at first think them allowable; but he appears afterwards to have
changed his mind, for in the verses on the government of Cromwell he
inserts them liberally with great happiness.

After so much criticism on his poems, the essays which accompany
them must not be forgotten. What is said by Sprat of his
conversation, that no man could draw from it any suspicion of his
excellence in poetry, may be applied to these compositions. No
author ever kept his verse and his prose at a greater distance from
each other. His thoughts are natural, and his style has a smooth
and placid equability, which has never yet obtained its due
commendation. Nothing is far-sought, or hard-laboured; but all is
easy without feebleness, and familiar without grossness.

It has been observed by Felton, in his Essay on the Classics, that
Cowley was beloved by every Muse that he courted; and that he has
rivalled the ancients in every kind of poetry but tragedy.

It may be affirmed, without any encomiastic fervour, that he brought
to his poetic labours a mind replete with learning, and that his
pages are embellished with all the ornaments which books could
supply; that he was the first who imparted to English numbers the
enthusiasm of the greater ode, and the gaiety of the less; that he
was equally qualified for sprightly sallies, and for lofty flights;
that he was among those who freed translation from servility, and,
instead of following his author at a distance, walked by his side;
and that, if he left versification yet improvable, he left likewise
from time to time such specimens of excellence as enabled succeeding
poets to improve it.