royall Knight nowe is he worse than nought Thus then when shame had ouertoke this worthy knight then loe In midst of all the darkesome night from house and friends they goe To water side and there doe wayte when lofty ship shall glyde On foming seas the winde is good for them on seas to ryde They do inquire if any ship to countrey farre will wende To whome the Master aunswere made that straight they did intende To hoyse their sayles and to departe to Egipt in all hast Agreed they are they hoyse their sayles to sayle away at last The lande they leaue into the déepe they launce with winde at will The mighty shippe the hollowe waues at euery surge doth fill The night is gone and day is come wherein eche thing doth ioy And here the lusty fish begin at paynted pupe to toy With fetching frischoes here and there with spready finne in sea And séemeth who fastest should swimme some wager for to lay They sayled haue and now at length néere Egipt they ariue The Master of the ship doth like the beautie of the wife Of Plasidas and doth delight his wauering wanton minde With rolling in his diue lish brayne the beautie of hir kinde She pleased hath his lothfull eyes with beauties shining beames Fro whence sometime did yssue out of teares abundant streames Then at the last when vnto land they drewe and playne did sée The touret tops and knewe full well how far from lande they be The Master of the ship did say you passangers we sée That nere to land our ship is come therefore nowe ready be For that you haue your fraught to pay as due it is by right Come on sir boy launce out this boate the towne is here in sight The anker then through flashing floud a way doth may doth make for holde And there to ryde from daungers great the Master is full bolde The Master and the Mariners guide the cocke boate vnto lande Then he his fraight for to receiue he stretcheth forth his hande Yet nought at all from Plasidas might hap in any wayes For all was gone and naught was left before he toke the seas Why Plasidas the Master sayd thy wife Ile haue away If that thou wilt not out of hand my duetie to me pay Then out of hande he toke his wife Plasidas being on shoare And sayd y e friend thou shuldst haue sought thy frayght to pay before Therefore I say thy wife with me away from hence shall wende With whome Plasidas all in vayne did labour and contende To kepe hir still the Master straight his Mariners bad to bring Plasidas loe in midst of seas by furious force to fling So that his wife the Master he at will might then possesse His wilfulnesse brought him his death in thende as I doe gesse Well Plasidas must needes departe whether he will or nay For money none at all he had as then the frayght to pay But from the shoares of surging seas with heauy minde doth wende And for to liue in Egipt lande he verily doth intende With his two babes of tender yeares so faire in natures grace The one on fathers armes hanging doth followe on a pace The other he doth runne afore with euery grasse to play His father mery for to make all meanes he doth assay At length wher flashing streames of flouds the shoares doth cleane deuide They are ariued and there they stande the maner to decide How for to passe those troublesome waues for néedes that way he must Unto the towne O Fortune thou to good men neuer iust Who earst a loft in chaire of state was wonte in peace to syt Is now in floudes of miserie and thou not leauing it Doest adde more care vnto his payne thy fashion it is so Bycause thou wouldest that all men shuld take thée for friend nor foe What mourning makes y e wight good lord whome wife is borne fro And taking vp his yongest sonne from dolefull shoares doth go To thother side where woodes and trées on fertile ground doth stande He is ariued and there doth set his tender childe on lande And entring nowe the rushing waues that soundes with noyse so shrill He doth approch the hollow waues in myddest thereof to fill When he in myddest was thereof there came a Woulfe and tooke The tender childe who late before was borne ouer the brooke And bare away but God who made the heauen the earth and all Did so prouide that once no hurt vnto it should befall He séeing then his childe was gone with dolefull minde he cride Oh wicked wretch and miser vile what shall of me betide And comming nowe to the other side his eldest sonne to catch A Lion huge from wood doth come and thother vp doth snatch Which straight doth trudge from thence away vnto the wood agayne A heauy sight for Plasidas in this his dolefull payne But Plasidas pore soule doth striue his childe to get agayne But he pore wretch of very truth laboureth all in vayne When that he sawe no helpe there was good Lorde he doth lament But mighty God the childe to saue hath rescue ready sent The countrey men that were as then a plowing in the fielde The heard men eke that shéepe did kepe did stand and all behelde Where as a Lion huge did runne and eke with him did beare A manly childe and loked as though in pieces he would teare Then out they sent their hungry dogs the Lion to ouertake And so at length the Lion he the childe did quite forsake The Woulfe likewise to beare the childe already hath begunne Through mydst of the plow men there and they at him do runne With battes and staues the praye he left and there the childe they founde A comely wight no hurt he had But was both whole and sounde The plowe men and the heard men both are ioyous of this thing That chaunced hath and to the towne the children both they bring There they declare how that they toke these tender babes of age From beasts ful fierce how they brought them home to their village These men they were both of one towne and set the babes to schole To learne such things as after they thereby their life might rule Nowe leaue we here a while and stay and let vs furder heare Of Plasidas how he doth range in dolefull heauy cheare He passed is the watrie streames of that vnhappy shoare With sobbes and teares his cares smart increaseth more and more And then at last vpon the ground prostrate on face he lies Haue mercy Lord on me vile wretch continually he cries Thou god that madest both heauen erth the sea and eke eche thing Which al the windes from out their caues and hollowe rockes dost bring That madest the world and eke eche beast that liueth now therein Who makest pore and eke dost cause of pore to ryse a King Who made the Sea the fish the foule that flies vnder the Skies Who rules the very
the woes and miseries that vnto hym befell Now his wife was taken him fro how children both were slayne And how himselfe nowe fyftene yeares did liue in dolefull payne From thence they goe to banketting to reuels and to play In dauncing and in minstrelsie they spend that lucky day And Plasidas is made I say Lieutenant of the bande And all the ordering of the warres is put into his hande He then before him calles the Knightes and doth their number take Intending vp an armie great in hast forthwith to make And doth commaund that strayght eche towne to him should sende Two lusty men with Plasidas vnto the warres to wende It happened so that that same towne two souldiers forth must make Which from the Lion and the Woulfe those tender babes did take At length the townes men do agrée that both these children should Goe with the Knight with willing mindes and heartes euen so they would The countrie men these souldiers twayne did bring vnto the Knight Their maners and their comelie shape did much his minde delight Wherefore with first at table he hath placed the same to be Bycause in them such noblenesse of maners he did see The day is come to battayle they must wende euen out of hand And now they must the great assault of cruell foes withstande The battayles great on eyther part the flames do reach the Skie The roaring sound of Canons shot the force of walles doth trie The Knightes with launce in hand I say do pearce throughout the throng The souldier doth assay to lay his enimie all along The battayle standes in doubt of truth which side shall other beate Here martch they on amayne and there they blowe agayne retreate Here all along on ground they lie and here from tourets hie The deadly shaft through misley cloudes aloft in Skies doe flie And here in flesh it lightes full déepe and giues a deadly wound And in an other parte there is a thousand brought to ground Here fighteth Plasidas full harde in midst of all the throng And here the children parent like slay enimies along They forwarde doe retire in hast and men afore do lacke And Plasidas assayles his foes behinde vpon their backe The wings that were the ayde and helpe of foote men goe their way The battayles lost all through defacde of keping their aray The wings are fled and battayle must by footemen stand a while The battayls great but at the length they are brought to exile The enimies flie from fielde amaine and Romanes followe styll Upon the chase for they did minde their cruell foes to kyll Retreate is blowen and home agayne to campe the souldiers hie That willing were eyther their foes or they in chase to die The towne is made full strong and sure with rampiers for shotte And eke eche syde of all the towne with munition is hotte The scaling lathers downe to throwe they haue their iron staues They haue their hatchets for to cut in sunder all their raues Some stand with stings from far to strike the Romane armies great Some stand with billes those that assault with furious force to beate The pike men they on walles doe stande their towne for to defende And some from towre with bow in hande the graygoose wing do sende The labourers do mende the walles with gonshot all to shake The townes men all within the towne do séeke defence to make And sluises al are opened to stop the enimies way Least that to scale their walles by night the enimie doe assay The night is come and it doth parte the armies for that time The watch man he aloft in towre beginneth for to clime The warde at gate is kept all night the souldiers stand in ray That when the onset shall be giuen resist their foes they may The night is gone and breake of day beginneth to drawe nie By which the watch man in the towre the armie may diserie And sée from farre howe Plasidas doth order all his bande How that he telleth them the way their foes for to withstande He doth declare as he can déeme what number that they be And doth espie if any troupe of horse men he may see That doth aproch vnto the towne for to increase their feare Plasidas sent horse men forth to range both here and there To sée if that they enter would from towne and would descend In open fielde by force of armes their citie to defende But they within did kepe themselues in order for to fight Then had the day quite drone away the lothsome mystes of nyght And Plasidas his comely trayne vnto the walles doth bring The which the watch man well perceyued and al arme out doth ring To walles they goe both tagge and ragge their Citie to defende And euery man his businesse doth duely nowe intende The pushing pikes stand next the walles their enimies downe to fling The stelly boyes the heauy earth on shoulders thither bring The sunne from depth of Occean sea did scarce himselfe areare When as the Romane armie did before the towne appeare And then the gonnes the way doe make through walles of stone and bricke And eke the flames of fiers do the tops of houses licke The Romanes they bring to the walles their scaling lathers hie With iron hookes vnto the tops of houses for to tie Now all the walles of Romanes stout is filled to the ende And more and more continually vpon the walles ascende The towne is wonne and Plasidas in midst thereof is set And all their labour is as nowe the spoyle thereof to get The towne to dust is quite consumde and burnt with scorching fire The trumpets sound triumphantly to cause their men retire Then after when the towne is wonne and all was brought to ground A resting place for all his bande there in a towne he found In which his wife did dwell and kept a house for hostage there To whome hir sonnes for harbor then vnto hir do repaire Not knowing what she was in déede they there their restes doe take And for their noble victories great ioy they oft do make At last the yonger doth desire the elder for to tell His yong estate and what to him in childehode oft befell Whose talke the silly mother oft did listen much to knowe Some newes by warriers stoutly done and afterwardes might showe The same vnto hir friendes that list oft times of warres to talke Therefore full oft I say she doth before the chamber walke At last the eldest sayd good friend I doe remember well Howe that my father rulde the Knightes of Rome that did excell And eke a Lady faire I had to mother well I knowe Two children eke they had full fayre I well remember so My yonger brother was full faire surmounting in degrée All other men so rich he was with giftes of dame beautie Long did they liue in ioy and blisse within that lande I know But yet by night he toke a shippe and from that lande did goe
Unto a countrey not farre thence the name I doe not knowe The shippe is come vnto the porte and then to land we goe My mother she behinde was left but howe I can not say But as I iudge the Master he my mother there did stay And then from thence we did depart vnto a towne thereby With heauy minde vntill he came vnto a great ferry And there he set me downe on ground and ouer strayght he bore His yonger sonne ouer the floud vnto the other shore And entring now the floud agayne me thither for to fetch A cruel Woulfe my brother yong vp in his mouth doth catch And wendes his way vnto the wood my brother loud doth cry My father still he striued harde agayne to me to hie But out alas a Lion huge came from the wood amaine And snaccht vp me and to the wood he did returne agayne But when the Lion great and tall the heard men they doe see Their dogs they set vpon the beast and so they saued me The yonger sayd my brother deare euen as I heard it tolde The plowmen toke me from a Woulfe which had me in his holde By that thou saydst coniecture I thy brother that I am Loe happy day they both doe say that vnto warres we came The ioy that they doe make forsoth no tong can it expresse No heart can thinke no eye hath séene such blessed ioyfulnesse The mother then hath heard their talke and ponder it well doth she And doth reuolue within hir minde if that hir babes they be Then vnto Plasidas she goeth and doth desire him sone That he would let hir goe with him for she was borne at Rome And as to him these wordes she spake in sounding she oft fell And cried at length O Plasidas I knowe thée very well I am thy wife pore Theopis which taken was thée fro In midst of floudes when thou from ship vnto the land didst goe The mighty God of heauen and earth for thee hath kept me cleane The Master he for his deserte vp darte of death is slayne Then Plasidas doth well perceyue his wife his loue and make His heart his life and vnto him in armes he doth hir take What ioy was there I can not tell my fingers weary be To write the same my eyes like that in world did neuer sée The wife the husband doth embrace the man the wife likewise The ioy to shewe the teares doe gushe like streames from out their eyes And in their ioy the wife demaundes where that hir children be Then he did say my louing wife their deaths my selfe did sée Two cruel beastes with foming mouthes our children both hath slayne Then sayd his wife be of good chéere aliue they both remaine For loe the God which vnto vs this ioyfull méeting gaue By his good grace and power diuine did both our children saue Then him she tolde how souldiers twaine their infancie did showe And strayght he sent for those yong men the truth of them to knowe The children both vnto him come and eche of them doth tell His infancie by which he knoweth they be hys sonnes full well He then doth kisse and eke embrace those tender babes of his The armie then for newes hereof in heart right ioyfull is They spende those dayes in ioy and blisse and after do intende To Romane lande triumphantly his hoste and he to wende But whilest in warres he did abyde good Trayan was deade And Adrian in the Empire succéeded in his steade Who in all mischieues did abounde as stories vs doe tell For persecuting of the truth he did the rest excell When Plasidas to Rome was come and did a time soiourne Then Adrian did him commaund his Idols to adourne For that the Romanes did possesse so great a victorie But Plasidas would not so doe he playnely did deny That they were Gods and vnto him they nought at all could giue He sayd by Christ in Christ it was that he in world did liue Then Adrian commaunded that deuoured they should be Of a Lion in Church whereas his Goddes the facte might see And so it was as he commaunde perfourmed eke and done The Lion he most ioyfully vnto their feete doth come And there doth lie much like a dogge cum caude that doth play And from their féete no man ywis can get the beast away But there he lies and mery makes he doth no hhurt at all Then Adrian doth strayght commaunde his men them forth to call And doth commaund that they be put in Oxe of brasse to die But nought they care in Jesus Christ they had their trust wholly The Oxe with flame is thorow hote and they are put therein And ioyfully in Christ they all to sing do then beginne Thus ended they their mortall race their file was at an ende That we may so indure good Lorde to vs thy mercy sende Iohn Partridge FINIS