Delights for feare of force againe To sing alwayes by night But when the sunne to west Doth bende his weerie course Then Phylomene records the rewth VVhich craueth iust remorse 1 And for hir foremost note Tereu Tereu doth sing Complaining stil vppon the name Of that false Thracian king Much like the childe at schole VVith byrchen rodds sore beaten If when he go to bed at night His maister chaunce to threaten In euery dreame he starts And ô good maister cries Euen so this byrde vppon that name Hir foremost note replies Or as the red breast byrds VVhome prettie Merlynes hold Ful fast in foote by winters night To fende themselues from colde Though afterwards the hauke For pitie let them scape Yet al that day they fede in feare And doubte a second rape And in the nexter night Ful many times do crie Remembring yet the ruthful plight VVherein they late did lye Euen so this selly byrde Though now transformde in kinde Yet euermore hir pangs forepast She beareth stil in minde And in hir foremost note She notes that cruel name By whom she lost hir pleasant speech And foiled was in fame 2 ¶ Hir second note is fye In Greeke and latine phy In english fy and euery tong That euer yet read I. VVhich word declares disdaine Or lothsome leying by Of any thing we tast heare touche Smel or beholde with eye In tast phy sheweth some sowre In hearing some discorde In touch some foule or filthy toye In smel some sent abhorde In sight some lothsome loke And euery kind of waie This by word phy betokneth bad And things to cast away So that it semes hir well Phy phy phy phy to sing Since phy befytteth him so well In euery kind of thing Phy filthy lecher lewde Phy false vnto thy wife Phy coward phy on womankinde To vse thy cruel knife Phy for thou wert vnkinde Phy false and foule forsworne Phy mōster made of murdring mould VVhose like was neuer borne Phy agony of age Phy ouerthrowe of youth Phy mirrour of mischeuousnesse Phy tipe of al vntruth Phy fayning forced teares Phy forging fyne excuse Phy periury fy blasphemy Phy bed of al abuse These phyes and many moe Pore Philomene may meane And in hir selfe she findes percase Some phy that was vncleane For though his fowle offence May not defended bee Hir sister yet and she transgrest Though not so deepe as he His doome came by deserte Their dedes grewe by disdaine But men must leaue reuenge to Gods VVhat wrong soeuer raigne Then Progne phy for thee VVhich kildst thine only child Phy on the cruel crabbed hart VVhich was not movde with milde Phy phy thou close conveydst A secret il vnsene Where good to kepe in councelclose Had putrifide thy splene Phy on thy sisters facte And phy hir selfe doth sing VVhose lack of tong nere toucht hir so As when it could not sting Phy on vs both saith she The father onely faulted And we the father free therewhile The selly sonne assalted 3 ¶ The next note to hir phy Is Iug Iug Iug I gesse That might I leaue to latynists By learning to expresse Some commentaries make About it much adoe If it should onely Iugum meane Or Jugulator too Some thinke that Iugum is The Iug she iugleth so But Iugulator is the word That doubleth al hir woe For when she thinkes there on She beares them both in minde Him breaker of his bonde in bed Hir killer of hir kinde As fast as furies force Hir thoughts on him to thinke So fast hir conscience choks hir vp And wo to wrong doth linke At last by griefe constrainde It boldely breaketh out And makes the hollow woods to ring VVith Eccho round about 4 ¶ Hir next most note to note I neede no helpe at al For I my selfe the partie am On whom she then doth call She calles on Némesis And Némesis am I The Goddesse of al iust reuenge VVho let no blame go by This bridle bost with gold I beare in my left hande To holde men backe in rashest rage Vntil the cause be scand And such as like that bitte And beare it willingly May scape this scourge in my right hand Although they trode awry But if they hold on head And scorne to beare my yoke Oft times they buy the rostful deare It smelleth of the smoke This is the cause sir Squire Quoth she that Phylomene Doth cal so much vpon my name She to my lawes doth leane She feeles a iust reuenge Of that which she hath done Constrainde to vse the day for night And makes the moone hir sunne Ne can she now complaine Although she lost hir tong For since that time ne yet before No byrde so swetely soong That gift we Gods hir gaue To countervaile hir woe I sat on bench in heauen my selfe VVhen it was graunted so And though hir foe be fledde But whither knowes not she And like hir selfe transformed eke A selly byrde to bee On him this sharpe reuenge The Gods and I did take He neither can beholde his brats Nor is belovde of make As soone as coles of kinde Haue warmed him to do The selly shift of dewties dole VVhich him belongeth to His hen straight way him hates And flieth farre him fro And close conueis hir eggs from him As from hir mortal foe As sone as she hath hatcht Hir little yong ones runne For feare their dame should serue thē efte As Progne had begonne And rounde about the fields The furious father flies To seke his sonne and filles the ayre VVith loude lamenting cries This lothsome life he leads By our almightie dome And thus sings she where company But very seldome come Now lest my faithful tale For fable should be taken And therevpon my curtesie By thee might be forsaken Remember al my words And beare them wel in minde And make thereof a metaphore So shalt thou quickly finde Both profite and pastime In al that I thee tel I knowe thy skill wil serue therto And so quoth she farewell Wherewith me thought she flong so fast away That scarce I could hir seemely shaddow see At last my staffe which was mine onely stay Did slippe and I must needes awaked be Against my wil did I God knowes awake For willingly I could my selfe content Seuen dayes to sleepe for Philomelâs sake So that my sleepe in such swete thoughts were spent But you my Lord which reade this ragged verse Forgiue the faults of my so sleepy muse Let me the heast of Némesis rehearse For sure I see much sense therof ensues I seeme to see my Lord that lechers lust Procures the plague and vengaunce of the highest I may not say but God is good and iust Although he scourge the furdest for the nighest The fathers fault lights sometime on the sonne Yea foure discents it beares the burden stil Whereby it falles when vaine delight is done That dole steppes in and wields the world at wil. O whoredom whoredome hope
in mens weedes With dutchkin dublets and with Ierkins iaggde With Spanish spangs and ruffes fet out of France With high copt hattes and fethers flaunt a flaunt They be so sure euen VVo to Men in dede Nay then my lorde let shut the glasse apace High time it were for my pore Muse to winke Since al the hands al paper pen and inke Which euer yet this wretched world possest Cannot describe this Sex in colours dewe No no my Lorde we gased haue inough And I too much God pardon me therfore Better loke of than loke an ace to farre And better mumme than meddle ouermuch But if my Glasse do like my louely lorde VVe wil espie some sunny Sommers day To loke againe and see some semely sights Meane while my Muse right hūbly doth besech That my good lorde accept this ventrous verse Vntil my braines may better stuffe deuise FINIS Tam Marti quà m Mercurio The complaynt of Phylomene An Elegye compyled by George Gascoigne Esquire Tam Marti quà m Mercurio IMPRINTED AT London by Henrie Binneman for Richarde Smith Anno Domini 1576. To the right honorable my singuler good Lord the L. Gray of Wilton Knight of the most noble order of the Garter RYght noble when I had determined with myself to write the Satire before recited called the Steele Glasse and had in myne Exordium by allegorie compared my case to that of fayre Phylomene abused by the bloudy king hir brother by lawe I called to minde that twelue or thirtene yeares past I had begonne an Elegye or sorrowefull song called the Complainte of Phylomene the which I began too deuise riding by the high way betwene Chelmisford and London and being ouertaken with a sodaine dash of Raine I changed my copy and stroke ouer into the Deprofundis which is placed amongst my other Poesies leuing the cōplaint of Phylomene vnfinished and so it hath continued euer since vntil this present moneth of April 1575. whē I begonne my Steele Glasse And bycause I haue in mine Exordium to the Steele Glasse begonne with the Nightingales notes therfore I haue not thought amisse now to finish pece vp the saide Cōplaint of Philomene obseruing neuerthelesse the same determinate inuention which I had propounded and begonne as is saide twelue yeeres nowe past The which I presume with the rest to present vnto your honor nothing doubting but the same wil accept my good entente therin And I furder beseche that your lordship wil voutsafe in reading ther of to gesse by change of style where the renewing of the verse may bee most apparantly thought to begin I wil no furder trouble your honor with these rude lines but besech of the almightie long to preserue you to his pleasure From my pore house in VValkamstowe the sixtenth of April 1575. Your L. bounden and most assured George Gascoigne PHILOMENE IN sweet April the messēger to May When hoonie drops do melt in golden showres When euery byrde records hir louers lay And westerne windes do foster forth our floures Late in an euen I walked out alone To heare the descant of the Nightingale And as I stoode I heard hir make great moane Waymenting much and thus she tolde hir tale These thriftles birds quoth she which spend the day In nedlesse notes and chaunt withouten skil Are costly kept and finely fedde alway With daintie foode wherof they feede theirfil But I which spend the darke and dreadful night In watch ward whē those birds take their rest Forpine my selfe that Louers might delight To heare the notes which breake out of my breste I leade a life to please the Louers minde And though god wot my foode be light of charge Yet seely soule that can no fauour finde I begge my breade and seke for seedes at large The Throstle she which makes the wood to ring With shryching lowde that loth some is to heare Is costly kept in cage O wondrous thing The Mauis eke whose notes are nothing cleare Now in good sooth quoth she sometimes I wepe To see Tom Tyttimouse so much set by The Finche which singeth neuer a note but peepe Is fedde aswel nay better farre than I. The Lennet and the Larke they sing alofte And coumpted are as Lordes in high degree The Brandlet saith for singing sweete and softe In hir conceit there is none such as she Canara byrds come in to beare the bell And Goldfinches do hope to get the gole The tatling Awbe doth please some fancie wel And some like best the byrde as Blacke as cole And yet could I if so it were my minde For harmony set al these babes to schole And sing such notes as might in euery kinde Disgrace them quight make their corage coole But should I so no no so wil I not Let brutish beasts heare such brute birds as those For like to like the prouer be saith I wot And should I then my cunning skil disclose For such vnkinde as let the cukowe flye To sucke mine eggs whiles I sit in the thicke And rather praise the chattring of a pye Than hir that sings with brest against a pricke Nay let them go to marke the cuckowes talke The iangling Iay for that becomes them wel And in the silent night then let them walke To heare the Owle how she doth shryche and yel And from henceforth I wil no more constraine My pleasant voice to sounde at their request But shrowd my selfe in darke some night raine And learne to cowche ful close vpon my neast Yet if I chaunce at any time percase To sing a note or twaine for my disporte It shal be done in some such secret place That fewe or none may ther vnto resorte These flatterers in loue which falshood meane Not once aproch to heare my pleasant song But such as true and sted fast louers bene Let them come neare for else they do me wrong And as I gesse not many miles from hence There stands a squire with pangs of sorrow prest For whom I dare auowe in his defence He is as true in Loue as is the best Him wil I cheare with chaunting al this night And with that word she gan to cleare hir throate But such a liuely song now by this light Yet neuer hearde I such another note It was thought me so pleasant and so plaine Orphaeus harpe was neuer halfe so sweete Tereu Tereu and thus she gan to plaine Most piteously which made my hart to greeue Hir second note was fy fy fy fy fy And that she did in pleasant wise repeate With sweete reports of heauenly harmonie But yet it seemd hir gripes of griefe were greate For when she had so soong and taken breath Then should you heare hir heauy hart so throbbe As though it had bene ouercome with death And yet alwayes in euery sigh and sobbe She shewed great skil for tunes of vnisone Hir Iug Iug Iug in griefe had such a grace Then stinted she as if hir song were done And ere
The Steele Glas. A Satyre coÌ„piled by George Gascoigne Esquire Togither with The Complainte of Phylomene An Elegie deuised by the same Author Tam Marti quà m Mercurio Printed for Richard Smith TAM MARTI QVAM MERCVRIO To the right honorable his singular good Lord the Lord Gray of Wilton Knight of the most honorable order of the Garter George Gascoigne Esquire wisheth long life with encrease of honour according to his great worthinesse RIght honorable noble and my singular good Lorde if mine abilitie were any way correspondent too the iust desires of my hart I should yet thinke al the same vnable to deserue the least parte of your goodnesse in that you haue alwayes deygned with chearefull looke to regarde me with affabylitie to heare me with exceeding curtesy to vse me with graue aduice to directe mee with apparant loue to care for me and with assured assistance to protect me All which when I do remeÌ„ber yet it stirreth in me an exceeding zeale to deserue it and that zeale begetteth bashefull dreade too performe it The dread is ended in dolours and yet those dolours receiue the very same affection whiche firste moued in mee the desire to honour and esteme you For whiles I bewayle mine own vnworthynesse and therewithal do set before mine eyes the lost time of my youth mispent I seeme to see a farre of for my comfort the high and triumphant vertue called Magnanimitie accoÌ„panied with industrious diligeÌ„ce The first doth encourage my faynted harte and the seconde doth beginne already to employ my vnderstanding for ahlas my good Lorde were not the cordial of these two pretious Spiceries the corrosyue of care woulde quickely confounde me I haue misgouerned my youth I confesse it what shall I do then shall I yelde to mysery as a iust plague apointed for my portion Magnanimitie saith no and Industrye seemeth to be of the very same opinion I am derided suspected accused and condemned yea more than that I am rygorously reiected when I proffer amendes for my harme Should I therefore dispayre shall I yeelde vnto iellosie or drowne my dayes in idlenesse bycause their beginning was bathed in wantonnesse Surely my Lord the Magnanimitie of a noble minde will not suffer me and the delightfulnesse of dilygence doth vtterly forbydde me Shal I grudge to be reproued for that which I haue done in deede when the sting of Emulation spared not to touche the worthy Scipio with most vntrue surmyses Yea Themistocles when he had deliuered al Greece from the huge host of Xerxes was yet by his vnkinde citizens of Athens expulsed from his owne and constrained to seeke fauour in the sight of his late professed enemie But the Magnanimitie of their mindes was such as neither could aduersytie ouercome them nor yet the iniurious dealing of other men coulde kindle in their brestes any least sparke of desire to seeke any vnhonorable reuenge I haue loytred my lorde I confesse I haue lien streaking me like a lubber when the sunne did shine and now I striue al in vaine to loade the carte when it raineth I regarded not my comelynes in the Maymoone of my youth and yet now I stand prinking me in the glasse when the crowes foote is growen vnder mine eye But what Aristotle spent his youth very ryotously Plato by your leaue in twenty of his youthful yeares was no lesse addicted to delight in amorous verse than hee was after in his age painful to write good precepts of moral Phylosophy VVhat shoulde I speake of Cato who was oâ—de before he learned lattine letters and yet became one of the greatest Oratours of his time These examples are sufficient to proue that by industrie and diligence any perfection may be attained and by true Magnanimitie all aduersitie are easye to be endured And to that ende my verie good lorde I do here presume thus rudely to rehearse them For as I can be content to confesse the lightnesse wherewith I haue bene in times past worthie to be burdened so would I be gladde if nowe when I am otherwise bent my better endeuors might be accepted But alas my lorde I am not onely enforced stil to carie on my shoulders the crosse of my carelesnesse but there withall I am also put to the plonge too prouide â—uen nowe weapons wherewith I maye defende all heauy frownes deepe suspects and dangerous detractions And I finde my selfe so feeble and so vnable to endure that combat as were not the cordialles before rehearsed I should either cast down◠〈◊〉 armoure and hide myselfe like a recreaÌ„t or else of a malicious stubbornesse should busie my braines with some Stratagem for to execute an enuious reuenge vpon mine aduersaries But neither wil Magnanimitie suffer me to become vnhonest nor yet can Industrie see me sinke in idlenesse For I haue learned in sacred scriptures to heape coles vppon the heade of mine enemie by honest dealing and our sauiour himselfe hath encoraged me saying that I shal lacke neither workes nor seruice although it were noone dayes before I came into the Market place These things I say my singular good lorde do renewe in my troubled minde the same affectioÌ„ which first moued me to honor you nothing doubting but 〈◊〉 your fauorable eyes will vouchsafe to beholde me as I am and neuer be so curious as to enquire what I haue bene And in ful hope therof I haue presumed to present your honour with this Satyre written without rime but I truste not without reason And what soeuer it bee I do humbly dedicate it vnto your honorable name beseeching the same too accept it with as gratious regarde as you haue in times past bene accustomed too beholde my trauailes And my good Lorde though the skorneful do mocke me for a time yet in the ende I hope to giue them al a rybbe of roste for their paynes And when the vertuous shall perceiue indeede how I am occupied then shall detraction be no lesse ashamed to haue falsely accused me than light credence shal haue cause to repent his rashe conceypt and Grauitie the iudge shal not be abashed to cancel the sentence vniustly pronounced in my condemnation In meane while I remaine amongst my bookes here at my poore house in VValkamstowe where I praye daylie for speedy aduauncement and continuall prosperitie of your good Lordship VVritten the fiftenth of April 1576. By your honours most bownden and wel assured George Gascoigne N. R. in commendation of the Authour and his workes IN rowsing verse of Mauors bloudie raigne The famous Greke and Maro did excel Graue Senec did surmounte for Tragike vaine Quicke Epigrams Catullus wrote as wel Archilochus did for lambickes passe For commicke verse still Plautus peerelesse was In Elegies and wanton loue writ laies Sance peere were Naso and Tibullus deemde In Satyres sharpe as men of mickle praise Lucilius and Horace were esteemde Thus diuers men with diuers vaines did write But Gascoigne doth in euery vaine indite And what perfourmaunce hee thereof doth
by like or very neare of kin Then followed them Detraction and Deceite Sym Swash did beare a buckler for the first False witnesse was the seconde seemely page And thus wel armd and in good equipage This Galant came vnto my fathers courte And wood my sister for she elder was And fayrer eke but out of doubt at least Hir pleasant speech surpassed mine somuch That vayne Delight to hir adrest his sute Short tale to make she gaue a free consent And forth she goeth to be his wedded make Entyst percase with glosse of gorgeous shewe Or else perhappes persuaded by his peeres That constant loue had herbord in his brest Such errors growe where suche false Prophets preach How so it were my Syster likte him wel And forth she goeth in Court with him to dwel Where when she had some yeeres ysoiorned And saw the world and marked eche mans minde A deepe Desire hir louing hart enflamde To see me sit by hir in seemely wise That companye might comfort hir sometimes And sound advice might ease hir wearie thoughtes And forth with speede euen at hir first request Doth vaine Delight his hasty course direct To seeke me out his sayles are fully bent And winde was good to bring me to the bowre Whereas she lay that mourned dayes and nights To see hir selfe so matchte and so deceivde And when the wretch I cannot terme him bet Had me on seas ful farre from friendly help A sparke of lust did kindle in his brest And bad him harke to songs of Satyra I selly soule which thought no body harme Gan cleere my throte and straue to sing my best Which pleasde him so and so enflamde his hart That he forgot my sister Poesys And rauisht me to please his wanton minde Not so content when this foule fact was done Yfraught with feare least that I should disclose His incest and his doting darke desire He causde straight wayes the formost of his crew VVith his compeare to trie me with their tongues And when their guiles could not preuaile to winne My simple mynde from tracke of trustie truth Nor yet deceyt could bleare mine eyes frō fraud Came Slander then accusing me and sayde That I entist Delyght to loue luste Thus was I caught poore wretch that thought none il And furthermore to cloke their own offence They clapt me fast in cage of Myserie And there I dwelt full many a doleful day Vntil this theefe this traytor vaine Delight Cut out my tong with Raysor of Restraynte Least I should wraye this bloudy deede of his And thus my Lord I liue a weary life Not as I seemd a man sometimes of might But womālike whose teares must venge hir harms And yet euen as the mighty gods did daine For Philomele that thoughe hir tong were cutte Yet should she sing a pleasant note sometimes So haue they deignd by their deuine decrees That with the stumps of my reproued tong I may sometimes Reprouers deedes reproue And sing a verse to make them see themselues Then thus I sing this selly song by night Like Phylomene since that the shining Sunne Is now eclypst which wont to lend me light And thus I sing in corner closely cowcht Like Philomene since that the stately cowrts Are now no place for such poore byrds as I. And thus I sing with pricke against my brest Like Philomene since that the priuy worme Which makes me see my reckles youth mispent May well suffise to keepe me waking still And thus I sing when pleasant spring begins Like Philomene since euery ianglyng byrd Which squeaketh loude shall neuer triumph so As though my muze were mute and durst not sing And thus I sing with harmelesse true intent Like Philomene when as percase meane while The Cuckowe suckes mine eggs by foule deceit And lickes the sweet which might haue fed me first And thus I meane in mournfull wise to sing A rare conceit God graunt it like my Lorde A trustie tune from auncient clyffes conueyed A playne song note which cannot warble well For whyles I mark this weak and wretched world Wherin I see howe euery kind of man Can flatter still and yet deceiues himselfe I seeme to muse from whence such errour springs Such grosse cōceits such mistes of darke mistake Such Surcuydry such weening ouer well And yet in dede such dealings too too badde And as I stretch my weary wittes to weighe The cause therof and whence it should proceede My battred braynes which now be shrewdly brusde With cānon shot of much misgouernmēt Can spye no cause but onely one conceite Which makes me thinke the world goeth stil awry I see and sigh bycause it makes me sadde That peuishe pryde doth al the world possesse And euery wight will haue a looking glasse To see himselfe yet so he seeth him not Yea shal I say a glasse of common glasse Which glistreth bright and shewes a seemely shew Is not enough the days are past and gon That Berral glasse with foyles of louely brown Might serue to shew a seemely fauord face That age is deade and vanisht long ago Which thought that steele both trusty was true And needed not a foyle of contraries But shewde al things euen as they were in deede In steade whereof our curious yeares can finde The christal glas which glimseth braue bright And shewes the thing much better than it is Beguylde with foyles of sundry subtil sights So that they seeme and couet not to be This is the cause beleue me now my Lorde That Realmes do rewe from high prosperity That kings decline from princely gouernment That Lords do lacke their auncestors good wil That knights consume their patrimonie still That gentlemen do make the merchant rise That plowmen begge and craftesmen cānot thriue That clergie quayles and hath smal reuerence That laymen liue by mouing mischiefe stil That courtiers thriue at latter Lammas day That officers can scarce enrich their heyres That Souldiours sterue or prech at Tiborne crosse That lawyers buye and purchase deadly hate That merchants clyme and fal againe as fast That roysters brag aboue their betters rome That sicophants are counted iolly guests That Lais leades a Ladies life alofte And Lucrece lurkes with sobre bashful grace This is the cause or else my Muze mistakes That things are thought which neuer yet were wrought And castels buylt aboue in lofty skies Which neuer yet had good foundation And that the same may seme no feined dreame But words of worth and worthy to be wayed I haue presumde my Lord for to present With this poore glasse which is of trustie Steele And came to me by wil and testament Of one that was a Glassemaker in deede Lucylius this worthy man was namde Who at his death bequeathd the christal glasse To such as loue to seme but not to be And vnto those that loue to see themselues How foule or fayre soeuer that they are He gan bequeath a glasse of trustie
that past not ful a furlong space She gan againe in melodie to melt And many a note she warbled wondrous wel Yet can I not although my hart should swelt Remember al which hir sweete tong did tel But one strange note I noted with the rest And that saide thus Nêmesis Némesis The which me thought came boldly fro hir brest As though she blamde therby some thing amisse Short tale to make hir singing sounded so And pleasde mine eares with such varietie That quite forgetting all the wearie wo Which I my selfe felt in my fantasie I stoode astonyed and yet therwith content Wishing in hart that since I might aduance Of al hir speech to knowe the plaine entent Which grace hirselfe or else the Gods did graunt I might therwith one furder fauor craue To vnderstand what hir swete notes might meane And in that thought my whole desire to haue I fell on sleepe as I on staffe did leane And in my slomber had I such a sight As yet to thinke theron doth glad my minde Me thought I sawe a derling of delight A stately Nimph a dame of heauenly kinde Whose glittring gite so glimsed in mine eyes As yet I not what proper hew it bare Ne therewithal my wits can weldeuise To whom I might hir louely lookes compare But trueth to tel for al hir smyling cheere She cast sometimes a grieuous frowning glance As who would say by this it may appeare That Iust reuenge is Prest for euery chance In hir right hand which to and fro did shake She bare a skourge with many a knottie string And in hir left a snaffle Bit or brake Bebost with gold and many a gingling ring She came apace and stately did she stay And whiles I seemd amazed very much The courteous dame these words to me did say Sir Squire quoth she since thy desire is such To vnderstande the notes of Phylomene For so she hight whom thou calst Nightingale And what the sounde of euery note might meane Giue eare a while and hearken to my tale The Gods are good they heare the harty prayers Of such as craue without a craftie wil With fauor eke they furder such affaires As tende to good and meane to do none il And since thy words were grounded on desire Wherby much good and little harme can growe They graunted haue the thing thou didst require And louingly haue sent me here by lowe To paraphrase the piteous pleasant notes Which Phylomene doth darkely spend in spring For he that wel Dan Nasoes verses notes Shal finde my words to be no fained thing Giue eare sir Squire quoth she and I wil tel Both what she was and how hir fortunes fel. The fable of Philomela IN Athens reignde somtimes A king of worthy fame VVho kept in courte a stately traine Pandyon was his name And had the Gods him giuen No holly breade of happe I meane such fruts as make mē thinke They lye in fortunes lappe Then had his golden giftes Lyen dead with him in toombe Ne but himselfe had none endurde The daunger of his doome But smyling lucke bewitcht This peerelesse Prince to thinke That poyson cannot be conueyde In draughts of pleasant drinke And kinde became so kind That he two daughters had Of bewtie such so well giuen As made their father gladde See see how highest harmes Do lurke in ripest Ioyes How couertly doth sorow shrowde In trymmest worldely toyes These iewels of his ioy Became his cause of care And bewtie was the guileful bayte VVhich caught their liues in Snare For Tereus Lord of Thrace Bycause he came of kings So weddings made for worldli welth Do seme triumphant things VVas thought a worthy matche Pandyons heire to wedde VVhose eldest daughter chosen was To serue this king in bedde That virgine Progne hight And she by whom I meane To tell this woful Tragedie VVas called Phylomene ¶ The wedding rytes performde The feasting done and past To Thrace with his new wedded spouse He turneth at the last VVhere many dayes in mirth And iolytie they spent Both satisfied with deepe delight And cloyde with al content ¶ At last the dame desirde Hir sister for to see Such coles of kindely loue did seme VVithin hir brest to be She praies hir Lorde of grace He graunts to hir request And hoist vp saile to seke the coaste VVhere Phylomene doth rest He past the foming seas And findes the pleasant porte Of Athens towne which guided him To King Pandyons court There louingly receivde And welcomde by the king He shewde the cause which thither then Did his ambassade bring His father him embrast His sister kist his cheeke 〈◊〉 al the court his comming was Reioyst of euerie Greeke Oh see the sweete deceit Which blindeth worldly wits How common peoples loue by lumpes And fancie comes by fits The foe in friendly wise Is many times embraste And he which meanes most faith troth By grudging is disgrast ¶ Faire Phylomene came forth In comely garments cladde As one whom newes of sisters helth Had moued to be gladde Or womans wil perhappes Enflamde hir haughtie harte To get more grace by crūmes of cost And princke it out hir parte VVhom he no sooner sawe I meane this Thracian prince But streight therwith his fancies fume All reason did conuince And as the blazing bronde Might kindle rotten reeds Euen so hir looke a secret flame VVithin his bosome breedes He thinkes alley sure long Til he with hir were gone And hir he makes to moue the mirth VVhich after made hir mone Loue made him eloquent And if he cravde too much He then excusde him selfe and saide That Prognes words were such His teares confirmed all Teares like to sisters teares As who shuld say by these fewe drops Thy sisters griefe appeares So finely could he saine Thà t wickednesse seemde wit And by the lawde of his pretence His lewdnesse was acquit Yea Phylomene set forth The force of his request And cravde with sighes hir fathers leaue To be hirsisters guest And hoong about his necke And collingly him kist And for hir welth did seke the woe VVherof she little wist Meane while stoode Tereus Beholding their affectes And made those pricks for his desire A spurre in al respects And wisht himselfe hir sire VVhen she hir sire embrast For neither kith nor kin could then Haue made his meaning chast ¶ The Grecian king had not The powre for to denay His own deare child sonne in lawe The thing that both did pray And downe his daughter falles To thanke him on hir knee Supposing that for good successe VVhich hardest happe must be But least my tale seeme long Their shipping is preparde And to the shore this aged Greeke Ful princely did them guard There melting into mone He vsde this parting speech Daughter quoth he you haue desire Your sisters court to seech Your sister seemes like wise Your companie to craue That craue you both Tereus here The selfe same thing would haue Ne coulde