_Daiphantus_, or _The Passions of Love_, 1604 (pp. 363-404), is described on the title-page as 'By An. Sc. Gentleman,' assumed to stand for Antony Scoloker. In the days of Henry VIII there was an Antony Scoloker, a printer and translator, with whom 'An. Sc.' was doubtless connected In the humorous prose address there is an interesting reference to Shakespeare:--'It should be like the never-too-well-read _Arcadia_ where the Prose and Verse, Matter and Words, are like his Mistress eyes, one still excelling another and without corrival; or to come home to the Vulgar's element, like friendly Shake-speare's _Tragedies_, where the Comedian rides when the Tragedian stands on tiptoe. Faith it should please all like Prince HAMLET. But, in sadness, then it were to be feared he would run mad. In sooth I will not be moonsick to please, nor out of my wits though I displease all. What? Poet, are you in passion or out of Love? This is as strange as true.' In the poem itself there is another reference to 'mad Hamlet,' though Scoloker there seems to be glancing at the older play on the subject of Hamlet. For the reader's guidance an 'Argument' is obligingly prefixed, but it is to be feared that even with the help of this Argument he will not find the poem very intelligible or of engrossing interest. _Daiphantus_, of which only one copy (in the Douce Collection) is known, was perhaps intended merely for circulation among the author's friends, who may have been able to read between the lines. Appended is the fine poem, 'The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage,' beginning:--
'Give me my Scalop Shell of quiet, My Staff of faith to walk upon, My Scrip of joy, immortal diet, My Bottle of salvation, My Gown of glory, hope's true gage, And thus I'll take my Pilgrimage,' etc.
Possibly the publisher tacked on these verses without Scoloker's knowledge. It is quite certain that they were not written by the author of _Daiphantus_, and there are good reasons for assigning them to Sir Walter Ralegh (_see_ Hannah's edition of Ralegh's _Poems_, 1885).
The 'Odes' of Michael Drayton (pp. 405-441), drawn from _Poems Lyrick and Pastorall_ (1606?), and the later collection of 1619, contain some of his best writing. There is no need to praise the glorious 'Ballad of Agincourt,' but it may be noted that Drayton spent considerable pains over the revision of this poem. It was fine in its original form, but every change found in the later version was a clear improvement. No signs of the file are visible, and we should certainly judge--unless we had evidence to the contrary--that this imperishable 'ballad' had been thrown off at a white heat. Only inferior to 'Agincourt' is the stirring ode 'To the Virginian Voyage.' Professor Arber, a high authority, is of opinion that it was composed some time before 12th August 1606, on which day the Plymouth Company despatched Captain Henry Challons' ship to North Virginia. In this valedictory address Drayton writes:--