Thy praises in large volumes shall rehearse,
That better maie thy grauer view befitt."

Does this refer to "The Unfortunate Traveller; or, The Life of Jack
Wilton," generally regarded as Nash's most ambitious work, and which
he dedicated to Lord Southampton in 1593? If so, and there is no
evidence to gainsay the conclusion, we can fix the date of the present
poem as, at all events, prior to 17th September of that year, when
"The Unfortunate Traveller" was entered on the Stationers'
Register.[d] This would make Nash contemporaneous, if not prior to,
Shakspeare in offering a tribute to the merits of the young patron
(Southampton at that time was barely twenty years old) of the Muses.
_Venus and Adonis_ was entered on the Register of the Stationers'
Company about five months earlier, on the 18th April, 1593, and barely
more than two months prior to the registration of "The Terrors of the
Night."

It is curious to note that while Shakspeare and Nash both promise
"graver work" and "better lines," they alike select amatory themes for
their first offerings. The promise in Shakspeare's case was redeemed
by the dedication to Southampton of "The Rape of Lucreece," while it
may be assumed, as aforesaid, that Nash followed suit with "The
Unfortunate Traveller."

Nash, however, for some cause or other failed to retain the Earl's
interest; "indeed," says Mr. Sidney Lee, "he did not retain the favour
of any patron long." It is only fair to state, however, that the
withdrawal of Lord Southampton's patronage may not have been due to
any fault or shortcoming on the part of Nash, for there is likewise no
evidence whatever to show that any close intimacy existed between