March. [headnote]
March woodblock illustration.
Ægloga Tertia. ARGVMENT ARGUMENT .

IN In this Æglogue two shepheards boyes taking occasion of the season, be-ginne to make purpose of loue love and other plesaunce, which to springtime is most agreeable. The speciall meaning hereof is, to giue give certaine markes March. Or and tokens, to know Cupide the Poets God of Loue Love . But more particularlye I thinke, in the person of Thomalin is meant some secrete freend, who scorned Loue Love and his knights so long, till at length him selfe was entangled, and vn-wares un-wares wounded with the dart of some beautifull regard, which is Cupides arrowe.

VVillye Willye Thomalin. THomalin Thomalin , why sytten we soe, As weren ouerwent overwent with woe, Upon so fayre a morow? The ioyous joyous time now nigheth nighe[ſt] nigheth fast, That shall alegge this bitter blast, And slake the winters sorowe. Thomalin. Sicker Willye, thou warnest well: For Winters wrath beginnes to quell, And pleasant spring appeareth. The grasse nowe ginnes to be refresht, The Swallow peepes out of her nest, And clowdie Welkin cleareth. VVillye Willye . Seest not thilke same Hawthorne studde, How bragly it beginnes to budde, And vtter utter his tender head? Flora now calleth forth eche flower, And bids make ready Maias bowre, That newe is vpryst upryst from bedde. Tho shall we sporten in delight, And learne with Lettice to wexe light, That scornefully lookes askaunce, Tho will we little Loue Love awake, That nowe sleepeth in Lethe lake, And pray him leaden our daunce. Thomalin. Willye, I wene thou bee assott: For lustie Loue Love still sleepeth not, But is abroad at his game. VVillye Willye . How kenst thou, that he is awoke? March. fol.9 C. When Or hast thy selfe his slomber broke? Or made preuie previe to the same? Thomalin. No, but happely I hym spyde, Where in a bush he did him hide, With winges of purple and blewe. And were not, that my sheepe would stray, The preuie previe marks I would bewray, Whereby by chaunce I him knewe. VVillye Willye . Thomalin, haue have no care for thy, My selfe will haue have a double eye, Ylike to my flocke and thine: For als at home I haue have a syre, A stepdame eke as whott as fyre, That dewly adayes counts mine. Thomalin. Nay, but thy seeing will not serue serve , My sheepe for that may chaunce to swerue swerve , And fall into some mischiefe . . For sithens is but the third morowe, That I chaunst to fall a sleepe asleepe with sorowe, And waked againe with griefe: The while thilke same vnhappye unhappye Ewe, Whose clouted legge her hurt doth shewe, Fell headlong into a dell, And there vnioynted unjoynted both her bones: Mought her necke bene ioynted joynted attones, She shoulde haue have neede no more spell. Thelf Thelfe Th'elfe Th'elfe was so wanton and aud and so wood, (But now I trowe can better good) She mought ne gang on the greene greene, gr[ee]ne gr[ée]ne greene . VVillye Willye . Let be, as may be, that is past: That is to come, let be forecast. Now tell vs us , what thou hast seene. Thomalin. It was vpon upon a holiday, March. But When shepheardes groomes han leaue leave to playe, I cast to goe a shooting. Long wandring vp up and downe the land, With bowe and bolts in either hand, For birds in bushes tooting: At length within an Yuie Yvie todde (There shrouded was the little God) I heard a busie bustling. I bent my bolt against the bush, Listening if any thing did rushe, But then heard no more rustling. Tho peeping close into the thicke, Might see the mouing moving of some quicke, Whose shape appeared not: But were it faerie, feend, or snake, My courage earnd it to awake, And manfully thereat shotte. With that sprong forth a naked swayne, With spotted winges like Peacocks trayne, And laughing lope to a tree. His gylden quiuer quiver at his backe, And siluer silver bowe, which was but slacke, Which lightly he bent at me. That seeing I, leuelde levelde againe, And shott at him with might and maine, As thicke, as it had hayled. So long I shott, that al was spent: Tho pumie stones I hastly hent, And threwe: but nought availed : : He was so wimble, and so wight, From bough to bough he lepped light, And oft the pumies latched . . Therewith affrayd I ranne away: But he, that tha[ſt] tha[ſt] that earst seemd but to playe, A shaft in earnest snatched, And hit me running in the heele: For then I little smart did feele: March. fol.10 Cii. The swallow) But soone it sore encreased. And now it ranckleth more and more, And inwardly it festreth sore, Ne wote I, how to cease it. VVillye Willye . Thomalin, I pittie thy plight. Perdie with loue love thou diddest fight: I know him by a token. For once I heard my father say, How he him caught vpon upon a day, (Whereof he wilbe wroken) Entangled in a fowling net, Which he for carrion Crowes had set, That in our Peeretree haunted . . Tho sayd, he was a winged lad, But bowe and shafts as then none had: Els had he sore be daunted . . But see the Welkin thicks apace, And stouping Phebus Phœbus Phoebus Phoebvs steepes his face: Yts time to hast vs us homeward.
Willyes Embleme. To be wise and eke to loue love , Is graunted scarce to God aboue above .
Thomalins Embleme. Of Hony and of Gaule in loue love there is store: The Honye is much, but the Gaule is more.
GLOSS. THIS Æglogue seemeth somevvhat somewhat to resemble that same of Theocritus, vvherein wherein the boy likewise telling the old man, that he had shot at a vvinged winged boy in a tree, vvas was by hym warned, to beware of mischiefe to come. Ouer vvent) Ouerwent) Overwent) ouergone ouergone. overgone overgone. Alegge) to lessen or asvvage aswage . To quell) to abate. VVelkin Welkin ) the skie. March. Riuer River The swallow) vvhich which bird vseth useth to be counted the messenger, and as it vvere were , the fore runner of springe. Flora) the Goddesse of flovvres flowres , but indede (as saith Tacitus) a famous harlot, which vvith with the abuse of her body hauing having gottẽ gotten great riches, made the people of Rome her heyre: who in remembraunce of so great beneficence, appointed a yearely feste for the memoriall of her, calling her, not as she was, nor as some doe think, An-dronica, but Flora: making her the Goddesse of all floures, and doing yerely to her solemne sacrifice facri[fi]ce ſacri[fi]ce . Maias bovvre bowre ) that is the pleasaunt fielde, or rather the Maye bushes. Maia is a Goddes and the mother of Mercurie, in honour of whome the moneth of Maye is of her name so called, as sayth Macrobius. Lettice) the name of some country lasse. Ascaunce) askevve askewe or asquint. For thy) therefore. Lethe) is a lake in hell, vvhich which the Poetes call the lake of forgetfulnes. For Lethe signifi-eth forgetfulnes. VVherein Wherein the soules being dipped, did forget the cares of their former lyfe. So that by loue love sleeping in Lethe lake, he meaneth he vvas was almost forgotten and out of knovvledge knowledge , by reason of winters hardnesse, when al plea-sures as it were, sleepe and weare oute of mynde. Assotte) to dote. His slomber) To breake Loues Loves slomber, is to exercise the delightes of Loue Love and wan-ton pleasures. VVinges Winges of purple) so is he feyned of the Poetes. For als) he imitateth Virgils verse. Est mihi namque domi pater, est iniusta nouerca noverca &c. etc. A dell) a hole in the ground. Spell) is a kinde of verse or charme, that in elder tymes they vsed used often to say ouer over euery every thing, that they would haue have preserued preserved , as the Nightspel for theeues theeves , and the vvoodspell woodspell . And herehence I thinke is named the gospell, as it were Gods spell or vvorde worde . And so sayth Chaucer, Listeneth Lordings to my spell. Gange) goe. An Yuie Yvie todde) a thicke bushe. Swaine) a boye: For so is he described of the Poetes, to be a boye .s. alwayes freshe and lustie: blindfolded, because he maketh no difference of Personages: wyth diuers divers coloured winges, .s. ful of flying fancies: vvith with bovve bowe and arrow, that is vvith with glaunce of beautye, vvhich which prycketh as a forked arrowe. He is sayd also to haue have shafts, some leaden, some golden: that is, both pleasure for the gracious and loued loved , and sorovv sorow for the louer lover that is disdayned or forsaken. But vvho who liste more at large to behold Cupids colours and furniture, let him reade ether Pro-pertius, or Moschus his Idyllion of wandring loue love , being now most excellently translated into Latine by the singuler learned man Angelus Politianus: whych vvorke worke I haue have seene amongst other of thys Poets doings, very wel translated al-so into Englishe Rymes. VVimble Wimble and vvighte wighte ) Quicke and deliuer deliver . In the heele) is very Poetically spoken, and not vvithout without speciall iudgement judgement . For I re-member, that in Homer it is sayd of Thetis, that shee tooke her young babe A-chilles being nevvely newely borne, and holding him by the heele, dipped him in the March. fol.11 Riuer River of Styx. The vertue vvhereof whereof is, to defend and keepe the bodyes vvashed washed therein from any mortall vvound wound . So Achilles being washed al ouer over , saue save onely his hele, by which his mother held, was in the rest invulnerable: invnluerable: invnluerable : inuulnerable: inuuluerable: therfore by Pa-ris vvas was feyned to bee shotte vvith with a poysoned poyfoned poyſoned arrowe in the heele, vvhiles whiles he vvas was busie about the marying of Polyxena in the temple of Apollo. which Which my-sticall fable Eustathius vnfolding unfolding , sayth: that by vvounding wounding in the hele, is meant lustfull loue love . For from the heele (as say the best Phisitions) to the preuie previe partes there passe certaine veines and slender synnevves synnewes , as also the like come from the head, and are carryed lyke little pypes behynd the eares: so that (as sayth Hipo-crates) yf those veynes there be cut a sonder, the partie straighte becõmeth becommeth cold and vnfruiteful unfruiteful . vvhich VVhich which Which reason our Poete vvel wel weighing, maketh this shepheards boye of purpose to be vvounded wounded by Loue Love in the heele. Latched) caught. VVroken Wroken ) reuenged revenged . For once) In this tale is sette out the simplicitye of shepheards opinion of Loue Love . Stouping Phœbus) Phæbus) Phœbus, Phoebus, Is a Periphrasis of the sunne setting. Embleme. Hereby is meant, that all the delights of Loue Love , wherein vvanton wanton youth vvallovveth walloweth , be but follye mixt vvith with bitternesse, and sorovv sorow savvced sawced with repentaunce. For be-sides that the very affection of Loue Love it selfe tormenteth the mynde, and vexeth the body many vvayes wayes , vvith with vnrestfulnesse unrestfulnesse all night, and vvearines wearines all day, see-king for that we can not haue have , & and fynding that we would not haue have : euẽ evẽ euen even the selfe things vvhich which best before vs us lyked, in course courfe courſe of time and chaung of ryper yeares, vvhiche whiche also therevvithall therewithall chaungeth our vvonted wonted lyking and former fantasies, vvill will then seeme lothsome and breede vs us annoyaunce, vvhen when yougthes flovvre flowre is vvithered withered , and vve we fynde our bodyes and vvits wits aunswere not to suchevayne suche vayne iollitie jollitie and lustfull pleasaunce.
C3v