Whereby bothe kynges be put in minde, their dangers to be great, And subiects be forbid to clime high stepps of honours sat.
48. Fortitude. A yong man of Egipt, and Valerian.
Eche one deserues great praise to haue, but yet not like I think,
Bothe he that can sustain the yoke of paines & doeth not shrink,
And he whom Cupids couert crafte can nothing moue at all,
Into the harde and tangled knotts of Venus snares to fall.
Besturre you then, who so delights, in vertues race to ronne,
The fliyng boye, with bowe ibent, by strength to ouercome.
As one did once when he was yong, and in his tender daies,
Whose stout and noble deede of his, hath got immortall praise:
The wicked Romaines did pursue the sely Christians than,
What tyme Valerian Emperour was, a wicked cruell man.
Who spared not with bloudy draughts to queche his owne desire,
Dispatchyng all that stucke to Christ, with hotte consumyng fire.
At length a man of tender yeres was brought before his sight,
Suche one as Nature semed to make a witnesse of her might.
For euery parte so well was set that nothyng was depraued,
So that the cruell kyng hymself would gladly haue hym saued,
So loth he was to see a woorke, so rare of Naturs power,
So finely built, so sodainly destroied within an hower.
Then meanes he sought to ouercome, or wynne hym at the lest,
To slip from Christe, whom he before had earnestly profest.
A bedde preparde so finely deckt, such diuers pleasaunt smels,
That well it might appeare a place, where pleasure onely dwells.
By him he laied a naked wenche, a Venus darlyng sure,
With sugred speache, & louely toyes, that might his minde allure.
Such wanton lewres as these he thought, might easly him entise,
Which things he knewe w lustie youth had alwaies been in prise.
Suche waies I thinke the Gods themselues could have inuented none,
For flatteryng Venus ouercoms the senses euerych one,
And he hymself was euen at point, to Venus to consent,
Had not his stout and manly mynde resisted bis entent.
When he perceiued his fleshe to yelde, to pleasures wanton toyes,
And was by sleight almoste prouoked to tast of Venus ioyes,
More cruell to bymself then those, that glad would hym undoo,
With bloudie tooth his te der tong bote quite and cleane in twoo.
Thus was the paine so passyng greate, of this his bloudie bitte,
That all the fire and carnall lust was quenched euery whitte.
Doe ill and all thy pleasures then full sone will passe awaie,
But yet the shame of those thy deedes will neuer more decaie.
Do well & though thy paines be great, yet sone eche one wil cease,
But yet, the praise of those thy deedes will euermore increase.
49. lustice. Zaleuch and his sonne.
Let rulers make most perfect lawes, to rule both great smal,
If thei them selues obeye them not, it boteth not at all.
As lawes be nought but rulers dome, co teining egall might,
So rulers should be speakyng lawes to rule by line of right.
Zaleuch the Prince of Locrine once, appointed by decree,
Eche lecherer should be punished with losse of either eye.
His sonne by chaunce offended first, which when his father sawe,
Lorde God how earnest then was he, to execute the lawe.
Then ran the people all by flocks to hym with wepyng eyes,
Not one emong the rout there was, but pardon, pardon cries.
By whose outcries and earnest sute, his sonne in hope did stande,
That he thereby should then obtaine some pardon at his hande.
But all in vaine, for he is founde, to be the man he was,
And maketh hast so muche the more, to haue the lawe to passe.
The people yet renued their sute, in hope of some relief,
Whose faces, all besprent with teares, did testifie their grief.
And cried all for pities sake, yelde now to our request,
If all you will not cleane remit, yet ease the paine at lest.
Then somewhat was the father moued, with all the peoples voice,
And euery man did give a shoote, to shewe thei did reioyce.
Well then quoth he it shal be thus, the lawe shal be fulfilde,
And yet my sonne shall fauour have, accordyng as you wilde.
One eye of his shal be pulde out, thus hath his leudnesse got,
And likewise so shall one of myne, though I deserue it not.
This worde no soner was pronouˇcde, but strait ye dede was doen,
Twoo eyes, no mo, were left, betwene the father and the sonne,
Saie now who can, and on my faithe Apollo he shal be,
Was he more gentle father now? or iuster Iudge, trowe ye?
This man would not his lawes be like the webbs y' spiders weue,
Wherein thei lurke when thei enten.le the simple to deceiue.
Wherewith small flies full sone be caught, & tangled ere thei wist,
When greate ones flie and scape awaie, & breake them as thei list.
Finis.
50. Temperaunce. Spurina and the Romaine Ladies.
If nature beare thee so great loue, as she in thee have beautie plast, Full harde it is as we doe proue, to kepe the body cleane & chast: Twixt comelinesse and chastitie,
A deadly strife is thought to be.
For beautie whiche some men suppose to be, as twere a golden ill,
Prouoketh strief and many foes, that seke on her to worke her wil:
Assaults to tounes if many make,
No toune so strong but maie be take.
And this Spurina witnesse can, who did for beautie beare the bell,
So cleane, a wight so comly made, no dame in Rome but loued wel:
Not one could cole her hot desire,
So burnyng was the flame of fire.
Like as when baite caste in ye. floud forthwith doth cause the fishes come,
That pleasantly before did plaie, now presently to death to runne:
For when thei see the baite to fall,
Straight waie thei swallowe hooke and all.
So when Spurina thei did see, to hym thei flocked out of hande,
The happest dame was thought to be, that in his fauour moste did stande:
Not knowyng under sweete deceits,
How Venus hids her poysoned baits.
But whe he sawe them thus to rage, whom loue had linked in his chain, This means he sought for to aswage these ladies of their greuous pain: His shape intendyng to disgrace,
With many wounds he scotch his face.
By whiche his deede it came to passe yt. he, yt. semed an angel bright, Euen now so cleane disfigured was, y'. he became a lothsom wight: And rather had be foule and chast,
Then faire and filthie ioyes to tast.
What pen ca write, or tog expresse ye. worthy praises of this deede,
My think that God can do no lesse, then graunt him heaven for his meede,
Who for to saue hymself vpright,
Hymself hath first destroyed quite.
A bunche of herbes and flowers.
If yt. eche flower the godds haue framed are shapt by sacred skill,
Were as I would (no wrong to wishe) & myne to weare at will:
Or els eche tree with lustie top, would lend me leaue to loue,
With spriggs displaied to spread my sute a wailing hart to proue:
Upon my helme sone should you see, my hedde aduaunced hie,
Some slipp for solace there to sett and weare the same would I.
Yet would I not for greate delight, the Daisies strange desire,
The Lillie would not like my lust, nor Rose would I require:
The Marigould might growe for me, Rosemary well might reste,
The Fenell to that is more fit, for some unfrendly gest:
Nor Cowslopps would I craue at all, sometymes thei seme to coy:
Some ioly youth the Gelliflower estemeth for his ioye:
The Lavender sometymes aloft alures the lookers eyes,
The Paunsie shall not haue the praise, where I may geue the prise:
And thus no flower my fansie feeds, as liketh so my luste,
As that I maie subiect my self, to toyes of tickle truste:
For flowers though thei be faire and fresh, of sent excelling swete,
Yet grow thei on the ground belowe, we tred them with our fete:
And shall I then goe stoupe to suche, or els go seke to those?
Shall flowers enforse me once to faune for feare of freds or foes?
Yet rather yelde I to the right, as reason hath assignde,
Myne authour saied there was no salve in flowers for me to finde:
And yet perhapps some tree there is to shroud me fro the shower,
That with her armes maie salue ye. soule, y'. yeldeth to her power.
Where I maie finde some pleasant shade, to salue me fro the sonne:
Eche thyng we see that reason hath unto the trees doe runne,
Bothe men & beasts, suche foules as fly, the treasures are the trees,
And for my part when braunches fall, I wishe no other fees.
But whe that stormes beset me round, suche succor God me sende,
That I maie finde a frendly tree, that will me well defende.
No tree there is whiche yelds no good, to some that doe it seeke,
And as thei are of diuers kynds their uses are unlike:
The Eue tree serues the Bowiers turne, the Ash the Coupers art,
The puisant Oke doeth make the post, the Pine some other part:
The Elme doeth helpe to hide the birds in wearie winters night,
The Briers I gesse are nothyng worth, thei serue but for despight:
The Willowe wisht I farre fro hens, good will deserue no wrong,
The Sallowe well maie serue their states that syng so sad a song.
The Boxe and Beche eche for hymself aboue the reste doeth boste,
The Eglantine for pleasure oft is pricked upon the poste.
The Hauthorne so is had in prise, the Baies doe beare the bell,
And that these Baies did bryng no blisse, I like it not so well,
As erst I doe that semely tree by whiche those Baies I founde,
And where withall unwittyngly I tooke so greate a wounde.
As if the tree by whiche I lent doeth lende me no relief,
There is no helpe but doune I fall, so greate is growne my grief:
And therefore at the last I craue this fauour for to finde,
When euery tree that here is told beginns to growe unkinde.
The B. for beautie whom I boste and shall aboue the rest,
That B. maie take me to her trust, for B. doeth please me best:
It liks me well to walke the waie, where B. doeth kepe her bower,
And when it raines, to B. I ronne to saue me from the shower.
This brauche of B. whiche here I meane to kepe, I chiefly craue:
At becke vnto this B. I bowe to sarve that beautie braue.
What shall I saie, the tyme doeth passe, the tale to tedious is,
Though loth to leaue yet leaue I must and saie no more but this:
I wishe this B I might embrace when as the same I see,
A league for life then I require betwene this B and me,
And though unworthy yet good will doeth worke the waie herein,
And B hath brought the same about which beautie did begin.
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