Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	woe_n	year_n	young_a	12	3	6.2703	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A16255	Amorous Fiammetta VVherein is sette downe a catologue [sic] of all an singuler passions of loue and iealosie, incident to an enamored yong gentlewoman, with a notable caueat for all women to eschewe deceitfull and wicked loue, by an apparant example of a Neapolitan lady, her approued & long miseries, and wyth many sounde dehortations from the same. First wrytten in Italian by Master Iohn Boccace, the learned Florentine, and poet laureat. And now done into English by B. Giouano del M. Temp. With notes in the margine, and with a table in the ende of the cheefest matters contayned in it.; Fiammetta. English	Boccaccio, Giovanni, 1313-1375.; Yong, Bartholomew, 1560-1621?	1587 (1587)	STC 3179; ESTC S102851	186,424	264

it whom I knowe by my owne selfe naturally inclined to commiseration of my misfortunes You shall not in reading of it finde any Grecian fables depainted and set foorth with plausible lies nor Troian warres foule and lothsome by deadly goare but Amorous battailes procured and maintained by innumerable pricking desires in the which shal be presented beéfore your eyes the miserable teares the ouerwhelming and burning sighes the dolefull complaintes and the boysterous and tempestuous thoughtes which continuall stinges pearcing my troubled soule haue taken from me my woonted appetite depriued me of my swéete sléepe exiled my ioyfull times and O death to my remembraunce despoyled me of my péerelesse and déerest beautie All which thinges if you wyll euery one by her selfe or else altogether with that pittifull heart behold which for the most part all women haue then assuredly I perswad my selfe that you will bath your delicate chéekes with streames of gushing teares which are to me a material cause and chéefe occasion dispairing of all hope and comfort to come of perpetuall anguish and gréefe of minde I pray you therefore tender harted Ladies and gentlewomen not to withhold them but let them issue from their forced fountaines thinking with your selues that if your fortunes which are not very stedfast and sure should chaunce which the Gods forbid to be semblable to mine how déere and grateful a thing should it be to you if in lue of your lamentations and for your hard happes I should power forth some teares againe But because the time spent more in wordes then wailinges may not slide away I will force my selfe breefely to come to the performaunce of my promisse beginning fyrst with my happy and stedfast looue because deducing in argument from that former felicitie to this present state and condition of life you may both knowe and call me the most vnfortunate woman that liues And from thence I will as well as I can with a ruthfull and deploring stile prosecute these vnluckie accidentes which not causelesse make me so gréeuously moane aad lament But first if miserable soules are heard wretched woman as I am bathed in my owne teares I doo implore some heauenly deitie if any there be whose holy minde mooued with pitty of my distressed fare to helpe my dolefull memory and to directe my trembling hand in this present worke and being oppressed to adde such force and vigour to them againe that what anguishe and bitter gréefes I haue sustained and doo yet féele in my tormented minde euen such the one recording the wordes and stratagēs and the other more willing then able to such an office may fullie and wholy write them downe The first Booke of Boccace his Fiammetta IN the time when the reuested earth doth shew it selfe more pleasant and fayrer then in any other season of the yéere borne of most noble parents and receiued heere of bountifull and fauourable Fortune I came into thys Worlde Accursed bée that day and hated of me more then any other in the which I first enioyed this common light Howe happy had I béene alas if I had neuer béene borne or if I had at the time of my vnfortunate byrth béene carryed to my graue or had not breathed anie longer time then the téeth sowne of Cadmus or els The menne borne that were sowne of Cadmus teeth lyued but a day if Lachesis at one and selfe same howre had begunne and cut in too her vitall thredde because then in that small time of life these infinite woes which are nowe a sorrowfull occasion to putte my penne to Paper shoulde wyth the same haue béene concluded But what dooth it nowe auayle for these causes to lament For héere I am neuerthelesse by the generall decrées and pleasures of the Goddes Béeing receiued then as I haue sayde in most hygh delights and nourished onelie amongst them and in my yong and tender yéeres brought vppe vnder a reuerend and sage Matrone I easilie learned euerie good qualitie which was most conuenient and commendable for anie yong and noble Woman And as my personage did wyth passed yéeres encrease so were my beauties also multiplied which were the onely and especiall occasions of all my sorrowes and infinite gréefes Alas although I was yet but a little one how great lie did I glory with my selfe in hearing my commendations in euery ones mouth and did therefore with arte and industrie dailie studie to make them more perfect and curions But arriued nowe from my childhoode to a more full and ryper age and conceauing by the instincts of nature with what burning desires amorous yong Gentlewomen may entice yong and wanton youthes I perceiued that my surpassing beautie Beauty hurt full to her that hath it a myserable gift to her who loues to leade a vertuous life did not onelie incende most of al those yong Gentlemen who liued at the time in florishing youthe like my selfe but manie other noble menne with a feruent and amorous fire who infinite times with diuers dryfts manie meanes and sundry slights vnknowne to mee as then did attempt to kindle mee with that fire wherewith they themselues did burne and that it should not then onely scorche mee but in processe of time in long and lingering flames vtterlie consume mée And of manie with earnest sute as well to my Parents as especiallie to mée I was requested in marriage But after that one among all the rest a most absolute in my opinion and perfect Gentleman had wonne that prize for which they striued all the importunous and troublesome route of wooers béeing nowe past all hope did cease to sullicite mée anie more with their cunning and dailie pursutes Wherefore remaining in iust content with my louing Husbande I liued a most happy ioyfull Woman vntill furious Loue with a secrete kinde of vnknowne fire and neuer felt of mée before entred into my tender and yong breast Alas there was not anie thing that might sa●is-fye either my desire or any Womans els which presently I had not for my pleasure and cōtentation I was the onelie ioy and singuler felicitie of my yong Husbande and as hee was truely beloued of mee so did hee equally and greatlie loue me againe O how happy might I haue thought my selfe aboue all other Women if this newe loue had for euer continued inuiolated in my hart Lyuing therefore in great happinesse and spending my youthfull yéeres in daylie sports and ioyfull feastes false Fortune the suddaine chaunger of worldly things and most enuious of the selfe same goods that she had earst bestowed on me purposing nowe to withdrawe her hande and not knowing by what meanes to spett forth her venome with subtile and Sophisticall arguments made an aduerse way leading to the Dungion of sorrowe open to mine eyes And truely by no other meanes but by those by which fonde Loue entred into my hart shee could entrap me or vse her force at all but the Gods fauorable to me and carefull of my affayres

a hote and burning passion wherevpon the foresayde forces returning to their places againe brought with them a certaine heate which driuing all palenes quite away paynted my face like the vermillion Rose and made me burne as hote as fire And yet beholding from whence all this dydde procéede I could not but breathe out a sorrowfull sigh And from that howre forwarde my thoughtes were occupyed in nothing els but meditating of his braue personage and apparant vertues and especially in imagining howe to please him In all these intercourses without chaunging of place or countenaunce he did most priuilie steale now then a looke at me againe And peraduenture as one who hadde béene a tryed Souldiour in other amorous battailes and knowing with what Engines his wyshed praye might best be taken wyth arguments of greater humilitie continually he shewed himselfe more pittifull and full of amorous desires Alas how much deceite was hydden vnder the vaile of that pietie which according as the present effects doo testifie béeing nowe mortified in his hart where it neuer reuiued againe bare onely but an outward show and vysard of loue And because I may prosecute euery thing action in perticuler whereof there was not any which was not fraught with rare fraude and cunning guile whither it was he that voluntarily did worke it or my vnlucky stars that would haue it so thus it fell out that wanting the due skyl exactly to shew you how I found my selfe entangled wyth suddaine and vnlooked for loue as at this present I am not frée from the same Thys therefore was he most pittifull Ladyes whom my conquered hart wyth a foolish conceite amongst so manie noble beautifull and valiant yong Gentlemen that were not onely there present but also in all my Parthenope dyd choose to be the first Naples the onely and last Lorde and maister of my life This was he whom I loued and do loue styll more then anie one in all the worlde besides Thys was hee who was the beginning and principall occasion of all my woes and shal be as I hope the finall cause of my tragicall death at laste Thys was that day in the which first of a most frée and happy Lady I became a most miserable vnhappy captiue Thys was that day in the which I did first apprehende the miserable effects of foolish loue neuer knowne of me before This was that day wherin venereous venoms contaminated first my pure and chaste breaste Alas poore wretch how manie sorrowes and what misery came thys day into the world to thée by thine owne default Howe far alas should annoy and griefe haue béene from me yf thys day had béene turned into darknes and howe great an enemie was this day to my vnstayned honor But euill things alas which are committed and past All things which are doone may be sooner controlled then remedied may be easier reprehended then amended I was therefore taken as I haue sayde and whither it was some infernall furie or enuious fortune which did so emulate my chast felicitie laying snares to entrappe mee may thys day wyth hope of infallible victory tryumph and reioyce in my miserable fall Béeing therefore possessed nay rather oppressed with new kinds of passions as one astonied and like a sencelesse Woman I satte amongst the other Ladyes and Gentlewomen And troubled thus in mind I did neglect the sacred and diuine seruice which as I did scarcely heare so dyd I not vnderstande it at all and thought the sundry speeches and discourses of Gentlewomen that satte round about me but a kind of buzzing and murmuring in my troubled eares And so this newe and vnexpected loue did take suddaine possession of my tender hart so that eyther wyth myne eyes or with my thoughtes I was euer contemplating on my beloued yong Gentleman And yet my simplicitie was such that I did not almost then know what ende I might wysh or desire of such a straunge and feruent passion How many times alas coueting to haue séene him approche néere vnto mee did I blame his staying behind al the rest of the Gentlemen thinking wyth my selfe that that was but a colde kinde of affection in him which he did perhaps craftilie vse and for a pollicie to make mee more desirous to looke on hym and in looking to loue him more And moreouer the companie of lustie youthes that stoode before hym did greatly hinder my sight of whom whilst that I busied myne eyes in looking sometimes amongst thē there were not a fewe that thinking that for theyr sakes I looked so much towards them did vainely perhappes beléeue that I did it for loue of them But while my thoughts and sences were occupyed in these fancyes the sollemne seruice was finished and the Ladyes and the rest of my companions were risen vp to depart when I recalling my wits together which went wandring about the swéete imagination and figure of theyr onely obiect at the last I beheld my louelie yong Gentleman againe And now my selfe risen vp with the other Gentlewomen ready to be gone and turning mine eyes towardes him I perceiued that by his pittifull lokes which I had thought to haue preuented by mine that his departure and mine didde greatlie gréeue him But notwithstanding after certaine secrete sighes and yet ignorant of what parentage estate and condition hee was I went away Alas gentle Ladies who would beléeue it possible that ones hart in a moment and point of time shoulde alter and chaunge so much Who would say that a man neuer séene before might be so extreamelie loued at the first sight And who would thinke that the desire of séeing should bee so feruentlie kindled in ones breast as the very sight it selfe and béeing depriued of that to féele the greatest paine in the world for desire to sée the same thing againe Who would imagin that all those things that haue béene so ioyfull and delightful to vs before in respect of a newe thing come in place should not yéelde anie more pleasure at all Not any one truely vnlesse he had prooued and felt them as I doo nowe Alas that loue is not onelie content to vse such a strange and too seuere kinde of crueltie towardes mee Howe loue is engēdred in diuers parts and soules of the body successiuely but in subduing mee to his might to prescribe new Lawes cléene variant from others I haue oftentimes hearde that loue in others at his first entrance is but light but by nourished thoughtes augmenting his force is made greater But so it fared not with mee for he entred into my heart wyth that same force wherwith hée continued euer afterwardes as one who at the verye firste assault had most entyre and frée possession of me And lyke as the gréene wood which is hardly at the first sette on fire and doth lie a long time before it receiueth flames but after it is once kindled with greater heate dooth conserue the fire longer euen so it happened

vnto me who with this kynd of pleasing passion neuer ouercome of any before though attempted of many and at the last conquered of one haue burned and kept as yet I doo more sensibly these new flames that haue taken more hold of mee then euer they did of anie other who before haue assayed the like But leauing aside many thoughts which with diuers accidents that morning turmoyled my troubled mind and besides these which nowe I haue told I say that béeing incended with a newe furie with my captiuated and bonde soule I returned againe thither from whence not long since I had brought it frée Where afterwardes that I was nowe come into my Chamber all alone kindled with variety of burning desires surcharged with new thoughts and pricked with a thousand stinging cares terminating euerie ende of them in the imagined apprehension of my yong Gentleman I thought that if I coulde not weane my selfe from this newe loue at the least in my secret and sorrowfull breast wisely to haue nourished and gouerned the same and warilie to haue brought it to some good effect Which things howe difficult they are to performe none can tell vnlesse they proue them vndoubtedlie beléeuing that they doo no lesse harme then loue it selfe Wherefore confirmed as it were in this opinion I saide thus to my selfe Alas thou art in loue poore soule and yet thou doost not know with whom What kinds of cruell thoughts and howe many carefull cogitations were engendred of this loue it shoulde be too tedious for you daintie Ladies to heare and to gréeuous for me to tell But yet though forcing my selfe thereunto to obtayne the more pittie at your handes and some comfort thereby I meane to vnfolde some of them vnto you I say therefore that carelesse of all other thinges to spende the time in thinking of my beloued and amiable yong Gentlemanne was only most deare and pleasant vnto me And imagining with my selfe that perseuering in this that which I did intend to conceale might perhaps haue easily béene presumed I oftentimes found fault with my selfe for it But what did it helpe My owne reprehensions gaue place to my desires and like words of light worth passed away with the ayre I chiefely desired manie daies together to knowe what my beloued youth was to the vnderstandinge of which thing newe thoughts made me an open way by meanes of which most warily and priuilie I knewe it and whereof I remained not a little contented My goodly ornaments likewyse which as one that little néede them were not before thys time so much in request with me began now to be greatlie liked of me thinking that béeing adorned with thē I myght please the more Wherefore I estéemed nowe more of gorgious apparrell gold pearles and other precious stones and gemmes then euer I did before And I who vntil this time had frequented the holy Temples Feastes Sea banks and pleasant Gardens without any further intent or desire thē to kéepe other Gentlewomen and Ladyes company began altered now in mind for new purposes to resorte more often to the foresaid places thinking that there I might with pleasure not onely beholde but with delight and desire bee séene againe But the great affiaunce truely which I was wont to haue in my beautie forsooke me nowe quite wherefore I neuer went out of my Chamber without the infallible counsell of my trustie Glasse And my cunning handes I know not by what curious instructor newly taught finding euerie day more braue and rare ornaments conioyning artificiall with naturall beautie did make mee like Venus starre shine amongst other Ladyes The great honours moreouer curtesies and obeisance which other Ladyes and Gentlewomen of theyr méere good wyls and dueties did vnto me although indéede they were incident to my nobilitye I nowe began to accept and expect as seruices duely worthily belonging to my high estate thinking that I shoulde please my louer most of all when by these meanes he didde perceiue that I was of noble byrth and lynage And that cōmon couetousnes which is naturally borne and ingraffed in all Women did worke in mee eschewing the same no other effects then to estéeme of all my riches land treasure as if they had not béene mine owne wherby I became not onelie liberall but féeling also a certaine séemelie boldnes to encrease in me made me deuoide of all womanlie and suspicious feare accounting but one thing only déerer to me now then before And besides all this my eyes which vntill this time had béen but simple and vnexpert in amorous regards chaunged their former fashions and grewe meruailous skilfull in performing their parts And I discouered moreouer in me diuers other mutations all which by one and one I care not to set downe because first it would bée too long a labour and secondlie because I beléeue that you faire Ladyes enamored perhaps like my selfe are not ignorant how great and manie those are which accompany louers in like causes The yong Gentleman was most warie and wise as manie times by experience I was sufficiently thereof acertayned Hee came but seldome times and that in moste honest and séemely sort where I was and hauing as it séemed purposed the selfe same thing that I hadde doone which was to conceale altogether these amorous flames did yet with many priuie and stealing lookes not a fewe times pittifully beholde me He did therfore make those kindled flames in me more feruent and liuelie and reuiued those againe yf anie they were that were spent and quite consumed in me But the beginning of all this loue was not so ioyfull and happy but the sequell and ende of it was more sorrowfull and vnfortunate at what time I remained depriued of his sight because these eyes béeing denyed their wished ioy did minister a gréeuous occasion to my poore harte of gréefe whereuppon my sighes both in quantitie and quallitie were greatly augmented And hote desire occupying almost euery least sence of myne did make me liue as one besides my selfe Diuers accidents of loue especially in a weake mind and as if I had not béene there where I was made many that sawe me to wonder often times at me attributing afterwardes infinite and feyned occasions taught mee onely of loue to such strange and vncouth accidents And besides all thys taking from mee manie times my swéete reste in the night time and appetite in the day did driue me sometimes to certayne suddaine and furious kinds of actions and transported my tongue into strange and fonde spéeches Behold how my vnaccustomed gorgious apparrell my prodigall attyre my scalding and newe sighes my vnwonted gesture franticke fits the losse of my rest quietnes and health and many other things which this newe loue brought wyth it amōgst many other Seruaunts and familiars in my house made a Nurce of mine especially to meruaile much who as shee was burdened with many yéeres so in rype wysedome and good experience shee was not yong at all And who

sometimes inuited to such feastes I haue béene drawne perforce into the company of many pleasaunt Ladies diuersly discoursing amongst themselues of amorous conceits where with willing eare harkning what issue infinite Louers haue had in theyr hote passages I easily perceiued that there was neuer any of thē tormented wyth so feruent passions as I am nor their loue besette wyth so many miseryes nor contriued with such secrecy as mine was Although that of more happy fortunate Louers and of lesse honourable loues also the number is greater In this sort therefore sometimes eying and sometimes gyuing eare to that which was doone and spoken in these places like a pensiue and sadde Woman I passed away the weary time After that the Ladies and Gentlewomen had rested themselues a prettie while it happened that many braue yonge Gentlemen rysing vppe and amongst other Gentlewomen inuited me oftentimes to daunce but as often in vain went from me againe Who remaining neuerthelesse in theyr disports with mindes frée from heauy thoughtes and high intentions some mooued with desire to shew perhappes theyr greatest cunning and others pricked on thereunto by spurs of hote and burning loue but all very curious in the same my selfe sitting by my selfe alone with a scornefull minde and coy lookes didde marke the newe fashioned trickes the gesture and behauiour of many Gentlewomen there And certes I blamed some in my minde although I greatly desired if it might haue béene to doo as they did if my Panphilus had béen present there Who as oftentimes as his déere remembraunce came to my dolefull minde so often was it sufficient matter and the onely occasion of my new melancholie and fresh sorrowes and who dooth not as the Gods know deserue the great loue which continually I haue borne and yet doo still beare him But after that wyth no small griefe I had a great while beheld these daunces which with the suddaine sursaults of other gréeuous thoughtes séeming vnpleasaunt and tedious vnto mee vrged as it were with some other busines I rose vppe moste willingly from my place and to burst a sunder my heaped and swelling sorrowes whose open and suddaine discouery I greatly feared I gotte my selfe smoothly away into a sollitary secret place Greefe is reclaymed by lamentation and there giuing full scope and leaue to my flowing teares I acquited my foolish eyes for all the vanities that they had séene with an austere and due guerdō which were not distrayned from thē without many bitter wordes kindled with burning anger but knowing also my miserable fortune to be so cruell towards me I remember that somtimes I began thus to inueye against her saying The properties of Fortune O fearefull Fortune mortall ennemie to euery happye creature and onely hope of miserable menne Thou the suddaine chaunger of kingdoms and of mundane thinges doost as a helper with one hand lift vppe and as a destroyer wyth the selfe same throwe downe againe as thy indiscréete iudgment doth direct thy inconstant will not content to be wholy any ones exalting him aloft in one thing or els in an other casting him vtterly down or after that thou hast made him happy by any lent felicitie dost heape vpon his mynde new and vncouth cares because that worldly menne liuing in continuall want and néede may according to their vaine opinion their endlesse pride implore thy helpe and adore thy deity Yet art thou still blinde and deafe disdayning to behold the manifest miseries and refusing to lysten to the complaintes of miserable creatures triumphing onely with those whome thou hast vnworthely perhaps exalted Who embracing thy fréendly fauours and honouring thée with al theyr deuotions whilest with a smiling looke and flattering promise thou art entertaining them euen on a sodaine with some vnexpected accident or other finde themselues vtterly throwen downe by thée and then though to late doo miserablie perceiue how thou hast changed thy serene smiles into froward frownes Amongst the number of which my selfe wretched woman may be put who not knowing of my owne parte any mallice wrought against thée and ignoraunt of any heynous offence and indignitie whatsoeuer perpetrated by me against thée that might reduce thée to so seuere a reuenge am most vnworthely and pittifully punished Alas whosoeuer reposeth trust in great and mightie thinges and like a puissant Prince ruleth in high and stately pallaces applying alwaies his quiet and credulous mind to ioyfull and pleasaunt obiectes Let him cast his eyes vpon me and beholde howe from a high and renowmed Lady of felicity I am nowe become a most low and wretched handmaide of fortune and which is worse then this how cruelly I am reiected and disdained of the onely lord and maister of my subiected heart Ah Fortune thou diddest neuer giue any more effectuall example of thy vnconstant mutabilitie then my selfe if that with a perfect and sound minde my first latter condition of life be wel considered I was receiued of thée fickle fortune of thée false Fortune was I receiued into this world in abundant quantitie of goods if nobilitie riches honors dignitie be any parte of them which were moreouer by thy bountifull and large handes which thou diddest neuer yet withdrawe from them daylie and copiously augmented So that in sooth like a mightie Ladie I dyd continually possesse them as mutable thinges vse them and beyonde the common course of womens couetous nature did liberally imparte them to others But being ignoraunt Fortune that thou wert also the same which with vnequall passions and carefull thoughtes dyddest surcharge the minde and not knowing that thou haddest also a great portion in looue hys Signories I fell in looue as thou wouldest and with that young Gentleman whome thou onely and none else diddest then present béefore my wretched eyes when I thought my selfe farthest from any such daunger Whome after that with strong and intricate knottes thou dyddest perceiue that he was bound in the Circle of my heart thou hast vnstable and chaunging often times sought to worke my harme and wreake thy vndeserued iniuries vppon mée sometimes disturbing our linked myndes with vayne and deceytfull imaginations yea and sometimes our eyes with pittifull and publick glaunces because our looue made manifest might bée hurtfull vnto vs. And I am certayne that many times thou hast beene euen as thou wouldest thy selfe the onely cause that many displeasaunt and discrepaunt wordes of my belooued young Gentleman haue come to my eares and hast with myne of lyke consequence filled his againe able enough being credited to haue engendred hatred and discorde and to haue hazarded a sodaine mislike but their issue and thy driftes were neuer aunswerable to thy determinations Because admitte thou doost as a Goddesse gouerne all exteriour thinges as it pleaseth these the vertues of thy minde are neuer the more subiect to thy might That which fortune cānot bring to passe by right she dooth by worng Our wisedome hath continually gonne beyond thy wilinesse in