vsher'd with musickes voyce Whose curious running descant and choice strain Would haue mou'd Marble made Hints reioice Able t' haue built Thebes Towers once again The monster laid vpon a silly Asse Is by each fearelesse vulgar eye discern'd Her talents toutcht as she along doth passe For Learning's knot 's vndone who is not learn'd Come to Amphioâ—s wondrous architect Whose Waste a seuen-claspt girdle doth containe The Conquerour in conscience yet vncheckt Claimes his reward Danger requires gaine The honest State denies not but inuests His Temples in the Theban Royalty The Queene and he soone tooke their interests The each of other whereto all agree Appointed is the Nuptiall day and come Whisper'd for fatall by the mourning Doues Nor was the Scritch-owle nor the Rauen dumbe In signes preposterous of preposterous loue Hymens vncheerely flame doth sadly burne And sparely drinkes the sullen wax that fryes Lesse then giues food not surfets hid powers turne Thalassios Ballads into Elegies O Midwife-Goddesse Loue-betrothing Queene Shew some misliking wonder to forbid Thou frown'st when harlots in thy porch are seen Can incest then be in thy Temple hid Borrow some fury of thy brother fell And riue thy guilty Mansion sane profane Better haue no place where thy Rites may dwell Then haue it blemisht with so foule a staine 'T is no dismembred sacrifice of beasts Can an incenst Diuinity appease Gods trafique not with men nor to our feasts Bring guest-like palats for a meale to please They laugh our scorn'd endeuors and though now These from permission gather thy consent Yet shall they find that a long wrinckled brow Is neuer leuel'd with fond blandishment In vaine exempt they from thy hostiall flame To teach the Paphian Turtles loue the gall When in their kisses they shall finde the same And bitternesse e'ne from their sweetes shall fall For take imaginations wings and flye Ouer ten Summers crown'd with ripen'd corne Let ruddy grapes ten luscious Autumnes die And from their surfets see an issue borne Two manly Twinnes to call their father brother This Eteocles Polynices hee Antigone the sister to her mother Too faire a blossome from so foule a Tree Mischiefe is come to age and pleasure must Resigne here birthright what 's supposed cleere Vnknown with knowledge manifests the rust Bad men are guiltlesse till their guilt appeare Vnyoake thy Teame yet weary Waggoner Phoebus hath tane his horses from the Car. Rough are the waies throgh which thou hast to er And daylight askes no Pilots Arctick Star The Milch-cow with full Vdder bellows home And rich Menalchas folds his fleecy Sheepe When Pyrois next on champed bit doth fome Forwards proceed Night cals thee now to sleepe OEDIPVS CANTO III. VP sluggish fury see thy Muses friend Solicites matter for thy numerous verse With morn begin thou that thy work woldst end Though night were thy fit'st hearer yet rehearse Hereto with hasty steps thou hast orerun An Infants fate by whom a Sire did die A mothers chang'd relation with her sonne And riddles made in consanguinity Now with as much celerity set downe The iustice of reuengefull Nemesis The sicknesses of an abused Crowne How sin is punisht though vnknowne it is Oh! saddest sister of the sacred nine That shroud'st thy selfe in cabin hung with black Lend me thy Ebon quill or guide thou mine Endow me now with what I most would lacke Time wearing out which ignorance made sweete With execrable pleasures vertuous thought New ills Pandoras box new open'd Fleete By whoÌ„ worse things theÌ„ by the first are wrought No soft Etesiae with coole blasts doth fan The sweaty drops from the least labouring brow And frustrate is the vse of breathing whan The Aire is suckt as from a scalding stow Phoebus bestriding the fierce Lyons backe Stirs vp the fury of th'vnloosed Dog Drinkes vp the Brookes burnes the Earths vesture blacke Wants diving vapours from the fenny Bog Dirce commands no further then her head No watry reliques shew the stranger proofe How far Ismenos liquid greatnesse spread The Oxen passe the Foord with vnwasht hoofe Sickely Diana keepes her Cloudy Chamber Lookes not abroad but with a Countenance pale No healthfull Planet spreds his lockes of amber But from the carth a counterfet exhales Abortiue Ceres doth her fruit deny Addes fuell to her selfe-consuming fire Which when the patient Husbandman doth see He weeps perhaps to quench his scorch'd desire There is no place in Thebes stretcht Territories Free from some plague or other no age no sex Here paraleld were all examples Stories That euer did this Vniuerse perplex Both old and yong fathers and children fall Wiues with their husbands what 's most vnkind Friends are not left to weepe friends funerals Death iust in this le ts none to stay behind Ere scarce the son be rakt vp in the pyre The flame 's againe renewed by the mother Oft are they burned in the selfe-same fire Which earst they kindled to consume another No Art preuailes Physitions cannot giue Themselues assurance shewing their skill they die Promising life to others they not liue The earth more Toombes the woods more piles denie In these afflictions the sad King distrest Powres out himselfe in prayer but vnheard He doth intreate to haue those ills redrest Or that death onely ben't from him debar'd Ione had his Offrings burnt to him with Oake Iuno her Lambe Isis her Calfe did smell The Hyacinth Apollo did inuoke Poppy on Ceres safforn'd Altars fell Pan knew his Pine-tree the Lars their whelps Venus her Pigeons deckt with crimson Roses But none are willing to employ their helpes No God of Thebes yet otherwise disposes Therefore to neighbouring Delphos they repaire Where they do supplyant aske what must be done For Thebos deliuerance what offring pray'r The Gods require for satisfaction To them an answere vsher'd was with Thunder No Star shall looke on Thebes but with a frowne No plague vnheard of till 't is felt with wonder Shall cease it's fiege ' gainst your vnpeopled Town Till he that was the murdrer of your King Be from the Aire you breath in banished His wretched presence doth these mischiefes bring Which liue in him and shall pursue him fled The King great thankes vpon the Gods bestowes Commanding that which to performe behoues The same which iustice to oppression owes No more they may establish Subiects loues Soone shall my Countries plague be cured now Oh easy Gods that with compassionate eyes Behold Thebes desolate buildings marke my vow And be auspicious to my enterprise Be present too oh daylights greater guide Empal'd with Crownets of Maiesticke rayes That in twelue Empires dost thy Orbe diuide Variously treading heauens distinguisht maze Night-wandring Goddesse be not absent neither Nor thou that dost in iron fetters bind Blasting Praenester that with a word canst either Call home or send abroad thy struggling winde And thou lasciuious Neptune that dost cast Thy amorous armes thy Trident laid aside Almost about my Monarchies small Waste
to inrich a second brother to keepe it from accustomed dishonesty when I shall put it to shift into the world yet if this proue a griefe to the parent I will instantly be diuorc't from Thalia and make my selfe happy in the progeny from a better stocke Farewell Thine T. E. OEDIPVS CANTO I. THE ARGVMENT ORacles counceld to preserue a sonne Exposed is to death reseru'd by chance Doth all that to him 's destin'd to be done In Fathers bloud be sleepes his impious lance Partakes incestuous sweetes through ignorance Vntill truth knowne he teares out both his eyes So killes his mother and by lightning dyes _â—Re gloomy Cinthya pallid queene of night Had seuen times pac'd through each coelestial Signe Somtimes a niggard shutting vp her light Sometimes more free bestowing all her shine Since Thebes the stage of fearefull Tragedies With wanton Odes Rites that vnholy are And ceremonious vse did solomnize The royall nuptials of a royall paire Loue was not barren but locasta's wombe Gaue certaine notice of ensuing fruits That not a graue all Laius might intombe Issue so well obliuions force confutes Wherefore the hopefull father strait decrees To search the fate of yet his vnborne heire For man vnpatient of vncertainties Loues to know truths though known they grieuous are To Delphos then his brother Creon hyes Where great Apollo from his secret Cell Declares events in mystick prophesies Answeres darke questions and mens fate foretelles Here all obsequious duties done and past His prayers intreating what his gifts enforc't The Heauenly Priest this answere made at last And for their best indeauours told the worst The Child that but an Embrio is as yet By Nature rarely good by Fortune bad Shall wed his mother brothers shall beget And worke his death of whom his life he had No sooner ended was the dire presage But as a man transform'd poore Creon stood Feare such a warre with hosts of doubts did wage That teares supply'd the office of his blood Not any tincture of Vermilion red Did keepe possession on his liuelesse cheeke But leauing that with salt deaw coloured The fainting heart to cherish out did seeke A sudden palsie quiver'd euery lim So great an earth-quake shooke that little world His tongue grew infant and his sight waxt dim His haire by nature soft distraction curl'd Great signes of griefe did shew a griefe too great To bound it selfe or be exprest in fignes As little Tablets do in briefe repeat The ample summe contain'd in larger lines No sooner reason was recouered But finding griefe should not be long prolong'd Ere more made light what one ore-burthened He parts the weight to whoÌ„ the weight belong'd For time not many wasted sands had spent Ere Hast the Herald of too ill successe Inforc'd Suspition doubt some ill event That knew delay still vsher'd happinesse The longing King ficke in this short returne Feeles many fits of cold despairing fires As often freezing as he oft doth burne Desires to know yet feares what he desires Tell me quoth he yet prethee do not tell If cloudes foretell a tempests violence If lookes not right cote something that 's not well Keep sorrow there which hurts proceeding thence If thy tongues language harshly iarres on chance Conceale the Story of vnhappy newes I can endure a patient ignorance And rather this then to repent do chuse Farre better is' t for me to liue in hope Then knowing truths to haue my hopes despaire Expected mischiefes haue an endlesse scope And still are present ere they present are But if that Fortune will so much forget To be herselfe as to be fortunate Bet not vnwilling to discharge the debt That may inrich all my ensuing state Here did he stay though still he might haue spoke Had not Suspence too covetous of reply Longing to be resolu'd more speeches broke When Silence yet gaue words more libertie But speechlesse Creon prisons vp his tongue And will not take occasion to reueale But with fixt eye-balles and a head downe hung Declares the message which he would conceale By this the King coniectures that 't is ill Yet could not gather what that ill should be He saw too much a fainting heart to kill But not enough to cleare vncertaintie Therefore afresh he doth renew his suite More earnest now to haue him tell the worst Then earst desirous that he should be mute Intreating now what he refusd at first Although quoth he by this I know too much To make me wretched though the rest vnknown Yet loe the fondnesse of our nature 's such As much to grieue at doubted ills as showne Suspition euer doth farre more torment Then can the mischiefe that we doe suspect When neuer certaine of the hid event After one ill we still a worse expect The ominous blaze of heauens fantastick fire That never shines but for prodigious end Affrights th' vnskilfull gazets that admire When knowing not what they know they do portend Hadst thou with offrings nere solicited The Dâ—lian Altars for vnhappy truth With hope my selfe I might haue flattered Mine age should nere haue envy'd at my youth But sith the Gods do otherwise consent Adde not more mischiefe to the sacred doome Tel what thou know'st that told we may prevent Or arm'd with patience beare what ere shal come Here rests againe the yet vncertaine king And here againe doth Croon hold his peace A while deferring what his hast did bring That griefe late told might somwhat griefe release Fain would he speak some coÌ„fort that was faign'd Faine would he place the words in other sence But feare of what might happen him constrain'd To be offensiue for to shun offence Who being heard looke how alasse I erre If I compare what is beyond compare Too flight are words too weake are Characters T' expresse the passions that vn-vttred are Well may we draw soft-natur'd men that melt At others sorrowes with drownd cheekes eyes But as for him that hath the sorrow felt The cunning'st pensill with a vaile descries Suffice it that he grieues and spends his houres In solitary lonenesse casts what must be done Whether to yeeld vnto the higher powers Or by preuention their intents to shun When through times swiftnesse now the time wâ—â— come That this vnhappy issue must be borne The secret sorrowes of a labouring wombe Seises the queene of all saue griefe forlorne Vnto whose succour people more deuout Inuoke Pâ—lâ—â—â—â—â— for an easie birth Saturnia'â— Alâ—â—â— decked all about Inuite their goddesse to behold the earth And oh Lupine thou their prayers heard'st Though th' other office of thy Deitie Had better shewne how much that thou regard'st The sacred vowes that then were made to thee When with thy nymphs thou rangest in the wood In steady hand clasping an Iâ—ory how The Nâ—â—â—â—â— monsters and the Tygers blood Make thy darts blush to soe thee murther so And do'st thou now to pitie here begin Or want'st thou Arrowes for to tyraâ—niâ—e Loe 〈◊〉 a Monster nere before hath
As thou by both her water'd sides dost ride Attend me all By whose hand Laius fell Let him no harbour no aboad enioy No not himselfe wherein himselfe may dwell But when none else let he himselfe annoy May his owne houshold Gods vnfaithfull proue And the vnnaturall Lart in exile worse Reap he most shame from what he most doth loue And may his wife an impious off-spring nurse Kill he his father as he kild his King And let his acts my wishes power out-goe If a worse fate then mine can torment bring Heap't vp yet doe he what I shun to doe And for my selfe as I with prayers desire My vntoucht parents may proclaime me good No cooling intermission shall retire Reuenge till bloud be washt away with bloâ—d But play not with vs true Propheticke spirit Thus by denyed grants to make vs long Search is ambitious and would all inherit Secrets with-held make inquisition strong A taste but whets the liâ—â—ish appetite For satisfactions earnester pâ—â—â—â—â—it Vnto a prisoner the spâ—â—e-scanted light A bondage is to want it and to view 't Then do thou heauenly goodâ—â—s whom it pleas'd To shew the meanes further the meanes vnfold Point forth the man that soone we may be eas'd Or teach vs to forget what thou hast â—old Else as impatient patients we fare To whom the Châ—â—â—â—k hath prescrib'd receits Of such ingredients as so hidden are That they are doubted to be skild deceits Vrge Gods no more replyes the sacred Priest Man must worke somewhat for his better being Yet if with this thou not contented bee'st Blinded Tiresias eyes must helpe thy seeing Forthwith the faithfull Creon is dismist To Phoebus second Oracle who late Lost sight yet gain'd a better then he mist As he Coelestiall matters did debate Far from the Citty lies a nighted Groue Downe in the Valley where fleete Dirce glides Where th'vntoucht Cipresse spreads his boughs aboue And froÌ„ the Sun the subiect Bramble hides The aged Oake his rotten branches tends From whose corrupted side thicke ielly drops And stooping vnder many yeares he bends To rest his crippled truncke on yonger props There bitter-berried Daphne Mirrha stood The trembling Apse the Birch with smooth thin rine Th' eternall Cedar for my lines too good The vpright Alder and Sunne-guilded Pine In midst of this is situate a Tree Of wondrous greatnesse whose extended armes Mete the large confines of it's Empery And fense the weake inhabitants from harmes Within the hollow compasse of whose trunke Nature had cut out an vnciuill den Which a cold fountaine without ceasing drunke Vp of the earth moats with a miry fen Heere by his daughter Manto led he meets Reuerenc'd Tiresias And from the King Him all humanity obseru'd he greets And further vtters what him thither brings Then as the neuer-erring Prophet wild A hostiall fire vpon the Altar's made Which they before of Turffs of earth did build And there two cole-blacke Heifers on were laid The sacred Vates standing by the fire In direfull roabs yclad with box-tree crown'd Oft waues his powerfull wand and then enquires What Omens in the beasts or flames are found Anon he sings the hideous magicke verse Cals on the names of dutious Spirits thrice Thrice doth he smite the shooke earth thrice rehearse What deuils may compell or deuils tice A bloudy shower from his right hand fals And from his left drops bloud with Bacchus mixt Then with more earnest voice againe he cals With steady countenance on the center fixt Now dismall Hecats Dogs began to barke Which to repeat the wood by Eccho's taught A night comes now there answering day so darke A blinder Chaos seene then th' old was thought Vp rise the subiects of infernall Dis At which each Tree his frighted branches heaues Many an Oake in splinters shiuer'd is Many an Elme shrinkes vp his blasted leaues Earth suffers violence and open rends Her seal'd vp wombe to shew her tombed dead The subtile spirits penetrating fiends Out of her cauernes lift their crisped heads There might one see the griesly God of Hell Put his num hand out of his frozen Lake Nights very selfe three sister'd furies fell Picking queint morsels on a speckled snake The viperous brood of strange produced brothers Blinde Fury running carelesse of a guide Horror with vpright haire And all the others Eternall Darkenesse doth create or hide Griefe ' gainst it selfe that exercises rage Sickenesse that droopes a lither-head down hung Feare neuer certaine selfe-despising age Detraction last with her backe-biting tong That euen Manto custom'd to these Rites Astonisht stood onely her vnmou'd Sire Doth more the ghosts theÌ„ ghosts can meÌ„ affright That trembling Fiends closely themselues retire When he afresh effectuall charmes infers Graue-bedrid corps out of Deaths sleepe to wake Who breaking ope their Marble Sepulchers Their liuing formes vnto their soules retake So many leaues doth not Oeta shed So many Swallowes doth not Winter chace So many Bees are not in Hybla fed So many billowes wash not Neptunes face As there of sundry Nations ghosts appear'd Some with dismembred bodies some with scarres Doubly disfigur'd and were doubly sear'd Others vntoucht slaine by loues stroke not wars Amongst the rest Laiuâ— his head erects With meager lookes gor'd through with ghastly wounds That almost none him by his forme detects While thus he speakes while he in teares abounds Oh house of Cadmus neuer satisfied With bloud of kindred once my Country deare Whose first bad off-spring by each other dyed And still that enmity the last doth beare 'T is not heauens anger but thy wickednes Thou labour'st with no South-wind pestilence brings The thirsty earth vnquencht with rain hurts lesse Then th' abhominable action of thy Kings 'T is he not yet corrected paricide My murderer that for satisfaction Of a Sires death a Mother makes his Bride A worser father though too bad a son 'T is he to one wombe twise a diuers load Curst with prodigious issue who ahlas Vpon himselfe two brothers hath bestow'd Darker Aenigâ—aes then ere Sphinxes was He He it is that now my Scepter swayes Whom I with all your Citty prosecute Onely his exile misery allaies And till reueng'd I still will persecute He gone the painted spring shall soone repaire Your wither'd Arbors with their wonted greene No poisonous vapour shall infect your Aire But all shall be as it before hath beene This done and the infernall crew dismist Creâ—â— departs with sundry thoughts perplext Who in no steady counsell can persist Approuing what 's disproued by the next Anon the King is instant for the newes And after wanton preparation ended The messenger would faine himselfe excuse From telling it by telling where it tended But he more earnest through denyall threats By torment to extort it from his tong And mixes with his anger faire entreates Till both preuail'd he heares it and was stung A while with cogitations much distract He pauses on it and begins to doubt Some subtle stratageme contriu'd compact Which
OEDIPVS THREE CANTOES Wherein is contained 1 His vnfortunate Infancy 2 His execrable Actions 3 His lamentable End By T.E. Bach Art Cantab. Oedipus sum non Davus LONDON Printed by NICHOLAS OKES 1615. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVL THE PATRON AND PATERNE OF GOOD ARTS Mr. IOHN CLAPHAM Esquire one of the sixe Clarkes of the Chauncerie D. D. SIR the multitude of Writers in our age hath begotten a scarcitie of Patrons And Poësie is growne so frequent that it may say with Niobe inopemse copia fecit when it owne communitie hath brought it into contempt Insomuch that being about to publish these slight Composures which haue so far ore-leaven'd my disposition addicted to nothing lesse then popularitie that notwithstanding my desire to suppresse it yet rupto iecore exire caprificus I was compelled with Catullus Quoi doâ—â— novum at illepidum libellum when I could not thinke of any that would be so partiall as to think has nugas esse aliquid seeing that nowadaies Thespis cannot act without the reprehension of Solon And most men like supercilious Cato's ever censure verse to be loose though it be never so strictly restrain'd within the limits of vntainted numbers Till at last through the happy knowledge of your selfe I resolu'd to make intrusion ambitious to you from whom I could not choose but conceiue encouragement when your elaborate lines doe promise you to fauour that in others which others admire in you I could here enter into a discourse of your deserued praises but that I know it cannot bee acceptable to an ingenuous disposition and I finde it a burthen intolerable for an vnable quill Neither can Alexander disgest the soothings of Aristobulus neither will he suffer any to portray out his stature but Policletus Sith then I cannot like Protogenes iudge truly de lineis Apellaeis I wil passe ouer that in silence which wold surpasse all my indevours It is all I seeke if the aboundance of your worth may take away any thing from the vnworthinesse of my imperfect labors And if that laurell doctae frontis praemia which shadowes your temples shall proue to me as Naturalists report to all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will not feare the tyrannies of our censuring times but whilest other Nightingales boast the sufficiency of their Musick to coment it selfe this onely shall excuse her scritching by being the bird of Pallas To whose protection in you I commit both it and my selfe THO. EVANS To the Ingenious and Ingenuous Readers GEntlemen for the best of you I desire to be no more and the worst I hope will prone no lesse To you onely I offer the perusing of my labours If any immodest Thalassius require mouing Epigrams and lascivious Odes able to corrupt a Vestall and make Priapus blush at his owne rites I pray him to abstaine his frustrated expectation I loue not to set before my Reader the head of Polypus Nor do I account it a sufficient excuse for Poets to say Lasciua est nobis pagina vita proba I would haue Carmina Ithiphallica and Fescinina banisht from their Writings and not onely themselues to liue well but their lines to bee drawne out by their liues I cannot satisfie neither those greedy pursuers of humours that would haue Iests broken against Gentlemen Vshers little legs euery Chenalieres bald pate vncouered and the deformities of a hooded dame deelpher'd through her Maske Nothing but Satyrs Whips and Scourges to such I say I will not defile my selfe with others pitch iudging him alwaies a notorious corrupted person that best expresses the guilt in others which hee findes liueliest charactered in himselfe Yet if any of them shall tempt me they shall finde me an Archilochus whose Standish can swarm with wasps as well as his Sepulcher I request also those that come as Cato into the Theater tantum vt exirent who seeing the Title of my booke take it vp where Lectis vix paginis duabus Spectant descatholicon seuere Either not to begin to reade or not to shew their dislike in their discontinuance But as for you whose squeamish nicenesse condemnes Poesy because it is so be as far from me as I endeuour to be from your ignorance 'T is not to you But Ad sacra vatum carmen affero nostrum Now a greater scarcity then you haue of wit befall you What meane you to moue in a Spheare aboue your knowledge and censure exquisite numbers which your capacity cannot reach to Know Poesy is Diuine no maruaile if it sute not the humor of earthly clods Grouell with your deiected cogitations while they breath heauenly raptures Quos Cantor Apollo Non patitur versare lutum 'T is not your scandalous imputations can sully the lustre of a Poet the Arch-builder of this Vniuerse is so stiled whom therefore they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No lesse are those whom that Diuinity with Coelestiall inspirations abstracts from the society of men As for my selfe so far am I from the slighted opinion of such that it is my wish Me primùm ante omnia Musae Quarum sacra fero ardenti perculsus amore Accipiant coelique vias sidera monstrent And oh you that are Castalidum decus sororum That haue beene rockt in the laps of the Nursing Muses suffer me to tast of your Milke as for your Hony I will not presume to touch Though my want of industry denies mee your Crownes of Iuy yet Non sum adeo deformis but that I deeme my selfe worthy of a sprig of Laurell But I feare my iust spleene and zealous affection hath transported mee too far I will therefore returne to you ingenious Readers whom I earnestly request that it may be lawfull for me to liue Occipiti coeco secur'd in your approbations from all the dislikes which I almost desire may be sprinkled vpon me to kindle my more earnest flame As for the Story I treate of I will not vrge your faith neither in the thing it selfe nor the relation for being a matter so diuersly spoken of amongst diuers Writers I was vtterly ignorant as Sabellicus saith vpon the same In re tam antiqua fabulosa quid certi dicerem I thought it as good therefore to follow my owne fancy as the vncertainty of others hoping my authority will passe currant when Omnibus hoc licitum est Poetis If at any time the frequency of reading about the History hath begot imitation impute it to the obaious aptnesse of the Authour so copious that scarce no inuention liues from his lines that another can imagine fit for the same matter Howsoeuer community may excuse a bad custome Few there are which are onely supposititij to themselues and for my selfe I am not often faulty in that kind For I protest I haue many times tooke paines to shun his almost ineuitable sentences But I will not make a fault by excusing Accept it as it is it is my first child but not the heyre of all the fathers wit There is some laid vp
prevention Witnesse these rash proceedings for now come To Pholus Temple he with suppliant vowes Implores the Deities determin'd doome Who with prophetick fires his Priests endowes Soone the Castalian Nymph inspir'd replies Dare Mortals dally with Immortalitie Thinke they the Delian Oracle telles lies That for ones fate they twise solicit me Do I ere vse my selfe to contradict Or am I not â—t euery time the same Am I benigne sometimes and sometimes strict Change I decrees as you do change your flame If not why then what diffidence is this In our truths power that what once answer'd was As 't were to pose vs now propounded is Hope you for better things to come to passe Know thou that hadst thy sentence yet vnborne Which heretofore thy haplesse Sire receiu'd Though now what wee foretold thou laughst to scorn That our prophetick laurel's not decein'd Quickly begone our doome to verifie That by thy fate our credit may bee wonne Yet liues thy father by thy hand to dye Thy mother yet to beare her sonne a sonne Furie and madnesse now possesse him first That superstition should inforce beliefe Gainst all assurance in his bosome nurst Which in our iudgment shold perswade vs chiefe Anon with Phoebus he the cause debates I wonder not saies he that thou dost erre Nor do I credit what thou dost relate Thy licence's knowne thou art a traveller Tell me Apollo if thou canst me tell To whom is mans corrupted inside knowne Doth not himselfe himselfe perceiue as well As you and best determines of his owne If not how vaine is' t that thy Temple doore Commands selfe-knowledge when doe all hee can To know himselfe man knowes himselfe no more Then I beleeue thou know'st thy selfe of man And if we doe oh why shouldst thou perswade Vs to be such whereof we nothing know But that 't is false Never is that gain-said Which in our selues we are assur'd is so See if coelestiall eyes that power haue To view our intrailes ransacke every nooke Where cogitation wanders in her caue Obserue me throghly with one searching looke Marke strictly and declare if thou canst finde One thought one little motion whereby To be confirm'd nay if thou scan'st my minde There nothing dwels which giues thee not the lie I know thus much I am not ignorant So farre in my soft-natur'd disposition Though to diseases apt it health may want Yet I presume I m'e still mine owne Physition And but I finde mine innocence gainsayes Eu'n with my life I d'e finish that intent And yet there are evasions many wayes Death set apart to hinder the event Before those rayes wherewith thou seest me now Twise maske their glories in the clouded West Ere twise Aurora with a bashfull brow Asham'd of Tithon blvshes in the East I l'e ease this ground whereon I now do tread Of my loath'd burthen all the world I l'e range Whersoere I am by fame or fancy led That changing climates I my fate may change Corinth fare-wel and all my houshold Lares Thy pleasures your protection I forsake For sorrow dangers povertie and cares 'T is vertue onely me an exile makes Nere will I take repentant step to turne Where my mischance is natiue as my soile And first I l'e see thy loved buildings burne Before thy smoke shall tempt me from my toyle Parents fare-well Thus I your haplesse sonne Turne hence m'vnwilling lights for why I feare I am tâ—â—n'd 〈◊〉 like whose infection 〈…〉 in the eye-bâ—lles else I know not where Inhospitable regions stay for me Wildes vnfrequented shores vâ—â—â—â—'d vnknowne Nights pitchy birth-right where no Sun they see Each countrey's mine to breath in same mine own Thus in distemper'd bloud he Dâ—â—phâ—s leaues With some few private friends and as a man Desperate himselfe of all forecast bereaues Dares all the worst that now misfortune can Eu'n as a Pinnace by a Pirat chac'd Steeres her indifferent keele for any coast Harbors with any danger met in hast Rather then try the danger feared most So he vntraâ—eld in the seas of chance To Sâ—illâ— from supposd Chaâ—yâ—â—is hies Mischiefe once known and shun'd with ignorance Is mâ—t the same he followes which he flyes Turne â—â—â—e to Corinth fond misdeeming youth Keepe thy selfe there and keepe thy selfe secure Our fortune vs as we the world pursueth And sure she is but in a place vnsure Then be not thou degenerate from good So farre as to take paines in doing ill If thou must quench thy Eagles thirst wth blood Shun tediousnesse and drinke with ease thy fill Change the white liuery of Polybius head With his effused gore and that being done Deface the print of Mâ—râ—pes chast bed Think thou dost all that now this thinkst to shun And so perchance thou mayst prevent with doing What thou must do in seeking to prevent Thy warinesse workes now thine owne vndoing And by resisting furthers Fates intent But thou must on to act and I to â—ell Thy deeds of horror that without thine ayd Learnings great armed Goddesse on me dwell I shall 〈◊〉 lesse heynous being afraid From Thâ—bâ—s there lies a narrow beaten way Made rudely pleasant with vneven thorne Which wandring long through coole Castalia Looses it selfe vpon a plaine vnworne There Nature portraid Flora's counterfet In youthfulst beauties on a ground of greene Which she with such skild workmanship had seâ— As well how much she scorned Art was seene Neere whose embroydred margent Elâ—â— glides With crooked turnings winding in and out That she might longer in the meade abide And finde the readiest way in going about Hitherest Lâ—iâ—â— came as was his vse With soluce to spurre on the tardy time Reposing his wilde thoughts and taking truce With conscience still accusing him of crime And now alas 't was his vnhappy hap As he from Thâ—bâ—s to Phâ—â—â—s ioâ—â—â—ied A litle towne within whose purple lap Tipsie Lyaus layes his drowsie head Here on this greene to meet his thought-dead son Posting to Thebes whose indigested rage In him had all humanitie vndone Left no respect neither of state nor age For growne to choser after melancholly Hee rudely rushes through the peacefull traine And passing forth with more irreverent folly Ore-turnes his fathers Chariot on the plaine The Kingly old man all possest with spleene Thirsts after a revengefull recompence And as the flies haue stings the Ant her teene He drawes the sword he wore for shew not sense His readinesse doth prompt his company To the like valorous opposition But Oedipus as ready as was he Askes pardon with maintaining not contrition Now the inconstant Goddesse 'gins to smile Triumphing in her selfe-lou'd policie How queintly she can mans intents beguile And blinder then herselfe make those that see You Furies too th'obseruant slaues of chance Though discords nurses yet you now conspire Where Death sounds Iron harmony to dance To crowne Erinâ—is with your brands of 〈◊〉 But Nature where art thou Where Sympaâ—hy That Elmes and Vines espouseth vanishe gone 'Twixt whom or where
should Inclination be If here abandon'd in the Sire and Sonne Or you neglectfull Geâ—â—ij that attend On our directed actions where are you That now you loyter Is' t to be contemn'd We are indulgent or a debt we owe Me thinkes the liberall expence bestow'd On your vnnecessary feasts might charme From you some succour that some power bestow'd To hinder purposes that tend to harme But you oft-blamed sistes in my verse That do determine mans vncertaine yeares 'T is you but thou of all the three most fierce That a soâ—nes sword mistakest for thy sheares By which poore Laius threed being cut he falles Eu'n as an antique edifice of stone Struck with a thundring peale of shot whose wals If not by force would haue decay'd alone No sooner fell he but the Thebans fled Some for assistant succor some for feare Some washt their bloudy cheeks in tears they shed Others with out-cries forced others teare The murderers not knowing whom th 'had slaine Howseuer would not trust their innocence Their guilt assures them that they shall be tane If long they stay so they depart from thence Leaving the busie multitude imploy'd In vaine enquiry of they know not whom All the whole cheerefulnesse of Thebes destroyd And Cadmus race quite sorrow ouercome Amongst the rest the but halfe-living queene Comes where her other best-lou'd halfe lay dead Whose mangled body when she once had seene Her heart his wounds receiu'd but faster bled Anone herselfe on his stiffe trunke she throwes Kisses his bloud-left cheekes oh thus quoth she The all she hath of thine thy wife bestowes Eu'n till she hath no breath shee 'l breath on thee And being dead thus on thy graue I l'e lye Tombing thee in an Alablaster shrine With open bosome that the passer by May see what thy heart was by seeing mine And now I thinke thee happy Niobe Whose marble breast yeeld to no sence of woes After thou twise seven funerals didst see Twise didst thy children in thy wombe inclose Oh wold my fortune now like thine might proue I m'e sure the griefe is greatest I abide Thou but for children mourned'st I for a Loue Might haue made me a mother ere I dy'd Remembrance now at this sad name of Mother Doth old mishaps to be wept ore bring out A greene wounds anguish oft vnskinnes another Sorrow 's a circle and still turnes about Now comes to minde her child-births bitternesse Made heavier with the burden that she bore Which had he liu'd yet wold haue grieu'd her lesse Though he had triumph'd in his fathers gore In vaine oh Laius didst thou kill thy sonne When from a stranger thou hast death receau'd If needs thy threed must haue bin cut ere spunne Would he had liu'd thy life to haue bereau'd He might haue best bin authour of thy death In whom thou liu'dst through him perpetuall Succession might haue lengthend thy short breath Built from these ruins towers that nere should fall Now both are perisht with your memory Of whom no age-withstanding record's left Onely my breast retaines what none can see What soone will faile so soone of you bereft Oh ill betide thee cruell hearted man If man thou be'st that had a heart so cruell Vncivill monster I thinke rather than Composd of heauenly fire and earthly fuell The sauage tyrant of the forrest would Haue loath'd the fact to do and being done Flints wold haue wept rocks if here they stood Would melt as wax at presence of the sunne Oh rockes and snaggy flints when we compare Hard men with you we do you iniury Men are themselues I most like men they are When they are furthest from humanitie Here from the bounds of charitie transported She on the murdrer bitterly exclaimes Wishing him woes not to be comforted To proue his fathers ruines mothers shame Till what her sad attendants could affoord She tastes of comfort if there comfort liue ' Mongst those that in one miserie accord Wanting that most which they desire to giue Reason at last establisht patience So taking vp the reliques of their King With slow procession they depart from thence Towards Thebes with theÌ„ their sad load do bring Where long it was not ere with Funerall Rites The corpes were brought vnto the Funerall pile Musick sounds harsh though it elsewhere delights What mirth did vse now vsd doth mirth exile Performed are the Obsequies at last The people cloath'd in customary black To giue more state vnto their sorrow past Mould to present it by their looking back Scarce were their Cypresse garlands withered Scarce of their spent tears had they took their leaue Ere Mischiefe Hydra-like exalts her head Which by the formers losse she doth receiue For angry Iuno neuer reconcil'd To her corriuals brothers progeny Burning in rage so oft to be beguil'd Thus wreakes her selfe on them with tyranny Hard by the Citie in Crenaa's sight A hill there is whose spired top commands A spacious prospect which Phycaeos hight Washing his graueld feet in Duces sands Here the too much inraged Goddesse plac'd Echidna's daughter triple featur'd Sphinx Of rare composure ' boue the doubtfull wast Which baser growes as neerer earth it sinkes A virgins face she had where might be read Perfection printed in each gracefull part And from her head a golden curtaine spread Hangs as the couer to some curious Art As for her voyce no Princes wronged Lad No Syren sweeter or more cunning sings Plump moving breast smooth skin white arms she had Fanning a feather ' paire of painted wings But as an Artist leanes his carved worke On formes deform'd or as each wise man telles Worst Serpents vnder gayest flowers lurke Or pleasures welcomes haue but harsh farewelles So Nature in a Lyons halfe had put That other halfe but totally Divine Whose meaning sith from most it vp be shut Disdaine not this moralitie of mine Learning Knowledge by our Sphinx is meant As hid as her Aenigma's posing wits In Hierogliphicks and to this intent On armed Pallas helmets top she sits On hill shee keepes and so the Muses doe Hard are the numbers of a Poets rime Nature Art Vse are the thrâ— steps thereto Care must be had that we directly clime Nature doth rudely our dull masse prepare And if not helpt contemplates but with sence Her groueling lookes downwards deiected are And can deriue but earthly knowledge thence But Art erects it selfe with Reason scans Things aboue reach then taking Vses wings Mans spirit soares vp higher then a mans Houering aboue heauens Christall Orbe he sings Beast Maid and Bird is Nature Art and Vse Ioyn'd in one knowledge as those three in one If you admit not this admit excuse Learning 's a Sphinx her riddles are vnknowne Well here she held long her dominion Propounding questions vnto passers by Given by the Muses to her on condition If answer'd she else the not-answerers dye To many loe her riddles she propounds Whose hidden meaning was so intricate That to her none the