of which it cannot be said. This is "The Retirement," the poem with which Walton chose to adorn his book. In it Cotton has made harmonious the varied emotions arising from his contemplation of nature and of life. Here he seems to be giving expression to the full compass of his feeling: to the pleasure he took in cleanly household offices, in the freshness of green fields, and in the happiness of days passed by the side of his "beloved Nymph! Fair Dove, Princess of Rivers"; but fused with these sensuous pleasures is the deeper satisfaction he sometimes found in meditation, when, at moments, he rose to almost Wordsworthian clairvoyance and felt the presence of a power in life and nature "to chasten and subdue." At such a time he sings: "Farewell, thou busy World, and may Here I can eat, and sleep and pray, Good God! how sweet are all things here! How cleanly do we feed and lie! What peace! what unanimity! How innocent from the lewd fashion Oh, how happy here's our leisure! Oh, ye valleys, oh, ye mountains, By turn to come and visit ye! O, Solitude, the soul's best friend, That Man acquainted with himself dost make, And would be glad to do so still; For it is thou alone that keep'st the soul awake." It is by this poem, representing him at his best, that we choose to remember Cotton, agreeing with Walton that it cannot fail to make any "reader that is blest with a generous soul" love him the better. The clean vigor and firm simplicity of the lines ensure their own appreciation. INDEX A. Agincourt, 8. Alliteration, 21. Anacreontic, An, 56. Angler, The Complete, first part, 1, 3, 51-52; second part, 12-14, 19, 51-55. Antithesis, Cotton's use of, 74, 86. Amoret in Masquerade, 86. Ardglass, Countess Dowager of (Cotton's second wife), 48, 51, 60. B. Bacchic Ode, 95. Balzac, 76. Bancroft, Thomas, 19. Barnfield, 103. Barrowashe (estate), 27. Beaumont, 6. Benserade, 83-84. Bentley Hall, 9, 27. Beresford (Hall, and estate), 8; description of, 12-16, 17, 27, 41, 43, 47, 51, 59. Beresford, Edward (great-great-grandfather of poet), 9. Olivia (great-grandmother), 9. Thomas, hero of Agincourt, 9. Humphrey, son of Thomas, 9. Beresfords, the Irish, Earls of Tyrone, Marquises of Waterford, 9. Bertaut, 72-76, 88. Blaise de Montluc, Mareschal of France, the Commentaries of, 46. Breton, 103. Brome, Alexander, 6; epode addressed to, 29. Henry, 45, 47. Richard, 19. Bullen, Mr. A. H., 18, 110, 116. Burlesque, 3, 4, 29, 30, 33, 51, 57, 65. Burlesque upon Burlesque, 51. Burns, Robert, 1. Butler, Samuel, 30. Coleridge, 1. Collection of Diverting Sayings, Stories, Characters, etc., 58. Come, live with me and be my love (Marlowe), 20, 101. Complete Gamester, the, 45. Contentment, 56. Conceit, use of the, 65-66. Contentation, 115. Corneille, 45. Coterie poets, 83-88. Cotton, Sir Richard (great-grandfather), 4. Sir George (grandfather), 5. Charles, Esq. (father), 5, 6, 7, 18; death of, 27. Charles, the poet, appreciators among the poets, 1-3; rea- Beresford (son), 60. "Cotton's Hole," 16. Country Life, The (Racan), 97. |