For lo these naked walles do well declare My latest leaue of thée I taken haue And vnknowen coastes which I must séeke with care Do well diuine that there shal be my graue There shall my death make many for to mone Skarce knowne to them well knowne to thee alone This bowne of thée as last request I craue When true report shall sounde my death with fame Vouchsafe yet then to go vnto my graue And there first write my byrth and then my name And how my life was shortned many yeares By womens wyles as to the world appeares And in reward of graunt to this request Permit O God my toung these woordes to tell When as his pen shall write vpon my chest With shriking voyce mine owne deare friend farewell No care on earth did séeme so much to me As when my corps was forst to part from thée Si fortunatus infoelix He wrote to the same friend from Excester this Sonet following A Hundreth sonnes in course but not in kind Can witnesse well that I possesse no ioye The feare of death which fretteth in my mind Consumes my hart with dread of darke anoye And for eche sonne a thousand broken sléepes Deuide my dreames with fresh recourse of cares The youngest sister sharpe hir sheare she kéepes To cut my thred and thus my life it weares Yet let such daies such thousand restlesse nights Spit forth their spite let fates eke showe their force Deathes daunting dart where so his buffet lights Shall shape no change within my friendly corse But dead or liue in heauen in earth in hell I wil be thine where so my carkase dwell Si fortunatus infoelix He wrote to the same friend from Founteine belle eaü in Fraunce this Sonnet in commendation of the said house of Fountaine bel'eaü NOt stately Troye though Priam yet did liue Could now compare Founteine bel'eaü to passe Nor Syrian towers whose loftie steppes did striue To climbe the throne where angry Saturne was For outward shew the ports are of such price As skorne the cost which Cesar spilt in Roome Such works within as stayne the rare deuise Which whilome he Apelles wrought on toome Swift Tiber floud which fed the Romayne pooles Puddle to this where Christall melts in streames The pleasaunt place where Muses kept their schooles Not parcht with Phoebe nor banisht from his beames Yeeld to those Dames nor sight nor fruite nor smell Which may be thought these gardens to excell Si fortunatus infoelix He wrote vnto a Skotish Dame whom he chose for his Mistresse in the French Court as followeth LAdy receyue receiue in gracious wise This ragged verse these rude ill skribled lines Too base an obiect for your heauenly eyes For he that writes his fréedome lo resignes Into your handes and fréely yéelds as thrall His sturdy necke earst subiect to no yoke But bending now and headlong prest to fall Before your féete such force hath beauties stroke Since then mine eyes which skornd our English dames In forrayne courtes haue chosen you for fayre Let be this verse true token of my flames And do not drench your owne in déepe dispayre Onely I craue as I nill change for new That you vouchsafe to thinke your seruaunt trew Si fortunatus infoelix A Sonet written in prayse of the browne beautie compiled for the loue of Mistresse E. P. as foloweth THe thristles thred which pampred beauty spinnes In thraldom binds the foolish gazing eyes As cruell Spiders with their crafty ginnes In worthlesse webbes doe snare the simple Flies The garments gay the glittring golden gite The tysing talk which flowes from Pallas pooles The painted pale the too much red made white Are smiling baytes to fishe for louing fooles But lo when eld in toothlesse mouth appeares And hoary heares in stéede of beauties blaze Than had I wist doth teach repenting yeares The tickle track of craftie Cupides maze Twixt faire and foule therfore twixt great and small A louely nuthrowne face is best of all Si fortunatus infoelix Now to begin with another man take these verses written to be sent with a ryng wherein were engraued a Partrich in a Merlines foote THe Partridge in the pretie Mertines foote Who féeles hir force supprest with fearfulnesse And findes that strength nor strife can do hir boote To scape the danger of hir déepe distresse These wofull wordes may séeme for to reherse Which I must write in this waymenting verse What helpeth now sayeth she dame natures skill To die my feathers like the dustie ground Or what preuayles to lend me winges at will Which in the ayre can make my bodie bound Since from the earth the dogges me draue perforce And now aloft the Hauke hath caught my corse If chaunge of colours could not me conuey Yet mought my wings haue scapt the dogges despite And if my wings did fayle to flie away Yet mought my strength resist the Merlines might But nature made the Merline mée to kill And me to yéeld vnto the Merlines will. My lot is like déere Dame beleue me well The quiet life which I full closely kept Was not content in happie state to dwell But forth in hast to gaze on thée it lept Desire thy dogge did spring me vp in hast Thou wert the Hauke whose tallents caught me fast What should I then séeke meanes to flie away Or striue by force to breake out of thy féete No no perdie I may no strength assay To striue with thée ywis it were not méete Thou art that Hauke whom nature made to hent me And I the Byrd that must therewith content me And since Dame nature hath ordayned so Hir happie hest I gladly shall embrace I yéeld my will although it were to wo I stand content to take my griefe for grace And seale it vp within my secrete hart Which seale receiue as token of my smart Spraeta tamen viuunt A louing Lady being wounded in the spring time and now galded eftsones with the remembrance of the spring doth therfore thus bewayle THis tenth of March when Aries receyud Dame Phoebus rayes into his horned head And I my selfe by learned lore perceyu'd That Ver approcht and frostie winter fled I crost the Thames to take the cherefull ayre In open féeldes the weather was so fayre And as I rowed fast by the further shore I heard a voyce which séemed to lament Whereat I stay'd and by a stately dore I left my Boate and vp on land I went Till at the last by lasting paine I found The wofull wight which made this dolefull sound In pleasant garden placed all alone I sawe a Dame who sat in weary wise With scalding sighes she vttred all hir mone The ruefull teares downe rayned from hir eyes Hir lowring head full lowe on hand she layed On knée hir arme and thus this Lady sayed Alas quod she behold eche pleasaunt gréene Will now renew his sommers liuery The fragrant flowers which haue not long bene séene Will florish
shoulde be chastised and the yong man should be absolued All this rehearsed and considered you may as I say growe in some doubt whether I were worse occupied in first deuising or at last in publishing these toies pamphlets and much the rather for that it is a thing commonly seene that nowe adayes fewe or no things are so well handled but they shall bee carped at by curious Readers nor almost any thing so well ment but may bee muche misconstrued And heerewithall I assure my selfe that I shall bee generally condemned as a man verie lightly bent and rather desyrous to continue in the freshe remembraunce of my follyes than content too cancell them in obliuion by discontinuance especially since in a house where many yong childrē are it hath bene thought better pollicie quite to quench out the fire than to leaue any loofe cole in the imbers wherewith Babes may play and put the whole edifice in daunger But my lustie youthes and gallant Gentlemen I had an intent farre contrarie vntoo all these supposes when I fyrst permitmitted the publication heereof And bycause the greatest offence that hath beene taken thereat is least your mindes might heereby become enuenomed with vanities therefore vnto you I will addresse my tale for the better satisfying of common iudgements And vnto you I will explane that which being before mistically couered and commonly misconstrued might be no lesse perillous in seducing you than greeuous euidence for to proue mee guiltie of condemnation Then to come vnto the matter there are three sortes of men which beeing wonderfully offended at this booke haue founde therein three maner of matters say they verie reprehensible The men are these curious Carpers ignorant Readers and graue Philosophers The faults they finde are Iudicare in the Creede Chalke for Cheese and the cōmon infection of loue Of these three sorts of men and matters I do but very little esteeme the two first But I deeply regarde the thirde For of a verie troth there are one kinde of people nowadayes which will mislyke any thing being bred as I thinke of the spawne of a Crab or Creuish which in all streames and waters will swimme eyther sidewayes or flat backwards and when they can indeede finde none other fault will yet thinke Iudicare verie vntowardlye placed in the Creede Or beeing a simple Sowter will finde fault at the shape of the legge or if they be not there stopped they wil not spare to step vp higher and say that Apelles paynted Dame Venus verie deformed or euill fauoured Of this sort I make small accounte bycause indeede they seeke a knotte in the Rushe and woulde seeme to see verie farre in a Mylstone There are also certaine others who hauing no skill at all will yet be verie busie in reading all that may bee read and thinke it sufficient if Parrot like they can rehearse things without booke when within booke they vnderstande neyther the meaning of the Authour nor the sense of the figuratiue speeches I will forbeare to recyte examples by any of mine owne doings Since all comparisons are odious I will not say how much the areignment and diuorce of a Louer being written in ieast haue bene mistaken in sad earnest It shall suffice that the contentions passed in verse long sithence betwene maister Churchyard and Camell were by a blockheaded reader cōstrued to be indeed a quarell betwene two neighbors Of whom that one hauing a Camell in keping and that other hauing charge of the Churchyard it was supposed they had grown to debate bicause the Camell came into the Churchyarde Laugh not at this lustie yonkers since the pleasant dittie of the noble Erle of Surrey beginning thus In winters iust returne was also construed to be made indeed by a Shepeherd VVhat shoulde I stande much in rehersall how the L. Vaux his dittie beginning thus I loth that I did loue was thought by some to be made vpō his death bed and that the Soulknill of M. Edwards was also written in extremitie of sicknesse Of a truth my good gallants there are such as hauing only lerned to read English do interpret Latin Greke French and Italian phrases or metaphors euē according to their owne motherly conception and childish skill The which bicause they take Chalke for Cheese shall neuer trouble me whatsoeuer fault they finde in my doings But the third sort beeing graue Philosophers and finding iust fault in my doings at the common infection of loue I must needes alledge suche iuste excuse as may counteruayle their iuste complaynts For else I shoulde remayne woorthie of a seuere punishment They wysely considering that wee are all in youth more apt to delight in harmefull pleasures then to disgest wholesome and sounde aduice haue thought meete to forbid the publishing of any ryming tryfles which may serue as whetstones to sharpen youth vnto vanities And for this cause finding by experience also how the first Copie of these my Posies hath beene verie much inquired for by the yonger sort and hearing likewise that in the same the greater part hath beene written in pursute of amorous enterpryses they haue iustly conceyued that the continuance thereof hath beene more likely to stirre in all yong Readers a venemous desire of vanitie than to serue as a common myrrour of greene and youthfull imperfections VVherevnto I must confesse that as the industrious Bee may gather honie out of the most stinking weede so the malicious Spider may also gather poyson out of the fayrest floure that growes And yet in all this discourse I see not proued that either that Gardener is too blame which planteth his Garden full of fragrant floures neyther that planter to be dispraysed which soweth all his beddes with seedes of wholesome herbes neyther is that Orchard vnfruitfull which vnder show of sundrie weedes hath medicinable playsters for all infirmities But if the Chirurgian which should seeke Sorrell to rypen an Vlcer will take Rewe which may more inflame the Impostume then is hee more to blame that mistooke his gathering than the Gardener which planted aright and presented store and choyse to be taken Or if the Phisition will gather hote Perceley in stead of cold Endiue shall he not worthily beare the burthen of his owne blame To speake English it is your vsing my lustie Gallants or misvsing of these Posies that may make me praysed or dispraysed for publishing of the same For if you where you may learne to auoyd the subtile sandes of wanton desire will runne vpon the rockes of vnlawfull lust then great is your folly and greater will growe my rebuke If you where you might gather wholesome hearbes to cure your sundrie infirmities will spende the whole day in gathering of sweete smelling Posies much will be the time that you shal mispende and much more the harme that you shall heape vpon my heade Or if you will rather beblister your handes with a Nettle then comfort your senses by smelling to the pleasant Marioram then wanton is
With Lullaby your dreames deceiue And when you rise with waking eye Remember then this Lullabye Euer or Neuer The lamentation of a louer NOw haue I found the waie to wéepe wayle my fill Now can I ende my dolfull dayes so content my will. The way to weepe inough for such as list to wayle Is this to go abord the ship where pleasure beareth sayle And there to marke the iestes of euery ioyfull wight And with what winde and waue they fléet to nourish their delight For as the striken Deare that séeth his fellowes féede Amid the lustie heard vnhurt féeles himselfe to bléede Or as the seely byrd that with the Bolte is brusd And lieth aloofe among the leaues of al hir pheares refusd And heares them sing full shrill yet cannot she reioyce Nor frame one warbling note to passe out of hir mournfull voyce Euen so I finde by proofe that pleasure dubleth payne Vnto a wretched wounded hart which doth in woe remaine I passe where pleasure is I heare some sing for ioye I sée som laugh som other daūce in spight of darke anoy But out alas my mind amends not by their myrth I déeme al pleasurs to be paine that dwell aboue the earth Such heauy humors féede the bloud that lendes me breath As mery medcins cannot serue to keepe my corps from death Spraeta tamen viuunt Certaine verses written to a Gentlewoman whome hee liked very wel and yet had neuer any oportunity to discouer his affection being alwayes bridled by ielouse lookes which attended them both and therefore gessing by hir lokes that she partly also liked him he wrote in a booke of nirs as foloweth being termed with the rest that follow the lokes of a louer enamoured THou with thy lookes on whom I loke full ofte And find there in great cause of déepe delight Thy face is fayre thy skin is smoth and softe Thy lippes are swéet thine eyes are cléere and bright And euery part séemes pleasant in my sight Yet wote thou well those lokes haue wrought my wo Bicause I loue to looke vpon them so For first those lookes allurd mine eye to loke And strayght mine eye stird vp my hart to loue And cruell loue with déepe deceitfull hooke Chokt vp my mind whom fancie cannot moue Nor hope reléeue nor other helpe behoue But still to loke and though I loke to much Néedes must I loke bicause I see none such Thus in thy lookes my loue and life haue hold And with such life my death drawes on a pace And for such death no medcine can be told But loking still vpon thy louely face Wherin are painted pitie peace and grace Then though thy lokes should cause me for to dye Néedes must I looke bicause I liue therby Since then thy lookes my lyfe haue so in thrall As I can like none other lookes but thine Lo here I yéelde my lyfe my loue and all Into thy hands and all things else resigne But libertie to gaze vpon thyne eyen Which when I doe then think it were thy part To looke again and linke with me in hart Si fortunatus infoelix VVith these verses you shall iudge the quicke capacitie of the Lady for she wrote thereunder this short aunswere Looke as long as you lyst but surely if I take you looking I will looke with you ¶ And for a further proofe of this Dames quicke vnderstanding you shall now vnderstande that sone after this aunswere of hirs the same Aucthour chansed to be at a supper in hir company where were also hir brother hir husband and an old louer of hirs by whom shee had bene long suspected Nowe although there wanted no delicate viandes to content them yet their chiefe repast was by entreglancing of lokes For the Aucthour being stong with hotte affection coulde none otherwyse relieue his passion but by gazing And the Dame of a curteous enclination deigned nowe and then to requite the same with glancing at him Hir olde louer occupied his eyes with watching and her brother perceiuing all this coulde not abstaine from winking whereby hee might putte his Syster in remembraunce least she shoulde too much forget hir selfe But most of all her husbande beholding the first and being euyll pleased with the seconde scarce contented with the thirde and misconstruing the fourth was constrayned to playe the fifth part in frowarde frowning This royall banquet thus passed ouer the Aucthor knowing that after supper they should passe the tyme in propounding of Ryddles and making of purposes contriued all this conceipt in a Riddle as followeth The which was no soner pronoūced but shee coulde perfectly perceiue his intent and draue out one nayle with another as also enseweth His Ryddle I Cast mine eye and sawe ten eyes at once All séemelye set vppon one louely face Twoo gaz'd twoo glanc'd twoo watched for the nonce Twoo winked wiles twoo fround with froward grace Thus euerye eye was pitched in his place And euerye eye which wrought eche others wo Saide to it selfe alas why lookt I so And euerye eye for ielousie did pine And sigh'd and sayde I would that eye were mine Si fortunatus infoelix ¶ In all this louelie company vvas not one that coulde and would expound the meaning hereof At last the Dame hir selfe aunswered on this wise Syr quod she because your darke speach is much to curious for this simple company I wyl bee so bolde as to quit one question with another And when you haue aunswered mine it maye fall out peraduenture that I shall somewhat the better iudge of yours Hir Question WHat thing is that which swimmes in blisse And yet consumes in burning griefe Which being plaste where pleasure is Can yet recouer no reliefe Which sées to sighe and sighes to sée All this is one what maye it bée ¶ He held him selfe herevvith contented and aftervvardes when they vvere better acquainted he chaunsed once groping in hir pocket to find a letter of hir olde louers and thynking it vvere better to vvincke than vtterlye to put out his eyes seemed not to vnderstande this first offence but soone after finding a lemman the vvhich he thought he savve hir olde lemman put there he deuised therof thus and deliuered it vnto hir in vvriting I Grooped in thy pocket pretty peate And found a Lemman which I looked not So found I once which nowe I must repeate Both leaues and letters which I lyked not Such hap haue I to finde and séeke it not But since I sée no faster meanes to bind them I wyll hencefoorth take Lemmans as I finde them The Dame vvithin verie short space dyd aunsvvere it thus A Lymone but no Lemmane Syr you found For Lemmans beare their name to broade before The which since it hath giuen you such a wound That you séeme now offended very sore Content your selfe you shall find there no more But take your Lemmans henceforth where you lust For I wyll shewe my letters where I trust ¶ The lookes of a
But what for that no force they make thereof no boast They féede them selues with delycates and at the princes cost And as for all their men their pages and their swaynes They choke thē vp with chynes of béefe to multiply their gaines Themselues lie néere to looke when any leafe doth fall Such cromes were wont to féede pore gromes but nowe the Lords sicke al. And why oh sir because both dukes lords haue néede I mocke not I my text is true beléeue it as your créede Our Prelates and our Priests can tell this text with mée They can hold fast their fattest fermes and let no lease go frée They haue both wife and childe which maye not be for got The scriptures say the Lord hath neede therfore blame them not Then come a little lower vnto the contrye knight The squire and the gentleman they leaue the countrye quite Their Halles were all to large their tables were to long The clouted shoes came in so faste they kepte to great a throng And at the porters lodge where lubbers wonte to féede The porter learnes to answere now hence hence the Lord hath neede His gestes came in to thicke their diet was to great Their horses eate vp all the hey which should haue fed his neate Their teeth were farre to fine to féede on porke and souse Fyue flocks of shéepe could scarce maintaine good mutten for his house And when this count was cast it was no biding here Vnto the good towne is he gonne to make his frends good chéere And welcome there that will but shall I tell you howe At his owne dish he féedeth them that is the fashion nowe Side bords be layed aside the tables ende is gonne His cooke shall make you noble chéere but hostler hath he none The chargers now be changde wherin he wont to eate An olde frutedish is bigge ynough to hold a ioynte of meate A sallad or a sauce to tast your cates with all Som strāg deuise to féede mēs eies mēs stomacks now be small And when the tenauntes come to paie their quarters rent They bringe some fowle at Midsommer a dish of Fish in Lent At Christmasse a capon at Mighelmasse a goose And somewhat else at Newyeres tide for feare their lease flie loose Good reason by my troth when Gentlemen lacke groates Let Plowmen pinche it out for pence patch their russet coates For better Fermers fast than Manner houses fall The Lord hath néede than says the text bring old Asse colt all Well lowest nowe at last let sée the contrye loute And marke how he doth swink sweat to bring this geare about His feastinges be but fewe cast whipstockes clout his shoone The wheaten loafe is locked vp as sone as dinners doone And where he wonte to kepe a lubber two or thrée Now hath he learnd to kepe no more but Sim his sonne and he His wife and Mawde his mayd a boye to pitch the carte And turne him vp at Hollontide to féele the winter smarte Dame Alyson his wife doth knowe the price of meale Hir bride cakes be not halfe so bigge as she was wont to steale She weares no siluer hookes she is content with worsse Hir pendantes and hir siluer pinnes she putteth in hir pursse Thus learne I by my glasse that merrie meane is best And he most wise that finds the meane to kéepe himselfe at rest Perchaunce some open mouth will mutter now and than And at the market tell his mate our landlordes a zore man He racketh vp our rentes and kéepes the best in hand He makes a wōdrous deale of good out of his own measne land Yea let suche pelters prate saint Needam be their spéede We néede no text to answer them but this The Lord hath nede Euer or neuer An Epitaph vpon Captaine Bourcher late slaine in the warres in Zelande the which hath bene termed the tale of a stone as foloweth FYe Captaines fie your tongues are tyed to close Your Souldiours eke by silence purchase shame Can no man penne in méetre nor in prose The lyfe the death the valliaunt actes the fame The birth behauiour nor the noble name Of such a féere as you in fight haue lost Alas such paines would quickly quite the cost Bourcher is dead whome eche of you dyd knowe Yet no man writes one worde to paint his praise His sprite on highe his earkasse here belowe Doth both condemne your doting ydle dayes Yet ceasse they not to sounde his worthy wayes Who liued to dye and dyed againe to liue With death déere bought he dyd his death forgiue Hée might for byrth haue boasted noble race Yet were his manners méeke and alwayes milde Who gaue a gesse by gazing on his face And iudgde thereby might quickly be beguilde In fielde a Lion and in Towne a Childe Fierce to his foe but courteouse to his friende Alas the while his life so soone should ende To serue his Prince his life was euer prest To serue his God his death he thought but dew In all attempts as foreward as the best And all to forewardes which we all may rew His life so shewed his death eke tried it true For where his foes in thickest prease dyd stande Bourcher caught bane with bloodie sworde in hande And marke the courage of a noble heart When he in bed laye wounded wondrous sore And heard allarme he soone forgot his smart And calde for armes to shewe his seruice more I wyll to fielde quod he and God before Which sayde he sailde into more quiet coast Styll praysing God and so gaue vp the ghost Nowe muze not reader though we stones can speake Or write sometimes the déedes of worthy ones I could not holde although my heart should breake Because here by me buryed are his bones But I must tell this tale thus for the nones When men crye mumme and kéepe such silence long Then stones must speake els dead men shall haue wrong Finis quod Marmaduke Marblestone ¶ A deuise of a Marke for the right honorable Viscount Mountacute written vpon this occasion when the sayde L. had prepared to solemnize twoo marriages betweene his sonne and heyre and the Daughter of syr VVilliam Dormer Knight and betweene the sonne and heyre of syr VVilliam Dormer and the Daughter of the said L. Mountacute there were eight Gentlemen all of blood or alliaunce to the sayd L. Mountacute which had determined to present a Maske at the daye appointed for the sayd marriages and so farre they had proceeded therein that they had alreadye bought furniture of Silkes c and had caused their garmentes to bee cut of the Venetian fashion Nowe then they began to imagine that without some speciall demonstration it would seeme somewhat obscure to haue Venetians presented rather than other countrey men VVherevpon they entreated the Aucthour to deuise some verses to bee vttered by an Actor wherein might be some discourse conuenient to render a good cause of the Venetians presence The Aucthour
him out his share in ragged shéetes He cannot stoupe to take a gréedy pray Vpon his fellowes groueling in the stréetes He cannot pull the spoyle from such as pill And séeme full angrie at such foule offence Although the gayne content his gréedie will Vnder the cloake of contrarie pretence And now adayes the man that shootes not so May shoote amisse euen as your Woodman dothe But then you maruell why I lette them go And neuer shoote but saye farewell forsooth Alas my Lord while I doe muze hereon And call to minde my youthfull yeares myspente They giue mee suche a boane to gnawe vpon That all my senses are in silence pente My minde is rapte in contemplation Wherein my dazeled eyes onely beholde The blacke houre of my constellation Which framed mée so lucklesse on the molde Yet therewithall I can not but confesse That vayne presumption makes my heart to swell For thus I thinke not all the worlde I guesse Shootes bet than I nay some shootes not so well In Aristotle somewhat did I learne To guyde my manners all by comelynesse And Tullie taught me somewhat to discerne Betwéene swéete spéeche and barbarous rudenesse Olde Parkyns Rastall and Dan Bractens bookes Did lende mée somewhat of the lawlesse Lawe The craftie Courtiers with their guylefull lookes Must néedes put some experience in my mawe Yet can not these with many maystries mo Make me shoote streyght at any gaynfull pricke Where some that neuer handled such a bow Can hit the white or touch it neare the quicke Who can nor speake nor write in pleasant wise Nor leade their life by Aristotles rule Nor argue well on questions that arise Nor pleade a case more than my Lord Mairs mule Yet can they hit the marks that I do misse And winne the meane which may the man mainteyne Now when my minde doth mumble vpon this No wonder then although I pine for payne And whiles mine eyes beholde this mirrour thus The hearde goeth by and farewell gentle does So that your Lordship quickely may discusse What blindes mine eyes so ofte as I suppose But since my Muse can to my Lorde reherse What makes me misse and why I doe not shoote Let me imagine in this woorthlesse verse If right before mée at my standings foote There stoode a Doe and I should strike hir deade And then shée proue a carrian carkas too What figure might I finde within my head To scuse the rage whiche rulde mée so to doo Some myght interprete by playne paraphrase That lacke of skill or fortune ledde the chaunce But I must otherwise expounde the case I say Iehoua did this Doe aduaunce And made hir bolde to stande before mée so Till I had thrust mine arrowe to hir harte That by the sodaine of hir ouerthrowe I myght endeuour to amende my parte And turne myne eyes that they no more beholde Such guylefull markes as séeme more than they be And though they glister outwardely like golde Are inwardly but brasse as men may sée And when I sée the milke hang in hir teate Me thinkes it sayth olde babe now learne to sucke Who in thy youth couldst neuer learne the feate To hitte the whytes whiche liue with all good lucke Thus haue I tolde my Lorde God graunt in season A tedious tale in rime but little reason Haud ictus sapio Gascoignes gardnings whereof were written in one end of a close walke whiche he hath in his Garden this discourse following THe figure of this world I can compare To Garden plots and such like pleasaunt places The world bréedes men of sundry shape and share As hearbes in gardens grow of sundry graces Some good some bad some amiable faces Some foule some gentle some of froward mind Subiect like bloome to blast of euery wind And as you sée the floures most fresh of hew That they proue not alwayes the holesomest So fayrest men are not alwayes found true But euen as withred wéedes fall from the rest So flatterers fall naked from their neast When truth hath tried their painting tising tale They loose their glosse and all their iests séeme stale Yet some do present pleasure most estéeme Till beames of brauerie wither all their welth And some agayne there be can rightly déeme Those herbes for best which may mainteine their helth Considering well that age drawes on by stelth And when the fayrest floure is shronke and gone A well growne roote will stand and shifte for one Then thus the restlesse life which men here leade May be resembled to the tender plant In spring it sprouts as babes in cradle bréede Florish in May like youthes that wisdome want In Autumne ripes and rootes least store waxe skante In winter shrinks and shrowdes from euery blast Like crooked age when lusty youth is past And as the grounde or grace whereon it grewe Was fatte or leane euen so by it appeares ▪ If barreyn soyle why then it chaungeth hewe It fadeth faste it flits to fumbling yeares But if he gathered roote amongst his féeres And light on lande that was well muckte in déede Then standes it still or leaues increase of séede As for the reste fall sundrie wayes God wot Some faynt lyke froathe at euery little puffe Some smarte by swoorde like hearbes that serue the pot And some be wéeded from the finer stuffe Some stande by proppes to maynteyne all their ruffe And thus vnder correction bée it tolde Hath Gascoigne gathered in his Garden molde Haud ictus sapio In that other ende of his sayde close walke were written these toyes in ryme IF any floure that here is growne Or any hearbe may ease your payne Take and accompte it as your owne But recompence the lyke agayne For some and some is honest playe And so my wyfe taughte me to saye If here to walke you take delight Why come and welcome when you will If I bidde you suppe here this night Bidde me an other time and still Thinke some and some is honest playe For so my wife taught me to saye Thus if you suppe or dine with mée If you walke here or fitte at ease If you desire the thing you sée And haue the same your minde to please Thinke some and some is honest playe And so my wife taught me to saye Haud ictus sapio In a chayre in the same Garden was written this followyng IF thou sitte here to viewe this pleasant garden place Think thus at last will come a frost all these floures deface But if thou sitte at ease to rest thy wearie bones Remember death brings finall rest to all oure gréeuous grones So whether for delight or here thou sitte for ease Thinke still vpon the latter day so shalt thou God best please Haud ictus sapio Vpon a stone in the wall of his Garden he had written the yeare wherein he did the coste of these deuises and therewithall this posie in Latine Quoniam etiam humiliatos amoena delectant Gascoignes voyage into Hollande An. 1572.
stande on Shooters hill Till rents come in to please their wicked will. Some fansies hopes by lies to come on floate As for to tell their frends and kinne great tales What wealth they lost in coyne and many a coate What powder packt in coffers and in males What they must pay and what their charge will be Wherin they meane to saue themselues a fee. Some fansies eke forecast what life to wéelde When libertie shall graunted be at last And in the aire such castles gan they builde That many times they fall againe as fast For Fansie hinders Grace from glories crowne As Tares and Byndes can plucke good graine adowne Who list therfore by Fetters frute to haue Take Fansie first out of his priuy thought And when thou hast him cast him in the waue Of Lethes lake for sure his séede is nought The gréene Knight he of whome I late did tell Mine Author sayth badde Fansie thus farewell The greene Knights farewell to Fansie FAnsie quoth he farewell whose badge I long did beare And in my hat full harebrayndly thy flowers did I weare To late I finde at last thy frutes are nothing worth Thy blossomes fall fade full fast though brauerie bring thē forth By thée I hoapt alwayes in déepe delights to dwel But since I finde thy ficklenesse Fansie quoth he farewell Thou madste me liue in loue which wisedome biddes me hate Thou bleardst mine eies madste me thinke that faith was mine by fate By thée those bitter swéetes did please my taste alway By thee I thought that loue was light and payne was but a play I thought that Bewties blase was méete to beare the bell And since I finde my selfe deceyued Fansie quoth he farewell The glosse of gorgeous courtes by thée did please mine eye A stately fight me thought it was to sée the braue go by To sée their feathers flaunte to marke their straunge deuise To lie along in Ladies lappes to lispe and make it nice To fawne and flatter both I liked sometimes well But since I see how vayne it is Fansie quoth he farewell When court had cast me off I toyled at the plowe My fansie stoode in straunge conceipts to thriue I wote not how By mils by making malte by shéepe and eke by swyne By ducke and drake by pigge and goose by calues kéeping kine By féeding bullockes fat when pryce at markets fell But since my swaines eat vp my gaines Fansie quoth he farewell In hunting of the deare my fansie tooke delight All forests knew my folly still the mooneshine was my light In frosts I felt no cold a sunneburnt hew was best I sweate and was in temper still my watching séemed rest What daungers déepe I past it follie were to tell And since I sigh to thinke thereon Fansie quoth he farewell A fansie fedde me ones to wryte in verse and rime To wray my griefe to craue reward to couer still my crime To frame a long discourse on sturring of a strawe To rumble rime in raffe and ruffe yet all not worth an hawe To heare it sayde there goeth the Man that writes so well But since I sée what Poetes bée Fansie quoth he farewell At Musickes sacred sounde my fansies eft begonne In concordes discordes notes and cliffes in tunes of vnisonne In Hyerarchies and straynes in restes in rule and space In monacordes and mouing moodes in Burdens vnder base In descants and in chants I streined many a yel But since Musicians be so madde Fansie quoth he farewell To plant straunge countrie fruites to sow such séedes likewise To digge delue for new foūd rootes where old might wel suffise To proyne the water bowes to picke the mossie trées Oh how it pleasd my fansie ones to knéele vpon my knées To griffe a pippine stocke when sappe begins to swell But since the gaynes scarce quite the cost Fansie quoth he farewell Fansie quoth he farewell which made me follow drommes Where powdred bullets serues for sauce to euery dish that cōmes Where treason lurkes in trust where Hope all hartes beguiles Where mischief lieth still in wayte when fortune friendly smiles Where one dayes prison prones that all such heauens are hell And such I féele the frutes thereof Fansie quoth he farewell If reason rule my thoughts and God vouchsafe me grace Then comfort of Philosophie shall make me chaunge my race And fonde I shall it finde that Fansie settes to showe For weakely stāds that building still which lacketh grace by low But since I must accept my fortunes as they fell I say God send me better spéede and Fansie now farewell Epilogismus SEe swéete deceipt that can it self beguile Behold selfe loue which walketh in a net And séemes vnséene yet shewes it selfe therewhile Before such eyes as are in science set The Gréene knight here leaues out his firelocke péece That Fancie hath not yet his last farewell When Foxes preach good folke beware your géese But holla here my muse to farre doth mell Who list to marke what learned preacher sayeth Must learne withall for to beleeue his lore But what he doth that toucheth nomans fayth Though words with workes agréed persuade the more The mounting kite oft lights on homely pray And wisest wittes may sometimes go astray FINIS Tam Marti quà m Mercurio The pleasant Fable of Ferdinando Ieronomi and Leonora de Valasco translated out of the Italian riding tales of Bartello IN the pleasant Countrie of Lombardie and not farre from the Citie of Florence there was dwelling sometimes a Lorde of many riche Seignories and dominions who neuerthelesse bare his name of the Castle of Valasco this Lord had one only sonne and two daughters his sonne was called during the life of his father the heyre of Valasco who maried a faire Gentlewoman of the house of Bellauista named Leonora the elder daughter of the Lord of Valasco was called Francischina a yong woman very toward bothe in capacitie and other actiue qualities Nowe the Lord of Valasco hauing already maried his sonne heyre and himselfe drawing in age was desirous to sée his daughters also bestowed before his death and especially the eldest who both for beutie and ripenesse of age might often put him in remembrance that shée was a collop of his owne fleshe and therefore sought meanes to draw vnto his house Ferdinando Ieronimi a yong gentleman of Venice who delighting more in hawking hunting and such other pastimes than he did in studie had left his owne house in Venice and was come into Lombardie to take the pleasures of the countrie So that the Lorde of Valasco knowing him to be of a very good parentage and therewithall not onely riche but adorned with sundrie good qualities was desirous as is sayd to drawe him home to his house vnder pretence of hunting and hawking to the end he might beholde his fayre daughter Francischina who both for parentage and other worldly respects might no lesse content his minde than hir beautie was likely to