---

“On a Shew presented before Prince Charles in the Spanish Courte”

The Prince of Wales with all his royall traine

Was entertained in the Courte of Spaine:

The Catholikes theire respects disclose

Delighting him with Feasts, & Maskes, & Shewes.

Meane while the Romish Church is sick & dead,

5

Shee died a Noble death, she lost her head.1

The holie father having clos’d his eies,2

The Spanish states among themselves devise

To grace Christs Vicar: The Catholicks

Before the Prince with antike shewes and tricks.

10

Within the Stage heav’n placed is on high

Opposd to which hells dreadfull gulfe doth lie.

Then in come Popelings3 Angells them defending

The Protestants black divells them attending

The Papists dying (as most joyfull happ)

15

By troops ar Carried into Peters4 Lapp

The Protestant no sooner yeeld their breath

But Divells dragg them to the second death

Poore Puritanes5 away by thousands pack

Carryed most swiftly on the divells backe,

20

Amongst the rest the Holy Father dies,

As soon he must be mounted to the skies.

And that they may the more advance the Pope

They wind him into heaven with a Rope

Nor must he as the Common sort ascend,

25

But troopes of Angells must his grace attend.

Now is hee mounting up in glorious state,

The rope hath brought him hard to heavens gate.

The blessed host now meaneth not to brave him,

And Peter stands as Porter to receave him;

30

All watch his Entrance; But I feare to tell!

The Rope breaks! The Pope falls into hell!

Yet greive not for your Fathers losse of Glory

Yee Catholikes; Hee’s gone to purgatory6

To purg some secrett sin by him committed,

35

Which by your masses soon may bee remitted.7

And then he may no doubt with little paine

Peepe out of hell, & mount to heaven againe.

But pitty ’twas his merits were so great

They weighd him downe so hard the rope to breake.

40

But tell mee frends, wast not a pretty thing

The Pope should go to heaven in a string?

What aild thee, ô thou that didst him pluck?

Towards the starrs that thou hast such bad luck?

Thou shouldst have borne him up upon thy back

45

If that thou hadst but foreseen the rope would crack.

Doubtles the fault will all bee laied on thee

That thou didst not this great mishapp foresee.

And might I but Conjecture this; I thinke

That thou that night too freely tookst thy drinke.

50

And so twixt hawke, & buzard8 in thy Liquor

Thou madst a Divell of Christs Cheifest Vicar.

And what a chance ’twas such an holy man

Should have his portion with the Puritan?

O how the minds of Papists this doth daunt,

55

Thir Pope should dambd be with th’ Protestant?

Hee thinks that they that then about him went

Should by their powr have stopt this fatall vent9

Did they take charg to carry him on high

And let him play the breaknecke by & by?

60

Where lay the fault? what did the man deceave thee?

Or did hee not foresee the Pope was heavie?

Methinks thou shouldst have considred that

His greate revenues needs must make him fatt.

Besides perhaps he carried up about him

65

Copes, Miters, Crosses, pixes, roodes10 without him.

Doubtles within there was wondrous weight;

His Heart & Conscience was not very light.

And drawing upward such a heavie Pope

How could it be but he must breake the Rope?

70

Since this it stands that heaven did deceave him,

And that small Rope of such great Joyes bereave him;

Yett Hell was ready alwaies to receave him,

There was he found att first & there I leave him.

---

Source. Bodleian MS Eng. Poet. e.97, pp. 167-68

Other known sources. BL MS Sloane 542, fol. 37r

Nv14

Quick links to other poems within this section

Select page here < N0. Introduction Ni1 You men of Britaine Ni2 A Prince out of Ni3 A Prince out of the North Ni4 If 88 be past then Nii1Some say Sir Edward Nii2 Whiles thy sonnes rash Nii3 The famous Embassador Nii4 The Belgick Frogge Nii5 When we but heare Nii6 Religion the most sacred Niii1 Why? what meanes this? Niii2 Adew deere Don Niii3 Anagram on Count Niv1 If Saints in heaven Niv2 Your bold Petition Mortalls Nv1 What suddayne change Nv2 From Englands happy Nv3 I’ve read of Ilands flotinge Nv4 False on his Deanrye? Nv5 Tell mee for gods sake Nv6 The day was turnd Nv7A Phillipp once to england Nv8 The starre that rose Nv9 Since Arthure, or his Nv10 Ilium deplores, but still Nv11Our eagle is yett flowne Nv12 Poor silly wight that Nv13 Our Prince whom we Nv14 The Prince of Wales Nv15 All the newes thats Nv16 Oh for an Ovid Nv17 The Prince is now Nv18 The fift of August Nvi1O stay your teares yow Nvi2 Contemne not Gracious Nvi3 Withold thy fiery steeds

¹   lost her head: i.e. the head of the Church—the Pope—had died. <back>

²   The holie father...eies: alludes to the death of Pope Gregory XV in the summer of 1623. The news of his death reached Spain in mid-July. <back>

³   Popelings: Catholic clergy. <back>

⁴   Peters: St. Peter in heaven. <back>

⁵   Puritanes: mocking term for the hotter sort of Protestant. <back>

⁶   purgatory: the middle place, neither heaven nor hell, where Catholics believed most sinners would purge their sins in suffering before ascending to heaven. <back>

⁷   masses soon may bee remitted: Catholics believed that masses for the dead would remit some of the time the souls of the dead spent in purgatory. <back>

⁸   twixt hawke, & buzard: a 1662 definition of this proverbial phrase renders it as “between a good and a bad thing” (OED). Here it seems to mean “in a state of confusion”. <back>

⁹   vent: fall. <back>

¹⁰   Copes...roodes: various Catholic vestments and liturgical implements. Copes are ecclesiastical vestments; miters are headdresses; pyxes are boxes in which the consecrated host was stored; roods are crucifixes. <back>