Let free, impartial men from Dryden learn
Mysterious secrets, of a high concern,
And weighty truths, solid convincing sense,
Explain’d by unaffected eloquence.
“On Mr. Dryden’s Religio Laici,”—Earl of Roscommon.
Wentworth Dillon, Earl of Roscommon, a noted Irish poet, was born in 1630, and died January 21, 1685. His reputation as a didactic writer and critic rests on his blank verse translation of Horace’s “Ars Poetica,” and “Essays on Translated Verse.”
Great families of yesterday we show,
And lords, whose parents were the Lord knows who.
“The True-Born Englishman,” Part I, Line I,—Daniel Defoe.
Daniel Defoe, the famous author of “Robinson Crusoe,” was born in St. Giles Parish, Cripplegate, in 1660 or 1661, and died near London, in 1731. Among his works are: “The Storm,” “Apparition of Mrs. Veal,” “Robinson Crusoe,” “Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe,” “King of Pirates,” “Duncan Campbell,” “Mr. Campbell’s Pacquet,” “Memoirs of a Cavalier,” “Captain Singleton,” “Moll Flanders,” “The Highland Rogue,” “Colonel Jacque,” “Cartouche,” “John Sheppard,” “Account of Jonathan Wild,” etc.
To die is landing on some silent shore
Where billows never break, nor tempests roar;
Ere well we feel the friendly stroke, ’tis o’er.
“The Dispensary,” Canto iii, Line 225,—Samuel Garth.
Sir Samuel Garth, a renowned English physician and poet, was born in Yorkshire (?), in 1661 (or at Bolam, Durham, 1660), and died in London (?), January 18, 1719. His famous poem “The Dispensary,” won for him great fame. He also translated “Ovid,” and wrote numerous epigrams.
Though her mien carries much more invitation than command, to behold her is an immediate check to loose behaviour; to love her was a liberal education.