Note 1. Henry Vaughan, called the Silurist, as an inhabitant of South Wales, owed to Herbert both his conversion and much of his inspiration as a poet. What the debt exactly was the present writer has endeavoured to estimate in a preface to the edition of Vaughan in the “Muses’ Library” (Laurence & Bullen). But Vaughan’s mysticism, the predominating quality of his best verse, gives him independent rank. At his best he can soar far beyond Herbert’s range, but he lacks Herbert’s fine sense of style, and rarely maintains a high level throughout a long poem. The pieces here given present him at his best and most equable. [back]
