Ne worfe to you my fillie fheepe I pray,
Ne forer vengeance with on you to fall
Than to my felfe, for whofe confufde decay
To careleffe heauens I doo daylie call:
But heauens refuse to heare a wretches cry,
And cruell death doth fcorne to come at call,
Or graunt his boone that most defires to dye. /
The good and righteous he away doth take,
To plague th' vnrighteous which aliue remaine :
But the vngodly ones he doth forfake,
By liuing long to multiplie their paine:
Els furely death fhould be no punishment,
As the great Iudge at firft did it ordaine,
But rather riddance from long languifhment.
Therefore my Daphne they haue tane away;
For worthie of a better place was fhe:
But me vnworthie willed here to stay,
That with her lacke I might tormented be.
Sith then they fo haue ordred, I will pay
Penance to her according their decree,
And to her ghoft doe feruice day by day.
For I will walke this wandring pilgrimage,
Throuhout the world from one to other end,
And in affliction waste my better age.
My bread fhall be the anguifh of my mynd,
My drink the teares which fro my eyes do raine,
My bed the ground that hardeft I may fynd:
So will I wilfully increafe my paine.
And the my loue that was, my Saint that is,
When she beholds from her celestiall throne,
(In which shee ioyeth in eternall blis)
My bitter penance, will my case bemone,
And pitie me that liuing thus doo die:
For heauenly spirits haue compassion
On mortall men, and rue their miserie.
So when I haue with sorrow satisfyde
Th' importune fates, which vengeance on me feeke,
And th' eauens with long languor pacifyde,
She for pure pitie of my fufferance meeke,
Will fend for me; for which I daylie long,
And will till then my painfull penance eeke:
Weepe Shepheard, weepe to make my vnderfong.
5 Hencefoorth I hate what euer Nature made,
And in her workmanship no pleasure finde :
For they be all but vaine, and quickly fade,
So foone as on them blowes the Northern winde,
They tarrie not, but flit and fall away,
Leauing behind them nought but griefe of minde,
And mocking fuch as thinke they long will stay.
I hate the heauen, because it doth withhould
Me from my loue, and eke my loue from me;
I hate the earth, because it is the mould.
Of fleshly flime and fraile mortalitie;
I hate the fire, because to nought it flyes,
I hate the Ayre, because sighes of it be,
I hate the Sea, because it teares fupplyes.
I hate the day, because it lendeth light.
To fee all things, and not my loue to fee;
I hate the darkneffe and the dreary night,
Because they breed fad balefulnesse in mee:
I hate all times, because all times doo fly
So faft away, and may not stayed bee,
But as a speedie post that passeth by. /
I hate to speake, my voyce is spent with crying:
I hate to heare, lowd plaints haue duld mine eares:
I hate to taft, for food withholds my dying:
I hate to fee, mine eyes are dimd with teares:
I hate to fmell, no fweet on earth is left:
I hate to feele, my fleth is numbd with feares :
So all my fenfes from me are bereft.
I hate all men, and fhun all womankinde;
The one, becaufe as I they wretched are,
The other, for because I doo not finde
My loue with them, that wont to be their Starre;
And life I hate, because it will not last,
And death I hate, because it life doth marre,
And all I hate, that is to come or past.
So all the world, and all in it I hate,
Because it changeth euer too and fro,
And neuer standeth in one certaine state,
But ftill vnftedfaft round about doth goe,
Like a Mill wheele, in midft of miferie,
Driuen with ftreames of wretchedneffe and woe,
That dying liues, and liuing ftill does dye.
So doo I liue, so doo I daylie die,
And pine away in felfe-consuming paine,
Sith fhe that did my vitall powres supplie,
And feeble spirits in their force maintaine
Is fetcht fro me, why feeke I to prolong
My wearie daies in dolour and difdaine?
Weepe Shepheard weepe to make my vnderfong.
6 Why / doo I longer liue in lifes despight?
And doo not dye then in defpight of death:
Why doo I longer fee this loathsome light,
And doo in darkneffe not abridge my breath,
Sith all my forrow fhould haue end thereby,
And cares finde quiet; is it so vneath
To leaue this life, or dolorous to dye?
To liue I finde it deadly dolorous;
For life drawes care, and care continuall woe :
Therefore to dye muft needes be ioyeous,
And wifhfull thing this fad life to forgoe.
But I must stay; I may it not amend,
My Daphne hence departing bad me fo,
She bad me stay, till fhe for me did fend.
Yet whileft I in this wretched vale doo stay,
My wearie feete fhall euer wandring be,
That still I may be readie on my way,
When as her messenger doth come for me:
Ne will I reft my feete for feebleneffe,
Ne will I rest my limmes for frailtie,
Ne will I reft mine eyes for heauineffe.
But as the mother of the Gods, that fought
For faire Eurydice her daughter deere
Throghout the world, with wofull heauie thought;
So will I trauell whileft I tarrie heere,
Ne will I lodge, ne will I euer lin,
Ne when as drouping Titan draweth neere
To loose his teeme, will I take vp my Inne. /
Ne fleepe (the harbenger of wearie wights)
Shall euer lodge vpon mine eye-lids more;
Ne fhall with reft refresh my fainting fprights,
Nor failing force to former ftrength restore,
But I will wake and forrow all the night
With Philumene, my fortune to deplore,
With Philumene, the partner of my plight.
And euer as I see the starre to fall,
And vnder ground to goe, to giue them light
Which dwell in darkneffe, I to mind will call,
How my faire Starre (that fhind on me fo bright) 480 Fell fodainly, and faded vnder ground;
Since whofe departure, day is turnd to night,
And night without a Venus ftarre is found.
But foone as day doth fhew his deawie face,
And cals foorth men vnto their toylfome trade
I will withdraw me to fome darkefome place,
Or fome d[r]eere caue, or folitarie shade,
There will I figh, and forrow all day long,
And the huge burden of my cares vnlade:
Weepe Shepheard, weepe, to make my vnderfong. 490
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