University of Virginia Library

An Ecloge: Spoken by Damon and Amintas.

DAMON.
Amintas! (who our northerne feilds makest proud;
Whose Eye, then Phœbus more prevents that cloud,
Now, from the Southeast threatning,) ah, how long?
How many Summers since thy glorious Songe
Our Ayre enricht! growne foggie, since the time
Strephon contending, in an humble Rhime,
His Silvia prais'd, to thy Vrbanae's Eyes.
Deare Shepheard, now, (if our Societies
Seeme not vnworthy thee) that pipe assaye,
Which has made Short even the Longest Daye.

AMINTAS.
Damon, that Pipe is broke, and Numbers now
Amintas can noe more; my Braine and Brow
Is but one Cloud; if, Damon, I may heare
Thy better Notes, I lend a willing Eare.

DAMON.
My deare Amintas, Say what may it be,
(If a freind may partake) that troubles thee?
Are thy flockes faint? or doth Alexis faile
In freindships to thee? or (more Sad then All)
Is thy Vrbana false? a feare I durst
Scarce feare! but Love is Apt to feare the worst.
Say, Shepheard, to thy freind, what Torture may
Soe scorch thy Soule, to wash thy Eyes away.

AMINTAS.
If, Damon, my weake Spirrits may not beare
Soe great a Burthen, doe not blame a Teare;
Your feare, alas, is but too safe, too Iust;
Vrbana is,—is false, and strangelie Lost
To her first vowes; a prostitute or more,
To the Grand Paillard, proud to be his whore.
This but a part, though, ah! too much by this;
The rest I cannot Speake; for, Damon, 'tis
Soe beyond wonder, such a Prodigie,
It starts a Horror, everie Thought in Mee.

DAMON.
May it not Adde Affliction, to lay out
All thy mishap, my deare Amintas doe't;
Whilest I, with open Ears, thy Sorrowes gather
Into my brest; wee better suit together;
Let me (at lest in this) thy Rivall prove;
'Tis fitt, hee Share thy greife, whom thou dost Love.

AMINTAS.
The Storie's Long and Sad, but may Appeare
Perhaps, not tedious to a tender Eare:
You, Damon, are concern'd; your Loyaltie
Makes you a partner in the miserie;
And the strict tye of freindship 'twixt vs two
Emboldens me to vtter what I know.
Thus then it is; our folds and flocks, whileere
To Pan made Sacred; and his Steward here,
Next vnder Him wee honour; and noe knee
But vnto him did bend in fealtie;
His Ivorie Hooke; (made glorious by his Hand)
More then a Scepter, shinéd ore the Lande;
And wee inferiour Swains were taught to bring
Our Tribute-Lambes, and our fleece-offering
To this Great Shepherd; part of the increase
Which Hee preserved soe many yeare in Peace;
This was: but, Damon! now, wee may noe more
Performe or paye the Duties vs'd to fore.

DAMON.
Is Pietie a Sin? or Loyaltie
Now made a Crime? vnriddle it to mee;
For since I can remember, I was taught
To honour the Great Shepheard; and have brought
My frequent Tributes, with a willing Hand;
Who now soe bold, dare his iust rights withstand?

AMINTAS.
Ah Damon! latelie to another, Hee
Imparted Somewhat of his Roialtie;
A Cozen of the Blood, of Sex vnfitt
For Soveraigntie; yet Hee allow'd her Sitt
Next to his Throne; vnheeding what, too Late
Hee now repents; her ill-bestowéd State.
For when She now, by favour of his Eye,
Seem'd to the world a part of maiestie;
The giddie Heads who still delight in Change,
Fixe vpon Her the Light, and put a Strange
Glorie vpon Her; yet, it was but Ayre
And her owne Pride, made her appeare so faire;
For all the Nobler Shepherds were afraid
Her Rule might ruine what the other made;
Still our Great Shepherd, to him selfe Secure,
Is pleas'd with new Addresses made vnto Her:
From everie corner of this Iland flye
Papers, to establish her yonge Maiestie;
Hee, all the while remisse, is well content
To see how she can manage Government;
Lulled by her Sugred Sayings and the oft
Repeated vowes, which (ah) She never thought;
Hee from his owne Hand gives his Ivorie hooke,
Which even His Father and Himselfe had tooke
Of Pan, with Solemne vow; and now begins
Proud Zephirina to augment her Sins;
For what She only wisht, and durst not Act,
Power gives her Right, and Iustifyes the fact:
Now, by himselfe forsaken, many Swains
Leave him (alas) whom kind Shee entertains;
Still her power Spreads; the Axe is now put downe
Vnto the Roote; the ruine falls,—a Crowne:
Now those who were freinds, or in favour high,
To the Great Sheapherd, fall; for Royaltie
Admitts noe Rivall; and Supreme Estate
Nothing Approves but what it did Create.
What need I tell, Philarchus lost his Head?
Or Mirabella, strangelie banishéd?
Or how Penandro, now her Minion growne,
Must not by him be call'd in Qvestion
For highest Crimes? To offer it, were more
Then Regicide it Selfe had bene before;
And even those few which did attend Him then,
Rebells denounc't; Himselfe the worst of Men;
That now (alas!) he's forc'd (Soe powerles left)
In this remoter Countrie, thus to Shift.

DAMON.
Oh the Sad Day! Amintas, wee have seene
The former Glories of a King and Qveene;
Then Zephirina hardly had a Name;
At most, below any pretence of Claime;
Alas! what Safetie can our feilds Afforde
To Him, they must acknowledge yet their Lord?
Hee thinlie fenced with Loyall Hearts, may Stand,
But they (alas) want Armes to the strong Hand
Of Zephirina now. Our Townes are weake,
Our Numbers few, and farre away to seeke.
This Sought in Time, might have some Refuge bene,
When His owne Troopes were full amongst vs seene;
When noe Power visible could animate
Aspiring Treasons; now it is too late;
Now Matho, with an Iron yoake, has prest
Our Loyall Shoulders; now, Hee stands possest
Of that strong Towne, which by a King once rear'd,
May be another's Ruine to be fear'd:
What can his Hopes Suggest vnto Him here?
Wee All are Cowed, even Stupifyed with feare.

AMINTAS.
Soe is the Nation all; or rather lost,
In his neglect. They Careles are, almost,
And let the Threat'ning Billow over-run
Their fortunes, willing soe to be vndone;
A retchlesnes has now Seiz'd everie Mind,
Or a strange Tumor, newer things to find:
For never greater Disproportion dwell'd
Amongst Minds; All are Sunke, or overswell'd.
Hither our Maister, confident of Some
Yet Loyall Hearts, encourag'd was to come;
Far from the Reach of Zephirina's power,
Which everie day encreases more, and more;
Her late imperious Summons She hath sent,
And if it fayle, by force She will Attempt
His Sacred Person; 'tis alreadie done.
Her 'Complices in this Sedition,
Bring in their willing Armes, their Purses ope,
T' exasperate her Rage, and vrge a Hope
Of her Establishment. Leavies are made,
And Voluntarie Troopes goe to Her Ayde;
That now her forces in the feild Appeare
A formidable Armie; and Wee heare
Cornigerus, the Generall of the rout,
Must bring that Proiect speedilye about.

DAMON.
Alas! what Counsels may our Maister have
To avoyd this Torrent, and his Honour save?
Our Numbers are too weake, our wealth exhaust,
To Cope with such a numerous and vast
Army, as they are made to vs by fame;
Amintas, Say! what Succours can Hee frame?

AMINTAS.
'Tis (ah) but Small yet all Hee can pursue;
Necessitated thus, Hee, with the fewe
Willing to serve him, Westward now intend;
Where they perswade Hee will have many a freind;
However, he resolves at once to run
The hazard of his Life, with Losse of Crowne.
There, his Imperiall Standard will he place,
(If yet it be soe powerfull as it was,)
To call in everie Heart, and everie Hand,
T' assist his Right, and her rude force withstand:
This, his last Refuge, a wan hope, to bring
Himselfe to former Glories of a Kinge.

DAMON.
I doe not See what Succours can be brought,
Worthy of his Necessities or Thought;
For Zephirina everie Countie awes
With Edicts Strange, and never heard of Lawes;
Her Ministers, throughout the Kingdome spred,
Are Active to advance her late-rais'd Head;
All Mouths are full of Her; and everie Tongve
In her Name's Priviledge, can not speake wrong;
When our Great Maister but a By-word Stands,
And Groomes dare make a Iest of his Commands.
But Say, Amintas, for the Evening calls,
How comes thy bright Vrbana, to be false?

AMINTAS.
That, as a part of Sorrow, to the rest
Then may I adde, and poure out all my brest;
When Zephirina, in her obscure Cell
Livéd erewhile, Vrbana loved her well;
And though She cunning kept it from my Eare,
She wish'd her ever, what wee All now see her;
And her Ambitions did foment to all
Strange vndertakings; that I doe not Call
'Em worse, for worst they are. Noe sooner was
This Zephirina in the Royall place,
But false Vrbana, all her vowes made Light;
Her many former vowes, which Shee had plight,
And with new Oaths seal'd, for the single Sway
Of this Vsurper ioynes; and everie day
Adds to her rule. Vrbana Sweeps the round
Of all her Streets, for Ruffians to be found;
And all the Dregs of Men, by numerous Polls,
Swarme in, to fill vp Zephirinae's Rolls;
These Polymorphus leads in, to assist
The new-rais'd Tirranie of What they List;
And thus Vrbana, (not to her owne Lust
But Zephirinae's Baud,) has quitt her Trust.
What shall I more? What you imagine more,
Vrbana is of wicked. Thus the Sore
You now have seen, which wounds Amintas' brest:
What else remains can never be exprest.

DAMON.
Though further Wee removed, not lesse concern'd
As some have taught; a Dictate never learn'd
By loyall Minds; who know noe Limit to
Their Zeale, or a proportion to their vow;
My brest is full as thine, with the same fire,
And what I can not vtter, I admire;
With Horror wounded, a darke Extacie
Runs through my Soule, in everie facultie.

AMINTAS.
Ah, Damon! though wee bleed, yet thinke, how more
The Arrow wounds our Maister. Wee are poore;
And though our Indyviduall Selves may seeme
Near in our Eyes, wee are of noe Esteeme;
Poore Shepherds may be ruin'd everie Day,
Without a Noyse, and noe Man left to Say
'Twas pittye; for their narrow Motions are
But in the Sphære of a Particular.
Princes are set a Step beyond their fates;
They never suffer Single; forméd States,
The Structurs of well-setled Polities,
And changéd Government; their Exequies
Are ever made; and not the meanest Hee
But falls a Part in ruin'd Monarchye.

DAMON.
What may wee doe? the Shepheard is not free
To Sing his Thoughts, vnder the Tirranie
Of this expected Rage; our humble verse
Now carries Danger to still Iealous Ears;
Wee must retract what wee have sung before,
And Numbers raise (which Muses all abhorre)
To Celebrate the Glories of a late
Vsurpéd Power, and most deforméd State.
Sing let me never, Phœbus, if I raise
To thriving Treasons any note of Praise.

AMINTAS.
Noe matter, Swaine, Apolloe's Harpe vnstrunge,
Was seen the other Day, and careles hung
Vpon the Willowes. Pan, his Syrinx made
A pipe, has throwne away, and left the Trade.
The Muses Silent, everie Swain strucke mute,
And Verses now fall, like vntimely fruite;
For what is left to Sing? Our Glorie's gon,
Our Loves are Lost, or not worth thinking on.

DAMON.
More happines have wee: (though Miserie
Surround vs All) yet in our Loves wee're free;
And Shepheard's humble Loves wee not the least
Of happines determine, if not Best.

AMINTAS.
Had Such bene mine, Soe had I happie lived,
My flocks still kept their fold, and I had greived
Noe Strumpet's loosenes; then my Pipe had Still
Bene pleasant; now, a worne and wearied Qvill:
Damon, noe more, for longer Shadowes fall
From Westerne Hills, and Shepheards homeward call.