THOMAS NABBES.


A writer, in the reign of Charles I, whom we may reckon, says
Langbaine, among poets of the third rate, but who in strict justice
cannot rise above a fifth. He was patronized by Sir John Suckling. He
has seven plays and masks extant, besides other poems, which Mr.
Langbaine says, are entirely his own, and that he has had recourse to
no preceding author for assistance, and in this respect deserves
pardon if not applause from the critic. This he avers in his prologue
to Covent-Garden.

He justifies that 'tis no borrowed strain,
From the invention of another's brain.
Nor did he steal the fancy. 'Tis the fame
He first intended by the proper name.
'Twas not a toil of years: few weeks brought forth,
This rugged issue, might have been more worth,
If he had lick'd it more. Nor doth he raise
From the ambition of authentic plays,
Matter or words to height, nor bundle up
Conceits at taverns, where the wits do sup;
His muse is solitary, and alone
Doth practise her low speculation.

The reader from the above specimen may see what a poet he was; but as