, _S_, dated 1620,
which gives us a downward date; and in 1610 occurs what looks very
like an allusion to Donne's poem in Ben Jonson's _Silent Woman_.
which gives us a downward date; and in 1610 occurs what looks very
like an allusion to Donne's poem in Ben Jonson's _Silent Woman_.
John Donne
To the taste of the time and the temper
of Donne such a poem might more becomingly be addressed to a widow
of forty, the mother of ten children, one already an accomplished
courtier, than it might be written by a priest in orders. Donne would
have been startled to hear that in 1625 he had spent any time in such
a vain amusement as composing a secular elegy. The poem he wrote
to Mrs. Herbert before 1609 was probably thought by her and him an
exquisite compliment. He expressly disclaims speaking of the old age
which disfigures. He writes of one whose youthful beauty has flown.
Forty seemed old for a woman, even to Jane Austen, and in Montaigne's
opinion it is old for a man: 'J'estois tel, car je ne me considere pas
a cette heure, que je suis engage dans les avenues de la vieillesse,
ayant pieca franchy les quarante ans:
Minutatim vires et robur adultum
Frangit, et in partem pejorem liquitur aetas.
Ce que je seray doresnevant ce ne sera plus qu'un demy estre, ce ne
sera plus moy; je m'eschappe les jours et me desrobe a moy mesme:
Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes. '
_Essais_, ii. 17.
Mrs. Herbert's marriage was due to no 'heyday of the blood'. It was
the gravity of Danvers' temper which attracted her, and he became the
steady friend and adviser of her children.
There are, moreover, some items of evidence which go to support
Walton's testimony. The poem is found in one MS.
, _S_, dated 1620,
which gives us a downward date; and in 1610 occurs what looks very
like an allusion to Donne's poem in Ben Jonson's _Silent Woman_.
Clerimont and True-wit are speaking of the Collegiate ladies, and the
former asks,
Who is the president?
_True. _ The grave and youthful matron, the Lady Haughty.
_Cler. _ A pox of her autumnal face, her pieced beauty! there's no
man can be admitted till she be ready now-a-days, till she has
painted and perfumed . . . I have made a song (I pray thee
hear it) on the subject
Still to be neat, still to be drest. . .
The resemblance may be accidental, yet the frequency with which the
poem is dubbed _An Autumnal Face_ or _The Autumnall_ shows that the
phrase had struck home. Jonson's comedies seethe with such allusions,
and I rather suspect that he is poking fun at his friend's paradoxes,
perhaps in a sly way at that 'grave and youthful matron' Lady Danvers.
We cannot _prove_ that the poem was written so early, but the evidence
on the whole is in favour of Walton's statement.
PAGE =79=.
of Donne such a poem might more becomingly be addressed to a widow
of forty, the mother of ten children, one already an accomplished
courtier, than it might be written by a priest in orders. Donne would
have been startled to hear that in 1625 he had spent any time in such
a vain amusement as composing a secular elegy. The poem he wrote
to Mrs. Herbert before 1609 was probably thought by her and him an
exquisite compliment. He expressly disclaims speaking of the old age
which disfigures. He writes of one whose youthful beauty has flown.
Forty seemed old for a woman, even to Jane Austen, and in Montaigne's
opinion it is old for a man: 'J'estois tel, car je ne me considere pas
a cette heure, que je suis engage dans les avenues de la vieillesse,
ayant pieca franchy les quarante ans:
Minutatim vires et robur adultum
Frangit, et in partem pejorem liquitur aetas.
Ce que je seray doresnevant ce ne sera plus qu'un demy estre, ce ne
sera plus moy; je m'eschappe les jours et me desrobe a moy mesme:
Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes. '
_Essais_, ii. 17.
Mrs. Herbert's marriage was due to no 'heyday of the blood'. It was
the gravity of Danvers' temper which attracted her, and he became the
steady friend and adviser of her children.
There are, moreover, some items of evidence which go to support
Walton's testimony. The poem is found in one MS.
, _S_, dated 1620,
which gives us a downward date; and in 1610 occurs what looks very
like an allusion to Donne's poem in Ben Jonson's _Silent Woman_.
Clerimont and True-wit are speaking of the Collegiate ladies, and the
former asks,
Who is the president?
_True. _ The grave and youthful matron, the Lady Haughty.
_Cler. _ A pox of her autumnal face, her pieced beauty! there's no
man can be admitted till she be ready now-a-days, till she has
painted and perfumed . . . I have made a song (I pray thee
hear it) on the subject
Still to be neat, still to be drest. . .
The resemblance may be accidental, yet the frequency with which the
poem is dubbed _An Autumnal Face_ or _The Autumnall_ shows that the
phrase had struck home. Jonson's comedies seethe with such allusions,
and I rather suspect that he is poking fun at his friend's paradoxes,
perhaps in a sly way at that 'grave and youthful matron' Lady Danvers.
We cannot _prove_ that the poem was written so early, but the evidence
on the whole is in favour of Walton's statement.
PAGE =79=.
