"Ah! nay, faid Colin, neither fo nor fo; For better fhepherds be not under skie, Nor better able, when they lift to blow Their pipes aloud her name to glorific. There is good Harpalus, now woxen aged In faithful fervice of fair Cynthia, And there is Corydon, but weanly waged, Yet a bleft wit of moft I know this day: And there is fad Alcyon, bent to mourn, Thou fit to frame an everlafting dittie, Whofe gentle fpright for Daphne's death doth

tourn

Sweet lays of love to endless plaints of pittie.
Ah! penfive Boy! purfue that brave conceit,
In thy fweet eglantine of meriflure;
Lift up thy notes unto their wonted hight,
That may thy Muse and mates to mirth allure.
There eke is Pallin, worthy of great praise,
Elbe he envy at my ruftick quill,

And there is pleasing Alcon, could he raife
His tunes from layes to matter of more skill.
And there is old Palemon, free from fpight,
Whofe carefull pipe may make the hearer
rew,

Yet he himself may rewed be more right,
That fung fo long until quite hoarfe he grew.
And there is Alabafter, throughly taught
In all his skill, though knowen yet to few,
Yet were he known to Cynthia as he ought,
His Elifeis would be read anew :

Who lives that can match that heroick fong
Which he hath of that mighty princess made?
O dearest Dread! do not thyfelf that wrong,
To let thy fame lie fo in hidden fhade,
But call it forth; O call him forth to thee,
To end thy glory, which he hath begun,
That when he finifht hath as it should be,
No braver poem can be under fon;

Nor Po nor Tyber's fwans fo much renown'd,
Nor all the brood of Greece fo highly praif'd,
Can match that Mufe, when it with bayes is
crown'd,

And to the pitch of her prefection rais’d.
And there is a new fhepherd late up fprong,
The which doth all afore him far furpass,
Appearing well in that well-tuned fong,
Which late he fung unto a scornful lass:
Yet doth his trembling Mufe but lowly flie,
As daring not too rafhly mount on hight,
And doth her tender plumes as yet but trie
In love's foft layes, and loofer thoughts delight.
Then rouze thy feathers quickly, Daniel,
And to what course thou please thyself advance,
But moft, me feems, thy accent will excel
In tragic plaints and paffionate mifchance.
And there that Shepherd of the Ocean is
That spends his wit in love's confuming fmart;
Full fweetly tempred is that mufe of his,
That can impierce a prince's mighty heart.
There alfo is (ah! no, he is not now!)
But fince I faid he is he quite is gone,
Amyntas quite is gone, and lies full low,
Having his Amarillis left to mone!

Help, O ye Shepherds! help ye all in this,
Help Amarillis this her lofs to mourn;
Her lofs is yours, your lofs Amyntas is,
Amyntas! flower of fhepherds pride forlorn:
He, whilst he lived, was the nobleft fwain
That ever piped on an oaten quill;
Both did he other which could pipe maintain,
And eke could pipe himself with paffing kill.
And there, though laft, not least is Action,
A gentler fhepherd may no where be found,
Whofe Mufe full of high thoughts invention,
Doth like himself heroically found.
All thefe, and many others more remain,
Now after Aftrofell is dead and gone;
But while as Aftrofell did live and raign,
Amongst all these was none his paragon.
All thefe do flourish in their fundry kind,
And do their Cynthia immortal make,
Yet found I liking in her royal mind,
Not for my skill, but for that shepherd's fake.”
Then fpake a lovely lafs hight Lucida;
"Shepherd, enough of thepherds thou hast told,
Which favour thee and honour Cynthia;
But of fo many nymphs which the doth hold
In her retinew, thou haft nothing faid
That feems with none of them thou favour found
eft,

Or art ingrateful to each gentle maid,
That none of all their due deserts resoundest.”
"Ah! far be it," quoth Colin Clout, “from
That I of gentle maids should ill deserve,
For that myself I do profefs to be
Vafial to one whom all my days I ferve;
The beam of beauty sparkled from above,
The flowre of virtue and pure chaflitie;
The bloffom of fweet joy and perfect love,
The pearl of peerless grace and modefty;
To her my thoughts I daily dedicate,
To her my heart I nightly martyrize;
To her my love I lowly do proftrate,
To her my life I wholly facrifice;
My thought, my heart, my love, my life, is fe,
And I her's ever only, ever one;
One ever I, all vowed her's to be,
One ever I, and other's never none.

Then thus Meliffa said, “Thrice happy maid,
Whom thou doost so enforce to deify;
That woods, and hills, and valleys, then hal

She is the well of bounty and brave mind,
Excelling moft in glory and great light;
She is the ornament of woman-kind,

And Court's chief girlond, with all vertues dight;
Therefore great Cynthia her in chiefest grace
Doth hold, and next unto herself advance;
Well worthy the fo honourable place,
For her great worth and noble governance.
Ne lefs praife-worthy is her fifter dear,
Fair Marian, the Mufes' only dearling,
Whole beauty fhineth as the morning clear,
With filver dew upon the roses pearling.
Ne lefs praife-worthy is Mansilia,

Beft known by bearing up great Cynthia's train;
That fame is the to whom Daphnaida
Upon her neece's death I did complain :
She is the pattern of true womanhead,
And only mirror of feminity,
Worthy next after Cynthia to tredd,
As the is next her in nobility.

Ne lefs praife-worthy Galathea feems
Than beft of all that honourable crew;
Fair Galathea! with bright fhining beams,
Inflaming feeble eyes that her do view :
She there then waited upon Cynthia,

Yet there is not her wonne; but here with us
About the borders of our rich Cofma,
Now made of Maa, the nymph delicious.
Ne lefs praife-worthy fair Neæra is;
Nezra ours, not theirs, though there the be;
For of the famous Shure the nymph the is,
For high defert advaunft to that degree:
She is the bloom of grace and curtelie,
Adorned with all honourable parts;
She is the branch of true nobility,
Belov'd of high and low with faithful hearts.
Nelefs praife-worthy Stella do I read ;
Though nought my praises of her needed are,
Whom verfe of nobleft fhepherd, lately dead,
Hath prais'd, and rais'd above each other ftarre.
Ne lefs praife-worthy are the fifters three,
The honour of the noble familie

Of which I meanest boaft myfelf to be,
And most that unto them I am fo nie,
Phillis, Charillis, and fweet Amarillis.
Philli, the fair, is eldeft of the three;
The next to her is bountiful Charillis;
But th' youngest is the highest in degree.
Phillis, the flow'r of rare perfection,
Fair, fpreading forth her leaves with fresh delight,
That with their beauty's amorous reflection
Bereave of fenfe each rafh beholder's fight;
But fweet Charillis is the paragone
Of peerless price and ornament of praise,
Admir'd of all, yet envy'd of none,
Through the mild temperance of her goodly
Thrice happy do I hold thee, noble fwain,
The which art of fo rich a spoil poffeft,
And it embracing dear without difdain,
Haft fole poffeffion in fo chafte a breaft!

[raics.

Of all the fhepherd's daughters which there be, (And yet there be the fairest under sky, Or that eliewhere I ever yet did fee) A fairer nymph yet never faw tuine eye; VOL. II.

She is pride and primrose of the rest,
Made by the Maker self to be admired;
And like a goodly beacon high addrest,
That is with fparks of heavenly beauty fired.
But Amarillis, whether fortunate

Or elfe unfortunate may I aread,

That freed is from Cupid's yoke by Fate,

Since which he doth new bands' adventures dread
Shepherd, whatever thou haft heard to be
In this or that prais'd diverfly apart,
In her thou mayst them all assembled fee,
And feal'd up in the treasure of her heart.
Ne thee lefs worthy, gentle Flavia!
For thy chafte life and vertue I esteem.
Ne thee lefs worthy, courteous Candida!
For thy true love and loyalty I deem.
Besides yet many mo that Cynthia serve,
Right noble nymphs, and high to be commended;
But if I all fhould praife as they deserve,

This fun would fail me ere I half had ended;
Therefore in closure of a thankful mind,

I deem it best to hold eternally

Their bounteous deeds and noble favours fhrin'd, Than by difcourfe them to indignify."

So having faid, Aglaura him befpake;
"Colin, well worthy were thofe goodly favours
Bestow'd on thee, that fo of them dooft make,
And them requiteft with thy thankful labours;
But of great Cynthia's goodpcfs and high grace
Finish the ftory which thou haft begun."

"More eath, quoth he, it is in fuch a cafe
How to begin, than know how to have done ;
For every gift, and every goodly meed
Which the on me bestow'd demands a day,
And every day in which fhe did a deed
Demands a year it duly to difplay.

Her words were like a ftream of hony fleeting,
The which doth foftly trickle from the hive,
Able to melt the hearer's heart unweeting,
And eke to make the dead again alive.

Her deeds were like great clusters of ripe grapes
Which load the bunches of the fruitful vine,
Offering to fall into each mouth that gapes,
And fill the fame with ftore of timely wine.
Her looks were like beams of the morning fun,
Forth-looking through the window of the East,
When firit the fleecie cattle have begun
Upon the perled grafs to make their feast.
Her thoughts are like the fume of frankincenfe,
Which from a golden cenfer forth doth rife,
And throwing forth fweet odours, mounts fro
In rolling globes up to the vaulted fkies: [thence
There the beholds, with high afpiring thought,
The cradle of her own creation,
Emongst the feats of angels heavenly wrought,
Much like an angel in all form and fashion."

"Colin," faid Cuddy, "then thou haft forgot Thy felf, me feems, too much, to mount fo hic; Such lofty flight bafe fhepherd feemeth not, From flocks and fields to angels and to fky."

True," anfwer'd he;" but her great excellence Lifts me above the measure of my might, That being fill'd with furious infolence, I feel my felf like one yrapt in fpright:

Le

For when I think of her, as oft I ought,
Then want words to speak it fitly forth;
And when I fpeak of her what I have thought,
I cannot think according to her worth:
Yet will I think of her, yet will I speak,
So long as life my limbs doth hold together,
And when as death these vital bands fhail break,
Her name recorded I will leave for ever:
Her name in every tree I will endofs,

That as the trees do grow her name may grow,
And in the ground each where will it engrofs,
And fill with ftones, that all men may it know.
The fpeaking woods and murmuring waters-fall
Her name I'le teach in knowen terms to frame;
And cke my lambs, when for their dams they call,
I'le teach to call for Cynthia by name :
And long while after I am dead and rotten,
Amongst the fhepherds daughters dauncing round,
My lays made of her fhall not be forgotten,
But fung by them with flowry girlonds crown'd.
And ye, whofo ye be, that fhall furvive,
When as ye hear her memory renew'd,
Be witnefs of her bounty here alive,
Which the to Colin her poor fhepherd fhew'd."

Much was the whole affembly of thofe heards
Mov'd at his fpeech, fo feelingly he spake,
And flood awhile aftonish'd at his words,
Till Theftylis at laft their filence brake,
Saying, Why, Colin, fince thou found'st fuch

66

Happy indeed," faid Colin, "I him hold, That may that bleffed prefence fill enjoy, Of Fortune and of Envy uncontroul'd, Which ftill are wont moft happy ftates t'annoy; But I, by that which little while I prov'd, Some part of thofe enormities did fee, The which in Court continually hoov'd, And follow'd thofe which happy feem'd to bee; Therefore I, filly Man! whofe former days Had in rude fields been altogether spent, Durft not adventure fuch unknowen ways, Nor truft the guile of Fortune's blandishment, But rather chofe back to my fheep to tourn, Whofe utmoft hardness I before had try'd, Than having learn'd repentance late, to mourn Emongst thofe wretches which I there defcry'd." Shepherd," faid Theftylis," it seems of fpight

Thou speakeft thus 'gainft their felicity,
Which thou envieft, rather then of right
That ought in them blame-worthy thou dooft
spy."

"Caufe have I none," quoth he, "of cancred will

To quit them ill that me demean'd fo well
But felf-regard of private good or ill
Moves me of each, fo as I found, to tell

And eke to warn young fhepherds wanding wit,
Which through report of that life's painted blis
Abandon quiet home to feeke for it,

And leave their lambs to lofs, mifled amifs;
For footh to fay, it is no fort of life
For fhepherd fit to lead in that fame place,
Where each one feekes with malice and with
ftrife

To thruft down other into foul difgrace,
Himself to raife; and he doth fooneft rife
That beft can handle his deceitful wit
In fubtil fhifts, and finest fleights devife,
Either by flandring his well-deemed name,
Through leafings leud and feigned forgery,
Or elfe by breeding him fome blot of blame,
By creeping clofe into his fecrecy;
To which him needes a guilefull hollow heart,
Masked with fair diffembling curtely,
A filed tongue, furnifh'd with terms of art,
No art of fchool, but courtiers' schoolery:
For arts of school have there small countenance,
Counted but toys to bufy idle brains,
And there profeffors find fmall maintenance,
But to be inftruments of others gains:
Ne is there place for any gentle wit,
Unless to please itself it can apply,
But fhouldred is, or out of door quite shit,
As bafe, or blunt, unmeet for melody:
For each man's worth is mcafur'd by his weed,
As harts by horns, or affes by their ears;
Yet affes be not all whofe cars exceed,
Nor yet all harts that horns the highest bears:
For higheft looks have not the highest mind,
Nor haughty words moft full of big heft thought;
But are like bladders blowen up with wind,
That being prick'd do vanish into nought.
Even fuch is all their vaunted vanity
Nought elfe but smoke that fumeth foon away;
Such is their glory that in fimple eye
Seem greatest when their garments are most gay:
So they themselves for praite of fools do fell,
And all their wealth for painting on a wall,
With price whereof they buy a golden bell,
And purchase highest rooms in bower and hall,
Whiles fingle Truth and fimple Honesty
Do wander up and down defpis'd of all:
Their plain attire fuch glorious gallantry
Difdains fo much, that none them in doth call."
"Ah! Colin," then faid Hobbinol," the bla
Which thou imputeft is too generall,
As if not any gentle wit of name,
Nor honeft mind might there be found at all:
For well I wot, fith I myself was there
To wait on Lobbin (Lobbin well thou krewef)
Full many worthy ones then waiting were,
As ever elfe in prince's court thou vieweft;
Of which among you many yet remain,
Whose names I cannot readily now guefs;
Thofe that poor futers papers do retain,
And those that fkill of medicine profels,
And thofe that do to Cynthia expound
The ledden of ftrarge languages in charge;
For Cynthia deth in fciences abound,
And gives to their profeffors stipends large;

Than that which private errors doth purfue;
For well I wote that there amongst them be
Full many perfons of right worthy parts,
Both for report of spotless honesty,
And for profeffion of all learned arts,
Whofe praise hereby no whit impaired is,
Though blame do light on thofe that faulty be;
For all the reft do moft what fare amifs,
And yet their own misfaring will not fee;
For either they be puffed up with pride,

Or fraught with envy, that their galls do fwell;
Or they their days to idlenefs divide,
Or drowned lie in pleasure's waftfull well,

In which, like moldwarps, noufling ftill they lurk,
Unmindful of chief parts of manliness,
And do themselves, for want of other work,
Vain votaries of lazy Love profefs,
Whofe fervice high fo bafely they enfue,
That Cupid's felf of them afhamed is,
And muftring all his men in Venus' view,
Denies them quite for fervitors of his."

"And is Love, then," faid Corilas, "once known

In Court, and his fweet lore professed there?
Iweened fure he was our god alone,

And only woon'd in fields and forests here."
"Not fo," quoth he, "love moft aboundeth

there;

For all the walls and windows there are writ
All full of love, and love, and love, my Dear,
And all their talk and ftudy is of it;
Nor any there doth brave or valiant seem,
Unless that fome gay mistress' badge he bears;
Ne any one himself doth ought efteem,
Unlefs he fwim in love up to the ears:
But they of Love, and of his facred lere,
(As it fhould be) all otherwife devife,
Than we poor fhepherds are accuftom'd here,
And him do fue and ferve all otherwife :
For with leud fpeeches and licentious deeds
His mighty myfteries they do profane,
Aud ufe his idle name to other needs,
But as a complement for courting vain :
So him they do not ferve as they profefs,
But make him ferve to them for fordid uses.
Ah! my dread Lord, that doft liege hearts pof-
fefs,

Avenge thy felf on them for their abuses.
But we, poor fhepherds, whether rightly so,
Or through our rudenefs into error led,
Do make religion how we rafhly go,
To ferve that God that is fo greatly dread;
For him the greatest of the gods we deem,
Born without fire or couples of one kind,
For Venus' felf doth folely couples seem,
Both male and female, through commixture join'd:
So pure and fpotlefs Cupid forth the brought,
And in the Gardens of Adonis nurs'd,
Where growing, he his own perfection wrought,
was of all the gods the first :

And shortly

Then got he bow and shafts of gold and lead,
In which fo fell and puiffant he grew,
That Jove himself his power began to dread,
And taking up to heaven, him godded new :
From thence he fhoots his arrows every where
Into the world, at random, as he will,
On us frail men, his wretched vassals here,
Like as himself us pleafeth fave or spill:
So we him worship, so we him adore,
With humble hearts to heaven up-lifted hie,
That to true loves he may us evermore
Prefer, and of their grace us dignify:
Ne is there shepherd, ne yet fhepherd's fwain,
Whatever feeds in foreft or in field,

That dare with evill deed or leasing vain
Blafpheme his power, or terms unworthy yield."
"Shepherd, it feems that fome celeftial rage
Of love," quoth Cuddy, "is breath'd into thy
breaft,

That poureth forth these oracles fo fage;
Of that high power wherewith thou art poffeft;
But never wift I till this prefent day,

Albe of Love I always humbly deem'd,
That he was fuch an one as thou doest say,.
And fo religiously to be esteem'd:
Well may it feem by this thy deep infight,
That of that god the priest thou shouldest be;
So well thou won'ft the mystery of his might,
As if his godhead thou didst prefent fee."

"Of Love's perfection perfectly to speak, Or of his nature rightly to define,

Indeed," faith Colin, paffeth reafon's reach,
And needs his priest t'exprefs his power divine;
For long before the world he was ybore,
And bred above in Venus' bofom dear;
For by his power the world was made of yore,
And all that therein wondrous doth appear;
For how fhould elfe things fo far from attone,
And fo great enemies as of them be,
Be ever drawn together into one,
And taught in fuch accordance to agree?
Through him the cold began to covet heat,
And water fire, the light to mount on hie,
And th' heavie down to poize, the hungry t'eat.
And voidnefs to feek full fatiety:

So being former foes, they wexed friends,
And 'gan by little learn to love each other;
So being knit, they brought forth other kinds
Out of the fruitful womb of their great mo-
ther:

Then first 'gan Heaven out of darkness dread
For to appear, and brought forth cheerfull Day;
Next 'gan the Earth to thew her naked head
Out of deep waters, which her drown'd alway;
And shortly after every living wight

Crept forth, like worms out of their fliny Na

ture,

Soon as on them the fun's life-giving light
Had poured kindly heat and formal feature:
Thenceforth they gan each one his like to love,
And like himself defire for to beget:
The lion chofe his mate, the turtle-dove
Her dear, the dolphin his own dolphinet ;
Ee ij

But man, that had the spark of reason's might
More than the reft, to rule his paffion,
Chofe for his love the fairest in his fight,
Like as himself was faireft by creation :
For beauty is the bait which with delight
Doth man allure, for to enlarge his kind;
Beauty, the burning lamp of heaven's light,
Darting her beams into each feeble mind,
Against whofe power nor God nor man can find
Defence, ne ward the daunger of the wound;
But being hurt, feek to be medicin'd

Of her that first did stir that mortal stownd.
Then do they cry and call to Love apace,
With prayers loud importuning the sky,
Whence he them hears, and when he lift fhew
grace,

Does grant them grace, that otherwife would die.
So love is lord of all the world by right,
And rules the creatures by his powerful faw,
All being made the vaffals of his might
Through fecret fenfe, which thereto doth them
draw.

Thus ought all lovers of their lord to deem,
And with chafte heart to honour him alway:
But whofo elfe doth otherwise esteem
Are out-laws, and his lore do disobey;
For their defire is bafe, and doth not merit
The name of love, but of difloyal luft;
Ne 'mongst true lovers they fhall place inherit,
But as exuls out of his court be thrust."

So having faid, Meliffa spake at will;
"Colin, thou now full deeply haft divin'd
Of love and beauty, and with wondrous skill
Haft Cupid's felf depainted in his kind:
To thee are all true lovers greatly bound,
That dooft their caufe fo mightily defend;
But most all women are thy debtors found,
That dooft their bounty ftill fo much commend."
"That ill," faid Hobbinol, "they him requite;
For having loved ever one most dear,
He is repaid with fcorn and foul despite,
That yrks cach gentle heart which it doth hear."
"Indeed," faid Lucid, "I have often heard
Fair Rofalinde of divers fouly blamed
For being to that Swain too cruell hard,
That her bright glory elfe hath much defamed:

But who can tell what caufe had that fair maid
To use him fo that loved her fo well?
Or who with blame can justly her upbraid
For loving not? for who can love compel;
And footh to fay, it is full hardy thing
Rafhly to witen creatures fo divine;
For demi-gods they be, and first did spring
From heaven, though graft in frailnefs feminine.
And well I wote that oft I heard it spoken,
How one that fair eft Helene did revile,
Through iudgment of the gods, to been ywroken,
Loft both his eyes, and fo remain'd long while,
Till he recanted had his wicked rimes,
And made amends to her with treble praise :
Beware, therefore, ye Grooms, I read betimes,
How rafhly blame of Rofalinde ye raife."

"Ah! Shepherds," then faid Colin, “ye te

weet

How great a guilt upon your heads ye draw,
To make fo bold a doom with words unmect,
Of things celeftial, which ye never saw;
For fhe is not like as the other crew
Of shepherds' daughters which amongst you be,
But of divine regard and heavenly hue,
Excelling all that ever ye did fee.

Not then to her that scorned thing so base,
But to my felf the blame, that lookt so hie;
So high her thoughts as the her felf have place,
And loath each lowly thing with lofty eye:
Yet fo much grace let her vouchfafe to grant
To fimple fwain, fith her I may not love,
Yet that I may her honour peravaunt,
And praise her worth, though far my wit above;
Such grace fhall be fome guerdon for the grief
And long affliction which I have endured;
Such grace fometimes fhall give me fome relief
And cafe of pain, which cannot be recured.
And ye, my fellow-Shepherds, which do fee
And hear the languors of my too long dying,
Unto the world for ever witness be

That her's I die, nought to the world denying
This fimple trophy of her great conqueft."

So having ended, he from ground did rife, And after him uprofe eke all the reft; All loth to part, but that the glooming skies Warn'd them to draw their bleating flocks to ret