is another slight If what I love I hurt I shall so ever Thee I must seek and seeking still persever Others by sword their fancied loves have sought And shall a witty letter be my fault Would god more snares I could invent for thee That thy vow'd faith might on no side scape free There rests a thousand wayes in one we wade My love shall suffer nothing unessayd Thou shalt be captiv'd though thou now art free Gods know th' event but thou shalt captiv'd be Though some thou canst not all those nets evade Which love for thee more than thou think'st hath layd If arts will not avail then arms wee 'l move And to my longing bosome force thy love I not the fact of Paris reprehend Nor any such who so have sought their end Nay I but I forbeare though death ensues Thy rape wee 'l meet it 'fore I thee will loose Wer 't thou lesse faire I should more calmly sue Thy beauty makes me I thus boldly wooe Thou and those eyes to which bright stars appeare Like foyles of these my flames first causers were Thy golden hairs neck which pure white doth grace And armes which oh may once my limbs embrace Thy gracefull lookes not coy yet blushing faire And feer which may with Thetis selfe compare Blest could I praise the rest sure they agree All in a sweet proportion'd symmetrie No marvaile then if by such forme constrain'd I would of thee a verball pledge have gain'd Whilst by our Art you say you captive are Why doe you not the lawes of captiv'd be are I l'e suffer envy so I may obtaine Why should the fruit from such a crime be tane His love Achilles forc't his Telamon Yet they to love their ravishers were won Accuse me doe be angry too and coy So I may thee though angry but enjoy I that first caus'd it will thy wrath allay If thou 'st but give me ne're so little way Weeping before thy face let me a peare And at each word I speake let fall a teare Like slaves that feare severer chastisement My hands unto thy feet for mercie bent Why am I absent blam'd assume thy right Command me as a Mrs plead in sight Then though thou proudly teare my haire or raze In scornefull manner with thy nayles my face I 'le suffer all and onely fearfull stand Lest my rude body hurt thy tender hand Thou need'st not chaines on me or fettets try Thy love will me stronger than fetters cie As thou shalt say when once thy wrath is spent How firme is he in love how patient And vow when how I suffer thou shalt see Who serves so well sure shall my servant bee Why am I guilt esse then condemn'd through hate My just cause lost wanting an advocate The verse love bade me write is all my blame Nor canst object ought else against my fame With me yet Delia ought not couzin'd be Keepe promise then with her if not with me She saw thee when intrapt thou blush'st was there And layd thy words up in her mindfull eare Forbid it heav'ns yet there is none than she More fierce gainst those that scorne her deitie Witnesse the Boare she sent unknowne to none Althea no lesse cruell to her sonne Witnesse Actaeon chang'd t' a Hart and made A prey for those that earst on wild beasts Pray'd Proud Niobe whose corps in marble pent In Migdon stands a weeping monument Ah me Cydippe I the truth restraine Lest in my cause thou thinkst I idly faine Yet speake I must this is it trust me why At poynt of marriage thou thus sicke dost lye The goddesse seekes thy good not perjurie And would by saving of thy saith save thee Hence 't is as oft you with your oath dispense That she as oft doth punish your offence Cease then t' incense the sterne Viragâ—es ire Whose wrath if thou 'st obey will soone expire Preserve those tender limbs from Feavers free Oh spare that face to be enjoy'd by me Spare spare those lookes made for our loves delight And cheekes inameld with pure red and white Who seekes our loves contracted to dis joyne May he as I for thy affliction pine I know not which my greatest crosse would prove To see thee sick or made anothers love Sometimes I vex and thinke I cause thy paine So that thou griefe dost through my craft sustaine And wish upon my head thy perjury Might light and thou from punishment be free Oft I with troubled thoughts about thy gare Make needlesse walks to understand thy state And foll'wing of thy man or mayd intreat By stealth to know how thou dost sleepe or eate Woes me I not the Doctors roome supply Nor fitting on thy bed thy pulse doe try But more unhappy whilst I being hence He 's there whom I doe chiefly wish from thence He takes thee by the hand and sets by thee A hated person to the gods and me Whilst on thy beating veine his thumbe he holds And by that meanes thy whiter armes infolds Thy breast oft touches perhaps kisses too A blest reward and farre beyond his due Pray who to reap our harvest gave thee leave Or shewd thee how thou mightst our hopes deceive Those breasts thou feel'st kisses thou tak'st are mine Wretch from her body take those hands of thine Remove thy hands she 's mine should'st do the same Henceforth thou l't merit an adultrers name Chuse one whom none can claime one that is free To tell you true this onely is for me Believ'st me not the contract heare or let Her read it lest thou think it counterfeit Be gone to thee this can no harbour lend What right canst thou t'anothers bed pretend Suppose thou promis'd wert she should be thine Yet is thy cause farr farre unlike to mine I by her selfe byh'r sire you promis'd were But to her selfe than father shee 's more neere Her sire thee promis'd but she swore to me He men attested she a Deitle He but of word she breach of oath doth feare Of these think'st which the greatest sin will beare Last to discern't to the event but looke Hee 's well in health she is with sicknesse strooke Then in our mindes unequall strifes we beare Nor is our hope alike unlike our feare Indifferent thou Repulse my death would prove In present I what you perhaps may love If care of equity or right you weigh You needs must to my lawfull flames give way Since then thy love â—njustly he doth sue What good Cydippe will my letter doe 'T is he thy paine and Dians hate hath wrought Barre him thy house if thou wilt wise be thought He did the hazard of thy life procure Would he that caus'd them might thy paines endure Him if thou leave nor love whom Dian hates We both shall then enjoy our healthfull states Feare not thou shalt enjoy thy health sweet mayd But conscious Dian must be first obayd Not in a sacrifice the gods delight But in a faith that is sincere and right
losse deplores Whilst waves with her do breaking weep in showrs Or else her stepdame plagues this noxious sea Lately transform'd a watry deitie This place befriends no mayds for hence did grow Poore Hâ—lles death and here I suffer too But Neptune if thy former flames thou mind Me thinkes no love should be impeacht by wind If bright Amimone and Tyro be No lying fables of thy love and thee Halcyone and Iphimâ—din faire Medusa then without her snakie haire Laodice Celaeno heaven re-inspheard And many more whose names I oft have heard All these and more as Poets sing would joyne In am'or ous sports their softer sides to thine Why then dost thou who oft loves power didst trye Seas wonted passage through thy rage deny Cruell forbeare and in the wide seas raigne Small is the streame that parts these lands in twain T'infest great ships were for thy state more meet Or fiercely to assault some mighty fleet What praise to thee can from a drownd youth rise Each pettie lake would scorne so poore a prize 'T is true he 's high and nobly borne yet he Descends from no Vlyssian progenie Cease then save two in one for though he swim Alone yet lyes my hope my life in him Meane while my taper for by one I write Crackles a signe some prosp'rous lucke should light Forthwith my nurse wine in the fire doth power Then drinks and cryes next morn we shall be more Come through the seas and make us more by one Oh thou beloved of my heart alone Come to thy campe then that thy love dost flye In empty bed why doe I lovely lye Thou need'st not feare love aids the bold essay The sea borne Goddesse will the seas allay Oft I my selfe could ev'n attempt the sea But that these waves mens friends not womens be Elle why when Phryxus first did passe the same Did Hâ—lle onely give the flood a name Perhaps your strength for to returne you feare And that you scarce the double taske should beare In mid-sea then let us together meet And with sweet kisses there each other greet That done turne backe againe though this be small Yet is it better farre then nought at all Would God our bashfull shame or tim'rous loue Might yeeld to some and knowne and open prove Ill joyn'd in us is love with shame 'twixt these My choise I doubt this seemely that doth please As soone as Iason reacht the Colchian shore Away with him the Phasiâ—n Dame he bore No sooner Paris Lacedaemon eyes But he returnes blest with his beauteous prize Oft as thou comst as oft thou leau'st thy love Behind and swimm'st when ships can hardly move But yet thou victor of the seas so care So scorne its rage as scorning still to feare Oft well wrought vessells in the flood doe saile And think'st thine arms can past their oares prevail Where thou desir'st stout seamen feare to tend In such attempts wrackt ships have found their end I would not yet perswade what I advise And may thy courage 'bove my counsels rise So thou in satetie come and on my breast At last thy wave dividing armes dost rest Yet still as I convert mine eyes to seas A chilling cold my daunted heart doth seaze No lesse I me troubled with my dreame last night Though expiated since with sacred rite In dawne of day my Taper almost out A time whe dreames are most devoyd of doubt From out my fingers fell my twisted thread And tow'rds my pillow I enclyn'd my head When straight me thought I really did see A Dol hin swimming in the windy sea Whom when the waves on soking sands had tost At once the wretch both life and water lost It s meaning much I dread scorne not my dreames Nor doe thou venter save in quiet streames If not thy selfe at least yet pitty me Whose onely well fare is deriv ' from thee There 's hope e're long 't will prove a peacefull tide Then thou the waves with earnest breast divide Meane time cause seas doe hinder thee thy way Let these my lines asswage thy lingring stay THE ARGVMENT OF Acontius his Epistle to Cydippe AContius hapning to be present at the sacrifice of Diana in Delos to whose Temple many virgins did resort amongst the rest espies and was surprized with the love of Cydippe a damsell of noble parentage But considering the disparitie of his birth durst not adventure openly to wooe her Wherefore on a faire and goodly apple he writes his device and subtilly entraps her in this rime By Dian's mysticke rites I vow to thee That I thy consort and thy spouse will be The fruit he trolls unto her Cydippe takes it up and reads and unawares bet othes her selfe unto him For what vowes soever were made in the presence of Diana were to be observed and not revoked Her father after this ignorant of his daughters contract promiseth her in marriage to another Meane while Cydippe is taken with a violent Feaver Acontius layes hold on the occasion and labours to induce in her a beliefe that this sicknesse was inflicted on her by Diana for delaying to fulfill her promise And sirives to render him to whom her fâ—ther had affy'd her od ous in her thoughts by perswading her shâ—e could by no meanes attaine her health unlesse shâ— utterly reject him FEare not no more thou to thy love shalt sweare 'T's enough for me that you once promis'd were Peruse my lines so from thy limbs may part That paine made mine by thy induring smart Why blush you for I deeme a crimson staine Now dyes your cheekes as carst in Dians fane Wedlocke and plighted faith no crimes I move Nor as adultrer but just spouse I love Call but to minde the words ingrav'd that stand I' th' fruit by me throwne to thy virgin-hand There thou shalt finde thy promise to my plea Except with words thy faith forgotten be And that I fear'd Dians incenst yet thou And not the goddesse should'st have mark't thy vow Nay now the like I feare but more for loe Through lingring stay thy flames augmented grow So doth my love which never yet was small Fed by the hopes thou gav'st and time withall Thou gav'st me hope my love gave faith to thee Thou canst not Dian witnesse this denie She present was and noted every word And with mov'd tresse did her assent affoord So then report thou wert by fraud betrayd Whil'st love the cause of my deceit be sayd What drift had I save to be joyn'd with thee This thou do'st blame may our attonement bee Nor nature me nor art hath subtile made Trust me fair soul thou taughtst me first this trade If ought our art ingenuous love not I Prevaild and did the knot so firmly tie He the words prompted I the charme did frame And crafty through consulted love became Be I term'd subtile and this deed beare stile Of craft if what we love to winne be guile Behold againe I send intreaties write Complaine againe here
this man doe disagree Whom savage beasts whom Stheneleâ—an foe Nor Iuno could o'recome doth love o'rethrow Yet am I thought well match't ' cause Iove to mee 's Father in law and husband Hercules As different Steeres to draw do ill accord So a mean wife joyn'd to a greater Lord. No honour but a burthen 't is to me If well thou 'lt match match in thine owne degree To me my spouse a stranger is wilde beasts And monsters he with daily force infests Whilst I am busied with chaste prayers at home Lest by his direfull foes he be o'recome ' Mongst Serpents Boares and Lyons angry pawes I 'me tost on him me thinks dogges feast their jawes Beasts intrailes idle dreames of carefull night And ominous fancies doe my mind affright Each flickering breath of fame I catch at feare And hope like rule like sway in me doe beare Thy mother 's absent and lamenteth now She pleas'd a God thy Sire and Hyllus too Eurâ—stheus that fell Iuno's wrath doth move Enough I feele too long her ire doth prove But this is small strange love thou add'st to these By thee each one may mother be that please Not Auge in Parthenian vale defil'd Nor the base births of Astydamia milde Will I relate nor the Teuthrantian Quire Of which from thee none did a mayd retire That recent crime doth me the most upbraid By which to Lynus I am step-dame made Meander that in one redoubled course So often flowes and rowles his wheeling sourse Hath seene about thy neck a golden chaine That once did heavens faire starry vault sustaine Ah! didst not shame about thine armes t' enfold Rich bracelets set with glittring gemmes gold Those armes by which the Nemaean Lion dy'd Whose bristled skin in triumph grac'd thy side Dar'st thou more worthy farre of Poplar twine With a quaint tire crowne those harsh hairs of thine Didst thou not blush when in effeminate guise Meonian zone did thy vast wast comprize Thou thoughtst not sure of Diomedes then Who fed his pampred Steeds with flesh of men So drest had thee the fell Busiris seene He would have scorn'd by thee t' have conquerd been Let bold Antaeus loose those am'rous bands Lest he too grieve t' have fal'n by womanish hands 'T is sayd thou ' mongst Ionian maids didst set And balely spin fearing thy mistresse threat Nor dost refraine t' apply thy conquering hand To Osier maunds and like a Spinstresse stand Grosse threads thou draw'st with thy unweldy thumb And yield'st thy faire fac'd dame thy daily summe How oft hast thou through boistrous fingers stroke Thy course-spun-threads nay ev'n thy spindle broke And then for feare of rod and mistresse too Layd prostrate at her feet for mercie sue Besides which most of all thy glory soyles Thou brag'st and boast'st of thy triumphant spoyles How in thy render yeares with generous spright Thou overcam'st two horrid snakes in fight And the Tegaean Bore that wrought such ills On Cypresse-bearing Erimonthus hills Nor spar'â—st tâ—ou Diomedes doore nayld head Nor Steeds with humane flesh dire dainties fed The triform'd Geryon Natures prodigie Large heards possessing doth thy tale supply Nor silent lies the triple-headed hound Whose ugly jawes black hissing snakes surround The fertile serpent she whose num'rous store Encreast and still grew rich by being poore Antaeus with torne jawes the pond'rous weight Of thy broad side thou doest at large relate And troopes ill trusting to their double force Which thou o're steep â—hessalian hills didst course â—nd couldst thou clad in soft Sydonian vaile Tell these and shame not cause thy tongue to faile Whilst with thine armes the Jardan nymph adornes Her selfe anâ— makes them trophies of thy scornes Goe now and blaze thy facts thy glory scan 'T is she that 's now become the abler man To whom so sarre inferiour thou art growne As thou' rt more great than those thou hast o'rethrown To her thy fame worth actions for feit are Give way for shee 's thy prayses lawfull heire Oh shame thy harsh and shaggy Lions hide Now vailes a womans smooth and nicer side Thou art deceiv'd those spoyles no Lions bee But thine the beast thou over cam'st she thee Nay she that scarce could distaffe rule before Now beares thy shafts dipt in Lernaean gore Teaching her hands to wield thy club grown bold And in her glasse doth thy fam'd Armes behold All this I heard yet scarce did credit fame Till through mine ears slie griefe my heart o'recame But now mine eyes the harlot have espy'd And such my griefe is I no more can hide Nor her conceal'st thou from me but iâ— spight Bring'st through the Citie to upbraid my sight Not with loose haires beneath a captives fate By her vaild face confessing her estate But most conspicuous in embroidered gold In such as Phrygia once did thee behold And lookes so stately on the following traine As though the raz'd Oechdlia stood againe Perhaps poore me divorc't thou meanst that she A harlots name layd by thy wife shall bee And guilty Hymen shall the hands combine Of Eurytaean Iöle with thine My mind 's astonisht at the ominous ill My hands faint cold doth all my members fill Yet once and with chast fires thou me didst love And in my cause didst twice thy courage prove Achelous sad his fronts rent ruines bore And shrunk his maim'd brow 'twixt the reedy shore The Contaure Nessus by thy shafts was slaine And with his crimson gore the streams did staine But wretchl what write I â— Fame report hath spred The shirt I sent thee hath thy torment bred Ah me what hath my rash love forc'd me try Why impious Deianeira doubt'st to dye Shall flames thy husbands flesh on Oeta rive And thou the cause of such an ill survive What shall I doe that to the world may prove I was thy wife my death shall shew my love And thou deare brother shalt in me descry A sister Deianeira straightway dye Oh cursed house the kingdome Agrius holds Deserted Oeneus feeble age enfolds One brother banisht strayes in forraigne land Th' other dy'd living in his fatall brand My mother fell by direfull steele then why O impious Deianeira doubt'st to dye Yet by our nuptiall rites I thee require Not to surmise I did thy death conspire For when thy shafts had pierc't the Centaures breast This bloud sayth he is with loves power possest A shirt I sent dipt in the poysonous dye Why impious Deianeira doubt'st to dye And now my Father Gorge and native soyle Deare brother banisht into sad exile And thou the latter light mine eyes shall view My spouse oh that thou wert and child adiew THE ARGVMENT OF ARIADNE'S Epistle to THESEVS MInos King of Creet having by sharpe warre revenged the death of his sonne Androgeus murthered by the Athenians enforc't them yet as tribute to send him every ninth yeare seven youths and as many virgines which be cast into the Labyrinth to be devoured of the Minotaur The lot at length
Small space will serve to waft me to thy shore Once there let winter to the utmost â—ore A fitting harbour for my keele lies there Nor can my barke ride safer any where Let Boreas keepe me I shall love my stay Fearfull to stirre and slow to goe away Nor rayle ' gainst deafer waves nor yet laments Seas are not pliant to a swimmers bent Let winds detaine me and thy tender armes And may I be with-held with double charmes When stormes shall cease I meane to trie my skill Be sure my deare thy light be ready still Meane time for me lodge these my lines with you Which heavens vouchsafe I nay with speed pursue THE ARGVMENT OF HERO'S Epistle to LEANDER HEro having received the Epistle of her amorous Leander re-answers it with tearmes of mutuall affection desires his company exclaimes against the seas is zealous of his slay rejects that conceit tells him her dreame And lastly admonisheth him not to come except in a peacefull and a gentle tide THe health thou send'st in words that I indeed May have Leander come thy selfe with speed All stayes are irksome that my joyes remove Pardon me pray I doe not slightly love Our flames are equall but farre short of thee Am I in strength mens sp'rits the ablest bee As maids limbs so their minds are weak and faint I dye except thou come without rostraint You men in various pastimes time may spend Your minds to tillage or to hunting bend Sometimes i' th Court now in the cirque againe Or with your nimble Coursers scoure the plaine Now birds with nets now fish deceive with line Or wash away the tedious houres with wine Though lesse myflames these sports I could not prove Nought rests for me to doe but onely love And that I doe and with more carnest might Than thou 'lt believe I can my sole delight Or with my nurse I sit and talke of thee And wonder what thy cause of stay should bee Or seeing winds to swell the justling tide In thine owne tearmes the spitefull waves I chide Or when th' enraged seas more calme become I say thou mayst but yet thou wilt not come Whilst thus I wail salt tears do drowne mine eyes Which with her trembling hand my old nurse dries Oft search I if on shore thy steps appeare As though the sands could still th'impressions beare Oft I enquire that I thy health may know Who from Abydos comes or who doth goe What need I tell how oft I kissed o're The cloathes thou lefts behinde thee on the shore Day past and nights more friendly houre drawn nye When glitting starres have spangled all the skye On my towres top a watchfull torch I place The signe that guides thee in thy wonted race Then slender threads with thirled spindle weave And by that womanish art slow time deceave Ask'st what my talke in all this space may be My whole discourse is onely fram'd of thee Nurse dost thou think my joy 's come forth of dore Doe any watch him and he feare the more Say are his garments off doth he annoynt As yet with subtile oyle each curious joynt When straight she nods not that she minds my love But sleepe alas her aged head doth move Then by and by alowd I cry now now He swims and 's armes doth midst the billowes throw And ere a thread or two I scarce have spun Fain would I know if halfe thy course were done Then looke I forth againe and softly pray That prosprous gales may give thee easie way Sometimes a voice we heare and thinke all bee The noyses that forerunne th'approach of thee Thus when the nights most it kesome space is past Slye sleepe invades my wearyed eyes at last Then though unwilling here thou sleep'st with me Present although thou would'st not present be Sometimes me thinks I see thee swimming nye Then that thine armes upon my shoulders lye Now for to cloath thy limbes with waves opprest Or hug thee laid upon my warmer breast Much more beside which I forbeare to tell I shame to speak 't though done they lik'd me well Oh! yet these joyes but transitory be For still with sleepe thou fliest away from me Let us at length our selves more firmely chaine And let our joyes be reall and not vaine Why have I past so oft the widdowed night Why slow so long art absent from my sight 'T is true the seas are rough and boistrous now But yet last night farre gentler gales did blow Why letst that slip why fear'dst not future doome Why lost so good a meanes and thou not come Though straight thou meeâ—'st as fit a time to passe Yeâ— ' cause 't was sooner that the better was Seas fickle state is changed in an houre A willing hast will quickly waft thee o're Once here thou shalt not need to grieve I trowe Lockt in mine armes no stormes shall worke thy wo Then I with joy should heare the winds and then Wish seas might never more be calme againe But whence pray comes it that the seas you feare Now which once scorned and contemned were For well I mind when first to me you came The streame was neare as rough as is this same When I cry'd out doe not so desperate be Least that thy courage be bewayld by me Whence springs this feare-where are thy bold thoughts fled Where he that not a thousand seas did dread Yet still be thus then desprate as before And stay till thou mayst safely reach the shore So thou 't the same and as thou writ'st dost love And so thy flames doe no cold embers prove Yet not so much the hindring winds I feare As least thy love like to the winds should erre Or east thou thinke thy danger passe the gaine Or me too small a purchase for thy paine Oft I my Country doubt or least there be Too great an ods betwixt thy selfe and me Yet could I well beare this so thou incline To no base love with any concubine So no strange armes thy softer necke enfold Nor new found love prescribe an end to old First let me dye then by such base wounds bleed And may my fate out-strip so foule a deed Not that thy selfe or any new sprung fame Hath giv'n me cause of griefe I writ this same But cause I feare who ere secure did love The place the absent oft to feare doth move Thrice happy they who present doe enjoy And know their crimes whom false ones not annoy As well forg'd crimes as true my minde doe strike Error and feare in me cause griefes alike Oh that thou ld'st come or winds or father may No woman be the cause of this thy stay Which should I heare my death from griefe would grow And much thou'lt sinne if thou shouldst kill me so But thou wilt not and all in vaine I feare Fierce winter is the cause thou com'st not here Ah! how the shores with batt'ring waves resound Dayes light within a watry cloud yes drownd Sure good Nephele Helles
seest thy vote doth want no verses ayd Whence comes this grace unlesse some lines by thee Late from'd have caught the Gods as well as mee Since then the Gods thou 'st tane I them insue And willing yield my conquered selfe thy due My heedlesse vow I to my mother shew'd Who much perplext with eyes dejected stood The rest care thou for I have done I feaâ—e In writing thus more then a maid should dare Enough my limbs are tyr'd with this my quill And my sicke hand no farther duty will What save my longing love with thee to dwell Rests there for me to write but bid farewell THE ARGVMENT OF SAPPHO'S Epistle unto PHAO PHaon a Lesbian youth of an exquisite and admirable feature had allured the eyes and hearts of most of the women in Mitylen amongst which none affected him with such a desperate love as Sapho a famous Poetresse who lived about the time of Tarquinius Priscus admired even by Plato himselfe for her excellent numbers Phao hapneth to sayle into Sicilie at whose departure the loveenrag'd Sappho becomes almost distract deeming herselfe to be disdained by him she resolves to cast herselfe from Leucate a promontorâ—e of Epirus into the sea and so to extinguish her hopelesse flâ—mes Yet before she did attempt it she thought good to write unto him and strives by all the means her wit could suggest unto her to recall him back againe she layes open her griefes relates their former pleasures and lastly desires him if he be resolved to forsake his Sappho at least by his cruell letter to make knowne his mind unto her SOone as thou saw'st my letter didst thou know If 't were my right hands character or no Or if the authours name thou hadst not seen Couldst not have told whence this short worke had been Perhaps thou'lt muse why in this sadder verse I write since I in Lyricke aires converse My love is to be wept no Barbit straines Suit with my teares but Elegies soft vaines Like to a field whose dried corne on fire The East wind fannes I burne with hot desire Typhaean Aetna now detaineth thee Yet grent as Aetna's flames remains with mee No verse that I to well disposed strings May set the work of care freed thoughts there springs Nor Dryad's nor Pyerian mayds now me At all delight nor once lov'd Lesbian fry Vile's Amython vile Cydno too the white Vile Althis once most gratefull in my sight And hundreds more with whom my sins are knowne Thou wretch of all partak'st the love alone Thou hast a face and yeares too fit for play Oh treacherous face that stol'st mine eyes away Take Harp and Bow and thou'lt Apollo bee Take hornes and Bacchus will be like to thee Phoebus lov'd Daphne Bacchus Gnossis too Yet neither she nor she sweet Lyricks knew But me the Muses smooth vain'd numbers teach And my name 's sung farre as the world doth reach Nor winnes Alceus fellow both of Lyre And countrey more though in his subject higher Though nature hath deny'd me beauty yet My want of beauty I repay with wit I am but low but my fam'd name and skill Are tall and doe the worlds vaste regions fill And though not faire Andromeda 't is knowne Did please her Perseus yet a tawny browne Oft Doves doe joyne with birds of diffrent hue And the gay Iay doth the black Turtle wooe If save thy like thou thinkst none worthy thee None such alas none such shall ever bee Yet when thou readst my lines I then seem'd faire And none like me became my words wouldst sweare And whilst I sung we lovers all things mind Thou on my lips didst am'rous kisses bind Both them and each part else did please thee well But chiefly when to loves choyce sports we fell My wantonnesse did much increase thy joy My nimble motion and words apt for toy And that sweet languor in the which I lay When we had acted our delicious play Sicilian maids are now thy prey I see Lesbos adiew I l'e be of Sicilie You Nisean dames faire daughters that excell The wandring youth from out your bounds expell Nor let his lies beguile your faiths my cares Have oft heard that which now to you he sweares And thou who celebrat'st Sicanâ—an hills Bright Erycine redresse thy Poets ills Will Fortune still be cruell and hold on In that harsh course to me she hath begun My tender youth had scarcely seen sixe yeares E're I my parents bones embalm'd with teares My needie brother with a strumpets love O'recome base losse with baser shame doth prove Turn'd Pyrat plowes with oares and sayls the maine And ill-lost goods as badly seekes againe Who cause I blam'd the wretched course he runne Now hates me this the thankes my freenesse wonne And least my woes might some appeasement finde My wanton daughter wounds with cares my minde Thou art the last cause of my plaints with gales Contrarie still m' unhappy vessell sailes Behold my once kemb'd tresses rudely plac'd Nor are my fingers with bright Iewells grac'd My garments vile no gold adornes my haires Nor doe my lockes smell of Arabian teares Whom should I strive to please now in distresse Since he 's away who caus'd my neater dresse My tender breast each gentle dart doth wound And that I still love still some cause is found The fatall Sisters sure at first decreed To spin my life forth with so crosse a thread Or else my studies doe the course maintaine And soft Thalia rules my love sick braine Nor marvell if a smooth-chind youth doth move My heart and yeares that man in man might love Oft fear'd I lest Aurora thee should ceaze Who had but that 't would her first love displease Should Phoebe that sees all things thee but spy Phaön in long liv'd slumbers cast should lye Venus to heaven had carried thee but she Nor without cause fear'd Mars might dote on thee Oh! thou nor boy nor yet full man lifes prime Oh! thou sole grace and glory of thy time Into my bosome come ' las I of thee Love begge not but that thou 'lt be Iov'd by me Whilst thus I write teares from my eye springs raine Do thou behold how they my letter staine If thou must needs have gone yet 't had been well Hadst thou but sayd deare Lesbian maid farewell But thou took'st with thee nor my kisse nor teare Little fear'd I the griefe that now I beare Save wrong I nothing have of thine nor move Thou weigh'st them not the pledges of my love No charge I gave thee when thou wentst away Nor would but such Remember me I pray By love that never quits this breast of mine I sweare and by the thrice-three maids divine That when they told me thou wert gone away Nor teares to shed nor words I had to say Mine eyes were dry'd tongue dumb through cares distraught And feares my breast with chilling cold was fraught My griefes asswag'd yet did I not forbeare To beat my breast and waile with