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POETICAL
MISCELLANIES,
Printed betzvccu 1557 and 1602.
Reproduced
under the care of
J. PAYNE COLLIER.
\,..
LONDON,
1867.
TOTTELL'S MISCELLANY, published in - - 1557
PARADISE OF DAINTY DEVICES - - - 1578
GORGEOUS GALLERY OF GALLANT INVENTIONS 1578
PHCENIX NEST 1593
ENGLAND'S HELICON ----- 1600
NGLAND'S PARNASSUS - - - - - 1600
DAVISON'S POETICAL RHAPSODY - - 1602
.. •.. . • .. .
GENEEAL INTRODUCTION.
Tottbll's " Songes and Sonettes", by Henry Earl of Surrey
g> "a ■ other", published on 5tli of June, 1557 (although hitherto
rt L-t supposed to have made its first appearance until 31st July
"^ in that year), has usually been considered our oldest Poetical
^ Miscellany, and perhaps, strictly speaking, such is the fact ; but
the earliest collected edition of Chaucer's Works in 1532
^ (printed by Thomas Godfray) was a Miscellany consisting, in
f^ the main, of productions by him, but including also pieces by
a Lidgate, Occleve, Gower, Scoggin, and anonymous writers in
prose and verse.
It is a new point, as far as we are aware, to deprive the
author of " The Canterbury Tales" of a long and import-
sant prose production hitherto assigned to him, but to which,
}\ in our opinion, he has no claim. We refer to " The Tes-
tament of Love", written in imitation of Boethius De Conso-
latione Philosophioe, which last, there can be no doubt, Chaucer
translated. Warton (Hist. Engl. Poetry, edit. 1824, p. 332)
speaks of " The Testament of Love" as Chaucer's performance ;
and the dictum has been adopted, as far as we know, by all the
great poet's biographers down to the last and best. Sir Harris
Nicohis, in 1845. Nicolas adverts, indeed, to the contradiction
h
li TNTRODUCTION.
'• The Testament of Love" seems to afford, especially as regards
Chaucer's committal to the Tower, and other personal matter ;
but still gives no hint that it may have proceeded from the pen
of some contemporary. If we can at all successfully controvert
the position, hitherto maintained, that it was Chaucer's work, we
thereby shew that all that it contains regarding the tumults in the
City, the writer's concern in them, and his imprisonment, does
not apply to the author of " The Canterbury Tales", who was
undoubted owner of the five books of " Troilus and Cressida".
We do not propose here to dwell upon this question, but
rather to throw out a hint, and to make a quotation from
the end of the "The Testament of Love", in which the writer
fif Chaucer) is made to bestow upon himself and upon one
of his works most extravagant laudation. It seems to us im-
possible to suppose that a man of Chaucer's genius and mo-
desty (always coupled) would thus have written of himself : we
quote literatim from the edition of 1532, in which, we believe,
" The Testament of Love" first made its appearance.
" Qd Love, I shal tel the this lesson, to serve myne owne
trewe servaunt the nohle loliilosopliical poete in Englissh, whiche
evermore hym besyeth and travayleth right sore my name to
encrease : wherfore al that wyllen me good owe to do him wor-
shyp and reverence bothe : trewlij his hetter, ne his pere, in scJwle
of my rules, coude I never fynde. He (qd she) in a treatise y* he
made of my servant Troylus hath this mater touched, and at the
ful this questyon assoyled. Certaynly his nohle sayenges can I
'not amende : in goodnes of gentyl manlyche speche, ivithont any
mnuer of nyn'ie of starieres yminj/piririoii, in iinjttc, and in good
INTRODUCTION. HI
reasiin of sentence, he passeth ul other maJcers. In the boko of
Troylus the answere to thy questyon mayste thou lerne," etc.
We only ask whether anybody can imagine that Chaucer
would have thus written of himself and of his poetry ? We an-
swer no ; and we are persuaded that the reader, however uulikely
the position may at first appear, will be of our opinion, that iu
future " The Testament of Love" ought to be excluded from the
genuine works of the writer of " Troylus and Creseyde". It
is not at all probable that these expressions should have been in-
terpolated ; and we may add, that a careful perusal of the whole
treatise, and a comparison of style, have confirmed our impression,
that " The Testament of Love" was not by Chaucer, but by
some admiring imitator of his translation of Boethius.
We have only mentioned this point incidentally, with reference
to what we may call " Godfray's Miscellany", and to our
series of Poetical Miscellanies, beginning with that of Tottell in
1557. The earliest edition has been hitherto thought to be of
the 31st July, 1557 ; but we have shewn that bibliographers
have been mistaken on the point, and that it came out nearly
two months in advance of that date. The differences between the
two copies are innumerable : in the first poem there are nearly as
many changes as lines, though none of them so important as
they afterwards appear to bo. Suffice it to say, that we have
implicitly followed the edition we had the good fortune to dis-
cover ; and our text represents the true language of the various
poets, and the manner in which the pieces were originally
arranged, without the corruptions which were multiplied in
cvei-y i-rpriiil from 1557 to 1587, when, in the hands of Kobcil
IV INTRODUCTION.
Robinson, the printer, it may be said to have reached the climax
of misrepresentation.
It should seem that Tottell, when he first put the work to press,
was only in possession of some scattered pieces by Lord Surrey
" and other", as the title-page expresses it ; but, before he finished
the work, he had obtained additional productions, especially by
Surrey and Sir Thomas Wyat ; and these he added, as it were,
by way of supplement to the volume. It is probable, also, that
he obtained some more specimens of versification by poets whom
he calls " uncertain authors", and whose names (excepting that
of Nicholas Griraoald, who was an abundant contributor) he
does not give. Among these we now know that Sir Francis Bryan,
Lord Vaux, and Thomas Churchyard are to be mentioned. When
Tottell prepared his second impression of 31st July, 1557, always
hitherto mistaken for the first, he incorporated the whole of
Surrey and Wyat, and made some other changes, but not of
moment, adding subsequently an index of the whole collection.
Everybody at all acquainted with the history of our Hterature
will be well aware of the value of all these productions, which may
be looked upon as the earliest revival of a true taste for poetry,
after a dreary century between the death of Chaucer and the
birth of Surrey.
Nineteen yeai's elapsed between the publication of Tottell's
Miscellany and the appearance of our next work of the same
class — " The Paradise of Dainty Devices". It was the enter-
prise of a printer of the name of Disle ; and, instead of only one
poet figuring on the title-page as the principal contributor, we find
nine, three of them being designated by initials. The first name
INTRODUCTION. V
is that of St. Bernard, who, in fact, has no right to a place, inas-
much as the translation, or enlai'gement, of some of his monkish
Latin verses, by a person who subscribes " My Luck is Loss", is
the whole foundation of his claim. The other contributors are,
the Earl of Oxford, under his initials E. 0.; Lord Vaux ; Dr.
Edwyn Sandys, under his initials ; Francis Kinwelmarsh, under
the initials F. K., but in the body of the work named at length ;
M. Bewe, of whom nothing is recorded ; R. Hill, whose name is
once printed as R. Hall ; and M. Yloop, supposed to be Pooly
inverted. The above names occupy the centre of the title-page
in 1576, but above them the reader is informed that most of the
poems in the volume were "devised aud written" by "M. Ed-
wards, sometimes of her Majesty's Chapel", then dead. Several
pieces are anonymous, and others by versifiers such as Hunnis,
Rich, Lloyd, Thorn, Candish, Boucher, and Marshall, regarding
whom few. particulars, or none, have reached our time.
Our reprint has been made from an impression issued by the
same printer and stationer in 1578, of which no notice has any
where been taken, beyond the acknowledgment of its existence.
It difiers in many important respects from the first and second
editions in 1576 and 1577 : even the names of the contri-
butors vary ; for M. Bewe is entirely omitted ; the initials
D. S. are converted into D. Sand ; " the elder" is added to Lord
Vaux; F. K. becomes F. Kindlemarsh; and W. Hunis, or
Hunnis, is substituted for R. Hill, or Hall. Edwards still con-
tinues on the front ; but the other eight names are crowded
under the arms of Lord Compton, the dedicatee, at the back
of the title. Nor is this all ; for, in the course of the work.
vi INTRODUCTION.
the names printed at the ends of the poems are materially
changed ; new pieces in verse are inserted ; and others, imperfectly
given in the impressions of 1676 and 1577, are corrected and
completed. " The Paradise of Dainty Devices" became exceed-
ingly popular, and it is quite evident that Disle put forth his
impression of 1578 to set right many of the errors of his pre-
vious editions.
Such, in fact, has been our chief reason for reprinting it, and
we may briefly illustrate the point by two or three instances. On
p. 20 of our reprint is a poem headed " No Pleasure without
some Payne," and the signature is W. R., meaning Walter
Raleigh : it is his earliest production in verse, unless we give
precedence to his lines before Gascoyne's " Steele Glasse";
and it is highly characteristic of the philosophical spirit and tone
of Raleigh's mind: by the first edition of 1576, and by that of
the next year, he was deprived of this excellent specimen, and
it was attributed to E. S., which might denote the Earl of
Surrey, but was probably meant for Dr. Edwin Sandys.
In the interval between 1576 and 1578, Disle had, no doubt,
ascertained the real authorship, and therefore properly trans-
ferred the stanzas to their owner Raleigh. On the very next
page of the edition of 1576 are four stanzas given to D. S.,
while the impression of 1578 shews that they belong to W.
Hunnis. On p. 35 of our reprint is a poem by Churchyard,
against " The fond affectes of Love", which, in the edition of
1576, is not only without a name, but without the two con-
cluding stanzas. On p. 118 of our reprint we recover a long
poem by Whetstone, of the existence of which we know on no
INTRODUCTION. VU
other authority than our copy of 1578. It would be easy to mul-
tiply proofs of the same kiud, as regards Edwards and other
poets of higher distinction ; but we have said enough to establish
the peculiar value of our unique exemplar of 1578, which now,
even by our veiy limited number of impressions, is happily placed
beyond the reach of destruction — one great object we always
keep in view.
We have next to speak of " The gorgeous Gallery of gallant
Inventions", which came out in 1578 ; and, from the title-page, we
learn that T. P., i.e., Thomas Proctor, was the editor of it. The
poems, we are told, were " first framed and fashioned in sundry
forms by divers worthy workmen of late days, and now joined
together and builded up by T. P." He was the son of John
Proctor, Master of Tunbridge School ; and we had the good for-
tune to discover the entry at Stationers' Hall, by which, on 17th
August, 1 584, that son was made free of the Company. It is very
evddent, however, that Owen Roydon (father no doubt of Mathew
Roydon) also lent his aid to " The Gorgeous Gallery", especially
near the commencement, for he not only wrote a preliminary
address " to the curious company of Sycophants", but the leading
poem in the volume. Our notion is, that he was the editor of
the earlier portion, and that Thomas Proctor's duties began
principally with that share of the work, which, on p. 100 of our
reprint, is headed " Pretty Pamphlets by T. Proctor." Possibly,
Owen Roydon died while the work was in progress, and left the
completion of it to Proctor.
The reprint of " The gorgeous Gallery" in vol. i of Heliconia,
has many variations from the original, some of comparatively
Yin INTRODUCTION.
little importance, but others of more consequence, the most
noticeable being the omission of two entire pages. This want we
have been able to supply, owing to the discovery of the only per-
fect copy in existence in the evidence-room of a noble family.
After Thomas Proctor had been made free of the Stationers'
Company, he put forth in his triple capacity of author, printer,
and publisher, a small work in verse, of which no notice has ever
been taken by any bibliographer, called " The Triumph of Truth".
We have reprinted it separately for the sake of completeness,
not on account of any intrinsic value it possesses, although it
contains some curious traits of the manners and opinions of the
time. Proctor seems to have been not only a strong Protestant,
but a rigid Puritan.
The two miscellanies last noticed belong, it may be said, to the
older school of Elizabethan poetry; but the next in point of date,
published after a lapse of about fifteen years is in a moi-e ad-
vanced style of imaginative composition, Avith such improve-
ments in language and sentiment as give the poems a character
distinct from nearly all that had gone before them.
" The Phoenix Nest" bears date in 1593, and, to use the words
of the title-page, was " set forth by R. S., of the Inner Temple,
Gentleman." A question has naturally arisen, Who was R. S. ?
to which no satisfactory answer has yet been given. Certainly
not Robert Southwell, a Roman Catholic priest executed in 1596,
who had never been " of the Inner Temple", although that sup-
position has been entertained and encouraged. It seems more
likely that Robert Smith, who in 1578 had entered a work of
fancy at Stationers' Hall, may have been the editor of " The
IXTRODUCTIOX. IX
Phoenix Nest", but still we have little more than identity of
initials to support this claim. Whoever undertook the duty of
selection and arrangement must have been well read in the poets
of the time, and he resorted not merely to printed but to manu-
script sources. Unquestionably, the finest and most original
performance in the volume, " The Dream" of a lover, " wintten
by a brave scholar and Master of Arts of both Universities",
must have been derived from manuscript authority, and we
nowhere else, either earlier or later, meet with it in a printed
shape. Robert Greene was accustomed to place upon his title-
pages Utrmsqiie Academice Magister, but, if the poem were from
his ready pen, it exceeds in sentiment and expression anything
else he has left behind him : it has none of his aflFected phrases
and artificial allusions and illustrations, and displays a degree of
simplicity, pathos, and power, that we think beyond his capa-
bility. If it be his, it possesses more genuine feeling and true
passion than are, perhaps, to be found in all his other works.
It is a remarkable circumstance connected with " The Phoenix
Kest", as it appears in Heliconia, 1815, 4to, that, in this very
" Dream", distinguished as it is for excellence above any other
production in the miscellany, and consisting of so many admirable
seven-line stanzas, no fewer than six of them are entirely omitted,
not one after the other, which might have arisen from some extra-
ordinary oversight, but in five difierent places. How to account
for such editorial carelessness we are utterly at a loss ; and it
throws into complete shade other errors, and they are certainly
numerous, in that reprint. The collection commences with a
prose vindication of the Earl of Leicester, and wo may infer that
X INTRODUCTION.
it was written soon after his death, though not printed until
1593, and possibly it was the authorship of the editor of the
volume, which is nearly all in verse, Thomas Lodge, under
his initials, being a main contributor : he is always seen to most
advantage as a lyrical poet, and some of his best specimens of
this kind are contained in the work under consideration, and were
derived from his " Phillis", which also bears the date of 1593. It
is a great deficienc}^ in " The Phoenix Nest" that not a single
writer's name is found at length in it, and comparatively few
initials but those of T. L. and Nicholas Breton.
In this particular "England's Helicon", published in 1600,
leaves little to be desired : in general the names of poets
are inserted, although ■ without any hint as to the work laid
under contribution : some few authors are designated by initials
only, but more commonly both Christian and surname are
appended. Thus we have Edm. Spenser, W. Shakespeare, Phil.
Sidney, Thom. Lodge, Michael Drayton, Ro. Greene, Tho. Watson,
Geo. Peele, N. Breton, Rich. Barnfield, John Wootton, Edmund
Bolton, Bar. Yong, etc., together with various initials such as
S. W. R. for Sir Walter Raleigh, S. E. D. for Sir Edward Dyer,
H. C. for Henry Constable, M. F. G. for Master Fulke Greville,
and others, including the Earls of Surrey and Oxford. Two or
three pieces are subscribed Ignoto, Anonymus, and Shep. Tonie,
indications not satisfactorily explained ; and we may notice it as^
a singular omission, that not a line was derived from Samuel
Daniel, then more popular than his poetical rival Drayton. John
Bodenham was avowedly the editor of tl\e whole work, and hence
we may be disposed to infer that he and Daniel were not upon
good terms. Possibly, Daniel was then under a cloud.
INTRODUCTION. XI
The same remarks will apply to the second impression of
"England's Helicon" in 1614: many additions were made to it,
but not one by a man whose popularity had been daily increasing
— Daniel. "England's Helicon", in 1614, was introduced by
three quatrains and a couplet (meant for a regular sonnet) sub-
scribed Richard More, and he enlarged the collection ; but inas-
much as the first edition in 1600, consisting of so many cele-
brated original poems, has never been reprinted, either in ancient
or modern times, and as it is a work of extreme rarity and value,
we have thought it a proper subject for our series of Poetical
Miscellanies. For this purpose we have had the unusual ad-
vantage of the use of three separate copies ; and we may state
that they all differ, more or less, in minute particulars, and in
at least one place of importance to the sense. In a poem headed
" The Sheepheards Sonne" (p. 225 of our reprint), a copy kindly
sent to us from the North, reads —
" Some come for Loves paine,"
which is nonsense in the place where the line occurs ; while in
our own exemplar, and in one other we have consulted, the words
and meaning of the author are restored by this alteration,
" Some comfort for Loves paine."
The blunder, like many more, must have been perceived while
the last sheets of " England's Helicon" were passing through the
press in 1600, and the beneficial change then introduced. This
peculiarity has not hitherto been pointed out, probably on account
of llu' difficulty in bringing copies together for collaiion : and in
Xll INTRODUCTION.
the edition of 1G14 tlie reading propei^ly is " Some comfort for
Loves paiue."
The original edition of " Englands Parnassus", 1600, 8vo, is one
of the most incorrect works we have ever had occasion to exa-
mine. "We are not informed who was the printer of it, because
there is no printer's name at the bottom of the title-page : the
publishers only place their initials there, N. L., C. B., and T. H.,
almost as if they were ashamed of the book. N. L. is clearly
Nicholas Ling, whose device of the fish and the honeysuckle
occupies the centre : C. B. is probably Cuthbert Burby ; and
T. H. certainly Thomas Hayes ; the last name being found
at length on some copies of the book, although we have
never had an opportunity of seeing one with this distinction.
Cuthbert Burby, we believe to have been the brother of Richard
Burbadge, the great Shakespearean actor : Richard Burbadge
unquestionably had a brother settled in London of the name of
Cuthbert ; and the one being a player and the other a sta-
tioner, it is not unlikely, in the then carelessness about names,
that, for the sake of distinction, one called himself Burby and
the other Burbadge. Of course our notion is only to be received
as a conjecture ; and we must admit that we know of no book
at the bottom of the title-page of which the names appear in the
form of Cuthbert Burbadge.
Besides the variation already mentioned on the title-page,
there are small differences in the text of some copies of the
volume ; but although the original list of Errata is large, few
of the variations seem to have been adopted for the sake of
correcting textual misprints. We may here point out one of a
INTRODUCTION. Xlll
peculiar character, for which it is not easy to offer an explanation,
seeing that it only substitutes one blunder for another. On
p. 478 of the original impression, we commonly find a quotation
attributed to Dekker (which, like various others, we happen not
to have met with), concluding thus : —
" A wanton Hyacinth held downe his head.
And by the winds helpe oft stole may abide."
In another copy, also before us, the passage is made to end as
follows : —
" A wanton Hj-^acinth held downe his head.
And by the winds helpe oft stole man a kisse."
Both are nonsense as they stand ; but although we do not know
the poem from which the two lines are taken, we may pretty safely
conclude that the second is nearer what Dekkar wrote, and that
for "man a kisse" we ought to read many a Jcisse ; but how
" many a kisse" came to be misprinted may ahide, we can only
imperfectly guess.
This blunder is certainly not more unauthorised than hundreds
of other absurd mistakes in the course of the 524 octavo pages ;
and after having gone patiently through the whole of them, and
compared most of the extracts with the original works from
which they were taken, we are sure that we are far within bounds
when we say that " England's Parnassus", as it appears in the
edition of 1600, contains twice as many gross errors as pages,
some of them being most preposterous. We have very rarely
cited the title of a work quoted without having taken the
opportunity of comparison and correction : where we could
not collate, we have unavoidably left the passage as it had
XIV INTRODUCTION.
been left by the editor at the latter end of the reign of Elizabeth.
Whatever we have accomplished in this respect, may be said to
have been the result of not far from fifty years' labour; for
althovigh during the last ten years the vs^riter of this notice has
sought the whereabouts of comparatively few quotations, yet
there was a period when no old poetry passed through his hands
that he did not employ himself in tracing and correcting the two
or three thousand citations in "England's Parnassus."
Here it may be fit to assure the reader that, from beginning
to end, he will not find a single conjectural emendation : not a
change is introduced that is not authorised by the original
works, such editions having been generally chosen as were in
print before the date when " England's Parnassus" was pub-
lished. The failures of the editor of the reprint in Heliconia,
when, for instance, he tells us that " forworne" means worne before,
and that " trunchmen" are trenchermen, would be enough to warn
us to resort rather to the books themselves, than to any specu-
lative ingenuity.
Who was the editor of " England's Parnassus" in 1600 is a
matter of speculation, our only guide being the initials R. A.
appended to two preliminary sonnets, one of them addressed to
Sir Thomas Mounson, and the other "to the Reader". The
letters may belong to Robert Armin or to Robert Allot ; but we
are inclined to think that the former, if either, is the proper
claimant ; for if the latter had made the selections from contem-
porary poets, he would hardly have omitted all notice of his
friend and namesake, Robert Toft, whose " Laui'a" had been
printed in 1507, and his "Alba" in 1598, both containing pas-
INTRODUCTIOX. XV
sages of greater merit than many included in the vokime. On
the other hand, we must admit that most of the poems quoted
seem to have been entirely out of the line of Armin's reading : he
was a literary low comedian, and much employed, about the year
1600, at the theatres for which Shakespeare was a writer. An-
thony Wood [AtJi. (),wn., ii, 607, edit. Bliss], with the cautious
parenthesis of " tis said," tells us that Charles FitzgeofFrey made
" a collection of choice flowers and descriptions from the most
renowned poets of our nation," and that it was printed " about
the beginning of the reign of K. James" ; but he adds, that
after seeking for the book many years, he " could never get a
• sight of it." It is very possible that the author of " The Life
and Death of Sir Francis Drake," printed in 1596, had some hand
in the preparation of " England's Parnassus" : certain it is that
his work is often quoted in it — perhaps oftener than the pas-
sages themselves merited.
This brings us to advert to the number of what may be called
^ contemporary versifyers selected, as well as omitted. Forty-one
are named, and about ten indicated by initials, or in some other
more doubtful manner. In point of date, they commence with
one or two writers in "Tottell's Miscellany," and end with Ben Jon-
son and Dekker, who both began to print in the very year of the
publication of " England's Parnassus" ; but many notorious and
even excellent rhymers of the close of the reign of Elizabeth
are altogether excluded, and among them we may enumerate
Barnabo Barnes, Richard Barnfield, Nicholas Breton, Edward
Dyer, Arthur Grolding, Barnabie Googe, B. Gliffin, Joseph Hall,
John Lily, Anthony Munday, Walter Raleigh, Samuel Rowlands,
xvi INTRODUCTION.
William Smith, Robert Toft, George Whetstone, Henry Wil-
loughby, and several others, either then living or only recently
dead. These are certainly not such renowned names as those of
Shakespeare, Spenser, Daniel, or Drayton ; but their productions,
and especially those of Barufield, Breton, Googe, Hall, Raleigh,
and Whetstone, might have furnished many worthy quotations.
In fact, the editor's reading seems to have been somewhat limited:
his plan obviously was to copy, or procure to be carelessly copied,
passages under different headings, which he subsequently ar-
ranged, generally alphabetically, but often arbitrarily and in-
considerately ; and so heedless was he in this respect, that
citations are often repeated, sometimes with the interval of only
a page or two. It constantly happens that famous passages be-
longing to one distinguished poet are attributed to another :
thus, Shakespeare's speech by Gaunt in " Richard II" is trans-
ferred to Drayton ; and we might refer to whole stanzas by
Spenser that are attributed to Daniel. Other mistakes of this
kind are abundantly strange, but R. A. arrived at his climax
of blundering when he gravely assigned to Robert Greene the
opening of a poem as well known as " Mother Hubberd's Tale";
and even the modern editors of Greene have failed to detect the
ignorant misappropriation. In these cases we have done our
best to restore property to its right owner, though we dare not
flatter ourselves that we have always succeeded.
In endeavouring to accomplish this object, we have never mis-
represented the original edition of " England's Parnassus." If
Gaunt's speech be there imputed to Drayton, or a long passage
in Daniel's " Civil Wars" be coolly handed over to Shakespeare,
INTRODUCTION. XVll
we have left the names precisely as they stand in the old
impi'ession : what we have done has been, in our brief brack-
etted note immediately following each quotation, to point out
the error and its remedy in the shortest possible form. The
reader will thus at one view perceive how the matter actuallj'
stands in " England's Parnassus" of 1600, and how it ought to
have stood. Some works, well known perhaps two centuries
and a half ago, have now disappeared, and others are of extreme
rarity : with a few, such as Sylvester and Hudson, the editor
of the present reprint does not profess to be so well acquainted
as with Spenser and Shakespeare. Several passages from still
popular authors are not noted, and they may be safely left to the
knowledge of the educated reader. It is to be added, that
some of our memoranda, as to the rarer books where particular
passages are to be found, were hastily made, but we believe
our references in every instance to be correct. We offer the
whole merely as an endeavour to accomplish what may be useful,
and what has never before been attempted ; the reader taking
into account that from end to end of " England's Parnassus", as
it came out in 1600, there is no hint at a single volume quoted,
and that the representation there given of any poet's real words
can never be trusted.
Davison's "Poetical Rhapsody" forms the last miscellany
of our series ; and for the first time we hiive reproduced
the earliest edition of 1602 : it also re-appeared in 1(508,
1611, and 1621, and all contain productions in verse until
then unpriiited, and well wortliy of preservation. To many
names were npponded, but lo oHun's only inilinls, iiorlmps
d
wiii INTRODUCTION.
tlien easily recognised. This deficiency is the more to be
regretted, because a few of these pieces were the best of
their kind in our hmffaage : thus, it has never been ascer-
tained whom the letters A. W. represent ; and he was the writer
of an Eclogue " made long since upon the death of Sir Philip
Sidney", the finest of the many tributes oflFered to the me-
mory of the admirable, but perhaps somewhat over-estimated,
poet-soldier : it contains, among other interesting allusions, an
address to Spenser, as overcome with grief upon that occasion.
Here, too, we meet with information, not hitherto noticed,
which is of importance with reference to Spenser's supposed
praise of Shakespeare, in a disputed passage of his " Tears
of the Muses", 1591. The words, "our pleasant Willy", there
used, have been taken by many (and among them by the
present writer) to apply to Shakespeare, and to him only ; while
others have argued that Sidney was intended. One main objec-
tion to the application of the words to Sidney was, that no proof
had been adduced that the author of " the Arcadia" had ever
been called Willy ; but that proof we have since found in the first
and other editions of the " Poetical Rhapsody" in an Eclogue to
whicli the initials A. W. are appended : the lines are —
" We deem'd oiir Willy aye should live.
So sweet a sound his pipe conld give ;
But cruell Death
Hath stopt his breath :
Dumb Hes his pipe that wont so sweet to sound."
This passage and others to the same effect are decisive of the
point that one poetical name of Sidney was Willv; and ihorefovo
INTRODUCTION. xix
it is still doubtful whether Spenser's words,
" Our pleasant WiEy, all ! is dead of late",
were intended to apply to Shakespeare or to Sidney (J^fe of
Spenser, 1862, vol. i, p. Ixxx). If we suppose them to relate
to Shakespeare, we must take the words " is dead of late"
to mean not the actual and natural demise of our great drama-
tist, but his imaginary and poetical death, in consequence of
temporary silence as regards works for the stage. The lines we
have quoted from A. W.'s pastoral were certainly intended to
lament the absolute death of Sidney, in consequence of the wound
be received before Zutpheu : if, therefore, it fell to our lot to write
the life of Spenser again, we might be inclined, on reconsidera-
tion, to take a somewhat different view of the important ques-
tion ; and we feel bound, as conscientious critics and historians,
to admit that we have hitherto taken up ground too positively
in an opposite direction. Todd might be right in maintain-
ing that Spenser did not allude to Shakespeare, but to Sidney,
although he certainly did not know that Willy, as a poetical de-
signation, had been applied to Sidney : that it was so we have
on the evidence of A. W., who must have written soon after the
information regarding his death had been received.
The first Eclogue, without any title, and with the motto, TJni
mihi Fergama restant, is subscribed at length by Francis Davison,
in the first edition ; and it is highly interesting, because it is
written in the person of his father, the unfortunate scape-goat for
Elizabeth's sin in the sudden execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
In later impressions it has only the initials l'\ I). a( (ho end of
5
XX IXTEODUCTION.
it ; and until we saw the impression of 1602, which we hav^e ex-
actly reprinted, we conjectured that they might have been an
error of the press for W. D., and that William Davison, the father,
was himself the author of the poem (Bihl. Ace, 1865, vol. i,
p. 187). We onght to add, that in the only extant copy
of the earliest edition of " The Poetical Rhapsody" there is
a lamentable deficiency of some pages, which we have been
compelled to supply (as usual between brackets) from a later
impression. The edition of 1611 was the last superintended by
Francis Davison, Avho died before 1619: he had three brothers,
Christopher, William, and Walter, and two sisters, who all sur-
vived him.
It is vv'orth noting, with reference to tlie contents of " The
Poetical Rhapsody", 1602, that it sets out w^ith a mistake;
for the " Two Pastorals made by Sir Philip Sidney", which
we are told had been "never yet published", were printed
in 1-J98, at the end of the folio edition of " The Arcadia".
In the rest there is generally more novelty ; and a great deal
of interesting personal matter is contained in the earlier poems,
chiefly written by the two brothers, Francis and Walter Da-
vison : those, however, who have only seen the later impressions
of the book will find these postponed, perhaps for the sake of
novelty, to some liappy compositions from the sprightly pen of
Sir John Davys, author of " Orchestra", 1596, and of Nosce Teip-
S2im, 1599. They will also there meet with a very imperfect copy
of " The Lie", which has also been called " The Soul's Errand",
and attributed to Sylvester, who, though a tolerable translator, was
utterly incapable of a production so_ sbiki,ng_a£dLjori£inal. The
l^TIJODUCTION'. XXI
most complete and accurate copy of it has come down to us in MS.
of the time, with Sir Walter Raleigh's name, spelt Wrawley, pre-
fixed to it, and there can now be no doubt that he is the rightful
owner of it (Bibl. Ace, ii, 224). There is no name to it in
the " Poetical Rhapsody".
We may suspect, though we are without any distinct evi-
dence on the point, that at least some of the poems signed
"Anomos", one of which comes third in the impression of
1602, were by William Davison, the father, who thus employed
and amused his fancy while resident, in exile from Court, at
Stepney ; and it is known that like, at least, two of his
sons, he had a turn for versification. The " Sonnets, Odes,
Elegies, and Madrigals" by the two Davisons, Francis and Wal-
ter, begin on p. 48 of our reprint, and are continued until we
arrive at the " Sonnets, Odes, Elegies, and other Poesies" by
T. W., i. e., Thomas Watson, author of the " Ekatompathia",
which had been printed in or about 1581, and who is sup-
posed to have been dead ten years before the appearance of
the "Poetical Rhapsody". The sonnets, subscribed " Melo-
pliilus", we are unable to dispose of Most of the initials
can be appropriated : H. W. is Henry Wotton ; W. R. Walter
Raleigh; and H. C. Henry Constable; while Sir Edward Dyer
and Fulke Greville were also contributors. Th. Sp. was un-
questionably one of the family of Spilman, or Spehnan, into
which Secretary Davison had married before 1575, wlicn his .son
Francis is supposed to have been born. It has been concluded
by some critics, among them Sir Harris Nicolas, that John Donne
was the writer of <he "Hymn in Praise of Music", and of leu
xxii INTKODL'C'JIOX.
soimets to Philomel ; but unquestionably the first belongs
to Sir John Davys, and possibly he was also the owner of
the ten Sonnets which immediately follow the Hymn. Spen-
ser's " Trimeter Iambics", on p. 191 of our reprint, had been
published in his second letter to Gabriel Harvey, more than
twenty years before they were inserted by Davison : we feel
satisfied that the satirical verses on Women, which precede
them, were by Raleigh, under his not unusual^ signature of
Ljnuto. The whole "Rhapsody" is_jl]_ arEanged. iis_to_snb-
jects, and no attempt at chronology is made,, so that what
comes last, viz., the two sonnets by H. C. {i. e., Henry Con-
stable) and the " Ode of Cynthia", ought to have been placed
much earlier in the volume, which ends abruptly a nd unsat is-_
facto rily.
Davison's " Poetical Rhapsody" concludes our series of seven
early Miscellanies in verse ; and no work at all resembling
them, in fashion or material, made its appearance until many
years afterwards. If reasonably supported, we shall hereafter
apply ourselves to several rare works by separate poets, such as
Turbervile's " Epitaphs, Epigrams, Songs, and Sonnets," 1567,
and Whetstone's "Rock of Regard," 1576, which include pieces
by their friends and contemporaries. Of the first only one ex-
emplar is known, and of the last, at the utmost, two perfect
copies : our object is, by means of a very limited impression, to
render works of such rarity and value indestructible.
J. Payne Collier.
Riverside, Maidenhead,
1st Atufust, 1867.
N T I C E.
It may be proper to state that I began to insert particular
references to the quotations in " England's Parnassus" nearly
half a century ago : I continued to do so, at intervals, as au-
thentic editions passed through my hands ; but sometimes my
possession of them was brief, and I had only time to make
a few memoranda. Although I may not afterwards have had
an opportunity of correcting some of my notes, I am confident
that they will be found accurate ; and in the portion of the whole
work now submitted to the Reader, containing I know not how
many references, thei-e are only a very few titles and figures
that I have not comparatively recently tested. The entire
series of my notes would jiave undergone this revision could I
again have procured the use of the original volumes ; but some
works to which I formerly resorted are now in the silent recep-
tacles of affluent collectors ; while others, if not in our day un-
known, are unique, or of extreme rarity.
Of course (with the single exception of one of Ben Jonson's
■plays) all the works cited in " England's Parnassus" appeared
anterior to the year 1600 ; which may make it expedient for me
to explain why, in two instances in particular, I should have
trusted to editions of a subsequent date : those two instances are
" The Mirror for Magistrates" and Warner's "Albion's England,"
both of them most frequently quoted in the ensuing pages. The
fact is that both were published, and republished, in portions at
different dates : of the first an entire reprint was made in IGIO,
and of the second in 1002 ; and as I could not, in my concise notes
following each extract, always specify the various editions, I pre-
ferred the use of those which were most complete : the partial
imblication of " The Mirror for Magistrates" began as early as
1559, and of " Albion's England" in 1586. A similar reason
induced mc to prefer the edition of Sir John Davys' Works in
u
11
1G02, and of Daniel's " Civil Wars" in 1601>. For the rest, Imaj'
say generally, that I have resorted to the first or best impressions.
" Albion's England" is so often cited, without any very re-
markable excellence in the lumbering lines, that I cannot help
suspecting AVamer to have been a private friend of the Editor
of " England's Parnassus", whether Robert Allot or Robert
Armin. I was at one time disposed to attribute the collection
to the former ; but I did not then sufficiently advert to the fact,
that Robert Allot was on terms of intimacy with Robert Tofte,
who published several more than passable poems in 1597 and
1598, not one line of which is introduced into " England's Par-
nassus". Hence we might infer that Armin, and not Allot, was
the editor ; for if Allot had discharged that duty, he could hardly
have omitted all notice of the productions of his friend Tofte.
The extreme carelessness with which the two or three thousand
quotations were huddled together may also lead to the belief that
the applauded, and much employed, Comedian, Armin, was the
person who performed the task. The extracts were probably
copied on separate slips under different headings, and in doing
so, as well as in the arrangement of them, egregious blunders
were committed. The works of Shakespeare, Spenser, Drayton,
Marlowe, Daniel, Lodge, etc., are frequently confounded ; and
identical passages are repeated, even at the interval of only one or
two pages, while the gross mistakes in the text ai^e beyond all cal-
culation — hardly a page, in the five hundred and ten of which the
work consists, is free from several. In all these cases it will be
seen that I have done my best to restore the property, as well as
the language, of the fifty or sixty poets of the reign of Elizabeth,
whose many productions have been laid under contribution in
" Englands Parnassus". I have succeeded in pointing out the
particular references in at least ibur-fifths of the instances where
the editor supphed only the name of the author: from end to
end he gives no other clue to the title of any volume he quotes.
J. Payne Colmkk.
ENGLANDS
ParnaJJus :
OR
The choyfeft Flowers of our Moderne
Poets, luith their Poeticall comparifons.
Defcriptions of Bewties, Perfonages, Caftles,
Pallaces, Mouiitaines, Groues, Seas,
Springs, Riuers, &c.
Whcrainto are annexed other various difcourfes,
both pleafajint and profitable.
Imprinted at London for N. L. C. B.
and ^r. H. 1600.
TO THE RIGHT W O R -
Jhipfiil, Syr Thomas Moun-
fon, Knight.
"pNGLISH McBcenas, bounties elder brother,
TJie fpreading iving, tvhereby my fortune flies,
Vnto thy zuit, and vcrtues, and none other,
I confecrate thef e f acred Poefies ;
Which zvJiilft they line (as they innfl line for euer)
Shall gine thy hononr life, and let men knoiv
That thofc to fncconr vertue who perfener
Shall conquer time, and LcetJies onerfloiv.
I pickt thefe floivcrs of Learning from their fiem,
Whofe heaucnly Wits & golden Pens Jiane chact
Dull ignorance that long affronted them,
hi view of whofe great glories thou art plact,
That tvhilll their zuifdoms in thefe zvritings florijh ,
Thy fame may line, zvJiofe wealth doth zvifedome norijh.
Your Worfhips humbly
at comnia/nid.
R. A.
To Hie Header.
T HANG no luie out to fell my Wine,
The Ne6lar of good witts will fell it felfe ;
I feare not what detra6lion can define,
I faile fecure from Enuies ftorme or flielfe.
I fet my pi6lure out to each mans vewe,
Limd with thefe colours, and fo cunning arts,
That like the Phoenix will their age renewe,
And conquer Enuie by their good defarts.
If any Cooler carpe aboue his fhoo,
I rather pittie, then repine his aftion,
For ignorance ftil maketh much adoo,
And wifdom loues that which offends detra6lion.
Go fearles forth, my booke, hate canot harm thee,
Apollo bred thee, & the Mufes arm thee.
R. A.
THE CHOYSEST FLOWERS
OF OUR
MODERNE ENGLISH POETS.
ANGELS.
Faire is the heaven where happie foules have place,
In full enjoyment of felicitie ;
Whence they do ftill behold the glorious face
Of the divine eternall Majestic.
More faire is that, where thofe Idees on hie
Enraunged be, which Plato fo admirde,
And pure Intelligences from God infpirde.
Yet fairer is that heaven, in which do raigne
The foveraigne Powers and mightie Potentates,
Which in their hie protections do containe
All mortall princes and imperiall ftates :
And fairer yet, whereas the royall feats
And heavenly Dominations are fet ;
From whom all earthly governance is fet ;
Yet farre more faire be thofe bright Cherubins,
Which all with golden wings are over dight ;
And thofe eternall burning Seraphins,
Which from their faces dart out fiery light :
Yet fairer than they both, and much more bright,
i;
2 TJic Choysest Floivers
Bo th' Angels and Archangels, which attend
On Gods owne pcrfon, without reft or end.
[Hymn on Heavenly Beauty, 1596.] Ed. Spencer.
And firft compofing of this number nine,
Which of all numbers is the moft divine,
From orders of the Angels doth arife.
Which be contained in three hierarchies ;
And each of thefe, three hierarchies in three,
The perfe6l forme of true triplicitie :
And of the hierarchies I fpake of erft,
The glorious Epiphania is the firft.
In which the hie celeftiall orders bin
Of thrones, the cherub and the feraphin :
The fecond holds the mightie Principates,
The Dominations and the Potentates.
The Ephionia, the third hierarchic,
With Vertues, Angels, and Archangels bee.
And thus by threes we aptly do define.
And do compofe this facred number nine :
Yet each of thefe nine orders grounded be
Upon fome one particularitie.
[Etidymion and Phoebe, (i594); ^ig- F. 3, b.] M. Drayton.
Out of the hierarchies of Angels flieene.
The gentle Gabriell cald he from the reft.
Twixt God and foules of men that righteous beene,
Embaffador is he for ever bleft :
The juft commands of Heavens eternall King,
Twixt skies and earth he up and downe doth bring.
[Godfrey of Bulloigne, 1600, li. i, st. 11.] Ed. Fairfax, Transl.
I
of our English Poets. 3
Our walls of flefli that clofe our foules, God knew too
weak, and gave
A further gard, even every man an Angell guide to have:
And men to us be Angels, whilft they work our fouls to
save.
[Albions England, edit. 1602, B. x, ch. 59.] W. Warner.
If Angels fight,
Weak men muft fall, for heaven stil gards the right.
[Richard II, 1397, Act iii, sc. 2.] W. Shakespeare.
AMBITION.
Ambition is a vultur vile,
That feedeth upon the heart of pride.
And finds no reft, when all is tride :
For worlds cannot confine the one,
Th' other lifts and bounds hath none ;
And both fubvert the mind, the ftate.
Procure deftruction, envy, hate.
[Tragedy 0/ Cleopatra, 1594, Chor. to Act ii.] S. Daniell.
Ambition ! fie upon thy painted cheeke,
(Woe worth the beautie fleepes not with the face)
For thou art hatefull, foule, unfaire, unmcete ;
A poyfon-painted pleafure, madfmcn chafe. •
Thou reafonleffc dcfire, that makes men feeke
To kiffe the fame, whileft fire doth thee imbracc ;
4 The Choyscst Floivers
Thou oncly, ftrong difordered, ruleft paffion,
Thou marft mens minds, and putft them out of fafliion.
I. Markham.
The golden chaine of Homers hie devife
Ambition is, or curfed avarice :
Which all gods haling, being tied to Jove,
Him from his fetled height could never move.
Intending this, that though that powerfuU chaine
Of moft Herculean vigor, to conftraine
Men from true vertue, or their priftine ftates.
Attempt a man, that manleffe changes hates,
And is cnobled with a deathleffe love,
Of things eternall dignified above :
Nothing fliall ftirre him from adorning ftill
This fliape with vertue, and his power with will.
[Hymnus in Noctcin, 1 594.] G. CHAPMAN.
But O ! the greedy thirft of royall crowne
That knowes no kindred, nor regards no right,
Stird Porrex up to put his brother downe ;
Who, unto him affembling forraine might.
Made warre on him, and fell himfelf in fight :
Whofc death t' avenge, his mother mercileffe,
Moft merciles of women, Wyden hight,
Her other fonne faft fleeping did oppreffe, >
And with moft crucll hand him murdred, pitileffe.
[Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. 10, st. 35.] Ed. Spencer.
A diademe once dazeling the eie,
The da)' too darkc to fee afifinitie :
of our English Poets. 5
And where the arme is ftretcht to reach a crowne,
Friendfliip is broke, the deareft things thrown downe.
{Epistle, Jane Gray to Dudley, edit. 1599.] M. Drayton.
For realme-rape fpareth neither kin nor friend.
[Duke of Clarence, edit. 1610, p. 390.] J. HiGGINS, Mir. of Ma.
Who fight for crownes, fet life, fet all to light ;
Who aime fo hie, wil die, or hit the white.
{Elstred, appended to Phillis, 1593.] DOCTOR LODGE.
One rifeth by an others fall, and fome do clime fo faft.
That in the clouds they do forget what climats they have
paft.
[Albions England, edit. 1602, B. iv, c. 22.] W. Warner.
But eagle-winged minds that fly to neftle in the sun,
Their lofty heads have leaden heeles, and end where they
begun.
\_Ibid., B. iv, c. 22.] Idem.
O ! fatall is the afcent unto a crowne,
From whence men come not down, but tumble downe.
S. Daniell.
Like as the heaven two funnes cannot containc.
So in the earth two kings cannot remaine.
Of equall ftate : fo doth Ambition crave,
One king will not another equall have.
\nist(iiy of Judith, 1584, B. i.| Tho. Hudson, I'ransl.
6 The Choyscst Floiuers
Whom fo the mindes unquiet ftate upheaves,
Be it for love or feare ; when fancie reaves
Rcafon her right, by mocking of the wit,
If once the caufe of this affection flit,
Reafon prevaiHng on the unbrideled thought,
Downe faith he, who by fancie climbe aloft.
I. H. M. of Magist.
{Legend of Lord Hastings by Master D., edit. 1610, p. 428.]
Dcfire of rule within a climbing breft.
To breake a vowe may beare the buckler beft.
[Tragedy of Jocasta, 1575, Act ii, sc. i.] G. Gascoigne.
In fome courts fhall you fee Ambition
Sit, peecing Dedalus old waxen wings :
But being clapt on, and they about to flie,
Even when their hopes are bufied in the cloudes,
They melt againft the funne of majeftie,
And down they tumble to deftruction.
[Fortiinattis, edit. 1600, Sig. E 2.] Tho. Dekker.
Better fit ftill, men say, then rife to fall.
[Godfrey of Bulloigne, 1600, B. ii, st. 79.] Ed. Fairfax.
High ftate, the bed is where misfortune lies.
Mars, moft unfriendly when moft kind he feemes :
Who climeth hie on earth, he hardeft lights.
And loweft falles attend the higheft flights.
[Ibid., B. ii, st. 70.] Idem.
As highest hils with tempest been most touched.
And tops of trees most fubjcct unto winde ;
of our English Poets. y
And as great towers, with stone ftrongly couched,
Have heavy falles when they be underminde ;
Even fo, by proofe, in worldly things we finde,
That fuch as climbe the top of hie degree,
From feare of falling never can be free. i. h. M. of Magist.
{Humphrey D. of Gloucester by G. Ferrers, edit. 1610, p. 327.]
Ambition with the eagle loves to build,
Nor on the mountaine dreads the winter blast
But with felfe-foothing doth the humour guild
With arguments, correcting what is paft ;
Forecasting kingdomes, dangers unforecast ;
Leaving this poore word of content to fuch.
Whose earthly fpirits have not his fiery tuch.
[Moriimeriados, edit. 1596.]
M. Drayton.
For the ambitious once inur'd to raigne,
Can never brooke a private ftate againe.
{Civil Wars, edit. 1609, B. i, st. 29.]
And warlike Caesar tempted with the name
Of this fvveet island, never conquered,
And envying the Britons blazed fame,
(O hideous hunger of dominion !) hither came.
[Fairy Qiieeti, B. ii, c. 10, st. 47.]
[Ambition]
In princely pallace, and in stately townes.
It creepeth oft ; and close with it convaies,
To leave behind it, damage and dccaies :
By it be love and amitic dcftroid ;
S. Danikl,
Ed. Spencer.
8 TJic Choysest Flowers
It brcakes the lawes, and common concord beates :
Kingdomes and realmes it topfie-turvy turnes.
{Tragedy of Jocasta, 1575, A. i, s. i.] G. Gascoigne
Be not ambitioufly a king, nor grudgingly decline ;
One God did roote out Cis his ftock, and raife up Jesses
line.
{Albions England, edit. 1602, B. iv, c. 21.] W. WARNER.
The afpirer, once attain'd unto the toppe,
Cuts off thofe meanes by which himfelfe got up.
\Civil Wars, B. ii, st. 15.] S. Daniel.
Haughtie ambition makes a breach in hills,
Runs drie by fea amongft the raging scills.
{History of Judith, 1584, B. i.] Th. Hud.
AFFECTION.
Affection is a coale that muft be coolde ;
Elfe fuffered, it will fet the heart on fire :
The sea hath bounds, but deep defire hath none.
[Venus and Adonis, edit. 1593, st. 65.] W. Shakespeare.
Affection by the countenance is defcride ;
The light of hidden fier it felfe difcovers,
And love that is conceal'd betraies poore lovers.
[Hero and Lcnndcr hy C/i. Marlowe, 1598, Sest. 2.] Th. Marlowe.
of our English Poets. 9
Moft wretched man !
That to Affections does the bridle lend :
In their beginning they are weake and wan,
But foone, through fufferance, growe to fearefull end.
Whil'st they are weake, betimes with them contend ;
For when they once to perfe6l strength do growe,
Strong warres they make, and cruell battrie bend
Gainft fort of reafon, it to overthrowe.
\_Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. iiii, st. 34.] Ed. Spencer.
AFFLICTION.
Yet if Affliction once her warres begin.
And threat her feebler fenfe with fword and fire ;
The mind contrafts her felfe, and fhrinketh in,
And to her felfe fhe gladly doth retire :
As fpiders, toucht, feeke their webbes inmoft part ;
As bees, in ftormes, unto their hives returne ;
As blood, in daunger, gathers to the hart ;
As men feeke townes, when foes the country burne.
{^Nosce Teipsmn, edit. 1599. Introcl] I. Dayies.
If ought can teach us ought. Afflictions lookes
Making us pry into our felves fo neare,
Teach us to know our felves beyond all bookcs,
Or all the learned fchoolcs that ever were.
yibid., ihid.\ IDEM.
This made my senfes quickc, and reafon cleare,
Reform'd my will, and reftified my thought :
C
I o TJic CJioysest Flowers
So do the winds and thunders clenfe the aire,
So working feas fettle and purge the wine,
So lopt and pruned trees do flourifh faire,
So dotli the fire the droffie gold refine.
{Nosce Teipsum, ibid.] I- Davies.
A UDA CITIE.
What need we creepe the croffe to give unto a begging
faint ?
Tufli, tulh, a fly for booke-love ! none be fortunate that
faint.
{Albions England, B. vi, ch. 31.] W. Warner.
Things out of hope are compaft oft with ventering,
Chiefly in love, whofe leave exceeds commiffion :
Affection faints not like a pale-fac'd coward,
]Uit tlien wooes beft, when moft his choice is froward.
{Venus atid Adonis, st. 95. 1 W. Shakespeare.
Blufliing and fighing Theseus never strove
To wooe and winne Antiope his love.
I. Weever.
When all is done that do we may.
Labour we, forrowing all the night, and fuing all the day ;
The female-faultie cuftome yeelds leffe merit, greateft pay;
And ventrous more then vertuous means doth bear the
bel away.
[AlOions England, B. vi, ch. 31.] W. Warner.
of our English Poets.
II
ART.
Art hath a world of fecrets in her powers.
Art curbeth nature, nature guildeth Art.
[Scorcrge of Villany, 1598.]
M, Drayton.
J. Marston.
Things fenceleffe hve by Art, and rationall die
By rude contempt of Art and induftrie.
\^Hero and Leander, edit. 1600, Sest. 4.] G. Chapman.
Art hath an enemy cald ignorance.
Arts perifh, wanting honour and applaufe.
\_Fig for Monius, 1596, Eel. 3.]
... Arts beft nurfe is honours chaft defire,
And glory fets all ftudious hearts on fire.
\^Life and Death of JVo/sey, 1599.]
B. Johnson.
D. Lodge.
Tho. Storer.
Art muft be wonne by art, and not by might.
[Or/ando Fiirioso, 1591, B. iii, st. 55.] S. J. Harr. Trans/.
Valour and Art are both the fonnes of Jove ;
Both brethren by the father, not the mother :
Both peeres without compare, both like in love ;
But Art doth feeme to be the elder brother,
Becaufe he firft gave life unto the other,
Who afterward gave life to him againe ;
Thus each by other doth his life retaine.
[Life and Death of Drake, 1596, st. 152.] Cii. FiTZ. Jeieerv.
12
The Choysest Flowers,
Art is nobilities true regifter ;
Nobilitie Arts champion ftill is faid ;
Learning is fortitudes right calender,
And fortitude is learnings faint and aide :
Thus, if the ballances twixt both be waide.
Honour flieelds learning from all injurie.
And learning honour from blacke infamie.
{I.ife and Death of Drake, st. 153.] Ch. Fitz. Jeffery.
Vaine is the Art that feeks it felfe for to deceive,
\_Fai}y Qiiccn, B. iv, c. vi, st. 40.] Ed. Spencer.
A V A RICE.
And greedie Avarice by him did ride
Upon a camell, loaden all with gold ;
Two iron coffers hung on either fide,
With precious mettall full as they might hold :
And in his lap an heape of coyne he tolde ;
For of his wicked pelfe his god he made.
And unto hell himfelfe for money folde :
Accurfed ufurie was all his trade,
And right and wrong alike in equall ballance waied.
\_Fairy Queen, B. i, c. 4, st. 27.] Ed. Spencer.
Forth of a desart wood an ugly beaft
There feem'd to come, whofe fliape was thus defined :
Fares of an affe, a wolfe in head and breafb,
A carkaffe all with pinching famine pined ;
A lyons grifly jawe, but all the reft
To fox-like fliape did feeme to be enclincd :
of our English Poets.
13
In England, France, in Italy and Spaine,
Yea, all the world, this monfter feem'd to raine.
Where ere this cruell monfter fet his foote,
He kild and fpoyld of every fort and ftate;
No height of birth, or ftate, with him did boote,
He conquer'd kings and clownes, all in like rate :
Yea, this beafts power had tane so deepe a roote,
It entred in Christs vicars facred gate.
And vexed cardinalls and billiops chiefe,
And bred a fcandall even in our beliefe.
\Orlaiido Furioso, 1591, B. xxvi, st. 27.] S. J. Harr.
Python, whom Phoebus kil'd with thoufand darts.
Was monfter leffe then this, by hundred parts.
\_Ibid., ibid., st. 37.]
Idem.
[Eriphilaes armor.]
In vaine it were for to declare in verfe,
How fumptuoufly her armour all was wrought ;
All fet with ftones, and guilt with Indian gold.
Perfect for ufe, and pleafant to behold.
Mounted flie was, but not upon a fteede,
In ftead thereof fhe on a wolfe doth fit ;
A wolfe, whofe match Apulia doth not breede,
Taught to obey, although fhe us'de no bit ;
And all of fandy colour was her weede :
Her amies were thus, (for fuch a champion fit)
An ugly toade was painted on her fhield.
With poyfon fwolne, and in a fable field.
\_Ilii(L, \\. vii, St. 4.J
Idem.
14 TJic CJioysest Flozvers
Avarice, all arm'd in hooking tenters,
All clad in birdlime, without bridge Ihe venters
Through fell Charibdis and falfe Syrtes neffe ;
The more her wealth, the more her wretchedneffe.
Cruell, refpectleffe, friendleffe, faithleffe elfe,
Thofe foule bafe figures in each dunghill-poole ;
Like Tantalus, ftarv'd in the midft of ftore :
Not that fhe hath, but \\\\dX flie wants flie counts ;
A well-wing'd bird, that never loftie mounts.
[^Furies, frovi Du Baf/as.'] I. Sylvister, Transl.
Regard of worldly mucke doth fowly blend,
And lowe abafe the hie heroike fpirit.
That joyes for crownes and kingdomes to contend.
Ed. Spencer.
We, aged, cark to live, and leave an overplus in ftore,
Perhaps for fpend-alls ; fo, amidft abundance, live we pore.
[A/dioHS England, B. v, c. 24.] W. WARNER.
Thofe that much covet, are with gaine fo fond.
That what they have not, that which they poffeffe.
They fcatter and unloofe it from their bond ;
And fo, by hoping more, they have but leffe ;
Or gaining more, the profit of exceffe
Is but to furfet, and fuch griefes fuftaine,
That they prove banckrout in this pore rich gaine.
\Lucrece, edit. 1594, st. 20.] W. Shakespeare.
Thofe that will all devour, muft all forgoe.
\Coinedy of Old Forlniiaiiis, 1600.] Tho. Dekkar.
of our English Poets. 1 5
Content thee with unthreatened mean, and play not Aesops
dog,
The gold that gentle Bacchus gave did greedy Mydas
clog :
S^Albions Eiiglatid. B. iv, c. 21.] W. Warner.
Commit not treafure with thy child to greedy-minded
men ;
Thou leaveft Polydor a fpoile to Polymneftor then.
S^Ibid., Ibid.] Idem.
BE A UTIE.
For facred Beautie is the fruit of fight,
That curtefie that fpeakes before the toong ;
The feaft of foules, the glory of the light,
Envy of age, and everlafting yoong ;
Pitties commaunder, Cupids richeft throne,
Muficke entraunced, never duly fung ;
The fumme and court of all proportion.
And, that I may dull fpeeches beft afford,
All rhcthorickes flowers, in leffe then in a word.
{Ovids Baftquet of Sence, edit. 1595.] G. Chapman.
Bewtie, borne of heavenly race :
Bewtie, (daughter of marvaile) 6 fee how
Thou canft difgracing forrowes fwectly grace,
What power thou fliew'ft in a diftrcffed browe,
That mak'st affliction faire, giv'st teares their grace.
What ! can untreffed locks, can tornc rent haire,
A weeping eye, a wailing face, be faire ?
1 6 TJic Clioysest Flowers
I see then artleffe feature can content,
And that true Bewtie needs no ornament.
IDelia, Son. 1592.] S. Daniell
Bewtie is the, bait, which with delight
Doth man allure for to enlarge his kinde ;
Bewtie, the burning lampe of heavens light,
Darting her beames into each feeble minde ;
Againft whofe power nor God nor man can finde
Defence, ne ward the daunger of the wound ;
But being hurt, feeke to be medicinde
Of her, that firft did ftirre that mortal! ftownd.
[Co/m Clouts come home again, 1595.] Ed. Spencer.
Bewtie is womans golden crowne,
Mans conquereffe, and feminine renowne :
Not joind with love, who deare yet ever fold it }
For Bewties cheape, except loves eye behold it.
I. Weever.
Bewtie is an adamant to all :
Yea, Bewtie, natures ivie-bufli each paffenger doth call.
[Albions England, B. v, ch. 26.] W. Warner.
Seldomc wants guefts, where Bewtie bids the feaft ;
Mens eyes with wonders never are fufifised ;
At faireft fignes beft welcome is furmised :
The flirinc of love doth feldome offrings want,
Nor, with fuch counfell, clients never fcant.
{Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. y^.'\ M. Drayton.
All orators are dumbe when Bewtie pleadeth.
[Lna-cce, st. 40.] W. Shakespeare.
of our Englisli Poets. 1 7
Bewtie it felfe doth of it felfe perfwade
The eyes of men, without an orator :
What needeth then apollogies be made,
To fet forth that which is fo fmgular ?
\_Lucrece., st. 5.] W. Shakespeare.
Nought under heaven fo fhrongly doth allure
The fenfe of man, and all his minde poffeffe,
As Bewties lovely bate ; that doth procure
Great warriors oft their rigor to repreffe,
And mightie hands forget their manlineffe :
Drawn with the power of an heart-robbing eye,
And wrapt in fetters of a golden treffe,
That can with melting pleafance mollifie
Their hardned hearts, enur'd to bloud and crueltie.
\Fairy Queen., B. v, c. 8, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
O how can Bewtie maifter the moft ftrong,
And fimple truth fubdue avenging wrong .■*
Idem.
No armour might be found, that can defend
Tranfpiercing raies of chriftall pointed eyes.
\Complaint of Rosamond, 1592, st. 26.] S. Daniell.
Hard is that heart which Bewtie makes not foft.
[Godfrey of Bidloigne, B. iv, st. ^^^ Ed. Fairfax, Transl.
Who fo young that loves not .''
Or who fo olde that womcns Bewtie moves not .''
W. Weever.
D
I S The Choysest Flozvers
A fparke of Bewtie burns a world of men.
For what is Bewtie, if it be not feene ?
Or what is't to be feene, unleffe admir'd ;
And though admir'd, unleffe in love defir'd ?
Never were cheekes of rofes, locks of amber,
Ordain'd to live imprifoned in a chamber.
{Complaint of Rosamond, st. ']■}).']
Nature created Bewtie for the view,
(Like as the fire for heate, the fun for light)
The faire do hold this priviledge, as due
By auntient charter, to live moft in fight.
As file that is debar'd it hath not right :
In vaine our friends from this do us dehort,
For Bewtie will be where is mofl refort.
\Ibid., St. 74.]
W. Weever.
S. Daniell.
Idem.
All excellence of fliajae is made for fight,
To be a beetle elfe were no defame :
Hid Bewties lofe their ends, and wrong their right.
\Pvids Banquet of Sence, IS95-] G. CHAPMAN.
Why, Heaven made Bewtie, like her felfe, to viewe,
Not to be lockt up in a fmoakie mewe :
A rofie tainted feature is heavens golde.
Which all men joy to touch, all to behold.
\Epistle, King John to Matilda, 1599.] M. DRAYTON.
The ripcft corne dies, if it be not reapt ;
Bewtie alone is loft, too warily kept.
{Hero and Leander, Sest. t.] Ch. Marlowe.
of 02ir English Poets. 19
It hath bene through all ages ever feene,
That with the praife of armes and chivalrie
The prize of Bewtie ftill hath joyned beene,
And that for reafons fpeciall privitie,
For either doth on other much relie ;
For he, me feemes, mofb fit the faire to ferve,
That can her beft defend from villanie ;
And file moft fit his fervice doth deferve,
That faireft is, and from her faith will never fwerve.
{^Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. 5, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
For Bewtie is more glorious bright and cleare,
The more it is admir'd of many a wight ;
And nobleft fhe that ferved is of nobleft knight.
[Ibid., B. vi, c. 7, st. 29.] Idem.
Rich Bewtie, that each lover labours for.
Tempting as heapes of new-coynd glowing golde,
(Rackt of fome miferable treafurer)
Drawes his defires, and them in chaines enfold,
Urging him ftill to tell it, and conceale it :
But Bewties treafure never can be tolde,
None can peculiar joy, yet all muft fteale it.
O Bewtie ! this fame bloodie fiege of thine
Starves me that yeeld, and feeds me till I pine.
{Ovids Banquet of Scnce, 1595.] G. Chapman.
O Bewtie ! ftill thy empire fwims in blood,
And in thy peace warrc ftorcs himfclfc with foodc.
llliid.'] Idem.
20 TJic CJioysest Flowers
Ah, Bewtie ! fyrene faire, enchaunting good ;
Sweete filent rhethoricke of perfwading eyes ;
Dumbc eloquence, whofe power doth move the blood
]\Iore then the wordes, or wifedome of the wife ;
Still harmony, whofe diapazon lies
Within a brow, the key which paffions move.
To ravifli fence, and play a world in love.
{Complaint of Rosamond^ st. 19.] S. Daniell.
Beautie enchafnig love, love gracing Beautie,
To fuch as conftant fympathies enfold ;
To perfect riches doth a founder dutie
Then all endevours ; for, by all confent,
All wealth and wifedome refts in true content.
More force and art in Beautie joynd with love,
Then thrones with wifedom ; joyes, of them compofde.
Are armes more proofe 'gainft any griefe we prove,
Then all their vertue-fcorning miferie,
Or judgements graven in ftoicke gravitie.
{Ovids Banquet of Scnce, I595-] G. CHAPMAN.
Beautie a beggar, fie ! it is too bad.
When in it felfe sufficiencie is had :
It was not made to pleafe the wandring eie,
l^ut an attire to adorne fweet modeftie.
If modeftie and women once do fever,
Farvvell our fame, farwell our name for ever !
{Epistle, Lady Salisbury to the Black Prince.'] M. DRAYTON.
Ah, Beautie ! thou betraies thy felfe to every amorous eie.
To trap thy proud poffeffors, what is it but wantons trie .''
of our English Poets. 2 1
Where-through it fildom haps the faire from meant de-
ceits to flie.
\Albion^s England, B, viii, ch. 41.] W, Warner.
This Beauties faire, is an enchauntment made
B.y natures witchcraft, tempting men to buie.
With endleffe fhowes, what endlefly will fade,
Yet promife chapmen all eternitie.
But, like to goods ill got, a fate it hath,
Brings men inricht therewith to beggery,
Unles the enricher be as rich in faith,
Enamourd (like good felfe-love) with her owne,
Seene in an other, then tis heaven alone.
\Pvids Banquet of Sence, 1595.] G. Chapman.
Beautie is a baine
To fuch as feed their fancy with fond love,
That when fweet youth with luft is overta'en.
It rues in age.
{Perymedes, the Blacksmith, 1588.] R. Greene.
Where Venus ftrikes with Beautie to the quicke,
It little vailes fage reafon to reply :
Few are the cares for fuch as are love ficke,
But love.
[Ibid.'] Idem.
Truce, warrc, and woe do wait at Beauties gate ;
Time loft, laments reports and privie grudge ;
And laft, fierce love is but a partiall judge,
Who yeelds for fervice fliame, for fricndfliip hate.
{Rosalynd {\t)()o), edit. 1598, Sig. E 2, b.] D. Lodgk.
22 The Choyscst Flowers
The beft bees of Hybla do beare, befides fweet hony,
fmarting ftings,
And Beauty doth not want a bait, that to repentance
brings.
{Albions England, B. ii, ch. 9.] W. Warner.
But.fo it is, faire colours fooneft foyle,
Things of beft price are fubject moft to fpoyle.
{Legend of Humphrey of Gloucester, 1600, st. 86.] Ch. Middleton.
The faireft cheeke hath oftentimes a foule
Leprous as fin it felfe, then hell more foule.
{Fortunatus, edit. 1600, Sig. B 3.] Tho. Dekkar.
All men do erre, becaufe that men they bee ;
And men, with Beautie blinded, cannot fee.
G. Peele.
Beautie, in heaven and earth, this grace doth win,
It fupples rigor, and it leffens fin.
\_Hero and Leander, 1600, Sest. 3.] G. CHAPMAN.
Nought is there under heavens wide hollownes,
That moves more deare compaffion of mind
Then Beautie, brought t' unworthy wretchednes.
Through envies fnares, or fortunes freakes unkind.
[Fairy Queen, B. i, c. 3, st. 1.] Ed. Spencer.
Nothing ill becomes the faire
But crucltie, which yeelds unto no praier.
[Complaint of Rosamond, st. 57.] S. Daniell.
of our English Poets. 23
Like as the fun, in a diameter,
Fires and inflames obje6ls removed far,
And heateth kindly, fhining laterally ;
So Beautie fweetly quickens when tis nie,
But being feparated and removed,
Burnes where it cherifht, murders where it loved.
\^Hero and Leander, Sest. 2.] Ch. Marlowe.
Simples fit Beautie ; fie on drugs and art.
\Endymion and Phcebe, (1594), Sig. B. 3, b.] M. Drayton,
Faire words, and powre-attractive Bewtie,
Bring men to wanton in fubjective dutie.
I. Weever.
But wayward Beauty doth not fancy move ;
A frowne forbids, a fmile ingendreth love.
{Godfrey of BuHoigne, B. ii, st. 20.] Ed. Fairfax, Transl.
What els is forme, but fading aire .''
Yea oft, becaufe affaulted oft, it hurteth to be faire.
{Albions England^ B. xi, ch. 65.] W. Warner.
Full foone the faireft face would ceafe from being fuch.
If not preferved, curioufly, from tendring more then much.
That wondrous patterne, where foe'er it bee.
Whether in earth laid up in fecret ftore.
Or els in heaven, that no man may it fee
With finfull eies, for fcare it to deflore.
Is perfect Beautie, which all men adore ;
24 The Choysest Flowers
Whofe face and feature doth fo much excell
All mortall fence, that none the fame may tell.
[Hyjim in honour of Beauty, 1596.J Ed. Spencer.
O Beautie ! how attractive is thy power !
For, as the lives heat clings about the heart,
So all mens hungry eyes do haunt thy bower.
Raigning in Greece, Troy fwumme to thee in art ;
Removed to Troy, Greece followed thee in feares ;
Thou dreweft ech fyreleffe fvvord, ech childleffe dart,
And puldst the towers of Troy about thine eares.
\Ovids Banquet of Se7ice, 1595.] G. Chapman.
Varietie of Beauties.
Meane while the harbingers of luft, his amorous eyes, did
walke,
More clogd with change of Beauties, then King Midas
once with golde,
Now this, now that, and one by one, he did them all be-
hold :
This fcemed faire, and that as faire, and letting either paffe,
A third he thought a proper girle ; a fourth, a pleafant laffe ;
Lovely, the fift ; lively, the fixt ; the feventh a goodly
wench ;
The eight, of fweet complexion ; to the ninth he altereth
thence,
Who mildly feem'd majesticall ; tenth, modeft looke and
toong ;
The eleventh could fweetly entertain ; the twelft was frefh
and yoong.
The next, a gay brownetta ; next, and next, admir'd
among :
our Eno:lish Poets.
25
And every feature fo intic't his intricate affection,
As liking all, alike he lov'd, confounded in election.
[Albions England, B. v, ch. 26.] W. Warner.
BANISHMENT.
No Banifliment can be to him affignde,
Who doth retaine a true refolved minde,
{Robert Duke of Noj-jnandy, 1596.]
M. Drayton.
In exile, every man, or bond or free.
Of noble race, or meaner parentage,
Is not in this unlike unto the flave
That muft of force obey to each mans will.
And praife the peevifhneffe of each mans pride.
{Tragedy of Jocasta, Act ii, sc. i.] G. Gascoigne, Transl.
BASHFULNESSE.
So refpected
Was Baflifulneffe in Athens, it erected
To chaft Agneia, which is Shamefaftneffe,
A facred temple ; holding her a goddeffe.
{Hero and Leander, edit. 1600, Sest, 5.]
Preferment fildome graceth Baflifulneffe.
{Ibid.]
G. Chapman.
Idem.
!•:
26
The Choysest Floivcrs
Let foberneffe be ftill thy wifedomes end,
Admitting that thou canft not comprehend.
^Sacrifice of Isaac, 1592, p. 7. J
J. Sylvester, Traiisl.
BLISSE.
These dayes example hath deep written here,
Deep written in my heart, with yron pen,
That Bhffe may not abide in ftate of mortall men.
Ed. Spencer.
Doth forrow fret thy foule 1 o direful! fpirit !
Doth pleafure feed thy heart } o bleffed man !
Haft thou bene happie once ^ 6 heavy plight !
Are thy mifliaps forepaft .'' u happie than !
Or haft thou Bliffe in eld ? u bliffe too late !
But haft thou Bliffe in youth } o fweet eftate !
\_T. Nash's edit, of Astrophel and Stella, 1591.] E. of O.
Hard it is
To immitate a falfe and forged Blifse ;
111 may a fad mind forge a mery face.
Nor hath conftrained laughter any grace.
Blifse not in height doth dwell.
[Hero and Leander, Sest. 6.]
But quiet Bliffe in no ftate lafteth long :
Affailcd ftill by mifchiefe many waies.
G. Chapman.
Idem.
of our English Pods. 27
Whofe fpoyling battery, glowing hote and ftrong,
No flowing wealth, no force nor wifdome ftaies.
Her fmoakeleffe powder beaten fouldiers flaies :
By open force foule mifchiefe oft prevailes ;
By fecret fleight fhe fild her purpofe failes,
[Legend 0/ Lof'd Rivers, edit. 1610, p. 404.] I. H. of Magist.
Bleffed the man that well can ufe his Bliffe.
\_Fairy Queen, B. v, c. 10, st. 8.] Ed. Spencer.
We think no greater Blifse, then fuch to be as be we would,
When bleffed none, but fuch as be the fame as be they
fhould. W. Warner.
Our Bliffe confifts not in poffeffions,
But in commaunding our affections,
In vertues choyce, and vices needfull chace.
Far from our harts for ftaining of our face.
{Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594, Act i.] Tho. Kid.
BO UN TIE.
O SACRED Bountie ! mother of content,
Proppe of renowne, the nouri flier of arts ;
The crownc of hope, the roote of good event.
The trumpe of fame, the joy of noble hearts,
Grace of the heavens, divinitie in nature,
Whofe excellence doth fo adornc the creature.
{Legend of Pierce Gaveston, 1596, st. 111. J M. Dr avion.
Then on an other part was to be viewde
His vertues, each one by it felfc difl:in6l,
28
The CJioysest Flowers
rrudcnce, and Temperance, and Fortitude,
And Juftice ; and a fift unto thefe linckt
So nie, that who with it is not indued,
The reft may feeme blotted, or quite extin6l,
Bountie, employed in giving and in fpending,
A fpeciall grace to all the other lending.
{Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xlvi, st. ']'].'\ S. J. Harr. Transl.
Auguftus Caefar was not fuch a faint
As Virgin maketh him by his defcription :
His love of learning fcufeth that complaint.
That men might juftly make of his profcription :
Nor had the fhame that Neroes name doth taint,
Confirm'd now by a thoufand yeares prefcription,
Been as it is, if he had had the wit,
To have bene franke to fuch as poems writ.
{Ibid., B. XXXV, St. 25.]
So as, indeed, this reafon is the chiefe.
That wits decay becaufe they want their hire ;
For where no fuccour is, nor no reliefe.
The very beafts will from fuch place retire.
{Ibid., ibid., st. 29.]
He is mad, and worfe.
Which plaies the nigard with a princes purfe.
{Legend of P. Gaveston, 1596, st. 134.]
Idem.
Idem.
M. Drayton.
CARE.
And by and by another fhape appeares
Of greedy Care, ftill brufliing up the breers.
of our EnglisJi Poets. 29
His knuckles knob'd, his flefli deep dented in ;
With tawed hands, and hard ytanned fkin.
The morrow gray no fooner hath begun
To fpred his hght, even peeping in our eies,
When he is up, and to his worke yrunne ;
But let the nights black miftie mantels rife,
And with foule darke never fo much difguife
The faire bright day ; yet ceafeth he no while,
But hath his candles to prolong his toyle.
\Induction to M.for AT., edit. 1610, p. 263.] M. Sackvill.
Rude was his garment, and to rags all rent ;
No better had he, ne for better carde :
With bliftered hands emongft the cynders brent.
And fingers filthy, with long nayles unpared,
Right fit to rend the food on which he fared.
His name was Care ; a black-fmyth by his trade,
That neither day nor night from working fpared,
But to fmall purpofe yron wedges made :
Thofe be unquiet thoughts, that carefuU minds invade.
[Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. v, st. 35.] Ed. Spencer.
Care keepes his watch in every old mans eye,
And where Care lodges fleepe will never lie ;
But where unbruized youth, with unftuft braine.
Doth couch his limbs, there golden fleepe doth raine.
\_Romeo and Juliet, Act ii, sc. 3.] W. Shakespeare.
Care and fufpition are faire Bewties dower.
{^Legend of Matilda, 1596.] M. Drayton.
30 TJic CJioyscst Floivers
Care, the confuming canker of the muide,
The difcord that diforders fweet hearts tune,
Th' abortive baftard of a coward minde,
The lightfoote lackie that runnes pofte by death.
Bearing the letters which containe our end ;
The bufie advocate that fells his breath,
Denouncing worft to him is moft his frend.
{Diana, 1592, Dec. v, Son. 7.] H. CONSTABLE.
CHARITIE.
She was a woman in her frefhest age ;
Of wondrous bewtie, and of bowntie rare,
With goodly grace, and comely perfonage,
That was on earth not eafie to compare ;
Full of great love, but Cupids wanton fnare
As hel fhe hated ; chafte in worke and will.
Her necke and brefts were ever open bare.
That aye thereof her babes might fucke their fill ;
The reft was all in yealow robes araied ftill.
A multitude of babes about her hong.
Playing their fportes, that joyed her to behold.
Whom ftill file fed, while they were weake and yoong,
But thruft them forth ftill as they waxed old.
And on her head fhe wore a tyre of gold,
Adorn'd with gems and owches wondrous faire,
Whofe paffing price unneath was to be told ;
And by her fide there fate a gentle paire
Of turtle doves, flie fitting in an ivorie chaire.
\_Fairy (^uccu, B. i, c. 10, st. 30.] Ed. Spencer.
of our English Poets. 3 1
Next Charitie, that kindly doth preferre
Her neighbours good, fore her owne utilitie.
{Triiuiipk of Faith, 1592.J J. Sylvester, Transt.
Who may but will not helpe doth hurt, we know ; and
curious they,
That, dribling alms, by art disband wel meant from wel
dones pay ;
And he that queftions ones diftreffe, and doth not help
endevour,
Than he that fees, and nothing sales, or cares, is leffe
deceavour.
[Atbiotis England, B. ix, ch. 52.] W. Warner.
It is a worke of Charitie, God knowes.
The reconcilement of two mortall foes.
{Humphrey D. of Gloucester, 1600,51.55.] Ch. Middleton.
For Charitie brings forth but barren feeds,
And hatred ftill is fowne in fo great ftore.
That when the fruites of both come to be reaped.
The tone is fcarce, the tother overheaped.
{Orlando Furioso, B. xxxvi, st. 2.] .S. J. Harr. Transl.
CH AST IT IE.
O Chastitie ! the chiefe of heavenly lights,
Which mak'ft us moft immortall fliapc to weare.
{Arcadia, QiXxi. \\.<^, 1591, fo.117 b.] S. Pii. Sidnkv,
32 The CJioysest Flowet's
Chaftities attires,
The unftained v^aile which innocents adornes,
Th' ungather'd rofe defended with the thornes.
\Complai7it of Rosamond, 1592, st. 31.] S. Daniel.
O Chaftitie ! thou gift of bleffed foules,
Comfort in death, a crowne unto the Hfe ;
Which all the paffions of the minde controlles,
Adornes the maide, and bewtifies the wife ;
That grace, the which nor death nor time attaints.
Of earthly creatures making heavenly faints.
{^Legend of P. Gaveston, 1596, st. 116.] M. Drayton.
He faith, a woman cannot take upon her.
With bewtie, riches, nor with hie nobilitie,
To claime the true deferved praife of honour,
If Chaftitie do faile, by her fragilitie ;
This is the vertue that defends her owner.
\_Orlando Furioso, B. xliii, st. 78.] S. J. HARRINGTON.
Who doth defire that chafte his wife fhould bee,
Firft be he true, for truth doth truth deferve ;
Then be he fuch as fhe his worth may fee.
And one man ftill credit with her preferve :
Not toying kind, nor cauflesly unkinde ;
Not ftirring thoughts, nor yet denying right ;
Not fpying faults, nor in plaine errors blinde ;
Never hard hand, nor ever raines too light.
As farre from want, as farre from vaine exfpence ;
(Th' one doth force, the latter doth entice.)
Allowe good company, but keepe from thence
of our English Poets. 33
All filthy mouthes that glory in their vice :
This done, thou haft no more; but leave the reft
To vertue, fortune, time, and womans breft. S. Ph. Sydney.
{Arcadia, edit. 1598, fo., p. 380, and Sir John Harington's
Orlando Fiirioso^ B. xi, iiotc.^
Penelope, in fpending chafte her dales,
As worthy as Uliffes was of praife.
{Orlando Furioso, B. xiii, st. 52.] S. J. Harrington.
OF CHRIST.
The broofer of the ferpents head, the womans promiz'd
feed.
The fecond in the Trinitie, the foode our foules to feed ;
The vine, the light, the doore, the way, the fhepheard of
us al,
Whofe manhood joynd to deitie did raunfome us from
thrall :
That was and is, and evermore will be the fame to his.
That fleeps to none that wake to him, that turns our curfe
to blis :
Whom yet unfeen the patriarks faw, the prophets have
foretold,
The apoftles preacht, the faints adore, and martyrs do
behold.
The fame (Auguflus emperor) in Paleftinc was born,
Amongft his own, and yet his owne did croffe their blis in
fcorn.
[Alfiions England, edit. 1602, R. iii, ch. 18.] W. Warnf.r.
F
34 Tlie CJioyscst Flozvcrs
Auguftus, quailing Anthonie, was emperour alone,
In whofe unfoed monarchy our common health was knowne.
lAlbions England, B. iii, c. i8.] W. Warner.
The bruizer of the ferpents head, the womans promifd seed,
The fecond in the Trinitie, the foode our foules to feede ;
The vine, the light, the doore, the way, the fliepheard of
us all,
The fame (Auguftus emperor) in Paleftine was borne,
Amongfthisown,and yet his own did croffe their blis infcorn.
\^A repetition from the preceding page?^ Ide.m.
CHILDREN.
Riches of Children paffe a princes throne,
Which touch the fathers heart with fecret joy.
When without fhame he faith, — thefe be mine owne !
^Arcadia, edit, fo., 1598, p. 390.] S. Ph. Sidney.
This patterne, good or ill, our Children get ;
For what they fee their parents love or hate,
Their firfb-caught fence prefers to teachers blowes ;
The cockerings cockerd, we bewaile too late.
When that we fee our ofspring gayly bent.
Women man-wood, and men effeminate.
Idem
What Children apprehend,
The fame they like, they followe and amend.
[Fig for Momus, 1595, Sat. iii.] D. LODGE.
of our English Poets. 35
There is no love may be compar'd to that
The tender mother beares unto her Childe ;
For even fo much the more it doth encreafe,
As their griefe growes, or contentations ceafe.
[Tragedy of Jocasfa, edit. 1587, Act ii, s. i.] G. Gas.
CHA UNGE.
All is but fained, and which oaker died,
That every fliowre will wafli and wipe away ;
All things do Chaunge that under heaven abide,
And, after death, all friendfhip doth decay :
Therefore, what ever man bear'ft worldly fway,
Living, on God and on thy felfe relie ;
For when thou dieft, all fhall with thee die.
[Rttins of Time. Complaints., \^()\^ Ed. Spencer.
All fuffer Chaunge, our felves new-borne even then begin
to die,
[Atbions England, B. iii, ch. 16.] W. Warner.
The ever chaunging courfe of things,
Runne a perpetuall circle, ever turning.
S. Danieli.
Change lives not long, time fainteth, and time mourns.
Solace and forrow have their certaine turnes.
\_Epistle of Q. Margaret to D. of Suffolk.'] M. Drayton.
All Chaunge is pcrillous, and all chaunce unfuund.
\_Fairy Queen, B. v, c. 2, st. 36.] Ed. Spencer.
36 The CJioyscst Floivcrs
Scldomc Chaunge the better brought ;
Content, who lives with tried ftate,
Neede feare no Chaunge of frowning fate :
But who will feeke for unknowne gaine,
Oft lives by loffe, and leaves with paine.
{Shepherds Calendar, 1579, Sept.] Ed. Spencer.
But what remaines to man, that can continue long }
What fun can Ihine fo cleare and bright, but clouds may
rife among .-'
{Flowers, edit. 1587, p. 46.] G. Gascoigne,
No flower is fo frelli, but froft can it deface ;
No man fo fure in any feate, but he may lofe his place.
{Ibid., p. 58.] Idem.
For moft true it is, as we doo daily prove,
No good nor ill can ftand ftill at one flay.
{Orlando Furioso, B. xxxvii, st. 7.] S. J. HARRINGTON.
The man that of himfelfe is moft fecure.
Shall finde himfelfe moft fickle and unfure.
{Visions of the World^s Vanity, Son. 12.] Ed. Spencer.
Men change the ayre, but feldome change their care.
{Mortimeriados, 1596. B. iv, st. 39, edit. 1605.] M. Drayton,
CHA UNCE.
What fliould we thinke of fignes } they are but haps
How may they then be fignes of after-claps t
of our EnglisJi Poets. 37
Doth every Chaunce forefhew, or caufe fome other,
Or ending of it felfe, extend no further ?
As th' overflowing flood fome mount doth choake,
But to his aide fome other flood it yoake ;
So, if with fignes thy finnes once joyne, beware;
Elfe, whereto Chaunces tend, do never care.
[Dolmaii's Lofd Hastings, edit. 1610, p. 425.] Hf. of M.
True it is, if fortune hght by Chaunce,
There fortune healpes the boldefl: to advaunce.
G. Gascoigne.
COUNSAILE.
Oh, facred Counfaile, true heart-fuppHng balme,
Soule-curing plaifter, time preferving bhs,
Water of hfe in every fudden qualme.
The heavens rich ftorehoufe, where all treafure is ;
True guide, by whom foule errors den we mis;
Night-burning beacon, watch againft mifliaps,
Forefight, avoyding many after-claps.
{Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 44.] M. Drayton.
Thus, every ftrawe proves fewell to the fire,
When Counfell doth concurre with our defire.
{Mortimeriados, 1596.] Idem.
What eld hath tried and feen, good Counfell is.
[Fig for Momus, 1595.] I). Lodge.
38 The Choysest Floivers
Counfell ftill is one,
When father, friends, and worldly goods are gone.
{Rosalynd, 1590 : edit. 1598, Sig. A 2.] D. LODGE.
Counfell, that comes when ill hath done his worfl,
Bleffeth our ill, but makes our good accurft.
{Epistle, Richard II to Isabel, edit. 1599.] M. Drayton.
Vaine founds of pleafure we delight to heare,
But Counfell jarres as difcord in our eare.
{Ibid., Jane Shore to Edward IV.'\ Idem.
A king that aimes his neighbours crowne to win,
Before the fruite of open w^arres begin.
Corrupts his Counfell with rich recompences ;
For in good Counfell fbands the ftrength of princes.
I. Sylvister, Transl.
A kingdomes greatneffe hardly can he fway,
That wholfome Counfell did not firft obey.
\_Mortimeriados, 1596.] M. Dr.
Even as by cutting, fruitefull vines encreafe,
So faithfull Counfailes worke a princes peace.
\^Mariiis and Sylla, 1594, Act ii, sc. i.] D. LODGE.
CONCORD.
Mother of bleffed peace and friendfhip true;
They, both her twins, both borne of heavenly feed,
'L
of our EnglisJi Poets. 39
And file her felfe likewife divinely grew,
The which right well her works divine did fhewe ;
For ftrength and wealth and happineffe flie lendes,
And ftrife and warre and anger does fubdue ;
Of little, much ; of foes fhe maketh frendes ;
And, to afflicted mindes, fweet reft and quiet fends.
[Fai'ry Queen, B. iv, c 10, st. 34.] Ed. Spencer.
The richeft jewell in all the heavenly treafure,
That ever yet unto the earth was fhowne,
Is perfect Concord ; th' onely perfect pleafure,
That wretched earth-borne men have ever knowne.
For many hearts it doth compound in one,
That what fo one doth will, or fpeake, or doo,
With one confent they all agree theretoo.
{^Orchestra, 1596, st. cix.] I. Davies.
By her the heaven is in his courfe containd,
And all the world in ftate unmoved ftands :
As their Almightie Maker firft ordaind,
And bound them with inviolable bands ;
Elfe would the waters overflowe the lands,
And fire devour the ayre, and hell them quite.
But that fhe holds them with her bleffed hands.
She is the nurfe of pleafure and delight,
And unto Venus grace the gate doth open right.
\_Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. 10, st. 35.] Ed. Spencer.
O bliffefull Concord ! bred in fecret breft
Of Him, that guides the rcftlcffc rolling fl-cie ;
40 The CJioyscst Flowers
That to the earth, for mans affured reft,
From height of heavens vouchfafeft downe to flie :
In Thee alone the mightie power doth lie,
With fweet accord to keep the frowning ftarres,
And every planet els, from hurtfuU warres.
[By F. Kinwelmarsh : Jocasta, Chor. to Act iv.]
G. Gascoigne, Tra7isl.
When tract of time returnes the luftie Ver,
By thee alone the buds and bloffomes fpring,
The fields with flowers be garnifht ev'ry where,
The blooming trees abundant fruite do bring.
The cheerfuU birds melodioufly do fing :
Thou doeft appoint the crop of Sommers feed
For mans reliefe, to ferve the Winters need. »
{Ibid., fo. i6o b, edit. 1587.] Idem.
CONSCIENCE.
And firft within the porch and jawes of hell,
Sate deep Remorfe of Confcience, all befprent
With teares : and to her felfe oft would flie tell
Her wretchednes, and, curfing, never ftent
To fob and figh, but ever thus lament
With thouirhtfull care, as flie that all in vaine
Would weare and waft continually in paine.
Her eyes unftedfaft rolling here and there,
Whurld on ech place, as place that vengeance broght ;
So was her mind continual!}- in feare.
of our English Poets. 41
Toffed and tormented with tedious thought
Of thofe detefted crimes which (lie had wrought.
With dreadful! cheare and lookes throwne to the fkie,
Wifhing for death, and yet fhe could not die.
[Induction to M.forM., edit. 1610, p. 261.] M. Sackvill.
So gnawes the griefe of Confcience evermore,
And in the heart it is fo deepe ygrave.
That they may neither fleepe nor reft therefore,
Ne thinke one thought but on the dread they have ;
Still to the death foretoffed with the wave
Of reftleffe woe, in terror and difpaire.
They lead a life continually in feare.
[Duke of Buckingham, M.for M., edit. 1610, p. 439.] Idem.
The feare of Confcience entreth yron walles.
M. Drayton.
No armour proofe againft the Confcience terror.
{Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 39.] Idem.
A guiltie Confcience never is fecure.
[Ibid.'] Idem.
No mcancs at all to hide,
Man from himfclf can find ;
No way to ftart afide
Out from the hell of mind ;
Rut in himfelf confinde,
He ftill fees fin before,
And winged footed paine
That fwifth' comes behind ;
c
^2 The Choyscst Floivcrs
The which is evermore
The fure and certain gaine
Impietie doth get,
And wanton loofe refpect,
That doth itfelf forget.
\Clcflpatrn, 1594, Chorus to Act i.] S. Daniell.
Like to the deere that, ftricken with the dart,
Withdrawes himfelfe into fome fecret place.
And feehng greene the wound about his hart.
Startles with pangs, till he fall on the graffe.
And in great feare lies gafping there a fpace ;
Forth braying fighes, as though each pang had brought
The prefent death, which he doth dread fo oft.
So we, deep wounded with the bloudy thought
And gnawing worme that greev'd our Confcience fo.
Never tooke eafe but as our heart out brought
The ftrained fighes, in witn effe of our wo,
.Such reftleffe cares our fault do well beknow :
Wherewith, of our deferved fall the feares
In every place rang death within our eares. M. Sackvill.
\_Dnki' of Biickiiighmn, M.for M., edit. 16 10, p. 439.]
Loofe Confcience is free
From all Confcience, what els hath libertie }
As 't pleafd the Thracian Boreas to blow,
.So turnes our ayerie Confcience to and fro.
\_Scourge of Villaiiy, 1598, Sat. ii. j I. Marston.
Kings, but the Confcience, all things can defend.
[Epist/e, Matt /(in to Kino John.] M. Drayton.
of our English Poets. 43
And when thou feellT: thy Confcience toucht w ith greefc,
Thy felfe purfues thy felfe, both rob'd and theefe.
\_Morthneriados, 1596.] M. Drayton.
For many (with the Confcience of the crime),
In colder blood will curfe what they defignde ;
And bad fucceffe, upbraiding their ill fact,
Drawes them (whom others draw) from fuch an act.
[C/V// Wars, edit. 1609, B. ii, st. 33 ] S. Daniell.
CRAFT, DECEIT, FRAUD.
What man fo wife, what earthly wit fo ware,
As to defcry the craftie cunning traine
By which Deceit doth mafke in vizard faire,
And caft her colours died deep in graine,
To feeme like truth, whofe fliape fhe well can faine ;
And fitting geftures to her purpofe frame,
The guiltleffe mind with guile to entertaine .-*
\_Fairy (Ikccii, B. i. c. 7, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
Fraud fhowd in comely cloathes a lovely looke,
An humble caft of eye, a fober pace,
And fo fweet fpeech, a man might her have tooke
For him that faid ' Haile, Mary ! full of grace :'
But all the reft deformedly did looke.
As full of filthineffe and foule difgracc ;
Hid under long large garments that ilie ware,
Under the which a poyfoncd knife flie bare.
[Orlando /'iirioso, 1591, B. xiv, st. 76.] S. J. II
44 ^ f^i^ Choyscst Flowers
Oft Craft can caufe the man to make a feeming fliow
Of hart, with dolor all diftaind, where grief doth never grow.
S. T. B.
Craft, wrapt ftill in many combernients.
With all her cunning thrives not, though it fpeed.
S. Uaniell.
Crafte findes a key to open every doore.
{Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 102.] M. Dr.
CONQUEST.
Who hopes a Conqueft leaves no Conqueft fought.
Idem.
Tis much to Conquer, but to keep poffeffion
Is full as much, and if it be not more.
\yictory at Yvry, 1590.] I. Sylvester, Tra/isl.
To win the field againft our armed foes,
Is counted honourable any waies,
Whether it be with pollicie or blowes :
Yet bloodie Conquefts ftaine the captaines praife.
But chiefeft honour doth belong to thofe
Whom fortune to fuch height of hap doth raise.
To have their foes fuppreft, and overthrowne
With little loffe and damage of their owne.
[Orlando Furioso, B. xv, st. i.] .S. ]. Harr. Transl.
of our English Poets. 45
Whereas proud Conquefh keepeth all in awe,
Kings oft are forft in fervile yoakes to drawe.
{Mortimer iados, 1596.] M. Drayton.
COUNTRY, COMMON-WEALE.
We muft affect our Country as our parents;
And if at any time we alienate
Our love or induftry from doing it honor,
It muft refpecl effe6ls, and touch the foule,
Matter of confcience and religion,
And not defire.of rule or benefit.
[Battle of Alcazar, 1594, Act ii, st. i.] G. Peele.
Neceffitie enforceth every wight
To love his native feat, with all his might.
A happie quarrell is it and a good,
For Countries caufe to fpend our deareft blood.
[Tragedy of Jocasta, Act iii.] G. GaSCOIGNE.
That publikc Weale muft needs to mine go,
Where private profit is preferred fo.
[G. Gascoigne : Jocasta, Chorus to Act iv.] G. Geffrayes.
Home though it homely be, yet is fweet,
And native foyle is beft.
For if the temperature of Common-weale
Be guided by the courfc of heavenly powers,
S. J. Harr.
46 ' TJie CJioyscst Floivers
Such as in deep affaires will juftly deale,
Muft have an eve to thofe eternall bowres,
And by their view direct this ftate of ours.
Then, how can he a perfeft ftatefman prove
That knowes not how celeftiall bodies move ?
\_Lifo atid Dea/h of ]]\}lsty, \S99.'] Tho Sjorkk.
The love
That men their country and their birth-right beare,
Exceeds all loves ; and dearer is by farre
Our countries love, then friends or children are.
{Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594, Act iv, sc. i.] T. KvD.
CONTENT.
All wealth and wifedome refts in true Content.
Contentment is our heaven, and all our deeds
Bend in that circle, feld or never clofde.
\_Ovids Batiqiiet of Sence, 1595.] G. Chapman.
Who feekes to have the thing we call enough,
Acquaint him firft with Contentation :
For plenteoufneffe is but a naked name ;
And what sufficeth ufe of mortall men.
Shall beft apay the meane and modeft harts.
[Tragedy of Jocasta, Act ii, s. i.] G. Gascoigne.
The nobleft mind the beft Contentment has.
{Fairy Queen, V>. i, c. i, st. 35.] Ed. Spenckr.
of our English Pocfs. 47
Hic^^h climbing- wits do catch a fudden fall :
With none of these Content lift dwell withall.
{^Glaiiciis and Scilla, 1589, Sig. E.] D. Lodgk.
Content feeds not on glory or on pelfe;
Content can be contented — with her felfe.
[Clircstolcros, B. vi, Epig. 15.] Th, Bastard.
Content is worth a monarchy, and mifchief hits the hie.
[Albiojis 1-liigIaiid, B. iv, ch. 20.] W. Warner.
Who fo contented lives is happie wife.
{Marius a)id Sylla, 1594, Act v, sc. i.] D. LODGE.
Inconftant change fuch tickle turnes hath lent,
As who fo feares to fall muft seeke Content.
[A'^ autlior !!a/ned.~\
Deprive the world of perfect difcontent,
All glories end, true honour ftrait is ftain'd ;
And life it felfe in errors courfe is fpent.
All toyle doth fort but to a fory end,
For, through miflikes, each learnes for to commend.
{^Discontented Satyre, 1589, Sig. D 2 b.] D. Lodge.
He only lives moft happily
That's free and farre from majeftie;
Can live content, although unknowne,
He fearing none, none fearing him ;
Medling with nothing but his owne.
While gazing eyes at crownes grow dim.
{Cornelia, 1594, Chorus in Act iv.] Tn. Kvn.
48 TJie Choyscst Flowers
COURAGE.
To Courage great
It is no leffe befeeming well to beare
The ftorme of fortunes frowne, or heavens threat,
Than in the fun-fliine of her countenance cleare
Timely to joy, and carry comely cheare.
Ed. Spencer.
High Courage, with true wifedome ever backt,
Winnes perfect fame.
\_Figfor Momus, 1595, Eel. iv.] Th. Lodge.
Nere was there ever noble Courage feene,
That in advantage would his puiffance boaft ;
Honor is leaft where ods appeareth moft.
\^Fatry Queen, B. ii, c. 8, st. 26.] Ed. Spencer.
Where is no Courage, there is no ruth nor mone.
Idem.
Good hart in ill, doth th' evil much amend.
Idem.
Courage imboldeneth wit ; wit Courage amies.
M. Drayton.
They make their fortune who are ftout and wife :
Wit rules the heavens ; difcretion guides the fkies.
^Godfrey of Bulloigne, 1600, B. x, st. 20.] Ed. Fairfax, Transl.
Action is fiery valours foveraigne good.
S^Hern and Leandei\ 1600, .Sest. 5.] G. Chapman.
of our Eiii^lisJi Poets. 49
Repining Courage yeelds
No foote to foe.
\^Fairy Queen, B. i, c. 3, st. 17.] Ed. Spencer.
Then are the vaHant who more vaine, then cowardes who
more wife .•*
Not men that travell Pegafus, but fortunes fooles do rife.
[Albioiis England, B. ii, ch. 9.] W. WARNER,
Be vahant, not too ventrous, but fight to fight againe ;
Even Hercules did hold it ods, for one to ftrive with
twaine.
[Ibid., B. iv, ch. 21.] Idem.
Might, wanting meafure, moveth furquedrie.
Ed. Spencer.
More is he that ventureth for more,
Then who fights but for what he had before.
[Civil Wars, edit. 1609, B. i, st. 95.] S. Daniell,
Valour mixt with feare, boldeneth dread,
May march more circumfpect, with better heed.
Idem.
Valour in greateft daungers fhewes moft bright,
As fuU-fac't Phoebe in the darkefl night.
{Life and Death of Dralcc, 1596, st. 1 19.] Ch. Fitz Geffrev.
The Spartanes once exilde Archilochus,
The author of Lycambes tragedie,
Becaufe he faid it was commodious,
Rather to caft away his fliield and flie.
H
50 TJic CJioyscst Flowers
'riicu boldly to refift and bravely die.
\_Lifi' and Death of Drake, st. 212.] Ch. Fitz Geffrey.
COURT.
The Princes Court is manfion of the wife,
Figure of heaven, faire fountaine of delights,
Theater of honour, earthly paradice,
The lively Vatican of bewties brights ;
Sudden advancer, fpheare of pureft lights.
Thither let Phoebus progenie refort ;
Where fhines their father, but in Joves great Court .-*
{Life and Death of Wolsey, 1599.] Tho. Storer.
This is ever proper unto Courts,
That nothing can be done but fame reports.
S. Daniell.
To cenfure is the fubject of the Court ;
From thence fame carries, thither fame doth bring ;
There too each word a thoufand ecchoes ring,
A lotterie where moft loofe, but fewe do winne.
{Legend of Matilda, 1596.) M. Drayton.
For nothing there is done without a fee ;
The courtier needs muft recompenced bee.
{Mother Hubberds Tale, 1591.] E. Sp.
Moft miferable man ! whom wicked fate
Hath brought to Court to fue for had I wift,
That fewe hath found, and many one hath mift.
{.IhidP[ Idem.
of our EnglisJi Poets. 5 1
The Court is counted Venus net,
Where gifts and vows, foreftalls, are often fet :
None be fo chafte as Vefta, but fliall meete
A curteous tongue to charme her eares with fweete.
\James IV of Scotland, 1599.] R- GREENE.
The Court hath much of vanitie and painfull ease.
W. Warner.
As for the Court it is, you know, become a flvittifli colte,
Of wife men hardlier managed, then of the glorious dolt.
{Albion's England, B. v, ch. 27.] Idem.
Thear all deformities in forme in fome one man we fee,
More garded then regarded, franke, not to continue free,
When as the merchants booke the map of all his wealth
shalbee.
{Ibid., ibid.] Idem.
Sometime the Courts of kings were vertuous schooles,
Now finde we nought in Court, but curious fooles.
O you ! whofe noble hearts cannot accord
To be the flaves to an infamous lord.
And knowes not how to mixe, with perillous art,
The deadly poyfon of the amorous dart ;
Whofe natures being free wills no conftraint,
Nor will your face with flattering penfill paint.
For weele nor woe, for pitic nor for hire.
Of good my lords their favours to acquire,
Goe not to Court, if ye will me beleeve ;
I'or in that place, where ye thinke to retrecvc.
5 3 TJic CJioyscst Flowers
The honour due for vertuc, yee fhall finde
Nought but contempt, which leaves good men behind.
{History of Judith, 1584, B. iv.] Th. Hudson, Transl.
The wanton luxurie of Court
Doth forme the people of like fort.
S. Daxiell.
Ye worthy dames, that in your breafts do beare,
Of your all-feeing God, no fervile feare :
Ye, that of honour have a greater care
Then fights of Courts, I pray you come not there.
Let men, that in their purfe have not a mite,
Cloathe them like kings, and play the hypocrite ;
And with a lying tale and fained cheare,
Court-coozen them whom they w^ould fee on beare.
Let there the pandar fell his wife for gaine,
With fervice vile his nobleffe to attaine :
Let him that ferves the time, chaunge his intent,
With faith unconftant faile at every vent.
[Histo?y of Judith, 1584, B. iv.] Th. Hudson, Transl.
The Court was never barren yet of thofe
Which could with fubtill traine and apt advife,
Worke on the Princes weakenes, and difpofe
Of feeble frailtie, eafieft to entice.
[Civil Wars, B. i, st. 31.] S. Daniell.
Golden cuppes do harbor poyfon.
And the greateft pompe diffembling,
Court of feafoned words hath foyfon :
Treafon haunts in moft diffembling-.
[From Phillis, 1593, in England'' s Helicon, Sig. D b.] D. LODGE.
of our English Poets. 5 3
Ye fearefuU rocks, ye impes of Achelois,
Who wracks the wifeft youth with charming voice :
Ye Circes, who by your enchauntment ftrange,
In ftones and fwine your Lovers true doo change :
Ye Stymphalids, who with your youth uptakes ;
Ye Ravens, that from us our riches rakes :
Ye who with riches, art, and painted face.
For Priams wife puts Castor's fifter in place.
Ye Myrrhaes, Canaces, and Semyrames,
And if there reft yet moe defamed dames,
Come all to Court ; and there ye fhall receive
A thoufand gaines unmeete for you to have ;
There fliall you fell the gifts of great provinces,
There fliall you fell the grace of graceleffe princes.
\_Histoiy of Judith., 1584, B. iv.] Th. Hudson, Transt.
Courtiers, as the tide, do rife and fall.
[Mother Hubberds Tate, 1^91.] Ed. Spencer.
It doth not fit
With Courtiers majeftie, to be reputed
Too learn'd, too grave, too fine, or too conceited.
[Life and Dcatli of Wolsey., •599-] Thomas Storek.
Who, full of wealth and honours biandiOiment,
Among great lords his yoonger yeares hath fpent.
And quaffing deeply of the Court delights,
Ufde nought but tilts, armours, and mafkes, and fights,
If in his age, his Princes angry doomc,
With deepe difgrace drive him to live at home
In homely cottage, where continually
The bitter fmoake exhales aboundantly
54 ^Z''^' Choyscst Floivcrs
Vxo\\\ his before unforrowe-drained brainc,
The brackifli vapours of a filver raine ;
Where, uflierleffe, both day and night, the North,
South, Eaft, and Weft windes, enter and go forth ;
Where round about the lower roofte-broke walles.
In flead of arras, hang with fpider calles ;
Where all at once he reacheth, as he flands,
With brows the roofe, both walls with both his hands ;
He weepes and fighes, and fliunning comforts aye,
Wiflieth pale death a thoufand times a day ;
And yet at length, falling to worke, is glad
To bite a browne cruft that the moufe hath had ;
And in a difh, in ftead of plate or glaffe,
Sups oaten drinke, in ftead of hypocraffe.
J. SvLViSTER.
COURT E SIR.
Of Court, it feemes, men Courtefie do call.
For that it there mofl ufeth to abound ;
And well befeemeth that in princes hall
That vertue fliould be plentifully found.
Which of all goodly manners is the ground,
And roote of civill converfation.
[Fairy Queen, B. vi, c. i, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
Amongft them all growes not a fairer flower
Then is the bloome of comely Courtefie ;
Which, though it on a lowely ftalke do bower,
of our EnglisJi Poets. 5 5
Yet brauncheth forth in brave nobilitie,
And fpreads it felfe through all civilitie :
Of Avhich, though prefent age doo plentious feeme,
Yet being matcht with plaine antiquitie,
Ye will them all but fained fliewes efteeme,
Which carry colours faire, that feeble eies mifdeem.
\Fairy Qneen, Introduction to B. vi, st. 4.] Ed. Spencer.
But in the triall of true Courtefie,
Its now fo farre from that which then it was,
That it indeed is nought but forgerie,
Fafhion'd to pleafe the eyes of them that paffe,
Which fee not perfect things but in a glaffe ;
Yet is that glaffe fo gay, that it can blinde
The wifeft fight to thinke gold that is braffe ;
But vertues feate is deepe within the minde,
And not in outward fhews, but inward thoughts defin'd.
{Ibid., ibid., st. 5.] IDEM.
This noble vertue, and divine,
Doth chiefly make a man fo rare and odde,
As in that one they moft refemble God.
S. J. Harr. Trans/.
For Courteous fpeech, and ufage mildc and kinde,
Wipes malice out of every noble minde.
[Oilando Fiirioso, B. xxxi, st. 34.] S. J. Harrington.
As Courtefie, oft times, in fimple bowers
Is found as great as in the ftately towers.
\Ibid.. B. xiv, St. 52.] Idem.
56 Tlic Choyscst Flowers
Tis meete a gentle heart fhould ever fliowe,
]^y Courtefie, the fruites of true gentihtie ;
Which will, by prafticc, to an habit growe,
And make men do the fame with great facilitie :
Likewife, the dunghill blood a man fliall know,
By churlifli parts, and a6ls of incivilitie,
Whofe nature, apt to take each lewde infection,
Cuftome confirmes, and makes ill in perfe6lion.
[Orlando Fiirioso, B. xxxvi, st. i.] S. J. HARRINGTON.
CRUEL TIE.
All lay on hands to punifli Crueltie.
M. Drayton.
But Crueltie can never fcape the fcourge
Of fhame, of horror, or of fudden death ;
Repentance felfe, that other finnes may purge,
Doth flie from this, fo fore the foule it flayeth ;
Difpaire diffolves the tyrants bitter breath,
For fudden vengeance fuddenly alights
On cruell deeds, to quite their cruell fpights.
\Lege7uiof Lord Clifford, edit. 1610, p. 366.] L H., M. of M.
CUSrOME.
Round-headed Cuftome th' apoplexie is .
Of bed-rid Nature, and lives led amis.
And takes away all feeling of offence.
\_Hrro and /.raiidcr, edit. 1600, Sest. 3.] G. CHAP>r\N.
of our English Poets. 57
Cuftome abufd, brings vertiie in difdaine.
[A'f autlior naiiifd.']
Nature, with Cuftome joyned, never failes,
But by her felfe, and in her helpes prevailes.
[Fig for Moinns, 1595, Sat. iii.] D. LODGE.
Whereas to natures (forward to retaine)
Lewde obje6ls are annext, and Cuftomes vaine,
The wounds grow defperate, and death doth end,
Before good counfell can the fault amend.
\_Ibid., ibid.] Idem.
Cuflome, the worlds judgement, doth blind fo farre,
That vertue is oft arraign'd at vices barre.
J. Syl. Trans/.
DANGER.
With him went Danger, cloath'd in ragged weede,
Made of beares fkinne, that him more dreadfull made ;
Yet his owne face vv-as dreadfull, ne did neede
Strange horror to deforme his grifly fliade ;
A net in th' one hand, and a ruftie blade
In th' other was ; this mifchiefe, that mifhap :
With th' one his foes he threatned to invade.
With th' other he his friends meant to enwrap;
For whom he could not kill he practis'd to intrap.
\_Fairy (Jneeii, B. iii, c. xii, st. 1 1.] Ed. Spencer.
Danger hath honour, great defignes their fame.
S. Dan.
58 TJi.c Choyscst Floiccrs
The greatcft Daungers promife greateft bliffe.
M. Drayton.
Danger devifeth fliifts ; wit waits on feare.
[Vciii/s a)id Adonis, 1593,5!. 115,] W. Shakespeare.
Daunger 's the chiefeft joy to happineffe,
And refolution honours faireft ayme.
Ch. Marlowe.
The path is fmooth that leadeth on to Daunger.
[Ve?ius and Adonis, st. 132.] W. Shakespeare.
When as we thinke we moft in fafetie ftand,
Great'ft Daungers then are ever near at hand.
\M0rti7neriad0s, 1596.] M. Drayton.
The Daunger hid, the place unknowne and wilde,
Breeds dreadfull doubts : oft fire is without fmoake,
And perill without fhewe.
Ed. Spencer.
Ay me ! how many perills do enfolde
The righteous man, to make him daily fall ;
Were not, that heavenly grace did him uphold,
And fteadfaft truth acquite him out of all.
[Fairy Queen, B. i, c. viii, st. i.] Idem.
A thoufand perills lie in clofe awaite
About us daily, to worke our decay,
That none except a God, or God his guide,
May them avoyd, or remedie provide.
Idem.
of our English Poets. 59
In perill thus we thinke our felves moft fure,
And oft in death fond men are moft fecure.
yDrayioti's Mortivieriados, 1596.]
No Danger but in hie eftate ; none envies mean degree.
W. Warner,
Daungerous things diffembled fildome are,
Which many eyes attend with bufie care.
[Episfle, Q. Isabel to Mortimer.'] M. Drayton.
The abfent Danger greater ftill appeares ;
Leffe feares he, who is neare the thing he feares.
{Tragedy of Cleopatra, 1594.] S. Daniell.
Moft ftrong is he, wdien Daungers are at hand,
That lives prepar'd their furies to withftand.
(3f common fence he is deprived cleane.
That falles with clofed eyes on Daunger feene ;
And he that may both paine and hurt efchue,
Is vaine, if he his proper death purfue.
{No author named]
DREAD.
Next fawe we Dread, all trembling, how he fliooke.
With foote uncertaine profered here and there ;
Benumbd of fpcech, and with a gaftly looke,
Searcht every place, all pale and dead for feare ;
His cap borne up with ftaring of his haire :
Stoynd and amaz'd at his ownc fliade for dread.
And fearing greater daungers then was need.
[Jnduetion to M. 0/ M., edit. 1610, p. 261.] M. Sackvii
6o The Choysest Floivcrs
Coward Dread lackes order, feare wants art,
Deafe to attend, commaunded or defirde.
Ed. Fairfax, Tntnsl.
DEA TH.
And by and by a dumbe dead courfe we fawe
Heavy and cold, the fliape of Death aright,
That daunts all earthly creatures to his lawe,
Againft whofe force in vaine it is to fight,
Ne peeres, ne princes, nor no mortall wight,
No towne, ne realmes, cities, ne flrongeft tower.
But all perforce muft yeeld unto his power.
His dart anon out of the corpes he tooke.
And in his hand, (a dreadfuU fight to fee)
With great tryumph, eftfoones the fame he fliooke,
That moft of all my feares affraied me :
His body dight with nought but bones, perdie ;
The naked fhape of man there fawe I plaine,
AH fave the flefh, the finew, and the vaine.
[IndiiciioJi to M.for M., edit. 1610, p. 265.] M. Sackvill.
Death is a port, whereby we paffe to joy;
Life is a lake that drowneth all in paine :
Death is fo deare, it ceafeth all annoy ;
Life is fo leaud, that all it yeelds is vaine :
And as by life to bondage man is brought.
Even fo likewife by death was freedome wrought.
{Uncertain authors. — TottelVs Miscellany^ I557-] K. OF Surkf;v.
I
of our English Pods. 6i
Nought is immortall underneath the fun :
All things are fubject to Deaths tyrannic ;
Both clownes and kings one felfsame courfe muft run,
And whatfoever lives is fure to die.
[Tragedy of Cornelia^ 15945 act ii.] Tho. Kyd.
Death's alwaies readie, and our time is knowne
To be at heavens difpofe, and not our ovvne.
[Ibid., ibid.'] IDEM.
The braveft are as bloffomes, and the longefh liver dies ;
And, dead, the lovelieft creature as the lothsomft carion lies.
\_Albions England, edit. 1602, B. iv, c. 21.] W. Warner.
Our frailties done are written in the flowers,
Which flourifli now, and fade ere many hovvres.
[Complaint of Rosamond, 1592, st. 36.] S. Daniell.
All earthly things be borne
To die the death, for nought long time may laft :
The funne his beautie yeelds to winters blaft.
I. H. M. of M agist.
Is not God's deed, what ever thing is done
In heaven or earth .-' Did not He all create
To die againe } all ends that was begunne :
Their times in his eternall booke of fate
Are written fure, and have their certaine date.
Who then can ftrive with ftrong neceffitie.
That holds the world in his ftill chaunging ftate .-*
Or fliun the Death ordaind by desteny .-'
When houre of Death is come, let none aflvc whence nor why.
[/''airy Queen, W. i, c. ix, st. 42.] En. Si'KNcer.
62 The Choyscst Floivcrs
Death amongft all deales equally,
For hee 's impartiall ; and with one felfe hand
Cuts off both good and bad : none can withftand.
\_History of Heaven, 1596.] Ch. Middleton.
Death certaine is to all : the proverbe faith,
Uncertaine is to all the houre of death.
\_Orlando Fiirioso, B. xviii, st. 84.] S. J. Harr. TraiisL
Pale fearefull Death, with bloudy dart doth ftrike
The wretched caitifife and the king alike.
[A^o author named.']
Untimely never comes the lifes laft met.
In cradle Death may rightly claime his debt,
Straight after birth due is the fatall beere :
By Deaths permiffion th' aged linger heere ;
Even in the fwath-bands out commiffion goeth
To loofe thy breath, that yet but yoongly bloweth.
\Dolman''s Lord Hastings, edit. 1610, p. 432.] I. H. M. 0/ M.
All muficke fleepes where Death doth lead the daunce.
{^Shepherds Calendar, Nov.] Ed. Spencer.
Let nature for perfe6lion mould a paragon each way,
Yet Death, at laft, on finefb lumps of living flefli wil
pray ;
For nature never framed it, that never fliall decay.
[Albions England, B. iv, ch. 21.] W. WARNER.
Fatal Death, the emperor of graves.
[Tragedy 0/ Sir R. Crinvilc, 1595.] 1. Markham.
of our English Poets.
Death is the key which unlockes miferie,
And lets them out to bleffed hbertie.
All is but loft, that living we beftowed,
If not well ended at our dying day.
O man ! have mind of that laft bitter rage ;
For as the tree doth fall, fo lies it ever lowe.
63
M. Drayton.
Ed. Spencer.
No fear of Death Ihould force us to do ill.
\Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594? =ict ii.] Th. Kyd.
When, for feare of an enfuing ill,
We feeke to fhorten our appointed race,
Then tis (for feare) that we our felves do kill :
So fond we are to feare the worlds difgrace.
{^Ibid., ibid.] IDEM.
Happie, thrice happie, who fo lofb his breath.
That life he gaineth by his godly death.
[iVi? author named.']
Unwife and wretched men to weet whats good or ill !
We deeme of Death as doom of ill defert :
But knew we, fooles ! what it us brings untill.
Die would we daily, once it to expert.
No danger there the fhepheard can afhert :
Faire fields and pleafant layes there beene,
The fields aye frefli, the graffc aye greene.
\_StiepJu'rd\^ Calendar., Nov.]
Ed. Spencer
This fame
Which we call Death, tlic foiilcs releafe from woe,
64 The Choysest Flowers
The worke which brings our bHffe to happie frame ;
Sildome arrefts the bodie, but we finde
Some notice of it written in our minde.
{Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvilc, 1595.] I. Markham.
The worth of all men by their end efteeme,
And then due praife, or due reproach, them yeeld.
[Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. viii, st. 14.] Ed. Spencer.
Death is an equall doome
To good and bad, the common inne of reft ;
But after Death, the triall is to come,
When beft lliall be to them that lived beft ;
But both alike, when Death hath both fuppreft,
Religious reverence doth buriall teene ;
Which who fo wants, wants fo much of his reft :
For all fo great fliame after death I weene,
As felfe to dien bad, unburied bad to beene.
[Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. i, st. 59.] Ed. Spencer.
For beafts with careleffe fteppes to Laethe go,
Where men, whofe thoughts and honours clime on hie.
Living with fame, muft learne with fame to die.
[Alarius and Sylla, 1594, act v, sc. i.] D. LODGE.
Death but an a6led paffion doth appeare,
Where truth gives courage, and the confcience cleare.
[Epistle, Lady Jane Gray to Dudley, 1598.] M. Drayton.
Who dies, the utmoft dolour muft abye ;
But who that lives, is left to waile his loffe ;
So life is loffe, and Death felicitie.
of our English Poets. 65
Sad life, worfe then glad Death ; and greater croffe
To fee friends grave, then, dead,. the grave felfe to engroffe.
{^Fairy Queen, B. iii, c. iv, st. 38.] Ed. Spencer.
In wretches fudden Death, at once
There long-fome ill is buried with their bones.
\_History of Judith, 1584.] Th. Hudson, Transl.
Death is to him, that wretched life doth lead,
Both grace and gaine ; but he in hell doth lie
That lives a loathed life, and, wifliing, cannot die.
Ed. Spencer.
Death is moft lovely fweet, and amiable ;
But captiv'd life, for fouleneffe admirable.
[Jervis Mai-t:ttam''s Sir R. Grinvitc, 1595.] I. Marston.
The toongs of dying men
Inforce attention, like deep harmony :
Where words are fcarce, they are fildom fpent in vaine ;
For they breath truth, that breath their words in paine.
He that no more muft say, is liffened more
Then they whom youth and eafe have taught to glofe :
More are mens ends markt, then their lives before.
The fetting funne, and mufick at the clofe,
As the laft taft of fweets is fweeteft laft.
Writ in remembrance more then things long paft.
[Richard II, 1597, act ii, sc. i.J W. Shakespeare.
DELAIE.
On the one fide he, on th' other fate Delaie,
Behind the gate, tliat none licr might cspie ;
K
66 The Choyscst Fhnvcrs
Whose manner was, all paffengers to ftaie,
And entertaine with her occafions flic :
Through which, fotne loft great hope unheedilie,
Which never they recover might againe ;
And others quite excluded forth did lie,
Long languifhing there in unpittied paine,
And feeking often entrance afterwards in vaine.
{Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. x, st. 13.] Ed. Spencer.
For daunger growes by lingring till the laft ;
And phificke hath no helpe, when hfe is paft.
{The Ekatompathia (1582), Son. 59.] Th. Watson.
Oft things done, perhaps, do leffe annoy
Then may the doing, handeled with Delay.
S. Daniell.
Delaie, in clofe awaite,
Caught hold on me, and thought my fheps to ftay ;
Faining ftil many a fond excufe to prate,
And time to fteale the treafure of mans day,
Whofe fmalleft minute loft, no riches render may.
Ed. Spencer.
Times Delay new hope of helpe ftill breeds.
Idem.
Fearful! commenting,
Is leaden fervitor to dull Delay.
{Richard III, 1597, act iv, sc. 3.] W. SHAKESPEARE.
He that will ftop the brooke, muft then begin
When fommcrs heat hath dried up the fpring;
of our English Poets. 6y
And when his pittering ftreames arc low and thin :
For let the winter aid unto them bring,
He growes to be of watry flouds the king :
And though you damme him up with loftie rankes,
Yet will he quickly overflow his bankes.
{Only found ill Eiiglaiurs Parnassus?^ R. Greene.
Ill newes deferring is a plague as great as an ill newes.
\_Lady PeJttbroke's Ivychurch, 1591.] Ab. Fraunce.
Delay in love, he fayth, brecdcth doubts ; denial bringcth
death.
[[-F. Warner's A Ibions England, B. iv, c. xxi.] W. Shakespeare.
But intermiffion sufl"ers men difpute
What dangers are, and caft with further care ;
Colde doubt cavells with honour, fcorneth fame.
And, in the end, feare waighes downe faith with fliame,
[Civil Wars, B. iii, st. 43.] S. Daniell.
Where hearts be knit, what helpes if not enjoy }
Delay breeds doubts, no cunning to be coy.
[Epistle, Edward IV to Jane Shore, 1599.] M. D.
DELIGHT.
In things without us no Delight is furc.
\He7-o and Lcander, 1600, Scst. 3.] G. Chapman.
A fwcetc in fliapc is but a bad Delight.
D. Li)1)c;e.
6S TJic Choyscst Flowers
Profperitie a flatterer is found :
Delight is fearleffe, till it feele the wound.
[Legend of P. GavestoH, \S9(>,^^- 20-J.'] M. D. Vide Pleasitre.
DESIRE.
Desire, whom not the firmament,
Nor aire, nor earth, nor ocean can content ;
Whofe lookes are hookes, whofe bellies bottomleffe,
Whofe hands are gripes to fcrape with greedines,
Under whofe command,
She brings to field a rough unruly band ;
First, fecret burning, mightie fwoln ambition.
Whom Epicurus many worlds fuffice not,
Whofe furious thirft of proud afpiring dies not,
Whofe hands tranfported with phantafticke paffion,
Beare painted fteeples in imagination.
\_The Furies, from Dn Farias.] I. Sylvister, Transl.
Amongft the moft, the worft we beft can chufe ;
Tis eafie to defire, but hard to ufe.
M. Drayton.
Defire hath filters, which Defires procure.
[Legend of Matilda, 1^96, St. /\.6.'\ Idem.
If blinde Defire thy heart hath once embraced,
Inthrall'd it is, and honour fo defaced.
[A'o author named.']
Defire with fmall encouraging growes bolde.
[Epistle, Matilda to King John, 1599.] IDEM.
of our English Poets. 6g
What can be fa id that lovers cannot fay ?
Defire can make a doctor in a day.
{^Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. no.] M. Dravton.
Things much retain'd, do make us much defire them,
And bewties feldome feene, makes us admire them.
Idem.
DESTINIE.
Sad Clotho held the rocke, the whiles the thrid
By grifly Lachefis was fpunne with paine,
That cruell Atropos eft foones undid,
With curfed knife cutting the twift in twaine :
Moft wretched men, whofe dales depend on thrids fo vain !
\_Spe7icer''s Fairy Qiiee7i, B. iv, c. ii, st. 48.] E. of S.
The holy prophet brought Aftolpho, where
A pallace (feldome feene by mortall man)
Was plac't, by which a thicke darke river ran.
Each roome therein was full of divers fleeces
Of wolle, of lint, of filk, or elfe of cotten ;
An aged woman fpunne the divers peeces,
Whofe looke and hue did fliew her old and rotten :
Nor much unlike unto that labour this is,
By which, in fommer, new made filke is gotten,
Where from the filke-worme his fine garment taking,
They reave him of the cloathes of his owne making.
For firft, in one large roome, a woman fpan
Infinite thrids of divers ftuffe and hew;
An other doth, with all the fpeed Hie can,
With other ftuffe the diftaffes ftill renew :
JO TJic Choysest Floivcrs
The third, in feature Hke, and pale and wan,
Severs the faire from foule, the olde from new.
Who be thefe here ? the Duke demaunds his guide.
Thefe be the fatall fifters, he repHde ;
The Parcees that the thrid of hfe do fpin
To mortall men : hence death and nature knowe
When hfe muft end, and when it muft begin.
Now fhe that doth devide them, and beftow
The coarfe from finer, and the thick from thin,
Workes to that end, that thofe which fineft grow
For ornaments in Paradice muft dwell :
The coarfe are curft to be confum'd in hell.
Further, the Duke did in the place behold,
That when the thrids were fpent that had bene fpunne ;
Their names in braffe, in silver, or in gold
Were wrote, and fo into great heapes were done :
From which a man, that feemed wondrous old.
With whole loades of thofe names away did runne ;
And turn'd againe as faft the way he went,
Nor never weary was, nor ever fpent.
This aged man did hold his pace fo fwift.
As though to runne he onely had bene borne,
Or had it giv'n him as a fpeciall gift ;
And in the lappet of his cloake were borne
The names, etc. — ' This ivas Time!
{^Orlando Ftirioso, 1591, B. xxxiv, st. 86, etc.] S. J. Harr. Transl.
[ Vide Fame.
A heape of names within his cloake he bore,
And in the river did them all unlade ;
Or, (to fay truth,) away he caft them all
Into this ftreamc, which Laethe we do call.
{^Ibid., B. XXXV, St. 11.] IDEM.
of our Englisli Poets. 7 r
You, fad Daughters of the quiet night,
Which in your private refolution wright
What hath or fhall upon our fortunes hght,
Whofe ftories none may fee, much leffe recite ;
You rulers of the gods.
{Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvile, 1595.] I. Markham.
Downe in the bottome of the deepe abiffe,
Where Demogorgon in dull darkneffe pent,
Far from the view of gods or heavens bliffe.
The hidious chaos keepes, their dreadfull dwelling is.
\_Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. ii, st. 47.] Ed. Spencer.
What man can turne the ftreame of Deftenie,
Or breake the chaine of ftrong neceffitie,
Which faft is tide to Joves eternall feate .''
\Fairy Queen., B. i, c. v, st. 25.] Idem.
But what fhall be, fliall be : there is no choice ;
Things needs muft drive as Deftenie decreeth :
For which we ought in all our haps rejoyce,
Becaufe the eye Eterne all things forefeeth,
Which to no ill at any time agreeth ;
For ills, too ill to us, be good to it.
So far his fkilles exceed our reache of wit.
{Legend of Duke of Clarence, edit. 1610, p. 384.] I. H. Mir. of Ma.
Woe worth the wretch that ftrives with Gods forefight !
They are not wife, but wickedly do erre.
Which thinkc ill deeds due Dcftenies may barre.
{Ibid., ibid., p. 391.] Idem.
72 TIic CJioyscst Flozucrs
No humble fpeech, nor mone, may move the fixed ftint
Of Deftinie or death : fuch is the will that paints
The earth with colours frefh, the darkifh fkies with ftore
Of ftarry lic^ht.
Ed. Spencer.
Walls may a while keepe out an enemie,
But never caftle kept out Deftinie.
{Mortimeriados, 1596.J M. Drayton.
But ah ! who can deceive his Deftinie ?
Or weene, by warning, to avoyd his fate ^
That, when he fleepes in moft fecuritie,
And fafeft feemes, him fooneft doth amate,
And findeth due effect or foone or late :
So feeble is the power of flefhly arme.
\_Fairy Queen, B. iii, c. iv, st. 27.] Ed. Spencer.
That which Jove and Deftinie have done,
Men may lament, but never difanull.
\_Li/L' and Death of Drake, 1596, st. 237.] Ch. Fitz. Vide Fate.
DISPAIRE.
Ere long they come where that fame wicked wight
His dwelling has, lowe in an hollow cave,
Farre underneathe a craggy clift ypight,
Darke, dolefull, drery, like a greedy grave,
That ftill for carion carkaffes doth crave.
On top whereof aye dwell the ghaftly owle,
Shriking his balcfull note, which ever drave
of our EngUsJi Poets. 73
Farre from that haunt all other chearefull fowle ;
And all about it wandring ghofles did waile and houle.
And all about olde ftockes and fbubs of trees,
Whereon nor fruite nor leafe was ever feene,
Did hang upon the ragged rocky knees ;
On which had many wretches hanged beene,
Whofe carkaffes were fcattered on the greene,
And throwne about the cliffes.
\_Fai7-y Queen., B. i, c. ix, st. 33.] ' Ed. Spencer.
That darkfome cave they enter, where they finde
That curfcd man, lowe fitting on the ground,
Mufing full fadly in his fallen minde :
His grifly locks, long growen and unbound,
Difordered hung about his fhoulders round,
And hid his face ; through which his hollo we eyne
Lookt deadly dull, and ftared as aftound.
Hi? rawebone cheekes, through penurie and pine.
Were fhrunke into his jawes, as he did never dine.
His garment, nought but many ragged clouts,
With thornes together pind and patched was.
The which his naked fides he wrapt abouts :
And him befide, there lay upon the graffe
A drery corfe, whofe life away did paffe,
All wallowed in his owne yet luke-warme blood,
That from his wound yet welled frefh, alaffe !
In which a ruftie knife fafl fixed flood,
And made an open paffage for the gufhing flood.
\Fairy Queen, B. i, c. ix, st. 35.] Idem.
Me thought, by night, a grifly ghofl in darkes I fawe,
74 TJic Choyscst Fhnvers
Eke nearer ftill to me with ftealing fteps fhe drew :
She was of colour pale, and deadly hew,
Her clothes refembled thoufand kinds of thrall.
And pictures plaine of haftned deaths withall.
{Legend of Queen Cordila, edit. 1610, p. 66.] I. H., Mir. of M.
Difpaire,
The factor for improvident reftraint.
I. Markeham.
Next whom Difpaire, that deepe difdained elfe,
Delightleffe livde, ftill ftabbing of her felfe.
\_Glat{C7is attd S cilia, 1589, sig. C 4.] D. Lodgk.
Now, as it is not lawfull for a man.
At fuch a kings departure or deceafe,
To leave the place, and falsifie his faith ;
So in this cafe we ought not to furrender
That deerer part, till heaven it felfe commaund it.
For as they lent us life to do us pleafure,
So looke they for returne of fuch a treafure.
{Tragedy of Cornelia, I594> act ii.] Th. Kyd.
Farre greater folly is it for to kill
Themfelves, difpairing, then is any ill.
I. W.^Mir.of M.
Be refolute, not defperate, the gods that made thee poore
Can if they will (do wait their will) thy former ftate reftore.
{Albions England, B. ii, c. 10.] W. Warner.
For when laft need to defperation driveth.
Who dareth the moft, he wifeft counfell giveth.
[Fairfax's Godfrey of BuUoigne, B. vi, st. 6.] S. J. HARRINGTON.
of our English Poets. • 75
We may in warre fometime take truce with foes,
But in Difpaire we cannot with our woes.
Difpaire hath ever daunger all contemned.
M. Drayton.
Idem.
DIVELL.
Hells prince, fly parent of revolts and lies.
[^Sacrijice of haac, 1592.] I. Sylvister.
O ruthleffe murderer of immortall foules,
Alaffe ! to pull us from the happie poales,
And plunge us headlong in the yawning hell,
Thy ceafelefs fraudes and fetches, who can tell }
Thou playTt the lyon, when thou dooft ingage
Blood-thirftie Neroes barbarous heart with rage ;
While, flefht in murders, butcher-like, he paints
The faint-poore world, with the deare blood of faints :
Thou plaieft the dog, when by the mouth prophane
Of fome falfe prophets, thou doeft belch thy bane.
Where from the pulpet barkingly he rings
Bold blafphemies againft the King of Kings.
Thou plaiTt the fwine, when plung'd in pleafures vile.
Some epicure doth fober mindes defile ;
Transforming lewdly by his loofe impietie,
Sweete Lacedemon to a foft focietie.
Thou plaieft the nightingale, or elfe the fwan,
When any famous rhetorician
With captious wit, and curious language, drawes
Seduced hearers, and fubvcrts the lawcs.
76 ' TJie Choyscst Flozvers
Thou play'ft the foxe, when thou doeft faine aright
The face and phrafe of fome deepe hypocrite.
True painted tombe, dead feeming cole, but quicke,
"A fcorpion fell, whofe hidden taile doth pricke :
Yet this were little, if thy fpight audacious
Spar'd (at the leaft) the face of angels gracious ;
And if thou didft not apely immitate
Th' Almighties workes, the warieft wits to mate.
I. SvL. Trail si.
The ghoftly enemie doth not ftay
Till tempted perfons do obay.
Yeeld to him, he a lyon is,
Gaine ftood, a flie his pray doth mis.
IGNOTO.
A fubtill pandar, with more inticing rights
Then fea hath fifh, or heaven hath twinckling lights.
{^Shipwreck of Jonas, 1592.] I. Syl.
As a falfe lover, that thicke fnares hath laide
To entrap th' honour of a faire yoong maide,
When fhe (though liflening) litle eare affords
To his fweete courting, deepe affe6led words,
Feares fome affwaging of his freezing flame,
And foothes himfelfe with hope to gaine his game,
And wrapt with joy upon this point perfifts.
That parlying cittie never long refifts,
Even fo the ferpent, that doth counterfet
A guilcfuU call, to allure us to his net ;
Perceiving Eve his flattering gloze difgeft,
He profecutes, and jocund doth not reft.
of our English Poets. yy
Till he have tried foote, hand, head, and all,
Upon the breach of this new battered wall.
[Worlds Creation, 1596.] I. Syl. Traiisl.
DISCORD.
Hard by the gates of hell her dwelling is ;
There whereas all the plagues and harmes abound.
Which punifli wicked men that walke amis :
It is a darkefome delve, far under ground,
With thornes and barren brakes invirond round.
That none the fame may eafily out win ;
Yet many waies to enter may be found,
But none to iffue forth when one is in :
For Difcord harder is to end, then to begin.
\_Fairy (Ineen, B. iv, c. i, St. 20.] Ed. Spenckr.
Her name was Ate, mother of debate
And all diffention, which doth daily grow
Amongft fraile men : that many a publike ftate
And many a private, oft cloth overthrow.
[Ibid., ibid., st. 19.] Idem.
He knew her by her weed of fundry hew.
Patched with infinit unequall lifts,
Her flcin in fundry places naked view,
At divers rents and cuts, he may that lifts :
Her haire was gray and red, and black and blew,
And hard and foft ; in laces fome flie twifts,
Some hangeth downe, upright fome flandeth ftaring,
As if each haire with other had been fquaring.
78 The Clioysest Flowers
Her lap was full of writs and of citations,
Of proceffes, of actions, and arrefts,
Of bills, of anfweres, and of replications,
In courts of Delegats and of Requefts ;
Greeving the fimple fort with great vexations.
She had reforting to her, as her guefts,
Attending on her circuits and her journies,
Scriv'ners and clarkes, lawiers, and atturnies.
{^Orlando Fiirioso, B. xiv, st. 72.] S. J. Harr. Tfansl.
Her face moft foule and filthy was to fee,
With fquinted eyes contrarie wayes intended ;
And loathly mouth'd, unmeet a mouth to bee,
That nought but gall and venome comprehended.
And wicked words that God and man offended :
Her lying tongue was in two parts divided,
And both the parts did fpeak, and both contended ;
And as her tongue fo was her heart difcided,
That never thought one thing, but doubly ftill was guided.
{Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. i, st. 27.] Ed. Spencer.
For like as drops ingender mightie flouds,
And little feeds fprout forth great leaves and buds ;
Even fo fmall ftrifes, if they be fuffered runne,
Breed wrath and warre and death, ere they be donne.
[T. Phaer, Owen Glendour, edit. 1610, p. 299.] M. of Magist.
Concord in kingdomes is chiefe affurance.
And that your families do never fall ;
But where Difcord doth lead the doubtfuU dance,
With bufie brawles and turnes of variance,
1
of our English Poets. 79
Where malice is minftrell, the pipe ill report,
That mafk mifchiefe, and fo ends the fport.
[G. Ferrers, in H. Dnkeo/Glouc., edit. 1610, p. 331.] AT. of M.
Fire-brand of hell, firft tinde in Phlegeton
By thoufand furies, and from thence outthrowne
Into this world, to worke confufion.
And fet it all on fire by force unknowne,
Is wicked Difcord ; whofe small fparkes, once blowne,
None but a god or godlike man can flake.
Such as was Orpheus ; that, when ftrife was growne
Amongft thofe famous imps of Greece, did take
His filver harp in hand, and fliortly friends them make.
\Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. ii, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
O cruell Difcord, food of deadly hate ;
O mortall corfive to a common-weale :
Death-lingring confumption to a ftate ;
A poyfoned fore that never falve could heale.
O foule contagion, deadly killing fever,
Infecting oft, but to be cured never.
[Legetid of Pierce Gaveston, 1596,51. 123.] M. Drayton.
A ftate divided cannot firmly ftand :
Two kings within one realme could never reft.
\_Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594, act i, sc. i.J T. Kyd.
DISSIMULA TION.
Fierce lightening from her eies
Did fct on fier faire Heroes facrificc.
8o TJie CJioysest Flozvci's
Which was her torne robe and inforced haire ;
And the bri"-ht flame became a maid moft faire
For her afpe6l ; her treffes were of wire,
Knit like a net, where harts, all fet on fire,
Struggled in pants, and could not get releafl :
Her amies were all with golden pincers dreft,
And twentie fafliioned knots, pullies, and brakes.
And all her body girt with painted fnakes.
Her downe parts in a fcorpions taile combinde,
Freckled with twentie colours ; pied wings fliinde
Out of her fhoulders ; cloth did never die.
Nor fweeter colours never viewed eie
In fcorching Turkey, Cares, Tartaric,
Then fliinde about this fpirit notorious ;
Nor was Arachnes web fo glorious.
Of lightning and of fhreds fhe was begot ;
More hold in bafe diffemblers is there not :
Her name was Eronufis.
\_Hero and Leander, edit. 1600, Sest. 4.] G. Chapman.
The colours of Diffemblance and deceit
Were died deep in graine, to feeme like truth.
Ed. Spencer.
Better a wretch then a Diffembler.
[Skialetheia, 1598, Sat. i.] E. Gilpin.
For commonly in all Diffimulations
Th' exceffe of glavering doth the guile dete6l,
Reafon refufeth falfhood to direct :
The will, therefore, for feare of being fpied,
Exceedeth meane, becaufe it wanteth guide.
{Legend of Lo)'d Rivers, edit. 1610, p. 406,] M. of M.
of our EnglisJi Poets. 8 1
For commonly all, that do counterfeit
In any thing, exceed the natural! meane.
And that for feare of failing in their feat,
\_Ibid., ibid., p. 206.] M. 0/ M.
The lovely lookes, the fighes that ftorme fo fore,
The due of deep diffembling Doubleneffe,
Thefe may attempt, but are of power no more.
Where beautie leanes to wit and foothfaft neffe.
[Rosalynd, 1590 : edit. 1598, sig. H 4 b.] D. Lodge.
Whofo hath to doo
With deep Diffemblers, muft diffemble too.
{^Legend of Humphrey D like of Gloucester, 1600. st. 137.]
Ch. Middleton. Vid. Hypocrisic.
END.
The End doth alwaies prove the fact ;
By End we judge the meaning of the act.
[J. H. in M.forM. : Loeriniis, edit. 1610, p. 23.] S.J. H., Traiisl.
Begin where lightneffe wil, in fliamc it ends.
\^Hero and Lcander, Sest. 4.] G. Chapman.
EARTH.
Thus whileft he laid his head upon her lap,
She in a fiery mantle doth him wrap ;
And carries him up from this lumpifii mould
Into the fl-cics, whereas he might behold
M
82 TJtc CJioyscst Floivcrs
The Earth, in pcrfe6l roundneffe of a ball,
Exceeding globes moft artificiall ;
Which in a fixed point nature difpofed.
And with the fundry elements inclofed ;
Which, as the center, permanent doth ftay,
When as the fkies, in their diurnall fway,
Strongly maintaine the everturning courfe,
Forced alone by their firft Mover fource :
Where he beholds the aiery regions.
Whereas the clouds and ftrange impreflions
Maintaind by coldneffe often do appeare,
And by the higheft region of the aire
Unto the cleareft element of fire,
W-'hich to her filver footftoole doth afpire.
{^Endymion and Phcebe (1594), sig. E 2 b.] M. Drayton.
Shee now is darkned to all creatures eies,
Whileft in the fliadow of the Earth flie lies :
For that the Earth, of nature cold and drie,
A very chaos of obfcuritie,
Whofe globe exceeds her compaffe by degrees.
Fixed upon her fuperficies,
When in his fliadow flie doth hap to fall,
Doth caufe her darknes to be generall.
{Ibid., ibid.'} Idem.
Earth
Bcares all her fonnes and daughters in one wombe ;
She, Europes, Ameriques, Affriques, Afians toombe.
Idem.
Earth cannot comprehend
The fecret depths of judgements all divine,
of our English Poets. 83
Where is no ground, beginning, midft, nor fine.
{^Sacrifice of Isaac, 1592 J J. Sylvester, Trans I.
O truftleffe ftate of earthly things, and flipper hojDe
Of mortall men, that fwinke and fweat for nought ;
And lliooting wide, doth miffe the marked fcope.
Now have I learnd (a leffon dearly bought)
That nis on Earth affurance to be fought.
\_Shephcrds Calendar, Nov.] Ed. Spencer.
A narrow roome our glory vaine upties,
A little circle doth our pride containe :
Earth, like an ile amid the water lies.
Which fea fometime is cald, fometime the maine.
Yet nought therein refponds a name fo great ;
It's but a lake, a pond, a marifli ftreet.
[Godfrey of Btdloigne, B. xi\', st. 10.] Ed. Fairfax, Transl
Our mother Earth, nere glorious in her frute.
Till, by the funne, clad in her tinfell fute ;
Nor doth fhe ever fmile him in the face,
Till in his glorious armes he her imbrace :
Which proves flie hath a foule, fence, and delight.
Of generations feeling appetite.
{Epistle, King John to Matilda, edit. 1599.] M. Draytcjn.
To know our felvcs to come of humane birth,
Thcfe fad afflictions croffe us here on Earth :
A taxe impofde by heavens eternall lawe,
To kecpe our rude rebellious will in awe.
[//-/</., Dc la Pole to (hieen Margaitl. 1599.] Ii>k.m.
84 The Choyscst Floivcrs
\envie:\
And next to him, malicious Envie rode
Upon a ravenous wolfe, and flill did chawe
Between his cankred teeth a venemous tode,
That all the poyfon ranne about his chawe :
But inwardly he chawed his owne mawe
At neighbours wealth, that made him ever fad ;
For death it was when any good he fawe ;
And wept, that caufe of weeping none he had,
But when he heard of harme, he waxed wondrous glad.
\Fairy Queen, B. i, c. iv, st. 30.] Ed. Spencer.
The other held a fnake with venome fraught.
On which flie fed and gnawed hungerly,
As if that long flie had not eaten ought ;
That round about the jawes we might difcry
The bloody gore, and poyfon dropping loathfomly.
Her name was Envie, knowne well thereby,
Whofe nature is to greeve and grudge at all
That fhc fees done praife- worthily ;
Whofe fight to her is greateft croffe may fall.
And vexeth fo, that makes her eate her gall :
For, when flie wanteth other thing to eate,
She feedes on her own maw unnaturall ;
And of her owne foule entrailes make her meate ;
Meate fit for fuch a monfters monftrous diet.
Idem.
I chaunccd on a monfter of a man,
With licalth heart ficke, flcrvcd with ftorc of foode,
of our Euglisli Poets. 85
With riches poore, with beautie pale and wan,
Wretched with happineffe, evil with good :
One eye did envie at the th'other eie,
Becaufe the other envide more then hee.
His hands did fight for the firft injurie :
So Envie envide, enviede to be ;
And, as he went, his hinder foote was fore.
And envide at the foote that went before.
[ChrcstoU-ros, 1598, lib. ii, epigr. 18.] Th. Bastard.
This monfter, honors hurt, is like the curre
That barkes at ftrangers comming to the durre.
But fparing alwaies thofe are to him knowne ;
To them moft gentle, to the others throwne.
{Essays of a Prentice, IS^S- Urania.l K of S.
This monfter als is like a raving cloude,
Which threatens alwaies kindling Vulcan loudc
To fmore and drowne him with her powring raine,
Yet force of fire repels her power againe.
[Ibid., Urania.'] Ide.m.
Oft malice makes the mind to died the boyled brine.
And Envies humor oft unlades by conduits of the cine.
\_IV. Warner's Albion's England.^ T. \V.
Envy lives with us, whilft our felves furvive,
But when we die, it is no more alive.
[Life and Death of Drake, 1595, st. 65.] Ch. Fitz JEFFREY,
The knottic oake and wainfcot old,
Within doth catc tiie filly wormc ;
86 The Choyscst Floivcrs
Even fo a minde, in Envy cold,
Alwaies within it felfe doth burne.
Ch. Fitz Jeffrv.
Each fence may common objects comprehend,
Things excellent and fenfitive confound ;
The eye with light and colours may contend,
The eare endure the note of common found ;
Both faile, when glorious beames and fhrokes abound :
So Envy, that at meaneft things beares fpight,
Stands mute at view of unexfpected height.
{^I. if c and Death of Wolsey, 1599.] Th. Storek.
Envy harboureth moft in feebleft breft.
S. Ph. Sidney.
Fell Envies cloud ftill dimmeth vertues ray.
Ed. Spencek.
Foule Envie, thou the partiall judge of right,
Sonne of Deceit, borne of that harlot Hate,
Nurfed in hell, a vile and ugly fprite.
Feeding on flaunder, cherilht with debate,
Never contented with thine owne eftate,
Deeming alike the wicked and the good,
Whofe words be gall, whofe actions end in blood.
[Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 78. J M. Drayton.
Envie doth ceafe, wantinge to feed upon.
Idem.
But as the poyze, that would the palme repreffe,
Doth caufe the bowes fpread larger round about ;
So fpitc and Envie caufcth glory fprout ;
of our EiiglisJi Poets. ^y
And aye the more the top is overtroad,
The deeper doth the fame roote fpread abroad.
{Churchyard'' s T. Mowbray., edit. 1610, p. 289.] M. of M
Sicilian tyrants yet did never finde
Then Envie, greater torment of the minde.
Idem.
But ah ! our dayes are ftampt in Envies mint, .
And this our age caft in the iron mold ;
Our hearts are hew'd out of Caucafean flint,
And two leav'd plates of braffe our brefts enfold :
Hate waxeth yoong, the world thus waxing old,
And beft we like them, that do us love the leaft,
And leaft we love them, whom we fliould like beft.
[Z//2' and Death of Drake, 1596, st. 48.] Ch. Fitz Geffrey.
ERROR.
His gliftering armour made
A little glooming light, much like a fhade ;
By which fhe faw the ugly monfter plaine,
Halfe like a ferpent, horribly difplaied.
But th' other halfe did womans fliape retaine,
Mofl loathfome, filthy, foule, and full of vile difdaine.
And as flie lay upon the dyrtie ground.
Her huge long taile her den all overfpred,
Yet was in knots, and many bouts upwound,
Pointed with mortall fting. Of her there bred
A thoufand yoong ones, which Hie daily fed,
S8 TJic Choyscst Floiocrs
Sucking upon her poyfonous dugges, each one
Of fundrie fliapes, yet all ill favoured.
Soone as that uncouth light upon them fhone,
Into her mouth they crept, and fudden all were gone.
\Fairy Queen, B. i, c. i, st. 14.] Ed. Spencer.
To erre is proper unto men, and but brutifli to perfift.
W. Warner.
Errors are no errors, but by fate ;
For oft the event makes foule faults fortunate.
{M. Drayton^s Mortimeriados, 1596.] S. Dan i ell.
For errors left nnpuniflit, are profeft ;
And being not defended are depreft.
\_Legend of Humphrey of Gloucester, 1600, st. 46.] Middleton.
To heare good counfell Error never loves.
D. Lodge.
Errors are hardly moved,
That love doth breed in an unadvifed breft.
S. J. H., Trausl.
A flony coldneffe hath benumbde the fence.
And lively fpirits of each living wight,
And dim'd with darkneffe their intelligence,
Darkenes more then Cymerians daily night,
And monftrous Error flying in the aire.
Hath mar'd the face of all that feemed faire.
[Tears of /ke Muses, I S9i ■ Euferpe.] Ed. Spencer.
of our EnglisJi. Poets. 89
FAITH.
Fidelia hight,
Like funny beames threw from her chriftall face,
That could have dazde the rafn beholders fight,
And round about her head did fliinc like heavens light.
She was araied all in lilly white,
And in her right hand bore a cup of gold,
With wine and water filld up to the height,
In which a ferpent did himfelfe infold,
That horror made to all that did behold ;
But file no whit did change her conftant mood.
And in her other hand fhe faft did hold
A booke, that was both fignd and feald with bloud.
{Fairy Queen., B. i, c. x, st. 12.] Ed. Spencer.
Faith fits triumphant on a coach of gold,
Of Tuballs worke, where coftly faphires Ihine,
Rich diamonds, and many rubies fine;
And if ought elfe the worke more coftly hold.
This glorious chariots rowling wheeles are like
The holy wheeles the great Ezechiel fawc.
For one felfe fpirit ; felfe winde and will doth drawe
Their reftleffe courfes, cquall both alike ;
The bird that led the Romaine ftandcrds out,
The bird that fixed can oppofc his cies
Againft the greateft light in all the flvies.
High through the ayre drawes this rich coach about.
Faith flaunts it not in filver nor in gold,
Nor precious fcarlet of tlic Tyrian dye ;
X
90 The Choysest Fhnvcrs
Nor paints her face to hide deformitie ;
But as flie is Ihe doth her felfe unfolde.
Her body, that all bodies doth difgrace,
Like Junoes bird is full of watchfull eies,
Whofe holy glaunces pierce the loftie ilcies,
Pierce aire and heaven, and fee God face to face.
She hath great ftore of flowing tongues to praife
The Lord of hoafhes : fhe hath moft mightie wings,
(Faffing the fwiftnes of all earthly things)
That in a moment up to heaven her raife.
Her glorious head is compaft with a crowne,
Nor made of olive, pine, or lawrell bowe,
Nor parfly wreath, which Graecians did allowe
Th' Olympian gaimes for fignalls of renowne ;
But of frcfli rofes pluckt from honours tree,
That never fhrinke for winters chilling frofts,
Nor wither not when Titan hotely toftes,
But by the Lord for ever watered bee,
\Trinmph of Faith, 1592, p. 3.] J. Syl. Transl.
Faith, friendly porter of heavens chriftall hold,
Condu6l us ftraight before the throne of gold
Of Gods great grace, there proftrate on her knee,
Thus praier fpeaks in name of all the three.
{Ship-cvreck of Jonas, 1592, p. 23.] IDEM.
What was the world before the world .'' or God ere he was
God }
Why this he did, or doth not that, this bidden or forbod .-'
I dare not thinke, or arrogate fuch mifteries divine,
Faith, with licr fruitcs fignificant, fuffice thefe wits of mine ;
of our English Poets. 91
To love God, and our neighbour as our felfe, is all in line.
[Albions England, B. v, ch. 27.] W. Warner.
Then drawe thy forces all unto thy hart,
The ftrongeft fortreffe of this earthly part ;
And on thefe three let thy affurance lie, —
On Faith, repentance, and humilitie.
[Epistle; Lady Jane Gray to Dudley.'] M. Drayton.
Faith is thy fort, thy fliield, thy ftronger aide.
Never controll'd, nere yeelded, ne difmaide ;
Which doth dilate, unfold, foretell, expreffeth,
Which gives rewards, invefteth, and poffeffeth.
Idem.
Faith hath not onely power on things terrene
Both hie and lowe, but oftentimes doth force
Gods jufticc too ; and fometimes feemes, perforce,
Gods purpofes to change and alter cleane.
[Triumph of Faith, 1593, p. 25.] J. Syl.
But hardefl things Faith makes mofh poffible.
[Uid., p. 2.] IDKM.
For even the faithfull flock are like the ground.
That, for good fruite, with weedes will ftill abound,
If that the fliare and coulter idle lie,
That rives the foyle, and rootes the brambles bie.
[History of Judith, 1584, 15. ii.] Tn. HUDSON, Transl.
Adde Faith unto your force, and be not faint.
El). .Spenckr.
92 The Choyscst FUn^'crs
Onely Faith doth juftifie, fay we, of Gods free grace
By Chrift ; nor Faith is idle, but doth charitie embrace.
W. Warner.
FAME.
A MONSTER swifter none is under funne ;
Encreafing, as in waters we difcrie
The circles fmall, of nothing that begun,
Which, at the length, unto fuch breadth do come,
That of a drop, which from the fkies doth fall.
The circles fpread, and hide the waters all :
So Fame, in flight encreafmg more and more ;
For, at the firft, flie is not fcarcely knowne,
But by and by fhe fleets from fhore to fliore.
To clouds from th' earth her ftature ftraight is growne.
There whatfoever by her trumpe is blowne,
The found, that both by fea and land out-flies.
Rebounds againe, and verberates the fkies.
They fay, the earth that firft the giants bred.
For anger that the gods did them difpatch,
Brought forth this After of thofe monfters dead.
Full light of foote, fwift wings the winds to catch :
Such monfter erft did nature never hatch.
As many plumes fhe hath from top to toe.
So many eyes them underwatch or moe ;
And tongues do fpeake : fo many eares do harke.
By night tweene heaven fhe flies and earthly shade.
And, fhrcaking, takes no quiet fleepe by darke :
On houfes roofes, on towers, as keeper made.
She fits by day, and cities threates t' invade ;
of our English Poets. 93
And as Ihe tells what things flie fees by view,
She rather fhewes that's fained falfe, then true.
[Legefid of Albanact, p. 16, edit. 1610.] I. H., M. of M.
Fame, in a ftoale of purple, fet with eies.
And eares, and tongues, caried a golden booke ;
Upon the cover, this I fawe engrav'd :
Paiici qiios csquns auiavit
Jupiter, a?it ardens evexit ad cetJiera virtus
Dis geniti.
\Thc Honour of the Garter., 1593.] G. Teele.
F"ame with golden wings aloft doth flie.
Above the reach of ruinous decay,
And with brave plumes doth beate the ayrie fkie,
Admir'd of bafe-borne men from far away,
Ed. Spencer.
The brazen trompe of iron -winged Fame,
That mingleth faithfull truth with forged lies.
\f}odfrey of Bulloignc, B. i, st. 81.] E. Fairfax, Transl.
Then came they to the foule and loathfome lake,
Darke, deepe, and mirie, of a deadly hue,
Where was the aged man that never ftinted
To carrie bundles of the names imprinted.
This was the man, whom (as I told before)
Nature and cuftome fo fwift pace had made.
He never refted, but ran evermore.
And with this running he did ufe this trade :
A heapc of names within his cloake he bore,
94 The Choysest Floivcrs
And in the river did them all unlade :
Or (to fay the truth), away he caft them all
Into this ftreame, which Laethe we do call.
This prodigall old wretch no fooner came
Unto this curfed rivers barren banke,
But defperately, without all feare of blame,
Or caring to deferve reward or thanke,
He hurl'd therein full many a precious name,
Where millions foone into the bottom fanke :
Hardly in every thoufand one was found,
That was not in the gulfe quite loft and dround.
Yet all about great ftore of birds there flew,
As vultures, carren crowes, and chattering pies,
And many more of fundrie kinds and hew.
Making leaude harmonic with their loude cries.
Thefe, when the careleffe wretch the treafure threw
Into the ftreame_, did all they could devife.
What with their tallents fome, and fome with beake,
To fave fome names, but find themfelves too weake ;
For ever, as they fought themfelves to raife
To beare away thofe names of great renowne.
The waight of them fo heavie downeward waies.
They in the ftreame were driven to caft them downe ;
Onely two fwans fuftain'd fo great a paife :
In fpight of him that fought them all to drowne,
Thefe two do ftill take up whofe names they lift,
And bare them fafe away, and never mift.
Sometime all under the foule lake they dived,
And tooke up fome that were with water covered ;
And thofe that feem'd condemned, they reprived :
And often, as about the banke they hovered.
of our English Poets. 95
They caught them, ere they to the ftreame arrived ;
Then went they, with the names they had recovered,
Up to a hill that ftood the water nie,
On which a ftately church was built on hie.
This place is facred to immortall Fame,
And evermore a nimph ftands at the gate,
And tooke the names wherewith the two fwans came,
(Whether they early come, or whether late)
Then all about the church flie hang'd the fame.
Before that facred image, in fuch rate
As they might then well be affur'd for ev^cr,
Spight of that wretch, in fafetie to perfever.
{^Orlando Furioso, B. xxxv, st. 10, etc.] S. J. Harr. TraiisL
Fame on his right hand, in a roabe of gold,
Whofe ftately traine Time as her page did beare ;
On which for rich imbroydery was enrold.
The deeds of all the Worthies ever were;
So ftrongly wrought as wrong could not impaire ;
Whofe large memorialls fhe did ftill reherfe,
In poets man-immortallizing verfe.
Two tables on her goodly breft flie bore.
The one of chriftall, th' other ebonie,
Engrav'd with names of all that liv'd before :
That, the faire booke of heavenly memorie ;
Th' other, the black fcrowle of infamie ;
One ftuft with poets, faints, and conquercrs ;
Th' other with atheifts, tyrants, ufurers ;
And in her words appeared, as a wonder,
Her during force, and never failing might,
Whicli foftly fpakc firrc off, were as a thunder;
q5 The Clioyscst Fknvcrs
And round about the world would take their flight,
And bring the moft obfcureft things to light ;
That ftill the farther ofif, the greater ftiU
Did ever found our good, or make our ill.
{^Legend of Robert of Normandy, 1596,5!. 12, etc.] M. Drayton.
My dwelling place betwixt the earth and fkies,
My turret unto heaven her top upreares :
The windowes made of Lynceus piercing eies,
And all the walles be made of daintieft eares,
Where every thing that's done in earth appeares.
No word is whifpered in this vaultie round,
But in my pallace ftraitwaies it doth found :
The pavement is of ratling brafen drums.
The rafters, trumpets, which do rend the aire,
Sounding aloud each name that thither comes ;
The chinkes, like tongues, of all things talking there,
And all things paft in memorie do beare :
The doores unlocke with every word man faith.
And open wide with every little breath.
It 's hung about with amies and conquering fpoiles :
The pillers which fupport the roofe of this,
Are trophies graven with Herculean toiles ;
The roofe of garlands, crownes, and enfignes is;
In midft of which a chriftall pyramis,
All over carv'd with men of moft renowne,
Whofe bafe is my faire chaire, the fpire my crowne.
S^Ibid., ibid., st. 50, etc.] Idem.
Refuge of hope, the harbinger of truth.
Hand mayd of heaven, vcrtues fkilfuU guide,
The life of life, the ages fpringing youth ;
of our English Poets. 97
Tryumph of joy, eternities faire bride,
The virgins glory, and the martyrs pride ;
The courages immortall raifing fire,
The very height to which great thoughts afpire :
The llaire by which men to the ftarres do clime ;
The minds firft mover, greatnes to expreffe ;
Faiths armour, and the vanquiflier of time ;
A pleafant fweet againft deaths bitterneffe,
The hie reward which doth all labours bleffe ;
The ftudie which doth heavenly things impart,
The joy amidft the tedious waies of art :
Learnings greene lawrell, Juftice glorious throne,
The Mufes chariot, memories true food,
The poets life, the gods companion,
The fire-reviving phoenix fun nurft brood.
The fpirits eternall image, honours good ;
The balfamum which cures the fouldiers fcarre ;
The world-difcovering feamans happy fbarre.
\_Lcgend of Robert of Normandy, 1596, st. 47, etc.] M. Drayton.
A loftie fubjeft of it felfe doth bring
Grave words and waightie, of it felfe divine ;
And makes the authors holy honour fliine.
If ye would after aflics live, beware
To do like Eroftrate, who burnt the faire
Ephefian temple ; or him to win a name.
Who built of braffe a cruell calfe untame.
{Essays of a Prentice, 1585. Ura7na.'] A', of S.
Incorporeall Fame,
Whofe waight confifts in nothing but her name,
9<S TJic CJioysest Floivcrs
Is fwifter then the wind, whofe tardy plumes
Are reeking water, and dull earthly fumes.
\_Hcro and Leander, Scst. 2.] Ch. Marlowe.
Fame (whereof the world feemes to make fuch choyce)
Is but an eccho, and an idle voyce.
{Complaint of Rosamond^ 1592, st. 38] S. Daniell.
Unto this Hydra are we fubject ftill,
Who dares to fpeake, not caring good or ill.
\_No author 7ianicd.']
For better it is without renowne to be,
Then be renownd for vile iniquitie.
[_Essays of a Prentice, 1585. Urania.'} K. of K.
Fame, the queene of immortalitie.
Ch. Fitz Jeffrey.
Death hath no dart to flay deferved Fame.
\Life and Death of Drake, 1596, st. 186.] Ch. Fitz.
This jealous monfber hath a thoufand eies,
Her aiery body hath as many wings ;
Now on the earth, then up to heaven flie flies.
And here and there w^ith every wind fhe flings :
From everie coafb her rumors forth flie brings ;
Nothing fo fecret but to her appeareth,
And apt to credit every thing fhe heareth :
Foule blabbing tell-tale, fecrets foone bewraier,
Thou aire-bred eccho, whifperer of lies ;
Shrill-foundiftg trompet, truths unkind betraier,
Falfc larum-bell, awaking dead mens eies,
Unccrtaine rumor, wandring in the fl<ycs.
of our English Poets. 99
Fond pratling parrat, telling all thou heareft ;
Oft furtheft off, when as thou fhouldft be neareft.
[^Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 21.] M, Drayton.
The path is fet with danger leads to Fame.
When Minos did the Grecians flight denie,
He made him wings, and mounted through the flvie.
\_Mortitnefiados, 1596.] Idem.
Still Fame wil grow, if once abroad it flie,
Whether it be a troth, or be a lie.
[^Orlando Fitrioso, B. xxxii, st. 32.] S. J. H.
Fame doth explore what lies moft fecret hidden.
Entering the clofet of the pallace dweller ;
Abroad revealing what is moft forbidden.
Of truth and falfliood both an equal teller :
Tis not a guard can ferve for to expell her ;
The fword of juftice cannot cut her wings.
Nor floppe her mouth from uttering fecret things.
\Coniplamt of Rosamond, 1592,51. 82.] S. Daniell,
Celeftiall goddesse, eviternal Fame,
Minervaes daughter by faire Maias fonne ;
Of all th' inhabitants of heavens faire frame
Moft highly honored fmce the world begunne.
And fliall be till the fatal glaffe be runne ;
Soules fweet receit, the healths reflorative,
Hearts cordiall, the minds prefervative.
Goddeffe of thought, mufe-animating fpirit,
Aulter of honour, temple of renowne,
Shrine of devotion, ycclding art her mcritc ;
I oo TJic CJioysest Flowers
Lifes richeft treafure, vertues gorgious gowne,
Heavens beft abilliment, Ariadnes crowne :
The Cynofura of the pureft thought ;
Fair Helice, by whom the heart is taught.
\Life and Death of Drake, 1596, st. 60.] Ch. Fitz Jeffrey.
FAMINE.
A GRISLY fliape of Famine mought we fee,
With greedy lookes and gaping mouth, that cride
And roard for meate as fhe fliould there have dide :
Her body thin and bare as any bone,
Whereto was left nought but the cafe alone ;
And that, alas ! was gnawne on every where,
And full of holes ; that I ne mought refraine
From teares, to fee how flie her amies could teare.
And with her teeth gnafh on the bones in vaine ;
When all for nought fhe faine would fo fuftaine
Her ftarven corps, that rather feem'd a fliade
Then any fubftance of a creature made.
Great was her force whom ftone walles could not ftay,
Her tearing nayles fnatching at all fhe fawe :
With gaping jawes, that by no meanes ymay
Be fatisfied from hunger of her mawe,
But eates her felfe, as fhe that hath no lawe.
Gnawing, alas ! her carkas all in vaine,
Where you may count each fmew, bone, and vaine.
On her while we thus firmly fixt our eies.
That bled for ruth of fuch a drery fight.
of our Englisli Poets. loi
Lo ! fuddenly fhe flirikte in fo huge wife,
As made hell-gates to fhiver with the might :
Wherewith a dart we fawe how it did light
Right on her breft, and therewithall pale Death
Enthrilling it to reave her of her breath.
{Induction to M.for AL, edit. 1610, p. 265.] M. Sackville.
Meane cates are welcome ftill to hungry guefts.
{Evf^ry Man out of his Humour, Induction.'] B. JOH.
FAN CI E.
Fancie, we feele, includes all paffions might.
[Arcadia, edit. 1598, p. 361.] S. PHIL. SYDNEY.
Fancie by kind with reafon ftriveth ftill.
I'r/ie Ekatompathia (1581), Son. 64.] Th. Watson. Vid. Love.
FA TE.
What God hath faid that cannot but enfue,
Though all the world would have it overthrowne.
When men fuppose by fetches of their owne
To flie their Fate, they further on the fame ;
Like quenching blafts, which oft revive the flame.
{Legend of Duke of Clarence, edit. 1610, p. 391.] M of i\f.
Thus rule the heavens in their continuall courfe :
That yeelds to Fate, that doth not yeeld to force.
{Epistle, Lady Jane Gray to Dudley, edit. 1599.] M. Drayton.
I02 The Choyscst Flozvcrs
Chaunce is uncertaine, fortune double-faced.
Ed. Fairfax, Tratisl.
Demogorgon, ruler of the Fates.
\Friar Bacon and Friar Bimgay, 1594/ also in the same author'' s
Orlando Furioso, 1594.J R. Greene.
The Fates can make
Waie for themfelves, their purpofe to pertake.
Ed. Spencer.
What the Fates do once decree,
Not all the gods can chaunge, nor Jove himfelf can free.
{Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. ii, st. 51.] Idem.
The lavves of Fate,
Being graven in fteele, mufl ftand inviolate.
{Comedy of Fortnnatiis, 1600.] Th. Dekkar.
Who can efcape what his owne Fate hath wrought ;
The work of heavens wil furpaffeth humane thought.
{Fairy Queen, B. v, c iv, st. 27.] Ed. Spencer.
But, ah ! who can deceive his deftenie .■*
Or weene by warning, to avoid his Fate }
That when he fleepes in moft fecuritie.
And fafeft feemes, him fooneft doth amate,
And findeth due effect, or foone or late :
So feeble is the power of fleflily arme.
{Repetition from p. 72.] Idem.
Indeed the Fates are firme.
And may not flirinkc, though all the world do fliake :
of our Englisli Poets. 103
Yet ought mens good endevours them confirme,
And guide the heavenly caufes to their conftant terme.
Ed. Spencer.
Each man, they fay, his Fate hath in his hands ;
And what he marres or makes to leefe or fave.
Of good or evil, is even felfe do, felfe have.
{Legend of King Madan, edit. 1610, p. 46.] I. H. M. of M.
The Fates, farre off forefeene, come gently neare.
{Legend of Pierce Gaveston, 1596, st. 183.] M. Drayton.
But Fate is not prevented, though fore-knowne ;
For that muft hap decreed by heavenly powers,
Who worke our fall, yet make the fault flill ours.
{Complaint of Rosamond, 1592, st. 59] S. Daniell.
Fate
Keeps in eternal darke our fortunes hidden.
And e'er they come to know them, tis forbidden.
{Ibid., St. 10.] Idem.
All men are men in ignorance of Fate ; *
To alter chance exceedeth humane ftate.
{Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvite, 1595.] I. Markham.
Thus rule the heavens in their continuall courfe.
That yeelds to Fate, that doth not yeeld to force.
{Repetition from p. loi.] M. Drayton.
1 04 TIic Choyscst Floaters
FEARE.
Next him was Feare, all arm'd from top to toe,
Yet thought himfelfe not fafe enough thereby ;
But fear'd each fliadow moving to or fro,
And his owne armes, when glittering he did fpie,
Or clafhing heard, he faft away did flie,
As afhes pale of hew, and winged heeld ;
And evermore on Danger fixt his eie,
Gainft whom he alwaies bent a brazen fheeld,
Which his right hand, unarmed, fearefully did weeld.
\^Fairy Queen, B. iii, c. xii, st. 12, J Ed. Spencer.
Who fo for ech fickle Feare from vertue flirinkes,
Shall in his life imbrace no worthy thing ;
No mortall man the cup of furetie drinkes,
lArcadia, edit. 1598, p. 389.] S. Phil. Sid.
Feare is more paine then is the paine it feares,
Difarming humane minds of native might ;
While each conceit an ugly figure beares,
Which were not evil, well viewd in reafons light.
\^Ibid., ibid., p. 445.] IDEM.
The guilt being great, the feare doth ftill exceed ;
And extreame Feare can neither fight nor flie,
But, coward-like, with trembling terror die.
\_Lncrece, 1594, st. 34.] W. Shakespeare.
The Feare of ill exceeds the evill we feare.
[Godfrey of Biilloic^ne, B. i, st. 82.] Ed. Fairfax, Trans/.
of ojir English Poets. 105
Feare lendeth wings to aged folke to flie,
And made them mount to places that were hie :
Feare made the wofuU child to waile and weepe,
For want of fpeed, on foote and hands to creepe.
{^History of Judith, 1584.] Th. Hudson, Transt.
Feare, in a fearefull heart, frets more then plagues that he
feareth.
{Countess of Peinbrot^e's IvycJiurdi, 1591.] A. Fraunce.
Feare, that is wifer then the truth, doth ill.
{Cii'il U'tjrs, edit. 1609, B. ii, st. 47.] S. I).
Feare cafls too deepe, and never is too wife.
\Ibid., B. iii, st. 3.] IDEM.
In vainc with terror is he fortified,
That is not cfuarded with firme love befide.
A fearefull thing, to tumble from a throne.
Idem.
M. Drayton.
Where crowned might and croffed right fo near togithcr
dwel,
Behoves that forreft-flying Feare, whereof the foxe did tcl ;
Our factious Lancafter and Yorke thereof could witnes wel.
{Allyinus Ent^land, edit. 1602, B. x, ch- 59.] W. WARNER.
Thunder affrights the infants in the fcliooles.
And threatnings arc the conquerors of foolcs.
\_TTngedy of Sir R. Grinvile, 1595.] I- Marktiaa:.
1'
io5
TJtc Choyscst Floivcrs
S. Daniell,
M. Drayton.
Whom Feare conftraines to praife their princes deeds,
That Feare eternall hatred in them feeds.
R. Greene.
Feare mifmterprets things ; each augury
The worfer way he fondly doth imply.
Weaknes is falfe, and faith in cowards rare ;
Feare findes out fliifts, timiditie is fubtill.
\Tragedy of Cleopatra^ I594-]
Tis incident to those whom many feare,
Many to them more greevous hate to beare.
[Mortimer iados, 1596.]
He, whom all men feare,
Feareth all men, every where :
(Hate inforcing them thereto)
Maketh many undertake
Many things they would not do.
{Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594, act iv.]
The onl}' good that growes of paffed Feare,
Is to be wife, and ware of like againe.
[Fairy Queen, B. i, c. viii, st. 44.]
A man to feare a womans moodie eire,
Makes reafon lie a flave to fervile Feare.
Tho. Kyd.
Ed. Spencer.
S. Ph. Sydney.
Nothing feene fearefull we the moft fhould feare;
Great'ft miftes arife before the greateft raine :
The water deep'ft, where we leafl; murmure heare ;
of our EnglisJi Poets. 107
In faireft cups men temper deadlieft baine.
The nearer night, the ayre more cleare and ftill,
The nearer to our deaths, leaft fearing ill.
{^Legend of P. Gavestoii, 1596, st. 206.] M. Drayton.
Bloodleffe, truftleffe, witleffe Feare,
That, like an afpen tree, trembles each where ;
She leads blacke terror, and blacke clo\vni(h fliame.
And drowfie floth that counterfeiteth lame.
With fnailelike motion meafuring the ground :
Foule fluggish drone, barren (but finne to breed)
Difeafed begger, fterv'd with wilfull need.
\_Sylvestet''s Trans, of Dn Barf as, Furies.'] I. S., Traiisl.
The feare of evill doth affli6l us more,
Then th' evill it felfe, though it be nere fo fore.
\No ai/f/ior named, hut T. KyuVs Cornelia, 1594, act iw]
FORTITUDE.
Rich bufkind Seneca, that did declaime,
And firft in Rome our tragicke pompe compile,
Saith Fortitude is that, which in extreame
And certaine hazard, all bafe feare exile.
It guides, faith he, the noble minde from farre.
Through froft and fire, to conquer honours warre.
\Tragedy of .sir R. Grinvi/e, 1595.] I. Makkiia.m.
lloney-tong'd Tiill\-, mermaid of our cares,
Affirmcs no force can force true Fortitude:
io8 The Clioyscst Floivcrs
It with our bodies no communion beares :
The foule and fpirit fole doth it include.
It is that part of honeftie, which reares
The heart to heaven, and ever doth obtrude
Faint feare and doubt ; ftill taking his delight
In perills, which exceed all perils might.
Patience, perfeverance, greatnes, and ftrong truft,
Thefe pages are to Fortitude, their king :
Patience that fuffers, and efteemeth juft
What ever woe for vertue fortunes bring ;
Perfeverance holds conftant what we muft ;
Greatnes that ftill effects the greateft thing ;
And armed truft, which never can difpaire,
And hopes good happe, how ever fatall, deare.
\Tragedy of Sir R. Griuvile, 1595.] I. Markham.
The man that hath of Fortitude and might,
And- thereto hath a kingdome voyd withall,
Except he alfo guide himfelfe aright,
His power and ftrength prevaileth but a fmall ;
He cannot fcape, at length, an hapleffe fall.
I. H. J/. ^/J/.
The Romaine Sergius, having loft his hand,
Slew with one hand foure in a fingle fight ;
A thing all reafon ever did withftand,
But that bright Fortitude fpreads forth her light.
Pompey, by ftorme held from th' Italian land,
And all his faylors quaking in his fight,
Firft hoyfted faile, and cried amidft the ftrife, —
Ther's need I goe ; no need to fave my life.
[ Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvih\ 1595.] I . M A R K E H A ^ r .
of our English Poets. 109
Force, without wifdome, is of little worth.
[Dnlce Belluni Incxpertisi\ G. Gascoigne.
Greater Force there needs to maintain wrong then right.
Ed. Spencer.
Agis, that guilt the Lacedemon ftreete,
Entending one day battaile with his foes,
By counfell was repeld as thing unmeete,
The enemie being ten to one in fhoes ;
But he replied, — 'Tis needfull that his feete,
Which many leads, fliould lead to many blovves ;
And one, being good, an armie is for ten
Foes to Religion, and knowne naughtie men.
To him, that told Dienecus how his foes
Covered the funne with darts and armed fpeares,
He made replie, — Thy newes is joy in woes :
VVee'le in the lliadow fight, and conquer feares.
[Tragedy 0/ Sir R. Grinviic, 1595.] I. Markham.
As to love the life for vertues flame
Is the juft act of a true noble will,
So to contemne it, and her hopes exclude
Is bafeneffe, raflineffe, and no Fortitude.
\Ibid., ibid.] IDEM.
Rafli Isadas, the Lacedemon lord,
That naked fought againft the Theban power.
Although they chain'd his valour by a cord,
Yet was he finde for raflincs in that hower.
And thofe, which moft his careleffe praifc afford.
Did moft condemnc what folly did dovoure ;
1 1 o TJie Choyscst Floiucrs
For, in attempting, proweffe is not ment,
But wifely doing what we do attempt.
[Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvik, 1595.J I. Markham.
FE LI CI TIE.
O ! HAD Felicitie feeling of woe,
Or could on meane but moderately feede,
Or would looke downe the way that he muft goe,
Or could abftaine from what difeafes breede,
To ftop the wound before to death he bleede,
Warre fliould not fill kings pallaces with mone,
Nor perill come when tis leaft thought upon.
[Mortwiertados, 1596. J M. Drayton.
FOLL Y. FOOLES.
Folly in youth is finne, in age is madne.s.
S. Daxiell.
A greater figne of folly is not showne,
Then trufting others force, diftruft ones owne.
[Gr/a/ido Furioso, B. xxxix, st. 39.] S. J. Harr. TraasL
Wicked men repine their finnes to heare,
And folly flings, if counfell touch him neare.
[Fig for Momiis, 1595, Sat. i.] D. Lodge.
Faire Fooles delight to be accounted nice.
[IIcio and Lcaiufcr, edit. 1598, Scst. i.] Ch. ^L\RLo\\e.
of our English Poets. 1 1 1
Fooles will find fault without the caufe difcerniiig,
And argue moft of that they have no learning.
{^Orlando Furioso, B. xxviii, st. i.] S. J. Harr. Transl.
There is a method, time, and place,
Which P'ooles obferving do commence, ere wife men have
their grace.
W. Warner.
Tis better be a Foole then be a foxe ;
For folly is rewarded and refpected,
Where fabtiltie is hated and rejected.
[Fig for Momus, Sat. i.] D. Lodge.
The foolish commons ufe
Obey them moft, who doth them moft abufe.
S. J. Harrington, P.
A witleffe Foole may every man him geffe,
That leaves the more, and takes him to the leffe.
[Tragedy of Jocas/a, edit. 1587, act ii, sc. i.] G. Gascoigne.
FLA TTERER.
He hates foule leafings and vile Flatteric,
Two filthy blots in noble genterie.
[Mother Hubberds Tale.] Ed. Sp.
Thus when we finely foothe our ownc defires,
Our beft conceits do prov'e the grcateft Hers.
[Mortivrcriados. 1596.] M. Drayton.
1 1 2 The Choyscst Flozucrs
Nere was pretence fo foule, but fome would flatter it ;
Nor any thing fo peftilent, as mifapplied wit.
W. Warner.
To be officious getteth friends ; plaine dealing hated is ;
Yet better plainly to reprove, then fainedly to kis :
We cannot alfo love our friends, and flatter their amis.
\_Albions England, edit. 1602, B. x, ch. Ix.] IDEM,
Flattery can never want rewards.
{FigforMomns, Sat. i.] D. LoDGE.
He twice offends, who fnine in Flattery beares ;
Yet every houre he dies, that ever feares.
\^M. Drayton'' s Mortinieriados, 1596.] IdEjM.
The lords and ladies over rent, and cunningly the fame
The parafite doth overreach, and bears away the game.
[Albion''s England, B. iv, ch. xxii.] W. Warner.
Ye fonnes of craft, bearing as many faces
As Proteus takes among the marine places.
And force your natures' all the beft you can,
To counterfeit the grace of fome great man ;
Chamelion-like, who takes to him each hew.
Of blacke or white, or yellow, greene, or blew,
That comes him next : fo you, that finde the fashion
To hurt the poore, with many a great taxation ;
You that do preafe to have the princes eare.
To make your names in provinces appeare ;
Ye fubtill Thurims, fell your fumish winde
To wicked wights, whofe fences ye do blinde.
\_IJistory of JnditJi, 1584, B. i\-.] Tfl. HUDSON, Transl.
of 02tr English Poets. 1 1 3
Time-fawning fpaniels, mermaids on the earth,
Trencher-fed fooles with flatterers to footh me,
Bafe parafltes, thefe elbowe-rubbing mates,
A plague to all lafcivious wanton ftates :
O filthy monkies ! vile and beaftly kind,
Foule pratling parrats, birds of harpy brood,
A corafive to every noble minde ;
Vipers, that fucke your mothers deareft blood :
Mifliapen monfter, worfl of any creature,
A foe to art, an enemie to nature.
[Legend of Pinre Gavestoii, iS9(>-] M. Drayton.
FOR TUNE.
Fortune, as blinde as he whom flie doth lead.
Her feature chaung'd each minute of the houre,
Her riggifh feete fantaftickly would tread :
Now would flie fmile, and fuddenly would loAvre,
And, with one breath, her words are fweete and fowre.
Upon her foes fhe amoroufly would glaunce,
And on her followers coyly looke afl<aunce.
About her necke (it feem'd as for a chaine)
Some princes crownes and broken fcepters hong ;
Upon her arme a lazie youth did Icane,
Which fcornfully nnto the ground flie flong ;
And with a wanton grace paffmg along,
Great bags of gold from out her bofomc drew,
And to bafe peafants and fond idiots threw,
A duflvie vale, which hid her fightleffe eics
Like cloudes which cover our uncertaine lives.
1 1 4 TJic Clioyscst Flowers
Painted about with bloodie tragedies ;
Fooles wearing crowns, and wife men clog'd in gives.
Now how she gives againe, how she deprives,
In this blacke map thus she her might difcovers,
In camps and courts, on fouldiers, kings and lovers.
\_Legend of Robert of Normatidy^ 1596, st. 15, etc.] M. Drayton.
A hap, a chaunce, a cafuall event,
The vulgars idoll, and a childish terror ;
A what man will, a filly accident,
The mafke of blindneffe, and difguife of error,
Natures vile nickname, follies foolish mirror ;
A terme, a by-word by tradition learn'd ;
A hearfay nothing, not to be difcernd ;
A v/anton feare, a filly infants dreame ;
A vaine illufion, a meere fantafie ;
A feeming shade, a lunaticke mans theame,
A fond aenigma, a flat herefie ;
Imaginations doting trumperie :
A folly in it felfe is one felfe loathing ;
A thing that would be, and yet can be nothing :
Difeafe of time, ambitions concubine ;
A minde-intrancing fnare, a flippery yce.
The bait of death, deftruclions heady wine,
Vaine-glories patron, the fooles paradice ;
Fond hope, wherewith confufion doth intice :
A vile feducing fiend, which haunts men fhill,
To loofe them in the errors of their will.
\^Ibid., 1596, St. 37.] Idem.
O Fortune ! the great Amorite of kings,
of our English Poets. 1 1 5
Opinions breath, thou epicurian aire,
Invention of mans foule, falfeft of things ;
A ftep beyond our judgement, and a ftaire
Higher then men can reach with reafons wings,
Thou bhndfold archereffe, thou that wilt not heare ;
Thou foe to perfons, manners, times and all,
That raifeft worthleffe, while the worthiefl; fall.
I. Markham.
Ah, Fortune ! nurfe of fooles, poyfon of hope,
Fuell of vaine defires, deferts deftru6lion
Suppofed foveraigne, through our vaine conftruction :
Princes of paganifme, roote of impietie,
Divell on earth, mafked in pietie :
Scorne of the learned, follies elder scholler,
Baftard of time, begot by vaine opinion ;
Againft thy power a peevish proud refifter.
Mother of lies, and witneffe of illufion :
Lampe of vain-glory, double faced shroe.
Who fmiles at firft, fuccesfull, ends in woe.
D. Lodge.
Who wins her grace muft with atchivements wo her ;
As fhe is blind fo never had flie eares.
Nor muft with puling eloquence go to her;
She underftands not fighes, she heares not praiers :
Flattered, she flics ; controld, she ever fearcs.
And though a while she nicely do forfake it,
She is a woman, and at length will take it.
Nor never let him dreame once of a crowne,
For one bad caft that will give up his game ;
1 1 6 The CJioyscst Flozvers
And though by ill hap he be overthrowne,
Yet let him manage her, till fhe be tame.
[Moriimeriados, 1596.] M. Drayton.
For Fortune is the only foe of thofe
Which to the world their wretched will difpofe.
\_W. Baldwin: Jack Cade, edit. 16 10, p. 346.] M. of M.
All flefli is fraile and full of fickleneffe,
Subject to Fortunes charme, flill changing new ;
What haps to day to me, to morrow may to you.
Ed. Spencer.
Fortune (the foe of famous chievifance),
Sildome (faid Guyon) yeelds to vertue aide ;
But in her way throw es mifchiefe and mifchance,
Whereby her courfe is ftopt, and paffage flaide.
IFahy Queen, B. ii, c. ix, st. 8.] IDEM.
Mocke gods they are, and many gods induce,
Who Fortune faine to father there abufe.
[Legend of Lord Hastings, edit. 16 10, p. 426.] M. ofM.
In vaine do men
The heavens of there Fortunes fault accufe,
Syth they know beft what is the beft for them ;
For they to each fuch Fortune do diffufe,
As they do know each can moft aptly ufe :
For not that which men covet mofh is beft.
Nor that thing worfl which men do moft refufe ;
But fitteft is that all contented reft
With that they hold : each hath his fortune in his breft.
Ed. Spencer.
of our English Poets. 1 1 7
No Fortune is fo bad but we it frame :
There is no chance at all hath us preferv'd,
There is no fate whom we have need to blame,
There is no defteny but is deferv'd ;
No lucke that leaves us fafe, or unpreferv'd.
Let us not then complaine of Fortunes fkill ;
For all our good defcends from Gods good will.
{^Legend of Lord Irenglas, edit. 16 10, p. 124.] M. of M.
And of our lewdneffe fpringeth all our ill.
{This line, added fo the above, is not fon)id in tlie original.'\
They that dwell on Fortunes call,
No fooner rife, but fubject are to fall.
{Marius and Sylla, 1594, act iv, sc. i.] D. LoDGE.
Looke how much higher Fortune doth erect
The climing wight on her unftable wheele ;
So much the nigher may a man exfpect
To fee his head where late he fawe his heele.
Policrates hath prov'd it, in effect,
And Dyonifms, that too true did feele,
Who long were luld on hie in Fortunes lap.
And fell downe fuddenly to great mifhap.
On t' other fide, the more man is oppreffed
And utterly o'erthrowne by Fortunes lowre.
The fooner comes his ftate to be redreffed,
When wheele fliall turn and bring the happie howre.
Some from the blocke have growne to be fo bleffed,
Whole realmes have bene fubjected to their powre ;
As Marius and Vcntidius fample is
1 1 8 The Choyscst Floivcrs
In former age, and Lewes of P'rance in this.
{Orlando Furioso, B. xlv, st. 12.] S. J. Harr. Transl.
As the boyftrous winde
Doth fliake the tops of higheft reared towers,
So dotli the force of froward Fortune ftrike
The wight, that higheft fits in haughtie ftate.
{Tragedy of Jocasta, edit. 1587, act i.] G. Gascoigne. j
So wills the wanton queene of chance.
That each man trace this labyrinth of life
With flippery fteps ; now wronged by Fortune ftrange,
Now drawne by counfell from the maze of ftrife.
\_Marius and Sylla, 1594, act v.] D. Lodge.
We all are proud when Fortune favours us,
As if inconftant chaunce were alwaies one ;
Or, ftanding now, fhe would continue thus.
O fooles ! looke backe, and fee the rolling ftone
Whereon fhe, blindly lighting, fets her foote,
And flightly fowes that fildome taketh roote.
[Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594, act i.] T. Kyd.
Fortune, the firft and laft that governes ftates.
I, Markham.
The blind-fold miftreffe of uncertaine chance.
[Marlus and Sylla, 1594, act ii, sc. i.] D. LODGE.
The wayward lady of this wicked world.
llbid., act ii, sc. 2.] Idem.
Ah! Fortune faileth mighty ones, and meaner doth advance.
\Albions England, edit. 1602, B. iii, c. 19.] W. Warnek.
of our English Poets. 1 1 9
For Fortune findeth none fo fit to flout
As careleffe fotts, which caft no kind of doubt.
[T. Phaer : Owen Glcndou7\ edit. 1610, p. 301.] M. of M.
Fortune cannot raife
Any aloft, without fome others wracke ;
Flouds drowne no fields, before they finde a bracke.
\_W. Baldwin : Duke of Suffolk, edit. 1610, p. 340.] Idem.
Where power dwelles, and riches reft,
Falfe Fortune is a comely gueft.
\Unce7'tain author: TottelPs Miscellany, i^^j.'] E. of S.
Think Fortune newly hatcht is fledge, and waggeth wing
to flie ;
All fuffereth change ; our felves, new born, even then begin
to die.
\Albions England, B. ii, c. 10.] W. WARNER.
And he that Fortune at commaunde will keepe,
He muft be fure he never let her fleepe.
\_Mortimeriados, 1596.J M. Dravton.
There never yet was emperour, or king,
Could boaft that he had Fortune in a ftring.
{Orlando Furioso, edit. 1591, B. xxx, st. 33.] S.J. Harr. Traust.
All things to Fortune arc fubjected.
Chiefly in warres, that are by chaunce directed.
\_Ibid., B. XXX, St. 78.] Idem.
Whercfocver Fortune her bountie will beftow,
There heaven and earth niuft pa)- what Ike doth owe.
M. flfM.
1 20 TJic C hoys est Flozoers
The man whofe thoughts to Fortunes height afpires,
Were better die, then Hve in lovve defires.
Th. Achelly.
Admit thou hadft PactoHan waves to land thee gold at will,
Know Croefus did to Cyrus kneele, and thou maift fpeed
as ill.
[Albions England, B. iv, c. xxi.] W. Warner.
Attempt not things beyond thy reach, joine Fortune to
thy will,
Leafl Phebus chaire do els furcharge rafli Phaethon his fkill.
{Ibid., ibid.l Idem.
If Fortvme help whom thou woldft hurt, fret not at it the
more :
When Ajax flormed, then from him the prize Uliffes bore.
{Ibid., ibid.] Idem.
Good Fortune drawes from heaven her defcent,
Making hie Jove the roote of her large tree :
She fhowes from him how many god-heads went.
Archangels, angels, heavens pofteritie.
From thence flie fliowes the glorious thrid fhe lent.
To monarkes, emperours, and kings in fee,
Annexing, as collateralls to her line,
Honour, vertue, valour, and endleffe time.
Natheleffe, ill Fortune will be elder borne :
She faith flie fprings from Saturne, Joves wrongd fyre,
And heaven, and earth, and hell, her coate have borne,
Frefh bleeding hearts within a field of fyre.
All that the world admires flie makes her fcorne ;
of our English Poets.
121
Who fartheft feemes is to ill Fortune neere ;
And, that juft proofe may her great praife commend,
All that good chaunce begins, ill chaunce doth end.
{Tragedy of Sir R. Griin'ilc, 1595.] I. Markham.
Ill Fortune is attended by reproach,
Good Fortune fame and vertue ftellifies.
Idem.
What man can fhun the happe
That hidden lies, unwares him to furprife t
Misfortune waits advantage, to entrappe
The man moft wary in her whelming lappe.
The Fortune that misfortune doth affoord
Is — for to live and die unfortunate.
Ed. Spencer.
Th. Achelly.
Misfortune followeth him that tempteth Fortune.
{_Life a)id DeatJi of Drake, st. 181.] Ch. Fitz Jeffrey,
FRIENDSHIP. FRIEAWS.
For naturall affection foone doth ceffe,
And quenched is with Cupids greater flame ;
But faithfull Friendfliip doth them both fupprcffe,
And them with maiftring difcipline doth tame,
Through thoughts afpiring to eternall fame.
{Fairy Oi/mi, R. iv, c. ix, st. 2.]
l"n. SrKN'CF.R.
122 fJu' Choysest Floivcrs
In Friendship foveraigne 'tis, as Mithridate,
Thy friend to love, as one whom thou niaift hate.
' Dolman: Lord Hastings, edit. 1610, p. 420.] M. of M.
Ne certes can that Friendship long endure,
How ever gay and goodly be the ftyle.
That doth ill caufe, or evill end enure ;
For vertue is the band which bindeth hearts moft fure.
]^FaJry Quccii, B. iv, c. ii, st. 29.] Ed. Spencer.
For enmitie, that of no ill proceeds
But of occafion, with th' occafion ends ;
And Friendship, which a faint afifeftion breeds,
Without regard of good, dies like ill grounded feeds.
[Ibid., ibid., c. iv, st. I.] IDEM.
With wifedome chufe thy Friend, with vertue him retaine ;
Let vertue be the ground, fo shall it not be vaine.
{Uncertaiti author. TotfelPs Miscellany, 1557.] S. Th. WlAT.
Try Frends by touch ; a feeble frend may prove thy ftrongeft
foe :
Great Pompeys head to Caefars hand it was betraied fo.
[Albions England, B. iv, c. xxi.] W. WARNER.
In perfect Friendship no fufpect, for two are one in all
Communitie, or doubling joy, or making griefe more fmall.
[Ibid., B. xi, c. Ixiii.l IDEM.
The true goodwill in miferie is tride,
For then will none but faithfull friends abide.
{^Songs and .Sonnets, 1 567, fo. 115.] G. TURRERVILE.
of our English Poets. 123
Right true it is, and faid full yore agoe,
Take heed of him that by the backe thee claweth,
For none is worfe then is a friendly foe :
Though thee feeme good all things that thee delighteth,
Yet, know it well, that in thy bofome creepeth :
For many a man fuch fier oft times hee kindleth,
That with the blaze his beard himfelfe he fingeth.
\^Sir T. Wyatt. ToffelPs MisccUauy, iss7-] E. of Surrey.
None can deeme right who faithfuU Friends do reft,
While they beare fway and rule in great degree ;
For then both faft and fained Friends are preft,
Whofe faiths feeme both of one effect to bee :
But then revolts the faint and fained gueft,
When wealth unwindes and fortune feemes to flee ;
But he that loves indeed remaineth faft,
And loves and ferves when life and all is paft.
[Orlando Furioso, edit. 1591, B. xix, st. i.] S. J. Harr. Transl.
Oft times we fee, in houfe of meane eftate,
In fortune bad and chances overthwart,
That men do fooner laie afide debate.
And joyne in found accord with hand and hart,
Then princes courts, where riches gender hate,
And vile fufpect, that loving minds doth part,
Where charitie is clean confumde and vaniHied,
And Friendfliip firme, is quite caft out and baniflied.
\_Ibid., B. xliv, st. i.] Ii>i:m.
Who fo wants Friends to backe what he begins
In lands farre off, gets not, although he wins.
{Civil Wars, edit. 1609. B. vi, st. 74.] S. l).\Nii:r.i..
1 24 TJic Choyscst Flozvers
If fortune friendly fawne, and lend thee wealthy ftore,
Thy Frends conjoined joy doth make thy joy the more :
If frowardly (lie frowne, and drive thee to diftreffe ;
His aide releeves thy ruth, and makes thy forow leffe.
\_Unceytain autJwr. TottelPs Miscellany, 1557.] S. Th. WlAT.
They are not ahvaies fureft Friends on whom we moft do
fpend.
[Albioiis England, B. iii, c. 14.] W. Warner.
True Friends have feeling of each others wo,
And when ones hart is fad, all theirs is fo.
{Legend of H. of Gloucester, 1600. st. 109.] Ch. MiDDLETON.
A golden treafure is the tried Friend,
But who may gold from counterfeits defend ?
Truft not too foone, nor yet too foone miftruft,
With th' one thy felfe, with th' other thy friend thou hurtft:
Who twines betwixt, and ftears the golden mean
Nor rafhly loveth, nor miftrufts in vaine.
[Dohnan: Lord Hastings, edit. 1610, p. 420.] Mir. of M.
Friends are geafon now a dales.
And growe to fume before they tafte the fier ;
Adverfities bereaving mans availes,
They flie like feathers dallying in the winde :
They rife like bubbles in a ftormy raine,
Swelling in words, and flying faith and deeds,
{Marins and Sylla, 1594, act ii, sc. i.] D. LODGE.
Faint Friends, when they fall out, moft cruell foemen be.
{Fairy Queen, 13. iv, c. i.x, st. 27.] J^D. SPENCER.
of our English Poets. 125
Better new Friend then an old foe, is faid.
{Fairy Queen, B. i, c. li, st. 27.] Ed. Spencer.
FRUGALITIE.
He, that will thrive^ muft thinke no courfes vile.
{Every Man out of his Humour, act i.] B. JOHNSON.
No haft but good (who meanes to multiplie) ;
Bought wit is deare, and dreft with fower fait :
Repentance comes too late ; and then fay I,
Who fpares the firft, and keepes the laft unfpent.
Shall find that fparing yeelds a goodly rent.
{To John Vaughan. Flowers, edit. 1587, p. 33.] G. Gascoigne.
Let firft thine owne hand hold faft all that comes,
Before that other learne his letting flie.
{Ibid., il}id.] Idem.
FURIE.
FURIE furioufly mans life affailes
With thoufand cannons, fooner felt than feene ;
Where weakeft, ftrongeft, fraught with deadly tcene.
Blind, crooked, blifterd, melancholy, fad,
Many-nam'd poyfon, minifter of death.
Which from us crccpes, but to us gallopeth :
Foule trouble reft, phantafticke greedy-gut,
Bloud-fweating hearts-theefe, wretched filthy-flut,
The childc of furfait and aires temper vicious,
1 26 The Choyscst Floivcrs
Ferillous, knowne ; but unknowne, moft pernicious.
\The Furies, from Du Bartas.} J. Sylvister.
That fame is Furor, curfed cruell wight,
That unto knighthood workes much fhame and woe.
And that fame hag, his aged mother, hight
Occafion ; the roote of all wrath and difpight :
With her, who fo will raging Furor tame,
Muft firft begin, and wel her amenage ;
Firft, her reftraine from her reproachfull blame
And evill meanes, with which fhe doth enrage
Her franticke fonne, and kindles his courage ;
Then, when fhe is withdrawne, or ftrong withftood,
It's eath his idle furie to affwage,
And calme this tempeft of his paffion wood ;
The bankes are overflowne, when flopped is the flood.
{Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. iv, st. 10.] Ed. Spencer.
Furie was red with rage, his eyes did glowe.
Whole flakes of fier from forth his mouth did flie ;
His hands and armes ybath'd in bloud of thofe
Whom fortune, fmne, or fate, made countries foes.
\Glaucus mid S cilia, 1589, Sig. C 4 b.] T. Lodge.
This fell Fury, for forerunner fends
Manie and phrenzie, to fubborne her frends ;
Whereof the one drying, th' other overvvarming,
The feeble brain (the edge of judgement harming)
Within the foule phantaftickly they faine,
A confus'd hoaft of ftrange chimeraes vaine.
J. Sylvister.
of our EnglisJi Poets. 127
GIFTS.
'Tis wifedome to give much : a Gift prevailes,
When deep perfwading oratorie failes.
[Hero and Leander, 1598, Sest. 2.] Ch. Marlowe.
A giving hand, though foule, fhall have faire praife.
S. Daniell.
The greateft Gifts, whereof we boaft,
Are thofe wliich do attempt and tire us moft.
[Fig for Momus, 1595, Sat. 5.] T. LODGE.
Onely wifedome grave and judgements cleere,
Gifts giv'n from heaven, that are not common heere.
S. J. H., Trail si.
Good Gifts are often given to men paft good.
G. Chapman.
Good Gifts abus'd, to mans confufion turne.
[Fortiomfus, edit. 1600, Sig. K 2.] Th. Dekkar.
Teftators and executors fo give and fo receave,
As doubtful whether joy or griefe is more to take or leave:
For as do hogs their troghs to hounds, fo thefe give and
get place ;
Death, not the dier, gives bequefts, and therefore but grave
grace.
[Albions England., V>. v, c. 27.] W. Warner.
To loiter well deferved Gifts is not to give but fell.
When to requite ingratitude were to do evill well.
[Ibid., ibid.] Idem.
128 TJic Choyscst FloiK'crs
GENTLENESS.
The gentle minde by gentle deeds is knowne ;
For a man by nothing is fo well bewraide
As by his maners ; in which plaine is fhowne
Of what degree, and what race he is growne.
[Fairy Queen, B. vi, c. iii, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
Sweet Gentleneffe is Bewties waiting- maide.
{The Ekat07npathia (i 58 1).] Th. Watson.
In gentle breafts,
Relenting thoughts, remorfe, and pittie refts.
[Hero and Leatider, edit. 1598, Sest. 2.] Ch. Marlowe.
For like as Phoebus, with his chearefull beames,
Doth frefhly force the fragrant flowers to flourifh,
So rulers mildneffe fubjects love doth nourifh.
\IV. Baldwin: Earl of Salislmry, edit. 1610, p. 312.] I. H., M. of M.
^ C Like as the gentle heart it felfe bewraies,
/ / X^^ doing gentle deeds with francke delight ;
/ Even fo the bafer minde it felfe difplaies
%<^ i)k^ J* C ■^'^ canckered malice, and revenge for fpight.
W. Shakespeare.
O ! what an eafie thing is to difcrie
The gentle bloud, how ever it be wrapt
In fad misfortunes foule deformitie
And wretched forrowes, which have often hapt.
For howfoever it may growe mifliapt,
Like this wyld man, being undifciplyn'd,
of our English, Poets. 1 29
That to all vertue it may feeme unapt,
Yet will it fhew fome fparkes of gentle minde,
And, at the laft, breake forth in his owne proper kinde.
[Fairy Queen, B. vi, c. v, st. i.J Ed. Spencer.
GENTRIE.
So that true Gentrie ftandeth in the trade
Of vertuous life, not in the flefhly line ;
For bloud is brute, but Gentrie is divine.
[7". Phaer: Owen Glefidour, edit. 1610, p. 296.] I. H. M. of M.
Above cognizance, or amies, or pedigree farre.
An unfpotted coate is like a blazing ftarre.
G. Gascoigne.
Kind Amalthea was transfer'd by Jove
Into his fparkling pavement, for her love,
Though but a goate, and giving him her milke ;
Bazenes is flinty, Gentrie foft as filke ;
In heaven fhe lives, and rules a living figne
In humane bodies ; yet not fo divine,
That file can workc her kindnes in our hearts,
[Hymniis in Nocfem, 1594.] G. Chapman.
The true Gentilitie by their own armes
Advance themfelves ; the falfc, by others harmes.
\Chresfoirros, lib. ii, cpisr. 17.] Th. IJastakp.
1 30 Tlic Clioyscst Floivers
GL UTTONIE.
And by his fide rode loathfome Gluttonie,
Deformed creature, on a filthy fwine :
His belly was upblowne with luxurie,
And eke with fatnes fwollen were his eine ;
And, like a crane, his necke was long and fine,
With which he fwallowed up exceffive feaft,
For want whereof poore people oft did pine ;
And all the way, moft like a brutifh beaft,
He fpewed up his gorge, that all did him deteft.
IFairy Queen, B. i, c iv, st. 21.] Ed. Spencer.
Fat paunches have leane pates, and daintie bits
Make rich the ribs, but bankrout quite the wits.
\Lovis Labours Lost, 1598, act i, sc. i.] W. Shakespeare.
Your appetites, O Gluttons ! to content
The facred breaft of Thetis blew is rent ;
The aire muft be difpeoplcd for your mawes :
The Phoenix fole can fcarce efcape your clawes.
{^History of Judith, 1584.] Th. Hudson, Transl.
Of little nature lives ; fuperfluous meate
Pnit dulls the fpirit, and doth the ftomacke freate.
Idem.
Who fareth fineft doth but feed, and over-feedeth oft ;
Who fleepeth fofteft doth but fleep, and fometimes over foft.
{^Albions England, B. v, ch. xxv.] W. Warner.
of our English Poets. 1 3 1
Exceffe, he fayd, doth worke acceffe to finne.
\_Albio/is England, B. v, ch. 25.] W. Warner.
O plague ! O poyfon to the warlike ftate !
Thou mak'ft the noble hearts effeminate.
While Rome was rul'd by Curioes and Fabrices,
Who fed on rootes, and fought not for delices ;
And when the onely creffons was the foode,
Moft delicate to Perfia, then they ftoode
In happie ftate, renown'd in peace and warre,
And through the world their triumphs fpread a-farre :
But when they after, in the Affirian hall,
Had heard the leffons of Sardanopall ;
And when the other, given to belly-cheare.
By Galbaes, Neroes, Vitels govern'd were.
Who gloried more to fill a coftly plate,
Then kill a Pirrhus or a Mithridate,
Then both of them were feene for to be facked
By nations poore, whom they before had wracked.
{History of Judith, 1584.] Th. Hudson, Tra/isl.
O glutton throates ! O greedie guts profound !
The chofen meates which in the world his bound.
By th' Abderois invented, may not ftanch
Nor fatisfie your foule devouring panch,
But muft in Moluke feeke the fpices fine,
Canary fugar and the Candy wine.
[Ibid.] IDKM.
Fatneffe by nature (not immoderate)
Kils not the wit, quels not the mindcs cftate ;
132 The Choyscst Floivcrs
But fatnes, by intemperance increaft,
When living man refembleth loathfome beaft,
And belly cheare, with greedie Gluttonie
Is held the fulneffe of felicitie,
This maketh men, addicted to the fame,
Dull in conceit, groffe minded, worthy blame :
Of fuch do Bafil, Galen, Plato, write,
That fatteft belly hath the weakeft fprite.
\Fig for Momus, 1595, Epist. vi.] D. LODGE.
O fliort, 6 dangerous madneffe.
That in thy rage doeft truftie Clytus fmother
By his deare friend ; Panthea, by his mother.
Phrenzie, that makes the vaunter infolent,
The talkefull blab, cruell and violent ;
The fornicator waxe adulterous,
Th' adulterer to become inceftuous ;
With thy plagues leven fwelling all our crimes,
Blinde, fhameleffe, fenfeleffe, quenching oftentimes
The foule within it felfe ; and oft defames
The holieft men with execrable flames.
J. Silvester.
Like as the muft, beginning to reboyle.
Makes his new veffell wood-bands to recoyle ;
Lifts up his lees, and fpues with fuming vent
From this tubbes ground, his fcumming excrement :
So ruinift thou thy hoafl, and foolifhly
From his hearts bottome driv'ft all fecrecy.
Idem.
of our EuglisJi Poets. 133
GOOD NAME.
The voyce that goeth of your unfpotted fame
Is like a tender flowre, that with the blaft
Of every little winde doth fade away.
[Tragedy of Jocasta., edit. 1587, act i.] G. Gascoigne, Trans/.
The pureft treafure mortal! times afifoord
Is fpotless reputation : that away,
Men are but guilded loam, or painted clay.
[Richard II, 1597, act i, sc. i.] W. SHAKESPEARE,
You cannot be too curious of your name.
Fond fhow of ill (though ftill the mind be chafte)
Decaies the credit oft that ladies had.
Sometimes the place prefumes a wanton minde,
Repaire fometimes of fome doth hurt their honour;
Sometimes the light and garifh proud attire
Perfwades a yeelding bent of pleafing youthes.
\_Tragedy of Jocasta, act i.] G, Gascoigne.
GOODNESSE.
Even with Goodneffe men grow difcontent,
Where ftates are ripe to fall, and vertue fpcnt.
[Ci"oil Wars, edit. 1609, B. v, st. 77.] S, Daniell.
Good things, quoth he, may fcarce appearc.
But paffe away with fpeedie wing.
[Elegy on Sir Philip Sidney, 1595.] M. Rovdon.
1 34 The Choyscst Floivcrs
Of GOD.
I AM that one is, was, and aye fhall be,
Who create all of nought, as pleafeth me :
I can deftroy, I am the great and juft.
The faire, the good, the Holy One to truft ;
VVhofe ftrong right hand this world hath fet in frame.
I plague my foe, and graunt my fervants grace.
All thofe that knowledge me, and all their race.
{History of Judith, 1584, B. ii.] Th. HUDSON, Transl.
Howfoever things from likelyhoods difcent.
In birth, life, death, the Gods are firft, the middle, and event :
And not what they can do they will, but what they will
they can,
And that they do, or do it not, behoves us not to fcan.
\_Albions England, B. ii, c. x.]
W. Warner.
God firft made angels bodileffe pure mindes;
Then, other things, which mindleffe bodies bee :
Laft, he made man, the horizon tvvixt both kindes,
In whom we do the worlds abridgement fee.
\Nosce Teipsum, edit. 1602, Sect, ix.] I. Davies.
How fond is that man in his fantafie,
Who thinkes that Jove, the Maker of us all.
And he that tempers all in heaven high.
The funne, the moone, the ftarres celeftiall.
So that no leafe without his leave can fall.
Hath not in him Omnipotence alfo.
of our English Poets. 1 3 5
To guide and governe all things here below.
{Tragedy of Jocasta, Chor. to act iii.] G. GasCOIGNE, Trans!.
Heaven is his feate,
Th' earth his footeftoole ; and the prifon great
Of Plutoes raigne, where damned foules are fhut,
Is of his anger evermore the but.
J. Sylvester, Transl.
Full hard it is, quoth he, to read aright
The courfe of heavenly caufe, or underftand
The fecret meaning of th' Eternall Might,
That rules mens waies, and rules the thought of living wight.
\_t airy Qiiee?i, B. i, c. ix, st. 6.] • Ed. Spencer.
The man of earth founds not the feas profound
Of Gods deepe judgements ; where there is no ground,
Let foberneffe be ftill thy wifedomes end,
Admiring that thou canft not comprehend.
[Triumph of Faifh, 1592.] J. Sylvester, Transl.
Under whofe feete, fubjected to his grace,
Sit nature, fortune, motion, time, and place.
{Godfrey of Btilloigne, B. ix, st. 56.] Ed. Fairfax, Trans/.
And is there care in heaven } and is there love
In heavenly fpirits to thefe creatures bafe.
That may compaffion of their evils move .-'
There is : els much more wretched were the cafe
Of men then beafts : but O ! the exceeding grace
Of highcft God, that loves his creatures fo.
And all his workes with mercy doth imbrace,
That bleffcd angels he fends too and fro
136 TJic Choyscst Floivers
To ferve to wicked man, to ferve his wicked foe.
\JFairy Queen, B. ii, c. viii, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
Our gracious God makes fcant waight of difpleafure,
And fpreads his mercy without waight or meafure,
J. Sylvester.
The Eternall Power that guides the earthly frame,
And ferves him with the inftrument of heaven,
To call the earth, and fummon up our fliame,
By an edict from everlafting given,
Forbids mortalitie to fearch the fame.
Where fence is blind, and wit of wit bereaven,
Terror muft be our knowledge, feare our fkill,
To admire his worke, and tremble at his will.
S. Daniell.
Howfoever things from likelyhood difcent,
In birth, life, death, the Gods are firft, the middle, and event :
And not what they can do they wil, but what they wil they
can,
And that they do, or do it not, behoves us not to fcan.
{RepetitioH from p. 134.] W. Warner.
God may all that he wills, his will is jufl ;
God wills all good to them that in him truft.
[History of Jtidith, 1584.] Th. Hudson, Transl
Where the Almighties lightening brand doth light.
It dimmes the daz'led eies, and daunts the fences quight.
Ed. Spencer.
The gods are ever juft,
Our faults excufe their rigour muft.
\_Tfaiiedy (f Cleo[>atra, 1594, Chor.] S. DaNIELL.
of oi'.r English Poets. 137
The Lord, law-maker juft and righteous,
Doth frame his lawes not for himfelfe but us :
He frees himfelfe ; and flies with his powers wing
No where but where his holy will doth bring.
All that he doth is good, becaufe it doth proceed
From him, that is the roote of good indeed ;
From him, that is the fpring of righteoufneffe ;
From him, whofe goodneffe nothing can expreffe.
J. Sylvester.
Indeed, then said the Prince, the evil done
Dies not when breath the body firft doth leave.
But from the granfire to the nephewes fonne,
And all his feed, the curfe doth often cleave,
Till vengeance utterly the guilt bereave :
So ftraightly God doth judge.
[Faity Queen, B. ii, c. viii, st. 29 ] Ed. Spencer.
There is no ftrength in armour, men, ne horfe,
Can vaile, if Jove on wronged take remorfe :
Sith he, on whom the deadly dart doth light,
Can never fcape by raunfome, friend, or flight.
\_y. Higgins: Locri/nis, edit. 1610, p. 26.] J. IIarr. M. of M.
Eternall Providence, exceeding thought,
Where none appeares, can make her felfe a way.
Ed. Spencer.
If gods can their own excellence excell.
It is in pardoning mortals that rebell.
{Epistle, Black Prince to Lady Salisbury.] I\I. Dravton.
God nioft doth punifh whom he moft regardeth.
\Orlandfl f'urioso, H. wxiv, st 62. J .S.J. ITarr. Transt.
r
1 38 TJic CJioysest Flowers
Where gods do vengeance crave,
It is not ftrong defenfive walls that any thing can fave.
W, Warner.
That God hath made a falve for every fore,
If men would learne the fame how to apply.
\Orla7ido Fiirioso, B. xlvi, st. 13.] S. J. Harr. Trausl.
Man purpofeth, but all things are difpofed
By that great God, that fits and rules above.
{^Ihid.. ibid., st. 18.] IDEM.
What man is he that boafts of fleflily might,
And vaine affurance of mortalitie ;
Which, all fo foone as it doth come to fight
Againft spirituall foes, yeelds by and by ;
Or from the field moft cowardly doth flie :
Ne let the man afcribe it to his fkill.
That thorough grace hath gained victory.
If any ftrength we have, it is to ill,
But all the good is Gods, both power and eke will.
{Fairy Qjieen, B. i, c. x, st. i.] Ed. Spenxer.
God never feekes by triall of temptation
To found mans heart and fecret cogitation ;
For well he knowes man, and his eye doth fee
All thoughts of men, ere they conceaved bee.
\SacriJice of Isaac, 1592.] J. SYLVESTER, T?aiis/.
God
Conjoines no leffe our willes, then bolds our harts ;
A fure prefage that he is on our parts.
[History of Jitdi/Ii, 1584.] Th. Hudson. Tratisl.
of our English Poets. 1 39
For God is juft ; whofe ftroke, delayed lon<4",
Doth light at laft, with paine more fharpe and ftrong.
\W. Baldwin: D. of Suffolk, edit. 1610, p. 345.] J. H. M. of MaguL
The miftie cloudes that fall fometime
And overcaft the Ikies,
Are like to troubles of our time,
Which do but dimme our eies.
But as fuch deawes are dried up quite,
When Phebus fhowes his face ;
So are fuch fancies put to flight,
Where God dotli guide by grace,
{Flowers, edit. 1587, p. 23.] G. Gascoigne.
Gods mercy gently waighes his juftice downe.
TH. ACHICLLV.
So blinds the Iharpell counfells of the wife
This overfhadowing Providence on hie.
And dazeleth their cleareft fighted eies.
That they fee not how nakedly they lie.
There, where they little thinke, the ftorme doth rife,
And overcaft their cleare fecuritie ;
When man hath flopt all waies fave only that,
Which (as leaft doubted) mine enters at.
{Civil Wars, 1609, 15. i, st. 79.] S. Danh;].!..
When Sathan tempts, he leades us unto hell ;
But God doth guide whereas no death doth dwell.
When Sathan tempts, he feeks our faith to foylc ;
But God doth feale it, never to recoyle.
Sathan fuggcfteth ill, good moves to grace :
I40 The CJioyscst Floivcrs
The Divel feekes our baptifme to deface ;
Bat God doth make our burning zeale to fliine
Amongft the candels of his church divine.
[Shipivreck of Jonas, 1592.] J- SvL. Transl.
Gods word
(Which made the world, fuftaines and guides it ftill)
To divers ends, conducts both good and ill.
He that preferres not God fore all his race,
Amongft the fonnes of God deferves no place ;
And he that plowes the furrowes of Gods feeld,
May not turne backe his fainting face, nor yeeld.
[//;/V/.] Idem.
God with eternall bread, in time of need.
His loved Jacob fortie yeares did feed ;
And gave them water from the folid ftone.
Which of it felfe had never moyfture none.
Their caps, their coats, and fhoes, that they did weare,
God kept all frefli and new, full fortie yeare.
{^History of Judith, 1584.] Th. Hudson, Transl.
The moft juft God, when once mans finnes do grow-
Beyond the bounds of pardon and of grace,
Becaufe that men his judgements juft may know.
Like to his love, to rule on earth, doth place
Monfters moft vile to tyrannize us fo.
With wrong the right, with luft lawes to deface.
For this faid caufe were Scylla fent and Marius,
The Ncrons both, and filthy-minded Varius :
For this Domitian held in Rome the raigne,
of our English Poets. 141
And Antoninus, of that name the laft ;
And Maffimin, a bafe unworthy fwaine,
To plague mankind in princely throne was plafte ;
For this in Thebes did cruell Creon raigne,
With other tyrants more, in ages paft ;
For this of late hath Italy bene wonne
By men of Lombardie, of Goth and Hunne.
[.SVV-y. HaringtoiCs Orlando Furioso, B. xviii, st. i.] S. Danieli,.
GOOD DEEDS.
Who wold to God, but workes no good ; who fecketh fame
by eafe,
Comes fhort of both, no lesse then maps to very lands and
feas.
{Albion^s England., edit. 1602, B. x, c. Ix.] W. WARNER.
Good deeds, in cafe that they be evil placed,
111 deeds are reckoned, and foone difgraced :
That is a good deed that prevents a bad.
[HiTO and Leandcr, edit. 1600, Sest. 3.] G. Chapman.
Well doing farre excelleth well to fay.
[Songs and Sonnets, 1567, fo. 9 b.] G. Turbervile.
Ill deeds may better then bad words be bore.
Ed. Spencer.
Let every one do all the good they can,
For fildom commeth harme of doing well ;
Though juft reward it wantcth now and than,
142 The Choyscst Floivcrs
Yet lliame and evill death it doth expell :
But he that mifchieveth an other man,
Seldome doth carry it to heaven or hell.
Men fa)' it, and we fee it come to paffe,
Good turnes in duft, flirewd turnes are writ in braffe.
{^Orlando Fur ioso^ B. xxiii, st. i.] S.J. Harrington, Traiisl.
Wretched is he that thinkes, by doing ill,
His evill deeds long to conceale and hide :
For though the voyce and tongues of men be ftill,
By foules and beafts his fmne fhall be difcride ;
And God oft worketh by his fecret will,
That finne it felfe the fmner fo doth guide,
That of his owne accord, without requeft,
He makes his wicked dointjs manifeft.
'is'
Idem.
Our bodies buried, then our deeds afcend,
Thofe deeds in life to worth cannot be rated,
In death with life our fame even then is dated.
\_Robert of Normandy, 1596, st. 147.] M. Drayton.
GREA TNESSE.
Great things ftill orewhelme themfelves with waight.
[Skialcthcia, 1598, Proem, to Epigrams.] G. Guilpin.
Greatneffe, like to the funnes reflecting powers,
The fen-bred vapours naturally exhailes.
And is the caufe that oft the evening lowers,
When foggy mifls enlarge their dufl-cic failcs,
of our English Poets.
143
That his owne beames he in the cloudes impailes,
And either muft extinguifh his owne Hght,
Or by his vertue caufe his proper night.
[Mortimeriados, 1596.] M. Drayton.
To be huge is to be deadly ficke.
[Scourge of Villaity, 1598, Sat. 2.] I. Marston.
O bhnded Greatneffe ! thou, with thy turmoilc
Still felling happie life, mak'ft life a toile.
[Civil Wars, B. iii, st. 67.] S. Daniet..
Then he that ftrives to manage mightie things,
Amidft his triumphes gains a troubled minde :
The greateft hope the greateft harm it brings.
And poore men in content there glory finde.
[Manus and Sylla, 1594, act v, sc. i.] D. Lodge.
The man that furthereth other men to thrive.
Of private Greatneffe doth himfelfe deprive.
[Life and Death of Wotsey, 1599.] Th. Storkr.
GRIEFE.
Griefe, all in fable forrowfully clad,
Downe-hanging his dull head, with heavie cheare,
Yet inly, being more then feeming fad ;
A paire of pincers in his hand he had.
With which he pinched people to the heart,
That from thenceforth a wretched life the}' lad,
I _|^4 TJic Choyscst Flowers
In wilfull languor, and confuming fmart,
Dying each day with inward wounds of dolors dart.
YFairy Queen, B. iii, c. xii, st. i6.] Ed. Spencer.
Griefe onely makes his wretched ftate to fee,
(Even like a toppe, which nought but whipping moves)
This man, this talking beaft, this walking tree.
Griefe is the ftone which fineft judgements proves,
For who grieves not hath but a blockish braine,
Since caufe of Griefe no caufe from life removes.
[Arcadia, &d\i. 1598, p. 147,410 ; 4to, 1590, fo. 156.] S. Ph. Sydney.
Griefes deadly fore
Unkindnes breeds, unkindnes foftereth hate.
Idem.
Griefe to it felfe moft dreadfuU doth appeare,
And never yet was forrow voyd of feare ; ^
But yet in death they both do hope the beft. fli
lEpistlc, (1. Isabel to Richard II, 1599.] M. Drayton.
Griefes be long liv'd, and forrowes feldome die.
Idem.
Griefe hath two tongues, and never woman yet
Could rule them both, without tenne womens wit.
\yemis and Adonis, edit. 1593, st. 169.] W. Shakespeare.
He oft findes medicine, who his Griefes imparts,
But double griefes afflict concealing harts,
As raging flames who ftriveth to fuppreffe.
{Fairy Queen, R. i. c. ii, st. 34.] Ed. Spencer.
of our English Poets. 145
He oft finds prefent helpe who does his Griefe impart.
[Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. i, st. 46.] Ed. Spencer.
No greater eafe of heart then Griefes to tell ;
It daunteth all the dolours of the minde :
Our carefull hearts thereby great comfort finde.
[Qntrefi CordiUa, edit. 16 10, p. 59.] I. H. Mir. 0/ Mag.
An oven that is ftopt, or river ftaied,
Burneth more hotely, fwelleth with more rage :
So of concealed forrow may be faid,
Free vent of words loves fier doth affwagfe ;
But when the hearts atturney once is mute,
The client breakes, as defperate in his fute.
[Venus and Adonis, st. 56.] W. Shakespeare.
And that no one thing may availe man more
To cure a Griefe, and perfe6lly to heale it,
Then if he do unto fome friend reveale it.
{Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xlvi, st. 13.] S.J. Harr. Trans/.
For Griefe it is inough to grieved wight
To feele his fault, and not be farther vext.
{Sonnet to the Earl of Leicester, 1591.] Ed. Spencer.
Some Griefe fliewes much of love.
But much of griefe fhewes ftill fome want of wit.
{Romeo and Juliet, act iii, sc 5.] W. SHAKESPEARE.
Great Griefe will not be told.
And can more eafily be thought then faid.
{Fairy Queen, B. i, c. vii, st. 41.] En. SPENCI'.R.
U
146 TJic CItoyscst Flo-u'crs
PAINE.
Thou Paine, the onely ghueft of loath'd conftraint,
The child of curfe, mans weakneffe fofter-child,
Brother to woe, and father of complaint ;
Thou Paine, thou loathed Paine, from heaven exil'd.
[H. Constable's Diana, Dec, iii, son. iv ; and Sidney's Arcadia,
fo. 1598, p. 476.] H. C.
The fcourge of life, and death's extreme difgrace,
The fmoake of hel, that monfter called Paine.
\_Ibid., Dec. iii, son. ii ; ibid., p. 475.] IDEM.
The thing that grievous were to do or beare,
Them to renew, I wot, breeds no delight.
Ed. Spencer.
True Griefe is fond, and tefty as a childe.
Who wayward once, his moode with nought agrees ;
Old woes, not infant forrowes, beare them milde ;
Continuance tames the one ; the other wilde,
Like an unpractiz'd fwimmer plunging ftill,
With too much labour drownes, for want of fkill.
[Liicrece, edit. 1594, st. 58.] W. Shakespeare.
Paine paies the income of each precious thing.
[Ibid., St. 49.] Idem.
HE A VEN.
P'rom whence, with grace and goodneffe compast round,
God ruleth, bleffeth, keepeth, all he wrought ;
of our English Poets. 147
Above the aire, the fire, the Tea, and ground,
Our fenfe, our wit, our reafon, and our thought ;
Where perfons three, (with power and glory crownd,)
Are all one God, who made all things of nought :
Under whofe feet, (fubje6led to his grace,)
Sit nature, fortune, motion, time, and place.
This is the place from whence, like fmoake and duft
Of this fraile world, the wealth, the pompe, the power,
He toffeth, tumbleth, turneth as he luft,
And guides our life, our death, our end and hower :
No eye (how ever vertuous, pure, and juft,)
Can view the brightnes of that glorious bower :
On every fide the bleffed fpirits bee
Equall in joyes, though differing in degree.
{Godfrey of Bulloigne, B. ix, st. 56.] E. Fairfax, Tra/isl.
In whofe great temple, richly bewtified,
Pav'd all with ftarres, difperft on faphire flower.
The clarke is a pure angell fanctified,
The judge our true Meffias, full of power.
The apoftles his affiftants every hower ;
The jury faints, the verdit innocent.
The fentence, ' Come, ye bleffed ! to my tent.'
The fpeare that pierft his fide the writing pen,
Chriftes bloude the inke, red inke for princes name ;
The vailes great breach, the miracle for men.
The fight is fliew of them that, long dead, came
From their old graves, reftor'd to living frame :
And that laft fignct, paffing all the reft.
Our foules discharg'd by cons?iin)natHin est.
Merc endleffe joy is, their pcrpctuall chcarc,
148 TJic CJioyscst Flowers
Their exercire,fweetefo„gs of „,a„y parts; ^1
Angells the quier, whofe fymphonie to heare,
Is able to provoke conceiving harts
To mifconceive of all inticing arts :
The ditty praife, the fubject is the Lord,
That tunes their gladfome fpirit to this accord.
{_Life cDid Death of Wolsey, 1599.] Th, Storer.
What fo the Heavens, in their fecret doombe.
Ordained have, how can fraile flellily wight
Forecaft, but it muft needs to iffue come.
Ed. Spencer.
What in the heavenly parliament above
Is written by the finger of the firft
Mortalls may feele, but never can remove ;
For they are fubject to the Heavens worft.
I. Markham.
By mortall lawes the bond may be divorced,
But Heavens decree by no meanes can be forced.
{Epistle, Lady Jane Gray to Diidtty, 1599.] M. Drayton.
In vaine doth man contend againft the ftarres,
For what he feekes to make, his wifedome marres.
S. Daniell.
But humane wifhes never have the power
To hurt or haft the courfe of Heaven one hower.
[^History of Judith, 1584, B. iii.] Th. Hudson, Transl.
Experience proves, and daily it is feene.
In vaine (too vaine) man ftrives againft the Heavens.
yrragedy of Jocasta, act i, sc. i.] G. Gascoigne.
of our English Poets. 149
It is moft true, that eyes are form'd to ferve
The inward Hght, and that th' heavenly part
Ought to be king ; from whofe rules who do fwerve,
Rebelles to nature, ftrive for their owne fniart. '
True, that true bewtie vertue is indeed,
Whereof this bewtie can be but a fhade,
Which elements with mortall mixture breed.
True, that on earth we are but pilgrimes made,
And fhould in foule up to our countrey move.
\_Astrophcl and Stella, edit. 1598, p. 520.] S. Ph. Sydney.
Heaven is our home, we are but ftraungers here.
{^Epistle, Lady Jane Gray to Dudley, 1599.] M. Drayton.
The Heaven, and earth, and aire, and feas, and all,
Taught men to fee, but not to fliunne their fall.
{Civil Wars, edit. 1609, B. i, st. 96.] S. Daniell.
Things which prefage both good and ill there bee,
Which Heaven fore-fhewes, yet will not let us fee.
{Mortimeriados, 1596.J M. Drayton.
From them comes good, from them comes alfo ill ;
That which they made, who can them warne to fpill.
{Countess of Pembroke on Sir P. Sidnefs Death.'] Ed. Spencer.
h\ vainc be armes, when Heaven becomes thy foe.
[M. Draytoti''s Mortimeriados, 1596.] IDEM.
For when the Heavens are to juflice bent.
All things be turn'd to our jufl: punifiiment.
[Ibid.] Idem.
1 50 TJie CJioysest Floiucrs
All powers are fubject to the power of Heaven ;
Nor wrongs paffe unrevenged, although excus'd.
Ed. Spencer.
Would Heaven her bewtie fhould be hid from fight,
Nere would fhe thus her felfe adorne with light,
With fparkling lamps; nor would flie paint her throne,
But flie delighteth to be gaz'd upon.
And when the golden glorious funne goes downe,
Would fhe put on her ftarre-beftudded crowne,
And in her mafking fute, the fpangled fkie,
Come forth to bride it in her revelry :
Heavens gave this gift to all things in creation,
That they in this fhould immitate her falliion.
[M.Drayton: Epistle, K. John to Matilda.'] Idem.
Heavens influence was ne'er fo conftant yet
In good or bad, as to continue it.
[Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594, act ii.] T. KvD.
If thou be wife, hold this as ominous,—
The Heavens not like difpofed every houre,
The ftarres be ftill predominant in us :
Fortune not alway forth her bagge doth powre,
Nor every cloude doth raine a golden fhowre.
M. Drayton.
HEART.
Free is the Heart, the temple of the minde.
The fanctuarie facrcd from above.
of our English Poets. 1 5 i
Where nature keepes the keys that loofe and binde ;
No mortall hand force open can that doore,
So clofe fhut up and lock['d] to all mankinde.
S. Danikll.
The bodies wound by medicines may be eafed,
But griefes of heart by falves are not appeafed.
[James IV of Scotland, 1598.] R. Greene.
By thought of heart the fpeech of tongue is carried.
S. J. Harr. Transl.
Happinesse, vid. Felicitie.
HA TE.
Hate is the elder, love the yonger brother,
Yet is the yonger ftronger in his ftate
Then th' elder, and him maftereth ftill in all debate.
Ed. Spencer.
Nor Hate nor love did ever judge aright.
[No author s na?ne.']
For rooted Hate will hardly be displafte
Out of high hearts, and namely where debate
Happeneth amongft great perfons of eftate.
[G. Ferrers : H. Duke of Gloucester, edit. 16 10, p. 332.]
J. H. M. ofM.
Hatred muft be bcguilde by fome new courfe,
Where ftates are ftiff, and princes doubt their force.
[Ch'it JVar.f. V,. \\\ st. 94.J .S. Daniei,!,.
1 5 2 TJic Choysest Floivcrs
Spight bites the dead, that hving never darde.
Ed. Spencer.
Sildome doth malice want a meane to worke.
[Morttmeriados, 1596.] M. Drayton.
Hate hits the hie, and windes force tallefl towers :
Hate is peculiar to a princes ftate.
{Ja?nes IV of Scotland, 1598.] R. Greene.
Hatred accompanies profperitie,
For one man greeveth at an others good ;
And fo much more we thinke our miferie,
The more that fortune hath with others flood :
So that we feld are feene as wifedome would,
To bridle time with reafon, as we fhould.
[^Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594, act i.] Th. Kyd.
HASTE.
Oft times, the greateft Hafte the worfer fpeeds.
S. J. Harr. Transl.
As bufie braines muft beat on tickle toyes ;
As rafh invention breeds a raw device ;
So fuddein falles do hinder haftie joyes :
And as fwift baits do fleeteft fifli intice,
So Hafte makes wafte ; and therefore, now, I fay,
No hafte but good, where wifedome beares the fway.
[Flowers, edit. 1587, p. 36.] G. Gascoigne.
The fwifteft bitch brings forth the blindeft whelpes,
The hotteft fevers coldeft crampes enfue,
of our English Poets. i 5 3
The nakedft need hath over lateft helpes.
[Flowers, edit. 1587, p. 36.] G. Gascoigne.
Haftie refpect repents, when tis too late.
[Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvile, 1595.] I. MARKRHAisr.
M. Drayton.
Raflineffe fees all, but nothing can prevent.
Fore-judging, puts out one of wifedomes eies,
[No aut/ior''s iiainei]
For if by raflineffe valour have got honour,
We blame the raflineffe, but reward the valour.
[Life and Deatii of Dra/ce, 1596, st. 175.] Ch. FiTZ Jkffrky.
O rafli, falfe heat ! wrapt in repentant cold,
Thy hafty spring ftill blafts, and nere growes old.
[Liicrece, 1594, st. 7.] W. .Sh.
HELL.
An hidious hole, all vaft, withouten fhape,
Of endleffe depth, orewhelm'd with ragged ftone,
With ougly mouth and grifly jawes doth gape,
And to our fight confounds it felfe in one.
Here entred we, and yceding forth, anon
A dreadfull loathly lake we might difcerne
As blacke as pitch, that clepcd is Avcrnc ;
A deadly gulfe, where nought but rubbifli growes,
With foulc blacke fwelth in thickned lumps that lies,
Which up in th' aire fuch ftinking vapours throwes,
X
154 Tlie CJioyscst Flovjcrs
That over there may fly no fowle but dies,
Choakt with the noyfome favours that arife.
{Induction to M. for 31., edit. 1610, p. 261.] M. Sackvile.
Thence come we to the horror and the Hell,
The large great kingdomes and the dreadfull raigne
Of Pluto, in his throne where he did dwell ;
The wide wafte places, and the hugie plaine ;
The waylings, flirikes, and fundry forts of paine,
The fighes, the fobbes, the deep and deadly grone,
Earth, aire, and all, refounding plaint and mone.
llh'd., ibid., p. 269.] Idem.
Thence turning backe, in filence foft they ftole,
And brought the heavy corfe with eafie pace
To yawning gulfe of deep Avernus hole.
By that fame hole an entrance, darke and bafe.
With fmoake and fulphur hiding all the place,
Defcends to Hell : there creature never paft,
That back returned, without heavenly grace ;
But dreadfull furies, which their chaines have braft.
And damned fprights, fent forth to make ill men agaft.
\Fairy Qiceen, B. i, c. v, st. 31.] Ed, Spencer,
Darkfome dens of Avernus,
Wher's no path to returne, nor ftarting hole to be fcaping ;
Defteny, death, and hell, and Cerberus horrible hell-hound,
Loathfom ftreames of Stix, that nine times compaffe
Avernus.
{Countess 0/ Pembroke's Ivyc/unrh, Part ii, 1591.] Ab.Fraunce.
They paffe the bitter waves of Acheron,
of our English Poets. 1 5 5
Where many foules fit wa}'Iiiig wofully ;
And come to fiery flood of Phlegeton,
Whereas the damned ghoafts in torments fry,
And with fharpe flirilling flirikes do bootleffe cry,
Curfing high Jove, the which them thither fent.
[Fairy Queen, B. i, c. v, st. 33.] Ed. Spencer.
About the defart parts of Greece there is a vally low,
To which the roaring waters fall, that from the mountains
flow ;
So rocks do overfliadow it, that fcarfe a man may vew
The open aire ; no fun fhines there : amidft this darkefom
mewe
Doth ftand a citie ; to the fame belongs one onely gate ;
But one at once may come therto, the entrance is fo ftrait,
Cut out the rough maine-ftony rocke : this citie did belong
To Pluto, and becaufe that he was ever doing wrong,
And kept a theevifli rable that in mischiefes did excell,
His citizens were divels faid, and citie named Hell.
\_Albions England^ edit. 1602, B. i, ch. vi.] W. Warner.
HONOUR.
In woods, in waves, in warres flie wonts to dwell,
And will be found with perill and with paine ;
Ne can the man, that moulds in idle cell.
Unto her happie manfion attaine.
Before her gate hie God did fweat ordaine.
And wakefull watches ever to abide.
[Fairy Oiiceii, 13. ii. c. iii, st. 41.] ElX SPKNCER.
156 The CJioysest Floivers
Honour is purchas'de by the deeds we doo.
[Hero and Lea)tder, 1598, Sest. 1.]
Honour is not wonne,
Untill fome honourable deed be donne.
[Ibid., Sest. i.]
Danger bids feeke the fafest way one may ;
But what faith Honour ? Honour faith not fo.
Never retire with fliame ; thus Honour faith :
The worft that can befall one is but death.
[Orlando Fiirioso, 1591, B. xv, st. 34.]
In brave purfuit of honourable deed,
There is I know not what great difference
Betweene the vulgar and the noble feed ;
Which unto things of valorous pretence
Seemes to be borne by native influence :
As feates of amies, and love to entertaine,
But chiefly fkill to ride feemes a fcience,
Proper to gentle blood ; fome others faine,
To manage fteeds, etc.
[Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. iv, st. i.]
Ch. Marlowe.
Idem.
'<l
S. J. Hark.
Ed. Spencer.
Ever great imployment for the great,
Quickens the bloud, and Honour doth beget.
[Civil Wars, edit. 1609, B. i, st. xvii.] S. Daniell.
^ Promotion is a pufife ;
Thefe worldly honors are but .fhades of fweete :
Who feeke too much before they get enough,
Before they meet the meanc with death they mcete :
of our English Poets. 1 5 7
With death they meete, the haven of all defire,
Where will muft waine, and pride cannot afpire.
D. Lodge,
Honour, a thing without us, not our owne.
\CompIaint of Rosamond, 1592, st. 40.] S. D.
Then what availes to have a princely place,
A name of honour, and an high degree,
To come by kindred of a noble race,
Except we princely, worthy, noble bee ?
The fruite declares the goodneffe of the tree.
Do brag no more of birth or linage than,
For vertue, grace, and manners, make the man.
[/. Higgins : King Kimarns, edit. 16 10, p. 103.] M. of M.
Search all thy bookes, and thou flialt finde therein.
That honour is more hard to hold, then win.
[Dtilce Bellum Inexpertis, st. 45.] G. Gascoigne.
Defe6led Honour never more is to be got againe.
\_Albions England, B. v, c. xxviii.] W. Warner.
For vile is Honour, and a little vaine,
The which true worth and danger do not gaine.
[OW/ Wars, edit. 1609, B. vi, st. 83.] S. Daniell.
Vertue can beare what can on vertue fall :
Who cheapneth Honour mufl: not ftand on price.
[Mortimeriados, 1596.] M. Dravion.
It moft behoves the honourable race
Of mightie pcercs true wifcdomc to fullaine ;
1 5 8 The CJioyscst Floivcrs
And with their noble countenance to grace
The learned forheads, without gifts or gaine ;
Or rather, learnd themfelves behoves to bee :
That is the garland of nobilitie.
{Tear es of the Muses, \z^<^\. Clio.'] Ed. Spencer.
But if that Honour have one minutes ftaine,
An hundred yeares fcant can it cleanfe againe.
{Oi-Iando Fuj'ioso, B. xxxviii, st. 6.] S. J. Harr. Traiisl.
A fhame to fetch our long difcent from kings,
And from great Jove derive our pedigree ;
The brave atchiements of an hundred things,
Breathing vaine boafts, the world to terrific,
If we ourfelves do blot with infamie.
And ftaine that blood and Honour which is theirs.
Men cannot leave their vertues to their heires.
{Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 12.] M. Drayton.
Honour is grounded on the tickle yce :
The pureft lawne moft apt for every fpot.
{Ibid., St. 34.] Idem.
Honors fhade thrufts Honors fubftance from his place.
{Scourge of Villany, 1598, Sat. 5.] I. Marstox.
Honour, by due right, is vertues hire.
{The Ekatompathia (1581), son. 34.] Th. Watson.
Honours, without imployment of eftate,
Are like to fun-beames without heate or light:
A noble man, and not a magiftrate,
of our English Poets. 159
Shines halfe eclipfed in his clearest bright ;
Joyne heavenly gifts to earthly, light to light :
Let thefe great excellencies make a truce,
Fortune fliall need no wheele-wright for her ufe.
[Life and Death of IVolsey, 1599.] T. H. Storer.
Great is the ftrife that growes in youthfull minde,
When Honour falles at variance with affection :
Nor could it yet be knowne, or well definde,
Which paffion keeps the other in fubjection.
Both do allure, both do the judgement blinde ;
Both do corrupt the heart with ftrong infection ;
Yet loe, fometimes thefe hurts procure our weale,
Even as one poyfon doth another heale.
[Orlando Furloso, B. xxv, st. i.] S. J. Harr. Transl.
The fiery-fparkling precious chryfolite.
Spangled with gold, doth moft transplendent fhine :
The pearle grac'd by the ring, the ring by it,
The one the others beautie doth refine ;
And both together beauties do combine :
The Jewell decks the golden haire that weares it,
Honour decks learning, that with Honour reares it.
{^Lifc and Death of Dral;t\ 1595, st. 151.] Ch. FiTZ.
The inward touch that wounded Honour beares
Refts clofely ranckling, and can find no eafe.
Till death, of one fitle, cure this great diseafe.
[Civil Wars, edit. 1609, B. iii, st. 26.] S. Daniell.
1 60 The CJioyscst Flozvers
HOPE.
Her yonger fifter, that Speranza hight,
Was clad in blew, that her befeemed well ;
Not all fo chearfuU feemed (lie of fight,
As was her fister ; whether dread did dwell
Or anguifh, in her heart, is hard to tell :
Upon her arme a fdver anchor lay,
Whereon fhe leaned ever, as befell ;
And ever up to heaven, as fhe did pray,
Her ftedfaft eyes were bent, ne fwarved other way.
\_Fairy Queen, B. i, c. x, st. 14.] Ed. Spencer.
Hope, a handfome maide,
Of chearfull looke, and lovely to behold ;
In filken samite fhe was light araide,
And her faire locks were woven up in gold :
She alway fmilde, and in her hand did hold-
An holy water fprinkle, dipt in dewe,
With which fhe sprinkled favours manifold
On whom flie lift, and did great liking fhewe ;
Great liking unto many, but true love to fewe.
Idem.
True Hope is swift, and flies with fwallowes wings.
Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings.
[^Richard III, 1597, act v, sc. 2.] W. Shakespeare.
Wan-hope, (poore foule !) on broken anchor fits.
Wringing his armes, as robbed of his witts.
[Glancits and Stinn, 1589. Sig. C 4.] T. LODGE.
of our English Poets. i6i
What better emperor can the body hold,
Then facred Hope ? the element from whence
Vertue is drawne freOi looking, never old ;
Matter moft worthy of a ftrong defence :
It animates }-oong men, and makes them bold,
Arming their hearts with holy influence ;
It, like a feale, in tender thoughts doth preffe
The perfect image of all happineffe.
[Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvile, 1595.] I. Markham.
Hope is double, and hath double power,
As being mortall, and immortall fram'de :
In th' one fhee's moveleffe, certaine every houre ;
In th' other doubtfull, and incertaine nam'de.
Th' immortall Hope raines in a holy bowre,
In earthy clofures is the mortall tam'de ;
And thefe two contraries, where ere they meete,
Double delight, and make our thoughts more fweete.
Idem.
He that hopes leaft, leaves not to hope at all.
But hopes the moft, hoping fo little hope :
Augmenting of our hope, makes hope growe fmall,
And taking from it, gives it greater fcope.
The defperate man, which in dispairc doth fall,
Hopes by that end ill fortune to revoke ;
And to this hope belongs a fecond part.
Which we call confidence, which rules the hart.
This fecond part of Hope, this confidence
Doth Tully call a vertue, that doth guide
The sjjirit to an honcft refidence ;
\
1 62 TJic Choyscst Floivcrs
Without whofe aide, no pleafure will abide
In our world-wearied flefh.
[Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvili\ 1595.] I. Markeham.
All men are guefts, where Hope doth hold the feast.
\Pulce Belliun Inexpertis, edit. 1587, st. 88.] G. Gascoigne.
Such is the weakneffe of all mortall Hope,
So tickle is the ftate of earthly things,
And brings us bale and bitter forrowings.
That ere they come unto their aimed fcope,
They fall too fhort of our fraile reckonings,
In ftead of comfort which we fhould embrace.
This is the death of keyfars and of kings :
Let none, therefore, that is in meaner place,
Too greatly grieve at any unluckie cafe.
Ed. Spencer.
Unworthy they of grace, whom one deniall
Excludes from faireft Hope, withouten farther triall.
\Fairy Queen, B. v, c. x, st. 17. j Idem.
Hope, like the hyenna, comming to be old,
Alters his fliape, is turn'd into difpaire.
{Diana (1592), Decad. iv, son. 10.] H. C.
Sorrow doth utter what us ftill doth grieve,
But Hope forbids us forrow to beleeve.
Our Hopes good deceives us,
]kit that we would forgoe, that feldome leaves us.
Idem.
Idem.
of our English Poets. 163
None without great Hopes will follow fuch,
Whofe power and honour doth not promife much.
\Civil Wars, 1609, B. iii, st. 39.] S. Daniell.
Who nothing hopes, let him difpaire in nought.
Th. Achelly.
To live in Hope of that they meane to give,
Is to deceive ourfelves, and not to live.
[Fig for Mo/iuis, i^<^S- Eclogue iii.] D. Lodge.
Hope loft breeds griefe ; griefe, paine ; and paine, diseafe.
\_The Ekatompathia (1581), son. 63.] Th. Watson.
Our haps do turne, as chaunces on the dice ;
Nor never let him from his Hope remove,
That under him hath mould, the flarres above.
[Mortimeriados, 1596.J M. Drayton.
Hope and have ; in time a man may gaine any woman.
[Countess of Pembroke's Ivychjtrch, 1591.] A. Fraunce.
Hope well, feare not ; marke this, be wife ;
Droupe not ; for to dispaire, is to die twife.
IGNOTO.
Bad haps are holpe with hope and good beliefe.
[Ortaiuio Fierioso, B. xlvi, st. 15.] S. J. Harrington, Transl.
O Hope ! how cunning with our cares to glozc
Gricfes breathing poynt, the truceman to defire,
The reft in fighes, the very thoughts repofe ;
As thou art mildc, oh! wcrt thou not a licr?
164 The Choysesi Flowers
Faire-fpeaking flatterie, subtill-foothing guile ;
Ah ! how in thee our forrowes fweetly fmile.
[Legend of Pierce Gaveston, 1596, st. 166.] M. Drayton.
HUMILITIE.
He was an aged syre, hoary gray,
With lookes full lowly caft, and gate full flowe,
Wont on a ftaffe his feeble fteps to ftay,
Hight Humilta : they paffe in, ftouping lowe,
For flraight and narrow was the way which he did fhowe.
\_bairy Queen, B. i, c. x, st. 5.] Ed. Spencer,
Humilitie to heaven, the ftep, the ftaire
Is, for devotion, sacrifice, and praier.
M. Drayton.
The bending knee in safetie ftill doth goe.
When others ftumble, as too ftiffe to bowe.
[Legend of Pierce Gaveston, 1596, st. 142.] Idem.
As on the unfavourie ftocke the lillie is borne,
And as the rofe growes on the pricking thorne,
So modeft life, with fobs of grievous smart
And cries devout, comes from an humbled hart.
[History of Judith, 1584, B. ii.] Th. HUDSON, Transl.
More honour in Humilitie, then safetie in walks:
Proud livers prove not monuments, save onely in their falles.
[All/ions England, B. v, ch. xxvii.] W. Warner.
of our English Poets. 165
Ah ! God fhield, man, that I fliould clime,
and learne to looke aloft ;
This reed is rife, that oftentime
great climers fall unsoft.
In humble dales is footing faft,
the trode is not fo tickle ;
And though one fall through heedleffe hafte,
yet is his miffe not mickle.
{^Shepherd's Calendar, i579: Ji-'ly-] -Ed. Spencer.
The lowly heart doth win the love of all,
But pride at laft is fure of fliamefull fall.
\Songs and Sonnets, 1567, fo. 9 b.l G. TuR.
HYPOCRISIE.
HYPOCRISIE hath bred of godlike divels ftorc,
That fpeake to feeme, that feeme to fliift, that fliift to spoyl
by guile,
And fmoothe and foothe, and yet deceive with scriptuui est
meane while.
\_A lb ions England, ed'xi. 1602, B. iv, ch. 22.] W. Warner.
But let them heave their hands to heaven, they fliow theyr
hier in hell.
That feeme devout, to cloake deceit ; and fay, but do not
well.
\_Ibid., ibid.\ Idem.
Who cloakes their mindcs in hoods of holineffc
Are double villaincs, and the Hypocrite
1 65 The CJioysest Floiuers
Is moft odious in Gods glorious fight,
That takes his name to cover wickedneffe.
I. Syl.
Many ufe temples to fet godly faces
On impious hearts : thofe finnes ufe moft exceffe,
That feeke their flirovvdes in fained holineffe.
G. Chapman. Vide Dissimulation.
JEALOUSIE.
Shee feem'd of womans Ihape, but in her head
A thoufand eyes fhe had, that watch did keepe ;
As many eares, with which fhe harkened ;
Her eyes want lids, and therefore never fleepe :
In ftead of haire, her crowne fnakes overspred.
Thus marched flie forth of the darknes deepe ;
Her tayle, one ferpent bigger then the reft,
Which fhe with knots faftened about her breft.
{Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xlii, st. 45.] S. J. Harrington, Transl.
A monfter, others harme, selfe-miferie,
Bewties plague, vertues fcourge, fuccour of lies :
Who his owne joy to his owne hurt applies,
And onely cherifli doth with injuries ;
Who fmce he hath, by natures speciall grace,
So piercing pawes, as spoile when they embrace,
So nimble feete, as ftirre ftill though on thornes.
So many eyes, ay feeking their owne woe,
So ample cares, that never good ncwcs knowe :
of our English Poets. 167
Is it not ill, that fuch a devill wants homes ?
[Astrophel and Stella, edit. fo. 1598, son. 78] S. Ph. Sydxey.
O hatefuU hellifli fnake ! what furie firft
Brought thee from balefuU houfe of Proferpine .-'
Where in her bofome fhe thee long had nurft,
And foftered up with bitter niilke of tine,
Foule Jealoufie ! that turnefl love divine
To joyleffe dread, and mak'ft the loving hart
With hatefull thoughts to languifh and to pine.
And feed it felfe with felfe-confumine fmart !
Of all the paflions in the minde, thou vileft art.
IFalry Queen, B. ill, c xi, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
O Jealoufie! daughter of envie and love.
Most wayward iffue of a gentle fire,
Foftred with feares, thy fathers joies t' improve ;
Mirth-marring monfter, borne a fubtile lier,
Hatefull unto thy felfe, flying thine owne defire ;
Feeding upon fufpeft, that doth renew thee,
Happie were lovers, if they never knew thee.
Thou haft a thoufand gates thou entreft by,
Condemning trembling paffions to our hart :
Hundred eyed Argus, ever waking fpy.
Pale hagge, infernall furie, pleafures fmart ;
Envious obferver, prying in every part,
Sufpitious, fearefull, gazing ftill about thee,
O would to God, that love could be without thee !
[Complaint 0/ Rosamond, 1592, st. 70.J S. Dan [EM-.
A new difeafe } — I know not, new or old ;
But it may well be term'd poorc mortals plague,
1 6S TJic Clioysest Floivers
For, like a peftilence, it doth infe6l
The houfes of the braine : firft, it begins
Solely to worke upon the phantafie,
Filling her seat with fuch peftiferous aire,
As foone corrupts the judgement ; and from thence
Sends like contagion to the memorie :
Still each to other catching the infe6lion,
Which, as a fearching vapour, fpreads it felfe
Confufedly through every fenfive part,
Till not a thought, or motion in the minde,
Be free from the blacke poyfon of fufpe6l.
\Every Man in his Hitmour, 1601, act li, sc. i.] B. Johnson.
For where love raignes, difturbing Jealoufie
Doth call himfelfe affection's centinell,
Gives falfe alarms, fuggefteth mutiny,
And in a peacefull houre dooth crye, kill, kill ;
Diftempering gentle love in his defire,
As ayre and water do abate the fire :
This four informer, this bate-breeding fpie,
This cancker that eates up loves tender fpring,
This carry-tale, difcentious jealoufie.
{Venus and Adonis, 1593, st. 109.] W. SHAKESPEARE.
Fowle-weather Jealoufie to a forward fpring
Makes weeds growe ranke, but fpoiles a better thing ;
Sowes tares (gainft harveft) in the fields of love,
And dogged humor dogdayes-like doth proove,
Scorching loves glorious world with glowing tong ;
A ferpent by which love to death is ftonge ;
A fire, to waftc his pleafant fummer bowers,
of our English J\n'ts. 169
Ruine his manfions, and deface his towers.
{Skialcthcia, 1598, Sat. 4.] E. GuiLPlN.
Pale Jealoufie, childe of infatiat love,
Of heartficke thoughts with melancholy bred,
A hell-tormenting feare, no faith can move ;
By difcontent with deadly poyfon fed,
With heedleffe youth and error vainly led :
A mortall plague, a vertue-drowning floud,
A hellifli tier, not quenched but with bloud.
\Mortimcriados, 1596.] INI. Drayton.
What ftate of life more pleafmg may we finde
Then theirs, that true and heartie love do beare .''
Whom that fweet yoake doth faft together binde,
That man in Paradice firft learnd to weare ;
Were not fome fo tormented in their minde
With that fame vile fufpecl, that filthy feare,
That torture great, that foolifli phrenezie,
That raging madnes, called Jealoufie.
For every other fower, that gets a place
To feate itfelfc amid this pleafant fweete,
Helpes in the end to give a greater grace,
And makes love joy more gratefuU when they meet :
He that abftaines from fuftcnancc a fpace,
Shall finde both bread and water rcliHi fwectc.
\(h-/(V!(fo h'/irioso, 1591, B. xxxi, st. 31. J .S. J. IIarr. 7'rans/.
Jealoufie is Cupids foode ;
For the fwift fteed runnes not fo faft alone,
As when fome ftraine, fome ftrivc him to out-gone.
{(Indfrcy of Ihilloionc, R. v, st. 70.] F.D. I' \iki \x, Traiisl.
Z
I/O TJic CJioysest Flower's
Love wakes the jealous eye, leafh thence it moves :
The jealous eye the more it lookes it loves.
{Arcadia^ Qd^\\.. 1598, p. 197.] S. Ph. Sydney.
No Jealoufie can that prevent,
Whereas two parties once be full content.
Idem.
Impatience changeth fmoake to flame, but Jealoufie is hell.
\_Albions Eiigland, B. viii, c. xli.] W. Warner.
On love, faie fome, waits Jealouzie ; but Jealoufie wants love.
When curiously it over-plus doth idle quarels move.
\_Ibid., B. ix, c. liii.] Idem.
Where Jealoufie is bred,
Homes in the mind are worfe then homes in the hed.
B. Johnson.
That canker-worme, that monfter, Jealoufie,
Which eates the heart, and feeds upon the gall,
Turning all loves delight to miferie,
Through feare of loofing his felicitie.
[Hymn in honoitf 0/ Lo7'c\ 1596.] Ed. Spencer.
Shun Jealoufie, that hart-breake love ; if cat will go to kinde.
Be fure that lo hath a meanes that Argus fhall be blinde.
{A/bio/is England, B. iv, c. xxi.] \V. WARNER.
True love doth looke with pale fuspicious eie ;
Take away love, if you take Jealoufie.
[Epistle, Q. Mary to Charles Brandon, 1598.] M. Drayton.
of our English Poets. 1 7 1
No beaft is fiercer then a jealous woman.
\CoJiiplaint of Rosamond^ 1592, st. 86.] S. Daniell.
IDLENESSE.
[Prides coach] was drawne of fixe unequall beafts,
On which her fixe fage counfellours did ride ;
Taught to obey their befliall beheafts,
With like conditions to their kindes applide :
Of which the firfb, that all the reft did guide,
Was fluggifli Idleneffe, the nurfe of finne ;
Upon a flothfull affe he chofe to ride,
Arraid in habit black and amis thin,
Like to an holy monke, the fervice to begin.
{fairy (Inccn, B. i, c. iv, st. 18.] Ed. Spencer.
Idleneffe pure innocence fubvcrts,
Defiles our bodie, and our foule perverts :
Yea, foberefh men it makes delicious,
To vertue dull, to vice ingenious.
J. SvL. Trails/.
That humours by exceffive eafe are bred.
That floath corrupts and choakes the vitall sprights ;
And kills the memoric, and hurts the lights.
{Fig for Momns, 1595, Sal. i.] D. Lodge.
Drowfie floth, that counterfeiteth lame,
With fnailc-likc motion meafuring the ground.
Having her amies in willing fetters bound :
1 7 2 The Clioyscst Fiotvcrs
Foule, fluggifli drone, barren, (but finnc to breed)
Diseafed begger, ftarv'd with finfuU need.
{Tritmiph of Faiih, 1592.] J. SILVESTER.
If thou flie Idleneffe, Cupid hath no might ;
His bowe lyeth broken, his torch hath no light.
IGNORANCE.
At lalt, with creeping crooked pace forth came
An old old man, with beard as white as fnow ;
That on a ftaffe his feeble fteps did frame,
And guide his weary gate both too and fro.
For his eye-fight him failed long ago ;
And on his arme a bunch of keyes he bore,
The which, unufed, rufh did overgrow.
Thofe were the keyes of every inner doore.
But he would not them ufe, but kept them ftill in ftore.
But very uncouth fight was to behold
How he did fafliion his untoward pace ;
For as he forward mov'd his footing old,
So backward ftill was turn'd his wrinckled face.
Unlike to men, who, ever as they trace.
Both feete and face one way are wont to lead :
This was the auncient keeper of that place.
And foster-father of the gyaunt dead ;
His name, Ignaro, did his nature right aread.
\Fairy Qicccii, B. i, c. viii, st. 2,0^ Ed. Spencer.
of our English Poets. 173
Image of hellifli horror, Ignorance,
Borne in the bofome of the blacke abiffe.
And fed with furies milke for fuftenance
Of his weake infancie, begot amiffe
By yawning floth, on his owne mother night ;
So he his fonnes both fyre and brother hight.
\_Tca>-s of the Muses, 1591. Euterpe.'] Ed. Spencer.
So all is turned into wilderneffe,
Whileft Ignorance the Mufes doth oppreffe.
[Ibid., ibid.] Idem.
But hell and darkneffe and the grifly grave
Is Ignorance, the enemy of grace,
That minds of men, borne heavenly, doth debace.
[Ibid. Urania.] Idem.
Tis nought but fliowes that Ignorance efteemes ;
The thing poffeft is not the thing it feemes.
[Civil I'Vars, B. ii, st. 13.] S. Daniell.
Great ill upon defert doth chance.
When it doth paffe by beaftly Ignorance.
M. Drav.
IMP A TIENCE.
I Mi'A'ilENCK changeth fmoake to flame, but jealoufie is hell.
[Repetition from '^. 170.] \V. Warner.
Make not thy griefe too great by thy fuppofe ;
Let not Impatience aggravate thy woes.
[Tragedy of Manns and .'^'y I la, 1594.] 1-). Lodge.
174
TJic CJioyscst Floivcrs
INF AM IE.
That to attempt hie daungers evident,
Without conftraint or need, is Infamie ;
And honour turnes to raflineffe in th' event :
And Avho fo darres, not caring how he darres.
Sells vertues name to purchafe foolifh ftarrs,
{Tragedy of Sir R. Gri7rt.nle, 1595.] 1. Markham.
Reproach !
Ah! vile diseafe that never time can cure.
{Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 95.]
Sinne in a chaine leades on her fifter Shame,
And both in gives faft fettered to defame.
{Ibid., St. 40.]
Thy name once foil'd, incurable the blot,
Thy name defafte, which toucht with any ftaine
And once fupplanted, never growes againe.
Gain ft open fhame no text can well be cited ;
The blow, once given, cannot be evited.
M. Drayton.
M. Drayton.
Idem.
INGRA TITUDE.
For why, Unthankfulneffe is that great fin.
Which made the divel and his angels fall ;
Loft him and them the joyes that they were in.
And now in hell detaines them, bound and thrall.
{Orlando Fiirioso, B. xxxii, st. 41.] .S. J. Harr. Transl.
of our Engl is Ji Poets. 175
Thou hatefull monfter, bafe Ingratitude !
Soules mortall poyfon, deadly killing wound :
Deceitfull ferpent, fceking to delude ;
Blacke loathfome ditch, where all defert is drown'd ;
Vile peftilence, which all things doeft confound :
At firft created to none other end
But to greeve thofe, whom nothing could offend.
{Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 80.] ' M. Drayton.
Ingratefull who is call'd, the worft of evils is spoken.
[Astrop/icl and Stella, edit. 1598, Song 5.] S. Phil. Sidney.
Tis true, that flave whom Pompey did promote,
Was he that firft affaid to cut his throte.
[Fig for Moiniis, 1595, Sat. 5.] T. Lodok.
INNOCENCIE.
A PLAINT of guiltleffe hurt doth pierce the fkie.
S. Phil. Sidney.
Sildome untoucht doth Innocencie efcape,
When errour commeth in good counfels fliapc :
A lawfull title counterchecks proud might ;
The weakeft things become ftrong props to right.
[Epistle, Geraldine to Lord Surrey, 1599.] M. DRAYTON.
Pure Innocence fildome fuspc6lcth ought.
[Legend of Rolnn-f Duke of X-orniandy, 1596, St. 96.] Idem.
1^6 TJic Choyscst Flowers
A guiltleffe mind doth eafily deeme the beft.
M. of M.
The lyon h'cks the fores of filly wounded flieep,
The dead mans courfe may caufe the crocodile to weep :
The waves that waft the rocks refrefli the rotten reeds ;
Such ruth the wrack of Innocence in cruel creatures breeds.
{^Legend of Henry VI, edit. 1610, p. 375.] M. of M.
Well gave that judge his doom, upon the death
Of Titus Laelius, that in bed was flaine :
When every wight the cruell murder laith
To his two fonnes, that in his chamber laine,
That judge, that by the proofe perceiveth plaine
That they were found faft fleeping in their bed,
Hath deem'd them guiltleffe of this bloud yfhed.
He thought it could not be, that they which brake
The lawes of God and man, in fuch outrage,
Could fo, forthwith, themfelves to reft betake :
He rather thought the horror and the rage
Of fuch an hainous gilt, could never fwage,
Nor never fuffer them to fleepe or reft.
Or, dreadleffe, breathe one breath out of their breft.
\JD like of Buckingham, M for M., edit. 1610, p. 439 ] M. Sackvile.
INCONSTANCIE.
Unto the world fuch is Inconftancie
As fappe to tree, as apple to the eie.
\GIauciis and S ilia, 1589, Sig. A 2.] D. LoDOE.
of our Engl is J I Pods.
177
JO YE.
All like as ficker as the end of woe is Joye,
And glorious light to obfcure night doth tend,
So extreame mirth in extreame mone doth end.
[^Legend 0/ Lord Hastings, edit. 1610, p. 423.]
AT. of J/.
For why, extreames are haps rackt out of courfe
By violent might, far swinged forth perforce ;
Which, as they are piercing'ft, they violent'ft move,
For that they are nere to caufe that doth them fhove.
So fooneft fall from that their highest extreame,
To th' other contrary, that doth want of meane ;
So laugh'd he erft who laughed out his breath.
[Ibid., ibid.] IDEM.
The pleafingft meanes bode not the luckieft ends,
Nor aye found treafure to like pleafure tends.
Mirth meanes not mirth all time, thrice happie hire.
Of witte to Ihun th' exceffe that all defire.
[Ibid., ibid.] Idem.
Joy lighteneth woe, woe Joy doth moderate.
Joy is forgetfull, weale thinkes not of woe.
INI. Drayton.
Idem.
For Joy afcends, but forrow fmgs below.
[Life atid Death of Drake, 1596, st. 226.]
Ch. Fitz.
A A
178
TJic CJioyscst Floivcrs
Fruits follow flowers, and forrow greateft Joyes :
As fudden griefe, fo fudden Joy doth kill.
Th. Achellv.
The Romane widow died when fhe beheld
Her fonne, who crfl fhe counted flaine in field.
{Ditlce Bellum Inexpertis, 1587-] G. Gascoigne.
Exceffive Joy
Leapeth, and likes; finding the Appian way
Too ftrait for her, whofe fences all poffeffe
All wifhed pleafure in all plenteousneffe.
[ The Furies, from Du Bartas.']
J. Sylvester.
INJUSTICE.
Injustice never yet tooke lafting roote.
Nor held that long impietie did winne.
[Civil Wars, edit. 1609, B. i, st. 89.] S. Daniell.
So foule a thing, u thou Injuftice! art,
That tott'reft both the dooer and the diftreft :
For when a man hath done a wicked part,
O how he ftrives to excufe, to make the beft,
To fhift the fault, t' unburden his chargde hart,
And glad to find the leaft furmise of reft ;
And if he could make his feeme others fin,
O what repofe, what eafe he findes therein !
[Ibid., 15. iii, st. 59.] IDEM.
of our English Poets. 1 79
Injuftice never fcapes unpunidit ftill ;
Though men revenge not, yet the heavens will.
[^Tragedy of Cleopatra, 1594.] S. DAN 1 ELL.
JUSTICE.
Now, when the world with fin gan to abound,
Aftraea loathing lenger here to space
Mongft wicked men, in whom no truth fhe found,
Returnd to heaven, whence fhe deriv'd her race ;
Where fhe hath now an everlafting place
Mongft thofe twelve fignes, which nightly we do fee
The heavens bright-fhining bawdrick to inchace ;
And is the virgin, sixt in her degree,
And next her felf her righteous ballance hanging bee.
{^Fairy Queen, B. v, c. i, st. 1 1.] Ed. Spencer
Then Juflice comes, the laft of all the gods,
That left her refidence here on this earth :
P\)r lacke of whom, the world grew all at ods,
And man to man curfes each others birth :
For then ufurping wrong fucceeded ftraight,
That no man knew how long to hold his right.
Then calls the world for Juftice back againe,
Complaining how they now were overrunnc,
And they would suffer any fcourging paine,
In penance for thofe finnes themfelves had donne ;
For that their wickedneffe did force this power
To leave the feate whereas Ihc fate before ;
i8o The Choysest Flowers
Whereas the gods did in their court decree,
Juftice fliould be transformed to thefe ftarres,
Where foolifli men might every minute fee
Her, that fhould helpe thefe miferies of theirs ;
But ftand, Hke Tantalus, within thofe brinkes
Where he fees water, but yet never drinkes.
{^History of Heaven, 1596.] Ch. Middleton.
Faire Aftrasa, of the Titans Hne,
Whom equitie and juftice made divine.
M. Drayton.
Well, therefore, did the anticke world invent
That Juftice was a god of foveraigne grace,
And altars unto him and temples lent,
And heavenly honours in the higheft place ;
Calling him, great Osyris of the race
Of th' old Egyptian Kings, that whilome were ;
With fained colours fliading a true cafe :
For that Osyris, whilft he lived here.
The jufteft man alive and trueft did appeare.
His wife was Isis, whom they likewife made
A goddeffe of great power and foveraigntie ;
And in her perfon cunningly did shade
That part of Juftice which is equitie.
{^Fairy Queen, B. v, c vii, st. 2.] Ed. Spencer.
For till the world from his perfe6lion fell
Into all filth and foule iniquitie,
Aftraia here, mongft earthly men, did dwell,
And in the rules of Juftice them inftructed well.
[Ibid., B. V, c. i, st. 5.J IDEM.
of our English Poets. i8i
Where Juftice growes, there growes the greater grace,
The which doth quench the brand of helHsh fmart,
And that accurft hand-writing doth deface.
\_Fairy Queen, B. i, c. ix, st. 53.] Ed. Spencer.
Sparing Juftice feeds iniquitie.
{Lucrece, 1594, st. 243.] W, Shakespeare.
Such firft was Bacchus, that with furious might
All th' eaft, before untam'de, did overrunne,
And wrong repreffed, and eftablisht right,
Which lawleffe men had formerly foredone :
There juftice firft her princely rule begunne.
Next Hercules his like enfample shewed,
Who all the weft with equall conqueft wonne :
And monftrous tirants with his club fubdued,
The club of Juftice dread, with kingly power endued.
[Fairy Queen, B. v, c. i, st. 2.] Ed. Spencer.
Who fo upon himfelfe will take the fkill
True Juftice unto people to devide,
Had need have mightie hands for to fulfill
That which he doth with righteous doome decide,
And for to maifter wrong and puiffant pride :
For vaine it is to deeme of things aright.
And make wrong-doers Juftice to deride,
Unleffe it be perform'd with dreadleffe might ;
For power is the right-hand of Juftice truly hight.
[Ibid., B. V, c. iv, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
Offences, urg'd in publike, are made worfe ;
The shew of Juftice aggravates despight :
1 82 TJie CJioyscst Floivers
The multitude, that looke not to the caufe,
Reft fatisfied, fo it be done by lavves.
{Civil Wars, edit. 1609, B. ii, st. 96.] ' S. Daniell.
It often falles, in courfe of common life,
That right long time is overborne of wrong.
Through avarice or power, or guile, or ftrife.
That weakens her, and makes her partie ftrong ;
But Juftice, though her doome she do prolong.
Yet, at the laft, she will her owne caufe right.
{Fairy (li'ceii, B. v, c. xi, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
Good caufes need not curious termes ; and equall Judges
heare
The equitie, not eloquence.
{Albion's England, edit. 1602, B. vi, c. xxx.] W. WARNER.
Who paffeth judgement for his private gaine.
He well may judge he is adjudg'd to paine.
{Grcoie and Lodge's Looking-glass for London and England,
1594.] R. Greene.
KINGS.
Kings be the gods vicegerents here on earth.
The gods have power. Kings from that power have might:
Kings should excell in vertue as in birth :
Gods punish wrongs, and Kings should maintaine right ;
They be the funnes, from which we borrow light ;
And they, as Kings, should ftill in juftice ftrive
of our English Poets. i(S3
With gods, from whom their beings they derive.
{^Lcgend of Matilda, 1596, st. 133.] M. Drayton.
The bafer is he, comming from a King,
To shame his hope with deeds degenerate :
The mightier man, the mightier is the thing
That makes him honoured, or begets him hate ;
For greateft fcandall waits on greateft ftate.
The moone, being clouded, prefently is mift,
But little ftarres may hide them where they lift.
The crowe may bathe his cole-blacke wings in mire,
And, unperceiv'd, flie with the filth away ;
But if the like the fnow-white fwan defire.
The ftaine upon his filver downe will ftay :
Poore groomes are fightles night. Kings glorious day.
Gnats are unnoted wherefoever they flie.
But eagles gaz'd upon with every cie.
[Lucrece, 1594, st. 145.] W. Shakespeare.
Since the heavens ftrong arms teach Kings to ftand,
Angells are plac't about the glorious throne.
To gard it from the ftroakes of traitrous hand.
\Comcdy of Fortuiiatus, 1600.] Th. Dekkar.
When thou becom'ft an earthly god, mens lives to overfee,
Forget not that eternall God, that overlooketh thee.
[Albions England, B. v, c. xxvi.] W. Warner.
The leaft part of a King is his, allowing him, and none
Leffe private then a prince, the weale or woe of every one.
l/fi/'d., //'/>/.] Idem.
1 84 The Choysest Floivcrs
He and his people make but one, a body weake or ftrong,
As doth the head the hmbs, or limbs the head affift, or
wrong.
\Albiotis England, B. v, c. 25.] W. Warner.
Kings, lords of times and of occafions.
May take th' advantage when and how they lift,
{Civil Wars, edit. 1609.] S. Daniell.
Kings will be alone, competitors muft downe ;
Neare death he ftands, that ftands to weare a crowne.
Idem.
It is a daungerous thing,
In rule of love, but once to croffe a King.
M. Drayton.
Endles cares concur with crowns, a bitter fweet is raign.
\Albions England, B. iii, c. 16.] W. Warner.
Not all the water in the rough rude fea
Can wafh the balme from an anoynted King :
The breath of worldly men cannot depofe
The deputie elected by the Lord.
\_Richard II, 1597, act iii, sc. 2.] W. Shakespeare,
He knowes not what it is to be a King,
That thinks a fcepter is a pleafant thing.
[y antes IV 0/ Scotland, 1598.] R. Greene.
A glittering crowne doth make the haire foone gray,
Within whofe circle a King is but arrefted ;
of our English Poets. 185
In all his feafts hee's but with forrow feafted,
And when his feete difdaine to touch the mold,
His head's a prifoner in a jaile of gold.
\^}{orttmeriados, 1596.] M. Drayton.
Unhappy Kings, that never can be taught
To know themfelves, or to difcerne their fault.
[Chnl Wars, B. i, st. 58.] S. Danikll.
O, be remember'd ! no outragious thing
From vaffall aclors can be wipte away ;
Then, Kings misdeeds can not be hid in clay.
[Li/crece, 1594, st. 88.] W. Shakespeare.
No fceptcr ferves difhonour to excufe,
Nor kingly vaile can cover villainie ;
Fame is not fubject to authoritie.
M. Drayton.
Thinke not but Kings are men, and as the reft miscarry,
Save that their fame and infamy continually doth tarry.
\_AIbioiis Eiigla)id, edit. 1603, B. iv, c. xxi.] W. Warner.
Kings want no meanes to accompliflT what they will.
M. Drayton.
Miflikes are filly lets, where Kings refolve them ;
Where counfell chafing will hath empcrie,
Deeds are too preft for rcafon to cliffolve them ;
In mightie mindes a grounded vanitic.
Like springs that, ccafleffe, never ftoppeth,
Untill her neighbour oaki: fhc ovcrtoppcth.
D. l,i)|)(;|-..
I'. 1;
1 86 TJic CJioysest Floivers
Great men, too well grac'd, much rigor ufe ;
Prefuming favorites, mischiefe ever bring :
So that, concluding, I may boldly speake.
Minions too great argue a King too weake.
\Civil Wars, B. i, st. 38.] S. Daniell.
NeAv Kings do feare, when old Kings farther ftraine ;
Eftablifht ftate to all things will confent.
\Ibid., B. iii, st. 14.] Idem.
A fcepter, like a pillar of great height,
Whereon a mightie building doth depend ;
Which, when the fame is over-preft with waight,
And paft his compaffe forc't thereby to bend,
His maffie roofe downe to the ground doth fend,
Crufhing the leffer part, and murthering all
Which ftand within the compaffe of his fall.
[ATortivieriados, 1596. J AI. Drayton.
Too true that tyrant Dyonifyus
Did pifture out the image of a King,
When Damocles was placed in his throne.
And ore his head a threatning fword did hang,
Faftcncd up only by a horfes haire.
R. Greene.
KINGDOMES.
A RULE there is, not failing, but moft fure,
Kingdomc no kin doth know, nc can endure.
\G. Ferrers, in Humphrey of Gloiuester, 1610, p. 328.] M. ofM.
of our English Poets. 1 87
Thebes, Babell, Rome, thefe proud heaven daring wonders,
Loe under ground in duft and allies he,
For earthly Kingdomes, even as men, do die.
{^Shipwreck of Jonas, 1592.] J. Sylvester.
If thou wilt mightie be, flie from the rage
Of cruell will, and fee thou keep them free
From the fowle yoake of fenfuall bondage ;
For though thy empire ftretche to Indian fea.
And for thy feare trembleth the fartheft Thylee,
If thy defire hath over thee the power,
Subje6l then art thou, and no governour.
\^Sir T, Wyal : Add. Poems in TottelVs Miscellany, 1557.]
E. of Surrey.
KNOWLEDGE.
Through Knowledge we behold the worlds creation,
How in his cradle firft he foftered was :
And judge of natures cunning operation.
How things fhe formed of a formeleffe maffe.
By Knowledge we do learne our felves to knowe,
And what to man, and what to God we owe.
From hence we mount aloft unto the fkie,
And lookc into the chriftall firmament ;
There we behold the heavens great hierarchic.
The ftarrcs pure light, the spheares fA^ift movement.
The sjDirits and intelHgences faire ;
And angels waiting on th' Ahnighties chaire.
And there, with humble mind and hie infight,
1 88 The Choysest Flowers
Th' eternall Makers majeftie we vievve,*
His love, his truth, his glory, and his might.
And mercy, more then mortall men can viewe.
{Tears of the Muses, \^<^\. Urania.^ Ed. Spencer.
Soule of the world. Knowledge ! without thee,
What hath the earth that truly glorious is ?
Why fhould our pride make fuch a ftirre to bee,
To be forgot ? What good is like to this ?
To do worthy the writing, and to write,
Worthy the reading, and the worlds delight.
[Miisophili/s, to F. Grevillc, 1599.] S. Daniell.
What difference twixt man and beaft is left,
When th' heavenly light of Knowledge is put out.
And th' ornaments of wifedome are bereft ?
Then wandreth he in errour and in doubt ;
Unweeting of the daunger he is in.
Through flefhes frailtie, and deceit of fm.
{Tears of the Muses. Urania.'] Ed. Spencer.
Our now Knowledge hath, for tedious traine,
A drouping life, an overracked braine,
A face forlorne, a fad and fullen fafliion,
A reflleffe toyle, and cares felfe-pining paffion.
Knowledge was then even the foules foule for lio-ht.
The spirits calme port, and lanthorne fhining bright.
To flrait-ftept feet cleare Knowledge, not confusde ;
Not fower, but fweete ; not gotten, but infusde.
J. .SvL. Trans/.
of our English Poets. 1 89
And yet we fee, to know men flill are glad :
And yet we fee, Knowledge oft makes men mad.
\Orlando Fjirioso, 1591, B. xxiii, st. 85.J S. J. Harr. Transl.
\W\\o fo knowes moft, the more he knowes to doubt ;
The leaft difcourfe is commonly moft ftout.
{^Musophilus to F. Greviltc, 1599.] S. Daniell.
Common is the proofe.
That cunning is not cunning, if it ftandeth not aloofe.
[Atdio/is En^tand, B. vi, c. xxx.] W. Warner.
By Knowledge thine, thou haft no name,
Leaft others know, thou know'ft the fame.
Skill comes too flow, and life fo faft doth flie.
We learne fo little, and forget fo much.
[Xosw Teipsiini. Introduction.] I. Davies. Vid. Lear)iiiig.
LABOUR.
Where eafe abounds it's eath to do amiffe,
But who his limbs with Labours, and his minde
Behaves with cares, cannot fo eafie miffe :
Abroad in armes, at home in ftudious kinde.
Who feekes with painfull toyle fliall honour fooneft finde.
\^Fairy Qiwcn, B. ii, c. iii, st. 40 J Ed. Spencer.
Learne, with the ant, in fommer to provide ;
Drive, with the bee, the drone from out the hive ;
IQO The CJioyscst Floiucrs
Build, like the fwallow, in the fommer tide.
[Rosalyiid, edit. 1598, Sig. B 2.j D. LODGE.
Much Labor is too litle, that fliould houOiold charge defraye,
\_Albions England, B. v, ch. xxvii.] W. WARNER.
Induftry, well cheriflit to his face,
In fun-fliine walkes, in spight of fower difgrace.
M. ROYDON.
The nobleft borne dame fhould induftrious bee ;
That which doth good difgraceth no degree.
[Hero and Leander, 1600, Sest. 5.] G. Chapman.
Let Mandevile example be for men not to be idle ;
In amorous paffions Labour is to love at leaft a bridle.
[Albions England, B. xi, ch. Ixiii.] W. Warner
[Adams Labour in Eden.]
Edens earth was then fo fertill and fo fat,
That he made only fweet affaies in that
Of fkilfull Induftry ; and naked wrought,
More for delight then for the gaine he sought.
In briefe, it was a pleafant exercife,
A labour likte, a paine much like the guife
Of cunning dauncers, who although they fkip,
Run, caper, vault, traverfe, and turne, and trip.
From morne til even, at night againe, full merry,
Renew their daunce, of dauncing never weary :
Or els of hunters, that with happie lucke
Rowfing betimes fomc often breathed bucke,
of our English Poets. 1 9 1
Or goodly ftagge, their yelping hounds uncouple,
Wind loud their horns, their hoopes and hallows double ;
Spurre on and spare not, following their defire,
Themfelves unweary, though their hacknies tire.
But, for in th' end of all their jollitie
Their's found much ftifneffe, fvveat, and vanitie,
I rather match it to the pleafing paine
Of angels pure, who ever floth difdaine ;
Or to the funs calme courfe, who plainleffe aye
About the welkin poafbeth night and day.
{Eden., from Dii Bartas.'] I. Syl. Trans L
LEARNING.
O BLESSED Letters ! that combine in one
All ages paft, and make one live with all :
By you we do conferre with who are gone,
And the dead-living unto counfaile call :
By you the unborne fliall have communion
Of what we feele, and what doth us befall.
\}hisophilus to F. Grcvillc, 1599.] S. Daniell.
By the cleare beames of Learnings light.
We tread the obfcurc pathes of fages right.
Idem.
And but that Learning, in despight of fate,
Will mount aloft, and enter heaven-gate,
And to the seat of Jove it fclfc advance,
Hermes had flcpt in hell with ignorance.
1 92 TJic CJioysest Flowers
Yet, as a punifliment, they added this,
That he and povertie fhould alwaies kis ;
And to this day is every fcholler poore :
Groffe gold from them runnes headlong to the boore.
l^Hero and Leander, 1598, Sest. 1.] Ch. Marlowe.
Of little worth is Learnings worthy (kill,
Where pilots wifedome is not perfect fbill.
Corinnaes praife and Sapphoes are difcerned
Above the reft, becaufe they both were learned.
S. J. Harr. Transl.
And how that Cecrops, and his feed, did honor Athence fo,
As that from thence are faid the springs of fciences to flow.
{^Albions England, B. i, c. i.] W. WARNER.
LECHER Y
And next to him rode luftfull Lechery,
Upon a bearded goat, whofe rugged haire
And whally eyes (the figne of jealoufie)
Was like the perfon felfe whom he did beare,
Who rough and blacke, and filthy did appeare :
Unfeemly man to pleafe faire ladies eie.
Yet he of ladies oft was loved deare.
When fairer faces were bid ftanden by :
O ! who does know the bent of womens fantafie ?
{Fairy (Inccn, B. i, c. iv, st. 24.] Ed. Spexcer.
Incontinence, dull flcepe, and idle bed.
All vcrtue from the Avorld have baniflied.
of our EnglisJi Poets. 193
The tickling flames which our fond foules furprize,
(That dead a while in epilepfie lies)
Doth ftarke our finewes all, by little and little,
Drawing our reafon in fowle pleafure brittle.
I. Syl. Trans I.
Love comforteth like fun-fhine after raine,
But lufts effect is tempeft after funne ;
Loves gentle spring doth alwaies frefli remaine,
Lufts winter comes ere fommer halfe be donne :
Love furfets not, lufh like a glutton dies,
Love is all truth, luft full of forged lies.
[Voiiis and Adonis, 1593, st. 134.] W. Shakespeare.
Where whoredome raignes, there murder follows faft,
As falling leaves before the winter blaft.
\_Looking-glass for London and England, 1594.] R. Greene.
Luft is a fire, and for an houre or tvvaine
Giveth a fcorching blaze, and then he dies.
[Diana (1594) Dec. v, son. i.] H. C.
O deeper finnc, then bottomleffe conceit
Can comprehend in ftill imagination !
Drunken defire muft vomit his receit,
Ere he can fee his owne abomination :
While luft is in his pride, no exclamation
Can curb his heatc, or raigne his rafli defire,
Till, like a jade, fclfc-w ill himfclfc doth tire.
[Li/nrce, 1594, st. 102.] W. Shakespeare.
c c
194 The Choyscst Flowers
Though Luft takes never joy in what is due,
But ftill leaves knowne delights to feeke out new.
{^Epistle, Octavia to Antony, 1599.] S. Daniell.
Inchaftitie is ever proftitute,
Whofe trees we loath, when we have pluckt their fruite.
{^Hynums m Cynthiam, 1594-] G. Chapman.
Efchue vile Venus toyes, fhe cuts ofif age ;
And learne this leffon oft, and tell thy friend.
By fudden death, pocks, begging, harlots end.
[Legend of King Meniprieius, edit. 1610, p. 53.] M. of M.
The lechars toong is never voyd of guile,
Nor crocodile wants teares to win his praie :
The fubtirft temptor hath the fweeteft ftile ;
With rareft muficke fyrens foon'ft betraie.
[Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 35.] M. Drayton.
Luft puts the moft unlawfull things in ure ;
Nor yet in limits ever could be bounded,
Till he himfelfe himfelfe have quite confounded.
[Ibid., St. 46.] Idem.
Abandon luft, if not for fin, yet to avoyd the fhame ;
So hogs of Ithacus his men the Latian witch did frame.
[Albions Ettgland, B. iv, ch. 21.] W. WARNER.
That great phifition that had liv'd in helth an age admirde,
Did anfwer, afkt the caufe; he had not done, as flefli defirde.
[Ibid., B. xi, ch. Ixvii.] IDEM.
of our English Poets. 195
The Spartans war for rapted queenc, to Ilions overthrow,
The monarch of Assiria chang'd ; and Latine kings alfo,
For Tarquins luft.
W. Warner.
Each houfe for luft a harbor and an inne,
Each citie is a fanctuary for fmne :
And all do pitie beautie in diftreffe,
If beautie chafte, then onely pitileffe.
[Epistle, Matitda to King John, 1599.] M. Drayton.
LA WES.
Derive thy Lawes from wifeft heads, to be upholden ftill,
Not adding or abftra6ling, as conceited tirebrains will.
[Warner's Albions England, B. v, ch. xxv.]
Encourage good men by thy love, reforme the bad by Lawe ;
Referve an eare for either plea, and borrow leaft of awe.
\_Ibid., ibid.'] W. Warner.
In vaine be counfells, ftatutes, humaine Lawes,
When chiefe of councells pleades the jufteft caufe.
M. Drayton.
So conftantly the judges conftcr Lawes,
That all agree ftill with the ftronger caufe.
J/. o/.\f.
Paufanias and Lisandcr, by their fvvords
And warlike vertucs, made Laca^na rich ;
1 96 TJie CJioysest Flowers
Fame followed them where they the tents did pitch ;
But grave Licurgus, by his Lawes and words,
Did merit more then thefe renowned lords.
[^Fig for Momus, i^()$. Eclogue i v.] D. Lodge.
Licurgus, for good Lawes, loft his owne libertie ;
And thought it better to prefer common commoditie.
[Flowers, edit. 1587, p. 37.] G. Gascoigne.
That lawyer, thogh who more by art then right doth over-
throw,
Confents to fm, deceives the judge, wrongs right, is juftice foe.
\Albions England, B. ix, ch. 46.] W. Warner.
LIBERTIE.
SWEETE Libertie now gives me leave to fing
What world it was, where love the rule did beare ;
How foolifh chaunce by lots rul'd every thing,
How errour was maine faile, each wave a teare ;
The master Love himfelfe, deepe fighes weare winde.
Cares rowd with vowes the fhip unmerry minde :
Falfe hope as healme oft turn'd the boate about,
Inconftant faith ftood up for middle maft ;
Difpaire the cable, twifted all with doubt.
Held griping griefe, the piked anchor, faft ; —
Bewtie was all the rockes.
{The Ekatompathia (1581), son. 85.] Th. WatsON.
O Liberty ! how much is that man bleft,
Whofe happie fortunes do his fates areede.
of our English Poets.
That for deferts rejoyces to be freede ?
[Life and Death of IVolsey, 1599.]
Sweete Libertie, the hfes beft living flame.
197
Th. Storer.
I. Markham.
For lands may come againe, but Libertie, once loft,
Can never find fuch recompence as countervails the coft.
[Flowers, edit. 1587, p. 45.] G. Gascoigne.
Learne freedom and felicitie, haukes flying where they lift,
Be kindlier and more found then haukes beft tended to
the fift.
[A Ibiotis England, B. v, c. xxv. W. WARNER.
He lives to die a noble death, that life for freedom fpends.
[Ibid., B. iv, c. xxii.] Idem.
Then fliall you find this name of Libertie,
The watchword of rebellion ever ufde ;
The idle eccho of uncertaintie,
That evermore the simple hath abufde.
[Civil Wars, edit. 1609, B. ii, st. 15.] S. Daniell.
LIFE.
For all mans Life me feemes a tragedie.
Full of fad fighes and fore cataftrophes ;
Firft comming to the world with weeping cie.
Where all his daycs, like dolorous trophies,
198
TJic Clioysest Flozvcrs
Are heapt with fpoyles of fortune and of feare ;
And he at laft laid forth on balefull beare.
{Tears of the Muses, \^<^\. Melpomene.^ Ed. Spencer.
Our Life is but a fbep in duftie way.
{^Arcadia, edit. 1598, p. 445.]
S. Phil. Sidney.
This mortall Life as death is tride,
And death gives life.
\Elegy on Sidney, 1595.]
M. ROYDON.
What in this Life we have, or can defire,
Hath time of growth and moment of retire.
IPhillis, 1593.]
D. Lodge.
Our bodies, every foot-ftep that they make,
March toward death, untill at laft they die :
Whether we worke or play, or fleep or wake.
Our Life doth paffe, and with times wings doth flie.
\Nosce Teipsum, Sest. 31.] I. Davies.
The Life of man, a warfare right, in body and in foule,
Refignes his robbed carkaffe to be rolled in the mould.
W. Warner.
The terme of Life is limited :
Ne may a man prolong nor fhorten it.
The fouldier may not move from watchful! fted,
Nor leave his ftand, untill his captaine bed.
[/vz/Vj Queen, B. i, c. ix, st. 41.]
Ed. Spencer.
of our EnglisJi Poets. 1 99
The longer Life, I wot, the greater fin ;
The greater fin, the greater punifliment.
{^F'airy Queen, B. i, c. ix, st. 43.] Ed. Spencer.
Thus paffeth with the overplus of day,
The pleafant spring and flower of mortall life ;
The Aprils pompe, once fubject to decay,
Returnes not in the bud that earft was rife :
VVhileft mornings weepe, the lively flower doth boft.
Then pluck the ftalke, and let not it be loft.
{Phillis, 1593.] D. Lodge.
The funne doth fet, and brings againe the day ;
But when our Life is gone, we fleepe for aye.
Th. Ach.
Sunne fets and rifeth, goes downe and quickly reviveth ;
But mans light once out, eternall darkneffe abideth.
{Lady Pembroke's 17'yc/uireh, 1591.] Ab.Fraunce.
All mortall men muft from this Life be gone ;
Of life and death there are more foules then one.
[^Xo author uaiiicd.']
So greateft and moft glorious thing on ground.
May often need the helpe of weaker hand ;
So feeble is mans ftate, and life unfound,
That in affurance it may never ftand,
Till it diffolved be from earthly band.
\_l'ai?y Queen, B. ii, c. xi, st. 30.] Ed. Spencer.
Then thus the reftleffe Life which men here lead,
May be refembled to the tender plant :
200 The CJioyscst Floivcrs
It springs it sprouts, as babes in cradle breed,
Flourifh in May, like youthes that wifedome want,
In Autumne ripes and roots, leaft ftore waxe fcant,
In Winter fhrinkes and fhrowdes from every blaft,
Like crooked age, when luftie youth is paft.
{Hearbes, edit. 1587, p. 164.] G. Gascoigne.
The wicked livers oftentimes have wicked ends.
S.J. H.
Life is not loft, faid fhe, for which is bought
Endles renowne, that more then death is to be sought.
{JFairy Queen ^ B. iii, c xi, st. 19.] Ed. Spencer.
Better it is for one to live obfcure,
Then in a publike ftate to live unfure.
D. Lodge.
No Life is bleft, that is not grac't with love.
\_Every Man out of his Humour, act iii, sc. 8.] B. Johnson.
They double Life, that dead things griefe fuftaine ;
They kill, that feele not their friends living paine.
[Hero and Leandcr, 1600, sest. 4.] G. Chapman.
That Life's ill spar'd that's spar'd to coft more bloud.
S. Daniell.
L O VE.
Of Love's perfection perfectly to speake,
Or of his nature rightly to define.
of our EnglisJi. Poets. 201
Indeed, faid Colin, paffeth reafons reach,
And needs his iDrieft t' expreffe his power divine :
For long before the world he was ybore,
And bred above in Venus bofome deare ;
For by his power the world was m^lcie of yore,
And all that therein wondrous doth appeare.
[Colin Clouts come Home again, 1595.] £d. Spencer.
So Love is lord of all the world by right.
And rules the creatures by his powerfuU faw :
All being made the vaffalls of his might,
Through fecret fence which thereto doth tliem draw.
[//;/V/.] Idem.
Vapour eterne in man, in beaft, in tree,
In plant and flower is Love, (and so of might)
For in the world may not contained bee,
Without accord, and Loves imperiall right :
Yet wends the foxe in holy hood full oft,
And craft, in ftead of truth, beares creft aloft.
\_Phillis, 1593.] D. Lodge.
For that true Love, wliich dauncing did invent.
Is he that tun'd the worlds whole harmonic.
And link't all men in fweete focietie :
He firft extra6led from th' earth-mingled niindc.
That heavenly fier, or quinteffence divine,
Which doth fuch fympathy in bewtie findc.
As is betwixt the elmc and fruitfull vine,
And fo to beautie ever doth encline :
Lifes life it is, and cordiall to the hart.
1)1)
202 The CJioyscst Flowers
And of our better part the better part.
[Orchestra, 1596, st. 102] I. Davies.
For Love is a celeftiall harmonie
Of likely hearts compos'd of ftarres confent,
Which joyne together in fweete fympathie,
To worke each others joy and true content,
Which they have harboured fince their first defcent
Out of their heavenly bowers, where they did fee
And know each other here belov'd to bee.
[Hymn in honov.r of Beaiitie, 1596.] Ed. Spencer.
Iron with wearing fliines, ruft wafbeth treafure;
On earth, but Love, there is no other pleafure.
[Diana (1594), Dec. iv, son. x.] H. Constable.
Love, a continuall fornace doth maintaine.
[Ibid., Dec. v, son. i.] iDE^r.
Wealth maifter is and porter of the gate
That lets in Love, when want fliall come too late.
Th. Churchyard.
Call it not Love, for love to heaven is fled,
Since fweating luft on earth ufurpt his name ;
Under whofe fimple femblance he hath fed.
Upon frefh bewtie, blotting it with blame,
W^hich the hot tyrant ftaines, and foone bereaves,
As caterpillers do the tender leaves.
[Venus and Adonis, edit. 1593, st. 133.] W. Sh.
Love is a spirit, all compact of fier,
Not groffe to finke, but light, and will afpire.
I/Z'/V/., St. 25.] Idem.
of GUI' English Poets. 203
Love is a golden bubble, full of dreames,
That waking breakes, and fills us with extreames.
[^Hero and Lea/ider, 1600, Sest. 3.] G. CHAPMAN.
Love is a difcord, and a ftrange divorce
Betwixt our fence and reafon, by whofe power,
As mad with reafon, we admit that force,
Which wit or labour never may devour.
It is a will that brooketh no confent :
It would refufe, yet never may repent.
Love's a defire, which for to waight a time
Doth loofe an age of yeares ; and fo doth paffe,
As doth the fhadow, feverd from his prime,
Seeming as though it were, yet never was ;
Leaving behind nought but repentant thoughts
Of dayes ill spent for that which profits noughts.
It's now a peace, and then a fudden warre,
A hope confumde before it is conceiv'd ;
At hand it feares, and menaceth a-farre ;
And he that gaines, is moft of all deceiv'd.
[No authot''s name; but R. Greene's Menaphon, 1589.]
Love whets the duUeft wits, his plagues be fucli.
But makes the wife, by pleafing, dote as much.
Love is a brain-ficke boy, and fierce by kind ;
A wilfull thought, which reafon can not move,
A flattering fycophant, a murdering thcefe,
A poyfoncd choaking baite, a ticing greefe,
A tyrant in his lawes, in fpccch untrue,
E. O.
204 The Clioyscst Floivcrs
A blindfold guide, a feather in the winde,
A right chamelion, for change of hew ;
A lame-limme luft, a tempeft of the minde,
A breach of chaftitie, all vertues foe,
A private warre, a toilfome web of woe,
A fearefull jealoufie, a vaine defire,
A labyrinth, a pleafing miferie,
A shipwracke of mans life, a fmoakeleffe fier,
A fhip of teares, a lafting lunacie,
A heavy fervitude, a dropfie thirft,
A hellilh jaile, whofe captives are accurft.
[The Ekafo?npathia {i^^x), ?,on. io8.] Th. Watson.
A fugred harnie, a poyfon full of pleafure,
A painted flirine, ful-fill'd with rotten treafure ;
A heaven in fhew, a hell to them that prove ;
A gaine in feeming, fliadowed ftil with want,
A broken flaffe, which folly doth uphold ;
A flower that fades with every froftie cold ;
An orient rofe, sprung from a withered plant ;
A minutes joy, to gaine a world of griefe ;
A fubtill net, to fnare the idle minde ;
A feeing fcorpion, yet in feeming blinde ;
A poore rejoyce, a plague without reliefe.
[Rosalynd, 1590, edit. 1598, Sig. E.] D. LODGE.
Love is a fmoake, made with the fume of fighes ;
Being pnrg'd, a fier sparkling in lovers eies ;
Being vext, a fea, nouriflit with lovers teares ;
What is it elfe } a madneffe moft difcreet,
A choaking gall, and a preferving fweet.
[Romeo and Juliet, act i, sc. i.] W. SHAKESPEARE.
of our English Poets. 205
It is a doubled griefe, a sparke of pleafure,
Begot by vaine defire, and this is Love ;
Whom, in our youth, we count our chiefeft treafure.
In age, for want of power, we do reprove :
Yea, fuch a power is Love, whofe loffe is paine,
And having got him, we repent againe.
[Phillis, 1593.] D. Lodge.
Love, the idle bodies vvorke, and furfet of the eye.
\Albions England, 1602, B. vi, c. xxxi.] W. Warner.
Love is but a terme, like as is eccho but a voice ;
That this doth babble, that doth breed or not, is ours the
choice.
Love is a fubtill influence,
Whofe finall force ftill hangeth in fufpence.
IDE
D. Lodge.
Love is a wanton famine, rich in foode.
But with a riper appetite controlled ;
An argument in figure and in moode.
Yet hates all arguments ; difputing ftill
For fence againft reafon, with a fenceleffe will.
\_Ovids Banquet of Scncc, 1595.] G. Chapman.
Of every ill the hatefull father vile.
That doth the world with forceries beguile ;
Cunningly mad, religioufly prophane,
Wits monfler, reafons canker, fences bane.
Love taught the mother that unkind defire
To wafli her hands in her ow no infants blood :
2o6 The CJioyscst Floivcrs
Love taught the daughter to betray her fire
Into moft bafe and worthy fervitude :
Love taught the brother to prepare fuch foode
To feaft his brother, that the all-feeing funne,
Wrapt in a cloude, that wicked fight did fhunne.
{Orchestra, 1596, st. 98.] I. Davies.
Love is a fowre delight, a fugred griefe,
A living death, an everdying life,
A breach of reafons law, a fecret theefe,
A fea of teares, an everlafting ftrife,
A baite for fooles, a fcourge of noble wits,
A deadly wound, a (hot which ever hits.
Love is a blinded god and angry boy, .
A labyrinth of doubts, an idle luft,
A flave to bewties will, a witleffe toy,
A ravening bird, a tyrant moft unjuft,
A burning heate, a cold, a flattering joy,
A private hell, a very world of woe.
{The Ekatoinpathia (1581), son. 18.J Th. Watson.
Love, bewitcher of the wit,
The fcorne of vertue, vices parafite,
The flave to weakeneffe, friendfliips false bewraier,
Reafons rebell, fortitudes betraier,
The churchmens ftafife, court, camp, and countries guider,
Arts infection, chafte thoughts and youths defiler.
I. Weever.
Controlling Love, proud fortunes bufie factor,
The gall of wit, fad melancholies fchoole.
Heart-killing corflve, golden times detractor.
of our English Poets. 207
Life-fretting canker, mifchiefes poyfoned toole,
The ideots idoll, but the wife mans foole :
A foe to friendfliip, enemie to truth,
The wrong mifleader of our pleafing youth.
[Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 27.] M. Drayton.
Love is roote, and onely crop of care,
The bodies foe, the hearts annoy, and caufe of pleafures rare :
The fickneffe of the minde, the fountaine of unreft,
The gulfe of guile, the pit ofpaine, of griefe the hollow cheft:
A fiery froft, a flame that frozen is with ice,
A heavie burden light to beare, a vertue fraught with vice.
It is a warlike peace, a fafetie fet in dread ;
A deepe dispaire, annext to hope ; a famine that is fed ;
Sweete poyfon for his tafte, a port Charibdis-like,
A Scylla for his safetie thought, a lyon that is meeke.
[George Turbervile's Songs and Sonets, 1567, fo. 53.]
Th. Turbervile.
O brawling Love, O loving hate !
O, any thing of nothing firft created !
O heavie lightneffe ! ferious vanitie !
Mifhapen chaos of well-feeing formes !
Feather of lead, bright fmoke, cold fier, fick helth !
Still waking fleepe, that is not what it is.
[Romeo and futtet, act i, sc. r.]. W. Shakespeare.
Sight is his roote, in thought is his progreffion.
His childhood wonder, prentiflii[) attention ;
His youth delight, his age the foiiles oppreffion ;
Doubt is his fleepe, he wakcth in invention:
Fancie his foodc, his cloathing is of carcfulneffe ;
2o8 The Choyscst Flowers
Beautie his booke ; his play, loves difcention :
His eies are curious fearch, but vaild with warefulneffe ;
His wings defire, oft dipt with desperation :
Largeffe, his hands, could never fkill of sparefulneffe.
But how he doth by might, or by perfwafion.
To conquer, and his conqueft how to ratifie,
Experience doubts, and fchooles hold difputation.
\Arcadia, edit. 4to, 1590, fo. 235.] S.Ph. Sydney.
Love hath two fhafts ; the one of beaten gold.
By ftroake whereof a fweete effect is wrought ;
The other is of lumpifh leaden mold.
And worketh none effect but what is nought.
{The Ekatompathia (1581), son. 63.] Th. Watson.
At Venus intreatie for Cupid, her fonne,
Thefe arrowes by Vulcan were cunningly done :
The firft is Love, as here you may behold.
His feathers, head and body, are of gold.
The fecond fhaft is Hate, a foe to love.
And bitter are his torments for to prove.
The third is Hope, from whence our comfort springs,
His feathers are puld from Fortunes wings.
Fourth, Jealoufie, in bafeft mindes doth dwell,
This mettall Vulcans Cyclops fent from hell.
{_The Huiitiiio; of Cupid (1591).] G. Peele.
Hard is the doubt, and difficult to deeme,
When all three kinds of Love together meet ;
And do difpart the heart with power extreame.
Whether fhall waigh the ballance downe ; to weet.
of our English Poets. 209
The deare affection unto kindred fweet,
Or raging fier of love to woman kinde,
Or zeale of friends, combinde with vertues meet ;
But of them all, the band of vertuous minde,
Me feemes, the gentle heart fhould mofb affured bindc.
\Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. ix, st. i] Ed. Spencer.
Of vertue onely perfect love doth grow,
VVhofe firft beginning, though it be more flow
Then that of luft, and quickens not fo fafb,
Yet fure it is, and longer time doth laft.
The ftrawe inkindles foone, and flakes againc.
But yron is flow, and long will heat retaine.
[History of JuditJi, 1584, B. iii.] Th. HUDSON.
True love hath no power
To looken back; his eyes be fixt before.
\Spcnse7-^s Fairy Queen, B. i, c. in", st. 30.] W. Sha.
Love alwaies doth bring forth moft bounteous deeds,
And, in each gentle heart, defire of honour breeds.
\^No author nanicdJ]
For love is free, and led with felfe delight,
Nc will inforced be with mafterdome or might.
[.S/cv/.ivv'j- Fairy Qi/ecn, V>. iv, c. i, si. 46.] Idem.
Love, naked boy, hath nothing on his backc ;
And though he wanteth neither arme nor legge,
Yet maim'd he is, flth he his fight doth lacke :
And yet, though bh'nd, he bewtie can behold,
2 1 o The CJioysest Fknvcrs
And yet, though nak'd, he feeles more heat then cold.
{Diana, edit. 1592, son. 14 ; edit. (1594) Dec. ii, son. 6.] H. C.
Love flaies not long, it is but one yeares bird.
\_Chippes, Part I, 1575.] Th. Churchyard.
Love muft have change, to feafon fvveet delight.
{Ibid., ibid.] Idem.
Love lawes and judges hath in fee.
Nature and ufe his judges bee;
To whom his whole courts cenfures flee,
Since paft, and things to come, they fee.
[Phillis and Flora, 1595, st. loi.] G. CHAPMAN,
Love will in power be felt of all, in perfon found of none ;
Or rather, is not reall, but fome fancie ; if not, then
Fantafticall in women, but effentially in men.
\_Albions England, edit. 1602, B. vi, c. xxxi.] W. Warner.
Loves eyes, in viewing, never have their fill.
W. Marlowe.
This is the leaft effect of Cupids dart, —
To change the mind, by wounding of the hart.
Th. Watson,
How to the woods Love runs, as well as rides to the pallace ;
Neither he beares reverence to a prince, nor pittie to begger :
But (like a point in midft of a circle) ftill of a neerneffe,
All to a leffon he drawes ; neither hills nor caves can avoyd
him.
{Arcadia, 1598. l;. i, p. 79: not in 4to 1590.] S. Phii,. SYDNEY.
of our English Poets. 2 1 1
The throne of Cupid hath an ealle ftaire ;
His barke is fit to faile with every winde :
The breach he makes, no wifedome can repaire.
{Godfrey of Bidloigne, 1600, B. iv, st. 34.] Ed. Fairfax.
Love will have his godhead feene
In famous queenes, and higheft princes hearts.
{Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xxiii, st. 94.] S.J. H.
Love wants his eyes, yet fhootes he paffing right.
His fhafts our thoughts, his bowe he makes our fight ;
His deadly piles are tempered with fuch art,
As ftill directs the arrow to the hart.
{Endymion and Pha'be (1594), Sig. C 3 b.] M. Drayton.
Love doth raio'ne
In ftoutefl minds, and maketh monftrous warre ;
He maketh warre, he maketh peace againe.
And yet his peace is but continuall jarre;
O miferable men that to him fubject are !
{Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. ii, st. 26.] Ed. SPENCf:R.
It was his firft : and firft is firme, and toucheth very nearc.
[Albion''^ England, B. ii, ch. xi.] W. WARNER.
But Love to life this cognizance doth give,
This badge, this marke, to every man that minds it ;
Love lendeth life, which dying cannot die.
Nor living, live.
{Flowers, edit. 1587, p. 4.] G. Gascotcne.
212 TJic CJioyscst Flozvcrs
Love is too full of faith, too credulous,
With folly and false hope deluding us.
IHero and Leander, 1598, Sest. 2.] Ch. Marlowe.
Love is not full of mercy, as men fay,
But deafe and cruell, where he meanes to pray.
S^Ibid., ibid.] Idem.
Love paints his longings in fweet virgins eyes.
[Hero and Lcandcr, edit. 1600, Sest. 5.] G. Chapman.
Love gainfaid growes madder then before.
[The Ekatompathia (1581), son. 33.] Th. Watson.
Love findeth meane, but hatred knowes no meafure.
Ed. Spencer.
As Bacchus opes diffembled harts.
So Love fets out our better parts.
\_Elegy on Sir P. Sidney, 1595.] M. ROYDON.
As Love hath wreathes, his pretie eyes to scare,
So lovers muft keep fecret what they feare.
D. Lodge.
Love keeps his revels where there are but twaine.
{Venus and Adonis, 1593, st. 21.] W. Shakespeare.
As Iris coate in fundry taints doth fliowe,
So Love is clad in weale, and ftrait in woe.
D. Lodge.
Love can abide no law, Love alwaies loves to be lawleffe ;
Love altereth nature, rules reafon, mayftreth Olympus :
Lawes, edi6ls, decrees, contemnes Jove mightily thundring,
of our EnglisJi Poets. 2 1 3
Jove that rules and raigns, that with beck that bendeth
Olympus.
Love caus'd Hyppolitus with briars and thorns to be
mangled,
For that he had fowle love of lufting Phedra refused.
Love made Abfyrtus with fifters hands to be murdred,
And in peeces torne, and here and there to be fcattered.
Love forft Pafiphae mans company long to be loathing,
And for a white bulls flefh bulls company long to be lufting.
Love and luring lookes of lovely Polixena caufed
Greekifli Achilles death, when he came to the church to be
wedded.
Love made Alcides, that great invincible heros,
Maifter of all monfters, at length to be whipt by a Myftres.
Love drownd Leander fwimming to the beautiful Hero,
Unto the towne Ceftos from towne of curfed Abydos.
Love made Jove, that's ruler of earth and ruler of heaven.
Like to a filly fhepheard, and like to the fruitfuU Echidna,
Like to a fyre, to a fwan, to a fliowre, to a bull, to an eagle:
Sometimes Amphitrion, fometimes Dictynna refembhng.
{Lady Pembroke's Ivychurch, 1591. Sixth Day.] Ab. Fraunce.
Trifling attempts no ferious acts advance,
The fier of Love is blowne by dalliance.
{Hero and Leander, 1600, 'Scsi. ^'\ G Chapm.an.
Where there growes a fympathy of harts.
Each paffion in the one the other paineth ;
And by even carryage of the outward parts,
(Wherein the actuall worke of Love remaineth)
The inward griefcs, miflikes, and joyes are taught.
214 TJic CJioysest Floivcrs
And every figne bewraies a fecret thought.
{Phillis^ 1 593-] U. Lodge.
Love, deeply grounded, hardly is diffembled.
[Hero and Lcander, 1598, Sest. i.] Ch. Marlowe.
O hard-beleeving Love ! how ftrange it feemes
Not to beleeve, and yet too credulous !
Thy weale and woe are both of them extreames,
Difpaire and hope make thee ridiculous :
The one doth flatter thee in thoughts unlikely,
In likely thoughts the other kills thee quickly.
IVenus and Ado/u's, 1593, st. 166.] W. Sha.
Love goes toward Love, as fchoole-boyes from their bookes.
But Love from Love, toward fchoole with heavy lookes.
[Romeo and ytdiet, act ii, sc. 2.] Idem.
For Love can comment upon every woe.
[Venus and Adonis, st. 119.] Idem.
Cupids deep rivers have their fliallow fordes,
His griefes bring joyes, his loffes recompences :
He breeds the fore, and cures us of the paine ;
Achilles launce, that wounds and heales againe.
[Godfrey of Bulioigne, B. iv, st. 92.] Ed. Fairfax.
Wonder it is to fee, in divers mindes,
How diverfly Love doth his pageants play,
And fliewes his power in variable kindes :
The bafer wit, whofe idle thoughts alway
Arc wont to cleave unto the lowly clay,
of our EnglisJi Pods 2 1 5
It ftirreth up to fenfuall defire,
And in leaud floth to wafte his careleffe day ;
But in brave spirit it kindles goodly fire,
That to all hie defert and honour doth aspire.
[Fairy Queen ^ B. iii, c. v, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
Such ones ill judge of Love that cannot love,
Ne in their frozen hearts feele kindly flame :
For-thy they ought not thing unknowne reprove,
Ne natural affection faultleffe blame.
For fault of few that have abus'd the fame ;
For it of honour and all vertue is
The roote, and brings forth glorious flowres of fame.
That crowne true lovers with immortall bliffe,
The meed of them that love, and do not live amiffe.
\_Ibid. Introduction to B. iv, st. 2.] Idem.
For perfons muft in paffions jumpe, elfe love proveth lame.
Nor thinke I of a womans graunt, but as a wooers game.
\Albions England, B. ii, ch. ix.] W. WARNER.
Pure Love (faid flie) the pureft grace purfues ;
And there is contact, not by application
Of lippes or bodies, but of bodies vertues :
As in our elementale Nation,
Starres by their powers, which are their heat and light,
Do heavenly workes ; and that, which hath probation
By vertuall contact, hath the nobleft plight,
Both for the lafting and afifinitie
It hath with naturall divinitie.
[Ovid's Banquet of Senee, i 595.] C. CHAPMAN.
2i6 The Choyscst Floivcrs
For Love is lord of truth and loyaltie,
Lifting himselfe out of the lowly duft
On golden plumes, up to the pureft fkie,
Above the reach of loathly finfull luft ;
Whofe bafe affect, through cowardly diftruft
Of his weake wings, dare not to heavens fllie ;
But, like a moldwarpe, in the earth doth lie.
\Hyjnn in honour of Love, 1596.] Ed. Spencer
One loving howre
For many yeares of forrow can difpence :
A dramme of fweet is worth a pound of fowre.
\_Fairy Queen, B. i, c. iii, st. 30.] Idem.
For Love and majeftie dwell ill together.
[Complaint of Rosamond, 1592, st. 126: and Sir J. Earington's
Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xiii, st. 5.] S. Daniell,
The joyes of Love, if they fhould ever laft,
Without affliction or difquietnes
That worldly chaunces do among them caft,
Would be on earth too great a bleffednes ;
Liker to heaven then mortall wretchednes.
Therefore the winged God, to let men weet
That here on earth is no fure happines,
A thoufand fowres hath tempered with one fweet,
To make it feeme more dear and daintie, as is meet.
\Fairy Queen, B. vi, c. xi, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
True he it faid, what ever man it faid.
That love with gall and hony doth abound ;
But if the one be with the other waid.
For every dramme of hony therein found,
of our English Poets. 2 1 7
A pound of gall doth over it redound.
[Fairy Queen., B. iv, c. x, st. i.] Ed. Spf.nckr.
Love hath delight in fweet delicious fare ;
Love never takes good counfell for his friend :
Love author is and caufe of idle care ;
Love is diftraught of wit, and hath no end.
Love fhooteth fliafts of burning hot defire ;
Love burnetii more then either flame or fire :
Love doth much harme through jealoufies affault ;
Love, once imbrac't, will hardly part againe :
Love thinkes in breach of faith there is no fault ;
Love makes a sport of others deadly paine :
Love is a wanton childe, and loves to brail ;
Love, with his warre, brings many foules to thrall.
{The Ekatompathia, son. 89.] Th. Watson.
Gods themfelves are chaung'd by Love:
Jove fleales from fkies to lie by L«daes fide ;
Areas defcends for faire Aglauraes fake ;
And Sol, fo foone as Daphne is efpide.
To follow his chariot doth forsake.
{n>id.\ Idem.
The fweeteft honey
Is loathfome in his owne deliciousneffe.
And in the taft confounds the appetite :
Therefore, love moderately ; long Love doth fo :
Too fvvift arrives as tardie as too flowe.
{Romeo andjidicf, act ii, sc. 6.] W. Shakespeare.
The richts
fc>"
In wliich Loves beautious emprcffe mnft delights
2 1 8 Tlic Choyscst F/ou'crs
Are banquets, doricke muficke, midnight revell,
Plaies, mafkes, and all that fterne age counteth cvill.
[Hero and Leander, 1598, Sest. i.] Ch. Marlowe.
Those eafily men credit whom they love.
S. Daniell.
Play with the fire, yet die not in the flame ;
Shew paffion in thy words, but not in hart,
Leaft, when thou think'ft to bring thy thoughts in frame,
Thou prove thy selfe a prifoner by thy art.
Play with thefe babes of Love as apes with glaffes.
And put no truft in feathers, wind, or laffes.
[Phillis, 1593.] D. Lodge.
The greedie moone, along her giddie spheare,
Boads not fuch change in her inconftant courfe ;
No crinite comet, in the waine of yeare.
No rifing rage nor fwelling of fourfe.
As Love in fhape, in fubfbance, and effect,
But gods and men with fur}^ doth infect.
A morning ftarre (that peereth from the pride
Of filver floate) bedew'd, and fparkling bright,
Borne from the fecond forme of waters glide,
The queene of Love, the mistreffe of delight
A}'e, fuch is Love in femblance at the firft ;
]5ut his efife6ls are cruell and accurft.
D. Lodge.
Albeit, bewtie moves to love, and Love doth make thee fue.
Better at firft be nonfuite, then at length not to fubdue.
[Albio7ts Eng/njid, B. vi, c. xxxi.] W. Warner.
of our English Poets. 2 1 9
It hath bene when as heartie Love did treat and tie the knot,
Though now, if gold but lack in graines,the wedding fadgeth
not.
llbid., B. vi, c. xxix.] W. WARNER.
Love learnes rural wits and bafe-borne brats to be reading
Heart-burning fecrets, and wonders daintily written,
In faire flaming eyes, by the hand of lovely Cupido.
\_Coiuiiess of Pembroke's Ivychurch, act ii, chorus.] A. Fraunce.
Love nill confent that bewties field lie wafte.
\Godfrey of Bulloigiie, B. ii, st. 15 ] Ed. Fairfax.
Tis often feene, Love workes a man a weake dejected minde :
Tis ever feene, a womans love doth alter as the winde.
{Albions England, B. xi, c. Ixiii.] W. Warner.
No ftile is held for bafe, where Love well named is ;
Each eare fuckes up the words a true love fcattereth.
{Arcadia, edit. 1598, p. 74: 4to, 1590, fo. 86 b.] S. Ph. Sydney.
All loffe is leffe, and leffe the infamy,
Then loffe of Love to him that loves but one :
Ne may Love be compeld by maifterie ;
For foone as maifterie comes, fweete Love anon
Taketh his nimble wings, and foone away is gone.
{Fairy Queen, B. lii, c i, st. 25.] ED. Spencer.
For every pleafure that in Love is found,
A thoufand woes, and more, therein abound.
{The Ekatompathia, son. 97.] Th. Watson.
220 TJic Clioysest Flowers
Like as a nibling fifh, that halfe miftrufts
The golden fhew of an enticing baite,
Makes many offers for the thing flie lufts,
Darine to deale with that fhe deemes deceite :
So plaies the amorous god with his faire prize,
Whom Love and luft bids board, but fhame denies.
{History of Heaven, 1596.] Ch. MiDDLETON.
From thefe hie hills, as when a fpring doth fall.
It trilleth downe with flill and fubtill courfe,
Of this and that it gathers ay, and fliall,
Till it have juft downe flowed to ftreame and force ;
Then, at the foote, it rageth over all :
So fareth Love ; when he hath tane a fourfe,
Rage is his raine, refiftance vaileth none.
The firft efchue is remedie alone.
\_Sir Thomas IVyat : TotteWs Miscellany, 1557.] E. of Snrny.
Not all the writs Diana hath can Cupids plaint remove.
[Albions England, 1602.] W.Warner.
Lordly Love is fuch a tyrant fell,
That where he rules, all power he doth expell.
{Shepherd'' s Calendar. October.] Ed. Sp.
Now if Love compelled be, and cannot chufe,
How can it gratefull or thanke-worthy prove .''
Love muft free-harted be, and voluntary,
And not enchaunted, or by fate conftrain'd ;
Nor like that love, which did Uliffes carry
To Circes ile with mightie charmes enchain'd.
[Nosce Teipsum, edit. 1602, Sest. 8 ] I. Davies.
of our English Poets. 221
Where heate of Love doth once poffeffe the hart,
There cares oppreffe the minde with wondrous ill ;
Wit runnes awrie, not fearing future fmart,
And fond defire doth overmaifter will :
The belly neither cares for meate nor drinke,
Nor overwatched eyes defire to winke :
Footefteps are falfe, and wavering too and fro,
The brightfome flower of beautie fades away ;
Reafon retires, and pleafure brings in woe,
And wifedome yeeldeth place to blacke decay :
Councell, and fame, and friendfliip are contemned,
And bafhful fliame, and gods themfelves condemned.
Watchfull fufpect is linked with difpaire,
Inconftant hope is often drownd in feares ;
What folly hurts not, fortune can repaire.
And miferie doth fwim in feas of teares.
Long ufe of life is but a lingring foe,
As gentle death is onely end of woe.
\The Ekato7npathia (1581) ] Th. Watson.
UnlawfuU meanes doth make Love lawfuU gaine.
He fpeakes moft true, when he the moft doth faine.
M. Drayton.
As many bees as Hybla daily flieelds,
As many frie as fleet on oceans face.
As many heards as on the earth do trace,
As many flowers as deck the fragrant fields.
As many ftarres as glorious heaven containes.
As many cloudes as wayward winter weepes.
As many plagues as hell enclofed keepes ;
So many griefes in Love, fo many paines,
222
TJic Choyscst Flowers
Sufpicions, thoughts, defires, opinions, praiers,
Miflikes, mifdeeds, fond joyes, and fained peace,
Illufions, dreames, great paines, and fmall encreafe,
Vowes, hope, acceptance, fcornes, and deepe difpaires.
\Rosalynd, edit. 1598, Sig. E 2 b.j D. Lodge.
The gnawing envie, the heart-fretting feare.
The vaine furmifes, the diftruftfull fhewes,
The falfe reports that flying tales do beare,
The doubts, the dangers, the delaies, the woes,
The fained friends, the unaffured foes ;
With thoufands more then any tongue can tell,
Do make a Lovers life a wretches hell.
\_Hymn in honour of Love, 1596.] Ed. Spencer.
Tis folly, by our wifeft worldlings prov'd,
If not to gaine by Love, to be belov'd.
\Every man out of Ids Humour, act iv.] B. JOHNSON-
Againft Loves fier feares froft hath diffolution.
{Lucrece, 1594, st. 52.]
W. Shakespeare.
For greater conqueft of hard Love he gaines.
That workes it to his will, then he that it conftraines.
\Fairy Queen, B. i, c. vi, st. 3.] Ed. Spencer.
For unto knight, there is no greater fliame
Then lightnes and inconftancie in Love.
[Ibid., B. i, c. iv, st. i.] Idem.
Loves creeping flames by reafon do fubdue,
Before their rage grow to fo great unreft
of our English Poets. 223
As miferable lovers ufe to rue,
Which ftil wax old in woe, whil'ft woe ftil waxeth new.
{Fairy Qiieen, B. i, c. ix, st. 9.J Ed. Spencer.
Old Love is litle worth, when new is more preferd.
\_Ibid., B. vi, c ix, st. 40.] IDEM.
Who can fliew all his Love, can love but lightly.
S. Daniell.
No man from the monarch, Love by wealth or weapon flies.
[Albions England, B. i, ch. i.] W. Warner.
For loftie Love doth loathe a lowly eye.
[Shepherd's Calendar. October.] Ed. Spencer.
Love thrives not in the heart, that fliadowes dreadeth.
W. Shakespeare.
Gather, therefore, the rofe while yet is prime,
For foone comes age, that will her pride deflowre :
Gather the rofe of Love while yet is time,
Whil'fb, loving, thou mai'ft loved be with equall crime.
[Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. xii, st. 75.] Ed. Spencer.
O ! learne to love ; the leffon is but plaine,
And once made perfect, never loft againe.
IVenus and Adonis, 1593, st. 68.] W. Shakespeare.
Lover-s, their loved ladies loves to gaine,
Promife, proteft, and fweare ; without regard
That God doth fee and know their falshood ftill.
And can and fliall revenge it at his will.
Their oathes but word.s, their words arc all but wind.
224 TJie Choyscst Flowers
Utterd in hafte, and with like hafte forgotten ;
With which their faithes they do as firmely bind
As bundles are truft up with coards all rotten.
Coineffe is nought, but worfe to be too kind :
Men care not for the good that foone is gotten ;
But women of their wits may juflly boaft, •
That are made wifer by an others coft.
[Orlando Fiirioso, 1591, B. x, st. 6.] S. J. H.
He that bindes himfelfe in worthy bands,
Although his miftres fhew him grace but fmall,
Although he finde no favour at her hands,
Sharp words, coy lookes, small thanks, hope none at all,
Though more and more aloofe from him fhe ftands ;
Yet, fo his heart and thoughts be highly paced,
He muft not mourne, no, though he die difgraced.
[Ibid., B. xvi, st. 2.] Idem.
Dumbe fwans, not chattering pies, do Lovers prove ;
They love, indeed, who dare not fay they love.
[T.NasKs edit, of Astrophel and Stella, 1591 ; edit.fo. 1598, p.537.]
S. Phil. Sidney.
*< • The Lover and beloved are not tied to one Love.
W. Sh.
He that on Loves blind fnares once fets his foote,
Seeketh to draw it backe, but findes it caught.
And madneffe meere in Love to overflioote
The foole hath felt, the wife hath ever taught.
And though in all alike it take not roote,
Yet all fhall finde, Love is a thing of nought :
of ojiy English Poets. 225
For fure it is an open figne of madneffe,
To have an others pleafure breed thy fadneffe.
{Orlmido Furioso, B. xxiv, st. i.j S. J. Harrington.
The birds their beake, the Hon hath his taile,
And Lovers nought but fighes and bitter mone,
The fpotleffe fort of fancie to affaile.
\Rosalynd, edit. 1598, Sig. H 4 b.] D. Lodge.
Sweete are the kiffes, the embracements fweete,
When Hke defires and affections meete ;
For from the earth to heaven is Cupid raifed,
Where fancie is in equall ballance peized.
{Hero and Leauder, 1598, Sest. 2.] Ch. Mari.owe.
Foule words and frownes muft not repell a Lover ;
What though the rofe hath prickles, yet tis pkickt :
Were bewtie under twentie locks kept faft,
Yet Love breakes through, and pickes them all at laft.
[Venus and Adonis, 1593, st. 96.] W. SHAKESPEARE.
For Lovers houres are long, though feeming fliort ;
If pleafde themfelves, others they think delight
In fuch like circumftance, with fuch like fport :
Their copious fbories, oftentimes begun.
End without audience, and are never done.
[Iln'd., St. 141. 1 li>i..\i.
A Lover may beftride the goffamours,
That idle in the wanton fonimer aire,
And yet not fall ; fo light is vanitie.
[Ronit'o and Jul id, act ii. sc. 6.] IUKM.
c ( ;
220 TJic CJioysest Flozvers
The Dutch in love is proude, Italians envious,
The French man full of mirth, the Spanyard furious.
{^A'o author named. Warner: Albions England.]
MA GICKE.
Three kindes there are for natures fkill ;
The firft they naturall do name,
In which by hearbes and ftones they will
Worke wondrous things, and worthy fame.
The next is mathematicall,
Where Magicke workes by nature fo,
That brazen heads make fpeake it fliall,
Of woods, birds, bodies, flie and go.
The third veneficall by right
Is named, for by it they make
The fhape of bodies chang'd in fight.
And their formes on them to take.
M. ofM.
Oh ! who can tell
The hidden power of hearbes, and might of magicke fpell .'*
\Fairy (2iieen, B. i, c. ii, st. lo.] Ed. Spencer.
MAN.
In time convenient, therefore, this world He created,
And it a large theater to behold his glory appointed ;
Which when he had with ftore of treafures richly repleniflit,
And with aboundant grace caufd every part to be furniflit,
Man was made at length : Adam was laftly created.
of our English Poets. 227
Laft worke, not leaft worke ; Adam was dayntely framed
Moft perfect creature, and like to the mightie Creator ;
Good, wife, immortall, of mankind only beginner :
But proud ambition, the ferpent, craftily cloaking
With curft bitter-fweete, his cankred poyfon abounding.
Adam dispoffeft of pleafant beautifull harbors,
Adams heart poffeft with moft unfpeakable horrors :
Man was mard at length ; Adam was foully defaced ;
Laft worke and loft worke, Adam was filthily fowled :
Moft curfed creature, unlike to the mightie Creator,
Bad, foolifh, mortall, of mankind only the murderer.
\Countess of Pembroke's Emanuel, 1591, Sig. A 2.] A. France.
Vile Man ! begot of clay, and borne of duft.
Ed. Fairfax.
Man, compofed firft of flime,
Doth live to lead his dales in ftrife ;
And as the heavens do that difpofe.
So Ihuts and fpreads he with the rofe.
D. Lodge.
Time, ever old and yoong, is ftill revolved
Within it felfe, and never tafteth end ;
But mankind is for aye to nought refolved.
The filthy fnake her aged coat can mend,
And, getting youth againe, in youth doth flourifli ;
But unto Man age ever death doth fend.
The very trees with grafting we can cherifli.
So that we can long time produce their time ;
But Man, which helpeth them, helpleffe nuift pcrifli.
[^mrr/w, edit. 1598, p. 429; 4to, 1590, fo. 346b.] S. run.. Sidney.
228 TJic Choyscst Flozvers
O truftleffe ftate of miferable Men,
That build your bliffe on hope of earthly thing !
And v^ainly thinke your felves halfe happie then,
When painted faces, with fmooth flattering,
Do fawne on you, and your wide praifes fing :
And when the courting mafl^er louteth low,
Him true in heart, and truftie to, you trow.
{Ihiins of Tunc, I59I-] Ed. Spencer.
He that comparde Mans body to a hoafte,
Said, that the hands were fcouts, difcovering harmes ;
The feet were horfemen, thundering on the coafte ;
The breft and ftoinacke foot-men, huge in fwarmes ;
But, for the head in foveraigntie did boaft.
It captaine was, directer of alarmes ;
Whofe raflineffe, if it hazarded an ill.
Not he alone, but all the hoaft did fpill.
^Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvile, I595-] I- Markeham.
Each creature, not grudging at Mans glorie,
Unto his life becomes contributori^e.
Idem.
Like flouds in fommer, or flowing fprings in the winter,
So Man confumeth ;
No truft or firmeneffe in life, that flies like a fliadow :
What then, alas ! is man.
That fo prefumeth .''
D. Lodge.
The fliadow of the clocke by motion wends,
We fee it paffe, yet marke not when it parts :
of our English Poets. 229
So what is Mans declines, and fudden ends ;
Each thing begins, continues, and converts.
[Phillis, 1593.] D. Lodge.
Man to woman giveth all perfection ;
And, as our chiefe philofophers do fa)%
Woman by man is perfect made each way.
1. Weever.
Man is loaden wdth ten thoufand languors;
All other creatures only feele the angors
Of fewe difeafes ; as the gleaming quaile
Only the falling ficknes doth affaile.
The turne-about and murraine trouble cattle,
Madneffe and quincie bid the maftife battle.
J. Silvester.
It doth exceed mans thought, to thinke how hie
God hath raifd Man, fince God a Man became :
The angels do admire this myflerie.
And are aftoniflit when they view the fame.
[Nosce Teipsujii, 1602, Sest. 29.] I. Davies.
Men do not know what then themfelves will bee,
When as, more then themfelves, themfelves they fee.
[Civil Wars, 1609, B. i, st. 91.] S. Daniell,
Like as the fatall raven, that in his voyce
Carries the dreadfull fummons of our deaths,
Flies by the faire Arabian fpiceries.
Her pleafant gardens and delightfome parks.
Seeming to curfe them with his hoarfc exclaimes :
And yet cloth ftoupe, with hungry violence.
230 TJic Choysest Floiocrs
Upon a peece of hateful! carrion.
So wretched Man, difpleas'd with thofe delights
Would yeeld a quickning savour to his foule,
Purfues, with eager and unftanched thirft,
The greedy longings of his loathfome flefh.
[David and Befhsabe, 1599, Cho. to act ii.] G. Peele.
Man is a little world, and beares the face
And pi6lure of the univerfitie :
All but refembleth God, all but his glaffe.
All but the pifture of his majefhie.
Man is the little world, (fo we him call)
The world the little god, God the great all.
[Chrestoleros, 1598, lib. i, epigr. 4.] Th. Bastard.
The gallant courfer, in his full carrire,
Is made by man to ftoppe with flender raine ;
But Man himfelfe, his luft and fond defire
Is fildome drawne by reafon to refraine.
Tis hard to ftop, but harder to retire,
When youthfuU courfe enfueth pleafure vaine ;
As beares do breake the hives and weake defences,
When fmell of hony commeth to their fences.
\Orlando Furioso, B. xi, st. i.] S. J. H.
So Pompey, in the midft of victorie,
All unexpected happened on his end ;
And Csefar, in his greateft majeftie.
Untimely murdered by his deareft friend.
Such are Men's beft eftates ; more wretched they,
In greateft pompe moft fubject to decay.
{Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, 1600, st. 28.] Ch. Middleton.
of our English Poets. 231
And what makes Men without the parts of men,
Or in their manhoods, leffe then children.
But manleffe natures ? all this world was nam'd
A world, of him for whom it firft was framde ;
Who (like a tender cheverell) flirunke with fire
Of bafe ambition, and of felfe defire,
His armes into his fhoulders crept, for feare
Bountie fliould ufe them, and fierce rape forbeare ;
His legs into his greedy belly runne.
The charge of hofpitalitie to fhunne.
In him the world is to a lumpe reverft,
That fhrunke from forme that was by forme difperft ;
And in nought more then thankleffe avarice,
Not rendring vertue her deferved price.
\_Hymn7ts in Nociem, 1598.] G. Chapman.
But as rude painters that contend to fhowe
Beafbs, fowles, or fifh, all artleffe to beftowe
On every fide his native counterfet,
Above his head his name had need to fet ;
So Men, that will be men in more then face,
(As in their forheads) fliould in a6lions place.
More perfe6l chara6lcrs, to prove they be
No mockers of their firft nobilitie :
Els may they eafily paffe for beafts or foulcs ;
Soules praife our fliapes, and not our fliapes our foulcs.
[//;/>/.] Idem.
When as Men all do know, then nothing know.
S. Dan r F.I. I..
232 TJie C J toys est Flozvei'S
Ay, but the milder paffions fliow Man :
YoY, as the leafe doth bewtifie the tree,
The pleafant flowers bedeck the painted fpring,
Even fo, in Men of greateft reach and power,
A mild and piteous thought augments renowne.
{Marius ami Sylla, 1594, act ii, sc. i.] D. LoDGE.
No Man before his end is truly bleft.
[Comedy of Fortttiiattis, 1600.] Th. Dekkar.
Man to Man, as beaft to beaft, holds civil duties vain.
W. Warner.
Mans inward parts are colder, and the nummer,
When outwardly they feele a boyling fommer.
Mans voyce, in every ones opinion, is but an airie re-
percuffion.
D. Lodge.
MARRIAGE.
Hymen, that now is god of nuptiall rights,
And crownes, with honor, love and his delights.
{Hero and Leander, 1600, Sest. 5.] G. CHAPMAN.
Before them, on an altar he prefented
Both fire and water, which was firft invented.
Since, to ingenerate every human creature,
And every other birth produc'ft by nature,
Moyfture and heate muft mix ; fo, man and wife,
For humane race, muft joyne in nuptiall life.
llbid.'\ Idem.
of our lliiglisJi Poets. 233
In Athence
The cuftome was, that every mayd did weare,
During her maydenhead, a filken fpheare
About her wafte, above her inmoft weed,
Knit with Minervaes knot ; and that was freed
\\y the faire bridegroome, on the Marriage-night,
With many ceremonies of delight.
[Hero and Lcandcr, 1600, sest. 5.] G. Chapman.
Shouldft thou but dream what Marriage were, thou wouldft
not hve a maid ;
One hart of two, two foules to one, by wedlocke is convaid.
{Albioiis England, B. v, ch. 25.] W. Warnkr.
Beleeve me, man, there is no greater bhffe
Then is the quiet joy of loving wife ;
Which who fo wants, half of himfelfe doth miffe.
Friend without change, playfellow without ftrife.
Food without fulneffe, counfaile without pride,
Is this fweet doubling of our fingle life.
[Arcadia, edit. 1598, p. 388.] S. PiiiT,. Sidney.
In choyce of wife, prcferre the modcft chaftc :
Lillics are faire in (hew, but foule in fmell ;
The fwceteft lookcs by age are foon dcfafte ;
Then choofe thy wife by wit, and living well.
Who brings thee wealth, and many faults w illiall,
l^x'sents ihcc hony mixt with bitter gall.
[Rosalynd, edit. 1598, Sig. B 2.] D. T.MnoK.
Wild favages, that drinkc of running fprings,
Thinkc water farre exceeds all earthl)' things;
nil
234 '^^^'^ CJioyscst Flo7^<crs
But they that daily tafte neate wine defpifc it.
Virginitie, albeit fome highly prife it,
Compar'd with Marriage, had you tride them both,
Differs as much as wine and water doth.
[//r/Y? and Leandcr, 1598, .Sest. i.] Ch. Marlowe.
All touch fweet, taft fweet, eie fweet, eare fweet, fent fweet,
foule fweete is
A vertuous match ; but vicious love in all contraries this.
\AIbioiis England, B. xii. c. Ixxiv.] W. WARNER.
One is no number; maides are nothing then
Without the fweet focietie of men.
[Hero and Lca/idcr, Sest. i.] Ch. Marlowe.
Marriage will deftroy
Thofe paffions which to youthfuU head do clime,
Mothers and nurfes of all vaine annoy.
[Sir P. Sidney s Arcadia, edit. 1598, p. 390.] Idem.
Wretched Wedlock breeds but hated heat,
Where no love feemes fo fweet, as ftolen and fecret.
D. Lodge.
Offer no love rights, but let wives ftill feeke them ;
For when they come unfought they fildom like them.
lEvciy Man out of his Humour, act li, sc. 4.] B. Johnson.
Even as Adam wrought his overthrow,
By tafting fruite that God did him forbid ;
So he that curioufly will fearch to know
All that his wife hath faid, or what flie did,
of our English Poets. 235
May fortune at the laft hiaiselfe beflirow.
\^Or/aiido F/irioso, 1591, B. xliii, st. 8. J S. J. H.
Let him, that his \\\ic to his bent will drawe,
Match with a virgin, and keepe her in awe.
\_A''o aut]ior nained^
To love, and wed for love, is perfit bliffe.
\^Soi!gs and Sonnets, 1567, p. 74.] G. TuRl!.
His be the hurt, that lookes not ere he wed ;
The husband may the woman make or marre.
Idem.
Nor are we male and female borne, that fruitleffe we (liould
die.
[Atbions England, edit. 1602, B. v, ch. xxv.] W. Warner.
Perhaps experience, beating us, doth bid us lay to thrive ;
The firft degree to which, fay fome, is warely to wive :
But wived if our faint become (as not unlike) a Oirow,
Then is that firft degree to thrift, the third degree in woe.
[/^/V/., B. V, c. xxvii.] Idem.
Let nothing fever thofe whom God doth linke.
[Orlando Fi/rioso, B. xliii, st. 7.] S. J. H.
The chance that once befell
To wandring Dina, may be witneffe well
That fecrct Mariage, that to fewe is kend,
Doth never lead the lovers to good end :
For of our l)oclie^^ we no power may clainic,
236 Tlic Clioyscst Floii'crs
Except our parents do confirm the fame.
\Eistory of Judith, 1584, B. iii.] . Th. Hud.
We worldly folke account him very wise,
That hath the wit moft wealthily to wed :
By all meanes, therefore, alwaies we devife
To fee our iffue rich in fpoufall fped.
We buy and fell rich orphans ; babes, fcant bred,
Muft marry, ere they know what Marriage meanes ;
Boyes marrie old trots, old fooles wed yoong queanes.
We call this w^edding, which in any wife
Can be no Marriage, but pollution plaine,
A new found trade of humaine marchandize.
The divels net, a filthy fleflily gaine.
Of kind and nature an unnaturall ftaine,
A foule abufe of Gods moft holy order,
And yet allow'd almoft in every border.
\_Legend of Lo)'d Rivers, edit. 1610, p. 398.] M. of M,
A filthy trull is irkfome to the eie,
A gallant gyrle allures the lookers mind,
A wanton wench will have the head to die.
An aged trot to like is hard to find :
A bearing wife with brats will cloy thee fore ;
A greater carcke then childrens care is none :
A barren beaft will grieve thee ten times more ;
No joy remaines, when hope of fruite is gone.
Wherefore, let wiving goe ; live fmgle aye ;
A fhrew we fee is wedded in a day,
But ere a man can fhift his hands tis long.
[Songs and Sonets, 1 567, fo. 73 b.] G. TrRR.
of our English. Poets. 237
MALADIE.
Fast by old age pale Maladie was plac't,
Sore ficke in bed, her colour all forgone,
Bereft of ftomacke, favour, and of tafte ;
Ne could fhe brook no meate, but broaths alone.
Her breath corrupt, her keepers every one
Abhorring her, her fickneffe paft recure,
Detefting phificke, and all phificks cure.
\Inductioti to M. for M., edit. 16 10, p. 264.] M. Sackvill.
Sickneffe, the herauld of armes, hearts, and all.
\_Life and Death of ITotsey, 1599.] Th. Storer.
As th' humorous ficke, removing, find no eafe,
When chaunged chambers change not the difeafe.
[C7v/t Wars, edit 1609, B. ii, st. 14.] S. Daniell.
And thus, O Sickneffe ! thou art oft beliede.
When death hath many ways to come befide.
[Ibid., B. V, St. 85.] Idem.
MIGHT.
The meaneft fault is hie offence, urg'd of a mighty toe.
W. Warner.
To fhadow finnc Might can the more pretend.
M. Dr.
Might is ever abfolute alone,
When of two powers ther's true conjun6lionc,
[Morti/iic/ iados, 1596.] M. Dk.
238 The Choyscst Flon'crs
Power conftrain'd, is but a glorious flave.
Ed. Fairfax.
Slight, force, are mightie things,
From which much, (if not moft,) earths glory fprings :
If vertues felfe were clad in humaine fhape,
Vertue, without thefe, might go beg and fcrape.
{^Scourge of Villany, 1598, Sat. 5.] I. Marston.
United powers makes each the ftronger prove.
S. Ph. Sydney.
Honey words make foolilh minds.
And power the greateft wit with error blinds.
[Mari?is and Sylla, 1594, act v, sc 1 J D. Lodge.
For as the higher trees do flieeld the fhrubs
From, pofting Phlegons warmth, and breathing tier :
So mightie men obfcure each others fame,
And make the beft defervers fortunes game.
[Ibid., Hud.\ Idem.
For excellencie never beares this minde,
By no inferiour fkill to be definde.
[Life and Death of IVolscy, 1599.] Th. Storek.
Where power decreed hath to find th' offence,
The caufe is better ftill then the defence.
\_Civil Wars, B. v, st. 80.] S. Daniell.
of our linglish Ports. 239
AflSERIE.
His face was leane, and fome deale pinde away,
And eke his hands confumed to the bone ;
But what his body was I cannot fay,
For on his carkaffe rayment had he none,
Save cloutes and patches peeced one by one :
With ftafife in hand, and fcrippe on flioulder caft,
His chiefe defence againft the winters blaft.
His food, for moft, was wilde fruites of the tree,
Unleffe fometime fome crummes fell to his fhare,
Which in his wallet long, God wot, kept he,
As one the which full daintily would fare :
His drinke, the running ftreame ; his cup, the bare
Of his palme clozd ; his bed the hard cold ground.
To this poore life was Miferie ybound.
{Induction to M.for J/., edit. 1610, p. 262.] M. SACKVli.r..
This iron w^orld
Brings downe the ftouteft hearts to loweft ftate ;
For Miferie doth braveft mindes abate,
And makes them feeke for what they wont to fcornc,
Of fortune and of hope at once forlorne.
{Mother HubbercVs Tale, 1591.] En. Spf.nckk.
Mother, he hath a foolifii fantafie.
That thinkes to find a friend in Miferie.
{Tragedy of Jocasta, 1587, act ii, sc. i.| C. Gascoicvk.
O Miferie! where once thou art poffcfr,
How foonc th\- faiut infrclion alters kind.
'>/
40
The Cliovscst Floivcrs
And, like a Circe, turneft man to bead ;
And with the body doft transforme the mind,
That can in fetters our affection bind.
S^Mortimeria dos, 1 5 96 . J
For Miferie is troden on by many,
And, being lowe, never rehev'd by any.
[ Venus and Adonis, 1 593, st. 118]
-M. Dravtox.
W. Shakespeare.
The miehtieft that have liv'd
Have fahie, and headlong too : in Miferie
It is fome comfort to have companie.
Men flie from foes, but not from Miferie.
[Legend of Pierce Gaveston, 1596.]
G. Peele.
M, Drayton.
Let him, that fees his private Miferie,
Avoyd the profpect of profperitie ;
It breeds pale envie, and fad difcontent,
Procures offence before a profered wrong.
Torments it felfe till all conceits are fpent.
And thoughts delivered by malitious tongue ;
Then, rapt with violent fury, growes fo ftrong,
That it envenomes all our humaine parts,
Blind-judging eyes, and fence-confounding harts.
[I.ife and Death of JVo/sef, 1599.] Th. Storer.
MELANCHOL Y.
Melancholy, from the fplene begunne,
By paffion mo\-'d, into the vaines doth runnc :
of our Euglisli Poets. 241
Which, when this humour, as a fwclling floud,
By vigour is infused in the bloud,
The vitall fpirits doth mightily appall.
And weakeneth fo the parts organicall,
And when the fences are disturb'd and tir'd
With what the heart inceffantly defir'd,
Like travellers, with labour long oppreft,
Finding releafe, eft-soones they fall to reft.
[Etidymion and Plicche (1594), Sig. D 2 b.] M. Drayton.
Thou nurfing mother of faire wifedomes lore.
Ingenuous Melancholy.
{^Scourge of Villaiiy, 1598. Proemium.] I. Marston.
Thofe men to Melancholy given, we faturnifts do call.
[Albions England, edit. 1602, B. i, c. ii.] W. Warnkr.
MEMORIE.
Tins lidger-booke lies in the braine behinde.
Like Janus eye, which in his poll was fet ;
The laymans tables, florchoufe of the minde.
Which doth remember much, and much forget.
\Xosce Tcipsiini, edit. 1602, Sest. 21.] I. Daviks.
Here, fences a[)prehcnfion end dolh take ;
As when a ftone is into water caft.
One circle doth an other circle make,
Till the laft circle touch the bankc at lafT:.
[//;/>/., /VvV/.] I i)i;.M.
] I
->.A y.
24
The CJioysest Floivcrs
Remembrance is the life of grief, his grave
Forgetfuhies.
\_Godfrey of Bnlloignc, 1600, B. xviii, st, 2.] Ed. Fairfax.
Remembrance frelh, makes weakened forrows ftrong.
Idem.
MISCHIEFE.
The caufe once gone, th' effects thereof furceafe ;
And Mischiefes, being prevented vvhil'ft they are yong,
Cannot braunch forth themfelves to do that hurt.
That time, their natures, and bad men would worke.
{Legend of Humphrey ofGloiicesfcr, i6oo,st.48.] Ch. Middleton.
A Mischiefe feene may eafily be prevented ;
But being hapt, not helpt, yet ftill lamented.
{Mortimeriados, 1596.] M. Drayton.
Faire goodneffe is foule ill, if Mischiefes wit
Be not repreft from leaud corrupting it.
[John Marsions Satires, 1598.] Idem.
Mischiefe is oft made good by fpeeding well.
[OW/ Wars, edit. 1609, B. vi, st. 10.] S. Daniell.
MERCIE.
Some clarkes do doubt, in their devisefull art,
Whether this heavenl)- thine; whereof I treat,
of our English Poets. 243
To weeten Mercie, be of juftice part,
Or drawne forth from her by divine extreat.
This well I wot, that fure flie is as great,
And meriteth to have as hie a place,
Sith in th' Almightie's everlafting feat
She firfb was bred, and borne of heavenly race,
From thence powr'd downe on men by influence of grace.
[^Fairy Qiteen, B. v, c. x, st, i.] Ed. Spencer.
O, who fhall fliew the countenance and geflures
Of Mercie and Juftice! which faire, facred fifters
With equall poize do ever ballance even
Th' unchaunging projects of the King of Heaven :
The one fterne of looke, th' other mild afpecti ng,
Th' one pleasd with teares, th' other bloud affecting ;
Th' one beares the fword of vengeance unrelenting,
Th' other brings pardon for the true repenting.
I. Sylvister.
And ftill as rage kindleth the fire of wrath,
Mercie, to quench it, fhore of water hath.
[Orlando Fiirioso, 1591, B. xxiv, st. 30.] S. J. HARRINGTON.
This noble vertue and divine.
Doth chiefly make a man fo rare and od,
As in that one he moft refembleth God.
[Ibid., ibid.] IDEM.
Then come we ncareft to the gods on hie,
When we are farthcfb from cxtrcmitic.
Giving forth fentcnce of our lawcs with Mercie.
'I'llo. .\c lll-l.v.
244 TJie CJioysest Floivers
Mercie may mend whom malice made offend :
Death gives no thankes, but checks authoritie.
{Civil Wars, B. vi, st. 60.] S. Daniell.
So rulers mildneffe fubje6ls love do nourifh.
{Xo author named.']
Soft pittie enters at an iron gate.
[Lucnxe, 1594, st. 86.] W. Sh.
Mercie but murders, pardoning thofe that kill.
{Romeo and Juliet, act iii, sc. i.] Idem.
Pittie drawes love, bloud-fhed is natures griefe ;
Compaffion followeth the unfortunate.
{Civil Wars, B. vi, st. 61.] S. D.
When pittie runneth afore, love ahvaies followeth after.
{Cotintess of Pembroke's Emanuel, 1591.] A. Fraunce.
As it is greater praife to fave then fpill,
So better to reforme, then to cut off the ill.
{Fairy Queen, B. v, c. x, st. 2.] Ed. Spencer.
How deare is Mercie, having power and will,
When pittie helpes where equitie doth kill .''
M. Drayton.
MINDE.
The minde hath in her felfe a deitie,
And in the ftretching circle of her cic
of our English Poets. 245
All things are compaft, all things prefent ftill :
Will fram'd to power doth make us what we will.
[Hytniii/s ill CyntJiiani^ I594-] G. Chapman.
It is the Minde that maketh good or ill,
That maketh wretch or happie, rich or poore :
For fome that hath aboundance at his will,
Hath not inough, but wants in greateft ftore.
And other, that hath little, afkes no more,
But in that little is both rich and wife.
{_Fairy Queen, B. vi, c. ix, st. 30.] Ed. Spencer.
The Minde is free, what ere affli6l the man ;
A king's a king, do fortune what fhe can.
[Morihneriados, 1596 (B. v, st. 35, edit. 1603.)] M. Drayton.
The Minde, times enemie, oblivions foe,
Difposer true of each note-worthy thing.
{Godfrey of BiiUoignc, B. i, st. 36.] Ed. Fairfax.
Our Mindes difcerne, where eies could never fee.
{Mortimeriados, 1596: B. iii, st. 20, edit. 1603.] JVI. Drayton.
And that Minde moft is bewtifuU and hie.
And nearefl comes to a divinitie.
That fartheft is from fpots of earthes delight,
rieafures that loofe their fubflance with their fight :
Such one Saturnius raviflieth to love,
And fills the cup of all content to Jove.
[Hyinniis ill Cynthiain, 1594.] G. CUA P.MAN.
246 TJic C hoys est F/oi^'crs
The fetled Mind is free from fortunes power ;
They need not feare who looke not up aloft,
But they that climbe are carefull every hower;
For when they fall, they light not very foft.
[7". Churchyard'' s Shore's Wife, edit. 16 10, p. 501.] M. 0/ Af.
What plague is greater then the griefe of Mind ?
The griefe of Mind, that eates in every vaine ;
In every vaine that leaves fuch clods behinde ;
Such clods behind, as breed such bitter paine ;
So bitter paine, that none fliall ever finde
What plague is greater then the griefe of minde.
\_T. Nash's edit, of Astrophel and Stella, 1591.] E. 0/ Ox.
Ill Mind to mind fo much of others ill,
As to become unmindfull of his owne.
Ed. Spencer.
Into our Minds let us a little fall,
And we Ihall find more fpots then leopards fkin.
[Arcadia, edit. 1598, p. 229: not in 4to, 1590.] S. Phil. Sidney.
O vanitie of mans unftable Minde,
Puft up with every blaft of friendly winde.
[Godfrey of Bulloigne, B. xii, st. 58.] Ed. Fairfax.
In bafe Minds no friendfhip dwels, nor enmitie.
Ed. Spencer.
Oft times we fee, that forrowes of the Minde
Finde remedie unsought, which feeking cannot finde.
Idem.
of our English Poets. z^y
Weak body wel is chang'd for Minds redoubled force.
[Fai'ry Queen, B. ii, c. ix, st. 55.] Ed. Spencer.
So move our Minds, as motions move the aire.
M. of i\T.
Nor is it but our Minds that make our native homes our
grave,
As we to ours, others to theirs hke parciall fancie have :
Transmute we but our Minds, and then all one an alien is,
As if a native : one refolv'd makes every country his.
\_Albions England., B. xi, c. Ixiii.] W. WARNER.
M ON ARCH S.
Augustus, quailing Anthony, was emperour alone.
In whofe unfoed Monarchy our common health was knowne.
[Albions England, B. iii, c. xviii.J Idem.
A mighty Monarch mufl, whileft greening youth doth flower,
Make one, or two, or three proofes of his peerles power :
For valour is the gate of honour beautified.
The firft ftaire ftep it is, wherby good hap doth guide
Our feete to glories mount ; and nothing hartens so
The men of armes to fight, as valiant prince (we know).
But afterward he muft with ^v'ary wifedome warre.
More often with his wit, then with his weapon farre ;
And feeding fo his fpirit, with fwcet fliarpe eafie painc,
Not kccpe a fouldicrs place, but captaincs roome retainc.
J. SVI.VKSI Kk.
248 Tlic CJioyscst Fhnvcrs
Mildneffe fitteth majeftie, hie minds are disalowed.
lAlbions England, B. vii, ch. xxxvi.] W. WARNER.
No man from the Monarch love by wealth or weapon flies.
Idf:m.
Mildneffe would better fuite with majeftie,
Then rafh revenge and rough feveritie.
[Epistle, Matilda to King John, edit. 1599.] M. Dra^'.
MURDER.
Black, hell-bred humor of fier-venging fin,
By whofe inticements Murders we commit :
The end unthought of, raflily we begin,
Letting our paffion overvvhelme our wit.
\_No author named.']
Who may and will not fave. Murder in truth committcth.
[Asti'oplu'l and Stella, fo. 1598, p. 552; 4to, 1591, p. 51.]
S. Phil. Sidney.
Unpuniflit fcapes from hainous crime fome one,
But unreveng'd, in mind and body, none.
Idem.
The cruel 1 man a cruell death fhall taft.
And blood with blood be venged at the laft.
{Furies, from Du BartasP] J. Syl.
Thofe that in blood fuch violent pleafure have,
Seldome defcend, but bleeding, to their grave.
P.. JOITXSOX.
of our EnglisJi Poets. 249
Vengance on minde the fretting Furies take,
The finfull corps, Hke earth-quake, agues fhake ;
Their frowning lookes, their troubled minds bewray,
In haft they run, and midft their race they ftay,
As gidded roe, amidft their fpeech they whift :
At meate they mufe ; no where they may perfift.
But fome feare netleth them : aye hang they fo.
So never wanteth the wicked Murderer woe.
{^Dolman : Legend of Lor'd Hastings, edit. 16 10, p. 418.] M. of M.
MUSES.
Imps of King Jove, and Queene Remembrance, loc !
The Sifters nine, the poets pleafant pheers :
CalHope doth ftately ftyle beftowe.
And worthy praifes paints of princely peers ;
Clio in folemn fongs reneweth old day.
With prefent yeares conjoyning age by paft ;
DelightfuU talke loves comicall Thaley,
In frefh green youth who doth like lawrell laft :
With voyces tragicall founds Melpomen ;
And, as with chaines, th' allured care flie binds.
Her ftrings when Terpfichor doth touch, even then
She toucheth hearts, and raigneth in mens minds.
Fine Erato, whofc looke a lovely chcare
Prcfents, in dauncing, keeps a comely grace :
With feemly gefture doth Polhymnie fterc,
Whofe words whole routs of rankes doo rule in place
Uranie, her globes to view all bent,
K K
250 TJic Choyscst Floiucrs
The ninefold heaven obferves with fixed face :
The blaftes Euterpe tunes her inftrument,
With folace fweete hence heavy dumps to chace.
Lord Phoebus in the midft, whose heavenly fpirit
Thefe ladies doth infpire.
[A^. Grimald, in TottelVs Miscellany, 1557.] E. of Surrey.
The golden brood of great Apolloes witte.
Ed. Spencer,
Sweet lady Mufes, ladies of delight,
Delights of life, and ornaments of light.
[Mother Hubberds Tale, 1591.] Idem.
Then followed on the Mufes sacred nine,
With the firft number equally divine,
In virgins white, whofe lovely mayden browes
Were crowned with tryumphant lawrel bowes :
And on their garments^ painted out in glory,
Their offices and fun6lions in a ftory ;
Imblazoning the fury and conceat
Which on their facred company await.
[Endymion and Phoebe (1594), Sig. F 3.] M. Drayton.
From thefe the Mufes only are derived.
Which of the angels were in nine contrived.
Thefe heaven-infpired babes of memory,
Which, by a like attracting fympathy,
Apolloes prophets in their furies wrought.
And in their fpirit inchaunting numbers taught.
To teach fuch as at poefie repine,
That it is only heavenly and divine ;
of our English Poets. 2 5 i
And manifeft her intellectuall parts,
Sucking the pureft of the pureft arts.
And unto thefe, as by a fweet confent,
The fphery circles are aequivalent,
From the firft mover, and the ftarry heaven,
To glorious Phoebe, loweft of the feven,
Which Jove in tunefull diapazons framde.
Of heavenly muficke of the Mufes namde :
To which the foule, in her divinitie,
By her Creator made of harmonie,
Whileft fhe in fraile and mortall flefh doth live.
To her nine fundry offices do give :
Which offices united are in three.
Which like the orders of the angels bee ;
Prefiguring thus by the number nine.
The foule, like to the angels, is divine.
[Etidyniioji and Phcebe (1594), Sig. F 3.] M. Drayton.
Provide, therefore, ye princes, whilft ye live.
That of the Mufes ye may friended be :
Which unto men eternitie doe give.
For they be daughters of dame Memorie,
And Jove, the father of Eternitie ;
And do thofe men in golden thrones repofe,
Whofe merits they to glorifie do chofe.
The fevenfold yron gates of grifly hell.
And horrid houfe of fad Proferpina,
They able arc with power of mighty fpell
To breake, and thence the foules to bring away
Out of dread darkneffc to etcrnall day,
And them immortall make, which els would die
252 The Choysest Flowers
In fow'lc forgetfulneffe, and nameleffe lie.
{The Ruins of Time, 1591.] Ed. Spencer.
But wife words, taught in numbers for to runne,
Recorded by the Mufes, live for aye ;
Ne may with fborming fhowers be wafht away :
Ne bitter breathing windes with harmfull blaft,
Nor age nor envie fliall them ever waft.
VIbidP\ Idem.
The Mufes, not long fmce, intrapping Love
In chaines of rofes, linked all aray,
Gave Bewtie charge to watch in their behove
With Graces three, leaft he fhould wend away :
Who fearing yet, he would efcape at laft.
On hie Parnaffus top they clapt him faft.
When Venus underftood her Sonne was thrall,
She made poft hafte to have god Vulcans aide ;
Sold him her jemmes and cefton therewithall.
To raunfome home her Sonne that was betraid.
But all in vaine ; the Mufes made no ftore
Of gold, but bound him fafter then before.
{The Ekatompathia, son. 83.] Th. Watson.
The Mufes bafely beg, or bibbe, or both ; and muft, for why.^ .
They find as bad beftoe, as is their portage beggerly.
{Albions England, B. v, ch. xxvii.] W. Warner.
MUSICKE.
And thou, fweet Muficke, dauncings only life,
The cares fole happineffc, the aires beft fpcech.
of our English Poets. 253
Load-ftone of fellowfhip, charming rod of ftrife,
The foft minds paradize, the ficke minds leech ;
With thine own tongue thou trees and ftones canft teach :
That when the aire doth daunce her fineft meafure,
Then art thou borne, the gods and mens fweet pleafure.
[Orchestra, 1596, st. 46.] I. Davies.
As without breath no pipe doth move,
No Muficke kindly, without love.
\_Arcadia, edit. fo. 1598, p. jy] S. PHIL. Sidney.
Esclepiad did cure with trompets found
Such men as firft had loft their hearing quite ;
And many fuch, as in their drinke lay drown'd,
Damon reviv'd with tunes of grave delight :
And Theophraft, when ought his mind oppreft,
Usde Muficke found to bring himself to reft.
With found of harpe Thales did make recure
Of fuch as laie with peftilence forlorne :
With organ pipes Xenocrates made pure
Their wittes, whofe mindes long lunacy had worne.
[The Ekatompathia (1581), son. 13.] Th. WatsON.
Some that report great Alexanders life,
They fay that harmony fo mov'd his minde.
That oft he rofe from meate to warlike ftrife,
At found of trompe, or noyfe of battell kinde :
And then, that Muficks force, of softer vaine,
Caus'd him rcturnc from ftrokcs to meate againe.
[Ibid., son. u-j i\^^^\.
254 ^/^^' Choyscst Floivcrs
NA TURK.
Nature, in which divinitie doth fliine,
Lively prefenting unborne deitie,
Is that fame fpirit of reafon moft divine,
Which caufeth every naturall worke to be.
All things fhe doth preferve, and can refine
Muddy pollutions from impietie.
Philofophy can teach no art, nor ground.
Which Nature, elder-borne, had not firft found.
I. Markham.
Nature in mans heart her lawes doth pen,
Prefcribing truth to wit, and good to will ;
Which do accufe, or els excufe all men,
For every thought or practife, good or ill.
{^Nosce Teipsum, edit. 1602, Sest. 26.] I. Davies.
Nature above things requireth this,
That we our kind do labour to maintaine.
{Arcadia, edit. fo. 1598, p. 389.] S. Phil. Sidney.
Nature, which headlong into life doth thring us
With our feete forward, to our grave doth bring us :
What is leffe ours then this our borrowed breath }
We ftumble into life, we go to death.
{Chrcstolcros, 1598, B. vii, epig. 47-] Th. Bastard.
Inexplicable Nature, by the God of Nature wroght.
Makes things feeme miracles to fome, by fome not wonders
thoght ;
And every climates people, both as they are men and live,
of our English Poets. 255
Do differ nothing, if obferv'd, flie not admir'd doth give.
The workman rather than the work extoll we, though in her
Not curioufly, and all things to his providence refer.
\_Albio7is England, B. x, c. Ixi.] W. Warner.
Nature hath powr'd inough in each mans lappe,
Could each man learne to ufe his private happe.
{Life and Death of Wolsey, 1599.] Th. Storer.
For markes defcried in mens nativitie
Are Nature's faults, not their owne infamie.
{Lucrece, 1594, st. 78.] W. Shakespeare.
Nature is Learnings eyes ; flie, Natures thought :
Ufe, wanting either, is imperfect made ;
They, without ufe, no better then a fliade.
I. Markham.
Nature feemeth onely faire in chaunge.
[Rosalynd, 1590: edit. 1598, Sig. M.] D. Lodge.
Where Nature failes in ftrength, flie addes in wit.
W. W.
Nature gives bewtie, fortune wealth, in vaine.
Ed. Fairfax.
Then this defire of Nature is not vaine,
She covets not impoffibilitics ;
Fond thoughts may fall into fome idle brainc,
But one affcnt of all is ever wife.
[Noser Teipsmii. edit. 1603, Scst. 30.] T. D.WIES.
256 The Clioyscst Floivers
Nature doth hate and fhiinne her contrarie.
\Nosce Teipsum, Sest. 30, Reason iii.] Th. Storer.
Nature teacheth ever,
Who loves preferment needs muft love the giver.
{^Life and Death of Wolsey, 1599.] Idem.
NOBILiTIE.
If to be noble and hie thy mind be meved,
Confider well thy ground and thy beginning ;
For He that hath each ftarre in heaven fixed,
And geves the moone her homes and her eclipfing.
Alike hath made the noble in his working :
So that wretched no way may thou bee.
Except foule luft and vice do conquer thee.
{Sir T. Wy attain TotteWs Miscellany^ 15 57-] E- of Surrey.
Each man may cracke of that which was his owne :
Our parents good is theirs, and no whit ours ;
Who therefore will of noble birth be knowne,
Or fliine in vertue like his aunceftors,
Gentry confifteth not in lands and towers ;
He is a churle, though all the world were his,
Yea, Arthurs heire, if that he live amis.
\T. Phaer : Owen Glendour, edit. 1610, p. 297.] M. of M.
See here the difference of a noble minde :
Some vertue raifeth, fome by vice have climde :
The firft, though onely of themfelves begunne,
of oiir English Poets. 257
Yet circlewife into themselves do runne ;
Within themfelves their force, united fo,
Both endleffe is, and ftronger gainft their foe :
For when end'th it, that never hath begunne ?
Or how may that that hath no end, b' undone ?
The other, as by wicked meanes they grew,
And raigned by flatterie, fo foone they rue,
Firft tumbhng ftep from honours old is vice ;
Which once ftept downe, fome linger, none arife
To former type ; but they catch vertues fpray.
Which raifeth them that climbe by lawful! way.
Beware to rife by ferving princely lufl :
Surely to ftand one mean, is rifing jufl.
[Dobnan: Lord Hastings, edit. 16.10, p. 412.] M. of M.
The rofe, although in thornie fhrubs fhe fpread,
Is ftill the rofe ; her bewties waxe not dead :
And noble mindes, although the court be bare,
Are by refemblance knowne how great they are.
R. Greene.
A noble minde difdaineth fervitude.
{Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594, act ii.] Th. Kyd.
True Noblcffc never doth tlic thing it fliould not.
{I/>id., ibid.] I hem.
The noble heart that harbours vertuous thought.
And is with childe with glories great intent,
Can never reft, untill it forth have brought
Th' eternall broodc of glory excellent.
{Fairy Q//,rn, R. i, c. v. st. i.] Kn. SPENCER.
I. I.
258 TJic Choyscst Fknvcrs
OLD AGE.
And next in order, fad Old Age we found,
His beard all hoare, his eyes hollow and blinde.
With drouping cheere ftill poaring on the ground,
As on the place where nature him affignd
To reft, when that the Sifters had untwind
His vitall thred, and ended with their knife
The fleeting courfe of fafl declining life.
{Induction to M.for M., edit. 1610, p. 263.] M. Sackvill.
Crookt-backt he was, tooth fliaken and bleare eide,
Went on three feete, and fometime crept on foure,
With old lame bones that ratled by his fide ;
His fcalp all pild, and he with eld forlore :
His withered fift ftill knocking at deaths dore,
Fumbling and driveling as he drawes his breath ;
For breefe, the fliape and meffenger of death.
[Sackville's Inductiojt to M.forM., edit. 1610, p. 264.]
G. Gascoigne, Transl.
For Age and winter accord full nie ;
This chill, that cold ; this crooked, that wrie.
\Shepherd''s Calendar. February. | Ed. Spencer.
For he that plies the laps and lips of ladies all his prime,
And fals to arms, Age failing arms, then alfo loofeth time.
\_Albions England, B. v, ch. xxvi.] W. Warner.
As if a beare in moon-Hiine flnild attempt tlie moone to
clime.
\_///id., Init no aiitJior nau/i'd.\
of our English Pods. 259
Thus infancle is feeble, and our luftie youth unftaid,
Our manhood carking,and our Age more loathed thenobaid.
\_Albions England, B. v, c. xxvii.] W. Warner.
Our heires wax fickifli of our health, too long our here abode;
Mean while,the nerer to our graves the farther we from God :
Gripple in works,teftie in words, loathfom for moft at length;
And fuch at four fcore as at foure, for maners, wit, and
ftrength.
[Ibid., ibid.] Idem.
Eld is ordaind to counfell, youth to fight.
Age to forefee, yoong courage to inact.
{Fig for Glomus, 1595. Eclogue i v.] D. Lodge.
Skill and experience good companions beene.
Age knoweth whatfoever youth hath feene.
S.J. H.
For crooked Age, and hoary filver haires,
Still craveth helpe of luftie youthfull yeares.
{^fragedy of Jocasta, act iii. ) G. Gascoigne.
It is a common point whereon the aged grofly runne,
Once to have dared, faid, and feene, more then was ever done.
[Albion's England, B. iv, cli. xxii.] W. WARNER.
The equal Age doth equall life defire.
S. Danirle.
Small drops (God knowes), do quench that heatleffe fire.
When all the ftrength is onely in defire.
{Epistle, Q. Mary to Charles Brandon, 1599.] M. Drayton.
26o Tlie Choysest Floivers
OPINION.
O MALE-CONTENT feducillg ghueft,
Contriver of our greateft woes ;
Which borne of winde, and fed with fhowes,
Doft nurfe thyselfe in thine unreft ;
Judging ungotten things the beft,
Or what thou in conceit defigneft.
{Cleopatra^ I599> chor. to act ii.] S. Daniell.
Thou, all things in the world doft deeme
Not as they are, but as they feeme.
\Ibid.'\ Idem.
Thou foule of pleafure, honor's onely fubftance.
Great arbitrator, umpire of the earth,
Whom flefhly epicures call vertues effence :
Thou moving orator, whofe powerfull breath
Swaies all mens judgements, great Opinion.
{.Pygmalion'' s Image, 1598, To the IVor/d.'] I. Marston.
Opinion is as various as light chaunge.
Now fpeaking courtlike friendly, ftraightwayes ftrange.
Shee's any humours perfect parafite,
Difpleasd with her, and pleasd with her delight :
Shee is the eccho of inconftancie,
Soothing her no with nay, her I with yea.
\Skialetheia, 1598, Sat. 6.] E. GuiLPlN.
This fyren, or Opinion, wind-borne lame,
Seeking to eafc us, brings us to unreft ;
of our English Poets. -6i
For it adjudgcth nothing it doth fee
By what it is, but what it feemes to bee.
I. Markham.
We muft, in matters morall, quite reject
Vulgar Opinion, ever led amiffe :
And let autenticke reafon be our guide,
The wife of truth, and wifedomes governeffe.
G. Chapman.
OPPORTUNITIE.
O, OPPORTUNITIE ! thy guilt is great ;
Tis thou that execut'ft the traitors treafon.
Thou fetft the wolfe where he the lambe may get ;
Who ever plots the fmne, thou point'ft the feafon.
Tis thou that fpurn'ft at right, at law, at reafon ;
And in thy fhady cell, where none may fpie him.
Sits fmne, to feize the foules that wander by him.
{Ljicrece, 1594, st. 127.] W.Shakespeare.
Opportunitie can winne the coyeft fhe that is.
Then he that rubs her gamefome vaine, and tempers toies
with art.
Brings love, that fwimmeth in her eyes, to dive into her hart.
{Albions England, edit. 1602, B. ii, c. ix.] W. Warner.
When love hath knit two harts in perfe6l unitie,
They feldome faile to finde their Opportunitie.
{Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xiii, st. 9.] S. J. Harrington.
262
The Choyscst Floivcrs
OCCASION.
Occasion's wing'd, and ever flyeth faft ;
Comming, fhe fmiles ; and frownes, once being paft.
[Legend of Matilda., 1596, st. 121.] M. Drayton.
Now by the forehead let us take Occafion,
Leaft, after all our travell and expence,
He hide away his haire, and turne his balld.
And we unprovident be thought and calld.
[Orlando F arioso, B. xxxviii, st. 48.]
If luft or age doth minde affaile,
Subdue Occafion, fo thou flialt prevaile.
S. J. H.
Idem.
OPINION.
True judgement fleight regards Opinion.
[Satires, 1598. Dedication.]
Opinion, how doft thou moleft
Th' affected mind of reftless man .''
Who, following thee, never can
Nor ever fliall attaine to reft,
Forgetting what thou faift is beft ;
Yet, loe ! that beft he findes farre wide
Of what thou promifeft before :
For in the fame he look't for more,
I. Marston.
of our English Poets. 263
Which proves but fmall, when once is tried.
{Tragedy of Cleopatra., I594-] S. Daniell.
He onely treads the fure and perfect path
To greatneffe, who love and Opinion hath.
[Civil Wars., edit. 1609, B. v, st. 114.] Idem.
Let us efteeme Opinion as flie is,
Fooles bable, innovations miftris,
The Proteus, Robin good-fellow, of change,
Smithfield of jaded fancies, and th' exchange
Of fleeting cenfures, nurfe of herefie,
Begot by nature on inconftancie.
Its but the hi ffe of geefe, the peoples noife,
The tongue of humors, and fantaftick voice
Of hairebraind apprehenfion : it refpects
With all due titles, and that due neglects.
Even in one infbant.
[Skialetheia, 1598, Sat. 6] Ed. Guilpin.
PA TIENCE.
Patience doth beare a never pierced Iheeld,
Whofe brightneffe hath enforc't more monftcrs yeeld.
Then that of ugly Gorgons head was made.
[Triumph of Faith, 1592.] J. SvLVlSTER.
Patience is angers fubject, and controll'd
With every fury, which men would redreffc,
Jhit cannot do 't ; for flic is gentle, mildc,
264 The CJioyscst Floivcrs
Orecome and kept downe like a ftrengthleffe childe.
{^Legend of Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, 1600, st. TJ.]
Ch. Middleton.
Patience, a praife ; forbearance is a treafure ;
Sufferance, an angell ; a monfter, rage.
[Godfrey of Bulloigne, B. v, st. 47.] Ed. Fairfax.
At leaft let Patience profit thee, for Patience is a thing
Whereby a begger gaineth of a difcontented king,
[Albions England, edit. 1602, B. ii, c. x.] \V. Warner.
Man in himfelfe a litle world doth beare,
His foule the monarch ever ruling there ;
Where ever then his body doth remaine,
He is a king that in himselfe doth raigne.
And never feareth fortunes hot'ft alarmes.
That beares againft her Patience for his armes.
[Epistle, De la Pole to Q. Margaret, 1599.] M. Drayton.
The leffer pangs can beare, who hath endured the chief.
Ed. Spencer.
What fortune hurts, let Patience onely lieale ;
No wifedome with extremities to deale.
[Epistle, De la Pole to Q. Margaret.] M. Dr.
By patient fufferance could we mildly beare
With fortune, yet we equally might fliare ;
And overcomming that, which all do feare,
By prefent cure prevent enfuing care.
Idem.
of our English Poets. 265
Who in distreffe from refolution flies,
Is rightly faid to yeeld to miferies.
[Episfle, Lady Jatie Gray to Dudley, edit. 1599.] M. Dr.
That hfe is only miferable and vile,
From which faire Patience doth it felfe exile.
\_No author }ia»ted.~\
Though eyes want fight of that they would fee faine,
The thought yet fees, and hearts with patience take it :
Long abfence greeves, yet when they meet againe
Abfence delights, and doth more pleafant make it.
To ferve and fue long time for little gaine
(So that all hope do not ev'n quite forfake it)
One may endure ; for when the paine is paft.
Reward, though long it ftaie, yet comes at laft.
l^Orlaftdo Furioso, 1591, B. xxxi, st. 3.J S. J. H.
Let Brontes and black Steropes
Sweat at the forge, their hammers beating :
An houre will come, they muft affect their eafe,
Though but while mettall's heating :
And after all their TEtnean ire,
" Gold that is perfe(?t will out-live the fire :
" For fury wafteth,
" As Patience lafteth.
" No armor to the mind." He is fliot free
From injury.
That is not hurt ; not hee, that is not hit :
So fooles, we fee,
Oft fcapc their imputation, more througli luck then wit.
1'.. Johnson.
M M
266 The CJioysest Flotvers
PASSION.
Passion beares hie when puffing witt doth blowe,
But is indeed a toy ; if not a toy,
True caufe of evils, and caufe of caufeleffe woe.
[Arcadia, edit. 1598, p. 227.] S. Phil. Sid.
They only apteft are for to reveale
Their private Paffions, who the fame do feele.
D. Lodge.
None doth live not paffionate of love, ire, mirth, or griefe.
W. Warner.
A man may not of Paffions judge aright,
Except his mind be from all Paffions free :
Nor can a judge his office well acquite,
If he poffeft of either partie bee.
[Nosce Teipsujn, edit. 1602, Sest. 4.] I. Davies.
PARENTS.
It is as common as unkind a fault
In youth (too fubje6l to this worlds affault)
To imitate, admit, and daily chufe
Thofe errors which their lawleffe Parents ufe.
[Fig for Momus, 1595, Sat. 3 ] D. Lodge.
If damned dice the father doth affect,
The felfe-like folly doth his heire infeft :
If lufl:, to luft the fonne is too proclive ;
pf our Ejiglish Poets. 267
If fraud, by fraud his wanton race will thrive :
If furfit, furfit is efteem'd no fin,
For youth perfevers as he doth begin.
\_Fig for Momus, 1595, Sat. 3.] U. Lodge.
Then, gentle friend, from damned deeds abllaine.
From lawleffe riots, and from pleafures vaine ;
If not regarding of thine owne degree,
Yet in behalfe of thy pofteritie ;
For we are docible to imitate
Depraved pleafures, though degenerate.
Be carefull, therefore, leaft thy fonne admit,
By eare or eye, things filthy or unfit.
\^Ibid. , ibid. J I u 1 ■. ^ i .
The babe is bleft that godly Parents bred,
And fliarpe-fweet tutors traine in loving dred :
But chiefly that (in tender cradle bed)
With fincere milke of pietie is fed.
J. SVL.
Then charitable, godly-wise, and continent, were fit
Should Parents be; fo profper they, theirs, and whom theirs
beget.
\_Albions England, edit. 1602, B. x, ch. lix.] W. Warner.
As oft we fee men are fo fond and blinde.
To carry to their fonnes too much affection ;
That when they feeme to love, they are unkinde ;
P^or they do hate a childe, that fpare correction.
\Oiiando Fiuioso. 1591, B. vii, st. 39.] S. J. II.
268 The CJioysest Flowers
Parents thoughts in love oft fteppe awry.
G. Peele.
Our Parents age worfe then our graund-fyres bee,
We, worfe, beget our children worfe then wee.
{Life and Death of Wolsey, 1599.] Th. Storer.
PEACE.
O Mother of the hving, fecond nature
Of th' elements, (fire, water, earth, and aire :)
O grace (whereby men clime th' heav'nly ftaire),
Whence voyd, this world harbors no happie creature :
Piller of lawes, religions pedeftall,
Hope of the godly, glory of th' immortall,
Honor of cities, pearle of kingdomes all,
The nurfe of vertues, Mufes chiefe fupportall,
Patron of arts, of good the fpeciall fpring.
\_Sotinets on the Peace, son. 3.] J. Sylvester.
Heavens facred nymph, faire goddeffe ! that renucft
The golden age, and brightly now reveweft
Our cloudy fkie, making our fields to fmile ;
Hope of the vertuous, horror of the vile,
Virgin unfeene in France this many a yeare,
O bleffed Peace ! we bid thee welcome heere.
{Ibid., son. 5.] Idem.
O holy Peace ! by thee are only found
The paffing joyes that every where abound.
{Francis Kinwelmarsh, in Jocasta. Chor. to act iv.]
G. Gascoigne, Transl.
of our English Poets.
i6()
But lovely concord and moft facred Peace
Doth nourifli vertue, and faft friendfliip breeds ;
Weak fhe makes ftrong, and ftrong things does increafe,
Till it the pitch of higheft praife exceeds.
Brave be her warres and honourable deeds,
By which Hie tryumphs over ire and pride,
And wins an olive garland for her meeds.
[Fm'rj Queen, B. ii, c. ii, st. 31.]
Peace doth depend on reafon, warre on force
The one is humane, honeft, and upright ;
The other brutifh, foftered by defpight :
The one extreame, concluded with remorfe ;
The other all injuftice doth divorce.
\_FigforMomiisis%. Eclogue 4.]
Ed. Spencer.
D. Lodge.
Peace brings in pleafure, pleafure breeds exceffe,
Exceffe procureth want, want workes diftreffe,
Diftreffe contempt, contempt is not repaired
Till timeleffe death determine hope difpaired.
llbid., Sat. 5.]
Warres greateft woes and miferies increafe,
Flowes from the furfets which we take in Peace.
Idem.
B. John.
PLEASURE.
[Psyche] in ftcdfaft love and happie ftate
With Cupid lives, and hath hitn borne a childc,
270 The Choyscst Flowers
Pleafurc, that doth both gods and men aggratc.
\^Fairy Queen, B. iii, c. vi, st. 50.] Ed. Spencer.
But eafie is the way, and paffage plaine
To Pleafures pallace ; it may foone be fpide,
And day and night her doores to all ftand open wide.
[Ibid., B. ii, c. iii, st. 41.] Idem.
Her face was wan, a leane and writheld fkin
Her ftature fcant three horfloaves did exceed ;
Her haire was gray of hue, and very thin,
Her teeth were gone, her gummes ferved in their fteed :
No fpace there was betweene her nofe and chin ;
Her noyfome breath contagion would breed :
In fine, of her it might have well bene faid.
In Neftors youth fhe w^as a prettie maid.
[Orlando Furioso, B. vii, st. 62.] S. J. PIarr.
O poyfoned hooke, that lurkes in fugred bait :
O Pleafures vaine, that in this world are found ;
Which, like a fubtill theefe, do lie in w^ait
To fwallow man, in fmke of fin profound.
Idem.
P'or revels, daunces, mafkes, and merry howers.
Fore-run faire love, ftrowing her way wath flowers.
[Love's Labours Lost, act iv, sc. 3.] W. Sha.
O Pleafure ! thou the very lure of fin.
The roote of woe, our youths deceitfuU guide ;
A fhop where all confected poyfons bin,
The bait of lufl:, the inftrument of pride :
of our English Poets. 27 1
Inchaunting Circes fmoothing cover-guile,
Alluring fyren, flattering crocodile,
[Legend of Pierce Gaveston, \i,c)6, St. $i^.'] M. Drayton.
Pleafures be poore, and our delights be dead,
When as a man doth not enjoy the head.
[Mortimer iados, 1596. J Idem.
Never have unjuft Pleafures bene compleat
In joyes intire ; but ftill feare kept the dore.
And held backe fomething from that full of fweet,
To interfowre unfure delights the more :
For never did all circumflances meet
With thofe defires, which were conceived before ;
Something muft ftill be left to check our fm,
And give a touch of what fhould not have bin.
[Letter from Octavia to Antony, 1599.] S. Daniell.
Pleafure is felt, opinion but conceiv'd.
[Ibid^ Idem.
In feare her arts are learned, now a daies.
To counterfait their haire, and paint their fkin ;
But reafons ring their craft and guile bewraies :
No wife men of their paintings paffe a pin.
S. J. H.
Too much defirc to plcafe, Pleafure divorces :
Attempts, and not intreat, get ladies larges.
[Ovid^s Banquet of Sence, 1595.] G. Chapman.
Our fond preferments are but childrens toyes,
And as a fhadow all our pleafures paffc ;
-> — ->
-/ -
T//r Choyscst F/oivci's
As yeares increafe, fo waining are our joyes,
And beautie crazed like a broken glaffe ;
A prettie tale of that which never was.
[Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 155.] M. Draytox.
But Pleafures never dine, but on exceffe ;
Whofe diet made to draw on all delight,
And overcome in that fweet drunkenneffe,
His appetite maintained by his fight,
Strengtheneth defire, but ever weakeneth might ;
Untill this ulcer, ripening to an head,
Vomits the poyfon which it nouriflied.
[Morfime?'zados, 1596.] Idem.
Short houres worke long effects, minutes have change ;
While Pleafure joyeth, paine more ripe doth growe.
IDE^f.
The fecret fweet is fweeteft, fweet to fall.
TH. ACHILLEY.
But unto them that know not Pleafures price,
Alls one, a prifon and a paradice.
[Epistle, King John to Matilda, 1599.] M. Drayton.
POESIE.
All art is learnd by art, this art alone
It is a heavenly gift : no flefh nor bone
Can preife the hony we from Pinde diftill.
Except with holy fier his breft we fill.
of oitr Engl is I I Poets. 273
From that fpring flovves, that men of fpeciall chofe,
Confum'd in learning, and perfit in profe,
For to make verfe in vaine dois travell take,
When as a prentife fairer works will make.
{_Essays of a Prcutici\ 1585. Urania ?\ K. of S.
Whilome, in ages paft, none might profeffe
But princes and hie priefts that fecret fkill :
The facred lawes therein they wont expreffe,
And with deep oracles their verfes fill,
Then was (lie held in foveraigne dignitie.
And made the nourfling of nobilitie :
But now, nor prince nor prieft doth her maintaine.
But fuffer her prophaned for to bee
Of the bafe vulgar, that with hands uncleane
Dares to pollute her hidden mifterie ;
And treadeth under foote her holy things,
Which was the care of keyfars and of kings.
[T(-ars of f/ir Afitsrs, 1591. Polyiiynniia.'] Ed. SpENCER.
Thofe numbers, wherwith heaven and earth are mov'd,
Shew weaknes fpeaks in profe, but power in verfe.
\^Miisop]iiIiis, fo Fulkc Grcvillr, 1599.] S. Danieli,.
For man from man muft wlioly parted bee.
If with his age his verfe do well agree.
Amonfjfl our hands he muft his wits rcfing,
A holy traunce to higheft heaven him ])ring :
For even as humane fury makes the man
Lcffc then the man, fo heaven!)- fur\' can
x \
2/4 ^/'^ Choysest Flowers
Make man paffe man, and wander in holy mift,
Upon the fiery heaven to walke at lift.
Within that place the heavenly Poets fought
Their learning, fin to us here downe it brought,
With verfc, that ought to Atropos no due,
Dame Natures trunchmen, heavens interprets true.
\_Essays of a Prentice. Urania.'\ K. of Scots.
The vaunted verfe a vacant head demaunds,
Ne wont with crabbed care the Mufes dwell :
Unwifely weaves that takes two webbes in hand.
[Shepherd's Caleiufar, 1^79- October.] Ed. Spencer.
O peerleffe Poefie ! where is then thy place .''
If nor in princes pallace thou doe fit,
(And yet is princes pallace the moft fit)
Ne breft of bafer birth doth thee embrace,
Then, make thee wings of thine afpiring wit,
And, whence thou cam'ft, fly backe to heaven apace.
[Ilnd., il>id.'\ IDEM.
All art is learn'd by art, but Poefie
It is a gift divine, and cannot die.
Idem.
Like as into the waxe the feales imprent
Is like a feale ; right fo the Poet gent
13oth grave fo vive in us his paffions ftrange.
As makes the reader halfe in author change ;
luir Vcrfes force is fike, that foftly Aides
Through fccret poris, and in our fences bides.
of our English Poets. 275
As make them have both good and ill imprcnted,
Which by the learned works is reprefented.
{Essays of a Prentice, 1585. Urania.'] K. of Scots.
Onely he of lawrell is condigne,
Who wifely can with profit pleafure minge.
The faireft walking on the fea-coaft beene,
And fureft fwimming where the braes are greene ;
So wife is he, who in his verfe can have
Skill mixt with pleafure, fports with doctrine grave.
{Ibid., ibid.] Idem.
Who ever cafts to compaffe wightie prife,
And thinks to throw out thundering words of threat,
Let powre in lavifli cups and thriftie bits of meat ;
For Bacchus fruite is friend to Phoebus wife;
And, when with wine the braine begins to fvveat,
The numbers flowe as faft as fpring doth rife.
{Shepherd's Calendar. October.] Ed. Spencer.
Ridled Poefies, and thofe fignificantly flowe,
Differ in eares, as do in mouths the apricocke and floe.
{Albiojis England, edit. 1602, B. ix, ch. xliv.J W. Warner.
What reafon mov'd the golden Auguftine
To name our Poetrie vaine errors wine .■*
Or Hierome (deeply fighted in their evills)
To tearme it nothing but the foode of devils }
Nought but the mifimploymcnt of our gifts,
Ordaind for arts, but fpent in fliamleffc Ihifts.
{Ei^i^for Mi'niiis, 1595, \i\n^{. 5.] U. LuDOK.
276 TJic Clioyscst Floivcrs
Looke, as the fun-beame in a burning glaffc
Doth kindle fier where ever it doth paffe,
But freely fpread upon th' engendring earth,
Egges on the fpring, and kils the caufe of dearth ;
So Poetrie, reftraind in errors bounds,
With poifoned words and finfuU fweetneffe wounds ;
But cloathing vertue and adorning it,
Wit Ihines in vertue, vertue lliines in wit.
[Fig/or iIo!/i!is, Epist. 5.] D. LoDGE.
POETS.
The Greekes do paint the Poets office whole
In Pegafus, their fained horfe wuth wings ;
Whom, fliaped fo, Medufaes bloud did foalc.
Who with his feete ftrake out the Mufes fprings
From flintie rocks to Helicon that clings,
And then flew up into the ftarry fkie,
And there abides among the gods on hie.
For he that fhall a perfect Poet bee,
Muft firft be bred out of Medufaes blood :
He muft be chafte and vertuous, as was fhee,
Who to her power the ocean-god withftood.
To th' end alfo his doome be juft and good,
He muft (as flie) looke rightly with one eie,
Truth to regard, and write no thing awrie.
In courage eke he muft be like a horfe ;
He may not feare to regifter the right.
What though fome frowne, thereof he may not force :
of our English Poets. 277
No bit nor reine his tender jawes may twight ;
He mufb be arm'd with ftrength of wit and fprite,
To dafh the rocks, darke caufes and obfcure,
Till he attaine the fprings of truth moft pure.
His hooves alfo muft pliant be and ftrong,
To rive the rocks of luft and errors blind,
In brainleffe heads that alwaie wander wrong :
Thefe muft he bruife with reafons plaine and kind,
Till fprings of grace do gufli out of the mind :
For till affections from the fond be driven,
In vaine is truth told, or good counfell given.
Like Pegafus, a Poet muft have wings
To flie to heaven, or where him liketh beft ;
He muft have knowledge of eternall things ;
Almightie Jove muft harbour in his breft :
With worldly cares he may not be oppreft.
The wings of Avit and fkill muft heave him hier.
With great delight to fatisfie defier.
He muft alfo be luftie, free, and fwift.
To travell farre to view the trades of men :
Great knowledge oft is gotten by this fliift.
Things that import he muft be quicke to pen ;
Reproving vices fliarply now and then :
He muft be fwift when touched tyrants chafe.
To gallope thence, to keepe his carkas fafe.
\_Legend of Collingbourne, edit, 1610, p. 459.] M- of M.
A Poet muft be pleafant, not too plaine.
Faults to control!, ne yet to flatter vice ;
But found and fwccte, in all things ware and wife.
[ll'id., i7>ut\ Idem.
2/8 TJic Choyscst Flozvers
Let not fweet Poets praife, whofe onely pride
Is vertue to advance, and vice deride.
[Mother H libber cfs Talc, 1591.] Ed. Spencer.
For Poets right are like the pipe alway,
Who full doth found, and emptie ftaies to play :
Even fo, their fury lafting, lafts their tcne ;
Their fury ceaft, their Mufe doth ftay affone.
[Essays of a Prentice. U/'aiiiaJ] K. of Scots.
When heaven would ftrive to doo the beft it can,
And put an angels fpirit into a man,
Then all her powers flie in that worke doth fpend,
When file a Poet to the world doth fend.
The difference onely twixt the gods and us,
Allowd by them, is but diftinguifht thus :
They give men breath, men by their powers are born :
That life they give the poet doth adorne ;
And from the world when they diffolve mans breath,
They in the world do give man life in death.
[Epistle., Lord Surrey to Geraldine, edit. 1599] M. Dravton.
Then, who fo will with vertues deeds affay
To mount to heaven, on Pegafus muft ride.
And with fweete Poets verfe be glorifide :
For not to have bene dipt in Laethe lake.
Could fave the fonne of Thetis from to die ;
But that blind bard did him immortall make,
With verfes dipt in deaw of Caftelie,
Which made the easterne conquerour to crie,
O fortunate yoong man ! whofe vertue found
of our English Poets. 279
So brave a trumpe thy noble a6ls to found.
[Ruins of Time, 1591.] Ed. Spencer.
Phifitions bills, not patients, but apothecaries knowe :
Some moderne Poets with themfelves be hardly inward fo,
Not intelle6lively to write is learnedly, the}^ trowe ;
Whereby they hit capacities, as blind man hits the crowc.
\Albions England, edit. 1602, B. ix, ch. xliv.] W. Warner.
Yea, now by melancholy walks, and thredbare coats, we ^q.{{q
At clients and at Poets ; none worke more, and profit leffe :
None make to more, unmade of more, the good of other men,
For thofe enrich our gownifts, thefe eternize with their pen.
Yet foothly nods to Poets now weare largeffe, and but loft ;
Since for the noddant they obferve no pen-note worth the
coft.
For Pallace, Hermits live fecure, obfcure in roofcs emboft.
\Ibid., B. V, c. xxvii.] IDEM.
The world and they fo ill according bee,
That wealth and Poets hardly can agree :
Fewe live in court that of their good do care.
The Mufes friends are every where fo rare.
{Epistle, Geraldine to Lord Surrey^ M. I ) R a i ton.
He gives a Poet, that his vcrfes hcares.
{Ibid, ibid.] Ibem.
But, ah ! McCcTenas is yclad in clay,
And great Auguftus long ago is dead ;
And all the worthies liggen wrapt in lead,
28o The CJioysest Floivcrs
That matter made for Poets on to play :
For ever, who in derring do were dread,
The loftie verfe of them was loved aye.
But after vertue gan for age to ftoupe,
And mightie manhood brought a bed of eafe,
The vaunting Poets found nought worth a peafe,
To put in preace among the learned troope :
Tho gan the ftreames of flowing wits to ceafe,
And funbright honour pend in fliamefuU coope.
[Shepherds Calendar. October.] Ed. Spencer.
But now thefe frugall patrons, who begin
To fcantle learning with a fervile pay,
Make Poets count their negligence no fin :
The cold conceit of recompence doth lay
Their fiery furie when they fliould begin.
The prieft, unpaid, can neither fing nor fay,
Nor Poets fweetly write, except they meete
With found rewards for fermoning fo fweete.
{Fig for M omits. Eclogue 3.] D. LODGE.
And therefore, Platoes common-weale did packe
None of thefe Poets, who by verfe did make
The good men evill, and the wicked worfe,
Whofe pleafant words betraid the publike corfe ;
Nor thofe that in their fongs good termes alwaies
Joynd with faire theames ; whil'ft thundring out the praife
Of God, juft thunderer, whiles with holy fpeach,
Like Hermes, did the way to ftrayers teach.
{.Essays 0/ a Pre/ih'cc, i^'^S- Urania.^ K.o/Scois.
of our English Poets. 281
P LENT IE.
For such is th'ffect of too much ftore,
It makes them loathe that, which they lov'd before.
{^History of Heaven., 1596.] Ch. Middleton.
The ftately eagle on his pitch doth ftand,
And from the maine the fearefull foule doth fmite ;
Yet fcornes to touch it lying on the land,
When he hath felt the fweete of his delight,
But leaves the fame a pray to every kite.
With much we furfet, Plentie makes us poore,
The wretched Indian fpurns the golden oare.
{Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 41.] M. Drayton.
POLLICIE.
O POLLICIE ! fcarce knowne in times that's paft.
Or, being knowne, yet leafl of moft efleemd ;
Thy providence moft worthil>' fliall laft.
And in thefe latter daycs W. better dccmd.
I. Markham.
Warre honour doth defcrve ;
Yet counfell, in all kingdomes pollicied,
Is farre more worthy and more dignified :
For amies, but in extrcamcs, do never ferve
To reconcile and punilh fuch as fuerve.
{Fig for Momiis, 1595. Kclogue 4.] IX LohCK.
()
282
The Choysest Flozvers
He that will gaine what Pollicie cloth heed,
B}' JMercurie muft deale, or never fpced.
[ . Uor/imeriados, 1 5 96 . ]
M. Drayton.
Grounded advice in daunger feldome trips;
The deadlieft poyfon fkill can fafely drinke :
Fore fight ftands faft, when giddie rafhnes Aides
VVifedome feemes blind, when eyed as a linx :
Prevention fpeaketh all but what he thinkes ;
The deadlieft hate with fmiles fecurely ftands.
[Ibid.]
Pollicie, religious habit weares.
[Ibid.']
No Pollicie to filence now adaies.
Our troubles kept abroad, altliough to coft,
Are well bought out ; for leaft by them is loft.
[Tra^'i'dy of Mar ins and Sylla, 1594.]
Tis better farre thy enemies t' aband
Quite from thy borders to a forren foyle,
Then he, at home, thee and thy country fpo)'le.
[Legend of Lord Ncnn ins., edit. 1610, p. 119.]
Idem.
Idem.
Th. Storer.
I). LODOE.
M.ofM.
The head that deemes to overtop the fkie,
Shall perifli in his humane Pollicie.
[Looking-glass for London and England., '594-] I^- TtKEKNe'.
How oft hath watching Pollicie devizde
A cunning claufc, which hath himselfe furprizde }
How often hath leaud fraud bene fct a flote.
of our English Poets.
283
Of purpofe that his goods might cut his throte ?
Who builds on ftrength by Pollicie is flript ;
Who trufts his wit by wit is fooneft tript.
[Fig/or Mojrius, 1595, Sat. 5.] D. Lodge.
Endevours poUiticke take fmall effect,
That wants affistance from the heavenly word :
Befide, fome helpe muft wealth and ftate afford ;
For judgement uttered by the mouth of want
Is either partiall, or admitted fcant.
[Life and Death of IVolsey, 1599.] Th. SkjUEK.
A clergie-man his calling much impaires,
To meddle with the polliticke affaires.
II bid.]
IdI'.m.
Though Marius could begin and make the fray.
Yet Scaurus Pollicie deferves the baye.
{Figfor Monius, 1595. Eclogue 4.]
Let Catulus with Pompey be compardc,
Or wittie Cicero with Cateline :
And to prevent, with Pollicie divine,
That which the other over-rafhly darde,
Deferves fuch fame as may not be impardc.
{Ibid., ibid.]
Say, military vertues do require
A valiant heart, great ftrength and conllancie ;
The felfe like gifts, in civil Pollicie,
Are requifite for fuch as do afpire
To gaine rcnowne by counfcU for their hire.
\Jbid, iiud.]
I). Lodge.
, DI'-.M.
IlU'.M.
284 TJic CJioysest Flowers
A little harme, done to a great good end,
For lawfull Pollicie remaines enacted :
The poyfonous fimple fometinie is compaclcd
In a pure compound ; being fo applied,
His venom in effect is purified.
\Lucrece, 1594, st. Tj^l W. Sha.
PO VER TIE.
O POVERTIE, chiefe of the heavenly broode !
{Godfrey of Bulloigne, B. vii, st. 10.] Ed. Fairfax.
Such is the world, this cros-blis world of ours.
That vertue hardly hides her felf in poore and defart bowers;
And fuch be beft as feeme not beft : content exceeds a
crowne.
\_Aldions England, edit. 1602, B. v, c. xxvii.] W. Warner.
«
Powerfull Need, arts auncient dame and keeper,
The early watch-clocke of the flotlifuU fleeper.
J. Sylvester.
Lacke is thrall and flave to every thing.
{Chance, 1580.] Th. Churchyard.
Yet Need is miftreffe of all exercife.
{Clires/olci-os, 1598, B. i, epig. 2.] Th. BASTARD.
A fchoUers want exceeds a clownes content.
{Ibid., B. vi, epigr. 31.] IDEM.
of our English Poets. 285
No danger but in hie eftate ; none erre in meane degree.
W. Warner.
And where imperious Need doth tyrannize,
The holy heate through worldly cares doth pawfe,
The minde (with-drawne to ftudie for fupplies)
Is foild with earthly thoughts, and downward drawcs.
Hence come thofe dull conceits amongft the wife,
Which coy eard readers cenfure to proceed
From ignorance, whereas they grow by need.
\_Figfor Momus, \^(^l. Eclogue 3.] D.Lodge.
The citizens, like ponned pikes, the leffers feed the great ;
The rich for meat feek ftomachs, and the poore for ftomachs
meat.
{^Albions England, B. v, ch. xxvii.] W. Warner.
Be as thou art, not as thou wouldft, it will be as it is :
Learne then to lack, and learne to live, for croffes never miffc.
\Ibid, 13. ii, ch. xi.J Idem.
PRA YER.
Prayer's heart, and fides, and feet, are full of wings,
(Like to th' Arcadian which Joves arrand brings)
Her body burning, from her lips doth come
The fmoake of incenfe, and of fweet amome.
\Triumph of Faith., 1592.] J. Sylvester.
Heavens are propitious liiiLo fearfull Prayers.
R. Greene.
2S6 TJic CJioyscst Floi^'vrs
Fafting (though faint) her face with joy Ihe cheares,
In wcaknes ftrong, and young in aged yeares :
QuickC health preferver, curbing Cupids fits,
Watchful!, purge humors, and refining wits.
[Trlmnp/i of Faith, I59--] J- Sn'L.
PRAISE.
This falfe painted deitie called Laude,
Which makes us thirft for vaine eternitie,
Twixt our defires and hope, a cunning baud,
Ufhers the foule unto extremitie :
And helpt by flye infinuating fraud,
Cov^ers her deeds in fcrowles of pietie.
I. IMarkha.m.
The hope of Praife makes men no travell fliunnc.
To fay, an other day, this we have donne.
{Orlando Fiirioso, 1591, B. x, st. 58.] S. J. H.
Who rightly climes the top of endleffe Praife,
Regards not what the wife difcourfer faies.
\_Lifc and Death of IVolsey, 1599.] Th. Storer.
From Praife takes envie caufe.
W. W.
But chiefeft Praife is to imbrace the man,
In wealth and woe, with whom your love began.
\^So)igs and Sonets, 1567, fo. 134 b.] G. TuRB.
The greatcfl Praife, in greateft perils wonne.
Ed. Fairfax.
of our English Pods.
The loofer wantons fild are praisde of many,
Vice oft findes friends, but vertue fildome any
\_Episfli\ Jane Shore to Ediuard IV.']
In Athence, where Themiftocles remaind,
Though much he conquered by his regiments,
Yet Solon was more prais'd for his intents.
\_Figfor Moinus, \^()^. Eclogue 4.]
287
M. Dray.
D. Lodge.
Praife not the bewty of thy wife, though fhe of fame be fpred,
For Gyges, moved fo, did graft on Candales his bed.
\_Albio)is England, B. iv, c. xxi.] W. Warner.
PROVIDENCE.
O Providence ! the condu6l to our hfc,
The ground of vcrtuc, hoftile foe to fin,
That reareft tovv^ers, and appeafeft flirife,
Thou gathereft all difpearfed exiles in ;
Thou that inventeft lawes gainft man and wife,
Thou miftreffc unto auncient difcipline ;
Thou that bearTt heaven and nature round al^out thee.
That makeft all things, nothing being without thee.
I. Markiiam.
PRIDE.
Of grifly Pluto (lie the daughter was,
And fad Profcrpina, the queciie of hcl
288 TJic C hoys est Flowers
Yet did fhe thinke her peerleffe worth to paffe
That parentage, with pride fo did fhe fwell ;
And thundering Jove, that in high heaven doth dwell,
And weeld the world, fhe claimed for her fire.
Or, if that any els did Jove excell ;
For to the higheft fhe did ftill afpire,
Or if ought higher were then that, did it defire.
And proud Lucifera men did her call.
[Fairy Queen, B. i, c. iv, st. ii.l Ed. Spencer.
O Pride, the fhelfe clofc fhrowded in the port
Of this lifes ocean, drowning all refort.
D. Lodge.
Pride makes her rownds, for flic hath never end ;
And fonnets, for fhe never leaves hir noyfe:
She makes her dumps, if any thing offend,
And to her idoll-selfe, with warbling vo\xe,
Sings hymnes and anthems of efpeciall choyce ;
And yet prides quier's put to filence cleane.
Wanting a bafe, a tenor, and a meane.
\_Life and Dcnih of Wo/scj, 1599.] Th. Storer.
The winged giant, loftie ftaring Pride,
I'hat in the cloudes her braving breft doth hide.
J. Syl.
For Pride is roote of ill in every ftatc.
Tile fourfe of fin, the very fiend his fee ;
The head of hell, the bough, the braunch, the tree.
From which do fpring and fprout fuch fleflily feed.s,
of our English Poets. 2(Sg
As nothing els but moane and mischiefe breeds.
Di.'lce Bellum Iiicxpertis, 1587, st. 17.] G. GascoiGNE.
Pride drawes on vengeance, vengeance hath no mean.
\_Xo autlior naiiwd.']
Nemefis hath every howre referv'd
A plague for Pride, that hath from juftice fwerv'd.
D. Lodge.
Such is the nature ftill of hautie Pride,
Can nothing leffe then others praife abide.
{^Legend of h-englas, edit. 16 10, p. 127.] M. of M.
When once Pride but pointeth towards his fall,
lie beares a fword to wound himfelfe withall.
[Mor/i/neriados, 1596.] M. Dravtox.
Loftie Pride, that dwells
In towred courts, is oft in fliepheards cells.
[/h'lfl and /.('(Vidcr, Sest. i ] Ch. NFart.owe.
A proud man ma\" his ownc mufition l)ce.
His heads devifc makes pavins to his hart ;
His heart with leapes and plcafure daunces free,
AH but the mcafures framing every part,
Like organs, worthy of fo fweet an art :
His thoughts plaics marches to his vaulting mindc.
And memorie's recorder ftands bchinde.
[I.i/c and Death of IVo/slj, 1599.] Th. Storkr.
(ia)- w ithout good is good hearts greateft loathing.
i:i>. Spf.ntkr.
I' r
20)0 TJic CJioysest Floivers
PRINCES.
The very place wherein a Prince appeares
Difcernes his prefence, makes the chamber bleft ;
Like planets are they knowne within their fpheares,
Or as halcion, with her turning breft,
Demonftrates winde from winde, and eaft from weft.
This is a certaine nature of eftate,
It cannot raafked be, nor chaunge his gate.
{Ljfc and Death of Wolsey., I599-] Th. Storer.
A Princes safetie lies in loving people ;
His fort is juftice, free from ftratageme,
Without the which, ftrong citadels are feeble :
The fubje6ls love is wonne by loving them ;
Of loving them no oppreffion is the tryall,
And no oppreffion makes them ever loyall.
To be a Prince, is more then be a man.
J. SVL.
S. Daniei.i
For Princes are the glaffe, the fchoole, the booke,
Where fubjects eies do learn, do read, do looke.
[Shakespeare's Lucrece, 1594, st. 89.] W. Warner.
Howbeit fubjects falfly judge, their Princes bleffed are,
When both of peace and perils they contain the common
care ;
And yet for this they grudgingly from pounds a penny fparc.
[Albioiis Etic^/aiid, Tk \\\, c\\. -i^x'x.] ' Idem.
of our English Poets.
291
Princes in fubje6ls wrongs muft deem themfelves abus'd.
S. Phil. Sidney.
Private men found not the hearts of Princes,
Whofe a6lions oft beare contrary pretences.
S. Daniell.
Princes, like lyons, never will be tamde :
A private man may yeeld, and care not howe,
But greater hearts will breake, before they bowe.
{Tragedy of Cleopatra, I594-] Idem.
The Princes armes are ftretcht from fhore to fliore.
{Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 102.] M. Drayton.
It followes then that as the pawnee doth circle with the funne,
So to the vice or vertue of the Prince are people wonne.
{Albions England, B. v, c. xxviii.] W. WARNER.
Good Princes forrow more in punifliing,
Than evil fubje6ls in committing fm.
Ch. Mid.
And as defaults will more confpicuous be,
How much th' offender greater is efteemd ;
So vertue in a princely body fee,
Lamp-like, and far more excellently deemd,
That in fuch unitie it feldome feem'd,
In mutuall approach of higheft bliffe,
Whether more graced each by other is.
{Life and Death of Wolsey, 1599. J
O happie Princes ! whofe forefight and care
Can winiic llic love of writers in fuch fort
Th. Storer.
292 The Clioyscst FUnvers
As Casfars did, fo as you need not dread
The lake of Lasthe, after ye be dead.
[UrlaiidoFurioso, 1591, B. xxv, st. 22.] S.J. H.
And Princes never do themfelves more wrong
Then when they hinder juftice, or prolong.
[Orlando Furioso, B. xxvii, st. 79.] S. J. H.
In whofe high breft may juftice build her bower,
When Princes hearts wide open lye to wrong .'*
{Tragedy of Jocas/a, act ii, sc. i.] G. Gascoigne.
We imitate the greater powers,
The Princes manners fafhion ours :
The example of their light regarding,
Vulgar loofenes much incenfes,
Vice uncontroll'd, growes wide inlarging ;
Kings fmall faults be great offences.
[Tragedy of Cleopatra, 1594.] S. Daniell.
Oft for the pleafure of a Prince go many things awry.
[Albions England^ B. vii, c. xxviii.j W. Warner.
Princes (like funnes) be evermore in fight,
All fee the clouds which do eclips their light ;
Yet they which lighten all downe from the fkies,
See not the cloudes offending others eies,
And deeme their noone-tide is defirde of all,
When all exspect cleare changes by their fall.
[Epistle, Q. Isabel to Richard n.'\ M. Dray.
Princes have but their titles for their glories,
An outward honor for an inward toylc ;
of our English Poets. 293
And for unfelt imaginations
They often feele a world of reftleffe cares :
So that, betwixt their titles and low name,
There's nothing differs but the outward fame.
{Richard III, 1597, act i, sc. 4.] W. Sha.
Seld fhall you fee the ruine of a Prince,
But that the people eke like brunt do beare :
And old records of auncient times long fince
From age to age, yea almoft every where,
With proofe hereof hath glutted every eare.
Thus by the follies of the Princes hart,
The bounden fubject ftill receiveth fmart.
[/''. KinwclmarsJi, in Jocasta, chor. to act i.] G. Gascoigne.
QUIETNESSE.
The wind is great upon the higheft hills,
The quiet life is in the dale below ;
Who tread on yce fliall Aide againft their wills ;
They want not cares, that curious arts would know.
Who lives at eafe, and can content him fo,
Is perfit wife, and fets us all to fchoole :
Who hates this lore may well be call'd a foole.
{Churchyard : Shore's Wife, edit. 1610, p. 502.] M. of A/.
Ouietnes, the oncly nurfc of cafe.
M. 1)KA.
294 ^Z*^^' Clioyscst Floivcrs
Well wot I, footh they fay that fay, more quiet nights and
daies
The fhepheard fleeps and wakes, then he whofe cattell he
doth graze.
[Albions England, edit. 1602, B. iv, c. xx.] W. Warner.
REASON.
But logicke leadetli Reafon in a daunce,
Reafon, the cynofure and bright load-ftarre
In this worlds fea, t'avoyd the rocke of chaunce ;
For with clofe following and continuance,
One reafon doth another fo enfue,
As in conclufion ftill the daunce is true.
[Orchestra, 1596, st. 94.] I. Davies.
Reafon fliould have abilitie
To hold thefe worldly things in fuch proportion,
As let them come or go with even facilitie.
[y4;rrtrt'/rt, edit. 1598, p. 149 ; 4to, 1590, fo. 156.] S. PHIL. Sidney.
For every thing that is begun with Reafon
Will come by ready meanes unto his end ;
But things miscounfelled muft needs mifwend.
[Mother Hubberds Tale, 1591.] Ed. Spencer.
Reafon, by prudence in her fun6lion,
Had wont to tutor all our a6lion,
Ayding, with precepts of philofophie,
Our feebled natures imbecillitie ;
But now affection, will, concupifcence.
of our English Poets.
295
Have got ore Reafon chiefe preheminence.
{Scottrge of Villatiy, 1598, B. iii, Sat. 8.] I. Marston.
What warre fo cruell, or what fiege fo fore,
As that which ftrong affeftions do applie
Againft the fort of Reafoii evermore,
To bring the foule into captivitie ?
Their force is fiercer through infirmitie
Of the fraile flefli, relenting to their rage,
And exercife moft bitter tirannie
Upon the parts brought into their bondage :
No wretchedneffe is like to finfuU villanage.
ypairy Queen, B. ii, c. xi, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
But in a body, whicfi doth freely yeeld
His parts to Reafons rule obedient.
And letteth her that ought the fcepter weeld,
All happie peace and goodly government
Is fetled there in fure establifhment.
\_Ibid., ibid., st. 2.] Idem.
But he that is of Reafons fkill bereft,
And wants the ftafife of wifedome him to ftay.
Is like a fhip midft of tempeft left,
Withouten helme or pilot her to fvvay ;
Full fad and dreadfuU is that fhips event :
So is the man that wants intendement.
\7^ears of the Muses, \ic)\. Melpomene.] Idem.
Or did not Reafon teach, that care is vaine
For ill once paft, which cannot turne againc.
{The EkatoiupatJiia (1581), son. 93.]
Tn. Watson.
296 TJic CJioyscst Flowers
If Reafon bandie with opinion,
Opinion winnes in the conclufion :
For if a man be once opiniate,
MilHons of reafons nill extenuate
His fore-ceited mahce : conference
Cannot affwage opinions infolence :
But let opinion once lay batterie
To Reafons fort, fhe will turne herefie
Or fuperftition wily politift,
But file will win thofe rampires which rcTift.
\_Skia/ct/icia, 1598, Sat. 6.] Ed. Gilpin.
Nought can Reafon availe in heavenly matters.
[A7radia, edit. 1598, p. 233.] S. Phil. Sid.
She whom, sauns reafon, men have Reafon hight,
Since firft in fire the Lord the aire inclosde,
In aire the fea, in fea the earth difposde,
Hath with mild faith maintaind continuall fight.
I'l'/'i/ii/ip/i of Faith, 1592.] I. Svlve.STER.
The eye of Reafon is with raging yb[l]ent.
Ed. Sp.
RELIGION.
Sacred Religion, mother of forme and feare.
{Musophihis, 1599, to Fit Ike Greville.] S. Dan i ell.
O that this power, from everlafting given,
(The great alliance made twixt God and us.
of our English Poets. 297
The intelligence that earth doth hold with heaven,)
Sacred Religion ! O that thou muft thus
Be made to fmooth our ways unjuft, uneven,
Brought from above, earth quarrels to discuffe.
Muft men beguile our foules to win our wills,
And make our zeale the furtherer of ills ?
[Civil Wars, edit. 1609, B. 1, st. 102.] S. Daniell.
No one thing quailes Religion more, then foundring pres-
bitrie,
Each fot, impugning order, faith and doth his fantafie.
\_Albions England, B. ix, c. liii.J W. Warner.
What may not mifchiefe of mad man abufe ?
Religions cloake fome one to vice doth chufe,
And maketh God prote6lor of his crime :
O monftrous world ! well ought we wifh thy fine.
[Dolman: Lord Hastings, edit. 16 10, p. 421.] M. of M.
]^Jt Englifli men, nay Chriftian men, not only feeme pro-
phane,
But man to man, as beafl to beaft, hold civil duties vaine :
Yea, pulpits fome, like pedlers packs, yeeld forth as men
affect.
And what a fynodc fliall conclude, a fouter will corre6l.
The rude, thus bofting literature, one fchisme begets an-
other.
And grofly, thogh a fchisme, yet hath ech fchismatick his
foot her.
Mean while, the learned want their meed, and none with
profit hears
00
298 The Choysest Flowers
The tedious dolt, whofe artleffe tong doth preach to wearie
eares,
\_Albions England, edit. 1602, B. iv, ch. xxii.] W. WARNER.
Since that pure Religion doth inftall
Learned profeffors, prelates of deferts,
Let them afpire, and reare inn:ru6led harts
Againft the bafe beftowers of church livings,
That ufe their graunts in fellings, not in givings.
[Life and Death 0/ Wolsey, 1599.] Th. Storer.
REPENTANCE.
Repentance makes two rivers of her eies ;
Her humble face dares fcant behold the fkies ;
Her broken breaft is beaten blew and blacke ;
Her tender flefh is rent with rugged facke ;
With forrowes fnowes her hoary waxen head
With afhes pale and duft is overfpread.
J. Sylvister.
Repentance, hope, and foft humilitie,
Do flanke the wings of faiths triumphant carre.
[Triumph 0/ Faith, 1592.] Idem.
Repentance,
A falve, a comfort, and a cordiall ;
He that hath her, the keies of heaven hath,
This is the guide, this is the port, the path.
M. Drayton.
of our English Poets. 299
O happie they, that keepe within their meafure,
To turne their courfe in time, and found retreit.
Before that wit with late repentance tought.
Were better never had, then fo deare bought.
\Orlando Fur'ioso, B. vii, st. 3.] S. J. H.
Sinnes have their falves. Repentance can do much.
[Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay., 1594.] R. GREENE.
To be penitent for faults, with it a pardon beares.
W. W.
Then hope we health, when fmne is left repentantly in hart;
Adde then new life, and we to God, God doth to us convart.
[Aidions England., edit. 1602, B. ix, c. lii.] IDEM.
Yet ftay thy foote in murders ugly gate ;
111 comes too foone, Repentance oft too late.
[ilortimeriados (1596), edit. 1605, B. ii, st. 16.]
M. Dr.
Their lives no man fo fetled in content,
That hath not daily whereof to repent.
\_Fig for Momus, Sat. 5.]
Wc fee what's good, and thereto we confent,
But yet we chufe the worfe and foone repent.
D. Lodge.
S. Daniell.
REST.
You all forwcaricd be ; for what fo ftrong,
But wanting Reft, will alfo want of might ?
?oo
The CJioysest Flowers
The funne, that meafures heaven all day long,
At night doth bate his fteeds the ocean waves among.
[Fairy Queen, B. i, c i, st. 32.]
Ed. Spencer.
Untroubled night, they fay, gives counfell beft.
{Ibid., ibid., st. 33.]
Who long hath refted, cannot runne apace ;
The fettered horfe is hindmoft in the chafe.
[No autlior na>ned.'\
Idem.
RE VENGE.
Next, within the entrie of this lake,
Sate fell Revenge, gnafhing her teeth for ire,
Devifing meanes how flie may vengeance take ;
Never in reft till fhe have her defire,
But frets within fo farre forth with the fier
Of wreaking flames, that now determines fliee
To die by death, or vengd by death to bee.
{Induction to M.for M., edit. 1610, p. 262.] M. Sackvill.
O fearefuU frowning Nemefis !
Daughter of juftice moft fevere,
That art the worlds great arbitreffe.
And queene of caufes raigning heere.
{Tragedy of Cleopatra, chor. to act iii.]
S. Daniell.
Fierce Nemefis, mother of fate and change,
Sword -bearer of the eternall providence.
Idem.
of our English Poets. 30 1
Nemefis, vvhofe haftie revenging
Hands are ever at hand ; whofe mind is mutable alwaies ;
At miferies laughing, at mens felicitie grudging.
\Countess of Pembroke's Itiychnrch, 1591.] A. Fraunce.
Nemefis, hie miflris of Revenge,
That with the fcourge keepes all the world in awe.
\Comedy of Fortitnatus, 1600.] Th. Dekkar.
The minde by wrong is made a male-content,
And cloudes her fhine in pleafleffe melancholy :
Her holy humours are in paffion fpent,
Till by Revenge fhee's fet at libertie.
For tis Revenge that fatisfa6lion brings
To injur'd mindes, and to oppreffed things.
\_Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvile, 1595.] I. Markham.
The foule is like a boyftrous working fea.
Swelling in billowes for difdaine of wrongs ;
And tumbling up and downe from bay to bay.
Proves great with child of indignations.
Yet with Revenge is brought to calme allay,
Disburdend of the paine thereto belongs ;
Her bowers are turnd to bright-fac't fun-fliine braves.
And fairc content plaies gently on her waves.
\Ibid., ibid.'] IDEM.
Revenge dies not, rigour begets new wrath,
And bloud hath never glory ; mcrcic hath.
{Civil Wars, 15. vi, st. 60. | S. I").
302 TJie Choysest Flotvers
Revenge is mine, faith he that fits on hie.
Th. Achelly.
O, dire Revenge ! when thou in time art rakte
From out the aflies that preferve thee long,
And Hghtly from thy cinders art awakte,
Fuell to feed on, and reviv'd with wrong,
How foone from fparks the greateft flames are fprong,
Which doth by nature to his top afpire,
Whofe maffy greatnes once kept downe his fier.
{^Mortiineriados, 1596.J M. Drayton.
Revenge in tears doth ever wafh his hands.
[/fo'^.] Idem.
Who fo doth threat meanes of Revenge doth loofe.
S. D.
Had I revenged bene of every harme,
My coate had never kept me halfe fo warme.
[Dulce Belbim Inexpertis, st. 31.] G. Gascoigne.
Though vengeance come behind, and her foote fore,
She overtakes th' offender going before.
\No author named. Bastard'' s Chrestoleros, B. ii, epigr. 18.]
RICHES.
DESCRIPTION OF MAMMON.
At laft he came unto a gloomy glade,
Covered with boughes and fhrubs from heavens light,
Whereas, he fitting found, in fecret fliade,
of our English Poets. 303
An uncouth, falvage, and uncivill wight,
Of grifly hue, and foule ilfavoured fight :
His face with fmoake was tand, and eies were bleard,
His head and beard with fowte were ill bedight,
His coale blacke hands did feeme to have bene feard
In fmiths fier-fpitting forge, and nails like claws appear'd.
His iron coate, all overgrowne with rufb,
Was underneath enveloped with gold,
Whofe gliftering gloffe, darkned with filthy duft,
Well yet appeared to have bene of old
A worke of rich entaile and curious molde,
Woven with anticks and wilde imagerie ;
And in his lap a maffe of coyne he tolde,
And turned upfide downe, to feed his eie
And covetous defire with his huge treafurie :
And round about him lay, on every fide,
Great heapes of gold that never could be fpent,
Of which fome were rude owre, not purifide
Of Mulcibers devouring element :
Some others were new driven, and diftent
Into great ingowes and to wedges square,
Some in round plates withouten moniment ;
But moft were ftampt, and in their metall bare
The anticke fliapes of kings and keyfars, ftrange and rare.
{_Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. vii, st. 3.] E. Spencer.
MAMMON.
All otherwifc (faide he), I Riches rcade,
And deemc them rootc of all difquictncs ;
Firft got with guile, and then preferv'd with dread,
204 Tlic Choyscst Floivers
And after fpent with pride and lavishnes,
Leaving behind them griefe and heavines :
Infinit mischiefes of them do arife,
Strife and debate, blood-fhead and bitternes,
Outragious wrong, and hellifli covetize,
That noble heart in great difhonor doth defpife.
\Fairy Qtieen, B. ii, c. vii, st. 12.] Ed. Spencer.
Was but a little flride
That doth the houfe of Riches from hell mouth divide.
Before the doore fate felfe-confuming Care,
Day and night keeping wary watch and ward, J
For feare leaft Force or Fraud fhould unaware
Breake in, and fpoyle the treafure there in gard.
Ne would he fuffer Sleepe once thitherward
Approach, albe his drowfie den were next ;
For next to death is Sleepe to be compar'd,
Therefore his houfe is unto his annext ;
Here Sleep, there Riches, and hel-gate them both betwixt.
[Ibid., ibid., st. 24.] Idem.
Well may a rich mans hearfe want teares, but heires he
fliall not miffe.
To whom that he is dead, at length, no little joy it is.
\_Albions England, B. i, ch. i.] \V. Warxer.
Good is no good, but if it be fpend ;
God giveth good for none other end.
[Shepherds Calendar, 1579. May. J Ed. Spencer.
Veffels of braffe, oft handled, brightly fliine ;
What difference betwixt the richeft mine
of our EnglisJi Pocfs. 305
And bafert mould, but ufc ? for both, not ufde.
Are of like worth : then treafure is abufdc
When mifers keepe it ; being put to lone,
In time it will returne us two for one.
{Hero and Lea ndcr, 1598, Scst. i.] Ch. Mari.owe.
Gold is a futor never tooke repiilfe ;
It carries palme with it, where e're it goes.
Refpect, and obfervation ; it uncovers
The knottie heads of the moft furly groomcs.
Enforcing yron doores to yceld it way.
Were they as ftrong ram'd up as Aetna gates.
It bends the hams of goffip Vigilance,
And makes her fupple feete as fwift as winde.
It thawes the froftieft, and moft ftifife difdaine ;
Muffles the clearnefs of election,
Straines fancie unto foule apoftacie.
And ftrikes the quickeft-fightcd judgement blinde.
Then why fhould we difpaire ? difpaire, away !
Wliere gold's the motive, women have no nay.
F>. Johnson.
Wealth in this age will fcarccly looke on merit.
[7s7vn' .}faii nut of his Hiiinoiir, act i.] Idkm.
Alas, quDlli he, gcntr)- ch)lli fniall availe,
And vertue leffe, if lands and Riches failc.
[(^r/aiido /'//r/o.u>, 15. xliv, st. 33. J S. j. II.
3o6 TJic Clioyscst Floivers
SACRILEDGE.
The canon text fliall have a common gloffe ;
Receits in parcels fhall be paid in groffe :
This do6lrine preach'd — who from the church doth take,
At leaft fhall trebble reftitution make.
{^Epistle, Mortimer to Q. Isabel, edit. 1599.J M. Dray
SECRECIE.
Secrecie, the crowne of a true lo\'er.
\Endyiuion and Phabe (1594) Sig. E 2.] M. DRAYTON.
Hard it is to prove,
By fight or fpeech, what bides in fecret breft.
S.J. H.
But out, alas ! what can fo fecret bee,
But out it will, when we do leaft fufpect ;
For pofts have eares, and walles have eyes to fee,
Dumbe beafts and birds have toongs, ill to detect.
[Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xxii, st. 32.] Jdk.m.
SILENCE.
Dumbe Silence ! fworne attendant on black night ;
Thou that haft power to clofe up murmures jawe.
To ftop the barking of the watchfull hound,
of our English Poets. 307
And charme the gagling of thofe waking fowle
That fav'd Joves capitoll, milde queene of reft!
\Comedy of Forinnatiis, 1600.] Th. Dekkar.
Soft Silence, and fubmiffe obedience,
Both Hnkt together, never do depart ;
Both gifts of God, not gotten but from thence ;
Both girlonds of his faints againft their foes offence.
Ed. Spencer.
Silence, wifedomes mother.
{Arcadia, edit. 1598, p. 397.] S. Phil. Sidney.
Silence doth' feem the mafke of bafe oppreffion.
\_Ibid., p. 217, 4to, 1590, p. 235.] Idem.
SENCES.
And though things fenfible be numberleffe,
But only five the Sences organs bee ;
And in thofe five all things their formes expreffe,
Which we can touch, tafte, feele, or heare, or fee.
{Nosce Teipsum, edit. 1602, Sect. 13.] I. Davies.
Mans eye makes what is feene to feeme fo faire,
Mans eare makes what is heard to found fo fweete.
His touch by foftneffe ; every fence is meete
For his owne object.
I HI M
3o8
The Choysest Floivcrs
SIGHT.
First, the two eyes, which have the feeing power,
Stand as one watchman, fpie, or fentinell ;
Being plac'd aloft within the heads hie tower,
And though both fee, yet both but one thing tell.
{^Xosce Teipsuvi, Sect. 14.] I. Davies.
Laftly, nine things to fight required are,
The power to fee, the light, the vifible thing,
Being not too fmall, too thin, too nigh, too farre ;
Cleare fpace and time, the forme diftin6t to bring.
[Ibid., ibid.'] Idem.
For as a glaffe is an inanimate eye,
And outward formes imbraceth inwardly ;
So is the e}'e an animate glaffe, that fliowes
In formes without us.
{Hero and LeaJider, edit. 1600, .Sest. 3.]
What we behold is cenfured by our eyes ;
Where both deliberate, the love is flight :
Who ever lov'd, that lov'd not at firft fight .^
[Ibid., 1598, Sest. i.]
I trow, that countenance cannot lye,
W^hofe thoughts are legible in the eye.
\_Elegy on Sir P. .Sidney, 1595.]
G. Chapman.
Ch. Marlowe.
M. ROVDON.
For oft the eye miftakcs, the braine being troubled.
[Venus and Adonis, 1593, st. 179.] \V. Sha.
of onr E)iglish Poets. 309
All amorous eyes, obferving forme, thinks parts obfcured
beft.
W. Warner.
A greedy eye will have a greedy hand.
{^Looking-glass for London a/id England, I594-] D. Lodge.
The firft troupe was a monftrous rabblement
Of fowle mifhapen wights, of which fome were
Headed like owles, with beakes uncomely bent ;
Others like dogs, others like gryphons dreare.
And fome had wings, and fome had clawes to teare ;
And every one of them had Linces eies,
And every one did bow and arrowes beare.
All thofe were laweleffe lufts, corrupt envies.
And covetous afpefts ; all cruell enemies.
Thofe fame, againft the bulwarke of the fight
Did laie ftrong fiege and battailous affault,
Ne once did yeeld it refpit day nor night ;
But foone as Titan gan his head exault,
And foone againe as he his light wathhault,
Their wicked engines they againft it bent :
That is, each thing by which the eyes may fault.
But two then all more huge and violent,
Bewtie and money, they againft that bulwarke lent.
{Fairy Queen, B. ii, c xi, st. 8.] Ed. Spencer.
HEARING.
Eares office is, the troubled aire to take.
Which in their ma/.cs formes a found or no\-fc.
3 1 o TJic Choyscst Flozvers
Whereof lier felle doth true diftinction make.
Thefe wickets of the foule are plac'd on hie,
Becaufe all founds do lightly mount aloft :
And that they may not pierce too violently,
They are delaid with turnes and windings oft.
\^Nosce Teipsuin, Sect. 15.] 1. Davies.
As ftreames, which with their winding bankes do play,
Stopt by their creekes, runne foftly through the plaine:
So in the eares labyrinth the voyce doth ftray.
And doth with eafie motion touch the braine.
\_Ibid., ibid.] IDEM.
This is the floweft, yet the daintieft fence ;
For even the eares of fuch as have no fkill.
Perceive a difcord and conceive offence,
And knowing not what's good, yet finde the ill.
{Ibid., ibid.] Idem.
Thefe conduit pipes of knowledge feed the minde,
But th' other three attend the body ftill ;
For by their fervices the foule doth finde
What things are to the body good or ill.
[Ibid., ibid.] Idem.
The fecond bulwarke was the Hearing fence,
Gainft which the fecond troupe affignment makes ;
Deformed creatures, in ftraunge difference.
Some having heads like harts, fome like to fnakes,
Some like wild boares, late rowz'd out of the brakes.
Slaunderous reproaches and foule infamies,
Lcafings, backbitings, and vaine-glorious crakes,
of our Riiglisli J'oi'/s. 311
Bad counfel.s, praifes, and falfe flatteries :
All thofe againft that fort did bend their batteries.
{Fair}' Qitccii, B. li, c. xi, st. 10.] Ed. Spf.nckr.
SMELLING.
Next, in the nofthrils llie doth ufe the Smell :
As God the breath of life in them did give,
So makes he now this power in them to dwell,
To judge all aires whereby we breathe and live.
This fence is alfo miftreffe of an art,
Which to foft people fweet perfumes doth fell ;
Though this deare art doth little good impart.
Since they fmell beft that do of nothing fmell.
And yet good fents do purifie the braine,
Awake the fancie, and the wittes refine :
Hence old devotion incenfe did ordainc,
To make mens fpirits more apt for thoughts di\'ine.
\.\osce Tcipsiim, Sect. 17.] I. DAvrES.
Likewife that fame third fort, that is the .Smell,
Of that third troupe was cruell}' affaide ;
Whofe hideous fliapes were like to fiends of hell.
Some like to hounds, fome like to apes difmaidc,
Some like to puttocks, all in plumes arraidc ;
All fhapte according their conditions :
For by thofe ougly formes weren portraide
Foolifli delights and fond abufions,
Which do that fence befiege with light illufions.
{Fairy Oi/rrii, V>. ii, r. xi, st. 1 r.] F.n. Sr.
312 TJtc Choyscsf FloT^'crs
TASTING.
The bodies life with meates and aire is fed ;
Therefore the foule doth ufe the tafting power
In vaines which through the tong and pallat fpred,
Diftinguifli every relliflT, fweet and fower.
This is the bodies nurfe : but fince mans wit
Found th' art of cookery to delight his fence,
More bodies are confumde and kild with it,
Then with the fword, famine, or peftilence.
[Nosce Teipsiim, Sect. i6.] I. Davies.
And that fourth band, which cruell battery bent
Againft the fourth bulwarke, that is tlie Tafte,
Was, as the reft, a grifly rabblement ;
Some mouth'd like greedy eftriges, fome fac'ft
Like loathly toades, fome fafliioned in the wafte
Like fwine ; for fo deform'd is luxurie,
Surfet, mifdiet, and unthriftie wafte,
Vaine feafts, and idle fuperfluitie :
All thofe this fences fort affaile inceffantly.
\Fairv Qiiccn, B. ii, c. xi, st. it.] En, Sp.
FEELING.
Lastly, the feeling power, which is lifes roote,
Through every living part it felfe doth flied
By finewcs, which extend from head to foote,
Anrl, like a net, all o'(m- the bod)- fpred:
of our EiiglisJt Pods. 3 1 3
Much like a fubtill fpider, which doth fit
In middle of her web, which fpreddeth wide,
If ought do touch the outmoft thred of it,
She feeles it inftantly on every fide.
\_Nosce Teipsiim, edit. 1602, Sect. 18.] I. Davies.
By touch, the firft pure qualities we learne,
Which quicken all things, hot, cold, moift, and drie ;
By touch, hard, foft, rough, fmooth, we do difcerne ;
By touch, fweet pleafure and fharpe paine we trie ;
Thefe are the outward inftruments of fence ;
Thefe are the guardes which every one muft paffe,
Ere it approach the mindes intelligence,
Or touch the phantafie, wits looking glaffe.
[Ibid., Sect. 19.] Idem.
But the fift troupe, moft horrible of hue
And fierce of force, is dreadfuU to report ;
For fome like fnailes, fome did like fpiders fhewe,
And fome like ougly urchins, thicke and fliort :
Cruelly they affayed that fift fort,
Armed with darts of fenfuall delight.
With ftings of carnall luft, and ftrong effort
Of feeling pleafures, with which day and night
Againft that fame fift bulwarke they continued fight.
\_Faiiy Queen, B. ii, c. xi, st. 13.] Ed. Spencer.
SINNE.
For firft, we do tafte the fruite, then fee our Sin.
{Complaiiif of Rosamond, 1592, st. 64.] S. Daxif.i.i.
314 The Choysest Floxvers
Shame followes Sin, difgrace is duly given,
Impietie will out, never fo clofely donne ;
No walles can hide us from the eye of heaven,
For fhame muft end what wickednes begun ;
Forth breakes reproach, when we leaft thinke thereon.
{Complaint of Rosamond, st. 8i.] S. Daniell.
Like as diseafes, common caufe of death,
Bring daunger moft when leaft they pricke and fmart,
Which is a figne they have expulft the breath
Of lively heate, which doth defend the hart ;
Even fo, fuch Sinnes as felt are on no part.
Have conquered grace, and by their wicked ure,
So kild the foule, that it can have no cure.
\.Vi\G.,M.ofM.
Sinnes harveft never failes, but grace hath death.
D. Lodge.
Cover thou fier never fo clofe within,
Yet out it will ; and fo will fecret Sin.
M. o/M.
It doubles Sinne, if sinne by finne we practife to prevent.
[A/dions England, B. i, ch. ii.] W. W.
Man may fecurely Sinne, but fafely never.
yEvejy Man out of his Humour, 1600 ] B. Jhonson.
What wight on earth can voyd of fault be found .''
What faint is fuch as doth not finne fometime .-'
Tweene good and bad this difference fole is found,
That good men finne but feld, and mend betime ;
of our EngiisJi Poets. 3 1 5
The bad man (making fcruple none, nor qucftion,)
Yeelds wilfully to every leaud fuggeftion.
[Orlando Furioso, B. xxiv, st. 26.] S. J. H.
Sinnes, oft affaid, are thought to be no Sin ;
So foileth Sinne the soule it finketh in.
.1/. of M.
Shame leaves us by degrees, not at firft winning;
For nature checks a new offence with loathingf,
But ufe of Sinne doth make it feeme as nothing-.
[Complaint of Rosamond., 1592, st. 65.] S. Daniell.
What though our Sinnes go brave, and better clad,
They are as thofe in rags, as bafe, as bad.
[Epistle, Octavia to Antony^ Idem.
The fpot is foule, though by a monarch made :
Kings cannot priviledge what God forbade.
[Complaint of Rosamond, 1592,51. loi.j Idem.
Sinne ever muft
Be torturde with the racke of his own frame ;
For he that holds no faith, fhall finde no trufl,
But fowing wrong, is fure to reape the fame.
Idem.
And cunning Sinne, being clad in vertues fliape,
Flies much reproofe, and many fcornes doth fcapc.
[Figfor Momtis, 1595, Sat. i.j D. Lodge.
... Place for people, people place, and all for Sinne decay.
[Alhions England, 15. i\-, ch. xx.] W. W akn'kk.
3i6 The Choyscst Flowers
To punilli Sinne is good, it is no nay;
They wrecke not Sinne, but merit wrecke for Sinne,
The fathers fault that wreake upon the kin.
M.ofM.
The Sinne to which a man by love is driven,
So much the rather ought to be forgiven.
\_Orla)ido Fiirioso, B. xxiv, st. 33. j S. J. H.
SLA UNDER.
Her face was ugly, and her mouth diftort,
Foming with poyfon round about her gils,
In which her curfed tongue, full fharpe and fliort,
Appeard like afpis fting, that clofely kils.
Or cruelly does wound, whom fo fhe wils.
A diftafife in her other hand flie had,
Upon the which fhe litle fpins, but fpils,
And faines to weave falfe tales, and leafmgs bad,
To throw amongft the good which others had difprad.
[^Fairy Queen, B. v, c. xii, st. 36. J Ed. Sp.
Her nature is all goodneffe to abufe,
And caufeleffe crimes continually to frame ;
With which flie guiltleffe perfons may abufe,
And fteale away the crowne of their good name ;
Ne ever knight fo bold, ne ever dame
So chafte and loyall liv'd, but fhe would ftrive
With forged caufe them falfly to defame :
Ne ever thing fo well was done alive.
of our E/iglish Poets.
317
But iTie with blame would blot, and of due praife deprive.
{^Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. viii, st. 25.] Ed. Spencer.
All like the ftings of afps, that kill with fniart,
Her fpightfull words did pricke and wound the inner part.
\_Ibid., ibid., st. 26.] IDEM.
Foule canker of faire vertuous a6lion,
Vile blafter of the freflieft bloomes on earth,
Envies abhorred child, Detraction.
[Scourge of Villany, I c,()%. To Detraction.] I. Marston.
Happie is he that lives in fuch a fort,
That needs not feare fuch tongues of falfe report.
[Uncertain authors : TottePs Miscellany, 1557.] E. of S.
For vulgar tongues are armed evermore
With flaunderous brute, to blemifli the renowne
Of vertuous dames ; which though at firft it fpring
Of flender caufe, yet doth it fwell fo faft.
As in fliort fpace it fiUeth every eare
With fwift report of undeferved blame.
[F. Kinwelmarsh, in Jocasta, act i.] G. Gascoigne,
It ever hath bene knownc,
They others vertues fcorne that doubt their owne.
S. Daniell.
No plaifter heales a deadly poyfoned fore,
No fecret hid, where Slaunder kcepes the dore.
[Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 38.]
M. Dk.W ION.
3 1 8 TJie CJioysest Flozvers
Againft bad tongues goodneffe cannot defend her:
Thofe be moft free from faults, they leaft will fpare,
But prate of them whom they have fcantly knowne,
Judging their humours to be like their ovvne.
{^Orlando Ftirioso, B. xxxii, st. 34.J S. J. H.
Slaunder fet on foot, though falfe, is talkatively dome.
{^Albions England, B. vi, ch. xxx.] W. Warner.
No wound which warlike hand of enemie
Inflifts with dint of fword, fo fore doth light,
As doth the poyfonous fting which infamie
Infixeth in the name of noble wisht.
For by no art, nor any leaches might
It ever can recured be ajraine :
Ne all the fkill, which that immortall fpright
Of Podalyrius did in it retaine,
Can remedie fuch hurts : fuch hurts are hellifh paine.
S_Fairy Qneen, B. vi, c vi, st. i.J Ed. Sp.
A fprightly wit difdaines detra6lion.
[Sco!i)-ge 0/ Villany, 1598. To Detraction.] I. Marston.
Backbiting pens, and pens that footh up fmne,
Envious the one, th' other clawbacks binne.
J. SVL.
S LEE PR.
Amid this darke thicke wood there is a cave,
Whofe entrance is with ivie overfpread ;
of our English Poets. 3 1 9
They hav^e no light within, nor none they crave :
Here Sleepe doth couch his ever drowfie head,
And floath lies by, that feemes the goute to have,
And idlenes, not fo well taught as fed :
They point Forgetfulnes the gate to keepe,
That none come in or out, to hinder fleepe.
She knowes no names of men, ne none will learne ;
Their meffages fhe lift not underftand ;
She knowes no bufines doth her concerne.
Silence is fentinell unto all this band.
And unto thofe he comming doth difcerne,
To come no neere he beckens with his hand ;
He treadeth foft, his fhooes are made of felt ;
His garment fhort, and girded with a belt.
{Orlando Fiirioso, 1591, B. xiv, st. 81.] S. J. H.
By care lay heavie Sleepe, couzen of death,
Flat on the ground, and flill as any ftone,
A very corps, fave yeelding forth a breath :
Small keepe tooke he whom Fortune frowned on.
Or whom flie lifted up into the throne
Of high renowne ; but as a living death.
So dead alive, of life he drew the breath.
{Induction to M.for M., edit. 1610, p. 263. j M. Sack..
A drowfie head to earth by dull defire
Draws downe the foule, that fhould to heaven afpirc.
Writing thefe later lines, wearie well-nie
Of facred Pallas pleafmg labour deare.
Mine humble chin faiuteth oft my breft ;
With an ambrofian dcawc mine cies poffcO:.
320 The Choyscst Flowers
By peecc nieale clofe ; all moving powers die ftill ;
From my dull fingers drops my fainting quill :
Downe in my floath-bound bed againe I fhrinke,
And in darke Laethe all deepe cares I finke.
SOLITARINESSE.
SOULDIERS.
J. SVL
SWEETE folitarie life ! thou true repofe,
Wherein the wife contemplate heaven aright ;
In thee no dread of warre, or worldly foes,
In thee no pompe feduceth mortall fight :
In thee no wanton eares to winne with words,
Nor lurking toies, which cittie life affords.
l^Poeiiis, ill Glaiiciis and Scilla, 1589, Sig. E b.] D. L.
O SOULDIERS ! envie, neere ally to kings,
Majesticke humour, carefull jealous thought,
Thou, which awak'ft us from ignoble things,
A paffion neareft to a godhead brought.
Onely indefinite : to whom none brings
Limit or bound ; thou greater then our thought :
Who holds thee, holds a power to make him able ;
Who lofes, then becomes moft miserable.
{Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvile, 1595.] I. Mark.
None is fo poore of fence and eine,
To whom a Souldier doth not fliine.
IPhillis and Flora, 1595.] Tr. Chap.
of our English Poets. 3 2 1
No elegancie can beu'tifie
A fliamelcffe lumpe of gluttonie :
His heart fweete Cupids tents reje61:s,
That onely meate and drinke affe6ls.
O Flora ! all mens intelle6ls
Know Souldiers power fuch respe6ls.
Meere helpes for need his minde fufficeth,
Dull fleepe and furfets he defpifeth :
Loves trumpe his temples exercifeth,
Courage and love his life comprifeth.
\_Phillis and Flora, 1595.] G. CHAP.
SOULE.
He that fpread the flcies,
And fixt the earth, firft form'd the Soule in man ;
This true, Prometheus firft made man of earth.
And fliead in him a beame of heavenly fier,
Now in their mothers wombes, before their birth,
Doth in all fonnes of men their foules infpire :
And as Minerva is in fables faidc
From Jove, without an other, to proceed ;
So our true Jove, without a mothers aide,
Doth daily millions of Minervaes breed.
\_Nosce Ti'ipsum, edit. 1602, Sect. 5.] I. Davies.
Like as the funne above the light doth bring,
Though we behold it in the aire belowe ;
So from the ctcrnall ligbt the Soulc cloth f|)ring,
^2 2 The CJioysest Flowers
Though in the body fhe her powers do fhowe.
I. Davies.
The Soule a fubftance and a fpirit is,
Which God himfelfe doth in the body make,
Which makes the man ; or every man from this
The nature of a man and name doth take.
And though the Spirit be to the body knit,
As an apt meane her power to exercife ;
Which are life, motion, fenfe, and will, and wit.
Yet fhe furvives, although the body dies.
Shee is a fubftance and a reall thing.
Which hath it felfe an a6luall working might.
Which neither from the fenfes power doth fpring,
Nor from the bodies humours tempered right.
She is a vine, which doth no propping need
To make her fpread her felfe, or fpring upright :
She is a ftarre, whofe beames do not proceed
From any funne, but from a native light.
\^Nosce Teipsum. Introd. and Sect, i.] Idem.
She is a fpirit, and heavenly influence.
Which from the fountaine of Gods Spirit doth flowe.
She is a fpirit, yet not like aire or winde,
Nor like the fpirits about the heart or braine,
Nor like thofe fpirits which alchimifts do finde.
When they in every thing feeke gold in vaine.
{Ibid., Sect. 4.] Idem.
And now, to fhew her powerfull deitie.
Her fweete Endimion more to beautifte,
Into his Soule the goddeffc doth infufe
of our English Poets. 323
The fierie nature of a heavenly Mufe :
Which, in the fpirit labouring by the mind,
Partaketh of celeftiall things by kind.
For why, the foule being divine, alone
Exempt from vild and groffe corruption,
Of heavenly fecrets comprehenfible,
Of which the dull flefh is not fenfible,
And by one onely powerfull facultie,
Yet governeth a multiplicitie ;
Being effentiall, uniforme in all.
Not to be fevered nor dividuall,
But in her function holdeth her eftate,
By powers divine in her ingenerate ;
And fo by infpiration conceiveth,
What heaven to her by divination breatheth
[Eudymion and Phcebe (1594), Sig. D 3 b.j M. Drayton.
Like as the Soule doth rule the earthlie maffe.
And all the fervice of the body frame :
So love of foule doth love of body paffe,
No leffe then perfect gold furmounts the meaneft braffc.
[Fairy Queen., B. iv, c ix, st. 2.] Ed. Spencer.
Everie good motion that the Soule awakes
A heavenly figure fees, from whence it takes
That fweeteleffe bloome, which, by power of kindc,
F'ormes like it felfe, an image of the mind ;
And in our faith the operations be
Of that divineffe, which by fayth w^ec fee ;
Which never crres, but accidental!)',
By our frailc flc(hcs imbccilitic ;
324 TJic Clioyscst Flowers
By each temptation over-apt to Aide,
Except our fpirit becomes our bodyes guide.
For as our bodyes prifons bee the towres,
So to our foules thefe bodyes be of ours,
Whofe fleflily walles hinder that heavenly Hght,
As thefe ftone walles deprive our wifhed fight.
Ed. Spencer.
As Phoebus throwes
His beames abroade, though hee in clouds bee clos'd,
Still glauncing by them, till fhe finde oppos'd
A loofe and rorid vapour, that is fit
T'event his fearching beames, and ufeth it
To forme a twentie coloured eie,
Caft in a circle round about the fkie.
So when our fierie Soule, our bodies ftarre,
(That ever is in motion circular)
Conceives a form, in feeking to difplay it,
Through all our cloudy parts it doth convey it
Forth at the eye, as the most pregnant place,
And that reflects it round about the face.
Idem.
And as the moyfture which the thirflie earth
Sucks from the fea, to fill her emptie vaines,
From out her wombe at laft doth take a birth,
And runnes a lymph along the graffie plaines :
Long doth fliee fhay, as loth to leave the land
From whofe foft fide fhe firft did iffue make.
She tafts all places, turnes to everie hand,
Her flowry bankes unwilling to forfake ;
Yet nature fo her ftreames doth leadc and carrie.
of our English Poets. 325
As that her courfe doth make no finall ftay,
Till fhe her felfe unto the ocean niarrie,
Within whofe watrie bofome firft fhee lay.
Even fo the Soule, within this earthly mould,
The Spirit of God doth fecretly infuse,
Becaufe at firft shee doth the earth behold,
And onely this materiall world shee viewes :
At firft her mother Earth shee holdeth deere,
And doth imbrace the world, and worldly things,
She flies clofe by the ground, and hovers heere.
And mounts not up with her celefliall wings :
Yet under heaven fhee cannot light on ought
That with her heavenly nature doth agree,
She cannot reft, flie cannot fixe her thought,
She cannot in this world contented bee.
[Nosce Teipsum, Sect. 30, Reason 2.] I. Davies.
So when the Soule findes heere no true content.
And, like Noahs dove, can no fure footing take,
Shee doth returne from whence ihee firft was fcnt.
And flies to Him that firft her wings did make.
[Ibid., ibid.'] Idem.
Heaven waxcth old, and all the fpheares above
Shall one day faynt, and their fwift motion ftay ;
And time it felfe, in time, fliall ceafe to moove,
Onely the Soule furvives, and lives for aye.
[Ibid., Sect. 31.] Idem.
For when the Soule is drowned once in vice.
The fweete of finne makes hell a Paradice.
[Legend i>f Piiid- Ga-,'i-sio/i, 1596, st. 53.] .M. DuA'sroN.
326 The CJioyscst Floivcrs
As is the fable of the lady faire,
Which, for her luft was turnde into a cow,
When thirftie to a ftreame flie did repaire.
And faw her felfe transformde, flie wift not how.
At firft, fine ftartles, then fhe ftands amazd.
At laft, with terror fhe from thence doth flie,
And loathes the watry glaffe wherein fhe gazd,
And fhunnes it ftill, though she for thirft doth die.
Even fo, mans Soule, which did Gods image beare,
And was at firft, faire, good, and fpotleffe pure,
Since with her fmnes her beauties blotted were.
Doth, of all fights, her owne fight leaft indure ;
For even at firft refleftion she efpies
Such ftrange chimeraes, and fuch monfters there,
Such toyes, fuch antickes, and fuch vanities,
As she retyres, and shrinks for shame and feare.
\_Nosce Teipsmn. Introduction.] I. Davis.
And as the man loves leaft at home to bee,
That hath a fluttish houfe, haunted with fpirits,
So she, impatient her owne faults to fee,
Turnes from her felfe, and in ftrange things delights.
\^Ibid., ibid.] IDEM.
Tis a facred cure
To falve the Soules dread wounds : omnipotent
That nature is that cures the impotent.
Even in a moment, fure grace is infusde
By divine favour, not by a6lions ufde,
Which is as permanent as heavens bliffe
of our English Poets. 327
To them that have it, then no habit is.
{^Scourge of Villany, 1598.] I. Marston.
That learned father, which fo firmely prooves
The SoLile of man immortall and divine,
And doth the feverall offices define :
ANIMA.
Gives her that name, as she the body moves,
AMOR.
Then is shee love imbracing charitie.
ANIMUS.
Moving the will in us, it is the mind.
MENS.
Retaining knowledge, ftill the fame in kind.
MEMORIA.
As intelle6tuall, it is the memorie.
RATIO.
In judging, reafon onely is her name.
SENSUS.
In fpccdie apprehenfion, it is scnce.
CONSCIENTIA.
In right or wrong, men call her confcience.
SPIRITUS.
The fpirit, when to godward it doth inflame,
Thefe of the Soule the feverall functions bee.
M. Dravion.
328 Tlic CJioyscst Flowers
Like as two bellowes blowen, turne by turne,
By little and little make cold coles to burne,
And then their fire inflamde with glowing heate
An iron barre, which on the anvile beate
Seemes no more yron, but flies almoft all
In hiffing fparkles and quicke-bright cinders fmall :
So the worlds Soule should in our foule infpire
Th' eternall force of an eternall fire,
And then our foule (as forme) breathe in our corfe
Her countleffe numbers, and heavens turned force,
Wherewith our bodyes beautie beautified,
Should, like our deathleffe foule, have never died.
\Translatiou from Dit Barias.'] J. Sylvester.
OF SORROW.
In blacke all clad, there fell before my face
A pitteous wight, whom woe had all forewaft ;
Forth on her eyes the criftall teares out braft,
And, fighing fore, her hands she wrung and fold,
Tare all her haire, that ruth was to behold.
Her body fmall, forwithered and forefpent,
As is the ftalke that fummers drought oppreft.
Her welked face with wofull teares befprent :
Her colour pale, (as it feemed her beft,)
In woe and plaint repofed was her reft :
And as the ftone that drops of water weares.
So dented were her cheekes with fall of teares.
Her eyes full fwollen with flowing ftreames afloate,
of our English Poets. 329
Where with her lookes throwne up full pitioufly,
Her forceleffe handes together oft flie fmote,
With dolefull fhrikes that ecchoed in the fkie :
Whofe plaint fuch fighs did ftrait accompanie,
That, in my dome, was never man did fee
A wight but halfe fo woe begone as fhee.
Sorrow I am, in endleffe torments pained,
Among the furies in th' infernall lake,
Where Pluto, god of hell, fo grifly blacke,
Doth hold his throne ; and Lathes deadly tafte
Doth reve remembrance of each thing forepaft.
{luductiflii fo M.forM., edit 16 10, p. 257.] M. Sackvile.
Sorrows firft leader of this furious crowde,
Muffled all over in a fable clowde,
Olde before age, affli6led night and day,
Her face with wrinkles warped everie way ;
Creeping in corners, where fhee fits and vies
Sighs from her heart, teares for her blubbered eies,
Accompanied with felfe-confuming care,
With weeping, pittie, thought, and mad difpayre,
That beares about her burning coles and cords,
Afpes, poyfons, piftols, haulters, knives, and fwords,
Foule fquinting envie, that felfe-cating elfe,
Through others leanneffc fatting up her fclfe,
Joyning in mifchiefc, feeding but with langour.
And bitter teares, her toad-like fwelling anger,
And jealoufic that never fleepcs for fcare,
(Sufpitious flea, ftill nibling in her care)
That leaves repafl and rcfl;, neere pinde aiul bliiulc,
U I'
:)o^
TJic CJioysest Floivcrs
With feeking what fliee would bee loth to fitide.
J. Sylvester.
Two inward vulturs, forrow and difdaine ;
Sorow, misfortunes fonne, difpayres foule fire.
Ed. Fairfax.
Sorrow breakes feafons and repofing howres,
Makes the night morning, and the noone-tide night.
\Richard III, 1597, act i, sc. 4.] W. Shakespeare.
Sorrow is ftill unwilling to give over.
S. Daniell.
Sorrow grows fenceleffe, when too much flie beares.
\_Mortimeriados, 1596.] M. Dr.
For Sorrow, like a heavie hanging bell,
Once fet on ringing, with his owne weight goes ;
Then little ftrength rings out the dolefuU knel.
[Lncrece, 1594, st. 215.] W. Sh.
It is fome eafe our Sorrowes to reveale,
If they to whome we fhall impart our woes
Seeme but to feele a part of what we feele,
And meete us with a figh but at a clofe.
[Tragedy of Cleopatra, I594-] S. Dantell.
Sighes the poor eafe calamitie afifoords,
Which ferve for fpeech, when Sorrow wanteth words.
[Complaint 0/ Kosa7notid, 1592, st. 117.] IDEM.
Fell Sorrowes tooth doth never ranckle more
Then when he bites, but launcheth not the fore.
[S/iakespean's Richard II, 1597, act. i, sc. 3.] Idem.
of our English Poets. 331
Nay, but Sorrow, clofe flirouded in the heart
I know to keep is a burdenous fmart :
Each thing imparted, is more eath to beare ;
When the raine is faUn, the cloudes wexen cleere.
{Shepherd's Calendar, I579- September.] Ed. Spenckr.
Sorrow ne neede to be haftened on,
For he will come without calling anon.
[Ibid. May.] Idem.
For gnarling Sorrow hath leffe powre to bite
The man that mocks at it, and fets it light.
[Shakespeare's Richard 11., act i, sc. 3.] Ed. Spencer.
He that his Sorrow fought, through wilfulneffe.
And his foe fettered would releafe againe,
Deferves to taft his follies fruit, repented paine.
Ed. Spencer.
Mirth doth fearch the bottom of annoy.
Sad foules are flaine in mirthie companie ;
Greefe beft is pleasde with griefes focietie :
True Sorrow then is feelingly fufifizde,
When with like Sorrow it is fympathizde.
True Sorrow hath not ever a wet eye.
Th. Dekkar.
Sad Sorrow ever longs to hearc her worfl.
[Tragedy of Cleopatra., '594-] S. D.
^ "> TJic Choysest Flozvers
JO-
SU SPIT ION.
For falfe Sufpition of another is
A fure condemning of our owne amis.
[Skialetheia, 1598, Sat. 4.] Edw. Guilpin.
Miflrull doth treafon in the truftieft raife :
Sufpitious Romulus ftain'd his walles, firft rear'd,
With brothers bloud, whom for Hght leape he feard.
So, not in brotherhood jealoufie may bee borne.
The jealous cuckold weares th' infamous home.
{Legend of Lord Hastings, edit. 1610, p. 421.] M. of M.
Rivalles in love will be fufpitious quickly.
I. Weever.
The marchant, traffiking' abroad, fufpe6ls his wife at home :
A youth wil play the wanton, and an old man prove a mome.
\Albions England, edit. 1602, B. iv, ch. xx.] W. Warner.
TEA RES.
These two parts belong
Unto true knowledge; words and Teares have force
To moove compaffion in the favage mindes
Of brutifh people, reafon wanting kindes.
Tho. Middleton.
Teares, vows, and prayers, gainc the hardeft hearts.
[Tragedy of Cleopatra, 1594.] S» Daniell.
of our English Poets. 333
Teares worke no truce, but where the heart is tender.
[Phillis, 1593.] D. Lodge.
Teares harden luft, though marble weare with raining.
[Lucrece, 1594, st. 81.] W. Sh.
Seld fpeaketh love, but fighes his fecret paines ;
Teares are his truch-men, words do make him tremble.
[Menaphon, or Arcadia, 1589.] R. Greene.
Teares cannot foften flint, nor vowes convert.
S. D.
A dolefull cafe deflres a dolefull fong.
Without vaine art or curious complements ;
And fquallid fortune, into bafeneffe flong,
Doth fcorne the pride of wonted ornaments.
[Tears 0/ i/te Muses, i^cji. Polyhymnia.] Ed. Spencer.
TEMPERANCE.
But Temperance (faid he), with golden fquire,
Betwixt them both can meafure out a meane ;
Neither to melt in pleafures hot defire,
Nor frie in heartlcffe griefe and dolefull teenc :
Thrife happie man who faires them both a tweene !
\_Fairy Qiiccii, B. ii, c i, st. 58.] Ed. Spencer.
Who ever doth to Temperance applie
His ftcdfaft life, and all his a6lions frame,
Truft mee, fliall finde no greater encmic
Then ftubbornc perturbation to the fame ;
jj4
TJie Choysest Floivers
To \\ hich right well the wife doe give that name,
for it the goodly peace of ftayed mindes
Does overthrow, and troublous warre proclaime :
His owne woes author, who fo bound it finds,
As did Pyrrhocles, and it wilfully unbindes.
[Fairy Queen, B. ii, c v, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
A harder leffon to learne continence
In joyous pleafure, then in greevous paine ;
For fweetneffe doth allure the weaker fence
So ftrongly, that unneathes it can refraine
From that which feeble nature covets faine.
But greefe and wrath, that bee her enemies
And foes of life, fliee better can abftaine.
Yet vertue vaunts in both her vi6lories.
\Ibid , B. ii, c. vi, st. i.j
Idem.
O ! in what fafetie Temperance doth reft.
When it findes harbour in a kingly breft.
{Epistle, Matilda to King John, edit. 1599.]
M. Drayton.
Of all Gods works, v/hich do this world adorne,
There is no one more fayre and excellent
Then is mans body, both for power and forme,
Whiles it is kept in fober governement :
But none then it more foule and indecent,
Diftempered through misrules, and paffions bafe ;
It growes a monfter, and incontinent
Doth loofe his dignitie and native grace.
{Fairy (2!U'cn, B. ii, c. i.\, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
of our EnglisJi Poets. 335
THOUGHTS.
But Thoughts the flave of life, and Hfe times foole ;
And time, that takes furvey of all the world,
Muft have a ftop.
{Henry IV, Part I, 1598, act v, sc. 4.] W. Shakespeare.
Thoughts are but dreames, till their effects be tried.
ILucrece, 1594, st. 52.] Idem.
Who fo thinkes many things brings fewto a fortunate ending.
[Lady 0/ Pembroke's Ivyc/u/rch, 1591.] A. Fraunce.
The feeble eyes of our afpiring Thoughts
Behold things prefent, and record things paft ;
But things to come, exceede our humane reach.
G. Peele.
For unftain'd Thoughts do feldome dreame on evil ;
Birdes, never limde, no fecret bullies feare.
Lucrece, 1594, st. 13.] W. Sh.
If all mens Thoughts were written in their face,
Some one that now the reft doth overcrow,
Some other eke that wants his foveraignes grace,
When as their prince their inwardc thoughts fliould know,
The meaner man fhould take the betters place,
The greater man might ftoope and fit below.
[Orlando Fiirioso, 1591, V>. xix, st. 2.] S. J. Harrington.
336 The CJioyscst Floi^'crs
TIME.
Great enemie to it, and to all the reft
That in the garden of Adonis fprings,
Is wicked Time ; who, with his fithe addreft,
Does mow the flowring herbes and goodly things,
And all their glorie to the ground downe flings,
Where they do wither, and are foully marde :
He flies about, and with his flaggie wings
Beates downe both leaves and buds without regard,
Ne ever pittie may relent his malice hard.
[Fairy Queen, B. iii, c. vi, st. 39.] Ed. Spencer.
Mifhapen Time, coapsmate of ugly night,
Swift fubtill poaft, carrier of griflie care,
Eater of youth, falfe flave to falfe delight,
Bafe watch of woes, finnes pack-horfe, vertues fnare,
Thou nurfeft all, and murthereft all that are.
[Lucrece, 1594, st. 134.] W. Shakespeare.
O ! ftealing Time, the fubjecl to delay.
[Arcadia, edit. 1598, p. 354.] S. Ph. Sydney.
Times golden thigh
Upholdes the flowrie body of the earth
In facred harmonic, and everie birth
Of men, and aftions makes legitimate;
Being ufde aright, the ufe of time is fate.
[Hero and Leaiidcr, Sest. 3.] G. Chapman.
No mortall forme, that under moone remaines,
Exempt from traitcroiis Time, continucth one.
of our English Poets. 337
Now mountes the floud, and ftraight his waves reftrains ;
Now flowes the tyde, and ftrait the fourfe is gone ;
Who toyles by fea muft choofe the fayrefb gale,
For Time abodes our good or badde availe.
\Elstred, appended to Phillis, 1593.] D. Lodge.
All thofe that live, and thinke themfelves but flime,
Muft choofe and thrive by favour of the Time.
Idem.
Swift fpeedie Time, feathered with flying howres,
Diffolves the beautie of the fayreft browe.
{Diana, 1592, son. 31.] S. Daniell.
Time doth confume fame, honour, wit, and ftrength ;
Time kills the greeneft herbes and fweeteft flow'rs ;
Time roots out youth and beauties looke, at length.
{The Ekatompathia (1581), son. ']'].'] Th. Watson.
Time, wanting bonds, ftill wanteth certaintie.
M. Dr.
To fames rich trcafure Time unlocks the doore,
Which angrie Fortune had fhut up before.
{Mfliiiiurriados, 1596.] Idem.
Time is a bondflavc to cternitic.
{Tragedy of Conu'Iia, 1594.] Tno. K\'n.
For all that lives is fubjedl to that law,
All things decay in Time, and to their end do draw.
{I-'airy (2itcni, \\. iii, c. vi, si. 40.] Kli. Sr-ENCER.
X .\
J.5<
The Choyscst Flowers
What wrong hath not continuance out-worne ;
Yeares makes that right that never was fo borne.
\Civil Wars, 1609, B. iv, st. 90.] S. Daniell.
Good time is bleft, badde time wee hold accurft,
Time hurts them oft that he did helpe at firft.
{Challenge, 1593.] T. CHURCHYARD.
Times glory is to calme contending kings,
To unmafke falshood, and bring truth to light,
To ftampe the feale of Time in aged things.
To wake the morne, and fentinell the night,
To wrong the wronger till hee render right ;
To ruinate proude buildings with thy howres,
And fmeare with duft their glittering golden towres :
To fill with u^orm-holes ftately monuments,
To feede oblivion with decay of things.
To blot old bookes, and alter their contents.
To pluck the quilles from auncient ravens wing.s,
To drie the old okes fappe, and cherifh fprings.
To fpoyle antiquities of hammered fteele.
And turne the giddie round of Fortunes wheele ;
To fliew the beldame daughters of her daughter,
To make the child a man, the man a child,
To flay the tyger that doth live by flaughter,
To tame the unicorne and lyon wilde,
To mock the fubtill, in themfelves beguild.
To chccre the plow-man with increafefull crops,
And wafte huge ftones with little water-drops.
{Lncrece, 1594,51. 136.] W. Shakespeare.
of our English Poets. 339
TR UTH.
The Truth doth dwell within the holy tables
Of Gods live word, not in our wanton braine,
Which daily coyning fome ftrange error vaine,
For gold takes lead, for Truth ele6leth fables,
{Triumph of Faith, 4to, 1592.] J. Silvester.
Truth is no harauld, nor no fophift fure.
She noteth not mens names, their fheelds nor crefts,
Though fhee compare them unto birds and beafts ;
But whom fhe doth forefliew fliall raigne by force,
Shee tearmes a woolfe, a dragon, or a beare ;
A wilfull prince, a raigneleffe raging horfe,
A boar, a lion ; a coward, much in feare,
A hare or hart ; a craftie pricked eare ;
A lecherous, a bull, a goate, a foale ;
An underminer, a mould-warpe or a moale.
{Legend of Duke of Clarence, edit. 1610, p. 386.] M. of M.
Tried Truth
Doth beft befeeme a fimple naked tale ;
Ne needes to bee with paynted proceffe prickt.
That in her felfe hath no diverfitie,
But alwayes fhewes one undifguifed face ;
Where deepe deceit and lies do fecke the fliade,
And wrappe their words in guilcfull eloquence,
As ever fraught with contrarictie.
{Tragedy of Jocasta, edit. 1587, act ii, sc. i.] G. Gascoigne.
The Truth hath certaine bounds, but falfliood none.
{Micsophilus, to Fiillcc Grcvillc, 1599.] S. Dan I ell.
340 The CJioysest Flowers
The naked Truth is a well-clothed lie ;
A nimble quicke pate mounts to dignitie
By force or fraud, that matters not a jot
So maffie wealth may fall unto thy lot.
\Scoiirge of Villany, 1598, Sat. 5.] lo. Marston.
TREASON.
CONSPIRACIE gainft the perfon of a prince,
Is Treafon gainft the Deitie of heaven.
Th. Achellye.
For Treafon is but trufted like the foxe ;
Who, nere fo tame, fo cheriflit, and lockt up.
Will have a wilde tricke of his auncetors.
[A'. Henry VI, 1598, act v, sc. 2.] W. Sh.
No vertue merits prayfe, once toucht with blot of Treafon.
\Astrophel and Stella, edit. 1598, p. 553.] S. Phil. Sydney.
Who fayleth one is falfe, though trufty to another.
\^Ibid., ibid.'] IDEM.
There is no Treafon woundeth halfe fo deepe
As that which doth in princes bofome fleepe.
[iMortimeriados, 1596.J M. Drayton.
Who that refisteth his dread foveraigne lord,
Doth damne his foule by Gods owne verie word :
A chriftian fubje6l fhould, with honour due.
Obey his foveraigne, though he were a jew;
of any English Poets.
341
Whereby affur'd, when fubjefls do rebell,
Gods wrath is kindled, and threatneth fire and hell.
{Legend of Michael Joseph, edit. 16 10, p. 471.] M. of M.
Was never rebell, heretofore or fince,
That could or fliall prevaile againft his prince.
\Ibid., ibid., p. 469.] IDEM.
Revolted fubje^ls of themfelves will quaile.
J. Sylvester.
TYRANNIE.
Next to Tyrannic
Comes warres, difcention, civill mutinie.
In greateft wants t'infli6l the greateft woe,
This is the utmoft Tyrannic can doe.
[J/. Drayton^ s Epistle, Matilda to K. John^
PI ell haleth tyrants downe to death amaine
Was never yet, nor fliall bee, cruell deede
Left unrewarded with as cruell meed.
{Legend of Lord Clifford, edit. 1610, p. 367.]
For no Tyrant commonly
Living ill, can kindly die;
But either, traytcroufly furprizde,
Doth coward poyfon quayle their breath,
Or their people have dcvizde.
Ch. Middl.
Idem.
M. of M.
342 TJie C hoys est Flowers
Or theyr guard, to feeke their death.
{Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594, Chor. in act iv.] Tho. Kyd.
It is an hell in hatefull vaffallage,
Under a Tyrant to confume ones age ;
A felfe-fhaven Dennis, or a Nero fell,
Whofe curfed courts with bloud and inceft fwell :
An owle that flyes the light of parliaments
And ftate affemblies, jealous of th' intents
Of private tongues, who for a paftime fets
His peeres at oddes, and on their furie whets,
Who neither fayth, honour, nor right refpe6ls.
Idem.
VERTUE.
What one art thou, thus in torne weede yclad ?
Vertue, in price whom auncieiit fages had :
Why poorely rayd .-* for fading goods paft care :
Why double-fac'd .'' I marke each fortunes fare :
This bridle what } mindes rages to reftraine :
Tooles why beare you .-' I love to take great paine :
Why wings .'* I teach above the ftarres to flie :
Why treade you death .-* I onely cannot die.
[A'^. Grimald, in TottelPs Miscellany, 1557.] S. Th. Wiat,
The path that leades to Vertues court is nerrow,
Thornie, and up a hill, a bitter journey ;
But, being gone through, you find al heavenly f\\ eets :
Th' entrance is all flintic, but at th' end
of our English Poets. 343
Two towres of pearles and criftall you afcend.
{Comedy of Fortiinattis, 1600.] Th. Dekkar.
Idem.
Idem.
Vertue is fayrefb in a poore heart, aye.
Vertue abhorres too weare a borrowed face.
The wifeft fcholler of the wight nioft wife,
By Phoebus doome, with fugred fentence faies,
That Vertue, if it once met with our eyes,
Strange flames of love it in our foules would raife.
{A strophel and Stella, Nash's edit., 1590: fo. 1598, son. 25.]
S. Ph. Sydney.
That growes apace, that Vertue helps t'afpire.
M. ROYDON.
When Vertue rifeth, bafe affections fall.
Ed. Fairfax.
Like as the horfe, well mand, abides the bit.
And learnes his ftoppe by raine in riders hand,
Where mountaine-colt, that is not fadled yet,
Runnes headlong on amidft the fallowed land,
Whofe fierce refift fcarce bendes with any band ;
So men, reclaim'd by Vertue, tread aright,
Where, leddc by follies, mifchiefes on them liglit.
[Tn/t/i's Complaint over England, 1584.] D. Lodoe.
Vertue doth curb affection, and for confcicncc flicth fin ;
To leave, for imperfe6lion, feare, or fhame, no praifc dotli
winne.
{Atliions F.milaiid. edit, r6o2, R. i\, cli. liii.] W. Wakn'KK.
344 ^/^^ Choysest Floiuers
Vertue it felfe turnes vice, being mifapplyed,
And vice fometime 's by a6lion dignified.
{Romeo and Juliet, act ii, sc. 3.] W. Shakespeare.
Vertue in greatefl daunger is best fhowne,
And, though oppreft, yet never overthrowne.
[Civil Wars, edit. 1609, B. vi, st. 78.] S. Daniell.
In only Vertue it is faid, that men themfelves furvive.
\_Albions England, B. iv, c. xxi.] W. W.
Honour, indeede, and all things yeeld to death,
Vertue excepted, which alone furvives ;
And living, toyleth in an earthlie gaile,
At lafl to be extol'd in heavens high joyes.
T. KvD.
All things decay, yet Vertue fhall not die ;
This onely gives us immortalitie.
{Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 155.] M. Dravtox.
Whence is it that the flowret of the field doth fade,
And lyeth buried long in winters bale ;
Yet, foon as fpring his mantle doth difplay,
It flowreth frefh, as it fliould never faile }
But thing on earth that is of mofl availe,
As Vertues braunch and beauties bud,
Reliven not for any good ;
The braunch once dead, the bud eke needes mufl quaile.
[Sheplm-d's Calendar. November.) Ed. Spencer.
All that wee had, or mortall men can have,
Seemes oneh- but a (hadow from the grave ;
of our English Pods. 345
Vertue alone li\'e.s ftill.
{Comedy of Fortniiatiis, 1600.] Th. Dekkar.
Vertue is more amiable and more fweete,
When Vertue and true majeftie doe meete.
E. Spencer.
All forow in the world is leffe
Then Vertues might, and valures confidence ;
For who will bide the burden of diftreffe
Muft not heere thinke to live, for life is wretchednes.
Idem.
Vertue makes honour, as the foule doth fence,
And merit farre exceedes inheritance.
{Ovid's Banquet of Sence, 1595.] G. Chapman.
For Vertue, of the auncient bloud or kin.
Doth onely praife the men that vertuous bin.
{Legend of K. Kimarus, edit. 1610, p. 104.] M. of M.
For onely Vertue noblcneffe doth dignifie,
And vicious life a linage bafe doth fignifie.
{Orlando Fi/rioso, R. ii, st. 58 ] S. J. HARRINGTON.
The fimple Vertue may confist alone.
But better are two vertues joynd in one.
D. Lodge.
What Vertue gets, once got, doth never wafle,
And having this, this thou for ever hafte.
{Epistle, Matilda to Mngjolin, edit. 1599] ^T. Dravton.
34^ TJic CJioyscst Flowers
Joy graven in fence, like fnow in water wafts :
Without prcferve of Vertue, nothing lafts.
{^Hcro and Lcaiidcr, 1600, Sest. 3.] G. Chapman.
Vertue obfcnrde yeeldes fmall and fory gaines,
But aftively imployed, true worth retaines.
[Fig for Mojims, \'^%. Eclogue 4.] D.Lodge.
What Vertue breedes, iniquitie devours,
We have no good that w^e can fay is ours :
But ill annexed opportunitie,
Or killes his life, or else his qualitie.
Ljicrece, 1594, st. 126.] W. Sh.
Vertue dies not ; her tomb we need not rayfe :
Let them truft tombs, which have out-liv'd their praife.
\Chrestoleros, 1598, B. iv, epig. 31.] Th. Bastard.
VICE.
Vice rides a horfeback, vertue doth from out the faddle
boult.
\_Albions England, B. v, c. xxviii.] W. Warner.
What licour firft the earthen pot doth take,
It keepeth ftill the favour of that fame ;
Full hard it is a cramocke ftraight to make,
Or crooked logges \\ith wainfcot fine to frame :
Tis hard to make the cruell tyger tame;
And fo it fares with thofe ha\'e Vices caught,
of our English Poets. 347
Nought once (they fay,) and ever after nought.
{Legend of K. Madan, edit. 1610, p. 45.] M. of M.
Although that vertue oft wants due reward,
Yet feldome Vice wants due deferved blame.
{Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. vii, st. 28.] S. J. H.
Where Vice is countenanc'd with nobihtie,
Art cleane excluded, ignorance held in,
Blinding the world with meere hypocrifie.
Yet muft bee footh'd in all their flavifli finne ;
Great malcontents to grow they then beginne,
Nurfing vild wittes, to make their fa6lious tooles ;
Thus mightie men oft proove the mightieft fooles.
{Mortimeriados, 1596: B. iv, st. 62, edit. 1603.] M. DRAYTON.
VICTOR V.
With Victorie revenge did ever ceafe.
{Orlando Furioso, B. xxxvi, st. 10.] S. J. H.
For hee lives long, that dies vi6lorious.
{Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594, act iv.] Tn. Kvn.
The vi6lor can no honour juflly claimc
To loofe the men who fhould advauncc the fame.
{No author nained7\
That fisher is not fine,
Who for a frogge will loofe a golden line :
348 TJic Choysest Flozvers
The holy head-band feemes not to attyre
The head of him, who, in his furious ire,
Preferres the paine of thofe that have him teend,
Before the health and fafetie of one friend.
[History of Judith, 1584, B. iv.] Tho. Hudson.
Vaine is the vaunt, and Vi6lorie unjuft,
That more to mightie hands then rightful caufe doth truft.
Edw. Spencer.
Loffe is no fhame, nor to bee leffe then foe ;
But to be leffer then himfelfe doth marre
Both loofers lotte, and vi6lors praife alfo :
Vaine others overthrowes, who felf doth overthrow.
[Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. v, st. 15.] IDEM.
UNDER S TA NDING.
Most miferable creature under fkie
Man without Underftanding doth appeare ;
For all this worlds affliftion he thereby,
And fortunes freates, is wifely taught to beare :
Of wretched life the onely joy fhee is,
And th' onely comfort in calamities ;
She armes the breaft with conftant patience
Againft the bitter throwes of dolours darts ;
She folaceth, with rules of fapience.
The gentle mindes in midfl of worldly fmarts ;
When he is fadde, fhe feekes to make him merie.
of our English Poets. 349
And doth refrefli his fpirits when they bee wearie.
[Tears of the Muses, i^cji. Melpomene.] Ed. Spencer.
VO WES.
Good Vowes are never broken with good deedes,
For then good deedes were bad : Vowes are but feeds,
And good deedes fruits.
[Hero and Leandcr, Sest. 3.] G. Chapman.
Wee know not how to vow, till love unblind us ;
And Vowes, made ignorantly, never binde us.
[Ibid., ibid.'] Idem.
Our Vowes muft bee perform'd to Gods and kings.
[Moriiincriados, 1596: B. ii, st. 30, edit. 1603.] M. Drayton.
A promife made for feare, is voyde.
A man fuch promife muft forfake.
As at the firft unlawfull was to make.
S.J. H.
Idem.
VIRGINITIE.
Like to the rofe I count the virgin pure,
That growth on native flemme in garden fayre ;
Which, while it fhands with walles environ'd furo,
Where herd-men with their herds can not repayrc,
To favour it it fccmclh to allure
oy
The CJioyscst Floivers
The morning dew, the heate, the earth, the ayre :
Gallant yong men and lovely dames delight
In their fweete fent, and in their pleafing fight :
But when that once tis gathered, and gone
From proper ftalke, where late before it grew,
The love, the liking, little is or none ;
Favour and grace, beautie and all, adue !
So when a virgin graunts to one alone
The precious flower for which fo many fue,
Well hee that getteth it may love her beft,
But fhee forgoes the love of all the reft.
[Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. i, st. 42.J S. J. H.
Jewels being loft, are found againe, this never ;
Tis loft but once, and once loft, loft for ever.
[Hero and Lcander, 1598, Sest. 2.] Ch. Marlow.
Virginitie, though prayfed, is alike perform'd, for why 1
As much the flefh is frayle therein, as in the feare to die ;
What, was it fayd to all but us increafe and multiplie .''
[Albions England, B. xii, ch. Ixxi.] W. Warner.
Virginitie
Is neither effence fubject to the eye.
No, nor to any one exterior fence ;
Nor hath it any place of refidence ;
Nor is't of earth, or mould celeftiall,
Or capable of any forme at all.
[Hero and Leafider, 1598, Sect, i.] Ch. Marlow,
I know not her that willingly with maiden-head would die.
[Albions England, B. xii, ch. Ixxi. edit. 1602.] W. W.
of our English Pods. 35 i
USE.
Use makes things nothing huge, and huge things nothing.
\_Ovid''s Banquet of ScncL^ 1 595-1 G. Chapmax.
Foule cankering ruft the hidden treafure frets,
But gold, thats put to Ufe, more gold begets.
\_Veniis and Adonis, 1593, st. 128.] W. Sh.
WARRE.
Lastly ftood Warre, in glittering armes yclad,
With vifage grimme, fterne lookes and blackely hewed :
In his right hand a naked fword hee had,
That to the hilts was all with bloud imbrude;
And in his left, (that kings and kingdomes rued,)
Famine and fire he held ; and therewithall
Hee rafed townes, and threw downe towres and all.
Cities hee fackt, and realmes that whilome flowred
In honour, glorie, and rule above the beft,
Hee overwhelm'd, and all their fame devoured,
Confumde, deflroyde, wafted ; and never ceafl
Till hee their wealth, their name, and all oppreft.
His face forhewed with woundes, and by his fide
There hung his targe, with gallies deepe and wide ;
In niidft of which, dcpainted there wee founde
Deadly debate, all full of fnakie hayre,
That with a bloudy fillet was ybound.
Out -breathing nought but difcord everie where.
{fndi/ffioi! to M. for .I/"., edit. t6io. p. 2^1^.] M. SACKVtLl.K
03
2 TIic CJioyscst Flo-ci'crs
The poets old in their fond fables faine,
That mightie Mars is god of Warre and ftrife :
Th' aftronomers think, where Mars doth raign,
That all debate and difcord muft bee rife :
Some thinke Bellona, goddeffe of that life.
So that fome one and fome another judge
To be the caufe of every greevous grudge.
Among the reft that painter had fome fkill,
Which thus in armes did once fet out the fame :
A field of gules, and, on a golden hill,
A ftately towne confumed all with flame ;
On chiefe of fable, (taken from the dame,)
A fucking babe, O ! borne to bide mifchance !
Begoard with bloud, and pierced with a launce.
On high the helme, I beare it well in mind,
The wreath was fdver, powdred all with fhot,
About the \\]\\c\\ goiitte dii fang did twind
A rowle of fable blacke, and foule beblot ;
The creft two hands, which may not bee forgot,
For in the right a trenchant blade did ftand,
And in the left a fierie burning brand.
[Duke Bellum Tinwficrfis, st. 5, edit. 1587.] G. Gascoioxe.
Warre, the miftreffe of cnormitie,
Mother of mifchiefe, monfter of deformitie ;
Lawes, manners, arts, fhee breakes, fhee marres, fhee chaces :
Bloud, teares, bowres, towres, flie fpils, fmites, burns, and
races ;
Her brafen teeth fhake al the earth afunder ;
Her mouth a fire-brand, and her voyce a thunder ;
Her lookes are lightning, everie glaunce a flalh ;
of our English Poets. 35
050
Her fingers guns, that all to powder pafli :
Feare and difpayre, flight and diforder, coaft
With haftie march before her murderous hoaft,
As burning, wafte, rape, wrong, impietie,
Rage, mines, difcord, horror, crueltie,
Sacke, facriledge, impunitie, pride.
Are ftill fterne conforts by her barbarous fide ;
And povertie, forrow, and defolation.
Follow her armies bloudie transmieration.
't>'
J. SVLVESTER.
O Warre ! begot in pride and luxurie,
The child of wrath and of diffention ;
Horrible good, mifchiefe neceffarie.
The foule reformer of confufion ;
Unjuft juft fcourge for our iniquitie,
Cruell recurer of corruption.
\Civil IVars, B. iv, st. 46.] S. Daniell.
O goodly ufage of thofe anticke times.
In which the fword was fervant unto right ;
When not for malice and contentious crimes,
But all for praife, and proofe of manly might,
The martiall broode accuftomed to fight :
Then honour was the meede of victorie,
And yet the vanquifhed had no defpight.
Let later age, that noble ufe envie,
Vild rancour fo avoyd, and cruell furqucdry.
[Fairy Queen, B. iii, c i, st. 13.] En. Spencer.
Warre, rightly handled, is moft excellent.
And eafic makes impoffibilitic ;
/, Z
354 ^^'^' CJioysest Flowers
It mounts the Alps, and through the feas doth rent ;
By it in blond a way to heaven we fee.
\^Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvile, 1595.] I. Markham.
Under Warres brazen feete ftoopes all the earth,
His mouth a flaming brand, his voyce a thunder.
Idem.
No Warre is right, but that which needfull is.
S. Daniell.
But mighty Mars hath many men in ftore,
Which wait alwaies to keepe his kingdome up :
Of whom no one doth fhew his fervice more,
Then lingring hope, which ftill doth beare his cup,
And flatteringly lendes everie man a fup.
Which haunts his court, or in his progreffe paffe :
Hope brings the bowle wherin they all mufl quaffe.
[Ditlce Belluiii Inexpertis, st. 87, edit. 1587.] G. Gascoigne.
That Warre feemes fweete to fuch as raunge it not.
\Ibi(L, St. 71 ; also, S. J. H's. Orl. Fur., B. xxxviii, c. Ixvii.]
Idem.
Men know not Warre, nor rightly how to deeme it,
That firft by War have not been taught t' efteeme it.
[Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xxxi, st. 2.] S. J. H.
Since wife men ever have preferred farre,
Th' unjufteft peace, before the jufteft Warre.
[Ch'il JTir/s, B. i. st. 73, edit. i6o>J S. Damell.
of our English Poets. 355
When true obferving providence and Warre,
Still makes their foes farre ftronger than they are.
[Civil IVa/s, B. vi, st. 4.] S. Danikll.
Sad be the fights and bitter fruits of Warre,
And thoufande furies wait on wrathfuU fword ;
Ne ought the prayfe of proweffe more doth marre,
Then foule revenging rage, and bafe contentious jarre.
\_Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. ii, st. 30.] Ed. Spencer.
Great revenevv,
The which chief finews unto Warre affoords.
[Sir J. Harington^s Orla)ido Furioso, B. xxxi, st. 49.] D. Lodge.
For ftill thefe broils, that publike good pretend,
Worke mofl injuftice, being doone through fpight ;
For thofe agreeved evermore doe bend
Againft fuch as they fee of greateft might ;
Who though they cannot help what will go ill,
Yet fmce they may do wrong, are thought they will.
{Civil Wars, B. i, st. 37, edit. 1609.] S. Daniell.
Mars is Cupidoes friend ;
And is for Venus love renouned more,
Then al the wars and fpoyles the which he did before.
Ed. Spenclk.
WILL.
From idle witte there fprings a braine-fickc Will,
With wife men luft, which foolish make a gt^i,
356
The Choysest Flowers
This in the Ihape of vertue raigneth ftill.
[Phil/is, 1593.J D. Lodge.
Will puts in practife what the wit devifeth :
Will ever acts, and wit contemplates ftill ;
And as from witte the power of wifedome rifeth,
All other vertues daughters are of Will.
\_Siry. Davys : Nosce Teipsum, Sect. 27.] Idem.
Will is the prince, and wit the counfellor,
Which doth for common good in coimcell fit ;
And when witte is refolv'd, Will lends her power
To execute what is devis'd by witte.
{Ibid., ibid.'] I. Davies.
Will is as free as any emperour,
Nought can reftraine her gentle libertie ;
No tyrant nor no torrent hath the power
To make us will, w^hen we unwilling bee.
{Ibid., ibid.] IDEM.
Even as the Will fhould goodneffe truely know,
Wee have a will which that true good fhould choofe :
Although Will oft, when wit falfe formes doth fhow,
Take ill for good, and good for ill refufe.
{Ibid., ibid.] IDEM.
It lives not in our power to love or hate,
For Will in us is over-rul'd by fate.
{Hero and Leander, 1598, Sest. i.]
Ch. Marlow,
A ftronger hand reftraines our wilfull powers,
A Will niuft rule above this will of ours ;
of our EnglisJi Poets. 357
Not following what our vaine defires doe woe
For vertues fake, but what we onely doe.
{^Epistle, Matilda to King John., I599-] Vi. Dr.
Headleffe Will true judgement doth enfnare.
Selfe-Will doth frowne, when honeft zeale reproves.
Idem.
Idem.
For where our a6lions meafure no regard,
Our lawleffe Will is made his owne reward.
S^Mortinicriados, 1596.] M. Dra.
For with a world of mifchiefes and offence
Unbridled Will rebelles againft the fence.
\_Fig/or Momus, 1595, Sat. i.]
That less fhould lift that may doe what it will.
[Civil Wars, B. i, st. 57.]
D. Lodge.
S. Dan.
WISE DOME.
Our God himfelfe for Wifedome moft is prayfed,
And men to God thereby are nigheft rayfed.
[Tearcs 0/ the Muses, is()\. Clio.] Ed. Spencer.
Wifedome doth warnc, whilft foot is in the gate.
To ftay the ftep, ere forced to rctrate.
[Fairy (2i(cen, B. i, c. i, st. 13.] iDEAf.
358 The Choysest Flozvcrs
VVifedome mufb judge twixt men apt to amend,
And mindes incurable, borne to offend.
{Civil Wars, B. vi, st. 65, 1609.] S. D.
In daunger, Wifedome doth advife
In humble termes to reconcile our foes.
D. Lodge.
Wifedome, and the fight of heavenly things,
Shines not fo cleere as earthly vanities.
[Oviifs Banquet of Scnce, 1595.] G. CHAPMAN.
Tis fayd, a wife man all mifliaps withftands ;
For though, by ftarres, wee borne to mischiefes are.
Yet prudence bailes us quite from carefull bands.
M. 0/ M.
Fore-fight doth ftill on all advantage lie ;
Wife men muft give place to neceffitie.
[Epistle, Charles Bratidori to Q. Mary, edit. 1599.] M. Dr.
A wife man poore,
Is like a facred booke that's never read ;
T' himfelfe hee lives, and to all elfe feemes dead :
This age thinkes better of a gilded foole,
Then of a thred-bare faint in Wifedomes fchoole.
\C07nedy of Fortunatus, 1600.] Th. Dekkar.
Wife men let faults ore-paffe they cannot mend.
Ch. Middle.
Who can themfelves beware by others coft,
May bee accounted well among the wife.
[Orlando Fiirioso, 159J, B. vi, st. 53. J S. J. H.
{
of our English Poets. 359
For whatfoever ftarres feeme to importune,
Wifedome predominates both fate and fortune.
\Cha7-les Fitzgeoffrcy s Life and Death of Drake, 1596, st. 209]
Ch. Fitz-Griffon.
WIT.
The Witte, the pupill of the soules cleere eye,
And in mans world the onely fliining ftarre,
Lookes in the mirror of the phantafie,
Where all the gatherings of the fences are :
From thence this power the fliapes of things abftra6ls,
And them within her paffive part receives,
Which are inlightened by that part which a6ls.
And fo the formes of fingle things perceives :
But after, by difcourfing to and fro,
Anticipating and comparing things,
She doth all univerfall natures know,
And all cffetSls into their caufes brings.
[.SVr J. Davys : Nosce Teipsum, edit. 1602, Sect. 25.]
Our Witte is given Almightie God to know,
Our will is given to love him, being knowne ;
But God could not bee knowne to us below,
But by his works, which through the fence are fliowne.
{^Ibid., Sect. 29.] I. D.wi.s.
Wit is the mindes chiefe judge, which doth controlc
Of fancies court the judgements falfe and vainc :
Will holdcs the royall fccpter in the fcMilc,
360 TJic CJioysest Floivcrs
And on the paffions of the heart doth raigne.
YNosce Teipsmn, edit. 1602, Sect. 27.] I. Davis.
Emulation, the proud nurfe of Witte.
S. D.
Wit and learning are two angells wings,
By which meane men foare up to mightie things.
\_Lcge)id of Humphrey D. of Gloucester, 1600.] Ch. AIiddl.
Wit is with boldneffe prompt, with terror daunted,
And grace is fooner got of dames, then graunted.
\G. Chapman^ s Ovid's Banquet of Sence, 1595.] Ed. Spencer.
Some loofe their Wit with love, fome with ambition,
Some running to the fea great wealth to get.
Some following lords and men of high condition.
Some in fayre jewelles, rich and coftly fet :
One hath defire to proove a rare magician,
Others with poetrie their Witte forget ;
Another thinkes to bee an alchimift.
Till all bee fpent, and hee his number mift.
[Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xxxiv, st. 84. J S. J. FI.
For Wit is monftrous, when the fame from vertue doth
decline.
\Albions England, B. ii, ch. viii, edit. 1602.] W. Warner.
Mans Witte doth build, for time but to devoure ;
But vertue's free from time and fortunes power.
[Epistle, Lady J. Gray to Dudley, 1599.] M. Dr.
of our English Poets. 361
The Wit not hurt, becaufe not ufed more,
Growes dull, and far leffe toward then before.
\_No author named.']
But Wits ambition longeth to the beft,
For it defires in endleffe bliffe to dwell.
[Nosce Teipsiiin, Sect. 29.] I. Davis.
Beft loves are loft for Wit, when men blame fortune.
\_OTi(fs Banquet of Sencc, 1595.] G. Chapman.
Careleffe Wit is wanton bewties page.
D. Lodge.
The fineft Wittes are fooneft fnarde with love.
Th. Achellye.
A fetled braine is worth a world of Witte.
[Life and Death of IVo/sey, 1599.] Th. Storer.
Wits want makes men defirous to feeme wife.
[jVo author named, but Idem irnd i/ud.']
WOE.
Woe, all in blackc, within her hands did bcare
The fatall torches of a funcrall ;
Her cheekes were wet, difperfed was her hayre.
Her voyce was flirill (yet lothfomc therewithal).
\Ctaueu^ and Seilla, 1589, Sig. I". 4 1) i 1 >■ Lodok
3 A
52 T/ic CJioyscst Flowers
Short time feemes long in forrowes fharp fuftaining ;
Though Woe bee heavie, yet it feldome fleepes,
And they that watch fee time how flow it creepes.
{^I.un-ece^ 1594, st. 227.] W. Shakespeare,
And fellowfliip in Woe, doth woe affwage ;
As palmer's chat makes fhort their pilgrimage.
[Ibid., St. 114.] Idem.
Tis double death to drowne in ken of fhore ;
He ten times pines, that pines behoulding food :
To fee the falve doth make the wound ake more ;
Great griefe greeves moft at that would doe it good ;
Deepe Woes rowle forwarde like a gentle flood,
Who, being ftopt, the bounding bankes ore flowes :
Greefe dallied with nor law nor limmit knowes,
\_Ibid., St. 161.] Idem.
Diftreffe likes dumps, when time is kept with teares.
[Ibid., St. 162.] Idem.
For fbronger Woe we hardly long may wreft ;
The depth of griefe with words is founded leaft.
[Epistle, Lady J. Gray to Dudley, 1599.] M. Dra.
The painter.
Who thought his colours pale, could not declare
The fpeciall Woe king Agamemnon bare,
When facrificed was his onely race.
With bend of blacke he bound the fathers face.
[History of Judith, 1584.] Til. HUDSON.
of our English Poets. 363
WORDS.
WiNDIE atturnies of our clyent woes,
Ayery fucceeders of inteftate joyes,
Poore breathing orators of miferies,
Let them have fcope ; though what it doth impart
Helpe not at all, yet doth it eafe the heart.
{^Richard III., act iv, sc. 4.] W. Sh.
Words are the tennants of an itching toy.
\_Phillis, 1593.] D. Lodge.
Allufion of Words is no fure ground
For one thereon a fteddie worke to found ;
One word of woe another after traineth.
S. Ph. Sydney.
Few Words, quoth flie, fhall fit the trefpaffe beft,
Where no excufe can give the fault amending.
[Li/crcce, 1594, st. 233.] W. Sh.
Deepe founds make leffer noyfe then fhallow fords,
And forrow ebbes, being blown with wind of words.
\_Ibid., St. 191.] Idem.
Words are but winde, why coft they then fo much .''
The giltie kicke, when they too fmartly touch.
{Legend 0/ Lord Hastings, inM.forM., edit. 1610, p. 429.] Idem.
Forth irreturnablc flieth the fpokcn ^\"ord,
Bee it in fcoffe, in carnefl:, or in bourd,
364 The Clioyscst Flozvers
A\"ithout retunic, and unreceived it hangs,
And at the takers mercie, or rigor, ftands ;
Which if hee fowrely wreft, with wrathful! cheare,
The fhivering Word turnes to the fpeakers feare :
If friendly courtefie doe the word expound,
To th' fpeakers comfort quickly it doth redound.
{^Legend of Lord Hastings, in M.for M., 1610, p. 421.] W. Sh.
Snioothe Words diffolve hard ftones, faire words inforce
Pittie in flintie hearts.
[Legend of Htimphrey D. of Gloucester, 1600 ] Ch. Middl.
Through the world, if it were fought,
Faire words enow a man fliall finde ;
They bee good cheape, they coft right nought,
Their fubftance is but onely winde :
But well to fay, and fo to meane,
That fweete accord is feldome feene.
[Poems, in TottePs Miscellafty, 1557.] S. Th. W.
And Words, well plac't, move things were never thought.
[Ovid^s Banquet of Sence, 1595] G. Chapman.
Even as the vapour, which the fire repelles,
Turnes not to earth, but in mid ayre dwelles ;
Where while it hangeth, if Boreas froftie flawes
With rigor rattle it, not to raine it thawes.
But thunder, lightnings, ratling hayle, or fnow,
Sends downe to earth, whence firft it rofe below ;
But if faire Phoebus, with his countenance fweete,
Refolve it, downe the dew, or manna fleete :
(The manna dew, that in the Esterne lands
of our English Poets. 365
Excell'th the labour of the bees fmall hands ;)
Elfe for her Memnon, gray Auroraes teares,
On the earth it ftilleth, the partner of her feares,
Or fendeth fweet flowres to glad their mother Earth,
Whence firft they tooke their firft inconftant birth.
To fo great greefes ill taken Words do grow,
Of Words well taken fuch delights do flow.
\_Legend of Lord Hasiii/gs, edit. 16 10, p. 430.] M. if M.
For men do fouleft, when they fineft fpeake.
\_Miisophilus to Fit Ike Greville, 1599.] S. Daniell.
They wafh a Moore, they ftrive to drie the feas,
And plaine proude Atlas, that intend to pleafe
By filthy Woords, by rayling and detraction.
Proper to Momus, and his hatefull faction ;
For when they thinke they have deferved moft,
Alas 1 fayth wifedome, all this toyle is loft.
\^Fig for Momus, 1595, Epist. 5] D. Lodge.
Few Words, well coucht, doe moft content the wife.
\_Menaphon, or Arcadia, 1589.] R. Greene.
Rafli Words flow from an unadvifed mind.
\_No aiitlior naiitcd.'\
Who once hath paft the boundes of honeftie
In earneft deedes, may paffe it well in Words.
[^Tragcdy of Jocasta, act ii, sc. i] G. G.
Have care to whom, of whom, and what to fpeake, though
fpecch be true ;
366 The Choyscst Flowers
That miffe made Phoebus contrarie his ravens fwan-Hke hue.
\_Albioiis Englajid, edit. 1602, B. iv, ch. xxi.] W. W.
If fo the crow would feaft him without prate,
More meate hee fhould receive, leffe brawle and hate.
A foole hee is, that comes to preach and prate,
When men with fwords their right and wrong debate.
[No author named.'\
Words, well difpofed,
Have fecret power t' appeafe inflamed rage.
Ed. Sp.
WOMEN.
Women bee
Framde with the fame parts of the mind as we ;
Nay, nature triumpht in their beauties birth,
And Women made the glorie of the earth :
The life of bewtie, in whofe fupple breafts,
And in her faireft lodging, vertue refts ;
Whofe towring thoughts, attended with remorfe,
Do make their fairneffe be of greater force.
I. Weever.
What art fo deepe, what fcience is so hie,
Unto the which Women have not attain'd .^
Who lift in ftories old to looke, may trie
And find my fpeech herein not falfe nor fain'd ;
And though of late they feeme not to come nie
The praife their fcx in former times have gain'd,
of our English Poets. ^G"]
Doubtleffe the fault is either in back-biters,
Or want of fkill and judgement in their writers.
{Haringtoris Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xx, st. 2.] I. Weever.
Among the many rare and fpeciall gifts,
That in the female sexe are found to fitte,
This one is chiefe, that they, at reaest fliifts,
Give beft advife, and fhow moft readie witte ;
But man, except he thinks, and chews, and sifts.
How everie part may aunfvvere tother fit.
By rafli advife doth often over-flioote him.
And doth attempt the things that doe not boote him.
\Ibid., B. xxvii, st. i.] Idem.
Those vertues, that in Women merit prayfe.
Are fober fhowes without, chafte thoughts within,
True fayth, and due obedience to their make,
And of their children honeft care to take.
llbid., B. vii, St. 63.] S. J. H.
Let woolves and beares be cruel in their kinds.
But Women meeke, and have relenting mindes.
[Legend of Matilda, 1596, st. 53.] M. Drayton.
Our owne intemprature doth work in us our owne unreft.
And beautie, love, and women fault, but as fault bceings
beft.
\_Albions England, B. vi, ch. xxxi.] W. ^^'■
P'or men have marble, women waxen minds,
And therefore arc they form'd as marble will.
368 The CJioyscst Floiucrs
J
The weake oppreft, th' impreffion of ftrange kindes
Is form'd in them by force, by fraude, or fkill :
Then, call not them the authors of their ill,
No more then waxe fhall bee accounted evill,
Wherein is ftampt the femblance of a divell.
Their fmootheneffe, like a goodly champaine plaine,
Laies open all the little wormes that creepe ;
In men, as in a rough growen grove, remaine
Cave-keeping evilles that obfcurely fleepe :
Through criftall walles each little mote will peepe.
Though men can cover crimes with bold ftern looks,
Poor Womens faces are their owne faults bookes.
No man invey againft the withered flower,
But chide rough winter, that the flower hath kild :
Not that devour' d, but that which doth devour.
Is woorthie blame : O ! let it not be hild
Poore Womens faults, that they are fo fulfil'd
With mens abufes ; thofe proude lords, to blame,
Make weake-made Women tenants to their fhame.
\^Lucrcce^ 1594, st. 179.] W. Shakespeare.
Bee not therefore fo proude and full of fcorne,
O Woman-kind ! that men come of your feede ;
The fragrant rofe growth on the pricking thorne,
The lillie fayre comes of a filthie weede ;
In loathfome foyle men fow the wholefome corne,
The bafefh mould the faireft flower doth breede :
Ungratefull, falfe, craftie you are, and cruell,
Borne of our burning hell to be the fuell.
{^Orlando Fjirioso, 1591, B- xxvii, st. 98.] .S. J. H.
of our Euo;IisJt Poets. 369
Bafe bullion for the ftampe fake wee allow ;
Even fo for mens impreffion doe wee you,
By which alone, our reverend fathers fay,
Women receive perfection everie way.
\^Hero and Leander, 1598, Sest. i.l Ch. Marlow.
Their vertues mount like billowes to the fkies,
And vanifh ftraight out of the gazers eyes ;
Hate and difdaine is painted in theyr eyes.
Deceit and treafon in their bofome lies.
\Ovid''s Banquet of Sen ce, 1595.] G. Chapman.
Women were made for this intent — to put us unto paine ;
Yet fure I thinke they are a pleafure to the mind,
A joy which man can nev^er want, as nature hath affignd.
\\'V. Warner^s Albions England.^ Ide.m.
Extreamly mad the man I furely deeme,
That weenes with watch and hard reftraint to ftay
A Womans will, which is dispos'd to goe aftray.
[Fairy Queen, B. iii, c. ix, st. 6.] Ed. Spexcer.
In vaine he fearcs that which he cannot fliunne ;
For who wots not that Womans subtilties
Can guilen Argus 1 when flic list mifdoone,
It is not iron bands, nor hundred eyes.
Nor brazen walles, nor many wakcfull fpyes.
That can withhold her wilfull \\andring feetc ;
But faft good will, with gentle curtefies.
And timely fervice to her pleafures mectc.
May her perhaps containe, that elfe would algates flcete.
[Fairy Queen, H. iii. c. i\. si. 7.] Idem.
^. I!
370 TJic Choysest Flowers
Such is the crueltie of Women-kind,
When they have fhaken ofif the fhame-fac't band,
With which wife nature did them ftrongly bind,
T' obey the hefts of mans wel-ruhng hand,
That then all rule and reafon they withftand,
To purchafe a licentious libertie :
But vertuous women wifely underftand,
That they were borne to bafe humilitie,
Unleffe the heavene them lift to lawfull foveraintie.
{Spencer's Fairy Queen, B. v, c. v, st. 25.] S. Ph. Sydney.
Why, what be Women .^ Women, geld the latter sillable,
Then are they nothing more then woe, their names remaine
doth tell.
[Aldions England, B. vi, ch. xxxi.] W. W.
Take away weaken effe, and take Women too.
S. D.
Women may fall, when there's no ftrength in men.
\_Ronieo and Juliet, act ii, sc. 3.] W. Sh.
They melt with words, as waxe againft the funne :
So weake is many Womens modeftie.
That what fomtimes they moft would feeme to fheeld.
Another time unafkte, poore foules ! they yeeld,
{^History of Heaven, 1596.] Ch. Middleton.
A Woman
Loves to be woed of a man : thou knowft well, Thirfis, a
Woman
Runs, and yet fo runs, as though flie defir'd to be ore run ;
Saies no, no; )-et fo, as no no feemes to be no, no ;
of our English Poets. 371
Strives, and yet fo drives, as though flie defir'd to be
vanquifht.
Woman's hke to a fliade, that flies, yet lies by the fubjccl ;
Like to a bee, that never ftrives, if fting be remooved,
\Lady Petnbroke's Ivychmrh, 1591, act ii, so. 2. J A. Fraunce.
In Womens mouthes no is no negative.
{The Ekatompathia (1581).] I. W.
Their yea or no, when as they fweare they love, or love us
mo ft,
Beleeve who lift ; foone be they got, as fodainely are loft.
W. W.
A Womans love is river-like, which, ftopt, will overflow.
But when the current finds no let, it often falles too low.
[Albifltts England, B. xi, ch. Ixi.] IDEM.
Varietie of men to court a Woman is her pride.
Than which their vanity of men is nothing leffe efpide.
What are us but common hurts,
Thofe common hopes they give ;
If then their love doth die to us.
When ours to them doth live.
[IbuL, B. xi, Ixv.] Idem.
Women never
Love beautic in their fexe, but envie ever.
[Hero and Leander, 1600, Sest. 5] ^- Chapman.
And there can bee a greater clogge to no man,
Then to be wcarie of a wanton Woman
[Orlando Fiirioso, 1591, B. xx, st. 19.] ''^- J- "•
3JJ The Choyscst Flozvers
What more fpight can be a Woman told,
Then one Ihould fay, flie looketh foule and old.
[Orlando Ftirioso, B. xx, st. 8i.] S.J. H.
Bee fhee bafe or hie,
A Womans eye doth guide her wit, and not her wit her e}'e.
\_Albious England, edit 1602, B. i, ch. ix.] W. W.
Women are moft wonne, when men merit leaft :
If merit looke not well, love bids ftand by,
Loves fpecial leffon is to pleafe the eye.
[Hero and Leander, 1600, Sest. 5.] G. Ch.
He water plowes, and foweth in the fand,
And hopes the flickering wind with net to hold,
Who hath his hopes layd upon Womans hand.
[Airadia, edit. 1598, p. 225.] S. P. S.
Women by kind are mutable ever,
Soone hot, and foone cold ; like and miflike in a moment,
Change as a weather-cocke, and all as light as a fether.
[Countess of Pembroke's IvycJuiixh, 1591.] A. Fr.
Women have tongues of craft, and hearts of guile ;
They will, they will not : fooles, that on them truft !
For in their fpeech is death, hell in their fmile.
[Godfrey of Bulloigne, B. xix, st. 84.] Ed. Fairfax.
One Woman with another may do much.
Th. Ach.
Like untun'd golden firings all Women are,
Which long time lie untoucht, will harfhly jarre.
[Hero and Leander, 1598, Sest. i.] Ch. Marlow.
of our English Poets. ^^^l
Difcurteous Women, natures faireft ill,
The woe of man, the firft created curfe,
Bafe female fexe, fprung from black Ates loynes,
Proude, difdainefull, cruell, and unjuft ;
Whofe words are fhaded with inchaunting wiles,
Worfe than Medufa, mateth all our mindes.
And in their hearts fits fhameleffe trecherie,
Turning a truthleffe vile circumference.
O ! could my fury paint their furies forth ;
For hell's no hell compared to their hearts,
Too fimple divelles, to conceale their arts :
Borne to be plagues unto the thoughts of men.
Brought for eternall peftilence to the worlde.
{Ilistory of Orlando Furioso, 1594.] R. Greene.
With Women is too usual now, theirs and themfelves to fel,
For jointures, by indenture with imperious men to dwel,
And hee doth her, and flie doth him, with his and hers
upbraid.
\_Albions England, B. xi, c. Ixv.] W. W.
Women are kind by kind, and coy for fafhion.
{Diana (1594), Dec. viii, son. i.] H. C.
OF WRATH.
And him befide rides fierce revenging Wrath
Upon a lyon, loth for to bee led ;
And in his hand a burning brand hee had,
The which hee brandilTieth about his head ;
His eyes did hurlc foorth fparkles ficrie rcddc,
374 I^^'-'- C hoys est Floiccrs
And flared fterne on all that him beheld,
As afhes pale of hew, and feeming dead,
And on his dagger ftill his hand hee held,
Trembling through haftie rage when choller in him fvveld.
\_Fairy Queen, B. i, c. iv, st. 33.] Ed. Spencer.
Boyling Wrath, fterne, cruell, fwift, and rafh,
That like a boare her teeth doth grinde and gnafh,
Whofe hayre dooth ftare like briftled porcupine,
Who fometimes rowles her gaftly glowing eyene.
And fometimes fixly on the ground doth glaunce,
Now bleake, then bloudy in her countenance ;
Raving and rayling with a hideous found.
Clapping her hands, ftamping againft the ground.
Bearing Bocconi, fire and fword, to flay
And murder all that for her pittie pray ;
Banning her felfe, to bane her enemie,
Difdaining death, provided others die,
Like falling towres, o're-turned by the wind.
That breake themfelves on that they undergrinde.
J. Sylvester.
Full many mischiefes follow cruell Wrath :
Abhorred bloud-fhed, and tumultuous ftrife.
Unmanly murther, and unthriftie fcath,
Bitter defpight, with rancors ruftie knife,
And fretting greefe, the enemie of life ;
All these, and many evilles more, haunt ire.
The fwelling fpleene, and frenzie raging rife,
The fhaking palfie, and Saint Fraunces fire.
\_Fai)y (lufc/i, W. \, c. iv, st. 35.] Ed. SpencER.
of our English Poets. 375
When men, with Wrath, and fudden pangs of ire,
Suffer themfelves to bee o're-whelm'd and drownd ;
And hot revenge, that burnes like flaming fire,
Mooves hearts to hurt, or tongs or hands to wound ;
Though after to amend it they defire,
Yet place of pardon feldome can be found.
[^Orlando Fm-iosOj B. xxx, st. i.] S. J. II.
AVhat iron band, or what fliarpe hard mouth'd bitte,
What chaine of diamond (if fuch might bee)
Can bridle Wrathfulneffe, and conquer it.
And keepe him in his bonds and due degree ?
[Ibid., B. xlii, st. i.] Idem.
Haflie Wrath and heedleffe hazardie
Doe breede repentance, and lafting infamie.
Ed. Spencer.
Poore filHe lambes the lion never teares,
The feeble moufe may lie among the beares ;
But Wrath of man, his rancour to requite.
Forgets all reafon, ruth, and vertue quite.
[Legend of Lord Clifford, edit. 1610, p. 365.] M. of M.
Mad man that doth feeke
Occafion to Wrath, and caufe of ftrife :
She comes unfought, and fhunned followes eke.
Happy ! who can abftaine, when rancor rife
Kindles revenge, and threates his ruftie knife :
Woe never wants where every caufe is caught,
And rafli occafion makes unquiet life.
[Fairy Oiurii, \\. ii. c. iv, st. 44.] F-O. Spkncir.
S?^'
TJic CJtoyscst Flowers
Be not moody in thy Wrath, but pawze ere fift be bent ;
Oft Phillips fonne did rallily ftrike, and fodenly repent.
\_Albions Etiglatid, edit. 1602, B. iv, c. xxi.] W. Warner.
Achilles, when with counterfaited creft
He faw Patroclus bleeding all the way,
To kill his killer was not fatisfied.
Except he hald and tare him all befide.
[Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xlii, st. 2.]
S.J. H.
If fortune helpe whome thou wouldft hurt,
Fret not at it the more ;
When Ajax ftormed, then from him
The prize Uliffes bore.
[Albions England, B. iv, c. xxi.]
W. Warner.
Rage, wanne and pale, upon a tygre fat.
Gnawing upon the bones of mangled men ;
Nought can he view but he repines thereat ;
His locks were fnakes, bred forth in Stigian den.
[Glaj/ciis and Scilla, 1589, Sig. C 4] T. Lodge.
WORLD.
The antique World, in his firft flowring youth.
Found no defect in his Creators grace,
But with glad thanks and unreprooved truth.
The gifts of foveraigne bountie did embrace ;
Like angelles life was then mans happie cafe :
But later ages, pride, like corne-fed fteede.
of our Eiii^-lish Pods. ^jj
Abufde her plentie and fatswoln increafe
To all licentious luft, and gan exceede
The meafure of her meane, and naturall firft neede.
{^Faiiy Qiieai, B. ii, c. vii, st. i6.] Ed. Spkncer.
When arked Noah, and fev^en with him, the emptied Worlds
remaine.
Had left the infLrumentall meane of landing them again ;
And that both man and beaft and all did multiply with fhore,
To Asia Sem, to Affrick Cham, to Europe Japheth bore
Their families : thus triple wife the World divided was.
\_Albiotis England, edit. 1602, B. i. c. i.] • \\\ W.
I take this World to bee but as a ftage,
Where net-mafkt men do play their perfonages.
Tis but a murmur and a pleafant fhew,
Syth over all ftrange vanities do flow.
J. .SVLVKSTER.
The World, to the circumference of heaven,
Is as a fmall poynt in geometric,
Whofe greatneffe is fo little, that a leffc
Cannot bee made.
\Coi7tedy of Fortiiiiafus, 1600.] Tu. Dr.KKAR.
So was the firfh World bleffed with heavenly favours,
And the laft ciirfl with ])ainefu]l hcllidi labours.
[ JUstory of Ucavcii, 1 596. | Cn . M inni .
O vaine Worlds glorie, and unftedfaft ftate
Of all that lives on face of finfull earth !
Which from their firft untill their utmoft date,
Tafte no one how re of happineffe or mirtli ;
.V
-.-^
TJtc CJiovscst Flo-vcrs
Idem.
But, like as is the ingate of their birth,
They crying creepe out of their mothers wombe,
So wayHng backe goe to their carefull tombe.
\_Riiins of Tune. Complaints, 1 591.] Ed. Spencer.
Ah ! wretched World, the den of wickedneffe,
Deformd with filth and foule iniquitie :
Ah ! wretched World, the houfe of heavineffe,
Fild with the wreakes of mortall miferie :
Ah ! wretched World and all that is therein,
The vaffals of Gods wrath, and Haves to finne.
{^Tcars of tlie Mitses, 1591. Melpomene.]
O Worlds inconftancie !
That which is firme doth flit and fall away,
And that is flitting doth abide and ftay.
l^Rnhis of Rome, 1591, son. 3.]
Muft not the World wend in his common courfe,
I''rom good to bad, and from bad to wourfe,
From worfe unto that is worft of all,
And then returne to his former fall .'
Who will not suffer the ftormie time,
Where will hee live till the luftie prime 1
[^Shephefd's Calendar, 1579. February.]
This golden age to yron doth decline,
As fummer unto winter muft refigne.
The firft and riper World of men and flcill
Yeelds to our latter time for three in\'entions ;
Idem
Idem.
D. Lodge.
of our English Poets. 379
Myraculoufl}- wee write, wee fayle, wee kill,
As neither auncient fcrowle nor ftorie mentions.
Priiite. The firft hath opened learnings old concealed,
And obfcurde arts reftored to the light :
Loadjlonc. The fecond hidden countries hath revealed,
And fent Chrifts gofpel to each living wight.
Thefe we commend, but oh ! what needeth more .'
Gitnn. To teach death more fkill then he had before.
\Chrestoleros, 1598, B. iv, epigr. 33. J Th. Bastard.
Take moyfture from the fea, take colour from his kind,
Before the World devoyd of change thou finde.
All that in this World is great or gay
Doth, as a vapour, vanifh and deca}'.
Ed. Spencer.
This is the reft the vaine World lendes —
To end in death, that all things ends.
[Cleopatra, 159-!.] S. Daniell.
All men are willing with the World to hault,
But no man takes delight to know his fault.
\_l^'/g- for Mounts, 1595, Sat. i.J D. LODGE.
A die, a drab, and filthie broking knaves.
Are the Worlds w ide mouthes, al-devouring graves.
[Scourge 0/ Villanie, 159S.] I. Marston.
Nothing doth the World fo full of mischiefe fill.
But want of feeling one-anothers ill.
[()vid''s /huit/i/ct if .Sai,r, 1595.] ^'- Chai'.man.
380 The Choyscst Flowers
... Not by that which is the World now deemeth,
(As it was woont) but b)' that fame that feemeth.
Ed. Spencer.
There never Ihall bee any age fo cleere,
But in her fnioothe face fhall feme faults appeare.
Th. Mi DDL.
The World must end : for men are fo accurft,
Unleffe God end it fooner, they will firfl.
[C/ircsto/eros, 1598, B. iv, epigr. 7.] Th. Bastard.
YOUTH.
For Youth is a bubble blowen up with a breath,
Whofe wit is weaknes, and whofe wage is death ;
Whofe way is wildernes, and whofe inne penance,
And ftoopegallant age, the hoaft of greevance.
[Shepherifs Calendar, 1579. February.] Ed. Spencer.
If crooked age accounteth Youth his fpring,
The fpring the fayrefl feafon of the yeere,
Enricht with flowers and fweetes and many a thing
That fayre and gorgeous to the eyes appeare,
It fits that Youth the fpring of man fhould bee,
Richt with fuch flowers as vertue yeeldeth thee.
\Periinedes, the B lacks m nil, 1588.] R. Greenf.
For noble Youth there is no thing fo meete
As learning is, to know the good from ill.
To know the tongues, and perfectly endite,
of our English. Poets. 381
And of the lawes to have a perfe6l flcill,
Things to refornie as right and juftice will ;
For honour is ordained for no caufe,
But to fee right maintained by the laues.
[Cavirs Legend of Michael yoseph, 1 610, p. 468.] M. of M.
The Youth of princes have no boundes for finne,
Unleffe themfelves doe make them boundes within.
\Civil Wars., edit. 1609, B. ii, st. 17.] S. Daniell.
Mofl true it is, as veffels of first licours ever tafte,
Love feafoned fo with fweetnes of Youth, the fame dooth
ever laft.
[Albions England, B. xi, ch. Ixiii.] W. WARNER.
For as the veffell ever beares a tafte
Of that fame juice wherewith it firft was filed ;
And as in fruitfull ground the feede growes faft,
That firft is fowen after the fame is tilled ;
So looke what lore in youthfuU yeeres is plaft,
By that they grow the worfe or better willed,
When as they come to manly age and ftature ; «
Sith education is another nature.
\_Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xiii, st. 56.] S. J. H.
The tunne retaineth long the tafte and fent
Of that pure licour which at firft it hent ;
And what impreffions we in youth retaine,
In age our reafon hardly will rcftrainc.
\I-'ig Jor Momits, 1595. Sat. 3.] D. LortGi..
382 riw Lhoyscst Floiccrs
For what by vaine example Youth conceives,
The fame, for lawfull, daily he receives.
[Fig for Moiiii/s, x'^i)^. Sat 3.] D.Lodge.
Age is deformed, Youth unkind ;
Wee fcorne their bodyes, they our minde.
[Chrestoleros, 1598, B. vii, epig. 9.] Th. Bastard.
The Youth are foolilh hardy, or leffe hardy then they ought,
Effeminate, fantafticke ; in iftw, not few are nought.
[Albions England^ B. iv, c. 22.] W. Warner.
Forward fnine, in raines of foolifli rage.
Leaves heedleffe Youth inchained his captive page.
D. Lodge.
Youth doth deferve by might.
But old age by good counfell and fore-fight.
\Figfor MoDiiis, \z,^^. Eclogue 4.] Idem.
Youth may love, and yong men may admire;
If old age cannot, yet it will defire.
L Weever.
Ingrained habits, died with often dips,
Are not fo foone difcoloured ; yong flippes.
New fet, are eafily mov'd and pluckt away.
But elder rootes clippe fafter in the clay.
[Scoiirgt' 0/ Villaiiy, J 598.] L Marston.
The plow-man firft his land doth dreffe and turne,
And makes it apt, or ere the feede he fow ;
AVhcreby hec is full like to reape good corne,
AVhcrc, (jthcrw ifc, no fcedc but weed would grow :
of our lingUsh Poets. i'^^
Wy which example, men may eafily know,
When youth have wealth, before they can well ufe it,
It is no woonder though they doe abufe it.
{CaviPs Legend of Michael Joseph, 1610, p. 467.] M. of M.
Reform thee even to day; unapt to day, leffe apt to morrow :
Youth aptly offers vertues fuch as yeares unaptly borrow.
\_AlbJotis England, edit. 1602, R. v, ch. xxvi.J W. W.
T.ooke what wee have, when youth is moft in prime,
That fhall wee want in age, by courfe of time.
\Chippcs, Part I, 1575.] T. Churchvaro.
THE DIVISION OF THE DA Y NATURALL.
Med'ice iioctis iiulinatio.
NlOHT was farre fpent ; and now, in ocean deepe,
Orion, flying faft from hiffmg fnake.
His flaming head did haften for to ftcepe.
{^Fairy (lueen, \\. ii, c ii, st. 46.J K?i. Sp
P)y this th' eternall lamps, wherewith high Jove
Doth light the lower world, were halfe yfpent ;
And the moyft daughters of huge Atlas, ftrove
Into th' ocean deep to drive their wearie drove.
IDKM.
The gentle liumourous Night
Imph'es her middle courfe, aiid the (liarpe cast
3<S4 The Choysest Floxvers
Breathes on my fpirit with his fierie fteedes.
G. Chapman,
The filent Night, that long had fojourned,
Now gan to caft her fable mantle off;
And now the fleepie waine-man foftly drove
His flow-pac't teeme, that long had travailed.
\_Tragi:dy of Cornelia, 1594, act iii.] Tho. Kvd.
Galliciniuui.
By this, the northerne wagoner had fet
His fevenfold teeme behind the ftedfaft ftarre.
That was in ocean waves yet never wet,
But firme is fixt, and fendeth light from farre
To all that in the wide deepe ^andring are :
And cheereful Channtecleere, A\ith his note fhrill,
Had warned once, that Phebus fierie carre
In hafte was climing up the Efterne hill;
Full envious that night fo long his roome did fill.
\_Fairy Queen, B. i, c. ii, st. i.] Ed. vSpencer.
W'hat time the native bel-man of the night,
The bird that warned Peter of his fall,
Firft rings his filver bel t' each fleepy wight.
That fliould their mindes up to devotion call.
\Ihid.. B. V. c. vi, St. 27.] Idem.
The cheerefull Cocke, the fad nights trumpeter,
Wayting upon the rifing of the funne,
Doth fing to fee how Cynthia fhrinks her home.
While ("litia takes her progreffe to the eaft,
of our English Poets. 3<S5
Where wringing wet, with drops of filver dew,
Her wonted tears of love fhe doth renew.
The wandering fwallow, with her broken fong,
The countrie wench unto her worke awakes ;
Whilft Cytherea, fighing, walks to feeke
Her murdered love, transformed to a rofe ;
Whom, though fhe fee, to croppe fhe kindly feares,
But, kiffing, sighes, and dewes him with her teares.
{Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594, act iii.] Tho. Kyd.
Now ere the purple dawning yet did fpring,
The joyfull larke began to ftretch her wing ;
And now the Cocke, the mornings trumpeter.
Plaid hunts up for the day-ftarre to appeare :
Downe flideth Phebe from her criftall chayre,
S'daigning to lend her light unto the ayre.
[Endyinion and Plia'be, Sig. D.] M. DRAYTON.
Diliculuni.
At laft fayre Hefperus in higheft fkie
Had fpent his lamp, and brought forth dawning light.
Ed. Spencer.
The night growen old, her blacke head waxen gray,
Sure fhepheards figne that morn fliould foon fetch day.
[Arcadia, edit. fo. 1598, p. 387.] S. Ph. Sydney.
It was the time when, gainft the breaking day,
Rebellious night yet ftrove and ftill repined ;
For in the eaft appeares the morning gray,
And yet feme lampes in Joves high pallacc fliined.
En. Fair TAX.
3l>
386 The Choyscst Flowers
By this, Apolloes golden harpe beganne
To found forth muficke to the ocean ;
Which watchfull Hefperus no fooner heard,
But hee the day bright-bearing carre prepar'd,
And ranne before, as harbenger of hght,
And with his flaring beames mockt ugly night.
{^Hero and Leander, 1598, Sest. 2.] Ch. Marlow.
Lycaons fonne,
The hardy plough -fwaine unto mightie Jove,
Hath trac'd his fdver furrowes in the heaven ;
And turning home his over-watched teeme,
Gives leave unto Apolloes chariot.
R. Greene.
Nights candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the miflie mountaine tops.
\Romeo midjidiet, act iii, sc. 5.] W. Sh.
Loe ! here the gentle larke, wearie of reft,
From his moyft cabynet mounts up on hie.
And wakes the morning ; from whofe filver breaft
The funne arifeth in his majeftie ;
Who doth the world fo glorioufly behold.
That cedar-tops and hi lies feem burniflit gold.
[^Vemis and Adonis, 1593, st. 143.] Idem.
Majie.
The joyous day gan earlie to appeare.
And fay re Aurora, fro the dewy bed
Of aged Tithon, gan her felfe to reare
of our English Poets. 387
Wiih rofie cheekes, for fliame as blufliine red.
{Fairy Queen., B. i, c xi, st. 51.] Ed. Spencer.
Now when the rofie-fingred Morning fayre,
Wearie of aged Tithons faffron bed,
Had fpread her purple robe through dewie ayre,
And the high hilles Titan difcovered,
The royall virgin fliooke off drowfie-hed.
{^Ibid., B. i, c. ii, st. 7.] IDEM.
And folemn night with flow fad gait defcended
To ugly hell ; when, loe ! the blufhing Morrow
Lends light to all faire eyes that light will borrow.
{Lucrece, 1594, st. 156.] W. Sh.
Soone as the Morrow faire with purple beanies,
Difperft the fhadowes of the miftie night,
And Titan, playing on the eafterne ftreames,
Gan cleare the dewie ayre with fpringing light.
\_Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. iii, st. i.] Ed. Spencer.
The dewie rofeat Morne had, with her hayres.
In fundrie forts the Indian clime adornde ;
And now, her eyes, apparelled in teares.
The loffe of lovely Memnon long had niornde.
D. Lodge.
The gaudie Morne out of her golden fleepe
Awakte, and little birdes uncagde gan fing,
To welcome home the bride-groome of the fea.
[T/ie Honour of the Garter, 1593.] <'• I'l-^i'i'"-
388 The Choyscst Flotvers
The gray-eyde Morne fmiles on the frowning night,
Checkering the eafterne cloudes with ftreaks of Hght ;
And fleeted darkneffe, like a drunkard, reeles
From forth dayes path, and Titans fiery wheels.
[Romeo and Juliet, act ii, sc. 3.] W, Sh
Now had the Morne efpide her lovers fteedes,
Whereat fliee ftarts, puts on her purple weedes,
And red for anger that hee ftayd fo long,
All headlong throwes her felfe the cloudes among.
[Hero andLeander, 1598, Sest. 2.] Ch. Marlow.
As foon as Morning her fliining haires fro the mountains
' Had fliewen forth, and driven all ftar-light quite fro the
heavens.
[Countess of Pembroke's Ivychurch, 1591.] A. Fraunce.
Faire Aurora betimes, by the daies-break, rofe from her
husband,
Husband, old and cold ; and drave black clouds from
Olympus,
Making way to the fun, taking her way to the younker,
Brave yonker Cephalus, whom faire Aurora defired.
[Ibid.\ ■■ Idem.
Now was the time, when as Aurora faire
Began to fhew the world her golden head.
And looke abroade to take the coole frefli ayre,
Jealous Tithono lying ftill in bedde.
[Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xi, st. 27. J S. J. H.
The fable night diflodgd ; and now beganne
Auroraes ufher, with a windie fanne.
of our English Poets. 389
Sweetely to (hake the woods on everie ficle,
The whilft his miftreffe (like a ftately bride)
With flowers, rich gemmes, and Indian gold doth fpangle
Her lovely locks, her lovers looks to tangle ;
When, paffing through the aire (in mantle blue,
With filver fring'd) fhe drops the pearlie dew :
With her goes Abram out.
[Sacrifice of Isaac, 1592.] J. Sylvester.
The rofie fingred Morne, with gladfome ray,
Rofe to her tafl<e from old Tithonus lap.
[Godfrey of Btdloigne, 1600, B. xv, st. i.] Ed. Fairfax.
The night beginnes bee angrie, when fliee fees
She can diflill no fleepe in lovers eyes,
Toffing her felfe among the cloudes, now hath
Sent the red Morne as harauld of her wrath,
Whofe lover, Phebus, rifing from his bed,
With dewie mantle hath the world o're-fpread,
Shaking his treffes over Neptunes ebbe ;
And giving tin6lure to the fpiders webbe,
Thefe fayre nimphs rofe, feeing the light did call.
I. Weever.
Aurora bright, her criflall gates unbarr'd,
And, bridegroome like, forth ftept the glorious funne.
[ Godfrey of Bulloigne, B. i, st. 7 1 .] Ed. Fairfax.
The dewie treffed Morning, newly wake,
With golden tinfell fcarfe had crownd her brows,
Riding in triumph on the ocean lake.
390 TJic Clioyscst Flowers
Enibellilhing the huny-fringed bowes.
\_Legend of Robert of Nor7naiidy, 1596, st. 2.] M. Drayton.
The purple Morning left her crimfen bed,
And dond her robes of pure vermillion hue ;
Her amber locks fliee crown'd with rofes red,
In Edens flowry gardens gathered new.
{Godfrey of Biilloigne, B. in, st. i.] Ed. Fairfax.
Salts Ortus,
At laft the golden Orientall-gate
Of greateft heaven gan to open fayre,
And Phoebus, frefh as bridegroome to his mate,
Came dauncing forth, fhaking his dewie haire,
And hurles his gliftering beames through gloomie ayre.
[^Fairy Queen, B. i, c. v, st. 2.] Ed.'Spencer.
The fierie funne was mounted now on hight,
Up to the heavenly towres, and fhot each where
Out of his golden chariot gliftering light ;
And fayre Aurora, with her rofie hayre,
The hatefull darkneffe now had put to flight.
{Virgirs Gnat, 1591.] . Idem.
The golden funne rofe from the filver wave,
And with his beames enameld everie grene.
\_Godfrey of Bnlloigne, B. i, st. 35.] Ed. Fairfax.
The fnoring fnout of reftleffe Phlegon blew
Hot on the Indes, which did the day renew
With fcarlet fkie.
{History of Judith, 1584, B. iii.] Th. HUDSON.
of (VI r English Poets. 391
Meridies.
Hyperion, throwing forth his beames full hot,
Into the higheft toppe of heaven gan clime,
And the world parting by an equall lot.
Did filed his whirling flames on either fide.
As the great ocean doth himfelfe divide.
{VirgiPs Glial, 1591.] Ed. Spencer.
For when the Sunne, towred in heavens head,
Downe from the filver mountaine of the fkie
Bent his bright chariot on the glaffie bed,
Fayre crifhall gilded with his glorious eye.
Fearing fome ufurpation in his fted,
Or leafc his love fhould too long dalliance fpie
Tweene him and Virgo, whofe attractive face
Had newly made him leave the Lions chace,
In that fame middayes hower, &c.
^Tragedy of Sir Richard Grinvile, 1595.] I. Markham.
For golden Phoebus now, that mounted hie
From fierie wheeles of his fayre chariot,
Hurled his beame fo fcorching cruell hot.
That living creature mote it not abide.
\_Fairy Queen, B. i, c. ii, st. 29.] Ed. Spencer.
In higheft way of heaven the Sunne did ryde,
Progreffmg then from fayre Twins golden place,
Having no mafkc of cloudes before his face,
But ftreaming forth of heate in his cheef pride.
\AsiropIicl and Siclla, fo. 159S, son. 23. | S. I'll. . Sydney.
392 TJic Choysest Fl(nvcrs
Soils Occafjis.
Now gan the golden Phoebus for to fleepe
His fierie face in billowes of the west,
And his faint fteedes watred in ocean deepe,
Whilft from their journall labours they doe reft.
{Fairy Queen, B. i, c. xi, st. 31.J Ed. Spencer.
Loe ! the great Automedon of day
In Ifis ftreame his golden locks doth fleepe,
Sad Even her dufky mantle doth difplay ;
Light flying fouls, the ports of night, doe fport them,
And cheerefull looking Phoebe doth comfort them.
D. Lodge.
By that the welked Phoebus gan availe
His wearie waine, and now the froftie night
Her mantle blacke through heaven gan overhaile.
[Shephercfs Calendar, 1579. January.] Ed. Spencer.
Such love as Phoebus, from the coloured fkie,
Did headlong drive his horfes toward the weft,
To fuffer horned Luna for to prye
Amidft the dufk}' darke.
D. Lodge.
When as the Sun hales towards the wefterne flade.
And the tree fliadowes three times greater made.
\_Epistle, Rosamond to Henry II, edit. 1599.] M. Dr.
And now the Sunne was paft his middle way,
Leaning more loveh^ to his lemmons bed,
of our English Poets. 393
And the Moones third howre had attacht the day.
[Tragedy of Sir Richard Grinvile, I595-] !• Markham.
By this the Sunne had fpred his golden locks
Upon the pale greene carpet of the fea,
And opened wide the fcarlet doore, which locks
The eafefuU evening of the labouring day ;
Now Night beganne to leape from yron rocks,
And whipp her ruftie waggon through the way.
[Ibidi\ Idem.
The blufliing Sunne plucks in his fmiling beames,
Making his fteedes to mend their woonted pace,
Till plunging downe into the ocean -ftreames,
There in the froathie waves hee hides his face,
Then raines them in more then his ufuall fpace.
And leaves foule darkneffe to poffeffe the fkie,
A time mofb fit for fouleft tragedie.
[Mor timer iados, 1596: B. vi, st. 49, edit. 1603.] M. D.
Now the Sunne is mounted up on hie.
And pawfeth in the midft of all the fkie ;
His fierie face upon the earth doth beate.
And bakes it with intollerable heate.
I. Author IS.
Vcfper.
Now the golden Hefperus
Was mounted hie in toppe of heaven flieene,
And warnd his other brethren joyous.
To light their bleffcd lamps in Joves eternall houfe.
[Fairy Qncoi, R. iii, c. iv, st. 51.] ED. .SPENCER.
394 ^/^^ CJioysest Floivcrs
By this the night, forth from the darkfome bower
Of Erebus her teemed fteedes gan call ;
And lazie Vefper, in his timely howre,
Yxova golden Oeta gan proceede withall.
lEdm. Spenser: Virgils Gnat, 1591.] R. Greene.
About the time when Vefper in the weft
Gan fet the evening watch ; and filent Night,
Richly attended by his twinckling traine,
Sent fleepe and flumber to poffeffe the world,
And fantafie to hawzen idle heades ;
Under the ftarry canopie of heaven
I layd me downe, laden with many cares.
[The Honour of the Garter, 1593.] G. Peele.
Look, the worlds comforter, w^ith wearie gate.
His dayes hot tafke hath ended in the weft ;
The owle, nights harauld, flireekes, tis verie late;
The fheepe are gone to fold, birds to their neft ;
The cole-blacke cloudes, that fhadow^ heavens light.
Do fummon us to parte, and bid good night.
Y\'cuiis and Adonis, 1593, st. 89.] W. Sh.
Noctis inituim.
Now gan the humid vapour flied the ground
With pearlie dew, and th' earths gloomie lliade
Did dimme the brightneffe of the welkin round.
That everie bird and beaft a warned, made
To fhrowde themfelves, while fleep their fenfes did invade.
\_Fairy Queen, B. iii, c. x, st. 46.] Ed. Spencer.
of our English Poets.
The filent fliadovves, with their mother vaile,
The bright lampe of heaven from Thetis hid,
Apolloes fifter, in her ftarry rayle,
Along her lower fphere in triumpe led.
When Cynthia, companion of the night,
With fhining brand lightening his eben carre,
Whofe axeltree was jet, enchaft with ftarres,
And roofe with fliining ravens feathers cealed,
Piercing mine eye lids, as I lay along,
Awaked me through.
\The Honour of the Carter, 1593.]
395
D. Lodge.
G. Peelk.
Thus, whiles dumb figns their yeelding hearts entangled.
The aire with fparks of living fire was fpangled ;
And Night, deepe drencht in miftie Acheron,
Heaved up her head, and halfe the world upon
Breath'd darknes forth : darke night is Cupids daie.
[Hero and Leander, 1598, Sest. i.] Ch. Marlow,
From deepe of regions underneath
Nights vaile arofe, and funnes bright lufter chacde.
Ed. Fairfax.
Inverted in her ftarrie vale, the Night
In her kind amies embraced all this round ;
The filver moonc, from fea uprifing bright,
Spred froftie pearle upon the canded ground.
[Godfrey of Bulloigne, B. vi, st. 103.] Idk.m.
Now blacke-browde Night, plaft in her chairc of jet,
Sat wrapt in cloudes within her cabinet,
396 The Choysest Flowers
And with her dufkie mantle over-fpread
The path the funnie palfraies ufde to tread ;
And Cynthia, fitting in her criftall chayre,
In all her pompe now rid along her fphere :
The honyed dew defcended in foft fhowres,
Drizled in pearle upon the tender flowers,
And Zephire hufht, and, with a whifpering gale,
Seemed to harken to the nightingale.
Which in the thornie brakes, with her fweet fong,
Unto the filent Night bewrayde her wrong.
^Endymion and Phoebe (1594) Sig. C 3 b.] M. Dra.
Noclis concnbimn.
Now was the heavenly vault deprived of the light
With funnes depart ; and now the darknes of the Night
Did light thofe beamy ftars which greater lite did dark :
Now each thing that injoy'd that fierie quickning fpark
(Which life is cald) were movd their fpirits to repofe.
And wanting ufe of eyes, their eyes began to clofe :
A filence fweete, each where, with one confent imbraft,
(A muficke fweete to one in carefull mufmg plaft) :
And mother earth, now clad in mourning weed, did breathe
A dull defire to kiffe the image of our death.
[Arcadia, 410, 1590, 272 b ; fo. 1598, p. 260.] S. Ph. Sydney.
It was the time when reft, foft Aiding downe
From heavens height into mens heavie eyes.
In the forgetfulneffe of fleepe doth drowne
The carefull thoughts of mortall miferies.
iyisw//s of Bcllay, 1591.] Ed. Spencfr.
of any English Poets. 397
The funne alreadie fanke
Beyond our world, and ere I got my boothe,
Each thing with mantle black the night doth footh,
Saving the glow-worm, which would courteous be
Of that fmall light oft watching fliepheards fee.
The welkin had full niggardly inclofed,
In coffer of dimme cloudes his fdver groates,
Icleped ftarres ; each thing to reft difpofed.
The caves were full, the mountaines voyde of goates.
The birds eyes clofde, clofed their chirping notes :
As for the nightingale, woods mufickes king,
It Auguft Avas ; hee daind not then to fing.
{^/ircadia., 4to, 1390, p. 90; fo. 1598, p. 384.] S. Ph. Sydney.
Now the fable fliade,
Icleped Night, had thicke enveloped
The funne in vaile of double darknes made :
Sleepe eafed care, reft brought complaint to bed.
\_Godfrey of B/iI/oignc, 1600, B. iii, st. 71.] Ed. Fairfax.
Now from the frefh, the foft, and tender bed
Of her ftill mother, gentle Night out flew :
The fleeting balme on hilles and dales fliee flied,
With honey drops of pure and precious dew ;
And on the verdure of greene forrefts fpred
The virgin prime-rofe, and the violet blew.
And fweete-breath'd Zephire, on his fpreading wings,
Sleepe, eafe, repofe, reft, peace, and quiet brings.
The thoughts and troubles of broade-waking day
They foftly dip in mildc oblivions lake.
\//>i(l, n. xiv, si. I.J Idem.
398 The C hoys est Flozvers
Intenipejia Nox.
Now when Aldeboran was mounted hie,
Above the fhinie Caffiopeias chaire,
And all in deadly fleepe did drowned lie.
\_Fairy Queen, B. i, c. iii, st. 16.] Ed. Spencer.
[Midnight was come, when everie vitall thing
With fweete found fleepe their wearie limbs did refl ;
The beafts were ftill, the little birds that fing
Now fweetely flept befides their mothers brefl ;
The old and all were Ihrowded in their neft,
The waters calme, the cruell feas did ceafe,
The woods, the fields, and all things held their peace.
The golden ftarres were whirled amid theyr race,
And on the earth did laugh with twinckling light,
When each thing neftled in his refting-place,
Forgat dayes payne with pleafure of the night :
The hare had not the greedie hounds in fight,
The fearefull deare of death ftood not in doubt,
The partrich dreamd not of the falcons foot,
The ugly beare now minded not the ftake.
Nor how the cruell maftiffes doe him teare ;
The ftagge lay ftill unroufed from the brake,
The foamie boare fear'd not the hunters fpeare ;
All things were ftill in defart, bufh and breere :
The quiet heart now from their trav^ailes ceaft,
Soundly they flept in midft of all their reft.
{Complaint of D. of Buckingham, M. for M., edit. 1610, p. 448.]
M. Sackville.
of our English Poets. 399
The Midnights waking ftarre,
Sad Caffiopeia, with a heavie cheere
Pulht forth her forehead, to make knowne from farre
What time the deadly dole of earth drewe neere.
{Tragedy of Sir Richard Grinvile, 1595.] I. Markham.
With falhng mifts the darkfome Night extended
Her fable wings, and gently over-fpread
Heavens gloomie vaile, whence Phoebus lampe was fled,
Dead time of reft to everie mortall wieht ;
No muficke to the filence of the night.
To cheerefuU mindes that bringeth wanton fleepe,
With many a phantafme and deluding toy ;
And penfive heart it doth detaine and keepe
From tedious companie, that would annoy
Dull faturnifts, that have abjurd all joy.
{Life and Death of IVotsejy, 1599.] Th, Storer.
Now fpread the Night her fpangled canopie,
And fummond everie reftleffe eie to fleepe ;
On beds of tender graffe the beafts downe lie,
The fifhes flumbred in the fllcnt deepe ;
Unheard was ferpents hiffe and dragons crie, "
Birds left to fing, and Philomene to weepe ;
Onely that noyfe heavens rolling circles keft
Sung lullaby, to bring the world to reft.
{Godfrey of Biittoigiie, B. ii, st. 96.] Ed. Fairfax.
Noclis initiuin.
W'hen loe ! the Night, with miftie mantles fpread,
Gan darkc the day, and dimme the a/ure fl<ics,
400 TJic Choyscst Floivcrs
And Venus in her meffage Hermes fped
To bloudy Mars, to will him not to rife,
While fliee her felfe approacht in fpeedie wife ;
And Virgo, hiding her difdainfuU breaft,
With Thetis now had layd her downe to reft :
Whiles Scorpio, dreading Sagitarius dart,
Whofe bow, preft bent in fight, the ftring had dipt,
Downe Aid into the ocean floud apart ;
The Beare, that in the Irifli feas had dipt
His grifly feete, with fpeede from thence he whipt ;
For Thetis, hafting from the Virgins bed,
Purfude the Beare, that ere fhe came was fled ;
And Phaeton, now neere reaching to his race,
With gliftering beames gold ftreaming where they bent,
Was preft to enter in his refting place :
Eurythius, that in the cart firft went.
Had even now attain'd his journeyes ftent,
And, faft declining, hid away his head
While Titan coucht him in his purple bed.
And pale-fac'd Cynthia, with her borrowed light
Beginning to fupplie her brothers place,
Was paft the noone-fted fixe degrees in fight ;
When fparkling ftarres amid the heavens face,
With twinckling light flione on the earth apace,
That while they brought about the nights black chaire,
The dark had dimd the day, ere I was ware.
[^Induction to M.for J/., edit. 1610, p. 255.] M. Sac.
Such time as from her mothers tender lap
The Night arofe, guarded with gentle winds,
And with her precious dew refrefiit the fappe
of our Ruo;lish Poets. 401
Of bloomc, and barke (whilft that her mantle blindes
The vaile of heaven) and every birde was ftill
Save Philomele, that did bemone her ill :
When in the weft Orion lift aloft
His ftarrie creft, and fmilde upon the Twins,
And Cynthia feemely bright (whofe eye full oft
Had watcht her love) with radiant light begins
To pierce the vaile of fdence with her beames,
Sporting with wanton cleere in ocean ftreames.
When little winds, in beating of their wings.
Did woe the eyes to leave their conftant wake,
And all was huflit, fave Zephirus that fnigs
With lovely breathings for the fea-n\'mphs fake,
My ^\•atchfull greefes perplext my mind fo fore,
That forth I walkt, my forrowes to deplore.
\_niscouiciiicd Satire, 1589, Sig. D 2.] D. Lodge.
FOR TIC A L DES CR IP T/ONS.
Of PJicology.
In chariot framed of celcftiall mould.
And fimple pureneffe of the purcft fl-:ic,
A more then hcavenl}- n}-mph I did behold,
Who glauncing on mee with her gracious eye,
So gave mee leave her bcautic to efpie ;
For furc, no fence fuch fight can comprehend,
Except her beames theyr fa}-re reflection lend.
Her beautie with eternitie beganne,
And onely unto God was e\cr fcene ;
When Eden was poffeft with finfnll man,
402 Tlic CJioyscst Fhnvcrs
She came to him, and gladly would have beene
The long fucceeding worlds eternall queene,
But they refufed her (O hainous deede!)
And from that garden banifht was their feede.
Since when, at fundrie times and fundry wayes,
Atheifme and blinded Ignorance confpire
How to obfcure thofe holy burning rayes,
And quench that zeale of heart-inflaming fire,
As makes our foules to heavenly things afpire :
But all in vaine; for, maugre all their might,
She never loft one fparkle of her light.
Pearles may be foyld, and gold bee turn'd to droffe,
The funne obfcur'd, the moone bee turn'd to bloud ;
The world may forrow for Aftreas loffe,
The heavens be darkened like a duflvie wood,
Waft deferts lie where watrie fountaines ftood ;
But fayre Theologie (for fo fliee hight)
Shall never loofe one fparkle of her light.
Such one ftie was, as in his Hebrew fong
The wifeft king for faireft creature prooves,
Embracing her the cedar-trees among,
Comparing her to rofes and to doves,
Preferring her before all other loves :
Such one flie was, and everie whit as fayre ;
Bcfidc thefe tu^o was never fuch a payre.
{Life and Death of IFo/srj, 1599.] Th. Storer.
AJirologie.
Her hand-maides, in Amazon-like attire.
Went chaft and modcft, like Dianaes traine:
of our English Poets. 403
One, by her gazing lookes, feemes to afpire
Beyond the moone ; and, in a high difdaine,
To deeme the world and worldly treafures vaine :
She hight Aftrologie ; on whofe bright lawne
Spheres, aftrolabes, and fkilfull globes are drawn.
[No author uamed, but T. Storer's Life ^ Deatli of IVolsey, 1 599.]
Retoricke.
The next, fayre fmiling with a pleafing cheere,
Had power to ravilh and inchaunt mens eares,
Hight Rhetorick, whofe fhadowed vaile fliowen cleere
With filver tongues ; and over it flie weares
A wimpled fcarfe, bedewd with hearers teares,
Whofe captive hearts flie fliould detaine long while
With pleafance of her unaffe6lcd ftile.
[No author named, but Ibidi]
Of Logicke.
The third, a quick-eyde dame of piercing fight.
That reafons worth in equall balance wayd ;
The truth fliee lov'd above all earthly wight,
Yet could not tell her love ; but what fhee fayd
Was certaine true, and fhee a perfect maide :
Her garment fhort tuckt up, to worke preparde,
And fhe calld Logicke, without welt, or gard.
[Life and Death of Wolsey, 1599.] Til. S-l(MtER.
A I'ith. Mufickc. Geometric.
Next thefc, whofe outward lookes I knew ari<rht.
And had fomc portion of their endleffe trcafure,
404 The Clioyscst Floivers
Fayre Algebra, with figures richly dight :
Sweete Muficke, foundreffe of delightfome pleafurc,
Earth-fcanning nymph, direclreffe of all meafure.
Thefe humbly did her foveraigne highnes greet,
And meekely layd their garlands at her feete.
From cverie one fhee pluckt a fpeciall flower,
And layd each flower upon a feverall part ;
Then from her owne a ftemme of wondrous power,
Whofe leaves were beames, whofe ftalke a fiery dart,
And that flie layd upon my trembling heart :
Thofe were the buds of art, this plant of bliffe,
This gave them life, they yeelded grace to this.
{^Life and Death of ITolsty, 1599.] Th. Storer.
0/ Battailc.
Two greater kings were never {qcwq beforne
Then camped was in Ragan field at morne,
With haughtie hearts enarmed, all in ire ;
Each fouldiour fet another fo on fire,
That fcarcely they could keepe them in their boundc
Till pipe, or cymball, or the trumpets found,
Denounce the choke ; but, with their furious faces.
They threate their foes with fell menaces,
And flrokes at hand ; two thoufand lads forlorne
(To blunt the fword) were downe in battaile borne ;
Upon their flanks flew fervently their ftones,
That bet theyr bucklers to their brufed bones.
The fquadron then fteps flernely to the fhrokes,
With hearts inhumane all the battaile yoakes,
And arc fupplydc with many mi^htic bands :
of our English Poets. 405
Some counters them, and fternely them withftands,
With foote to foote each other overplies ;
Both Medes and Caldes clafpe with gaftly cryes,
Like Nylus ftreames that from the rockes do rumble,
Or Encelade, when he in tombe doth tumble.
^History of Judith, 1584, B. v.] Tho. HUDSON.
OfaKffc.
Beft charge, and braveft retrait in Cupids fight ;
A double key, which opens to the heart ;
Moft rich, when moft his riches it impart ;
Neaft of yong- joyes, fchoolemafter of delight,
Teaching the meane, at once to take and give ;
The friendly fray, where blows both wound and heale ;
The prettie death, while each in other live ;
Poore hopes firft wealth, hoftage of promift weale,
Breakefaft of love.
\_Astrop/icl and Stella, edit., 1598, son. 79.] S. Ph. Sydney.
Of People.
People, leffe fetled then the Aiding fand,
More mutable then Proteus, or the moone ;
Turnd and returnd in turning of a hand,
Like Euripus, ebbe flowing every noonc :
Thou thoufand-headed headlcffe monfter moft,
Oft flaine like Antheus, and as oft new rifing.
Who hard as fteele, as light as wingd art toft,
Camcleon-like, each obje^ls colour prifing.
I. S^•Lv^:.'^■M■:R.
4o6 The Clioyscst Flon'crs
Dij'dainc.
A fturdie villaine, ftriding ftiffe, and bold
As if the higheft God defie he would.
In his right hand an iron clubbe hee held,
But hee himfelfe was all of golden mould,
Yet had both life and fence, and well could weilde
That curfed weapon, when his cruell foes he queld :
Difdaine he called was, and did difdaine
So to be calde, and who fo him did call.
{^Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. vii, st. 40.] Ed. Spencer.
Of tJie fame.
P""or, loe ! a knight unto his focour went,
All arm'd in fhining fteele ; and on his fhield
He bare a yoake in fundrie peeces rent,
And flames of fire all in a yellow field.
So weaponed he was, as if hee ment
To make all that incountred him to yeeld ;
A fword and fpeare hee had, and to the fame
A mace, from whence he threw continuall flame :
His mace was ftorde with everlafting fire,
That ever burned and did never wafte ;
No other weapon needed one defire
To make good way with, wherefoere he paft.
And fure Rinaldoes danger did require
Quicke remedie ; wherefore the knight doth hafte,
And when he faw this monfter and did vew her.
With his ftiffe fpcarc forthwith hee overthrew her.
of our English Poets. 407
But this fame fall did her no whit annoy,
Wherefore to ufe his fpeare he now misHiketh ;
Onely hee will his fierie mace imploy,
And with that fame the monfter foule hee ftriketh :
Then fhee no longer could her force injoy.
[Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xlii, st. 51.] S. J. H.
Of Dcart'i.
Dearth, the lively forme of death,
Still yawning wide with lothfome ftinking breath,
With hollow eyes, with meger cheekes and chinne,
With fharpe leane bones, piercing her fable fkinne :
Her emptie bowels may bee plainely fpide
Cleane through the wrinckles of her withered hide;
Shee hath no bellie, but the bellies feate,
Her knees and knuckles fwelling very great :
Infatiate Orque, that even at one repafte,
Almoft all creatures in the world with wafte,
Whofe greedie gorge dilli after difli doth draw,
Seekes meate in meate ; for ftill her monftrous maw
Voydes in devouring, and fometimes flie eates
Her owne deere babes, for lacke of other meates ;
Nay more, fometimes (O ftrangeft gluttonie !)
Slice eates her fclfe, her felfe to fatisfie,
Lcffning her fclfe, her felfe fo to inlarge.
And cruell thus, (hcc doth our grandfire charge.
And brings befide from Limbo, to affift her.
Rage, Feebleneffc, and Thirft. her ruthleffe fifter.
|. Sua i:m i:r.
4o8 The Choyscst Flcnccrs
Of Thirji.
For cruell Thirfl; came out of Cvrcn land,
Where fhee was foftered on the burning fand,
With hote intracled tongue, and funken eine,
With ftomacke worne, and wrinckled vifage keene,
With light and meagre corfe, and paled vaines,
In fteede of bloud that brimftone hot retaines ;
Her po}'foned mouth blew through that holy towne,
Such hellifli aire, that ftiffeled up and down.
[7'. Hudson's IJistory of JudilJi, 15S4, B. iii.] Th. Had.
Old Wouian.
Her eyes were funk into her head,
Her cheeks were lean and lanke.
Out ftood her chin.
Into her mouth her bloudleffe lips they fanke :
Her toothleffe chappes
Difgrafte her tongue in telling of a tale,
And fucke flie might
A teat, for teeth, and fpoonage too did failc.
Her haire, (fmce fixtie yeeres
Not blacke,) was now or white or none ;
The fubftance of her wrinckled face
Was onely fkinne and bone :
Dimme were her eyes,
Deafe were her eares, ranke fmelt it, Hie could fent ;
A palfie made her feeling ceafe,
Dovvne taftleffe foode it went.
{^Albioiis K/iff/and, edit. 1602, }!. ii, ch. x.] W. Warxkr.
of our Eiigiish Poets. 409
Of a Combate.
Sometime they proffer, then they paufe a while,
Sometime ftrike out, like mafters of the play,
Now ftand upright, now ftoope another while,
Now open lie, now cover all they may ;
Now ward, then with a flippe the blow beguile,
Now forward ftep, now backe a little way,
Now round about, and where the tone gives place,
There ftill the other preffeth in his place.
[Orlatido Fien'oso, 1591, B. ii, st. 9.] S. J. H.
Of Ailuon.
Faire Albion, glorie of the North ;
Neptunes beft darling, held betweene his amies,
Divided from the world, as better worth,
Kept from himfelfe, defended from all harmes.
S. Daniell.
This royall throne of kings, this fceptred yle,
This earth of majeftie, this feate of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradife,
This fortrcffe, built by nature for her felfc
Againft infection and the hand cjf w^arre ;
This happie breede of men, this little world,
This precious ftone fette in the filvcr fea.
Which ferves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moate, defenfive to a houfe,
Againft the envie of leffe happier lands ;
This bleffcd plot, this earth, this realm, this lui^^land,
3 <;
4 1 o TJtc Choyscst Floivcrs
This nurfe, this teeming wombe of royall kings,
Fearde by their breede, and famous by their byrth,
Renowned in their deedes as farre from home,
P'or Chriftian fervice, and true chivalrie,
As is the fepulchre in ftubburne Jewrie. , I
[Shakespeare's Richard II, act ii, sc. i.] -.^ ' M. Dr.
Of ^gipt.
The faireft flower that glories Affrica,
Whofe beautie Phebus dare not dafli with fliowres,
Over whofe climate never hung a cloude,
Eut fmiling Titan lights the horizon.
{History of Orlando Furioso, 1594, act i, sc i.] R. Greene.
Hiertisalcin.
Hicrufalem is feated on two hilles,
Of height unlike, and turned fide to fide ;
The fpace betweene a gentle vallie filles,
From mount to mount exfpanfed faire and wide ;
Three fides are fure imbarde with crags and hilles,
The reft is eafie, fcant to rife efpide ;
But mightie bulwarks fence that plainer part,
So art helps nature, nature ftrength'neth art.
The towne is ftorde of troughs and ceftornes, made
To keepe frefh water ; but the countrey feemes
Devoyde of graffe, unfit for plowmens trade,
Not fertill, moyft with rivers, wclles, and ftreames :
There grow few trees to make the fummers fhade,
To fliield the parched land from fcorching l:)eames,
of our English Pacts. 4 1 i
Save that a wood ftands fixe mile from the towne,
With aged cedars darke, and fliadowes browne.
By eaft, among the duftie valHes ghde
The filver ftreames of Jordans chriftall floud ;
By weft, the midland fea, with bounders tyde
Of fandie lliores, where Joppa whilom ftood :
By north Samaria ftands, and on that fide
The golden Calfe was reard in Bethell wood ;
Bethlem by fouth, where Chrift incarnate was,
A pearle in fteele, a diamond fette in braffe.
{Godfrey of BitUoig)u\ 1600, B. iii, st. 55.] Ed. Fairfax.
Of Deluge.
Heavens criftall windowes with one hand God opes,
Where on the world a thoufand feas he droppes ;
With th' other hand hee gripes, and wringeth forth
The fpungie globe of the execrable earth.
So ftraightly preft, that it doth ftrait reftore
All liquid flouds that it had drunke before.
In everie rocke new rivers doe beginne.
And to his aide the fnowes came tumbling in :
The pines and cedars have but bowes to fliew ;
The flioares do flirinke, the fwelling waters grow.
\TJic Ark, font Dii Barias.] J. Sylvester.
Of a Courtier effeminate.
About his nccke a carknct rich hee ware
Of precious ftones, all fette in gold well tried ;
His armcs, that earft all warlike weapons bare,
4 1 2 TJie CJwysest Floi^'crs
In g^olden bracelets wantonly were tied ;
Into his eares two rings convayed are
Of golden wire, at which on either fide
Two Indian pearles, in making like two peares
Of paffing price, were pendant at his eares.
His locks, bedewd with waters of fweete favour,
Stood curled round in order on his head ;
He had fuch wanton womanifh behaviour,
As though in Valence he had long beene bred ;
So changd in fpeech, in manners, and in favour,
So from himfelfe, beyond all reafon, ledde
By thefe inchauntments of this amorous dame.
He was himfelfe in nothing but in name.
^Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. vii, st. 46.] S. J. H.
Of Eden.
For Adam God chofe out an happie feate,
A climate temperate both for cold and heate,
Which daintie Flora paveth fumptuoufly
With flowrie Vers inameld tapiftrie ;
Pomona prancks with fruits, whofe tafte excelles,
And Zephir filles with mufke and amber fmelles.
Where God himfelfe (as gardiner) treades the allies,
With trees and corne covers the hilles and vallies ;
Summons fweete fleep with noyfe of hundred brooks,
And funne-proofe arbors makes in fundrie nookes ;
Hee plants, hee proines, he pares, he trimmeth round,
The ever-greene bewties of a fruitfuU ground :
Hecre, there, the courfc of th' holy lakes he leades,
of our English Poets. 4 1 3
With thoufand dies he motleth all the meades.
{^Second Day, by Du Bartas, 1598.] J. Sylvester.
Of Winds.
O heavens frefli flames ! quoth hee,
Earths fvveeping broomes ! O forrefts enmitie !
O you ! my haraulds and my harbengers,
My nimble pofts, and fpeedie meffengers ;
My armes, my finewes, and my eagles fwift,
That through the ayre my rowling chariot lift.
J. Sylvester.
Of a drtinken Man.
His head growes giddie, and his foote indents,
A mightie fume his troubled braine torments ;
His idle prattle, from their purpofe quite,
Is abrupt, fluttering, all confufde, and light ;
His wine ftuft flomacke, wrung with wind he feeles,
His trembling tent all topfi-turvie wheeles ;
At laft, not able on his legges to ftand.
More like a foule fwine then a fober man,
Oppreft with fleepe, hee wallowes on the ground,
His fliameleffe fnorting trounke fo deeply drownd
In felfe-oblivion, that he did not hide
Thofe parts that Csfar covered when hee died.
Idem.
A Palmer.
A fiUie man, in fimplc weede forwornc.
And foyld with dufh of the long dryed way;
414 TJic Choysest Floivcrs
His fandales were with toylefome travell torne,
And face all tand with fcorching funnie ray,
As hee had travaild many a funimers day
Through boyling fands of Arabie and Inde ;
And in his hand a Jacobs staffe, to ftay
His wearie limbs upon ; and eke behind
His fcrip did hang, in which his needments he did bind.
{Fairy Queen, B. i, c. vi, st. 35.] Ed. Spencer.
Of Harpies.
Seven of them came together in a knot.
With womens faces, wanne with deadly cold.
So hunger-ftarv'd, as death it felfe might not
Be, at firft fight, more hidious to behold :
Their wings were great, but foule black wings, (God wot)
Theyr tallents fharp to gripe, but ftrong to hold ;
A large foule panch, a filthy tayle and long.
From whence there came an odour mighty ftrong.
[Orla7ido Fnrioso, B. xxxiii, st. 1 1 1.] S. J. Harr.
Of Cyprus.
With filled fayles, in little while.
They came as farre as Cyprus, Venus ile :
Heere every place was full of odours fweet,
Of gardens fayre, of fpyce of pleafant taft ;
The people luftfull (for dame Venus meete)
From tender yeeres to doating age doe laft ;
With wanton damfels walking in each ftreet.
Inviting men to pleafure and repafb.
\Ibid., B. X, St. 77.] Idem.
of OHT English Poets. 4 1 5
Of the Rainchow.
Noah lookes up, and in the ayre he viewes
A femicircle of a hundred hewes,
Which, bright afcending toward th' aetheriall thrones,
Hath a hne drawne betweene two horizons,
For juft diameter : an even bent bow
Contriv'd of three ; whereof the one doth fhow
To be all painted of a golden hew ;
The fecond greene, the third an orient blew ;
Yet fo, that in this pure blew-golden greene,
Still (6 pall-like !) fome changeable is feene :
A bow bright Hiining in th' archers hand,
Whofe fubtile ftring feemes levell with the land ;
Halfe parting heaven, and over us it bends.
Within two feas wetting his horned ends ;
A temporall beautie of the lampfull fkyes.
Where powerftdl Nature fhewes her frefli-red dies :
And if you onely blew and red perceave,
The fame as fignes of fea and fire conceave,
Of both the flowing and the flaming doome,
The judgement paft, and judgement yet to come.
iFroiii I)n Hartas.] J. SiLVi'.srF.k.
Of Paradice.
Soone after, he a chriftall ftreame efpying.
From foote to head he waflit himfelfe therein ;
Then up he gets him on his courfer flying,
And of the ayre he more and more doth win,
Affcfting heaven, all carthl)- thoughts defying
4 1 6 TJic CJioyscst Flowers
As fiflies cut the liquid flreame with fin,
So cutteth he the ayre, and doth not ftop
Till he was come unto that mountaines top.
This hill nie toucht the circle of the moone,
The top was all a fruitefull pleafant fielde,
And light at night, as ours is heere at noone,
The fweeteft place that ever man beheld ;
(There would I dwell, if God gave me my boone)
The foyle thereof moft fragrant flowers did yeeld,
Like rubies, gold, faphire, pearles, topaze ftones,
Chrifolites, diamonds, jacinths for the nones.
The trees that there did grow were ever greene ;
The fruites that thereon grew were never fading ;
The fundry coloured birds did fit betweene,
(Singing moft fweet) the fruitfull boughes them fliading,
Rivers more cleere then chriftall to be feene.
The fragrant fmell, the fence and foule invading ;
With ayre fo temperate and fo delightfome,
As all the place befide was cleere and lightfome.
\^No autJior iia/ncd: HaringtoiCs Orlando Fiirioso, B. xxxiv% st. 49.]
Of Diana.
The firft, with cloths tuckt up, as nimphs in woods doe range,
Tuckt up even with the knees, with bow and arrowes preft ;
Her right arme naked was, difcovered was her breft :
But heavy was her pace, and fuch a megre cheere.
As little hunting mind (God knows) did there appeere.
[Arcadia, 4to, 1590, 272 b; fo. 159S, 261.] S. Phil. Sidney.
And now great Phcebe in her tryumph came,
\\'itli c'lll the titles of her glorious name.
of our English Poets. 4 1 7
Diana, Delia, Luna Cynthia,
Virago, Hecate, and Elythia,
Prothiria, Dictinna, Proferpine,
Latona, and Lucina, moft divine.
\^Endy77iion and Phcebe (1594), Sig. F 2.] M. Drayton.
Cynthia.
The filver Moone, dread foveraigne of the deepe.
That with the floods fills up her horned head.
And by her waine, the waining ebs doth keepe.
\_Tragedy of Sir Richard Grinvi?c, 1595.] Iar. Markham.
Behind her, with a brafe of filver hindes,
In ivorie chariot, fwifter then the windes,
Is great Hyperions horned daughter drawne,
Enchauntreffe like, deckt in difparent lawne :
Circled with charmes and incantations.
That ride huge fpirits and outragious paffions ;
Muficke and moode flie loves, but love flie hates,
(As curious ladies doe their publique cates.)
\_Hy/niius in Noctem, 1594 ] G. Chapman.
Natures bright eye-fight, and the nights faire foule.
That with thy triple forhead doofl controule
P^arth, feas, and hell ; and art, in dignitie.
The great'ft and fwifteft planet in the flvic.
[Hynimis in Cynt/iiant, 1594.] IDEM.
I \vuis.
Mounting in the caft,
Faire Venus in her ivorie coach did haft,
J
11
4i8 TJic CJioyscst Floxvcrs
And toward thofe penfive dames her courfe addreft :
Her doves fo plied theyr waving wings with flight,
That ftraight the facred goddeffe came in fight.
Upon her head fhe bare that gorgious crowne
Wherein the poore Amyntas is a ftarre ;
Her lovely locks her bofome hang adowne,
(Thofe nets that firft infnard the God of warre ;)
Delicious lovely fhine her prettie eyes,
And on her cheekes carnation clowdes arife.
\GIaucns and Scilla, 1589, Sig. C] D. Lodge.
Of Venus.
The other had with art more then our women know,
(As ftufife meant for the fale, fet out to glaring fhow)
A wanton womans face, and with curld knots had twin'd
Her haire, which, by the help of painters cunning, fhin'd.
S^Arcadia, 4to, 1590, 374; edit. fo. 1598, p. 261.]
S. Phil. Sidney,
Of Cupid.
Amongft this gamefome crue is feene
The iffue of the Cyprian queene,
Whofe head and flioulders fethered beene ;
And, as the ftarres, his countenance flieene.
In his left hand his bow he bare,
And by his fide his quiver ware ;
In power he fits, paft all compare.
And with his flames the world doth dare :
A fccpter in his hand he held,
Witli Chloris native flowers untild.
of our EnglisJi Poets. 4 1 9
And ne6lars deathleffe odours ftild,
From his bright locks the fun did guild.
The triple Graces there affist,
Suftaining with theyr brefts commift,
And knees, that Tellus bofome kift,
The challice of this amorift.
\Phillis and Flora, 1595, st. 91.J G. Chapman, Trait si.
For him the greateft of the gods we deeme,
Borne without fyre, or couples of one kind ;
For Venus felfe doth folic couples feeme,
Both male and female through commixture joynd.
So, pure and fpotleffe, Cupid forth fhe brought.
And in the gardens of Adonis nurft ;
Where growing, he his owne perfe6lion wrought.
And fliortly was of all the gods the firft.
Then got he bow and fliafts of gold and lead,
In which fo fell and puiffant he grew,
That Jove himfelfe his power began to dread,
And, taking up to heaven, him godded new.
From thence he fhoots his arrowes every where
Into the world at random, as he will.
On us frayle men.
{^Spenser's Colin Clout's come home again, 1595 ] S. Daxii;i,l.
Vaius.
Now, in ire,
Shee mounts her chariot, fwifter then the w iude
Or fubtill comprehenfion of the minde.
Which by two nimble cock-fparrovvcs was drawne,
420 The CJioyscst Flowers
Caparifond but lightly, with the lawne
Tooke from the flowere-deluces inner fkin,
Trapt and imboft with marigolds : within
Sits Venus naked, holding in her hand
A tumbling fhelfifli, with a mirtle wand ;
Wearing a garland on her wimpled head,
Compacted of the white rofe and the red.
None but the blinde boy, Cupid, durft approch
For to be whurried with her in her coach ;
The fnow-white Graces, running by theyr fides,
Were through the heavens theyr wagoners and guides,
Lafhing the fparrowes under quivering wings.
With wh}ps of twifted gold, and filver ftrings ;
A beavie of white doves, ftill fluttring over.
From the funnes fight fuch beautie feem'd to cover ;
And thus fliee rode in tryumph in her throne,
Whofe radiant luftre like the funne-beames fhone.
I. Weever.
C aline WeatJier.
As then no winde at all there blew.
No fwelling clowde accloyd the ayre.
The fkye, like graffe of watchet hue,
Refle6led Phcebus golden haire :
The garniflit trees no pendant ftird.
Nor voyce was heard of any bird.
■ [Elegy on Sir P. Sydney, 1595.] Mat. Roydox.
The king of windes calls home his pofts againe,
And Amphitritc fmooths her watr}' plaine ;
of our English Poets. 42 1
The ayre his clowdes hath chang'd to chriftall cleere,
And now the lamps of lightfome heaven appeare.
{Shipwreck of Jonas, 1592.] J. SYLVESTER.
Of Tempcfis.
On Neptune war was made by vEolus and his traine,
Who, letting loofe the winds, toft and tormented the ayre,
So that, on every coaft, men fhipwracke did abide,
Or els were fwallowed up in open fea with waves ;
And fuch as came to fliore, were beaten with difpayre.
Ed:m. Spencer.
But afterward, within a little feafon.
The winde difcovered his deceite and treafon.
Firft, from the poope it changed to the fide,
Then to the prore ; at laft, it whirled round ;
Long in a place it never would abide.
Which doth the pilots wit and fkill confound ;
The furging waves fwell ftill in higher pride,
Proteus white flocke did more and more abound,
And feem'd to them as many deaths to threaten.
As the fliyps fides with divers waves are beaten.
Now in theyr face the winde, ftraight in theyr back.
And forward this, and backward that it blowes,
Then on the fide it makes the fliyp to crack :
Among the marriners confufion growes,
The maifter doubts ruine and prefent wrack ;
For none his will, nor none his meaning knowes :
To whiftle, becken, cry, it nought availes.
Sometime to ftrike, fomctimc to turnc tlie}'r failcs.
422 TJic CJioyscst Floivcrs
But none there was could heare, nor fee, nor marke ;
Theyr eares fo ftopt, fo dazeled were theyr eyes,
With weather fo tempeftuous, and fo darke,
And blacke thick clowdes, that with the ftorme did rife :
From whence fometimes great ghaftly flames did fpark,
And thunder claps that feem'd to rent the fkies ;
Which made them, in a manner, deafe and blind,
That no man underftoode the maifters mind.
Nor leffe, nor much leffe fearefull, is the found
The cruell tempeft in the tackle makes ;
Yet each one for himfelfe fome bufines found,
And to fome fpeciall office him betakes :
One this untide, another that faft bound.
He the maine bowling now reftraines, now flakes ;
Some take an oare, fome at the pump take paine,
And powre the fea into the fea againe.
Behold ! a horrible and hideous blaft.
That Boreas from his frozen lips doth fend.
Doth backward force the faile againft the maft.
And makes the waves unto the fkies afcend :
Then brake theyr oares, and rudder eke ; at laft,
Nothing was left from tempeft to defend.
So that the fhip was fwai'd now quite a-fide,
And to the waves laid ope her naked fide :
Then all afide the ftaggering fliip did reele.
For one fide quite beneath the water lay.
And on the tother fide the very keele
Above the water plaine difcerne you may :
Then thought they all hope paft, and down they kneele,
And unto God to take their foules they pray.
Worfe danger grew than this, when this was paft,
of GUI' English Poets. 423
By meanes the fhip gan after leake fo faft.
The winde, the waves, to them no refpite gave,
But ready every houre to overthrow them ;
Oft they were hoift fo high upon the wave,
They thought the middle region was below them ;
Oft-times fo low the fame their veffell drave,
As though that Charon there his boat wold fliow them :
Scant had they time, or power, to fetch their breath,
All things did threaten them fo prefent death.
[Orlando Ftcrioso, 1591, B. xli, st. 8.] S. J. Harr.
But lo ! an hoaft of blacke and fable clouds
Gan to eclipfe Lucinaes filver face.
And with a hurling noyfe, from forth the fouth,
A guft of winde did rear the billowes up.
Then fcantled w^e our failes with fpeedy hands.
And tooke our drablers from our bonnets ftraight.
And fevered our bonnets from the courfes.
Our top-failes up we truffe, our fprite -failes in ;
But vainely ftrive they that refift the heavens :
For loe ! the waves incenfe them more and more.
Mounting with hideous rorings from the depth ;
Our barke is battered by encountring ftormes.
And wel nie ftemmd, by breaking of the floods.
The fteeres-man, pale and carefull, holds the helme.
Wherein the truft of life and fafety lay ;
Till all at once (a mortall tale to tell)
Our failes were fplit by Bifas bitter blaft ;
Our middle broke, and w^e bereft of hope.
There might you fee, with pale and ghaftly lookes,
The dead in thought, and dolcfull marchant lift
424 '^Jic CJioyscst Flowers
Their eyes and hands unto their Countries Gods.
The goods we caft in bowels of the fea,
A facrifice to fwage proud Neptunes ire.
{Looking-glass for Londo7i and Engla7id, 1594-] D. Lodge.
Now Nereus foames, and now the wrackfull wave,
Toft and turmoild by angry Aeol's flaves,
Doe mount and rowle : gainft Thetis heaven doth fight ;
And fhe (inrag'd) ufurpt on Rhea's right.
An ayre, black, fable, fad, ore-fpreads the fkies,
And reaves all light from wofuU faylers eyes :
Or if fome beames breake through their pitchy night,
'Tis naught but lightnings flaflies, full of fright.
[Shipwreck of Jonas, 1592.] J. SYLVESTER.
The eafterne winds drives on the roring traine
Of white blew billowes, and the clouds againe
With freOi feas croffe the fea, and flie doth fend
In counter-change a raine with fait yblend :
The heavens doe feeme in Thetis lap to fall.
The fea fcale fkies, and God, to arme this all
Againft one fhip, that fkips from ftarres to ground,
From wave to wave, (like windy balloones bound)
The whilft the pylot, on a foamy mount,
Thinks from the pole to fee hells pit profound ;
And then, caft downe unto the fandy fhole,
Seemes from low hell to fee the lofty pole.
And feeling foes within, and eke without,
As many waves, fo many deaths doth doubt :
The fea, fharp-furging round about the fliip,
Uncaulks her keelc, and doth her feames unrip,
of 01 Lv English Poets. 425
Whereby the waters entring uncontrold,
Ebbing abroad, yet flow apace in hold ;
For every tun the plied pump doth free,
A flood breakes in ; the amazed maifter, hee
His cunning conquered by the perill plaines
Doubts what to fay, or where to turne his raines,
Which wave to meete, or which fait furge to flie.
So yeelds his charge in fea to live or die.
[A'^ author named, but Sylvester's Ship^ureck of Jonas, 1592.]
Strike faile, (the maifter cries) fhrike faile aniaine !
Vaile mifme and fprit-faile : but the winds confbraine
With boiftrous blafts, that beate upon his face,
His fea-fhapt fpeech, to fly before their chace ;
Of men difmay'd the fad confufed cries,
Wroath Neptunes noyfe, and bellowing winds likewife.
Heavens thunderclaps, the tacklings whiftling,
(Strange minftrells) doe dire dreadfuU defcant fing.
{Shipwreck of Jonas, 1592.] JosuAH Sylvester.
The day with cloudes was fuddaine overcaft.
And angry Jove an hideous ftorme of raine
Did poure into his lemmons lap fo faft.
That every wight to fliroud it did conflraine.
ypairy Queen, B. i, c. i, st. 6] Ed. Spencer.
The ayre doth on the fuddaine grow obfcure.
Lightened fometimes with lightnings dreadfull light,
And, fave their houre-glaffe kept the reckning fure,
'Twas hard for to difcerne the day from night :
The defperate marriners doe all indure,
3 1
426 Tlic Choyscst Fknvers
As men inured to the waters fpight ;
The heavens above, the waves beneath do roare,
Yet are they not difmai'd one whit therefore.
One, with a whiftle hang'd about his necke,
Shewes by the found which cord muft be undone ;
And ftraite the fhip-boy, ready at a becke,
Unto the tops with nimble fleight doth runne :
The other marriners upon the decke,
Or at the fbeere, the comming waves doe fliunne ;
And then b)^ turnes they pump the water out,
By paine and care preventing every doubt.
\_Orlando Fnrioso, 1591, B. xviii, st. 65.] S. J. Harrington.
The heavens on every fide inclofed be,
Black ftormes and foggs are blowen up from farre.
That now the pilot can no load-flarre fee,
But fkies and feas do make moft dreadfull warre ;
The billowes ftriving to the heavens to reach,
And th' heavens ftriving them for to impeach.
R. Greene.
Of the Sprin^
The foote feafon, that bud and bloome foorth brings.
With greene hath clad the hill, and eke the vale ;
The nightingale with feathers new flie fmgs.
The turtle to her make hath told her tale :
Sommer is come, for every fpray now fprings ;
The hart hath hung his old head on the pale,
The bucke in brake his winter-coate he flings ;
The fiflics fleete with new-repared fcale,
of our English Poets. 427
The adder all her flough away fhe flings ;
The fwift fvvallow purfueth the flies fmale,
The bufle bee her honey now flie mings ;
Winter is worne, that was the flowers bale.
{Description of Spring. TottelVs Miscellany, 1557.] E. of Surrey.
The winters wrath begins to quell,
And pleafant Spring appeareth ;
The graffe now gins to be refrefht,
The fwallovv peepes out of her neft,
And cloudy welkin cleareth.
{ShepheriVs Calendar., I579- March.] Ed. Spenser.
Flora now calleth forth each flower,
And bids make ready Maias bower,
That new is up-rift from bed.
{Ibid., ibid^^ luEM.
The earth, late choakt with fliowres,
Is now arai'd in greene.
Her bofome fprings with flowers,
The ayre diffolves her teene ;
The heavens laugh at her glorie,
Yet bide I fad and forie.
The woods are deckt with leaves,
And trees are cloathed gay ;
And Flora, crown'd with flieaves,
With oaken boughs doth play ;
Where I am clad in blacke,
The token of my wrackc.
The birds upon the trees
Doe fing with pleafant voyces,
428 TJic Choysest Floivers
And chaunt, in their degrees,
Their loves and hickie choyces,
When I, whilft they are finging,
With fighs mine armes are wringing,
{Sonnets, in Glaucus and S cilia, 1589, Sig. F i b.] D. Lodge.
The tenth of March, when Aries receav'd
Dan Phoebus rayes into his horned head.
{No author named.'\
In flowry feafon of the yeare,
And when the firmament was cleare,
When Tellus herbals painted were
With iffue of difparant cheere ;
When th' ufher to the morne did rife,
And drive the darknes from the fkies,
Sleepe gave their vifuall liberties
To Philiis and to Floraes eyes.
{Phillis and Flora, 1595,51. i.] G. Chapman.
The ayre was calme, the day was cleare,
Loves wanton winds, with wooing breathe,
Gan greete the fweeteft of the yeare ;
The flower forgot his winters death.
The earth, revived by the funne.
To jet in gay attire begunne.
The leafe allied unto the tree.
By helpe of Spring in coate of greene.
Stole forth my wandring eye to fee
The beauties of the fommers queene.
[Philiis, 1593.] D. Lodge.
of our English Pods. 429
The winter with his grifly ftormes no longer dare abide,
The pleafant graffe with lufty greene the earth hath newly
died,
The trees hath leaves, the boughs do fpred, new changed
is the yea re.
The water-brooks are clean funk down, the plefant banks
appeare,
The Spring is come, the goodly nimphs now dance in every
place :
Thus hath the yeare, moft pleafantly, of late ychang'd her
face.
\_Uncertain authors. TotteVs Miscellany., 1557.] E. of Surrey.
Now each creature joyes the other.
Faffing happy dayes and howers ;
One bird reports unto an other,
In the fall of filver fliowers ;
Whilft the earth, our common mother.
Hath her bofome deckt with flowers :
Wliilft the greateft torch of heaven
With bright rayes warmes Floraes lap ;
Making nights and dayes both even,
Chearing plants with freflier fap.
{Ode appended to Delia., 1592, Sig. H 2.] S. Dan I ELL.
Of Winter.
The wrathfull Winter, proching on a pace.
With bluftring blafts had all ybard the treene.
And old Saturnus, with his frofty face.
With chilling cold had pearft the tender grccnc ;
430 TIw Choyscst Flowers
I'lie mantles rent, wherein inwrapped beene
The gladfome groves that now lay over-throwne,
The tapets torne, and every tree downe blowne.
The foyle, that erft fo feemely was to feene,
Was all defpoiled of her beauties hewe,
And foote frefli flowers, (wherwith the fomers queene
Had clad the earth) now Boreas blafts downe blew ;
And fmall fowles flocking, in their fongs did rew
The Winters wrath, wherewith each thing defafb
In wofiUl wife, bewayl'd the fomnier paft.
Hawthorne had loft his motly liverie,
The naked twigs were fliivering all for cold.
And, dropping downe, the teares aboundantlie.
Each thing (me thought) with weeping eye me told
The cruell feafon, bidding me withhold
My felfe within; for I was gotten out
Into the fields, whereas I walkt about.
\_I/iditction to M.forM., edit. 1610, p. 255.] M. Sackville.
But eft when ye count ye freed from feare,
Comes the breame Winter with chamfred browes,
Full of wrinkles and frofty furrowes,
Drerely fhooting his ftormy dart.
Which cruddles the blood and pricks the hart,
{^Shephercfs Calendar. February.] Ed. SPENSER.
y am I arte.
But now fad Winter welked hath the day,
And Phoebus, weary of his yearely taflve,
Yrtabled hath his fleeds in lowly lay,
of our English Poets. 43 1
And taken up his inne fiflies haflvc.
[Shepherd's Calendar. November.] Ed. Spenser.
A ntninnus.
The wearied nights approached on a pace
With darkfome fliades, which fomwhat breedeth care ;
The funne hath take more neere the earth his race,
In Libra then his greateft fway he bare :
For, pardy, then the dayes more colder are ;
Then fades the greene fruite, h'vely hearbs are done,
And winter gins to waft that fommer wone.
J. H., Mir. of Mag.
Sommcr. J^ilie.
And now the funne hath reared up
his fierie-footed teame,
Making his way betweene the cup
and golden diademe :
The rampant lyon hunts he faft,
with doggs of noyfome breath,
Whofe balefull barking brings, in haft,
pine, plagues, and drery death.
[Shepherds Calendar. July.] Edm. Spenser.
Aiigiifl.
That time of yeere when the inamoured funne.
Clad in the richcft roabes of living fires.
Courted the Virgin figne, great Natures nunne,
Which barraincs earth of all what earth dofircs :
432 TJie CJioysest Floivcrs
Even in the month that from Auguftus wone
His facred name, which unto heaven afpires,
And on the laft of his tentrebled dayes.
[/. Mnrkhaiii's Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvile, 1595.]
W. Shakespeare.
It was the month in which the righteous mayde,
That for difdaine of finfuU worlds upbraid,
Fled backe to heaven, where flie was firft conceived,
Into her filver bower the funne received ;
And the hote Syrian dog, on him away ting,
After the chafed Lyons cruell bayting.
Corrupted had th' ayre with his noyfome breath,
And powrd on th' earth plague, peftilence and death.
\Ed. Spenser: Mother Hubberd's Tale, 1591.] ROB. GREENE.
Now was the month that old Sextilis name,
Changd by the Romaine fenates fage decree.
And glorying fo to innovate the fame.
To have himfelfe new chriftned did agree,
Proude that Auguftus godfather fhould be ;
Whilft Ceres clad him in a mantle fayre
Of bearded corne, ftill quavering with the ayre.
\_Life and Death of Drake, 1596, st. 238.] Char. Fitz Jeffrey.
Julie.
What time fleepes nurfe, the filent night, begun
To fteale by minutes on the long-liv'd dayes.
The furious dog-ftarre chafing of the funne,
Whofe fcorching breath adds flames unto his raies,
At whofe approch the angry lyon braies ;
of our EngUsJi Poets. 433
The earth now warm'd in this celeftial fire,
To coole her heate puts off her rich attire.
{Robert Duke of Normandy, 1596, st. i.] M. Drayton.
Of Morpheus.
Morpheus, the livelie fonne of deadly Sleepe,
Witnes of hfe to them that Hving die,
A prophet oft, and oft an hiftorie ;
A poet eke, as humors flie or crcepe.
lAstrophet a/id Sfetla, edit., 1598, son. 32.] S. Phil. SiD.
Hee making fpeedy way through fperfed ayre.
And through the world of waters wide and deepe.
To Morpheus houfe doth haftily repaire.
Amid the bowels of the earth full fteepe ;
And lowe, where dawning day doth never peepe,
His dwelling is ; there Thetis his wet bed
Doth ever wafh, and Cynthia ftill doth fteepe
In filver dew his ever drouping head,
While fad night over him her mantle black doth fpread.
[Fairy Qiieeti, B. i, c. i, st. 39.] Edm. Spencer.
Whofe double gates he findeth locked faft.
The one faire fram'd of burnifh'd ivorie,
The other all with filver over-caft ;
And wakefuU dogs before them farre doe lie,
Watching to banifh Care, theyr enemie,
Who oft is wont to trouble gentle Sleepe.
[Itiid., it>id., St. 40.] Ir.KM.
434 ^■^'''' CJioyscst Floi^'crs
Of Neptune.
Firft came great Neptune, with his three forkt mace,
That rules the feas, and makes them rife or fall ;
His dewey locks did drop with brine a pace
Under his diademe imperiall ;
And by his fide his queen e, with coronall,
Fayre Amphitrite, moft divinely fayre,
Whofe ivory fhoulders weren covered all.
As with a robe, with her owne filver hayre,
And deckt with pearles, which th' Indian feas for her
prepare.
l^Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. xi, st. ii.] Edm. Spencer.
Of Prote?(s.
Proteus is fhepheard of the feas of yore,
And hath the charge of Neptunes mightie heard ;
An aged fire, with head all frothy hoare,
And fprinckled froft upon his dewie beard.
Idem.
Of Thetis.
Thetis, the mother of the pleafant fprings,
Grandame of all the rivers in the world.
To whome earths vaines a moyftning tribute brings ;
Nowe, with a mad difturbed paffion hurl'd,
About her cave (the worlds great treafure) flings,
And with wreath'd armes, and long wet hairs uncurl'd,
Within herfelfe laments a loffe unloft.
of our English Poets. 435
And mones her wrongs before her joyes be croft.
{Tragedy of Sir R. Grinvilc, 1595.] I. Markham.
Of Phceblis.
'J'he golden ofspring of Latona pure,
And ornament of great Joves progenie,
Phoebus !
Edm. Spencer.
Dayes king, god of undaunted verfe.
[Ovid's Banquet of Sence, 1595.] G. Chapman.
Of Neptune.
O Neptune ! never hke thy felfe in Ihew,
Inconftant, variable, mutable,
How dooft thou, Proteus-like, thy forme renewe }
O whereto is thy change imputable .''
Or whereunto art thou beft futable .''
Rightly the moone predominateth thee,
For thou art all as changeable as fliee.
[Life iSr» Death of Sir F. Drake., 1596, st. 242.] Ch. Fitz Jep^frey.
Of Apollo.
Sacred Apollo, god of archerie,
Of arts, of pleafure, and of poetric,
Joves faire-haird fonne, whofe yellow treffes (hine
Like curled flames, hurling a moft divine
And dazeling fplendour, in thofe leffer fires
Which from thy guilt beames (when thy car retires,)
Kindle ihofe tapers that lend c)cs tt) night.
436 The Choyscst Floxvcrs
O thou ! that art the land-lord of all light,
Bridegroomc of morning, dayes eternall king,
To whom nine Mufes (in a facred ring)
In daunces fphericall, trip hand in hand,
Whilft thy feven-ftringed lute theyr feete commaund ;
Whofe motion fuch proportioned meafure beares,
That to the muficke daunce nine heavenly fpheares.
Great Delian priefl ! we, to adore thy name,
Have burnt fat thighes of bulls in hallowed flame,
Whofe favour, wrapt in fmoake and clowdes of fire,
To thy ftarre-fpangled pallace did afpire.
{Comedy of Foriiinatus, 1600.] Th. Dekkar.
Of Rome.
O thou worlds queene ! 6 towne ! that did extend
Thy conquering armes beyond the ocean,
And throngdft thy conquefts from the Libian fliores
Downe to the Scythian fwift-foote fearleffe porters,
Thou art embafd ; and, at this inftant, yeeldft
Thy proud necke to a miferable yoke.
\Tragedy of Cornelia, 1594, act iii.] Tho. Kvd.
Of Heatc.
When Phoebus rofe, he left his golden wcede,
And dond a gite in deepeft purjole dyed ;
His fanguine beames about his forhead fpreed
A fad prefage of ill that fliould betide ;
With vermile drops at even his treffes bleed,
Forefhowes of future Heate from th' ocean wide
When next he rofe, and thus increafed ftill
of our EnglisJi Poets. 437
Their prefent harmes with dread of future ill.
While thus he bent gainft earth his fcorching raies,
He burnt the flowrets, burnt his Clitie deare ;
The leaves grew wan upon the withered fpraies,
The graffe and growing hearbes all parched were ;
Earth cleft in rifts, in floods theyr ftreames decaies,
The barren clowdes with lightning bright appeare,
And mankind feard leaft Clymenes child againe
Had driven awry his fyers ill-guided waine.
As from a fornace flew the fmoake to fkies,
Such fmoake as that when damned Sodome brent ;
Within his caves fweete Zephyre filent lyes :
Still was the ayre, the racke nor came nor went,
But ore the lands with luke-warme breathing flies
The foutherne winde, from fun-burnt Aft'rique fent,
Which, thicke and warme, his interrupted blafts
Upon theyr bofoms, throates, and faces cafts.
Nor yet more comfort brought the gloomy night :
In her thicke fliades was burning heate uprold,
Her fable mantle was imbrodered bright
With blazing ftarres, and gliding fires for gold.
Nor to refrefli (fad earth) thy thirfty fpright,
The niggard moone let fall her May-dewes cold ;
And dried up the vitall moifture was
In trees, in plants, in hearbs, in flowers, in graffe.
{Godfrey of Biilloignc, B. xiii, st. 54.] Ed. Fairefax.
Of T/iirfl.
When wells grew dry, the commons ran in rage,
And fought out every finckc, their thirft t'affwagc ;
And drankc, with iongfomc draught, the poolcs in haft
438 The CJioyscst Floivcrs
To quench theyr thirft, with ill-contented taft,
Which poyfoned ayre infe6l theyr pureft breath,
Whereby the drinker dranke his prefent death.
O wretched folke who felt fo hard a ftrife !
Drinke or not drinke, both waies muft lofe theyr life :
For he that dranke, and he that did refraine.
Had of theyr enemies both an equall paine :
For why ? the water vile flew them throughout,
No leffe then did theyr enemies them about.
That wretched towne had never a ftreet nor rew,
But Parcas there had found fome fafliion new
To murder men, or martyr them with feares.
As mov'd the moft indurate hart to teares ;
If fo much water in theyr braines had beene
As might forbeare a drop to wet their eyne.
There plaind the old man, that the fouldier ftrong
Had reft his bottell from his head with wrong ;
But while he fpake, his hart (for thirft) did faint ;
And life him left, which fruftrate his complaint.
The fouldiour brave (oh ! hartbreake for to tell)
His proper urine dranke, thirft to expell :
The wofuU mother with her fpettle fed
Her little child, halfe dead, in cradle-bed :
The lady, with her lord, at poynt of death.
Embracing falls, and yeelds theyr lateft breath.
\_Histoiy of Judith, 1584, ii. iii.j Thom. Hudsox.
Of an Affault.
And they no leffe provided are within
With rampircs, bulwarks, and with double dikes :
of ofir English Poets. 439
And where theyr foes to clime doe once begin,
They pu(h them down with bills, with ftaves, and pikes.
If one be kild, another fteppeth in,
No man his place for feare of hurt miflikes ;
Some throw downe bricks, fome ftones, fome fcalding water,
Greeving them much with all, moft with the latter.
Some throw among them newly flaked lime.
That burneth moft when moft it feemes to quench ;
With pots of brimftone, pitch and turpentine.
Annoying them with heate, and fmoake, and ftench.
The reft are ftill imployd, and leefe no time
With wreathed ftakes to fortifie the trench :
Thus all within are bufie, all without,
Fortune on both fides ftanding ftill in doubt.
{Orlando Ftirioso, 1591, B. xiv, st. 95.] S. J. Harr.
Of an Hoafl.
Their Hoaft with arrowes, pykes, and ftandards ftood
As briftle-poynted as a thornie wood ;
Theyr multitude of men the rivers dried.
Which through the wealthy Juda fwift did Aide ;
So that flood Jordan, finding dry his banke.
For fliame he bluflit, and downe his head he fhrank.
For woe that he his creditc could not keepe,
To pay one wave for tribute to the deepe.
{History of Judith, 1584.J Tho. Hudson.
Of a SkirviifJt.
Then grew the fight on both fides firm and ftable,
Both fides defend, both fides alike invade ;
440 The C hoys est Fknvers
They caft on both fides dartes innumerable,
Making therewith a darke unpleafing (hade.
An endleffe worke it were to write the rable
The Chriftians kild, with bow, with bill, with blade :
Sometime the fway goeth hither, fometime thether.
Like waters driven with doubtfull tydes and wether :
When one is flaine, his roome another fills,
When one is hurt, another takes his place,
And he that now another fmites and kills.
Falls dead him felfe within a little fpace.
Great heapes of bodies dead make little hills ;
The earth it felfe lookes with a bloody face ;
The greene where-with it erft was overfpred,
Turneth to fanguine, and vermillion red.
{^Orlando Furioso, B. xvi, st. 44.] S. J. HARRINGTON.
Of Discontent.
Difquiet thoughts, the minutes of her watch,
Forth from her cave the fiend full oft doth flie ;
To kings fhe goes, and troubles them with crownes,
Setting thofe high afpiring brands on fire.
That flame from earth unto the feate of Jove :
To fuch as Midas, men that dote on wealth,
And rent the bowels of the middle earth
For coine ; who gape as did fayre Danae
For fhowres of gold ; there Difcontent, in blacke,
Throwes forth the violls of her reftleffe cares :
To fuch as fit at Paphos for releefe,
And offer Venus many folemne vowes ;
To fuch as Hymen, in his saffron robe,
of our English Poets. 441
Hath knit a gordian knot of paffions ;
To thefe, to all, parting the gloomy ayre,
Blacke Difcontent doth make her bad repaire.
[Perymedes^ 1588. This extract, in the origitial, follows
the next quotation.'] R. GREENE.
Obfcure and darke is all the gloomy aire,
The curtaine of the night is over-fpread ;
The filent miftreffe of the loweft fpheare
Put on her fable -coloured vale, and lower[s].
Nor ftarre, nor milk-white circle of the fkie,
Appeares where Difcontent doth hold her lodge.
She fits flirin'd in a canapy of clouds,
Whofe maffie darknes mazeth every fence ;
Wan is her lookes, her cheekes of azure hue.
Her haires as Gorgons foule retorting fnakes ;
Envie, the glaffe wherein the hag doth gaze,
Reftleffe the clocke that chimes her faft a fleepe.
\_A^o author named : R. Greenc''s Peryniedes, 1588.]
Of Adams Fcarc, after his TravcSgreffion.
At this fad fummons, wofull man refembles
A bearded rufli that in a river trembles ;
His rofie cheekes are chang'd to earthen hue,
His dying body drops an icie dewe ;
His tcare-drown'd eyes a night of clouds bedims.
About his eares a burning horror fwims,
His fainting knees with fccblcnes are humble.
His faultring feete doe Aide away and ftumble ;
He hath not now his free, bold, flatel)' port.
3 1-
44- ^^J>i' Clioyscst Floivcrs
But downward lookes, in fearefull flavifh fort.
Now naught of Adam doth in Adam reft,
He feeles his fences pain'd, his foule oppreft ;
A confus'd hoaft of violent paffions jarre,
His flefh and fpirit are in continuall warre.
And now no more, through confcience of his error,
He heares or fees th' Almighty, but with terror ;
And loth he aunfweres, (as with tongue diftraught)
Confeffing (thus) his feare, but not his fault.
J. Sylvester.
Of the Vacation.
Now, at fuch times, when lawyers walk the ftreetes
Without long rowles of papers in their hands ;
When friendly neighbour with his neighbour meetes,
Without falfe challenge to each others lands ;
The counfellour without his clyent ftands :
When that large capitall lies void and waft.
Where fenatours and judges late were plaft.
[Life and Death of IVolsey, 1599.] Th. Storer.
Cereinonie.
When, fodainly, a light of twenty hewes
Brake through the roofe, and like the rainebow viewes
Amaz'd Leander ; on whofe beames came downe
The goddeffe Ceremonie, with a crowne
Of all the ftarres, and heaven with her, defcended :
Her flaming haire to her bright feete extended,
By which hung all the bench of deities ;
And, in a chaine, compact of earcs and eyes,
of our English Poets. 443
She led Religion : all her body was
Cleare and transparent as the pureft glaffe,
For flie was all prefented to the fence ;
Devotion, Order, State, and Reverence,
Her fhadowes were. Society, Memorie :
All which her fight made live, her abfence die.
A rich difparent pentacle Ihe weares,
Drawne full of circles and ftrange chara6lers :
Her face was changeable to every eye,
One way lookt ill, an other graciouflie ;
Which, while men view'd, they cheerefuU were and holy,
But looking off, vicious and melanchollie :
The fnakie paths to each obferved law.
Did Pollicie in her broade bofome draw.
One hand a mathematique chriftall fwayes,
Which, gathering in one line a thoufand rayes
From her bright eyes, Confufion burnes to death.
And all eftates of men diftinguifiieth :
By it Morality and Comlineffe
Themfelves in all their fightly figures dreffe.
Her other hand a laurell rod applies,
To beate back Barbarifme and Avarice,
That followed, eating earth and excrement.
And humaine limbs ; and would make proud afcent
To feates of gods, were Ceremonie flaine.
The Houres and Graces bore her glorious traine,
And all the fweets of our focietie
Were fpheard and treafur'd in her bounteous eye.
[Hero and Leancier, 1600, Sest. 3.] (i. Chai'.man.
444
The Choysest Flowers
Of Lovers.
Who with a mayden voyce, and mincing pace,
Quaint lookes, curl'd locks, perfumes, and painted face,
Bafe coward hart, and wanton foft aray,
Their manhood onely by their beard bewray,
Are cleanly call'd ; who, likelieft greedy goates
Brothell from bed to bed ; whofe fyren-notes
Inchaunt chaft Sufans, and hke hungry kite
Fly at all game : they Lovers are behight.
J. Sylvester,
Who beare upon their French-ficke-backs about,
Farmes, caftels, fees, in golden fhields cut out,
Whofe hand had at one Primero reft.
One pompous turney, or on[e] pampering feaft,
Spends themfelves ; fcrapt by the ufurie and care
Of mifer parents, liberall counted are.
Who by falfe bargaines and unlawfull meafures,
Robbing the world, have heaped kingly treafures
Who cheat the fimple, lend for fifty, fifty,
Hundred for hundred, are efteemed thrifty.
Renowne.
Idem.
Idem.
A trump more flirill then tritons is at fea.
The fame Renowne, precurfour of the traine.
Did found ; for who rings louder then Renowne }
He mounted was upon a fl}ing horfe,
uf Gur Engl is! I Poets. 445
And cloath'd in faulcons feathers to the ground :
By his escochion juftly might you ^^ii^,
He was the herauld of eternity,
And purfevant at armes to mightie Jove.
[The Honour of the Garter, 1593.] G. Peele.
Of Doubt.
His name was Doubt, that had a double face ;
Th' one forward looking, the other backward bent,
Therein refembling Janus auncient,
Which hath in charge the in-gate of the yeare ;
And evermore his eyes about him went,
As if fome prooved perill he did feare.
Or did mifdoubt fome ill whofe caufe did not appeare.
[Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. x, st. 12.] Ed. Spenser.
Of a Gumie.
Vulcan begot me, Minerva me taught,
Nature my mother. Craft nourifht me yeare by yeare ;
Three bodies are my foode, my ftrength is naught :
Anger, Wrath, Waft, and Noife, my children deere.
Geffe, friend, what I am, and how I am wrought ;
Monfter of fea, or of land, or of elfe-where.
Know me and ufe me, and I may thee defend ;
And I be thy enemy, I may th}' life end.
[TottetPs Miscettany, 1557. J S. Th. W.
Of an HargabufJi.
He hath, his other weapons ftrange among,
A weapon flrangc, before this fcenc but fccld :
446 The CJioyscst Floivers
A trunk of iron hollow made within ;
And there he puts powder and pellet in,
All clofed, fave a little hole behind,
Whereat no fooner taken is the flame,
The bullet flies with fuch a furious wind,
As though from clouds a bolt of thunder came ;
And what-fo-ever in the way it finde,
It burnes, it breakes, it teares, and fpoiles the fame :
No doubt fome fiend of hell, or devillifh wight
Devifed it to doe mankind a fpight.
{Orlando Furioso, B. ix, st. 24.] S. J. HARRINGTON.
Of ail HorJ'e.
Round hoof'd, Ihort joynted, fetlocks fhag and long,
Broad breafh, full eye, fmall head, and nofthril wide,
High creft, fhort eares, ftraite leggs, and paffing ftrong,
Thin maine, thick taile, broad buttock, tender hide ;
Looke, what an horfe fliould have he did not lacke.
Save a proud rider on fo proud a backe.
[Venus and yldonis, 1593,51. 50] W.Shakespeare.
Among a hundred brave, light, lufty horfes,
(With curious eye marking their comly forces)
He choofeth one, for his induftrious proofe.
With round, high, hollow, fmooth, browne, jelly hoofe.
With pafternes fliort, upright, but yet in meane.
Dry finewie flianks, ftrong flefhleffe knees and leane,
With hart-like leggs, broad breaft, and large behinde,
With body large, fmooth flanks, and double chinde :
A crefted necke, bowed like a halfe bent bowe.
of our English Poets. 447
Whereon a long thin curled maine doth flowe ;
A firme full taile, touching the lowly ground,
With dock betweene two faire fat buttocks drownd ;
A pricked eare, that refts as little fpace
As his light foote ; a leane bare bony face,
Thin jowle, and head but of a middling fize,
Full, lively, flaming, quickly rowling eyes ;
Great foaming mouth, hote fuming noflhrill wide,
Of cheft-nut haire, his forehead ftarrified ;
Three milky feete, a feather on his breft,
Whom feaven yeares old at the next graffe he gefb.
J. Sylvester.
Of a flawed Man.
His fad dull eyes, deepe funke in hollow pits,
Could not endure th' unwonted funne to view ;
His bare thin cheekes, for want of better bits.
And empty fides, deceaved of their due,
Could make a ftony hart his hap to rue ;
His rawbone armes, whofe mighty brawned bowres
Were wont to rive fteele plates and helmets hewe,
Were cleane confum'd ; and all his vitall powres
Decai'd, and all his flefli flirunk up like \\ithered flowers.
{fairy Queen, 13. i, c. viii, st. 41.] Ed. Spenskr.
Of the confnfion of Languages.
This faid, as foone confufedly did bound
Through all the work, I wote not what ftrange found ;
A jangling noyfe, not much unlike the rumors
Of Bacchus fwaines, amid their drunken humors:
448 ^^Jic CJioysest Flozvcrs
Some fpeake betweene the teeth, fome in the nofe,
Some in the throate their words doe ill difpofe ;
Some howle and cry, and fome ftut and ftraine,
Each hath his gibberifh, and all ftrive in vaine
To finde againe their knowne beloved tong,
That, with their milk, they fuckt in cradle yong :
Arife betimes, while th' opal-coloured morne,
In golden pompe, dooth May dayes doore adorne ;
And, patient, heare th' all dififering voyces fweet
Of painted fingers, that in groves doe greete :
There love hon-joiirs, each in his phrafe and fafhion,
From trembling pearch, uttering his earneft paffion ;
And fo thou mayft conceite what mingle-mangle
Among this people every where did jangle.
Bring me (quoth one) a trowell, quickly, quicke !
One brings him up a hammer ; hew this bricke
Another bids, and then they cleave a tree :
Make faft this rope, and then they let it flee ;
One calls for planks, another morter lacks,
They beare the firft a ftone, the laft an axe :
One would have fpikes, and him a fpade they give ;
Another afkes a fawe, and gets a five.
Thus crofly croft, they prate and poynt in vaine,
What one hath made, another marrs againe.
Nigh breathleffe all, with theyr confufed yawling
In booteleffe labour, now begins appawling.
J. Sylvester.
Of Pojleritic.
Daughter of time, fincere Pofteritie !
Ahvayes new borne. }'et no man knowes thy birth ;
of our English Poets. 44c)
The arbitreffe of pure finceritie,
Yet, changeable (like Proteus) on the earth ;
Sometime in plenty, fometime joynd with dearth ;
Alway to come, yet alway prefent heere,
Whom all runne after, none come ever neere.
Unpartiall judge of all, fave prefent ftate,
Truth's idioma of the things are paft ;
But ftill purfuing prefent things with hate,
And more injurious at the firft then laft,
Preferving others, while thine owne do waft :
True treafurer of all antiquitie,
Whom all defire, yet never one could fee.
{Life ^ Death of Sir F. Drake, 1596, st. 63.] Char. FiTZ Jeffrey.
Difcriptions of Bcantic and Pcrfonagc.
What tongue can her perfe6lions tell,
In whofe each part all pennes may dwell ?
Her hayre, fine threds of fineft gold,
In curled knots mans thoughts to hold,
But that her fore-head faies, in mee
A whiter beautie you may fee.
Whiter indeed ! more white then fnow
Which on cold winters face doth grow ;
That doth prefent thofe even browes,
Whofc equall line their angles bowes.
Like to the moone when, after change,
Her horned head abroade doth range ;
And arches be to heavenly lids,
Whofe wincke each bold attempt forbids.
For the black ftarrcs thofe fpheres containc,
^1 M
450 The Choyscst Fhnvcrs
The matchleffe paire even praife doth ftaine.
No lampe whofe light by art is got,
No funne which fhines and feeth not,
Can hken them without all pcere,
Save one as much as other cleere ;
Which oncl}^ thus unhappy bee,
Becaufe themfelves they cannot fee.
Her cheeks, with kindly claret fpred,
Aurora-like new out of bed,
Or like the frefh queene-apples fide,
Blufliing at fight of Phoebus pride.
Her nofe, her chin, pure ivory weares,
No purer then the prety eares :
So that therein appeares fome blood,
Like wine and milke that mingled flood ;
In whofe incirclets if yee gaze,
Your eyes may tread a lovers maze :
But with fuch turnes the voyce to ftray,
No talke untaught can finde the way ;
The tippe no Jewell needes to weare,
The tippe is Jewell of the eare.
But who thofe ruddy lips can miffe .''
Which, bleffed ftill, themfelves doe kiffc ;
Rubies, cherries, and rofes new.
In worth, in tafb, in perfe6l hew ;
Which never part, but that they fliow
Of precious pearle the double row :
The fecond fweetly-fenced ward.
Her heavenly-dewed tongue to gard.
Whence never word in vaine did flow.
Faire under thcfc doth ftately grow
of our English Poets. 45 i
The handle of this precious work,
The ncckc, in which ftrange graces lurkc.
Such be, I thinke, the fumptuous towres
Which fkill doth make in princes bowres.
So good a fay invites the eye
A little downeward to efpie
The lively clufters of her brefts,
Of Venus babe the wanton nefts :
Like pommels rounde of marble clcerc.
Where azurde vaines well mixt appcarc,
With deareft tops of porphirie.
Betwixt thefe two a way doth lie,
A way more worthy beauties fame,
Then that which beares the milkie name :
This leades into the joyous field
Which onely ftill doth lillies yeeld ;
But lillies fuch, whofe native fmell
The Indian odours doth excell :
Walle it is calld ; for it doth waft
Mens lives, untill it be imbraft.
There one may fee, and yet not fee,
Her ribs in white all armed bee ;
More white then Neptunes foamy face.
When, ftrugling, rocks he would imbracc.
In thofc delights the wandring thought
Might of each fide aftray be brought,
But that her navcll doth unite
In curious circle bufie fight ;
A daintie feale of virginc-waxe.
Where nothing but imprcffion lacks.
Her belly their glad fight doth fill,
452 T]tc Choyscst Flozuers
Juftly intitled Cupids hill :
A hill moft fit for fuch a mafter,
A fpotleffe mine of alablafter ;
Like alablafter fayre and fleeke,
But foft and fupple, fatten like :
In that fweete feate the boy doth fport,
Loth I muft leave his cheefe refort ;
For fuch a ufe the world hath gotten,
The beft things ftill muft be forgotten.
Yet never fliall my fong omit
Her thighes, for Ovids fong more fit,
Which, flanked with two fugred flancks.
Lift up thcyr ftately fwelling banks,
That Albion cliffes in v/hitenes paffe,
With handles fmooth as looking-glaffe.
But bow all knees ; now of her knees
My tongue doth tell what fancie fees,
The knots of joy, the jems of love,
Whofe motion makes all graces move ;
Whofe bought, incav'd, doth yeeld fuch fight.
Like cunning painter fhadowing white.
The gartring place, with child-like figne,
Shewes eafie print in metall fine :
But then againe the flefh doth rife
In her brave calves, like chriftall flcies,
Whofe Atlas is a fmalleft fmall,
More white then whiteft bone of all.
Thereout fteales out that round cleanc foote,
This noble cedars precious roote,
In fliew and fent pale violets,
Whose fteppe on earth all beauty fets.
of our EiighsJi Poets. 4
-i-:)o
But backe unto her backe, my Mufe,
Where Ledas fwan his feathers mewes ;
Along whofe ridge fuch bones are met,
Like comfets round in marchpane fet.
Her fhoulders be hke two white doves
Pearching within square royall rooves,
Which leaded are with filver Ikin,
Paffing the hate-fpot ermelin.
And thence thofe armes derived are :
The Phenixe wings are not fo rare
For faultleffe length, and ftaineleffe hue.
Ah ! woe is mee ; my woes renew.
Now courfe doth leade me to her hand,
Of my firft love the fatall band,
Where whitenes doth for ever fit ;
Nature her felfe inameld it :
For there, with ftrange compact, doth lie
Warme fnow, moift pearle, foft ivorie.
There fall thofe faphire-coloured brookes,
Which conduit-like with curious crookes
Sweete ilands make in that fweet land.
As for the fingers of the hand,
The bloody lliafts of Cupids war,
With amatifts they headed are.
Thus hath each part his beauties part :
But how the Graces doc impart
To all her limms a fpeciall grace,
Bccomming every time and place ;
Which doth even beauty beautific.
And moft bewitch the wretched eye.
How all this is l)ut a fairc innc
454 ■^^^'^ Clioyscst Fknvcrs
Of fayrer guefts, which dwell within ;
Of whofe high praife, and praifefuU bliffe,
Goodnes the pen, heaven paper is,
The incke immortall fame doth lend.
As I began, fo muft I end ;
No tongue can her perfe6lions tell,
In whofe each part all tongues may dwell.
\_Arcadia, 4to, 1590, 150 b. ; fo 1598, p. 141.] S. Phil. Sidnev.
Her face fo faife, as flefli it feemed not,
But heavenly pourtrait of bright angels hue,
Cleere as the fkie, withouten blame or blot.
Through goodly mixture of complexions due ;
And in her cheekes the vermeil red did fhew
Like rofes in a bed of lillies flied,
The which ambrofiall odours from them threw,
And gazers fence with double pleafure fed,
Able to heale the fick, and to revive the dead.
In her fayre eyes two living lamps did flame.
Kindled above at th' heavenly Makers light,
And darted fiery beames out of the fame
So paffmg perfant, and fo wondrous bright.
That quite bereav'd the rafh beholders fight :
In them the blinded god his luftfull fire
To kindle oft affaide, but had no might ;
For with dread majeftie and awful ire
Shee broke his wanton darts, and quenched bafe defire.
Her ivory forhead, full of bounty brave.
Like a broade table did it felfe difpread,
For love his loftie tryumphs to ingrave.
And write the battailes of his great godhead ;
of our English Poets. 455
All good and honour might therein be read,
For there their dwelling was. And when fhe fpake,
Sweet words, like dropping honney fhe did fhed,
And twixt the pearles and rubins foftly brake
A filver found, that heavenly mufick feemd to make.
Upon her eye-lids many graces fate
Under the fliadow of her even browes,
Working belgards and amorous retrate ;
And every one her with a grace endowes.
And every one with meekenes to her bowes.
So glorious mirror of celeftiall grace.
And foveraigne moniment of mortal vowes,
How fhal fraile pen defcribe her heavenly face.
For feare, through want of Ikil, her beauty to difgrace '>.
So faire, and thoufand thoufand times more faire
Shee feem'd, when fhe prefented was to fight,
And was yclad, for heate of fcorching ayre,
All in a filken camus, lilly white,
Purfled upon with many a folded plight :
Which al above befprinckled was throughout
With golden aygulets, that gliftered bright
Like twinckling ftarres ; and al the fivyrt about
Was hemd with golden frindge.
Below her hamme her weede did fomcwhat traine,
And her ftraite leggs moft bravely were embaild
In gilden buflvins of coftly cordwaine,
All bard with golden bends, which were entaild
With curious antiques, and full fayre aumaild.
Before, they faftned were under her knee
In a rich Jewell, and therein intrailde
The ends of all the knc^ts, that none mi'.'ht fee
456 The Choysest Flowers
How they within theyr foldings clofe enwrapped bee.
Like two fayre marble pillers they were feene,
Which doe the temple of the gods fupport,
Whom all the people deck with garlands greene,
And honour in their fefbivall refort ;
Thofe fame with ftately grace and princely port
Shee taught to tread, when fhe herfelfe would grace ;
But with the w^ooddy nimphs when fhe did play,
Or when the flying libbard fhe did chace,
She could them nimbly moove, and after flie apace.
And in her hand a fharp bore-fpeare fhe held,
And at her back a bow and quiver gay,
Stuft with fteele-headed darts, wherewith flie queld
The favage beafbs in her vi6lorious play ;
Knit with a golden bauldrick, which forelay
Athwart her fnowy breaft, and did devide
Her dainty paps, which, like young fruite in May,
Now little gan to fwell ; and beeing tyde,
Through her thin weede theyr places only fignified.
Her yellow locks, crifped like golden wyre,
About her flioulders weren loofely flied,
And when the wunde amongft them did infpyre,
They waved like a penon wide defpred,
And low behinde her backe were fcattered :
And whether art it were, or heedleffe hap,
As through the flowring forreft rafh Ihe fled.
In her rude haires fweete flowers themfelves did lap;
And flourifliing frefli leaves and bloffomes did enwrap,
Such as Diana by the fandy fhore
Of fwift Eurotas, or on Cynthns greene,
Where all the Nimphs have her unawares forlore,
pf our Euglisli Poets. 457
Wandreth alone, with bow and arrowes keene,
To feeke her game : or as that famous Quecne
Of Amazons, whom Pyrhus did deftroy,
The day that firft of Priam lliee was feene
Did (hew herfelfe in great tryumphant joy,
To fuccour the weake ftate of fad afflicted Troy.
{Fairy Quccii, B. ii, c iii, st. 22.] Edm. Spencer.
Her yellow locks exceede the beaten gold,
Her fparkling eyes in heaven a place deferve,
Her forhead high and faire, of comely mould :
Her words are muficall, of filver found.
Her wit fo fharp, as like can fcarce be found.
Each eye-brow hangs like Iris in the fkyes,
Her eagles nofe is ftraite, of ftately frame ;
On eyther cheeke a rofe and lilly lyes ;
Her breath is fweet perfume, or holy flame ;
Her lips more red then any corrall ftone,
Her nccke more white then aged fwans that mone.
Her breaft transparent is, like chriftall rock ;
Her fingers long, fit for ApoUos lute ;
Her flipper fuch as Momus dare not mock ;
Her vertues are fo great, as make me mute :
What other parts fhe hath, I neede not say,
Whofe face alone is caufe of my decay.
[ The EkafompafJiia ( 1 581), son. 7. | Tho. W a i son.
Like to the cleere in highefl; fphcare
Where al imperiall glory fliines,
Of selfe fame colour is her hayre,
3 ^'
45 5^ '^fi<-^ Clioyscst Flo7ccrs
Whether unfolded, or in twines :
Her eyes are faphyres fet in fnow,
Refyning heaven by every winke ;
The gods doe feare when as they glow,
And I doe tremble when I thinke.
Her cheekes are like the blulhinc;; clowdc
That beautifies Auroras face,
Or like the filver crimfon fhrowde
That Phoebus fmiling looks doe grace :
Her lips are like two budded rofes
Whom ranks of lillies neighbour nie,
Within which bounds flie balme inclofcs,
Apt to intice a deitie.
Her necke like to a ftately towre,
Where Love himselfe imprifoned lies,
To watch for glaunces every howre
From her divine and facred eyes.
Her paps are centers of delight.
Her paps are orbes of heavenly frame,
Where nature moulds the dew of light
To feede perfeftion with the fame :
With orient pearle, with ruble red,
With marble white, with faphire blew,
Her body every way is fed.
Yet foft in touch, and fweet in view:
Nature herfelfe her fhape admires,
The gods are wounded in her fight ;
And Love forfakes his heavenly fires,
And at her eyes his brand doth light.
\_Rosalj'7id, Euphucs Golden Lco^acy^ 1 590.] D. LODGE.
of our English Poets. 450)
She lay, and feemd a flood of diamant
Bounded in flefli ; as ftil as vefpers haire,
When not an afpcn leafe is ftird with ayre :
She lay at length, like an immortal foule
At endleffe reft in bleft Elizium ;
And then did true felicitie inroule
So faire a lady, figure of her kingdom. — ■
Now, as fhe lay attirde in nakednes.
His eye did carve him, on that feaft of feafts.
Sweet fieldes of life which deaths foote dare not preffe,
Flowrd with th' unbroken waves of my loves breads,
Unbroke by depth of thofe her beauties floods.
See where with bent of gold, curld into nefbs,
In her heads grove the fpring-bird Lamcate broods :
Her body doth prefent thofe fields of peace
Where foules are feafted with the foule of ease.
To prove which Paradice that nurfeth thefe,
See, fee the golden rivers that renov/ne it,
Rich Gyhon, Tigris, Phifon, Euphrates :
Two from her bright Pelopian (houlders crowne it ;
And two out of her fnowy hills doe glide,
That with a deluge of delight doe drowne it :
Thefe higheft two their precious ftreames devide
To tenne pure floods that do the body dutie,
Bounding themfelves in length, but not in beauty.
Thefe wind theyr courfcs through the paynted bowers.
And raifc fuch founds in theyr inflexion
As ceafelcffe ftart from earth frefh forts of flowers,
And bound that booke of life with every feftion.
In thefe the Mufes dare not fwim, for drowning,
Theyr fwectnes po}'funs with fuch fwcct infection.
460 The Choyscst lUozucrs
And leaves the onely lookers on them fvvouning ;
Thefe formes and colour makes them fo to fhine,
That gods for them would ceafe to be divine.
[Ovid^s Banquet of Seiicc, 1593. J G. CHAPMAN.
}ier lilly hand her rofie cheeke lies under,
Coosning the pillow of a lawfull kiffe,
Who, therefore angry, feemes to part in funder.
Swelling on eyther fide to want his bliffe,
Betweene whofe hills her head entombed is ;
Where, hke a vertuous monument, flie lyes.
To be admirde of lewd unhallowed e}-es.
Without the bed, her other fayre hand was
On the greene coverlet, whofe perfect white
Shcwd like an Aprill daifie on the graffe.
With pearlie fvveat, refembling dewe of night.
Her eyes, like marigolds, hath flieath'd theyr light.
And, canopied in darkncs, fweetly lay.
Till they might open to adorne the day.
Her haire, like golden threds, playd with her breath,
O modeft wantons, wanton modeftie !
Shewing lifes tryumph in the map of death.
And deaths dim looke in lifes mortalitie :
Each in her fleepe themfelves fo beautifie,
As if betweene them twaine there were no ftrife.
But that life liv'd in death, and death in life.
Her breafts, like ivory globes circled with blew,
A payre of mayden worlds unconqucred ;
Save of theyr lord no bearing yoke they knew,
And him by oath they truly honoured.
Thcfe worlds in Tarquin new ambition bred,
of our English Poets. 461
Who, like a foule ufurper, went about
From this faire throne to heave the owner out.
[Lucrece, 1594, st. 57.] W. Shakespeare.
Starres fall, to fetch frefh light from her rich eyes ;
Her bright brow drives the funne to clowdes beneath.
Her haires reflexe with red ftrakes paint the fkies.
Sweet morne and evening dew falls from her breath.
T. Nash.
Fayrer then Ifaacks lover at the well,
Brighter then infide barke of new-hewen cedar.
Sweeter then flames of fire perfumed mirrhe,
And comlier then the filver clowdes, that daunce
On zephyrus wings before the King of Heaven.
[David and Bethsabe, 1599, Part I.] G. Peelk.
Her lookes were like beames of the morning funne
Forth-looking through the windowes of the Eaft,
When firft the fleecie cattell have begunne
Upon the pearled graffe to make theyr feaft :
Her thoughts are like the fume of francenfence,
Which from a golden cenfor forth did rife ;
And throwing forth fvveet odours, mounts from thence
In rolling globes up to the vaulted fkies :
There Ihe beholds, with hie afpiring thought,
The cradle of her owne creation ;
Among the feates of angels, heavenly wrought.
Much like an angell in all forme and falhion.
S. Dam ELL.
Her locks are pleighted like the fleece of wooU
That Jafon with his Grecian mates atchiv'd ;
462 The Choyscst Floiccrs
As pure as gold, yet not from gold deriv'd.
As full of fwects, as fweet of fweetes is full :
Her browes are prety tables of conceate,
Where Love his records of delight doth quote ;
On them her dallying locks doe daily floate,
As love ful oft doth fecde upon the baite.
Her eyes, faire eyes, like to the pureft lights
That animate the funne, or cheere the day ;
In whom the fliining fun-beames brightly play.
Whiles fancie doth on them devine delights.
Her cheekes like ripened lillies fteept in wine,
Or fayre pomegranate kirnels wafht in milke,
Or fnow-white threds in nets of crimfon filke,
Or gorgeous clowdes upon the funnes decline.
Her lips are rofes over-wafht with dew,
Or like the purple of Narciffus flowre ;
No froft theyr faire, no wind doth waft theyr powre,
But by her breath her beauties do renew.
Her chriftal chin like to the pureft mould,
Enchaft with dainty daifies foft and white,
Where fancies faire pavilion once is pight.
Whereas embrafd his beauties he doth hold.
Her necke like to an ivory fhining towre.
Where through with azure vaines fweet ne6lar runnes ;
Or like the downe of fwanns, where Seneffe woons,
Or like delight that doth it felfe devoure.
Her paps are like fayre apples in the prime.
As round as orient pearles, as foft as downe ;
They never vaile theyr faire through winters froune,
But from their fweets Love fuckt his fommer time.
Her body beauties bcft efleemed bowre,
'of our English Poets. 463
Delicious, comely, dainty, without ftaine,
The thought whereof (not touch) hath wrought my paine ;
Whofe faire all faire and beauties doth devour.
Her maiden mount, the dwelling houfe of pleafure.
Not like, for why no like furpaffeth wonder :
O blefb is he may bring fuch beauties under,
Or fearch by fuite the fecrets of that treafure !
\_Menaphon, or Arcadia: 1587, Sig. K, edit. 16 10.] R. Greene.
Like to Diana, in her fommer weede.
Girt w^ith a crimfon robe of brighteft die,
goes fayre Samela.
Whiter than be the flocks that ftragling feed,
When waflid by Arethufa faint they lie,
is fayre Samela.
As fayre Aurora in her morning gray,
Deckt with the ruddy glifter of her love,
is fayre Samela.
Like lovely Thetis on a calmed da}^
When as her brightnes Neptunes fancie move,
fliines faire Samela.
Her treffes gold, her eyes like glaffie ftreames,
Her teeth are pearle, the brealts are ivory,
of faire Samela.
Her cheekes, like rofe and lily, yeeld forth gleames;
Her browes bright arches framde of ebonie.
Thus faire Samela
Paffeth faire Venus in her bravcft hue,
And Juno in the flicw of majcftie,
for file is Samela.
464 TJic Choyscst Floivcrs
Pallas in wit, all three if you well view,
For beauty, wit, and matchleffe dignitie,
yeelde to Samela.
[y?. Greene's Menaphon: 1587, Sig. E 3, edit. 1610.] D. Lodge.
Their foft young cheeke-balls, to the eye.
Are of the frefli vermilion die ;
So lillies out of fcarlet peere,
So rofes bloomd in Lady Vere :
So fliot two wanton ftarres yfere
In the eternall burning fphere.
\PhiUis and Flora, 1595.] G. CHAPMAN.
Her eyes, like Gemini, attend on Jove,
Her ftately front was figured from above ;
Her dainty nofe, of ivory faire and fheene,
Bepurfurate with ruddy rofes beene.
Her cherry lip doth daunt the morning hew,
From whence a breath fo pleafant did enfue,
As that which layd fayre Psyches in the vale,
Whom Cupid woed, and woed to his availe.
Within the compaffe of which hollow fweet,
Thofe orient rancks of fdver perles do meet.
Prefixing like perfe6lion to the eye
As filver clowde amidft the fommers fkie ;
From whence fuch words in wifedome couched be,
As gods from thence fetch theyr phylofophie.
Her dimpled chin of alabafter white,
Her ftately necke, where nature did acquite
Her felfe so well, as that at fuddaine fight
Shee wiflit the worke were fpent upon herfelfe,
of our EnglisJi Poets. 465
Her cunning- thus was fliowed upon the flielfe ;
For in this pile was fancie painted faire.
In eyther hand an azure pipe the bare :
By one repeating many a fweete confent,
By th' other comfort to the heart fhe Tent :
From which a feemely paffage there doth fliow
To ftranger pleafures that are placft alow ;
Like to the furrow Phaeton did leave
Amidft the welkin, when he did receave
His fathers charge, and fet the world on fire.
In this fayre path oft paced fweet defire,
At every turne beholding with delight
That marble mount that did afife6l the fight.
Of virgin's waxe the fweet impreffion was,
The cunning compaffe thereof did furpaffe,
For arte, concluding all perfeftions there,
Wrote this report, — All graces bideth heere.
Which Cupid fpying, built his manfion fo,
As fcorning thofe fweet graces to beftow
On mortall man, with bow ybent doth waite,
Leaft Jove fliould fteale impreffions by deceit ;
And Vv'ondring at the crifped coment faire,
In thought concludes it meeter for the ayre
Then mortall mould : next which the ftately thighes,
Like two fayre compaft marble pillars rife,
Whofc white doth ftaine the dainty driven fnow :
Next which the knees with luftie bent below,
Conjoynd witli nerves and cordes of amber fweet,
This ftately pile with gladfome honour greet ;
Such ftately knees as, when they bend a lite,
All knees doe bend, and bow with ftrange delight.
466 TJic CJioysest Floivcrs
Her calves with ftronger compaffe doe fiicceede,
In which the azure ftreames a wonder breede :
Both arte and nature therein laboured have
To paint perfeftion in her colours brave.
Next which, the prety ground worke of the pyle
Doth fhow it felfe, and wonder doth beguile ;
The joynts whereof, combinde of amber fweet
With corrall cords, yeeld bent to feemely feete ;
From which whofe lift to lift his gazing eye
Shall greater caufe of wonder foone efpy.
When on the backe he bends his wavering looke,
In which the worke and tafke Diana tooke.
When with Arachne for the prize flie ftrave :
Both arte and nature there excelled have ;
Where from Pigmalions image feemelie white,
Where clofe conveyance, paffing Gordians plight,
Wliere lovely ne6lar, drinke for all the gods.
Where every grace is ftained there by ods,
Will, not content which gazing, looke for more,
And fpy thofe armes that ftand his fight before ;
Wliich, for their mould, th' Egyptian wonders paffe,
V/hich, for their beauty, ftaine the chriftall glaffe ;
Which in theyr motion maifter natures fweet.
Where blufliing ftreames prefent a fecret meet,
Will, now amazde, conclude at laft of this,
That in the hands all grace concluded is :
Where Nature limits ever fatall time,
Where Fortune figures pleafurc in her prime,
Whence fpread thofe fingers, typt with ivory,
Whofe touch Mcdufas turne may well fupply :
Where, to conclude, now all the (hepheard deemes
of our English Poets. 467
All grace, all beauty, all perfe6lions feemes.
[^Forbonius and Prisceria, 1584. D. Lodge.
Yet never eye, to Cupids fervice vowde.
Beheld a face of fuch a lovely pride :
A tynfill vale her golden locks did fhrowde.
That ftrove to cover what it could not hide ;
The golden funne, behind' a filver clowde.
So ftreameth out his beames on every fide.
The marble goddeffe, fet at Gnidos naked,
She feemd, were iTie uncloth'd, or that awaked.
The gamefome winde among her treffes plaies.
And curleth up thofe growing riches fliort :
Her fparefull eye to fpread his beames denaies.
But keepes his fliot where Cupid keepes his fort.
[£". Fairfax : Godfrey of Bitlloigiie, 1600, B. iv, st. 29.] F. G.
Shee was a woman, in her freflieft age
Of wondrous beauty, and of bounty rare ;
With goodly grace and comly perfonage,
That was on earth not eafie to compare ;
Full of great love, but Cupids wanton fnare
As hell (he hated : chaft in worke and will :
Her necke and breafts were ever open bare.
That aye thereof her babes might fuck theyr fill ;
The reft was all in yellow robes arayed flill.
YFairy Queen., B. i, c. x, st. 30. J Edm. Spencer.
A fiiapc, whofe like in waxe 'twere hard to frame.
Or to cxpreffe by Ikill of painters rare ;
Her hayre was long, and yellow to the fame,
4^8 The Choyscst Flozvcrs
As might with wyer of beaten gold compare ;
Her lovely cheekes, with fhew of modeft fliame,
With rofes and with lillyes painted are :
Her forhead faire, and full of feemely cheere,
As fmooth as polliflit ivory doth appeare.
Under two arches of moft curious fafhion
Stand two black eyes, that like two cleere funs fliind,
Steddy in looke, but apt to take compaffion ;
Amid which lights, the naked boy and blind
Cafteth his darts that caufe fo many a paffion,
Leaving a fvveet and cureleffe wound behind ;
From thence the nofe in fuch good fort defcended,
As envy knowes not how it may be mended.
Under the which, in due and comly fpace,
Standeth the mouth, ftainde with vermilion hew ;
Two rowes of precious pearle ferve in theyr place
To fliow and fhut a lip right faire to vew :
Hence come the courteous words, and full of grace,
That mollifie hard harts and make them new :
From hence proceed thofe fmilings, fweet and nice,
That feeme to make an earthly paradice.
Her brefts as milke, her necke as white as fnow ;
Round was her necke, moft plum and large her breaft :
Two ivory apples feemed there to grow,
Tender and fmooth, and fitteft to be preft,
Waving like feas when wind moft calme doth blow.
Argos himselfe might not difcerne the reft ;
Yet by prefumption well it might be geft.
That that which was concealed was the beft.
Her armes due meafure of proportion bare,
Her fayre white hand was to be viewed plaine ;
of our EnglisJi Poets. 469
The fingers long, the joynts fo curious are
As neyther knot appeard, nor fvvelHng vaine :
And full to perfe6l all thofe features rare
The foote, that to be feene doth fole remaine,
Slender and fhort ; little it was and round,
A finer foote might no where well be found.
[Orlando Fto'ioso, 1591, B. vii, st. 11.] S. J. Harr.
Apollo, when my miftrls firft was borne,
Cut off his locks, and left them on her head,
And fayd, I plant thefe wyres in natures fcorne,
Whofe beautie fhall appeare when time is dead.
From forth the chriftall heaven when flie was made,
The puritie thereof did taint her brow.
On which the gliftering fun that fought the fliade
Gan fet, and there his glories doth avow.
Thofe eyes, fayre eyes, too faire to be defcrib'd,
Were thofe that erft the Chaos did reforme ;
To whom the heavens theyr beauties have afcribd.
That fafhion life in man, in beaft, in worme.
When firft her fayre delicious cheekes were wrought,
Aurora brought her blufh, the Moone her white ;
Both, fo combinde as paffed natures thought,
Compild thofe prety orbes of fweet delight.
When Love and Nature once were proud with play,
From both theyr lips her lips their corall drew ;
On them doth fancic flecpe, and every day
Doth fwallow joy fuch fweet delights to view.
Whilom while Venus fonne did feekc a bowrc
To fport with Psyche, his dcfired dccrc,
470 TJic Choysest Flozvers
He chofe her chin, and from that happy ftowre,
He never flints in glory to appeare.
Defires and joyes, that long had ferved Love,
Behold a hold where prety eyes might wooe them ;
Love make her necke, and for their beft behove
Hath fhut them there, whence no man can undoe them.
Once Venus dreamd upon two prety things ;
Her thoughts they were affe6lions cheefeft nefbs :
She fuckt and figh'd, and bath'd her in the fprings.
And when flie wakt, they were my miftres breafts.
Once Cupid fought a hold to couch his kiffes.
And found the body of my beft belov'd.
Wherein he clofd the beauty of his bliffes.
And from that bower can never be remov'd.
The Graces erft, when Acidalian fprings
Were wexen dry, perhaps did finde her fountaine,
Within the vale of bliffe, where Cupids wings
Doe fliield the nectar fleeting from the mountaine.
\_Menaphon, 07- Arcadia, 1587: edit. 1610, K 2.] R. Greene.
Her curled locks of gold, like Tagus fands,
Her forhead fmooth and white as ivory,
Where glory, ftate, and baflifulnes held hands :
Her eyes, one making peace, the other wars ;
By Venus one, the other ruld by Mars :
Her eagles nofe, her fcarlet cheekes halfe white,
Her teeth of orient pearle, her gracious fmile.
Her dimpled chin, her breaft as cleere as light,
Her hand like hers whom Tithon did beguile,
[The Ekatompa/hia (1581).] Tho. Watson.
of our English Poets. 47 1
Queene Vertues court, which fome call Stellas face,
Prepaird by natures choifeft furniture.
Hath his front built of alablafter pure ;
Gold is the covering of that ftately place :
The doore by which fometimes comes forth her grace
Red porphir is, which lock of pearle makes fure ;
Whofe porches rich, (which name of cheekes endure)
Marble mixt red and white doe interlace.
The windowes, now, through which this heavenly gueft
Lookes over the world, and can finde nothing fuch,
Which dare claime from thofe lights the name of beft :
Of touch they are that without touch doth touch,
Which Cupids felfe from beauties mind did draw ;
Of touch they are, and poore I am, theyr ftraw.
[Astrophel and Stella, edit. fo. 1598, son. 9.] S. Phil. Sidney.
Two funnes at once from one faire heaven there fliind.
Ten branches from two boughes, tipt all with rofes.
Pure locks, more golden then is gold refinde,
Two pearled rowes, that natures pride inclofes ;
Two mounts faire marble, white downe, foft and dainty,
A fnow died orbe, where love increaft by pleafure
r""ull wofull makes my hart, and body fainty.
\_Rosalynd, 1590; edit. 1598, Sig. C 2 b.] D. Lodge.
O ! fliee doth teach the torches to burne bright.
It feemes (he hangs upon the cheeke of night,
Like a rich Jewell in an Ethiops eare ;
Beauty too rich for ufe, for earth too deare :
So fliowes a fnowy dove trooping with crowes,
As yonder lady ore her fcllowes fliowos.
l/uvin-o and Juliet, act i , sc. 5 . J ^^^ S 1 1 \ K ES PEAR E.
472 TJie CJwyscst Floivers
To make the wondrous power of heaven appeare,
In nothing more then her perfeftions found,
Clofe to her navill flie her mantle wrefts,
Slacking it upwards, and the folds unwound,
Showing Latonas twins, her plenteous brefts :
The Sunne and Cynthia, in their tryumph robes
Of lady fkin, more rich then both theyr globes.
[Ovid's Banquet of Scnce, 1595.] G. Chapman.
Upon a bed of rofes fhe was layd.
As faint through heate, or dight to pleafant fin ;
And was araide, or rather disaraid,
All in a vaile of filke and filver thin.
That hid no whit her alablafter fkin.
But rather fhowd more white, if more might be :
More fubtile web Arachne cannot fpin ;
Nor the fine nets, which oft we woven fee
Of fcorched dew, do not in th' ayre more lightly flee.
Her fnowy breaft was bare, to ready fpoyle
Of hungry eyes, which n'ote therewith be fild ;
And yet, through languor of her late fweet toyle,
Few drops, more cleere then ne6lar, forth diftild,
That like pure orient pearles adowne it trild ;
And her faire eyes, fweet fmiling in delight,
Moyfhened their fierie beames, with which flne thrild
Fraile harts, yet quenched not ; like ftarry light,
Which, fparkling on the filent waves, does feeme more bright.
[Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. xii, st ^T.'] Edm. Spen.
Her ivory necke, her alablafter breaft,
Her paps, which like white filken pillowes were,
of our Euj^iish Poc/s. 473
For love in foft delight thereon to reft :
Her tender fides, her belly white and cleere,
Which like an altar did it felfe upreare,
To offer facrifice devine thereon :
Her goodly thighes, whose glory did appeare
Like a triumphall arch, and thereupon
The fpoiles of princes hangd, which were in battailcAvonne.
Edm. Spen.
Her fparkling eyes
Doe lighten forth fweet loves alluring fire,
And in her treffes fhe doth fold the lookes
Of such as gaze upon her golden hayre.
Her balhfull white, mixt with the mornings red,
Luna doth boaft upon her lovely cheekes :
Her front is beauties table, where she paints
The glories of her gorgeous excellence :
Her teeth are flielves of precious margarites,
Richly inclofd with ruddy currall cleeves.
\_Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, 1594, act i, sc. i ] R. Greene.
My mistres is a paragon, the fayreft fayre alive,
Atrides and yEacides for faire leffe faire did fbrive,
Her colour frefli as damaflve rofe, her breath as violet,
Her body white as ivory, as fmooth as pollilht jet,
As foft as down, and were flie downe, Jove might come
down and kiffe
A love fo frefli, fo fweet, ^o white, fo fmooth, fo foft as this.
[A Ibions England, B. vii, ch. xxxvi, edit. 1602 ] W. Warner.
Then caft flie off her roabe, and ftoode upright.
As lightning breakes out of the labouring clowdc ;
474 '1^^'-^ Choyscst FUn^'crs
Or as the morning heaven cafts off her night ;
Or as that heaven caft off it felfe, and fhowde
Heavens upper hght, to which the brighteft day
Is but a black and melancholy iTirowde ;
Or, as when Venus ftriv'd for foveraigne fway
Of choifefull beauty in young Troyes defire,
So ftoode Corinna varnifhing her tyre.
{^Ovid's Banquet of Scnce, 1595.] G. Chapman.
Herewith fhe rofe, like the autumnall ftarre
Frefh burniflit in the lofty ocean-flood,
That darts his glorious influence more farre
Then any lampe of bright Olympus broode :
Shee lifts her lightning armes above her head,
And ftretcheth a meridian, from her blood
That flept, awakt in her Elizian bed :
Then knit fhee up, leaft, loofd, her glowing haire
Should fcorch the centre, and incenfe the ayre.
\Ibid.'\ Idem.
Sweete mouth, that fendll a mufl<ie-rofled breath,
P'ountaine of ne6lar, and delightfuU balme ;
Eyes, clowdy-cleere, fmile-frowning, ftormie-calme,
Whofe every glaunce darts me a lyving death ;
Browes, bending quaintly, your round eben arkes,
Smile, that then Venus fooner Mars befets.
Locks, more then golden, curld in curious knots,
Where in clofe ambuih wanton Cupid lurkes ;
Grace, angel-like, faire forhead, fmooth and hie.
Pure white, that dinift tlie lillics of tlie vale.
of our English Poets. 475
Vermilion rofe, that mak'ft Aurora pale.
J. Silvester.
Such colour had her face, as when the funne
Shines on a watry clowde in pleafant fpring ;
And even as when the fommer is begunne,
The nightingales in boughes doe fit and fing,
So the blind god, whofe force can no man fliunnc,
Sits in her eyes, and thence his darts doth fling ;
Bathing his wings in her cleare chriftal ftreames,
And funning them in her rare beauties beames :
In thefe he heats his golden-headed dart,
In those he cooleth it, and tempered fo,
He levels thence at good Obertos hart,
And to the head he draweth it in his bow.
[Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xi, st. 51.] S. J. Hakr.
And fure Olympias beauties were fo rare,
As well might move a man the fame to note :
Her hayre, her eyes, her cheekes, moft amorous are,
Her nofe, her mouth, her flioulders, and her throat :
As for her other parts, that then were bare.
Which fhe was wont to cover with her coate,
Were made in fuch a mould as might have moved
The chaft Hippolytus her to have loved :
A man would thinke them framd by Phidias arts,
Theyr colour and proportion good was fuch ;
And unto them her fliamefaftnes imparts
A greater grace to that before was much.
I ceafe to praife those other fccrct [)arl.s.
Nothing fo fit to lalkc of as to touch.
4/6 TIic CJioyscst Flowers
In gencrall, all was as white as milk,
As fniooth as ivory, and as foft as filke.
Had fliee in vally of Idea beene,
When paftor Paris hap did fo befall
To be a judge three goddeffes betweene,
She fliould have got, and they forgone the ball :
Had Hie but once of him beene naked feene,
For Helena he had not card at all,
Nor broke the bonds of facred hospitalitie,
That bred his country wars and great mortalitie.
Had flie but then been in Crotana towne.
When Zeuxes, for the goddeffe Junos fake,
To paint a pi6lure of moft rare renowne
Did many of the fay reft damfels make
To ftand before him, bare from foote to crowne,
A patterne of theyr perfect parts to take,
No doubt he would have all the reft refufed,
And her alone in fted of all have chufed.
{Orlando Fiirioso, B. xi, st. 53.] S. J. Hark.
Faire is my love, for Aprill in her face,
Her lovely breafts September claims his part.
And lordly July in her eyes takes place,
But cold December dwelleth in her hart:
Bleft be the month that fet my hart on fire,
Accurft that month that hindreth my defire.
Like Phoebus fire, fo fparkles both her eyes.
As ayre perfum'd with amber is her breath,
Like fwelling waves her lovely teates doe rife,
As earth her hart, cold, dateth me to death.
In pompe fits mercy feated in her face,
of our English Poets. 477
Love twixt her breafts his trophies doth imprint,
Her eyes fhines favour, curtefie, and grace,
But touch her heart, ah ! that is framd of flint.
\_Pcryinedi's, the BlacksinitJi, 15SS.] R. Greene.
Her hayre not truft, but fcattered on her brow,
Surpaffing Hyblaes honney for the view,
Or foftened golden wyers.
Within thefe fnares firfl was my hart intrapped.
Till through thofe golden flirouds mine eyes did fee
An ivory fliadowed front, wherein was wrapped
Thofe prety bowers where Graces couched be :
Next which, her cheekes appeard like crimson silke,
Or ruddy rofe befpred on whiteft milke.
Twixt which the nofe in lovely tenor bends
(Too traitrous prety for a lovers view)
Next which her lips like violets commends
By true proportion that which doth enfue ;
Which, when they fmile, prefent unto the eyes
The oceans pride, and ivory paradize.
Her pollifht necke of milke white fnows doth shine,
As when the moone in winter night beholds them ;
Her breast of alablafter cleerc and fine.
Whereon two rifing apples fayre unfolds them.
Like Cynthias face, when in her full she fliineth.
And, blushing, to her love-mates bower declineth.
From whence in length her amies doe fweetly fprcad,
Like two rare branchie faples in the Spring,
Yeelding five lovely fprigs from every head,
Pro])ortioned alike in every thing;
Which featly fprout in length, like fpringborne friends,
4/8 The Choyscst Floi<.'crs
Whofe prety tops with five fweet rofes ends.
But why, alas ! should I that marble hide,
That doth adorne the one and other flanck,
From whence a mount of quickned fnow doth glide,
Or clfe the vaile that bounds this milkwhite banke,
Where Venus and her fisters hide the fount,
Whofe lovely ne6lar doth all fweetes furmount.
{Glaucus and Scilla, 1589, Sig. B 2 ] D. Lodge.
Whilft thus she meant (unfeene) away to Aide,
Her pearles and jewels caufde her to be fpide ;
The mufke and civet amber as she paft,
Long after her a fweet perfume did caft :
A carbuncle on her chriftall brow she pight,
Whofe fierie gleames expeld the shady night :
Upon her head a filver crifpe she pind,
Loofe waving on her shoulders with the wind.
Gold band her golden hayre, her ivory neck
The rubies rich and faphires blew did deck,
And at her eare a pearle of greater valew
There hung, then that the Egj'ptian queene did fwallow,
And through her coller showd her fnowy brcft.
Her utmoft robe was colour blew celeft,
Benetted all with twift of perfe6l gold,
Beseeming well her comly corps t'enfold.
What els flie v/are, might wel be feene upon
That queene who built the towers of Babylon.
Her wavering hayre difparpling flew apart.
In feemely shed ; the reft with reckleffe art
With many a curling ring decord her face.
And jjave her plashic browes a greater grace.
of our English Poets. 479
Two bending bowes of cben coupled right,
Two lucent ftarres that were of heavenly light,
Two jetty fparks where Cupid chaftly hides
His fubtile fliafts that from his quiver glides :
Tweene thofe two funnes and front of equall size
A comly figure formally did rife,
With draught unlevell to her lip defcend,
Where Momus selfe could nothing difcommend.
Her pitted cheekes appeard to be depaint
With mixed rofe and lillies, fweet and faint ;
Her dulcet mouth, with precious breath repleat,
Exceld the Saben queene in favour fweet :
Her corrall lips difcovered, as it were,
Two ranks of orient pearle with fmyling cheere ;
Her ivory necke, and breaft of alabaflrer.
Made heathen men of her more idolaftre.
Upon her hand no wrinckled knot was feene,
But as each nayle of mother of pearle had beene :
In fliort, this Judith was fo paffing faire,
As if the learned Zeuxis had beene there,
And feene this dame when he with pcnfill drew
The Croton dames, to form the pi6lure true
Of her for whom both Greece and Afia fought.
This onely patterne chiefe he would have fought.
{^History of JiidHh^ 1584, B. iv.] Th. HUDSON.
Her words were like a ftreame of honny fleeting,
The which doth foftly trickle from the hive.
Able to melt the hearers hart unweeting.
And eke to make the dead againe alive :
Her dccdes were like great cluftcrs of ripe grapes.
480 The Clioyscst Flowers
Which loade the bunches of the fruitful! vine,
Offering to fall into each mouth that gapes,
And fill the fame with ftore of timely wine.
\^No author named : Spencer'' s Colin Cloiifs come home again,
I595-]
Her breaft, two hills ore-fpread with pureft fnow,
Sweet, fmooth, and fupple, foft and gently fwelling ;
Betweene them lyes a milkie dale below,
Where love, youth, gladnes, whitenes make their dwelling,
Her envious vefture greedy fight expelling :
So was the wanton clad, as if thus much
Should pleafe the eye, the reft unfeene the touch :
As Vv'hen the funne-beames dive through Tagus wave,
To fpy the ftore-houfe of his fpringing gold ;
Love, perfing through, fo through her mantle drave.
And in their gentle bofome wandred bold ;
It viewd the wondrous beautie virgins have.
And all to finde defire (with vantage) bold :
Alas ! what hope is left to quench this fire,
That kindled is by fight, blowne by defire.
{Phillis, 1593.] D. Lodge.
Fayrer then was the nymph of Mercuric,
Who, when bright Phcebus mounteth up his coach.
And tracks Aurora in her filver fteps.
And fprinckling, from the folding of her lap,
White lillies, rofes, and fweet violets.
\_History of Orlando Fiirioso, 1594, act i, sc. r.] R. GREENE.
Her angels face
As the g'reat e\'e of heaven fliined bright,
s->'
of our English Poets. 48 r
And made a funfliine in the fhady place :
Did never mortall e\-e behold fuch heavenly grace !
\_Fairy Queen, B. i, c. iii, st. 4.] Ed. Spencer.
Not that night-wandring pale and watry ftarre
(When yawning dragons draw her thirling carre
From Latmus mount up to the gloomie fkie,
Where crownd with blazing light and majeftie
She proudly fits) more over-rules the flood,
Then fhe the harts of thofe that ncere her flood.
{Hero and Leauder, 1598, Sest. i ] Ch. Marlow.
O ! Daphne is more fayre
Then angels fwimming in the fluxjuyce ayre.
Could loves rich bed-chamber, her two bright eyes,
Lodge but two guefts at once, Beautie and Mercy ?
Beauty lyes alwayes there, did Mercy too,
Phoebus were then. Daphne fliould be
Transformd into a ftately dignitie.
Th. Dekkar.
Her flature comly tall, her gate well graced, and her wit,
To marvaile at, not meddle with, as matchleffe I omit :
A globe-like head, a gold-like haire, a forhead fmootli and
hie.
An even nofe, on c}'thcr fide ftoodc out a grayilh eye ;
Two rofie checks, round ruddy lips, white juft-fct teeth
within,
A mouth in mean, and underneath a round and dimpled chin :
Her fnowifli neck with blewifh vaincs flood bolt upright upon
Her portly flioulders; beating balls, her vaincd brcalls, anon
Ad more to beauty : wand -like was her middle, falling ftill,
3 'I
482 The Choyscst Flinvcrs
And rifing whereas women rife ; but over-fkip I will
What males in females over-fkip : imagine nothing ill.
And more, her long and limber arms had white and azure
w rifts,
And flender fingers anfwer to her fmooth and lilly fifts :
A leg in print, a prety foote, conjecture of the reft ;
For amorous eyes,obferving forme, think parts obfcured beft.
[Aldions England, B. iv, ch. xx, edit. 1602.] W. Warner.
See where fhe iffues in her beauties pompe,
As Flora, to falute the morning funne ;
Who, when fhe shakes her treffes in the ayre,
Raines on the earth diffolved pearle in showres,
Which with his beames the funne exhales to heaven.
She holdes the fpring and fommer in her armes.
And every plant puts on his fresheft robes.
To daunce attendance on her princely fteps.
Springing and fading, as she comes and goes.
G. Chapman.
Her hayre was loofe, and bout her shoulders hung ;
Upon her browes did Venus naked lye.
And in her eyes did all the Graces fwim.
Her cheekes, that showd the temper of the mind,
Were beauties mornings, where she ever rofe ;
Her lyps were loves rich altars, where she makes
Her hart a never-ceafmg facrifice :
Her teeth ftoode like a rank of Dians maydes,
When naked in a fecrete bower they bathe ;
Her long round necke was Cupids quiver calld.
And her fweet words, that flew from her, his fliafts.
of our English Poets. 483
Her foft round brefts were his fole travaild Alpes,
Where fnovv that thawed with funne did ever lye ;
Her fingers, bounds to her rich deitie,
G. Chapman.
In Paradife of late a dame begun
To peepe out of her bed, with fuch a grace
As matcht the rifing of the morning funne,
With drops of honney falling from her face;
Brighter then Phoebus fierie-pointed beames,
Or ycie cruft of chriftall frozen ftreames.
Her hayre, like amber twifted up in gold,
Paffmg the pride or riches of the Eaft,
With curious knots were into trammels rould,
As fnary nettings for a wandring gueft ;
The feathers deckt her with a quaint difdaine,
Like Junos byrd, in pompe of fpotted traine.
Her fliining forhead doth fuppreffe the ftarres,
New lightning fparkles from her lovely cheekes,
Her percing fight the ftroake of beauties warres,
Wherewith the conqueft of the world fhe feekes ;
Brave be the darts that from her eyes fhe throwes,
When Cupid lurkes betweene her lovely browes.
Arabian odours breathe out of her talke.
Which fhe betweene the pearle and ruby breaketh ;
So fmooth a compaffe hath her tongue to walke
As makes both heaven and earth blufli when flie fpeakcth.
No fmging bird in all the ayre but doates,
And lay theyr cares attentive to her notes.
Her necke, her Ihoulders, and her brcafts were bare,
Diana-like, abo\e the water fmihng :
484 ^/^^ Choyscst Floii'crs
No fnow, ivory, or alablafter there,
No flatue of white marble, me beguihng ;
But the fweet feafoii of the yeere I found,
When hlhes peepe out of the graffie ground.
Her other parts unto my view denide,
]\Iuch like the lampe that burnt at Pfyches bed,
Made fuch a fire into my hart to glide.
That love awaked, and my body bled :
O ! had fhe not fo great a force to pleafe,
Defire had flcpt, and I had liv'd at eafe.
S. G.
Aftronomers the heavens doe devide
Into eyght houfes, where the gods remaines ;
All which in thy perfe6lions doe abide,
P^or in thy feete the queene of filence raignes :
About thy waft Joves meffenger doth dwell,
Inchaunting me, as I thereat admire ;
And on thy duggs the queene of love doth tell
Her godheads power, in fcroules of my defire.
Thy beautie is the worlds eternall funne,
Thy favours force a cowards hart to darre,
And in thy hayres Jove and his riches wonne,
Thy frownes hold Saturne, thine eyes the fixed ftarres.
[D/aua 1594, Dec. vi, son. 4.] H. C.
What length of verfe can ferve, brave Mopfus, good to fhow.-*
Whofe vertues ftrange, and beauties fuch, as no man them
may know.
Thus shrewdly burdned, then, how can my Mufe efcape .-'
The gods mull help, and precious things muft ferve to show
her shape :
of cur English Poc/s. 485
Like great god Saturne faire, and like faire Venus chaft,
As fmooth as Pan, as Juno mild, like goddeffe Iris fafte ;
With Cupid fhe forefees, and goes gods Vulcans pace,
And, for a taft of all thefe gifts, flie fteales god Monius
grace.
Her forhead jacinth like, her cheekes of opall hue,
Her tvvinckling eyes bedeckt with pearle, her lyps as faphire
blew :
Her haire like crapal-ftone, her mouth, o heavenly wide !
Her fkin like burniflit gold, her hands like filver ore untridc :
As for her parts unknowne, which hidden fure are beft,
Happy be they which well beleeve, and never feeke the reft.
\_Arcadia, fo. 1598, p. 1 1 : 4to, 1590, 12 b.] S. Phil. Sidney.
O words ! which fall like fommer dew on me,
O breath ! more fweet then is the growing beane,
O tongue ! in which all honnied licours be,
O voyce ! that doth the thrulh in flirilnes ftaine.
Gay haire, more gay then ftraw when harveft lies ;
Lips red and plum as cherries ruddy fide ;
Eyes fayre and great, like fayre great oxes eyes ;
O breaft ! in which two white fheepe fwell in pride.
Joyne you with me to feale this promife due,
That file be mine, as I to her am true.
But thou, white fkin, as white as curds well preft.
So fmooth as, fleeke-ftone-like, it fmooths each part ;
And thou, deere flefli, as foft as wooll new drcft.
And yet as hard as brawne made hard by art.
[Ibid., fo. 1598, p. 344. J S. I'liiL. biDNiiY.
486 TJic Choyscst Flozvcrs
POETICALL COMPARISONS.
Beau tie.
As that fayre ftarre, the meffenger of moriie,
His dewy face out of the fea doth reare,
Or as the Ciprian goddeffe, newly borne *
Of the oceans fruitfull froth, did firft appeare ;
Such feemed they, and fo theyr yellow haire,
Chriftalline humour dropped downe apace.
\_Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. xii, st. 65 ; and sec Fair/ax's Godfrey
of Bulloigne, B. xv, st. 60.] Edm. Spencer.
As when faire Cinthia in a darkfome night
Is in a noyous clowde enveloped.
Where fhe may finde the fubftance thin and light,
Breakes forth her filver beames, and her bright head
Difcovers to the world difcomfited,
Of the poore travailer that went aftray.
With thoufand bleffings she is herried ;
Such was the beauty and the shining ray
With which fayre Britomart gave light unto the day.
[Fairy Queen, B. iii, c. i, st. 43.] Ed. Spenser.
Looke how the crowne which Ariadne wore
Upon her ivory forhead, that fame day
That Thefeus her unto his bridall bore,
(When the bold Centaures made that bloody fray
With the fierce Lapiths, that did him difmay)
Bceing now placed in the fn'nuimcnt,
of our English Pools. 4S7
Through the bright heaven doth her beames clifplay,
And is unto the ftarres an ornament,
Which round about her move in order excellent ;
Such was the beauty of this goodly band.
\_Fahy Queen, B. vi, c. x, st. 13.] Ed. Spensrr.
Even as a ftage fet forth with pomp and pride,
Where rich men coft and cunning arte beftow.
When curtaines be remoov'd that all did hide,
Maketh by light of torch a glittering fliow :
Or as the funne that in a clowde did bide.
When that is gone, doth cleerer feeme to grow ;
So Bradamant, when as her head was bareft.
Her colour and her beautie feemed rarefb.
[^Orlando Fun'oso, 1591, B. xxxii, st. 75.] S. J. Harr., Trans/.
As when fayre Ver, diglit in her flowrie raile,
In her new coloured liverie decks the earth,
And glorious Titan fpreds his fun-fliine vaile
To bring to passe her tender infants birth :
Such was her beauty which I then poffeft,
With whofe imbracings all my youth was bleft.
M, Drayton.
Looke how a comet at the first appearing
Drawes all mens eyes with wonder to behold it ;
Or, as the faddeft tale, at fuddaine hearing.
Makes filent liftning unto him that told it;
So did my fpeech when rubies did unfold it ;
So did the blazing of ni)- blufli appeare
T' amaze the world, that holds fuch fights fo decre.
[Co)ii/>la/>if of KosavionJ, 1592,51. iS.] S. 1)\\IF[,T,.
488 TJic Choyscst FUnvcrs
Even as when gaudie nlmphs purfue the chacc,
Wretched Ixions fhaggy-footed race,
Incenfl with favage heate, gallop a maine
From fteep pine-bearing mountaines to the plaine ;
So ran the people forth, to gaze upon her.
And all that viewd her were inamourd on her.
IHero and Leandcr, 1598, Sest. i.] C. Marlow.
Like as an horfe, when he is barded haile,
And feathered pannache fet upon his head,
Will make him feeme more brave for to affaile
The enemie, he that the troopes dois lead,
Ane pannach on his helme will fet indeid :
Even fo had nature, to decore her face,
Given her ane tap for to augment her grace.
\_Essays of a Prentice, is'^'S- Phoenix.] Rex Sco.
Like as a taper burning in the darke,
(As if it threatned every watchfuU eye
That burning viewes it) makes that eye his marke,
And hurles guild darts at it continually :
Or, as it envyed any eye but it
Should fee in darknes ; fo, my miftres bcautie
From forth her fecret ftand my hart doth hit,
And like the dart of Cephalus doth kill
Her perfe6l lover, though flie meanc no ill.
yOvi'Vs Banquet of Seiiee, 1595.] G. Chapman.
Now as when heaven is mufled with the vapours,
His long fmce juft divorced wife, the earth,
Tn envy breaths, to madvc his fpurry tapers
of our English Poets. 489
From the unrich aboundance of her birth,
When ftraight the wefterne iffue of the ayre
Beats with his floury wings thofe brats of dearth,
And gives Olympus leave to fliow his fayre ;
So fled the offended fhadowes of her cheere,
And fhewd her pleafant countenaunce ful as cleere.
{^0';nd\<; Banquet of Scjicc, 1595.] G. CHAPMAN.
Dalliance.
Even as an emptie eagle, fharpe by faft,
Tires with her beake on feathers, flesh, and bone,
Shaking her wings, devouring all in haft,
Till eyther gorge be ftuft, or pray be gone ;
Even fo fhe kift his brow, his cheeke, his chin,
And where flie ends, flie doth anew begin.
S^Ve mis and Adonis, 1593, st. 10.] W.Shakespeare.
And looke how clofe the ivy doth embrace
The tree, or branch, about the which it growes ;
So clofe the lovers couched in the place,
Each drawing in the breath the other blowes :
But how great joyes they found that little fpace,
Well we may geffe, but none for certaine knowes ;
Such was theyr fport, fo well theyr leere they couth,
That oft they had two tongues within one mouth.
[Ortaiido Furioso, r59i, 11. vii, st. 27.] .S, J. Harr.
Like as the wanton ivie with his twine.
When as the cake his rooteleffe body warmes.
The ftraightefl faplings ftri6lly doth combine.
490 TJic Choyscst Floivcrs
Clipping the wood with his lafcivious amies ;
Such our imbraces when our fport begins.
Lapt in our armes, like Ledaes lovely twins.
{^Legend of Pierce Gaves/on, 1596, st. 40.] M. Drayton.
Even like as Caftor, when a calme begins,
Beholding then his ftarry-treffed brother,
With mirth and glee thefe fwan-begotten twins,
Prefaging joy, the one imbrace the other:
Thus one the other in our armes we fold,
Our breafts for joy our harts could fcarcely hold.
\_Ibid., St. 147.] Idem.
As when Jove at once from Eaft to Weft
Caft off two eagles to difcerne the fight
Of this worlds centre, both his birds joynd breft
In Cynthian Delphos, fince earths navill hight ;
So, cafling off my ceafeleffe thoughts to fee
My harts true centre, all doe meete in thee.
{Ovid's Banquet of Seiice, 1595.] G. Chapman.
Like as a well-tunde lute that's toucht with flvill,
In muficks language fweetly fpeaking plaine,
When every firing it felfe with found doth fill,
Taking theyr tones, and giving them againe,
A diapazon heard in every ftraine ;
So theyr affe6lions, fet in keyes fo like,
Still fall in confort as theyr humors ftrike.
[Mojiinieriados, 1596: edit. 1605, B. iii, st. 59.] M. DRAYTON.
of our ILiigUsh Poets. 491
Sorrozu.
Then downe his cheekes the teares fo flowes,
As doth the ftreame of many fprings ;
So thunder rends the clowde in twaine,
And makes a paffage for the raine.
\_Elegy on Sir Philip Sydney., I595-] M. Roydon.
As, through an arch the violent roring tide
Out-runnes the eye, that doth behold his haft,
Yet in the edie boundeth in his pride
Backe to the ftraite that forced him fo faft,
In rage fent out, recald in rage being paft ;
Even fo his flghes, his forrowes, make a faw,
To pufti greefe on, and back the fame greefe draw.
[I.itcrcce, 1594, St. 241.] W. Shakespeare.
The storme so rumbled in her breaft
As Eolus could never roare the like ;
And fhowres downe rained from her eyes fo faft,
That all bedrent the place ; till at the laft
Well eafed they the dolour of her minde.
As rage of raine doth fwage the ftormie wind.
\_Induction to M.forM., edit. 1610, p. 259.] M. Sackvile.
As in September, when our yccrc refignes
The glorious funne unto the watry fignes,
Which through the clowdes lookes on the earth in fcornc.
The little bird, yet to falute the morne.
Upon the naked branches fets her foote.
The leaves now lying on the nK^ffic roote,
492 TJie C hoys est FUnvers
And there a filly chiriping doth keepe,
As though Hie faine would fing, yet faine would weepe ;
Prayfing faire fommer that too foone is gone,
Or mourning winter, too faft comming on ;
In this fad plight I mourne for thy depart.
\Epistlc, Q. Margai'etto W. de la Pole, edit. 1599.] IM. Drayton.
As, when the fatall bird of augurie
Seeing a ftormie difmall clowde arife
Within the South, foretells with pittious cry
The weeping tempeft that on fuddaine hies ;
So the poore foule, in view of his difdaine,
Began to defcant on her future paine.
{Glaucns and S ilia, 1589, Sig. E 2 b.] D. LoDGE.
And even as Hecuba fell raging mad.
With griefe of minde, and forrow fore oppreffed,
To fee her Polydorus, little lad,
By fraud of his kinsman unkind diftreffed,
So rav'd Olympia fayre.
{Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. x, st. 32.] J. HARRINGTON.
The raging pang remained ftill within.
That would have burft out all at once too fafl ;
Ev^en fo we fee the water tarry in
A bottle little mouth'd, and big in waft ;
That though you topfie-turvie turne the brim,
The licour bides behind with too much hall.
And with the ftriving oft is in fuch taking,
As fcant a man can get it out with fliaking.
{Ibid., B. xxiii, st. 88. J Idem.
of our EngiisJi Poets. 493
Sorroio.
As one that faw in Aprill, or in May,
A pleafant garden full of fragrant flowers,
Then when the earth, new clad in garments gay,
Decks every wood and grove with pleafant bowers,
Comming againe on fome Decembers day.
And fees it mard with winters ftormes and fhowers ;
So did this Court to Bradamant appeare,
When as flie faw Rogero was not here.
[Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. xlv, st. 23. j J. Harr.
As gorgious Phoebus, in his firft uprife,
Difcovering now his fcarlet-coloured head.
By troublous motions of the lowring fkies
His glorious beames with fogs are over-fpred ;
So are his cheerfull browes ecclipft with Sorrow,
Which clowd the fhine of his youths fmiling morrow.
{Legend of Pierce Gavcsto/!, 1596, st. 77.'] M. Drayton.
Like as when Phoebus, darting forth his rayes,
Glydeth along the fwelling ocean ftreames ;
And, whilft one billow with another playes,
Reflecteth backe his bright tranflucent beames :
Such was theconfli6l then betwixt our eyes.
Sending forth lookes, as teares do fall and rife.
\_Uid., St. 104.] Idem.
Like to a vcffcll with a narrow vent,
Which is fild up with licour to the top.
Although the mouth be after downeward bent,
Yet is it feene not to diftill a drop;
494 ^ /^^' Choysest Floivers
Even thus our breafts, brimful with penfive care,
Stopping' our tongues, with greefe we filent are.
{^Legend of Pierce Gavestoii, st. 167.] M. Drayton.
As the high elme (when his deare vine hath twind
Faft in her hundred armes, and holds imbraft)
Beares down to earth his fpouse and darling kind,
If ftorme or cruell fteele the tree downe caft,
And her full grapes to nought doth bruze and grind,
Spoyles his own leaves, faints, withers, dies at laft ;
And feemes to mourne and die, not for his owne,
But for her death v/ith him that lyes orethrowne ;
So fell he mourning, mourning for the dame
Whom life and death had made for ever his.
[Godfrey of Bulloigne, 1600, B, xx, st. 99.] Ed. Fairefax.
As when a foggy mift hath over-caft
The face of heaven, and the cleere ayre ingroft.
The world in darknes dwells ; till that at laft
The watry fouth-wind, from the fea-bord coaft
Up blowing, doth difperfe the vapours loft,
And powres it felfe forth in a ftormie fhowre ;
So the fayre Britomart, having difcloft
Her cloudy care into a wrathfull ftowre.
The mift of greefe diffolv'd did into vengeance powre.
\_Fairy Queen, B. iii, c. iv, st. 13.] Edm. Spen
As a ftroke, given on the righter eye,
Offends the left ; even fo, by fimpathy.
Her husbands dolours made her hart unglad,
And Judiths forrowes made her husband fad.
\_History of Judilli, 1584, B. iii.] T. Hudson.
of our English Poets. 495
Di[jhnulatio7i.
As when a wearie travailer, that ftraies
By muddy fliore of broad feaven-mouthed Nile,
Unwitting of the perilous wandring wayes,
Doth nieete a cruell craftie crocodile,
Which, in falfe greefe hiding his harmefull guile,
Doth weepe full fore, and fjieddeth tender teares ;
The foolifh man, that pitties all this while
His mournfull plight, is fwallowed up unwares,
ForgetfuU of his owne, that minds anothers cares :
So wept Dueffa, untill eventide.
{^Fairy Queeji, B. i, c. v, st. 18.] Edm. Spencer.
As cunning fingers, ere they ftraine on hie
In loude melodious tunes theyr gentle voyce.
Prepare the hearers eares to harmonic,
With fainings fweet, low notes, and warbles cho}'cc ;
So file, not having yet forgot, pardie,
Her wonted fliifts and fleights in Cupids toyes,
A fequence firft of fighes and fobs forth caft,
To breede compaffion deere — then fpake at laft.
[Godfrey of Biilloigne, B. xvi, st. 42.] Ed. Fairefax.
As guilefuU goldfmith, that, by fecret fkill,
With golden foyle doth finely over-fpred
Some bafer mettle, which commend he will
Unto the vulgar for good gold inftead ;
He much more goodly gloffe thereon doth Ihed
To hide his falfliood, then if it were true ;
So hard this idolc was to be ared,
49^ The Clioyscst F/otucrs
That Florimell her felfe in all mens view-
She fccm'd to paffe : fo forged things do faireft fliew.
[Fairy Queen, B. iv, c v, st. 15.] Edm. Spencer.
As when two funnes appeare in th' azure fkie,
Mounted in Phoebus chariot fierie bright,
Both darting forth faire beames to each mans eye,
And both adornd with lamps of flaming light ;
All that behold fo ftrange prodigious fight,
Not knowing nature's worke, nor what to weene.
Are rapt with wonder, and with rare affright ;
So ftoode Sir Marinell, when he had feene
The femblant of this falfe by his faire beauties queene.
{Fairy Queen, B. v, c iii, st. 19.] Idem.
Love.
As men, tormented with a burning feaver,
Dreame that with drink they fwage their greevous thirft ;
But, when they wake, they feele theyr thirft perfever.
And to be greater then it was at firft :
So fliee, whofe thoughts from love fleepe could not fever.
Dreamt of that thing for which fhe wake did thirft;
But waking, felt and found it as before,
Her hope ftill leffe, and her defire ftill more.
S. J. Harr.
The man that dwells farre north, hath fildome harnie
With blaft of winters winde or nypping froft ;
The negro fildome feeles himfelfe too warme,
If he abide within his native coaft :
of our English Poets. 497
So love ill mee a fecond nature is,
And CLiftome makes nie thinke my woes are bliffe.
\The Ekaiompaihia, son. 57.] Thd. Wai SON.
The harpie byrds, that did in fuch defpight
Greeve and annoy old Phineus fo fore,
Were chafde away by Calais in fight,
And by his brother Zeth, for evermore ;
Who followed until! they heard, on hie,
A voyce that faid, — ye twins ! no farther flie :
Phineus I am, that fo tormented was.
My Laura heere I may a harpie name,
My thoughts and lufts be fonnes to Boreas,
Which never ceaft in following my dame,
Till heavenly grace fayd unto me, at laft,
Leave fond delights, and fay thy love is paft.
[Ibid., son. 97.] Idem.
All as the greedy fifher layes his hookes
Alongft the coaft, to catch fome mighty fifh,
More for his gaine, then wholfome for the dilh
Of him that buies ; even fo, thefe fifters brave
Have lovers more then honeft maydens have.
[History of Judith, 1584, B. ii.] Tho. Hudson.
As when mightie Macedon had wonne
The monarchic of earth ; yet, when he fainted,
Greev'd that no greater a61ion could be done,
And that there no more worlds was to fubdue ;
So loves defects loves conqucrour did rue.
Edm. Spencer.
3 S
49S The Choj'scst F/oK'crs
Looke, as the faire and fiery-poynted funnc,
Rufliing from forth a clowde, bereaves our fight ;
Even fo, the curtaine drawne, his eyes begun
To winke, beeing blinded with a greater Hght.
[Lucrece, 1594, st. 55.] W. Shakespeare.
And as in furie of a dreadful! fight,
Theyr fellowes being flaine, or put to flight,
Poore fouldiers ftand, with fear of death dead ftrooken ;
So, at her prefence all furprizd and tooken,
Await the fentence of her fcornefull eyes :
He whom fhe favours lives, the other dies.
{Hero and Leander, 1598, Sest. i.] Ch. Mari.ow.
Fcare.
Like as a hinde, forth fmgled from the heard.
That hath efcaped from a ravenous beafl.
Yet flies away, of her own feete afrayd.
And every leafe, that fhaketh with the Icaft
Murmure of windes, her terror hath increafl: ;
So fled fayre Florimell from her vaine feare.
Edm. Spencer.
This faid, he fliakes aloft his Romaine blade,
Which like a faulcon towring in the fkies
Coucheth the foule below with his wings fliade,
Whofe crooked beake threats, if he mount he dies ;
So, under his infulting fauchion lyes
Ilarmeleffe Lucretia, marking what he tells
With trembling fearc, as foulc hearcs faulcons bells.
{Lucrece, 1594, st. 74.] W. Shakespeare.
of our Ejiglish Poets. 499
As the poorc frighted deere, that ftands at gaze
Wildly determining which way to flie,
Or one, iucompaft with a winding maze,
That cannot tread the way out readily ;
So with her felfe is (lie in mutinie,
To live or die which of the twaine were better,
When life is lliani'd, and deaths reproch's debtor.
{^Lturece, st. 166.] W. Shakespeare.
Or, as a fnayle, whofe tender homes being hit,
Shrinks backward in his fhelly cave with painc ;
And there, all fmoothred up, in fhade doth fit,
Long after fearing to creepe forth againe :
So at his bloody view her eyes are fled
Into the deepe darke cabbins of her head.
\yenus and Adonis, 1593,51. 174.J Idem.
As in the night each little fierie fparke
May plainly be difcerned with her eyne,
IjLit when the day doth come, we then fliall marke
That all are dampt, and doe no longer fliine :
So kindles Feare, in minde which doubt made darke,
Untill my funne in my horizon fliine.
{^Orlando Fnrioso, 1591, B. xlv, st. 34.] S.J. Harr.
So great a terror in theyr mindes was bred,
That ftraight, as if with fprites they had bccne fl<ard,
This way and that, confufedly they fled,
And left the gates without defence or gard :
As tumults often are at flagc plaics bred,
When falfe reports of fudden fires are heard :
500 TJlc Clioyscst Fioiucrs
Or when the ovcr-loaden feates doe cracke,
One tumbling downe upon anothers back.
[Orlando Furioso, B. xx, st. 6i.] S. J. Harr.
Like as in time of Spring the water's warme,
And crowding frogs like fifhes there doe fwarme,
But with the fmalleft ftone that you can caft
To ftirre the ftreame, theyr crowding ftaies as faft :
So while Judea was in joyfull dayes
The conftancie of them was worthy praife,
For that in every purpofe ye Ihould heare
The praife of God refounding every where :
So that, like burning candles they did fhine
Among theyr faithfull flock, like men divine ;
But looke, how foone they heard of Holofernc,
Theyr courage quaild, and they began to derne.
[History of Judith, 1584, B. ii.] T. HUDSON.
Of Flight.
Looke how a purple flower doth fade and die,
That painefull ploughman cutteth up with Iharc ;
Or as the poppies heads afide do lye.
When it the body can no longer beare :
So did the noble Dardanello die,
And, with his death, fild all his men with feare :
As waters runne abroade that breake theyr bay,
So fled his fouldiours, breaking theyr aray.
[Orlando Fnrioso, B. xviii, St. 71.] S. J. Harr.
As the fwift Ure, by Volgaes rolling flood,
Chafde through the plainc the maflifc currcs to-forne,
of our English Poets. 501
Flies to the fuccour of fome neighbour wood,
And often turnes againe his dreadfull home
Againft the dogs, imbrude in fweat and blood,
That bite not till the beaft to flight returne ;
Or, as the Moores, at theyr ftrange tennis, runne
Defenft, the flying balls unhurt to fhunne ;
So ranne Clorinda, fo her foes purfude.
\Godfrey of Bulloigne, 1600, B. iii, st. 32.] Ed. Fairefax.
Like as a lyon, whofe imperiall power
A proude rebellious unicorne defies,
To avoyd the rafli affault and wrathfuU ftowre
Of his fierce foe, him to a tree applies ;
And when him running in full courfe he fpies,
He flips afide, the whilft that furious beaft
His precious home, fought of his enemies.
Strikes in the ftock, ne thence can be releaft,
But to the mighty vi6lor yeelds a bounteous feaft,
With fuch fayre fleight him Guion often fayld.
\_Fairy Queen., B. ii, c. v, st. 10.] Edm. Spencer.
Erj'Otir.
As when old father Nilus gins to fvvcU,
With timely pride, above th' Egyptian vale,
His fatty waves doe fertile flime out well,
And over-flow each plaine, and lowly dale ;
Viwt when his later ebbe gins to availe.
Huge heapes of mud he leaves, wherein there breed
Ten thoufand kindes of creatures, partly male
And partly female, of his fruilfull ^<c>c^\^ :
502 TJic Clioyscst Flowers
Such ugly monflrous fliapes elswhere may no man reed.
\_Fairy Queen, B. i, c. i, st. 21.] Ed. Spen., co/iipard /o Errors
vomit.
Of Rage.
As favage bull, whom two fierce maftives bait,
When rancor doth with rage him once ingore,
Forgets with warie ward them to await,
But with his dreadfull homes them drives afore,
Or flings aloft, or treads downe in the floore,
Breathing out wrath, and bellowing difdaine,
That all the forreft quakes to hear him rore ;
So ragde Prince Arthur twixt his foemen twaine,
That neither could his mighty puiffance fufhainc.
[Ibid., B. ii, c. viii, st. 42.] Idem.
Looke what a noyfe an heard of favage fwine
Doe make, when as the wolfe a pig hath caught.
That doth in all their hearings cry and whine,
Flocking about, as nature hath them taught :
So doe thefe fouldiours murmure and repine
To fee theyr captaine thus to mischiefe brought ;
And with great fury they doe fet upon him,
All with one voyce ftill crying — on him ! on him !
[Orlando Furioso, B. xii, st. 58 ] J. Harr.
As when within the foft and fpungie foyle
The winde doth pierce the intrailes of the earth,
Where hurly burly, with a reftleffe coyle.
Shakes all the centre, wanting iffue forth.
Till, w ith the tumour, townes and mountaines tremble ;
of our English Pods. 503
Even fuch a meteor doth theyr rage refemblc.
{^Lcgeiid of Pierce Gmicston, 1596, st. 152.] M. Drayton.
As when a comet, farre and wide defcride,
In fcorne of Phoebus, midft bright heaven doth iliinc,
And tydings fad of death and mifchiefe brings ;
To mightie lords, to monarches and to kings :
So flione the pagan, in bright armour clad,
And rold his eyes.
{(Godfrey of Bulloigne, B. vii, st. 52.] Ed. Fairf.fax.
Like as a bull when, prickt with jealoufie.
He fpies the rivall of his hote defire,
Through all the fields doth bellow, rore, and cry,
And with his thundring voyce augments his ire ;
And threatning battaile to the emptie fkie,
Teares with his home each tree, plant, bufli and brier,
And with his foote calls up the fand on hight.
Defying his ffcrong foe to deadly fight :
Such was the Pagans fury, fuch his cry.
\^Ibid., B. vii, st. 55.] Idkm.
Like as a goshauke, that in foote doth beare
A trembling culver, having fpyde on hight
An eagle that with plumy wings doth flieare
The fubtile ayre ; ftooping with all his might.
The quarry throwes to ground with fell defpight,
And to the battaile doth hcrfelfe prepare :
So ranne the gianteffe unto the fight;
Iler fiery eyes with furious fparks did ftare,
And, with blafphcmous bans, high God in pecces tare.
{^Fixiry Q'tccii, W. iii, c. vii, st. 38.] El)M. SPENCEK.
504 The Clioyscst Floivcrs
As lyons meete, or bulls, in paftures greene,
With teeth and homes, and flaine with blood the field.
Such eager fight thefe warriours was betweene, . •
And eythers fpeare had peirft the others fliield.
{Orlando Furioso, B. i, st. 62.] S. J. Harr.
For as with equall rage, and equall might,
Two adverfe windes combate with billowes proud,
And neyther yeeld ; (feas, ficies, maintaine like fight.
Wave againft wave oppofd, and clowde to clowde ;)
So warre both fides with obftinate defpight,
With like revenge, and neither party bowd.
Fronting each other with confounding blowes,
No wound one fword unto the other owes.
\_Civil IVars, edit. 1609, B. vi, st. 92.] Sam. Daniell.
With equall rage, as when the fi^utherne winde
Meeteth in battaile ftrong the northerne blaft,
The fea and ayre to neither is refignd,
But clowd againft clowd, and wave gainft wave they caft :
So from this fkirmifli neither part declind,
But fought it out, and kept theyr footings faft ;
And oft with furious fliock together rufli.
And fliield gainft fhield, and helme gainft helme they crufli.
\Godfrey of BiiUoigiie, B. ix, st. 52.] Ed. Fairefax, Transl.
Such was theyr furie, as when Boreas teares
The fhattered crags from Taurus northerne clift ;
Upon theyr helmes theyr launces long they broke,
And up to heaven flew fplinters, fparks, and fmoake.
{Ibid., B. vi, St. 40.] Idem.
of our RnglisJi J^m is. 505
As when two tygers, prickt with hungers rage,
Have by good fortune found fome beafts frefli fpoile,
On which they weenc tlieyr famine to affwage,
And gaine a feaftfull guerdon of theyr toyle ;
Both falHng out doe ftirre up ftrifefull broyle,
And cruell battaile twixt themfelves doe make,
Whilft neither lets the other touch the foile,
But eyther fdeignes with other to pertake ;
So cruelly thefe knights ftrove for that ladies fake.
\_Fain' Ouccit, B. iv. c. iii, st. 16. J Edm. Spencer
For from his fearefull eyes two fierie beames,
More fliarpe then poynts of needles, did proceed,
Shooting forth farre away two flaming ftreames,
Full of fad power, that poyfonous bale did breed
To all that on him lookt without good heede,
And fecretly his enemies did flay :
Like as the bafiliflve, of ferpents feede,
From powerfull eyes clofe venome doth convay
Into the lookers hart, and killeth farre away.
\Ihiil, r>. iv, c. viii, st. 39.] IDEM.
As when a dolphin and a fcle are met
In the wide champion of the ocean plaine,
With cruell chafe theyr courages they whet.
The maiflerdome of each by force to gaine,
And dreadfull battaile twixt them doe darraine :
They fnuffe, they fnort, they bounce, they rage, they rore.
That all the fea, difturbed with theyr traine,
Doth fric \\'\\.\\ foamc abo\-e the furgcs hore ;
\ 1"
5o6 TIic C hoys est Floii'ers
Such was betwixt thefe two the troublefome uprore.
\_Faify Queen, B. v, c. ii, st. 15.] Ed. Spenckr.
As when the fierie mouthed fteedes, which drew
The funnes bright waine to Phaetons decay,
Soone as they did the monftrous fcorpion view
With ugly crapples crawHng in theyr way,
The dreadfull fight did them fo fore affray.
That their well knowen courfes they forewent :
And leading the ever-burning lampe aftray.
This lower world nigh all to alhes brent,
And left their fcorched path yet in the firmament :
Such w^as the furie of thefe head-ftrong fteedes,
Soone as the infants funlike fliield they faw%
llbid., B. V, c. viii, st. 40.] Idem-
Like as the curfed fonne of Thefeus,
That following his chace in dewie morne.
To flie his ftepdames love outragious,
Of his owne fteedes was all to peeces torne,
And his faire limbs left in the woods forlorne ;
That for his fake Diana did lament,
And all the woodie nimphs did waile and mourne :
So was the Soldane rapt, and all to rent,
That of his fhape appeard no little moniment.
\[bid., B. V, c. viii, st. 43.] Idem.
Like raging \\\o, when with knife in hand
Shee threw her husbands murthered infant out ;
Or fell Medea, when on Colchicke ftrand
Her brothers bones flic fcattcred all about ;
of oar English Poets. 507
Or as that madding mother, mongft the rout
Of Bacchus priefts, her owne deere flefli did teare :
Yet neyther Ino, nor Medea ftout,
Nor all the Maenades fo furious were
As this bold woman, when flie faw that damsell there.
\^Fai7-y Queen, B. v, c. viii, st. 47.] Idem.
As the heate hidden in a watry clowde,
Striving for iffue with ftrange murmures loud,
Like gunnes aftuns, with round-round-rumbling thunder,
Filling the ayre with noyfe, the earth with wonder ;
So the three fifters, the three hidious rages, -
Raife thoufand ftormes, leaving th' infernall ftages.
J. Silvester.
Pittie. Curicfie.
Shee, pittious nurfe, applyde her painfull thought
To ferve and nourifli them that her up brought ;
Like to the gratefull ftorke, that gathereth meate
And brings it to her elders for to eate,
And on a firre-tree high, with Boreas blowne,
Gives life to thofe of whom fhe had her owne.
{^History of Judith, 1584.] Th. Hudson.
As the bright funne, what time his fierie teame
Toward the wefterne brim begins to draw.
Gins to abate the brightnes of his beame,
And fervor of his flames fomewhat adaw ;
So did this mighty Lady, when flie faw
Thofe two ftrange knights fuch homage to her make.
Bate fomewhat of that majeftie and awe,
5oS The C hoys est Floi^'crs
That whilom wont to doe fo many quake,
And with more milde afpe6l thofe two to entertake.
\Fairy Queen, B. v, c. ix, st. 3 5. J EDjM. Spen.
As when the foutherne winde, with lukewarm blaft
Breathing on hills where winter long had dwelt,
Refolves the rocks of ice that hung fo faft,
And all the new made mounts of fnow doth melt :
So with this gentle prayer, though fpoke in haft.
The damfell fuch an inward motion felt,
That fuddainly her hardned hart did foften,
As unto women kinde it chaunceth often.
[Orlando Fnrioso, 1591, B. xxxvi, st. 37.] S. J. Harr.
Like as the winde, ftopt by fome wood or hill,
Growes ftrong and fierce, teares bowes and trees in twaine,
But with mild blafts more temperate gentle ftill,
Blowes through the ample field, or fpatious plaine;
Againft the rocks as fea-waves murmure flirill,
]5ut filent paffe amid the open maine,
Rinaldo fo, when none his force withftood,
Affwagde his furie, calmd his angry moode.
[E. Fair/ax : Godfrey of Biilloigne, 1600, B. xx, st. 58.] Idem.
Courage.
As when two rammes, ftird with ambitious pride,
Fight for the rule of the rich fleeced flock,
Theyr horned fronts fo fierce on eyther fide
Doe meete, that, with the terror of the fliock
Aftonicd, both ftand fenceleffe as a block.
of our English Pacts. 509
Forgetful of the hanging vi6lorie ;
So ftoode thefe twaine, unmoved as a rock,
Both ftaring fierce, and holding idely
The broken reliques of their former crueltie.
\_Fai9y Queen, B. i, c. ii, st. 16.] Ed.m. Spencer.
Above the waves as Neptune lift his eyes,
To chyde the windes that Trogan fliips oppreft,
And with his countenaunce calmd feas, winds, and flvies ;
So lookt Rinaldo when he fhooke his creft.
S.J. Harr.
When the ayre is calme and ftill, as dead and dcafe,
And under heaven quakes not an afpen leafe ;
When feas are calme, and thoufand veffels fleet
Upon the fleeping feas with paffage fweet ;
And when the variant wind is flill and lowne,
The cunning pilot never can be knowne ;
But when the cruell llorme doth threat the barkc
To drowne in deeps of pits infernall darke.
While toffing teares both ruther, maft, and faile,
While mounting feemes the azure fkies to fcale,
While drives, perforce, upon fome deadly fliore,
There is the pilot knowne, and not before.
[His/ory of Judith, 1584, B. i.] Th. HUDSON.
As a tall fliippe, toffcd in troublous feas,
Whom raging windes, threatning to make the pray
Of the rough rocks, doe diverfly difcafe,
Meets two contrary billowes by the way.
That her on eyther fide doc fore affay,
And boafl to fwallow her in greedy grave,
510
TJic Choysest Flowers
Shee, fcorning both their fpights, doth make wide way,
And, with her breafl breaking the foamie wave,
Doth ride on both their backs, and faire herfelfe doth fave ;
So boldly he him beares.
\_Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. ii, st. 24.] Ed. Spen.
As when a fliyp, that flies fayre under faile,
An hidden rocke efcaped hath unawares.
That lay in waite her wrack for to bewaile,
The mariner, yet halfe amazed, flares
At perill paft ; and yet in doubt, ne dares
To joy at his foolehappie over-flght :
So doubly is diftreft, twixt joy and cares,
The dreadleffe courage of this elfin Knight.
[Ibid., B. i, c. vi, st. i.j Idem.
Majejiie. Ponipe.
Looke as great Cinthia in her filver carre
Rides in her progreffe round about her fphere,
Whofe tendance is the faire eye-dazeling flarres
Trooping about her chariot, that with cleere
And glorious fiiowes makes every eye delight
To gaze upon the beautie of the night,
Or as the fpring comes to regreet the earth.
Clad and attended with the worlds delight ;
So is the Queene in majeftie brought forth.
\^Legend of H . Duke of Gloucester, 1600, st. 153.]
Chk. Middleton.
Like trident-maced Neptune, in his pride,
Mounted upon a dolphin in a ftornie,
..}
of our English Poets. 5 1 1
Upon the toffing billowes forth doth ride,
About whofe traine a thoufand Tritons fvvarme :
When Phoebus feemes to fet the waves on fire,
To fhew his glory, and the gods defire ;
Or Hke unto the fiery-faced funne.
Upon his wagon prauncing in the weft,
Whofe blufhing cheekes with flames feeme over-runne,
Whilft, fweating thus, he gallops to his reft :
Such was the glory wherein now I ftood.
Which makes the barons fweat theyr deercft blood.
\Legend of Pierce Gaveston, 1596, st. 139.] M. Drayton.
And look how Thames, inricht with many a flood,
And goodly rivers (that have made their graves.
And buried both theyr names and all theyr good
Within his greatnes, to augment his waves)
Glides on with pompe of waters unwithftood
Unto the ocean (which his tribute craves)
And lays up all his wealth within that powre,
WHiich in it felfe all greatnes doth devoure,
So flockt the mightie, with theyr following traine,
Unto the all-receaving Bullenbrooke.
\Civil Wars, edit. 1609, B. ii, st. 7.] S. Daxiki.l.
Then thou, on thine imperiall chariot fet,
Crownd with a rich imperled coronet,
Whilft the Parifian dames, as thy traine paft,
Theyr precious incenfe in aboundance cafl :
As Cynthia, from the wave-embatcled flirowdcs
0[iening the weft, comes ftreming through the clowds.
W^ith fliining troopes of filver-treffcd ftarrcs
5 1 2 TJic Choyscst Floions
Attending on her as her torch-bearers,
And all the leffer Hghts about the throne,
With admiration ftand as lookers on,
Whilst ihe alone, in height of all her pride,
The Oueene of light, along her fpheare doth glide.
\_Episth\ Charles Brandon lo O. Afa/j, edit. 1599.] M. Dravtox,
Civ ill War res.
Even like to Rheine, which in his birth oppreft,
Strangled almoft with rocks and mighty hills,
Workes out a way to come to better reft,
Warres with the mountaines, ftrives againft their wills,
Brings forth his ftreames in unitie profeft
Into the quiet bed he proudly fills.
Carrying the greatnes, which he cannot keepe,
Unto his death and buriall in the deepe ;
So did the worlds proud miftres, Rome, at firft
Strive with an hard beginning, ward \\ ith ncede,
Forcing her ftrong confiners to the worft.
And in her blood her greatnes firft did brecdc :
So Spaine at home with Moores, ere forth it burft,
Did practife long, and in itfelfe did bleed;
So did our ftate begin with her owne wounds
To try her ftrength, ere it enlargd her bounds.
Sam. Danieli,,
Like as an exhalation, hote and dr\',
Amongft the ayre-bred moiftie vapours throwne,
Spetteth his lightning forth outragioufly.
Renting the thicke clowdes with a thunder-ftone.
As though the huge all-co\'ering heaven did grone ;
of Gur EnglisJi Pacts. 5 1 3
Such is the garboyle of this conflict then,
Brave Englifhmen encountring Engliflimen.
[Mortimeriados, 1596.- repeated afterwards, p. 523.] M. Drayton.
Like as a clowde, foule, darke, and ugly black,
Threatning the earth with tempeft every howre,
Now broken wuth a fearefull thunder-crack,
Straight powreth downe his deepe earth-drenching fhowre ;
Thus for theyr wrongs now rife they up in armes,
Or to revenge, or to amend theyr harines.
[^Legend of Pierce Gaveston, 1596, st. 158.] Idem.
Death.
That downe he tumbled, as an aged tree
High growing on the top of rockie clift,
Whofe hartftrings with keene fteele nigh hewen be ;
The mighty trunck, halfe rent, with ragged rift,
Doth rolle adowne the rocks, and fall with fearfull drift.
[Fairy Queen, B. i, c. viii, st. 22.] Edm. Spencer.
Or as a caftle, reared high and round,
By fubtile engins and malicious flight
Is undermined from the loweft ground,
And her foundations forft and feebled quite.
At laft downe falls ; and with her heaped hight
Her haftie ruine does more heavie make.
And yeelds it felfe unto the victors might :
Such was this giants fall.
[Ibid., B. i, c. viii, st. 23.] Il)El\r.
As when two billowes in the Irifli founds.
Forcibly driven with contrary tydes.
3 ^
5 1 4 The CJioyscst Flowers
Doe meete together, each aback rebounds
With roring rage ; and dafliing on all fides,
That filleth all the fea with foame, devides
The doubtfull current into divers wayes ;
So fell thofe two in fpight of both theyr prides.
\Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. i, st. 42.] Edm. Spencer.
Hope.
Yet as through Tagus faire tranfparent ftreames
The wandring marchant fees the fandy gold,
Or like as Cynthias halfe obfcured beames
In filent night the pilot doth behold
Through mifhie clowdes, and vapours manifold ;
So, through a mirror of my hop'd for gaine,
I faw the treafure which I fliould obtaine.
\Life and Death of Wolsey, 1599.] Th. Storer.
Like as the funne at one felfe time is felt
With heate to harden clay, and waxe doth melt,
So Amrams facred fonne, in thefe proje6ls,
Made one felfe caufe have two contraire efifefts ;
For Ifaack humbly knew the Lord divine,
But Pharo more and more did fbill repine ;
Like to the corpflet cold, the more tis bet
With hammer hard, more hardnes it doth get.
{^History of Judith, 1584, B. i.] Th. Hudson.
This ill prefage advifedly flie marketh,
r^ven as the winde is huflit before it raineth,
Or as the wolfe doth grin before he barketh,
Or as the berry breakes before it ftaineth ;
of our English Poets. 5 1 5
Or like the deadly bullet of a gunne,
His meaning ftrooke her, ere his words begun.
[Venus and Ado/Its, 1593, st. 77.'] W. Shakespeare.
AJloniJlinient.
Like as the tiller of the fruitfuU ground
With fuddaine ftorme and tempeft is aftoniflied,
Who fees the flafh, and heares the thunders found.
And for their maifters fake the cattell puniflied ;
Or when, by hap, a faire old pine he found
By force of raging winds his leaves diminiflied ;
So ftood amazd the pagan in the place,
His lady prefent at the wofull cafe.
[Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. ii, st. 65.] J. Harrington.
Even as a wolfe, by pinching famine led,
That in the field a carrion-beaft doth finde.
On which before the doggs and ravens have fed,
And nothing left but bones and homes behind,
Stands ftill, and gazeth on the carkaffe dead :
So at this fight the pagan prince repind.
And curfeth oft, and cals himfelfe a beaft,
For comming tardy to fo rich a feaft.
Idem.
Like to a man, which, walking in the graffe,
Upon a ferpent fuddenly doth tread.
Plucks backe his foote, and turnes away his face,
His colour fading pale, as he were dead :
Thus he the place, thus he the act doth flnin,
Lothing to fee what he before had done.
[Legend of Pierec Gaves/on, 1596, st. 327.J M. Dravion.
5 1 6 TJie Choysest Flowers
Looke how the god of wifedome marbled ftands,
Beftowing laurell wreaths of dignitie
In Delphos ile, at whofe impartiall hands
Hang antique fcrolles of gentle herauldry,
And at his feete enfignes and trophies lie ;
Such was my ftate, whom every man did follow,
As living ftatue of the great Apollo.
{Life and Death of Wolsey, 1599.] Th. Storer.
Even as the hungry winter-ftarved earth,
When fhe by nature labours towards her birth,
Still as the day upon the darke world creepes,
One bloffome forth after another peeps,
Till the fmall flower, whofe roote is now unbound.
Gets from the froftie prifon of the ground,
Spreading the leaves unto the powrefuU noone,
Deckt in frefh colours, fmiles upon the funne.
Never unquiet care lodg'd in that breft
Where but one thought of Rofamond did reft.
{Epistle, Henry II to Rosamond, edit. 1599.] M. DRAYTON.
Courage.
Like as a fire, the which in hollow cave
Hath long beene under-kept and downe fujoprefl,
With murmurous difdaine doth inly rave,
And grudge in fo ftraite prifon to be preft,
At laft breakes forth with furious infeft,
And ftrives to mount unto his native feate ;
All that did erft it hinder and moleft
It now devoures with flames and fcorching heat,
And carries into fmoke, with rage and horror great :
of our English Poets. 5 1 7
So mightily the Brittaine prince him roufd
Out of his hold.
\Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. xi, st. 32.] Edm. Spencer.
As he, that ftrives to ftop a fudden flood
And in ftrong banks his violence inclofe,
Forceth it fwell above his wonted moode,
And largely overflow the fruitfull plaine,
That all the country feemes to be a maine,
And the rich furrowes flote, all quite fordone ;
The wofull husbandman doth lowd complaine
To fee his whole yeeres labour loft fo foone,
For which to God he made fo many an idle boone :
So him he held, and did through might amate.
\Ibid., B. iii, c vii, st. 34.] IDEM.
Like as a faphire, hanging downe the breaft,
A farre more orient glittering doth make,
Than doth a diamond of good requeft
Set in a bracelet, and more glory take,
Not for the vertue but the places fake :
So did a clowdy faphire dimme my light.
Not with his worth, but with his places height.
{^Lifc and Death of IVotsey, 1599.] Th. Storer.
Of Adam.
Thou fceft no wheat helleborus can bring.
Nor barly from the madding morrell fpring,
Nor bleating lambes brave lyons do not breed,
That leaprous parents raife a leaprous feed.
Even fo our grandfyrc, living innocent,
5i8
TJi.c Choyscst F/oi^'crs
Had ftockt the whole world with a faint defcent,
But fufifering finne in Eden him invade,
His fonnes the fonnes of finne and wrath he made.
J. Sylvester.
As done the pots that long retaine the tafte
Of licour, fuch as firft was in them plafte ;
Or like the tree that bends his elder braunch
That way where firft the ftroke had made his launch ;
So fee we wolfes and beares and harts, full old,
Some tameneffe from their daunted youth to hold.
{^History of Judith, 1584, B. iii.] Th. HUDSON.
Loves fiery dart
Could nere unfreeze the froft of her chafte hart ;
But as the diamond bides the hammer ftrong,
So file refifted all her futers long.
{Ibid., ibid.} Idem.
Drunkards.
The more he dranke, the more he did defire,
Like to the ocean fea, though it receaves
All Nilus flouds, yet all frefh water craves
From eaft to weft ; yet growes he not a graine,
But ftill is ready for as much againe.
II bid, ibid.l
Idem.
The ftaves, like yce, in Olivers fmall did flie ;
The fplints, like byrds, did mount unto the flvie.
\_Sii- y. Haringtoti^s Orlando Ftirioso, B. xlvi, st. 98.
?>I. Dkavton.
of our EuglisJi Pods. 519
/// Companie.
Like as the perfe6l pylot feares to runne
Upon the rocks, with fingling fheet doth fliiinnc
Cyadnes ftraits, or Syrtes finking fands,
Or cruell Capharois with ftormy ftrands :
So wifely fhe difliaunted the refort
Of fuch as were fufpe6l of hght report,
Well knowing, that th' quaintance with the ill
Corrupts the good, and though they ever ftill
Remain upright, etc.
{History of Judith, 1584, B. iv.] Th. Hudson, fol. 452.
Looke how the peacocke ruffes his flanting taile,
And ftrutts under his mooned canapie,
And how he quivers with his mooned faile ;
Yet when his lead pale legs he haps to fee,
With fliame abates his painted jollitie :
The king, as proud as peacocke in his love.
Yet droupes again, when words nor tears will move.
M. Drayton.
Night.
Looke how a bright ftarre fhooteth from the flvie ;
So glides he in the night from Venus eye ;
Which after him flic darts, as one on fliorc.
Gazing upon a late-embarqued frend.
Till the wild waves will have him feen no mcirc,
Whofe ridges with the meeting cloudes conU'iul :
So did the mercilcffe and pitchy Night
520 The Choyscst Floivcrs
Fold in the object that did feed her fight.
{Venus and Adonis, 1593, st. 136.] W. Sha.
King.
When as the fun forfakes his chriftall fpheare,
How darke and ugly is the gloomy fkie,
And in his place ther's nothing will appeare
But cloudes that in his glorious circuit flie :
So when a king forfakes his royall place,
There ftill fucceedes oblique and darke difgrace.
{Legend of Hitmplwey of Gloucester, 1600, st. 115.]
Ch. Middleton.
Looke how the day-hater, Minervaes bird,
Whileft priviledged with darknes and the night.
Doth live fecure t' himfelfe, of others feard ;
If but by chaunce difcovered in the light.
How doth each little foule, with envy ftird,
Call him to juftice, urge him with defpight.
Summons the feathered flocks of all the wood
To come to fcorne the tyrant of their blood :
So fares this King, laid open to difgrace.
{Civil Wars, B. ii, st. 99, edit. 1609.] -S. Daniell.
And forth hee's brought unto the accomplishment,
Deckt with the crowne, and princely robes that day ;
Like as the dead, in other lands, are fent
Unto their graves, in all their beft aray ;
And even like good did him this ornament,
For what he brought he muft not beare away,
But buries there his glory and his name.
of our EiiglisJi Poets. 5 2 1
liitomb'd both in his own and others blame.
\Civil Wars, B. ii, st. loS.] S. Daniei.l.
Coinpanie.
Remaine upright, yet fome will quarrell pike,
And common brute will deeme them all alike :
For looke how your companions you ele6l
For good or ill, fo fliall you be fufpeft.
[History of Ji/dit/i, 1584, B. iv.] Th. Hudson.
Of Victorie.
Like as whilome that ftrong Tirynthian fwaine
Brought forth with him the dreadfull dog of hell,
Againft his will faft bound in yron chaine.
And, roring horribly, did him compell
To fee the hatefull fun, that he might tell
To grifly Pluto what on earth was donne,
And to the other damned ghoafts which dwell
For aye in darkneffe, which day light doth fliunnc ;
So led this knight his captive, with like conqucfh woonc.
\_Fairy Queen, B. vi, c. xii, st. ■^^.'\ Ed. Spencer.
Like as in fommers day, when raging heate
Doth burne the earth, and boyled rivers drie ;
That all brute beafts, forfte to refraine from meate,
Do hunt for fliadc where flirouded they may lie,
And, miffing it, fainc from themfelves to flic,
All travailers tormented are with painc ;
A watry cloud doth overcafl the flvie.
And powrcth forth a fuddaine Ihowrc of rainc,
3
22 The C hoys est Flowers
That all the wretched world recomforteth againe :
So did the warlike Britomart refhore
The prize to knights of mayden-head that day.
\Fairy Qiieen, B. iv, c. iv, st. 47.] Ed. Spencer.
As when a troupe of harveft thrifty fwaines
With cutting fythes earth ripened riches mowes,
Whole fheaves of come lye ilrowen upon the plaines ;
So fall the Scots before the conquering foes.
D. Lodge.
DeatJi.
On Appenine, like as a fturdy tree
Againft the windes that makes refiftance ftout,
If with a ftorme it overturned bee,
Falles downe and breakes the trees and plants about ;
So Latine fell, and with him felled hee,
And flew the neareft of the Pagan rout.
[Godfrey of Btilloigne, 1600, B, ix, st. 39.] Ed. Fairfax.
Like as the facred oxe, that careleffe ftands,
With gilden homes and flowry girlonds crownd,
Proud of his dying honour and deare bands.
Whiles th' altars fume with frankenfence around,
All fuddenly, with mortall ftroke aftownd,
Doth grovelling fall, and with his ftreaming gore
Diftaines the pillers and the holy ground,
And the faire flowers that decked him afore :
So fell proud Marinell upon the precious fliore.
\_Fairy Queen, B. iii, c. iv, st. 17.] Ed. Spencer.
of our EnglisJi Poets. 523
Like as a fhippe, whom cruell tempeft drives
Upon a rocke with horrible difmay,
Her fhattered ribbes in thoufand peeces rives,
And, fpoyhng all her geares and goodly ray,
Does make her felfe misfortunes piteous pray :
So downe the cliffe the wretched giant tombled.
{^Fairy Queen, B. v, c. ii, st. 50. Ed. Spencer.
Like an autumall ftarre which, ruddy, doth forefhewe
Some death, fome peftilence, fome bloudy overthrowe,
He bufkles with his foe, the affailant he affaults,
And refolute he markes his arrowes weake defaults ;
Then entring in betweene his breft-plate and his bafes,
He feeks his finful foule, there finds, and thence it chafes.
J. Syl.
Fight.
Like as two maftiffe dogs, with hungry mawes,
Mov'd firft to hate, from hate to raging ire,
Approach with grinning teeth and grifly jawes.
With ftaring eyes, as red as flaming fire ;
At laft, they bite and fcratch with teeth and clawes.
Tearing them felves, and tumbling in the mire :
So, after biting and reproachfuU words,
Sacrapant and Rinaldo drew their fwords.
[Sir J. Haringtoii's Orlando Fnrioso, B. ii, c. v.] ED. Spencer.
Like as an exhalation, hot and drie,
Amongft the aire-bred moifty vapoures thrownc
Spctteth his lightening forth outragioufly,
Rentinsj- the thick clouds with a thundcr-ftonc,
524 ^Z-^'' Choyscst Floivcrs
As though the huge all covering heaven did grone :
Such is the garboyle of this conflict then,
Brave Engliriimen encountring Englifhmen.
{^Repeated from p. 512.] M. Drayton.
Like as ye fee the wallowing fea to ftrive
Flood after flood, and wave with wave to drive ;
Then waves with waves, then floods with floods to chace,
And eft returnes unto their former place :
Or, like the crops of corne in midft of May,
Blowne up with wefterne wind, afide do fway
Both too and fro, as force doth them conftraine,
And }'et their tops redreffeth up againe :
So whiles the Sirians are by Medes difplaced.
And whiles the Medes by Syrians are rechaced.
\_HLstory of Judith, 1584.] Th. Hudson.
Like as a puttock, having fpied in fight
A gentle faulcon fitting on an hill,
Whofe other wing, now made unmeet for flight.
Was lately broken by fome fortune ill ;
The foolifh kite, led with licentious will,
Doth beat upon the gentle byrd in vaine.
With many idle ftoopes her troubling ftill :
Even fo did Radigond with bootleffe paine
Annoy this noble knight, and forely him conftraine.
{^Fairy Queen, B. v, c. v, st. 15.] Ed. Spencer.
Even as an eagle, that efpics from hie
Among the hearbes a partie coloured fnake ;
Or on a banke funning her felfe to lie,
of our English Pods. 525
Cafting the elder fkin, a new to make,
Lies hovering warily till flie may fpie
Advantage fure the venomd worme to take ;
Then takes him by the backe, and beats her wings,
Maugre the poyfon of his forked ftings :
So doth Rogero, both with fword and fpeare,
The cruell monfter warily affaile.
{^Orlando Fiin'oso, B. x, st 89] S. J. >Iakr.
But as a mountaine, or a cape of land,
Affaild with ftormes and feas on every fide,
Doth unremoved, ftedfaft, ftill withftand
Storme, thunder, lightning, tempeft, wind, and tide ;
The Souldan fo withftood Latinus band.
{Godfrey of DiiUoigne, B. ix, st. 31.] Ed. Fairfax.
So thicke flew ftones and darts, that no man fees
The azure heavens, the funne his brightnes loft ;
The cloudes of weapons, like tvvo fwarms of bees
Met in the aire, and there each other croft :
And looke how falling leaves drop downe from trees.
When the moyft fappe is nipt with timely froft,
Or apples in ftrong windes from braunches fall :
The Sarazens fo tumbled from the wall.
{Ibid., 1600, B. xi, St. 48 ] IDEM.
As when a windy tempeft bloweth hie.
That nothing may withftand his ftormy ftowrc.
The cloudes, as things afraid, before him flic,
But all fo foone as his outragious power
Is laid, they fiercely then begin to (howre ;
520 The C hoy Si's t Floivcvs
And, as in fcorne of his fpent ftormy fpight,
Now all at once their malice forth do powre :
So did Sir Guion beare himfelfe in fight,
And fuffered rafh Pyrocles wafte his idle might.
[Fairy Qiteeji, B. ii, c. viii, st. 48.] Ed. Spencer.
As eagle, frefli out of the ocean wave,
Where he hath left his plumes all hoary gray,
And deckt himfelfe with feathers youthly gay,
Like eyas hauke upmounts unto the fkies,
His newly budded pinions to affay,
And marvells at himfelfe ftill as he flies ;
So new this new-borne knight to battle new did rife.
[Ibid., B. i, c. xi, st. 34.] Idem.
As gentle fhepheard in fweete even-tide.
When ruddy Phoebus gins to welke in weft.
He on an hill, his flocke to viewen wide,
Markes which do bite their hafty fupper beft ;
A cloud of combrous gnats do him moleft,
All ftriving to infixe their feeble ftings,
That, from their noyance, he no where can reft ;
But with his clownifli hands their tender wings
He brufheth off, and oft doth marre their murniurings.
[Ibid., B. i, c. i, st. 23.] IDE.M.
But they, him fpying, both with greedie force
At once upon him ranne, and him befet
With ftroakes of mortall fteele, without remorfe,
And on his (hield like iron fledges bet :
As when a beare and tigre, being met
of our English Poets. 527
In cruell fight on Lybicke ocean wide,
Efpie a traveller with feet furbet,
Whom they in equall pray hope to devide,
They ftint their ftrife, and him affaile on every fide.
{Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. ii, st. 22.] Ed. Spencer.
Of Noife. Clamour.
As great a noife, as when in Cymbrian plaine
An herd of bulls, whom kindly rage doth fting,
Do for the milky mothers want complaine,
And fill the fields with troublous bellowing,
The neighbor woods around with hollow murmur ring.
\Ibid., B. i, c. viii, st. 11. J Idem.
Or when the fliapeleffe huge leviathan
Hath thruft himfelfe upon the fandie fliore,
Where (monfter like) affrighting every man.
He belloweth out a fearefuU deadly rore ;
Even fuch a clamour through the aire doth thunder.
The dolefull prefage of fome fearefull wonder.
{^Legend of Pierce Gaveston, 1596, st. 153.] M. Drayton.
Joy.
Much like as when the beaten marriner,
That long hath wandred in the ocean wide,
Oft fouft in fwelling Tethis faltifli teare.
And long time having tand his tawnie hide,
With bluftering breath of heaven that none can bide.
And fcorching flames of fierce Orions hound ;
Soone as the port from far he has efpide,
His chcarefull whifllc mcriiy doth found,
528 The Choyscsl Fhnocrs
And Nereus crownes with cups; his mates him pledge
around ;
Such joy made Una, when her knight die found.
\_Fairy Queen, B. i. c. iii, st. 31.] Ed. Spen'CER.
Looke how a troupe of winter prifoned dames,
Pent in the inclofure of the walled townes,
Welcomes the fpring, ufher to fommers flames,
Making their paftimes on the flowry downes,
Whofe beautious arras, wrought in natures frames,
Through eies admire, the heart with wonder crownes :
So thefe wood-walled citizens at fea
Welcome both fpring and fommer in a day.
{Tragedy of Sir Richard Grinv He, 1595.] I. Markham.
Like as a fiiip, with dreadfull ftorme long toft.
Having fpent all her mafts and her ground-hold,
Now farre from harbour, likely to be loft.
At laft fome fiflier barke doth neare behold.
That giveth comfort to her courage cold :
Such was the ftate of this moft courteous knight.
{Ibid., B. vi, c. iv, st. i.J IDEM
Pollicie.
As when, to purge exceffive moift defcending
From Saturns fpheare, or elfe fuperfluous heate,
Jove ftird up by Mars (common good entending)
Sends lightning flafli to lay their angry threate :
So wifer heads, that knew the fcourge of warre,
Sought footh-faft meanes to mitigate the jarre.
{Ehtrcd, appended to Phillis, 1593.] D. LODGE.
of our English Poets. 529
As when a fkilfull marriner doth read
A ftorme approaching, that doth perill threate,
He will not bide the danger of fuch dread,
But ftrikes his failes, and vereth his mainflieat,
And lends unto it leave the emptie aire to beate ;
So did the faiery knight himfelfe abeare.
\Fairy Queen, B. v, c xii, st. 18.] Ed. Spencer.
As pilot, well expert in perillous wave,
That to a fteadfaft ftarre his courfe hath bent.
When foggy mifts or cloudie tempefts have
The faithfuU light of that faire lamp yblent.
And covered heaven with hidious dreriment.
Upon his card and compaffe firmes his eie,
The maifters of his long experiment,
And to them does the fkeddie helme applie,
Bidding his wanged veffell fairely forward flie ;
So Guyon.
\^Ihid., B. ii, c. vii, st. i.] IDF.M.
L abour.
Like as ye fee, fometimes, the honey-bees
Exerce themfelves on buds of fweeteft trees.
Where they fomctime affault the buzzing wafpe,
That come too neare, their flames away to clafpe :
Or, when they honey draw from fmclling time,
Or from the palme, or rofes of the prime.
And how they draw their waxe with wondrous art,
Obferving joynture juft in every part.
Both up and downe they build ten thoufand fliops,
3 V
5 30 TJic C hoys est Flozvcrs
With equall fpacc fulfild up to the tops :
Or where the maifter-bee of thoufand bands
CondLi6ls the reft in legions through the lands,
Who daily keepes, within their citie-wall,
Their houfe, their worke, their lavves, and maners all ;
So thus the fonnes of Jacob plide their paine,
With whole defire their quarell to fuftaine.
IHistory of Judith, 1584.] Tn. HUDSON.
As do thofe emmets, that in fommer tide
Come out in fwarmes their houfes to provide,
In harveft time their toile may beft be feene,
In pathes where they their carriage bring betweene ;
The fick and old at home do keepe the fcore. —
And over grainell great they take the charge,
Oft turning corne within a chamber large,
(When it is dight) leaft it do fprout or feed,
Or come againe, or weevils in it breed.
While the armorers, with armour hard and great,
On ftudies ftrong the fturdie fteele do beate ;
And makes thereof a corpflet or a jacke,
Sometime a helme, fometime a mace doth make ;
Whiles fhepheards they enarme, unufde to danger.
Whiles fimple heards, and whiles the wandring ftranger :
The tilling culter then a fpeare was made.
The crooked fithe became an evened blade :
The people foode forgets, no eafe they take,
Some on an horfe, fome on his proper backe,
Some on a cart, fome on a camell beares
Corne, wine, and flcih, to ferve for many yeares.
\_Ibid.\ Idem.
of am- English Poets. c; 2 1
Warre.
Like to a river, that is ftopt his courfe,
Doth violate his bankes, breakes his ovvne bed,
Deftroyes his bounds and overruns by force
The neighbour fieldes, irregularly fpread :
Even fo this fudden flop of Warre doth nurfe
Home broiles within it felfe from others lead ;
So daungerous the chaunge thereof is tried,
Ere mindes 'come foft, or otherwife imploidc.
{Civil JVars, edit. 1609, B. i, st. 83.] S. Daniell.
AJloniJhmeiit.
As when the maft of fome well timbred hulke
Is with the blaft of fome outragious ftorme
Blowne downe, it fliakes the bottome of the bulke,
And makes her ribs to cracke as they were torne,
Whilft ftill fhe ftands asftoniflit and forlorne :
So was he ftound with ftroake of her huge taile.
{Fairy Qitce/i, B. v, c. xi, st. 29.] Ed. Spencer.
Where lying ftill a while, both did forget
The perillous prefent ftownd in which their lives were fet.
As when two warlike brigandines at fea,
With murdrous weapons armd to cruell fight,
Do meete together on the watrie lea,
They ftem each other with fo fell defpight,
That, with the fhocke of their own hccdlcffc might.
Their wooden ribs are fliaken nigh afundcr.
They which from fliore behold the drcadfull llgjit
Of flafliing ficr, and hcare the ordinance thunder,
532 The CJioysest Flowers
Do greatly ftand amazd at fuch unwonted wonder.
{^Fairy Queen, B. iv, c ii, st. 15.] IDEM.
Care of Children.
All as the painefull ploughman plies his toile,
With fliare and culter fliearing through the foile
That coft him deare, and ditches it about,
Or crops his hedge to make it underfprout ;
And never ftaies to ward it from the weede,
But moft refpefts to fowe therein good feede,
To th' end, when fommer decks the medowes plaine,
He may have recompence of cofts and paine :
Or Hke the maide who carefull is to keepe
The budding flowre, that firft begins to peepe
Out of the knop, and waters it full oft.
To make it feemely fliew the head aloft,
That it may (when (he drawes it from the ftocks)
Adorne her gorget white, and golden locks ;
So wife Merari all his ftudie ftild,
To fafliion well the maners of this child.
\_History of Judith, 1584, B. iv.] Th. Hudson.
Liber tie.
For like a lion that efcapes his bownds,
Having bene long reftraind his ufe to ftray,
Raunges the reftleffe woods, ftaies on no ground.
Riots with bloudfhed, wantons with his pray,
Seekes not for need, but in his pride to wound,
Glorying to fee his ftrength, and what he may :
So this unbridled king, freed of his fearcs.
of our EnglisJi Poets. 533
In libertie himfelfe thus wildly beares.
ICivll Wars, B. i, st. 56.] S. Daniell.
Like as the hawkc which foareth in the flvie,
And climes aloft for folace of her wine,
The greater gate fhe getteth up on hie,
The truer ftoope Hie makes at any thing ;
So fliall you fee my mufe, by wandering
Find out at laft the right and ready way,
And keepe it fure, though erft it went aftray.
[Duke Bellum Inexpertis, 1587, st. 34.] G. Gascoigne.
Like as a fliip, that through the ocean wide
Dire6ls her courfe unto one certaine coaft,
Ls met with many a counterwind and tide,
With which her winged fpeed is let and croft,
And fhe herfelfe in ftormie furges toft ;
Yet making many a boord and many a bay,
Still winneth way, and hath her compaffe loft ;
Right fo it fares with me, in this long way,
Whofe courfe is often ftaid, yet never is aftray.
\_Fairy Queen, B. vi, c. xii, st i.] Ed. Sfknckr.
As (lie was looking in a glaffe,
Sne fawe therein a mans face looking on her ;
Whereat fhe ftarted from the frighted glaffe.
As if fome monftrous ferpent had bene ihewen her:
Rifmg as when the funne in Leo figne,
Auriga, with the heavenly goale upon her,
Shewes her hornd head, with her kids divine,
Whofe rife kils vines, heavens face with ftormcs difguifmg,
534 ^■^^^' CJioyscst Floivcrs
No man is fafe at Tea, the Haedy rifing.
So ftraight wrapt flie her body in a cloude,
And threatned tenipeft for her high difgrace ;
Shame, from a bowre of rofes did unflirowde,
And fpread her crimfon wings upon her face.
G. Chapaian.
MtUtitiide.
Like, when fome maftifife-whelpe, difpofd to play,
A whole confufed heard of beafts doth chafe.
Which with one vile confent runne all away;
Tf any hardier then the reft in place
But offer head, that idle feare to ftay,
Backe ftrait the daunted chacer turnes his face,
And all the reft, (with bold example led)
As faft runne on him, as before they fled :
So, with this bold oppofer, ruflies on
This many-headed monfter. Multitude !
\Civil Wars, B. ii, st. ii.] S. Daniell.
As when the daughter of Thaumantes faire
Hath in a watry cloud difplaied wide
Her goodly bowe, which paints the liquid aire,
That all men wonder at her colours pride ;
All fuddenly, ere one can looke aflde.
The glorious picture vaniflieth away,
Ne any token doth thereof abide :
So did this ladies goodly forme decay.
And into nothing goe, ere one could it bcw ray.
\Fairy Qiiccn, B. v, c. iii, st. 25.] Ed. Spencer.
of our English Poets. 535
Beautie.
Like as a tender rofe, in open plaine,
That with untimely drought nigh withered was,
And hung the head ; foone as fewe drops of raine
Thereon diftill and deaw her daintie face,
Gins to looke up, and with frefh wonted grace
Difpreds the glory of her leaves gaye ;
Such was Iraenas countenance, fuch her cafe.
IFm'ry Qteee/i, B. vi, c. xii, st. 13.] Ed. Spencer.
Now like the wind and tide, when they do meet
With envious oppositions, do affright
The leffer ftreames, running for to regreet
The ocean empire ; fo do thefe two fight :
One labours to brings all things to his will.
The others care workes to prevent that ill.
\Legend of Humphrey of Gloucester, i6oo,st. 41.] CH.MrnDl.F.TON.
Defcriptions of Pallaces, Cafllcs, &c.
A ftately Pallace built of squared bricke,
Which cunningly was without morter laid,
Whofe walles were high, but nothing ftrong nor thick.
And golden foyle all over them difplaid.
That pureft fkie with brightneffc they difmaid :
High lifted up were many lofty towres,
And goodly galleries farre over laid,
Full of fayre windowes and delightfull bowres ;
And on the top a dyall told the tinicl)- how res.
\I'<ii>'y (i//(V7/, li. i, c. iv, St. I- I El). Si'.
5 ^6 Tlic CJioyscst Floiocrs
The foveraigne Caftel of the rocky yle,
Wherein Penelope, the princess, lay,
Shone with a thoufand lampes, which did exile
The fhadows darke, and turnd the ni^ht to day.
Not Joves blew tent, what time the funny ray
Behind the bulwarke of the earth retires.
Is feene to fparkle with more twinkling fires.
{^Orchestra, 1596, st. viii.] I. Davies.
Logijlillacs Cajilc.
And fuch a Caftle, that in ftately fhowe
And coftly fubftance, others all furmounted :
The valew of the walles can no man knowe.
Except he firft upon the fame had mounted.
Men have not jewels of fuch price belowe,
Diamonds are to thefe but droffe accounted ;
Pearles are but pelfe, and rubies all are rotten.
Where ftones of fuch rare vertue can be gotten.
Thefe walles are built of ftones of fo great price,
All other unto thefe come far behinde ;
In thefe men fee the vertue and the vice
That cleaveth to the inward foule and minde :
Who looks in fuch a glaffe may grow fo wife.
As neither flattering praifes fhall him blinde
With tickling words, nor undeferved blame.
With forged faults flial worke him any fliame.
From hence doth come the everlafting light,
That may with Phoebus beames fo cleare compare,
That when the Sunne is downe, there is no night
With thofe that of thefe jewels ftored are :
of our EnglisJi Poets. 537
Thefe gems do teach us to difcerne aright,
Thefc gems are wrought with workemanfliip fo rare,
That hard it were to make true eftimatioii
Which is more worth, the fubftance or the fafliion.
On arches raifd of porphorie pafling hie,
So hie, that to afcend them feemd a paine,
Were gardens faire, and pleafant to the eie :
Fewe found fo faire below upon a plaine.
Sweet fmelhng trees in order ftanding by.
With fountaines watering them in ftead of raine,
Which doth the fame fo naturally nourifh,
As all the yeare both flowers and fruites do flouriHi.
No weeds or fruitleffe trees are in this place,
But hearbes whofe vertues are of higheft price.
As foveraigne fage, and thrift, and hearbe of grace,
And tyme, which well beftowed maketh wife ;
And lowly patience, proud thoughts to abafe ;
And harts eafe, that can never grow with vice :
Thefe are the hearbes that in this garden grew,
Whofe vertues do their beauties fWl renew.
{^Orlando Furioso, 1591, B. x, st. 49. j S. J. 11.
Firft file them led up to the Caftle-wall,
That was fo hie as foe might not it clime ;
And all fo faire and fenfible withall ;
Not built of bricke, ne yet of flone and lime,
But of thing like to that Egyptian flime
Whereof king Nine whilom built Babcll towre ;
But O great pity! that no lenger time
So goodly workmanfliip fliould not endure:
Sonne it nuifl: turne to earth ; no carthl}- thing is furc.
3/
538 TJic CJioysest Floivers
The frame thereof feemd partly circulare,
And part tryangulare, 6 worke divine !
Thofe two the firft and laft proportions are ;
The one imperfe6l, mortall, feminine,
Th' other immortall, perfe6l, mafculine ;
And, twixt them both, a quadrate was the bafe,
Proportioned equally by feven and nine :
Nine was the circle fet in heavens place,
All which compared, made a goodly diapafe.
^Fauj (2ucc?!, B. ii, c. ix, st. 21.] Ed. Spencer.
Up to a ftately turret flie them brought,
Afcending by ten fleps of alabafter wrought :
That turrets frame moft admirable was,
Like higheft heaven compaffed around.
And lifted hie above this earthly maffe,
Which it furvewd, as hills doen lower ground ;
But not on ground mote like to this be found :
Not that which antique Cadmus whilom built
In Thebes, which Alexander did confound :
Nor that proud towre of Troy, though richly guilt,
From which young He6lors blood by cruel Greeks was fpilt.
The roofe hereof was arched over head.
And deckt with flowres and arbors daintily ;
Two goodly beacons, fet in watches flead,
Therein gave light, and flam'd continually :
For they of living fier moft fubtilly
Were made, and fet in filver focketts bright,
Covered with lids, devizde of fubftance fly,
That readil\- they Ihut and open might.
of our English Poets. 539
O who can tell the praifes of that makers might !
\_Fniry Queen, B. ii, c. ix, st. 44.] Ed. Spencer.
Faire roome, the prefence of fweet beauties pride,
The place the funne upon the earth did hold,
When Phaethon his chariot did mifguide ;
The towne where Jove raind downe himfelfe in gold ;
O ! if Elizium be above the ground.
Then here it is, where nought but joy is found.
Th. Nashe.
Loe, Colin ! here the place whofe pleafant fyte
From other fliades hath weand my wandring minde :
Tell me what wants me here to worke delight .-*
The fimple aire, the gentle warbling winde,
So calme, fo coole, as no where els I finde ;
The graffie ground with daintie daizies dight,
The bramble bufli, where byrds of every kinde,
To the waters fall their tunes attemper right.
[Shepherds Calendar, \^-]C). June.] Ed. Spencer.
In little time, thefe ladies found
A grove with every pleafure crownd ;
At whofe fweet entry did refound
A ford, that flowred that holy ground :
From thence the fweet-breath'd windcs convay
Odours from every mirtle fpray ;
And other flowers, to whofe aray
A hundred harpes and timbrels play.
All pleafures ftudy can invent,
The dames cares inftanth- prcfent ;
Voyccs in all forts different,
540 TJic CJioysest Floivcrs
The foure parts and the diapent.
{P/iillis atid Flora, 1595.] G. CHAPMAN.
On the other fide a pleafant grove
Was fliot up hie, full of the flately tree
That dedicated is to Olympicke Jove,
And to his fonne Alcides, when as he
Gaind in Nemea goodly viclorie :
Therein the merry byrds, of every fort,
Chaunted aloud their chearfull harmonie ;
And made amongft themfelves a fweet confent,
That quickened the dull fprites with muficall confent.
Ed. Spencer.
Upon this mount there ftood a ftately grove,
Whofe reaching armes to clip the welkin ftrove,
Of tufted cedars and the braunching pine,
Whofe bufliy tops themfelves do fo intwine.
As feemd when Nature firft this worke begunne.
She then confpirde againft the piercing funne ;
Under whofe covert (thus divinely made)
Phebus greene lawrell flouriflit in the fliade,
Faire Venus mirtle. Mars his warlike firrhe,
Minervaes olive, and the weeping mirrhe ;
The patient palme which ftrives in fpight of hate,
The poplar to Alcides confecrate :
Which nature in fuch order had difpofed,
And therewithall thefe goodly walkes enclofed ;
As ferv'd for hangings, and rich tapeftry,
To bewtifie this ftately gallery.
{^Endyniion and Phahc (1594), Sig. B b^ Vl. Dravton.
i
oj our English Poets. 541
So faire a church as this had Venus none :
The walles were of difcoulered jafper ftone,
Wherein was Proteus carv'd ; and over hed
A lively vine of green-fea aggat fpred ;
Where by one hand light-headed Bacchus hung,
And with the other wine from grapes out-wrung.
Of christal fliining faire the pavement was ;
The towne of Seftos call'd it Venus glaffe.
There might you fee the gods in fundry fliapes,
Committing heddy ryots, incefts, rapes.
For know, that underneath this radiant flower
Was Danaes ftatue in a brazen tower :
Jove flily ftealing from his fifters bed.
To dally with Idalian Ganymed ;
And for his love, Europa, bellowing loud.
And tumbling with a rain-bow in a cloud :
Blood-quaffing Mars, heaving the yron net.
Which limping Vulcan and his Cyclops fet :
Love kindling fier to burne fuch townes as Troy,
Sylvanus weeping for the lovely boy,
That now is turn'd into a cypreffe tree,
Under whofe fliade the wood-gods love to bee.
[Hero and Leaiidcr, 1598, Sest. i.] Ch. Marlowe.
Not that Coloffus reared up in Rhodes,
Nor hanging gardens hovering in the fkie.
Nor all the wonderous manfions and abodes
In Egypt, Lcmnos, or in Italy,
Either for riches, cunning, or expence,
Might match this labyrinth for excellence.
\). L(jiJGi:.
542 The Choyscst Floivcrs
Art, ftriving to compare
With nature, did an arbor greene difpred.
Framed of wanton yvie, flowring faire,
Through which the fragrant eglantine did fpred
His pricking armes, entraild with rofes red,
Which daintie odours round about them threw ;
And all within with flowers was garniflied.
That when mild Zephyrus amongft them blew,
Did breath out bountious fmelles and painted colour fliew.
{^Fairy Qiceen, B. iii, c. vi, st. 42.] Ed. Sp.
The tower of Beautie whence alone did flowe
More heavenly ftreames then former age had feene,
Taking their current from that learned hill,
Where lodge the brothers of admire and fkil.
Amongft the fommer bloffomes of their bowes
A thoufand feverall coloured byrds was fet.
Who mov'd (as feem'd) by charitable vowes
Of excellent compaffion, ever wet
With honourable teares, (for fates allowes
That fenfible from fenceleffe ftill fliall set
Modells of pitie) learne there with melodic
To cheare mens minde, foredone with miferie.
I. Markham.
That done, he leads him to the higheft mount ;
Such one as that fame mighty man of God
That blood-red billowes, like a walled front.
On either flde difparted with his rod,
Till that his army, dry foot through them yod,
Dwelt fortie dayes upon ; where, writ in ftone
With bloudy letters by the hand of God,
of our EnglisJi Poets. 543
The bitter doombe of death and baleful! mone
He did receive, whiles flafliing fire about him fhone.
Or hke that facred hill, whofe head full hie
Adornd with fruitful! olives all around,
Is, as it were, for endleffe memorie
Of that deare Lord who oft thereon was found,
For ever with a flowring girlond crownd.
Or like that pleafant mount, that is for aye
Through famous poets verfe each where renownd.
On which the thrice three learned ladies play
Their heavenly notes, and make full many a lovely lay.
{^Fairy Queen, B. i, c x, st. 53.] Ed. Spencer.
Right in the middeft of that paradize
There flood a ftately mount, on whofe round top
A gloomy grove of mirtle trees did rife,
Whofe fhady bowes fliarpe fteele did never lop,
Nor wicked beafts their tender buds did crop,
But like a girlond compaffed the height ;
And from their fruitful! fides fweet gumme did drop.
That all the ground, with pretious dcaw bediglit.
Threw fortli moft dainty odors, and moft fweet delight.
And in the thickeft covert of that fliade
There was a pleafant arbor, not by art,
But of the trees owne inclination made ;
Which, knitting their ranke braunches, part to part.
With wanton yvie twine intraild athwart,
And eglantine and caprifole among,
Fafliiond above within their inmoft part.
That neither Phoebus beames could through them thronfr,
544 riic CJioysest Flowers
Nor yEolus fliarp blaft could worke them any wrong.
\_Fairy Queen, B. iii, c. vi, st. 43.] Ed. Spencer.
It was an hill plac't in an open plaine,
That round about was bordered with a wood
Of matchleffe height, that feemd th' earth difdaine ;
In which all trees of honour ftately flood,
And did all winter as in fommer bud.
Spreading pavilions for the birds to bowre ;
Which in their lower braunches fung aloud.
And in their tops the foaring haukes did towre,
Sitting like king of fowles in majeftie and power.
And at the foote thereof, a gentle floud
His filver waves did foftly tumble downe,
Unmard with ragged moffe or filthy mud :
Ne mote wild beafts, ne mote the ruder clowne
Thereto approach, ne filth mote therein drowne ;
But nymphes and fairies by the bankes did fit
In the woodes fhade, which did the waters crowne,
Keeping all noifome things away from it.
And to the waters fall tuning their accents fit.
And on the toppe thereof a fpacious plaine
Did fpread it felfe, to ferve to all delight,
Either to daunce, when they to daunce Avould faine,
Or elfe to courfe about their bafes light :
Ne ought there wanted which for pleafure might
Defired be, or thence to banifli bale.
So pleafantly the hill, with equall height,
Did feeme to overlooke the lowly vale :
Therefore it rightly clcped was mount Acidale.
They fay that Venus, when fhe did difpofe
of our EnglisJi Poets. 545
Her felfe to pleafance, ufed to refort
Unto this place, and therein to repofe
And reft her felfe, as in a gladfome port,
Or with the Graces there to play and fport.
]^Fairy Queen, B. vi, c. x, st. 6.] Ed. Spencer.
It was a chofen plot of fertile land,
Amongft the wide waves fet, like a little neft,
As if it had by natures cunning hand
Bene choifely picked out from all the reft,
And laid forth for enfainple of the beft.
No daintie flower, or hearbe that growes on ground,
No arboret with painted bloffomes dreft
And fmelling fweete, but there it might be found
To bud out faire, and throw her fweet fmels all around.
No tree whofe braunches did not bravely fpring,
No braunch whereon a fine bird did not fit,
No bird but did her flirill notes fweetely fing,
No fong but did containe a lovely dit :
Trees, braunches, birds, and fongs were framed fit
For to allure frailc mind to careleffe eafe.
Ubid., B. ii, c vi, st. 12.] IDEM.
Groave.
h. fliady Groave not farre away they fpide,
That promifd aid the tempeft to withfland :
Whofe loftie trees, yclad with fommers pride,
Did fpreade fo broade that heavens light did hide,
Not pierceable with power of any ftarre ;
And all within were pathes and allies wide,
4 A
546 11 ic Choyscst Flon'crs
With footing worne, and leading inward farre.
\FaUy Queen, B. i, c. i, st. 7.] Ed. Spencer.
The porch was all of porphyrie and tutch,
On which the fumptnous building raifed was,
With images that feem'd to move, fee, touch,
Some hewd in ftone, fome carv'd and cut in braffe :
Alfo within the beauty was as much.
Under a ftately arch they ftrait did paffe
Unto a court that good proportion bare,
And was each way one hundred cubits fquare.
Each of thefe fides a porch had paffuig faire,
That with an arch is on two cullomns placed ;
Of equall sise they feemed every paire.
Yet fundry workes which them the better graced :
At each of thefe a wide large eafie ftaire,
Without the which all buildings are defaced ;
And thofe fame ftaires, fo ftately mounting, led
Each to a chamber richly furnifhed.
The cullomns hie, the chapters gilt with gold,
The corniflies inricht with things of cofk ;
The marbles fet from farre, and dearly fold.
By cunning workemen carved and emboft
With images, and antiques new and old,
(Though now the night thereof concealed mofl)
Shew that that worke, fo rich beyond all meafure.
Could fcant be builded with a princes treafure.
But nothing did fo much the fight inrich
As did the plenteous fountaine, that did ftand
Juft placed in the middle, under which
The pages fpred a table out of hand,
of our EiiglisJi Poets. 547
And brought forth napery rich, and plate more rich,
And meats the choyfeft of the fea or land :
For though the houfe had ftately roomes full many,
Yet in the fommer this was beft of any.
This fountaine was by curious workemen brought
To answere to the reft with double fquare ;
Eight female ftatues of white marble wrought,
With their left hands an azure fkie upbare ;
Which, raining ftill, expelled heate and drought
From all that under it or neare it are :
In their right hands was Amaltheas home
By every one of thofe eight ftatues borne.
Each of thefe ftatues refled both their feete
Upon two images of men belowe,
That feemd delighted with the noife fo sweete,
That from the water came that there did flowe :
Also they feemd the ladies lowly greete,
As though they did their names and vertues knowe.
In all their hands they held long fcrowles of writings,
Of their owne pennings, and their owne endightings.
And in faire golden letters were the names
Both of the women wrote, and of the men :
The women were eight chafte and fober dames
That now do live, but were unborne as then ;
The men were poets, that their worthy fames.
In time to come, fliould praife with learned pen.
Thefe images bare up a brazen trcffell,
On which there ftood a large white marble veffell :
This tooke the water from that azure fkie,
From whence, with turning of fomc cocke or vice.
(ircat ftorc of water would mount up on hie,
548 TJic Choysest Flowers
And wet all that fame court, even in a trice.
{Orlaiido Furioso, B. xlii, st. 68.] J. Harrington.
When many a weary ftep
Had brought us to the top of yonder mount,
Milde Zephirus embrac'd us in his armes ;
And, in a cloude of fweete and rich perfumes,
Caft us into the lap of that greene meade,
Whofe bofome ftucke with purple violets,
Halfe budded Hllies, and yoong mufk-rofe trees,
About whofe wafte the amorous woodbine twines,
Whilft they feeme maidens in a lovers armes.
There, on the curled forehead of a banke.
That fweld with camomill, over whofe bewtie
A wanton hyacinth held down his head,
And, by the winds helpe, oft fbole man a kiffe.
He fate us downe, and thus we did arive.
[Some copies of E. P. read niay abide for " man a kisse",
i.e., probably, many a kisse.] Th. Dekkar.
DESCRIPTION OF SEAS, IV A TERS, RIVERS,&c.
The fertile Nile, which creatures new doth frame ;
Long Rhodanus, whofe fourfe fprings from the fkie ;
Faire Ifter, flowing from the mountaines hie ;
Divine Scamander, purpled yet with blood
Of Greekes and Trojans which therein did die ;
Pactolus, gliftring with his golden flood ;
And Tigris fierce, whofe ftreames of none may be withftood.
[Fairy Queen, B. iv, c xi, st. 20.] Ed. Spencer.
of our English Poets. 549
Great Ganges, and immortall Euphrates,
Deepe Indus, and Meander intricate,
Slowe Peneus, and tempeftuous Phafides,
Swift Rhene, and Alpheus ftill immaculate ;
Ooraxes, feared for great Cyrus fate,
Tibris, renowmed for the Romains fame.
[Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. xi, st. 21.] Ed. Spencer.
The Cydnus ftreame (who, for his filver flood,
Efteemd a king) ran now with humane blood.
Th. Hudson.
And faft befide there trickled foftly downe
A gentle ftreame, whofe murmuring wave did play
Amongft the pumy ftones, and made a fowne
To lull him foft afleep that by it lay.
The wearie traveller, wandring that way.
Therein did often quench his thirftie heate ;
And then by it his wearie limmes difplay.
Whiles creeping flumber made him to forget
His former paine, and wip't away his toylfome sweate.
[Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. v, st. 30.] Ed. Spencer.
Faire Danubie is praifd for being wide,
Nylus commended for the fevenfold head,
Euphrates for the fwiftneffe of the tide,
And for the garden whence his courfe is led ;
The bankes of Rhene with vines are ovcrfpread ;
Take Loyre and Po, yet all may not compare
With Englifli Thamefis for building rare.
[Life and Death of IVotsey, 1599.]
Til. SroRKR.
5^0 The Chojscst Floivei's
Great Nylus land, where raine doth never fall.
IHistory of Judith, 1584.] Th. Hudson.
Anon he ftalketh, with an eafie ftride,
By fome cleare Rivers lillie paved fide,
Whofe fands pure gold, whofe pibbles precious gems,
And liquid filver all the curling ftreames ;
Whofe chiding murmure, mazing in and out,
With chriftall cefterns moates a meade about,
And th' artleffe bridges, overthwart this torrent,
Are rocks felfe-arched by the eating current ;
Or loving palmes, whofe luftie females willing
Their marrow-boiling loves to be fulfilling,
And reach their husband trees on th' other bankes,
Bow their ftifife necks, and ferve for paffing plankes.
J. Sylvester.
DESCRIPTION OF SEAS, WA TERS, RIVERS, &c.
I WALKT along a ftreame for pureneffe rare,
Brighter then fun-fliine; for it did acquaint
The dulleft fight with all the glorious pray
That in the pibble-paved channell lay.
No molten chriftall, but a richer mine ;
Even natures rareft alchumie ran there,
Diamonds refolvd, and fubftance more divine.
Through whofe bright gliding current might appeare
A thoufand naked nymphes, whofe yvorie fliine
Enameling the bankes, made them more deare
Then ever was that glorious Pallas gate,
of our English Poets. 5 5 i
Where the day-fliining funne in triumph fate.
Upon this brim the eglantine and rofe,
The tamorifcke, ohve, and the almond tree,
As kind companions in one union growes,
Folding their twining amies, as oft we fee
Turtle-taught lovers either other clofe.
Lending to dulneffe feeling fympathie.
And as a coftly vallance ore a bed,
So did their garland tops the brooke orefpred.
Their leaves that differed both in fliape and fhowe,
(Though all were greene) yet difference fuch in greene
Like to the checkered bent of Iris bowe,
Prided the running maine as it had beene.
{^Hitherto only found in Engl. Parn?^ Ch. Mari.owk.
In that meade proud making graffe,
A River, like to liquid glaffe,
Did with fuch foundfuU murmure paffe,
That with the fame it wanton was.
Hard by this brooke a pine had feat,
With goodly furniture compleat,
To make the place in ftate more great,
And lefning the inflaming heat ;
Which was with leaves fo bewtified,
And fpred his breft fo thicke and wide,
That all the funnes eftraunged pride
Suftaind repulfc on every fide.
[Phillis and Flof-a, 1595.] G. Ch.\PMAN.
For unto life the dead it could rcftorc.
And gilt of finfull crimes clcaiic wafii awa)' ;
552 TJie CJioysest Flowers
Thofe that with ficknes were infe6led fore,
It could recure, and aged long decay-
Renew, as it were borne that very day.
Both Silo this, and Jordan, did excell,
And the Englifh Bath, and eke the Germaine Span,
Ne can Cephife nor Hebrus match this well.
\^Fairy Queeti, B. i, c. xi, st. 30.] Ed. Spencer.
Rich Oranochie, though but knowen late,
And that huge River which doth beare his name
Of warlike Amazons, which do poffeffe the fame.
[//5/rt'., B. iv, c. xi, St. 21.] Idem.
With the murmuring cadence of the wave,
Which made a prettie wrangling as it went.
Chiding the bankes, which no more limit gave,
There joynd their wel-tund throats with fuch confent.
That even mad griefe at fight thereof grew grave,
And, as inchanted, ftaid from languifhment ;
Proving, then their delight was never greater.
And griefe how much the more, fo much the better.
I. Markka M
Laid at eafe, a cubit from the ground.
Upon a jafper fringd with ivie round,
Purfled with waves, thick thrumbd with moffic rufhes.
He falls afleep faft by a filent river.
Whose captive ftreames, through crooked pipes ftill rufliing.
Make fweeter muficke with their gentle gufliing,
Then now at Tivoli, th' Hydrantike brawle
Of rich Ferraras ftately Cardinal!,
of our English Pods. 553
Or Ctefibes rare engines, framed there,
Whereas they made of Ibis, Jupiter.
J. Sylvkstkr
PROPER EPITHTTES AND ADJUNCTS
TO DIVERS THINGS.
Of Trees and Hearbes.
The fayhng Pine, the Cedar proud and tall,
The Vine-prop Elme, the Poplar never drie.
The builder Oake, fole king of Forrefts all.
The Afpine, good for ftaves, the Cypreffe funerall,
The Lavvrell, meed of mighty conquerours
And poets fage, the Firrhe that weepeth ftil,
The Willow worne of forlorne paramours.
The Eughe obedient to the benders wil,
The Birch for fhafts, the Sallow for the mil.
The Mirrhe fweet bleeding in the bitter wound,
The warlike Beech, the Afli for nothing il,
The fruitfull Olive, and the Platane round,
The carver Holme, the Maple feldom inward found.
\_Fai>y Queen, B. i, c. i, st 9.J Ed. Spkncer.
Downc came the facred Palmes, the Aflies wilde.
The funerall Cypreffe, Holly ever greene ;
The weeping Firre, thick Beech, and fay ling Pine ;
The marled Elme fell with his fruitful Vine.
The fhooter Eughe, the broad leav'd Sycamore,
The barraine Plataine, and the Walnut found,
The Mirrhe that her fowlc fin doth flil (Icplorc,
4 1;
554 J^^^'-' Choyscst Fhni'crs
The Alder, owner of all watrifli ground ;
Sweet Juniper, whofe fliadow hurteth fore;
Proud Cedar, Oake, the king of Forrefts crownd.
{Godfrey o/Bulloigne, 1600, B. iii, st. 75.] Ed. Fairefax, Traiisl.
Behold, fond boy, this rozen-weeping Pine,
This mournful Larix, dropping turpentine,
This mounting Teda, thus with tempefts torne,
With inkie teares continually to mourne.
{Endymion and Phoebe (1594), Sig. C 2 b.] M. Drayton.
Alcides fpeckled Poplar tree.
The Palme that monarchs do obtaine,
With love-juice ftaind the Mulbery,
The fruite that deawes the poets braine,
And Phillis Philbert there away,
Comparde with Mirtle and the Bay :
The tree that coffins doth adorne.
With ftately height threatning the fkic,
And for the bed of love forlorne,
The black and dolful Ebonie :
All in a circle compafb were.
Like to an amphitheater.
\_Eleoy on Sir Philip Sidney, 1595.] Math. Roydon.
The Spartane Mirtle, whence fweet gum does flow,
The purple Hyacinth, and frefh Coftmary,
And Saffron, fought for in Cilician foile ;
And Lawrel, the ornament of Phoebus toile,
Frefli Rododaphne and the Sabine flowre,
Matching the wealth of th' a ancient frankenfence ;
of our English Poets. 555
And pallid Ivie, building his own bowrc,
And Boxe, yet mindfull of his old offence :
Red Amaranthus, luckleffe paramour;
Oxeye ftill greene, and bitter Patience :
Ne wants there pale Narciffe, that in a well
Seeing his beautie, in love with it fell.
\Virgirs Gnat, 1591.] Ed. Spencer.
Mirtle's due to Venus, greene Lawrell's deare to Apollo,
Corn to the lady Ceres, and vines to the yong mery Bacchus;
Poplar to Alcides, and Olives unto Minerva ;
But thou, fayre Amaranthus, gentleft floure of a thoufand,
Shalt be my floure henceforth, thogh thou cam'ft from a
bleeding.
Yet blood fhalt thou ftanch, this gift will I give thee for ever.
\Countcss of Pcnibrolcc's IvycliurcJi. Twelfth Day.] Abr. Fraunce.
Dead-fleeping Poppy, and black Hellebore,
Cold Coloquintida, and Tetra mad,
Mortall Samnitis, and Cicuta bad,
With which th' unjuft Athenians made to die
Wife Socrates ; who, thereof quaffing glad,
Powr'd out his life and laft philofophie
To the faire Critias, his deareft bel amyc.
\^Fairy (2nccn, 1). ii, c. \ii, St. 52. J i:i>. .Sl'F.XCER.
The wholefome Sage, and Lavender Itill gray,
Ranke-fmelling Rue, and Comin good for eies ;
The Rofes raigning in the pride of May,
Sharpe Ifope, good for greene wounds remcclies :
l^iire Marygolds and bees-alluring Thimc,
Sweet Marjoram, and Daizies decking prime,
556 7 he CJioyscst Flozvers
Coole Violets, and Orpin growing ftill,
Embathed Balme, and chearfull Galingale ;
Frefh Coftmary, and breathfull Camomill,
Dull Poppey, and drinke-quickning Setuale,
Veine-healing Vervin, and head-purging Dill,
Sound Savory, and Bazill harty-hale.
Fat Colvvorts, and comforting Perfeline,
Cold Lettuce, and refrefliing Rofmarine.
\Mniopotinos, 1591.] Ed. Spencer.
A foft enflowred banke imbrac'd the fount
Of Chloris enfjgnes, an abftra6led field,
Where grew Melanthy, great in bees account ;
Amareus, that precious balme doth yeeld :
Enameld Panfies, ufde at nuptialls still,
Dianaes arrow, Cupids crimfon fheeld :
Ope-morne, Night-fliade, and Venus-navill ;
Sollem Violets, hanging heads as fhanied,
And verdant Calaminth for odour famed :
Sacred Nepenthe, purgative of care,
And foveraigne Ruberb, that doth rancor kill :
Sia and Hyacinth, that Furies weare ;
White and red Jeffamines, merry Melliphill,
Faire Crowne-imperiall, emperour of flowres ;
Immortall Amaranth, white Aphrodil,
And cuplike twill pants, ftrewd in Bacchus bowres.
[Ovid\<; Ba7!q!fcf of Se?ice, 1595.] G. CHAPMAN.
The Marigold, Phoebus beloved friend ;
The Moly, which from forcery doth defend.
\Endyiiiion ami riuvbc (1594), Sig. B 2.] ]\I. Dkay.
of our Ens^lish Poets. 557
Of Bca/Is.
The fpotted Panther, and the tuiked Boare,
The Pardale fwift, and the Tygre cruell,
The Antelope and Woolfe, both fierce and fell.
Ed. Spencep.
There might you fee the burly Beare,
The Lyon king, the Elephant ;
The mayden Unicorne was there,
So was Acteons horned plant.
{Elegy on Sir Philip Sidney, 1595.] M. Roydon.
Rivers.
The fertile Nile, which creatures new doth frame ;
Long Rhodanus, whofe fourfe fprings from the fkie ;
Faire Ifter, flowing from the mountaines hie.
Divine Scamander, purpled yet with bloud
Of Greeks and Trojans, which therein did die ;
Pactolus, gliftering with his golden flood,
And Tigris fierce, whofe ftrcams of none may be withftood.
[Faify Queen, B. iv, c. xi, st. 20. Repeated Jroin p. 548.]
Ed. Spencer.
Great Ganges, and immortal Euphrates,
Deepe Indus, and Meander intricate,
Slowe Peneus, and tcmpeftuous Phafidcs.
Swift Rhene, and Alphcus ftil immaculate ;
Oraxes, feared for great Cyrus fate,
Tibris, renowmed for tiie Romaines fame.
[Iliid., il)id.,^{. 2\. tupeatid from \). 541;- 1 IDEM.
558 '^ Ji^' Clioyscst Floivcrs
Fijlies.
Spring-headed Hydres, and fea-fliouldring Whales,
Great whirpooles which all Fiflies make to flee ;
Bright Scholopendraes arm'd with filver fcales,
Mighty Monoceros with immeafured tailes :
The dreadful! fifli that hath deferv'd the name
Of death, and like him lookes in dreadfull hue ;
The grifly Wafferman, that makes his game
The flying fhips with fwiftneffe to purfue.
The horrible fea-fatyre, that doth fhewe
His fearful face in time of greateft ftorme ;
Huge Ziflius, whom mariners efchewe
No leffe then rockes, (as travailers informe)
And greedy Rofmarines with vifages dcforme.
{^F'airy Queen, B. ii. c. xii, st. 23.] Ed. Spenckk.
Is the brave Normans courage now forgot ?
Or the bold Britons loft the ufe of fliot ?
The big bon'd Almains, and ftout Brabanters ?
Or do the Piccards let the crosbowes lie ?
Once, like the Centaurs of old Theffaly.
M. Dray.
Of Birdcs.
The fkie-bred Eagle, royall bird,
Pcrcht there upon an oake above :
The Turtle by him never ftird,
Example of immortall love !
The Swan that flngs, about to die,
of our English Poets. 559
Leaving Meander, flood thereby.
[Elegy on Sir Philip Sidney, 1595.] M. Roydon.
The ill fac'te Ovvle, deaths dreadfuU meffengere ;
The hoarfe night-raven, trompe of doleful dreere ;
The lether-winged Bat, dayes enemie ;
The ruful Strich, ftil wayting on the here,
The Whiftler Ihril, that who fo heares doth die ;
The hellifh Harpies, prophets of fad deflenie.
\_Fai)y Queen, B. ii, c. xii, st. 36.] Ed. Spencer.
The red-fliankt Oreads, toucht with no remorfe.
The light-foote Irifli, which with darts make warrc,
Th' rancke riding Scot on his fwift running horfe.
The Englifh archer, of a lyons force.
The valiant Norman, all his troopes among.
In bloody conqueft tryed, in armcs traind long.
[Legend of Robert of Normandy, 1596,51. 133.] M.Drayton.
Of Hounds.
Grimme Melampus with the Ethiops feete.
White Leucon, and all-eating Pamphagos,
Sharp-fighted Dorceus, wild Oribafus,
Storme-breathing Lelaps, and the favage Theron ;
Wing'd-footed Pterelas, and hind-like Ladon,
Greedy Harpyia, and the painted Styfte,
Fierce Trigis, and the thicket-fearchcr Agre,
The blacke Melaneus, and the brifled Lachne,
Leane-luftfuU Cyprius, and big-chcfled Aloe.
\Hymnus in Cynthiam, 1594.] d. ClIAl'MAN.
5^0
The CJioyscst Floivers
Repentance, fad ;
Praier, fweete, charming ; fafting, hairy clad.
J. Syl.
On th' other fide in one confort there fate
Cruell revenge, and rancorous defpight,
Difloyall treafon, and heart-burning hate ;
But gnawing jealouzie, out of their fight
Sitting alone, his bitter lips did bite,
And trembling feare ftill too and fro did flie,
And found no place where fafe he flirowd him might.
Lamenting forrowe did in darkeneffe lie,
And fliame his ugly face did hide from living eye.
\Fairy Queen, B. ii, c. vii, st. 22.] Ed. Sp.
Frefli Hyacinthus, Phoebus paramoure ;
Foolifli Narciffe, that likes the watrie fliore ;
Sad Amaranthus, made a flowre of late.
Idem.
NiinpJis.
The wooddy Nymphs, faire hamadryades,
And all the troupes of lightfoot naides.
Idem.
Satires.
The Fawnes and Satires, from the tufted brakes,
Their brifly armes wreathd all about with fnakes.
Their fturdy loynes with ropes of Ivie bound,
Their horned heads with woodbine chaplets crownd,
With cypreffe javelings, and about their thies
of our English J^ocfs. 561
The flaggy haire difordered loofely flies.
[Endyinioii and Phcebe (1594), Sig. F.] M. Drayton.
Frefh fhadowes, fit to flirowd from funny ray,
Faire lawnes, to take the funne in feafon due,
Sweet fprings, in which a thoufand bubbles play,
Soft rombling brookes, that gentle flomber drew ;
High reared mounts, the lands about to vew ;
Low looking dales, disjoynd from common gaze ;
DelightfuU bowres, to folace lovers true ;
Falfe labyrinths, fond runners eyes to daze,
All which by nature made, did natures felfe amaze.
Ed. Sp.
Behind him were — reproach, repentance, fliame ;
Reproach the firft, fhame next, repent behinde ;
Repentance feeble, forrowfull, and lame,
Reproach, defpightfull, careleffe and unkinde,
Shame moft il-favoured, beftiall, and blinde ;
Shame lowrd, repentance fighd, reproach did fcold :
Reproach fharpe flings, repentance whips entwinde.
Shame burning brond-yrons in her hand did hold ;
All three to each unlike, yet all made in one mould.
[^Fairy (Jiieen, B. iii, c. xii, st. 24.] IDEM.
Emongft them was ftearne ftrife, and anger ftout.
Unquiet care, and fond unthriftie head,
Lewd loffc of time, and forrow feeming dead,
Inconftant change, and falfe difloyaltie,
Confuming riotize, and guiltie dread
Of heavenly vengeance, faint infirmitie,
Vile povertie, and laftly death with infamie.
\Fn!rv Ouccii, B. iii, c. .\ii, st 35. J I'"l>. .Sim.,nii;k.
4''
562 TJic C hoys est Flowers
His angry fteed did chide his foaming bitte.
Idem.
Rich Oranochye, though but knovven late,
And that huge river which doth beare his name
Of warHke Amazons, which do poffeffe the fame.
{^Repeated front p. 552.] Idem.
Hearbes.
The fable Henbane, Morrell making mad,
Cold poyfoning Poppey, itching, drowfie, fad ;
The ftifning Carpefe, th' eyes-foe Hemlock ftinking,
Limb-numming, belching, and the finew fhrinking ;
Dead-laughing Apium, weeping Aconite,
(Which, in our vulgar, deadly Wolfes Bane hight)
The dropfie-breeding, forrow-bringing Pfyllie,
(Here called Fleawurt) Colchis banefull Lillie,
(With us wild Safifran) bliftering, biting, fell.
Hot Napell, making lips and toong to fwell,
Blood-boyling Yew, and coftive Miffeltoe,
With yce-cold Mandrake.
J. Sylvester.
Through crooked woods he wandreth,
Round-winding rings, and intricate meanders,
Falfe guiding pathes, doubtful beguiling ftraies ;
And right ftrong errors of an endleffe maze.
Idem.
There fprings the flirub tree, foote above the graffe,
Which feares the kecne edge of the curtelacc,
of our Euij^lish Poets. 5 63
Whereof the rich Egiptian fo endeares
Roote, barke, and fruite, and yet much more the tearcs.
There lives the fea-oake in a Htle fhell,
There growes untild the ruddy cochenell,
And there the chermez, which on each fide amies
With pointed prickles all his precious armes ;
Rich trees and fruitfull in thefe wormes of price,
Which preffed, yeeld a crimfon coloured juice,
When thoufand lambs are died fo deepe in graine,
That their owne mothers know them not aeaine.
There mounts the melt, which ferves in Mexico
For weapon, wood, needle, and thred to fowe,
Bricke, honey, fugar, fucket, balme, and wine,
Parchment, perfume, apparell, cord, and line ;
His wood for fier, his harder leaves are fit
For thoufand ufes of inventive wit.
J. Sylvester.
The pedant minifter, and ferving clarke,
The tenpound bafe, frize jerkin hireling,
The farmers chaplaine, with his quarter warke.
The twentie-noble curate, and the thing
Call'd elder; all thefe needs will bring
All reverend titles into deadly hate,
Their godly calling, and their hie cftatc.
\ Life and Death of IFotsejf, 1599.] Tn. Siorkk.
Of Trees.
The Ihady groaves of noble palm-tree f[)raics,
Of amorous mirtlcs, and immortall bales,
564 The Choyscst Floivers
Never unlearn'd, but evermore there new,
Selfe arching armes in thoufand arbours grew.
J. Sylvester.
Rivers.
Swift Gyhon, Phyfon, and rich Ti^ris wide,
And that faire ftreame, whofe filver waves do kis
The monarch towers of proud Semyranis,
Euprates.
Idem.
Of Homer.
Sweete-numbred Homer.
J. SVL.
Heart-fteaHng Homer, marrow of the Mufes,
Chiefe grace of Greece, beft pearle of Poetrie,
Drowner of foules with arts orewhelming fluces,
Embelhflied Avith Phoebus lunarie,
Deckt with the Graces rich imbroderie :
Sweete honey -fuckle, whence aU poets fprights
Sucke the fweete honey of divine dehghts.
[Life and Death of Sir F. Drake, 1596, st. 140.] C. FiTZ-jEFFREV.
Of S. P. S.
Ne6lar-tongu'd Sydney, Englands Mars and Mufe.
{Ibid., St. 195.] Idem.
Windes.
O heavens frefh fannes, (quoth hee,)
Eartlis fwecping broomes, of forrefts cneinie :
of our EnglisJi Poets. 56^
O you, my heraulds and my meffengers,
My nimble pofhs and fpeedy meffengers,
My armes, my fmevves, and my eagles fwift.
That through the aire my rolling chariot lift.
J. Sylvkstek.
The Aeolian crowde.
O facred olive, firftling of the fruites,
Health-boading branch,
The proud horfe, the rough-fkind elephant.
The luftie bull, the camell water want.
Let the pearly morne.
The radiant noone, and rhumie evening fee
Thy necke ftill yoaked with captivitie.
There natures ftory, till th' heaven Ihaker dread,
In his juft wrath, the flaming fword had fet.
The paffage into Paradice to let.
Of the inf email Floiid.
He fummoned up.
With thundring call, the damned crew, that fup
Of fulphurie Stix, and fiery Phlegcton,
IJloudie Cocytus. muddy Acheron.
Idem.
Idem.
Idem.
lDE.\f.
iDEiM.
Idem.
566 TJie CJioyscst Floivers
The funne, the feafons ftinter.
Of Language, before confiifi07i.
J. Sylvester.
Ah! that Language fweete.
Sure bond of cities, friendfliips mafticke fweete,
Strong curbe of anger, yerft united, now
In thoufand drie brookes ftraies, I wot not how :
That rare rich gold, that charme griefe, fancie mover.
That cahne-rage, harts theefe, quel-pride, conjure-lover.
That pureft coine, then currant in each coaft,
Now, mingled, hath found, waight, and colour loft :
Tis counterfeit, and over every fhoare
The confusd fall of Babell yet doth roare.
Idem.
Then all fpake the fpeech
Of God himfelfe, th' old facred idiome rich,
Right perfe6l language, wher's no point nor figne
But hides fome rare deepe mifterie behind.
iDE^r.
Of Scaliger.
Scaliger, our ages wonder,
The learned's funne, who eloquently can
Speake Hebrew, Greeke, French, Latine, Nubian,
Dutch, Tufcan, Spanifli, Englifh, Arabicke,
The Sirian, Perfian, and the Caldaike.
O rich quicke fpirit ! O wits chamelion !
Which any authors colour can put on ;
Great Julius fame, and Silvius worthy brother,
of our English Pacts. 567
Th' immortall grace of Gafcony, their mother.
J. Sylvester.
Wing-footed Hermes, purfevant of Jove.
Idem.
Of the Hebrezu Tongue.
... All haile, thou fempiternall fpring
Of fpirituall piftures, fpeech of Heavens hie King !
Mother and miftreffe of all the tongues, the prime,
Which pure haft paft fuch vaft deepe gulphs of time ;
Which haft no word but waies, whofe elements
Flovve with hid fenfe, thy points with facraments.
O facred diale6l ! in thee the names
Of men, townes, countries, regifter their fames,
In briefe abridgements : and the names of birds.
Of water guefts, and forreft-haunting heards,
Are open brookes, where every man might read.
\^No autlwr iiaiiuut.]
MISCELLANEA.
Of the Graces. Acidale.
Those were the Graces, daughters of delight,
Handmaides of Venus, which arc wont to han.nt
Upon this hill, and daunce there day and night ;
Thofc three to men all gifts of grace do graunt,
And all that Venus in herfclfc doth \ aunt
Is borrowed of them.
\Iuiiry (Jiircii, B. vi, c. x, si. 15.] En. Sp.
56S Tlic CJioyscst F/oiccrs
They are the daughters of fkie-ruhng Jove,
By him begot of faire Eurynome,
The Oceans daughter, in this pleafant grove,
As he, this way comming, from feaftfull glee
Of Thetis wedding with Aecidee,
In fommers fliade himfelfe here refted weary.
The firft of them hight might Euphrofyne,
Next faire Aglaia, laft ThaHa merry,
Sweet goddeffes al three, which me in mirth do cherry.
[Fairy Queen, B. vi, c. x, st. 22.] Ed. Spencer. |
Therfore, they alwaies fmoothly feem to fmile,
That we Hkewife fhould mild and gentle bee ;
And alfo naked are, that without guile
Or falfe diffemblance all them plaine may fee,
Simple and true, from covert malice free :
And eke themfelves fo in their daunce they bore,
That two of them ftil froward feemd to bee ;
But one ftil towards fhewd her felfe afore.
That good fliould from us go, then come in greater ftore.
\_Ibid., ibid., st. 24.] Idem.
Siinoniakc and unlearned Minijlers.
For such men are like curtaines, at their beft,
To make us fleepe, or hinder us from light ;
Troublers of nature, children of the weft.
Haters of fence, adopted fonnes of night,
In whom the wife both forrow and delight.
Yet were there not fuch vegetalls the while.
What had the wifer fort whereat to fmile ?
\Lifc and Death of IVo/sey, 1599.] Th. Storer.
of our English Poets. 569
Renowned Pious of Mirandula
Piated the fubftance of a clergy-man
That was unlettered, and made a lawe, —
An ignorant which never had began
To feeke, or after feeking, never fcan
Some part of fomewhat that might wifdome bring,
Should be accounted but a livinsf thiner.
{Life and Death of Wolsey, 1599.] Th. Storkr.
The noble Tichobraghe, for whofe deare fake
All Denmarke is in admirations love,
In deepe regard fuch difference doth make
Betweene thofe men whofe fpirits foare above,
And thofe bafe effenfes which only move ;
That, in his iles horizon, he admits
No cloudy meteors of fuch '^o^gy wits.
{.Ibid.'] Idem.
Of Beafls.
The multitude to Jove a fute imparts,
With neighing, blaying, braying, and barking,
Roring and howling, for to have a king :
A king, in language theirs, they faid they would ;
(For then their language was a perfe6l fpeech :)
The byrds likewife, which chirpcs and puing could,
Cackling and chattering, that of Jove befccch ;
Only the owle ftill warnd them not to feech
So haftily, that which they would repent ;
Rut faw they would, and he to defarts went.
Jove wifely faid (for wifcdome wifely faics)
4"
5/0 Tlic CJioysest Floivcrs
Beafts ! take heed what you of me defire :
Rulers will thiiike.all things made them to pleafe,
And foone forget the fwinke due to their hire.
But fince you will, part of my heavenly fire
1 will you lend : the reft yourfelves muft give,
That it, both feene and felt, may with you live.
Full glad they were ; and took the naked fprite
Which ftrait the earth ycloathed in his clay ;
The Lyon hart, the Ownce gave a6live might,
The Horfe good fliape, the Sparrow luft to play,
Nightingale voyce entifing fongs to fay ;
Elephant gave a perfeft memory,
And Parrot, ready toong that to apply.
The Foxe gave craft, the Dogge gave flattery,
Affe patience, the Mole a working thought.
Eagle high looke, Wolfe fecret crueltie,
Monky fweet breath, the Cow her faire eyes brought.
The Ermion whiteft fkin, fpotted with nought ;
The Sheepe mild feeming face, climing the Beare,
The Stag did give the harme efchuing feare :
The Hare her fleights, the Cat his melancholy.
Ant induftry, and Conny fkill to build ;
Cranes order, Storkes to be appearing holy,
Camelion eafc to change, Ducke eafe to yeeld ;
Crocodile teares, which might be falfely fpild :
Ape great thing gave, though he did mowing ftand,
The inftrument of inftruments, the hand.
{^Arcadia, 4to, 1590, fo. 91 : edit. 1598, p. 385.] S. PHIL. SIDNEY.
I
of our English Pods. 571
Preparations for Defence.
Some built the breaches of their broken towne,
That heaven and Panim ire had cafben downe ;
Some other found a cautell gainft the ramme,
To fave the wall unbroken where it came.
Thus Jacobs townes on all fides had their flankes
With gabions ftrong, with bulwarkes and with bankcs.
Some others bufie went and came in routs
To terrace towers, fome under bafkets louts :
Some others, alfo wanting time and might,
To ftrength their townes yet ufed all kind of flight,
To dig up ditches deepe, for cefternes good.
To draw them to the beft and neareft flood.
[History of Judith, 1584, B. i.] Th. Hudson.
The hidden love that now adayes doth hold
The fteele and load-ftone, hydrargire and gold,
The amber and ftraw, that lodgeth in one fliell
Pearle-fifli and fharpling ; and unites fo well
Sargons and goates, the fperage and the rofe,
Th' elme and the vine, th' olive and mirtle bufli,
Is but a fparke or fhadow of that love.
Which at the firft in every thing did move :
When as the earths Mufes, with harmonious fouiul,
To heavens fweet muflcke humbly did refound.
But Adam, being chiefe of all the firings
Of this large lute, ore-retched, quickly brings
All out of tune : and now, for melody
Of warbling charmcs, it yells fo hideoufly.
5/2 The CJioyscst Floxvcrs
That it affrights fell Enynon, who turmoiles
To raife againe th' old chaos anticke broiles.
J. Syl.
Idem.
Holy ne6lar, that in heavenly bowers,
Eternally felfe-powring, Hebe powers,
Or bleft ambrofia, gods immortall fare.
O who fliall fliow the countenance and gefbures
Of mercy and juftice .'' which faire facred fifters
With equal poize do ever ballance even,
Th' unchanging projefls of the King of Heaven.
Th' one fterne of looke, the other mild afpecling,
Th' one pleafd with teares, th' other blood affeft ing :
Th' one beares the fword of vengeance unrelenting,
Th' other Kings pardon for the true repenting :
The one, earths Eden, Adam did difmiffe,
Th' other hath raifde him to a higher bliffe.
Idem.
Day hath his golden fun, her moone the night.
Her fixt and wandring ftarres the azure fkie ;
So framed all by their Creators might,
That ftil they live and fliine, and nere fhall die,
Till (in a moment) with the laft dayes brand
They burne, and with them burne fea, aire, and land.
\Godfr-ey of BvUoigne, 1600, B. xviii, st. 13.] Ed. Fairefax.
The wolfe the trembling fheepe purfues,
The crowing cocke the lyon ftout efchues.
The pullaine hide them from the puttocks flight,
The mafties mute at the hysenas fight.
of our English Poets. 573
Yea, who would thinke of this? fel emnities
Rage in the fenceleffe trunks of plants and trees :
The vine the cole, the colewort fowbread dreeds.
The fearne abhorres the hollow waving reeds ;
The olive and the oake participate,
Even to their earth, fignes of their auncient hate,
Which fuffers not (6 dateleffe difcord !) th' one
Live in that ground where th' other firft hath growne.
J. Syl.
So, at the found of wolfe-drums ratling thunder
Th' affrighted fheep-fkin drum doth rent in funder:
So that fell monfters twifted entraile cuts.
By fecret power, the poore lambes twined guts ;
Which, after death, in ftead of bleating mute,
Are taught to fpeake upon an ivory lute :
And fo, the princely eagles ravening plumes
The feathers of all other fowle confumes.
Idem.
There the tree, from of whofe trembling top,
Both fwimming flioales and flying troupes do drop :
I meane the tree, now in Juturna growing,
Whofe leaves, difpearft by zephyrs wanton blowing,
Are mctamorphos'd, both in forme and matter,
On land to fowles, to fiflies on the water.
IDKM.
The partrich, new-hatched, bcares
On her weake backc her parents houfe, and wcares.
In ftead of wings, a bever rupple downc.
T'ollowcs her damme through fiirrowcs up and downe.
I I'l.M.
574 '^^^'■' Choysest Floivcrs
* We fee the new falne filly lambe,
Yet ftaind with blood of his diftreffed damme, ■
Knowes well the wolfe, at whofe fell fight he fhakes,
And right the teate of th' unknowne eawe he takes.
Idem.
Furies.
Ale6lo, fad Megera, and Thefiphon,
The Nights blacke saunghters, grim-fac'd Furies fad,
Sterne Plutoes pofts.
Idem.
Nepenthe.
Nepenthe is a drinke of foveraigne grace,
Devifed by the gods for to affwage
Hearts griefe, and bitter gall away to chafe,
Which fhirres up anguifh and contentious rage :
In ftead thereof, fweete peace and quiet age
It doth eftablifli in the troubled minde.
Fewe men, but fuch as fober are and fage.
Are by the gods to drinke thereof affignde,
But fuch as drinke eternall happineffe do finde.
[Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. iii, st. 43.] Ed. Sp.
Nepenthe, enemie to fadneffe.
Repelling forrowes, and repeating gladneffe :
Elyxer that excells,
Save men or angells, every creature ells.
J. Syl.
Of EccJio.
Th' aires daughter Eccho, haunting woods among,
of our Engl is Ji Poets. 575
A blab that will not, (cannot keepe her tongue)
Who never afkes, but ever anfweres all ;
Who lets not any her in vaine to call.
J. Sylvkstkr.
Of the Marigold.
The Marigold fo likes the lovely funne,
That when he fets, the other hides his face ;
And when he gins his morning courfe to runne,
She fpreads abroad, and fhewes her greateft grace.
{The Ekatonipaihia, (1581), son. 9.] T. Watson.
Of the Eagle.
No bird, but Joves, can looke againft the funne.
\Ibid.'\ Idem.
Envies bird muft fay, when all is donne,
No bird but one is facred to the funne.
llbid.A, Idem.
Hercules Labours.
Beafb, Snake, Bore, Stag, Birds, Belt, Plankes, Bull,
Theefe, Fruite, Dog, Diomede,
Choakt, fcard, pauncht, cought, pierft, prizd,
Wafht, throwen, flaine, puld, chaind, horfed.
W. Warner.
Nylus.
Great Nilus land, where raine doth never fall.
{History ofjudit/i, 1584. Repeated from p. 550.J Tii. HUDSON.
There quakes the plant, which in Pudefctan
Is call'd the fliamcfac't ; for, aHiani'd of man,
5/6 TJie CJioyscst Floivers
If toward it one do approach too much,
It (hrinkes the boughes, to fhun our hatefull touch ;
As if it had a foule, a fenfe, and fight,
Subje6l to fhame, feare, forow, and defpight.
J. Sylvester.
Of Acheron.
Rude Acheron, a loathfome lake to tell.
That boils and bubs up fwelth as blacke as hell,
Where grifly Charon, at their fixed tide,
Still ferries ghofts unto the farther fide.
{Induction to M.forM., edit. 1610, p. 268.] M. Sackvile.
Echidna.
Echidna is a monfter direfuU dread,
Whom gods do hate, and heavens abhorre to fee :
So hidious is her fhape, fo huge her head,
That even the hellifh fiends affrighted bee
At fight thereof, and from her prefence flee.
Yet did her face and former parts profeffe
A faire young maiden, full of comely glee ;
But all her hinder parts did plaine expreffe
A monftrous dragon, full of fearefull uglineffe.
[Fairy Queen, B. vi, c. vi, st. 10.] Ed. Spencer.
Four Cardinall Vertues.
Andronica, that wifely fees before,
And Phronefis the judge, and chafte Drucilla,
And fhe that boldly fights for vertues lore,
Defcending from the Romane race, Camilla.
S. J. Harrington.
of our EiiglisJi Poets. 577
Of the Eagle.
The cedar-building Eagle beares the winde,
And not the falchon, though both haukes by kinde :
That kingly bird doth from the clouds command
The fearefull fowle, that moves but nere the land.
{^Epistle, Lady J. Gray to Dudley, edit. 1599.] M. Dray.
PJicenix.
The bird of fame,
That ftill renewes it felfe and never dies ;
And onely one in all the world there flies.
S. J. Harrington.
Of all chaft birds the Phoenix doth excell,
Of all ftrong beafts the lyon beares the bell,
Of all fweete flowers the rofe doth fweeteft fmell,
Of all faire maydes my Rofalind is faireft.
Of all pure metalls gold is onely pureft,
Of all high trees the pine hath highefb creft ;
Of all foft fweets I like my miftris breft ;
Of all chaft thoughts my miftris thoughts are rarest.
Of all proud birds the eagle pleafeth Jove,
Of pretie fowles kind Venus likes the dove ;
Of trees Minerva doth the olive love.
[Rosalytid, Enphiics' golden Legacie, edit. 1590.] T. Lodge.
Who holdeth league with Neptune and the windc .'
S. Dan.
The Phoenix gazeth on the funnes bright beames,
The echinaeus fwims againft the ftreames.
[History of Orlando Fnrioso, 1594-1 ''^- <^' ""^ '•'••'■ ^''•■■•
4 l^
578 The CJioyscst Flowers
Iinpoffibilities.
He that the number of the leaves could caft,
That in November falles by winters blaft :
He that could tell the drops of raine and fleete,
That Hyad, Orion, or Pleyiades weete,
Sheds on the ground : that man might onely tell
What teares from Judiths eies inceffant fell.
{History of Judith, 1584, B. iv.] Th. HUDSON.
Like Corvine, who forgate
His proper name ; or like George Trapezunce,
Learned in youth, and in his age a dunce.
J. Syl.
The firmament fhall retrograde his courfe,
Swift Euphrates go hide him in his fourfe,
Firme mountains fkip like lambes, beneath the deepe
Eagles fliall dive, whales in the aire fliall keepe,
Ere I prefume with fingers end to touch,
Much leffe with lippes, the fruite forbid too much.
Idem.
Flie from thy channell, Thames : forfake thy ftreames,
Leave the adamant, iron, Phoebus lay thy beames ;
Ceafe, heavenly fpheres, at laft, your wearie warke,
Betray your charge, returne to chaos darke :
At leaft, fome ruthleffe tigre hang her whelpe
My Catesbye fo with fome excufe to helpe.
[Dolmnn^s Legend of Loj-d Hastings, p. 420, edit. 16 10.] M. M.
I
^
of our EnglisJi. Poets. 579
Cejlon.
That girdle gave the vertue of chaft love,
And wivehood true, to all that did it beare :
But whofoever contrary doth prove,
Miiiht not the fame about her middle weare,
But it would loofe, or elfe afunder teare.
Whilom it was (as fairies wont report)
Dame Venus girdle, by her fteemed deare,
What time fhe ufde to hve in wively fort,
But laid afide, when fo fhe ufde her loofer fport.
Her husband Vulcan, whilome for her fake,
When firft he loved her with heart intire,
This precious ornament, they fay, did make,
And wrought in Lemnos with unquenched fire,
And afterward did, for her loves firft hire,
Give it to her for ever to remaine.
Therewith to bind lafcivious defire,
And loofe affections ftraightly to reftraine ;
W^hich vertue it for ever after did retaine.
This goodly belt was Ceftas hight by name.
{Fairy Queen, B. iv, c. v, st. 3.] Ed. Spkncer.
The noble lyon never flaies the Icaft,
But alwaies praies upon fomc worthy beaft :
The thunder throwes his fulphurcd fhafts adowne
On Atlas high, or cold Ripheus crowne :
The tempeft fell more fervently doth fall
On houfes high, then on the homely hall.
[History of Jiidillt. 1584, 15. iii.] i "• H"- l»^t->N-
5 8o TJic Choysest Fiozvers
Saturn taught men, untaught before, to eare the lufty land,
And how to pierce the pathleffe aire with fhaft from bow-
mans hand.
God Dis did quaile to fee his gold fo faft convaid from hell,
And fifhes quakt, when men in fhips amidft their flouds did
dwell.
[Albioti's England, B. i, ch. i, edit. 1602.] W. Warner.
Twelve foiUe Faults.
A wife man living like a drone, an old man not devout,
Youth difobedient, rich men that are charitie without ;
A fliameles woman, vicious lords, a poore man proudly ftout,
Contentious Chriftians, paftors that their functions do ne-
giea,
A wicked king, no difcipline, no lawes men to dire6l,
Are twelve the fouleft faults that do all common-wealths
infe6l.
S^Ibid., R. ix, ch. liii.] IDEM.
Engines of Warj'e.
The inginers have the trepan dreft.
And reared up the ramme for battery beft :
Here bends the briccoll, while the cable crackes ;
There crosbowes were uprent with yron rackes :
Here crooked corvies fleing bridges tall,
Their fcathfull fcorpions that mines the wall.
On every fide they raife, with joynture meete,
The timber towres for to commaund ech ftreete :
The painfull pioners wrought againft their will,
of onr English Poets. 581
With fleakes and faggots ditches up to fill.
[History of Judith, 1584, B, iii.] Th, Hudson,
The happie Arabs, thofe that builds
In thatched wagons, wandring through the fields :
The fubtil Tirians, they who firft were clarkes,
That ftaid the wandring words in leaves and barkes.
Idem,
At Babell firft, confufed toongs of every nation grew.
[Albioji's England, B. i, c. i.] W. Warner,
Idolatry thus grewe
From Ninus firft, he firft a monarchy did frame,
[Ibid., B. i, c. i.] IDEM.
Lord Dane the fame was called then, to them a pleafing
name,
Now odioufly Lurdane fay we, when idle mates we blame.
[Ibid., B. iv, c. xxi.] IDEM,
The turtle that is true and chafte in love,
Shewes by her mate fomething the fpirit doth move :
The Arabian byrd, that never is but one.
Is only chafte becaufe fhe is alone ;
But had our mother Nature made them two,
They would have done as doves and fparrowes do ;
But, therefore, made a martyr in defire.
And doth her pennance, laftly, in the fire.
[Epistle, King John to Matilda, edit. 1599.] M. Drayton.
Jeaft not with edge tooles, fufifcr faints, let nii-ht)' foolcs
be mad :
582 TJic CJioyscst Floivers.
Note — Seneca, by Neroes doome, for precepts pennance had.
[Albion's England, B. iv, ch. xxi.] W. Warner.
The Romane widow dide, when fhe beheld
Her fonne (whom erft) fhe counted flaine in feeld.
[Flozucrs,\). 100, edit. 1587.] G. Gascoigne.
Rivers.
Faire Danubie is praifde for being wide ;
Nilus commended for the feven fold head ;
Euphrates for the fwiftneffe of the tide,
And for the garden whence his courfe is led ;
The bankes of Rhene with vines are overfpred ;
Take Loyre and Po, yet all may not compare
With Englifli Thamefis for building rare.
{Life and Death of VVolsey, 1599. Repeated from '^. 549-]
Th, Storer.
FINIS.
A Table of all the fpeciall matters contained in this
Booke.
A.
Albion
Angels
Amhitio7t
Affection
Affliction (vid. Povcrtic)
Art
Andacitie
Avarice
August
Antwnnns
Apollo
Acheron
Assault
Adam
Astonishment
Astrologie
Arithmcticke •
B.
Beau tie
Banishment
Bashfulncssc
Blisse
Bounlie
Jhillaile
Beasts
Byrds
Care -
Charitie
Chastitie
Children
Christ
Cyprus
Cvnthia
C.
Page
.
408
-
I, 2
-
3
8
-
9
-
II
-
10
-
12
-
431
-
431
-
435
576
438
441
517
515
. 531
-
402
403
15. 486
535
-
25
~
25
26
-
27
404
557, 569
- 558
28
30
31
34
33
414
4>7
Pas;e
Cupid
-
418
Ceremonie
-
442
Ceston
.
579
Confusioi of Languages
447
Cla/iionr
.
527
Care of Children
532
Chaunge -
35
Chaunce
36
Counsaile
37
Cotnbat
409
Concord
38
Conscience
40
Craft. Deceit. Fraud
43
Conquest
-
44
Country. Commonweale
45
Content
46
Court
50
Courtier, effeminate
411
Courage
48, 508, 516
Courtesie
- 54, 507
Civill IVarres
512
Crueltie
56
Custome
56
Calme Weather
420
Companie
521
D.
Dalliance
. 489
Daunger
57
Dearth
407
Death
- 60, 513, 522
Dread
59
Delaie
65
Deluge
411
Delight
07
Desire
68
Destenie
69
Dispaire
72
584
A Tabic of Contents.
rage
Discord - - - 77
Dissimulalion - 79, 495
Division of the Day natitrall - 383
Diliailitm - - - 385
Description of Mammon - 303
Diana - - - 416
Discontent - - - 440
Don/>t - - - 445
Description of Bea2itie and Per
449
535
Description ofPallaces, Castles, etc.
Description of Seas, Waters,
Rivers, etc. - 548, 550
Drunkards • - 413, 518
Dive// - - ■ 75
Disdainc ... 406
E.
Earth
End •
Envie
Error
Eden -
Egypt
Echo -
Eagle
F.
Faith
Fame
Famine
Fate •
Fancie
Feare
Feeling
Fortitude
Felicitie
Folly. Fooles
Flatterc)
Fortune
Friendship. Friends
Fnigalitie
Ftirie
Fight
Furies
Flight
Fishes
81
81
84
87, 501
412
410
574
575. 577
89
92
100
lOI
lOI
104, 498
312
107
no
no
III
"3
121
125
125
523
574
t;oo
- 558
Geometric
Geiitlenesse
Groove
Gifts -
Graces
Gentrie
Glitttonie
Good name
Goodnesse
God -
Good Deeds
G>vatnesse
Gi'iefe
Gallicininm
Gunne
Hate -
Hargahush
Heaven
Heart
Hearing
Haste
Horse
Hell ■
Honour
Hope -
Humilitie
Hypocrisie
Heate
Hoast
Hearbes
Harpies
Hierusalem
Hounds
Idlenessc
Jealo7isie
Intonpesta A^ox
Ignorance
Impatience
Joye -
Infamie
Ingratitude
H.
Page
403
128
545
127
567
129
130
133
134
141
142
143
384
445
151
445
146
150
308
152
446
153
155
160, 514
164
- 165
436
439
562
- * 414
410
559
171
166
- 398
172
173
177, 527
174
174
If
ii
1 iihh' I'f Coiifciifs.
Itnioccncic
liicoiishiiich-
III Compan/i-
Injustice
Justice
yanuajy
Julie
Kiiif^s
A'iuifdouics
A'nawleili^i
liisses
Labour
-
Learniug
-
Lechery
-
Lmves
.
Libertie
,
Life -
_
Love -
.
Lovers
-
Logistillaes Castle
Logicke
Af.
Magicke
_
Man •
-
Marriage
_
Maladie
.
Might
-
Aliserie
.
Melancholy
Miscellanea
-
Memorie
..
Mercie
.
Mischiefe
Minde
-
Monarchs
-
Murder
-
Muses
.
Musicke
.
A/ediie noftii
incliiuilio
A/due
.
Meridies
-
176
178
179
420
182, 520
186
- 187
189, 529
191
196;
192
195
197
00, 496
444
536
405
226
226, 447
232
237
237
239
240
567
241
242
242
244
247
248
249
252, 403
38,^
3S6
39'
Morpheus
Multitude
Afajestie.
Poiupe
Nepenthe
Nature
Nobilitie
Noctis in it in in
Noctis concubiuin
A^eptune
Night
Nilus
Noise
O.
Old Age
Old JVoinan
Opinion
Opportimitie
Occasion
Opinion
P.
Paine
Passion
Patience
Parents
Palmer
Peace
Pleasure
Pbesie
Poets
Poeticall Descriptions
Pleutie
Pollicie
Poz'crtie
Praier
Praise
Providence
Pride
Paradise
Phabus
Poeticall Comparisons
Phaiii.x
Princes
People
J'ngf
433
534
5io
574
254
256
394. 399
396
424. 435
519
575
527
258
408
260
261
262
262
146
266
- 263
266
413
26S
269
272
276
401
281
281, 528
- 284
- 2S5
286
- 287
2S7
415
435
4S6
577
290
405
586
d Tabic of Contents.
Fro tens
Posteritie
Pittie
Proper Epithitcs, &^c
Qiiieinesse
Page
Peasoii
Religion
Reno^une
Repentance
Rest -
Revenge
Riches
Retoricke
Rainbo'd'e
Rome
Sacriledge
Secrecie
Silence
Sences
Sight
Smelling
Sinne
Slannder
Solis ortus
Solis occasns -
Spring
Slccpe
Solitarinesse -
Souldiers
Soiile
Sorrmo
Suspition
Sommer
Skirmish
Sorrowes
Satires
R.
Page
434
448
507
553
293
294
296
444
298
299
300
302
403
415
436
306
306
306
307
- 308
3"
313
316
392
392
426
- 318
320
320
321
228, 493
332
431
439
593
560
T.^
Tasting
Teares
7'emperance
Thoughts
Thet'is
Time
Truth
Theologie
Treason
Trees
Tyrannie
Thirst
Tempests
Vacation
Vertiie
Vice -
Victory
Understanding
Vo7ves
Virginitie
V.
Victory
Use -
Vesper
Vem/s
War re
Will •
Wisedome
Wit -
Woe -
Words
Women
Wrath
World
Windes
Winter
Youth
Page
312
332
333
335
434
336
339
401
340
563
- ^341
4087437
421
442
342
346
347
- 348
349
349
521
351
393
417, 418, 419
W.
353
0'
413.
Y.
531
355
357
359
361
363
367
373
376
564
429
380
r. ilKH*nDS, OBEiT QOF.EN SIBfET.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los Angeles
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
OCT 3 1 1984
»
FF'
REC'DLD-1)R' APP 10
Form L9— Series 444
■^7130NV-S0^
,<\\V- 1,.
Ill
3 1 158 00955 85363;)
1207
1867
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