Mortimer ere stoop'd vnto a King And we will turne sterne-visag'd Furie backe To seeke his spoyle who sought our vtter sack And come to beard him in our natiue Ile Ere hee march forth to follow our exile And after all these boystrous stormie shocks Yet will we grapple with the chaulkie Rocks Nor will we come like Pyrats or like theeues From mountaine Forrests or sea-bordering Cleeues But 〈◊〉 the ayre with terror when we come Of the sterne trumpet and the bellowing drum And in the field aduaunce our plumie Crest And march vpon faire Englands flowrie brest And Thames which once we for our life did swim Shaking our dewie tresses on her brim Shall beare my Nauy vaunting in her pryde Falling from Tanet with the powerfull tyde VVhich fertile Essex and faire Kent shall see Spreading her flagges along the pleasant lee VVhen on her stemming poopes she proudly beares The famous Ensignes of the Belgicke Peeres And for the hatefull sacriligious sin VVhich by the Pope he stands accursed in The Cannon text shall haue a common glesse Receits in parcels shall be paide in 〈◊〉 This doctrine preach'd vvho from the Church doth take At least shall trebble restitution make For which Rome sends her curses out from farre Through the sterne throate of terror-breathing warre Till to th'vnpeopled shore shee brings supplies Of those industrious Romaine Colonies And for his homage by the which of old Proude Edward Guyne and Aquitane doth hold Charles by inuasiue Armes againe shall take And send the English forces o're the Lake vvhen Edwards fortune stands vpon this chaunce To loose in England or expusd from Fraunce And all those townes great Longshanks left his sonne Now lost againe which once his Father wonne VVithin their strong Percullisd Ports shall lie And from theyr walls his sieges shall defie And by that firme and vndissolued knot Betwixt the neighbouring French and bordering Scot Bruse nowe shall bring his Redshanks from the seas From th'Iled Orcad's and the Hebrydes And to his VVesterne Hauens gyue free passe To land the warlike Irish Galiglasse Marching from Tweed to swelling Humber sands vvasting along the Northern nether-lands And wanting those which should his power sustaine Consum'd with slaughter in his bloodie 〈◊〉 Our warlike sword shall driue him from his shrone vvhere hee shall lye for ys to tread vpon And those great Lords now after theyr attaints Canonized amongst the English Saints And by the superstitious people thought That by theyr Reliques miracles are wrought And thinke that flood much vertue doth retaine vvhich tooke the blood of famous Bohun slaine Continuing the remembrance of the thing To make the people more abhorre theyr King Nor shall a Spenser be he nere so great Possesse our VVigmore our renowned seate To raze the auncient Trophies of our race vvith our deserts theyr monuments to grace Nor shall he lead our valiant marchers forth To make the Spensers famous in the North Nor be the Gardants of the Brittish pales Defending England and preseruing VVales At first our troubles seemed calme enough But now are growne more boyst'rous and more rough vvith grauest counsell all must be directed vvhere plainest shewes are openly suspected For where mishaps our errors doth assault There doth it easilest make vs see our fault Then sweet represse all fond and wilfull spleene Two things to be a woman and a Queene Keepe close the cyndars least the fire should burne It is not this which yet must serue our turne And if I doe not much mistake the thing The next supply shall greater comfort bring Till when I leaue my Princesse for a while Liue thou in rest though I liue in exile Notes of the Chronicle historie Of one condemn'd and long lodg'd vp in death ROger Mortimer Lord of Wigmore had stood publiquely condemned for his insurrection with Thomas Earle of Lancaster and Bohun Earle of Herford by the space of three months and as the report went the day of his execution was determined to haue beene shortly after which he preuented by his escape Twice all was taken twice thou all didst giue At what time the two Mortimers this Roger Lord of Wigmore and his vncle Roger Mortimer the elder were apprehended in the West the Qeene by meanes of Torlton Bishop of Herford and Becke Bishop of Duresme and Patriarck of Ierusalem beeing then both mightie in the state vpon the submission of the Mortimers somewhat pacified the King and nowe secondly shee wrought meanes for his escape Leauing the cordes to tell where I had gone With strong ladders made of cordes prouided him for the purpose he escaped out of the Tower which when the same vvere found fastened to the walls in such a desperate attempt they bred astonishment to the beholders Nor let the Spensers glory in my chaunce The two Hugh Spensers the Father and the sonne then beeing so highly fauoured of the King knew that theyr greatest safety came by his exile whose high and turbulent spirit could neuer brooke any corriuall in greatnes My Grandstre was the first since Arthurs ralgne That the Round-table lastly did ordaine Roger Mortimer called the great Lorde Mortimer Grandfather to this Roger which was afterward the first Earle of March reerected againe the Round-table at Kenelworth after the auncient order of King Arthurs table with the retinue of a hundred knights and a hundred Ladies in his house for the entertaining of such aduentures as came thether from all parts of Christendome Whilst famous Longshanks bones in fortunes scorne Edward Longshanks willed at his death that his body should bee boyled the flesh from the bones that the bones should be borne to the warres in Scotlande which hee was perswaded vnto by a prophecie which told that the English should still be fortunate in conquest so long as his bones were carried in the field The English blood that stained Banocksburne In the great voyage Edward the second made against the Scots at the battell at Striueling neere vnto the riuer of Banocksburne in Scotland where there was in the English Campe such banquetting excesse such riot and misorder that the Scots who in the meane time laboured for aduantage gaue to the English a great and fearefull ouerthrowe And in the Dead-sea sincke our houses fame From whose c. Mortimer so called of Mare Mortuum in French Mort mer in English the Dead sea which is sayd to be where Sodome and Gomorra once were before they were destroyed by fire frō heauen And for that hatefull sacriligious sinne Which by the Pope he stands accursed in Gaustelinus and Lucas two Cardinalls sent into England from Pope Clement to appease the auncient hate betweene the King Thomas Earle of Lancaster to whose Embassie the King seemed to yeeld vnto but after theyr departure he went backe from his promises for which he was accursed at Rome Of those industrious Romaine Colonies A Colonie is a sort or number of people that came to inhabite a place before not inhabited whereby he
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
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
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.
seemeth here to prophecie of the subuersion of the Lande the Pope ioyning with the power of other Princes against Edward for the breach of his promise Charles by inuasiue Armes againe shall take Charles the French King mooued by the wrong done vnto his sister ceazeth the Prouinces which belonged to the King of England into his hands stirred the rather thereto by Mortimer who solicited her cause in Fraunce as is expressed before in the other Epistle in the Glosse vpon this poynt And those great Lords now after their attaints Canonized amongst the English Saints After the death of Thomas Earle of Lancaster at Pomfret the the people imagined great miracles to be done by his reliques as they did of the body of Bohun Earle of Herford slaine at Borough bridge FINIS ¶ To the Right Honourable and my very good Lord Edward Earle of Bedford THrice noble and my gracious Lord the loue I haue euer borne to the illustrious house of Bedford and to the honourable familie of the Harringtons to the which by marriage your Lordship is happily united hath long since deuoted my true and zealous affection to your honourable seruice and my Poems to the protection of my noble Lady your Countesse to whose seruice I was first bequeathed by that learned and accomplished Gentleman Sir Henry Goodere not long since deceased whose I was whilst he was whose patience pleased to beare with the imperfections of my beedlesse and vnstaied youth That excellent and matchlesse Gentleman was the first cherisher of my Muse which had been by his death left a poore Orphane to the worlde had hee not before bequeathed it to that Lady whom he so deerly loued Vouchsafe then my deere Lord to accept this Epistle which I dedicate as zealously as I hope you will patronize willingly vntill some more acceptable seruice may be witnes of my loue towards your honour Your Lordships euer Michaell Drayton Queene Isabell to Richard the second * The Argument Queene Isabell the daughter of Charles king of Fraunce being the second wife of Richard the second the sonne of Edward the blacke Prince the eldest sonne of King Edward the third After the said Richard her husband was deposed from his crowne and kingly dignitie by Henry Duke of Herford the eldest sonne of Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster the fourth sonne of Edward the third this Lady beeing then very young was sent backe againe into Fraunce without dowre at what time the deposed King her husband was sent from the Tower of London as a prisoner vnto Pomfret Castle VVhether this poore Lady bewayling her husbands misfortunes writeth this Epistle from Fraunce AS doth the yeerely Augur of the spring In depth of woe thus I my sorrow sing VVords tun'd with sighs teares falling oft among A dolefull burthen to a heauie song VVords issue forth to finde my griefe some way Teares ouer-take them and doe bid them stay Thus whilst one striues to keepe the other backe Both once too forward now are both too slack O how I flatter griefe and doe intreate it Griefe flatters me so oft as I repeate it And to it selfe hath sorrow chang'd mee so That woe is turn'd to mee I turn'd to woe If fatall Pomfret hath in former times Nourish'd the griefe begot in hoter Clymes Thether I send my woes there to be fed But where first borne where fitter to be bred They vnto Fraunce be aliens and vnknowne England from her doth challenge these her owne They say all mischife commeth from the North It is too true my fall doth set it forth And where bleake winters stormes do euer rage There should my sighes finde surest anchorage Except that breeme ayre holds the Northerne part Doe freese that Aetna which so burnes my hart But why should I thus limmit griefe a place vvhen all the world is fild with our disgrace And we in bounds thus striuing to containe it The more abounds the more we doe restraine it O how euen yet I hate my loathed eyes And in my glasse oft call them faythlesse spyes That were so haplesse with one louing looke To grace that Traytour periur'd Bullenbrooke But that of sence ioy had all sence bereau'd They neuer should haue beene so much deceau'd Proude was the Courser which my Lord bestrid vvhen Richard like his conquering Grandsire rid For all the world in euery looke alike The Rosie Ilands in his Lilly cheeke His silken Amber curles so would he tie So carried he his princely Eagle eye From top to toe his like in euery lim All looke on Edward that did looke on him The perfit patterne Nature chose alone VVhen at the first shee fram'd proportion Reseru'd till then that all the world should view it And praise th'insample by the which she drew it O let that day be guiltie of all sin That is to come or euer yet hath bin VVherein great Norfolks forward course was staid To proue the treasons he to Herford layd VVhen with sterne furie both these Dukes enrag'd Their gauntlets then at Couentry engag'd vvhen first thou didst repeale thy former grant Seal'd to braue Mowbray as thy Combatant From tymes vnnumbred howers let time deuide it Least in his minutes he should hap to hide it Yet on his browes let wrinckled age still beare it That when it comes all other howers may feare it And all ill-boading Planets by consent That day may hold their wicked parliament And in heauens large Decrees enrole it thus Blacke dismall fatall inauspitious For then should he in height of all his pride Vnder great Mowbrays valiant hand haue died Nor should not nowe from banishment retire The fatall brand to set our Troy on fire O why did Charles relieue his needy state A vagabond and stragling runnagate And in his Court with grace did entertaine This vagrant exile this abiected Caine That with a thousand mothers curses went Mark'd with the brands of ten yeeres banishment VVhen thou to Ireland took'st thy last farewell Millions of knees vpon the pauements fell And euery where th'applauding ecchoes ring The ioyfull shouts that did salute a King Thou went'st victorious crown'd in triumph borne But cam'st subdu'd vncrown'd and laugh'd to scorne And all those tongues which tit'led thee theyr Lord Grace Henries glorious stile with that great word And all those eyes dyd with thy course ascend Now all too few on Herford to attend Princes like sunnes be euermore in sight All see the clowdes which doe eclipse their light Yet they which lighten all downe from their skyes See not the clowdes offending others eyes And deeme their noone-tide is desir'd of all VVhen all expect cleere changes by theyr fall VVhat colour seemes to shadow Herfords claime vvhen law and right his Fathers hopes doth maime Affirm'd by Church-men which should beare no hate That Iohn of Gaunt was illigittimate vvhom his reputed mothers tongue did spot By a base Flemish Boore to be begot vvhom Edwards Eglets mortally did shun Daring with them to gaze against the
first into England O would Aumerle had suncke when he betrayd The complot which that holy Abbot layd The Abbot of Westminster had plotted the death of King Henry to haue beene doone at a Tylt at Oxford of which confedracie there was Iohn Holland Duke of Excester Thomas Holland Duke of Surry the Duke of Aumerle Mountacute Earle of Salisbury Spenser Earle of Gloster the Bishop of Carlile Sir Thomas Blunt these all had bound themselues one to another by Indenture to performe it but were all betrayd by the Duke of Aumerle Scroope Greene and Bushie die his fault in graine Henry going towards the Castle of Flint where King Richard was caused Scroope Greene and Bushie to be executed at Bristow ' as vile persons which had seduced this King to this lasciuious wicked life Damn'd be the oath he made at Doncaster After Henries exile at his returne into England hee tooke his oth at Doncaster vpon the Sacrament not to clayme the crowne or kingdome of England but onely the dukedome of Lancaster his owne proper right and the right of his wife And mourne for Henry Hote-spurre her deere sonne As I for my c. This was the braue couragious Henry Hote-spurre that obtayned so many victories against the Scots which after falling out right with the curse of Queene Isabell was slaine by Henry at the battaile at Shrewsburie Richard the second to Queene Isabell. WHat canst thou looke or hope for frō that hand which neither sence nor reason could cōmand A kingdoms greatnes hardly can he sway That wholsome counsaile did not first obay Ill did thys rude hand guide a scepter then Ill thys rude hand now gouerneth a pen How should I call my selfe or by what name To make thee know from whence these letters came Not from thy husband for my hatefull life Hath made thee widdow being yet a wife Nor from a King that title I haue lost And of that name proude Bullenbrooke doth boast Neuer to haue beene might some comfort bring But no woe is to say I was a King This lawlesse life which first procur'd my hate This tongue which first denounc'd my kingly state This abiect minde which did consent vnto it This hand that was the instrument to doe it These all beare witnes that I doe denie All worldly hopes all kingly maiestie Didst thou for my sake leaue thy fathers Court Thy famous Country and thy princely port And vndertook'st to trauaile dangerous waies Driuen by aukward winds and boyst'rous seas And lefts great Burbon for thy loue to mee VVho sued in marriage to be linck'd to thee Offring for dower the Countries bordring nie Of fruitfull Almaine and rich Burgundie Didst thou all this that England should receaue thee To miserable banishment to leaue thee And in thy ruine and thy fortunes wracke Forsaken heere to Fraunce to send thee back VVhen quiet sleepe the heauy harts releefe Seales vp my sences some-what lesning greefe My kingly greatnes vnto minde I call And thinke that I but dreamed of my fall VVith this conceite my sorrowes I beguile That my fayre Queene is but with-drawne a while And my attendants in some Chamber by As in the height of my prosperitie Calling aloude and asking who is there The Eccho aunswering tells mee VVoe is there And when mine armes would gladly thee enfold I clip the pillow and the place is cold VVhich when my waking eyes precisely view T'is a true token that it is too true As many minuts as in one howre be So many howers each minute seemes to me Each howre a day morne euening set and rise Each day a yeere complet with miseries A sommer winter spring-time and a fall All seasons varying yet vnseasoned all Hote griefes cold cares moyst sorrow scorching hate Too long extreames too short a temperate Each yeere a world from golden ages past That hasteth on the yron times at last That from creation of all happy things A desolution to my fortune brings Thys endlesse woe my thred of lyfe still weares In minuts howers dayes moneths ages yeres Ioy in the sunne that doe possesse the South For Pomfret stands here in the Norths cold mouth There wanton Sommer lords it all the yeere Frost-starued VVinter doth inhabite heere A place wherein Dispayre may fitly dwell For sorrow best sutes with a clowdy Cell Let Herford vaunt of our atchiuements done Of all the honours that great Edward wone Of famous Cressy where his keene sword lopp'd The flowers of Fraunce which all had ouer-topp'd And with those fayre Delices set the walke vvhere our emperious English Lyons stalke vvhich pluck'd those Lillies planted on those streames And set them heere vpon the banks of Thames Now Bullenbrooke our conquering Trophies beares Our glorious spoyles thys false Vlisses weares And all the story of our famous warre Must grace the Annalls of great Lancaster Seauen goodly syens from one stocke begun Seauen liuely branches from one roote did run My princely Father was the straightest stem The fairest blossome which adorned them VVhose precious buds began to spring so faire As soone they shew'd what fruit they meant to beare But I his graft and barraine trunke am growne And for a fruitlesse water-bough am hewne From our braue Grandsire both in one degree Yet after Edward lohn the young'st of three But princely VVales by me giues place to Gaunt Henry on Richard now predominant VVhen that vsurping bastard-sonne of Spayne Deposed Petro from his peacefull raigne My Father mou'd with the Castillians moane Pluck'd downe that proude aspyring Phaeton And ere a Crowne had yet adorn'd his head A conquered King from Fraunce to England led A subiects hand my Crowne from mee hath torne And by a home-nurst begger ouer-borne Is valour hence with him to heauen fled Or in my barren breast decay'd and dead VVho for his vertue and his conquests sake Posteritie a demie God shall make And iudge this vile and abiect spirit of mine Could not proceede from temper so diuine VVhat earthly humor or what vulgar eye Now lookes so low as on my misery VVhen Bullenbrooke is seated on our throne And makes that his which we but call'd our owne He bids commaunds he chooseth he elects Pardons defends he warrants he protects Into our counsells he himselfe intrudes And who but Herford with the multitudes Thus Bullenbrooke triumpheth in our fall And for their King reputed is of all His power disgrades his dreadfull frowne disgraceth He throwes them downe whō our aduauncement placeth As my disable and vnworthy hand Could giue no soueraine title of commaund He treads our sacred tables in the dust And proues our acts of parliament vniust As though he hated that it should be said That such a law by Richard once was made VVhen Herford had his iudgement of exile Saw I the peoples murmuring the while Saw I the loue the zeale the fayth the care The Commons still to pleasing Herford bare Fond women and scarce-speaking chyldren moume vveeping his parting wishing his
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