Michael Drayton- Collected Poetical Works

by Michael Drayton

  Thou might’st haue wafted hether with the tide.

  If when thou com’st, I knit mine angrie brow,

  Blame me not Brandon, thou hast broke thy vow;

  Yet if I meant to frowne, I might be dombe,

  For this may make thee stand in doubt to come:

  Nay come sweet Charles, haue care thy ship to guide;

  Come my sweet hart, in faith I will not chide.

  When as my brother and his louely Queene

  In sad attire for my depart were seene,

  The vtmost date expired of my stay,

  when I from Douer did depart away,

  Thou know’st what woe I suffered for thy sake,

  How oft I fain’d of thee my leaue to take;

  God and thou know’st with what a heauie hart

  I tooke my farewell when I should depart;

  And being ship’d, gaue signall with my hand,

  Vp to the Cliffe, where I did see thee stand,

  Nor could refraine in all the peoples view,

  But cried to thee, sweet Charles adiew, adiew.

  Looke how a little infant that hath lost,

  The things where-with it was delighted most,

  weary with seeking, to some corner creepes,

  And there (poore soule) it sits it downe and weepes;

  And when the Nurse would faine content the mind,

  Yet still it mournes for that it cannot find:

  Thus in my carefull Cabin did I lie,

  when as the ship out of the Road did slie.

  Think’st thou my loue was faithfull vnto thee,

  when young Castile to England su’d for mee?

  Be judge thy selfe, if it were not of power,

  when I refus’d an Empire for my dower.

  To Englands Court, when once report did bring•

  How thou in Fraunce didst reuell with the King,

  when he in triumph of his victory,

  Vnder a rich imbrodered Canapy,

  Entred proud Tournay, which did trembling stand,

  To beg for mercy at his conquering hand;

  To heare of his enderements, how I ioy’d?

  But see, this calme was sodainly destroy’d,

  When Charles of Castile there to banquet came,

  with him his sister that ambitious Dame,

  Sauoys proud Dutches, knowing how long she,

  By her loue sought to win my loue from me;

  Fearing my absence might thy vowes acquite,

  To change thy Mary for a Margarite,

  when in King Henries Tent of cloth of gold,

  Shee often did thee in her armes enfold;

  where you were feasted more deliciously,

  Then Cleopatra did Marke-Anthony,

  where sports all day did entertaine your sight,

  And then in maskes you pass’d away the night;

  But thou wilt say, tis proper vnto vs,

  That we by nature all are iealous.

  I must confesse tis oft found in our sexe,

  But who not loue, not any thing suspects?

  True loue doth looke with pale suspicious eye,

  Take away loue, if you take iealousie.

  When Henry, Turwin, and proud Turnay won,

  Little thought I the end when this begun;

  when Maximilian to those wars adrest,

  ware Englands Crosse on his imperiall brest,

  And in our Armie let his Eagle flie,

  And had his pay from Henries treasurie,

  Little thought I when first began these wars,

  My marriage day should end those bloody iars;

  From which I vow, I yet am free in thought,

  But this alone by Woolseys wit was wrought.

  To his aduise the King gaue free consent,

  That will I, nill I, I must be content.

  My virgins right, my state could not aduance,

  But now enriched with the dower of Fraunce;

  Then, but poore Suffolkes Dutches had I beene,

  Now, the great Dowager, the most Christian Queene.

  But I perceiue where all thy griefe doth lie,

  Lewes of Fraunce had my virginitie;

  He had indeed, but shall I tell thee what,

  Beleeue me Brandon he had scarcely that;

  Good feeble King, he could not doe much harme,

  But age must needs haue something that is warme;

  Smal drops (God knowes) doe quench that heatlesse fire,

  when all the strength is onely in desire.

  And I could tell (if modesty might tell,)

  There’s somewhat else that pleaseth Louers well,

  To rest his cheeke, vpon my softer cheeke,

  was all he had, and more he did not seeke.

  So might the little babie clip the nurse,

  And it content, she neuer a whit the worse;

  Then thinke this Brandon, if that makes thee frowne,

  For mayden-head he, on my head set a Crowne,

  who would exchaunge a Kingdome for a kisse?

  Hard were the hart that would not yeeld him this;

  And time yet halfe so swiftly doth not passe,

  Not full fiue months yet elder then I was.

  When thou to Fraunce conducted was by fame,

  with many Knights which from all Countries came,

  Installed at S. Dennis in my throne,

  where Lewes held my coronation;

  Where the proud Dolphin, for thy valour sake,

  Chose thee at tilt his princely part to take;

  when as the staues vpon thy caske did light,

  Greeued there-with, I turn’d away my sight;

  And spake aloud, when I my selfe forgot,

  Tis my sweet Charles, my Brandon, hurt him not:

  But when I fear’d the King perceiued this,

  Good silly man, I pleas’d him with a kisse;

  And to extoll his valiant sonne began,

  That Europe neuer bred a brauer man;

  And when (poore King) he simply praised thee,

  Of all the rest I ask’d which thou should’st be?

  Thus I with him, dissembled for thy sake,

  Open confession now amends must make.

  Whilst this old King vpon a pallet lies,

  And onely holds a combat with mine eyes;

  Mine eies from his, by thy sight stolne away,

  which might too well their Mistres thoughts bewray.

  But when I saw thy proud vnconquered Launce,

  To beare the prize from all the flower of Fraunce,

  To see what pleasure did my soule imbrace,

  Might easily be discerned in my face.

  Looke as the dew vpon a Damaske-Rose,

  How through that clearest pearle his blushing showes,

  And when the soft ayre breathes vpon his top,

  From those sweet leaues falls easilly drop by drop;

  Thus by my cheeke, downe rayning from mine eyes,

  One teare for ioy, anothers roome supplies.

  Before mine eye (like touch) thy shape did proue,

  Mine eye condemn’d my too too partiall loue;

  But since by others I the same doe trie,

  My loue condemnes my too too partiall eye.

  The precious stone most beautifull and rare,

  when with it selfe we onely doe compare,

  wee deeme all other of that kind to be,

  As excellent as that we onely see;

  But when we iudge of that with others by,

  Too credulous we doe condemne our eye,

  which then appeares more orient & more bright

  As from their dimnes, borrowing great light.

  Alansoon, a fine timbered man, and tall,

  Yet wants the shape thou are adornd withall;

  Vandon, good carriage, and a pleasing eye,

  Yet hath not Suffolkes Princely maiestie;

  Couragious Burbon, a sweet manly face,

  But yet he wants my Brandons courtly grace.


  Proud Long auile, our Court iudg’d had no peere,

  A man scarce made (was thought) whilst thou wast heere.

  County S. Paule, brau’st man a• armes in Fraunce,

  would yeeld himselfe a Squire to beare thy Launce;

  Galleas and Bounearme, matchlesse for their might,

  Vnder thy towring blade haue coucht in fight.

  If with our loue, my brother angrie bee,

  Ile say for his sake I first loued thee;

  And but to frame my liking to his mind,

  Neuer to thee had I beene halfe so kind.

  Should not the sister like as doth the brother,

  The one of vs should be vnlike the other.

  Worthy my loue, the vulgar iudge no man,

  Except a Yorkist, or Lancastrian;

  Nor thinke that my affection should be set,

  But in the line of great Plantaginet.

  I passe not what the idle Commons say,

  I pray thee Charles make hah and come away.

  To thee what’s England, if I be not there?

  Or what to me is Fraunce, if thou not heere?

  Thy absence makes me angry for a while,

  But at thy presence I must needlsy smile.

  When last of me his leaue my Brandon tooke,

  He sware an oath, (and made my lips the booke)

  He would make hast, which now thou doo’st deny

  Thou art forsworne, ô wilfull periury.

  Sooner would I with greater sinnes dispence,

  Then by intreaty pardon this offence.

  But yet I thinke, if I should come to shriue thee,

  Great were the fault that I should not forgiue thee;

  Yet wert thou heere, I should reuenged be,

  But it should be with too much louing thee.

  I, that is all that thou shalt feare to tast,

  I pray thee Brandon come, sweet Charles make hast.

  Notes of the Chronicle Historie.

  The vtmost date expired of my stay,

  When I for Douer did depart away.

  KING Henry the 8. with the Queene and Nobles, in the 6. yeere of his raigne, in the moneth of September, brought this ladie to Douer, where she tooke shipping for Fraunce.

  Think’st thou my loue was faithfull vnto thee,

  When young Castile’ to England su’d for me.

  It was agreed and concluded betwixt Hen. the 7. and Phillip King of Castile, Sonne to Maximilean the Emperour, that Charles eldest sonne of the said Phillip, should marry the Lady Mary, daughter to King Henry, when they came to age: which agreement was afterward in the 8. yeere of Henry the 8. annihilated.

  When he in triumph of his victory,

  Vnder a rich embrodered Canapy,

  Entred proud Turney which did trembling stand. &c.

  Henry the 8. after th• long siege of Turnay, which was deliuered to him vpon composition, entred the Citty in triumph, vnder a Can•py of cloth of gold, borne by foure of the chiefe and most noble Citizens; the King himselfe mounted vpon a gallant courser barbed with the Armes of England, Fraunce, and Ireland.

  When Charles of Castile there to ba•quet came,

  With him his sister, that ambitious Dame,

  Sauoys proud Dutches.

  The King beeing at Tournay, there came to him the Prince of Castile, & the Lady Margaret Dutches of Sauoy his sister, to whom King Henry gaue great entertainment.

  Sauoys proude Dutches, knowing how long shee

  By her loue sought to win my loue from mee.

  At this time there was speech of a marriage to be concluded, betweene Charles Brandon then L. Lisle, & the Dutches of Sauoy, the L. Lisle being highly fauoured, & exceedingly beloued of the Dutches.

  When in King Henrie• Tent of cloth of gold,

  The King caused a rich Tent of cloth of gold to be erected, where he feasted the Prince of Castile & the Dutches, and entertained them with sumptuous maskes and banquets during their aboad.

  When Maximilian to those wars addrest

  W•re Englands Crosse on his imperiall breast,

  Maximilian the Emperour with all his souldiours, which serued vnder King Henry, wore the crosse of S. George, with the Rose on their breasts.

  And in our Armi• let his Eagle flie,

  The blacke Eagle is the badge imperiall, which here is vsed for the displaying of his ensigne or standard.

  And had his pay from Henries treasurie.

  Henry the 8. at his wars in Fraunce, retained the Emperour & all his Souldiours in wages, which serued vnder him during those warres.

  But this alone by Wolseys wit was wrought,

  Thomas Wolsey, the Kings Almoner, then Bishoppe of Lincolne, a man of great authoritie with the king, & afterward Cardinall, was the thiefe cause that the Lady Mary was married to the old French king, with whom the French King had dealt vnderhand to be friend him in that match.

  When the proude Dolphin for thy valour sake,

  Chose thee at tylt his pr•ncely part to take.

  Frauncis Duke of Valoyes, and Dolphin of Fraunce, at the mariage of the Lady Mary, in honour thereof proclaimed a Iusts, where hee chose the Duke of Suffolke, and the Marques Dorset for his aydes, at all martiall exercises.

  Galeas, and Bounarme, matchles for their might,

  This County Galeas at the Iusts ran a course with a Speare, which was at the head fiue inches square on euery side, and at the But nine inches square, whereby here shewed his wondrous force and strength. This Bounarme, a Gentleman of Fraunce, at the same time came into the field armed at all points with tenne speares about him• in each stirrop three, vnder each thigh one, one vnder his left arme, and one in his hand, and putting his horse to the careere, neuer stopped him till he had broken euery staffe. Hall.

  Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk, to Mary the French Queene.

  BVT that thy fayth commaunds me to forbeare,

  The fault thine owne, if I impatient were;

  were my dispatch such as should be my speed,

  I should want time thy louing lines to reede,

  Heere in the Court, Camelion like I fare,

  And as that creature, onely liue by ayre,

  All day I waite, and all the night I watch,

  And starue mine eares to heare of my dispatch;

  If Douer were th’Abydos of my rest,

  Or pleasant Callice were my Maries Cest,

  Thou should’st not neede, fayre Queene to blame me so,

  Did not the distance to desire say no,

  No tedious night from trauell should be free,

  Till through the waues, with swimming vnto thee

  A snowy path I made vnto thy Bay,

  So bright as is that Nectar-stayned way

  The restlesse sunne by trauailing doth weare,

  Passing his course to finish vp the yeare.

  But Paris locks my loue within the maine,

  And London yet they Brandon doth detaine,

  Of thy firme loue thou put’st me still in mind,

  But of my faith, not one word can I finde.

  When Longauile to Mary was affied,

  And thou by him wast made King Lewis bride,

  How oft I wish’d that thou a prize might’st bee

  That I in Armes might combat him for thee,

  And in the madnes of my loue distraught,

  A thousand times his murther haue •ore-thought

  But that th’all-seeing powers which sit aboue,

  Regard not mad mens oathes, nor faults in loue,

  And haue confirm’d it by the graunt of heauen,

  That Louers sinnes on earth should be forgiuen;

  For neuer man is halfe so much distrest,

  As he that loues to see his loue possest.

  Comming to Richmond after thy depart

  (Richmond, where first thou stol’st away my hart)

  Me thought it look’d not as it did of late,

  But wanting thee, forlorne, and desolate,

  In whose fayere
walkes thou often hast beene seene,

  To sport with Katherine, Henries beautious Queene•

  Astonishing sad winter with thy sight,

  As for thy sake, the day hath put back night;

  That the byrds thinking to approach the spring,

  Forgot themselues, and haue begun to sing:

  So oft I goe by Thames, so oft returne,

  Me thinks for thee the Riuer yet doth mourne,

  who I haue seene to let her streame at large,

  which like a Hand-maide waited on thy Barge;

  And if thou hapst against the flood to row,

  which way it ebd before, now would it flow,

  weeping in drops vpon thy labouring oares,

  For ioy that it had got thee from the shoares.

  The Swans with musick that the Roothers make

  Ruffing theyr plumes, come gliding on the lake,

  As the fleet Dolphins, by Arions strings,

  were brought to land with their sweet rauishings,

  The flocks & heards that pasture neer the flood,

  To gaze vpon thee, haue forborne theyr food;

  And sate downe sadly, mourning by the brim,

  That they by nature were not made to swim•

  When as the Post to Englands royall Court,

  Of thy hard passage brought the true report,

  How in a storme thy well rigg’d ships were tost,

  And thou thy selfe in danger to be lost,

  I knew twas Venus loth’d that aged bed,

  where beautie so should be dishonoured;

  Or fear’d the Sea-Nimphs haunting of the Lake,

  If thou but seene, theyr Goddesse should forsake.

  And whirling round her Doue-drawne Coach about,

  To view thy Nauie now in launching out,

  Her ayrie mantle loosely doth vnbind,

  Which fanning forth a rougher gale of winde,

  wafted thy failes with speede vnto the land,

  And runnes thy ship on Bullins harbouring strand.

  How should I ioy of thy ariue to heare?

  But as a poore sea-faring passenger,

  After long trauaile, tempest-torne & wrack’d,

  By some vnpitting Pyrat that is sack’d;

  Heares the false robber that hath stolne his wealth,

  Landed in some safe harbour, and in health,

  Enriched with inualuable store,

  For which he long hath trauailed before.

  When thou to Abuile held’st th’appointed day,

  wee heard how Lewes met thee on the way,

  where thou in glittering Tissue strangely dight,

  Appear’dst vnto him, like the Queene of light,

  In cloth of siluer all thy virgine traine,