Poetry Codex

Metaphysical & Cavalier

Charles Cotton

1630–1687

Charles Cotton (1630–1687) was an English poet and translator from Beresford Hall in Staffordshire, on the river Dove. He was the friend and adopted "son" of Izaak Walton, and wrote the second part of The Compleat Angler (1676), the treatise on fly-fishing added to Walton's book. His translation of Montaigne's Essays (1685) remained the standard English version for generations.

His burlesques, Scarronides (a travesty of Virgil, 1664) and A Voyage to Ireland in Burlesque, made him a leading comic poet of the Restoration, while his love lyrics, odes and "quatrains" of the countryside show a quieter, more personal voice. Poems on Several Occasions appeared posthumously in 1689; the text here follows that edition (EEBO-TCP), including its closing section of translations from Horace, Martial, Catullus, Johannes Secundus and French and Italian poets, and leaving out the commendatory verses by another hand.

Poems (270)

  1. Give me my heart again (fair Treachery)
  2. The Expostulation
  3. Sonnet (What have I left to doe but dye)
  4. The Tempest (Standing upon the margent of the Main)
  5. To Coelia (When Coelia must my old day set)
  6. The Picture
  7. Elegy (Gods! are you just, and can it be)
  8. Taking leave of Chloris
  9. Song (Fie pretty Doris! weep no more)
  10. Resolution in four Sonnets, of a Poetical Question put to me by a Friend, concerning four Rural Sisters
  11. On my pretty Marten
  12. The New-year — To Mr. W. T
  13. The Ioys of Marriage
  14. Ode — To Love (Great Love, I thank thee, now thou hast)
  15. Song (Sad thoughts make hast and kill me out)
  16. Elegy (Away to th'other world, away)
  17. In Coccam — Epigram De Monsieur Maynard
  18. Writ in Calista's Prayer-Book. An Epigram of Monsieur de Malherbe
  19. Song (How comes it to pass with so little adoe)
  20. A Phillis
  21. Ode — To Chloris (Fair and Cruel, still in vain)
  22. Ode (Was ever man of Nature's framing)
  23. To Iohn Bradshaw, Esq
  24. Winter (Bleak Winter is from Norway come)
  25. On Rutt the Iudge
  26. On Sim and Simon
  27. Virelay
  28. Madrigal (To be a Whore, despight of Grace)
  29. La Illustrissima
  30. Chanson a Boire
  31. The Angler's Ballad
  32. Epistle to John Bradshaw Esq (From Porto Nova as pale wretches go)
  33. Anacreontick
  34. Burlesque — Vpon the Great Frost. To Iohn Bradshaw Esq
  35. Clepsydra
  36. Eclogue (Rise, Clotten, rise, take up thy Pipe &)
  37. To my dear and most worthy Friend, Mr. Isaac Walton
  38. Madam, let an humble stranger
  39. To Chloris — Stanzes Irreguliers
  40. Old Tityrus to Eugenia
  41. Epistle to John Bradshaw Esq (Sir, you may please to call to mind)
  42. Epistle to Iohn Bradshaw, Esq
  43. The Retirement — Stanzes Irreguliers. To Mr. Isaak Walton
  44. Rondeau (Thou Fool! if madness be so rife)
  45. To Cupid (Fond Love, deliver up thy Bow)
  46. No springing Beauty scapes my Dart
  47. To Aelia
  48. Sonnet (Goe, false one, now I see the cheat)
  49. Stanzes de Monsieur Bertaud
  50. The eighth Psalm paraphrased
  51. Advice
  52. Lyrick — Ex Cornelio Gallo Trans (Lydia, thou lovely Maid, whose white)
  53. Amoret in Masquerade
  54. Estreines — To Calista
  55. Epigramme de Monsieur des-Portes
  56. Epigramme de Monsieur Cotin
  57. Epigramme de Monsieur Maynard
  58. A Voyage to Ireland in Burlesque
  59. A Voyage to Ireland in Burlesque, Canto 2
  60. A Voyage to Ireland in Burlesque, Canto 3
  61. The Storm — To the Earl of—
  62. Ode (Is't come to this, that we must part)
  63. Paraphras'd from Anacreon
  64. On Christmas-day
  65. Chorus (Rise then, O rise, and let your voices)
  66. Saphick Ode
  67. The Morning Quatrains
  68. Noon Quatrains
  69. The Night — Written by Monsieur le Comte de Cremail
  70. Evening
  71. Night
  72. Ode (Good night, my Love, may gentle rest)
  73. Ode de Monsieur Racan
  74. Contentation — Directed to my Dear Father, and most Worthy Friend, Mr. Isaac Walton
  75. Stances de Monsieur de Scudery (Fair Nymph, by whose Perfections mov'd)
  76. Melancholy
  77. Hope
  78. Epistle to the Earl of—
  79. Beauty — In Answer to an Ode of Mr. Abraham Cowley's upon the same Subject
  80. Rondeau (Forbear (fair Phillis) Oh forbear)
  81. Woman
  82. The World
  83. De Vita Beata — Paraphras'd from the Latin
  84. Q. Cicero, De mulierum levitate
  85. Despair
  86. Sonnet (Why dost thou say thy Heart is gone)
  87. Sonnet (How should'st thou love, and not offend)
  88. Sonnet (Chloris, whilst thou and I were free)
  89. Sonnet (Why dost thou say thou lov'st me now)
  90. Poverty
  91. Death
  92. On the Death of the Most Noble Thomas Earl of Ossory
  93. Ode Bachique — De Monsieur Racan
  94. Epistle to Sir Clifford Clifton, then sitting in Parliament
  95. Stances de Monsieur Bertaud
  96. Contentment. Pindarick Ode
  97. Epigram (Fy, Delia, talk no more of Love)
  98. Scribere jussit Amor — Ad Candidum Scriptorem
  99. In Mendacem
  100. Day-Break
  101. Song — Set by Mr. Coleman (Why, Dearest, should'st thou weep, when I relate)
  102. Forbidden Fruit
  103. The Picture — Set by Mr. Laws
  104. On One, who said, He drank to clear his Eyes
  105. The Separation
  106. Another of the same
  107. On the great Eater of Grays-Inn
  108. An Epitaph on my Dear Aunt, Mrs. Ann Stanhope
  109. Song — Set by Mr. Coleman (See, how like Twilight Slumber falls)
  110. An Epitaph on M. H
  111. The Retreat
  112. The Sleeper
  113. The Token
  114. Song. Montross
  115. Song (Pre'thee, why so angry, Sweet)
  116. A Iourney into the Peak — To Sir Aston Cockain
  117. New Prison
  118. Her Name
  119. Epitaph — On Mr. Robert Port (Here lies he, whom the Tyrants rage)
  120. Song — Set by Mr. Coleman (Bring back my Comfort, and return)
  121. Sir William Davenant — To Mr. Cotton
  122. To Sir William Davenant — Written by Sir William, when Prisoner in the Tower. 1652
  123. To my Friend Mr. John Anderson — From the Countrey
  124. Les Amours
  125. Elegy (How was I blest when I was free)
  126. Her Hair
  127. Song (Join once again, my Celia, join)
  128. The Surprize
  129. The Visit
  130. De Lupo
  131. On Vpstart
  132. Epitaph — On Mrs. Mary Draper (Reader, if thou cast thine Eye)
  133. Caelia's Fall
  134. Eclogue (Thyrsis, whilst our Flocks did bite)
  135. Her Sigh
  136. On the Lamented Death of my Dear Uncle — Mr. Radcliff Stanhope
  137. On the Lord Derby
  138. On Marriot — Tempus edax rerum
  139. To Caelia's Ague
  140. A Valediction
  141. Love's Triumph
  142. A Rogue
  143. The Contest
  144. The False One — In Imitation of that of Horace
  145. Nature, and Art are here at strife
  146. To Chloris
  147. Taking Leave of Chloris
  148. Ode (Come, let us drink away the time)
  149. Ode (The Day is set did Earth adorn)
  150. Ode (Fair Isabel, if ought but thee)
  151. An Old Man's Gift to a Fair Lady
  152. In Amorem Medicum
  153. The Legend of the Famous, Furious, Expert, and Valiant Gittar-Masters Caveliero Comer, and Don Hill
  154. On Annel-seed Robin, the Hermophrodite
  155. Ode — To Chloe (False one, farewell, thou hast releast)
  156. Ode — To Chloris from France (Pitty me Chloris, and the flame)
  157. An Invitation to Phillis
  158. The Entertainment to Phillis
  159. To Coelia (When Coelia must my old Days set)
  160. To Cupid (Fond Love, deliver up thy Bow) [second printing]
  161. The Tempest (Standing upon the Margent of the main)
  162. The Litany
  163. To some Great Ones
  164. To the Memory of my worthy Friend Colonel Richard Lovelace
  165. To Poet E. W — Occasion'd for his Writing a Panegyrick on Oliver Cromwell
  166. Dialogue
  167. Chorus (Jolly Shepherds, quit your Flocks)
  168. An Epitaph on Robert Port, Esq design'd for a Monument — And now set up in Elum Church, in the County of Stafford
  169. To Cupid, a foolish Poet, occasion'd by as foolish a Poem of his to a bona Roba
  170. Philoxipes and Policrite. An Essay to an Heroick Poem. Canto I
  171. To Mr. Alexander Brome
  172. On Tobacco
  173. Laura Sleeping
  174. Laura Weeping
  175. Sonnet (Chloris, whil'st thou and I were free)
  176. Sonnet (Why dost thou say thou lov'st me now) [second printing]
  177. Sonnet (Why dost thou say thy Heart is gon)
  178. Sonnet (How should'st thou Love, and not offend)
  179. To Sir Aston Cockayne, on Captain Hanniball
  180. In imitation of a Song in the Play of Rollo
  181. To Sir Aston Cockayne, on his Tragedy of Ovid
  182. De Die Martis, & Die Veneris
  183. Aliud (Should Mars and Venus have their Will)
  184. Ode — To Love (Great Love I thank thee, now thou hast)
  185. Horace his second Epod Translated
  186. Horat. Ode IX. Lib. III — Ad Lydiam
  187. Martial, Epig. Lib. I. Ep. XX
  188. Stances de Monsieur Theophile
  189. Her Heart and Mine — Out of Astrea
  190. To Charinus, an ugly Womans Husband
  191. An Ode of Johannes Secundus Translated — To my dear Tutor Mr. Ralph Rawson
  192. Epig — Translated out of Hieron; Amaltheus (Acon his right, Leonilla her left Eye)
  193. Love's World — Translated out of Astrea
  194. Martial, Ep. 84. Lib. 10
  195. Id. Ep. 93. Lib. 11
  196. Id. Ep. 58. Lib. 1 — Ad Flaccum
  197. Id. Ep. 48. Lib. 1 — De Diaulo Medico Paraph
  198. Id. Lib. Ep. 65 — Ad Fabullam ambitiosam
  199. Id. Lib. 1. Ep. 3 — Ad Velocem
  200. Id. Lib. 2. Ep. 88 — In Mamercum
  201. Id. Lib. 3. Ep. 9 — In Cinnam
  202. Id. Lib. 3. Ep. 28 — In Nestorem
  203. Id. Lib. 3. Ep. 26 — In Candidum
  204. Id. Lib. 3. Ep. 32 — In Matriniam
  205. Id. Lib. 3. Ep. 52 — Ad Chloen
  206. Id. Lib. 4. Ep. 78 — In Varum
  207. Id. Lib. 4. Ep. 86 — In Ponticum
  208. Id. Lib. 5. Ep. 46 — In Bassam
  209. Id. Lib. 5. Ep. 44 — De Thaide, & Lecania
  210. Id. Lib. 7. Ep. 32 — In Cinnam
  211. Id. Lib. 10. Ep. 47 — Ad Seipsum
  212. Id. Lib. 8. Ep. 3 — Ad Musam
  213. Id. Lib. 8. Ep. 19 — De Cinna
  214. Id. Lib. 8. Ep. 23 — Ad Rusticum
  215. Id. Lib. Ep. 47
  216. Id. Lib. 8. Ep. 21 — Ad Luciferum
  217. Id. Lib. 8. Ep. 35 — In pessimos Conjuges
  218. Id. Lib. 8. Ep. 53 — In Catullam
  219. Id. Lib. 8. Ep. 59 — In Vacerram
  220. Id. Lib. 7. Ep. 100 — De Vetula
  221. Id. Lib. 8. Ep. 41 — Ad Faustinum
  222. Id. Lib. 11. Ep. 103 — In Lydiam
  223. Id. Lib. 12. Ep. 7 — De Ligia
  224. Id. Lib. 12. Ep. 20 — Ad Fabullam
  225. Horat. Lib 1. Carmin. Ode 8 — Ad Lydia
  226. De Fortuna. an sit caeca — Epig. ex Johann. Secundo
  227. Tria Mala ex eodem
  228. Id. Lib. Ep. 15 — In Neaeram
  229. Ode De Theophile
  230. Elegy de Theophile
  231. Out of Astrea
  232. Stanzes upon the Death of Cleon — Out of Astrea
  233. Song of the inconstant Hylas — Out of Astrea
  234. Sonnet — Out of Astrea (Since I must now eradicate the Flame)
  235. A Paraphrase
  236. An Essay upon Buchanan's First Book de Sphaera. Never perfected
  237. Cn. Cornelii Galli; vel potius Maximiani Elegia 1. Trans
  238. Ad Furium, Ep. 23 — Ex Catullo
  239. De Catella Publ. Mart. Ep. 110. Lib. 1
  240. Ad Pictorem Ausonii Epig
  241. De Myrone & Laide Ausonii. Epig
  242. De Vita beata — Paraphras'd from the Latin
  243. Q. Cicero de Mulierum levitate. Translat
  244. Epig. de Monsieur Maynard (Some Men of Sense, and who pretend to be)
  245. In Coccam — Epig. de Monsieur Maynard (Thy Cheeks having their Roses shed)
  246. Epig. de Monsieur Maynard (Old Fop, why should you take such pains)
  247. Epig. writ in Calistas Prayer Book. By Monsieur Malherbe
  248. Ode Bacchique de Monsieur Racau
  249. Lyrick — Ex Cornelio Gallo (Lydia, thou lovely Maid, whose White)
  250. De luxu, & libidine — Epig. Tho. Mori
  251. Id. in Avarum
  252. Id. in Digamos
  253. Stances de Monsieur de Scudery (Fair Nymph, by whose perfections mov'd)
  254. Epitaph Monsieur Maynard
  255. On Cation a Dwarf — Epig. de Monsieur Maynard
  256. Epig. de Monsieur Maynard (Anthony feigns him Sick of late)
  257. In Coccam — Epig. de Monsieur Maynard (Cocca thou'dst still be lov'd; nor wilt abate)
  258. In Coccam — Epig. de Monsieur Maynard (Lord! how wrinckled is thy Fore-head)
  259. Epig. de Monsieur Maynard (Come, let's Drink, and drown all Sorrow)
  260. To Agrippa — The Sixth Ode of Horace. His First Book of Lyricks
  261. Epig. de Monsieur Corneille
  262. Epig. de Monsieur Cotin
  263. Epig. de Mons. de Bensaurade
  264. Madrigal on Queen Dido — Translated from Cavalier Guarini, and he from Ausonius. O Fortunata Dido, &c
  265. Sede d'Amore — Madrigal. From Cavalier Guarini
  266. Foco di sdegno — From Cavalier Guarini. Madrigal
  267. Risposta del Tasto
  268. Winter (Hark, hark, I hear the North Wind roar)
  269. An Elegy upon the Lord Hastings
  270. The Battail of Yvry

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