THE THEATER OF FINE DEVICES, containing an hundred moral Emblems.  
First penned in French by Guillaume de la Perriere, and translated into English by THOMAS COMBE.  
LONDON, Printed by Richard Field. 1614   

TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY PRINCESS, Lady Marguerite of France, Queen of Navarre, and the only sister of the most Christian King of France.  
SEneca the Philosopher (to whom without controversy, the learned among the Latins gave the pre-eminence for moral Philosophy) saith in few words, but full of substance, that Fortune is never at rest; and further, that she useth not to give joy without sadness, sweet without sour, rest without labour, honour without envy, and generally no felicity without his contrary: the which now I perceive to be verified in myself. For whereas she hath given me occasion of joy in offering me an opportunity to show my dutiful reverence to your royal Majesty, and also to our famous City, by your happy approach thither: thereby she hath made me sad and melancholious, in that she hath so much hastened your said coming, that I had not the leisure to prepare and file these hundred moral Emblems, accompanied with an hundred staves of verses, expositors of the same: the which in their first invention (such as they are) I dedicate to your most excellent Majesty. But that your Majesty may not blame me, in that (following the error of the Gentiles and Ethnics) I attribute to Fortune that which (as a Christian writing to a Christian Princess) I ought to attribute to God's providence: I say therefore, that your said happy coming depended not any whit upon fortune, but (even as do all other human actions) only upon God's providence, who (as it is necessary to believe) doth all things for the best: and that consequently your said coming hath not been to me hasty, but for the best. Wherefore considering the precedent with myself, I do presume humbly to present unto your Majesty my said Emblems, although they have attained but to half the number that I intended; beseeching your Majesty to receive them (such as they are) according to your accustomed benignity, and that with so good a will as they are by me your poor servant offered and presented. Moreover (Madam) it is not only in our time that Emblems are in account and singular regard, but it hath been of ancient times and almost from the beginning of the world: for the Egyptians (which think themselves to be the first people of the world) before the use of letters, wrote by figures & images, as well of men, beasts, fowls, and fishes, as of serpents, thereby expressing their intentions, as is written by most ancient authors, Chaeremon, Orus, Apollo, and the like, which have laboured diligently and curiously to expound the said hieroglyphical figures: whereof likewise Lucan maketh mention in his Pharsalie, and Polyphile the author of the Moderns, in the description of his dream, Clius Rhodiginus in his commentaries of the ancient readings. Alciat hath likewise in our time set out certain Emblems, and adorned them with Latin verses. And I (imitating these abovesaid) esteem the time well bestowed, which I employed in the devising & beautifying of these said Emblems: and I shall think myself most happy, if the reading hereof may yield you any honest recreation: praying God (most noble Princess) that he will send you long life and everlasting happiness.  
Your humble servant, Guillaume de la Perriere.   

To the Reader.  
THe more (gentle Reader) the conceit is pierced with the substance and life of that which any way is objected, the more we endeavour to embrace or eschew the good or evil the object or subject proposeth. So that where oftentimes feeling and effectual words, though never so sensible, do pass the Reader without due consideration, pictures that especially are discerned by the sense, are such helps to the weakness of common understandings, that they make words as it were deeds, and set the whole substance of that which is offered, before the sight and conceit of the Reader. Therefore for instruction sake is his labour worthily bestowed, that undertook and accomplished the Translation of this book: containing precepts and rebukes to our behaviours.  
Wherein if the verse be any thing obscure, the Imprese or pictures make it more lively, and in a manner actual. For the credit and acceptation of it, let the estimation which it had in the French suffice to grace and commend it Englished: being dedicated unto the Queen of Navarre, whose dignity should not have been presented with a work of any small value. Which suppositions and authorities though they make it nothing the better, yet serve they very worthily to move thy desire to the trial of the Contents, both by seeing and reading them. Wherein let not the common conceits of the world withdraw thy mind, which hateth anything that is bitter, to their flattering delights: but moved with thine own profit, and help of thy better part, requite the translators pains in reading and observing, and thou shalt double his deserts in thine own profit.   

EMBLEM I.  
According to the time forepast,  
Be wisely warned at the last.  
 
janus is figured with a double face,  
To note at once the time to come and passed.  
So should the wise observe the passed space.  
As they may well foresee a chance at last,  
And with such providence direct this race,  
That in their thoughts both times be ever placed:  
Embracing virtue then in every thing,  
Themselves to rest and quiet peace shall bring   

EMBLEM II.  
Ven'rie and drink do now and then  
Besot some of the wisest men.  
 
We read when Bacchus' fair dame Venus met,  
They two together walked forth in chase,  
Forthwith their engines and their snares they set  
T'entrap the next that should come in the place:  
And strait Minerva taken in the net,  
Was holden prisoner in a woeful case.  
By which is shown, as we may plain perceive  
That wine and women wisest folk deceive.   

EMBLEM III.  
Who doth presume above his state,  
Doth still incur the greater hate.  
 
Thou that in Court dost spend thy merry days,  
Sport not with Princes, if that thou be wise:  
For he that with his own superior plays,  
Shall find great perils thereof to arise.  
Meddle with thy match, the ancient proverb says  
On equal play-fellows no danger lies.  
He that presumes to shave the lions skin,  
Full little knows what danger he is in.   

EMBLEM FOUR  
In pleasures vain no time bestow,  
Lest it procure your overthrow.  
 
The Fly so often to the milk pan useth,  
That in sweet milk at last her death she taketh:  
The fool delights in pleasures that he chooseth,  
So long until his ruin he awaketh.  
But happy he, who so in time refuseth,  
And all vain fancies utterly forsaketh.  
Such one with heed, and grave & good instruction,  
Doth wisely shun his peril and destruction.   

EMBLEM LV.  
One bird in hand is better far,  
Then three which in the hedges are.  
 
Who doth expect the balls uncertain bound,  
And quite permit the certain flight go by,  
A player bad at tennis he is found,  
And gets but seldom any good thereby.  
So some neglect the true and perfect ground,  
And for vain hope do wander quite awry:  
That with fond enterprises and vain glory.  
With divers troubles have themselves made sorry   

EMBLEM VI.  
Most men do use some coloured shift.  
For to conceal their crafty drift.  
 
Masks will be more hereafter in request,  
And grow more dear than they did heretofore:  
They served then only but in play and jest,  
For merriment, and to no purpose more:  
Now be they used in earnest of the best,  
And of such Maskers there abound such store.  
That you shall find but few in any place,  
That carry not sometimes a double face.   

EMBLEM VII.  
He that doth love to live at case.  
An angry man must not displease.  
 
Who will with sword be foding of the fire,  
Must look to have the sparks fly in his face:  
They that delight with speech as sharp as brire  
To choler others with an humour base,  
Unlooked for perhaps shall find retire,  
Words or else deeds, unto their own disgrace.  
He that will stir the angry man that's still,  
Assure himself, his hands shall quickly fill.   

EMBLEM VIII.  
It were a foolish senseless part,  
With grief and care to eat thy heart.  
 
The wise Pythagoras hath ever taught,  
Man should not eat up his own proper heart,  
Nor as a stranger to himself be brought  
To waste his life with sorrow and with smart;  
But so himself to temper still he ought,  
That woes and cares may vanish from each part:  
Sith nothing hinders more a man's welfare,  
Than lingering sorrow, heaviness and care.   

EMBLEM IX.  
There be some fools the cords do spin,  
Wherein themselves be netted in.  
 
Who strives to set a narrow ring and strait  
Upon his finger, which too gross he finds,  
Like to the fool that bites at every bait,  
Himself with his own folly often binds.  
While for felicity some think they wait,  
They fall in bondages of diverse kinds:  
But wise men use their fortitude to shun  
Such servitudes as fools into do run.   

EMBLEM X.  
Use justice still with due regard,  
Respect no person nor reward.  
 
The Proverb saith, a man must never pass  
Nor poise his balance with unequal weights;  
As once in Rome a happy custom was,  
Where equity maintained without sleights,  
And justice was the monarchs looking glass,  
Till avarice possessed their conceits:  
Then civil discord set their hearts at war,  
And caused each man his own good to mar.   

EMBLEM XI.  
Try well thy friend before thou trust,  
Lest he do leave thee in the dust.  
 
join hands with none, nor make of him thy friend  
Whom first thou hast not proved well and tried:  
His faith may fleet and sail thee in the end,  
Whose bad conditions were not first descried.  
Know well his life and manners ere thou lend  
Or give him trust, if trust in him abide:  
For he that makes a friend of every stranger,  
Discards him not again without some danger.   

EMBLEM XII.  
Nothing can temper young men's rage,  
Till they be tamed with old age.  
 
Youth is too hot, and void of care and dread;  
The aged cold, and full of doubts and fears:  
Youth casts no dangers in his hasty head,  
Where age with foresight warily forbears.  
Youth into needless quarrels soon is led.  
Till oft the marks of his own rod he wears:  
And then he learns to change the course he run,  
When he hath seen & known what age hath dun.   

EMBLEM XIII.  
Unhappy be some that be wise,  
And fools sometime to honour rise.  
 
In Thessaly their Asses there be kept  
With special care, fair, plumb, smooth, fat & full,  
Their mangers filled, their stables cleanly swept,  
Though they be gross, & though their pace be dull  
So many times sots have to honour leapt,  
When wiser men have had a colder pull.  
If Asses have such luck, what should I say?  
Let scholars burn their books, and go to play.   

EMBLEM XIIII.  
In friends this difference sole is tried,  
True friends stand fast, the feigned slode.  
 
False faith is over-peisd with smallest weight,  
The balance yields unto the lightest feather:  
The feigned guest will quickly change conceit,  
And in a trice will hither turn and thither.  
But the sound friend will never sound retreat,  
Nor stoop his sails for any force of weather,  
But constantly his friendship still doth last,  
And shine the clearer in the bitter blast.   

EMBLEM XV.  
He that infinenesse would excel,  
Oft mars the work before was well.  
 
The Painter that with curious hand and eye,  
Is over-mending every little line,  
With to much cunning bringeth all awry,  
And mars the work that was before more fine.  
So some there be thinking to soar so high,  
With piercing insearch of things most divine,  
That fall so far from knowing that they sought,  
They do not know themselves so as they ought.   

EMBLEM XVI.  
Search for strange monsters far or wide,  
None like the woman wants her guide.  
 
Great monsters mentioned are in stories found,  
As was chimera of a shape most wondrous,  
Girion, Python, Cerb'rus that hell hound,  
Hydra, Medusa, with their heads most hideous,  
satires and Centaurs; all these same were found  
In bodies strange, deformed and prodigious:  
Yet none more marvelous in stories read,  
Then is a woman if she want a head.   

EMBLEM XVII.  
They that want knowledge, do despise  
The virtues honoured of the wise.  
 
The dirty Swine delights more in the mire,  
Then in sweet balms that are of costly price.  
Some men likewise there be, that do desire,  
Rather than virtue for to follow vice.  
The blockish idiots learning none require,  
But hate even those that are by nature wise:  
And hoggish fools at learning will repine,  
So long as puddle shall delight the swine.   

EMBLEM XVIII.  
Within this picture are displayed,  
The beauties of a woman stayed.  
 
This picture here doth lively represent  
The beauties that may best make women proud;  
First by the Tortoise at her feet is meant,  
She must not gad, but learn at home to shroud;  
Her finger to her lip is upward bend,  
To signify she should not be too loud:  
The key doth note, she must have care to guide  
The goods her husband doth with pain provide.   

EMBLEM XIX.  
No man reaps the pleasant grain,  
But with travel and with pain.  
 
Out of the thorny and the pricking stem,  
Riseth the dainty, sweetly smelling rose:  
Labour and care all pleasures do in 'em,  
And all the ways of profit do foreclose.  
Who seeks of knowledge the most precious gem,  
Must overtosse full many a weary gloze;  
And through such prickles he that rose shall gain  
That many seeks, and very few attain,   

EMBLEM XX.  
They that follow fortunes guiding,  
Blindly fall with often sliding.  
 
You blinded folks by Fortune set on high,  
Consider she is dark as well as ye,  
And if your guide do want the light of eye,  
You needs must fall, it can none other be.  
When blind do lead the blind, they both do lie  
In ditch, the Proverb saith, and we do see:  
And those that trust to fortunes turning wheel,  
When they fear least, their fall shall soon feel.   

EMBLEM XXI.  
An hypocrite is noted still,  
By speaking fair, and doing ill.  
 
Who bears a sword with honey overspread,  
May well be termed as an hypocrite,  
That hides the doings of his crafty head,  
With show of sweetness yielding false delight;  
Natheless at last he is discovered,  
When wisdom brings his subtleties to light,  
And though his sword be sharp, & cut & prick,  
A little Bee shall sting him to the quick.   

EMBLEM XXII.  
A Prince can have no better part,  
Then Fox's wit and Lion's heart.  
 
The Lion is of nature stout and strong,  
Of courage bold, whose fierceness none can tame;  
The crafty Fox all other beasts among,  
For subtle policies doth bear the name.  
So to that Prince those gifts do chief belong,  
That here on earth would purchase endless fame:  
He like these two must frame his manners fit,  
For strength a Lion, and a Fox for wit.   

EMBLEM XXIII.  
No man his mind should ever set,  
To hope for that he cannot get.  
 
Oft time when fishers pluck their nets to land,  
And make great boast what fishes they shall get,  
By hap a Scorpion being there at hand,  
Comes up alone enclosed in the net.  
So in conceit some have great wonders scanned,  
That durst presume strong Hercules to threat:  
But when they come to trial and to proof,  
Themselves are those will stand most far aloof.   

EMBLEM XXIIII.  
All things out of order run,  
That are without decorum done.  
 
A gold ring set on snout of filthy swine,  
Great weapons worn by infants young & green▪  
The Rogue to brag and boast him with the fine,  
The foolish Ass that wise himself doth ween▪  
All these to order utterly repine,  
And evermore to disagree are seen.  
To keep decorum this good precept hold,  
Give draff to swine, to men the rings of gold.   

EMBLEM XXV.  
No toil can last without his rest,  
In every thing the mean is best.  
 
The bow that's drawn with over hardy strength,  
Is found more weak than it was felt before.  
By which we learn, we hurt ourselves at length,  
The while we labour daily more and more.  
For sloth corrupts & dulls our might & strength;  
But too much toiling breeds a greater sore,  
Consuming courage so beyond all measure,  
It reaves the body of his chiefest treasure.   

EMBLEM XXVI.  
It is not good in peace or war,  
To press thine enemy too far.  
 
Beware of quarrels with the desperate men,  
That fear not death, nor weigh another's life:  
Good conquerors will give place now and then  
To those are vanquished in warlike strife,  
And let them fly with our pursuing; when  
Perhaps they would else turn on them as rife.  
As did the Andebats in desperate wise  
Run on their enemies with hooded eyes.   

EMBLEM XXVII.  
When death doth call us at the door,  
What odds betwixt the Prince and poor?  
 
e'en as the king, the whilst we play at Chess,  
The other men in his subjection be,  
Until the mate be given without redress,  
And then the king but like the rest we see;  
And suffers with the little pawns no less,  
Then if they had no difference in degree.  
So high and low, when pleaseth death to strike,  
The Prince, the poor, are laid in graves alike.   

EMBLEM XXVIII.  
Fortune's blasts cannot prevail,  
To overthrow dame virtues sail.  
 
As doth the Tortoise neither fear nor feel  
The idle stinging of the busy Bee;  
For why his shell well-nigh as hard as steel,  
Keeps him as safe within as safe may be:  
e'en so though Fortune on her wan'ring wheel,  
Turn up and down some men of high degree,  
Yet may a man with wisdom so provide,  
To stand so sure, she shall not make him slide.   

EMBLEM XXIX.  
We see it fall out now and then,  
The worse luck the wiser men.  
 
We see how Fortune sooner doth provide  
For Robin Goodfellow and th'idle mate,  
Than such as greater labours do abide,  
Whose good desert she evermore doth hate▪  
In sleepers nets she poureth all her pride,  
To painful persons she is still ungrate:  
She hunts about to make her best provision,  
For fools and dolts, & men of base condition.   

EMBLEM XXX.  
There is no sweet within our power,  
That is not sauced with some sour.  
 
They hurt their hand sometime that hope to gain,  
And pluck the rose from off the prickling tree;  
For why, no pleasure is without some pain,  
The good and bad together mingled be:  
Fair weather waxeth sometime foul again,  
And after foul fair weather oft we see.  
Wise men may note by gathering of this flower,  
None reaps the sweet but he must taste the sour.   

EMBLEM XXXI.  
Men should beware and take great heed,  
To hazard friends without great need.  
 
Who strikes the anvil rudely with his blade,  
May hap to break it with too little heed▪  
So he that useth as a common trade,  
To press his friend with too too much indeed,  
May chance to find his curtsy then to fade,  
When of the same he stands in greatest need.  
Thus much this Emblem in effect pretends,  
That over boldness makes us lose our friends.   

EMBLEM XXXII.  
Great persons should not with their might,  
Oppress the poorer, though they might.  
 
Who notes the noble bird that doth command,  
All feathered fowls subjecteth to the skies,  
And hath the Eagles princely nature scanned,  
Which doth disdain to litigate with flies;  
Hereby may weigh and wisely understand,  
In base contention little honour lies.  
For he that striveth with th'inferior sort,  
Shall with dishonour reap an ill report.   

EMBLEM XXXIII.  
Meddle not with thy overmatch.  
Lest thou thereby most hurt do catch.  
 
He that with razor thinks to cut the flint,  
Doth undertake a foolish fruitless pain,  
The tender edge making but little dint,  
Is soon rebated with the rocky grain.  
With mighty men 'twere better strife to stint,  
Than an unequal quarrel to maintain:  
Lest, as you see the razor with the stone,  
The hurt fall all to you, and they have none.   

EMBLEM XXXIIII.  
Some that in knowledge dive most deep,  
Know lest from hurt themselves to keep.  
 
The Nightingale hath such a dainty note,  
No other bird the harmony can mend;  
Sometimes to sing she straineth so her throat.  
That therewithal her song and life doth end.  
e'en so likewise some students do so dote,  
When others do their prose and verse commend,  
That to attain unto more perfect skill,  
With studying too hard themselves they kill.   

EMBLEM XXXV.  
The way to pleasure is so plain,  
To tread the paths few can refrain.  
 
A labyrinth is framed with such art,  
The outmost entrance is both plain and wide:  
But being entered, you shall find each part,  
With such odd crooked turns on every side,  
And blind by-ways, you shall not for your heart  
Come out again without a perfect guide.  
So to vain pleasures it is ease to go,  
But to return again it is not so.   

EMBLEM XXXVI.  
It's hard to change an old abuse,  
Wherein the heart hath taken use.  
 
Who thinks to change abuses waxen old,  
Is foul deceived in his inward mind:  
For they do rather grow more manifold,  
And still engender and increase their kind.  
It were a foolish thing to hear it told,  
That in a net a man hath caught the wind:  
For that's impossible to bring to pass,  
And so is this, both now and ever was.   

EMBLEM XXXVII.  
Herein the chiefest cause is taught,  
For which the glasses first were wrought.  
 
A woman should, and may well without pride,  
Look in a looking glass; and if she find  
That she is fair, then must she so provide  
To suit that beauty with so fair a mind.  
If she be black, than that default to hide  
With inward beauty of another kind.  
If women would do so, they were but asses  
That should dislike the use of looking-glasses.   

EMBLEM XXXVIII.  
Patience brings the mind to rest,  
And helps all troubles to digest.  
 
The bird in cage restrained from liberty,  
For all her bondage ceaseth not to sing.  
But in the midst of all captivity,  
With songs some comfort she herself doth bring.  
So when as men do stand in jeopardy,  
And feel that sorrows do their senses sting,  
Yet must they strive to put all cares away,  
And make themselves as merry as they may.   

EMBLEM XXXIX.  
To be a soldier good indeed,  
Must of a Captain good proceed.  
 
Suppose a heard of Bucks should go to war,  
And by a lusty Lion they were led:  
On th'other side, if that a Buck compare  
To bear the standard as the lions head;  
That only lions force surpasseth far,  
With those his Bucks, whose courage he hath bred.  
So valiant leaders cause faint cowards fight,  
A coward Captain mars the soldiers might.   

EMBLEM XL.  
Let honest truth be shield and guard,  
For hanging is the thieves reward.  
 
When as strong thieves get offices in hand,  
And care not what by wrong they scrape and pull,  
The King doth wink, and will not understand:  
But when he sees that they do once wax full,  
He is content their dealing shall be scanned,  
And their authority to disannul.  
When swelling sponge is crushed, it doth restore  
And yield the liquor it had drawn before.   

EMBLEM XLI.  
From one t' another taunts do go,  
As doth a ball tossed too and fro.  
 
The bail flies back to him that first did strike,  
In as great haste, with like great force of arm:  
So words for words, and blows for blows alike  
Men shall receive, where they bring good or harm.  
As merchats rich great wealth that scrape & pike,  
Whereby they sit at ease and lie full warm,  
Give ounce for ounce, and like for like again:  
So for one mock another still we gain.   

EMBLEM XLII.  
Simplicity is of small price.  
And e'en reputed for a vice.  
 
In Prince's courts we see it so falls out,  
The mildest persons are of least account:  
Such as be proud, are called brave men and stout,  
Whose lofty looks do other men surmount;  
They that can cog and foist with all the rour,  
Are still in prize, and do most praise amount.  
The simple man is like (as in these shapes)  
A silly Ass amongst a sort of Apes.   

EMBLEM XLIII.  
When one mean fails, then by and by,  
Another mean we ought to try.  
 
When winds do stiffly beat against the sail,  
Yet Galleys may by the main force of ore,  
So much against the spite of winds prevail,  
To come with safety to the merry shore.  
What if one mean or purpose hap to fail,  
Is that a reason we should try no more?  
This will not serve, what though? that may be good:  
Is there no way but one unto the wood?   

EMBLEM XLIIII.  
When wars and troubles most molest,  
The wicked persons prosper best.  
 
To fish for Eels, they say that have the skill,  
Best be the troubled waters and the muddy:  
So they that take delight in doing ill,  
To trouble first the state is all their study;  
Then can they best compass their wicked will,  
And get most profit when the times be bloody.  
justice in force, peaceable times and quiet  
Fits not their fishing, nor can serve their diet.   

EMBLEM XLV.  
Beware of feigned flattering shows,  
For none are worse than friendly foes.  
 
False flatterers are worse than greedy crows:  
Crows only feed on things that we reject,  
The flatterers do oft devour those,  
That are alive, when least they do suspect.  
And when they make their fairest glozing shoes,  
And seem most sound friendship to affect,  
Then suddenly, and ere a man is ware.  
He is beguiled and falleth in their snare.   

EMBLEM XLVI.  
The learned live but poor and bare,  
When fools be rich and better fare.  
 
Who gives an ass the bone, a dog the hay,  
May well be thought an unwise man I trow:  
Yet such disorder waxeth now aday,  
Men care not how their gifts they do bestow.  
Fools are set up in offices most gay,  
The wiser men come down and sit below.  
And now affection reason so doth smother,  
Men give to one what doth belong t'another.   

EMBLEM XLVII.  
The child procures his parent's ruth,  
That is not chastised in his youth.  
 
The Ape embracing of her young one hard,  
Sometimes doth kill it with her being kind.  
So many parents have their children marred,  
When with fond love and with affection blind,  
They cannot chastise them with due regard,  
That in their childhood be not well inclined.  
For when they be grown up to state of men,  
They are passed mending and correcting then.   

EMBLEM XLVIII.  
Disguised things may seem most strange,  
But nature seld is seen to change.  
 
Bacchus cannot himself so well disguise,  
By clapping on his back a lions skin,  
But that his flagon and his bowl descries,  
It is no Hercules that is within.  
So though a fool have show of being wise,  
By hoary head, or by a bearded chin:  
Yet by his talk a man may quickly know,  
Whether he be discreet indeed or no.   

EMBLEM XLIX.  
The rich men sin and fear no laws,  
When poor are punished for light cause.  
 
The Spider with her web of rare invention,  
Lies close in wait to catch the silly flies;  
But with the wasp she dares not move contention,  
Whose force the weakness of her web unties.  
So rich men now against all good intention,  
Withstand good laws, whose weight on poor men lies,  
And like the wasp that rends the web in sunder,  
They rule those laws that meaner men are under   

EMBLEM L.  
Malicious fools work most disgrace,  
When they are set in highest place.  
 
Who gives him wine a fever doth possess,  
Augmenteth more the patients present grief:  
Wine causeth heat the fever doth no less,  
Which needs must yield the sick but small relief.  
e'en so that Prince doth little skill profess,  
That sets a fool aloft in office chief,  
Whereas his malice he may best reveal,  
And do most hurt unto the common weal.   

EMBLEM LI.  
After youth in travel spent,  
Let age be with her home content.  
 
The painful Pilgrim in his later days:  
Without his leaning staff that cannot stand,  
Forsaking wife and children goes his ways,  
To seek old relics in a new found land;  
Accounting it worth most especial praise,  
To tell what journeys he hath ta'en in hand:  
When he should cut those wings if he did well,  
And like the Tortoise keep him in his shell.   

EMBLEM LII.  
With diligence we ought to wait,  
To fly the snares of false deceit.  
 
The Eagle than laments her death too late,  
When as the shaft hath pierced through her breast,  
Who was self cause of such unlucky fate,  
By means the stem with her own quill was dressed.  
Some men to ill are so predestinate,  
That though no hurt by others is professed,  
They wrong themselves by lack of taking heed,  
And are chief cause of their own evil speed.   

EMBLEM LIII.  
The lives of Princes lewdly led,  
About the world are soon spread.  
 
Each little spot appears more in the face,  
Than any blemish in the corpse beside:  
The face is plainly seen in every place,  
When clothes the carcase secretly do hide.  
By which we note, that in a Prince's grace.  
A fault seems greater and is sooner spied,  
Than in some man of base and low degree:  
As in fine cloth the brightest stains we see.   

EMBLEM liv.  
The Prince that would beware of harm,  
Must stop his ears to flatterers charm.  
 
When the wise birder meaneth to entrap  
The foolish birds within his crafty train,  
That he may get more of them at a clap,  
With pretty pipe his voice he learns to feign.  
So flatterers do not display the map  
Of all their drifts in terms and speeches plain,  
But with sweet words they cover their deceit,  
Lest princes should perceive & shun their bait.   

EMBLEM LV.  
Wit can do with little pain,  
That strength alone cannot attain.  
 
A man by force and strength cannot attain,  
That which by stayed discretion soon is won:  
He that doth pull the tail with might and main,  
For all his force hath not so quickly done,  
The other hair by hair with little pain,  
In lesser time a better thread hath spun.  
Lo here the odds between the wife man's pause,  
And hastiness of foolish furious daws.   

EMBLEM LVI.  
More die with surfeit at their board,  
Then in the wars with dust of sword.  
 
The gluttonous Rau'n devours the venomed Snake,  
Which though at first seems pleasant to his taste,  
When he doth feel his gorge with poison ache,  
He rues with death the meat he eat in haste.  
Hereby we note what heed we ought to take,  
Lest that we use excess in our repast:  
For gluttony doth more their deaths afford,  
Then mighty Mars with his two edged sword.   

EMBLEM LIII.  
The lives of Princes lewdly led,  
About the world are soon spread.  
 
Each little spot appears more in the face,  
Than any blemish in the corpse beside:  
The face is plainly seen in every place,  
When clothes the carcase secretly do hide.  
By which we note, that in a Prince's grace.  
A fault seems greater and is sooner spied,  
Than in some man of base and low degree:  
As in fine cloth the brightest stains we see.   

EMBLEM liv.  
The Prince that would beware of harm,  
Must stop his ears to flatterers charm.  
 
When the wise birder meaneth to entrap  
The foolish birds within his crafty train,  
That he may get more of them at a clap,  
With pretty pipe his voice he learns to feign.  
So flatterers do not display the map  
Of all their drifts in terms and speeches plain,  
But with sweet words they cover their deceit,  
Lest princes should perceive & shun their bait.   

EMBLEM LVII.  
He that is proudest of good hap,  
Sorrow falls soonest in his lap.  
 
jupiter, as the learned Homer writes,  
Mingleth the good and bad in such a sort,  
That men obtain not pleasures and delights,  
Without some pain to wait upon the sport.  
No man with labour wearieth so his sprights,  
But of some ease withal he may report:  
Nor no man yet hath ever been so glad,  
But he hath had a time to be as sad.   

EMBLEM LVIII  
Vain hope doth oft a man allure,  
A needless bondage to endure.  
 
Who so to bondage will himself submit,  
And yet hath liberty to live at will,  
Is like a Lion when he doth permit  
A simple man with thread to hold him still.  
Some are such fools, that while in court they sit,  
And waste their time and all their riches spill:  
Yet will they stay, although they do not need,  
And not escape when they may break the thread.   

EMBLEM LIX.  
He that to thrift his mind would frame,  
Must not delight to follow game.  
 
It is no time to sit still then at play,  
When as the house doth burn about our ears,  
Who were in flames, and would not run away,  
Were wondrous stout, or very void of fears.  
But wisdom bids us shorten long delay,  
And to prevent the cause of future tears:  
Sith if too far we suffer dangers room,  
'tis long again ere they be overcome.   

EMBLEM LX.  
A man of courage and of sprite,  
No foolish threatening can affright.  
 
Who thinks to fear the Lion with a mask,  
May prove conclusions, but prevail no whit:  
For why, his force a stouter strength doth ask,  
Ere that his courage can be quailed with it.  
So some we see do set their tongues to task,  
And with great words that run beyond their wit▪  
They think to conquer hardy men and stout,  
That of vain brags do neither dread nor doubt.   

EMBLEM LXI.  
The man whose conscience is unpure,  
In his own mind he is not sure.  
 
The wicked man whose faults are manifest,  
Seems like the Hare still full of fear and dread  
He dares not sleep nor take his quiet rest,  
For doubt before some justice to be led.  
The honest life who leads is better blest:  
He evermore secure may keep his bed,  
The while the wicked study and devise,  
Like fearful Hares to sleep with open eyes.   

EMBLEM LXII.  
Where Cupid list to play the knave,  
He makes the Ass to brag and brave.  
 
When Cupid's stroke tickles the inward veins,  
Oh what a power he hath to change the mind!  
He makes the niggard careless of his gains,  
The clown a Courtier, and the currish kind.  
Briefly, his wondrous graces where he reigns,  
In Cymon ou● of Boccas you may find;  
The little lad, his Lute can finger so,  
Would make an Ass to turn upon the toe.   

EMBLEM LXIII.  
It is a point of no small cunning,  
To catch Occasion at her coming.  
 
Behold Occasion drawn before your eyes,  
As though she still were fleeting on her ways,  
Which image so Lisippus did devise,  
With knife in hand to cut off long delays.  
Her locks before bids hold ere that she flies,  
Her wings do show she can abide no stays:  
And by her bald she tells us at the last,  
There is no hold behind when she is past.   

EMBLEM LXIIII  
The praise of beauty is but small,  
Where virtue is not joined withal.  
 
By men's proportions we can hardly guess,  
Or know precisely whether they have wit:  
For who can tell what graces they possess,  
Although their members out of order sit?  
Some heads are great, and some again be less,  
That to their bodies do not aptly fit:  
Yet not proportion nor the body's stature,  
But education setteth forth the nature.   

EMBLEM LXV.  
The fairest shape of th'outward part,  
Shows not the virtues of the heart.  
 
The stately Cypress in his outward show,  
Is strait and tall, in colour fresh and green;  
Yet on the same no wholesome fruit doth grow,  
Or that to serve for nourishment is seen.  
In such bare titles many men do flow,  
That in their lives but barren still have been:  
Who in experience well may seem to suit  
The Cypress tree that yields no wholesome fruit.   

EMBLEM LXVI.  
Anoint the Lawyer in his fist,  
And he shall plead e'en what you list.  
 
Some Lawyers wax so deaf they cannot hear,  
Or at the least they cannot understand,  
Except your money do so plain appear,  
That palpably they feel it in their hand.  
Give right or wrong, your case they say is clear;  
As you would have it, so it shall be scanned.  
When double fees do walk, and money flees,  
A man would think their hands were full of eyes.   

EMBLEM LXVII.  
Let fire or sword their choler wreak,  
A constant heart can nothing break.  
 
Like to the Stith I count the constant heart:  
The Stith endures the heavy hammers beat,  
And doth not shrink nor yield in any part▪  
Though smiths lay on & thump it till they sweat.  
e'en so should men in chances overthwart,  
When pains increase & fortune seems to threat,  
Yet in their course with constant purpose run,  
And still persist till they have honour won.   

EMBLEM LXVIII.  
When youth is in his flowering prime,  
He cares not how he pass his time.  
 
Redeem the time, time dearer is than gold,  
And time once gone can never be reclaimed,  
He need begin betimes that would grow old,  
If time be lost, our life is likewise maimed.  
Yet green young heads disdaining to be told,  
As though more privilege of years they claimed,  
Do seem to pull the weights with all their sway,  
And waste their time, and haste their dying day.   

EMBLEM LXIX.  
He that himself is void of wit,  
In a wise man despiseth it.  
 
Some say, the Camel will not stoop to drink,  
Till he hath first defiled it with his feet.  
So in our time rude people use to think,  
That perfect eloquence is most unmeet:  
In whose dull heads this reason will not sink,  
That eloquence should prove a thing so sweet;  
Such is their folly, and their sense so blind,  
They count this gift but of the basest kind.   

EMBLEM LXX.  
Greedy gaping after gain,  
Will make a man take any pain.  
 
The hope for gain, and thirst for worldly goods  
Compels a man to venture rocks and seas:  
Neither can waters deep, nor raging floods,  
cause any kind of perils to displease:  
Men scrape out goods out of the miry muds,  
For lucre's sake, all labours seem but ease:  
And to provide themselves of things they lack,  
There be will swim with burdens on their back.   

EMBLEM LXXI.  
There is nothing can be more dear,  
Than Time, if we could keep it here.  
 
The fleeting time doth quickly steal away,  
Which once let pass, returneth not again,  
Therefore 'tis good to take Time while we may,  
Lest afterward we rue our loss in vain:  
Time tarrieth none, the Proverb old doth say,  
Then use it well the while it doth remain:  
For those that lead their lives in belly-cheer,  
Do lose their time, of all things else most dear.   

EMBLEM LXXII.  
In time all things shall be revealed,  
That are most secretly concealed.  
 
Green fruits and flowers do ripen by the Sun,  
Whose rays bring forth their beauty and their smell:  
e'en so when youth with time is overrun,  
Though it were green, and though it often fell,  
Yet riper years will mend all errors done,  
And make men live more virtuously and well:  
And time doth change and alter men's behaviour,  
As by the Sun the flowers mend their savour.   

EMBLEM LXXIII.  
A traitor and a flattering friend,  
Say that they never do intend.  
 
The flatterers and traitors both be such,  
That with their words their thoughts do not agree.  
For till just trial bring them to the tuch,  
They seem in show most faithful friends to be:  
But little will they do, professing much;  
And inwardly from friendship they do flee;  
Who when their heart behind they do convey,  
They bear in hand their tongue another way.   

EMBLEM LXXIIII.  
With some light thing when thou needs must,  
Try thou thy friend before thou trust.  
 
We prove at first if that a pot will hold,  
With water, not with wine of any kind,  
To th'end the loss the less we may behold,  
If in the bottom any hole we find.  
So ere to trust a stranger ye wax bold,  
Tell him the lightest secret of your mind,  
Whereof small danger grows another day,  
If he again your secret should bewray.   

EMBLEM LXXV.  
Reason bids us have a care,  
That others harms make us beware.  
 
In Africa if Lions hanged there,  
Do terrify the rest that them behold,  
Why do not thieves and robbers likewise fear,  
That still commit most wicked acts for gold?  
And Magistrates that such great office bear,  
By like examples fear to be too bold:  
For they may know, except they do amend,  
By such lewd living they may have like end.   

EMBLEM LXXVI.  
We purchase nothing by our play,  
But beggary and our decay.  
 
They that do use to hazard much at play.  
And venture all their substance at a cast,  
Do often fall into so great decay,  
That they become mere beggars at the last:  
And then on others they are fain to pray,  
Or live of spoil, and others goods to waist;  
When as their own before with better thrift,  
Would well have served their turn at every shift.   

EMBLEM LXXVII.  
All those that love do fancy most,  
But lose their labour and their cost.  
 
Fond love is chiefly likened to a siue,  
In which the more you pour the water in,  
The more is spilled, by letting thorough drive,  
And you no near then when you first begin.  
e'en so for love when young men frankly give,  
Till oft they leave themselves not worth a pin:  
When all is spent, and they live by the loss,  
They turn again at last by weeping cross.   

EMBLEM LXXVIII.  
A woman is of such a kind,  
That nothing can content her mind.  
 
Who so a ship would undertake to store,  
And furnish her with all that she doth lack:  
He needs to have his purse well lined before,  
And shall find work enough to hold him tack.  
Yet women are as chargeable, or more,  
Who still are wanting one or other knack:  
So that who would be troubled all his life,  
May boast be troubled with a ship or wife.   

EMBLEM LXXIX.  
A thousand dangers daily grow,  
Of foolish Love, as lovers know.  
 
Alas that men should follow Venus trace,  
And take delight to play on Cupid's bits,  
Who casteth down from high estate to base,  
And makes men counted wise, to lose their wits.  
None but unhappy wretches void of grace,  
Do ever fall into such frantic fits:  
Upon repentance fire he puts the Still  
And blows the coals, where nought but tears distill.   

EMBLEM LXXX.  
The fruit of love is very strange,  
It hath so many kinds of change.  
 
The fruits of Love are divers in effect,  
Some good, some bad, some withered, some are, green,  
Some sweet, some sour, some wholesome, some infect,  
And some are secret, some are plainly seen:  
Now in regard; to morrow quite reject:  
Oft in prosperity; and then in teen:  
They change as often, and do alter soon,  
e'en as unconstant as we see the Moon.   

EMBLEM LXXXI.  
In all his stocks blind Love doth set  
The graffs of grief, our hearts to fret.  
 
If any man a perfect Gardiner lacks.  
Here shall he find one of no common skill,  
For sundry graffs, for knots and pretty knacks,  
He never will be idle by his will.  
What ever he doth set or sow, will wax,  
And all your stocks with some plants he will fill:  
But with the rest he graffeth always chief,  
The choking pear of anguish and of grief.   

EMBLEM LXXXII.  
Ungrateful men breed great offence,  
As persons void of wit or sense.  
 
The Oak doth suffer the young Ivy wind  
Up by his sides, till it be got on high:  
But being got aloft, it so doth bind,  
It kills the stock that it was raised by.  
So some prove so unthankful and unkind  
To those on whom they chiefly do rely,  
By whom they first were called to their state,  
They be the first (I say) give them the mate.   

EMBLEM LXXXIII.  
It is a point of great foresight,  
Into ourselves to look aright.  
 
We read how in Phoenicia long ago,  
The people raised this figure upon high,  
Whereas the same might make the fairest show,  
And men observe what it did signify.  
The Serpent in a circle painted so,  
Thus much doth teach to understand thereby,  
That in the world there is no greater art,  
Then man to know himself in every part.   

EMBLEM LXXXIIII.  
On others some presume to pray,  
And fall themselves into decay.  
 
The Falcon sometime greedy of her prey,  
Finds her own foot fast tie unto the tree:  
So are there some lay wait on others way,  
That are themselves the first that harmed be.  
Who digs a pit for other men's decay,  
May fall therein himself we often see,  
And feel the plagues in his own person then,  
Which he ordained to punish other men.   

EMBLEM LXXXV.  
Who labours that to bring to pass,  
That cannot be, is but an ass.  
 
The cannon charged with less than doth behove,  
The heavy bullet far off cannot throw▪  
And none hath seen the weighty windmill move  
If one but with a pair of bellows blow.  
This shows we should in every action prove  
With due proportion how each thing should go▪  
As wise men never will attempt the thing,  
That first they know to pass they cannot bring.   

EMBLEM LXXXVI.  
The Prelate's life should shine as clear,  
As lamp on mountain doth appear.  
 
The Prelate's virtues ought to shine so bright,  
As doth a lamp set on a mountain high,  
From whose good deeds should issue such a light  
That other men might see and walk thereby.  
Through his example when it is not right,  
The silly people oft do walk awry;  
And then the Lord whose vengeance none withstands  
The blood of those requireth at his hands.   

EMBLEM LXXXVII.  
In every thing advise you first:  
Take the best, and leave the worst.  
 
In Poet's pamphlets fables fond we find,  
Yet in those fables wisdom they invent;  
The moral still hath sense of other kind,  
How ere the verse do colour their intent:  
But to the letter who himself doth bind,  
May miss the matter that therein is meant:  
As under leaves that hang on crooked vines,  
Lie hid sweet grapes that make the costly wines.   

EMBLEM LXXXVIII.  
No surety in a woman's mind,  
Her fancy changeth with the wind.  
 
A woman's constancy is even as sure,  
As if one held an Eel fast by the rail,  
Her faith nor love do never long endure,  
But fleet away as Sun doth melt the hail:  
As many authors, Greek and Latin pure,  
Have left in writing for out more avail,  
That women's words men's cares do so delight,  
They make them oft believe the crow is white.   

EMBLEM LXXXIX.  
No shade of envy can obscure,  
The light of virtue shining pure.  
 
When as the Sun stands just above the head,  
The body shows but short and slender shade;  
e'en so when virtue her bright beams doth spread  
The smoke of envy soon away doth fade.  
Virtue doth make men live when they be dead,  
Though envy brag, & though she draw her blade,  
In spite thereof yet virtuous men shall gain  
Honour and praise, for ever to remain.   

EMBLEM XC.  
A word once spoken though in vain,  
It cannot be recalled again.  
 
It is too late to catch the bird again,  
That once hath bid her keeper's hand adieu:  
So when a man le's slip a word in vain,  
His speech once past is not recalled anew;  
For words will fly from mouth to mouth amain  
Whereof great quarrels oftentimes ensue.  
Therefore be wise, and in your speech prevent,  
To speak such words as you may chance repent.   

EMBLEM XCI.  
None wax more proud we lightly see,  
Then beggars raised to high degree.  
 
Bucephalus was then in chiefest pride▪  
When he had felt rich armour on his back,  
And only Alexander him might ride,  
When no man else could hold him any tack.  
Hereby we note a ahing that oft is tried,  
How such as are but base and in great lack,  
When to new honour by good hap they grow,  
Their old acquaintance they disdain to know.   

EMBLEM XC.  
Love and fear are chiefest things,  
That establish Sceptres unto kings.  
 
A Prince that would his fame should still increase,  
And honour to resound in every place,  
He shall assure his Sceptre with more ease,  
If that his subjects love and fear his face.  
A Dog and Hare two enemies to peace,  
One loves, the other feareth in like case:  
Yet better peace to Princes never springs,  
Then when like Dogs and Hares men serve their kings.   

EMBLEM XCIII.  
He that would load a happy life,  
For virtue let him choose his wife.  
 
Some do not care how nor with whom they link,  
If fading beauty please their wanton eye:  
Others so they be fingering of the chink,  
Care not how soon their hand be in the pie;  
But a wise man doth warily forethink,  
That both those courses run too far awry:  
That this nor that, is neither here nor there,  
The chiefest choice is choosing by the ear.   

EMBLEM XCIIII.  
No kind of friend will longer stay,  
When riches once are gone away.  
 
The lice do shun the place where they were bred  
When life to leave the carcase they do find:  
So when men's fortune fails and waxeth dead,  
And when their wealth and riches do unwind,  
We see the flatterers away are fled,  
From those to whom the same were erst inclined.  
This shows that in adversity and need,  
'tis hard to find a trusty friend indeed.   

EMBLEM XCV.  
When thou for aid to God dost pray,  
To help thyself thou must assay.  
 
When thou shalt travel on the tedious way,  
And see thy Ass fall laden in the mire,  
First for the help of God prepare to pray,  
That succours all that do his help require;  
But in the mean time cease not to assay,  
With thy own hands to draw him from the mire.  
For he that would the help of God attain,  
To help himself must take a little pain.   

EMBLEM XCVI.  
A wanton woman and a light,  
Will not be tamed by art nor might.  
 
With greater ease the Dolphin is restrained,  
Then wanton women bridled of their will,  
Who from their purpose cannot be constrained.  
They are so full of craft and subtle skill:  
Well may they boast what guerdom they have gained,  
That can subject their wives unto their will;  
For oft the air of a woman's smock,  
Withstands alone the bonds of chaste wedlock.   

EMBLEM XCVII.  
Constancy hath most renown,  
When crosses most do beat us down.  
 
The more that Saffron trodden is with feet,  
The more it still doth flourish on the ground:  
So when with troubles virtuous minds do meet,  
The more oppressed, the stronger they be found.  
Where virtue is, there may we plainest see't,  
In those whom cares & woes do compass round:  
And when adversity doth most assail,  
By striving then aloft to bear their sail.   

EMBLEM XCVIII.  
Who so to study doth incline,  
The hardest wit it shall refine.  
 
Though children's wit be not so ripe and quick,  
As unto others nature doth impart,  
Pain will help out where nature seems to stick,  
And they great masters made of many an art;  
e'en as the Bear doth into fashion lick,  
The lump she laid without proportioned part;  
For man is made again by reasons help,  
As is new moulded the misshapen whelp.   

EMBLEM XCIX.  
When some think most themselves in peace,  
Their dangers oft do most increase.  
 
When Hercles had ordained to take his rest,  
And from his former labours him withdrew,  
Hydra that monstrous seven-headed beast  
Against him came, his troubles to renew.  
Even so when virtue hath her hire possessed,  
And once attained unto honour due,  
Some chance or other by fowl envy grows,  
And still new troubles and new travels sows.   

EMBLEM C.  
The hand that idleness detests,  
Doth hoard the money in the chests.  
 
Behold how Diligence as she were wroth,  
Sits in her chariot with a scourge in hand,  
And whippeth Idleness now for her sloth,  
That of her need before time had not scanned:  
The little Ants take pains and draw them both,  
Which gives us this thereby to understand,  
That lest we labour with the little Ant,  
We still are like to live in woe and want.