the last staffe of this sonnet he falleth into this fiction that whilest he greedelie laied open his eares to the hearing of his Ladies voice as one more then halfe in a doubt that Apollo him selfe had beene at hand Loue espiyng a time of aduantage transformed him selfe into the substance of aier and so deceitfullie entered into him with his owne great goodwill and desire and nowe by mayne force still holdeth his possession SOme that reporte great Alexanders life They say that harmonie so mou'd his mind That oft he roase from meat to warlike strife At sounde of Trumpe or noyse of battle kind And then that musickes force of softer vaine Caus'd him returne froÌ„ strokes to meat againe And as for me I thinke it nothing strange That musick hauing birth from heau'ns aboue By diuers tunes can make the minde to change For I my selfe in hearing my sweete Loue By vertue of her song both tasted griefe And such delight as yeelded some reliefe When first I gan to giue attentiue eare Thinking Apolloes voice did haunte the place I little thought my Lady had beene there But whilest mine eares lay open in this case Transform'd to ayre Loue entred with my will And nowe perforce doth kéepe possession still XV Still hee followeth on with further deuise vppon the late Melodie of his Mistres in this sonnet doth namelie preferre her before Musicke her selfe and all the three Graces affirming if either he or els Apollo bee ordeined a iudge to giue sentence of their desertes on either side that then his Ladie can not faile to beare both pricke and prize awaie NOwe Musicke hide thy face or blush for shame Since thou hast heard hir skill warbling voice Who far béefore thy selfe deseru's thy name And for a Science should bée had in choise Or if thou still thy title wilt retame Equall hir song with helpe of all thy traine But as I déeme it better were to yéelde Thy place to her to whom the price belonges Then after strife to léese both fame and field For though rude Satyres like of Marsias songes And Choridon estéeme his oaten quill Compare them with hir voice and both are ill Nay which is more bring forth the Graces thrée And each of them let sing hir song apart And who doth best twill soone appeare by mée When she shall make replie which rules my heart Or if you néedes will make Apollo iudge So sure I am to winne I néede not grudge XVI In this passion the Authour vpon the late sweete song of his Mistres maketh her his birde therwithall partlie describeth her worthines partlie his owne estate The one parte he sheweth by the coulour of her feathers by her statelie minde and by that souereintie which she hath ouer him the other by description of his delight in her companie and her strangenes drawing backe from a dewe acceptance of his seruice MY gentle birde which sung so swéete of late Is not like those that flie about by kind Her feathers are of golde shée wantes a mate And knowing wel her worth is proud of mind And wheras sâ—m do keepe their birds in cage My bird kéepes mée rules me as hir page She séedes mine eare with tunes of rare delight Mine eye with louing lookes my heart with ioy Wherhence I thinke my seruitude but light Although in déede I suffer great annoye And sure it is but reason I suppose He féele the pricke that séekes to pluck the Rose And who so mad as woulde not with his will Leese libertie and life to heare her sing Whose voice excels those harmonies that fill Elisian fieldes where growes eternall spring If mightie Ioue should heare what I haue hard She sure were his and all my market marde XVII The Authour not yet hauing forgotten the songe of his mistres maketh her in this passion a seconde Phoenix though not of Arabia and yet no lesse acceptable to Apollo then is that bird of Arabia And the cheife causes why Sol shoulde fauour hir he accounteth to be these two hir excellent beawtie and hir skill in musike of which two qualities Sol is well knowen to be an especiall cheife patrone and sometimes the only author or giuer of the same YF Poets haue done well in times long past To glose on trifling toyes of little price Why should not I presume to fame as fast Espying forth a ground of good deuise A Sacred Nimph is ground whereon ile write The fairest Nimph that euer yet saw light And since her song hath fild mine eares with ioye Hir vertues pleas'd my minde hir face mine eye I dare affirme what some will thinke a toy She Phoenix is though not of Arabie And yet the plumes about hir neck are bright And Sol him selfe in her hath chiefâ— delight You that will know why Sol afoordes her loue Séeke but the cawse why Peakocks draw the place Where Iuno sitts why Venus likes the Doue Or why the Owle befitts Mineruaes grace Then yf you grudge that she to Sol belonge Marke but hir face and heare hir skill in songe XVIII This sonnet is perfectly patheticall and consisteth in two principall pointes wherof the first coÌ„teyneth an accusatioÌ„ of Loue for his hurtfull effects vsuall tyrannie the second part is a sudden recantation or excuse of the Authors euill words by castinge the same vpon the necke of his beloued as being the onely cause of his late frenzy and blaspheamous rage so lauishly powred forth in fowle speaches LOue is a sowr delight a sugred greefe A liuinge death an euerdying life A breache of Reasons lawe a secret theefe A sea of teares an euerlasting strife A bayte for fooles a scourge of noble witts A Deadly wound a shotte which euer hitts Loue is a blinded God an angry boye A Labyrinth of dowbts an ydle lust A slaue to Beawties will a witles toy A rauening bird a tyraunt most vniust A burning heate A cold a flattringe foe A priuate hell a very world of woe Yet mightie Loue regard not what I saye Which lye in traunce berest of all my witts But blame the light that leades me thus astraye And makes my tongue blaspheme by frantike fitts Yet hurt her not lest I susteyne the smart which am content to lodge her in my heart XIX The Author in this passion reproueth the vsuall description of loue which olde Poetes haue so long time embraced and proueth by probabilities that he neither is a childe as they say nor blinde nor winged like a birde nor armed archer like with bowe arrowes neither frantike nor wise nor yet vncloathed nor to conclude anie God at all And yet wheÌ„ he hath said al he can to this end he cryeth out vpon the secret nature and qualitie of Loue as being that whereunto he can by no meanes attaine although he haue spent a long tedious course of time in his seruice IF Cupid were a childe as Poets faine How comes it then that Mars doth feare
on thée to gaze I maruel howe her beames that are so bright Do neuer cause thy brittle sides to craze Thou should'st by reason mealt or easly breake To feele such force thy substance being weake For when she first with seeming stately grace Bestowd on me a louing sweete regard The beames which then proceeded from her face Were such as for the same I found no warde But needes persorce I must become content To mealt in minde till all my wittes were spent And therewithall Cupido plaid his part He shotte a shaft throughout her christall eyes Wherewith he clest in twaine my yeelding heart And this is cause my panting heart still cries I breake I mealt helpe heau'ns in my behoue No herbe doth growe whose vertue cureth loue XXV It is to be considered in reading this Passion howe in some answeres the accent or poynting of the wordes is altered and therewithall howe the Authour walking in the woods and bewayling his inward passion of Loue is contraried by the replies of Echo whose meaning yet is not so much to gainsay him as to expresse her owne miserable estate in daily cōsuming away for the loue of her beloued Narcissus whose vnkindnes Ouid describeth at large together with the extreme loue of Echo Author IN all this world I thinke none lou's but I. Echo None lou's but I. Auth. Thou foolish tattling ghest In this thou telst a lie Echo thou telst a lie Author Why Loue him selfe he lodgeth in my brest Echo He lodgeth in my brest Auth. I pine for griefe And yet I want reliefe Echo I want reliefe Author No starre more faire then she whom I adore Echo Then he whom I adore Auth. Herehence I burne Stil more and more Echo I burne stil more and more Author Loue let my heart returne Echo my heart returne Auth. Is then the Saint for whom thou makest mone And whom I loue but one Echo I loue but one Author O heau'ns is there in loue no ende of ills Echo In loue no ende of ills Auth. Thou pratling voyce Dwelst thou in th' ayre or but in hollow hills Echo In hollow hills Auth. Cease of to vaunt thy choyse Echo Cease of to vaunt thy choyse Auth. I would replie But here for loue I die Echo for loue I die XXVI Here the Author as a man ouertaken with some deepe melancholie compareth him selfe vnto the Nightingale and conferreth his vnhappie estate for that by no meanes his Mistresse will pitie him with her nightly complaints to whose harmonie all those that giue attentiue eare they conceiue more delight in the musicall varietie of her noates then they take iust compassion vpon her distressed heauines WHen Maye is in his prime and youthfull spring Doth cloath the tree with leaues and ground with flowres And time of yere reuiueth eu'ry thing And louely Nature smiles and nothing lowres Then Philomela most doth straine her brest With night-complaints and sits in litle rest This Birds estate I may compare with mine To whom fond loue doth worke such wrongs by day That in the night my heart must néedes repine And storme with lighes to ease me as I may Whilst others are becalmd or lye them still Or sayle secure with tide and winde at will And as all those which heare this Bird complaine Conceiue in all her tunes a sweete delight Without remorse or pitying her payne So she for whom I wayle both day and night Doth sport her selfe in hearing my complaint A iust reward for seruing such a Saint XXVII In the first sixe verses of this Passion the Author hath imitated perfectly sixe verses in an Ode of Ronsard which beginneth thus Celui qui n'ayme est malheureux Et malheureux est l'amoureux Mais la misere c And in the last staffe of this Passion also he commeth very neere to the sense which Ronsard vseth in an other place where he writeth to his Mistresse in this maner En veus tu baiser Pluton La bas apres che Caron T'aura mise en sanacelle V Nhappy is the wight thats voide of Loue And yet vnhappie he whom Loue torments But greatest griefe that man is forc't to proue Whose haughtie Loue not for his loue relents But hoysing vp her sayle of prowd disdaine For seruice done makes no returne of gaine By this all you which knowe my tickle state May giue deserued blame to whom I serue And say that Loue hath miserie to mate Since labour breedes but losse and letts me sterue For I am he which liues a lasting thrall To her whose heart affords no grace at all She hopes perchance to liue and flourish still Or els when Charons boate hath felt her peaze By louing lookes to conquer Plutoes will But all in vaine t'is not Proserpin's ease She neuer will permit that any one Shall ioy his Loue but the her selfe alone XXVIII In this Passion the Authour doth very busilie imitate angment a certaine Ode of Ronsard which hee writeth vnto his Mistres he beginneth as followeth Plusicurs de leurs cors denués Se sont veuz en diuerse terre Miraculeusement ninés L'vn en Serpent l'autre en Pierre L'vn en Fleur l'autre en Arbriffeau L'vn en Loup c MAny haue liu'd in countreys farre and ny Whose heartes by Loue once quite consum'd away Strangely their shapes were changed by and by One to a Flow'r an other to a Bay One to a Streame whose course yet maketh mone One to a Doue an other to a Stone But harke my Deere if wishing could preuaile I would become a Christall Mirrour I Wherein thou might'st behold what thing I aile Or els I would be chang'd into a Flie To tast thy cuppe and being dayly ghest At bord and bedde to kisse thee mid'st thy rest Or I would be Perfume for thee to burne That with my losse I might but please thy sinell Or be some sacred Spring to serue thy turne By bathing that wherein my heart doth dwell But woe is me my wishing is but vaine Since fate bidds Loue to work my endlesse paine XXIX The Authour in this Sonnet in a large maner setteth forth the surpassinge worthines of his Ladie reporting her beawtie and forme to be so singuler that neither Appelles can perfectly drawe her portraicte nor Praxiteles trewly frame her image and likenes in any kinde of mettall And the like vnablenes he awardeth vnto Virgill and Homer the two Paragons of Poetrye if they should but once endeuour to praise her And the like insufficiencie he sayeth would be found in Tullie him selfe if he should endeuour to commend her And thē finally he excuseth his owne bould hardines shewed in praysing her vpon the forcible extremitie which he abideth in Loue and the earnest desire which he hath to please SUch is the Saint whom I on earth adore As neuer age shall know when this is past Nor euer yet hath like byn séene before Apelles yf he liu'd would stand agast
it out againe And cure me so that skarre should scarce appeare Or if Alcides shaft did make me bleed Machaons art would stand me in some steede But being as it is I must compare With fatall woundes of Telephus alone And say that he whose hand hath wrought my care Must eyther cure my fatall wounde or none Helpe therefore gentle Loue to ease my heart Whose paines encrease till thou withdraw thy dart LXIX In the first staffe of this Passion The Authour as one more then halfe drowping with despaire sorowfully recounteth some particular causes of his vnhappinesse in Loue. In the residue he entreateth a better aspecte of the Planets to the end that either his life may bee inclined to a more happie course or his death be hastned to end all his misery at once MY ioyes are donne my comfort quite dismay'd My weary wittes bewitch't with wanton will My will by Fancies headeles faulte betrayd Whose eyes on Beauties face are fixed still And whose conceyte Folly hath clouded soe That Loue concludes my heart must liue in woe But change aspect ye angry starres aboue And powrs diuine restore my liberty Or graunte that soone I may enioye my Loue Before my life incurre more misery For nowe so hotte is each assault I feele As woulde dissolue a heart more harde then steele Or if you needes must worke my deadly smart Performe your charge by hasting on my death In sight of her whose eyes enthrall my heart Both life and death to her I doe bequeath In hope at last she will voutsafe to say I rewe his death whose life I made away LXX In this passion the Authour some what a farre off imitateth an Ode in Gervasius Sepinus written to Cupid where hee beginneth thus Quid tenelle puer Pharetra vbinam est Vbi arcus referens acuta Lunae Bina cornua vbi flagrans Amoris fax vbi igneus ille arcus in quo De ipsis Coelicolis virisque victis Vinctisque ante iugum aureus triumphas Haud possent tua summa numina vnam Vnam vincere Virginem tenellam Qui fortes animos pudicae Elisae Fortioribus irrigans venenis Vicisti c. CVpid where is thy golden quiuer nowe Where is thy sturdy Bowe and where the fire Which made ere this the Gods themselues to bow Shall she alone which forceth my Desire Report or thinke thy Godhead is so small That she through pride can scape from being thrall Whilom thou ouercam'st the stately minde Of chast Elisa queene of Carthage land And did'st constraine Pasiphae gainst her kind And broughtest Europa faire to Creta sande Quite through the swelling Seas to pleasure Ioue Whose heau'nly heart was touch't with mortall loue Thus wert thou wunt to shewe thy force and slight By conqu'ring those that were of highest race Where nowe it seemes thou changest thy delight Permitting still to thy no small disgrace A virgin to despise thy selfe and me Whose heart is hers where ere my body be LXXI The Authour writeth this Sonnet vnto his very friend in excuse of his late change of study manners and delights all happening through the default of Loue. And here by examples he proueth vnto him calling him by the name of Titus as if him selfe were Gysippus that Loue not onely worketh alteration in the mindes of men but also in the very Gods them selues and that so farre forth as first to drawe them from their Celestiall seates and functions and then to ensnare them with the vnseemely desire of mortall creatures a Passion ill befitting the maiesty of their Godheads ALas deere Titus mine my auncient frend What makes thee muse at this my present plight To sée my woonted ioyes enioy their end And how my Muse hath lost her old delight This is the least effect of Cupids dart To change the minde by wounding of the heart Alcides fell in loue as I haue done And layd aside both club and Lions skinne Achilles too when he faire Bryses wunne To fall from warres to wooing did beginne Nay if thou list suruey the heau'ns aboue And sée how Gods them selues are chang'd by Loue Ioue steales from skies to lye by Laedaes side Arcas descendes for faire Aglaurus sake And Sol so soone as Daphne is espied To followe her his Chariot doth forsake No meruaile then although I change my minde Which am in loue with one of heau'nly kinde LXXII In this Sonnet The Authour seemeth to specifie that his Beloued maketh her aboade in this our beautifull and faire Citty of London situate vpon the side of the Themse called in latine Thamesis And therefore whilst he faineth that Thamesis is honourably to be conueyed hence by all the Gods towardes the Palace of old Nereus he seemeth to growe into some iealosie of his mistres whose beautie if it were as well known to thē as it is to him it would as he saith both deserue more to be honoured by thē and please Tryton much better then Thamesis although she be the fairest daughter of old Oceanus OCeanus not long agoe decreed To wedd his dearest daughter Thamesis To Tryton Neptunes sonne and that with speede When Neptune sawe the match was not amisse Hee prayde the Gods from highest to the least With him to celebrate the Nuptiall feast Ioue did descend with all his heau'nly trayne And came for Thamesis to London side In whose conduct each one imployd his paine To reuerence the state of such a Bride But whilst I sawe her led to Nereus Hall My iealous heart begann to throbb withall I doubted I lest any of that crewe In fetching Thamesis shoud see my Loue Whose tising face is of more liuely hewe Then any Saintes in earth or heau'n aboue Besides I fear'd that Tryton would desire My Loue and let his Thamesis retyre LXXIII Here the Author by faining a quarrell betwixt Loue and his Heart vnder a shadow expresseth the tyrannie of the one the miserie of the other to sturre vp a just hatred of the ones iniustice and cause due compassion of the others vnhappines But as he accuseth Loue for his readines to hurt where he may so he not excuseth his Heart for desiring a faire imprisonment when he neded not thereby specifying in Loue a wilfull malice in his Heart a heedlesse follie I Rue to thinke vpon the dismall day When Cupid first proclamed open warre Against my Hearte which fledde without delay But when he thought from Loue to be most farre The winged boy preuented him by flight And led him captiuelyke from all delight The time of triumph being ouerpast He scarcely knewe where to bestowe the spoile Till through my heedlesse Heartes desire at last He lockt him vp in Tower of endlesse toyle Within her brest whose hardned wil doth vexe Her silly ghest softer then liquid wex This prison at the first did please him well And seem'd to be some earthly Paradise Where now alas Experience doth tell That Beawties bates can make the simple wise And biddes him
blame the bird that willingly Cheaseth a golden cage for liberty LXXIIII The Author in this passion vpoÌ„ a reason secret vnto him selfe extolleth his Mistres vnder the name of a Spring First he preferreth the same before the sacred fount of Diana which as Ouid witnesseth 3. Metam was in the valley Gargaphie adioyning to Thaebes then before Tagus the famous riuer in Spaine whose sandes are intermixt with stoare of gold as may be gathered by those two verses in Martiall lib. 8. Non illi satis est turbato sordidus auro Hermus Hesperio qui sonat orbe Tagus And lastly before Hippocrene a fountaine of Boeotia now called the well of the Muses fained by the Poëts to haue had his source or beginning from the heele of Pegasus the winged horse ALthough the droppes which chaung'd Actaeons shape Were halfe diuine and from a sacred fount Though after Tagus sandes the world do gape And Hippocrene stand in high account Yet ther's a Spring whose vertue doth excell Dianaes fount Tagus and Pegase well That happie how'r wherein I found it furst And sat me downe adioyning to the brinke My sowe it selfe suppris'd with vnknow'n thurst Did wish it lawfull were thereof to drinke But all in vaine for Loue did will me stay And waite a while in hope of such a pray This is that Spring quoth he where Nectar flowes Whâ—se liquor is of price in heaun's aboue This is the Spring wherein swete Venus showes By secrete baite how Beautie forceth Loue. Why then quoth I deere Loue how shall I mend Or quench my thurst vnlesse thou stand my frend LXXV In this passion the Authour boroweth from certaine Latine verses of his owne made long agoe vpon the loue abuses of Iuppiter in a certaine peece of worke written in the commendation of women kinde which he hath not yet wholie perfected to the print Some of the verses may be thus cited to the explaining of this passion although but lamelie Accipe vt ignaram candentis imagine Tauri Luserit Europam ficta c. Quà ◠nimio Semelen fuerit complexus amore c. Qualiâ— Asterien aequilinis presserit alis Quoque dolo laedam ficto sub olore fefellit Adde quòd Antiopam Satyri sub imagine c. Et fuit Amphytrio cum te Tâ—rynthia c. Aegmaeque duos ignis sub imagine natos c. Parrhasiam fictae pharetra Vultuque Dianae Mnemosynen pastor serpens Deoïda lusit c. Ouid writeth somewhat in like manner Metam lib. 6. NOt she whom Ioue transported into Crete Nor Semele to whom he vow'd in hast Nor she whose flanckes he fild with fayned heate Nor whome with Aegles winges he oft embrast Nor Danaë beguyl'd by golden rape Nor she sor whome he tooke Dianaes shape Nor fai e Antiopa whose fruitefull loue He gayned Satyr like nor she whose Sonne To wanton Hebe was conioyn'd aboue Nor sweete Mnemosyne whose loue he wunne In shepheardes wéede no such are like the Saint whose eyes enforce my feeble heart to faint And Ioue him selfe may storme if so he please To heare me thus compare my Loue with his No forked fire nor thunder can disease This heart of mine where stronger torment is But O how this surpasseth all the rest That she which hurtes me most I loue her best LXXVI In this Sonnet the Author being as it were in halfe a madding moode falleth at variance with Loue himselfe blasphemeth his godheade as one that can make a greater wounde then afterwardes he him selfe can recure And the chiefe cause that he setteth downe why he is no longer to hope for helpe at Loues hande is this because he him selfe could not remedie the hurt which he susteyned by the loue of faire Psyches THou foolish God the Author of my griefe If Psyches beames could set thy heart on fire How can I hope of thée to haue reliefe Whose minde with mine doth suffer like desire Henceforth my heart shall sacrifice elswhere To such a Sainte as higher porte doth beare And such a Saint is she whom I adore As foyles thy force and makes thee stand aloofe None els but she can salue my festred soare And she alone will serue in my behoofe Then blinded boye goe packe thee hence away And thou Sweet Soule giue eare to what I say And yet what shall I say straunge is my case In mid'st of froast to burne and freze in flame Would Gods I neuer had beheld thy face Or els that once I might possesse the same Or els that chaunce would make me free againe Whose hand helpt Loue to bring me to this paine LXXVII The chiefe contentes of this Passion are taken out of Seraphine Sonnet 132. Col tempo passa gli anni imesi e l' hore Col tempo le richeze imperio e regno Col tempo fama honor fortezza e ingegno Col tem ogiouentu con belta more c But this Authour inuerteth the order which Seraphine vseth some times for his rimes sake but for the most part vp on some other more allowable consideration TIme wasteth yeeres and month's and howr's Time doth consume fame honour witt and strength Time kills the greenest Herbes and sweetest flowr's Time weares out youth and beauties lookes at length Time doth conuey to ground both foe and friend And each thing els but Loue which hath no end Time maketh eu'ry tree to die and rott Time turneth ofte our pleasures into paine Time causeth warres and wronges to be forgott Time cleares the skie which first hung full of rayne Time makes an end of all humane desire But onely this which settes my heart on fire Time turneth into naught each Princely state Time brings a fludd from newe resolued snowe Time calmes the Sea where tempest was of late Time eates what ere the Moone can see belowe And yet no time preuailes in my behoue Nor any time can make me cease to loue LXXVIII This Passion concerneth the lowring of his Mistres and herein for the most part the Authour imitateth Agnola firenzuola who vpon the like subiect writeth as followeth O belle donne prendam pietade Dimepur hor ' in talpa trasformato D'huom che pur dianza ardiua mirar fisâ— Come Aquila il sol chiar in paradiso Cosi va'l mondo e cosi spesso accade A chisi fida in amoroso stato c. VVHat scowling cloudes haue ouercast the skie That these mine eies can not as woonte they were Beholde their second Sunne intentiuely Some strange Eclipse is hap'ned as I feare Whereby my Sunne is either baid of light Or I my selfe haue lost my seeing quite Most likely soe since Loue him selfe is blinde And Venus too perhaps will haue it so That Louers wanting sight shall followe kinde O then faire Danies bewaile my present woe Which thus am made a moale and blindefolde runne Where Aegle like I late beheld the Sunne But out alas such guerdon is assignde To all that loue and followe Cupids carre
his might If blind how chance so many to theire paine Whom he hath hitte can witnesse of his sight If he haue wings to flie where thinkes him best How happes he lurketh still within my brest If bowe and shaftes should be his chiefest tooles Why doth he set so many heartes on fire If he were madde how could he further fooles To whet theire wits as place and time require If wise how could so many leeze theire wittes Or doate through loue and dye in frantike sittes If naked still he wander too and froe How doth not Sunne or frost offend his skinne If that a God he be how falles it so That all wants end which he doth once beginne O wondrous thing that I whom Loue hath spent Can scarcely knowe him self or his intent XX In this passion the Authour being ioyfull for a kisse which he had receiued of his Loue compareth the same vnto that kisse which sometime Venus bestowed vpoÌ„ Aesculapius for hauing taken a Bramble out of her foote which pricked her through the hidden spitefull deceyte of Diana by whom it was laied in her way as Strozza writeth And hee enlargeth his inuention vppon the french prouerbiall speech which importeth thus much in effect that three things proceed from the mouth which are to be had in high account Breath Speech and Kissing the first argueth a mans life the second his thought the third and last his loue IN time long past when in Dianaes chase A bramble bush prickt Venus in the foote Olde Aesculapius healpt her heauie case Before the hurt had taken any roote Wherehence although his beard were crisping hard She yeelded him a kisse for his rewarde My lucke was like to his this other day When she whom I on earth do worship most In kissing me vouchsafed thus to say Take this for once and make thereof no bost Forthwith my heart gaue signe of ioy by skippes As though our soules had ioynd by ioyning lippes And since that time I thought it not amisse To iudge which were the best of all these three Her breath her speach or that her daintie kisse And sure of all the kisse best liked me For that was it which did reuiue my hart Opprest and almost deade with dayly smart XXI In the first staffe of this passion the Authour imitateth Petrarch Sonetto 211. Chi vuol veder quantunque può Natura El ciel tranoi venga à mirar costei c. And the very like sense hath Seraphine in one of his Strambotti where he beginneth thus Chi vuol â—eder gran cose altiere nuoue Venga a mirar costei laquale adoro Doue gratia dal ciel continuo pioue c. WHo list to vewe dame Natures cunning skil And see what heau'n hath added to the same Let him prepare with me to gaze his fill On her apasâ— whose gifts exceed y â— truÌ„p offaÌ„e But let him come a pase before she flye From hence to fixe her seate aboue the skye But Iunoes gift she beares a stately grace Pallas hath placed skill amdd'st her brest Venus her selfe doth dwell within her face Alas I faint to thinke of all the rest And shall I tell wherewith I most haue warres with those her eyes which are two heau'nly starres Theire beames drawe forth by great attractiue power My moistned hart whose force is yet so small That shine they bright or list they but to lowre It scarcely dare behold such lights at all But sobbes and sighes and saith I am vndonne No bird but Ioues can looke against the sunne XXII The substance of this passion is taken out of Seraphine sonetto 127. which beginneth thus Quando nascesti amor quando la terra Se rinueste di verde e bel colore Di che fusticreato d'vn ardore Che cio laesciuo in se rinchiude e serra c. But the Author hath in this translation inuerted the order of some verses of Seraphine and added the two last of himselfe to make the rest to seeme the more patheticall WHen werte thou borne sweet Loue who was thy sire WheÌ„ Flora first adornd Dame Tellus lap Then sprung I forth from Wanton hote desire Who was thy nurse to feede thée first with pap Youth first with tender hand bound vp my heade Then saide with Lookes alone I should be fed What maides had she attendant on her side To playe to singe to rocke thée fast a sleepe Vaine Nicenesse Beautie Faire and Pompous Pride By stealth when further age on thee did creepe Where didst thou make thy chiefe abiding place In Willing Hartes which were of gentle race What is't where with thou wagest warres with me Feare colde as Ise and Hope as hote as fire And can not age or death make end of thee No no my dying life still makes retire Why then sweete Loue take pittie on my paine Which often dye and oft reuiue againe XXIII The Author in this passion wisheth he were in like estate and condition with the Loooking Glasse of his mistres by that meanes the oftner to be made happie with her fauourable and faire aspect And in the last staffe he alludeth somewhat to the inueÌ„tion of Seraphine where he vseth these wordes in writing vpon the Glasse of his beloued Che ho visto ogni qual vetro render foco Quando è dal Sol percosso in qualche parte Eâ— Sol che in gliocchi toi dando in quel loco Douria per reflexion tutta infiammarte c. THou Glasse whetein that Sunne delightes to see Her own aspect whose beams haue dride my hart Would God I might possesse like state with thee And ioy some ease to quaile my bitter smart Thou gazest on her face and she on thine I see not hers nor she will looke on mine Once hauing lookt her fill she turnes thée froe And leaues thee though amaz'd yet wel content But carelesse of my cares will I or noe Still dwels within my breast with teares besprent And yet my hart to her is such a thrall That she drâ—â—'n out my life departs withall But thou deceitfull Glasse I feare with guyle Hast wrought my woes to shield thy selfe from ill Shot forth her beames which were in thee erewhile And burnt my tender brest against my will For Christall from it selfe reflectes the Sunne And fyres his coate which knows not how tis done XXIIII Seraphine in his Strambotti hath many prettie inuentions concerning the Lookingglasse of his Mistres wherhence many particulars of this passion are cunningly borrowed part beeing out of one place and part out of an other And in the latter end is placed this fiction by the Authour that Cupid shooting his arrowe from out the faire eies of his Mistres did so wounde him with loue and desire that nowe he is past all recure by any phisicke and therefore is faine to vse the olde verse Hei mihi ê™ nullis amor est medicabilis herbis THou glasse wherein my Dame hath such delight As when she braues then most
softer then it was before THat Second Sunne whose beames haue dund my sight So scorched hath my hart and senses all That cloggd with cares and voide of all delight I onely seeke and sue to be her thrall Yet soe this heate increaseth day by day That more and more it hast neth my decay Sometimes I melt as if my limmes were wex Sometimes grow stiffe as if they were of clay Thrise happy he whome Loue doth neuer vexe Nor any Second Sunne doth mealt away Nay cursed I blaspheme the fayrest Light That euer yet was seene by day or night Perchaunce her parching heates will once repaire My hart againe and make me all anew The Phenix so reuiues amids the ayre By vertue of that Sunne which all men view The vertue of my Sunne exceedes the skye By her I shall reuiue though first I die XLV The Authour vseth in this Passion the like sense to that which he had in the last before it calling his Mistres a Second Sunne vpon earth wherewith Heauen it selfe is become in Loue But when he compiled this Sonnet he thought not to haue placed it amongst these his English toyes FOelices alij iuuenes quos blandula Cypris Aptos fecit amoribus Exoptare solent tenebrosa crepuscula noctis Aurorae maledicere At multo est mihi chara magis pulcherrima coniux Tythoni gelidi senis Dum venit in prima surgentis parte diei Et Soles geminos mihi Apperit moesto foelices reddit ocellos Quòd Soles videam duos Qui simili forma simili sic luce coruscant Et mittunt radios pares Vt Polus ipse nouo Terrae laqueatus amore Fâ—â— nmis inuideat meis Solis ignoto se torreat igne secundi Oblitus decoris sui Haud secus atque olim Cum veris prima venustas Multo flore superbijt Et nitidos primùm strophijs ornâre capillos Pulchri Naïadum chori XLVI Here the Author bewaileth the extremitie of his estate growinge dayly to be more troublesome then before and all through the hard hart of his beloued whome he therefore aptly compareth vnto a stony rocke which nothinge can moue or waste awaye but longe continuance of time And hereuppon after hauing longe striued with himselfe and his passions hee is quyetly resolued to haue patience so long to perseuer in the still hoping minde of a trewe louer till by long continuance of time Loue be induced to stande his friend ALl yee that loue compare your paines with mine Which voyde of hoape continue still her thrall Whose hart is hard and neuer will assigne A raunsome day nor once will bowat all Much like the stony rocke whose hardned side Will scarsely weare with course of time or tide And yet since time can weare each thinge away I will enforce my selfe to liue content Till so my thoughtes haue fed upon delay That Reason rule the roast and loue relent O vaine attempt in striuing with Dispaire I build nought els but castles in the ayre For why the Qunne may sooner shine by night And twinckling starres giue glimsinge sparkes by day Then I can earn to serue my Sweete delight Whome neither force nor time can driue away Therefore in hoape that loue will stand my frend I thus conclude Each thing but loue hath end XLVII This Passion conteineth a relation through out from line to line as from euery line of the first staffe as it standeth in order vnto euery line of the second staffe and from the second staffe vnto the third The oftener it is read of him that is no great clarke the more pleasure he shall haue in it And this posie a scholler set down ouer this Sonnet when he had well considered of it Tam casu quà m arte industria The two first lines are an imitation of Seraphine Sonnetto 103. Col tempo el Villanello al giogo mena El T or si fiero e si crudo animale Col tempo el Falcon s'vsa à menar l'ale Eritornare à te chiamando à pena IN time the Bull is brought to weare the yoake In time all haggred Haukes will stoope the Lures In time small wedge will cleaue the sturdiest Oake In time the Marble weares with weakest shewres More fierce is my sweete loue more hard withall Then Beast or Birde then Tree or Stony wall No yoake preuailes shee will not yeeld to might No Lure will cause her stoope she beares full gorge No wedge of woes make printe she reakes no right No shewre of teares can moue she thinkes I forge Helpe therefore Heau'nly Boy come perce her brest With that same shaft which rabbes me of my rest So let her feele thy force that the relent So keepe her lowe that she vouchsafe a pray So frame her will to right that pride be spent So forge that I may speede without delay Which if thou do Ile sweare and singe with ioy That Loue no longer is a blinded Boy XLVIII This Passion conteineth two principal pointes In the first are placed two similitudes in both which the Authour expresseth his own wilfulnes in loue In the second he compareth the beautifull eyes of his Mistresse vnto the eyes of the Basilique which killeth a man with his onely sight being a farre of whereof Lucan lib. 9. saith thus Sibilaque effundens cunctas terrentia pestes Ante venena nocens latè sibi submouet omne Vulgus in vacua regnat Basiliscus arena And Mantuan in like manner Natus in ardenti Libyae Basiliscus arena Vulnerat aspectu luminibusque necat LIke as the sillie Bird amids the night When Birders beate the bush and shake his nest He fluttring forth streight flies vnto the light As if it were the day newe sprong from East Where so his wilfull wings consume away That néedes he must become the Birders pray Or as the Flye when candles are alight Still playes about the flame vntill he burne Euen so my heart hath seene a heau'nly sight Wherehence againe it hardly can returne The beames thereof couteine such wondrous flame That Ioue him selfe would burne to see the same I meane a Virgins face whose beautie rare Much like the Basilique in Lybia soyle With onely sight is cause of all my care And loads my yeelding heart with endlesse toyle Yet needes I must confesse she hath more grace Then all the Nimphes that haunt Dianaes chase XLIX The Author in this Song bewrayeth his dayly Passions in loue to be so troublesome that to auoide the flames thereof hee gladly faine would yeelde himselfe to die were it not that he feareth a further inconuenience would then arise For he doubteth least those flames wherein his soule continuallye burneth shall make Charon afraide to graunt him passage ouer the Lake of Stix by reason his old withered boat is apt to take fire SO great a Light hath set my mind on fire That flesh and boane consume with secreat-flame Each vaine dries vp wit yéeldes to déepe desire I scarce