University of Virginia Library

Prologue attired like fame.

The tranquill silence of a propitious houre,
Charme your attentions in a gentle spell:
Whilst our endeuors get a vocall tongue,
To fill the pleasing roundure of your eares.
Our Sceane is mantled in the robe of truth,
Yet must we craue (by law of poesie)
To giue our history an ornament.
But equalling this definition, thus,
Who giues a foule vnto his Cooke to dresse:
Likewise expects to haue a foule againe,
Though in the Cookes laborious workmanship
Much may be deminisht, som-what added,
The losse of fethers and the gaine of sauce:
Yet in the back surrender of this dish,
It is (and may be truelie cald) the same:
Such are our acts: should our tedious muse
Pace the perticulers of our trauellers,
Fiue daies would breake the limmits of our Sceanes
But to expresse the shaddowes: therefore we,
(Leauing the fethers and some needelesse stuffe)
Present you with the fairest of our feast,
Clothing our truth within an argument,
Fitting the stage and your attention:
Yet not so hid but that she may appeare,
To be her selfe, euen truth: now your asists
To helpe the entrance of our history:
First see a father parting with his sonnes,
Then in a moment, on the full sailes of thought
We will deuide them many hundred leagues,
Our Sceane lies speechlesse, actiue, but yet dumbe:
Till your expressing thoughts giue it a tongue.
Enter Sir Thomas his three sonnes Sir Thomas Sir Anthony, Maister Robert, Sir Thomas goes back with his Father, the other take their leaues.
Exeunt.
Imagin now the gentle breath of heauen,
Hath on the liquid high-way of the waues:
Conuaid him many thousand leagues from vs.
Thinke you haue seene him saile by many lands,
And now at last arriu'd in Persia:
Within the confines of the great Sophey,
Thinke you haue heard his curteous salute
Speake in a peale of shot, the like, till now
Nere heard at Casbin, which townes gouernor,
Doth kindelie entertaine our English knight:
With him expect him first, the rest obserue.
If forrein strangers to him be so kinde,
We hope his natiue Country we shall finde
More curteous, to your iust censures then,
We offer vp their trauells and our pen.