The Works of William Fowler :: :: University of Virginia Library

That tyme that did my sobbing sobbs and sorye sighs renew,
Through sweitt rememberance of that day on which my lowe first grew,
Which was the first beginnar of my panis and future smart,
and of my longsome martyrdome that martered had my hart,
The Sunn alreddye warmed had the Bull his doubled horne,
and Tithus wyfe, Aurora cleir, vprysing reade at morne,
All ycye and most frostye lyk had then hir selff adrest
vnto hir wonnted ancient place, hir auld frequented rest;
Lowe, greif, disdanis, and planing plaintis, and seasoun of the ȝeir
had caused me to a secreit place my self for to reteir,
Whair all the causis and fashereis that did oppres my hart
might thairby all affected be and all my doole auert.

Thair on the grass and plesant grene, my voyce be plaints maid waik,
my watching eyne orcumd through sleip at lenth sum rest did tak:

Quhair then I saw a Meruellous light, and in the same muche wo,
with litill Ioy, and sadnes full, and as me seamed, lo!
Amidst thairof I saw a duke, victorious, high of might,
Lyk on who to the capitoll triumphs in chariot bright.
Than I who was not muche acquent with such vnquented sight,
evin through this noysum wicked world so full of craft and slight,
In whiche to long I liwe, alace, and it of valeur voyde,
bot full of pryde, of graces bair, which vertew hes destroyde,
The habit proude, vnsene, vnvsd, all new and vn acquent,
I thair beheld with cairfull eyes both heavie tyrd and faint;
Through lingring lowe and drowsie sleip this sight I did discerne,
for that I had no other ioy than such a sight to lerne.

Thair than I saw four coursers fair, more whyte than anye snaw,
a chyldish boy and youngling raw in fyrie chair to draw,
Who in his hand his bow did beare, his arrowes be his syde,
as nother helmet nor yit targe thair pearceing shottis can byde;
Abowe his shoulders ther wer plaist twoe fleing feddered wings,
Imbrowdered with Ten thousand hewis, all bair in other things;

And round about him thair did stand and round about his chair
a number of suche mortall men that none can tham declair,
Whereof than some wer prisoners by him in battall tane,
some pearced by his pearcing darts, and som by him lay slane.

I wandring than to know sum newis of him and of his trane,
and so far fordwart marched on, all weryed all with pane,
Did than perceawe my selff evin one of such a flok to be,
when lowe from lyfe long tyme befoir had far dewyded me.
Than stayed I a whyle to see if onye one I knew
within the Thikkest of that troup that lowe so with him drew,—
Who is a king that fasting is, and houngrie ay for teares,
who makks men die, and daylie dois tham feid with lingring feares—
Bot none thair wes I culd discerne; and yit if thair was one
with whome I ones acquented was and now to death is gone,
His face wes chaingd and countenance by preasoun or by death,
whome crwell weird or fatall parks bereaued of his breath.
Thus as I wes astonished and looking thair and heir,
behould thair did rancounter me and to me did appeir
A sight and shaddow sumwhat less then that I saw befoir,
sad, pansiwe, dark, obscwir, and paill, vnknowen to me the moir,
Which be my name me cald, and said, “let no thing this thee mowe,
for all this Pompe and this Triumphe is purchessed by lowe.”
Whair at I merveld verye muche, and said in speaches plane,
“how kenst thow me, when swirlye I do know the not agane.”
He answerd than: “this cums to pass, and this dois so appeare,
evin through the burden of my bands and chanes that I do beare,
And be this thick congested air, and be this foggie mist,
which duskish is that so thy eyes with darknes dois resist;

Bot I am he evin he thy freind to the was traist and trew,
In thoskan bred, and thairin borne, whair first our freindship grew.”

His speaches than and freindlie words and reason which of ould
he wonnt to vse did quickly than this muche to me vnfould,
Discouering at that instant tyme that which his face did hyde,
as efterwart we satt ws doun eache one at others syde,
Whair he began to speik to me: “long tyme is sen I thought
To sie the heir with ws among, and in this band be brought,
Becaus that we evin from thy aige and tender yeares did sie
the verye sings within thy face that lowe shuld captiwe the.”
Than ansuerd I: “that is most trew: at first I was so bent
and trewlie I had yeild to lowe my hart and whole consent;
Bot oh! alace! these troubles cryes that lovers do sustane
afrayd me, and maid me from that course for to refrane;
So that I left my interpryse to which I first did tend,
bot in my breist the rev[i]uing raggs of lowe may yit be kend.”
So said I than, bot as yit as he did heir in what a sor[t]
I ansuer maid, he smyling than to me this did report,
“O my deir chyld, what flams for the be kendled and prepaird!”
bot oh! alas! at that tyme I did not his words regaird,
Which now so deiplie be imprent within my head eache one,
that none more fast nor solidlie be grawed in marble stone.

Syne I, whoe be my neirest aige which so dois rage and burne
alreddie learnd both toung and mynde the vse to speik and murne,
Demanded of this shaddow dark, “I pray the tell of grace
and courtesie what folk be these that marches in this place.”
Than he replyed: “within short tyme thow by thy selff sall knaw,
for of this cumpanye thow shalbe evin one of thame I shaw,

And be this lord thow salbe led, so fettred fast and bound,
this thow sall prowe, and yit not knaw how thow man cwir thy wound;
Thy fortoun Is, thy fates ar so, thy destineis and thy lott,
that this sal chanse or thow dissolue or yit vnloose that knott;
Thow first thy plesant face sall change, thy hairis sall first be gray,
er from thy neck and rebell feit these bands be tane away.

Bot yit that I may satisfie the in thy young desyrs,
what thow now crawist I will the tell, and shaw what thow requyrs.
And first of him I will declair that gretest is of state,
who dois at ones the lyfe of man and libertie abait,
The sam Is he who by this world is named bitter lowe,—
bot better sall thow know the sam and better sall it prowe,
When that his force sall the subdew and so sall captiwe the,
that ouer the he salbe lord, and thow his vassall be—
In youthe a meik and modest chyld, bot in his yeiris and aige
A cancard throward Tyran strong of fearsnes full and rage.
Woe! woe to him that kenst so weill! and thow the same sall knaw
before a thousand yeares be past: awake! for I it shaw.
He also gendred is and bred of Idilnes and slouth,
with wantonnes of mankynds mynd; his nurishing and his grouth
Is of suche thoughts within tham selfs dois seme both douce and sweit,
And deyfeid and made a god of pepill in discreit;

To whome he is thair only death, and whome with hardest lawes
dois vnder thousand chaines and nailles keip fast within his clawes,
Thay leiding on and drawing furth thair dayis and lingring lyfe,
sharpe, hard, seveir, and bitter als, all full of sturt and stryfe:

This is the principall of this pompe and heigh triumphant lord,
whose Triumphe is be many man so gloriouslie Decord.
But whom thow seest so lordlyke goe and staitlie first dois come
It is the Monark Cæsar greit, the empriour first of Rome,
Whome that ægiptian Cleopatra in ægipt land did binde
among the flouers with bewtye brawe and bountye of the minde;
Now she ouer him triumpheth so with reasoun, lowe, and right,
that he who did the world ourcum so with his manlye might
Suld be subdewed by hir agane, and he suche change might see,
And that the victors honour might the vanqueists glorye bee.

The nixt to him It is his sone, Augustus greit by name,
whose fervent lowe more loyall was and iustar more his flame,
Who though he might his Liuia by force hir gett and gane,
yet would he with maist humble suit vnto hir love attane,
And by hir husbands owen consent obtened hir at his hand,
suppose she was with chyld that tyme, to Ioyne in mariage band.”
The thrid that marched with these twoe wes Nero the vniust,
dispytfull, bloodie, cruell, fearse, and faythles, voyde of trust,
Who passed on with visage full of yre and proud disdane,
and yit for all [his] force and strenth Sabina hes him tane;
And Mark Aurelius lykwyse thair went with this valiant king,
full of all praise and honour als in glorye moist conding,
Whose golden toung and sacred breist full of philosophie
was for the luif of faustine maid a sing and mark to be.

“These other two that standeth by so fearfull be mistrust
Is Alexander Phȩreus and Dynneiss the vniust,
Tane bothe in lowe, and in thair lowe afrayed night and day,
Whose Ielous mynds through Ielousie did purches thair decay,
And this effect thairof did ryse. Now he who nixt comes on
Is that Æneas that lamentis vpone Ancandrum stone

Dame Creusas death, king Priams chyld, who reft from him his wyiff,
quha from Euander tooke his sone, and reft him of his lyiff:
Hes ever thow hard one reasoun of or yit of him to talk
that to his stepdames furious lust and bed wald no wayes walk,
Quhome Pnædra so with prayers prayd, with lovelie lookes and sight,
yit he thairto did talk no heade but shund that Dame by flight?
Bot woe! alace! his chaist intent, his goodlie thoughts and mynde,
did bring his deathe and als hir hate bothe terrible and vnkynde;
And yit thairthrough shee wrought hir death, be love she thairto ran,
a vengeance iust for Hippolite whome she exyled than,
For Theseus consent thairto and also Ariadne,
From whome hir sister reft hir spous and had from hir withhadden;
But yit not iustlye may shee plaine, nor think hir much misvsd,
she wrought her brothers dreidfull death, and father had abusd.
Some pepill be who others blames when they thame selfs suld blame,
and spyeth faultes in other men and seing not thair schame,
Yet he who maketh sports and play and dois in fraude delyte,
he suld not muche be greued be if he get quyte for quyte.”

Thair saw I then his father nixt with all his pompe and praise
Led prisoner in that Triumphe, on whome my eis did gaise
To sie him thair tuix sisteris two brought thair in that convoye,
And Ariadne of his death and he of Phȩdras Ioy.

“He that is nixt is Hercules, that martiall man so bould,
by Dianire and Iole and Omphale maid thrauld;
The other who dois fauour him is that Achilles stout,
quho in his lwiff had all his lwkt evin full of doole and dout.
Heir standeth lykwyse Demophon, with him dois Phillis mwiff,
quho for his stay and long abode did hang hir selff for lwiff.
This Iason is, with him his Dame, Medea, ætas chyld,
that followed him and lowe also through tounes and deserts wyild;
And looke how muche she guyltie wes aganis hir father deir,
or cruell in hir brothers death so voyde of shame and feir,
So wes she more crueller and mowed in furious Ire,
in grit despyte aganis Iasons love to sett his houss in fyre;
And not content with this reweng she forder of did go
To cutt in blads befoir his eyes the children of tham two;
Sche thought this rigour no thing greit, nor yit to hurt hir hart,
Nor yit beleued that by hir fact Reuenge did pass desert.”

Than after cam Hysiphyle, who semed to complane
that be the barbar lowe of one she was brought in disdane.
Than saw I hir who by hir face of bewtye beare the name,
fair Helene, Menelaus wyiff, the farest grecian Dame,
Who had with hir that Shiphirdd thair that to his great disgrace
did fixt his eyes and gaised vpon hir fair and hevinlie face,
Wheare through greit tempests of grit wars, grit murders wyld & strange,
did ryse thairbye, and all the world did wp and dounsyid change.
I after hard Œnome amangs these Troups full sad
weip for the death of Paris toe, and for his luiff die mad,
Thair lykwise Menelaus was who did for Helene mone
To sie hir thoughts not fixt on him bot on him that was gone;

And after was Hermione who for Orestes cryed
To succour hir from Pyrrhus hands who had hir bewtye spyed.

Thair also I did thair behould Accastus daughter fair,
Laodomie, muche makking for hir Protesilaus cair.
With hir I saw trew Argia, most fayithfull to hir spous,
that maid his funerallis for his corss even with his teares & vowes,
More iust, more trew, and fayithfull more, more loveing in effect,
than Eriphyle that for a chaine Amphiarus did detect.

O Petrark! heare the sad complants, the sighs, and grevous sounds,
That from these lovers miserable so miserablie rebounds,
Who ar about to rander wp to him thair spreits and lyfe,
that in suche sort thame governeth and gwydeth in such stryfe.
I can not all thair names reherse that wer about that chair:
not onlye men wes tham amongs, bot evin the gods wer thair;
Thair press and number wes so great quhom Cupid led in chanes,
that all the shaddowing Mirtell woods wer filled with thair tranes.

For thair I saw the Cyprian dame, dame Venus bright and fair,
with Mightie Mars, both neck, feitt, armes, bound be Vulcans snair,
And Pluto that Proserpina did revish to the hell,
who half the yeare did with hir dam, the other with him did dwell;
Thair Iuno Ielous did I see, and brawe Apollo bright,
that did despyse Cupidois aige, his youth, his bow, and might,
Yit for all that this youngling boy his puissance maid him prowe,
when in Thessalia he him shakt, and made him for to lowe.

What sall I say than to be breiff and in this passage short?—
behoulde these goddis and goddessis that Varro dois report,
All Prisoners and captiwed now, and charged with thousand chaines;
and with the same evin Ioue him self his charged leggs furth straines,
And goes infettered hard afore this high Triumphant chair,
subdewed be loue, and led by lowe, to mak his pompe more fair.

Finis i cap.