is one: (Roscida per tenebras Faunus ad antra venit), for her sweet
sake he will undertake Hercules's twelve labours, endure, hazard, &c.,
he feels it not. [5427]What shall I say, saith Haedus, of their great
dangers they undergo, single combats they undertake, how they will
venture their lives, creep in at windows, gutters, climb over walls to
come to their sweethearts, (anointing the doors and hinges with oil,
because they should not creak, tread soft, swim, wade, watch, &c.), and
if they be surprised, leap out at windows, cast themselves headlong
down, bruising or breaking their legs or arms, and sometimes loosing
life itself, as Calisto did for his lovely Melibaea. Hear some of their
own confessions, protestations, complaints, proffers, expostulations,
wishes, brutish attempts, labours in this kind. Hercules served
Omphale, put on an apron, took a distaff and spun; Thraso the soldier
was so submissive to Thais, that he was resolved to do whatever she
enjoined. [5428]Ego me Thaidi dedam; et faciam quod jubet, I am at her
service. Philostratus in an epistle to his mistress, [5429]I am ready
to die sweetheart if it be thy will; allay his thirst whom thy star
hath scorched and undone, the fountains and rivers deny no man drink
that comes; the fountain doth not say thou shalt not drink, nor the
apple thou shalt not eat, nor the fair meadow walk not in me, but thou
alone wilt not let me come near thee, or see thee, contemned and
despised I die for grief. Polienus, when his mistress Circe did but
frown upon him in Petronius, drew his sword, and bade her [5430]kill,
stab, or whip him to death, he would strip himself naked, and not
resist. Another will take a journey to Japan, Longae navigationis
molestis non curans: a third (if she say it) will not speak a word for
a twelvemonth's space, her command shall be most inviolably kept: a
fourth will take Hercules's club from him, and with that centurion in
the Spanish [5431]Caelestina, will kill ten men for his mistress
Areusa, for a word of her mouth he will cut bucklers in two like
pippins, and flap down men like flies, Elige quo mortis genere illum
occidi cupis? [5432]Galeatus of Mantua did a little more: for when he
was almost mad for love of a fair maid in the city, she, to try him
belike what he would do for her sake, bade him in jest leap into the
river Po if he loved her; he forthwith did leap headlong off the bridge
and was drowned. Another at Ficinum in like passion, when his mistress
by chance (thinking no harm I dare swear) bade him go hang, the next
night at her doors hanged himself. [5433]Money (saith Xenophon) is a
very acceptable and welcome guest, yet I had rather give it my dear
Clinia than take it of others, I had rather serve him than command
others, I had rather be his drudge than take my ease, undergo any
danger for his sake than live in security. For I had rather see Clinia
than all the world besides, and had rather want the sight of all other
things than him alone; I am angry with the night and sleep that I may
not see him, and thank the light and sun because they show me my
Clinia; I will run into the fire for his sake, and if you did but see
him, I know that you likewise would run with me. So Philostratus to his
mistress, [5434]Command me what you will, I will do it; bid me go to
sea, I am gone in an instant, take so many stripes, I am ready, run
through the fire, and lay down my life and soul at thy feet, 'tis done.
So did. Aeolus to Juno.
———Tuus o regina quod optas
Explorare labor, mihi jussa capescere fas est.
O queen it is thy pains to enjoin me still,
And I am bound to execute thy will.
And Phaedra to Hippolitus,
Me vel sororem Hippolite aut famulam voca,
Famulamque potius, omne servitium feram.
O call me sister, call me servant, choose,
Or rather servant, I am thine to use.
[5435]Non me per altas ire si jubeas nives,
Pigeat galatis ingredi Pindi jugis,
Non si per ignes ire aut infesta agmina
Cuncter, paratus [5436]ensibus pectus dare,
Te tunc jubere, me decet jussa exequi.
It shall not grieve me to the snowy hills,
Or frozen Pindus' tops forthwith to climb.
Or run through fire, or through an army,
Say but the word, for I am always thine.
Callicratides in [5437]Lucian breaks out into this passionate speech, O
God of Heaven, grant me this life for ever to sit over against my
mistress, and to hear her sweet voice, to go in and out with her, to
have every other business common with her; I would labour when she
labours; sail when she sails; he that hates her should hate me; and if
a tyrant kill her, he should kill me; if she should die, I would not
live, and one grave should hold us both. [5438]Finiet illa meos moriens
morientis amores. Abrocomus in [5439]Aristaenetus makes the like
petition for his Delphia, —[5440]Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam lubens.
I desire to live with thee, and I am ready to die with thee. 'Tis the
same strain which Theagines used to his Chariclea, so that I may but
enjoy thy love, let me die presently: Leander to his Hero, when he
besought the sea waves to let him go quietly to his love, and kill him
coming back. [5441]Parcite dum propero, mergite dum redeo. Spare me
whilst I go, drown me as I return. 'Tis the common humour of them all,
to contemn death, to wish for death, to confront death in this case,
Quippe queis nec fera, nec ignis, neque praecipitium, nec fretum, nec
ensis, neque laqueus gravia videntur; 'Tis their desire (saith Tyrius)
to die.
Haud timet mortem, cupit ire in ipsos
———obvius enses.
He does not fear death, he desireth such upon the very swords. Though a
thousand dragons or devils keep the gates, Cerberus himself, Scyron and
Procrastes lay in wait, and the way as dangerous, as inaccessible as
hell, through fiery flames and over burning coulters, he will adventure
for all this. And as [5442]Peter Abelard lost his testicles for his
Heloise, he will I say not venture an incision, but life itself. For
how many gallants offered to lose their lives for a night's lodging
with Cleopatra in those days! and in the hour or moment of death, 'tis
their sole comfort to remember their dear mistress, as [5443]Zerbino
slain in France, and Brandimart in Barbary; as Arcite did his Emily.
[5444]———when he felt death,
Dusked been his eyes, and faded is his breath
But on his lady yet casteth he his eye,
His last word was, mercy Emely,
His spirit chang'd, and out went there,
Whether I cannot tell, ne where.
[5445]When Captain Gobrius by an unlucky accident had received his
death's wound, heu me miserum exclamat, miserable man that I am,
(instead of other devotions) he cries out, shall I die before I see my
sweetheart Rhodanthe? Sic amor mortem, (saith mine author) aut quicquid
humanitus accidit, aspernatur, so love triumphs, contemns, insults over
death itself. Thirteen proper young men lost their lives for that fair
Hippodamias' sake, the daughter of Onomaus, king of Elis: when that
hard condition was proposed of death or victory, they made no account
of it, but courageously for love died, till Pelops at last won her by a
sleight. [5446]As many gallants desperately adventured their dearest
blood for Atalanta, the daughter of Schenius, in hope of marriage, all
vanquished and overcame, till Hippomenes by a few golden apples happily
obtained his suit. Perseus, of old, fought with a sea monster for
Andromeda's sake; and our St. George freed the king's daughter of Sabea
(the golden legend is mine author) that was exposed to a dragon, by a
terrible combat. Our knights errant, and the Sir Lancelots of these
days, I hope will adventure as much for ladies' favours, as the Squire
of Dames, Knight of the Sun, Sir Bevis of Southampton, or that renowned
peer,
[5447]Orlando, who long time had loved dear
Angelica the fair, and for her sake
About the world in nations far and near,
Did high attempts perform and undertake;
he is a very dastard, a coward, a block and a beast, that will not do
as much, but they will sure, they will; for it is an ordinary thing for
these inamoratos of our time to say and do more, to stab their arms,
carouse in blood, [5448]or as that Thessalian Thero, that bit off his
own thumb, provocans rivalem ad hoc aemulandum, to make his co-rival do
as much. 'Tis frequent with them to challenge the field for their lady
and mistress' sake, to run a tilt,
[5449]That either bears (so furiously they meet)
The other down under the horses' feet,
and then up and to it again,
And with their axes both so sorely pour,
That neither plate nor mail sustain'd the stour,
But riveld wreak like rotten wood asunder,
And fire did flash like lightning after thunder;
and in her quarrel, to fight so long [5450]till their headpiece,
bucklers be all broken, and swords hacked like so many saws, for they
must not see her abused in any sort, 'tis blasphemy to speak against
her, a dishonour without all good respect to name her. 'Tis common with
these creatures, to drink [5451]healths upon their bare knees, though
it were a mile to the bottom, no matter of what mixture, off it comes.
If she bid them they will go barefoot to Jerusalem, to the great Cham's
court, [5452] to the East Indies, to fetch her a bird to wear in her
hat: and with Drake and Candish sail round about the world for her
sweet sake, adversis ventis, serve twice seven years, as Jacob did for
Rachel; do as much as [5453]Gesmunda, the daughter of Tancredus, prince
of Salerna, did for Guisardus, her true love, eat his heart when he
died; or as Artemisia drank her husband's bones beaten to powder, and
so bury him in herself, and endure more torments than Theseus or Paris.
Et his colitur Venus magis quam thure, et victimis, with such
sacrifices as these (as [5454] Aristaenetus holds) Venus is well
pleased. Generally they undertake any pain, any labour, any toil, for
their mistress' sake, love and admire a servant, not to her alone, but
to all her friends and followers, they hug and embrace them for her
sake; her dog, picture, and everything she wears, they adore it as a
relic. If any man come from her, they feast him, reward him, will not
be out of his company, do him all offices, still remembering, still
talking of her:
[5455]Nam si abest quod ames, praesto simulacra tamen sunt
Illius, et nomen dulce observatur ad aures.
The very carrier that comes from him to her is a most welcome guest;
and if he bring a letter, she will read it twenty times over, and as
[5456] Lucretia did by Euryalus, kiss the letter a thousand times
together, and then read it: And [5457]Chelidonia by Philonius, after
many sweet kisses, put the letter in her bosom,
And kiss again, and often look thereon,
And stay the messenger that would be gone:
And asked many pretty questions, over and over again, as how he looked,
what he did, and what he said? In a word,
[5458]Vult placere sese amicae, vult mihi, vult pedissequae,
Vult famulis, vult etiam ancillis, et catulo meo.
He strives to please his mistress, and her maid,
Her servants, and her dog, and's well apaid.
If he get any remnant of hers, a busk-point, a feather of her fan, a
shoe-tie, a lace, a ring, a bracelet of hair,
[5459]Pignusque direptum lacertis;
Aut digito male pertinaci,
he wears it for a favour on his arm, in his hat, finger, or next his
heart. Her picture he adores twice a day, and for two hours together
will not look off it; as Laodamia did by Protesilaus, when he went to
war, [5460]'sit at home with his picture before her;' a garter or a
bracelet of hers is more precious than any saint's relic, he lays it up
in his casket, (O blessed relic) and every day will kiss it: if in her
presence, his eye is never off her, and drink he will where she drank,
if it be possible, in that very place, &c. If absent, he will walk in
the walk, sit under that tree where she did use to sit, in that bower,
in that very seat,—et foribus miser oscula figit, [5461]many years
after sometimes, though she be far distant and dwell many miles off, he
loves yet to walk that way still, to have his chamber-window look that
way: to walk by that river's side, which (though far away) runs by the
house where she dwells, he loves the wind blows to that coast.
[5462]O quoties dixi Zephyris properantibus illuc,
Felices pulchram visuri Amaryllada venti.
O happy western winds that blow that way,
For you shall see my love's fair face to day.
He will send a message to her by the wind.
[5463]Vos aurae Alpinae, placidis de montibus aurae,
Haec illi portate,———
[5464]he desires to confer with some of her acquaintance, for his heart
is still with her, [5465]to talk of her, admiring and commending her,
lamenting, moaning, wishing himself anything for her sake, to have
opportunity to see her, O that he might but enjoy her presence! So did
Philostratus to his mistress, [5466]O happy ground on which she treads,
and happy were I if she would tread upon me. I think her countenance
would make the rivers stand, and when she comes abroad, birds will sing
and come about her.
Ridebunt valles, ridebunt obvia Tempe,
In florem viridis protinus ibi humus.
The fields will laugh, the pleasant valleys burn,
And all the grass will into flowers turn.
Omnis Ambrosiam spirabit aura. [5467]When she is in the meadow, she is
fairer than any flower, for that lasts but for a day, the river is
pleasing, but it vanisheth on a sudden, but thy flower doth not fade,
thy stream is greater than the sea. If I look upon the heaven, methinks
I see the sun fallen down to shine below, and thee to shine in his
place, whom I desire. If I look upon the night, methinks I see two more
glorious stars, Hesperus and thyself. A little after he thus courts his
mistress, [5468] If thou goest forth of the city, the protecting gods
that keep the town will run after to gaze upon thee: if thou sail upon
the seas, as so many small boats, they will follow thee: what river
would not run into the sea? Another, he sighs and sobs, swears he hath
Cor scissum, a heart bruised to powder, dissolved and melted within
him, or quite gone from him, to his mistress' bosom belike, he is in an
oven, a salamander in the fire, so scorched with love's heat; he
wisheth himself a saddle for her to sit on, a posy for her to smell to,
and it would not grieve him to be hanged, if he might be strangled in
her garters: he would willingly die tomorrow, so that she might kill
him with her own hands. [5469]Ovid would be a flea, a gnat, a ring,
Catullus a sparrow,
[5470]O si tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem,
Et tristes animi levare curas.
[5471]Anacreon, a glass, a gown, a chain, anything,
Sed speculum ego ipse fiam,
Ut me tuum usque cernas,
Et vestis ipse fiam,
Ut me tuum usque gestes.
Mutari et opto in undam,
Lavem tuos ut artus,
Nardus puella fiam,
Ut ego teipsum inungam,
Sim fascia in papillis,
Tuo et monile collo.
Fiamque calceus, me
Saltem ut pede usque calces.
[5472]But I a looking-glass would be,
Still to be look'd upon by thee,
Or I, my love, would be thy gown,
By thee to be worn up and down;
Or a pure well full to the brims,
That I might wash thy purer limbs:
Or, I'd be precious balm to 'noint,
With choicest care each choicest joint;
Or, if I might, I would be fain
About thy neck thy happy chain,
Or would it were my blessed hap
To be the lawn o'er thy fair pap.
Or would I were thy shoe, to be
Daily trod upon by thee.
O thrice happy man that shall enjoy her: as they that saw Hero in
Museus, and [5473]Salmacis to Hermaphroditus,
[5474]———Felices mater, &c. felix nutrix.—
Sed longe cunctis, longeque beatior ille,
Quem fructu sponsi et socii dignabere lecti.
The same passion made her break out in the comedy, [5475]Nae illae
fortunatae, sunt quae cum illo cubant, happy are his bedfellows; and as
she said of Cyprus, [5476]Beata quae illi uxor futura esset, blessed is
that woman that shall be his wife, nay, thrice happy she that shall
enjoy him but a night. [5477]Una nox Jovis sceptro aequiparanda, such a
night's lodging is worth Jupiter's sceptre.
[5478]Qualis nox erit illa, dii, deaeque,
Quam mollis thorus?
O what a blissful night would it be, how soft, how sweet a bed! She
will adventure all her estate for such a night, for a nectarean, a
balsam kiss alone.
[5479]Qui te videt beatus est,
Beatior qui te audiet,
Qui te potitur est Deus.
The sultan of Sana's wife in Arabia, when she had seen Vertomannus,
that comely traveller, lamented to herself in this manner, [5480]O God,
thou hast made this man whiter than the sun, but me, mine husband, and
all my children black; I would to God he were my husband, or that I had
such a son; she fell a weeping, and so impatient for love at last, that
(as Potiphar's wife did by Joseph) she would have had him gone in with
her, she sent away Gazella, Tegeia, Galzerana, her waiting-maids,
loaded him with fair promises and gifts, and wooed him with all the
rhetoric she could,— extremum hoc miserae da munus amanti, grant this
last request to a wretched lover. But when he gave not consent, she
would have gone with him, and left all, to be his page, his servant, or
his lackey, Certa sequi charum corpus ut umbra solet, so that she might
enjoy him, threatening moreover to kill herself, &c. Men will do as
much and more for women, spend goods, lands, lives, fortunes; kings
will leave their crowns, as King John for Matilda the nun at Dunmow.
[5481]But kings in this yet privileg'd may be,
I'll be a monk so I may live with thee.
The very Gods will endure any shame (atque aliquis de diis non
tristibus inquit, &c.) be a spectacle as Mars and Venus were, to all
the rest; so did Lucian's Mercury wish, and peradventure so dost thou.
They will adventure their lives with alacrity —[5482]pro qua non metuam
mori—nay more, pro qua non metuam bis mori, I will die twice, nay,
twenty times for her. If she die, there's no remedy, they must die with
her, they cannot help it. A lover in Calcagninus, wrote this on his
darling's tomb,
Quincia obiit, sed non Quincia sola obiit,
Quincia obiit, sed cum Quincia et ipse obii;
Risus obit, obit gratia, lusus obit.
Nec mea nunc anima in pectore, at in tumulo est.
Quincia my dear is dead, but not alone,
For I am dead, and with her I am gone:
Sweet smiles, mirth, graces, all with her do rest,
And my soul too, for 'tis not in my breast.
How many doting lovers upon the like occasion might say the same? But
these are toys in respect, they will hazard their very souls for their
mistress' sake.
Atque aliquis interjuvenes miratus est, et verbum dixit,
Non ego in caelo cuperem Deus esse,
Nostram uxorem habens domi Hero.
One said, to heaven would I not
desire at all to go,
If that at mine own house I had
such a fine wife as Hero.
Venus forsook heaven for Adonis' sake,—[5483]caelo praefertur Adonis.
Old Janivere, in Chaucer, thought when he had his fair May he should
never go to heaven, he should live so merrily here on earth; had I such
a mistress, he protests,
[5484]Caelum diis ego non suum inviderem,
Sed sortem mihi dii meam inviderent.
I would not envy their prosperity,
The gods should envy my felicity.
Another as earnestly desires to behold his sweetheart he will adventure
and leave all this, and more than this to see her alone.
[5485]Omnia quae patior mala si pensare velit fors,
Una aliqua nobis prosperitate, dii
Hoc precor, ut faciant, faciant me cernere coram,
Cor mihi captivum quae tenet hocce, deam.
If all my mischiefs were recompensed
And God would give we what I requested,
I would my mistress' presence only seek,
Which doth mine heart in prison captive keep.
But who can reckon upon the dotage, madness, servitude and blindness,
the foolish phantasms and vanities of lovers, their torments, wishes,
idle attempts?
Yet for all this, amongst so many irksome, absurd, troublesome
symptoms, inconveniences, fantastical fits and passions which are
usually incident to such persons, there be some good and graceful
qualities in lovers, which this affection causeth. As it makes wise men
fools, so many times it makes fools become wise; [5486]it makes base
fellows become generous, cowards courageous, as Cardan notes out of
Plutarch; covetous, liberal and magnificent; clowns, civil; cruel,
gentle; wicked, profane persons, to become religious; slovens, neat;
churls, merciful; and dumb dogs, eloquent; your lazy drones, quick and
nimble. Feras mentes domat cupido, that fierce, cruel and rude Cyclops
Polyphemus sighed, and shed many a salt tear for Galatea's sake. No
passion causeth greater alterations, or more vehement of joy or
discontent. Plutarch. Sympos. lib. 5. quaest. 1, [5487] saith, that the
soul of a man in love is full of perfumes and sweet odours, and all
manner of pleasing tones and tunes, insomuch that it is hard to say (as
he adds) whether love do mortal men more harm than good. It adds
spirits and makes them, otherwise soft and silly, generous and
courageous, [5488]Audacem faciebat amor. Ariadne's love made Theseus so
adventurous, and Medea's beauty Jason so victorious; expectorat amor
timorem. [5489]Plato is of opinion that the love of Venus made Mars so
valorous. A young man will be much abashed to commit any foul offence
that shall come to the hearing or sight of his mistress. As [5490]he
that desired of his enemy now dying, to lay him with his face upward,
ne amasius videret eum a tergo vulneratum, lest his sweetheart should
say he was a coward. And if it were [5491]possible to have an army
consist of lovers, such as love, or are beloved, they would be
extraordinary valiant and wise in their government, modesty would
detain them from doing amiss, emulation incite them to do that which is
good and honest, and a few of them would overcome a great company of
others. There is no man so pusillanimous, so very a dastard, whom love
would not incense, make of a divine temper, and an heroical spirit. As
he said in like case, [5492] Tota ruat caeli moles, non terreor, &c.
Nothing can terrify, nothing can dismay them. But as Sir Blandimor and
Paridel, those two brave fairy knights, fought for the love of fair
Florimel in presence—
[5493]And drawing both their swords with rage anew,
Like two mad mastives each other slew,
And shields did share, and males did rash, and helms did hew;
So furiously each other did assail,
As if their souls at once they would have rent,
Out of their breasts, that streams of blood did trail
Adown as if their springs of life were spent,
That all the ground with purple blood was sprent,
And all their armour stain'd with bloody gore,
Yet scarcely once to breath would they relent.
So mortal was their malice and so sore,
That both resolved (than yield) to die before.