That pleased my syght as much or more
120 As all the syght that I had sene before
There sawe I goyng together in a bande
Antiope and Arithia well armyd stand
And fayre swete Ipolita sory and sadde
Because that no comforth of her son she had
And Manylipe that vanquished Hercules
And her Suster also was there in prese
The tone Hercules toke vnto hys wyfe
The tother with Theseus led her lyfe
There folowed the hardy wydowe that dyd se
130 Hyr dere sone slayne most constantly
And reuenged hys death vpon kyng Cyrus
It was a noble hardy acte and valerouse
She abatyd therby so his gloriouse fame
That wel nere it blotted his dedes & eke his name
There was also she her selfe that lost her ioye
By great mysfortune comming vnto Troye
And among other that bolde Lady of Italye
That domaged bi armes the Troia[n]s maruelously
And euen by her went that hardy Lady
140 That halfe her fayre here bounde vp curiously
And let the tother for to hange besyde
Tyll she abatyd the babilonicall pryde
Cleopatra that was burnte with loues fyre
There she was with all her hote desire
And among the thickest of the prese
Was Xenobia which was doutelesse
Wondre fayre and swete for to beholde
Soo much of hardines her high harte dyd holde
That with her helme of stele on her hedde
150 She put in daunger in feare and eke in dreade
The high mightye Emperoure of Rome towne
Tyll fortune vnkynde dyd thrawe her downe
That at the last she was made I saye
Vnto the Romaynes a great huge pray
And albeit that I do here forgete
Both men and women that wer highe and great
Yet the chast Iudeth wyll I call to mynde
That slewe dronken Holyferne in loue blynde
And dronken as he lay routing in his bedde
160 Wyth hys owne sworde she smote of his hedd
But alas why do I present her forget
That noble gentelman among the rest to sett
Which pride brought from his trone dou[n]e opprest
To lyue seuen yeares as a brutyshe beste
Or why do I not remember in this place
Zorastro that the fyrst Inuentor was
Of arte magyke of Errour the ground
Or why art not thys twayne here founde
That passyd Euphrates and put Italye to sorow
170 Or Metridates that both euen and morowe
To the Romaynes was ennemie perpetuall
And wynter and somer fled ouer all
Great thynges in fewe wordes I do tell
Where is kyng Arthur that dyd excell
And the thre Cesares surnamed Augustus
One was of Aufryke a Prynce gloriouse
The tother he was of the Regyone of Spayne
And the thyrde of the country of Lorrayne
But setting this nobles for a whyle a syde
180 The good Godfrey after fame faste hyde
Surnamed Bulleyne that toke with his hand
Iherusalem the Cytie and eke the holy lande
Nowe alas I say a place neclecte of vs
Wherfore ryght well I may saye thus
Go ye proude and wreched christen men
And consume the tone the tother then
And care not for shame among you at all
Though dogges possesse the sepulcre royall
Alas why do you suffer it for pitie
190 But after these as farre as I coulde se
Fewe or none was that deserued fame
Sauing that behynde there went by name
One Sarracene that dyd much payne and wo
To christen men it is euen playnely soo
and Saladyne after dyd folowe a great pase
and one Duke of Lancaster after there was
That with sheilde, and swerde, and bowe & launce
Was a sharpe scourge vnto the realme of fraunce
and thus marueylyng as I lokte all aboute
200 as one that was desyrouse amongest the route
To se more of these valliaunt men
At the last I dyd behold there and then
Twayne worthy men that lately alas dyd dye
There they went in that honorable companye
The good kyng Robert of Cecyll he was there
That with his wyse syght sawe fare and nere
And my good Columnes went in that arraye
Vallyaunt and free and constant alway.
The Thirde Chapiter of Fame
I coulde not in noo wyse away put my syght
From these greate honorable men of myght
When as me thoughte one to me dyd saye
Loke on the lefte hande there see thou may
The dyuyne Plato that goeth I say full nye
Vnto the marke of fame euen by and by
Next vnto Plato Aristotle there he is
Pytagoras foloweth that mekely calde Iwys
Phylosophy he dyd geue it that name
10 Socrates and Xenophontes folowed the same
And that fyery olde auncient man
To whome the musys were so fra[n]dely than
That dyscryued Argo Micena and Troye
Howe that for Helene they lost all their ioye
And he dyd wryte of Laertes sonne also
And of Achilles that was the Troyanes woo
He was the fyrst paynter it is so tolde
Of the auncient and venerable actes olde
There went with hym in that place hand in hand
20 The Mantuan poete I do well vnderstand
Stryuyng which of them should goo before
And there folowed after in hast more and more
He that as he passyde in that noble passe
It semed the flowres dyd spryng on the grasse
It is he the most eloquent Marcus Tullius
The selfe same eyes and the tunge gloriouse
Vnto all the Latynes there was he
And after hym there there came Demostyne
That semyd to be not very well content
30 Because he was not accompted most excellent
To goo hymselfe next vnto worthy fame
He toke it to be to hym great wrong and shame
He semyd to be a lyghtnyng all one fyre
But next vnto hym all full of grete desyre
Went Eschy[n]es which myght perceaue and se
Howe vnmete he was vnto Demostyne
I cannot saye in ordre nether wryte nor tell
Of one and other that dyd there exell
Nor howe I dyd them se nor when
40 Nor who went foremost nor hynmost then
For it were so to do to great a wondre
They went not fare these clarkes a sondre
But so thycke that both eye and mynd
In lokyng on them theyr names I could not find
But well I knowe that Solon he was there
That planted soo good holsome frute to bere
And yet to lytle effect at length it was
With hym the syx wyse sage grekes dyd pas
Which Grece doth boste of for theyr wyt
50 In one bande together they were knyt
and I dyd with these also well beholde
Varro which all our nacione had enrolde
As theyr Duke the thyrde in place was he
Of all the Romaynes in that high degree
The more that I lokte vpon hym there
The more his face semed fayre and clere
Crispo Salustius went with him hande in hande
And Tytus Liuius by hym dyd there stande
Scant contented but lokyng very sadde
&
nbsp; 60 Because the fyrst honoure there he ne had
And as I loked fast on this Tytus Liuius
Came by me the excellent naturall Pl[in]ius
Quick in wrytyng but quycker to the death
To muche boldenes dyd stoppe alas, his breath
I sawe after hym the great clarcke Plotinus
That wenyng by hys lyfe solytariouse
To haue preuented his harde chaunce & destenye
yet fell he therin for truth this is no lye
His sage foresyght dyd profyt hym nothyng
70 When necessitie therto dyd hym brynge
There was in lykewyse among the rest also
Crasso, Antonio, and sage Hortensio
Sergius, Galba, and the disdayning Licinius
Whiche were to muche proude and to to curiouse
For with theyr tunges vntrue and vniuste
They sclau[n]dered Cicero they were [the] lesse to trust
There folowed after [Th]ucides in that pres
That ordeyned [with] wisedome the howres doutles
And wrote of the battels & wher they were done
80 And Herodotus with his style holesome
And he beganne the crafty sciense of Geometre
The triangle and the rounde Arball in degree
And of the quadrant fyrme and fast also
The Sophisticall Porphirus next hym dyd go
And falsely dysputed agaynst our religion
And he of Coo that with his disputacion
Made muche matter in his Amphorisomis
Apollo and Esculapius with hym is
Howbeit they were so auncyent and olde
90 That scant I could decerne what they would
There was one in that prease of Pargamo
His science is now past it is verye so
But in his tyme it was muche set by
Anaxarco without dread most hardye
And [X]enocrates more fyrme then a stone
So that there coulde no euyll temptation
Moue hym in any thinge that was vyle
Or by vnclennes his chast body defyle
There folowed hym self there Archemenides
100 With sadde regarde he stode in that pres
And the pensyfe Democryte next in ordre there
Blynde of both his eyes he had no pere
There was Hyppia also of great auncient age
That durst affyrme that he was so wyse and sage
That he knewe and vnderstode all thynge
Archisilao ensued not much vnlyke such rekenyng
That he accompted by hys scyence playne
All thynge to be doubtfull and certayne
I saw Heraclito with wordes couert and close
110 And Diogenes folowyng his sensual purpose
That lytle shamed his desyre to ensue
Amonge the other this straunge clerke I knewe
And he that shewed a gladde mery chere
When al his landes were lost and other gere
There was also Dicearco the curyouse
Quintilian, Sceneke, and Plutarke the famouse
And after these excellent and connynge men
I sawe a great number together then
Disputinge of dyuers sundry cases
120 Not to knowe but to fynde secret places
One contrarye vnto the tother alwayes
That it semed there clateryng was lyke iayes
With a romblynge as the shyppes that be
In a [ragynge] tempest vpon the large see
Euen as Lyons and serpentes hurle together
Withoute profyte nowe hyther nowe thyther
Was there disputation and after these than
Wyttye Carneades that well lerned man
That coulde with speach a case so fyle
130 That were it true or false hys subtyll style
It was harde his craft to knowe and discerne
He lyued longe without all syknes and harme
Tyll false enuy agaynst hym dyd soo aryse
That he coulde not although he were wyse
Resyst the fury of them that hym hatyd
Nor the veneme that agaynst hym was debatyd
There was also the bablynge Epicurus
That agaynst Cirus was greatlye contrariouse
That affirmed oure soules neuer to dye
140 This Epycure cleene contrary dyd denye
And sayd that our soules were very mortall
And perysshe as best soules do with the body all
Wherby he deserued to have reproue and blame
And scant worthy for to folowe fame
I sawe dyuers other folowinge thys secte
Lyppo and Metrodorus and Aristippus [the] electe
For theyr excellent conninge that they then hade
Praysed greatly though theyr saynges were bad
There was also that Phylozopher [that] in very dede
150 Spune the subtle and wonderouse crafty threde
Hys wyt was so excellent and his learning so fine
That he semed to haue a knowledge deuyne
[Z]e[n]one the Father of the Stoykes secte
Aboue the rest he was best electe
Well declared he as he dyd there stande
By the palme and closyng of his hande
Howe the truth was in eche season and case
For he so declared it with his wyse face
The vayne argumentes from the true euen so
160 That many after hym dyd ensue and go
Here I do leue to speake more of the rest
And nowe wyll tell of that thyng which is best.
The Triumph of Time
HENRY PARKER, LORD MORLEY (1476–1556)
The Excellente and Moste Dyuyne Tryumphe of Time
Frome hys golden harboroughe & restyng place
The fayre Aurora going afore his face
Yssewed out the sonne so clear & fyrmely set
With radient and bryght beames burnished & bet
That thou woldest haue said euen with a thought
Thys faire swete planet was gotten vp a loft
Thus vp rysen in lyke maner and guyse
As do these sage men sober sadde and wyse
He loked all about and to hymselfe he sayde
10 What doest thou nowe I se well at this brayde
Yf to thyne one selfe thou take no better hede
All thy great glory wylbe gone in dede
Take thou then I aduyse the good and wise cure
For yf that it be very certeyne and sure
That worthy men by fame dyeng do not dye
Thys vniuersall and fyrme course eternally
Of the large heuen most sure and certayne
Shalbe accompted at the last but vayne
And yf fame mortall for euer do encrease
20 That a litle short houre shuld cause to sease
I se my great excellence shall soone declyne
And howe can I haue a worse ende and fyne
Than to haue no more in the heuenly skye
Than man in earth that dying cannot dye
That thynkes myselfe equall by speciall grace
Aboue all other to haue the highest place
In the great wyde and large see Occeane
Foure horses of myne are there and than
That with great studye I nourishe and dresse
30 In theyr rennyng course of infinite switenesse
And yet for all theyr great wonderfull hoste
Cannot a mortall man that is dead and past
Put in forgetting neyther his laude nor fame
It muste neades greue and anger me that same
Not onely I my selfe the chefe in my degree
But the thyrde or seconde wold therat greued be
I must than hast my selfe with a great zele
Agaynst these men for the wrong that I fele
In doublyng my course to there double harme
40 For I do enuy there fame that is so farme
/> That after a thousand and a thousand yeares
Theyr hyghe renowme and theyr glory cleres
Muche more after theyr death then in theyr lyfe
Which playne is vnto me a perpetuall stryfe
That am nowe no higher nor in no better rate
Than I was or the earth was in his firste state
Goyng in compasse with my beames bryght
By thys great round bole which is infinite
When this fayre beautifull sonne had thus sayde
50 Dysdaynyng furthwith and euen at a brayde
She toke her course far more swyfter I say
Then Faukon that from a high flyeth to [the] praye
Her wonders swiftnes I can nether tel nor write
For it is not possible for me it to endyte
Noo I say with my thought to expresse it in dede
So that to remember it I am in feare and dreade
Then I saye when that wyttely I mynded this
I compted oure lyfe to be a vyle thinge as it is
And none other nor no better but a terrible vanite
60 To put oure hartes on that which sone doth fle
So fast away that euen with a thought
Wenyng to holde hym we holde hym nought
He whosoeuer doth loke vnto his state
Let hym sone prouyde for hym selfe algate
Whyles he hath his fre wyl in his propre myghte
In thynges that be stable to set his delyght
For when I sawe the tyme goo so fast
After his guyde that maketh post hast
I wyll not saye it, for tell it I ne can
70 For I sawe euen at one verye poynte than
The yse and the rose one after the other
Nowe colde nowe hote euen with the tother
That for to tell it is a maruelous case
Howe after the tone the tother hyeth a pase
He that with a wyse iudgement this markes
Shall se by true experience all these warkes
Whiche lytle I noted in my yonge lusty age
And that maketh me nowe with my selfe to rage
For then I confesse all my hoole delyght
80 Was in folowyng my folysh appetyte
But now afore my feble eyes is a glasse
Wherin I spye my greate faulte that was
Styll goynge downeward to my last ende & fyne
Remembryng therto how fast it doth declyne
I was a chylde euen this same present daye
And nowe an olde man prest to passe away
So that for a very truth to tell it I shall
Lesse then a sely daye is oure lyfe mortall
Cloudy and colde, and ful of woo and payne
90 That semeth to be fayre, and yet is but vayne
This is the vnstable hope of all our kynde
Why are we then so proude why are we so blynd?
Petrarch in English Page 9
