(Vol. iv., p. 274.)
This beautiful little poem is assigned by Bishop Percy to Sir Walter
Raleigh, by whom it is said to have been written the night before his
execution; this assertion is, however, proved to be unfounded, from the
fact that Raleigh was not executed until 1618, and the poem in question
was printed in the second edition of Francis Davidson's _Poetical
Rhapsody_, in 1608. "It is nevertheless possible," observes Sir Harris
Nicolas (Introduction to _Poetical Rhapsody_, p. ci.), "that it was
written by Raleigh the night before he _expected_ to have been executed
at Winchester, November, 1603, a circumstance which is perfectly
reconcileable to dates, and in some degree accounts for the tradition
alluded to." This ground must be now abandoned, as it is certain that
MS. copies of the poem exist of a still earlier date. Malone had a MS.
copy of it dated 1595 (_Shakspeare by Boswell_, vol. ii. p. 579.);
Brydges speaks of one in the British Museum dated 1596 (_Lee Priory
edit. of Raleigh's Works_, vol. viii. p. 725.); and Campbell says, "it
can be traced to a MS. of a date as early as 1593" (_Specimens_, p. 57.
second edit.).
"The Soul's Errand" is found in the folio edition of Joshua Sylvester's
_Works_, and also in the poems of Lord Pembroke. Ritson, whose authority
merits some attention, peremptorily attributes it to Francis Davison.
"_The Answer to the Lye_," he observes, "usually ascribed to Raleigh,
and pretended to have been written the night before his execution, was
in fact by Francis Davison" (_Bib. Poet._ p. 308.).
The evidence in favour of these three claimants has been well examined
by the Rev. John Hannah (see _Poems by Sir Henry Wotton, Sir Walter
Raleigh, and others_, 12mo. 1845, pp. 89-99.), and completely set aside.
The same gentleman has printed a curious poetical piece, from an old MS.
Miscellany in the Chetham Library at Manchester (8012. p. 107), which
does something to establish Raleigh's claim. It commences as follows:--
"Go, Eccho of the minde;
A careles troth protest;
Make answere yt _rude Rawly_
No stomack can disgest."
"In these verses (remarks Mr. Hannah) three points especially
deserve attention; first, that they assign the disputed poem to
Raleigh _by name_; next, that they were written _when he was still
alive_, as is plain from the concluding stanza; and lastly, that
they give the reason why it has been found so difficult to
discover its true author, for the 13th stanza intimates that 'The
Lie' was anonymous, though its writer was not altogether unknown."
Many MS. copies of "The Soul's Errand" exist. Two of them have been
printed at the end of Sir Harris Nicolas's edition of Davison's
_Poetical Rhapsody_; the one from Harl. MS. 2296., the other from a
manuscript in the same collection, No. 6910.; the readings of which not
only differ materially from each other, but in a slight degree also from
the printed copies. The title in Davison is "The Lie," which is retained
by Percy; that of "The Soul's Errand" was taken by Ellis from
Sylvester's _Works_. In some copies it is called "The Farewell."