The Shepheardes Calender Read Online

And so Musæus sayth, that in Heroes eyther eye there satte a hundred graces. And by that authoritye, thys same Poete in his Pageaunts sayth.

An hundred Graces on her eyeledde satte. etc

8 Haydeguies) A country daunce or rownd. The conceipt is, that the Graces and Nymphes doe daunce vnto the Muses, and Pan his musicke all night by Moonelight. To signifie the pleasauntnesse of the soyle.

9 Peeres) Equalles and felow shepheards.

10 Queneapples vnripe) imitating Virgils verse.

Ipse ego cana legam tenera lanugine mala.

11 Neighbour groues) a straunge phrase in English, but word for word expressing the Latine vicina nemora.

12 Spring) not of water, but of young trees springing.

13 Calliope) afforesayde. Thys staffe is full of verie poetical inuention.

14 Tamburines) an olde kind of instrument, which of some is supposed to be the Clarion.

15 Pan with Phæbus) the tale is well knowne, howe that Pan and Apollo striuing for excellencye in musicke, chose Midas for their iudge. Who being corrupted wyth partiall affection, gaue the victorye to Pan vndeserued: for which Phœbus sette a payre of Asses eares vpon hys head etc.

16 Tityrus) That by Tityrus is meant Chaucer, hath bene already sufficiently sayde, and by thys more playne appeareth, that he sayth, he tolde merye tales. Such as be hys Canterburie tales. whom he calleth the God of Poetes for hys excellencie, so as Tullie calleth Lentulus, Deum vitæ suæ.s. the God of hys lyfe.

17 To make) to versifie.

18 O why) A pretye Epanorthosis or correction.

19 Discurtesie) he meaneth the falsenesse of his louer Rosalinde, who forsaking hym, hadde chosen another.

20 Poynte of worthy wite) the pricke of deserued blame.

21 Menalcas) the name of a shephearde in Virgile; but here is meant a person vnknowne and secrete, agaynst whome he often bitterly inuayeth.

22 vnderfonge) vndermyne and deceiue by false suggestion.

Embleme.

You remember, that in the fyrst Æglogue, Colins Poesie was Anchora speme: for that as then there was hope of fauour to be found in tyme. But nowe being cleane forlorne and reiected of her, as whose hope, that was, is cleane extinguished and turned into despeyre, he renounceth all comfort and hope of goodnesse to come. which is all the meaning of thys Embleme.

Iulye.

Ægloga septima.

Argvment.

This Æglogue is made in the honour and commendation, of good shepeheardes, and to the shame and disprayse of proude and ambitious Pastours. Such as Morrell is here imagined to bee.

Thomalin and Morrell.

Is not thilke same a goteheard1 prowde,

that sittes on yonder bancke,2

Whose straying heard3 them selfe doth shrowde

emong the bushes rancke?

Morrell.

What ho, thou iollye shepheards swayne,

come vp the hyll to me:

Better is, then the lowly playne,

als4 for thy flocke, and thee.

Thomalin.

Ah God shield, man, that I should clime,5

and learne to looke alofte,

This reede is ryfe, that oftentime

great clymbers6 fall vnsoft.

In humble dales is footing fast,

the trode is not so tickle:

And though one fall through heedlesse hast,

yet is his misse not mickle.7

And now the Sonne8 hath reared vp

his fyriefooted teme,

Making his way betweene the Cuppe,9

and golden Diademe:10

The rampant Lyon11 hunts he fast,

with Dogge of noysome breath,

Whose balefull barking bringes in hast

pyne, plagues, and dreery death.

Agaynst his cruell scortching heate

where hast thou couerture?

The wastefull hylls vnto his threate

is a playne ouerture.12

But if thee lust, to holden chat13

with seely shepherds swayne,

Come downe, and learne the little what,

that Thomalin can sayne.

Morrell.

Syker, thous but a laesie loord,14

and rekes much of thy swinck,15

That with fond termes, and weetlesse16 words

to blere myne eyes doest thinke.

In euill houre thou hentest in hond

thus holy hylles to blame,

For sacred vnto saints they stond,

and of them han theyr name.

S. Michels mount17 who does not know,

that wardes the Westerne coste?

And of S. Brigets bowre I trow,

all Kent can rightly boaste:

And they that con of Muses skill,

sayne most what, that they dwell

(As goteheards wont) vpon a hill,18

beside a learned well.

And wonned not the great God Pan,19

vpon mount Oliuet:

Feeding the blessed flocke of Dan,20

which dyd himselfe beget?

Thomalin.

O blessed sheepe, O shepheard great,

that bought his flocke so deare,

And them did saue with bloudy sweat

from Wolues, that would them teare.

Morrel.

Besyde, as holy fathers sayne,

there is a hyllye place,

Where Titan21 ryseth from the mayne,

to renne hys dayly race.

Vpon whose toppe the starres bene stayed,

and all the skie doth leane,

There22 is the caue, where Phebe layed,

the shepheard23 long to dreame.

Whilome there vsed shepheards all

to feede theyr flocks at will,

Till by his foly one did fall,

that all the rest did spill.

And sithens shepheardes bene foresayd

from places of delight:

For thy I weene thou be affrayd,

to clime this hilles height.

Of Synah24 can I tell thee more,

and of our Ladyes bowre:25

But little needes to strow my store,

suffice this hill of our.

Here han the holy Faunes resourse,26

and Syluanes haunten rathe.27

Here has the salt Medway28 his sourse,

wherein the Nymphes doe bathe.

The salt Medway, that trickling stremis

adowne the dales of Kent:

Till with his elder brother Themis

his brackish waues be meynt.29

Here growes Melampode euery where,30

and Teribinth good for Gotes:31

The one, my madding kiddes to smere,

the next, to heale theyr throtes.

Hereto, the hills bene nigher heuen,32

and thence the passage ethe.

As well can proue the piercing leuin,33

that seeldome falls bynethe.

Thomalin.

Syker thou speakes lyke a lewde lorrell,34

of Heauen to demen so:

How be I am but rude and borrell,35

yet nearer wayes I knowe.

To Kerke the narre,36 from God more farre,

has bene an old sayd sawe.

And he that striues to touch the starres,

oft stombles at a strawe.

Alsoone may shepheard clymbe to skye,

that leades in lowly dales,

As Goteherd prowd that sitting hye,

vpon the Mountaine sayles.

My seely sheepe like well belowe,

they neede not Melampode:

For they bene hale37 enough, I trowe,

and liken theyr abode.

But if they with thy Gotes should yede,38

they soone myght be corrupted:

Or like not of the frowie39 fede,

or with the weedes be glutted.

The hylls, where dwelled holy saints,

I reuerence and adore:

Not for themselfe, but for the sayncts,

which han be dead of yore.40

And nowe they bene to heauen forewent,41

theyr good is with them goe:

Theyr sample onely to vs lent,

that als we mought doe soe.

Shepheards they weren of the best,

and liued in lowlye leas:

And sith theyr soules bene now at rest,

why done we them disease?

Such one he was, (as I haue heard

old Algrind often sayne)

That whilome was the first shepheard,42

and liued with little gayne:

As meeke he was, as meeke mought be,

simple, as simple sheepe,

Humble, and like in eche degree

the flocke, which he did keepe.

Often he vsed of hys keepe43

a sacrifice to bring,

Nowe with a Kidde, now with a sheepe

the Altars hallowing.

So lowted44 he vnto hys Lord,

such fauour couth he fynd,

That sithens neuer was abhord,

the simple shepheards kynd.

And such I weene the brethren were,

that came from Canaan:

The brethren45 twelue, that kept yfere

the flockes of mighty Pan.

But nothing such thilk shephearde was,

whom Ida46 hyll dyd beare,

That left hys flocke, to fetch a lasse,47

whose loue he bought to deare:

For he was proude, that ill was payd,

(no such mought shepheards bee)

And with lewde lust was ouerlayd:

tway things doen ill agree:

But shepheard mought be meeke and mylde,

well eyed, as Argus48 was,

With fleshly follyes vndefyled,

and stoute as steede of brasse.

Sike one (sayd Algrin) Moses was,

that sawe hys makers face,

His face more cleare, then Christall glasse,

and spake to him in place.

This had a brother, (his name49 I knewe)

the first of all his cote,

A shepheard trewe, yet not so true,50

as he that earst I hote.

Whilome all these were lowe, and lief,

and loued their flocks to feede,

They neuer strouen to be chiefe,

and simple was theyr weede.

But now (thanked be God therefore)

the world is well amend,

Their weedes bene not so nighly wore,

such simplesse mought them shend:

They bene yclad in purple51 and pall,

so hath theyr god them blist,

They reigne and rulen ouer all,

and lord it, as they list:

Ygyrt with belts52 of glitterand gold,

(mought they good sheepeheards bene)

Theyr Pan53 theyr sheepe to them has sold,

I saye as some haue seene.

For Palinode54 (if thou him ken)

yode late on Pilgrimage

To Rome, (if such be Rome) and then

he sawe thilke misusage.

For shepeheards (sayd he) there doen leade,

as Lordes done other where,

Theyr sheepe han crustes, and they the bread:

the chippes, and they the chere:

They han the fleece, and eke the flesh,

(O seely sheepe the while)

The corne is theyrs, let other thresh,

their hands they may not file.

They han great stores, and thriftye stockes,

great freendes and feeble foes:

What neede hem caren for their flocks?

theyr boyes can looke to those.

These wisards55 weltre in welths waues,

pampred in pleasures deepe,

They han fatte kernes,56 and leany knaues,

their fasting flockes to keepe.

Sike mister men57 bene all misgone,

they heapen hylles of wrath:

Sike syrlye58 shepheards han we none,

they keepen all the path.

Morrell.

Here is a great deale of good matter,

lost for lacke of telling,

Now sicker I see, thou doest but clatter:

harme may come of melling.59

Thou medlest more, then shall haue thanke,

to wyten shepheards welth:

When folke bene fat, and riches rancke,

it is a signe of helth.

But say me, what is Algrin60 he,

that is so oft bynempt.61

Thomalin.

He is a shepheard great in gree,62

but hath bene long ypent.

One daye he sat vpon a hyll,

(as now thou wouldest me:

But I am taught by Algrins ill,

to loue the lowe degree.)

For sitting so with bared scalpe,

an Eagle sored hye,

That weening hys whyte head was chalke,

a shell fish downe let flye:

She weend the shell fishe to haue broake,

but therewith bruzd his brayne,

So now astonied with the stroke,

he lyes in lingring payne.

Morrell.

Ah good Algrin, his hap was ill,

but shall be bett63 in time.

Now farwell shepheard, sith thys hyll

thou hast such doubt to climbe.

Thomalins Embleme.

In medio virtus.

Morrells Embleme.

In summo fœlicitas

Glosse.

1 A. Goteheard) By Gotes in scrypture be represented the wicked and reprobate, whose pastour also must needes be such.

2 Banck) is the seate of honor.

3 Straying heard) which wander out of the waye of truth.

4 Als) for also.

5 Clymbe) spoken of Ambition.

6 Great clymbers) according to Seneca his verse, Decidunt celsa grauiore lapsu.

7 Mickle) much.

8 The soone) A reason, why he refuseth to dwell on Mountaines, because there is no shelter against the scortching sunne. according to the time of the yeare, whiche is the whotest moneth of all.

9 The Cupp and Diademe) Be two signes in the Firmament, through which the sonne maketh his course in the moneth of Iuly.

10 The Cupp and Diademe) Be two signes in the Firmament, through which the sonne maketh his course in the moneth of Iuly.

11 Lion) Thys is Poetically spoken, as if the Sunne did hunt a Lion with one Dogge. The meaning wherof is, that in Iuly the soone is in Leo. At which tyme the Dogge starre, which is called Syrius or Canicula reigneth, with immoderate heate causing Pestilence, drougth, and many diseases.

12 Ouerture) an open place. The word is borrowed of the French, and vsed in good writers.

13 To holden chatt) to talke and prate.

14 A loorde) was wont among the old Britons to signifie a Lorde. And therefore the Danes, that long time vsurped theyr Tyrannie here in Brytanie, were called for more dread then dignitie, Lurdanes.s. Lord Danes. At which time it is sayd, that the insolencie and pryde of that nation was so outragious in thys Realme, that if it fortuned a Briton to be going ouer a bridge, and sawe the Dane set foote vpon the same, he muste retorne back, till the Dane were cleane ouer, or els abyde the pryce of his displeasure, which was no lesse, then present death. But being afterwarde expelled that name of Lurdane became so odious vnto the people, whom they had long oppressed, that euen at this daye they vse for more reproche, to call the Quartane ague the Feuer Lurdane.

15 Recks much of thy swinck) counts much of thy paynes.

16 Weetelesse) not vnderstoode.

17 S. Michels mount) is a promontorie in the West part of England.

18 A hill) Parnassus afforesayd.

19 Pan) Christ

20 Dan) One trybe is put for the whole nation per Synecdochen.

21 Where Titan) the Sonne. Which story is to be redde in Diodorus Syc. of the hyl Ida; from whence he sayth, all night time is to bee seene a mightye fire, as if the skye burned, which toward morning beginneth to gather into a rownd forme, and thereof ryseth the sonne, whome the Poetes call Titan.

22 There) that is in Paradise, where through errour of shepheards vnderstanding, he sayth, that all shepheards did vse to feede theyr flocks, till one, (that is) Adam by hys follye and disobedience, made all the rest of hys ofspring be debarred and shutte out from thence.

23 The Shepheard) is Endymion, whom the Poets fayne, to haue bene so beloued of Phœbe.s. the Moone, that he was by her kept a sleepe in a caue by the space of xxx. yeares, for to enioye his companye.

24 Synah) a hill in Arabia, where God appeared.

25 Our Ladyes bowre) a place of pleasure so called.

26 Faunes or Syluanes) be of Poetes feigned to be Gods of the Woode.

27 Faunes or Syluanes) be of Poetes feigned to be Gods of the Woode.

28 Medway) the name of a Ryuer in Kent, which running by Rochester, meeteth with Thames; whom he calleth his elder brother, both because he is greater, and also falleth sooner into the Sea.

29 Meynt) mingled.

30 Melampode and Terebinth) be hearbes good to cure diseased Gotes. of thone speaketh Mantuane, and of thother Theocritus.

termintoy tragon esxaton akremona.

31 Melampode and Terebinth) be hearbes good to cure diseased Gotes.