him then myself his secreates all he reuealeth Vnto me and in mee his surest trust he reposeth And take this for a truth Vertumnus goes not a gadding Is not an out-come guest but dwells hereby as a neighbour Neither tak's he delite his fancies dayly to alter Or seeke for new loues or choyce once made to be changing Faithful Vertumnus loues with deuotion endles First loue and last loue Pomona the Lady of apples And can so conâ—orme and frame himself to be pleasing That what forme or face or shape Pomona desireth Into the same himself Vertumnus speedily changeth And if like conceits are alwaies cause of a liking You two loue and like with like affection one thing For Pomona desires and loues faire plentiful orchyards And Vertumnus takes first fruites of plentiful orchyards And though Vertumnus doe receaue these duetiful ofâ—rings And take in good part Pomonae's bewtiful apples Plummes and grapes and hearbs and flowres yet he chiefly desireth Not those faire apples but this faire Lady of apples Not Pomonae's goods but sweete Pomona the goddes Not thine but the alone Therefore with mercy remember Vertumnus torments and thinke that he mercy desireth With my mouth thinke that with these mine eyes he afordeth Teares feaâ—e louely Venus who wills each Nimph to be louely Feare Nemesis that plagues such girles as loue to be loueles Then she begins to recount many old wiues tales to the Lady How that Anaxarete for scorning bewtiful Iphis Was transformd to a stone with a thousand more of a purpose For to procure her loue and bade her looke to the fatall Fall of Anaxarete and learne thereby to be louely So might budding fruite from nipping frosts be defended And halfe-ripe apples from blustring windes be protected But sith th' old trott's shifts and tales were lightly regarded Turnecoate Vertumnus to a youth was speedily turned Braue youth gallant youth as bright and sheene as Apollo Seemes when burning beames which clouds had lately eclipsed Haue their streaming light and blazing bewty recou'red Youthful Vertumnus to the chereful Lady aproached And now offred force but no force needes to be offred Sweete face and faire lookes causd castles keyes to be yeelded VErtumnus qd Elpinus to end all in one word noteth the diuers seasons oâ— the yeare and is thus called of the Latine word verto which is to turne and Annus signifying the yeare as if a man would say vertannus the turning of the yeare He is largely described and discoursed vpon by Propertius in the second Elegie of his fourth booke Vertumnus at last by turning himselfe to a youth obteineth Pomona that is the spring comming on the earth afordeth varietie of fruites and flowres The like is that mariage of Zephyrus and Flora celebrated by Ouid in the fifth booke of his Fasti. Vertumnus transformde to an old woman goeth about to deceaue Pomona it is good to abandon olde bawdes which corrupt the mindes of tender girles The picture of Vertumnus Dieromena hearing Syluia make mention of Iphis and Anaxarete tooke occasion offered and by discouering her pride and plague did thereby inâ—inuate the reuenging might of the seuere Lady Rhamnusia IPhis a gentle youth if a gentle minde be a gentry Poore yet rich but rich in pure affection only Loued a lasse of state but alas vnluckily loued Loued a noble dame if a noble birth be a noblesse Loued Anaxarete whome pride stil causd to be loueles Oftentimes he retir'de yet loue stil forced him onward Oft did he striue with loue and yet loue stil was a victor And a triumpher stil. Then poore disconsolat Iphis Yeelds peâ—force and seekes his wounded soule to recomfort Sometimes vnto the nurse his secreate smart he reuealeth And by the milk by the pap by the blessed breast he beseecheth Sometimes vnto the friends of noble Dame he repaireth And their helping hand with streaming teares he desireth Sometimes wooing words in louing letter he writeth And ten thousand times his lordlike Lady saluteth Sometimes greene garlands with deaw of teares he bemoystneth And on posts and gates his garlands watery fixeth Sometimes tender side on threshold hard he reposeth And there locks and barres with curses vainly reuileth Scorneful Anaxarete with a frowning face with a hard hart Hart of flint of steele contemns him dayly for all this And to a disdaineful disgrace to a surly behauiour Adds a reproachfull speech and mocks him least any smallest Harts ease smallest hope might stay contemptible Iphis. Iphis vnable now t' endure these plagues any longer Coms all impatient and all inragd to the damned Dore of proud Mistres there this last passion vttring Lady Anaxarete ô now sing io triumphe Sing a triumphing song thou shalt no more be molested With vile woorme Iphis poore pasthope desperat Iphis. Vaunt thy self and laugh and let thy head be adorned With fresh laurel leaues in ioyfull signe of a conquest Iphis yeelds yeelds breath last breath sing io triumphe Feede that murdring sight with sight of murdered Iphis So shal Anaxarete eu'n in despite of her hard hart Hardest hart confesse that I once yet wrought her a pleasure Blood-thirsting pleasure wheâ— as Iphis murdered Iphis. Yet let no man thinke that I therefore leaue to be louing Fayre-prowd louely-cruell til I also leaue to be liuing With double darknes mine eyes shal at once be eclipsed Of suns burning beames and light vntimely bereaued And of Anaxarete's sweete sight vnkindly depriued Neither needes any man these tidings for to be telling Iphis wil be the newes and Iphis wil be the bringer Of that selfsame newes Iphis wil surely be present And in presence dy so Iphis shal be reporter So this Anaxarete in like sort shal be beholder And feede murdring sight with sight of murdered Iphis. Yet you gods if mens affaires of gods be regarded Vouchsafe forlorne wretch with some smalle grace to remember Let poore Iphis death and cause of death be recorded And by how much now his liuing dayes be abridged Let by somuch more his name and fame be prolonged This said brawne-falln armes and eyes all watred he lifted Vp to the posts which earst with flowres he had often adorned And there fastned a cord These these be the crowns be the garlands These be the flowres which yeeld such pleasant sent to the scorneful Lady Anaxarete so thrust in his head yet he turned Head and face and eyes eu'n at last gaspe to the scorneful Lady Anaxarete and there hangd woefuly tottring With corde-strangled throate his sprawling feete by the downefall Knockt her dore by chaunce knockt dore did yeeld a resounding Yeelded a mourneful sound and made herself to be open Wide open to behold so strange and woeful an obiect Dead dore senceles dore ten thousand times to be praised More then Anaxarete who by no paines of a louer By no intreating by no perswasion opn'ed Those dead eares to receaue last words of desperat Iphis Those curst eyes to behold last teares of desolat Iphis That prowd hart to bewaile
Elpinus Neptune was the second of the three brethren and sons of Saturne which had the whole frame of the world parted among them Ioue had the heauens Neptune the seaes all the rest was Plutoes Historically as some thinke Ioue had the East Pluto the West Neptune the seacosts howsoeuer Neptune is soueraigne of the seas who also many times shaketh with his imperiall mace the very foundations of the earth according to that of Ouid Ipse tridente suo terram percussit at illa Intremuit motuque vias patefecit aquarum For in coast adioyning to the sea earthquakes and inundations of waters are most vsuall Homer for this cause calleth Neptune 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Earth-shaker And as Pallas was president of Towres and Iuno a gouernesse of Gates so Neptune had care of the groundworkes and foundations of buildings which are neuer said to be firme vnles they be laide as deepe as the water Therefore as Neptune was hired by Laomedon to builde those stately walls of Troy so in the subuersion of the same himself is as busie afterwards as apeareth by that of Virgil 2. Aeneid Neptunus muros magnoque emota tridente Fundamenta quatit totamque è sedibus vrbem Eruit c. For towres Virgil 2. Aeglo Pallas quas condiditarces Ipsa colat And 2. Aeneid Iam summas arces Tritonia respice Pallas Obsedit nymbo effulgens gorgone saeua For gates Virgil 2. Aeneid hic Iuno Scaeas saeuissima portas Prima tenet sociumque furens à nauibus ignem Ferro accincta vocat Cymothoe is Neptunes seruant signifying the swifâ—nes of the waues and billowes for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a waue and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to run as if a man would say a running waue Triton is his trumpeter Plyny reporteth that the Vlyssiponenseâ— sent ambassadors to Tiberius Caesar giuing him to vnderstand that in then countrey there was one of these Tritons seene and heard singing being a sea-monster resembling a man by his vpper partes and a fish by those belowe this colour was like the sea-water his skinne hard with shels and is called Neptunes trumpeter to sound the retreite when his master would haue the sea to be calme because when he is heard thus singing or seene apearing in the water it is a signe of calme and fayre weather Neptunes mace is also Tridens three-forked for that there is a triple and threefold vertue in waters the first in wells which are sweete the second in seaes and they are salte the third in lakes being vnpleasant and vnsauory or rather because euery one of the three brethren hath somewhat to doe in euery part of the tripertite kingdome which may also be a cause why Iupiters lightning is also Trisulcum and Plutoes Scepter Tridens For albeit Iupiter is especially predominant in heauen Neptune in the seaes and Pluto in the lower regions yet that almighty and all-ouerruling power is indifferently aparant in euery of these three kingdomes and in heauen is called Iupiter in seaes Neptune below Pluto whome therefore Virgil calleth stigium Iouem the stigian Iupiter Neptunes wife is Amphitrite the water it selfe gouerned by Neptune noting the eâ—ficacie of nature ruling in seaes deeps She is called Amphitrite of compassing enuyroning or turning about as the sea embraceth and incloseth the earth Neptune had an infinite number of sons and daughters moysture is fit for generation which was the cause that Thales the Philosopher made water to be the ground and beginning of euery thing and Virgil calleth the sea the father of things Oceanumque patrem rerum Oceanus of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 swift for so is the flowing of the sea When Neptune was kept from Saturnes deuouring mouth his mother shewed a colt insteede of him and when Pallas and Neptune contended who as most beneficiall should giue name to Athens he with his mace stroke the earth whence issued a horse either for that a horse is swift and the sea is violent or because Neptune first taught how to ride a horse or by reason that a horse loueth plaines and large places where free scope is to run as is the sea for that cause called aequor Therefore the Romaine sports called Ludi circenses wherein the race of horses was vsual were celebrated in honor of Neptune and Horace maketh Vlysses his sonne speake thus to Menelaus Non est aptus equis Ithacae locus vt neque planis Porrectus spatijs neque multae prodigus herbae Neptune with his Queene Amphitrite standeth in a great shell as in a chariot drawne with two horses whose hinder parts ende in fishes a Tridens in his hand a white and froathy crowne on his head with hayre beard and roabe of color like the sea-water * â—eptunes â—icture His Nymphs are called Nereides of which kinde Theodorus Gaza saith that himself sawe one cast on a shore fashioned like a woman in her vpper parts but ended like a fish Galathea is so called of whitenes and noteth the very froath of the Sea Humor and moysture be the chiefe causes of augmentation Neptune therefore as hee hath many children so hath hee some of them great and monstrous among others Polyphemus who though vast and rude yet loued such is the force of loue but loued like a lowte such is the home-borne education of rurall clownes Polyphemus as the rest of that rout was called Cyclops of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as hauing but one round eye in his forehead in truth meaning a buckler framed round like an eye although Seruius doe otherwise expound it Hee is reported to bee a bloudy and theeuish manqueller robbing and spoyling all along the Sicilian shore from whome Vlisses wiselie escâ—ped and was therefore said to haue bored out his great eye with a firebrand This tyran Polypheme loued a noble Lady named Galathea but could not obteine her at last vsing force for law kept her violently and perceauing that she affected one Acis more then himselfe murdered the youth Acis and threw his bodie into a riuer which thereof bare that name Allegorically as some will haue it Polyphemus is a miserable and worldly keeper of sheepe and kine he loueth Galathea the Lady of milke and knowing that moyst places be best for milke cannot abide that Galathea should come nere Acis a riuer in Sicilia whose naturall proprietie was saide to be such as that it would drie vp and consume milke Glaucus loued Scylla but being reiected of her he intreated Circe to make her affectionate by charming Circe at first sight falleth in loue with Glaucus who in like sort refuseth her whereupon she infecting the waters where Scylla vsually bathed herselfe transformed her into a monster which afterwardes became a rock This Glaucus perceauing the fish which he had caught by tasting a certaine herbe presently to leap againe into the water himselfe for triall did pluck and eate and by vertue thereof transformed threw
of corne to Athens being in his time miserably plagued with famine These discourses thus ended the Nymphs were suffered to rest for a time and the Pastors enioyned freshly to pursue their interrupted narrations Among whome Alphesibaeus told this tale of his master Phoebus PHoebus too too prowd for killing Pytho the serpent Saw yong Lord of loue with a bended bowe in Olympus Aâ—d must boyes beare bowes qd Apollo must a Cupido Leaue his mothers papps and handle dangerus arrowes Leaue sharp tooles poore child and take vp a lamp or a firestick Kindle a foolish fire in a harebraine boy or a frantick Gyrle or shoote at crowes if boyes will needes be a shooting Such warlike weapons are far more meet for Apollo Who with a thousand shafts of late confounded an ougly Snake whose poysned panch all ouerwhelmed a countrey Well qd winged boy content let mighty Apollo Shoote at snakes and Lord of Loue at mighty Apollo And as much as a snake is lesse then mighty Apollo Soe much Lord of Loue is more then mighty Apollo This sayd yeelding ayre with fluttring wings he deuideth And Parnassus mount in a moment nymbly recou'reth There two feath'red shafts from painted quiuer he plucketh Of strong yet diuers operation one with a golden Sharp head breeding loue and th' other fram'd with a leaden Blunt head feeding hate Loue-breeder woundeth Apollo Hate-feeder Daphne and eu'n as much as Apollo Lou's Daphne so much this Daphne hateth Apollo Daphne goes to the woods and vowes herself to Diana Phoebus growes starke wood for loue and fancie to Daphne When that he looks on her haire fayre haire and sweetly beseeming Though vndrest vntrest blowne here and there by the shoulders Then doth he think ô if these loose yet sweetly beseeming Locks were drest and trest and not left loose by the shoulders How-much more would they seeme fayre and sweetly beseeming When that he lookes on her eies like sparkling stars in a frostie Night and lips yet lips to be kissed not to be lookt on And armes all naked fro the milk-white wrist to the elbow Then doth he think If I ioy these outward partes to be viewing O what a heau'n were it those secret partes to be tutching O what auailes it now with scorneful words to be bragging And with winged boy nay wicked boy to be striuing O what auails it now to be Titan Phoebus Apollo Bright burning radiant with sight light beauty abounding Thou whose beames did burne heu'n earth and watery Empire Art now scorcht nay burnt yea burnt to the bones with a wilde-fire Thou who shouldst by right be the due and daily beholder Of both land and sea doost now looke only on one thing Only vpon Daphne fixing those eyes on a Virgin Which thou owst to the world and gerst vp rath in a morning For to behold her face and goest downe late in an eu'ning Sory to leaue her sight sometimes thy beames be eclipsed Thy face discolored thy countnance chearful apaled And makst mortal men with a soddayne terror amazed And all this for loue for loue makes strong to be weakned Loue all-seeing sunne on a soddayne makes to be darkned Simple Daphne feares and flies for feare from Apollo Louer Apollo runs and thus complains as he runneth O stay deare Daphne thy best friend hasteneth after Fly not away sweet soule for so sheep run fro the Woolu's-iawes Hart fro the greedy Lyons and fearful Doue fro the Aegle Euery one from a foe but Daphne flies from a faithful Friend from a wounded soule from a constant louer Apollo Looke to thy selfe Daphne take heede for feare of a falling O stay haste makes waste these thorns may chaÌ„ce to be pricking Those thy tender legs and all through fault of Apollo O these waies are rough and ouer-growne with a thousand Briers if Daphne needs will goe let her easily goe on Easily goe on afore and I le haste easily after And yet let Daphne not scorne to regard to remember And mark wel what he is that beares such fancie to Daphne Noe brute mountaine bird no swayne no rustical Hoblob No threed-bare pastor with an hyred flock by the forrest Prowd of a bawling curre of a iarring pipe or a sheep-hooke But burning Tytan bright Phoebus chearful Apollo Delos mine Honnor my fame and glory denounceth And Clarian temples doe yeeld mee duetiful offrings Simple wench God knowes thou knowst not Phoebus Apollo And therfore thou runst as a simple wench from Apollo Worlds sight and worlds light worlds comfort Phoebus Apollo Soothsayer singer Ioues ofspring Phoebus Apollo Yea and most stedfast most cunning archer Apollo Had not that vile boy more stedfast hand then Apollo Healing hearbs strange rootes sweet balmes odoriferus oyntments Were found out set forth first taught by Phoebus Apollo And yet alas not an hearb not a roote not a balme not an oyntment Is to be found that can cure cureles wound of Apollo Phoebus spake and more by Phoebus was to be spoken Daphne breakes his speech and runs for life fro the speaker Sweet windes encountring Daphne as loth to be leauing So braue lasse and glad such tender lims to be tutching With milde blasts did blow her garments easily backward That bare skin more white then snowe vntroaden apeared And wauing loose locks flew here and there by the shoulders Flight augments her forme and barest parts be the brauest Flight augments his loue and nearest ioyes be the dearest And as a nimble youth as a youthful God to the damsel Strayght with might and mayne and all inraged he flieth And leaues intreating and frames himself to a forcing Like as a light-foot hound and trembling hare in an open Field when as either runs and either feares to be out-run Either runs for life and either runs for a hares life Hare to prolong her life and murdring hound to abridge it Hound thrusts forth his snowt girds out and greedily snatcheth Prest to deuour poore hare poore hare scarce fully resolued Whether shee 's yet caught or not caught shrinkes fro the murdrers Teeth all on water so Daphne so was Apollo Feare driues on Daphne and loue stil lifts vp Apollo Loue so lifts louer that neare and nearer he vrgeth Poore fainting Daphne now hard at her heeles he aprocheth Eu'n so hard at her heeles that Daphnes hayre by Apollo Daphnes scattered hayre was blow'n by the breath of Apollo Then weake and all spent turning her face to the waters Poenaeus waters there this last boone she desireth Father Poenaeus lend helping hand to thy daughter If you brookes are Gods and haue such grace from Olympus Let this gaping earth conuey mee downe to Auernus Or let this my face too pleasing face be defaced Let this forme which causd my former woe be deformed And to an other shape by transformation altred Her words scarce vttred lims al were starck in a moment And her tender breast all ouer-grow'n with a tender Barck and locks were leaues bare armes grew to be branches Swift
ouer curious and inquisitiue in spying and prying into those matters which be aboue our reache least we be rewarded as Actaeon was Ouid. 2. de tristib Inscius Actaeon vidit sine veste dianam Praeda fuit canibus non minus ille suis. Scilicet in superis etiam fortuna luenda est Nec veniam laeso numine casus habet Or lastly thus a wiseman ought to refraine his eyes from beholding sensible and corporall bewty figured by Diana least as Actaeon was deuoured of his owne doggs so he be distracted and torne in peeces with his owne affections and perturbations The names of his hounds are all fet from the naturall qualities and proprieties of doggs Laelaps Aello Nebrophonos Dorceus Harpya Lycisca Melampus Pamphagus Agriodos Pterelas Hylaeus Hylactor Melanchaetes Theridamas Oresitrophos signifying Swift Tempest Killbuck Spy Snatch Woolfe Blackefoote Eateal Sauage Lightfoote Woodman Ringwood Black Kildeare Hillebread Endymion watching in the night to obserue the course of the Moone in the Hill Latmos was said to be kissed of the Moone Which may also be the cause why they of Thessalia were saide to force the Moone downe from Heauen with their charmes and incantations for that they were very curious in noting her nature and reuolution Endymion by some others is a figure of the soule of man kissed of Diana in the hill that is rauished by celestiall contemplation Pan enticed the Moone into the woods by giuing her a faire fleece of white wooll that is to say nature doth induce and perswade the soule by the gift of sensible bewty to come downe into this world of generation and propagation signified by the wood Virgil hath some such thing 3. Georgeâ—on Munere sic niueo lanae si credere dignum est Pan deus Arcadiae captam te Luna fefellit In nemora alta vocans nec tu aspernata vocantem Faire Venus was now left for faire Cassiopaea who thus discouered the loue betweene her and Adonis MYrrha the fathers hoore and brothers mother a myrrhor Of most monstrus lust was late transformd to a Myrrh-tree O how could sweete Myrrh come from so sinful a Myrrha Myrrha made Myrrh-tree brought forth incestuus ofspring And yet most delicate most sweete most bewtiful ofspring Dame Natur 's dearling heu'ns ioy worlds woonder Adonis Either take wings bowe and shafts from louely Cupido Or giue bowe and shafts and wings to the loued Adonis And let louely Cupid stand hard by loued Adonis Either on others side and aske who list the beholders Which is louely Cupid which is this loued Adonis Euery man will swere that both are louely Cupidoes Both are Lords of loue and neither loued Adonis So like euery way were loue and loued Adonis Yea such grace such face such eyes had loued Adonis That very Enuies eyes must needes praise loued Adonis Lord how swift is time and slideth away on a sudden Vnperceaud vnspide That wretched lewdly begotten Sisters grandsires son closd yesterday in a Myrrhe-tree Borne but yesterday is now so louely an infant Sweete childe tall springall braue youth that Queene Cytheraea Loues natures dearling heu'ns ioy worlds woonder Adonis Lord of loue by a chaunce as he playd with Queene Aphrodite His louing mother did rase her breast with an arrowe Hence qd Lady Venus with this same paltery arrowe And putts back her son but that same paltery arrow Gaue her a deeper wound indeede then first she beleeued Now Cytheraean bowres and towres Cytheraea renounceth Fishy Cnidos with watry Paphos Cytheraea refuseth Yea leaues heau'n it selfe for loue for loue of Adonis Now she delites to be gay and frames her lookes to be louely Trims and tricks her selfe and all for loue of Adonis Sometimes downe by a well with Adonis sweetly she sitteth And on Adonis face in well-spring louely she looketh And then Adonis lipps with her owne lipps kindely she kisseth Rolling tongue moyst mouth with her owne mouth all to be sucking Mouth and tong and lipps with Ioues drinck Nectar abounding Sometimes louely records for Adonis sake she reciteth How Laeander dyde as he swamme to the bewtiful Hero How great Alcides was brought from a club to a distaffe How Medea the witch causd golden fleece to be conquerd What lost Euridice who first came safely to Circe Sometimes vnto the shade of a braunched beech she repaireth Where sweete bubling brooke with streames of siluer aboundeth And faire-feathred birde on tree-top cherefuly chirpeth There her voyce which makes eu'n Ioue himselfe to be ioying Vnto the waters fall and birds chirpe ioyfuly tuning Sometimes vnto the woods and pleasant parks she resorteth With tuckt-vp garments and Quiuer like to Diana And there harmeles game pursu's with loued Adonis Trembling hare swift hart and Roebuck loftyly horned As for Beares and Woolu's and such wilde beasts she detested Lest any harme might chaunce by the chace thereof to Adonis Whilst that Lady Venus did thus conuerse with Adonis Making more account of a heauens-ioy then a heauen Ioue sent forth summons through purple-veiled Olympus Forth-with commaunding all Gods and euery goddes There at a stately triumph on a certeine time to be present Then was Lady Venus compelld to returne to Olympus Greatly against her minde and leaue her loued Adonis And yet afore she returnd shee turnd herselfe to Adonis And thus tooke her leaue last leaue of loued Adonis Sweete boy sith that I must of force now goe to Olympus Neuer afore did I so vnwilling goe to Olympus Make much of thyself and I le make haste from Olympus Sweete boy looke to thyself goe not too oft to the forrest Where sharpe-tusked boares and rau'nous woolus be resorting And strong stoordy Lyons are each where fearefuly roaring Parks and launds are walkes more meete for yonker Adonis Harts and Hyndes are game more fit for gentle Adonis T is no wit sweete boy with a greater foe to be striuing T is no wit to be stout with strong to be haughty with hardy Forbeare for my sake for my feare learne to be fearefull Meddle not with beasts whose euery limme is a weapon Euery stroake is death least too stowtharted Adonis Buy his praise too deare thy face yeares bewty behauiour Which possesse my soule wil neuer moue the deuouring Woolues and bristled swine wil neuer finde any fauour In blood-thirsting eyes of a rugged bare or a raging Ougly Lyon most ougly Lyon whose merciles ofspring Chiefly of all other wilde beasts Cytheraea detesteth Then she begins to recount how fayre and swift Atalanta Chaunst at length in race to be ouercome by the golden Apples which herselfe of her owne grace gaue to the thanckles Hippomenes whose loue was therefore turnd to a lewd lust So lewd that Cybeles temple was fowly defiled And themselues to Lyons for a iust plague speedily changed Drawing her chariot whose church they lately prophaned Then qd shee fly these and not these only but all those Beasts that will not fly Such counsel gaue she Adonis But no such counsel would serue
naked they cannot conceale their passions winged loue soone flieth into our eyes and soules and louers are light as feathers His bowe and arrowes note that he hitteth a farre off his burning lampe the quickning light and yet consuming heate of loue Dulcis amaror amor Venus hauing brought forth Cupid and seeing that he did not thriue and growe was told by Themis that if Eros had Anteros if Cupid had another Cupid for his brother who might contend in loue with him he would doe well Venus hereupon brought forth Anteros and presently Eros reuiued loue was lusty and as the one increased or decreased so did the other neuer deliting but either in others loue and liking Eros was figured with a branche of palme in his hand Anteros contended to wrest it from him but could not Hee that will be loued must loue vt amêris amabilis esto We must contend to ouercome and get the palme and victory by louing more then we be loued so shall we still be loued more Fomes amoris amor * The picture of E and Antros Many yong waggs wayte on great Cupido they are borne of Nymphs yong naked and haue curled hayre and changeable colored winges sometimes with a lampe or a bowe sometimes without either bowe or Lampe Moschus in his wandring and fugitiue Cupid maketh him not blinde but hauing bright and cleare eyes Tasso hath the like in Italian to that of Moschus in greeke The particuler histories briefely tutcht in this tale as by the way may as briefely be thus expounded Leander and Heroes loue is in euery mans mouth the light of the lanterne or lampe extinct that is naturall heate fayling lust decayeth and Leander tossed with the cold storme of old age is at last drowned Ouid in his epistles passionately setteth it downe and Boscan hath made a whole volume of it in spanish entituled Historia de Leandro y Hero beginning thus Canta con voz suaue y dolorosa O musa los amores lastimeros Que en suaue dolorfueron criados Canta tambien la trisâ—e mar in medio Y à Sesto de vna parte y d'otra Abido c. Hercules was also called Alcides of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 force and might he was the sun of Iupiter and Alemena 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is strength and prowes So then Hercules is the type of a valiant constant and resolute Heros borne of Iupiter that is endued with all heauenly qualities effected by Ioues influence and so borne as to purchase himselfe eternall fame and glorious renowne through the world by his admirable aduentures which for that they were attempted and atcheeued by the malitious instigation and prouocation of Iuno himselfe was thereof in Greeke named accordingly for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Iuno and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 glory or renowne as I haue already mentioned others had rather deriue the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which noteth vertue valor In his infancie he strangled two snakes the meaning is that he began euen then to represse wantonnes Afterwards hee slew a Lyon noting wrath pride and crueltie ouercame Hydra the almost inuincible still breeding beast Enuy. Hydra lurked in moores fennes Enuy creepeth on the ground in base and abiect brests Troy could not be taken without his arrowes his arrowes are a figure of heroical fortitude He wrestled with Antaeus who euer throwne downe to the earth receaued new strength from the earth till at last hee lifted him vp and strangled him in the ayre so the spirit still striueth with the body but neuer can ouercome it till he lift it vp so high from the ground that with his feete to weete his affections he receaue no new assistance from his mother the earth Diomedes who fed his mares with mans flesh was by Hercules enforced to feede them with his owne body By Diomedes mares some vnderstand his whoorish daughters who robbed and consumed all that came vnto them He killed the mighty Hart he freed mens hearts from feare He was euer couered with the Lyons spoyle a valiant man vseth open and Lionlike prowesse and not treacherous and foxelike wiles He brake one of the hornes of the huge riuer Achelous he reduced one part of the saide riuer into his woonted course which was the cause of great fertilitie to all the countrey and therefore it is saide that the horne was dekt with flowres and called Cornucopiae the Horne of aboundance He fetcht away the golden apples of the Hesperides kept by the watching Dragon Hesperides the daughters of Hesperus are the starres their garden is in the weast wherein grow golden apples for such is the nature of the starres to glister like gold and seeme round in shew like apples They grow in the weast because the stars neuer appeare but when the sunne setteth and that is in the weast for all the day long they are obscured by the surpassing light of the sunne The neuer-sleeping Dragon that watcheth these apples keepeth the garden is the cyrcle called Signifer Hercules brought these intâ— Grece that is he brought Astrologie into his countrey So was he for the same cause fayned to beare the heauens on his shoulders whilst Atlas rested himself because he learned Astrologie of Atlas who is therefore sayd to holde vp the heauens because he continually obserued the motions of the heauens and was thereof called Atlas of â— which here is a note of augmentation and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to beare and sustaine The Pleïades and Hyades be called his daughters because he first noted their course and obserued their operation Ouid in the fourth of his transformations maketh this Atlas to be a king of Mauritania turned to a mountaine of his owne name when Perseus had shewed him Gorgons head for denying him entertainment In trueth Atlas is a most huge and high hill in Mauritania so threatning the heauens that it gaue beginning to this fiction Sometimes Hercules is paynted olde and balde with his club bow and shafts smal chaynes or wyres drawen from his toung to othermens eares signifiyng that his sweete toung wrought more then his strong body and that the aged eloquence is most piercing and auayleable as Homer maketh manifest vnder the person of olde Duke Nestor * The pictuâ—â— of Herculeâ— Gallicus Thus did Hercules his searching and heroicall heart leaue nothing vnattempted but by his reaching capacitie and inquisitiue speculation pierced through heauen and hel yet alas he that ouercame all was at last ouercome himselfe He that mastred men was whipped by a woman and enforced by her to spinne and handle a distuffe in stead of an Iron clubbe so doth wantonnes effeminate the most warlike hearts and so much harder it is to resist pleasure then not to be ouercome by payne At length hauing passed through so many perils and being infected with a shirt sent him from Deïanira and polluted with the venymous blood of the Centaure Nessus he burnt himselfe on
his folowers and among the rest Silenus is his Tutor a fat grosse stammering drunckard balde and flatnosde with great cares short neck and swelling bely riding on an asse as not able for swelling to stand on his feete all effects of beastly carowsing The water-nymphs tooke him from the burnt ashes of his mother and brought him vp the vine-tree is moyst of nature or rather the burning fire of Bacchus must be quenched wine must be allaied He is called Bacchus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of raging Bromius of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à fremendo of roaring and hurlyburly Lyaeus of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of freeingâ— and thereof liber in latine for wine freeth men from care and thought Iacchus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of crying and showting A strepitu Bromius qd vociferetur Iacchus qd curis soluat corda Lyaeus erit Horace thus describeth his operation Quid non ebrietas designat operta recludit Spes iubet esse ratas in praelia trudit inermem Sollicitis animis onus eximit aÌ„ddocet artes Faecundi calices quem non fecère disertum Contracta quem non in paupertate solutum Yuâ— is sacred vnto him that being euer greene and hee alwaies young and fresh The Pastors hauing all made an end Syluia Dieromena and Daphne had yet said nothing Syluia therefore remembred Pomona and Dieromena in meane time made herselfe ready for Rhamnusia as for good old Daphne she was odd in number and as odd in conceit and therefore very like either to say nothing or nothing like to that which had been said before Syluia spake as here ensueth IN King Procae's time Pomona the Lady of apples Floorisht â—aire Pomona the brauest nimph of a thousand Wood-nimphs no wood-nimph was found so good for a garden None so circumspect so cunning was for an orchyarde No wells no waters no hills no dales she frequented Fishing and fouling and hunting life she refused Fruite and fruite-bearing branches Pomona desired Gardens were her ioy and all her care was her orchyard Insteede of keene darts shee arm 's herself with a shredding Hooke and therewith cutts and pares the superâ—luus ofsprings And ranck spreading boughes which waste that natural humor Which well sparde makes stock to be strong and fruit to be louely Sometimes tender grifts from better tree she deriueth And to a baser stock commits them for to be noorrisht Bâ—ser stock full glad so noble an impe to be fostring Giuâ—s it â—ap for suck and it most charily tendreth And from nipping frosts with her owne barck dayly defendes it Sometimes crumpled strings of thirsting roote she bewatreth When raging dog-star burnt fruite-yard all to be scorcheth And this is all her ioy and herein stil she deliteth As for Lady Venus no such pastime she desireth But walls her gardens and orchyards warily wardeth And mens sight shunneth mens company dayly detesteth Least by the rurall folk violence might chaunce to be offred Vnto her owne sweeteself or force and spoyle to her orchyard What did not the Satyrs that frisking lusty Iuuentus And Pan with pine-boughes on his horns and fleshly Priapus And old Silenus well stuft with youthful Iacchus Old staggring Tospot Silenus with many other Rurall Gods t' obtaine so sweete and louely a goddes Yet more then the Satyrs then Pan then fleshly Priapus Then th' old Silenus Vertumnus faithfuly seru'd her And more hartily lou'd though nomore luckily lou'dher Howmany thousand times did he turne himself to a reaper And in a reapers weedes bare sheaues of corne in a bundell And when he so was dreast each man would deeme him a reaper How many thousand times did he change himself to a mower And with long-toothd rake with crookt sithe went to the meddowe And when he thus made hay each man tooke him for a mower How many times did he then transforme himself to a ploweman All in a leather pilch with a goade in his hand or a plowestaffe And so shapte each man would sweare that he were but a plowemanâ— Yea how oft did he frame and shape himself as a gardner Prest with a shredding hooke his vines and trees to be proyning And so dight no-man did doubt but he was but a gardner If that he met with a sweard or a souldiers coate or a cassock Cassock coate and sweard did make him march as a souldier And when baits and hookes and angling rods he receaued Fishers and anglers so well so right he resembled That both Nymph and fish might well therewith be deceaued So and so did this Vertumnus slippery turnecoate Turne and winde transforme and change himself to a thousand Shapes and all to behold Pomona the Lady of apples At last with gray heares his wrinckled browes he bespreadeth Putts on a red thrumbd hat with a staffe goe's lasily hobling Like to an old Beldame and thus she begins to be tatling O braue sweete apples and ô most bewtiful orchyard O paradise-garden fit for so louely a gardner And so giu's her a kisse too wanton a kisse for a Beldame Then sits downe on a banck and casteth her eyes to the garden Stoarde with trees and tree's with fruitefull burden abounding Ouer against this banck where these two fate was a goodly Elme that leant herselfe as a louing prop to a vine-tree Vine-tree inclining with clustred grapes on her elme-tree See said th' old Beldame to the sweete fac'te Lady of apples See thâ— loued sight and marke there how many thousand Mutual imbracements that vine-tree giu's to the elme-tree Vine giu's grace to the elme and elme giu's strength to the vine-tree Either an others helpe and either a ioy to an other But yet alas if th'elme stoode single alone fro the vine-tree Or vine-tree be diuorct from her husbands company elmetree Elme shuld haue nothing but fruiteles leaues for a burden Vine shuld lye on ground which now mounts vp to the heauens Then let Pomona example take by the vine-tree Let Pomona loue and ioyne herselfe to an elme-tree Ioyne herselfe to a mate or shew herselfe to be willing For to be ioynd to a mate O how-many how-many louers Should shee haue if shee once shewd herself to be louing Yea eu'n now though now thou liue here sole in an orchyard Sole in an orchyard here and all inclosd as an anckresse Sileni Fauni Siluani all the delightfull Crewe of rurall Gods stil run to the Lady of apples But thou if thou wilt haue this thy match to be well made Take heede learne in time and leand thine eare to a Beldame Who as a woman must of right wish well to a woman And as an old woman must needes know more then a damsell Disdaine these Demy-gods that rome and range by the deserts Wood-gods woodden gods pide Pan and filthy Priapus And take Vertumnus to thy mate who more then a thousand Sileni Fauni Siluani dayly desires thee And therefore sith loue craues loue more duly deseru's thee And take mee for a pledge for I know that nobody better Know's
too youthful Adonis For no sooner was sweete sea-borne Nymph Aphrodite Conueyd in chariot by siluer swans to Olympus But to the wilde wood went too wilde and wilful Adonis Where when his hounds on a time by chaunce had rowzed a wilde-boare Himselfe sets on first and boare in a brauery woundeth Boare enrag'de runs forth with foaming tusk to Adonis And teares those very parts those tendrest parts of Adonis Which were stil most deare to Adonis deare Aphrodite Teares and wounds and kills Aphrodites loued Adonis And now eu'n iust now when wilde Boare murdred Adonis Ioues great guests were gone and all solemnities ended And sweete louely Venus from Olympus newly departed Thinking euery howre to be two and two to be twenty Til she beheld her boy but alas too soone she beheld him Downe fro the skies she beheld her long-lookt loued Adonis Dismembred wounded with his owne blood all to besprinckled Then to the dolefull dale where murdred Adonis abideth Her milke-white coursers with might and maine she directeth Leaps downe rents her roabes and poore breast all to bebeateth Teares hayre scratcheth face and deathswound deadly bewaileth Hellish Fates qd shee though world be depriu'd of Adonis Corps and loued lymmes by you yet world to the worlds end In despite of you shall yearely remember Adonis Yearely remember mee by remembring yearely Adonis Yea this purpled blood wil I speedily turne to a purple Flowre which shal be a grace to the ground insteede of Adonis If that Apollo could transforme his boy Hyacinthus Into a flowre for a fame to the mourning flowre Hyacinthus Which stil beares ay ay in leaues in signe of a wailing If that Apollo could his dolefull boy Cyparissus Turne to a dolefull tree to the ioyles deadly Cupressus Shall not Lady Venus doe the like for loued Adonis Then with life-giuing Nectar sweete blood she besprinkleth And the besprinkled blood with a round top swells as a buble Purpled round by degrees is speedily changd to a purpled Flowre that beares faire leaues and fraile leaues euery winde-puffe Blowes them away So good things goe so dyed Adonis Flowre fades eye dazeleth face wrinkleth bewty decayeth CAssiopaea said Elpinus hath so passionately discoursed of Venus and Adonis that I feare me vnder these names she mourneth her owne loue and vttreth her owne affection Howsoeuer it be Saturnus that is Tyme with his sithe as I said elsewhere cut off his fathers manlike parts of which cast into the sea Venus was borne So Saturne destroyeth Venus bringeth foorth and both are necessary for the continuall propagation of these inferior bodies sith the corruption of one is the generation of another Venus is faire bewty enticeth to lust She is naked loue cannot be concealed She is borne of the sea louers are inconstant like the troubled waues of the sea Hereof was shee also called Aphrodite of the froath of the sea being like to Sperma Shee is called Venus qd ad omnia veniat or else à venustate Swans and Doues drawe her chariot Doues are wanton and Swans are white and musicall both being meanes to procure loue and lust Myrrha is sacred vnto her so is the rose also that because it is thought to cause loue this because it is fayre and fraile pleasant and pricking hauing a thorne aswell as a flowre as loue hath In Saxony she was figured naked in a chariot drawne with two Swannes and two doues her head bound with myrtle leaues a burning starre on her breast a globe representing the earth in her right hand and three golden apples in her left Behinde her were the three graces back to back hand in hand and apples in their hand The first picture of Venus Now for Venus her loue to Adonis and lamentation for his death by Adonis is meant the sunne by Venus the vpper hemisphere of the earth as by Proserpina the lower by the boare winter by the death of Adonis the absence of the sunne for the sixe wintrie moneths all which time the earth lamenteth Adonis is wounded in those parts which are the instruments of propagation for in winter the son seemeth impotent and the earth barren neither that being able to get nor this to beare either fruite or flowres and therefore Venus sits lamentably hanging downe her head leaning on her left hand her garments all ouer her face * â—he second â—icture of â—enus Pontanus expresseth it thus Terra etenim solem queritur deserta cadentem Inuidit quem tristis hyems cui saeuior apri Horret cana gelu facies cui plurimus imber Crine madet geminos cùm malè contudit armos Ac veluti virgo absenti cum sola marito Suspirat sterilem lecto traducere vitam Illius expectans amplexus anxia charos Cum grauidos aperitque sinus terra relaxat Spiramenta nouas veniat quà succus in herbas Diglomeratque niues grandine verberat auras Nam cùm sol rebus praesit pater ipse creandis Vt sese ad manes brumae sub frigore transfert Tum tellus vidua sulcos oblimat in alno Et tandem complexa suum laetatur Adonim Adonis was turnd to a fading flowre bewty decayeth and lust leaueth the Iust full if they leaue not it Equicola expoundeth it thus Adonis was borne of Myrrha Myrrhe prouoketh lust Adonis was kilde by a boare that is he was spent and weakened by old age Venus lamenteth lust decayeth The companions of Venus were the three Graces virgins free mery amiable all ioyning together So good turns must bee willingly aforded without grudging Some make Mercury their leader because good turns ill bestowed be bad turns benefacta malè collocata malèfacta arbitror therefore wisdome and discretion figured by Mercury is here requisite The first of them is Euphrosyne of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make mery to cheare and comfort the second Aglaia of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bewtifie The third Pithus of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to perswade or Thalia florishing as others name her Some make them winged because a good turne is little worth vnles it come quickly Gratia quae tarda est ingrata est gratia namque Cùm properat fieri gratia grata magis Two of them looke towards vs and one fromwards vs we must yeeld double thanks and double requitall for good turnes They be in greeke called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of mirth and ioy Natalis Comes referreth it to the tilling and fertiltie of the earth * The pictures of thâ— Graces The one hath in her hand a rose the second a Dye the third a braunch of mirtle The rose noteth ioy the Dye is a token that they ought to come in course The myrtle that they should neuer be forgotten but alwaies florish and continue fresh and greene Before wee leaue Venus wee must remember her sonne Cupido who to omit the philosophicall discourses of the Platonists concerning diuers loues was pictured a boy louers are childish blinde they see no reason