-England's Helicon, a collection of fongs.
-The Pfalms of David turned into English.

The true PICTURE OF LOVE.

Poore painters oft with filly poets joyne,

To fill the world with vain and strange conceits, One brings the ftuff, the other ftamps the coyne Which breeds nought elfe but gloffes of deceits. Thus painters Cupid paint, thus poets doe A naked god, blind, young, with arrows two.

Is he a god, that ever flyes the light?
Or naked he, difguis'd in all untruth?
If he be blind, how hitteth he so right?
How is he young, that tamed old Phœbus
youth?

But arrowes two, and tipt with gold or lead,
Some hurt, accufe a third with horney head.

No nothing fo; an old, falfe knave he is,
By Argus got on Io, then a cow :
What time for her, Juno her Jove did mifs,
And charge of her to Argus did allow.

Mercury killed his falle fire for this act,
His damme a beaft was pardoned, beaftly
fa&t.

With father's death, and mother's guilty fhame,
With Jove's difdain at fuch a rival's feed:
The wretch compel'd, a runegate became,
And learn'd what ill, a mifer-ftate did breed.
To lye, to fteal, to prie, and to accufe,
Nought in himself, each other to abufe.

CHRIS

CHISTOPHER MARDOE

WAS bred a flateer

there is no accoVE.

He foon quitted the
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Shakefpear. He
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His gen
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hall prefen

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blafphemed a ported, wrote Our Savion

tures to cont

religion to a

-England's Helicon, a collection of fongs.
The Pfalms of David turned into English,

The true PICTURE OF LOVE.

Poore painters oft with filly poets joyne,

To fill the world with vain and strange conceits, One brings the ftuff, the other ftamps the coyne Which breeds nought elfe but gloffes of deceits. Thus painters Cupid paint, thus poets doe A naked god, blind, young, with arrows two.

Is he a god, that ever flyes the light?
Or naked he, difguis'd in all untruth?
If he be blind, how hitteth he fo right?
How is he young, that tamed old Phoebus
youth?

But arrowes two, and tipt with gold or lead,
Some hurt, accuse a third with horney head.

No nothing fo; an old, falfe knave he is,
By Argus got on Io, then a cow :
What time for her, Juno her Jove did mifs,
And charge of her to Argus did allow.

Mercury killed his falte fire for this act,
His damme a beaft was pardoned, beaftly
fa&t.

With father's death, and mother's guilty fhame,
With Jove's difdain at such a rival's feed:
The wretch compel'd, a runegate became,
And learn'd what ill, a mifer-ftate did breed.
To lye, to steal, to prie, and to accufe,
Nought in himself, each other to abufe.

CHRIS

W

AS bred a ftudent in Cambridge, but there is no account extant of his family. He foon quitted the Univerfity, and became a player on the fame ftage with the incomparable Shakespear. He was accounted, fays Langbaine, a very fine poet in his time, even by Ben Johnfon himself, and Heywood his fellow-actor ftiles him the best of poets. In a copy of verfes called the Cenfure of the Poets, he was thus characterized.

Next Marloe bathed in Thespian fprings,
Had in him thofe brave fublunary things,

That your firft poets had; his raptures were

All air and fire, which made his verfes clear
For that fine madness ftill he did retain,
Which rightly fhould poffefs a poet's brain.

His genius inclined him wholly to tragedy, and he obliged the world with fix plays, befides one he joined for with Nafh, called Dido Queen of Carthage; but before I give an account of them, I fhall present his character to the reader upon the authority of Anthony Wood, which is too fingular to be paffed over. This Marloe, we are told, prefuming upon his own little wit, thought proper to practife the most epicurean indulgence, and openly profefs'd atheism; he denied God, Our Saviour; he blafphemed the adorable Trinity, and, as it was reported, wrote feveral difcourfes against it, affirming Our Saviour to be a deceiver, the facred fcriptures to contain nothing but idle ftories, and all religion to be a device of policy and prieftcraft;

but

but Marloe came to a very untimely end, as fome remarked, in confequence of his execrable blafphemies. It happened that he fell deeply in love with a low girl, and had for his rival a fellow in livery, who looked more like a pimp than a lover. Marloe, fired with jealoufy, and having fome reafon to believe that his miftrefs granted the fellow favours, he rushed upon him to stab him with his dagger; but the footman being quick, avoided the ftroke, and catching hold of Marloe's wrist stabbed him with his own weapon, and notwithstanding all the affistance of furgery, he foon after died of the wound, in the year 1593. Some time before his death, he had begun and made a confiderable progrefs in an excellent poem called Hero and Leander, which was afterwards finished by George Chapman, who fell short, as it is faid, of the spirit and invention. of Marloe in the execution of it.

What credit may be due to Mr. Wood's fevere reprefentation of this poet's character, the reader muft judge for himself. For my part, I am willing to fufpend my judgment till I meet with fome other teftimony of his having thus heinously offended against his God, and against the best and most amiable syftem of Religion that ever was, or ever can be: Marloe might poffibly be inclined to free-thinking, without running the unhappy le gths that Mr. Wood tells us, it was reported he had done. We have many inftances of characters being too lightly taken up on report, and mistakenly reprefented thro' a too eafy credulity; efpecially against a man who may happen to differ from us in fome fpeculative points, wherein each party however, may think himelf Orthodox: The good Dr. Clarke himself, has been as ill spoken of as Wood speaks of Marloe.

His other works are

1. Dr. Fauftus, his tragical history printed in 4to. London, 1661.

2. Edward the Second, a Tragedy, printed in 4to. London-when this play was acted is not known. 3. Jew