O Flood in happy plight, which to this time, remainst,
As still along in state to Neptunes Court thou strainst;
Reuiue thee with the thought of those forepassed howers,
When the rough Wood-gods kept, in their delightfull Bowers
On thy embroydered bankes, when now this Country fild,
With villages, and by the labouring plowman tild,
Was Forrest, where the Firre, and spreading Poplar grew.
O let me yet the thought of those past times renew,
When as that woody kind, in our vmbragious Wyld,
Whence euery liuing thing saue onely they exild,
In this their world of wast, the soueraigne Empire swayd.
O who would ere haue thought, that time could haue decayd
Those trees whose bodies seem’d by their so massie weight,
To presse the solid earth, and with their wondrous height
To climbe into the Clouds, their Armes so farre to shoot,
As they in measuring were of Acres, and their Root,
With long and mightie spurnes to grapple with the land,
As Nature would haue sayd, that they should euer stand:
So that this place where now this Huntingdon is set,
Being an easie hill where mirthfull Hunters met,
From that first tooke the name. By this the Muse ariues
At Elies Iled Marge, by hauing past Saint Ives,
Vnto the German Sea shee hasteth her along,
And here shee shutteth vp her two and twentieth Song,
In which shee quite hath spent her vigor, and must now,
As Workmen often vse, a while sit downe and blow;
And after this short pause, though lesning of her height,
Come in another Key, yet not without delight.
POLY-OLBION: THE THREE AND TWENTIETH SONG.
The Argument
From Fights Inuention comes,
Deafned with noyse of ratling Drummes,
And in the Northamptonian bounds,
Shews Whittlewoods, and Sacies grounds;
Then to Mount Hellidon doth goe,
(Whence Charwell, Leame, and Nen doe
The Surface, which of England sings,
And Nen downe to the Washes brings;
Then whereas Welland makes her way,
Shewes Rockingham, her rich aray:
A Course at Kelmarsh then shee takes,’
Where shee Northamptonshire for sakes.
ON tow’ds the Mid-lands now, th’industrious Muse doth make,
The Northamptonian earth, and in her way doth take;
As fruitfull euery way, as those by Nature, which
The Husbandman by Art, with Compost doth inrich,
This boasting of her selfe; that walke her Verge about,
And view her well within, her breadth, and length throughout:
The worst foot of her earth, is equall with their best,
With most aboundant store, that highliest thinke them blest.
When Whittlewood betime th’vnwearied Muse doth win
To talke with her awhile; at her first comming in,
The Forrest thus that greets: With more successefull Fate,
Thriue then thy fellow Nymphs, whose sad and ruinous state
We euery day behold, if any thing there be,
That from this generall fall, thee happily may free,
’Tis onely for that thou dost naturally produce
More Vnder wood, and Brake, then Oke for greater vse:
But when this rauenous Age, of those hath vs bereft,
Time wanting this our store, shall sease what thee is left.
For what base Auerice now inticeth men to doe,
Necessitie in time shall strongly vrge them too;
Which each diuining Spirit most cleerely doth foresee.
Whilst at this speech perplext, the Forrest seem’d to be,
A Water-nymph, neere to this goodly Wood-nymphs side,
(As tow’rds her soueraigne Ouze, shee softly downe doth slide)
Tea, her delightsome streame by Tawcester doth lead;
And sporting her sweet selfe in many a daintie Mead,
Shee hath not sallied farre, but Sacy soone againe
Salutes her; one much grac’d amongst the Syluan traine:
One whom the Queene of Shades, the bright Diana oft
Hath courted for her lookes, with kisses smooth and soft,
On her faire Bosome lean’d, and tenderly imbrac’t,
And cald her, her Deare heart, most lou’d, and onely chast:
Yet Sacie after Tea, her amourous eyes doth throw,
Till in the bankes of Ouze the Brooke her selfe bestow.
Where in those fertill fields, the Muse doth hap to meet
Vpon that side which sits the West of Watling-street,
With Helidon a Hill, which though it bee but small,
Compar’d with their proud kind, which we our Mountaines call;
Yet hath three famous Floods, that out of him doe flow,
That to three seuerall Seas, by their assistants goe;
Of which the noblest, Nen, to fayre Northampton hies,
By Owndle sallying on, then Peterborough plyes
Old Medhamsted: where her the Sea-mayds intertaine,
To lead her through the Fen into the German Maine,
The second, Charwell is, at Oxford meeting Thames,
Is by his King conuayd into the Celtick streames.
Then Leame as least, the last, to mid-land Auon hasts,
Which Flood againe it selfe, into proud Seuerne casts:
As on th’Iberian Sea, her selfe great Seuerne spends;
So Leame the Dower she hath, to that wide Ocean lends.
But Helidon wax’d proud, the happy Sire to be
To so renowned Floods, as these fore-named three,
Besides the Hill of note, neere Englands midst that stands,
Whence from his Face, his backe, or on his either hands,
The Land extends in bredth, or layes it selfe in length.
Wherefore, this Hill to shew his state and naturall strength,
The surface of this part determineth to show,
Which we now England name, and through her tracts to goe.
But being plaine and poore, professeth not that hight,
As Falkon-like to sore, till lesning to the sight.
But as the soyles, his style so altring oft,
As full expressions fit, or Verses smooth and soft,
Vpon their seuerall Scites, as naturally to straine,
And wisheth that these Floods, his tunes to entertaine,
The ayre with Halcion calmes, may wholly haue possest,
As though the rough winds tyerd, were eas’ly layd to rest.
Then on the worth’est tract vp tow’rds the mid-dayes Sun,
His vndertaken taske, thus Hellidon begun.
From where the kingly Thames his stomacke doth discharge,
To Deuonshire, where the land her bosome doth inlarge;
And with the In-land ayre, her beauties doth releeue,
Along the Celtick Sea, cald oftentimes the Sleeue:
Although vpon the coast, the Downes appeare but bare,
Yet naturally within the Countries wooddy are.
Then Cornwall creepeth out into the westerne Maine,
As (lying in her eye) shee poynted still at Spaine:
Or as the wanton soyle, disposd to lustfull rest,
Had layd her selfe along on Neptunes amorous breast.
With Denshire, from the firme, that Beake of land that fils,
What Landskip lies in Vales, and often rising hils,
So plac’d betwixt the French, and the Sabrinian Seas,
As on both sides adorn’d with many harborous Bayes,
Who for their Trade to Sea, and wealthy Mynes of Tinne,
From any other Tract, the praise doth clearely winne.
From Denshire by those sho
res, which Seuerne oft Surrounds,
The Soyle farre lower sits, and mightily abounds
With sundry sort of Fruits, as well-growne Grasse and Corne,
That Somerset may say, her batning Mores doe scorne
Our Englands richest earth, for burthen should them staine;
And on the selfe same Tract, vp Seuerns streame againe,
The Vale of Eusham layes her length so largely forth,
As though shee meant to stretch her selfe into the North,
Where still the fertill earth depressed lyes and low,
Till her rich Soyle it selfe to Warwickshire doe show.
Hence somewhat South by East, let vs our course incline,
And from these setting shores so meerely Maratine,
The Iles rich In-land parts, lets take with vs along,
To set him rightly out, in our well-ordred Song;
Whose prospects to the Muse their sundry scites shall show,
Where shee from place to place, as free as ayre shall flow,
Their superficies so exactly to desery,
Through Wiltshire, poynting how the Plaine of Salisbury
Shootes foorth her selfe in length, and layes abroad a traine
So large, as though the land seru’d scarsely to containe
Her vastnesse, North from her, himselfe proud Cotswould vaunts,
And casts so sterne a looke, about him that he daunts,
The lowly Vales, remote that sit with humbler eyes.
In Barckshire, and from thence into the Orient lies
That most renowned Vale of White-horse, and by her,
So Buckingham againe doth Alsbury preferre,
With any English Earth, along vpon whose pale,
That mounting Countrie then, which maketh her a Vale,
The chaulky Chilterne, runnes with Beeches crown’d about,
Through Bedfordshire that beares, till his bald front he shoot,
Into that foggy earth towards Ely, that doth grow
Much Fenny, and surrounds with euery little flow.
So on into the East, vpon the In-land ground,
From where that Christall Colne most properly doth bound,
Rough Chilterne, from the soyle, where in rich London sits,
As being faire and flat it naturally befits
Her greatnesse euery way, which holdeth on along
To the Essexian earth, which likewise in our Song,
Since in one Tract they lye, we here together take,
Although the seuerall Shires, by sundry soyles doe make
It different in degrees, for Middlesex of Sands
Her soyle composeth hath; so are th’ Fssexian lands,
Adioyning to the same, that sit by Isis side,
Which London ouer-lookes: but as she waxeth wide,
So Essex in her Tydes, her deepe-growne Marshes drownds,
And to Inclosures cuts her drier vpland grounds,
Which lately woody were, whilst men those woods did prize;
Whence those fayre Countries lie, vpon the pleasant rise,
(Betwixt the mouth of Thames, and where Ouze roughly dashes
Her rude vnweildy waues, against the queachy Washes)
Suffolke and Norfolke neere, so named of their Scites,
Adorned euery way with wonderfull delights,
To the beholding eye, that euery where are seene,
Abounding with rich fields, and pastures fresh and greene,
Faire Hauens to their shores, large Heaths within them lie,
As Nature in them to shew varietie.
From Ely all along vpon that Easterne Sea,
Then Lincolneshire her selfe, in state at length doth lay,
Which for her fatning Fennes, her Fish, and Fowle may haue
Preheminence, as she that seemeth to out-braue
All other Southerne Shires, whose head the Washes feeles,
Till wantonly she kicke proud Humber with her heeles.
Vp tow’rds the Nauell then, of England from her Flanke,
Which Lincolneshire we call, so leuelled and lanke.
Northampton, Rutland then, and Huntingdon, which three
Doe shew by their full Soyles, all of one piece to be,
Of Nottingham a part, as Lester them is lent,
From Beuers batning Vale, along the banks of Trent.
So on the other side, into the Set againe,
Where Seuerne tow’rds the Sea from Shrewsbury doth straine,
Twixt which and Auons banks (where Arden when of old,
Her bushy curled front, she brauely did vphold,
In state and glory stood) now of three seuerall Shires,
The greatest portions lie, vpon whose earth appeares
That mightie Forrests foot, of Worftershire a part,
Of Warwickeshire the like, which sometime was the heart
Of Arden that braue Nymph, yet woody here and there,
Oft intermixt with Heaths, whose Sand and Grauell beare,
A Turfe more harsh and hard, where Stafford doth partake,
In qualitie with those, as Nature stroue to make
Them of one selfe same stuffe, and mixture, as they lye,
Which likewise in this Tract, we here together tye.
From these recited parts to th’North, more high and bleake,
Extended ye behold, the Mooreland and the Peake,
From eithers seuerall scite, in eithers mightie waste,
A sterner lowring eye, that euery way doe cast
On their beholding Hills, and Countries round about;
Whose soyles as of one shape, appearing cleane throughout.
For Moreland which with Heath most naturally doth beare,
Her Winter liuery still, in Summer seemes to weare;
As likewise doth the Peake, whose dreadfull Cauerns found,
And Lead-mines, that in her, doe naturally abound,
Her superficies makes more terrible to show:
So from her naturall fount, as Seuerne downe doth flow,
The high Sallopian hills lift vp their rising sayles;
Which Country as it is the near’st alli’d to Wales,
In Mountaines, so it most is to the same alike.
Now tow’rds the Irish Seas a little let vs strike,
Where Cheshire, (as her choyce) with Lancashire doth lie
Along th’vnleuel’d shores; this former to the eye,
In her complexion showes blacke earth with grauell mixt,
A Wood-land and a plaine indifferently betwixt,
A good fast-feeding grasse, most strongly that doth breed:
As Lancashire no lesse excelling for her seed,
Although with Heath, and Fin, her vpper parts abound;
As likewise to the Sea, vpon the lower ground,
With Mosses, Fleets, and Fells, she showes most wild and rough,
Whose Turfe, and square cut Peat, is fuell good ynough.
So, on the North of Trent, from Nottingham aboue,
Where Sherwood her curld front, into the cold doth shoue,
Light Forrest land is found, to where the floting Don,
In making tow’rds the Maine, her Doncaster hath won,
Where Torkshire’s layd abroad, so many a mile extent,
To whom preceding times, the greatest circuit lent,
A Prouince, then a Shire, which rather seemeth: so
It incidently most varietie doth show.
Heere stony grounds, there wondrous fruitfull fields,
Here Champaine, and there Wood, it in abundance yeelds:
Th’West-riding, and North, be mountainous and high,
But tow’rds the German Sea the East, more low doth lie.
This Ile hath not that earth, of any kind elsewhere,
But on this part or that, epitomized here.
Tow’rds those Scotch-Irish Iles, vpon that Sea againe,
The rough Virgiuian cald, that tract which doth containe
Cold Cumberland, which yet w
ild Westmerland excels,
For roughnesse, at whose point lies rugged Fournesse Fells,
Is fild with mighty Mores, and Mountaines, which doe make
Her wilde superfluous waste, as Nature sport did take
In Heaths, and high-cleeu’d Hils, whose threatning fronts doe dare
Each other with their looks, as though they would out-stare
The Starry eyes of heauen, which to out-face they stand.
From these into the East, vpon the other hand,
The Bishopricke, and fayre Northumberland doe beare
To Scotlands bordering Tweed, which as the North elsewhere,
Not very fertile are, yet with a louely face
Vpon the Ocean looke; which kindly doth imbrace
Those Countries all along, vpon the Rising side,
Which for the Batfull Gleabe, by nature them denide,
With mightie Mynes of Cole, abundantly are blest,
By which this Tract remaines renown’d aboue the rest:
For what from her rich wombe, each habourous Road receiues.
Yet Hellidon not here, his lou’d description leaues,
Though now his darling Springs desir’d him to desist;
But say all what they can, hee’ll doe but what he list.
As he the Surface thus, so likewise will he show,
The Clownish Blazons, to each Country long agoe,
Which those vnlettered times, with blind deuotion lent,
Before the Learned Mayds our Fountaines did frequent,
To shew the Muse can shift her habit, and she now
Of Palatins that sung, can whistle to the Plow;
And let the curious tax his Clownry, with their skill
He recks not, but goes on, and say they what they will.
Kent first in our account, doth to it selfe apply,
(Quoth he) this Blazon first, Long Tayles and Libertie.
Suffex with Surrey say, Then let vs lead home Logs.
As Hamfhire long for her, hath had the tearme of Hogs.
So Dorsetshire of long, they Dorsers vsd to call.
Cornwall and Deuonshire cric, Weele wrastle for a Fall.
Then Somerset sayes, Set the Bandog on the Bull.
And Glostershire againe is blazon’d, Weigh thy Wooll.
As Barkshire hath for hers, Lets to’t and tosse the Ball.
And Wiltshire will for her, Get home and pay for all.
Rich Buckingham doth beare the terme of Bread and Beefe,
Where if you beat a Bush, tis ods you start a Theefe.
So Hartford blazon’d is, The Club, and clowted Shoone,
Thereto, Ile rise betime, and sleepe againe at Noone.
When Middlesex bids, Vp to London let vs goe,
And when our Markets done, weele haue a pot or two.
Michael Drayton- Collected Poetical Works Page 116
