Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2007 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/dianasonnetsotlieOOconsricli DIANA: THE SONNETS AND OTHER POEMS OF HENRY CONSTABLE. r " Sweet Conftable doth take the wond'ring ear And lays it up in willing prifonment." The Return from Parnajfus, 1606. \ rt-^ DIANA: THE SONNETS AND OTHER POEMS OF HENRY CONSTABLE, B.A. OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE j NOW FIRST COLLECTED, AND EDITED, WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR, BY WILLIAM CAREW HAZLITT, OF THE INNER TEMPLE ESQUIRE. r TO WHICH ARE ADDED, A FEW NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, BY THE LATE THOMAS PARK. LONDON: BASIL MONTAGU PICKERING, 196, PICCADILLY. 1859. ^BltAJ^^ OF THE UN IVERSITY OF GENERAL THIS VOLUME BEING THE WORKS IN THEIR FIRST COLLECTIVE FORM, OF ONE OF THE LITERARY. ORNAMENTS OF THE AGE OF ELIZABETH, IS APPROPRIATELY INSCRIBED TO RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES, Esc^M.P. BY THE EDITOR. .-• d^ r* r\ r* c\ PREFACE. O apology feems to be requifite for introducing to the public notice the complete poetical remains of Henry Conftable, one of the leading Son- neteers of the age of Elizabeth. Though not altogether free from the quaintnefs which marks the writers of his time, the Diana and his other productions pofTefs a naturalnefs of fentiment, and a grace of exprefTion, which will go far to redeem any blemifh of the kind to which we refer. The numbers of Con- ftable are generally harmonious and pleafing ; and it might be difficult to feledl any of his pieces which did not exhibit, in a greater or lefs degree, traces of a mind rich in fancy and invention. The efforts of his Mufe, to which the Poet himfelf attached, or afFedled to attach, principal Importance, were his Spiritual Son- vi PREFACE. vets ; of the reft he was accuftomed to fpeak In after-life as the " vain poems" of his youth. It is to be fufpedled that pofterity will judge otherwife ; for, while thefe facred efFufions rarely rife above mediocrity, a more beautiful fpecimen of early Engliih lyric poetry than TheSheepheard's Song of Venus and Adonis could hardly be found in the whole circle of Eliza- bethan literature. The prefent colledlion embraces no fewer than fixty-three pieces by Conftable not found in the printed copy of the Diana ^ ^594?* viz. from Todd's MS. thirty-eight ; from the Harl. MS. fixteen ; from Sidney's Apology for Poetry, four ; from England's Helicon, four ; from the 4*". of 1 592, one. On the other hand, we have reje6l:ed, without hefitation, the " divers quatorzains of honorable and learned perfon- ages," with which Conftable had no concern, * This edition has undergone two reprints (18 15, 4°, and 181 8, 12°.) which are equally worthlefs. It feems likely that Conftable, when he chriftened his little book, had in his mind the title of a fimilar volume publifhed by John Southerne, eight years before : Pandora, the Mu- Jique of the Beautie of his Mijlrejfe Diana, 1534, 4°. Who, in either cafe, the lady may have been, in whofepraife the poet is fo lavifh, it is now idle to conjefture. PREFACE. vii and which Richard Smith, the publilher, ap- pears to have foifted into the i of^ with no other objedl than that of making up the volume. Between 1592 and 1604, the Diana pafTed through as many as four editions. Of the firft, which was publifhed in the former year in 4% a copy formerly belonged to Mr. J. P. Collier; it contains twenty-three fonnets only. The next, 1 5 94, 1 2% is, or was, in Malone's collec- tion at Oxford ; the number of fonnets, there fubfcribed H. C. amounts to twenty-feven ; but the one addrefTed 'To his Ahjent Diana^ which in the 4°. immediately follows the title-page, is omitted. The two imprefTions which it remains to notice, appeared in 1597 and 1604 refpedlively : of the latter, it is ftated, in the Bibliographers^ Manual, that a copy wanting feveral leaves was fold among Mr. Bindley^s books. The four contributions of Conftable to England's Helicon have been reprinted from the Editor's copy of the firft edition of that unrivalled mifcellany, publifhed in 1600, 4°. For a tranfcript of the Sonnet defcribed above as being found only in the quarto, the editor is indebted to the kindnefs of its former pofTefTor, Mr. Collier. viii PREFACE. Sir Egerton Brydges confiders it probable that Conftable's Sheepheard's Song of Venus and Adonis^ printed (from fome earlier publi- cation, perhaps) in England's Helicon^ pre- ceded by fome years the more celebrated poem on the fame fubjedl ; and he is of opinion that, in point of tafte and natural touches, the former is fuperior to the latter. At any rate, there is a certain air of probability that in this, as in fo many other inftances, the great bard was more or lefs indebted to one of his contemporaries ; and // Conftable's production was really anterior in point of time, it might even become a queftion how far Shakefpeare had improved upon his original.* * Malone thought that Shakefpeare was indebted either to Conftable, whofe poem he has reprinted entire in his edition, or to Spenfer*s defcription of the hangings in the Lady of Delight's Callle. We conceive the latter to be the founder hypothelis of the two. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. 'T is an opinion generally received among poetical antiquaries, that Henry Con- ftable, the Author oi Diana and other pieces now firft colledled, belonged to an ancient Roman Catholic family of that name in Yorkfhire. The place and date of his birth are alike uncertain j but we fhall not perhaps be far from the truth in affigning the latter to the year 1555 or 1556. Conftable finifhed his education at St. John's College, Cambridge ; and in 1579, according to Mr. Malone, he was admitted to the degree of B. A. During the greater part of Elizabeth's reign, the Poet appears to have pafTed his time between England and Scotland ; but it is probable that he chiefly refided at his mother univerfity. The talents of Conftable, aided by the refpeftability of his connections, gradually introduced him to the acquaintance of feveral diftinguilhed per- fons both at Cambridge and about the Court ; among others, the Earl of Eflex, the Earl and Countefs of Shrewfbury, and Mr. Anthony Bacon :* and his inter- * The elder brother of the Chancellor. It feems very pro- bable, that between the families of Bacon and Conftable a b X BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. courfe with them, in many cafes, ripened into intimacy. His religious opinions, however, which were, of courfe, oppofed to the Eftablifhed Church, eventually involved him in ferious trouble. He was fufpe6ted of being a party to certain difloyal proceedings againfl the government of the Queen by opening a treafonable correfpondence with France ;* and he was obliged to avoid the confequences of ulterior proceedings againfl: him by leaving the country. f He fought refuge in France, where he appears to have had friends; this happened in 1595. On the fixth of 0£lober of that year, we find him writing from Paris to Anthony Bacon : *' It was my fortune once," he fays, complainingly, " to be beloved of the moft part of the virtuous gentlemen of my country : neither think I that I have deferved their evil liking fmce. I clofe conneflion fubfifted at this time. In 1 6 1 2, Francis Bacon, on republifliing his Eflays, dedicated them to my lo'ving Brother Sir John Conftahle, Knight. "My laft Eflaies," fays the author, " I dedicated to my deare Brother, Mafter Anthony Bacon, who is with God .... Miffing my Brother, I found you next ; in refpeft of bond both of near alliance, and of ftraight friendftiip and focietie, and particularly of communi- cation in ftudies." What, however, was the precife nature of the family tie, cannot now be afcertained. * He complains that his letters were intercepted and opened. t There is fome reafon to conclude that Conftable fpent no inconfiderable portion of his time in Scotland during his earlier life, and it is furmifed that he obtained fome employment about the perfon of the Queen j after whofe death he continued to enjoy the efteem of her fon, to whom fome of his Sonnets are addreffed. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. xi truft I have given my Lord of EfTex fufficiently to underftand the dutiful afFeftion I bear to my country ; and all my Catholic countrymen, that know me, are witnefTes how far I am againft violent proceedings." On the feventh of December following, he addrefled a communication to Lord EfTex from the fame place, in which he writes : " I befeech your Lordfhip to let me know by fome means, which in your wifdom you may think good, how I ftand in your gracious opinion, and what I may do (my duty to God and my religion referved) to wifh or encreafe it." Soon afterwards the exile removed to Rouen, where he certainly remained till October, 1596. Shortly after his arrival, he had written to his friend Bacon in the following terms : — To Mr. Anthony Bacon. Sir, Being aflured by Mr. Yates, that you will be ready to read whatever I fhall fend unto you, I de- termined to prefent you with a copy of a little encounter between the minifters of the French gofpel, and the which, for fundry caufes, rather than fear of anfwer, (which, I am fure they cannot give to purpofe,) I have not publiftied as yet. I have a marvellous opinion of your virtues and judgment, and therefore, though in particularities of religion we may be differing, yet I hope that in the general belief of Chrifl (which is a great matter in this in- credulous age), and defire of the union of his Church, xii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, you agree with me, as in the love of my country, I proteft I confent with you ; and therefore referring the decifion of other matters, till time {hall give me occafion to proceed further, I befeech you (for God's love,) to nourifli in your own mind, and in thofe, with whom you have credit, this general deiire of the Churche's good ; and if, either here or at Rome, whither (if poflible I can recover means to make the journey) I mind to go, I may do you or my country any fervice, which a Catholic and an honeft man may do, I will not fail to employ myfelf therein. If it pleafe you to vouchfafe me any anfwer, I befeech you to deliver it to Mr. Edmonds, who can inform you of my honeft purpofe. And therefore, if you think me worthy of your favour, you may bind me by your good report to thofe, who may pleafure me to be, as I am and will be ever, Your moft afFe6lionate and humble fervant, Hen. Constable. Rouen, this 8th January, 1596. The mind of Conftable, though agreeably diftra£led by a tour round the continent, in the courfe of which he informs us that he vifited Poland, Italy, and the Low Countries, was by no means eafy in his banifliment ; and he was unceafmg in his endeavours to procure leave to return home. For this purpofe he addrefled feveral letters to Lord and Lady Shrewfbury,* praying * See Appendix. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, xili them to exert their influence in his favour. But, all his applications having proved unfuccefsful, he adopted, about 1601 or 1602, the defperate refolution of coming in a clandeftine manner to England. The refult was, that he was foon difcovered, and committed to the Tower, from which, after repeated petitions to the Privy Council, he obtained his releafe only toward the clofe of 1604. Mr. Park appears to have thought, that he was liberated in the preceding year ; but that fuch was not the cafe the following letter, addrefTed to Lord Shrewfbury, furnifhes fatisfadtory evidence : — To the Earl of Shrew/bury, \ My honourable L. If I had not thought it importunity to write twice to the Lords of the Council, I fliould not have pre- fumed to have troubled your L. in particular ; whofe good opinion I did fo much defpair of, in a time that my loyalty toward his majefty was called in queftion, as your favours to me heretofore did more engage me to deferve it. But feeing my a6tions, as I hope, are not reputed criminal in that quality, and that I defire to add fome things which I omitted in my general letters to the former Lords, I muft befeech your L. to favour me fo much as to fignify two things more to them. The one, that I was fomewhat long in declaring my meaning in thofe things which con- cerned my duty to his Majefty to them, I am afraid xiv BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, they will not take it for fo full a fubmiffion as I did mean it ; for fo I be cleared in their opinion that I writ nothing to the prejudice of his Majefty or any of them, I willingly and with all humility acknow- ledge all other faults in the circumftances of my letter, which they fliall diflike. The other, that, if they think it not convenient to grant me a general leave for my friends to vifit me, I fliall think myfelf exceedingly bound to them, if they will permit only my couzin. Sir William Conftable, and my uncle, to come to me, becaufe the fpecial end of this my requeft is, to take order with them for my private affairs, that I may make a full conclufion with the world ; for whether I remain in prifon or go out, I have learned to live alone with God ; and fo I may make up my accounts with the world, in fuch fort as neither his Majefty (may) take me for an undutiful fubjedt, nor your L. and my other honourable friends, that heretofore have favoured me, (may) remain dif- contented with me, nor any one elfe have damage by me, I fhall repute myfelf happy in all other miferies. And thus, in all dutiful manner, I take my leave. From the Tower, this ift May, 1604. Your L. moft humble and moft obedient fervant. Hen : Constable. To the right honourable His efpecial good L. The Earl of Shrewfbury.* * The letter written by Conftable ^roz^ Kingjion, in January BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. xv Subfequently to 1604, no information of a tangible kind can be difcovered refpedling the fubje6t of the prefent notice. In 1606, however, the author of the Returne from Pernajfus ; or the Scourge of Simony^ 2L play, fpeaks of him as follows : — Sweet Conjiahle doth take the wondering ear^ And lays it up in willing prifonment. And ten years later, Edmund Bolton obferves, in his Hypercritica : " Noble Henry Conftable was a great mafter of the Englifh tongue : nor had any gentleman of our time, a more pure, quick, or higher delivery of conceit." With lefs felicity, he con- tinues : " Witnefs, among all other, that Sonnet of his before His Majefty's Lepanto.'^ From thefe two pafTages, Sir Harris Nicolas* draws an allow- able inference, that Conftable furvived the publica- tion of the Return from Parnajfus^ and that when Bolton wrote his Hypercritica^ about 16 16, he was no more. Conftable has experienced a fate not uncommon to authors, whofe writings are very little known. By fome he has been unduly extolled as " the firft Sonneteer" of his time, and fo forth, while from others he has received a degree of cenfure, which is 1604, to D. Bagfhaw, appears to (how that he had been tem- porally releafed on parole^ or on fome fubftantial fecurity, for the fake of his health, which would have neceflarily fufFered from a long confinement. • Davifon's Poetical Rhapfody, ed. 1826. xvi BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. more than equally unwarrantable. Webb and Meres make not the leaft mention of him ; Winftanley treats him with almoft equal brevity ; and by Edward Phillips, in his Theatrum Poetarum^ he is difmiffed as a writer " who has been thought by fome not un- worthy to be remembered and quoted." On the other hand, Bolton, in the work already cited, is dif^ pofed to commend him as " a rare gentleman," and " a great mafter of the Englifti tongue ; " but the latter, with ftrange want of tafte, fele6ted, as a fample of the reft, the Poet's commendatory Sonnet pre- fixed to the Poetical Exercifes of James /, which is afTuredly not one of his moft meritorious effufions.* Perhaps he, in this cafe, too blindly followed Sir John Harington who, many years before, had printed the fame piece in the notes to his Orlando Furiofo^ i59i> taking that occafion to fpeak of its author as '' his very good friend." Again, Ben Jonfon, in his Underwoods y\ pays the following com- pliment to the author of Diana : — Hath our great Sydney Stella fet^ Where never Jiar Jhone brighter yet ? Or Conjlable^s amhrofiac mufe Made Diana not his notes refufe. Another graceful tribute to the mufe of Conftable * The reader of the prefent volume will, it is hoped, extend to the Poet praife more confiderate than that of Bolton, and lefs equivocal than that of Phillips. f Works by GifFord, viii. 390. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, xvii was offered to the Poet by one of his contemporaries in the two Sonnets which, in fpite of their medio- crity, we have been induced by the fcantinefs of other biographical data to print in this place. The author's name has not tranfpired ; but they occur in Todd's MS. To H. C. upon occafion of his two former Sonets to the King of Scots. Sweet Mufes' fin ! Jpollo's chief delight ! Whilji that thy pen the angells quill doth prayfi^ Thou mak^Ji thy Mufi keeping with angells flighty And angells wing the wing of Tyme doth rayfe. That he which changed blind Love for love of lights And left Tyme's wings behind^ and Lovers below^ Am.a%edfiands to fee fofirange a ftght^ That angells wings nor tyme nor love outgoe. The danger is leafi when the heate of fun The angells and the other wings Jhall trye : A high eji pitch both Tyme and Love be done^ And only Jhe find paffage through thefisie. Then refi thy Mufie upon the angells winge^ Which both thy Mufie and thee to heaven may bring. To H. C. upon occafion of leaving hiscountrye, and fweetnefle of his verfe. England^ s fiweete nightingale I what frights thee fio^ As over fie a to make thee take thy flight? And there to live with native country es foe ^ And there him with thy heavenly fiongs delight? xviii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. What! did thy fijler fw allow e thee incite With her y for winter's dready to fiye awaye? Whoe is it then hath wrought this other /pit e^ That when as Jhe returneth^ thow J})ouldJi Jiay ? As foone as fpring begins jhe cometh ay : Returne with her^ and thow like tidings bring : — When once men fee thee come^ what will they fay ? Loe^ now of Englijh poefie comes the fpring ! Come ^f ear e thow not the cage^ but loyall be^ And ten to one thy Soveraigne pardons thee. In his tranflation of Varchi*s Blazon ofjealovfte^ 1615, 4°, the celebrated Robert Tofte has made fome extrad^s from the writings of Conftable, whom he commemorates as his " old acquaintance." Con- ftable's fixty-three Sonnets occur among Francis Davifon's memoranda of " MSS. to get j " this number nearly correfponds with that of his pieces in Mr. Todd's MS. Drayton alfo, in an edition of his poems publifhed in 1603, 8% curforily alludes to our Poet in illuftrat- ing the variety of tafte, which prevailed in refpe6t to poetical literature at the time of his writing. The pafTage is fhort, and may be here fitly quoted : — Many there be excelling in this kind Whofe well-tricked rhymes with all invention fw ell ; Let each commend as befi Jhall like his mind: Some Sydney^ Confi able ^ fame Daniel.* * There is a pafling mention of our Poet in Sam. Holland's Romancio-Majiix, 1660, ta^j but it is too unimportant to call for particular notice. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, xix Independently of the chara(Ster of Conftable as a poet, fome eftimate may be formed from his letters, feveral of which have been fortunately preferved, and which refer almoft exclufively to matters of perfonal hiftory, of his chara6ler as a man. Our Poet appears to have been gifted with a patriotic fpirit and a liberal mind, to have pofleiTed more than a common fhare of fhrewdnefs and good fenfe, and to have entertained wide and enlarged views on religious and political queftions. Conftable's talents introduced him to the friendfllip of many perfons of rank and power ; but they alfo procured for him the unenviable, and per- haps unjuft, diftin6lion of being a man dangerous to thefafety and peace of the State. So much does this feem to have been the cafe that, while the Poet was at Rouen, in Oil. 1596, Lord Shrewfbury took occa- fion, in a letter which he addrefled to Sir R. Cecil, to apprife him of the movements of the exile, and to aflure Mr. Secretary of his earneft defire to avoid all communication with him. Among the State Papers relating to Scotland, preferved in the Public Record Department, occur a few other letters, principal ly addrefTed to Sir R. Cecil by his Scotifh correfpondents, in which Con- ftable is mentioned by name, and from a perufal of which it becomes clear that his movements were watched with fmgular intereft by that minifter's agents at Edinburgh and elfewhere. The letters in queftion are in moft cafes, it is true, merely corro- borative of points which have been already treated XX BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, at fufficient length : yet, at the fame time, there are one or two inftances in which they throw fome ad- ditional light on the Poet's proceedings as a diploma- tift, as well as on other features of his perfonal hiftory. For inftance, from a comparifon of feveral letters written to Cecil by George Nicholfon between March, 1599, and September, i6oo, it is to be collected that, in the former year, Conftable, having quitted France, went to Scotland, accompanied by the Laird of Boni- ton,"a great papift," as Nicholfon terms him, with the twofold defign of offering his fervices to King James, and of efFe6ting fome negotiation on behalf of the Pope, an interview with whom had probably formed a leading obje6t in Conftable's recent vifit to Italy. The Poet was not at all fuccefsful. The King, naturally relu6lant to incur Elizabeth's difpleafure, at this particular juncture, by lending open encourage- ment to a perfon who had fo lately been banifhed by the Englifh government, not only refufed him the audience, which it appears by a letter from Roger Afton to Cecil (March 6, 1599) he had folicited, but caufed him to be cited before the Lords of Seifion to anfwer for his conduct. The fimple confequence was, that Conftable was obliged to return in the fame year to France. Again, from Advices from Scotland^ preferved in the repofitory already indicated, we learn that in April, 1600, he had found his way ^ into Spain, and had written to the King from Arragon. Laftly, on the twenty-fecond of September follow- ing, Nicholfon wrote Cecil word that His Majefty BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. xxi had juft then received " a book written by Henry Conftable." This bookwzs perhaps no other than a copy of his Sonnets, an edition of which was publifhed in 1597. '^^^ circumftance of the prefent itfelf, however, taken in connedtion with the invariable tone of warm good-will manifefted by Conftable in his writings toward the King, may afford fome ground for a fufpicion that the coldnefs and feverity of the latter, on the occafion which we have noticed, were merely afTumed to fave appearances, and did not much interfere with the good underftanding which had then fubfifted for fome time between the author of Diana ^ and the Royal Prentice in the Divine Art of Poetry. The annexed fpecimen of Conftable's handwriting is taken from his letter to Anthony Bacon, fixth of Odober, 1596, preferved among the Lambeth MSS. ^^^f^-m-. ^^^4z^ I DIANA : THE PRAISES OF HIS MISTRES IN CERTAINE SWEETE SONNETS. I DIANA: OR, THE PRAISES OF HIS MISTRES IN CERTAINE SWEETE SONNETS. \Ofthe byrth and beginning of his iove.y ESOLV'D to love, unworthy to obtaine, I doe no favoure crave ; but humble wife To thee my fighes in verfe I facrifice, Only fome pitty and no helpe to gaine. Heare then — and as my heart (hall aye remaine A patient object to thy lightning eyes, A patient eare bring thou to thundring cryes ; Feare not the cracke, when I the blow fuftaine. So as thine eye bred my ambitious thought. So fhall thine eare make proud my voice for joy : Lojdeare, what wonders great by thee are wrought. When I but little favoure doe enjoy : — * This and following prefixes between brackets are added from Todd's MS., where, in many inftances, improved readings and orthography have been adopted. — T. P. B SONNETS. The voyce is made the eare for to rejoyce, And thine eare giveth pleafure to my voyce. [An excufe to his mijirijfe, for refolving to love fo worthy a creature,] LAME not my heart, for flying up fo high, Sith thou art caufe that it this flight begun : For earthly vapours drawne up by the fun Comets become, and night-funs in the fkie. My humble hearte fo v^^ith thy heavenly eye Drawne up aloft, all low^ defires doth fhun : Raife thou me up, as thou my heart hafl done. So, during night, in heaven remaine may I. Blame not, I fay againe, my high d'efire ; Sith of us both the caufe thereof depends ; In thee doth fhine, in me doth burne a fire ; Fire drawes up other, and it felfe afcends. Thine eye a fire, and fo drawes up my love : My love a fire, and fo afcends above. 3- [Ofthebyrth of his love.] |LY low, deare love, thy fun doft thou not fee ? Take heed, — doe not fo neare his rayes afpire, Leaft for thy pride, inflam'd with kindled ire, It burn thy wings, as it hath burned me. K SONNETS. 3 I^Vhou, haply, fayft — thy wings immortall be, And (6 cannot confumed be with fire : The one is Hope, the other is Defire, And that the heavens beftow'd them both on thee. ■ mufe's words caus'd thee with Hope to flye, An angel's face Defire hath begot, Thy felfe engendred of a goddefi^e' eye ; Yet for all this, immortall thou art not : — Of heavenly eye though thou begotten art, Yet thou art borne but of a mortall heart. I ^K^Of his Mijlrejfe : upon occafton of a friend of his ^^ which dijfwaded him from loving.] FRIEND of mine, moaning my helplefle love. Hoping, by killing hope, my love to flay ; " Let not," (quoth he,) "thy hope thy heart betray, Impoflible it is her heart to move." But, fith refolved love cannot remove As long as thy divine perfe6lions ftay. Thy godhead then he fought to take away : — Deare ! feeke revenge, and him a lyar prove. Gods only doe impoifibilities : " Impoflible," (faith he,) " thy grace to gaine ! " Show then the power of thy divinities. By graunting me thy favour to obtaine : So fliall thy foe give to himfelfe the lye, A goddefl^e thou {halt prove, and happy I. ^ SONNETS. [Of the confptracie of his ladle's eyes^ and his owne^ to engender loveS\ HINE eye, the glafTe where I behold my heart, Mine eye, the window through the which thine eye May fee my heart, and there thy felfe efpy In bloody colours how thou painted art. Thine eye the pike is of a murdering dart, Mine eye the fight thou tak'ft thy levell by To hit my heart, and never fhoot'ft awry : Mine eye thus helpes thine eye to worke my fmart. Thine eye a fire is both in heate and light : Mine eye of teares a river doth become. Oh, that the water of mine eye had might To quench the flames that from thine eye doth come; Or that the fire that's kindled by thine eye The flowing ftreames of mine eyes would make drye. 6. [Love* s f even deadly fins, "] !?INE eye with all the deadly finnes is fraught. Firft proud— fith it prefum'd to looke fo hye, A watchman being made, ftood gazing by. And idle — took no heed till I was caught : And envious — beares envie that my thought Should in his abfence be to her fb nye. SONNETS. 5 To kill my heart, mine eye let in her eye, And (o confent gave to a murther wrought : And covetous — it never would remove From her faire haire, gold (o doth pleafe his fight : A glutton eye — with teares drunke every night : Unchafte — a baude between my heart and love. Thefe fins procured have a goddefle* ire, Wherefore my heart is damn'd in love's fweet fire. I \0f the Jlander envye gives him, for fo highlye prayfing his Mijirijfe.'] ALSELY doth envie of your praifes blame My tongue, my pen, my heart, of flattery ; Becaufe I faid, there was no funne but thee ! It call'd my tongue the partiall trumpe of fame. And faid — my pen had flattered thy name, Becaufe my pen did to my tongue agree ; And that my heart muft needs a flatterer be, Which taught both tongue and pen to fay the fame. — ■ No, no, I flatter not, when thee I call The fun : fith fun in world was never fuch : But when the fun I thee compar'd with-all Doubtlefle the fun I flattered too much. WitneflTe mine eyes, I fay the truth in this — They have thee feene, and know that fo it is. SONNETS, 8. ^WCH forrow in itfelfe my love doth move : More my difpaire — to love a hopeleffe bliffe ; My folly moft — to love where fure to mifle. O, helpe me but this laft griefe to remove ; All paine, if you command it, joy doth prove ; And wifdome to feeke joy : — then fay but this — Becaufe my pleafure in thy torment is, I doe command thee without hope to love. So when this thought my forrowes fhall augment. That mine owne folly did procure my paine ; Then {hall I fay, to give my felfe content. Obedience only made me love in vaine : It was your will, and not my want of wit ; I have the paine — beare you the blame of it. [Of his mijlr'ijfe : upon occafton of her walking in a Gar den. '\ ,Y ladle's prefence makes the rofes red, , Becaufe to fee her lips they blufh for fhame : The lilies leaves, for envy, pale became. And her white hands in them this envy bred. The marigold abroad the leaves doth fpread, Becaufe the fun's and her power is the fame ; The violet of purple colour came, Dy'd with the blood fhe made my heart to fhed. SONNETS. 7 In briefe — all flowers from her their virtue take : From her fweet breath their fweet fmells do pro- ceed, The living heate v^hich her eye-beames do make Warmeth the ground, and quickeneth the feede. The raine w^herewith fhe w^atereth thefe flowers Falls from mine eyes, which fhe diflx)lves in fliowers. 10. [To the La die Rich.'] ERALDS at armes doe three perfections quote ; To wit — moft faire, moft rich, moft glitter- ^BSo when thefe three concurre within one thing, ^Needs mufl: that thing of honour be, of note. Lately did I behold a rich faire coate Which wifhed fortune to mine eyes did bring : A lordly coate — but worthy of a king : Wherein all thefe perfections one might note — A field of lilies, rofes proper bare, To flars in chiefe, the crefl was waves of gold : How glittering was the coate the ftarrs declare. The lilies made it faire for to behold ; And rich it was, as by the gold appears. So happy he which in his armes it beares. 8 SONNETS, II. 'V ^1^ ^ ^^"^ ^^^^ might true love's reward obtaine, ^^^ Dumbe wonder only could fpeake of my joy i ^^"^ But too much worth hath made thee too i, much coy. And told me long agoe — I lov'd in vaine. Not then vaine hope of undeferved gaine Hath made me paint in verfes mine annoy, But for thy pleafure ; that thou might'ft enjoy Thy beauties fight, in glafles of my paine. See then thy felfe, though me thou wilt not heare, By looking on- my verfe : for paine in verfe Love doth in paine, beautle in love appeare. So, if thou wouldft my verfes' meaning fee, Expound them thus : — when I my love rehearfe. None loves like him j — that is, none faire like mee. 12. [How he encouraged himfelfe to proceede in love., and to hope for favour e in the ende at Lovers hands. 1 T may be. Love doth not my death pretend. Although he (boots at me ; but thinks it fit Thus to bewitch thee for my benefit ; Caufing thy will to my wifh condefcend. For witches, which fome murder doe intend. Doe make a pidure, and doe fhoote at it : And in that place where they the pi6i:ure hit. The party's felfe doth languifh to his end. SONNETS. 9 So Love, too weake by force thy heart to taint, Within my heart thy heavenly fliape doth paint, Suffering therein his arrov^es to abide j Only to th' end, he^might by witches' arte Within my hearte pierce through thy pidture's fide. And through thy pi6ture's fide might wound thy heart. Of the though tes he murijhed by nighty when Jhe was retired to bed.'] HE fun, his journey ending in the weft. Taking his lodging up in Thetis' bed. Though from our eyes his beames be banifhed. Yet with his light th' antipodes he bleft. Now when the fame time brings my fun to reft. Which me too oft of reft hath hindered ; And whiter Ikin with white flieete covered. And fofter cheeke doth on foft pillow reft ; Then I — oh fun of funs, and light of lights ! Wifti me with thofe antipodes to be, Which fee and feele thy beames and heate by nights. Well though the night both cold and darkfome is ; Yet halfe the daye's delight the night grants me, I feele my fun's heate, though the light I mifle. OF THE ^ \ UNIVERSITY I OF / X 10 SONNETS, 14. I ADIE ! in beautie and in favour rare, ^ Of favour, not of due, I favour crave : J* Nature to thee beauty and favour gave, jl] Faire then thou art, and favour thou mayft fpare. -^ And when on me beftow'd your favours are, ^ LefTe favour in your face you fhall not have : ^ If favour then a wounded foule may fave ; Ar^ Of murder's guilt, dear Ladie, then beware. (M Cy lofle of life a million fold were lefle ^, Than the leaft lofle fhould unto you befall : ^ Yet grant this guift ; which guift when I poflefl^e,' *t Both I have life, and you no lofl^e at all. <: For by your favour only I doe live ; -| And favour you may well both keepe and give. J 15. ^Y reafon, abfent, did mine eyes require To watch and ward, and fuch foes to defcrie As they fhould, neare my heart approach- ing, fpy : But traitor-eyes my heart's death did confpire, Corrupted with Hope's gyfts, let in Defire To burne my heart, and fought no remedy. Though flore of water were in eyther eye. Which well employed, might well have quencht the fire. Reafon returned. Love and Fortune made Judges, to judge mine eyes to puniftiment : SONNETS. II Fortune, fith they by fight my heart betrayM, From wiftied fight adjudg'd them banifhment : Love, fith by fire murdred my heart was found, Adjudged them In teares for to be drownM. i6. ONDER it is, and pittie 'tis, that fhe In whom all beautie's treafure we may finde, That may enrich the body or the mind. Towards the poore fhould ufe no charitie. My love is gone a begging unto thee : And if that Beauty had not been more kind. Then Pity long ere this he had been pin'd ; But Beauty is content his food to be. [h, pitie have, when fuch poore orphans beg ; ''Love, naked boy, hath nothing on his backe, id though he wanteth neither arme nor leg. Yet maim'd he is — for he his fight doth lacke : id yet, though blind, he beautie can behold, id yet, though nak'd, he feels more heate than cold. 17- ITTY refufing my poore love to feede, A beggar ftarv'd for want of helpe he lies. And at your mouth, the door of beauty, cries — That thence fome almesof fweet grants may proceed. But as he waiteth for fome almes-deed 12 SONNETS. A cherrie-tree before the doore he fpies — " Oh dear," (quoth he,) " two cherries may fufEce, Two only life may fave in this my neede." But beggars can they nought but cherries eate. Pardon my Love, he is a goddefle' fon, And never feedeth but on daintie meate Elfe need he not to pine as he hath done : For only the fweet fruit of this fweet tree Can give food to my Love, and life to me. i8. [Of his Ladle's vayky wherewith /he covered her,] 'HE fouler hides, as clofely as he may, The net where caught the fillie bird fhould be; Leaft that the threatning prifon it fhould fee, And fo for feare be forc'd to flye away. My Ladie fo, the while fhe doth aflay In curled knots faft to entangle me. Puts on her vaile ; to th* end I fhould not fee The golden net wherein I am a pray. Alas, mofl fweet ! what need is of a net To catch a bird that is already tame ? Sith with your hand alone you may it get. For it defires to fly into the fame : What needs fuch arte, my thoughts then to entrap. When of them felves they flye into your lap. £f^' SONNETS, 13 19. [To his Ladiis hand: upon occafion of her glove^ which in her abfence he kiJfedJ] |i||WEET hand ! the fweet yet cruell bowe a ^ thou art From whence at me fiveivorye arrowes flie ; So with five wounds at once I wounded lie, Bearing in breaft the print of every dart. Saint Francis had the like — yet felt no fmart, » Where I in living torments never die ; His wounds were in his hands and feete, where I All thefe fame helplefle wounds feele in my heart. Tow as Saint Francis (if a faint) am I : The bowe that fhot thefe fhafts a relique is, I meane the hand — which is the reafon why So many for devotion thee would kifle : And I thy glove kifle as a thing divine — Thy arrowes quiver, and thy reliques flirine. 120. Of his ladie's goeing over early e to bed : fo depriving him too foone of her fight. '\ ""AIRE fun ! if you would have me praife your light. When night approacheth wherefore do you flie? Time is fo fhort, beauties fo many be, That I had need to fee them day and night. 14 SONNETS. That by continuall view my verfes might Tell all the beames of your divinitie, Which praife to you, and joy fliould be to me : You living by my verfe, I by your fight. I by your fight, but not you by my verfe : Need mortall fkill immortall praife rehearfe ? No, no ; — though eyes were blinde, and verfe were dumb, Your beautie fhould be feene, and your fame known ; For by the wind, which from my fighes doe come. Your praifes round about the world be blowne. 21. [Complaynt of his Ladie s ficknejfe.'\ NCIVILL ficknefiTe ! haft thou no regard, But doft prefume my deareft to moleft ? And, without leave, dar'ft enter in that breaft Whereto fweet Love approach yet never dar'd ? Spare thou her health, which my life hath not fpar'd ; Too bitter fuch revenge of my unreft, Although with wrongs my thought fhe hath oppreft. My thoughts feeke not revenge, but crave rewarde. 'Ceafe ficknefle, — ceafe in her then to remaine, V And come and welcome harbour thou in me, y Whom Love long fince hath taught to fuffer paine ; So fhe which hath fo oft my paines increaft, (Oh God, that I might fo revenged be ! ) By my more paine might have her paine releaft. SONNETS. 15 22. EEDS muft I leave, and yet needs muft I love. In vaine my wit doth paint in verfe my woe : Difdaine in thee difpaire in me doth ftiowe How by my wit I doe my folly prove. ^All this my heart from love can never move ; ^B Love is not in my heart — no. Lady, no : My heart is love it felfe ; till I forgoe My heart, I never can my love remove. How fhall I then leave love ? — I doe intend ■ Not to crave grace, but yet to wifh it ftill ; ot to prayfe thee, but beauty to commend, And fo by beauties prayfe, prayfe thee I will. For as my heart is love, love not in me, So beauty thou — beauty is not in thee. ■ 23- [ Of the prowejfe of his La die. ] WEET foveraigne ! fith fo many minds remaine Obedient fubjecSts at thy beauties call. So many thoughts bound in thy haire as thrall. So many hearts die with one lookes difdaine ; Goe feeke that glorie which doth thee pertaine. That the firft monarchie may the befall : Thou haft fuch meanes to conquer men withall, As all the world muft yeeld, or elfe be flaine. i6 SONNETS, To fight, thou need'ft no weapons but thine eyes : Thy haire hath gold enough to pay thy men ; And for their food thy beauty will fuffice. For men and armour, Lady, care have none : For one will fooneft yeeld unto thee then, When he fhall meet thee naked and alone. 24. [ Of the difcouragement he had to proceed in love^ through the multitude of his Ladie^s perfe£lions^ and his owne lownejfe.l HEN your perfections to my thoughts ap- peare. They fay among themfelves, " O happy he, Which ever fhall fo rare an obje6l fee ! " But happie heart, if thoughts lefs happy were. For their delights have coft my heart full deare, In whom of love a thoufand caufes be. And each caufe breeds a thoufand loves in me, And each love more then thoufand hearts can bear. And can my heart fo many loves then hold ? Which yet by heapes increafe from day to day. But like a fhip, that's overchargM with gold, Muft either fmke or hurle the gold away. But hurle out love thou canft not, feeble heart ! In thine owne blood thou therefore drowned art. SONNETS. 17 25. ACH day new proofes of newe defpaire I finde, That is — new death : no marvell then if I Make exile my laft helpe, to th* end mine eye Should not behold the death to me aflign'd. Not that from death abfence could fave my minde, But that I might take death more patiently ; Like him, which by the judge condemn'd to die, To fufFer with lefTe feare, his eyes doth blind. Your lips, in fcarlet clad, my judges be, Pronouncing fentence of eternall " No : " Difpaire, the hangman that tormenteth me. The death I fufFer, is the life I have : For onlye life doth make me die in woe, And onlye death I for my pardon crave. 26. \_ConcluJion of the whole.] OMETIMES in verfe I prais'd, fometimes I figh'd. No more fhall pen with love and beauty mell, But to my heart alone my heart fhall tell How unfeene flames doe burne it day and night. Leafl flames give light, light brings my love to fight. Love prove my follies to much to excell. Wherefore my love burns like the flame of hell, Wherein is fire, and yet there is no light. c i8 SONNETS. For if none ever lov'd like mee, then why Still blameth he the things he doth not knowe ? And he that fo hath lov'd fhall favoure fhowe, For he hath beene a foole as well as I, So fhall henceforth more paine lefTe folly have. And folly paft may juftly pardon crave. 27. A calculation upon the birth of an honourable* ladies daughter^ borne in the yeere 1588, and on a Friday. gAYRE by inheritance, whom born we fee Both in the wondrous yeere, and on the day Wherein the faireft planet beareth fway : The heavens to thee this fortune doe decree — f Thou of a world of hearts in time {halt be A monarch great, and with one beauties ray So many hofts of hearts thy face fhall flay. As all the refl, for love, fhall yeeld to thee. But even as Alexander — when he knewe His father's conquefls — wept, leaft he fhould leave No kingdome unto him for to fubdue ; So fhall thy mother thee of praife bereave : % So many hearts already fhee hath flaine. As hw behind to conquer do remaine. * Lady Rich. MS. •f The wonders loe of beautyes deftinye. MS. X Thy mother fo fliall thee of prayfe bereave. MS, SONNETS. 19 28. To his abfent Diana. EVERD from fweete Content, my lifes fole light, Banifht by over-weening wit from my defire. This poore acceptance onely I require, That though my fault have forc'd me from thy fight. Yet that thou wouldft (my forrowes to requite) Review thefe Sonnets, pi6tures of thy praife 3 Wherein each woe thy wondrous worth doth raife? Though firft thy worth bereft me of delight. ^^JSee them forfaken ; for I them forfooke, H| Forfaken firft of thee, next of my fence ; ^B And when thou deignft on their blacke teares to ^» looke, Shed not one teare my teares to recompence : But joy in this (though Fates 'gainft me repine) My ve^ftill lives to witnes thee divine. SONNETS FROM TODD'S MANUSCRIPT. ^:;Ctt3^ SONNETS. I. To his Mijiriffe. RACE full of grace though in thefe verfes heere My Love complaynes of others then of thee, Yet thee alone I lov'd, and they by mee (Thou yet unknowne) only miftaken were. Like him which feeles a heate now heere now there, Blames now this caufe now that, untill he fee The fire indeed from whence they caufed bee : Which fire I now doe knowe is you, my Deare. Thus diverfe loves difperfed in my verfe In thee alone for ever I unite, But follie unto thee more to rehearfe ; To him I flye for grace, that rules above ; That by my grace I may live in delight, Or by his grace I never more may love. 24 SONNETS. 2. Of the fuddeyne furprizing of his hearte^ and how unawares he was caught. ELIGHT in youre bright eyes my death did breede, As light and glittering weapons babes allure To play with fire and fworde, and fo procure Them to be burnt and hurt, ere they take heed, Thy beautie fo hath made me burne and bleed ; Yet fhall my afhes and my bloud afliire Thy beauties fame for ever to endure ; For thy fame's life from my death doth proceed; Becaufe my hearte, to afhes burned, giveth Life to thy fame : — thou right a phoenix art ; f And like a pellican thy beautie liveth \ By fucking blood oute of my breafl and hearte. Loe ! why with wonder we may thee compare Unto the pelican and phoenix rare. 3- y/« exhortation to the reader to come and fee his Mifiriffe* beautie. YES curioufe to behold, what nature can create, Come fee, come fee, and write what won- der you do fee. Caufmg by true reporte oure next pofteritye Curfe fortune, for that they were borne too late. SONNETS, 25 Come then and come ye all, — come foone, leaft that The tyme fhould be too fhorte, and men too few fhould be : For all be few to write her leaft part's hiftorie. Though they fhould ever write, and never write but that. Millions looke on her eyes, millions thinke on her witte, Millions fpeake of her, millions write of her hand. The whole eye or the lip I doe not underftand. Millions too few to prayfe but fome one parte of it. As eyther of her eye, or lip, or hand to write. The light or blacke, the taft or red, the foft or white. Of the excellency e of his Ladies voyce. ADIE of ladies, the delight alone For which to heaven earth doth no envre beare ; Seeing and hearing thee, we fee and heare Such voice, fuch light, as never funge nor (hone. The want of heaven I grant yet we may moane. Not for the pleafure of the angells there. As though in face or voyce they like thee were, But that they many bee, and thou but one. fThe bafeft notes which from thy voice proceed The treble of the angells doe exceed. 26 SONNETS. So that I feare theyre quire to beautifie, Leaft thou to fome in heaven fhall finge and fhine : Loe ! when I heare thee finge, the reafon why Sighes of my breaft keepe tyme with notes of thine. 5. Of her excellency e both injinging and injiruments. C^J^ OT that thy hand is fofte, is fweete, is white, I k Thy Hpps fweete rofes, breaft fweet lilye is, That love efteemes thefe three the chiefeft blifTe Which nature ever made for Hpp's delight ; But when thefe three to (hew theyre heavenly might Such wonders doe, devotion then for this Commandeth us with humble zeale to kifle Such thinges as worke miracles in oure fight. A lute of fenfelefle wood, by nature dumbe, Toucht by thy hand doth fpeake divinely well ; And from thy lips and breaft fweet tunes doe come To my dead hearte, the which new life doe give. Of greater wonders heard we never tell — Then for the dumbe to fpeake, the dead to live. 6. Of the envie others heare to his Ladie for the former perf colons. HEN beautie to the world vouchfafes this bliflb, To ftiew the one whofe other there is not. SONNETS, 27 The whiteft (kinnes red blufhing ftiame doth blot, And in the reddeft cheekes pale envie is. The fayre and foule come thus alike by this : For when the fun hath oure horizon gott, Venus her felfe doth fhine no more (God wot) Then the leaft ftarre that take the light from his. The poore in beautie thus content remayne To fee theyre jealoufe caufe reveng'd in thee : And theyre fayre foes afHi6ted with like payne, Loe, the cleare proofe of thy divinitye. For unto God is only dew this prayfe — The highefl to pluck downe, the low to rayfe. 7- To his M'ljirijfe^ upon occafton of a Petrarch he gave her^ Jhewing her the reafon why the Italian com- menters dijfent fo much in the expofition thereof. ^IRACLE of the world ! I never will denye That former poets prayfe the beautie of theyre dayes ; But all thofe beauties were but figures of thy prayfe, And all thofe poets did of thee but prophecye. Thy coming to the world hath taught us to defcrie What Petrarch's Laura meant — for truth the lips bewrayes — Loe ! why th' Italians, yet which never faw thy rayes. To find oute Petrarch's fence fuch forged glofles trye. 28 SONNETS, The beauties which he in a vayle enclos'd beheld, But revelations were within his fureft* heart By which in parables thy coming he foretold ; His fonges were hymnes of thee, which only now before Thy image ftiould be funge ; for thou that goddefle art Which onlye we withoute idolatry adore. 8. Complaynt of misfortune in love onlye. OW now I love indeed, and fufFer more In one day now then I did in a yeare : Great flames they be which but fmall fparkles were. And wounded now, I was but prickt before. No mervayle then, though more then heretofore I weepe and figh : how can great wounds be there Where moyfture runs not oute j and ever, where The fire is great, of fmoke there muft be ftore. f My heart was hitherto but like green wood, \ Which muft be dry'd before it will burne bright : My former love ferv'd but my heart to drye j Now Cupid for his fire doth find it good : For now it burneth cleare, and fhall give light For all the world youre beautie to efpie. * i.e. moft knowing or prefcient. SONNETS, 29 9- Complaint of his Ladies melancholynes. p F that one care had oure two hearts poflefl, Or you once [felt] what I long fufFered, Then fhould thy heart accufe in my heart's ftead The rigor of it felfe for myne unreft : Then fhould thyne arme upon my fhoulder reft, And weight of griefe fway downe thy troubled head : Then fhould thy teares upon my fheet be fhed, And then thy heart fhould pant upon my breaft. But when that other cares thy heart doe feaze, Alas ! what fuccoure gayne I then by this, But double griefe for thine and myne uneafe ? Yet when thou feeft thy hurts to wound my heart, And fo art taught by me what pitye is : Perhaps thy heart will learne to feele my fmart. 10. EARE ! though from me youre gratioufe lookes depart, And of that comfort doe my felfe bereave. Which both I did defer ve and did receave ; Triumph not over much in this my fmarte. Nay, rather they which now enjoy thy heart For feare juft caufe of mourning fhould conceavc, Leaft thou inconftantfhouldft theyre truft deceavc Which like unto the weather changing art. 30 SONNETS. For in foule weather byrds fing often will In hope of fayre, and in fayre tyme will ceafe, For feare fayre tyme fhould not continue ftill : So they may mourne which have thy heart pofleft For feare of change, and hope of change may eafe Theyre hearts whome griefe of change doth now moleft. II. ^F ever any juftlye might complayne Of unrequited fervice, it is I : Change is the thanks I have for loyaltye, And onlye her reward is her difdayne. So as juft fpight did almoft me conftrayne, Through torment, her due prayfes to denye. For he which vexed is with injurye By fpeaking ill doth eafe his heart of payne. But what, fhall tortor* make me wrong her name ? No, no, a prisoner conftant thinkes it fliame. Though he [were] rackt, his firft truth to gaynfay. Her true given prayfe my firft confeffion is : Though her difdayne doe rack me night and day, This I confeft, and will denye in this. * Torture. SONNETS, 31 SONETS TO OURE QUEENE, AND THE KING OF SCOTS. I. To the ^eene : after his returne oute of Italy e, OT longe agoe in Poland travelling, Changing my tongue, my nation, and my weede,* Maynet wordes I heard from forreyne mouth pro- ceed, Theyre wonder and thy glorie witnefling — How from thy wifdome did thofe conquefts fpring Which ruin'd them thy ruin which decreed. But fuch as envyed thee in this agreed — Thy Hands feate did thee moft fuccoure bring. So if the fea by miracle were drye, Eafie thy foes thy kingdome might invade : Fooles which knowe not the power of thyne eye Thine eye hath made a thoufand eyes to weepe, And every eye a thoufand feas hath made. And each fea fhall thyne He in fafetie keepe. * Fafhion of drefs. f Strange. 32 SONNETS. 2. To the ^ueene : touching the cruell effe^s of her perfeSiions. OST facred Prince ! why (hould I thee thus prayfe Which both of fin and forrow caufe haft beene. Proud haft thou made thy land of fuch a Queene. Thy neighboures envioufe of thy happie dayes. Who never faw the funftiine of thy rayes, An everlafting night his life doth ween ; And he whofe eyes thy eyes but once have ken A thoufand fignes of burning thoughts bewrayes. Thus fin thou causM, (envye, I meane, and pride), Thus fire and darknefi^e doe proceed from thee. The very paynes which men in hell abide : Oh no ; not hell but purgatorie this, Whofe foules fome fay by angells puniftiM be, For thou art ftiee from whom this torment is. 3- To the Queene : upon occafion of a Booke he wrote in Anfwer to certayne objeSlions againji her proceedings in the Low Countryes. HE love, wherewith your vertues chayne my fprite, Envyes the hate I beare unto youre foe ; Since hatefull pen had meanes his hate to fliowe, SONNETS. 33 And love like meanes had not of love to wryte : I meane — write that youre vertues doe indite. From which fpring all my [love] conceyts doe flow, And of my pen my fword doth envioufe growe, That pen before my fword youre foes ftiould fmite. And to my inke my bloud doth envie beare, That in youre caufe more inke thanblou d I flied Which envie though it be a vice, yet heere 'Tis vertue, fith youre vertues have it bred. Thus powerful youre facred vertues be, Which vice it felfe a vertue makes in me. 4. To the King of ScotSy whome as yet he had not feene, jLOOME of the rofe ! I hope thofe hands to kifTe Which yonge, a fcepter ; which olde wif- dome bore ; And offer up joy-facrifice before Thy altar-throne for that receaved bliffe. Yet, prince of hope ! fuppofe not for all this That I thy place and not thy guifts adore : Thy fcepter, no thy pen, I honoure more ; More deare to me then crowne thy garland is : That laurell garland which, if hope fay true, To thee for deeds of prowefTe fhall belong, And now allreadie unto thee is due. As to a David for a kinglie throne. The pen wherewith thou doft fo heavenly finge Made of a quill pluck't from an angell's winge. 34 SONNETS, 5- To the King of Scots^ touching the fuhjeSi of his poems dedicated wholie to heavenly matters. HEN others hooded with blind love doe flye, Lowe on the ground with buzzard Cupid's wings A heavenly love from love of love thee brings, And makes thy Mufe to mount above the fkie : Yonge mufes be not wonte to flye fo hye, Age fchool'd by Tyme fuch fober dittie fings ; But thy Love flyes from love of youthfull things, And fo the winge of Tyme doth overflye. Thus thou difdain'ft allworldl ye things as flow : Becaufe thy Mufe with angells wings doth leave Tyme's wings behinde, and Cupid's wings below ; But take thou heed leafl Fame's wings thee deceave. With all thy fpeed from Fame thou can'ft not flye, But more thou flyefl, the more it foUowes thee. 6. To the King of Scots^ upon occafion of a Sonnet the King wrote in complaint of a contrarie [wind) which hindred the arrivall of the ^ueene out of Denmark. [1590.] ^F I durfl: figh ftill as I had begun, y^r Or durfl: flied teares in fuch abundant ftore, ® * You fliould have need to blame the fea no more, Nor call upon the wind as you have done : SONNETS. 35 For from myne eyes an ocean fea (hould run Which the defired fhips fliould carrie o're, And my fighes blowe fuch winde from northern fhore As foone you fhould behold youre wiflied fun. But with thofe fighes my deare difpleafed is, Which fhould both haft youre joy and flake my payne : Yet for my good will, O kinge ! grant me this ; When to the winds you facrifice again, Sith I defir'd my fighes fhould blow for thee, Defire thou the winds to figh for me. To the King of Scots^ upon occafton of his Ion ge flay in Denmark^ by reafon of the coldneffe of the winter^ and freezing of the fea. F I durft love as heertofore I have. Or that my heart durft flame as it doth burne. The ice fhould not fo longe ftay youre returne. My heart fhould eafily thaw the frozen wave : But when my payne makes me for pittie crave, The blindeft fee with what juft caufe I mourne : So leaft my torment to his blame fhould turne, My heart is forc'd to hide the fire fhe gave. But what doth need the fea my heart at all ? Thou and thy fpoufe be funs : in beautye fhee 36 SONNETS, In wifdome thou ; the fun we Phoebus call, And Phoebus for thy wifdome we call thee : Now if the fun can thaw the fea alone, Cannot two funs fupplie the want of one ? SONETS TO PARTICULAR LADIES WHOME HE MOST HONOURED. I. To the Princes of Orange. F Nature of her workes proud ever were, It was for this that fhe created you : Youre facred head, which wifdome doth indue, Is only fitte a diademe to weare. Your lilie hand, which fayrer doth appeare Then ever eye beheld in fhape and hue. Unto no other ufe by right is due Except it be a fcepter for to beare. Your cherrie lips by nature framed be Hearts to command : youre eye is only fitte With his wife lookes kingdomes to overfee : O happie land, whofe foveraigne thou hadft beene ! But God on earth full blifTe will not permitte, And this is only 'caufe you are no Queene. SONNETS. 37 2. To the Counteffe of Shrewjhurye. LAYNLIE I write becaufe I will write true : If ever Marie but the Virgin were Meete in the realme of heaven a crowne to beare, I, as my creed, believe that it is you ! And for the world this He and age ftiall rue The bloud and fire was fhed and kindled heere, When woemen of youre name the crowne did beare, And youre high worth not crown'd with honoure due. But God, which meant for rebel! fayth and fm His foes to punifh, and his owne to trye. Would not your facred name imploy therein : For good and bad he would fhould you adore, Which never any burnt but with youre eye. And maketh them you punifh, love you more. 3- To the Countejfes of Cumberland and Warwicke^ Jifiers* I OU fifter mufes, doe not ye repine That I two fifters doe with nyne compare : For eyther of thefe facred two, more rare, In vertue is, then all the heavenly nyne. * Margaret and Anne Ruflell, the daughters of Francis, Earl of Bedford. The latter died in 1604, the former in 161 6: and had her pious memory gratefully recorded on a pillar in Weftmorland by Anne, Countefs of Pembroke. This Sonnet appeared in Davifon's Poetical Rhapfodie,ed. 161 1. — T. Park. 38 SONNETS. But if ye afke which one is more devine ? I fay — like to theyre owne twin eyes they are. Where eyther is as cleare as cleareft ftar, Yet neyther doth more cleare then other's fhine. Sifters of fpotlefle fame ! of whome alone Malitioufe tongues take pleafijre to fpeake well ; How ftiould I you commend, when eyther one All things in heaven and earth fo far excell ? The higheft prayfe that I can give, is this — That one of you like to the other is. 4. To my La dye Arhella. HAT worthie marquefie, pride of Italie ! Whoe for all worth, and for her wit and phrafe. Both beft deferv'd, and beft defert could prayfe, Immortall Ladie ! is reviv'd in thee. But thinke not ftrange, that thy divinitie I by fome goddefTe' title doe not blaze. But through a woeman's name thy glorie rayfe ; For things unlike of unlike prayfes be. When we prayfe men, we call them gods : but when We fpeake of gods, we liken them to men : Not them to prayfe, but only them to knowe. Nor able thee to prayfe, my drift was this — Some earthlye fhadowe of thy worth to fhowe Whofe heavenly felfe above world's reafon is. SONNETS. 39 5. To the La dye Arbella. NL Y hope of oure age ! that vertues dead By youre fweet breath fhould be reviv'd againe : Learning, difcouragM longe by rude difdaine, By youre white hands is only cherifhed. Thus others' worth by you is honoured : But whoe fhall honoure youres ? poore wits, in vaine We feeke to pay the debts which you pertayne, Till from youre felfe fome wealth be borrowed. Lend fome youre tongues, that every nation may In his owne heare youre vertuoufe prayfes blaze ; Lend them youre wit, youre judgment, memorye, Leaft they themfelves fhould not knowe what to fay : And, that thou mayft be lov'd as much as prays'd, My heart thou mayft lend them, which I gave thee. 6. To my Ladye Rich.* THAT my fonge like to a ftiip might be. To beare aboute the world my Ladie's fame; That, charged with the riches of her name, The Indians might oure countrye's treafure fee. * Another fonnet to " Lady Rich," which follows this in the MS. will be found at page 7. 40 SONNETS. No treafure, they would fay, is rich but fhe ; Of all theyre golden parts they would have ftiame, And haplye, that they might but fee the fame. To give theyre gold for nought they would agree. This wifhed voyage, though it I begin, Withoute youre beauties helpe cannot prevayle : For as a fhip doth beare the men therein. And yet the men doe make the fhip to fayle, Youre beauties fo, which in my verfe apeare. Doe make my verfe and it youre beauties beare. TO SEVERALL PERSONS UPON SUNDRYE OCCASIONS. I. To the princejfe of Orange^ upon occafion of the murther of her Father and Hujband* HEN murdring hands, to quench the thirft of tyrannie, The world's moft worthye, in thy fpoufe and father flew, Wounding thy heart through theyres, a double well the) drew, A well of bloud from them, a well of teares from thee. * Camden and Rapin mention the Prince of Orange as affaflinated by the hand of Balthazar Serach, a Burgundian, in 1584, but fay nothing of his father-in-law. A report of the Prince's death, and of the cruelties inflifted on his murderer at the time of execution, may be feen in the Somers' Trails pub- lifhed by Mr. W. Scott, vol. i. p. 407.— T. Park. SONNETS, 41 So in thyne eyes at once we fire and water fee ; Fire doth of beautie fpring, water of griefe enfue : Whoe fire and water yet together ever knew. And neyther water dry'd, nor fire quencht to be. But wonder it is not, thy water and thy fire Unlike to others be ; thy water fire hath bred. And thy fire water makes, for thyne eyes fire hath flied Teares from a thoufand hearts melted with love's defire ; And griefe to fee fuch eyes bathed in teares of woes, A fire of revenge inflames againft thy foes. 2. To the Countejfe of Shrew/bury e^ uponoccafion of his deat Mijirijfe'^ whoe liv^d under her government. 'RUE, worthie dame ! if I thee chieftayne call Of Venus' hoft, let others think no ill : I grant that they be fayre, but what prince will Choofe onlie by the forcef a generall ? Beauties be but the forces wherewithal! Ladies the hearts of private perfons kill : But thefe fayre forces to condu6l with fkill Venus chofe you the chiefeft of them all. * Mary Queen of Scots, who in 1 568-9 was configned to the cuftody of the Earl and Countefs of Shrew{bury, till the irkfome charge was refigned in 1584. — T. P. f Power or ftrength. 42 SONNETS. To you then, you, the fayreft of the wife, And wifeft of the fayre I doe appeale. A warrioure ofyoure campe by force of eyes Mee pris'ner tooke, and will with rigor deale, Except you pity in youre heart will place ; At whofe white hands I only feeke for grace. To the Countejfe of Pembroke. "^ Sadie ! whome by reporte I only knowe, Yet knowe fo well, as I muft thee adore To honoure thee what need I feeke for more ? Thou art his fifter whome I honoured fo. 'et million tongues reporte doth further fhowe Of thy perfections, both fuch worth and ftore, As wante of feeing thee paynes me fore, As fight of others hath procur'd my woe. All parts of beautie, meeting in one place. Doe dazle eye, feed love, and ravifli witte ; Thy perfe the Marquejfe of P ifcaf s foule endued in her life- tyme with infinite perfections^ as her divine poems doe teJiifyeS\ |WEET foule ! which now with heavenly fongs doft tell Thy deare Redeemer's glory and his prayfe, No mervaile though thy fkilfull Mufe aflayes The fonges of other foules there to excell : For thou didft learn to fing divinely well, Long time before thy fayre and glittering rayes Encreas'd the light of heav'n : for even thy layes Moft heavenly were, when thou on earth didft dwell. When thou didft on the earth fing poet-wife, Angels in heav'n pray'd for thy company ; And now thou fing'ft with angels in the fkies. Shall not all poets praife thy memory ? And to thy name fliall not their works give fame, When-as their works be fweetned by thy name ? SONNETS. 63 [To Sir Philip Sydneyes foule.] VEN as when great mens heires cannot agree. So ev'ry vertue now for [part of] * thee doth fue : Courage proves by thy death thy heart to be his due, Eloquence claimes thy tongue, and fo doth courtefy ; Invention knowledge fues, judgment fues memory. Each faith thy head is his ; and what end fhall enfue Of this ftrife know I not : but this I know for true. That whofoever gaines the fuite, the lofle have we : We — I meaneall the world — thelofletoall pertaineth: Yea, they which gaine do lofe, and only thy foule gaineth. For loflng of one life, two lives are gained then : Honour thy courage movM, courage thy death did give: Death, courage, honour, make thy foule to live. Thy foule to live in heaven, thy name in tongues of men. * Not in MS. 64 SONNETS. 4., [71? «S/r Phitip~^tdneyis foule. ] REAT Alexander then did well declare, How great was his united kingdome's might, When ev'r)^ captaine of his army might After his death with mighty kings compare. So now we fee after thy death, how far Thou doft in worth furpafle each other knight. When we admire him as no mortall wight, In whom the leaft of all thy vertues are. One did of Macedon the king become, Another fate in the Egiptian throne ; But only Alexander's felfe had all. So courteous fome, and fome be liberall, Some witty, wife, valiaunt, and learned fome. But king of all the vertues thou alone ! CONTRIBUTIONS TO ENGLAND'S HELICON. CONTRIBUTIONS TO ENGLAND'S HELICON, Damelus Song to his Diaphenia. UP HEN 1 A like the Daffadown-dillie, White as the funne, faire as the lillie, Heigh hoe, how I doo love thee ? I doo love thee as my lambs Are beloved of their Dams, How bleft were I if thou would'ft proove me ? Diaphenia like the fpreading Rofes, That in thy fweetes all fweetes inclofes Faire fweete, how I doo love thee ? I doo love thee as each flower Loves the funne's life-giving power ; For dead, thy breath to life might moove me. Diaphenia like to all things blefled. When all thy praifes are expreflfed, Deare Joy, how I doo love thee ? As the Birds doo love the fpring, Or the Bees their carefull King ; Then in requite, fweet Virgin, love me. 68 CONTRIBUTIONS TO To his Flo eke. EEDE on, my Flocks, fecurely, Your Sheepheard watcheth furely. Runne about, my little Lambs, Skip and wanton with your Dammes, Your loving Heard with care will tend ye Sport on, faire flocks, at pleafure, Nip Veftae's flow'ring treafure ; I myfelf will duely harke. When my watchfull dogge dooth barke, From Woolfe and Foxe I will defend ye. A Pajioral Song betweene Phillis and Jmarillis^ two Nimphes^ each aunfwering other line for line. PHILLIS. IE on the fleights that men devife Heigh hoe fillie fleights : When fimple Maydes they would entice, Maydes are yong men's chiefe delights. AMARILLIS. Nay, women they witch with their eyes, Eyes like beames of burning funne : And men once caught, they foone defpife ; So are Sheepheards oft undone. ENGLAND'S HELICON. 69 PHILLIS. If any young man win a mayde, Happy man is he : By trufting him fhe is betraide ; Fie upon fuch treacherie. AMARILLIS. If Maides win young men with their guiles Heigh hoe guilefull greefe : They deale like weeping Crocodiles, That murther men without releefe. PHILLIS. I know a fimple country Hinde Heigh hoe fillie fwaine : To whom faire Daphne prooved kinde. Was he not kinde to her againe ? He vowed by Pan with many an oath. Heigh hoe Sheepheards God is he : Yet fmce hath changed, and broke his troath, Troth-plight broke will plagued be. AMARILLIS. She had deceaved many a fwain Fie on falfe deceite : And plighted troth to them in vaine, There can be no greefe more great. Her meafure was with meafure paid, Heigh-hoe, heigh-hoe equall meede : She was beguil'd that had betraide, So {hall all deceavers fpeede. PHILLIS. If every Maide were like to me, Heigh-hoe hard of hart : 70 CONTRIBUTIONS TO Both love and lovers fcorn'd fliould be, S corners fhall be fure of fmart. AMARILLIS. If every Maide were of my minde Heigh-hoe, heigh-hoe lovely fv^^eete : They to their lovers fhould proove kinde, Kindnes is for maydens meete. PHILLIS. Methinks, love is an idle toy, Heigh-hoe bufie paine : Both wit and fence it dooth annoy. Both fence and wit thereby we gaine. AMARILLIS. Tufti ! Phillis^ ceafe, be not fo coy, Heigh-hoe, heigh-hoe, coy difdaine : I know you love a Sheepheard's boy, Fie ! that Maydens fo fhould faine ! PHILLIS. Well, Amarillis^ now I yeeld, Sheepheards, pipe aloude : Love conquers both in towne and field, Like a tirant, fierce and proude. The evening ftarre is up, ye fee ; Vefpers fhines ; we muft away ; Would every Lover might agree, So we end our Roundelav. ENGLAND'S HELICON. The SheephearcTs Song of Venus and Adonis. lENUS faire did ride Silver doves they drew her, By the pleafant lawnds, Eer the funne did rife : Vejiae's beautie rich Opened wide to view her, Philomel records Pleafing harmonies. Every bird of fpring CheerefuUy did fing Paphos' goddefle they falute ; Now Love's Queene fo faire Had of mirth no care : For her fonne had made her mute. In her breaft fo tender. He a (haft did enter. When her eyes beheld a boy : Adonis was he named. By his mother fliamed : * Yet he now is Venus' joy. Him alone flie met Ready bound for hunting ; * No reader is unacquainted with the ftory of Myrrha in Ovid. 72 CONTRIBUTIONS TO Him {he kindly greetes, And his journey ftayes -, Him (he feekes to kifle, No devifes wanting ; Him her eyes ftill wooe ; Him her tongue ftill prayes. He with bluftiing red Hangeth downe the head, Not a kifle can he afford ; His face is turned away, Silence fayd her nay. Still ftie woo'd him for a word. " Speake," fhe faid, " thou faireft ; Beautie thou impaireft. See mee, I am pale and wan : Lovers all adore mee, I for love implore thee ;" — Chriftall teares with that downe ran. Him heerewith fhee forced To come fit downe by her. She his neck embrac'de. Gazing in his face : Hee, like one transformed, Stir'd no looke to eye her ; Every hearbe did wooe him. Growing in that place. Each bird with a dittie Prayed him for pity In behalfe of Beautie's Queene : ENGLAND'S HELICON. 73 Water's gentle murmour Craved him to love her : Yet no liking could be feene ; " Boy," (bee fayd, " looke on mee, Still I gaze upon thee, Speake, I pray thee, my delight : " Coldly he replyed. And in breefe denyed To beftow on her a fight. " I am now too young To be wunne by beauty, Tender are my yeeres I am yet a bud : Fayre thou art, ftiee faid, Then it is thy dutie, Wert thou but a bloflbme, To effe6t my good. Every beauteous flower Boafteth in my power, Byrds and beafls my lawes efFe6t : Myrrha thy faire mother, Mofl: of any other. Did my lovely hefls refpe6t. Be with me delighted, Thou fhalt be requited. Every Nimph on thee fhall tend : All the Gods fhall love thee, Man fhall not reprove thee : Love himfelf fhall be thy freend. 74 CONTRIBUTIONS TO Wend thee from mee, Venus ^ I am not difpofed ; Thou wringft mee too hard, Pre-thee let me goe ; Fie ! what a paine it is Thus to be enclofed, If love begin in labour, It will end in woe. KifTe mee, I will kave, Heere a kifle receive, A fhorte kifle I doe it find : Wilt thou leave me fo ? Yet thou fhalt not goe ; Breathe once more thy balmie wind, It fmelleth of the mirh-tree. That to the world did bring thee. Never was perfume fo fweet : When (he had thus fpoken, She gave him a token. And theyr naked bofoms meet. Now, hee fayd, let's goe, Harke, the hounds are crying, Grieflie Boare is up, Huntfmen follow faft : At the name of Boare, Fenus feemed dying. Deadly coloured pale, Rofes overcaft. Speake, fayd fhee, no more, ENGLAND'S HELICON 75 Of following the Boare, * Thou unfit for fuch a chafe : Courfe the fearefull Hare, Venfon do not fpare, If thou wilt yeeld Fenus grace. Shun the Boare, I pray thee, Elfe I ftill will ftay thee. Herein he vowed to pleafe her minde ; Then her armes enlarged, Loth fliee him difcharged ; Forth he went as fwift as winde. Thetis Phcebus fteedes In the Weft retained, Hunting fport was paft ; Love her love did feeke : Sight of him too foone. Gentle Queene fhee gained, On the ground he lay. Blood had left his cheeke. For an orped* fwine Smit him in the groyne, Deadly wound his death did bring : Which when Venus found, Shee fell in a fwound. And awakte, her hands did wring, Nimphs and Satires fkipping, * i. e. briftly. The word originally applied to armour briftling with gold, and hence to the reddifh briftles of a hog. 76 ENGLAND'S HELICON Came together tripping, Eccho every cry expres't : Venus by her power Turn'd him to a flower. Which (he weareth in her creaft. APPENDIX. Two Letters from Henry Conjiable to the Countefs of Shrewjburyy undated, but fuppofed to have been written in 1596,* {preferved among the Talbot Papers,) I. Madame, DO hold myfelf beholden to your Ladylhip for the advice you gave me, for that I find it more convenient to write unto your Ladyfhip, than to come unto you, or to make any other vifits either by day or night, till I have a further liberty granted me ; and though I cannot fo well communicate to your Ladyfhip my defire, by letters as by fpeech, yet in general I will tell your Ladyftiip, that I hear the Council hath a purpofe to banifh me, which if it be fo, I would defire, by my Lord's means, and my other good friends, to obtain two requefts ; the one, that I be not abfolutely * One of Conftable's letters is preferved among the MSS. Cotton ; but it has been injured by fire to fuch an extent as to render it wholly impofTible, in parts, to decipher, and it is almoft illegible throughout. 78 APPENDIX. banifhed, but fo as upon my good deferts I may re- turn ; the other that I may, with the King's good liking, and fome of my friend's recommendation, go with the Conftable of Caftile into Spain ; for that the King of France (which fent my letters into England, for which I am troubled, and heareth that his dealing with me is a blot to his reputation among thofe of my profeflion) will be my enemy. But, feeing the Lords* dire