The amorose songes, sonets, and elegies: of M. Alexander Craige, Scoto-Britane

The amorose songes, sonets, and elegies: of M. Alexander Craige, Scoto-Britane

Table of contents

Title page

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TO THE MOST GODLY, VERTVOVS, BEAVTIFVLL, and accomplished PRINCESSE, meritoriously dignified with all the Titles Religion, Vertue, Honor, Beautie can receiue, challenge, afforde, or deserue; ANNA, by diuine prouidence, of Great Britane, France, and Ireland, Queene▪ ALEXANDER CRAIGE wisheth all health, wealth, and royall felicitie.

Epistle generall to Idea, Cynthia, Lithocardia, Kala, Erantina, Lais, Pandora, Penelopae.

TO THE READER.

To IDEA.

To CYNTHIA.

To LITHOCARDIA.

To KALA.

To LAIS.

To ERANTINA.

To PANDORA.

To PENELOPAE.

To the Queene her most excellent Maiestie.

Amorous Songes and Sonets.

TO IDEA.

To IDEA.

To LITHOCARDIA.

To LITHOCARDIA.

To CYNTHIA.

To PANDORA.

To ERANTINA.

To ERANTINA.

To IDEA.

To CINTHIA▪

To IDEA.

To IDEA.

To PANDORA.

To PENELOPE.

To PENELOPE.

To LITHOCARDIA.

To LITHOCARDIA. Anagram.

To KALA.

To LAIS.

To LAIS.

To PANDORA.

To PANDORA.

To PANDORA.

To LITHOCARDIA.

To ERANTINA.

To IDEA.

To IDEA.

To LITHOCARDIA.

To LAIS.

To PENELOPE.

At IDEAS direction, these two Sonets were made. 1.

To IDEA. 2

To CYNTHIA.

To ERANTINA.

To KALA.

To LAIS.

To absent ERANTINA.

To KALA.

To absent IDEA.

To ERANTINA.

PANDORA refuseth his Letter.

To KALA.

To LITHOCARDIA.

To LITHOCARDIA.

To inconstant LAIS.

To LAIS.

To ERANTINA.

To PENELOPE.

To IDEA.

To frowning CINTHIA.

To PANDORA.

To PANDORA.

To LAIS.

To PANDORA.

To PENELOPE.

To CINTHIA.

To LITHOCARDIA.

To LAIS.

To KALA.

To KALA.

At the newes of IDEAS death, Dialogue twixt the Poets Ghost and Charon.

An other Dialogue to the same purpose.

IDEA after long sicknes, becommeth weil; and as he wept for her, he wishes compensation of her teares in his distresse.

To CYNTHIA.

To ERANTINA.

To PANDORA.

Newyeares gift to PENELOPE.

To PENELOPE.

To LAIS.

To absent PANDORA.

To PENELOPE seeke.

Newyeares gift to IDEA.

To CINTHIA.

To KALA.

To KALA.

To KALA.

To CYNTHIA.

To ERANTINA.

To ERANTANA.

To ERANTINA.

To PANDORA.

To PANDORA.

To PANDORA.

To IDEA.

To LITHOCARDIA.

To LAIS.

To LAIS.

To IDEA.

To KALA.

To PANDORA.

To KALA.

To his Riuall and LAIS.

Farewell to LAIS.

A sparing farewell to KALA.

A wrathfull farewell to KALA.

To PENELOPE.

Elegie to KALA.

His Resolution of absence and farewell to Lithocardia.

His Reconciliation to Lithocardia after absence.

To LAIS.

His constant Resolution to ERANTINA.

Confirmation of his loue to ERANTINA.

To LAIS.

His vnwilling Farewell to PENELOPE.

His louing farewell to PANDORA.

To his PANDORA from England.

To LAIS.

His faythfull seruice to IDEA.

To my Honorable good Lord and Maister (the true Maecenas of my Muse) George Earle of Dunbar, Lord Barwick, high Tresurar of Sotland.

To the Reader.

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ALEXIS to LESBIA.

LESBIA her answer to ALEXIS.

A new perswasion to LESBIA.

A Letter to LESBIA, shewing his discontents.

Sonet to LESBIA.

LESBIA her answer.

CODRVS Complaint and Farewell to Ralatibia.

CODRVS his reconciliation to his heart, after he hath abiured KALATIBIA.

To the Author.

Cragio suo.

De Alexandro Rupoeo populari, familiari et amico suo qui supra plebem vulgus et populum.

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THE AMOROSE Songes, Sonets, and Elegies: Of M. ALEXANDER CRAIGE, Scoto-Britane.

Imprinted at London by William White. 1606.

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Prima velim teneris intendat amoribus aetas,

Et canat ad Cytharam nostra camena suam.

Molle meum Leuibus cor est penetrabile telis,

Et semper causa est cur ego semper amo.

Vitantur venti, pluuiae, vitantur, et estus,

Non vitatur amor, mecum tumuletur oportet.

TO THE MOST GODLY, VERTVOVS, BEAVTIFVLL, and accomplished PRINCESSE, meritoriously dignified with all the Titles Religion, Vertue, Honor, Beautie can receiue, challenge, afforde, or deserue; ANNA, by diuine prouidence, of Great Britane, France, and Ireland, Queene▪ ALEXANDER CRAIGE wisheth all health, wealth, and royall felicitie.

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GReat Tamburlan cloaked his fantasticall crueltie hee exercised on Lazars and Leprous men, with a foolishe kind of humanity, putting all he could find or heare of, to death, [Page] (as he said) to rid them from so painefull & miserable a life: Though my Poyems (incomparably bountifull, incomparablie beautifull, and so peerelesse Princesse) be painefull to me, and vnpleasant to the delicat Lector; shall I with Tamburlan destroy them? or like a cruell Althea, consume with fire the fatall Tree, kill mine owne Meleager, and so inhumanlie cut off mine owne birth? I gaue life to my Lines, and shall I now become their burreau? O liue my deformed Child, some other hand shall commit thee to Phaeton or Deucalions mercie, then mine: Though Anaxagoras resolued to die; yet for Pericles his Maisters sake he tooke courage, [Page] & liues. Your royall God-mother poore Rymes hath saued your life: yet am I not like Hercules, who th [...]w Ionius in the Sea, that by the violence of wind & waue the carkas might be caried to foraine shoares, for propagation of his fame. I hunt not for fame; nor print I those Papers for prayses, but to pleasure your Princely eyes with varietie of my vaine inuentions▪ Megabysus going to visit Apelles in his worke-house, stoode still a long tim [...] without speaking one word, and then began to censure of Apelles works; of whom he receiued this rude & nipping checke So long as thou held thy peace, thou see [...]medst a wise man; but now thou has [...] [Page] spoke, and the wotst Boy of my [...]oppe thinkes thee a foole. I am [...]old (diuine Ladie) to borrow thy blessed name, to beautifie my blotted Booke; and haue se [...] those Poems, like Apelles Pictures through the world: nor doe I care (since it is your Princely pleasure to protect them) the foolish iudgement of Megabysus. Syrannes the Persian Prince answered those (who seemed to woonder why his negotiations succeeded so il, whē his discourses were so wise) that he was onely maister of his Discourses, but Fortune mistris to the succes of his affaires. My Sonnets & Songes are (gracious Princesse) for the most part, full of complaints, sorrow, and lamentations: [Page] The reason is, I was maister of my Verses; but Fortune Mistris of my Rewards. When Thetis courted Iupiter, and when the Lecedemonians sende Legates to the Athenians, they put them not in minde of the good they had done them, but of the benefites they had receiued of them. Your Maiesties munificens, and frequent benefites bestowed vpon mee, haue headlong impelled mee to propine this worthlesse worke to your Royall view. Happie beyonde the measure of my merit shall I bee, if I can purchase this portion of your Princely approbation, as to accept and entertaine these triuiall toyes (where your Grace shall smell Flowes to refresh, [Page] Hearbes to cure, and Weedes to be auoyded) in the lowest degree of least fauour. But howsoeuer, wishing your Highnes as many happie yeares, as there be wordes in my Verses, and Verses in my worthles Volume: I am

Your Maiesties most obsequious Orator, Alexander Craige, Scoto-Britan.

Epistle generall to Idea, Cynthia, Lithocardia, Kala, Erantina, Lais, Pandora, Penelopae.

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ZEuxis painted a Childe bearing Vine clusters in his hand so perfectly, that the Fowles of the ayre were deceiued, & descended thereto in vaine: But angrie at his worke, he cry'd out, I haue painted the Clusters more liuely then the Child, and the burthen better then the bearer; for had the Child seemed as vine as the Vine Grapes, the Fowles had bin affraied at his face. I haue in these amorous Sonets and Songes matchles Idea, virtuous Cynthia, graue Lithocardia, sweete Kala, louely Erantina, lasciuious Lais, modest Pandora, liberall Penelopae, painted my Loue; but haue (allasse) taken more paines on the Passions, then the Poyems; and more [Page] worke on my woes, then the Verses. But had my Lines been as liuely as either they should, or I wish they had been. No Momus affraide at the beautie of my Verses, had presum'd (to my disgrace) to gather the Grapes of my Errors. Nor had I needed (which necessarily I must doe) to employ the Patrocinie of your protections. Were I an other Hercules, I could not cut off all the hissing heads of Hydra: & were I as perfect a Painter as Apelles, some sawsie Souter shall censure aboue the Sho [...]. But with Agatharchus (who did all in haste) I humbly craue at all your handes (which with all reuerence, and analogike seruice I kisse) and looke you will excuse

Your louing, but rude Zeuxis.

A. C. Banfa-Britan.

TO THE READER.

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SMyrnean Maeonides vsed in his delicate Poems diuers Dialects, as Ionic, Aeolic, Attic, and Doric: So haue I (O courteous Reader) in this; and but alasse in this, imitate that renowned Hellenist Homer, in vsing the Scotish and English Dialectes: the one as innated, I can not forget; the other as a stranger, I can not vpon the sodaine acquire. The subtile Merchant placed Aesop in the middle betwixt Cantor and Grammaticus, that by the interposition of that deformed fabulator, the other two might appeare the fayrer. So haue I in middest of my modest Affections, committed to the Presse my vnchast Loue to Lais, that contraries by conttraries, and Ʋertue by Vice, more cleerely may shine. To each (courteous Reader) that will both of this & that mixtture of Ditties and Dialects, courteously censure, I am but end to the fatall end,

A most louing Friend, in all p [...]ssible imployment. Craige.

To IDEA.

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MAny times from the Table of my Chamber (matchlesse Idea) haue my dearest Friends, both by them selues, and my Seruant (whom I sometimes employed to write for mee) stole the inuentions of my wanton vaine, those amorous Ditties, such as they best liked: and for which hauing, thereby serued the humour of my passion, I cared no more; wherein their gaine and my losse were all one. But now, by printing my then scattered, and now lately collected Scrowles (the most and best part whereof, I can not finde) I haue thought good to ease my selfe, and satisfie (but with the first, your Ladiship) my friendes. The noble Romans were from all antiquitie, accustomed to leaue those Kinges whom they had vanquished, in the possessions of their kingdomes, that Kings [Page] by them made slaues, might be instruments to vprayse the tropheis of their glorie. Thou knowest (Diuine Idea) I am thine by conquest; and yet thou allowest mee the seeming fruition of my libertie, while in deed I must pay the eternall tribute of vnfaigned Loue: For as Carn [...]ades the Cyrenean Philosopher said of Chrysippus; And Chrysippus were not, I could not bee▪ my beeing is by thy munificence. Take this in good part: and still I rest,

Idea's euer obleged and vnmanumissible slaue, Ad Ideam.

O bona non tractanda homini bona digna rapina,

Caelic [...]lum, superis o bona digna locis.

To CYNTHIA.

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OFfend not, faire Dame; Though the Lines of my Picture change and varie. The World runnes on Wheeles, all things therein mooue without intermission: the solide Earth, the rockes of Caucasus, and the Pyramids of Memphis; both with publike, and their owne motion. Constancie it selfe, is nothing but a languishing and a wauering daunce. I am a Pamphilus, and can not settle my obiect. And since my Loue runnes staggering with a naturall drunkennes, I pray thee (vertuous Cynthia) with patience peruse those Poyems: And (as Aristippus sayd to his man, who by the way was ouer burdened with too much money) carry what you may, and cast away the rest.

Your La. howsoeuer, and wheresoeuer. Ad Cynthiam.

Nil forma natura tuae, nihil astra negarunt,

Vna supercilij si tibi dempta nota.

To LITHOCARDIA.

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I Feare to prefixe (Hono. Lady) to these few Poyems, a long Epistle, least some Diogenes should bid mee shut the Portes of Minda ere the Towne runne out. Let mee this much kindly pray, & preuaile with your La. as to vouchsafe them some place in the bench of your bibliothek. Xerxes, whose Armies obumbrate all Hellespont, was faine in a small Fishbote for safetie of his life, to [...]lie from Greece. So may you at some idle howers deigne, and discende to behold my rusticke Rymes, and kindly excuse his errours, who ere long, hath purpose to present and please you with some bette [...] Poyem. Till when, and euer,

I am your La. owne. Ad Lithocardiam.

Vt nullae cunctis formosa est faemina tantum,

sic nulla est misero tantum adamata mihi.

To KALA.

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THese Poyems are, I confesse (sweete Kala) vnwoorthy thy presence, and so haue more neede of thy protection: But let (as Cicero writes in his Epistle to Octauius) Confession be a medicine for Errour. Twixt Metellus Macedonicus, and Scipio Africanus, were mortall Warres: but when Scipio dyed, Metellus prayed the Citie-men to concurre, least their Walles should be ouerthrowen. Many louely iarres haue been amongst vs; but in my absence, those my Papers like Citizens of a good republike, shall all concurre to please and honor thee: And I both at home, & abrod, shall continue

Thine till death: Craige.

Et quanquam molli semper sis dedita amori,

Candida nulla magis, nulla proterua magis.

To LAIS.

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EƲery man (as Pittacus affirmeth) hath some imperfection: in mee Loue is most predominant. But a [...] Alcibiades cut off his faire Dogs eares and tayle, & so droue him in the market place, that giuing this subiect of prattle to the people, they might not meddle with his other actions. So haue I presumed to publish these my castrat Rimes vnder (ô lasciuious Lais) thy protection, that my chaster Ʋerses may appeare lesse faulty. Antinonides the Musitian, gaue order, that before or after him, some bad Musitian should cloy and surfet his auditors. So when the Lector shall be weary to [...]uerread these lubricke Lynes, hee shall with more alacrity consider and ouerlooke the rest. And thus were not hereby I minded to beautifie my other Poyems, J could gladly consent, that all those Lynes of Lais, were ouer whelmed in obliuion, I glory not (God knowes) in my frailty: and more for euitation, then imitation, are these Songes foorth sent to the view of the censuring world. And thus nor crauing, nor carefull of thy acceptance, O Lais, I cease to serue, or more

to be Thine.

O miseri qu [...]ru [...] gaudia crimen habent▪

Dum furtiua dedit nigra munuscula nocte,

Me tenet, absentes alios suspirat amores.

To ERANTINA.

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IT is a wounderfull delight I take to liue i [...] Loue; it is euer at my heart, and most in my mouth: and such assistaunce it giueth to my life, that it seemes the best munition I haue found in this humane peregrination. The Disciples of Hegesias, hunger starued them selues to death, incensed therevnto with the perswading discourses of his lessons, til the time King Ptolomey forbade him any longer to entertaine his Schoole with such murtherous preceptes. Though I weare the howers of the day, and waste the dayes of my life in Loue: I muse, I roue, and walke: I enregister my humors and my passions. Let none be entised by my example: for I am borne to loue, and to die

Thy Louer.

O quid dura tuum sic me contemnis amantem,

Neglectum (que) tuas despicis ante fores:

Frigidasaenit Hyems, immitis et ingruit ather,

Exclusum pateris me tamen esse foris.

To PANDORA.

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THE very same Sonets which a [...] some time pleased you (modest Pandora) with much more courtesie and honour, then they, or I, any way deserued, to receiue and reade, I haue (but without alteration or change) heere placed and reduced in a solide bodie. When Babilon was besidged by Darius, the number of Women was so great, the Captaine commaunded euery man to choose one; which beeing accordingly performed, the rest were put to death, that their victuals might the longer endure. Hadst thou been there, and I Captaine of the Babilonic, armie, thou shouldst been first of all thy sexe selected to been saued. Pardon (peerelesse Pandora) [Page] the perseuerance of my presumption, in still affecting thee: and for my sake peruse these Sonets, which may happily continue some dayes and yeares after mee: That since I could not be beloued being on-life, I may with desperat Herostratus, be famous after death: Till when (as Socrates sayd) as I may, I am

Thy vnalterable man,

Ah nùnquam potuj lachrymis, aut fletibus vllis,

Efficere vt nobis mitior ipsa fores:

Hoc nocuit misero seruisse fideliter vnj,

Hoc nocuit tanta semper amasse fide.

To PENELOPAE.

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ANtiochus in his youth, writ vehemently in prayse of the Academie; but beeing old, hee chaunged copie, and writ as violently against it. While I am young, I must write of, and for Loue; and I must goe, because I cannot stande still: I am like the rowling Stone which neuer stayes, till it come to a lying place. As Infants repose in the rocked Cradell, so my spirit findes rest in restlesse Loue. Alexander disdayned the Corinthian Ambassaders, who offered him the Freedome and Burgeosie of their Citie: But when they tolde him that Bacchus and Hercules were likewise in their Registers, hee kindly thanked them, and accepted their offer. Doe [Page] not (O vertuous Penelopae) disdaine my small and poore propine. O be not ashamed to see thy name in the base Chattons of my Poesie: Since better then Bacchus, and hardier then Hercules are in my Registers. Thus, kissing thy liberall hand, I hartily commende both mee and them to thy tuition.

Your La. A. C.

Si qua videbuntur scriptis temeraria nostris,

hoc constans veri pig [...]us amoris erit:

Consilio regitur quisquis moderantius ardet,

qui (que) amor est aliis fit furor ille mihi.

To the Queene her most excellent Maiestie.

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APelles man did all his Wits imploy

To paint the shape of Laedais Daughter faire:

But when he saw his worke prou'd naught, poore Boy,

He wept for woe, and tooke exceeding care:

Then deck'd he her with Iewels rich and rare:

Which when the braue Apelles did behold.

Paint on (quoth hee) poore Boy, and haue no feare,

When Beautie fayles, well done t'enrich with Gold.

I am (faire Princesse) like the Painters man,

As ignorant, as scant of skill as hee:

Yet will J striue and doe the best J can,

To manifest my louing minde to thee.

But to supply the weaknesse of my skill,

In place of Gold (great Lady) take goodwill.

Craige.

Amorous Songes and Sonets.

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TO IDEA.

IN Golden world, when Saturne did vpgiue

To Pluto, Joue, and Neptune, his Empire

They cast their lots both how, & where to liue▪

Because it was old Saturns owne desire:

Joue ruld the Furnace farre aboue the Fire,

The stately Vault, beyond the starrie round:

And Neptune gat the glassie Salt to hyre,

Then Pluto chooss'd the Hellish blacke profound:

When Cupid spied they gaue him but the Ground▪

Impatient wagg, went out to walke abrod,

And conquering these that were but lately cround,

He made him selfe ouer all those Gods a God.

Then Loue to thee, as to my Lord I yeeld,

I feare to fight, where Gods haue fled the feeld.

Omnia vincit amor, et nos cedamus amorj.

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To IDEA.

DOwne frō the Skies for to behold my Dame

Came Goddesses, and all the Gods aboue:

Joue, Saturne, Mars, bright Phoebus, and with thame,

Rich Juno, Minerue, and the Queene of Loue:

Her beauties fame, their mindes did so commone,

They run, and tooke no rest till they came thare,

Thus armies proud, approch't for to approue,

And giue their doome, that she was matchles faire:

Loue like the rest, would faine look'd on, & sweare

Vnknit (faire Dame) this Craip, quoth he, & thou

Both Bagg and Bow a bonie while shalt beare,

Shoote where thou wilt, and I shall well allow:

They change, & she shot Loue, that he was faine

To skarfe his eyes, and begge the Bow againe.

Caecus amor superos superat, lithocardia amorem.

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To LITHOCARDIA.

OF late the blind, and naked Archer Boy,

A libertine, out through the plains would play

With ayre-deuiding wings without conuoy:

Hee vaging went, and wist not where away.

Sad Ʋenus wep't, and thus to mee can say.

Didst thou behold my blind Babe any whare?

For hee is gone; O pittie strange estray:

And he is fightles, syndo [...]les, and bare:

In Craigs and Rocks such Elu's doe make repare,

And so perhaps hee harbers in thy hart.

It was too true, yet durst I not declare

His beeing there, for feare of further smart.

To want her Babe, braue Venus stil doth murne,

she drown's the world with teares, & yet I burne.

Hei mihi quod nullis amor est medicabilis herbi [...].

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To LITHOCARDIA.

LOue set his Bow, his Bag, and Bolts aside,

And went out through the watrie vaults of ayre

Disposd to play; he goes without a guyde,

And with the Winds he wauers heere and thare:

Till at the last a fleeting Castle faire

On smooth and glassie Seas hee doth espie:

Hee bords their Barke, the fishing craft to leare:

The poore men yeeldes, not daring to denie,

Hee hales their Hookes, and baites them by & by.

Then Thetis rose, and ask'd if Loue would burne

The liquid seat wherein her Lord did ly,

Disswading him from such a cruell turne.

Feare not sayd Loue, I came to fish, thou sees,

And left my flames in Lithocardias eyes.

O non human [...] nata puella toro.

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To CYNTHIA.

THe Hobbie Haulke can catch at all no pray,

Vnles aboue her ayme and marke she flie.

The Palme doth beare the brauer boughs some say

From neighbour trees, the higher that it bee.

So far'd of those my fansies fond and mee,

In hope of hap, I cannot cease to sore.

If loued, I liue: and if disdain'd, I die.

I pray, I prayse, I pleade, and I implore:

Proud Cytherea loued Adonis poore,

And Cynthia seru'd Endimion Sheepheard swane;

So though I be inglorious and obscure,

Yet may she loue her Poet and her Man.

Mount then braue thoughts through water, fire & aire

And desp'rately pursue the sweete, proud, faire.

Blanditiis amor est, et succo molli [...]r omni.

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To PANDORA.

SInce Joue him selfe was subiect vnto Loue,

And left the lift to catch a mortall pray.

If Neptune did from glassie Seas remoue,

And would for Loue, aside the Scepter lay.

If Pluto loath'd his darke and pitchie Caue,

To spoyle Proserpine Cer [...]s Daughter faire.

If proude Apollo Daphui deare to haue,

Left Phaeton to rule his fyrie Chaire.

If shaghhaird Satyrs mountaine-climing race,

Pursu'd Aenona through the Phrygian Woods.

If piping Pan from Musicke sweete did cease,

To hunt the Naiad Nymp's by ban [...]es of Floods?

What can I doe (sweet haar [...]) but loue thee still?

On whom nor Gods no [...] men can gaze their fill.

Iussit amor, quis enim mag [...] non ceda [...] amorj,

In cignum, in pluniam qui iubet ire Jonem.

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To ERANTINA.

NOr there where as the yoaked restles Horse

With Phaeton begins their wonted race,

and leads their Lord throughout the lift perfor [...]

To circumgire the Earth into each place.

Nor there where as the hot and fyrie face,

The burning beames of Phaebus bright appeare,

When hee diuyds the day in equall space

With glorious rayes in his meridian Spheare.

Nor there, whereas Apollo proude, for feare

Our comming night, his lingering should control [...]

With speedie pace from our Horizon heare,

Is headlong hurl'd to view th'antarticke Pole.

Nor no where els can any match at all

be found to her; whose vertues makes me thrall.

Tu mihi sola places.

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To ERANTINA.

O Wounder to the world, whō woundering eyne

Doe wounder still as on the rarest fight

Of Natures frame; yet come to common light,

Or Hemisphere, where our Horizon beene.

Sweete louely Laura, modest, chast, and cleene.

It seemes that Poet Petrarche tooke delight,

Thy spotles prayse in daintie lines to dight,

By Prophecies, before thy selfe was seene.

And now faire Dame, since thou art borne to bee

That Comet strange, and that prodigious Starre,

Whence life and death, and peace & bloody warre▪

And calme and storme proceed, as pleaseth thee:

Shine still, and still with sweete aspect infuse,

Eternall theame, and matter to my Muse.

At mea c [...]m multis placuisset musa puellis,

Huic vnj, dixj, noster inheret am [...]r.

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To IDEA.

THe chastest Child will oft for mercie cry,

And bid the striker stay and hold his hand:

Yea though he weepe, his teares he will vpdry

And kisse (suppose against his will) the wand.

With chiuering chin, but sturring will he stand,

And patiently suppres his present paine:

Poore Babe he dare not but obey command,

And hold his peace, least he be lasht againe.

Such is my state, I saikles soule am slaine,

Nor can I get the smallest graunt of grace,

Nor dare I now, though I haue cause, complaine:

And though I durst, my plaints wold haue no place

Thus am I faine for feare of further wrong,

Euen with the Babe to burst, and hold my tong.

Non tame [...] audebam tacit [...]s operire dol [...]res,

Ingenium metuens casta puella tuam.

[Page]

To CINTHIA▪

IT sometime chanst, as Stories tell by chanse,

That Hercules and Hylas were alone,

And seuerally they went apart to pause:

But hee and hee, accompanied with none,

Till Hercules to Hylas made his mone,

That hee for drouth was like to giue the Ghost.

Thus Hylas to Ascauius Flood is gone,

To draw a drinke, and lowting life hath lost.

So when mine eyes had spurd a speedie post,

To set the floods of fauour to their friend,

My burning heart, which drouth of comfort crost,

They dround them selues, & nothing els obteind:

So Destanies my dolefull death concludes,

By double force of Furious flames and floudes.

Ʋror, et heu nostro manat ab igne liquor.

[Page]

To IDEA.

THe Lipper man, whose voyce can not be hard,

With dolefull hoarse vnpleasant tune wil cry,

And craue for loue of Iesus Christ reward,

And alm's of such as chaunce for to passe by:

But when (allace poore soule) he doth espy

That no man heares, not yet regards his voyce,

No longer then takes he delight to ly,

But claps his dish, and keepes his language close.

Right so as curst, and carefull is my Crosse,

Suppose the Fates haue not deform'd my shape,

No words I vse for to lament my lose,

But make my Lines to be the Lippars Clap.

Goe Sonet then and beg, I thee beseech,

Some grace to him, whom feare deterres from speech.

Dicere qua puduit scribere iussit amor.

[Page]

To IDEA.

IN stately Troy which was by force of fire

Subdu'd in end, and turnd in embers cold,

Apollo's Church while Priam did empire,

Was beautifull and braue for to behold:

In midst whereof hung in a not of gold

A Coca [...]rice, that Spider, Bird, nor Flie,

To enter there, nor build durst not be bold:

That famous worke from filth was kept so frie.

The like (faire Dame) may well be thought of thee

For why, before thy beauties Altar hings,

Canceld with prid, both blood and birth I see,

With cold disdaine, which serue as certaine [...]ings,

To warne a farre my fancie to refraine,

And rather wrake then once reueale my paine▪

Cor dolet g [...]lidu [...] torpet sub pert [...]re sanguit,

Me tamen oppressum dicere vetat amor.

[Page]

To PANDORA.

I Pause not on the gold of Tagus sand,

Nor Erithrean braue and shyning shells:

Ilong not for the limits large of Land,

Wherein the barbar newfound Nations dwels:

I bid not of these bounds whose boosome swells

With birth of braue and costly Iewels rare,

Which with their Muske and Siuet sweetest smels

In fairest Chattons, set perfume the ayre.

My pridles Hart subdued with Loue and feare,

Seekes that those Songes the Heralds of my hart

Might mooue the sweet and flintie harted faire

Some fauour once, and pittie to impart:

Els that vpon the Alter of her wreath,

She would accept th'oblation of my death.

At siue te regum Muneranulla vol [...].

[Page]

To PENELOPE.

I Serue a Mistris infinitely faire,

And (which I more esteeme) exceeding wise,

In that, beyond the boundes of all compare:

And this in her the wondering world enuies,

Thence doth of loue my restles rage arrise,

Thence flowes the font of all the harmes I haue:

Her wit my heart, her beautie charm'd mine eyes,

To Ʋenus thus and Pallas I am slaue:

If curious heades to know her name do craue,

Shee is a Lady Rich, it needes no more,

And wealthy Iuno wonted pride may leaue,

And gladly serue the Dame whom I adore:

Rich, wise, and faire, to thee alone as thrall,

I consecrate loue, life, lines, thoughts, and all.

At mihi seruitium, et tristis iam vita paratur,

Illa (que) libertas pristina surripitur.

[Page]

To PENELOPE.

SHort is the day, but long (allace) to mee,

Who liue in loue, and am not loued againe:

My louely, faire, and loueles Saint I see,

Doth guild with gold her hid & coy disdaine.

thinkst thou faire dame, to buy my loue with gaine

Cause thou art rich, I pray thee thinke not so:

I am thy slaue, and for thy sake am slaine.

Nor can my Rim's reueale my inward woe.

Put now a poynt Panelopa I pray,

vnto this web so oft retex'd by thee,

Pay loue with loue, and make no more delay▪

O raine no more thy shewers of gold on mee,

One kisse of thee would breed me more conten [...]

Then make me king of Cresus Lydia [...] rent.

[Page]

To LITHOCARDIA.

By Anagram.

WHen Churches all of Asia les and more,

By Xerxes great were burnt, & cast to ground

Of pittie hee Dianais Church forbore.

A peece of worke whose like could not be found:

And yet by fames report to be renound,

Herostratus did set the same on fire,

Which Xerxes great suppose a Monarch cround,

Did spare vnspoyld for all his proud Empire.

Right so, when as so many did conspire

To conquer mee a poore and Cuntrey Swaine,

My hardned hart withheld their hot desire,

And I till now, vnconquerd did remaine.

That by my losse, I must enlarge thy fame,

And slay my selfe to serue a glorious Dame.

Non ego seruitium Dominae tam mite recuse,

Ah pereat si quis vincula et ipse times.

[Page]

To LITHOCARDIA. Anagram.

AS Marigould did in her Garden walke,

One day, O ten times happie was that day

I thitherward to see my Saint, did stalke:

Where Floraes Imp's ioy'd with her feet to play,

And loe vnseene behind a Hedge I lay,

Where I beheld the Roses blush for shame,

The Lillies were empald vpon the spray,

The Violets were staynd about my Dame:

My Mistris smild for to behold the game,

And sometimes pleasd vpon the grasse to sport▪

Which canging hew's new cullors did acclaime,

For blythnes of so sweete a Saincts resort,

And from that walke while as away she w [...]nt.

They weepe with deaw, & I in teares lament.

Spr [...]it nostras galatea querel [...].

[Page]

To KALA.

FAire Kala, fairer then the Wooll most faire,

Of these my faire and siluer fleeced Sheepe

Which are committed to my careles care,

And vp and downe those daintie Dales I keepe:

Faire Sheppeardesse, for thee alone I weepe.

None heares my plaints but bleating beasts and I,

And for thy sake I sigh when I should sleepe,

And on thy name amid my dreames I crie.

Thē since thou know's the thraldome of my mind

And how my necke to beare thy yoke is worne:

Haue pittie once, and proue not ay vnkind,

And laugh no more thy shepheard swaine to scorne

But if thou mind'st for to remead my mone,

Let fansies then, flocks, folds, and all, be one.

Tum mistum ciuerem communi onerare sepulchre,

Amborum (que) vnus contegat ossa lapis.

[Page]

To LAIS.

What euer thou be that claimes or courts my deare

And in my absence would supply my place,

If courts thou, I pray thee to forbeare,

Rob not my right, and latelie granted grace:

For if at were, I friendly craue thy case,

And thou had credit as I sometime bade,

Were it not wrong, if I should proudlie prease

To raue thy right? yes I may surely saide:

Be who thou wilt, I challenge thee therefore,

That with thy Daffings deauis my Lais eare;

Cease from thy sute, and in to time forbeare,

Els we can be companions true no more.

For put the case thou speed, thou gaines these two,

A facill Dame, and of a friend a foe.

Casta ma [...]e nec te lusus, nec munera vinca [...].

[Page]

To LAIS.

EVen as a ventering Merchant skant of skill,

Whom Fortunes frowne or fate hath forc'd to fall

To recempence his former losse hee will

Within one Ship and Vessell venter all.

So haue I vsed my Stocke, though it be small:

My Hart I send halfe dround into dispaire

Vnto my Saint, whom eue [...]erue I shall:

Shee is the Shipp, and it the ventered ware.

Oft hath my minde bin cloy'd with clouds of care

When contrar winds, with cold and stormie raine

would threat my losse; but now frō bounds of feare

My ventring thus, hath made me rich againe.

Then shal my Muse triumph & mourne no more,

Since second windes haue brought my Shipp to shore.

At nunc tota tua est, te solum candida secum,

Cogita et frustra credula turba sedet.

[Page]

To PANDORA.

O Watchfull Bird proclaymer of the day,

Withh [...]ld I pray, thy piercing notes from me:

Yet crow, and put the Pilgrime to his way,

And let the Worke-man rise to earne his fee:

Yea let the Lion fierce, be feard of thee,

To leaue his prey, and lodge him in his Caue:

And let the deepe Diuine from dreaming flie.

To looke his leaues within his close Conclaue:

Each man saue I, may some remembrance haue,

That gone is night, and Phosphor draweth nie:

Beat not thy breast for mee poore sleepeles slaue,

To whom the Fat's alternall rest denie:

But if thou wouldst bring truce vnto my teares,

Crow still for Mercie in my Mistris [...]ares.

[Page]

To PANDORA.

GO you o winds that blow from north to south,

Conuey my secret sighes vnto my sweet:

Deliuer them from mine, vnto her mouth,

And make my commendations till we meet.

But if perhaps her proud aspiring sprit,

Will not accept nor yet receiue the same,

The brest and bulwarke of her bosome be it:

Knock at her hart, and tell from whence you came,

Importune her, nor cease, nor shrinke, for shame:

Sport with her curl's of Amber cullour'd haire,

And when she sighs, immix your selues with thame

Giue her her owne, and thus beguile the faire.

Blow winds, flie sighs, where as my hart doth han [...]

And secretly commend me to my sanct.

[Page]

To PANDORA.

IN Arcadie sometime (as Sydne say's,)

Demagoras a proud Lord did remaine,

In whom no thing I marke that merits prayse,

Saue that he seru'd Parthenia sweet with paine:

But when he found she lou'd him not agane,

With leprocie he did infect her face,

Which caus'd the constant knight for to complane

But not to change his loue in any case:

Pandora faire his woose infect'd allace

With leprocie of loathsome cold disdane,

Bred by my foe, to further my disgrace:

Yet neither fayth nor fancie shall refrane:

Yea, were her face deform'd as it is faire,

I should ay serue, though I should ay dispaire.

Fortuna potes inuita fecisse beatum,

Quem velis.

[Page]

To LITHOCARDIA.

A Very World may well be seene in mee,

My hot desires as flames of Fire do shine,

My sighes are ayre, my teares the Ocean sea

My steadfast fayth, the solid Earth, & syne,

My hope my heauen, my thoughts are stars diuine

My ielosie the very pangues of Hell,

My sweete the Sainct, to whom I do propine

For sacrifice my seruice and my sell.

That hatefull Hagge, who neere my Dame doth dwell

My riuall foe, my Loue the Sommer sweet,

My Spring-time, my deserts which so excell:

And my Dispaires, the Winter cold and weet.

But (O allace) no Haruest can I see,

Which spoyls my yeares, & maks me thus to die

[Page]

To ERANTINA.

WEll may I read as on a snowie sheet

Of paper faire, my fortune in thy face,

Since at my sight thine eyes are both repleit,

With loueles looks presaging but disgrace:

And thou into my visage wann allace,

May see in sad characters of my care,

Since neither ruth nor pittie can haue place,

A boundles Booke, a volume of dispare.

Thus like a Glasse my face may well declare

My loue to thee, and with my loue my paine:

Thine show's againe (though it be matchles faire)

Thy hatefull heart and vndeseru'd disdaine.

O antipathie strange to be susteind,

I loue my foe, thou hats thy faithfull friend.

Vidi ego quae veneris falleudo iura res [...]suit,

Perfidiae penas saepe luisse graues.

[Page]

To IDEA.

The Brethren three whose hot persut hath broght

Death to them selues, & bondage to their land,

When as their foe before them fled, they thoght

The victorie was plac'd into their hand:

And yet his flight inferd no feare they fand,

For as they came, hee slew them one and one.

A Parthian forme, whose fight in f [...]ght doth stand,

For while they flie, their foes are kild anone.

Euen so may I, vnhappiest I complaine:

But pittie thus to serue a Parthian Dame,

Who shuns my sutes, and makes my fancie fane,

With hosts of harm's for to pursue the same.

O sweet discord, O sweet concord agane,

She flies to kill, I chase her to be tane.

[Page]

To IDEA.

FAire louelie Haebae Queene of pleasant Youth,

Who bore braue Nectar to the Gods aboue:

Whose glansing beames like Phaebus in the south,

Do both bewitch and burne my brest with loue.

O thou that wars the woundring world for woorth

Whom Nature made to laugh her selfe to scorne,

More excellent then I can set thee foorth:

Whose like nor is, nor shall againe be borne.

My flowing Songs I consecrate to thee,

Good reason were, that they should all be thine.

Thy presence creats all those thoughts in mee,

Which mee immortall, and maks thee diuine:

And such delight I haue with thee to stay,

As twentie Moones do seeme but halfe a day.

Et tua quod superest temporis esse precor.

[Page]

To LITHOCARDIA.

THou who began by Menalus to mone,

And lay alone for to lament thy losse

Amid those greene and grouie shads to grone

Where Musidorus knew thee by thy voyce:

Thou hast of me a comfort in thy crosse,

With Princes proud if poore men may compare,

For why my cares suppose I keepe them close,

Ouermatcheth thine, tho thy mishaps were mare:

Thy thuartring thoughts were droūd in deepe dispare

Mine haue no hope for to be brought to pas:

Thy heart has hurt, and mine of blis is bare:

Thou chang'd thy shape, I am not what I was:

In end thou sped, I ware my worke in vaine,

I loue allace, and am not loued againe.

Spe (que) timor dubia, spes (que) timore cadis.

[Page]

To LAIS.

SEe Deianira, see how I am shent

By that same Shirt which Nessus to thee gaue,

And thou againe to me by Lychas sent,

I am inflam'd flesh, bons, and all I haue,

That Ichthiophagic Aethiopian slaue,

Who boyls his angled Fish by Phaebus beams

Vpon a Rock, no other stire may craue:

Nor Sun, nor Rocke, but these my gliding gleams▪

Yet sweete thy sworne Alcides will not die,

There is no deadlie Dipsas in thy Sarke,

I languish but till I may meet with thee,

With quent Dialogs in the quiet darke:

And so till time such happie time afford,

My further will this bearer brings by word.

Saepe greges inter requie [...]us arbore terci,

Mista (que) cum folus perbuit herba torum.

[Page]

To PENELOPE.

THe Persian King in danger to be dround,

Ask'd if no helpe in humane hands did stand.

The Skipper then cast in the Salt profound,

Some Persians braue, & brought the King to land.

Then Xerxes crowns the Skipper with his hand,

Who saues the King deseru's (quoth he) a crowne:

But he at once to kill him gaue command,

Die die, said he, who did my Persians drowne.

My Ladie faire, a Xerxes proud doth proue,

My worthles Verse she doth reward with gold:

But (O allace) she lets me die for loue,

And now I rew that I haue bin so bold.

As Xerxes crownd, and kild his man; right so

Shee seemes a frind, and proues a mortall foe.

Credula res amor est. &c.

[Page]

At IDEAS direction, these two Sonets were made. 1.

MOre then I am, accursed mought I bee,

If er'e I did approch my dearest Dame:

But such a great respect was still in mee,

As ay feare was equall to my flame:

Suppose some sots spoyld of the sense of shame,

Or feeling of my honest Loue, will say,

And publiklie to my dispraise proclame

That I delight in loathsome Lust as thay.

You sacred pow'rs, I still inuoke and pray,

That all my speach turne poyson in a clap,

If either I by word or writ bewray

One lusting thought her beautie to entrap,

Let pale Enuie (faire Dame) admire and lie,

With chast desiers I serue and honor thee.

[Page]

To IDEA. 2

WIth chast desires I serue and honor thee

Great Archi-mistris of my rauisht mind,

Most virtuous, wise, and faire, of all thy kind:

Whose least command I vow to doe or die.

Chast was my Loue, yet is, and ay shall bee,

The praysing Papers which I haue propin'd,

May well beare witnes how I am inclind,

And can (ye know) controull mee when I lie:

Phronesis erring could espie no place,

Meete on this mould, but in thy breast to dwell,

A virtuous mind adorns a beauteous face;

And thou hast both, and in them both excell:

This maks my loue be chast, my passions strange

And I had rather choose to die then change,

Aspice diuinas humano in corpore dotes

Nil mort [...]lae tibi faemina digna polo es.

[Page]

To CYNTHIA.

HAdst thou been blacke, or yet had I been blind,

my muse had slept, & none had known my mind

Or yet couldst thou as thou art faire, be kind,

I had not thus with sighs increast the wind:

But loe these frowning fauours which I find,

To which allace thou art too much inclind,

By which thy poore afflicted man is pind,

Haue broke the heart, which beautie first did bind:

Smile then faire dame, & some time cease to frown

For smiles please mee, and do become thee best:

And since thou sees how I am sworne thine owne,

Smile still on him who loues thee by the rest,

So neither shall I wish thee to be blacke,

Nor curse my eyes, the causers of my wrecke.

Nam si quem placidis facilis dignaris ocellis,

Nectaris huic fontes, ambrosia (que) fluunt.

[Page]

To ERANTINA.

THe Tyrant Nero houering to behold

The wrack of Rome on top of Tarpe hill,

He saw the rich, the poore, the young, the old,

Amid the flams in in present poynt to spill:

Yet woondering on that woonder, stood he still,

And (cruell man) would neither mend nor meene,

But tooke his pleasure to espie their ill,

And smild to see them smart before his eyne:

But had that man, that monstruous man yet beene

Reseru'd on life by fatall Nimphs till now,

To view these flames which may in me be seene,

He would bewaile my poore estate I trow,

whose boyling breast euen like mont Aetna burns

When in his tomb the roaring monster turns.

[Page]

To KALA.

THe Persian Kings all waters did abiure,

Saue those which flow'd frō faire Ch [...]aspes flood:

From age to age this they obseru'd as sure,

As though no Waters els could do them good.

This was a forme, no rather bondage strange,

Which by no means these Monarch's braue would change.

I am as constant as a Persian King,

And thou more deare then meat or drinke to mee:

For all th'entisments beautie bright can bring,

With lisping toong, and soull entising eye:

In spight of all these all as I began,

I am thy true and neuer-changing man.

Thus will I surfet on thy beautie braue,

And Lyzard-like liue on thy looks diuiue:

In presence absence I am sworne thy slaue,

And still I would (were I a King) be thine:

And for thy sake, till life and breath endure,

All other loue and seruice I abiure.

Tu quo (que) iunge fid [...]s fido cum coniuge amor [...]s,

Ipse etenim et coniunx ipse et amator ero.

[Page]

To LAIS.

ALlace that absence hath such force to foyll,

And to procure my euer pearceing paine,

Bereft of rest I tosse, I turne, I toyle,

Halfe in dispaire that we may meet againe:

Think on my vowes (& think they were not vaine)

My countenance, and each thing els I pray,

Which then I vs'd, when our goodnight was tane,

My inward wrack and woe for to bewray:

And when allone in clasped armes we lay,

With interchange of manie soulesooke kisses:

Thinke how we shed before the dawn of day,

With miriads of vnaccomplisht wishes:

Which with my selfe for lacke of presens pind,

I recommend vnto thy vertuous mind.

Sic mecum fixis herebas nixa lacertis,

Mutua cum placido trahebamus gaudia lusu.

[Page]

To absent ERANTINA.

EVen as a man by darke that goes astray,

Would faine behold and looke vnto the light:

Or as a Pilgrem erring from the way,

In wildsome wayes, would faine be set a right [...]

As Mariners in blacke and stormie night,

O'reset with Seas, strange winds, and stormie raine

Longs to behold the beames of Phaebus bright,

That after storme, the calme may come againe:

As he whom still the Iayler doth detaine

In bondage close, of freedome would be glade:

Right so shall I of presence be as faine,

To see the Sainct for whom my sighs are shade,

Light, wisshed way, calme, freedome, should not bee

So sweete to them, as Presence vnto mee.

[Page]

To KALA.

Sore is my head and sorie is my hart,

And yet for all th'emplasters I applie,

No helpe hath Nature, nor no ayde brings Art,

Without, within, I burne, I fret, I frie:

A childish thing when Care doth come to crie:

Yet this doth most my Feuer fell infect,

I hid my harms, and so in silence die,

And thus my head must riue, my hart must breake,

But worst of all, while visage wan bewray,

What secret site my sicke soule doth assale,

How I or'edriue in deadly dooll the day,

And how this longsome Equinoct I vale:

Shee cruell shee that should my Surgeon bee,

Allow's my losse, and laughs, and lets me die.

Nec tamen vlla mea tangit te cura salutis.

[Page]

To absent IDEA.

Faire dame, for whō my mornfull muse hath worne

To want thy fight the black & sable weede,

Whose houering haires dissheueld rent and torne,

May show what baill thy absence long can breed:

Looke if thou list my Rimes, and thou shalt reed

But coaleblack woes in coaleblack words brought forth

thy absence long, hath made my cōfort deed,

And makes my Verses be so litle worth.

Shine then vpon my parched Sunburnd braine,

Chiefe stay of all my tempest-beaten state:

Leaue not thy man disconsolate againe,

Faire Goddes of my Fortune both and Fate:

All earthly hopes for thee since I refuse,

Be thou my hope, my Mistris, and my Muse.

Ʋt (que) supercilio spendo [...] nutu (que) loquaci,

Nonnihil ipsa meis m [...]ta venis precibus,

[Page]

To ERANTINA.

OVtthrough the faire and famous Scythian land,

A Riuer runns vnto the Ocean mane:

Hight Hypanis with cleare and cristall strand,

Borderd about with Pine, Firre, Oake, and plane:

Whose siluer streames as they delight the eye,

So none more sweet to either tast or smell.

Yet Exampeus erre his Lord he spies,

Maks him to stinke like Stigian stanks at Hell.

Eu'n so faire Dame (whose shap doth so excell)

Thy glorious rayes, thy shining virtues rare,

No Poets pen, nor Rhetors tong can tell

So farre beyond the bounds of all compare:

Yet are they spoyld with poysning cold disdaine

And such as drink thy beauties floods are slaine.

Nil nostrae mouere preces verba irrita ventis,

Fudimus et vanas scopulis impegimus vndas.

[Page]

PANDORA refuseth his Letter.

THe saikles soule Philoxenus was slaine

By courtes kind Amphialus the Knight,

(Who for the faire Cornithian Queens disdaine

Borne to his foresaid friend had tane the flight:)

But when his Dog perceiu'd that sorie fight,

He fawn'd vpon his maisters fatall foe:

Who then with hart and handfull of despight,

Beats backe the Dog with manie bitter blo.

My dearest Dame and seemlie Sainct euen so,

For whose sweet sake I daylie die and dwins,

Hath slaine her slaue with all the wounds of woe,

And loaths allace, to looke vpon my Lins:

That with the Dog my Ditties must returne,

And helpe their martird Maister for to murne.

Quis Deus opposuit nostris sua numina notis.

[Page]

To KALA.

TWixt Fortune, Loue, and most vnhappie mee,

Behold a chase, a fatall threesome Reele,

Shee leads vs both, suppose shee can not see,

And spurs the Post on her vnconstant wheele:

I follow her, but while I prease to speele

My bounds aboue, I faile, and so I fall:

Loue lifts me vp, and saies all shall be well,

In hope of hap my comfort I recall:

Wee iornie on, Loue is the last of all;

Hee on his winges, I on my thoughts do sote:

I flie from him, suppose my speed be small;

Shee flies from mee, and woe is mee therefore.

Thus am I still twixt Loue and Fortune slaine,

I neither take nor tarrie to be taine.

[Page]

To LITHOCARDIA.

GOod cause hadst thou Euarchus to repent,

The reakles rashnes of thy bad decreit:

Thy crueltie did spring from good intent,

The grounds whereof were tedious to repeet:

Yet when thy Sonne fell downe before thy feet,

And made thine eyes confesse that he was thine,

Thou wept for woe, yet could thou not retreat

The sentence said, but sigh'd and sorow'd sine:

So may it be that once those eyes diuine,

Which now disdaine and loath to looke so low,

As to behold these miseries of mine,

shal weepe whē they my constant trueth shal know

And thou shalt sigh (though out of time) to see,

By thy decret thine owne Pirocl [...]s die.

[Page]

To LITHOCARDIA.

I Feare not Loue with blind and frowning face,

His Bow, his flame, nor sharpest hooked head:

A brauer Archer Death shall haue his place,

And put a poynt to all my paine with speed:

And since it is my fate to be at feed

With her whom once I duelie did adore:

Yet fatall Atrops now shall cut the threed,

And breake the heart which she enioy'd of yore:

For fauours floods which I did oft implore,

Of Letheis Lake I time by time shall teast,

Her Marbel heart shal make me moorne no more

The buriall stone my dolor shall digeast:

Then farewell she, auth, loue, hard-heart, each one,

Come Atrops, Lethe, Death, and Buriall ston [...].

Nunc te tam formae tangit decor iste superbae,

Vt tua commorint taedia iniqua deos.

[Page]

To inconstant LAIS.

HOw oft hast thou with Siuet smelling breath,

told how thou loud'st me, loud'st me best of al?

And to repay my loue, my zeale, my fayth,

Said, to thy captiue thou wast but a thrall:

And when I would for comfort on thee call,

Be true to mee deare to my soule, said I,

Then sweetly quhespering would thou say, I shall:

And echo-like deare to my soule, replie:

But breach of fayth now seemes no fault to thee,

Old promises new periuries do proue.

Apes turse the whelps they loue from tree to tree

And crush them to the death with too much loue.

My too much loue I see hath chang'd thee so,

That from a friend thou art become a foe.

Carminibus celebrata meis formosa N [...]aera,

Aterius mauult esse puella viri.

[Page]

To LAIS.

SWeet Lais, trust me, I can loue no more,

And which is worse, my Loue is turnd to hate:

Thou art vnkind, and woe is mee therefore,

Inconstant fals and to my griefe ingrate,

It is too true I lou'd thee well of late,

And euen as true thou lou'dst mee well againe:

I haue allace, no pleasure to repeat

Our wishes and our vowes since all are vaine:

What resolutions and what plots prophane

Wee two haue had in loue to liue and die,

The time, the place, the tokens giuen and tane;

Yf they could speake, can thy accusars bee:

But since thou still art false (I must confesse)

Thy loue was lightlie won, and lost for lesse.

Ah crudele genus nec fidum faemina nomen.

[Page]

To ERANTINA.

Blind naked loue, who breeds those stormy broyls

Which from my deare me to my dole debars:

To mee the pangs, to thee pertaine the spoyls:

Thou taks aduantage of our ciuill warres,

I liue exild, but thou remains too neare,

Yet like a tirant shee triumphs o're thee.

Her presence maks thee more then blind I heare:

And absence is farre worse then death to mee,

Could I as thou, from ielous eyes be free,

Then should I be as blith as thou art blind:

I should not then dispaire, nor wish to die,

Nor should my sighs increas the wauering wind.

O rigor strange since Loue must still remaine,

In presence blind, and I in absence slain.

Ʋna di [...]s tantum est, qua te non femina vidi,

Et sine iam videor seusibus es [...]s [...]is.

[Page]

To PENELOPE.

WHen stately Troy by subtill Sinons guile,

And Grecian force was brought to last decay,

Ʋlisses braue with faire and facund stile,

Achilles Arm's obtaind, and went away:

In Afrike yet he was constraind to stay:

For when his friends did taste of Lotus trie,

As Homers works do more at length bewray,

They green'd no more the Greekish soyle to see.

So fares with mee, O most vnhapie mee,

Since I beheld thy faire and heauenlie hew,

The glorious rayes of thy all conquering eye,

My rendering heart and soule did so subdew,

That for thy sake, whom euer serue I shall,

I haue forgot my selfe, my soyle, and all.

[Page]

To IDEA.

MY Muse shal make thy boundles fame to flie

In bounds where yet thy selfe was neuer seene:

And were not for my Songs thy name had beene▪

Obscurelie cast into the graue with thee:

But loe when cold and limping age shall bee,

A signe of death, and when the graue shall greene

And gape within her bosome to conteene

Her child, in spight of Death thou shalt not die:

For why, my Muse, my restles Muse shall eeke

Ten thousand wings for to enlarge thy fame,

And eu'ry quill of eu'ry wing faire Dame,

to preach thy praise ten thousand wayes shal seeke

Yet thou repayes my labors with disdaine,

Thou liues by mee, and I by thee am slaine.

O ego non felix qui tam crudeliter a [...],

Nulla (que) me redamat.

[Page]

To frowning CINTHIA.

IF Castor shine, the Seaman hoyseth saile,

With widkast womb the welcome winds t'embrace

which gladly grasps the sare & prosperous gaile

And maks the Ship to run a fleeing race:

But if Orion shine, the storme is me,

He lowes the Saile, which stood of late so hie

Such is my state, if Castor-like thou smile,

I onelie liue to serue and honour thee:

But if thou frowne, allace allace the while,

As at the sight of Gorgons head I die,

As in thy lift so in thy looks diuine,

Orion black, and Castor braue do shine.

Then since thou art th'Orizon of my loue,

Thine eyes the fatall starres which I adore:

With gracious blinks behold me from aboue,

Let me not sinke, safe bring me to thy shore.

Or if thou loaths that I should liue, then frowne

For die I, liue I, I am still thine owne.

Diccte me Juuenem perijsse in amore maeae (que)

Vnita quod fuerit Cynthia causa necis.

[Page]

To PANDORA.

EAch thing allace, presents and lets mee see▪

The rare Idea of my rarest Dame,

Deepe sunke into my soule the verie same,

Whose view doth still bewitch vnhappie mee,

The shining Sunne, her hart transpersing eye.

The morning red her braue and blushing shame,

Night absence, and day presence doth proclame,

foule wether frowns, & calme sweet smil's may bee

My scalding sighs tempestious winds, and raine:

But exhalations of my tragick teares,

In frost allace, her cold disdaine appeares;

In thaw, and fire, my melting heart agane:

And thus each thing brings purpose to be pinde

And to my thoughts cōmends the faire vnkind.

[Page]

To PANDORA.

DEare to my soule, and wilt thou needs be gone,

And leaue thy Man behind thee but a heart?

Is this the pittie which thou dost impart,

Disconsolat to let me die alone?

Thou hast two harts; mine, thine, and I haue none:

Heere springs the surfe of my ensuing smart;

Yet play I pray the gentle Pyrats part,

And as thou lou's my life, yet leaue me one:

But brooke them both I gladlie grant and stay,

How canst thou ride in raging raine and wind?

Yet thou must goe, and woe is me away:

Then take my heart, and leaue me thine behind.

I gaue thee mine, O then giue thine to mee,

That mine and thine be one twix mee & thee.

Ʋna fides, vnus lectus, et vnus amor.

[Page]

To LAIS.

I Haue compard my Mistris many time

To Angels, Sun, Moone, Stars, & things aboue:

My Conscience then condem'd me of a crime,

To things below when I conferd my Loue:

But when I find her actions all are vane,

I thinke my Rimes and Poyems all profane.

With perfect eyes her Pageants I espy,

To no thing now can I compare my Dame,

But Theramenes shoo; the reason why,

It seru'd each foote: and she can do the same:

She hears the sutes of rich, poore, great, & small,

And has discretion to content vs all.

Si vitium leuitas, nulla puella hona est.

[Page]

To PANDORA.

FAine would I goe, and faine would I abide,

Sweet Hais agene, and kisse me erre I go,

Denie mee not since there is none beside,

No teltale here, though thou wouldst giue me two:

Yet giue me one, if thou wilt giue no mo;

But one is none, then giue mee two or three,

Thy Balmie breath doth still bewitch me so,

As I must haue an other kisse, or die,

Thy Rubent blush now bids take leaue of thee:

Faine would I goe, and I would kisse as faine,

Then giue me one, or change a kisse with mee:

If neither giue nor change, take all againe:

When thine & mine are thus conturb'd, I kno

Thou canst but smile, that I deceiu'd thee so.

Mihi dulcia iunge

Oscula, et in nostr [...] molle quiesse sinn.

[Page]

To PENELOPE.

WHile fierce Achilles at the siedge of Troy,

(the fatall Nimphs had so decreed) was slaine

A sodaine strife arose who should enioy

The Armes of that praise-worthie Grecian:

Aiax alleg'd he should the Arm's obtaine,

And by the sword to win and weare them vow'd,

Ʋlisses said, they should be his againe:

And he them gaind, if Stories may be trow'd,

But lo the shield by Sea's was loosd, wee read,

And by a storme driu'n from Vlisses sight,

And rould to Aiax graue, though he was dead,

To show the world that he had greatest right:

So when my tombe shal end those teares of mine

there shalt thou sigh & say, I should been thine.

Tum flebit cum mi senserit esse fidem.

[Page]

To CINTHIA.

OFt haue I ment with Musicke, sleepe, & wine,

The soueraine cur's for superficiall cares,

For to reuiue this wounded heatt of mine,

And free my selfe from sorow, sighs, and teares:

Yet neither all, nor any one of those,

Haue force to end, or cure, or change my woes:

My griefs are growne to such confused force,

No number rests for more, nor place for worse.

If I had merit to be martird still,

And with the furie of thy frowns abus'd,

I could digest thy gloomings with goodwill,

And neither looke nor craue to be excus'd:

I loue my Rod like Moses; but if I

Perceiue it proue a Serpent, I must flie.

If thou wilt bind me still to be thine owne,

Smile stil (faire Dame) if not, I pray thee frowne.

Ʋincuntur molli pectora dura prece.

[Page]

To LITHOCARDIA.

FAlse Eriphile sometime did betray

Facidic wise Amphiaraus her spouse,

(Who willing from the Theban warres to stay)

To hide himselfe secure at home he trow's:

Thus while his driftes Adrastus disallow's,

She (knowing that her husband should be slaine

At Thebes) for a golden chaine auow's

To tell Adrastus where he did remaine;

And thus reueald, he goes against his will,

But leaues Alcmeon to reuenge his wrack

On Eriphile, which he did fulfill,

When dolefull newes of fathers death came backe

So since in loue thou art so vnloyall so long,

Some strange Alcmeon must reuenge my wrong.

Quae (que) prius nobis intulit illa ferat.

[Page]

To LAIS.

WHen Cressid went from Troy to Calchs tent,

and Greeks with Troians were at skirmidg hot

Then Diomed did late and aire frequent

Her companie, and Troil was forgot:

Thou lay alone, such was allace thy lot,

And Paris brookt poore Menela thy Dame,

Shee twind in two the matrimoniall knot,

And tooke a stranger when thou went from hame.

Such is my case, if I may say for shame,

I florisht once; once there was none but I:

I once was lou'd, and I haue lost the same,

And as God liu's, I know not how nor why:

So that my Sainct for falshood I am sure,

May match the Grecian or the Troian whore.

Non sum ego qui fueram, mutat via longa puella [...],

Quantus in exiguo tempore fugit amor.

[Page]

To KALA.

OFt haue I sworne; oft hast thou pray'd me too

No more to loue, nor more to looke on thee:

Since looks and loue haue made so much adoo

Twixt loueles thee, and vnbeloued mee:

Yet were I dam'd without redres to die,

I can not cease from seruing thee faire Dame:

Yea thou and all the woondering world shall see

The fayth, the force, the furie of my flame,

Most like vnto the questing Dogge am I,

Who still doth on his angry Maister fawne,

While thou corrects, I kindly quest and cry,

And more thou threats, the more I am thine owne

Thus loue or loath, or cherrish mee or chide,

Where once I bind, but any breach I bide.

Sit mihi panpertas tecum iucunda neaera.

[Page]

To KALA.

WHen Aedipus did foolishly resigne

His Kingdome to his Sonnes, that he & he,

Aboue the Thebans yeare about should raigne,

And that his Crowne biparted so should be,

Polinices first raignd, but faith we see,

He from the Crowne Eteocles debars:

Thus while they liue, they neuer can agree,

And after death, their burning bones made warrs.

My riuall foe against all right enioyes

That Crowne & Kingdome which pertains to me

That proud vsurper worker of my noyes,

Shall find a foe, vnto the day I die,

And were we dead, that are too long aliue,

Our Ashes in th'exequial vrne would striue.

Riualem possum non ego ferre Jonem.

[Page]

At the newes of IDEAS death, Dialogue twixt the Poets Ghost and Charon.

Ghost.

COme Charon come:

(Ch)

Who cals?

(Gh.)

a wandring Ghost,

By fortune led vnto the Stygian shore.,

(Ch.)

What seeks thou heere?

(Gh.)

a safe transpor [...] with post,

As thou hast done to many mo before.

(C.)

Who slew thee thus?

(G.)

euen she whom I adore,

Hath rould my name in scrowls of black disgrace.

(Ch)

What made her thus into thy griefe to glore?

(G.)

Loue was my foe, & chang'd in wars my peace.

(C.)

Go then aback, this Barke shall not imbrace

The smallest one whom Loue at fead hath borne.

(Gh.)

That shall I not, for lo before thy face,

I shall ou'r saile the flood and thou had sworne:

The Darts of Loue both Boat & Oares, shal bee,

Sighs shall be winds, and Teares a Styx to mee.

[Page]

An other Dialogue to the same purpose.

Ghost.

COme Charon come.

(Ch.)

Who cals?

(Gh.)

a martyrd man,

Since Fame foorthtold the fairest faire was deid.

(Ch.)

What seeks thou?

(Gh.)

Help to croce thy waters wan,

And I will pay thee for thy paines with speed.

(Ch.)

Thou seems to be a quick & liuing leid,

And not a vmber, nor a palled Ghaist.

(Gh.)

Feare not for that, since I for passage pleid,

But let mee haue thy helping hand with haist.

(C.)

Though sage Aeneas did o're-saile my streame

By Sybils helpe, none els must goe againe.

(G.)

Then thinks thou Charon, to enioy my Dame

And stay my voyage from th'Elesian plaine?

(C.)

Yes surely yes.

(G)

No Charon thou shalt lie

For Loue hath wings, and I haue learnd to flie.

Panditur ad nullas Janua nigra prec [...]s.

[Page]

IDEA after long sicknes, becommeth weil; and as he wept for her, he wishes compensation of her teares in his distresse.

O Beautie doomb astonish'd Maruels chyld,

The wanton obiect of my weeping eie,

Blith was my heart before I was beguyld,

And made to beare a seruile yoake by thee:

But now allace, though I by birth be free,

And not a slaue-borne Muscouite by kind,

My Sainct so Lords my heart, that now I see,

There is no manumission to my mind.

Faire heauenly Tigres, be no more vnkind,

I wept for thee, when weerds did all conspire

Thy wrack; O then behold how I am pind:

Weepe thou for me, thy teares may quench my fire

As I did thine, so meene thou my estate,

And be not cald the worst of ills ingrate.

Sis ingrata licet fi modo bella manes.

[Page]

To CYNTHIA.

PRoud Zeuxis gaue his Pictures all for nought,

Such was the loue he to his labors bore,

That by no gold nor price they could be bought,

And thus saue thanks poore man, he gaind no more

I am as poore, and euen as proud as hee,

For Loue nor Lines I craue no price from thee.

For if thou digne but with a gracious smile,

To looke my Lines, and spie how I am pind,

And with my toyes the swift wingd time begile,

Then am I paide according to my minde▪

Joues oath was Styx, and Phaebus Daphnes haire;

But from hencefoorth I by thy smiles wil sweare.

[Page]

To ERANTINA.

NO hart so hard, tho wrought of Vulcans steele,

Or fearcely forg'd of Adamantine stone,

That doe endure or last so long so leele,

As mine, who loues thee most vnlouing one,

Whose purpose is and plot, as I suppone,

Most cruellie her captiue thrall to kill,

Who onely liues to loue but her alone:

Though she reward my true intent with ill:

Such is my state, I but abide her will,

Shee has the fatall stick into her sleeue,

And when she list her furie to fulfill,

Althea-like she may my breath bereaue:

Nor leue vnlou'd, I rather choose to die,

Then beat the fire, and burne the fatall tree.

Nam mea crudeles tetigerunt corda sagitte,

At (que) animam petijt vulneris asperitas.

[Page]

To PANDORA.

Canst thou haue eares, & wil not heare my plaint

Canst thou haue eies, & wil not wipe my teares

Hast thou a heart, and feeles not how I faint,

Debating twixt dispairing hops and feares?

Canst thou not see those sad and ciuill weairs

Which are within the kingdome of my heart,

Where Legions of persuing pangs appeairs,

My vtter wrake and ruine to impart?

Heere burns the fire, there sticks the deadly dart:

Here teares me droun, there smoky sighs me smore

Here Beauty wounds, there riuals runs athwart,

And ielous eyes do pry into each pore:

When al these al and thou my wrack contriues,

I can not last, and I had twentie liues.

Perfida sed duris genuit te montibus horrens,

Cantasus, hircane (que) admorunt vbera tigr [...]s.

[Page]

Newyeares gift to PENELOPE.

THat Colatine did talke in Tarquins tent,

His Ladie Lucrece was most chast most faire,

Hee afterward had reason to repent,

Shee died a deemd adultres in dispaire.

The Lydian King brought naked both and bare,

His wife before his friend for to be seene,

Which brought him selfe wee see into the snare,

For he was slaine, and Giges brookt his Queene.

Yet can not all these wracks forewarne my Muse,

To hold her peace, but prayse thee more & more:

I loue thee still, and I will not refuse,

Though small allace, be my reward therefore.

And so (faire Dame) for Newyears gift receaue

My heart thine owne, my selfe to be thy slaue.

[Page]

To PENELOPE.

WHen Alexander did subdue and bring

The coastly Iles of Inde to his Empire,

Hee captiue tooke proud Porus Indian King,

And bid him aske what most he did desire?

Nought said braue Porus do I now require,

But that thou vse me as a King should bee,

Thou shalt haue friendly hostage to thy hyre:

And for my sake I graunt thy sute (said hee.)

Long with my passions haue I borne debate,

Oft haue I fought, and now haue lost the feeld,

It is my fortune for to be defeate.

I am thy Captiue, and faire Dame I yeeld:

As Macedo was to the King of Jnde,

If not mine, yet for thy cause be kinde.

[Page]

To LAIS.

WHen Dionise was shut from Regall seat,

And quite deposd from his Imperial throne

For tyrannies too tedious to repeate,

Which made oft times the Siracusans grone,

When he was thus disgrac'd, and left alone:

He could not cease to play the tyrant still,

He grew a pedant infants poore anone,

He taught and quhipt to exercise his ill.

I with my Loue haue plaid the licher long,

And shee the loun with many moe then mee:

This custome vile, maks sinne to seeme no wrong▪

And she must turne a common Whoore I see,

Though both be bad, and each of both vnsure,

I rather serue a tyrant then a whoore.

[Page]

To absent PANDORA.

LOng since hath Cynthia shown her ful fac'd prid

And now compeirs with crescent horns againe

Since at the banks of Neptuns flowing tide,

I tooke my leaue and shew how I was slaine:

Allace allace, they haue not wept in vaine,

Who left vs annals of eternall date,

Condemning absence for a cruell paine,

A foe to fayth, a vnfriend vnto fate:

A happy life had I in loue of late,

To ioy the sweete fruition of thy face,

Now from thy sight estranged is my state.

Since all my life is darknes and disgrace:

Yet midst my woes I wish that well thou bee,

And with the winds I send those sighes to thee.

Nulla mihi fine te rident loca, displicet aquor,

Sordet terra, leues od [...] cum retihus hamos.

[Page]

To PENELOPE seeke.

WEre I as skild in Medecine as hee,

Who did restore Hippolits health againe,

When he was torne with horse; then shouldst thou see

I should prepare emplasters for thy paine:

But since I am no Aesculap at all,

I am thy Bondman, and thy Beadman thrall.

Phaebe fau [...], laus magna tibi trib [...]etur, in vn [...]

Corpore seruato restituisse duos.

[Page]

Newyeares gift to IDEA.

THe Locrian King Zaleucus made a law,

That each adultrar both his eyes should lose,

But when his Sonne was faultie first he saw,

That sacred Kings haue hid and secret foes,

Incontenent vnto the stage he goes,

And from his Sonne one eye, one of his owne

He caus'd pull out, and in the sight of those

A carefull King, a father kind was knowne.

In Janus Kalends faire and louely sweet,

Time out of minde hath been a custome old,

That friends their friends with mutual gifts should greet

To keep true kindnes from becōming cold.

Zaleucus-like these Lines are sent by mee,

To keepe the law and kith my Loue to thee.

Da veniam merui nil ego, iussit amor.

[Page]

To CINTHIA.

Why loues thou more (faire dame) thy Dog then mee?

what can he do but (as the Scholer said

At Xanthus feast) shake eares and tayle on thee?

And I can do much more to make thee glade,

With tedious toyle and longsome labour made.

Hee can perhaps bring thee thy Glo [...]e, or whyl [...]

Thy Kirchiff when t'is either left or laide

Behind thy heeles with sweet and backast smyles:

But I, whom thou disdainefully exyles

From thy sweet bed, and thy most sweet embrace;

Which fawning Currs with filthy feet defiles,

I could doe more, but I l [...]ck leaue allace:

Fie Natures bastard, make no Dog thy Loue,

Least thou a Monster, I a Martyr pro [...]e.

[Page]

To KALA.

I First receiud since did sweet Sainct vnfold

Thy louely Lines, the legat [...] of thy mind,

And did with blith & ioy-swolne breast behold

How thou continew'd constant, true, and kind.

But when I did perceiue how thou wast pind,

Pind for the absence of thy loue-sick sw [...]ne,

My toong was doomb, my silent eyes were blind,

I read and mus'd, and mus'd and read againe:

And be thou [...]udge (deare hea [...]) if I was faine▪

When I euolu'd from out the Pape [...] whit,

That Symboll, swe [...]te transparent pure & plaine,

Wherein some time thou [...] [...]oke so much delight:

Yea th [...]ise each day▪ (faire Mistris) till we meet,

I kis thy Symboll, and thy golden sheet.

Quisquis ad hanc vertit peregrinam littera puppim,

Ille mihi de te multa rogatus abit.

[Page]

To KALA.

I Sweare (sweet Kala) by my flames, thy eyes,

O eyes: no eyes, but rather starres diuine:

Sweet Dionean twins into their skies,

And by those kind alluring looks of thine,

I sweare by all our teares whils thine, whils mine,

Nor mine nor thine, but both combind in one:

By all the sighs blowne from the sacred shrine

Where Craigs true heart hath his heroick throne,

I sweare by all our secret vow's each one,

Made in the darke, and reconfirmd by day:

By all our kisses when we were allone,

And all the wishes when I went away:

Let Weerds and Fortune do the worst they can

I am in spight of Mis [...]s Nose, thy ma [...].

[Page]

To KALA.

O How I long to heare from thee againe,

And vnderstand the tenor of thy state:

Thrise hath the Moone begun to wax and wane,

With spheirs and horns since I receiu'd thy wreat:

Then giue mee leaue (sweet Lady) to regrate,

Since thou may haue of traualing troups such store,

And I haue sent so many lines of late,

Thou art vnkind, and woe is mee therefore:

Each one that comes from thee, or from thy shore,

In hope of newes, I entertaine for thee:

Each Post I meet, each Horne I heare, yeelds more

Harmonious sounds, then musicke sweet to mee:

But when my hopes proue naught with sory mind,

I sigh & say, vnkind, vnkind, vnkind.

Tempora fi numeres bene quae numeramus amantes,

Non venit ante suam nostra querela diem.

[Page]

To CYNTHIA.

WHen those which at Ardea did remaine

With Aracins did many times contend

For Confind Lands, which neither could obtaine,

In many Battails, though much blood they spend,

Yet that sometime the strife should take good end

Both they and those referre them selu's to Rome,

Imperious Romans parties both offend,

And to them selues the questiond Lands assume.

Long warres heue been betwixt thy Maid & mee,

Yf shee or I my louesicke heart should haue;

Shee thinks it hers, it was once mine, and wee

To end this strife, thy sacred sentence craue.

Thou like these conquering Romans in this cas [...]

By spoyling both, posseyds my heart in peace.

Cynthia prima fuit Cynthia finis erit.

[Page]

To ERANTINA.

THe ielous eyes which watch my louing Dame,

And Argus-like to trap mee still attend,

They with my losse allace, but seeke her shame:

Which I beseech thee louing Lord defend.

O would to God my honest course were kend,

Or that my breast were made of Cristall cleare,

That triall might be tane what I intend:

And my true part in presence might appeare.

But (O allace and weladay) I feare,

These iarres shall soone ingender such debate,

As shall but doubt debarre mee from my deare,

And enterchange my wonted good estate.

O harmonie vnhappiest of all,

Bad chance brings change, and change hath fram'd my fall.

Res est solliciti plena timoris amor.

[Page]

To ERANTANA.

DIsordered Haires the types of my disgrace,

The testimonies of my seruile state:

Ou'ruaile my wanne and pale disfigured face,

And let my fauour answere to my fate:

For since I am th'vnhappiest hee, I waite

That Loue, or Fortunes enuie can assaile:

What resteth then? but still for to regrate,

Since word, nor writ, nor prayers can preuaile:

And since my deare disdainfullie doth deale

With hopeles mee, who was and is her owne,

My pearsing paines shall on my visage pale,

With hoarie, rough, & crumpled skin be knowne.

And such as sees my furrowed face, shall say,

The faire Vnkind is cause of my decay.

Illa dies fatum misero mihi dusit ab illa,

Pessi [...]a mutati cepit amoris hyems.

[Page]

To ERANTINA.

LOng haue I had long haires vpon my head,

Long haue I had hid harmes within my heart,

Yet none of those are powerfull for to plead

The smallest salue or softning to my smart.

Could I draw foorth the sharpe and golden dart,

Wherewith allace, I secretlie am slaine:

Or put those black vnpouled locks apart,

For which the world accompts mee to be vaine:

Could I to flit as to be fast be faine,

Or thinke that foule that I haue thought too faire,

There should no harme into my heat remaine,

Nor should my head be ouerhung with haire.

Sweet, if thou loues me, powll those locks I pray

Yf not, cut life, loue, locks, and all away.

[Page]

To PANDORA.

O What a world I suffer of extreames,

Twixt hot desire and icie cold dispaire:

Most like the swift impetuous tyds of Theames,

Are those the ebs and flowings of my care:

I liue allace, a martire late and aire,

Coold with dispaire, and burnd with hot desire:

I see allace, and can not slip the snare,

In floods I frie, and freeze amid the fire:

In Sestian seas to Her [...] sweet I swim,

And faine would touch the fimber of her goun,

Hoys'd with desire vnto the clouds I clim,

But by dispaire Leander-like I drown:

My D [...]lphin deare, let not Arion dee,

Saue mee vnsunke, and I shall sing to thee.

Quicquid [...]o [...]abor dicere uersus erit.

[Page]

To PANDORA.

FAire Sicil fertill first of Cruell Kings,

When Dionise did all thy state ouerthrow,

And wrought so many strange & monstrus things

And led so long a life without all law:

Sad sorrow was the Syracusan Song,

And all saue old Hymera, wish'd him dead,

Shee wish'd him weel, cause many tyrants sprong:

And were hee gone, a worser would succeed.

It is my weird, and woe is mee therefore,

To serue and loue where recompence is none.

Oft haue I chang'd, and now can change no more

For badder ay succeeds, when bad are gone.

And this sweet hart maks me thy beadman thral,

Least by thy losse, in harder haps I fall.

Quando ego non t [...]ui graniora pericula verit.

[Page]

To PANDORA.

When Scythian Lords long frō their lands had bein

Their slaues vsurp'd their absent Maisters place:

both wealth & wiues they breok'd before their eine

And did the same seuen yeares posses in peace:

They turning home, and seeing such disgrace,

fought with their seruants for their wealth & wiues

But by the men the maisters gat the chase,

And hardly scap'd with hazard of their liues.

Then they consult with neither swords nor glaues,

Nor open warres, to make their foes to yeeld,

with whips & wands they bat their randring slaues

And by the change of weapons wan the feeld.

Since sighs, nor teares, nor ditties can subdue thee

I must (faire sweet) with Scythian armes persue thee

[Page]

To IDEA.

I Put my hand by hazard in the hat

Where many names did intermixtly lie,

With her and her were you and this and that,

A fortune blind, or niuie nake to trie:

And lo such was my luckie lucke that I

Among so many, found thy Noble name,

And on my head, that thou and all may spie,

I well auow the wearing of the same:

It shall inferre no foyle vnto thy fame,

That thou art borne vpon so base a head:

A Begger find's a stone of curious frame,

And yet the stone remaines a stone indead.

So thou art thou, and of more worth to mee,

Deare Valentine, then thou wast wont to bee.

[Page]

To LITHOCARDIA.

GReat Alexander gaue a straight command,

That euery Souldier in the Camp should shaue

And that his face as haireles as his hand,

Both Greeke and Persian time of warrs should haue:

When Armes were put a part, he lent full leaue

To weare long beards; a signe of fat-fed peace:

And thus in Greece a stranger might perceiue

The Countries state into the Souldiers face.

I am content that custome to imbrace;

I haue no beard to show my peace with thee:

But thou wilt say, my hairs portend disgrace,

And discontent is in my downcast eye:

It is too true; but let me rise or fall,

Or sinke or swim, I am thy feruient thrall.

Addimus his precibus lachrimas quo (que) verba preantis,

Perlegis, et lachrimas fi [...]ge iudere meas.

[Page]

To LAIS.

WHy loue I her that loues not mee againe▪

Why am I friendly to my fr [...]mmit foe?

Why doe I weare my wayting on in vaine,

In seruing her that hath deceiu'd mee so?

Why did I thus my freedome sweet forgo,

To pleasure her that plagu [...] mee with disdaine?

Or wish her weel that euer wrought my woe,

And would not sigh suppose shee saw me slaine:

O foolish I, and haples I alone.

No then, O faythlesse and disloyall shee,

Whose try'd vntrueth thus maks me to complain [...]

And wish before the fixed day to die:

For now tint time and trauell maks me sure,

I playd the foole, and she has playd the hoore.

Periuriavidet a [...]aut [...] ▪

Jupiter et ventos [...]rrita ferre iubet.

[Page]

To LAIS.

BRaue Troilus the Troian stou [...] and true,

As more at length in Chau [...]er wee may find,

Dreamd that a faire White Bull, as did insue,

Had spoyld his Loue, and left him hurt behind.

The Phrygian Nymphe Aenona dround in drerd,

When Paris towards Grece made saile from Troy.

In dreames foresaw, as after did succeed,

Her Loue and foreine Ladie should enioy.

When Hecuba the Wisemen did imploy,

Her dreame of flaming Fire for to expon [...],

They shortly shew that Paris should destroy

And set on fire faire [...]lion sticke and stone.

Right so might I, if weer [...]s had not withstand,

In dolefull dreames foreseene the fall I fand.

Quid tuneam ignere tunc [...] ta [...] [...]ia d [...]wers.

[Page]

To IDEA.

LAst yeare I drew (faire Dame) by very chance,

Thy Noble name amongst a number moe:

Glad was my soule to see the weirds aduance

The happy hazard of my fortune so:

And proud thereof, vpon my pate I plac'd thee,

With anagram's and Sonets sweet I grac'd thee.

But now (wise Dame) behold a wonder strange,

Which both I wish thee to beleeue and heare:

(I am so loath where once I choose, to change)

That in my heart thou harbours all this yeare:

Then from a Hat I drew thee err I saw thee,

Now from my hart it is my doome to draw thee.

Why should I hazard what I haue so sure,

Or scrape thy name into a scuruie Scrowle?

O thou art writ in blood's characters pure,

Within the center of my louesick soule:

Let others try a fortune blind and beare thee,

Both on my head & in my heart I'le weare thee.

[Page]

To KALA.

BLind Loue (allace) and Ielosie vndoo

That constant heart which I bequeath to thee:

I loue thee most, and am most ielous too,

By this I liue, by that vndone I die:

Not that I thinke a fickle change can bee,

Where vertue dwels, but that mine owne vnworth

Is worse then twentie riuall foes to mee:

My base estate these bastard thoughts brings foorth

O were my moyane equall to my minde,

Or were my wealth as great as my goodwill,

Could I commaund the costlie Iles of Jude,

Thou shouldst be weell, and I should feare no ill.

Then Fortune, Fates, & all yee Gods aboue,

Enlarge my luck, or els make les my loue.

Venit amor grauius quo serius vrimur intus,

Vrimur, et secum pectora vulnus habent.

[Page]

To PANDORA.

WHile gathering in the Muses garden flowrs,

I made a Nosegay, which perfum'd the aire,

Whose smell shall sauour to times latest hours,

And shall for ay adorne thee cruel, faire.

I laide mee downe vpon the grassie greene,

Where I beheld fruit's, flowr's, and hearbs anew,

Foorthspred by Flora glorious Sommers Queene,

Whereon the calme and gentle Zephir blew:

On haughtie hils, which Giant-like did threat

To pearse the heauens with their aspiring head,

Grew war-like Firs, strong Oaks, & Ceeders great,

Whose shaddie boughs the leau [...]e groues ou'rspred

Thus high and low I looked where I lay,

Yet neither fruite nor flower was like my Hay.

[Page]

To KALA.

WHen silent night had spred her pitchie vaile

On all the parts of Vestais fruitfull lace.

And horned Luna pensiue fad and paile,

Was at thy presence darkned with disgrace;

Thinke (comely Kala) with what kind embrace

Wee shew the secrets of our sigh-swolne soule,

How strict a bond we ty'd in litle space:

Which none but heau'ns haue credit to controul [...] ▪

Sweet Shippardes thinke on thy Loue-sick swane,

Whose life, whose all, doth on thy loue depend:

Let nought saue death, deuide vs two againe,

And let our loues euen with our liues take end▪

And when I cease for to be true to thee,

Breath vanish in the winds and let mee die.

Dij preter hoc iuheant vt euntibus ordine fatis,

Jlla meos oculos comprimat, at (que) suos.

[Page]

To his Riuall and LAIS.

AS thou art now, so was I once in grace,

And thou wast once disgrac't, as now am I.

O wonderous chaunce, o cruell contrarie case,

O strange discord, yet greeing harmonie.

I once was lou'd, thou loath'd; but now espie

How I am loath'd, and thou art lou'd alone:

In this the wheele of Fortune you may try:

I raignd, thou had no raigne; thou raignes againe,

Then happie thou, if so thou might remaine:

But fayth thou must come downe there is no dout,

And thou must be a partner of my paine,

The nixt must needs haue place his time about:

Els fortunes wheele should whirle about no more

Nor Lais faire be fals, as of before.

Turpius est pulchra nam meretrice nihil.

[Page]

Farewell to LAIS.

Thou fawns (faire nimph) for frindship at my hand

And sayes, thou seeks no more of worldly blis:

But feid forgot that friendship true may stand,

And cryes met mercie if thou made amis.

But harke my heart, and trust mee weel in this,

I can not loue a faigned friend; no no:

Since I am so acquaint with Judas kis,

Shape not (my sweet) for to deceiue me so:

For I haue read in Stories old, of two,

Zethius and Amphion did discord,

Till time Amphion musicke did forgo,

Which by his fellow was so much abhord:

Thy sute (my sweet) is seasond with such [...]als,

We shall not friend so long as thou art fals.

Non amo te fateor quid enim simulare accesse est.

[Page]

A sparing farewell to KALA.

FOnd Celuis some time in a foolish vaine.

Would needs applie emplasters to his foot,

And would as sick men doe, sigh, weepe, & plaine,

And make the world beleeue he had the Gout:

And by this custome which he had, wee reed

Dissembling Celuis tooke the Gout in deed.

How many broyls betwixt vs two haue beene,

Which I oft times of purpose would deuise,

That in that sort our loue should scape vnseene,

And vndeuulged in a darke disguise?

But fayth that custome hath deceiu'd mee so,

That in effect I am thy fremcast foe.

When first our Loue was in the pleasant prime,

Thou lou'dst mee well, I lou'd thee well againe:

But heere behold the strange effects of time,

My fire turns frost, thy loue turns cold disdaine:

Yet time may friend which made vs foes; til whan,

I wish thee weell, but am no more thy man.

N [...]m (que) vbi non amor est vbi non miscentur amoris,

Suauia nil lauti, nil (que) leporis inest.

[Page]

A wrathfull farewell to KALA.

THe whitest Siluer drawes the blackest skore,

In greenest Grasse the deadly Adder lowrs,

The fairest Sunne doth breed the sharpest showrs,

The fowlest Toads haue fairest Stons in store:

So fairs'd of Loue, and woe is mee therefore.

In greenest Grasse lies hid the stinging Adder,

In fairest shining Sunne the fowlest wadder,

A precious Pearle plac'd in a poysning Pore:

Shall I supp sweet mixt with so sowre a fals?

Or drinke the Gall out of a Siluer pot?

Or shall I cast on libertie a knot?

Als fast, als lows; als lowse, als fast, ay fals:

No, I beseech the Gods that rule aboue,

They let me neuer leue, and euer I loue▪

Durius in terris nihil est quod viuat antant [...],

Nec modo si sapias quod minus esse velis.

[Page]

To PENELOPE.

WHen Tyndaris was broght from Troy againe

and princely Pergam leueld with the ground

And fatfed earth with Phrygian flesh was faine

Through shallow furrs faire fruit's for to refound,

The facund wise Ʋlisses most renound,

By fatall answers was foretold wee find,

That he should not in deadlie deep's be dround,

Although withheld with many contrar wind:

Yet that vnhappy and that bastard brat,

That Parricid which from a farre should come,

Telegonus whom he with Circe gat,

Should kill his father at his comming home:

Though I haue past as many storm's as hee,

The last is worst, and for thy loue I die.

[Page]

Elegie to KALA.

REed this, and then no more,

this shalbe last of all,

And should been first, if now I could,

my publisht Rymes recall,

But they are gone abrod

vpon the winges of Fame:

Na, can the glyding Ocean waues

put bounds vnto the same:

The spacious Continent,

Nor yet the bordering mane,

Can neither h [...]ld the woes nor vowes

of my vnquiet vane.

Nor prayers, nor the prayse

which I haue pend for thee,

Which makes me thus for to be pind,

and thee so proud to bee.

This then shall be the last,

since first it can not bee;

For I haue waird alreadie els

a world of words on thee:

But worlds Democrit said,

were infinite, and so

[Page]Thou looks to find infinites

of worlds of words, or moe:

No no; my Poyems haue

proclaymd thy prid, my paine,

And I am wo that I haue waitd

so many words in vaine.

For I haue dryd the braine

of my inuention quit,

And neither conquered my desire,

nor purchast thy delight.

Lo then how I was led

with Loue, that Lordly elff,

That bred no pleasure vnto thee,

nor profet to my selff:

But as Phaeneus poore

for Phisick sought in vaine,

And by his foe was cur'd, when as

hee hop'd hee had been slaine.

So thy disdains haue cur'd

my hurt and vlcerd hart,

And I am weell against thy will,

but sense of old-felt smart.

To Sea with sweetest streams

flows Hypanis the flood,

[Page]But Exampeus poysning well,

maks bad which erst was good.

And thus vnlike it selfe

grow's Hypanis: euen so

Thy coy disdaine hath changd a friend,

into a fremmed so.

Thou sawst my dwining looks,

my scalding sighs and sobs:

Thou sawst my teare swolne eyes were full

of liquid pearlie globs.

And yet, as Nero proud,

when Rome was burnd, did grow

As glad as at a Comick sport,

and laugh to see the low.

So thou fals Tyran, thou

from turret of thy prid,

Thou smild at my mishaps as proud,

as braue as Neptuns brid.

But woorthy Phocion

a Captaine braue and stout,

For these vnkind Athenians,

fought fourtie Batels out,

And yet was slaine by them:

and when he died, 'tis told

[Page]Hee pray'd his Sone for to forgiue

his death, for kindnes old.

So though I be in poynt

by thy disdaine to die,

My heart shall charge my houering hand,

to write no ill of thee:

For like Themistocles,

I rather drinke the Gall,

Then fight against my once good friend,

though now my loue be small.

Then sometime friend, farewell;

this is my most reuenge,

To thinke no good, to write no ill,

but last of all to change.

[Page]

His Resolution of absence and farewell to Lithocardia.

FAire Dame adue, for whom I dayly die,

And quicke and dead a martyr still remaine:

Now must I [...]lit o fairest, farre from thee,

And flie the force of vndeseru'd disdaine,

Since I haue weard my warbling Verse in vaine.

O Verse to be my sorows children borne,

Abortiue birth brought foorth with too much paine

And recompens'd too much with too much scorne:

Since Lines and I and all are all forlorne,

Faire Dame receiue this last enforst adew,

For I shall see, if Fates haue not forsworne,

If change of Nations natures can renew,

If tract of time, if change of soyle or aire,

May helpe thy Loue, or hinder my dispaire.

Quid loquor infaelix, an non per sax a per igne,

Quo me cun (que) pedes ducunt me [...]s agra sequetur.

[Page]

His Reconciliation to Lithocardia after absence.

O Lautia poore was glad,

when th'Amazon Queene of yore,

Receiu'd a Nosegay from her hand,

suppose shee smeld no more.

Cherillus heart was hois'd

to highest heauens hee thought,

When Macedo ouer lookt his Lines;

suppose hee lik'd them nought.

So, if thou take my Verse,

a louing poore propine,

Which ouer-shadowed with thy sight,

throughout the world shall shine.

If thou the sheet receiue,

though thou vnfold no folds,

Yet shall those hidden Lines be blith,

whilst thou their backs beholds:

And I poore hopeles soule,

thy weell affected man,

Shall be as blith as Cherill was,

or yet Olautia than.

[Page]Take then my faultles Sheet,

bedewd with mourning Inke,

And if thou wilt not view my Verse,

to know the thing I thinke;

Yet shall the Paper serue

(O faire and matchles Dame)

To be a Bottom to thy Silke,

or safftie to thy Seame:

But least my mourning Inke

like Niobe's blacke tears,

Should blacke thy braue Mineruik worke,

whilst it thereto adhears,

Pine with thy snow-white hand

the Verse before thy view,

That they may not infect nor foyle

the farfet Silks faire hew:

And thou shalt see no more

set downe before thy face,

For to reueale my endles woe,

but this one word Allace,

Allace, allace, allace,

Allace, allace againe,

Ten thousand times allace allace,

can not expres my paine.

[Page]Allace I am thine owne,

na haue I hap to vew

Heraclits flood of change thereby,

my nature to renew.

None knew of Hercules

the poysoning deadly shafts,

But Philoctetes; none but I

complains conceals thy crafts.

Though thou hast faild to mee,

I am not false to thee:

I am thy Beadman day by day,

and bondman till I die.

And would to God thou hadst

rich Amaltheas horne,

To yeeld what fruites thou list, though I

liue lightlied and forlorne.

Aeneas lost at Troy,

Creusa faire his wife

And through and with ten thousand Greeks

hee made a desperat strife:

And rooming vp and downe,

emboldned with dispaire,

Hee cryd aloud Creusa come,

but could not find her there,

[Page]And still he crid, till time

her pallid ghost anone

Appeard, and gaue him certaine signs

that she was dead and gone.

So shall thy soule thy Ghost

begin for to remoue,

And leaue to be within thy brest,

before I leaue to loue:

And when thy Ghost is gone,

and past th'Elisian lake,

No Dido shall complaine of mee,

nor suffer for my sake.

If Romans did returne

in Arms of shining Steell

Our Rubicon, then were they deemd

foes to the common weell:

But my returns to thee,

are full of loue and peace,

As witnesseth this iterat,

and oft said word Allace.

If I haue said too much,

let mee thy peace implore,

And my Epiloge with a sigh

I seale and say no more:

[Page]Protesting since thou knows

how I am sworne thine owne,

And how thy Vertues by my Verse,

throughout the world be known:

Thou wilt haue some remorse

vpon my carefull case,

And let thy Courtasies conclude,

my long long-cri'd Allace.

[Page]

To LAIS.

THe faire faced Woman, and deformed Ape,

Hath Nature fram'd to want a taile wee see:

The sillie beast with her vnseemelie shape,

Seems well content and pleas'd that so should bee:

And yet the Woman striueth euen and morne,

To haue a taile and still in Naturs scorne.

But let it be (for to supplie this want)

Each discontented whore should haue one taile,

What reason is't (since Nature knew them skant)

A pockie Punck with pluralties should deale?

This then is true, which I obserue as sure,

A Beast hath more discretion, then a Whore.

Hac venit in thalamos dote superba tuos.

[Page]

His constant Resolution to ERANTINA.

SHall absence long, or distance farr of place,

With lowring looks of frem'd vnfriendly foes?

Shall tract of time for les or longer space,

Haue any force to cause mee change my choyse?

No surelie no; I am not one of those:

I shall be found no falce nor flitting friend,

My loue shall last as long as life suppose,

Luck be not such as sometime I haue seen'd:

But what reme [...]d, I may not mend▪ but meen'd,

And with your will I hold mee well content:

Though many thwartering things haue interueend

To interturb and stay our true intent,

Yet all those iarres shall not my minde remoue

The day of death shall be the date of loue.

Dum paris aenone poterit spirare relicta,

Ad fontem xanthi versa recurrat aqua.

[Page]

Confirmation of his loue to ERANTINA.

SHall absence long bring change,

or make my minde to moue?

Or yet shall distaunce farre of place,

vnlock the linke of Loue?

Shall either this or that,

yon, or the other thing,

Haue force to breake the blocke we band,

before the Paphian King?

Thou art mine Hero still,

and though the streams be stark,

I through the waltering waues shall swim

to thee but Boat or Barke.

I am not Iasons meat,

Maedea to beguile:

My fayth is firme, this the cause

exponis mee exile.

Nor am I come by line

of traytor Troians race▪

I neuer thought no not by dreame,

my Dido to disgrace.

[Page]Nor am I hee who brought

the black [...]aill for the white,

Least Ariad [...]e kild his syre,

and if their wrack was white.

A Pyramus I am

in deed, in thought, in word,

And should (wist I thou wert not weell)

with blood imbrew my sword:

And if by Fames report

thy pains I can perceaue

As Hemon did, shall I giue

the Ghost aboue the graue.

No that I looke to find

such friendship on thy part,

Or promis kept which ay shall be

inshrind within my hart:

Or that I greeue for grace

thy honor to degrade,

For if my Sainct be safe and sound,

how can I but be glade.

In tears as Biblus did,

though I consume away,

Who was huerted in a Well,

as auncient Writers say.

[Page]And though I be resolued

to loue thee tearme of life,

Yet must I leaue thee for a while,

Ʋlysses left his wife.

My word shall be my word,

my kindnes shall be knowne,

And with my oath I will no boure,

for I am sworne thine owne.

And for thy sake I vow

the Pilgrems weed to weare,

And when in wildsome wayes I walke,

the Rod and Bag to beare:

And this my hoarie head

vnrased shall remaine;

A tipe of my continuing trueth,

till wee two meet againe.

And so with heauie hart,

adue my dearest Dame,

In happie state long mayst thou liue,

till I enuie the same:

And would to God thy wealth

were such as I would wish.

So till the Gods our meetings grant,

thy snowie hand I kis.

[Page]

To LAIS.

IF Rodopae the loath some Strumpet vile,

Became to be a great Aegyptian Queene,

Put not sweet heart thy hop's into exile,

Good luck may light vpon a life vncleene:

Shee was a Queene, thou must an Emprice bee,

For thou art thrise as great a whoore as shee.

Cui madidos minxit mentula [...]ulta sinus.

[Page]

His vnwilling Farewell to PENELOPE.

A Frind some time to Thracian Cotys send▪

In signe of loue, a vessell rich and rare:

But back againe before the bearer wend,

Hee brake the same in peeces heere and there;

Not for contempt, but to preuent my care,

I brake this gift which thou hast brought, said hee,

For if my seruants breake the fame, I sweare,

They should been bate, and I incensed bee.

I Cotys-like (proud Dame, to ease my paine,

And that thou be not forst to heare my cries)

Must leaue to loue; nor shall my Songs againe

Thy surfet breed, nor come before thine eyes:

Not, that I loath, where I so long did loue▪

Thou art vnkind, and I must needs remoue.

[Page]

His louing farewell to PANDORA.

DEare to my soule once degne,

those passions to peruse,

The Swan-like Dir'ges and the Songs,

of this my deeing Muse;

Which are Minerua-like,

by beating of my braine,

Brought foorth to shew the wondering world,

my long suppressed paine:

For like the doomb borne sonne

of that rich Lydian King,

Now at the imminent of death,

with toong vntied I sing.

Had Atis-like my foe

thy wedding day been slaine

By Tydeus fearce, then had I brook'd

faire Ismene allaine.

Or had thou been a man

like her whom Phestne bred,

Whom Telethusa promest with

Ja [...]the faire to wed.

[Page]Then had my riuall been

as farr from thee as I,

Nor had he now, nor thou been iudge

to my complaint and cry.

As Tantalus did cut

poore Pelops corps a sunder,

And made a banquet of his Sonne,

vnro the Gods rare woonder:

Yet did they recollect

his cutted Corps againe,

And Tantall they condemd to die

In hunger staruing paine.

So cruell thou hes karu'd

ten thousand wayes my hart,

And thou indures obdurat still,

and senceles of my smart:

Yet will the Gods, I hope,

recure and purge my paine,

And punish all thy cruelties,

with cruelties againe.

Had I Ixion-like

made vaunt of Iunoes spoyle,

With patience then I should abide

thy furie and this foyle.

[Page]But since it must be thus.

from Athens I will flie,

With wise Demosthen [...]s, and then

in Neptuns asyll die.

Then cruell faire farewell,

I may remaine no more,

I mind before wee meet againe,

to see the C [...]ltik shore.

But howsoeuer I err,

or wheresoeuer I vaig,

In weell, in wo, in want, and wealth,

thou shalt command poore Crag:

Yea might I make a Feast,

as did Democrits sire,

To all the Persian troups, ou'r which

great Xerxes bore empire.

Or were I begging bread

like Ithák Irus poore,

Whom proud Ʋlisses with his fist

feld dead into the floore.

Yea be I rich or poore,

or poore and rich againe,

At hazards all I am thy man,

and so shall ay remaine.

[Page]Faire Homicid farewell,

against my heart I goe,

And that al-make [...] knows I make

a voyage full of woe:

But euen as At [...]ri [...]

with silence swee [...] doth [...] ▪

And none pe [...]ce [...]'s [...]f vp or downe,

or whither [...] the [...]

So none saue thou shall [...]

the caus of all my pai [...] ▪

And none shall know wherefore I goe,

nor when I [...] againe.

And so till time wee [...] ▪

deare heart, whom I [...] ▪

Farewell; ye [...] [...] me leaue to [...]gh▪

and say, Farewell once more.

[Page]

To his PANDORA from England.

NOw while amid those daintie Douns & Dales

with Shepheard Swains I sit vnknown to mee

Wee sweetly sing, and tell pastorall tales:

But my discourse and Songs-theame is of thee;

For otherwayes allace, how can it be.

Let Venus leaue her blest abod aboue

To tempt my Loue, yet thou sweet soule shalt see

That I thy man, and thou shalt die my loue.

No tract of time, nor sad eclipse of place,

Nor absence long, which sometime were due cures

To my disease, shall make thy slaue to cease

From seruing thee till life or breath indures:

And till wee meet, my rustick mats and I,

Through woods & plains, Pandoras prayse shal cry.

[Page]

To LAIS.

HArpaste poore, was blind of either eye,

Yet would thee not beleeue that it was so▪

The roomes are darke wherein I dwell, sayd shee,

Take mee abrod, and but a guyd I'le go:

The wife was led abrod into the wind,

And yet poore soule she still continued blind.

Thinks thou that change frō this to yonder place▪

Can caus thy shame and scandall to decay?

No Lais no, I pray thee hold thy peace,

And put these fond opinions quite away:

For while thy life, or yet my sins endu [...],

The world shall say, thou art a shameles whore.

Faemina nulla bona est, vel si bona contigit vlla,

Nescio quo casu r [...]s mala facta bona est.

[Page]

His faythfull seruice to IDEA.

MY wandring Verse hath made thee known al [...] where

Thou known by them, & they are known by mee▪

Thou, they, and I, a true relation beare:

As but the one, an other can not bee;

For if it chance by thy disdane I die,

My Songs shal cease, and thou be known no more.

Thus by experience thou mayst plainly see,

I them, thou mee, and they do thee decore.

Thou art that Dame whom I shall ay adore

In spight of Fortune and the frowning Fats,

Whose shining beautie makes my Songs to sore

In Hyperbolik loftie [...]eigh conceits:

Thou, they, & I throughout the world be known

They mine▪ thou theirs, and last I am thine own.

To my Honorable good Lord and Maister (the true Maecenas of my Muse) George Earle of Dunbar, Lord Barwick, high Tresurar of Sotland.

[Page]

I Am (Noble Maecenas) a spendthrift, vnwisely liberall; more prone to propine Presentes, and make foolish Feastes, then to pay my Debts: All my babling Bils are alreadie baptized, and nothing left, saue these subsequent Songes; which to your Honor, in all duetifull loue and deuotion, I dedicate. Philopaemen did sometime leaue his companie, and comming aloue to a house where he was expresly looked for; his Hostes, who knew him not, and saw him so euill fauored a fellow, employed him to helpe her [Page] Maydes to draw water, and mende the fire for Philopaemen. The Gentlemen of his traine finding him busie at worke, enquired what he did? who answered, I pay the forfeyture of my vnhandsomnes. I haue thought good (my Honorable good Lord and Maister) to giue these Songs the last place in my Booke: if any demaunde the cause, I answere with Philopaemen, For their methodles and irregular vnhandsomnes. If your Honor doe not protege and defende them, some Parasiticall Abdagasis will seeke to kill Asineus and his brother vnder trust: But be you a royall and seconde Artabanus, who sayd to Abdagasis, (I can not cōsent to betray a man that trusteth to my protection; and since he hath giuen mee his hand, I will keepe the oath I haue made to him by my Gods:) Doe herein (deare Lord) as you will encourage mee hereafter to vndertake a greater taske. I haue highly (I confesse) abused both time and talent in these amorose and idle toyes. But your Honor vpon the gracious acceptaunce hereof, may haplie ere [Page] long see mee recouer my estate, and reedifie the decayed walles of my youth. What I haue heere set downe, is for your sollace; and so I beseech your Honor to accept from the Table of my Chamber, at your liberall charge and allowance, the .5. day of Nouember 1606.

Your Honors owne man to the last article of expiration, Craige.

To the Reader.

[Page]

MArie of Vitezokia beyonde Iordane, flying to Ierusalem when Titus and his Romans besiedged the same, was enforced for hunger to kill her sucking Sonne, and hauing eaten the one halfe, the rest shee reserued. The Enemies smelling the sent of that ezecrable meat, threatned to kill her, vnlesse they were sharers with her. Then shee vncouered that part of her Sonne which she had left vneaten. At which sight they trembled, and horror fell vpon them. Then sayd Marie, this is truely my Sonne, & my doing; eate you of it, as I haue done; be you no more effeminate then a woman, nor more mercifull then a Mother. My Poyems and Verses are (beloued Lector) the birth of my braine, & the ofspring of my ill aduentured [Page] youth. I haue these yeares bygone luxuriously feasted and surfeited hereon, and haue with the Vitez [...]kian Woman, couered this part of my Child till now: I pray thee with patience, take a part with the Parent; next time (God willing) thou shalt fare better. But if any aske (how I presumed to inuite my noble Ma [...]ster my Lord, my Mecaenas, my all, to this foolish and filthie Feast of mine?) I answere: Themistocles was animated to noble actions by beholding Miltiades trophies. And Alexander beholding Achilles Tombe, did greeuously sigh with an honorable emulation. And his courteous welcomming of my vanities, will rauish braue mindes from the boundles troubles of the world, and win them to the contemplation of Vertue. And so his Honorable example in reading and respecting Learning and the Learned, shall pull donwe the Babell of ignoraunce. I confesse (as Plutarch [Page] speaketh of Aristophanes Poyems) my Verses are written for no moderat mans pleasure: yet since by his Honor they are countenanced, I beseech thee (good Reader) vse mee kindly; and for his sake, sit still with him, and take a part of my profane Feast. My Lord payeth for all, it costs thee nought saue thanks.

Thine as thou behaues thy selfe, A. Craige.

§

§

[Page]

ALEXIS to LESBIA.

COme be my Loue, and liue with mee,

And thou shalt all the solace see,

That glassie gulfs or earth can bring,

From Ʋesta's wealth, or Neptuns reigne.

For we shall on the Mountains go,

In shaddie Vmbers too and fro:

In Vallies low, and on the Bray,

And with thy feet the flowrs shall play.

And I shall make thee pleasant Poses,

Of Dasies Gilliflowrs and Roses:

My Arms shalbe a Belt to thee:

Thine if thou wilt, the like to mee.

Of Floraes tapestrie thy Gowne,

Thy Cap shall be my Lawrell Crowne:

Which drest of Daphne's haire shall shine,

Whyls on my head, and whyls on thine.

[Page]

And thou vpon thy rock shalt rest,

And heare the Echoes from my brest▪

For I shall sing in Sonets shill,

the charming numbers of my quill.

Yea wee with woond'ring eyes shall gaze

On many sundrie c [...]ous maze:

And view the Arc [...]tecture fare,

Of rich and statelie [...]uddings rare.

And we shall looke a [...]out and see,

The wrack of time before our ee:

The pendul stones, their builders ban,

Imploring help at hand of man.

And wee shall see the Riuers rin,

With delicat and daintie din:

And how my Douern night and day.

With sweet Meanders slides away.

To pay her debts vnto the Sea.

And like a wanton Nimph doth flie

Through blooming banks with smiling face

Her Lord the Ocean to imbrace.

[Page]

And wee shall see the towrs of tree,

Halfe seeme to swim, and halfe to flie:

Part in the Sea, part in the Aire,

And Eag'l heere, a Dolphin thaire.

Wee shall behold Nereid Nymphs,

Make waters welcome from their lymps:

And euery houre into the day,

Fresh Floods and th'Ocean billowes play.

And we shall heare the Roches ring,

While storme-presageing Mermayds sing:

And on the Rocks the law's shall roare,

Salut and resalut the Shoare.

And when Apollo taks his rest,

With wearie Horses in the West:

And Cynthia begins to shine,

Thy Poets Tugar shall be thine.

Then shalt thou see my homlie fare,

And what poore riches I haue thare:

And if those things can moue thy mind,

Come, come, and be no more vnkind.

[Page]

LESBIA her answer to ALEXIS.

IF all were thine that there I see,

Thou paynts to breed content to mee:

Then those delights might moue my mind

To yeeld, and be no more vnkind.

Sith nought is thine that thou sets downe,

Saue Songs, thy selfe, thy Belt, thy Crowne,

Thy Tugure, and thy homely fare:

And that poore wealth which thou hast thare.

I might be compted most accurst,

To dwell with thee, suppose I durst:

And men might thinke mee more then mad,

To leaue the better for the bad.

Yet least I should be deemd ingrate,

To loath thee for thy poore estate,

Though Fortune be thy fremmit foe,

No reason were I should be so.

Thy Lines allure mee to be thine,

And thou shalt see it soone or sine:

The christall streams shall backward moue,

Ere I forget thy faythfull loue.

[Page]

A new perswasion to LESBIA.

ONce more I pray thee be my Loue,

Come liue with mee, and thou shalt proue

All pleasures that a Poets vaine,

Can find on mould or in the mane.

Wilt thou vpon my Paruas walke,

And tread the Flowrs with leauie stalke,

Which bud on my biforked tops:

Bedew'd with sweet Cactalian drops.

On Thithorea wilt thou go,

Or Hyampeus too and fro?

Or wilt thou with Pierid Nimphs,

Drinke of these euer-flowing Limphs,

From Hyppocrene which diuall,

Or springs of Aganippe wall?

Wilt thou repose thee in the shade,

Which Nature hath diuinely made?

Apolloes Laurell thou shalt see,

And louely Venus Myrtle tree,

Alcides Popler full of state,

The Palme which thriues in spight of hate.

Mineruaes Oliue, and the Mirr,

And of great Mars the warlike Firr:

[Page]Which Nature hath so well desposed,

And therewithall such walks inclosed,

As for rich Tapestrie shall serue,

From beames thy beautie to preserue:

The Gilliflowrs and Roses sweet,

Shall stoope their tops beneath thy feet:

The V [...]olet and Primrose faire,

The Marigold with yellow haire:

Both Moli and the Balme shall smell,

With Miriads more then I can tell:

The louely Herald of the Spring,

The Philomel to thee shall sing,

Both Larke and Maues shall abo [...]e.

Thy head their small recordars toone:

I'll make thee Garlands faire of Flowrs,

With Amadriads in their bowers,

With Myrtill boughs braue to behold,

And paint their leaues with spangs of gold,

Which I will checker all with frets

Of prettie pinks and Violets:

And when Apolloes Coach agaue

Giues way vnto Dianaes Wane:

Thy Poet on his pyping Reed,

Thy fansie with sweet Songs shall feed.

[Page]Thou shalt want no content of mind,

S [...]ue wealth, which seldome Poets find:

If pouertie hath power to moue,

Come, come sweet heart, and be my Loue.

A Letter to LESBIA, shewing his discontents.

OFt haue I pray'd thee be my Loue,

Come liue with mee, and thou shalt proue

All pleasures that a Poets vaine

Can find on mold, or in the mane:

Yet neither can my Loue (allace)

Nor my oblectaments haue place,

To moue thy hard and flintie hart,

Some piti [...]s portion to impart.

Dispeasure maks my Muse be doomb,

And Parnas barren is become:

My Wels are dry, trite wayes my walks,

My Flow'rs do fade vpon their stalks:

Trees lack both leaues, and Larks to sing:

Those Fruits thy falset doth foorth bring,

[Page]Hadst thou not known that I was poore,

Then Luker might thy loue allure:

Why art thou of so churlish kind,

To loue the moyan, not the mind?

Proud in her heart would Phillis bee,

To proue thy pediseque, for mee:

Shee followeth mee, and yet I flie,

Pursew'd of her, and plagu'd of thee:

But wouldst thou to thy seruile slaue,

Bequeath the credit which I craue?

Muse, Birds, Hils, Wels, Trees, Flowrs, & Walks,

Would sing, flow, florish on their stalks:

And I reuiu'd by thee (faire Dame)

My wonted courage would acclame.

Then let me know thy vtter will,

Vpon this Paper good or ill:

And so till I the same receaue,

I am thy well affected slaue.

[Page]

Sonet to LESBIA.

TIme and my thoughts Togither spurr the Post,

For once I thought to spend my time for gaine:

Yet while I thought this thought, the ti [...] was lo [...]t

And left me there, to thinke my though [...] was va [...]e

And while I pause the posting time to spend,

Time spends it selfe and mee: but how I muse:

The more I muse, the mo [...]e [...] hast my end.

Thus Time doth mee, an [...] do Time abuse:

That Time once tint can not returne againe.

A secret sorrow doth posses my mind,

But least the world should know why I complaine

Deare to my soule I pray thee proue more kind.

I dreame the darke, and driue in dooll the day,

Thus wast my time, and weare my selfe away.

[Page]

LESBIA her answer.

DRiue not deare hart, in dooll the day,

Wast not thy selfe nor Time away:

Doo not so much as dreame by night,

Vnles thy Dreames be short and slight.

Though wauering wits in time will vaige,

Be thou thy selfe a constant Craige.

And for thy Loue thou bears to mee,

I am thy debtor till I die.

What I haue hight hap good or ill,

But fraud or feare I shall fulfill,

I am not of a churlish kind,

To loue the moyane not the mind,

No contrar chause, nor fortune strange,

Shall make my setled mind to change:

I am thine sworne, and I shall seale

What I haue sayd; till when fareweale.

[Page]

CODRVS Complaint and Farewell to Ralatibia.

A Shepheard poore with store of pains opprest

Beneath the branches of a leauie tree,

With Lute in hand deliuered his vnrest,

When none was nie but Satyrs, Fauns, and hee [...]

And hauing tund his base and treble string,

Hee sigh'd, hee sob'd, and thus began ro sing.

Why am I banisht from those blessed bounds

Where I was wont with pleasure to repaire?

What cruell doome my comfort so confounds,

And casts mee in the confins of dispaire?

What haue I done, sayd, thought (allace the while)

that can procure proscription and exile?

I am condem'd, and no inditment heard:

There is no grace nor mercie in her eyes.

I plead for peace, and presence is debard:

I loue, she loath's; I follow, and she flies:

All modest means that may be, I haue vs'd,

My Songs, my selfe, my friends, are all refus'd.

[Page]

Why, was I borne to be the poynt of paine,

The scorne of Time, the obloquie of Fame?

My fellow Shepheards frollicke ouer the plaine,

They feed their flocks, & court the countrie Dame

On Holidayes their Sonets sweet thy sing,

And to their Loues their best oblations bring.

But I exild from Kalatibia's eyes

By her decret, whom I shall ay adore:

Must sacrifice, sigh, tears, plaints, gro [...]s, and cryes:

But all in vaine, and woe is mee therefore:

I long, I loue, I fry, I freeze, I pine,

No punishment can be compard to mine.

Allace, allace, my flocks both starue and stray,

quit macerat to want their maisters eye:

Which with Liciscais harmles Barke would stay,

And turne againe from neighbour corns to mee:

My litle Lambs, my faire and fertill Ewes,

With sad reports their plaints for mee renewes.

What madnes mooues remorsles faire, thy mind,

Since neither plaints nor prayers can haue place?

Hast thou concluded still to kythe vnkind,

[Page]And day by day delight in my disgrace?

O bee it so! if needs it must be so,

For I am armd for euerie kind of woe.

Since I am thus proscrib'd, I pray thee take

(Faire Kalatihia) this inforc'd fareweale.

Since Fortune, Loue, and weerds, auow my wrake,

To whom shall I (despised soule) appeale?

O loue no more, nor leue no more a thrall,

Die Codrus die, end loue and life and all.

But Pusillany me poore and hartles man,

Why wouldst thou die to please so proud a Dame?

Though thou be banisht for a while, what than,

Shee's not so cruell but shee may reclame?

Yet flie, be gone; let good or bad befall thee.

And care no more, suppose she neuer recall thee

And thus poore soule, from out the Groue he goes,

And leaues (allace) both Lines and Lute behind:

Which I (the true Secretar to his woes.

And fellow of his fortun [...]) did foorth find:

And for his sake I sigh, sing, say, & show them

that cruel she, whō they concern may know thē.

[Page]

CODRVS his reconciliation to his heart, after he hath abiured KALATIBIA.

POore wandring hart, which like the prodig child

From reasons rule hath run so long astray,

Misled by Loue, with fancies fond beguild:

And now returnd with torne and rent array,

my halfe and better part since thou art come,

with true remorse most kindly welcome home.

Laciuious looks of life bewitching eye,

Inconstant oath's of most vnsetled mind,

You fals inflections of a Iudas knee,

You worthles vowes which vanish with the wind,

Dispatch your selfe, and let mee liue in peace,

Within my hart thou haue no dwelling place.

Come sit thee downe (deare hart) wee'l haue a feast

My fond Conceits I for a Calfe will kill:

I am thy Oast, and thou shalt be my guest,

Repenting Teares will furnish Wine at will:

Our Musick Sighs: and if I were more able,

Fayth thou should find a banquet for thy table.

[Page]

With hartie draughts will wee to drinke begin,

Vnto the brim let reasonn fill each bowll:

I'll lock the gate, and Loue shall not looke in,

That our contract may knit without controull,

In surest sort let vs betroth our selfe,

And band gainst Beautie, and the blinded elfe.

Sigh sorie hart, and I will weepe with thee,

Let no eclipse diuide vs two againe:

Let Reason hencefoorth guyd and ruler bee,

And wa [...]t no more the swift wingd Time in vaine

And while my teares can intertaine thy feast,

Repenting heart thou art a pleasing Ghuest.

Now setlet heart secure and f [...]ee from feare,

Though all the earth should sinke in seas of Loue,

Fleet in the Arke, sit still in Reasons chare,

And to the world giue verdits from aboue,

The life of Wisedome in Experience lies:

Then let thine owne misfortuns mak thee wise.

Faemineos post hac disce canere dolos.

FINIS.

To the Author.

[Page]

LOue now resolu'd to work so rare a wonder,

As to make Rocks bereauers, Stones a Streame,

Straight to a Craig of Caledon hee came:

Whose yet vndaunted prid hee gan to ponder.

Haue I (said hee) the Earth's deepe Center vnder,

Made Phlegeton his floods to feare my flame?

Did I the mightie Trident bearer tame,

And threatned roo, the thrower of the thunder?

And shall one onely Craig withstand my dart,

With that his Arrow to his eare he drew,

which through the yeelding air loud whistling flew

And turnd his hardnes to a humane Hart:

From out whose wound, witnes you Nymph's but names

Great Floods gush out of sweet Castalian streames.

I. M.

Cragio suo.

[Page]

INgenij si verna seges primoribus annis,

in tam laudandum luxuriauit opus:

Quos fructus sperare iubes cum forttibus annis,

Iudicij accedit lima seuera tui.

Robertus Aytonus.

De Alexandro Rupoeo populari, familiari et amico suo qui supra plebem vulgus et populum.

THreicij quisquis credit modulamine vatis

saxa, feras, scopulos ressilijsse locis:

Orphea crediderit rediuiuum carmine Rupis

Arctoae tumulo ressilijsse suo.

Arthurus Gordonus.

Information about this book

Title statement

The amorose songes, sonets, and elegies: of M. Alexander Craige, Scoto-Britane

Craig, Alexander, 1567?-1627.

Edition statement

1606

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2007-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A19526

ID [STC]

STC 5956

ID [STC]

ESTC S105266

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

99840995

ID [PROQUEST]

99840995

ID [VID]

5551

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This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early English books online.

Notes

(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A19526)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 5551)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1475-1640 ; 954:01)

Source

— The amorose songes, sonets, and elegies: of M. Alexander Craige, Scoto-Britane, Craig, Alexander, 1567?-1627..

Extent

[168] p.

By William White,. Imprinted at London :: 1606.. (In verse.) (Signatures: A-K L⁴.) (Reproduction of the original in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery.)

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Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

Editorial practices

EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.