by Thomas Nash
swore he had no more hearts but one, and I should haue halfe ofit, in that I so inhanced his obscured reputation. One thing, quoth he,my sweete Jacke I will intreate thee (it shalbe but one) that thoughI am wel pleased thou shouldest be the ape of my birthright, (as whatnoble man hath not his ape & his foole) yet that thou be an ape withouta clog, not carrie thy curtizan with thee. I tolde him that a king coulddo nothing without his treasury, this curtizan was my purs-bearer, mycountenance and supporter. My earldome I would sooner resigne than partwith such a speciall benefactresse. Resigne it I will how euer, since Iam thus challenged of stolne goods by the true owner: Lo, into my formerstate I returne againe, poore _Iack Wilton_ and your seruant am I, as Iwas at the beginning, and so will I perseuer to my liues ending.
That theame was quickly cut off, and other talke entered in place, ofwhat I haue forgot, but talke it was, and talke let it be, and talkeit shall be, for I do not meane here to remember it. We supt, we got tobed, we rose in the morning, on my master I waited, and the firstthing he did after he was vp, he went and visited the house where his_Geraldine_ was borne, at sight wherof he was so impassioned, that inthe open street but for me, he would haue made an oration in praiseof it. Into it we were conducted, and shewed each seueral roome thertoappertaining. O but when he came to the chamber where his _Geraldines_cleere Sunbeams first thrust themselues into this cloude of flesh, andacquainted mortalitie with the puritie of Angels, then did his mouthouerflowe with magnificats, his tongue thrust the starres out of heauen,and eclipsed the Sun and Moone with comparisons, _Geraldine_ was thesoule of heauen, sole daughter and heire to _primus motor_. The alcumy ofhis eloquence, out of the incomprehensible drossie matter of cloudsand aire, distilled no more quintescence than woulde make his Geraldinecompleat faire.
In praise of the chamber that was so illuminatiuely honoured with herradiant conception, he penned this sonet:
_Faire rootne the presence of sweet beauties pride, The place the Sunne vpon the earth did hold, When Phaton his chariot did misguide, The towre where loue raind downe himselfe in gold.
Prostrate as holy groutid He worship thee, Our Ladies chappell henceforth be thou nanid. Heere first loues Queene put on mortalitie, And with her beautie all the world inflamed. Heatfns chambers harboring firie cherubines, Are not with thee in glorie to compare, Lightning it is not light which in thee shines, None enter thee but straight entranced are.
O if Elizium be aboue the ground, Then here it is where nought but ioy is found._
Many other Poems and Epigrams in that chambers patient alablasterinclosure (which her melting eies long sithence had softned) werecuriously ingraued. Diamondes thought themselues _Dii mundi_, if theymight but carue hir name on the naked glasse. With them on it did heanatomize these bodie-wanting mots, _Dulce puella malum est. Quod fugitipse sequor. Amor est teni causa sequendi. O infolix ego. Cur vidi,curperii. Non patienter amo. Tantum patiatur amari_. After the viewe ofthese veneriall monumentes, he published a proude challenge in the Dukeof Florence court agaynst all commers, (whether Christians, Turkes,Canibals, Jewes, or Saracens), in defence of his Geraldines beautie.More mildly was it accepted, in that she whom he defended, was a towneborne child of that Citie, or else the pride of the Italian wouldhaue preuented him ere he should haue come to performe it. The Duke ofFlorence neuerthelesse sent for him, and demanded him of his estate, andthe reason that drew him thereto, which when hee was aduertised ofto the full, he granted all Countries whatsoeuer, as wel enemies andoutlawes, as friendes and confederates, free accesse and regresse intohis dominions vnmolested, vntill that insolent triall were ended.
The right honourable and euer renowmed Lorde _Henrie Howard_ Earle ofSurrey my singular good Lorde and master, entered the listes after thisorder. His armour was all intermixed with lyllies and roses, andthe bases therof bordered with nettles and weeds, signifieng stings,crosses, and ouergrowing incumbrances in his loue, his helmet roundproportioned like a gardeners waterpot, from which seemed to issue forthsmall thrids of water, like citerne stringes, that not onely did moistenthe lillies and roses, but did fructifie as well the nettles and weedes,and made them ouergrow their liege Lordes. Whereby hee did importe thusmuch, that the teares that issued from his braine, as those arteficialldistillations issued from the well counterfeit waterpot on his head,watered and gaue life as well to his mistres disdaine (resembled tonettles and weedes) as increase of glorie to her care-causing beautie,(comprehended vnder the lillies and roses.) The simbole thereto annexedwas this, _ex lachrimis lachrimae_. The trappinges of his horse werepounced and boulstered out with rough plumed siluer plush, in fullproportion and shape of an Estrich. On the breast of the horse were theforepartes of this greedie birde aduaunced, whence as his manner is, heereacht out his long necke to the raines of the bridle, thinking they hadbeene yron, and styll seemed to gape after the golden bit, and eueras the courser dyd rayse or curuet, to haue swallowed it halfe in. Hiswinges, which hee neuer vseth but running, beeing spreaded full sayle,made his lustie steede as proude vnder him as he had beene some other_Pegasus_, and so quieueringly and tenderly were these his broade wingsbound to either side of him, that as he paced vp and downe the tilt-yardin his maiestie ere the knights were entered, they seemed wantonly tofan in his face and make a flickering sound, such as Eagles doe, swiftlypursuing their praie in the ayre. On either of his winges, as theEstrich hath a sharpe goade or pricke wherewith hee spurreth himselfeforwarde in his saile-assisted race, so this artificiall Estrich, on theimbent knuckle of the pinion of either wing, had embossed christall eiesaffixed, wherein wheele wise were circularly ingrafted sharpe pointeddiamonds, as rayes from those eies deriued, that like the rowels of aspurre ran deep into his horse sides, and made him more eager in hiscourse.
Such a fine dimme shine dide these christall eies and these roundenranked diamonds make through their bolne swelling bowres of feathers,as if it had beene a candle in a paper lanterne, or a gloworme in a bushby night, glistering through the leaues and briers. The taile of theEstrich being short and thicke, serued verie fitly as a plume to trickevp his horse taile with, so that euerie parte of him was as naturallycoapted as might be. The word to this deuice was _Aculeo alatus_, Ispread my wings onely spurd with her eies. The morral of the whole isthis, that as the Estrich, the most burning sighted bird of all others,insomuch as the female of them hatcheth not hir egs by couering them,but by the effectual raies of hir eies as he, I saie, outstrippeth thenimblest trippers of his feathered condition in footman-shippe, onelyspurd on with the needle quickning goade vnder his side, so hee no lesseburning sighted than the Estrich, spurd on to the race of honor by thesweete raies of his mistres eies, perswaded himselfe hee should outstripall other in running to the goale of glorie only animated and incitedby her excellence. And as the Estrich wil eat iron, swallow anie hardmettall whatsoeuer, so would he refuse no iron aduenture, no hard taskewhatsoeuer, to sit in the grace of so fayre a commander. The order ofhis shield was this, it was framed like a burning glasse, beset roundwith flame colourd feathers, on the outside whereof was his mistrespicture adorned as beautifull as art could portrature, on the inside anaked sword tied in a true loue knot, the mot, _Militat omtiis amans_.Signifieng that in a true loue knot his sword was tide to defend andmaintaine the high features of his mistres.
Next him entered the blacke knight, whose beauer was pointed all torne& bloudie, as though he had new come from combatting with a Beare, hishead piece seemed to bee a little ouen fraught full with smootheringflames, for nothing but sulphure and smoake voided out at the cleftesof his beauer. His bases were all imbrodered with snakes & adders,ingendered of the abundance of innocent bloud that was shed. His horsestrappinges were throughout bespangled with hunnie spottes, which are noblemishes, but ornaments. On his shield he bare the Sunne full shiningon a diall at his going downe, the word _sufficit tandem_.
After him followed the knight of the Owle, whose armor was a stubd treeouergrowen with iuie, his helmet fashioned lyke an owle sittin
g on thetop of this iuie, on his bases were wrought all kinde of birdes as onthe grounde wondering about him, the word, _Ideo mirum quia monstrunty_his horses furniture was framed like a cart, scattering whole sheauesof corne amongst hogs, the word _Liberalitas liberalitate perit_. On hisshield a bee intangled in sheepes wooll, the mot _Frontis nulla fides_.The fourth that succeeded was a well proportioned knight in an armorimitating rust, whose head piece was prefigured like flowers growing ina narrowe pot, where they had not anie space to spread their roots ordispearse their florishing. His bases embelisht with open armed handesscattering golde amongst tranchions, the word _Cura futuri est_. Hishorse was harnished with leaden chaines, hauing the outside guilt, or atleast saffrond in stead of guilt, to decypher a holie or golden pretenceof a couetous purpose, the sentence _Cani capilli mei compedes_, on histarget he had a number of crawling wormes kept vnder by a blocke, thefaburthen, _Speramus lucent_. The fift was the forsaken knight,
