P. OVIDII MASONIS AMORUM.
Liber Tertius.
Elegia I.[341]
Deliberatio poetæ, utrum elegos pergat scribere an potius tragœdias.
An old wood stands, uncut of long years' space,
'Tis credible some godhead[342] haunts the place.
In midst thereof a stone-paved sacred spring,
Where round about small birds most sweetly sing.
Here while I walk, hid close in shady grove,
To find what work my muse might move, I strove,
Elegia came with hairs perfumèd sweet,
And one, I think, was longer, of her feet:
A decent form, thin robe, a lover's look,
By her foot's blemish greater grace she took.10
Then with huge steps came violent Tragedy,
Stern was her front, her cloak[343] on ground did lie.
Her left hand held abroad a regal sceptre,
The Lydian buskin [in] fit paces kept her.
And first she[344] said, "When will thy love be spent,
O poet careless of thy argument?
Wine-bibbing banquets tell thy naughtiness,
Each cross-way's corner doth as much express.
Oft some points at the prophet passing by,
And, 'This is he whom fierce love burns,' they cry.20
A laughing-stock thou art to all the city;
While without shame thou sing'st thy lewdness' ditty.
'Tis time to move great things in lofty style,
Long hast thou loitered; greater works compile.
The subject hides thy wit; men's acts resound;
This thou wilt say to be a worthy ground.
Thy muse hath played what may mild girls content,
And by those numbers is thy first youth spent.
Now give the Roman Tragedy a name,
To fill my laws thy wanton spirit frame."30
This said, she moved her buskins gaily varnished,
And seven times shook her head with thick locks garnished.
The other smiled (I wot), with wanton eyes:
Err I, or myrtle in her right hand lies?
"With lofty words stout Tragedy," she said,
"Why tread'st me down? art thou aye gravely play'd?
Thou deign'st unequal lines should thee rehearse;
Thou fight'st against me using mine own verse.
Thy lofty style with mine I not compare,
Small doors unfitting for large houses are.40
Light am I, and with me, my care, light Love;
Not stronger am I, than the thing I move.
Venus without me should be rustical:
This goddess' company doth to me befal.
What gate thy stately words cannot unlock,
My flattering speeches soon wide open knock.
And I deserve more than thou canst in verity,
By suffering much not borne by thy severity.
By me Corinna learns, cozening her guard,
To get the door with little noise unbarred;50
And slipped from bed, clothed in a loose nightgown,
To move her feet unheard in setting[345] down.
Ah, how oft on hard doors hung I engraved,
From no man's reading fearing to be saved!
But, till the keeper[346] went forth, I forget not,
The maid to hide me in her bosom let not.
What gift with me was on her birthday sent,
But cruelly by her was drowned and rent.
First of thy mind the happy seeds I knew;[347]
Thou hast my gift, which she would from thee sue."60
She left;[348] I said, "You both I must beseech,
To empty air[349] may go my fearful speech.
With sceptres and high buskins th' one would dress me,
So through the world should bright renown express me.
The other gives my love a conquering name;
Come, therefore, and to long verse shorter frame.
Grant, Tragedy, thy poet time's least tittle:
Thy labour ever lasts; she asks but little."
She gave me leave; soft loves, in time make haste;
Some greater work will urge me on at last.70
FOOTNOTES:
[341] Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
[342] Old eds. "good head."
[343] So Dyce—Old eds. "looke." ("Palla jacebat humi.")
[344] Old eds. "he."
[345] Old eds. "sitting." ("Atque impercussos nocte movere pedes.")
[346] Ed. B "keepes;" ed. C "keepers." This line and the next are a translation of:—
"Quin ego me memini, dum custos saevus abiret,
Ancillae missam delituisse sinu."
[347] The original has
"Prima tuae movi felicia semina mentis."
(Marlowe's copy read "novi.")
[348] "Desierat."
[349] "In vacuas auras." (The true reading is "aures.")
Elegia II.[350]
Ad amicam cursum equorum spectantem.
I sit not here the noble horse to see;
Yet whom thou favour'st, pray may conqueror be.
To sit and talk with thee I hither came,
That thou may'st know with love thou mak'st me flame.
Thou view'st the course; I thee: let either heed
What please them, and their eyes let either feed.
What horse-driver thou favour'st most is best,
Because on him thy care doth hap to rest.
Such chance let me have: I would bravely run,
On swift steeds mounted till the race were done.10
Now would I slack the reins, now lash their hide,
With wheels bent inward now the ring-turn ride,
In running if I see thee, I shall stay,
And from my hands the reins will slip away.
Ah, Pelops from his coach was almost felled,
Hippodamia's looks while he beheld!
Yet he attained, by her support, to have her:
Let us all conquer by our mistress' favour.
In vain, why fly'st back? force conjoins us now:
The place's laws this benefit allow.20
But spare my wench, thou at her right hand seated;
By thy sides touching ill she is entreated.[351]
And sit thou rounder,[352] that behind us see;
For shame press not her back with thy hard knee.
But on the ground thy clothes too loosely lie:
Gather them up, or lift them, lo, will I.
Envious[353] garments, so good legs to hide!
The more thou look'st, the more the gown's envìed.
Swift Atalanta's flying legs, like these,
Wish in his hands grasped did Hippomenes.30
Coat-tucked Diana's legs are painted like them,
When strong wild beasts, she, stronger, hunts to strike them.
Ere these were seen, I burnt: what will these do?
Flames into flame, floods thou pour'st seas into,
By these I judge; delight me may the rest,
Which lie hid, under her thin veil supprest.
Yet in the meantime wilt small winds bestow,
That from thy fan, moved by my hand, may blow?
Or is my heat of mind, not of the sky?
Is't women's love my captive breast doth fry?40
While thus I speak, black dust her white robes ray;[354]
Foul dust, from her fair body go away!
Now comes the pomp; themselves let all men cheer;[355]
The shout is nigh; the golden pomp comes here.
First, Victory is brought with large spread wing:
Goddess, come here; make my love conquering.
Applaud you Neptune, that dare trust his wave,
The sea I use not: me my earth must have.
Soldier applaud thy Mars, no wars we move,
Peace pleaseth me, and in mid peace is love.50
With augurs Phœbus, Phœbe with hunters stands.
To thee Minerva turn the craftsmen's hands.
Ceres and Bacchus countrymen adore,
Champions please[356] Pollux, Castor loves horsemen more.
Thee, gentle Venus, and the boy that flies,
We praise: great goddess aid my enterprise.
Let my new mistress grant to be beloved;
She becked, and prosperous signs gave as she moved.
What Venus promised, promise thou we pray
Greater than her, by her leave, thou'rt, I'll say.60
The gods, and their rich pomp witness with me,
For evermore thou shalt my mistress be.
Thy legs hang down, thou may'st, if that be best,
Awhile[357] thy tiptoes on the footstool[358] rest.
Now greatest spectacles the Prætor sends,
Four chariot-horses from the lists' even ends.
I see whom thou affect'st: he shall subdue;
The horses seem as thy[359] desire they knew.
Alas, he runs too far about the ring;
What dost? thy waggon in less compass bring.70
What dost, unhappy? her good wishes fade:
Let with strong hand the rein to bend be made.
One slow we favour, Romans, him revoke:
And each give signs by casting up his cloak.
They call him back; lest their gowns toss thy hair,
To hide thee in my bosom straight repair.
But now again the barriers open lie,
And forth the gay troops on swift horses fly.
At least now conquer, and outrun the rest:
My mistress' wish confirm with my request.80
My mistress hath her wish; my wish remain:
He holds the palm: my palm is yet to gain.
She smiled, and with quick eyes behight[360] some grace:
Pay it not here, but in another place.
FOOTNOTES:
[350] Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
[351] "Contactu lateris laeditur ista tui."
[352] "Tua contraha crura."
"Invida vestis eras quod tam bona crura tegebas!
Quoque magis spectes ... invida vestis eras."
[354] Defile.
[355] A strange rendering of "linguis animisque favete."
[356] Ed. B "pleace;" ed. C "place."
[357] Old eds. "Or while."
[358] "Cancellis" (i.e. the rails).
[359] Old eds. "they."
[360] "Promisit."
Elegia III.[361]
De amica quæ perjuraverat.
What, are there gods? herself she hath forswore,
And yet remains the face she had before.
How long her locks were ere her oath she took,
So long they be since she her faith forsook.
Fair white with rose-red was before commixt;
Now shine her looks pure white and red betwixt.
Her foot was small: her foot's form is most fit:
Comely tall was she, comely tall she's yet.
Sharp eyes she had: radiant like stars they be,
By which she, perjured oft, hath lied to[362] me.10
In sooth, th' eternal powers grant maids society
Falsely to swear; their beauty hath some deity.
By her eyes, I remember, late she swore,
And by mine eyes, and mine were painèd sore.
Say gods: if she unpunished you deceive,
For other faults why do I loss receive.
But did you not so envy[363] Cepheus' daughter,
For her ill-beauteous mother judged to slaughter.
'Tis not enough, she shakes your record off,
And, unrevenged, mocked gods with me doth scoff.20
But by my pain to purge her perjuries,
Cozened, I am the cozener's sacrifice.
God is a name, no substance, feared in vain,
And doth the world in fond belief detain.
Or if there be a God, he loves fine wenches,
And all things too much in their sole power drenches.
Mars girts his deadly sword on for my harm;
Pallas' lance strikes me with unconquered arm;
At me Apollo bends his pliant bow;
At me Jove's right hand lightning hath to throw.30
The wrongèd gods dread fair ones to offend,
And fear those, that to fear them least intend.
Who now will care the altars to perfume?
Tut, men should not their courage so consume.
Jove throws down woods and castles with his fire,
But bids his darts from perjured girls retire.
Poor Semele among so many burned,
Her own request to her own torment turned.
But when her lover came, had she drawn back,
The father's thigh should unborn Bacchus lack.40
Why grieve I? and of heaven reproaches pen?
The gods have eyes, and breasts as well as men.
Were I a god, I should give women leave,
With lying lips my godhead to deceive.
Myself would swear the wenches true did swear,
And I would be none of the gods severe.
But yet their gift more moderately use,
Or in mine eyes, good wench, no pain transfuse.
FOOTNOTES:
[361] Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
[362] Old eds. "by."
"At non invidiæ vobis Cephëia virgo est,
Pro male formosa jussa parente mori?"
("Invidiæ" here means "discredit, odium.")
Elegia IV.[364]
Ad virum servantem conjugem.
Rude man, 'tis vain thy damsel to commend
To keeper's trust: their wits should them defend.
Who, without fear, is chaste, is chaste in sooth:
Who, because means want, doeth not, she doth.
Though thou her body guard, her mind is stained;
Nor, 'less[365] she will, can any be restrained.
Nor can'st by watching keep her mind from sin,
All being shut out, the adulterer is within.
Who may offend, sins least; power to do ill
The fainting seeds of naughtiness doth kill.10
Forbear to kindle vice by prohibition;
Sooner shall kindness gain thy will's fruition.
I saw a horse against the bit stiff-necked,
Like lightning go, his struggling mouth being checked:
When he perceived the reins let slack, he stayed,
And on his loose mane the loose bridle laid.
How to attain what is denied we think,
Even as the sick desire forbidden drink.
Argus had either way an hundred eyes,
Yet by deceit Love did them all surprise.20
In stone and iron walls Danäe shut,
Came forth a mother, though a maid there put.
Penelope, though no watch looked unto her,
Was not defiled by any gallant wooer.
What's kept, we covet more: the care makes theft,
Few love what others have unguarded left.
Nor doth her face please, but her husband's love:
I know not what men think should thee so move[366]
She is not chaste that's kept, but a dear whore:[367]
Thy fear is than her body valued more.30
Although thou chafe, stolen pleasure is sweet play;
She pleaseth best, "I fear," if any say.
A free-born wench, no right 'tis up to lock,
So use we women of strange nations' stock.
Because the keeper may come say, "I did it,"
She must be honest to thy servant's credit.
He is too clownish whom a lewd wife grieves,
And this town's well-known custom not believes;
Where Mars his sons not without fault did breed,
Remus and Romulus, Ilia's twin-born seed.40
Cannot a fair one, if not chaste, please thee?
Never can these by any means agree.
Kindly thy mistress use, if thou be wise;
Look gently, and rough husbands' laws despise.
Honour what friends thy wife gives, she'll give many,
Least labour so shall win great grace of any.
So shalt thou go with youths to feasts together,
And see at home much that thou ne'er brought'st thither.
FOOTNOTES:
[364] Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
[365] Old eds. "least." ("Nec custodiri, ni velit, ulla potest.")
[366] The original has "Nescio quid, quod te ceperit, esse putant."
[367] Dyce calls this line an "erroneous version of 'Non proba sit quam vir servat, sed adultera; cara est.'" But Merkel's reading is "Non proba fit quam vir servat, sed adultera cara"—which is accurately rendered by Marlowe.
Elegia VI.[368]
Ad amnem dum iter faceret ad amicam.
Flood with reed-grown[369] slime banks, till I be past
Thy waters stay: I to my mistress haste.
Thou hast no bridge, nor boat with ropes to throw,
That may transport me, without oars to row.
Thee I have passed, and knew thy stream none such,
When thy wave's brim did scarce my ankles touch.
With snow thawed from the next hill now thou gushest,[370]
And in thy foul deep waters thick thou rushest.
What helps my haste? what to have ta'en small rest?
What day and night to travel in her quest?10
If standing here I can by no means get
My foot upon the further bank to set.
Now wish I those wings noble Perseus had,
Bearing the head with dreadful adders[371] clad;
Now wish the chariot, whence corn fields were found,
First to be thrown upon the untilled ground:
I speak old poet's wonderful inventions,
Ne'er was, nor [e'er] shall be, what my verse mentions.
Rather, thou large bank-overflowing river,
Slide in thy bounds; so shalt thou run for ever.20
Trust me, land-stream, thou shalt no envy lack,
If I a lover be by thee held back.
Great floods ought to assist young men in love,
Great floods the force of it do often prove.
In mid Bithynia,[372] 'tis said, Inachus
Grew pale, and, in cold fords, hot lecherous.
Troy had not yet been ten years' siege out stander,
When nymph Neæra rapt thy looks, Scamander.
What, not Alpheus in strange lands to run,
The Arcadian virgin's constant love hath won?30
And Creusa unto Xanthus first affied,
They say Peneus near Phthia's town did hide.
What should I name Asop,[373] that Thebe loved,
Thebe who mother of five daughters proved,
If, Achelöus, I ask where thy horns stand,
Thou say'st, broke with Alcides' angry hand.
Not Calydon, nor Ætolia did please;
One Deianira was more worth than these.
Rich Nile by seven mouths to the vast sea flowing,
Who so well keeps his water's head from knowing,40
Is by Evadne thought to take such flame,
As his deep whirlpools could not quench the same.
Dry Enipeus, Tyro to embrace,
Fly back his stream[374] charged; the stream charged, gave place.
Nor pass I thee, who hollow rocks down tumbling,
In Tibur's field with watery foam art rumbling.
Whom Ilia pleased, though in her looks grief revelled,
Her cheeks were scratched, her goodly hairs dishevelled.
She, wailing Mar's sin and her uncle's crime,
Strayed barefoot through sole places[375] on a time.50
Her, from his swift waves, the bold flood perceived,
And from the mid ford his hoarse voice upheaved,
Saying, "Why sadly tread'st my banks upon,
Ilia sprung from Idæan Laomedon?
Where's thy attire? why wanderest here alone?
To stay thy tresses white veil hast thou none?
Why weep'st and spoil'st with tears thy watery eyes?
And fiercely knock'st thy breast that open lies?
His heart consists of flint and hardest steel,
That seeing thy tears can any joy then feel.60
Fear not: to thee our court stands open wide,
There shalt be loved: Ilia, lay fear aside.
Thou o'er a hundred nymphs or more shalt reign,
For five score nymphs or more our floods contain.
Nor, Roman stock, scorn me so much I crave,
Gifts than my promise greater thou shalt have."[376]
This said he: she her modest eyes held down.
Her woful bosom a warm shower did drown.
Thrice she prepared to fly, thrice she did stay,
By fear deprived of strength to run away.70
Yet rending with enragèd thumb her tresses,
Her trembling mouth these unmeet sounds expresses:
"O would in my forefathers' tomb deep laid,
My bones had been while yet I was a maid:
Why being a vestal am I wooed to wed,
Deflowered and stainèd in unlawful bed.
Why stay I? men point at me for a whore,
Shame, that should make me blush, I have no more."
This said; her coat hoodwinked her fearful eyes,
And into water desperately she flies.80
'Tis said the slippery stream held up her breast,
And kindly gave her what she likèd best.
And I believe some wench thou hast affected,
But woods and groves keep your faults undetected.
While thus I speak the waters more abounded,
And from the channel all abroad surrounded.
Mad stream, why dost our mutual joys defer?
Clown, from my journey why dost me deter?
How would'st thou flow wert thou a noble flood?
If thy great fame in every region stood?90
Thou hast no name, but com'st from snowy mountains;
No certain house thou hast, nor any fountains;
Thy springs are nought but rain and melted snow,
Which wealth cold winter doth on thee bestow.
Either thou art muddy in mid-winter tide,
Or full of dust dost on the dry earth slide.
What thirsty traveller ever drunk of thee?
Who said with grateful voice, "Perpetual be!"
Harmful to beasts, and to the fields thou proves,
Perchance these[377] others, me mine own loss moves.100
To this I fondly[378] loves of floods told plainly,
I shame so great names to have used so vainly.
I know not what expecting, I ere while,
Named Achelöus, Inachus, and Nile.[379]
But for thy merits I wish thee, white stream,[380]
Dry winters aye, and suns in heat extreme.
FOOTNOTES:
[368] Not in Isham copy or ed. A.—In the old copies this elegy is marked "Elegia v." The fifth elegy (beginning "Nox erat et somnus," &c.) was not contained in Marlowe's copy.
[369] Old eds. "redde-growne."
[370] So Dyce for "rushest" of the old eds.
[371] So Dyce for "arrowes" of the old eds.
[372] The original has "Inachus in Melie Bithynide pallidus isse." &c.—Dyce suggests that Marlowe's copy had "in media Bithynide."
[373] Old eds. "Aesope."
[374] Old eds. "shame."
[375] "Loca sola."
[376] The original has "Desit famosus qui notet ora pudor" (or "Desint ... quae," &c.)
[377] "Forsitan haec alios, me mea damna movent."
[378] "Demens."
[379] Old eds. "Ile."
[380] Marlowe read "nunc candide" for "non candide."
Elegia VII.
Quod ab amica receptus, cum ea coire non potuit, conqueritur.
Either she was foul, or her attire was bad,
Or she was not the wench I wished to have had.
Idly I lay with her, as if I loved not,
And like a burden grieved the bed that moved not.
Though both of us performed our true intent,
Yet could I not cast anchor where I meant.
She on my neck her ivory arms did throw,
Her[381] arms far whiter than the Scythian snow.
And eagerly she kissed me with her tongue,
And under mine her wanton thigh she flung,10
Yea, and she soothed me up, and called me "Sir,"[382]
And used all speech that might provoke and stir.
Yet like as if cold hemlock I had drunk,
It mockèd me, hung down the head and sunk.
Like a dull cipher, or rude block I lay,
Or shade, or body was I, who can say?
What will my age do, age I cannot shun,
Seeing[383] in my prime my force is spent and done?
I blush, that being youthful, hot, and lusty,
I prove neither youth nor man, but old and rusty.20
Pure rose she, like a nun to sacrifice,
Or one that with her tender brother lies.
Yet boarded I the golden Chie[384] twice,
And Libas, and the white-cheeked Pitho thrice.
Corinna craved it in a summer's night,
And nine sweet bouts had we[385] before daylight.
What, waste my limbs through some Thessalian charms?
May spells and drugs do silly souls such harms?
With virgin wax hath some imbast[386] my joints?
And pierced my liver with sharp needle-points?[387]30
Charms change corn to grass and make it die:
By charms are running springs and fountains dry.
By charms mast drops from oaks, from vines grapes fall,
And fruit from trees when there's no wind at all.
Why might not then my sinews be enchanted?
And I grow faint as with some spirit haunted?
To this, add shame: shame to perform it quailed me,
And was the second cause why vigour failed me.
My idle thoughts delighted her no more,
Than did the robe or garment which she wore.40
Yet might her touch make youthful Pylius fire,
And Tithon livelier than his years require.
Even her I had, and she had me in vain,
What might I crave more, if I ask again?
I think the great gods grieved they had bestowed,
This[388] benefit: which lewdly[389] I foreslowed.[390]
I wished to be received in, in[391] I get me.
To kiss, I kiss;[392] to lie with her, she let me.
Why was I blest? why made king to refuse[393] it?
Chuff-like had I not gold and could not use it?50
So in a spring thrives he that told so much,[394]
And looks upon the fruits he cannot touch.
Hath any rose so from a fresh young maid,
As she might straight have gone to church and prayed?
Well, I believe, she kissed not as she should,
Nor used the sleight and[395] cunning which she could.
Huge oaks, hard adamants might she have moved,
And with sweet words caus[ed] deaf rocks to have loved.
Worthy she was to move both gods and men,
But neither was I man nor livèd then.60
Can deaf ears[396] take delight when Phæmius sings?
Or Thamyris in curious painted things?
What sweet thought is there but I had the same?
And one gave place still as another came.
Yet notwithstanding, like one dead it lay,
Drooping more than a rose pulled yesterday.
Now, when he should not jet, he bolts upright,
And craves his task, and seeks to be at fight.
Lie down with shame, and see thou stir no more.
Seeing thou[397] would'st deceive me as before.70
Thou cozenest me: by thee surprised am I,
And bide sore loss[398] with endless infamy.
Nay more, the wench did not disdain a whit
To take it in her hand, and play with it.
But when she saw it would by no means stand,
But still drooped down, regarding not her hand,
"Why mock'st thou me," she cried, "or being ill,
Who bade thee lie down here against thy will?
Either thou art witched with blood of frogs[399] new dead,
Or jaded cam'st thou from some other's bed."80
With that, her loose gown on, from me she cast her;
In skipping out her naked feet much graced her.
And lest her maid should know of this disgrace,
To cover it, spilt water in the place.
FOOTNOTES:
[381] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A:—
"That were as white as is the Scithian snow."
[382] "Dominumque vocavit."
[383] So Isham copy and ed. A.—Eds. B, C "When."
[384] "Flava Chlide."
[385] So Isham copy and ed. A.—Eds. B, C "we had."
[386] The verb "embase" or "imbase" is frequently found in the sense of "abase." Here the meaning seems to be "weakened, enfeebled." (Ovid's words are "Sagave pœnicea defixit nomina cera.")
[387] So Isham copy and ed. A ("needle points").—Eds. B, C "needles' points."
[388] So Isham copy and ed. A.—Eds. B, C "The."
[389] "Turpiter."
[390] Neglected.
[391] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy "received in, and in I got me."
[392] So old eds.—Dyce reads "kiss'd."
[393] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A "and refusde it."
[394] "Sic aret mediis taciti vulgator in undis."
[395] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A "nor."
[396] Isham copy "yeares;" ed. A "yeres;" eds. B, C "eare."
[397] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A "Seeing now thou."
[398] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A "great hurt."
[399] The original has "Aut te trajectis Aeaea venefica lanis," &c. (As Dyce remarks, Marlowe read "ranis.")
Elegia VIII.[400]
Quod ad amica non recipiatur, dolet.
What man will now take liberal arts in hand,
Or think soft verse in any stead to stand?
Wit was sometimes more precious than gold;
Now poverty great barbarism we hold.
When our books did my mistress fair content,
I might not go whither my papers went.
She praised me, yet the gate shut fast upon her,
I here and there go, witty with dishonour.
See a rich chuff, whose wounds great wealth inferred,
For bloodshed knighted, before me preferred.10
Fool, can'st thou him in thy white arms embrace?
Fool, can'st thou lie in his enfolding space?
Know'st not this head[401] a helm was wont to bear?
This side that serves thee, a sharp sword did wear.
His left hand, whereon gold doth ill alight,
A target bore: blood-sprinkled was his right.
Can'st touch that hand wherewith some one lies dead?
Ah, whither is thy breast's soft nature fled?
Behold the signs of ancient fight, his scars!
Whate'er he hath, his body gained in wars.20
Perhaps he'll tell how oft he slew a man,
Confessing this, why dost thou touch him than?[402]
I, the pure priest of Phœbus and the Muses,
At thy deaf doors in verse sing my abuses.
Not what we slothful know,[403] let wise men learn,
But follow trembling camps and battles stern.
And for a good verse draw the first dart forth:[404]
Homer without this shall be nothing worth.
Jove, being admonished gold had sovereign power,
To win the maid came in a golden shower.30
Till then, rough was her father, she severe,
The posts of brass, the walls of iron were.
But when in gifts the wise adulterer came,
She held her lap ope to receive the same.
Yet when old Saturn heaven's rule possest,
All gain in darkness the deep earth supprest.
Gold, silver, iron's heavy weight, and brass,
In hell were harboured; here was found no mass.
But better things it gave, corn without ploughs,
Apples, and honey in oaks' hollow boughs.40
With strong ploughshares no man the earth did cleave,
The ditcher no marks on the ground did leave.
Nor hanging oars the troubled seas did sweep,
Men kept the shore and sailed not into deep.
Against thyself, man's nature, thou wert cunning,
And to thine own loss was thy wit swift running.
Why gird'st thy cities with a towerèd wall,
Why let'st discordant hands to armour fall?
What dost with seas? with th' earth thou wert content;
Why seek'st not heaven, the third realm, to frequent?50
Heaven thou affects: with Romulus, temples brave,
Bacchus, Alcides, and now Cæsar have.
Gold from the earth instead of fruits we pluck;
Soldiers by blood to be enriched have luck.
Courts shut the poor out; wealth gives estimation.
Thence grows the judge, and knight of reputation.
All,[405] they possess: they govern fields and laws,
They manage peace and raw war's bloody jaws.
Only our loves let not such rich churls gain:
'Tis well if some wench for the poor remain.60
Now, Sabine-like, though chaste she seems to live,
One her[406] commands, who many things can give.
For me, she doth keeper[407] and husband fear,
If I should give, both would the house forbear.
If of scorned lovers god be venger just,
O let him change goods so ill-got to dust.
FOOTNOTES:
[400] Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
[401] So ed. B.—Ed. C "his." ("Caput hoc galeam portare solebat.")
[402] Then.
[403] Old eds. knew.
[404] Marlowe has quite mistaken the meaning of the original "Proque bono versu primum deducite pilum."
[405] A very loose rendering of Ovid's couplet—
"Omnia possideant; illis Campusque Forumque
Serviat; hi pacem crudaque bella gerant."
[406] So Dyce for "she" of the old eds. ("Imperat ut captae qui dare multa potest.")
[407] The original has "Me prohibet custos: in me timet illa maritum."
Elegia IX.[408]
Tibulli mortem deflet.
If Thetis and the Morn their sons did wail,
And envious Fates great goddesses assail;
Sad Elegy,[409] thy woful hairs unbind:
Ah, now a name too true thou hast I find.
Tibullus, thy work's poet, and thy fame,
Burns his dead body in the funeral flame.
Lo, Cupid brings his quiver spoilèd quite,
His broken bow, his firebrand without light!
How piteously with drooping wings he stands,
And knocks his bare breast with self-angry hands.10
The locks spread on his neck receive his tears,
And shaking sobs his mouth for speeches bears.
So[410] at Æneas' burial, men report,
Fair-faced Iülus, he went forth thy court.
And Venus grieves, Tibullus' life being spent,
As when the wild boar Adon's groin had rent.
The gods' care we are called, and men of piety,
And some there be that think we have a deity.
Outrageous death profanes all holy things,
And on all creatures obscure darkness brings.20
To Thracian Orpheus what did parents good?
Or songs amazing wild beasts of the wood?
Where[411] Linus by his father Phœbus laid,
To sing with his unequalled harp is said.
See Homer from whose fountain ever filled
Pierian dew to poets is distilled:
Him the last day in black Avern hath drowned:
Verses alone are with continuance crowned.
The work of poets lasts: Troy's labour's fame,
And that slow web night's falsehood did unframe.30
So Nemesis, so Delia famous are,
The one his first love, th' other his new care.
What profit to us hath our pure life bred?
What to have lain alone in empty bed?
When bad Fates take good men, I am forbod
By secret thoughts to think there is a God.
Live godly, thou shalt die; though honour heaven,
Yet shall thy life be forcibly bereaven.
Trust in good verse, Tibullus feels death's pains,
Scarce rests of all what a small urn contains.40
Thee, sacred poet, could sad flames destroy?
Nor fearèd they thy body to annoy?
The holy gods' gilt temples they might fire,
That durst to so great wickedness aspire.
Eryx' bright empress turned her looks aside,
And some, that she refrained tears, have denied.
Yet better is't, than if Corcyra's Isle,
Had thee unknown interred in ground most vile.
Thy dying eyes here did thy mother close,
Nor did thy ashes her last offerings lose.50
Part of her sorrow here thy sister bearing,
Comes forth, her unkembed[412] locks asunder tearing.
Nemesis and thy first wench join their kisses
With thine, nor this last fire their presence misses.
Delia departing, "Happier loved," she saith,
"Was I: thou liv'dst, while thou esteem'dst my faith."
Nemesis answers, "What's my loss to thee?
His fainting hand in death engraspèd me."
If aught remains of us but name and spirit,
Tibullus doth Elysium's joy inherit.60
Their youthful brows with ivy girt to meet him,
With Calvus learned Catullus comes, and greet him;
And thou, if falsely charged to wrong thy friend,
Callus, that car'dst[413] not blood and life to spend,
With these thy soul walks: souls if death release,
The godly[414] sweet Tibullus doth increase.
Thy bones, I pray, may in the urn safe rest,
And may th' earth's weight thy ashes naught molest.
FOOTNOTES:
[408] Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
[409] Ed. B "Eeliga"—Ed. C "Elegia."
"Fratris in Aeneae sic illum funere dicunt
Egressum tectis, pulcher Iule, tuis."
[411] The original has—
"Aelinon in silvis idem pater, aelinon, altis
Dicitur invita concinuisse lyra."
In Marlowe's copy the couplet must have been very different.
[412] Old eds. "vnkeembe" and "unkeemb'd."
[413] Old eds. "carst."
[414] "Auxisti numeros, culte Tibulle, pios."
Elegia X.[415]
Ad Cererem, conquerens quod ejus sacris cum amica concumbere non permittatur.
Come were the times of Ceres' sacrifice;
In empty bed alone my mistress lies.
Golden-haired Ceres crowned with ears of corn,
Why are our pleasures by thy means forborne?
Thee, goddess, bountiful all nations judge,
Nor less at man's prosperity any grudge.
Rude husbandmen baked not their corn before,
Nor on the earth was known the name of floor.[416]
On mast of oaks, first oracles, men fed;
This was their meat, the soft grass was their bed.10
First Ceres taught the seed in fields to swell,
And ripe-eared corn with sharp-edged scythes to fell.
She first constrained bulls' necks to bear the yoke,
And untilled ground with crooked ploughshares broke.
Who thinks her to be glad at lovers' smart,
And worshipped by their pain and lying apart?
Nor is she, though she loves the fertile fields,
A clown, nor no love from her warm breast yields:
Be witness Crete (nor Crete doth all things feign)
Crete proud that Jove her nursery maintain.20
There, he who rules the world's star-spangled towers,
A little boy drunk teat-distilling showers.
Faith to the witness Jove's praise doth apply;
Ceres, I think, no known fault will deny.
The goddess saw Iasion on Candian Ide,
With strong hand striking wild beasts' bristled hide.
She saw, and as her marrow took the flame,
Was divers ways distract with love and shame.
Love conquered shame, the furrows dry were burned,
And corn with least part of itself returned.30
When well-tossed mattocks did the ground prepare,
Being fit-broken with the crooked share,
And seeds were equally in large fields cast,
The ploughman's hopes were frustrate at the last.
The grain-rich goddess in high woods did stray,
Her long hair's ear-wrought garland fell away.
Only was Crete fruitful that plenteous year;
Where Ceres went, each place was harvest there.
Ida, the seat of groves, did sing[417] with corn,
Which by the wild boar in the woods was shorn.40
Law-giving Minos did such years desire,
And wished the goddess long might feel love's fire.
Ceres, what sports[418] to thee so grievous were,
As in thy sacrifice we them forbear?
Why am I sad, when Proserpine is found,
And Juno-like with Dis reigns under ground?
Festival days ask Venus, songs, and wine,
These gifts are meet to please the powers divine.
FOOTNOTES:
[415] Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
[416] Threshing-floor ("area").
[417] Marlowe has made the school-boy's mistake of confusing "caneo" and "cano."
[418] The original has
"Quod tibi secubitus tristes, dea flava, fuissent,
Hoc cogor sacris nunc ego ferre tuis."
Marlowe appears to have read "Qui tibi concubitus," &c.
Elegia XI.[419]
Ad amicam a cujus amore discedere non potest.
Long have I borne much, mad thy faults me make;
Dishonest love, my wearied breast forsake!
Now have I freed myself, and fled the chain,
And what I have borne, shame to bear again.
We vanquish, and tread tamed love under feet,
Victorious wreaths[420] at length my temples greet.
Suffer, and harden: good grows by this grief,
Oft bitter juice brings to the sick relief.
I have sustained, so oft thrust from the door,
To lay my body on the hard moist floor.10
I know not whom thou lewdly didst embrace,
When I to watch supplied a servant's place.
I saw when forth a tirèd lover went.
His side past service, and his courage spent,
Yet this is less than if he had seen me;
May that shame fall mine enemies' chance to be.
When have not I, fixed to thy side, close laid?
I have thy husband, guard, and fellow played.
The people by my company she pleased;
My love was cause that more men's love she seized.20
What, should I tell her vain tongue's filthy lies,
And, to my loss, god-wronging perjuries?
What secret becks in banquets with her youths,
With privy signs, and talk dissembling truths?
Hearing her to be sick, I thither ran,
But with my rival sick she was not than.
These hardened me, with what I keep obscure:[421]
Some other seek, who will these things endure.
Now my ship in the wishèd haven crowned,
With joy hears Neptune's swelling waters sound.30
Leave thy once-powerful words, and flatteries,
I am not as I was before, unwise.
Now love and hate my light breast each way move,
But victory, I think, will hap to love.
I'll hate, if I can; if not, love 'gainst my will,
Bulls hate the yoke, yet what they hate have still.
I fly her lust, but follow beauty's creature,
I loathe her manners, love her body's feature.
Nor with thee, nor without thee can I live,
And doubt to which desire the palm to give.40
Or less fair, or less lewd would thou might'st be:
Beauty with lewdness doth right ill agree.
Her deeds gain hate, her face entreateth love;
Ah, she doth more worth than her vices prove!
Spare me, oh, by our fellow bed, by all
The gods, who by thee, to be perjured fall.[422]
And by thy face to me a power divine,
And by thine eyes, whose radiance burns out mine!
Whate'er thou art, mine art thou: choose this course,
Wilt have me willing, or to love by force.50
Rather I'll hoist up sail, and use the wind,
That I may love yet, though against my mind.
FOOTNOTES:
[419] Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
[420] The original has "Venerunt capiti cornua sera meo."
[421] "Et que taceo."
[422] "Qui dant fallendos se tibi saepe, deos."
Elegia XII.[423]
Dolet amicam suam ita suis carminibus innotuisse ut rivales multos sibi pararit.
What day was that, which all sad haps to bring,
White birds to lovers did not[424] always sing?
Or is I think my wish against the stars?
Or shall I plain some god against me wars?
Who mine was called, whom I loved more than any,
I fear with me is common now to many.
Err I? or by my books[425] is she so known?
'Tis so: by my wit her abuse is grown.
And justly: for her praise why did I tell?
The wench by my fault is set forth to sell.10
The bawd I play, lovers to her I guide:
Her gate by my hands is set open wide.
'Tis doubtful whether verse avail or harm,
Against my good they were an envious charm.
When Thebes, when Troy, when Cæsar should be writ,
Alone Corinna moves my wanton wit.
With Muse opposed, would I my lines had done,
And Phœbus had forsook my work begun!
Nor, as use will not poets' record hear,
Would I my words would any credit bear.20
Scylla by us her father's rich hair steals,
And Scylla's womb mad raging dogs conceals.
We cause feet fly, we mingle hares with snakes,
Victorious Perseus a winged steed's back takes.
Our verse great Tityus a huge space outspreads,
And gives the viper-curlèd dog three heads.
We make Enceladus use a thousand arms,
And men enthralled by mermaid's[426] singing charms.
The east winds in Ulysses' bags we shut,
And blabbing Tantalus in mid-waters put.30
Niobe flint, Callist we make a bear,
Bird-changèd Progne doth her Itys tear.[427]
Jove turns himself into a swan, or gold,
Or his bull's horns Europa's hand doth hold.
Proteus what should I name? teeth, Thebes' first seed?
Oxen in whose mouths burning flames did breed?
Heaven-star, Electra,[428] that bewailed her sisters?
The ships, whose godhead in the sea now glisters?
The sun turned back from Atreus' cursed table?39
And sweet-touched harp that to move stones was able?
Poets' large power is boundless and immense,
Nor have their words true history's pretence.
And my wench ought to have seemed falsely praised,
Now your credulity harm to me hath raised.
FOOTNOTES:
[423] Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
[424] Marlowe has put his negative in the wrong place and made nonsense of the couplet:—
"Quis fuit ille dies quo tristia semper amanti
Omina non albae concinuistis aves?"
[425] Old eds. "lookes."
[426] "Ambiguae captos virginis ore viros." ("Ambigua virgo" is the sphinx.)
[427] The original has "Concinit Odrysium Cecropis ales Ityn."
[428] Marlowe's copy must have been very corrupt here. The true reading is
"Flere genis electra tuas, auriga, sorores?"
Elegia XIII.[429]
De Junonis festo.
When fruit-filled Tuscia should a wife give me,
We touched the walls, Camillus, won by thee.
The priests to Juno did prepare chaste feasts,
With famous pageants, and their home-bred beasts.
To know their rites well recompensed my stay,
Though thither leads a rough steep hilly way.
There stands an old wood with thick trees dark clouded:
Who sees it grants some deity there is shrouded.
An altar takes men's incense and oblation,
An altar made after the ancient fashion.10
Here, when the pipe with solemn tunes doth sound,
The annual pomp goes on the covered[430] ground.
White heifers by glad people forth are led,
Which with the grass of Tuscan fields are fed,
And calves from whose feared front no threatening flies,
And little pigs, base hogsties' sacrifice,
And rams with horns their hard heads wreathèd back;
Only the goddess-hated goat did lack,
By whom disclosed, she in the high woods took,
Is said to have attempted flight forsook.20
Now[431] is the goat brought through the boys with darts,
And give[n] to him that the first wound imparts.
Where Juno comes, each youth and pretty maid,
Show[432] large ways, with their garments there displayed.
Jewels and gold their virgin tresses crown,
And stately robes to their gilt feet hang down.
As is the use, the nuns in white veils clad,
Upon their heads the holy mysteries had.
When the chief pomp comes, loud[433] the people hollow;
And she her vestal virgin priests doth follow.30
Such was the Greek pomp, Agamemnon dead;
Which fact[434] and country wealth, Halesus fled.
And having wandered now through sea and land,
Built walls high towered with a prosperous hand.
He to th' Hetrurians Juno's feast commended:
Let me and them by it be aye befriended.
FOOTNOTES:
[429] Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
[430] "It per velatas annua pompa vias."
"Nunc quoque per pueros jaculis incessitur index
Et pretium auctori vulneris ipsa datur."
[432] "Praeverrunt latas veste jacente vias."—Dyce remarks that Marlowe read "Praebuerant."
[433] "Ore favent populi." (In Henry's monumental edition of Virgil's Æneid, vol. iii. pp. 25-27, there is a very interesting note on the meaning of the formula "ore favete." He denies the correctness of the ordinary interpretation "be silent.")
[434] "Et scelus et patrias fugit Halæsus opes."
Elegia XIV.
Ad amicam, si peccatura est, ut occulte peccet.
Seeing thou art fair, I bar not thy false playing,
But let not me, poor soul, know[435] of thy straying.
Nor do I give thee counsel to live chaste,
But that thou would'st dissemble, when 'tis past.
She hath not trod awry, that doth deny it.
Such as confess have lost their good names by it.
What madness is't to tell night-pranks[436] by day?
And[437] hidden secrets openly to bewray?
The strumpet with the stranger will not do,
Before the room be clear and door put-to.10
Will you make shipwreck of your honest name,
And let the world be witness of the same?
Be more advised, walk as a puritan,
And I shall think you chaste, do what you can.
Slip still, only deny it when 'tis done,
And, before folk,[438] immodest speeches shun.
The bed is for lascivious toyings meet,
There use all tricks,[439] and tread shame under feet.
When you are up and dressed, be sage and grave,
And in the bed hide all the faults you have.20
Be not ashamed to strip you, being there,
And mingle thighs, yours ever mine to bear.[440]
There in your rosy lips my tongue entomb,
Practise a thousand sports when there you come.
Forbear no wanton words you there would speak,
And with your pastime let the bedstead creak;
But with your robes put on an honest face,
And blush, and seem as you were full of grace.
Deceive all; let me err; and think I'm right,
And like a wittol think thee void of slight.30
Why see I lines so oft received and given?
This bed and that by tumbling made uneven?
Like one start up your hair tost and displaced,
And with a wanton's tooth your neck new-rased.
Grant this, that what you do I may not see;
If you weigh not ill speeches, yet weigh me.
My soul fleets[441] when I think what you have done,
And thorough[442] every vein doth cold blood run.
Then thee whom I must love, I hate in vain,
And would be dead, but dead[443] with thee remain.40
I'll not sift much, but hold thee soon excused.
Say but thou wert injuriously accused.
Though while the deed be doing you be took,
And I see when you ope the two-leaved book,[444]
Swear I was blind; deny[445] if you be wise,
And I will trust your words more than mine eyes.
From him that yields, the palm[446] is quickly got,
Teach but your tongue to say, "I did it not,"
And being justified by two words, think
The cause acquits you not, but I[447] that wink.50
FOOTNOTES:
[435] So Isham copy and eds. B, C.—Ed. A "wit."
[436] So Isham copy.—Ed. A "night-sports."
[437] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A "Or."
[438] So Isham copy.—Ed. A "people."
[439] So Isham copy.—Ed. A "toyes."
[440] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A "mine ever yours."
[441] "Mens abit."
[442] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A "through."
[443] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A "dying."
[444] The original has
"Et fuerint oculis probra videnda meis."
[445] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A "yeeld not."
[446] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A "garland."
[447] So Isham copy and eds. A, B.—Ed. C "that I."
Elegia XV.[448]
Ad Venerem, quod elegis finem imponat.
Tender Loves' mother[449] a new poet get,
This last end to my Elegies is set.[450]
Which I, Peligny's foster-child, have framed,
Nor am I by such wanton toys defamed.
Heir of an ancient house, if help that can,
Not only by war's rage[451] made gentleman.
In Virgil Mantua joys: in Catull Verone;
Of me Peligny's nation boasts alone;
Whom liberty to honest arms compelled,
When careful Rome in doubt their prowess held.[452]10
And some guest viewing watery Sulmo's walls,
Where little ground to be enclosed befalls,
"How such a poet could you bring forth?" says:
"How small soe'er, I'll you for greatest praise."
Both loves, to whom my heart long time did yield,[453]
Your golden ensigns pluck[454] out of my field.
Horned Bacchus graver fury doth distil,
A greater ground with great horse is to till.
Weak Elegies, delightful Muse, farewell;
A work that, after my death, here shall dwell.20
FOOTNOTES:
[448] Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
[449] "Tenerorum mater amorum."
[450] "Marlowe's copy of Ovid had 'Traditur haec elegis ultima charta meis.'"—Dyce. (The true reading is "Raditur hic ... meta meis.")
[451] "Non modo militiae turbine factus eques."
[452] "Cum timuit socias anxia turba manus."
[453] "Marlowe's copy of Ovid had 'Culte puer, puerique parens mihi tempore longo.' (instead of what we now read 'Amathusia culti.')"—Dyce.
[454] Old eds. "pluckt."
EPIGRAMS BY J[ohn] D[avies].
EPIGRAMS BY J[ohn] D[avies].[455]
AD MUSAM. I.
Fly, merry Muse, unto that merry town,
Where thou mayst plays, revels, and triumphs see;
The house of fame, and theatre of renown,
Where all good wits and spirits love to be.
Fall in between their hands that praise and love thee,[456]
And be to them a laughter and a jest:
But as for them which scorning shall reprove[457] thee,
Disdain their wits, and think thine own the best.
But if thou find any so gross and dull,
That thinks I do to private taxing[458] lean,10
Bid him go hang, for he is but a gull,
And knows not what an epigram doth[459] mean,
Which taxeth,[460] under a particular name,
A general vice which merits public blame.
FOOTNOTES:
[455] Dyce has carefully recorded the readings of a MS. copy (Harl. MS. 1836) of the present epigrams. As in most cases the variations are unimportant, I have not thought it necessary to reproduce Dyce's elaborate collation. Where the MS. readings are distinctly preferable I have adopted them; but in such cases I have been careful to record the readings of the printed copies.
[456] So Dyce.—Old eds. "loue and praise thee;" MS. "Seeme to love thee."
[457] So Isham copy and MS. Ed. A "approve."
[458] Censuring. Dyce compares the Induction to the Knight of the Burning Pestle:—
"Fly far from hence
All private taxes."
[459] So MS.—Old eds. "does."
[460] MS. "Which carrieth under a peculiar name."
OF A GULL. II.
Oft in my laughing rhymes I name a gull;
But this new term will many questions breed;
Therefore at first I will express at full,
Who is a true and perfect gull indeed.
A gull is he who fears a velvet gown,
And, when a wench is brave, dares not speak to her;
A gull is he which traverseth the town,
And is for marriage known a common wooer;
A gull is he which, while he proudly wears
A silver-hilted rapier by his side,10
Endures the lie[461] and knocks about the ears,
Whilst in his sheath his sleeping sword doth bide;
A gull is he which wears good handsome clothes,
And stands in presence stroking up his hair,
And fills up his unperfect speech with oaths,
But speaks not one wise word throughout the year:
But, to define a gull in terms precise,—
A gull is he which seems and is not wise.[462]
FOOTNOTES:
[461] So MS.—Old eds. "lies."
[462] "To this epigram there is an evident allusion in the following one
'To Candidus.
Friend Candidus, thou often doost demaund
What humours men by gulling understand.
Our English Martiall hath full pleasantly
In his close nips describde a gull to thee:
I'le follow him, and set downe my conceit
What a gull is—oh, word of much receit!
He is a gull whose indiscretion
Cracks his purse-strings to be in fashion;
He is a gull who is long in taking roote
In barraine soyle where can be but small fruite;
He is a gull who runnes himselfe in debt
For twelue dayes' wonder, hoping so to get;
He is a gull whose conscience is a block,
Not to take interest, but wastes his stock;
He is a gull who cannot haue a whore,
But brags how much he spends upon her score;
He is a gull that for commoditie
Payes tenne times ten, and sells the same for three;
He is a gull who, passing finicall,
Peiseth each word to be rhetoricall;
And, to conclude, who selfe-conceitedly
Thinks al men guls, ther's none more gull then he.'
Guilpin's Skialetheia, &c. 1598, Epig. 20."
—Dyce.
IN REFUM. III.
Rufus the courtier, at the theatre,
Leaving the best and most conspicuous place,
Doth either to the stage[463] himself transfer,
Or through a grate[464] doth show his double face,
For that the clamorous fry of Inns of Court
Fill up the private rooms of greater price,
And such a place where all may have resort
He in his singularity doth despise.
Yet doth not his particular humour shun
The common stews and brothels of the town,10
Though all the world in troops do thither run,
Clean and unclean, the gentle and the clown:
Then why should Rufus in his pride abhor
A common seat, that loves a common whore?
FOOTNOTES:
[463] It was a common practice for gallants to sit upon hired stools in the stage, especially at the private theatres. From the Induction to Marston's Malcontent it appears that the custom was not tolerated at some of the public theatres. The ordinary charge for the use of a stool was sixpence.
[464] Malone was no doubt right in supposing that there is here an allusion to the "private boxes" placed at each side of the balcony at the back of the stage. They must have been very dark and uncomfortable. In the Gull's Horn-Book Dekker says that "much new Satin was there dampned by being smothered to death in darkness."
IN QUINTUM. IV.
Quintus the dancer useth evermore
His feet in measure and in rule to move:
Yet on a time he call'd his mistress whore,
And thought with that sweet word to win her love.
O, had his tongue like to his feet been taught,
It never would have utter'd such a thought!
IN PLURIMOS. V.[465]
Faustinus, Sextus, Cinna, Ponticus,
With Gella, Lesbia, Thais, Rhodope,
Rode all to Staines,[466] for no cause serious,
But for their mirth and for their lechery.
Scarce were they settled in their lodging, when
Wenches with wenches, men with men fell out,
Men with their wenches, wenches with their men;
Which straight dissolves[467] this ill-assembled rout.
But since the devil brought them thus together,
To my discoursing thoughts it is a wonder,10
Why presently as soon as they came thither,
The self-same devil did them part asunder.
Doubtless, it seems, it was a foolish devil,
That thus did part them ere they did some evil.
FOOTNOTES:
[465] MS. "In meritriculas Londinensis."
[466] MS. "Ware."
[467] MS. "dissolv'd"
IN TITUM. VI.
Titus, the brave and valorous young gallant,
Three years together in his town hath been;
Yet my Lord Chancellor's[468] tomb he hath not seen,
Nor the new water-work,[469] nor the elephant.
I cannot tell the cause without a smile,—
He hath been in the Counter all this while.
FOOTNOTES:
[468] Sir Christopher Hatton's tomb. See Dugdale's History of St. Paul's Cathedral, ed. 1658, p. 83.
[469] "The new water-work was at London Bridge. The elephant was an object of great wonder and long remembered. A curious illustration of this is found in the Metamorphosis of the Walnut Tree of Borestall, written about 1645, when the poet [William Basse] brings trees of all descriptions to the funeral, particularly a gigantic oak—
"The youth of these our times that did behold
This motion strange of this unwieldy plant
Now boldly brag with us that are men old,
That of our age they no advantage want,
Though in our youth we saw an elephant."
—Cunningham.
IN FAUSTUM. VII.
Faustus, nor lord nor knight, nor wise nor old,
To every place about the town doth ride;
He rides into the fields[470] plays to behold,
He rides to take boat at the water-side,
He rides to Paul's, he rides to th' ordinary,
He rides unto the house of bawdry too,—
Thither his horse so often doth him carry,
That shortly he will quite forget to go.
FOOTNOTES:
[470] See the admirable account of "The Theatre and Curtain" in Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps' Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare, ed. 3, pp. 385-433. It is there shown that the access to the Theatre play-house was through Finsbury Fields to the west of the western boundary-wall of the grounds of the dissolved Holywell Priory.
IN KATAM.[471] VIII.
Kate, being pleas'd, wish'd that her pleasure could
Endure as long as a buff-jerkin would.
Content thee, Kate; although thy pleasure wasteth,
Thy pleasure's place like a buff-jerkin lasteth,
For no buff-jerkin hath been oftener worn,
Nor hath more scrapings or more dressings borne.
FOOTNOTES:
[471] Not in MS.
IN LIBRUM. IX.
Liber doth vaunt how chastely he hath liv'd
Since he hath been in town, seven years[472] and more,
For that he swears he hath four only swiv'd,
A maid, a wife, a widow, and a whore:
Then, Liber, thou hast swiv'd all womenkind,
For a fifth sort, I know, thou canst not find.
FOOTNOTES:
[472] MS. "knowen this towne 7 yeares."
IN MEDONTEM. X.
Great Captain Medon wears a chain of gold
Which at five hundred crowns is valuèd,
For that it was his grandsire's chain of old,
When great King Henry Boulogne conquerèd.
And wear it, Medon, for it may ensue,
That thou, by virtue of this massy chain,
A stronger town than Boulogne mayst subdue,
If wise men's saws be not reputed vain;
For what said Philip, king of Macedon?
"There is no castle so well fortified,10
But if an ass laden with gold comes on,
The guard will stoop, and gates fly open wide."
IN GELAM. XI.
Gella, if thou dost love thyself, take heed
Lest thou my rhymes unto thy lover read;
For straight thou grinn'st, and then thy lover seeth
Thy canker-eaten gums and rotten teeth.
IN QUINTUM.[473] XII.
Quintus his wit, infus'd into his brain,
Mislikes the place, and fled into his feet;
And there it wanders up and down the street,[474]
Dabbled in the dirt, and soakèd in the rain.
Doubtless his wit intends not to aspire,
Which leaves his head, to travel in the mire.
FOOTNOTES:
[473] Not in MS.
[474] Old eds. "streets."
IN SEVERUM. XIII.
The puritan Severus oft doth read
This text, that doth pronounce vain speech a sin,—
"That thing defiles a man, that doth proceed
From out the mouth, not that which enters in."
Hence is it that we seldom hear him swear;
And therefore like a Pharisee, he vaunts:
But he devours more capons in a year
Than would suffice a hundred protestants.
And, sooth, those sectaries are gluttons all,
As well the thread-bare cobbler as the knight;10
For those poor slaves which have not wherewithal,
Feed on the rich, till they devour them quite;
And so, like Pharaoh's kine, they eat up clean
Those that be fat, yet still themselves be lean.
IN LEUCAM. XIV.[475]
Leuca in presence once a fart did let:
Some laugh'd a little; she forsook the place;
And, mad with shame, did eke her glove forget,
Which she return'd to fetch with bashful grace;
And when she would have said "this is[476] my glove,"
"My fart," quod she; which did more laughter move.
FOOTNOTES:
[475] Not in MS.
[476] So Isham copy.—Other eds. omit the words "this is."
IN MACRUM. XV.
Thou canst not speak yet, Macer; for to speak,
Is to distinguish sounds significant:
Thou with harsh noise the air dost rudely break;
But what thou utter'st common sense doth want,—
Half-English words, with fustian terms among,
Much like the burden of a northern song.
IN FAUSTUM. XVI.
"That youth," said Faustus, "hath a lion seen,
Who from a dicing-house comes moneyless."
But when he lost his hair, where had he been?
I doubt me, he[477] had seen a lioness.
FOOTNOTES:
[477] So MS. and eds. B, C. Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
IN COSMUM. XVII.
Cosmus hath more discoursing in his head
Than Jove when Pallas issu'd from his brain;
And still he strives to be deliverèd
Of all his thoughts at once; but all in vain;
For, as we see at all the playhouse-doors,
When ended is the play, the dance, and song,
A thousand townsmen, gentlemen, and whores,
Porters, and serving-men, together throng,—
So thoughts of drinking, thriving, wenching, war,
And borrowing money, ranging in his mind,10
To issue all at once so forward are,
As none at all can perfect passage find.
IN FLACCUM. XVIII.
The false knave Flaccus once a bribe I gave;
The more fool I to bribe so false a knave:
But he gave back my bribe; the more fool he,
That for my folly did not cozen me.
IN CINEAM. XIX.
Thou, doggèd Cineas, hated like a dog,
For still thou grumblest like a masty[478] dog,
Compar'st thyself to nothing but a dog;
Thou say'st thou art as weary as a dog,
As angry, sick, and hungry as a dog,
As dull and melancholy as a dog,
As lazy, sleepy, idle[479] as a dog.
But why dost thou compare thee to a dog
In that for which all men despise a dog?
I will compare thee better to a dog;10
Thou art as fair and comely as a dog,
Thou art as true and honest as a dog,
Thou art as kind and liberal as a dog,
Thou art as wise and valiant as a dog.
But, Cineas, I have often[480] heard thee tell,
Thou art as like thy father as may be:
'Tis like enough; and, faith, I like it well;
But I am glad thou art not like to me.
FOOTNOTES:
[478] Mastiff.
[479] So Isham copy and MS.—Eds. A, B, C "and as idle."
[480] So MS.—Isham copy and ed. A "oft."
IN GERONTEM.[481] XX.
Geron, whose[482] mouldy memory corrects
Old Holinshed our famous chronicler
With moral rules, and policy collects
Out of all actions done these fourscore year;
Accounts the time of every odd[483] event,
Not from Christ's birth, nor from the prince's reign,
But from some other famous accident,
Which in men's general notice doth remain,—
The siege of Boulogne,[484] and the plaguy sweat,[485]
The going to Saint Quintin's[486] and New-Haven,[487]10
The rising[488] in the north, the frost so great,
That cart-wheel prints on Thamis' face were graven,[489]
The fall of money,[490] and burning of Paul's steeple,[491]
The blazing star,[492] and Spaniards' overthrow:[493]
By these events, notorious to the people,
He measures times, and things forepast doth show:
But most of all, he chiefly reckons by
A private chance,—the death of his curst[494] wife;
This is to him the dearest memory,
And th' happiest accident of all his life.20
FOOTNOTES:
[481] Not in MS.
[482] So Isham copy.—Omitted in ed. A.
[483] So Isham copy.—Eds. A, B, C "old."
[484] Boulogne was captured by Henry VIII. in 1544.
[485] The reference probably is to the visitation of 1551.
[486] In 1557 an English corps under the Earl of Pembroke took part in the war against France. "The English did not share in the glory of the battle, for they were not present; but they arrived two days after to take part in the storming of St. Quentin, and to share, to their shame, in the sack and spoiling of the town."—Froude, VI. 52.
[487] Havre.—The expedition was despatched in 1562.
[488] Led by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland in 1569.
[489] The reference is to the frost of 1564.—"There was one great frost in England in our memory, and that was in the 7th year of Queen Elizabeth: which began upon the 21st of December and held in so extremely that, upon New Year's eve following, people in multitudes went upon the Thames from London Bridge to Westminster; some, as you tell me, sir, they do now—playing at football, others shooting at pricks."—"The Great Frost," 1608 (Arber's "English Garner," Vol. I.)
[490] "This yeare [1560] in the end of September the copper monies which had been coyned under King Henry the Eight and once before abased by King Edward the Sixth, were again brought to a lower valuacion."—Hayward's Annals of Queen Elizabeth, p. 73.
[491] On the 4th June 1561, the steeple of St. Paul's was struck by lightning.
[492] "On the 10th of October (some say on the 7th) appeared a blazing star in the north, bushing towards the east, which was nightly seen diminishing of his brightness until the 21st of the same month."—Stow's Annales, under the year 1580 (ed. 1615, p. 687).
[493] The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.
[494] Vixenish.
IN MARCUM. XXI.
When Marcus comes from Mins',[495] he still doth swear,
By "come[496] on seven," that all is lost and gone:
But that's not true; for he hath lost his hair,
Only for that he came too much on[497] one.
FOOTNOTES:
[495] Dyce conjectures that this was the name of some person who kept an ordinary where gaming was practised. (MS. "for newes.")
[496] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A "a seaven."
[497] So MS. with some eccentricities of spelling ("to much one one").—Old eds. "at."
IN CYPRIUM. XXII.
The fine youth Cyprius is more terse and neat
Than the new garden of the Old Temple is;
And still the newest fashion he doth get,
And with the time doth change from that to this;
He wears a hat now of the flat-crown block,[498]
The treble ruff,[499] long coat, and doublet French:
He takes tobacco, and doth wear a lock,[500]
And wastes more time in dressing than a wench.
Yet this new-fangled youth, made for these times,
Doth, above all, praise old George[501] Gascoigne's rhymes.[502]10
FOOTNOTES:
[498] Shape or fashion; properly the wooden mould on which the crown of a hat is shaped.
[499] So MS.—Old eds. "ruffes."
[500] Love-lock; a lock of hair hanging down the shoulder in the left side. It was usually plaited with ribands.
[501] So MS. and eds. B, C.—Not in Isham copy or ed. A.
[502] Gascoigne's "rhymes" have been edited in two thick volumes by Mr. Carew Hazlitt. He died on 7th October 1577. In Gabriel Harvey's Letter Book (recently edited by Mr. Edward Scott for the Camden Society) there are some elegies on him.
IN CINEAM. XXIII.
When Cineas comes amongst his friends in morning,
He slyly looks[503] who first his cap doth move:
Him he salutes, the rest so grimly scorning,
As if for ever they had lost his love.
I, knowing how it doth the humour fit
Of this fond gull to be saluted first,
Catch at my cap, but move it not a whit:
Which he perceiving,[504] seems for spite to burst.
But, Cineas, why expect you more of me
Than I of you? I am as good a man,10
And better too by many a quality,
For vault, and dance, and fence, and rhyme I can:
You keep a whore at your own charge, men tell me;
Indeed, friend Cineas, therein you excel me.[505]
FOOTNOTES:
[503] So Isham copy and ed. A.—Eds. B, C "spies."—MS. "notes."
[504] So the MS.—Isham copy and ed. A "Which perceiving he."—Eds. B, C "Which to perceiving he."
[505] The MS. adds—
"You keepe a whore att your [own] charge in towne;
Indeede, frend Ceneas, there you put me downe."
IN GALLUM. XXIV.
Gallus hath been this summer-time in Friesland,
And now, return'd, he speaks such warlike words,
As, if I could their English understand,
I fear me they would cut my throat like swords;
He talks of counter-scarfs,[506] and casamates,[507]
Of parapets, curtains, and palisadoes;[508]
Of flankers, ravelins, gabions he prates,
And of false-brays,[509] and sallies, and scaladoes.[510]
But, to requite such gulling terms as these,
With words to my profession I reply;10
I tell of fourching, vouchers, and counterpleas,
Of withernams, essoins, and champarty.
So, neither of us understanding either,
We part as wise as when we came together.
FOOTNOTES:
[506] Counter-scarps.
[507] Old eds. "Casomates."
[508] Old eds. "Of parapets, of curteneys, and pallizadois."—MS. "Of parapelets, curtens and passadoes."—Cunningham prints "Of curtains, parapets," &c.
[509] "A term in fortification, exactly from the French fausse-braie, which means, say the dictionaries, a counter-breast-work, or, in fact, a mound thrown up to mask some part of the works.
'And made those strange approaches by false-brays,
Reduits, half-moons, horn-works, and such close ways.'
B. Jons. Underwoods."—Nares.
[510] Dyce points out that this passage is imitated in Fitzgeoffrey's Notes from Black-Fryers, Sig. E. 7, ed. 1620.
IN DECIUM.[511] XXV.
Audacious painters have Nine Worthies made;
But poet Decius, more audacious far,
Making his mistress march with men of war,
With title of "Tenth Worthy" doth her lade.
Methinks that gull did use his terms as fit,
Which term'd his love "a giant for her wit."
FOOTNOTES:
[511] In this epigram, as Dyce showed, Davies is glancing at a sonnet of Drayton's "To the Celestiall Numbers" in Idea. Jonson told Drummond that "S. J. Davies played in ane Epigrame on Draton's, who in a sonnet concluded his mistress might been the Ninth [sic] Worthy; and said he used a phrase like Dametas in Arcadia, who said, For wit his Mistresse might be a Gyant."—Notes of Ben Jonson's Conversations with Drummond, p. 15. (ed. Shakesp. Soc.)
IN GELLAM. XXVI.
If Gella's beauty be examinèd,
She hath a dull dead eye, a saddle nose,
An ill-shap'd face, with morphew overspread,
And rotten teeth, which she in laughing shows;
Briefly, she is the filthiest wench in town,
Of all that do the art of whoring use:
But when she hath put on her satin gown,
Her cut[512] lawn apron, and her velvet shoes,
Her green silk stockings, and her petticoat
Of taffeta, with golden fringe around,10
And is withal perfum'd with civet hot,
Which doth her valiant stinking breath confound,—
Yet she with these additions is no more
Than a sweet, filthy, fine, ill-favour'd whore.
FOOTNOTES:
[512] So MS.—Old eds. "out."
IN SYLLAM. XXVII.
Sylla is often challeng'd to the field,
To answer, like a gentleman, his foes:
But then doth he this[513] only answer yield,
That he hath livings and fair lands to lose.
Sylla, if none but beggars valiant were,
The king of Spain would put us all in fear.
FOOTNOTES:
[513] So Isham copy.—Ed. A "when doth he his."
IN SYLLAM. XXVIII.
Who dares affirm that Sylla dare not fight?
When I dare swear he dares adventure more
Than the most brave and most[514] all-daring wight
That ever arms with resolution bore;
He that dare touch the most unwholesome whore
That ever was retir'd into the spittle,
And dares court wenches standing at a door
(The portion of his wit being passing little);
He that dares give his dearest friends offences,
Which other valiant fools do fear to do,10
And, when a fever doth confound his senses,
Dare eat raw beef, and drink strong wine thereto:
He that dares take tobacco on the stage,[515]
Dares man a whore at noon-day through the street,
Dares dance in Paul's, and in this formal age
Dares say and do whatever is unmeet;
Whom fear of shame could never yet affright,
Who dares affirm that Sylla dares not fight?
FOOTNOTES:
[514] So Isham copy.—Ed. A "most brave, most all daring."—Eds. B, C "most brave and all daring."—MS. "most valiant and all-daring."
[515] There are frequent allusions to this practice. Cf. Induction to Cynthia's Revels:—"I have my three sorts of tobacco in my pocket; my light by me."
IN HEYWODUM. XXIX.
Heywood,[516] that did in epigrams excel,
Is now put down since my light Muse arose;[517]
As buckets are put down into a well,
Or as a schoolboy putteth down his hose.
FOOTNOTES:
[516] John Heywood, the well-known epigrammatist and interlude-writer. His Proverbs were edited in 1874, with a pleasantly-written Introduction and useful notes, by Mr. Julian Sharman.
[517] Dyce refers to a passage of Sir John Harington's Metamorphosis of Ajax, 1596:—"This Haywood for his proverbs and epigrams is not yet put down by any of our country, though one [marginal note, M. Davies] doth indeed come near him, that graces him the more in saying he puts him down." He quotes also from Bastard's Chrestoleros, 1598 (Lib. ii. Ep. 15); Lib. iii. Ep. 3, and Freeman's Rubbe and a Great Cast ( Pt. ii., Ep. 100), allusions to the present epigram.
IN DACUM.[518] XXX.
Amongst the poets Dacus number'd is,
Yet could he never make an English rhyme:
But some prose speeches I have heard of his,
Which have been spoken many a hundred time;
The man that keeps the elephant hath one,
Wherein he tells the wonders of the beast;
Another Banks pronouncèd long agone,
When he his curtal's[519] qualities express'd:
He first taught him that keeps the monuments
At Westminster, his formal tale to say,10
And also him which puppets represents,
And also him which with the ape doth play.
Though all his poetry be like to this,
Amongst the poets Dacus number'd is.
FOOTNOTES:
[518] Samuel Daniel. See Ep. xlv.
[519] All the information about Banks' wonderful horse Moroccus ("the little horse that ambled on the top of Paul's") is collected in Mr. Halliwell-Phillips' Memoranda on Love's Labour Lost.
IN PRISCUM. XXXI.
When Priscus, rais'd from low to high estate,
Rode through the street in pompous jollity,
Caius, his poor familiar friend of late,
Bespake him thus, "Sir, now you know not me,"
"'Tis likely, friend," quoth Priscus, "to be so,
For at this time myself I do not know."
IN BRUNUM. XXXII.
Brunus, which deems[520] himself a fair sweet youth,
Is nine and thirty[521] year of age at least;
Yet was he never, to confess the truth,
But a dry starveling when he was at best.
This gull was sick to show his nightcap fine,
And his wrought pillow overspread with lawn;
But hath been well since his grief's cause hath line[522]
At Trollop's by Saint Clement's Church in pawn.
FOOTNOTES:
[520] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy and ed. A "thinks."
[521] Old eds. "thirtie nine." MS. "nine and thirtith."
[522] Lain.
IN FRANCUM. XXXIII.
When Francus comes to solace with his whore,
He sends for rods, and strips himself stark naked;
For his lust sleeps, and will not rise before,
By whipping of the wench, it be awakèd.
I envy him not, but wish I[523] had the power
To make myself his wench but one half-hour.
FOOTNOTES:
[523] So Isham copy.—Ed. A "he."
IN CASTOREM. XXXIV.
Of speaking well why do we learn the skill,
Hoping thereby honour and wealth to gain?
Sith railing Castor doth, by speaking ill,
Opinion of much wit, and gold obtain.
IN SEPTIMIUM. XXXV.
Septimius[524] lives, and is like garlic seen,
For though his head be white, his blade is green.
This old mad colt deserves a martyr's praise,
For he was burnèd[525] in Queen Mary's days.
FOOTNOTES:
[524] So ed. B.—Isham copy, ed. A, and MS. "Septimus."
[525] "Burn" is often used with an indelicate double entendre. Cf. Lear iii. 2, "No heretics burned but wenchers' suitors;" Troilus and Cressida, v. 2, "A burning devil take them."
OF TOBACCO. XXXVI.
Homer of Moly and Nepenthe sings;
Moly, the gods' most sovereign herb divine,
Nepenthe, Helen's[526] drink, which gladness brings,
Heart's grief expels, and doth the wit refine.
But this our age another world hath found,
From whence an herb of heavenly power is brought;
Moly is not so sovereign for a wound,
Nor hath nepenthe so great wonders wrought.
It is tobacco, whose sweet subtle[527] fume
The hellish torment of the teeth doth ease,10
By drawing down and drying up the rheum,
The mother and the nurse of each disease;
It is tobacco, which doth cold expel,
And clears th' obstructions of the arteries,
And surfeits threatening death digesteth well,
Decocting all the stomach's crudities;[528]
It is tobacco, which hath power to clarify
The cloudy mists before dim eyes appearing;
It is tobacco, which hath power to rarify
The thick gross humour which doth stop the hearing;20
The wasting hectic, and the quartan fever,
Which doth of physic make a mockery,
The gout it cures, and helps ill breaths for ever,
Whether the cause in teeth or stomach be;
And though ill breaths were by it but confounded,
Yet that vild[529] medicine it doth far excel,
Which by Sir Thomas More[530] hath been propounded,
For this is thought a gentleman-like smell.
O, that I were one of these mountebanks
Which praise their oils and powders which they sell!30
My customers would give me coin with thanks;
I for this ware, forsooth,[531] a tale would tell:
Yet would I use none of these terms before;
I would but say, that it the pox will cure;
This were enough, without discoursing more,
All our brave gallants in the town t'allure.
FOOTNOTES:
[526] Isham copy, "Heuens;" and eds. B, C "Heauens."—MS. "helevs."—Davies alludes to Odyssey iv., 219, &c.
[527] So MS.—Old eds. "substantiall."
[528] We are reminded of Bobadil's encomium of tobacco:—"I could say what I know of the virtue of it, for the expulsion of rheums, raw humours, crudities, obstructions, with a thousand of this kind; but I profess myself no quacksalver. Only this much: by Hercules I do hold it and will affirm it before any prince in Europe to be the most sovereign and precious weed that ever the earth tendered to the use of man."
[529] So MS.—Not in old eds.
[530] Dyce quotes from More's Lucubrationes (ed. 1563, p. 261), an epigram headed "Medicinæ ad tollendos fœtores anhelitus, provenientes a cibis quibusdam."
[531] So eds. A, B, C.—Isham copy "so smooth."—MS. "so faire."
IN CRASSUM. XXXVII.
Crassus his lies are no[532] pernicious lies,
But pleasant fictions, hurtful unto none
But to himself; for no man counts him wise
To tell for truth that which for false is known.
He swears that Gaunt[533] is three-score miles about,
And that the bridge at Paris[534] on the Seine
Is of such thickness, length, and breadth throughout,
That six-score arches can it scarce sustain;
He swears he saw so great a dead man's skull
At Canterbury digg'd out of the ground,10
As[535] would contain of wheat three bushels full;
And that in Kent are twenty yeomen found,
Of which the poorest every year[536] dispends
Five thousand pound: these and five thousand mo
So oft he hath recited to his friends,
That now himself persuades himself 'tis so.
But why doth Crassus tell his lies so rife,
Of bridges, towns, and things that have no life?
He is a lawyer, and doth well espy
That for such lies an action will not lie.20
FOOTNOTES:
[532] So MS.—Eds. "not."
[533] Ghent.
[534] The reference probably is to the Pont Neuf, begun by Henry III. and finished by Henry IV.
[535] So MS.—Old eds. "That."
[536] MS. "day!"
IN PHILONEM. XXXVIII.
Philo, the lawyer,[537] and the fortune-teller,
The school-master, the midwife,[538] and the bawd,
The conjurer, the buyer and the seller
Of painting which with breathing will be thaw'd,
Doth practise physic; and his credit grows,
As doth the ballad-singer's auditory,
Which hath at Temple-Bar his standing chose,
And to the vulgar sings an ale-house story:
First stands a porter; then an oyster-wife
Doth stint her cry and stay her steps to hear him;10
Then comes a cutpurse ready with his[539] knife,
And then a country client presseth[540] near him;
There stands the constable, there stands the whore,
And, hearkening[541] to the song, mark[542] not each other;
There by the serjeant stands the debitor,[543]
And doth no more mistrust him than his brother:
This[544] Orpheus to such hearers giveth music,
And Philo to such patients giveth physic.
FOOTNOTES:
[537] Isham copy and MS. "gentleman."
[538] MS. "widdow."
[539] So Isham copy and MS.—Other eds. "a."
[540] So Isham copy.—Other eds. "passeth."—MS. "presses."
[541] So Isham copy, ed. A, and MS.—Eds. B, C "listening."
[542] So Isham copy, ed. A, and MS.—Eds. B, C "heed."
[543] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy, MS., and ed. A, "debtor poor."—With the foregoing description of the "ballad-singer's auditory" compare Wordsworth's lines On the power of Music, and Vincent Bourne's charming Latin verses (entitled Cantatrices) on the Ballad Singers of the Seven Dials.
[544] So MS.—Eds. "Thus."
IN FUSCUM. XXXIX.
Fuscus is free, and hath the world at will;
Yet, in the course of life that he doth lead,
He's like a horse which, turning round a mill,
Doth always in the self-same circle tread:
First, he doth rise at ten;[545] and at eleven
He goes to Gill's, where he doth eat till one;
Then sees a play till six;[546] and sups at seven;
And, after supper, straight to bed is gone;
And there till ten next day he doth remain;
And then he dines; then sees a comedy;10
And then he sups, and goes to bed again:
Thus round he runs without variety,
Save that sometimes he comes not to the play,
But falls into a whore-house by the way.
FOOTNOTES:
[545] Cf. a somewhat similar description in Guilpin's Skialetheia (Ep. 25):—
"My lord most court-like lies abed till noon,
Then all high-stomacht riseth to his dinner;
Falls straight to dice before his meat be down,
Or to digest walks to some female sinner;
Perhaps fore-tired he gets him to a play,
Comes home to supper and then falls to dice;
Then his devotion wakes till it be day,
And so to bed where unto noon he lies."
[546] If the play ended at six, it could hardly have begun before three. From numerous passages it appears that performances frequently began at three, or even later. Probably the curtain rose at one in the winter and three in the summer.
IN AFRUM. XL.
The smell-feast[547] Afer travels to the Burse
Twice every day, the flying news to hear;
Which, when he hath no money in his purse,
To rich men's tables he doth ever[548] bear.
He tells how Groni[n]gen[549] is taken in[550]
By the brave conduct of illustrious Vere,
And how the Spanish forces Brest would win,
But that they do victorious Norris[551] fear.
No sooner is a ship at sea surpris'd,
But straight he learns the news, and doth disclose it;
No[552] sooner hath the Turk a plot devis'd
To conquer Christendom, but straight he knows it.
Fair-written in a scroll he hath the names
Of all the widows which the plague hath made;
And persons, times, and places, still he frames
To every tale, the better to persuade.
We call him Fame, for that the wide-mouth slave
Will eat as fast as he will utter lies;20
For fame is said an hundred mouths to have,
And he eats more than would five-score suffice.
FOOTNOTES:
[547] This word is found in Chapman, Harrington, and others.
[548] So MS.—Old eds. "often."
[549] Groningen was taken by Maurice of Nassau. Vere was present at the siege.
[550] The expression "take in" (in the sense of "conquer, capture") is very common.
[551] An English expedition, under Sir John Norris, was sent to Brittany in 1594.
[552] This line and the next are found only in Isham copy and MS.
IN PAULUM. XLI.
By lawful mart, and by unlawful stealth,
Paulus, in spite of envy, fortunate,
Derives out of the ocean so much wealth,
As he may well maintain a lord's estate:
But on the land a little gulf there is,
Wherein he drowneth all this[553] wealth of his.
FOOTNOTES:
[553] So Isham copy—Eds. A, B, C "the."—MS. "ye."
IN LYCUM. XLII.
Lycus, which lately is to Venice gone,
Shall, if he do return, gain three for one;[554]
But, ten to one, his knowledge and his wit
Will not be better'd or increas'd a whit.
FOOTNOTES:
[554] When a person started on a long or dangerous voyage it was customary to deposit—or, as it was called, "put out"—a sum of money, on condition of receiving at his return a high rate of interest. If he failed to return the money was lost. There are frequent allusions in old authors to this practice.
IN PUBLIUM. XLIII.
Publius, a[555] student at the Common-Law,
Oft leaves his books, and, for his recreation,
To Paris-garden[556] doth himself withdraw;
Where he is ravish'd with such delectation,
As down amongst the bears and dogs he goes;
Where, whilst he skipping cries, "To head, to head,"[557]
His satin doublet and his velvet hose
Are all with spittle from above be-spread;
Then is he like his father's country hall,
Stinking of dogs, and muted[558] all with hawks;10
And rightly too on him this filth doth fall,
Which for such filthy sports his books forsakes,
Leaving old Ployden, Dyer, and Brooke alone,
To see old Harry Hunkes and Sacarson.[559]
FOOTNOTES:
[555] So MS.—Not in old eds.
[556] The Bear-Garden in the Bankside, Southwark.
[557] In Titus Andronicus, v. 1, we have the expression "to fight at head" ("As true a dog as ever fought at head"). "To fly at the head" was equivalent to "attack;" and in Nares' Glossary (ed. Halliwell) the expression "run on head," in the sense of incite, is quoted from Heywood's Spider and Flie, 1556.
[558] Covered with hawks' dung.
[559] "Harry Hunkes" and "Sacarson" were the names of two famous bears (probably named after their keepers). Slender boasted to Anne Page, "I have seen Sackarson loose twenty times and have taken him by the chain."
IN SYLLAM. XLIV.
When I this proposition had defended,
"A coward cannot be an honest man,"
Thou, Sylla, seem'st forthwith to be offended,
And hold'st[560] the contrary, and swear'st[561] he can.
But when I tell thee that he will forsake
His dearest friend in peril of his life,
Thou then art chang'd, and say'st thou didst mistake;
And so we end our argument and strife:
Yet I think oft, and think I think aright,
Thy argument argues thou wilt not fight.10
FOOTNOTES:
[560] So MS.—Old eds. "holds."
[561] So MS.—Old eds. "swears."
IN DACUM. XLV.
Dacus,[562] with some good colour and pretence,
Terms his love's beauty "silent eloquence;"
For she doth lay more colours on her face
Than ever Tully us'd his speech to grace.
FOOTNOTES:
[562] Dyce shows that Samuel Daniel is meant by Dacus (who has already been ridiculed in Ep. xxx.). In Daniel's Complaint of Rosamond (1592) are the lines:—
"Ah, beauty, syren, faire enchanting good,
Sweet silent rhetorique of perswading eyes,
Dumb eloquence, whose power doth move the blood
More than the words or wisedome of the wise," &c.
Perhaps there is an allusion to this epigram in Marston's fourth satire:—
"What, shall not Rosamond or Gaveston
Ope their sweet lips without detraction?
But must our modern critticks envious eye
Seeme thus to quote some grosse deformity,
Where art not error shineth in their stile,
But error and no art doth thee beguile?"
IN MARCUM. XLVI.
Why dost thou, Marcus, in thy misery
Rail and blaspheme, and call the heavens unkind?
The heavens do owe[563] no kindness unto thee,
Thou hast the heavens so little in thy mind;
For in thy life thou never usest prayer
But at primero, to encounter fair.
FOOTNOTES:
[563] So eds. B, C.—Ed. A "draw" (Epigram xlv.-xlviii. are not in the MS.)
MEDITATIONS OF A GULL. XLVII.
See, yonder melancholy gentleman,
Which, hood-wink'd with his hat, alone doth sit!
Think what he thinks, and tell me, if you can,
What great affairs trouble his little wit.
He thinks not of the war 'twixt France and Spain,[564]
Whether it be for Europe's good or ill,
Nor whether the Empire can itself maintain
Against the Turkish power encroaching still;[565]
Nor what great town in all the Netherlands
The States determine to besiege this spring,10
Nor how the Scottish policy now stands,
Nor what becomes of the Irish mutining.[566]
But he doth seriously bethink him whether
Of the gull'd people he be more esteem'd
For his long cloak or for[567] his great black feather
By which each gull is now a gallant deem'd;
Or of a journey he deliberates
To Paris-garden, Cock-pit, or the play;
Or how to steal a dog he meditates,
Or what he shall unto his mistress say.
Yet with these thoughts he thinks himself most fit
To be of counsel with a king for wit.
FOOTNOTES:
[564] Ended in 1598 by the peace of Vervins.
[565] The war between Austria and Turkey was brought to a close in 1606.
[566] A reference to Tyrone's insurrection, 1595-1602.
[567] So Isham copy.—Not in other eds.
AD MUSAM. XLVIII.
Peace, idle Muse, have done! for it is time,
Since lousy Ponticus envies my fame,
And swears the better sort are much to blame
To make me so well known for my ill rhyme.
Yet Banks his horse[568] is better known than he;
So are the camels and the western hog,
And so is Lepidus his printed dog[569]:
Why doth not Ponticus their fames envy?
Besides, this Muse of mine and the black feather
Grew both together fresh in estimation;10
And both, grown stale, were cast away together:
What fame is this that scarce lasts out a fashion?
Only this last in credit doth remain,
That from henceforth each bastard cast-forth rhyme,
Which doth but savour of a libel vein,
Shall call me father, and be thought my crime;
So dull, and with so little sense endued,
Is my gross-headed judge the multitude.
J. D.
FOOTNOTES:
[569] Dyce points out that by Lepidus is meant Sir John Harington, whose dog Bungey is represented in a compartment of the engraved title-page of the translation of Orlando Furioso, 1591. In his epigrams (Book III. Ep. 21) Harington refers to this epigram of Davies, and expresses himself greatly pleased at the compliment paid to his dog.
IGNOTO.
I[570] love thee not for sacred chastity,—
Who loves for that?—nor for thy sprightly wit;
I love thee not for thy sweet modesty,
Which makes thee in perfection's throne to sit;
I love thee not for thy enchanting eye,
Thy beauty['s] ravishing perfection;
I love thee not for unchaste luxury,
Nor for thy body's fair proportion;
I love thee not for that my soul doth dance
And leap with pleasure, when those lips of thine
Give musical and graceful utterance
To some (by thee made happy) poet's line;
I love thee not for voice or slender small:
But wilt thou know wherefore? fair sweet, for all.
Faith, wench, I cannot court thy sprightly eyes,
With the base-viol plac'd between my thighs;
I cannot lisp, nor to some fiddle sing,
Nor run upon a high-stretch'd minikin;
I cannot whine in puling elegies,
Entombing Cupid with sad obsequies;
I am not fashion'd for these amorous times,
To court thy beauty with lascivious rhymes;
I cannot dally, caper, dance, and sing,
Oiling my saint with supple sonneting;
I cannot cross my arms, or sigh "Ay me,
Ay me, forlorn!" egregious foppery!
I cannot buss thy fist,[571] play with thy hair,
Swearing by Jove, "thou art most debonair!"
Not I, by cock! but [I] shall tell thee roundly,—
Hark in thine ear,—zounds, I can (——) thee soundly.
Sweet wench, I love thee: yet I will not sue,
Or show my love as musky courtiers do;
I'll not carouse a health to honour thee,
In this same bezzling[572] drunken courtesy,
And, when all's quaff'd, eat up my bousing-glass[573]
In glory that I am thy servile ass;
Nor will I wear a rotten Bourbon lock,[574]
As some sworn peasant to a female smock.
Well-featur'd lass, thou know'st I love thee dear:
Yet for thy sake I will not bore mine ear,
To hang thy dirty silken shoe-tires there;
Nor for thy love will I once gnash a brick,
Or some pied colours in my bonnet stick:[575]
But, by the chaps of hell, to do thee good,
I'll freely spend my thrice-decocted blood.
FOOTNOTES:
[570] This sonnet and the two following pieces are only found in Isham copy and ed. A.
[571] So Isham copy.—Ed. A "fill."
[572] Tippling.
[573] "Bouse" was a cant term for "drink."
[575] It was a common practice for gallants to wear their mistresses' garters in their hats.
THE FIRST BOOK OF LUCAN.
Lucans First Booke Translated Line for Line, By Chr. Marlow. At London, the Flower de Luce in Paules Churchyard, 1600, 4to.
This is the only early edition. The title-page of the 1600 4to. of Hero and Leander has the words, "Whereunto is added the first booke of Lucan;" but the two pieces are not found in conjunction.
TO HIS KIND AND TRUE FRIEND, EDWARD BLUNT.[576]
Blunt,[577] I propose to be blunt with you, and, out of my dulness, to encounter you with a Dedication in memory of that pure elemental wit, Chr. Marlowe, whose ghost or genius is to be seen walk the Churchyard,[578] in, at the least, three or four sheets. Methinks you should presently look wild now, and grow humorously frantic upon the taste of it. Well, lest you should, let me tell you, this spirit was sometime a familiar of your own, Lucan's First Book translated; which, in regard of your old right in it, I have raised in the circle of your patronage. But stay now, Edward: if I mistake not, you are to accommodate yourself with some few instructions, touching the property of a patron, that you are not yet possessed of; and to study them for your better grace, as our gallants do fashions. First, you must be proud, and think you have merit enough in you, though you are ne'er so empty; then, when I bring you the book, take physic, and keep state; assign me a time by your man to come again; and, afore the day, be sure to have changed your lodging; in the meantime sleep little, and sweat with the invention of some pitiful dry jest or two, which you may happen to utter with some little, or not at all, marking of your friends, when you have found a place for them to come in at; or, if by chance something has dropped from you worth the taking up, weary all that come to you with the often repetition of it; censure, scornfully enough, and somewhat like a traveller; commend nothing, lest you discredit your (that which you would seem to have) judgment. These things, if you can mould yourself to them, Ned, I make no question that they will not become you. One special virtue in our patrons of these days I have promised myself you shall fit excellently, which is, to give nothing; yes, thy love I will challenge as my peculiar object, both in this, and, I hope, many more succeeding offices. Farewell: I affect not the world should measure my thoughts to thee by a scale of this nature: leave to think good of me when I fall from thee.
Thine in all rights of perfect friendship,
THOMAS THORPE.
FOOTNOTES:
[576] A well-known bookseller.
[577] Old ed. "Blount."
[578] Paul's churchyard, the Elizabethan "Booksellers' Row."