witchcraft and burned for the same and that Piers had bewitched the King Albania Gascoyne Cambria Ireland Albania Scotland so called of Albanact the seconde sonne of Brutus and Cambria Wales so called of Camber the third sonne the foure 〈◊〉 and Countries brought in subiection by Edward Longshanks When of our Princely iewells and our dowers We but enioy the least of what is ours A complaynt of the prodigalitie of King Edward giuing vnto Gaueston the iewells treasure which was left him by the auncient Kings of England and enriching him with the goodly Manor of Wallingforde assigned as parcell of the dower to the Queenes of this famous Ile And ioynd with the braue issue of our blood Alie our kingdome to theyr crauand brood Edward the second gaue to Piers Gaueston in marriage the daughter of Gilbert Clare Earle of Glocester begot of the Kinges sister Ioane of Acres married to the said Earle of Gloster Should giue away all that his Father wonne To backe a stranger King Edward offered his right in Fraunce to Charles his brother in law and his right in Scotland to Robert Bruse to bee ayded against the Barrons in the quarrell of Piers Gaueston And did great Edward on his death-bed giue Edward Longshanks on his death-bed at Carlile commaunded young Edward his sonne on his blessing not to call backe Gaueston which for the misguiding of the Princes youth was before banished by the whole counsell of the land That after all this fearefull massaker The fall of Beuchamp Lasey Lancaster Thomas Earle of Lancaster Guy Earle of VVarwicke Henry Earle of Lincolne who had taken theyr oathes before the deceassed King at his death to withstand his sonne Edward if he should call Gaueston from exile beeing a thing which hee much feared now seeing Edward to violate his Fathers commaundement rise in Armes against the King which was the cause of the ciuile war and the ruine of so many Princes And gloried I in Gauestons great fall That nowe a Spenser should succeed in all The two Hugh Spensers the Father the sonne after the death of Gaueston became the great fauorites of the King the sonne being created by him Lord Chamberlaine and the Father Earle of Winchester And if they were yet Edward doth detaine Homage for Pontiu Guyne and Aquitaine Edward Longshanks did homage for those Citties and territories to the French King which Edward the second neglecting moued the French King by the subbornation of Mortimer to ceaze those Countries into his hands By auncient Wigmors honourable Crest Wigmore in the marches of Wales was the ancient house of the Mortimers that noble and couragious familie That still so long as Borrough beares that name The Queene remembreth the great ouerthrowe giuen to the Barrons by Andrew Herckley Earle of Carlill at Borrough bridge after the battaile at Burton And Torlton now whose counsells should direct Thys was Adam Torlton bishop of Herford that great polititian who so highly fauoured the faction of the Queene and Mortimer whose euill counsell afterward wrought the destruction of the King Mortimer to Queene Isabell. AS thy saluts my sorrowes doe adiourne So backe to thee their interest I returne Though not in so great bountie I confesse As thy heroicke princely lines expresse For how should comfort issue from the breath Of one condemn'd and long lodg'd vp in death From murthers rage thou didst me once repriue Now in exile my hopes thou doost reuiue Twice all was taken twice thou all didst giue And thus twice dead thou mak'st me twice to liue This double life of mine your onely due You gaue to mee I giue it backe to you Nere my escape had I aduentur'd thus As did the skye-attempting Daedalus And yet to giue more safetie to my flight Haue made a night of day a day of night Nor had I backt the proude aspyring wall vvhich held without my hopes within my fall Leauing the cordes to tell where I had gone For gazing eyes with feare to looke vpon But that thy beautie by a power diuine Breath'd a new life into this spirit of mine Drawne by the sunne of thy celestiall eyes vvith fiery wings made passage through the skyes The heauens did seeme the charge of me to take And sea and land be friend mee for thy sake Thames stopt hen tide to make me way to goe As thou had'st charg'd her that it should be so The hollow murmuring winds their due time kept As they had rock'd the world whilst all things slept One billow bore me and another draue mee This stroue to helpe me and that stroue to saue mee The brisling Reedes mou'd with the ayre did chide mee As they would tell me that they moant to hide mee The pale-fac'd night beheld thy heauie cheere And would not let one little starre appeare But ouer all her smoakie mantle hurl'd And in thick vapours muffled vp the world And the pure ayre became so calme and still As it had beene obedient to my will And euery thing disposd vnto my rest As when one Seas the Alcion buildes her nest And those rough waues which late with furie rusht Slide smoothlie on and suddainly are husht Nor Neptune lets his surges out so long As Nature is in bringing forth her yong Nor let the Spensers glory in my chaunce That thus I liue an exile now in Fraunce That I from England banished should be But England rather banished from me More were her want Fraunce our great blood shold beare Then Englands losse should be to Mortimer My Grandsire was the first since Authurs raigne That the Round-table lastly did ordaine To whose great Court at Kenelworth did come The peerlesse knighthood of all Christendome VVhose princely order honoured England more Then all the conquests shee atchiu'd before Neuer durst Scot set foote on English ground Nor on his backe did English beare a wound vvhilst VVigmore flourisht in our princely hopes And whilst our Ensigne march'd with Edwards troupes VVhilst famous Longshanks bones in Fortunes scorne As sacred reliques to the fielde were borne Nor euer did the valiant English doubt VVhilst our braue battailes guarded them about Nor did our wiues and wofull mothers mourne The English blood that stained Banocksburn VVhilst with his Minions sporting in his Tent VVhole dayes and nights in banquetting were spent Vntill the Scots which vnder safeguard stoode Made lauish hauock of the English blood And battered helmes lay scattered on the shore vvhere they in conquest had beene borne before A thousand kingdoms will we seeke from farre As many Nations wast with ciuill warre vvhere the disheuel'd gastly Sea-nymphe sings Or well-rigd shyps shall stretch theyr swelling wings And dragge theyr Ankors through the sandie foame About the world in euery Clime to roame And those vnchristned Countries call our owne vvhere scarce the name of England hath been knowne And in the Dead-sea sinck our houses fame From whose sterne waues we first deriu'd our Name Before foule black-mouth'd infamie shall sing That
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
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
This Richard whom ironiacally shee heere calls Dicke that by treason after his Nephewes murthered obtained the Crowne was a man lowe of stature crooke-back'd the left shoulder much higher then the right and of a very crabbed and sower countenance his Mother could not be deliuered of him vncut and he was borne toothed and with his feete forward contrary to the course of nature To ouershadow our vermilion Rose The red Rose was the badge of the house of Lancaster and the white Rose of Yorke which by the marriage of Henry the seauenth with Elizabeth indubitate heire of the house of Yorke was conioyned and vnited Or who doth muzzle that vnruly Beare The Earle of Warwicke the setter vp and puller downe of Kings gaue for his Armes the white Beare rampant and the Ragged staffe His glorious conquest got at Agyncourt Agincourt is a Teritory in Fraunce where King Henry the fifth discomfited the whole French puissance beeing 60000. horsemen besides foote-men and Pages and slewe at the same battell 8000 of their Nobility Knights and Gentlemen And almost all the Princes of Fraunce besides such as were taken prisoners Who fill'd the ditches of besieged Caen With mangled bodies c. Caen is a meruailous strong Towne of Normandy which after long famine and extreame misery was yeelded vp to King Henry the fifth who fortified the Towne and Castle to the vse of the English My Daysie flower which erst perfum'd the ayre Which for my fauour Princes once did weare c. The Daysie in French is called Margarit which was Queene Margarits badge where-with all the Nobility and chiualry of the Land at the first ariuall were so delighted that they wore it in their Hats in token of honour And who be Starres but Warwicks bearded staues The ragged or bearded staffe was a part of the Armes belonging to the Earldome of VVarwicke Slaundering Duke Rayner with base beggery Rayner Duke of Aniou called himselfe King of Naples Cicile and Ierusalem hauing neither inheritance nor tribute from those parts and was not able at the marriage of the Queene of his owne charges to send her into England though he gaue no dower with her which by the Dutches of Glocester was often in disgrace cast in her teeth A Kentish Rebell a base vpstart Groome This was Iack Cade which caused the Kentish-men to rebell in the 28. yeare of Henry the 6. And this is he the white Rose must prefer By Clarence Daughter match'd to Mortimer This Iack Cade instructed by the Duke of Yorke pretended to be decended from Mortimer which married Lady Phillip Daughter to the Duke of Clarence And makes vs weake by strengthning Ireland The Duke of Yorke beeing made Deputy of Ireland first there began to practise his long pretended purpose strengthning himselfe by all meanes possible that he might at his returne into England by open warre to claime that which so long he had priuily gone about to obtaine Great Winchester vntimely is deceas'd Henry Beuford Bishop and Cardinall of Winchester Sonne to Iohn of Gaunt begot in his age was a proud and ambitious Prelat fauouring mightily the Queene and the Duke of Suffolke continually heaping vp innumerable treasure in hope to haue beene Pope as himselfe on his death-bed confessed With Fraunce t'vpbraide the valiant Somerset Edmond Duke of Somerset in the 24. of Henry the 6 was made Regent of Fraunce and sent into Normandy to defend the English Territories against the French inuasions but in short time he lost all that King Henry the fifth wone for which cause the Nobles and the Commons cuer after hated him T'endure these stormes with wofull Buckingham Humfrey Duke of Buckingham was a great fauorite of the Queenes Faction in the time of Henry the 6. And one foretold by water thou shouldst dye The Witch of Eye receaued aunswer by her spirit that the Duke of Suffolke should take heede of water which the Queene forwarnes him of as remembring the Witches prophecie which afterward came to passe FINIS To the Right Worshipfull Sir Thomas Mounson Knight SIR amongst many which most deseruedly loue you though I the least yet am loth to be the last whose endeuours may make knowne how highly they esteeme of your noble and kinde disposition let this Epistle Sir I beseech you which vnwoorthily weares the Badge of your woorthy name acknowledge my zeale with the rest though much lesse deseruing which for your sake doe honour the house of the Mounsons I knowe true generositie accepteth what is zelously offered though not euer deseruingly excellent yet for loue of the Art from whence it receiueth resemblance The light Phrigian harmony stirreth delight as well as the melancholy Doricke moueth passion both haue their motion in the spirit as the lyking of the soule moueth the affection Your kinde acceptance of my labour shall giue some life to my Muse which yet houers in the vncertaintie of the generall censure Michaell Drayton Edward the fourth to Shores wife * The Argument This Mistresse Shore King Edward the fourths beautious paramore was so called of her husband a Goldsmith awelling in Lumbard street Edward the fourth sonne to Richard Duke of Yorke after hee had obtained the Crowne by deposing Henry the sixt which Henry was after murthered in the Tower by Richard Crookebacke and after the battell fought at Barnet where that famous Earle of VVarwicke was slaine and that King Edward quietly possessed the Crowne hearing by report of many the rare and wonderfull beauty of the afore-said Shores wife commeth himselfe disguised to London to see her where after he had once bebeld her he was so surprised with her admirable beautie as not long after he robbed her husband of his deerest iewel but first by this Epistle he writeth vnto her VNto the fayr'st that euer breath'd thys ayre From English Edward to that fairest faire Ah would to God thy title were no more That no remembrance might remaine of Shore To countermaund a Monarchs high desire And barre mine eyes of what they most admire O why should Fortune make the Citty proude To giue that more then is the Court alow'd VVhere they like wretches hoard it vp to spare And doe engrosse it as they doe theyr ware VVhen fame first blaz'd thy beauty heere in Court Mine eares repulsd it as a light report But when mine eyes sawe what mine eare had hard They thought report too niggardly had spard And strooken dumbe with wonder did but mutter Conceiuing more then shee had words to vtter Then thinke of what thy husband is possest vvhen I enuy that Shore should so be blest vvhen much abundance makes the needy mad And hauing all yet knowes not what is had Into fooles bosoms thys good fortune creepes And wealth comes in the whilst the miser sleepes If now thy beauty be of such esteeme vvhich all of so rare excellencie deeme vvhat would it be and prized at what rate vvere it adorned with a kingly state vvhich beeing now but in so meane a bed Is
in wages which serued vnder him during those warres But this alone by VVoolseys wit was wrought Thomas Woolsey the Kings Almoner then Bishop of Lincolne a man of great aucthority with the King and afterward Cardinall was the cheese cause that the Lady Mary was married to the old French King with whom the French King had dealt vnder hand to befriend him in that match When the proud Dolphin for thy valure sake Chose thee at tylt his princely part to take Frauncis Duke of Valoys and Dolphin of Fraunce at the mariage of the Lady Mary in honour thereof proclaimed a Iusts where he chose the Duke of Suffolke and the Marques Dorset for his aydes at all Martiall exercises Galeas and Bounarme matchles for their might This County Galeas at the Iusts ranne a course with a Speare which was at the head 5. inches square on euery side and at the But 9. inches square whereby hee shewed his wonderous force and strength This Bounarme a Gentleman of Fraunce at the same time came into the field armed at all poynts with 10. Speares 〈◊〉 him in each 〈◊〉 3 vnder each thigh one one vnder his left arme and one in his hand and putting his horse to the carere neuer stopped him till he had broken euery staffe Hall ¶ Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke to Mary the French Queene BVt that thy fayth commaunds mee to forbeare The fault thine owne if I impatient were VVere my dispatch such as should be my speed I should want time thy louing lines to reed Heere in the Court Camelion like I fare And liue God knowes of nothing but of ayre All day I waite and all the night I watch And starue mine eares to heare of my dispatch If Douer were th'Abydos of my rest Or pleasant Callice were my Maryes Cest Thou should'st not need faire Queene to blame me so Did not the distance to desire say no No tedious night from trauell should be free Till through the waues with swimming vnto thee A snowy path I made vnto thy Bay So bright as is that Nectar-stayned way The restlesse sunne by trauailing doth vveare Passing his course to finish vp his yeere But Paris locks my loue within the maine And London yet thy Brandon doth detaine Of thy firme loue thou put'st me still in mind But of my fayth not one word can I finde VVhen Long auile to Mary was affied And thou by him wast made King Lewis bride How oft I wish'd that thou a prize mights bee That I in Armes might combat him for thee And in the madnes of my loue distraught A thousand times his murther haue fore-thought But that th'all-seeing powers which sit aboue Regard not mad mens oathes nor faults in loue And haue confirm'd it by the graunt of heauen That louers sinnes on earth should be forgiuen For neuer man is halfe so much distrest As he that loues to see his loue possest Comming to Richmond after thy depart Richmond where first thou stol'st away my hart Mee thought it look'd not as it did of late But wanting thee forlorne and desolate In whose faire walkes thou often hast been seene To sport with Katberine Henries beautious Queene Astonishing sad-vvinter with thy sight As for thy sake the day hath put back night That the Byrds thinking to approch the spring Forgot themselues and haue begun to sing So oft I goe by Thames so oft returne Mee thinks for thee the Riuer yet doth mourne vvho I haue seene to let her streame at large vvhich like a Hand-mayde wayted on thy Barge And if thou hapst against the flood to row VVhich way it ebd before now would it flow Letting her drops in teares fall from thy oares For ioy that shee had got thee from the shoares The siluer swannes with musicke that those make Ruffing theyr plumes come glyding on the lake As the fleet Dolphins by Arions strings vvere brought to land with musicks rauishings The flocks and heards that pasture neere the flood To gaze vpon thee haue forborne theyr foode And sat downe sadlie mourning by the brim That they by nature were not made to swim VVhen as the Post to Englands royall Court Of thy hard passage brought the true report Hovv in a storme thy well rigg'd shyps were tost And thou thy selfe in danger to be lost I knew twas Venus loth'd that aged bed vvhere beautie so should be dishonoured Or fear'd the Sea-Nymphs haunting of the Lake If thou but seene theyr Goddesse should forsake And whirling round her Doue-drawne Coach about To view thy Nauie nowe in launching out Her ayrie mantle loosly doth vnbind vvhich fanning forth a rougher gale of vvind vvafted thy sayles with speede vnto the land And runnes thy shyp on Bullens harboring strand How should I ioy of thy arriue to heare But as a poore sea-faring passenger After long trauaile tempest-torne and wrack'd By some vnpittying Pyrat that is sack'd Heares the false robber that hath stolne his wealth Landed in some safe harbor and in health Enriched with inualuable store For which he long hath traueled before VVhen thou to Abaile held'st th'appointed day vve heard how Lewes met thee on the way vvhere thou in glittering Tissue strangly dight Appear'dst vnto him like the Queene of light In Cloth of siluer all thy virgine traine In beautie sumptuous as the Northerne waine And thou alone the formost glorious starre vvhich lead'st the teame of that great VVagoner VVhat could thy thought be but as I doe think VVhen thine eyes tasted what mine eares did drinke A Cripple King layd bedrid long before Yet at thy comming crept out of the dore T'was well he rid he had no legs to goe But this thy beauty forc'd his body to For whom a cullice had more fitter beene Then in a golden bed a gallant Queene To vse thy beauty as the miser gold vvhich hoards it vp but onely to behold Still looking on it with a iealous eye Fearing to lend yet louing vsurie O Sacriledge if beauty be deuine The prophane hand should tuch the halowed shrine To surfet sicknes on the sound mans dyet To rob Content yet still to liue vnquiet And hauing all to be of all be guild And yet still longing like a little child VVhen Marques Dorset and the valiant Grayes To purchase farme first crost the narrow Seas vvith all the Knights that my associates went In honour of thy riuptiall turnament Thinkst thou I ioy'd not in thy Beauties pride vvhen thou in tryumph didst through Paris ride VVhere all the streets as thou didst pace along vvith Arras Bisse and Tapestry were hong Ten thousand gallant Cittizens prepar'd In ritch attire thy Princely selfe to guard Next them three thousand choise religeous men In golden vestments followed them agen And in precession as they came along vvith 〈◊〉 sang thy marriage song Then fiue 〈◊〉 Dukes as did their places fall To each 〈◊〉 a Princely Cardinall Then thou on thy imperiall Chariot set Crown'd with a rich imperled Coronet vvhilst the Parisian Dames
being seuered in sundry prisons they write these Epistles one to another MIne owne deere Lord sith thou art lock'd frō mee In this disguise my loue must steale to thee Since to renew all loues all kindnes past This refuge scarcely left yet this the last My Keeper comming I of thee enquire 〈◊〉 with thy greeting aunswers my desire vvhich my tongue willing to returne againe Griefe stops my words and I but striue in vaine VVhere-with amaz'd away in hast he goes vvhen through my lips my hart thrusts forth my woes vvhen as the doores that make a dolefull sound Driue backe my words that in the noyse are drownd vvhich some-what hush'd the eccho doth record And twice or thrice reiterats my word vvhen like an aduerse wind in Isis course Against the tyde bending his boystrous force But when the flood hath wrought it selfe about Hee following on doth headlong thrust it out Thus striue my sighes with teares ere they begin And breaking out againe sighes driue them in A thousand formes present my troubled thought Yet proue abortiue when they forth are brought From strongest woe we hardly language wrest The depth of griefe with words is sounded least As teares doe fall and rise sighes come and goe So doe these numbers ebb so doe they flow These briny teares doe make my Inke looke pale My Inck clothes tears in thys sad mourning vaile The Letters mourners weepe with my dim eye The paper pale greeu'd at my misery Yet miserable our selues why should we deeme Sith none is so but in his owne esteeme vvho in distresse from resolution flies Is rightly sayd to yeeld to miseries That life is onely miserable and vile From which faire patience doth it selfe exile They which begot vs did beget this sinne They first begun what dyd our griefe begin VVee tasted not t'was they which dyd rebell Not our offence but in theyr fall we fell They which a Crowne would to my Lord haue linck'd All hope all life all libertie extinct A subiect borne a Princesse to haue beene Hath made me now nor subiect nor a Queene Ah vile ambition how doost thou deceaue vs VVhich shew'st vs heauen and yet in hell doost leaue vs Sildome vntouch'd doth innocens escape vvhen error commeth in good counsailes shape A lawfull title counterchecks proude might The weakest things become strong props to right Then my deere Lord although affliction grieue vs Yet let our spotlesse innocens relieue vs. Death but an acted passion doth appeare vvhere truth giues courage and the conscience cleere And let thy comfort thus consist in mine That I beare part of what so ere is thine As when we liu'd vntouch'd with these disgraces vvhen as our kingdome was our sweet embraces At Durham Pallace where sweet Himen sang vvhose buildings with our nuptiall musick rang vvhen Prothalamions praysd that happy day vvherein great Dudley match'd with noble Gray vvhen they deuisd to linck by wedlocks band The house of Suffolke to Northumberland Our fatall Dukedome to your Dukedome bound To frame this building on so weake a ground For what auailes a lawlesse vsurpation vvhich giues a scepter but not rules a nation Onely the surfit of a vaine opinion vvhat giues content giues more then all dominion VVhen first mine eares were persed with the same Of Iane proclaimed by a Princes name A suddaine fright my trembling hart appalls The feare of conscience entreth yron walls Thrice happy for our Fathers had it beene If what we fear'd they wisely had fore-seene And kept a meane gate in an humble path To haue escap'd these furious tempests wrath The Cedar-building Eagle beares the winde And not the Faulcon though both Hawkes by kind That kingly byrd doth from the cloudes commaund The fearefull foule that moues but neere the land Though Mary be from mighty Kings descended My blood not from Plantaginet pretended My Grandsire Brandon did our house aduaunce By princely Mary dowager of Fraunce The fruite of that fayre stocke which did combine And Yorks sweet branch with Lancasters entwine And in one stalke did happily vnite The pure vermilion Rose with purer white I the vntimely slip of that rich stem vvhose golden bud brings forth a Diadem But oh forgiue me Lord it is not I Nor doe I boast of this but learne to die VVhilst we weare as our selues conioyned then Nature to nature now an alien The purest blood polluted is in blood Neerest contemnd if soueraignty withstood A Diadem once dazeling the eye The day too darke to see affinitie And where the arme is stretch'd to reach a Crowne Friendshyp is broke the deerest things thrown downe For what great Henry most stroue to auoyd The heauens haue built what earth woulde haue destroyd And seating Edward on his regall throne Hee giues to Mary all that was his owne By death assuring what by life is theyrs The lawfull clayme of Henries lawfull heyres By mortall lawes the bond may be diuorc'd But heauens decree by no meanes can be forc'd The rule the case when men haue all decreed vvho tooke him hence knew well who should succeed In vaine be counsells statuts humaine lawes vvhen cheefe of counsailes pleads the iustest cause Thus rule the heauens in theyr continuall course That yeelds to fate that doth not yeeld to force Mans wit doth build for tyme but to deuoure But vertu's free from tyme and fortunes power vvhat vertue gets once got doth neuer wast And hauing this thys thou for euer hast Then my kind Lord sweet Gilford bee not greeu'd The soule is heauenly and from heauen releeu'd And as we once haue plighted troth together Now let vs make exchange of mindes to eyther To thy faire breast take my resolued minde Arm'd against black Dispaire and all her kind And to my bosome breathe that soule of thine There to be made as perfect as is mine So shall our fayths as firmely bee approued As I of thee or thou of mee beloued Thys life no life wert thou not deere to mee Nor thys no death were I not woe for thee Thou my deere husband and my Lord before But truely learne to die thou shalt be more Now lyue by prayer on heauen fixe all thy thought And surely finde what ere by zeale is sought For each good motion that the soule awakes A heauenly figure sees from whence it takes That sweet resemblance which by power of kind Formes like it selfe an Image in the mind And in our fayth the operations bee Of that diuinenes which by faith we see vvhich neuer errs but accidentally By our fraile fleshes imbicillitie By each temptation ouer-apt to slide Except our spirit becomes our bodies guide For as our bodyes prisons be these Towers So to our soules these bodies be of ours vvhose fleshly walls hinder that heauenly light As these stone walls depriue our wished sight Death is the key which vnlocks misery And lets them out to blessed liberty Then draw thy forces all vnto thy hart The strongest fortresse of thys earthly part And on