n the twenty poems of that miscellany
being doubtless confined to the five short pieces which have been
definitely identified as his. In the opinion of the present writer the
sonnet beginning "Sweet Cytherea" has unmistakably the stamp of Barnfield,
and is probably a gloss on the first rapturous perusal of _Venus and
Adonis_; the same is to be said of "Scarce had the sun," which is _aut
Barnfield, aut diabolus_. One or two other contributions to _The Passionate
Pilgrim_ may be conjectured, with less confidence, to be Barnfield's. It
has been stated that the poet was now studying the law at Gray's Inn, but
for this the writer is unable to discover the authority, except that
several members of that society are mentioned in the course of the volume
of 1598. In all probability Barnfield now married and withdrew to his
estate of Dorlestone (or Darlaston), in the county of Stafford, a house
romantically situated on the river Trent, where he henceforth resided as a
country gentleman. In 1605 he reprinted his _Lady Pecunia_, and this was
his latest appearance as a man of letters. His son Robert Barnfield and his
cousin Elinor Skrymsher were his executors when his will was proved at
Lichfield; his wife, therefore, doubtless predeceased him. Barnfield died
at Dorlestone Hall, and was buried in the neighbouring parish church of St
Michael's, Stone, on the 6th of March 1627. The labours of Dr Grosart and
of Professor Arber have thrown much light on the circumstances of
Barnfield's career. He has taken of late years a far more prominent place
than ever before in the history of English literature. This is due partly
to the remarkable merit of his graceful, melodious and highly-coloured
verse, which was practically unknown until it was privately printed in 1876
(ed. Grosart, Roxburghe Club), and at length given to the public in 1882
(ed. Arber, _English Scholars' Library_). It is also due to the mysterious
personal relation of Barnfield to Shakespeare, a relation not easy to prove
in detail, as it is built up on a great variety of small indications. It
is, however, obvious that Barnfield warmly admired Shakespeare, whose
earliest imitator he may be said to have been, and that between 1595 and
1600 the younger poet was so close to the elder that the compositions of
the former could be confused with those of the latter. Barnfield died, as a
poet, in his twenty-fifth year. Up to that time he had displayed a talent
which, if he had pursued i