His frenzy lafted not long; and he feems to have regained his full force of mind; for he wrote afterwards his excellent poem upon the death of Cowley, whom he was not long to furvive; for on the 19th of March, 1668,, he was buried by his fide..

DENHAM is defervedly confidered as one of the fathers of English poetry. "Denham and Waller," fays Prior, improved our verfification,

"and Dryden perfected it." He has given fpecimens of various compofition, defcriptive, ludicrous, didactick, and fublime.

He appears to have had, in common with almost all mankind, the ambition of being upon proper occafions a merry fellow, and in common with most of them to have been by nature, or by early habits, debarred from it. Nothing is lefs exhilarating than the ludicroufnefs of Denham. He does not fail for want of efforts: he is familiar, he is grofs; but he is never merry, unless the "Speech against peace in the clofe "Committee," be excepted. For grave burlefque, however, his imitation of Davenant fhews him to have been well qualified.

Of his more elevated occafional poems there is perhaps none that does not deferve commendation. In the verfes to Fletcher,

Fletcher, we have an image that has fince been often adopted:

"But whither am I ftray'd? I need 66 not raise

"Trophies to thee from other mens

"Nor is thy fame on leffer ruins built, "Nor need thy jufter title the foul

" guilt

"Of eaftern kings, who, to fecure

"their reign,

"Must have their brothers, fons, and "kindred flain."

After Denham, Orrery, in one of his prologues,

"Poets are fultans, if they had their will; "For every author would his brother

"kill."

And Pope,

"Should fuch a man, too fond to rule

calone,

"Bear like the Turk no brother near

"the throne."

But this is not the best of his little pieces: it is excelled by his poem to Fanfhaw, and his elegy on Cowley.

His praife of Fanfhaw's verfion of Guarini, contains a very fpritely and judicious character of a good tranfla

tor:

.66

That fervile path thou nobly dost "decline,

"Of tracing word by word, and line

166 by line.

Thofe

"Those are the labour'd births of

"flavish brains,

"Not the effect of poetry, but pains;

466

Cheap vulgar arts, whofe narrownefs affords

No flight for thoughts, but poorly "ftick at words.

A new and nobler way thou doft "purfue

·6.6. To make tranflations and tranflators

"True to his fenfe, but truer to his ❝ fame."

"The excellence of these lines is greater, as the truth which they con