University of Virginia Library

Glosse.

Tityrus) Chaucer as hath bene oft sayd. Lambkins) young lambes. Als of their) Semeth to expresse Virgils verse. Pan curat oues ouiumque magistros. Deigne) voutchsafe. Eabinet [Cabinet]) Colinet) dimi nutines. Mazie) For they be like to a maze whence it is hard to get out agayne. Peres) felowes and companions. Musick) that is Poetry as Terence sayth Qui artem tractant musicam, speking of Poetes. Derring doe) aforesayd. Lions house) He imagineth simply that Cupid, which is loue, had his abode in the whote signe Leo, which is in middest of somer; a pretie allegory, whereof the meaning is, that loue in him wrought an extaordinarie heate of lust. His ray) which is Cupids beame or flames of Loue. A Comete) a blasing starre, meant of beautie, which was the cause of his whote loue. Venus) the goddesse of beauty or pleasure. Also a signe in heauen, as it is here taken. So he meaneth that beautie, which hath alwayes aspect to Venus, was the cause of all his vnquietnes in loue. Where I was) a fine description of the chaunge of hys lyfe and liking, for all things nowe

seemed to hym to have altered their kindly course. Lording) Spoken after the manner of Paddocks and Frogges sitting which is indeed Lordly, not remouing nor looking once aside, vnlesse they be sturred. Then as) The second part. That is his manhoode. Cotes) sheepecotes. for such be the exercises of the shepheards. Sale) or Salow a kind of woodde like the wyllow, fit to wreath and bynde in leapes to catch fish withall. Phoebe sayles) The Eclipse of the Moone, which is alwayes in Cauda or Capite Draconis, signes in heauen. Venus) .s. Venus starre, otherwise called Hesperus and Vesper and Lucifer, both because he seemeth to be one of the brightest starres, and also first ryseth and setteth last. All which still in starres being conuenient for shepheardes to knowe as Theocritus and the rest vse. Raging seaes) The cause of the swelling and ebbing of the sea commeth of the course of the Moone, sometime encreasing, sometime wayning and decreasing. Sooth of byrdes) A kind of sooth saying vsed in elder tymes, which they gathered by the flying of byrds; First (as is sayd) niuented [invented] by the Thuscanes and from them deriued to the Romanes, who (as is sayd in Liuie) were so supersticiously rooted in the same, that they agreed that euery Noble man should put his sonne to the Thuscanes, by them to be brought vp in that knowledge. Of herbes) That wonderous thinges be wrought by herbes, aswell appeareth by the common working of them in our bodies, as also by the wonderful enchauntments and sorceries that haue bene wrought by them; insomuch that it is sayde that Circe a famous sorceresee turned men into sondry kinds of beastes & Monsters, and onely by herbes: as the Poete sayth Dea saeua potentibus herbis &c. Kidst) knewest. Eare) of corne. Scathe) losse hinderaunce. Euer among) Euer and anone. This is my) The thyrde parte wherein is set forth his ripe yeres as an vntimely haruest, that bringeth little fruite. The flagraunt flowres) sundry studies and laudable partes of learning, wherein how our Poete is seene, be they witnesse which are priuie to his study. So now my yeere) The last part, wherein is described his age by comparison of wyntrye stormes. Carefull cold) for care is sayd to coole the blood. Glee mirth) Hoary frost) A metaphore of hoary heares scattred lyke to a gray frost. Breeme) sharpe and bitter. Adiew delights) is a conclusion of all. where in sixe verses he comprehendeth briefly all that was touched on in this booke. In the first verse his delights of youth generally. in the second, the loue of Rosalind, in the thyrd, the keeping of the sheepe, which is the argument of all Æglogues. In the fourth his complaints. And in the last two his professed frendship and good will to his good friend Hobbinoll. Embleme. The meaning whereof is that all thinges perish and come to theyr last end, but workes of learned wits and monuments of Poetry abide for euer. And therefore Horace of his Odes a work though ful indeede of great wit & learning, yet of no so great weight and importaunce boldly sayth. Therefore let not be enuied, that this Poete in his Epilogue sayth he hath mad a Calendar, that shall endure as long as time &c. folowing the example of Horace and Ouid in the like.