Part 31

Not in MS.

IN LIBRUM. IX.

Liber doth vaunt how chastely he hath liv'd Since he hath been in town, seven years and more, For that he swears he hath four only swiv'd, A maid, a wife, a widow, and a whore: Then, Liber, thou hast swiv'd all womenkind, For a fifth sort, I know, thou canst not find.

FOOTNOTES:

MS. "knowen this towne 7 yeares."

IN MEDONTEM. X.

Great Captain Medon wears a chain of gold Which at five hundred crowns is valuËd, For that it was his grandsire's chain of old, When great King Henry Boulogne conquerËd. And wear it, Medon, for it may ensue, That thou, by virtue of this massy chain, A stronger town than Boulogne mayst subdue, If wise men's saws be not reputed vain; For what said Philip, king of Macedon? "There is no castle so well fortified, 10 But if an ass laden with gold comes on, The guard will stoop, and gates fly open wide."

IN GELAM. XI.

Gella, if thou dost love thyself, take heed Lest thou my rhymes unto thy lover read; For straight thou grinn'st, and then thy lover seeth Thy canker-eaten gums and rotten teeth.

IN QUINTUM. XII.

Quintus his wit, infus'd into his brain, Mislikes the place, and fled into his feet; And there it wanders up and down the street, Dabbled in the dirt, and soakËd in the rain. Doubtless his wit intends not to aspire, Which leaves his head, to travel in the mire.

FOOTNOTES:

Not in MS.

Old eds. "streets."

IN SEVERUM. XIII.

The puritan Severus oft doth read This text, that doth pronounce vain speech a sin,-- "That thing defiles a man, that doth proceed From out the mouth, not that which enters in." Hence is it that we seldom hear him swear; And therefore like a Pharisee, he vaunts: But he devours more capons in a year Than would suffice a hundred protestants. And, sooth, those sectaries are gluttons all, As well the thread-bare cobbler as the knight; 10 For those poor slaves which have not wherewithal, Feed on the rich, till they devour them quite; And so, like Pharaoh's kine, they eat up clean Those that be fat, yet still themselves be lean.

IN LEUCAM. XIV.

Leuca in presence once a fart did let: Some laugh'd a little; she forsook the place; And, mad with shame, did eke her glove forget, Which she return'd to fetch with bashful grace; And when she would have said "this is my glove," "My fart," quod she; which did more laughter move.

FOOTNOTES:

Not in MS.

So Isham copy.--Other eds. omit the words "this is."

IN MACRUM. XV.

Thou canst not speak yet, Macer; for to speak, Is to distinguish sounds significant: Thou with harsh noise the air dost rudely break; But what thou utter'st common sense doth want,-- Half-English words, with fustian terms among, Much like the burden of a northern song.

IN FAUSTUM. XVI.

"That youth," said Faustus, "hath a lion seen, Who from a dicing-house comes moneyless." But when he lost his hair, where had he been? I doubt me, he had seen a lioness.

FOOTNOTES:

So MS. and eds. B, C. Not in Isham copy or ed. A.

IN COSMUM. XVII.