In 1647 a collection of his love verses, entitled "The Mistress", was published, and in the next year a volume of wretched satires, "The Four Ages of England", was brought out under his name, with the composition of which he had nothing to do. In spite of the troubles of the times, so fatal to poetic fame, his reputation steadily increased, and when, on his return to England in 1656, he published a volume of his collected poetical works, he found himself without a rival in public esteem. This volume included the later works already mentioned, the "Pindarique Odes", the "Davideis", the "Mistress" and some "Miscellanies". Among the latter are to be found Cowley's most vital pieces. This section of his works opens with the famous aspiration: