Ioläus: An Anthology of Friendship

by Unknown

Richard Barnfield

Richard Barnfield, one of the Elizabethan singers (b. 1574) wrote a long poem, dedicated to “The Ladie Penelope Rich” and entitled “The Affectionate Shepheard,” which he describes as “an imitation of Virgil in the 2nd Eclogue, of Alexis.” I quote the first two stanzas:—

I.

“Scarce had the morning starre hid from the light

Heaven’s crimson Canopie with stars bespangled,

But I began to rue th’ unhappy sight

Of that fair boy that had my heart intangled;

Cursing the Time, the Place, the sense, the sin;

I came, I saw, I view’d, I slippèd in.