Canto 9

Long in the City the Two Factors lay,
Without dispatching off the Merchandize.
So many rubbs are scatter'd in their way
By the false INFIDELS, that no man buyes.
All, These design thereby; is to delay
INDIA'S Discov'rers There (whom they call spyes)
Arriv'd till they the Fleet of MECMA see,
With which this other overwhelm'd may be.

At the far end o'th'ERITHREAN SEA
Where (calling it by his dear Sister's name)
The goodly City of ARSINO•
(Which afterwards to be call'd SU•Z came)
Was founded by EGYPTIAN PTOLOME,
The Port of MECHA lyes: which hath it's fame
From MAHOM'S superstitious Lavatory,
Promising Heav'n through watry Purgatory.

GIDDA the Port is call'd, in which did meet
The Trade of that RED SEA and flourisht most:
The Gain whereof was not a little sweet
To EGYPT'S Soldan who then rul d that C•ast.
From hence to MALABAR a warlike Fleet
Of INFIDELL• the Indian Ocean crost
Each yeer; in that EMPORIUM to find
Health-giving Drugs, and Spices of each kind.

The Ships expected by the MOORS, are These,
With which (not onely great, but built for Fight)
Them, who supplant their Traffick in those Seas,
To wrap and burn in crackling flames and bright.
In this Sure Card themselves they so much please,
That, all they wish to gorge their Appetite,
Is, that the Strangers will but stay so long
Till from fam'd MECHA come this Navy strong.

But the GREAT GOVERNOR of Heav'n and Earth
(Who, for what He before all Time did doom,
Likewise decreed fit means, which to the birth
Should bring the same when the full Time should come)
Kindled unlikely love on the cold Hearth
Of a MOOR'S breast (MON•AYDES) sending whom
Before, He to DE GAMA gave advice
Of All, and for his payns had PARADICE.

This man (of whom the MOORS had no suspition,
Being one himself, but on the contrary
To all their secret junta's gave admission)
Did to the Captain this foule play descry.
He visits oft the Fleet, and repetition
Makes of his visits oft, though far it lye:
To heart he lays the danger it is in,
Through the black Project of the SARACIN.

He tells the cautious GAMA of the Fleet.
Which from ARABIAN MECHA comes each yeere.
And how those Countrey men do thirst to see t,
As a sure Engin to destroy him there.
That it comes stuft with Soldiers, and in It
Doth horrid Thunderbolts of VULCAN beare:
So that consid'ring, how his own is brusht.
It may thereby be overpowr'd and crusht.

DE GAMA, besides this, considering
That now the time it self calls him away;
And that for better answer from the King
(Who loves the MOORS) he may till doomsday stay:
Sends one ashore, the Factors summoning
To come aboard forthwith; and, lest that They
Be stopt, if their intent perceiv'd should be;
Commands them do it with all secresie.

But long it was not e're a rumour went
(And it fell out to be a rumour true)
That the two Factors were to prison sent,
'Cause from the City they by stealth withdrew.
The Captain, seeing which way the world went,
Seiz'd (by Reprisal) without more ado
Some, That were then aboard his ship, lin'd well
With Precious Stones which they desir'd to sell.

Grave Citizens, and wealthy were These all;
Well known, and well allide in CALICUT:
Therefore, to see them bound for PORTUGALI,
Into an uproare did the City put.
For streight to work the sturdy Sea-men fall:
The Capstone roles, their sev'ral strengths set to't
In sev'ral manners: some the Cable halling,
With the Bar others their hard bosoms galling.

This, hangs by the main-yard; and now untyes
The flowing Saile, with a great cry displayd:
When to the SAMORIM with greater cryes
Is told how hastily the CAPTAIN waigh'd.
Their Wives and Children (trust up in this wise
That are) a noyse, as they were murther'd made
In the KING'S hearing; screaming they should lose,
These their dear Fathers: their deare Husbands, Those.

The Lusitanian Merchants; with the Ware,
(There's no delaying) freely he remands,
Although thereat the MOORS do stamp and stare,
Or else his own must visit uncouth Lands.
With all excuses, to make things look faire,
Sends to his King. DE GAME (who understands
The Restitution, better then the Cringe)
Returns some BLACKS, and gives the ships their swinge.

He coasts it homewards, fully satisfy'de
That he in vain solicits with that King
A peace and friendship, to be ratify'de
By mutual Trade, as he propos'd the thing.
But, having now that noble Land descry'de
Which lay much hid under the Morning's wing,
For his deare Countrey with this news is bound:
Carrying sure signes of that which he hath found.

He carries MALABARS, retain'd by Him
Perforce, of Those, who the stopt Factors brought
Aboard from the inforced SAMORIM.
He carries burning Pepper, which he brought;
Nutmegs (the whichthe•r own dry'de flow'rs up trim)
From BANDA; the black Clove (for which is sought
MOLUCO'S ISLE) and Cinnamon, through which
C•YLAN is noble, beautiful, and rich.

All these provided by the diligence
Of good MONSAYDE, whom he carries too:
Who fir'd with Evangelick influence
To have his name writ in CHRIST'S book doth sue.
O happy AFFRICAN! whom PROVIDENCE
DIVINE, out of infernal darkness drew;
And, so far from thy Countrey, found a way
To thy true Countrey to reduce thee, stray.

Thus vanish from the spicy Territory
The happy ships, whose Prows directly stand
OF GOOD HOP• pointing at THE PROMONTORY
(South-Bound of NATURE fixt by her own Hand);
Bearing the evidence and welcom story
TO LISBON of the Oriental Land:
Once more committed to the rude annoy
Of Seas uncertain betwixt fear and joy.

That they are going to their Countrey deare,
To their dear Parents, and Aboads at last,
To tell their wond'rous Navigation, there,
The various Nations seen, and Dangers past;
That now the Harvest of their Toyles is neare,
The Fruits of their Adventure ripe to tast;
Is such a joy as cannot be exprest
By their faint Tongue pent in their narrow Brest.

But CYPRUS'S Queen, who by the King of HEAV'N
Was made the LUSITANIANS'S Patroness,
And for a Guardian Angel to them giv'n,
To whom she many yeers hath prov'd no less;
Glory, for which they have so bravely striv'n,
Amends for their so well indur'd distress,
Means them by way of earnest beforehand;
And in sad Seas the Pleasures of the Land.

Having a while revolved in her thought
The world of Sea which they have back to pass,
The world of Woes, that God on them had brought
In AMPHIONIAN THEBES twice-born that was
It is her purpose, joys, so dearly bought
With Griefs, to fill them in an ample glass;
To cook them some delights, find them some nest,
Where in the rolling Empire they may rest.

In fine an Inn of pleasure by the way
To bait and strengthen tyr'd Humanity:
To give her gallant Sea-men (not their Pay,
But) the use here of fair ETERNITY.
She means to tell't her Son, and well she may;
For, with his shafts it is, she makes the high
GODS, stoop to the base ground: and, with •is fire,
Unworthy mortals to bright Heav'n aspire.

This well digested, she resolves in fine
There, in the middle of the briny frost,
To have in readiness an Isle Divine,
With flow'rs on green inameld and imbost:
For she hath many in those Seas, which joyne
To that blest Land which our first mother lost;
Besides those sweet ones in the Midland Seas,
Impounded by the Gates of HERCULES.

There will she have th' Aquatick maids prepare
To these rare men their graces to impart;
All that are honor'd with the name of Faire
(The glory of the Eye, Bane of the Heart)
With Balls, and Banquets blithe and debonayre:
For she inspires into their brests the dart
Of secret love, that they with all their might
Of their Gallants may study the delight.

Such once her Project, for the man she bare
To TROY'S ANCHISES neer to SIMOIS'S flood;
To get him welcome in that City fair
Which in the compass of an Oxe-hide stood.
Her boy she seeks (for, without Him, her rare
Beauty is nothing) CUPID giv'n to blood:
That, as to Him of yore she recommends
Her sayling son, so now, her sayling Frends.

She yoaks those Birds unto her Coach of gold
Which sing their own sad Dirge with long white necks:
And those, into the which was turn'd of old
PERISTERA, That gather'd flow'rs by pecks.
The flying Goddess These in Rings enfold,
Exchanging kisses with lascivious Beaks.
She, where she passes, makes the Wind to lye
With gentle motion, and serenes the skye.

Over Idalian Mountains now she hung,
The winged Boy residing in that Land,
To get an Army up of Bow-men young.
For a great War which he hath then in hand
Against the rebel WORLD; where late have sprung
Much Weeds, as he is giv'n to understand:
Loving those things, wherewith 'tis richly stor'd,
To be made use of, not to be ador'd.

He sees ACTEON hunting, so inclin'd
To that mad sport, and brutal exercise,
That a deform'd wild-beast to follow (blind)
The Beauty of a humane Face he flyes:
And (to torment him with a Fair Unkind)
Shews stript DIANA to his gazing eyes.
Now, let him take good heed he do not prove
A Prey, ev'n to those Hounds he doth so love.

He sees the great ones of each Land, that none
Have Publike Good so much as in their Eye:
Sees they love nothing but themselves alone;
Which is part Intrest, and part Philautye.
Courtiers he sees (men That besiege a Throne)
How for true Doctrine they vent Flattery.
'Tis husbandry these like not in a King
To weed the Flow'rs out of his Corn in Spring.

He sees, how Those that owe a v•wed love
To Povertie, and Charitie to Men,
Love Riches onely, and to floate Above,
Pretending justice, and a Conscience clean.
They tell the People, what doth Them behove;
OBEDIENCE, in the deed, the Tongue, the Pen.
Laws they set up in favour of the CROWN,
Laws in the People's favour they pull down.

He sees, in fine, none love that which they should
But onely what complies with some vain lust:
Therefore his hands can he no longer hold
From punishments that may be sharp, yet just.
His Captains prickt, his Soldiers are inrol'd
Fit for a War which undertake he must,
With the misgovern'd World: whereby to quell
All that persist against him to rebel.

Swarms of these little Hov'rers (newly flown)
At several works, busie as Bees, are all:
Some whetting Arrow-Heads on blo•dy Hone,
Others the shafts of Arrows shaving small.
Working they sing, and sing of love alone,
And then that Love it is Seraphical:
In Parts; and in the burthen all do joyne;
The Ditty excellent, the Tune Divine.

On the immortal Anviles (where their Arts
They use, the steeled points to forge, and fit)
Instead of Embers there are burning Hearts,
Which bring their Bellows with them (panting yit):
The streams, with which they temper their steel'd darts,
Tears, which from miserable LOVERS flit:
The sparckling flame, the never•quenched fire,
(Which burns, and not consumes them) is desire.

Some of these Archers exercise their Hand
On the hard Bosomes of the Vulgar rude;
The bor'd Ayre hiss't (by this we understand
The sighings of the wounded multitude );
For Sugeons, Nymphs to Cur• them ready stand,
With Sov'raign Vertue to this end indu'd:
Who, to the Hurt not onely life can give,
But make, ev'n them that ne're were born to live.

Some of these Nymphs are faire, and some are not,
According to the Nature of the Wound:
Into the blood if once the Taint be got,
Oft ugly Treacle gives the Patient sound.
There are, whom Spells and Philters do besot;
Nayl'd to their Seates, they wiss not how and bound:
Where this is, LOVE hath us'd against fraile Hearts
Unlawful weapons, shooting poyson'd darts.

From these raw Soldiers, out of ranke and life,
A thousand rash, and senceless Darts are sped:
A thousand senceless loves are born the while
In the low People, to be pittied.
Ev'n amongst Those in highest Forms, of vile
And horrid Love are thousand […] read:
BIBLIS, and MYRRA, for one sex; for t'other,
Th'ASSYRIAN SON, and the JUDEAN BROTHER.

And you (Great Lords) by shepherdesses meane
Under the yoke of LOVE have oft been brought;
And you (great Ladies) with rude Clowns uncleane
In VULCAN'S subtle Nets have oft been caught:
Some, watching the dim fall of the Serene;
Some, pitchie Night, o re Tiles, or Walls to vaut.
Though for these sordid fires (if right we did)
More then the Son the Mother should be chid.

But the swift Coach now softly on the Green
The white Swans (ballanc't in their Harness) put;
On which DIONE (in whose Cheek is seen
The Snow-mixt Rose) sets light her milky foot.
The Archer meets her with a jocund meen
Who shoots at HEAV'N, and doth not miss the But.
With Him in Squadron his SUB-CUPIDS move,
To do their Homage to the QUEEN OF LOVE.

She (not to spend the pretious time in vain)
Snatching her Child up, confidently said;
Dear Son, in whom, and whose strong Arm, I raign;
And the Foundations of my Pow'r are laid;
Son, in whom all my strengths always remain;
Who feard st not Them; That made great JOVE afraid;
I have a special buis'ness to be done,
In which I greatly need thy pow'r my Son.

The LUSITANIANS, harast out, behold!
Who are my Care of long Antiquity;
Because my Friends (the Fates) to me had told,
Wheree're They go, my worshipt name should fly.
And, for they imitate my ROMANS old
In all Heroick Actions, therefore I
Resolve, for them to do a Guardian •s duty,
And raise the Posse of the Realm of Beauty.

And, since the malice of the God of Wine
Spun them new troubles upon Indian-ground,
When from the furies of the swelling Brine
They crope out weather-beaten, and half-drown•d;
Therefore in middle of the Sea (in fine)
Which they their bitter enemies have found,
And neer that INDIA, I would have them breathe,
And of their Labours the first-fruits •eceave.

As wanton Fishes then therein are strook,
So do Thou strike the fair NEREIDES;
That on these LUSITANIANS they may look
With amorous eyes, who carry home the Keys
Of their discover'd World. Sick with the Hook
Let them on shore an Isle; an Isle (in Seas
Immense) which I have deckt with all the Flow'rs
Or ZEPHYRUS breathes, out; or FLORA, pow'rs.

There with a thousand dishes delicate,
With oderiferous Wines, and R•ses sweet,
In crystal Palaces immaculate,
In lillie sheets (they whiter then the sheet)
In fine with thousand joys past Vulgar rate,
Let the obliging Nymphs their Heroes meet
(wounded with love) and yield up Nature's treasure,
To be all ransackt at the Victor's pleasure.

In NEPTUNE'S Realm (to which I owe my birth)
A fair and manly Off-spring would I have;
To serve for pattern to the Bastard-Earth,
Which with rebellious Heart thy pow'r doth brave:
That men may know, From Thee, the Foe of mirth
Hypocrisie, nor walls of brass can save.
Ill can it be resisted on the Land,
If in the Sea burn thy immortal Brand.

She had not ended when the Wag her Son
Prepares himself to do as he was told:
Calls for his Iv'ry Bow, ingrav•d upon,
Whose Arrow-points are tagg'd with heads of Gold.
Ravisht with joy the CYPHIAN PARRAGON
Sets the Boy by her, in her Coach, which troll'd,
The rains enlarged to those Birds, whose Song
The death of PHA•THON laments so long.

But we do want a certain necessary
Woman, to broke between them CUPID said;
Whom, though to Him she had been oft contrary,
Yet, of his side, he had as often made:
Rash Boaster, who both Lyes and Truths doth carry,
Sister to Them that did the Gods invade,
Who with a thousand Tongues spreads where she flyes,
That which she saw but with a hundred eyes.

Her find they out, and make her go before:
Who with a ratling Trumpet doth proclame
The Praises of the Navigators more
Then of all else she e're vouchsaf't to name.
Now in the hollows of the Rocks did roare,
And the hoarse Waves, the piercing voice of FAME.
Truth she relates, and Truth esteem'd to be,
For with the Goddess went CREDULITIE.

Brib'd with this Praise, this excellent Report,
The Gods (whom BACCHUS so inflam'd had erst
Against these gallant men, in NEPTUNE'S Court)
With passion for them are a little pierc't.
The female Breasts (that quit with less effort
The prejudices they receiv'd at first)
Now call it an ill Zeale, a cruel mind,
Which to such Vertue made them prove unkind.

The bloody Boy strikes while the Iron's hot.
Shafts, follow shafs, the Sea roares with his shoots.
Some, through the fickle Waves point blanck are shot:
Some, hit on Rocks; nor, to be rocks, it boots.
Down drop the Nymphs, each hath her deaths wound got,
All dart out burning sighs from their heart-Roots;
No Face yet seen: "For Shafts, which LOVE lets flye,
"Kill in the Eare as sure as in the Eye.

With doubled force the Lad, that tam'd was never,
Makes the two horns meet of his Iv'ry Mo•n.
More, then of All, he ayms at THETYS'S Liver:
For more then All hath she against him done.
Now not one shaft is left in all his Quiver
In all the Sea NYMPH left alive not one
Or if (being hurt) they live, it is for This,
That they may feel how sweet such dying is.

Make room, ye azure Billows of the DEEP:
Loe! VENUS comes, and brings the Med'cine with her!
The pregnant Sayles on NEPTUNE'S surface creep,
Like her own Swans, in Gate, out-chest, and Fether.
That their desires like equal pace may keep,
And neither to great LOVE complain of either,
The Mens bold fires shall press chaste HYMENS bands;
The Female-Blush do […]'S QUEENS commands.

All the faire Quire of the NEREIDES
Is now prepar'd, and in a lofty Dance
(After their loving custome) through the Seas
To th'Isle by VENUS shew'd, at once advance.
The skilful Goddess there erudiates These
In all she did, when LOVE her Breasts did lance.
They, whom the Son had conquer'd, are not nice
To listen to the Mother's sweet advice.

The lofty ships went cutting the vast Sea
In their long Voyage to their Countrey deare,
Least that, they had, should fail them by the way,
Prolling about for water fresh, and cleare.
When (to their suddain joy) at break of day
Th'inamour'd Isle doth to them All appeare.)
Streight MEMNON'S mother, delicate and faire,
Spread all her sweetness through the purged Ayre.

They see Aloofe the Island fresh, and green,
Which VENUS carries floating on the Main,
Just as the Wind does their white Sayles; and seen
The ships are from the Isle too, but not plain.
For, lest by Them o'reshot it should have been,
Making her Wish, and Preparations, vain;
(What cannot VENUS ACIDALIA do?
She mov'd it plum in the Armada's view.

But fixt it; when she saw, They saw, and sought
The Island with their Keels: so, on the Floods
Was DELOS fixt, when forth LATONA brought
APOLLO, and the GODDESSE OF THE WOODS.
Thither through sliced Seas their way they wrought
Where a calm Bay the crooking shore includes,
Whose gliss'ning Sands with interfused vains
Of purple Cockles CYTHEREA stains.

Three goodly Mountains with a graceful pride
Thrust their majestick Heads into the Ayre
(With green imbroydred Hangings beautify'de)
In this gay Isle delicious, fresh, and faire.
From their three Tops three crystal Springs did glide,
Lacing the Liv'ry their rich Margents ware.
Jumping on Peebles while their Crystals brake:
Such Musick never Water-works did make.

In a pure Valley which those Hills divides,
As by appointment the three Currents meet,
Shaping a Table with proportion'd sides,
Broad, and beyond imagination, sweet.
A Frenge of Trees hangs over it, and prides
It self, in so cleer Glass it self to greet:
Now prancks its locks therein, and now retires;
Now looks again, and its own form admires.

A thousand gallant Trees to Heav'n up-shoot
With apples, odoriferous, and faire:
The Orange-tree hath in her sightly fruit
The colour DAPHNE boasted in her Haire:
The Citron-tree bends almost to her Root
Under the yellow burthen which she bare:
The goodly Lemmons with their button-Caps,
Hang imitating Virgins fragrant Paps.

The savage-trees (That doe the Forest there
With leavie-Haire innoble and adorn)
Are, poplars of ALCIDES; Laurels, deare
In vain unto the GOLDEN GOD UNSHORN;
Myrtles of VENUS; the proud Pine severe,
That CYBELE for meaner love did scorn.
The speared Cypress, from this vale of Vice,
Stands pointing at CELESTIAL PARADICE:

The fruit POMONA gives, NATU• bestowes
Heer lib'rally, and in the kinds all good;
Better then elsewhere it in Gardens growes,
'Tis heer undrest, unplanted in the Wood;
The Cherry, that begs outside from the Rose;
The Mulberry, stain'd with true-Lovers blood;
The Peach, translated from its Mother-soile
In PERSIA, and made better by Exile.

Th'ingenuous Pomgranat shews his Heart,
With which Thou, Rubie, losest thy esteem:
From her lov'd Elme the Vine doth not depart,
Her Clusters loading Him, some red, some green:
And, Pear pyramidall, if loth thou art
To dye before thy time, hide thee between
The Leaves; for to anticipate thy Fate
Ten thousand feather'd-Minstrels lye in waite.

The fine and noble Carpets then (which there
Lye to be trod on by the meanest Plant)
Make those of PERSIA, course; and pleasanter
These of the gloomy Valley All will grant.
NARCISSUS, there, over the water cleere
Hangs his sick head, who what he had, did want.
There flaunts the Grand-child-Son of CYNARAS,
For whom Thou, PAPHIAN QUEEN, cry'st yet, alas!

It was not easie to be understood
(The self-same colours seeen in Skyes, and Bow'rs)
Whether AURORA lent the Flowers blood,
Or borrowed complexion of the Flow'rs
There, ZEPHYRUS and FLORA painting stood
The Vi'let, with the Pale of Paramours;
The Flow'r-de-lis, with blew; the lovely Rose,
Just such, as in a Virgin's cheek it blows.

The Lilly, white; in whose pure snow the print
Sits of the Morning's Tears: and Marjor•me:
The doleful ay, read in the Hyacint;
A Flow'r LATONA'S son loves for the name.
FLORA bets high POMONA knows no stint,
She Vyes with Flow'rs, with fruits This sees the Game:
Nor Flow'rs, and Fruits, are All that place affords;
The Earth hath Beasts besides, and the Ayre Birds.

Along the Lake the snowy Swan did sing,
Him PHILOMELA answers from a Bough;
ACTEON drinks out of the crystal Spring,
Nor fears the shadow of his horned Brow.
Here the close Hare (to whom her fear gives wing)
Starts from her Form; or, from a Brake the Row:
The wanton Sparrow, there, to his dear Nest
Bears in his Bill the little Chirpers feast.

The second ARGONAUTS now disembarke
From the tall ships into an EDEN green.
There, in this Isle, this Forest, or this Parke,
The fair Nymphs hide, with purpose to be seen.
Some touch the grave Theorba in shades darke,
Some the sweet Lute, and gentle Violeen:
Others with golden Cross-bows make a show
To hunt the Bruits, but do not hunt them though.

Thus counsell'd them their Mistress, and her Art's:
That so, the more their own desires they Master,
And seem a flying prey to their sweethearts,
It might make them to follow on the faster.
Some (who are Conscious that their skins have darts,
And put their trust in naked Alablaster)
Bathe in Diaphane streams, their Roabs by-thrown,
And ask no Ornament, but what's their own.

But the bold Striplings setting on the sand
Their nimble feet, which long'd to touch the ground.
(For not a man of them but came a land
To see what Savage Game might there be found)
Dreamt not to finde Game ready to their hand,
In that sweet Forest (without snare, or Hound)
So Debonayre, so tender, so benigne,
As was there hurt by means of ERICINE.

Some (who with Guns and Cross-bows make account
The Royal Stag, and Lordly Buck, to slay)
Through the sharp Bushes resolutely mount,
And lofty Forest; where no Foot-path lay.
Others in Shades (which PH•BUS'S Arrows blount)
Walking, or resting, while the Heats away
By those sweet Brooks, which (stumbling as they past
Over white Peebles) to the Sea did hast.

When suddainly, thorow the Green-wood leaves,
Variety of Colours they descry;
Colours, which soon the judging eye perceives
Are not of Roses, or fresh Flow'rs the dye:
But, of fine wool; or That, the rich worm weaves:
Of which LOVE makes his Lure, and Sawces high;
Of which their Garments Humane Roses make,
To make the Bird sell for the Feathers sake.

Amaz'd VELOSO with a lowd voice cry'd;
Strange Game (my masters) in this Forest rise:
The ancient Poets Tales are verify'd,
And this Isle s sacred to the DEITIES.
Nay, what to humane-fancy is deny'd
To hope, or comprehend, see with your Eyes!
And see, what wonders, what great blessings then,
The world and Nature hide from vulgar men!

Chase we these Goddesses; it shall be seen
If they be Real or Fantastical.
This said (more swift then Bucks o're Pastures green)
Through the rough Brakes and Woods darted they All.
The Nymphs went flying the thick boughs between,
Yet not so Swift, as Artificial.
Skreeking, and laughing softly in the close,
They let the Greyhounds gain upon the Does.

One's golden Tresses up the wind did blow,
The light coats of Another as she fled:
The desire, kindled by the naked Snow,
Upon the dainty Prospect (greedy) fed.
This falls on purpose, and whilst she doth go
To rise (with kindness, more then Anger, red)
He that pursues, falls over her; like one
That rubs the Mistress when his Bowle is gone.

Others (who Game in other Parts did seek)
Chop on the Goddesses that bathing were.
These suddainly begin a fearful shreek
As if they wonder'd to see Mortals there.
Some (sliding through the Laund their Bodies sleek,
As who should say; shame less, then force We fear)
Scud to the Cops, exposing to the Eye
What to the greedy Hand they did deny.

There is, That (hiding with a Veile of Glass
(DIANA-like) if not her Lims, her blushes)
Sinks where she stands: There is, That (on the grass
Snatching her Cloaths that lye) shoots through the Rushes.
Amongst the Rest, an eager Lad there was,
Rayments and all, into the Bath that brushes
(For, whilst he stript, he feard to lose the Game)
To quench in water his tormenting flame.

As a rough Water-dog, to fetch and seek
That's us d, and wait upon his Master's gun,
Seeing him lay the Steel-Cane to his Cheek,
Aym'd at a Duck, or Teal, to him well known;
Before the blow, into the stream or creek
(Sure of the Quarry) doth impatient rnn,
And, barking, swims: The Lad so, from the shore
Swam to the Nymph whom L•ve had shot before.

Another (LEONARD) whom Books adorn,
Stout, noble, handsom, amorous, and young;
On whom GOD CUPID had not cast one scorn,
But all his gall into his potion wrung;
So that he well might think, he was not born
To any luck in loving; yet, among
His faults, 'twas one, that on he still would play
(As Gamesters use) in hope 'twould turn one day.

'Twas here his fortune, in pursuit to fall
Of fair EPHYRE (LOVE'S own sister-Twin)
But one, who would give dearer then they All,
What Nature gave to Her to give agin.
On Her, He (spent with running) lowd doth call.
O Cruelty, lodg'd in too fair an Inn,
If to thy Shrine (quoth he) I'm vowed whole,
Stay for my Body, since thou hast my soul!

All (out of breath, and weary) Nimph divine,
Are yielding to the pressing Enemy.
Through Bryers and Thorns Thou onely still fly'st Thine:
Who told thee, I am I, that follow thee?
If thou were't told it by that star of mine,
Which, wheresoe're I fly, shoots after me;
Ah! do not credit That: For when as I
Did so, thou canst think how it would lye.

I tire with tyring Thee, my spirits wast;
And if thou fly, thereby to flye my touch,
I can assure thee (fair one) stay thou may'st,
And yet I ne're the neer, my star is such.
Stay, if thou please; and see but (if thou stay'st)
The slight of hand, the which my Fate (so much
In vain deplor'd) will finde at last, to reare
A Wall, between the Sickle and the Eare.

O flye me not! So may Time never flye
Thy Beauty out of sight. For, do but turn;
Dasht with the beams of thy Majestick Eye,
No sawcy fire in me will dare to burn.
What KING could break the force of destiny?
What ARMY conquer it? and mine hath sworn
To thwart me still. Yet stay: I'm happy than:
And thou shalt do what KINGS, nor ARMIE can.

With my malignant star doest Thou take part?
To help the stranger is not nobly done.
Carriest Thou with thee my Grief-loaden heart?
Send it me back, and thou wilt faster run.
That Soul of mine, grown heavy with long smart,
Hang'd in those Tresses which out-shine the Sun,
Does it not clog them? Or, since it came there,
Hath it chang'd mood, and weighs but for one Here?

With this hope onely thy white feet I trace,
That either Thou her weight will not indure,
Or she, by being in that heav'nly place,
Will change her luck, and better stars procure.
And, if that change, flye never such a pace,
LOVE can hit flying I am very sure;
And, if he hit, Thou't stay; and, on this score,
If thou do stay, of Heav'n I ask no more.

The fair Nymph now fled not so much to sell
The Jewel dear, for which the Lad pursu'd her;
As, the sweet Tunes to hear, that from him fell,
And amorous laments with which he woo'd her.
Her Eyes (now bath'd in smiles and tractabell)
Turn'd upon Him, who with his charms subdu'd her;
All melted in pure love, languidly sweet,
She lets her self fall at the Victor's feet.

O what devouring Kisses (multiply'd)
What pretty whimp'rings, did the Grove repeat!
What flatt'ring Force! What Anger which did chide
Itself, and laught when it began to threat!
What more then this the blushing MORNING spy'd,
And VENUS (adding Her's to the NOON'S heat)
Is better try'd, then guess'd, I must confess:
But Those who cannot try it, let them guess.

For first with all the Rites of wedlock joyn'd
Were the lov'd Sea-men to th'AQUATICK POW'RS:
What gentle Tongue, and what white Hand could bind,
The Nymphs had added in those sacred Bow'rs.
And now their Lovers heads they crowned (kind)
With gold, and Lawrel, and abounding Flow'rs:
Promise, to keep them company for ever;
Whom life, or death with honor, shall not sever.

The Chief of them (whom all the rest went after,
And did obey in all things her behest,
Of URANUS and Holy VESTA Daughter,
As by her Face was easie to be guest,
Filling with wonderment both Earth, and Water)
Th'illustrious Captain, worthy of the Best,
With grave and Royal Ceremonies took:
Shewing her Greatness in her Pompe and Look.

HIM (whom she first acquainted with her name,
Then, in a kind exordium mixt with state,
Gave him to understand she Thither came
By the immutable decree of Fate;
To Him of the promiscuous Globe and Frame
Of the vast EARTH, and OCEAN, to relate
Parts undiscover'd, by Prophetick Spirit:
Which He alone, and his brave SPANIARDS merit)

Taking up with her by the hand, she led
Unto a Mountain's top, high and divine;
Where a rich Pyle erected the prowd head,
Of crystal all, with massive gold and fine.
Here all the live-long day they rioted
In full delight. and sports to sports that joyn.
Within the Palace she injoys her love:
The others theirs within the flow'ry Grove.

Thus, the fair Bevy, thus the Valiant Crew,
Divide the How'rs by innocent, by chast
Delights, and such as Mortals never knew,
In recompence of so long labours past.
And thus the meed, to such high Actions due
Of noble Prowess; ev'n the World at last
Pays (in despight of Envy) with the sound
Of a great Name; which Time, nor Place shall bound.

For these fair Daughters of the OCEAN,
THETYS, and the Angellick pensil'd ISLE,
Are nothing, but sweet Honour, which These wan;
With whatsoever makes a life not vile.
The priviledges of the MARTIAL MAN,
The Palm, the Lawrell'd Triumph, the rich spoile;
The Admiration purchac't by his sword;
These are the joys, this Island doth afford.

So those false Godships which ANTIQUITIE,
To all illustrious Men a zealous Frend,
In Starry Heav'ns created, to which shee
Made them on towring wings of Fame t'ascend,
For honorable Acts they did, for free
And noble Suff'rings (VERTUE'S path, the end
Whereof, is smooth and pleasant like our Isle,
Though it self craggie, steep, and full of toile.)

What meant they, but an Immortality
Giv'n by the World for Actions Soveraign,
To such as ARTS, or ARMS, advanc'd t'a high
And heav'nly pitch, being born of humane strain?
For JOVE, APOLLO, MARS, and MERCURY,
AENEAS, ROMULUS, the THEBANS TWAIN,
JUNO, DIANA, CERES, PALLAS; All
Dwell (as you doe) in brittle Earthen Wall.

But FAME (the Trumpet of deeds great and good)
Gave them new Names and Titles on the Earth;
GODS of the whole, and GODS of the half-blood,
GODS by Adoption, and GODS by Birth.
If ye love Fame then, if make These ye wou'd,
(As Men) your patterns, though (as Gods) your Mirth,
Fly Sloath; by which the SOULE, which Heaven gave
To be the BODY'S Queen, becomes its Slave.

Curbe, with a Bit of Iron, AVARICE;
AMBITION curb, to which y'are too too prone;
And curb the black and detestable Vice
Of TYRANNY, and base OPPRESSION.
"For these vain Honours, this false Gold, give price
"(Unless he have it in himself) to none,
"Better deserve them, and to goe without;
"Then have them undeserved, without doubt.

Either in peace promote impartiall Laws,
That so great Fish devour not the small Fry;
Or (armed) tear out of the Great TURKS jaws
The Christians prey, on which he stretcht doth lye.
The Kingdom's greatness, by this means ye'll cause;
Nor lessen, but augment, your own, thereby.
In Riches merited ye will abound;
And with true Honor have your Temples crown'd.

And to your KING ye so pretend to prize,
Ye shall bring honour; now, with Councels grave:
Now, with your Swords, which will immortalize
You, as they have done your Fore-Fathers brave.
I ask you not Impossibilities:
"He That will, always can. Then, each shall have
A HERO'S place: or (if that more may move)
Be Denizen'd into this ISLE OF LOVE.