<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=391878" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Salmacis and Hermaphroditus.</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">MY wanton lines doe treate of amorous loue, <br>Such as would bow the hearts of gods aboue: <br>Then Venus, thou great Citherean Queene, <br>That hourely tript on the Idalian greene, <br>Thou laughing Erycina, daygne to see <br>The verses wholly consecrate to thee; <br>Temper them so within thy Paphian shrine, <br>That euery Louers eye may melt a line; <br>Commaund the god of Loue that little King, <br>To giue each verse a sleight touch with his wing, <br>That as I write, one line may draw the tother, <br>And euery word skip nimbly o're another. <br>There was a louely boy the Nymphs had kept, <br>That on the Idane mountains oft had slept, <br>Begot and borne by powers that dwelt aboue, <br>By learned Mercury of the Queene of loue: <br>A face he had that shew'd his parents fame, <br>And from them both conioynd, he drew his name: <br>So wondrous fayre he was that (as they say) <br>Diana being hunting on a day, <br>Shee saw the boy vpon a greene banke lay him, <br>And there the virgin-huntresse meant to slay him, <br>Because no Nymphes did now pursue the chase: <br>For all were strooke blind with the wanton's face. <br>But when that beauteous face Diana saw, <br>Her armes were nummed, & shee could not draw; <br>Yet she did striue to shoot, but all in vaine, <br>Shee bent her bow, and loos'd it streight againe. <br>Then she began to chide her wanton eye, <br>And fayne would shoot, but durst not see him die, <br>She turnd and shot, and did of purpose misse him, <br>Shee turnd againe, and did of purpose kisse him. <br>Then the boy ran: for (some say) had he stayd, <br>Diana had no longer bene a mayd. <br>Phoebus so doted on this rosiat face, <br>That he hath oft stole closely from his place, <br>When he did lie by fayre Leucothoes side, <br>To dally with him in the vales of Ide: <br>And euer since this louely boy did die, <br>Phoebus each day about the world doth flie, <br>And on the earth he seekes him all the day, <br>And euery night he seekes him in the sea: <br>His cheeke was sanguine, and his lip as red <br>As are the blushing leaues of the Rose spred: <br>And I haue heard, that till this boy was borne, <br>Rose grew white vpon the virgin thorne, <br>Till one day walking to a pleasant spring, <br>To heare how cunningly the birds could sing, <br>Laying him downe vpon a flowry bed, <br>The Roses blush'd and turn'd themselues to red. <br>The Rose that blush'd not, for his great offence, <br>The gods did punish, and for impudence <br>They gaue this doome that was agreed by all, <br>The smell of the white Rose should be but small. <br>His haire was bushie, but it was not long, <br>The Nymphs had done his tresses mighty wrong: <br>For as it grew, they puld away his haire, <br>And made abilliments of gold to weare. <br>His eyes were Cupids: for vntill his birth, <br>Cupid had eyes, and liu'd vpon the earth, <br>Till on a day, when the great Queene of loue <br>Was by her white doues drawn fro[m] heauen aboue, <br>Vnto the top of the Idalian hill, <br>To see how well the Nymphs their charge fulfill, <br>And whether they had done the goddesse right, <br>In nursing of her sweet Hermaphrodite: <br>VVhom when she saw, although complete & full, <br>Yet she complaynd, his eyes were somewhat dull: <br>And therefore, more the wanton boy to grace, <br>She puld the sparkling eyes from Cupids face, <br>Fayning a cause to take away his sight, <br>Because the Ape would sometimes shoot for spight. <br>But Venus set those eyes in such a place, <br>As grac'd those cleare eyes with a clearer face. <br>For his white hand each goddesse did him woo: <br>For it was whiter then the driuen snow: <br>His legge was straighter then the thigh of Ioue: <br>And he farre fairer then the god of loue. <br>When first this wel-shapt boy, beauties chiefe king, <br>Had seene the labour of the fifteenth spring, <br>How curiously it paynted all the earth, <br>He 'gan to trauaile from his place of birth, <br>Leauing the stately hils where he was nurst, <br>And where the Nymphs had brought him vp at first: <br>He lou'd to trauaile to the coasts vnknowne, <br>To see the regions farre beyond his owne, <br>Seeking cleare watry springs to bathe him in: <br>(For he did loue to wash his iuory skinne) <br>The louely Nymphes haue oft times seene him swimme, <br>And closely stole his clothes from off the brim, <br>Because the wanton wenches would so fayne <br>See him come nak'd to ask his clothes againe. <br>He lou'd besides to see the Lycian grounds, <br>And know the wealthy Carians vtmost bounds. <br>Vsing to trauaile thus, one day he found <br>A cristall brook, that tril'd along the ground, <br>A brooke, that in reflection did surpasse <br>The cleare reflection of the clearest glasse. <br>About the side there grew no foggy reedes, <br>Nor was the fount compast with barren weedes: <br>But liuing turfe grew all along the side, <br>And grasse that euer flourisht in his pride. <br>Within this brook a beauteous Nymph did dwell, <br>Who for her comely feature did excell; <br>So faire she vvas, of such a pleasing grace, <br>So straight a body, and so sweet a face, <br>So soft a belly, such a lustie thigh, <br>So large a forehead, such a cristall eye, <br>So soft and moyst a hand, so smooth a brest, <br>So faire a cheeke, so well in all the rest, <br>That Iupiter would reuell in her bowre, <br>Were he to spend againe his golden showre: <br>Her teeth were whiter then the mornings milke, <br>Her lip was softer then the softest silke, <br>Her haire as farre surpast the burnisht gold, <br>As siluer doth excell the basest mold: <br>Ioue courted her for her translucent eye, <br>And told her, he would place her in the skye, <br>Promising her, if she would be his loue, <br>He would ingraue her in the heauen aboue, <br>Telling this louely Nymph, that if he would, <br>He could deceiue her in a showre of gold, <br>Or like a Swanne come to her naked bed, <br>And so deceiue her of her maiden-head: <br>But yet, because he thought that pleasure best, <br>Where each consenting ioynes each louing brest, <br>He would put off that all-commaunding crowne, <br>Whose terrour strooke th'aspiring Giants downe, <br>That glittereing crown, whose radia[n]t sight did tosse <br>Great Pelion from the top of mighty Osse, <br>He would depose from his world-swaying head, <br>To taste the amorous pleasures of her bed: <br>This added he besides, the more to grace her, <br>Like a bright starre he would in heauens vault place her. <br>By this the proud lasciuious Nymph was mou'd, <br>Perceiuing by great Ioue shee was belou'd, <br>And hoping as a starre she should ere long, <br>Be sterne or gracious to the Sea-mans song, <br>(For mortals still are subiect to their eye, <br>And what it sees, they striue to get as hie <br>She was contented that almighty Ioue <br>Should haue the first and best fruits of her loue: <br>(For women may be likened to the yeere, <br>Whose first fruits still do make the dayntiest cheere) <br>But yet Astræa first should plight her troth, <br>For the performance of Ioues sacred oth. <br>(Iust times decline, and all good dayes are dead, <br>When heauenly othes had need be warranted) <br>This heard great Iupiter and lik'd it well, <br>And hastily he seeks Astræas cell, <br>About the massie earth searching her towre: <br>But she had long since left this earthly bowre, <br>And flew to heauen aboue, lothing to see <br>The sinfull actions of humanitie. <br>Which when Ioue did perceiue, he left the earth, <br>And flew vp to the place of his owne birth, <br>The burning heauenly throne, where he did spy <br>Astræas palace in the glittering skie. <br>This stately towre was builded vp on hie, <br>Farre from the reach of any mortall eye; <br>And from the palace side there did distill <br>A little water, through a little quill, <br>The dewe of iustice, which did seldome fall, <br>And when it dropt, the drops were very small. <br>Glad was great Ioue when he beheld her towre, <br>Meaning a while to rest him in her bowre; <br>And therefore sought to enter at her dore: <br>But there was such a busie rout before; <br>Some seruing men, and some promooters bee, <br>That he could passe no foote without a fee: <br>But as he goes, he reaches out his hands, <br>And payes each one in order as he stands; <br>And still, as he was paying those before, <br>Some slipt againe betwixt him and the dore. <br>At length (with much adoo) he past them all, <br>And entred straight into a spacious hall, <br>Full of dark angles, and of hidden wayes, <br>Crooked Maranders, infinite delays; <br>All which delayes and entries he must passe, <br>Ere he could come where iust Astræa was. <br>All these being past by his immortall wit, <br>Without her doore he sawe a porter sit, <br>An aged man, that long time there had beene, <br>Who vs'd to search all those that entred in, <br>And still to euery one he gaue this curse, <br>None must see Iustice but with emptie purse. <br>This man searcht Ioue for his owne priuate gaine, <br>To haue the money which did yet remaine, <br>Which was but small: for much was spent before <br>On the tumultuous rout that kept the dore. <br>When he had done, he broght him to the place <br>Where he should see diuine Astræas face. <br>Then the great King of gods and men in went, <br>And saw his daughter Venus there lament, <br>And crying lowd for iustice, whom Ioue found <br>Kneeling before Astræa on the ground, <br>And still she cry'd and beg'd for a iust doome <br>Against blacke Vulcan, that vnseemely groome, <br>Whome she had chosen for her onely loue, <br>Though she was daughter to great thundering Ioue: <br>And thought the fairest goddesse, yet content <br>To marrie him, though weake and impotent; <br>But for all this they alwayes were at strife: <br>For euermore he ralyd at her his wife, <br>Telling her still, Thou art no wife of mine, <br>Anothers strumpet, Mars his concubine. <br>By this Astræa spyde almighty Ioue, <br>And bow'd her finger to the Queene of loue, <br>To cease her sute, which she would hear anon, <br>When the great King of all the world was gone. <br>Then she descended from her stately throne, <br>Which seat was builded all of Iasper stone, <br>And o're the seat was paynted all aboue, <br>The wanton vnseene stealths of amorous Ioue; <br>There might a man behold the naked pride <br>Of louely Venus in the vales of Ide, <br>When Pallas, and Ioues beauteous wife and she <br>Stroue for the prise of beauties raritie: <br>And there lame Vulcan and his Cyclops stroue <br>To make the thunderbolts for mighty Ioue: <br>From this same stately throne she down descended, <br>And sayd, The griefs of Ioue should be amended, <br>Asking the King of gods what lucklesse cause, <br>What great conte[m]pt of states, what breach of lawes <br>(For sure she thought, some vncouth cause befell, <br>That made him visit poore Astræas cell) <br>Troubled his thought: and if she might decide it, <br>VVho vext great, Ioue, he deareley should abide it. <br>Ioue onely thankt her, and beganne to show <br>His cause of comming (for each one doth know <br>The longing words of Louers are not many, <br>If they desire to be inioyd of any. <br>Telling Astræa, It might now befall, <br>That she might make him blest, that blesseth all: <br>For as he walk'd vpon the flowry earth, <br>To which his owne hands whilome gaue a birth, <br>To see how streight he held it and how iust <br>He rold this massy pondrous heape of dust, <br>He laid him downe by a coole riuer side, <br>Whose pleasant water did so gently slide <br>With such soft whispering: for the brook was deepe, <br>That it had lul'd him in a heauenly sleepe. <br>When first he laid him downe, there was none neere him: <br>(for he did call before, but none could heare him) <br>But a faire Nymph was bathing when he wak'd, <br>(Here sigh'd great Ioue, and after brought forth) nak'd, <br>He seeing lou'd, the Nymph yet here did rest, <br>Where iust Astræa might make Ioue be blest, <br>If she would passe her faithfull word so farre, <br>As that great Ioue should make the mayd a starre. <br>Astræa yeelded: at which Ioue was pleas'd, <br>And all his longing hopes and feares were eas'd. <br>Ioue tooke his leaue, and parted from her sight, <br>Whose thoughts were ful of louers sweet delight, <br>And she ascended to her throne aboue, <br>To heare the griefes of the great Queene of loue. <br>But she was satisfide, and would no more <br>Rayle at her husband as she did before: <br>But forth she tript apace, because she stroue, <br>With her swift feet to ouertake great Ioue, <br>She skipt so nimbly as she went to looke him, <br>That at the palace doore she ouertooke him, <br>Which way was plaine and broade as they went out, <br>And now they could see no tumultuous rout. <br>Here Venus fearing, lest the loue of Ioue <br>Should make this mayd be plac'd in heauen aboue, <br>Because she thought this Nymph so wondrous bright, <br>That she would dazel her accustom'd light: <br>And fearing now she should not first be seene <br>Of all the glittering starres as shee had beene, <br>But that the wanton Nymph would eu'ry night <br>Be first that should salute eche mortal sight, <br>Began to tell great Ioue, she grieu'd to see <br>The heauen so full of his iniquity, <br>Complayning that eche strumpet now was grac'd, <br>And with immortall goddesses was plac'd, <br>Intreating him to place in heauen no more <br>Eche wanton strumpet and lasciuious whore. <br>Ioue mad with loue, harkned not what she sayd, <br>His thoughts were so intangled with the mayd, <br>But furiously he to his palace lept, <br>Being minded there till morning to haue slept: <br>For the next morne, as soone as Phoebus rayes <br>Should yet shine coole, by reason of the seas, <br>And ere the parting teares of Thætis bed, <br>Should be quite shak't from off his glittring head, <br>Astræa promis'd to attend great Ioue, <br>At his owne Palace in the heauen above, <br>And at that Palace she would set her hand <br>To what the loue-sick god should her command: <br>But to descend to earth she did deny, <br>She loath'd the sight of any mortall eye, <br>And for the compasse of the earthly round, <br>She would not set one foot vpon the ground. <br>Therefore Ioue meant to rise but with the sunne, <br>Yet thought it long vntill the night was done. <br>In the meane space Venus was drawne along <br>By her white Doues vnto the sweating throng <br>Of hammering Black-smithes, at the lofty hill <br>Of stately Etna, whose top burneth still: <br>(For at that burning mountaynes glittring top, <br>Her cripple husband Vulcan kept his shop) <br>To him she went, and so collogues that night <br>With the best straines of pleasures sweet delight, <br>That ere they parted, she made Vulcan sweare <br>By dreadfull Stix, an othe the gods do feare, <br>If Ioue would make the mortall mayd a starre, <br>Himselfe should frame his instruments of warre, <br>And tooke his othe by blacke Cocitus Lake, <br>He neuer more a thunder-bolt would make: <br>For Venus so this night his sences pleas'd, <br>That now he thought his former griefs were eas'd. <br>She with her hands the black-smiths body bound, <br>And with her Iu'ry armes she twyn'd him round, <br>And still the faire Queene with a prety grace, <br>Disperst her sweet breath o're his swarty face: <br>Her snowy armes so well she did display, <br>That Vulcan thought they melted as they lay. <br>Vntill the morne in this delight they lay: <br>Then vp they got, and hasted fast away <br>In the white Chariot of the Queene of loue, <br>Towards the Palace of great thundring Ioue, <br>Where they did see diuine Astræa stand, <br>To passe her word for what Ioue should command. <br>In limpt the Blacke-smith, after stept his Queene, <br>Whose light arrayment was of louely greene. <br>When they were in, Vulcan began to sweare <br>By othes that Iupiter himselfe doth feare, <br>If any whore in heauens bright vault were seene, <br>To dimme the shining of his beauteous Queene, <br>Each mortall man should the great gods disgrace, <br>And mocke almightie Ioue vnto his face, <br>And Giants should enforce bright heauen to fall, <br>Ere he would frame one thunderbolt at all. <br>Ioue did intreat him that he would forbeare. <br>The more he spoke, the more did Vulcan sweare. <br>Ioue heard his words, and 'gan to make his mone, <br>That mortall men would pluck him from his throne, <br>Or else he must incurre this plague, he said, <br>Quite to forgoe the pleasure of the mayd: <br>And once he thought, rather than lose her blisses, <br>Her heauenly sweets, her most delicious kisses, <br>Her soft embraces, and the amorous nights, <br>That he should often spend in her delights, <br>He would be quite thrown down by mortal hands, <br>From the blest place where his bright palace stands. <br>But afterwards hee saw with better sight, <br>He should be scorn'd by euery mortall wight, <br>If he should want his thunderbolts, to beate <br>Aspiring mortals from his glittering seate: <br>Therefore the god no more did woo or proue her, <br>But left to seeke her loue, though not to loue her. <br>Yet he forgot not that he woo'd the lasse, <br>But made her twise as beauteous as she was, <br>Because his wonted loue he needs would shew. <br>This haue I heard, but yet scarce thought it true. <br>And whether her cleare beautie was so bright, <br>That it could dazel the immortall sight <br>Of gods, and make them for her loue despaire, <br>I do not know; but sure the maid was faire. <br>Yet the faire Nymph was neuer seene resort <br>Vnto the sauage and the bloudy sport <br>Of chaste Diana, nor was euer wont <br>To bend a bow, nor euer did she hunt, <br>Nor did she euer striue with pretie cunning, <br>To ouergoe her fellow Nymphs in running: <br>For she was the faire water-Nymph alone, <br>That vnto chaste Diana was vnknowne. <br>It is reported, that her fellowes vs'd <br>To bid her (though the beauteous Nymph refus'd) <br>To take, or painted quiuers or a dart, <br>And put her lazy idlenesse apart. <br>Nor tooke she painted quiuers, nor a dart, <br>Nor put her lazy idlenesse apart, <br>But in her cristall fountaine oft she swimmes, <br>And oft she washes o're her snowy limmes: <br>Sometimes she com'b her soft discheuel'd hayre, <br>Which with a fillet tide she oft did weare: <br>But sometimes loose she did it hang behind, <br>When she was pleas'd to grace the Easterne wind: <br>For vp and downe it would her tresses hurle, <br>And as she went, it made her loose hayre curl: <br>Oft in the water did she looke her face, <br>And oft she vs'd to practise what quaint grace <br>Might well become her, and what comely feature <br>Might be best fitting so diuine a creature. <br>Her skinne was with a thinne vaile ouerthrowne, <br>Through which her naked beauty clearly shone. <br>She vs'd in this light rayment as she was, <br>To spread her body on the dewy grasse: <br>Sometimes by her owne fountaine as she walkes, <br>She nips the flowres from off the fertile stalkes, <br>And with a garland of the sweating vine, <br>Sometimes she doth her beauteous front in-twine: <br>But she was gathering flowres with her white hand, <br>When she beheld Hermaphroditus stand <br>By her cleare fountaine, wondring at the sight, <br>That there was any brooke could be so bright: <br>For this was the bright riuer where the boy <br>Did dye himselfe, that he could not enioy <br>Himselfe in pleasure, nor could taste the blisses <br>Of his owne melting and delicious kisses. <br>Here she did see him, and by Venus law, <br>She did desire to haue him as she saw: <br>But the fayre Nymph had neuer seene the place, <br>Where the boy was, nor his inchanting face, <br>But by an vncouth accident of loue <br>Betwixt great Phoebus and the sonne of Ioue, <br>Light -headed Bacchus: for vpon a day, <br>As the boy-god was keeping on his way, <br>Bearing his Vine leaues and his Iuie bands, <br>To Naxos, where his house and temple stands, <br>He saw the Nymph, and seeing, he did stay, <br>And threw his leaues and Iuie bands away, <br>Thinking at first she was of heauenly birth, <br>Some goddesse that did liue vpon the earth, <br>Virgin Diana that so liuely shone, <br>When she did court her sweet Endimion: <br>But he a god, at last did plainely see, <br>She had no marke of immortalitie. <br>Vnto the Nymph went the yong god of wine, <br>Whose head was chaf'd so with the bleeding vine, <br>That now, or feare or terrour had he none, <br>But 'gan to court her as she sate alone: <br>Fayrer then fayrest (thus began his speech) <br>Would but your radiant eye please to inrich <br>My eye with looking, or one glaunce to giue, <br>Whereby my other parts might feede and liue, <br>Or with one sight my sences to inspire, <br>Far liuelier then the stole Promethean fire; <br>Then I might liue, then by the sunny light <br>That should proceed from thy thrise-radiant sight, <br>I might suruiue to ages; but that missing, <br>(At that same word he would haue faine bin kissing) <br>I pine, fayre Nymph: O neuer let me dye <br>For one poore glaunce from thy translucent eye, <br>Farre more transparent then the clearest brooke. <br>The Nymph was taken with his golden hooke: <br>Yet she turn'd backe, and would haue tript away; <br>But Bacchus forc't the louely mayd to stay, <br>Asking her why she struggled to be gone, <br>Why such a Nymph should wish to be alone? <br>Heauen neuer made her faire, that she should vaunt <br>She kept all beautie, it would neuer graunt <br>She should be borne so beauteous from her mother, <br>But to reflect her beauty on another: <br>Then with a sweet kisse cast thy beames on mee, <br>And Ile reflect then backe againe on thee. <br>At Naxos stands my Temple and my Shrine, <br>Where I do presse the lusty swelling Vine, <br>There with green Iuie shall thy head be bound, <br>And with the red Grape be incircled round; <br>There shall Silenus sing vnto thy praise, <br>His drunken reeling songs and tickling layes. <br>Come hither, gentle Nymph. Here blusht the maid, <br>And faine she would haue gone, but yet she staid. <br>Bacchus perceiued he had o'ercome the lasse, <br>And downe he throwes her in the dewy grasse, <br>And kist the helplesse Nymph vpon the ground, <br>And would haue stray'd beyond that lawful bou[n]d. <br>This saw bright Phœbus: for his glittering eye <br>Sees all that lies below the starry skye; <br>And for an old affection that he bore <br>Vnto this louely Nymph long time before, <br>(For he would ofttimes in his circle stand, <br>To sport himselfe vpon her snowy hand) <br>He kept her from the sweets of Bacchus bed, <br>And 'gainst her will he sau'd her maiden-head. <br>Bacchus perceiuing this apace did hie <br>Vnto the Palace of swift Mercury: <br>But he did find him farre below his birth, <br>Drinking with theiues and catch-poles on the earth; <br>And they were drinking what they stole to day, <br>In consultation for to morrowes prey. <br>To him went youthful Bacchus, and begun <br>To shew his cause of griefe against the Sunne, <br>How he bereft him of his heauenly blisses, <br>His sweet delights, his Nectar-flowing kisses, <br>And other sweeter sweetes that he had wonne, <br>But for the malice of the bright-fac't Sunne, <br>Intreating Mercury by all the loue, <br>That had bene borne amongst the sonnes of Ioue, <br>Of which they two were part, to stand his friend, <br>Against the god that did him so offend: <br>The quaint-tongu'd issue of great Atlas race, <br>Swift Mercury, that with delightfull grace, <br>And pleasing accents of his fayned tongue, <br>Hath oft reform'd a rude vnciuill throng <br>Of mortals; that great messenger of Ioue, <br>And all the meaner gods that dwell aboue: <br>He whose acute wit was so quicke and sharpe <br>In the inuention of the crooked Harpe: <br>He that's so cunning with his iesting slights, <br>To steale from heauenly gods or earthly wights, <br>Bearing a great hate in his grieued brest, <br>Against that great commaunder of the West, <br>Bright-fac't Apollo: for vpon a day, <br>Yong Mercury did steale his beasts away: <br>Which the great god perceiuing, streight did shew <br>The pearcing arrowes and the fearefull bow <br>That kild great Pithon, & with that did threat him, <br>To bring his beast againe, or he would beat him. <br>Which Mercury perceiuing, vnespide, <br>Did closely steale his arrowes from his side. <br>For this olde grudge, he was the easlyer wonne <br>To helpe young Bacchus 'gainst the fierie Sunne. <br>And now the Sunne was in the middle way, <br>And had o'ercome the one halfe of the day, <br>Scorching so hot vpon the reeking sand, <br>That lies vpon the neere Egyptian land, <br>That the hot people burnt e'ne from their birth, <br>Do creepe againe into their mother earth, <br>When Mercury did take his powerfull wand, <br>His charming Cadusæus in his hand, <br>And a thick Beuer which he vs'd to weare, <br>When ought from Ioue he to the Sunne did beare, <br>That did protect him from the piercing light, <br>Which did proceed from Phoebus glittering sight. <br>Clad in these powerfull ornaments he flies, <br>With out-stretcht wings vp to the azure skies: <br>Where seeing Phoebus in his orient shrine, <br>He did so well reuenge the god of wine, <br>That whil'st the Sun wonders his Chariot reeles, <br>The craftie god had stole away his wheeles. <br>Which when he did perceiue, he downe did slide, <br>(Laying his glittering Coronet aside) <br>From the bright spangled firmament aboue, <br>To seeke the Nymph that Bacchus so did loue, <br>And found her looking in her watry glasse, <br>To see how cleare her radiant beauty was: <br>And, for he had but little time to stay, <br>Because he meant to finish out his day, <br>At the first sight he 'gan to make his mone, <br>Telling her how his fiery wheeles were gone; <br>Promising her, if she would but obtaine <br>The wheeles, that Mercury had stolne, againe, <br>That he might end his day, she should enioy <br>The heauenly sight of the most beauteous boy <br>That euer was. The Nymph was pleas'd with this, <br>Hoping to reape some vnaccustom'd blisse <br>By the sweet pleasure that she should enioy, <br>In the blest sight of such a melting boy. <br>Therefore at his request she did obtaine <br>The burning wheeles, that he had lost, againe: <br>VVhich when he had receiu'd, he left the land, <br>And brought them thither where his Coach did stand, <br>And there he set them on: for all this space, <br>The horses had not stirr'd from out their place. <br>VVhich when he saw, he wept and 'gan to say, <br>VVould Mercury had stole my wheeles away, <br>When Phaeton my hare-brain'd issue tride, <br>What a laborious thing it vvas to guide <br>My burning chariot, the[n] he might haue pleas'd me, <br>And of one fathers griefe he might haue eas'd me: <br>For then the Steeds would haue obayd his will, <br>Or else at least they would haue rested still. <br>When he had done, he tooke his whip of steele, <br>Whose bitter smart he made his horses feele: <br>For he did lash so hard, to end the day, <br>That he was quickly at the Westerne sea, <br>And there with Thætis did he rest a space, <br>For he did neuer rest in any place <br>Before that time: but euer since his wheeles <br>Were stole away, his burning chariot reeles <br>Tow'rds the declining of the parting day: <br>Therefore he lights and mends them in the sea. <br>And though the poets fayne, that Ioue did make <br>A treble night for faire Alcmena's sake, <br>That he might sleepe securely with his loue; <br>Yet sure the long night was vnknowne to Ioue: <br>But the Sunnes wheeles one day disordred more, <br>Were thrise as long amending as before. <br>Now was the Sunne inuiron'd with the Sea, <br>Cooling his watrie tresses as he lay, <br>And in dread Neptunes kingdome while he sleeps, <br>Faire Thætis clips him in the watry deeps, <br>The Mayre-maids and the Tritons of the West, <br>Strayning their voyces, to make Titan rest. <br>And while the blacke night with her pitchie hand, <br>Tooke iust possession of the swarfie land: <br>He spent the darkesome howres in this delight, <br>Giuing his power vp to the gladsome night: <br>For ne're before he was so truely blest, <br>To take an houre or one poore minutes rest. <br>But now the burning god this pleasure feeles, <br>By reason of his newly crazed wheeles, <br>There must he stay vntill lame Vulcan send <br>The fierie wheeles which he had tooke to mend. <br>Now al the night the Smith so hard had wrought, <br>That ere the Sunne could wake, his wheeles were brought. <br>Titan being pleas'd with rest, and not to rise, <br>And loth to open yet his slumbring eyes: <br>And yet perceiuing how the longing sight <br>Of mortals wayted for his glittring light, <br>He sent Aurora from him to the skie, <br>To giue a glimsing to each mortall eye. <br>Aurora much asham'd of that same place <br>That great Apollos light was wont to grace, <br>Finding no place to hide her shamefull head, <br>Paynted her chaste cheeks with a blushing red, <br>Which euer since remain'd vpon her face, <br>In token of her new receiu'd disgrace: <br>Therefore she not so white as she had beene, <br>Lothing of eu'ry mortall to be seene, <br>No sooner can the rosie fingred morne <br>Kisse eu'ry flowre that by her dew is borne, <br>But from her golden window she doth peepe, <br>When the most part of earthly creatures sleepe. <br>By this, bright Titan opened had his eyes, <br>And 'gan to ierke his horses through the skies, <br>And taking in his hand his fierie whip, <br>He made AEous and swift AEthon skip <br>So fast, that straight he dazled had the sight <br>Of faire Aurora, glad to see his light. <br>And now the Sunne in all his fierie haste, <br>Did call to mind his promise lately past, <br>And all the vowes and othes that he did passe <br>Vnto faire Salmacis, the beauteous lasse: <br>For he had promis'd her she should enioy <br>So louely faire, and such a well shapt boy, <br>As ne're before his owne all-seeing eye <br>Saw from his bright seate in the starry skye: <br>Remembring this, he sent the boy that way, <br>Where the cleare fountain of the fayre Nymph lay. <br>There was he co[m]e to seeke some pleasing brooke. <br>No sooner came he, but the Nymph was strooke: <br>And though she hasted to imbrace the boy, <br>Yet did the Nymph awhile deferre her ioy, <br>Till she had bound vp her loose flagging haire, <br>And ordred well the garments she did weare, <br>Fayning her count'nance with a louers care, <br>And did deserue to be accounted fayre. <br>And thus much spake she while the boy abode: <br>O boy, most worthy to be thought a god, <br>Thou mayst inhabit in the glorious place <br>Of gods, or maist proceed from human race: <br>Thou mayst be Cupid, or the god of wine, <br>That lately woo'd me with the swelling vine: <br>But whosoe're thou art, O happy he, <br>That was so blest, to be a sire to thee; <br>Thy happy mother is most blest of many, <br>Blessed thy sisters, if her wombe bare any, <br>Both fortunate, and O thrise happy shee, <br>Whose too much blessed breasts gaue suck to thee: <br>If any wife with thy sweet bed be blest, <br>O, she is farre more happy then the rest; <br>If thou hast any, let my sport be sto'ne, <br>Or else let me be she, if thou haue none. <br>Here did she pause a while, and then she sayd, <br>Be not obdurate to a silly mayd. <br>A flinty heart within a smowy brest, <br>Is like base mold lockt in a golden chest: <br>They say the eye's the Index of the heart, <br>And shewes th'affection of each inward part: <br>There loue playes liuely, there the little god <br>Hath a cleare cristall Palace of abode. <br>O barre him not from playing in thy heart, <br>That sports himselfe vpon eche outward part. <br>Thus much she spake, & then her tongue was husht. <br>At her loose speach Hermaphroditus blusht: <br>He knew not what loue was, yet loue did shame him, <br>Making him blush, and yet his blush became him: <br>Then might a man his shamefast colour see, <br>Like the ripe apple on the sunny tree, <br>Or Iuory dide o're with a pleasing red, <br>Or like the pale Moone being shadowed. <br>By this, the Nymph recouer'd had her tongue, <br>That to her thinking lay in silence long, <br>And sayd, Thy cheeke is milde, O be thou so, <br>Thy cheeke, saith I, then do not answere no, <br>Thy cheeke doth shame, then doe thou shame, she sayd, <br>It is a mans shame to deny a mayd. <br>Thou look'st to sport with Venus in her towre, <br>And be belou'd of euery heauenly powre. <br>Men are but mortals, so are women too, <br>Why should your thoughts aspire more than ours doo? <br>For sure they doe aspire: Else could a youth, <br>Whose count'nance is so full of spotlesse truth, <br>Be so relentlesse to a virgins tongue? <br>Let me be woo'd by thee but halfe so long, <br>With halfe those tearmes doe but my loue require, <br>And I will easly graunt thee thy desire. <br>Ages are bad, when men become so slow, <br>That poore vnskillful mayds are forc't to woo. <br>Her radiant beauty and her subtill arte <br>S deepely strooke Hermaphroditus heart, <br>That she had wonne his loue, but that the light <br>Of her translucent eyes did shine too bright: <br>For long he look'd vpon the louely mayd, <br>And at the last Hermaphroditus sayd, <br>How should I loue thee, when I doe espie <br>A farre more beauteous Nymph hid in thy eye? <br>When thou doost loue, let not that Nymph be nie thee; <br>Nor when thou woo'st, let not that Nymph be by thee: <br>Or quite obscure her from thy louers face, <br>Or hide her beauty in a darker place. <br>By this, the Nymph perceiu'd he did espie <br>None but himselfe reflected in her eye, <br>And, for himselfe no more she meant to shew him, <br>She shut her eyes & blind-fold thus did woo him: <br>Fayre boy, thinke not thy beauty can dispence <br>With any payne due to a bad offence; <br>Remember how the gods punisht that boy <br>That scorn'd to let a beauteous Nymph enioy <br>Her long wisht pleasure, for the peeuish elfe, <br>Lou'd of all other, needs would loue himselfe. <br>So mayst thou loue, perhaps thou mayst be blest; <br>By graunting to a lucklesse Nymphs request: <br>Then rest awhile with me amid these weeds. <br>The Sunne that sees all, sees not louers deeds; <br>Phoebus is blind when loue-sports are begun, <br>And neuer sees vntill their sports be done: <br>Beleeue me, boy, thy blood is very stayd, <br>That art so loth to kisse a youthfull mayd. <br>Wert thou a mayd, and I a man, Ile show thee, <br>With what a manly boldnesse I could woo thee, <br>Fayrer then loues Queene, thus I would begin, <br>Might not my ouer-boldnesse be a sinne, <br>I would intreat this fauor, if I could, <br>Thy rosiat cheeke a little to behold: <br>Then would I beg a touch, and then a kisse, <br>And then a lower, yet a higher blisse: <br>Then would I aske what Ioue and Læda did, <br>When like a Swan the craftie god was hid? <br>What came he for? why did he there abide? <br>Surely I thinke hee did not come to chide: <br>He came to see her face, to talke, and chat, <br>To touch, to kisse: came he for nought but that? <br>Yea, something else: what was it he would haue? <br>That which all men of maydens ought to craue. <br>This sayd, her eye-lids wide she did display: <br>But in this space the boy was runne away: <br>The wanton speeches of the louely lasse <br>Forc't him for shame to hide him in the grasse. <br>When she perceiu'd she could not see him neere her, <br>When she had cal'd and yet he could not heare her, <br>Look how when Autumne comes, a little space <br>Paleth the red blush of the Summers face, <br>Tearing the leaues the Summers couering, <br>Three months in weauing by the curious spring, <br>Making the grasse his greene locks go to wracke, <br>Tearing each ornament from off his backe; <br>So did she spoyle the garments she did weare, <br>Tearing whole ounces of her golden hayre: <br>She thus deluded of her longed blisse, <br>With much adoo at last she vttred this: <br>Why wert thou bashfull, boy? Thou hast no part <br>Shewes thee to be of such a female heart. <br>His eye is gray, so is the mornings eye, <br>That blusheth alwayes when the day is nye. <br>Then his gray eye's the cause: that cannot be: <br>The gray-ey'd morne is farre more bold then he: <br>For with a gentle dew from heauens bright towre, <br>It gets the mayden-head of eu'ry flowre. <br>I would to God, he were the rosiat morne, <br>And I a flowre from out the earth new-borne? <br>His face was smooth; Narcissus face was so, <br>And he was carelesse of a sad Nymphs woe. <br>Then that's the cause; and yet that cannot be: <br>Youthfull Narcissus was more bold then he, <br>Because he dide for loue, though of his shade: <br>This boy nor loues himselfe, nor yet a mayd. <br>Besides, his glorious eye is wondrous bright; <br>So is the fierie and all-seeing light <br>Of Phœbus, who at eu'ry mornings birth <br>Blusheth for shame vpon the sullen earth. <br>Then that's the cause; and yet that cannot be: <br>The fierie Sunne is farre more bold then he; <br>He nightly kisseth Thætis in the sea: <br>All know the story of Leucothoe. <br>His cheeke is red: so is the fragrant Rose, <br>Whose ruddie cheeke with ouer-blushing gloes: <br>Then that's the cause; and yet that cannot bee: <br>Eche blushing Rose is farre more bold then he, <br>Whose boldnesse may be plainely seene in this, <br>The ruddy Rose is not asham'd to kisse; <br>For alwayes when the day is new begun, <br>The spreading Rose will kisse the morning Sun. <br>This sayd, hid in the grasse she did espie him, <br>And stumbling with her will, she fel down by him, <br>And with her wanton talke, because he woo'd not, <br>Beg'd that, which he poore nouice vnderstood not: <br>And, for she could not get a greater blisse, <br>She did intreate a least a sisters kisse; <br>But still the more she did the boy beseech, <br>The more he powted at her wanton speech. <br>At last the Nymph began to touch his skin, <br>Whiter then mountaine snow hath euer bin, <br>And did in purenesse that cleare spring surpasse, <br>Wherein Acteon saw th'Arcadian lasse. <br>Thus did she dally long, till at the last, <br>In her moyst palme she lockt his white hand fast: <br>Then in her hand his wrest she 'gan to close, <br>When through his pulses strait the warm bloud gloes, <br>Whose youthfull musike fanning Cupids fire, <br>In her warme brest kindled a fresh desire. <br>Then did she lift her hand vnto his brest, <br>A part as white and youthfull as the rest, <br>Where, as his flowry breath still comes and goes, <br>She felt his gentle heart pant through his clothes. <br>At last she tooke her hand from off that part, <br>And sayd, It panted like anothers heart. <br>Why should it be more feeble, and lesse bold? <br>Why should the bloud about it be more cold? <br>Nay sure, that yeelds, onely thy tongue denyes, <br>And the true fancy of thy heart belyes. <br>Then did she lift her hand vnto his chin, <br>And prays'd the prety dimpling of his skin: <br>But straight his chin she 'gan to ouerslip, <br>When she beheld the rednesse of his lip; <br>And sayd, thy lips are soft, presse them to mine, <br>And thou shalt see they are as soft as thine. <br>Then would she faine haue gone vnto his eye, <br>But still his ruddy lip standing so nie, <br>Drew her hand backe, therefore his eye she mist, <br>'Ginning to claspe his neck, and would haue kist; <br>But then the boy did struggle to be gone, <br>Vowing to leaue her and that place alone. <br>But then bright Salmacis began to feare, <br>And sayd, Fayre stranger, I wil leaue thee here <br>Amid these pleasant places all alone. <br>So turning back, she fayned to be gone; <br>But from his sight she had no power to passe, <br>Therefore she turn'd and hid her in the grasse, <br>When to the ground bending her snow-white knee, <br>The glad earth gaue new coates to euery tree. <br>He then supposing he was all alone, <br>(Like a young boy that is espy'd of none) <br>Runnes here, and there, then on the bankes doth looke, <br>Then on the cristall current of the brooke, <br>Then with his foote he toucht the siluer streames, <br>Whose drowsy waues made musike in their dreames, <br>And, for he was not wholy in, did weepe, <br>Talking alowd and babbling in their sleepe: <br>Whose pleasant coolnesse when the boy did feele, <br>He thrust his foote downe lower to the heele: <br>O'ercome with whose sweet noyse, he did begin <br>To strip his soft clothes from his tender skin, <br>When strait the scorching Sun wept teares of brine, <br>Because he durst not touch him with his shine, <br>For feare of spoyling that same Iu'ry skin, <br>Whose whitenesse he so much delighted in; <br>And then the Moone, mother of mortall ease, <br>Would fayne haue come from the Antipodes, <br>To haue beheld him naked as he stood, <br>Ready to leape into the siluer flood; <br>But might not: for the lawes of heauen deny, <br>To shew mens secrets to a womans eye: <br>And therefore was her sad and gloomy light <br>Confin'd vnto the secret-keeping night. <br>When beauteous Salmacis awhile had gaz'd <br>Vpon his naked corps, she stood amaz'd, <br>And both her sparkling eyes burnt in her face, <br>Like the bright Sunne reflected in a glasse: <br>Scarce can she stay from running to the boy, <br>Scarce can she now deferre her hoped ioy; <br>So fast her youthfull bloud playes in her vaynes, <br>That almost mad, she scarce herselfe contaynes. <br>When young Hermaphroditus as he stands, <br>Clapping his white side with his hollow hands, <br>Leapt liuely from the land, whereon he stood, <br>Into the mayne part of the cristall flood. <br>Like Iu'ry then his snowy body was, <br>Or a white Lilly in a christall glasse. <br>Then rose the water Nymph from where she lay, <br>As hauing wonne the glory of the day, <br>And her light garments cast from off her skin, <br>Hee's mine, she cry'd, and so leapt spritely in. <br>The flattering Iuy who did euer see <br>Inclaspe the huge trunke of an aged tree, <br>Let him behold the young boy as he stands, <br>Inclaspt in wanton Salmacis's hands, <br>Betwixt those Iu'ry armes she lockt him fast, <br>Striuing to get away, till at the last, <br>Fondling, she sayd, why striu'st thou to be gone? <br>Why shouldst thou so desire to be alone? <br>Thy cheeke is neuer fayre, when none is by: <br>For what is red and white, but to the eye: <br>And for that cause the heauens are darker at night, <br>Because all creatures close their weary sight; <br>For there's no mortall can so earely rise, <br>But still the morning waytes vpon his eyes. <br>The earely-rising and soone-singing Larke <br>Can neuer chaunt her sweete notes in the darke, <br>For sleepe she ne're so little or so long, <br>Yet still the morning will attend her song. <br>All creatures that beneath bright Cinthia be, <br>Haue appetite vnto society; <br>The ouerflowing waues would haue a bound <br>Within the confines of the spacious ground, <br>And all their shady currents would be plaste <br>In hollow of the solitary vaste, <br>But what they lothe to let their soft streames sing, <br>Where non can heare their gentle murmuring. <br>Yet still the boy regardlesse what she sayd, <br>Struggled apace to ouerswimme the mayd. <br>Which when the Nymph perceiu'd she 'gan to say, <br>Struggle thou mayst, but neuer get away. <br>So graunt, iust gods, that neuer day may see <br>The separation twixt this boy and mee. <br>The gods did heare her pray'r and feele her woe; <br>And in one body they began to grow. <br>She felt his youthfull bloud in euery vaine; <br>And he felt hers warme his colde brest againe. <br>And euer since was womans loue so blest, <br>That it will draw bloud from the strongerst brest. <br>Nor man nor mayd now could they be esteem'd: <br>Neither, and either, might they well be deem'd, <br>When the young boy Hermaphroditus sayd, <br>VVith the set voyce of neither man nor mayd, <br>Swift Mercury, the author of my life, <br>And thou my mother Vulcans louely wife, <br>Let your poore offsprings latest breath be blest, <br>In but obtayning this his last request, <br>Grant that whoe're heated by Phoebus beames, <br>Shall come to coole him in these siluer streames, <br>May neuermore a manly shape retaine, <br>But halfe a virgine may returne againe. <br>His parents hark'ned to his last request, <br>And with that great power they the fountaine blest. <br>And since that time who in that fountaine swimmes, <br>A mayden smoothnesse seyzeth half his limmes.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Francis+Beaumont">Francis Beaumont</a><div class=q> <img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share"> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=391878" data-title="Salmacis and Hermaphroditus. de Francis Beaumont" data-description="MY wanton lines doe treate of amorous loue, Such as would bow the hearts of gods aboue: Then Venus, thou great Citherean Queene, That hourely tript on the Idalian greene, Thou laughing Erycina, daygne to see The verses wholly consecrate to th..."></div> </div> </div>

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