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
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
kinsman And let a Richard from our line arise A prophecie of Richard Crookebacke the Tyrant which after was the onely scourge and plague of both the houses of Yorke Lancaster and the death of many great Princes FINIS To the Right Honourable the Lord Henrie Howard LEarned and noble Lord custome and continuance haue sealed this priuiledge to Poetry that sometime the light subiect of a laboured Poem is graced with the title of a learned and iudiciall censor your Lordship sufficiently knoweth what I but put you in remembrance off your wisedome and experience know what hath beene most vsuall in the course of times your iudgement makes me doubtfull being what I am your honor giues me some comfort beeing what you are Counsell is not euer conuersant with seueritie and I know true vertue loueth what is neuer so little like herselfe howe vnseasoned so euer my rymes seeme to the worlde I am pleased if you peruse them with patience Thus wishing my lines may bee as acceptable as I desire I leaue them to your learned censor Michaell Drayton Queene Katherine to Owen Tudor * The Argument After the death of that victorious Henry the fift Queene Katherine the 〈◊〉 of England and Fraunce daughter to Charles the French King holding her estate with Henrie her sonne then the sixt of that name falleth in loue with Owen Tudor a VVlechman a braue and gallant Gentleman of the VVardrop to the young King her sonne yet greatly fearing if her loue should be discouered the Nobilitie would crosse her purposed marriage or fearing that if her faire and princely promises should not assure his good successe this high and great attempt might perhaps daunt the forwardnesse of his modest and shame fast youth wherfore to breake the Ice to her intent shee wryteth vnto him this Epistle following IV dge not a Princesse worth impeach'd hereby That loue thus tryumphs ouer maiestie Nor thinke lesse vertue in this royall hand vvhich now intreats that wonted to commaund For in this sort though humbly now it wooe The day hath beene thou would'st haue kneel'd vnto Nor thinke that this submission of my state Proceeds from frailtie rather iudge it fate Alcides nere more fit for loues sterne shock Then when for loue sate spinning at the Rock Neuer lesse clowdes did Phoebus glory dim Then in a Clownes shape when he couered him Ioues great commaund was neuer more obay'd Then when a Satyrs antick parts he play'd He was thy King that sued for loue to mee Shee is thy Queene that sues for loue to thee VVhen Henry was what's Tudors now was his vvhilst yet thou art what's Henries Tudors is My loue to Owen him my Henry giueth My loue to Henry in my Owen liueth Onely in Henry was my Tudor then Onely in Tudor Henry now agen Henry woo'd mee whilst warres did yet increase I wooe my Tudor now in calmest peace To win affection hee did conquest proue And I on conquest doe make warre with loue Great Henry soughtt ' accomplish his desire Armed with tempests thunder-boults of fire As once when Iunos treasons forced Ioue T'imbrace the beautious Semele his loue I to my loue as once the Ciprian Queene On Simois banks was with the Troyan seene Incampt at Melans in warres hote alarmes First saw I Henry clad in princely Armes At pleasant VVindsore there these eyes of mine Iudg'd Tudor first for wit and shape diuine Henry abroad with puissance and with force Tudor at home with courtship and discourse Hee then thou now I hardly can iudge whether Did like me best Plantaginet or Tether A march a measure battell or a daunce A courtly rapier or a conquering Launce His princely bed aduaunced my renowne And on my temples set a double Crowne vvhich glorious wreath as Henries lawfull heire Henry the sixt vpon his brow doth beare At Troy in Champayne he did first enioy My bridall-rites to England brought from Troy In England now that honour thou shalt haue vvhich once in Champayne famous Henry gaue I seeke not wealth three kingdoms in my power If these suffice not where shall be my dower Sad discontent may euer follow her vvhich doth base pelfe before true loue prefer If titles still could oure affections tie vvhat is so great but maiestie might buy As I seeke thee so Kings 〈◊〉 mee desire To what they craue thou easily may'st aspire That sacred fire once warm'd my hart before The fuell fit the flame is now the more And meanes to quench it I in vaine doe proue VVe may hide treasure but not hide our loue And since thy vertue this at first did gaine it vvill I by reason now seeke to restraine it Nor these great titles vainely will I bring VVife daughter mother sister to a King Of grandsire father husband sonne and brother More thou alone to mee then all the other Nor thinke so Tudor that this loue of mine Should wrong the Gaunt-borne great Lancastrian line Nor stirre the English blood the Sunne and Moone T'repine at Lorayne Burbon Alansoon Nor doe I thinke there is such different ods That they alone should counted be for Gods If Cadmus earthly issue reckoning vs And they from Ioue Mars Neptune Eolus Of great Latonas of-spring onely they And we the brats of wofull Niobe Our famous Grandsires as their owne bestrid That horse of fame that Ioue-begotten steed VVhose bounding hoofe plow'd that Boetian spring vvhere those sweet Maydes of memorie doe sing Not onely Henries Queene but boast aswell To be the childe of Charles and Isabell. Nor doe I know from whence their griefe should grow They by this match should be disparag'd so vvhen Iohn and Longshanks issue both affied And to the Kings of VVales in wedlocke tied Shewing the greatnes of your blood heereby Your race and royall consanguinitie And VVales as well as haughty England boasts Of Camilot and all her Penticosts A nephewes roome in great Pendragons race At Arthurs Table held a princely place If of the often conquests of our Land They reare the spoyles of their victorious hand If these our auncient Chronicles be true They altogether are not free from you VVhen bloody Rufus sought your vtter sack Twice entring VVales yet twice was beaten back VVhen famous Cambria wash'd her in the flood Made by th'effusion of the English blood And oft return'd with glorious victorie From VVorster Herford Chester Shrewsbury vvhose power in euery conquest so preuailes As once expuls'd the English out of VVales Although my beautie made my Countries peace And at my bridall bloody warres did cease Yet more then power had not his person beene I had not come to England as a Queene Nor tooke I Henry to supply my want Because in Fraunce that time my choise was scant vvhen Fraunce had robd all Christendome of men And Englands flower remain'd amongst vs then Glaster whose counsells Nestor like assist Couragious Bedford that great martiallist VVarwicke for vertue honour'd of his foes And Yorke whose fame yet daily greater growes
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
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