had I layne bedrid long One smile of thine againe could make me yong VVere there in Art a power but so diuine As is in that sweet Angell-tongue of thine That great Inchauntresse which once tooke such paines To force young blood in Aesons wither'd vaines And frō groues mountaines medowes marshe fen Brought all the simples were ordaind for men And of those plants those hearbs those flowers those weeds Vsed the roots the leaues the iuyce the seeds And in this powerfull potion that shee makes Puts blood of men of beasts of birds of snakes Neuer had needed to haue gone so far To seeke the soyles where all those simples are One accent from thy lypps the blood more warmes Then all her philtres exorcismes and charmes Thy presence hath repaired in one day VVhat manie yeeres and sorrowes did decay And made fresh beauties fairest branches spring From wrinckled furrowes of Times ruining Euen as the hungry winter-starued earth VVhen shee by nature labours towards her birth Still as the day vpon the darke world creepes One blossom foorth after another peepes Till the small flower whose roote is nowe vnbound Gets from the frostie prison of the ground Spreading the leaues vnto the powerfull noone Deck'd in fresh colours smiles vpon the sunne Neuer vnquiet care lodg'd in that brest VVhere but one thought of Rosamond dyd rest Nor thirst nor trauaile which on warre attend Ere brought the long day to desired end Nor yet did pale Feare or leane Famine liue vvhere hope of thee did any comfort giue Ah what iniustice then is this of thee That thus the guiltlesse doost condemne for me VVhen onely shee by meanes of my offence Redeemes thy purenes and thy innocence VVhen to our wills perforce obey they must That iust in them whatere in vs vniust Of what we doe not them account we make Thysserues for all they doe it for our sake And what to worke a Princes will may merit Hath deep'st impression in a gentle spirit Our powerfull wills drawne by attractiue beautie They to our wills arm'd by subiectiue dutie And true affection doth no bound reteane For this is sure firme loue had neuer meane And whilst the cause by reason is disputed Reason itselfe by loue is most confuted Ift be my name that doth thee so offend No more my selfe shall be mine owne names friend And ift be that which thou doost onely hate That name in my name lastly hath his date Say tis accurst and fatall and dispraise it If written blot it if engrauen raze it Say that of all names tis a name of woe Once a Kings name but now it is not so And when all this is done I know twill grieue thee And therefore sweet why should I now beleeue thee Nor shouldst thou thinke those eyes with enuie lower vvhich passing by thee gaze vp to thy tower But rather praise thine owne which be so cleere VVhich from the Turret like two starres appeare And in theyr moouings like a Christall glasse Make such reflection vnto all that passe Aboue the sunne doth shine beneath thine eyes As though two sunnes at once shin'd in two skyes The little streame which by thy tower doth glide VVhere oft thou spend'st the weary euening tide To view thee well his course would gladly stay As loth from thee to part so soone away And with salutes thy selfe would gladly greete And offer vp those small drops at thy feete But finding that the enuious bankes restraine it To'xcuse it selfe doth in this sort complaine it And therefore this sad bubling murmur keepes And in this sort within the channell weepes And as thou doost into the water looke The fishe which see thy shadow in the brooke Forget to feede and all amazed lye So daunted with the luster of thine eye And that sweet name which thou so much doost wrong In time shall be some famous Poets song And with the very sweetnes of that name Lyons and Tygars men shal learne to tame The carefull mother from her pensiue brest vvith Rosamond shall bring her babe to rest The little birds by mens continuall sound Shall learne to speake and prattle Rosamond And when in Aprill they begin to sing vvith Rosamond shall welcome in the spring And she in whom all rarities are found Shall still be said to be a Rosamond The little flowers which dropping honied dew which as thou writ'st do weepe vpon thy shue Not for thy fault sweet Rosamond doe mone But weep for griefe that thou so soone art gone For if thy foote tuch Hemlocke as it goes That Hemlock's made more sweeter then the Rose Of loue or Neptune how they did betray Nor speake of 1-0 or Amimone VVhen she for whom Ioue once became a Bull Compar'd with thee had been a tawny trull He a white Bull and shee a whiter Cow Yet he nor she nere halfe so white as thou Long since thou knowst my care prouided for To lodge thee safe from iealious Ellinor The Labyrinths conueyance guides thee so vvhich onely Vahan thou and I doe knowe If shee doe guard thee with a hundred eyes I haue an hundred subtile Mercuries To watch that Argus which my loue doth keep Vntill eye after eye fall all to sleepe Those starrs looke in by night looke in to see VVondring what starre heere on the earth should bee As oft the Moone amidst the silent night Hath come to ioy vs with her friendly light And by the Curtaine help'd mine eye to see VVhat enuious night and darknes hid from mee vvhen I haue wish'd that shee might euer stay And other worlds might still enioy the day VVhat should I say words teares and sighes be spent And want of time dooth further helps preuent My Campe resounds with feare sull shocks of war Yet in my breast the worser conflicts are Yet is my signall to the battailes sound The blessed name of beautious Rosamond Accursed be that hart that tongue that breath Should thinke should speake or whisper of thy death For in one smyle or lower from thy sweet eye Consists my life my hope my victorie Sweet VVoodstock where my Rosamond doth rest Blessed in her in whom thy King is blest For though in Fraunce a while my body bee Sweet Paradice my hart remaines in thee Notes of the Chronicle historie Am I at home pursued with priuate hate And warre comes raging to my Pallace gate RObert Earle of Leicester who tooke part with young king Henry entred into England with an Army of 3. thousand Flemmings and spoyled the Countryes of Norfolke and Suffolke beeing succoured by many of the Kings priuate enemies And am I branded with the curse of Roome King Henry the second the first Plantaginet accused for the death of Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury slaine in the Cathedrall Church was accursed by Pope Alexander although he vrgd sufficient proofe of his innocencie in the same and offered to take vpon him any pennance so he might escape the curse interdiction of the Realme And by the pride
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
returne And was I forc'd t'abridge his banish'd yeares vvhen they bedew'd his footsteps with theyr teares Yet could not see mine owne insuing fall Not seeing that which sauing that saw all Neuer our treasure stuft with greater store Neuer our strength neuer our power was more Neuer more large bounds to our Emperie Neuer more counsaile wisedome policie Neuer did all so suddainly decline But iustice is the heauens the fault is mine Kings pallaces stand open to let in The soothing Traytor and the guide to sin Many we haue in tryumphs to attend vs But few are left in perrill to defend vs Amongst the most the worst we best can chuse Tis easie to desire but hard to vse Oh famous Gloster thou fore-saw'st my end The curse that did my lawlesse youth attend His death is newe and I in sinne am old vvho my destruction Prophet-like fore-told And like Laocan crying from his tower Foreshow'd the horse which hid the Grecian power Is this the thing for which we toyle and sweat For which the great doe kneele vnto the great Is thys the thing in seeking to attaine All payne is pleasure and all losse is gaine Is thys the iewell which we prize so hie At heauen at fame at life at libertie And vnto thys in striuing to aspire Are we made slaues vnto our fond desire Yet on steepe Icie banks heere still we dwell And if we slip our fall is into hell Sweet Queene Ile take all counsell thou canst giue So that thou bid me neither hope nor liue Counsell that comes when ill hath done his worst Blesseth our ill but makes our good accurst Comfort is now vnpleasing to mine eare Past cure past care my bed is now my Beere Since thus misfortune keepes vs heere so long Till heauen be growne vnmindfull of our wrong VVe may in warre some-time take truce with foes But in dispaire we cannot with our woes O let this name of Richard neuer die Yet still be fatall to posteritie And let a Richard from our line arise To be the scourge of many families And let the Crowne be fatall that he beares And wet with sad lamenting mothers teares Thy curse on Percy heauen doth now preuent vvho hath not one curse left on me vnspent To scourge the world now borrowing of my store As rich in plagues as I in wealth am pore Then cease deere Queene my sorrowes to bewaile My wounds too great for pittie now to heale Age stealeth on whilst thou complainest thus My griefes be mortall and infectious Yet better fortunes thy faire youth may trie That follow thee which still from me doth flie Notes of the Chronicle historie This tongue which first denounc'd my kingly state RIchard the second at the resignation of the Crowne to his Cosin Henry in the Tower of London at the deliuery of the same with his owne hand confessed himselfe to be vnable to gouerne denounced all kingly dignitie so that hee might onely haue his life And left'st great Burbon for thy loue to mee Who sued in marriage to be linck'd to thee Before the Princesse Isabell was married to Richard the second Lewes Duke of Burbon sued to haue had her in marriage which it was thought he had obtained if this motion had not 〈◊〉 out in the meane time this Duke of Burbon sued againe to haue receiued her at her comming into Fraunce after the imprisonment of King Richard but King Charles her Father then crost him as before and gaue her to Charles sonne to the Duke of Orleance Let Herford vaunt of our atchiuements done Henry the eldest sonne of Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster which at the first was Earle of Darbie then created Duke of Herford but after the death of Iohn of Gaunt his Father was Duke of Lancaster and Herford Earle of Darby Leicester and Lincolne and after he had obtained the Crowne was called by the name of Henry of Bullenbrooke which is a towne in Lincolne shiere as vsually all the Kings of England bare the name of the places where they were borne Of famous Cressy where his keene sword lopp'd The flowers of Fraunce which all had ouertopp'd Remembring the famous victory Edward the third their Grandfather obtained at Cressy where were almost slaine all the Nobilitie of Fraunce where the Frenchmen lost all their ancient glory And with their Flower-delices set the walke Where our c. Edward the third by the conquest of Fraunce ioyned the Lillies or Flower-delices which is the Armes of Fraunce with the Lyons the Armes of England which coate first came from Normandie by the Conquerer remaining in the right of his possession Seauen goodly syens from one stocke began Edward the third had seauen sonnes his eldest Edward Prince of Wales after called the blacke Prince William of Hatfielde his second Lionell Duke of Clarence the third Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster the fourth Edmond of Langley Duke of Yorke the fift Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Gloster the sixt and William of Windsore the seauenth My princely Father was the straightest stem Truely boasting himselfe to bee the eldest sonne of the eldest Brother which was Edward the blacke Prince Yet after Edward Iohn the young'st of three By this disabling Henry Bullenbrooke beeing the sonne but of a fourth brother William Lionell being both before Iohn of Gaunt When that vsurping bastard sonne of Spayne Noting the courage of his Father which set Petro the King of Castile in his kingdome when hee was expulsed by his bastard brother A conquered King from Fraunce to England led The blacke Prince tooke King Iohn of Fraunce prysoner at the battaile of Poycters and brought him into England where hee dyed at the Sauoy And by a home-nurst begger ouer-borne By this reprouing his owne weakenes and cowardize who had suffered himselfe to be expulsed his kingdome by a subiect and one so much inferior to himselfe in greatnes And proues our acts of parliaments vniust In the first parliament that Henry called after Richard had resigned the Crowne hee anihilated all the lawes that were made in the parliament called the wicked parliament held in the 20. yeere of King Richards raigne Saw I the loue the Zeale the faith the care The Commons still c. When the Combat shoulde haue beene at Couentry betwixt Henry Duke of Herford and Mowbray Duke of Norfolke the Cōmons mourned exceedingly after they heard that Herford was adiuged by the King to be banished for tenne yeeres so greatlie was he alwaies fauoured of the people And was I forc'd to abridge his banish'd yeeres When Henry Duke of Herford came to Eltham to take his leaue of King Richard the King to please the Commons rather then for any loue he bare to Herford plucked backe foure yeeres of his banishment O famous Gloster thou fore-saw'st the end Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Gloster the Kings vnckle who had oftr reproued this youthfull Kings insolence was put to death at Callice by the commaundement of this Richard his vnnaturall
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
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
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.
This Richard whom ironiacally shee heere calls Dicke that by treason after his Nephewes murthered obtained the Crowne was a man lowe of stature crooke-back'd the left shoulder much higher then the right and of a very crabbed and sower countenance his Mother could not be deliuered of him vncut and he was borne toothed and with his feete forward contrary to the course of nature To ouershadow our vermilion Rose The red Rose was the badge of the house of Lancaster and the white Rose of Yorke which by the marriage of Henry the seauenth with Elizabeth indubitate heire of the house of Yorke was conioyned and vnited Or who doth muzzle that vnruly Beare The Earle of Warwicke the setter vp and puller downe of Kings gaue for his Armes the white Beare rampant and the Ragged staffe His glorious conquest got at Agyncourt Agincourt is a Teritory in Fraunce where King Henry the fifth discomfited the whole French puissance beeing 60000. horsemen besides foote-men and Pages and slewe at the same battell 8000 of their Nobility Knights and Gentlemen And almost all the Princes of Fraunce besides such as were taken prisoners Who fill'd the ditches of besieged Caen With mangled bodies c. Caen is a meruailous strong Towne of Normandy which after long famine and extreame misery was yeelded vp to King Henry the fifth who fortified the Towne and Castle to the vse of the English My Daysie flower which erst perfum'd the ayre Which for my fauour Princes once did weare c. The Daysie in French is called Margarit which was Queene Margarits badge where-with all the Nobility and chiualry of the Land at the first ariuall were so delighted that they wore it in their Hats in token of honour And who be Starres but Warwicks bearded staues The ragged or bearded staffe was a part of the Armes belonging to the Earldome of VVarwicke Slaundering Duke Rayner with base beggery Rayner Duke of Aniou called himselfe King of Naples Cicile and Ierusalem hauing neither inheritance nor tribute from those parts and was not able at the marriage of the Queene of his owne charges to send her into England though he gaue no dower with her which by the Dutches of Glocester was often in disgrace cast in her teeth A Kentish Rebell a base vpstart Groome This was Iack Cade which caused the Kentish-men to rebell in the 28. yeare of Henry the 6. And this is he the white Rose must prefer By Clarence Daughter match'd to Mortimer This Iack Cade instructed by the Duke of Yorke pretended to be decended from Mortimer which married Lady Phillip Daughter to the Duke of Clarence And makes vs weake by strengthning Ireland The Duke of Yorke beeing made Deputy of Ireland first there began to practise his long pretended purpose strengthning himselfe by all meanes possible that he might at his returne into England by open warre to claime that which so long he had priuily gone about to obtaine Great Winchester vntimely is deceas'd Henry Beuford Bishop and Cardinall of Winchester Sonne to Iohn of Gaunt begot in his age was a proud and ambitious Prelat fauouring mightily the Queene and the Duke of Suffolke continually heaping vp innumerable treasure in hope to haue beene Pope as himselfe on his death-bed confessed With Fraunce t'vpbraide the valiant Somerset Edmond Duke of Somerset in the 24. of Henry the 6 was made Regent of Fraunce and sent into Normandy to defend the English Territories against the French inuasions but in short time he lost all that King Henry the fifth wone for which cause the Nobles and the Commons cuer after hated him T'endure these stormes with wofull Buckingham Humfrey Duke of Buckingham was a great fauorite of the Queenes Faction in the time of Henry the 6. And one foretold by water thou shouldst dye The Witch of Eye receaued aunswer by her spirit that the Duke of Suffolke should take heede of water which the Queene forwarnes him of as remembring the Witches prophecie which afterward came to passe FINIS To the Right Worshipfull Sir Thomas Mounson Knight SIR amongst many which most deseruedly loue you though I the least yet am loth to be the last whose endeuours may make knowne how highly they esteeme of your noble and kinde disposition let this Epistle Sir I beseech you which vnwoorthily weares the Badge of your woorthy name acknowledge my zeale with the rest though much lesse deseruing which for your sake doe honour the house of the Mounsons I knowe true generositie accepteth what is zelously offered though not euer deseruingly excellent yet for loue of the Art from whence it receiueth resemblance The light Phrigian harmony stirreth delight as well as the melancholy Doricke moueth passion both haue their motion in the spirit as the lyking of the soule moueth the affection Your kinde acceptance of my labour shall giue some life to my Muse which yet houers in the vncertaintie of the generall censure Michaell Drayton Edward the fourth to Shores wife * The Argument This Mistresse Shore King Edward the fourths beautious paramore was so called of her husband a Goldsmith awelling in Lumbard street Edward the fourth sonne to Richard Duke of Yorke after hee had obtained the Crowne by deposing Henry the sixt which Henry was after murthered in the Tower by Richard Crookebacke and after the battell fought at Barnet where that famous Earle of VVarwicke was slaine and that King Edward quietly possessed the Crowne hearing by report of many the rare and wonderfull beauty of the afore-said Shores wife commeth himselfe disguised to London to see her where after he had once bebeld her he was so surprised with her admirable beautie as not long after he robbed her husband of his deerest iewel but first by this Epistle he writeth vnto her VNto the fayr'st that euer breath'd thys ayre From English Edward to that fairest faire Ah would to God thy title were no more That no remembrance might remaine of Shore To countermaund a Monarchs high desire And barre mine eyes of what they most admire O why should Fortune make the Citty proude To giue that more then is the Court alow'd VVhere they like wretches hoard it vp to spare And doe engrosse it as they doe theyr ware VVhen fame first blaz'd thy beauty heere in Court Mine eares repulsd it as a light report But when mine eyes sawe what mine eare had hard They thought report too niggardly had spard And strooken dumbe with wonder did but mutter Conceiuing more then shee had words to vtter Then thinke of what thy husband is possest vvhen I enuy that Shore should so be blest vvhen much abundance makes the needy mad And hauing all yet knowes not what is had Into fooles bosoms thys good fortune creepes And wealth comes in the whilst the miser sleepes If now thy beauty be of such esteeme vvhich all of so rare excellencie deeme vvhat would it be and prized at what rate vvere it adorned with a kingly state vvhich beeing now but in so meane a bed Is
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
to spend their breath Calling reuenge on the Protectors death That since the old decrepit Duke is dead By mee of force he must be murthered If they would know who robd him of his life Let them call home Dame Ellinor his wife vvho with a Taper walked in a sheete To light her shame at no one through London streete And let her bring her Nigromanticke booke That foule hagge Iordane Hun and Bullenbrooke And let them call theyr spirits from hell againe To know how Humfrey died and who shall raigne For twentie yeeres and haue I seru'd in Fraunce Against great Charles and bastard Orleance And seene the slaughter of a world of men Victorious now and conquered agen And haue I seene Vernoylas batfull fields Strewd with ten thousand Helmes ten thousand shields vvhere famous Bedford did our fortune trie Or Fraunce or England for the victory The sad inuesting of so many Townes Scor'd on my brest in honourable wounds VVhen Mountacute and Talbot of such name Vnder my Ensigne both first wonne theyr fame In heate and cold all fortunes haue indur'd To rouze the French within their walls immur'd Through all my life these perrills haue I past And now to feare a banishment at last Thou know'st how I thy beauty to aduaunce For thee refusd the infant Queene of Fraunce Brake the contract Duke Humfrey first did make Twixt Henry and the Princesse Arminacke Onely sweet Queene thy presence I might gaine I gaue Duke Rayner Aniou Mauns and Maine Thy peerelesse beauty for a dower to bring To counterpoize the wealth of Englands King And from Aumearle with-drew my warlike powers And came my selfe in person first to Towers Th'Embassadours for truce to entertaine From Belgia Denmarke Hungarie and Spaine And telling Henry of thy beauties storie I taught my tongue a Louers oratorie As the report it selfe did so indite And make tongues rauish eares with theyr delight And when my speech did cease as telling all My lookes show'd more that was Angelicall And when I breath'd againe and paused next I left mine eyes to preach vpon the text Then comming of thy modestie to tell In musicks numbers my voyce rose and fell And when I came to paint thy glorious stile My speech in greater cadences to file By true descent to weare the Diadem Of Naples Cicils and Ierusalem And from the Gods thou didst deriue thy birth If heauenly kinde could ioyne with brood of earth Gracing each tytle that I did recite vvith some mellifluous pleasing Epithite Nor left him not till hee for loue was sicke Beholding thee in my sweet Rethorick A fifteens taxe in Fraunce I freely spent In tryumphs at thy nuptiall Tournament And solemniz'd thy marriage in a gowne Valu'd at more then was thy Fathers Crowne And onely striuing how to honour thee Gaue to my King what thy loue gaue to mee Iudge if his kindnes haue not power to moue vvho for his loues sake gaue away his loue Had he which once the prize to Greece did bring Of whom old Poets long agoe did sing Seene thee for England but imbarqu'd at Deepe vvould ouer-boord haue cast his golden sheepe As too vnworthy ballast to be thought To pester roome with such perfection fraught The brynie seas which sawe the shyp enfold thee vvould vaute vp to the hatches to behold thee And falling backe themselues in thronging smoother Breaking for griefe enuying one another VVhen the proude Barke for ioy thy steps to feele Scorn'd the salt waues should kisse her furrowing keele And trick'd in all her flaggs herselfe she braues Dauncing for ioy vpon the siluer waues vvhen like a Bull from the Phenician strand Ioue with Europa trypping from the land Vpon the bosome of the maine doth scud And with his swannish breast cleauing the flood Tow'rds the fayre fields vpon the other side Beareth Agenors ioy Phenicias pride All heauenly beauties ioyne themselues in one To shew theyr glory in thine eye alone vvhich when it turneth that celestiall ball A thousand sweet starrs rise a thousand fall VVho iustly sayth mine banishment to bee vvhen onely Fraunce for my recourse is free To view the plaines where I haue seene so oft Englands victorious Ensignes raisd aloft vvhen this shall be my comfort in my way To see the place where I may boldly say Heere mighty Bedford forth the vaward led Heere Talbot charg'd and heere the Frenchmen fled Heere with our Archers valiant Scales did lie Heere stoode the Tents of famous VVillohbie Heere Mountacute rang'd his vnconquered band Heere forth we march'd and heere we made a stand VVhat should we stand to mourne and grieue all day For that which time doth easily take away VVhat fortune hurts let patience onely heale No wisedome with extreamities to deale To know our selues to come of humaine birth These sad afflictions crosse vs heere on earth A taxe imposd by heauens eternall law To keepe our rude rebellious will in awe In vaine we prise that at so deere a rate vvhose best assurance is a fickle state And needlesse we examine our intent vvhen with preuention we cannot preuent vvhen we our selues fore-seeing cannot shun That which before with destinie doth run Henry hath power and may my life dispose Mine honour mine that none hath power to lose Then be as merry beautious royall Queene As in the Court of Fraunce we erst haue beene As when ariu'd in Porchesters faire roade vvhere for our comming Henry made aboade vvhen in myne armes I brought thee safe to land And gaue my loue to Henryes royall hand The happy howers we passed with the King At faire South-hampton long in banquetting VVith such content as lodg'd in Henries brest vvhen he to London brought thee from the VVest Through golden Cheape when hee in pompe did ride To VVestminster to entertaine his Bride Notes of the Chronicle historie Our Faulcons kinde cannot the cage indure HE alludes in these verses to the Faulcon which was the auncient deuice of the Poles comparing the greatnes and haughtines of his spirit to the nature of this byrd This was the meane proude Warwicke did inuent To my disgrace c. The Commons at this Parliament through Warwickes meanes accused Suffolke of treason vrged the accusation so vehemently that the King was forced to exile him for fiue yeeres That onely my base yeelding vp of Maine Should be the losse of fertile Aquitane The Duke of Suffolke beeing sent into Fraunce to conclude a peace chose Duke Rayners daughter the Lady Margaret whom he espoused for Henry the sixt deliuering for her to her Father the Countries of Aniou and Maine the Cittie of Mauns Wherevpon the Earle of Arminack whose daughter was before promised to the King seeing himselfe to be mocked caused all the English men to be expulsed out of Aquitaine Gascoyne Guyne With the base vulgar sort to winne him fame To be the heyre of good Duke Humfreys name This Richard that was called the great Earle of Warwick when Duke Humfrey was dead grewe into