st seems likely that he out-Marlowed
Marlowe in the rant of the _Looking-Glass for London_, and the stiffness of
the _Wounds of Civil War_, and he chiefly polished Sidney in his sonnets
and madrigals. It is not to be denied, however, that in three out of these
four departments he gave us charming work. His mixed allegiance to Marlowe
and Sidney gave him command of a splendid form of decasyllable, which
appears often in _Phillis_, as for instance--

"About thy neck do all the graces throng
And lay such baits as might entangle death,"

where it is worth noting that the whole beauty arises from the dexterous
placing of the dissyllable "graces," and the trisyllable "entangle,"
exactly where they ought to be among the monosyllables of the rest. The
madrigals "Love guards the roses of thy lips," "My Phillis hath the morning
sun," and "Love in my bosom like a bee" are simply unsurpassed for sugared
sweetness in English. Perhaps this is the best of them:--

"Love in my bosom like a bee,
Doth suck his sweet;
Now with his wings he plays with me,
Now with his feet.
Within mine eyes he makes his nest
His bed amidst my tender breast,
My kisses are his daily feast;
And yet he robs me of my rest?
'Ah, wanton! will ye?'

"And if I sleep, then percheth he,
With pretty flight,[26]
And makes his pillow of my knee
The livelong night.
Strike I my lute, he tunes the string.
He music plays, if so I sing.
He lends me every lovely thing
Yet cruel! he, my heart doth sting.
'Whist, wanton! still ye!'

"Else I with roses, every day
Will whip you hence,
And bind you, when you want to play,
For your offence.
I'll shut my eyes to keep you in,
I'll make you fast it for your sin,
I'll count your power not worth a pin.
Alas, what hereby shall I win
If he gainsay me?

"What if I beat the wanton boy
With many a rod?
He will repay me with annoy
Because a god.
Then sit thou safely on my knee,
And let thy bower my bosom be.
Lurk in mine eyes, I like of thee.
O Cupid! so thou pity me,
Spare not, but play thee."

[26] Printed in _England's Helicon_ "sleight."

1594 was the most important of all the sonnet years, and here we are
chiefly bound to mention authors who will come in for fuller notice later.
The singular book know