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

Alreddye these my weryed eyes all weryed so to vew
that brave Triumphe and princelie pomp that bravely did ensew,
And yit thairwith not satisfied, desyrous more to sie,
now heir and thair, to this and that, I did convert myne ee;
Which things for to repeate and shaw as I did sie thame frame
so short a houer will not permit nor thole I shaw the same.
Than did my hart from thoughts to thoughts by intercourse so pass,
when as I spyed two folkis a part togeather them amass,
And hand in hand, so ioyntlie ioyned, promening softlye went,
and reasoning in swetest words, they thus thair progres spent;
Thair vncouth habit light and strange did mak me much to muse,
and speache vnknowen to me, obscwre, which none bot they did vse;
Yit all thair talk and conference which was betuix these twane,
my marrow and interpretar and truiche man maid it plane;

And after that I knew thame bothe I nerer did approche,
And bouldlye did my selff inqyre, and on thame bothe encrochte,
Quair I perceaved the one to be a freind vnto our name,
The other ane adversar seveir and ennemie to the same.

Vnto the first I me adrest And thus began to say:
“O Massinissa, princelie prince, forgiwe me, I the pray,
Evin for thy Scipions sake, and hirs be whome I now begin,
that thow would pardoun what I speik and not be grewed heirin.”
Thairefter than he me beheld and speiking thus began:
“I willinglie than first would know quhat art thow for a man,
Sen thow [so] well in me hed spyed and dois so weill discerne
my double lowe vnto these twoe so stable and eterne.”
I humblie answered him agane: “O peirles prince of praise,
my pwir estate will not permit that thow me know these dayes;
Bass is my port, obscure I am, my meanes ar meane and might,
and from small flams that far ar plaist [thair] can not com grit light;
But thy renowme and royall fame through all the world arrywes,
whose force is suche that it coniones the hartis, the spreittis, and lywes
Of those that never hes the sene nor sal heirafter see
with knottis and bandes of lasting lowe that sall ay lasting be.
Now tell me if this gratious Duke in whose Triumphe yow go,
if that in peace and quietnes he dois conduct yow two,

Whiche couple makis me think such things to be so strange and rare,
and of the fayithfull rarest fayith that anye can declair.”

Than answered he: “thy toung dois prowe In naming me so prest
that thow dois knaw evin by thy self my state and all the rest;
Yit for to chaise far from my hart the doole which dois it grewe,
and so results evin by hir death who now no more dois lewe,
To thy requeist I yeild consent. I having than my hart
Vpone that high victorious Duke, whose lowe hes wrought my smart,
So stedfastlye implaist on him which no thing might supplant,
That Lelius in this respect with no small pane could vant,
Whairevir might his standart than or enseiȝe be found,
thair wes I lykwyse prest in armes to combat on the ground;
To him was fortoun fauorable, from him she did not swerve,
yit not so far as did his actis and doughtie deids deserve;
Suche valeur was implaist in him, suche manhoode in his mynde,
his lyke was never sene befoir, nor yit sall com behynde.
Now after that the Romane armes with honour wer besprent,
and sparpled to the vtmaist parts of east and occident,
With him I me adioyned then, and lowe with hir me ioyned
in such a sort that deathe hir self yit not hes vs disioyned.

Was never suche a sweitlie flame two lowers breists did burne,
nor never sall, as I belewe, for which I mone and murne,
And wepeth that suche few short nights which makis me cair and crye
suld all my pleasouris ouercross and my deserts all drye.
For being in vane conducted both vnto our mariage bed,
and all our iust and lawfull links to brokken be and shed,
And thairwith all my trew despysed, and no excuse prewaill
In this my fwrie and my lowe that did me so assaill,
Be him whose valour in it selff than all the world was more,
be him whose words wer holy all and full of fame and glore,
Be him who had no pittye on of both our sighs and wo,
be him, and by his holye speache, we parted wer in two.

From thence, alas, did ryse our doole: and yit, I must confes,
in doing so he hes done weill, suppose my Ioyes ar less;
I saw suche perfyte proofes of grace in him suche vertew flame
within the mynde of Scipio that ay sall liwe in fame:
And as the man is stony blinde that can not see the Sun,
even so Is [he] that not remarques the splendure he hes wun:
Greit iustice is to Louers trew a sore and greit offence:
so that his counsell grawe and wyse that stayed our gude pretence
Was evin a rok and craggye stone to brek that interpryse,
which we by force of fervent lowe amangs ws did dewyse;
By aige to me he brother was, by lowe my sone, I say,
By honour evin my father deir, quhome I must neids obey,
Suppose I was with heavie hart with sadnes full and wo,
and with a lowring countenance constraned to do so;

From whose command and counsell cam My Sophonisbas death,
quho seing hir selff so prosecute by romans spytefull wreath,
And almost brought within thair bands, she chused first to die
than to be brought in servitude, and throught thame shamed be.
And I my selff evin of hir death the minister even was;
she prayed me to do that whiche her prayers brought to pass;
So doing that whiche she desyred, and bringing it to end,
hawe wrought offence against my selff that would not hir offend;
So that I than hir sent a coupe, within a poysened drink,
with such a wofull sort of thoughts and sorrow yow may think,
As I do know, and she beliues, and thow thy selff may Trow,
if that suche coales of kendled flames hes kendled bene in yow.

And now the heareshipp which I hawe and partage be my wyfe
ar Onelie plaints, greif, [doole], and woe, and Long and Lasting stryfe;
In hir did rest my onelie hoipe, in hir wes all my bliss,
these hawe I lost for to conserwe my fayith but stane or miss.
But searche gif that thow now may see in all this trowpe and dance
A thing so wonderfull and strange and of so rare a chanse;
Considder this in tyme becaus the tyme is light and swift,
And thair is mater more than day that bydis a longer drift.”

As I was pansing full of reuthe and pittie for thame two,
and of the short tyme of thair lowe so wrapped full off wo,
Togeather with thair fervent fyre which feirslie had begun,
me thought my hart wes maid of Snow, and set against the sun;

And thuswayes musing in my mynd, I hard hir as she went
say to hir lowe, “this man me grewis, and makis me malcontent;
I firmelie keip within my mynd, and earnistlie in thought,
To hate him for his nationis saik who our distructioun wrought.”
Than this to hir I spak agane, “do this for my requeist:
O Sophonsiba, be at peace, and put your mynde to rest;
Your Carthage hes be these our handis bene wrackt and ruined thryse,
and at the thrid tyme all vpraisd and on the ground now lyiss.”
Bot quicklye she this spak agane, “shaw me this other thing:
quhen Afrik weipt, did Italye than ather laugh or sing?
For proofe heirof cast ower your bookes, and these your stories wryte,
And they will shaw gif yow enquyre, for thay of bothe Indyte.”
And thus our freind, hir lowe also, did smyling than depairt,
and to the thikkest of the Troup thair stepps they did convert,
So that these eyes, these lights of myne, that on thame gaised afore,
through multitude evin of the press culd not behoulde thame more.

Than as a man by doutfull wayes dois at adventure ryde,
now standis now restis at euerye place, and can not tell quhat syde
Or yit quhat way to turne him to, bot looketh heir and thair,
so that his doubtfull wandring thoughts his passage dois empair,
Evin so the number of these men who captiwed went with lowe
did mak my going doubtfull slow whair evir I did mowe.
And yit I had a more desyre and semed more content
To know how muche, and through what fyre, these lovers all wer brent:

Quhair on my left hand I had espyed, without the commoun way,
evin one who dois resemble him who earnistlye dois pray,
And cowittis things with greit desyre, and in his suit hes sped,
bothe blythe and blushinglie departs his former stepps to tred;
Evin in suche sort I saw that king who gawe his loving wyiff
and chosen spous vnto his sone to lenght his lingring lyiff.
O lowe! o lowe in high degre! O courtesie most strange!
O wounder greit more far agane to see hir in that change
And that excambion so content that she but blusht for ioy!
This marching on they to thair troupe did then thame selfis conwoy,
Conferring on thair sweit desyris, bot sighing that she cost
The Syrian scepter, and hir crowne and kingdome thairby lost.

I drew me neir vnto these spreitts that wer about to stay,
consulting how that thay might go and tak a nother way,
And saying to the formest man that narest wes my syde,
“I pray the now maist instantlye that thow wold me abyde;”
And he evin at the first resound of that my latine toung,
with troubled face depaint with Ire vnto a musing doung,
Restraned his stepps to know who cald, and quiklie did dewyne
what wes my will and my desyre, and so me answered syne:
“I am Seleucus heir, with me Antiochus gois, my sone,
who had grit warrs against yow all, and bothe by them vndone;
Bot right nor reason contrar force hes nather rowme nor place;
and this is she first wes my wyiff whome now my sone dois brace,
Whome I did quyte and did resing to be his lauchefull wyiff
To free from death and chase away the danger of his lyiff,
To whiche his lowelie hid desyris and closet secreit flame
conducted him, and so that gift wes lawchfull than but blame.
Stratonica she named is, and so our chanse and lott
is, as thow seist, indiuisible, and, by this sing, the knott

Of this our long and lasting lowe is yit so tewche and strong
that no thing that can seperat which first was ws among;
Schee was content to quyte to me the kingdome, I my wyiff,
than my belowed deirlye spouss, and he agane his lyiff;
So warlye went he in his lowe, so far by reason furth,
that he more maid him so estemed of one and other wurth;
And if it had not bene by skill, by help and ayd discreit
of that expert physicien, with practise full compleit,
Who well espyed where lay the caus that did his helth doun ding,
his youth, evin in hir flowris, had endit and finisht in hir spring:
For he in scilence and in lowe did ryn vnto his death,
his feitt him failed, his voyce was waik, his powers, lyfe, & breath;
Fates caused him lowe, his vertew maid him hyde It to the end,
and my paternall pietie the succour hes extend.”
Thus as he spak, than as a man that dois mak change for change
of hailsing others mutuallye dois boythe by other range,
So at the end of these his words he turned his stepps and heill,
that I with grit difficultie might bid him than fairweill.

Than after that from these my eyes the shade away had gone,
which wer with pittie heavie maid, I sighing progrest one,
For that my hart from these words was not vnbound nor losed,
bot reuthfullie remembered that which he to me disclosed.
At last to me that tyme wes said, “thow standeth to to muche
vpone one thought in dywers so and of varietie suche,
Whiche shortnes of the slyding tyme, as thow to weill dois knaw,
will not permit in large discourse that I thame to the shaw.”
Not Xerxes to the seis of grece conwoyed suche a band
of armed men by Nawall host as thair with thame did stand,

Evin suche a trowpe of lowers all, both nacked, bound, and tane,
as that my eyes vnable wer to suche a sight sustane;
They wer in toungis so different, and of suche dywers landis,
as scarslye I evin one can name of thousands led in bandis,
So that the storye whiche I wryte, and Poeme I compyle,
sall be of these, and thame a few, whome I thair knew that whyle.

And Perseus first sall prease in place, whose lowe maid me desyre
to knaw how that Andromeda did sett his hart on fyre,
And how in Æthiopia land that virgine, blak of hew,
did with hir eyes and crisped hair him to his lowe subdew.
Nixt him wes thair that lower vane quhose bewtye was his wrack,
Who through to muche desyre wes quyte destroyed and all sackt,
And onelie pwir maid by his welth and by abundance skant,
and now transformed in a flour that seid and fruitt dois want.
Besydis him was that Echo nymphe who for Narcissus cryed,
whose corse wes changed in a stone, and voyce in rocks was dryed.
With hir wes Iphis in that rank, so bent vnto hir deathe,
That hate hir selff for others lowe, and reft hir self of breathe;
And manye other damned soules condamned to lyke pane,
and in thair marche did all lyke cross and fortoun hard sustane,
A Pepill who through to muche lowe did lothe in lyfe to liwe,
through rigour of thair cairles dames whose pryde thame most did griwe:
Quhair also I did thair perceawe of this our aige ane ost,
whose names for to recount or tell wer work and labour lost.

With thame wer those whome lowe hes maid Eternall marrowis two,
Trew, iust, and fayithfull Ceice, and constant Alcio,
Who at the borders of the seis, and at the shoers his syde,
did big thair nests evin at the best and calme of wintar tyd.
Along from thame wes Esacus who pansiwe thair did stand,
and searching for Eperia, now sitting on the land,
Than on the watrie floods agane, and now to mount more highe,
and Sylla, Nisos cruell chyld, far from hir father flie.
Thair than I Atalanta saw, be aples thrie of gould
and with the bewtye of a face ourcummed and contrould;
With hir, hir lower, Hippomenes, who far abowe the rest
of all that Troupe of lowers wer and wretched rinners best,
Who only by his valeur did hir vowes and othes supplant,
And Ioyfull of the victorie so marching on did vant.

Among the faboulus lovers vane which poetts dois reherse
was Galatea, atis eik, and Polipheme so ferse,
Who Atis slew whils as he did within hir bosome ly;
and so with noyse and rumour greit these thrie than passed by.
Thair Glaucus fleting on the wawes to enter in that band
but Sylla whome he did desyre and with such ȝeale demand,
And blameing Circe named her a lower fell and ferss;
with them wes then these other two which Ouid dois reherss,
Canence with hir Picus chaist, sumtyme one of our kingis,
bot now by Circe maid a fowle that chatters and not singis,
Whose sorcerye did change him from his name and browdered robbs,
for which hir weilbeloued lowe ay sighing waillis and sobbs.

I saw lykwise Egenas teares, and Scylla haif for bones
in place thairof a hard sharpe rock, that sounds, that rores and grones,

And from hir name the crage so called, so that vnto that sie
whair it is plaist dois ever grow greit shame and infamie.
I Also Canace beheld who haveing in one hand
a fatal, nacked sworde, as did hir father hir command,
And in hir right a Pen to wryte in doole and deip dispair,
and to hir lower than hir lowe hir dolent deathe declair.
With hir wes thair Pigmalion, with him his dame did byid,
and thousandis moe, who singing then wer at the fountanis syid
Of Aganipp and Castalie; whear then I saw in end
Cydippe with that aples scorned Accontius did hir send.

Finis.2. cap.