Who wondrous wroth for that fo foule defpight,
In great auenge did roll downe from his hill
Huge mightie ftones, the which encomber might
His paffage, and his water-courses spill.
So of a Riuer, which he was of old,
He none was made, but scattred all to nought,
And loft emong thofe rocks into him rold,
Did lofe his name: fo deare his loue he bought.
Which hauing faid, him Theftylis befpake,
Now by my life this was a me y lay:
Worthie of Colin felfe, that did it make.
But read now eke of friendship I thee pray,
What dittie did that other fhepheard fing?
For I do couet moft the fame to heare,
As men vse most to couet forreine thing
That shall I eke (quoth he) to you declare.
His fong was all a lamentable lay,
Ah my loues queene, and goddeffe of my life,
Who fhall me pittie, when thou doeft me wrong?
Then/gan a gentle bonylaffe to speake,
That Marin hight, Right well he fure did plaine:
That could great Cynthiaes fore displeasure break:e,
And moue to take him to her grace againe.
But tell on further Colin, as befell
Twixt him and thee, that thee did hence diffuade.
When thus our pipes we both had wearied well, 180
(Quoth he) and each an end of finging made,
He gan to caft great lyking to my lore,
And great diflyking to my luckleffe lot:
That banisht had my felfe, like wight forlore,
Into that waste, where I was quite forgot.
The which to leaue, thenceforth he counfeld mee,
Vnmeet for man, in whom was ought regardfull,
And wend with him, his Cynthia to fee:
Whose grace was great, & bounty most rewardfull.
Besides her peerlesse skill in making well
And all the ornaments of wondrous wit,
Such as all womankynd did far excell:
Such as the world admyr'd and praised it :
So what with hope of good, and hate of ill,
He me perfwaded forth with him to fare.
Nought tooke I with me, but mine oaten quill:
Small needments elfe need fhepheard to prepare.
So to the sea we came; the sea? that is
A world of waters heaped vp on hie,
Rolling like mountaines in wide wildernesse,
Horrible, hideous, roarir g with hoarse crie.
And is the fea (quoth Coridon) so fearfull? Fearful much more (quoth he) the hart can fear: Thousand/wyld beasts with deep mouthes gaping direfull Therein ftil wait poore passengers to teare.
Who life doth loath, and longs death to behold,
Before he die, alreadie dead with feare:
And yet would liue with heart halfe ftonie cold,
Let him to sea, and he shall see it there.
And yet as ghaftly dreadfull, as it seemes,
Bold men prefuming life for gaine to fell,
Dare tempt that gulf, and in those wandring ftremes Seek waies vnknowne, waies leading down to hell.
For as we ftood there waiting on the ftrond,
Behold an huge great veffell to vs came,
Dauncing vpon the waters back to lond,
As if it fcornd the daunger of the fame;
Yet was it but a wooden frame and fraile,
Glewed togither with fome fubtile matter,
Yet had it armes and wings, and head and taile,
And life to moue it felfe vpon the water.
Strange thing, how bold & fwift the monster was,
That neither car'd for wynd, nor haile, nor raine,
Nor fwelling waues, but thorough them did paffe
So proudly, that she made them roare againe.
The fame aboord vs gently did receaue,
And without harme vs farre away did beare,
So farre that land our mother vs did leaue,
And nought but fea and heauen to vs appeare.
Then hartleffe quite and full of inward feare,
That fhepheard I befought to me to tell,
Vnder what fkie, or in what world we were,
In which I faw no liuing people dwell.
Whome recomforting all that he might,
Told me that that fame was the Regiment
Of a great shepheardeffe, that Cynthia hight,
His liege his Ladie, and his lifes Regient.
If then (quoth I) a fhepheardesse she bee,
Where be the flockes and heards, which the doth keep?
And where may I the hills and paftures fee,
On which the vfeth for to feed her fheepe?
These be the hills (quoth he) the furges hie,
On which faire Cynthia her heards doth feed :
Her heards be thoufand fifhes with their frie,
Which in the bofome of the billowes breed.
Of them the shepheard which hath charge in chief,
Is Triton blowing loud his wreathed horne:
At found whereof, they all for their relief
Wend too and fro at euening and at morne.
And Proteus eke with him does driue his heard
Of stinking Seales and Porcpifces together,
With hoary head and deawy dropping beard,
Compelling them which way he lift, and whether.
And I among the rest of many least,
Haue in the Ocean charge to me assignd:
Where I will liue or die at her beheast,
And ferue and honour her with faithfull mind.
Besides an hundred Nymphs all heauenly borne,
And of immortall race, doo still attend
To wash faire Cynthiaes fheep whe they be fhorne, 260
And fold them vp, when they haue made an end.
Those be the shepheards which my Cynthia serue,
At fea, beside a thousand moe at land:
For / land and fea my Cynthia doth deferue
To haue in her commandement at hand.
Thereat I wondred much, till wondring more
And more, at length we land far off descryde:
Which fight much gladed me; for much afore
I feard, least land we neuer should haue eyde:
Thereto our ship her course directly bent,
As if the way the perfectly had knowne.
We Lunday passe; by that same name is ment
An Island, which the first to weft was fhowne.
From thence another world of land we kend,
Floting amid the sea in ieopardie,
And round about with mightie white rocks hemd,
Against the seas encroching crueltie.
Those fame the fhepheard told me, were the fields
In which dame Cynthia her landheards fed:
Faire goodly fields, then which Armulla yields
None fairer, nor more fruitfull to be red.
The first to which we nigh approched, was
An high headland thruft far into the fea,
Like to an horne, whereof the name it has,
Yet feemed to be a goodly pleasant lea :
There did a loftie mount at first vs greet,
Which did a ftately heape of ftones vpreare,
That feemd amid the furges for to fleet,
Much greater then that frame, which vs did beare:
There did our fhip her fruitfull wombe vnlade,
And put vs all ahore on Cynthias land.
What land is that thou meanft (then Cuddy sayd) And is there other, then whereon we ftand?
Ah Cuddy (then quoth Colin) thous a fon,
That haft not feene leaft part of natures worke
Much more there is vnkend, then thou doeft kon,
And much more that does from mens knowledge lurke.
For that fame land much larger is then this,
And other men and bafts and birds doth feed:
There fruitfull corne, faire trees, fresh herbage is
And all things elfe that liuing creatures need.
Befides moft goodly riuers there appeare,
No whit inferiour to thy Funchins praife,
Or vnto Allo or to Mulla cleare :
Nought haft thou foolish boy feene in thy daies,
But if that land be there (quoth he) as here,
And is theyr heauen likewife there all one?
And if like heauen, be heauenly graces there,
Like as in this fame world where we do wone?
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