And therefore like a kinge of worthie glorie

scornes to insert itt, in heareafter storry

that he affronted was:1 Thus he resolves

to Crosse them all; and soe the same disolves.2

Then like poore deare, unhearded from the rest

455

some fewe are chased, as he thinketh best:

Cooke is to prison sente,3 in pitteous case

and quite undone, without a speciall grace.

Phillips and Marlory,4 with diverse other

who could not their true zeale to England smother

460

ar singled out, to beare affliccions crosse

thus all things turne unto the Countries losse.

For still the kinge doth want; must be supplide

and sends unto the rich on everie side,5

getting greate sommes: and greatter then is thought

465

could ever by such pollicie be wrought.

But whether this doth out of kindnes growe

I may not, will not, dare not, cannot showe.

All yet concludes solucion of this doubt

that Fortunes wheele is quicklie turn’de aboute.

470

Oh wondrous world: a mapp of inconstante fashions;

O tymes of sinne, soe full of frantike passions?

O strange unheard-of changes in a state,

Soe full of pride, lust, avarice, and hate.

where is Religions puritie? where is

475

Gods worde? a touchstone to trye what’s is amisse.

But triall is soone made: For all can say

the people (as the Jewes) nowe runn astraye:

yet noe man is reform’de; who lives upright

is ether foole, or mad man in despight.

480

This makes a sadd colleccion of thinges

wich as ill newes terror and sorrowe bringes.

For in one yeare, to add unto the rest

thies accidents noe good harte can digest.

The Kinges Embassadors retorne in vaine,6

485

and may without their remedie complaine.

a hopefull yeare is turn’de to dearth and wante7

and country blessings fall out verie scante.

The voyage of Argier did badly thrive,8

and yet the souldiers doe retorne alive.

490

Our great Archbishop kills a man by chance9

and many censures, att the mischiefes glance.

A battaile by the staarrs is fought at Corck10

and setteth superstitious witts on worke.

The Crowes of Barkshire doe likewise the same11

495

and men run forward with prodigious fame.

Great fiers,12 Court, and Citie doe affright

and in the Contrey makes a piteous sight.

The kinge himselfe doth scape a dangerous fall13

and strange mishapps: yet blesseth God for all.

500

The heavens doe three sunnes14 at one time showe

yet who the secretts of the heavens knowe?

The Earl of Barkeshire doth as desperate dye

as he a Crossebowes strength would foundlie trye.15

I could saie more: but men besotted are

505

and for the particulars doe search too farre

to lay some imputacion on another,

but their own sinnes the caste behinde and smother

Thus dare the saie, the Clergie are soe badd

from whom all good example should be hadd.

510

That other men be Covetous and proude

as if to live like worldlinges were allowde.

But I doe saie, Tis to resolve this doubt

that Fortunes wheele is quicklie turn’de aboute.

---

Source. Bodleian MS Eng. Poet. c.50, fols. 1r-7r

Quick links to other poems within this section

Select page here K0. Introduction K1i. Some would complaine K1ii. K1iii. K1iv. K1v. K1vi. K1vii. K1viii. K1ix. K1x. K2. Bridewell I come

K1x

¹   scornes...affronted was: on 30 December 1621 James tore from the journals of the House of Commons the controversial Protestation, concerning the liberties and rights of parliament. <back>

²   the same disolves: in the first week of 1622 James dissolved parliament. <back>

³   Cooke...sente: Coke, who emerged as a key intellectual spokesman for the Commons in the 1621 session, was punished more severely than any other parliamentarian, spending nearly seven months of 1622 in the Tower. <back>

⁴   Phillips and Marlory: William Mallory and Sir Robert Phelips were among those members of the 1621 Parliament who were sent to the Tower after the dissolution. Phelips had been vocal in attacks on Spain. <back>

⁵   For still...everie side: as no subsidy had been voted in the 1621 Parliament, James immediately called for a benevolence (a kind of forced loan). <back>

⁶   The Kinges...in vaine: though James employed ambassadors to sue for peace on the continent on numerous occasions, this probably refers to his failed attempts in early 1622 to secure toleration for the French Protestant Huguenot communities. <back>

⁷   a hopefull yeare...wante: the harvest of 1622 was poor. <back>

⁸   The voyage...thrive: in 1620 a fleet sailed to Algiers, seeking restitution of English ships and sailors taken by pirates. The voyage was largely unsuccessful. <back>

⁹   Our great...chance: George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, killed a gamekeeper in a hunting accident in 1621. <back>

¹⁰   A battaile...Corck: reference to a much-commented upon portentous event from the autumn of 1621, in which flocks of starlings fought around the Irish city of Cork. <back>

¹¹   The Crowes...same: presumably another event in which a bird-battle was interpreted as a portent. <back>

¹²   Great fiers: bird portents were connected by some to the outbreak of fires. A significant fire occurred in Chancery Lane in December 1621. <back>

¹³   The kinge...fall: James fell from his horse in January 1622. <back>

¹⁴   The heavens...sunnes: Simonds D’Ewes notes in his diary entry for 13 February 1622 that three suns were seen in the sky in Shropshire, “the like of which was in Richard the seconds time. God forbid the like consequents as succeeded them” (Diary 65). <back>

¹⁵   The Earl...foundlie trye: Francis Norris, Earl of Berkshire, committed suicide early in 1622 by shooting himself with a crossbow (i.e. “fondly”, or foolishly, testing the strength of the weapon). <back>