PERSEUS

It may be so, my Lord Ambassador, These are the reasons or such Like as these, But my Prophetical my Delphic mind Prompts me alas unto another cause More probable, I fear that glorious Orb Where my fair star moves in (I mean your land,) Made glorious by her lustre, and envied By all the neighbouring kingdoms round about, Should now grow proud, & scorn her beams should grace, B sides their own, another Hemisphere, What think you Sir of this? How's this? am I awake, or in a dream? Dead, or alive? what Apoplex was that Tied all this while my tongue from breaking forth Into wild exclamations? Oh my heart! My better partly, Lucinda prisoner! Heavens what a found is that, no death so fatal, So doleful to my thoughts, Lucinda taken By thieves and outlaws, worse, and Perseus Uncertain where she is, still worse and worse. What shall I do, die? that were to no purpose, And leave her unredeemed: no, I'll first Raise a great Army, and lay waste that soil, That fatal soil which first procured my woe: I'll cut off this distinction of three names, Arabia faelix, Petraea, and Deserta, And bring them into one, and that's the later: Cosmographers shall never divide the land Into three parts, Arithmeticians neither Shall work it as a fraction, but entire, And entire umber, termed by all deserta: The Phoenix shall no longer harbour there, Or if she do, we will destroy the Spice Where with she always built her funeral pile To burn her self to ashes and the by Hinder a second birth: what will we not Do to revenge this wrong? the worst of ils That can be thought of is not bade enough For to afflict that Country which detains My fair Lucinda from me: I have not The patience to dispatch and Embassage And to expect reply: I 'le go my self And by my armies march, my cannons mouth, My trumpets warlike found, my beating drum, The King shall know the business why I come. News I hear none but that The fearful King dares not fight a battle, We must enforce him to it, or pursue him As greedy greyhouds do the heartless Hares, Till we have taken his Crown and Life away; Now what is that you hear? And after that a speedy strong possession Of all this Kingdom, I am confident That with our breathes we shall destroy them all Poured forth in anger, our great multitudes Will scatter them as Wolves a flock of Sheep, Suppose his army does amount unto Some fifty thousand men, which is the most His strength can raise, our army does exceed it By half the number put away our horse, Whose gallantry is spoken of by all The Nations of the World, and held to be The best for service in the universe: Can he resist our Force? or the Arabian Stand up against the Persian in a battle? Speak your opinion. We doubt not nor despair of the success But from this talk, I have been oftentimes Resolved to ask you, but till now foregate What might be gathered hence that fair Lucinda Your Princess, in this time of her restraint Solicits nothing for her liberty Nor writes a word unto us of her state, We hear she lives at the Arabian Court. This makes me to admire, nay to suspect The stream of her affection is diverted Another way, and holds no constant course, It must be so, else being so entertained And high respected in all points of honour Would any man conjecture, that the King Would hold her against her will, if she desired To come unto us, now she hath foregate us, And may be too, her honour and good name, Then we are gross abused, fooled with a match And must be full revenged; I have no patience, My Lord Ambassador does your opinion Go hand in hand with mine? Thou durst as well Have eaten fire, as uttered these bold words, If it not for the laws that are observed Between all Nations, that Ambassadors Be well entreated, this great privilege Hath brought forth this presumption; know your self And how far you may go, else I shall be Though loath, a breaker of the ancient custom. I commend thee Old man, and love thee for it, we will be Soon reconciled, and will lay the ult Of our contention to the heat of youth And choler of old age; now our affairs Call us to fight a battle, all my thoughts Must be employed in this, whereby I shall With glory rise, if not with honour fallen. The But who's the other As diamonds glass. That lovely touch hath filled My veins with a new fire, and quite put out The former flame within me. WHat should I think my Lord of this delay, That holds so long the Princess of my life, My fair Lucinda from me, do not you Measure the time, and wonder what should be, the occasion of her stay? me thinks it's strange! So let this most inhospitable Land Suffer our wrath, so let the whip of war Inflicted on this country by our hand Lash them severely that have violated The laws of Nations, and therein committed What even the base Barbarians hate to think off; Now let the speedy messenger of death The king of weapons, called the sword unsheath him. And drink his fill in blood, let every soldier Freely enjoy his pleasure, make his pillage And do the greatest outrage that he can; We will no longer now suppress our fury But let it burn unto full height, the cries Of ravished Maids and Virgins shall no more Enter our ears, the humble supplications Of undone Orphans shall not move my pity, So much I am incensed against the King. My dearest friend, Welcome; the mistress of my thoughts hath slave me With too much cruelty alas, for when I marched with my army led by love, And came before the fortress of her beauty, To lay my siege there, how she played upon me From all her batteries, but when I began To make approach. then from her angry eyes Flew balls of wildfire, and granades followed, Which scorched and rend my heart, but last of all, The cannon of her mouth so thundered on My poor besieging thoughts, as I was feign To raise my siege in haste, and get me gone, This is the poor success of my design. I am even burst with rage and jealousy, That villain, vagabond, that enegado, Born to be author of my sufferings, Shall not outlive one day; I am incensed Beyond all measure, and I cannot longer Contain my self, I'll find that beggar out. These figs are too too common, and beside, It does not suit the honour of a Prince By such a way of Destruction to his foe; although Amandus Deserve from me and ignominious death, Yet because he is a Prince, and bred in war, I ine would have him, Like a soldier die Nobly, by sword or Pistol. This, noble Duke, is daintily devised, I shall be grateful ever to your love, And show it in a large and ample manner, Well I'll dispatch my challenge instantly. I built upon your aid, you will not fail me In time of my extremity. I'm confident of thee my dearest friend, Adue, until we meet, our work to end. Here before me? This honour I could hardly spare you Sir, You came before the hour appointed, else I could not be prevented. Thou shalt find it burn Asresh to fierce flames, it was my goodness That raked it up in ashes, lest it should Consume thee, and thou die in ignorance, Before thou knewest occasion, now I'll tell thee. Lucinda's wrongs and mine c ll on my sword To do the office of revenge upon Thy treacherous head, thou didst dissolve the knot Was tied between us two, and alienatest Her heart from me, thou robbest her of her honour, And strumpettedst her fame, and not contented With this abuse, thou dost proceed yet further To do me mischief with false filed tongue, To wrest the fair Phaenicia from my love: These are gresse inj rises, a worser such as cannot Be undergone with patience, yet if thou Wilt urge thy suit no further to this Lady, But give up all thy right in her to me: I will forget thy former injuries, And count thee for my friend. Thou seest my breath Fails, if thou art a Prince, and nobly minded, Thou wilt a little intermit the fig to. This may endanger thine if it hap right. I faint and die, hell light upon Alecto, And all the suriesrend his soul in pieces; False perjar'd villain. I approve Your judgement in the art, when I but name Lucinda, that bore found strikes heavenly music Into my soul, and makes my thoughts harmonious, Each sillable therein is a strong charm To hold me in the labyrinth of love; Fairest Lucinda why dost thou withhold The day so long, and suffer Perseus To live in night wanting thy wished presence, ill thou appear I can behold no sun No beam of comfort, that bright wagoner, Who does begin his progress in the East And ends it in the West, each day surrounding The compass of this lower world, infuses No light into my senses, for he stays To borrow some of the ; bright star appear. Madam we hear you're fallen of from us In your affection, and prefer Amandus In your best thoughts before the Persian Prince, How can you answer this, and save your honour? Yes but not so much To dote upon him as I hear you do, Your reputation I must tell you Lady Suff rs reproac & scandal, and herein You undergo, the censure of bade tongues Which will not cease to blaze you. This does confirm Your foul disloyalty, your own tongue almost Tells me you have been false, I do believe it, Else would you not have broke your plighted faith, Nor stayed with poor. Amandus when you might Come over unto me without disturbance; Is he to be put in scale with me? And exile banished from his native home, A poor distr ss' worser Pilgrim? what although He were sometime Damascus petty Prince, He now is but a beggar, and at best, When most he flourished in his and fortune, Was then but worthy to attend my train, And could you be so prodigal of love And fav urs on this man, as to adventure The shipwreck of your honour and your oath, The high displeasure of the King your Father, And your perpetual ruir I am glad The match is broken off, and by your means, I am not guilty of the breach of faith. Were you endowed with both the Indies wealth And were the daughter of great Alexander, Were you ten times more fair then you are, By all the gods we worship and adore, I would not marry you to wear a Crown Acteon should lay claim too; Perseus bed I trow, deserves to have a Maidenhead. I do not fear thy King, but flight his force As weak and feeble to encounter mine He durst not look our country in the face In angry arms, we are more apt and likely To enter on his confines with and army. I have been thinking on't, but cannot lay The blame on any thing but Fortune's malice, Can you inform me better? Then my Hope's And languishing desires to see my love Err in the computation of the time, Fancying three days three years, but by your leave, Was't not reported in this Court of Persia More then a moreth ago that she was ready With her Egyptian train to take her journey? I think no less for for ere I was in love Before Lucinda's beauty kindled had A sacred fi e in my inflamed breast, I knew not what it was to poetize, But now I'll cloth my lines in sable weeds, And vent my thoughts in and Elegiac name, I le sing sad songs until my mistress comes For to inspire me better; Oh I cannot B are with h r absence, what think you my Lord Is she upon her journey that I may My self in person with some roops of horse Ride forth to meet her on the way as far As the wild deserts of Arabia stretch To safe conduct her hither. Friend, what news Bringest thou unto the Court? what speaks thy face Commixed with dust and sweat? Lady of lost honour Your jeering cannot patch your broken credit, I will divulge you, and your Father's Kingdom Shall pay the wrong you did me,