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
We never meet again;

Here I can eat, and sleep and pray,
And do more good in one short day
Than he who his whole age outwears
Upon thy most conspicuous theatres,
Where nought but vice and vanity do reign.

Good God! how sweet are all things here!
How beautiful the fields appear!

How cleanly do we feed and lie!
Lord! what good hours do we keep!
How quietly we sleep!

What peace! what unanimity!

How innocent from the lewd fashion
Is all our business, all our conversation!

Oh, how happy here's our leisure!
Oh, how innocent our pleasure!

Oh, ye valleys, oh, ye mountains,
Oh, ye groves and crystal fountains,
How I love at liberty

By turn to come and visit ye!

O, Solitude, the soul's best friend,

That Man acquainted with himself dost make,
And all his Maker's wonders to intend;
With thee I here converse at will,

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.
Berkeley, Lord, 40.

Bertaut, 72-76, 88.

Blaise de Montluc, Mareschal of France, the Commentaries of, 46.
Bradshaw, epistle to John, 16, 32, 40, 47, 56, 82, 93.

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, let us drink away the time, 95.

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-
sons for neglect of him in his own day, 3-4; ancestry, 4-9;
traditions of his family, 9-12; birth of, 10; ancestral estate,
12-16; early education, 17-19; death of mother, 17; first pub-
lished verses, 19-23; love affair and marriage, 23-27; politics,
28; beginning of burlesque writing, 29–30; financial difficulties,
30-32, 34-39; reputation for intemperance, 32-34; military
service, 39-40; death of wife, 41; "voyage" to Ireland, 43-44;
hack-work, 45-46; marriage to Countess of Ardglass, 48-50;
publication of "Second Part" of "Angler," 51; friendship of
Walton and Cotton, 52-56; death of Cotton, 57-60; adminis-
tration of effects, 60; his children, 60; political purpose of cer-
tain of his works, 60-62; publication of "Poems on Several
Occasions," 64; native influences upon his poetry, 65-72; French
influence, 72-100; his poetry of nature, 101-114; poetry of
meditation, 114-119.

Beresford (son), 60.
Olive (daughter), 60.
Catherine (daughter), 60.
Jane (daughter), 60.
Mary (daughter), 60.
Stanhope (grandson), 60.

"Cotton's Hole," 16.

Country Life, The (Racan), 97.