be releast Could ere redeeme such is the law of all Onely like fruit some sooner and some later fall I saw this blossome blasted in the spring I saw this flower wither'd in the budde And to my hearts eternall sorrowing This lamp new lighted beeing all too good Longer to burne in it owne oylely blood I drowned saw and quite extinguished Such is condition of all fleshlyhood Just like a buble that 's ingendred Of ayre and blistred water which eftsoone Breakes and with each small puffe of winde 's againe undone Monocchio non e misero nel presenza del cieco VVHen I consult the sacred Histories And other Stories of inferior sort And finde therein what under mysteries And plainly what they of mans life report Oft in the prime oft suddenly cut short And every day sad samples thereof see Mee seemes they secretly do mee exhort To fit my selfe the very next to be And meekly more my misery to beare Compar'd with others greater in degree As hee whose one eye perled is and bleare Seemes blest to him who can at all not see So they who others greater griefe and mone Can call to minde gaine strength to beare their owne Animali d'ogni sorte se trovarno nel Rete della morte HOw many a subtile snare and guilefull gin Hath man devis'd and daily doth devise To take all sorts of feather'd fowles therein Some birds nathlesse so warie been and wise Not to be tane for all his subtilties But there 's a fowler layes his deadly gins Man to intrap as man doth birds surprize Spreading his nets when his life first begins And though all things his fatall nets perceive Yet never bird this fowler could deceive All sorts to him beene all indifferent Ringtailes Buzzards Puttocks Ravens Crowes Pyes Th' imperiall Eagle and the Falcon Gent Pigions Parakitoes Peacocks and Popingies And Nightingales which pipe and minstrelize By night to all that fearfull shunne the day Yea and the Phoenix if yet mortall eyes Such Phoenix ever saw as Stories say In that foule-crab-fac'd-fowlers horrid hands Must gasp their last-fetcht-breath see where he stands O'gni dolore nuntio di morte SOre sicke him chanc'd a jolly Courtier fall Though not to death as he him surely thought But death unthought of doth upon him call And readie was away him to have caught Whereat amaz'd this Courtier him besought Not all so suddenly him to surprize But respit him some time that so he mought Prepare himselfe to die before he dies And three dayes warning prayes him send before He from this light his life did meane to reave To which death soone agrees so takes his leave Many yeares after as this Courtier sate For ought he felt in perfect strength and health Seriously thinking how to antidate Anothers life and seize on all his wealth Death suddenly comes skipping in by stealth Crying away The Gallant him upbraids of promise breach Not I quoth death but thou false to thy selfe Five fits o' th stone foure agues two fevers each Gray-haire the paine and losse of teeth all these With many a wrinkle since I from thee went My warnings and fore-runners I thee sent Dopo il Givoco cosi va nel sacco il Re come il Pedone IF in my weake conceit for selfe disport The world I sample to a Tennis-court Where fate and fortune daily meet to play I doe conceive I doe not much misse-say All manner chance are Rackets wherewithall They bandie men like balls from wall to wall Some over Lyne to honour and great place Some under Lyne to infame and disgrace Some with a cutting stroke they nimby send Into the hazzard placed at the end Resembling well the rest which all they have Whom death hath seiz'd and placed in their grave Some o're the wall they bandie quite away Who never more are seene to come in play Which intimates that even the very best Are soone forgot of all if once deceast So whether silke-quilt ball it bee or whether Made of course cloth or of most homely lether They all alike are banded to and fro And all at last to selfe same end do goe Where is no difference or strife for place No odds betweene a Trype-wife and your Grace The penny-counter's every whit as good As that which in the place of thousands stood When once the Audit's full cast up and made The learned Arts well as the manuall Trade The Prisoner and the Judge upon the Bench The pampred Lady and the Kitchin-wench The noble Lord or Counsailor of State The botchy-Lazer begging at the gate Like Shrubs and Cedars-mingled ashes lye Without distinction when they once do dye Ah for unpartiall death and th'homely grave Looke equall on the freeman and the slave So most unpartiall umpires are these twain A King with them 's but as a common Swain No upper hand 'twixt dust of poore and rich No Marshall there to sentence which is which And once resolv'd to powder none can ken The dust of Kings from dust of other men But as at Chesse when once the game is doon The side which lost and that as well which woon The victor King and conquer'd pawne together Jumbled are tumbled to th' same bagge of lether Without regard whether the pawne or King Therein lye uppermost or underling Nathlesse all sorts each sexe of purpose winke And of this destinie doon seldome thinke Living alacke as life should never faile And deeme of death but as an old wives tale Post mortem nescio cujus VVHy do the mightie beare themselves so high And vant their parentage and long discent Why do the rich so swell with surquedry Of their huge wealth which is but to them lent But till their lives uncertaine terme be spent Though where's the odds or what 's the difference Between the wealthy and the indigent When both unto the grave once part from hence Within a while their dust so mingled is That none can safely say this dust was his or his So have I seene the boistrous-body'd oake That above all her wide-spred armes enhanc't I saw it lopt with many a sturdie stroke From side to side I saw it thorow lanc't I saw it fall and headlong disadvanc't The silly shrub that there beside was growne I likewise saw quite rooted up and rancht I saw them both into the fire throwne I saw them wasted and in ashes lye But whethers ashes were by no meanes could discry Il sonno e una morte vivente VVHen I doe weigh how little differing Life is from death how little or nought at all Death is from sleepe when neere so small a thing Can make them all be transubstantiall Oh what amazement on my minde doth fall And I do wonder how I sleepe or wake Sith unto death in nature they so neere partake And in the morning after quiet sleepe When I consider to how
living saw him dead who mote have liv'd t' have bidden mee farewell And seene mee gasp my last on my death-bed But so 't pleased him who each mans vitall thread Spins as him list his thread of life to break And mine hath spar'd and longer lengthened The longer though so much more still the weake Ah the weake webbe of mans fraile flesh how soone That long was weaving is 't againe undone But if of all thy friends there be not one Some little monument of carved stone That will thee raise thy name whereon to write And none to thee this duty will acquite Yet I shall joy that I have thought it fit And that I thus to them have mention'd it And were thy friend thy sound-whole-hearted friend As thy good nature wont him oft commend In heart as once hee was and may againe If God to his indeavours say Amen This charge by him should be for thee defraid For in small cost much love may be bewrayd And if prayers lawfull were to any Saint And Saints our prayers could heare and God acquaint With what we want and in necessitie We mote poore men relieved be thereby Thou should'st my Saint of Intercession be And my deare Nat I 'de onely pray to thee For thou amongst the Saints a Saint dost dwell And reap'st the fruit there of here living well Where hope and faith both being at an end Nought thou save charitie hast to intend And Gloria Patri and Te Deum sing And quousque Domine ceasest thou to bring The world to question and the hard constraints And sufferance to avenge of thy deare Saints Thus thou in prayers and praises mixt among Dost spend or rather dost thy time prolong But now thou Muse of all the mournfullest Who at a sad and dolefull tale art best And thou Calliope whose powerfull Muse Can minister and goodly well infuse Meete matter and fit words to any one For fancie and conceit to workeupon For vertues sake assist mee to bewary Sith well I meane what I have here to say And as my Midwives helpe me forth to throw The Infants of my braine wherewith I goe And teach their new-borne tongues however weake Of this your darling worthily to speake Wherein if they so fairly them acquite To say but somewhat that may doe him right 'T will welcome prove their very naming him Will grace and adde enough to their esteeme For never man more worthy is than hee To be remembred both of you and mee Rarely was ever seen bee 't not envi'd Such a combination and so full a tyde In such an under-age of all true vvorth Where nature and Grace consented to set forth A modell to the world of what they can When they intend to frame some speciall man For every purpose and intention fit A most acuminous quick-pregnant wit A cleare fine fancie and a quaint conceit Active and nimble and yet full of weight A piercing present strong capacitie A spacious vast tenacious memorie A minde compos'd of art and industrie A heart affecting unaffectedly To make pure profit of all good mens good And each vainefull of piety as blood I say unaffectedly sith what need hee Whom Nature hath enabled to bee What ere him pleas'd affect the speech the tone The phrase gest or garb of els any one Here Art Learning Knowledge Wisedome Judgement Above his age and strange Intendement With learning and the Learned tongues as well He furnisht was the kernell as the shell Excellent in some scarce yeelding to the best Well seen and rationall in all the rest Yea what himselfe would not I dare him vant In no scientiall knowledge ignorant In so small time how deeply wert thou read And how farre travelled and traversed 〈◊〉 in the bookes of God and Nature fit to teach Both learned and unlearned out of each Loyall and full of faith and faithfulnesse To God and man in all hee did professe Here Bountie and all courteous Amenage Of Generositie the true presage As farre from surquedrous-proud-selfe-conceit Which all great wits doth commonly await As his religion and his faith was free From spot or taint of unsound heresie Here that Sal Gemmae as wee may it call Discretion which doth kindly season all A breast full fraught with cleere integritie And all set off with sweet Humilitie A winning vertue and a speciall grace To usher in a man before Gods face Than which no vertue shines but halfe so bright And without which the weightiest gold is light This added lustre and imbellishment To all his other worth where ere hee went So that as hee by vertue gain'd respect Vertue by him regain'd the like effect Each of them honour'd by each others worth As pearle in gold both sets and is set forth Yea all that man to God and man indeares Were met together in these tender yeeres Scarce the sixt yeare of 's manhood he attain'd When he this masse of vertuous treasures gain'd Where had hee but gone on as hee began And doubled his few yeares Lord what a man And to what excellence would he have growne To the worlds wonder and emulation Much have I heard of thy rich Mines Perue Thy Rubies Diamonds and Saphyrs blew And of that Island-rivers pretious shells Where orient pearle of namelesse value dwells But in one Mine one Shell one Rocke or Shore Some of all these were never found before Gardens and orchards infinite there are With all sorts of fruits and flowers rare But all at once growne on one stalke and tree I never saw till now deere NAT in thee Ah my deere Lord pardon this fault of mine If not considering well this deed of thine I too too foolish fondly have repin'd And in the heate of griefe have spoke my minde Thus sawcely Farre better a great deale Ne're to the world this jewell to reveale Than showne a while to put it up againe I' th case unseene for ever to remaine But 't was thy will and thus I answer must My discontent sith certes 't is but just That hee who makes the jewell may dispose Thereof at pleasure lest it else mote lose In this unbeveld age when 't is so hard For vertue-selfe from taint her selfe to guard Any those Diamonds and Pearls of Grace Which round about his Gemme he did enchase Unfained friend Oh how unfainedly Do I lament when I say thou didst die Why mote not I whose life is of no use Thy too too hastie death by death excuse The Sunne to set at night is naturall But if at noone to set it should befall It would the world with wonder deep dismay But should it set in 'th nonage of the day The course of nature all sorts would crye out Confounded is and quite turn'd round about And is 't not thus the very same in men When we see fouresocore fiftie threescore yeares and ten Climbe back as 't were the westerne hill againe As if the South point of their life to gaine Whilst younglings such as this
weake a guard My pretious life I did commit to keepe Being for death a thing not very hard To seize his brothers right sith if compar'd Sleep 's but a breathing death death breathlesse sleep I feele a tingling chilnesse over all my bones to creepe Prosopopeia Corporis Animae valedicturi Adios a rivederci MY lovely frend that long hast been content To dwell with mee in my poore Tenement Whose bulke and all the stuffe both warp and woofe Is all of clay the floor and the roofe Though yet thou ne're foundst fault ne didst upbraid This homely hermitage so meanly made O mine owne darling my deere daintie one And wilt thou now indeed from mee be gone Ah for thou seest all running to decay The thatchie covering 's now nigh falne away The windows which give light to every roome Broken and dimme and mistie beene become The Mill-house and selfe Miller 's out of frame My Kitchin smoakes my Larder is too blame And from the Studds each where the Lome doth shrink And the breeme cold blowes in at every chinke The brases and supporters of my house Tremble and waxen wondrous ruinous So that all bee it grieve mee to the heart To thinke that thou and I old frends must part Yet sith my Cabban's all out of repaire Darling farewell goe sojourne now else where In some cleane place untill that premier Main That built mee first rebuild mee up againe All of the selfe same stuffe but with such art So polisht and imbellisht every part That it shall ne're be out of Kilture more Then shalt thou come againe as heretofore And dwell with mee for ever and for aye So God us both to blesse untill that happie day Dal Cielo al Cielo SUndry opinions amongst learned men Have raised beene about the meanes and way And 'bout the certaine time and season when That soule of man which never can decay Into the bodie doth it selfe convey Whether 't beginning with the body take Or long before if so where it doth stay Which strife the soule it selfe thus plaine doth make From Heaven I not from mans seed proceed For with the bodie if it rise it dies Animae Prosopopeia Morta la pecora non cresce piu la lana YEe gentle frends who mourning here attend My livelesse corps unto this Earthie bed There leaving it to sleepe untill the end When all shall live againe who now are dead Weepe not for mee sith I can neither see Nor heare your teares that here for mee are shed Ne all your prayers a whit can profit mee The sheepe once dead the wooll ne're growes againe But as shee dies it lyes all after-helpes are vaine Agree therefore while yee are in the way With death the adversary of mankinde For when he comes no pray'r can make him stay But hee takes all sorts as he doth them find If good 't is not in him to make them bad If bad no time to mend by him assign'd What faith and hope wee at our parting had Is onely ours but all done after death Nor hurts nor helps but passeth with the breath For whilst we live though at last gaspe wee been Our owne or others pray'rs mote doon us good Betweene the stirrup and the ground betweene The bridge and headlong downfall to the flood Mercie can cause the soule catch hold of grace But soone as once the life forsakes the blood So fast it posteth to its proper place Of weale or woe where it must ever stay No pray'r it overtakes or profit may The ardent suite of that great man of meat Was him deny'd a seeming-small request One moyst coole drop to quench his scalding heat Yet sith before his pray'r he was possest Of his just doome his due-deserved meed His tardie suit forth of the Court was cast For as the soule once from the body freed No more may be recall'd no more can shee By any humane helpe relieved bee In vaine therefore doon silly soules relie On pray'rs of frends at their departure hence Sith with our last breath Heaven instantly Is wonne or lost no comming is from thence Ne is redemption from the place of Hell And Purgatory is a meere non-sense Where goodmens soules till bought from thence must dwell Onely his pray'rs whose blood for us was shed Living and dying stands our soules in stead Divortium Animae HAst ever knowne two faithfull bosome frends Affected like in all their aimes and ends After long absence hast observ'd their meeting Their over-joy and manner of their greeting Silent long-looking in each others faces Whilst each his frend within his armes embraces Like April-showr's and Sun-shine mixt together Each weeping and each laughing over either Till mutuall passions having run their course Both by degrees fall freely to discourse Ah but say now hast ever seene these twaine Upon occasion forc'd to part again Hast seene two lovers new made man and wife Inforc'd to part how bitter is their strife What sighs what teares what namelesse Creve-coeur What greefe unutterable doon they endure What lowd Alewes what heavinesse of heart What lamentations when they come to part What anguish and with what a deale of paine Take these their leave as ne're to meete againe Hast seene a man from his deere home exil'd Hast heard a mother parting from her child What weeping wailing and what heavinesse What contristation even to excesse And how unable reason is to sway Th'unbeveld passion or it make obey Or hast thou ere observ'd that passionate And dolefull quest that heart affecting-blate Of lambes lamenting their deere dammes restraint Or mark'd the mournfull noise and pitteous plaint Doubled and oft redoubled by the dammes At present parting from their little lambes Hast ere beene present at some Cities sacke And seene the havocke and the wofull wrack When to the surly souldier once betraid The modest matron and the untoucht maid So most unmannerly spite of their heart With their deere honours are compell'd to part What reluctation and what sturdie strife What meanes what shifts the jewell of their life To save from spoyle and losse what vows what pray'r What humble ' haviour and what speaking faire What deep distraction and what heavie cheere How loth to yeeld alacke yet ne're the neere Like loth and with as much or more adoe Bodie and soule each other do forgoe Ah when the soule comes warning once to give That shee no longer in her house will live Ne not so much as sojourne any more Where shee hath dwelt so many yeares before At this sad news like fruit with windie blast Downe in a transe the weakly bodie 's cast Inly the very bowels yearne with griefe The stomacke nauseats at wont reliefe The straightned lungs breath hardly short and thicke The head 's distempred and the heart is sicke And every roome and corner of the house Fill'd with darke steems and vapours nubilous In this disconsolate and sickly