The
new sonnets inserted in the editions of 1601 and 1623 show the
faithfulness of the poet's homage. A loyal friendship, whether formed
upon gratitude only or upon some warmer feeling, inspired the _Delia_
although the poet expresses his devotion in the conventional modes. But
that Daniel outgrew to some extent the taste for these fanciful devices
is shown by the changes he made in successive editions. Four sonnets
from the 1591 edition were never reprinted, another was reprinted once
and afterwards omitted. In our text the order of the 1623 edition is
followed, the edition that was supervised by the poet's brother; but
these omitted sonnets will be found at the end under the head of
_Rejected Sonnets_. It is certain that they are Daniel's and that he
rejected them, and it therefore seems no more than fair to the poet, if
they are reprinted at all, to insert them under this head.
While, then, these rejected sonnets may have been in two cases omitted
by the poet because of their too great frankness of expression, in other
cases, notably in the phoenix, the wax-image, the tablet-and-siren, the
vanquished fort, and the ermelin sonnets, they seem to have lost their
charm, not so much for any personal reason as for the artistic defect in
the far-fetched nature of the device.
Daniel lived till 1619, experiencing the usual ups and downs in the
career of a "Court-dear poet." In later years, the famous Lady Anne
Clifford, wife of Mary Sidney's younger son, caused a monument to be
erected in his honour, in the inscription upon which she recorded her
pride in the fact that he had once been her tutor.
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