presently haue showde My feruent loue He should haue seene how teares had from mée flowde Hée should haue séene my piteous looke ryght louerlike I could Haue spoken more than intoo those my tables enter would About his necke against his will myne armes I myght haue wound And had he shaakt me of I myght haue séemed for too swound I humbly myght haue kist his feete and knéeling on the ground Besought him for too saue my lyfe All theis I myght haue proued Wherof although no one alone his stomacke could haue moued Yit all toogitâ—er myght haue made his hardened hart relent Perchaunce there was some fault in him that was of message sent He stept vntoo him bluntly I beléeue and did not watch Conuenient tyme in merrie kew at leysure him too catch Theis are the things that hindred mée For certeinly I knowe No sturdy stone nor massy stéele dooth in his stomacke grow He is not made of Adamant He is no Tygers whelp He neuer sucked Lyonesse He myght with little help Bée vanquisht Let vs giue fresh charge vppon him Whyle I liue Without obteyning victorie I will not ouer giue For firstly iâ— it lay in mée my dooings too reâ—oke I should not haue begonne at all But séeing that the stroke Is giuen the second poynt is now too giue the push too win For neyther he although that I myne enterpryse should blin Can euer whyle he liâ—es forget my déede And sith I shrink My loue was lyght or else I meant too trap him he shall think Or at the least he may suppose that this my rage of loue Which broyleth so within my brest procéedes not from aboue By Cupids stroke but of some foule and filthy lust In fyne I cannot but too wickednesse now more and more inclyne By wryghting is my sute commenst my méening dooth appéere And though I cease yit can I not accounted bée for cléere Now that that dooth remayne behynd is much as in respect My fond desyre too satisfy and little in effect Too aggrauate my fault withall Thus much shée sayd And so Unconstant was her wauering mynd still floting too and fro That though it irkt her for too haue attempted yit pocéedes Shée in the self same purpose attempting and excéedes All measure and vnhapy wench shée takes from day too day Repulse vpon repulse and yit shée hath not grace too stay Soone after when her brother saw there was with her no end He fled his countrie forbycause he would not so offend And in a forreine land did buyld a Citie Then men say That Byblis through despayre and thought all wholy did dismay Shée tare her garments from her brest and furiously shée wroong Her hands and béete her armes and like a bedlem with her toong Confessed her vnlawfull loue But béeing of the same Dispoynted shée forsooke her land and hatefull house for shame And followed after flying Caune And as the Froes of Thrace In dooing of the thrée yéere rites of Bacchus in lyke cace The maryed wyues of Babasie saw Byblis howling out Through all theyr champion féeldes The which shée leauing ran about In Caria too the Lelegs who are men in battell slout And so too Lycia Shée had past Crag Limyre and the brooke Of Xanthus and the countrie where Chymaera that same pooke Hath Goatish body Lions head and brist and Dragons tayle When woods did want and Byblis now beginning for too quayle Through wéerynesse in following Caune sank down and sayd her hed Ageinst the ground and kist the leaues that wynd from â—rées had shed The Nymphes of Caria went about in tender armes too take Her often vp They oftentymes perswaded her too stake Her loue And woords of comfort too her deafe card mynd they spake Shée still lay dumbe and with her nayles the gréenish herbes shée hild And moysted with a streame of teares the grasse vpon the féeld The waternymphes so folk report put vnder her a spring Whych neuer myght be dryde and could they giue a greater thing Immediatly euen like as when yée wound a pitchtrée rynd The gum dooth issue out in droppes or as the westerne wynd With gentle blast toogither with the warmth of Sunne vnbynd The yce or as the clammy kynd of cement which they call Bitumen issueth from the ground full fraughted therewithall So Phoebus néece Dame Byblis then consuming with her teares Was turnd too a fountaine which in those same vallyes beares The tytle of the founder still and gusheth freshly out From vnderneath a Sugarchest as if it were a spowt The fame of this same wondrous thing perhappes had filled all The hundred Townes of Candye had a greater not befall More néerer home by Iphys meanes transformed late before For in the shyre of Phestos hard by Gnossus dwelt of yore A yeoman of the meaner sort that Lyctus had too name His stocke was simple and his welth according too the same Howbéet his lyfe so vpryght was as noman could it blame He came vntoo his wyfe then big and ready downe too lye And sayd twoo things I wish thée Tone that when thou out shalt crye Thou mayst dispatch with little payne the other that thou haue A Boay For Gyrles too bring them vp a greater cost doo craue And I haue no abilitie And therefore if thou bring A wench it goes ageinst my heart too thinke vppon the thing Although ageinst my will I charge it streyght destroyed bée The bond of nature néedes must beare in this behalf with mée This sed both wept excéedingly as well the husband who Did giue commaundement as the wyfe that was commaunded too Yit Telethusa earnestly at Lyct her husband lay Although in vayne too haue good hope and of himselfe more stay But he was full determined Within a whyle the day Approched that the frute was rype and shée did looke too lay Her belly euery mynute when at midnyght in her rest Stood by her or did séeme too stand the Goddesse Isis drâ—st And trayned with the solemne pomp of all her rytes Twoo hornes Uppon her forehead lyke the mooâ—e with eares of rypened cornes Stood glistring as the burnisht gold Moreouer shée did weare A rich and stately diadeâ—â—e Attendant on her were The barking bug Anubis and the saint of Bubast and The pydecote Apis and the God that giues too vnderstand By fingar holden too his lippes that men should silence kéepe And Lybian wormes whose stinging dooth enforce continuall sléepe And thou Osyris whom the folk of Aegypt euer séeke And neuer can haue sought inough and Rittlerattles eke Then euen as though that Telethuse had fully béene awake And séene theis things with open eyes thus Isis too her spake My seruant Telethusa cease this care and breake the charge Of Lyct And when Lucina shall haue let thy frute at large Bring vp the same what ere it bée I am a Goddesse who Delyghts in helping folke at néede I hither come too doo Thée good thou shalt not haue a cause hereafter too complayne Of
lyues ¶ The death of Orphey sheweth Gods iust vengeance on the vyle And wicked sort which horribly with incest them defyle In Midas of a couetous wretch the image wee may see Whose riches iustly too himself a hellish torment bee And of a foole whom neyther proof nor warning â—an amend Untill he feele the shame and smart that folly doth him send His Barbour represents all blabs which seeme with chyld too bee Untill that they haue blaazd abrode the things they heare or see In Ceyx and Alâ—yone appeeres most constant loue Such as betweene the man and wyfe too bee it dooth behoue This Ceyx also is a lyght of princely courtesie And bountie toward such whom neede compelleth for too flye His viage also dooth declare how vainly men are led Too vtter perill through fond toyes and fansies in their head For Idols doubtfull oracles and soothsayres prophecies Doo nothing else but make fooles fayne and blynd their bleared eyes Dedalions daughter warnes too vse the toong with modestee And not too vaunt with such as are their betters in degree ¶ The seege of Troy the death of men the razing of the citie And slaughter of king Priams stock without remors of pitie Which in the xij and xiij bookes bee written doo declare How heynous wilfull periurie and filthie whoredome are In syght of God The frentick fray betweene the Lapithes and The Centaures is a note wherby is giuen too vnderstand The beastly rage of drunkennesse ¶ Ulysses dooth expresse The image of discretion wit and great aduisednesse And Aiax on the other syde doth represent a man Stout headie irefull hault of mynd and such a one as can Abyde too suffer no repulse And both of them declare How couetous of glorie and reward mens natures are And finally it sheweth playne that wisdome dooth preuayle In all attempts and purposes when strength of hand dooth fayle The death of fayre Polyxena dooth shew a princely mynd And firme regard of honor rare engraft in woman kynd And Polymnestor king of Thrace dooth shew himself to bee A glasse for wretched couâ—tous folke wherein themselues to see This storie further witnesseth that murther crieth ay For vengeance and itself one tyme or other dooth bewray The tale of Gyant Polypheme doth euidently proue That nothing is so feerce and wyld which yeeldeth not to loue And in the person of the self same Gyant is set out The rude and homely wooing of a country cloyne and lout ¶ The tale of Apes reproues the vyce of wilfull periurie And willeth people too beware they vse not for too lye Aeneas going downe too hell dooth shew that vertue may In saufty trauell where it will and nothing can it stay The length of lyfe in Sybill dooth declare it is but vayne Too wish long lyfe syth length of lyfe is also length of payne The grecian Achemenides dooth lerne vs how we ought Bee thankfull for the benefits that any man hath wrought And in this Achemenides the Poet dooth expresse The image of exceeding feare in daunger and distresse What else are Circes witchcrafts and enchauntments than the vylâ— And silthy pleasures of the flesh which doo our soules defyle And what is else herbe Moly than the gift of stayednesse And temperance which dooth all fowle concupiscence represse The tale of Anaxaretee willes dames of hygh degree Too vse their louers courteously how meane so ere they bee And Iphis lernes inferior folkes too fondly not too set Their loue on such as are too hygh for their estate too get ¶ Alemons sonne declares that men should willingly obay What God commaundes and not vppon exceptions seâ—me to stay For he will find the meanes too bring the purpose well about And in their most necessitie dispatch them saufly out Of daunger The oration of Pithagoras implyes A sum of all the former woorke What person can deuyse A notabler example of true loue and godlynesse Too ones owne natyue countryward than Cippus dooth expresse The turning to a blazing starre of Iulius Cesar showes That fame and immortalitie of vertuous dooing growes And lastly by examples of Augustus and a few Of other noble princes sonnes the author there dooth shew That noblemen and gentlemen shoulde stryue too passe the fame And vertues of their aunceters or else too match the same Theis fables out of euery booke I haue interpreted Too shew how they and all the rest may stand a man in sted Not adding ouer curiously the meening of them all For that were labor infinite and tediousnesse not small Bothe vntoo your good Lordship and the rest that should them reede Who well myght think I did the bounds of modestie exceede If I this one epistle should with matters ouercharge Which scarce a booke of many quyres can well conteyne at large And whereas in interpreting theis few I attribute The things too one which heathen men to many Gods impute Concerning mercy wrath for sin and other gifts of grace Described for examples sake in proper tyme and place Let no man maruell at the same For though that they as blynd Through vnbeleefe and led astray through error euen of kynd Knew not the true eternall God or if they did him know Yit did they not acknowledge him but vaynly did bestow The honor of the maker on the creature yit it dooth Behoue all vs who ryghtly are instructed in the sooth Too thinke and say that God alone is he that rules all things And worketh all in all as lord of lords and king of kings With whom there are none other Gods that any sway may beare No fatall law too bynd him by no fortune for too feare For Gods and fate and fortune are the termes of heathennesse If men vsurp them in the sense that Paynims doo expresse But if wee will reduce their sense too ryght of Christian law Too signifie three other things theis termes wee well may draw By Gods wee vnderstand all such as God hath plaast in cheef Estate to punish sin and for the godly folkes releef By fate the order which is set and stablished in things By Gods eternal will and word which in due season brings All matters too their falling out Which falling out or end Bicause our curious reason is too weake too comprehend The cause and order of the same and dooth behold it fall Unwares too vs by name of chaunce or fortune wee it call If any man will say theis things may better lerned bee Out of diuine philosohie or scripture I agree That nothing may in worthinesse with holy writ compare Howbeeit so farre foorth as things no whit impeachment are Too vertue and too godlynesse but furtherers of the same I trust wee may them sauâ—â—y vse without desert of blame And yet there are and those not of the rude and vulgar sort But such as haue of godlynesse and lerning good report That thinke the Poets tooke their first occasion of theis things From holy writ as from the well from
he rid â–ª he tooke an armed pike In full intent hir through the heart with deadly wound to strike But God almighty held his hand and lifting both away Did disapoint the wicked Act. For straight he did conuay Them through the Ayre with whirling windes to top of all the skie And there did make them neighbour starres about the Pole on hie When Iuno shining in the heauen hir husbands minion found She swelde for spight and downe she comes to watry Tethys round And vnto olde Oceanus whome euen the Gods aloft Did reuerâ—nce for their iust deserts full many a time and oft To whome demaunding hir the cause And aske ye quoth she why That I which am the Quéene of Goddes come hither from the sky Good cause there is I warrant you Another holdes my roome For neuer trust me while I liue if when the night is coome And ouercasteth all the world with shadie darknesse whole Ye sée not in the heigth of heauen hard by the Northren Pole Whereas the vtmost circle runnes about the Axeltrée In shortest circuit gloriously enstalled for to bée In shape of starres the stinging woundes that make me yll apayde Now is there trow ye any cause why folke should be afrayde To do to Iuno what they list or dread hir wrathfull mood Which only by my working harme doe turne my foes to good O what a mightie act is done how passing is my powre I haue bereft hir womans shape and at this present howre She is become a Goddesse Loe this is the scourge so sowre Wherewith I strike mine enimies â–ª Loe here is all the spight That I can doe this is the ende of all my wondrous might No force I would he should for me hir natiue shape restore And take away hir brutish shape Like as he hath before Done by his Paramour that fine and proper piece Of Argos whom he made a Cow I meane Phoronevvs Niece Why makes he not a full deuorce from me and in my stead Straight take his Sweetheart to his wife and coll hir in my bed He can not doe a better déede I thinke than for to take Lycaon to his fatherinlaw But if that you doe make Accompt of me your foster childe then graunt that for my sake The Oxen and the wicked Waine of starres in number seuen For whoredome sake but late ago receyued into heauen May neuer diue within your waues Ne let that strumpet vyle By bathing of hir filthie limmes your waters pure defile The Gods did graunt hir hir request straight to heauen she flue In haÌ„dsome Chariot through the Ayre which painted peacocks drue As well beset with blasing eyes late tane from Argus hed As thou thou prating Rauen white by nature being bred Hadst on thy fethers iustly late a coly colour spred For this same birde in auncient time had fethers faire and whight As euer was the driuen snow or siluer cleare and bright He might haue well comparde himselfe in beautie with the Doues That haue no blemish or the Swan that running water loues Or with the Géese that afterward should with their gagling out Preserue the Romaine Capitoll beset with foes about His tongue was cause of all his harme his tatling tongue did make His colour which before was white became so foule and blake Coronis of Larissa was the fairest maide of face In all the land of Thessalie Shée stoode in Phebus grace As long as that she kept hir chast or at the least as long As that she scaped vnespide in doing Phebus wrong But at the last Apollos birde hir priuie packing spide Whome no entreatance could persuade but that he swiftly hide Him to his maister to bewray the doings of his loue Now as he flue the pratling Crow hir wings apace did moue And ouertaking fell in talke and was inquisitiue For what intent and to what place he did so swiftly driue And when she heard the cause thereof she said now trust me sure This message on the whiche thou goste no goodnesse will procure And therefore hearken what I say disdaine thou not at all To take some warning by thy friende in things that may befall Consider what I erst haue bene and what thou séest me now And what hath bene the ground hereof I boldly dare aâ—ow That thou shalt finde my faithfulnesse imputed for a crime For Pallas in a wicker chest had hid vpon a time A childe calde Ericthonius whome neuer woman bare And tooke it vnto Maidens thrée that Cecrops daughters were Not telling them what was within but gaue them charge to kéepe The Casket shut and for no cause within the same to péepe I standing close among the leaues vpon an Elme on hie Did marke their doings and their wordes and there I did espie How Pandrosos and Herse kept their promise faithfully Aglauros calles them Cowardes both and makes no more a doe But takes the Casket in hir hand and doth the knots vndooe And there they saw a childe whose partes beneath were like a Snake Straight to the Goddesse of this déede a iust report I make For which she gaue me this reward that neuer might I more Accompt hir for my Lady and my Mistresse as before And in my roume she put the fowle that flies not but by night A warning vnto other birdes my lucke should be of right To holde their tongues for being shent But you will say perchaunce I came vnsentfor of my selfe she did me not aduaunce I dare well say though Pallas now my heauie Mistresse stand Yet if perhaps ye should demaund the question at hir hand As sore displeased as she is she would not this denie But that she chose me first hir selfe to beare hir companie For well I know my father was a Prince of noble fame Of Phocis King by long discent Coronevv was his name I was his darling and his ioy and many a welthie Piere I would not haue you thinke disdaine did séeke me for their Fere. My forme and beautie did me hurt For as I leysurely Went ietting vp and downe the shore vpon the grauell drie As yet I customably doe the God that rules the Seas Espying me fell straight in loue And when he saw none ease In sute but losse of wordes and time he offred violence And after me he runnes apace I skudde as fast fro thence From sand to shore from shore to sand still playing Foxe to hole Untill I was so tirde that he had almost got the gole Then cald I out on God and man But as it did appeare There was no man so neare at hand that could my crying heare A Uirgin Goddesse pitied me bicause I was a mayde And at the vtter plunge and pinche did send me present ayde I cast mine armes to heaueÌ„ mine armes waxt light with fethers black I went about to cast in hast my garments from my back And all was fethers In my skinne the rooted fethers sâ—ack I was about with violent hand to strike my naked breast But nether
face The which he did immediately with feruent loue embrace He féedes a hope without cause why For like a foolishe noddie He thinkes the shadow that he sées to be a liuely boddie Astraughted like an ymage made of Marble stone he lyes There gazing on his shadowe still with fixed staring eyes Stretcht all along vpon the ground it doth him good to sée His ardant eyes which like two starres full bright and shyning bée And eke his fingars fingars such as Bacchus might beséeme And haire that one might worthely Apollos haire it déeme His beardlesse chinne and yuorie necke and eke the perfect grace Of white and red indifferently bepainted in his face All these he woondreth to beholde for which as I doe gather Himselfe was to be woondred at or to be pitied rather He is enamored of himselfe for want of taking héede And where he lykes another thing he lykes himselfe in déede He is the partie whome he wooes and suâ—er that doth wooe He is the flame that settes on fire and thing that burneth tooe O Lord how often did he kisse that false deceitfull thing How often did he thrust his armes midway into the spring To haue embraste the necke he saw and could not catch himselfe He knowes not what it was he sawe And yet the foolish elfe Doth burne in ardent loue thereof The verie selfe same thing That doth bewitch and blinde his eyes encreaseth all his sting Thou fondling thou why doest thou raught the fickle image so The thing thou séekest is not there And if a side thou go The thing thou louest straight is gone It is none other matter That thou doest sée than of thy selfe the shadow in the water The thing is nothing of it selfe with thée it doth abide With thee it would departe if thou withdrew thy selfe aside No care of meate could draw him thence nor yet desire of rest But lying flat against the ground and leaâ—ing on his brest With gréedâ—e eyes he gazeth still vppon the falced face And through his sight is wrought his bane Yet for a little space He turnes and settes himselfe vpright and holding vp his hands With piteous voyce vnto the wood that round about him stands Cryes out and ses alas ye Woods and was there euer any That looude so cruelly as I you know for vnto many A place of harbrough haue you béene and fort of refuge strong Can you remember any one in all your tyme so long That hath so pinde away as I I sée and am full faine Howbeit that I like and sée I can not yet attaine So great a blindnesse in my heart through doting loue doth raigne And for to spight me more withall it is no iourney farre No drenching Sea no Mountaine hie no wall no locke no barre It is but euen a little droppe that kéepes vs two a sunder He would be had For looke how oft I kisse the water vnder So oft againe with vpwarde mouth he riseth towarde mée A man would thinke to touch at least I should yet able bée It is a trifle in respect that lettes vs of our loue What wight soeuer that thou art come hither vp aboue O pierlesse piece why dost thou mée thy louer thus delude Or whither fliste thou of thy friende thus earnestly pursude Iwis I neyther am so fowle nor yet so growne in yeares That in this wise thou shouldst me shoon To haue me to their Féeres The Nymphes themselues haue sude ere this And yet as should appéere Thou dost pretende some kinde of hope of friendship by thy chéere For when I stretch mine armes to thée thou stretchest thine likewise And if I smile thou smilest too And when that from mine eyes The teares doe drop I well perceyue the water stands in thine Like gesture also dost thou make to euerie becke of mine And as by mouing of thy swéete and louely lippes I wéene Thou speakest words although mine eares conceiue not what they béene It is my selfe I well perceyue it is mine Image sure That in this sort dâ—luding me this furie doth procure I am mamored of my selfe I doe both set on fire And am the same that swelteth too through impotent desire What shall I doe be woode or wo whome shall I wo therefore The thing I séeke is in my selfe my plentie makes me poore O would to God I for a while might from my bodie part This wish is straunge to heare a Louer wrapped all in smart To wish away the thing the which he loueth as his heart My sorrowe takes away my strength I haue not long to liue But in the floure of youth must die To die it doth not grieue For that by death shall come the ende of all my griefe and paine I would this yongling whome I loue might lenger life obtaine For in one soule shall now decay we stedfast Louers twaine This saide in rage he turnes againe vnto the forsaide shade And rores the water with the teares and sloubring that he made That through his troubling of the Well his ymage gan to fade Which when he sawe to vanish so Oh whither dost thou flie Abide I pray thée heartely aloud he gan to crie Forsake me not so cruelly that loueth thée so déere But giue me leaue a little while my dazled eyes to chéere With sight of that which for to touch is vtterly denide Thereby to féede my wretched rage and surie for a tide As in this wise he made his mone he stripped off his cote And with his fist outragiously his naked stomacke smote A ruddie colour where he smote rose on his stomacke shéere Lyke Apples which doe partly white and striped red appéere Or as the clusters ere the grapes to ripenesse fully come An Orient purple here and there beginnes to grow on some Which things assoone as in the spring he did beholde againe He could no longer beare it out But fainting straight for paine As lith and supple waxe doth melt against the burning flame Or morning dewe against the Sunne that glareth on the same Euen so by piecemale being spent and wasted through desire Did he consume and melt away with Cupids secret fire His liuely hue of white and red his chéerefulnesse and strength And all the things that lyked him did wanze away at length So that in fine remayned not the bodie which of late The wretched Echo loued so Who when she sawe his state Although in heart she angrie were and mindefull of his pride Yet ruing his vnhappie case as often as he cride Alas she cride alas likewise with shirle redoubled sound And when he beate his breast or strake his féete against the ground She made like noyse of clapping too These are the woordes that last Out of his lippes beholding still his woonted ymage past Alas swéete boy beloude in vaine farewell And by and by With sighing sound the selfe same wordes the Echo did reply With that he layde his wearie head against the grassie place And death did cloze his
Of ships and souldiers yet the wrath the which he had before Conceyued in his fathers brest for murthring of his sonne Androgeus made him farre more strong and fiercer for to ronne To rightfull battell to reuenge the great displeasure donne Howbeit he thought it best ere he his warfare did begin To finde the meanes of forreine aides some friendship for to win And therevpon with flying fléete where passage did permit He went to visit all the Iles that in those seas doe fit Anon the Iles Astypaley and Anaphey both twaine The first constreynde for feare of war the last in hope of gaine Tooke part with him Low Myconey did also with him hold So did the chalkie Cymoley and Syphney which of olde Was verie riche with veynes of golde and Scyros full of bolde And valiant men and Seryphey the smooth or rather fell And Parey which for Marblestone doth beare away the bell And Sythney which a wicked wench callde Arne did betray For mony who vpon receit thereof without delay Was turned to a birde which yet of golde is gripple still And is as blacke as any cole both fethers féete and bill A Cadowe is the name of hir But yet Olyarey And Didymey and Andrey eke and Tene and Gyarey And Pepareth where Oliue trees most plenteously doe grow In no wise would agrée their helpe on Minos to bestow Then Minos turning lefthandwise did sayle to Oenope Where reignde that time King Aeacus This Ile had called be Of old by name of Oenope but Aeacus turnde the name And after of his mothers name Aegina callde the same The common folke ran out by heapes desirous for to sée A man of such renowne as Minos bruted was to bée The Kings three sonnes Duke Telamon Duke Peley and the yong Duke Phocus went to méete with him Old Aeacus also clung With age came after leysurely and asked him the cause Of his repaire The ruler of the hundred Shires gan pause And musing on the inward griefe that nipt him at the hart Did shape him aunswere thus O Prince vouchsafe to take my part In this same godly warre of mine assist me in the iust Reuengement of my murthred sonne that sléepeth in the dust I craue your comfort for his death Aeginas sonne replide Thy suite is vaine and of my Realme perforce must be denide For vnto Athens is no lande more sure than this alide Such leagues betwéene vs are which shall infringde for me abide Away went Minos sad and said full dearly shalt thou bie Thy leagues He thought it for to be a better pollicie To threaten war than war to make and there to spend his store And strength which in his other needes might much auaile him more As yet might from Oenopia walles the Cretish fléete be kend When thitherward with puffed sayles and wind at will did tend A ship from Athens which anon arriuing at the strand Set Cephal with Ambassade from his Countrimen a land The Kings thrée sonnes though long it were since last they had him séene Yet knew they him And after olde acquaintance eft had béene Renewde by shaking hands to Court they did him streight conuay This Prince which did allure the eyes of all men by the way As in whose stately person still remained to be séene The markes of beautie which in flowre of former yeares had béene Went holding out on Olife braunch that grew in Atticke lande And for the reuerence of his age there went on eyther hand A Nobleman of yonger yeares Sir Clytus on the right And Butes on the left the sonnes of one that Pallas hâ—ght When gréeting first had past betweene these Nobles and the King Then Cephal setting streight a broche the message he did bring Desired aide and shewde what leagues stoode then in sorce betwéene His countrie and the Aeginites and also what had béene Decréed betwixt their aunceters concluding in the ende That vnder colour of this war which Minos did pretende To only Athens he in déede the conquest did intende Of all Achaia When he thus by helpe of learned skill His countrie message furthred had King Aeacus leaning still His left hand on his scepter saide My Lordes I would not haue Your state of Athens séeme so straunge as succor here to craue I pray commaund For be ye sure that what this Ile can make Is yours Yea all that ere I haue shall hazard for your sake I want no strength I haue such store of souldiers that I may Both vex my foes and also kéepe my Realme in quiet stay And now I thinke me blest of God that time doth serue to showe Without excuse the great good will that I to Athens owe. God holde it sir ê™ Cephalus God make the number grow Of people in this towne of yours it did me good a late When such a goodly sort of youth of all one age and rate Did méete me in the stréete but yet me thinkes that many misse Which at my former being here I haue beheld ere this At that the King did â—igh and thus with plaintfull voice did say A sad beginning aftâ—rward in better lucke did stay I would I plainly could the same before your faces lay Howbeit I will disorderly repeate it as I may And least I séeme to wearie you with ouerlong delay The men that you so mindefully enquire for lie in ground And nought of them saue bones and dust remayneth to be found But as it hapt what losse thereby did vnto me redound A cruell plague through Iunos wrath who dreadfully did hate This Land that of hir husbands Loue did take the name of late Upon my people fell as long as that the maladie None other séemde than such as haunts mans nature vsually And of so great mortalitie the hurtfull cause was hid We stroue by Phisicke of the same the Pacients for to rid The mischief ouermaistred Art yea Phisick was to séeke To doe it selfe good First the Aire with foggâ—e stinking réeke Did daily ouerdréepe the earth and close culme Clouds did make The wether faint and while the Moone foure time hir light did take And fillde hir emptie hornes therewith and did as often slake The warme South windes with deadly heate continually did blow Infected were the Springs and Ponds and streames that ebbe flow And swarmes of Serpents crawld about the fieldes that lay vntillde Which with their poison euen the brookes and running waters fillde In sodaine dropping downe of Dogs of Horses Shéepe and Kine Of Birds Beasts both wild tame as Oxen Wolues Swine The mischiefe of this secret sore first outwardly appéeres The wretched Plowman was amazde to sée his sturdie Stéeres Amid the â—orrow sinking downe ere halfe his worke was donne Whole flocks of shéepe did faintly bleate and therewithall begonne Their fléeces for to fall away and leaue the naked skin And all their bodies with the rot attainted were within The lustie Horse that erst was fierce in field renowne to win Against his kinde
Ioue himself should bréede And willd the sonne of Aeäcus this Peleus to succéede In that which he himself would faine haue done and for too take The Lady of the sea in armes a moother her too make There is a bay of Thessaly that bendeth lyke a boawe The sydes shoote foorth where if the sea of any depth did flowe It were a hauen Scarcely dooth the water hyde the sand It hath a shore so firme that if a man theron doo stand No print of foote remaynes behynd it hindreth not ones pace Ne couered is with houering réeke Adioyning too this place There is a groue of Myrtletrées with frute of dowle colour And in the midds thereof a Caue I can not tell you whither That nature or the art of man were maker of the same It séemed rather made by arte Oft Thetis hither came Starke naked ryding brauely on a brydled Dolphins backe There Peleus as shee lay a sléepe vppon her often bracke And forbycause that at her handes entreatance nothing winnes He folding her about the necke with both his armes beginnes Too offer force And surely if shée had not falne too wyles And shifted oftentymes her shape he had obteind erewhyles But shée became sumtymes a bird He hilld her like a bird Anon shée was a massye log but Peleus neuer stird Awhit for that Then thirdly shée of speckled Tyger tooke The vgly shape for feare of whose most féerce and cruell looke His armes he from her body twicht And at his going thence In honour of the watry Goddes he burned frankincence And powred wyne vppon the sea with fat of neate and shéepe Untill the prophet that dooth dwell within Carpathian déepe Sayd thus Thou sonne of Aeäcus thy wish thou sure shalt haue Alonely when shée lyes a sléepe within her pleasant Caue Cast grinnes too trappe her vnbewares hold fast with snarling knot And though shée fayne a hundreth shapes deceyue thée let her not But sticke vnâ—oot what ere it bée vntill the tyme that shée Returneth too the natiue shape shée erst was woont too bée When Protevv thus had sed within the sea he duckt his head And suffred on his latter woordes the water for too spred The lyghtsum Titan downeward drew and with declyning chayre Approched too the westerne sea when Neryes daughter fayre Returning from the sea resorts too her accustomd cowch And Peleus scarcely had begon hir naked limbes too towch But that shée chaungd from shape to shape vntill at length shée found Herself surprysd Then stretching out her armes with sighes profound Shee sayd Thou ouercommest mée and not without the ayd Of God and then she Thetis like appéerd in shape of mayd The noble prince imbracing her obteynd her at his will Too both theyr ioyes and with the great Achylles did her fill A happye wyght was Peleus in his wyfe A happy wyght Was Peleus also in his sonne And if yée him acquight Of murthring Phocus happy him in all things count yée myght But giltye of his brothers blood and bannisht for the same From bothe his fathers house and Realme too Trachin sad he came The sonne of lyghtsum Lucifer king Ceyx who in face Exprest the liuely beawtye of his fathers heauenly grace Without all violent rigor and sharpe executions reignd In Trachin He right sad that tyme vnlike himself remaynd Yit moorning for his brothers chaunce transformed late before When Peleus thither came with care and trauayle tyred sore He left his cattell and his shéepe whereof he brought great store Behynd him in a shady vale not farre from Trachin towne And with a little companye himself went thither downe Assoone as leaue too come too Court was graunted him he bare A braunche of Olyf in his hand and humbly did declare His name and lynage Onely of his crime no woord hée spake But of his slyght another cause pretensedly did make Desyring leaue within his towne or countrye too abyde The king of Trachin gently thus too him ageine replyde Our bownty too the meanest sort O Peleus dooth extend Wée are not woont the desolate our countrye too forfend And though I bée of nature most inclyned good too doo Thyne owne renowme thy graundsyre Ioue are forcements therevntoo Misspend no longer tyme in sute I gladly doo agrée Too graunt thée what thou wilt desyre Theis things that thou doost sée I would thou should account them as thyne owne such as they bée I would they better were With that he wéeped Peleus and His fréends desyred of his gréef the cause too vnderstand He answerd thus Perchaunce yée think this bird that liues by pray And putts all other birds in feare had wings and fethers ay He was a man And as he was right féerce in feats of armes And stout and readye bothe too wreake and also offer harmes So was he of a constant mynd Daedalion men him hyght Our father was that noble starre that brings the morning bryght And in the welkin last of all giues place too Phebus lyght My study was too maynteine peace in peace was my delyght And for too kéepe mée true too her too whom my fayth is plyght My brother had felicite in warre and bloody fyght His prowesse and his force which now dooth chase in cruell flyght The Dooues of Thisbye since his shape was altred thus a new Ryght puyssant Princes and theyr Realmes did héeretoofore subdew He had a chyld calld Chyone whom nature did endew With beawtye so that when too age of fowretéene yéeres shée grew A thousand Princes liking her did for hir fauour sew By fortune as bryght Phebus and the sonne of Lady May Came tone from Delphos toother from mount Cyllen by the way They saw her bothe at once and bothe at once where tane in loue Apollo till the tyme of nyght differd his sute too moue But Hermes could not beare delay He stroked on the face The mayden with his charmed rod which hath the powre too chace And bring in sléepe the touch whereof did cast her in so dead A sléepe that Hermes by and by his purpose of her sped Assoone as nyght with twinckling starres the welkin had béesprent Apollo in an old wyues shape too Chyon clocely went And tooke the pleasure which the soâ—ne of Maya had forehent Now when shée full her tyme had gon shée bare by Mercurye A sonne that hyght Avvtolychus who provde a wyly pye And such a fellow as in theft and filching had no péere He was his fathers owne sonne right he could mennes eyes so bléere As for too make y â— black things whyght whyght things black appéere And by Apollo for shée bare a payre was borne his brother Philammon who in musick arte excelled farre all other As well in singing as in play But what auayled it Too beare such twinnes and of twoo Goddes in fauour too haue sit And that shée too her father had a stowt and valeant knight Or that her graundsyre was the sonne of Ioue that God of might Dooth glorie hurt