Whiles thus on earth great Ioue thefe pageaunts The winged boy did thrust into his throne,

And fcoffing, thus vnto his mother fayd,

Lo now the heauens obey to me alone,

(playd,

And take me for their Ioue, whiles Ioue to earth is gone.

And thou, faire Phoebus, in thy colours bright
Waft there enwouen, and the fad diftreffe,
In which that boy thee plonged, for defpight,
That thou bewray'dft his mothers wantonneffe,
When the with Mars was meynt in ioyfulnesse :
For thy, he thrild thee with a leaden dart,
To loue faire Daphne, which thee loued leffe:
Leffe the thee lou'd, then was thy iuft defart,

321

Yet was thy loue her death, & her death was thy fmart.

So louedft thou the lufty Hyacinet,

So louedft thou the faire Coronis deare:
Yet both are of thy hapleffe hand extinct,
Yet both in flowres do liue, and loue thee beare,
The one a Paunce, the other a fweet breare:
For griefe whereof, ye mote haue liuely feene
The God himselfe rending his golden heare,
And breaking quite his gyrlond euer greene,
With other fignes of forrow and impatient teene.

Both for those two, and for his owne deare fonne,
The fonne of Climene he did repent,
Who bold to guide the charet of the Sunne,
Himfelfe in thoufand peeces fondly rent,

330

340

1. 319, 'heuens': 1. 326,, added after 'thy': 1. 327, the': 1. 333, 'doe."

And all the world with flashing fier brent,

So like, that all the walles did feeme to flame.

Yet cruell Cupid, not herewith content,

Forft him eftfoones to follow other game,

And loue a Shepheards daughter for his dearest Dame.

He loued efor his dear eft Dame,

And for her fake her cattell fed a while,
And for her fake a cowheard vile became,
The feruant of Admetus cowheard vile,
Whiles that from heauen he suffered exile.
Long were to tell each other louely fit,
Now like a Lyon, hunting after spoile,
Now like a Stag, now like a faulcon flit :

All which in that faire arras was most liuely writ.

Next vnto him was Neptune pictured,

350

In his diuine refemblance wondrous lyke:
His face was rugged, and his hoarie hed
Dropped with brackish deaw; his three-forkt Pyke
He stearnly shooke, and therewith fierce did ftryke
The raging billowes, that on euery syde

362

They trembling stood, and made a long broad dyke, That his swift charet might haue passage wyde, Which foure great Hippodames did draw in temewife. tyde.

His fea-horses did feeme to fport amayne,

And from their nofethrilles blow the brynie streame,

1. 343, 'fire': 1. 347, Shephards': 1. 353, 'fitt': 1. 355, Hag' in '90 and '96-Jortin suggests 'Stag'--accepted, seeing that 'Hag' is impossible, albeit 'Stag' is hardly classical: 11. 360, 366, no hyphens.

That made the fparckling waues to fmoke agayne, And flame with gold, but the white fomy creame, Did fhine with filuer, and fhoot forth his beame. 370

The God himfelfe did penfiue feeme and fad,

And hong adowne his head, as he did dreame :

For priuy loue his breft empierced had,

Ne ought but deare Bifaltis ay could make him glad. /

He loued eke Iphimedia deare,

And Aeolus faire daughter Arne hight.

For whom he turnd him felfe into a Steare,
And fed on fodder, to beguile her fight.
Alfo to win Deucalions daughter bright,

He turnd him felfe into a Dolphin fayre ;

380

And like a winged horse he tooke his flight,

To fnaky-locke Medufa to repayre,

On whom he got faire Pegafus, that flitteth in the ayre.

Next Saturne was, (but who would euer weene,

That fullein Saturne euer weend to loue?

Yet loue is fullein, and Saturnlike feene,

As he did for Erigone it proue.)

That to a Centaure did him felfe transmoue.

So proou'd it eke that gracious God of wine,
When for to compaffe Philliras hard loue,
He turnd himfelfe into a fruitfull vine,
And into her faire bosome made his grapes decline.

Long were to tell the amorous assayes,

390

And gentle pangues, with which he maked meeke

1. 378, 'fedd': 1. 382, 'fnaky' is misprinted 'fnaly' in '96 : 1. 387, no): 1. 389, 'gratious.'

The mighty Mars, to learne his wanton playes:
How oft for Venus, and how often eek

For many other Nymphes he fore did fhreek,
With womanish teares, and with vnwarlike smarts,

Priuily moyftening his horrid cheek.

There was he painted full of burning darts,

399

(parts,

And many wide woundes launched through his inner

Ne did he fpare (fo cruell was the Elfe)

His owne deare mother, (ah why fhould he fo?)
Ne did he spare fometime to pricke himfelfe,
That he might taft the sweet confuming woe,
Which he had wrought to many others moe,
But to declare the mournfull Tragedyes,

And spoiles, wherewith he all the ground did ftrow,
More eath to number, with how many eyes

High heauen beholds fad louers nightly thecueryes. 410

Kings Queenes, Lords Ladies, Knights & Damzels gent
Were heap'd together with the vulgar sort,
And mingled with the rafkall rablement,
Without refpect of perfon or of port,

To fhew Dan Cupids powre and great effort:
And round about a border was entrayld,
Of broken bowes and arrowes fhiuered short,
And a long bloudy riuer through them rayld,
So liuely and fo like, that liuing fence it fayld.

And at the vpper end of that faire rowme,

There was an Altar built of pretious stone,

420

1. 395,' mightie': 1. 399, 'checke': 1. 400, 'dartes': 1. 401, ' partes': 1. 403, second) inadvertently dropped in '96: 1. 405, tafte': l. 410, 'heuen beholdes: 1. 411, knights': 1. 418,' bloody.

Of paffing valew, and of great renowme,

On which there ftood an Image all alone,

Of maffy gold, which with his owne light fhone;
And wings it had with fundry colours dight,

More fundry colours, then the proud Pauone

Beares in his boafted fan, or Iris bright,

When her difcolourd bow fhe fpreds through heauens hight.

Blindfold he was, and in his cruell fift

430

A mortall bow and arrowes keene did hold,
With which he shot at randon, when him list,
Some headed with fad lead, fome with pure gold;
(Ah man beware, how thou those darts behold)

A wounded Dragon vnder him did ly,
Whofe hideous tayle his left foot did enfold,
And with a fhaft was fhot through either eye,
That no man forth might draw, ne no man remedye. /

And vnderneath his feet was written thus,

Vnto the Victor of the Gods this bee:

And all the people in that ample hous

440

Did to that image bow their humble knee,

And oft committed fowle Idolatree.

That wondrous fight faire Britomart amazed,

Ne feeing could her wonder satisfie,

But euermore and more vpon it gazed,

The whiles the paffing brightnes her fraile fences dazed.

1. 425, 'winges. . . fondry,' and so l. 426: 1. 428, 'heuen bright,' and

in '96 heauen bright'-Church suggested 'heuens hight'-accepted:

1. 429, Blyndfold': 1. 433, 'dartes': 1. 435, 'enfold-misprinted 'enfold' in '96 : 1. 441, 'bowe': l. 443, ‘amazd,' and so 'd' for 'ed' in rhyme-words of the stanza.