CENTRE
for
REFORMATION
and
RENAISSANCE
STUDIES
VICTORIA
UNIVERSITY
LUCRECE
J 594
FACSIMILE
LONDON
HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY
OF OXFORD
SHAKESPEARES
L U C R E C E
*
BEING A REPRODUCTION IN FACSIMILE OF B
THE FIRST EDITION
FROM THE COPY IN THE MALONE COLLECTION
IN THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY
WITH INTRODUCTION AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
SIDNEY LEE
OXFORD .- AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
MDCCCCV
BEF f
OXFORD
PHOTOGRAPHS AND LETTERPRESS
BY HORACE HART, M.A.
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION TO LUCRECE-
I. General Characteristics . ... 7
II. Sources of the Story . 9
III. The Metre and early Criticism . . . . 2,1
IV. The History of the Publication . . . . 1.6
V. The History of the Text . . . -30
VI. A Census of Copies. . ... 37
ILLUSTRATIVE TITLE-PAGES
The unique copy of 1 5-5)8 ...... 44
The edition of 1600 . ... 45-
The edition of 1607 ....... 46
The title-page to the edition of 165- 5- . . . . 5-1
The frontispiece to the edition of 165-3- . SI
FACSIMILE OF THE EDITION OF 1/94
WHEN dedicating his first narrative poem, Venus and Shake
Adonis, to his patron, the Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare
wrote: If your Honour seem but pleased, I account myself
highly praised, and vow to take advantage of all idle hours
till I have honoured you with some graver labour, There
is no reason to doubt that Shakespeare s poem of Lucrece was
the fulfilment of this vow. Lucrece was ready for the press in
May, 1 5-94, thirteen months after Venus and Adonis. During
those thirteen months his labour as dramatist had occupied
most of his time. In the interval he had probably been at
work on as many as four plays, on Richard III, Richard II,
Kjng Jobiij and Titus Andromcus. Consequently Lucrece was,
as he had foretold, the fruit, not of what he deemed his
serious employment, but of < all idle hours 1 . At the same
time the increased gravity in subject and treatment which
1 Between the dates of the issue of the two poems, a play, in the
composition of which Shakespeare was concerned, had come from the printing-
press for the first time. The subject was drawn like Lucrece from Roman
history, and the play and the poem must have occupied Shakespeare s attention
at the same period. On February <>, 15- 94, licence had been granted
to John Danter for the printing of Titus Andronicus^ in which Shakespeare
worked up an old play by another hand. Danter was a stationer or bad
reputation. Shakespeare was not in all probability responsible for Danter s
action. The first edition of Titus ^ of i^p-f, of which the existence has been
doubted, survives in a single copy. The existence of this edition was
noticed by Langbaine in 1691, but no copy was found to confirm Langbaine s
statement till January, 1905, when an exemplar was discovered among the
books of a Swedish gentleman of Scottish descent, named Robson, who
resided at Lund (cf. Athenaeum, Jan. 11, i^o^). The quarto was promptly
purchased by an American collector for ^"z,ooo. The title-page runs :
c The most lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus : as it was
Plaide by the Right Honourable the Earle of Darbie^ Earle of Pembrooke, and
Earle of Sussex, their Seruants. London, Printed by John Danter, and are
8 LUCRECE
characterizes the second poem of Lucrece as compared with
Venus and Adonis^ its predecessor, showed that Shakespeare had
faithfully carried into effect the promise that he had given
to his patron of offering him < some graver labour .
General Lucrece with its 1 8 j f lines is more than half as lone:
ii f
again as Venus and Adonis with its 1194 lines. It is written
Lucrece. ?
with a flowing pen and shows few signs of careful planning
or revision. The most interesting feature of the poem lies
in the moral reflections which the poet scatters with a free hand
about the narrative. They bear witness to great fertility
of mind, to wide reading, and to meditation on life s com
plexities. The heroine s allegorical addresses (11. 869-1001)
to Opportunity, Time s servant, and to Time, the lackey of
Eternity, turn to poetic account philosophic ideas of pith and
moment.
In general design and execution, Lucrece, despite its superior
gravity of tone and topic, exaggerates many of the defects
of its forerunner. The digressions are ampler. The longest
of them, which describes with spirit the siege of Troy,
reaches a total of 2 1 7 lines, nearly one-ninth of the whole
poem, and, although it is deserving of the critic s close
attention, it delays the progress of the story beyond all
artistic law. The conceits are more extravagant and the
luxuriant imagery is a thought less fresh and less sharply
pointed than in Venus and Adorns. Throughout, there is
a lack of directness and a tendency to grandiose language
where simplicity would prove more effective. Haste may
account for some bombastic periphrases. But Shakespeare
often seems to fall a passing victim to the faults of which he
to be sold by Edward White & Thomas Mi I tin gt on, at the little North doore of
Pauks at the signe of the Gunne. 15 94.. This volume was on sale on the
London bookstalls at the same time as the i^-f edition of Lucrece, The
story of Lucrece is twice mentioned in Titus (ii. i. 108 and iv. i. 63),
LUCRECE 9
accuses contemporary poets in his Sonnets. Ingenuity was
wasted in devising what strained touches rhetoric could
lend to episodes capable of narration in plain words. There
is much in the poem which might be condemned in the poet s
own terminology as the ( helpless smoke of words .
II
THE theme of Shakespeare s poem was nearly as well- The story.
worn in the literature of Western Europe as that of his first
poem Venus and Adonis. For more than twenty centuries
before Shakespeare was born, the tale of Lucrece was familiar
to the western world. Her tragic fate was the accepted
illustration of conjugal fidelity, not only through the classical
era of Roman history, but through the Middle Ages. The
hold that the tale had taken on the popular imagination of
Europe survived the Renaissance, and was stimulated by the
expansion of interest in the Latin classics.
Among Latin classical authors the story was told in fullest Classical
detail by Livy in his History of Rome (Bk. i, c. 77-9). Ovid
in his poetic Fasti (ii. 721-85-2) gave a somewhat more
sympathetic version of the same traditional details which
Livy recorded. The main outlines of the legend figured, too,
without variation in the contemporary Greek historians,
Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Diodorus Siculus, and in their
successor, Dio Cassius, as well as in the work of a later
Latin historian, Valerius Maximus. 1
1 Dionysius alone tells the story at length. The other writers narrate it
very briefly. Cf. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, jintiquitatum Romanarum <juae
supersunt, ed. Riessling, vol. ii, Leipzig, 1864 ; Dio Cassius, Hittoria Romana,
ed. Melber, vol. ii, x. iz-i8, Leipzig, 185)0- Diodorus Siculus, Bibtiotheca
Historica, ed. Dindorf, vol. ii, lib. x. ao-zi, Leipzig, 1867; and Valerius
Maximus, Fact a et Dicta Memorabilia, vi. i. i. In three papers on Shakespeare s
poem Shakespeare s Lucrece. Eine litterarhistorische Untersuchung^ which
appeared in Anglia, Band xxii, pp. 1-31, 34-?~^3> 3^3~4T5 (Halle, 1895)),
B
10
LUCRECE
St. Augus-
Mediaeval
versions.
Sixteenth-
Among early Christian authors St. Augustine retold
the legend in his Civitas Dei (Bk. i, ch. 16-19). He com
mented with some independence on the ethical significance
of Lucrece s self-slaughter, which he deemed unjustified by
the circumstances of the case.
The tale found a place in the most widely-read story
book of the Middle Ages, the Gesta fymanorum, and by the
fourteenth century it had become a stock topic among poets
and novelists. Of the great authors of the Italian Renaissance
Boccaccio was the earliest to utilize it. He narrated it in
his Latin prose treatise De Claris Mulieribus. It was doubtless
Boccaccio s example that first recommended it to imaginative
writers in England. Chaucer and Gower both turned the
story into English verse, Chaucer in his Legend of Good Women
( 7, 11. 1680-887) an d Gower in his Confessio ^mantis (Bk. vii.
4774-7 1 3 o). Both Chaucer and Gower closely followed Ovid,
but derived a few touches from Livy. Half a century later
Lydgate noticed the legend in his Fall of Princes (Bk. iii, ch. 7).
When the Middle Ages closed, Lucrece was a recognized
heroine of English poetry.
The sixteenth century saw a further increase in the
popularity of the topic, both in England and on the continent
of Europe. It was a favourite theme in Italy both for Latin
and Italian epigrams and sonnets. The Italian prose-writer,
Bandello, dealt with it in his collection of novels, which,
first appearing in 1774, at once attained a classical repute.
Bandello s fiction was quickly translated into French. The
revived drama of the Renaissance found in Lucrece s fate a
fit subject for tragedy, and plays in which the Roman matron
is the heroine were penned, not in France alone, but, more
Dr. Wilhelm Ewig has treated of the sources with much learning, but he has
not exhausted the interesting topic.
LUCRECE 1 1
curious to relate, in Germany. One of Hans Sachs
dramas bears the title < Ein schon spil von der geschicht der
Edlin Romerin Lucretia (Strassburg, iffo). In France
there was performed at the Court at Gaillon, in the presence
of the king, Charles IX, on September 29, 1 5-6 rf, a short tragedy
in alexandrines (with choruses in other metres) by one Nicolas
Filleul of Rouen, which bore the title : ( Lucrece, Tragedie
avec des ChoeursV The plot follows the classical lines.
But Lucrece s nurse, an original character, is introduced to
offer her mistress consolation and to dissuade her from self-
slaughter. In Spain the tale was equally familiar, and about
17-90 a celebrated poet, Don Juan de Arguijo, after writing of
Venus and Adonis, summed up the current knowledge in the
Peninsula concerning Lucrece in an effective sonnet, which is
often quoted in anthologies of Spanish poetry.
Meanwhile the story was running its course anew in The tale s
popular English literature. In the same year as the French ^"be th
tragedy of Lucrece was produced at Gaillon, William Painter England,
included a paraphrase of Livy s version in his massive collec
tion of popular fiction entitled The Palace of Pleasure. In the
years that immediately followed, the tale was made the
subject of at least two ballads, which have not survived.
In if 58 there was licensed to John Allde, by the Stationers
Company s Register (cf. i. 379), < a ballet called " The grevious
complaynt of Lucrece", and in 15-70 there was licensed
to James Roberts < A ballad of the Death of Lucryssia
(i. 4i<5). A third ballad of Lucrece, of which no copy is
now known, was, according to Warton, printed in 1776.
This piece is printed in a rare volume called Let Theatres de Gaillon.
A French tragedy by the well-known dramatist, Alexandre Hardy, written
a little later, bears the title c Lucrece, ou Fadulteur puni% but this play does
not deal with the story of the Roman matron, but with an imaginary adulteress
of Spain. Hardy s tragedy was first published in 1616.
B 2
12 LUCRECE
A further proof of the complete naturalization of the story
in sixteenth-century England is to be deduced from the fact
that one of the earliest printers of repute, Thomas Berthelet,
took a figure of the Roman wife for the sign of his business
premises, and that his successors in trade through Shake
speare s lifetime continued to employ the same device. From
1^23 to 15- 62 the sign of Lucretia Romana or Lucrece (as it
was commonly called) hung before Berthelet s house near the
conduit in Fleet Street. In 15-62 the well-known Elizabethan
4 stationer , Thomas Purfoot, placed the same sign over his
printing-office in St. Paul s Churchyard , and when in 15-78
he removed his press to a new building c within the New
Rents of Newgate Market he carried the sign with him.
It was announced on the title-pages of almost all the
numerous volumes that Berthelet and Purfoot undertook that
they were printed < at the sign of Lucrece . When Purfoot
retired from active work his son and successor, Thomas
Purfoot, junior, continued the concern under the same symbol
in Newgate Market until 1640. Another use to which the
figure of the Roman matron was commonly put is illustrated
by Shakespeare himself, when he represents Olivia in Twelfth
Night (ii. 5". 1 04) as employing a seal with the figure of Lucrece
engraved upon it.
shake- Shakespeare was continuing a long chain of precedents in
sources* choosing the story of Lucrece for his new poem. Authorities
abounded in his own and other languages, and after his wont
he used or adapted them with much freedom. Despite his
tendency to amplify details, he adheres to the main lines of
1 Purfoot permitted one of the chief Italian teachers of Shakespeare s day,
Claudius Hollyband, to advertize from 1575 on the title-pages of his philological
handbooks that he was teaching in Poules Churchyarde at the signe of the
Lucrece . Cf.Hollybande sPre//V andWitte Historic ofArn.tlt and Lueeda y
LUCRECE 13
the story as laid down by Ovid and Livy, and first anglicized
by Chaucer, who frankly acknowledged his indebtedness to
the two Latin writers. It is clear that Shakespeare studied
the work of these three authors. Their narratives so closely
resembled one another that it is not always easy to state with
certainty from which of the three Shakespeare immediately
derived this or that item of information.
Like Chaucer Shakespeare holds up Lucrece to eternal
admiration as a type of feminine excellence a type of c true
wife (1. 1841); Chaucer had similarly celebrated her
(1. i<*85) as
The verray wyf, the verray trewe Lucrece.
But, generally speaking, Shakespeare s poem has closer affinity Affinity with
with Ovid s version (in the Fasti) than with that of any Ovld-
other predecessor. Like Ovid Shakespeare delights in
pictorial imagery, and occasionally in Lucrece he appears
to borrow Ovid s own illustrations. Chaucer had already
adapted some of the Ovidian similes which figure in
Shakespeare. But Shakespeare seems to owe more suggestion
to Chaucer s source of inspiration than to Chaucer himself.
The three poets, for example, compare Lucrece, when Tarquin
has forcibly overcome her, to a lamb in the clutch of a wolf.
Ovid writes (Fasti, ii. 799-800) :
Sed tremit, ut quondam stabulis deprensa relictis
parua sub infesto cum iacet agna lupo.
Chaucer (11. 1798-9) accepts the illustration, but strips it of
its vivid colouring:
Ryght as a wolfe that fynt a lambe alone,
To whom shall she compleyne, or make mone ?
Shakespeare catches far more of the Ovidian strain in 677-9
14 LUCRECE
The wolf hath seized his prey, the poor lamb cries ;
Till with her own white fleece her voice controll d
Entombs her outcry in her lips sweet fold.
Elsewhere Shakespeare borrows from Ovid words which
escaped Chaucer s notice. His insistence on the snow-white
of Lucrece s c dimpled chin (420) and his comparison of her
hair to f golden threads (400) echo the niueusque color
tiauique capilli (/*.#, ii. 763) of Ovid s heroine. Ovid s ./^/ft
was not translated into English before 1 640. But there is little
doubt that Ovid was accessible to Shakespeare in the original.
The smaller At the same time there are touches in Shakespeare s
Lj vy- Lucrece which suggest that he assimilated a few of Livy s
phrases direct. Painter, in the version which he introduced
into his Palace of Pleasure, very loosely paraphrased the Latin
historian, and it is unlikely that Shakespeare gained all his
knowledge of Livy there. The lucid argument in prose
which Shakespeare prefixed to the poem catches Livy s per
spicuous manner more exactly than mere dependence on Painter
would have allowed. The lines (437-41 and 463) in
which Shakespeare pointedly describes how Tarquin s hand
rests on Lucrece s breast follow Livy s phrase, sinistraque
manu mulieris pectore oppresso. The hint is given in Ovid,
and Painter merely states that Tarquin keeps Lucrece < doune
with his lefte hande J . At one point Shakespeare corrects an
obvious misapprehension of Painter a fact which further
confutes the theory of exclusive indebtedness to him. Livy,
like Ovid, assigns to Tarquin the threat that in case of Lucrece s
resistance he will charge her with misconduct with a slave.
Neither Latin writer gives the word slave any epithet, and
whether the man is in Tarquin s or in Lucrece s service is left
undetermined. Painter makes Tarquin refer to a slave of his
own household. Shakespeare assigns the slave to Lucrece s
LUCRECE if
household ; Tarquin warns Lucrece he will place at her side
4 some worthless slave of thine , i. e. of Lucrece (f i f). Chaucer
and Bandello are both here in agreement with Shakespeare
(cf. Chaucer s <thy knave in Legend, 18075 a d Bandello s
1 uno dei tuoi servi ). From either, the English poet might
have adopted the detail. In any case he owed nothing, at
this point, to Painter.
In his expansive and discursive handling of the theme
Shakespeare differs from all his predecessors save one. In that
regard he can only be compared with the Italian novelist Ban
dello. Bandello mainly depends on Livy and is sparing of
poetic ornament. But he prolongs the speeches of the heroine
with a liberality to which Shakespeare s poem alone offers
a parallel. Bandello s long-winded novel was accessible
in a French version in the < Histoires Tragiques of
Francois de Belleforest. Shakespearean students know
that Bandello s collection of tales, either in the original
Italian, or in the French translation, was the final source
of the plot of at least four of Shakespeare s plays, Borneo and
Juliet, Much Ado about Nothing, Twelfth Nigbt^ and Hamlet.
It is not customary to associate Shakespeare s poem of Lucrece
with Bandello s work, but, although the resemblances may
prove to be accidental, they are sufficient to suggest the
possibility that Shakespeare had recourse to the Italian
novelist, when penning his second narrative poem.
One parallel between Bandello s novel and Shakespeare s
Lucrece will suffice. Livy emphasizes more deliberately than
Ovid the pretence of madness in Brutus, the avenger of
Lucrece s wrong. Bandello liberally developed Livy s notice
of Brutus mysterious behaviour on lines which Shakespeare
seems to have followed. Brutus was, according to Shake
speare s poem, < supposed a fool (1819) :
16
LUCRECE
Shake
speare s
digressions
origins
and parallels
He with the Romans was esteemed so
As silly-jeering idiots are with kings,
For sportive words and uttering foolish things.
(11. 1811-13.)
Bandello in his novel describes Brutus s conduct thus :
1 E fingendo esser pazzo, e cotali sciocchezze mille volte
il di facendo, come fanno i buffoni, divenne in modo in opinione
di mattOj che appo i figliuoli del 7^, piu per dar loro con le sue
trastullo che per altro^ era tenuto caro"*. 1 Shakespeare s
attribution to Brutus of idiocy characteristic of a < fool in a
king s household seems coloured by Bandello s phraseology.
In the rhetorical digressions which distinguish Shake
speare s poem he had every opportunity of pursuing his own
bent, but even in these digressive passages there emerge bold
traces of his reading, not merely in the classics, but in contem
porary English poetry. The 217 lines (i$66-f%2\ which
describe with exceptional vividness a skilful painting of the
destruction of Troy, betray a close intimacy with more than
one book of Vergil s Aeneid. The episode in its main outline
is a free development of Vergil s dramatic account (Bk. i. 456 -
655) of a picture of the identical scene which arrests Aeneas
attention in Dido s palace at Carthage. The energetic portrait
of the wily Sinon which fills a large space in Shakespeare s
canvas is drawn from Vergil s second book (11. 76 seq.)/
1 In English the words run : c And pretending to be mad, and doing
such foolish things a thousand times a day as fools are wont to do, Brutus came
to be looked upon as an idiot, who was held dear by the king s sons, more for
making them sport with his foolish tricks than for any other cause/
2 References to more or less crude pictorial representations of the siege
of Troy are common in classical authors, notably in Ovid. Ovid in his
Heroides^ i. 33 seq., causes the Greek soldier to paint on a table with wine the
disposition of the opposing armies at Troy. The first lines of this passage are
very deliberately quoted in The Taming of the Shre-w y iii. i. 18, z^ :
Hie ibat Simois ; hie est Sigeia tellus ;
Hie steterat Priami regia celsa senis.
LUCRECE 17
Shakespeare again enlarges the restricted bounds of the
classical tale by introducing a sympathizing handmaiden.
Such a subsidiary character (1212-302) is unknown to
Ovid or Livy. This new episode coincides, possibly by
accident, with a scene in the French tragedy of Lucrece of
i?66. No other parallel is met with. Shakespeare makes
effective use of the woman s < heaviness when she is
summoned by her mistress after the latter resolves to slay
herself. In the French drama Lucrece s nurse feelingly
endeavours to dissuade her from her purpose.
The appeal to personified Opportunity (11. 869 sq.)
seems an original device of Shakespeare, but the succeeding
apostrophe to Time (11. 939 sq.) covers ground which many
poets had occupied before. Two English poets, Thomas
Watson in Hecatompatkia (1^82, Sonnets xlvii and Ixxvii), and
Giles Fletcher in Licia (if 9 3, Sonnet xxviii), anticipated at
many points Shakespeare s catalogue of Time s varied activities.
Watson acknowledged that his lines were borrowed from the
Italian Serafino and Fletcher imitated the Neapolitan Latinist
Angerianus ; while both Serafino and Angerianus owed much
on their part to Ovid s pathetic lament in Tristia(i\ T . 6. i-io).
Shakespeare doubtless obtained all the suggestion that he needed
from his fellow countrymen. That Shakespeare knew Watson s
reflections on the topic seems proved by his verbatim
quotation of one of them in Much Ado about No thing (i. i. 271) :
In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke. Similarly
there are plain indications in Shakespeare s Sonnets that
Fletcher s Licia was familiar to him. 1
In Ovid, Ars Amatoria, i. 131 sq., Ulysses, for Calypso s amusement,
paints the like scene with a wand on the sand of the sea-shore and describes his
sketch in terms very like those in the Heroides. But, although Ovid offered
hints for Shakespeare s picture, Vergil supplied the precise design.
1 Cf. Elizabethan Sonnets, Introd. by the present writer, vol. i, p. Ixxxiii, and
vol. ii, p. 348; Life of Shakespeare, ^th edition, pp. 8r . a, II? . i, and 119 n. \.
C
1 8 LUCRECE
It is pretty certain that the work of other contemporary
English poets offered Shakespeare s imagination material susten
ance while he was developing the Roman legend. Several phrases
come almost literally from Constable s Diana *, of which the
first edition was in 1 5-94 two years old, and the second was
just published.
The debt But the closest parallels with Shakespeare s Lucrece^ alike
in phrase, episode, and sentiment, are to be found in Daniel s
contemporary narrative poem, entitled The Complaint of
~Rosamond. This poem was appended in 15-92 to a second
1 When Tarquin (+7 "-9) describes Lucrece s complexion-
That even for anger makes the lily pale,
And the red rose blush at her own Jirgrace 3
he echoes Constable s description of his mistress (ist edit. Sonnet xvii)
My Ladle s presence makes the roses red,
Because to see her lips they blush for shame.
The Lily s leaves^ for envy, pale became,
And her white hands in them this envy bred.
In the preceding stanza the impression of whiteness which the sleeping
Lucrece gives Tarquin seems derived from Constable s description in Sonnet
iv (edit. lypx) of his mistress in bed. Constable s l whiter skin with lahite
sheet anticipated Shakespeare s line (471), o er the -white sheet peers her
-whiter skin In the reference in Lucrece to Narcissus ^656) Shakespeare
echoes his own poem of Venus and Adonis. The allusion ultimately came from
Marlowe s Hero and Leander. In Venus and Adonis (r6"l-i) Shakespeare
wrote :
Narcissus so himself himself forsook,
And died to kiss his shadow in the brook.
In Lucrece (idf-tf) Tarquin reflects on Lucrece s beauty
That had Narcissus seen her as she stood,
Self-love had never drowned him in the flood.
The classical story of Narcissus, as told by Ovid, Metamorphoses, iii. 4.07 sq.,
tells of his metamorphosis into a flower, and not of his death by drowning.
Marlowe set Shakespeare the example of adopting a post-classical version, and
related in his Hero and Leander, Sestiad i, 11. 74-6, how the Greek boy
Leapt into the water for a kiss
Of his own shadow, and despising many,
Died ere he could enjoy the love of any.
LUCRECE 19
edition of Daniel s collection of sonnets, which he christened
Delia. In Daniel s poem the ghost of Rosamond, the mistress
of Henry II, gives sorrowful voice to her remorse at having
submitted to the adulterous embraces of the king, and finally
relates her murder by Queen Eleanor. The whole poem is
in the o rat to recta of the heroine, and the key is that of
Lucrece s moaning. Shakespeare adopted in Lucrece the seven-
line stanza of The Complaint: of Rosamond, and handled it very
similarly.
At one important point Shakespeare seems to have
borrowed Daniel s machinery. Both heroines seek consola
tion from a work of art. Shakespeare s Lucrece closely scans
a picture of the siege of Troy, the details of which she
applies to her own sad circumstance. Daniel s Rosamond
examines a casket finely engraved with ornament suggesting
her own sufferings ; on the lid is portrayed Amymone s
strife with Neptune, while < figured within the other squares
is the tale of Jove s pursuit of the love of lo. Rosamond s
casket was wrought
So rare that art did seem to strive with nature
To express the cunning workman s curious thought.
To Shakespeare s piece of skilful painting
In scorn of nature, art gave lifeless life. (1. 1374.)
Daniel s phraseology seems to be echoed in single lines such
as these :
An expird date canceled ere well begun. (Lucrece , 2 6.}
Canceled with Time, will have their date expird.
(Rosamond, 242.)
Sable nighty mother of dread and fear. (Lucrece, 117.)
C 2
20 LUCRECE
" Night, mother of sleep and fear, who with her sable mantle.
(tysamond) 452.)
I know what thorns the growing rose defends.
(Liter ece y 492.)
The ungatber d T(ose, defended with the thorns.
(fysa m otjdj 210.)
The precedent whereof in Lucrece view. (Lucrece, 1261.)
These precedents presented to my view. (tysamond) 407.)
In sentiment, too, Shakespeare appears often content to
follow Daniel. The husband Collatine s inability to speak,
owing to the anguish caused him by Lucrece s death,
resembles King Henry s enforced silence in presence of
Rosamond s dead body (fysamond^ 904-7):
Amazed he stands, nor voice nor body stirs,
Words had no passage, tears no issue found :
For sorrow shut up words, wrath kept in tears,
Confused affects each other do confound.
Collatine s experience is described thus (Lucrece, 1779-80) :
The deep vexation of his inward soul
Hath served a dumb arrest upon his tongue. 1
1 Again Daniel, developing Seneca s Curae leves loquuntur ingentes
stupent , tells of his hero how
Striving to tell his woes, words would not come-
For light cares speak, when mighty carts are dumb. (11. 909-10.)
Shakespeare remarks on the silence of his heroine (11. ^9-30)
Deep sounds make lesser noise than shallow fords,
And sorrow ebbs, being blown with wind of words.
Cf. Sidney s Arcadia^ bk. i, Eclogue i
Shallow brooks murmur most, deep silent slide a-way.
and Raleigh s c Silent Lover (Poems, ed. Hannah, No. xiv)
LUCRECE 21
Neither the individuality of style nor the substantive
originality of many details in Shakespeare s poem can be
questioned. But it is clear that, working on foundations
laid by Ovid, he sought suggestion for his poetic edifice
in Livy, and in such successors of the classical poet and
historian as Chaucer and Bandello. Nor can it be lightly
questioned that he absorbed sentiments and phrases from
many contemporary English verse-writers with whom his muse
acknowledged a sympathetic affinity.
Ill
THE metre of Lucrece was a favourite one in English The metre
literature long before the Elizabethan era. The seven-line
stanza is more commonly used by Chaucer than any other. He
seems to have borrowed it from the French poetry of his
contemporary Guillaume de Machault. It is often met with in
the Canterbury Tales (see The Clerk es Tale, The Man of Larves
Tale y The Second Nonnes Tale], as well as in Troy/us and Crisyde
and many of the shorter poems (cf. The complaint to his
empty purse ). It is the metre, too, of Lydgate s monumental
Fall of Princes. According to Elizabethan critics it was the
stanza that was best adapted to serious themes. Gascoigne
described it in his Certayne Notes of Instruction concerning the
making of verse or ryme in English (if 7 6) as < Rithme royall :
< and surely, he adds, < it is a royalle kinde of verse, seruing
best for graue discourses. According to Puttenham, The ^rte
of English Poesie, 1 5- 8 9, the seven-line stanza was < the chief
Passions are likened best to floods and streams
The shallow murmurs but the deep are dumb^
So when affections yield discourse, it seems,
The bottom is but shallow whence it comes.
22 LUCRECE
of our ancient proportions used by any rimer writing any
thing historical or grave poem , and he refers to Chaucer s
Troylus and Crisyde and Lydgate s Fall of Princes by way of
proof that < the stafte of seven verses was most usual with
our ancient makers . The rimes, he points out, were capable
of seven variations. Shakespeare followed the customary
scheme which Chaucer had employed (ababbcc). Putten-
ham found fault with those who close the stanza with an
independent couplet < concording with no other verse that
went before , but he finally admits that the < double cadence
in the last two verses serves the ear well enough . The
comment well applies to Shakespeare s prosody.
Spenser s Of English poems in the metre which were written
shortly before Shakespeare penned his Lncrece, the most
memorable is Spenser s l^uines of Time, published in 1^90,
in which Shakespeare s cadences seem almost precisely anti
cipated. The following is a good example of the stanza in
Spenser s hands :
But Fame with golden wings aloft doth Hie,
Above the reach of ruinous decay,
And with brave plumes doth beate the azure skie,
Admir d of base-borne men from far away :
Then, who so will with vertuous deeds assay
To mount to heaven, on Pegasus must ride,
And with sweete Poets verse be glorifide. 1
Greene s A Maidens Dreame, An elegy on Sir Christopher Hatton,
1 Spenser employed the seven-line stanza with a different scheme of
rhyming (ababcbc) in his Daphnaida, 1^91, but in his Hymnes, I ?<?<>, he
returned to the Shakespearean plan. Among the Elizabethan poets who
used the seven-line stanza in long poems immediately after Lucrece were
(Sir) John Davis in his Orchestra^ I5"<?4j Barnfield in Complaint of Chastltle
and Shepherds Content, 1594.; Drayton in Mortimer I ados ^ 1596, and parts of
Harmonic of the Church^ 1596. At a little later date Nicholas Breton
employed it constantly ; cf. his Pa;<ji>ils Passe and Passeth not y 1600 Longing
of a Blessed Heart , 1601 j Pastji ils Mad Cappe y
LUCRECE 23
a pedestrian piece of verse in the seven-line stanza, followed
Spenser s poem in 15*91, and next year there appeared
Daniel s Complaint of Rosamond. The uses to which
Shakespeare put Daniel s preceding experiment have already
been noticed. Shakespeare employed the stanza again in
the narrative poem, A Lovers Complaint, which was first
published in 1609 with the Sonnets. That piece was probably
written very shortly after Lucrece.
Though the popularity of Lucrece did not equal that of
Venus and Adonis, and the volume passed through fewer
editions during and after Shakespeare s lifetime, its success on its
appearance was well pronounced, and it greatly added to Shake
speare s reputation among contemporary critics. Some readers, Early
like Francis Meres in his Palladis Tamia (15-98), the anonymous
author of the Pilgrimage to Parnassus, and Richard Barnfield in
Poems in Divers Humours, 1 5-9 8 , failed to detect any distinction
between Lucrece and its predecessor Venus and Adonis. But a
few observers like Gabriel Harvey were more discriminating,
and pointed out that while the earlier poem delighted c the
younger sort , Lucrece pleased < the wiser sort . 1 Harvey was
indeed inclined to exaggerate the serious aspect of the poem
and to rank it with Hamlet. Drummond of Hawthornden
noted that he read the poem in 1606, and a copy figures in
1 And Shakespeare thou, whose hony- flowing vaine
(Pleasing the World] thy Praises doth obtaine,
Whose Venus and whose Lucrece (sweete and chaste)
Thy name in fame s immortall Booke have plac t.
- Harvey s words ran: The younger sort take much delight in
Shakespeare s Venus and Adonis. But his Lucrece and tragedy of Hamlet, Prince
of Denmarke, have it in them to please the wiser sort. Harvey wrote these
words about 1604. in a copy of Speght s Chaucer of 1 5-98. They were transcribed
by George Steevens (cf. Variorum ed., 1811, vol. ii, p. 369). But the volume
containing Harvey s original draft belonged to Bishop Percy, and was burnt in
the fire at Northumberland House, London, which destroyed the bishop s library
in 1780.
LUCRECE
Plagiarisms.
Hey wood s
]{ape of
Lucrece.
the table c of his English books Anno 1 6 1 1 . Minor indications
that the work was familiar to students abound. Fragments
of two lines (1086-7) are quoted in the disjointed con
temporary scribble which defaces the outside leaf of an early
manuscript copy of some of Bacon s tracts in the Duke of
Northumberland s library at Alnwick ; the words were prob
ably written down very early in the seventeenth century. 1
To poets and dramatists of the early seventeenth
century the work especially appealed. It at once received
the flattery of imitation or actual plagiarism. As early
as i5"9f Richard Barnfield, an inveterate imitator of
Shakespeare, transferred many phrases to his Cassandra. In
i doo Samuel Nicholson incorporated lines without ac
knowledgement in his poem of dcolastus procedure which
was followed with even greater boldness by Robert Baron
in his Fortunes Tennis Bat/ just fifty years later. Remini
scences of the great apostrophe to Opportunity are met
with in Marston s play of The Malcontent^ 1604, and in Ford s
Lady^s Trial \ 163 8. Shakespeare s friend, Thomas Hey wood,
produced a five-act tragedy called The type of Lucrece in 1608,
the year following the appearance of the fourth edition of
Shakespeare s poem. But Heywood s play is a chronicle
drama covering much wider ground than Sextus Tarquinius
outrage. Lucrece s tragic experience is merely one of many
legendary disasters which occupy Heywood s pen, and the
1 Shakespeare s name is repeated many times, in various forms, on this
outside leaf, together with the titles of two of his plays, Rychard the Second and
Rychard the Third. The crude excerpt from Lucrece runs : f reuealing day
through euery Crany peepes and see. The careless scribble has little
significance, and was possibly the work of a scribe testing a new pen. No
attention need be paid to the arguments which would treat the manuscript
rigmarole as evidence of Bacon s responsibility for Shakespeare s^works. The
MS. has been twice reprinted lately, by Mr. T. Le Marchant Douse, who takes
a sensible view of the problem offered by the scribble, and by Mr. Thomas
Burgoyne, who is inclined to take the incoherences seriously.
LUCRECE 25-
indebtedness to Shakespeare does not go beyond the
bare suggestion of that single topic. The poet Suckling, Sucklings
one of Shakespeare s warmest admirers in the generation mc " p t p>e ~
succeeding the dramatist s death, gave curious proof of his
interest in Shakespeare s poem. He claimed to find a
detached fragment of verse, of which he failed apparently
to recognize the provenance. The fragment consisted of
the ten lines from Lucrece (^ 6-96} which somewhat affectedly
describe Lucrece asleep in bed ; but the stanza was in six
lines instead of in the authentic seven lines, and Suckling s
text materially differed from that of the authorized version
of Lucrece. To the mysterious excerpt Suckling added a
supplement of fourteen lines of his own. The twenty-four
lines, in four stanzas of six lines each, were included in Suck
ling s posthumously collected verse (Frogmen fa ^furea^ 1 64.6} under
the heading i A supplement to an imperfect Copy of Verses of
Mr. Wil. Shakespears . A marginal note running Thus far
Shakespear distinguished Suckling s share of the short poem
from that which he assigned to the dramatist. 1 In
1 Gerald Langbaine, in his account of Shakespeare in his Dramatick Poets,
1691, makes the comment: c What value [Suckling] had for this small piece
of Lucrece may appear from his supplement which he writ and which he has
publisht in his poems. The first stanza of Suckling s poem runs :
One of her hands, one of her cheeks lay under,
Cozening the pillow of a lawful kisse,
Which therefore swel d and seem d to part asunder,
As angry to be rob d of such a blisse:
The one lookt pale, and for revenge did long,
Whilst t other blush t, cause it had done the wrong.
This six-lined rendering of the fifty-fifth stanza of Lucrece (in seven lines) is
not easy to account for. Suckling had perhaps written out the lines from
memory, or from a hurried and incorrect copy. There seems less to recommend
the opposing theory, which represents Suckling s crude quotation to be a first
draft of the verse by Shakespeare himself, and an indication of an original
intention on the poet s part to employ in Lucrece the six-line stanza of Venus
and Adonis. Cf. Shakespeare s Centurie ofPrayse^ pp. 105, ^^6-J.
D
Quarles
continua
tion
26 LUCRECE
evidence that Shakespeare s poem was still familiarly
cherished by men of letters is offered by the fact that John
Quarles, son of Francis Quarles, the author of the Emblems,
penned a brief continuation in six-line stanzas entitled
The Banishment ofTarquin, or, The Reward of Lust. This was
appended to a reissue of Shakespeare s Lucrece in 165- 5- -the
last of the seventeenth-century editions. The dramatist is
described on the title-page as < The incomparable Master of
our English Poetry Will : Shakespeare, Gent. a signal testi
mony to his repute at the time when Cromwell was
Protector.
poem.
IV
The copy- IN the history of the publication of Lucrece, two of the
" sht f rhe personages, the printer Richard Field, and the publisher John
Harrison, who were concerned in producing the first edition
of Venus and Adonis, reappear, but not in quite their former
capacities. The copyright changed hands far less often than
that of Venus and Adonis. There were only five owners in
the course of a century.
The copyright of Lucrece was owned at the outset by
son the first j o h n Harrison of the White Greyhound in St. Paul s Church
yard, a publisher or stationer who was thrice Master of
the Stationers Company in 15-83, 15-88, and 15-96 . He had
distributed copies of the first edition of Venues and Adonis in
the spring of 15-93, anc ^ acquired the copyright of that
poem fourteen months later. The entry in the Stationers
Company s Register attesting his ownership of Lucrece runs
under date of May, 15-94, thus :
John Harri
son the first
owner, May
March
1614.
1 Arber, ii. 648 .
LUCRECE 27
Entred [to Master Harrison, senior] for his copie under
thand of master Cawood Warden, a booke intituled the
Ravyshement of Lucrece vi d C.
Harrison employed Richard Field, Shakespeare s fellow towns
man, to print the work, and Field s device of an anchor,
hanging in an oval frame with the motto Ancbora Spei^ is
prominently displayed on the title-page of the original edition.
Harrison retained the copyright of the poem for nearly The printers
twenty years, until March i, itfi-f-, and published at least four four editions.
editions in 15-94, 1^98, idoo, 1607. But only the first was
printed by Field. Peter Short printed that of 1 5- 9 8 ; Harrison s
son, also named John, printed that of itfoo, and Nicholas Okes
that of 1607. All the printers were men of position in the
trade. Okes was on intimate terms with Field, who had acted
as his surety when he was admitted a freeman of the Stationers
Company on December j-, 1603, while Thomas Heywood,
the author, in his Apology for Actors which Okes printed for
him in 1612, addressed him as his < approved good friend ,
and commended his care and industry compliments which
were rare in the intercourse of printer and author.
On March i, itfi-f-, Harrison parted with the copyright of Roger jack-
Lucrece and of three other of his publications of a different son second
x owner,
class to a stationer of comparatively minor reputation, Roger March r,
Jackson, whose shop over against the Great Conduit in Fleet
Street bore the sign of the White Hart. The transaction
is thus entered in the Stationers Company s Registers (iii.
742):
1 Roger Jackson, son of Martin Jackson, of Burnholme, Yorkshire, had
been apprenticed to Ralph Newbery, a well-known stationer, on July ^ 15*91
( Arber, ii. 1 75). He had been admitted a freeman of the Stationers Company
on August 10, 1 5-99, and acquired his first copyright (Greene s Goost Hunting
Coney Catchers ] on September 3, itfox (Arber, iii. ^l6). His first apprentice,
Richard, son of Thomas Gosson, joined him April 13, 1604.
D 2
28
LUCRECE
Francis
Williams,
third owner,
Jan. 1 6,
29, 1630.
John Harri
son, junior,
[1614] primo Martij i <* 1 3 [-4]
Entred [to Roger Jackson] for his Coppies by consent of
Master John Harrison the eldest and by order of a Court,
these 4 books fbllowinge ij -
viz*. . . .
MASCALLES first booke of Cattell
Master Dentes Sermon of repentance
RECORDES Aritbmeticke.
LUCRECE
Shakespeare died on April 23, 1 6 1 tf, more than two years
after the copyright of Lucrece suffered its first transfer. Jackson,
the second holder, retained the copyright for nearly twelve
years, till his death early in 1626, when it passed to his widow.
Jackson was responsible for the editions of 1616 and 1624,
the first of which was printed by Thomas Snodham, and
the second by John Beale. 1 His widow assigned the book,
with her property in twenty-nine other volumes, on January itf,
1626, to Francis Williams. The entry attesting the transfer
in the Stationers Register runs (iv. 149):
[lo^tf] 16 Januarij iday[-6]
Assigned over vnto him [to Francis Williams] by mistris
Jackson wife of Roger Jackson Deceased, and by order of a
full Court holden this Day. all her estate in the [30] Copies
here after mencioned xiiijj-.
-23 Lucrece by Shackspeare
Francis Williams kept the copyright for little more than
four years, parting with it on June 29, 1630, to Master
1 Snodham, who took up his freedom on June z8, 1601, was apprenticed
to Thomas East, or Este, the music-printer, whose surname (alias East) he
added to his own. Snodham succeeded to his old master s presses at the sign
of the Black Horse in Aldersgate Street. He printed much music, e.g.
Campion s music-books (lo io and lo ia). In 1615 Wither s Satyre came from
his press. He was active in the trade till his death in itfay. Beale, a
LUCRECE 29
Harrison, apparently a grandson of the original holder, and the fourth
printer of the edition of i tfoo. (He was Master of the Stationers ^"i^o"-
Company in 1638.) This transaction, which involved the March 1 5,
transfer to c Master Harison of over thirty books, is thus
entered in the Stationers Registers (iv. 237) :
29 Junij 1^30.
Assigned over vnto him [i. e. Master Harison] by master
Francis Williams and order of a full Court all his estate
right title and Interest in the Copies hereafter menconed
xijj- vj d . /
viz 1
Lucrece.
Master Harison produced an edition in 1632, which was
printed by R. B. [i.e. Richard Bishop] 1 , and he retained the
property until his death twenty-three years later. His widow,
Martha Harrison, sold it on March if, i^fi, to yet another
John Harison (or Harrison), apparently a nephew of her late John Hani-
husband, and the third of the name to hold the property. ^".J e the
The third John Harrison was in partnership with William fifth holder.
Gilbertson of the Bible in Giltspur Street, who had lately
acquired the copyright of IJenus and Adonis. Under some
arrangement with Harrison, Gilbertson produced in itfff,
with another coadjutor, John Stafford, the latest edition of
Lucrece which appeared in the seventeenth century.
master printer from March i, 1613, and a livery-man of the Stationers Company
from Feb. 4, 163?, was one of the most prosperous printers of his day.
1 The initials R. B. alone appear on the title-page, but the full name of
Richard Bishop figures as printer for Harrison in the same year of a new
edition of John White s Short Catechism. No other member of the Stationers
Company, who was a printer, bore the same initials. Robert Bird, who
acquired the copyright of Pericles in 1630, was a publisher or bookseller only.
John Norton printed for him an edition of the play in that year. But it is
puzzling to note that the printer s device with the motto In Domino Con-
fido, which appears on the last page of the itf^z Lucrece, is found on the title-
page of the i 30 Pericles.
LUCRECE
The text and
typography
of the first
edition.
Discrepan
cies among
extant
exemplars.
The Bod
leian copy, I.
Unique
readings.
V
HARRISON and Field s first edition of 1 5-94 is the sole
authentic source of the text of the poem. That alone followed
the author s manuscript. The later editions were set up from
those that went before. Small typographical changes were
introduced into the reissues, but all the alterations may be put
to the credit of correctors of the press acting on their own
responsibility, excepting possibly in the case of the edition of
1616, which came out soon after Shakespeare s death. In that
volume there are traces of a clumsy editorial revision.
It is improbable that the author supervised the production
of the first edition, but greater care was taken in its typography
than in the case of any other of Shakespeare s works, not
excepting Uenus and Adonis. The work is not free from
misprints nor from other typographical irregularities. But an
effort was made to reduce their number to the lowest possible
limit. The original edition was printed off slowly j the type
was kept standing after the first impressions left the office, and
small changes were subsequently introduced into the standing
type, with the result that the few surviving copies of the first
edition show small discrepancies among themselves. One
impression is freer from typographical errors than another, or
a correction which has been made in one copy, with a view
to improving the sense or the grammar, is absent from another
copy. The alterations are not always intelligent, and it is
unlikely that Shakespeare had any hand in them.
The copy in the Bodleian Library which is reproduced
in this volume one of two in that library has at least five
readings which are met with nowhere else. They were appar
ently all deemed to be defects, and were afterwards changed.
LUCRECE 3 1
Their survival in only one extant copy, their absence from
all the others, proves that the copy which retains them was the
earliest extant impression to leave the printing-office. The
five unique readings in the Bodleian copy I, with the cor
rections which appear in all other impressions of the first
edition, are : i morning (1. 24) for l mornings [i.e. morning s];
1 Appologie (1. 31) for apologies ; c Colatium (I. yo) for
< Colatia ; * himself e betakes (1. 125-) for c themselves betake ;
4 wakes (1. 126) for l wake.
Only the first of these readings is a quite obvious misprint.
The substitution of < apologies for < Appologie improves the
spelling, but the verb f ncedeth , which the noun governs, is
suffered to remain in the singular after its subject is put into
the plural a syntactical construction which is defensible but
not usual. The alteration < Colatia is right. No such town
as Colati^w is known, but in spite of its removal from line 5-0,
the erroneous form c Colati//w is still suffered to deface in
all copies line 4 the only other place where the town is
mentioned. The change in line 127 seems intended to get
rid of the awkAvard construction of the singular verb with
a plural subject in < winds that wake/ in the next line, 126.
In line 125- the first reading And euerie one to rest himself
betake/ is grammatically better than the second, < And euerie
one to rest tbemselues betake ; but in order to rime < wake
(of the next line) satisfactorily, it was needful to put the verb
at the end of the preceding line in the plural and to give it
a plural instead of a singular subject.
In the following instance the reading in the Bodleian copy Reading
which is here reproduced appears in only one other copy in peculi
** J two ex
the second (Caldecott) copy in the same library. copies.
1 Euen so the patterne of this worne out age (1. 1370.
ar to
two extant
Misprints
peculiar to
three extant
copies.
Misprints in
all extant
copies.
Capital
letters
within the
line.
32 LUCRECE
figures in all extant impressions save in the two in the Bod
leian Library, where the line reads
Euen so this pattern of the worne out age.
It is difficult to determine which is the better reading, but
it is clear that the patterne of this . . . age was deemed the
better by the corrector of the press.
The following two misprints in the Bodleian copy, which
is here reproduced, are also met with in the second copy in
the same library and in the Sion College copy as well, but
both are corrected in the Devonshire and British Museum
copies: line 1182, which for (instead of by] him tainted ;
line 1 3 3 f, blast/ for blast.
The following misprints seem common to all impressions :
Title-page (last line) Churh-yard for Church-yard ; sleeep
(1. 163) for sleep ; to beguild (1 . 15-44) for so beguild ;
on (1. 1680) for in ; it in (1. 171 3) for in it. The
inverted commas at the beginning of 11. 867-8 are ex
ceptional, and may also be reckoned among typographical
inaccuracies.
The volume offers examples of the ordinary irregularities
which are usually met with in specimens of Elizabethan typo
graphy. Capital letters within the line are used little less
arbitrarily than in Venus and Adonis. Such ordinary words as
Tent (ij), Bee (836, 840, 1769), Citty (15-5-4) and Foe
(i rfo8), are always dignified with an initial capital. But the per
sonified time and opportunity go without the distinction.
No law is observable in such a distribution of capitals. In the
first part of the poem, Beauty is invariably spelt with a capital,
but in the concluding stanzas it appears with a small letter ;
the word is used eighteen times in all, and the capital appears
twelve times. Sun occurs eight times in all, five times
LUCRECE 33
with a capital. Heaven is rarely allowed a capital, although
1 Ocean always is. It was obviously the intention of the
printer to print all proper names in small capitals ; but Small
this rule, although often followed, was imperfectly carried
out. Cf. line ^^3
And moodie PLVTO winks while Orpheus playes.
Pluto is with, but Orpheus is without, due mark of distinc
tion. The place-name Ardea is in lower-case type in line i,but
in small capitals in line 1332. Rome appears six times and is
never in small capitals. Other signs of careless revision are
the substitution of a small letter for a capital at the opening
of line 85, and the dropping in two places of the catchword
on pp. 28 and 90. Italics are not used at all, save in the
1 Argument , which is italicized throughout, proper names
only being in roman type.
The cursive contraction for c m or n a long line over Conu-ac-
the preceding vowel is used thirty-eight times, commonly in
order to save space. The ampersand & (for c and 5 ) occurs fifteen
times for the same reason. Both symbols are employed some
what capriciously. Their employment reflects on the skill
of the printer, even if they figured in the author s c copy .
Variations in the spelling of the same word are compara- Mi$-
tively few, but they are numerous enough to give ground for s P ellin S s -
criticism. Thus we find doore (306) and c dore ( 3 2 y, 3 3 7)
dumbe (268) and dum (474) ; nurse (1162) and nourse
(813); opportunity (874? 876, 895-, 932) and < oportunitie
(903, 1023); < rankes (1439) and < ranckes (1441) ; Rome
and < Roome (i 644, 1871)- < sometime (nod) and c somtime
(noy); spirite (1345), sprite (45-1), and spright (121)-
tongue (i4tfy) and tong (14*3, 1718). In the case of
tongue and sometime the variations occur within a couple
of lines of one another. The curious spelling pollusion for
E
34 LUCRECE
pollution (i 1 5-7), where the word rimes with confusion and
4 conclusion , is another orthographical error. 1
The text of The text of the late impressions of the 15-94 edition was
followed in the editions of 1^98, itfoo, and 1607. A few
changes were introduced by the corrector of the press in each
revision, but all were trivial and mainly affected the spelling,
the capital letters, and the contractions. The fourth edition
of i do 7, despite the commendation which Thomas Hey wood
bestowed on its printer, Nicholas Okes, introduces some new
misprints of bad eminence (e. g. 1. 993, < time for < crime ;
1. 1024, unsearchfull for uncheerful ). These were slavishly
adopted by succeeding printers. In the imprint, the words
< Printed by N. O. appear as < Printed be N. O.
T . he Somewhat more extensive alterations marked the fifth
alterations
oi6\6. edition, printed by T[homas] S[notlham], and published by
Roger lackson, in 1616. This edition was described on the
title-page as < Nercfy 7^7//W, and bore for the first time the
new title of The J^ape of Lucrece instead of the Lucrcce of
the earlier issues. Shakespeare s name also appeared for the
first time on the title-page. Traces of the hand of an
unskilful editor are apparent. A new list of < contents ,
which preceded the f Argument in the preliminary pages,
collected together in a slightly abbreviated form twelve
marginal notes which were distributed through the text of
the poem, and supplied a running analysis of the story. The
earlier marginal notes were numbered in the text , but the
1 Pollution is only used thrice elsewhere by Shakespeare. In two cases
in Twelfth Night, i. T., 49, and Measure for Measure, ii. 4. 183 it is rightly spelt
c pollution (in the First Folio). But in the third place where it occurs in
Love s Labour s Lost, iv. ^. 46 it is farcically misused by Goodman Dull for
c allusion , and is misspelt c polusion in both the First Quarto and the First
Folio. The misspelling there seems deliberately introduced by way of ridicule of
popular ignorance. In a serious context f pollution was alone recognized by
careful writers or printers.
LUCRECE 35-
later notes were unnumbered. This list of contents and
marginal notes were reprinted in all subsequent editions.
The latter run thus :
(i) The praising of Lucrece as chast, vertuous, and beautiful,
inaketh Tarquin enamor d. (Stanza i.)
(ii) Tarquin welcomed by Lucrece. (Stanza 8.)
(iii) Tarquin disputing the matter at last resolves to satisfy
his Lust. (Stanza 25-.)
(iv) Lucretia wakes amazed and confounded to be so surpriz d.
(Stanza 66.)
(v) Lucrece pleadeth in defence of Chastity and exprobates
his uncivil lust. (Stanza 8 2.)
(vi) Tarquin all impatient interrupts her, and denied of
consent breaketh the inclosure of her Chastity by
Force. (Stanza 93.)
(vii) Lucrece thus abused complains of her misery.
(Stanza 109.)
(viii) Lucrece continuing her laments, disputes whether she
should kill her self or no. (Stanza ify.)
(ix) Lucrece resolved to kill her self determines first to
send her Husband word. (Stanza 1 74.)
(x) Upon Lucrece sending for Colatine in such hast, he
with clivers of his Allies and Friends returns home.
(Stanza 227.)
(xi) Upon the Relation of Lucrece her Rape Colatine and
the rest swear to revenge : but this seems not full
satisfaction to her losses. (Stanza 243.)
(xii) She killeth herself to exasperate them the more to punish
the delinquent. (Stanza 245-.)
The character of the textual changes, which are not
1 The numbered stanza does not appear in the list of contents. I insert
it with a view to showing the distribution of the marginal notes through the
poem.
E 2
$6 LUCRECE
numerous, suggests that there, too, an editorial pen was working
albeit clumsily. Metrical considerations probably account
for the following alterations :- c so high a rate (line 19 of 1616
edition) for such high proud rate ; a date expired; and
canceld ere begun (26) for an expired date, canceld ere well
begun ; doth march (301) for marcheth ; beneath (74 3)
for under ; ever dumb (1123) for mute and dumb ;
throughout Rome (i 8 f i) for thorough Rome . In 1. 1 68 o
the substitution of one woe for the original misprint on
woe is ingenious, and the introduction of a hyphen in 1. 1018
to connect the words skill and contending betrays intelli
gence. Other variations of the earlier text are unjustifiable :
rue (4 f y) for true ; feeded (603) for seeded ; bersed
(6$ 7) for hersed ; mighty (rf8 o) for nightly ; foule lust
(684) for prone lust ; fears (698) for fares ; of reine
(706) for or reine ; disdaine (786) for distain ; Palmers
that (790) for Palmers chat ; bannes (85-9) for barnes ;
time (993) for crime ; omission of epithet goodly in
1247; held (125-7) for hild.
The editions The edition of id 24 follows that of 1 6 1 6 servilely.
i^ z *^yj 3 Only the title-pages differ. Even the error in the signature
and 1707. (64 for A 4) is repeated. The edition of 1632 adds some new
misprints (e.g. 1. 47, growes for glowes ; 1. 1 jtf, konur for
honour ; 1. 282, cloakt for choked ; 1. 8 5-4, iniquity for
impurity ). The reissue of 165-5" closely adheres to that of
1632, with a few misreadings of its own. The next reprint
figured in the Poems on Affairs of State (1707), vol. iv,
pp. 143-204. The text is that of itffy, with a few worthless
emendations. 1 Unfortunately the crude misreadings of 1707
1 The chief changes were: J. 3?, from theevish Cares" for e From
theeuish cares ; 1. 161, e the wretched hateful Lays for & wretched hateful
dales ; 1. 148, all for e ill ; 1. 317, <the Needle for c her needle ; 1. 670,
( fresh false hast for e fresh fall s haste ; 1. 6"8.f, c foul for c prone ; 1.
LUCRECE 37
were accepted by Gildon, who brought out an edition of
Shakespeare s c Poems, by way of supplement to Rowe s
collective edition of Shakespeare s plays, in 17 io. J Gildon
did little more than reproduce the poor text of 1707, and
his text was accepted without inquiry by other eighteenth-
century editors. Lintott, in one of his impressions of Shake
speare s < Poems in 1709, gave Lucrece a title-page bearing the
date 1632, but he did not follow the edition of that year
with much precision. It was not until Malone reprinted the
poems in 1780, that any collation was attempted of the cur
rent text with the first edition of 15-94. Then at length the
poet s words were freed of a century and a half s accumulation
of ignorant misreadings.
VI
EIGHT editions of Lucrece are known to have been Census of
published between its first issue in 1594 and itfff, when the
last of the seventeenth-century editions appeared. Four
editions came out in Shakespeare s lifetime respectively, in 1 5-94,
15-98, i tf oo, and 1607. A fifth followed in 1616, the year of
his death, and others in i<5n, 1632, and 165$. The number
of extant copies of all these early editions are very few, and
it is possible that there were other editions, of which every
exemplar has disappeared. Malone mentions editions of
15-95 and itfoi, but no editions dated in either of these
years have come to light.- Two of the known editions
woman for workman 1. 1736, c in pure Revenge for in poor revenge .
The substitution of c foul lust (1. 684) for prone lust and of peal d for
pild (in the sense of peeled ) in lines 1167 anc ^ 1169 were attempts
to make difficult words clear to eighteenth-century readers.
1 See feaus and Adonis^ Introduction, pp. 71-1.
2 An edition which was once in the possession of Halliwell-Phillipps
lacked a title-page and was at one time declared by him to belong to the year
i6"io, but this is probably a copy of the edition of 1631 (see No. XXIX infra).
38 LUCRECE
only survive in single copies. It is curious to note that
a larger number of copies are accessible of the original edition
than of any other of the first seven. As many as ten are now
traceable. Several of these have been recovered recently.
Thomas Grenville asserted some sixty years ago that only three
were known. George Daniel, Frederick Locker Lampson, and
other collectors of the last half-century raised their estimate
to five. That number must now be doubled.
It is likely enough that of all the editions more copies
will be found hereafter. At present all the known copies
of the first seven editions (excluding fragments) number no
more than thirty. The eighth edition stands in a somewhat
different position. Some twenty copies seem traceable, but
of these only six contain the rare frontispiece and are perfect,
two of these being in Great Britain and the rest in America.
Of the thirty copies of the first seven editions, twenty
are now in Great Britain, nine are in America, and one, which
has lately changed hands, is not at the moment located. Of the
twenty British copies, fifteen are in public institutions, five
being in the British Museum, five in the Bodleian Library, two
in the Capell Collection of Trinity College, Cambridge, one
in the L T niversity Library, Edinburgh, one at Sion College,
London, and one at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Five are
in the hands of English private owners. Of the nine American
copies, one is in a public institution the Lenox Library,
New York and eight are in private hands. 1
1 A copy of an unspecified edition of Lucrece, sold with twenty-two other
pieces, brought in 1680, at the sale of Sir Kenelm Digby s library, three
shillings. Comparatively few copies have figured in public auctions of late
years. The highest price which the first edition has fetched is ^2.00, which it
reached at the Perkins sale in 1889. No copy of that edition has occurred
for sale since. Of the later editions, 75 the price paid for a copy of the 1^3 ?,
edition at the Halliwell-Phillipps sale, also in 1889 is the auction record.
For the frontispiece of the i^f^r edition as much as 110 was paid at
LUCRECE 39
The first edition of Lucrece is the only one which ap- FIRST
peared in quarto. The signatures run : A i, A ii, B-N, in f
fours. There are forty-seven leaves in all without pagi
nation. The dedication figures on the recto side, and the
Argument on the verso side, of the leaf signed A ii. The
text of the poem commences on the leaf signed B. The title-
page runs : LVCRECE | [Field s device and motto]
LONDON I Printed by Richard Field, for lohn Harrison, and
are
to be sold at the signe of the white Greyhound
in
Paules Churh-yard 1^94. | The pattern of Field s device of
the suspended anchor, with his motto Ancbora Spei y slightly
differs from that on the title-page of Venus and Adonis.
In the Lucrece volume the boughs are crossed in front of the
stem of the anchor, instead of being figured behind the stem,
as in the Venus and Adonis volume.
The copy of the first edition of the poem, which is re pro- No I
duced in facsimile for the first time in this volume, is one
of the two exemplars now in the Bodleian Library at
Oxford. It belongs to the collection of books which was
presented in 1816 to the library by the brother of Edmund
Malone, the Shakespearean commentator, and is numbered
Malone 34. In the spring of 1779, Malone bought for twenty
guineas a single volume containing this copy of the first
edition of Lucrece^ together with a first edition of Shakespeare s
Sonnets. 1 At a later elate he caused these and many other of
his quarto editions of Shakespeare s works to be inlaid and
a sale in 1901. At the present moment the prices are rapidly rising.
A perfect copy of a first edition would be likely to reach ^fiooo, and a perfect
copy of any later edition of the seventeenth century, 500. Justin Winsor s
Bibliography of Shakespeare s Poems (Boston, 18751), anc * the preface to the
Cambridge Shakespeare (new edit. 1891), supply some useful particulars
in regard to extant copies, but most of the information recorded here has
been dei ived from a personal inspection of the copies, or from correspon
dence with the present owners, or from sale catalogues.
1 Charlemont MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm. Rep.}, i. 34.3.
LUCRECE
FIRST
EDITION,
1594-
No. II.
Bodleian (2).
No. III.
Brirish
Museum (i
No. IV.
British
Museum z
No. V.
Sion College.
to be bound up somewhat capriciously six or seven
together in a long series of large volumes. His copy of the
iy94 Lucrece now fills the first place in the volume which
is labelled outside Shakespeare Quartos, volume III, and
contains six quarto tracts. The edition of Lucrece measures
7~" x / , but is inlaid on paper measuring- O i" x 7-". The
poem is followed successively by a copy of the Sonnets of
1609 (with the Aspley reprint); by Hamlet, itfo/; by two
quartos of Pericles dated respectively 1609 and 1619, and by
A Yorkshire Tragedy, idoS.
A second copy in the Bodleian Library of the first
edition of Lucrece was the gift of Thomas Caldecott in 1833,
and is marked Malone 885. It is bound up with copies of
the if 94 edition of Venus and Adonis, and of the first edition
of the Sonnets, 1609 (with the John Wright imprint). The
three tracts were purchased by Caldecott in June, 1796,
4 of an obscure bookseller of ... Westminster . The Lucrece,
which comes second in the volume, has been seriously
pruned by the binder, and measures only 6--" x 4y 6 ". The
title-page has been torn in places and roughly repaired.
Of the two copies in the British Museum the better
one was purchased at the Bright sale, in 1847, for ?%. The
press-mark is C. 2 i.e. 45-. It was bound by Hayday in maroon
morocco, and, though several leaves have been repaired, is
in good condition. It measures 7" x 4y-f"-
The second copy in the British Museum is in the
Grenville Collection (G. 11178). It was purchased by Thomas
Grenville, the collector, at the Combe sale in 1837. It is
well bound in morocco. Grenville described it in a note
in the volume as one of only three known copies. It
measures 6~" x ?". The last leaf is missing, and its place
is filled by a reprint from Malone s copy in the Bodleian
Library.
The perfect copy in Sion College, London, formed part
of the library of Thomas James, a well-known London printer,
1 See Venus and Adonis^ Introduction, p. 59.
LUCRECE 41
whose widow, Mrs. Eleanor [ames, presented it with other FIRST
volumes in 1711 to Sion College c out of her singular EDITION >
affection and respect for the London clergy . The copy,
which is now separately bound, originally formed part of
a volume in which five rare poetical tracts of like date were
bound together. 1 The copy seems to have been printed off
somewhat later than the Malone, and earlier than the Duke
of Devonshire s copy or the Bright copy in the British Museum.
Lines 1182 and i3ro read as in the Malone copy and not as
in the Duke of Devonshire s and British Museum (Bright)
copies. At other points (lines 31 and 125-6) the readings
are identical with the Devonshire and British Museum (Bright)
copies and differ from those of the Malone. 1 The measure
ments are -- x ^~ r .
The Duke of Devonshire s copy, now at Chatsworth, No. vi.
originally belonged to the great actor John Philip Kemblc, ^ cvonshue
whose library was acquired by the sixth Duke of Devonshire in
1821. Kemble inlaid and mounted his quarto plays and poems,
and bound them up six or seven together in a long series of
volumes. Lucrece forms part of volume cxxi in his collection
of plays. There are six quartos altogether in the volume, the
other five being the edition of Pericles, 1609; and early copies
of the four pseudo-Shakespearean plays, Thomas Lord Cromwell^
1613; The London Prodigal^ 1605-; Locrinc^ ifpfj and the first
part of Sir John Oldcastle, 1600. Lucrece does not seem to
1 In the original manuscript catalogue of the library there appears the entry
Shakespeare s Lucrece , &c. In Reading s Catalogue of Sion College Library
(lya^thetractsbound up with Lucrece are indicated. All are nowseparately bound
and are of the highest rarity. They are : i. Barnfield s Affectionate Shepherd,
15-94. (the only other known copy is at Britwell). i. Michael Drayton s Idea:
The Shepherds Garland^ \ 593 (only two other copies seem to have been met with,
and none is in a public library). 3. O. B. s Display of V a - in Life, printed
by Richard Field and dedicated to the Earl of Essex, 1594 (fairly common).
4. Lamentation of Troy for the Death of Hector^ I^c^f, by I. O. (fairly common).
^. An old facloned hue . . . by T. T. Gent. 1594 (a translation of Watson s
Latin poem Amyntas} ; the only other copy known is in the Capell collection
at Trinity College, Cambridge. The last two tracts were both printed by
Peter Short for William Mattes.
2 See pp. 3i-a supra.
FIRST
EDITIOK,
1594-
No. VII.
Mr. A. H.
Huth s copy.
No. VIII.
Holford
copy.
No. IX.
Mr. White s
copy.
No. X.
Mr. E.
Dwight
Church s
(Rowfant)
copy.
42 LUCRECE
have been collated by Kemble, but it is quite perfect ; the
other pieces in the volume have a note, ( Collated and
perfect, J.P.K., with date either 1792 or 1798. The original
page measures 6~^" x 4!", but the page in which the text is
inlaid, ^>\" x 6~" . It is one of the later impressions of the
first edition, closely resembling the copies in the British
Museum.
The copy owned by Mr. A. H. Huth was purchased at
the Daniel sale, in 1864, for .15-7 IQJ-. od. It is a perfect
exemplar.
A copy belonging to Capt. George Lindsay Holford, of
Dorchester House, Park Lane, London, was purchased by the
present owner s father, Robert Stayner Holford, for i oo, about
i Stfo, and is stated to be quite perfect.
Two line copies are now in America. One of these belongs
to Mr. William Augustus White, of Brooklyn. Mr. White s
copy, which measures 7~- " x ff", seems to have been at the
beginning of the nineteenth century in the Chapter library
of Lincoln Cathedral. 1 It subsequently passed into the pos
session of Sir William Bolland, Baron of the Exchequer, who
died in 1840. On Sir William Bolland s death, it appears to
have been purchased by the well-known bookseller, Thomas
Rodd, for TOO guineas. It then passed into the library of
Frederick Perkins, of Chipstead (1780-1 8 60). At the sale
of Perkins library on July 10, 1889, when the catalogue
noticed a small hole burnt in two leaves, destroying a few
letters , it was purchased by Mr. Bernard Quaritch, the
London bookseller, for 200, and was acquired by the
present owner/
A copy in the library of Mr. E. Dwight Church, of New
York, was formerly in that of Frederick Locker Lampson, at
Rowfant, Sussex, which was sold to Messrs. Dodd, Mead
1 See Dibdin s Library Companion^ p. 6t)6 3 and Bibliographical Decameron,
vol. iii, p. 2.64.
2 A facsimile of the title-page of this copy is given in Contributions to
English Bibliography^ Grolier Club, 1895-, p. 181.
LUCRECE 43
Co., of New York, in 1904. It is a perfect copy, measuring FIRST
6^-" x / , and is bound in red morocco with tooled sides EDITION >
by Zaehnsdorf. It was apparently at one time the property of ]
Sir William Tite, at the sale of whose library in 1874 it
fetched L i o. 1
A fragment of the first edition was sold in 1 8 5-2, at the sale Fragment:.
of the library of Edward Vernon Utterson, for /4 ios. od.
Mr. White, of Brooklyn, possesses sixteen leaves (B i, B 4,
C i-F 2) of a second copy, measuring 7~" x f-^-". It is
possible that this is the Utterson fragment.
The first edition of Lucrece has been twice issued in Photo-
facsimile : firstly, in the series of reproductions of Shake- S ra P h:c . re -
, , , __; A , , , T productions.
spearean quartos undertaken by E. W. Ashbee under J. O.
Halliwell-Phillipps direction in 1X67 (of which fifty copies
were prepared and nineteen of these destroyed) ; and
secondly, in the series of Shakspere-Quarto facsimiles with
introduction by F. J. Furnivall, 1886 (No. 3 ?\ published by
Mr. Bernard Quaritch, of Piccadilly, from the copy in the
British Museum.
The second edition appeared in 1798. Unlike the first SECOND
edition, which was a quarto, the second, like all its EDITION 3
successors, is an octavo. The signatures run A-E 4 in No 9 XL
eights. The leaves number thirty-six and the pages are Capell copy.
unnumbered. Only a single copy of the second edition
is known. It is in the Capell collection at Trinity College,
Cambridge. The title-page runs : LVCRECE. AT LONDON, |
Printed by P. S. for John Harrison. 15-98. It was printed by
Peter Short. The title-page bears the signature of two
former owners Robert Cheny, who seems to have paid 1 2d.
for the copy, and of Count Fieschi. The ornaments are
those usually associated with Peter Short s press. Notes of
1 Justin Winsor s statement that Capell s copy is missing from the
collection in Trinity College, Cambridge, is incorrect. Capell never possessed
a copy, but in the Catalogue of his Shakespearean Library he mentions that
one is in the library of Sion College, London, and that he had collated it with
his own exemplar of ly^S.
F 2
44
LUCRECE
SECOND
EDITION
THIRD
EDITION,
1 600.
No. XII.
Bodleian
copy (i).
a thorough collation by Capell of this copy with one
of the first edition of 1 7-94 in Sion College Library are scat
tered through the
volume. The di
mensions of the
volume are 4-!-"
The edition
of 1600 is in
octavo, with signa
tures A-E 4 in
eights. Signature
E 3 is misprinted
1^3. It has thirty-
six leaves, and no
pagination. Only
one perfect copy is
known. This is in
the Malone collec
tion (Malone 327)
in the Bodleian
Library, Oxford.
It is bound up
with a copy of
Venus and Adonis
which has a title-
page supplied in
manuscript (see
Venus and Adonis,
Census, No. VIII).
The volume was
presented to Ma
lone by Dr. Richard
in good condition.
L VC RE C
ri :i
JSS6&
Farmer in 1779. The
The measurements are
Lncrece is
47^x3".
1 There is a note to that effect in Malone s autograph in the volume.
Malone soon afterwards lent the volume to Steevens so that he might read the
lo oo edition of Lucrece. He returned it with a sarcastic drawing which still
LUCRECE 4 y
The title-page runs : LVCRECE LONDON. Printed by I. H. THIRD
for John Harison. 1600.
EDITION^
1600.
There is in the Bodleian Library a second and imperfect
CO pyof this edition Bodleian (i).
(without title-page
and wanting last
leaf), which mea-
Printed bvI.H.for lohn. Hsrifon
sures 4-- x 3i"-
The text breaks
off at line 1797,
< My sorrowes in-
terest,let no mour
ner say with the
catchword below
4 He . The signa
tures are as in the
perfect copy of
1600. The leaves
number thirty-
four. The tract
is inserted in a
volume (8 L 2
Art. BS.) which
was probably
bound in Oxford
for the Bodleian
Library about
itfyo, and comes
between c Chan
sons spirituelles,
mises en musique a quatre parties par Didier Lupi. Nouuelle-
ment reueues & augmentee s. A Paris. Par Adrian le Roy ck
Robert Ballard, Imprimeurs du Roy 15-71 (music book); and
( A Wittie Encounter Betweene Monsieur du Moulin & Monsieur
remains pasted on the fly-leaf; a bust of Shakespeare is shown with the
words written on a label proceeding from his lips : Would that I had all my
commentators in Lipsburry pinfold !
THIRD
EDITION,
1600.
FOURTH
EDITION,
1607.
4<* LUCRECE
De Balzac, translated out of the French coppy by A. S. Gent
(London, 163(5).
The fourth edition of 1607, in small octavo, was printed
by Nicholas Okes for John Harrison. The title-page runs:
LVCRECE. | AT LONDON, Printed be N. O. for lohn Ha- 1
rison. 1607. The leaves number thirty-two without pagina-
LUCRECE 47
tion. The signatures run A-D 8 ; A 4 is misprinted 64. On FOURTH
the title-page appears the misprint be for by (in the imprint EDITION 3
Printed be N. O. ). Harrison s device ana motto, Dum
spero^ fero, figure as in the edition of idoo. There is
a circular ornament at the end of the ( Argument .
Two copies are known. The Capell copy in Trinity NO. xiv.
College, Cambridge, measures f " x 3-^". Opellcopy.
The second copy, in the library of the Earl of Ellesmere, NO. xv.
at Bridgewater House, London, measures yi" x 3^". The leaves Bnd s ewater
are much cut down. The volume is bound in orange morocco.
This copy possesses much historic interest. It was purchased
by John Egerton, second Earl of Bridgewater, who took the
part of the Elder Brother in the performance of Milton s
Comas at Ludlow Castle, in 1634. The words c By W: Shake
speare are written in a contemporary hand across the title-
page. The copy was described at length, but not with
accuracy, by John Payne Collier in his Early English Literature
at Bridgewater House, 1837, pp. 280-2, and in his Bibliographical
Account of Early English Literature^ i8<5j-, vol. ii, pp. 332 seq.
Collier claims for the edition textual superiority to the
preceding edition of idoo, which a careful collation seems
hardly to justify. It follows the text of i<5oo with very trivial
modification.
The fifth edition of 1616 (in small octavo), in spite FIFTH
of many typographical changes, is of the same size (thirty-two EDITION J
leaves without pagination) and has the same signatures as the
issue of 1607. The signature A 4 is again misprinted B 4.
Of this fifth edition four copies are known. The title-page
runs : THE RAPE OF I LVCRECE | By Mr. William
Shakespeare Newly Reuised. LONDON : | Printed by T. S.
for fyger Jackson^ and are | to be solde at his shop neere the
Conduit in Fleet-street, 1616. Of the four extant copies,
two are in America.
The copy in the British Museum was acquired on No. xvi.
April r, i8f8. It seems to have been sold by auction at J" tlsh
,, ; -r i Museum
Sotheby s, May, 185-6, for 2$ ios. od. It is not in very clean copy .
condition. Many leaves are pieced or patched, and the last five,
4 8
LUCRECE
FIFTH
EDITION,
1616.
No. XVII.
Bodleian
copy.
No. XVIII.
Lenox
Library,
New York.
No. XIX.
Mr. D wight
Church s
(Rowfant)
copy.
SIXTH
EDITION,
1614.
No. XX.
British
Museum (i)
(Grenville).
No. XXI.
British
Museum (2).
which were defective, have been repaired in facsimile. The
measurements are ^"x $-" . The volume was in recent times
bound by Bedford in red morocco. The press-mark is C. 34. a. 44.
The copy in the Bodleian Library was part of the
bequest of Thomas Caldecott and reached the Library in
1833 (Malone 892). The leaves have been much cut by the
binder. The measurements are <)-" x 3-^" .
There is a copy in the Lenox Library in the New York
Public Library which has been cut close at top and bottom.
This was probably the one priced by the bookseller Rodd
in his catalogue of 1837 at four guineas, and may be that
sold with the Vetms and Adonis of 16 3 6 and other poetical
tracts at the sale of Thomas Pearson s library in 1788.
The copy formerly in the library of Frederick Locker
Lampson, of Rowfant, now belongs to Mr. E. Dwight Church,
of New York. Measuring <>-" x $~" and being bound
by Riviere, it was formerly in the library of Frederick Ouvry.
It is cut in the lower margin. It was bought in the
Ouvry sale, in 1882, by Bernard Quaritch, for $? io/. o^/.,
and shortly afterwards went to Rowfant. It passed to the
present owner early in 1907.
Of the edition of 1624, in small octavo, six copies are
now traceable, of which only two are now in England, and
both of these are in the British Museum. The text with
list of contents and marginal notes follows that of i 6 1 6. The
signatures are the same, and the leaves number thirty-two,
without pagination. The title runs : The Rape of
Lvcrece. | By Mr. William Shakespeare. Newly Revised.
LONDON Printed by I. B. for tyrer Jackson, and are | to
be sold at his shop neere the Conduit | in Fleet-street, 1^24.
A fair copy is in the Grenville collection (No. 11179)
at the British Museum. It was possibly bought at the
Jolley sale in 1844. The measurements are fr/ x 3Tg".
The title and last leaf are not in good condition and a few of
the headlines are cut into. It is bound in green morocco.
The second copy now known to be in Great Britain is
also in the British Museum press-mark C. 39. a. 37 (2). It
LUCRECE 49
measures $- ><$- , and is bound with four other poetical SIXTH
tracts of like date. f>
Four other copies are now in America. The best belongs NO. xxii.
to Mr. E. Dwight Church. It was in the eighteenth century Mr. Dwight
the property of Sir John Fenn (1739-94), the editor of cop y tc
the c Paston Letters . A subsequent owner was Philip Howard
Frere (1813-58). It is a fine and clean copy. Sir John
Fenn cut out the woodcut and imprint of the title-page, placing
the excised slips in his collection of cuttings. These were
discovered in a scrapbook formerly in the possession of Sir
John Fenn, by Dr. Aldis Wright, who replaced them in the
title-page of the copy, while Frere was its owner. The
copy passed into the hands of the American collector, Thomas
Jefterson McKee, at whose sale in 1901 it was acquired by
the present owner. The size of the leaf is 5--^" x 3-5-".
The volume is bound in green levant morocco.
The Rowfant copy, which formerly belonged to Frederick No. xxnr.
Locker Lampson, has the inscription on title-page : ( Pretium ^
4N: L: S: It measures yf" x 3-^". It at one time be- (Ro
longed to Narcissus Luttrell (i5; 7-1 7 3 2), and seems to have copy-
been sold at the Ouvry sale in 1882, for i i, to Messrs. Ellis
and White, the booksellers of Bond Street. It was acquired by
Messrs. Dodd, Mead & Co., booksellers of New York, in 1 904.
The copy belonging to Mr. Folger, of New York, NO. xxiv.
seems to have been sold at Sotheby s in a miscellaneous Mr - Fol g er s
sale on June 18, 1903, and bought by Messrs. Sotheran for
i 30. A few headlines are shaved.
A copy belonging to Mr. Marsden J. Perry, of Provi- NO. xxv.
dence, formerly belonged to Halliwellf-Phillipps], who Mr - Pe y s ]
paid Quaritch 42 for it in November, 1885-. It measures
1 1 " i "
rH- x 3f
In the seventh edition of 1632, the signatures run A in SEVENTH
fours, B-Dy in eights- 64 is misprinted 62. On the last EDITION,
page (D 7 verso) the word < Finis is followed by a wood
cut with the motto In Domino confido. The typography is
distinguished by the excessive use of italics for ordinary
words. The leaves number thirty. There is no pagination.
SEVENTH
EDITION
No. XXVI.
Corpus
Christ!
College,
Oxford.
No. XXVII.
Britwell
copy-
XXVIII.
Untraced
copy.
No. XXIX.
Edinburgh
University
copy.
TO LUCRECE
There are five extant copies of the edition of 1632 one at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford j another in the library of
Mrs. Christie Miller at Britwell ; a third in unknown hands j
the fourth (defective) at Edinburgh University Library ;
and the fifth in America, in Mr. Perry s library at
Providence. The title-page runs : - - The Rape | of
| Lucrece j by Mr. William Shakespeare | Newly revised.
[Printer s device with motto Dum spero feroJ] London. |
Printed by R. B. for lohn Harrison and | are to be sold at his
shop at the golden Vnicorne in Patcr-noster J^ow. 1632. In
one of the impressions of the edition of Shakespeare s Poems
issued by the bookseller Lintott in 1710, he gives a title-page
of Lucrece bearing the date 163 2. A copy of that edition was
doubtless in his possession.
The Corpus Christi College copy, which measures
5"T x ST > was presented to the college by a seventeenth-
century Fellow, John Rosewell, Canon of Windsor. It is
in old calf, and bound up with a defective copy (having
no title) of an English translation by Thomas Hudson of
the History of Judith (1784) from the French of Du Bartas.
The Britwell copy formerly belonged to George Steevens,
and was bought at his sale in 1800 by Richard Heber for
fifteen shillings. It passed from the Heber Library into the
possession of William Henry Miller, the founder of the
library at Britwell, in 1834. The measurements are
yf" x 3!". It is bound up with a copy of Charles Fitz-
Geffry s Blessed Birthday (Oxford, 1656).
A copy belonging to John Mansfield Mackenzie,
of Edinburgh, of which some leaves had rough edges,
was sold at Sotheby s at the sale of the Mackenzie Library,
March n, 1889, and was purchased by Pearson & Co., the
London booksellers, for 26 ios. od. Its present owner has
not been traced.
A defective copy (consisting of twenty-seven leaves of
the thirty) is in the Edinburgh University Library. 1 The
1 Thanks are due to Dr. Eggeling and to Mr. Alex. Anderson of
Edinburgh University for the opportunity of determining the date of this copy.
LUCRECE
measurements are j-f" x 3-^". It has no title-page, and the SEVENTH
leaves C and Ci (lines 7^4-903) are missing. The bottom ED I"" ON ,
edges are closely shaved throughout. It was bound by
The Rape of
Ll 1 /"~~* Hf F" /""^ T*
LI C RE C E
Committed by
T A RQJJ IN theSmJ
*yf ^, 7^
7/^ remark tilt jttdgmtnts that befdhirff? li\
BY
The incomparable Mafter of our E*i*li/h ?&?r} t
WILL: SHAKE sp B AR.K Gent.
The TZanifhinent of Y A R c^u i
^^u i ry\ I r T n
Or, /A^ T&Ward of Lti!t
* - J ^ *.
Printediby f.C. for ^
in George-v
?ac =
Tuckett. It was presented, in 1872, to the Edinburgh
University by J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps, who, in a manuscript
note, describes it as a unique exemplar, in ignorance of the
G 2
T2 LUCRECE
SEVENTH survival of any other copy of the 1632 edition. Halliwell-
EDITION, Phillipps had, in his Folio Shakespeare (1865-}, dated this
defective copy before itfitf, assigning it tentatively to the
year 1610, but his final opinion that it was issued in 1632
is undoubtedly right.
NO. xxx. The copy belonging to Mr. Marsden J. Perry, of Provi-
Mr. Perry s j encej was purchased for 7? at the Halli well- Phillipps sale,
in 1889. It measures Hi" x 3i"> an( l is bound in red
morocco, by Lortic freres. Some of the lower and outer
leaves are uncut.
EIGHTH A reissue in 165-7, for which William Gilbertson, who
had just purchased the copyright, was mainly responsible,
bears this title: The Rape of LUCRECE, | Committed
by | TARQUIN the Sixt; AND The remarkable judgments
that befel him for it. \ BY The incomparable Master of our
English Poetry^ | WILL : SHAKESPEARE Gent. | Whereunto is
annexed, | The Banishment of TARQUIN : J Or, the Reward of
Lust. | By J. Quarles. | LONDON. Printed by J. G. for
John Stafford in George-yard | neer Fleet-bridge, and Will:
Gilbertson at the Bible in Giltspur-street, 16??. \ The pages are
numbered 1-71 for Shakespeare s poem and 1-12 for Quarles
brief sequel. The signatures are continuous throughout A 4,
B-F 8 in eights, G 4. The volume opens with an engraved
frontispiece, by William Faithorne. In the upper part of
the page is a small oval portrait of Shakespeare, adapted
from the Droeshout engraving in the First Folio, and below
are full-length pictures of Collatinus and Lucretia with the
inscription in large italics :
The Fates decree that tis a mighty wrong
To Woemen Kinde, to have more Greife, then Tongue.
Will: Gilbirson: John Stafford excud.
On the title-page, which faces the frontispiece and is in
ordinary type, is the device of a wreath containing the
initials I. S. and W. G. (i.e. John Stafford and William
Gilbertson). A dedication follows on sig. A3, c To my
LUCRECE n
esteemed friend Mr. Nehemiah Massey, and is signed John EIGHTH
Quarles. The Argument is on A 4, and the text of Shake- E D ITION J
speare s poem on B-F4 (verso blank). The separate title-page
of Quarles poem is on Fy: Tarqvin Banished: Or, The
Reward Of Lust. Written by J. Q.^ There follows an
address < To the Reader ? (F <5), and the text of Quarles poem
fills F7-G4.
f4 LUCRECE
EIGHTH The frontispiece is met with in very few copies, and
f!7 N lends the volume its main value and interest. It supplies
the third engraved portrait of Shakespeare in point of time,
that by Droeshout of the First Folio of 1623 being the
first, and the second being the engraving by William Marshall
before Shakespeare s Poems of 164.0. Of the three early
engraved portraits of Shakespeare, this by Faithorne is most
rarely met with. Halliwellf-Phillipps], writing before iSyo ,
stated that he had seen thirty copies of the 16 55 edition of
Lucrece without the title-page and only one with it. Only
two copies of the volume with the frontispiece seem acces
sible in Great Britain, while four seem to be in America.
WITH THE Three copies of the edition are in the British Museum,
FRONTIS- but only one of them has the frontispiece (C. 34. a. 45-). The
PIECE. r . J 1-1 7 // 3 // J U
VVVT perfect c Py> which measures 5--^ x 3-^ , was acquired by
British tne Museum, April 3, i86 y. It is stained and very closely
Museum ( i ). trimmed, but the impression of the frontispiece is singularly
brilliant, though the verses beneath it have been cut into
by the binder. This copy was at one time in the possession
of Halliwell[-Phillipps], who sold it by auction at Sotheby s
in May, i8fd, for 2? io/. od. Halliwell[-Phillipps] inserted
a manuscript note, calling attention to the extreme rarity
of the edition with the frontispiece, and to its comparatively
frequent occurrence without that embellishment.
NO. The copy in the Bodleian Library (Malone 889) was be-
xxxii. queathed by Thomas Caldecott in 1 8 3 3. It measures ?^- 6 " x 3^".
c e The frontispiece is mounted, and may possibly have come from
another copy. The title-page is cropped and mutilated at
the bottom. The binding is probably of the late eighteenth
century. At the back of the Lucrece title-page the
4 Wriothesley dedication is copied in manuscript from the
1616 edition.
NO. The copy in the Barton collection at the Boston
Public Library has the frontispiece inlaid. 7 his copy was thus
coneaion } described by the bookseller, Thomas Rodd, on October y,
Boston 1837: c The title-page torn and laid down. The frontis-
Lib b r ar piece inlaid. Several leaves cut into the side margin &
LUCRECE fj-
dirty. The back margin sewed in. Rodd thought it EIGHTH
might be identical with the copy sold in 1827 at the Field ^ ION
sale for $ i$s. orf. It was purchased by T. P. Barton of
New York, from Rodd, in 183 $, and bequeathed by Barton
to the Boston Public Library in 1876- It is bound in
green morocco by Mackenzie, and the binder has misplaced
pages y and 8.
An interesting copy, belonging to Mr. Dwight Church NO.
of New York, bound in old calf, has the frontispiece, but * xx * v
11 r i c \- Mr. Dwight
it is cut into at the bottom. Some or the pages or the church of
text are also closely cut. The copy, which measures New York.
j-^g" x 3-f-", seems identical with one which was purchased
at Sotheby s, by [Sir] William Tite, in 185-0, for 26 $s. od.
and sold at the Tite sale in 1874, for i i j-j. c//. Mr. Church s
copy is carefully described in Contributions to English Biblio
graphy , Grolier Club, 1897, p. 183.
Mr. Folger, junior, of New York, possesses a perfect No.
copy. This was apparently the copy which belonged to x ^ V j
Dr. Richard Farmer, and was for a time in the library of
Henry F. Sewall of New York, at the sale of whose books in
1897 it fetched 37 (gi8r).
A fourth perfect copy was sold at the Daniel sale in
1864, for 40 i9/. cW., and was subsequently in the library of
E. G. Asay of Chicago. (Daniel)
Of two copies in the British Museum without the front is- copy
piece one is bound up with a volume of pamphlets in the ^"FRON-
King s Library, E. 1572/3. The date, c Aug: 31, is written TISPIECE.
in a contemporary hand above the imprint, and was probably No.
the day of publication in the year itff f. The book is in xxx y I!
j ; j- ; /, a // British
good condition. It measures f x 3^ . Museum (i).
The second copy without the frontispiece, which is at No ;
the British Museum, is in the Grenville collection (G. 11432). Brit
All the leaves are stained and have been mended. The Museum (3).
volume is bound in olive morocco and measures yf" x 3-^".
This may be the copy formerly in the library of George
Hibbert, of Portland Place, which was sold at the Hibbert
sale in 1829, for 2 6s. od.
EIGHTH
EDITION
No.
XXXIX.
Edinburgh
University.
Nos. XL.
and XLI.
Britwell
copies.
$6 LUCRECE
There is a copy in the University Library at Edinburgh,
without the frontispiece, and two copies without the title-
page are at Britwell one of the latter formerly belonged to
Richard Heber. 1
1 Notices of other imperfect copies without the frontispiece appear in
sale catalogues. In the Bibliotheca Anglo-Poetica* (1817), a catalogue of
rare books on sale at Messrs. Longmans, of Paternoster Row, a copy is priced
at i i or. od. but no particulars of its condition are given. One was sold at
the Utterson sale in 185-1, for four guineas (without frontispiece and the
bottom line of title cut off) ; another at the Frederick Perkins sale in 1889,
bound by Roger Payne, for $ 6s. od. a third, belonging to Halliwell-
Phillipps, bound by Bedford in morocco, was sold at the sale of his library,
July i, 1889, to Raglan for ^^ os. od. At two miscellaneous sales at
Sotheby s, on June 18 and December 4, 1901, respectively, the frontispiece
and title-page were sold detached from the volume. On the first occasion they
were bought for 13 ior. od. by Mr. Gribble, and on the second occasion
Messrs. Pearson & Co. were the purchasers for 110.
L V C R E C E.
^.- *-. ">^siv >r ^^-"^ J-> * s^^^
& SS^^^^^t^^^
^D ^>^wf r T>^7^e>^ v ^
-<R> . l i~--..Uvs: i!CsT^;
LONDON.
Printed by Richard Field^orlohnHarrifonjandare
tcJbc fold anhc figncot the v hire Greyhound
inPaulcsChuihyr.ro, i f - 9 4.
T O T H E RIGHT
. H O N O V R A B L E, H E N R Y
VVrioihefley,HarleofSouthhampConj
.iiui Riron oi Ticchficld.
H E loue I dedicate to your
Lordfhip i; without end:\vhcr-
of this Pamphlet without be
ginning is but a iupcirluous
X Moity. The warrant I hauc of
your Honourable difpofition,
notthewonh of my vntutord
Lines makes it aflurcd of acceptance. What I hauc
done is yours, what 1 haue to doe is yours, being
part in all I haue,deuotcd yours. Were my worth
greatcr,my ducty would (hew greater, meane time,
as it is,it is bound to your Lordlhip^To whom I with
long life dill lengthned with all happinefle.
Your Lordlhips in all duety.
William Shakefbcare.
i
A i
THE ARGVMENT.
r
LVcius Tarquinius (for hucxcefliue pride fnm t tmed Superbus)
after bee had VAU fed his owne father inhw Scruius Tullius to
be cruelly nt trdred, and contrane to the T{om.iiiic l-.wcs andcti-
jlomes , not requiring orftayin?for the peoples pi fjr.tvcs, hnd pojfefled
himfclfeofthe kwgdome : went accompanied with hu fomtes and other
Noble men of f{o mc } to bcjiege Ardea, during which fic^e, the principal!
mm oftheislrmy meeting one etteningat the Tent 0/ScxfUS Tarquini-
US the Ktn^sfonne, in their dtfcourfesafter fupptr every one c tmmc nd:d
the venues of his ownewife : s.mo",<j whom Colatinus extoUedthemcem~
parable chaHitj ofhij mfe Lucrct Ja. In that p/eafont humor they allpo -
ftedtoT{of)e, and intending by theyrfecret And (odame arrmall ta mjl^e
trtttll of that which euery one had before avouched^ onely Col.ltinus/W.f
hit VPtfe (though it were fatt in the ni^ht) /pinning (tmonaeft her maidcs^
the other Ladtes were all found eUnnCfftg and revelling or in feHers. Uif-
portf : whereupon the Nokle WfWj fr/cW-Colatinus thevifiory, end
hit wife the F*mt. zslt that time Scxtus Tarqumius kctH^enflnKicd
vith Lucrecc betHtyyet finoothering hupajjionsfor thcpre[e*t t depjrtcd
fptththe rtftbacke to the Carafe \from whence hefljortlj after pnuily
withdrew himfdfe, andrr.u ( accoraingta his cftate} royally entertained
And lodged by Lucrece at Colatium. 7 he fame night he trctcheroujlte
ftealeth into her Chamber , violently ramfot her , and early in the mor-
nin^ fpeedeth away. Lucrecc inthu lamentable flight t hastily difpatch-
eth A jeflen^er.t >one to T{pme for her father , another to the Campefor
Colatme. They came, the one accompanied with lunms Brutus, the o-
therirtrbPablius Valtnus : andfindtng Lucrece atttredtn mournwg
habit e , demanded the caufe of her /arrow . Shee fir ft taking an cath of
them for her retim^e , rctttaled the A ft or , and vehole mancr of his dea-
littViandvpiihattfodairiefy flawed her fitfe. Which djne, with onecen-
fcnt they all vowed to root t out the whole hxtedfi&Ki/j of the Tarquins :
find bearing the dead body to Rome , Brutus fl r Attaint fd the pcop. c with
thf dvtr ti idm.inntr of the Z t/c d"edc : with j hitter inncthta againft the
lyr.invj c~ t ft s tx?, wherewith the people were jo mo:>ed , / v:. Wit/yone
- jnfe,;: andagcMralaccUmtinon, the Tarquins were nlttxi!cd l :i:dthe
fratt 3 urn?r e ?nt cbr,:?edfrom KWS to Ccn uls.
J I , U * > J
^MS^g^ftS
THE RAPE OF
L V C R E C E.
FROM thebefieged Ardea allinpoft.
Borne by the truftlefle wings off alfedefire,
Luft-brcathed TAR QviNjleaucs the Roman .
And to Colatium bcarcs the lightleffc fire.
Which in pale embers hid, lurkes to afpire,
And girdle with embracing flames, the waft
Of COL MINES fairloue, LVCRECE the chad.
Hap ly that name of chad, vnhap ly fct
This bateleflc edge on his keene appetite:
When C o L A T i NK vnwifely did not let ?
To praife the clcare vnmatched red and white,
Which triumpht in that skie of his delight:
Where mortal ftars as bright as heaues Beauties,
O 7
With pure afpe&s did him peculiar dueties.
B
11. i -14
i THE RAPE OF LVCRECE,
For he the night before inTarquins Tent,
Vnlockt the trcafurc of his happic ftate :
V Vhat prifelefle wealth the hcauens had him lent,
In the pofleffion of his beauteous mate.
Reckning his fortune at fuch high proud rate,
That Kings might be efpowfed to more fame,
But King nor Peerc to fuch a peerelefle dame.
O happinefle enioy d but of a few.
And it poded: us foone decayed and done:
As is the morning filuer melting dew ,
Againfti.be golden fplendourohheSunne,
An expir d date canceld ere well begunne.
j Honour and Beautie in the owners armes,
-Are weak el iefortreft from a world ofharmes.
Beautie it felfe doth of ic felfe perfv/ade,
The eies ofmen without an Orator,
What needah then Appologie be made
To fet forth that which is ib finguler ?
> Or why is Colatine the publifher
; Of that rich iewell he ihould keepe vaknown,
/ From theeuiih cares becaufe it is his ov^ne ?
Perchance
H - 15 35
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Perchance his bod of Lucrece Sou raigntL ,
Suggcfted this proud ifluc of a Kint* :
For by our cares our hearts oft tayfitcd be :
Perchance that cnuie otfo rich a thing
Brauing compare, difciaineful. y did (ting (vane,
His high plcht thoughts that meaner iiienihoulcl
That golden hap which their (uperiors want.
But fbme vntitnclie thought did inftigate,
His all too timcleflfe fpcede if none ot ihofe,
His honor, his affaires, his friends, his ftate,
Ncglcded all, with fwift intent he goes,
To quench the coale which in his liucr glowes.
O rafh falfe heate, wrapt in repentant cold,
Thy haftic fpring ftill blafts and nere growes old*
When at Colatium thisfalfc Lord ariucd,
V Veil was he welcom d by the Romaine dame,
Within whofc face Beautic and Yertue (Iriued,
Which of them both iliould vndei prop her fame.
V Vhe Vcrtuebrag d , Beautic wold blulh for ft
When Bcautie bofted bluilies^in defpight
Vcrtuc would ftaine that ore with fllucr \s hite.
B 2
11. 36-56
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
ButBeautieinthat \vhitccntitulcd,
From Venus denies doth challenge thai fairc field,
Then Vcrtucclaimes from Beautie, Beauties red,
Which Vertue gaue the golden age, to guild
Their filuercheekes, and cald it then their fhicld,
Teachingthem thus to vfe it in the fight,
V Vhe ihamc afkild,thc red ihould fece the >vhitc.
This Herauldry in LVCRECE face was feene,
Argued by Beauties red and Vertues white,
Of cithers colour was the other Quccnc:
Prouingfrom worlds minoriry their right,
Yettheir ambition makesthcm dill to fight:
The foueraignty ot either being ib great,
That oft they interchange cch others feat.
This filent warre of Lillics and. of Roles,
Which TARQJI N vcw d in her fairc faces field,
In their pure rankes his tray tor eye enclofe^,
Where leaft betweene them both it Ihould be kild.
The coward captiue vancjuHhed, doth yceld
To thofetwo Armies that would let him goe,
Rather then triumph in io falfc a foe.
Now
5777
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
Now think ci he that her husbands fhallow tongue,
C?
1 he niggard prodigall that praifde her fo :
In that high taskc hath done her Beauty wrong.
Which fane cxcccdcs his barren skill to fhow.
Therefore that praiie which C o L A T i N E doth owe,
Inchaunted I A ,i qj/ i N aunfwcrs withfurmife.
In illent wonder of ftill gazing eyes.
This earthly fainft adored by this deuill,
Little fufpedeth the falfcvvorlhippcr:
" For vnftaind thoughts do fcldom dream on euill.
"Birds neuer!im J 5 nofecretbulhesfeare:
So Ljiii tlciTc ilicc fccurcly giucs good cheare,
And rcucrend welcome to her princely gucty,
V Vhofe inward ill no outward harme expreft*
Forthathecolourcl withhishigricftate >
Hiding bafe fin in pleats of Maicllie :
That nothing in him feemd inordinate,
&
Sauc fometime too much \vond cr ofhis eye>
Which hauing all, all could not fatisfie.
But poorly rich To wanteth in his ftorc,
That cloyd with much, he pineth dill for more*
11, 78-98
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Butilic that neucr cop t with ftraungcreies.
Could picke no meaning fro;n their parling lookes,
Nor read the fubtle ihinmg fccrecies,
V Vrit in the glatfie margents of <iic h bookes,
Shcc touchtno-vnknown baits , nor feard no hooks,
Nor could (hee moralize his wanton fight,
More then his eies were opend to the light.
He (lories to her cares her husbands fame,
VVonne in the fields of fruitful! Italic:
And decks with praifcs Colatines high name,
Made glorious by his manlic chiualrie,
V Vithbruiiedarmes and wreathes of viclorie,
Her ioie wi h heaucd-vp hand (he doth exprefle,
And wordlefle fo greeted heauen for hii fucccflc.
Far from the purpofe of his camming thither,
He makes excuies for his being there,
No clowdie ihow offtormic bluftring wether,
Doth yet in his fairc welkin once appcare,
Till (able N ight mother of dread and fcarc,
Vppon the world dim darkncilc doth difplaic,
And in her vaultic prifon,ftowcs the daie.
For
11. 99 119
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE
For then is Tarquine brought vnto his bed,
Intending wearioefle with heauie /prite : .
For after fuppcr long he <queftioned,
With modeft Lucrece, and wore out the ni<?hr,
Now leaden (lumber with Hues ftrength doth fight,
And eueric one to reft himfelfe betakes,
Saue theeues,and cares^ and troubled minds that
(wakes.
As one of which doth Tarquin lie reuoluing
The fundiie dangers oi his wiL obtaining :
Yet euer to obraine his will refoluing. ( n n g
Though wcake -built hopes pcrfwadc him to abftai-
Difpaire to gaine doth traffique oft for gaining,
> And when great trcafure isihcmecdepropo ed,
- 1 hough death be adiuut^ther s no death fuppofcd.
Tho^e that much couet are with gaine Co fond,
T hat whai they haue not,that which they poffcfle
They icat.cr and vnloofe it from their bond,
And fo by hoping more they haue but lefle,
Or gaining moi e. the profite of exceffc
Is but to furfct,and fuch griefes fufbine,
That they prone backrout in this poore rich gain.
11. 120 140
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
The aymc of all is but to nourfc the Ijfc,
V V ith honor, wealth, and cafe in wainyng a;e:
And in this aymc there is fuch thwarting ftrife,
That one for all, or all for one we gage:
As life for honour, in fell battailes rage,
Honor for wealth, and oft that wealth doth coft
The death of all, and altogether loft.
So that in ventring ill, we leauc to be
The things we are, for that which we expcd :
And this ambitious foule infirmitie,
In hauing much torments vs with defect
Of that we haue: fo then we doe ncglcd
The thing wehauc, and all for want of wit,
Make fomcthing nothing,by augmenting it.
Such hazard now muft doting T A R QJ i N make,
Pawning his honor to obtainc his Juft,
And for himlfclfe, himfelfe he mutt forfake.
Then where is truth if there be no felfe- truft?
5 When (hall he thinke to find a ftranger iuft,
V Vhcn he himfelfe,himfclfe confoundsjbctraics,
To fclandrous tongues & wretched hateful daies?
JMow
11. 141 161
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Now dole v ppon the time the dead of night,
VV hen hcauicfleecp had clofdvp mortal! eyes,
No comfortable ftarre did lend his light,
No noifc but Chvles, & wolues death-boding cries:
Now femes the fcafon that they may furprife
The fillie Lambes, pure thoughts are dead & dill,
While Luft and Murder wakes to ftaine and kill.
And now this luftfull Lord leapt from his bed.
Throwing his mantle rudely ore his arme,
Is madly toft betwecne defire and drcd;
Th onc fwectely flatters, th other fearethharmc,
But honed fcare,bewicht with luftes foule charme,
Doth too too oft betake him to retire,
Beaten away by braineiickc rude deiire.
His Faulchon on a flint he foftly fmiteth,
That from the could ftonc fparkes of fire doe flie,
Whereat a waxen torch forthwith he lighteth,
Which muft be lodeftarrc to his luflfull eye.
And to the flame thus fpeakes aduifcdliej
As from this cold flint I enforft this fire,
SoLvca-lCE muft I force to my defirc.
C
11. 162182
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
Here pale with feare he doth premeditate,
The daungers of his lothfome enterpriie:
And in his inward mind he doth debate.
What following forrow may on this anfe.
Then looking fcornfully> he doth defpife
His naked armour offtillflajghtcredluft,
Andiuftly thus controlls his thoughts vniuft.
Faire torch burne out thy light, and lend it not
To darken her who/c liglit excellcth thine:
o
And die vnhallowed thoughts, before you blot
V Vith your vncleanne(Te,that \A hich is deuine:
Offer pure incenfe to (o pure a fhrine :
Let fairc humanitie abhor the dccde,
That ipots & ftains loucs rnodeft fhow-whitc weed.
O lhamc to knighthood , and to (hining Armes,
O foulc difhonor to my houihoulds grauc :
O impious a6t including all foule harmes.
A martial] man to be fbftfancics flaue,
True valour Hill a true rcfpeit fhould hauc,
Then my digreflion is fb vile, fb bafc,
That it will liue cngrauen in my face.
Yea
II. 183203
THE RAPE OF LyCRECE.
Yea though r die the (candale will furuiue,
Ard be an eie-fore in my golden coatc :
Some lothfome da(h the Hcrrald will contriuc,
To cipher me how fondlie I did dote :
That my pofteritie fham d with the note
Shall curfc my bones, and hold it for no finne,
To with that 1 their father had not beenc.
What win I iflgainc the thing! feeke ?
A drcame, a breath, a froth oi fleeting ioy,
Who buies a minutes mirth to vvaile a wceke ?
Orfels eternitietogetatoy?
For one fwecte ^rape ft ho will the vine deftroy ?
Qr what fond begger,but to touch the crownc,
Would with the iceptcr ilraight be (iroke down?
IfCoLATiNVS dreame of my intent,
V V ill he not wake, and in a defp rate rage
Pod hither, this vile purpofe to prcuent?
This fiege that hath ingirt his marriage,
This blur to youth, this forrow to the fage,
This dying vertue, this furuiuingiliame,
Whofe crime will beareaneuer-during blame.
C2
11. 204224
THE RAPE OF L V C R E C .
O what excufe can my inucntion make
V Vhen thou ihalt charge me with fo blacke a deed?
V Vil not my tongue be mute,my fraile ioinrs (hake?
Mine eics forgo their light, my falfe hart bleede?
The guilt bccinggrear,thcf care doth (till excecdej
And extreme feare can neither fight nor flic,
Butcowardlikc with trembling terror die.
Had C o L A T i N v s kild my fonnc or fire,
Or laine in ambuih to betray my life,
Or were he not my deare friend, thisdcfire
Might haue cxculc to worke vppon his wife :
As in reuenge or quittall of (uch ftrife.
But as he is my kinfman, my dearc friend,
The lhamc and fault finds no excufe nor end.
Shamcfullitis :T,ifthefad beknownc,
Hatcfull it is : there is no hare in louing,
Uc beg her loue: but (he is not her owne :
The word is but deniall and rcproouing.
My will is flrong paft rcafons weakc remoouina ;
Who fcarcs a lenience or an old mans Taw,
Shall by a painted doth be kept in awe.
Thus
11. 225245
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Thus gracclcilc holds he deputation,
Twecnc frozen conscience and hot burning will,
And with good thoughts makes difpenfation,
Vrgingthe worfer fence for vantage ftill.
Which in a moment <doth confound and kill
All pure effeds 5 and doth Co farre proceede,
That what is vik, ihewes like a vertuous decde.
Quoth he, fhee tooke me kindlie by the hand,
And gaz d for tidings in my eager eyes,
Fcaripgfomc hard newes from the warlikeband,
V \1ierchcrbeloucd6oiATiNvs lies.
Ohowherfearc did make her colour rife I
Firft red as Rofes that on Lawne welaie,
Then white as Lawne the Rofes tooke awaie.
And how her hand in my hand being lockt,
Forft it to tremble with her loyall fearer
Which (Irooke her fad , and then it rafter rockr,
Vntill her husbands welfare fhee did heare.
Whereat (hee/milcd with ibfwcete a cheare, <
That had N A R<: i s $ v s fecit c her aa feee flood,
S elfc-louc had neuer drown d him in the flood.
1 C 3
11. 246 266
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Why hunt I then for colour or cxcufes ?
All Orators arc dumbc when Bcautie pleadcth,
Poorewr etches haueremorfc in pooreabufcs,
Loue thriues not in the hart that Ihadows dreadeth,
Affection is my Captaine and he leadeth.
And when his gaudic banner is difplaidc,
The coward fights, and will not be dilmaide.
Then childifh fcare auaunt, debating die,
Rcfpeil and reaion waitc on wrincklcd age: * ^
My heart mall ncucr countermand mine ei ^
Sad paufe, and deepe regard befeemes the fjgc,
My part is youth and beatcs thefe from the fta^e.
Defirc my Pilot is, Beauticmyprife,
Then who feares finking where fuch treafure lies?
As conic ore-growne by wcedes: fo heedfull fearc
Isalmoitchoaktbyvnreiiftedluih
Away he ftcales with open liftning care,
Fiilloffoulehope,and full of fond miltruft:-
Both which as fcruitors to the vniufr,
So croffe him with their oppofitpcrfwafion,
That now he vo v/es a league, and now inuafion.
"^ VVith-
11. 267287
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Within his thought her heauenly image fits,
And in the felfc fame feat fits C o L A r i N F,
That eye which lookcs on her confounds his wits,
That eye which him bcholdcs, as more dcuinc,
Vnto a view fo falfc will not incline;
But with a pure appeale fcckes to the heart,
V Vhich once corrupted takes the workr part.
And therein heartens vp his fcruilc powers,
VVi>o flattrcd by their leaders iocound ihow,
p his Juft : as minutes fill vp howrcs.
hcirGaptainerfb their pride doth grow,
nf^c flauim tribute then they owe.
T>y reprobate dcfirc thus madly led,
The Romanc Lor a marcheth to LVCRECE bed.
The lockes betwcene her chamber and his will,
Ech one by him inforft retires his ward :
But as they open they all rate his ill,
Which driues the creeping theefc to fome regard,
The threiliold grates the doore to hauc him heard,
Night wandring weezcls ihrcek to fee him there,
They fright him, yet he (till purfues hi* fcare.
11. 288308
THE RAPE OF L V C R E C E.
As each vriwilling portall yeelds him way,
Through little vents and craniesofthe place,
The wind warres with his torch, to make him flaie ,
And blowes the (moake of it into his face,
Extinguifhing his conduft in this cafe.
But his hot heart, which fond defirc doth fcorch,
Puffes forth another wind that fires the torch.
s
And being lighted,by the light he (pies
LVCRECIAS gloue, wherein her needle {licks,
He takes it from the ruihes where it lies,
And griping it, the needle his finger pricks.
As who mould fay, this gloue to wanton trickes
Is not inur d$ returne againc in hat,
Thou feed our miftrefie ornaments are chaft.
Butallthefe pooreforbiddings could not (lay him,
He in the worft fe~nce confters their deniall:
The dores, the wind^the gloue that did delay him,
He takes for accidemall things of trial!.
Or as thdfe bars which ftop the hourely diall,
VVhowithalingringftaiehiscourfcdothlet,
Till eueiie minute payes the howre his debt.
So
11. 309329
THE R A P E O F L V C R E C
So Co, quoth he, thefe lets attend the time,
Like little frofts thatfbmetime threat the /piing,
To ad a more reioyfing to the prime,
And giue the (heaped birds more caufe.to fing.
Pain payes the income of cch precious thing, (lands
>*> Huge rocks,high winds, flrong pirats^dielucs and
.The marchantfearcs, ere rich at home he lands.
Now is he come vnto the chamber dore,
That thuts him from the Hcauen ofhis thought,
V Vhich with a y eelding latch, and with no more,
Hath bard him from the blcfled thing he fought.
So from himfelfe impiety hath wrought,
That for his pray to pray he doth begin,
As ifthc Heauens mould countenance his fin,
But in thcmidftofhisvnfruitfull prayer,
Hauing folicited th cternall power,
That his foule thoughts mightcopaflc his fair faire ?
And they would ftand aufpicious to the howre.
Euen there he ftarts 5 quoth he, I muft defiowre;
The powers to whom I pray abhor this fa 6t,
How can they then afTift me in the ad ?
D
1- 330350
THE RAPE OF L V C R E C E.
T hen Loue and Fortune be my Gods, my gui Jc,
My will is backt with rcfoiwion :
Thoughts are but drcames till their cflccts be tried,
The blackeftfimie is clear d with abfolution.
AgainflloucsfirCjfcares frofthathdiflolution.
The eye ofHeaucnisout,andmiflicniglu
Couei s the fliame that followcs fv/eet delight.
This faid, his guiltle hand pluckt vp the late h,
And with his knccthe dore he opens wide,
T he doue ilecps fail chat this night O wlc will cateh.
Thub treafon workes crciraitoi s be c/picd.
VV ho foes the lurk ing fcrpcntftcppc sail dc;
P,ut Ihec found fleeping fearing no futh tiling
Lies at the mercie of his mortall tting.
Into the chamber wickcdlie he flalkcs,
And gazcth on her yet vnftained bed ;
Thecurtaines being clofc, about lie walk es ?
Rowling his greedieeyc-bals in his head.
By their high trcafbnishishcartrjiij led.
Which giucs the watch word to his hand lul foon,
To draw the clowd that hides the iiluer Moon.
Lookc
- 37 J
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
Lookc as the fairc and ficric pointed Sunne,
Rulhingfrom forth a cloud, bcreaucs cur fight:
Euen fo the Curtaine drawnc, his eyes begun
To winke, being blinded with a greater light.
V V hether it is that dice reflects fo bright,
Thatdazlethrhcm,orelfefomefhamefuppofed,
But blind they arc> an j keep themfe!u:sinclofed.
had they in that darkefomc prifbn died,
1 hen had they fcene the period ofthcir ill :
T hen C o L A T i N E againc by L v c R E c E lidc,
In his clearc bed might haue repofcd dill.
But they muft ope this blcfled league to kill,
Andholic-thoughted LVCRECE toth:irfight,
Muft fell her ioy,hcrhfe p her worlds delight.
Her lilliehandjherrofiecheeke lies vndcr,
Coofning the pillow of a lawfull kiflc :
Who therefore angrie fcemes to part in fitndcr,
Swelling on either fide to want his bliiTc.
Betwecnc whofe hils her head intombcd is;
Where like a vertuous Monument (hcelics^
To be admir d of lewd vjihallowed eyes.
D a
- 37239 2
.THE RAPE OF L VC R E C E.
Without i Kc bed her other fairc hand was,
On the greene coucrlet whofe perfect white
Showed like an April! dazie on the graflfe,
YVithpearlicfwetrcfembling dew of night.
Her eyes like Marigolds hadiheath d their light,
And canopied in daikeneffe fweedy lay,
. . Till they might open to adornc the day.
Herhaire like goldethreeds play d with her breath,
O modeft wantons, wanton rnodeflie I
Showing lifes triumph inthe map of death,
fj 1 1 S
Anddeaths dim looks in lifes monilitie.
Ech in he/fleepethcmfcluesfb beautjfie,,
As ifbctweene them twaine there were no ftrife,.
But that life liu d in death, and.death in life.
Her breads like luory globes circled with blew,
A pa ire of maiden worlds reconquered,
Saue ofthcir Lord, no bearing yoke they knew,.
And him by oath they truely honored.
Thefe worlds in TARQJIN new ambition bred,
V Yho like a fowle v/iirpcr went abour,
From.this faire throne to heaue the owner out.
What
11. 393413
THE RAPE O F L V C R E C E
What could he fee but mightily he noted?
V Vhat did he note, but ft rongly he defired?
V V hat he beheld, on that he firmely doted,
And in his will his wilfull eye he tyred.
-With more then admiration he admired
Her azure vaines, her alablafter skinne,
-Her corall lips, her fnow- white dimpled chip*
As the grim Lion fawrieth ore his pray,
Sharpe hunger by the conqueftfatisfied :
So orethisileepingfouledothTARQjviN (lay,
His rage ofluft by gaiing qualified;
Slakt, not fuppreft, for ftanding by her fide,
His eye which late this mutiny reftraines,
Vnto a greater vprore tempts his vaines.
And they like ftraglingQaues for pillage fighting,.
Obdurate vafTals fell exploits effecting,
In bloudy death and rauilhment delighting;
Nor childrens tears nor mothers groncsrefpeding.
Swell in their pride, the onfet dill expeding :
Anoahis beating heart allarum ftriking,
Giues the hot charge, & bids the do their liking.
11. 414434
THE RAPE OTLVCKECE.
His drumming heart chcarcsvp his burning eye,
His eye commends vhc leading to his hand;
His hand as proud of filch a dignitie ,
Smoaking with pride, murcht on, to make his Hand
On her bare breathe heart ofall her land-
VVhofc ranks ot blew vains as his hand didlcale.
Lcfc their round turrets ddlitutc and pale.
They muflrinq to the quiet Cabinet,
Where their dcarc gouernefTc and ladie lies,
Do tell her ihcc is dreadf ullic bcfcr,
And fright her with confufion ofthcir cries.
Shee much amaz d brcakcsopcherlocktvp eyes,
Who peeping foorth this tumult to behold,
Are by his flaming torch dim d and controld.
Imagine her as one in dead of night,
From forth dull flecpcby dreadTullfancie waking,
That thinkcsihce hath beheld fomcgartlic Ipntc,
Whole grini aipc^t (cts eucric Joint a fluking,
VVlut terror tis: butfhccin woffer taking,
From (Icepedifluibed^eediullic doth view
The fight which makes fu^pofcd terror trc\v.
Wrapt
H- 435455
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE
Wrapt and confounded in a thousand feares,
Like to a new kild birdlhee trcrnbling lies :
Shee dares not looke ? yet winding there appearcs
Quicke-fhifting Antique svglie in her eyes.
" Such ihadowes are the weake r brains forgeries,
YVhoangrie that the eyesHiefrom their lights,
In darknes daunts the witlmio^c dreadfull fights.
His hand that yetremnincsvppon
(Rude R am to batter fuch anJuorie wall :)
May feele her heart (poore Cittjzen) diftreil,
VVoundingitrdfetodeathjrife vp andfaU;
Beating her bulke>that his hand fhakes withall.
This moues in hin more rage and lefler pittie,
To make the breach and enter this fvvcet Citty.
Firftlike aTrompet doth his ; tongue bcgi^
TO found a parlie to his heartleffe foe^
Who ore the white (beet peers her whiter chin,
The reafon ofthis ralh allarme to know^
Wthichheby dum demeanorfeekes to llvow.
But ihec with vehement prayers vrgcthftill,
Vndcr what: colour he commits this ill .
11. 456476
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Thus he replies, the colour in thy face.
That euen for anger makes the Lilly pale,
Andtheredrofe blulli atherowncdifcracc,
*_j *
Shall plead for me and tell my louing tale.
Vnder that colouram Icome to fcalc
_ Thy neuer conquered Fort, the fault is thine,
For thofe thine eyes betray thee vnto mine.
Thus I foreftall thee, if thou meane to chide,
Thy beauty hath enfnar d thee to this night.
Where thou with patience mud my will abide,
.My will that markes thee for my earths delight,
V Vhich I to conquer fought with all my might.
, But as reproofe and reafon beat it dead,
By thy bright beautie was it newlie bred.
I fee what croflesmy attempt will bring,
1 know what thorncs the growing rofe defends,
I thinke the honie garded with a tiing,
All this before-hand counfell comprehends.
But Will is deafc, and hears no heedfull friends,
Onely he hath an eye to gaze on Beautie,
And dotes on what he looks, gainltlaw or ducty e
I
11. 477-497
THE RAPE OF LVGR ECE.
I hauc debated eucn in my fbule,
What wrongjwhat mamc,what forrow I (hal brce J,
But nothing can affedions courfe controull,
Or flop the headlong furic of his fpeed*
I know repentant tcares in/ewe the deed,
Reproch, difdaine 5 and deadly enmity,
Yet ftriue I to cm brace mine infamy.
This faid> hec fiiakes aloft his Romainc blade,
Which like a Faulcon towring in the ski es,
Cowchcth the fowle below with his wings ilia de,
V V Kofe crooked beakc thrcats,ifhe mount he dies.
So vndcr his infulting Fauchion lie?
Harmclefle L v c R E T i A marking what he tels,
With trembling feare:as fowl hear Faulccs bcls.
Lv c R E c E, quoth he, this night I mud enioy thec,
If thou deny, then force mud worke my way :
For in thy bed I purpofe to dcftroie ihee.
That done, fome worthleffe (laue ofthine ile flay.
To kill thine Honour with thy liucs decaic.
Andinthydeadarmesdo fmeanc to place Hm,
Swearing 1 flue him feeing thee imbrac c him.
11. 498518
THE RAPE OF L V C R E C E.
So thy furuiuing husband ihali remainc
The fcorncfull marke of cucrie open eye,
Thy kinfmen hang their heads at this difdainc,
Thy ifTucblur d with namclcflebadardic;
And thou the author ofthcir obloquie,
Shalt haue thy trcfpaffe cited vp in rimes,
And iung by children in fuccecding times.
But if thou yecld, I red: thy fccret friend,
The fault vnknowne, is as a thought vnadcd,
O f
u A little harmedonc to a great good end,
For lawful! pollicie remaines enacted.
i Thepoyfbnousfimple fbmetime is compared
In a pure compound; being fo applied,
.His venome in eiledt is purified.
Then for thy husband and thy childrers fake,
Tender my fuite, bequeath not to iheir lot
The fhamc thai from them no dcui ic can take,
The blemiilithat will neuer be forgot:
V Vorlc then a flauifti wipe, or birth howrs blot,
Formarkcsdifcricdinmensnatiuitie,
Are natures faultcs ; not their owne infamie,
Here
11- 519-539
THE RAPE OF L V C R E C E.
Here with a Cockcatrice dead killing eye.
He rowfeth vp himfelfc, and makes a paufe,
VVhilcfhccthcpidureofpurepietie,
Like a white Hindc vnderthegrypcs (harpeclawes,
Pleades in a wildcrneffe where are no lawcs.
To the rough bead, that knowcs no gentle right,
Nor ought obayes but his fowle appetite.
But when a black- fac d clowd the world doth thret,
In his dim mid th afpiring mountaines hiding :
From eanhs dark-womb,lome gentle gull doth get,
V Vhich blowthefe pitchic vapours fro their biding:
Hindring their prefent fall by this dcuiding.
So his vnhallowed haft her words dclaycs^
And moodie PLVTO winks while Orpheus playes.
Yet fowle night-waking Cat he doth but dallie,
While in his hold-faft foot the weak moufcpateth.
Her lad bchauiourfeedes his vulture follic,
A fwallowinggulfe thateuen in plentic wanteth.
His eare her prayers admits, but his heart grantcth
No penetrable entrance to her playning,
"Tears harden luft Aough marble w?rc with ray-
E 2 ( n n g
11. 540560
THE RAPE O 1 ; L V C R E C E.
Her pittic-pleading eyes are fadiic fixed
In the remorfcleiTe wrinckles ofhis face.
Her modcft eloquence with iighcs is mixed,
V V hich to her Oratorie addes more grace.
She e puts the period often from his place,
Andmidftthcfcntencefoheraccentbreakcs,
1 hat twifc ihe doth begin ere once ihc fpcakes.
She coniurcs him by high Almightie louc,
By knighthood, gentric, and fvvcctc friendfhips orh,
By her vp.timely tcares, her husbands louc,
By holichumainelawjandcommoiuroth,
By Heaucn and arth> and all the power of both :
That to his borrowed bed he make retire.
And ftoopc to Honor, not to fowle defire.
Quoth fhce,rcward not Hofpitalitie,
With fuch black payment, as thou haft pretended,
> Muddc not the fountaine that gauc d rinke to thcc,
Mar not the thing that cannct be amended.
* End thy ill ayme, before thy flioote be cncfcd.
He is no wood- man that doth bend his bow,
To ftrikc a poorc vnfcafonable Doc.
My
11. 561581
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
My husband is thy friend, for his fake (pare me,
Thy fclfe art mighcie,for thine own fake leauc me :
My fclfe a weakling, do not then infnare me.
Thou look ft not like deceipt,do not decciue me.
My fighes like whirlcwindes labor hence to heaue
If euer man were mou d with womas moneSj(thee.
Be moucd with my teares > my fighes , my groncs.
All which together like a troubled Ocean,
Beat at thy rockie,andwracke threatning heart,
To (often it with their continuall motion :
For ftones diflblu d to water do conucrt.
O if no harder then a ftor.e thou art.
Melt at my teares and be compadionate,
Soft pirtic enters at an iron gate*
In TAR QJ INS likeneflfe I did entertains thee,
Haft thou put on hisfhapc, to do him ihamc ?
Tc all the Ho l of Heaiien I complaine me.
Thou wrongft his honor, voudfthib princely name:
Thou art not \\hatthou feem fr, and if th^e fame,
Thou fcem ft not what thou art,a God, a King;
> For kings like Gods (hould gouernc euery thing.
3
11. 582602
THE RAPE OF L V C R I- C F,
Howwiilthyfhamcbcfccdcdintliincagc
When thus thy vices bud bctorc thy ipring ?
if in thy hope thou darft do fuch outrage.
What dar ft thou not when once thou art a King ?
O be remcmbred, no oiuragious thing
From vaflall actors can be wipt a way,
Then Kings mifdccdes cannot be hid in clay.
This dcede will make 1 thce only lou d for fcarc,
But happ je Monarch* llijl, arc Icard for louc:
VVithfowleorlcndorstliDLipcrforceinuft bcarc,
When they in thcc tho like orknccs prouc^
If but for feare of this, thy will rcmoue.
> For Princes are the glailc,thc Ichoolcjthc bookc,
> Where fubieds cics do Icarn 5 do rcad^do lookc.
And wilt thou be the fchoole where lufl Hull Icarnc?
Muft he in thec read lectures of iuch fliamc e
Wilt thou be glaflc wherein it (hail difcernc
Authoritie for (inne, warrant for blame?
Topriuilcdg^diQionorinthy name.
Thou backft rcproch aga\n(l lon^_liujng lawd,
And mak ft fairc reputation but a bawd.
Had
11. 603 623
THE RAPE OF L V C R E C E.
Haftthou commaund ? by him that gauejt thee
From a pure heart coFrimaund thy rtbcll wril t
Draw not thy (word to- gard iniquitic,
/ For it was lent thee all that broode to kiJK
Thy PrincelieonSce how-canft thou fulfill ?
When pattcrnd by thy fault fowlc fin may {ay >
He learnd to fin, and thou-didft teach the way.
Thinke but ho\v vile a fpcdtacle it were.
To view thy prefent trcipalfe in another :
MensfauJtsdofeldometothcmfelue^ appeare,
. Their own tranfgrefTions partiallie-they fmother,
Thib ^uilt would Teem death- worthie in thy brother.
O how are they wrapt in with infamies,
That fro their own mifdeeds askaunce their eyes?
To trice, to thce, my heau d vp hands appeal^
NottofeducingluftthyralKrclier: ^-
I fuc for cxil d maiefdcs repcale,
Let him rcturne, and flatiri ng Ihoughts retire.
His true reiped will priibnfalicdeiire^
And wipe the dim mitt from thy doting eicn,
That thou fhalt fee thy ftace, and pittie minc^.
11. 624644
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Hauc done, quoth he, my vncontrollcd tide
Turn js not, but fwels the higher by this let.
Small lightes are foone blown out, huge fires abide,
And with the windc in greater furic fret:
The petty ftreames that paie a dailie dec
To their fait foueraigne with ihar frefh fals had,
Adde to his flowc, but alter not his tail.
Thou art, quoth ihce, a fca, a fbucraigncKing,
And loe there fals into thy boundlcilc Hood ,
Blacke luft, diihonor, ihamc, mif-gouermng,
Who fecke to ftaine the Ocean of thy blood.
If all thefcpctticils (hall change thy good,
Thy lea within a puddels wombe is herfcd,
And not the puddle in thy Tea difperfcd.
So lliall thefe flaucs be King,artd thou their (lane,
Thou noblie bafe , they balelic dignified :
Thou their fairc life, and they thy fowler graue :
Thou lothed in their ihame, they in thy pride,
Theleffer thing fhould not the greater hide.
The Cedar ftoopes not to the bafe ihrubs fooce,
Butlow-ihrubs wither at the Cedars roote.
So
n. 645665
THERAPE OFL V C R E C E.
So let thy thoughts low vaflals to thy ftatc,
No more quoth hc,by Hcaucn I will not hcarc thee.
Yceld to my loue, if not inforccd hate.
In fteed of loues coy tutch mall rudelie tcarc thec.
That done, defpitcfullic I meanc to beare thee
Vnto the bale bed of feme rafcall groome,
To be thy partner in this ihamcfull doome.
This faid, he fets his foote vppon the light,
For light and lull are deadlic enemies,
Shame folded vp in blind concealing night,
VVhenmoftvnfeene, then rnoft doth tyrannize.
The wolfe hath ceazd hi ; pray, the poor lamb cries,
Till with her own white fleece her voice controld,
Intombesheroutcrie in her lips fweetfold.
For with the nightlie linnen that fhee wcarcs,
He pens hcrpiteous clamors in her head,
Cooling his hot face in the chatted: tearcs,
That euer modcft eyes with forrow ilicd.
O that prone luft (liould ftaine fo pure a bed,
The fpots w hereof could weeping purifie,
Hertears Ihould drop on them perpetuallic.
F
11. 666-686
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
>-But (lice hath loft a dearer thing then life,
And he hath wonnc what he would loofc againe,
This forced league doth force a further ftrife,
> This momcntarie ioy breeds months of paine,
This hot defire coouerts to coldc difdaincj
Pure chaftitie is rifled of her (lore,
And lull the theefcfarre poorer then before.
Looke as the full-fed Hound, or gorged Hawke,
Vnipt for tender fmell, or fpeedieriighr,
Make flow puriuite, or altogether bauk,
The praie wherein by nature they delight:
So furfet-taking T A R QJV i N fares this night:
His tad delicious, in digcftion fowring,
Deuoures his will that liu d by fowle deuouring,
O deeper finne then bottomleflc conceit
Can comprehend in ftill imagination !
Drunken Deilrc mufl vomite his receipt
Erchecanfeehisowneabhomination.
> VN 7 hiIe Lufl is in his pride no exclamation
Can curbc his heat, or rcine his ralh deilrc,
Till like a Iade,felf-will himfclfe doth tire.
And
11. 687 707
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
And then with lanke,and Icane difcolour dchcckc,
With heauic cy e,knit-brow,and ftrengthlefTc pace,
Feeble defire all recrcant,poore and mccke,
Like to a banckrout begger wailcs his cace :
The flefh being proud, Defirc doth fight with grace;
> For there it reucls, and when that dccaies,
Thcguiltiercbell forremiffion praies.
So faresit with this fault-full Lord of Rome,
VVho this accomplilhmcntfb hotly chafed,
For now againft himfelfe he founds this doomc,
That through the length of times he ftads difgraccd:
Befides hisibulcs faire temple is defaced,
To whofe weake mines mufter troopes of cares,
To aske the fpotted Princcflfe how (he farea.
Shee fayes herfubieds^/ithfowle infurrc&ion,
Haue batterddowne her confccrated wall,
And by their mortall fault brought in fubie&iori
Her immortalitie, and made her thrall,
Toliuing death and payne pcrpetuall.
Which in her prefcienceihee controlled (till,
B ut her forcfightcould not foreflall their will,
Fi
11. 708728
THE RAPE OF LVCKECE.
EuUin this thought through the dark- night he ftea-
A captiue vidor that hath loft in gainc, (leth,
Bearing away the wound that nothing hcaleth,
The (carre that will dilpightof Cure remaine,
Lcauinghisfpoilcperplext in greater paine.
> Sheebearcsthelodeofluilliclchbchinde,
And he the burthen of a guiltie minde.
Hcc like a thccuifh dog;crceps (adly thence,
Shce like a wearied Lambe lies panting there,
He fcowles and hates himfelfc for his offence,
Shce defpcrat wich her nailes her flefh doth tcare.
He faintly flies (wearing with uiltiefearc;
Shce ftaiesexclayming on the direiull night,
He runnes and chides his vaniilit loth d delight.
He thence departs a heauy conuertite,
Shee there remainesa hopcleffe calKa\vay,
He in his fpeed lookesfor the morning light :
Shec pray eslheeneuer may behold the day.
For daie, quoth ihee^ighrs Tcapcs doth open lay,
> And my true eyes haueneuerpra&iz d how
> To cloake offences with a cunning brow.
They
11. 729749
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
They thinke not but that cucrie eye can ice,
The fame difgracc w hich they thcmfclues behold :
And therefore would they ftill in darkencfTc be,
To hauc their vnfeene llnnc remaine vntold.
Forthey their guilt with weeping will vnfold,
And graue like water that doth cate in ftcclc,
Vppon my cheeks, what helpclefle (hame I fcclc.
Here l"hce exclaimes againd repofc and reft,
Ami bids her eyes hereafter ft ill be blindc,
Shoe wakes her heart by beating on her brcft,
A nd bids it Icape from thence, where it maic findc
Some purer chcft, to clofc fo pure a minde.
Frantickcwithgrietethus breaths (lice forth her
Againd the vnfeene fecrecie of night.
O comfort killing night, image of Hell,
Dim rcgiftcr, and notarie oflhame,
Black e ftagc for tragedies, and murthcrs fell,
Vafllin-concealing Chaos, nourfe of blame.
Blinde muffled bawd^darkcharber for defame,
Grim caue of death, whifpring confpirator,
V Vith clofe-tong d treafon & the rauiilicr.
F 3
750770
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
O hatefulljVaporous, and foggy nighr,
Since thou artguilty of my curcleflc crime :
Muftcr thy mifts to meete the Eafterne light,
Make war againft proportion d courfe ot time.
Or if thou wilt permit the S unne to clime
His wonted height, yet ere he go to bed,
Knit poy (bnous clouds about his golden head.
With rotten damps rauilh the morning airc,
Let their cxhald vnholdfome breaths make iickc
The life of puritie, the fupremc faire,
Ere he arriuc his wcarie noone-udc prick e,
And let thy muftic vapours march fb thickc,
That in their fmoakie rankes,his (rnothred light
Mav fet at noone,and make perpetuall night.
Were T A a QJ i N night, as he is but nights child,
The (lluer mining Queene he would diftaine;
Her twinckling handmaids to(by him derij d)
Through nights black bofom ihuld not peep again.
So fhould 1 haue copartners in my painc,
And fellowmip in woe doth woe afTwagc,
> As Palmers chai makes Ihort their pilgrimage.
Where
11. 771791
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE
Where now I haue no one to blulh with me,
Tocrofle rheir armes & hang their heads
To maske their browes and hide their infamic,
But I alone, alone muft fit and pine,
Scafoning the earth whh fhowres of filuer brinej
^Mingling my talk with tcars 3 my grcef with grones,
Poore wafting monuments of lading moncs.
O night thou furnace offowle reeking fmokc!
Let not the iealous daie behold that face,
V V 7 hich vnderncath thy blacke all hiding clokc
Immodeftjy liesmartird withdifgrace.
Keepe ftill poflcfTion of thy gloomy place,
That ah rhc faults which in thy raignc arc made,
May likewife be fegulchcrd in thy (hade.
- *!. >
Make me not obicd to the tell-talcday,
The light will (licw charadcrd in my brow,
The ftorie of fwcctc chaftities decay,
Thcimpiou> breach of holy wcdlocke vowc.
Yea the illiterate that know not how
To cipher what is writ in learned book e%
V V ifl cote my tothfome trefpaflc in my lookes*
11. 792 812
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
The nourfc to ftillher child will tell my ftorie,
And fright her crying babe with T A R Q^V i N s name.
The Orator to dccke his oratorie,
V Vill couple my rcproch to T A R QJ i N s fhamc.
Feaft-finding minftrels tuning my defame,
VVilltiethchearers to attend ech line,
How TARQ_VIN wronged me, 1 COLA TINE.
Let my good name ? thatfcncc!c{Te reputation,
For COLAIINES deare louche kept vnfpottcd:
Ifthat be made a theame for deputation,
The branches of anotherrootc arc rotted^
And vndcferu d rcproch to him alotted,
Thatisasclearcfrom this attaint of mine,
As I ere this was pure to C o L A T i N E.
O vnfeenc (hamc, inuifiblc difgrace,
Ovnfelt fore, crcft-wound ing priuatfcarrc!
Reprochisftamptin COLATINVS face.
And T ARQJT i NS cyemaiereadthcmorafarre,
<c Hov^ he in peace is wounded not in v. arrc.
cc Alas how manie bcare fuch ihamefull blowes,
Which not thefclucs but he that giues the kno wcs.
If
11. 813833
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
If C o L A T i N E, thine honor laic in me,
From me by ftrong aflault it is bereft :
Nty Honnic loft, and I a Drone-like Bee,
Hauc no perfection ot my {bmmer Jcft,
But rob d and ranfak t by iniurious thefr.
> In thy weake Hiue a wandring wafpe hath crept,
And fuck t the Honnte which thy chaft Bee kept.
Yet am I guiltie of thy Honors wracke,
Yet for thy Honordidlentertainehim,
Comming from thec I could not put him backe:
For k had beene diihonor to difdainc him,
Befidcsofwearineffehedidcomplainehim,
And talk t of Vertue (O vnlook t for euill,)
When Vertue is prophan d in fuch a Dcuill.
Why tliould the worme intrude the maiden bud ?
Or hatefullKuckcowes hatch in Sparrows nefts ?
Or Todesinfcctfaire founts with venome mud?
Or tyrant follie lurke in gentle brcfts
OrKings be breakers of their o\vne bchcftcs*
"But no perfection is fo abfolute,
That fomeimpuritie doth not pollute.
G
11. 834-854
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
The aged man that coffers vp his gold,
Isplagu d with cramps, and gourmand paincfullfits,
And karcc hath eyes his treaiui e to behold.
But like ftill pining TANTAtvshc fits,
And vfelcffe barnes the harucil of his wits:
Hairing no other plcafurcof his gaine,
But torment that it cannot cure his painc.
o then he hath it \vhcnhc cannot vie ir,
And leaucs it to be maiftred by his yong :
Who in their pride-do prcfently abitfe it,
T heir father was too wcake, and they too ftrong
To hold their curfed-blefled Fortune long.
" The fwects we with for, turne to lothed fbwrs,
a Euen in the moment that we call them ou is.
Vnruly blafts wait on the tender Spring,
Vrfholfome weeds take roote with precious flowrs,
The Adder bifles where the fweete birds fiug,
What Vertue breedes Iniquity deuoiirs:
V Vc haue no good that we can (ay is ours,
But ill annexed opportunity
> Or kils his lifc ? or clfc his quality.
O
11. 855-875
THE RAPE OF LVCRECL
O opportunity thy guilt is great,
Tis thou that cxecut ft thcrraytors treafon:
Thou fcts the woife where he the lambe may get,
V Vho euer plots the finne thou poinft the leaion.
Tis thou that fpurrfft at nght> at law, at reafon,
And in thy ihadie Cell where none may fpie him,
Sits fin to ceaze the ibules that wander by him.
Thou makcft the veftall violate her oath,
Thou bloweft the fire when temperance is thawd,
Thou imotherft honcftie, thou murthreft troi h,
Thou fow le abbettor, thou notorious bawd,
Thou planted fcandall, and difplaceft lawd.
Thou rauillier, thoutraytor, thou fa lfe theefc,
Thy honic turnes to gall,thy ioy to greeie.
Thy fccret pleafure turnes to open fhame,
Thy priuatc feafting to a public ke fa ft,
Thy {moothing titles to a ragged name,
-Thy fugred tongue to bitter wormwood taft,
Thy violent vanities can neuer lad.
^ How comes it then, vile opportunity
Being fobad,fuch numbers feeke for thee?
G ^
11. 876896
THE RAPE Or L V C II E C E.
V Vhcn wilt thou be the humble fuppliants fricn i
And bring him where his fuit may be obtained?
V Vhcn wilt thou fort an howrc great (b ifcs to end?
Or free that foulc which wretchedncs hath chained ?
G iuc phifickc to the f ickc, cafe to the pained?
The poore^amejblindjhauJtjCrccpc, cry out for
But they ncie meet with oporcunitic. (thcc,
The patient dies while the Phifuian flcepcs,
The Orphane pines while the opprcilbr fccdes.
lufticc is feafting v\ hilc the widow wecpcs.
Aduifc is fporting while infection breeds.
Thou graum ft no time for charitable deeds.
Wrath, cnuy, trcafon, rape, and murthcrs rages,
Thy heinous hourcs waiton them as their Pages*
When Trueth and Venue haue to do with thee,
A thoufand erodes kccpc them from thy aide:
They buic thy helpe,but fmne neregiucs a fee.
He gratis comes, and thou art well apaide,
As well to heare, as graunt what he hath faide.
My C o L A T i N E would clfe haue come to me,
V Vhcn TAR QJIN did,but he was ftaicd by thce.
Guilty
11. 897917
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Guilty thou art of murther,andofthefr,
Guilty of pcriurie,and hibernation,
Guilty oftrcafon,lbrgcrie,and fhifr,
Guilty of inceft that abhomination,
An acceflaric by thine inclination.
To all ilnncs part and all that are to come,
From the creation to the generall doome.
Miflhapen time, cope/mate oi vgly night,
S wilt lubtlc pott, carrier ofgrieflic care,
Eater of youth, falfc flaue to falic delight :
Dale watch of woes, fins packhorie,vertucs marc.
I hou nourfcft all, and murthreft all that are.
O hcarc me then, iniurious fhifting time,
Be guiltic of my death fmcc of my crime.
Why hath thy feruant opportunity
Betraide the howrcs thou gau ft me to repofe?
Canccld my fortunes, and inchained me
To cndlefie date of ncuer-ending woes?
Times office is to fine the hate oftocs,
To eate vp crrours by opinion bred,
Not fpcnd the dowrie of a la\\ full bed.
11. 918-938
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Times glorie is to calme contending Kings,
To vnmaske faliJiOQcl^and bring truth to light,
To ftampe the fcalc of time in aged things,
To wake the morne^n.iCentinell the night,
To wron<* the wronger uM ne render ri^ht,
p D . O *
To ruinate proud buildings with thy howres,
And imeare with dud theirglitring golden to wrs.
To fill with worme-holes ftately monuments,
To fcede obliuion with decay ofthings,
Toblot old bookes, and alter their contents,
To plucke the quils from auncient raucns wings,
To drie the old oakes fappe, and cherilh-fprings :
To fpoile Antiquities oihammerdfteele,
And turne the giddy round of Fortunes \\ heele.
To (hew th e beldame daughters of her daughter,
To make the child a man, the man a childe,
To flay the tygre that doth liueby (laughter,
To tame the Vnicornc, and Lion wild,
To mocke the fubtle in themfelues beguild,
To cheare the Plowman with increafefull crops,
j And waft huge (tones \\ ith little water drops.
Why
11. 939959
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Why work ft thou mifchiefe in thy Pilgrimage,
VnlciTc thou couldft i eturnc to make amends ?
One poore rctyring minute in an age
V Vould purchafe thee a tboufand thoufand friends,
Lending him wit that to bad dcttets lends, (backe,
this dread night,would $ thou one hour ccrme
1 could preuent; th4s<ftormc,and Ihun thy wracke.
Thou ccafelcffc lackie to Eremitic,
VVithfomemifchancecrolle TA*QVIN inhisflighr*
Deuife extreamcs bey<6n<i ext^cmiticy
To make him curfdthisdtrfed crin>cfuil nighc
Let gaftlyihadoweshislevvd eyes affright, ;
And the dire thoughtot his committed euill,
Shape-cuery buih a hideous lhapelefle deuilh
Difturbe his ho wres ofreft with rcftlefTe trances,
Affliol hiirt inhis bed with bedreJgroney,
Let there bechauncctflmpitifull milchances,
To make him monei, but pitie not his moncs:
Stone him with hardncdhearts harder then ftones^
And I ecmilde women to him loofc thqir mildnciTe,
V V 7 iJder toiiini then Tygers in their wildnefle.
11. 960 980
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Let him haue time to tearc his curled haire,
Let him hauc time agatnft himfelfe to raue,
Let him hauc time of times helpe to difpaire,
Let him haue time to Hue a lothcd flaue,
Let him haue time a beggers orts to crauc,
And time to fee one that by almes doth Hue,
Difdainc to him difdained (craps togiue.
Let him haue time to fee his friends his foes,
Andmerriefoolestornockcathimrefort:
Let him haue time to marks how (low time goes
In time of forrow, and how fwift and ihort
His time of follic,and his time of /port.
Andcuerlethisvnrecallingcrime
Haue time to waile th abufing of his time.
O time thou tutor both to good and bad,
Teach me to curfe him that thou taught ft this ill :
Athisowne fhadow let rhethccferunne mad,
Himfclfe 5 himfelfefckeeuerie howre to kill,
Such wretched hads fuch wretched blood iliuld fpill.
For who fo bafc would fuch an office haue,
As fclandrous deaths-man to fo bafe a flaue.
The
11. 981 1001
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
The bafer is he comming from aNing,
Tollwnc his hope with deedes degenerate,
, The mightier man the mightier is die thing
/That makes him honord, or begets him hate :
> For grcatcft fcandall waits on greateft ftate.
> The Moonc being clouded^ prefently is mift,
But little liars may hide them when they lift*
The Crow may bath his coaleblackc wings in mire,
And vnpcrceau d flic wii h the filth away,
But it the like the (how-white Swan defire,
The ftaine vppon his illuer Downc will ftay.
> Poore grooms are ilghtles night,kings glorious day,
. Gnats arc vnnoted whercioere they flic,
But Eagles gaz d vppon wi;h cuerie eye.
Out idle wordes, feruantsto (hallow fooles,
Vnprofitable fouuds^wcake arbitrators,
Eufie your (clues in skill contending fchoolcs,
Debate where ley. ureferucs with dull debaters:
To trembling Clients be you mediators,
For me, I force not argument a ftraw,
Since that my cafe is pull the hclpc of law.
H
11. 1002 1022
THE RAPE OF L V C R E G E.
Invainelrailc atoportunitic,
At time, at T A n qj i N T , and vnchcarfull night,
Invainelcauillwithmincinfamic,
In vainc I fpurne at my confirm d defpighc,
This helpclefTe fmoake of words doth me no right:
The remedie indeede to do me good,
Is to let forth my fawle defiled blood.
Poore hand why quiuerft thou at this decree ?
Honor thy ielfe to rid me of this (hamc,
For if I die, my Honor liues in thee,
But if I liuc thou liu ft in my defame;
Since thou couldfl not defend thy loyall Dame,
And waft affeard to icratch her wicked Fo,
Kill both thy felfe, and her for yeeldingfo.
This faid, from her betombled couch iliec ftartcth,
To finde fome defp rat Inftrument of death,
But this no (laughter houfe no toolc imparteth,
To make more vent for p aflage of her breath,
Which thronging through her lips fbvanilheth,
As fmoake from / T N A, that in aire confumcs,
Or that which from diicharged Cannon fumes.
In
11. 10231043
THE RAPE OFLVCRECL ? .
In vainc (quo;h fhcc) I Hue, and fccke in vainc
SomehappicmeanetoendahaplciTclife.
Ifcar d by TARQJ/INS Fauchiontobcflainc,
Yetforthefelfeiamcpurpofefeekeaknire;
But when I fcar d I was a loyall wife,
So am I now, 6 no that cannot be.
Of that tiuetipe hath TAKQJVIN rifled me.
that is gone for which I fought to Hue,
And therefore now I need not teare to die,
To clearc this fpot by death (at leaft) I giue
A badge of Fame to fclandcrs liucrie,
Adyinglife,toliuinginfamic:
Poore helpleile helpe, the treafure (lolne away,
To burne the guiltleile casket where it lay.
Well well deare C o L AT i N E, thou ftialt not know
The Rained tad of violated troth :
1 will not wrong thy true affe6\ion (6,
To flatter thee with an infringed oath:
Thisbaftardgraffcfhall ncucrcome to growth,
He (hall not boaft who did thy ftocke pollute,
ou ait doting father of his fruite.
Hz
11. 1044 1064
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Nor (hall he faile at thee in fecret thoughr,
Nor laugh \viih his companions at thy Rate,
But thou (halt know thy intreft was nor bought
Bafely with gold, uut ftolne from foorth thy gate.
For me I am the miftreiTe of my fate.
And with my trefpaffe neuer will difpence,
Till life to death acquit my forft offence.
I will not poyfbnthee with my attaint.
Nor fold my fault in cleanly coin d excufcs,
My fable ground of finne I will not paint,
To hide the truth of this falfe nights abufes.
My tongue (hall vtter all^mine eyes like (luces,
As from a mountaine fpringthat feeds a dale,
Shal guUh pure ftreams to purge my impure tale.
By this lamenting Philomelc had ended
The well- tun d warble of her nightly forrow,
And folemnc night with flow fad gate defcendcd
To ouglic rt ell, when loc the blulhing morrow
Lends lightto all fairc eyes that light will borrow.
But cloudie LVCRECE fha,mcs her felfe to fee.
And therefore ftill in night would cloiftred be.
Rcuealing
11. 1065 1085
jtk* ft
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
*.
Reucaling day through cuerycrannicfpies,
And ieems to point her out where the (us weeping,
To whom iliec fobbing Ipeakes, 6 eye of eyes ? (ping,
Why pry it thou throgh my windows leaue thy pee-
Mockwiththy tickling bcams,eicsthat arc flecping;
Brand not my forehead with thy percing light,
For day hath nought to do what s done by night.
Thus cauils fhee with cuerie thing fhee fees,
True eriefe is fond and teftie as a childc,
Who wayward once,his mood with naught agrees,
Old woes, not infant forrovves beare them milde,
Continuance tames the one, the other wilde,
Like an vnpradiz d fwimmer plungingftill,
With roo much labour drowns for want of skill.
So fhee dcepe drenched in a Sea of care,
Holds difputation with ech thing fhee vewes,
And to her felfe all forrow doth compare,
No obied but herpaffions rtrength rcnewes :
And as one fliiftes another ftraightinfewes,
Somtime hcrgriefe is dumbe and hath no words,
Sometime tis mad and too much talke affords.
11. 1086 1106
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
The little birds that tune their mornings k>y,
Make her moncs mad, with their fweet melodic,
" For mirth doth fearch the bottome ofannoy,
"Sad foules are (laine in merrie companie,
Griefcbeftispleardwithgriefcsfocietie;
Cv True forrow then is feelinglie fuffiz d,
<c V Vhen with like femblancc it is flmpathiz d.
cc Tis double death to drownc in ken of ihore,
cc He ten times pines,that pines beholding food,
IC To fee the falue doth make the wound ake more :
<c Great griefc greeues moft at that wold do it good;
a Dcepe woes roll forward like a gentle flood,
Who being fcopt,the bouding banks oreflowcs,
G riefe dallied with, nor law, nor limit knowcs.
You mocking Birds(quoth Ihe)your tunes intombc
Within your hollow fwclling feathered breafts,
And in my hearing be you mute and dumbe,
My redlclTe difcord loucs no (lops norrefts :
" A woefull Hoftefle brookes not mcrric gucfts.
Ralilli your nimble notes to pleafing cares,
<c Diftrcs likes dups whe time is kept with teares.
Come
11. 1107 1127
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Come Philomclc that fing ft of rauiihment,
Make thy (ad grouc in my dilheucld hearc,
As the danke earth wecpes at thy languilhmcnt:
So I at each fad ftraine, will ftraine tearc.
And with deepe grones the Diapafon bearc:
For burthen-wife ile hum on T A R QJ/ i N ftill,
VVhilethouon TEREVS defcants better skill
And whiles againft a thorne thou bcar ft tliy part,
To keepe thy fharpe woes waking, wretched I
To imitate thee well, againft my heart
Will fixe a fharpe knife to affright mine eye,
Who ifit winke fliall thereon fall and die.
Thefemeanesasfretsvponaninftrument,
Shal tune our heart-ftrings to true languiihmcnt.
And for p oore bird thou fing d not in the day,
As fhaming anie eye (hould thee behold :
Some darke deepe defertfeated from the way,
That knowes riot parching heat, nor freezing cold
Will wee find out : and there we will vnfold
To creatures ftern,(ad tunes to change theirkinds,
1 Since me prouebeafts^letbeafts bear getle minds.
11. 11281148
THE RAPE OF LVCKECE.
As the poore frighted Deare that (lands at gaze,
Wildly determining \ hichway toflie,
Or one incompaft with a winding maze,
That cannot tread the way out readilic:
So \vith her iclfe is lliee in mutinic,
To line ordie which ofthetwainc were better,
When life is fliam d and death rcproches dctter.
To kill my felfe,cjuoth (hec, alackc what were it,
But with my body my poore (oulcs pollution?
They that loofe halre with greater patience beare it,
Then they whofe whole isfwallowed in confufion.
That mother tries a mercileffc conclufion,
Who hauing two fweet babes 3 \vhcn death takes
> Will (lay the other, and be nurfe to none, ^
My bodie or my foule which was the dearer?
V Vhcn the one pure, the other made deuinc,
V Vhofc loue of eyther to my /elfc was nearer ?
When both were kept for Heauen and COLATINE:
Ay me, the Barke pild from i he loftic Pine,
> His lec-.ues will wither, and his fap decay,
So muft my foule her baikc bcinp pild away.
Her
11. 1149 1169
THE RAPE OF LyCRECE,
Her houfe is fackt, her quiet interrupted.
Her manfiou batterd by the cncmie,
Her facred temple fpotted, fpoild, corrupted,
Groflie ingirt with daring infamie.
Then let it not be cald impictic,
If in this blemifht fort I make fbme hole.
Through which I may conuay thib troubled ibulc.
Yet die I will not, till my C o L A 1 1 N E
Haue heard the caufe of my vntimelie death,
That he may vow in that fad houre of mine,
Reucngc on him that made me Hop my breath,
My ftained blond to TAKQJ/IN ile bequeath,
Which for him tainted,(liall for him be /pent,
And as his due writ in my teftament.
My Honor ile bequeath vnto the knife
That wounds my bodie fo difhonored,
Tis Honorto depriue difhonord life,
Theone will liue, the other being dead.
So offhames ames fhall my Fame be bred,
ForinmydeatMmurrherlliamefull fcorne,
My (liame Co dead^mine honor is new borne.
I
11. 1170 1190
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Dcarc Lord ofthatdearc iewell I haue loft,
What legacie (hall I bequeath to thec t
My refolutkm loue (hall be thy boft,
By whofc example thou reucng d mayft be.
How T A R QJV i N mutt be vfd,read it in me,
My felfc ihy friend will kill my felfc thy fo,
And for my fake ferue thou falfe T A R QV t N fo.
This briefe abridgement of my will I make.
My foulc and bodie to the skies and ground:
My refolution Husband doe thou take,
Mine Honor be the knifes that makes my wound,
My ihame be his that did my Fame confound^
And all my Fame that Hues disburfed be,
TO thofe that Hue and thinke no (hame of me.
Thou C o L A T i N E fhalc oucrfec this will,
Ho w was I ouerfeenc that thou (lialt fee it ?
My bloud lhall wafluhefclanderofmineill,
My liues foulc deed my lifes faire end (hall free it.
Faint not faint heart, but iloutlie fay fo be it,
Yeeld to my hand, my hand mall conquer thec,
Thoudead^both die, and both (hall vigors be.
This
11. II9I I2II
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
This pJot of death when fadiicflice had layd,
And wip t the briniOi pearl e from her bfi^htcies,
With vntim d tongue ihee hoarllie cals her mayd,
VVhofefwift obedience to her miftrefle hies.
cc Forfleet-wing d duetie with thoghts feathers flics,
Poore LVCRECE cheeks vnto her maid feem fo,
As winter meads when fun doth melt their f how.
Her miflr effe (bee doth giue demure good morrow,
With (oft flow-tongue, true markc ofmodeftk,
A nd forts a fad Jooke to her Ladies forraw,
(For why her face wore forrov/cs liuerie.)
But durlt not aske of her audaciouflie,
Why her two funs were clowd ecclipfed fo,
Nor why her faire cheeks ouer-walht with woe.
But as the earth doth weepc the Sun being fet,
Each flowre moiftned like a melting eye :
Euen fo the maid with fwclling drops gan wet
Her circled cien inforft, by iimpathie
Ofthofcfaire Suns fet in her miftrefle Ude,
Who in a fait wau d Ocean quench their light,
Which makes the maid weep like the dewy night.
I ^
11. 1212 1232
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
A prettie while thefeprettie creatures ftand, .
Like luoric conduits coral! ceftcrns filling :
One iuftlic wecpes, the other takes in hand
No caufc, but cbmpanie of her drops fpilling.
Their gentle fex to weepe arc often willing^
Greeuincr themfelues to geffe at others fmarts,
And the they di own their eies>or break their harts.
For men hatic marble, women waxen mindes,
And therefore arc they form d as marble will.
The weake opprcft^th impreflion of ftrange kindes
Is form d in them by force, by fraud, or skill.
Then call them not the Authors oftheir ill,
No more then waxe (hall be accounted euill,
Wherein is framptthe femblance of a Deuill,
Their fmoothneffe-like a-goodly champaine plaine,
Laies open all the little wormes that creepe,
In men as in a rough growne groue remainc.
Cauc keeping euils that ob(curely flecpe.
Through chrifialf wals cch little mote will pcepe,
> Though me ca couer crimes with bold ftern looks,
^Poore womcns faces are their owae faults books.
No
11. 12331253
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Nomaninueigh againft the withered flowre,
But chide rough win:er that the flowre hath kild>
Not that deuour dj but that which doth dcuour
Is worthic blame,6 let it not be hild
Poore \v omens faults., that they arcfo fulfild
With mensabufes, thofe proud Lords to blame,
Make weak-made wome tenants to their fhame.
The prefident whereof in LVCRECE view,
Aflail dby night with circumftanccsdrong
Of prcfent death, and fhame that might iniue.
By that her death to do her husband wrong,
Such danger to refinance did belong :
That dying feare through all her bodic fprcd,
And who cannot abufe a bodie dead ?
By this milde patience bidfaire LVCRECE ipcake,
To the poore counterfaite of her complayning.
My girlcj quoth (hcejon what occafionbreakc
Thofe tears fro thce,that downe thy cheeks are raig-
Ifthou doft weepc for griefe of my fuftaining: (ning?
Know gentle wench it/mail auailes mvmood,
O j
, If tears could help 3 mine own would do me good.
11. 12541274
THE RAPE" OF LVCRECE.
But tell me girle, when went (and there fhee (laide,
Till after a deepe grone) T A a QJ i N from hence,
Madame ere I was vp (repli d the maide,)
The more to blame my iluggard negligence.
Yet with the fault I thus farre can dilpcncc :
My felfe was (Hiring ere the brcake of day,
And ere I rofe was T A R c^v i N gone away.
But Lady, ifyourmaidc may be fo bold,
Shce would requeft to know your hcauineflc :
(O peace quoth L v c R E c E)if it ihould be told,
The repetition cannot make it JefTe :
For more it is, then I can well exprefle,
And that deepe torture may be cal d a Hell,
When more isfclt then one hath power to tell.
Go get mee hither paper, inkc, and pen,
Yet faue that labour, for 1 haue them hearc,
(What ihould 1 fay) one of my husbands men
Bid thou be rcadie, by and by, to bearc
A letter to my Lord, my Loue, my Deare,
Bid him with fpeede prepare to carrie it,
The caufc craues ha(i, and it will foone be w TIC.
Her
11. 1275-1295
THERAPE OF LVCRECE.
Her maidc is gone, and llice prepares to write,
Firfthoucring ore the paper with her quill: . .
Conceipt and grief c an eager combat fight,
V V hat wit fcts downc is blotted (traight with will.
This is too curious ^ood, this blunt and ill.
Much like a preffc of people at a dore,
,1 hrong her inuentions which fhall go before.
At laftihee thus begins: thouworthieLord,
Of that vnworthic wife that grecteththee, [
Health to thy pcrfon, ncxtj*ouch(afc t afford
(lfcucrloue,thy LVCRECE thou wilt fee,) .
Someprefcntfpeedjtocomcandvifitcme: r ,
Solcommendmc^fromourhoufemgricfcj
My woes are tedious^though my words are briefc.
Here folds flicc vp the tenure ofher woe^
Her certaiiic forro.w writvnccrtainely>
BythisfhortCcdulcGoLATiNEinayknow- <[ ["
Her griefc, but no,; her gricfcs true quality,
Shee dares not thereof make difcouery^,
. Left hfcihould hold it herown grbif ahu(ey
Ere ihe widb bloud hadftain d bfet" ftain d excvfe.
11. 12961316
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Befidestheltfeandfcclingofherpaffion,
Shec hoords to fpend, when he is by to hearc her,
V Vhcn fighs,& groncs,& tears may grace the fa (hi 5
Of her difgrace, the better fo to clearc her
From that (ufpicio which the world might bear her.
To ihun this blot, ihec would not blot the letter
V Vith words,tiliadion might becom the better.
To fee fad fights 5 moues more then hcare them told.
For then the eye mterpretes to the eare
T he hcauic motion thatit.doth behold,
V V hen eyerie parr, a part of wo doth bcare.
Tis but a part of forrow that we hcare, ,
> Deep founds make lefler noilc the ihallow foords,
A nd (orrow ebs ; being blown with wind of words.
Her letter now is fcal d, and on it writ
At A a D E A to my Lord with more then had.
The Poft attends, and iheedeliuersir,
Charging the fowr-fac d groome, to high as faft
As lagging fowles before the Northcrneblafts,
Speed more then fpeed,but dul & flow ftc deems,
Extremity dill vrgeth fuch extremes .
The
11. 13171337
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE,
The homclic villaine curfics to her low,
And bluihing on her with a ftedfaft eye,
Rcccaucs the fcroll without or yea 01 no,
And forth with bamfull innocence doth hie.
But they whofe guilt within their bofomes He,
Imagine eueric eye beholds their blame,
For LVCRECE thought, he bluiht to fee her mame.
When feelie Groome (God wot) ic was defed
Of fpi rite, life, and bold audacitie,
Such harmlefle creatures haue a true refpeft
To talkc in deeds, while dthers faucilie
Promife more fpeed, but cib it leyfurelie.
Euen fo this patterne of the \vorne-out age,
Pawn d honeft looks,but laid no words 10 gage*
His kindled duetie kindled her miftruft,
That two red fires in both their faces blaxcd,
Shec thought he blulhj:, as knowing TARQVINS luft,
And blu(hing with him,wifUie on hinrgazcd,
Her carneft eye did make him more amazed.
The more.fhee (aw the bloud his cheeks replenifh,
The more metlioughthe fpiedin herfoniDlemifh,
K
11. 13381358
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
K ut long llice thinkes till he returne againc,
And yet the dutious vaflall fcarcc is gone.
The wearjc time (hee cannot entertaine,
Fornowtisftaletofigh, towccpc, andgrone,
So woe hath wearied woe, nionc tired mone,
That (hec herplaints a little while doth (lay,
Pawling formeans to mournc fome newer way.
At laft ihec cals to mind where hangs a peece
Of skilfull painting, made for P R i A M s 1 roy,
Before the which is drawn the pow er of Greece,
For HELENS rape, the Cittie to deftroy,
Threatning cloud-kifling I L L i o N with annoy,
Which the conceiptcd Painter drew fbprowd,
, AsHeauen(itfcemd)tokifle the turrets bow d.
A thoufand lamentable obieds there,
In fcocne of Nature, Art gaue liuelefle life,
Maray a dry drop fcem d a weeping teare,
Shed for the flaughtred husband by the wife.
The red bloud reek d to ihew the Painters ftrifc,
And dying eyes glccm d forth their afhje lights,
, Like dying coalcs burnt out in tedious nights.
There
11. I359I379
THE RAPE OFLV CRECE.
There might you fee the labouringPyoner
Be.giim d with iweat, and finearedall with duft,
And from the towrcs of Troyjthere would appeare
The veric eyes of men through loop-holes thruft,
Gazing vppon the Greckcs with little luft,
Suchfweet ob^cruanccinthisworkc was had,
That one might fee thofefiirrc of eyes JookcJad.
In grcatcommaunders, Grace, and Maieftie,
YOU miht behold triumphing in their face.^
In youch quick-bearing and dexteritie.
And here and there the Painter interlaces
Pale cowards marching on with trembling paces.
VVhichhartldTcpeaiauntsdidfowelrefemble,
That one would (wear he faw them quake & treble.
In Ar AX and VL rss s,6 what Art
Of Phifiognomy might one behold 1
The face of eyther cy pher d cythcrs heart,
Their face 3 their manners moft exprcflic told,
In A i A x eyes blunt rage and rigour rold,
But the mild elance that (lie V L x s s E s lent,
O
She wed deep.c regard and fmilinggouernmecu
K 2
11. 1380 1400
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
There pleading might you fee grauc NESTOR (land,
As twcrc incouraging the Grcekes to fight,
Making fuch fober adion with his hand,
That it bcguild attention, charm d the fight,
In fpeech it fccmd his beard, all illuer white,
V Vag d vp and downc, and from his lips did flic,
Thin winding breath which purl d vp to the skie.
About him were a prcflc ofgaping faces,
Which feem dto fwallow vp his found aduice,
All ioyntlic liftning, but with feuerall graces,
As if fome Marmaidc did their cares intice,
Somehighjfbme low, the Painter was fonice.
The fcalpcs of manie,almoft hid behind,
To iump vp higher fecm d to mockc the mind.
Here one mans hand leand on anothers head,
His nofe being (liado wed by his neighbours care,
Here one being throng d,bears back all boln,& red,
Another fmotherd,fe ernes to pelt and fwcare,
And in their rage fuch iignes of rage they bearc,
As but for lofle ofNfiSTORS golden words,
h fecm d they would debate with angrie fwords.
For
11. 1401 1421
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
For much imaginaric works was thcre ?
Conccipt deceitfullj fo compaft fo kinde ?
That for ACHILLES image ftood his fpcarc
Grip cin an Armed hand 3 himfclfc behind
Wasleftvnfeenc^uetothceyeofmind,
A hand, a footc, a facc,a leg, a head
Stood for the whole to be imagined.
And from the wals offtrong befiegcd TROY, (ficlc^
When their brauehopc,boldH ECT oRmarch dto
Stood manic Troian mothers during ioy,
To fee their youthful! fons bright weapons wield ?
And to their hope they fuch odde action yccld,
That through their light ioyfcemed to appeare,
(Like bright things ftaind) a kind of hcauie feare.
And from the ftrond of DARDAN where they fought,
To S iMOisrccdiebankcstheredbloudran^
V Vhofe waues to imitate the battaile fought
With fwelling ridges, and their rankcs began
To breake vppon the galled (Lore, and than
Retire againe,till meetinggreaterranckcs
They ioinc, & {hoot their fomcatSiMoisbancks.
11. 1422 1442
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
To this well painted peccc is L,VCRECE come,
To fiiid a face where all diftreflc is field,
Manielhee fees, where cares haue carued fomc^
But none where all diftrefle and dolor dwcld,
Till fhee difpayring H E c v B A beheld,
Staring on P-RJAMS wouiids with her old eyes,
V Vhich bleeding vnder PIRRHVS proud foot lies,
In her the Painter had anathofni^ d
Times ruine, beauties wracke ? aricl grim cares raign,
Her cheeks with chops and wrinclesw ere difguiz- d,
OfwhatOiee waSjnofemblaacedid rcmaiac:
Warning the fpring, tha t thofefL^unkc pipes had
She w- d life imprifon d in a bodie dead. . (fed,
Q n thi^ d fiia4d w Lv t^ PL 13 $ Tp^ndslicr cyc v
V Vho nothing wants to anfwer her but cries^
And bitter words t& bian bcr crucjl Foes.
The Painter w a,s mjQdi * lend herithpfe^ . d ; 1
An<d therefore LvcRBC5.fwcars he did her wrbhg,
To giue her fo much griefc,and not a tong.
Poorc
11. 14431463
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
Poore Inftrument (tjiicth (hce) withe ut a found,
He tune ; hy woes with my lamenting tongue,
AnddropfwectBalmein PRIAMS painted wound,-
Andrailcon i j \ RRHVS thathathdone him wrong;
And v.-iih my rears quench Troy that burns fo long;
And with my knife (cratch out the angric eyes,
Of all the Grcekcs that are thine enemies.
Shew me the {trumpet that began this ftur,
That with my nailes her bcautic I may tcarc:
Thy heat of lull: fond P A R i s did incur
This lode of wrath, that burning Troy doth bcarej
Thy eye kindled the fire that burneth here,
And here in Troy for trefpaflc of thine eye,
The Sire, the fonne, the Dame and daughter die.
Why lliould the priuate pleafure of fome one
Become the publicke plague ofmaniemoc ?
Let imnc alone committed, light alone
o
Vppon his head that hath tranlgreiTed fo.
Let guiltleffc foules be freed from guilty woe,
1 For ones offence \\ hy fhould io many fall ?
> To plague a priuate fcne in generall.
11. 1464 1484
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
Lo here weeps H E c v B A, here PRIAM dies,
Here manly H EC T OR faints^hereTROYLvs foundsj
Here friend by friend in bloudic channel lies :
And friend to friend giucsvnaduiied wounds.
And one mans lull thefe manic lines confounds.
Had doting PRIAM chcckt his Tons defirc,
TaoY had bin bright with Fame, &: not with fire.
Here feelingly the weeps TROVES painted woes,
For fbrrow, like a hcauic hanging Bell,
Once fct on ringing, with his own waight goes,
Then little ftrcngth rings out the dolcfull knell,
So L v c R E c E fee a workc, fad tales doth tell
To penccl d penlmcnes, &: colour d forrow, (row,
She lends them words, &: (he their looks doth bor-
Sbccthrowcsher eyes about the painting round,
And who fhec finds forlorne,lhec doth lament :
At lafl dice fees a vrctchcd image bound,
O
That piteous lookcs, to Phrygian ilieaphcards lenr,
His face though full of cares, yet (hcw d content,
Onward :o T R o Y with the blunt (wains he goes,
So mild that patience fccm d to fcorne his woes.
In
11. 14851505
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE,
In him the Paintcrlabour d with his skill
To hide dcceipt, and giuc the harmlcfTc (how
An humble gate,calmclooks,eyes way ling ft ill,
A brow vnbentthatfeem dto welcome wo,
Cheeks neither red,nor pale, but mingled fo,
Thatblulhingred,noguiltiein(tancegaue,
Norafhie pale,the fcarc that falfe hearts hauc.
But likcaconftant and confirmed Dcuill,
He entertain d a (how, (b feeming iuft.
And therein (o enfconc t his iecret euill,
That Icaloufic it felfe could not miftruft,
Falfe creeping Craft, and Periuric (hould thruft
Into fo bright a daic 5 fuch blackrac d dorms,
Or blot with Hell-born iiniuch Saint-like forms.
The well- skil d workman this milde Image drew
For pcriur d S i N o N, whofe inchaunting ftoric
The credulous old PRIAM after (lew.
V Vho(c words like wild fire burnt the shining gloric
Ofrich-built ILL ION, that the skies were forte,
And little ftars (hot from their fixed places,
VVhe their glasfel,wherin they view d their faces.
L
11. 15061526
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
This picture fhec aduifedly perufd,
And chid the Painter for his wondrous skill :
Saying,forne lhape in S i N o N s was abui d,
So fairc a forme lodg d not a mind fo ill,
And dill on him ihec gaz d, and gaz-ing ftiJl,
Such fignesoftruthinhis plaine facclliccfpicd,
That fhee concludes, the Picture was belied.
It cannot be (quoth (lie) that fo much guile,
(Shec wouldhaue faid) can lurkc in fuch a looker
But T A R QJT i N s ihape,camc in her mind the while,
And from her tongue, can lurk,from cannot, tookc
It cannot be, ihee in that fence forfookc,
And turn d it thus, it cannot be I find,
But fuch a face mould bearc a wicked mind.
Forcuenasfubtill SIN ON here is painted,
So fbberfad, fb wearie, and Co mildc,
( As if\vi h gricfe or trauailehc had fainted)
To me came T A R QJV i N armed to beguild
With outward honelHc, but yet dcfild
With inward vicc,as PRIAM him did cherim :
So did I T A R QV j N ? fo my Troy did pcriih,,
Lookc
11. 15271547
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Lookc lookc how liftning PRIAM wets his eyes,
To fee thofc borrowed tcares that SINON (heeds,
PRIAM why art thou old, and yet not wife?
For euerie tcare he fals a Troian bleeds:
His eye drops fire, no water thence proceeds,
Thofe roud cleat pearls of his that moue thy pitty,
Are bals of quenchleflc fire to burne thy Citty.
Such Deuils (kale e fifed* from lightlefle Hell,
For SINON in his fire doth quake with cold,
And in that cold hot burning fire doth dwell,
Thcfc contraries fuch vnitic do hold,
Only to flatter fooles, and make them bold,
; So P R i A M s trull falle S i N o N s tcares doth flatter,
= That he finds means to burne his Troy with water.
Here all inrag d fuch paffion her aflailcs,
That patience is quite beaten from her breaft,
Shce tears th c fcncelefTc SINON with hernailcs,
Comparing him to that vnhappiegucft,
VVhofe dcede hath made herfelfe, herfclfc dctcft,
At lad fhcc fmilingly with this giucs ore,
Foolcfool/juothlhcjhis wounds wil not be fore.
L 2
11. 15481568
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
1 hus ebs and flowes the currant of herforrow,
/ nd time doth wearic time with her complayning,
Shee looks for nighr, & then fhce longs for morrow,
A nd both fliee thinks too long with her remayning.
Short rime fecms long/mforrowes fharp faftayningj
Though wo be heauie, yet it fetdomc fleepcs,
> And they that watch, (eetime^how flow it creeps.
V Vhic h all this time hath ouerflipt her thought,
1 hat ihee with painted Images hath (pent,
P eing from the feeling of her own griefe brought^
By deepe furmHe of others detriment,
Loofingher woes in thews of difcontcnt:
> It eafethfbme, though none it euer cured,
; . To thinke their dolour others haue endured.
But now the mindfull MeiTenger come backe,
Brings home his Lord and other companie.
Who finds his L.VCKECE clad in mourning black,
And round about her reare-diftained eye
Blew circles ftreanVdj like Rain bows in the skie.
Thefc watcrgalls in her dim Element,
Foretell new ftormes to thofe alreadic ipcnt.
VVhick
11. 15691589
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
V Vhich when her fad beholding husband faw>
Amazedlie in her fad face he flares :
Her eyes though (od in tears look d red and raw, ^
Her liuclie colour kil d with deadlie cares,
He hath no power to aske her how fhee fares,
-Both ftood like old acquaintance in a trance,
Met far from home,wondring ech others chance,
At laft he takes her by the bloudlefle hand,
And thus begins : what vncouth ill euent
Hath theebefalne, that thoudoft trembling (land?.
Sweet louc what fpite hath thy faire colour fpenc?
Why art thou thus attir d in difcontcnt ?
V nmaske deare deare, this moodie hcauinefle,
And tell thy griefe, that we may giue redrcfle.
Three times with fighes fhee giues her farrow fire,
Ere once fhee can difchar^e one word ofwoe :
c
At length addrell to aniwer his defire,
O
,Shec modeftlie prepares, to let them know
Her Honor is tane prilbncr by the Foe,
While C o L A T i N E and his conforted Lords^
With fad attention long to heare her words,.
L
11.
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
And now this pale Swan in her watric neft,
Begins the fad Dirge of her ccrtainc ending,
Few words (quoth Ihec) (hall fit the trcfpatTcbeft^
Where no excufc can giuc the fault amending.
In me tnoc woes then words are now depending,
And my laments would be drawn out too
To tell them all with one poorc tired cong.
Then be this all the rasltc it hath to (ay,
Deare husband in the intcrcftofthy bed
A Granger came, andon that pillow lay,
Where thou waft wont to reft thy wearic head,
And what wrong elfejnay be imagined,
By foulcinforcement might be done to me,
From that (alas) thy L v c R E c E is not free.
For in the dreadfull dead of darkc midnight,
With mining Fauchion in my chamber came
A creeping creature with aflaming light,
And foftly cried, awakcjthou Romainc Dame^
And cntcrtainc my louc, elfc lading fhame
On thcc and thine this night I will infliv^
If thou my loues dcfirc do contradift,
For
11. 16111631
THE RAPE Ob LVCRECE.
For fbme hard f auour d Groomc of thine, quoth he,
Vnlefle thou yoke thy liking to my svill
lie murther ftraight, and then ilc (laughter thee,
And fwcarc I found you where you did fulfill
The Jothfome aft of Lu(r,and fo did kill
The lechors in their deed, this Ad will be
My Fame, and thy pcrpetuall infamy.
With this I did begin to ftart and cry,
And then againft my heart he fet his fword,
Swearing, vnleiTe I tookc all patiently,
I Ihould not Hue to fp cake another word.
So mould my iliamc (till reft vpon record,
And neucr be forgot in mightic Roomc
Th adultcrat death ot LVCRECE, and her Groomc.
Mine enemy was ftrong, my poore felfe wcake,
(And farre the weaker w itli !o frrong a feare)
My bloudi-j ludge forbod my tongue to fpeake,
No righrfull plea might plead for fuftice there.
His fcarlet Lull came euidencc to fwcarc
Thatmy poore bcautie had purloiu d his eves,
And when the ludgc is rob d ? the priicncr dies*
11. 1632 1652
THE RAPE OF LVCRECB.
O teach me how to*make mine owne excufe,
Or (at the leaft) this refuge let me finde,
Though toy grofle bloudbe ftaind with this abufc,
Immaculate, and fpotleffe is my mind.
That was not forc d, that neucr was inclind
To acceflarie yeeldingSjbiit ftill pure
Doth in her poy fqn d elofet yet endure,
Lo heare thehopclefljc Marchantofihis lofTc,
With head declin d, and voice dam d vp with wo,
With fad fet eyes and wreic.hed arme.s acrofTe,
From lips nw waxen pale, begins tQ.blpvr, ".
The griefe away> that ftops his answer fb.
But wretched as he is he (times in vainc>
What he breaths out,his breath drinks vp again.
As through an Arch, the violent roaringtide,
O utruns the eye that doth behold his haft :
Yet in the Edie boundcth in his pride,
Backe to the ftrait that forft him on Co faft :
In rage fent out, rccald in rage being paft,
Eucn fo his fighcs,hi$ fbrrowcs make a /aw,
To pulh griefe on, and back the fame grief draw.
Which
11. 16531673
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
Which fpeechlefle woe of his poore flic attendeth,
And his vntimclie frenzie thus awaketh,
Dcarc Lord> thy fbrrow to my forrow lendeth
Another power, no floud by raining (lakcthj
My woe too fencibl e thy paffion mak eth
More feeling painfull, Jet it than fuffice
.. To drowne on woc,onc pake of weeping eyes.
And for my fake when I might charme thce fb,
For thcc that was thy L v c R E c E, now attend me,
Befodaineliercucnged on my Foe,
Thine, mine, his own,fuppofc thou doft defend me
From what is paft, the helpe that thou malt lend me
Comes all too late, yet let the Tray tor die,
cc For fparingluilice feeds iniquitie.
But ere I name him, you faire Lords, quoth (hce,
(Speaking to thofe that came with COLATINE)
Shall plight your Honourable faiths to me,
VVithfvviftpurfuitto venge ihis wrong of mine,
Foftis a meritorious faire defigne,
To chafe iniuftice with reucngcfull armes,
> Knights by their oaths Lhould right poore Ladies
M (harmes.
11. 16741694
THE RAPE OF L V G R E C E.
A: this requeftj with noble difpofirion,
Each prefent Lord began to promifc aide,
As bound in Knighthood to her impofition,
Lousing to hcarc the hatefull Foe bewraide.
o o
But ihce that yet her /ad taskc hath not /aid,
The proteftation ftops, 6 fpcake quoth fhce,
How may this forced ftaine be wip d from me?
V V hat is the qualitic of my offence
Bcingconftrayn dwithdrcadfullcircumftancc?
May my pure mind with the fowle ad di/pcncc
My low declined Honor to aduance?
May anie termes acquit me from this chance ?
-Thepoyfoned fountaiucclearesitfclfe againc.
And v, hynot I from this compelled ftaine ?
With this they all at once began to iaicj.
Her bodies (laine, her mind vntaimed clearcs,.
While with a ioyleiTc fmile> fhee turnes awaic
The face, that map which deepeimpreffion bcares
Of hard misfortune, caru d it in with tears.
> No no ? quoth iheCj-no Dame hereafter lining,
By my cxcufe iliall claime excufes giuing.
Here
11. 16951715
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE.
Here with a figh as if her heart would breakc,
Shecthrowcs forth TAiQyiNsname:hchcj flic faics,
But more then he>hcr poorc tong could not fpcakc,
Till after manic accents and dcluics,
Vntimclic breathings, fickc and ihort a (Talcs,
Shce vttcrs this, he he faire Lords, tis he
That guides this hand to giue this wound to me.
Eucn here (he fhcathcd in her harmlcfle brcaft
A harmfull knife, that thence her foulc vnihcaihcd,
That blow did bailc it from the decpevnreft
Of that polluted prifon, where it breathed:
Her contrite fighcs vnto the clouds bequeathed
He* winged iprirc, & through her wouds doth flie
Liues lafting date, from canccl d dcftinic.
Stone ftilljadoniiht with this dcadlie deed,
Stood C o L A T i N E, and all his Lordly crew,
Till LVCRECE Father that beholds her bleed,
Himfclfcj on her fclfc-dati^htrcdbodic threw,
And from the purple foumainc B R v T v s drew
The murdrous knife, and as it kit the place,
Her bloud in poore rcuengc, held it in chafe.
M 2
11. 1716 1736
THE RAPE OF LVCRECE,
And bublingfrpm her brcft, it doth deuidc
In two (low riuersj that the crimfon bloud
Circles her bodie in Q n cueric fide.
Who like a latefack t Hand vaftlie flood
Bare and vnpeopled, in this fcarfull flood.
,. Some of her bloud ftill pure and red rcmain d,
> And fom look d black, & that falfe TARQVIN ftain d.
About the mourning and congealed face
Of that blackc bloud, a watrie rigoll goes,
Which fcemes to weep vpont the tainted place,
And euerfmce as pittying L VCUBCE woes,
Corrupted bloud, fomewaterictokenfhowes,
-> And bloud vntainted, dill doth red abide,
> Blufhing at that which is fo putrified.
Daughter, dearc daughter, old L v c R E T i v s cries,
That life was mine which thou haft here depriued,
If in the childc the fathers image lies,
Where ihall 1 Hue now LVCRECE is vnliued ?
Thou waft not to this end from me deriued.
> -If children praedeceafc progenitours,
? V Ve are their oflpring and they none ofours.
Poorc
11. 17371757
THE R APE 6F LV CRECE
poore broken glafTe, I often didbehoJd
In thy fweet femblance, my old age new borne/
But nowthatfaire frdli mirrordim and old
Shewes me a bare bon d death by time out-wornc,
O from thy cheekes my image thou haft tornc,
And iliiuerd all the beautie of my glafle,
That I no more can fee what once I was.
O time ccafe thou thy courfe and laft no longer,
If they furccafe to be that (hould furuiue :
Shall rotten death make conqueft of the ftronger,
And leauc the foultring feeble foulcs aliue?
The old Bees did,the young poflefle their hiuc,
Then Hue fwect L v c R EC E 5 liue againe and ice
Thy father die, and not thy father thce.
By this {tarts COLATINE as from a dream e,
And bids LVCRECIVS giue his forrow place,
And than in key-cold L v c R E c E bleedingftreame
He fals, and bathes the pale feare in his face,
And counterfaitsto die with her a fpace.
-Till manly fliame bids him poffefle his breath,
And Hue to be rcuenged on her death.
M 3
11. 17581778
THE RAPE OF LyCRECE.
..*Thc decpc vexation ofhis inward foul e,
-y Hath feru d a dumbc arreft vpon his tongue,
Who mad that forrow fhould his vie control!,
- Of keepe him from heart-eafing words fo long,
Begins to taike, but through his lips do throng
~VVeakc\\ords,fo thick come in his poor harts aid,
That no man could diftinguiQi what he faid.
Yet fometime T A R ojr i N was pronounced plaine,
But through his teeth, as if the name he tore,
This windic ternpeft, till it blow vp raine,
Held backe his forrowes tide, to make it more.
At laft it raines, and bufic windes giue ore,
.-, . Then fonne and father weep with equall ftrifc,
, . Who (huld weep mod far daughter or for wife.
The one doth call her his, the other his,
Yet neither may pofTefle the claime they lay.
The father faies, (lice s mine, 6 mine (hee is
Replies her husband, do not take away
My forrowes intereft, let no mourner fay
He wcepes for her,for fhee was onely mine,
And onelie muft be wayl d by C o L A T i N E.
o,
n. 17791799
THE RAPE OF LV ORECE.
O, quoth L v c R E 1 1 v s, I did gfue that life v -
V Vhich ihee to earely and too late hath fpil d.
V Voe woe, quoth C o L A T i N E, fliee was my wife,
I owed her, and tis mine that fhee hatnkil d.
My daughter and my wife with clamors fild
The difperft a ire, who holding L vc R E c E life,
Anfwer d their cries, my daughter and my wife.
BRVTVS who pluck t the knife from LVCRICE fide,
Seeing fuch emulation in their woe,
Began to cloath his wit in fhte and pride,
E ury ing inLvcRiCE wound his follies (how,
He with the Remains was-eftcemed fb
As feelie ieering idiots arc with Kings,
For fportiue words, and vttring foplilh things-..
But now he throwes that ftrallow ha|?it by,
-Wherein deepe pollkie did him difguifc,
And arm d his Ions hid wits aduilcdlie,
* .
To checkc the teares inCoLATiNvs eics,
-Thou wronged Lord of Rome, quoth he,arifej
Let my vnfounded felfe fuppofd a foole,
Now fct thy long experienc t wit tQ fchoolo,/
11. 1800 1820
THE R A P Z OF L V C R E C E.
Why C o L A T i N E, is \voc the cure for woe ?
Do wound shelpc wounds, or griefehelpegreeuous
-Is it rcucnqe to giuc thy (cite a blow, (deeds?
For his fowlc Act, by whom thy faire wife bleeds ?
Such childiih humor from \vcakc mi , ids proceeds,
Thy wretched \vitc midookcthe matter fo,
j
.> To ilaie her fclfe that ihould hauc flaine her Fee.
Couragious Romainc, do not fteepe thy hart
- In fuch relenting dew of Lamentation^
But kneele with me and helpc to bearc thy part,
To rowfe our Romainc Gods with inuocations,
That they will fuller thele abhominations.
^Since Rome her felt in the doth (land difgraccd>)
By our ftrong arms fro forth her fair ftrccts chaced.
Now by the CapitoII that we adore,
Andbythischattblcud fb vniuftlic flained,
By heauens fairc fun that breeds the fit earths (lore,
By all our countrey rights in Rome maintained,
And by chad L v c R E c E foulc that larc complained
Her wrongs to v^ and by this bloudie knife,
We will reucntrc the death of this true wife.
This
11. 18211841
THE RAPE OFLVCRECE.
This fayd, he ftrooke his hand vpon his bread,
And kilt the fatall knife to end his vow:
And to his protection vrg d the reft,
V V ho wondring at him, did his words allow.
Then ioyntlie to the ground their knees they bow,
-And that deepc vow which BRVTVS made before,
He doth againe repeat, and that they fwore.
When they had fwornc to this aduifed doome,
They did conclude to bearc dead LVCRECE thence,
To {hew her bleeding bodie thorough Roomc,
And Co to publifh TAR Q^V i N s fowlc ofTencq
Which being done, with fpecdie diligence,
ThcRomainesplauilblydidgiueconfent,
To T A * QJ i N s euerlafh ng banifhmcnt.
N
FINIS.
11. 18421855
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