DANIEL

daniel, samuel (1562-1619), english poet and historian, was the son of a music-master, and was born near taunton, in somersetshire, in 1562. another son, john daniel, was a musician, who held some offices at court, and was the author of _songs for the lute, viol and voice_ (1606). in 1579 samuel was admitted a commoner of magdalen hall, oxford, where he remained for about three years, and then gave himself up to the unrestrained study of poetry and philosophy. the name of samuel daniel is given as the servant of lord stafford, ambassador in france, in 1586, and probably refers to the poet. he was first encouraged and, if we may believe him, taught in verse, by the famous countess of pembroke, whose honour he was never weary of proclaiming. he had entered her household as tutor to her son, william herbert. his first known work, a translation of paulus jovius, to which some original matter is appended, was printed in 1585. his first known volume of verse is dated 1592; it contains the cycle of sonnets to _delia_ and the romance called _the complaint of rosamond_. twenty-seven of the sonnets had already been printed at the end of sir philip sidney's _astrophel and stella_ without the author's consent. several editions of _delia_ appeared in 1592, and they were very frequently reprinted during daniel's lifetime. we learn by internal evidence that delia lived on the banks of shakespeare's river, the avon, and that the sonnets to her were inspired by her memory when the poet was in italy. to an edition of _delia_ and _rosamond_, in 1594, was added the tragedy of _cleopatra_, a severe study in the manner of the ancients, in alternately rhyming heroic verse, diversified by stiff choral interludes. _the first four books of the civil wars_, an historical poem in _ottava rima_, appeared in 1595. the bibliography of daniel's works is attended with great difficulty, but as far as is known it was not until 1599 that there was published a volume entitled _poetical essays_, which contained, besides the "civil wars," "musophilus," and "a letter from octavia to marcus antonius," poems in daniel's finest and most mature manner. about this time he became tutor to anne clifford, daughter of the countess of cumberland. on the death of spenser, in the same year, daniel received the somewhat vague office of poet-laureate, which he seems, however, to have shortly resigned in favour of ben jonson. whether it was on this occasion is not known, but about this time, and at the recommendation of his brother-in-law, giovanni florio, he was taken into favour at court, and wrote a _panegyric congratulatorie offered to the king at burleigh harrington in rutlandshire_, in _ottava rima_. in 1603 this poem was published, and in many cases copies contained in addition his _poetical epistles_ to his patrons and an elegant prose essay called _a defence of rime_ (originally printed in 1602) in answer to thomas campion's _observations on the art of english poesie_, in which it was contended that rhyme was unsuited to the genius of the english language. in 1603, moreover, daniel was appointed master of the queen's revels. in this capacity he brought out a series of masques and pastoral tragi-comedies,--of which were printed _a vision of the twelve goddesses_, in 1604; _the queen's arcadia_, an adaptation of guarini's _pastor fido_, in 1606; _tethys festival or the queenes wake_, written on the occasion of prince henry's becoming a knight of the bath, in 1610; and _hymen's triumph_, in honour of lord roxburgh's marriage in 1615. meanwhile had appeared, in 1605, _certain small poems_, with the tragedy of _philotas_; the latter was a study, in the same style as _cleopatra_, written some five years earlier. this drama brought its author into difficulties, as philotas, with whom he expressed some sympathy, was taken to represent essex. in 1607, under the title of _certaine small workes heretofore divulged by samuel daniel_, the poet issued a revised version of all his works except _delia_ and the _civil wars_. in 1609 the civil wars had been completed in eight books. in 1612 daniel published a prose _history of england_, from the earliest times down to the end of the reign of edward iii. this work afterwards continued, and published in 1617, was very popular with drayton's contemporaries. the section dealing with william the conqueror was published in 1692 as being the work of sir walter raleigh, apparently without sufficient grounds. daniel was made a gentleman-extraordinary and groom of the chamber to queen anne, sinecure offices which offered no hindrance to an active literary career. he was now acknowledged as one of the first writers of the time. shakespeare, selden and chapman are named among the few intimates who were permitted to intrude upon the seclusion of a garden-house in old street, st luke's, where, fuller tells us, he would "lie hid for some months together, the more retiredly to enjoy the company of the muses, and then would appear in public to converse with his friends." late in life daniel threw up his titular posts at court and retired to a farm called "the ridge," which he rented at beckington, near devizes in wiltshire. here he died on the 14th of october 1619. the poetical writings of daniel are very numerous, but in spite of the eulogies of all the best critics, they were long neglected. this is the more singular since, during the 18th century, when so little elizabethan literature was read, daniel retained his poetical prestige. in later times coleridge, charles lamb and others expended some of their most genial criticisms on this poet. of his multifarious works the sonnets are now, perhaps, most read. they depart from the italian sonnet form in closing with a couplet, as is the case with most of the sonnets of surrey and wyat, but they have a grace and tenderness all their own. of a higher order is _the complaint of rosamond_, a soliloquy in which the ghost of the murdered woman appears and bewails her fate in stanzas of exquisite pathos. among the _epistles to distinguished persons_ will be found some of daniel's noblest stanzas and most polished verse. the epistle to lucy, countess of bedford, is remarkable among those as being composed in genuine _terza rima_, till then not used in english. daniel was particularly fond of a four-lined stanza of solemn alternately rhyming iambics, a form of verse distinctly misplaced in his dramas. these, inspired it would seem by like attempts of the countess of pembroke's, are hard and frigid; his pastorals are far more pleasing; and _hymen's triumph_ is perhaps the best of all his dramatic writing. an extract from this masque is given in lamb's _dramatic poets_, and it was highly praised by coleridge. in elegiac verse he always excelled, but most of all in his touching address _to the angel spirit of the most excellent sir philip sidney_. we must not neglect to quote _musophilus_ among the most characteristic writings of daniel. it is a dialogue between a courtier and a man of letters, and is a general defence of learning, and in particular of poetic learning as an instrument in the education of the perfect courtier or man of action. it is addressed to fulke greville, and written, with much sententious melody, in a sort of _terza rima_, or, more properly, _ottava rima_ with the couplet omitted. daniel was a great reformer in verse, and the introducer of several valuable novelties. it may be broadly said of his style that it is full, easy and stately, without being very animated or splendid. it attains a high average of general excellence, and is content with level flights. as a gnomic writer daniel approaches chapman, but is far more musical and coherent. he is wanting in fire and passion, but he is preeminent in scholarly grace and tender, mournful reverie. daniel's works were edited by a. b. grosart in 1885-1896. 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