When Francus comes to solace with his whore,
He sends for rods, and strips himself stark naked;
For his lust sleeps, and will not rise before,
By whipping of the wench, it be awakèd.
I envy him not, but wish I[523] had the power
To make myself his wench but one half-hour.

FOOTNOTES:

[523] So Isham copy.—Ed. A "he."

IN CASTOREM. XXXIV.

Of speaking well why do we learn the skill,
Hoping thereby honour and wealth to gain?
Sith railing Castor doth, by speaking ill,
Opinion of much wit, and gold obtain.

IN SEPTIMIUM. XXXV.

Septimius[524] lives, and is like garlic seen,
For though his head be white, his blade is green.
This old mad colt deserves a martyr's praise,
For he was burnèd[525] in Queen Mary's days.

FOOTNOTES:

[524] So ed. B.—Isham copy, ed. A, and MS. "Septimus."

[525] "Burn" is often used with an indelicate double entendre. Cf. Lear iii. 2, "No heretics burned but wenchers' suitors;" Troilus and Cressida, v. 2, "A burning devil take them."

OF TOBACCO. XXXVI.

Homer of Moly and Nepenthe sings;
Moly, the gods' most sovereign herb divine,
Nepenthe, Helen's[526] drink, which gladness brings,
Heart's grief expels, and doth the wit refine.
But this our age another world hath found,
From whence an herb of heavenly power is brought;
Moly is not so sovereign for a wound,
Nor hath nepenthe so great wonders wrought.
It is tobacco, whose sweet subtle[527] fume
The hellish torment of the teeth doth ease,10
By drawing down and drying up the rheum,
The mother and the nurse of each disease;
It is tobacco, which doth cold expel,
And clears th' obstructions of the arteries,
And surfeits threatening death digesteth well,
Decocting all the stomach's crudities;[528]
It is tobacco, which hath power to clarify
The cloudy mists before dim eyes appearing;
It is tobacco, which hath power to rarify
The thick gross humour which doth stop the hearing;20
The wasting hectic, and the quartan fever,
Which doth of physic make a mockery,
The gout it cures, and helps ill breaths for ever,
Whether the cause in teeth or stomach be;
And though ill breaths were by it but confounded,
Yet that vild[529] medicine it doth far excel,
Which by Sir Thomas More[530] hath been propounded,
For this is thought a gentleman-like smell.
O, that I were one of these mountebanks
Which praise their oils and powders which they sell!30
My customers would give me coin with thanks;
I for this ware, forsooth,[531] a tale would tell:
Yet would I use none of these terms before;
I would but say, that it the pox will cure;
This were enough, without discoursing more,
All our brave gallants in the town t'allure.

FOOTNOTES:

[526] Isham copy, "Heuens;" and eds. B, C "Heauens."—MS. "helevs."—Davies alludes to Odyssey iv., 219, &c.

[527] So MS.—Old eds. "substantiall."

[528] We are reminded of Bobadil's encomium of tobacco:—"I could say what I know of the virtue of it, for the expulsion of rheums, raw humours, crudities, obstructions, with a thousand of this kind; but I profess myself no quacksalver. Only this much: by Hercules I do hold it and will affirm it before any prince in Europe to be the most sovereign and precious weed that ever the earth tendered to the use of man."

[529] So MS.—Not in old eds.

[530] Dyce quotes from More's Lucubrationes (ed. 1563, p. 261), an epigram headed "Medicinæ ad tollendos fœtores anhelitus, provenientes a cibis quibusdam."

[531] So eds. A, B, C.—Isham copy "so smooth."—MS. "so faire."

IN CRASSUM. XXXVII.

Crassus his lies are no[532] pernicious lies,
But pleasant fictions, hurtful unto none
But to himself; for no man counts him wise
To tell for truth that which for false is known.
He swears that Gaunt[533] is three-score miles about,
And that the bridge at Paris[534] on the Seine
Is of such thickness, length, and breadth throughout,
That six-score arches can it scarce sustain;
He swears he saw so great a dead man's skull
At Canterbury digg'd out of the ground,10
As[535] would contain of wheat three bushels full;
And that in Kent are twenty yeomen found,
Of which the poorest every year[536] dispends
Five thousand pound: these and five thousand mo
So oft he hath recited to his friends,
That now himself persuades himself 'tis so.
But why doth Crassus tell his lies so rife,
Of bridges, towns, and things that have no life?
He is a lawyer, and doth well espy
That for such lies an action will not lie.20

FOOTNOTES:

[532] So MS.—Eds. "not."

[533] Ghent.

[534] The reference probably is to the Pont Neuf, begun by Henry III. and finished by Henry IV.

[535] So MS.—Old eds. "That."

[536] MS. "day!"

IN PHILONEM. XXXVIII.

Philo, the lawyer,[537] and the fortune-teller,
The school-master, the midwife,[538] and the bawd,
The conjurer, the buyer and the seller
Of painting which with breathing will be thaw'd,
Doth practise physic; and his credit grows,
As doth the ballad-singer's auditory,
Which hath at Temple-Bar his standing chose,
And to the vulgar sings an ale-house story:
First stands a porter; then an oyster-wife
Doth stint her cry and stay her steps to hear him;10
Then comes a cutpurse ready with his[539] knife,
And then a country client presseth[540] near him;
There stands the constable, there stands the whore,
And, hearkening[541] to the song, mark[542] not each other;
There by the serjeant stands the debitor,[543]
And doth no more mistrust him than his brother:
This[544] Orpheus to such hearers giveth music,
And Philo to such patients giveth physic.

FOOTNOTES:

[537] Isham copy and MS. "gentleman."

[538] MS. "widdow."

[539] So Isham copy and MS.—Other eds. "a."

[540] So Isham copy.—Other eds. "passeth."—MS. "presses."

[541] So Isham copy, ed. A, and MS.—Eds. B, C "listening."

[542] So Isham copy, ed. A, and MS.—Eds. B, C "heed."

[543] So eds. B, C.—Isham copy, MS., and ed. A, "debtor poor."—With the foregoing description of the "ballad-singer's auditory" compare Wordsworth's lines On the power of Music, and Vincent Bourne's charming Latin verses (entitled Cantatrices) on the Ballad Singers of the Seven Dials.

[544] So MS.—Eds. "Thus."

IN FUSCUM. XXXIX.

Fuscus is free, and hath the world at will;
Yet, in the course of life that he doth lead,
He's like a horse which, turning round a mill,
Doth always in the self-same circle tread:
First, he doth rise at ten;[545] and at eleven
He goes to Gill's, where he doth eat till one;
Then sees a play till six;[546] and sups at seven;
And, after supper, straight to bed is gone;
And there till ten next day he doth remain;
And then he dines; then sees a comedy;10
And then he sups, and goes to bed again:
Thus round he runs without variety,
Save that sometimes he comes not to the play,
But falls into a whore-house by the way.

FOOTNOTES:

[545] Cf. a somewhat similar description in Guilpin's Skialetheia (Ep. 25):—

"My lord most court-like lies abed till noon,
Then all high-stomacht riseth to his dinner;
Falls straight to dice before his meat be down,
Or to digest walks to some female sinner;
Perhaps fore-tired he gets him to a play,
Comes home to supper and then falls to dice;
Then his devotion wakes till it be day,
And so to bed where unto noon he lies."

[546] If the play ended at six, it could hardly have begun before three. From numerous passages it appears that performances frequently began at three, or even later. Probably the curtain rose at one in the winter and three in the summer.

IN AFRUM. XL.

The smell-feast[547] Afer travels to the Burse
Twice every day, the flying news to hear;
Which, when he hath no money in his purse,
To rich men's tables he doth ever[548] bear.
He tells how Groni[n]gen[549] is taken in[550]
By the brave conduct of illustrious Vere,
And how the Spanish forces Brest would win,
But that they do victorious Norris[551] fear.
No sooner is a ship at sea surpris'd,
But straight he learns the news, and doth disclose it;
No[552] sooner hath the Turk a plot devis'd
To conquer Christendom, but straight he knows it.
Fair-written in a scroll he hath the names
Of all the widows which the plague hath made;
And persons, times, and places, still he frames
To every tale, the better to persuade.
We call him Fame, for that the wide-mouth slave
Will eat as fast as he will utter lies;20
For fame is said an hundred mouths to have,
And he eats more than would five-score suffice.

FOOTNOTES:

[547] This word is found in Chapman, Harrington, and others.

[548] So MS.—Old eds. "often."

[549] Groningen was taken by Maurice of Nassau. Vere was present at the siege.

[550] The expression "take in" (in the sense of "conquer, capture") is very common.

[551] An English expedition, under Sir John Norris, was sent to Brittany in 1594.

[552] This line and the next are found only in Isham copy and MS.

IN PAULUM. XLI.

By lawful mart, and by unlawful stealth,
Paulus, in spite of envy, fortunate,
Derives out of the ocean so much wealth,
As he may well maintain a lord's estate:
But on the land a little gulf there is,
Wherein he drowneth all this[553] wealth of his.

FOOTNOTES:

[553] So Isham copy—Eds. A, B, C "the."—MS. "ye."

IN LYCUM. XLII.

Lycus, which lately is to Venice gone,
Shall, if he do return, gain three for one;[554]
But, ten to one, his knowledge and his wit
Will not be better'd or increas'd a whit.

FOOTNOTES:

[554] When a person started on a long or dangerous voyage it was customary to deposit—or, as it was called, "put out"—a sum of money, on condition of receiving at his return a high rate of interest. If he failed to return the money was lost. There are frequent allusions in old authors to this practice.

IN PUBLIUM. XLIII.

Publius, a[555] student at the Common-Law,
Oft leaves his books, and, for his recreation,
To Paris-garden[556] doth himself withdraw;
Where he is ravish'd with such delectation,
As down amongst the bears and dogs he goes;
Where, whilst he skipping cries, "To head, to head,"[557]
His satin doublet and his velvet hose
Are all with spittle from above be-spread;
Then is he like his father's country hall,
Stinking of dogs, and muted[558] all with hawks;10
And rightly too on him this filth doth fall,
Which for such filthy sports his books forsakes,
Leaving old Ployden, Dyer, and Brooke alone,
To see old Harry Hunkes and Sacarson.[559]

FOOTNOTES:

[555] So MS.—Not in old eds.

[556] The Bear-Garden in the Bankside, Southwark.

[557] In Titus Andronicus, v. 1, we have the expression "to fight at head" ("As true a dog as ever fought at head"). "To fly at the head" was equivalent to "attack;" and in Nares' Glossary (ed. Halliwell) the expression "run on head," in the sense of incite, is quoted from Heywood's Spider and Flie, 1556.

[558] Covered with hawks' dung.

[559] "Harry Hunkes" and "Sacarson" were the names of two famous bears (probably named after their keepers). Slender boasted to Anne Page, "I have seen Sackarson loose twenty times and have taken him by the chain."

IN SYLLAM. XLIV.

When I this proposition had defended,
"A coward cannot be an honest man,"
Thou, Sylla, seem'st forthwith to be offended,
And hold'st[560] the contrary, and swear'st[561] he can.
But when I tell thee that he will forsake
His dearest friend in peril of his life,
Thou then art chang'd, and say'st thou didst mistake;
And so we end our argument and strife:
Yet I think oft, and think I think aright,
Thy argument argues thou wilt not fight.10

FOOTNOTES:

[560] So MS.—Old eds. "holds."

[561] So MS.—Old eds. "swears."

IN DACUM. XLV.

Dacus,[562] with some good colour and pretence,
Terms his love's beauty "silent eloquence;"
For she doth lay more colours on her face
Than ever Tully us'd his speech to grace.

FOOTNOTES:

[562] Dyce shows that Samuel Daniel is meant by Dacus (who has already been ridiculed in Ep. xxx.). In Daniel's Complaint of Rosamond (1592) are the lines:—

"Ah, beauty, syren, faire enchanting good,
Sweet silent rhetorique of perswading eyes,
Dumb eloquence, whose power doth move the blood
More than the words or wisedome of the wise," &c.

Perhaps there is an allusion to this epigram in Marston's fourth satire:—

"What, shall not Rosamond or Gaveston
Ope their sweet lips without detraction?
But must our modern critticks envious eye
Seeme thus to quote some grosse deformity,
Where art not error shineth in their stile,
But error and no art doth thee beguile?"

IN MARCUM. XLVI.

Why dost thou, Marcus, in thy misery
Rail and blaspheme, and call the heavens unkind?
The heavens do owe[563] no kindness unto thee,
Thou hast the heavens so little in thy mind;
For in thy life thou never usest prayer
But at primero, to encounter fair.

FOOTNOTES:

[563] So eds. B, C.—Ed. A "draw" (Epigram xlv.-xlviii. are not in the MS.)

MEDITATIONS OF A GULL. XLVII.

See, yonder melancholy gentleman,
Which, hood-wink'd with his hat, alone doth sit!
Think what he thinks, and tell me, if you can,
What great affairs trouble his little wit.
He thinks not of the war 'twixt France and Spain,[564]
Whether it be for Europe's good or ill,
Nor whether the Empire can itself maintain
Against the Turkish power encroaching still;[565]
Nor what great town in all the Netherlands
The States determine to besiege this spring,10
Nor how the Scottish policy now stands,
Nor what becomes of the Irish mutining.[566]
But he doth seriously bethink him whether
Of the gull'd people he be more esteem'd
For his long cloak or for[567] his great black feather
By which each gull is now a gallant deem'd;
Or of a journey he deliberates
To Paris-garden, Cock-pit, or the play;
Or how to steal a dog he meditates,
Or what he shall unto his mistress say.
Yet with these thoughts he thinks himself most fit
To be of counsel with a king for wit.

FOOTNOTES:

[564] Ended in 1598 by the peace of Vervins.

[565] The war between Austria and Turkey was brought to a close in 1606.

[566] A reference to Tyrone's insurrection, 1595-1602.

[567] So Isham copy.—Not in other eds.

AD MUSAM. XLVIII.

Peace, idle Muse, have done! for it is time,
Since lousy Ponticus envies my fame,
And swears the better sort are much to blame
To make me so well known for my ill rhyme.
Yet Banks his horse[568] is better known than he;
So are the camels and the western hog,
And so is Lepidus his printed dog[569]:
Why doth not Ponticus their fames envy?
Besides, this Muse of mine and the black feather
Grew both together fresh in estimation;10
And both, grown stale, were cast away together:
What fame is this that scarce lasts out a fashion?
Only this last in credit doth remain,
That from henceforth each bastard cast-forth rhyme,
Which doth but savour of a libel vein,
Shall call me father, and be thought my crime;
So dull, and with so little sense endued,
Is my gross-headed judge the multitude.
J. D.

FOOTNOTES:

[568] See note, p. 232.

[569] Dyce points out that by Lepidus is meant Sir John Harington, whose dog Bungey is represented in a compartment of the engraved title-page of the translation of Orlando Furioso, 1591. In his epigrams (Book III. Ep. 21) Harington refers to this epigram of Davies, and expresses himself greatly pleased at the compliment paid to his dog.

IGNOTO.

I[570] love thee not for sacred chastity,—
Who loves for that?—nor for thy sprightly wit;
I love thee not for thy sweet modesty,
Which makes thee in perfection's throne to sit;
I love thee not for thy enchanting eye,
Thy beauty['s] ravishing perfection;
I love thee not for unchaste luxury,
Nor for thy body's fair proportion;
I love thee not for that my soul doth dance
And leap with pleasure, when those lips of thine
Give musical and graceful utterance
To some (by thee made happy) poet's line;
I love thee not for voice or slender small:
But wilt thou know wherefore? fair sweet, for all.
Faith, wench, I cannot court thy sprightly eyes,
With the base-viol plac'd between my thighs;
I cannot lisp, nor to some fiddle sing,
Nor run upon a high-stretch'd minikin;
I cannot whine in puling elegies,
Entombing Cupid with sad obsequies;
I am not fashion'd for these amorous times,
To court thy beauty with lascivious rhymes;
I cannot dally, caper, dance, and sing,
Oiling my saint with supple sonneting;
I cannot cross my arms, or sigh "Ay me,
Ay me, forlorn!" egregious foppery!
I cannot buss thy fist,[571] play with thy hair,
Swearing by Jove, "thou art most debonair!"
Not I, by cock! but [I] shall tell thee roundly,—
Hark in thine ear,—zounds, I can (——) thee soundly.
Sweet wench, I love thee: yet I will not sue,
Or show my love as musky courtiers do;
I'll not carouse a health to honour thee,
In this same bezzling[572] drunken courtesy,
And, when all's quaff'd, eat up my bousing-glass[573]
In glory that I am thy servile ass;
Nor will I wear a rotten Bourbon lock,[574]
As some sworn peasant to a female smock.
Well-featur'd lass, thou know'st I love thee dear:
Yet for thy sake I will not bore mine ear,
To hang thy dirty silken shoe-tires there;
Nor for thy love will I once gnash a brick,
Or some pied colours in my bonnet stick:[575]
But, by the chaps of hell, to do thee good,
I'll freely spend my thrice-decocted blood.

FOOTNOTES:

[570] This sonnet and the two following pieces are only found in Isham copy and ed. A.

[571] So Isham copy.—Ed. A "fill."

[572] Tippling.

[573] "Bouse" was a cant term for "drink."

[574] See note v. p. 226.

[575] It was a common practice for gallants to wear their mistresses' garters in their hats.

THE FIRST BOOK OF LUCAN.

Lucans First Booke Translated Line for Line, By Chr. Marlow. At London, the Flower de Luce in Paules Churchyard, 1600, 4to.

This is the only early edition. The title-page of the 1600 4to. of Hero and Leander has the words, "Whereunto is added the first booke of Lucan;" but the two pieces are not found in conjunction.

TO HIS KIND AND TRUE FRIEND, EDWARD BLUNT.[576]

Blunt,[577] I propose to be blunt with you, and, out of my dulness, to encounter you with a Dedication in memory of that pure elemental wit, Chr. Marlowe, whose ghost or genius is to be seen walk the Churchyard,[578] in, at the least, three or four sheets. Methinks you should presently look wild now, and grow humorously frantic upon the taste of it. Well, lest you should, let me tell you, this spirit was sometime a familiar of your own, Lucan's First Book translated; which, in regard of your old right in it, I have raised in the circle of your patronage. But stay now, Edward: if I mistake not, you are to accommodate yourself with some few instructions, touching the property of a patron, that you are not yet possessed of; and to study them for your better grace, as our gallants do fashions. First, you must be proud, and think you have merit enough in you, though you are ne'er so empty; then, when I bring you the book, take physic, and keep state; assign me a time by your man to come again; and, afore the day, be sure to have changed your lodging; in the meantime sleep little, and sweat with the invention of some pitiful dry jest or two, which you may happen to utter with some little, or not at all, marking of your friends, when you have found a place for them to come in at; or, if by chance something has dropped from you worth the taking up, weary all that come to you with the often repetition of it; censure, scornfully enough, and somewhat like a traveller; commend nothing, lest you discredit your (that which you would seem to have) judgment. These things, if you can mould yourself to them, Ned, I make no question that they will not become you. One special virtue in our patrons of these days I have promised myself you shall fit excellently, which is, to give nothing; yes, thy love I will challenge as my peculiar object, both in this, and, I hope, many more succeeding offices. Farewell: I affect not the world should measure my thoughts to thee by a scale of this nature: leave to think good of me when I fall from thee.