Today we will read the poem Kind and True by Aurelian Townshend. Aurelian Townshend was the son of John Townshend of Dereham Abbey, Norfolk. Both Aurelian and his sister, Frances, were born before 12 December 1583, at which date they are mentioned in the will of Thomas Townshend of Crimplesham, Norfolk. Aurelian was a third cousin of Sir Roger Townshend and of the historian Hayward Townshend (c. 1577 – 1603×21).
“Kind and True” is a short poem by Aurelian Townshend that expresses admiration for someone who is both kind and truthful. The poem emphasizes the importance of embodying qualities such as courage, kindness, and truth in our words and actions. The speaker suggests that being kind and true is the “noblest work of God,” implying that these qualities are virtuous and worthy of admiration. Overall, “Kind and True” celebrates the virtues of honesty and compassion, and encourages us to strive towards these ideals in our own lives.
Kind and True by Aurelian Townshen
‘Tis not how witty nor how free,
Nor yet how beautiful she be,
But how much kind and true to me.
Freedom and wit none can confine
And beauty like the sun doth shine,
But kind and true are only mine.
Let others with attention sit
To listen, and admire her wit,
That is a rock where I’ll not split.
Let others dote upon her eyes
And burn their hearts for sacrifice,
Beauty’s a calm where danger lies.
But kind and true have been long tried
A harbour where we may confide,
And safely there at anchor ride.
From change of winds there we are free
And need not fear storms’ tyranny,
Nor pirate though a prince he be.
More about Aurelian Townshend:
Townshend’s mother was named Anne, and is said to have been the daughter of Sir Richard Catlin. Very little is well established about Townshend’s life. He was one of the Cavalier poets, and his masque Tempe Restored was performed on Shrove Tuesday of 1632 and had in its cast Queen Henrietta Maria and fourteen court ladies.
Robert Cecil directed Aurelian’s education and sent him to Europe to study. In Venice Anthony Sherley ttok his money. Within three years, Townshend was back in England. He then spent a year in France as Edward Herbert’s friend and aide who “spoke French, Italian and Spanish in great perfection”. He was not much help when Herbert was attacked by a wild boar.
Townshend’s poetry is remarkably formal and simultaneously free. His language is delicate, and his lines musical. T. S. Eliot praised the musicality of Townshend’s poetry, and Hugh Kenner argues that Townshend’s mixture of formality and liberty set the stage for Andrew Marvell, while others consider him distinctly minor (e.g. Rumrich and Chaplin).