SOURCE: Gilbert, Jack G. “Waller's View of Art and His Place in English Literature.” In Edmund Waller, pp. 109-40, Boston: Twayne, 1979.

In the following essay, Gilbert discusses the influence of the myth of Orpheus on Waller's aesthetic and analyzes the reception of his work by his contemporaries and by present-day commentators.

I Waller's View of Art

A. the Orphic Forces

Little attention need to be paid to the commendatory verses which good nature prompted him [Waller] to address to such of his friends as were authors,” wrote G. Thorn-Drury in his brief commentary on the poetry.¹ For several reasons I believe the judgment to be wrong. Waller wrote a number of poems to and about artists: “To Mr. Henry Lawes,” “To Mr. George Sandys,” “To Vandyck,” “Upon Ben Jonson,” “To Sir William Davenant,” “To His Worthy Friend, Master Evelyn,” “Upon the Earl of Roscommon's Translation of Horace.” Reflections...