from me as it came my eares by chaunce hearde certaine doolefull mutterings and sorrowfull bewaylings vttered forth by my best beloued Wherfore suddainly troubled in minde and my thoughts at warre within themselues for his welfare made mee almoste interrupt him wyth these words Swéete hart what doost thou ayle But countermanded by new counsell I kept them in and with a sharpe eye and subtile eares secretely beholding him turned nowe on the otherside of the bedde I lystened a good while to his sorowfull and silent words but mine eares did not apprehend anie of thē albeit I might perceiue him molested with great store of lamentable sobbes and sighes that hée cast forth and by séeing also hys breast bedewed all wyth teares What words alas canne sufficiently expresse wyth howe manie cares my poore soule all thys while beeing ignoraunt of the cause was afflicted A thousand thoughts in one moment did violentlie runne vppe and downe in my doubtfull mynde méeting all at the laste and concludinge in one thing which was that hee louing some other Woman remained wyth me héere and in this sorte against hys wyll My words were very often at the brinck of my mouth to examine the cause of his greefe but doubting least hee lamenting in this sorte and béeing suddainly espied and interrupted of me he might not bee greatly abashed thereat they retyred back and went downe again and oftentimes likewise I turned away mine eies from beholding him because least the hote teares distilling from them and falling vppon him might haue giuen him occasion and matter to knowe that I perceiued his wofull plight Oh how many impatient meanes did I imagine to practise because that he awaking me might coniecture that I hadde neither hearde his sighes nor séene his teares and yet agréed to none at all But ouercome at the last with eager desire to knowe the occasion of his complaint because hee shoulde turne him towards mee as those who in their déepest sléepe terryfied by dreaming of some great fall wylde beast or of some ghastlie thing giue a suddaine start and in most fearefull wise rouse vppe themselues affrighted out of theyr sléepe and wyttes at once euen so wyth a suddayne and timorous voice I skriked and lifting vppe my selfe I violently caste one of my armes ouer his shoulders And truly my deceit deceiued me not because closely wyping away his teares with infinite though counterfet ioy he quickly turned towardes mée againe and with a pittifull voice sayd My fayrest and swéetest soule of what wert thou afraid Whō without delay I answered thus My Loue I thought I had lost thée My words alas I knowe not by what spyrite vttered forth were most true presagers and foretellers of my future losse as nowe to true I find it But he replyed O déerest déere not hatefull death nor anie aduerse chaunce of vnstable Fortune whatsoeuer can worke such operations in my firme breast that thou my onlie ioy shalt leese me for euer And incontinently a greate and profound sighe folowed these pittiful words the cause of which not so soone demaunded of mee who was also moste desirous to knowe the ofspring of his first lamentations but sodainely two streames of teares from both his eyes as from two fountaines beganne to gushe out amaine and in great aboundance to drench his sorrowfull breast not yet thorowlie dryed vp by his former wéeping And holding mée poore soule plunged in a gulfe of gréefes ouercome with flooddes of brinish teares a longe time in a dolefull and doubtfull suspence before euen so did the violence of his sobbes and sighes stoppe the passage of his wordes he could aunswer any thing to my demaundes againe But after that he felt the tempest of his outragious passion somewhat calmed with a sorrowfull voyce yet still interrupted with many heauy sighes he sayde thus againe O déerest Lady and sole Mistresse of my afflicted hart and onely belooued of me aboue all other women in the worlde as these extraordinarie effectes are true recordes of the same If my plaintes deserue any credite at all thou mayst then beléeue that my eyes not without a gréeuous occasion shed earst such plenty of bitter teares when so euer that is obiected to my memory which remaininge nowe with thée in great ioye dooth cruelly torment my heart to thinke of that is when I remember with my selfe that thou mayest not alas faine would I that thou couldest make two Panphilowes of me because remaining héere and being also there whether vrgent and necessary affayres doo perforce compell me most vnwillingly to retire I might at one time fulfill the lawes of looue and my pittifull naturall and duetifull deuoyre O my aged and loouing father Being therefore not able to suffer any more my pensiue hart with remembrance of it is continually with great affliction galled more and more as one whom pitty drawing on the one side is taken out of thy armes and on the other side with great force of looue is still reteyned in them All these reasons are condemned of louers which perturbe their ioyes These wordes perced my miserable hart with such extréeme bitternesse as I neuer felt before And although my dusked wittes did not well vnderstand them notwithstanding as much as my eares and sences attentiue to theyr harmes did receiue and conceiue of them by so much more the very same conuerted into teares issued out of my eyes leauing behinde them their cruell malicious effects in my hart This was therefore good Ladies the fyrst hower in the which I felt such grudgīg gréefs enuious of my plesures this was that hower which made me power forth vnmesurable teares the like neuer spent of me before whose course and maine streames not any of his comforts consolatory words could stop stench one whit But after I had a long time together remained in woefull walinges enfolding him loouingly beetwéene my armes I praied him as much as I could to tell me more cléerely what pittie what due pyetie that was that did drawe him out of my armes and threaten me his absence wherupō not ceasing to lament he said thus vnto me Ineuitable death the finall ende of all thinges of manie other sonnes hath left me sole to suruiue with my aged and reuerent father who burdened with many yeres and liuing without the swéet companie of his deceased wife and louing brothers who might in his olde yéeres carefully comforte him and remaining now without any hope of more issue being determined not to marrie dooth recall me home to sée hym as the chéefest part of his consolation whome he hath not séene these many yéeres past For shifting of which iournie because I would not swéet Fiammetta leaue thée there are not a fewe monthes past when fyrst by diuers meanes I beganne to frame some iust and reasonable excuse But he in fyne not accepting of any did not cease to coniure me by the essence which I had by him and by my impotent childhoode tenderly
with them I began to sitte mee downe incontinentlie againe entring still into newe and fantasticall imaginations Euery thīge refresheth the memory of the Louer of his sorpassed and happy life It came then to my minde howe solemne and glorious that feast was which like vnto this was once made in honor of my nuptiall ioy in the which béeing then but a simple soule in franticke loue matters and frée from melancholye passions as abounding in all ioy I sawe in my selfe wyth woorthy congratulations of euery one honourablye saluted and nobly entreated And cōparing those times with these and séeing them beyond all proportion altered I was wyth great desire if oportunitie of time and place had graunted prouoked to wéepe This swyft and suddaine thought didde runne also in my minde when I sawe the yong Gentlemen and Gentlewomen to reioyce equally together and to bee merry alike courting and deuising one with another sometimes with many pleasant and swéete discourses and sometimes with many singuler and prettie deuises fitte for such purposes howe that once I behelde my Panphilus in lyke places and howe in his company he and I all alone had passed the time there together and could not nowe doo the like And it gréeued me no lesse to sée my selfe depryued of the occasion of making such kind of ioy and enioying such content then I was sorrowfull for the pleasure which I loste by the not performance of the same But from thence applying my eares to amorous delights songs and sundry tunes and remembring those with my self that were passed I sighed and meruailous desirous to sée the ende of such tedious feastes béeing malecontent in the meane time and sorrowfull wyth my selfe I passed them away Notwithstanding beholding euery thing exactly the companies of yong Gentlemen béeing flocked about the Gentlewomen and Ladies that nowe were sette downe to rest them and retyred into diuers places to gaze on them I did perceiue well that many of them or almost all did sometimes ayme theyr beames at me and did talke secretly amongst themselues of diuers things touching my beautie brauery and behauiour but not so softlie but that by manifest hearing of my owne part or by imagination or hearesay of some others no smal part of their spéeches came to mine eares Some of them said one to another Diuers opinions and speeches of menne Alas behold that yong Gentlewoman who had not her paragon for beautie in our Cittie and sée nowe what an one she is become Dooest not thou sée how strangely she is altered and how appalled her once faire face is growne my selfe béeing as ignorant of the cause as amazed to sée the effects And hauing thus said looking on me with a most pittifull and milde eye as they who were greatly condolent of my gréefes going away left mee full of compassion and more pittious towards my selfe then I was wont to be Others didde enquire of one another amongst themselues saying Alas hath this Gentlewoman béene sicke And afterwards did answere themselues again saying It séemeth so because she is wexed so leane and pale Wherefore it is great pittie especiallye thinking of her former beautie that is nowe vaded quite away But there were some of a déeper reache then the reste whose true surmises greeued me very much after many gesses and spéeches amongst themselues saying The palenes of this yong Ladie is a manifest token of an enamored hart For what kind of infirmitie doth bring a Louer to a lower estate of bodie then the vnruly passions of feruent and hote affection She is vndoubtedly in loue And if it be so hée is too cruell and inhumaine that is the cause of such vnwoorthye consequences gréefe and cares I meane that make her looke with so pale and thinne chéekes When I had hearde these nipping wordes that rubbed vppe my festered wounde I coulde not with-holde my sighes perceiuing that others were more ready to pittie my miseries then he to preuent these mishaps who by greatest reason and most of all shoulde haue hadde compassion in his thanklesse harte And after I had fetcht manie déepe sighes with an humble and lowe voice I earnestlye besoughte the Gods that in lue of their kindnes towardes me they might haue better successe in their Loues And I remember again that the value of my honour and honestie was not small amongst some of them who in talking together did fauourably séeme to excuse the foresaide true surmises saying The Gods forbid that we should hatch such a thought in our minds to say that fonde Loue shoulde molest this wise modest yong Ladie or that blind affection could trouble her minde at all For she as she is endued with as great honestye as any other so was shee as it euer séemed neuer addicted to such vanities as many of her coequalles and hath not shewed at any time so much as a semblance of wanton boldnesse but continually arguments of wise and modest behauiour Nor amongst the diuers communications and companies of curious and inquisite Louers there could be neuer heard any spéech of her Loue Loue is a passion not supported any long time not once immagined amongst them which is so furious and forcible a passion that it will not bée anie long time concealed but will like restrained flames violently burst out vnawares Alas sayd I then to my selfe howe farre doo they roame from the truth not déeming me to be in loue because as it is the manner of fooles I make not my loue publicke to the view of euery one and preache it not openly abroade to bee secretely tossed from mouth to mouth as others vainly glorying in theirs are commonly wont to doo There came also sometimes oppositely before mee many yonge and noble Gentlemen proper men of personage of swéete and amiable countenaunces in euery thing gracious couragious and curteous and the chiefest flowers of our Cittie who often times before by many cunning meanes and drifts hadde to their vtmost of their power attempted and laboured to haue drawne but the deuotions of my eyes to the desires of theyr harts Who after that a certaine while they had séene mée so much deformed and altered from that I was wont to bée not wel pleased perhaps that I did not at the first frame my affections to their fancies disdayned now to looke at me and forsooke me saying The braue beautie of this Lady is gone and turned to a bleacke hew and the glory of her enflaming desires is nowe extincte Wherefore shall I hyde that from you fayre Ladies which dooth not onely gréeue mee to rehearse but generally all Women to heare I say therefore that although it was the greatest gréefe in the world to think that my Panphilus was not present for whose sake my then excellent beauty was most déere vnto me yet in such vpbraiding sort to heare that I had lost it it was no lesse then present death to my soule And besides all these things I remēber that béeing
more magnificent copious then any that had béene made in floorishing Rome of yore And the Theators resounding with swéete songes and melodious soundes did enuite euerie loouer to them The Heroicall young gentlemen sometimes mounted vpon stately coursers and prowde Gennets did runne at Tylte and Iust in rich and compleate Harnis and sometimes their pampred and headstrong Horses trapped all ouer with a caparison of little siluer and golden bels dyd hotly fight at Tourney And sometimes prowdly prancing vp and downe on them with skilfull hand did showe howe these foming fierie stéedes with frothie bytte should be managed and ridden The young and wanton Ladyes with decked troopes of beautifull Gentlewomen following them desiring also to sée these sportes wearing fyne garlandes of newe flowers about their heades dyd lende sweete and gratious aspectes to their gazing loouers sometimes out of highe windowes and sometimes from beneath their doores Of which some with newe giftes others with a merry countenaunce and some with swéete wordes but generally all with some fauour or other did fréendly honour theyr loouers and kindle greater flames in them But I like a straunger and forlorne woman sitting by my selfe in a sollitarie place all alone and comfortlesse for the decayed hope of my ioyfull times did not a little sorow with my self but lament greatly and mourne Nothing pleaseth my melancolyque fancyes no feaste could make my heart merry nor afforde any comfort to my gréeuous thoughts or ease my playntes My handes touched no gréene leaues caryed no swéete flowers in them and cared as little to handle any ioyfull thing as my sorrowfull eyes to beholde them And I became so péeuishe an emulatresse that I enuied at others myrth and with great desire dyd iniuriously wishe that euery woman might be so intreated with looue and serued with such sawce of Fortune as I was For with what a willing eare and with what great consolation doo I remember that many times I haue heard the recounted miseries and miserable mishappes that in times past and lately haue befallen to vnfortunate loouers But while the angrie Goddes helde me in this cursed condition of lyfe Fortune to afflicted the more often times showes a mery countenaunce deceitfull fortune with greater woes to afflict miserable menne chaunging as it were in the middest of theyr aduersities sheweth them sometimes a pleasant looke because abandoning themselues and trusting more to her fawnyng smiles they may fall into greater myseries when theyr momentary myrth beginneth once and on a sodaine to cease And so these ignoraunt fooles relying wholy vpon her at last perceyue themselues throwen headlong down as miserable Icarus in the middest of his flyght trusting to much to hys waxed winges and mounted vp to the hyghest skies fell from thence into the sea called yet after hys own name This frowning fortune I say perceiuing me amongest such séely soules not to be content with these passed euilles that she had giuen me preparing worser for me with a false and dissembled ioye beganne to smile vpon me and to mollifie somewhat her pawsed anger Because recoyling a good way backe she might no other wise then the hotte rammes of Affrica in rutting time to giue a greater dubbe assayle and hurte me the more And in this sorte with a certaine vayne gladnesse I made truce for a season with my sharpe and still sorrowes But my faythlesse loouer hauing now taryed a great many monthes more then those fower promised past and vnperformed Loouers are sometimes comforted with one ioy It fell out that sitting on a certaine day all alone in my sorrowfull chamber though wearied with the ouer-cloying companie of dolefull thoughts and accustomed lamentacions the olde and féeble Nurce with a more hastie pace then her aged limmes could well endure came rushing in her furowed face all bewette with trickling sweate and setting her selfe downe by me her breast panting vppe and downe and her eies expressing a certaine kinde of ioyfulnes in them she beganne many times to speake but the precedent faintnesse of her wearyed pulmon did euer breake of her wordes in the middest To whom with a minde full of suspicious woonder and fearefull doubt I sayd O déere Nurce what meaneth this great labour and paines that thou hast taken thus tyred thy selfe with What thing doost thou so earnestly desire to tell and with such hast that first thou wylt not suffer thy breathlesse spirittes to rest them What are they ioyfull or vnluckie tidinges Shall I prepare my selfe to flye to dye or what shall I doo Thy countenaunce I knowe not how nor wherefore dooth some what renue my drooping hope but my affayres hanging a long time in contrarie suspence perswade mee to suspecte more cruell mishappes which are of common course and custome incident to miserable creatures Tell me therfore quickly and hold me no longer in doubt resolue mee what the ocasion of this thy hast may importe Tell me whether any happy God or haggishe furie hath driuen thée hether Then the olde woman hauing yet scarce recouered her winde interrupting my wordes and more ioyfull then before sayd O swéete daughter reioyce there is no cause of feare in my tidinges Shake of all gréefe and inuest thy mourning minde againe with thy shining robe of mirth thy belooued and loouing loouer is returned And Panphilus Fiammetta is at hand These angelicall wordes entred so déepe into my amazed minde and filled it with such sodaine ioy as my eyes dyd presently showe an euident testimony of the same but my persuing gréefe and haunting miseries did incontinently bereaue me of it and made me giue no credite to them Wherfore lamenting I sayd O my déere Nource by those thy manie yéeres and by the aged body which long since hath desired eternall repose I pray thée not to mocke me a most miserable and distressed soule of whose cares and gréefes thou oughtest also to be partaker Impossible thinges For first will the cléere riuers I thinke returne to theyr first fountaines and Hesperus will bring cléere day First will Phebae with her brothers beames giue light to the darke night before my vngratefull loouer will returne Who dooth not know alas that disporting him selfe with his new mistresse he is lulled a sléepe in the secure cradle of all delightes enioying his mery times and loouing her more then euer he dyd me And thinke more ouer Fiammeta that wheresoeuer he were now he woulde returne to her againe and therefore not likely to come from her whom he looueth so etreamely to me whome he infinitly hateth But presently she added O Fiammetta as the gods shall receiue the parting soule of this withered and olde bodie thy carefull Nurce dooth not lie in one word she hath told thée Nor dooth it become one of my age with such or like tales to mocke distressed women and thée especially to whō I owe all the duetie and looue I may Then I replyed and sayd How came these blessed newes to thy eares
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 stratageÌ„s 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 saâ—is-fye either my desire or any Womans els which presently I had not for my pleasure and coÌ„tentation 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
of my loouing heart and engrafted him false woman in thine And yet I knowe that it is so But with such content and so mayest thou looue and liue I wishe as thou hast made me to doo And if perhappes it be to hard for him to fall in looue the third time then let the Goddes deuide your looues no otherwise then they did dissolue the Grecian Ladies and the Iudges of Ida or as they did disseuer that of the young man of Abydas and of his vigillant and sorrowfull Heroe or as they did breake of those of the miserable Sonnes of Eolus bending their sharpe iudgement onelie against thée he himselfe remaining safe O naughty woman thou must néedes haue thought viewing wel his come lie face that hée was not without some Lady and loouinge Mistresse If thou dyddest therefore suppose this which I knowe thou diddest imagine with what minde diddest thou practise to take that away which appertained to an other with an enuious and fraudulent minde I am sure Wherefore I will as my mortall enemie and wrongfull occupier of my goodes pursue thée euermore and as long as I liue will nourishe and preserue my life with hope of thy shamefull and cruell death Maledictions of anen amoured woman The which I wishe may not be so common and naturall as to others it is but that tourned into a lumpe of massie leade or Ixions heauie stoane tyed about thy necke thou maiest bee cast into some déepe and darke caue amongest the middest of thy enemies murdering handes and that neyther fier or funerall be graunted to burne and burie thy torne and massacred members but béeing pulled in péeces and scattered abroad they may serue to glutte the hungrie mawes of howling dogges and rauenous woolues Which I pray after they haue deuoured thy softe and tender flesh may for thy naked bones fiercelie iarre and cruellie fight one with an other so that gréedelye gnawing and breaking them in péeces with their whetted téeth they may liuely represent thy wicked praie and thée delighted with thy gluttonous rapine which in thy detested life time thou diddest fowlie committe There shall not escape one day not one night no not one hower but my readie mouth shal be full of endlesse curses Sooner shall the Celestiall Beare plumpe downe into the Ocean and the raging waues of Sicilian Caribdis shal be quiet and the barking Dogges of Scylla shal holde their peace and ripe Corne shall growe in the waues of the Ionian sea and the darkest night in her chéefest obscuritie shall shine like Titan his beames and water with fire death with life and the Sea with windes shall sooner with breachlesse faith bée at turce and make concorde togeather before I will reconcile and establishe a péece with thée vile monster of woman kinde But rather whilest golden Ganges shal be hote and Istrus colde and while highe hilles shall beare sturdie Okes and the softe and watred medowes gréene grasse so long foule brothell will I bée at continuall warre and defiaunce with thée which neyther mortall hatred nor death shall determine but pursuing thée amongest the deade gostes and fiendes of Hell with all those tormentes that are vsed there I wyll continuallie plague and eternally punishe thy damned soule for thy condemned and hatefull déede But if perchaunce thou doost suruiue mée whatsoeuer the manner of my death shal be and wheresoeuer my miserable Ghost shall wander from thence perforce I will labour to take it and entring into thy lothsome bodie wyll make thée as madde as the Virgins after they had receiued Apollo Or else comming in thy sight broade wakinge thou shalt sée mée in a most horrible shape and in thy fearefull sléepe oftentymes will I awake The virgins that is the deuiners and afright thée in the vncomfortable silence of the darke night And bréefely in whatsoeuer thou goest about or doost I will continually be a horrible obiecte to thy wicked eyes and a griping corsiue to thy hellishe heart and then remembring this cruell iniurie I will not suffer thée to bée quiet in any place And so long as thou lyuest with such a hideous furie my selfe the onelie worker of it thou shalt be continually haunted And when thou arte deade I wyll minister occasions of more dirie stratagems vnto thy miserably ghost Alas poore wretched that I am to what end are my botlesse words prolonged I barke and threatē thou doost bite hurt me and enfolding my beloued Panphilus betwéene thy vnworthy armes doost care as much for my menacing and offensiue wordes as high and mightie kings for their inferiour and impotent vassailes and no more then conquering Captaines for their confounded captiues Alas would I had now Dedalus hys arte or Medeas Cotche because making wings by the one for my shoulders and being caryed in the ayre by the other I might sodainely alight there where thou doost basely hide and nestle thy selfe with thy stolen loone O how many thundering wordes and what threatning inuectiues with bended browes would I cast out against that false youth and against thée vniust robber of an others felicitie O with what villanous termes would I reprehend your detestable follies And after that I had amazed appaled and attainted your wicked faces with a shamefull blush with recitall of these vnshamefull faultes I would then without delay procéede to sharpe reuenge and taking thy haire false enchauntresse in my handes with pulling and renting them and drawing thée héere and there by thy tresses before thy perfidus loouer I would glutte my swelling anger and tearing thy garmentes from thy disgraced body with reprochfull tauntes I would triumphe ouer thée mall apart and wicked traytresse Nor this should not suffise mee to fulfill my due anger nor be halfe enough for thée to expiate thy odious crime but with sharpe nayles I would disfigure that painted visarde which so much pleased his false eyes leauing an eternall memoriall of their caracters and reuenge in it And thy miserable body with my gréedy téeth péece-meale I should shyuer leauing the which afterwardes vnto him that dooth nowe flatter thée to heale againe my selfe ioyfull for parte of so small vengeaunce would hie me home againe to my sorrowfull habitacles Whylest I spake these wordes with fyrie sparkeling eyes with closed téeth and with bended fist as though I had béene at the very action it selfe I remained a prettie while silent and me thought I had indéede played one Pagent of my gréedy reuenge But the olde Nurce with mournefull voyce lamenting sayde thus vnto mée O daughter since thou doost now know the furious tyrannie of this passion which thou callest thy God who dooth this molest thée temperate thy selfe and bridle thy pittious complaintes And if the due pittie which thou shouldest take of thy owne selfe dooth not mooue thée héereunto The care of her honour must warne euery wise woman frō vaine thoughts deedes let the regarde of thy honour perswade thée to it which for an olde
errour passed may lightly be stained with a newe shame Or at least with-holde these complaintes and outcries least that thy loouing husband perceiue not the indirect causes of thy dolefull plaintes And so for two causes he might worthelie be sorie and agréeued at thy sencelesse follie Then being put in minde of my husbande and thinking of the wronge and shame I had doone him mooued with newe pittie I lamented more sensiblie then I did before and discussing in my minde my corrupted faith and the holie lawes of wedlocke violated I sayd O most faithfull companion in my troubles my husbande may be sorie for little or nothing For he which was the occasion of my offence hath béene a seuere purger of the same I haue long since receiued a guerdon and am yet payed with to seuere a rewarde for my demerites My husbande could not imagine to giue me any greater punishment then that which my late loouer hath afflicted me with all Onely death if death be painefull as it is commonly sayd my husbande may annex to my other tormentes Let hym then therefore come and giue it me quicklie It shal be no paine for me to die but a wished pleasure because I greatly desire the same And it shal be more acceptable and welcome to me performed by his owne handes whome so greatly I haue offended then perpretrated by any others or by my owne If he doo not giue me it or if it dooth not voluntarily come vnto mée my troubled wittes shall finde out some speedie passage to it because by meanes of that Diuers punishments of damned soules compared to the paines of a loouer I hope to conculde all my sorrowe at once Huge hell the last and extreamest punishment of damned miserable soules in the most tormenting place of all hath not any tortrue so forcible or equall with mine Auncient authors alleadge and bring in Titius for an example of great punishment saying that his encreasing liuer is continually becked and deuoured of a gréedy vulture And certes though I accounte his paine not little yet it is not like to mine For if the hungrie Vulture féede vpon his liuer a hundred thousand thousand gryping and stinging gréefes continually gnawe my heart more then sharpe billes of any praying Byrdes They likewise affirme that Tantalus placed béetwéene cléere water and goodlie fruite dooth euermore dye for hunger and thirst My selfe alas put in the middest and swimming in all mundane delightes with affectionate desire wishing my loouer and not enioying him doo sustaine as much nay rather greter paine then he Because with neuer ceasing hope hée thinkes sometimes to tast of these freshe waters and ruddie Apples that hang on euery side about him But I dispayring nowe altogeather of that which I once hoped would haue béene my comforte doo neyther sée nor can excogitate any ease for my gréefe and loouing him more then euer I did by the alluring forces of an other woman and of his proper accorde also is so kept backe that he hath not onely cast me quite out of his remembraunce but that by meanes thereof I am debarred to entertaine the smallest hope that may be of my welfare for euer after And miserable lx ion also turmoiling eternally at his vnruly whéele doth not féele such cruell paine that it may be likened to mine Because my selfe shaken with continuall motions of furious madnesse by my aduerse fates doo suffer much more gréefe then euer he can doo And if the daughters of Danaus with lost labour doo continually power water into tubbes full of holes thinking to fill them I straine forth greater plenty of teares by the ouerflowing conduites of my eies drawen frō the hollow caue center of my heart Wherefore doo I trouble my selfe to recite these infernal tortures by one and one since that there is heaped in me a greater Chaos of miseries then any there deuided or conioyned And if I had no other kinde of anguish to cruciate my miserable soule that I must of necessitie kéepe my dollours secret or at the least conceale and hide their ofspring whereas they with lowde voices carelesse spéeches publique actions conformable to their sorrowes might discouer and manifest theirs by so much the more should my paines be adiudged greater and more gréeuous then theirs For alas how strong the restreined fire and how more violently doth it burne then that which hath ful scope and no obstacle to exhalate and throwe his flames abroad And how gréeuous a thing it is not to be permitted to speake one word of extreame sorrowe that dooth sensibly torment one and that it is not lawful to tel the annoious occasion of it but vnder the shewe of a merry countenaunce it is conuenient to hide it in the secret closet of an impatient painfull hart Wherefore not extreame sorrow onely Death a lightning of sorrowe but externall death shal be a lightning of my gréefe Let therefore my déere husband come and in one houre let him reuenge himselfe and ridde me out of these paines Let his vnsheathed sworde open my miserable and naked brest and let him in one instant with plenty of my bloode pull foorth my sorrowing soule and dissolue my infinit heaped woes and as my vile wickednesse dooth deserue let him teare this hart the retainer of these vile iniuries the principal deceiuer of his true affections and the chéefest receiuer of his feined fréend and secrete enemy After that the Nurce did sée me hold my peace and beginne to wéepe bitterly with a milde and lowe voice she beganne to replie Oh déere daughter what meaneth this which so frantickly thou speakest Thy words are as vaine as thy conceits more foolish I haue séene being now an old womā many things which haue passed in this world and haue daily knowen the order course of many ladies gentlewomens loues And although I am not to be accounted my selfe amongst thē yet neuerthelesse haue I once felt the secret poisō of these amorous darts which are more gréeuous sometimes much more troublesome to thē of lower degrée and of poore condition then to the nobler and higher personages when as all the meanes and passages to the attaining of their desires and pleasures are stopped and cutte of from them that are néedie and poore Whereas they at theyr will and with their wealth may breake an open way to heauen And the which thou sayest to be almost impossible and so gréeuous vnto thée I neuer conceiued nor felt to bee halfe so painefull and nothing so harde as thou doost make it Which gréefe although it be indéede very great ought not for all that to worke such effectes in thée as to consume and waste thy selfe in such woes and thereby to séeke thy owne death which more rashlie and furiously then by anie good motion of wisedome or argument of reason thou doost wishe for I knowe well that burning anger procured by furie is blinded and careth not to couer it selfe nor dooth