Deigne) voutchsafe.

Cabinet) Colinet) diminutiues.

Mazie) For they be like to a maze whence it is hard to get out agayne.

Peres) felowes and companions.

Musick) that is Poetry as Terence sayth Qui artem tractant musicam, speking of Poetes. Derring doe) aforesayd.

Lions house) He imagineth simply that Cupid, which is loue, had his abode in the whote signe Leo, which is in middest of somer; a pretie allegory, whereof the meaning is, that loue in him wrought an extraordinarie heate of lust. His ray) which is Cupides beame or flames of Loue. A Comete) a blasing starre, meant of beautie, which was the cause of his whote loue.

Venus) the goddesse of beauty or pleasure. Also a signe in heauen, as it is here taken. So he meaneth that beautie, which hath alwayes aspect to Venus, was the cause of all his vnquietnes in loue.

Where I was) a fine discription of the chaunge of hys lyfe and liking; for all things nowe seemed to hym to haue altered their kindly course. Lording) Spoken after the maner of Paddocks and Frogges sitting which is indeed Lordly, not remouing nor looking once a side, vnlesse they be sturred.

Then as) The second part. That is his manhoode. Cotes) sheepecotes. For such be the exercises of shepheards.

Sale) or Salow a kind of woodde like Wyllow, fit to wreath and bynde in leapes to catch fish withall.

Phæbe fayles) The Eclipse of the Moone, which is

alwayes in Cauda or Capite Draconis, signes in heauen.

Venus) .s. Venus starre otherwise called Hesperus and Vesper and Lucifer, both because he seemeth to be one of the brightest starres, and also first ryseth and setteth last. All which skill in starres being conuenient for shepheardes to knowe as Theocritus and the rest vse.

Raging seaes) The cause of the swelling and ebbing of the sea commeth of the course of the Moone, sometime encreasing, sometime wayning and decreasing.

Sooth of byrdes) A kind of sooth saying vsed in elder tymes, which they gathered by the flying of byrds; First (as is sayd) inuented by the Thuscanes, and from them deriued to the Romanes, who (as is sayd in Liuie) were so supersticiously rooted in the same, that they agreed that euery Nobleman should put his sonne to the Thuscanes, by them to be brought vp in that knowledge.

Of herbes) That wonderous thinges be wrought by herbes, aswell appeareth by the common working of them in our bodies, as also by the wonderful enchauntments and sorceries that haue bene wrought by them; insomuch that it is sayde that Circe a famous sorceresse turned men into sondry kinds of beastes and Monsters, and onely by herbes as the Poete sayth Dea sæua potentibus herbis &c.

So now my yeere) The last part, wherein is described his age by comparison of wyntrye stormes. Carefull cold) for care is sayd to coole the blood. Glee) mirth.

Hoary frost) A metaphore of hoary heares scattred lyke to a gray frost.

Breeme) sharpe and bitter.

Adiew delights) is a conclusion of all. Where in sixe verses he comprehendeth briefly all that was touched in this booke. In the first verse his delights of youth generally. In the second, the loue of Rosalind, in the thyrd, the keeping of sheepe, which is the argument of all glogues. In the fourth his complaints. And in the last two his professed frendship and good will to his good

friend Hobbinoll.

Embleme.

The meaning wherof is that all thinges perish and come to theyr last end, but workes of learned wits and monuments of Poetry abide for euer. And therefore Horace of his Odes a work though ful indede of great wit and learning, yet of no so great weight and importaunce boldly sayth.

Exegi monimentum ære perennius,
Quod nec imber nec aquilo vorax &c.

Therefore let not be enuied, that this Poete in his Epilogue sayth he hath made a Calendar, that shall endure as long as time &c. folowing the ensample of Horace and Ouid in the like. Grande opus exegi quod nec Iouis ira nec ignis, Nec ferrum poterit nec edax abolere vetustas &c.

Loe I have made a Calender for euery yeare, That steele in strength, and time in durance shall outweare: And if I marked well the starres reuolution, It shall continewe till the worlds dissolution. To teach the ruder shepheard how to feede his And from the falsers fraud his folded flocke to sheepe, keepe

Goe lyttle Calender, thou hast a free passeporte, Goe but a lowly gate emongste the meaner sorte. Dare not to match thy pype with Tityrus hys style, Nor with the Pilgrim that the Ploughman But followe them farre off, and their high steppes playde a whyle: adore,

The better please, the worse despise, I aske nomore. Merce non mercede.

INCE my late setting foorth of the Faerie Queene, finding that it hath found a fauourable passage amongst you; I haue sithence endeuoured by all good meanes (for the better encrease and accomplishment of your delights,) to get into my handes such smale Poemes of the same Authors; as I heard were disperst abroad in sundrie hands, and not easie to bee come by, by himselfe ; some of them hauing bene diuerslie imbeziled and purloyned from him, since his departure ouer Sea. Of the which I haue by good meanes gathered togeather these fewe parcels present, which I haue caused to bee imprinted altogeather, for that they al seeme to containe like matter of argument in them: being all complaints and

meditations of the worlds vanitie, verie graue and profitable. To which effect I vnderstand that he besides wrote sundrie others, namelie Ecclesiastes, and Canticum canticorum translated, A senights slumber, The hell of louers, his Purgatorie, being all dedicated to Ladies; so as it may seeme he ment them all to one volume. Besides some other Pamphlets looselie scattered abroad: as The dying Pellican, The howers of the Lord, The sacrifice of a sinner, The seuen Psalmes, &c. which when I can either by himselfe, or otherwise attaine too, I meane likewise for your fauour sake to set foorth. In the meane time praying you gentlie to accept of these, and graciouslie to entertaine the new Poet, I take leaue.