Yet fith I needs muft follow thy beheast,
Do thou my weaker wit with skill inspire,
Fit for this turn; and in my feeble breast
Kindle fresh sparks of that immortal fire,
Which learned minds inflameth with defire
Of heavenly things: for who but thou alone,
That art yborn of heaven and heavenly Sire,
Can tell things done in heaven fo long ygone;
So far paft memory of man that may be known.
III.
Now at the time that was before agreed,
The Gods affembled all on Arlo hill;
As well those that are fprung of heavenly feed,
As thofe that all the other world do fill,
And rule both fea and land unto their will:
Only th'infernal Powrs might not appear;
As well for horrour of their count'nance ill,
As for th'unruly Fiends which they did fear;
Yet Pluto and Proferpina were present there.
IV.
And thither alfo came all other creatures,
Whatever life or motion do retain,
According to their fundry kinds of features;
That Arlo fcarcely could them all contain;
So full they filled every hill and plain :
And had not Natures Sergeant (that is Order)
Them well difpofed by his bufie pain,
And ranged far abroad in every border,
They would have caufed much confufion and disorder.
Then forth iffu'd (great Goddefs) great dame Nature,
With goodly port and gracious majefty;
Being far greater and more tall of ftature
Than any of the Gods or Powrs on high;
Yet certes by her face and phyfnomy,
Whether fhe man or woman inly were,
That could not any creature well defcry:
For with a veil that wimpled every where,
Her head and face was hid, that mote to none appear.
That fome do fay was fo by skill deviz'd,
To hide the terrour of her uncouth hue,
From mortal eyes that fhould be fore agriz'd;
For that her face did like a Lyon fhew,
That eye of wight could not indure to view :
But others tell that it fo beauteous was,
And round about fuch beams of fplendour threw,
That it the Sun a thousand times did pafs,
Ne could be feen, but, like an image in a glass.
VII.
That well may feemen true: for well I ween
That this fame day, when the on Arlo fat,
Her garment was fo bright and wondrous fheen,
That my frail wit cannot devize to what
It to compare, nor find like stuff to that,
As those three facred Saints, though elfe most wife, Yet on mount Thabor quite their wits forgat, When they their glorious Lord in strange disguise Transfigur'd faw: his garments fo did daze their eyes. VIII.
In a fair plain upon an equal hill,
She placed was in a pavilion;
Not fuch as craftsmen by their idle skill Are wont for Princes ftates to falhion : But th' Earth her felf of her own motion, Out of her fruitful bofom made to grow Moft dainty trees; that fhooting up anon, Did seem to bow their bloofming heads full low, For homage unto her, and like a throne did fhow. IX.
So hard it is for any living wight,
All her array and veftiments to tell, That old Dan Geffrey (in whofe gentle spright The pure well-head of poefie did dwell) In his Fowls parley durft not with it mell, But it transfer'd to Alane, who he thought Had in his Plaint of kinds defcrib'd it well: Which who will read fet forth fo as it ought, Go feek he out that Alane where he may be fought.
And all the earth far underneath her feet
Was dight with flowres, that voluntary grew
Out of the ground, and fent forth odours fweet,
Ten thousand more of fundry fcent and hue,
That might delight the fmell, or please the view:
The which the Nymphs, from all the brooks thereby
Had gather'd, which they at her footstool threw ;
That richer feem'd than any tapestry,
That Princes bowres adorn with painted imagery.
XI,
And Mole himself to honour her the more,
Did deck himself in freshest fair attire,
And his high head, that feemeth always hore
With hardned frofts of former winters ire,
He with an oaken girlond now did tire,
As if the love of fome new Nymph late feen,
Had in him kindled youthful fresh defire,
And made him change his gray attire to green;
Ah gentle Mole! fuch joyance hath thee well befeen.
XII.
Was never fo great joyance fince the day
That all the Gods whylome affembled were
On Hamus hill in their divine array,
To celebrate the folemn bridal chear,
'Twixt Peleus, and Dame Thetis pointed there;
Where Phabus felf, that God of Poets hight,
They fay did fing the spousal hymn full clear,
That all the Gods were ravifht with delight
Of his celeftial fong, and muficks wondrous might.
XIII.
This great Grandmother of all creatures bred
Great Nature, ever young, yet full of eld,
Still moving, yet unmoved from her sted;
Unfeen of any, yet of all beheld;
Thus fitting in her throne as I have teld,
Before her came Dame Mutability;
And being low before her prefence felld,
With meek obeyfance and humility,
Thus 'gan her plaintiff plea with words to amplify.
To thee, O greatest Goddefs, only great,
An humble fuppliant loe, I lowly fly
Seeking for right, which I of thee entreat;
Who right to all doft deal indifferently,
Damning all wrong and tortious injury,
Which any of thy creatures do to other
(Oppreffing them with powre unequally)
Sith of them all thou art the equal Mother,
And knitteft each to each, as Brother unto Brother.
XV.
To thee therefore of this fame Jove I plain,
And of his fellow Gods that feign to be,
That challenge to themselves the whole worlds reign;
Of which the greatest part is due to me,
And heaven it felf by heritage in fee:
For heaven and earth I both alike do deem,
Sith heaven and earth are both alike to thee;
And Gods no more than men thou doft esteem: For even the Gods to thee, as men to Gods do feem. XVI.
Then weigh, O foveraine Goddess, by what right
Thefe Gods do claim the worlds whole foverainty;
And that is only due unto my might
Arrogate to themselves ambitiously;
As for the Gods own principality,
Which Jove ufurps unjustly; that to be
My heritage, Jove's felf cannot deny,
From my great Grandfire Titan, unto me,
Deriv'd by due defcent; as is well known to thee.
XVII.
Yet maugre Jove, and all his Gods befide,
I do poffefs the worlds moft regiment;
As if ye please it into parts divide,
And every parts inholders to convent,
Shall to your eyes appear incontinent.
And first, the Earth (great Mother of us all)
That only feems unmov'd and permanent,
And unto Mutability not thrall;
Yet is the chang'd in part, and eke in general.
For all that from her fprings, and is ybred,
However fair it flourish for a time,
Yet fee we foon decay; and being dead,
To turn again unto their earthly flime:
Yet out of their decay and mortal crime,
We daily fee new creatures to arise;
And of their winter fpring another prime,
Unlike in form, and chang'd by ftrange difguife:
So turn they still about, and change in reftlefs wife.
XIX.
As for her tenants; that is, men and beafts,
The beasts we daily fee maffacred dye,
As thralls and vaffals unto mens beheasts:
And men themfelves do change continually,
From youth to eld, from wealth to poverty,
From good to bad, from bad to worst of all.
Ne do their bodies only flit and fly:
But eke their minds (which they immortal call) Still change and vary thoughts, as new occafions fall. XX.
Ne is the water in more constant case;
Whether those fame on high, or these below.
For th'Ocean moveth ftill from place to place;
And every river ftill doth ebb and flow:
Ne any lake that feems moft ftill and flow,
Ne pool fo fmall, that can his fmoothne fs hold,
When any wind doth under heaven blow;
With which the clouds are alfo toft and roll'd;
Now like great hills; and ftraight like fluices them unfold.
XXI.
So likewife are all watry living wights
Still tofs'd, and turned, with continual change,
Never abiding in their ftedfaft plights.
The Fish, ftill floating, do at random range,
And never reft; but evermore exchange
Their dwelling places, as the ftreams them carry:
Ne have the watry Fowls a certain grange,
Wherein to reft, ne in one ftead do tarry;
But fitting ftill do fly, and still their places vary.
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