"But, foolish Boy! what bootes thy fervice bace "To her, to whom the hevens doe ferve and " few?
"Thou a mean fquyre, of meeke and lowly place,
"She hevenly borne, and of celestiall hew. "How then? of all love taketh equall vew; "And doth not highest God vouchsafe to take "The love and fervice of the bafeft crew? "If the will not, dye meekly for her fake; "Dye, rather dye, then ever fo faire love for"fake."
Fayre ympes of beautie, whole bright fhining beames
Adorne the world with like to heavenly light,
And to your willes both royalties and reames
Subdew through conqueft of your wondrous
might,
With this fayre flowre your goodly girlonds dight
Of chastity and vertue virginall;
That fhall embellish more your beautie bright, And crowne your heades with heavenly coronall, Such as the angels weer before God's tribunall.
To your faire felves a faire enfample frame
Of this faire virgin, this Belphoebe fayre,
To whom in perfect love and spotleffe fame
Of chastitie none living may compayre:
Ne poyfnous envy iuftly can empayre
The prayfe of her fresh-flowring maydenhead;
Forthy she standeth on the hyeft kayre
Of th' honourable stage of womanhead;
That ladies all may follow her enfample dead.
iv.
In fo great prayse of stedfast chastity
Nathleffe fhe was fo courteous and kynde,
Tempred with grace and goodly modefty,
That feemd thofe two vertues ftrove to fynd
The higher place in her heroick mynd:
So ftriving each did other.more augment,
And both encreaft the prayle of woman-kynde,
And both encreaft her beautie excellent;
So all did make in her a perfect complement
The birth of fayre Belphebe, and
Of Amorett, is told;
The Gardins of Adonis fraught
With pleasures manifold.
WELL may, I weene, faire Ladies! all this while Her mother was the faire Chryfogonee,
Ye wonder how this noble damozell
So great perfections did in her compile,
Sith that in falvage forefts fhe did dwell,
So farre from court and royall citadell,
The great school-miftreffe of all courtesy;
Scemeth that fuch wilde woodes fhould far expell
All civile ufage and gentility,
And gentle sprite deforme with rude rufticity.
The daughter of Amphifa, who by race
A Faerie was, yborne of high degree;
She bore Belphebe; fhe bore in like cace
Fayre Amoretta in the fecond place;
These two were twinnes, and twixt them twe did
The heritage of all celeftial grace,
That all the reft it feemd they robbed bare
Of bounty and of beauty, and all vertues rare.
It were a goodly florie to declare
By what ftraunge accident fair Chryfogone
Conceiv'd thefe infants, and how them the barc
In this wilde foreft wandering all alone,
After he had nine moneths fulfild and gone;
For not as other womens commune brood
They are enwombed in the facred throne
Of her chafte body, nor with commune food,
As other womens babes, they fucked vitall blood;
But wondrously they were begot and bred
Through influence of th' heaven's fruitfull ray,
As it in antique bookes is mentioned.
It was upon a fommer's fhinie day,
When Titan faire his bears did display
In a fresh fountaine, far from all men's vew
She bath'd her breft, the boyling heat t' allay;
She bath'd with rofes red, and violets blew, [grew
And all the fweeteft flowers that in the ferch
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