so duly And aftervvardes if that the same deceased Body and soule may be in loue increased In life and death and after death so hainous Seluagia shall for euer loue Syluanus Syrenus being very glad for the contentment of their companie and to see them both loue one another with such mutuall and great affection and knowing that it belonged to the dutie of friendship and though he had refused that they woulde entreate him in the end to sing without more ado tooke his Rebecke and sung thus THe Gods graunt you to frolicke in your hall His yeeres that so long time vvith nature striue And that in happie fortune you may liue Free from all kinde of sorrovves great or small And in your loue one haire may neuer fall Of iealousie a plague eid like a sieue Let heauens to temporall 〈◊〉 their fauours giue Fire aire sea earth and nature at your call The rot may neuer touch your soundest stockes Feare of the vvoolfe your shades may not molest And vvily foxe not feare your pretie lambes In plenty may encrease your goodly stockes Tvvo kids may yeerely yeane your fruitfull dams And your faire Evves vvith double tvvinlings blest The Shepherds hauing made an end of their sweete songs rose vp and casting their hairy scrippes on their shoulders staying themselues vpon their knotty sheephooks began to go on their way Who being comen out of that pleasant place into a faire meade to passe the time away and lighten their trauell and length of their way went inuenting and exercising diuers pastorall sports of which they made Seluagia iudge betweene them both sometimes throwing with their slings at some white or marke that they could espie within their reach vpon the side of some hill or tree sometimes trying with great dexteritie the goodnes of their slings to see who coulde giue the greatest cracke with them sometimes striuing who coulde throwe his Sheepehooke farthest sometimes contending to pitch them neerest to some white or Daisie in the way before them and whether of them with the strength of his arme could come nighest to some other marke as farre as they could reach and sometimes striuing who could smite a stone fardest with them In this sort they passed the time and wearines of their way vntill the broade mantell of the darke night beginning to ouerspred those plaines and fieldes made an ende of their sports and warned them to take their rest where they lodged that night The next day in the morning betimes when the prety birdes with their warbling notes filling the aire not yet fully cleere with harmonie foretold the comming of the Vermillion morning they began to make an end of their former iourney And now did the sunne cast downe his beames hotter vpon their heads and with greater heate shewing his forces when the three Shepherds came in sight of their knowne fieldes and plaines so often troden of them before Whereupon they now began to know their wandring flockes and amongst those Dianas sheepe although they were mingled with the flockes of her vnwoorthy husband Delius And so as Syluanus was saying These are the flockes of the vngratefull and disdainfull Shepherdesse Diana and of the Shepherd Delius happie without desert Seluagia saide It is not good to go by and not salute Diana if we finde her there And so they went that way to seeke her out where they had not gone farre but they sawe her standing very sadde and leaning against a great Oke with her elbow vpon her sheepehooke and her cheeke vpon the palme of her hande whereby one might haue iudged the care and sorrow that so much troubled her pensiue minde After a little while as though she was angrie with herselfe for casting her-selfe into so great a greefe she put her hand into her bosome and tooke out a fine little Baggepipe the which putting to her mouth to play on it in that very instant she threwe it to the ground and without more adoe sliding downe along the bodie of the tree sat her downe as if for great feeblenes she had not beene able to staie herselfe on her feete and casting out a sorrowfull sigh and looking vpon her harmlesse Baggepipe she spake these words Accursed Baggepipe consuming fire burne thee for the greefe and anguish that thou hast giuen me I brought thee with me to lighten and asswage my cruell sorrow in which dutie thou hast not onely failed but redoubled it the more Thou shalt not then accompanie me any more for the ill requitall of that loue wherewith I did euer cherish thee Now I am not any more for thee nor thou to serue my turne There shalt thou lie for the parching sunne to open thee making thee as drie as I am comfortlesse and for the raine to rotte thee making thee as moist as my cheekes spunged with continuall teares Ah woe is me how am I deceiued in thinking that the silly and sencelesse Baggepipe is in fault of that which enuious Fortune hath made me feele and in forgetting being so skilfull in other things how more abundantly my fortune surchargeth my soule with paine and troubles then this poore Baggepipe with any fault or iniurie How do I afflict and molest my selfe for a smal cause hauing so many to wearie me withall O God how comes it to passe that the cause of my passed ioy and gladnes is now the occasion of my present sorrow and that those things which before were light and easie are now most greeuous torments and burdens to me Howe soone is pleasure exiled from my poore soule wherein it was woont to make so sweete a soiourne In how short a time haue I lost my deere content whylom my only trustie companion And how easily am I depriued of all ioy and happines which I once so much at will possessed To what end doth it auaile me to be endowed with beauty and wit which with modestie I may chalenge since all do affirme the same in me vnlesse they were sufficient to remooue some part of my greefe But I beseech the soueraigne Gods that I were so farre from beautie and wit as I am at this present from ioy and comfort so that either the first had not brought me to this painfull condition of life or want of the second passed it away without feeling it so sensiblie O Syrenus and Syluanus how are yee now reuenged of me although it be vnknowne to you thou Syluanus of the contempt I did vniustly beare thee thou Syrenus of the ill requitall I gaue thee for thy sincere and earnest loue How neere alas doth the sorrowfull memorie of that ioyfull time come to my minde that did so soone slide out of my hands I would the Gods had beene so pitifull to me at one and selfe-same time to haue ended my daies and those delightfull howers When she had spoken these words she gaue so great a sobbe and such vehement sighes that it seemed she had no more life left to animate her afflicted
be ridde of the discontent which their silence did procure them Which thing when she perceiued it made her smile a little to herselfe Being thus therfore in this pleasant meadow and tedious mutenes Felicia pointed with her finger to an entrance thereof right ouer against them to haue them all looke that way where casting their eies they sawe a reuerend old man comming in graue in his countenance person and disposition as also in the manner of his habite and apparell for in euery point he seemed to represent a most woorthie priest of Iupiter Hee came holding a staffe in his right hand and sustained vpon it his olde and wearied body whereon sometimes leaning he looked stedfastly on the grounde like a man full of imaginations and sometimes againe lifted vp his eies to heauen like one most sorrowfull and comfortlesse He made such sundrie kindes of motions and gestures of his body obseruing yet alwaies the due grauitie of his noble person that he did not onely mollifie the tender harts of them that were looking on him but had been able to haue made the cruell Hircanian Tygres milde and gentle if they had beene present especially with the outward shewes of sorrow that he represented of some inwarde greefe for in the middes thereof he gaue a turne about viewing the heauens on euery side and speaking against Fortune of whom he seemed to make his chiefest complaint he vttered this that followeth IN each created thing One motion onely and of might Predominant continually is found Which still doth keepe and bring The same one way and course aright That 's alwaies like and vniforme and round And none can be vnbound From this compacted order though he would None can againe the same forsake Or any other take And yet it would not though perhaps it could Thou Fortune art alone Without it in disorder onely one That first and highest Sphere That mooues and is not moou'd againe Of any other heauen that mooues one whit The which with his Careare And swiftest course doth turne away The lowest heauens and caries after it An order doth admit And doth maintaine not erring in the lest For it doth cary them with speede And with more haste indeede The nearest heauen to it from East to West But rule thou dost disdaine And onely without order dost remaine The circled Elements Of qualities most opposite The fire the aire the sea and earth belowe In motions not inuents A nouell course but mooue aright And euer keepe good order as they goe None erreth no. The earth about his lowest Centre mooues The water next in circle wise The aire next that that lies And fire to that a gallant order prooues But Fortune in thy Spheare Thou run'st without good order rule or feare The heauie fals downe right Vnlesse it haue impediment Vnto the Centre of his proper Spheare And that which is but light If that it haue an open vent Mounts to his highest region euery where And so each thing doth beare Good order and good rule continually In generation it doth spring Corruption it doth bring In fine all things by order liue and die Without it thou dost range Fortune that with disorder still dost change In this world nothing is If out of order it be gone But ordred it may be in time againe Ther 's nothing in blacke Dis Though there be all confusion Nor order kept for there it were but vaine But may indeede remaine In order in their manner forme and kinde And may be call'd to order fit If we consider it Though nought but paines and plaintes are there assign'd Thou worse then hellish thought In no point canst not be to order brought Thy motion out of kinde So far besides proportion lies That it can neuer be to order brought Swifter sometimes then winde With hastie speede so soone it flies That it is neuer seene nor felt nor thought The Parthian neuer wrought Nor sent an arrow out of steeled bowe With such great haste and maine Sometimes with sloth againe Like to the snaile or Tortuse she doth goe Blinde Fortune thou dost reele And more doth he that sits vpon thy wheele He had no sooner made an end of the complaints which he declamed against Fortune when walking towards the fountaine from the which he was not twentie paces on the sudden they saw him fling away his staffe and with a lustie kinde of agilitie contrary to his aged limmes laie hand on his Faulchion which from vnder a side garment that he wore he tooke out to smite a certaine Shepherd that laie a sleepe in that side of the meadow When they that were thus beholding him perceiued with what furie he ranne vpon the silly Shepherd whom hitherto they had not seene and with his naked Faulchion in his hande they would all haue runne to helpe him but that sage Felicia with signes which she made vnto them willed them to sit still telling them the matter should not need it But the old man was now lifting vp his Faulchion to smite him on the head when two beggerly and foule ragged Shepherdesses which were at hand rising from the ground tooke hold on him the one with a sorrowfull voice saying vnto him O my good Father But the old man vnwinding himself from them stept back making as though he would smite hir that went about to hinder him Wherupon she that had first spoken perceiuing that he knew her not spake to him againe saying O my deer Father Parisiles for this was his name The angry afflicted old man amazed at the tender voice he now knew and like the marble stone benummed in all his sences let his Faulchion presently fall out of his hands whom then the Shepherdesse calling him by the same name as before most louingly embraced as he was falling downe to the ground Who comming to himselfe againe and with the teares of milde loue supplying the interrupted voice of his brest threwe his aged armes vpon her and that face of hers which with lothsome mudde and durt was so much defiled sweetely beganne to kisse Felicia turning to her companie that being nowe ridde from the greefe of their late passed silence was laughing with a scornfull delight at the present sight to see him kisse that foule ill fauoured face said Maruell not my sonnes and daughters to see you reuerend old man kisse those deformed cheekes for fatherly loue extendeth to more then that so that if she seemes foule in your eies he thinkes her faire and no lesse doth the Shepherd that lieth there asleepe Like will to like saide Felismena It is so saide Felicia but bicause so great an iniurie may not be offered to the honorable old man as to be embraced with such an vnseemelines let vs go to put them asunder Whereupon they went towards them and making as though they had not seene them before Felicia said vnto them God saue this noble companie The other Shepherdesse yeelded her due thankes and a courteous answer
affection and tendernes as if a thousand yeeres had bin past since their loues had first begon between them And that day they all taried there with as great ioy and pleasure as by such a new commenced loue might be imagined vntil the next day in the morning when the two Shepherds and the Shepherdesse taking their leaue of the sage Ladie Felicia and of Felismena and Belisa and likewise of all the Nymphes with great ioy returned to their villages whither they came the verie same day And faire Felismena who had that day put on againe her Shepherdesses weeds taking her leaue of the sage Ladie and being particularly and well aduised what to doe with many teares embraced her and accompanied of all those Nymphes went forth into the great Court before the Palace gate where embracing euerie one by her selfe shee went that way that they did direct her Felismena went not alone neither did her imaginations giue her leaue so to do for on the one side she went thinking of that which the wise Ladie had told her and considering on the other what little hap and lesse successe she had yet in her loue which made her doubt of her future happines With these contrarieties of thoughts did she go warring in her minde which though on the one side they made her wearie yet on the other they did entertaine her with their company so that in the meane time she forgot her solitarie and painefull way She had not trauelled far in the mids of a faire valley when towardes the west part therof she espied a far off a Shepherds coat which at the entrance of a green wood stood amongst many high Okes and inuited thither by her importunate hunger and wearines and also bicause the heate of the day began to come on so fast that shee was forced to passe it away vnder the shadow of those braunchie trees she bended her steps directly towards it Comming to the coate she heard how a Shepherd said vnto a Shepherdesse that sat neere vnto him these wordes Entreate me not good Amarillis to sing since thou knowest what great causes I haue to sigh and weepe all the dayes whilest my languishing soule shall not forsake this wearied and fainte bodie For though musicke is no small meanes to encrease his melancholie that is euer sadde and pensiue as his ioye and mirthe whoe liues a merry life yet my greefe is not of such a qualitie that by any humane arte or industrie may be increased or diminished Heere hast thou thy baggepipe play and sing faire Shepherdesse for well maist thou do it hauing thy hart as free as thy wil exempt from the bondage of loue Then the Shepherdesse answered him againe Be not such a niggard of thy skill Arsileus which the heauens and nature haue so bountifully bestowed on thee for she that doth aske it at thy hands will not denie to pleasure thee in any thing she may Sing if it be possible that song which at the request of Argastus thou didst make in the name of thy father Arsenius when for hir loue you both serued and sued to the faire Shepherdesse Belisa Thy condition is strange Amarillis saide the Shepherd againe still demanding that of me which doth least of all content me What shall I do for perforce I must please thee and yet not perforce since he were very discourteous to say the truth that would not of his own accord do thee any seruice he could But now thou seest how my ill fortune doth euer narrowly pursue me when I woulde faine take some small respite and ease from my greeuous thoughts And seeing the great reason I haue Amarillis to burst out in continuall lamentations and teares why dost thou then command me to sing What pleasure dost thou take to offende the occasions of my sorrowe I pray God thou maist neuer haue the like to feele the greefe that I do bicause Fortune might not so greatly to thy cost informe thee of my paine Thou knowest well enough I haue lost my Belisa and that I liue without hope of her recouerie Why dost thou then commaund me to sing But since I will not haue thee conceiue an opinion of me to be discourteous for it was neuer my manner and condition to be accounted so amongst faire Shepherdesses to whom we Shepherdes and my selfe especially for my Belisas sake owe all respect of loue and dutie and are so much beholding I will endeuour though most against my minde to content thee Whereupon taking vp his Rebecke that lay hard by him he began to tune it and doe that which the Shepherdesse requested him Felismena that was listening to their talke might heare very well what speeches passed betweene them And when she sawe they talked of Arsenius and Arsileus seruants to faire Belisa both which she tooke to be long since dead as Belisa had told not only her but the Nymphes also the Shepherds when they found her in the Shepherds coat in the Iland she verily thought that all that she heard and sawe there was but a meere dreame or some fantastick illusion But giuing attentiue eare she perceiued how the Shepherd began to touch his Rebecke so diuinely that she thought it to be some celestiall musicke who hauing plaide on it a little with a more heauenly then humane voice began to sing this song following O Vainiest hopes Alas how many Daies Haue I beene bondslaue to a braue Deceite And how in vaine haue these two wearied Eies With show'rs of teares watred this pleasant Vale Appaid I am of cruell Loue and Fortune And knowe not yet whereof I doe Complaine No small harmes I must passe smce I Complaine For to endure framed are all my Daies The traunces and deceites of Loue and Fortune But whence Complaine I of a braue Deceite Of such a Shepher desse within this Vale On whom to my great harme I cast mine Eies Yet am I much beholding to my Eies Although with greefe of them I doe Complaine Since by their meanes I sawe within this Vale The fairest thing which neuer in my Daies I thought to see And this is no Deceite In proofe whereof aske it of Loue and Fortune Though on the other side instable Fortune And time occasion and my dolefull Eies And not suspecting this most braue Deceite Caus'd all the ill whereof I doe Complaine And so I thinke to end my wofull Daies Counting my greefes and passions to this Vale. If that the riuer hill the meade and Vale Earth heauen and fate and cruell Loue and Fortune The howers and the moments yeeres and Daies My soule my hart and these two wearied Eies Doe aggrauate my greefe when I Complaine Who then can say I liue by fond Deceite Deceiu'd I was but this was no Deceite For that I haue beheld within this Vale So rare perfection I doe not Complaine But to behold how Loue and cruell Fortune Would signifie vnto these wearied Eies That there should come a helpe after some Daies
With those same weapons that were threatned him So with his headed shaft of beaten gold He smot his brest and pass'd his carelesse hart Omitting not to wound faire Daphnes to With that of hate headed with heauie lead And so with this the Boy remayned glad And well did see though blind what he had done And thus content in minde he did depart Vpon some others to imploy his might O blinded Boy of strong and mightie force Where none is found but onely in thy hands That more the one with feruent loue doth burne The more the other freezeth with disdaine And proud Apollo now thou shalt perceiue That think'st no equall God to thee in heauen Nor celebrated in the earth beaneth With such like honours which thou claym'st alone That there is one that raignes in heauen and earth In hell and euerie corner of the world More puissant then any other God Bicause thou art inuentor of the skill Of phisicke and of musickes sweetest art Bicause besides thou tell'st with secret power Things that are past and present and to come Thou think'st thou raign'st alone as Soueraigne Now art thou subiect to a sillie maide Too base if she be paragon'd to thee And yet this greeues him not but that the more He loues this Nymph the more doth she contemne His mightie loue and all his vainest suites Faire Daphnes hart is hardened and congealed In loue of this great God of heauen aboue Apollos hart consumes with burning heat In loue of this poore maide in earth beneath The God desireth to inioy her loue And after this desire commeth hope But here his Oracles deceiue him much For in these things diuining is but vaine So with this hope which is but vaine and false He doth maintaine and feede his barren loue And feeling with great paine his burning fire To Cupid in this sort he mildly spake What fire is it that thus my breast doth tame And yet no flame I see that 's manifest Is this thy best reuenge O Cupid tell Fierce God and fell which on me thou dost take Hovv dost thou make the mightie Gods to bend And dost offend the rich the proud and vvise And dost despise and tame the great and small So easie shall not flixe nor tovv be burn'd Nor reeds be turned to fire laid thereby Alas as I vvith thy reuenging games Do burne in flames for thou hast made my hart To feele the smart of loue and vvith thy might And golden flight hast cruell vvounded it Which thou hast smit and smitten stolne avvay And made decaye of it vvithin my brest Where novv no rest nor vvonted ioyes do dvvell Then cruell tell the same vvhere hast thouput Where hast thou shut my hart of sorrovv vvhat And is that perhaps O that it is And novv in this faire forrest do they vse Thus to abuse Gods harts and steale and kill From hence I vvill Cupid make thee my mate And friend though late for euer thou shalt be Since linked me thou hast in such a chaine Her haire doth staine the golden Colchos fleece Which out of Greece Iason shall saile to seeke Her face and cheeke enameled vvith red With vvhite be spread passing the Roses gay In moneth of May that dare not come in place To see her face nor yet the Lillie vvhite Approch in sight vvhere her braue beautie shines Aurora pines in seeing her and dyes Her tvvinkling eies more then the heauenly lights In frostie nights doe shine where Gupid skips Her rubie lips with praise shall not be vouch't But onely touch't and kist of mine againe Her necke so plaine and smooth nothing doth owe Vnto the snowe for pure vnspotted white What els O spite her wrongfull garments grudge To shew I iudge that nature made each part With such braue art as neuer humane eies Did see the like or heauenly thought deuise Whilste God Apollo wandreth in her praise Daphne with hastie foote doth flie away Which when he did perceiue these wordes in vaine Continuing still his speech to her did say O thou the skies that dost excell stay stay Fly not away so fast thy friend I am So flies the lambe from rauening woolfe away The Hart againe of cruell death afraid With hart dismaid doth from the Lion flie The doues doe hie them from their praying king With trembling wing so each thing here belowe Flies from his foe But Loue that burnes Apollo Doth make him follow thee with friendly pace O see each place whereon thy feete doe tread With thornes bespread vnworthily to beare them The stones doe weare them like the shauing file Then stay a while and haste not so I pray Sharpe is the way and I for nothing would My following should make thee faire Nymph to fall I pray thee all I may to moderate Thy hastie gate and I with milder pace To saue thy face from hurt will follow thee Oh didst thou see and know but who it is That mooueth his great l ue vnto thee so Thou wouldst I knowe not flie but tarie still To knowe my will and thinke that thou wert blest To be possest of such a Lord so high I dwell not I in this poore harren hill Though heere I kill wilde beastes for my delight I hold by right as much as Tanais streames And Titans beames doe see where they arise This I despise but onely for thy sake Where thou didst take thy beauties first of all Which countrie shall be reard vnto the skies In all mens eies vvith fame and dignitie And lou'd of me more then th' Imperiall seate Of heauen so great from vvhence faire Nymph I came Neither I am a Shepherd nor doe keepe Cattell or sheepe but vvhat loue doth commend To me to tend In Delphos for mine honour Of vvhich the ovvnour I am incense burnes Claros by turnes and Tenedos likevvise Burne sacrifice to me The lands vvhich great Xanthus doth vveat vvherevvith such sudden voice I doe reioice the harts of them that craue Ansvvers to haue by Oracle diuine Delphos is mine and famous there I am Of birth I came more noble then the rest For at the lest the Gods are kinne to mee First in degree great Ioue my father is And she ywish that raignes in heauenly seate A Goddesse great Latona fairer then Faire Titan when in all his chiefest pride Vnto his bride Aurora he doth hast By me things past and those that present be I know and see and things to come can tell I do excell in verse and sweetest song With arme most strong I draw my bow and flight Where it doth light it hits with sure wound Yet haue I found that Cupids certaine arrow Doth hit more narrow in my wounded breast Where all my rest and pleasures it hath spent I did inuent the art of medicine My wit diuine found out the secret power Of euerie flower and herbs whose vertues still Vnto my skill and practise subiect bee But woe is me that neither herbe nor pill Nor phisickes skill
this place a broad quadrant fortie paces of euerie side and compassed about with a great number of thick trees So that in a maner of a walled castle they that went to recreat themselues in it could not go but by one way into it It was couered all ouer with greene grasse and sweete flowers neuer troden downe with the feete of sheepe or goates nor mangled with their slicing teeth In the mids thereof was a goodly cleere fountaine which issuing foorth at the foote of an olde Oake rose vp fower square and deepe not made by skilfull hand but placed there by prouident nature to such purposes as with the abundance of the waters it made there a delightfull meeting which the Shepherds named the faire Fountaine The brinkes of this fountaine were of white stone so euen that none would haue thought but that it was made with artificiall hand if the naturall stones growing there did not deceiue his sight which were fastened in the ground as hard as the craggie rocke and flint in the wilde mountaines The water that came out of that sweete fountaine issuing out of two narrow pipes did water the grasse and trees about it making them continually to spring and fertill and keeping them in a pleasant and fine verdure This faire Fountaine for euerie goodly pleasure about it was so much visited of the Shepherds and Shepherdesses that there was neuer wanting about it pastorall mirth and ioy Who likewise had it in such veneration and account that when they came to it they left their flockes without bicause the cleere and sweete waters might not be troubled nor the fine little meadow fed nor troden downe by the hungrie and carelesse sheepe About this fountaine as I saide they all sat downe and taking necessarie foode out of their scrips did eate it more sauourly and with greater content then the greatest Lords their varietie and number of daintie dishes At the end of which repast as Marcelius on the one side and Polydorus and Clenarda on the other were greatly desirous to heare and make relation of their passed fortunes Marcelius first began to say to the other two in this sort It is great reason brother and sister that I know somthing of your aduentures and accidents since last I saw you bicause seeing not your Father Eugerius nor your sister Alcida in your company it makes a great alteration in my hart not knowing the cause thereof To whom Polydorus answered Bicause this goodly place might not be iniured me thinkes with reports of dole and sorrow and that these Shepherds with hearing of our hard haps might not be also greeued with the fewest words that possible may be I will report the many miseries and disgraces that we haue receiued of Fortune After that I was hindered by the mariners from leaping into the sciffe hauing attended fit time and occasion haue deliuered my father Eugerius being faint and halfe dead out of the dangerous ship and that of force I was constrained to remaine to my great griefe with my fearefull father in it the sorrowfull olde man was ouercome with such bitter anguish and paine as may be imagined of a louing father who in the end of his aged yeeres seeth the violent perdition of his owne life and of his louing children He tooke no heed now to the maine blowes which the cruell waues did beate against the ships sides nor to the rage of the angrie windes that did bluster on euerie side but casting his eies to the little boate wherein thou wert Marcelius with Alcida and Clenarda which at euerie flote of the hoisting billowes seemed to turne ouer the more he saw it going from the ship the more his hart burst in peeces And when he lost sight of you he was in danger of yeelding vp his decaied spirits The ship driuen on by the crueltie of Fortune went floating vp and downe the maine seas fiue daies togither after that we parted at the ende of which time the Sunne going downe towards the West we were in ken of lande At sight whereof the Marriners were verie glad as well for recouerie of their lost hope as also for knowing the coast whither the ship was driuen For it was the most fertill countrey and most abounding in all sorts of pleasures as far as the Sun doth heate with his beames In so much that one of the Marriners taking a Rebecke out of a chest with the which he was wont to cheere vp himselfe in long and dangerous voiages began to play and sing to it in manner following WElcome thy friendes from swelling seas that rore With hideous noise and tost by Neptunes toile O fortunate and faire Valencia shore Where nipping frost doth neuer hurt thy soile Nor Phebus with his woonted parching beames Doth burne thy meades nor heates thy christall streames Thrise happy he who liuing without feare In swallowing seas and billowes to be drownd Enioies thy golden beauties euery wheare Of thy sweete meades greene banks and fruitfull ground Thy ground bedeckt with flowres so fine and faire Maintainde with heauenly deaw and pleasant aire With greater toile the ship doth cut the seas Then wearie plowmen doth thy gentle fieldes Then happy Earth the ioy and wished ease Of traueled soules that to thy succour yeeldes Nereas Song IN those most happy fieldes and plaines Where Guadaljar in goodly vaines With christall streames doth glide Leauing the sweete and pleasant fieldes Vnto the sea his tribute yeeldes And runs with hastie tide Faire Galatee full of disdaine And ioyfull of the woes and paine To Lycius that she gaue Played vpon the sands and shore The which the sea sometimes before Doth wash with wallowing waue Gathering amongst the sandes alone Fine shels and many a painted stone As she went vp and downe And singing many songs so sweete The which the roring billowes yet Did alter much and drowne Neere to the water side she hies And there the waues that fall and rise She view'd with great delight And fled when that they came amaine And sometimes could not but was faine To wet her feete so white Lycius who had in suffring paines No equall in those fieldes and plaines His torments there suspended Whiles that he view'd with great content His Shepherdesse so excellent For beautie most commended But now comparing his vnrest With all the ioy that she possest The Shepherd halfe decaied With dolefull voice his sad complaints To shores and champaines he acquaints And in this manner said O fairest Nymph if that thou please Play not about the roring seas Although thy chiefe delight Consist therein yet Galatee As thou dost Licius so the sea Eschew with hastie flight And now sweete Nymph leaue of to play For it doth greeue me day by day To see thee on the sandes O doe not now torment me more For seeing thee vpon the shore I feare false Neptunes hands And this doth fill me full of doubtes That I must credit these my thoughtes Bicause it is most cleere