CELESTIAL ELEGIES of the Goddesses and the Muses, dedeploring the death of the right honourable and virtuous Lady the Lady FRANCES Countess of Hertford, late wife unto the r●ght honourable EDWARD SEYMOR Viscount Beauchamp and Earl of Hertford.  
WHEREUNTO ARE ANNEXED some funeral verses touching the death of MATHEW EWENS Esquire, late one of the Barons of her majesties Court of Exchequer, unto whom the author hereof was allied.  Propertius Eleg. 5. Lib. 3. 
Haud ullas portabis opes Acherontis ad undas  
Nudus ad infernas stulte vehere rates.  Hor. Lib. 1. Ep. ad Quint Mors ultima linea rerum est. 
By Thomas Roger's Esquire.  
Imprinted at London by Richard Bradocke, for I. B. and are to be sold at her shop in Paul's Churchyard at the sign of the Bible. 1598.   

❧ To the Right Honourable his singular good Lord▪ the Lord Edward Seymor viscount Beauchampe Earl of Hertford.  
BEhold (Right Honourable) in this Theatre of mortality a Tragedy, with a solemn funeral, at which the Goddesses are chief mourners, and the Muse's attendants, wherein death plays the Tyrannical King or the kingly Tyrant, your de are Lady and wife the subject of his fury, which in a dumb show is here presented by me: whereof I desire your Lordship to be a spectator and a judge: If I have wittily played the fools part in contriving the matter (I think I have played the wisest part:) And then I hope I shall have your Lordship's applause. And that is all I expect.  
Your Lordships ever at command. T. R.   

Celestial Eligies for the late death of the right Honourable▪ the Lady Frances. Countess of Hertforde.  

QVATORZAIN. 1 Berecynthia.  

Drawn in my Royal chariot, crowned with To was,  
Through all the kingdoms of the centred earth  
With a great Train of the celestial Powers  
That from my womb took their immortal birth,  
Descend I as chief mourner from the sky,  
To solemnize this Countess funeral,  
And crown her fame with immortality,  
Although her body now to death be thrall:  
My daughter Cynthia whilom loved her dear,  
Noble she was by virtue, birth, and match,  
Matched with a Pear, yet matchless without Pear,  
For Peerless she, did others over match,  
Wherefore the Fates grown envious of her praise  
For virtues sàke, ab idged her earthly days.    

QVATORZAIN. 2. juno.  

I that am both Ioues sister and his wife,  
The Queen of heaven, whom Gods & men adore  
Hearing the fame of this brave Lady's life,  
In mournful habit now her death deplore:  
She hath put of all earthly ornaments  
And clothed her soul in glories spotless rob,  
She hath exchanged these mixed Elements,  
For that pure Quintessence, the heavenly globe,  
Lo how her sprite enfranchised from thrall,  
Of sinful flesh, ascends the Crystal sky,  
Scorning to dwell long in this earthly vale,  
Where all men rise to fall, and live to die:  
Therefore she soared above a human pitch,  
And with her virtues doth my Realm enrich.    

QVATORZAIN. 3. Pallas.  

THe pomp of this vain world she did despise,  
Weighing the slippery state of earthly things,  
Therefore above the Spheres of heaven she flies,  
To sing and joy before the King of Kings:  
Her virtues that did militate on earth,  
Against the flesh, the devil, sin and hell,  
Now triumph in the heavens, and conquer death▪  
And in Ioues holy monarchy do dwell.  
I rue the loss of true Nobility  
Whilom invested in her noble breast,  
Wisdom with honour linked in amity,  
Were both in her, and she in death suppressed:  
How can I choose but wail for her decease,  
Sith by her death my kingdom doth decrease.    

QVATORZAIN. 4▪ Diana.  

AY me; my vestal flame is now extinct,  
My flower of Chastity doth fade away  
In Lethe's floods true nobleness doth sink,  
My Empire runs to ruinous decay;  
Pity, Almsdeeds and charity is fled,  
Fidelity beyond the seas is gone,  
True friendship now and faithful love is dead,  
And Priapus usurpeth Cupid's throne:  
She that did seek my kingdom to maintain,  
By sanctity, religion, faith, and zeal,  
Through envy of the Destinies is slain,  
Death robs th'exchequer of my common weal,  
For all those rites which I was wont to have▪  
Are fled to heaven or buried in her grave.    

QVATORZAIN. 5. Venus.  

IF that I am a star, I'll lose my light,  
And fall from Heaven, upon the earth to morn,  
Because her life's fair day is turned to night,  
My joy to grief, my love to hare shall turn.  
If that I am a Goddess▪ as men say,  
Whom lovers term Celestial and d●●●ine,  
With humane tears I'll wash my joys away,  
And on the earth no more by daytime shine:  
If I be beauty's Sovereign, and loves Queen,  
I'll put a mask of clouds before my face,  
Hating to love, loving to live unseen,  
I will obscure myself in some dark place:  
And if I be a Planet, while I reign,  
I'll frown on th'earth where my delight is slain.    

QVATORZAIN. 6. Thetis.  

FRom th'unknown kingdom of th' Antipodes,  
And from the forth est bonds of th'Ocean main,  
Attended with troops of Nereids,  
And charming Sirens, that support my train:  
Moved with the gentle murmur of the streams,  
That seeme● 〈◊〉 human miseries to weep,  
I that do kiss the suns transplendent beams,  
When he in Neptune's bosom falls a sleep;  
Come to this famous land in waves of woe,  
Like to a Queen in mourning weeds arrayed,  
Crowned with cares, because man's mortal foe,  
The Tyrant death, his tragic part hath played;  
Sea more laments than all the world beside,  
His true loves loss that late in England died.    

QVATORZAIN. 7 Ceres.  

MY wealth decay for want of Summer's heat,  
Summer's heat fades, because the Sun is fled,  
The Sun is fled, because his grief is great,  
His grief is great, because his joy is dead,  
His joy is dead, since his dear lady died,  
And since his lady died he ever mourned,  
He ever mourned, for loss of Nature's pride,  
For Nature's pride, is now to ashes turned,  
To ashes turned, that was a Phoenix rare,  
A Phoenix rare, of whom no other bred,  
No other bred, that breeds the more my care,  
The more my care, sith all in her is dead:  
O Heavens, why do you bring this land such dearth,  
As for to take a Phoenix from the earth.    

QVATORZAIN. 8. Fortuna.  

I that do turn the rolling wheel of chance,  
The blind light Goddess of unconstancy,  
That sometime did the Roman Peers advance,  
To sway the world's imperial Monarchy:  
I that do kings enthrone, anoint, and crown,  
And oft depose them from the Royal seat,  
I that on mighty Bajazeth did frown,  
And made the base-born Tamb●●laine so great:  
Lament that death hath got the victory,  
While I am feign to fly away for fear,  
For where death rains, there ends my sovereignty,  
He casts down Trophies which I did uprear,  
This Lady whom I raised to high degree,  
Died not by chance but fatal destiny▪    

QVATORZAIN. 9 Nemesis.  

REdhote with rage whose heart with grief doth bleed,  
I come from jove fell Atropos to chide,  
That cut too soon this Countess vital thread,  
Where with her soul and body were fast tied:  
While wicked men long live in joy and pleasure,  
She lived long time in sickness and in pain,  
Who still accounted virtue her chief treasure,  
And loss of worldly wealth heavens richest gain:  
Wherefore she fled to heaven, from whence I came,  
And with revenge to scourge men's insolence,  
And those same ruthless destinies to tame,  
That by this Lady's death Ioues wrath incense,  
Who let the wicked long time live in pride,  
While she that best deserved, soon died.    

QVATORZAIN▪ 10. Bellona.  

THough I am fearful Goddess of dread war,  
That hate to live Idly at home in peace,  
With human cries alured I come from far,  
In streams of blood to rue this dames decease,  
This Lady was a Howard and did springe,  
Out of the ancient Duke of Norfolk's race,  
Whose offspring did subdue the Scots stout king,  
And from the field rebellious foes did chase,  
Her brother still rests loyal to the Crown,  
And Sceptre which fair Cynthia now doth wield,  
By Seas he hath obtained his high renown,  
The other by his conquest in the field,  
Wherefore I vow by land and Sea to raise,  
Eternal triumphs to the Howards praise.    

QVATORZAIN. 11 Flora.  

CRowned with wreaths of Odoriferous flowers,  
Whose scent perfumes the Empire of the Air,  
Among the rest of the immortal powers,  
Unto the land of Albion I repair.  
Where I with garlands will her Tomb adorn,  
And make death proud with ceremonious rites,  
That for this Lady's sake I do not scorn,  
To deck her Grave, with th' earth's fair flowers delights;  
For sith the world was sweetened by her breath,  
That breathed rare virtues forth, as then alive,  
I'll beautify her Sepulchre, since death  
Of her sweet soul her body did deprive,  
For this brave dame was a sweet springing flower,  
Bedewde with heavenly grace till her last hour.    

QVATORZAIN▪ 12. Proserpina.  

FRom the black kingdom of infernal Dis,  
All circumscribed with Characters of woe,  
And from the dungen of the dark abyss,  
Wherein the Ocean Seas of troubles flow,  
Idoe ascend upon this worldly stage,  
In this sad Tragedy to act a part,  
Sith she that was a light to that last age,  
Is now confounded by deaths fatal dart;  
The cruel destinies were much to blame,  
To cut her three the of life ere thoroughly spun,  
Her life burnt out like to a Tapers flame,  
And thus the howrglasse of my joys is run:  
Wherefore the Feral sisters shall repent  
Her body's death, and fair soul's banishment.    

QVATORZAIN. 13. Aurora.  

I now shall blush to kiss the Suns fair face,  
Or bid bon jour unto this hemisphere,  
I rather will lament in doleful case,  
The loss of her whom I did love so dear,  
I am the Muses ever constant friend,  
And sith she was their Matron while she lived▪  
I will bewail for her untimely end,  
By whom the sacred Sisters were relieved:  
I muse what Muse there is that will not weep  
When I shall tell this lamentable story,  
That she is dead and now in dust doth sleep,  
Although her soul is crowned with lasting glory:  
I think the world willbe dissolved to tears,  
When this said tale shall penetrate men's ears.    

QVATORZAIN▪ 14. Nox.  

Attired in black spangled with flames of fire,  
Embroidered with stars in silent night,  
While Phoebus doth the lower world inspire,  
with his bright beams & comfort breathing sprite,  
I come in clouds of grief with pensive soul,  
Sending forth vapours of black discontent,  
To fill the concave Circle of the Pole,  
And with my tears bedeawe each continent:  
Because that she that made my night seem day,  
By her pure virtues ever shining lamps,  
Now makes my night more black by her decay,  
wandering with Ghosts in the Elysian Camps:  
Wherefore I still will were a mourning vail.  
For she is dead and human flesh is frail.    

QVATORZAIN. 15. Gratiae.  

Adieu fair Venus Lady of delight,  
Welcome pale horror grief and discontent,  
Come let us wander to the vail of night,  
And for this Lady's death fighe and lament,  
Our hopes late dead engender living fears,  
Our griefs awake do bring our joys asleep,  
Now we from Thetis streams will borrow tears,  
And teach the rocks by Netleys' shores to weep,  
Our fair complexion is with sorrow changed,  
We have been fellow Mates with beauty's Queen▪  
But from ourselves we now are so estranged,  
We are but shadows of what we have been,  
And thus in vain we daily do deplore,  
For loss of life which we cannot restore.    

QVATORZAIN▪ 17. Horaae.  

WE that are called times golden winged Hours:  
And are the Porters of heavens Crystal gate▪  
Come from the Palace of Celestial powers,  
This Countess death with pomp to celebrate;  
By shutting up heavens gate we send down rain,  
Darking the triple region of the Air,  
And when we list opening the door again,  
Dry the moist clouds & make the weather fair,  
Weep now O clouds upon the grassy earth,  
With often drops fret through the hardest stones,  
While we in sorrow for this Lady's death,  
Fly back again to the Celestial thrones:  
And locking fast the great port of the Sky,  
Send down more showers for her mortality.    

QVATORZAIN▪ 18. Pandora.  

I bring a box wherein all woes are closed,  
Mingled with tears distilled from sacred eyes,  
And not so much as hope for me reposed  
Is left behind but quite away it flies.  
The graces where with all the Gods endue me,  
Are gone from me and to Ioues throne resort,  
The blessings which until this day pursued me,  
Forsake me now and I stand all amort.  
Like Niobe that ever till death still mourn'de,  
For her dear children's loss whom Phoebus slew,  
And to a senseless stone at last was turned,  
That in her life did most extremely rue:  
And thus transformed I will become a Tomb.  
T'enclose her virtues in my dying womb.    

QVATORZAIN. 18. Pales Dea pastorum.  

IF kingdoms wail shall not the Cottage weep?  
If the Court grieve shall not the Country groan?  
If they do morn that do strong Lions keep?  
Shall not I, that keep tender sheep, bemoan?  
If fair Elisa monarch of this isle,  
This Lady's loss doth graciously lament,  
It ill becomes a country swain to smile,  
Or me that am the Shepherds presidente:  
O thou rare Queen that makest the female gender,  
By much, more worthy than the Masculine,  
To thee all praise and glory I surrender,  
Whom I esteem as sacred and divine;  
Had not thy life given shepherds sweet relief,  
I should have well nigh perished with grief.    

QVATORZAIN▪ 19 Feronia.  

EVen in this sad and melancholy mood,  
With Sylvan Nymphs which on me daily tend  
Mated with sorrow come I from the wood,  
And to fair Cynthia's kingdom now I wend,  
Where the immortal Goddesses arrived,  
At Troynovant, by which Thames waves do glide,  
Where late a Lady of great honour lived,  
But greater virtue, that untimely died:  
Thither go I among the rest to mourn,  
And offer up my tears upon her shrine,  
My lofty trees I will cut down and burn,  
In witness of her death for which I pine:  
And as my trees consume away with flame  
So doth my heart with grief, and joy with shame.    

QVATORZAIN. 15. Libitina.  

IN dreary accents of a doleful verse,  
I'll speak her praise though I have long been dumb,  
In sable weeds i'll deck her dismal hearse,  
And sacrifice my tears upon her tomb;  
With golden Statues shall her tomb be guilt,  
Like King Mausolus' stately monument,  
Which his dear wife the Queen of Caria built  
To be the worlds eternal wonderment,  
Or else I will her senseless corpse inter,  
In some fair grave like the Pyramids,  
And will embalm her body with sweet Myrrh  
With Cassia, Ambergris and Aloes  
That th' Air perfumed therewith shall sweetly smell,  
While heavenly powers shall ring her woeful knel.     

Annotations upon the Celestial Elegies of the Goddesses  
BErecinthia alias Rhea Cybele Ops Vesta, Tellus, etc. as Hesiodus saith was the daughter of Coelum and Terra the wife of Saturn commonly called the mother of the gods & goddesses of the earth; whom Poets feign to be drawn by four Lions in a chariot with a crown of Towers on her head and a royal sceptre in her hand, she is also reputed the founder of Cities and Towers for defence.  
juno called Pronuba and of some Lucina the daughter of Saturn and Ops, wife and sister of jupiter, Queen of heaven, and goddess of riches, impelled with the celestial diadem, drawn in her chariot by Peacocks, she is accounted to predominate marriages, and the birth of children.  
Pallas otherwise called Minerva as Hesiodus affirmeth is the daughter of Neptune and Triton, poetically also feigned to be engendered of the brain of jupiter: She is the Goddess of wisdom, learning, and the liberal sciences, She is the sister of Mars and is said to be the Goddess of wars and martial stratagems, and for that is often called Bellona.  
Cynthia called also Diana and Phoebe the daughter of jupiter and Latona the sister of Phoebus she is the Goddess of hunting and fishing, who addicting herself wholly to virginity obtained of jupiter therefore to live in the woods. Virgil▪ Lib. 11. Alme tibi hāe nemorum cultrix Latonia virgo.  
Venus' termed also Cytherea poetically feigned to be bred of the froth of the Sea, excelled all other Goddesses in beauty, she is the Goddess of love, pleasures and lascivious delights, she rideth in a chariot drawn by doves, she is the mother of Cupid and is accounted one of the seven planets  
Thetis called also Amphitrite the wife of Peleus' King of Thessaly, daughter of Nereus and mother of Achilles was esteemed Goddess of the Sea: of Nereus all the Nymphs were called Nereids.  
Ceres' the daughter of Saturn and Ops sister of Iu●iter & Pluto, is the Goddess of Corn drawn in her chariot by dragons, crowned with she aves of wheat ●he wandered about the world to find her daughter Proserpina whom Pluto stole a way, she first taught ●he use of the plough and to till the land.  
Aurora the morning, the daughter of Hyperion ●nd Thia in the judgement of Hesiodus, or as others ●ay of Titan and Terra whom for her fair vermilion ●olour Homer feigneth to have fingers of damask ●oses, and to be drawn by bright bay horses in a golden chariot, she is said by Orpheus not only to be 〈◊〉 most comforrable Lady to men, but also to beasts ●nd plants and is a great friend to the Muses.  
Nox the night, bred of Chaos as Poets feign whom they call the most ancient mother of all creatures, because there was no light but darkness before the Sun and the heavens were made. And she possessed all places before the birth of the gods, she is clothed in black raiment, with a sable veil upon her head, transported by black horses in her eben chariot, she came from Erebus and the infernals obscuring this hemisphere when the Sun 〈◊〉 gone to the Antipodes.  
Flora called also Chloris the wife of Zephyrus is deemed the goddess of Flowers:  
Bellona the goddess of war called also Pallas▪ which to express both the valour and the wisdom of the honourable race of the Howards I have twice expressed in several sonnets, whom Virgil nameth the precedent of war.  Armipotens belli praeses Tritonia Pallas 
Fortuna as some suppose was the daughter of Oceanus, albeit Hesiodus writing of the original birth of the Gods, makes no mention of her, yet she is vainly reckoned among the number of the Gods as Juvenal witnesseth.  

Nullum numen abest si sit prudentia, sed te  
Nos facimus Fortuna deam Caeloque locamus.   
She is the Goddess of chance and inconstancy she is said to be blind and to be rolled about upon a wheel as Tibullus in 1. Elegiarum. Versatur celeri for'rs levis orb rota.  
Proserpina called also Persephone and of some Hecate is the daughter of jupiter and Ceres, the wife of Pluto Queen of Hell, she hath sovereign power of dead bodies.  
Nemesis the daughter of Oceanus and Nox may be called the Goddess of revenge, who was sent from jupiter to suppress the pride and insolence of such as are to much puffed up with arrogancy for the fruitiô of worldly felicity▪ and therefore Aristotle Li▪ de mundo, affirmeth Nemesis to be the divine power and justice of God to punish malefactors for their heinous crimes, and to distribute to every one according to his demerits.  
Libitina is the Goddess of Funerals.  
The Graces called Gratiae or Charites the Grace's daughters of jupiter and Eurynome whose names are Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia, they were beautiful and the companions of Venus.  
Horae the hours, daughters of jupiter and Themis, are by Homer and other Poets said to keep the gates of heaven, and by opening of them to make fair weather, and by shutting them to make foul weather, they favour learning and associate Venus and the Graces: They are imagined to have soft feet and to be most slow of all the Goddesses, and still to work some new matter, they moderate and divide the succession of times.  
Pandora, a Lady embellished with all fair ornaments of body and mind on whom every one of the Gods bestowed a several gift of grace, was sent by jove to Prometheus with all evils enclosed, fast in a box or little coffer, which gift being refused by Prometheus was by her brought to Epimetheus, who opening the cover of the box, perceiving all those evils to fly out suddenly shut the same, reserving only hope in the bottom thereof reposed which he kept fast: which hope you must imagine now that Pandora hath lost in the carriage by reason of this most noble Countess death.  
Niobe the daughter of Tantalus waxing insolent beyond measure for the beauty and goodly proportion of her children, insomuch that she compared or rather preferred herself in opinion of glory before Latona and her sacred offspring was therefore by the decree of the Gods metamorphosed into a stone, and so became her own body's sepulchre; and her children were slain by Phoebus and Diana with arrows as Poets feign.  
Pales is the Goddess of Shepherds in honour of whose deity Shepherds did celebrate certain games called Palilia▪  
Feronia the Goddess of woods or groves whose temple (as Strabo writeth) was famous in the City Soractes, and she with great devotion was there worshipped, of whom there is no mention made touching her birth or education, notwithstanding she is reckoned sovereign of the woods as Virgil writeth.  Et viridi gaudens Feronia luco.  


QVATORZIAN. 1 Clio.  

GReat princes acts I use to royalize,  
And from the Stygian stouds their fame to save,  
And in the Crystal mirror of the skies,  
With wits fair Diamond I their praise engrave▪  
By me Alemenus son is made divine,  
And fair Calisto turned to a Bear  
Now in the Starry firmament doth shine,  
And with her light adorns this hemisphere▪  
And I will raise to heaven this noble dame,  
Above the purest Element of fire,  
And so in Stars characterize her fame,  
That time shall not her glory's date expire,  
And yet my heart in pity takes remorse,  
For her dear soul and bodies late divorce.    

QVATORZIAN. 2 Melpomene.  

KNowing her life what shall I sound her praise?  
Or musing of her death fall in a sound?  
Shall I record her fame in my sweet lays?  
Or by my sorrow make her death renowned?  
I know not what to do, I am amazed,  
I wander in a Labyrinth of woes,  
Her praise already through the world is blazed,  
And now her death with grief I must disclose;  
Wherefore I register her death with tears,  
Which do turn black with sorrow in the fall,  
Wring my hands renting my golden hears,  
And with these relics grace her funeral,  
Exclaiming thus with everlasting cries,  
Virtue grows sick, shame lives, true honour dies.    

QVATORZAIN. 3 Thalia.  

I That in Prince's Palaces was bred,  
And did delight in every comic sport,  
Whose dainty feet on carpets used to tread,  
And dance the measures stately in the court,  
Will turn my mirthful songs to doleful cries,  
And fill with tears the Heliconian brook,  
My lovely cheeks besmeared with weeping eyes,  
Like fleshless deaths Anatomy I look,  
For she that brought new revels out of France,  
When she returned to her native soil,  
Who sought my glory chief to advance,  
Hath now by death received a fatal foil,  
Thus by her loss I am compelled to rue  
That she to soon hath bid the world adieu▪    

QVATORZAIN. 4 Euterpe.  

COme sisters let us sing sad roundelays,  
And strew green Cypress boughs upon her Tomb  
Crowning her image with immortal bays,  
Oh sacred of spring of Latona's womb,  
Play on thy seaven-strunge harp and sadly warble,  
The wailful murmur of celestial spheres,  
And while thou dost engrave her fame in marble,  
I'll dig her grave with showers of sacred tears;  
My pipe shall make the stones to weep for pit,  
As great Amphion's Lyre did make them dance,  
To build again the ruins of that City,  
Which did maintain the Grecian puissance,  
And yet not Thebes but Troynovant shall mourn  
For her whose flesh to Elements did turn.    

QVATORZAIN. 5 Terpsichore.  

WHat doleful Diapason shall I make,  
What mournful songs of sorrow shall I sing  
What comfort in sweet Music can I take,  
Sith death hath broke this Ladies vital string:  
My sacred Lyre that did resound of yore,  
Celestial harmony, like Phoebus' Lute,  
Such joyful accents now shall sound no more,  
For inward sorrow makes our consort mute;  
Sith death hath broke that string that did unite  
In mutual love her body and her soul,  
My dulcimers shall make no more delight  
And I will live in everlasting dole  
For how can Music solace humane ears,  
When strings are broke & hearts are drowned in tears    

QVATORZAIN. 6. Erato.  

YE that like julius Caesar seek to measure,  
The spacious climates of the centred round,  
To fish for kingdoms and to purchase treasure,  
Oppose your lives to every fatal wound:  
Behold even in the map of my sad face,  
A true cosmography of human woes,  
For since foul death his Trophies hear did place,  
In quiet rest I never could repose,  
Unto th'antarctic Pole what need ye sail,  
At home in safety better may ye sleep,  
Consider by her death your flesh is frail,  
Sat down by me upon these rocks and weep,  
For Albion now more sorrows doth contain,  
Then there is wealth in all the Ocean main.    

QVATORZAIN. 7 Calliope.  

WEre it nor that Eliza did revive,  
My drooping spirits that are like to perish,  
If that world's mirror only she alive,  
Did not with bounty still my Poems cherish,  
I should go languish in some obscure cave,  
Or with rude satires, & wood-nymphs should dwell  
Learning should lie in base Oblivions grave,  
And flow no more from Aganippe well:  
But since this Lady's soul is vanished,  
Out of this world (her corpse to death enthralled)  
She to a star is metamorphosed  
And with the golden Twins in heaven installed  
Or like the Pleyades enthroned on high  
She may be termed a Phoenix in the sky.    

QVATORZAIN. 8. Urania.  

I Saw no fearful comet in the Sky,  
Nor fiery Meteors lately did I view,  
Whose dread aspect threatens mortality,  
And loss of some great Princes to ensue:  
Nor by Astrology did I divine,  
That death so soon this Paragon should slay,  
That she who did in grace and virtue shine,  
Above her Peers before them should decay,  
I think while all the Gods in counsel sat,  
To canonize some Saint, that late did die,  
Not being mindful of this Lady's state,  
Whose fatal hour did then approach so nigh,  
Death stole upon her with his Eben dart  
And unwares did strike her to the heart.    

QVATORZAIN. 9 Polyhymnia.  

Sigh I am termed the Muses Oratrix,  
My pen shall wright the Iliads of my grief,  
My tearful eyes upon her bear i'll fix,  
My tongue shall tell a woeful tale in brief:  
My hands shall act the passions of my mind,  
My ruthful looks bewray my pensive thought,  
I will complain the Fates are too unkind,  
Fron bade to worse the world still grows to nought:  
Wherefore I think that Plato's wondrous year,  
(When as the Orbs of Heaven shallbe revolved,  
To their first course) approacheth very near  
The bands ofth ' Elements shallbe dissolved:  
And till those days of consummation come,  
Cares make me passionate & sorrows dumb.    

The Author's Conclusion.  

NOw Goddesses and Muses give me leave,  
In this sad Tragedy to act a part,  
I have more cause for her decease to grieve,  
Though you more wit to show your sorrows smart:  
Ye for affection do extol her praise,  
And for mere pity do her death lament,  
I both for love and duty strive to raise  
Her fame above the starry firmament:  
And death for envy did abridge her days  
T'enritch his kingdom with this virtuous dame  
But I for grief that death the Tyrant plays,  
Impoverished have my wit t'enrich her fame  
While I perform these rites which are most fit,  
Death waxeth rich in spoil, I spoiled of wit.     

Annotations upon the Celestial Elegies of the Muses.  
THE nine Muses which are the precedents of Poets and first authors of Poetry Music & other sciences, are the daughters of jupiter & mnemosyne alias memoria whose names are Clio, Melpomene, Thalia, Eutepre, Terpsichore, Erato, Calliope, Urania & Polihimnia▪ Clio exerciseth her wit & skill chiefly in Histories and recording the acts & monuments of worthy persons, Melpomene in Tragedies, and lamentable Elegies, Thalia in Comedies, comely gestures, and sweet speeches▪ Euterpe in the pipe & such like instruments, Terpsichore in the Cittern or Lute, Erato in Geometry, or Chosmographie, Calliope in heroic verses, Urania in Astrology and contemplation of the stars, and Polihimnia in Rhetoric and Eloquence.   

Divine sonnets dedicated to the said Lady not long before her decease by the said Author.  

Of God's holy name, jehovah, or Tetragrammaton.  

THat name which Moses on his forehead bare,  
I in my heart do worship and adore,  
That name which jews to name did seldom dare,  
May I presume for mercy to implore?  
That name which Solomon upon his breast,  
In his divine Pentaculum did wear,  
With great jehovah Characters impressed,  
That name I love I reverence and fear:  
That name which Aron wore upon his head,  
Graved in his holy Mitre made of Gold,  
That name which Angels laud and furies dread,  
Whose praise no tongue can worthily unfold,  
That name which flesh is to impure to name,  
My sinful soul with sacred zeal inflame.    

Of the Star which the Magis did worship at Christ's Nativity, and of his death.  

I blaze that star, which was no blazing star,  
But the true figure of eternal life,  
The prince of peace was borne then ceased war,  
His births beginning ended mortal strife,  
This glorious star did lead the aged wise  
To worship th'infant's Godhead in the East,  
Which came with gladsome heart & joyful eyes,  
To see that Babe that made all Israel blest:  
O light of Heaven thou wast extinct on earth,  
Yet to our souls Celestial life doth give  
Thy death our life, thy rising our new birth  
Thou three days dead didst make us ever live,  
Yet at thy death obscured was th' earth and sky,  
Because he that was God, as man did die.    


Fountain of grace from whom doth only run,  
Water of life to save our souls from death,  
O saviour of the world, pure virgin's son,  
That in red earth infused first vital breath.  
Oh thou whose name was called Emmanuel,  
joining thy Godhead with humanity,  
Thou that for our sakes didst descend to hell,  
And over death didst get the victory:  
Oh woman's seed that didst from God proceed,  
By Prophets said to break the Serpent's head,  
Thou that in grace and virtue dost exceed,  
Content to die that thou mightest quicken dead,  
Thou that didst raise the dead men from the tomb.  
Earth's kingdoms pass, oh let thy kingdom come.    


Ancient of days, and yet still young in years,  
Oh God on earth, Oh man yet most divine,  
Poor in this world, yet chief of heavenly Peers,  
Whose glory in th'infernal pit did shine,  
Borne since old Abraham's days yet long before,  
(For Abraham rejoiced to see thy days)  
He saw by faith, whom now all powers adore,  
The Cerubins do daily sing thy praise,  
O God of times, and yet in time a man,  
Before all times thy time of being was,  
And yet in time thy humane birth began,  
Lest we should fade untimely like the grass,  
Oh thou that dost all times begin and end,  
Grant all our works may to thy glory tend.    

Of the instability of Fortune and worldly prosperity.  

WHere lives the man that never felt a cross?  
Whom Fortune's wheel did never tumble down  
Where lives the man that never suffered loss?  
On whom the stars of heaven did never frown?  
Where lives the man that is in all points blest?  
Wise, valiant, mighty, wealthy, fair and strong.  
If such a one upon the earth doth rest  
His date of life Heaven doth abridge ere long  
Such was King Edward in his youthful prime  
Who might by Phoebus' Oracle be deemed  
One of the wisest Princes of his time  
For wit and learning excellent esteemed  
But cruel death maligning his great praise  
That in few years so highly did aspire  
With iron dart infringed his golden days  
Whom nations far away did then admire  
Weedslong time grow, the fairest flowers do fade  
The ripest wits grow rotten at the last  
All these fair things which God and Nature made  
In this huge Chaos, shall at length lie waste  
Where is king Solomon the wisest wight  
Of mortal men that lived upon the ground  
Doth he not wander in the shades of night,  
Whose wisdom through the world was so renowned?  
What difference betwixt the rich and poor  
Irus with Croesus boldly may compare  
Both equal are when death stands at the door  
That maketh proudest kings like beggars bare,  
Then let the wealthy men respect their end  
Not counting themselves happy until death,  
Sith heaven to them this wealth doth only lend,  
Which they must pay with loss of vital breath  
This made that king of Lydia to cry  
When he was by king Cyrus overcome:  
O Solon now thy saying true I try  
No man is happy till his day of doom.  
That Monarch now is dead that did possess,  
The golden sands of bright Pactolus' waves,  
And Tamburlaine whom Fortune so did bless,  
That he a Shepherd made great kings his slaves,  
Dead is that mighty king of Macedon,  
That wept when of more worlds he hard some talk,  
Sith his victorious sword as then had won,  
Scarce this one world, where we like pilgrims walk  
Who being wounded fell upon one knee,  
Fight against an host of barbarous foes,  
Said I am mortal by these wounds I see,  
For no such blood from powers Celestial flows?  
In beauty Absalon did far excel,  
Most part of men that sprung of humane seed,  
But when against his Sire he did rebel,  
Then heaven did power down vengeance on his head:  
The sacred scripture truly doth express,  
That Samson did surpass all men in strength,  
But he that did thousands in fight distress,  
Was by a woman's wiles subdued at length,  
Beauty is like a fair but fading flower,  
Riches are like a bubble in a stream.  
Great strength is like a fortified Tower.  
honour is like a vain but pleasing dream,  
We see the fairest flowers soon fade away,  
Bubbles do quickly vanish like the wind,  
Strong Towers are rend, and do in time decay,  
And dreams are but iliusions of the mind,  
Let none puffed up with insolence deride.  
My Fortune's Autumn in my prime of years,  
Sith many dismal chances do betide,  
To royal princes and State-ruling peers,  
I am content with my disaster chance,  
To follow fate sith princes lead the dance,  
Ludit in Humanis divina potentia rebus.  
Et certam praesens vix habet hora fidem.     

FUNERAL LAMENTATIONS UPON THE DEATH OF his most worthy and reverend uncle Master MATHEW EWENS Esquire one of her majesties Barons of her highness Court of Exchequer.  
* ⁎ *  
PERIIT ET INVENTA EST   printer's or publisher's device 
LONDON, Printed by RICHARD BRADOCKE for I B. 1598.   
ovid. lib. 2. Fasti. 
Est honour, & tumulis animas placare paternas.  
Paruaque in extructas munera far pyras.   

Funeral lamentations upon the death M. MATHEW EWENS Esquire. etc.  


LET Numas death be still deplorde in Rome,  
Lycurgus end let famous Sparta wail,  
Let Athens weep on Aristides tomb,  
For there religion laws and justice fail,  
But let fair Cinthia's Troyveuant lament,  
This Baron's death whose flesh returns to dust,  
Whose soul is fled above the firmament,  
Who lived on earth religious, true, and just.  
Now joy O heaven t'enjoy th'earth's ornament,  
Whose heavenly part to the third heaven is fled  
His earthly part to earth doth now relent  
Both heaven and earth love him alive and dead,  
His flesh to Elements resolved doth die,  
His soul above the Element doth fly.    

QVATORZAIN. 2.  

I Know not whether I should joy or weep  
His loving soul doth triumph in the sky,  
But his dead corpsin dust a while doth sleep,  
Till heaven shall raise it from mortality,  
He lost his old life and hath gained a new  
Losing his care he gained a glorious crown,  
The world lost him, therefore the world doth rue▪  
He lost the world yet wins for aye renown,  
I lost a friend and therefore I lament,  
My friend lost me and I have lost myself  
Sith I for his loss live in discontent  
He loves heavens joys and leaves all worldly pelf,  
O England now bewail this fatal cross,  
He lost this world, we gained a world of loss.    

QVATORZAIN. 3  

HE that did seek the poor men's wrongs to right  
He that maintained his native country's laws,  
He that in truth and justice did delight  
Is now consumed by deaths devouring jaws,  
Was it by heavens high court of Parliament,  
Decreed that his life's date so soon should end,  
Oh then let us upon the earth lament  
That we have lost in him a public friend  
The joy of many in his grave now lieth,  
And he in heaven enjoys immortal bliss,  
His care is vanished and in him now dieth,  
And lives in others that his life do miss  
Thus death struck many with this fatal stroke  
And keeping natures laws, our laws he broke.    

QVATORZAIN. 4.  

LEt not the world think I do partialize,  
In that I do extol my uncles fame,  
And strive his glory to immortalize  
By these sad accents which my muse doth frame,  
But let men know that he deserves more praise,  
Then my poor muse is able to bestow,  
Though she doth crown his death with glorious bay  
And through the world the breath of fame doth blow  
Which breath by multiplying the sweet air  
May mount the sacred Throne of heavenly powers,  
And cause the winged Cherubins repair,  
To mourn his death from their celestial bowers,  
His virtues merit Homer's golden pen  
To print his praise with tears of Gods and men.    

QVATORZAIN. 5  

LEt all men judge how just a judge he was,  
That late was judged by heaven sacred doom,  
To suffer death, that when this life should pass  
He might obtain in heaven a glorious room,  
For he among the blessed saints must dwell  
Where patriarchs and the Apostles sit,  
Which shall judge the twelve Tribes of Israel  
According as to their deserts is fit  
As here on earth this judge was magnifide  
Above the vulgar sort in high degree,  
In heaven he shallbe much more glorified,  
And shall enjoy the full felicity,  
And all such judges as here judge aright,  
Shall have their place in heaven with Angels bright.    

QVATORZAIN. 6  

THe sacred word doth say thou shalt not kill  
Yet Death thou here dost kill a magistrate;  
Dost thou not then infringe Gods holy will  
Nor yet the laws of Moses violate?  
And whereas mighty kings establish laws  
Thou by thine own law mighty Kings dost slay,  
And taking thus away th'efficient cause,  
Th'effect, which is the Law must needs decay,  
Thus now thou takest away a public guide,  
That did maintain all equity and right  
Wherefore heaven shall correct thee for thy pride  
And shall subdue thy all-flesh-killing might,  
And thou that dost all creatures overcome,  
Shalt be at last destroyed by heavens just doom.    

QVATORZAIN. 7  

IF that the soul (as some supposed) might go,  
Out of one body to an others breast,  
Would that meek spirit which from him did flow,  
In every Lawyer's heart were now impressed  
His life's integrity and zeal was such▪  
He more esteemed of honesty than gold  
Which many now a days do love too much  
For love is oft with money bought and sold,  
This rightly may be termed a golden age,  
With gold is fame and reputation bought  
Yet Solomon that was most wise and sage,  
For wisdom prayed, esteeming gold as nought,  
Gold unto dross and flesh to dust must turn,  
For this man's loss let the Exchequer mourn,   

Aurea mun● verè sunt secula plurimus amor.  
Venit horos, auro conciliatur amor▪     

¶ In obitum Patrui sui colendissimi Mathei Eueni illustrissimi Baronis Scaccarij T. R. nepotis Naevia, sive carmen funebre.  

TRistia Melpomine lachrymarum fiumina fund,  
Sit cum perpetuo iunctus amore dolor▪  
Ille pater patriae pollens pietate, Patronus  
Pauperis, & Plebis, per mala fata perit,  
Spiritus ascendit splendentis culmen Olympi,  
Divitias coeli, quas cupie bat, habet.  
Non rapuit fiscus, quod non vult Christus habere.  
Non plus quam licuit conciliavit opes.  
Ille mihi Patruus charus, patriaeque patrique,  
Ergo suus deflet funera mesta nepos.  
Dectus erat, facilis natura, mente be nignus,  
Moribus humanus, denique morte pius.  
Lege Solon, gravitate Cato, sed Tullius ore,  
Nestor consilijs, & pietate Plato.  
Membra tegit tumulus, vivit post funera foelix,  
Fama viget mundo, spiritus astracolit.  
Purpureos spargam flores, opobalsama fundam,  
Et plenis manibus lilia pulchra dabo.  
His saltem exequijs & munere fungar inani,  
His animam donis accumulare velim.  
Non grates expecto tamen, nec proemia cure▪  
Non hominum laudes: hoc pietatis opus.  
Cogit amor patriae patriae lugere parentem  
Defunctum, tantò debitus urget honos.  
O decus, O patriae nuper lux, atque columna  
Natalisque soli gloria magna vale.  
O longum venerande vale, vale, inquit Euene  
Qui tuus est semper fidus amansque Nepos,  
Sic vivam & moriar semper tibi certus amicus,  
Musaque cum fatis est moritura tuis  
jurisconsultus, naturae iure peremptus  
Nunc stabit aeterni judicis ante Thronum  
Qui vivos homines divino judicet ore,  
judex istius judicis almus erit.  
Sic pia vita fuit, nunc terque quaterque beatae,  
In rutilo vivit, nobilis umbra Polo.   
FINIS.