Narcissus Part 9

_Cli._ O, O, about my harte I feele a paine; Dorastus, hold thy handes, for I am slaine.

_Dor._ This shall thy comfort bee when thou art dead, That thou hast kild mee too, for I am spedd.

_Cli._ O, I am dead, depart life out of hand, Stray, soule, from home vnto the Stingian strand.

_Dor._ Goe thou, my ghost, complaine thee vnto Rhadamant That the 3 sisters hartes are made of adamant. [660]

_Cli._ Since wee must pa.s.se ore lake in Charons ferry, Had wee Narcissus wee should bee more merrye.

_Dor._ My soule doth say that wee must goe before, Narcisse will overtake vs at the sh.o.r.e; And that that mockt vs both, deformed dwarfe, Will er't bee long arive at Charons wharfe.

_Cli._ Lett us, Dorastus, die, departe, decease; Wee lovd in strife, & lett vs dye in peace.

_Dor._ Stay, take mee with you, letts togither goe.

_Am._ Vild world adieu, wee die, o o o o! [670]

_Enter_ NARCISSUS.

Does the hagg followe? Stay for her never durst I; Sh'as made mee runne so longe that I am thurstye, But O, yee G.o.ds immortall, by good fortune [F. 68v rev.]

Heere is a well in good time & oportune; Drinke, drinke, Narcissus, till thy belly burst, Water is Rennish wine to them that thirst.

But oh remaine & let thy christall lippe Noe more of this same cherrye water sippe; What deadly beautye or what aerye nimphe Is heare belowe now seated in the limphe? [680]

Looke, looke, Narcissus, how his eyes are silver, Looke, least those eyes thy hart from thee doe pilfer, Yet O looke not, for by these eyes so headye, Thy hart from thee is filcht away allreadye; O Well, how oft I kisse thy wholsome liquor, While on my love kisses I heape a d.i.c.ker.

O love, come foorth accordinge to my mind, How deepe I dive yet thee I cannott find; O love, come foorth, my face is not so foule That thou shouldst scorne mee; pittye mee, poor soule. [690]

Well, dost thou scorne mee? Nimphes they did not soe, They had a better thought of mee I trowe.

Not care of Ceres, Morpheus, nor of Bacchus, That is meate, drinke, & sleepe from hence shall take vs; Heere will I dye, this well shall bee my tombe, My webb is spunne; Lachesis, loppe thy loome.

[_Lye downe & rise vpp againe._ [F. 68r rev.]

Tell mee, you woods, tell mee, you oakes soe stronge, Whether in all your life, your life so longe, So faire a youth pinde thus, & tell mee trulye Whether that any man ere lov'd so cruellye. [700]

The thinge I like I see, but what I see And like, natheles I cannot find perdie, And that that greives my liver most, no seas Surging, mountaines, monstrous or weary ways, Nor walls with gates yshutt doe mee remove; A little water keepes mee from my love.

Come out, come out, deare boye.

_Ecc._ Come out, deare boye.

[_Nar._] Thy frend I am, O doe not mee destroye; Thou dost putt out thy hand as I doe mine, [710]

And thou dost pinke vpon mee with thine eyen, Smile as I smile; besides I tooke good keepe, And saw thee eke shedd teares when I did weepe, And by thy lippes moving, well I doe suppose Woordes thou dost speake, may well come to our nose; For to oure eares I am sure they never pa.s.se, Which makes me to crye out, alas!

_Ecc._ Alas!

[_Nar._] O delicate pretty youth, Pretty youth; [720]

Take on my woes pittye, youthe!

Pittye, youthe!

O sweetest boy, pray love mee! [F. 67v rev.]

Pray love mee!

Or els I dye for thee, I dye for thee!

[_Nar._] Colour is gone & bloud in face is thinne, And I am naught left now but bone & skinne; I dye; but though I dye it shall come to pa.s.se, Certes it shall, that I which whilome was [730]

The flower of youth, shalbee made flower againe.

I dye; farewell, O boy belov'd in vaine.

[_Ecc._] O boy belov'd in vaine.

[NARCISSUS _risinge vp againe._ And so I died & sunke into my grandam, Surnamde old earth: lett not your iudgments randome, For if you take mee for Narcissus y'are very sillye, I desire you to take mee for a daffa downe dillye; For so I rose, & so I am in trothe, As may appeare by the flower in my mouthe.

_Ecc._ Now auditors of intelligence quicke, [740]

I pray you suppose that Eccho is sicke; Sicke at the hart, for you must thinke, For lacke of love shee could nor eate nor drinke; Soe that of her nothinge remainde but bone, And that they say was turn'd into a stone.

Onely her voice was left, as by good happe [F. 67r rev.]

You may perceive if you imparte a clappe. [_Exit._

_Enter the_ Porter _as Epilogue_.

Are those the ladds that would doe the deede?

They may bee gone, & G.o.d bee their speede; Ile take vpp their buckett, but I sweare by the water, [750]

I have seene a farre better play at the theater.

Ile shutt them out of doores, 'tis no matter for their larges; Thinke you well of my service, & Ile beare the charges.

If there bee any that expecte some dances, 'Tis I must perform it, for my name is Frances.

FINIS.

APPENDIX.

I.

_A speech made for the foresaid porter, who [F. 84r rev.]

p.r.o.nounc't it in the hall before most of the house and Master Praesident, that had sconc't him 10 groates for lettinge the fidlers into the hall at Christmas._

Ille ego qui quondam, I am hee that in ould season have made Lilly leape out of his skinne, & with a muster of sentences out of his syntaxis have besieged the eares of the audience in the behalfe of the wretched. But alas!--Mihi isthic nec seritur nec met.i.tur; it is to mee neither a sorrye turne nor a merrye turne. I have sifted out for other mens sakes the flower of my fancye, that I have left nothing but the branne in my braine. And yet who is there amongst them that in the depth of my distresse will speake for the poore porter, who meltes [10] the muses into mourninge or turnes Parna.s.sus into plaintes, h.e.l.licon into heavines, Apollo into an apollogie, for my sake? My learninge goeth not beyond Lillye, nor my reading beyond my rules, yet have I for them so canvast their concavitye that I have opened their entraills, so dived into the depth of them that I have manifested their marrowe, soe pried into their profunditye that I have plac't the verye pith of them before you. And, alas that I should [F. 83v rev.] now speake for my selfe, what remaines for mee but the rinde & the barke, when I have given the roote & [20] the bodye to others? What remaines for mee but the sh.e.l.l, when I have given others the substaunce, what remaines for mee but the curdes, when I have given others the creame? Yea, what is left for mee but the paringes, when I have given others the peares? But I therin made knowen my valour, for you knowe, Aliorum vitia cernere oblivisci suorum, to supplye other mens wants & to forgett his owne, proprium est stult.i.tiae, is the parte of a stoute man; since then I must speake for my selfe, Stat mihi casus renovare omnes; you shall [30]

heare the whole cause, case, and the course of it.

Sub nocte silenti, (i) in nocte vel paulo ante noctem, c.u.m spectatur in ignibus aurum; when you might have seene gold in the fier, the fier shin'de so like gold, Ecce per opaca locorum, came the fidlers creeping alonge, densa subter testudine casus, their instruments vnder their arms, in their cases, & at lenghe, Itum est in viscera terrae, broke open into the harte of the hall; neither when they were there could they bee content to [F. 83r rev.] warme their fingers by the fier and bee gone, though I [40] would have persuaded them thereto, but Iuvat vsque morari et conferre gradum; they would needes staye & the youth daunce; but oh to see, woe to see, that pleasure is but a pinch and felicitye but a phillippe; when as Juvat ire per altum, some were cutting capers aloft in the ayre, canit similiter huic, and they likewise with their minstrelsey fitting it to their footing, all on a suddaine, Subito I may say to them, but Repente to mee, their sporte was spoild, their musicke marrd, their dauncinge dasht with a vox hominem sonat, with a voyce, [50] with an awefull voice, Haeccine fieri flagitia; ar these the fruites of the fires; statur a me, (i) sto, statur ab illis, (i) stant; they that even now sc.r.a.p't so fast with their stickes fell now to sc.r.a.ping faster with their leggs; their fum fum was turn'd to mum mum, and their pleasaunt melodye to most pittifull making of faces; but when they look't that their fiddles should have flyen about their eares, their calveskin cases about their calveshead pates, as the sunne shines brightest through a shower, so did softnes in the midst of severitye: [F. 82v rev.] there was noe more [60] said to them but, Teque his ait eripe flammis; they were best, since they had made many mens heeles warme with shakinge, to coole their owne by quaking without doore. But the more mercy was shewed before, the lesse was left for mee. Had I beene dealt with soe mercifullye, I had not neede to have come with this exclamation, or had it beene but gratia ab officio, but a groat out of mine office, I should not have stonied the stones nor rented the rockes with my dolorous outcryes.

But when it shall come to denarii dicti quod denos, [70] when tenn groats shall make a muster togeather and sitte heavy on my head, actum est ilicet, the porter periit. O weatherc.o.ke of wretchednes that I am, seated on the may-pole of misfortune; whither shall I turne, or to whome shall I looke for releife? Shall I speake to my minstrells for my money?

Why, they have allready forsaken mee, to the verifieng of the ould proverbe; Quantum quisque sua nummorum servat in arc[=a], tantum habet et fidei; as long as a man hath money in his purse, so long hee shall have the fidlers. What is to bee looked [80] for of them that will doe nothing without pay, and hard-mony for their harmonye? Shall I speake to my frends? Why: nullus ad amissas ibit amicus opes. [F. 43r rev.] Oh, then, lett mee runne to the speare of Achilles (recorded by auncient philosophers) which first hurt mee and last can heale mee: lett my penitencye find pittye, and my confession move compa.s.sion; if you will live according to rule, ever after penitet, taedet, lett miseret, miserescit succeede.

That they came in, it was a fault of oversight in not overseeing my office: if any should slinke by Cerberus [90] out of h.e.l.l, it weare a thing to bee wondred at, & yet wee see there doth, ther are so many spirritts walking. If any should steale by Ja.n.u.s into heaven, it weare much woorthy of marvaile, and yet wee see there doth, there are soe many of Jupiters lemmans: if anye should skippe in or out by mee it is not to bee admired: for why? Cerberus the porter of h.e.l.l hath 3 heads, Ja.n.u.s hath two, & I your poore colledg porter have but one. That they weare not putt out of the colledge when they weare in, it was a fault; but a fault of curtesie; for who could [100] find in his hart, when hee seeth a man accompanied with musicke, musis comitantibus, to bidd him, Ibis Homere foras, gett you home for an a.s.se?

But though my breast (I must confesse) weare then somewhat [F. 42v rev.]

moved with their melodye, yet heerafter my breast shall bee marble when they warble: Nemo sibi Mimos accipere debet favori, I will never lett in minstrells againe vpon favour; for your selves I can say no more but profit; & when (after this Christmas cheere is ended) you fall againe to your studdies, I could wish that [110] Hippocrene may bee Hippocrise, the muses Muskadine, & the Pierides pies every day for your sakes; and as for my tenn groates, if it will please you to remitte it, I will give you decies decem mille gratiarum. Dixi.

II.

_A speech delivered by Francis Clarke to the Ladie Keneda._ [F. 46r rev.]