtues, and is said to have trafficked for more favours than those of her lord. 2 Lady Bevill.] This lady, I believe, (for I have but little skill in these matters) was Frances, sister of the countess of Suffolk, just mentioned. She was the wife of sir William Bevill, a gentleman of Cornwall; after his death, she married Roger, fifth earl of Rutland, and brought him one daughter, who married the favourite, Villiers, duke of Buckingham. 3 Lady Effingham.] Probably Anne, the daughter of lord St. John, married in 1597 to William, eldest son of Charles, second lord Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral at the period of the Spanish invasion. 4 Lady Elizabeth Howard.] Daughter of the lady just mentioned. She married lord Mordaunt, afterwards earl of Peterborough. Lady Susan Vere.] Susan Herbert, as sir Dudley calls her, daughter of Edward, earl of Oxford. About a week before this Masque was performed, she married Philip Herbert, afterwards earl of Montgomery. Her marriage was celebrated with great pomp at court, of which many particulars are recorded among the state papers of the day. 6 Lady Worth.] Lady Mary Wroth, to whom our author subsequently dedicated the Alchemist. See vol. iv. p. 5. Lady Walsingham.] Of this person I can say nothing. She appears too old for the grand-daughter of the countess of Suffolk, 2 Hesiod. in Theog. who married a Thomas Walsingham of Kent, and too young for the daughter of Elizabeth's celebrated minister, who had besides twice changed her name. The Oceania are not appropriated; they were probably personated by the younger branches of the noble families mentioned above. They were the "light-bearers," as the poet terms them, and he has judiciously managed to make them an integral part of the exhibition. |
