They were repaid with death as chiefest blisse This common peril salue of vanitie Is good because it endeth miserie The power of flesh is but a rotten reede And truth to say Breuis est magnifortuna fauoris Sen. what is prosperitie A slaue to alteration care and dread A slipperie step that ill men magnifie And life is but a warfare against sinne And flesh a bridewell to torment it in All worldly louers die not worthily But twise the paines of fleshly death they beare Whereas the stout and valiant men but die These Cowards feele a double death for feare But fate which none can flatter or suborne Nor tongue entreat ought stoutly to be born I know the propertie of pleasure is To leaue more sorrow when it goes away Then when it came it brought deluding blisse And well I know that death will haue his day 〈…〉 The which defrauding lusts wheÌ„ we haue took In their best stay do vanish all like smoke And done we circumuent our selues thereby The time thereof departs and there we stand Detected factors of a villany Mock'd by the deed and of the hellish band The iudge our coÌ„scieÌ„ce doth coÌ„demn the euil VVhich we commit and leaues vs to the deuill To some good art if Tutors do not binde Vs Otium omnia mala docet a dolescentes Cicer. in our youth the cares of life to trie VVe being free our idle vexed minde To pleasures damned faculties apply That worse then preÌ„tiship our fancie wouÌ„ds Our selues to death proue Acteons hounds Here such as gifts do spare those made poore By giuing no respect can haue for all Pleasure excludeth who can giue no more Then pouertie her Syren voice doth call If once enrich'd she rich poore doth weed Then turn's them out vnto small friended need To harbor in all weathers poore and bare On the cold ground of such as friends had been Some will deride them none relieue their care But say wherefore had he not kept it then Thus when our wealth will not keepe coÌ„pany None will redresse our states in miserie And can we any earthly thing attaine VVithout displeasure labour miserie VVhich of them are not slippery in the gaine And very may games of vncertaintie Their vanitie no author can discusse They are as common vnto beasts as vs. The graue deliuers all men from their care And life once gon sinnes time seemes finished Praemia quanta bonos maneant Inuen In spite of all the snarling curs that are VVhich gnaw the liuing and torment the dead Both rich and poore euen all that suffer grief If good shall after death find full reliefe VVhen Thian from the worldes great voiage came Some ask'd him what a world he then had seen I haue beheld vertue opprest with blame Quoth he poor meÌ„s suits coÌ„founded clean By the vsurping proud and fooles expresse And beat the wise great theeues haÌ„g the les And how for money Argus wil not see How rich meÌ„s falts were sport but poore mens crime How best deserts with thaÌ„ks scarce guerdoÌ„'d be How the opprest bought pitty in his time And how most seeming holy men in gownes Vnder that sanctimony fish'd for crowns This was the worlds rude reuolution then VVhich euer was but vaine and euer shall Remaine mans hurt sinnes shop a daemons den Or like a dreame or tossed tennise ball Mans life is fitly term'd a nothing got The gainers loose the hauers haue it not Care eat 's man's entralls Enuie gnaws his back Fortune with slipperie chances trip his foote Greedines tels him somwhat still doth lacke VVhen he hath tooke his deepest shallow roote His name fame time doth dissolue to noght And one as vaine into his roome is brought The triumph daies which Rome to Caesar gaue Carthage to Hanniball the spartan host Vnto Leonides that Athens graue Impos'd on Pericles and Persia coast Allotted Syrus after victorie Had no repose no perpetuitie For this the heathen Emperours ordain'd So much this worlds vaine frailenes did they know That wheÌ„ they had their diadeÌ„s attaind Masons Caruers should vnto them goe Enquiring of what forme that tombe should be Sowell the Pagans knew their vanitie For this the Romans made a wise decree That when a Consull did in triumph ride In Coach with him a slaue should placed be Which slaue shold say my friend for all this pride Take heed thou know thy self chaÌ„ce doth butleÌ„d This which in shame without great heedwil end seasons yeers Through howrs through daies weeks months Through labor hunger cold care paine teares watchings Throgh false delights fools vniust friends losse From birth life fades vnto the graue again And death the sweet release of sorrow great The flouring bud of youth doth first defeat To Ciperissus youth he was extreame And vnto Hilas who his locks did dight Making his noone daie mirror of a streame And Adlington whose surname Welsteed hight In belgicke wars his launce did ouercome Circling that yong Apollo with a tombe Si quid mea carmina possint Nulla dies vnâ— quam memori te eximet ano Virg. But most obliged friend thou shalt not lie In lowest dust as though thou neuer were Although alas we all are borne to die My loue shall one day greet thy warlike beare Meane time repose thee in the Elizian field Fame hath thy name and honours tent thy shield Raptam euridiceâ— atque irrita lâ—itisdona querens Virg. Yet will I moure for thee with such sad laies As Orpheus once resounded for a ghost When in the prime of all her flouring daies His yong wife whom he dearly loud he lost The woods shal be my house my bed soÌ„e stone There wil I liue for thee die alone Here as they wold who can their hopes receiue Here as they would who can esteemed be Here Fates and friends perfidiously deceiue Here as they wold Time who can feed on thee None for on earth where al things are vnsure Things seldome be or being not indure My youth declin'd and felt no kind of ioy The wanton daies wherein I tooke delight VVere but a dreame a shadow and a toy And were but lent to breede me more despight But why vnpittied should I murmur so I naked came and naked hence must go Respect the vniuersall liues of men And see what toile in liuing dust remaines This man is fleshly crimes detested den That seeks out Anaxarchus worlds for gaines Diseases need and wrong an other knowes Like leaues in storms so are we tost with woes And liuing here with whom doth man frequeÌ„t But with old lechers enuious parasites Murtherers belly-slaues what snares are bent Noua terris incumbit febriuÌ„ cohors Hora. To take his soule against his body fight Intollerable stones and stranguries VVith feuers postumes swelling maladies Man in this world is laid as sure in hold Till he be put to execution For what gaile hath more labor hunger cold Or more diseases then this
world hath shown To greatest men O vale of languishing No muse can tell the troubls thou dost bring And whereas one adorned with the crowne Of siluer locked age salutes his graue Infinite in their chiefe are beaten downe Pallida mors aquo pulsat pede pauperum takernas reguÌ„que turres Hor. Death neither spares the wretched nor the braue For death of custome as a cold in May By toile or sorrow first giues youth decay O foolish sorrow vexed happines Selfe flattering mock proud nothing painted clay Chaos of trouble mischiefe and distresse Vncureable Vlcer Syrens lay Times Icarus Post Bubble Froth false name O life no slander can expresse thy blame Mishaps tragedion residence of paine Cipher of earth sinnes slaue true reasons gale Cypher Thoghts pray ioies mock youths foole natures disdaine Prids asse into the ditch of death to fall Is man his youth and age both fickle breath ' Are but as Gaylors keeping him for death Thus all our daies are parents of sure cares Willand Wit Our health the nurse of wars tween will wit Our impious youth a mist for age prepares A crimefull pack of sinne too great for it Our selues vnto our selues a wretchednes With vain coÌ„ceits our lusting minds oppres Our age presents but feeblenes disguis'd Perplex'd in thought with sin in flesh with pain His company and counsels are despis'd His death expected by his friends for gaine VVho much reioice if we in riches vade If poore to rid vs hence they wil be glad For all their pallaces and shining pride Rich men are slaues to many tirannies And sleepes foe sorrow durst in them abide Foule lusts mocked hopes do them surprise And thogh their greatnes keep the mean in fear Yet most with them their own coÌ„maÌ„ders bear If earth were animated with a soule As Plato did suppose the very ground Wheron he treads would call a monarch foole And say thou wretch thou thinkst thy selfe renownd WheÌ„ I that am the earth retain in me A thousand thousand better men then thee And if earths compasse be a point in all Of which an Empire seemes a little sparke VVhat may we then a priuate Lordship call Not halfe a wormehole if we rightly marke Then why shold any think themselues so great Sith they are bounded in so small a seat And when thou leauest this life thou bearst nothing Of these with thee thy realms and pleasurs send Thee hence alone although thou were a king Thy flesh also that seem'd thy deerest friend A naked soule doth let thee passe away Thus but in heaueÌ„ thou hast no perfect stay Therefore we alwaies shold haue death in mind How to another country we must go How life is but a leafe blowne vp with winde A cobweb light a false familiar foe Sin 's nurse a sicknes long a dying day A friend of vice that seeks the souls decay And al our pride is but mortalitie VVhere in an earthen frame the plannets boile Humors corrupt as Cinthea doth the sea VVhich do inuest the soule and make her toile In cogitations base and all earths best Is seldome had or gotten but vnrest Our home aboue the circle of the stars Is set leauing the clouds behind her back To the last heauen the soule her slight prepares By death released from this vally blacke VVhether when endeed desteny thee brings That thou behold the snining iudg of things Then wilt thou say this is the wished place My country true of which I had no minde Here was I borne bowing down thy face To earth thou wilt coÌ„demn thy friends so kinde That there lament thy death because they cast Their loue on lusts ioies that wil not last This earth is but a Cell of punishment Yet peoples insolencie will not know it Vntil they fal in matter of complaint Though time their youth chance their friends defeate VVhilst that theÌ„selues are wel they think such lie As say this world is but meere vanity The minuts hours daies weeks months yeers On whose swift transmigration life depends Senister chance excruciates with teares If one day please a month with care offends The liked time declines the wished lot Com's sild and soone departeth being got Count but the time ere thou thy wish obtaine Then next how long thow after that maist liue And thou shall see it proue so short and vaine That hauing it it shall thy minde but grieue And proue in vsage lesse and worse to thee Then in thy fancy first it seemd to be As the vniointed limbe no ease can haue But by vniting with his natiue place So from his birth vntill he hath his graue Man liues in griefe doth but thornes imbrace In ioy time he hopes but for his paine And hating death he hates his greatest gaine Now sith the world can giue but painted bubbls For fooles and epicures to dote vpon Tell it it can impart nor ioies nor troubles For all is but a dreame below the sunne And flesh is dust pride vaine life a span Then bid the world afflict thee how it can Foes fortune world hate your worst is death Greatnes delight and pompe your best is end Here hopes and friends the fates sequestreth And many teares for both in vaine we spend The liuing and the great are fortunes slaues More then the wretch or those that lodge in graues Thus is our life but carefull meditation Qua atas loâ—gâ— est aut quidom â—ino homini longum Salust Of vaine discordant thoughts a liking shade Of momentarie thinges a mist soone gone A frothy dew which to it selfe hath made The promise of loÌ„g time wheÌ„ that each hour It is vnto it selfe vnknowne vnsure And of this life the trust and confidence Whose short abode doth make vs bold to sinne By this thou seest and by experience That since the howre in which it did begin It runneth vnto nought and euer shall Till it expire as it had neuer beene Like to a dreame or shadow on a wall VVhat foole will then repine to passe froÌ„ hence Where nothing is sincere faith peace nor loue VVhere many most oppresse the least offence VVhereas the great are not so sure aboue But they shall naked passe to natures Inne And soone become as they had neuer beene That they may enter heauens eternall gate Math. xi To Christ who cals oppressed soules to ioy And with the blessed sainted infants mate VVhich Herod from sweet Iewrie did destroy VVherewith all wronged innocents appears Math. 2. Their weeping mothers bath'd in bloud and teares No eie hath euerseene nor heart hath thought The solaces which God hath laid in store Corinth xi For their content who set this world at nought The kingly prophet wish'd to keepe the doore Of that place Psal 84. rather then he would possesse All earthly Princes glorious wretchednes Here soldiers and couragious noble men VVho for their countries honor were supprest Released from their bodies
painefull den With euerlasting quietnes are blest In vnion of the Godheads trinitie They that were mortall liuing angels be VVhich Lord I pray that when our life shal end This life which day by day in vanitie And night by night to none effect we spend Of all offences pardoned let vs be Committed heere by mist of mind opprest That in thy promis'd glory wee may rest The glory bright of that immortall raigne VVhere soules and bodies shal be wedded new After domes day and neuer die againe Paul wish'd to be dissolud this same to view And praises of his highest God to sing In Paradise by heauens eternall spring That therefore we may trust none earthly thing Sweet Iesu for thy tender loue to all VVith the lost sheepe vnto thy folde vs bring Math 18. That we may know thy voice whē thou dost call Make saued souls of these our sinfull formes And thinke on me Lord when I am in thrall And lie in graue a deaths head full of wormes Grant Christ whose blessed bloud in crimson streames With bitter rods and cruell nayles was shed Whose sacred limbes were rack'd on woodden beames Whose holy heart was pierced being dead Grant to protect vs from all deadly sinne And when we from this dying life are fled Let sorrowes end and heauenly ioyes begin Amen An Ode Nulla dies caret maerore VVIth prouidence reflect thy looke Into thy liues accounting booke And thou shalt see how Time destroyes Thy youth thy friends thy foolish ioyes Which pleasures mocking all desires Shew them but seruants vnto liers And looke on this with eies of minde With which men see when they are blinde None euer had such ioy a day That from them did not slide away Fo◠that soone turneth into was Which sprung of late as tender grasse With Ioy let none himselfe deceiue For euery lust will take his leaue Rich miserie is great mens share Pompous distresse and glittring care VVith which they toile as troubles lent Till death exact of them their rent Still in thy pleasure beare in minde That sorrow is not far behinde Fiuers present our image plaine VVhich passing neuer turne againe Such is this world when it is best That each degree finds little rest He that is highest in his pride His fortune changeth as the tide All signifies a fading flowre Rust Time and wormes will all deuoure Life Ioy and euery pleasant meede Scarce hangeth by a slender threede To all this period fate doth doome That all must vnto nothing come As child in nurses arms by death Included here we draw our breath VVhere all our solace is vnstable Out death vnknowne ineuitable VVhich none by strength alternate may Riches or birth or other way And earth is promiser of rest VVhich is not as it seem'd possest None haue contentment at their call And smalest sweet abounds in gall VVhen we thinke surest for to stand Then greatest slidings are at hand One danger sildome comes alone But moe proceed ere that be gone The Castels which repulse a foe Cannot defend a man from woe VVherefore old Solon did commend To call none happie till their end And Dyon gaue this sentence rare The shorter life the lesser care From birth that prison we ascend On earth as stage to take our end And here a life enui'd we haue And no true rest vntill our graue VVherefore fooles heauen but wise mens hell Vaine Earth I bid thy ioyes farewell FINIS Ad suos libros AS Time and the cold graue Concludeth euery thing So you I ended haue Poore bookes amidst the spring Euen as the Larke saluted day And siluer drops bedewd each way Go now and pardon craue Of that heroick knight Which wisedome doth embraue Whom if you know not right His bountie stature compleat forme And valour great shall you informe His haire like wreaths of gold Do shade his manly face So warlike to behold As Mars the God of Thrace Nature and Art did both consent So to contriue him excellent His Lady fresh also And daughters vertues flowers Adorne you as you goe Vntill your latest houres Which goodly creatures to be seene Seeme Lillies on their stalkes so greene So passe away and if that enuie stirre T' is but a stingles drone a barking cur