The great assises Holden in Parnassus by Apollo and his assessovrs At which Sessions are Arraigned Mercurius Britanicus. Mercurius Aulicus. Mercurius Civicus. The Scout. The writer of Diurnalls. The Intelligencer. The writer of Occurrences. The writer of Passages. The Post. The Spye. The writer of weekly Accounts. The Scottish Dove, &c. [by George Wither] |
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The PROEME.
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 | The great assises Holden in Parnassus by Apollo and his assessovrs |  |
The PROEME.
Iust
teares commix'd with streams of guiltless blood
May shew our woes, but not their period;
For this Heaven onely can affixe: Why then,
Trust wee to armes or stratagems of men?
Expecting peace, or any faire accord,
From Counsels wise, or the victorious Sword;
Since Heaven alone these evils can conclude,
Which Sinne first caus'd and on us did obtrude.
Could wee eject this cause, wee might find Peace:
For causes failing, then effects surcease.
Wee need demand no counsell from the Starres,
To know the issue of these bloody Warres:
No Sibylles bookes or Oracles wee need,
To bee inform'd of things that shall succeed:
No Oracle of Delphos, but of Sion,
No booke, but that of God, must wee relie on.
No Starre, but Jacobs Starre, can doe the seate,
To end our woes, and make our joyes compleate.
May shew our woes, but not their period;
For this Heaven onely can affixe: Why then,
Trust wee to armes or stratagems of men?
Expecting peace, or any faire accord,
From Counsels wise, or the victorious Sword;
Since Heaven alone these evils can conclude,
Which Sinne first caus'd and on us did obtrude.
Could wee eject this cause, wee might find Peace:
For causes failing, then effects surcease.
Wee need demand no counsell from the Starres,
To know the issue of these bloody Warres:
No Sibylles bookes or Oracles wee need,
To bee inform'd of things that shall succeed:
No Oracle of Delphos, but of Sion,
No booke, but that of God, must wee relie on.
To end our woes, and make our joyes compleate.
Could I th'harmonious sorrowes parallel
Of the incested mournfull Philomel:
Or could I imitate that fatall note,
Which is effused from the silver throte
Of that faire Bird, y' cleapt Apollo's Priest,
Who clad in feather'd Albe, with his soft brest
Divides the surface of the crystall stream,
And dying sings his owne sad requiem;
Then might I such sad Elegies devise,
As would become our mournfull tragedies.
But give mee leave a space for to dismisse
Melpomene, and bloudy Nemesis,
And to elect a style which may appeare
More mild to many, though to some severe.
Of the incested mournfull Philomel:
Or could I imitate that fatall note,
Which is effused from the silver throte
Of that faire Bird, y' cleapt Apollo's Priest,
Who clad in feather'd Albe, with his soft brest
Divides the surface of the crystall stream,
And dying sings his owne sad requiem;
Then might I such sad Elegies devise,
As would become our mournfull tragedies.
But give mee leave a space for to dismisse
Melpomene, and bloudy Nemesis,
And to elect a style which may appeare
More mild to many, though to some severe.
| The great assises Holden in Parnassus by Apollo and his assessovrs | |