“Don Quixote,” The Author’s Preface,—Cervantes.
Cervantes, a renowned Spanish romancist, was born at Alcalà de Henares in 1547, and died at Madrid, April 23, 1616. Of his many romances and stories, his fame rests entirely on his celebrated work, “Don Quixote.”
Who will not mercie unto others show,
How can he mercy ever hope to have?
Faerie Queene, Book V, Canto II, St. 42,—Edmund Spenser.
Edmund Spenser, the famous English poet, was born about 1552, and died at London, January 13, or 16, 1599. Among his works are: “Amoretti,” “Four Hymns,” “The Shepherd’s Calendar,” “Astrophel,” “Complaints,” “Daphnaida,” “Colin Clout’s Come Home Again,” and “The Faerie Queene,” his most famous work.
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee, and be thy love.
“The Nymph’s Reply to the Passionate Shepherd,”—Sir Walter Raleigh.
Sir Walter Raleigh, the celebrated English admiral, was born at Hayes in Devonshire, in 1552, and was executed, October 29, 1618. His poems were not published until 1814, his “Miscellaneous Writings,” in 1751, and his “Complete Works,” in 1829.
Live or die, sink or swim.
“Edward I” (1584?),—Peele.