and friend of Shakspeare; and second, it is probably the only example
extant of the kind of hackwork to which Nash was frequently reduced by
"the keenest pangs of poverty."[b] He confesses he was often obliged
"to pen unedifying toys for gentlemen." When Harvey denounced him for
"emulating Aretino's licentiousness" he admitted that poverty had
occasionally forced him to prostitute his pen "in hope of gain" by
penning "amorous Villanellos and Quipasses for new-fangled galiards
and newer Fantisticos." In fact, he seems rarely to have known what it
was to be otherwise than the subject of distress and need. As an
example of these "unedifying toys" the present poem may, without much
doubt, be cited, and an instance in penning which his "hope of gain"
was realised.

It is a matter of history that Nash sought, and succeeded in obtaining
for a time, the patronage of the Earl of Southampton, one of the most
liberal men of his day, and a prominent figure in the declining years
of Elizabeth. "I once tasted," Nash writes in 1593,[c] "the full
spring of the Earl's liberality." Record is also made of a visit paid
by him to Lord Southampton and Sir George Carey, while the former was
Governor, and the latter Captain-General, of the Isle of Wight.

From internal evidence it would seem that this poem was called forth
by the Earl's bounty to its author. "My muse devorst from deeper (the
_Rawl. MS._ reads _deepest_) care, presents thee with a wanton
elegie;" and further on, the dedication promises "better lines" which
should "ere long" be penned in "honour" of his noble patron. This
promise is renewed in the epilogue:--

"My mynde once purg'd of such lascivious witt,
With purifide words and hallowed verse,