[106] John Gay, b. 1685; d. 1732.
“O roving muse! recall that wondrous year,
When hoary Thames, with frosted osiers crown’d,
Was three long moons in icy fetters bound.”
The allusion is doubtless to the year 1684, famous for its exceeding cold.
[108] Jonathan Swift, b. 1667; d. 1745. Most noticeable biographies are those by Scott, Craik, and Stephen; the latter not minute, but having judicial repose, and quite delightful. Scott’s edition of his works (originally published in 1814) is still the fullest and best.
[109] Sir William Temple did not finally abandon his home at Sheen—where he had beautiful gardens—until the year 1689. A stretch of Richmond Park, with its deer-fed turf, now covers all traces of Temple’s old home; the name however is kept most pleasantly alive by the pretty Sheen cottage (Professor Owen’s home), with its carp-pond in front, and its charming, sequestered bit of wild garden in the rear.
[110] “Varina” was a Miss Waring, sister of a college mate. Years after, when Swift came by better church appointments, Varina wrote to him a letter calculated to fan the flame of a constant lover; but she received such reply—at once disdainful and acquiescent—as was met only with contemptuous silence.
[111] Both of these satires written between 1696-1698, but not published till six years later.