TO SEVERAL PERSONS OF QUALITY BY THE AUTHOR.
To the Right Fonourable Sir Chriftopher Hatton,
Lord High Chancellor of England, &c.
THOSE prudent heads that with their counfels
Whylom the pillours of th' earth did fuftain,
And taught ambitious Rome to tyrannife,
And in the neck of all the world to rayne,
Oft from thofe graue affaires were wont abftaine,
With the fweet lady Mufes for to play:
So Ennius, the elder Africane,
So Maro oft did Cafar's cares allay :
So you great Lord, that with your counsell fway
The burdeine of this kingdom mightily,
With like delightes fometimes may eke delay
The rugged brow of carefull Policy;
And to thefe yale rymes lend little space,
Which for their titles fake may find more grace.
| Unfitly I thefe ydle rimes prefent,
The labor of loft time, and wit unftayd:
Yet if their deeper fence be inly wayd,
And the dim vele, with which from commune vew
Their fairer parts are hid, afide be layd,
Perhaps not vaine they may appeare to you.
Such as they be, vouchsafe them to reccaue,
And wipe their faults out of your cenfure graue.
To the Right Honourable the Earl of Oxenford, Lord
High Chamberlayne of England, &c.
RECEIVE, moft noble Lord, in gentle gree
The vnripe fruit of an vnready wit,
Which by thy countenaunce doth craue to bee
Defended from foule enuie's poifnous bit;
Which fo to doe may thee right well befit,
Sith th' antique glory of thine auncestry
To the Right Honourable the Lord Burleigh, Lord Ynder a fhady vele is therein writ,
High Threafurer of England.
o you, right noble Lord, who carefull breft
To menage of moft grave affaires is bent,
And on whofe mightie fhoulders most doth reft
The burdein of this kingdomes gouernment
As the wide compaffe of the firmament
Qu Atlas' mighty shoulders is vpftayd;
And eke thine owne long liuing memory,
Succeeding them in truc nobility;
And alfo for the loue which thou doeft beare
To th' Heliconian ymps, and they to thee;
They vnto thee, and thou to them moft deare;
Deare as thou art vnto thyfelfe; fo loue
That loucs and honours thee, as doth behove.
To the Right Honourable the Earle of Northumberland.
THE facred Mufes haue made alwaies clame
To be the nourfes of nobility,
And registres of euerlafting fame,
To all that arms profeffe and cheualry;
Then by like right the noble progeny,
To the Right Honourable the Earl of Ormond and
Offory.
RECEIVE, moft noble Lord, a fimple taste
Of the wilde fruite which faluage foyl hath bred
Which being through long wars left almost waste,
With brutish barbarisme is overspredd,
And in fo faire a land as may be redd,
Which them fucceed in fame and worth, are tyde Not one Parnaffus, nor one Helicone
T'embrace the feruice of fweete Poetry,
By whofe endeauours they are glorifide;
And eke from all, of whom it is enuide,
To patronize the author of their praife,
Which gives them life, that els would foone haue
And crownes their afhes with immortal baies.
To thee therefore, right noble I ord, I send
This prefent of my pains, it to defend.
Left for sweete Mufes to be harboured,
But where thy felfe haft thy brave manfione;
There indeede dwel faire Graces many one,
And gentle Nymphes, delights of learned wits,
And in thy perfon without paragone
All goodly bountie and true honour fits.
Such therefore, as that wafted foyl doth yield,
Receiue, dear Lord, in worth the fruit of barren
field.
E. S.
To the Right Honourable the Earle of Cumberland.
REDOUBTED Lord, in whofe corageous mind
The flowre of cheualry, now bloofming faire,
Doth promife fruite worthy the noble kind,
Which of their praises haue left you the hairc;
To you this humble prefent I prepare,
For love of vertue and of martiall praise,
To which though nobly ye inclined are,
As godlie well ye fhew'd in late affaies,
Yet brave enfample of long paffed daies,
In which trew honor yee may fashiond fee,
To like defire of honour may ye raise,
And fill your mind with magnanimitee.
Receiue it, Lord, therefore as it was ment,
For honour of your name and high descent.
To the Right Honourable the Lord Cb. Howard, Lord
Higb-Admiral of England, Knight of the Noble
Order of the Garter, and one of ber Maieftee's Pri-
uie Counsel, &c.
AND ye, braue Lord, whofe goodly perfonage,
And noble deeds, cach other garnishing,
Make you enfample to the prefent age
Of th' old heroes, whofe famous offspring
The antique poets wont fo much to fing,
In this fame pageaunt have a worthy place,
Sith thofe huge caftles of Caftilian king,
That vainly threatned kindomes to difplace,
Like flying doves, ye did before you chace;
And that proud people, woxen infolent
Through many victories, did first deface.
E. S. Thy praife's euerlafting monument
Is in this verfe engrauen femblably.
That it may liue to all posterity
To the Moft Honourable and Excellent Lord, the
Earl of ex, Great Mailer of the Horfe to ber
Highneffe, and Knight of the Noble Order of the
Garter, &c.
MAGNIFICKE Lord, whofe vertues excellent
Doe merit a moft famous poet's witt
To be thy liuing praifes inftrument,
Yet doe not fdeigne to let thy name be writt
In this bafe Poem, for thee far vnfitt;
Nought is thy worth difparaged thereby :
But when my Mufe, whofe fethers, nothing flitt,
Doe yet but flagg, and lowly learne to fly,
With bolder wing fhall dare alofte to sty
To the last praifes of the Faery Queene,
'I hen fhall it make more famous memory
Of thine heroicke parts, fuch as they beene:]
Till then vouchfafe thy noble countenance
To thefe first labours needed furtherance.
To the Right Honourable the Lord of Hunfdon, High
Chamberlaine to her Maiefly.
RENOWMED Lord, that for your worthinesse
And noble decds haue your deferued place
High in the fauour of that Emperesse,
The world's fole glory and her fexes grace;
Here eke of right haue you a worthie place,
Both for your neerness to that Faerie Queene,
And for your owne high merit in like cace;
Of which apparaunt proofe was to be feene,
When that tumultuous rage and fearfull deene
Of northerne rebels ye did pacify,
And their difloiall powre defaced clene,
The record of enduring memory.
Liue, Lord, for euer in this lafting verfe,
That all pofteritic thy honour may reherse.
To the mo renormed and valiant Lord, the Lord Grey of Wilton, Knight of the Noble Order of the Garter, &c.
Most noble Lord, the pillor of my life,
And patron of my Mufe's pupillage,
Through whofe large bountie poured on me rife,
In the first season of my feeble age,
I now doe liue, bound your's by vaffalage:
Sith nothing ever may redeeme, nor reaue
Out of your cndleffe debt so sure a gage,
Vouchfafe in worth this fmall guift to receaue,
Which in your noble hands for pledge I leaue
Of all the rest that I am tyde t' account;
Rude rymes, the which a rustic Mufe did weaue
In favadge foyle, far from Parnaffo mount,
And roughly wrought in an vnlearned loome :
The which vouchsafe, dear Lord, your favourable
doome.
To the Right Honourable the Lord of Buckhurst, one of ber Maiefie's Priuie Counsell.
In vain I think, right honourable Lord,
By this rude ryme to memorize thy name,
Whofe learned Mufe hath writ her own record
In golden verfe, worthy immortal fame :
Thou much more fit (were leafure to the fame)
Thy gracious fouerain praises to compile,
And her imperiall maieftie to frame,
In loftie numbers and heroicke stile.
But fith thou mayft not so, giue leaue a while
To bafer wit his power therein to spend,
Whofe groffe defaults thy daintie pen may file,
Aud vnaduifed ouerfights amend:
But euermore vouchfafe it to maintaine
Against vile Zoilus backbitings vaine.
To the Right Noble Lord, and most valiant Captain, Sir John Norris Knight, Lord President of Mounfler.
WHO euer gave more honourable prize
To the fweet Mufe then did the martiall crew,
That their braue deeds the might immortallize
In her fhrill tromp, and found their praises dew?
Who then ought more to fauour her, then you,
Most noble Lord, the honor of this age,
And precedent of all that armes enfue?
Whofe warlike proweffe and manly courage,
Tempred with reafon and aduizement fage,
Hath fild fad Belgicke with victorious spoile,
In Fraunce and Ireland left a famous gage,
And lately fhakt the Lufitanian foile?
Sith then each where thou haft difpredd thy fame,
Loue him that hath eternized your name.
To the right noble and valorous Knight, Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Wardein of the Stanneryes, and Lieftenaunt of Cornewaile.
To thee, that art the fummer's nightingale,
Thy foueraine goddeffes most deare delight,
Why doe I send this rufticke madrigale,
That may thy tunefull eare unfeason quite ?
Thou onely fit this argument to write, [bowre,
In whofe high thoughts Pleasure hath built her
And daintie Love learnd fweetly to endite.
My rimes I know unfauory and fowre,
To tafte the ftreames, that like a golden fhowre
Flow from thy fruitfull head, of thy loue's praise,
Fitter perhaps to thonder martiall stowre,
When fo thee lift thy lofty Mufe to raise :
Yet till that thou thy poeme wilt make knowne,
Let thy faire Cinthia's praises be thus rudely
fhowne.
E. S.
To the Right Honourable Sir Fr. Walfingham Knight, principall Secretary to her Maiefty, and of ber Honourable Privy Counsell.
THAT Mantuane poet's incompared spirit,
Whofe girland now is set in highest place,
Had not Mecenas, for his worthy merit,
It firft aduaunft to great Auguftus grace,
Might long perhaps haue lien in filence bace,
Ne bene fo much admir'd of later age.
This lowly Mufe, that learns like steps to trace,
Flies for like aide unto your patronage,
That are the great Mecenas of this age,
As wel to al that ciuel artes profeffe
As those that are infpir'd with martial rage,
And craues protection of her feeblenesse;
Which if ye yield, perhaps ye may her rayse
In bigger tunes to found your living praise,
To the Right Honourable and most vertuous Lady, the Count:fe of Pembroke.
REMEMBRAUNCE of that most heroicke fpirit,
The heauens pride, the glory of our daies,
Which now triumpheth through immortall merit
Of his braue vertues, crownd with lasting baies,
Of heuenlie blifs and euerlafting praies;
Who first my Muse did lift out of the flore,
To fing his fweet delights in lowlie laies,
Bids me, most noble Lady, to adore
His goodly image, liuing euermore
In the diuine refemblaunce of your face,
Which with your vertues ye embellish more,
And natiue beauty deck with heuenlie grace :
For his, and for your own efpecial fake, [take,
Vouchfafe from him this token in good worth to
To the mof vertuous and beautiful Lady, "the Lady Carew.
NE may 1, without blot of endleffe blame,
You, fairest Lady, leaue out of this place,
But with remembraunce of your gracious name
Wherewith that courtly garlond moft ye grace,
And deck the world, adorne thefe verfes bafe:
Not that these few lines can in them comprise
Those glorious ornaments of heauenly grace
Wherewith you triumph ouer feeble eyes,
And in fubdued harts do tyrannise;
For thereunto doth need a golden quill,
And filuer leaues, them righte to deuife,
But to make humble prefent of good will;
Which, when as timely meanes it purchase may,
In ampler wife itfelte will forth display.
To all the gratious and beautifull Ladies in the Courty
THE Chian peincter, when he was requird
To pourtraict Venus in her perfect hew,
To make his worke more abfolute, defird
Of all the fairest maides to haue the vew.
Much more me needs to draw the femblant trew,
Of Beautie's Queene, the world's fole woderment,
To fharpe my fence with fundry beauties vew,
And steale from each fome part of ornament.
If all the world to feeke I ouerwent,
A fairer crew yet no where could I fee,
Then that braue Court doth to mine eie prefent,
That the world's pride seems gathered there to
Of each a part I ftole by cunning thefte: [bee:
Forgiue it me, fair Dames! fith leffe you haue
not lefte.
E. S
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