The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Works of Christopher Marlowe, by A. H. Bullen (Ed.).

Hero's description and her love's;

The fane of Venus, where he moves

His worthy love-suit, and attains;

Whose bliss the wrath of Fates restrains

For Cupid's grace to Mercury:

Which tale the author doth imply.

On Hellespont, guilty of true love's blood,

In view and opposite two cities stood,

Sea-borderers,[2] disjoin'd by Neptune's might;

The one Abydos, the other Sestos hight.

At Sestos Hero dwelt; Hero the fair,

Whom young Apollo courted for her hair,

And offer'd as a dower his burning throne,

Where she should sit, for men to gaze upon.[Pg 6]

The outside of her garments were of lawn,

The lining purple silk, with gilt stars drawn;10

Her wide sleeves green, and border'd with a grove,

Where Venus in her naked glory strove

To please the careless and disdainful eyes

Of proud Adonis, that before her lies;

Her kirtle blue, whereon was many a stain,

Made with the blood of wretched lovers slain.

Upon her head she ware [3] a myrtle wreath,

From whence her veil reach'd to the ground beneath:

Her veil was artificial flowers and leaves,

Whose workmanship both man and beast deceives:20

Many would praise the sweet smell as she past,

When 'twas the odour which her breath forth cast;

And there for honey bees have sought in vain,

And, beat from thence, have lighted there again.

About her neck hung chains of pebble-stone,

Which, lighten'd by her neck, like diamonds shone.

She ware no gloves; for neither sun nor wind

Would burn or parch her hands, but, to her mind.

Or warm or cool them, for they took delight

To play upon those hands, they were so white.30

Buskins of shells, all silver'd, usèd she,

And branch'd with blushing coral to the knee;

Where sparrows perch'd of hollow pearl and gold,

Such as the world would wonder to behold:

Those with sweet water oft her handmaid fills,

Which as she went, would cherup through the bills.[Pg 7]

Some say, for her the fairest Cupid pin'd,

And, looking in her face, was strooken blind.

But this is true; so like was one the other,

As he imagin'd Hero was his mother;40

And oftentimes into her bosom flew,

About her naked neck his bare arms threw,

And laid his childish head upon her breast,

And, with still panting rock,[4] there took his rest.

So lovely-fair was Hero, Venus' nun,

As Nature wept, thinking she was undone,

Because she took more from her than she left,

And of such wondrous beauty her bereft:

Therefore, in sign her treasure suffer'd wrack,

Since Hero's time hath half the world been black.50

Amorous Leander, beautiful and young

(Whose tragedy divine Musæus sung),

Dwelt at Abydos; since him dwelt there none

For whom succeeding times make [5] greater moan.

His dangling tresses, that were never shorn,

Had they been cut, and unto Colchos borne,

Would have allur'd the venturous youth of Greece

To hazard more than for the golden fleece.

Fair Cynthia wished his arms might be her Sphere;

Grief makes her pale, because she moves not there.60

His body was as straight as Circe's wand;

Jove might have sipt out nectar from his hand.[Pg 8]

Even as delicious meat is to the tast,

So was his neck in touching, and surpast

The white of Pelops' shoulder: I could tell ye,

How smooth his breast was, and how white his belly;

And whose immortal fingers did imprint

That heavenly path with many a curious dint

That runs along his back; but my rude pen

Can hardly blazon forth the loves of men,70

Much less of powerful gods: let it suffice

That my slack Muse sings of Leander's eyes;

Those orient cheeks and lips, exceeding his

That leapt into the water for a kiss

Of his own shadow, and, despising many,

Died ere he could enjoy the love of any.

Had wild Hippolytus Leander seen,

Enamour'd of his beauty had he been:

His presence made the rudest peasant melt,

That in the vast uplandish country dwelt;80

The barbarous Thracian soldier, mov'd with nought,

Was mov'd with him, and for his favour sought.

Some swore he was a maid in man's attire,

For in his looks were all that men desire,—

A pleasant-smiling cheek, a speaking eye,

A brow for love to banquet royally;

And such as knew he was a man, would say,

"Leander, thou art made for amorous play:

Why art thou not in love, and loved of all?

Though thou be fair, yet be not thine own thrall."90

The men of wealthy Sestos every year,

For his sake whom their goddess held so dear,[Pg 9]

Rose-cheek'd [6] Adonis, kept a solemn feast:

Thither resorted many a wandering guest

To meet their loves: such as had none at all

Came lovers home from this great festival;

For every street, like to a firmament,

Glister'd with breathing stars, who, where they went,

Frighted the melancholy earth, which deem'd

Eternal heaven to burn, for so it seem'd,100

As if another Phaëton had got

The guidance of the sun's rich chariot.

But, far above the loveliest, Hero shin'd,

And stole away th' enchanted gazer's mind;

For like sea-nymphs' inveigling harmony,

So was her beauty to the standers by;

Nor that night-wandering, pale, and watery [7] star

(When yawning dragons draw her thirling [8] car

From Latmus' mount up to the gloomy sky,

Where, crown'd with blazing light and majesty,110

She proudly sits) more over-rules the flood

Than she the hearts of those that near her stood.

Even as when gaudy nymphs pursue the chase,

Wretched Ixion's shaggy-footed race,

Incens'd with savage heat, gallop amain

From steep pine-bearing mountains to the plain,[Pg 10]

So ran the people forth to gaze upon her,

And all that view'd her were enamour'd on her:

And as in fury of a dreadful fight,

Their fellows being slain or put to flight,120

Poor soldiers stand with fear of death dead-strooken,

So at her presence all surpris'd and tooken,

Await the sentence of her scornful eyes;

He whom she favours lives; the other dies:

There might you see one sigh; another rage;

And some, their violent passions to assuage,

Compile sharp satires; but, alas, too late!

For faithful love will never turn to hate;

And many, seeing great princes were denied,

Pin'd as they went, and thinking on her died.130

On this feast-day—O cursèd day and hour!—

Went Hero thorough Sestos, from her tower

To Venus' temple, where unhappily,

As after chanc'd, they did each other spy.

So fair a church as this had Venus none:

The walls were of discolour'd [9] jasper-stone,

Wherein was Proteus carved; and over-head

A lively vine of green sea-agate spread,

Where by one hand light-headed Bacchus hung,

And with the other wine from grapes out-wrung.140

Of crystal shining fair the pavement was;

The town of Sestos call'd it Venus' glass:

There might you see the gods, in sundry shapes,

Committing heady riots, incests, rapes;[Pg 11]

For know, that underneath this radiant flour [10]

Was Danäe's statue in a brazen tower:

Jove slily stealing from his sister's bed,

To dally with Idalian Ganymed,

And for his love Europa bellowing loud,

And tumbling with the Rainbow in a cloud;150

Blood-quaffing Mars heaving the iron net

Which limping Vulcan and his Cyclops set;

Love kindling fire, to burn such towns as Troy;

Silvanus weeping for the lovely boy

That now is turned into a cypress-tree,

Under whose shade the wood-gods love to be.

And in the midst a silver altar stood:

There Hero, sacrificing turtles' blood,

Vailed [11] to the ground, veiling her eyelids close;

And modestly they opened as she rose:160

Thence flew Love's arrow with the golden head;

And thus Leander was enamourèd.

Stone-still he stood, and evermore he gaz'd,

Till with the fire, that from his countenance blaz'd,

Relenting Hero's gentle heart was strook:

Such force and virtue hath an amorous look.

It lies not in our power to love or hate,

For will in us is over-rul'd by fate.

When two are stript long ere the course begin,

[Pg 12]

We wish that one should lose, the other win;170

And one especially do we affect

Of two gold ingots, like in each respect:

The reason no man knows, let it suffice,

What we behold is censur'd by our eyes.

Where both deliberate, the love is slight:

Who ever lov'd, that lov'd not at first sight?[12]

He kneel'd; but unto her devoutly prayed:

Chaste Hero to herself thus softly said,

"Were I the saint he worships, I would hear him;"

And, as she spake those words, came somewhat near him.180

He started up; she blushed as one asham'd;

Wherewith Leander much more was inflam'd.

He touch'd her hand; in touching it she trembled:

Love deeply grounded hardly is dissembled.

These lovers parled by the touch of hands:

True love is mute, and oft amazèd stands.

Thus while dumb signs their yielding hearts entangled,

The air with sparks of living fire was spangled;

And night,[13] deep-drenched in misty Acheron,

Heav'd up her head, and half the world upon190

Breath'd darkness forth (dark night is Cupid's day):

And now begins Leander to display

Love's holy fire, with words, with sighs, and tears;

Which, like sweet music, enter'd Hero's ears;[Pg 13]

And yet at every word she turn'd aside

And always cut him off, as he replied.

At last, like to a bold sharp sophister,

With cheerful hope thus he accosted her.

"Fair creature,[14] let me speak without offence:

I would my rude words had the influence200

To lead thy thoughts as thy fair looks do mine!

Then shouldst thou be his prisoner, who is thine.

Be not unkind and fair; mis-shapen stuff

Are of behaviour boisterous and rough.

O, shun me not, but hear me ere you go!

God knows, I cannot force love as you do:

My words shall be as spotless as my youth,

Full of simplicity and naked truth.

This sacrifice, whose sweet perfume descending

From Venus' altar, to your footsteps bending,210

Doth testify that you exceed her far,

To whom you offer, and whose nun you are.

Why should you worship her? her you surpass

As much as sparkling diamonds flaring glass.

A diamond set in lead his worth retains;

A heavenly nymph, belov'd of human swains,

Receives no blemish, but ofttimes more grace;

Which makes me hope, although I am but base,

Base in respect of thee divine and pure,

Dutiful service may thy love procure;220

And I in duty will excel all other,

As thou in beauty dost exceed Love's mother.[Pg 14]

Nor heaven nor thou were made to gaze upon:

As heaven preserves all things, so save thou one.

A stately-builded ship, well rigg'd and tall,

The ocean maketh more majestical;

Why vow'st thou, then, to live in Sestos here,

Who on Love's seas more glorious wouldst appear?

Like untun'd golden strings all women are,

Which long time lie untouch'd, will harshly jar.230

Vessels of brass, oft handled, brightly shine:

What diffèrence betwixt [15] the richest mine

And basest mould, but use? for both, not us'd,

Are of like worth. Then treasure is abus'd,

When misers keep it: being put to loan,

In time it will return us two for one.

Rich robes themselves and others do adorn;

Neither themselves nor others, if not worn.

Who builds a palace, and rams up the gate,

Shall see it ruinous and desolate:240

Ah, simple Hero, learn thyself to cherish!

Lone women, like to empty houses, perish.

Less sins the poor rich man, that starves himself

In heaping up a mass of drossy pelf,

Than such as you: his golden earth remains,

Which, after his decease some other gains;

But this fair gem, sweet in the loss alone,

When you fleet hence, can be bequeath'd to none;

Or, if it could, down from th' enamell'd sky

[Pg 15]

All heaven would come to claim this legacy,250

And with intestine broils the world destroy,

And quite confound Nature's sweet harmony.

Well therefore by the gods decreed it is,

We human creatures should enjoy that bliss.

One is no number;[16] maids are nothing, then,

Without the sweet society of men.

Wilt thou live single still? one shalt thou be,

Though never-singling Hymen couple thee.

Wild savages, that drink of running springs

Think water far excels all earthly things;260

But they, that daily taste neat [17] wine, despise it:

Virginity, albeit some highly prize it,

Compar'd with marriage, had you tried them both,

Differs as much as wine and water doth.

Base bullion for the stamp's sake we allow:

Even so for men's impression do we you;

By which alone, our reverend fathers say,

Women receive perfection every way.

This idol, which you term virginity,

Is neither essence subject to the eye,270

No, nor to any one exterior sense,

Nor hath it any place of residence,

Nor is't of earth or mould celestial,

Or capable of any form at all.

Of that which hath no being, do not boast;

Things that are not at all, are never lost.[Pg 16]

Men foolishly do call it virtuous:

What virtue is it, that is born with us?

Much less can honour be ascrib'd thereto:

Honour is purchas'd by the deeds we do;280

Believe me, Hero, honour is not won,

Until some honourable deed be done.

Seek you, for chastity, immortal fame,

And know that some have wrong'd Diana's name?

Whose name is it, if she be false or not,

So she be fair, but some vile tongues will blot?

But you are fair, ay me! so wondrous fair,

So young, so gentle, and so debonair.

As Greece will think, if thus you live alone,

Some one or other keeps you as his own.290

Then, Hero, hate me not, nor from me fly,

To follow swiftly-blasting infamy.

Perhaps thy sacred priesthood makes thee loath:

Tell me to whom mad'st thou that heedless oath?"

"To Venus," answer'd she; and, as she spake,

Forth from those two tralucent cisterns brake

A stream of liquid pearl, which down her face

Made milk-white paths, whereon the gods might trace

To Jove's high court. He thus replied: "The rites

In which Love's beauteous empress most delights,300

Are banquets, Doric music, midnight revel,

Plays, masks, and all that stern age counteth evil.

Thee as a holy idiot doth she scorn;

For thou, in vowing chastity, hast sworn

To rob her name and honour, and thereby

Committ'st a sin far worse than perjury,[Pg 17]

Even sacrilege against her deity,

Through regular and formal purity.

To expiate which sin, kiss and shake hands:

Such sacrifice as this Venus demands."310

Thereat she smil'd, and did deny him so,

As put [18] thereby, yet might he hope for mo;

Which makes him quickly reinforce his speech,

And her in humble manner thus beseech:

"Though neither gods nor men may thee deserve,

Yet for her sake, whom you have vow'd to serve,

Abandon fruitless cold virginity,

The gentle queen of Love's sole enemy.

Then shall you most resemble Venus' nun,

When Venus' sweet rites are performed and done.320

Flint-breasted Pallas joys in single life;

But Pallas and your mistress are at strife.

Love, Hero, then, and be not tyrannous;

But heal the heart that thou hast wounded thus;

Nor stain thy youthful years with avarice:

Fair fools delight to be accounted nice.

The richest [19] corn dies, if it be not reapt;

Beauty alone is lost, too warily kept."

These arguments he us'd, and many more;

Wherewith she yielded, that was won before.330

Hero's looks yielded, but her words made war:

Women are won when they begin to jar.[Pg 18]

Thus, having swallow'd Cupid's golden hook,

The more she striv'd, the deeper was she strook:

Yet, evilly feigning anger, strove she still,

And would be thought to grant against her will.

So having paus'd a while, at last she said,

"Who taught thee rhetoric to deceive a maid?

Ay me! such words as these should I abhor,

And yet I like them for the orator."340

With that, Leander stooped to have embrac'd her,

But from his spreading arms away she cast her,

And thus bespake him: "Gentle youth, forbear

To touch the sacred garments which I wear.

Upon a rock, and underneath a hill,

Far from the town (where all is whist [20] and still,

Save that the sea, playing on yellow sand,

Sends forth a rattling murmur to the land,

Whose sound allures the golden Morpheus

In silence of the night to visit us),350

My turret stands; and there, God knows, I play

With Venus' swans and sparrows all the day.

A [21] dwarfish beldam bears me company,

That hops about the chamber where I lie,

And spends the night, that might be better spent,

In vain discourse and apish merriment:[Pg 19]—

Come thither." As she spake this, her tongue tripp'd,

For unawares "Come thither" from her slipp'd;

And suddenly her former colour chang'd,

And here and there her eyes through anger rang'd;360

And, like a planet moving several ways

At one self instant, she, poor soul, assays,

Loving, not to love at all, and every part

Strove to resist the motions of her heart:

And hands so pure, so innocent, nay, such

As might have made Heaven stoop to have a touch,

Did she uphold to Venus, and again

Vow'd spotless chastity; but all in vain;

Cupid beats down her prayers with his wings;

Her vows above [22] the empty air he flings:370

All deep enrag'd, his sinewy bow he bent,

And shot a shaft that burning from him went;

Wherewith she strooken, look'd so dolefully,

As made Love sigh to see his tyranny;

And, as she wept, her tears to pearl he turn'd,

And wound them on his arm, and for her mourn'd.

Then towards the palace of the Destinies,

Laden with languishment and grief, he flies,

And to those stern nymphs humbly made request,

Both might enjoy each other, and be blest.380

But with a ghastly dreadful countenance,

Threatening a thousand deaths at every glance,

They answer'd Love, nor would vouchsafe so much

As one poor word, their hate to him was such:[Pg 20]

Hearken awhile, and I will tell you why.

Heaven's wingèd herald, Jove-born Mercury,

The self-same day that he asleep had laid

Enchanted Argus, spied a country maid,

Whose careless hair, instead of pearl t'adorn it,

Glister'd with dew, as one that seemed to scorn it;390

Her breath as fragrant as the morning rose;

Her mind pure, and her tongue untaught to glose:

Yet proud she was (for lofty Pride that dwells

In tower'd courts, is oft in shepherds' cells),

And too-too well the fair vermillion knew

And silver tincture of her cheeks that drew

The love of every swain. On her this god

Enamour'd was, and with his snaky rod

Did charm her nimble feet, and made her stay,

The while upon a hillock down he lay,400

And sweetly on his pipe began to play,

And with smooth speech her fancy to assay,

Till in his twining arms he lock'd her fast,

And then he woo'd with kisses; and at last,

As shepherds do, her on the ground he laid,

And, tumbling in the grass, he often stray'd

Beyond the bounds of shame, in being bold

To eye those parts which no eye should behold;

And, like an insolent commanding lover,

Boasting his parentage, would needs discover410

The way to new Elysium. But she,

Whose only dower was her chastity,

Having striven in vain, was now about to cry,

And crave the help of shepherds that were nigh.[Pg 21]

Herewith he stay'd his fury, and began

To give her leave to rise: away she ran;

After went Mercury, who used such cunning,

As she, to hear his tale, let off her running

(Maids are not won by brutish force and might,

But speeches full of pleasures and delight);420

And, knowing Hermes courted her, was glad

That she such loveliness and beauty had

As could provoke his liking; yet was mute,

And neither would deny nor grant his suit.

Still vow'd he love: she, wanting no excuse

To feed him with delays, as women use,

Or thirsting after immortality,

(All women are ambitious naturally),

Impos'd upon her lover such a task,

As he ought not perform, nor yet she ask;430

A draught of flowing nectar she requested,

Wherewith the king of gods and men is feasted.

He, ready to accomplish what she will'd,

Stole some from Hebe (Hebe Jove's cup fill'd),

And gave it to his simple rustic love:

Which being known,—as what is hid from Jove?—

He inly storm'd, and wax'd more furious

Than for the fire filch'd by Prometheus;

And thrusts him down from heaven. He, wandering here,

In mournful terms, with sad and heavy cheer,440

Complain'd to Cupid: Cupid, for his sake,

To be reveng'd on Jove did undertake;

And those on whom heaven, earth, and hell relies,

I mean the adamantine Destinies,[Pg 22]

He wounds with love, and forc'd them equally

To dote upon deceitful Mercury.

They offer'd him the deadly fatal knife

That shears the slender threads [23] of human life;

At his fair-feather'd feet the engines laid,

Which th' earth from ugly Chaos' den upweigh'd.450

These he regarded not; but did entreat

That Jove, usurper of his father's seat,

Might presently be banish'd into hell,

And agèd Saturn in Olympus dwell.

They granted what he crav'd; and once again

Saturn and Ops began their golden reign:

Murder, rape, war, and [24] lust, and treachery,

Were with Jove clos'd in Stygian empery.

But long this blessèd time continu'd not:

As soon as he his wishèd purpose got,460

He, reckless of his promise, did despise

The love of th' everlasting Destinies.

They, seeing it, both Love and him abhorr'd,

And Jupiter unto his place restor'd:

And, but that Learning, in despite of Fate,

Will mount aloft, and enter heaven-gate,

And to the seat of Jove itself advance,

Hermes had slept in hell with Ignorance.

Yet, as a punishment, they added this,

[Pg 23]

That he and Poverty should always kiss;470

And to this day is every scholar poor:

Gross gold from them runs headlong to the boor.

Likewise the angry Sisters, thus deluded,

To venge themselves on Hermes, have concluded

That Midas' brood shall sit in Honour's chair,

To which the Muses' sons are only heir;

And fruitful wits, that inaspiring [25] are,

Shall, discontent, run into regions far;

And few great lords in virtuous deeds shall joy

But be surpris'd with every garish toy,480

And still enrich the lofty servile clown,

Who with encroaching guile keeps learning down.

Then muse not Cupid's suit no better sped,

Seeing in their loves the Fates were injurèd.

Hero of love takes deeper sense,

And doth her love more recompense:

Their first night's meeting, where sweet kisses

Are th' only crowns of both their blisses

He swims t' Abydos, and returns:

Cold Neptune with his beauty burns;

Whose suit he shuns, and doth aspire

Hero's fair tower and his desire.

By this, sad Hero, with love unacquainted,

Viewing Leander's face, fell down and fainted.

He kiss'd her, and breath'd life [26] into her lips;

Wherewith, as one displeas'd, away she trips;

Yet, as she went, full often look'd behind,

And many poor excuses did she find

To linger by the way, and once she stay'd,

And would have turn'd again, but was afraid,

In offering parley, to be counted light:

[Pg 25]

So on she goes, and, in her idle flight,10

Her painted fan of curled plumes let fall,

Thinking to train Leander therewithal.

He, being a novice, knew not what she meant,

But stay'd, and after her a letter sent;

Which joyful Hero answer'd in such sort,

As he had hope to scale the beauteous fort

Wherein the liberal Graces locked their wealth;

And therefore to her tower he got by stealth.

Wide open stood the door; he need not climb;

And she herself, before the pointed time,20

Had spread the board, with roses strew'd the room,

And oft looked out, and mused he did not come.

At last he came: O, who can tell the greeting

These greedy lovers had at their first meeting?

He asked; she gave; and nothing was denied;

Both to each other quickly were affied:

Look how their hands, so were their hearts united,

And what he did, she willingly requited.

(Sweet are the kisses, the embracements sweet,

When like desires and like [27] affections meet;30

For from the earth to heaven is Cupid raised,

Where fancy is in equal balance paised.[28])

Yet she this rashness suddenly repented,

And turn'd aside, and to herself lamented,

As if her name and honour had been wronged

By being possessed of him for whom she longed;[Pg 26]

I, and she wished, albeit not from her heart,

That he would leave her turret and depart.

The mirthful god of amorous pleasure smiled

To see how he this captive nymph beguiled;40

For hitherto he did but fan the fire,

And kept it down, that it might mount the higher.

Now wax'd she jealous lest his love abated,

Fearing her own thoughts made her to be hated.

Therefore unto him hastily she goes,

And, like light Salmacis, her body throws

Upon his bosom, where with yielding eyes

She offers up herself a sacrifice

To slake her anger, if he were displeased:

O, what god would not therewith be appeased?50

Like Æsop's cock, this jewel he enjoyed,

And as a brother with his sister toyed,

Supposing nothing else was to be done,

Now he her favour and goodwill had won.

But know you not that creatures wanting sense,

By nature have a mutual appetence,

And, wanting organs to advance a step,

Mov'd by love's force, unto each other lep?

Much more in subjects having intellect

Some hidden influence breeds like effect.60

Albeit Leander, rude in love and raw,

Long dallying with Hero, nothing saw

That might delight him more, yet he suspected

Some amorous rites or other were neglected.[Pg 27]

Therefore unto his body hers he clung:

She, fearing on the rushes [29] to be flung,

Strived with redoubled strength; the more she strived,

The more a gentle pleasing heat revived,

Which taught him all that elder lovers know;

And now the same gan so to scorch and glow,70

As in plain terms, yet cunningly, he'd crave [30] it:

Love always makes those eloquent that have it.

She, with a kind of granting, put him by it,

And ever, as he thought himself most nigh it,

Like to the tree of Tantalus, she fled,

And, seeming lavish, saved her maidenhead.

Ne'er king more sought to keep his diadem,

Than Hero this inestimable gem:

Above our life we love a steadfast friend;

Yet when a token of great worth we send,80

We often kiss it, often look thereon,

And stay the messenger that would be gone;

No marvel, then, though Hero would not yield

So soon to part from that she dearly held:

Jewels being lost are found again; this never;

'Tis lost but once, and once lost, lost for ever.

Now had the Morn espied her lover's steeds;

Whereat she starts, puts on her purple weeds,[Pg 28]

And, red for anger that he stayed so long,

All headlong throws herself the clouds among.90

And now Leander, fearing to be missed,

Embraced her suddenly, took leave, and kissed:

Long was he taking leave, and loath to go,

And kissed again, as lovers use to do.

Sad Hero wrung him by the hand, and wept,

Saying, "Let your vows and promises be kept:"

Then standing at the door, she turned about,

As loath to see Leander going out.

And now the sun, that through th' horizon peeps,

As pitying these lovers, downward creeps;100

So that in silence of the cloudy night,

Though it was morning, did he take his flight.

But what the secret trusty night concealed,

Leander's amorous habit soon revealed:

With Cupid's myrtle was his bonnet crowned,

About his arms the purple riband wound,

Wherewith she wreath'd her largely-spreading hair;

Nor could the youth abstain, but he must wear

The sacred ring wherewith she was endowed,

When first religious chastity she vowed;110

Which made his love through Sestos to be known,

And thence unto Abydos sooner blown

Than he could sail; for incorporeal Fame,

Whose weight consists in nothing but her name,

Is swifter than the wind, whose tardy plumes

Are reeking water and dull earthly fumes.

Home when he came, he seemed not to be there,

But, like exilèd air thrust from his sphere,[Pg 29]

Set in a foreign place; and straight from thence,

Alcides-like, by mighty violence,120

He would have chas'd away the swelling main,

That him from her unjustly did detain.

Like as the sun in a diameter

Fires and inflames objects removèd far,

And heateth kindly, shining laterally;

So beauty sweetly quickens when 'tis nigh,

But being separated and removed,

Burns where it cherished, murders where it loved.

Therefore even as an index to a book,

So to his mind was young Leander's look.130

O, none but gods have power [31] their love to hide!

Affection by the countenance is descried;

The light of hidden fire itself discovers,

And love that is concealed betrays poor lovers.

His secret flame apparently was seen:

Leander's father knew where he had been,

And for the same mildly rebuk'd his son,

Thinking to quench the sparkles new-begun.

But love, resisted once, grows passionate,

And nothing more than counsel lovers hate;140

For as a hot proud horse highly disdains

To have his head controlled, but breaks the reins,

Spits forth the ringled [32] bit, and with his hoves

Checks the submissive ground; so he that loves,[Pg 30]

The more he is restrain'd, the worse he fares:

What is it now but mad Leander dares?

"O Hero, Hero!" thus he cried full oft;

And then he got him to a rock aloft,

Where having spied her tower, long star'd he on't,

And pray'd the narrow toiling Hellespont150

To part in twain, that he might come and go;

But still the rising billows answer'd, "No."

With that, he stripp'd him to the ivory skin,

And, crying, "Love, I come," leap'd lively in:

Whereat the sapphire-visaged god grew proud,

And made his capering Triton sound aloud,

Imagining that Ganymede, displeas'd,

Had left the heavens; therefore on him he seiz'd.

Leander strived; the waves about him wound,

And pull'd him to the bottom, where the ground160

Was strewed with pearl, and in low coral groves

Sweet-singing mermaids sported with their loves

On heaps of heavy gold, and took great pleasure

To spurn in careless sort the shipwreck treasure;

For here the stately azure palace stood,

Where kingly Neptune and his train abode.

The lusty god embrac'd him, called him "Love,"

And swore he never should return to Jove:

But when he knew it was not Ganymed,

[Pg 31]

For under water he was almost dead,170

He heav'd him up, and, looking on his face,

Beat down the bold waves with his triple mace,

Which mounted up, intending to have kiss'd him,

And fell in drops like tears because they miss'd him.

Leander, being up, began to swim,

And, looking back, saw Neptune follow him:

Whereat aghast, the poor soul gan to cry,

"O, let me visit Hero ere I die!"

The god put Helle's bracelet on his arm,

And swore the sea should never do him harm.180

He clapped his plump cheeks, with his tresses played,

And, smiling wantonly, his love bewrayed;

He watched his arms, and, as they open'd wide

At every stroke, betwixt them would he slide,

And steal a kiss, and then run out and dance,

And, as he turn'd, cast many a lustful glance,

And throw him gaudy toys to please his eye,

And dive into the water, and there pry

Upon his breast, his thighs, and every limb,

And up again, and close beside him swim,190

And talk of love. Leander made reply,

"You are deceiv'd; I am no woman, I."

Thereat smil'd Neptune, and then told a tale,

How that a shepherd, sitting in a vale,

Play'd with a boy so lovely-fair [33] and kind,

As for his love both earth and heaven pin'd;

That of the cooling river durst not drink,

Lest water-nymphs should pull him from the brink;[Pg 32]

And when he sported in the fragrant lawns,

Goat-footed Satyrs and up-staring [34] Fauns200

Would steal him thence. Ere half this tale was done,

"Ay me," Leander cried, "th' enamoured sun,

That now should shine on Thetis' glassy bower,

Descends upon my radiant Hero's tower:

O, that these tardy arms of mine were wings!"

And, as he spake, upon the waves he springs.

Neptune was angry that he gave no ear,

And in his heart revenging malice bare:

He flung at him his mace; but, as it went,

He call'd it in, for love made him repent:210

The mace, returning back, his own hand hit,

As meaning to be venged for darting it.

When this fresh-bleeding wound Leander viewed,

His colour went and came, as if he rued

The grief which Neptune felt: in gentle breasts

Relenting thoughts, remorse, and pity rests;

And who have hard hearts and obdurate minds,

But vicious, hare-brained, and illiterate hinds?

The god, seeing him with pity to be moved,

Thereon concluded that he was beloved.220

(Love is too full of faith, too credulous,

With folly and false hope deluding us);

Wherefore, Leander's fancy to surprise,

To the rich ocean for gifts he flies:

Tis wisdom to give much; a gift prevails

When deep persuading oratory fails,[Pg 33]

By this, Leander, being near the land,

Cast down his weary feet, and felt the sand.

Breathless albeit he were, he rested not

Till to the solitary tower he got;230

And knocked and called: at which celestial noise

The longing heart of Hero much more joys,

Than nymphs and shepherds when the timbrel rings,

Or crookèd dolphin when the sailor sings.

She stayed not for her robes, but straight arose,

And, drunk with gladness, to the door she goes;

Where seeing a naked man, she screeched for fear

(Such sights as this to tender maids are rare),

And ran into the dark herself to hide

(Rich jewels in the dark are soonest spied).240

Unto her was he led, or rather drawn,

By those white limbs which sparkled through the lawn.

The nearer that he came, the more she fled,

And, seeking refuge, slipt into her bed;

Whereon Leander sitting, thus began,

Through numbing cold, all feeble, faint, and wan.

"If not for love, yet, love, for pity-sake,

Me in thy bed and maiden bosom take;

At least vouchsafe these arms some little room,

Who, hoping to embrace thee, cheerly swoom:250

This head was beat with many a churlish billow,

And therefore let it rest upon thy pillow."

Herewith affrighted, Hero shrunk away,

And in her lukewarm place Leander lay;[Pg 34]

Whose lively heat, like fire from heaven fet,[35]

Would animate gross clay, and higher set

The drooping thoughts of base-declining souls,

Than dreary-Mars-carousing nectar bowls.

His hands he cast upon her like a snare:

She, overcome with shame and sallow [36] fear,260

Like chaste Diana when Actæon spied her,

Being suddenly betray'd, div'd down to hide her;

And, as her silver body downward went,

With both her hands she made the bed a tent,

And in her own mind thought herself secure,

O'ercast with dim and darksome coverture.

And now she lets him whisper in her ear,

Flatter, entreat, promise, protest, and swear:

Yet ever, as he greedily assay'd

To touch those dainties, she the harpy play'd,270

And every limb did, as a soldier stout,

Defend the fort, and keep the foeman out;

For though the rising ivory mount he scal'd,

Which is with azure circling lines empal'd,

Much like a globe (a globe may I term this,

By which Love sails to regions full of bliss),

Yet there with Sisyphus he toil'd in vain,

Till gentle parley did the truce obtain

Even [37] as a bird, which in our hands we wring,

Forth plungeth, and oft flutters with her wing,280

[Pg 35]

She trembling strove: this strife of hers, like that

Which made the world, another world begat

Of unknown joy. Treason was in her thought,

And cunningly to yield herself she sought.

Seeming not won, yet won she was at length:

In such wars women use but half their strength.

Leander now, like Theban Hercules,

Enter'd the orchard of th' Hesperides;

Whose fruit none rightly can describe, but he

That pulls or shakes it from the golden tree.290

Wherein Leander, on her quivering breast,

Breathless spoke something, and sigh'd out the rest;

Which so prevail'd, as he with small ado,

Enclos'd her in his arms, and kiss'd her too:

And every kiss to her was as a charm,

And to Leander as a fresh alarm:

So that the truce was broke, and she, alas,

Poor silly maiden, at his mercy was.

Love is not full of pity, as men say,

But deaf and cruel where he means to prey.300

And now she wish'd this night were never done,

And sigh'd to think upon th' approaching sun;

For much it griev'd her that the bright day-light

Should know the pleasure of this blessèd night,

And them, like Mars and Erycine, display [38]

Both in each other's arms chain'd as they lay.[Pg 36]

Again, she knew not how to frame her look,

Or speak to him, who in a moment took

That which so long, so charily she kept;

And fain by stealth away she would have crept,310

And to some corner secretly have gone,

Leaving Leander in the bed alone.

But as her naked feet were whipping out,

He on the sudden cling'd her so about,

That, mermaid-like, unto the floor she slid;

One half appear'd, the other half was hid.

Thus near the bed she blushing stood upright,

And from her countenance behold ye might

A kind of twilight break, which through the air,[39]

As from an orient cloud, glimps'd [40] here and there;320

And round about the chamber this false morn

Brought forth the day before the day was born.

So Hero's ruddy cheek Hero betray'd,

And her all naked to his sight display'd:

Whence his admiring eyes more pleasure took

Than Dis,[41] on heaps of gold fixing his look.

By this, Apollo's golden harp began

To sound forth music to the ocean;

Which watchful Hesperus no sooner heard,

[Pg 37]

But he the bright Day-bearing car [42] prepar'd,330

And ran before, as harbinger of light,

And with his flaring beams mock'd ugly Night,

Till she, o'ercome with anguish, shame, and rage,

Dang'd [43] down to hell her loathsome carriage.

Leander to the envious light

Resigns his night-sports with the night,

And swims the Hellespont again.

Thesme, the deity sovereign

Of customs and religious rites,

Appears, reproving [45] his delights,

Since nuptial honours he neglected;

Which straight he vows shall be effected.

Fair Hero, left devirginate,

Weighs, and with fury wails her state;10

But with her love and woman's wit

She argues and approveth it.

New light gives new directions, fortunes new,

To fashion our endeavours that ensue.

More harsh, at least more hard, more grave and high

Our subject runs, and our stern Muse must fly.

Love's edge is taken off, and that light flame,

Those thoughts, joys, longings, that before became

High unexperienc'd blood, and maids' sharp plights,

Must now grow staid, and censure the delights,

That, being enjoy'd, ask judgment; now we praise,

[Pg 41]

As having parted: evenings crown the days.10

And now, ye wanton Loves, and young Desires,

Pied Vanity, the mint of strange attires,

Ye lisping Flatteries, and obsequious Glances,

Relentful Musics, and attractive Dances,

And you detested Charms constraining love!

Shun love's stoln sports by that these lovers prove.

By this, the sovereign of heaven's golden fires,

And young Leander, lord of his desires,

Together from their lovers' arms arose:

Leander into Hellespontus throws20

His Hero-handled body, whose delight

Made him disdain each other epithite.

And as amidst th' enamour'd waves he swims,

The god of gold [46] of purpose gilt his limbs,

That, this word gilt[47] including double sense,

The double guilt of his incontinence

Might be express'd, that had no stay t' employ

The treasure which the love-god let him joy

In his dear Hero, with such sacred thrift

As had beseem'd so sanctified a gift;30

But, like a greedy vulgar prodigal,

Would on the stock dispend, and rudely fall,

Before his time, to that unblessèd blessing

Which, for lust's plague, doth perish with possessing:[Pg 42]

Joy graven in sense, like snow [48] in water, wasts:

Without preserve of virtue, nothing lasts.

What man is he, that with a wealthy eye

Enjoys a beauty richer than the sky,

Through whose white skin, softer than soundest sleep,

With damask eyes the ruby blood doth peep,40

And runs in branches through her azure veins,

Whose mixture and first fire his love attains;

Whose both hands limit both love's deities,

And sweeten human thoughts like Paradise;

Whose disposition silken is and kind,

Directed with an earth-exempted mind;—

Who thinks not heaven with such a love is given?

And who, like earth, would spend that dower of heaven,

With rank desire to joy it all at first?

What simply kills our hunger, quencheth thirst,50

Clothes but our nakedness, and makes us live,

Praise doth not any of her favours give:

But what doth plentifully minister

Beauteous apparel and delicious cheer,

So order'd that it still excites desire,

And still gives pleasure freeness to aspire,

The palm of Bounty ever moist preserving;

To Love's sweet life this is the courtly carving.[Pg 43]

Thus Time and all-states-ordering Ceremony

Had banish'd all offence: Time's golden thigh60

Upholds the flowery body of the earth

In sacred harmony, and every birth

Of men and actions [49] makes legitimate;

Being us'd aright, the use of time is fate.

Yet did the gentle flood transfer once more

This prize of love home to his father's shore;

Where he unlades himself on that false wealth

That makes few rich,—treasures compos'd by stealth;

And to his sister, kind Hermione

(Who on the shore kneel'd, praying to the sea70

For his return), he all love's goods did show,

In Hero seis'd for him, in him for Hero.

His most kind sister all his secrets knew,

And to her, singing, like a shower, he flew,

Sprinkling the earth, that to their tombs took in

Streams dead for love, to leave his ivory shin,

Which yet a snowy foam did leave above,

As soul to the dead water that did love;

And from hence did the first white roses spring

(For love is sweet and fair in everything),80

And all the sweeten'd shore, as he did go,

Was crown'd with odorous roses, white as snow.

Love-blest Leander was with love so fill'd,

That love to all that touch'd him he instill'd;

And as the colours of all things we see,

To our sight's powers communicated be,[Pg 44]

So to all objects that in compass came

Of any sense he had, his senses' flame

Flow'd from his parts with force so virtual,

It fir'd with sense things mere [50] insensual.90

Now, with warm baths and odours comforted,

When he lay down, he kindly kiss'd his bed,

As consecrating it to Hero's right,

And vow'd thereafter, that whatever sight

Put him in mind of Hero or her bliss,

Should be her altar to prefer a kiss.

Then laid he forth his late-enrichèd arms,

In whose white circle Love writ all his charms,

And made his characters sweet Hero's limbs,

When on his breast's warm sea she sideling swims;100

And as those arms, held up in circle, met,

He said, "See, sister, Hero's carquenet!

Which she had rather wear about her neck,

Than all the jewels that do Juno deck."

But, as he shook with passionate desire

To put in flame his other secret fire,

A music so divine did pierce his ear,

As never yet his ravish'd sense did hear;

When suddenly a light of twenty hues

Brake through the roof, and, like the rainbow, views,110

Amaz'd Leander: in whose beams came down

The goddess Ceremony, with a crown

Of all the stars; and Heaven with her descended:

Her flaming hair to her bright feet extended,[Pg 45]

By which hung all the bench of deities;

And in a chain, compact of ears and eyes,

She led Religion: all her body was

Clear and transparent as the purest glass,

For she was all [51] presented to the sense:

Devotion, Order, State, and Reverence,120

Her shadows were; Society, Memory;

All which her sight made live, her absence die.

A rich disparent pentacle [52] she wears,

Drawn full of circles and strange characters.

Her face was changeable to every eye;

One way look'd ill, another graciously;

Which while men view'd, they cheerful were and holy,

But looking off, vicious and melancholy.

The snaky paths to each observèd law

Did Policy in her broad bosom draw.130

One hand a mathematic crystal sways,

Which, gathering in one line a thousand rays

From her bright eyes, Confusion burns to death,

And all estates of men distinguisheth:

By it Morality and Comeliness

Themselves in all their sightly figures dress.

Her other hand a laurel rod applies,

To beat back Barbarism and Avarice,[Pg 46]

That follow'd, eating earth and excrement

And human limbs; and would make proud ascent140

To seats of gods, were Ceremony slain.

The Hours and Graces bore her glorious train;

And all the sweets of our society

Were spher'd and treasur'd in her bounteous eye.

Thus she appear'd, and sharply did reprove

Leander's bluntness in his violent love;

Told him how poor was substance without rites,

Like bills unsign'd; desires without delights;

Like meats unseason'd; like rank corn that grows

On cottages, that none or reaps or sows;150

Not being with civil forms confirm'd and bounded,

For human dignities and comforts founded;

But loose and secret all their glories hide;

Fear fills the chamber, Darkness decks the bride.

She vanish'd, leaving pierc'd Leander's heart

With sense of his unceremonious part,

In which, with plain neglect of nuptial rites,

He close and flatly fell to his delights:

And instantly he vow'd to celebrate

All rites pertaining to his married state.160

So up he gets, and to his father goes,

To whose glad ears he doth his vows disclose.

The nuptials are resolv'd with utmost power;

And he at night would swim to Hero's tower,

From whence he meant to Sestos' forkèd bay

To bring her covertly, where ships must stay,[Pg 47]

Sent by his [53] father, throughly rigg'd and mann'd,

To waft her safely to Abydos' strand.

There leave we him; and with fresh wing pursue

Astonish'd Hero, whose most wishèd view170

I thus long have foreborne, because I left her

So out of countenance, and her spirits bereft her:

To look on one abash'd is impudence,

When of slight faults he hath too deep a sense.

Her blushing het [54] her chamber; she look'd out,

And all the air she purpled round about;

And after it a foul black day befell,

Which ever since a red morn doth foretell,

And still renews our woes for Hero's woe;

And foul it prov'd because it figur'd so180

The next night's horror; which prepare to hear;

I fail, if it profane your daintiest ear.

Then, ho,[55] most strangely-intellectual fire,

That, proper to my soul, hast power t' inspire

Her burning faculties, and with the wings

Of thy unspherèd flame visit'st the springs

Of spirits immortal! Now (as swift as Time

Doth follow Motion) find th' eternal clime

Of his free soul, whose living subject [56] stood

Up to the chin in the Pierian flood,190

And drunk to me half this Musæan story,

Inscribing it to deathless memory:[Pg 48]

Confer with it, and make my pledge as deep,

That neither's draught be consecrate to sleep;

Tell it how much his late desires I tender

(If yet it know not), and to light surrender

My soul's dark offspring, willing it should die

To loves, to passions, and society.

Sweet Hero, left upon her bed alone,

Her maidenhead, her vows, Leander gone,200

And nothing with her but a violent crew

Of new-come thoughts, that yet she never knew,

Even to herself a stranger, was much like

Th' Iberian city [57] that War's hand did strike

By English force in princely Essex' guide,

When Peace assur'd her towers had fortified,

And golden-finger'd India had bestow'd

Such wealth on her, that strength and empire flow'd

Into her turrets, and her virgin waist

The wealthy girdle of the sea embraced;210

Till our Leander, that made Mars his Cupid,

For soft love-suits, with iron thunders chid;

Swum to her towers,[58] dissolv'd her virgin zone;

Led in his power, and made Confusion

Run through her streets amaz'd, that she suppos'd

She had not been in her own walls enclos'd,

But rapt by wonder to some foreign state,

Seeing all her issue so disconsolate,[Pg 49]

And all her peaceful mansions possess'd

With war's just spoil, and many a foreign guest220

From every corner driving an enjoyer,

Supplying it with power of a destroyer.

So far'd fair Hero in th' expugnèd fort

Of her chaste bosom; and of every sort

Strange thoughts possess'd her, ransacking her breast

For that that was not there, her wonted rest.

She was a mother straight, and bore with pain

Thoughts that spake straight, and wish'd their mother slain;

She hates their lives, and they their own and hers:

Such strife still grows where sin the race prefers:230

Love is a golden bubble, full of dreams,

That waking breaks, and fills us with extremes.

She mus'd how she could look upon her sire,

And not shew that without, that was intire;[59]

For as a glass is an inanimate eye,

And outward forms embraceth inwardly,

So is the eye an animate glass, that shows

In-forms without us; and as Phœbus throws

His beams abroad, though he in clouds be clos'd,

Still glancing by them till he find oppos'd240

A loose and rorid vapour that is fit

T' event [60] his searching beams, and useth it

To form a tender twenty-colour'd eye,

Cast in a circle round about the sky;[Pg 50]

So when our fiery soul, our body's star,

(That ever is in motion circular,)

Conceives a form, in seeking to display it

Through all our cloudy parts, it doth convey it

Forth at the eye, as the most pregnant place,

And that reflects it round about the face.250

And this event, uncourtly Hero thought,

Her inward guilt would in her looks have wrought;

For yet the world's stale cunning she resisted,

To bear foul thoughts, yet forge what looks she listed,

And held it for a very silly sleight,

To make a perfect metal counterfeit,

Glad to disclaim herself, proud of an art

That makes the face a pandar to the heart.

Those be the painted moons, whose lights profane

Beauty's true Heaven, at full still in their wane;260

Those be the lapwing-faces that still cry,

"Here 'tis!" when that they vow is nothing nigh:

Base fools! when every moorish fool [61] can teach

That which men think the height of human reach.

But custom, that the apoplexy is

Of bed-rid nature and lives led amiss,[Pg 51]

And takes away all feeling of offence,

Yet braz'd not Hero's brow with impudence;

And this she thought most hard to bring to pass,

To seem in countenance other than she was,270

As if she had two souls, one for the face,

One for the heart, and that they shifted place

As either list to utter or conceal

What they conceiv'd, or as one soul did deal

With both affairs at once, keeps and ejects

Both at an instant contrary effects;

Retention and ejection in her powers

Being acts alike; for this one vice of ours,

That forms the thought, and sways the countenance,

Rules both our motion and our utterance.280

These and more grave conceits toil'd Hero's spirits;

For, though the light of her discoursive wits

Perhaps might find some little hole to pass

Through all these worldly cinctures, yet, alas!

There was a heavenly flame encompass'd her,—

Her goddess, in whose fane she did prefer

Her virgin vows, from whose impulsive sight

She knew the black shield of the darkest night

Could not defend her, nor wit's subtlest art:

This was the point pierc'd Hero to the heart;290

Who, heavy to the death, with a deep sigh,

And hand that languished, took a robe was nigh,

Exceeding large, and of black cypres [62] made,

In which she sate, hid from the day in shade,[Pg 52]

Even over head and face, down to her feet;

Her left hand made it at her bosom meet,

Her right hand lean'd on her heart-bowing knee,

Wrapp'd in unshapeful folds, 'twas death to see;

Her knee stay'd that, and that her falling face;

Each limb help'd other to put on disgrace:300

No form was seen, where form held all her sight;

But like an embryon that saw never light,

Or like a scorchèd statue made a coal

With three-wing'd lightning, or a wretched soul

Muffled with endless darkness, she did sit:

The night had never such a heavy spirit.

Yet might a penetrating [63] eye well see

How fast her clear tears melted on her knee

Through her black veil, and turn'd as black as it,

Mourning to be her tears. Then wrought her wit310

With her broke vow, her goddess' wrath, her fame,—

All tools that enginous [64] despair could frame:

Which made her strew the floor with her torn hair,

And spread her mantle piece-meal in the air.

Like Jove's son's club, strong passion struck her down,

And with a piteous shriek enforc'd her swoun:

Her shriek made with another shriek ascend

The frighted matron that on her did tend;

And as with her own cry her sense was slain,

[Pg 53]

So with the other it was called again.320

She rose, and to her bed made forcèd way,

And laid her down even where Leander lay;

And all this while the red sea of her blood

Ebb'd with Leander: but now turn'd the flood,

And all her fleet of spirits came swelling in,

With child [65] of sail, and did hot fight begin

With those severe conceits she too much marked:

And here Leander's beauties were embarked.

He came in swimming, painted all with joys,

Such as might sweeten hell: his thought destroys330

All her destroying thoughts; she thought she felt

His heart in hers, with her contentions melt,

And chide her soul that it could so much err,

To check the true joys he deserved in her.

Her fresh-heat blood cast figures in her eyes,

And she suppos'd she saw in Neptune's skies

How her star wander'd, wash'd in smarting brine,

For her love's sake, that with immortal wine

Should be embath'd, and swim in more heart's-ease

Than there was water in the Sestian seas.340

Then said her Cupid-prompted spirit, "Shall I

Sing moans to such delightsome harmony?

Shall slick-tongu'd Fame, patch'd up with voices rude,

The drunken bastard of the multitude

(Begot when father Judgment is away,

And, gossip-like, says because others say,

Takes news as if it were too hot to eat,

And spits it slavering forth for dog-fees meat),[Pg 54]

Make me, for forging a fantastic vow,

Presume to bear what makes grave matrons bow?350

Good vows are never broken with good deeds,

For then good deeds were bad: vows are but seeds,

And good deeds fruits; even those good deeds that grow

From other stocks than from th' observèd vow.

That is a good deed that prevents a bad:

Had I not yielded, slain myself I had.

Hero Leander is, Leander Hero;

Such virtue love hath to make one of two.

If, then, Leander did my maidenhead git,

Leander being myself, I still retain it:360

We break chaste vows when we live loosely ever,

But bound as we are, we live loosely never:

Two constant lovers being join'd in one,

Yielding to one another, yield to none.

We know not how to vow till love unblind us,

And vows made ignorantly never bind us.

Too true it is, that, when 'tis gone, men hate

The joy [66] as vain they took in love's estate:

But that's since they have lost the heavenly light

Should show them way to judge of all things right.370

When life is gone, death must implant his terror:

As death is foe to life, so love to error.

Before we love, how range we through this sphere,

Searching the sundry fancies hunted here:

Now with desire of wealth transported quite

Beyond our free humanity's delight;[Pg 55]

Now with ambition climbing falling towers,

Whose hope to scale, our fear to fall devours;

Now rapt with pastimes, pomp, all joys impure:

In things without us no delight is sure.380

But love, with all joys crowned, within doth sit:

O goddess, pity love, and pardon it!"

Thus spake she [67] weeping: but her goddess' ear

Burn'd with too stern a heat, and would not hear.

Ay me! hath heaven's strait fingers no more graces

For such as Hero [68] than for homeliest faces?

Yet she hoped well, and in her sweet conceit

Weighing her arguments, she thought them weight,

And that the logic of Leander's beauty,

And them together, would bring proofs of duty;390

And if her soul, that was a skilful glance

Of heaven's great essence, found such imperance [69]

In her love's beauties, she had confidence

Jove loved him too, and pardoned her offence:

Beauty in heaven and earth this grace doth win,

It supples rigour, and it lessens sin.

Thus, her sharp wit, her love, her secrecy,

Trooping together, made her wonder why

She should not leave her bed, and to the temple;

Her health said she must live; her sex, dissemble.400

She viewed Leander's place, and wished he were

Turned to his place, so his place were Leander.[Pg 56]

"Ay me," said she, "that love's sweet life and sense

Should do it harm! my love had not gone hence

Had he been like his place: O blessèd place,

Image of constancy! Thus my love's grace

Parts nowhere, but it leaves something behind

Worth observation: he renowns his kind:

His motion is, like heaven's, orbicular,

For where he once is, he is ever there.410

This place was mine; Leander, now 'tis thine;

Thou being myself, then it is double mine,

Mine, and Leander's mine, Leander's mine.

O, see what wealth it yields me, nay, yields him!

For I am in it, he for me doth swim.

Rich, fruitful love, that, doubling self estates,

Elixir-like contracts, though separates!

Dear place, I kiss thee, and do welcome thee,

As from Leander ever sent to me."

Hero, in sacred habit deckt,

Doth private sacrifice effect.

Her scarf's description, wrought by Fate;

Ostents that threaten her estate;

The strange, yet physical, events,

Leander's counterfeit [70] presents.

In thunder Cyprides descends,

Presaging both the lovers' ends:

Ecte, the goddess of remorse,

With vocal and articulate force10

Inspires Leucote, Venus' swan,

T' excuse the Beauteous Sestian.

Venus, to wreak her rites' abuses,

Creates the monster Eronusis,

Inflaming Hero's sacrifice

With lightning darted from her eyes;

And thereof springs the painted beast

That ever since taints every breast.

Now from Leander's place she rose, and found

Her hair and rent robe scatter'd on the ground;

Which taking up, she every piece did lay

Upon an altar, where in youth of day[Pg 58]

She us'd t' exhibit private sacrifice:

Those would she offer to the deities

Of her fair goddess and her powerful son,

As relics of her late-felt passion;

And in that holy sort she vow'd to end them,

In hope her violent fancies, that did rend them,10

Would as quite fade in her love's holy fire,

As they should in the flames she meant t' inspire.

Then put she on all her religious weeds,

That decked her in her secret sacred deeds;

A crown of icicles, that sun nor fire

Could ever melt, and figur'd chaste desire;

A golden star shined in her naked breast,

In honour of the queen-light of the east.

In her right hand she held a silver wand,

On whose bright top Peristera did stand.20

Who was a nymph, but now transformed a dove,

And in her life was dear in Venus' love;

And for her sake she ever since that time

Choosed doves to draw her coach through heaven's blue clime.

Her plenteous hair in curlèd billows swims

On her bright shoulder: her harmonious limbs

Sustained no more but a most subtile veil,

That hung on them, as it durst not assail

Their different concord; for the weakest air

Could raise it swelling from her beauties fair;30

Nor did it cover, but adumbrate only

Her most heart-piercing parts, that a blest eye

Might see, as it did shadow, fearfully,[Pg 59]

All that all-love-deserving paradise:

It was as blue as the most freezing skies;

Near the sea's hue, for thence her goddess came:

On it a scarf she wore of wondrous frame;

In midst whereof she wrought a virgin's face,

From whose each cheek a fiery blush did chase

Two crimson flames, that did two ways extend,40

Spreading the ample scarf to either end;

Which figur'd the division of her mind,

Whiles yet she rested bashfully inclin'd,

And stood not resolute to wed Leander;

This serv'd her white neck for a purple sphere,

And cast itself at full breadth down her back:

There, since the first breath that begun the wrack

Of her free quiet from Leander's lips,

She wrought a sea, in one flame, full of ships;

But that one ship where all her wealth did pass,50

Like simple merchants' goods, Leander was;

For in that sea she naked figured him;

Her diving needle taught him how to swim,

And to each thread did such resemblance give,

For joy to be so like him it did live:

Things senseless live by art, and rational die

By rude contempt of art and industry.

Scarce could she work, but, in her strength of thought,

She fear'd she prick'd Leander as she wrought,[Pg 60][71]

And oft would shriek so, that her guardian, frighted,60

Would startling haste, as with some mischief cited:

They double life that dead things' griefs sustain;

They kill that feel not their friends' living pain.

Sometimes she fear'd he sought her infamy;

And then, as she was working of his eye,

She thought to prick it out to quench her ill;

But, as she prick'd, it grew more perfect still:

Trifling attempts no serious acts advance;

The fire of love is blown by dalliance.

In working his fair neck she did so grace it,70

She still was working her own arms t' embrace it:

That, and his shoulders, and his hands were seen

Above the stream; and with a pure sea-green

She did so quaintly shadow every limb,

All might be seen beneath the waves to swim.

In this conceited scarf she wrought beside

A moon in change, and shooting stars did glide

In number after her with bloody beams;

Which figur'd her affects [72] in their extremes,

Pursuing nature in her Cynthian body,80

And did her thoughts running on change imply;

For maids take more delight, when they prepare,

And think of wives' states, than when wives they are.[Pg 61]

Beneath all these she wrought a fisherman,[73]

Drawing his nets from forth the ocean;

Who drew so hard, ye might discover well

The toughen'd sinews in his neck did swell:

His inward strains drave out his blood-shot eyes,

And springs of sweat did in his forehead rise;

Yet was of naught but of a serpent sped,90

That in his bosom flew and stung him dead:

And this by Fate into her mind was sent,

Not wrought by mere instinct of her intent.

At the scarf's other end her hand did frame,

Near the fork'd point of the divided flame,

A country virgin keeping of a vine,

Who did of hollow bulrushes combine

Snares for the stubble-loving grasshopper,

And by her lay her scrip that nourish'd her.

Within a myrtle shade she sate and sung;100

And tufts of waving reeds above her sprung,

Where lurked two foxes, that, while she applied

Her trifling snares, their thieveries did divide,

One to the vine, another to her scrip,

That she did negligently overslip;

By which her fruitful vine and wholesome fare

She suffered spoiled to make a childish snare.

These ominous fancies did her soul express,

And every finger made a prophetess,[Pg 62]

To show what death was hid in love's disguise,110

And make her judgment conquer Destinies.

O, what sweet forms fair ladies' souls do shroud,

Were they made seen and forcèd through their blood;

If through their beauties, like rich work through lawn,

They would set forth their minds with virtues drawn,

In letting graces from their fingers fly,

To still their eyas [74] thoughts with industry;

That their plied wits in numbered silks might sing

Passion's huge conquest, and their needles [75] leading

Affection prisoner through their own-built cities,120

Pinioned with stones and Arachnean ditties.

Proceed we now with Hero's sacrifice:

She odours burned, and from their smoke did rise

Unsavoury fumes, that air with plagues inspired;

And then the consecrated sticks she fired.

On whose pale flames an angry spirit flew,

And beat it down still as it upward grew;

The virgin tapers that on th' altar stood,

When she inflam'd them, burned as red as blood;[76]

All sad ostents of that too near success,[77]130

That made such moving beauties motionless.

Then Hero wept; but her affrighted eyes

She quickly wrested from the sacrifice,[Pg 63]

Shut them, and inwards for Leander looked,

Search'd her soft bosom, and from thence she plucked

His lovely picture; which when she had viewed,

Her beauties were with all love's joys renewed;

The odours sweeten'd, and the fires burned clear,

Leander's form left no ill object there:

Such was his beauty, that the force of light,140

Whose knowledge teacheth wonders infinite,

The strength of number and proportion,

Nature had placed in it to make it known,

Art was her daughter, and what human wits

For study lost, entombed in drossy spirits.

After this accident (which for her glory

Hero could not but make a history),

Th' inhabitants of Sestos and Abydos

Did every year, with feasts propitious,

To fair Leander's picture sacrifice:150

And they were persons of especial price

That were allowed it, as an ornament

T' enrich their houses, for the continent

Of the strange virtues all approved it held;

For even the very look of it repelled

All blastings, witchcrafts, and the strifes of nature

In those diseases that no herbs could cure;

The wolfy sting of avarice it would pull,

And make the rankest miser bountiful;

It kill'd the fear of thunder and of death;160

The discords that conceit engendereth

'Twixt man and wife, it for the time would cease;

The flames of love it quench'd, and would increase;[Pg 64]

Held in a prince's hand, it would put out

The dreadful'st comet; it would ease [78] all doubt

Of threaten'd mischiefs; it would bring asleep

Such as were mad; it would enforce to weep

Most barbarous eyes; and many more effects

This picture wrought, and sprung [79] Leandrian [80] sects;

Of which was Hero first; for he whose form,170

Held in her hand, clear'd such a fatal storm,

From hell she thought his person would defend her,

Which night and Hellespont would quickly send her.

With this confirm'd, she vow'd to banish quite

All thought of any check to her delight;

And, in contempt of silly bashfulness,

She would the faith of her desires profess,

Where her religion should be policy,

To follow love with zeal her piety;

Her chamber her cathedral-church should be,180

And her Leander her chief deity;

For in her love these did the gods forego;

And though her knowledge did not teach her so,

Yet did it teach her this, that what her heart

Did greatest hold in her self-greatest part,

That she did make her god; and 'twas less naught

To leave gods in profession and in thought,

Than in her love and life; for therein lies

Most of her duties and their dignities;[Pg 65]

And, rail the brain-bald world at what it will,190

That's the grand atheism that reigns in it still.

Yet singularity she would use no more,

For she was singular too much before;

But she would please the world with fair pretext:

Love would not leave her conscience perplext:

Great men that will have less do for them, still

Must bear them out, though th' acts be ne'er so ill;

Meanness must pander be to Excellence;

Pleasure atones Falsehood and Conscience:

Dissembling was the worst, thought Hero then,200

And that was best, now she must live with men.

O virtuous love, that taught her to do best

When she did worst, and when she thought it least!

Thus would she still proceed in works divine,

And in her sacred state of priesthood shine,

Handling the holy rites with hands as bold,

As if therein she did Jove's thunder hold,

And need not fear those menaces of error,

Which she at others threw with greatest terror.

O lovely Hero, nothing is thy sin,210

Weigh'd with those foul faults other priests are in!

That having neither faiths, nor works, nor beauties,

T' engender any 'scuse for slubbered [81] duties,

With as much countenance fill their holy chairs,

And sweat denouncements 'gainst profane affairs,[Pg 66]

As if their lives were cut out by their places,

And they the only fathers of the graces.

Now, as with settled mind she did repair

Her thoughts to sacrifice her ravished hair

And her torn robe, which on the altar lay,220

And only for religion's fire did stay,

She heard a thunder by the Cyclops beaten,

In such a volley as the world did threaten,

Given Venus as she parted th' airy sphere,

Descending now to chide with Hero here:

When suddenly the goddess' waggoners,

The swans and turtles that, in coupled pheres,[82]

Through all worlds' bosoms draw her influence,

Lighted in Hero's window, and from thence

To her fair shoulders flew the gentle doves,—230

Graceful Ædone[83] that sweet pleasure loves,

And ruff-foot Chreste [84] with the tufted crown;

Both which did kiss her, though their goddess frown.

The swans did in the solid flood, her glass,

Proin [85] their fair plumes; of which the fairest was

Jove-lov'd Leucote,[86] that pure brightness is;

The other bounty-loving Dapsilis.[87]

All were in heaven, now they with Hero were:

But Venus' looks brought wrath, and urgèd fear.[Pg 67]

Her robe was scarlet; black her head's attire:240

And through her naked breast shin'd streams of fire,

As when the rarifièd air is driven

In flashing streams, and opes the darken'd heaven.

In her white hand a wreath of yew she bore;

And, breaking th' icy wreath sweet Hero wore,

She forc'd about her brows her wreath of yew,

And said, "Now, minion, to thy fate be true,

Though not to me; endure what this portends:

Begin where lightness will, in shame it ends.

Love makes thee cunning; thou art current now,250

By being counterfeit: thy broken vow

Deceit with her pied garters must rejoin,

And with her stamp thou countenances must coin;

Coyness, and pure [88] deceits, for purities,

And still a maid wilt seem in cozen'd eyes,

And have an antic face to laugh within,

While thy smooth looks make men digest thy sin.

But since thy lips (least thought forsworn) forswore,

Be never virgin's vow worth trusting more!"

When Beauty's dearest did her goddess hear260

Breathe such rebukes 'gainst that she could not clear,

Dumb sorrow spake aloud in tears and blood,

That from her grief-burst veins, in piteous flood,

From the sweet conduits of her favour fell.

The gentle turtles did with moans make swell

Their shining gorges; the while black-ey'd swans

Did sing as woful epicedians,[Pg 68]

As they would straightways die: when Pity's queen,

The goddess Ecte,[89] that had ever been

Hid in a watery cloud near Hero's cries,270

Since the first instant of her broken eyes,

Gave bright Leucote voice, and made her speak,

To ease her anguish, whose swoln breast did break

With anger at her goddess, that did touch

Hero so near for that she us'd so much;

And, thrusting her white neck at Venus, said:

"Why may not amorous Hero seem a maid,

Though she be none, as well as you suppress

In modest cheeks your inward wantonness?

How often have we drawn you from above,280

T' exchange with mortals rites for rites in love!

Why in your priest, then, call you that offence,

That shines in you, and is [90] your influence?"

With this, the Furies stopp'd Leucote's lips,

Enjoin'd by Venus; who with rosy whips

Beat the kind bird. Fierce lightning from her eyes

Did set on fire fair Hero's sacrifice,

Which was her torn robe and enforcèd hair;

And the bright flame became a maid most fair

For her aspèct: her tresses were of wire,290

Knit like a net, where hearts set all on fire,

Struggled in pants, and could not get releast;

Her arms were all with golden pincers drest,[Pg 69]

And twenty-fashioned knots, pulleys, and brakes,

And all her body girt with painted snakes;

Her down-parts in a scorpion's tail combined,

Freckled with twenty colours; pied wings shined

Out of her shoulders; cloth had never dye,

Nor sweeter colours never viewèd eye,

In scorching Turkey, Cares, Tartary,300

Than shined about this spirit notorious;

Nor was Arachne's web so glorious.

Of lightning and of shreds she was begot;

More hold in base dissemblers is there not.

Her name was Eronusis.[91] Venus flew

From Hero's sight, and at her chariot drew

This wondrous creature to so steep a height,

That all the world she might command with sleight

Of her gay wings; and then she bade her haste,—

Since Hero had dissembled, and disgraced310

Her rites so much,—and every breast infect

With her deceits: she made her architect

Of all dissimulation; and since then

Never was any trust in maids or men.

O, it spited

Fair Venus' heart to see her most delighted,

And one she choos'd, for temper of her mind

To be the only ruler of her kind,

So soon to let her virgin race be ended!

[Pg 70]

Not simply for the fault a whit offended,320

But that in strife for chasteness with the Moon,

Spiteful Diana bade her show but one

That was her servant vow'd, and liv'd a maid;

And, now she thought to answer that upbraid,

Hero had lost her answer: who knows not

Venus would seem as far from any spot

Of light demeanour, as the very skin

'Twixt Cynthia's brows? sin is asham'd of sin.

Up Venus flew, and scarce durst up for fear

Of Phœbe's laughter, when she pass'd her sphere:330

And so most ugly-clouded was the light,

That day was hid in day; night came ere night;

And Venus could not through the thick air pierce,

Till the day's king, god of undaunted verse,

Because she was so plentiful a theme

To such as wore his laurel anademe.

Like to a fiery bullet made descent,

And from her passage those fat vapours rent,

That being not throughly rarified to rain,

Melted like pitch, as blue as any vein;340

And scalding tempests made the earth to shrink

Under their fervour, and the world did think

In every drop a torturing spirit flew,

It pierc'd so deeply, and it burn'd so blue.

Betwixt all this and Hero, Hero held

Leander's picture, as a Persian shield;

And she was free from fear of worst success:

The more ill threats us, we suspect the less:

As we grow hapless, violence subtle grows,

Dumb, deaf, and blind, and comes when no man knows.350

Day doubles his accustom'd date,

As loath the Night, incens'd by Fate,

Should wreck our lovers. Hero's plight;

Longs for Leander and the night:

Which ere her thirsty wish recovers,

She sends for two betrothèd lovers,

And marries them, that, with their crew,

Their sports, and ceremonies due,

She covertly might celebrate,

With secret joy her own estate.10

She makes a feast, at which appears

The wild nymph Teras, that still bears

An ivory lute, tells ominous tales,

And sings at solemn festivals.

Now was bright Hero weary of the day,

Thought an Olympiad in Leander's stay.

Sol and the soft-foot Hours hung on his arms,

And would not let him swim, foreseeing his harms:

That day Aurora double grace obtain'd

Of her love Phœbus; she his horses reign'd,

Set [92] on his golden knee, and, as she list,

She pull'd him back; and as she pull'd she kiss'd,[Pg 72]

To have him turn to bed: he lov'd her more,

To see the love Leander Hero bore:10

Examples profit much; ten times in one,

In persons full of note, good deeds are done.

Day was so long, men walking fell asleep;

The heavy humours that their eyes did steep

Made them fear mischiefs. The hard streets were beds

For covetous churls and for ambitious heads,

That, spite of Nature, would their business ply:

All thought they had the falling epilepsy,

Men grovell'd so upon the smother'd ground;

And pity did the heart of Heaven confound.20

The Gods, the Graces, and the Muses came

Down to the Destinies, to stay the frame

Of the true lovers' deaths, and all world's tears:

But Death before had stopp'd their cruel ears.

All the celestials parted mourning then,

Pierc'd with our human miseries more than men:

Ah, nothing doth the world with mischief fill,

But want of feeling one another's ill!

With their descent the day grew something fair,

And cast a brighter robe upon the air.30

Hero, to shorten time with merriment,

For young Alcmane [93] and bright Mya sent,

Two lovers that had long crav'd marriage-dues

At Hero's hands: but she did still refuse;

For lovely Mya was her consort vow'd

In her maid state, and therefore not allow'd[Pg 73]

To amorous nuptials: yet fair Hero now

Intended to dispense with her cold vow,

Since hers was broken, and to marry her:

The rites would pleasing matter minister40

To her conceits, and shorten tedious day.

They came; sweet Music usher'd th' odorous way,

And wanton Air in twenty sweet forms danced

After her fingers; Beauty and Love advanced

Their ensigns in the downless rosy faces

Of youths and maids led after by the Graces.

For all these Hero made a friendly feast,

Welcom'd them kindly, did much love protest,

Winning their hearts with all the means she might.

That, when her fault should chance t' abide the light50

Their loves might cover or extenuate it,

And high in her worst fate make pity sit.

She married them; and in the banquet came,

Borne by the virgins. Hero striv'd to frame

Her thoughts to mirth: ay me! but hard it is

To imitate a false and forcèd bliss;

Ill may a sad mind forge a merry face,

Nor hath constrainèd laughter any grace.

Then laid she wine on cares to make them sink:

Who fears the threats of Fortune, let him drink.[94]60

To these quick nuptials enter'd suddenly

Admirèd Teras with the ebon thigh;[Pg 74]

A nymph that haunted the green Sestian groves,

And would consort soft virgins in their loves,

At gaysome triumphs and on solemn days,

Singing prophetic elegies and lays,

And fingering of a silver lute she tied

With black and purple scarfs by her left side.

Apollo gave it, and her skill withal,

And she was term'd his dwarf, she was so small:70

Yet great in virtue, for his beams enclosed

His virtues in her; never was proposed

Riddle to her, or augury, strange or new,

But she resolv'd it; never slight tale flew

From her charm'd lips without important sense,

Shown in some grave succeeding consequence.

This little sylvan, with her songs and tales,

Gave such estate to feasts and nuptials,

That though ofttimes she forewent tragedies,

Yet for her strangeness still she pleas'd their eyes;80

And for her smallness they admir'd her so,

They thought her perfect born, and could not grow.

All eyes were on her. Hero did command

An altar decked with sacred state should stand

At the feast's upper end, close by the bride,

On which the pretty nymph might sit espied.

Then all were silent; every one so hears,

As all their senses climb'd into their ears:

And first this amorous tale, that fitted well

Fair Hero and the nuptials, she did tell.90

[Pg 75]

Hymen, that now is god of nuptial rites,

And crowns with honour Love and his delights,

Of Athens was a youth, so sweet of face,

That many thought him of the female race;

Such quickening brightness did his clear eyes dart,

Warm went their beams to his beholder's heart,

In such pure leagues his beauties were combin'd,

That there your nuptial contracts first were signed;

For as proportion, white and crimson, meet

In beauty's mixture, all right clear and sweet,100

The eye responsible, the golden hair,

And none is held, without the other, fair;

All spring together, all together fade;

Such intermix'd affections should invade

Two perfect lovers; which being yet unseen,

Their virtues and their comforts copied been

In beauty's concord, subject to the eye;

And that, in Hymen, pleased so matchlessly,

That lovers were esteemed in their full grace,

Like form and colour mixed in Hymen's face;110

And such sweet concord was thought worthy then

Of torches, music, feasts, and greatest men:

So Hymen look'd that even the chastest mind

He mov'd to join in joys of sacred kind;

For only now his chin's first down consorted

His head's rich fleece in golden curls contorted;

And as he was so loved, he loved so too:

So should best beauties bound by nuptials, do.[Pg 76]

Bright Eucharis, who was by all men said

The noblest, fairest, and the richest maid120

Of all th' Athenian damsels, Hymen lov'd

With such transmission, that his heart remov'd

From his white breast to hers: but her estate,

In passing his, was so interminate

For wealth and honour, that his love durst feed

On naught but sight and hearing, nor could breed

Hope of requital, the grand prize of love;

Nor could he hear or see, but he must prove

How his rare beauty's music would agree

With maids in consort; therefore robbèd he130

His chin of those same few first fruits it bore,

And, clad in such attire as virgins wore,

He kept them company, and might right well,

For he did all but Eucharis excel

In all the fair of beauty! yet he wanted

Virtue to make his own desires implanted

In his dear Eucharis; for women never

Love beauty in their sex, but envy ever.

His judgment yet, that durst not suit address,

Nor, past due means, presume of due success,140

Reason gat Fortune in the end to speed

To his best prayers [95]: but strange it seemed, indeed,

That Fortune should a chaste affection bless:

Preferment seldom graceth bashfulness.[Pg 77]

Nor grac'd it Hymen yet; but many a dart,

And many an amorous thought, enthralled [96] his heart,

Ere he obtained her; and he sick became,

Forced to abstain her sight; and then the flame

Raged in his bosom. O, what grief did fill him!

Sight made him sick, and want of sight did kill him.150

The virgins wonder'd where Diætia stay'd,

For so did Hymen term himself, a maid.

At length with sickly looks he greeted them:

Tis strange to see 'gainst what an extreme stream

A lover strives; poor Hymen look'd so ill,

That as in merit he increasèd still

By suffering much, so he in grace decreas'd:

Women are most won, when men merit least:

If Merit look not well, Love bids stand by;

Love's special lesson is to please the eye.160

And Hymen soon recovering all he lost,

Deceiving still these maids, but himself most,

His love and he with many virgin dames,

Noble by birth, noble by beauty's flames,

Leaving the town with songs and hallow'd lights

To do great Ceres Eleusina rites

Of zealous sacrifice, were made a prey

To barbarous rovers, that in ambush lay,

And with rude hands enforc'd their shining spoil,

[Pg 78]

Far from the darkened city, tired with toil:170

And when the yellow issue of the sky

Came trooping forth, jealous of cruelty

To their bright fellows of this under-heaven,

Into a double night they saw them driven,—

A horrid cave, the thieves' black mansion;

Where, weary of the journey they had gone,

Their last night's watch, and drunk with their sweet gains,

Dull Morpheus enter'd, laden with silken chains,

Stronger than iron, and bound the swelling veins

And tirèd senses of these lawless swains.180

But when the virgin lights thus dimly burn'd,

O, what a hell was heaven in! how they mourn'd

And wrung their hands, and wound their gentle forms

Into the shapes of sorrow! golden storms

Fell from their eyes; as when the sun appears,

And yet it rains, so show'd their eyes their tears:

And, as when funeral dames watch a dead corse,

Weeping about it, telling with remorse

What pains he felt, how long in pain he lay,

How little food he ate, what he would say;190

And then mix mournful tales of other's deaths,

Smothering themselves in clouds of their own breaths;

At length, one cheering other, call for wine;

The golden bowl drinks tears out of their eyne,

As they drink wine from it; and round it goes,

Each helping other to relieve their woes;

So cast these virgins' beauties mutual rays,

One lights another, face the face displays;

Lips by reflection kissed, and hands hands shook,

[Pg 79]

Even by the whiteness each of other took.200

But Hymen now used friendly Morpheus' aid,

Slew every thief, and rescued every maid:

And now did his enamour'd passion take

Heart from his hearty deed, whose worth did make

His hope of bounteous Eucharis more strong;

And now came Love with Proteus, who had long

Juggled the little god with prayers and gifts,

Ran through all shapes and varied all his shifts,

To win Love's stay with him, and make him love him.

And when he saw no strength of sleight could move him,

To make him love or stay, he nimbly turned211

Into Love's self, he so extremely burned.

And thus came Love, with Proteus and his power,

T' encounter Eucharis: first, like the flower

That Juno's milk did spring,[97] the silver lily,

He fell on Hymen's hand, who straight did spy

The bounteous godhead, and with wondrous joy

Offer'd it Eucharis. She, wonderous coy,

Drew back her hand: the subtle flower did woo it,

And, drawing it near, mixed so you could not know it:220

As two clear tapers mix in one their light,

So did the lily and the hand their white.

She viewed it; and her view the form bestows

Amongst her spirits; for, as colour flows

From superficies of each thing we see,

Even so with colours forms emitted be;

And where Love's form is, Love is; Love is form:

He entered at the eye; his sacred storm[Pg 80]

Rose from the hand, Love's sweetest instrument:

It stirred her blood's sea so, that high it went,230

And beat in bashful waves 'gainst the white shore

Of her divided cheeks; it raged the more,

Because the tide went 'gainst the haughty wind

Of her estate and birth: and, as we find,

In fainting ebbs, the flowery Zephyr hurls

The green-haired Hellespont, broke in silver curls,

'Gainst Hero's tower; but in his blast's retreat,

The waves obeying him, they after beat,

Leaving the chalky shore a great way pale,

Then moist it freshly with another gale;240

So ebbed and flowed the blood [98] in Eucharis' face,

Coyness and Love strived which had greatest grace;

Virginity did fight on Coyness' side,

Fear of her parent's frowns and female pride

Loathing the lower place, more than it loves

The high contents desert and virtue moves.

With Love fought Hymen's beauty and his valure,[99]

Which scarce could so much favour yet allure

To come to strike, but fameless idle stood:

Action is fiery valour's sovereign good.250

But Love, once entered, wished no greater aid

Than he could find within; thought thought betray'd;

The bribed, but incorrupted, garrison

Sung "Io Hymen;" there those songs begun,[Pg 81]

And Love was grown so rich with such a gain,

And wanton with the ease of his free reign,

That he would turn into her roughest frowns

To turn them out; and thus he Hymen crowns

King of his thoughts, man's greatest empery:

This was his first brave step to deity.260

Home to the mourning city they repair,

With news as wholesome as the morning air,

To the sad parents of each savèd maid:

But Hymen and his Eucharis had laid

This plat [100] to make the flame of their delight

Round as the moon at full, and full as bright.

Because the parents of chaste Eucharis

Exceeding Hymen's so, might cross their bliss;

And as the world rewards deserts, that law

Cannot assist with force; so when they saw270

Their daughter safe, take vantage of their own,

Praise Hymen's valour much, nothing bestown;

Hymen must leave the virgins in a grove

Far off from Athens, and go first to prove,

If to restore them all with fame and life,

He should enjoy his dearest as his wife.

This told to all the maids, the most agree:

The riper sort, knowing what 'tis to be

The first mouth of a news so far derived,

And that to hear and bear news brave folks lived.280

As being a carriage special hard to bear

Occurrents, these occurrents being so dear,[Pg 82]

They did with grace protest, they were content

T' accost their friends with all their compliment,

For Hymen's good; but to incur their harm,

There he must pardon them. This wit went warm

To Adolesche's [101] brain, a nymph born high,

Made all of voice and fire, that upwards fly:

Her heart and all her forces' nether train

Climb'd to her tongue, and thither fell her brain,290

Since it could go no higher; and it must go;

All powers she had, even her tongue, did so:

In spirit and quickness she much joy did take,

And loved her tongue, only for quickness' sake;

And she would haste and tell. The rest all stay:

Hymen goes one, the nymph another way;

And what became of her I'll tell at last:

Yet take her visage now;—moist-lipped, long-faced,

Thin like an iron wedge, so sharp and tart,

As 'twere of purpose made to cleave Love's heart:300

Well were this lovely beauty rid of her.

And Hymen did at Athens now prefer

His welcome suit, which he with joy aspired:

A hundred princely youths with him retired

To fetch the nymphs; chariots and music went;

And home they came: heaven with applauses rent.

The nuptials straight proceed, whiles all the town,

Fresh in their joys, might do them most renown.

First, gold-locked Hymen did to church repair,

[Pg 83]

Like a quick offering burned in flames of hair;310

And after, with a virgin firmament

The godhead-proving bride attended went

Before them all: she looked in her command,

As if form-giving Cypria's silver hand

Gripped all their beauties, and crushed out one flame;

She blushed to see how beauty overcame

The thoughts of all men. Next, before her went

Five lovely children, decked with ornament

Of her sweet colours, bearing torches by;

For light was held a happy augury320

Of generation, whose efficient right

Is nothing else but to produce to light.

The odd disparent number they did choose,

To show the union married loves should use,

Since in two equal parts it will not sever,

But the midst holds one to rejoin it ever,

As common to both parts: men therefore deem

That equal number gods do not esteem,

Being authors of sweet peace and unity,

But pleasing to th' infernal empery,330

Under whose ensigns Wars and Discords fight,

Since an even number you may disunite

In two parts equal, naught in middle left

To reunite each part from other reft;

And five they hold in most especial prize,[102]

Since 'tis the first odd number that doth rise

From the two foremost numbers' unity,

That odd and even are; which are two and three;[Pg 84]

For one no number is; but thence doth flow

The powerful race of number. Next, did go340

A noble matron, that did spinning bear

A huswife's rock and spindle, and did wear

A wether's skin, with all the snowy fleece,

To intimate that even the daintiest piece

And noblest-born dame should industrious be:

That which does good disgraceth no degree.

And now to Juno's temple they are come,

Where her grave priest stood in the marriage-room:

On his right arm did hang a scarlet veil,

And from his shoulders to the ground did trail,350

On either side, ribands of white and blue:

With the red veil he hid the bashful hue

Of the chaste bride, to show the modest shame,

In coupling with a man, should grace a dame.

Then took he the disparent silks, and tied

The lovers by the waists, and side to side,

In token that thereafter they must bind

In one self-sacred knot each other's mind.

Before them on an altar he presented

Both fire and water, which was first invented,360

Since to ingenerate every human creature

And every other birth produc'd by Nature,

Moisture and heat must mix; so man and wife

For human race must join in nuptial life.

Then one of Juno's birds, the painted jay,

He sacrific'd and took the gall away;

All which he did behind the altar throw,

In sign no bitterness of hate should grow,[Pg 85]

'Twixt married loves, nor any least disdain.

Nothing they spake, for 'twas esteem'd too plain370

For the most silken mildness of a maid,

To let a public audience hear it said,

She boldly took the man; and so respected

Was bashfulness in Athens, it erected

To chaste Agneia,[103] which is Shamefacedness,

A sacred temple, holding her a goddess.

And now to feasts, masks, and triumphant shows,

The shining troops returned, even till earth-throes

Brought forth with joy the thickest part of night,

When the sweet nuptial song, that used to cite380

All to their rest, was by Phemonöe [104] sung,

First Delphian prophetess, whose graces sprung

Out of the Muses' well: she sung before

The bride into her chamber; at which door

A matron and a torch-bearer did stand:

A painted box of confits [105] in her hand

The matron held, and so did other some [106]

That compassed round the honour'd nuptial room.

The custom was, that every maid did wear,

During her maidenhead, a silken sphere390

About her waist, above her inmost weed,

Knit with Minerva's knot, and that was freed[Pg 86]

By the fair bridegroom on the marriage-night,

With many ceremonies of delight:

And yet eternized Hymen's tender bride,

To suffer it dissolved so, sweetly cried.

The maids that heard, so loved and did adore her,

They wished with all their hearts to suffer for her.

So had the matrons, that with confits stood

About the chamber, such affectionate blood,400

And so true feeling of her harmless pains,

That every one a shower of confits rains;

For which the bride-youths scrambling on the ground,

In noise of that sweet hail her [107] cries were drown'd.

And thus blest Hymen joyed his gracious bride,

And for his joy was after deified.

The saffron mirror by which Phœbus' love,

Green Tellus, decks her, now he held above

The cloudy mountains: and the noble maid,

Sharp-visaged Adolesche, that was stray'd410

Out of her way, in hasting with her news,

Not till this [108] hour th' Athenian turrets views;

And now brought home by guides, she heard by all,

That her long kept occurrents would be stale,

And how fair Hymen's honours did excel

For those rare news which she came short to tell.

To hear her dear tongue robbed of such a joy,

Made the well-spoken nymph take such a toy,[Pg 87][109]

That down she sunk: when lightning from above

Shrunk her lean body, and, for mere free love,420

Turn'd her into the pied-plum'd Psittacus,

That now the Parrot is surnam'd by us,

Who still with counterfeit confusion prates

Naught but news common to the common'st mates.—

This told, strange Teras touch'd her lute, and sung

This ditty, that the torchy evening sprung.

Come, come, dear Night! Love's mart of kisses,

Sweet close to his ambitious line,

The fruitful summer of his blisses!

Love's glory doth in darkness shine.430

O come, soft rest of cares! come, Night!

Come, naked Virtue's only tire,

The reapèd harvest of the light,

Bound up in sheaves of sacred fire!

Love calls to war;

Sighs his alarms,

Lips his swords are,

The field his arms.

Come, Night, and lay thy velvet hand

On glorious Day's outfacing face;440

And all thy crownèd flames command,

For torches to our nuptial grace!

Love calls to war;

Sighs his alarms,[Pg 88]

Lips his swords are,

The field his arms.

No need have we of factious Day,

To cast, in envy of thy peace,

Her balls of discord in thy way:

Here Beauty's day doth never cease;450

Day is abstracted here,

And varied in a triple sphere.

Hero, Alcmane, Mya, so outshine thee,

Ere thou come here, let Thetis thrice refine thee.

Love calls to war;

Sighs his alarms,

Lips his swords are,

The field his arms.

The evening star I see:

Rise, youths! the evening star460

Helps Love to summon war;

Both now embracing be.

Rise, youths! Love's rite claims more than banquets; rise!

Now the bright marigolds, that deck the skies,

Phœbus' celestial flowers, that, contrary

To his flowers here, ope when he shuts his eye,

And shuts when he doth open, crown your sports:

Now Love in Night, and Night in Love exhorts

Courtship and dances: all your parts employ,

And suit Night's rich expansure with your joy.470

Love paints his longings in sweet virgins' eyes:

Rise, youths! Love's rite claims more than banquets; rise![Pg 89]

Rise, virgins! let fair nuptial loves enfold

Your fruitless breasts: the maidenheads [110] ye hold

Are not your own alone, but parted are;

Part in disposing them your parents share,

And that a third part is; so must ye save

Your loves a third, and you your thirds must have.

Love paints his longings in sweet virgins' eyes:

Rise, youths! Love's rite claims more than banquets; rise!480

Herewith the amorous spirit, that was so kind

To Teras' hair, and comb'd it down with wind,

Still as it, comet-like, brake from her brain,

Would needs have Teras gone, and did refrain

To blow it down: which, staring [111] up, dismay'd

The timorous feast; and she no longer stay'd;

But, bowing to the bridegroom and the bride,

Did, like a shooting exhalation, glide

Out of their sights: the turning of her back

Made them all shriek, it look'd so ghastly black.490

O hapless Hero! that most hapless cloud

Thy soon-succeeding tragedy foreshow'd.[Pg 90]

Thus all the nuptial crew to joys depart;

But much-wronged [112] Hero stood Hell's blackest dart:

Whose wound because I grieve so to display,

I use digressions thus t' increase the day.

Leucote flies to all the Winds,

And from the Fates their outrage blinds,[113]

That Hero and her love may meet.

Leander, with Love's complete fleet

Manned in himself, puts forth to seas;

When straight the ruthless Destinies,

With, Até, stir the winds to war

Upon the Hellespont: their jar

Drowns poor Leander. Hero's eyes,

Wet witnesses of his surprise,10

Her torch blown out, grief casts her down

Upon her love, and both doth drown:

In whose just ruth the god of seas

Transforms them to th' Acanthides.

No longer could the Day nor Destinies

Delay the Night, who now did frowning rise

Into her throne; and at her humorous breasts

Visions and Dreams lay sucking: all men's rests

Fell like the mists of death upon their eyes,

Day's too-long darts so kill'd their faculties.[Pg 92]

The Winds yet, like the flowers, to cease began;

For bright Leucote, Venus' whitest swan,

That held sweet Hero dear, spread her fair wings,

Like to a field of snow, and message brings10

From Venus to the Fates, t'entreat them lay

Their charge upon the Winds their rage to stay,

That the stern battle of the seas might cease,

And guard Leander to his love in peace.

The Fates consent;—ay me, dissembling Fates!

They showed their favours to conceal their hates,

And draw Leander on, lest seas too high

Should stay his too obsequious destiny:

Who [114] like a fleering slavish parasite,

In warping profit or a traitorous sleight,20

Hoops round his rotten body with devotes,

And pricks his descant face full of false notes;

Praising with open throat, and oaths as foul

As his false heart, the beauty of an owl;

Kissing his skipping hand with charmèd skips,

That cannot leave, but leaps upon his lips

Like a cock-sparrow, or a shameless quean

Sharp at a red-lipp'd youth, and naught doth mean

Of all his antic shows, but doth repair

[Pg 93]

More tender fawns,[115] and takes a scatter'd hair30

From his tame subject's shoulder; whips and calls

For everything he lacks; creeps 'gainst the walls

With backward humbless, to give needless way:

Thus his false fate did with Leander play.

First to black Eurus flies the white Leucote

(Born 'mongst the negroes in the Levant sea,

On whose curl'd head[s] the glowing sun doth rise),

And shows the sovereign will of Destinies,

To have him cease his blasts; and down he lies.

Next, to the fenny Notus course she holds,40

And found him leaning, with his arms in folds,

Upon a rock, his white hair full of showers;

And him she chargeth by the fatal powers,

To hold in his wet cheeks his cloudy voice.

To Zephyr then that doth in flowers rejoice:

To snake-foot Boreas next she did remove,

And found him tossing of his ravished love,[116]

To heat his frosty bosom hid in snow;

Who with Leucote's sight did cease to blow.

Thus all were still to Hero's heart's desire;50

Who with all speed did consecrate a fire

Of flaming gums and comfortable spice,

To light her torch, which in such curious price

She held, being object to Leander's sight,

That naught but fires perfumed must give it light.

She loved it so, she griev'd to see it burn,

Since it would waste, and soon to ashes turn:[Pg 94]

Yet, if it burned not, 'twere not worth her eyes;

What made it nothing, gave it all the prize.

Sweet torch, true glass of our society!60

What man does good, but he consumes thereby?

But thou wert loved for good, held high, given show;

Poor virtue loathed for good, obscured, held low:

Do good, be pined,—be deedless good, disgraced;

Unless we feed on men, we let them fast.

Yet Hero with these thoughts her torch did spend:

When bees make wax, Nature doth not intend

It should be made a torch; but we, that know

The proper virtue of it, make it so,

And, when 'tis made, we light it: nor did Nature70

Propose one life to maids; but each such creature

Makes by her soul the best of her free [117] state,

Which without love is rude, disconsolate,

And wants love's fire to make it mild and bright,

Till when, maids are but torches wanting light.

Thus 'gainst our grief, not cause of grief, we fight:

The right of naught is glean'd, but the delight.

Up went she: but to tell how she descended,

Would God she were dead, or my verse ended!

She was the rule of wishes, sum, and end,80

For all the parts that did on love depend:

Yet cast the torch his brightness further forth;

But what shines nearest best, holds truest worth.

Leander did not through such tempests swim

To kiss the torch, although it lighted him:[Pg 95]

But all his powers in her desires awakèd,

Her love and virtues clothed him richly naked.

Men kiss but fire that only shows pursue;

Her torch and Hero, figure show and virtue.

Now at opposed Abydos naught was heard90

But bleating flocks, and many a bellowing herd,

Slain for the nuptials; cracks of falling woods;

Blows of broad axes; pourings out of floods.

The guilty Hellespont was mix'd and stained

With bloody torrents [118] that the shambles rained;

Not arguments of feast, but shows that bled,

Foretelling that red night that followèd.

More blood was spilt, more honours were addrest,

Than could have gracèd any happy feast;

Rich banquets, triumphs, every pomp employs100

His sumptuous hand; no miser's nuptial joys.

Air felt continual thunder with the noise

Made in the general marriage-violence;

And no man knew the cause of this expense,

But the two hapless lords, Leander's sire,

And poor Leander, poorest where the fire

Of credulous love made him most rich surmis'd:

As short was he of that himself [119] he prized,

As is an empty gallant full of form,

That thinks each look an act, each drop a storm,110

That falls from his brave breathings; most brought up

In our metropolis, and hath his cup[Pg 96]

Brought after him to feasts; and much palm bears

For his rare judgment in th' attire he wears;

Hath seen the hot Low-Countries, not their heat,

Observes their rampires and their buildings yet;

And, for your sweet discourse with mouths, is heard

Giving instructions with his very beard;

Hath gone with an ambassador, and been

A great man's mate in travelling, even to Rhene;120

And then puts all his worth in such a face

As he saw brave men make, and strives for grace

To get his news forth: as when you descry

A ship, with all her sail contends to fly

Out of the narrow Thames with winds unapt,

Now crosseth here, then there, then this way rapt,

And then hath one point reach'd, then alters all,

And to another crookèd reach doth fall

Of half a bird-bolt's [120] shoot, keeping more coil

Than if she danc'd upon the ocean's toil;130

So serious is his trifling company,

In all his swelling ship of vacantry

And so short of himself in his high thought

Was our Leander in his fortunes brought,

And in his fort of love that he thought won;

But otherwise he scorns comparison.[Pg 97]

O sweet Leander, thy large worth I hide

In a short grave! ill-favour'd storms must chide

Thy sacred favour;[121] I in floods of ink

Must drown thy graces, which white papers drink,140

Even as thy beauties did the foul black seas;

I must describe the hell of thy decease,

That heaven did merit: yet I needs must see

Our painted fools and cockhorse peasantry

Still, still usurp, with long lives, loves, and lust,

The seats of Virtue, cutting short as dust

Her dear-bought issue: ill to worse converts,

And tramples in the blood of all deserts.

Night close and silent now goes fast before

The captains and the soldiers to the shore,150

On whom attended the appointed fleet

At Sestos' bay, that should Leander meet,

Who feigned he in another ship would pass:

Which must not be, for no one mean there was

To get his love home, but the course he took.

Forth did his beauty for his beauty look,

And saw her through her torch, as you behold

Sometimes within the sun a face of gold,

Formed in strong thoughts, by that tradition's force

That says a god sits there and guides his course.160

His sister was with him; to whom he show'd

His guide by sea, and said, "Oft have you view'd

In one heaven many stars, but never yet

In one star many heavens till now were met.[Pg 98]

See, lovely sister! see, now Hero shines,

No heaven but her appears; each star repines,

And all are clad in clouds, as if they mourned

To be by influence of earth out-burned.

Yet doth she shine, and teacheth Virtue's train

Still to be constant in hell's blackest reign,170

Though even the gods themselves do so entreat them

As they did hate, and earth as she would eat them."

Off went his silken robe, and in he leapt,

Whom the kind waves so licorously cleapt,[122]

Thickening for haste, one in another, so,

To kiss his skin, that he might almost go

To Hero's tower, had that kind minute lasted.

But now the cruel Fates with Até hasted

To all the winds, and made them battle fight

Upon the Hellespont, for either's right180

Pretended to the windy monarchy;

And forth they brake, the seas mixed with the sky,

And tossed distressed Leander, being in hell,

As high as heaven: bliss not in height doth dwell.

The Destinies sate dancing on the waves,

To see the glorious Winds with mutual braves

Consume each other: O, true glass, to see

How ruinous ambitious statists be

To their own glories! Poor Leander cried

[Pg 99]

For help to sea-born Venus she denied;190

To Boreas, that, for his Atthæa's [123] sake

He would some pity on his Hero take,

And for his own love's sake, on his desires;

But Glory never blows cold Pity's fires.

Then call'd he Neptune, who, through all the noise,

Knew with affright his wreck'd Leander's voice,

And up he rose; for haste his forehead hit

'Gainst heaven's hard crystal; his proud waves he smit

With his forked sceptre, that could not obey;

Much greater powers than Neptune's gave them sway.200

They loved Leander so, in groans they brake

When they came near him; and such space did take

'Twixt one another, loath to issue on,

That in their shallow furrows earth was shown,

And the poor lover took a little breath:

But the curst Fates sate spinning of his death

On every wave, and with the servile Winds

Tumbled them on him. And now Hero finds,

By that she felt, her dear Leander's state:

She wept, and prayed for him to every Fate;210

And every Wind that whipped her with her hair

About the face, she kissed and spake it fair,

Kneeled to it, gave it drink out of her eyes

To quench his thirst: but still their cruelties

Even her poor torch envied, and rudely beat

The baiting [124] flame from that dear food it eat;[Pg 100]

Dear, for it nourish'd her Leander's life;

Which with her robe she rescued from their strife;

But silk too soft was such hard hearts to break;

And she, dear soul, even as her silk, faint, weak,220

Could not preserve it; out, O, out it went!

Leander still call'd Neptune, that now rent

His brackish curls, and tore his wrinkled face,

Where tears in billows did each other chase;

And, burst with ruth, he hurl'd his marble mace

At the stern Fates: it wounded Lachesis

That drew Leander's thread, and could not miss

The thread itself, as it her hand did hit,

But smote it full, and quite did sunder it.

The more kind Neptune raged, the more he razed230

His love's life's fort, and kill'd as he embraced:

Anger doth still his own mishap increase;

If any comfort live, it is in peace.

O thievish Fates, to let blood, flesh, and sense,

Build two fair temples for their excellence,

To robe it with a poisoned influence!

Though souls' gifts starve, the bodies are held dear

In ugliest things; sense-sport preserves a bear:

But here naught serves our turns: O heaven and earth,

How most-most wretched is our human birth!240

And now did all the tyrannous crew depart,

Knowing there was a storm in Hero's heart,

Greater than they could make, and scorn'd their smart.

She bow'd herself so low out of her tower,

That wonder 'twas she fell not ere her hour,[Pg 101]

With searching the lamenting waves for him:

Like a poor snail, her gentle supple limb

Hung on her turret's top, so most downright,

As she would dive beneath the darkness quite,

To find her jewel;—jewel!—her Leander,250

A name of all earth's jewels pleas'd not her

Like his dear name: "Leander, still my choice,

Come naught but my Leander! O my voice,

Turn to Leander! henceforth be all sounds,

Accents and phrases, that show all griefs' wounds,

Analyzed in Leander! O black change!

Trumpets, do you, with thunder of your clange,

Drive out this change's horror! My voice faints:

Where all joy was, now shriek out all complaints!"

Thus cried she; for her mixèd soul could tell260

Her love was dead: and when the Morning fell

Prostrate upon the weeping earth for woe,

Blushes, that bled out of her cheeks, did show

Leander brought by Neptune, bruis'd and torn

With cities' ruins he to rocks had worn,

To filthy usuring rocks, that would have blood,

Though they could get of him no other good.

She saw him, and the sight was much-much more

Than might have serv'd to kill her: should her store

Of giant sorrows speak?—Burst,—die,—bleed,270

And leave poor plaints to us that shall succeed.

She fell on her love's bosom, hugged it fast,

And with Leander's name she breathed her last.

Neptune for pity in his arms did take them,

Flung them into the air, and did awake them[Pg 102]

Like two sweet birds, surnam'd th' Acanthides,

Which we call Thistle-warps, that near no seas

Dare ever come, but still in couples fly,

And feed on thistle-tops, to testify

The hardness of their first life in their last;280

The first, in thorns of love, that sorrows past:

And so most beautiful their colours show,

As none (so little) like them; her sad brow

A sable velvet feather covers quite,

Even like the forehead-cloth that, in the night,

Or when they sorrow, ladies use [125] to wear:

Their wings, blue, red, and yellow, mixed appear:

Colours that, as we construe colours, paint

Their states to life;—the yellow shows their saint,

The dainty [126] Venus, left them; blue their truth;290

The red and black, ensigns of death and ruth.

And this true honour from their love-death sprung,—

They were the first that ever poet sung.[127]

We which were Ovid's five books, now are three,

For these before the rest preferreth he:

If reading five thou plain'st of tediousness,

Two ta'en away, thy [128] labour will be less;

With Muse prepared,[129] I meant to sing of arms,

Choosing a subject fit for fierce alarms:

Both verses were alike till Love (men say)

Began to smile and took one foot away.

Rash boy, who gave thee power to change a line?

We are the Muses' prophets, none of thine.[Pg 106]

What, if thy mother take Diana's [130] bow,

Shall Dian fan when love begins to glow?

In woody groves is't meet that Ceres reign,

And quiver-bearing Dian till the plain?10

Who'll set the fair-tressed Sun in battle-ray

While Mars doth take the Aonian harp to play?

Great are thy kingdoms, over-strong and large,

Ambitious imp, why seek'st thou further charge?

Are all things thine? the Muses' Tempe thine?

Then scarce can Phœbus say, "This harp is mine."

When [131] in this work's first verse I trod aloft,

Love slaked my muse, and made my numbers soft:

I have no mistress nor no favourite,

Being fittest matter for a wanton wit.20

Thus I complained, but Love unlocked his quiver,

Took out the shaft, ordained my heart to shiver,

And bent his sinewy bow upon his knee,

Saying, "Poet, here's a work beseeming thee."

O, woe is me! he never shoots but hits,

I burn, love in my idle bosom sits:

Let my first verse be six, my last five feet:

Farewell stern war, for blunter poets meet!

Elegian muse, that warblest amorous lays,

Girt my shine [132] brow with seabank myrtle sprays.[133]30

What makes my bed seem hard seeing it is soft?

Or why slips down the coverlet so oft?

Although the nights be long I sleep not tho [134]

My sides are sore with tumbling to and fro.

Were love the cause it's like I should descry him,

Or lies he close and shoots where none can spy him?

'Twas so; he strook me with a slender dart;

'Tis cruel Love turmoils my captive heart.

Yielding or striving [135] do we give him might,

Let's yield, a burden easily borne is light.10

I saw a brandished fire increase in strength,

Which being not shak'd, I saw it die at length.

Young oxen newly yoked are beaten more,

Than oxen which have drawn the plough before:

And rough jades' mouths with stubborn bits are torn,

But managed horses' heads are lightly borne.[136]

Unwilling lovers, love doth more torment,

Than such as in their bondage feel content.

Lo! I confess, I am thy captive I,

[Pg 108]

And hold my conquered hands for thee to tie.20

What need'st thou war? I sue to thee for grace:

With arms to conquer armless men is base.

Yoke Venus' Doves, put myrtle on thy hair,

Vulcan will give thee chariots rich and fair:

The people thee applauding, thou shalt stand,

Guiding the harmless pigeons with thy hand.

Young men and women shalt thou lead as thrall,

So will thy triumph seem magnifical;

I, lately caught, will have a new-made wound,

And captive-like be manacled and bound:30

Good meaning, Shame, and such as seek Love's wrack

Shall follow thee, their hands tied at their back.

Thee all shall fear, and worship as a king

Iö triumphing shall thy people sing.

Smooth speeches, Fear and Rage shall by thee ride,

Which troops have always been on Cupid's side;

Thou with these soldiers conquer'st gods and men,

Take these away, where is thine honour then?

Thy mother shall from heaven applaud this show,

And on their faces heaps of roses strow,40

With beauty of thy wings, thy fair hair gilded,[137]

Ride golden Love in chariots richly builded!

Unless I err, full many shalt thou burn,

And give wounds infinite at every turn.

In spite of thee, forth will thine arrows fly,

A scorching flame burns all the standers by.[Pg 109]

So, having conquered Inde, was Bacchus' hue;

Thee pompous birds and him two tigers drew;

Then seeing I grace thy show in following thee,

Forbear to hurt thyself in spoiling me.50

Behold thy kinsman [138] Cæsar's prosperous bands,

Who guards the [139] conquered with his conquering hands.

I ask but right, let her that caught me late,

Either love, or cause that I may never hate;

I crave [140] too much—would she but let me love her;

Jove knows with such-like prayers I daily move her.

Accept him that shall serve thee all his youth,

Accept him that shall love with spotless truth.

If lofty titles cannot make [141] me thine,

That am descended but of knightly line,

(Soon may you plough the little land I have;

I gladly grant my parents given to save;[142])10

Apollo, Bacchus, and the Muses may;

And Cupid who hath marked me for thy prey;

My spotless life, which but to gods gives place,

Naked simplicity, and modest grace.

I love but one, and her I love change never,

If men have faith, I'll live with thee for ever.[Pg 110]

The years that fatal Destiny shall give

I'll live with thee, and die ere thou shalt grieve.

Be thou the happy subject of my books

That I may write things worthy thy fair looks.20

By verses, horned Iö got her name;

And she to whom in shape of swan [143] Jove came;

And she that on a feigned Bull swam to land,

Griping his false horns with her virgin hand,

So likewise we will through the world be rung

And with my name shall thine be always sung.

Thy husband to a banquet goes with me,

Pray God it may his latest supper be.

Shall I sit gazing as a bashful guest,

While others touch the damsel I love best?

Wilt lying under him, his bosom clip?

About thy neck shall he at pleasure skip?

Marvel not, though the fair bride did incite

The drunken Centaurs to a sudden fight.

I am no half horse, nor in woods I dwell,

Yet scarce my hands from thee contain I well.10

But how thou should'st behave thyself now know,

Nor let the winds away my warnings blow.[Pg 111]

Before thy husband come, though I not see

What may be done, yet there before him be.

Lie with him gently, when his limbs he spread

Upon the bed; but on my foot first tread.

View me, my becks, and speaking countenance;

Take, and return [145] each secret amorous glance.

Words without voice shall on my eyebrows sit,

Lines thou shalt read in wine by my hand writ.20

When our lascivious toys come to thy mind,

Thy rosy cheeks be to thy thumb inclined.

If aught of me thou speak'st in inward thought,

Let thy soft finger to thy ear be brought.

When I, my light, do or say aught that please thee,

Turn round thy gold ring, as it were to ease thee.

Strike on the board like them that pray for evil,

When thou dost wish thy husband at the devil.[146]

What wine he fills thee, wisely will [147] him drink;

Ask thou the boy, what thou enough dost think.30

When thou hast tasted, I will take the cup,

And where thou drink'st, on that part I will sup.

If he gives thee what first himself did taste,

Even in his face his offered gobbets [148] cast.

Let not thy neck by his vile arms be prest,

Nor lean thy soft head on his boisterous breast.[Pg 112]

Thy bosom's roseate buds let him not finger,

Chiefly on thy lips let not his lips linger

If thou givest kisses, I shall all disclose,[149]

Say they are mine, and hands on thee impose.40

Yet this I'll see, but if thy gown aught cover,

Suspicious fear in all my veins will hover.

Mingle not thighs, nor to his leg join thine,

Nor thy soft foot with his hard foot combine.

I have been wanton, therefore am perplexed,

And with mistrust of the like measure vexed.

I and my wench oft under clothes did lurk,

When pleasure moved us to our sweetest work.

Do not thou so; but throw thy mantle hence,

Lest I should think thee guilty of offence.50

Entreat thy husband drink, but do not kiss,

And while he drinks, to add more do not miss;

If he lies down with wine and sleep opprest,

The thing and place shall counsel us the rest.

When to go homewards we rise all along

Have care to walk in middle of the throng.

There will I find thee or be found by thee,

There touch whatever thou canst touch of me.

Ay me! I warn what profits some few hours!

But we must part, when heaven with black night lours.60

At night thy husband clips [150] thee: I will weep

And to the doors sight of thyself [will] keep:[Pg 113]

Then will he kiss thee, and not only kiss,

But force thee give him my stolen honey-bliss.

Constrained against thy will give it the peasant,

Forbear sweet words, and be your sport unpleasant.

To him I pray it no delight may bring,

Or if it do, to thee no joy thence spring.

But, though this night thy fortune be to try it,

To me to-morrow constantly deny [151] it.70

In summer's heat, and mid-time of the day,

To rest my limbs upon a bed I lay;

One window shut, the other open stood,

Which gave such light as twinkles in a wood,

Like twilight glimpse at setting of the sun,

Or night being past, and yet not day begun;

Such light to shamefaced maidens must be shown

Where they may sport, and seem to be unknown:

Then came Corinna in a long loose gown,

Her white neck hid with tresses hanging down,10

Resembling fair Semiramis going to bed,

Or Lais of a thousand wooers sped.[152]

I snatched her gown: being thin, the harm was small,

Yet strived she to be covered therewithal;

And striving thus, as one that would be cast,

Betrayed herself, and yielded at the last.[Pg 114]

Stark naked as she stood before mine eye,

Not one wen in her body could I spy.

What arms and shoulders did I touch and see!

How apt her breasts were to be pressed by me!20

How smooth a belly under her waist saw I,

How large a leg, and what a lusty thigh!

To leave the rest, all liked me passing well;

I clinged her naked [153] body, down she fell:

Judge you the rest; being tired she bade me kiss;

Jove send me more such afternoons as this!

Unworthy porter, bound in chains full sore,

On movèd hooks set ope the churlish door.

Little I ask, a little entrance make,

The gate half-ope my bent side in will take.

Long love my body to such use make[s] slender,

And to get out doth like apt members render.

He shows me how unheard to pass the watch,

And guides my feet lest, stumbling, falls they catch:

But in times past I feared vain shades, and night,

Wondering if any walkèd without light.10

Love, hearing it, laughed with his tender mother,

And smiling said, "Be thou as bold as other."[Pg 115]

Forthwith love came; no dark night-flying sprite,

Nor hands prepared to slaughter, me affright.

Thee fear I too much: only thee I flatter:

Thy lightning can my life in pieces batter.

Why enviest me? this hostile den [155] unbar;

See how the gates with my tears watered are!

When thou stood'st naked ready to be beat,

For thee I did thy mistress fair entreat.20

But what entreats for thee sometimes [156] took place,

(O mischief!) now for me obtain small grace.

Gratis thou mayest be free; give like for like;

Night goes away: the door's bar backward strike.

Strike; so again hard chains shall bind thee never,

Nor servile water shalt thou drink for ever.

Hard-hearted Porter, dost and wilt not hear?

With stiff oak propped the gate doth still appear.

Such rampired gates besiegèd cities aid;

In midst of peace why art of arms afraid?30

Exclud'st a lover, how would'st use a foe?

Strike back the bar, night fast away doth go.

With arms or armèd men I come not guarded;

I am alone, were furious love discarded.

Although I would, I cannot him cashier,

Before I be divided from my gear.[157]

See Love with me, wine moderate in my brain,

And on my hairs a crown of flowers remain.[Pg 116]

Who fears these arms? who will not go to meet them?

Night runs away; with open entrance greet them.40

Art careless? or is't sleep forbids thee hear,

Giving the winds my words running in thine ear?

Well I remember, when I first did hire thee,

Watching till after midnight did not tire thee.

But now perchance thy wench with thee doth rest,

Ah, how thy lot is above my lot blest:

Though it be so, shut me not out therefore;

Night goes away: I pray thee ope the door.

Err we? or do the turnèd hinges sound,

And opening doors with creaking noise abound?[158]50

We err: a strong blast seemed the gates to ope:

Ay me, how high that gale did lift my hope!

If Boreas bears [159] Orithyia's rape in mind,

Come break these deaf doors with thy boisterous wind.

Silent the city is: night's dewy host [160]

March fast away: the bar strike from the post.

Or I more stern than fire or sword will turn,

And with my brand these gorgeous houses burn.

Night, love, and wine to all extremes persuade:

Night, shameless wine, and love are fearless made.60

All have I spent: no threats or prayers move thee;

O harder than the doors thou guard'st I prove thee,[Pg 117]

No pretty wench's keeper may'st thou be,

The careful prison is more meet for thee.

Now frosty night her flight begins to take,

And crowing cocks poor souls to work awake.

But thou, my crown, from sad hairs ta'en away,

On this hard threshold till the morning lay.

That when my mistress there beholds thee cast,

She may perceive how we the time did waste.70

Whate'er thou art, farewell, be like me pained!

Careless farewell, with my fault not distained![161]

And farewell cruel posts, rough threshold's block,

And doors conjoined with an hard iron lock!

Bind fast my hands, they have deservèd chains,

While rage is absent, take some friend the pains.

For rage against my wench moved my rash arm,

My mistress weeps whom my mad hand did harm.

I might have then my parents dear misused,

Or holy gods with cruel strokes abused.

Why, Ajax, master of the seven-fold shield,

Butchered the flocks he found in spacious field.

And he who on his mother venged his ire,

[Pg 118]

Against the Destinies durst sharp [163] darts require.10

Could I therefore her comely tresses tear?

Yet was she gracèd with her ruffled hair.

So fair she was, Atalanta she resembled,

Before whose bow th' Arcadian wild beasts trembled.

Such Ariadne was, when she bewails,

Her perjured Theseus' flying vows and sails.

So, chaste Minerva, did Cassandra fall

Deflowered [164] except within thy temple wall.

That I was mad, and barbarous all men cried:

She nothing said; pale fear her tongue had tied.20

But secretly her looks with checks did trounce me,

Her tears, she silent, guilty did pronounce me.

Would of mine arms my shoulders had been scanted:

Better I could part of myself have wanted.

To mine own self have I had strength so furious,

And to myself could I be so injurious?

Slaughter and mischiefs instruments, no better,

Deservèd chains these cursed hands shall fetter.

Punished I am, if I a Roman beat:

Over my mistress is my right more great?30

Tydides left worst signs [165] of villainy;

He first a goddess struck: another I.

Yet he harmed less; whom I professed to love

I harmed: a foe did Diomede's anger move.

Go now, thou conqueror, glorious triumphs raise,

Pay vows to Jove; engirt thy hairs with bays.[Pg 119]

And let the troops which shall thy chariot follow,

"Iö, a strong man conquered this wench," hollow.

Let the sad captive foremost, with locks spread

On her white neck, but for hurt cheeks,[166] be led.40

Meeter it were her lips were blue with kissing,

And on her neck a wanton's [167] mark not missing.

But, though I like a swelling flood was driven,

And as a prey unto blind anger given,

Was't not enough the fearful wench to chide?

Nor thunder, in rough threatenings, haughty pride?

Nor shamefully her coat pull o'er her crown,

Which to her waist her girdle still kept down?

But cruelly her tresses having rent,

My nails to scratch her lovely cheeks I bent.50

Sighing she stood, her bloodless white looks shewed,

Like marble from the Parian mountains hewed.

Her half-dead joints, and trembling limbs I saw,

Like poplar leaves blown with a stormy flaw.

Or slender ears, with gentle zephyr shaken,

Or waters' tops with the warm south-wind taken.

And down her cheeks, the trickling tears did flow,

Like water gushing from consuming snow.

Then first I did perceive I had offended;

My blood the tears were that from her descended.60

Before her feet thrice prostrate down I fell,

My fearèd hands thrice back she did repel.[Pg 120]

But doubt thou not (revenge doth grief appease),

With thy sharp nails upon my face to seize;

Bescratch mine eyes, spare not my locks to break

(Anger will help thy hands though ne'er so weak);

And lest the sad signs of my crime remain,

Put in their place thy kembèd [168] hairs again.

There is—whoe'er will know a bawd aright,

Give ear—there is an old trot Dipsas hight.[170]

Her name comes from the thing: she being wise,[171]

Sees not the morn on rosy horses rise,

She magic arts and Thessal charms doth know,

And makes large streams back to their fountains flow;

She knows with grass, with threads on wrung [172] wheels spun,

And what with mares' rank humour [173] may be done.

When she will, cloudes the darkened heaven obscure,

When she will, day shines everywhere most pure.10

If I have faith, I saw the stars drop blood,

The purple moon with sanguine visage stood;[Pg 121]

Her I suspect among night's spirits to fly,

And her old body in birds' plumes to lie.

Fame saith as I suspect; and in her eyes,

Two eyeballs shine, and double light thence flies.

Great grandsires from their ancient graves she chides,

And with long charms the solid earth divides.

She draws chaste women to incontinence,

Nor doth her tongue want harmful eloquence.20

By chance I heard her talk; these words she said,

While closely hid betwixt two doors I laid.

"Mistress, thou knowest thou hast a blest youth pleased,

He stayed and on thy looks his gazes seized.

And why should'st not please; none thy face exceeds;

Ay me, thy body hath no worthy weeds!

As thou art fair, would thou wert fortunate!

Wert thou rich, poor should not be my state.

Th' opposèd star of Mars hath done thee harm;

Now Mars is gone, Venus thy side doth warm,30

And brings good fortune; a rich lover plants

His love on thee, and can supply thy wants.

Such is his form as may with thine compare,

Would he not buy thee, thou for him should'st care."[174]

She blushed: "Red shame becomes white cheeks; but this

If feigned, doth well; if true, it doth amiss.

When on thy lap thine eyes thou dost deject,

Each one according to his gifts respect.[Pg 122]

Perhaps the Sabines rude, when Tatius reigned

To yield their love to more than one disdained.40

Now Mars doth rage abroad without all pity,

And Venus rules in her Æneas' city.

Fair women play; she's chaste whom none will have

Or, but for bashfulness, herself would crave.

Shake off these wrinkles that thy front assault;

Wrinkles in beauty is a grievous fault.

Penelope in bows her youths' strength tried,

Of horn the bow was that approved [175] their side.

Time flying slides hence closely, and deceives us,

And with swift horses the swift year [176] soon leaves us.50

Brass shines with use; good garments would [177] be worn;

Houses not dwelt in, are with filth forlorn.

Beauty, not exercised, with age is spent,

Nor one or two men are sufficient.

Many to rob is more sure, and less hateful,

From dog-kept flocks come preys to wolves most grateful.

Behold, what gives the poet but new verses?

And therefore many thousand he rehearses.

The poet's god arrayed in robes of gold,

Of his gilt harp the well-tuned strings doth hold.60

Let Homer yield to such as presents bring,

(Trust me) to give, it is a witty thing.

Nor, so thou may'st obtain a wealthy prize,

The vain name of inferior slaves despise.[Pg 123]

Nor let the arms of ancient lines [178] beguile thee;

Poor lover, with thy grandsires I exile thee.

Who seeks, for being fair, a night to have,

What he will give, with greater instance crave.

Make a small price, while thou thy nets dost lay;

Lest they should fly; being ta'en, the tyrant play.70

Dissemble so, as loved he may be thought,

And take heed lest he gets that love for naught.

Deny him oft; feign now thy head doth ache:

And Isis now will show what 'scuse to make.

Receive him soon, lest patient use he gain,

Or lest his love oft beaten back should wane.

To beggars shut, to bringers ope thy gate;

Let him within hear barred-out lovers prate.

And, as first wronged, the wrongèd sometimes banish;

Thy fault with his fault so repulsed will vanish.80

But never give a spacious time to ire;

Anger delayed doth oft to hate retire.

And let thine eyes constrainèd learn to weep,

That this or that man may thy cheeks moist keep.

Nor, if thou cozenest one, dread to forswear,

Venus to mocked men lends a senseless ear.

Servants fit for thy purpose thou must hire,

To teach thy lover what thy thoughts desire.

Let them ask somewhat; many asking little,

Within a while great heaps grow of a tittle.90

And sister, nurse, and mother spare him not;

By many hands great wealth is quickly got.[Pg 124]

When causes fail thee to require a gift

By keeping of thy birth, make but a shift.

Beware lest he, unrivalled, loves secure;

Take strife away, love doth not well endure.

On all the bed men's tumbling [179] let him view,

And thy neck with lascivious marks made blue.

Chiefly show him the gifts, which others send:

If he gives nothing, let him from thee wend.100

When thou hast so much as he gives no more,

Pray him to lend what thou may'st ne'er restore.

Let thy tongue flatter, while thy mind harm works;

Under sweet honey deadly poison lurks.

If this thou dost, to me by long use known,

(Nor let my words be with the winds hence blown)

Oft thou wilt say, 'live well;' thou wilt pray oft,

That my dead bones may in their grave lie soft."

As thus she spake, my shadow me betrayed;

With much ado my hands I scarcely stayed;110

But her blear eyes, bald scalp's thin hoary fleeces,

And rivelled [180] cheeks I would have pulled a-pieces.

The gods send thee no house, a poor old age,

Perpetual thirst, and winter's lasting rage.

All lovers war, and Cupid hath his tent;

Attic, all lovers are to war far sent,[Pg 125]

What age fits Mars, with Venus doth agree;

'Tis shame for eld in war or love to be.

What years in soldiers captains do require,

Those in their lovers pretty maids desire.

Both of them watch: each on the hard earth sleeps:

His mistress' door this, that his captain's keeps.

Soldiers must travel far: the wench forth send,[182]

Her valiant lover follows without end.10

Mounts, and rain-doubled floods he passeth over,

And treads the desert snowy heaps do [183] cover.

Going to sea, east winds he doth not chide,

Nor to hoist sail attends fit time and tide.

Who but a soldier or a lover's bold

To suffer storm-mixed snows with night's sharp cold?

One as a spy doth to his enemies go,

The other eyes his rival as his foe.

He cities great, this thresholds lies before:

This breaks town gates, but he his mistress' door.20

Oft to invade the sleeping foe 'tis good,

And armed to shed unarmèd people's blood.

So the fierce troops of Thracian Rhesus fell,

And captive horses bade their lord farewell.

Sooth,[184] lovers watch till sleep the husband charms,

Who slumbering, they rise up in swelling arms.

The keepers' hands [185] and corps-du-gard to pass,

The soldier's, and poor lover's work e'er was.[Pg 126]

Doubtful is war and love; the vanquished rise,

And who thou never think'st should fall, down lies.30

Therefore whoe'er love slothfulness doth call,

Let him surcease: love tries wit best of all.

Achilles burned, Briseis being ta'en away;

Trojans destroy the Greek wealth, while you may.

Hector to arms went from his wife's embraces,

And on Andromache [186] his helmet laces.

Great Agamemnon was, men say, amazed,

On Priam's loose-trest daughter when he gazed.

Mars in the deed the blacksmith's net did stable;

In heaven was never more notorious fable.40

Myself was dull and faint, to sloth inclined;

Pleasure and ease had mollified my mind.

A fair maid's care expelled this sluggishness,

And to her tents willed me myself address.

Since may'st thou see me watch and night-wars move:

He that will not grow slothful, let him love.

Such as the cause was of two husbands' war,

Whom Trojan ships fetch'd from Europa far,

Such as was Leda, whom the god deluded

In snow-white plumes of a false swan included.[Pg 127]

Such as Amymone through the dry fields strayed,

When on her head a water pitcher laid.

Such wert thou, and I feared the bull and eagle,

And whate'er Love made Jove, should thee inveigle.

Now all fear with my mind's hot love abates:

No more this beauty mine eyes captivates.10

Ask'st why I change? because thou crav'st reward;

This cause hath thee from pleasing me debarred.

While thou wert plain [188] I loved thy mind and face:

Now inward faults thy outward form disgrace.

Love is a naked boy, his years saunce [189] stain,

And hath no clothes, but open doth remain.

Will you for gain have Cupid sell himself?

He hath no bosom where to hide base pelf.

Love [190] and Love's son are with fierce arms at [191] odds;

To serve for pay beseems not wanton gods.20

The whore stands to be bought for each man's money,

And seeks vild wealth by selling of her coney.

Yet greedy bawd's command she curseth still,

And doth, constrained, what you do of goodwill.

Take from irrational beasts a precedent;

'Tis shame their wits should be more excellent.

The mare asks not the horse, the cow the bull,

Nor the mild ewe gifts from the ram doth pull.

Only a woman gets spoils from a man,

[Pg 128]

Farms out herself on nights for what she can;30

And lets [192] what both delight, what both desire,

Making her joy according to her hire.

The sport being such, as both alike sweet try it,

Why should one sell it and the other buy it?

Why should I lose, and thou gain by the pleasure,

Which man and woman reap in equal measure?

Knights of the post [193] of perjuries make sale,

The unjust judge for bribes becomes a stale.

'Tis shame sold tongues the guilty should defend,

Or great wealth from a judgment-seat ascend.40

'Tis shame to grow rich by bed-merchandise,[194]

Or prostitute thy beauty for bad price.

Thanks worthily are due for things unbought;

For beds ill-hired we are indebted nought.

The hirer payeth all; his rent discharged,

From further duty he rests then enlarged.

Fair dames forbear rewards for nights to crave:

Ill-gotten goods good end will never have.

The Sabine gauntlets were too dearly won,

That unto death did press the holy nun.50

The son slew her, that forth to meet him went,

And a rich necklace caused that punishment.

Yet think no scorn to ask a wealthy churl;

He wants no gifts into thy lap to hurl.

Take clustered grapes from an o'er-laden vine,

May [195] bounteous love [196] Alcinous' fruit resign.[Pg 129]

Let poor men show their service, faith and care;

All for their mistress, what they have, prepare.

In verse to praise kind wenches 'tis my part,

And whom I like eternise by mine art.60

Garments do wear, jewels and gold do waste,

The fame that verse gives doth for ever last.

To give I love, but to be asked disdain;

Leave asking, and I'll give what I refrain.

In skilful gathering ruffled hairs in order,

Napè, free-born, whose cunning hath no border,[198]

Thy service for night's scapes is known commodious,

And to give signs dull wit to thee is odious.[199]

Corinna clips me oft by thy persuasion:

Never to harm me made thy faith evasion.

Receive these lines; them to my mistress carry;

Be sedulous; let no stay cause thee tarry,

Nor flint nor iron are in thy soft breast,

But pure simplicity in thee doth rest.10

And 'tis supposed Love's bow hath wounded thee;

Defend the ensigns of thy war in me.

If what I do, she asks, say "hope for night;"

The rest my hand doth in my letters write.[Pg 130]

Time passeth while I speak; give her my writ,

But see that forthwith she peruseth it.

I charge thee mark her eyes and front in reading:

By speechless looks we guess at things succeeding.

Straight being read, will her to write much back,

I hate fair paper should writ matter lack.20

Let her make verses and some blotted letter

On the last edge to stay mine eyes the better.

What needs she tire [200] her hand to hold the quill?

Let this word "Come," alone the tables fill.

Then with triumphant laurel will I grace them

And in the midst of Venus' temple place them,

Subscribing, that to her I consecrate

My faithful tables, being vile maple late.

Bewail my chance: the sad book is returned,

This day denial hath my sport adjourned.

Presages are not vain; when she departed,

Napè by stumbling on the threshold, started.

Going out again, pass forth the door more wisely,

And somewhat higher bear thy foot precisely.

Hence luckless tables! funeral wood, be flying!

And thou, the wax, stuffed full with notes denying![Pg 131]

Which I think gathered from cold hemlock's flower,

Wherein bad honey Corsic bees did pour:10

Yet as if mixed with red lead thou wert ruddy,

That colour rightly did appear so bloody.

As evil wood, thrown in the highways, lie,

Be broke with wheels of chariots passing by!

And him that hewed you out for needful uses,

I'll prove had hands impure with all abuses.

Poor wretches on the tree themselves did strangle:

There sat the hangman for men's necks to angle.

To hoarse scrich-owls foul shadows it allows;

Vultures and Furies [202] nestled in the boughs.20

To these my love I foolishly committed,

And then with sweet words to my mistress fitted.

More fitly had they [203] wrangling bonds contained

From barbarous lips of some attorney strained.

Among day-books and bills they had lain better,

In which the merchant wails his bankrupt debtor.

Your name approves you made for such like things,

The number two no good divining brings.

Angry, I pray that rotten age you racks,

And sluttish white-mould overgrow the wax.30

Now o'er the sea from her old love comes she

That draws the day from heaven's cold axletree.[Pg 132]

Aurora, whither slid'st thou? down again!

And birds for [204] Memnon yearly shall be slain.

Now in her tender arms I sweetly bide,

If ever, now well lies she by my side.

The air is cold, and sleep is sweetest now,

And birds send forth shrill notes from every bough.

Whither runn'st thou, that men and women love not?

Hold in thy rosy horses that they move not.10

Ere thou rise, stars teach seamen where to sail,

But when thou com'st, they of their courses fail.

Poor travellers though tired, rise at thy sight,

And [205] soldiers make them ready to the fight.

The painful hind by thee to field is sent;

Slow oxen early in the yoke are pent.

Thou coz'nest boys of sleep, and dost betray them

To pedants that with cruel lashes pay them.

Thou mak'st the surety to the lawyer run,

That with one word hath nigh himself undone.20

The lawyer and the client hate thy view,

Both whom thou raisest up to toil anew.

By thy means women of their rest are barred,

Thou settst their labouring hands to spin and card.

All [206] could I bear; but that the wench should rise,

Who can endure, save him with whom none lies?

How oft wished I night would not give thee place,

Nor morning stars shun thy uprising face.[Pg 133]

How oft that either wind would break thy coach,

Or steeds might fall, forced with thick clouds' approach.30

Whither go'st thou, hateful nymph? Memnon the elf

Received his coal-black colour from thyself.

Say that thy love with Cephalus were not known,

Then thinkest thou thy loose life is not shown?

Would Tithon might but talk of thee awhile!

Not one in heaven should be more base and vile.

Thou leav'st his bed, because he's faint through age,

And early mount'st thy hateful carriage:

But held'st [207] thou in thy arms some Cephalus,

Then would'st thou cry, "Stay night, and run not thus."40

Dost punish [208] me because years make him wane?

I did not bid thee wed an agèd swain.

The moon sleeps with Endymion every day;

Thou art as fair as she, then kiss and play.

Jove, that thou should'st not haste but wait his leisure,

Made two nights one to finish up his pleasure.

I chid [209] no more; she blushed, and therefore heard me,

Yet lingered not the day, but morning scared me.

Leave colouring thy tresses, I did cry;

Now hast thou left no hairs at all to dye.[Pg 134]

But what had been more fair had they been kept?

Beyond thy robes thy dangling locks had swept.

Fear'dst thou to dress them being fine and thin,

Like to the silk the curious [211] Seres spin.

Or threads which spider's slender foot draws out,

Fastening her light web some old beam about?

Not black nor golden were they to our view,

Yet although [n]either, mixed of either's hue;10

Such as in hilly Ida's watery plains,

The cedar tall, spoiled of his bark, retains.

Add [212] they were apt to curl a hundred ways,

And did to thee no cause of dolour raise.

Nor hath the needle, or the comb's teeth reft them,

The maid that kembed them ever safely left them.

Oft was she dressed before mine eyes, yet never,

Snatching the comb to beat the wench, outdrive her.

Oft in the morn, her hairs not yet digested,

Half-sleeping on a purple bed she rested;20

Yet seemly like a Thracian Bacchanal,

That tired doth rashly [213] on the green grass fall.

When they were slender and like downy moss,

Thy [214] troubled hairs, alas, endured great loss.

How patiently hot irons they did take,

In crookèd trannels [215] crispy curls to make.[Pg 135]

I cried, "'Tis sin, 'tis sin, these hairs to burn,

They well become thee, then to spare them turn.

Far off be force, no fire to them may reach,

Thy very hairs will the hot bodkin teach."30

Lost are the goodly locks, which from their crown,

Phœbus and Bacchus wished were hanging down.

Such were they as Diana [216] painted stands,

All naked holding in her wave-moist hands.

Why dost thy ill-kembed tresses' loss lament?

Why in thy glass dost look, being discontent?

Be not to see with wonted eyes inclined;

To please thyself, thyself put out of mind.

No charmèd herbs of any harlot scathed thee,

No faithless witch in Thessal waters bathed thee.40

No sickness harmed thee (far be that away!),

No envious tongue wrought thy thick locks' decay.

By thine own hand and fault thy hurt doth grow,

Thou mad'st thy head with compound poison flow.

Now Germany shall captive hair-tires send thee,

And vanquished people curious dressings lend thee.

Which some admiring, O thou oft wilt blush!

And say, "He likes me for my borrowed bush.

Praising for me some unknown Guelder [217] dame,

But I remember when it was my fame."50

Alas she almost weeps, and her white cheeks,

Dyed red with shame to hide from shame she seeks.[Pg 136]

She holds, and views her old locks in her lap;

Ay me! rare gifts unworthy such a hap!

Cheer up thyself, thy loss thou may'st repair,

And be hereafter seen with native hair.

Envy, why carp'st thou my time's spent so ill?

And term'st [218] my works fruits of an idle quill?

Or that unlike the line from whence I sprung [219]

War's dusty honours are refused being young?

Nor that I study not the brawling laws,

Nor set my voice to sail in every cause?

Thy scope is mortal; mine, eternal fame.

That all the world may [220] ever chant my name.

Homer shall live while Tenedos stands and Ide,

Or to [221] the sea swift Simois shall [222] slide.10

Ascræus lives while grapes with new wine swell,

Or men with crookèd sickles corn down fell.

The [223] world shall of Callimachus ever speak;

His art excelled, although his wit was weak.

For ever lasts high Sophocles' proud vein,

With sun and moon Aratus shall remain.[Pg 137]

While bondmen cheat, fathers [be] hard,[224] bawds whorish,

And strumpets flatter, shall Menander flourish.

Rude Ennius, and Plautus [225] full of wit,

Are both in Fame's eternal legend writ.20

What age of Varro's name shall not be told,

And Jason's Argo,[226] and the fleece of gold?

Lofty Lucretius shall live that hour,

That nature shall dissolve this earthly bower.

Æneas' war and Tityrus shall be read,

While Rome of all the conquered [227] world is head.

Till Cupid's bow, and fiery shafts be broken,

Thy verses, sweet Tibullus, shall be spoken.

And Gallus shall be known from East to West,

So shall Lycoris whom he lovèd best.30

Therefore when flint and iron wear away,

Verse is immortal and shall ne'er decay.

To [228] verse let kings give place and kingly shows,

And banks o'er which gold-bearing Tagus flows.

Let base-conceited wits admire vild things;

Fair Phœbus lead me to the Muses' springs.

About my head be quivering myrtle wound,

And in sad lovers' heads let me be found.

The living, not the dead, can envy bite,

[Pg 138]

For after death all men receive their right.40

Then though death racks [229] my bones in funeral fire,

I'll live, and as he pulls me down mount higher.

Envy, why twitt'st thou me, my time's spent ill?

And call'st my verse fruits of an idle quill?

Or that (unlike the line from whence I sprung)

War's dusty honours I pursue not young?

Or that I study not the tedious laws;

And prostitute my voice in every cause?

Thy scope is mortal; mine eternal fame,

Which through the world shall ever chant my name.

Homer will live, whilst Tenedos stands, and Ide,

Or to the sea, fleet Symois doth slide:10

And so shall Hesiod too, while vines do bear,

Or crookèd sickles crop the ripened ear.

Callimachus, though in invention low,

Shall still be sung, since he in art doth flow;

No loss shall come to Sophocles' proud vein;

With sun and moon Aratus shall remain.

Whilst slaves be false, fathers hard, and bawds be whorish,

Whilst harlots flatter, shall Meander flourish.

Ennius, though rude, and Accius' high-reared strain,

[Pg 139]

A fresh applause in every age shall gain.20

Of Varro's name, what ear shall not be told?

Of Jason's Argo and the fleece of gold?

Then, shall Lucretius' lofty numbers die,

When earth, and seas in fire and flames shall fry.

Tityrus, Tillage, Æney shall be read,[231]

Whilst Rome of all the conquered world is head.

Till Cupid's fires be out, and his bow broken,

Thy verses, neat Tibulus, shall be spoken.

Our Gallus shall be known from East to West,

So shall Lycoris, whom he now loves best.30

The suffering ploughshare or the flint may wear,

But heavenly poesy no death can fear.

Kings shall give place to it, and kingly shows,

The banks o'er which gold-bearing Tagus flows.

Kneel hinds to trash: me let bright Phœbus swell,

With cups full flowing from the Muses' well.

The frost-drad [232] myrtle shall impale my head,

And of sad lovers I'll be often read.

Envy the living, not the dead doth bite,

For after death all men receive their right.40

Then when this body falls in funeral fire,

My name shall live, and my best part aspire.

I, Ovid, poet, of my [234] wantonness,

Born at Peligny, to write more address.

So Cupid wills. Far hence be the severe!

You are unapt my looser lines to hear.

Let maids whom hot desire to husbands lead,[235]

And rude boys, touched with unknown love, me read:

That some youth hurt, as I am, with Love's bow,

His own flame's best-acquainted signs may know.

And long admiring say, "By what means learned,

Hath this same poet my sad chance discern'd?"10

I durst the great celestial battles tell,

Hundred-hand Gyges, and had done it well;

With Earth's revenge, and how Olympus top

High Ossa bore, Mount Pelion up to prop;[Pg 141]

Jove and Jove's thunderbolts I had in hand,

Which for [236] his heaven fell on the giants' band.

My wench her door shut, Jove's affairs I left,

Even Jove himself out of my wit was reft.

Pardon me, Jove! thy weapons aid me nought,

Her shut gates greater lightning than thine brought.20

Toys, and light elegies, my darts I took,

Quickly soft words hard doors wide-open strook.

Verses reduce the hornèd bloody moon,

And call the sun's white horses back [237] at noon.

Snakes leap by verse from caves of broken mountains,[238]

And turnèd streams run backward to their fountains.

Verses ope doors; and locks put in the post,

Although of oak, to yield to verses boast.

What helps it me of fierce Achill to sing?

What good to me will either Ajax bring?30

Or he who warred and wandered twenty year?

Or woful Hector whom wild jades did tear?

But when I praise a pretty wench's face,

She in requital doth me oft embrace.

A great reward! Heroes of [239] famous names

Farewell! your favour nought my mind inflames.

Wenches apply your fair looks to my verse,

Which golden Love doth unto me rehearse.

Bagous, whose care doth thy [241] mistress bridle,

While I speak some few, yet fit words, be idle.

I saw the damsel walking yesterday,

There, where the porch doth Danaus' fact [242] display:

She pleased me soon; I sent, and did her woo;

Her trembling hand writ back she might not do.

And asking why, this answer she redoubled,

Because thy care too much thy mistress troubled.

Keeper, if thou be wise, cease hate to cherish,

Believe me, whom we fear, we wish to perish.10

Nor is her husband wise: what needs defence,

When unprotected [243] there is no expense?

But furiously he follow [244] his love's fire,

And thinks her chaste whom many do desire:

Stolen liberty she may by thee obtain,

Which giving her, she may give thee again:

Wilt thou her fault learn? she may make thee tremble.

Fear to be guilty, then thou may'st dissemble.

Think when she reads, her mother letters sent her:

[Pg 143]

Let him go forth known, that unknown did enter.20

Let him go see her though she do not languish,

And then report her sick and full of anguish.

If long she stays, to think the time more short,

Lay down thy forehead in thy lap to snort.

Inquire not what with Isis may be done,

Nor fear lest she to the theàtres run.

Knowing her scapes, thine honour shall increase;

And what less labour than to hold thy peace?

Let him please, haunt the house, be kindly used,

Enjoy the wench; let all else be refused.30

Vain causes feign of him, the true to hide,

And what she likes, let both hold ratified.

When most her husband bends the brows and frowns,

His fawning wench with her desire he crowns.

But yet sometimes to chide thee let her fall

Counterfeit tears: and thee lewd hangman call.

Object thou then, what she may well excuse,

To stain all faith in truth, by false crimes' use.

Of wealth and honour so shall grow thy heap:

Do this, and soon thou shalt thy freedom reap.40

On tell-tales' necks thou seest the link-knit chains,

The filthy prison faithless breasts restrains.

Water in waters, and fruit, flying touch,

Tantalus seeks, his long tongue's gain is such.

While Juno's watchman Iö too much eyed,

Him timeless [245] death took, she was deified.[Pg 144]

I saw one's legs with fetters black and blue,

By whom the husband his wife's incest [246] knew:

More he deserved; to both great harm he framed,

The man did grieve, the woman was defamed.50

Trust me all husbands for such faults are sad,

Nor make they any man that hears them glad.

If he loves not, deaf ears thou dost importune,

Or if he loves, thy tale breeds his misfortune.

Nor is it easy proved though manifest;

She safe by favour of her judge doth rest.

Though himself see, he'll credit her denial,

Condemn his eyes, and say there is no trial.

Spying his mistress' tears he will lament

And say "This blab shall suffer punishment."60

Why fight'st 'gainst odds? to thee, being cast, do hap

Sharp stripes; she sitteth in the judge's lap.

To meet for poison or vild facts [247] we crave not;

My hands an unsheathed shining weapon have not.

We seek that, through thee, safely love we may;

What can be easier than the thing we pray?

Ay me, an eunuch keeps my mistress chaste,

That cannot Venus' mutual pleasure taste.[Pg 145]

Who first deprived young boys of their best part,

With self-same wounds he gave, he ought to smart.

To kind requests thou would'st more gentle prove,

If ever wench had made lukewarm thy love:

Thou wert not born to ride, or arms to bear,

Thy hands agree not with the warlike spear.

Men handle those; all manly hopes resign,

Thy mistress' ensigns must be likewise thine.10

Please her—her hate makes others thee abhor;

If she discards thee, what use serv'st thou for?

Good form there is, years apt to play together:

Unmeet is beauty without use to wither.

She may deceive thee, though thou her protect;

What two determine never wants effect.

Our prayers move thee to assist our drift,

While thou hast time yet to bestow that gift.

I mean not to defend the scapes [249] of any,

Or justify my vices being many;

For I confess, if that might merit favour,

Here I display my lewd and loose behaviour.

I loathe, yet after that I loathe I run:

Oh, how the burthen irks, that we should [250] shun.[Pg 146]

I cannot rule myself but where Love please;

Am [251] driven like a ship upon rough seas.

No one face likes me best, all faces move,

A hundred reasons make me ever love.10

If any eye me with a modest look,

I burn,[252] and by that blushful glance am took;

And she that's coy I like, for being no clown,

Methinks she would be nimble when she's down.

Though her sour looks a Sabine's brow resemble,

I think she'll do, but deeply can dissemble.

If she be learned, then for her skill I crave her;

If not, because she's simple I would have her.

Before Callimachus one prefers me far;

Seeing she likes my books, why should we jar?20

Another rails at me, and that I write,

Yet would I lie with her, if that I might:

Trips she, it likes me well; plods she, what than [253]?

She would be nimbler lying with a man.

And when one sweetly sings, then straight I long,

To quaver on her lips even in her song;

Or if one touch the lute with art and cunning,

Who would not love those hands [254] for their swift running?

And her I like that with a majesty,

[Pg 147]

Folds up her arms, and makes low courtesy.30

To [255] leave myself, that am in love with all,

Some one of these might make the chastest fall.

If she be tall, she's like an Amazon,

And therefore fills the bed she lies upon:

If short, she lies the rounder: to speak [256] troth,

Both short and long please me, for I love both.

I [257] think what one undecked would be, being drest;

Is she attired? then show her graces best.

A white wench thralls me, so doth golden yellow:

And nut-brown girls in doing have no fellow.40

If her white neck be shadowed with black hair,

Why so was Leda's, yet was Leda fair.

Amber-tress'd [258] is she? then on the morn think I:

My love alludes to every history:

A young wench pleaseth, and an old is good,

This for her looks, that for her womanhood:

Nay what is she, that any Roman loves,

But my ambitious ranging mind approves?

No love is so dear,—quivered Cupid, fly!—

That my chief wish should be so oft to die.[Pg 148]

Minding thy fault, with death I wish to revel;

Alas! a wench is a perpetual evil.

No intercepted lines thy deeds display,

No gifts given secretly thy crime bewray.

O would my proofs as vain might be withstood!

Ay me, poor soul, why is my cause so good?

He's happy, that his love dares boldly credit;

To whom his wench can say, "I never did it."10

He's cruel, and too much his grief doth favour,

That seeks the conquest by her loose behaviour.

Poor wretch,[260] I saw when thou didst think I slumbered;

Not drunk, your faults on the spilt wine I numbered.

I saw your nodding eyebrows much to speak,

Even from your cheeks, part of a voice did break.

Not silent were thine eyes, the board with wine

Was scribbled, and thy fingers writ a line.

I knew your speech (what do not lovers see?)

And words that seemed for certain marks to be.20

Now many guests were gone, the feast being done,

The youthful sort to divers pastimes run.

I saw you then unlawful kisses join;

(Such with my tongue it likes me to purloin);

None such the sister gives her brother grave,

But such kind wenches let their lovers have.

Phœbus gave not Diana such, 'tis thought,

But Venus often to her Mars such brought.[Pg 149]

"What dost?" I cried; "transport'st thou my delight?

My lordly hands I'll throw upon my right.30

Such bliss is only common to us two,

In this sweet good why hath a third to do?"

This, and what grief enforced me say, I said:

A scarlet blush her guilty face arrayed;

Even such as by Aurora hath the sky,

Or maids that their betrothèd husbands spy;

Such as a rose mixed with a lily breeds,

Or when the moon travails with charmèd steeds.

Or such as, lest long years should turn the dye,

Arachne [261] stains Assyrian ivory.40

To these, or some of these, like was her colour:

By chance her beauty never shinèd fuller.

She viewed the earth; the earth to view, beseemed her.

She lookèd sad; sad, comely I esteemed her.

Even kembèd as they were, her locks to rend,

And scratch her fair soft cheeks I did intend.

Seeing her face, mine upreared arms descended,

With her own armour was my wench defended.

I, that erewhile was fierce, now humbly sue,

Lest with worse kisses she should me endue.50

She laughed, and kissed so sweetly as might make

Wrath-kindled Jove away his thunder shake.[Pg 150]

I grieve lest others should such good perceive,

And wish hereby them all unknown [262] to leave.

Also much better were they than I tell,

And ever seemed as some new sweet befell.

'Tis ill they pleased so much, for in my lips

Lay her whole tongue hid, mine in hers she dips.

This grieves me not; no joinèd kisses spent,

Bewail I only, though I them lament.60

Nowhere can they be taught but in the bed;

I know no master of so great hire sped.[263]

The parrot, from East India to me sent,[265]

Is dead; all fowls her exequies frequent!

Go godly [266] birds, striking your breasts, bewail,

And with rough claws your tender cheeks assail.

For woful hairs let piece-torn plumes abound,

For long shrild [267] trumpets let your notes resound.

Why Philomel dost Tereus' lewdness mourn?

All wasting years have that complaint now [268] worn.[Pg 151]

Thy tunes let this rare bird's sad funeral borrow;

Itys [269] a great, but ancient cause of sorrow.10

All you whose pinions in the clear air soar,

But most, thou friendly turtle-dove, deplore.

Full concord all your lives was you betwixt,

And to the end your constant faith stood fixt.

What Pylades did to Orestes prove,

Such to the parrot was the turtle-dove.

But what availed this faith? her rarest hue?

Or voice that how to change the wild notes knew?

What helps it thou wert given to please my wench?

Birds' hapless glory, death thy life doth quench.20

Thou with thy quills might'st make green emeralds dark,

And pass our scarlet of red saffron's mark.

No such voice-feigning bird was on the ground,

Thou spok'st thy words so well with stammering sound.

Envy hath rapt thee, no fierce wars thou mov'dst;

Vain-babbling speech, and pleasant peace thou lov'dst.

Behold how quails among their battles live,

Which do perchance old age unto them give.

A little filled thee, and for love of talk,

Thy mouth to taste of many meats did balk.30

Nuts were thy food, and poppy caused thee sleep,

Pure water's moisture thirst away did keep.

The ravenous vulture lives, the puttock [270] hovers

Around the air, the cadess [271] rain discovers.[Pg 152]

And crow [272] survives arms-bearing Pallas' hate,

Whose life nine ages scarce bring out of date.

Dead is that speaking image of man's voice,

The parrot given me, the far world's [273] best choice.

The greedy spirits [274] take the best things first,

Supplying their void places with the worst.40

Thersites did Protesilaus survive;

And Hector died, his brothers yet alive.

My wench's vows for thee what should I show,

Which stormy south winds into sea did blow?

The seventh day came, none following might'st thou see,

And the Fate's distaff empty stood to thee:

Yet words in thy benumbèd palate rung;

"Farewell, Corinna," cried thy dying tongue.

Elysium hath a wood of holm-trees black,

Whose earth doth not perpetual green grass lack.50

There good birds rest (if we believe things hidden),

Whence unclean fowls are said to be forbidden.

There harmless swans feed all abroad the river;

There lives the phœnix, one alone bird ever;

There Juno's bird displays his gorgeous feather,

And loving doves kiss eagerly together.

The parrot into wood received with these,

Turns all the godly [275] birds to what she please.[Pg 153]

A grave her bones hides: on her corps' great grave,

The little stones these little verses have.60

This tomb approves I pleased my mistress well

My mouth in speaking did all birds excell.

Dost me of new crimes always guilty frame?

To overcome, so oft to fight I shame.

If on the marble theatre I look,

One among many is, to grieve thee, took.

If some fair wench me secretly behold,

Thou arguest she doth secret marks unfold.

If I praise any, thy poor hairs thou tearest;

If blame, dissembling of my fault thou fearest.

If I look well, thou think'st thou dost not move,

If ill, thou say'st I die for others' love.10

Would I were culpable of some offence,

They that deserve pain, bear't with patience.

Now rash accusing, and thy vain belief,

Forbid thine anger to procure my grief.

Lo, how the miserable great-eared ass,

Dulled with much beating, slowly forth doth pass!

Behold Cypassis, wont to dress thy head,

Is charged to violate her mistress' bed!

The gods from this sin rid me of suspicion,

[Pg 154]

To like a base wench of despised condition.20

With Venus' game who will a servant grace?

Or any back, made rough with stripes, embrace?

Add she was diligent thy locks to braid,

And, for her skill, to thee a grateful maid.

Should I solicit her that is so just,—

To take repulse, and cause her show my lust?

I swear by Venus, and the winged boy's bow,

Myself unguilty of this crime I know.

Cypassis, that a thousand ways trim'st hair,

Worthy to kemb none but a goddess fair,

Our pleasant scapes show thee no clown to be,

Apt to thy mistress, but more apt to me.

Who that our bodies were comprest bewrayed?

Whence knows Corinna that with thee I played?

Yet blushed I not, nor used I any saying,

That might be urged to witness our false playing.

What if a man with bondwomen offend,

To prove him foolish did I e'er contend?10

Achilles burnt with face of captive Brisèis,

Great Agamemnon loved his servant Chrysèis.[278]

Greater than these myself I not esteem:

What gracèd kings, in me no shame I deem.[Pg 155]

But when on thee her angry eyes did rush,

In both thy [279] cheeks she did perceive thee [280] blush.

But being present,[281] might that work the best,

By Venus deity how did I protest!

Thou goddess dost command a warm south blast,

My self oaths in Carpathian seas to cast.20

For which good turn my sweet reward repay,

Let me lie with thee, brown Cypass, to-day.

Ungrate, why feign'st new fears, and dost refuse?

Well may'st thou one thing for thy mistress use.[282]

If thou deniest, fool, I'll our deeds express,

And as a traitor mine own faults confess;

Telling thy mistress where I was with thee,

How oft, and by what means, we did agree.

O Cupid, that dost never cease my smart!

O boy, that liest so slothful in my heart!

Why me that always was the soldier found,

Dost harm, and in thy [284] tents why dost me wound?

Why burns thy brand, why strikes thy bow thy friends?

More glory by thy vanquished foes ascends.[Pg 156]

Did not Pelides whom his spear did grieve,

Being required, with speedy help relieve?

Hunters leave taken beasts, pursue the chase,

And than things found do ever further pace.10

We people wholly given thee, feel thine-arms,

Thy dull hand stays thy striving enemies' harms.

Dost joy to have thy hookèd arrows shaked

In naked bones? love hath my bones left naked.

So many men and maidens without love,

Hence with great laud thou may'st a triumph move.

Rome, if her strength the huge world had not filled,

With strawy cabins now her courts should build.

The weary soldier hath the conquered fields,

His sword, laid by, safe, tho' rude places yields;[285]20

The dock inharbours ships drawn from the floods,

Horse freed from service range abroad the woods.

And time it was for me to live in quiet,

That have so oft served pretty wenches' diet.

Yet should I curse a God, if he but said,

"Live without love," so sweet ill is a maid.

For when my loathing it of heat deprives me,

I know not whither my mind's whirlwind drives me.

Even as a headstrong courser bears away

His rider, vainly striving him to stay;30

Or as a sudden gale thrusts into sea

The haven-touching bark, now near the lea;[Pg 157]

So wavering Cupid brings me back amain,

And purple Love resumes his darts again.

Strike, boy, I offer thee my naked breast,

Here thou hast strength, here thy right hand doth rest.

Here of themselves thy shafts come, as if shot;

Better than I their quiver knows them not:

Hapless is he that all the night lies quiet.

And slumbering, thinks himself much blessèd by it.40

Fool, what is sleep but image of cold death,

Long shalt thou rest when Fates expire thy breath.

But me let crafty damsel's words deceive,

Great joys by hope I inly shall conceive.

Now let her flatter me, now chide me hard,

Let me [286] enjoy her oft, oft be debarred.

Cupid, by thee, Mars in great doubt doth trample,

And thy stepfather fights by thy example.

Light art thou, and more windy than thy wings;

Joys with uncertain faith thou tak'st and brings:50

Yet Love, if thou with thy fair mother hear,

Within my breast no desert empire bear;

Subdue the wandering wenches to thy reign,

So of both people shalt thou homage gain.

Græcinus (well I wot) thou told'st me once,

I could not be in love with two at once;[Pg 158]

By thee deceived, by thee surprised am I,

For now I love two women equally:

Both are well favoured, both rich in array,

Which is the loveliest [287] it is hard to say:

This seems the fairest, so doth that to me;

And [288] this doth please me most, and so doth she;

Even as a boat tossed by contràry wind,

So with this love and that wavers my mind.10

Venus, why doublest thou my endless smart?

Was not one wench enough to grieve my heart?

Why add'st thou stars to heaven, leaves to green woods,

And to the deep [289] vast sea fresh water-floods?

Yet this is better far than lie alone:

Let such as be mine enemies have none;

Yea, let my foes sleep in an empty bed,

And in the midst their bodies largely spread:

But may soft [290] love rouse up my drowsy eyes,

And from my mistress' bosom let me rise!20

Let one wench cloy me with sweet love's delight,

If one can do't; if not, two every night.

Though I am slender, I have store of pith,

Nor want I strength, but weight, to press her with:

Pleasure adds fuel to my lustful fire,

I pay them home with that they most desire:[Pg 159]

Oft have I spent the night in wantonness,

And in the morn been lively ne'ertheless,

He's happy who Love's mutual skirmish slays;

And to the gods for that death Ovid prays.30

Let soldiers [291] chase their enemies amain,

And with their blood eternal honour gain,

Let merchants seek wealth and [292] with perjured lips,

Being wrecked, carouse the sea tired by their ships;

But when I die, would I might droop with doing,

And in the midst thereof, set [293] my soul going,

That at my funerals some may weeping cry,

"Even as he led his life, so did he die."

The lofty pine, from high Mount Pelion raught,[295]

Ill ways by rough seas wondering waves first taught;

Which rashly 'twixt the sharp rocks in the deep,

Carried the famous golden-fleecèd sheep.

O would that no oars might in seas have sunk!

The Argo [296] wrecked had deadly waters drunk.[Pg 160]

Lo, country gods and know[n] bed to forsake

Corinna means, and dangerous ways to take.

For thee the East and West winds make me pale,

With icy Boreas, and the Southern gale.10

Thou shalt admire no woods or cities there,

The unjust seas all bluish do appear.

The ocean hath no painted stones or shells,

The sucking [297] shore with their abundance swells.

Maids on the shore, with marble-white feet tread,

So far 'tis safe; but to go farther, dread.

Let others tell how winds fierce battles wage,

How Scylla's and Charybdis' waters rage;

And with what rock[s] the feared Ceraunia threat;

In what gulf either Syrtes have their seat.20

Let others tell this, and what each one speaks

Believe; no tempest the believer wreaks.[298]

Too late you look back, when with anchors weighed,

The crookèd bark hath her swift sails displayed.

The careful shipman now fears angry gusts,

And with the waters sees death near him thrusts.

But if that Triton toss the troubled flood,

In all thy face will be no crimson blood.

Then wilt thou Leda's noble twin-stars pray,

[Pg 161]

And, he is happy whom the earth holds, say.30

It is more safe to sleep, to read a book,

The Thracian harp with cunning to have strook.

But if my words with wingèd storm hence slip,

Yet, Galatea, favour thou her ship.

The loss of such a wench much blame will gather,

Both to the sea-nymphs and the sea-nymphs' father.

Go, minding to return with prosperous wind,

Whose blast may hither strongly be inclined.

Let Nereus bend the waves unto this shore,

Hither the winds blow, here the spring-tide roar.40

Request mild Zephyr's help for thy avail,

And with thy hand assist thy swelling sail.

I from the shore thy known ship first will see,

And say it brings her that preserveth me.

I'll clip [299] and kiss thee with all contentation;

For thy return shall fall the vowed oblation;

And in the form of beds we'll strew soft sand;

Each little hill shall for a table stand:

There, wine being filled, thou many things shalt tell,

How, almost wrecked, thy ship in main seas fell.50

And hasting to me, neither darksome night,

Nor violent south-winds did thee aught affright,

I'll think all true, though it be feignèd matter!

Mine own desires why should myself not flatter?

Let the bright day-star cause in heaven this day be,

To bring that happy time so soon as may be.

[Pg 162]

About my temples go, triumphant bays!

Conquered Corinna in my bosom lays.

She whom her husband, guard, and gate, as foes,

Lest art should win her, firmly did enclose:

That victory doth chiefly triumph merit,

Which without bloodshed doth the prey inherit.

No little ditchèd towns, no lowly walls,

But to my share a captive damsel falls.

When Troy by ten years' battle tumbled down,

With the Atrides many gained renown:10

But I no partner of my glory brook,

Nor can another say his help I took.

I, guide and soldier, won the field and wear her,

I was both horseman, footman, standard-bearer.

Nor in my act hath fortune mingled chance:

O care-got [301] triumph hitherwards advance!

Nor is my war's cause new; but for a queen,

Europe and Asia in firm peace had been;

The Lapiths and the Centaurs, for a woman,

To cruel arms their drunken selves did summon;20

A woman forced the Trojans new to enter

Wars, just Latinus, in thy kingdom's centre;

A woman against late-built Rome did send

The Sabine fathers, who sharp wars intend.[Pg 163]

I saw how bulls for a white heifer strive,

She looking on them did more courage give.

And me with many, but me [302] without murther,

Cupid commands to move his ensigns further.

While rashly her womb's burden she casts out,

Weary Corinna hath her life in doubt.

She, secretly from [304] me, such harm attempted,

Angry I was, but fear my wrath exempted.

But she conceived of me; or I am sure

I oft have done what might as much procure.

Thou that frequent'st Canopus' pleasant fields,

Memphis, and Pharos that sweet date-trees yields,

And where swift Nile in his large channel skipping,[305]

By seven huge mouths into the sea is slipping.10

By feared Anubis' visage I thee pray,—

So in thy temples shall Osiris stay,

And the dull snake about thy offerings creep,

And in thy pomp horned Apis with thee keep,—

Turn thy looks hither, and in one spare twain:

Thou givest my mistress life, she mine again.[Pg 164]

She oft hath served thee upon certain days,

Where the French [306] rout engirt themselves with bays.

On labouring women thou dost pity take,

Whose bodies with their heavy burdens ache;20

My wench, Lucina, I entreat thee favour;

Worthy she is, thou should'st in mercy save her.

In white, with incense, I'll thine altars greet,

Myself will bring vowed gifts before thy feet,

Subscribing Naso with Corinna saved:

Do but deserve gifts with this title graved.

But, if in so great fear I may advise thee,

To have this skirmish fought let it suffice thee.

What helps it woman to be free from war,

Nor, being armed, fierce troops to follow far,

If without battle self-wrought wounds annoy them.

And their own privy-weaponed hands destroy them

Who unborn infants first to slay invented,

Deserved thereby with death to be tormented.

Because thy belly should rough wrinkles lack,

Wilt thou thy womb-inclosèd offspring wrack?

Had ancient mothers this vile custom cherished,

[Pg 165]

All human kind by their default [308] had perished;10

Or [309] stones, our stock's original should be hurled,

Again, by some, in this unpeopled world.

Who should have Priam's wealthy substance won,

If watery Thetis had her child fordone?

In swelling womb her twins had Ilia killed,

He had not been that conquering Rome bid build.

Had Venus spoiled her belly's Trojan fruit,

The earth of Cæsars had been destitute.

Thou also that wert born fair, had'st decayed,

If such a work thy mother had assayed.20

Myself, that better die with loving may,

Had seen, my mother killing me, no [310] day.

Why tak'st increasing grapes from vinetrees full?

With cruel hand why dost green apples pull?

Fruits ripe will fall; let springing things increase;

Life is no light price of a small surcease.[311]

Why with hid irons are your bowels torn?

And why dire poison give you babes unborn?

At Colchis, stained with children's blood, men rail,

And mother-murdered Itys they [312] bewail.30

Both unkind parents; but, for causes sad,

Their wedlocks' pledges [313] venged their husbands bad.

What Tereus, what Iäson you provokes,

To plague your bodies with such harmful strokes?[Pg 166]

Armenian tigers never did so ill,

Nor dares the lioness her young whelps kill.

But tender damsels do it, though with pain;

Oft dies she that her paunch-wrapt [314] child hath slain:

She dies, and with loose hairs to grave is sent,

And whoe'er see her, worthily [315] lament.40

But in the air let these words come to naught,

And my presages of no weight be thought.

Forgive her, gracious gods, this one delict,

And on the next fault punishment inflict.

Thou ring that shalt my fair girl's finger bind,

Wherein is seen the giver's loving mind:

Be welcome to her, gladly let her take thee,

And, her small joints encircling, round hoop make thee.

Fit her so well, as she is fit for me,

And of just compass for her knuckles be.

Blest ring, thou in my mistress' hand shall lie,

Myself, poor wretch, mine own gifts now envỳ.

O would that suddenly into my gift,

[Pg 167]

I could myself by secret magic shift!10

Then would I wish thee touch my mistress' pap,

And hide thy left hand underneath her lap,

I would get off, though strait and sticking fast,

And in her bosom strangely fall at last.

Then I, that I may seal her privy leaves,

Lest to the wax the hold-fast dry gem cleaves,

Would first my beauteous wench's moist lips touch;

Only I'll sign naught that may grieve me much.

I would not out, might I in one place hit:

But in less compass her small fingers knit.20

My life! that I will shame thee never fear,

Or be [317] a load thou should'st refuse to bear.

Wear me, when warmest showers thy members wash,

And through the gem let thy lost waters pash,

But seeing thee, I think my thing will swell,

And even the ring perform a man's part well.

Vain things why wish I? go, small gift, from hand;

Let her my faith, with thee given, understand.

Sulmo, Peligny's third part, me contains,

A small, but wholesome soil with watery veins,

Although the sun to rive [319] the earth incline,

And the Icarian froward dog-star shine;[Pg 168]

Pelignian fields with liquid rivers flow,

And on the soft ground fertile green grass grow;

With corn the earth abounds, with vines much more,

And some few pastures Pallas' olives bore;

And by the rising herbs, where clear springs slide,

A grassy turf the moistened earth doth hide.10

But absent is my fire; lies I'll tell none,

My heat is here, what moves my heat is gone.

Pollux and Castor, might I stand betwixt,

In heaven without thee would I not be fixt.

Upon the cold earth pensive let them lay,

That mean to travel some long irksome way.

Or else will maidens young men's mates to go,

If they determine to persèver so.

Then on the rough Alps should I tread aloft,

My hard way with my mistress would seem soft.20

With her I durst the Libyan Syrts break through,

And raging seas in boisterous south-winds plough.

No barking dogs, that Scylla's entrails bear,

Nor thy gulfs, crook'd Malea, would I fear.

No flowing waves with drownèd ships forth-poured

By cloyed Charybdis, and again devoured.

But if stern Neptune's windy power prevail,

And waters' force force helping Gods to fail,

With thy white arms upon my shoulders seize;

So sweet a burden I will bear with ease.30

The youth oft swimming to his Hero kind,

Had then swum over, but the way was blind.[Pg 169]

But without thee, although vine-planted ground

Contains me; though the streams the [320] fields surround;

Though hinds in brooks the running waters bring,

And cool gales shake the tall trees' leafy spring;

Healthful Peligny, I esteem naught worth,

Nor do I like the country of my birth.

Scythia, Cilicia, Britain are as good,

And rocks dyed crimson with Prometheus' blood.40

Elms love the vines; the vines with elms abide,

Why doth my mistress from me oft divide?

Thou swear'dst,[321] division should not twixt us rise,

By me, and by my stars, thy radiant eyes;

Maids' words more vain and light than falling leaves,

Which, as it seems, hence wind and sea bereaves.

If any godly care of me thou hast,

Add deeds unto thy promises at last.

And with swift nags drawing thy little coach

(Their reins let loose), right soon my house approach.50

But when she comes, you [322] swelling mounts, sink down,

And falling valleys be the smooth ways' crown.[323]

To serve a wench if any think it shame,

He being judge, I am convinced of blame.[Pg 170]

Let me be slandered, while my fire she hides,

That Paphos, and [325] flood-beat Cythera guides.

Would I had been my mistress' gentle prey,

Since some fair one I should of force obey.

Beauty gives heart; Corinna's looks excell;

Ay me, why is it known to her so well?

But by her glass disdainful pride she learns,

Nor she herself, but first trimmed up, discerns.10

Not though thy face in all things make thee reign,

(O face, most cunning mine eyes to detain!)

Thou ought'st therefore to scorn me for thy mate,

Small things with greater may be copulate.

Love-snared Calypso is supposed to pray

A mortal nymph's [326] refusing lord to stay.

Who doubts, with Peleus Thetis did consort,

Egeria with just Numa had good sport.

Venus with Vulcan, though, smith's tools laid by,

With his stump foot he halts ill-favouredly.20

This kind of verse is not alike; yet fit,

With shorter numbers the heroic sit.

And thou, my light, accept me howsoever;

Lay in the mid bed, there be my lawgiver.

My stay no crime, my flight no joy shall breed,

Nor of our love, to be ashamed we need.

For great revenues I good verses have,

And many by me to get glory crave.[Pg 171]

I know a wench reports herself Corinne;

What would not she give that fair name to win?30

But sundry floods in one bank never go,

Eurotas cold, and poplar-bearing Po;

Nor in my books shall one but thou be writ,

Thou dost alone give matter to my wit.

To tragic verse while thou Achilles train'st,

And new sworn soldiers' maiden arms retain'st,

We, Macer, sit in Venus' slothful shade,

And tender love hath great things hateful made.

Often at length, my wench depart I bid,

She in my lap sits still as erst she did.

I said, "It irks me:" half to weeping framed,

"Ay me!" she cries, "to love why art ashamed?"

Then wreathes about my neck her winding arms,

And thousand kisses gives, that work my harms:10

I yield, and back my wit from battles bring,

Domestic acts, and mine own wars to sing.

Yet tragedies, and sceptres fill'd my lines,

But though I apt were for such high designs,

Love laughèd at my cloak, and buskins painted,

And rule, so soon with private hands acquainted.

My mistress' deity also drew me fro it,[Pg 172]

And love triumpheth o'er his buskined poet.

What lawful is, or we profess love's art:

(Alas, my precepts turn myself to smart!)20

We write, or what Penelope sends Ulysses,

Or Phillis' tears that her Demophoon misses.

What thankless Jason, Macareus, and Paris,

Phedra, and Hippolyte may read, my care is.

And what poor Dido, with her drawn sword sharp,

Doth say, with her that loved the Aonian harp.

As [328] soon as from strange lands Sabinus came,

And writings did from divers places frame,

White-cheeked Penelope knew Ulysses' sign,

The step-dame read Hippolytus' lustless line.30

Æneas to Elisa answer gives,

And Phillis hath to read, if now she lives.

Jason's sad letter doth Hypsipyle greet;

Sappho her vowed harp lays at Phœbus' feet.

Nor of thee, Macer, that resound'st forth arms,

Is golden love hid in Mars' mid alarms.

There Paris is, and Helen's crimes record,

With Laodamia, mate to her dead lord,

Unless I err to these thou more incline,

Than wars, and from thy tents wilt come to mine.40

[Pg 173]

Fool, if to keep thy wife thou hast no need,

Keep her from me, my more desire to breed;

We scorn things lawful; stolen sweets we affect;

Cruel is he that loves whom none protect.

Let us, both lovers, hope and fear alike,

And may repulse place for our wishes strike.[330]

What should I do with fortune that ne'er fails me?

Nothing I love that at all times avails me.

Wily Corinna saw this blemish in me,

And craftily knows by what means to win me.10

Ah, often, that her hale [331] head ached, she lying,

Willed me, whose slow feet sought delay, be flying!

Ah, oft, how much she might, she feigned offence;

And, doing wrong, made show of innocence.

So, having vexed, she nourished my warm fire,

And was again most apt to my desire.

To please me, what fair terms and sweet words has she!

Great gods! what kisses, and how many ga'[332] she!

Thou also that late took'st mine eyes away,

[Pg 174]

Oft cozen [333] me, oft, being wooed, say nay;20

And on thy threshold let me lie dispread,

Suff'ring much cold by hoary night's frost bred.

So shall my love continue many years;

This doth delight me, this my courage cheers.

Fat love, and too much fulsome, me annoys,

Even as sweet meat a glutted stomach cloys.

In brazen tower had not Danäe dwelt,

A mother's joy by Jove she had not felt.

While Juno Iö keeps, when horns she wore,

Jove liked her better than he did before.30

Who covets lawful things takes leaves from woods,

And drinks stolen waters in surrounding floods.

Her lover let her mock that long will reign:

Ay me, let not my warnings cause my pain!

Whatever haps, by sufferance harm is done,

What flies I follow, what follows me I shun.

But thou, of thy fair damsel too secure,

Begin to shut thy house at evening sure.

Search at the door who knocks oft in the dark,

In night's deep silence why the ban-dogs [334] bark.40

Whither [335] the subtle maid lines [336] brings and carries,

Why she alone in empty bed oft tarries.

Let this care sometimes bite thee to the quick,

That to deceits it may me forward prick.

To steal sands from the shore he loves a-life [337]

That can affect [338] a foolish wittol's wife.[Pg 175]

Now I forewarn, unless to keep her stronger

Thou dost begin, she shall be mine no longer.

Long have I borne much, hoping time would beat thee

To guard her well, that well I might entreat thee.[339]50

Thou suffer'st what no husband can endure,

But of my love it will an end procure.

Shall I, poor soul, be never interdicted?

Nor never with night's sharp revenge afflicted.

In sleeping shall I fearless draw my breath?

Wilt nothing do, why I should wish thy death?

Can I but loathe a husband grown a bawd?

By thy default thou dost our joys defraud.

Some other seek that may in patience strive with thee,

To pleasure me, forbid me to corrive with thee.[340]60

An old wood stands, uncut of long years' space,

'Tis credible some godhead [342] haunts the place.

In midst thereof a stone-paved sacred spring,

Where round about small birds most sweetly sing.

Here while I walk, hid close in shady grove,

To find what work my muse might move, I strove,

Elegia came with hairs perfumèd sweet,

And one, I think, was longer, of her feet:

A decent form, thin robe, a lover's look,

By her foot's blemish greater grace she took.10

Then with huge steps came violent Tragedy,

Stern was her front, her cloak [343] on ground did lie.

Her left hand held abroad a regal sceptre,

The Lydian buskin [in] fit paces kept her.

And first she [344] said, "When will thy love be spent,

O poet careless of thy argument?[Pg 177]

Wine-bibbing banquets tell thy naughtiness,

Each cross-way's corner doth as much express.

Oft some points at the prophet passing by,

And, 'This is he whom fierce love burns,' they cry.20

A laughing-stock thou art to all the city;

While without shame thou sing'st thy lewdness' ditty.

'Tis time to move great things in lofty style,

Long hast thou loitered; greater works compile.

The subject hides thy wit; men's acts resound;

This thou wilt say to be a worthy ground.

Thy muse hath played what may mild girls content,

And by those numbers is thy first youth spent.

Now give the Roman Tragedy a name,

To fill my laws thy wanton spirit frame."30

This said, she moved her buskins gaily varnished,

And seven times shook her head with thick locks garnished.

The other smiled (I wot), with wanton eyes:

Err I, or myrtle in her right hand lies?

"With lofty words stout Tragedy," she said,

"Why tread'st me down? art thou aye gravely play'd?

Thou deign'st unequal lines should thee rehearse;

Thou fight'st against me using mine own verse.

Thy lofty style with mine I not compare,

Small doors unfitting for large houses are.40

Light am I, and with me, my care, light Love;

Not stronger am I, than the thing I move.

Venus without me should be rustical:

This goddess' company doth to me befal.

What gate thy stately words cannot unlock,

My flattering speeches soon wide open knock.[Pg 178]

And I deserve more than thou canst in verity,

By suffering much not borne by thy severity.

By me Corinna learns, cozening her guard,

To get the door with little noise unbarred;50

And slipped from bed, clothed in a loose nightgown,

To move her feet unheard in setting [345] down.

Ah, how oft on hard doors hung I engraved,

From no man's reading fearing to be saved!

But, till the keeper [346] went forth, I forget not,

The maid to hide me in her bosom let not.

What gift with me was on her birthday sent,

But cruelly by her was drowned and rent.

First of thy mind the happy seeds I knew;[347]

Thou hast my gift, which she would from thee sue."60

She left;[348] I said, "You both I must beseech,

To empty air [349] may go my fearful speech.

With sceptres and high buskins th' one would dress me,

So through the world should bright renown express me.

The other gives my love a conquering name;

Come, therefore, and to long verse shorter frame.[Pg 179]

Grant, Tragedy, thy poet time's least tittle:

Thy labour ever lasts; she asks but little."

She gave me leave; soft loves, in time make haste;

Some greater work will urge me on at last.70

I sit not here the noble horse to see;

Yet whom thou favour'st, pray may conqueror be.

To sit and talk with thee I hither came,

That thou may'st know with love thou mak'st me flame.

Thou view'st the course; I thee: let either heed

What please them, and their eyes let either feed.

What horse-driver thou favour'st most is best,

Because on him thy care doth hap to rest.

Such chance let me have: I would bravely run,

On swift steeds mounted till the race were done.10

Now would I slack the reins, now lash their hide,

With wheels bent inward now the ring-turn ride,

In running if I see thee, I shall stay,

And from my hands the reins will slip away.

Ah, Pelops from his coach was almost felled,

Hippodamia's looks while he beheld!

Yet he attained, by her support, to have her:

Let us all conquer by our mistress' favour.

In vain, why fly'st back? force conjoins us now:

[Pg 180]

The place's laws this benefit allow.20

But spare my wench, thou at her right hand seated;

By thy sides touching ill she is entreated.[351]

And sit thou rounder,[352] that behind us see;

For shame press not her back with thy hard knee.

But on the ground thy clothes too loosely lie:

Gather them up, or lift them, lo, will I.

Envious [353] garments, so good legs to hide!

The more thou look'st, the more the gown's envìed.

Swift Atalanta's flying legs, like these,

Wish in his hands grasped did Hippomenes.30

Coat-tucked Diana's legs are painted like them,

When strong wild beasts, she, stronger, hunts to strike them.

Ere these were seen, I burnt: what will these do?

Flames into flame, floods thou pour'st seas into,

By these I judge; delight me may the rest,

Which lie hid, under her thin veil supprest.

Yet in the meantime wilt small winds bestow,

That from thy fan, moved by my hand, may blow?

Or is my heat of mind, not of the sky?

Is't women's love my captive breast doth fry?40

While thus I speak, black dust her white robes ray;[354]

Foul dust, from her fair body go away!

Now comes the pomp; themselves let all men cheer;[355]

The shout is nigh; the golden pomp comes here.[Pg 181]

First, Victory is brought with large spread wing:

Goddess, come here; make my love conquering.

Applaud you Neptune, that dare trust his wave,

The sea I use not: me my earth must have.

Soldier applaud thy Mars, no wars we move,

Peace pleaseth me, and in mid peace is love.50

With augurs Phœbus, Phœbe with hunters stands.

To thee Minerva turn the craftsmen's hands.

Ceres and Bacchus countrymen adore,

Champions please [356] Pollux, Castor loves horsemen more.

Thee, gentle Venus, and the boy that flies,

We praise: great goddess aid my enterprise.

Let my new mistress grant to be beloved;

She becked, and prosperous signs gave as she moved.

What Venus promised, promise thou we pray

Greater than her, by her leave, thou'rt, I'll say.60

The gods, and their rich pomp witness with me,

For evermore thou shalt my mistress be.

Thy legs hang down, thou may'st, if that be best,

Awhile [357] thy tiptoes on the footstool [358] rest.

Now greatest spectacles the Prætor sends,

Four chariot-horses from the lists' even ends.

I see whom thou affect'st: he shall subdue;

The horses seem as thy [359] desire they knew.

Alas, he runs too far about the ring;

[Pg 182]

What dost? thy waggon in less compass bring.70

What dost, unhappy? her good wishes fade:

Let with strong hand the rein to bend be made.

One slow we favour, Romans, him revoke:

And each give signs by casting up his cloak.

They call him back; lest their gowns toss thy hair,

To hide thee in my bosom straight repair.

But now again the barriers open lie,

And forth the gay troops on swift horses fly.

At least now conquer, and outrun the rest:

My mistress' wish confirm with my request.80

My mistress hath her wish; my wish remain:

He holds the palm: my palm is yet to gain.

She smiled, and with quick eyes behight [360] some grace:

Pay it not here, but in another place.

What, are there gods? herself she hath forswore,

And yet remains the face she had before.

How long her locks were ere her oath she took,

So long they be since she her faith forsook.

Fair white with rose-red was before commixt;

Now shine her looks pure white and red betwixt.

Her foot was small: her foot's form is most fit:

Comely tall was she, comely tall she's yet.[Pg 183]

Sharp eyes she had: radiant like stars they be,

By which she, perjured oft, hath lied to [362] me.10

In sooth, th' eternal powers grant maids society

Falsely to swear; their beauty hath some deity.

By her eyes, I remember, late she swore,

And by mine eyes, and mine were painèd sore.

Say gods: if she unpunished you deceive,

For other faults why do I loss receive.

But did you not so envy [363] Cepheus' daughter,

For her ill-beauteous mother judged to slaughter.

'Tis not enough, she shakes your record off,

And, unrevenged, mocked gods with me doth scoff.20

But by my pain to purge her perjuries,

Cozened, I am the cozener's sacrifice.

God is a name, no substance, feared in vain,

And doth the world in fond belief detain.

Or if there be a God, he loves fine wenches,

And all things too much in their sole power drenches.

Mars girts his deadly sword on for my harm;

Pallas' lance strikes me with unconquered arm;

At me Apollo bends his pliant bow;

At me Jove's right hand lightning hath to throw.30

The wrongèd gods dread fair ones to offend,

And fear those, that to fear them least intend.

Who now will care the altars to perfume?

Tut, men should not their courage so consume.[Pg 184]

Jove throws down woods and castles with his fire,

But bids his darts from perjured girls retire.

Poor Semele among so many burned,

Her own request to her own torment turned.

But when her lover came, had she drawn back,

The father's thigh should unborn Bacchus lack.40

Why grieve I? and of heaven reproaches pen?

The gods have eyes, and breasts as well as men.

Were I a god, I should give women leave,

With lying lips my godhead to deceive.

Myself would swear the wenches true did swear,

And I would be none of the gods severe.

But yet their gift more moderately use,

Or in mine eyes, good wench, no pain transfuse.

Rude man, 'tis vain thy damsel to commend

To keeper's trust: their wits should them defend.

Who, without fear, is chaste, is chaste in sooth:

Who, because means want, doeth not, she doth.

Though thou her body guard, her mind is stained;

Nor, 'less [365] she will, can any be restrained.

Nor can'st by watching keep her mind from sin,

All being shut out, the adulterer is within.

Who may offend, sins least; power to do ill

[Pg 185]

The fainting seeds of naughtiness doth kill.10

Forbear to kindle vice by prohibition;

Sooner shall kindness gain thy will's fruition.

I saw a horse against the bit stiff-necked,

Like lightning go, his struggling mouth being checked:

When he perceived the reins let slack, he stayed,

And on his loose mane the loose bridle laid.

How to attain what is denied we think,

Even as the sick desire forbidden drink.

Argus had either way an hundred eyes,

Yet by deceit Love did them all surprise.20

In stone and iron walls Danäe shut,

Came forth a mother, though a maid there put.

Penelope, though no watch looked unto her,

Was not defiled by any gallant wooer.

What's kept, we covet more: the care makes theft,

Few love what others have unguarded left.

Nor doth her face please, but her husband's love:

I know not what men think should thee so move [366]

She is not chaste that's kept, but a dear whore:[367]

Thy fear is than her body valued more.30

Although thou chafe, stolen pleasure is sweet play;

She pleaseth best, "I fear," if any say.

A free-born wench, no right 'tis up to lock,

So use we women of strange nations' stock.

Because the keeper may come say, "I did it,"

She must be honest to thy servant's credit.[Pg 186]

He is too clownish whom a lewd wife grieves,

And this town's well-known custom not believes;

Where Mars his sons not without fault did breed,

Remus and Romulus, Ilia's twin-born seed.40

Cannot a fair one, if not chaste, please thee?

Never can these by any means agree.

Kindly thy mistress use, if thou be wise;

Look gently, and rough husbands' laws despise.

Honour what friends thy wife gives, she'll give many,

Least labour so shall win great grace of any.

So shalt thou go with youths to feasts together,

And see at home much that thou ne'er brought'st thither.

Flood with reed-grown [369] slime banks, till I be past

Thy waters stay: I to my mistress haste.

Thou hast no bridge, nor boat with ropes to throw,

That may transport me, without oars to row.

Thee I have passed, and knew thy stream none such,

When thy wave's brim did scarce my ankles touch.

With snow thawed from the next hill now thou gushest,[370]

And in thy foul deep waters thick thou rushest.[Pg 187]

What helps my haste? what to have ta'en small rest?

What day and night to travel in her quest?10

If standing here I can by no means get

My foot upon the further bank to set.

Now wish I those wings noble Perseus had,

Bearing the head with dreadful adders [371] clad;

Now wish the chariot, whence corn fields were found,

First to be thrown upon the untilled ground:

I speak old poet's wonderful inventions,

Ne'er was, nor [e'er] shall be, what my verse mentions.

Rather, thou large bank-overflowing river,

Slide in thy bounds; so shalt thou run for ever.20

Trust me, land-stream, thou shalt no envy lack,

If I a lover be by thee held back.

Great floods ought to assist young men in love,

Great floods the force of it do often prove.

In mid Bithynia,[372] 'tis said, Inachus

Grew pale, and, in cold fords, hot lecherous.

Troy had not yet been ten years' siege out stander,

When nymph Neæra rapt thy looks, Scamander.

What, not Alpheus in strange lands to run,

The Arcadian virgin's constant love hath won?30

And Creusa unto Xanthus first affied,

They say Peneus near Phthia's town did hide.

What should I name Asop,[373] that Thebe loved,

Thebe who mother of five daughters proved,[Pg 188]

If, Achelöus, I ask where thy horns stand,

Thou say'st, broke with Alcides' angry hand.

Not Calydon, nor Ætolia did please;

One Deianira was more worth than these.

Rich Nile by seven mouths to the vast sea flowing,

Who so well keeps his water's head from knowing,40

Is by Evadne thought to take such flame,

As his deep whirlpools could not quench the same.

Dry Enipeus, Tyro to embrace,

Fly back his stream [374] charged; the stream charged, gave place.

Nor pass I thee, who hollow rocks down tumbling,

In Tibur's field with watery foam art rumbling.

Whom Ilia pleased, though in her looks grief revelled,

Her cheeks were scratched, her goodly hairs dishevelled.

She, wailing Mar's sin and her uncle's crime,

Strayed barefoot through sole places [375] on a time.50

Her, from his swift waves, the bold flood perceived,

And from the mid ford his hoarse voice upheaved,

Saying, "Why sadly tread'st my banks upon,

Ilia sprung from Idæan Laomedon?

Where's thy attire? why wanderest here alone?

To stay thy tresses white veil hast thou none?

Why weep'st and spoil'st with tears thy watery eyes?

And fiercely knock'st thy breast that open lies?

His heart consists of flint and hardest steel,

[Pg 189]

That seeing thy tears can any joy then feel.60

Fear not: to thee our court stands open wide,

There shalt be loved: Ilia, lay fear aside.

Thou o'er a hundred nymphs or more shalt reign,

For five score nymphs or more our floods contain.

Nor, Roman stock, scorn me so much I crave,

Gifts than my promise greater thou shalt have."[376]

This said he: she her modest eyes held down.

Her woful bosom a warm shower did drown.

Thrice she prepared to fly, thrice she did stay,

By fear deprived of strength to run away.70

Yet rending with enragèd thumb her tresses,

Her trembling mouth these unmeet sounds expresses:

"O would in my forefathers' tomb deep laid,

My bones had been while yet I was a maid:

Why being a vestal am I wooed to wed,

Deflowered and stainèd in unlawful bed.

Why stay I? men point at me for a whore,

Shame, that should make me blush, I have no more."

This said; her coat hoodwinked her fearful eyes,

And into water desperately she flies.80

'Tis said the slippery stream held up her breast,

And kindly gave her what she likèd best.

And I believe some wench thou hast affected,

But woods and groves keep your faults undetected.

While thus I speak the waters more abounded,

And from the channel all abroad surrounded.

Mad stream, why dost our mutual joys defer?

Clown, from my journey why dost me deter?[Pg 190]

How would'st thou flow wert thou a noble flood?

If thy great fame in every region stood?90

Thou hast no name, but com'st from snowy mountains;

No certain house thou hast, nor any fountains;

Thy springs are nought but rain and melted snow,

Which wealth cold winter doth on thee bestow.

Either thou art muddy in mid-winter tide,

Or full of dust dost on the dry earth slide.

What thirsty traveller ever drunk of thee?

Who said with grateful voice, "Perpetual be!"

Harmful to beasts, and to the fields thou proves,

Perchance these [377] others, me mine own loss moves.100

To this I fondly [378] loves of floods told plainly,

I shame so great names to have used so vainly.

I know not what expecting, I ere while,

Named Achelöus, Inachus, and Nile.[379]

But for thy merits I wish thee, white stream,[380]

Dry winters aye, and suns in heat extreme.

Either she was foul, or her attire was bad,

Or she was not the wench I wished to have had.

Idly I lay with her, as if I loved not,

And like a burden grieved the bed that moved not.[Pg 191]

Though both of us performed our true intent,

Yet could I not cast anchor where I meant.

She on my neck her ivory arms did throw,

Her [381] arms far whiter than the Scythian snow.

And eagerly she kissed me with her tongue,

And under mine her wanton thigh she flung,10

Yea, and she soothed me up, and called me "Sir,"[382]

And used all speech that might provoke and stir.

Yet like as if cold hemlock I had drunk,

It mockèd me, hung down the head and sunk.

Like a dull cipher, or rude block I lay,

Or shade, or body was I, who can say?

What will my age do, age I cannot shun,

Seeing [383] in my prime my force is spent and done?

I blush, that being youthful, hot, and lusty,

I prove neither youth nor man, but old and rusty.20

Pure rose she, like a nun to sacrifice,

Or one that with her tender brother lies.

Yet boarded I the golden Chie [384] twice,

And Libas, and the white-cheeked Pitho thrice.

Corinna craved it in a summer's night,

And nine sweet bouts had we [385] before daylight.

What, waste my limbs through some Thessalian charms?

May spells and drugs do silly souls such harms?[Pg 192]

With virgin wax hath some imbast [386] my joints?

And pierced my liver with sharp needle-points?[387]30

Charms change corn to grass and make it die:

By charms are running springs and fountains dry.

By charms mast drops from oaks, from vines grapes fall,

And fruit from trees when there's no wind at all.

Why might not then my sinews be enchanted?

And I grow faint as with some spirit haunted?

To this, add shame: shame to perform it quailed me,

And was the second cause why vigour failed me.

My idle thoughts delighted her no more,

Than did the robe or garment which she wore.40

Yet might her touch make youthful Pylius fire,

And Tithon livelier than his years require.

Even her I had, and she had me in vain,

What might I crave more, if I ask again?

I think the great gods grieved they had bestowed,

This [388] benefit: which lewdly [389] I foreslowed.[390]

I wished to be received in, in [391] I get me.

To kiss, I kiss;[392] to lie with her, she let me.[Pg 193]

Why was I blest? why made king to refuse [393] it?

Chuff-like had I not gold and could not use it?50

So in a spring thrives he that told so much,[394]

And looks upon the fruits he cannot touch.

Hath any rose so from a fresh young maid,

As she might straight have gone to church and prayed?

Well, I believe, she kissed not as she should,

Nor used the sleight and [395] cunning which she could.

Huge oaks, hard adamants might she have moved,

And with sweet words caus[ed] deaf rocks to have loved.

Worthy she was to move both gods and men,

But neither was I man nor livèd then.60

Can deaf ears [396] take delight when Phæmius sings?

Or Thamyris in curious painted things?

What sweet thought is there but I had the same?

And one gave place still as another came.

Yet notwithstanding, like one dead it lay,

Drooping more than a rose pulled yesterday.

Now, when he should not jet, he bolts upright,

And craves his task, and seeks to be at fight.

Lie down with shame, and see thou stir no more.

Seeing thou [397] would'st deceive me as before.70

Thou cozenest me: by thee surprised am I,

And bide sore loss [398] with endless infamy.[Pg 194]

Nay more, the wench did not disdain a whit

To take it in her hand, and play with it.

But when she saw it would by no means stand,

But still drooped down, regarding not her hand,

"Why mock'st thou me," she cried, "or being ill,

Who bade thee lie down here against thy will?

Either thou art witched with blood of frogs [399] new dead,

Or jaded cam'st thou from some other's bed."80

With that, her loose gown on, from me she cast her;

In skipping out her naked feet much graced her.

And lest her maid should know of this disgrace,

To cover it, spilt water in the place.

What man will now take liberal arts in hand,

Or think soft verse in any stead to stand?

Wit was sometimes more precious than gold;

Now poverty great barbarism we hold.

When our books did my mistress fair content,

I might not go whither my papers went.

She praised me, yet the gate shut fast upon her,

I here and there go, witty with dishonour.

See a rich chuff, whose wounds great wealth inferred,

[Pg 195]

For bloodshed knighted, before me preferred.10

Fool, can'st thou him in thy white arms embrace?

Fool, can'st thou lie in his enfolding space?

Know'st not this head [401] a helm was wont to bear?

This side that serves thee, a sharp sword did wear.

His left hand, whereon gold doth ill alight,

A target bore: blood-sprinkled was his right.

Can'st touch that hand wherewith some one lies dead?

Ah, whither is thy breast's soft nature fled?

Behold the signs of ancient fight, his scars!

Whate'er he hath, his body gained in wars.20

Perhaps he'll tell how oft he slew a man,

Confessing this, why dost thou touch him than?[402]

I, the pure priest of Phœbus and the Muses,

At thy deaf doors in verse sing my abuses.

Not what we slothful know,[403] let wise men learn,

But follow trembling camps and battles stern.

And for a good verse draw the first dart forth:[404]

Homer without this shall be nothing worth.

Jove, being admonished gold had sovereign power,

To win the maid came in a golden shower.30

Till then, rough was her father, she severe,

The posts of brass, the walls of iron were.

But when in gifts the wise adulterer came,

She held her lap ope to receive the same.[Pg 196]

Yet when old Saturn heaven's rule possest,

All gain in darkness the deep earth supprest.

Gold, silver, iron's heavy weight, and brass,

In hell were harboured; here was found no mass.

But better things it gave, corn without ploughs,

Apples, and honey in oaks' hollow boughs.40

With strong ploughshares no man the earth did cleave,

The ditcher no marks on the ground did leave.

Nor hanging oars the troubled seas did sweep,

Men kept the shore and sailed not into deep.

Against thyself, man's nature, thou wert cunning,

And to thine own loss was thy wit swift running.

Why gird'st thy cities with a towerèd wall,

Why let'st discordant hands to armour fall?

What dost with seas? with th' earth thou wert content;

Why seek'st not heaven, the third realm, to frequent?50

Heaven thou affects: with Romulus, temples brave,

Bacchus, Alcides, and now Cæsar have.

Gold from the earth instead of fruits we pluck;

Soldiers by blood to be enriched have luck.

Courts shut the poor out; wealth gives estimation.

Thence grows the judge, and knight of reputation.

All,[405] they possess: they govern fields and laws,

They manage peace and raw war's bloody jaws.

Only our loves let not such rich churls gain:

[Pg 197]

'Tis well if some wench for the poor remain.60

Now, Sabine-like, though chaste she seems to live,

One her [406] commands, who many things can give.

For me, she doth keeper [407] and husband fear,

If I should give, both would the house forbear.

If of scorned lovers god be venger just,

O let him change goods so ill-got to dust.

If Thetis and the Morn their sons did wail,

And envious Fates great goddesses assail;

Sad Elegy,[409] thy woful hairs unbind:

Ah, now a name too true thou hast I find.

Tibullus, thy work's poet, and thy fame,

Burns his dead body in the funeral flame.

Lo, Cupid brings his quiver spoilèd quite,

His broken bow, his firebrand without light!

How piteously with drooping wings he stands,

And knocks his bare breast with self-angry hands.10

The locks spread on his neck receive his tears,

And shaking sobs his mouth for speeches bears.

So [410] at Æneas' burial, men report,

Fair-faced Iülus, he went forth thy court.[Pg 198]

And Venus grieves, Tibullus' life being spent,

As when the wild boar Adon's groin had rent.

The gods' care we are called, and men of piety,

And some there be that think we have a deity.

Outrageous death profanes all holy things,

And on all creatures obscure darkness brings.20

To Thracian Orpheus what did parents good?

Or songs amazing wild beasts of the wood?

Where [411] Linus by his father Phœbus laid,

To sing with his unequalled harp is said.

See Homer from whose fountain ever filled

Pierian dew to poets is distilled:

Him the last day in black Avern hath drowned:

Verses alone are with continuance crowned.

The work of poets lasts: Troy's labour's fame,

And that slow web night's falsehood did unframe.30

So Nemesis, so Delia famous are,

The one his first love, th' other his new care.

What profit to us hath our pure life bred?

What to have lain alone in empty bed?

When bad Fates take good men, I am forbod

By secret thoughts to think there is a God.

Live godly, thou shalt die; though honour heaven,

Yet shall thy life be forcibly bereaven.

Trust in good verse, Tibullus feels death's pains,

[Pg 199]

Scarce rests of all what a small urn contains.40

Thee, sacred poet, could sad flames destroy?

Nor fearèd they thy body to annoy?

The holy gods' gilt temples they might fire,

That durst to so great wickedness aspire.

Eryx' bright empress turned her looks aside,

And some, that she refrained tears, have denied.

Yet better is't, than if Corcyra's Isle,

Had thee unknown interred in ground most vile.

Thy dying eyes here did thy mother close,

Nor did thy ashes her last offerings lose.50

Part of her sorrow here thy sister bearing,

Comes forth, her unkembed [412] locks asunder tearing.

Nemesis and thy first wench join their kisses

With thine, nor this last fire their presence misses.

Delia departing, "Happier loved," she saith,

"Was I: thou liv'dst, while thou esteem'dst my faith."

Nemesis answers, "What's my loss to thee?

His fainting hand in death engraspèd me."

If aught remains of us but name and spirit,

Tibullus doth Elysium's joy inherit.60

Their youthful brows with ivy girt to meet him,

With Calvus learned Catullus comes, and greet him;

And thou, if falsely charged to wrong thy friend,

Callus, that car'dst [413] not blood and life to spend,

With these thy soul walks: souls if death release,

The godly [414] sweet Tibullus doth increase.

Thy bones, I pray, may in the urn safe rest,

And may th' earth's weight thy ashes naught molest.

[Pg 200]

Come were the times of Ceres' sacrifice;

In empty bed alone my mistress lies.

Golden-haired Ceres crowned with ears of corn,

Why are our pleasures by thy means forborne?

Thee, goddess, bountiful all nations judge,

Nor less at man's prosperity any grudge.

Rude husbandmen baked not their corn before,

Nor on the earth was known the name of floor.[416]

On mast of oaks, first oracles, men fed;

This was their meat, the soft grass was their bed.10

First Ceres taught the seed in fields to swell,

And ripe-eared corn with sharp-edged scythes to fell.

She first constrained bulls' necks to bear the yoke,

And untilled ground with crooked ploughshares broke.

Who thinks her to be glad at lovers' smart,

And worshipped by their pain and lying apart?

Nor is she, though she loves the fertile fields,

A clown, nor no love from her warm breast yields:

Be witness Crete (nor Crete doth all things feign)

Crete proud that Jove her nursery maintain.20

There, he who rules the world's star-spangled towers,

A little boy drunk teat-distilling showers.

Faith to the witness Jove's praise doth apply;

Ceres, I think, no known fault will deny.[Pg 201]

The goddess saw Iasion on Candian Ide,

With strong hand striking wild beasts' bristled hide.

She saw, and as her marrow took the flame,

Was divers ways distract with love and shame.

Love conquered shame, the furrows dry were burned,

And corn with least part of itself returned.30

When well-tossed mattocks did the ground prepare,

Being fit-broken with the crooked share,

And seeds were equally in large fields cast,

The ploughman's hopes were frustrate at the last.

The grain-rich goddess in high woods did stray,

Her long hair's ear-wrought garland fell away.

Only was Crete fruitful that plenteous year;

Where Ceres went, each place was harvest there.

Ida, the seat of groves, did sing [417] with corn,

Which by the wild boar in the woods was shorn.40

Law-giving Minos did such years desire,

And wished the goddess long might feel love's fire.

Ceres, what sports [418] to thee so grievous were,

As in thy sacrifice we them forbear?

Why am I sad, when Proserpine is found,

And Juno-like with Dis reigns under ground?

Festival days ask Venus, songs, and wine,

These gifts are meet to please the powers divine.

[Pg 202]

Long have I borne much, mad thy faults me make;

Dishonest love, my wearied breast forsake!

Now have I freed myself, and fled the chain,

And what I have borne, shame to bear again.

We vanquish, and tread tamed love under feet,

Victorious wreaths [420] at length my temples greet.

Suffer, and harden: good grows by this grief,

Oft bitter juice brings to the sick relief.

I have sustained, so oft thrust from the door,

To lay my body on the hard moist floor.10

I know not whom thou lewdly didst embrace,

When I to watch supplied a servant's place.

I saw when forth a tirèd lover went.

His side past service, and his courage spent,

Yet this is less than if he had seen me;

May that shame fall mine enemies' chance to be.

When have not I, fixed to thy side, close laid?

I have thy husband, guard, and fellow played.

The people by my company she pleased;

My love was cause that more men's love she seized.20

What, should I tell her vain tongue's filthy lies,

And, to my loss, god-wronging perjuries?

What secret becks in banquets with her youths,

With privy signs, and talk dissembling truths?[Pg 203]

Hearing her to be sick, I thither ran,

But with my rival sick she was not than.

These hardened me, with what I keep obscure:[421]

Some other seek, who will these things endure.

Now my ship in the wishèd haven crowned,

With joy hears Neptune's swelling waters sound.30

Leave thy once-powerful words, and flatteries,

I am not as I was before, unwise.

Now love and hate my light breast each way move,

But victory, I think, will hap to love.

I'll hate, if I can; if not, love 'gainst my will,

Bulls hate the yoke, yet what they hate have still.

I fly her lust, but follow beauty's creature,

I loathe her manners, love her body's feature.

Nor with thee, nor without thee can I live,

And doubt to which desire the palm to give.40

Or less fair, or less lewd would thou might'st be:

Beauty with lewdness doth right ill agree.

Her deeds gain hate, her face entreateth love;

Ah, she doth more worth than her vices prove!

Spare me, oh, by our fellow bed, by all

The gods, who by thee, to be perjured fall.[422]

And by thy face to me a power divine,

And by thine eyes, whose radiance burns out mine!

Whate'er thou art, mine art thou: choose this course,

Wilt have me willing, or to love by force.50

Rather I'll hoist up sail, and use the wind,

That I may love yet, though against my mind.

[Pg 204]

What day was that, which all sad haps to bring,

White birds to lovers did not [424] always sing?

Or is I think my wish against the stars?

Or shall I plain some god against me wars?

Who mine was called, whom I loved more than any,

I fear with me is common now to many.

Err I? or by my books [425] is she so known?

'Tis so: by my wit her abuse is grown.

And justly: for her praise why did I tell?

The wench by my fault is set forth to sell.10

The bawd I play, lovers to her I guide:

Her gate by my hands is set open wide.

'Tis doubtful whether verse avail or harm,

Against my good they were an envious charm.

When Thebes, when Troy, when Cæsar should be writ,

Alone Corinna moves my wanton wit.

With Muse opposed, would I my lines had done,

And Phœbus had forsook my work begun!

Nor, as use will not poets' record hear,

[Pg 205]

Would I my words would any credit bear.20

Scylla by us her father's rich hair steals,

And Scylla's womb mad raging dogs conceals.

We cause feet fly, we mingle hares with snakes,

Victorious Perseus a winged steed's back takes.

Our verse great Tityus a huge space outspreads,

And gives the viper-curlèd dog three heads.

We make Enceladus use a thousand arms,

And men enthralled by mermaid's [426] singing charms.

The east winds in Ulysses' bags we shut,

And blabbing Tantalus in mid-waters put.30

Niobe flint, Callist we make a bear,

Bird-changèd Progne doth her Itys tear.[427]

Jove turns himself into a swan, or gold,

Or his bull's horns Europa's hand doth hold.

Proteus what should I name? teeth, Thebes' first seed?

Oxen in whose mouths burning flames did breed?

Heaven-star, Electra,[428] that bewailed her sisters?

The ships, whose godhead in the sea now glisters?

The sun turned back from Atreus' cursed table?39

And sweet-touched harp that to move stones was able?

Poets' large power is boundless and immense,

Nor have their words true history's pretence.

And my wench ought to have seemed falsely praised,

Now your credulity harm to me hath raised.

[Pg 206]

When fruit-filled Tuscia should a wife give me,

We touched the walls, Camillus, won by thee.

The priests to Juno did prepare chaste feasts,

With famous pageants, and their home-bred beasts.

To know their rites well recompensed my stay,

Though thither leads a rough steep hilly way.

There stands an old wood with thick trees dark clouded:

Who sees it grants some deity there is shrouded.

An altar takes men's incense and oblation,

An altar made after the ancient fashion.10

Here, when the pipe with solemn tunes doth sound,

The annual pomp goes on the covered [430] ground.

White heifers by glad people forth are led,

Which with the grass of Tuscan fields are fed,

And calves from whose feared front no threatening flies,

And little pigs, base hogsties' sacrifice,

And rams with horns their hard heads wreathèd back;

Only the goddess-hated goat did lack,

By whom disclosed, she in the high woods took,

Is said to have attempted flight forsook.20

Now [431] is the goat brought through the boys with darts,

And give[n] to him that the first wound imparts.[Pg 207]

Where Juno comes, each youth and pretty maid,

Show [432] large ways, with their garments there displayed.

Jewels and gold their virgin tresses crown,

And stately robes to their gilt feet hang down.

As is the use, the nuns in white veils clad,

Upon their heads the holy mysteries had.

When the chief pomp comes, loud [433] the people hollow;

And she her vestal virgin priests doth follow.30

Such was the Greek pomp, Agamemnon dead;

Which fact [434] and country wealth, Halesus fled.

And having wandered now through sea and land,

Built walls high towered with a prosperous hand.

He to th' Hetrurians Juno's feast commended:

Let me and them by it be aye befriended.

Seeing thou art fair, I bar not thy false playing,

But let not me, poor soul, know [435] of thy straying.

Nor do I give thee counsel to live chaste,

But that thou would'st dissemble, when 'tis past.[Pg 208]

She hath not trod awry, that doth deny it.

Such as confess have lost their good names by it.

What madness is't to tell night-pranks [436] by day?

And [437] hidden secrets openly to bewray?

The strumpet with the stranger will not do,

Before the room be clear and door put-to.10

Will you make shipwreck of your honest name,

And let the world be witness of the same?

Be more advised, walk as a puritan,

And I shall think you chaste, do what you can.

Slip still, only deny it when 'tis done,

And, before folk,[438] immodest speeches shun.

The bed is for lascivious toyings meet,

There use all tricks,[439] and tread shame under feet.

When you are up and dressed, be sage and grave,

And in the bed hide all the faults you have.20

Be not ashamed to strip you, being there,

And mingle thighs, yours ever mine to bear.[440]

There in your rosy lips my tongue entomb,

Practise a thousand sports when there you come.

Forbear no wanton words you there would speak,

And with your pastime let the bedstead creak;

But with your robes put on an honest face,

And blush, and seem as you were full of grace.

Deceive all; let me err; and think I'm right,

[Pg 209]

And like a wittol think thee void of slight.30

Why see I lines so oft received and given?

This bed and that by tumbling made uneven?

Like one start up your hair tost and displaced,

And with a wanton's tooth your neck new-rased.

Grant this, that what you do I may not see;

If you weigh not ill speeches, yet weigh me.

My soul fleets [441] when I think what you have done,

And thorough [442] every vein doth cold blood run.

Then thee whom I must love, I hate in vain,

And would be dead, but dead [443] with thee remain.40

I'll not sift much, but hold thee soon excused.

Say but thou wert injuriously accused.

Though while the deed be doing you be took,

And I see when you ope the two-leaved book,[444]

Swear I was blind; deny [445] if you be wise,

And I will trust your words more than mine eyes.

From him that yields, the palm [446] is quickly got,

Teach but your tongue to say, "I did it not,"

And being justified by two words, think

The cause acquits you not, but I [447] that wink.50

Tender Loves' mother [449] a new poet get,

This last end to my Elegies is set.[450]

Which I, Peligny's foster-child, have framed,

Nor am I by such wanton toys defamed.

Heir of an ancient house, if help that can,

Not only by war's rage [451] made gentleman.

In Virgil Mantua joys: in Catull Verone;

Of me Peligny's nation boasts alone;

Whom liberty to honest arms compelled,

When careful Rome in doubt their prowess held.[452]10

And some guest viewing watery Sulmo's walls,

Where little ground to be enclosed befalls,

"How such a poet could you bring forth?" says:

"How small soe'er, I'll you for greatest praise."

Both loves, to whom my heart long time did yield,[453]

Your golden ensigns pluck [454] out of my field.

Horned Bacchus graver fury doth distil,

A greater ground with great horse is to till.

Weak Elegies, delightful Muse, farewell;

A work that, after my death, here shall dwell.20

Fly, merry Muse, unto that merry town,

Where thou mayst plays, revels, and triumphs see;

The house of fame, and theatre of renown,

Where all good wits and spirits love to be.

Fall in between their hands that praise and love thee,[456]

And be to them a laughter and a jest:

But as for them which scorning shall reprove [457] thee,

Disdain their wits, and think thine own the best.

But if thou find any so gross and dull,

[Pg 214]

That thinks I do to private taxing [458] lean,10

Bid him go hang, for he is but a gull,

And knows not what an epigram doth [459] mean,

Which taxeth,[460] under a particular name,

A general vice which merits public blame.

Oft in my laughing rhymes I name a gull;

But this new term will many questions breed;

Therefore at first I will express at full,

Who is a true and perfect gull indeed.

A gull is he who fears a velvet gown,

And, when a wench is brave, dares not speak to her;

A gull is he which traverseth the town,

And is for marriage known a common wooer;

A gull is he which, while he proudly wears

A silver-hilted rapier by his side,10

Endures the lie [461] and knocks about the ears,

Whilst in his sheath his sleeping sword doth bide;

A gull is he which wears good handsome clothes,

And stands in presence stroking up his hair,

And fills up his unperfect speech with oaths,

But speaks not one wise word throughout the year:

But, to define a gull in terms precise,—

A gull is he which seems and is not wise.[462]

[Pg 215]

Rufus the courtier, at the theatre,

Leaving the best and most conspicuous place,

Doth either to the stage [463] himself transfer,

Or through a grate [464] doth show his double face,[Pg 216]

For that the clamorous fry of Inns of Court

Fill up the private rooms of greater price,

And such a place where all may have resort

He in his singularity doth despise.

Yet doth not his particular humour shun

The common stews and brothels of the town,10

Though all the world in troops do thither run,

Clean and unclean, the gentle and the clown:

Then why should Rufus in his pride abhor

A common seat, that loves a common whore?

Quintus the dancer useth evermore

His feet in measure and in rule to move:

Yet on a time he call'd his mistress whore,

And thought with that sweet word to win her love.

O, had his tongue like to his feet been taught,

It never would have utter'd such a thought!

Faustinus, Sextus, Cinna, Ponticus,

With Gella, Lesbia, Thais, Rhodope,[Pg 217]

Rode all to Staines,[466] for no cause serious,

But for their mirth and for their lechery.

Scarce were they settled in their lodging, when

Wenches with wenches, men with men fell out,

Men with their wenches, wenches with their men;

Which straight dissolves [467] this ill-assembled rout.

But since the devil brought them thus together,

To my discoursing thoughts it is a wonder,10

Why presently as soon as they came thither,

The self-same devil did them part asunder.

Doubtless, it seems, it was a foolish devil,

That thus did part them ere they did some evil.

Titus, the brave and valorous young gallant,

Three years together in his town hath been;

Yet my Lord Chancellor's [468] tomb he hath not seen,

Nor the new water-work,[469] nor the elephant.

I cannot tell the cause without a smile,—

He hath been in the Counter all this while.

Faustus, nor lord nor knight, nor wise nor old,

To every place about the town doth ride;

He rides into the fields [470] plays to behold,

He rides to take boat at the water-side,

He rides to Paul's, he rides to th' ordinary,

He rides unto the house of bawdry too,—

Thither his horse so often doth him carry,

That shortly he will quite forget to go.

Kate, being pleas'd, wish'd that her pleasure could

Endure as long as a buff-jerkin would.

Content thee, Kate; although thy pleasure wasteth,

Thy pleasure's place like a buff-jerkin lasteth,

For no buff-jerkin hath been oftener worn,

Nor hath more scrapings or more dressings borne.

[Pg 219]

Liber doth vaunt how chastely he hath liv'd

Since he hath been in town, seven years [472] and more,

For that he swears he hath four only swiv'd,

A maid, a wife, a widow, and a whore:

Then, Liber, thou hast swiv'd all womenkind,

For a fifth sort, I know, thou canst not find.

Great Captain Medon wears a chain of gold

Which at five hundred crowns is valuèd,

For that it was his grandsire's chain of old,

When great King Henry Boulogne conquerèd.

And wear it, Medon, for it may ensue,

That thou, by virtue of this massy chain,

A stronger town than Boulogne mayst subdue,

If wise men's saws be not reputed vain;

For what said Philip, king of Macedon?

"There is no castle so well fortified,10

But if an ass laden with gold comes on,

The guard will stoop, and gates fly open wide."

Gella, if thou dost love thyself, take heed

Lest thou my rhymes unto thy lover read;[Pg 220]

For straight thou grinn'st, and then thy lover seeth

Thy canker-eaten gums and rotten teeth.

Quintus his wit, infus'd into his brain,

Mislikes the place, and fled into his feet;

And there it wanders up and down the street,[474]

Dabbled in the dirt, and soakèd in the rain.

Doubtless his wit intends not to aspire,

Which leaves his head, to travel in the mire.

The puritan Severus oft doth read

This text, that doth pronounce vain speech a sin,—

"That thing defiles a man, that doth proceed

From out the mouth, not that which enters in."

Hence is it that we seldom hear him swear;

And therefore like a Pharisee, he vaunts:

But he devours more capons in a year

Than would suffice a hundred protestants.

And, sooth, those sectaries are gluttons all,

[Pg 221]

As well the thread-bare cobbler as the knight;10

For those poor slaves which have not wherewithal,

Feed on the rich, till they devour them quite;

And so, like Pharaoh's kine, they eat up clean

Those that be fat, yet still themselves be lean.

Leuca in presence once a fart did let:

Some laugh'd a little; she forsook the place;

And, mad with shame, did eke her glove forget,

Which she return'd to fetch with bashful grace;

And when she would have said "this is [476] my glove,"

"My fart," quod she; which did more laughter move.

Thou canst not speak yet, Macer; for to speak,

Is to distinguish sounds significant:

Thou with harsh noise the air dost rudely break;

But what thou utter'st common sense doth want,—

Half-English words, with fustian terms among,

Much like the burden of a northern song.

[Pg 222]

"That youth," said Faustus, "hath a lion seen,

Who from a dicing-house comes moneyless."

But when he lost his hair, where had he been?

I doubt me, he [477] had seen a lioness.

Cosmus hath more discoursing in his head

Than Jove when Pallas issu'd from his brain;

And still he strives to be deliverèd

Of all his thoughts at once; but all in vain;

For, as we see at all the playhouse-doors,

When ended is the play, the dance, and song,

A thousand townsmen, gentlemen, and whores,

Porters, and serving-men, together throng,—

So thoughts of drinking, thriving, wenching, war,

And borrowing money, ranging in his mind,10

To issue all at once so forward are,

As none at all can perfect passage find.

The false knave Flaccus once a bribe I gave;

The more fool I to bribe so false a knave:[Pg 223]

But he gave back my bribe; the more fool he,

That for my folly did not cozen me.

Thou, doggèd Cineas, hated like a dog,

For still thou grumblest like a masty [478] dog,

Compar'st thyself to nothing but a dog;

Thou say'st thou art as weary as a dog,

As angry, sick, and hungry as a dog,

As dull and melancholy as a dog,

As lazy, sleepy, idle [479] as a dog.

But why dost thou compare thee to a dog

In that for which all men despise a dog?

I will compare thee better to a dog;10

Thou art as fair and comely as a dog,

Thou art as true and honest as a dog,

Thou art as kind and liberal as a dog,

Thou art as wise and valiant as a dog.

But, Cineas, I have often [480] heard thee tell,

Thou art as like thy father as may be:

'Tis like enough; and, faith, I like it well;

But I am glad thou art not like to me.

[Pg 224]

Geron, whose [482] mouldy memory corrects

Old Holinshed our famous chronicler

With moral rules, and policy collects

Out of all actions done these fourscore year;

Accounts the time of every odd [483] event,

Not from Christ's birth, nor from the prince's reign,

But from some other famous accident,

Which in men's general notice doth remain,—

The siege of Boulogne,[484] and the plaguy sweat,[485]

The going to Saint Quintin's [486] and New-Haven,[487]10

The rising [488] in the north, the frost so great,

That cart-wheel prints on Thamis' face were graven,[Pg 225][489]

The fall of money,[490] and burning of Paul's steeple,[491]

The blazing star,[492] and Spaniards' overthrow:[493]

By these events, notorious to the people,

He measures times, and things forepast doth show:

But most of all, he chiefly reckons by

A private chance,—the death of his curst [494] wife;

This is to him the dearest memory,

And th' happiest accident of all his life.20

When Marcus comes from Mins',[495] he still doth swear,

By "come [496] on seven," that all is lost and gone:[Pg 226]

But that's not true; for he hath lost his hair,

Only for that he came too much on [497] one.

The fine youth Cyprius is more terse and neat

Than the new garden of the Old Temple is;

And still the newest fashion he doth get,

And with the time doth change from that to this;

He wears a hat now of the flat-crown block,[498]

The treble ruff,[499] long coat, and doublet French:

He takes tobacco, and doth wear a lock,[500]

And wastes more time in dressing than a wench.

Yet this new-fangled youth, made for these times,

Doth, above all, praise old George [501] Gascoigne's rhymes.[502]10

When Cineas comes amongst his friends in morning,

He slyly looks [503] who first his cap doth move:[Pg 227]

Him he salutes, the rest so grimly scorning,

As if for ever they had lost his love.

I, knowing how it doth the humour fit

Of this fond gull to be saluted first,

Catch at my cap, but move it not a whit:

Which he perceiving,[504] seems for spite to burst.

But, Cineas, why expect you more of me

Than I of you? I am as good a man,10

And better too by many a quality,

For vault, and dance, and fence, and rhyme I can:

You keep a whore at your own charge, men tell me;

Indeed, friend Cineas, therein you excel me.[505]

Gallus hath been this summer-time in Friesland,

And now, return'd, he speaks such warlike words,

As, if I could their English understand,

I fear me they would cut my throat like swords;[Pg 228]

He talks of counter-scarfs,[506] and casamates,[507]

Of parapets, curtains, and palisadoes;[508]

Of flankers, ravelins, gabions he prates,

And of false-brays,[509] and sallies, and scaladoes.[510]

But, to requite such gulling terms as these,

With words to my profession I reply;10

I tell of fourching, vouchers, and counterpleas,

Of withernams, essoins, and champarty.

So, neither of us understanding either,

We part as wise as when we came together.

Audacious painters have Nine Worthies made;

But poet Decius, more audacious far,[Pg 229]

Making his mistress march with men of war,

With title of "Tenth Worthy" doth her lade.

Methinks that gull did use his terms as fit,

Which term'd his love "a giant for her wit."

If Gella's beauty be examinèd,

She hath a dull dead eye, a saddle nose,

An ill-shap'd face, with morphew overspread,

And rotten teeth, which she in laughing shows;

Briefly, she is the filthiest wench in town,

Of all that do the art of whoring use:

But when she hath put on her satin gown,

Her cut [512] lawn apron, and her velvet shoes,

Her green silk stockings, and her petticoat

Of taffeta, with golden fringe around,10

And is withal perfum'd with civet hot,

Which doth her valiant stinking breath confound,—

Yet she with these additions is no more

Than a sweet, filthy, fine, ill-favour'd whore.

[Pg 230]

Sylla is often challeng'd to the field,

To answer, like a gentleman, his foes:

But then doth he this [513] only answer yield,

That he hath livings and fair lands to lose.

Sylla, if none but beggars valiant were,

The king of Spain would put us all in fear.

Who dares affirm that Sylla dare not fight?

When I dare swear he dares adventure more

Than the most brave and most [514] all-daring wight

That ever arms with resolution bore;

He that dare touch the most unwholesome whore

That ever was retir'd into the spittle,

And dares court wenches standing at a door

(The portion of his wit being passing little);

He that dares give his dearest friends offences,

Which other valiant fools do fear to do,10

And, when a fever doth confound his senses,

Dare eat raw beef, and drink strong wine thereto:[Pg 231]

He that dares take tobacco on the stage,[515]

Dares man a whore at noon-day through the street,

Dares dance in Paul's, and in this formal age

Dares say and do whatever is unmeet;

Whom fear of shame could never yet affright,

Who dares affirm that Sylla dares not fight?

Heywood,[516] that did in epigrams excel,

Is now put down since my light Muse arose;[517]

As buckets are put down into a well,

Or as a schoolboy putteth down his hose.

Amongst the poets Dacus number'd is,

Yet could he never make an English rhyme:

But some prose speeches I have heard of his,

Which have been spoken many a hundred time;

The man that keeps the elephant hath one,

Wherein he tells the wonders of the beast;

Another Banks pronouncèd long agone,

When he his curtal's [519] qualities express'd:

He first taught him that keeps the monuments

At Westminster, his formal tale to say,10

And also him which puppets represents,

And also him which with the ape doth play.

Though all his poetry be like to this,

Amongst the poets Dacus number'd is.

When Priscus, rais'd from low to high estate,

Rode through the street in pompous jollity,

Caius, his poor familiar friend of late,

Bespake him thus, "Sir, now you know not me,"

"'Tis likely, friend," quoth Priscus, "to be so,

For at this time myself I do not know."

[Pg 233]

Brunus, which deems [520] himself a fair sweet youth,

Is nine and thirty [521] year of age at least;

Yet was he never, to confess the truth,

But a dry starveling when he was at best.

This gull was sick to show his nightcap fine,

And his wrought pillow overspread with lawn;

But hath been well since his grief's cause hath line [522]

At Trollop's by Saint Clement's Church in pawn.

When Francus comes to solace with his whore,

He sends for rods, and strips himself stark naked;

For his lust sleeps, and will not rise before,

By whipping of the wench, it be awakèd.

I envy him not, but wish I [523] had the power

To make myself his wench but one half-hour.

Of speaking well why do we learn the skill,

Hoping thereby honour and wealth to gain?

Sith railing Castor doth, by speaking ill,

Opinion of much wit, and gold obtain.

[Pg 234]

Septimius [524] lives, and is like garlic seen,

For though his head be white, his blade is green.

This old mad colt deserves a martyr's praise,

For he was burnèd [525] in Queen Mary's days.

Homer of Moly and Nepenthe sings;

Moly, the gods' most sovereign herb divine,

Nepenthe, Helen's [526] drink, which gladness brings,

Heart's grief expels, and doth the wit refine.

But this our age another world hath found,

From whence an herb of heavenly power is brought;

Moly is not so sovereign for a wound,

Nor hath nepenthe so great wonders wrought.

It is tobacco, whose sweet subtle [527] fume

The hellish torment of the teeth doth ease,10

By drawing down and drying up the rheum,

The mother and the nurse of each disease;[Pg 235]

It is tobacco, which doth cold expel,

And clears th' obstructions of the arteries,

And surfeits threatening death digesteth well,

Decocting all the stomach's crudities;[528]

It is tobacco, which hath power to clarify

The cloudy mists before dim eyes appearing;

It is tobacco, which hath power to rarify

The thick gross humour which doth stop the hearing;20

The wasting hectic, and the quartan fever,

Which doth of physic make a mockery,

The gout it cures, and helps ill breaths for ever,

Whether the cause in teeth or stomach be;

And though ill breaths were by it but confounded,

Yet that vild [529] medicine it doth far excel,

Which by Sir Thomas More [530] hath been propounded,

For this is thought a gentleman-like smell.

O, that I were one of these mountebanks

Which praise their oils and powders which they sell!30

My customers would give me coin with thanks;

I for this ware, forsooth,[531] a tale would tell:[Pg 236]

Yet would I use none of these terms before;

I would but say, that it the pox will cure;

This were enough, without discoursing more,

All our brave gallants in the town t'allure.

Crassus his lies are no [532] pernicious lies,

But pleasant fictions, hurtful unto none

But to himself; for no man counts him wise

To tell for truth that which for false is known.

He swears that Gaunt [533] is three-score miles about,

And that the bridge at Paris [534] on the Seine

Is of such thickness, length, and breadth throughout,

That six-score arches can it scarce sustain;

He swears he saw so great a dead man's skull

At Canterbury digg'd out of the ground,10

As [535] would contain of wheat three bushels full;

And that in Kent are twenty yeomen found,

Of which the poorest every year [536] dispends

Five thousand pound: these and five thousand mo

So oft he hath recited to his friends,

That now himself persuades himself 'tis so.[Pg 237]

But why doth Crassus tell his lies so rife,

Of bridges, towns, and things that have no life?

He is a lawyer, and doth well espy

That for such lies an action will not lie.20

Philo, the lawyer,[537] and the fortune-teller,

The school-master, the midwife,[538] and the bawd,

The conjurer, the buyer and the seller

Of painting which with breathing will be thaw'd,

Doth practise physic; and his credit grows,

As doth the ballad-singer's auditory,

Which hath at Temple-Bar his standing chose,

And to the vulgar sings an ale-house story:

First stands a porter; then an oyster-wife

Doth stint her cry and stay her steps to hear him;10

Then comes a cutpurse ready with his [539] knife,

And then a country client presseth [540] near him;

There stands the constable, there stands the whore,

And, hearkening [541] to the song, mark [542] not each other;[Pg 238]

There by the serjeant stands the debitor,[543]

And doth no more mistrust him than his brother:

This [544] Orpheus to such hearers giveth music,

And Philo to such patients giveth physic.

Fuscus is free, and hath the world at will;

Yet, in the course of life that he doth lead,

He's like a horse which, turning round a mill,

Doth always in the self-same circle tread:

First, he doth rise at ten;[545] and at eleven

He goes to Gill's, where he doth eat till one;

Then sees a play till six;[546] and sups at seven;[Pg 239]

And, after supper, straight to bed is gone;

And there till ten next day he doth remain;

And then he dines; then sees a comedy;10

And then he sups, and goes to bed again:

Thus round he runs without variety,

Save that sometimes he comes not to the play,

But falls into a whore-house by the way.

The smell-feast [547] Afer travels to the Burse

Twice every day, the flying news to hear;

Which, when he hath no money in his purse,

To rich men's tables he doth ever [548] bear.

He tells how Groni[n]gen [549] is taken in [550]

By the brave conduct of illustrious Vere,

And how the Spanish forces Brest would win,

But that they do victorious Norris [551] fear.

No sooner is a ship at sea surpris'd,

But straight he learns the news, and doth disclose it;[Pg 240]

No [552] sooner hath the Turk a plot devis'd

To conquer Christendom, but straight he knows it.

Fair-written in a scroll he hath the names

Of all the widows which the plague hath made;

And persons, times, and places, still he frames

To every tale, the better to persuade.

We call him Fame, for that the wide-mouth slave

Will eat as fast as he will utter lies;20

For fame is said an hundred mouths to have,

And he eats more than would five-score suffice.

By lawful mart, and by unlawful stealth,

Paulus, in spite of envy, fortunate,

Derives out of the ocean so much wealth,

As he may well maintain a lord's estate:

But on the land a little gulf there is,

Wherein he drowneth all this [553] wealth of his.

Lycus, which lately is to Venice gone,

Shall, if he do return, gain three for one;[Pg 241][554]

But, ten to one, his knowledge and his wit

Will not be better'd or increas'd a whit.

Publius, a [555] student at the Common-Law,

Oft leaves his books, and, for his recreation,

To Paris-garden [556] doth himself withdraw;

Where he is ravish'd with such delectation,

As down amongst the bears and dogs he goes;

Where, whilst he skipping cries, "To head, to head,"[557]

His satin doublet and his velvet hose

Are all with spittle from above be-spread;

Then is he like his father's country hall,

[Pg 242]

Stinking of dogs, and muted [558] all with hawks;10

And rightly too on him this filth doth fall,

Which for such filthy sports his books forsakes,

Leaving old Ployden, Dyer, and Brooke alone,

To see old Harry Hunkes and Sacarson.[559]

When I this proposition had defended,

"A coward cannot be an honest man,"

Thou, Sylla, seem'st forthwith to be offended,

And hold'st [560] the contrary, and swear'st [561] he can.

But when I tell thee that he will forsake

His dearest friend in peril of his life,

Thou then art chang'd, and say'st thou didst mistake;

And so we end our argument and strife:

Yet I think oft, and think I think aright,

Thy argument argues thou wilt not fight.10

Dacus,[562] with some good colour and pretence,

Terms his love's beauty "silent eloquence;"[Pg 243]

For she doth lay more colours on her face

Than ever Tully us'd his speech to grace.

Why dost thou, Marcus, in thy misery

Rail and blaspheme, and call the heavens unkind?

The heavens do owe [563] no kindness unto thee,

Thou hast the heavens so little in thy mind;

For in thy life thou never usest prayer

But at primero, to encounter fair.

[Pg 244]

See, yonder melancholy gentleman,

Which, hood-wink'd with his hat, alone doth sit!

Think what he thinks, and tell me, if you can,

What great affairs trouble his little wit.

He thinks not of the war 'twixt France and Spain,[564]

Whether it be for Europe's good or ill,

Nor whether the Empire can itself maintain

Against the Turkish power encroaching still;[565]

Nor what great town in all the Netherlands

The States determine to besiege this spring,10

Nor how the Scottish policy now stands,

Nor what becomes of the Irish mutining.[566]

But he doth seriously bethink him whether

Of the gull'd people he be more esteem'd

For his long cloak or for [567] his great black feather

By which each gull is now a gallant deem'd;

Or of a journey he deliberates

To Paris-garden, Cock-pit, or the play;

Or how to steal a dog he meditates,

Or what he shall unto his mistress say.

Yet with these thoughts he thinks himself most fit

To be of counsel with a king for wit.

[Pg 245]

Peace, idle Muse, have done! for it is time,

Since lousy Ponticus envies my fame,

And swears the better sort are much to blame

To make me so well known for my ill rhyme.

Yet Banks his horse [568] is better known than he;

So are the camels and the western hog,

And so is Lepidus his printed dog [569]:

Why doth not Ponticus their fames envy?

Besides, this Muse of mine and the black feather

Grew both together fresh in estimation;10

And both, grown stale, were cast away together:

What fame is this that scarce lasts out a fashion?

Only this last in credit doth remain,

That from henceforth each bastard cast-forth rhyme,

Which doth but savour of a libel vein,

Shall call me father, and be thought my crime;

So dull, and with so little sense endued,

Is my gross-headed judge the multitude.

J. D.

I [570] love thee not for sacred chastity,—

Who loves for that?—nor for thy sprightly wit;

I love thee not for thy sweet modesty,

Which makes thee in perfection's throne to sit;

I love thee not for thy enchanting eye,

Thy beauty['s] ravishing perfection;

I love thee not for unchaste luxury,

Nor for thy body's fair proportion;

I love thee not for that my soul doth dance

And leap with pleasure, when those lips of thine

Give musical and graceful utterance

To some (by thee made happy) poet's line;

I love thee not for voice or slender small:

But wilt thou know wherefore? fair sweet, for all.

Faith, wench, I cannot court thy sprightly eyes,

With the base-viol plac'd between my thighs;

I cannot lisp, nor to some fiddle sing,

Nor run upon a high-stretch'd minikin;

I cannot whine in puling elegies,

Entombing Cupid with sad obsequies;[Pg 247]

I am not fashion'd for these amorous times,

To court thy beauty with lascivious rhymes;

I cannot dally, caper, dance, and sing,

Oiling my saint with supple sonneting;

I cannot cross my arms, or sigh "Ay me,

Ay me, forlorn!" egregious foppery!

I cannot buss thy fist,[571] play with thy hair,

Swearing by Jove, "thou art most debonair!"

Not I, by cock! but [I] shall tell thee roundly,—

Hark in thine ear,—zounds, I can (——) thee soundly.

Sweet wench, I love thee: yet I will not sue,

Or show my love as musky courtiers do;

I'll not carouse a health to honour thee,

In this same bezzling [572] drunken courtesy,

And, when all's quaff'd, eat up my bousing-glass [573]

In glory that I am thy servile ass;

Nor will I wear a rotten Bourbon lock,[574]

As some sworn peasant to a female smock.

Well-featur'd lass, thou know'st I love thee dear:

Yet for thy sake I will not bore mine ear,

To hang thy dirty silken shoe-tires there;

Nor for thy love will I once gnash a brick,

Or some pied colours in my bonnet stick:[575]

But, by the chaps of hell, to do thee good,

I'll freely spend my thrice-decocted blood.

[Pg 248]

Wars worse than civil on Thessalian plains,

And outrage strangling law, and people strong,

We sing, whose conquering swords their own breasts lancht,[579]

Armies allied, the kingdom's league uprooted,

Th' affrighted world's force bent on public spoil,

Trumpets and drums, like [580] deadly, threatening other,

Eagles alike display'd, darts answering darts,

Romans, what madness, what huge lust of war,

Hath made barbarians drunk with Latin blood?

Now Babylon, proud through our spoil, should stoop,10

While slaughter'd Crassus' ghost walks unreveng'd,

Will ye wage war, for which you shall not triumph?

Ay me! O, what a world of land and sea

Might they have won whom civil broils have slain!

As far as Titan springs, where night dims heaven,

I, to the torrid zone where mid-day burns,

And where stiff winter, whom no spring resolves,[Pg 254]

Fetters the Euxine Sea with chains of ice;

Scythia and wild Armenia had been yok'd,

And they of Nilus' mouth, if there live any.20

Rome, if thou take delight in impious war,

First conquer all the earth, then turn thy force

Against thyself: as yet thou wants not foes.

That now the walls of houses half-reared totter,

That, rampires fallen down, huge heaps of stone

Lie in our towns, that houses are abandon'd,

And few live that behold their ancient seats;

Italy many years hath lien untill'd

And chok'd with thorns; that greedy earth wants hinds;—

Fierce Pyrrhus, neither thou nor Hannibal30

Art cause; no foreign foe could so afflict us:

These plagues arise from wreak of civil power.

But if for Nero, then unborn, the Fates

Would find no other means, and gods not slightly

Purchase immortal thrones, nor Jove joy'd heaven

Until the cruel giants' war was done;

We plain not, heavens, but gladly bear these evils

For Nero's sake: Pharsalia groan with slaughter,

And Carthage souls be glutted with our bloods!

At Munda let the dreadful battles join;40

Add, Cæsar, to these ills, Perusian famine,

The Mutin toils, the fleet at Luca[s] sunk,

And cruel [581] field near burning Ætna fought!

Yet Rome is much bound to these civil arms,

Which made thee emperor. Thee (seeing thou, being old,[Pg 255]

Must shine a star) shall heaven (whom thou lovest)

Receive with shouts; where thou wilt reign as king,

Or mount the Sun's flame-bearing chariot,

And with bright restless fire compass the earth,

Undaunted though her former guide be chang'd;50

Nature and every power shall give thee place,

What god it please thee be, or where to sway.

But neither choose the north t'erect thy seat,

Nor yet the adverse reeking [582] southern pole,

Whence thou shouldst view thy Rome with squinting [583] beams.

If any one part of vast heaven thou swayest,

The burden'd axes [584] with thy force will bend:

The midst is best; that place is pure and bright;

There, Cæsar, mayst thou shine, and no cloud dim thee.

Then men from war shall bide in league and ease,60

Peace through the world from Janus' face shall fly,

And bolt the brazen gates with bars of iron.

Thou, Cæsar, at this instant art my god;

Thee if I invocate, I shall not need

To crave Apollo's aid or Bacchus' help;

Thy power inspires the Muse that sings this war.

The causes first I purpose to unfold

Of these garboils,[585] whence springs a long discourse;

And what made madding people shake off peace.

[Pg 256]

The Fates are envious, high seats [586] quickly perish,70

Under great burdens falls are ever grievous;

Rome was so great it could not bear itself.

So when this world's compounded union breaks,

Time ends, and to old Chaos all things turn,

Confused stars shall meet, celestial fire

Fleet on the floods, the earth shoulder the sea,

Affording it no shore, and Phœbe's wain

Chase Phœbus, and enrag'd affect his place,

And strive to shine by day and full of strife

Dissolve the engines of the broken world.80

All great things crush themselves; such end the gods

Allot the height of honour; men so strong

By land and sea, no foreign force could ruin.

O Rome, thyself art cause of all these evils,

Thyself thus shiver'd out to three men's shares!

Dire league of partners in a kingdom last not.

O faintly-join'd friends, with ambition blind,

Why join you force to share the world betwixt you?

While th' earth the sea, and air the earth sustains,

While Titan strives against the world's swift course,90

Or Cynthia, night's queen, waits upon the day,

Shall never faith be found in fellow kings:

Dominion cannot suffer partnership.

This need[s] no foreign proof nor far-fet [587] story:

Rome's infant walls were steep'd in brother's blood;

Nor then was land or sea, to breed such hate;

A town with one poor church set them at odds.[Pg 257][588]

Cæsar's and Pompey's jarring love soon ended,

'Twas peace against their wills; betwixt them both

Stepp'd Crassus in. Even as the slender isthmos,100

Betwixt the Ægæan,[589] and the Ionian sea,

Keeps each from other, but being worn away,

They both burst out, and each encounter other;

So whenas Crassus' wretched death, who stay'd them,

Had fill'd Assyrian Carra's [590] walls with blood,

His loss made way for Roman outrages.

Parthians, y'afflict us more than ye suppose;

Being conquer'd, we are plagu'd with civil war.

Swords share our empire: Fortune, that made Rome

Govern the earth, the sea, the world itself,110

Would not admit two lords; for Julia,

Snatch'd hence by cruel Fates, with ominous howls

Bare down to hell her son, the pledge of peace,

And all bands of that death-presaging alliànce.

Julia, had heaven given thee longer life,

Thou hadst restrain'd thy headstrong husband's rage,

Yea, and thy father too, and, swords thrown down,

Made all shake hands, as once the Sabines did:

Thy death broke amity, and train'd to war

These captains emulous of each other's glory.120

Thou fear'd'st, great Pompey, that late deeds would dim

Old triumphs, and that Cæsar's conquering France

Would dash the wreath thou war'st for pirates' wreck:[Pg 258]

Thee war's use stirr'd, and thoughts that always scorn'd

A second place. Pompey could bide no equal,

Nor Cæsar no superior: which of both

Had justest cause, unlawful 'tis to judge:

Each side had great partakers; Cæsar's cause

The gods abetted, Cato lik'd the other.[591]

Both differ'd much. Pompey was struck in years,130

And by long rest forgot to manage arms,

And, being popular, sought by liberal gifts

To gain the light unstable commons' love,

And joy'd to hear his theatre's applause:

He lived secure, boasting his former deeds,

And thought his name sufficient to uphold him:

Like to a tall oak in a fruitful field,

Bearing old spoils and conquerors' monuments,

Who, though his root be weak, and his own weight

Keep him within the ground, his arms all bare,140

His body, not his boughs, send forth a shade;

Though every blast it nod,[592] and seem to fall,

When all the woods about stand bolt upright,

Yet he alone is held in reverence.

Cæsar's renown for war was loss; he restless,

Shaming to strive but where he did subdue;

When ire or hope provok'd, heady and bold;

At all times charging home, and making havoc;[Pg 259]

Urging his fortune, trusting in the gods,

Destroying what withstood his proud desires,150

And glad when blood and ruin made him way:

So thunder, which the wind tears from the clouds,

With crack of riven air and hideous sound

Filling the world, leaps out and throws forth fire,

Affrights poor fearful men, and blasts their eyes

With overthwarting flames, and raging shoots

Alongst the air, and, not resisting it,

Falls, and returns, and shivers where it lights.

Such humours stirr'd them up; but this war's seed

Was even the same that wrecks all great dominions.160

When Fortune made us lords of all, wealth flow'd,

And then we grew licentious and rude;

The soldiers' prey and rapine brought in riot;

Men took delight in jewels, houses, plate,

And scorn'd old sparing diet, and ware robes

Too light for women; Poverty, who hatch'd

Rome's greatest wits,[593] was loath'd, and all the world

Ransack'd for gold, which breeds the world['s] decay;

And then large limits had their butting lands;

The ground, which Curius and Camillus till'd,170

Was stretched unto the fields of hinds unknown.

Again, this people could not brook calm peace;

Them freedom without war might not suffice:

Quarrels were rife; greedy desire, still poor,

Did vild deeds; then 'twas worth the price of blood,

And deem'd renown, to spoil their native town;[Pg 260]

Force mastered right, the strongest govern'd all;

Hence came it that th' edicts were over-rul'd,

That laws were broke, tribunes with consuls strove,

Sale made of offices, and people's voices180

Bought by themselves and sold, and every year

Frauds and corruption in the Field of Mars;

Hence interest and devouring usury sprang,

Faith's breach, and hence came war, to most men welcome.

Now Cæsar overpass'd the snowy Alps;

His mind was troubled, and he aim'd at war:

And coming to the ford of Rubicon,

At night in dreadful vision fearful [594] Rome

Mourning appear'd, whose hoary hairs were torn,

And on her turret-bearing head dispers'd,190

And arms all naked; who, with broken sighs,

And staring, thus bespoke: "What mean'st thou, Cæsar?

Whither goes my standard? Romans if ye be,

And bear true hearts, stay here!" This spectacle

Struck Cæsar's heart with fear; his hair stood up,

And faintness numb'd his steps there on the brink.

He thus cried out: "Thou thunderer that guard'st

Rome's mighty walls, built on Tarpeian rock!

Ye gods of Phrygia and Iülus' line,

Quirinus' rites, and Latian Jove advanc'd200

On Alba hill! O vestal flames! O Rome,

My thoughts sole goddess, aid mine enterprise!

I hate thee not, to thee my conquests stoop:[Pg 261]

Cæsar is thine, so please it thee, thy soldier.

He, he afflicts Rome that made me Rome's foe."

This said, he, laying aside all lets [595] of war,

Approach'd the swelling stream with drum and ensign:

Like to a lion of scorch'd desert Afric,

Who, seeing hunters, pauseth till fell wrath

And kingly rage increase, then, having whisk'd210

His tail athwart his back, and crest heav'd up,

With jaws wide-open ghastly roaring out,

Albeit the Moor's light javelin or his spear

Sticks in his side, yet runs upon the hunter.

In summer-time the purple Rubicon,

Which issues from a small spring, is but shallow,

And creeps along the vales, dividing just

The bounds of Italy from Cisalpine France.

But now the winter's wrath, and watery moon

Being three days old, enforc'd the flood to swell,220

And frozen Alps thaw'd with resolving winds.

The thunder-hoof'd [596] horse, in a crookèd line,

To scape the violence of the stream, first waded;

Which being broke, the foot had easy passage.

As soon as Cæsar got unto the bank

And bounds of Italy, "Here, here," saith he,

"An end of peace; here end polluted laws!

Hence leagues and covenants! Fortune, thee I follow!

War and the Destinies shall try my cause."

[Pg 262]

This said, the restless general through the dark,230

Swifter than bullets thrown from Spanish slings,

Or darts which Parthians backward shoot, march'd on;

And then, when Lucifer did shine alone,

And some dim stars, he Ariminum enter'd.

Day rose, and view'd these tumults of the war:

Whether the gods or blustering south were cause

I know not, but the cloudy air did frown.

The soldiers having won the market-place,

There spread the colours with confusèd noise

Of trumpets' clang, shrill cornets, whistling fifes.240

The people started; young men left their beds,

And snatch'd arms near their household-gods hung up,

Such as peace yields; worm-eaten leathern targets,

Through which the wood peer'd,[597] headless darts, old swords

With ugly teeth of black rust foully scarr'd.

But seeing white eagles, and Rome's flags well known,

And lofty Cæsar in the thickest throng,

They shook for fear, and cold benumb'd their limbs,

And muttering much, thus to themselves complain'd:

"O walls unfortunate, too near to France!250

Predestinate to ruin! all lands else

Have stable peace: here war's rage first begins;

We bide the first brunt. Safer might we dwell

Under the frosty bear, or parching east,

Waggons or tents, than in this frontier town.

We first sustain'd the uproars of the Gauls

And furious Cimbrians, and of Carthage Moors:[Pg 263]

As oft as Rome was sack'd, here gan the spoil."

Thus sighing whisper'd they, and none durst speak,

And show their fear or grief; but as the fields260

When birds are silent thorough winter's rage,

Or sea far from the land, so all were whist,[598]

Now light had quite dissolv'd the misty night,

And Cæsar's mind unsettled musing stood;

But gods and fortune pricked him to this war,

Infringing all excuse of modest shame,

And labouring to approve [599] his quarrel good.

The angry senate, urging Gracchus'[600] deeds,

From doubtful Rome wrongly expell'd the tribunes

That cross'd them: both which now approach'd the camp,270

And with them Curio, sometime tribune too,

One that was fee'd for Cæsar, and whose tongue

Could tune the people to the nobles' mind.[601]

"Cæsar," said he, "while eloquence prevail'd,

And I might plead and draw the commons' minds

To favour thee, against the senate's will,

Five years I lengthen'd thy command in France;

But law being put to silence by the wars,

We, from her houses driven, most willingly

Suffer'd exile: let thy sword bring us home,280

Now, while their part is weak and fears, march hence:[Pg 264]

Where men are ready lingering ever hurts.[602]

In ten years wonn'st thou France: Rome may be won

With far less toil, and yet the honour's more;

Few battles fought with prosperous success

May bring her down, and with her all the world.

Nor shalt thou triumph when thou com'st to Rome,

Nor Capitol be adorn'd with sacred bays;

Envy denies all; with thy blood must thou

Aby thy conquest past:[603] the son decrees290

To expel the father: share the world thou canst not;

Enjoy it all thou mayst." Thus Curio spake;

And therewith Cæsar, prone enough to war,

Was so incens'd as are Elean [604] steeds.

With clamours, who, though lock'd and chain'd in stalls,[605]

Souse [606] down the walls, and make a passage forth.

Straight summon'd he his several companies

Unto the standard: his grave look appeas'd

The wrestling tumult, and right hand made silence;

And thus he spake: "You that with me have borne300

A thousand brunts, and tried me full ten years,

See how they quit our bloodshed in the north,[Pg 265]

Our friends' death, and our wounds, our wintering

Under the Alps! Rome rageth now in arms

As if the Carthage Hannibal were near;

Cornets of horse are muster'd for the field;

Woods turn'd to ships; both land and sea against us.

Had foreign wars ill-thriv'd, or wrathful France

Pursu'd us hither, how were we bested,

When, coming conqueror, Rome afflicts me thus?310

Let come their leader [607] whom long peace hath quail'd,

Raw soldiers lately press'd, and troops of gowns,

Babbling [608] Marcellus, Cato whom fools reverence!

Must Pompey's followers, with strangers' aid

(Whom from his youth he brib'd), needs make him king?

And shall he triumph long before his time,

And, having once got head, still shall he reign?

What should I talk of men's corn reap'd by force,

And by him kept of purpose for a dearth?

Who sees not war sit by the quivering judge,320

And sentence given in rings of naked swords,

And laws assail'd, and arm'd men in the senate?

'Twas his troop hemm'd in Milo being accus'd;

And now, lest age might wane his state, he casts

For civil war, wherein through use he's known

To exceed his master, that arch-traitor Sylla.

A[s] brood of barbarous tigers, having lapp'd

The blood of many a herd, whilst with their dams

They kennell'd in Hyrcania, evermore[Pg 266]

Will rage and prey; so, Pompey, thou, having lick'd330

Warm gore from Sylla's sword, art yet athirst:

Jaws flesh[ed] with blood continue murderous.

Speak, when shall this thy long-usurped power end?

What end of mischief? Sylla teaching thee,

At last learn, wretch, to leave thy monarchy!

What, now Sicilian [609] pirates are suppress'd,

And jaded [610] king of Pontus poison'd slain,

Must Pompey as his last foe plume on me,

Because at his command I wound not up

My conquering eagles? say I merit naught,[611]340

Yet, for long service done, reward these men,

And so they triumph, be't with whom ye will.

Whither now shall these old bloodless souls repair?

What seats for their deserts? what store of ground

For servitors to till? what colonies

To rest their bones? say, Pompey, are these worse

Than pirates of Sicilia?[612] they had houses.

Spread, spread these flags that ten years' space have conquer'd!

Let's use our tried force: they that now thwart right,

[Pg 267]

In wars will yield to wrong:[613] the gods are with us;350

Neither spoil nor kingdom seek we by these arms,

But Rome, at thraldom's feet, to rid from tyrants."

This spoke, none answer'd, but a murmuring buzz

Th' unstable people made: their household-gods

And love to Rome (though slaughter steel'd their hearts,

And minds were prone) restrain'd them; but war's love

And Cæsar's awe dash'd all. Then Lælius,[614]

The chief centurion, crown'd with oaken leaves

For saving of a Roman citizen,

Stepp'd forth, and cried: "Chief leader of Rome's force,

So be I may be bold to speak a truth,361

We grieve at this thy patience and delay.

What, doubt'st thou us? even now when youthful blood

Pricks forth our lively bodies, and strong arms

Can mainly throw the dart, wilt thou endure

These purple grooms, that senate's tyranny?

Is conquest got by civil war so heinous?

Well, lead us, then, to Syrtes' desert shore,

Or Scythia, or hot Libya's thirsty sands.

This band, that all behind us might be quail'd,370

Hath with thee pass'd the swelling ocean,

And swept the foaming breast of Arctic [615] Rhene.

Love over-rules my will; I must obey thee,

Cæsar: he whom I hear thy trumpets charge,

I hold no Roman; by these ten blest ensigns

And all thy several triumphs, shouldst thou bid me

Entomb my sword within my brother's bowels,[Pg 268]

Or father's throat, or women's groaning [616] womb,

This hand, albeit unwilling, should perform it?

Or rob the gods, or sacred temples fire,380

These troops should soon pull down the church of Jove;[617]

If to encamp on Tuscan Tiber's streams,

I'll boldly quarter out the fields of Rome;

What walls thou wilt be levell'd with the ground,

These hands shall thrust the ram, and make them fly,

Albeit the city thou wouldst have so raz'd

Be Rome itself." Here every band applauded,

And, with their hands held up, all jointly cried

They'll follow where he please. The shouts rent heaven,

As when against pine-bearing Ossa's rocks390

Beats Thracian Boreas, or when trees bow [618] down

And rustling swing up as the wind fets [619] breath.

When Cæsar saw his army prone to war,

And Fates so bent, lest sloth and long delay

Might cross him, he withdrew his troops from France,

And in all quarters musters men for Rome.

They by Lemannus' nook forsook their tents;

They whom [620] the Lingones foil'd with painted spears,[Pg 269]

Under the rocks by crookèd Vogesus;

And many came from shallow Isara,400

Who, running long, falls in a greater flood,

And, ere he sees the sea, loseth his name;

The yellow Ruthens left their garrisons;

Mild Atax glad it bears not Roman boats,[621]

And frontier Varus that the camp is far,

Sent aid; so did Alcides' port, whose seas

Eat hollow rocks, and where the north-west wind

Nor zephyr rules not, but the north alone

Turmoils the coast, and enterance forbids;

And others came from that uncertain shore410

Which is nor sea nor land, but ofttimes both,

And changeth as the ocean ebbs and flows;

Whether the sea roll'd always from that point

Whence the wind blows, still forcèd to and fro;

Or that the wandering main follow the moon;

Or flaming Titan, feeding on the deep,

Pulls them aloft, and makes the surge kiss heaven;

Philosophers, look you; for unto me,

Thou cause, whate'er thou be, whom God assigns

This great effect, art hid. They came that dwell420

By Nemes' fields and banks of Satirus,[622]

Where Tarbell's winding shores embrace the sea;

The Santons that rejoice in Cæsar's love;[Pg 270][623]

Those of Bituriges,[624] and light Axon [625] pikes;

And they of Rhene and Leuca,[626] cunning darters,

And Sequana that well could manage steeds;

The Belgians apt to govern British cars;

Th' A[r]verni, too, which boldly feign themselves

The Roman's brethren, sprung of Ilian race;

The stubborn Nervians stain'd with Cotta's blood;430

And Vangions who, like those of Sarmata,

Wear open slops;[627] and fierce Batavians,

Whom trumpet's clang incites; and those that dwell

By Cinga's stream, and where swift Rhodanus

Drives Araris to sea; they near the hills,

Under whose hoary rocks Gebenna hangs;

And, Trevier, thou being glad that wars are past thee;

And you, late-shorn Ligurians, who were wont

In large-spread hair to exceed the rest of France;

And where to Hesus and fell Mercury [628]440

They offer human flesh, and where Jove seems

Bloody like Dian, whom the Scythians serve.

And you, French Bardi, whose immortal pens

Renown the valiant souls slain in your wars,

Sit safe at home and chant sweet poesy.[Pg 271]

And, Druides, you now in peace renew

Your barbarous customs and sinister rites:

In unfell'd woods and sacred groves you dwell;

And only gods and heavenly powers you know,

Or only know you nothing; for you hold450

That souls pass not to silent Erebus

Or Pluto's bloodless kingdom, but elsewhere

Resume a body; so (if truth you sing)

Death brings long life. Doubtless these northern men,

Whom death, the greatest of all fears, affright not,

Are blest by such sweet error; this makes them

Run on the sword's point, and desire to die,

And shame to spare life which being lost is won.

You likewise that repuls'd the Caÿc foe,

March towards Rome; and you, fierce men of Rhene,460

Leaving your country open to the spoil.

These being come, their huge power made him bold

To manage greater deeds; the bordering towns

He garrison'd; and Italy he fill'd with soldiers.

Vain fame increased true fear, and did invade

The people's minds, and laid before their eyes

Slaughter to come, and, swiftly bringing news

Of present war, made many lies and tales:

One swears his troops of daring horsemen fought

Upon Mevania's plain, where bulls are graz'd;470

Other that Cæsar's barbarous bands were spread

Along Nar flood that into Tiber falls,

And that his own ten ensigns and the rest

March'd not entirely, and yet hide the ground;[Pg 272]

And that he's much chang'd, looking wild and big,

And far more barbarous than the French, his vassals;

And that he lags [629] behind with them, of purpose,

Borne 'twixt the Alps and Rhene, which he hath brought

From out their northern parts,[630] and that Rome,

He looking on, by these men should be sack'd.480

Thus in his fright did each man strengthen fame,

And, without ground, fear'd what themselves had feign'd.

Nor were the commons only struck to heart

With this vain terror; but the court, the senate,

The fathers selves leap'd from their seats, and, flying,

Left hateful war decreed to both the consuls.

Then, with their fear and danger all-distract,

Their sway of flight carries the heady rout,[631]

That in chain'd [632] troops break forth at every port:

You would have thought their houses had been fir'd,490

Or, dropping-ripe, ready to fall with ruin.

So rush'd the inconsiderate multitude

Thorough the city, hurried headlong on,

As if the only hope that did remain

To their afflictions were t' abandon Rome.

Look how, when stormy Auster from the breach

Of Libyan Syrtes rolls a monstrous wave,[Pg 273]

Which makes the main-sail fall with hideous sound,

The pilot from the helm leaps in the sea,

And mariners, albeit the keel be sound,500

Shipwreck themselves; even so, the city left,

All rise in arms; nor could the bed-rid parents

Keep back their sons, or women's tears their husbands:

They stayed not either to pray or sacrifice;

Their household-gods restrain them not; none lingered,

As loath to leave Rome whom they held so dear:

Th' irrevocable people fly in troops.

O gods, that easy grant men great estates,

But hardly grace to keep them! Rome, that flows

With citizens and captives,[633] and would hold510

The world, were it together, is by cowards

Left as a prey, now Cæsar doth approach.

When Romans are besieged by foreign foes,

With slender trench they escape night-stratagems,

And sudden rampire rais'd of turf snatched up,

Would make them sleep securely in their tents.

Thou, Rome, at name of war runn'st from thyself,

And wilt not trust thy city-walls one night:

Well might these fear, when Pompey feared and fled.

Now evermore, lest some one hope might ease520

The commons' jangling minds, apparent signs arose,

Strange sights appeared; the angry threatening gods

Filled both the earth and seas with prodigies.

Great store of strange and unknown stars were seen[Pg 274]

Wandering about the north, and rings of fire

Fly in the air, and dreadful bearded stars,

And comets that presage the fall of kingdoms;

The flattering [634] sky glittered in often flames,

And sundry fiery meteors blazed in heaven,

Now spear-like long, now like a spreading torch;530

Lightning in silence stole forth without clouds,

And, from the northern climate snatching fire,

Blasted the Capitol; the lesser stars,

Which wont to run their course through empty night,

At noon-day mustered; Phœbe, having filled

Her meeting horns to match her brother's light,

Struck with th' earth's sudden shadow, waxèd pale;

Titan himself, throned in the midst of heaven,

His burning chariot plunged in sable clouds,

And whelmed the world in darkness, making men540

Despair of day; as did Thyestes' town,

Mycenæ, Phœbus flying through the east.

Fierce Mulciber unbarrèd Ætna's gate,

Which flamèd not on high, but headlong pitched

Her burning head on bending Hespery.

Coal-black Charybdis whirled a sea of blood.

Fierce mastives howled. The vestal fires went out;

The flame in Alba, consecrate to Jove,

Parted in twain, and with a double point

Rose, like the Theban brothers' funeral fire.550

The earth went off her hinges; and the Alps

Shook the old snow from off their trembling laps.[Pg 275][635]

The ocean swelled as high as Spanish Calpe

Or Atlas' head. Their saints and household-gods

Sweat tears, to show the travails of their city:

Crowns fell from holy statues. Ominous birds

Defiled the day; and wild beasts were seen,[636]

Leaving the woods, lodge in the streets of Rome.

Cattle were seen that muttered human speech;

Prodigious births with more and ugly joints560

Than nature gives, whose sight appals the mother;

And dismal prophecies were spread abroad:

And they, whom fierce Bellona's fury moves

To wound their arms, sing vengeance; Cybel's [637] priests,

Curling their bloody locks, howl dreadful things.

Souls quiet and appeas'd sighed from their graves;

Clashing of arms was heard; in untrod woods

Shrill voices schright;[638] and ghosts encounter men.

Those that inhabited the suburb-fields

Fled: foul Erinnys stalked about the walls,570

Shaking her snaky hair and crookèd pine

With flaming top; much like that hellish fiend

Which made the stern Lycurgus wound his thigh,

Or fierce Agave mad; or like Megæra

That scar'd Alcides, when by Juno's task

He had before look'd Pluto in the face.[Pg 276]

Trumpets were heard to sound; and with what noise

An armèd battle joins, such and more strange

Black night brought forth in secret. Sylla's ghost

Was seen to walk, singing sad oracles;580

And Marius' head above cold Tav'ron [639] peering,

His grave broke open, did affright the boors.

To these ostents, as their old custom was,

They call th' Etrurian augurs: amongst whom

The gravest, Arruns, dwelt in forsaken Leuca [640]

Well-skill'd in pyromancy; one that knew

The hearts of beasts, and flight of wandering fowls.

First he commands such monsters Nature hatch'd

Against her kind, the barren mule's loath'd issue,

To be cut forth [641] and cast in dismal fires;590

Then, that the trembling citizens should walk

About the city; then, the sacred priests

That with divine lustration purg'd the walls,

And went the round, in and without the town;

Next, an inferior troop, in tuck'd-up vestures,

After the Gabine manner; then, the nuns

And their veil'd matron, who alone might view

Minerva's statue; then, they that kept and read

Sibylla's secret works, and wash [642] their saint

In Almo's flood; next learnèd augurs follow;600

Apollo's soothsayers, and Jove's feasting priests;[Pg 277]

The skipping Salii with shields like wedges;

And Flamens last, with net-work woollen veils.

While these thus in and out had circled Rome,

Look, what the lightning blasted, Arruns takes,

And it inters with murmurs dolorous,

And calls the place Bidental. On the altar

He lays a ne'er-yok'd bull, and pours down wine,

Then crams salt leaven on his crookèd knife:

The beast long struggled, as being like to prove610

An awkward sacrifice; but by the horns

The quick priest pulled him on his knees, and slew him.

No vein sprung out, but from the yawning gash,

Instead of red blood, wallow'd venomous gore.

These direful signs made Arruns stand amazed,

And searching farther for the gods' displeasure,

The very colour scared him; a dead blackness

Ran through the blood, that turned it all to jelly,

And stained the bowels with dark loathsome spots;

The liver swelled with filth; and every vein620

Did threaten horror from the host of Cæsar

A small thin skin contained the vital parts;

The heart stirred not; and from the gaping liver

Squeezed matter through the caul; the entrails peered;

And which (ay me!) ever pretendeth [643] ill,

At that bunch where the liver is, appear'd

A knob of flesh, whereof one half did look[Pg 278]

Dead and discolour'd, th' other lean and thin.[644]

By these he seeing what mischiefs must ensue,

Cried out, "O gods, I tremble to unfold630

What you intend! great Jove is now displeas'd;

And in the breast of this slain bull are crept

Th' infernal powers. My fear transcends my words;

Yet more will happen than I can unfold:

Turn all to good, be augury vain, and Tages,

Th' art's master, false!" Thus, in ambiguous terms

Involving all, did Arruns darkly sing.

But Figulus, more seen in heavenly mysteries,

Whose like Ægyptian Memphis never had

For skill in stars and tuneful planeting,[645]640

In this sort spake: "The world's swift course is lawless

And casual; all the stars at random range;[646]

Or if fate rule them, Rome, thy citizens

Are near some plague. What mischief shall ensue?

Shall towns be swallow'd? shall the thicken'd air

Become intemperate? shall the earth be barren?

Shall water be congeal'd and turn'd to ice?[647]

O gods, what death prepare ye? with what plague[Pg 279]

Mean ye to rage? the death of many men

Meets in one period. If cold noisome Saturn650

Were now exalted, and with blue beams shin'd,

Then Ganymede [648] would renew Deucalion's flood,

And in the fleeting sea the earth be drench'd.

O Phœbus, shouldst thou with thy rays now singe

The fell Nemæan beast, th' earth would be fir'd,

And heaven tormented with thy chafing heat:

But thy fires hurt not. Mars, 'tis thou inflam'st

The threatening Scorpion with the burning tail,

And fir'st his cleys:[649] why art thou thus enrag'd?

Kind Jupiter hath low declin'd himself;660

Venus is faint; swift Hermes retrograde;

Mars only rules the heaven. Why do the planets

Alter their course, and vainly dim their virtue?

Sword-girt Orion's side glisters too bright:

War's rage draws near; and to the sword's strong hand

Let all laws yield, sin bears the name of virtue:

Many a year these furious broils let last:

Why should we wish the gods should ever end them?

War only gives us peace. O Rome, continue

The course of mischief, and stretch out the date670

Of slaughter! only civil broils make peace."

These sad presages were enough to scare

The quivering Romans; but worse things affright them.

As Mænas [650] full of wine on Pindus raves,[Pg 280]

So runs a matron through th' amazèd streets,

Disclosing Phœbus' fury in this sort;

"Pæan, whither am I haled? where shall I fall,

Thus borne aloft? I seen Pangæus' hill

With hoary top, and, under Hæmus' mount,

Philippi plains. Phœbus, what rage is this?680

Why grapples Rome, and makes war, having no foes?

Whither turn I now? thou lead'st me toward th' east,

Where Nile augmenteth the Pelusian sea:

This headless trunk that lies on Nilus' sand

I know. Now th[o]roughout the air I fly

To doubtful Syrtes and dry Afric, where

A Fury leads the Emathian bands. From thence

To the pine-bearing [651] hills; thence [652] to the mounts

Pyrene; and so back to Rome again.

See, impious war defiles the senate-house!690

New factions rise. Now through the world again

I go. O Phœbus, show me Neptune's shore,

And other regions! I have seen Philippi."

This said, being tir'd with fury, she sunk down.

Come [654] live with me and be my love,

And we will all the pleasures prove

That hills and vallies, dales and fields,[655]

Woods or steepy mountain yields.[656]

And we will [657] sit upon the rocks,

Seeing [658] the shepherds feed their [659] flocks

By shallow rivers to whose falls

Melodious birds sing [660] madrigals.[Pg 284]

And I will make thee beds of roses [661]

And [662] a thousand fragrant posies,

A cup of flowers and a kirtle

Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle.

A gown [663] made of the finest wooll

Which from our pretty lambs we pull;

Fair-linèd [664] slippers for the cold,

With buckles of the purest gold.

A belt of straw and ivy-buds,

With coral clasps and amber studs;

An if these pleasures may thee move,

Come [665] live with me, and be my love.

The shepherd-swains [666] shall dance and sing

For thy delight each May-morning:

If these delights thy mind may move,

Then live with me, and be my love.

If all the world and love were young,

And truth in every Shepherd's tongue,

These pretty pleasures might me move

To live with thee, and be thy love.

Times drives the flocks from field to fold,

When rivers rage and rocks grow cold,

And Philomel becometh dumb,

The rest complains of cares to come.

The flowers do fade and wanton fields

To wayward winter reckoning yields;

A honey tongue, a heart of gall,

Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.[Pg 286]

Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,

Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies,

Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten;

In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

Thy belt of straw and ivy buds,

Thy coral clasps and amber studs,

All these to me no means can move

To come to thee, and be thy love.

But could youth last and love still breed,

Had joys no date nor age no need,

Then these delights my mind might move

To live with thee, and be thy love.

Come live with me, and be my dear,

And we will revel all the year,

In plains and groves, on hills and dales,

Where fragrant air breathes sweetest gales.

There shall you have the beauteous pine,

The cedar, and the spreading vine;

And all the woods to be a screen,

Lest Phœbus kiss my Summer's Queen.

The seat for your disport shall be

Over some river in a tree,[Pg 287]

Where silver sands and pebbles sing

Eternal ditties to the spring.

There shall you see the nymphs at play,

And how the satyrs spend the day;

The fishes gliding on the sands,

Offering their bellies to your hands.

The birds with heavenly tunèd throats

Possess woods' echoes with sweet notes,

Which to your senses will impart

A music to enflame the heart.

Upon the bare and leafless oak

The ring-doves' wooings will provoke

A colder blood than you possess

To play with me and do no less.

In bowers of laurel trimly dight

We will out-wear the silent night,

While Flora busy is to spread

Her richest treasure on our bed.

Ten thousand glow-worms shall attend,

And all these sparkling lights shall spend

All to adorn and beautify

Your lodging with most majesty.

Then in mine arms will I enclose

Lilies' fair mixture with the rose,

Whose nice perfection in love's play

Shall tune me to the highest key.[Pg 288]

Thus as we pass the welcome night

In sportful pleasures and delight,

The nimble fairies on the grounds,

Shall dance and sing melodious sounds.

If these may serve for to entice

Your presence to Love's Paradise,

Then come with me, and be my dear,

And we will then begin the year.

Come live with me, and be my love,

And we will some new pleasure prove

Of golden sands and christal brooks

With silken lines and silver hooks.

There will the river whispering run,

Warm'd by thine eyes more than the sun;

And there th' enamoured fish will stay

Begging themselves they may betray.

When thou wilt swim in that live bath,

Each fish which every channel hath

Will amorously to thee swim,

Gladder to catch thee than thou him.[Pg 289]

If thou to be so seen beest loath

By sun or moon, thou darkenest both;

And if my self have leave to see,

I heed not their light, having thee.

Let others freeze with angling reeds

And cut their legs with shells and weeds,

Or treacherously poor fish beset

With strangling snare or winding net.

Let coarse bold hands from slimy nest

The bedded fish in banks outwrest,

Or curious traitors, sleave-silk flies,

Bewitch poor fishes' wandering eyes.

For thee, thou need'st no such deceit,

For thou thyself art thine own bait:

That fish that is not catched thereby,

Alas, is wiser far than I.

Live, live with me, and thou shalt see

The pleasures I'll prepare for thee;

What sweets the country can afford

Shall bless thy bed and bless thy board.[Pg 290]

The soft sweet moss shall be thy bed

With crawling woodbine overspread:

By which the silver-shedding streams

Shall gently melt thee into dreams.

Thy clothing next shall be a gown

Made of the fleeces' purest down.

The tongues of kids shall be thy meat;

Their milk thy drink; and thou shall eat

The paste of filberts for thy bread,

With cream of cowslips buttered.

Thy feasting-tables shall be hills

With daisies spread and daffodils;

Where thou shalt sit, and red-breast by

For meat shall give thee melody.

I'll give thee chains and carcanets

Of primroses and violets.

A bag and bottle thou shalt have,

That richly wrought and this as brave,

So that as either shall express

The wearer's no mean shepherdess.

At shearing-times and yearly wakes,

When Themilis his pastime makes,

There thou shalt be; and be the wit,

Nay more, the feast and grace of it.[Pg 291]

On holidays when virgins meet

To dance the hays with nimble feet,

Thou shalt come forth and then appear

The queen of roses for that year;

And having danced ('bove all the best)

Carry the garland from the rest.

In wicker-baskets maids shall bring

To thee, my dearest shepherdling,

The blushing apple, bashful pear,

And shame-faced plum all simp'ring there:

Walk in the groves and thou shalt find

The name of Phillis in the rind

Of every straight and smooth-skin tree,

Where kissing that I'll twice kiss thee.

To thee a sheep-hook I will send

Be-prankt with ribands to this end,

This, this alluring hook might be

Less for to catch a sheep than me.

Thou shalt have possets, wassails fine,

Not made of ale but spiced wine;

To make thy maids and self free mirth,

All sitting near the glittering hearth.

Thou shalt have ribbands, roses, rings,

Gloves, garters, stockings, shoes and strings,[Pg 292]

Of winning colours that shall move

Others to lust but me to love.

These, nay, and more, thine own shall be

If thou wilt love and live with me.

I walk'd along a stream, for pureness rare,

Brighter than sun-shine; for it did acquaint

The dullest sight with all the glorious prey

That in the pebble-pavèd channel lay.

No molten crystal, but a richer mine,

Even Nature's rarest alchymy ran there,—

Diamonds resolv'd, and substance more divine,

Through whose bright-gliding current might appear

A thousand naked nymphs, whose ivory shine,

Enamelling the banks, made them more dear

Than ever was that glorious palace' gate

Where the day-shining Sun in triumph sate.

Upon this brim the eglantine and rose,

The tamarisk, olive, and the almond tree,

As kind companions, in one union grows,

Folding their twining [669] arms, as oft we see[Pg 294]

Turtle-taught lovers either other close,

Lending to dulness feeling sympathy;

And as a costly valance o'er a bed,

So did their garland-tops the brook o'erspread.

Their leaves, that differ'd both in shape and show,

Though all were green, yet difference such in green,

Like to the checker'd bent of Iris' bow,

Prided the running main, as it had been—

JACK.

Seest thou not yon farmer's son?

He hath stoln my love from me, alas!

What shall I do? I am undone;

My heart will ne'er be as it was.

O, but he gives her gay gold rings,

And tufted gloves [for] holiday,

And many other goodly things,

That hath stolen my love away.[Pg 296]

FRIEND.

Let him give her gay gold rings

Or tufted gloves, were they ne'er so [gay];10

[F]or were her lovers lords or kings,

They should not carry the wench away.

[JACK.]

But 'a dances wonders well,

And with his dances stole her love from me:

Yet she wont to say I bore the bell

For dancing and for courtesy.

DICK.[671]

Fie, lusty younker, what do you here,

Not dancing on the green to-day?

For Pierce, the farmer's son, I fear,

Is like to carry your wench away.20

[JACK.]

Good Dick, bid them all come hither,

And tell Pierce from me beside,

That, if he thinks to have the wench,

Here he stands shall lie with the bride.[Pg 297]

DICK.[672]

Fie, Nan, why use thy old lover so,

For any other new-come guest?

Thou long time his love did know;

Why shouldst thou not use him best?

[NAN.]

Bonny Dick, I will not forsake

My bonny Rowland for any gold:30

If he can dance as well as Pierce,

He shall have my heart in hold.

PIERCE.

Why, then, my hearts, let's to this gear;

And by dancing I may won

My Nan, whose love I hold so dear

As any realm under the sun.

GENTLEMAN.[673]

Then, gentles, ere I speed from hence

I will be so bold to dance

A turn or two without offence;

For, as I was walking along by chance,40

I was told you did agree.[Pg 298]

[FRIEND.]

'Tis true, good sir; and this is she

Hopes your worship comes not to crave her;

For she hath lovers two or three,

And he that dances best must have her.

GENTLEMAN.

How say you, sweet, will you dance with me?

And you [shall] have both land and [hill];

My love shall want nor gold nor fee.

[NAN.]

I thank you, sir, for your good will;

But one of these my love must be:50

I'm but a homely country maid,

And far unfit for your degree;

[To dance with you I am afraid.]

FRIEND.

Take her, good sir, by the hand,

As she is fairest; were she fairer,

By this dance, you shall understand,

He that can win her is like to wear her.

FOOL.

And saw you not [my] Nan to-day,

My mother's maid have you not seen?[Pg 299]

My pretty Nan is gone away60

To seek her love upon the green.

[I cannot see her 'mong so many:]

She shall have me, if she have any.

NAN.[674]

Welcome, sweet-heart, and welcome here,

Welcome, my [true] love, now to me.

This is my love [and my darling dear],

And that my husband [soon] must be.

And, boy, when thou com'st home thou'lt see

Thou art as welcome home as he.

GENTLEMAN.

Why, how now, sweet Nan! I hope you jest.70

NAN.[675]

No, by my troth, I love the fool the best:

And, if you be jealous, God give you good-night!

I fear you're a gelding, you caper so light.

GENTLEMAN.

I thought she had jested and meant but a fable,

But now do I see she hath play'[d] with his bable.[676]

I wish all my friends by me to take heed,

That a fool come not near you when you mean to speed.

All you that have got eares to heare,

Now listen unto mee;

Whilst I do tell a tale of feare;

A true one it shall bee:

A truer storie nere was told,

As some alive can showe;

'Tis of a man in crime grown olde,

Though age he did not know.

This man did his owne God denie

And Christ his onelie son,

And did all punishment defie,

So he his course might run.[Pg 304]

Both day and night would he blaspheme,

And day and night would sweare,

As if his life was but a dreame,

Not ending in dispaire.

A poet was he of repute,

And wrote full many a playe,

Now strutting in a silken sute,

Then begging by the way.

He had alsoe a player beene

Upon the Curtaine-stage,

But brake his leg in one lewd scene,

When in his early age.

He was a fellow to all those

That did God's laws reject,

Consorting with the Christians' foes

And men of ill aspect.

Ruffians and cutpurses hee

Had ever at his backe,

And led a life most foule and free,

To his eternall wracke.

He now is gone to his account,

And gone before his time,

Did not his wicked deedes surmount

All precedent of crime.[Pg 305]

But he no warning ever tooke

From others' wofull fate,

And never gave his life a looke

Untill it was too late.

He had a friend, once gay and greene.[678]

Who died not long before,

The wofull'st wretch was ever seen,

The worst ere woman bore,

Unlesse this Wormall [679] did exceede

Even him in wickednesse,

Who died in the extreemest neede

And terror's bitternesse.

Yet Wormall ever kept his course,

Since nought could him dismay;

He knew not what thing was remorse

Unto his dying day.

Then had he no time to repent

The crimes he did commit,

And no man ever did lament

For him, to dye unfitt.

Ah, how is knowledge wasted quite

On such want wisedome true,

And that which should be guiding light

But leades to errors newe![Pg 306]

Well might learnd Cambridge oft regret

He ever there was bred:

The tree she in his mind had set

Brought poison forth instead.

His lust was lawlesse as his life,

And brought about his death;

For, in a deadlie mortall strife,

Striving to stop the breath

Of one who was his rivall foe,

With his owne dagger slaine,

He groand, and word spoke never moe,

Pierc'd through the eye and braine.

Thus did he come to suddaine ende

That was a foe to all,

And least unto himselfe a friend,

And raging passion's thrall.

Had he been brought up to the trade

His father follow'd still,

This exit he had never made,

Nor played a part soe ill.

Take warning ye that playes doe make,

And ye that doe them act;

Desist in time for Wormall's sake,

And thinke upon his fact.[Pg 307]

Blaspheming Tambolin must die,

And Faustus meete his ende;

Repent, repent, or presentlie

To hell ye must discend.

What is there, in this world, of worth,

That we should prize it soe?

Life is but trouble from our birth,

The wise do say and know.

Our lives, then, let us mend with speed,

Or we shall suerly rue

The end of everie hainous deede,

In life that shall insue.

Finis. Ign.

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.

Christopher Marlowe,Thomas Heywood,	Dramatists and Actors.

Thomas Middleton,	Dramatist.

Cecilia,	Runaway Wife of the drunkard, Bengough.

Jacconot, alias Jack-o'-night	A Tavern Pander and Swashbuckler.

Gentlemen, Officers, Servants, &c.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Works of Christopher Marlowe, Vol. 3 (of 3)

The English Dramatists

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

VOLUME THE THIRD

THE WORKS

OF

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

EDITED BY A. H. BULLEN, B.A.

IN THREE VOLUMES VOLUME THE THIRD

CONTENTS OF VOL. III.

HERO AND LEANDER.

TO THE RIGHT-WORSHIPFUL SIR THOMAS WALSINGHAM, KNIGHT.

HERO AND LEANDER.

THE FIRST SESTIAD.

FOOTNOTES:

THE SECOND SESTIAD.

FOOTNOTES:

THE EPISTLE[44] DEDICATORY

TO MY

BEST ESTEEMED AND WORTHILY HONOURED LADY THE

LADY WALSINGHAM,

ONE OF THE LADIES OF HER MAJESTY'S BED-CHAMBER.

FOOTNOTES:

THE THIRD SESTIAD.

FOOTNOTES:

THE FOURTH SESTIAD.

FOOTNOTES:

THE FIFTH SESTIAD.

FOOTNOTES:

THE SIXTH SESTIAD.

FOOTNOTES:

OVID'S ELEGIES.

OVID'S ELEGIES.

P. OVIDII NASONIS AMORUM.

LIBER PRIMUS.

Elegia I.

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia II.

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia III.

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia IV.[144]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia V.

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia VI.[154]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia VII.[162]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia VIII.[169]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia IX.[181]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia X.[187]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia XI.[197]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia XII.[201]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia XIII.

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia XIV.[210]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia XV.

FOOTNOTES:

P. OVIDII NASONIS AMORUM.

LIBER SECUNDUS.

Elegia I.[233]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia II.[240]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia III.[248]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia IV.

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia V.[259]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia VI.[264]

FOOTNOTES:

Elegia VII.[276]

THE EPISTLE [44] DEDICATORY