By which he ransom'd thee so deare Humanum est humanis easibus ingemisceâ—e Herodi But I sith mortall must lament For thee sweet Queene for thee for euer Railing on death's vngentle dent O death O Ioy O sorrow giuer O who can ward the stroke of thee Nullum saeua caput fugit Proserpina Or for himselfe or friend compound Or to preserue mortalitie VVhat Onamell can there be found And sith she was Theano wise A Samarite vnto the poore Dei pater sedes alcidi inter Astra Sen. And Tuca chast within the skies You Gods to her a star restore Thura dabe atque omnes violae tactabo colores luuena Partae tibi aâ—ria sunt palum bei Virgil. And euer whilst I tarry here I will burne incensory wood To thee and send yong Turtles deare For tokens to th' Elizian floud Princesse and Queene I will thee call My Swanes for thy decease shall weepe For euer by Thamesis fall Cursing deaths priuate publike sleepe Cant. VI. THe Thrush shall descant of thy same In siluer warbles to the spring Her yong shall do the very same In other ages as they sing Virtutes tuas nobilis exprimer iufans luuena The Virgins yet vnborne shall walke Vnto Dianas silent woods Thy chastitie shal be their talke As they do crop the maiden buds The Captaine of more high desire Thy wealth thy bounty and thy men Thy peace and conquest shall admire Such late perchance declined then But I forget my selfe to mourne That ioy to mourne and mourne to ioy Since I beheld the blessed Vrne Whose bosome holdes my ioyes annoy You adamantine ruthlesse Beares Lay rage aside and weepe with me Thou wolfe if thou for her shed teares The shepheardes swaine shall pardon thee The Cattoblepos Thou beast that doest the Moone delight Thy God desse waile no more but die Cinthia the comfort of the night Is plac'd in heauen out of the skie Nunquam Stygias fertur ad Vmbras inclita Virtus Sene. But die not louing hating creature Liue not foole in such distresse Her vertues spight of such defeature A double view do still expresse Cant VII YEt comfortles we all decay So did her delian essence please So best respects slide first away And griefe concludes the greatest ease Diuitia sedent in vsum nunc mihi nunc alii Hor. A Crowne possest of him this day Ere long some other doth possesse And those which for estate assay Then least by falling are made lesse The chiefest store of worldly thinges Lubrica fortunasunt dona Hor. Are flying in a skie of glasse Which fortune giueth waxen wings To melt before they come to passe Then care of minde and bodies griefe Still vexeth life and death doth come In our securenes like a thiefe Mishaps warne none but biteth dombe Quod nollimus accipimus quod vellimus perdimus Terent And nought is sooner lost saue things Which to enioy we must request But those we would not fortune bringes To life the mother of vnrest A thousand cares chance doth present With one good thing vnto our eies Which when to take our mindes consent The more abide the lesser dies Sith freshest thinges so soone decay Carpe diem quam minimuÌ„ credulus postero Hor. And rest as they had neuer beene Once gone he therefore that will may Must gather time when it is greene Canto VIII IS any Muse weeper for death Whose teares can giue a Phoenix life Yes Clio mourns when kings yeeld breath And falues the wound of sorrowes knife Then Aconite Cypresse and Yewe Yeeld sable shadow vnto graues The Virgin Laurel is her due And vertues bud her tombe imbraues You Thespian Imps of memorie Sing but of her magnificence And your heroick harmony Like Mermaides tunes shall rauish sence Time stroke this marigoldes faire crowne So Queene-apples consume to clay Paunces and Hiacinths fall downe In earthly thinges there is no stay Wherefore awhile I meane to cease My teares that after shall abound Though few mone him that will encrease A sparke that will himselfe confound Iam Elisias domus iam beatuÌ„ littus tenes Sen Yet will I not relinquish plaintes For Astra sweet my song shall leade Who lost for euer with the saintes Remaineth in th' Elizian meade Nulla te terris rapiet vetustas Sen. Now dwelleth-dead here and liuing there And yet aliue in euery place For Atropos nor time can beare From earth the vertues of her grace And you poore swaines that sigh and crie For her yet neuer saw her face Take here a shepheardes Virelay That shall recite you what she was An Ode Canto IX AS Philomela doth condole Qualis populea moerens Philomela sub Vmbra amissos queritur foetus quos durus arator detraxit Virg. When PlowmeÌ„ hard of heart haue stole Out of Dianaes chamber Her little ones so we lament Rayling on death's vngentle dent That clos'd thy breath's sweet Amber O death her face was wonders booke Charactred with an angels looke Where in a little heauen Ten thousand dimpled smiles did dwell Sporting in vertues Onamell But now she is bereauen Her radient forehead was the skie The shining Onix fixt thereby Her eies the Beames of Phoebe Her cheeke pure Salamander downe Ennameld with an orient crowne More lucent then faire Hebe Like wiery gold her locks did shine Her breath more sweet then Eglantine Her speech all Musicks wonder And euery part so passing faire That destenies did rent their haire Such dulcent life to sunder If that a goddesse should assume Life made for nature to consume Shee could not better gouerne She left no fame of sinne behinde But boundles ornaments of minde And was her bodies Soueraigne Melpomen Pracipe lugus bres cantus Melpomen Hor. by the Castale flow Tune thy sweet treble to our wo For iron fortune closes Her breast exceeding sommers milke Or Lillies spread on damaske silke Or times admired roses Come gentle Flora to our Queene Tibi Lilia plenis ecce ferunt Nympha calathis Vir. Bring Dill and Ladie-lases greene To deck our rurall glory Here gladent lies the splendent Sunne Whose influence our day begun That all the meades are sory The little Goates do learne to weepe Tuum poeni etiam ingemuere leones interitum Virg. So do the Wolues so do the Sheepe The Signets as in dying Warble vpon Meanders shore Hic Vultur illic luctifer bubo gemit Sen The Vultures for her losse deplore In their vnlucky crying But thus the Iem of earthly thinges One moment vnto nothing brings Thus flesh hath no assurance What most thereof we pretious call Like to the leafe doth spring and fall But now she hath indurance Where happy soules contained are To be our climate Venus starre Why Muse then stay thy mourning And also we haue part of her Spiced with penitentiall mirre Vntill her soules returning Her Obiet Canto X. A Straea let thy shephearde
THE MAIDEN QVEENE Entituled The Britaine shepheardes teares for the death of Astrabomica Augmented the worldes vanitie Both in sententiall verse necessary and profitable to bee read of all Men. 1607. Sola Virtus expers Sepulchri Imprinted at London by I.W. for Iohn Browne and are to be sold at his shop in Saint Dunstons Churchyard in Fleetstreet To the right worshipfull and vertuous Ladie Katherine wife vnto the worthy sir George Morton Knight RAre Chrisolite of vertues treasurie Within whose lookes rarieties doe daunce In liuing Corrall and pure Yourie Enamelling your modest countenance Whose holy life like Angels attomies Make strangers giue you tributarie praise Adamaske blush which by no dieing dies But springs when death Lifes prentiship decayes In steed of siluer Vallance let me draw Your fauours heauenly in Diapor On these complaintes of Astrabonica Ambrosian Ladie if you grant it her My Muse shall make your worship loÌ„ger knowne Then Nymphs or Charactries on marble stone Your worships to command Henry Raymonde In Zoilum VVHen Pan with great Apollo did contend For glorie of sweet touch and accent pure The Phrigian King as Iudge the strife to end To rurall Pan the Laurell did assure Phoebus offended with his vniust doome Gaue Asses eares to such as claim'd his roome Then iudge on Zoilus boldly for to you The Asses eares his head and all are due Pascitur in viuis liuor post fata quiescit The Britaine Shepheardes teares for the death of Astrabonica in sententiall Verse Canto I. VVHen Rubie spring in primrose weede Bespang'd fresh louers season The Virgin Queene of heauenly seede By vertue soule and reason Mox cetam ad superos moritu ra Astraa reces sit Iuuen. Audacious fate declin'd supprest And Englands ioy depriued This Orient Corrall Natures best Whom death againe reuiued In heauen fame and Cinders she Igne suo Vitam dum raspit igne capit phoenica c. preper Suruiuing absent flieth And dead sequestred liues in three And as the Phoenix dieth Enuie I laugh thy worst to scorne Thy smiles with murthers vnder The glories which by her were borne Shall kill with double wonder Her spirit rich in saintes designes Eagle-eide wisedome teaching Higher then Hiperion shines Her contemplations reaching Ruling with meekenesse and reward Goddesse of vertues gardaine Most God-like she was here prepard To conquer vice with pardon And when pale death did her conuince King Iames in vertue shining Succeedes and now that noble Prince Supports vs from declining Which sacred states by fate disioinde The liuing raigns for euer The dead is vnto fame combinde Aud either times outliuer Cant. II. Aurora weepe thou pearly mhirre Distill each incensorie groue True shepheardes teares to shed on her That was the azure heauens loue Thou Iuniper and Sicomere Deplore you Astraes fatall fall VVeepe Laurel to Apollo deare And Violets which the prime do call For Astra faire with hairs adorn'd Like Tinsil diaperd on pearle The iealous starres haue death suborn'd To steale her hence more lucent girle Astranubes condidit lunam nec clarius fulgentsydera her For heauens faire Lamps that glister so From her perfection hid their face Or els they had with scornefull woe Beene Sun-burnt by more lucent grace Her breath was like the verdure worne On Sommers forehead Maias birth Cannot with such perfume adorne The closet of greene mantled earth Of nightingales a consort sweet Recorded whilst the Nymphs with Palme Shrowded faire Astraes winding sheet Of Cassia and spiced Balme Quidsibene notum porticus Agrippate conspexerit ire tamen superest Numa quo denenit Ancus hora. Thus all betweene the Sunne and Earth Conuerse with men but like the snow For what promotion health or wealth Is there but time doth ouerthrow Thus life presentes the new sprung May That morning blewes and heat of noone Blights that it flourish'th not a day Declining in it selfe more soone Cant. III. The Cinocure whose glistring light Was clearer of my pleasures morne Hath lockt me in cares Ebon night bound in the chaire of fortunes scorne The Cinthia of my thought is lost So vaine it is to flourish here But after her my loue shall post To meete againe my natiue deere So on the sweet Pastane faire Of her rich foreheads Edin plaine Where all the loue of heartes repaire My flocke of ioyes may feede againe That walking with thee in the groue Elisus campit â—datur ora tueâ—â— tua Virg Where blessed soules delights are shut My wretched eies may once more roue Vpon thy lookes that life did cut From me but if vnwasted art Yet sporting by the Elizian shore I will come serue thee with the part Of dutie not perform'd before Post quam te partem anima mea rapuit maturior Viâ— nec Charus noc supersles ipse suâ— mihi Hor. For thee I waste as wood on flames Or as dissolued wax on coales And pine much like the gnat that games Him in the lampe till death controles Nunc ager Vm brens sub nomie no nuper Osellii dictus erit nulle propriut Hor. Thus earthly thinges are not our owne Their blossomes euery blast decayes Those that on earth are longest showne Do spring and fall within few dayes Qui Letheum transiit flumen nulla illum posent reducere Carina Sene. The tree in morne that proudly grew Ere glade is often blowne away And then no showers can it renew To flourish after first decay Canto IIII. VVheÌ„ Prime fancies weeping mother Corral buds as ioyes fore-commer Brought from radiant Sol her brother To ennamell Ladie Sommer Astra the rose-bud of our spring Dying Et longum formose vale vale inquit Iola Virg with second life was crown'd And euery Muse and euery thing Her chest in weeping fare wells drown'd The Hyrachies in Tempe greene With siluer girdled Thames decreede Cui parem alma fides non inueniet Hor. For to enterre this maiden Queene Whose better neuer should succeede Her soule fled to the Edin doore In dulcent gardaines taking ease Nepenthe doth her ioyes restore VVithout the cup of Menales There Ceres giues her Atis flowre Venus her louers stammell bud Hermophrodite erects her bowre By Atis in the mirtle wood There sport with them by quiet Leathe A while my ioy and I will come And kisse thy footesteps after death As now I do adorne thy tombe Fortuna vt me dicus ignarus multos coecat Eras Thus when worldes chiefest things arise Chance bends our minds to fancy those VVith which most swift away she flyes VVhen on them once our liking growes Canto V. Ergo Quintilium perpetuus soper vrget Hora. DId then the flower of maidens fall Into deathes slumber no not so But saintes did her to heauen call VVith them in Paradise to go Micat inter omnes Iulium sidus velut inter ignes Luna minores Saying thou Phoenix of all starres Come to the crowned Virgins here A dore thy Sauiour and the scarres
world hath shown To greatest men O vale of languishing No muse can tell the troubls thou dost bring And whereas one adorned with the crowne Of siluer locked age salutes his graue Infinite in their chiefe are beaten downe Pallida mors aquo pulsat pede pauperum takernas reguÌ„que turres Hor. Death neither spares the wretched nor the braue For death of custome as a cold in May By toile or sorrow first giues youth decay O foolish sorrow vexed happines Selfe flattering mock proud nothing painted clay Chaos of trouble mischiefe and distresse Vncureable Vlcer Syrens lay Times Icarus Post Bubble Froth false name O life no slander can expresse thy blame Mishaps tragedion residence of paine Cipher of earth sinnes slaue true reasons gale Cypher Thoghts pray ioies mock youths foole natures disdaine Prids asse into the ditch of death to fall Is man his youth and age both fickle breath ' Are but as Gaylors keeping him for death Thus all our daies are parents of sure cares Willand Wit Our health the nurse of wars tween will wit Our impious youth a mist for age prepares A crimefull pack of sinne too great for it Our selues vnto our selues a wretchednes With vain coÌ„ceits our lusting minds oppres Our age presents but feeblenes disguis'd Perplex'd in thought with sin in flesh with pain His company and counsels are despis'd His death expected by his friends for gaine VVho much reioice if we in riches vade If poore to rid vs hence they wil be glad For all their pallaces and shining pride Rich men are slaues to many tirannies And sleepes foe sorrow durst in them abide Foule lusts mocked hopes do them surprise And thogh their greatnes keep the mean in fear Yet most with them their own coÌ„maÌ„ders bear If earth were animated with a soule As Plato did suppose the very ground Wheron he treads would call a monarch foole And say thou wretch thou thinkst thy selfe renownd WheÌ„ I that am the earth retain in me A thousand thousand better men then thee And if earths compasse be a point in all Of which an Empire seemes a little sparke VVhat may we then a priuate Lordship call Not halfe a wormehole if we rightly marke Then why shold any think themselues so great Sith they are bounded in so small a seat And when thou leauest this life thou bearst nothing Of these with thee thy realms and pleasurs send Thee hence alone although thou were a king Thy flesh also that seem'd thy deerest friend A naked soule doth let thee passe away Thus but in heaueÌ„ thou hast no perfect stay Therefore we alwaies shold haue death in mind How to another country we must go How life is but a leafe blowne vp with winde A cobweb light a false familiar foe Sin 's nurse a sicknes long a dying day A friend of vice that seeks the souls decay And al our pride is but mortalitie VVhere in an earthen frame the plannets boile Humors corrupt as Cinthea doth the sea VVhich do inuest the soule and make her toile In cogitations base and all earths best Is seldome had or gotten but vnrest Our home aboue the circle of the stars Is set leauing the clouds behind her back To the last heauen the soule her slight prepares By death released from this vally blacke VVhether when endeed desteny thee brings That thou behold the snining iudg of things Then wilt thou say this is the wished place My country true of which I had no minde Here was I borne bowing down thy face To earth thou wilt coÌ„demn thy friends so kinde That there lament thy death because they cast Their loue on lusts ioies that wil not last This earth is but a Cell of punishment Yet peoples insolencie will not know it Vntil they fal in matter of complaint Though time their youth chance their friends defeate VVhilst that theÌ„selues are wel they think such lie As say this world is but meere vanity The minuts hours daies weeks months yeers On whose swift transmigration life depends Senister chance excruciates with teares If one day please a month with care offends The liked time declines the wished lot Com's sild and soone departeth being got Count but the time ere thou thy wish obtaine Then next how long thow after that maist liue And thou shall see it proue so short and vaine That hauing it it shall thy minde but grieue And proue in vsage lesse and worse to thee Then in thy fancy first it seemd to be As the vniointed limbe no ease can haue But by vniting with his natiue place So from his birth vntill he hath his graue Man liues in griefe doth but thornes imbrace In ioy time he hopes but for his paine And hating death he hates his greatest gaine Now sith the world can giue but painted bubbls For fooles and epicures to dote vpon Tell it it can impart nor ioies nor troubles For all is but a dreame below the sunne And flesh is dust pride vaine life a span Then bid the world afflict thee how it can Foes fortune world hate your worst is death Greatnes delight and pompe your best is end Here hopes and friends the fates sequestreth And many teares for both in vaine we spend The liuing and the great are fortunes slaues More then the wretch or those that lodge in graues Thus is our life but carefull meditation Qua atas loâ—gâ— est aut quidom â—ino homini longum Salust Of vaine discordant thoughts a liking shade Of momentarie thinges a mist soone gone A frothy dew which to it selfe hath made The promise of loÌ„g time wheÌ„ that each hour It is vnto it selfe vnknowne vnsure And of this life the trust and confidence Whose short abode doth make vs bold to sinne By this thou seest and by experience That since the howre in which it did begin It runneth vnto nought and euer shall Till it expire as it had neuer beene Like to a dreame or shadow on a wall VVhat foole will then repine to passe froÌ„ hence Where nothing is sincere faith peace nor loue VVhere many most oppresse the least offence VVhereas the great are not so sure aboue But they shall naked passe to natures Inne And soone become as they had neuer beene That they may enter heauens eternall gate Math. xi To Christ who cals oppressed soules to ioy And with the blessed sainted infants mate VVhich Herod from sweet Iewrie did destroy VVherewith all wronged innocents appears Math. 2. Their weeping mothers bath'd in bloud and teares No eie hath euerseene nor heart hath thought The solaces which God hath laid in store Corinth xi For their content who set this world at nought The kingly prophet wish'd to keepe the doore Of that place Psal 84. rather then he would possesse All earthly Princes glorious wretchednes Here soldiers and couragious noble men VVho for their countries honor were supprest Released from their bodies