Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	let_v	life_n	soul_n	9,147	5	4.9888	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02122	Gvvydonius The carde of fancie wherein the folly of those carpet knights is decyphered, which guyding their course by the compasse of Cupid, either dash their ship against most daungerous rocks, or els attaine the hauen with paine and perill. Wherein also is described in the person of Gwydonius, a cruell combat betvveene nature and necessitie. By Robert Greene Master of Arte, in Cambridge.	Greene, Robert, 1558?-1592.; Labé, Louise, 1526?-1566. Debat de folie et d'amour.	1584 (1584)	STC 12262; ESTC S105817	96,964	176

assure my selfe though my person and parentage my birth and bringing vp be farre vnfitte for such a mate yet you would déeme my loue and loyaltie to deserue no lesse Loialtie I call it madame for as all things are not made of one mould so all men are not of one minde as the Serpentine po●der is quickly kindled and quickly out so the Salamander stone once set on fire canne neuer be quenched as the soft Waxe is apt to receiue euerie impression so the hard mettall neuer chaungeth forme without melting Iason was neuer so trouthlesse as Troilus was trustie Paris was neuer more fickle then Pyramus was faythfull Aeneas was neuer so lyght as Leander was faythfull And sure Madame I call the Gods to witnesse I speake without faining that sith your beautie and vertue eyther by fate or fortune is so déepely shrined in my heart if it please you to accept me for your slaue or seruaunt and admitte mee so farre into your fauour as that I may fréely inioy the sight of your sweete face and féede my fancie in the contemplation of your beautie in liewe thereof I will repaie such duetifull seruice as the betrothed fayth of Erasta to his Persida shall not compare with the loue of Valericus and Castania CAstania hearing these perplexed passions procéede from wofull Valericus pricked forwarde to take some remorse of his tormentes felte within her minde a carefull conflict betwéene fancie and the fates loue and the destinies fancie perswaded her to take pittie of his pai●es the fates forced her to giue him the repulse Loue wisht her to retourne his good will with gayne the destinyes draue her to denie his request tossed thus with contrarie cogitations at last she burst forth into these doubtfull spéeches VAlericus as I am not altogether to reward thy good will with hate so I cannot repaie it with loue because fancie denies me to like to marie I meane not to retaine seruaunts I may not Marie to let thée either to loue or looke take this for an aunswere I neither can nor will And with that shée went her waie leauing Valericus greatlye daunted with this doubtfull aunswere with feare and hope so fiercely assailed that béeing lefte alone hée beganne thus to consider of his amorous conceites IF euer wofull creature had cause to complaine his wofull case then vndoubtedly maye I preace for the formost place for there is no sorrow more sower no torment more terrible no griefe more grieuous no heauynesse more hurtfull then to haue desire requited with despight and good wyll with hate then to like vppon hope of courtesie and to finde nothing but hate and hellish crueltie Alasse poore Valericus is thy true loue thus triflinglye accounted off is this the guerdon for thy good wyll Doeth thy déepe desire merite no better desert then hast thou no choice but eyther to dye desperatelye or else to liue loathsomelye Why fonde foole doest thou count her cruell that at the first giues not a frée consent Doest thou thinke her coye that commeth not at the first call wouldest thou haue the match made at the first motion Shée that is wonne with a worde wyll bée lost with a Winde the Hawke that bates at euerie cast of the Lure wyll neuer bée steadfast on the stonde the woman that frameth her wyll to euerie wishe will prooue but a wild wanton No no Valericus let not her denials daunt thée let not the sower tast of her talke quat thy queasie stomacke conster all thinges at the best though her censure was verie seuere yet shée knitte vppe her talke wyth a courteous close The hound which at the first default giueth ouer the chase is called but a curre The Knight that finding the first encounter combersome giueth ouer the quest is counted but a coward and the louer that at the first deniall is daunted with despaire is neyther worthie to obtaine his desire nor inioy his desert And with that hée floung out of his Chamber both to auoyde the melancholy which tormented his minde and sée if hée coulde haue a sight of his Goddesse But Castania altogether vnwilling to parle wyth her newe patient kept her selfe out of his sight which Valericus espying was no whit amazed but lyke a valiaunt Souldier gaue the fort a fresh assault with a new kinde of batterie séeking to obtaine that with writing which he could not gaine with words and therefore speedely framed a letter to this effect Signor Valericus to the Ladie Castania health THere is no creature madame Castania so bereaued of reason or depriued of sence which béeing oppressed with direfull calamities findeth not by méere instinct of nature a present medicine for his maladie man onelye excepted who by reason of this want maye iustlye accuse the iniurious Gods of iniustice The Tyger though neuer so deadly wounded tasteth the roote of Tamariske and is presently cured The Deare béeing stroken though neuer so déepe féedeth on the hearbe Dictamum and forthwith is healed the Lyon salueth his sicknesse by eating the Sea woolfe and the Unicorne recouereth his health by swallowing vp the buddes of a Date tree But man béeing crossed with care or oppressed wyth griefe pinched with fancie or perplexed with Loue findeth no Hearbe so wholesome no medicine so milde no Playster so perfect nor no Salue so soueraigne which by their secret vertues can appease his passions Which madame I knowe by proofe and nowe speake by experience for your diuine beautie and secrete vertue the perfection of your bodie and the bountie of your minde hath kindled such a flaming fire in my haplesse heart that by no meanes it maye bée quenched but will tourne my bodie into dry earth and sinders vnlesse by the drops of your pittie it be spéedelye redressed Then Madame your beautie is my bale let it bée my blisse since it hath wrought my woe let it worke my weale and let not my faithfull seruice and loiall loue be recompenced with such rigorous refusalls Striue not for my lyfe since you haue my lybertie séeke not my death since you are the Saint to whome I offer vp my deuotion But good madame let the swéete Balme of your beneuolence salue the sore which so painefully afflicteth my carefull conscience and with the deaw of your grace redéeme him from most hellish miserie whose lyfe and death standeth in your aunswere which I hope shall be such as belongeth to the desert of my loue and the shewe of your beautie Yours if he be Don Valericus VAlericus hauing thus finished his letter sent it with as much spéede as might be by his Page to Castania who finding her at conuenient leasure with most reuerent dutie deliuered it Castania at the first sight coniecturing the contents with scorneful lookes and disdainfull countenaunce vnripped the seales where séeing and reading his déep deuotion she perceiued that his affection was no lesse in déede than hée professed in word she notwithstanding would take no remorce of his torment

and Fortune fauoureth them that are bold that the Gods themselues séeing my perplexed passions would of pittie defend me from those perillous daungers For if Theseus by Diuine power were ayded against the force of the monstrous Minotaure or if Iason who constrained with a couetous desire to obtaine the golden Fléece arryuing at Colchos was preserued by the Gods from the dint of the deadly Dragons no doubt Iupiter himselfe woulde either haue made the staggering bridge more strong cōsidering that no hope of wealth no desire of riches no gréedinesse of gaine no loue of lucre but beautie her selfe was the victorie I meant to vaunt of or els if I hadde sowsed in the roaring Seas hée woulde haue prouided some happie Dolphin that Arion lyke I might arriue at the desired Rocke and then my daungers should haue bene tourned into delight my perilles into pleasures my hazarding into happinesse yea I should haue possessed that heauenly paragon and enioyed the loue of that louelye Venus whose onelye sight were a sufficient salue against all fore-passed sorrowes Staye there Master Gwydonius quoth the Ladye Melytta for I sée to graunt one false proposition is to open a doore to innumerable absurdities and that by suffering you too long of these supposed premisses you wil inferre some cauillyng conclusion to your former reasons thus I replye That I confesse necessitie to haue no lawe but I graunt not the same of Loue for if it be lawlesse it is leawde if without lymittes lasciuious if contayned within no boundes beastlye if obserued with no order odious so that lawlesse Loue without reason is the verye Load-stone to ruth and ruine Sith then Master Gwydonius as your selfe affirme this was the pricke that pusht you into perill how can the effect be good when the cause was naught or howe can you clearkly defend your desperate motion procéeding of such a fonde and foolish occasion But it was the perfection of her comelye person her exquisite feature and rare beautie that so kindled thy desire and so bewitched thy sences for who is so fearefull that beautie will not make bolde who so doubtfull that beautie wil not make desperate yea what so harde that a man will not hazarde to obtayne so diuine a thyng as beautie Oh Gwydonius hast thou not hearde the Fish Remora lystening to the sounde of a Trumpet is caught of the Fishers that while the Porcupine standeth staring at the glymmering of the starres hée is ouer-taken with dogges that the Deare gazing at the bowe is striken with the bolte that the Leoparde looking at the Panthers paynted skinne is taken as a praye and that he which taketh too much delyght to gaze vpon beautie is oftentimes galled with griefe and miserie Yea his pleasure shall inferre such profite and his good wil such gayne as if he reapte the beautifull apples of Tantalus which are no sooner toucht but they tourne to ashes Beautie Gwydonius no sooner flourisheth but it fadeth and it is not fullye ripe before it beginne to rot it no sooner blossometh but it withereth and scarcelye béeing toucht it stayneth lyke to the Guyacum leafe that hath the one halfe parched before the other halfe be perfect to the Birde Acanthis which hatched white yet tourneth blacke at the first storme or lyke to the Stone Astites that chaungeth colour with the onelye breath of a man If then Gwydonius Beautie be so fading so fickle so momentarie so moouing so withering so waning so soone passed and so soone parched is this the Iewell which you count more déere than life and the Iemme which you thinke worthie to be purchased with the danger of death No doubt Gwydonius if you wonne the victorie you might vaunt of a great Conquest and if your long hope were repayed with a great happe it shoulde bée much lyke to his which thinking to embrace Iuno caught nothing but a vanishing clowde You doo well Madame quoth Castania to put an If in it because hée that vaunteth of victorie before hée hath wonne the fielde maye prooue himselfe a foole hée that bragges of gaines before the accompts be cast may perhappes put his winnings in his eyes and hée that bloweth the Mort before the fall of the Buck may very well misse of his fées so he that counts himselfe a spéeder before he be a wooer sheweth himselfe a vaine person or a vaunting patch Might it not bée I praye you Master Gwydonius that passing the bridge scaping the dangerous seas happely arriuing at the desired Rocke yet you might misse of your purpose Yes forsooth for many a man bendeth his bow y ● neuer killeth his game laieth y ● strap y ● neuer catcheth the fowle pitcheth the Net that neuer getteth the fish long time are heauie wooers that neuer proue happie speeders So perhaps Gwydonius you might be crossed with a chippe of the same mischaunce and the gorgeous Dame whome you adore for a Goddesse might repaye your liking with loathing your loue with hate your good will with despite and your fixed fancie with small affection either that she lyked you too little or loued another too much All these doubts Gwydonius are carefullye to be cast and wisedome it is to feare the worst and finde the best but you Sir like a lustie champion thinke a Ladie won at the first looke and the good will of women gained at the first glaunce thinking the Gods thēselues are to be accused of iniustice if they be not ayders to your enterprise insomuch that if in ventring ouer the perilous passage you had by disaster Fortune fallen into the daungerous Seas you doubted not but that Iupiter would haue sent a Dolphin that Arion like you might escape the fearefull surges but Gwydonius bée not so ventrous least though you harpe very long you get not the like hap These premisses considered if my censure might stand for a sentence I déeme it better to be counted a dastardly coward than a desperate caitife better to forsake your Goddesse than your God better to lyue pinched with a few momentarie passions than with desperate death to destroy both soule and body for there is no sore such which in time may not be salued no care such which cannot bée cured no fire so greate which may not bée quenched no loue liking fancie or affection which in time may not either be repressed or redressed Valericus hearing this rough replye of Castania supposed that although she leuelled at Gwydonius yet shée shot at him and fearing the fort should be too much shashaken with this fearce assault he stifly defended the walles with this fresh Alarum MAdam quoth hée I se you will sit nye the wals eare you be thrust out for a wrangler and that you will speake against your owne conscience but you will haue the conquest for my owne part Madame howsoeuer I séeme to lyke it I will not saye I mislike it but I am sorrie you Madame Melitta shoulde so blasphemouslye imblaze the Armes of beautie

him as he may passe out of Alexandria without death or danger What though I héere in prison pine in pain what though I sinke in sorrowe what though I be distressed with griefe and oppressed with miserie what though I be crossed with care and combred with calamitie Tush let my Father fret and fume in his furie let my brother rage and rayle let that traitor Valericus triumph and all the Countrey most bitterly curse me yea let them martir me most miserablye let them torment me most terribly yet direful death shall not feare me as long as I know Gwydonius is deuoyde of daunger For I hope though fortune frowne though the destinies denie it though y ● fates forsweare it yea though the Gods themselues say no yet in time we shall haue such happie successe as the loyaltie of our loue and the cléerenesse of our conscience by the lawe of Iustice doo deserue And therefore Gwydonius shall be the Planet whereby to direct my dooings he shall be the starre shal guide my compasse he shall be the hauen to harbor in the Saint at whose shrine I meane to offer my deuotion Castania hauing thus discoursed with her selfe shée determined when the warres were ended if she coulde haue no hope to enioy the loue of Gwydonius to confesse her faults and to sue for mercie at the barre of her Fathers curtesie not that she meant to liue without Gwydonius or to loue or like anye other but to prolong her dayes in dolour that she might most rigorously reuenge the villanie of Valericus and by bathing in his bloude she might both satisfie her selfe and signifie to Gwydonius how intirely she loued and lyked him But leauing her perplexed with these passions againe to Clerophontes Who frying still in his franticke furie was not any whit perswaded to conclude peace with Orlanio but hauing mustred his men as speedely as might be imbarkt them and with a luckie gale arriued at the coast of Alexandria wher the borderers not able to abide his force were constrained to saue themselues by f●ight But hee as a man hauing exiled from his heart both pietie and pitie bathed his hands in guiltlesse bloud fiering euery fort battering downe euery bulwarke sacking each Citie racing downe the walles to the grounde and commaunding his souldiours vpon paine of most greeuous punishment not to haue any respect of persons neyther to regarde the hoarie haires of the aged Citizens nor the tender yeares of the sucking Infants but to imbrue their blades with the bloud of all men of what degrée soeuer Orlanio hearing how Clerophontes had inuaded hy● dominions and with what barbarous crueltie hee hadde murthered his subiects hauing also intelligence by his Scowtes that his armie was passing huge the better to resist the furious force of his enimie hyred out of other Countreyes a great multitude of Mercenarie Souldiours so that he gathered a meruailous great hoast wherin was an infinit number indued with great skill and long experience Furnished thus sufficiently both with men and munition like a wise and warie Captaine séeing that he no waye els might resist the puissaunt power of so mightie a Prince determined without further delaye to méete him and to giue him present battaile hauing meruailous affiaunce in the approoued manhoode vertue of his Souldiours Clerophontes likewise being of such a valiaunt and inuincible courage as he séemed from his infancie to bée vowed to Mars and martiall affaires manfully marched forward to méete with his enimies which he performed so spéedely that within few dayes both the Armies wer within viewe which Clerophontes séeing he began to incourage his souldiours on this sort ALthough most trustie subiects quoth he I neither doubt of your prowesse nor haue cause to feare your manhoode as hauing mine Armie fraught with the most couragious Captaines and boldest blouds of Metelyne yet I wish you to consider how desperately we haue aduentured vpon the Conquest of this Dukedome which if we atchieue we shal not onely gaine perpetual fame and renowme but reap such riches and treasure as shall sufficiently counteruaile our trauaile But to obtaine this victorie we must behaue our selues valiantly neither dreading any daunger though neuer so desperate nor doubting any perill though neuer so fearefull Before our face we haue our enimies behinde our backes the surging seas so that fight we must but flye we cannot in being couragious we winne the fielde and returne conquerours in proouing cowards we both loose our liues and the conquest if we foyle our foes we returne with triumph if we faint and flye we haue no hope of safetie but death and desperation is imminent Be then hardie to hazard and valiaunt to venture amiddest the prease of your enimies that daunted with your valour they may be forced to flye and we both triumph and inioy the treasure CLerophontes hauing thus louinglye incouraged his souldiers Orlanio on the other side séeing his men began to feare the force of the enimie and were amazed with such a monstrous multitude prickt them forward with this Parle THat mightie Monarch Alexāder y ● great who for his martiall exployts was a mirror to all his posteritie whose prowesse was such as he daunted Darius by his inuincible courage made a conquest of the whole world hearing on a time one of his Captaines to demaunde what multitude was in their enimies campe aunswered that it was not the point of a good soldier to inquire how many the enimies were but wher they were meaning that to feare the multitude is rather the signe of cowardise then a tokē of courage Which saying I wish you carefully to consider y ● the huge army of Clerophontes neither amaze your minds nor abate your valor sith y ● the equitie of our cause doth more thē counteruaile his companie He inuadeth our realme without reason we defend but our owne right he cruelly séeketh to depriue vs of fréedō we lawfully do maintain our own liberty He tirannously striueth to make vs bondslaues and we fight to frée our selues from captiuitie If he preuayle let vs looke for no pittie but that we shall be murdered without mercie we shall sée before our face our wiues rauished our daughters defloured our parents put to death our children slaine our goods spoyled our Citie sacked and our selues brought to vtter ruth and ruyne Sith then we are placed betwéene two extremities eito possesse our owne with plentie or to passe our liues in penurie let vs valiauntly venter whatsoeuer wée gaine let vs fight without feare for better it is to die with honour than to liue with shame BY that time Orlanio had ended his Oration the Armies met in a Plaine within thirtie leagues of Alexandria Where both of them ordering as became good Captaines their people there began in the breake of the day the most cruell and terrible battaile that earst was heard of considering the number on both partes theyr experience and pollicie with the valiant prowesse