A SATYRE Written to the KINGS most Excellent Maiestie BY GEORGE WITHER When hee was Prisoner in the Marshallsey for his first BOOKE LONDON Printed by T.S. for Iohn Budge dwelling in Pauls-Church-yard at the signe of the Greene Dragon 1622. The Satyre to the meere Courtiers SIrs I doe know your mindes You looke for fees For more respect then needes for caps and knees But be content I haue not for you now Nor will I haue at all to doe with you For though I seeme opprest and you suppose I must be faine to crouch to Vertues foes Yet know your fauours I doe sleight them more In this distresse then ere I did before Here to my Liege a message I must tell If you will let me passe you shall doe well If you denie admittance why then know I meane to haue it where you will or no Your formall wisedome which hath neuer beene In ought but in some fond inuention seene And you that thinke men borne to no intent But to be train'd in Apish complement Doth now perhaps suppose mee indiscreet And such vnused messages vnmeet But what of that Shall I goe sute my matter Vnto your wits that haue but wit to flatter Shall I of your opinions so much prize To lose my will that you may thinke me wise Who neuer yet to any liking had Vnlesse he were a Knaue a Foole or mad You Mushroms know so much I weigh your powers I neither value you nor what is yours Nay though my crosses had me quite out-worne Spirit enough I 'de finde your spight to scorne Of which resolu'd to further my aduenture Vnto my King without your leaues I enter To the Honest Courtiers BVt You whose onely worth doth colour giue To Them that they doe worthy seeme to liue Kinde Gentlemen your ayde I craue to bring A Satyre to the presence of his King A show of rudenesse doth my fore-head arme Yet you may trust him he intends no harme He that hath sent him loyall is and true And one whose loue I know is much to you But now he lyes bound to a narrow scope Almost beyond the Cape of all good Hope Long hath he sought to free himselfe but failes And therefore seeing nothing else preuailes Me to acquaint his Soueraigne here he sends As one despairing of all other friends I doe presume that you will fauour shew him Now that a Messenger from thence you know him For many thousands that his face ne're knew Blame his Accusers and his Fortune rue And by the helpe which your good word may doe He hopes for pitty from his Soueraigne to Then in his presence with your fauours grace him And there 's no Vice so great shall dare out-face him To the Kings most Excellent MAIESTIE A SATYRE Quid tu si pereo WHat once the Poet said I may auow 'T is a hard thing not to write Satyrs now Since what we speake abuse raigns so in all Spight of our hearts will be Satyricall Let it not therefore now be deemed strange My vnsmooth'd lines their rudenesse do not change Nor be distastefull to my gracious King That in the Cage my old harsh notes I sing And rudely make a Satyre here vnfold What others would in neater tearmes haue told And why my friends and meanes in Court are scant Knowledge of curious phrase and forme I want I cannot bear 't to runne my selfe in debt To hire the Groome to bid the Page entreat Some fauourd Follower to vouchsafe his word To get me a cold comfort from his Lord. I cannot sooth though it my life might saue Each Fauourite nor crouch to eu'ry Knaue I cannot brooke delayes as some men do With scoffes and scornes and tak 't in kindnesse to For ere I 'de binde my selfe for some slight grace To one that hath no more worth then his place Or by a base meane free my selfe from trouble I rather would endure my penance double Cause to be forc'd to what my mind disdaines Is worse to me then tortures rackes and chaines And therefore vnto thee I onely flye To whom there needs no meane but Honesty To thee that lou'st nor Parasite or Minion Should ere I speake possesse thee with opinion To thee that do'st what thou wilt vndertake For loue of Iustice not the persons sake To thee that know'st how vaine all faire shewes be That flow not from the hearts sinceritie And canst though shadowed in the simplest vaile Discerne both Loue and Truth and where they faile To thee doe I appeale in whom Heau'n knowes I next to God my confidence repose For can it be thy Grace should euer shine And not enlighten such a Cause as mine Can my hopes fixt in thee great King be dead Or thou those Satyrs hate thy Forrests bred Where shall my second hopes be founded then If euer I haue heart to hope agen Can I suppose a fauour may be got In any place when thy Court yeelds it not Or that I may obtaine it in the land When I shall be deni'd it at thy hand And if I might could I delighted be To tak 't of others when I mist of thee Or if I were could I haue comfort by it When I should thinke my Soueraigne did deny it No were I sure I to thy hate were borne To seeke for others fauours I would scorne For if the beft-worth-loues I could not gaine To labour for the rest I would disdaine But why should I thy fauour here distrust That haue a cause so knowne and knowne so iust Which not alone my inward comfort doubles But all suppose me wrong'd that heare my troubles Nay though my fault were Reall I beleeue Thou art so Royall that thou wouldst forgiue For well I know thy sacred Maiesty Hath euer beene admir'd for Clemency And at thy gentlenesse the world hath wondred For making Sun-shine where thou mightst haue thundred Yea thou in mercy life to them didst giue That could not be content to see thee liue And can I thinke that thou wilt make me then The most vnhappy of all other men Or let thy loyall Subiect against reason Be punisht more for Loue then some for Treason No thou didst neuer yet thy glory staine With an iniustice to the meanest Swaine 'T is not thy will I 'me wrong'd nor dost thou know If I haue suffred iniuries or no. For if I haue not heard falfe Rumours flie Th' ast grac'st me with the stile of Honesty And if it were so as some thinke it was I cannot see how it should come to passe That thou from whose free tongue proceedeth nought Which is not correspondent with thy thought Those thoughts to being fram'd in Reasons mould Should speake that once which should not euer hold But passing it as an vncertainety I humbly beggethee by that Maiesty Whose sacred Glory strikes a louing-feare Into the hearts of all to whom 't is deare To deigne me so much fauour without merit As read this plaint of a distempered spirit And thinke
The Ioy I shall receiue will be made double And if I fall it may some Glory be That none but IOVE himselfe did ruine me Your Maiesties most loyall Subiect and yet Prisoner in the Marshalsey GEORGE WITHER Epithalamia OR NVPTIALL POEMS VPON THE MOST BLESSED AND HAPPY MARRIAGE betweene the High and Mighty Prince Frederick the fifth Count Palatine of the Rhine Duke of Bauier c. AND THE MOST VERTVOVS Gracious and thrice Excellent Princesse Elizabeth Sole Daughter to our dread Soueraigne Iames by the grace of God King of Great Britaine France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. Celebrated at White-Hall the fourteenth of February 1612. Written by George Wither LONDON Printed by T. S. for Iohn Budge dwelling in Pauls-Church-yard at the signe of the Greene Dragon 1622. TO THE ALL-VERTVOVS AND THRICE EXCELLENT PRINCESSE Elizabeth sole daughter to our dread Soueraigne Iames by the grace of God King of Great Britaine France and Ireland c. AND WIFE TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY PRINCE FREDERICK the fifth Count Palatine of the Rheine Duke of Bauier c. Elector and Arch-sâ—w er to the sacred Roman Empire during the vacancy Vicar of the same and Knight of the most honorable Order of the Garter George Wither wisheth all the Health Ioyes Honours and Felicities of this World in this life and the perfections of eternity in the World to come To the Christian Readers REaders for that in my booke of Satyricall Essayes I haue been deemed ouer Cynicall to shew that I am not wholly inclined to that Vaine But indeede especially out of the loue which in duty I owe to those incomparable Princes I haue in honour of their Royall Solemnities published these short Epithalamiaes By which you may perceiue how euer the world thinke of me I am not of such a Churlish Constitution but I can afford Vertue her deserued honour and haue as well an affable looke to encourage Honesty as a sterne frowne to cast on Villanie If the Times would suffer me I could be as pleasing as others and perhaps ere long I will make you amends for my former rigor Meane while I commit this vnto your censures and bid you farewell G. W. Epithalamion BRight Northerne Starre and great Mineruaes peere Sweete Lady of this Day Great Britaines deere Loe thy poore Vassall that was erst so rude With his most Rusticke Satyrs to intrude Once more like a poore Siluan now drawes neare And in thy sacred Presence dares appeare Oh let not that sweete Bowe thy Brow be bent To scarre him with a Shaft of discontent One looke with Anger nay thy gentlest Frowne Is twice enough to cast a Greater downe My Will is euer neuer to offend These that are good and what I here intend Your Worth compels me to For lately greeu'd More then can be exprest or well beleeu'd Minding for euer to abandon sport And liue exilde from places of resort Carelesse of all I yeelding to securitie Thought to shut vp my Muse in darke obscuritie And in content the better to repose A lonely Groue vpon a Mountaine chose East from Caer Winn mid-way twixt Arle and Dis True Springs where Britains true Arcadia is But ere I entred my entended course Great Aeolus began to offer force The boisterous King was growne so mad with rage That all the Earth was but his furies stage Fire Ayre Earth Sea were intermixt in one Yet Fire through Water Earth and Ayre shone The Sea as if she ment to whelme them vnder Beat on the Cliffes and rag'd more loud then thunder And whil'st the vales she with salt waues did fill The Aire showr'd flouds that drencht our highest hill And the proud trees that would no dutie know Lay ouer-turned twenties in a Row Yea euery Man for feare fell to Deuotion Lest the whole Ile should haue bin drencht in th' Ocean Which I perceiuing coniur'd vp my Muse The Spirit whose good helpe I sometime vse And though I ment to breake her rest no more I was then faine her aide for to implore And by her helpe indeed I came to know Why both the Ayre and Seas were troubled so For hauing vrg'd her that she would vnfold What cause she knew Thus much at last she told Of late quoth she there is by powers Diuine A match concluded twixt Great Thame and Rhine Two famous Riuers equall both to Nile The one the pride of Europes greatest Ile Th' other disdaining to be closely pent Washes a great part of the Continent Yet with abundance doth the Wants supply Of the still-thirsting Sea that 's neuer dry And now these being not alone endear'd To mightie Neptune and his watrie Heard But also to the great and dreadfull Ioue With all his sacred Companies aboue Both haue assented by their Loues inuiting To grace with their owne presence this Vniting Ioue call'd a Summons to the Worlds great wonder 'T was that we heard of late which we thought thunder A thousand Legions he intends to send them Of Cherubins and Angels to attend them And those strong Windes that did such blustring keepe Were but the Tritons sounding in the Deepe To warne each Riuer petty Streame and Spring Their aide vnto their Soueraigne to bring The Floods and Showres that came so plenteous downe And lay entrencht in euery Field and Towne Were but retainers to the Nobler sort That owe their Homage at the Watrie Court Or else the Streames not pleas'd with their owne store To grace the Thames their Mistris borrowed more Exacting from their neighbouring Dales and Hills But by consent all nought against their wills Yet now since in this stirre are brought to ground Many faire buildings many hundreds drown'd And daily found of broken Ships great store That lie dismembred vpon euery shore With diuers other mischiefes knowne to all This is the cause that those great harmes befall Whilst other things in readinesse did make Hells hatefull Hags from out their prisons brake And spighting at this hopefull match began To wreake their wrath on Ayre Earth Sea and Man Some hauing shapes of Romish shauelings got Spew'd out their venome and began to plot Which way to thwart it others made their way With much diffraction thorough Land and Sea Extreamely raging But Almightie Ioue Perceiues their Hate and Enuie from aboue He 'le checke their furie and in yrons chain'd Their libertie abus'd shall be restrain'd Hee 'le shut them vp from comming to molest The Meriments of Hymens holy feast Where shall be knit that sacred Gordian knot Which in no age to come shall be forgot Which Policie nor Force shall nere vntie But must continue to eternitie Which for the whole Worlds good was fore-decree'd With Hope expected long now come indeed And of whose future glory worth and merit Much I could speake with a prophetike spirit Thus by my Muses deare assistance finding The cause of this disturbance with more minding â—y Countries welfare then my owne content â—nd longing to behold
this Mortall breath So Seules on Meditations liue And shunne thereby immortall death Nor art thou euer neerer rest Then when thou find'st me most opprest First thinke my Soule If I haue Foes That take a pleasure in my care And to procure these outward woes Haue thus entrapt me vnaware Thou should'st by much more carefull bee Since greater foes lay waite for thee Then when Mew'd vp in grates of steele Minding those ioyes mine eyes doe misse Thou find'st no torment thou do'st feele So grieuous as Priuation is Muse how the Damn'd in flames that glow Pine in the losse of blisse they know Thou seest there 's giuen so great might To some that are but clay as I Their very anger can affright Which if in any thou espie Thus thinke If Mortals frownes strike feare How dreadfull will Gods wrath appeare By my late hopes that now are crost Consider those that firmer be And make the freedome I haue lost A meanes that may remember thee Had Christ not thy Redeemer bin What horrid thrall thou had'st been in These yron chaines these bolts of steele Which other poore offenders grind The wants and cares which they doe feele May bring some greater thing to mind For by their griefe thou shalt doe well To thinke vpon the paines of Hell Or when through me thou seest a Man Condemn'd vnto a mortall death How sad he lookes how pale how wan Drawing with feare his panting breath Thinke if in that such griefe thou see How sad will Goe yee cursed be Againe when he that fear'd to Dye Past hope doth see his Pardon brought Reade but the ioy that 's in his eye And then conuey it to thy thought There thinke betwixt thy heart and thee How sweet will Come yee blessed bee Thus if thou doe though closed here My bondage I shall deeme the lesse I neither shall haue cause to feare Nor yet bewaile my sad distresse For whether liue or pine or dye We shall haue blisse eternally Willy Trust me I see the Cage doth some Birds good And if they doe not suffer too much wrong Will teach them sweeter descants then the wood Beleeue 't I like the subiect of thy Song It shewes thou art in no distempred mood But cause to heare the residue I long My Sheepe to morrow I will neerer bring And spend the day to heare thee talk and sing Yet e're we part Philarete areed Of whom thou learnd'st to make such songs as these I neuer yet heard any Shepheards reede Tune in mishap a straine that more could please Surely Thou do'st inuoke at this thy neede Some power that we neglect in other layes For heer 's a Name and words that but few swaines Haue mention'd at their meeting on the Plaines Philarete Indeed 't is true and they are sore to blame They doe so much neglect it in their Songs For thence proceedeth such a worthy fame As is not subiect vnto Enuies wrongs That is the most to be respected name Of our true Pan whose worth sits on all tongues And what the ancient Shepheards vse to prayse In sacred Anthemes vpon Holy-dayes Hee that first taught his Musicke such a straine Was that sweet Shepheard who vntill a King Kept Sheepe vpon the hony-milky Plaine That is inrich't by Iordans watering He in his troubles eas'd the bodies paines By measures rais'd to the Soules rauishing And his sweet numbers onely most diuine Gaue first the being to this Song of mine Willy Let his good spirit euer with thee dwell That I might heare such Musicke euery day Philarete Thankes Swaine but harke thy Weather rings his Bell. And Swaines to fold or homeward driue away Willy And you goes Cuddy therefore fare thou well I 'le make his Sheepe for mee a little stay And if thou thinke it fit I 'le bring him to Next morning hither Philarete Prethee Willy do FINIS The Shepheards Hunting The second Eglogue THE ARGVMENT Cuddy here relates how all Pitty Philarete's thrall Who requested doth relate The true cause of his estate Which broke off because 't was long They begin a three man Song WILLY CVDDY PHILARETE Willy LO Philaret thy old friend heere and I Are come to visit thee in these thy Bands Whil'st both our Flocks in an Inclosure by Doe picke the thin grasse from the fallowed lands He tels me thy restraint of liberty Each one throughout the Country vnderstands And there is not a gentle-natur'd Lad On all these Downes but for thy sake is sad Cuddy Not thy acquaintance and thy friends alone Pitty thy close restraint as friends should doe But some that haue but seene thee for thee moane Yea many that did neuer see thee to Some deeme thee in a fault and most in none So diuers wayes doe diuers Rumors goe And at all meetings where our Shepheards bee Now the maine Newes that 's extant is of thee Philarete Why this is somewhat yet had I but kept Sheepe on the Mountaines till the day of doome My name should in obscuritie haue slept In Brakes in Briars shrubbed Furze and Broome Into the Worlds wide eare it had not crept Nor in so many mens thoughts found a roome But what cause of my sufferings doe they know Good Cuddy tell me how doth rumour goe Cuddy Faith 't is vncertaine some speake this some that Some dare say nought yet seeme to thinke a cause And many a one prating he knowes not what Comes out with Prouerbes and old ancient sawes As if he thought thee guiltlesse and yet not Then doth he speake halfe Sentences then pawse That what the most would say we may suppose But what to say the Rumour is none knowes Philarete Nor care I greatly for it skils not much What the vnsteady common-people deemes His Conscience doth not alwaies feele least touch That blamelesse in the sight of others seemes My cause is honest and because 't is such I hold it so and not for mens esteemes If they speake iustly well of mee I 'me glad If falsely euill it ne're makes me sad Willy I like that mind but Shepheard you are quite Beside the matter that I long to heare Remember what you promis'd yester-night Youl 'd put vs off with other talke I feare Thou know'st that honest Cuddies heart's vpright And none but he except my selfe is neere Come therefore and betwixt vs two relate The true occasion of thy present state Philarete My Friends I will You know I am a Swaine The kept a poore Flocke on a barren Plaine Who though it seemes I could doe nothing lesse Can make a Song and woe a Shepheardesse And not alone the fairest where I liue Haue heard me sing and fauours daign'd to giue But though I say 't the noblest Nymph of Thame Hath grac'd my Verse vnto my greater fame Yet being young and not much seeking prayse I was not noted out for Shepheards layes Nor feeding Flocks as you know others be For the delight that most possessed me Was hunting Foxes Wolues and Beasts of Prey