Conclude that yf I had the wyt
Or spryte therto I shuld
Thyn ample profers take,

As she, that wyse is, wold.
Or I perchaunce will take them to,
My shamfast fear upcast,
And yeld me to the tyme

That may me wyn at last :

Where thou desierst som secret place

To treat betwen us two,
I know thy trayn, and how
Our treaty than shold goo.

But soft a whyle, what nedes this hast,

Thy corn ys yet but grene,

Thy tarying all this whyle,

Perchaunce thy frend hath bene.

Thus hetherto my pen that put
My secret mynd in wryting,

Syns weried in my hand,

Shall cease now from endyting:

The rest hereof by Clemenee

And Ethras thou shalt know,

My pryvy damsels both,

And counsayloures also.

Finis. qd T. CHALONER eques auratus, etc.

5 Clymene and Æthra were the handmaids and confidantes of Helen. Vide de Art. Amand. lib. ii. and Iliad, lib. iii.

The prayse of six Gentle-Women attending of the Ladye Elizabeth her Grace at Hatfield.

I.

THE great DIANA chaste

In forest late I met,

Who did commande, in haste,

To Hatfield for to get;
And to you sixe a-row

Her pleasure to declare,
Thus meaning to bestow
On each a gifte most rare.

II.

First doth she give to Grey,
The falcons curtesse kind,

Her lord for to obey

With most obedient mind:
Fraught with such virtues rare

His love aye to renew,
With Thysbe to compare
Or Pyramus, most true.

III.

To worthie Willoughbie

As eagle in her flighte,

So shall her peircinge eye

Both wounde and heal each wight
That shall upon her gaze,

And soon perceive, I see,
A Laura in her face,

And not a Willoughbie.

IV.

To Markhams modest mynde,
That phoenix bird most rare,
So have the gods assygnde
With Gryfylde to compare.
Oh! happie twyce is hee
Whom Jove shall do the grace
To lynke in unitie,

Such beautie to embrace.

V.

To Norwyche, good and grave,
Such sapient cares we sende,

As prudent serpents have,

That charmer to defende; With knowledge in fore-syghte Of suche thinge yet to come, As had Cassandra bright,

Who told of Troye the dome.

VI.

For Saintloe dothe she saye

So stable shall shee stand,

As rocke within the sea,

Or huge hill on the lande:

Die rather with the mace

From Hercules stout hande,
Than once her truth disgrace,

Yf shee therein do stande.

VII.

If Skypwith shoud escape

Withoute her gyfte moste rare,

Diana woulde me hate,

And fill my lyfe with care;

The

Since in her temple chaste,
Full high upon the wall
Her bowe there hangeth faste,
Unbroke and ever shall.

VIII.

Thus have I shewed you all
This gracious Goddesse' will,
Who hathe decreed you shall

As her own imppes live still;
Longe in suche favour'd sorte
Whereof dame Fame shall blowe

Such trompe of trew reporte,

As through the earthe shall goe.

prayse of eight Ladyes of Queen Elizabeth's Court.

BY RICHARD EDWARDS."

(From Cotton MS. Titus A. xxiv.)

My fance fanned onne me

Somwhat of ye to say;

Good Ladyes all, accepte my will,

This thing I only pray.

6 These verses were found in the hand-writing of John Haryngton, Esq. who afterwards married Isabella Markham, one of the ladies herein mentioned.

7 A gentleman of the Chapel Royal, a dramatic writer, and compiler of an early metrical miscellany, entitled "The Paradise of dainty Devises," which passed through seven editions.

I.

Hawarde is not haughté,

But of suche smylinge cheare,
That wolde alure eche gentill harte
His love to holde full dere.

· II.

Dacars is not dawngerous,

Hir talke is nothinge coye,
Hir noble stature may compare
With Hector's wife of Troye.

ΠΙ.

Baynam is as bewtifull

As nature canne devyse;
Stedfastenes posesse her harte,
And chastitie her eyes.

IV.

Arundell is aunciaunte

In these her tender yeares,

In harte, in voice, in talke, in deede,
A matron's wit apperes.

ས.

Dormor is a darlinge,

And of suche lively hewe,

That who so fedes his eyes on her

May sone her bewtie rue.

8 Probably Mary, the daughter of Sir Thomas Arundel, who made several translations from the Greek and Latin, which are still extant. See Ballard's Memoirs of eminent Ladies.