ACANTHUS

Thou zealous patron of the winged Boy, Well hast thou pleaded thy blind Archers Case; Pray Jove thou mayest deserve a lusty fee For this Herculean labour of thy tongue. When Solemnizing shall make the Eastern Seas his bed, When Wolves and Sheep shall be together fed; When Stars shall fallen, and planets cease to wander, When Juno proves a Bawd, and Jupiter a Pander; When Venus shalturn Chaste, and Bacchus become sober, When fruit in April's ripe, that blossomed in October; When Prodigals shall money lend on use, And Usurers prove lavish and profuse; When Art shall be esteemed, and golden pelf laid down, When Fame shall tell all truth, & Fortune cease to frown, To Cupid's yoke then I my neck will bow; Till then, I will not fear loves fatal blow. Nay, stay fair Nymph, I would request A private Conference with you. I that of late was made of Scythian snow, And Hyperborean ice, am now quite thawed In the uncessant flames of hight desire. A new Vesuvius burns within my breast, But shall I overturn those noble trophies Which I most firmly have on virtue sounded; Or shall I sing the wings of reason so, In the outrageous flames of passion; That I must needs fallen down and perish quite In the black hideous gulf of deep despair, No: no: I will not, Of this I am resolved whatso're befall, Or not to love too much, or not at all. Nay, be assured (proud man) not any smart, Can cure the courage of a valiant heart: No force a heart of adamant can break; And losers' must, and shall have leave to speak. Before this guiltless woman shall endure Such shameful injuries: thy self assure I'll empty all these azure rivulets Of their vermilion streams; and quite discharge This contemned bulk of mine, of living air; And stretched upon the gelid bed of death, I'll to the world this Epitaph bequeathe, Here lies a Swain that spent his dearest blood, To kill a Tyrant for a Virgins good. Now recollect thy spirits Rhodon, Let Spartan resolution spread it self Into each angle of thy noble heart. For now our hostile forces are assembled, Covering the fields from Ossa to Olympus. Their painted banners with the winds are playing: Their pampered coursers thunder on the plains: The splendour of their glistering arms repels The bashful sunbeam back unto the clouds. Their bellowing drums and trumpets shrill, Do many sad corrantos found, Which danger grimand sprawling death must dance. Now therefore Rhodon, do reflect thy eye Upon the glories of thy ancestors, And strive by emulation to transcend Those trophies which were yet never paralleled. Eleventh at least: for see Oriȝon hath Advanced very high his starry locks in our horizon. They do but blush to see what crimes are acted By mortal under covert of the night. I saw the blazing meteor stoop, And bend his course towards the humble Centre. He that by honourable means is raised, And hath his seat established on the square Of never sliding virtue, cannot fallen. Who dares contest with Jove, or question what His Sovereign highness shall do or determine. Too true it is, I shrewdly fear, For every circumstance makes it appear That Rhodon in the myrtle grove, last night, Had private conference with Iris, From whom (it seems) he took the venomed potion, For now he does, in his extremest fits, Exclaim on the untruth of woman kind, Bewailing the unlucky hour that did present Your sister Iris to his sighed. Nay, never worse, thou wouldst say, gentle Panace, If thou knewest all. Rhodon's mishap's the cause of all our sorrow: Rhodon's betrayed, poisoned, and lies at point of death. Doubtless it was the false Ponerias plot, Whom Martagon hath lately entertained, With her companion; old Agnostus; For, know the malice of your foes is such, That if by open force they can't destroy you, By hidden plots they'll seek your overthrow. Imperious Martagon, that art no less Known for thy power, then thy wickedness: In Rhodons name I do defy thee here, Who challenges the Combat at thy hands, To be avenged on thee for thy foul wrongs: But if thou darest not in a single fight, Give satisfaction to the noble Shepherd; Then thee and all thy troops he does invite, To a bloody breakfast to morrow morn. Attended by a vigorous army he Stands in the confines of his own dominions, Swearing that he will prove it in the field, That thou a tyrant and a traitor art. Upon my life, & by the honour of a soldier it does. I will great Martagon; and misdoubt not, But that your cheer shall be exceeding hight. Yov must away, for no entreaties can prevail. Arm, arm: the hostile forces are in sighed, And thus come marching on in proud array: The battle's led by Martagon himself, Wherein are marshaled near five thousand Bill men, All clad in coats of read: A furious Amazon called Tulipa, Brings on three thousand burley Swissers, Arrayed in gorgeous Coats of read and yellow; And these make up the van: To which are added for a forlorn hope, Two hundred melancholy Gentlemen. The fierce Cynosbatus brings up the Rear, Wherein about two thousand soldiers be Clad all in green, and armed with pikes of steel. Narcissus with a thousand Daffodils, Clad in deep yellow coats does flank The right side of the battle. The left wing is by Hyacinthus led, Wherein a thousand Soldiers march, Arrayed in purple coats. And art not thou the map of loves calamity? Witness those crystal bowls of thy bright eyes, Which I have seen swelled up with brinish tears, Prepared for sorrows bitter beverage: Witness those frequent tempests of thy sighs, Which made thy breast a fiery fea of dolour: Witn esse those palled cheeks, whose glorious hue Aurora late envied, and quite despairing To reach thy beauty's height, with Cupid treated, And him suborned to wound thy generous heart, (Which no base passion ever durst assault) That now Like pale Narcissus on the brink Of the beguilding stream, thou liest a dying. It is a fire indeed, that does consume All virtuous actions; that feeds upon men's souls Like the fiend Eurynomus upon dead carcases; That makes the microcosmus a mere Chaos. It is the Remora of all noble enterprises, And the Lernaean fen which breeds a Hydra, Crested with a thousand inconveniences. Let me never inherit more then my Father's hempland, Or never be owner of more wit then some elder brother's, If I think not Cupid the most pernicious deity Among all the Olympian Senators. O that I had but Stentors lungs, To thunder out the vanity of that idol. (Rhodon) do thou but say Amen: and I will in And instant raise our spriteful youth, And led them on with such a vigorous force Against the most unhuman Martagon; That we will pull the Craven from his nest, Disrobing him of all his borrowed plumes, And repossessing Violetta of her own.