exceeding great fauour with the Commons With Salisbury his vile ambitious Sire In Yorks sterne brest kindling long hidden fire By Clarence title working to supplant The Eagle Ayrie of great Iohn of Gaunt Richard Plantaginet Duke of Yorke in the the time of Henrie the sixt claymed the Crowne beeing assisted by this Richard Neuell Earle of Salisburie and Father to the great Earle of Warwicke who fauoured exceedingly the house of Yorke in open parliament as heyre to Lionell Duke of Clarence the third sonne of Edward the third making his title by Anne his mother wife to Richard Earle of Cambridge sonne to Edmond of Langley Duke of Yorke which Anne was Daughter to Roger Mortimer Earle of March which Roger was sonne and heyre to Edmond Mortimer 〈◊〉 married the Lady Phillip Daughter and heire to Lionell Duke of Clarence the third sonne of King Edward to whō the crowne after Richard the seconds death lineally discended he dying without issue And not to the heires of the Duke of Lancaster that was younger Brother to the Duke of Clarence Hall cap. 1. Tit. 〈◊〉 or Lanc. Vrg'd by these enuious Lords to spend their breath Calling reuenge on the Protectours death Humfrey Duke of Glocester and Lorde Protectour in the 〈◊〉 yeare of Hen. 6. was by the meanes of the Queene and the Duke of Suffolk was atested by y e Lord Beumond at the Parliament 〈◊〉 at Berry and the same night after murthered in his bed If they would know who rob'd him c. To this verse To know how Humfrey dyed and who shall raigne In these verses her iests at the Protectours wife who being 〈◊〉 and conuicted of treason because with Iohn Hun a Priest Roger Bollingbrooke a Negromancer and Margery Iordane called the Witch of Ely shee had consulted and agreed by Sorcery to kill 〈◊〉 King was adiudged to perpetuall pryson in the Ile of Man and 〈◊〉 doo penaunce openly in three publique places in London For twenty yeares and haue I seru'd in Fraunce In the 6. yeare of Hen. the 6. the Duke of Bedford being deceased then Lieutenant generall and Regent of Fraunce this Duke of Suffolke was promoted to that dignity hauing the L. Talbot 〈◊〉 Scales and the Lord Mountacute to assist him Against great Charles and Bastard Orleance This was Charles the seauenth that after the death of Henry the 〈◊〉 obtained the crowne of Fraunce recouered againe much of that his Father had lost Bastard Orleance was sonne to the Duke of Orleance begotten of the L. Cawnies wife preferred highly to many notable offices because he being a most valiant Captaine was continuall enemy to the Englishmen daylie infesting them with diuers incursions And haue I seene Vernoyla's batfull fields Vernoyle is that noted place in Fraunce where the great battell was fought in the beginning of Hen. 6. his raigne where the most of the French cheualry were ouercome by the Duke of Bedford And from Aumearle with-drew my warlike powers Aumearle is that strong defenced towne in Fraunce which the Duke of Suffolke got after 24. great assaults giuen vnto it And came my selfe in person first to Towers Th'Embassadours for truce to entertaine From Belgia Denmarke Hungary and Spaine Towers is a Citty in Fraunce built by Brutus as he came into Britaine where in the 21. of Henry the 6 was appoynted a great dyet to bee kept whether came th'Embassadours of th'Empire Spaine Hungary and Denmarke to intreate for a perpetuall peace to be made betweene the two Kings of England and Fraunce By true descent to weare the Diadem Of Naples Cicile and Ierusalem Rayner Duke of Aniou Father to Queene Margarit call'd him selfe King of Naples Cicily and Ierusalem hauing the title alone of King of those Countries A fifteenes taxe in Fraunce I freely spent The Duke of Suffolke after the marriage concluded twixt King Henry and Margarit Daughter to Duke Rayner asked in open Parliament a whole fifeteenth to fetch her into England Seeue thee for England but imbark't at Deepe Deepe is a Towne in Fraunce bordering vpon the Sea where the Duke of Suffolke with Queene Margarit tooke shippe for England As when ariu'd in Porchesters faire Roade Porchester a Hauen Towne in the South-west part of England where the King taried expecting the Queenes ariuall whom from thence he conueyed to South-hampton Queene Margarit to William de la Pole Duke of Suffolke WHat newes sweet Pole look'st thou my lines should tell But like the sounding of the dolefull bell Bidding the deaths-man to prepare the graue Expect from me no other newes to haue My brest which once was mirths imperiall throne A vast and desart wildernes is growne Like that cold Region from the world remote On whose breeme seas the Icie mountaines flote vvhere those poore creatures banish'd from the light Doe liue imprison'd in continuall night No ioy presents my soules internall eyes But diuination of sad tragedies And care takes vp her solitarie Inne vvhere youth and ioy theyr Court did once begin As in September when our yeere resignes The glorious sunne vnto the watry signes vvhich through the clowdes lookes on the earth in scorne The little Byrd yet to salute the morne Vpon the naked branches sets her foote The leaues now lying on the mossy roote And there a silly chirripping doth keepe As though shee faine would sing yet faine would weepe Praysing faire Sommer that too soone is gone Or mourning VVinter too fast comming on In this sad plight I mourne for thy depart Because that weeping cannot case my hart Now to our ayde who stirres the neighbouring Kings Or who from Fraunce a puissant Armie brings VVho moues the Norman to assist our warre Or brings in Burgoyn to ayde Lancaster VVho in the North our lawfull claime commends To winne vs credite with our valiant friends To whom shall I my secrete thoughts impart VVhose brest is now the closet of my hart The auncient Heroes fame thou didst reuiue And didst from them thy memory deriue Nature by thee both gaue and taketh all Alone in Pole she was too prodigall Of so diuine and rich a temper wrought As heauen for him perfections depth had sought Peables and Flints we finde in euery path The Diamond rich India onely hath VVell knew King Henry what he pleaded for vvhen thou wert made his sweet-tong'd Orator vvhose Angell-eye by powrefull influence Imparteth wonders passing eloquence That when loue would his youthfull sports haue tryde But in thy shape himselfe would neuer hide vvhich in his loue had beene of greater power Then was his Nymph his flame his swanne his shower To that allegiance Yorke was bound by oath To Henries heyres and safetie of vs both No longer now he meanes record shall beare it He will dispence with heauen and will vnsweare it Hee that's in all the worlds blacke sinnes forlorne Is carelesse now how oft hee be forsworne And now of late his title hath set downe By which he claimes the right of Englands Crowne And now I heare his
witchcraft and burned for the same and that Piers had bewitched the King Albania Gascoyne Cambria Ireland Albania Scotland so called of Albanact the seconde sonne of Brutus and Cambria Wales so called of Camber the third sonne the foure 〈◊〉 and Countries brought in subiection by Edward Longshanks When of our Princely iewells and our dowers We but enioy the least of what is ours A complaynt of the prodigalitie of King Edward giuing vnto Gaueston the iewells treasure which was left him by the auncient Kings of England and enriching him with the goodly Manor of Wallingforde assigned as parcell of the dower to the Queenes of this famous Ile And ioynd with the braue issue of our blood Alie our kingdome to theyr crauand brood Edward the second gaue to Piers Gaueston in marriage the daughter of Gilbert Clare Earle of Glocester begot of the Kinges sister Ioane of Acres married to the said Earle of Gloster Should giue away all that his Father wonne To backe a stranger King Edward offered his right in Fraunce to Charles his brother in law and his right in Scotland to Robert Bruse to bee ayded against the Barrons in the quarrell of Piers Gaueston And did great Edward on his death-bed giue Edward Longshanks on his death-bed at Carlile commaunded young Edward his sonne on his blessing not to call backe Gaueston which for the misguiding of the Princes youth was before banished by the whole counsell of the land That after all this fearefull massaker The fall of Beuchamp Lasey Lancaster Thomas Earle of Lancaster Guy Earle of VVarwicke Henry Earle of Lincolne who had taken theyr oathes before the deceassed King at his death to withstand his sonne Edward if he should call Gaueston from exile beeing a thing which hee much feared now seeing Edward to violate his Fathers commaundement rise in Armes against the King which was the cause of the ciuile war and the ruine of so many Princes And gloried I in Gauestons great fall That nowe a Spenser should succeed in all The two Hugh Spensers the Father the sonne after the death of Gaueston became the great fauorites of the King the sonne being created by him Lord Chamberlaine and the Father Earle of Winchester And if they were yet Edward doth detaine Homage for Pontiu Guyne and Aquitaine Edward Longshanks did homage for those Citties and territories to the French King which Edward the second neglecting moued the French King by the subbornation of Mortimer to ceaze those Countries into his hands By auncient Wigmors honourable Crest Wigmore in the marches of Wales was the ancient house of the Mortimers that noble and couragious familie That still so long as Borrough beares that name The Queene remembreth the great ouerthrowe giuen to the Barrons by Andrew Herckley Earle of Carlill at Borrough bridge after the battaile at Burton And Torlton now whose counsells should direct Thys was Adam Torlton bishop of Herford that great polititian who so highly fauoured the faction of the Queene and Mortimer whose euill counsell afterward wrought the destruction of the King Mortimer to Queene Isabell. AS thy saluts my sorrowes doe adiourne So backe to thee their interest I returne Though not in so great bountie I confesse As thy heroicke princely lines expresse For how should comfort issue from the breath Of one condemn'd and long lodg'd vp in death From murthers rage thou didst me once repriue Now in exile my hopes thou doost reuiue Twice all was taken twice thou all didst giue And thus twice dead thou mak'st me twice to liue This double life of mine your onely due You gaue to mee I giue it backe to you Nere my escape had I aduentur'd thus As did the skye-attempting Daedalus And yet to giue more safetie to my flight Haue made a night of day a day of night Nor had I backt the proude aspyring wall vvhich held without my hopes within my fall Leauing the cordes to tell where I had gone For gazing eyes with feare to looke vpon But that thy beautie by a power diuine Breath'd a new life into this spirit of mine Drawne by the sunne of thy celestiall eyes vvith fiery wings made passage through the skyes The heauens did seeme the charge of me to take And sea and land be friend mee for thy sake Thames stopt hen tide to make me way to goe As thou had'st charg'd her that it should be so The hollow murmuring winds their due time kept As they had rock'd the world whilst all things slept One billow bore me and another draue mee This stroue to helpe me and that stroue to saue mee The brisling Reedes mou'd with the ayre did chide mee As they would tell me that they moant to hide mee The pale-fac'd night beheld thy heauie cheere And would not let one little starre appeare But ouer all her smoakie mantle hurl'd And in thick vapours muffled vp the world And the pure ayre became so calme and still As it had beene obedient to my will And euery thing disposd vnto my rest As when one Seas the Alcion buildes her nest And those rough waues which late with furie rusht Slide smoothlie on and suddainly are husht Nor Neptune lets his surges out so long As Nature is in bringing forth her yong Nor let the Spensers glory in my chaunce That thus I liue an exile now in Fraunce That I from England banished should be But England rather banished from me More were her want Fraunce our great blood shold beare Then Englands losse should be to Mortimer My Grandsire was the first since Authurs raigne That the Round-table lastly did ordaine To whose great Court at Kenelworth did come The peerlesse knighthood of all Christendome VVhose princely order honoured England more Then all the conquests shee atchiu'd before Neuer durst Scot set foote on English ground Nor on his backe did English beare a wound vvhilst VVigmore flourisht in our princely hopes And whilst our Ensigne march'd with Edwards troupes VVhilst famous Longshanks bones in Fortunes scorne As sacred reliques to the fielde were borne Nor euer did the valiant English doubt VVhilst our braue battailes guarded them about Nor did our wiues and wofull mothers mourne The English blood that stained Banocksburn VVhilst with his Minions sporting in his Tent VVhole dayes and nights in banquetting were spent Vntill the Scots which vnder safeguard stoode Made lauish hauock of the English blood And battered helmes lay scattered on the shore vvhere they in conquest had beene borne before A thousand kingdoms will we seeke from farre As many Nations wast with ciuill warre vvhere the disheuel'd gastly Sea-nymphe sings Or well-rigd shyps shall stretch theyr swelling wings And dragge theyr Ankors through the sandie foame About the world in euery Clime to roame And those vnchristned Countries call our owne vvhere scarce the name of England hath been knowne And in the Dead-sea sinck our houses fame From whose sterne waues we first deriu'd our Name Before foule black-mouth'd infamie shall sing That
alas too loosely set to sale Shee need not like an vgly Minataur Haue been lock'd vp from iealious Ellinor But beene as famous by thy mothers wrongs As by thy Father subiect to all tongues To shadow sinne might can the most pretend Kings but the conscience all things can defend A stronger hand restraines our wilsull powers A will must rule aboue this will of ours Not following what our vaine desires doe wooe For vertues sake but what we onely doe And hath my Father chose to liue exild Before his eyes should see my youth defild And to withstand a Tyrants lewd desire Beheld his Towers and Castles razd with fire Yet neuer tuch'd with griefe so onely I Exempt from shame might with true honour die And shall this iewell which so deerely cost Now after all by my dishonour lost No no his reuerend words his holy teares Yet in my soule too deepe impression beares No no his fare-well at his last depart More deepely is engrauen in my hart Nor shall that blot by mee his name shall haue Bring his gray haires with sorrow to his graue Rather with pitty weepe vpon my Tombe Then for my birth to curse my mothers wombe Though Dunmowe giue no refuge heere at all Dunmowe can giue my body buriall If all remorcelesse no teare-shedding eye My selfe will moane my selfe so liue so die Notes of the Chronicle historie THis Epistle containeth no particuler poynts of historie more then the generallity of the argument layeth open for after the banishment of the Lord Robert Fitzwater and that 〈◊〉 was become a Recluse at Dunmowe from whence this reply is imagined to bee written the King still earnestly persisting in his sute Matilda with this chast constant deniall hopeth yet at length to find some comfortable remedy and to rid herselfe of doubts by taking vpon her this monasticke habite and to shew that shee still beareth in minde his former crueltie bred by the impatience of his lust she remembreth him of her fathers banishment the lawlesse exile of her alies and friends Doost thou of Father and of friends depriue mee Then complayning of her distresse that flying thether thinking there to finde releefe she sees herselfe most assayld where she hoped to haue found most safetie Alas and fled I hether from my foe That c. After againe standing vpon the precise poynts of conscience not to cast off this habite she had taken My vowe is taken I a Nunne profest And at last laying open more particulerly the miseries sustained by her Father in England the burning of his Castles and houses which she proueth to be for her sake as respecting onely her honour more then his natiue country and his owne fortunes And to withstand a Tyrants lowde desire Beheld his Towers and Castels set on fire Knitting vp her Epistle with a great and constant resolution Though Dunmow giue no refuge heere at all Dunmow can giue my body burià ll FINIS To the vertuous Lady the Lady Anne Harrington wife to the honourable Gentleman Sir Iohn Harrington Knight MY singuler good Lady your many vertues knowne in generall to all and your gracious fauours to my vnworthy selfe haue confirmed that in mee which before I knew you I onely sawe by the light of other mens iudgements Honour seated in your breast findes herselfe adorned as in a rich pallace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which makes her admirable which like the sunne from thence begetteth most precious things of this earthly world onely by the vertue of his rayes not the nature of the mould Worth is best 〈◊〉 by the worthie deiected mindes want that pure fire which should giue vigor to vertue I refer to your owne great thoughts the vnpartiall Judges of true affection the vnfained zeale I haue euer borne to your honorable seruice and so rest your Ladiships humbly at commaund Michaell Drayton Queene Isabell to Mortimer * The Argument Queene Isabell the wife of Edward the seconde called Edward Carnaruan being the daughter of Phillip le Beau King of Fraunce forsaken by the King her husband who delighted onely in the company of Piers Gaueston his minion and fauorite and after his death seduced by the euill counsaile of the Spensers This Queene thus left by her husband euen in the glory of her youth drewe into her especiall fauour Roger Mortimer Lorde of VVigmore a man of a mightie and inuinsible spirit This Lord Mortimer rising in Armes against the King with Thomas Earle of Lancaster and the Barrons was taken ere hee could gather his power and by the King committed to the Tower of London During his imprisonment he ordained a feast in honor of his birth-day to which he inuited Sir Stephen Segraue Lieutenant of the Tower and the rest of the officers where by meanes of a drinke prepared him by the Queene hee cast them all into a beauie sleepe and with ladders of cordes beeing ready prepared for the purpose hee escapeth and flyeth into Fraunce whether shee sendeth this Epistle complayning her owne misfortunes and greatly reioycing at his safe escape THough such sweet comfert comes not now from her As Englands Queene hath sent to Mortimer Yet what that wants which might my power approue If lines can bring this shall supply with loue Mee thinks affliction should not fright mee so Nor should resume these sundry shapes of wo But when I faine would finde the cause of this Thy absence shewes mee where the erroris Oft when I thinke of thy departing hence Sad sorrow then possesseth euery sence But finding thy deere blood preseru'd thereby And in thy life my long-wish'd libertie vvith that sweet thought my selfe I onely pleuse Amid'st my griefe which sometimes giues me ease Thus doe extreamest ills a ioy possesse And one woe makes another woe seeme lesse That blessed night that mild-aspected howre VVherein thou mad'st escape our of the Towre Shall consecrated euer-more remaine VVhat gentle Planet in that howre did raigne And shall be happy in the birth of men vvhich was chiefe Lord of the Ascendant then Oh how I fear'd that sleepie iuyce I sent Might yet want power to further thine intent Or that some vnseene misterie might lurke VVhich wanting order kindly should not worke Oft did I wish those dreadfull poysoned lees That clos'd the euer-waleing Dragons eyes Or I had had those sence 〈◊〉 stalkes That grow in shadie Proserpines darke walkes Or those blacke weedes on Lethe bankes below Or Lunary that doth on Latmus flow Oft did I feare thys moyst and foggie Clime Or that the earth waxt barraine nowe with time Should not haue hearbes to helpe me in this case Such as doe thriue on Indias parched face That morrow when the blessed sunne did rise And shut the lidds of all heauens lesser eyes Forth from my 〈◊〉 by a secret staire I steale to 〈◊〉 as though to take the ayre And aske the gentle stood as it did glide Or thou didst 〈◊〉 or perish by the tide If thou didst perish I desire the streame To
kinsman And let a Richard from our line arise A prophecie of Richard Crookebacke the Tyrant which after was the onely scourge and plague of both the houses of Yorke Lancaster and the death of many great Princes FINIS To the Right Honourable the Lord Henrie Howard LEarned and noble Lord custome and continuance haue sealed this priuiledge to Poetry that sometime the light subiect of a laboured Poem is graced with the title of a learned and iudiciall censor your Lordship sufficiently knoweth what I but put you in remembrance off your wisedome and experience know what hath beene most vsuall in the course of times your iudgement makes me doubtfull being what I am your honor giues me some comfort beeing what you are Counsell is not euer conuersant with seueritie and I know true vertue loueth what is neuer so little like herselfe howe vnseasoned so euer my rymes seeme to the worlde I am pleased if you peruse them with patience Thus wishing my lines may bee as acceptable as I desire I leaue them to your learned censor Michaell Drayton Queene Katherine to Owen Tudor * The Argument After the death of that victorious Henry the fift Queene Katherine the 〈◊〉 of England and Fraunce daughter to Charles the French King holding her estate with Henrie her sonne then the sixt of that name falleth in loue with Owen Tudor a VVlechman a braue and gallant Gentleman of the VVardrop to the young King her sonne yet greatly fearing if her loue should be discouered the Nobilitie would crosse her purposed marriage or fearing that if her faire and princely promises should not assure his good successe this high and great attempt might perhaps daunt the forwardnesse of his modest and shame fast youth wherfore to breake the Ice to her intent shee wryteth vnto him this Epistle following IV dge not a Princesse worth impeach'd hereby That loue thus tryumphs ouer maiestie Nor thinke lesse vertue in this royall hand vvhich now intreats that wonted to commaund For in this sort though humbly now it wooe The day hath beene thou would'st haue kneel'd vnto Nor thinke that this submission of my state Proceeds from frailtie rather iudge it fate Alcides nere more fit for loues sterne shock Then when for loue sate spinning at the Rock Neuer lesse clowdes did Phoebus glory dim Then in a Clownes shape when he couered him Ioues great commaund was neuer more obay'd Then when a Satyrs antick parts he play'd He was thy King that sued for loue to mee Shee is thy Queene that sues for loue to thee VVhen Henry was what's Tudors now was his vvhilst yet thou art what's Henries Tudors is My loue to Owen him my Henry giueth My loue to Henry in my Owen liueth Onely in Henry was my Tudor then Onely in Tudor Henry now agen Henry woo'd mee whilst warres did yet increase I wooe my Tudor now in calmest peace To win affection hee did conquest proue And I on conquest doe make warre with loue Great Henry soughtt ' accomplish his desire Armed with tempests thunder-boults of fire As once when Iunos treasons forced Ioue T'imbrace the beautious Semele his loue I to my loue as once the Ciprian Queene On Simois banks was with the Troyan seene Incampt at Melans in warres hote alarmes First saw I Henry clad in princely Armes At pleasant VVindsore there these eyes of mine Iudg'd Tudor first for wit and shape diuine Henry abroad with puissance and with force Tudor at home with courtship and discourse Hee then thou now I hardly can iudge whether Did like me best Plantaginet or Tether A march a measure battell or a daunce A courtly rapier or a conquering Launce His princely bed aduaunced my renowne And on my temples set a double Crowne vvhich glorious wreath as Henries lawfull heire Henry the sixt vpon his brow doth beare At Troy in Champayne he did first enioy My bridall-rites to England brought from Troy In England now that honour thou shalt haue vvhich once in Champayne famous Henry gaue I seeke not wealth three kingdoms in my power If these suffice not where shall be my dower Sad discontent may euer follow her vvhich doth base pelfe before true loue prefer If titles still could oure affections tie vvhat is so great but maiestie might buy As I seeke thee so Kings 〈◊〉 mee desire To what they craue thou easily may'st aspire That sacred fire once warm'd my hart before The fuell fit the flame is now the more And meanes to quench it I in vaine doe proue VVe may hide treasure but not hide our loue And since thy vertue this at first did gaine it vvill I by reason now seeke to restraine it Nor these great titles vainely will I bring VVife daughter mother sister to a King Of grandsire father husband sonne and brother More thou alone to mee then all the other Nor thinke so Tudor that this loue of mine Should wrong the Gaunt-borne great Lancastrian line Nor stirre the English blood the Sunne and Moone T'repine at Lorayne Burbon Alansoon Nor doe I thinke there is such different ods That they alone should counted be for Gods If Cadmus earthly issue reckoning vs And they from Ioue Mars Neptune Eolus Of great Latonas of-spring onely they And we the brats of wofull Niobe Our famous Grandsires as their owne bestrid That horse of fame that Ioue-begotten steed VVhose bounding hoofe plow'd that Boetian spring vvhere those sweet Maydes of memorie doe sing Not onely Henries Queene but boast aswell To be the childe of Charles and Isabell. Nor doe I know from whence their griefe should grow They by this match should be disparag'd so vvhen Iohn and Longshanks issue both affied And to the Kings of VVales in wedlocke tied Shewing the greatnes of your blood heereby Your race and royall consanguinitie And VVales as well as haughty England boasts Of Camilot and all her Penticosts A nephewes roome in great Pendragons race At Arthurs Table held a princely place If of the often conquests of our Land They reare the spoyles of their victorious hand If these our auncient Chronicles be true They altogether are not free from you VVhen bloody Rufus sought your vtter sack Twice entring VVales yet twice was beaten back VVhen famous Cambria wash'd her in the flood Made by th'effusion of the English blood And oft return'd with glorious victorie From VVorster Herford Chester Shrewsbury vvhose power in euery conquest so preuailes As once expuls'd the English out of VVales Although my beautie made my Countries peace And at my bridall bloody warres did cease Yet more then power had not his person beene I had not come to England as a Queene Nor tooke I Henry to supply my want Because in Fraunce that time my choise was scant vvhen Fraunce had robd all Christendome of men And Englands flower remain'd amongst vs then Glaster whose counsells Nestor like assist Couragious Bedford that great martiallist VVarwicke for vertue honour'd of his foes And Yorke whose fame yet daily greater growes
VVarwicke the pride of Neuels haughtie race Great Salsbury so fear'd in euery place That valiant Poole whom no atchiuement dares And Vere so famous in the Irish warres VVhom though I were a mighty Princesse borne Yet of the worst no whit I neede to scorne But Henries rare perfections and his parts As his sword kingdoms so those conquer'd harts As chast was I to him as Queene might bee But freed from him my chast loue vow'd to thee Beauty doth fetch all fauor from thy face All perfit courtship resteth in thy grace If thou discourse thy lipps such accents breake As loue a spirit forth of thee seem'd to speake The Brittish language which sweet vowels wants And iarrs so much vpon harsh consonants Comes with such grace srom thy mellifluous tongue As doe the sweet notes of a well set song And runnes as smoothly from those lypps of thine As the pure Thuskan from the Florantine Leauing such seasoned sweetnes in the eare As the voyce past yet still the sound is there Like Nisus Tower where once Apollo lay And on his golden viall vs'd to play vvhere sencelesse stones were with such musick drownd As many yeeres they did retaine the sound Had he which dar'd proud Perseus to the field Caried my Tudors picture in his shield The sight there of should haue subdu'd alone That Gorgons head which turn'd men to a stone If Ioue should take my Tudors louely eye And with heauens lights should place it in the skye The wandring starrs would leaue theyr endlesse maze And fixe themselues vpon that starre to gaze If faire Alcmenas three nights-gotten sonne vvhen he his twelue great labours first had done Had knowne one lock of thy delicious ore Kept by the Dragon Lyon Serpent Bore Twelue labours more for that he would sustaine And where he ended would begin againe Yet let not this make thee thy selfe forget Nor my affection now so firmely set Nor with repulse my forwardnes reproue To boast the conquest of a princely loue No my sweet Tudor I will aunswer no Thy gentle brow doth mildly warrant so VVhen Nature shew'd her wonders in thy face Shee made that mount Loues royall sporting place vvhere sweet content doth banquet all the yere Nor coy disdaine yet euer dwelled there Let peeuish worldlings speake of right and wrong Leaue plaints and pleas to whom they doe belong Let old men speak of chaunces and euents And Lawyers talke of titles and discents Leaue fond reports to such as stories tell And couenaunts to such as buy and sell Loue my sweet Tudor that becomes thee best And to our good successe referre the rest Notes of the Chronicle historie Great Henry sought to accomplish his desire Armed c. HEnry the 〈◊〉 making clayme vnto the Crowne of Fraunce first sought by Armes to subdue the French and after sought by marriage to confirme what he got by conquest the heate and furie of which inuasion is aluded to the fiction of Semele in Ouid which by the craftie perswasion of Iuno requested Ioue to come vnto her as he was wont to come vnto his wife Iuno who at her request he yeelding vnto destroyed her in a tempest Incamp'd at Melans in warres hote alarmes First c. Neere vnto Melans vpon the riuer of Seyne was the appointed place of parley between the two Kings of England Fraunce to which place Isabell the Queene of Fraunce and the Duke of Burgoyne brought the young Princesse Katherine where King Henry first saw her And on my temples set a double Crowne Henry the fift and Queene Katherine were taken as King and Queene of Fraunce during the life of Charles the French king Henry was called King of England and heire of Fraunce and after the death of Henry the fift Henry the sixt his sonne then beeing very young was crowned at Paris as true and lawfull King of England and Fraunce At Troy in Champayne he did first enioy Troy in Champayne was the place where that victorious king Henry the fift married the Princesse Katherine in the presence of the chiefe Nobilitie of the Realmes of England and of Fraunce Nor these great titles vainely will I bring Wife daughter mother c. Fewe Queenes of England or Fraunce were euer more princely alied then this Queene as it hath beene noted by Historiographers Nor thinke so Tudor that this loue of mine Should wrong the Gaunt-borne c. Noting the descent of Henry her husband from Iohn Duke of Lancaster the fourth sonne of Edward the third which Duke Iolm was surnamed Gaunt of the Cittie of Gaunt in Flaunders where he was borne Nor stirre the English blood the Sunne and Moone T'repine c. Aluding the greatnes of the English line to Phoebus and Phoebe fained to be the children of Latona whose heauenly kinde might scorne to be ioyned with any earthly progenie yet withall boasting the blood of Fraunce as not inferior to theirs And with this allusion followeth on the history of the strife betwixt Iuno the race of Cadmus whose issue was afflicted by the wrath of heauen The chyldren of Niohe slaine for which the wofull mother became a Rocke gushing forth continually a fountaine of teares And Iohn and Longshanks issue both affied Lhewellin or Leolin ap Iorwerth marryed Ioan daughter to King Iohn a most beautifull Lady Some Authors affirme shee was base borne Lhewellin ap Gryfith maried Ellinor daughter to Simon Montfort Earle of Leicester and Cosin to Edward Longshankes both which Lhewellins were Princes of Wales Of Camilot and all her Penticosts A nephewes roome c. Camilot the auncient Pallace of King Arthur to which place all the Knights of that famous order yeerely repayred at Penticost according to the law of the Table most of the famous home-borne Knights were of that Country as to this day is perceaued by theyr auncient monuments When bloody Rufus sought your vtter sacke Noting the ill successe which that William Rufus had in two voiages he made into Wales in which a number of his chiefe Nobilitie were slaine And oft return'd with glorious victory Noting the diuers sundry incursians that the Welchmen made into England in the time of Rufus Iohn Henry the second and Longshanks Owen Tudor to Queene Katherine WHen first mine eyes beheld thy princely name And found from whence these friendly letters came As in excesse of ioy my selfe forgot VVhether I saw it or I saw it not My panting hart doth bid mine eyes proceed My dazeled eye inuites my tongue to reed Mine eye should guide my tongue amazed mist it My lips which now should speake are dombe and kist it And leaues the paper in my trembling hand vvhen all my sences so amazed stand Euen as a mother comming to her child vvhich from her presence hath been long exil'd vvith tender armes his gentle necke doth straine Now kissing him now clipping him againe And yet excessiue ioy delndes her so As still shee doubts if this be hers or no At length awak'ned
hatefull Dutches chatts And rips vp theyr decent vnto her brats And blesseth them as Englands lawfull heyrs And tells them that our Diadem is theyrs And if such hap her Goddesse fortune bring If three sonnes faile she'le make the fourth a King Hee that's so like his Dam her youngest Dick That foule ilfauored crookback'd stigmatick That like a carkase stolne out of a Tombe Came the wrong way out of his mothers wombe vvith teeth i'ns head his passage to haue torne As though begot an age ere he was borne VVho now dare curbe proude Yorke if he doe rise And stoope that haggard which so threats the skyes To crop that bastard weede which daily growes To ouer-shadow our vermilion Rose Or who will muzzell that vnruly Beare From whose sterne presence all doe flie for feare vvhilst on his knees the silly King is downe To saue theyr labour reaching at his Crowne VVhere like a mounting Cedar he should beare His plumed top aloft into the ayre And let these shrubs sit vnderneath his shrowdes vvhilst in his armes he doth imbrace the clowdes But he with error in deuotion led Lets others rase the Crowne from of his head And like a woman sits him downe to weepe VVhere hee in Armes his kingly right should keepe As ill beseeming Henries royall sonne As when Alcides at the distaffe spunne O that he should his Fathers right inherit Yet by an alien to that mightie spirit That field the VVesterne world with his report His glorious conquest got at Agyncourt VVhose name to Fraunce dyd greater terror bring Then to the foule the presence of theyr King VVho fild the ditches of besiged Cane vvith mangled bodyes of our Nation slaine And made the Normans eate theyr horse for foode Yet staru'd for hunger made them drunke with blood Nor can he come from Lancasters great line Or from the wombe of beautious Katherine All other creatures follow after kind But man alone doth not beget the minde My Daysie-flower which erst perfum'd the ayre vvhich for my fauours Princes once did weare Now in the dust lyes troden on the ground And with Yorks garlands euery one is crownd Those flattering starrs which followed our faire rise Now towards our set are vanish'd from our eyes Yorks rising sonnes now altogether shine And our light dim towards euening doth decline Now in the skyes his dreadfull Comet waues And who be starrs but VVarwicks bearded staues And all those knees which bended once so low Grow stiffe as though they had forgot to bow And none like them pursue me with despite vvhich most haue cryde God saue Queene Margarite VVhen fame shall brute thy banishment abroade The Yorkish faction then will lay on loade And when it comes once to our VVesterne Coast O how that hagge Dame Elinor will boast And labour straight by all the means shee can To be calld home out of the Ile of Man To which I know great VVarwicke will consent To haue it done by acte of Parliament That to my teeth my birth she may defie Slaundring Duke Rayner with base beggery The onely way she could deuise to grieue mee vvanting sweet Suffolke which should most releeue 〈◊〉 And from that stocke doth sprout another bloome A Kentish Rebell a base vpstart groome And this is hee the VVhite-Rose must prefer By Clarence daughter match'd with Mortimer Thus by Yorks meanes this rascall pesant Cade Must in all hast Plantaginet be made Thus that ambitious Duke sets all on worke To sound what friends affect the claime of Yorke VVhilst he abroade doth practise to commaund And makes vs weake by strength'ning Ireland More his owne power still seeking to encrease Then for King Henries good or Englands peace Great VVinchester vntimely is deceas'd That more and more my woes should be encreas'd Beuford whose shoulders proudly bare vp all The Churches prop that famous Cardinall The Commons bent to mischiefe neuer let vvith Fraunce t'vpbrayd that valiant Somerset Rayling in tumults on his souldiers losse Thus all goes backward crosse comes after crosse And-nowe of late Duke Humfreys old alies vvith banish'd Elnors base accomplices Attending theyr reuenge grow wondrous crouse And threaten death and vengeaunce to our house And I alone the wofull remnant am T'endure these stormes with wofull Buckingham I pray thee Pole haue care how thou dost passe Neuer the Sea yet halfe so dangerous was And one fore-told by vvater thou should'st die Ah foule befall that foule tongues prophecie And euery night am troubled in my dreames That I doe see thee tost in dangerous streames And oft-times shipwrackt cast vpon the land And lying breathlesse on the queachie sand And oft in vision see thee in the night vvhere thou at sea maintain'st a dangerous fight And with thy proued Target and thy sword Beat'st backe the Pyrate which would come abord Yet be not angry that I warne thee thus The truest loue is most suspitious Sorrow doth vtter what vs still doth grieue But hope forbids vs sorrow to belieue And in my counsell yet this comfort is It cannot hurt although I thinke amisse Then liue in hope in tryumph to returne vvhen cleerer dayes shall leaue in clowdes to mourne But so hath sorrow girt my soule about That that word hope mee thinks comes slowly out The reason is I know it here would rest vvhere it may still behold thee in my brest Farewell sweet Pole faine more I would endite But that my teares doe blot as I doe write Notes of the Chronicle historie Or brings in Burgoyn to ayde Lancaster PHillip Duke of Burgoyn and his sonne were alwaies great fauorites of the house of Lancaster howbeit they often dissembled both with Lancaster and Yorke Who in the North our lawfull claime commends To winne vs credite with our valiant friends The chiefe Lords of the North-parts in the time of Henry the 6. withstoode the Duke of Yorke at his rysing giuing him two great ouerthrowes To that aleageance Yorke was bound by oath To Henries heires and safety of vs both No longer now he meanes records shall beare it He will dispence with heauen and will vnsweare it The Duke of Yorke at the death of Henry the fifth and at this Kings coronation tooke his oath to be true subiect to him and his heires for euer but afterward dispensing there-with claimed the Crowne as his rightfull and proper inheritance If three Sonnes faile shee'l make the fourth a King The Duke of Yorke had foure Sonnes Edward Earle of March that afterward was Duke of Yorke and King of England when he had deposed Henry the 6. and Edmond Earle of Rutland slaine by the Lord Clifford at the battell at Wakefield and George Duke of Clarence that was murthered in the Tower and Richard Duke of Glocester who was after he had murthered his Brothers sons King by the name of Richard the third He that's so like his Dam her youngest Dicke That foule ill fauoured crookback'd Stigmaticke c. Till this verse As though begot an age c.
modesty then of such liberty Howbeit the Vestall Nuns had seats assigned them in the Roman Theater whereby it should appeare it was counted no impeachment to modestie though they offending therein were buried quicke a sharpe lawe for them who may say as Shores wife dooth When though abroad restraining vs to rome They very hardly keepe vs safe at home FINIS To the Right Worshipfull Henrie Goodere of Powlesworth Esquire SIR this Poeme of mine which I imparted to you at my beeing with you at your lodging at London in May last brought at length to perfection emboldened by your wonted fauours I aduenture to make you Patron of Thus Sir you see I haue aduentred to the worlde with what like or dislike I know nor if it please which I much doubt of I pray you then be pertaker of that which I shall esteeme not my least good if dislike it shall lessen some part of my griefe if it please you to alow but of my loue howsoeuer I pray you accept it as kindly as I offer it which though without many 〈◊〉 yet I assure you with much desire of your honour Thus vntill such time as I may in some more larger measure make knowne my loue to the happy generous family of the Gooderes to which I confesse my selfe to be beholding to for the most part of my education I wish you all happines Michaell Drayton Marie the French Queene to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke * The Argument Mary the daughter of that renowned Prince King Henry the seauenth beeing very young at her Fathers death after by ber Brother King Henry the eyght was giuen in marriage to Lewes King of Fraunce being a man old and decrepite This faire and beautifull Lady long before had placed her affection on Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke a braue and couragious young Gentleman and an especiall fauorite of the King her Brother and a man raised by him King Lewes the husband of this beautifull Queene lyued not long after bee was married and Charles Brandon hauing commission from the King to bring her backe to England but beeing delayed by some sinister meanes the French Queene writeth this Epistle to hasten the Duke forward on his intended voyage to Fraunce SVch health from heauen my selfe may wish to mee Such health fro Fraunce Queene Mary sends to thee Brandon how long mak'st thou excuse to stay And know'st how ill we women brooke delay If one poore Channell thus can part vs two Tell mee vnkinde what would an Ocean doe Leander had an Hellespont to swim Yet thys from Hero could not hinder him His Barke poore soule his brest his armes his oars But thou a shyp to land thee on our shores And opposite to famous Kent doth lie The pleasant fields of famous Pickardie vvhere our 〈◊〉 Callice walled in her sands In kenning of the cliffie Douer stands Heere is no Beldame nurse to pout or lower vvhen wantonning we reuell in my Tower Nor neede I top my Turret with a light To guide thee to mee as thou swimm'st by night Compar'd with mee wert thou but halfe so kind Thy sighes should stuffe thy sayles though wanting wind But thy breast is becalm'd thy sighes bee slack And mine too stiffe and blow thy broade sayles back But thou wilt say that I should blame the flood Because the winde so full against thee stood Nay blame it not it did so roughly blow For it did chyde thee for thou wast so slow For it came not to keepe thee in the Bay But came from mee to bid thee come away But that thou vainely lett'st occasion slide Thou might'st haue wasted hether with the tyde If when thou com'st I knit mine angry brow Blame me not Brandon thou hast broke thy vow Yet if I meant to frowne I might be dombe For this may make thee stand in doubt to come Nay come sweet Charles haue care thy ship to guide Come my sweet hart in faith I will not chide VVhen as my Brother and his louely Queene In sad attire for my depart were seene The vtmost date expired of my stay vvhen I from Douer did depart away Thou know'st what woe I suffred for thy sake How oft I fain'd of thee my leaue to take God and thou know'st with what a heauie hart I tooke my farewell when I should depart And being shypp'd gaue signall with my hand Vp to the Cliffe where I did see thee stand Nor could refraine in all the peoples view But cried to thee sweet Charles adiew adiew Looke how a little infant that hath lost The thing where-with it was delighted most vveary with seeking to some corner creepes And there poore soule it sits it downe and weepes And when the Nurse would faine content the mind Yet still it mourns for that it cannot finde Thus in my carefull Cabin did I lye vvhen as the shyp out of the roade did flie Think'st thou my loue was faythfull vnto thee vvhen young Castile to England su'd for mee Be iudge thy selfe if it were not of power vvhen I refusd an Empyre for my dower To Englands Court when once report did bring How thou in Fraunce didst reuell with thy King vvhen hee in tryumph of his victorie 〈◊〉 a rich imbrodered Canapie 〈◊〉 proude Tournay which did 〈◊〉 stand To beg for mercy at his conquering hand To heare of his enderements how I ioy'd But see this calme was suddainly destroy'd VVhen Charles of Castile there to banquet came vvith him his sister that ambitious Dame Sauoys proude Dutches knowing how long shee By her loue sought to winne my loue from mee Fearing my absence might thy vowes acquite To change thy Mary for a Margarite VVhen in King Henries Tent of cloth of gold Shee often did thee in her armes enfold vvhere you were feasted more diliciously Then Cleopatra did Marke Anthonie vvhere sports all day did entertaine your sight And then in Masks you pass'd away the night But thou wilt say It proper is vnto vs That we by nature all are iealious I must confesse t'is oft found in our sexe But who not loue not any thing suspects True loue doth looke with pale suspitions eye Take away loue if you take iealousie VVhen Henry Turwyn and proude Tournay wonne Little thought I the end when thys begunne VVhen Maximilian to those warrs adrest vvare Englands Crosse on his imperiall brest And in our Armie let his Eagle flie And had his pay from Henries treasurie Little thought I when first beganne these warrs My marriage day should end these bloody iarrs From which I vow I yet am free in thought But thys alone by VVoolseys wit was wrought To hys aduise the King gaue free consent That will I nill I I must be content My virgins right thy state could not aduaunce But now enriched with the dower of Fraunce Then but poore Suffolks Dutchesse had I beene Now the great Dowger the most Christian Queene But I perceiue where all thy griefe doth lie Lewes of Fraunce had my
as thy trayne past Their precious Incence in aboundance cast As Cinthia from the waue-embatteld shrouds Opening the west comes streaming through the clouds vvith shining troupes of siluer-tressed starres Attending on her as her Torch-bearers And all the lesser lights about her throne vvith admiration stand as lookers on VVhilst she alone in height of all her pride The Queene of light along her spheare doth glide vvhen on the tylt my Horse like thunder came No other signall had I but thy name Thy voyce my Trumpet and my guide thine eyes And but thy beauty I esteem'd no prize That large-limd Almaine of the Gyants race vvhich bare strength on his breast feare in his face vvhose senewed armes with his steele-tempered blade Through plate and male such open passage made Vpon whose might the French-mens glory lay And all the hope of that victorious day Thou saw'st thy Brandon beate him on his knee Offring his shield a conquered spoile to thee But thou wilt say perhaps I vainly boast And tell thee that which thou already knowest No sacred Queene my valure I deny It was thy beauty not my chiualry One of thy tressed Curles which falling downe As loth to be imprisoned in thy Crowne I saw the soft ayre sportiuely to take it To diuers shapes and sundry formes to make it Now parting it to foure to three to twayne Now twisting it and then vntwist againe Then make the threds to dally with thine eye A sunny candle for a golden flie At length from thence one little teare it got vvhich falling downe as though a starre had shot My vp-turnd eye pursues it with my sight The which againe redoubleth all my might Tis but in vaine of my descent to boast vvhen heauens Lampe shines all other lights be lost Faulcons looke not the Eagle sitting by vvhose broode doth gaze the sunne with open eye Else might my blood finde issue from his force In Bosworth plaine beat Richard from his horse vvhose puissant Armes great Richmond chose to weeld His glorious Colours in that conquering feeld And with his sword in his deere soueraignes sight To his last breath stood fast in Henries right Then beautious Empresse thinke thys safe delay Shall be the euen to a ioyfull day Fore-sight doth still on all aduantage lye vvise-men must giue place to necessitie To put backe ill our good we must forbeare Better first feare then after still to feare Tweare ouer-sight in that at which we ayme To put the hazard on an after game vvith patience then let vs our hopes attend And tell I come receaue these lines I send Notes of the Chronicle historie When Longauile to Mary was affied THE Duke of Longauile which was prisoner in England vpon the peace to be concluded betweene England and Fraunce was deliuered and married the Princesse Mary for Lewes the French King his Maister How in a storme thy well-rigd ships were tost And thou c. As the Queene sayled for Fraunce a mighty storme arose at Sea so that the Nauy was in great danger and was seuered some driuen vpon the Coast of Flaunders some on Britaine the ship wherein the Queene was was driuen into the Hauen at Bullen with very great danger When thou to Abuile heldst th'apoynted day King Lewes met her by Abuile neere to the Forrest of Arders and brought her into Abuile with great solemnity Appear'dst vnto him like the Queene of Light Expressing the sumptuous attire of the Queene and her traine attended by the cheefe of the Nobility of Kngland with 36. Ladies all in cloath of siluer theyr Horses trapped with Crimson veluet A Cripple King layd bedrid long before King Lewes was a man of great yeares troubled much with the goute so that he had had of long time before little vse of his legs When Marques Dorset and the valiant Grayes The Duke of Suffolke when the proclaimation came into England of Iusts to be holden in Fraunce at Paris he for the Queenes sake his Mistres obtayned of the King to goe thether with whom went the Marques Dorset and his foure Brothers the Lord Clynton Sir Edward Neuill Sir Gyles Capell Tho. Cheyney which went all ouer with the Duke as his assistants When thou in tryumph didst through Paris ride A true discription of the Queenes entring into Paris after her 〈◊〉 performd at Saint Denis Then fiue great Dukes as did their places fall The Dukes of Alansoon Burbon Vadome Longauile Suffolke with fiue Cardinalls That large-limd Almayne of the Gyants race Frauncis Valoys the Dolphin of Fraunce 〈◊〉 the glory that the English-men had obtayned at the tilt brought in an Almayne secretly a man thought almost of incomparable strength which incountred Charles Brandon at Barriers but the Duke 〈◊〉 with him so beate him about the head with the pomell of his sword that the blood came out of the sight of his Caske Else might my blood finde issue from his force In Bosworth c. Sir William Brandon standerd-bearer to the Earle of Richmond after Henry the 7 at Bosworth field a braue and gallant Gentleman who was slaine by Richard there this was Father to this Charles Brandon after Duke of Suffolke FINIS To the modest and vertuous Gentlewoman Mistres Frauncis Goodere Daughter to Sir Henry Goodere Knight and wife to Henry Goodere Esquire My very gracious and good Mistres the loue and duty I bare to your Father whilst hee liued now after his decease is to you hereditary to whom by the blessing of your birth he left his vertues Who bequeathed you those which were hit gaue you what so euer good is mine as deuoted to his he being gone whom I honored so much whilst he liued which you may iustly chalenge by al lawes of thankfulnes My selfe hauing been a witnes of your excellent education and milde disposition as I may say euer from your Cradle dedicate this Epistle of this vertuous and goodly Lady to your selfe so like her in all perfection both of wisedom and learning which I pray you accept till time shall enable me to leaue you some greater monument of my loue Michaell Drayton The Lady Iane Gray to the Lord Gilford Dudley * The Argument After the death of that vertuous young Prince King Edward the sixt the sonne of that famous King Henry the eyght Iane the daughter of Henry Gray Duke of Suffolke by the consent of Iohn Dudley Duke of Northumberland was proclaimed Queene of England beeing married to Gilford Dudley the fourth sonne of the foresayde Duke of Northumberland which match was concluded by theyr ambitious Fathers who went about by this meanes to bring the Crowne vnto theyr Children and to dispossesse the Princesse Mary eldest daughter of King Henry the eyght heire to King Edward her Brother Queene Mary rising in Armes to clayme her rightfull Crowne taketh the sayd Iane Gray and the Lorde Gilford her husband beeing lodged in the Tower for theyr more safety which place being lastly theyr Pallace by this meanes becomes their prison where
these three let thy assurance lye On fayth repentance and humilitie Humilitie to heauen the step the stayre Is for deuotion sacrifice and prayer The next place doth to true repentance fall A salue a comfort and a cordiall Hee that hath that the keyes of heauen hath That is the guide that is the port the path Fayth is thy Fort thy shield thy strongest ayde Neuer controld nere yeelded nere dismayd vvhich doth dilate vnfold fore-tell expresseth vvhich giues rewards inuesteth and possesseth Then thanke the heauen preparing vs this roome Crowning our heads with glorious martirdome Before the black and dismall dayes begin The dayes of all Idolatry and sinne Not suffering vs to see that wicked age VVhen persecution vehemently shall rage vvhen tiranny new tortures shall inuent Inflicting vengeance on the innocent Yet heauen forbids that Maries wombe shall bring Englands faire Scepter to a forraine King But vnto faire Elizabeth shall leaue it vvhich broken hurt and wounded shall receaue it And on her temples hauing plac'd the Crowne Roote out the dregs Idolatry hath sowne And Syons glory shall againe restore Layd ruine wast and desolate before And from black sinders and rude heapes of stones Shall gather vp the Martirs scattered bones And shall exterpe the power of Rome againe And cast aside the heauy yoake of Spaine Farewell sweet Gilford know our end is neere Heauen is our home we are but strangers heere Let vs make hast to goe vnto the blest vvhich from these weary worldly labours rest And with these lines my dearest Lord I greete thee Vntill in heauen thy Iane againe shall meete thee Notes of the Chronicle history They which begot vs did beget this sinne SHewing the ambition of the two Dukes their Fathers whose pride was the cause of the vtter ouerthrow of their children At Durham Pallace where sweete Hymen sang The buildings c. The Lord Gilford Dudley fourth Sonne to Iohn Dudley Duke of Northumberland married the Lady Iane Gray Daughter to the Duke of Suffolke at Durham house in the Strand When first mine eares were pearced with the fame Of Iane proclaimed by a Princesse name Presently vpon the death of King Edward the Lady Iane was taken as Queene conueyed by water to the Tower of London for her safety and after proclaimed in diuers parts of the Realme as so ordayned by King Edwards Letters-pattents and his will My Grandsire Brandon did our house aduaunce By Princely Mary Dowager of Fraunce Henry Gray Duke of Suffolke married Frauncis the eldest daughter of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke by the French Queene by which Frauncis hee had this Lady Iane this Mary the French Queene was Daughter to King Henry the seauenth by Elizabeth his Queene which happy marriage conioyned the two Noble families of Lancaster and Yorke For what great Henry most stroue to auoyde Noting the distrust that King Henry the eight euer had in the Princesse Mary his Daughter fearing she should alter the state of Religion in the Land by matching with a Stranger confessing the right that King Henries issue had to the Crowne And vnto faire Elizabeth shall leaue it A Prophecie of Queene Maries barrennes of the happy and glorious raigne of Queene Elizabeth her restoring of Religion the abollishing of the Romish seruitude and casting aside the yoake of Spaine The Lord Gilford Dudley to the Lady Iane Gray THus from the strongest treble-walled Tower Swan-like I sing before my dying hower O if there were such power but in my verse As in these woes my wounded hart doe pierce Stones taking sence th'obdurate flint that heares Should at my plaints dissolue it selfe to teares Lend mee a teare Ile pay thee with a teare And interest to if thou the stock forbeare vvoe for a woe and for thy interest lone I will returne thee franckly two for one Ile giue thee howers of woe and yeares of sorrow And turne the day to night the night to morrow And if thou think'st tyme yet doth passe to soone vvhen euening comes wee'll make it but our noone And if a griefe proue weake and not of force I will exchange a better for a worse And if thou thinke too quickly sorrowe ends Another twice so long shall make amends Perhaps thou'lt iudge in such extreames as these That words of comfort might farre better please But such strange power in thy perfection liueth As smyles in teares and teares in gladnes giueth Yet thinke not Iane that cowardly I faint As begging mercy by thys sad complaint Or yet suppose my courage daunted so That thou shouldst stand betwixt mee and my foe That grym-aspected death should now controule And seeme fo fearefull to my parting soule For were one life a thousand lifes to mee Yet were all those too few to die with thee vvhen thou thy woes so patiently doost beare As if in death no cause of sorrow were And no more doost lyfes dissolution shun Then if colde age his longest course had run Thou which didst once giue comfort to my woe Now art alone become my comforts foe Not that I leaue wherein I did delight But that thou art debarr'd my wished sight For if I speake and would complaine my wrong Straightwayes thy name doth come into my tongue And thou art present as thou still didst lie Or in my hart or in my lypps or eye No euill plannet raigned at thy birth Nor was that hower prodigious heere on earth No fatall marke of froward destenie Could be diuin'd in thy natiuitie Tis onely I that dyd thy fall deuise And thou by mee art made a sacrifice As in the East whereas the louing wiues Doe with theyr husbands euer end theyr liues And crown'd with garlands in theyr brydes attire Goe with theyr husbands to that holy fire And shee vnworthy thought to liue of all vvhom feare of death or danger doth appall I boast not of Northumberlands great name Nor of Ketts conquest which adornes the same VVhen he to Norfolke led his troupes from farre And yok'd the Rebells in the chayne of warre vvhen our VVhite-beare dyd furiously respire The flames that sing'd theyr Villages with fire And brought sweet peace in safetie to our dores Yet left our fame vpon the Easterne shores Nor of my princely Brothers which might grace And plant true honour in the 〈◊〉 race Nor of Grayes match my chydren borne by thee Alied to Yorke and Lancaster should be But of thy vertues proudly boast I dare That shee is mine whom all perfections are I crau'd no kingdome though I thee did craue And hauing thee I wish'd no more to haue Yet let me say how ere thys fortune fell Mee thinks a Crowne should haue becom'd thee well Mee thinks thy wisedome was ordaind alone To blesse a scepter beautifie a throne Thy lyps a sacred oracle retaine vvhere in all holy prophecies remaine More highly priz'd thy vertues were to mee Then Crownes then Kingdoms or then Scepters bee So chast thy loue so innocent thy life A wifed virgine and a
sun VVhere lawfull right and conquest doth allow A triple crowne on Richards princely brow Three kingly Lyons beares his bloody field No bastards marke doth blot his conquering shield Neuer durst he attempt our haplesse shore Nor set his foote on satall Rauenspore Nor durst his slugging Hulks approch the strand Nor stoop'd a top as signall to the Land Had not the Percyes promisd ayde to bring Against theyr oath vnto theyr lawfull King Against theyr fayth vnto our Crownes true heyre Theyr valiant kinsman Edmond Mortimer VVhen I to England came a world of eyes vvere there attending on my fayre arise vvhen I came back those fatall Plannets frowne And all are set before my going downe The smooth-fac'd Ayre did on my comming smile But with rough stormes are driuen to exile But Bullenbrooke deuisd we thus should part Fearing two sorrowes should possesse one hart That we should thus complaine our griefes alone Least one should liue in two two liue in one Inflicting woe and yet doth vs denie But that poore ioy is found in miserie Hee hath before diuors'd thy Crowne and thee vvhich might suffice and not to widdow mee Nor will one place our pouertie containe vvhich in our pompe both in one bed haue laine VVhich is to proue the greatnes of his hate How much our fall exceedeth our estate VVhen England first obtaind mee by thy loue Nor did a kingdome my affection moue Before a Crownes sad cares I yet did try Nor thought of Empire but loues Emperie Before I learn'd to sooth a publique vaine And onely thought to loue had been to raigne I would to God that princely Anne of Beame Might still haue worne the English Diademe That shee whose youth first deck'd thy bridall bed Had kept that fatall wreath vppon her head VVould God shee still might haue enioy'd her roome Possest my throne and I haue had her Toombe Or would Aumerle had sunck when he betrayd The complot which that holy Abbot layd VVhen he infring'd the oath which he first tooke To end that proude vsurping Bullenbrooke And been the ransome of our friends deere blood Vntimelie lost and for the earth too good And we vntimely mourne our hard estate They dead too soone and we doe liue too late Death seuers them and life doth vs inclose Their helpe decreased doth augment our woes And though with teares I from my loue depart This curse on Herford fall to ease my hart If the foule breach of a chast lawfull bed May bring a curse my curse light on his head If murthers guilt with blood may deeply staine Greene Scroope and Bushie die his fault in graine If periurie may heauens pure gates debar Damn'd be the oath he made at Doncaster If the deposing of a lawfull King Thy curse condemne him if no other thing If these disioyn'd for vengeance cannot call Let them vnited strongly curse him all And for the Percies heauen yet heare my prayer That Bullenbrooke now plac'd in Richards chayre Such cause of woe vnto their wiues may bee As those rebellious Lords haue been to mee And that proude Dame which now controleth all And in her pompe triumpheth in my fall For her great Lord may water her sad eyne vvith as salt teares as I haue done for mine And mourne for Henry Hote-spurre her deere sonne As I for my sweet Mortymer haue done And as I am so succourlesse be sent Lastly to taste perpetuall banishment Then loose thy care where first thy crowne was lost Sell it so deerely for it deerely cost And sith they did of libertie depriue thee Burying thy hope let not thy care out-liue thee But hard God knowes with sorrow doth it goe vvhen woe becomes a comforter to woe Yet much mee thinks of comfort I could say If from my hart pale feare were rid away Some-thing there is which tells mee still of woe But what it is that heauen aboue doth know Griefe to it selfe most dreadfull doth appeare And neuer yet was sorrow voyde of feare But yet in death doth sorrow hope the best And with this farewell wish thee happy rest Notes of the Chronicle historie If fatall Pomfret hath in former times POmfret Castle euer a fatall place to the Princes of England most ominous to the blood of Plantaginet O how euer yet I hate my lothed eyes And in my glasse c. When Bullenbrooke returned to England from the West bringing Richard a prisoner with him the Queene who little knewe of her husbands hard successe stayd to behold his comming in little thinking to haue seene her husband thus led in triumph by his foe and now seeming to hate her eyes that so much had graced her mortall enemie Wherein great Norfolkes forward course was staid She remembreth the meeting of the two Dukes of Herford and Norfolke at Couentry vrging the iustnes of Mowbrayes quarrell against the Duke of Herforde and the faithfull assurance of his victory Oh why did Charles releeue his needy siate A vagabond c. Charles the French King her father receiued the Duke of Herford into his Court and releeu'd him in Fraunce being so neerly alied as Cosin german to King Richard his sonne in Lawe which hee did simply little thinking that hee shoulde after returne into England and dispossesse King Richard of the crowne When thou to Ireland took'st thy last fare-well King Richard made a voyage with his Armie into Ireland against Onell and Mackemur which rebelled at what time Henry entred heere at home and rob'd him of all kingly dignitie Affirm'd by Church-men which should beare no hate That Iohn of Gaunt was illigitimate William Wickham in the great quarrell betwixt Iohn of Gaunt the Clergie of meere spight and mallice as it should seeme reported that the Queene confessed to him on her death-bed being then her Confessor that Iohn of Gaunt was the sonne of a Flemming that she was brought to bed of a woman child at Gaunt which was smothered in the cradle by mischance and that shee obtained this child of a poore woman making the King beleeue it was her owne greatly fearing his displeasure Fox ex Chron. Albani No Bastards marke doth blot our conquering shield Shewing the true and indubitate birth of Richard his right vnto the Crowne of England as carrying the Armes without blot or difference Against their fayth vnto the Crownes true heyre Theyr noble kinsman c. Edmond Mortimer Earle of March sonne of Earle Roger Mortimer which was sonne to Lady Phillip daughter to Lionell Duke of Clarence the third sonne to King Edward the third which Edmond King Richard going into Ireland was proclaimed heyre apparant to the Crowne whose Aunt called Ellinor this Lorde Percie had married I would to God that princely Anne of Beame Richard the second his first wife was Anne daughter to the K. of Beame which liued not long with him and after hee married this Isabell daughter to Charles King of Fraunce This Princesse was very young and not marriageable when shee came
first into England O would Aumerle had suncke when he betrayd The complot which that holy Abbot layd The Abbot of Westminster had plotted the death of King Henry to haue beene doone at a Tylt at Oxford of which confedracie there was Iohn Holland Duke of Excester Thomas Holland Duke of Surry the Duke of Aumerle Mountacute Earle of Salisbury Spenser Earle of Gloster the Bishop of Carlile Sir Thomas Blunt these all had bound themselues one to another by Indenture to performe it but were all betrayd by the Duke of Aumerle Scroope Greene and Bushie die his fault in graine Henry going towards the Castle of Flint where King Richard was caused Scroope Greene and Bushie to be executed at Bristow ' as vile persons which had seduced this King to this lasciuious wicked life Damn'd be the oath he made at Doncaster After Henries exile at his returne into England hee tooke his oth at Doncaster vpon the Sacrament not to clayme the crowne or kingdome of England but onely the dukedome of Lancaster his owne proper right and the right of his wife And mourne for Henry Hote-spurre her deere sonne As I for my c. This was the braue couragious Henry Hote-spurre that obtayned so many victories against the Scots which after falling out right with the curse of Queene Isabell was slaine by Henry at the battaile at Shrewsburie Richard the second to Queene Isabell. WHat canst thou looke or hope for frō that hand which neither sence nor reason could cōmand A kingdoms greatnes hardly can he sway That wholsome counsaile did not first obay Ill did thys rude hand guide a scepter then Ill thys rude hand now gouerneth a pen How should I call my selfe or by what name To make thee know from whence these letters came Not from thy husband for my hatefull life Hath made thee widdow being yet a wife Nor from a King that title I haue lost And of that name proude Bullenbrooke doth boast Neuer to haue beene might some comfort bring But no woe is to say I was a King This lawlesse life which first procur'd my hate This tongue which first denounc'd my kingly state This abiect minde which did consent vnto it This hand that was the instrument to doe it These all beare witnes that I doe denie All worldly hopes all kingly maiestie Didst thou for my sake leaue thy fathers Court Thy famous Country and thy princely port And vndertook'st to trauaile dangerous waies Driuen by aukward winds and boyst'rous seas And lefts great Burbon for thy loue to mee VVho sued in marriage to be linck'd to thee Offring for dower the Countries bordring nie Of fruitfull Almaine and rich Burgundie Didst thou all this that England should receaue thee To miserable banishment to leaue thee And in thy ruine and thy fortunes wracke Forsaken heere to Fraunce to send thee back VVhen quiet sleepe the heauy harts releefe Seales vp my sences some-what lesning greefe My kingly greatnes vnto minde I call And thinke that I but dreamed of my fall VVith this conceite my sorrowes I beguile That my fayre Queene is but with-drawne a while And my attendants in some Chamber by As in the height of my prosperitie Calling aloude and asking who is there The Eccho aunswering tells mee VVoe is there And when mine armes would gladly thee enfold I clip the pillow and the place is cold VVhich when my waking eyes precisely view T'is a true token that it is too true As many minuts as in one howre be So many howers each minute seemes to me Each howre a day morne euening set and rise Each day a yeere complet with miseries A sommer winter spring-time and a fall All seasons varying yet vnseasoned all Hote griefes cold cares moyst sorrow scorching hate Too long extreames too short a temperate Each yeere a world from golden ages past That hasteth on the yron times at last That from creation of all happy things A desolution to my fortune brings Thys endlesse woe my thred of lyfe still weares In minuts howers dayes moneths ages yeres Ioy in the sunne that doe possesse the South For Pomfret stands here in the Norths cold mouth There wanton Sommer lords it all the yeere Frost-starued VVinter doth inhabite heere A place wherein Dispayre may fitly dwell For sorrow best sutes with a clowdy Cell Let Herford vaunt of our atchiuements done Of all the honours that great Edward wone Of famous Cressy where his keene sword lopp'd The flowers of Fraunce which all had ouer-topp'd And with those fayre Delices set the walke vvhere our emperious English Lyons stalke vvhich pluck'd those Lillies planted on those streames And set them heere vpon the banks of Thames Now Bullenbrooke our conquering Trophies beares Our glorious spoyles thys false Vlisses weares And all the story of our famous warre Must grace the Annalls of great Lancaster Seauen goodly syens from one stocke begun Seauen liuely branches from one roote did run My princely Father was the straightest stem The fairest blossome which adorned them VVhose precious buds began to spring so faire As soone they shew'd what fruit they meant to beare But I his graft and barraine trunke am growne And for a fruitlesse water-bough am hewne From our braue Grandsire both in one degree Yet after Edward lohn the young'st of three But princely VVales by me giues place to Gaunt Henry on Richard now predominant VVhen that vsurping bastard-sonne of Spayne Deposed Petro from his peacefull raigne My Father mou'd with the Castillians moane Pluck'd downe that proude aspyring Phaeton And ere a Crowne had yet adorn'd his head A conquered King from Fraunce to England led A subiects hand my Crowne from mee hath torne And by a home-nurst begger ouer-borne Is valour hence with him to heauen fled Or in my barren breast decay'd and dead VVho for his vertue and his conquests sake Posteritie a demie God shall make And iudge this vile and abiect spirit of mine Could not proceede from temper so diuine VVhat earthly humor or what vulgar eye Now lookes so low as on my misery VVhen Bullenbrooke is seated on our throne And makes that his which we but call'd our owne He bids commaunds he chooseth he elects Pardons defends he warrants he protects Into our counsells he himselfe intrudes And who but Herford with the multitudes Thus Bullenbrooke triumpheth in our fall And for their King reputed is of all His power disgrades his dreadfull frowne disgraceth He throwes them downe whō our aduauncement placeth As my disable and vnworthy hand Could giue no soueraine title of commaund He treads our sacred tables in the dust And proues our acts of parliament vniust As though he hated that it should be said That such a law by Richard once was made VVhen Herford had his iudgement of exile Saw I the peoples murmuring the while Saw I the loue the zeale the fayth the care The Commons still to pleasing Herford bare Fond women and scarce-speaking chyldren moume vveeping his parting wishing his