of straw 180. Where being full of aches sores and biles Thy beauty turned to a tawny hue And that consum'd which was so faire ere whiles Vnknowne of those that thee but lately knew As a just vengeance to thy merits due Breathest thy last beneath some open stall Or di'st diseased in an Hospitall 181. There lies thy pompe and glory in the dust Thy body cloth'd with rags and all too torne Thy flesh comsum'd and wasted by thy lust Loathed condemn'd disdain'd and held in scorne Not one of all thy friends for thee will mourne Nor hardly thinke thee worthy for to have To hide thy stinking corps a simple grave 182. Loe here Amanda view thy selfe at large Behold thy life and after that thy death Peruse each line and letter I thee charge Let it not be forgotten in a breath To thy best thoughts I doe the same bequeath Advisedly consider of the matter I tell thee what is true and scorne to flatter 183. And if it take effect as I desire And breede a sorrow for thy time mispent If it shall cause thee from thy course retire And be a meanes to make thy heart relent And be reform'd by my admonishment Assure thy selfe that thou hast gain'd a friend That shall not faile thee till his life doth end 184. For my sake therefore I adjure thee here To turne thy course and bend another way For thy friends sake to whom thou shouldst be deere Come home unto thy selfe and doe not stay For thine owne sake I charge thee to obey And in compassion of that soule of thine Live not in darknesse when the sunne doth shine 185. Pity thy yeeres that are but young and tender Pity thy fathers care thy mothers love For thy sad kindreds sorrow pity render Let thy acquaintance some compassion move Looke not still downe but raise thy thoughts above If no thing else prevaile let feare of God Worke thy conversion and his threatning rod. 186. Strive to regaine the honour thou hast lost And seeke thy ruin'd credit to repaire Thy conscience is benum'd with follies frost Let thy warme teares of sorrow thaw the ayre That chils thy heart with nipping cold despaire And so dissolve thy crusty yce of sinne That hot repentance may let mercy in 187. Redeeme the time that thou hast spent in vaine And persue honour as thou followd'st vice Although unwilling yet thy selfe constraine Against thy will to vertue be not nice Tire not in acting goodnesse twice or thrice But persevere from one unto another As happy daughter of a blessed mother 188. And when thou hast this little Pamphlet read And seene the scope whereto these lines doe tend Let them not passe an hower out of thy head Vntill thy sorrow make thy life amend And worke a reformation in the end Doe not oh doe not put them from thy heart But to thy sickly soule some helpe impart 189. Then shall my prayers flie aloft with thine And my desires seeke earnestly thy blisse Thy happinesse shall be to me as mine Thy godly sorrow for thy life amisse Shall breed such joy as none shall be like this The comfort that thy soule shall thereby taste Shall be a Crowne of glory at the last 190. In hope therefore of this my good successe And of a happy welcome to these lines Wishing thou mayst thy wicked lusts suppresse I leave thee unto him whose grace refines Praying his blessing unto these designes Heavens grant thee that which none on earth can give A life prepar'd to die a death to live When I had written these lines I made them up in a little booke and by a friend which I had sent them unto her lodging with a letter likewise to be delivered unto her both which my friend presented to her owne hands and she receiving of them thankfully read over the letter presently in his sight and told him that so soone as she had perused the booke which should not be long she would send her answer unto me and so my friend taking a courteous farewell left her and returned telling me of the kinde welcome both of the letter and the booke which I was glad to heare of and therefore hoped in a short time to receive her answer which I did wish might be according as I both expected and desired I wayted for her answer about ten daies and not hearing from her well knowing in that time she might at her leisure have read it over I began to wonder what the reason should be imagining that eyther she was loath to bestow so much paynes as to reade it or else having read it she was offended at it and being willing to be satisfied herein yet unwilling that she should take any notice of my desire I sent another friend not to her lodging but neere unto it to the end that I might be assured whether she still continued there or whether she were removed to any other place my friend taking occasion secretly to enquire of her understood by one of the neighbours that she kept her old lodging and that she had lately beene very sicke and was not then recovered Of which her sicknes when I understood I was in some hope that she had considered seriously on the contents of the booke and that it had wrought so farre with her that she had layd the same to her heart and was thereby drawne to a strict examination of her owne life which might be the meanes of troubling her conscience so farre as that it might breede a distemper in her body and so be the cause of impayring her health desirous therefore to understand how she digested it whether there were any other cause of her disease I sent my friend to her lodging to see how she did not taking any notice that I had knowne of her sicknesse and withall to excuse my not comming unto her all that time whither when he came he was willingly conducted into her chamber where she then lay in her bed and delivering his message unto her she told him that she had beene very ill and wonderfull desirous to see me and entreated him to signifie so much unto me and that she was minded to send a messenger unto me but that by reason of her sicknesse she knew not how conveniently to doe it not speaking one word unto him concerning the booke My friend not staying long with her and promisig to acquaint me with her desire departed and telling me what her request was and in vvhat case he found her I resolved vvithin fevv daies to visit her and accordingly within a day or two after I came unto her chamber where being entred I found her sitting in her chaire by the fire and weeping exceedingly I comming in so suddenly and she turning her head espying of me presently leapt out of her chaire and comming towards me tooke me by the hand and looking earnestly in my face she began to speake to me to this effect the substance whereof for memory sake I
had no acquaintance there but what she had gotten since her first comming thither To be briefe I understood that she was a woman apt to give entertainement to any that desired her company by reason whereof her honesty was much suspected and the generall report about the street was that she was no better then a whore having understood thus much of her I often attended to see what company resorted to the house thinking thereby I should the better conceive whether report had wronged her or not At the last I perceived that divers Gentlemen and men of great fashion and worth had daily recourse thither but more especially I noted one man to resort unto her more then any of the rest when that man was in the house there could be no admittance for any other that desired to come unto her for by one frivolous excuse or other they would send them away without the sight of the Gentlewoman at other times if they came when that Gentleman was not with her they had free accesse to her chamber where they might stay and be merry with her at their pleasure this I observed this made me conjecture that if she were not common unto them all yet at the least she was nought with one but desirous to be satisfied of the truth and not to be lead either by my owne conjecture or the report of others I determined to write unto her Long it was before I could resolve in what manner I should write for considering that I was a stranger unto her and not knowne eyther by person or name and herselfe as little knowne unto me I was in doubt whether she would receive any such letters or not againe I thought if I should write unto her in the nature of a Lover if she should happily receive the Letters and reade the same having no acquaintance at all with me she would imagine that I went about to entrap her and of purpose to finde out the nature of her inclination thereby to question her manner of life I therefore resolved to write unto her in a carelesse and bold manner so as she might neyther understand me to be one of the assaylants of her love nor yet a despiser of her acquaintance therefore so neere as I could without any insinuating flattery or course harshnesse I adventured to write in this familiar manner LAdy though I am a stranger Yet because I am your neighbour I doe hope there is no danger If I now doe take the labour Lonely wasting tedious times To salute you with my rimes Pardon if I be too bold I intend no hurt unto you That which here I shall unfold Cannot any dammage doe you Let it vanish as a vapor T is but naked Inke and Paper You it may be will condemne Me of saucines to send it Yet I pray be not extreame If it be a fault I le mend it I delight to anger no man And muchlesse displease a woman When I first did write my pen Fearing your displeasure fainted Yet at last I thought agen Neighbours should be well acquainted If you had not come so nigh me I had kept my papers by me Sure I doe not know your name Nor your Person very well Once I thinke I saw the same And but once as I can tell And I would be much your debter If you 'l let me know you better Yet I would not wrong you neyther Be it farre from my desire But that we may talke together My ambition strives no higher Neyther should my speeches tend To those tones that may offend Once I saw that face of your As you were at window standing T was a face that would allure And a looke that was commanding But you left me strayte to mourning By your sudden backe returning Turne againe unto your place At the window and be bold Once more let me see that face That was made for to behold It is not a womans duty To obscure so rich a beauty In those lookes to read the story Of delight is much desired It is beauties chiefest glory To be gaz'd on and admired Shew it freely and abide it T was not given you to bide it You perchance will say I flatter Though your selfe doth truly know it If you doe it is no matter Take your glasse and that will show it That can tell as well as I Neither of us both doth lie Oft I wish t' were in my power For to raise your window higher Or else to abate this Tower That our lodgings might be nigher But alas these wishes prove not What I like perchance you love not Put away all doubtfull feares Where no evill is intended Rise another paire of staires And our lodgings will be mended Strive to equall me in height And be you my opposite We will talke of what shall ease us And make merry with discourse So to spend the time t' will ease us Better so to doe then worse I have Riddles to content yee Purposes and Sonnets plenty If you 'l talke of other things That your minde more fitly moves I can tell you tales of Kings And of Noble Princes loves Monsters of the Earth or Sea Best to passe the time away Feare not we will lacke no matter For to talke of if we meete If we want where on to flatter We 'll discourse of this our Fleete That will finde us talking play Though we prattle all the day Let me then this favour crave If you will a favour deigne That my lines acceptance have And be pleased to take the paine For to grace my poore induing Make me reader of your writing What though here within this Barre I a thralled Prisoner be Though my feete restrayned are Yet my better part is free He which doth the body binde Hath no power to thrall the minde That 's a thing that goes beyond Any mortall creatures power That doth scorne for to be pen'd In the compasse of a Tower Or be ti'de to others leasure But will freely range at pleasure Take your Paper then and write Though it be but e'ne a word Never study to indite I le accept what you afford Though it be but e'ne your name I will gladly take the same Something grant me by your favour Whatsoever thing it be They say something hath some savour Though a crooked Pin it be I le accept it in good part With a kinde and thankfull heart And now pardon my presumption And the rudenesse of my Pen Waste your anger by consumption And give leave to write agen If such favours you repell Ioyes attend you and farewell When I had written these Letters I knew not how to have them conveyed to her hands neyther could I direct them by superscription because I knew not her name nor had any acquaintance with any person in the house at the length having some speeches with a friend of mine concerning her I told him that I had a Letter to be sent to her and I knew not how to
have it delivered whereupon he offered himselfe to be the messenger and to use his best endeavour to deliver it to her and if he could not have admittance himselfe yet at the least to take such course as it should come unto her hands hereupon I put my name to the Letter and sealed it and gave it to my friend and withall intreated him that if it were possible he would get me an answere to it he vowing to doe his best tooke my letters and departed and wayting his opportunity when as he thought she was all alone went to the house and desired that he might speake with her he was examined presently by the Mistris of the house from whence he came he told her from a friend of the Gentlewomans naming such a one as he had before seene to resort to her and that his busines was onely to deliver a Letter from him into her hands with that she bid him follow her and she would bring him to her Chamber hee glad of his successe followed her untill shee came to the Chamber dore and there the Mistris of the house leaving of him bid him goe in so he entring into the Chamber found the Gentlewoman writing at her window he saluting of her told her that he was requested by a Gentleman to deliver a Letter unto her and withall gave the Letter into her hands she never examining what the Gentlemans name was or where he dwelt tooke the Letters and opening of them perceived the same to be in verse stood still as it were wondring whence it should come at length after she had pawsed a while she began to read and in the reading she would sometimes smile to her selfe and sometimes set her countenance as if shee had bin angry but having read the Letter to the end and perceiving a Gentlemans name thereto whom she knew not she asked my friend if he knew the Gentleman that sent the Letter he told her he did and that he lay in the high Tower over against her Chamber how doe you know sayd she this Letter was sent to me for there is no direction upon it to shew to whom it should be carryed I know very well quoth he that you are the party it was intended unto because the Gentleman though he knew not your name shewed me the house and in what Chamber in the house you were lodged in well sayd she it is noe great matter to whom it was sent it seemes that he that writ it had not much to doe and because he shall advise better upon it there take it and carry it to him againe and tell him this from me that if he can exercise his wit to noe better purpose I would wish him to spare his paynes hereafter and to employ his Muse about matter of more moment that may be more profitable to himselfe and lesse prejudiciall to others With that delivering the Letter unto him she turnes towards her window and he without further stay or reply left her and comming to my Chamber told me of all that had passed betwixt them I was glad that she had read it because thereby she had occasion to take notice of my name and although she seemed to be a little angry yet I knew there was nothing in the Letter that she could justly tax me for but onely my boldnes in sending having noe acquayntance at all with her and that I thought she would quickely forget when her anger was a little qualified and if it were not extreame I thought it might be an occasion that I should more often see her at her window for women are not alwayes angry when they seeme so to be and indeede so it fell out for after that time I should see her window often times standing open and her selfe shewing her selfe thereat and sometimes I should perceive her looke up towards the Tower where I used to be which made me conjecture that she would bestow the reading of another Letter if I could use the meanes to have it conveyed cunningly unto her whereupon resolving with my selfe to make a further tryall of her and not to give her over upon one single repulse I determyned to try her once more by writing but my greatest feare was how I should have it conveyed into her hands for I thought if I should send it by my first messenger he should scarce have accesse againe unto her or if he had she would hardly receive any thing from him being soe much vexed at the other at the length as I was walking late one night on the top of the Tower the Moone shining very bright and looking towards her Chamber I espyed the casement of her window to be open and perceiving noe light to be in the roome I thought how I might convey my Letter in at her window where shee finding such a thing to ly could not chuse but open the same not suspecting but that some of the same house having continuall intercourse into her Chamber might eyther forget it behind them or leave it for her to reade over wherefore following this opportunity I tooke my Pen and wrote certaine Verses unto her and onely folding up the paper without any Seale or direction upon it with the helpe of a long Pole which I had in my Chamber I made such shift that I put the Letter in at her window and with the end of the Pole shut the casement lest she should suspect which way the Letter should come the Verses which I wrote were these FAyrest though my lines of late Were not welcome to your hand Though they argu'de too much prate Doe not on your nicenesse stand Reade againe my second Letter See if now my phrase be better I am sorry to offend So to purchase your displeasure And it grieves me I did send And doe now repent at leasure And I hope you 'l be contented To forgive since t is repented Sure I am I meant no ill Howsoever you may take it And I keepe that meaning still If you doubt your tryall make it What I speake in words you shall Finde my deeds agree with all Will you not be once perswaded To returne an answer to me Can your heart not be invaded Such a courtesie to doe me If for much you have beene tried I must looke t 'had beene denyed When so poore a thing as this Can so hardly be obteyned So as nothing comes amisse If from you it may be gained Write a line a word a letter Worst is best when ther 's no better Doe you never use to write But to such as you doe know If love bids not yet for spite To be rid of such a foe Let your nimble Pen disclose Whether we be friends or foes I will never give you over Till you grant me my desire Doe you like or loathe a lover Be you frost or be you fire I will send though you abhorre it Till you write or chide me for it Wherefore to avoid the trouble Take the