HAWES, STEPHEN, author of "l'he Pastime of Pleasure,' lived at the beginning of the 16th century, but the date of his birth and death are alike uncertain, lie calla himself "gentleman and gnome of the chamber to the famous Prynce and second° Salomon, Kynge Henrye the Seuenth." He was a native of Suffolk, and refers in his poems to Lydgate as his master. His accomplishments made him a favourite with Henry VII., who had some taste in literature, parti cularly French, in which Hawes's travels bad given him uncommon skill, and poetry such as that of Lydgate and Chaucer, in the repetition of which Hawes was a great proficient.
His Pastime of Pleasure' is an allegorical poem, "containing the knowledge of the seven sciences and the course of Man'e life in this world." Graund Amour goes through the town of Doctrine, where he meets the Sciences, becomes enamoured of La bell Pucel, whom he marries, and with whom he spends his life. It is by courtesy to
metre, and scarcely for any other cause, that we call ' The Pastime of Pleasure' a poem. It seems to belong to that period when the epic element (the poetry of action) had been worn out, but having long held undisputed sway in the romances, as action itself had in real life, compelled those who lived in a more thoughtful and therefore lyrical age to clothe their reflective poetry in an epic dress.
Another poem, 'The Temple of Gies,' is ascribed to Hawes, but there are almost equally strong reasons for believing it to be Lydgate's, as Hawes himself tells us that Lydgate composed a work under that name, and there is something about the run of the verses which reminds us rather of Lydgate than of Hawes.